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 PRINCETON,     N.    J. 
 
 Division .  .J\-).Z3.  .TTT.Tl.J 
 Section    . .  s  J 
 Number V..v.^5.. 
 
AX 
 
 OLD    TESTAMENT    COMMENTARY 
 
 FOB 
 
 ENGLISH    READERS. 
 
... .    . 
 
 V     3    A     J    7   O       J  V  " ']  "'L 
 J-    AT 
 
 jjjjfcllttllilll 
 
 J. 
 
 5fNl 
 
AN 
 
 01,1)  TKSTAMKNT  COMMENTARY 
 
 ENGLISH     READERS. 
 
 ID      FAR  1 01  S     WR1  THUS. 
 
 EDITED    B1 
 
 CHARLES    JOHN     KLLICOTT,     D.D. 
 
 LORD   BISHOP  OF  GLOUCESTER   AM'   BRISTOL 
 
 VOL.      V. 
 
 'WHATSOBVBR  THntOS   (VERS   WRITTEN   AFORETIME  WEBB  WRITTEN   \"V.  ODB   LRARNTNO,   THAT  THBOUQR    PATTEHCI  AND 
 rRBODOB   COMTORT  01  TI1K  SCRIPTURES  WE   MIfJIlT  HAVE  HOPE.'' 
 
 C  A  S  S  K  L  l>     &     C  0  M  V  A  N  V.     L  i  M  i  t  k  i> 
 
 L  0  N  D  0  X.    PARI  S    .(     N  /'  W    7  0  U  K 
 
 [All    Ith.lll*    Rl  SEATED  ] 
 1884. 
 
it  rem  fafj. 
 
 i  > 
 
 Til  E     v  E  I;  V     I:  l.  v.     E.     ll.     PLUM  PTB  E,     l»  l»  . 
 
 lamentations?. 
 
 MY 
 
 Til  i:     v  EB  V     i:  E  v.     E.     ll.     PL  Uli  PT  l:  E,     I'  l» 
 
 euiurl. 
 
 T  II  E      R  K  v.      I-.      Q  A  i;  l>  l  N  l.  l;,      D.D., 
 
 v.i-  of  Divinity,  Middletonm,  Connecticut,    ' 
 
 Dante  I. 
 
 11 V 
 
 THE      REV.      II.      DEANE,      B.D., 
 /  f  X!.  John't  College,  Oxford. 
 
 <i>osr  a. 
 
 II Y 
 
 THE     REV.     II.     R.     REYNOLDS,     D.D., 
 Principal  «f  Cheihuni  Coll 
 
 AMI 
 
 THE     REV.     PBOFESSOB     WHITEHOUSE, 
 
 51  or  I. 
 
 II Y 
 
 in  i:    R  ev.    s.    l.    w  a  i:  i;  EN,    ma  . 
 
 Lati   l  i    Wadham  College,  Oxford. 
 
 9mosf. 
 
 II Y 
 
 Till!     REV.     II.     R.     REYNOLDS,      D.D., 
 
 AMI 
 
 THE  REV  PBOFESSOR  WHITEHOUSE 
 
(Pbatoiab* 
 
 THE     REV.     A.     S.     AGLEN,     M.A. 
 
 J  o  n  a  1) . 
 
 THE     REV.     A.     S.     AGLEN,     M.A. 
 
 J*fl  t  r  a  I) . 
 
 IiY 
 
 THE     REV.     S.     L.     WARREN. 
 
 fl  a  ft  urn. 
 
 THE     REV.     A.     C.     JENNINGS,     M.A. 
 
 a  fa  a  fc  b  u  k  . 
 
 THE    REV.     A.     C.     JENNINGS,     M.A. 
 
 Zfpfeaiu'afe. 
 
 THE     REV.     A.     C.     JENNINGS,     M.A. 
 
 ftajjgai. 
 
 THE     REV.     A.     C.     JENNINGS,     M.A. 
 
 erbariab. 
 
 THE     REV.     W.     H.     LOWE,     M.A. 
 
 M  a  I  a  r  I)  i. 
 
 BV 
 
 THE     REV.     W.     H.     LOWE,     M.A. 
 
. 
 
 (ON  T  K  N  TS. 
 
 Intbodui  ncis  ro  Jbbskiah 
 
 I  [.VII 1" 
 
 Introduction    TO    I.AM1.N TATI0N8 1-^1 
 
 Lambniahonb 1-1 
 
 iNTHlll.I ■(  MUX    TO    Bzjuubi 199 
 
 ■  I  1 
 
 Km  i  asm  to  Ezbkibl S48 
 
 INTRODUCTION  10  Ihsiu 
 
 Damibi 
 
 Chronological  Tables 402 
 
 Gxi  i  asi  -  po  Hiniii 403 
 
 Introduction  ro  Hobba ill 
 
 II 08B  A HI 
 
 Exi  i  R8I  B  TO    ll'P-,1   \ 
 
 Ixthiidi  onoM  to  Joel 137 
 
 ■i'n |39 
 
 Introduction   ro  Amos 149 
 
 Ajios 4.)1 
 
 Excursus  to  Amos 
 
 Introduction  to  Obadiah 471 
 
 Obadivh 
 
 Excursus  to  Obadiah 480 
 
 Introduction  to  Jonah 
 
 Jonah 487 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I'  M.I 
 
 Introduction  to  Micas ' 
 
 MuAH 4" 
 
 Introduction  to  Nahum "" 
 
 Xaium 516 
 
 Introduction  to  Habakkuk           ......••••••  °" 
 
 Habakkuk 526 
 
 Introduction  to  Zefhaniah 53o 
 
 Zefhaniah 538 
 
 Introduction  to  Haggai 547 
 
 Haggai 550 
 
 Introduction  to  Zechariah 557 
 
 Zechaeiah 563 
 
 Introduction  to  Malachi     .........■■•■  597 
 
 Malachi 6l)0 
 
THE     BOOK    OF    THE     PROPHET 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 140 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ro 
 THE    BOOK    OF    THE    PROPHET 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 I.  Life. — Tho  materials  tor  a  biography  of  Jeremiah 
 
 an  supplied  in  liis  collected  writings  with  unusiuil 
 fulness.      We   know    more  <>f   liis  personal    history  than 
 
 we  do  of  tli.it  of  [aaiao  or  E/.ekiel,  much  more  than  of 
 that  of  the  minor  prophets,  who  have  left  tor  the  most 
 
 part  only  »    few   chapters  :is  the   record   of   their  work. 
 
 With  the  help  of  inferences  from  acknowledged  beta, 
 and  of  i  few  fairly  authenticated  traditions,  we  are  able 
 to  enter  into  the  circumstances  in  the  midst  of  which 
 
 he   worked,  anil    into   the   joys  anil   sorrows,   the    hopes 
 
 and  fears,  of  which  they  were  the  occasion.    Of  him  it 
 
 may  be  Said,  more  than  of  any  other  of  the  go,„U\ 
 fellowship  of  the  prophets,  that  his  whole  life  lies  before 
 
 ns  as  in  an  open  bctoIL 
 
 ll  will    lie   convenient   to  arrange  the   main  faets  of 
 
 the  history  thus  laid  open  to  ns  under  the  reigns  of  the 
 several  kings  with  whom  ho  was  a  contemporary. 
 
 1.  Under  Josiah  (n.c.  G38 — 608).— In  tho  thirteenth 
 
 year  of  this  king  the  prophet  speaks  of  himself  as  still 
 "a  child."  That  word  is,  however,  somewhat  vague  in 
 its  signifieanee,  extending  from  infancy,  as  in  Exod  ii. 
 6;  1  Sam.  iv.  21,  to  adult  manhood,  as  in  1  Sam.  xxx. 
 17  ;  1  Kings  iii.  7.  All  that  it  can  lie  held  to  imply  is 
 that  the  prophet  felt  himself  to  he  relal ively  young  for 
 the  work  to  which  he  had   lieen  called,  that    he  had  not. 
 
 attained  the  average  age  of  a  prophet ;  and  this,  it  may 
 
 lie  inferred,  was  not  far  distant  from  that  at  which  the 
 Lei  ites  entered  on  their  work,  which  varied,  at  different 
 
 rriods,  from  twenty  to  thirty  (Num.  iv.  :!.  viii.Lll; 
 Chron.  xxiii.  :!.  'Jl).  We  may  reasonably  infer, 
 then,  from  the  way  in  which  the  prophet  speaks,,!' 
 himself,  that  he  was,  at  the  time  when  he  felt  himself 
 called  to  his  high  and  perilous  work,  somewhere  be- 
 tween twenty  and  twenty-five.  i.e..  that  the  first  BOVen, 
 or.  it  may  lie,  the  first  twelve  years  of  his  life,  were 
 passed  in  the  reigns  of  Manasseh  and  his  son  Anion. 
 
 He  is  described,  further,  as  "  being  the  sou  of  Hilkiah. 
 of  the  priests  that  were  in  Anathoth  "  (Jer.i.  1).  That 
 name,   it  will   be   remembered,   was   borne  by  the   high 
 
 priest   who   played   so  prominent   a   pari    iii  Josiah's 
 
 reformation.     -  Kings  xxii.  S.I     Then' are.  however,  no 
 
 sufficient  grounds  for  identifying  that  Hilkiah  with  the 
 
 father  of  the  prophet,  The  manner  in  which  the  latter 
 is  named,  without  any  mention  of  special  dignity,  is 
 against  it.  The  priests  of  Anathoth  were  of  flic  line 
 of  Ithamaril  Kings ii. 26;  1  Chron.  xxiv.  :'.:<.  while  the 
 high  priests,  from  /.adok  downwards,  were  of  the  line 
 of  Eleazar.  The  identity  of  nam,'  may,  however,  lie  re- 
 garded as  probably  indicating  some  close  connect  ion  of 
 affinity  or  friendship.  Other  coincidences  point  in  the 
 same  direction.  The  uncle  of  Jeremiah.  Shallnm  (Jer. 
 xxxii.  7).  bore  the  same  name  as  the  husband  of  Hnldah 
 the  prophetess  (2  Kings  xxii.  141.     Ahikam.  tho  son  of 
 
 Bhaphan,  tho  great  supporter  of  Hilkiah  the  high 
 prieef   and    Enldah  in  their  work  (2  Ohron.  ddov.  20), 
 
 was  also  throughout    the  protector  of  the  prophet     .l.r. 
 
 xxvi.  24).    The  strange  Rabbinic  tradition  that  eight 
 
 of  the  persons  most  conspicuous  in    the    history  of   this 
 
 period  (Jeremiah,  Baruch,  Seraiah,  Maawriah,  Hilkiah, 
 Bananeel  Enldah,  Shallnm)  were  all  I  from 
 
 the  harlot  Kahah  (Carpsov,  Tntrod.  in  lib,  7.T.  Jerem.) 
 
 may  pOSsiblj  have  been  a  distortion  of  the  fact  that  tho 
 persons  so  named  were  united  together,  as  by  i imunify 
 
 of  feeling,  so  also  by  affinity  or  friendship.      "With 
 
 regard  to  two  others"  of  the  number,  we  know  that 
 both    Baruch    and    Sraiah.  who  appear  as   disciples  of 
 
 i,het  (chap,  xxx\i.  l.li.  59),  were  gong  of  Neriah, 
 
 the  son  of  Maasoiah.  and  that  Maasoiah  J  Chron. 
 xxxiv.  Si  was  governor  of  Jerusalem,  acting  with 
 Hilkiah,    Huldah.   and    Bhaphan    in    the    reforms   of 
 
 Josiah. 
 
 With  these  facts  we  can  picture  to  ourselves  some  of 
 the  influences  which  entered  into  Jeremiah's  education, 
 and  prepared  the  way  for  his  prophetic  mission.^  The 
 nam,,  given  to  him  by  his  father,  with  its  signifieanee 
 as  "  Jehovah  exalts."  or  "is  exalted."  or  "Jehovah 
 throws  down"  (the  latter  meaning  resting  mi  the  more 
 
 accurate  etymology),  may  fairly  be  looked  on  as  em- 
 bodying what  was  contemplated  and  prayed  for  as  the 
 
 ideal  of  his  life.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  name  was 
 common  at  that  time,  e.g.,  in  tho  case  of  the  father 
 of  the  wife  of  Josiah  (2  Kings  xxiii  :ll  '.and  of  one  of  the 
 Rechabites  (Chap.  XXXV.  3).  That  name  may  be  thought 
 of.  accordingly,  as  not  without  its  influence  on  the  pro- 
 phet's early  years.  As  he  grew  to  boyhood  he  would  hear 
 of  the  cruelties  and  the  apostasy  of  Manasseh  and  of 
 Amon.  For  him.  as  for  Isaiah,  there  would  be  a  train- 
 ing in  the  law  and  literature  of  Israel,  in  whatever 
 form  it,  then  existed,  in  Job.  and  Proverbs,  and  such  of 
 tho  Psalms  and  the  writings  of  the  earlier  prophets  as 
 were  then  extant.  The  so-called  Alphabetic  1'salnis  i\,. 
 xxv..x\xiv..xxx\ii..cxi..exii..cxix..cxlv.  may  have  helped 
 to  form  the  taste  and  style  which  afterwards  displayed 
 themselves  in  the  alphabetic  structure  of  till  I 
 linns.  The  writings  of  the  greatest  ,,f  his  predc 
 Isaiah,  a!  least,  as  far  as  chaps,  i.  xxxix.  arc  concerned, 
 could  scarcely  have  been  otherwise  than  familiar  to 
 him.  His  early  manhood  must  have  coincided  with  the 
 earlier  reforms  of  Josiah.  whose  life  would  seem  to  have 
 run  parallel  with  his  own.  each    being  apparently  about 
 
 the  same  age  when  the  prophet  received  his  call. 
 Josiah  having  ascended  the  throne  at  the  age  of  eight 
 
 (2  Kings  XXil.  1).  Tin-  reverence  with  which  he  looks 
 on  the  Hechabitcs.the  fact  that  one  of  tho-e  Rechabites 
 the  same  name  (chap.  xxxv.  3),  the  probability 
 that  one  trained  in  the  household  of  a  devout  priest 
 would    not   be   unmindful  of   the  teaching  of  Isaiah 
 
 3 
 
JEREMIAH. 
 
 (xxviii.  7)  and  Amos  (ii.  11,  12),  as  to  the  perils  of 
 wine  and  strong  drink,  make  it  probable  that  he  too 
 was  one  of  tho  Nazarites  to  whom  the  latter  prophet 
 looked  as  the  strength  of  Israel,  and  whom  Jeremiah 
 himself  names  with  reverence  and  admiration  (Lam. 
 iv.  7).  To  such  an  outward  consecration  to  an  ascetic 
 life,  the  words  which  speak  of  him  as  having  been 
 "  sanctified  from  his  mother's  womb "  (chap.  i.  5) 
 naturally  seem  to  point.  The  child  was  to  be  the 
 father  of  the  man,  the  priestly  Nazarite  boy  was 
 already  half-way  on  the  road  to  a  prophet's  work,  was 
 already,  by  God's  calling  and  election,  "ordained  a 
 prophet  unto  the  nations  "  (chap.  i.  5). 
 
 In  such  a  character,  reminding  us,  in  many  of  its 
 features,  of  the  young  Timotheus,  we  find,  as  might  be 
 expected,  the  notes  of  the  ascetic  temperament.  He  is 
 devout,  sensitive,  easily  depressed  and  made  self-dis- 
 trustful, kindling  all  too  easily  into  a  bitter  and  angry 
 indignation,  gifted,  in  a  special  measure,  with  the  gift 
 of  tears.  The  circumstances  of  his  call  imply  a  pre- 
 vious preparation,  as  did  those  of  Isaiah's.  He  had 
 mourned  over  his  people's  sins,  and  yearned  to  bear  his 
 witness  against  them ;  but  then  there  came  the  ques- 
 tion, which  has  been  asked  a  thousand  times  by  men  of 
 like  character,  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  p  The 
 burden  of  the  task  of  being  a  prophet  of  the  Lord 
 seemed  too  heavy  to  be  bome.  The  answer  to  tliis  feel- 
 ing came  in  the  special  call,  neither  to  be  ignored  nor 
 resisted,  for  tho  circumstances  of  which  the  reader  is 
 referred  to  the  Notes  on  chap.  i.  His  weakness  was  to 
 be  fortified  with  a  strength  higher  than  his  own.  As 
 in  the  case  of  Isaiah,  so  also  here,  it  would  seem  that 
 the  call  was  not  followed  by  immediate  prophetic  action. 
 Jeremiah  is  not  named  in  the  history  of  Josiah's  refor- 
 mation, which  he  must  have  watched,  however,  with  in- 
 tense interest,  not,  perhaps,  without  some  misgivings, 
 like  those  which  Isaiah  had  felt  during  the  like  work  of 
 Hczekiah,  as  to  its  reality  and  inward  thoroughness. 
 The  prophet's  keen  eye,  in  this  as  in  other  things,  saw 
 below  tho  surface,  and  discerned  that  something  more 
 was  wanted  than  tho  breaking  down  of  idol  sanctuaries, 
 or  the  abolition  of  the  worship  of  the  high  places.  He 
 looked  in  vain  for  the  righteousness  without  which 
 national  restoration  was  impossible.  It  can  scarcely  be 
 doubted,  too,  that  he  must  have  seen  with  some  dis- 
 quietude the  foreign  policy  which  led  statesmen  and 
 people  to  seek  safety,  as  their  fathers  had  done,  in  an 
 alliance  with  Egypt  (chap.  ii.  36).  For  Josiah  personally, 
 who,  acting  on  a  different  policy,  opposed  that  alliance, 
 and  fell  in  battle  against  Pharaoh  Necho  at  Megiddo 
 (2  Kings  xxiii.  29),  he  would  naturally  feel  a  warm  and 
 admiring  affection,  and  it  is  probable  that  his  first  ap- 
 pearance as  a  writer  was  in  the  lamentations  which  he 
 composed  on  that  king's  death,  but  which  are  not  now 
 extant,  their  fame  having  apparently  been  overshadowed 
 by  the  greater  elegies  that  now.bear  that  name.  Possibly 
 we  may  also  refer  to  this  period  some  of  the  earlier 
 chapters  of  the  prophet's  writings,  which  have  the  cha- 
 racter of  a  general  survey  of  the  moral  and  religious 
 condition  of  the  people,  and  to  which  no  specific  date  is 
 assigned,  as  in  the  case  of  most  of  the  later  chapters. 
 
 2.  Under  Jehoahaz  (oe  Shallum).— The  short 
 reign  of  this  king,  who  was  chosen  by  the  people  on 
 hearing  of  Josiah's  death,  and  deposed  after  three 
 months  by  Pharaoh  Necho,  gave  little  scope  for  direct 
 prophetic  action.  As  representing  an  anti-Egyptian 
 policy,  and  thus  continuing  in  the  line  of  action  which 
 Josiah  had  adopted,  the  prophet  probably  sympathised 
 with  and  supported  him,  and  the   tone  of  respectful 
 
 sorrow  with  which  he  speaks  of  him  in  his  exile  (chap. 
 xxii.  10),  contrasts  strikingly  with  the  stern  rebuke 
 which  he  addresses  to  his  successor  (chap.  xxii.  13 — 19). 
 It  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  most  of  those  who 
 were  Jeremiah's  protectors  iu  the  reigns  that  followed 
 — Shaphan,  Ahikarn,  Maaseiah,  and  others — were  sup- 
 porters of  his  policy  at  this  crisis. 
 
 3.  Under  Jehoiakim  (b.c.  607 — 597). — The  eleven 
 years  of  this  king's  reign  were  for  the  prophet  a  time 
 of  conspicuous  activity.  He  found  little  ground  for 
 hope  in  the  Egyptian  alliance  of  which  the  king  was 
 the  representative,  still  less  in  the  self-indulgent  and 
 luxurious  character  of  the  king  himself  (chap.  xxii.  13 — 
 16),  or  in  the  priests  and  prophets,  the  Pashurs,  Hana- 
 niahs,  and  the  rest,  who  were  dominant  in  his  council 
 and  his  court.  Forlhim  the  rising  power  of  the  Chal- 
 dseans  under  Nabopolassar  and  Nebuchadnezzar  was  to 
 be  accepted,  not  only  as  inevitable,  but  as  appointed  for 
 the  punishment,  and  therefore  for  the  education,  of  his 
 people.  The  King  of  Babylon  was  God's  servant  doing 
 His  work  (chaps,  xxv.  9,  xxvii.  6).  To  resist  him  was 
 to  resist  the  ordinance  of  God.  As  he  had  foretold 
 (chap,  xlvi.),  the  short-lived  triumph  of  Pharaoh  Necho 
 in  the  capture  of  Carchemish  was  followed  by  a  crush- 
 ing defeat,  which  placed  Jehoiakim  at  the  mercy  of  the 
 Chaldaean  king,  and  compelled  him  to  renounce  his  de- 
 pendence on  the  "  broken  reed  "  of  Egypt,  and  to  accept 
 the  position  of  a  vassal  king  under  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 Some  of  the  more  striking  incidents  of  this  time  of 
 conflict  call  for  a  special  notice.  At  the  opening  of 
 Jehoiakim's  reign,  the  prophet  foretells  the  desolation  of 
 the  Temple.  It  should  be  laid  waste,  even  as  Shiloh  had 
 been  (chap.  xxvi.  6).  Priests,  prophets,  people  are  en- 
 raged, and  threaten  him  with  death  (chap.  xxvi.  8),  but 
 are  foiled  by  the  influence  of  his  lay  protectors,  who 
 urge  the  precedent  of  a  like  prediction  uttered  by  Micah 
 in  the  days  of  Hezekiah.  as  an  argument  in  his  defence 
 (chap.  xxvi.  10 — 18).  The  fate  of  a  contemporary  pro- 
 phet, Urijali,  is  recorded  by  him  at  this  juncture,  ap- 
 parently as  showing  how  narrow  his  own  escape  had  been 
 (chap.  xxvi.  23).  The  catastrophe  of  Carchemish  natu- 
 rally led  to  a  fuller  utterance.  He  foretells  the  seventy 
 years  of  the  captivity  (chap.  xxv.  11),  and  symbolically 
 gives  the  cup  of  Jehovah's  wrath  to  all  the  nations 
 which,  one  after  another,  were  to  fall  under  the  Baby- 
 lonian yoke,  ending  in  predicting,  under  the  cypher 
 form  of  Sheshach,  the  fate  of  Babylon  itself  ( chap. 
 xxv.  17 — 26).  To  this  period,  "when  the  armies  of  the 
 Chakheans  were  driving  those  who  lived  in  tents  or 
 villages  to  take  refuge  in  Jerusalem,  or  other  fortified 
 cities,  we  must  refer  the  interesting  episode  of  the 
 Rechabites  in  chap.  xxxv. 
 
 In  the  same  year  we  have  the  first  indication  of  the 
 prophet's  work  as  the  editor  of  his  own  prophecies. 
 His  secretary  and  disciple  Baruch  writes,  as  he  dic- 
 tates, a  collection  of  his  more  striking  prophecies,  pro- 
 bably corresponding  roughly  with  the  earlier  chapters  of 
 our  present  book.  Jeremiah  himself  was  hindered,  we 
 know  not  how,  whether  by  illness  or  by  prudence,  from 
 appearing  in  public,  but  Baruch  solemnly  read  what  he 
 had  written  in  the  crowded  courts  of  the  Temple.  Once 
 again  priests  and  prophets  were  stirred  to  wrath.  The 
 matter  came  to  the  ears  of  tho  king,  who,  in  his  im- 
 potent anger,  burnt  the  parchment  roll,  in  spite  of  the 
 protest  of  Jeremiah's  friends.  Orders  were  given  to 
 arrest  the  prophet  and  the  scribe ;  but  they  again 
 escaped,  and  re-wrote  all  that  had  been  destroyed  with 
 many  like  words  (chap,  xxxvi.).  The  contrasted  charac- 
 ters of  the  two  friends — one  seeking  great  things  for 
 
•JKKKMIAII. 
 
 himself ,  eager  to  piny  a  prominent    purl  in  the  history 
 
 of  the  time,  the  other  content,  and  wishing  to  make  his 
 disciple  content,  it'  his  life  was  "given  him  Coxa  prey" 
 
 eome  < ■  n t    in   the  interesting  epiaode  of  chap,  xlv., 
 which  belongs  probably  to  this  period. 
 
 To  tins  reign  we  may  also  probably  refer  tlio  sym- 
 bolic toanhrng  which  was  presented  in  a  somewhat 
 startling  form,  whan  Jeremiah,  having  first 
 directed  to  learn  the  lesson  of  the  potter's  work  as  a 
 parable  of  (j i ill's  teaching  with  the  nations  of  the 
 world  (chap,  xviii.i.  was  afterwards  told  to  go  to  the 
 
 valley  of  Ben-Hinnom,  and  to  warn  king  and  i pie  of 
 
 (he  destruction  that  was  coming  upon  them  by  break- 
 in  g  in  their  presence  the  potter'a  vessel,  which  was  con- 
 
 ili'inni'il  as  worthless  (chap,  xix.h  This  was  followed 
 by  another  ontlmrst  of  malignant  rage  on  the  pari  of 
 1'aslnir  the  priest,  from  which  this  time  the  prophet  did 
 in ■!  escape.  The  painful  and  ignominious  punishment 
 of  the  stocks  entered  into  his  soul,  and  called  forth  a 
 imrsi  at  once  of  denunciation  and  passionate  despair 
 
 which,    except    in    Pss.   lxix.    and    cix.,    has    scarcely    B 
 
 parallel  in  the  literature  of  the  Old  Testament  (chap.  xx). 
 If  we  aeeept  the  reeeived    text  and    the  literal    inter- 
 pretation of  chap.  xiii.  1  — 11.  we  have  to  assign  to  this 
 
 period  of  Jeremiah's  life  the  two  journeys  to  Euphrates 
 
 which  are  there  narrated.  Such  journeys  were  not  in 
 the  nature  of  the  ease  improbable.      Jonah,  and  probably 
 
 Nahum,   had  already    found    their    way   to   Nineveh 
 
 (Jonah  iii.  8),  Muuassch  and  other  members  of  his 
 royal  household  had  been  taken  to  Babylon  (2  Chron. 
 EXxiii.  11  (  her  and  above  the  symbolism  of  the  nar- 
 ral  ive  there  may  have  been  a  personal  motive  conneeted 
 with  BUOh  a  journey,  the  desire  to  do  what  he  could   for 
 
 his  country's  welfare  by  b ming  acquainted  with  its 
 
 destined  conquerors,  Possibly  we  may  trace  the  special 
 orders  which  were  given  by  Nebuchadnezzar  for  his 
 protection  (chap,  mix.  11)  to  the  acquaintance  thus 
 
 begun.  If  we  mi'_rht  assign  the  visits  to  a  period  after 
 the  first  deportation  of  Jewish  captives  to  Babylon  in 
 the  third  year  of  Jehoiakim  (Dan.  i.  1).  we  might  con- 
 nect (hem  with  the  desire  to  watch  over  the  fortunes  ..f 
 the  exiles,  and  to  renew  his  intercourse  with  the  prophet 
 who  was  settled  with  his  companions  on  the  banks  of 
 Ohebar  (Ezek.  i.  1).  or  with  Daniel  and  his  friends  in 
 the  court  at  Babylon.  The  fact  that  the  former 
 prophet  was  with  him  at  Jerusalem  dnring  great  part 
 of  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim.  and  that  his  teaching  shows 
 many  traces  of  Jeremiah's  influence  (eomp.  in  par- 
 ticular Ezek.  xviii.  2  and  Jer.  xxxi.  29),  may,  at  all 
 events,  be  noted  as  throwing  light  upon  the  sur- 
 roundings of  the  latter's  life,  and  on  the  influence 
 which  lie  exercised  over  his  contemporaries. 
 
 4.  Under  Jehoiachin  (B.C.  597).— The  short  three 
 months'  reign  of  this  king  witnessed  the  fulfilment  of 
 
 Jeremiah's  predictions,  in  the  captivity  first  of  his  pre- 
 decessor, and  then  of  Jehoiachin  himself,  together  with 
 all  the  officers  of  their  courts  and  the  wealthier  part  of 
 the  population,  We  may  infer,  from  the  fact  of  his 
 being  deposed  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  that  he  was  led  by 
 his  counsellors  (he  himself  was  a  mere  boy  I  to  enter  into 
 intrigues  againsl  thn  fihnldmau  sovereignty:  and  the  tone 
 in  which  Jeremiah  sjn'aks  of  him  (chap.  xxii.  2-1 — 30) 
 implies  that  he  and  the  queen-mother — probably  the 
 master-mind  of  the  policy  of  the  court  (2  Kin^s  \\i\ 
 15) — were  disposed  to  reject  his  counsels.  In  him  and 
 in  his  childless  age  the  prophet  saw  the  close  of  the 
 dynasty,  in  the  direct  line  of  succession,  of  the  house  of 
 David  It  is  noticeable  that  Jeremiah,  though  a  priest,  es- 
 caped the  doom  of  exile  which  probably  fell  on  his  friend 
 
 and  disciple  Ezi-kiel.  and  the  difference  in  tluir  fortunes 
 may  be  traced  without  mueh  risk  of  error  to  the 
 prominent  pari  which  the  former  had    taken  from   first 
 
 to  last  as  eounselling  subjection,  possibly  to  the  per- 
 sonal favour  with  whieh  he  was  already  regarded  by  the 
 
 Chaldaym  riders.    The  effect  of  the  separation  mu-t. 
 
 however,  have  added  to  his  sen-e  of  loneliness.  -Not  t 
 few  of  his  friends  and  protectors  must  have  -hareil  in 
 the  captivity.  lie  had  to  tight  the  battle  of  his  life 
 during  his  remaining  years  more  single-handed  than 
 before. 
 
 5.  Under  Zedekiah  (b.c.  597 — 586).— As  might 
 be  expected  from  the  fact  that  he  had  been  appointed  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  as  likely  to  bo  a  more  submissive 
 than  his  predecessors,  appointed  possibly  with 
 Jeremiah's  approval,  the  prophet  reeeives  at  the  hands 
 of  this  prince,  on  the  whole,  a  better  treatment  than  at 
 those  of  his  predecessors.    The  king reepects him, keeps 
 
 his  counsel,  endeavours  to  protect  him  (chap,  xxxvii. 
 3 — 17,xxxviii.  lti).  The  very  name  whieh  he  adopted  ou 
 his  accession  to  the  throne.  '■  Righteous  is  Jab."  or 
 ••Jehovah"  (2  Kings  xxiv.  18),  seems  to  have  been  in- 
 tended to  identify  liitn  with  the  acceptance  of  the  pro- 
 phet's teaching  that  in  "  the  Lord  our  Righteousness" 
 (chap,  xxiii.  tii  was  to  he  found  the  archetype  and  the 
 source  of  all  righteous  government.  The  king,  however, 
 was  weak  and  vacillating.  The  prophet  felt  keenly  that 
 only  the  most  Worthless  remnant  of  the  people,  the  "  vile 
 tigs  "  of  (he  crop,  were  left  in  Judah  (chap.  xxiv.  5 — 8). 
 It  was  to  the  other  remnant  in  the  exile  of  Babylon  that 
 he  turned  with  words  of  counsel  in  the  letter,  which  more 
 than  any  other  Old  Testament  document  seems  to  fore- 
 shadow the  epistles  of  the  New  (chap.  xxix.).  Even  there 
 also,  however,  there  were  false  prophets,  among  whom 
 Zedekiah.  Ahab.  and  Shemaiali  were  conspicuous,  who 
 spoke  of  him  as  a  "madman"  (chap.  xxix.  Jtl  .  and 
 urged  the  priests  at  Jerusalem  to  more  active  measures 
 of  persecution,  not  knowing  that  they  were  thus  draw- 
 ing upon  themselves  a  quick  and  terrible  retribution. 
 
 matters  came  to  a  crisis.  The  apparent  revival 
 of  the  power  of  Egypt  under  Aprics  (the  Pharaoh- 
 hophra  of  chap.  xliv.  ;jtli  raised  false  hopes  in  the  minds 
 of  Zedekiah  and  his  advisers,  and  drew  Judah  and  the 
 neighbouring  nations  into  projects  of  revolt  (chap. 
 xxxvii.  .5  .  The  clearness  with  which  Jeremiah  fore- 
 saw the  ultimate  destruction  of  Babylon,  made  him  all 
 the  more  certain  that  it  was  not  to  come  at  once  or 
 through  the  intervention  of  Egypt.  He  appeared  in 
 the  streets  of  Jerusalem  with  bonds  and  yokes  upon  his 
 neck-,  announcing  that  they  were  meant  for  Judah  and 
 its  cities  (chap,  xxvii.  2).  The  false  prophet  Hananiah. 
 who  broke  the  offensive  symbols,  and  predicted  the  de- 
 struction of  the  liower  of  Babylon  within  two  yean, 
 learnt  that  a  yoke  of  iron  was  upon  the  neck  of  all 
 the  nations,  and  died  himself  while  it  was  still  [nooning 
 heavily  on  Judah  (chap,  xxviii.  3—171.  The  approach  of 
 an  Egyptian  army,  however,  and  the  consequent  de- 
 parture of  the  Chaldseans,  made  the  position  of  Jere- 
 miah full  of  danger,  and  he  sought  to  effect  his  escape 
 from  a  city  in  which  he  seemed  powerless  for  good,  and 
 to  tike  refuge  in  his  own  town  of  Auathoth  (chap, 
 xxxvii.  12),  the  men  of  that  city  who  had  sought  his  life 
 (chap.  xi.  21    ha  vine-  probably  Men  taken  into  exile  after 
 
 :  Chaldean  invasion.  "The  discovery  of  this  plan 
 led  not  unnaturally  to  the  charge  of  desertion.      He  was 
 
 1.  as  "  falling  away  to  the  Chaltheans."  as  others 
 were  doing  ichap.  xxxvii.  1  t  .  and.  in  spite  of  his  denial, 
 was  thrown  into  a  dungeon  chap,  xxxvii.  16).  The  in- 
 terposition of  the  king,  who  still  respected  and  con- 
 
JEEEMIAH. 
 
 suited  him,  led  to  some  mitigation  of  the  rigours  of  his 
 confinement  (chap,  xxxvii.  21);  but  as  this  milder  treat- 
 ment left  him  able  to  speak  to  the  people,  the  princes 
 of  Judah,  bent  on  the  Egyptian  alliance,  and  counting 
 on  the  king's  being  unable  to  resist  them,  threw  him 
 into  the  prison-pit,  and  would  have  left  him  to  die  there 
 in  its  foulness  (chap,  xxxviii.  6).  From  this  horrible 
 fate  he  was  delivered  by  the  kindness  of  the  Ethiopian 
 eunuch,  Ebed-Melech,  and  the  king's  lingering  regard 
 for  him,  and  was  restored  to  the  milder  custody 
 in  the  king's  house  where  Baruch  and  other  friends 
 could  visit  him  (chap,  xxxii.  16).  The  king  himself 
 sent  Pashur  (not  the  one  already  named)  and  Zephaniah, 
 both,  it  would  appear,  friendly  to  the  prophet  (chap. 
 xxix.  29),  to  consult  him.  The  prophet,  as  if  touched 
 by  this  humility,  speaks  to  the  king  in  gentler  terms. 
 Exile  is  inevitable,  but  he  shall  at  least  "  die  in  peace," 
 and  receive,  in  marked  contrast  with  Jehoiakim,  an 
 honourable  burial  (chap,  xxxiv.  3 — 5).  At  no  period  of 
 his  life  is  the  prophet  truer  to  his  calling.  He  had 
 before  to  fight  against  false  hopes  of  liberation.  He 
 has  now  to  contend  against  the  despair  which  made 
 men  lose  all  faith  in  the  promises  of  God  and  in  their 
 own  future.  That  danger  the  prophet  was  taught  to 
 meet  in  the  most  effectual  way.  With  a  confidence  in 
 that  future  which  lias  been  compared  to  that  of  the 
 Roman  who  bought  at  its  full  value  the  very  ground  on 
 which  the  forces  of  Hannibal  were  encamped  (Livy 
 xxvi.  11),  he  too  bought,  with  all  requisite  formalities, 
 the  field  at  Anathoth,  which  his  kinsman  Hanameel 
 wished  to  get  rid  of  (chap,  xxxii.  6 — 9),  and  proclaimed 
 not  only  that  "fields  and  vineyards  should  again  be 
 possessed  in  the  lands,"  but  that  the  "  voice  of  glad- 
 ness "  should  once  more  be  heard  there,  and  that  under 
 "  the  Lord  our  Righteousness  "  the  house  of  David  and 
 the  priests  the  Levites  should  never  be  without  repre- 
 sentatives (chap,  xxxiii.  21 — 26).  To  this  period  also 
 we  may  assign  the  prophecy  of  a  New  Covenant  (chap. 
 xxxi.  31),  which  was  destined  to  have  so  marvellous  a 
 fulfilment,  and  which  has  fashioned,  under  the  teaching 
 of  Him  who  came  to  be  the  Mediator  of  that  covenant, 
 the  faith  and  the  terminology  of  Christendom.  His 
 influence  may  also  be  traced  in  the  renewal  of  the 
 national  covenant  with  Jehovah  (chap,  xxxiv.  18,  19), 
 princes,  priests,  and  people  walking  in  procession  be- 
 tween the  two  parts  of  the  sacrifice  (chap,  xxxiv.  19), 
 and  in  the  proclamation  of  liberty  to  the  Hebrew 
 servants  and  handmaids  whom  the  oppression  of  the 
 rich  had  brought  into  bondage  (chap,  xxxiv.  9 — 14). 
 Tho  reformation  thus  effected  was,  however,  only  on 
 the  surface.  Covenant  and  proclamation  were  alike 
 disregarded.  The  law  of  the  Sabbatic  year  was  set  at 
 nought  as  that  of  the  Sabbath  day  had  been  before 
 (chap.  xvii.  21 — 27).  The  cup  of  iniquity  was  full,  and 
 the  judgment  came.  The  armies  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
 besieged  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  exposed  to  all  the 
 horrors  of  famine  (Lam.  ii.  12,  20,  iv.  9).  At  last  the 
 city  was  taken,  and  the  Temple  burnt.  The  king  and 
 his  princes  endeavoured  to  escape,  but  were  taken 
 prisoners  in  the  plains  of  Jericho.  Zedekiah  had  to 
 see  his  children  slain  before  his  eyes,  and,  as  if  that 
 were  to  be  the  last  sight  he  was  to  look  upon,  was 
 afterwards  blinded,  and  taken,  as  Jehoiachin  had  been, 
 to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  days  as  a  prisoner  at 
 Babylon  (chap.  lii.  10,  11). 
 
 6.  After  the  Capture  op  Jerusalem  (b.c. 
 586 — ?) — The  prophet  and  his  protectors,  who  had  all 
 along  counselled  submission  to  tho  king  of  Babylon, 
 had  now  the  prospect  of  better  treatment  than  their 
 
 fellows.  A  special  charge  was  given  to  Nebuzar-adan 
 to  protect  the  person  of  Jeremiah  (chap,  xxxix.  11), 
 and  after  being  carried  to  Ramah  with  the  crowd  of 
 prisoners,  he  was  set  free,  and  offered  his  choice 
 whether  he  would  go  to  Babylon  with  the  prospect  of 
 rising,  as  Daniel  and  his  friends  had  risen,  to  an  honour- 
 able position  in  the  king's  court,  or  remain  under 
 the  protection  of  Gedaliah,  the  son  of  his  steadfast 
 friend  Ahikam,  who  had  been  appointed  governor  over 
 the  cities  of  Judah  (chap  xl.  1 — 5).  The  prophet's  love 
 for  his  people  led  him  to  choose  the  latter  alternative, 
 and  the  Chaldsean  commander  "  gave  him  a  reward," 
 and  set  him  free.  Then  followed  a  short  interval  of 
 peace,  soon  broken,  however,  by  the  murder  of  Gedaliah 
 by  Ishmael  and  his  confederates.  "We  are  left  to  con- 
 jecture how  the  prophet  himself  escaped  with  life,  but 
 the  fulness  of  his  narrative  of  these  events  leads  to  the 
 conclusion  that  he  was  among  the  captives  whom 
 Ishmael  carried  off  to  the  Ammonites,  and  who  were 
 released  by  the  intervention  of  Johauan  (chap.  xli.). 
 Jeremiah  was  thus  deprived  of  one  of  his  most  valued 
 friends,  but  Baruch  was  still  with  him,  and  it  is  signifi- 
 cant that  the  people  turned  to  him  for  counsel.  They 
 wanted,  it  would  seem,  his  sanction  to  the  foregone 
 conclusion  that  their  only  chance  of  escaping  the 
 punishment,  likely  enough  to  be  indiscriminate,  which 
 the  Chaldseans  would  exact  for  the  murder  of  Gedaliah, 
 was  in  an  immediate  flight  to  Egypt  (chap.  xlii.  14). 
 That  sanction  he  refused,  at  the  risk  of  bringing  on 
 himself  and  Baruch  the  old  charge  of  treachery  (chap, 
 xliii.  3),  but  the  people,  bent  on  following  their  own 
 plans,  forced  him  and  his  disciple  to  accompany  them 
 to  Tahpanhes.  There  we  have  the  last  recorded  scene 
 of  the  prophet's  life.  He  once  niore  rebukes  the  people 
 vehemently  for  their  multiplied  idolatries,  among  which 
 the  worship  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven  had  been  the  most 
 conspicuous  (chap,  xliv.),  does  not  sin-ink  from  again 
 speaking  of  Nebuchadnezzar  as  "  the  servant  of 
 Jehovah"  (chap,  xliii.  10),  and  foretells  that  he  will 
 conquer  Egypt  as  he  had  conquered  Judah.  After  all 
 this  all  is  uncertain.  If  we  were  to  accept  chap.  lii.  as 
 the  work  of  the  prophet,  we  should  have  to  think  of 
 him  as  living  for  twenty-six  years  after  the  destruction 
 of  Jerusalem.  Probabilities  are,  however,  against  this 
 conclusion,  and  there  is  greater  likelihood  on  the  side 
 of  the  tradition,  reported  by  Tertullian  (adv.  Gnost. 
 c.  8),  Jerome  (adv.  Jovin.  ii.  37),  and  others,  that  he 
 was  stoned  to  death  at  Tahpanhes  by  the  Jews  whom 
 he  had  provoked  by  his  rebukes.  Most  commentators 
 on  the  New  Testament  see  a  reference  to  this  in  Heb. 
 xi.  37,  just  as  they  refer  the  words  "  were  sawn 
 asunder  "  to  the  martyrdom  of  Isaiah.  An  Alexandrian 
 tradition  reported  that  his  bones  were  brought  to  that 
 city  by  Alexander  the  Great  (Chron.  Pasch,  p.  156,  ed. 
 Dindorf),  and  up  to  the  last  century  travellers  were 
 told  that  he  was  buried  near  the  pyramid  of  Ghizch 
 (Lucas,  Travels  in.  the  Levant,  p.  28).  On  the  other 
 hand,  there  is  the  Jewish  statement  (quoted  in  Smith's 
 Dictionary  of  the  Bible),  that  he  and  Baruch  escaped 
 to  Babylon  or  Jiutea,  and  died  there  in  peace. 
 Josephus  is  silent  as  to  his  fate.  Other  traditions 
 have,  at  least,  the  interest  of  showing  the  impression 
 which  Jeremiah's  work  and  life  left  on  later  genera- 
 tions. His  prophecy  of  the  seventy  years'  exile,  which 
 had  at  first  been  full  of  terror,  came  to  be  a  ground  of 
 hope  (chap.  xxv.  11 ;  Dan.  ix.  2 ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21). 
 The  fulfilment  of  that  prophecy  probably  impressed  it- 
 self on  the  mind  of  Cyrus.  On  the  return  from  Babylon 
 his  writings  were  received,  probably  under  Ezra  or  the 
 scribes  of  the  Great  Synagogue,   among  the  sacred 
 
JEREMIAH 
 
 books  i >f  [anal,  ami  iii  the  Babylonian  recension  < In  y. 
 and  ii"t  those  <>f  fetish,  took  the  foremost  place 
 in  ihc-  company  of  the  prophets,  B— W«I  coming 
 between  the  two.  The  Jewish  saying  "thai  the  Bpinl 
 of  Jeremiah  dwelt  in  Zechariah  "  bears  witness  to 
 the    influence    wllieh   the    one    prophet    was    believed    to 
 
 have  exercised  on  the  mind  ox  the  other.    The  fulfil- 
 
 meiit  of   his  prediction  of    the  return  of  tile  exiles  from 
 
 the  Babylonian  captivity  ted  to  his  being  regarded,  so 
 to  speak, ae  the  patron  Rami  of  his  country.  I'  was 
 believed  that  he  had  taken  the  tabernacle  and  the  ark 
 
 ami  the  altar  of  ineeiise,  and  had  concealed  them  in  a 
 ran'  on    Mount     Nebo    till    the    time  when   God    should 
 
 gather  His  people  together  once  again  (2  Mace,  ii,  1 — 8  . 
 He  appeared  to  Jndas  .Maccabeus  as  "a  man  with  gray 
 hairs  and  exceeding  glorious,"  as  one  who  "prayed 
 much  for  the  holy  city."  ami  gave  the  hero  a  " golden 
 sword"  with  which  to  "fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord" 
 (2  Mace.  x\\  L3 — 16).  He  is  recognised  as  having  a 
 chief  place  anionic  the  prophets  of  Israel,  sanctified 
 from  his  mother's  womb  lEeelns.  xlix.  6,  7).  His 
 authority  is  claimed  for  an  apocryphal  letter  to  tho  cap- 
 tives of  Babylon, containing  a  long  polemic  against  the 
 follies  of  idolatry  (Bar.  vi.).  At  a  later  period  his 
 name  was  attached,  as  in  Matt,  xxvii.  9,  to  prophecies 
 
 from  another  I k  in  the  sacred  canon,  eit her  as  haying 
 
 been  their  original  author,  or  in  the  belief  that   ho  was 
 
 the  representative  of  all  the  prophets  of  the  captivity. 
 
 In  the  time  of  our  Lord's  ministry,  his  re-appearance 
 was  expected,  like  that  of  Elijah,  to  prepare  the  way 
 for  the  Christ.  Some  said  of  Jesits  of  Nazareth  that 
 Ho  was  ••  Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the  prophets  "  (Matt.  xvi. 
 14).  Probably  he  was  ••  thai  prophet "  referred  to  in 
 John  i.  21.  The  belief  that  ho  was  tho  prophet  of 
 Kent  wiii.  18,  has  been  held  by  later  Jewish  com- 
 mentators i  Abarbauel,  in  t'arpzoy,  Introd.  in  V.  T. 
 Jerem  .  The  traditions  as  to  his  re-appearance  lingered 
 eyen  in  the  Christian  Church,  and  appeared  in  the  belief 
 that    he  was  one  of   the  "  two  witnesses"  of   Rev.  xi.  3 
 
 (Vktorinus,  i/i  loe.).  Yet  wilder  forms  of  legends 
 were  found  in  Egypt.    It  was  ho  who  had  foretold  that 
 
 the  idols  of  that  country  should  one  day  fall  to  tho 
 ground,  at  the  presence  of  the  Virgin  and  her  child, 
 lie  bad  played  the  part  of  a  St.  Patrick,  and  had  de- 
 livered the  region  of  the  Delta  of  the  Nile,  where  ho 
 
 dwidt.  from  serpents  I  Epiphan.  </<  17/.,  proph.  op.  ii. 
 p.  239).  He  had  returned  from  Egypt  to  Jerusalem. 
 and  had  lived  there  for  three  hundred  years  (D'Herbelot, 
 Hihl.  Orient.,  p.  189).  The  narrative  of  his  sufferings 
 was  expanded  into  a  history  like  that  of  a  Christian 
 martyrdom  lEusebius.  Frosp.  Evang.  ix.  39). 
 
 II.  Character  and  Style.— In  the  popular  de- 
 scription of  Jeremiah  as  the  "  weeping  prophet, "in  the 
 form  in  which  Michael  An  gain  has  portrayed  him  in  tho 
 
 Sistine   Chapel,   as   br ling,   with   downcast   eyes,   in 
 
 sorrowful  meditation,  we  have  a  true  conception  of  the 
 prophet's   character  and   life.     Of  all   tho   prophets  ,  f 
 
 the  Old  Testament,  he  would  seem  to  hare  had  the 
 hardest  lot  of  Buffering.    He  was  pre-eminently  "the 
 
 man  who  had  seen  affliction:"  "no  sorrow  was  like 
 unto  his  sorrow"  (Lam.   i.    12.  iii.  1).     His  whole  life 
 
 was  spent  in  what  seemed  I  fruitless  strife  with  the 
 c\  ils  ,,f  his  time.  Cassandra-like,  he  had  to  utter  warn- 
 ings which  wire  disregarded.  Like  Phocion,  in  the 
 history  of  Athens,  he  had  to  counsel  submission  to  an 
 alien  conqueror,  and  to  incur  the  reproach  of  being 
 treacherous  and  faint-hearted.  Had  the  horizon  of  his 
 hopes  been  that  of  his  own  times  only,  his  heart  must 
 have  shrunk  back  into  despair.     That  which  sustained 
 
 him  was  the  inextinguishable  hope, which  behsdmhari 
 from  Laiah.  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  restoration  of 
 the  true  Israel  of  (omI.  the  new  and  better  Covenant, 
 the  faith  in  "the  Lord  our  Righteousness."     In  his 
 
 loneliness  and    bis   sorrows,  in    bis   susceptibility  to  in- 
 .tiering   and   keenest    indignation,  bis  man  -t 
 
 parallel  in    the    history   of   literature    may,    |H-rhap8,  be 
 
 found  in  Dante,    in  him,  at  all  events,  tin-  great  noran. 
 
 tinc    found  one  of   the  founts  of   his    inspiration,  epi 
 him  again  and  again,  both  in  his   poetry  and    his   prose 
 writings,  and  borrows  from  him  the  Opening  symbolism 
 of   the    I),, inn    Commedia.      (Comp.    Jer.   v.  6   with 
 Dante's  Inferno,  c.  i.) 
 
 To  associate  tin-  name  of  Jeremiah  with  other  portions 
 of  the  Old  Testament  than  those  which  bear  his  name, 
 is  to  pass  from  the  region  of  history  into  that  of  con- 
 jecture; but  the  fact  that  some  commentators  (e.g., 
 Ilil/.i":  assign  not  less  than  thirty  I'.-aluis  to  bis  author- 
 ship (8c.,Pss.  v.,vi.,xiv.,  xxii. — xli.,  Hi. — lv.,  Ixix. —  K 
 indicates  at  least  wdiat  were  the  hymns  in  his  national 
 literature  with  which  he  had  most  affinity,  and  which 
 exercised  most  influence  on  his  thoughts  and  language. 
 The  hypothesis  of  some  later  critics  [e.g.,  Bunseu,  God 
 in  History,  b.  ii.  C  2),  who  assign  the  second  part  of 
 Isaiah  to  the  time  of  the  exile,  and  to  the  authorship 
 of  Baruch,  that  Jeremiah  was  the  Servant  of  the  Lord, 
 who  is  there  conspicuous,  has  a  like  suggestiveneas. 
 Reference  to  others  of  tho  earlier  books  of  the  Old 
 Testament  canon  show  parallelisms  with  the  Law, 
 a  special  prominence  being  given  to  Deuteronomy, 
 as.  ,.<j  — 
 
 Comp.  Jer.  xi.  3— 5  with  Dent.  iv.  20,  vii.  12,  xxvii.  2& 
 
 „         „    xxxiv.  14    „       „      xv.  12 
 
 „        „    xxxii.  18    „     Exod.  xx.  6 
 „    xxxii.  21    „        „      vi.  6, 
 with  Job  (comp.  Job  iii.  with  Jer.  xv.  10,  xx.  14),  with 
 both  parts  of  Isaiah. 
 
 Comp.  Isaiah  iv.  2,  xi.  1  with  Jer.  xxxiii    15 
 „     xl.  19, 20      „      „    x.  3—5 
 „      xlii.  16  „       „     xxxi.  9 
 
 xiii..  xlvii L,  li. 
 
 and  with  the  earlier  prophets. 
 
 The  style  of  Jeremiah,  if  less  conspicuous  for  its 
 loftiness  and  majesty  than  that  of  Job  or  Isaiah,  lias 
 yet  a  passionate  intensity,  a  vividness  of  imagery,  a 
 capacity  for  invective  OX  for  pathos,  which  are  let  sur- 
 passed and  scarcely  equalled  elsewhere,  in  this  also  re- 
 minding us  of  Dante.  It  was  characteristic  both  of 
 tho  man  and  of  tho  time  that  this  passionate  tempera- 
 ment welcomed,  when  it  uttered  itself  in  tho  Lamenta- 
 tions, the  artificial  restraints  of  the  alphabetic  arrange- 
 ment which  had  appeared  before  in  some  of  the 
 Psalms,  and  seems  to  nave  been  a  fashion  of  the  times. 
 (See  introduction  to  Lamentations.)  Connected,  per- 
 haps, with  this,  as  concentrating  attention  upon  the 
 alphabet  and  its  possible  uses,  is  Jeremiah's  use  of  a 
 peculiar  cypher  writing,  the  use  of  an  inverted  alphabet, 
 known  among  the  later  Jews  as  the  At1  aid- 
 
 ing for  T,  and  B  for  SH).  by  which  the  Bhnahach  of 
 Jer.  xxv.  26  became  for  the  initiated  tho  symbol  of 
 Babylon;  and  the  Hebrew  letters  of  "  in  tho  midst  of 
 e  who  rise  npagainstjme  "  of  Jer.  li.  1,  wasequivaleut 
 to  "  the  Chaldacans,"  which  accordingly  takes  its  place 
 in  the  LXX.  version. 
 
 III.  Arrangement.— It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  as 
 throwing  light  upon  the  chances  to  which  even  the  writ- 
 ings of  a  prophet  may  be  subject,  that  the  order  of  the 
 
JEREMIAH. 
 
 LXX.  version  of  the  greater  part  of  Jeremiah  is  alto- 
 gether different  from  that  of  the  Hebrew.  Up  to  chap, 
 xxv.  13  they  agree.  From  that  point  onward  to  the  end  of 
 chap.  li.  the  divergency  may  be  presented  as  follows  : — 
 
 LXX. 
 
 Hebrew. 
 
 xxv.  14—18. 
 
 xlix.  34—39. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 xlvi. 
 
 xxvii.,  xxviii. 
 
 1.,  li. 
 
 xxix.  1  —  7. 
 
 xlvii.  1  —  7. 
 
 „     8-22. 
 
 xlix.  7—24. 
 
 xxx.  1 — 5. 
 
 xlix.  1 — 6. 
 
 ,,     6-H. 
 
 „   28—33. 
 
 „  12— 16. 
 
 „   23—27. 
 
 xxxi. 
 
 xlviii. 
 
 xxxiii. — li. 
 
 xxv.  13—39. 
 
 lii. 
 
 xxvi. — xlv. 
 
 It  is  obvious  that  the  Alexandrian  translators  must 
 have  had  before  them  a  MS.,  or,  more  probably,  a  mass 
 of  MSS.,  arranged  by  them,  or  for  them,  in  a  different 
 order  from  that  adopted  by  the  scribes  of  Judaea,  to 
 whom  we  owe  our  present  Hebrew  recension.  It  is  a 
 natural  inference  from  this  (1)  that  the  prophet's 
 writings  were  left  by  lnm  in  a  scattered,  unarranged 
 state,  in  the  hands  of  his  disciples,  Baruch  and  others, 
 and  that  two  of  these,  or  some  later  scribes,  thought  fit 
 to  arrange  them  in  a  different  order.  It  was,  so  to 
 speak,  as  if  the  sermons  of  an  eminent  preacher  in  later 
 times  had  come  to  us  as  they  were  found  in  his  drawers, 
 unsorted.  (2)  That  the  large  sections  in  which  the 
 order  is  the  same  in  chaps,  i. — xxv.  13  (Heb.),  and 
 xxvi — xlv.  (Heb.)  represent  two  collections,  which  con- 
 tained the  chief  prophecies  that  were  connected  with  the 
 prophet's  work  in  relation  to  Judah,  while  the  others, 
 bearing  chiefly  on  the  heathen  nations,  were  left  in  a 
 less  continuous  form,  and  were  arranged  by  the  two 
 editors  at  their  discretion. 
 
 It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  neither  case  is  the  arrange- 
 ment chronological.  To  read  the  prophet's  writings 
 in  the  order  of  time,  either  as  regards  the  facts  to 
 which  they  refer,  or  the  date  of  their  composition,  we 
 must  adopt  an  arrangement  different  from  both  of  those 
 which  are  now  before  us.  In  regard  to  some  of  the 
 sections  where  we  have  a  definite  note  of  time,  speci- 
 fying, if  not  the  exact  year,  at  least  the  reign  to  which 
 they  of  right  belong,  the  task  is  comparatively  easy. 
 In  regard  to  the  others,  we  are  in  the  wider,  and  there- 
 fore more  difficult,  field  of  conjecture.  Taking  the 
 dates  given  in  the  Authorised  version  as  approximately 
 right,  the  following  gives  the  order  in  which  Jere- 
 miah's prophecies  ought  to  be  read  in  connection  with 
 his  life,  and  which  has  been  practically  followed  in  the 
 preceding  biography : — 
 
 Chap.  i.  ii.  iii.  (probably  written  later). 
 
 „       iii. — vi. 
 
 „      xxii,  xxvi. 
 
 „      xi.,  xii. 
 
 „      xxxv.,  xlv. 
 
 „      xxv.,  xxx.,  xxxi. 
 
 „       xviii.,  xix.,  xx. 
 
 „       xiii. 
 
 „      xiv.,  xv.,  xvi.,  xvii. 
 
 „      vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  x.,  xlvii.,  xlviiii. 
 
 „       xxiii.,  xxix. 
 
 „  xxiv.,  xxvi.  xxvii.  (Jehoiakim  in 
 chap,  xxvii.  1  is  clearly  an  error 
 of  transcription  for  Zedekiah). 
 
 „      xxviii. 
 
 „      1.,  li. 
 
 B.C 
 
 .629 
 
 » 
 
 612 
 
 >) 
 
 610 
 
 it 
 
 608 
 
 a 
 
 607 
 
 tt 
 
 606 
 
 it 
 
 605 
 
 » 
 
 602 
 
 ti 
 
 601 
 
 99 
 
 600 
 
 »» 
 
 599 
 
 )» 
 
 598 
 
 »J 
 
 596 
 
 99 
 
 595 
 
 B.C 
 
 591 
 
 xxxiv. 
 
 99 
 
 590 
 
 590-588    „ 
 
 xxxii.,  xxxiii. 
 
 xxxix.,  xl.,  xli.,  xlii.,  xliii.,  xliv. 
 
 9) 
 99 
 99 
 
 589 
 
 587 
 598—562   „ 
 
 xxi.,  xxxvii,  xxxviii. 
 xliv. 
 
 lii.  Appendix  and  historical  sum- 
 mary. 
 
 8 
 
 The  wide  divergency  of  this  order  from  that  of 
 either  of  the  two  recensions  that  have  come  down  is  not 
 without  its  teaching  (1)  as  showing  that  during  the 
 length  of  time  over  which  the  prophet's  work  was 
 spread  but  little  care  was  taken  by  him  to  provide  for 
 their  transmission  in  any  definite  order.  Like  a  true  pro- 
 phet, he  did  his  work  for  his  own  generation,  thinking 
 little  of  himself  and  his  after-fame.  Like  the  Sibyl  of 
 classical  antiquity,  he  gave  his  writings,  as  it  were,  to 
 the  winds,  careless  of  their  fate,  and  left  it  to  others, 
 through  his  long  career,  to  collect,  copy,  and  arrange 
 them  as  they  could.  (2)  As  suggesting  the  probability 
 that  what  happened  in  his  case  may  have  befallen  the 
 writings  of  other  prophets  also,  such  as  Isaiah,  Ezekiel, 
 Hosea,  Amos,  whose  labours  were  spread  over  a  con- 
 siderable period  of  time ;  and,  consequently,  as  leaving  it 
 open  to  us  to  deal  freely  with  the  order  in  which  wc  find 
 them,  so  as  to  connect  them,  as  we  best  can,  with  the 
 successive  stages  of  the  prophet's  life. 
 
 It  need  not  be  inferred,  however,  from  this  chrono- 
 logical dislocation,  that  the  order  of  the  chapters  in 
 the  Hebrew,  and,  therefore,  in  the  English  version,  is 
 altogether  without  a  plan.  The  following  scheme 
 gives,  it  is  believed,  an  adequate  explanation  of  the 
 principles  on  which  the  Palestine  editor  may  have 
 acted : — 
 
 1.  Chaps,  i. — xxi. — Containing  probably  the  sub- 
 stance of  the  book  of  chap,  xxxvi.  32,  and  including  pro- 
 phecies from  the  thirteenth  year  of  Josiah  (with  a  long 
 interval  of  silence)  to  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim. 
 Chap.  i.  3,  however,  indicates  a  later  revision,  and  the 
 whole  of  chap.  i.  may  have  been  added  as  the  prophet's 
 retrospect  of  his  whole  work  from  this  its  first  begin- 
 ning. Chap.  xxi.  belongs  to  a  later  period,  but  may 
 have  been  placed  here,  as  connected  by  the  recurrence 
 of  the  name  of  Pashur  with  chap,  xx . 
 
 2.  Chaps,  xxii. — xxv. — Short  prophecies  against  the 
 kings  of  Judah  and  the  false  prophets.  Chap.  xxv. 
 13,  14,  evidently  marks  the  conclusion  of  a  series,  and 
 that  which  follows  (chap.  xxv.  15 — 38),  the  germ  of  the 
 fuller  predictions  of  chaps,  xlvi. — xlix.,  has  apparently 
 been  placed  here,  as  a  completion  to  that  of  the  seventy 
 years  of  exile. 
 
 3.  Chaps,  xxvi. — xxviii. — The  two  great  prophecies 
 of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  Chap.  xxvi.  belongs  to  the 
 earlier,  chaps,  xxvii.  and  xxviii.  to  the  later  portion  of 
 the  prophet's  work. 
 
 4.  Chaps,  xxix. — xxxi. — The  message  of  comfort  to 
 exiles  in  Babylon. 
 
 5.  Chaps,  xxxii. — xliv. — The  history  of  Jeremiah's 
 work  immediately  before  and  after  the  capture  of 
 Jerusalem.  Chaps,  xxxv.  and  xxxvi.  are  remarkable  as 
 interrupting  the  chronological  order,  which  would 
 otherwise  have  been  followed  here  more  closely  than 
 elsewhere.  The  position  of  chap.  xlv.  as  an  isolated 
 fragment,  suggests  that  it  may  have  been  added  by 
 Baruch  at  the  close  of  his  narrative  of  his  master's 
 life. 
 
 6.  Chaps,  xlvi. — li. — The  prophecies  against  foreign 
 nations,  ending  with  the  great  utterance  against 
 Babylon. 
 
 7.  Chap.  lii. — Historical  appendix. 
 
.IKK  K.MIA  II. 
 
 IV.  Text  and  Authenticity.— Over  and  above  the 
 vii riat inns  In  order,  the  l,XX  presents  some  noticeable 
 variations  and  omissions,  which  have  1< ■« I  some  critics  t,, 
 reject  some  | » i i-t  i.  .1 1-^  of  the  present  Hebrew  text  a^ 
 being  probably  interpolations.  Other  passages  1 1  .•  1  \ « - 
 been  qnestioned  on  grounds  more  or  less  subjective  as 
 prophecies  after  the  event,  or  for  other  reasons.    Tho 
 
 limits   of   tliis    Introduction    will    not    admit    of    a    full 
 
 description  of  card  portion,  but  a  statement  of  the 
 objections  will,  in  the  one  ease,  direct  .-it  tent  ion  to  some 
 striking  variations,  and  in  the  other,  in  some  instances 
 .•it  least,  to  parallelisms  of  some  interest,  To  t he  pre- 
 sent writer,  who  holds  1 1 1  that  there  are  antecedent  pro- 
 babilities in  favour  of  the  1 1  el,  re  w  text  as  compared  with 
 the  Greek;  and  (2)  that  the  inspiration  of  the  prophet 
 
 implies,  at  least  the  possibility  of  a  prediction  before 
 the  event,  neither  ground  of  objection  seems  con- 
 clusive. 
 
 (a)  Qnestioned,  as  omitted  in  the  LXX. 
 
 1  1  1  chap.  x.  ft,  7.  s.  in. 
 
 (-)     ,,      xxvii.  7. 
 
 (3j    ..     ixvii.  16— 21  (not  omitted, hut  with 
 
 many  variations). 
 I  I  1     ..       x\xii'i.  1  I — 26. 
 
 (5)    ,.     mix.  4— 13. 
 
 Qnestioned  on  other  grounds. 
 
 (1)  Chap.  x.  1 — lti. — On  being  the  work  of  a  later 
 writer,  probably  the  so-called  Deutero-  [saia  h. 
 
 Tho  Aramaic  of  verso  11  is  urged  in  favour 
 
 of  this  view. 
 
 SS*  7   '  I  as  having  the.  character 
 
 (4      "     n*m.U-*6,        Mpwrnheeies  after  the 
 5)     ..     xxxjx.l,2,4-18j  ,ve"t 
 
 tin  „  xxvii. — xxix. — As  showing,  in  the  shortened 
 form  of  the  name  (Jeremiah  instead  of 
 Jeremiahn),  and  in  the  epithet  "the  pro- 
 phet," the  work  of  a  later  writer 
 
 xxx. — xxxiii. — As  showing  the  iuflurm f 
 
 the  Dentero-Issiah. 
 
 xlviii.,  for  the  same  reason  as  (7). 
 
 1.  li. — As  being  a  prophecy  after  the  event, 
 
 foreign  in  style  and  thought  to  Jeremiah's 
 
 writings. 
 
 lii. — As   an  historical   summary    compiled 
 
 from  2  Kings  x\v.  and  other  sources  by  the 
 
 editor  of  the  collection. 
 In  the  notes  that  follow  1  havel n  mainly  indebted 
 
 to  Ewald,  Hit/ig,  Keil.and  to  the  notee  on  Jeremiah  by 
 tho  present.  Dean  of  '  laaterbury  I  Dr.  Payne  Smith',  in 
 the  Speaker's  Commentary, and  those  by  Nagelsbach 
 in  Lange's  Commentary,  edited  by  Dr.  Philip  SchafE, 
 Tho  Introduction  is  mainly  based  upon  an  article  on 
 Jeremiah  which  I  contributed  to  Dr.  Smith's  Diction- 
 ary of  the  Bible,  sad  en  the  very  able  dissertation  by- 
 Nagelsbach in  the  Commentary  just  named. 
 
 (7) 
 
 (8) 
 (9) 
 
 lid. 
 
THE    BOOK    OF    THE    PEOPHET 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 CHAPTEE  I.— d)  The  words  of  Jere- 
 miah the  son  of  Hilkiah,  of  the  priests 
 that  were  in  Anathoth  in  the  land  of 
 Benjamin :  <2)  to  whom  the  word  of  the 
 Loed  came  in  the  days  of  Josiah  the 
 son  of  Amon  king  of  Judah,  in  the 
 thirteenth  year  of  his  reign.  <3)  It  came 
 also  in  the  days  of  Jehoiakim  the  son  of 
 Josiah  king  of  Judah,  unto  the  end  of 
 
 a  Isa.  49.  1,5. 
 
 b  Gal.  1. 15, 16. 
 
 1  Heb.,  gave. 
 
 the  eleventh  year  of  Zedekiah  the  son 
 of  Josiah  king  of  Judah,  unto  the  carry- 
 ing away  of  Jerusalem  captive  in  the 
 fifth  month. 
 
 <4'  Then  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 unto  me,  saying,  <5>  Before  I  "formed 
 thee  in  the  belly  I  knew  thee;  and 
 before  thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the 
 womb  I    *  sanctified   thee,    and  I  1or- 
 
 (1—3)  The  first  three  verses  contain  the  title  prefixed 
 to  the  collection  of  prophecies  by  some  later  editor. 
 This  title  would  seem,  from  its  unusual  fulness,  to  have 
 received  one  or  more  additions — verse  1  giving  the 
 general  title,  verse  2  the  commencement  of  Jeremiah's 
 prophetic  work,  verse  3  the  period  of  his  chief  activity 
 and  its  conclusion.  Strictly  speaking,  indeed,  we  see 
 from  the  book  itself  that  his  work  continued  after  the 
 beginning  of  the  captivity. 
 
 The  words  of  Jeremiah.— The  more  usual  title 
 of  prophetic  books  is  *'  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  tho 
 prophet,"  but  the  title  of  Amos  (i.  1)  is  in  the 
 same  form  as  this.  The  Hebrew  for  "  words "  has 
 a  somewhat  wider  connotation  than  the  English,  and 
 is  translated  "  acts "  in  1  Kings  xi.  41 ;  2  Chron. 
 xxxiii.  18. 
 
 Hilkiah. — Possibly  the  high  priest  of  that  name 
 (2  Kings  xxii.  4,  xxiii.  4).     See  Introduction. 
 
 Anathoth. — In  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  one  of  the 
 cities  assigned  to  the  priests,  apparently  to  the  house 
 of  Ithamar,  to  which  Abiathar  belonged  (1  Kings  ii.  26  ; 
 Josh.  xxi.  18 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  60). 
 
 That  were  in  Anathoth.— There  is  no  verb  in 
 the  Hebrew,  and  the  description  belongs  to  Jeremiah 
 individually,  not  to  the  priests. 
 
 (2)  In  the  thirteenth  year  of  his  reign.— If  we 
 take  the  data  of  2  Kings  xxii.,  Josiah  was  at  that  time 
 in  his  twentieth  or  twenty-first  year,  having  grown  up 
 under  the  training  of  Hilkiah.  His  active  work  of  re- 
 formation began  five  years  later.  The  images  of  Baal  and 
 Asherah  (the  groves)  were  thrown  down,  and  the  high 
 places  desecrated.  The  near  coincidence  of  the  com- 
 mencement of  Jeremiah's  work  as  prophet  with  that  of 
 the  king  must  not  be  forgotten.  As  Josiah  reigned  for 
 thirty-one  years,  wo  have  to  place  eighteen  years  of  the 
 prophet's  ministry  as  under  his  rule. 
 
 (3)  It  came  also  .  .  .—The  short  reigns  of  Jehoahaz 
 (three  months)  and  Jehoiachin  or  Jeconiah  (three  months 
 also)  are  passed  over,  and  mention  made  of  tho  more 
 conspicuous  reigns  of  Jehoiakim  (eleven  years)  and  Ze- 
 dekiah (also  eleven).  Assuming  Jeremiah  to  have  been 
 about  twenty  when  the  prophetic  call  came  to  him,  he 
 was  sixty  or  sixty-one  at  the  time  of  the  captivity. 
 
 M  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me. — 
 The  words  imply  obviously  a  revelation,  the  introduc- 
 tion of  a  new  element  into  the  human  consciousness. 
 In  many  cases  such  a  revelation  implied  also  the 
 spiritual  tension  of  an  ecstatic  or  trance-like  state, 
 a  dream,  or  an  open  vision.  It  almost  presupposed  a 
 previous  training,  outward  or  inward,  a  mind  vexed  by 
 hot  thoughts  and  mourning  over  the  sins  of  the  people. 
 Here  there  is  no  mention  of  dream  or  vision,  and  we 
 must  assume,  therefore,  a  distinct  consciousness  that 
 the  voice  which  he  heard  in  his  inmost  soul  was  from 
 Jehovah.  For  the  thought  of  pre-natal  calling,  see 
 Isa.  xlix.  1. 
 
 (5)  I  knew  thee. — With  the  force  which  the  word 
 often  has  in  Hebrew,  as  implying,  not  foreknowledge 
 only,  but  choice  and  approval  (Ps.  i.  6,  xxxvii.  18 ; 
 Amos  iii.  2). 
 
 I  sanctified  thee. — i.e.,  consecrated  thee,  set  thee 
 apart  as  hallowed  for  this  special  use. 
 
 Ordained. — Better,  I  have  appointed,  without  the 
 conjunction,  this  verb  referring  to  the  manifestation 
 in  time  of  the  eternal  purpose. 
 
 Unto  the  nations.— i.e.,  to  the  outlying  Gentile 
 nations.  This  was  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
 Jeremiah's  work.  Other  prophets  were  sent  to  Israel 
 and  Judah,  with  occasional  parentheses  of  prophecies 
 that  affected  the  Gentiles.  The  horizon  of  Jeremiah 
 was  to  extend  more  widely.  In  part  his  work  was  to 
 make  them  drink  of  the  cup  of  the  Lord's  fury  (chap. 
 xxv.  15 — 17) ;  but  in  part  also  he  was  a  witness  to  them 
 of  a  brighter  future  (chap,  xlviii.  47,  xlix.  39).  It  is 
 as  though  he  had  drunk  in  the  Spirit  of  Isaiah,  and 
 thought  of  the  time  prophet  as  one  who  was  to  be  a 
 light  of  the  Gentiles  (Isa.  xlix.  6). 
 
 In  this  way,  seemingly  abrupt,  yet  probably  follow- 
 ing ou  a  long  process  of  divine  education,  was  the 
 youthful  Jeremiah  taught  that  he  was  to  act  a  part 
 specially  appointed  for  him  in  the  drama  of  his  nation's 
 history.  Ho  conld  not  see  a  chance  in  the  guidance 
 that  had  led  him  thus  far.  The  call  that  now  came  to 
 him  so  clearly  was  not  the  echo  of  his  own  thoughts. 
 All  his  life  from  infancy  had  been  as  that  of  one  con- 
 secrated to  a  special  work.  Coidd  he  stop  there  ? 
 Must  he   not,  like  St.  Paul,  think  of  the  divine  pur- 
 
 10 
 
T/ie  Calling  of  the  Prophet, 
 
 JEREMIAH,    I. 
 
 Vision  oj  the  Almond  7'r  .. 
 
 dained  thee  a  prophet  onto  the  nations. 
 
 Then  said  I,  Ah,  'Lord  <i..i>'  behold, 
 
 I    canno!    speak:    far   I   am  a  child. 
 
 <7>  But  tin'  Li)i;i>  said    until  me,  Say  not, 
 
 [  «/;/   a  child:    for  thou  shalt  go  to 
 
 all  that  1  shall  send  Hire,  and  whatso- 
 ever 1  command  thee  thou  shall  speak. 
 
 <8'  6Be  nut  afraid  of  their  faces:  for  1 
 inn  wit  It  thee  tii  deliver  thee,  saith  the 
 Lord.  (9)  Then  the  Loud  put  forth  his 
 hand,   and    ''touched    my  mouth.      And 
 
 the  Loin)  said  iihtn   ,    IJehold,    I    have 
 
 'put  my  words  in  thy  mouth.     0°)  See, 
 
 ■    i  II; 
 
 
 
 no. 
 
 /  rli.  im.  ;;   '.'  (Jot 
 10.  4,  5. 
 
 I  hare  this  day  eel  thee  over  the  nation*, 
 and  over  the  kingdoms,  to/rooi  out,  and 
 
 to    1  ml  I    down,    and    to    destroy,    and    to 
 
 throw  down,  to  build,  and  to  plant. 
 
 <lu  Moreover  the  word  of  the  EiOBD 
 came  unto   me,   saying,  Jeremiah,   what 
 
 seestthou?    And  I  said,  I  see  a  rod  of 
 
 an  almond  tivo.      '-'   Then  said  |  he  I. 
 unto   me,  Thou  hast  well  seen:    tor    I 
 will  hasten  myr  word  to  perform  it. 
 
 M)  And  the  word  of  the  Loiuj  came 
 unto  me  the  second  time,  saying,  Whal 
 seest  thou  .   And  I  said,  I  see  a  seething 
 
 pose  .is  prior  to  tho  vory  gorm  of  his  existonco  ?  (Gal. 
 i.  I.".. i 
 
 <i;>  Ah,  Lord  God  !— Better,  Alas,  O  Lord  Jeho- 
 vah !  as  answering  to  tho  Hebrew  Adonai  Jehovah. 
 
 I  cannot  spoak. — In  tho  same  sense  as  tho  "  1  am 
 not  eloquent"  of  Mosos  (Exod.  iv.  10),  literally,  "a 
 man  of  words,"  i.e.,  have  no  gifts  of  utterance. 
 
 •I  am  a  Child. — Ijiiter  Jewish  writers  lix  the  age 
 of  fourteen  as  that  up  to  which  tho  term  rendered 
 "child"  might  lie  used.  With  Jeremiah  it  was 
 probably  mure  indefinite,  and  in  the  intense  con- 
 sciousness el'  liis  own  weakness  ho  would  naturally 
 use  a  wind  below  .the  actual  standard  of  his  ago;  and 
 there  is  accordingly  nothing  against  assuming  any  ago 
 within  the  third  hebdomad  of  life.  In  Gen.  xxxiv.  It) 
 it  is  used  of  a  young  man  old  enough  for  marriage. 
 Tho  words  aro  memorable  as  striking  a  uoto  common 
 to  tho  lives  of  many  prophets  ;  common,  also,  wo  may 
 add,  tn  must  men  as  they  feel  themselves  called  to  any 
 great    work.     So   Moses  draws   back:    "I  am  slow   of 
 
 Sp Ii.   and   of  a  slow  tonguo"  (Exod.  iv.  10).     So 
 
 Isaiah  cries,  "  Woe  is  mo !  for  ...  I  am  a  man  of  unclean 
 lips"  i  Isa.  vi.  5);  and  Peter,  "Depart  from  mo;  for  I 
 am  a  sinful  man.  O  Lord''  (Lnko  v.  8).  Something  of 
 the  same  shrinking  is  implied  in  St.  Paul's  command 
 to  Timothy  (1  Tim.  iv.  12).  In  tracing  tho  whole 
 eourse  of  Jeremiah's  work,  wo  must  never  forget  the 
 divine  constraint  by  which  ho  entered  on  thorn.  A 
 necessity  was  laid  upon  him,  as  afterwards  on  St. 
 Pan]  il  Cor.  ix.  16). 
 
 <7>  The  Lord  said  unto  me.— Tho  misgiving, 
 which  was  nut  reluctance,  is  mot  by  words  of  en- 
 cnuragemeiit.  find  gave  the  work;  Ho  would  also 
 give  the  pOWBr. 
 
 <S|  Bo  not  afraid.— Tho  words  imply,  as  in  those 
 spoken  to  EtaeMel  tii.  6),  to  St.  Peter  (Luke  v.  lm. 
 and  St.  Paul  (Acts  xviii.  9),  tho  fear  that  sprang 
 from  the  sense  of  personal  weakness  and  unfitness 
 to  cope  with  the  dangers  tu  which  his  werk  expos. 'd 
 him.  The  "  faces  "  of  his  adversaries  would  bra  source 
 of  terror  to  him.  Tho  consciousness  that  .bhovah 
 was  with  him  was  to  raise  him  from  that  timiditv. 
 
 W  The  Lord  put  forth  his  hand  .  .  .—The 
 symbolic  act  seems  to  imply  something  like  awaking 
 vision,  like  that  of  Isaiah  (vi.  t>).  and  the  act  itself 
 reminds  us  of  the  "  live  coal  "  laid  upon  the  prophet's 
 month,  as  there  recorded.  The  ■•  hand  of  the  Lord." 
 as  in  Ezek.  iii.  It.  viii.  1.,  and  elsewhere,  was  the 
 received  symbol  of  the  special  influence  of  the  Spirit 
 of  the  Lord;  and  here,  as  in  the  case  of  Isaiah,  the 
 act  implied  the  gift  of  new  powers  of  thought  and 
 utterance.     The  words  which  a  prophet  speaks,   like 
 
 11 
 
 those  which  were  to  l>e  spoken  by  the  Apostles  of 
 Christ  (Matt.  x.  20),  are  not  his  own  words,  but  those 
 put  into  liis  heart  by  tho  Spirit  of  tho  Father.  So 
 "tho  finger  of  God"  in  Lnke  xi.  20  answers  to  "the 
 Spirit  of  God"  in  Matt.  xii.  2*. 
 
 0°)  I   have  this   day  set  thee    .    .    .—With 
 
 tho  gift,  and  therefore  the  consciousness,  of  a  new 
 power,  there  comes  what  would  at  first  have  been  too 
 much  for  the  mortal  vessel  of  the  truth  to  bear — a 
 prospective  view  of  the  greatness  of  the  work  !•! 
 him.  He  is  at  mice  set  (literally,  made  the  '•deputy.' 
 or  representative,  of  God,  as  in  Judges  ix.  Js  and 
 2  Chruii.  xxiv.  11.  tho  "officer,"  or  in  chap.  XX  1, 
 "  chief  governor  ")  over  tho  nations,  i.e..  as  before,  (lu- 
 nations external  to  Israel,  and  the  "kingdoms"  including 
 it.  Tho  work  at  first  seems  ouo  simply  of  destruction 
 — to  root  out  and  ruin  (so  wo  may  represent  the 
 alliterative  assonance  of  the  Hebrew),  tu  destroy  and 
 rend  asunder.  But  boyond  that  there  is  the  hope  of  a 
 work  of  construction.  He  is  to  "build  up"  the  fallen 
 ruins  of  Israel,  to  "  plant  "  in  the  land  that  had  been 
 made  desolate.  Tho  whole  sequel  of  the  book  is  a 
 comment  on  these  words.  It  passes  through  terror  and 
 darkness  to  the  glory  and  the  blessing  of  the  New 
 <  'ovenant  i  chap.  x\xi.  ill  i. 
 
 (ii)  The  word  of  the  Lord  .  .  . — As  before,  we 
 have  tho  element  of  ecstasy  and  vision,  symbols  not 
 selected  by  the  prophet,  and  yet.  we  may  believe, 
 adapted  to  his  previous  training,  and  to  the  bent  and, 
 as  it  were,  genius  of  his  character. 
 
 Tho  poetry  of  the  symlxils  is  of  exquisite  beauty. 
 In  contrast  to  the  words  of  terror,  in  harmony  with 
 the  words  of  hope,  be  sees  tho  almond-bough,  with  its 
 bright  pink  blossoms  and  its  pale  green  leaves,  the 
 token  of  an  early  Spring  rising  nut  of  the  divariin-- 
 winter.  The  name  of  the  almond-tree  (here  the  poetical. 
 not  the  common,  name)  made  the  symbol  yet  more  ex- 
 pressive,    it  was  the  watcher,  the  tree  thai  "hastens 
 
 to  awake"  [ahSjted)  out  of  its  wintry  sleep,  and  thus 
 expresses    the    divine    haste    which   would    nut    without 
 
 cause  delay  the  fulfilment  of  its  gracious  promise,  but 
 
 would,  as  it  were,  make  it  hud  and  blossom,  and  bear 
 fruit. 
 
 I'-'l  I  will  hasten. — The   Hebrew,  by   using  a   par- 
 ticiple formed  from  the  samo  root  (sh'ih\h,  presents  a 
 play  upon  tho  name  of  the  "  almond,"  as  the 
 which  it  is  impossible   tu  reproduce;    literally.    /. 
 
 rform  it. 
 
 (is)  A  seething  pot ;  and  the  face  thereof  is 
 toward  the  north.— More  correctly,  fir  rft. 
 
 The  next  symbol  was  one  that  set  forth  the  darker  side 
 of  tho  prophet's  work :  a  large  cauldron  |  probably  of 
 
Vision  of  the  Seething  Pot. 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   II. 
 
 The  Promise  of  Protection. 
 
 pot ;  and  the  face  thereof  is  Howard  the 
 north.  <u)  Then  the  Lokd  said  unto 
 me,  Out  of  the  "north  an  evil  ~ shall 
 break  forth  upon  all  the  inhabitants 
 of  the  land.  <15>  For,  lo,  I  will  *call  all 
 the  families  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
 north,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  they  shall 
 come,  and  they  shall  set  every  one  his 
 throne  at  the  entering  of  the  gates  of 
 Jerusalem,  and  against  all  the  walls 
 thereof  round  about,  and  against  all  the 
 cities  of  Judah.  <16)  And  I  will  utter 
 my  judgments  against  them  touching 
 all  their  wickedness,  who  have  forsaken 
 me,  and  have  burned  incense  unto  other 
 gods,  and  worshipped  the  works  of  their 
 own  hands.     <17)  Thou  therefore  gird  up 
 
 1  Heb.,    from   the 
 face  of  the  iitirtli. 
 
 2  Hch.,    shall 
 opened. 
 
 b  eh.  5.  15,  &  6.  22, 
 
 &  io.  22. 
 
 3  Or,     break     to\ 
 
 c  Isa.  50.  7  ;  ch.  6. 
 
 27,  &  15.  20. 
 
 thy  loins,  and  arise,  and  speak  unto 
 them  all  that  I  command  thee :  be  not 
 dismayed  at  their  faces,  lest  1 3  confound 
 thee  before  them.  <18)  For,  behold,  I 
 have  made  thee  this  day  ca  defenced 
 city,  and  an  iron  pillar,  and  brasen 
 walls  against  the  whole  land,  against 
 the  kings  of  Judah,  against  the  princes 
 thereof,  against  the  priests  thereof,  and 
 against  the  people  of  the  land.  (19>  And 
 they  shall  fight  against  thee ;  but  they 
 shall  not  prevail  against  thee ;  for  I  am 
 with  thee,  saith  the   Lord,  to   deliver 
 
 thee. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER    II.—  -0)  Moreover   the 
 !  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me,  saying, 
 
 metal)  placed  (as  iu  Ezekiel's  vision,  xxiv.  3 — 11)  on  a 
 great  pile  of  burning  wood,  boiling  and  steaming,  with 
 its  face  turned  from  the  north,  and  so  on  the  point  of 
 emptying  out  its  scalding  contents  towards  the  south. 
 This  was  as  strong  a  contrast  as  possible  to  the  vernal 
 beauty  of  the  almond-bough,  and  told  too  plainly  the 
 terrors  which  were  to  be  expected  from  the  regions 
 that  lay  to  the  north  of  the  laud  of  Israel,  Assyria  and 
 Chaldsca.  The  flood  of  water  at  the  boiling  point 
 went  beyond  the  "waters  of  the  great  river"  of  Israel's 
 symbolism  (Isa.  viii.  7). 
 
 (W)  Out  of  the  north  an  evil. — Literally,  the 
 evil,  long  fm-etold,  as  in  Micah  iii.  12,  and  elsewhere, 
 and  long  expected. 
 
 (I5)  I  will  call. — Literally,  I  am  calling.  The 
 evil  is  not  merely  future,  but  is  actually  begun. 
 
 All  the  families  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  north. 
 — In  the  Hebrew  the  words  are  in  apposition,  all  the 
 families,  even  the  kingdoms  of  the  north.  The  words 
 point  chiefly  to  the  Chaldfeans  and  other  inhabitants  of 
 Babylonia,  but  may  probably  include  also  the  Scythians, 
 who  about  this  time  spread  like  a  deluge  over  Asia 
 Minor  and  Syria,  and  penetrated  as  far  as  Ascalon 
 (Herod,  i.  105). 
 
 They  shall  set  everyone  his  throne. — i.e.,  shall 
 usurp  the  administration  of  justice,  and  set  up  their 
 thrones  of  judgment  in  the  space  near  the  gates  in 
 which  kings  usually  sat  to  hear  complaints  and  decide 
 causes  (2  Sam.  xv.  2 ;  Ps.  cxxvii.  5).  In  chap,  xxxix.  3 
 we  have  a  literal  fulfilment  of  the  prediction. 
 
 Against  all  the  walls. — As  the  previous  words 
 speak  of  a  formal  usurpation  of  power,  so  do  these  of 
 invasion  and  attack,  the  storming  of  the  lesser  cities  of 
 Judah,  while  Jerusalem  became  the  centre  of  the 
 foreign  government. 
 
 <16)  I  will  utter  my  judgments  against  them. 
 — Here,  again,  wo  get  a  literal  correspondence  in  the 
 words  of  chap,  xxxix.  5,  "he  gave  [or  uttered]  judg- 
 ment upon  him,"  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  sentence  on 
 Zedekiah.  And  yet  the  invaders  in  their  sentence  are 
 to  be  but  the  ministers  of  a  higher  judgment  than  their 
 own.  In  the  words  "  my  judgments  "  Ho  recognises 
 their  work. 
 
 Who  have  forsaken. — The  remainder  of  the  verse 
 gives,  as  it  were,  the  formal  enumeration  of  the  crimes 
 for  which  Judah  was  condemned:  (1)  Apostacy  from 
 the  true  God ;  (2)  the  transfer  of  adoration  to  other 
 Gods,  such  as   Baal,   Ashtaroth,   and  the   Queen    of 
 
 Heaven ;  sins  against  the  First  Commandment ;  (3) 
 the  worship  of  graven  images ;  a  sin  against  the  Second. 
 The  sins  were  of  long  standing,  but  the  words  point 
 specially  to  the  proportions  they  had  assumed  in  the 
 reign  of  Manasseh  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  1 — 7). 
 
 (17)  Gird  up  thy  loins.— Be  as  the  messenger  who 
 prepares  to  be  swift  on  his  errand,  and  to  go  whither- 
 soever he  is  sent  (1  Kings  xviii.  46  ;  2  Kings  iv.  29, 
 ix.  1).  The  vivid  image  of  intense  activity  re-appears 
 in  the  New  Testament  (Luke  xii.  35;  1  Pet.  i.  13),  and 
 has  become  proverbial  in  the  speech  of  Christendom. 
 
 Be  not  dismayed. — The  repeated  calls  to  courage 
 appear  to  indicate — like  St.  Paul's  exhortations  to 
 Timothy  (1  Tim.  iv.  12,  vi.  13 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  3)— a  consti- 
 tutional timidity.  We  must  remember,  as  some  excuse 
 for  this,  that  the  reign  of  Manasseh  had  shown  that  the 
 work  of  the  prophet  might  easily  lead  to  the  fate  of  the 
 martyr  (2  Kings  xxi.  16).  Even  Ezekiel,  among  the 
 remnant  of  exiles  on  the  banks  of  Chebar,  needed  a 
 like  encouragement  (Ezek.  ii.  6). 
 
 Lest  I  confound  thee. — The  Hebrew  emphasises 
 the  command  by  repeating  the  same  words :  Be  not 
 dismayed,  lest  I  dismay  thee. 
 
 (18)  i  have  made  thee  ...  a  defenced  city  .  .  . 
 — Images  of  strength  are  heaped  one  upon  another. 
 The  prophet  is  represented  as  attacked  by  kings, 
 princes,  priests,  and  people,  as  the  cities  of  Judah  are 
 by  the  invading  armies.  But  the  issue  is  different. 
 They  fall:  he  will  hold  out.  The  iron  pillar  is  that 
 which,  rising  in  the  centre  of  an  Eastern  house  or 
 temple  (as,  e.g.,  in  Judges  xvi.  25  ;  1  Kings  vii.  21), 
 supports  the  flat  roof,  and  enables  it  to  be  used  as  a 
 terrace  or  platform  on  which  men  may  meet.  The 
 "brasen  walls  "  probably  refer  to  the  practice  of  fasten- 
 ing plates  of  copper  over  the  brick  or  stonework  of  a 
 fortification. 
 
 (19)  I  am  with  thee. — That  thought  was  in  itself 
 enough.  The  presence,  and  therefore  the  protection, 
 of  the  All-wise  and  the  Almighty  was  the  one  condition 
 of  safety.  Even  in  its  lower  sense,  "  Immanuel,"  God 
 with  us  (Isa.  vii.  14),  was  the  watchword  of  every 
 true  combatant  in  God's  great  army. 
 
 II. 
 
 (1)  The  first  chapter  had  given  the  narrative  of  the 
 
 call  which    had   impressed     itself    indelibly    on    the 
 
 I  prophet's    mind.      The    next    five    run    on    as    one 
 
 !   continuous  whole,  and,   looking  to   the  fact  that  the 
 
 12 
 
T/te  LortFt  PUadmgt 
 
 JEREMIAH,   II. 
 
 wit/i  Israel. 
 
 <2' Go  and   cry   in    the  ears  of  Jerusa-   ' 
 lem,  Baying,  Tims  Baith  the   Loud;   1 
 
 remember  'tl ,   the  kindneBS  of  thy 
 
 •youth,  the  Love  of  thine  espousals, 
 when  fchou  weute.st  after  me  in  the 
 wilderness,  in  a  land  that  irun  not 
 siiwn.  <3<  Israel  was  holiness  unto 
 the  Loiti),  and  the  firstfruits  of  his 
 increase:  'all  that  devour  him  shall 
 otleml;  evil  shall  come  upon  them, 
 saith  the  Lord. 
 
 <"  Sear  ye  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
 O  house  of  Jacob,  and  all  the  families 
 of  the  house  of  Israel :  (5)  Thus  saith 
 the  Lord,  What  iniquity  have  your 
 fathers    found    in    me,    that    they    are 
 
 »,  11, 18; 
 
 UOi.  13.1 
 
 d  P8.  18.  OS,  &  100 
 
 gone  far  from  me,  and  have  walked 
 Etfter    vanits,     and     are     become    vain? 
 
 w  Neither  said  they,  Where  /.,•  the 
 Lord  that  brought  ua  ap  out  of  the 
 land  of  Egypt,  that  led  as  through  the 
 wilderness,  through  a  land  of  A> 
 and  of  pits,  through  a  land  of  drought, 
 and  of  the  shadow  of  death,  through  B 
 land  that  no  man  passed  through,  and 
 where  no  man  dwelt  ?  l7<  And  I  brought 
 you  into  a  plentiful  country,  to  eat  the 
 
 fruit  thereof  and  the  <. thereof; 
 
 but  when  ye  entered,  ye  'defiled  my 
 land,  and  made  mine  heritage  an 
 abomination.  <8)  The  priests  said  not. 
 Where   is   the   Lord?    and   they   that 
 
 original  record  of  his  prophetic  work  during  the 
 reign  of  Jonah  had  been  destroyed  by  Juhoiakim  ichap. 
 xxxvi.  28),  and  was  afterwards  re-written  from  memory, 
 it  is  probable  that  we  have  a  kind  of  prieie  of  what 
 was  then  destroyed,  with  some  additions  (chap. 
 xxxvi.  32),  and  possibly  some  omissions.  In  chap. 
 iii.  ti  we  have  the  namo  of  Josiah  definitely  montionou. 
 
 (-)  Go  and  cry  .  .  . — Tlio  sceuo  of  the  call,  was, 
 wo  may  believe,  in  his  homo  at  Anathoth.  Now  the 
 prophet  is  sent  to  begin  his  work  in  Jerusalem. 
 
 I  remember  thee.— Literally,  I  have  remembered 
 for  th'  s. 
 
 The  love  of  thine  espousals.— The  imagery  was 
 one  derived,  as  we  End  bo  often  in  Jeremiah's  writings. 
 from  the  older  prophets.  It  was  implied  in  the 
 "jealous  God"  of  Gxod.  xx.  .">.  illustrated  by  an  actual 
 
 history,   which  was  also  a  parable,  in  Hosea  i. — iii., 
 
 and  after  its  use  by  Jeremiah,  expanded  more  fully 
 by  E/ekiel  (chap,  xvi-l.  The  "espousals"  are  thought 
 of  as  coinciding  with  the  great  covenant  of  Exod. 
 xxiv.  fS,  when  the  people  solemnly  entered  into  the 
 relation  to  which  God  called  them.  Then  the  brido 
 was  ready  to  follow  her  lord  and  husband  even,  in  an 
 "unsown  land" — the  "waste  howling  wilderness  "  of 
 Deut.  xxxii.  In.  The  faithfulness  of  tho  past  is  con- 
 trasted with  the  unfaithfulness  of  tho  present. 
 
 When  thou  wontest  after  me.— Literally,  thy 
 going  after  me. 
 
 PJ  Holiness  unto  the  Lord.— Tho  thought  was 
 that  expressed  in  the  inscription  on  tho  gold  plate 
 worn  on  tho  high  priest's  forehead  (Exod.  xxviii.  36), 
 and  in  the  term  "holy  thing"  Lev.  xxii.  10;  Matt.  vii. 
 6),  applied  to  the  consecrated  gifts  which  were  the 
 portion  of  the  priests.  The  prophet  was  taught  that 
 Israel,  as  a  nation,  had  a  priestly  character,  and  was 
 consecrated  to  the  Lord  as  the  "firstfruits"  of  tho 
 
 great  harvest  of  the  world.  Compare  the  uso  of  tho 
 same  figure  ill  .lames  i.  IS  ;  Rom.  xi.  lli. 
 
 All  that  devour  him  shall  offend.— Tho  imagery 
 of  the  firstfruits  is  continued.  Tho  Hebrew  for  the 
 word  "offend"  is  used  for  transgressions  against  the 
 ceremonial  law  in  Lev.  v.  5,  19;  Num.  v.  7.  Sere, 
 however,  it  is  probably  better  rendered,  shall  be  con- 
 itenmed,  or  shall  in-  made  to  evffer,  as  in  Ps.  xxxiv. 
 
 21,  --.  when'  the  Authorised  version  has  "shall  bo 
 desolate."  Those  who  devour  Israel — tho  enemies  and 
 invaders,  the  tyrants  and  oppressors — are  guilty  as  of 
 a  sacrilege  that  will  not  remain  unpunished. 
 
 (6)  Vanity. — In  the  special  souse,  as  a  synonym  for 
 idol-worship  (Deut.  xxxii.  ^1  ;  1  Kings  xvi.  13).  As  in 
 the  character  of  a  husband  wronged  by  his  wife's  deser- 
 tion Jehovah  pleads  with  His  people,  and  asks  whether 
 He  has  failed  in  anything. 
 
 i,;>  Neither  said  they.— Iu  somewhat  of  the  same 
 tone  as  in  Deut.  viii.  16,  xxxii.  10,  the  horrors  of  the 
 wildorness  are  painted  in  vivid  colours,  to  heighten 
 the  contrast  with  the  land  into  which  they  had  been 
 brought.  The  picture  was  true  of  part,  but  not  of  the 
 whole,  of  the  region  of  the  wanderings.  But  the  people 
 had  forgotten  this.  Then'  was  no  seekimrfor  tic 
 who  had  then  been  so  gracious.  The  question,  Where 
 is  Ho?  never  crossed  tie  ir  thoughts. 
 
 (")  A  plentiful  country. — Literally,  a  land  of 
 Oarmel,  that  word,  as  meaning  a  vine-dad  hill, 
 having  become  a  type  of  plenty.  So  "  tho  forest  of  his 
 Cannot,"  in  Isa.  xxxvii.  24;  elsewhere,  as  iu  I>i 
 x.  is.  xxxii.  15,  "  fruitful."  The  LX.N.  treats  the  word 
 as  a  proper  name,  "I  brought  you  unto  Carinel." 
 
 When  ye  entered. — Tho  words  point  to  the  rapid 
 degeneracy  of  Israel  after  the  settlement  in  Canaan,  as 
 seen  in  the  false  worship  and  foul  crimes  of  Judges 
 xvii. — xxi.  So  in  Ps.  Lxxviii.  5b' — 58.  Instead  of 
 being  tho  pattern  nation,  the  firstfruits  of  mankind, 
 they"  sank  to  tho  level,  or  below  the  level,  of  tho 
 heathen. 
 
 (8)  The  priests  said  not  .  .  .—As  throughout 
 the  work  of  Jeremiah  and  most  of  the  prophets  of  the 
 Old  Testament,  that  which  weighed  most  heavily  on 
 their  soids  was  that  those  who  were  called  to  lie  guides 
 of  tho  people  were  themselves  the  chief  agente  iu  the 
 evil.      The   salt    had    lost    its   savour.       The    light    had 
 
 become  darkness.      The  rebuke,   we   must    rememl 
 
 came  from  the  lips  of  one  who  was  himself  a  priest. 
 
 The  priests  said  not,  Where  is  the  Lord  f-~ 
 The  same  failure  to  seek  as  that  condemned  in  H 
 To  them,  too,  all  was  a   routine.     Jehovah  was  absent 
 from  their  thoughts  even  in  the  very  act  of  worship. 
 
 They  that  handle  the  law.— These,  probably, 
 
 wero  also  of  the  priestly  order,  to  whom  this  function 
 was  assigned  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  10.  Tho  order  of  uon- 
 priestly  scribes,  in   the  sense  of  interpreters  of  the 
 
 law.  does  not  appear  till  after  the  captivity.  Their  sin 
 was  that  they  "dealt  with  the  law"  as  interpreters  and 
 
 judges,  and  forgot  Jehovah  who  had  given  it. 
 The   pastors.  —  Better,    thepkerde,    the    English 
 
 "pastors"  having  gained  a  too  definitely  religious 
 connotation.     The   Hebrew  word  was  general  in  its 
 
 13 
 
The  Fountain  of 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   II. 
 
 Living  Waters  forsaken. 
 
 handle  the  "law  knew  me  not :  the 
 pastors  also  transgressed  against  me, 
 and  the  prophets  prophesied  by  Baal,  and 
 walked  after  things  that  do  not  profit. 
 (9)  Wherefore  I  will  yet  plead  with 
 you,  saith  the  Lord,  and  with  your 
 children's  children  will  I  plead.  (10>  For 
 pass  1over  the  isles  of  Chittim,  and 
 see ;  and  send  unto  Kedar,  and  consider 
 diligently,  and  see  if  there  be  such  a 
 thing.  (u)  Hath  a  nation  changed  their 
 gods,  which  are  *yet  no  gods?  but  my 
 people  have  changed  their  glory  for  that 
 which  doth  not  profit.  (12>  Be  astonished, 
 O  ye  heavens,  at  this,  and  be  horribly 
 
 afraid,  be  ye  very  desolate,  saith  the 
 Lord.  <13)  For  my  people  have  com- 
 mitted two  evils ;  they  have  forsaken 
 me  the  r  fountain  of  living  waters,  and 
 hewed  them  out  cisterns,  broken  cis- 
 terns, that  can  hold  no  water. 
 
 <u>  Is  Israel  a  servant  ?  is  he  a  home- 
 born  slave  ?  why  is  he  ~  spoiled  ?  <15>  The 
 young  lions  roared  upon  him,  and 3  yelled, 
 and  they  made  his  land  waste :  his  cities 
 are  burned  without  inhabitant.  <16)  Also 
 Srfr'wff  ""I  *^e  children  of  Noph  and  Tahapanes 
 *have  broken  the  crown  of  thy  head. 
 (17)  Hast  thou  not  procured  this  unto 
 thyself,  in  that  thou  hast  forsaken  the 
 
 ]  Or,  over  to. 
 
 Ps.  36.  9 ;  ch.  17. 
 13,  &  18.  14. 
 
 Hell.,  become  a 
 spoil  t 
 
 Or,  feed  on  thy 
 crown,  Deut.  33. 
 12 ;  Isa.  8.  8. 
 
 significance,  but  in  its  Old  Testament  use  was  applied 
 chiefly  to  civil  rulers,  as  in  Ps.  lxxviii.  71 ;  1  Kings 
 xxii.  17.  Even  in  Ezek.  xxxiv.,  where  the  spiritual 
 aspect  of  rule  is  most  prominent,  the  contrast  between 
 the  false  shepherds  and  the  one  true  shepherd  of  the 
 house  of  David  (verse  23)  shows  that  the  kingly,  not 
 the  priestly,  office  was  in  the  prophet's  mind. 
 
 The  prophets  prophesied  by  Baal.— The  pre- 
 cise form  of  the  sin  described  was  probably  connected 
 with  the  oracular  power  ascribed  to  Baal-zebub,  as  in 
 2  Kings  i.  2.  The  evil  was  of  long  standing.  It  was 
 one  of  the  sins  of  the  people  in  Isaiah's  time  that 
 they  were  "  soothsayers  like  the  Philistines "  (Isa. 
 ii.  6).  When  Ahab  first  introduced  the  Phoenician 
 worship,  it  was  by  the  prophets  rather  than  the  priests 
 of  Baal  that  the  new  cultus  was  propagated  (1  Kings 
 xviii.  19,  xxii.  6). 
 
 Things  that  do  not  profit.— The  word  had 
 acquired  an  almost  proverbial  force  as  applied  to  idols 
 (1  Sam.  xii.  21 ;  Isa.  xliv.  9).  So  the  phrase  is  re- 
 peated in  verse  11. 
 
 (9)  I  will  yet  plead  with  you.— "We  hear,  as  it 
 were,  the  echo  of  the  words  of  Hosea  ii.  2.  The  in- 
 jured lord  and  husband  will  appear  as  the  accuser  of 
 the  faithless  bride,  and  set  forth  her  guilt  as  in  an 
 indictment. 
 
 (io)  Pass  over  the  isles  .  .  .—Chittim  is  named 
 as  being,  from  the  prophet's  point  of  view,  the  furthest 
 country  in  the  west  (Gen.  x.  4;  Num.  xxiv.  24),  Kedar 
 (Gen.  xxv.  13 ;  Ps.  cxx.  5)  in  the  east.  The  whole  earth 
 might  be  searched  without  finding  a  parallel  to  the 
 guilt  of  Israel. 
 
 <u>  Hath  a  nation  .  .  .—Emphatically  a  heathen 
 "  nation,"  as  contrasted  with  the  "  people  "  of  Jehovah. 
 They  were  faithful  to  their  false  gods ;  Israel  was  un- 
 faithful to  the  true.  The  words  "  changed  their 
 glory "  find  an  echo  in  Rom.  i.  23,  though  here  they 
 express  the  thought  that  the  worship  of  Jehovah  was 
 the  true  glory  of  Israel  as  a  people,  and  that  they  had 
 •wilfully  abandoned  it. 
 
 P2)  Be  astonished,  O  ye  heavens.— The  adjura- 
 tion had  been  made  familiar  by  a  like  utterance  in 
 Isa.  i.  2;  Deut.  xxxii.  i.  "Astonished" — in  the  old 
 sense,  "  thunder-stricken,"  stupefied.  The  whole  uni- 
 verse is  thought  of  as  shocked  and  startled  at  the 
 offence  against  its  Creator. 
 
 (is)  The  fountain  of  living  waters.— The  word 
 rendered  "well,"  as  in  Prov.  x.  11,  xviii.  4;  "foun- 
 tain," as  in  Ps.  xxxvi.  9,  is  used  of  water  flowing 
 from   the  rock.      The  "cistern,"  on  the   other  hand, 
 
 was  a  tank  for  surface  water.  A  word  identical  in 
 sound  and  meaning,  though  differently  spelt,  is  variously 
 rendered  by  "  pit,"  "  well,"  or  "  cistern." 
 
 <14)  Is  Israel  a  servant?— The  word  "servant," 
 we  must  remember,  had  become,  through  its  frequent 
 use  in  Isaiah  (xx.  3,  xli.  8,  et  al.),  a  word  not  of  shame, 
 but  honour ;  and  of  all  servants,  he  who  was  born  in 
 the  house — as  in  the  case  of  Eleazar  (Gen.  xv.  3) — 
 occupied  the  most  honourable  place,  nearest  to  a  son. 
 The  point  of  the  question  is  accordingly  not  "  Is  Israel 
 become  a  slave,"  kidnapped,  as  it  were,  and  spoiled, 
 but  rather  this  :  "  Is  Israel  the  servant  of  Jehovah, 
 as  one  born  in  His  house  ?  Why,  then,  is  he  treated 
 as  one  with  no  master  to  protect  Mm  ?  " 
 
 (is)  The  young  lions  roared  .  .  .—The  real 
 answer  to  the  question,  that  Israel  had  forsaken  its 
 true  master,  is  given  in  verse  17.  Here  it  is  implied 
 in  the  description  of  what  the  runaway  slave  had 
 suffered.  Lions  had  attacked  him ;  not  figuratively 
 only,  as  symbolising  invaders,  but  in  the  most  literal 
 sense,  they  had  made  his  land  waste  (2  Kings  xvii. 
 25). 
 
 Are  burned. — Better,  levelled  with  the  ground. 
 
 (16)  Also  the  children  of  Noph  .  .  . — We  pass 
 from  the  language  of  poetry  to  that  of  history,  and  the 
 actual  enemies  of  Israel  appear  on  the  scene,  not  as  the 
 threatening  danger  in  the  north,  but  in  the  far  south. 
 The  words  indicate  that  the  prophet  set  himself  from 
 the  first,  as  Isaiah  had  done  (Isa.  xxxi.  1),  against  tho 
 policy  of  an  Egyptian  alliance.  The  LXX.  translators, 
 following,  we  must  believe,  an  Egyptian  tradition, 
 identify  the  Hebrew  Noph  with  Memphis  in  northern 
 Egypt ;  later  critics,  with  Napata  in  the  south.  Its 
 conjunction  with  Tahapanes,  the  Daphnse  of  the 
 Greeks,  which  was  on  the  Pelusiac  mouth  of  the  Nile, 
 and  on  the  frontier,  seems  in  favour  of  the  former 
 view. 
 
 Have  broken. — More  accurately,  shall  feed  on,  lay 
 waste,  depasture,  so  as  to  produce  baldness.  Bald- 
 ness among  the  Jews,  as  with  other  Eastern  nations, 
 was  a  shame  and  reproach  (Isa.  iii.  24,  xv.  2,  xxii.  12; 
 2  Kings  ii.  23),  and  was  therefore  a  natural  symbol  of 
 the  ignominy  and  ruin  of  a  people. 
 
 (17)  Hast  thou  not  procured  this  .  .  .  P— The 
 secret  cause  of  the  calamities  is  brought  to  light. 
 Jehovah  was  leading  Israel,  but  Israel  has  chosen 
 another  path,  and  so  has  procured  sorrow  upon  sorrow 
 to  himself.  The  "way"  here  is  scarcely  the  literal 
 path  through  the  wilderness,  but  much  rather  the  true 
 way  of  life. 
 
Alliances  with  Egypt  and  Assyria.  JEREM I A  1 1 ,     II 
 
 The  Noble  Vine  degener>> 
 
 Lord  thy  God,  when  he  led  thee  by 
 (he  way?  <ls'  And  now  what  hast  thou 
 to  do  in  the  way  of  Egypt,  to  drink  the 
 waters  of  Sihor?  or  what  hast  thou  to 
 do  in  the  way  of  Assyria,  to  drink  the 
 waters  of  the  river?  (19)  Thine  own 
 "wickedness  shall  correct  thee,  and  thy 
 backsliding  shall  reprove  thee:  know 
 therefore  and  see  that  it  is  an  evil  thing 
 and  bitter,  that  thou  hast  forsaken  the 
 Lord  thy  God,  and  that  my  fear  is  not 
 in  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God  of  hosts. 
 
 (-")  For  of  old  time  I  have  broken  thy 
 yoke,  and  burst  thy  bands ;    and  thou 
 
 (1  Im.   3.  0;     lion. 
 
 0  Iaa.  : 
 a  9. 
 
 Pi 
 
 f  Ei.   is.  l: 
 
 44.  2,*  nm  «;  [M. 
 :,  l,  *ci  Mho. 
 '.'I.  ■;  Murk  a 
 1 ;  Luke  a>.  ». 
 
 Or,  Oitii  / 
 Liturt/. 
 
 saidst,  I  will  not  'transgress;  When 
 'upon  every  high  hill  and  under  every 
 green  tree  thou  wanderest,  playing  the 
 harlot.  '-"  Yet  I  had  'planted  tie.-  a 
 noble  vine,  wholly  a  right  seed :  how 
 then  art  thou  turned  into  the  degener- 
 ate plant  of  a  strange  vine  unto  me? 
 (22)  Yot  though  thou  •'wash  thee  with 
 nitre,  and  take  thee  much  sope,  yet 
 thine  inicprity  is  marked  before  me, 
 saith  the  Lord  God.  (23)  How  canst 
 thou  say,  I  am  not  polluted,  I  have  not 
 gone  after  Baalim?  see  thy  way  in  the 
 valley,  know  what  thou  hast  done  :  -limn 
 
 <w  In  the  way  of  Egypt  .  .  .  ?— The  rebuke 
 becomes  mora  and  moro  specific.  Great  rivors  were. 
 in  tln>  poetry  of  tho  prophets,  the  natural  symbols  of 
 tlm  kingdoms  through  wliicli  they  flowed.  Sihor 
 ( -  the  turbid  or  muddy  river)  hero,  and  in  Isa.  xxiii.  8 
 t lie  Nile  (though  in  Josh.  xiii.  3  it  stands  for  tho  border 
 stream  between  Palestine  and  Egypt),  represented 
 Egypt.  Tho  "  rivor,"  or  "  flood,"  needing  no  other  name 
 as  ] ue-eminent  in  its  greatness  (comp.  Josh.  xxiv.  14, 15), 
 •le  Euphrates,  stood  for  Assyria  (comp.  Isa.  viii.  7). 
 The  words  point  to  the  tendency  to  court-  the  alliance 
 now  of  one,  now  of  the  other  of  the  great  kingdoms 
 of  the  world.  The  policy  was  no  new  one.  Menahom 
 in  Israel,  Ahaz  in  Judah,  had  courted  Assyria  (2  Kings 
 xv.  19,  xvi.  7.  8)j  He/.ekiali.  Babylon  (Isa.  xxxix.i; 
 Hoshea  had  sought  help  from  Egypt  (2  Kings  xvii.  4). 
 Tho  prophet  Hosea  had  rebuked  both  policies  (v.  13, 
 vii.  11,  viii.  9).  Even  under  Hc/.okiah  there  was 
 B  party  seeking  the  Egyptian  alliance  ilsa.  xviii..  xix., 
 xxxi.i.  Under  Manasseli  and  Anion  that  party  was  in 
 power,  and  the  very  name  of  the  latter  probably  boars 
 witness  to  its  influence.  Josiah  kept  as  far  as  possible 
 the  position  of  a  neutral,  but.  when  forced  into  action, 
 and  probably  guided  by  the  counsels  of  Hilkiah. 
 resisted  the  advance  of  Pharaoh-nechoh  (2  Kings  x\iii. 
 "■'  I  >n  his  death  the  Egyptian  party  again  gained 
 ground  under  Jehoiakiin.  while  .leremiah.  opposing  its 
 strength,  urged  the  wisdom  of  accepting  the  guidance 
 of  events,  and   submitting  to  the  Chaldaeans  (so  far 
 
 continuing  the  line  of  action  adopted  by  He/.ekiali  .  an. I 
 ultimately  was  accused  of  deserting  his  own  people  and 
 ••  falling  away"  to  their  oppressors  (chap,  xxxvii.  13). 
 
 (19)  Thine  own  wickedness.— The  strain  is  now 
 of  a  higher  mood,  and  rises  from  what  is  local  and 
 temporary  to  the  eternal  law  of  retribution.  Punish- 
 ment comes  as  the  natural  consequence  of  sins.  Our 
 "pleasant  rioee"  become  "whips  to  scourge  us."  The 
 "  fuickslidings "  of  Israel,  in  courting  the  favour  of 
 foreign  slates  by  adopting  their  creed  and  worship, 
 shall  involve  her  ill  ever  fresh  calamities. 
 
 - »  I  have  broken  thy  yoke.— Better,  with  the 
 I.XX  and  Yulg..  thmi  hast  broken  thy  yoke — i.e., 
 east  ofl  all  allegiance  and  restraint.  The  Authorised 
 Version,  which  follows  the  received  Hebrew  reading, 
 may.  however,  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  deliver- 
 ance of   Israel  from  their  Egyptian  bondage. 
 
 Thou  saidst,  I  will  not  transgress— Perhaps. 
 following  a  various  reading  adopted  by  the  LXX  .  Vulg., 
 and  Lather,  /  vill  not  serve.  The  words  so  taken  paint 
 vividly  the  wilful  defiance  of  the  rebellious  nation.  It 
 threw  off  its  allegiance.     If  we  retain  the  Authorised 
 
 version  rendering,  it  would  be  better  to  take  the  verb 
 in  the  present,  I  transgress  not,  as  expressing  a  like 
 defiance. 
 
 When. — Bettor,  for,  as  giving  an  illustration  of 
 the  rebellious  temper.  The  "  high  hill "  and  the 
 "  green  tree  "  point  to  the  localities  of  idol-worship — 
 the  "high  places"  that  meet  us  so  frequently  in  1  and 
 2  Kings,  tho  "tops  of  the  mountains, "and  the  "  oaks  and 
 poplars  and  elms "'  of  Hosea  iv.  13.  Tree-worship  in 
 Judaea,  as  elsewhere,  appears  to  have  exercised  a  won- 
 derful power  of  fascination,  and  though  the  word 
 translated  "  grove  "  (Asherah)  lias  not  that  meaning,  it 
 was  probably  connected  with  tho  same  cultus. 
 
 Playing  the  harlot.— Literally,  laying  thyself 
 doten.  The  idolatrous  prostration  was  as  an  act  of 
 spiritual  prostitution,  often,  as  in  the  orgiastic  worship 
 of  Baal  and  Ashtaroth,  united  with  actual  impurity. 
 
 (2i)  a  noble  vine.— Literally,  n  8orek  rim-.  Else- 
 where rendered  choice  or  choicest  (Gen.  xlix.  11 ;  Isa. 
 v.  - 1.  The  word  "  Sorek  "  points  primarily  to  the  dark 
 purple  of  the  grape,  and  then  to  the  valley  of  Sorek. 
 between  Ascalou  and  Gaza  (Judges  xvi.  4). 
 
 Wholly  a  right  seed.— Literally,  a  seed  of  truth. 
 parallel  with  the  "  good  seed "  in  the  Parable  of 
 tho  Tares.  Hero,  however,  as  in  Isa.  v.  1 — 7, 
 which  .leremiah  seems  to  have  in  his  mind,  stress  is 
 laid  not  on  tho  mingling  of  tho  evil  with  the  good,  but 
 on  the  degeneration  which  bad  changed  the  character 
 of  that  which  God  had  planted. 
 
 Art  thou  turned  .  .  .  ?— Better,  hast  thou  changed 
 thyself   .    .    .  ? 
 
 Plant. — Better,  branches. 
 
 (22)  Nitre.— The  mineral  alkali  found  in  the  natron 
 lakes  of  Egypt  that  took  their  name  from  it.  The 
 Hebrew  word  IK  (h  r  is  the  origin  of  the  Greek  and 
 English  words.     (Comp.  Prov.  xxv.  20.) 
 
 Sope. — Not  the  compounds  of  alkali  and  oil  or  fat 
 now  known  by  the  name,  hut  the  potash  or  alkali, 
 obtained  from  the  ashes  of  plants,  which  was  used  by 
 itself  as  a  powerful  detergent.  The  thought  is 
 the  same  as  that  of  Job  ix.  30,  and,  we  may  add,  as 
 that  of  Macbeth,  Act  ii.,  sc.  2  i — 
 
 "  Will  all  great  Neptune's  oosan  wash  this  blood 
 (lean  from  my  hand  I    No:  this  my  hand  will  rather 
 The  multitudinous  seas  incarnadine, 
 
 Making  the  STOOD  one  red.'' 
 
 The  guilt  was  too  strongly  "  marked,"  too  "deep-dyed 
 
 in  grain  "  to  be  removed  by  any  outward  palliatives. 
 
 -;   How  canst  thou  say  .  .  .  ?— The  prophet 
 
 hears,  as  it  were,  the  voice  of  the  BCCnsed  criminal, 
 with  its  plea  of  "  not  guilty."     Had  not  tho  worship 
 
 15 
 
Israel  as  the  Wild  Ass 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   II. 
 
 in  the  Wilderness. 
 
 art  a  swift  dromedary  traversing  her 
 ways;  (24>  :a  wild  ass  2used  to  the 
 wilderness,  that  snuffeth  up  the  wind 
 at  3her  pleasure;  in  her  occasion  who 
 can  4turn  her  away  ?  all  they  that  seek 
 her  will  not  weary  themselves;  ha  her 
 month  they  shall  find  her.  <25>  With- 
 hold thy  foot  from  being  unshod,  and 
 thy  throat  from  thirst :  but  thou  saidst, 
 5  There  is  no  hope :  no ;  for  I  have  loved 
 strangers,  and  after  them  wiU  I  go. 
 
 (26>  As  the  thief  is  ashamed  when  he  is 
 found,  so  is  the  house  of  Israel  ashamed; 
 they,  their  kings,  their  princes,  and  their 
 
 1  Or,  0  wild  ass. 
 be. 
 
 2  Heb.,  taught 
 
 3  Heb.,  the  desire 
 of  iter  heart. 
 
 4  Or,  reverse  it  t 
 
 5  Or,  Is  the.    ease 
 desperate  t 
 
 6  Or,  begotten  me. 
 
 7  Heb.,  the  hinder 
 part  of  the  neck. 
 
 a  Isa.  26. 16. 
 
 o  Isa.  -15.  20. 
 
 8  Heb.,  evil, 
 c  ch.  11  13. 
 
 priests,  and  their  prophets,  <27)  saying 
 to  a  stock,  Thou  art  my  father ;  and  to 
 a  stone,  Thou  hast  6 brought  me  forth: 
 for  they  have  turned  7 their  back  unto 
 me,  and  not  their  face :  but  in  the  time 
 of  their  "trouble  they  will  say,  Arise, 
 and  save  us.  (28>  But  where  are  thy 
 gods  that  thou  hast  made  thee?  let 
 them  arise,  if  they  'can  save  thee  in 
 the  time  of  thy  8  trouble :  for  c  according 
 to  the  number  of  thy  cities  are  thy 
 gods,  0  Judah.  <29>  Wherefore  will 
 ye  plead  with  me?  ye  all  have  trans- 
 gressed against   me,   saith    the    Lord. 
 
 of  Jehovah  been  restored  by  Josiah  ?  Had  he  not, 
 acting  on  Hilkiah's  counsels,  suppressed  Baal-worship 
 (2  Kings  xxiii.  4,  5 ;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  4)  P  The  answer 
 to  such  pleas  is  to  point  to  the  rites  that  were  still 
 practised  openly  or  in  secret.  In  the  "  valley  "  of  Ben- 
 Hinnom,  which  Josiah  had  defiled  (2  Kings  xxiii.  10), 
 the  horrid  ritual  of  Molech  (Lev.  xviii.  21,  xx.  2)  was  still 
 in  use  (chap.  vii.  31),  reviving,  we  may  believe,  on  the 
 death  of  Josiah ;  and  this,  though  not  actually  the 
 worship  of  Baal,  was  at  least  as  evil,  and  probably,  in 
 the  confluence  of  many  forms  of  worship  which  marked 
 the  last  days  of  the  monai'chy  of  Judah,  was  closely 
 associated  and  practically  identified  with  it,  both  by 
 the  prophet  and  the  people  (chaps,  xix.  5,  xxxii.  35). 
 
 A  swift  dromedary. — Better,  she-camel,  the 
 Hebrew  word  not  pointing  to  any  specific  difference. 
 The  words  paint  with  an  almost  terrible  vividness  the 
 eager,  restless  state  of  the  daughter  of  Zion  in  its 
 harlot-like  lust  for  the  false  gods  of  the  heathen.  The 
 female  camel,  in  the  uncontrollable  violence  of  its 
 brute  passion,  moving  to  and  fro  with  panting  eager- 
 ness— that  was  now  the  fit  image  for  her  who  had  once 
 been  the  betrothed  of  Jehovah. 
 
 I24)  A  wild  ass  .  .  . — One  image  of  animal  desire 
 suggests  another,  and  the  "  wild  ass "  appears  (as 
 in  the  Hebrew  of  Gen.  xvi.  12 ;  Job  xi.  12,  xxxix.  5) 
 as  even  a  stronger  type  of  passion  that  defies  control. 
 The  description  is  startling  in  its  boldness,  but  has  a 
 parallel  in  that  of  Virgil  (Georg.  iii.  250). 
 
 That  snuffeth  up  the  wind  at  her  pleasure. 
 — Better,  in  the  desire  of  her  heart,  as  it  bears  to  her 
 the  scent  that  draws  her  on.  The  "  occasion  "  and  the 
 "  month  "  are,  of  course,  the  season  when  the  stimulus 
 of  animal  desire  is  strongest.  There  is  no  need  for  the 
 stallion  to  seek  her  with  a  weary  search,  she  presents 
 herself  and  pursues  him.  So  there  was  in  Israel  what 
 we  should  describe  as  a  mania  for  the  hateful  worship 
 of  the  heathen. 
 
 (25)  Withhold  thy  foot.— From  the  brute  types  of 
 passion  the  prophet  passes  to  the  human.  Here  he  has 
 Hosea  as  giving  a  prototype  (ii.  5, 7),  perhaps  also  Isaiah 
 (xxiii.  15,  16).  The  picture  may  probably  enough  have 
 been  drawn  from  the  life,  but  that  sketched  in  Prov.  vii. 
 10 — 23  may  well  have  supplied  the  outline.  Jehovah,  as 
 her  true  husband,  bids  the  apostate  wife  to  refrain  for 
 very  shame  from  acting  as  the  harlot,  rushing  barefoot 
 into  the  streets,  panting,  as  with  a  thirst  that  craves  to 
 be  quenched,  for  the  gratification  of  her  desires.  The 
 "  unshod "  may  possibly  refer  to  one  feature  of  the 
 worship  of  Baal  or  Ashtaroth,  men  and  women  taking 
 off  their  shoes  when  they  entered  into  their  temples, 
 
 16 
 
 as  being  holy  ground  (Exod.  iii.  5),  and  joining  in 
 orgiastic  dances. 
 
 Thou  saidst,  There  is  no  hope:  no.— Here 
 also  we  find  a  parallel  to  the  thought  and  language  of 
 Hosea.  There  the  one  effectual  remedy  for  the  evil 
 into  which  the  apostate  wife  had  fallen  was  to  speak  to 
 her  heart,  and  to  open  the  door  of  hope  (Hosea  ii.  14, 
 15) .  Now  the  malignity  of  the  evil  is  shown  by  the 
 loss  of  all  hope  of  recovery  in  returning  to  Jehovah  : — 
 
 "  Small  sins  the  heart  first  desecrate. 
 At  last  despair  persuades  to  great." 
 
 Like  Gomer,  she  will  go  after  her  "lovers,"  though 
 they  are  "  strangers,"  as  if  they  were  her  only  protectors. 
 It  would  seem,  from  the  recurrence  of  the  phrase  in 
 chap,  xviii.  12,  as  if  it  were  the  formula  of  a  despairing 
 fatalism,  like  the  proverb  of  the  fathers  eating  sour 
 grapes  (chap.  xxxi.  29,  30 ;  Ezek.  xviii.  2). 
 
 (26)  As  the  thief  .  .  .—The  words  point  to  the 
 sense  of  shame  as  already  felt,  and  as  therefore  bring- 
 ing with  it  the  possibility  of  repentance.  Once  they 
 gloried  in  their  false  worship ;  now  they  feel  as  if 
 detected  in  a  crime.  Conscience  had  once  again  been 
 roused  into  activity. 
 
 (27)  Saying  to  a  stock  .  .  . — The  "  stock  "  and  the 
 "  stone  "  represent  respectively  the  images  of  wood  and 
 marble.  In  Hebrew  the  latter  word  is  feminine,  and 
 thus  determines  the  parts  assigned  to  them  in  the 
 figurative  parentage. 
 
 To  a  stock,  Thou  art  my  father.— Literally, 
 to  a  tree.  The  words  seem  as  if  they  were  an  actual 
 quotation  from  the  hymns  of  the  idolatrous  ritual. 
 
 In  the  time  of  their  trouble. — So  in  Hosea 
 (ii.,  iii.)  it  is  the  discipline  of  suffering  that  leads 
 the  adulterous  wife  to  repentance.  In  times  of  trouble 
 and  dismay  those  who  had  before  turned  their  backs  on 
 Jehovah  shall  seek  Him  with  outstretched  hands,  and 
 the  cry  for  help.  The  prophet  half  implies  that  then  it 
 maybe  too  late  till  chastisement  has  done  its  perfect  work. 
 
 (28)  Where  are  thy  gods  .  .  .  ?— The  question  is 
 asked  in  indignant  scorn.  "Thou  madest  the  gods, 
 and  yet  they  cannot  profit  thee."  Though  every  city 
 had  its  tutelary  deity,  there  was  none  found  to  deliver. 
 The  LXX.  adds,  as  in  chap.  xi.  13,  the  words  "  ac- 
 cording to  the  number  of  the  streets  in  Jerusalem  they 
 sacrificed  to  Baal." 
 
 (29)  Wherefore  wul  ye  plead  with  me  ?— The 
 reply  of  the  accuser  to  the  false  pleas  of  the  accused. 
 The  transgression  was  too  open  to  be  glossed  over.  No 
 plea  was  available  but  that  of  a  full  confession  of  the 
 guilt  into  which  Israel  had  fallen. 
 
/.,/.(. I  as  the 
 
 JEREMIAH,    III 
 
 thful  ii,/.. 
 
 *;,°)  In  vain   have  r  "smitten  your  chil- 
 dren :     they    received    □ irrection  : 
 
 \ .  >u  t-  own    Bword   bath  'devoured  your 
 prophets,  like  ;i  destroying  lion. 
 
 I )  generation,  Bee  ye  the  word  of 
 the  Lord.  'Have  1  been  a  wilderness 
 unto  Israel  ?  a  land  of  darkness  ?  where- 
 fore saj  iiiv  people,  lWe  are  Lords;  we 
 will  come  no  more  unto  I  beeP  '  J  <  'an 
 a  maid  forgel  ber  ornaments,  or  a 
 bride  her  attire?  yet  my  people  bave 
 forgotten  me  days  withoul  aumher. 
 i:  '  Why  trimmest  thou  thy  way  bo  seek 
 love?  therefore  hast  thou  also  taught 
 the  wicked  ours  thy  ways.  (J*)  Also  in 
 tin  -kills  is  found  the  blood  of  tin- 
 souls    of   the    poor    inn nts:     1   have 
 
 I'l;    rh 
 
 .1  Dout-M.  i 
 
 uoi  found  it  by  'secrel  Bearch,  bul  u] 
 
 nil  tin  se.  N't  tin  i  Because 
 
 I  am  innocent,  surely  his  anger  shall 
 turn  from  me.  Behold,  I  «iil  plead 
 with  thee,  because  I bou  sayest,  I  bave 
 
 nut    sin 1.      :;'   Why   gaddesl    thou 
 
 about  s.i  much  to  change  thy  way? 
 thou  alsn  shah  be  ashamed  of  Egypt, 
 as  thou  wast  ashamed  of  Assyria. 
 PW  Yea,  thou  shalt  go  forth  from  him, 
 ami  thine  hands  upon  thine  head:  for 
 the  Loan  bath  rejected  thy  confidences, 
 ami  thou  shalt  m.t  prosper  in  them. 
 
 CHAPTER   ITE. — '"    Tli.v  say,  [fa 
 man  pul  away  his  wife, and  Bhe  ^<>  from 
 
 linn,  and  become  another  man's,    'shall 
 
 Your  own  sword  hath  devoured  your 
 prophets— So  in  the  long  reign  of  Bfanasseh,  the 
 prophets  who  rebuked  him  had  to  do  bo  ai  the  risk  of 
 their   lives.      Isaiah,  as  the  tradition  ran,  had   been 
 
 foremost  among  the  sufferers.     Much  innocent   l  •  1 1 
 
 had  I n  shed  from  one  end  to  another  of  Jerusalem 
 
 (2  Kings  \\i    1 1  -16). 
 
 i)  generation,  seo  ye.— The  pronoun  occupies 
 a  different  position  in  the  Hebrew,  "  0  generation,  you, 
 I  m  ar  -  '  The  prophet  speaks  to  the  men  who 
 are  actually  liis  contemporaries.  They  are  to  look  to 
 the  word  of  the  Lord.  Has  He  been  to  them  as  a 
 waste  land,  a  land  of  thick  darkness  (literally,  accord- 
 ing io  inn.  interpretation,  darkness  of  Jan,  in  the  Bense 
 ..I  intensity),  thai  they  an  thus  unmindful  of  Him  !J 
 So  in  Song  of  Sol.  nil.  6  we  have  "flame  of  Jah,"  as 
 representing  the  Hebrew,  in  the  margin,  and  "very 
 vehement  Same  "  in  the  text,  of  the  authorised  version. 
 Wo  aro  Lords.— Better,  We  rove  at  will,  as  in 
 Qen.  txvii.  K),  where,  however,  the  Authorised  version 
 gives  "  when  thou  shall  have  the  dominion."  The 
 son-.'  is  practically  the  same.  Israel  claims  the  power 
 to  do  as  she  likes. 
 
 ;  Or  a  bride  hor  attiro.— The  word  is  rendered 
 ■•  headbands  "  in  Isa.  iii.  20,  bul  here  it  probably  moans 
 the  "girdle"  which  formed  the  special  distinction  of 
 the  wife  as  contrasted  with  the  maiden.  Such  a  girdle, 
 like  the  marriage  ring  with  as,  would  be  treasured  by 
 the  bride  all  her  life  long.  Even  the  outward 
 memorial  of  her  union  with  her  husband  would  be  dear 
 
 to  hor.      But   Israel  had  forgotten  her  lord  and  husband 
 
 Himself. 
 
 Why  trimmost  thou  thy  way  . . .  ?— The  \  erb 
 
 is  the  same  as  thai  rendered  ••  amend  "  in  chap,  vii.  ">.  ■".. 
 and  was  probably  often   cm  the  lips   of  th08e  who  made 
 
 a  slimy  of  reformation.  Here  it  is  used  with  a  scornful 
 irony,  "  What  means  ilds  reform,  this  show  of  amend- 
 ment of  thy  ways,  which  leads  only  to  a  further  in- 
 dulgence in  adulterous  love  P  " 
 
 Hast  thou  also  taught  tho  wicked  ones  thy 
 ways.— Better,  hast  thou  also  taught  tin/  ways  wicked- 
 
 The    professed    change     for     the     better    was 
 
 really  for  the  worse. 
 
 11  Also  in  thy  skirts  .  .  .—The  general  meaning 
 
 is  clear,  and  points  to  the  guilt  of  Israel  in  offering  her 
 
 children — the   "poor  innocents" — in  horrid  sacrifice  to 
 Moloch;    perhaps,   also,   to   her   maltreatment   of   the 
 141 
 
 prophets.  Their  "  blood "  is  on  the  -'skirls"  of  her 
 raiment  ;   perhaps,    if   we   take  another  reading,  on   the 
 
 ••  palms "  of  her  hands.  The  last  clause  is.  however, 
 obscure  enough,  We  bave  tu  choose,  according  to 
 variations  of  reading  and  construction,  between  li  / 
 havi  I  it  as  by  secret  tearch    literally.  Inj  dig- 
 
 ging, as  men  dig  through  the  wall  of  a  house  in  search 
 oi'  plunder  .  but  und*  ,■  .  vi  n  oak  or  /•  ,■>  binth,  or.  more 
 probably,  as    in    the    Authorised    version,   upon    aU 
 
 — t.e.,    the  sin    was    patent,   flagrant,  everywhere; 
 and  (2)  Thou  didst  not  find  them    those  who  had  b 
 pui   io  death1  in  the  place  of  breaking  through- 
 in  ill,-  act  of  the  robber  that  would  ham  ath 
 
 (Exod.  xxii.  l';  Job  xxiv.  16)  ;  but  because  of  all  this — 
 /'.,..  thou  didst  slay  them  through  thy  passim  for 
 idolatry.      <  >f   these  |  1  i  commend  I  it-elf  nni-t. 
 
 Vet  thou  sayest  .  .  .    Once  again  we  have 
 the  equivocating  pli  ;.    She  takes  up  the 
 
 word  that  had  been  Used  by  the  accuser:   "You  speak 
 
 of  the  innocents ;  /.  too,  '.     Hw 
 
 ,i  away  fro  '<  i  -  there  is 
 
 an  implied  reference  to  the  partial  reformation  under 
 Josiah.     The  accuser  retorts,  and  renews  his  pleadings 
 
 against  her.    Confession  might  have  led  to  forgiveness, 
 
 in'  this  denial  of  guili  excluded  it.  and  was  the  token 
 of  a  fatal  blindness   c  imp.  1  John  i.  E 
 
 Why  gaddest   thou  .  .  .  ?— The    vigorous 
 
 English  expresses  well,  perhaps  even  with  s..me  added 
 
 force,  the  frequentative  force  of  the  Hebrew.  What 
 meant  this  perpetual  change  of  policy,  this  shifting  of 
 
 alliances:-  Shame  and  confusion  should  follow  from 
 the  alliance  with   Xeclloh.  as   it    had  followed  from  that 
 
 with  Tiglath-pileser  J  rlingsxvi  lO;2Chron.xxviii. 
 
 <"~>   From  him.—  B  from  Egypt 
 
 a.s  a  people. 
 
 Thine  hands  upon  thine  head. --The  outward 
 
 Bign  of  depression  and  despair    J  Sam.  xiii.   1'.'  . 
 
 Thy  confidences.— /...  the  grounds  or  objects  of 
 ihy  confidence. 
 
 III. 
 
 '    The  parable  of  the  guilty  wife  who  is  condemned 
 in  spite  of  all  her  denials  is  carried  out  to  its  logical 
 
 ri  -nils. 
 
 They  say.— Better.  So  /•>  speak,  as  introducing  a 
 new  application  of  the  figure.      The  direct   reference 
 
The  Sins  of  Israel 
 
 JEREMIAH,    III. 
 
 as  the  Adulterous    Wife. 
 
 he  return  unto  her  again?  shall  not 
 that  land  be  greatly  polluted  ?  but  thou 
 hast  played  the  harlot  with  many  lovers  ; 
 yet  return  again  to  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
 {2>  Lift  up  thine  eyes  unto  the  high 
 places,  and  see  where  thou  hast  not 
 been  lien  with.  In  the  ways  hast  thou 
 sat  for  them,  as  the  Arabian  in  the 
 wilderness ;  and  thou  hast  polluted  the 
 land  with  thy  whoredoms  and  with  thy 
 wickedness.  (3)  Therefore  the  "  showers 
 have  been  withholden,  and  there  hath 
 been  no  latter  rain;   and  thou  hadst  a 
 
 a  Dt'iu.  L'<.  l'l; 
 ch.  'J.  12. 
 
 B.  C. 
 
 cir.  M2. 
 
 'whore's  forehead,  thou  refusedst  to  be 
 ashamed.  M  Wilt  thou  not  from  this 
 time  cry  unto  me,  My  father,  thou  art 
 the  guide  of  my  youth?  <5»  Will  he 
 reserve  his  anger  for  ever  ?  will  he  keep 
 it  to  the  end?  Behold,  thou  hast 
 spoken  and  done  evil  things  as  thou 
 couldest. 
 
 <6>  The  Lord  said  also  unto  me  in 
 the  days  of  Josiah  the  king,  Hast  thou 
 seen  that  which  backsliding  Israel  hath 
 done  ?  she  is  c  gone  up  upon  every 
 high  mountain  and  under  every  green 
 
 is  to  Deut.  xxiv.  4,  which  forbade  the  return  to  the  past 
 husband  as  au  abomination,  a  law  which  the  recent 
 discovery  of  the  Book  of  the  Law  (2  Kings  xxii.  10,  11) 
 had  probably  brought  into  prominence.  But  there  is 
 also  au  obvious  allusion  to  the  like  imagery  in  Hosea. 
 There  the  prophet  had  done,  literally  or  in  parable, 
 what  the  law  had  forbidden  (Hos.  ii.  16,  iii.  3),  and  so  had 
 held  out  the  possibility  of  return  and  the  hope  of  par- 
 don. Jeremiah  has  to  play  a  sterner  part,  and  to  make 
 the  apostate  adulteress  at  least  feel  that  she  had  sinned 
 too  deeply  to  have  any  claims  to  forgiveness.  It  might 
 seem  as  if  Jehovah  could  not  now  return  to  the  love 
 of  His  espousals,  and  make  her  what  she  once  had 
 been.    . 
 
 Yet  return  again  to  me,  saith  the  Lord.— The 
 words  sound  in  the  English  like  a  gracious  invitation, 
 and — in  spite  of  the  authority  of  many  interpreters  who 
 take  it  as  au  indignant  exclamation,  and  return  to 
 me  !  an  invitation  given  in  irony,  and  so  equivalent 
 to  rejection,  as  though  that  return  were  out  of  the 
 question — it  must,  I  think,  bo  so  taken.  The  prophet 
 has,  as  we  have  seen,  the  history  of  Hosea  in  his  mind, 
 where  there  had  been  such  a  call  to  return  (Hos.  ii.  19, 
 iii.  3),  and  actually  refers  to  it  and  repeats  it  in  verses 
 7,  12,  14.  It  surely  implies  a  want  of  insight  into  the 
 character  of  Jeremiah  to  suppose  that  he  ever  came 
 before  men  as  proclaiming  an  irrevocable  condemnation, 
 excluding  the  possibility  of  repentance. 
 
 (2)  Lift  up  thine  eyes. — The  consciousness  of 
 guilt  was,  however,  the  only  foundation  of  repentance, 
 and  the  prophet's  work,  therefore,  in  very  tenderness, 
 is  to  paint  that  guilt  in  the  darkest  colours  possible. 
 Still  keeping  to  the  parable  of  the  faithless  wife,  lie 
 bids  Israel,  as  such,  to  look  to  the  "  high  places  "  that 
 have  witnessed  her  adulteries  with  those  other  lords 
 for  whom  she  had  forsaken  Jehovah.  Like  the  harlots 
 of  the  east,  she  had  sat  by  the  wayside,  as  Tamar  had 
 done  (Gen.  xxxviii.  11;  comp.  also  Prov.  vii.  12; 
 Ezek.  xvi.  31),  not  so  much  courted  by  her  paramours 
 as  courting  them. 
 
 As  the  Arabian  in  the  wilderness. — The 
 Arabian  is  chosen  as  the  representative  of  the  lawless 
 predatory  tribes  of  the  desert.  As  they,  like  the 
 modern  Bedouins,  lay  in  ambush,  waiting  eagerly  for 
 their  victims,  so  had  the  harlot  Israel  laid  wait  for 
 her  lovers,  and  so  the  land  had  been  polluted. 
 
 (3)  Therefore  the  showers  .  .  .—Outward  cala- 
 mities were  looked  upon  as  chastisements  for  these 
 sins.  There  bad  apparently  been  a  severe  drought  in 
 the  reign  of  Josiah  (chap.  ix.  12,  xxv.  1 — 6).  There 
 had  been  no  showers  in  spring,  no  "  latter  rain  "  in  au- 
 tumn.    So  like  calamities  are  described  in  Amos  iv.  7 ; 
 
 Haggai  i.  11 ;  Joel  i.  18 — 20.  The  influence  of  the 
 newly-discovered  book  of  Deuteronomy  (2  Chron.  xxxiv. 
 14;  2  Kings  xxii.  8)  had  doubtless  given  a  fresh  em- 
 phasis to  this  view  of  natural  disasters. 
 
 (')  Wilt  thou  not  from  this  time  cry  unto 
 me  .  .  .? — Better,  Hast  thou  not  from  this  time  cried 
 unto  me  .  .  .  ?  The  prophet  paints  with  a  stern  irony 
 the  parade  of  the  surface  repentance  of  Josiah's  reign. 
 There  had  been  a  pathetic  appeal  to  God  as  the  for- 
 giving husband  of  the  faithless  wife,  but  not  the  less 
 had  the  wife  returned  to  her  wickedness. 
 
 Guide. — The  same  word  as  in  Prov.  ii.  17  ;  the 
 "  chief  friend,"  as  applied  to  the  husband. 
 
 (5)  Will  he  reserve  his  anger  for  ever  .  .  .  ?— 
 The  questions  were  such  as  might  well  be  asked  in  the 
 first  burst  of  sorrowing  though  superficial  repentance. 
 The  implied  answer  was  in  the  negative,  "  No.  He  will 
 not  keep  His  auger  to  the  end."  Yet,  so  far,  facts 
 were  against  that  yearning  hope.  It  will  be  noted  that 
 the  word  "anger"  is  not  in  the  Hebrew.  It  is,  how- 
 ever, rightly  iusorted,  after  the  precedent  of  Nah.  i.  2  ; 
 Ps.  ciii.  9.  The  words  seem,  indeed,  almost  a  quota- 
 tion from  the  latter,  and  verses  4  and  5  may  probably 
 be  looked  on  as  cited  from  the  penitential  litanies 
 in  which  the  people  had  joined,  and  which  were  too 
 soon  followed  by  a  return  to  the  old  evils  (chap.  ii. 
 1—13). 
 
 Thou  hast  spoken  and  done  evil  things 
 as  thou  couldest. — i.e.,  resolutely  and  obstinately. 
 That  pathetic  appeal  to  the  mercy  and  love  of  Jehovah 
 was  followed  by  no  amendment,  but  by  a  return  to 
 evil.  Here  the  first  prophecy,  as  reproduced  from 
 memory,  ends,  and  the  next  verse  begins  a  separate 
 discourse. 
 
 (6)  The  Lord  said  also  unto  me  .  .  .—The 
 main  point  of  the  second  prophecy  (we  might  almost 
 call  it  sermon),  delivered,  like  the  former,  under 
 Josiah.  is  the  comparison  of  the  guilt  of  the  two  king- 
 doms of  Israel  and  Judah.  The  latter  had  been  looking 
 on  the  former  with  contemptuous  scorn.  She  is  now 
 taught — the  same  imagery  being  continued  that  had 
 begun  in  the  first  discourse — that  her  guilt  is  by  far 
 tin'  greater  of  the  two. 
 
 Backsliding  Israel. — The  epithet  strikes  the  key- 
 note of  all  that  follows,  and  is.  as  it  were,  the  text  of 
 the  sermon.  The  force  of  the  Hebrew  is  stronger  than 
 that  of  the  English,  and  implies  actual  "apostasy," 
 being,  indeed,  a  substantive  rather  than  au  adjective. 
 Apostasy  is,  as  it  were,  personified  in  Israel ;  she  is 
 the  rcnetjade  sister. 
 
 She  is  gone  up.— Better,  she  goes,  i.e.,  is  going 
 continually. 
 
 18 
 
backsliding  Israel 
 
 JEREMIAH,    III. 
 
 <i,i'/  Treaclu  rou  ■  Judah. 
 
 tree,  and  there  bath  played  the  harlot. 
 Lad   I   said  after  she   had  done  all 
 
 these  things,  Turn  tfa ato  me.     But 
 
 she  returned  not.  And  her  treacherous 
 sister  Judah  s;iw  it.  (H>  And  I  saw, 
 when  for  all  the  causes  whereby  back- 
 sliding Israel  committed  adulter^  I  had 
 put  her  away,  and  given  her  a  bill 
 of  divorce;  ye1  her  treacherous  sister 
 Judah  feared  not,  bui  weni  and  played 
 the  harlot  also,  (•)  And  it  came  i<>  p 
 through  the  '  Lighi  ness  of  her  whoredom, 
 thai  she  defiled  the  land,  and  committed 
 
 adultery  with  stones  and  with  storks. 
 <10)  And  yet  tor  all  this  her  treacherous 
 sister  Judah  hath  not  turned  unto  me 
 with  her  whole  heart,  hut  'feignedly, 
 saith  the  Lord. 
 
 W)  And  the   LOUD  said  unto  me,  The 
 backsliding    Israel    hath  justified  her- 
 
 u.  i. ,    [n 
 
 r».  86.  15;4K0. 
 
 self  more  than  treacherous  Judah. 
 <  k>  and  pro  :laim  t  hese  word-  to- 
 ward the  UOrth,  and  ,.\  .  Rel  urn,  thou 
 backsliding  I  srael,  saith  lie  Lobd; 
 I  will  not  cause  mine  anger  to  tall  upon 
 you  :  tor  |  ,i,,i  "merciful,  sail  h  the  Lobd, 
 and    I    \\ ill   not    I  /.  r   t'i ir   >-\ er. 
 
 '     Only   acknowledge   thine   baiqufty, 
 that  thou  has!  transgressed  againsi  the 
 Lord  .thy  God,  and  nasi  scattered  thy 
 to    the    strangers    under    every 
 green    tree,   and    ye     have    not   oh 
 
 my  voice,  saith  the  Lobd.    '"'Turn,  0 
 
 backsliding  children,  saith  the  LoBD  : 
 fori  am  married  unto  you:  and  I  will 
 take  you  one  of  a  city,  and  two  of  a 
 family,  and  J"  will  bring  you  to  Zion  : 
 '''■'  and  1  will  give  you  pastors  ac- 
 cording   t ine    heart,    which    shall 
 
 feed   you    with    knowledge   and    under- 
 
 <">  And  I  said  .  .  .—The  call  to  Israel  to  return 
 had  l n  slighted,  ami  Judah,  the  traitress  or  faithless, 
 
 "  Olio  with  falsehood,"  had  BO!  taken  warning  from  the 
 
 sin  in-  its  punishment. 
 
 Turn  thou  unto  me.—  Tim  verb  may  be  eithor  tho 
 
 B ml   in-   third   person,  /  said,   thou   shaU   return; 
 
 el'.    /    said,    she  fill    return,  as  expressing  a 
 
 rather  than  a  dii t  return.    The  latter  seems,  ou  the 
 
 whole,  the  preferable  rendering. 
 
 i"  And  I  saw,  when  for  all  the  causes. — Better, 
 perhaps  (following  a  conjeotnral  emendation,  which 
 gives  a  much  better  Bense  .  And  she  saw  that  for  all 
 tin-  causes.  Tho  technical  fulness  of  the  words  suggests 
 the  thought  thai  they  were  actually  the  customary 
 formula  with  which  every  writing  of  divorcement  began, 
 recapitulating  the  offences  which  were  alleged  by  the 
 husband  againsi  the  wife.  The  actual  repudiation  con- 
 sisted, of  OOUrSe,  in  the  hitter  exile  anil  loSS  of  national 
 
 life,  which  Ilosea  lii.  1  13)  hail  predicted  under  a  like 
 figure.  Judah  had  witnessed  the  sin  ami  the  punish- 
 ment, anil  vet  was  following  in  the  same  path. 
 
 ,:"  The  lightness  of  her  whoredom.— Lightness 
 in  the  ethical  .sense  of  "  levity."  Apostasy  was  treated 
 once  more  as  if  it  ha, I  been  a  light  thing  1  Kings 
 cvi.  31).  The  word  is.  however,  very  variously  inter- 
 preted, and  the  meaning  of  "voice,"  or  "cry."  in  the 
 -   n-e   in   which   the  ••cry"  of    Sodom   ami    Gomorrah 
 
 was  {Treat    Gen.  xviii.  20),  seems  more   satisfactory. 
 i  >n  "stones"  ami  "stocks,"  Bee  Note  on  chap.  ii.  -~. 
 And  yet  for  all  this  .  .  .—Judah  was  so  far 
 
 worse  than  Israel  that  there  had  I n  a  simulated  re- 
 pentance, as  in  the  reformat  ions  under  1  le/.ekiah  and 
 Josiah,  hut  it  was  not  with  the  whole  heart  and  soul, 
 but  "  feignedly."  or.  more  literally,  with  a 
 
 i"'  Hath  justified  herself."— Literally,  hath  jus- 
 tified hereout,  has  jmt  in  a  hotter  plea  in  her  defence. 
 The  renegade  was  better  than  the  traitress.  I 
 open  rebellion  was  better  than  hypocrisy,  as  the  pub- 
 licans and  sinners  in  the  <  fospe]  .story  v  -  than 
 the  Pharisees  ,  Matt.  xxi.  el  |. 
 
 ('-'  Toward    tho    north.—  The     prophet     utters 
 
 Ins  message   as    towards    the   far   land   of    Assyria  and 
 
 the  eiti.s  of  tlie  Bfedes  to  which  the  ten  tribes  of 
 Israel  had  been  carried  away  captive    J   Kin^s  xvii. 
 
 6,  23).      lie  bad  a  word  of  glad  tidings  for  the  far-off 
 
 exiles. 
 
 Return,  thou  backsliding  Israel.— It  is  hard 
 
 to   reproduce    the   pathetic-    assonanee   of   the   original, 
 
 " Shubah,    mashubah,"—iurn    back,    thou    thai    host 
 turned  away ;  return,  thou  renegade. 
 I  will  not  cause  mine  anger  to  fall  upon  you. 
 
 — Literally,  my  face;   the  face  so  awful  in  il^  wrath. 
 
 I  will  not  keep  anger  for  ever.— With  perhaps 
 a  latent  reference  to  the  hope  held  out  In  Bosea  iii.o, 
 
 and   to    tin-   words   which    Judah    had    uttered    iu  her 
 
 hypocrisy  (verse  "i  .  but  which  were  truer  of  Israel. 
 
 1,11  Only  acknowledge  .  .  .—This  was  tie  one 
 ient.  indispensable  condition  of  pardon — the  con- 
 fession that  kepi  nothing  hack,  and  made  no  vain 
 excui 
 
 Hast  scattered  thy  ways.— The  phrase  is  a  strong 
 one,  thou  hast  left  traces  of  thy  w  Itere,  i.e., 
 
 hast  gone  this  way  and  that  in  .search  of  new  and 
 alien  forms  of  worship.  Tho  "green  tree"  as  before 
 (chap.    ii.   20)   was   the    familiar  seen,'   of    the   hateful 
 
 worship. 
 
 (H)  Turn,  O  backsliding  children.— In  his 
 desire  to  individualise  his  call  to  repentance,  the 
 prophet  drops  his  parable,  or  rather  combines  the  sign 
 
 and   the   thing   signified,  with   the   same  assonanc 
 
 before—  I  'Mri  n  who  have  form 
 
 I  am  married  unto  you.— The  tender  pity  of 
 Jehovah  hails  Him  to  offer  pardon  even  to  the  ad 
 
 rous  wife.     Jeremiah   had  learned,  in  all  their  fulness, 
 
 the  lessons  of  Hoses  i. — Hi. 
 Ono  of  a  city,  and  two  of  a  family.— The  latter 
 
 word  is  the  wider  in   its  range  of  the  two — a  clan 
 tribe,  that  might  embrace  many  cities.    The  limitation  to 
 
 the  "one  "and  the  "two"  is  after  the  manner  of  Isaiah's 
 
 reference    i.  V    to  the  "remnant  "  that  should  lie  saved, 
 
 and   reminds  of   the  "ten   righteous  men"  who  might 
 
 1  tie-  cities  of  tl  ten.  xviii.  32 
 
 Pastors.— As    in    chap.    ii.    8,    of    kinirs    and 
 
 rulers,  not  of  priests.   Compare  chap,  xxiii.  I— a    The 
 
 phrase  "  according  to  mine   heart  "  brings   David  to  our 
 thoughts    1  Sam.  xiii.  1  I  .     There  should  be  a  return  to 
 the  true  pattern  of  the  ideal  ruler.      In  the  "know:. 
 and  understanding  "  we  liaveau  echo  from  La.  xi.  1  —  1. 
 
 in 
 
The  Promise  of  Pardon 
 
 JEREMIAH,   III. 
 
 and  Restoration. 
 
 standing-.  <16>  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
 when  ye  be  multiplied  and  increased  in 
 the  land,  in  those  days,  saith  the  Loed, 
 they  shall  say  no  more,  The  ark  of  the 
 covenant  of  the  Loed  :  neither  shall  it 
 1  come  to  mind :  neither  shall  they  re- 
 member it ;  neither  shall  they  visit  it ; 
 neither  shall  "that  be  done  any  more. 
 <17>  At  that  time  they  shall  call  Jeru- 
 salem the  throne  of  the  Lord  ;  and  all 
 the  nations  shall  be  gathered  unto  it, 
 to  the  name  of  the  Loed,  to  Jerusalem  : 
 neither  shall  they  walk  any  more  after 
 
 i  Hi  i> -i  come  upon 
 the  /"  art. 
 
 '2   Or,    tt   be    nlin/i:, 
 
 it,  a. 
 
 3  Or,  stubbornness 
 
 4  Or,  to. 
 
 ',  Or,  caused  your 
 futhi  ra  toposst   - 
 
 6  iiek,  land  of  de- 
 
 7  Heb.,  fit  at  ritagt 
 of  glory,  ur, 
 beauty. 
 
 8  Keb.,from  after 
 vie. 
 
 the  s  imagination  of  their  evil  heart. 
 (18)  In  those  days  the  house  of  Judah 
 shall  walk  +with  the  house  of  Israel, 
 and  they  shall  come  together  out  of 
 the  land  of  the  north  to  the  land  that 
 I  have  5  given  for  an  inheritance  unto 
 your  fathers.  <-19>  But  I  said,  How  shall 
 I  put  thee  among  the  children,  and  give 
 thee  a  "pleasant  land,  "a  goodly  heritage 
 of  the  hosts  of  nations  ?  and  I  said, 
 Thou  shalt  call  me,  My  father ;  and 
 shalt  not  turn  away  8from  me. 
 (20)  Surely  as   a  Avife   treacherously  de- 
 
 ,  (ll3)  In  those  days.— No  time  had  been  named,  but 
 the  phrase  had  become  familiar  for  the  far-off  better 
 time  of  the  true  king  of  the  Messianic  kingdom. 
 
 They  shall  say  no  more,  The  ark  of  the 
 covenant  of  the  Lord.— Noteworthy  both  for  its 
 exceeding  boldness  and  as  containing  the  germ,  or 
 more  than  the  germ,  of  the  great  thought  of  the  New 
 Covenant  developed  in  chap.  xxxi.  31.  The  ark,  the 
 very  centre  of  the  worship)  of  Israel,  the  symbol  and. 
 it  might  seem,  more  than  the  symbol,  of  the  Divine 
 presence,  that,  too,  should  pass  away,  as  the  brasen 
 .serpent  had  become  Nehushtan  (2  Kings  xviii.  4).  and 
 take  its  place  as  belonging  only  to  the  past.  Fore- 
 most among  the  prophets  was  Jeremiah  to  perceive 
 and  proclaim  that 
 
 "  God  fulfils  Himself  in  many  ways." 
 
 The  legend  of  2  Mace.  ii.  4,  5,  that  Jeremiah  had  hidden 
 the  tabernacle  and  the  ark  in  a  cave  that  they  might  be 
 restored  in  the  latter  days,  presents  a  singular  contrast 
 to  the  higher  thoughts  of  the  prophet. 
 
 Neither  shall  it  come  to  mind.— Literally,  come 
 upon  the  heart,  which  throughout  the  Old  Testament 
 implies  the  intellect  rather  than  the  affections. 
 
 Neither  shall  they  visit  it.— Better,  shall  they 
 miss  it,  as  men  miss  what  they  value.  The  words 
 probably  refer  to  the  feelings  with  which  tho  ark  had 
 been  restored  to  its  place  by  Josiah  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  3) 
 after  its  displacement  by  Mauasseh  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  7). 
 
 Neither  shall  that  be  done  any  more.— Better, 
 neither  shall  it  [the  ark]  be  made  any  more.  It  shall 
 be  left  to  decay  and  perish,  and  none  shall  care  to 
 reconstruct  it.  The  words  had,  of  course,  a  fulfilment 
 in  the  ritual  of  the  second  Temple,  where  there  was  no 
 ark  in  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  that  loss  was  probably 
 what  Jeremiah  foresaw  most  clearly,  and  for  which  ho 
 sought  to  prepare  his  people,  as  tho  writer  of  the 
 Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (viii.  13)  did  to  prepare  those 
 of  his  time  for  the  more  entire  destruction  of  the 
 Temple  and  its  worship.  But  even  within  this  horizon 
 the  thought  was  bold  in  itself  and  pregnant  with  yet 
 greater  truths. 
 
 (i?)  They  shall  call  Jerusalem  the  throne  of 
 the  Lord.— Up  to  Jeremiah's  time  that  title,  "the 
 throne  of  God,"  though  the  language  of  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment had  referred  it  to  the  "  heavens  "  (Ps.  xi.  4,  ciii. 
 19),  had  probably  been  applied,  in  popular  language,  to 
 the  ark  where  tho  Lord  "  dwelt  between  the  cherubim  " 
 (1  Sam.  iv.  4;  2  Kings  xix.  15).  Tho  prophet  extends  it 
 to  the  whole  city,  in  that  future  of  which  he  was  doubt- 
 less thinking.  To  him,  as  to  Micah  (iv.  1,  2)  and  Isaiah 
 (ii.  1 — 3),  there  came  a  vision  of  the  holy  city  as  the 
 
 centre  of  the  divine  Kingdom.  It  was  not  given  to 
 him  to  see  what  even  the  Apostles  were  slow  to  under- 
 stand, that  there  is  no  holy  city  upon  earth,  and  that 
 his  hopes  woidd  only  be  fulfilled  in  the  heavenly 
 Jerusalem  which  is  the  Church  or  family  of  God. 
 
 The  imagination.— Better,  stubbornness,  as  in  the 
 margin. 
 
 (!8)  In  those  days  .  .  .—As  with  Isaiah  (xi.  13). 
 so  with  Jeremiah,  the  hope,  however  distant,  of  national 
 reformation  was  bound  up  with  that  of  a  restoration  of 
 national  unity.  Tho  healing  of  the  long-standing  breach 
 between  Israel  and  Judah,  coeval  almost  with  the  com- 
 mencement of  Israel  as  a  people,  was  to  be  the  glory  of 
 the  Messiah's  kingdom. 
 
 Out  of  the  land  of  the  north.— The  thoughts  of 
 the  prophet  turn  chiefly  to  the  land  of  the  exile  of  the 
 ten  tribes  ;  but  his  words  imply  that  he  foresees  a  like 
 exile  also  in  the  north  for  Judah.  In  that  far-off  land 
 the  house  of  Judah  shall  walk  to  (rather  than  with)  the 
 house  of  Israel,  seeking  its  alliance,  asking  for  recon- 
 ciliation, and  both  should  once  agaiu  dwell  iu  the  land 
 of  their  inheritance. 
 
 (13)  But  I  said.— Better,  And  I  said.  There  is  no 
 contrast  with  what  precedes.  The  speaker  is,  of  course, 
 Jehovah.  The  How  shall  I  put  thee!  is  an  exclamation 
 rather  than  a  question,  the  utterance  of  a  promise  as 
 with  an  intensity  of  affirmation.  Special  stress  is  laid 
 on  the  pronoun  "  I."  The  words  have  been  rendered 
 by  some  commentators,  following  the  Targum,  How 
 shall  I  clothe  thee  with  children  1 
 
 A  pleasant  land. — Literally,  as  in  the  margin,  a 
 land  of  desire,  i.e.,  desirable. 
 
 A  goodly  heritage  of  the  hosts  of  nations.— 
 More  accurately,  a  heritage  of  the  beauty  of  beauties 
 (Hebrew  for  "  chief  beauty ")  of  the  nations.  The 
 English  version  rests  on  the  assumption  that  the 
 word  translated  "beauties"  is  the  same  as  that  else- 
 where rendered  "  Sabaoth,"  or  "  hosts,"  which  it  closely 
 resembles. 
 
 And  I  said. — Not,  as  in  the  English,  the  answer  to 
 a  question,  but  the  continuance  of  tho  same  thought. 
 God  will  treat  repentant  Israel  as  His  child :  He  will 
 lead  Israel  to  trust  Him  as  a  father.  Tho  days  of 
 apostasy  ("turning  away")  will  then  be  over.  The 
 original  Hebrew  seems,  to  judge  from  tho  LXX.  version, 
 to  have  had  tho  plural  "ye  shall  call,"  "ye  shall  not 
 turn  away,"  the  prophet  passing  from  the  collective 
 unity  to  the  individuals  that  composed  it. 
 
 (20)  Surely  as  a  wife  .  .  . — In  the  midst  of  the 
 bright  vision  of  the  future  there  comes  unbidden  the 
 thought  of  tho  dark  present :  the  faithless  wife  is  not 
 yet   restored  to  her   true   friend   and  husband.     Her 
 
'/'/„■  Call  of  ■/'  hovaJi 
 
 JEREMIAH,    IV. 
 
 in  //■  < 
 
 parteth  from  her  '  husband,  bo  have  ye 
 
 dealt  treacherously  with  ,  <  I  hou 
 
 [srael,  sail  l>  t  he  Lord. 
 
 i-11  a  \ <  joe  \\ ; i ^  heard  upon  the  high 
 places,  weeping  and  supplications  of 
 i  be  children  of  [srael :  for  t  hey  hare 
 perverted  I  heir  waj .  '<."/  I  hey  have  for- 
 gotten tin'  Lobd  their  t  tod. 
 
 •  |,vf urn.  ye  backsliding  children, 
 and  I  will  heal  your  baokslidings. 
 
 Behold,  we  come  onto  t  hee ;  for  thon 
 art  til.-  Lord  our  God.  <ffl)  Truly  in  vain 
 is  salvation  hoped for  from  the  lulls,,'/,./ 
 /mm  thr  imilt  it  uilc  of  mountains  :   truly 
 
 in  the  Lord  our  God  is  the  salvation  of 
 [srael.  :J"  For  Bhame  hath  devoured 
 the  labour  of  our  fathers  from  our 
 youth ;  their  flocks  and  their  herds, 
 their  sons  and  their  daughters.  '-'  We 
 lie  down  in  our  shame,  and  our  confusion 
 
 i  II-  b. 
 
 coveretb  as:  for  we  have  ginned  against 
 the  Loan  our  God,  we  and  our  Cithers, 
 from  our  youth  even  onto  i  his  day,  and 
 
 have   not    obeyed  the  voire  of  the    I 
 our  (  h)d. 
 
 CHAPTEB    IV.  -  '    If  tho,,  Wilt  re- 
 turn, < >  [era  I,  jaith  tho  Lord,  'return 
 
 unto    :     and    if   thou    wilt    pul     away 
 
 thine  abominations   out    of  mj    Bight, 
 
 then  shalt    thou   in ,1    remove.      "  And 
 
 tin. n   shall    swear.   The    LORD  liveth,   in 
 
 truth,  in  judgment,  and  in  right 
 aess;  and  the  nations  shall  bless  them* 
 selves  in  him,  and   in   him  shall  they 
 
 eglory.      <::i  For  thus  sailh   the    Lo] 
 
 the  men  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  Break 
 up  your  fallow  ground,  and  bow  qo1 
 among    thorns.      '"  Circumcise   your-: 
 
 -   to   the   Loi;i),  and   take   away  the 
 
 i^iii 1 1  must  be  again  pressed  home  upon  her,  so  as  to 
 lead  her  to  repentance. 
 
 '-11  A  voico  was  hoard. —Yes.  tin-  guilty  wilV  was 
 there,  bn(  Bhe  was  also  penitent,  The"high  places" 
 which  had  been  the  scene  of  (lie  guilt  of  1 1 n ■  sons  of 
 [srael,  where  the  cries  of  their  orgiastic  worship  bad 
 I a  heard,  now  ech 1  with  their  weeping  and  supplica- 
 tion (or,  more  literally,  the  weeping  of  suppliant  prayers), 
 as  they  called  to  mind  the  hateful  sins  of  the  past. 
 
 '--<  Return, ye  backsliding  children  .  .  .—Wo 
 lose,  as  before,  the  force  of  the  Hebrew  repetition 
 of  the  same  root,  /'»,■».  ye  children  thai  have  turned, 
 /  will  heal  your  turnings.  As  bo  often  in  Hebrew 
 poetry,  we  have  the  answer  to  the  invitation  given  in 
 
 dramatic  form,  and  hear  the  cry — we  might  al -t  call 
 
 it  the  litany — of  the  suppliants,  "Behold,  we  come 
 unto  thee."  They  at  last  own  Jehovah  as  their  ouo 
 true  God. 
 
 (■)  Truly  in  vain  .  .  .—The  italics  show  the 
 difficulty  of  the  verse,  and  represenl  an  attempt  to  get 
 
 over  it.    A. rding  to  the  senses  given  to  the  wont 
 
 translated  "  multitude  "  we  get,  in  vain  (literally,  as  a 
 I'n  from  the  hills  is  the  revelry  (as  in  Ajnoa  v.  23), 
 or  the  wealth,  or  the  multitude,  of  the  mountains. 
 The  first  gives  the  best  meaning,  and  expresses  the 
 confession  of  the  repentant  Israelites  that  their  wild 
 ritual  on  the  high  places  had  brought  them  loss  and 
 not  gain. 
 
 i-'"  Shame.— Thr  He  Drew  noun  has  the  ai-tiele,  "the 
 shame,"  and  is  the  word  constantly  used  as  the  inter- 
 changeable synonym  for  Baal,  as  in  Jerubbaal  and 
 Jerubbesheth  Judges  vi  32;  -  Sam  xi.  21),  Mephi- 
 boshethand  Merit)  baal  (2  Sam.  iv. 4;  I  Chron.  viii.34  , 
 The  words  point  accordingly  to  the  prodigal  waste  of 
 victims,  possibly  of  human  life  also,  in  the  worship 
 of  Baal  and  that  of  Molech,  which  in  the  prophers 
 mind  was  identified  with  it.  and  which  had  brought 
 with  it  nothing  but  a  lasting  shame.  Tliis  also  forms 
 part  of  the  confession  of  the  repentant  people  comp. 
 chap.  \i.  13 
 
 ,:  We  lie  down.— Better.  We  nil!  lie  down— Our 
 confusion  xlmll  cover  us.  The  words  are  those  of 
 penitents  accepting  their  punishment:  "We  chose  the 
 shamoful  thing,  therefore  let  us  bear  our  shame." 
 
 IV. 
 
 (i)  If  thou  wilt  return.— The  "if"  implies  a 
 return  from  the  hopes  with  which  chap.  iii.  ended  to 
 the  language  of  misgiving,  and  bo,  inferentiaUy,  of 
 earnest  exhortation. 
 
 Abominations. — Literally,  things  of  shame,  as  in 
 chap.  iii.  -I:  the  idols  which  Israel  had  worshipped. 
 
 Then  shalt  thou  not  remove.—  li.tt.  r. 
 tinning  the  conditions  of  forgiveness,  if  thou  will 
 U ,-. 
 
 ■->  And  thou  shalt  swear.— Tin-  conditions  are 
 continued. :  If  //'..,,   wilt  swear  by  th>  vah 
 
 ["the  Lord  liveth"  being  the  received  formula  of  ad- 
 juration], in  truth,  in  judgment, and  in  righteousness. 
 
 And  the  nations  shall  bless  themselves  in 
 him. — This  forms  the  completion  of  the  sentence. 
 If  the  conditions  of  a  true  repentance  are  fulfilled  by 
 
 Israel,    thru    the   outlying    heathen    nations    shall    b 
 themselves  ill  Jehovah — i.e..  shall  own  Him  ami  adore 
 Him,  be  blessed  by  Him. 
 
 (3)  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  .  .  .—The  words 
 seem  the  elose  of  one  discourse,  the  opening  of  another. 
 The  parable  of  [srael  is  left  behind,  and  the  appeal  to 
 .liulah  and  Jerusalem  is  more  direct. 
 
 To  the  men  of  Judah.— Literally,  to  each  man 
 
 imli\  i.lually. 
 Break  up  your  fallow  ground.— The  Hebrew 
 i  lie  force  which  comes  from  the  verb  and  noun 
 being  from  the  same  root.  Break  up  for  you  a  ',■■ 
 
 ■.,./    or  fallow    a  fallow  field.     The    metaphor 
 had  been  used  before   by    Hoses    x.   12).    What  the 
 
 spiritual  field  n led  was  to  be  exposed  to  God's  sun 
 
 and  (Jod's  free  air.  to  the  influences  of  spiritual  light 
 and   warmth,   and   the   dew    and    soft    showeit 
 
 grace. 
 
 Sow  not  among  thorns.     X      without  a  - 
 interest  as.  perhaps,  containing  the  germ  of  the  Parable 
 
 of  the  Sower  in  .Malt.  xiii.  7.      Here,  a-  there,  the  seed 
 
 i-,  the  "word  of   God,"  spoken  by  the   prophet,  and 
 taking  root  in  the  heart,  and  the  thorns  are  the  "  I 
 of  this  world."    the   selfish   deeiree  which  choke  the 
 
 good  seed  and  render  it  unfruitful 
 
 (*)  Circumcise  yourselves  to  the  Lord.— The 
 
 21 
 
Prophecy  of 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   IV. 
 
 the  Coming  Invasion, 
 
 foreskins  of  your  heart,  ye  men  of  Judah 
 and  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem :  lest  my 
 fury  come  forth  like  fire,  and  burn  that 
 none  can  quench  it,  because  of  the  evil 
 of  your  doings. 
 
 (5)  Declare  ye  in  Judah,  and  publish 
 in  Jerusalem;  and  say,  Blow  ye  the 
 trumpet  in  the  land :  cry,  gather  to- 
 gether, and  say,  Assemble  yourselves, 
 and  let  us  go  into  the  defenced  cities. 
 <6)  Set  up  the  standard  toward  Zion : 
 1  retire,  stay  not :  for  I  will  bring  evil 
 from  the  "north,  and  a  great  3 destruc- 
 tion. <7)  The  lion  is  come  up  from  his 
 thicket,  and  the  destroyer  of  the  Gen- 
 tiles is  on  his  way ;  he  is  gone  forth 
 from  his  place  to  make  thy  land  deso- 
 late ;  and  thy  cities  shall  be  laid  waste, 
 
 I  Or,  strengthen. 
 
 without  an  inhabitant. 
 
 M  For  this 'gird 
 
 eh.  1. 1" 
 
 &  ii.  I.  -:i 
 
 ii,   ].-, 
 
 Heb.,  breaking. 
 
 ;;  i  >r,  "  fuller  wind 
 than  thoee. 
 
 you  with  sackcloth,  lament  and  howl : 
 for  the  tierce  anger  of  the  Lord  is  not 
 turned  back  from  us.  (9)  And  it  shall 
 come  to  pass  at  that  day,  saith  the 
 Lord,  that  the  heart  of  the  king  shall 
 perish,  and  the  heart  of  the  princes  -T 
 and  the  priests  shall  be  astonished,  and 
 the  prophets  shall  wonder. 
 
 <10>  Then  said  I,  Ah,  Lord  God  !  surely 
 thou  hast  greatly  deceived  this  people 
 and  Jerusalem,  saying,  Ye  shall  have 
 peace;  whereas  the  sword  reacheth  unto- 
 the  soul. 
 
 <u)  At  that  time  shall  it  be  said  to  this 
 people  and  to  Jerusalem,  A  dry  wind  of 
 the  high  places  in  the  wilderness  toward 
 the  daughter  of  my  people,  not  to  fanr 
 nor  to  cleanse.  (12)  Even  3a  full  wind 
 from  those  places  shall  come  unto  me : 
 
 words  show  that  the  prophet  luul  grasped  the  meaning 
 of  the  symbol  which  to  so  many  Jews  was  merely  an 
 outward  sign.  He  saw  that  the  "  foreskin  of  the  heart " 
 was  the  fleshly,  unrenewed  nature,  the  "  flesh  "  as  con- 
 trasted with  the  "  spirit,"  the  "  old  man  "  which  St.  Paul 
 contrasts  with  the  new  (Bom.  vi.  6,  viii.  7).  The  verbal 
 coincidence  with  Dent.  x.  1(>,  xxx.  6  shows  the  influence 
 of  that  book,  of  which  we  find  so  many  traces  in 
 Jeremiah's  teaching. 
 
 Lest  my  fury  come  forth  like  fire  .  .  .—The 
 words,  which  describe  the  righteousness  of  Jehovah  as 
 a  consuming  fire,  have  their  parallel  in  chap.  vii.  20, 
 Amos  v.  6,  and  form  the  transition  to  tho  picture  of 
 terror  which  opens  in  the  next  verse. 
 
 <5)  Declare. — i.e.,  proclaim  as  a  herald  proclaims. 
 The  cry  is  that  of  an  alarm  of  war.  The  prophet  sees, 
 as  it  were,  the  invading  army,  and  calls  the  people  to 
 leave  their  villages  and  to  take  refuge  in  the  fortified 
 cities. 
 
 (fi)  Set  up  the  standard  toward  Zion.— St  ill  the 
 language  of  alarm.  The  words  are  as  a  command, 
 "  Raise  tho  signal  which  shall  point  to  Zion  as  a  place 
 of  refuge  from  the  foe,  by  whom  the  rest  of  the  country 
 is  laid  waste." 
 
 Retire. —  Withdraw,  in  the  transitive  sense,  "  gather, 
 with  a  view  to  removing  "  (as  in  Exod.  ix.  19),  and  this 
 is  followed  by  "  stay  not,"  linger  not,  be  quick.  The 
 call  to  retreat  was  urgent. 
 
 I  will  bring.— Literally,  I  am  bringing. 
 
 From  the  north.— The  Chaldreau,  and  possibly  the 
 Scythian,  invasion,  as  in  chap.  i.  It. 
 
 I")  The  lion  is  come  up  .  .  .—The  "lion"  is, 
 of  course,  the  Chaldteau  invader,  the  destroyer,  not 
 of  men  only,  but  of  nations.  So  ill  Dan.  vii.  4  the 
 lion  is  the  symbol  of  tho  Assyrian  monarchy.  The 
 winged  lions  that  arc  seen  in  the  palaces  of  Mosul 
 and  Nimroud  gave  a  special  character  to  what  was  in 
 any  case  a  natural  metaphor.  The  word  "Gentiles" 
 answers  to  the  meaning,  but  there  is  no  special  reason 
 why  it  should  lie  used  here,  rather  than  nations. 
 
 Is  on  his  way. — Literally,  has  broken  vp  his  en- 
 campment, i.e.,  has  started  on  his  march. 
 
 Without  an  inhabitant. — The  language,  like  that 
 of  Isaiah  (vi.  11).  was  probably  in  some  measure  hyper- 
 bolical, but  the  depopulation  caused  by  the  Ghaldeean 
 
 invasion  (as  seen  in  chap,  xxxix.  9)  must   have   been 
 exti-erue. 
 
 (8)  Gird  you  with  sackcloth. — From  the  earliest 
 times  the  outward  sign  of  mourning,  and  therefore  of 
 repentance  (Joel  i.  8  ;  Isa.  xxii.  12). 
 
 (9)  The  heart  of  the  king  shall  perish.— The 
 heart,  as  representing  the  miud  generally.  Judgment 
 and  wisdom  were  to  give  way  to  panic  and  fear. 
 
 (i°)  Ah,  Lord  God  !  (literally,  my  Lord  Jehovah .') 
 surely  thou  hast  greatly  deceived  this  people. 
 — The  words  are  startling,  but  are  eminently  charac- 
 teristic. Jeremiah  had  been  led  to  utter  words  that 
 told  of  desolation  and  destruction.  But  if  these  were 
 true,  what  was  he  to  think  of  the  words  of  the  other 
 prophets,  who,  speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  had 
 promised  peace  through  tho  reign  of  Josiah,  and  even 
 under  Jehoiakim  ?  Had  not  Jehovah  apparently  sanc- 
 tioned those  prophets  also  ?  and,  if  so,  had  He  not 
 deceived  the  people  ?  (Comp.  chap.  xx.  7.)  This  seems. 
 on  the  whole,  preferable  to  the  interpretations  which 
 see  in  it  a  dramatic  irony  representing  the  prophet  as 
 having  shared  in  the  hopes  of  the  people  and  awaken- 
 ing to  a  terrible  disappointment,  or  refer  the  words  to 
 the  contrast  between  the  glorious  visions  of  the  future 
 in  Isaiah  and  his  own  terrible  predictions,  or  to  the- 
 bolder  course  of  an  alteration  of  the  text,  so  that  tho 
 words  would  run  "  it  is  said,"  the  complaint  being  re- 
 presented as  coming  from  the  people. 
 
 (li)  At  that  time. — i.e.,  when  the  lion  and  destroyer 
 of  verse  7  should  begin  his  work  of  destruction. 
 
 A  dry  wind. — Literally,  a  clear  wind,  the  simoom, 
 the  scorching  blast  from  the  desert,  coming  clear  and 
 without  clouds.  Other  winds  might  be  utilised  for  tho 
 threshing-floor,  but  this  made  all  such  work  impossible, 
 and  was  simply  devastating,  and  was  therefore  a  fit 
 symbol  of  the  terrible  invader. 
 
 (12)  A  full  wind  from  those  places.— Better. 
 a  wind  fuller  than  those,  or,  fuller  than  for  tliis  .  .  .. 
 i.e.,  more  tempestuous  than  those  which  serve  for  tho- 
 work  of  the  thresher,  and  blowing  away  both  grain 
 and  chaff  together. 
 
 Shall  come  unto  me.— Better,  for  me,  as  doing 
 my  pleasv/re. 
 
 Give  sentence  against  them. — sc.,  against  th& 
 sinful  people  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 
 
The  Sou  • '  of  tfu    Trumpet, 
 
 JEREMIAH,    IV. 
 
 //.■■    .\l,iciu    <;/'    \\',ir. 
 
 11.  iw  also  will  I  'give  sentence  against 
 1 1  j •  -111.  ' ;'  Behold,  be  shall  come  up  as 
 clouds,  iunl  liis  chariots  thall  be  as  a 
 whirlwind;  his  horses  are  Bwifter  than 
 eagles.  Woeuntousl  for  we  are  spoiled. 
 111  OJerasalem, 'wash thine hearl  from 
 wickedness,  thai  them  muyrst  be  -tavrd. 
 11. iw  long  shall  thy  vain  thoughts  Lodge 
 
 within  thee?    ""  For  a  voice  declareth 
 
 'i'n mi  Dan,  ami  ]iuhlislictli  atlli.-tiuii  IV 
 
 mount  Ephraim.  (1'"  Make  ye  menl  ion 
 io  tli.-  nations;  behold,  publish  against 
 Jerusalem,  that  watchers  .'..in.1  from  a 
 tax  country,  ami  give  out  their  voice 
 againsl  the  cities  of  Judah.  (17)  As 
 keepers  of  a  field,  are  they  against  her 
 
 ;7;    I- i 
 v.  I. 
 
 I        ■■■   :  ;  ,>!■'  I 
 
 ■  II    I.  , 
 
 round  aboul  ;   because   the  hath  I 
 rebellious  ags hist   me,  saith  th    I 
 !      Thy  waj  and  thy  doings  have  pro- 
 cured  t  hese   thinge  unto  t  bee  ;  1 1 
 thy  wickedness,  because  it  is  bitter, be- 
 cause it  reacheth  unto  t hine  heart. 
 <lu>  M  \  'bowels,  my  bowels!  1  am  pained 
 
 at      in\    vi-rv  heart  ;    inv  ln-art    inak.-th  a 
 
 ooise  in  me;  I  cannot  hold  my  peace, 
 because  thoa  hast  heard, 0  my  souLthe 
 Bound  of  the  trumpet,  the  alarm  of  war. 
 
 Is0)  Destruction uj lestruction  is  cried; 
 
 for  the  whole  land  is  spoiled  :  Buddenly 
 are  my  tents  Bpoiled,  and  my  curtains 
 
 in    a    moment.      |JI    How  long  shall   I 
 
 the  standard,  and  hear  the  Bound  of  the 
 
 (18)  He  shall  coino  up  as  clouds.— H.-.  the 
 destroyer  of  nations,  with  armies  thai  sweep  like  storm, 
 clouds  over  the  land  they  are  going  to  destroy.  (Comp. 
 K/.k.  x\\\  iii.  L6 
 
 Swifter  than  oaglos. — A  pnssiMe  quotation  from 
 |.  id's  lament  over  Saul  and  Jonathan  (2  Sam.  i.  23  . 
 The  fact  thai  another  phrase  is  quoted  in  verse  30 
 ("clothes!  thyself  with  orimson,"  where  the  Hebrew  is 
 the  same  a^  the  "scarlel  "  ..t'  -  Sam.  i.  24),  makes  the 
 possibility  something  like  a  certainty.  It  was  natural 
 thai  one  who  himself  wrote  two  sets  of  lamentations, 
 one  early    -  Chron.  xxxv.  Z'i  .  the  other  late,  in  life, 
 
 should  have  i d  a  student  of  earlier  elegies.    For  the 
 
 Higlii  of  the  eagle  as  representing  the  swift  march  of 
 the  invader,  romp.  Lam.  iv.  19;  Hos.  viii  lj  Hah. 
 i.  s. 
 
 Woe  unto  us!  for  we  are  spoiled.— Prohaldy 
 the  cry  of  the  terrified  crowds  of  Jerusalem,  with 
 which  the  prophet,  with  dramatic  vividness,  as  in  chap. 
 ix.  18,  19,  interrupts  his  description. 
 
 (in  o  Jorusaloni.— The  prophet's  answer  to  the  cry 
 that  comes  from  the  city.  In  that  "washing  of  the 
 heart"  which  had  seemed  impossible  before  (chap. 
 ii.  °.J  .  but  is  thought  of  bow  as  "  possible  with  God," 
 
 is  the  one  hope  of  salvatii.n.      (Comp.  Isa.  i.  16.) 
 
 Vain  thoughts.— The  Hebrew  has  a  force  which 
 the  English  does  not  reproduce,  thoughts  ■ 
 thoughts  ..f"  i wen,  i.e.,  of  the  word  which  had  b  bd 
 specially  applied,  as  in  Beth-aven  for  Beth-el  (the 
 "nouse  of  vanity"  for  the  "house  of  God"  to  the 
 idols  which  Israel  and  Judah  worshipped  ,  II. .sea  iv.  15, 
 
 \.  •". .   Amos  v.  ■">  . 
 
 W  Dan  .  .  .  Mount  Ephraim.— The  two  places 
 are   chosen,  not   like    Dan  and   Booi-sheba,  a-^  extreme 
 
 limits,  I. ut  as  stages  in  the  march  of  the  invader: 
 first  Dan  as  in  chap.  viii.  16),  the  northernmost  point 
 
 Dent.    \\\iv.    lj    Judg.    xx.    D    of    the  whole    land  of 
 
 Israel,  then  Mount  Ephraim,  as  the  northern  boundary 
 ..f  Ju.l.a.  The  verbs  grow  in  strength  with  the 
 imagined  nearness,  first  announce,  as  of  a  rumour 
 from  a  distance,  then  proclaim,  as  of  a  danger  more 
 imminent. 
 
 Affliction.— In  the  Hebrew  the  same  word 
 as  in  the  "thoughts  of  vanity."     Playi  ig  on  the  two 
 aspects  of  the  word,  the  prophet  Bays  that  avert  comes 
 as  the  penalty  of  atom — the  "  nothingness  "  of  destruc- 
 tion as  that  of  the  "  nothingness  "  of  the  idol. 
 
 ',,;    Make  ye  mention.     Better.   /'. 
 tin  nations;  behold.    Call  them  to  gaze  on  the  ruin  of 
 
 Jerusalem,  then.    Ory  aloud  as  for  Jerusalem,  that 
 .'....  the  besieging  armies)  ore  coming  from  a 
 
 ■I   III   :l    Ii,,  J   Will   >jii- 
 
 raise  the  cry  of  war.  ago  f  Judah. 
 
 (17)  Field. — With    the    meaning,  as    in    all  early 
 
 English,  of    "open,"    not    "enclosed,"    country      Lev. 
 xn.  7.  xvii.  5).      The   image  i-,  that    of  8  nomadic  tribe 
 
 encamped  in  the  open  country,  or  of   men  watching 
 
 their  tlueks    Luke  ii.  s.  or  crops  !.Toh.  xxvii.  18  . 
 .-hall  be  the  tents  of  the  invaders  round  Jerusalem — 
 keeping,  or  (as  in  -  Sam.  xi.  16)   "observing,"  i.e., 
 "  hi  ickading"  the  city. 
 
 '"    This  is  thy  wickedness.— Better,  this  is  thy 
 
 She  was  reaping  the  fruit  of   her  own  doing, 
 
 and  this  gave  her  sorrows  a   fresh   bitterness.    The 
 
 Hebrew  word,  like  the  English  ••evil."  includes  both 
 
 guill  and  its  pnniahmi 
 
 IW  My  bowels,  my  bowels!— As  with  verse  13, 
 
 the   words  may   be  Jeremiah's  own   cry  of  anguish,  o." 
 
 thai  of  the  despairing  people  with  whom  he  idenl 
 
 himself.     The  latter  gives  more  dramatic  vividn.  - 
 
 we  thus  have  the  utterances  of  three  of  the  g 
 actors  in  the  tragedy:  here  of  the  people, in  verse 22 
 of  Jehovah,  in  verse  -:'>  of  the  prophet.  The  "  bowels  " 
 wen.  with  the  Hebrews  thought  of  as  the  seal  of  all 
 the,  strongest  emotions,  whether  ..f  sorrow,  fear,  or 
 sympathy  (Job  sxx.  27 ;  Isa.  xvL  II  . 
 "At  my  very  heart-— Literally  (reproducing  the 
 physical  fad  of  palpitation  .  IwrUh  thewaQs 
 
 '  noons  for  me.    The  verb  for 
 ••I  am   pained     is  often   need  for  the  "travail"  or 
 
 agony  of  childbirth    Isa.  xxiii.  t.  xxvi.  Is  . 
 Thou  hast  heard,  O  my  soul  .  .  . — Silen 
 
 such    a  time  WSS    impossible.      Tlie   prophet,  as   in    the 
 
 language  of  strong  emotion,  addresses  his  own  soul,  his 
 very  self  (Oomp.  I's.  xvi.  Z.  xlii.  5,  1 1 
 
 - '    Destruction  upon  destruction  is  cried.— 
 Literally.  /"  g)  r  breaking,  or  crash  up 
 
 ■  i, ,1 , 
 Suddonly   are   my   tents    spoiled-— The    tent 
 
 dwelling  retained  its  position   even  amid  the  cities  and 
 
 villages  of  Israel    2  Sam.  xviii.  17;  1  Kites  viii.  66). 
 
 The   •'  curtains  "   arc.  of  e..ur-e.  those  of  the  tent  I  I-a. 
 
 liv.   2).     Conspicuous  among   such  survivals   of    the, 
 nomad  form  ox  life  we  find  the  Bechabitos  of  chap. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 now  long  shall  I  see  .  .  .—The  "standard," 
 a~  in  verse  6,  is  the  alarm  signal  given  to  the  fugiti 
 
 The  "trumpet  "  Bounds  to  give  the  alarm,  and  quicken 
 
The  Earth  Mourning 
 
 JEREMIAH,   IV. 
 
 and  (he  Heavens  Mack. 
 
 trumpet?  (22)  For  my  people  is  foolish, 
 they  have  not  known  me ;  they  are  sot- 
 tish children,  and  they  have  none  under- 
 standing :  they  are  wise  to  do  evil,  but 
 to  do  good  they  have  no  knowledge. 
 C23)  I  beheld  the  earth,  and,  lo,  it  was 
 without  form,  and  void;  and  the  heavens, 
 and  they  had  no  light.  (3t)  I  beheld  the 
 mountains,  and,  lo,  they  trembled,  and 
 all  the  hills  moved  lightly.  <25'  I  beheld, 
 and,  lo,  there  was  no  man,  and  all  the 
 birds  of  the  heavens  were  fled.  (26)  I 
 beheld,  and,  lo,  the  fruitful  place  was 
 a  wilderness,  and  all  the  cities  thereof 
 were  broken  down  at  the  presence  of  the 
 Lord,  and  by  his  fierce  anger. 
 
 {-~)  For  thus  hath  the  Lord  said,  The 
 whole  laud  shall  be  desolate ;  "  yet  will  I 
 not  make  a  full  end.  (28)  For  this  shall  the 
 earth  mourn,  and  the  heavens  above  be 
 black :  because  I  have  spoken  it,  I  have 
 
 purposed  it,  and  will  not  repent,  neither 
 will  I  turn  back  from  it.  (2y)  The  whole 
 city  shall  flee  for  the  noise  of  the  horse- 
 men and  bowmen ;  they  shall  go  into 
 thickets,  and  climb  up  upon  the  rocks : 
 every  city  shall  be  forsaken,  and  not 
 a  man  dwell  therein,  f30*  And  when 
 thoii  art  spoiled,  what  wilt  thou  do  ? 
 Though  thou  clothest  thyself  with  crim- 
 son, though  thou  deckest  thee  with  or- 
 naments of  gold,  though  thou  rentest 
 thy  l  face  with  painting,  in  vain  shalt 
 thou  make  thyself  fair ;  thy  lovers  will 
 despise  thee,  they  will  seek  thy  life. 
 (3i)  "por  j  have  heard  a  voice  as  of  a 
 woman  in  travail,  and  the  anguish  as 
 of  her  that  bringeth  forth  her  first  child, 
 the  voice  of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  that 
 bewaileth  herself,  that  spreadeth  her 
 hands,  saying,  Woe  is  me  now !  for  my 
 soul  is  wearied  because  of  murderers. 
 
 their  flight  to  the  defencod  city.     The  prophet  sees  no 
 end  to  the  miseries  of  the  coming  war. 
 
 (22)  For  my  people  is  foolish.—  Jehovah  answers 
 the  prophet's  question.  The  misery  comes  to  punish 
 the  folly  and  sottishness  of  the  people.  It  shall  last  as 
 long  as  they  last,  or  till  it  has  accomplished  its  work  of 
 chastisement. 
 
 (23)  i  beheld  the  earth.— In  words  of  terrible 
 grandeur  the  prophet  speaks,  as  if  ho  had  already  seen 
 the  consummated  destruction ;  and  repeating  the  words 
 "  I  beheld,"  as  if  he  hail  passed  through  four  distinct 
 visions,  describes  its  completeness. 
 
 Without  form,  and  void.— An  obvious  quotation 
 from  the  toh  u  va-bolm  of  Gen.  i.  2.  The  goodly  land 
 of  Israel  was  thrown  back,  as  it  were,  into  a  formless 
 chaos,  before  the  words  "Let  there  bo  light"  had 
 brought  it  into  order. 
 
 (2i)  The  mouDtains,  and,  lo,  they  trembled. 
 — The  great  earthquake  in  the  days  of  Uzziah  (Amos 
 i.  1),  of  which  wo  find  traces  in  Isaiah  (xxiv.  19,  20), 
 had  probably  made  imagery  of  this  kind  familiar. 
 
 (25)  There  was  no  man. — To  chaos  and  darkness 
 and  the  earthquake  was  added  the  horrible  sense  of 
 solitude.  Not  man  only,  but  the  creatures  that  seemed 
 least  open  to  man's  attack,  were  fled.  (Comp.  chap, 
 ii.  6.)  The  same  thought  re-appears  iu  chap.  ix. 
 10. 
 
 (26)  The  fruitful  place.— The  Carmel.  or  vine-land, 
 became  as  "  the  wilderness."  The  Hebrew  article 
 points  probably  to  the  well-known  desert  of  the 
 wanderings. 
 
 At  the  presence  of  the  Lord. — Literally,  from 
 before  Jehovah,  from  before  the  heat  of  his  anger. 
 The  original  has  the  emphasis  of  repeating  the  pre- 
 position. 
 
 (2")  Yet  will  I  not  make  a  full  end.— The  thought 
 is  echoed  from  Amos  ix.  8;  Isa.  vi.  13,  x.  21,  and 
 repeated  in  chap.  v.  18.  There  was  then  hope  in  the 
 distance.  The  destruction,  terrible  as  it  seemed,  was 
 not  final.  The  penalty  was  a  discipline.  (Comp.  Lev. 
 xxvi.  44.) 
 
 (28)  jpor  this  shall  the  earth  mourn  .  .  .—As 
 
 24 
 
 with  all  true  poets,  the  face  of  nature  seems  to  the 
 prophet  to  sympathise  with  human  suffering.  (Comp. 
 Amos  viii.  9  ;  Matt,  xxiv.  29.) 
 
 (29)  The  horsemen  and  bowmen. — A  specially 
 characteristic  picture,  as  we  see  from  the  Nineveh 
 sculptures,  of  Assyrian  and  Chaldaean  armies. 
 
 Thickets  .  .  .  rocks. — Both  words  are  Aramaic  in 
 the  original.  The  former,  elsewhere  rendered  "  clouds." 
 is  here  used  for  the  dark  shadowy  coverts  in  which 
 men  sought  for  shelter;  the  latter  is  the  root  of  the 
 name  Cephas  (=  Peter).  On  the  caves  of  Palestine  as 
 places  of  refuge  in  time  of  war,  see  Isa.  ii.  19;  1  Sam. 
 xiii.  6. 
 
 (30)  And  when  thoi  art  spoiled  .  .  .—The 
 sentence  is  clearer  'without  the  insertion  of  the 
 words  in  italics  :  Thou  spoiled  one,  what  dost  thou 
 work,  that  thou  clothest  .  .  .  that  thou  deckest  .  .  . 
 that  thou  rentest  .  .  .  ?  In  vain  dost  thou  beautify 
 thyself.  The  "  clothing  with  crimson  "  and  "  orna- 
 ments of  gold "  are,  as  before  noticed  (Note  on  verse 
 13),  an  echo  from  2  Sam.  i.  24.  The  "  rending  the 
 face"  is,  literally,  enlarging  the  eyes  with  kohl,  or 
 antimony,  still  used  for  this  purpose  in  the  east,  the 
 black  powder  being  laid  on  horizontally  with  a  small 
 stylus,  or  pencil,  drawn  between  the  eyelashes.  The 
 daughter  of  Zion  is  represented  as  a  woman  who  puts 
 on  her  costliest  attire,  as  Jezebel  had  done  (2  Kings  ix. 
 30),  in  the  vain  hope  of  fascinating  her  lovers.  The 
 imagery  points  to  the  foreign  alliances  in  which  the 
 statesmen  and  people  of  Jerusalem  were  trusting,  and 
 they  are  told  that  they  shall  be  in  vain.  The  lovers, 
 i.e.,  the  allies,  shall  become  her  foes. 
 
 (31)  A  woman  in  travail. — Literally,  writhing  in 
 pain,  as  in  verse  19. 
 
 Bewaileth  herself. — Literally,  pants  for  breath. 
 The  prophet  draws  his  pictures  with  a  terrible  intensity. 
 On  the  one  side  is  Zion  as  the  harlot,  in  her  gold  and 
 crimson  and  cosmetics;  on  the  other  wo  see  the  forlorn 
 and  desperate  castaway,  in  the  hour  of  a  woman's  utter 
 helplessness,  outraged  and  abandoned,  stretching  out 
 her  hands  to  implore  mercy  from  the  assassins  who 
 attack  her,  and  imploring  it  in  vain. 
 
Tin    Viiin   Search  for  Righteousness        JEREMIAH,     V. 
 
 <■  m. 
 
 CHAPTEE  V.— <"  Run  ye  to  and  fro 
 through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and 
 see  now,  and  know,  and  seek  in  the 
 broad  places  thereof,  it'  ye  can  find  a 
 man,  it'  there  be  any  thai  exei  ! 
 judgment,  thai  Beeketh  the  truth;  and 
 I  will  pardon  it.  ,J|  And  though  they 
 Bay,  The  Lord  liveth;  Burely  they  swear 
 falsely.  ,:!)  0  Lord,  are  no!  thine  eyes 
 apon  the  truth  P  thoa  hast  si  ricken 
 tlirin,  but  they  Lave  not  grieved;  thou 
 hast  consumed  them,  but  they  have  re- 
 fused  to  receive  correction  :  they  have 
 
 made  their  t', s  harder  than  a  rock  : 
 
 they  have  refused  to  return.  ^'There- 
 fore 1  said,  Surely  these  are  poor;  they 
 are  foolish  :  for  they  know  not  the  way 
 
 i.t;  eb.  -' 
 
 :C  itrong. 
 
 of  the  Lord,  mn-  tin-  judgmenl  of  their 
 t  tod.  ' ''  I  will  u,"-t  me  unt..  the  greal 
 in. -ii,  anil  will  Bpeak  onto  them;  t'<>r 
 they  have  known  the  way  of  tin-  Lord, 
 "//./  the  judgmenl  of  their  <  ">.l :  hut 
 these  have  altogether  broken  the  yoke, 
 mi, l  hurst  the  bonds.  '"  \\"]i«-i-«-l« >r>-  a 
 lion  ou1  of  the  fores!  shall  slay  them, 
 and  a  wolf  of  the  'evenings  shall  spoil 
 them,  a  leopard  shall  watch  over  their 
 cities:  every  one  thai  goeth  oul  thence 
 shall  1)..  torn  in  pieces:  because  their 
 t  ransgressions  are  many,  and  their  back- 
 slidings  'are  increased. 
 
 •  Sow  shall  I  jianh.ii  thee  iV.r  tlii.s V* 
 thy  children  have  forsaken  me,  and 
 Bworn  by  them  tlml  nr.-  no  <ro.ls :  when 
 
 (•>  Run  ye  to  and  fro.— The  dark  shades  of  the 
 
 iiietare  aeemat  firei  hardly  in  belong  to  the  reign  of 
 [bsiah,  which  ia  brought  before  oa  in  2  filings  xxiL.xxiii.; 
 _'  ( 'lin hi.  \wh .,  \\w ..  as  one  of  thorough  reformation. 
 |i  is,  of  course,  possible  that  parts  ..t'  the  picture  may 
 have  been  worked  op  when  the  prophecies  were  re- 
 written under  Jehoiakim  (chap,  exxvi,  32) ;  but,  on  the 
 other  hand,  it  is  equally  possible  that  the  prophet 
 may  have  Been  even  al  the  time  how  hollow  and  in- 
 complete that  reformation  was.  The  form  in  which  he 
 utters  liis  conviction  reminds  one  of  the  old  story  of 
 the  Greek  sage,  Diogenes,  appearing  in  the  streets  of 
 Athens  with  a  lantern,  searching  Eor  as  honest  man. 
 In  the  though)  thai  the  pardon  oi  the  city  depended  on 
 its  containing  some  elements  of  good  which  might  make 
 reformation  possible,  we  find  an  echo  of  Gen.  xviii.  25; 
 lint  tln>  picture  is  of  a  state  more  utterly  hopeless, 
 There  were  nol  ten  righteous  men  found  in  Sodom 
 (Gen.  xviii.  32);  in  Jerusalem  there  was  not  one. 
 
 M  Tho  Lord  liveth..— The  words  imply  thai  a 
 distinction  between  the  hSnJing  powers  .>t'  different 
 formula  ..f  adjuration,  like  thai  of  the  later  scribes 
 Matt,  wiii.  16  .  was  already  in  some  degree  prevalent. 
 The  guilt  of  the  men  of  Jerusalem  was  that  they  took 
 the  most  solemn  formula  of  all.  "Jehovah  liveth,"  and 
 yel  were  guilty  of  perjury,  In  Terse  7  we  find  traces 
 of  the  practice  of  swearing  by  other  gods,  with  which 
 tli is  •■  oath  .it'  Jehovah  "is  apparently  contrasted, 
 
 Falsely.— Literally,  up  •/. 
 
 M  Upon  tho  truth.— Tlir  Hebrew  word,  which 
 lias  ii,.  article,  implies  truth  in  the  inward  parts,  faith- 
 fulness, aa  well  as  truth  in  words.  The  "eyes"  of  God 
 looked  for  this, and  He  bund  the  temper  that  hardens 
 itself  against  discipline,  and  refuses  to  repent, 
 
 W  Therefore.— Literally,  And.   The  prophet  makes 
 
 the    poor    the    half-pitying    plea    of    ignorance. 
 
 Looking  apon   the  masses  thai   toil  for  bread,  thus,. 
 
 whom  the  Scribes  afterwards  called  the  "j pie  of 
 
 earth,"  it  was  not  strange  that  they  who  had  I n  left 
 
 untaught  should  have  learnt  so  little.  The  thought 
 timls  a  parallel  in  our  Lord's  compassion  for  the  multi- 
 tude who  were  as  "sheep having  uo  shepherd"    Matt. 
 
 ix.  36),  for  tlic  servant  who  "  knew  not  his  Lord's  will  " 
 (Luke  xii.  |s 
 The  way  of  the  Lord.— That  which  He  approves. 
 
 that  which  leads  to  Him,  as  in  Gen.  xviii.  19;  Dent, 
 xxxi.  J!». 
 
 I  will  get  me.— The  prophet  turns  from  Qu 
 masses  to  the  few,  from  the  poor  to  the  great,  repeating, 
 as  with  a  grave,  indignant  irony,  the  words  that  describe 
 the  true  wisdom  which  he  has  not  found  in  the  former, 
 I. ut  hopes  to  find  in  the  latter. 
 
 But  these- — Better,  as  less  ambiguous,  Surety  they 
 
 too.    The  clause  begins  with  the  same  word  as  that  in 
 
 vers,,   I.     What  is  meant  is  that  the  great  as  well  as  tho 
 
 \ r,  the  learned  as  well  as  the  ignorant,  are  altogether 
 
 evil,  the  former  even  more  defiant  in  breaking  through 
 all  conventional  constraints  than  the  latter. 
 
 I*)  A  lion  out  of  the  forest.— The  imagery  is 
 vivid  in  itself.  The  three  tonus  of  animal  ferocity, 
 lion.  wolf,  leopard — representing,  perhaps,  the  three 
 
 p liases  of  simple  fierceness,  nivrmniMn^-.  and  cunning  ; 
 
 ibly  even  three  oppressors  in  whom  those  attri- 
 butes were  to  bo  impersonated — are  brought  together 
 to  embody  the  cruelty  of  the  invader.  The  three 
 animals  were  all   common   in   Palestine,  hut    it   seems  a 
 
 weak  rendering  of  the  prophet's  words  to  take  them 
 
 literally   as   simply   predicting  that    the  land  would  bo 
 
 ravaged  by  the  beasts  of  prey. 
 
 A  wolf  of  tho  evenings'.— Better,  as  in  the  margin, 
 of  the  deserts;  but   the  term  "evening,"  as  applied  to 
 
 the  habits  of  the  Least  of  prey  prowling  in  the  dark- 
 le ss.  ia  supported  by  Hah.  i.  8j  Zeph.  iii.  3.  Tho 
 same  three  animals  appear  in  the  symbolism  of  the  first 
 canto  of    Dante's    fn^srno,  and    the   coincidence   can 
 
 hardly  be  thought  of  as  accidental. 
 
 A  leopard  shall  watch  .  .  .—There  is  no  ade- 
 quate reason  for  substituting  "panther."  Tic  leopard 
 finds  its  place  iii  the  Fauna  of  Syria  Hosea  xiii.  7: 
 Hah.  i.  si.  The  "watching"  is  that  of  the  crouching 
 Least  making  ready  for  its  spring. 
 
 When  I  had  fed  thorn  to  the  full. -The 
 reading  of  the  Hebrew  text  gives,  though  I  I 
 
 Hum  hij  onlli.  sr.,  by  the  covenant,  as  of  marriage;  and 
 this,  as  heightening  the  enormity  of  the  sin  that  follows. 
 
 u'i\e~  a  better  sense  than  the  English  version,  which 
 follows  the  marginal   reading  of    the  Hebrew.    The 
 
 latter  lin.ls  its  parallel    in   Pent,  xxxii     15;    BOS,  xiii.  >': 
 
 There  is  probably  an  implied  reference  to  the  covenant 
 
 to  which  the  people  had  sworn  ill  the  time  of  Josiah. 
 
 Houses.— Literally,  house.  The  singular  is.  per- 
 haps,  used  because  the  prophet   thinks  primarily  of 
 
Chastisement  Tempered 
 
 JEREMIAH,    V. 
 
 with  Mercy. 
 
 I  had  fed  them  to  the  full,  they  then 
 committed  adultery,  and  assembled 
 themselves  by  troops  in  the  harlots' 
 houses.  (8) "  They  were  as  fed  horses  in 
 the  morning :  every  one  neighed  after 
 his  neighbour's  wife.  (9)  Shall  I  not 
 visit  for  these  things  ?  saith  the  Lord  : 
 and  shall  not  my  soul  be  avenged  on 
 such  a  nation  as  this  ? 
 
 (10)  Go  ye  up  upon  her  walls,  and  de- 
 stroy ;  but  make  not  a  full  end :  take 
 away  her  battlements  ;  for  they  are  not 
 the  Lord's.  (11)  For  the  house  of  Israel 
 and  the  house  of  Judah  have  dealt  very 
 treacherously  against  me,  saith  the 
 Lord.  <12>  They  have  belied  the  Lord, 
 and  said,  b  It  is  not  he;  neither  shall 
 evil  come  upon  us ;  neither  shall  we  see 
 sword  nor  famine :  (13)  and  the  pro- 
 phets shall  become  wind,  and  the  word 
 is  not  in  them :  thus  shall  it  be  done 
 unto  them.  <u)  Wherefore  thus  saith 
 the  Lord  God  of  hosts,  Because  ye 
 speak  this  word,  c  behold,  I  will  make 
 
 a  Ezek.  22.  11. 
 
 '  Dent.  5S.  49 ;  eta 
 1. 15  J  &  li.  2S. 
 
 e  Lev.  26. 1G;  Dent 
 28.31,33. 
 
 /  eh.  4.  27. 
 
 tj  eta.  13.  22;  &  Hi. 
 
 my  words  in  thy  mouth  fire,  and  this, 
 people  wood,  and  it  shall  devour  them. 
 (15'  Lo,  I  will  bring  a  ''  nation  upon  you 
 from  fai-,  0  house  of  Israel,  saith  the 
 Lord  :  it  is  a  mighty  nation,  it  is  an 
 ancient  nation,  a  nation  whose  lan- 
 guage thou  knowest  not,  neither  un- 
 derstandest  what  they  say.  (16>  Their 
 quiver  is  as  an  ovien  sepulchre,  they  are 
 all  mighty  men.  (17»  And  they  shall  eat 
 up  thine  'harvest,  and  thy  bread,  which 
 thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  should  eat : 
 they  shall  eat  up  thy  flocks  and  thine 
 herds :  they  shall  eat  up  thy  vines  and 
 thy  fig  trees  :  thejr  shall  impoverish  thy 
 fenced  cities,  wherein  thou  trustedst, 
 with  the  sword.  (18)  Nevertheless  in 
 those  days,  saith  the  Lord,  I  /will  not 
 make  a  full  end  with  you. 
 
 (19)  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when 
 ye  shall  say,  "Wherefore  doeth  the  Lord 
 our  God  all  these  things  unto  us?  then 
 shalt  thou  answer  them,  Like  as  ye 
 have  forsaken  me,  and  served  strange 
 
 the  idol's  temple  as  the  scene  of  the  adulteress's  guilt, 
 which  here,  as  elsewhere,  is  the  symbol  of  national 
 apostasy. 
 
 (8)  They  were  as  fed  horses  in  the  morning.— 
 Better,  As  fed  stallion  horses  they  rove  about.  The 
 animal  passion  is  taken,  as  in  Ezek.  xxiii.  20,  (1)  as 
 answering  to  the  same  passion  in  man ;  ( 2 )  as  symbolical 
 of  the  lust  for  idolatrous  ritual.     (Comp.  chap.  ii.  24.) 
 
 (10)  Walls. — Better,  her  palm-trees.  The  Hebrew 
 word  is  found  in  Ezek.  xxvii.  25,  though  not  in  the 
 English  Version,  iu  the  sense  of  "  mast,"  and  here, 
 apparently,  means  the  tall,  stately  trunk  of  the  palm- 
 tree.  So,  for  "battlements"  it  is  better  to  read  branches 
 (as  iu  Isa.  xviii.  5),  as  carrying  ou  the  same  imagery, 
 and  indicating  the  limits  of  the  destruction,  that  is  not 
 to  make  a  ''full  end."  The  rendering  "walls,"  still 
 adopted  by  some  eommeutators,  may  refer  to  the  "  walls  " 
 of  a.  vineyard,  but  the  second  word  would  in  that  case 
 be  the  tendrils  of  the  vine.  Both  the  palm-tree  and 
 the  vine  appear  on  Maccabean  coins  as  symbols  of 
 Judah,  ami  the  latter  had  been  treated  as  such  in  Isa. 
 v.  1—7;  Ps.  lxxx.  8— 16. 
 
 (12>  It  is  not  he. — i.e..  It  is  not  Jehovah  who  speaks. 
 They  listened  to  the  prophet's  warnings  as  if  they 
 came  from  himself  only,  and  brought  with  them  no 
 certainty  of  the  "  sword "  or  "  famine"  which  they 
 foretold.  Perhaps,  however,  the  words  refer  also  to 
 the  denial  that  Jehovah  was  working  in  the  sufferings 
 that  fell  upon  the  people,  or  even  to  a  more  entire 
 denial,  like  that  of  the  fool  in  Ps.  xiv.  1. 
 
 (13)  The  word. — Literally,  He  who  spealteth,  i.e., 
 Jehovah,  as  the  speaker. 
 
 Thus  shall  it  be  done  unto  them.— Better,  as  a 
 wish,  may  it  so  happen  to  them ;  may  the  evils  the 
 prophets  foretell  fall  on  their  own  heads.  The  speech 
 conies  from  the  lips  of  the  unbelieving  mockers. 
 
 (ii)  The  Lord  God  of  hosts. — The  solemn  name 
 (Jehovah  Elohim  Zebaoth)  used  for  the  second  time  in 
 Jeremiah's  teaching  (chap.  ii.  19).   The  message  is  partly 
 
 to  the  people — "  Because  ye  speak  this  word,"  partly 
 to  the  prophet  who  was  sent  to  bear  his  witness  against 
 them — "  I  will  make  my  words  iu  thy  mouth." 
 
 (15)  O  house  of  Israel. — Apparently,  as  there  is  no 
 contrast  with  Judah,  in  its  wider  sense,  as  including 
 the  whole  body  of  the  twelve  tribes. 
 
 A  mighty  nation. — The  strict  force  of  the  adjec- 
 tive is  that  of  "  lasting,  enduring,"  as  of  mountains 
 (Micah  vi.  2)  and  rivers  (Amos  v.  24  ;  Ps.  lxxiv.  15). 
 
 Whose  language  thou  knowest  not.— To  the 
 Jew,  as  to  the  Greek,  the  thought  of  being  subject  to  a 
 people  of  alien  speech,  a  "  barbarian,"  added  a  new 
 element  of  bitterness.  Compare  Isa.  xxviii.  11 ;  Deut.. 
 xxviii.  49. 
 
 (16)  An  open  sepulchre.— Every  arrow  in  t he- 
 quivers  of  the  Chaldsean  bowmen  was  to  be  as  a  mes- 
 senger of  death,  a  blast  or  pestilence  from  the  grave. 
 
 (17)  Which  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters 
 should  eat. — There  is  no  relative  pronoun  in  the 
 Hebrew,  and  the  clause  stands  parallel  with  the  others, 
 they  shall  eat  (i.e.,  destroy)  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters, 
 and  is  so  translated  in  all  the  older  versions.  In  the- 
 other  clauses  the  verb  is  in  the  singular,  "it  (i.e.,  the 
 invading  army)  shall  eat." 
 
 Impoverish. — Better,  break  down,  or  shatter.  The- 
 "  sword  "  is  used,  as  in  Ezek.  xxvi.  9,  for  "  battle-axes '" 
 and  other  weapons  used  in  attacking  cities. 
 
 (18)  I  -will  not  make  a  full  end.— As  before,  in- 
 chap.  iv.  27,  and  in  this  chapter,  verse  10,  what  seems 
 the  extremest  sentence  is  tempered  by  the  assurance- 
 that  it  is  not  absolutely  final.  It  is  intended  to  be  re- 
 formatory, and  not  merely  penal. 
 
 (19)  When  ye  shall  say.— The  implied  promise  in- 
 verse IS  is  explained.  Then  there  shall  come  the  back- 
 ward glance  at  the  past,  which  brings  with  it  question- 
 ings and  repentance. 
 
 Strange  gods. — Stronger  than  the  "  other  gods  " 
 of  chap.  i.  16,  "  gods  of  an  alien  race."  The  threats, 
 that  they  should  "  serve  strangers  "  in  a  "  land  "  that 
 
 26 
 
Tin-  Peoplt    without  Understanding.         JEREMIAH,     \.         The  Wonderful  and  If orril 
 
 gods   in  your  land,  bo  shall  ye  Berve 
 strangers  in  a  land  thai  is  aoi  your's. 
 
 Declare  this  in  the  bouse  of 
 Jacob,  and  publish  it  in  Judab,  Baying, 
 OD  Hear  qow  this,  < '  foolish  people, 
 andwithoul  'understanding;  which bave 
 eyes,  and  Bee  aoi  ;  which  have  ears,  and 
 hear  aoi  :  '-'-''  fear  ye  aot  nicy  saith 
 the  Lokd  :  will  ye  aoi  I  remble  a1  mj 
 ince,  which  bave  placed  the  sand 
 for  the  'bound  of  the  sea-  I  > \-  a  perpetual 
 decree,  thai  it  cannot  pass  it:  and 
 though  the  waves  thereof  toss  them- 
 selves, ye1  can  they  nol  prevail;  though 
 ( 1 1 . •  \  roar,ye1  can  theynol  pass  over  it? 
 Bui  this  people  hath  a  revolting 
 and  ;i  rebeUious  heart;  they  arc  re- 
 volted and  gone.  (-l>  Neither  say  they 
 in  their  heart,  Lot  us  now  fear  the 
 Loan  our  God,  thai  giveth  rain,  both 
 the  former  and  the  latter,  in  bis  season: 
 be    reserveth    unto   us   the  appointed 
 
 II    ll;  Joliu   II, 
 10;     V 
 
 I  II  -I...  heart. 
 
 ■     I",    II 
 
 ■  ..  I, 
 
 ID 
 
 Ulltljldii 
 
 /.ll.  ii.  ii :  .v  :: 
 Kick,  is, 
 
 weeks  of  the   harvest.  Four  Ini- 
 
 quities bave  turned  away  these  th 
 
 and  your   sins    bave   withholden   g I 
 
 things  from  you.  -  For  among  my 
 people  arc  found  wicked  men  :  'they  lay 
 wait,  as  be  thai  setteth  Bnares;  they 
 set  a  trap,  they  catch  men.  '-71  As  a 
 is  lull  nf  birds,  so  a/re  their  houses 
 
 full  <>f  '1 it:  therefore  they  are  be- 
 
 come  great,  and  waxen  rich,    l*>  They 
 
 arc    waxen    Mat,   they   shine:   yea,   they 
 
 overpass  the  .1 u  of  the  wicked  :  they 
 
 judge  ao1  the    cause,  the  can f  the 
 
 fatherless,  yet  they  prosper;   and  the 
 righl  of  the  i ly  do  they  not   ji 
 
 ,J!"    Shall   1    not    visit    for   these    //,. 
 saith  the  Loan:  shall  not  my  soul  be 
 avenged  <>n  such  a  nation  as  this? 
 
 \  wonderful  and  horrible  thing  is 
 committed  in  the  land  :  '  the  prophets 
 prophesy  -'falsely,  and  the  priests  bear 
 rule  by  their  means;   and   my   i pie 
 
 was  mil  theirs  points  t"  the  Chaldean  rather  than  to  the 
 Scythian  invasion.     With  this  ends  the  section  which 
 i  in  rerse  1  I. 
 
 <-")  Dcclaro  -publish.— Tho  words  indicate,  as  in 
 ohap,  iv.  5,  L6,  the  beginning  of  a  fresh  section  of  the 
 prophecy,  though  no  definitely  new  topic  is  introduced. 
 The  command  is  given  by  Jehovah,  not  to  the  prophet 
 only.  Imt  to  his  disciples. 
 
 i-n  Which  havo  eyes,  and  see  not.— An  almost 
 verbal  reproduction  from  lea.  vi.  LO. 
 
 --  Which  have  placed  tho  sand  .  .  .— Tho 
 neatness  of  Jehovah  is  shown  by  the  majesty  of 
 His  work  in  nature.  As  in  Job  \xx\iii.  8 — 11.  so,  pro- 
 bably, here  also  there  is  something  of  the  wonder  of 
 our  to  whom,  as  dwelling  in  an  inland  village,  the 
 liillows  breaking  on  the  shore  was  an  unfamiliar  sight. 
 Sore  was  the  token  thai  even  the  forces  which  seem 
 wildest  and  least  restrained  are  subjeel  to  an  over- 
 ruling  law.     Even   the  sanil   which    BOems   so  shifting 
 
 keeps  in  t be  surging  waters. 
 
 ,J  But  this  people  .  .  .—Tho  contrast  seems  to 
 lie  in  the  fact  that  the  elements  arc  subject  to  Hod's 
 will,   but  that   man's  rebellions  will,  with   its  fatal   gifl 
 
 of  freedom,  lias  the  power  to  resist  it.    The  two  adjec- 
 tives "revolting"  and  "rebellious"  (the  negative  and 
 of  apostasy)  are  joined  together,  as  in 
 
 Dent.  x\i.  IS.  20. 
 
 (-l|  The  Lord  our  God,  that  giveth  rain  .  .  . 
 
 — In    the   climate   of    Palestine,  as   it    is   now.  there  are 
 
 not  two  distinct  rainy  seasons.    The  whole  period  from 
 October  to  March  has   that  character.    Tl early" 
 
 rains    are   those    that    come  in  autumn,  the  latter  those 
 which   close   the  season    in  spring.     The  former  argu- 
 ment in  what  we  may  call  the  prophet's  natural  thi 
 hail  been  drawn  from  the  presence  of  law  in  the  miilst 
 of  what    seemed  the  lawless  elements  of  nature.      Now 
 
 ho  urges  that   drawn   from  regularity  of   succession. 
 Compare  Gen.  viii.  22 ;  Ps.  cxlviii.  8 ;  A.cts  xiv.  17. 
 
 Rain,  both  the  former  and  the  latter.— Again 
 a  Deuteronomic  phrase  (Dent.-xL  in.    Compare  also 
 
 James  v.  7  ;   PrOV.  xvi.  15. 
 
 The  appointed  weeks  of  the  harvest. — 
 Literally,  the  weeks,  the  statutes,  or  ordinances,  of  the 
 harvest,  the  seven  weeks  included  between  the  begin- 
 ning of  the  barley  harvest  at  the  Passover  and  the  com- 
 pletion of  the  wheat  harvest  at  PenteC  I -i. 
 
 -  i  These  things.— i.e..  the  rain  and  the  harvest, 
 which,    from    the    prophet's    point   of    view,    had   ' 
 withhold  in  consequence  of  tho  sins  of  the  p8  ip 
 
 (26)  They  lay  wait. — Literally. //•  '(used 
 
 of  the  leopard  in  Rosea  xiii.  7),  as  in  the  crouching  down 
 of  fowlers :  they  have  set  the  snare.  The  indefinite 
 singular  in  the  first  clause  brings  before  n-  the  picture 
 of  isolated  guilt,  the  plural  that  of  confederate  evil. 
 
 (-'''  A  cage.— The  large  wicker  basket  (Amos  viii.  1,2) 
 in  which  the  fowler  kepi  the  birds  he  had  caught,  or, 
 
 possibly,  used  for  decoy. birds. 
 
 i-'"1  They  overpass  the  deeds  of  the  wicked. 
 — Better  (the  English  being  ambiguous),  they  exceed 
 
 (literally,  words  or  things)  of  wickedness.  Tho 
 prophet  dwells  not  only  on  the  prosperity  of  the 
 wicked,  but  on  their  callous  indifference  to  the  well- 
 being  of  the  p  i 
 
 Yot  they  prosper.— Better,  so  thai  th  y  the  father- 
 less ,. ,-.  They  do  not  judge  with  a  view  to  that 
 
 result.  The  words  admit,  however,  in  Hebrew  as  in 
 English,  of  the  sense  that  th.  >j  (the  wicked  themsel 
 
 prospi  r.     That  was  till  they  aimed  at  or  cared  for. 
 Wonderful.— Better.  I.  rrible. 
 
 Is  committed. — Better,  has  conn 
 
 (:ji>  Prophesy  falsely. — Literally,  with  a  lie,  so  in 
 chap.  xx.  Ii.  xxix.  9. 
 
 Bear   rule   by  their   means.— Better,  m 
 //<■  '/•  hands,  ».«•.,  according  to  their  direction    as  in  1 
 Chron.  xxv.   ■!■.   -2  Chron.  xxiii.   18.     The  Vnkr.  and 
 I, XX.  translate  I  ta  applauded  with  their  hands. 
 
 So  taken,  the  words  of  .Jeremiah  make  the  priests  follow 
 
 the  prophets,  not  the  prophets  the  instruments  of  the 
 priests.  In  La.  ix.  15  the  prophets  are  as  "the  tail," 
 the  basest  element  in  the  nation. 
 
 My  people  love  to  have  it  .  .  .—The  words 
 imply  more  than  au  acquiescence  in  evil,  and  describe 
 
The  Ma/rch  of  the  Invading  Armies.         JEREMIAH,    VI. 
 
 The  Encampment  and  the  Siege. 
 
 love  to  have  it  so :  and  what  will  ye  do 
 in  the  end  thereof? 
 
 CHAPTER  VI.— d)  0  ye  children  of 
 Benjamin,  gather  yourselves  to  flee  out 
 of  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  blow 
 the  trumpet  in  Tekoa,  and  set  up  a 
 sign  of  fire  in  Beth-haccerem :  for  evil 
 appeareth  out  of  the  north,  and  great 
 destruction.  <2)  I  have  likened  the 
 daughter  of  Zion  to  a  1  comely  and 
 delicate  woman.  <3>  The  shepherds  with 
 their  flocks  shall  come  unto  her;  they 
 shall    pitch    their     tents    against    her 
 
 1    Or,  duxlhng  at 
 lioiuc. 
 
 2  Or,  'pour  out  the 
 ligUU  of  allot. 
 
 round  about ;  they  shall  feed  every  one 
 in  his  place.  (4)  Prepare  ye  war  against 
 her;  arise,  and  let  us  go  up  at  noon. 
 Woe  unto  us  !  for  the  day  goeth  away, 
 for  the  shadows  of  the  evening  are 
 stretched  out.  (5)  Arise,  and  let  us  go 
 by  night,  and  let  us  destroy  her  palaces. 
 (°)  Tor  thus  hath  the  Lord  of  hosts  said, 
 Hew  ye  down  trees,  and  -  cast  a  mount 
 against  Jerusalem :  this  is  the  city  to 
 be  visited ;  she  is  wholly  oppression  in 
 the  midst  of  her.  (7)  "As  a  fountain 
 casteth  out  her  waters,  so  she  casteth 
 out  her  wickedness :  violence  and  spoil 
 
 an  ethical  condition  like  that  of  Rom.  i.  32.  The  final 
 question  implies  that  the  people  were  running  into  a 
 destruction  which  they  would  have  no  power  to  avert. 
 
 VI. 
 
 (1)  The  new  discourse,  or  section  of  a  discourse, 
 deals  more  locally  with  the  coming  desolation  of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 O  ye  children  of  Benjamin.— The  city,  though 
 claimed  as  belonging  to  Judah,  was  actually  on  the 
 border  of  the  two  tribes,  the  boundary  running  through 
 the  valley  of  Ben-Hinnom  (Josh.  xv.  8 ;  xviii.  16),  and 
 its  northern  walls  were  in  that  of  Benjamin.  It  was 
 natural  that  the  prophet  of  Anathoth  should  think  and 
 speak  of  it  as  connected  with  his  own  people. 
 
 Blow  the  trumpet  in  Tekoa. — i.e.,  "give  the 
 signal  for  the  fugitives  to  halt,  but  not  till  they  have 
 reached  the  southernmost  boundary  of  Judah."  Tekoa 
 was  about  twelve  miles  south  of  Jerusalem  (2  Chron.  xi. 
 6).  The  Hebrew  presents  a  play  upon  the  name  Tekoa, 
 as  nearly  identical  with  its  sound  is  the  verb  "  blow," 
 and  the  town  is  probably  mentioned  for  that  reason. 
 The  play  upon  the  name  is  analogous  to  those  that 
 meet  us  in  Micah  i.  10 — 16. 
 
 Sign  of  fire.— Better,  signed.  The  word,  though 
 applied  to  a  fire  or  smoke  signal  in  Judges  xx.  38,  40, 
 does  not  necessarily  imply  it.  Such  signals  were,  how- 
 ever, in  common  tiso  in  all  ancient  warfare. 
 
 Beth-haccerem. — i.e.,  the  house  of  the  vineyard, 
 halfway  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Tekoa.  There, 
 top,  the  signal  was  to  be  raised  that  the  fugitives 
 might  gather  round  it.  Jerome  states  (Comni.  on  Jer. 
 vi.)  that  it  was  on  a  mountain,  and  was  known  in  his 
 time  as  Bethachavma.  It  has  been  identified  with  the 
 modern  Jebel  Fureidis,  or  "  Hill  of  the  Franks." 
 
 Evil  appeareth  out  of  the  north.— Literally,  is 
 bending  over  us,  as  looking  down  on  its  prey.  The 
 word  is  that  used  of  "  righteousness  looking  down 
 from  heaven  "  in  Ps.  lxxxv.  11. 
 
 <2i  To  a  comely  and  delicate  woman. — 
 "  Woman"  is  not  in  the  Hebrew,  and  the  word  trans- 
 lated "comely"  is  elsewhere  (Isa.  lxv.  10;  Jer.  xxiii.  3; 
 Exod.  xv.  13)  rendered  "  fold  "  or  "  habitation  ;  "  and  the 
 passage  should  probably  stand  thus,  I  have  likened  the 
 daughter  of  Zion  to  a  fair  pasturage,  thus  suggesting 
 the  imagery  which  is  developed  in  the  next  verse.  The 
 clause  is,  however,  rendered  by  some  scholars  as  the 
 fair  and  delicate  one  (or,  the  fair  pasturage),  the 
 daughter  of  Zion,  I  have  destroyed. 
 
 (3i  Shall  come  unto  her.— Better,  Unto  it  (sc, 
 
 2S 
 
 the  pasture)  shall  come  shepherds  with  their  flocks — i.e.. 
 the  leaders  and  the  armies  of  the  invaders.  The  other 
 verbs  are  in  the  past  tense,  the  future  being  seen,  as  it 
 were,  realised,  They  have  pitched,  they  have  pas- 
 tured. 
 
 Every  one  in  his  place.— Literally,  each  on  hi* 
 hand,  or  perhaps,  "  they  shall  feed,  each  his  hand."  i.e., 
 shall  let  it  rove  in  plunder  at  will  by  the  side  of  his 
 own  tent.  The  work  of  plunder  was  to  go  on  every- 
 where. The  imagery  is  drawn  from  the  attack  of  a 
 nomadic  tribe  on  a  richly-cultivated  plain. 
 
 W  Prepare  ye  war.— Literally,  Sanctify.  The 
 opening  of  the  battle  was  accompanied  by  sacrifices, 
 divinations,  and  prayers.  Compare  Dent.  xx.  1 — 3  for 
 the  practice  of  the  Israelites,  and  Ezek.  xxi.  20 — 22  for 
 that  of  the  Chaldseaus.  which  was,  of  course,  present 
 to  Jeremiah's  mind.  The  cry  thus  given  with  dramatic 
 force  comes  from  the  soldiers  of  the  invading  army  im- 
 patient for  the  fight.  They  are  so  eager  that,  instead 
 of  resting  at  noon,  as  usual,  for  their  mid-day  meal,  they 
 would  fain  press  on  for  the  assault.  Their  orders  are 
 against  this,  and,  as  the  shadows  lengthen,  the}'  raise 
 their  cry  of  complaint,  "  Alas  for  us,  the  day  de- 
 clines ..."  Then,  impatient  still,  unwilling  to 
 wait,  as  their  commandevs  bid  them,  for  an  attack  at 
 day-break,  they  shout,  "  Let  us  go  by  night." 
 
 (6)  Hew  ye  down  trees,  and  east  a  mount. — 
 The  words  describe  graphically  the  process  of  an 
 Eastern  siege  as  seen  in  the  Assyrian  bas-reliefs 
 (Layard,  Mon.  of  Nineveh,  i.  T3 — 76).  Compare 
 2  Sam.  xx.  15 ;  Job  xix.  12 ;  Isa.  xxix.  3 ;  Ezek.  iv.  2. 
 First  the  neighbouring  country  is  cleared  by  cutting 
 down  the  trees ;  next,  either  by  piling  earth  on  these  as 
 a  timber  framework,  or  using  the  earth  alone,  a  "mount  " 
 (or,  in  later  English,  a  mound)  was  raised  till  it  reached 
 the  level  of  the  wall  of  the  besieged  city;  and  then  the 
 assault  was  made.  The  law  of  Israel  forbade,  it  may 
 be  noted,  this  destruction,  but  apparently  only  in  tho 
 case  of  fruit-trees  (Dent.  xx.  19,  20).  There  is  no 
 adequate  ground  for  the  marginal  rendering,  "  pour  out 
 the  engine  of  shot." 
 
 Is  ...  to  be  visited.— Literally,  is  visited,  in 
 the  sense  of  "  punished,"  but  Hebrew  usage  gives  to 
 the  verb  so  employed  a  gerundive  force.  The  words 
 admit,  however,  of  the  rendering,  this  is  the  city ;  it  is 
 proved  that  wholly  oppression  is  in  the  midst  of  her. 
 
 (")  As  a  fountain  casteth  out  her  waters. — 
 The  English  is  plain  enough,  but  the  Hebrew  presents 
 two  difficulties:  (1)  The  word  rendered  '•fountain" 
 (better,  cistern)  is  not  spelt  with  the  usual  vowels,  and 
 the  etymology  of  the  verb  is  quite  uncertain.     It  has 
 
Th    Outpouring  qf  Jthovah's  Fury.         JEREMIAH,    \'I. 
 
 7"     Hurt  //■■>'■  I  tightly. 
 
 is  beard  in  ber ;  before  me  continually 
 is  grief  and  wounds.  '"  Bte  thou  iri- 
 etructed,    0  Jerusalem,    Lesl    my   bou] 
 
 'depart    from    thee;    lest    I   make  il 
 
 desolate,  o  [and  not  inhabited. 
 
 Dhus  Baith  the  Lobd  of  boats,  Thej 
 shall  throughly  glean   the  remnanl  of 
 el  as  a  a  ine  :  turn  back  t  bine  band 
 us  ;i  grape-gatherer  into  the  baski 
 
 To  whom  shall  I  Bpeak,  and  give 
 warning,  thai  they  may  bear?  behold, 
 their  "ear  is  uncircumcised,  and  they 
 cannot  hearken  :  behold,  the  word 
 of  the  Lobd  is  unto  them  a  re- 
 proach; they  have  mi  delight  in  it. 
 1  Therefore  I  am  full  of  the  furj  of 
 the  Lobd;  I  am  weary  with  holding  in  : 
 I   will   pour   it   nut   upon  th.'  children 
 
 abr 1,  and  upon  the  assembly  of  young 
 
 in^n   together:    for  even  the   husband 
 
 /.  In.  M.  II  ;    ch 
 
 .  ii    - 
 
 :'  Hi'!'.,  bruise,  or 
 
 :  &  8.  is. 
 
 with  th.- wife  -hall  he  taken,  the  aged 
 with  him  thai  it  lull  of  days.  'IJI  An4 
 their  hous<  b  -hall  he  turned  onto  others, 
 with  Hoi,-  fields  and  wives  together: 
 for  I  will  stretch  out  my  band  upon  the 
 inhabitants  of  the  land,  Baith  the  Lobd. 
 
 1        For      from      the      least      Of     them      even 
 
 untn  the  greatest  of  them  every  en.-  is 
 given  to  'covetousness;  ami  from  the 
 prophet  even  unto  the  priest  every  one 
 dealeth  falsely.  '"  They  have  healed 
 also  the  hurt  of  the  daughter  of  my 
 people  Blightly,  saying,  Peace,  peace; 
 when  //,,,-,   /.„■  in,  peace.     ,1:"  Were  they 
 
 ''ashamed     when    they    had    commit  t..  1 
 
 abomination?  nay,  they  were  not  at 
 all  ashamed,  neither  could  they  blush  : 
 
 therefore  they  shall   tall    among  them 
 
 that   fall  :    at    the   time   //,.//   L  visit  them 
 
 they  shall  he  ea-t  down, saith  tin;  Lord. 
 
 dered,  As  a  cistern  " gathers,"  or  "keepi 
 or  "keeps  il"  waters  cool,"  or  "lets  Hem  flow.      The 
 general  meaning  i-  probably  given  by  the  Authorised 
 version.  m  was  literally  "overflowing"  with 
 
 wickedn — . 
 
 Grief.  -Better,  .   The  word  and  the  imagery 
 
 are  tin'  same  as  in  Isa.  i.  •">. 
 
 Bo  thou  instructed.— Better. /;.  thoucorreeted, 
 or.  chastened.  Comp.  Pa.  ii.  I11;  Lev.  xxvi.  23  (where 
 we  have  "reformed  );  and  Prov.  xxix.  1:'. 
 
 Lost  my  soul.   -As  in   chap.  iv.    L9,  the   Hebrew 
 formula    for    emphasised     personality.       The    word 
 "depart"   may    be    better    rendered    tear    itself 
 away. 
 
 (to  Turn  back  thino  hand. —Tim  image  of  the 
 grape-gatherer  carrying  on  liis  work  to  the  Last  grape 
 or  tendril  was  a  natural  parable  of  unsparing  desola- 
 tion. Tlio  command  is  addressed  to  'In'  minister  of 
 destruction,  Nebuchadnezzar, or,  it  may  be,  to  the  angel 
 of  death. 
 
 Into  the  baskets.— The  noun  is  found  here  only. 
 and  probably  means,  like  a  kindred  word  in  [sa.  xviii.  •".. 
 the  tendrils  of  (he  vine  upon  which  the  hand  of  the 
 gatherer  was  to  lie  turned. 
 
 ''•'  To  whom  shall  I  speak  .  .  .  P— The  prophet, 
 
 now  speaks  in  hi-,  own  name,  lias  heard  the  message 
 !  the  I. "ill  of    Eosts;    hut  what  avails  it  p   who  will 
 
 listen?    As  elsewhere  the  lips  (Exod.  \i.  30    ami  the 
 heart    Lev.  xxvi.  H  ;  Exek.  xuv.  7\  so  here  the  ear  of 
 
 Israel  was  uncircumcised,  as  though  it  had  never  I n 
 
 brought  into  covenant  with  Jehovah  or  consecrated  to 
 His  service. 
 
 A  reproach.— i.e..  th,'  object  of  their  acorn. 
 
 <n)  lam  full  of  tho  fury  .  .  .—The  prophet  feels 
 himself  tilled,  frail  vessel  aa  he  is,  with  the  right 
 wrath  of  Jehovah.     It  will  not  be  controlled. 
 
 I  will  pour  it  out.-  Bctter.as  the- command  coming 
 
 from  the  mouth  of  Jehovah,  -/'••"/•  ii  <■><<.  The  words  that 
 follow  describe  the  several  stages  of  man'-  life,  upon  all 
 
 of  which  that  torrent  of  wrath  is  to  flow  forth— the  chil- 
 dren abroad,  i.e.,  playing  in  the  as  in  Zech.  viii. 
 
 5   :   the  assembly,  or  feathering  of  young  men.  whether 
 
 in  their  natural  mirth    .'hap.  xv.  17  or  for  secret  plans 
 (Prov.rv.22);  the  husband  and  wife  in  full  maturity;  the 
 
 ••audi."  Le.,  tl Ider,  -till  active  as  well  aa  venerable; 
 
 lastly,  the  man  ••  full  of  days,"  whose  time  is  nearly 
 over  and  his  sand  run  out. 
 
 (13)  Is  given  to  covetousness.— Literally,  a 
 
 The  Hebrew  word  (as  in  Gen.  xxxvii.  -<'>-. 
 Job  xxii.  2)  docs  nut  necessarily  involve  the  idea  of 
 dishonest  gain,  though  this  (as  in  Prov.  i.  19;  Hah. 
 ii.  9  is  often  implied.  What  the  prophet  condemns  is 
 the  universal  desire  of  gain  rem  .  .  .  rem  . . . 
 
 modo  rem),  sure  to  lead,  as  in  the  a id  clause,  t"  a 
 
 gratification  of  it  by  fair  means  or  foul 
 
 From  tho  prophet  even  unto  the  priest  .  .  .— 
 The  two  orders  that  ought  to  have  cheeked  the  evil  are 
 noted  as  having  been  foremost  in  promoting  ii .  (<  lomp. 
 Xote  on  chap.  \ , 
 
 Dealeth.  falsely.  laterally,  worketh  a  lie,  in  the 
 sense  of  "  dishonest} ," 
 
 (in  Thoyhave  healed  .  .  .  slightly. — Literally. 
 as  a  thing  of  nought,  a  light  matter.  The  words  "of 
 the  daughter  "are  in  italics,  as  indicating  that  the  mar- 
 ginal reading  of  the  Hebrew  omits  them.  They  ere 
 found,  however,  in  the  present  text. 
 
 Peace,  peace.— The  word  is  taken  almost  in  the 
 sense  of  "  health,"  as  in  Gen.  xliii.  27, 28,  and  elsewhere. 
 The  false  prophets  were  as  physicians  who  told  tho 
 man  suffering  from  a  fatal  disease  that  lie  was  in  full 
 health.  As  the  previous  words  show,  the  prophet  has 
 in  his  mind  the  false  eneouragementa  given  by  those 
 who  should  have  been  the  true  guides  of  the  people. 
 
 Looking  at  Josiah's  reformation  as  sufficient  to  win  the 
 
 favour  of  Jehovah,  they  met  Jeremiah's  warnings  of 
 
 coming  evil  by  the  assurance  that  all  wa-  well,  and  that 
 invasion  ami  conquest  were  far-off  dang 
 
 (15)  Were  they  ashamed   .    .    .  P — The  Hebrew 
 ■rives  an  assertion,  not  a  question — They  ore  brought  to 
 shame  (as  in  chap.  ii.  26  .  because  they 
 abominations,     And  yet.  the  prophet  adds,  "they  were 
 not  ashamed"   the  verb  is  in  a  different  voice.    There 
 
 wa-  no  inward  feeling  of  -hame  even  when  they  were 
 covered  witli  ignominy  and  eonftlBJOn.  They  had  lost 
 the    power    to    blush,  and   were   callous   and   in-eusihle. 
 
 This  wa-  then,  as  always,  the  mo-t  hopeless  of  all 
 -tat.s.  To  "  fall  among 'them  that  fall  "  was  its  iuevit- 
 able  sequel. 
 
The  Old  Paths. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    VI.        The  People  from  the  North  Country. 
 
 (16)  Tims  saith  the  Loed,  Stand  ye  in 
 the  ways,  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  "old 
 paths,  where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk 
 therein,  and  ye  shall  find  'rest  for  your 
 souls.  But  they  said,  We  will  not  walk 
 therein.  (17)  Also  I  set  watchmen  over 
 you,  saying,  Hearken  to  the  sound  of 
 the  trumpet.  But  they  said,  We  will 
 not  hearken.  <18)  Therefore  hear,  ye 
 nations,  and  know,  O  congregation, 
 what  is  among  them.  <19>  Hear,  0  earth  : 
 behold,  I  will  bring  evil  upon  this  people, 
 even  the  fruit  of  their  thoughts,  be- 
 cause they  have  not  hearkened  unto  my 
 words,  nor  to  my  law,  but  rejected  it. 
 (20)  cijo  what  purpose  cometh  there  to 
 me  incense  from  Sheba,  and  the  sweet 
 cane  from  a  far  country?  your  burnt 
 offerings  are  not  acceptable,  nor  your 
 
 a  Isa.  8.  2n;   Mai. 
 4.4;  Luke  16.39. 
 
 I,  Matt.  11.29. 
 
 Isa.  1.  11;  &  fir, 
 :s :  Amos  5.  21 
 Mic.  6.  6,  &c. 
 
 d  cb.1.15;  &5. 15 
 it  10.  22. 
 
 sacrifices  sweet  unto  me.  <-n  Therefore 
 thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  I  will  lay 
 stumblingblocks  before  this  people,  and 
 the  fathers  and  the  sons  together  shall 
 fall  upon  them ;  the  neighbour  and  his 
 friend  shall  perish. 
 
 M  Thus  saith  the  Loed,  Behold,  a 
 people  cometh  from  the  ''north  country, 
 and  a  great  nation  shall  be  raised  from 
 the  sides  of  the  earth.  (23>  They  shall 
 lay  hold  on  bow  and  spear ;  they  are 
 cruel,  and  have  no  mercy;  their  voice 
 roareth  like  the  sea;  and  they  ride 
 upon  horses,  set  in  array  as  men  for 
 war  against  thee,  0  daughter  of  Zion. 
 (24)  We  have  heard  the  fame  thereof: 
 our  hands  wax  feeble :  anguish  hath 
 taken  hold  of  us,  and  pain,  as  of  a 
 woman  in    travail.      (25)  Go    not   forth 
 
 C6)  Stand  ye  in  the  ways. — In  the  prophet's  mind 
 the  people  were  as  a  traveller  who  has  taken  a  self- 
 chosen  path,  and  finds  that  it  leads  him  to  a  place  of 
 peril.  Is  it  not  well  that  they  should  stop  and  ask 
 where  the  old  paths  (literally,  the  eternal  paths;  the 
 words  going,  as  in  ehap.  xviii.  15,  beyond  the  mere 
 antiquity  of  the  nation's  life)  were,  on  which  their 
 fathers  had  travelled  safely.  Of  these  old  paths  they 
 were  to  choose  that  which  was  most  distinctly  "the 
 good  way,"  the  way  of  righteousness,  and  therefore  of 
 peace  and  health  also.  The  call,  however,  was  in  vain. 
 The  people  chose  to  travel  still  in  the  broad  way  that 
 led  them  to  destruction. 
 
 (17)  Watchmen. —  i.e..  the  sentinels  of  the  army,  as 
 in  1  Sam.  xiv.  16,  giving  the  signal  in  this  case,  not  for 
 advance  but  for  retreat  (conip.  verse  1,  and  Amos  iii.  6). 
 The  watchmen  are,  of  course  (as  in  Isa.  Iii.  8,  lvi.  10 ; 
 Ezek.  iii.  17;  Hab.  ii.  1),  the  prophets  blowing  the 
 trumpet  of  alarm,  proclaiming,  as  in  verso  1,  the  near- 
 ness of  the  invader,  and  calling  on  them  to  flee  from 
 the  wrath  of  Jehovah.  They  call,  however,  in  vain. 
 The  people  refuse  to  hearken. 
 
 (18)  Therefore  hear,  ye  nations  .  .  .—The 
 obstinate  refusal  with  which  the  people  met  the  sum- 
 mons of  the  prophet  leads  him  once  more  to  a  solemn 
 appeal  (1)  to  the  heathen  nations,  then  (2)  to  the 
 "  congregation  "  of  Israel  (as  in  Exodus  and  Numbers 
 passim),  or,  possibly,  of  mankind  collectively,  (3)  to 
 earth  as  the  witness  of  the  judgments  of  Jehovah. 
 
 What  is  among  them. — Better,  what  comes  to 
 pass  for  them,  i.e.,  for  the  sinful  people. 
 
 (-0)  Incense  from  Sheba.— The  land  that  had  a 
 proverbial  fame  both  for  gold  and  frankincense  (Isa. 
 Ix.  6 ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  22),  the  thus  Sabceum  of  Virg.,  Mn. 
 i.  416,  417.     So  Milton,  Par.  Lost,  iv. — 
 
 "  Sabsean  odours  from  the  spioy  shores 
 Of  Araby  the  blest." 
 
 So   the  Queen  of  Sheba  brought   spices  and  gold  (1 
 Kings  x.  10). 
 
 The  sweet  cane. — Literally,  the  good  cane,  or,  as 
 in  Exod.  xxx.  23,  street  calamus  (eomp.  Isa.  xliii.  24 ; 
 Song  Sol.  iv.  14).  numbered  among  the  ingredients  of 
 the  Temple  incense.  The  LXX.  renders  it  by  "  cin- 
 namon."    It  came  from  the  "far  country"  of  India 
 
 The  whole  passage  is  a  reproduction  of  the  thought  of 
 Isa.  i.  11—13. 
 
 (21)  And  the  fathers  and  the  sons  together 
 .  .  . — Better,  I  give  unto  this  people  stumblingblocks, 
 and  they  shall  stumble  over  them :  fathers  and  sons 
 together,  neighbour  and  his  friend,  shall  perish. 
 
 "(22>  From  the  north  country  .  .  .—The  words 
 point,  as  in  chap.  i.  13 — 15,  to  the  Chaldsean,  perhaps, 
 also,  to  the  Scythian,  invasion.  So  the  "  north  quarters  " 
 are  used  in  Ezek.  xxxviii.  6,  15,  xxxix.  2  of  the  home  of 
 Gog  as  the  representative  of  the  Scythian  tribes. 
 
 Shall  be  raised. — Literally,  shall  be  rotised,  or 
 awakened. 
 
 The  sides  of  the  earth.— sc.,  its  ends,  or  far-off 
 regions. 
 
 (23)  Bow  and  spear.— As  before  (chap.  v.  16),  the 
 special  weapons  of  the  Chaklteans.  The  "  spear  "  was 
 a  javelin,  shot  or  hurled  against  the  enemy. 
 
 Cruel. — The  ferocity  of  the  Chaldteans  seems  to 
 have  been  exceptional.  Prisoners  impaled,  or  flayed 
 alive,  or  burnt  in  the  furnace  (ehap.  xxix.  22 ;  Dan.  iii. 
 11),  were  among  the  common  incidents  of  their  wars 
 and  sieges. 
 
 They  ride  upon  horses.— This  appears  to  have 
 been  a  novelty  to  the  Israelites,  accustomed  to  the  war- 
 chariots  of  Egypt  and  their  own  kings  rather  than  to 
 actual  cavalry.  (Comp.  chap.  viii.  16  ;  Job  xxxix.  21 — 
 25;  Hab.  i.  8;  Isa.  xxx.  16.)  Both  archers  and  horse- 
 men appear  as  prominent  in  the  armies  of  Gog  and 
 Magog,  i.e.,  of  the  Scythians,  in  Ezek.  xxxviii.  4,  xxxix.  8. 
 
 Set  in  array  .  .  . — The  Hebrew  is  singular,  and  im- 
 plies a  new  clause.  It  (the  army  of  bowmen  and  riders) 
 is  set  in  array  as  a  warrior,  for  war  against  thee. 
 
 (24)  We  have  heard  the  fame.— Another  dra- 
 matic impersonation  of  the  cry  of  terror  from  the 
 dwellers  in  Jerusalem,  when  they  shall  hear  of  the 
 approach  of  the  army.  The  imagery  of  the  woman  in 
 travail  is  reproduced  from  chap.  iv.  31. 
 
 (25)  The  field. — i.e.,  the  open  country.  To  pass  be- 
 yond the  vails  of  the  beleaguered  city  would  be  full  of 
 danger.  The  warning  has  its  parallel  in  Matt.  xxiv. 
 17,  18.  In  the  same  chapter  we  find  also  an  echo  of 
 the  prophet's  reference  to  the  pangs  of  childbirth 
 (Matt.  xxiv.  8). 
 
 Fear  is  on  every  side. — The  words  are  more 
 
 30 
 
The  PeopU   as  Reprobate  Si 
 
 JEREMIAH,    VII.       TheTroplM  Temple. 
 
 into  I  be  field,  nor  walk  i>\  the  way ;  for 
 the  sword  of  the  enemy  and  fear  it  on 
 every  side.  '-'"'  0  daughter  of  my  people, 
 gird  ///.v  with  'sackcloth,  and  wallow 
 thyself  in  ashes :  make  thee  mourning, 
 as  for  an  only  Bon,  mosi  1 » i 1 1 « -i-  lamenta- 
 tion: for  the  spoiler  shall  suddenly  come 
 apon  as. 
 <-71  I   have  serf   thee  for  a  tower  and 
 
 '.i      fortress     iinmng     my     people,     that 
 
 thou  mayest  know  and  try  their  way. 
 <-'S|  Thej  an  all  grievous  rovolters,  walk- 
 ing with  slanders:  <Aey  are  '  brass  and 
 iron;  the}  are  all  corrupters.  '*' The 
 bellows  are  burned,  the  lead  is  con- 
 sul  1  of  the  lire  ;   t  he  founder  nieltetli 
 
 in  vain  :  for  the  wicked  arc  Qot  plucked 
 
 awa  ■  Reprobate  silver  Bhall  m  a 
 
 ■  ■■ill  them,  because  the  Loan  hath  re- 
 ■  I  t  hem. 
 
 cilAl'l  BE    VII.— "'Tli-  word   thai 
 came  to  Jeremiah  from  the  Loan, 
 bag",  '-''  stand  in  the  gate  of  the  L 
 house,  and    proclaim  there   this  word, 
 
 and  say  . 
 
 Eear  t he  word  of  the  Lord,  all  ye  of 
 
 Judali,  i hat   enter  in  B 
 worship  the    Lobd.  aitb  the 
 
 Lokd  of  hosts,  the  ( ■"■|  of  [srael, 
 Amend  your  ways  and  your  doings, 
 and  I  will  cause  you  to  dwell  in 
 this  place.  <"  Trust  ye  ii"t  in  lying 
 words,  Baying,  The  temple  of  the  Lord, 
 
 H   c 
 
 >,  rii.  i.i- 
 
 11;  &  : 
 
 notable  than  they  seem.  They  impressed  themselves  on 
 the  prophet's  mi  ml.  ami  became  to  aim  as  a  watchword. 
 So,  in  chap,  xx,  ■'■.  he  gives  them  as  a  name  [Magor- 
 toio  tq  Paehnr,  and  apparently  as  in  chap.  xx.  10) 
 il  was  used  as  a  i-ry  of  derision  against  himself. 
 
 <-■■'  Wallow  thyself  in  ashes.— So  in  chap.  xxv. 
 34;  Bzek.  xwii.  80.  The  ordinary  sign  of  mounting 
 was  to  Bprinkle  dnst  or  ashes  on  the  head  (2  Sam.  i.  J, 
 xiii.  19;  Josh.  vii.  6).  This,  as  in  chap.  xxv.  34; 
 Miiah  i,  hi;  Job.  ii.  8,  indicated  more  otter  wretched- 
 ness ami  prostration.  The  English  verb  belongs  to 
 the  class  of  those  which  ware  once  used  reflexively, 
 and  have  now  come  to  be  intransitive.  "Endeavour" 
 Bupplios  anot  bar  exa  mple. 
 
 >-ri  I  have  sot  thee  .  .  .—Tin-  verse  is  difficult,  as 
 containing  words  in  the  Hebrew  which  are  in>t  found 
 elsewhere,  and  have  therefore  to  be  guessed  at.  The 
 following  rendering  is  given  on  the  authority  of  the 
 mosi  recent  commentators,  and  has  the  merit  of  b 
 in  harmony  with  the  metallurgic  imagery  < >f  the  fol- 
 lowing verses.  As  a  prover  of  ore  I  have  set  I 
 among  my  people,  and  thou  shali  know  and  try 
 their  way.  The  words  are  spoken  by  Jehovah  to  the 
 prophet,  and  describe  bis  work.  By  others,  the  first 
 pari  of  the  sentence  is  rendered  as  follows:  As  u 
 prover  of  ore  I  have  set  t)  ts  if  with  a 
 
 reference  to  chap.  i.  18,  where  the  aame  word  is  need. 
 
 I*)  Grievous  revolters  .  .   .—Liu  rally,  n 
 rebels,  as  a  Hebraism  for  the  worsi  type  of  rebellion. 
 
 Walking  with  slanders.— The  phrase  was  a 
 common  one  (Lev.  xix.  lii;  Prov.  xi.  13,  xx,  19),  and 
 pointed  to  the  restless  eagerness  of  the  tale-bearer  to 
 spread  his  falsehoods.  (Comp,  1  Tim.  v.  13,  "wander- 
 ins  about  .  .  .  idle  tattlers,") 
 
 Brass  and  iron. — Base  metals  serving  for  vile  uses, 
 no  gold  or  silver  in  them.  The  imagery,  which  carries 
 i'ii  the  thought  of  tli<-  previous  verse,  had  been  made 
 familiar  by  Isaiah  i  -JJ.  25),  and  was  reproduced  after- 
 wards by  K/.i-ki.-l    xxii.   18—22)   and   Malachi  (iii.  3). 
 
 Corrupters.— Better,  loor&era  of  ■>■  itruction. 
 
 ""  The  bollows  are  burned.— Better,  burn,  or 
 
 glow.    In  the  interpretation  of  the  parable  the  "  bellows" 
 
 answer  to  tin-  lit'.-  of  the  prophet  as  filled  with  the 
 
 ili  or  spirit  Hi'  Jehovah.     He  is.  as  it  were,  eon. 
 
 sumed  with  that  fiery  blast,  and  yet  his  work  is  faulty. 
 
 The  lead  is  consumed  .  .'  .— Better,  from  their 
 fire  is  lead  only.    A  different  punctuation  gives,  The 
 
 bellows  burn  until  fire;  yet  lead  is  the  only 
 The  point  lies  iii  the  fact  that  lead  was  used  a*  a  llux  in 
 smelting  silver  ore.    The  founder  in  the  case  supposed 
 went  mi  with  his  work  till  the  lead  was  melted,  but  lie 
 found  mi  silver  after  all. 
 
 Plucked  away.— Better,  separated  or  purified,  as 
 in  keeping  with  the  metaphor. 
 
 (•to)  Reprobate  silver.  —Better,  a>  in  the  margin, 
 refuse  silver;  the  dross  and  not  the  metal;  so  worth- 
 less that  even  Jehovah,  as  the  great  refiner,  rejects  it 
 utterly,  as  yielding  nothing.  Tin-  adjective  and  the 
 verb  have  in  the  Hebrew  the  emphasis  of  being  formed 
 from  the  same  root.  Refuse  Uvt  r  .  .  .  because  Jehe 
 in. 
 
 VII. 
 
 (!)  Thi>  chapter  and  the  three  thai  follow  form  again 
 
 a  i  lot  he  i-  -.-real  prophetic  sermon,  delivered  to  the  Crowds 
 
 that  flocked  t"  the  Temple,  There  is  nothing  in  the 
 discourse  which  absolutely  fixes  its  date,  but  the  de- 
 scription of  idolatry,  as  prevalent,  and,  possibly,  t  ho 
 reference  to  the  presenco  of  the  Ohaldaaan  invader  in 
 chaps,  viii.  in,  x.  --.  fit  in  rather  with  the  reign  of 
 
 .li  Ihii.ikim    than    with   that   of    Josiali ;    and   from    the 
 
 special  reference  to  Bhiloh  in  chap.  xxvi.  >'<.  9,  as  occurring 
 in  a  prophecy  delivered  at  the  beginning  of  that  reign, 
 it  was  probably  this  discourse,  or  one  like  it,  and 
 delivered  about  the  same  time,  that  drew  down  that 
 king's  displeasure  (see  versi 
 
 (-'  The  gate  of  the  Lord's  house.— As  a  priest, 
 miah  would  have  access  to  all  parts  of  the  Temple. 
 
 On    some    day    when    the    curls    were    thronged    with 
 
 worshippers  (verse  L0),  probably  a  fast-day  specially 
 appointed,  he  stands  at   the  inner  gate  of  one  of  the 
 
 courts,  possibly,  as  in  chap.  x\ii.  19,  that    by  which  the 
 
 king  entered  in  ceremonial  state,  and  looking  about  on 
 
 the  multitudes  that  thronged  it,  speaks  to  them  "the 
 word  of  the   Lord,"  the  which  he  had  been 
 
 specially  commissioned  to  delh 
 
 t-1!  Your  ways  and  your  doings.— "  Way-."  as 
 in  Zech.  i.  6,  of  genera]  habits,  "doings"  of  separate 
 
 I  will  cause  you  to  dwell.— The  English  snj 
 the  thoughts  of  something  new,  but  what  Jeremiah  ]>ro- 
 mises  is  simply  the  continuance  of  the  blessings  they 
 
 had  hitherto  enjoyed      /  ■■■  Q  -■  I  .'     '  ''"■■II. 
 
 t  ii  Trust  ye  not  in  lying  words  .  .  .—The  em- 
 phatic threefold  repetition  of  the  words  thus  condemned, 
 
 31 
 
The  Trust  in  Lying   Words. 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   VII. 
 
 The  Temple  a  Den  of  Robbers. 
 
 The  temple  of  the  Lokd,  The  temple 
 of  the  Lord,  are  these.  <5)  For  if  ye 
 throughly  amend  your  ways  and  your 
 doings ;  if  ye  tliroughly  execute  judg- 
 ment between  a  man  and  his  neighbour ; 
 
 (6)  if  ye  oppress  not  the  stranger,  the 
 fatherless,  and  the  widow,  and  shed  not 
 innocent  blood  in  this  place,  neither 
 walk    after    other    gods  to   your  hurt : 
 
 (7)  then  will  I  cause  you  to  dwell  in 
 this  place,  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to 
 your  fathers,  for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 (8'  Behold,  ye   trust   in  lying  words, 
 that    cannot  profit.      (9>  Will  ye    steal, 
 
 i  Heb.,  whtirev$(m 
 
 mil       name       is 
 
 called. 
 
 a  Isa.  56,  7. 
 
 6  Matt.  21. 
 Mark  11. 
 LuUc  19. 46. 
 
 Sam.  l.  10,  ll 
 •s.  ;t<.  ai ;  cli.  26 
 
 murder,  and  commit  adultery,  and  swear 
 falsely,  and  burn  incense  unto  Baal,  and 
 walk  after  other  gods  whom  ye  know 
 not ;  (10)  and  come  and  stand  before  me 
 in  this  house,  l  which  is  called  by  my 
 name,  and  say,  We  are  delivered  to  do 
 all  these  abominations  ?  (11)  Is  *  this 
 house,  which  is  called  by  my  name, 
 become  a  Jden  of  robbers  in  your  eyes? 
 Behold,  even  I  have  seen  it,  saith  the 
 Lokd.  (12)  But  go  ye  now  unto  my  place 
 which  was  in  Shiloh,  where  I  set  my 
 name  at  the  first,  and  see  cwhat  I  did 
 to  it  for  the  wickedness  of  my  people 
 
 "The  temple  of  the  Lord,"  points  to  its  having  been  the 
 burden  of  the  discourses  of  the  false  prophets,  possibly 
 to  the  solemn  iteration  of  the  words  in  the  litanies  of 
 tho  supplicants.  With  no  thought  of  the  Divine 
 Presence  of  "which  it  was  the  symbol,  they  were  ever 
 harping  on  its  greatness,  identifying  themselves  and 
 the  people  with  that  greatness,  and  predicting  its  per- 
 petuity. So  in  Matt.  xxiv.  1  the  disciples  of  our  Lord 
 point,  as  with  a  national  pride,  to  the  buildings  of  tho 
 later  Temple.  The  plural  "  these  "  is  used  rather  than 
 the  singular,  as  representing  the  whole  complete  fabric  of 
 courts  and  porticoes.  The  higher  truth  that  tho  "  con- 
 gregation "  of  Israel  was  tho  living  Temple  (1  Cor.  iii. 
 16 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  5),  was  not  likely  to  be  in  the  thoughts  of 
 those  whom  Jeremiah  rebuked. 
 
 (5)  A  man  and  his  neighbour. — The  Jewish 
 idiom  for  the  English  "one  man  and  another." 
 
 (6)  The  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the 
 widow. — Grouped  together,  as  in  Dent.  xiv.  29,  xxiv. 
 19 — 21,  as  the  three  great  representatives  of  the  poor 
 and  helpless,  standing  most  in  need  therefore  of  man's 
 justice  and  of  the  divine  protection. 
 
 C)  For  ever  and  ever.— Literally,  from  eternity 
 to  eternity,  or,  perhaps,  from  age  to  age.  The  English 
 punctuation  connects  theso  words  with  "  I  will  cause 
 you  to  dwell,"  but  the  accentuation  of  the  Hebrew  with 
 *'  I  gave  to  your  fathers ; "  the  gift  was  to  have  been  in 
 perpetuity  (Gen.  xvii.  8),  but  the  guilt  of  the  people 
 had  brought  about  its  forfeiture. 
 
 (8)  Lying  words. — With  special  reference  to  those 
 already  cited  in  verso  4. 
 
 (9)  Will  ye  steal.— The  English  obscures  the  em- 
 phasis of  the  Hebrew  idiom  which  gives  the  verbs  as 
 a  series  of  infinitives,  Wliat !  to  steal,  to  murder,  to 
 burn  incense  to  Baal  .  .  .  and  then  have  ye  come 
 before  me  .  .  . ! 
 
 (10)  And  come  and  stand.— Better,  and  then  have 
 ye  come,  and  stood  before  me. 
 
 "We  are  delivered.— Taking  the  word  as  it  stands 
 (a  different  punctuation  adopted  by  some  commentators 
 and  versions  gives  Deliver  us,  as  though  reproducing, 
 with  indignant  scorn,  the  very  prayer  of  the  people),  the 
 sense  seems  to  be  this.  The  people  tried  to  combine  the 
 worship  of  Baal  and  Jehovah,  and  passed  from  the  one 
 temple  to  the  other.  They  went  away  from  tho  fast 
 or  feast  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  witli  the  feeling  that 
 they  were  "  saved,"  or  "  delivered."  They  had  gone 
 through  their  religious  duties,  and  might  claim  their 
 reward.  The  prophet  seems  to  repeat  their  words  in  a 
 tone  of  irony,  They  were  "  delivered,"  not  from  their 
 abominations,  but  as  if  set  free  to  do  them. 
 
 (U)  A  den  of  robbers. — The  words  had  a  special 
 force  in  a  country  like  Palestine,  where  the  limestone 
 rocks  presented  many  caves,  which,  like  that  of 
 Adullaiu  (1  Sam.  xxii.  1,  2),  were  the  refuge  of  outlaws 
 and  robbers.  Those  who  now  flocked  to  the  courts  of 
 the  Temple,  including  even  priests  and  prophets,  were 
 as  such  robbers,  finding  shelter  there,  and  soothing 
 their  consciences  by  their  worship,  as  the  brigands  of 
 Italy  do  by  their  devotions  at  the  shrine  of  some 
 favourite  Madonna.  It  had  for  them  no  higher  sanctity 
 than  "a  den  of  robbers."  The  word  for  "robber" 
 implies  the  more  violent  form  of  lawless  plunder. 
 The  words  are  memorable,  as  having  re-appeared  in 
 our  Lord's  rebuke  of  the  money-changers  and  traffickers 
 in  the  Temple  (Matt.  xxi.  13;  Mark  xi.  17  ;  Luke  xix. 
 46) ;  and,  taken  together  with  the  reference  at  the  last 
 Supper  to  the  New  Covenant  of  chap.  xxxi.  31,  suggest 
 the  thought  that  our  Lord  was  leading  His  disciples 
 to  see  in  the  prophet's  work  a  foreshadowing  of  His 
 own  relation  to  the  evils  of  His  time,  and  more  than  a 
 foreshadowing  of  the  great  remedy  which  He  was  to 
 work  out  for  them. 
 
 (12)  My  place  which  was  in  Shiloh.— The  history 
 of  the  past  showed  that  a  Temple  dedicated  to  Jehovah 
 could  not  be  desecrated  with  impunity.  Shiloh  had 
 been  chosen  for  the  centre  of  the  worship  of  Israel 
 after  the  conquest  of  Canaan  (Josh,  xviii.  1),  and  was  re- 
 verenced as  such  through  the  whole  period  of  the  Judges. 
 It  had  not,  however,  been  a  centre  of  light  and  purity. 
 It  had  been  defiled  by  wild  dances  of  a  half-idolatrous 
 character;  by  deeds  of  shameless  violence  (Judges  xxi. 
 19 — 21),  and  by  the  sins  of  the  sons  of  Eli  (1  Sam. 
 ii.  22).  And  so  the  judgment  came.  It  lost  the 
 presence  of  the  ark  (1  Sam.  iv.  17  ;  Ps.  lxxviii.  58 — 64) ; 
 its  people  were  slaughtered  by  tho  Philistines  ;  it  fell 
 into  decay.  It  is  possible,  as  the  words  "  temple  " 
 (1  Sam.  i.  9,  iii.  3)  and  "  house  "  (1  Sam.  iii.  15  ;  Judges 
 xviii.  31 )  applied  to  it  suggest,  that  substantial  buildings 
 may  have  gathered  round  the  original  tabernacle,  anil 
 that  those  wasted  ruins  may  have  given  a  special  force 
 to  Jeremiah's  allusion.  It  will  bo  seen  from  chap. 
 xxvi.  6,  9,  11,  that  it  was  this  reference  that  more  than 
 anything  else  provoked  the  wrath  of  priest  and  people. 
 They  thought  with  a  half-concealed  exultation  of  the 
 fate  of  the  earlier  sanctuary  in  Ephraim,  which  had 
 given  way  to  that  of  Judah.  They  forgot  that  like  sins 
 bring  about  like  punishments,  and  were  startled  wdien 
 they  heard  that  as  terrible  a  doom  was  impending  over 
 the  Temple  of  which  they  boasted.  It  would  appear 
 from  chap.  xli.  5  that  the  ruin  was  not  total,  perhaps 
 that  it  was  still  visited  by  pilgrims.     Jerome  describes 
 
 32 
 
The   Worship  of  the  Queen 
 
 JEBEMIAH,    VII. 
 
 of  II  fn  iii  Jerusalem 
 
 Israel.  "'"  Ami  now,  because  ye  hare 
 done  ;ill  i  bese  works,  Baitb  I  he  Lord, 
 mid  I  Bpake  onto  you,  rising  up  early 
 and  speaking,  but  ye  beard  no1  ;  an. I 
 i  ill.. I  you,  l.iit  ye  answered  no!  ; 
 1,11  therefore  will  1  do  unto  this  bouse, 
 which  is  called  l>\  my  name,  wherein  ye 
 trust,  an.!  unto  tin'  place  which  I  gave 
 to  you  an.l  I.,  your  fathers,  as  I  have 
 
 dono  to  »Shiloh.  (15)  And  I  will  cast 
 you  out,  of  my  sight,  as  1  have  cast  out 
 all  your  brethren,  even  the  whole  seed 
 of  Ephraim. 
 
 1     Therefore 'pray  not  thou  for  this 
 people,  neither  lift  up   cry  nor  prayer 
 
 for   them,   neither  make   intercession    to 
 
 me:  for  I  will  not  hear  thee.    (17)  Seest 
 
 thou  not  what  they  do  in  the  cities  of 
 Judah  ami  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  p 
 (18)  </T/he  children  gather  wood,  and  the 
 
 n   IV.. V.  LMi     la. 
 
 ..  ....  i. 
 
 i  in,  ii 
 a;  cii  n  a 
 
 .•  Btod  at  10;  rh 
 
 II    II;  .V  II.  II. 
 
 I  Or,     framr,    or, 
 
 ■nahip   o] 
 
 ■    r-'i    I.  II;  ch.  0 
 10;  An 
 
 lathers   kindle    (In-  fire,  and   the  women 
 
 knead  their  dough,  to  make  calces  t .  >  the 
 'queen  of  heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink 
 offerings  unto  other  gods,  that  they 
 ma\  provoke  me  t.>  anger.  "'"  !>•> 
 they  provoke  me  to  anger  P  Baith  the 
 I ,.  .in  :  i/e  they  not  provoke  t  hem  i 
 to  the  confusion  of  their  own  fa 
 
 (*••  Therefore  thus  saith  tlie  Lord  GOD; 
 Behold,  mine  anger  and    my  fury  shall 
 
 l.e  poured  out  upon  this  place,  upon 
 man,  and  upon  beast,  and  upon  tin- 
 trees  of  the  held,  and  upon  the  fruit 
 of  the  ground;  and  it  shall  burn,  and 
 
 shall  not  he  quenched. 
 
 (-u  Thus  saitli  the  Loud  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel;  'Put  your  burnt  offer- 
 ings unto  your  sacrifices,  ami  eat  flesh. 
 
 (22)  por  j  gpake  not  unto  your  fathers, 
 nor  commanded  them  in  the  day  that  I 
 
 it  as  ii  heap  of  ruins.  It  has  been  identified  by  modern 
 travellers  with  the  village  of  fifeti 
 
 (U)  Rising  up  early  and  speaking.— A  charac- 
 teristic phrase  of  Jeremiah's,  and  used  by  him  only 
 (verse  ■_'■">.  chap.  xxv.  I.  nvi.  •">.  x\i\.  lie.  In  its  bold 
 anthropomorphism  it  takes  the  highest  (arm  of  human 
 activity,  waking  From  sleep  and  beginning  at  the  .lawn 
 of  day,  to  represent  the  Like  activity  in  God. 
 
 I  called  you,  but  ye  answered  not.— An  echo 
 of  earlier  complaints  from  prophets  and  wise  men 
 (Prov.  i.  24;  Isa.  Kv.  1.'.  Kv..  I  ,  destined  itself  t..  be 
 used  again  by  Ono  greater  than  tin.  prophets  (Matt. 
 xxiii.  Ii7t. 
 
 (!•)  Tho  wholo  seed  of  Ephraim.—  The  fate  of 
 tln>  tribes  of  the  Northern  kingdom,  Mining  which 
 Ephraim  ha. I  always  held  the  leading  position,  was 
 already  familiar  t<>  the  people.  They  were  dwelling 
 far  oft  by  Sabor  or  Qozan,  and  the  cities  of  the  DXedes 
 (2  Kings  xv.  29,  xvii.  t;,  xviii.  11),  A  like  exilo  was, 
 they  were  bow  told,  to  he  their  own  portion. 
 
 (i(i)  Pray  not  thou.-  The  words  imply  thai  a  prayer 
 of  intercession,  like  that  which  Bfoses  had  offered  of 
 old  (Kx.nl.  \wii.  lm.  was  rising  up  in  tli..  heart  of  the 
 prophet.  II..  is  told  thai  he  inusi  check  it.  Judgment 
 must  have  its  way.  The  discipline  must  be  left  to  do 
 its  work.     A  like  impulse  met  by  a  like  repression  is 
 
 found   in  chaps,  xi.   I  I.  and  xiv.   11.      It    is  obvious  thai 
 
 the  utterance  of  the  conflict  between  his  human  affec- 
 tions and  the  Divine  will  made  tho  sentence  which  ho 
 pronounced  more  terrible  than  ever. 
 
 l'7>  Seest  thou  not  .  .  .  ?  — Wo  enter  on  one  of  the 
 darker  regions  of  Jewish  idolatry,  such  as  E/.ekiel 
 (chap.  \iii.)  saw  in  vision.  A  foreign  worship  of  the 
 basest  kind  was  practised,  not  only  in  secret,  but  in  tho 
 
 open  places, 
 
 (,(l>  The  queen  of  heaven.— The  goddess  thus 
 described  was  a  kind  of  Assyrian  Artemis,  identified 
 with  the  moon. and  connected  with  the  symbolic  worship 
 of  the  reproductive  powers  of  Nature.  Its  ritual  pro- 
 bably resembled  that  of  the  Babylonian  Aphrodite, 
 Mylitta,  the  mother-goddess,  In  iis  impurities  Herod, 
 i.  199;  Baroch  ii.  13),  and  thus  provoked  the  burning 
 indignation  of  the  prophet  lure  and  in  chap.  xliv.  19, 
 25.  The  word  rendered  "cakes,"  and  found  only  in 
 142 
 
 connection  with  this  worship,  was  clearly  a  technical 
 term,  and  probably  of  foreign  origin.  Cakes  of  a  liko 
 kind,  made  of  Hour  and  homy,  round  liko  tho  full 
 moon,    and   known,   therefore,   as  seletlCB  or  "moons," 
 
 were  offered,  like  the  Minchah  or  meat-offerings  in 
 
 tho  Mosaic  ritual,  tin-  Neideh  in  the  Egyptian  worship 
 of  the  goddess  Neith,  at  Athens  to  Artemis,  and  in 
 Sicily  to  Hecate   Theocr.,  Idylls,  ii.  33).    Tho  worship 
 
 of     Ashtoivth    (Milton    speaks    of    her  as    -  Astarte. 
 
 Queen  of    Heaven,  with   crescent  horn"),  though  of 
 
 kindred    nature,    was    not    identical    with    that    of    the 
 
 Queen  of   Heaven,  that   na signifying  a  star,  and 
 
 being  identified  with  the  planet  Venus.  A  various 
 readme  gives,  as  in  the  margin,  "  the  frame  of  heaven." 
 
 (ia»  Do  thoy  not  provoke  themselves  .  .  .  ?— 
 Tho  interpolated  words,  though  they  complete  tho 
 Sense,  mar  the  abrupt  force  of  tho  Hebrew.  Is  it  not 
 themselves,  Ik  the  confusion  of  (heir  own  faces  I 
 
 <-'"  Shall  be  poured  out.— Tho  word  is  used  in 
 Bxod.  ix.  33  of  the  plague  of  rain;  here,  of  tho  great 
 shower  of  the  tire  of  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  (camp. 
 Xah.  i.  6).     It  is  significant  that    it    had  been  used  by 
 
 Josi.ih  on  hearing  of  the  judgments  denounced  in  tho 
 
 new-found  copy  of  the  Law    -  t'hron.  xxxiv.  21). 
 
 (21)  Put  your  burnt  offerings.— i.e..  "Add  ono 
 kind    of    sacrifice    to   another.      ( lifer  the   victim,   and 
 
 thru  partake  of  the  sacrificia]  feast.    All  is  fruitless, 
 
 unless  there  be  the  true  conditions  of  acceptance,  re- 
 pentance, and  holiness." 
 
 {--)  I  spake  not  .  .  .  concerning  burnt  offer- 
 ings or  sacrifices. — "Concerning"  is,  lit.rally./or,  or 
 urith  a  oil  to  /...  the  matter  of  sacrifices.  The  words  seem 
 at  first  hard  to  reconcile  with  the  multiplied  rules  as  to 
 
 sacrifices  both  in  Exodus  and  Leviticus.  They  are.  how- 
 ever, rightly  understood,  strictly  in  harmony  with  the 
 facts.  They  were  not  the  end  contemplated.  Tho  first 
 promulgation  of  the  Law,  the  basis  of  the  covenant 
 with  Israel,  contemplated  a  spiritual,  ethical  religion, 
 
 of  which  the   basis  was  found  in   the   ten  great  Words. 
 
 or  commandments,  of  Exod.  xx.  The  ritual  in  con- 
 nectian  with  sacrifice  was  prescribed  partly  as  a  con- 
 cessxm  to  the  feeling  which  showed  itself,  in  its  evil 
 
 form,  in  the  worship  of  the  _'..lden  calf,  partly  as  an 
 education.    The  book  of  Deuteronomy,  representing  tho 
 
To  Obey  Better  than  Sacrifice. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    VII.       The  People  Worse  than  their  Fathers. 
 
 brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
 1  concerning  burnt  offerings  or  sacrifices  : 
 (23)  but  this  thing  commanded  I  them, 
 saying,  "Obey  my  voice,  and  SI  will  be 
 your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people: 
 and  walk  ye  in  all  the  ways  that  I  have 
 commanded  you,  that  it  may  be  well 
 unto  you.  <24)  But  they  hearkened  not, 
 nor  inclined  their  ear,  but  walked  in 
 the  counsels  and  in  the  3  imagination  of 
 their  evil  heart,  and  3vvent  backward, 
 and  not  forward.  (25>  Since  the  day 
 that  your  fathers  came  forth  out  of  the 
 land  of  Egypt  unto  this  day  I  have 
 even  c  sent  unto  you  all  my  servants  the 
 prophets,    daily   rising    up   early    and 
 
 l  Hcl>„  concerning 
 f/n  matter  of. 
 
 b  Exod  19. 5;  Lev 
 2(i.  12. 
 
 Or,  stubbornmsx 
 
 2  Clirou.  36. 15. 
 
 4  Or,  instruction. 
 
 sending  them :  (26>  yet  they  hearkened 
 not  unto  me,  nor  inclined  their  ear,  but 
 d  hardened  their  neck :  they  did  worse 
 than  their  fathers.  (27)  Therefore  thou 
 shalt  speak  all  these  words  unto  them ; 
 but  they  will  not  hearken  to  thee : 
 thou  shalt  also  call  unto  them ;  but 
 they  will  not  answer  thee.  (28)  But 
 thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  This  is  a 
 nation  that  obeyeth  not  the  voice  of 
 the  Lord  their  God,  nor  receiveth  4  cor- 
 rection :  truth  is  perished,  and  is  cut 
 off  from  their  mouth. 
 
 <29)  Cut  off  thine  hair,  0  Jerusalem, 
 and  cast  it  away,  and  take  up  a  lamen- 
 tation on   high  places;    for  the   Lord 
 
 liigfhef  truth  from  which  Moses  started  (Exod.  xix.  5), 
 and  upon  which  he  at  last  fell  back,  bore  its  witness  to 
 the  original  purport  of  the  Law  (Deut.  vi.  3;  x.  12). 
 Its  re-discovery  under  Josiah  left,  here  as  elsewhere, 
 its  impress  on  the  mind  of  Jeremiah ;  but  prophets,  as 
 in  1  Sam.  xv.  22;  Hosea  vi.  6,  viii.  11 — 13;  Amos  v. 
 21—27;  Micah  vi.  6—8;  Pss.  1.,  li.,  had  all  along 
 borne  a  like  witness,  even  while  recognising  to  the  full 
 the  fact  and  the  importance  of  a  sacrificial  ritual. 
 
 (23)  But  this  thing  commanded  I  them.— The 
 words  that  follow  are  a  composite  epiotation,  partly  from 
 the  lately  re-found  Deuteronomy  (v.  33),  partly  from 
 the  words  that  were  strictly  true  of  the  "  day  "  when 
 Israel  came  out  of  Egypt  (Exod.  xix.  5),  partly  from 
 the  very  book  which  seemed  to  be  most  characterised  by 
 sacrificial  ritual,  Leviticus  (xxvi.  12).  The  influence  of 
 Jeremiah's  teaching  on  later  Jewish  thought  is  shown 
 by  the  fact  that  this  very  section  of  Jeremiah  (vii. 
 21 — 28)  appears  in  the  Synagogue  ritual  as  the  HapMara, 
 or  second  lesson  from  the  prophets,  after  Lev.  vi. — viii., 
 as  the  Parashah,  or  first  lesson  from  the  Law.  The 
 Synagogue  worship,  indeed,  was,  in  the  nature  of  the 
 case,  the  result  of  the  teaching  of  scribes  and  prophets 
 rather  than  of  priests,  aud  therefore  a  witness  for  the 
 spiritual  truth  symbolised  in  sacrifice,  and  not  for  the 
 perpetuation  of  the  symbol. 
 
 (2t)  Imagination. — Better,  stubbornness,  as  in  chap. 
 hi.  17. 
 
 Went  backward  and  not  forward.— The  whole 
 sacrificial  system,  even  at  its  best,  to  say  nothing 
 of  its  idolatrons  corruptions,  was  accordingly,  from 
 Jeremiah's  point  of  view,  a  retrograde  movement. 
 The  apostasy  of  the  people  in  the  worship  of  the  golden 
 calf  involved  a  like  deflection,  necessary  aud  inevitable 
 though  it,  might  be  as  a  process  of  education,  from  the 
 first  ideal  polity,  based  upon  the  covenant  made  with 
 Abraham,  i.e.,  upon  a  pure  and  spiritual  theism,  the 
 emblems  and  ordinances  of  which,  though  "  shadows 
 of  good  things  to  come,"  were  in  themselves  "weak 
 and  beggarly  elements  "  (Heb.  x.  1 ;  Gal.  iv.  9). 
 
 (25)  Daily  rising  up.— Stress  is  laid  on  the  con- 
 tinual succession  of  prophets  as  witnesses  of  the  Truth 
 from  the  beginning.  The  prophet  was  not  tied  to  the 
 actual  letter  of  his  statement,  and  the  prominence  given 
 to  Samuel,  as  the  first  who  bore  the  name  of  prophet 
 (1  Sam.  ix.  9),  seems  at  first  against  him.  On  the 
 other  hand,  the  gift  of  prophecy  (as  seen  in  Num.  xi. 
 25 — 29)  was  bestowed  freely  even  during  the  wilder- 
 ness wanderings,  and  the  mention  of  prophets  (Judges 
 
 iv.  4,  vi.  8)  and  men  of  God  (Judges  xiii.  0),  perhaps, 
 also,  that  of  the  "angel"  or  messenger  of  God,  in 
 Judges  v.  23,  as  well  as  the  honour  paid  to  seers  before 
 the  time  of  Samuel  (1  Sam.  ix.  8),  show  that,  great 
 as  he  was,  it  was  that  name  aud  the  orgauisation,  rather 
 than  the  gift,  that  were  new  in  his  ministry. 
 
 (26)  Worse  than  their  fathers.— The  rapid  survey 
 of  the  past  makes  it  doubtful  whether  the  comparison 
 is  made  between  the  generations  that  came  out  of 
 Egypt  aud  their  immediate  followers,  or  between  those 
 followers  aud  their  successors.  Probably  the  general 
 thought  was  that  the  whole  history  of  Israel  had  been 
 one  of  progressive  deterioration,  reaching  its  climax  in 
 the  generation  in  which  Jeremiah  lived.  His  words 
 find  a  striking  parallel  in  the  complaint  of  the  Roman 
 historian  (Livy,  Prcef.),  or  of  the  poet : — 
 
 "^tas  parentum,  pejor  avis,  tulit 
 Nos  nequiores.  — Hor.,  Od.  iii.  6. 
 
 "  Our  fathers'  age,  more  stained  with  crime 
 Than  were  their  sires  in  older  time, 
 Has  brought  us  forth  a  later  race 
 Yet  more  iniquitous  and  base." 
 
 (27)  Therefore  .  .  .  also. — Better,  in  both  cases, 
 though  thou  shalt  speah,  yet  they  will  not  hearken; 
 though  thou  shalt  call  unto  them,  yet  they  ivill  not 
 ansiver  thee. 
 
 (28)  But  thou  shalt  say.— Better,  And  thou  shalt 
 say,  with  an  implied  "  therefore." 
 
 This  is  a  nation. — Better,  This  is  the  nation,  as 
 pre-eminent  in  its  sin. 
 Truth. — Better,  as  in  verse  2,  faithfulness. 
 
 (29)  Cut  off  thine  hair.— Literally,  as  in  2  Sam.  i.  10; 
 2  Kings  xi.  12,  thy  crown  or  diadem ;  but  the  vei'b  de- 
 termines the  meaning.  The  word  Netzev  ("  consecration" 
 in  the  Authorised  version)  is  applied  to  the  unshorn  locks 
 of  the  Nazarite  (Num.  vi.  7),  and  from  it  he  took  his 
 name.  As  the  Nazarite  was  to  shave  his  head  if  he  came 
 in  contact  with  a  corpse,  as  cutting  the  hair  close  was 
 generally  among  Semitic  races  the  sign  of  extremest 
 sorrow  (Job.  i.  20 ;  Micah  i.  16),  so  Jerusalem  was  to  sit 
 as  a  woman  rejected  by  her  husband,  bereaved  of  her 
 children.  (Comp.  the  picture  in  Lam.  i.  1 — 3.)  The 
 word  is  applied  also  to  the  "  crown  "  of  the  high  priest 
 iu  Exod.  xxix.  6,  the  "  crown "  of  the  anointing  oil  in 
 Lev.  xxi.  12. 
 
 O  Jerusalem. — The  italics  show  that  the  words 
 are  not  in  the  Hebrew,  but,  the  insertion  of  some  such 
 words  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  fact  that  the  verb 
 "  cut  off  "  is  in  the  feminine.     Those  who  heard  or  read 
 
 3-i 
 
'11, ,  Abominations  <</  Judah. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    VIII. 
 
 Tlli      /  /'    •"!. 
 
 hath  rejected  and  forsaken  the  genera- 
 tion of  his  wrath.  'w'  For  the  children 
 of  Judah  have  done  evil  in  my  sight, 
 suit h  the  Lord:  they  have  Bei  their 
 abominations  in  the  house  which  is 
 called  by  my  name,  to  pollute  Lt. 
 ■ ;"  And  they  nave  buill  the 'high  places 
 of  Tojilit-t,  which  is  in  the  valley  of  the 
 son  of  Hinnom,  to  burn  their  Bons  and 
 their  daughters  in  the  fire;  which  I 
 commanded  thorn  uot,  neither  lcame  it 
 into  my  heart.  ' ;-'  Therefore,  behold, 
 the  days  *come,  saitli  the  Lord,  that  it 
 shall  no  more  be  called  Tophet,  nor  the 
 valley  of  the  son  of  Einnom,  but  th<' 
 valley  of  slaughter:  for  they  shall  bury 
 
 .1  ?  kiiiik  a.  i» 
 
 .  li   IV.  ... 
 
 1    II'  ''.    r,inn*      U 
 'I  futirt. 
 
 li  eh.  W. 
 •  i.*>. 
 
 iii    Tophet^    till     there    be    uo    \ 
 
 Lndthe   carcasi    of!  pie  -hall 
 
 be  meal  for  the  fowls  of  the  heaven, 
 and  for  the  beasts  of  th  .   and 
 
 none  shall  fray  them  awa;  Then 
 
 will  1  cause  i ase  from  the  <iti>-s 
 
 of  Judah,    and    from    the    street* 
 
 Jerusalem,   the    voi f    mirth,    and 
 
 the  roice  of  gladness,  the  voice  of  the 
 bridegroom,  and  the  voice  of  the  bride  : 
 for  the  land  shall  be  desolate. 
 
 CHAPTER  VIII.— "At  that  time, 
 Baith  the  Loud,  they  shall  bring  out 
 !   the  bones  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  and 
 the  bones  of  his  princes,  and  the  boi 
 
 Kiel 
 
 1  u. 
 
 the  words  of  the  prophet,  who  so  often  spoke  of  "  tlio 
 daughter  of  Zion"  (chap.vi.2),  of  "the  daughter  of  his 
 people"  (chaps,  vi.  It,  via.  11),  of  "the  betrothed  of 
 Jehovah  "  (chaps,  ii..  iii.),  would  bo  at  uo  loss  to  un- 
 inl  his  meaning. 
 <  '  In  tho  house  which  is  called  by  my  name. 
 — This  had  l>''''ii  done  by  Aha/.  2  Ohron.  xxviii.  2),  and 
 nfter  the  Temple    had    been    cleansed  l  i_v    Hezekiah 
 
 (2   Chron.   xxix.  5)  bad  I d  repeated    by  Mauasseh 
 
 (J  Kings  xxi.  I — 7;  2 Chron. xxxiii. 3 — 7).  Joaiah's  refor- 
 mation again  checked  the  tendency  to  idolatry  (2  Kings 
 xxiii.  1;  2  Chron,  xxxiv.  3);  but  it  is  quite  possible 
 thai  the  pendulum  swans  back  again  when  bis  death 
 left  the  idolatrous  parly  in  Judah  free  to  net,  and  thai 
 this  special  aggravation  of  the  evil,  the  desecration  of 
 the   Temple   of    .lelmvah   by   " abominations "   of  idol- 
 
 worship,  re-appeared  together  with  the  worship  of  tho 
 
 Queen  of   Heaven  and  the  sacrifices  to  Moloch. 
 
 (3i)  High  places. — Not  the  same  word  as  in  verso 
 29,  but  bamoth,  as  in  the  "high  places'1  of  Baal,  in 
 Num.  xxii.  41,  xxiii.  3,  tho  Baiuoth-haal  of  Josh.  xiii. 
 
 17.     The   word   bad   hoc e    almost    teelmienl  for   the 
 
 mounds,  natural  or  (as  in  this  passage)  artificial,  on 
 Which  altar-,  to  Jehovah  or  to  other  gods  were  erected, 
 and  appears  in  1  Sam.  ix.  12;  1  Kings  iii.  4;  E/.ek. 
 xx.  2:> ;  Ajnos  vii.  9. 
 
 Tophet.— This  appears  to  have  been  originally,  not  a 
 local  name,  but  a  descriptive  epithet.  The  word  appears 
 in  Job  xvii.  t!  ("by- word"  in  the  Authorised  version  as  a 
 thing  spat  upon  and  loathed.  Its  use  is  probably  there- 
 fore  analogous   to   the   BCOm  with    which   the   prophets 
 
 substitute,!  bosheOi,  the  "shameful  thing,"  for  Baal  {e.g., 
 chap.  iii.  2f.  xi.  13).    When  the  prediction  is  repeated  in 
 
 chaps,  xix.  •">.  xxxii.  :!.">.  we  have  the  "  high  places  of  Baal." 
 and  "Tophet"  hero  is  obviou  tnted  for  that 
 
 name  in  indignant  contempt.     The  word  in  Isa.xxx.  33, 
 
 though  not  identical  in  form  i  Tophteh,no\  Tophet),had 
 probably  the  same  meaning.    Other  etymologies  rive  as 
 
 the  meaning  of  the  word  "  a  garden,"  "a  plaee  of  burn- 
 ing." or  "a  place  of  drums."  i.e..  a   musie  grove,  and  so 
 
 connect  it  more  closely  with  the  Moleoh  ritual.   Possibly 
 
 the  last  was  the  original  meaning  of  the  name,  for  which, 
 
 as  said  above,  the  prophets  used  the  term  of  opprobrium. 
 The  son  of  Hinnom.— Possibly  the  first  recorded 
 owner,  or  a  local  hero.  The  name  is  perpetuated 
 in  later  Jewish  language  in  Ge-henna  —  Gc-Hiunnm  = 
 the  vale  of  Hinnom.  It  was  older  than  the  Molech 
 worship  with  which  it  became  identified,  and  appears  in 
 the  "Doomsday  Book  "  of  Israel  (Josh,  xv.  8,  xviii.  16). 
 
 35 
 
 To  burn  their  sons  and  their  daughters.— 
 The  words  are  important  .as  determining  the  chars 
 
 of   the  act  more  vaguely  described  in  chap,  xxxii.  '■)'>.  as 
 "making  to  pass  through  the  tire."     The  children  were, 
 in  some  cases  at   least,  actually   burnt,  though    I  I 
 perhaps  (see  E/.ek.  xvi.  21  I,  slain  first.    Horrible  as  tho 
 practice  seems  tons,  it  was  part  of  the  Canaanite  or 
 
 Phoenician  worship  of  Moleoh  or  Mai n  (Lew.  xviii. 
 
 21,  xx.  2 — ■">!.  and  had  been  practised  by  Abas   -  K     _ 
 xvi.  ron.  xxviii.  3)  and  Mauassoh  \2   K 
 
 xxi.  i> ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  6). 
 
 Till  there  be  no  place.— Better,  beea 
 is  no  room — i.e.,  for  want  of  space  the  dead  should  bo 
 buried  even  in  the  spot  which  the  worshippers  of 
 Molech  looked  on  as  sacred,  and  the  worshippers  of 
 Jehovah  as  accursed,  and  which  both  therefore  would 
 willingly  avoid  using  as  a  place  of  sepulture. 
 
 (33)  None  shaU  fray  them  away.— No  picture 
 could  be  more  appalling  in  its  horrors — streets 
 valleys  tilled  with  the  lie, lies  of  the  slain,  vultnres  and 
 jackals  feeding  on  them,  and  not  one  hand  raised,  like 
 that  of  Bizpah  (2  Sam.  xxi.  10),  to  protect  the  dead 
 from  that  extremes!  desecration.  Here,  again,  we  have 
 an  almost  literal  quotation  from  Petit,    xxviii.  26  , 
 
 (34)  Then  will  I  cause  to  cease  .   .   .  the  voico 
 
 of  mirth. — The  special  imagery  of  ihc  picture  of  & 
 lation  is  characteristic  of  Jeremiah  (xvi.  9,  xxv.  10,  xxxiii. 
 
 11).    No  words  could  paint  the  utter  break-up  of  the  life 
 
 of  the  nation  more  forcibly.   Nothing  is  heard  but  wailing 
 and  lamentation,  or.  more  terrible  even  than  that,  there 
 is  the  utter  silence  of  solitude.      The  capacity  for 
 and  I  lie  occasions   for  rejoicing  (comp.  1   Mace.   i\ 
 for  the  bridal  rejoicings  ,,f   Israel    belong  alike  to  the 
 past. 
 
 Shall  be  desolate.— Tho  same  word  as  in  the 
 •■  waste  places"  of  Isa.  li.  ■  >.  lviii.  12;  it  is  used  in  E/.ek. 
 xiii.  t  for  the  haunts  of  the  "foxes,"  or  rather  the 
 "jackals"  of  the  -deserts."  but  always  of  places  that. 
 having  been  once  inhabited,  have  fallen  into  ruins  (.Lev. 
 xxvi.  :'.l  . 
 
 Tin. 
 
 d'  At  that  time.— There  is.  it  is  obvious,  no  break 
 in  the  discourse,  and  the  time   is    therefore  that  of    the 
 
 destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Cbaldseans,  and  of  the 
 
 burial  of  th.'  slain.     Not  even  the  dead  should  sleep  in 
 
 With  an  awful  re-iteration  of  the  word,  so  as 
 
 to  give  the  emphasis  as  of  tho  toll  of  a  funeral  bell,  tho 
 
 prophet  heaps  clause  upon  clause,  "  tho  bones  of  the 
 
Death  Chosen  rather  than  Life. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   VIII. 
 
 No  Man  Repenteth. 
 
 of  the  priests,  and  the  bones  of  the 
 prophets,  and  the  bones  of  the  in- 
 habitants of  Jerusalem,  out  of  their 
 graves :  (2)  and  they  shall  spread  them 
 before  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  and  all 
 the  host  of  heaven,  wbom  they  have 
 loved,  and  whom  they  have  served,  and 
 after  whom  they  have  walked,  and 
 whom  they  have  sought,  and  whom 
 they  have  worshipped :  they  shall  not 
 be  gathered,  nor  be  buried ;  they  shall 
 be  for  dung  upon  the  face  of  the  earth. 
 13'  And  death  shall  be  chosen  rather 
 than  life  by  all  the  residue  of  them  that 
 remain  of  this  evil  family,  which  remain 
 in  all  the  places  whither  I  have  driven 
 them,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 
 <4>  Moreover  thou  shalt  say  unto  them, 
 
 a  Isa.  1.  3. 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Shall  they  fall,, 
 and  not  arise  ?  shall  he  turn  away,  and 
 not  return  ?  (5)  Why  then  is  this  people 
 of  Jerusalem  slidden  back  by  a  per- 
 petual backsliding  ?  they  hold  fast 
 deceit,  they  refuse  to  return.  <6>  I 
 hearkened  and  heard,  but  they  spake 
 not  aright :  no  man  repented  him  of 
 his  wickedness,  saying,  What  have  I 
 done?  every  one  turned  to  his  course, 
 as  the  horse  rusheth  into  the  battle. 
 (7)  Tea, "  the  stork  in  the  heaven  knoweth 
 her  appointed  times ;  and  the  turtle 
 and  the  crane  and  the  swallow  observe 
 the  time  of  their  coming;  but  my 
 people  know  not  the  judgment  of  the 
 Lord.  18)  How  do  ye  say,  We  are  wise, 
 and  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  with  us? 
 
 kings,"  "  the  bones  of  the  princes,"  and  so  on.  The 
 motives  of  this  desecration  of  the  sepulchres  might  be 
 either  the  wanton  ferocity  of  barbarian  conquerors,  bent, 
 after  the  manner  of  savage  warfare,  on  the  mutilation 
 of  the  dead,  or  the  greed  of  gain  and  the  expectation 
 of  finding  concealed  treasures.  So  Hyrcanus,  to  the 
 great  scandal  of  the  Jews,  broke  open  the  sepulchre  of 
 David  (Joseph.,  Ant.  vii.  15). 
 
 (2)  Whom  they  have  loved  .  .  .—Here,  again, 
 there  is  a  peculiar  characteristic  emphasis  in  the  piling 
 up,  one  upon  another,  of  verbs  more  or  less  synonymous. 
 So  far  as  there  is  a  traceable  order,  it  is  from  the  first 
 inward  impulse  prompting  to  idolatry  to  the  full 
 development  of  that  feeling  in  ritual.  The  sun,  moon, 
 and  stars  shall  look,  not  on  crowds  of  adoring  wor- 
 shippers, but  on  the  carcases  of  those  whose  love  and 
 worship,  transferred  from  Jehovah  to  the  host  of 
 heaven,  have  brought  on  them  that  terrible  doom. 
 
 (3)  The  residue  of  them  that  remain.— Once 
 more  the  emphasis  of  re-iteration,  "  the  remnant  of  a 
 remnant."  The  "  evil  family  "  is  the  whole  house  of 
 Israel,  but  the  words  contemplate  specially  the  exile 
 of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  rather  than  that  of  the  ten 
 tribes. 
 
 (*)  Shall  he  turn.— Better,  as  both  clauses  are 
 indefinite,  Shall  men  fall  and  not  arise  ?  Shall  one 
 turn  away  and  not  return  ?  The  appeal  is  made  to  the 
 common  practice  of  men.  Those  who  fall  straggle  to 
 their  feet  again.  One  who  finds  that  he  has  lost  his 
 way  retraces  his  steps.  In  its  spiritual  aspect  the 
 words  assert  the  possibility  of  repentance  in  all  but 
 every  case,  however  desperate  it  may  seem.  St.  Paul's 
 question,  "  Have  they  stumbled  that  they  should  fall  ?" 
 (Rom.  xi.  11),  expresses  something  of  the  same  belief  in 
 the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Divine  purpose  of  good. 
 As  yet,  that  purpose,  as  the  next  verse  shows,  seemed 
 to  be  thwarted. 
 
 (5)  Slidden  back  .  .  .  backsliding.  —  The 
 English  fails  to  give  the  full  emphasis  of  the  re-itera- 
 tion of  the  same  word  as  in  the  previous  verse.  Why 
 doth  this  people  of  Jerusalem  turn  away  with  a  per- 
 petual turning  ?  Here,  so  far,  there  was  no  retracing 
 the  evil  path  which  they  had  chosen. 
 
 <6)  I  hearkened  and  heard.— Jehovah  himself  is 
 introduced  here,  as  probably  in  the  question  of  the 
 previous  verse,   as    speaking,   listening    for    cries    of 
 
 36 
 
 penitence,  and  hearing  only  the  words   of  the   evil- 
 doers. 
 
 Rusheth. — The  word  is  primarily  used  of  the  rush- 
 ing of  a  torrent  (Isa.  viii.  8,  x.  22,  xxviii.  17),  and  is 
 applied  to  the  frantic  impetuosity  with  which  Israel 
 was  rushing  into  evil,  and  therefore  into  the  misery 
 that  followed  it. 
 
 (7)  The  stork  in  the  heaven.— The  eye  of  the 
 prophet  looked  on  nature  at  once  with  the  quick  obser- 
 vation of  one  who  is  alive  to  all  her  changes,  and  with 
 the  profound  thought  of  a  poet  finding  inner  meanings 
 in  all  phenomena.  The  birds  of  the  air  obey  their 
 instincts  as  the  law  of  their  nature.  Israel,  with  its 
 fatal  gift  of  freedom,  resists  that  which  is  its  law  of 
 life.  The  stork  arrives  in  Palestine  in  March,  and 
 leaves  for  the  north  of  Europo  in  April  or  May.  The 
 Hebrew  name,  chasideh  (literally,  the  pious  bird), 
 indicating  its  care  for  its  young,  is  suggestive,  as 
 also  is  the  phrase  "  in  the  heavens,"  as  applied  to  its 
 characteristic  mode  of  flight.  The  turtle-dove  appears 
 at  the  approach  of  spring  (Song  Sol.  ii.  12). 
 
 The  crane  and  the  swallow. — In  the  judgment 
 of  Tristram  and  other  modern  naturalists,  the  words 
 should  change  places,  and  perhaps  "  swift "  take  the 
 place  of  swallow.  The  word  for  "  swallow "  in  Ps. 
 lxxxiv.  3  is  different.  The  same  combination  meets  us 
 in  Isa.  xxxviii.  It. 
 
 Judgment. — Better,  perhaps,  ordinance,  the  ap- 
 pointed rule  of  life  which  brute  creatures  obey  and 
 man  transgresses. 
 
 (8)  How  do  ye  say  '.  .  .  ?— Tho  question  is  put  to 
 priests  and  prophets,  who  were  the  recognised  ex- 
 pounders of  the  Law,  but  not  to  them  only.  The  order 
 of  scribes,  which  became  so  dominant  during  the  exile, 
 was  already  rising  into  notice.  Shaphan,  to  whom 
 Hilkiah  gave  the  re-found  Book  of  the  Law,  belonged 
 to  it  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  15),  and  the  discovery  of  that 
 book  would  naturally  give  a  fresh  impetus  to  their 
 work.  They  were  boasting  of  their  position  as  the 
 recognised  instructors  of  the  people. 
 
 Lo,  certainly  .  .  .—Better,  Verily,  lo !  the  lying; 
 pen  of  the  scribes  hath  made  it  {i.e.,  the  Laiv)  as  a  lie. 
 The  pen  was  the  iron  stylus  made  for  engraving  on 
 stone  or  metal.  The  meaning  of  the  clause  is  clear. 
 The  sophistry  of  men  was  turning  the  truth  of  God 
 into  a  lie,  and  emptying  it  of  its   noblest   meaning. 
 
Th.   Quilt  of  Prophet  and  Priest.        JEREMIAH,    VIII. 
 
 Tht   Cry  of  Alarm  and  I 
 
 Lo3  certainly  '  in  vain  made  he  it ;  (In1 
 jkmi  of  tin'  scribes  in  in  rain.  ,'')  ■  The 
 wise  men  are  ashamed,  they  are  dis- 
 mayed and  taken :  lo,  they  have 
 rejected  the  word  of  the  Loan;  and 
 1  what  wisdom  u  in  themP  '",  There- 
 fore will  1  give  their  wires  unto  others, 
 anil  their  fields  to  them  thai  shall  in- 
 herit them:  for  every  one  IV the  least 
 
 even  unto  the  greatest  is  given  to  'covet- 
 onsness,  from  the  prophet  even  unto 
 the  priest  every  one  dealeth  falsely. 
 <")  For  they  have  healed  the  hurt  of 
 the  daughter  of  my  people  slightly, 
 saying,  "Peace,  peace;  when  there  is  no 
 peace.    <IJ|  W.-ic  they  •ashamed  when 
 
 they  had  committed  a  humiliation  ?  nay, 
 
 they  were  not  at  all  ashai 1,  neither 
 
 could  they  blush :  therefore  shall  they 
 fall  among  them  that  fall:  in  the  time 
 
 of   their    visitation     they    shall     he   east 
 
 down,  saith  the  Lord.    Il;i  '1  will  surely 
 
 I   Or.  Ui'  fnUr  na 
 of     f/i- 
 
 ■  Jirrjalnc- 
 
 a  rh.  0. 15. 
 
 |    Or.       Ha     |  th   " 
 
 l,  1-n.  M  ii ;  ill .& 
 13. 
 
 <•  rh.O.  14. 
 
 ■I  EUk.  13.  10. 
 
 e  ell.  3.  :i ; 
 
 .  |  ,      | .     . 
 
 I    i     I     i    I.  &G. 
 
 p   Mill       -.'I        10: 
 
 Luke  u 
 
 li  i-li.o  15;  A  ^1  I.. 
 1  Or,  |  'i>ou. 
 I  ill.  11. 19. 
 fe  rh   4.  15. 
 
 a  1 1 ii- .  w 
 
 consume   them,   saith    tin-   Lmn:    //<.,•,• 
 
 shall  be  no  grapes  An  the  vine,  nor  tigs 
 
 OH  I  he  'fig  tree,  and  the  leaf  shall  fade  ; 
 
 and  the  tn/mge  that  I  have  given  them 
 
 shall  paSS  away  from  them. 
 
 (ii)  Why  do  we  sit  stilly  assemble 
 yourselves,  and  let  us  enter  into  the 
 defenced  cities,  and  let  us  be  silent 
 there:  for  the  Lord  our  God  hath  put 
 us  to  silence,  and  given  as  '  wain 
 
 'gall  to  drink,  because  we  have  sinned 
 against  the  Lord.  (1,j  We  'looked  for 
 peace,  but  no  good  came  ;  and  I'm-  a 
 time  of  health,  and  behold  trouble! 
 (";'  The  snorting  of  bis  horses  was  heard 
 from  *Dan :  the  whole  land  trembled  at 
 the  sound  of  the  neighing  of  bis  strong 
 ones;  for  they  are  come,  and  have  de- 
 voured the  land,  and  ,;all  that  is  in  it; 
 
 the  city,  and  those  thai  dwell  therein, 
 (i?)  for,  behold,  I  will  send  serpents, 
 Cockatrices,  among  you,  which   irill  not 
 
 already,  as  in  other  things,  bo  here,  in  liis  protest 
 against  the  teaching  of  the  Bcribes,  with  their  tra- 
 ditional and  misleading  casuistry,  Jeremiah  appears  as 
 foreshadowing  the  prophet  of  Nazareth  (Matt.  v.  20 — 
 48.  xxiii.  2—26). 
 
 (9)  They  have  rojocted  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
 — The  "wise  men  "are  apparently  distinguished  from 
 the  scribes,  probably  as  students  of  the  ethical  or 
 sapiential  books  of  [srael,  Buoh  .-is  the  Proverbs  of 
 Solomon,  us  distinct  from  (lie  Law.  The  reign  of 
 Bezekiah,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  I n  memo- 
 rable for  Buch  studies  (Prov.  xxv.  1).  They,  too,  kepi 
 within  the  range  of  traditional  maxims  and  precepts, 
 perhaps  with  stress  mi  ceremonial  rather  than  moral 
 obligations;  and  when  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  to 
 them   straight    from   the   lips  of   the  prophets,  they 
 
 refused    to    listen    In    it,   and    with    that    refusal,    what 
 
 wisdom  could  I  hey  claim  P 
 (io-i2)  Evory  one   from   the   least  .  .  .—The 
 
 prophet  reproduces,  though  nut  verbally,  what  lie  had 
 already  said  in  chap,  vi.  12 — 15.  (Comp.  Notes  then'.) 
 It  is  as  though  that  emphatic  condemnation  of  the  sins 
 of  the  false  teachers  were  burnt  into  his  soul,  and 
 could  not  but  find  utterance  whenever  he  addressed  the 
 
 people, 
 
 (' ■'■'  I  will  surely  consume.— Literally,  Gathering, 
 I  will  sweep  away — i.e..  I  will  gather  and  sweep  away. 
 the  two  verbs  being  all  bat  identical  in  Bound  and 
 spelling,  so  that  the  construction  has  almost  the  force 
 of  the  emphatic  Bebrew  reduplication. 
 
 Thero  shall  be.- These  words  are  not  in  the  Hebrew, 
 and  the  verse  describes,  not  the  judgment  of  Jehovah 
 on  the  state  of  [srael,  but  that  state  itself.  There  an 
 mi  grapes  on  th    uine,  no  figs  on  the  fig-tree,  the  leaf 
 
 fadeth.      The   words  are   figurative   rather   than   literal. 
 
 after  the  manner  of  chap.  ii.  -2\  ■.  lsa.  v.  2.  [srael  is  a 
 degenerate  vine,  a  barren  tig  tree.  Here,  again,  we 
 find  an  echo  of  the  teaching  of  Jeremiah  in  that  of 
 
 JesUS  (Matt,  xxi.  lit;  Luke  xiii.  6-  !C.  In  Mieahvii. 
 1  we  have  another  example  of  the  same  figurative 
 language. 
 
 87 
 
 The  things  that  I  have  given  them  .  .  .— - 
 The  words  have  been  differently  rendered,  (1)  I  gave 
 them  thai  which  (hey  transgress — i.e.,  the  divine  law  of 
 righteousness;  and  (2)  therefore  I  will  appoint  tliosc 
 limt  shall  pass  over  them — i.e.,  the  invaders  who  shall 
 
 overrun  their  country.  The  former  seems  ou  the  whole 
 best  suited  to  the  context. 
 
 (it)  Why  do  we  sit  still?  .  .  —The  cry  of  the 
 people  in  answer  to  the  threatening  of  Jehovah  ;i 
 Drought  in  by  the  prophet  with  a  startling  dran 
 
 vividness.      They  are    ready   to  See   into    the  defs 1 
 
 cities,  as  the  prophet  had  told  them  in  chap.  iv.  5,  but 
 it  is  without  hope.  They  are  going  into  the  silen  « 
 as  of  death,  for  to  that  silence  Jehovah  himself 
 
 lit  them. 
 
 Water  of  gall.— The  idea  implied  is  that  oi 
 
 as  well  as  bitterness.      It   is  uncertain  what   the   "gall- 
 
 plant  "  was ;  possibly,  from  its  connection  with  "grapes" 
 
 or  "clusters,"  as  in  Dent,  xxxii.  32,  belladonna  or 
 eolocynth  is  meant.  Others  have  suggested  the  poppy, 
 and  this  is  in  part  confirmed  by  the  narcotic  properties 
 implied  in  Matt,  xxvii.  84,  In  Dent.  xxix.  18  it  is 
 joined  with  "  wormwood." 
 ('5)  A  timo  of  health  .   .  . — Better,  hinting,  or, 
 
 following  another  etymology,  a   time  of  quietness, 
 
 behold  alarm,     "Peace,"  in  the  first  clause,  is  used  in 
 
 its  wider  sense  as  including  all  forms  of  good. 
 
 (16)  Heard  from  Dan.— As  in  chap  iv.  13.  the  in- 
 vasion by  an  army  of  which  cavalry  and  war  chariots 
 formed    the    must     terrible    contingent     was    ■    special 
 
 terror     tfl     Israelites.       Kvcn     at      J  Ian.    the     northern 
 
 boundary  of  Palestine   sec  Note  on  chap.  iv.  15),  there 
 
 was   a    BOUnd   of    terror   ill   the    very    BnOTtingS   of    the 
 
 horses.    The  patristic  interpretation  that  the  prophet 
 
 indicates  the  coming  of  Antichrist  from  the  tribe  de- 
 serves a  passing  notice  as  one  of  the  eccentricities  of 
 
 exegesis, 
 
 Serpents,    cockatrices.— There  is  n  sudden 
 change  of  figure,  one  new  image  of  terror  starting  from 
 
 the  history    of  the  fiery    serpent-   of   Num.    x\i.   6,   UT, 
 
 possibly,  from  the  connection  of  Dan  with  the  "  serpent  " 
 
The  Anguish  of  Zion. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   IX. 
 
 The  Prophet's  Lamentation. 
 
 a  Vs.  58.  4,  5. 
 
 1  Heb.,  upon. 
 
 FTeb.,  because  of 
 tilt  country  of 
 them  that  arefar 
 
 "jr. 
 
 he  "charmed,  and  they  shall  bite  you, 
 saith  the  Lord. 
 
 (is)   When    I    would    comfort    myself 
 against  sorrow,  my  heart  is  faint l  in 
 me.     'll')  Behold  the  voice  of  the  cry  of 
 the  daughter  of  my  peoj)le  2 because  of 
 them  that  dwell  in  a  far  country :    Is 
 not  the  Lord  in  Zion  ?  is  not  her  king 
 in  her?     Why  have  they  provoked  me 
 to  anger  with  their  graven  images,  and  id   C)'     'cnp'~ 
 with  strange  vanities?    (20)  The  harvest  L  HHi   inni  ir.u 
 is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  '  B"'e" 
 are  not  saved.     <21>  For  the  hurt  of  the 
 daughter  of  my  people  am  I  hurt ;   I 
 
 c  Isa.  22.  4 ;  eh.  4. 
 19. 
 
 am  black ;  astonishment  hath  taken 
 hold  on  me.  (22)  Is  there  no  *balm  in 
 Gilead ;  is  there  no  physician  there  ? 
 why  then  is  not  the  health  of  the 
 daughter  of  my  people  3 recovered? 
 
 CHAPTER  IX.— d)Oh  *'that  my 
 head  were  waters,  and  mine  eyes  a  foun- 
 tain of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and 
 night  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of 
 my  people  !  (2)  Oh  that  I  had  in  the 
 wilderness  a  lodging  place  of  wayfaring 
 men ;  that  I  might  leave  my  people,  and 
 go  from  them !  for  they  be  all  adulterers, 
 
 and  "  adder  "  in  Gen.  xlix.  17.  It  is  not  easy  to  identify 
 the  genus  and  species  of  the  serpents  of  the  Bible. 
 Here  the  two  words  are  in  apposition.  "  Cockatrice," 
 however,  cannot  be  right,  that  name  belonging,  as  an 
 English  word,  to  legendary  zoology.  The  Vulg.  gives 
 "  basilisk."  In  Prov.  xxiii.  32  it  is  translated  by 
 "adder."  In  any  case  it  implies  a  hissing  venomous 
 snake  (probably  the  cerastes  or  serpens  regulus),  and 
 the  symbolism  which  identified  it  with  the  Assyrian  or 
 Chaldsean  power  had  already  appeared  in  Isa.  xiv.  29. 
 
 Which  will  not  be  charmed. — The  figure  is 
 that  of  Ps.  lviii.  4,  5.  The  "deaf  adder"  that 
 "  refuseth  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  charmer  "  represents 
 an  implacable  enemy  waging  a  pitiless  war.  Serpent- 
 charming-,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Egyptian  sorcerers 
 (Exod.  vii.  11),  seems  to  have  been  from  a  very  early 
 time,  as  it  is  now,  both  in  Egypt  and  India,  one  of  the 
 most  prominent  features  of  the  natural  magic  of  the  East. 
 
 (is;  When  I  would  comfort  myself  .  .  .—The 
 word  translated  comfort  is  not  found  elsewhere,  and  has 
 been  very  differently  understood.  Taking  the  words  as 
 spoken  after  a  pause,  they  come  as  a  cry  of  sorrow 
 following  the  proclamation  of  the  judgment  of  Jehovah, 
 Ah,  my  comfort  against  sorrow  !  (mourning  for  it  as 
 dead  and  gone);  my  heart  is  sir];  within  me.  The 
 latter  phrase  is  the  same  as  in  Isa.  i.  5. 
 
 (19)  Because  of  them  that  dwell  .  .  .—The 
 verse  should  read  thus:  Behold,  the  twice  of  the  cry 
 for  help  of  the  daughter  of  my  people  from  the  land  of 
 those  that  are  far  off.  The  prophet,  dramatising  the 
 future,  as  before,  in  verse  14,  hears  the  cry  of  the  exiles 
 in  a  far-off  land,  and  that  which  they  ask  is  this — "  Is 
 not  Jehovah  in  Zion  ?  Is  not  her  king  in  her  ?  "  Thiit 
 question  is  asked  half  in  despair,  and  half  in  mur- 
 muring complaint.  But  Jehovah  himself  returns  the 
 answer,  and  it  comes  in  the  form  of  another  question. 
 "  Why  have  they  provoked  mo  to  anger  .  .  ?  "  They 
 had  forsaken  Him  before.  Ho  forsook  them  now  and 
 left  them,  for  a  time,  to  their  own  ways. 
 
 (20)  The  harvest  is  past  .  .  .—The  question  of 
 Jehovah,  admitting  of  no  answer  but  a  confession  of 
 guilt,  is  met  by  another  cry  of  despair  from  the  sufferers 
 of  the  future.  They  are  as  men  in  a  year  of  famine — 
 "  The  harvest  is  past,"  and  there  has  been  no  crop  for 
 men  to  reap. 
 
 Summer.— In  Isa.  xvi.  9  j  Jer.  xl.  10,  and  else- 
 where, the  word  is  rendered  by  "summer  fruits." 
 "The  summer"  (better,  the  fruit-gathering)  is  ended, 
 and  yet  they  are  not  saved  from  misery  and  death. 
 All  has  failed  alike.  The  whole  formula  had  probably 
 become  proverbial  for  extremest  misery.     It  is  well  to 
 
 38 
 
 remember  that  the  barley-harvest  coincided  with  the 
 Passover,  the  wheat-harvest  with  Pentecost,  the 
 fruit-gathering  with  the  autumn  Feast  of  Taber- 
 nacles. 
 
 (21)  For  the  hurt  .  .  . — Now  the  prophet  again 
 speaks  in  his  own  person.  He  is  crushed  in  that  crush- 
 ing of  his  people.  His  face  is  darkened,  as  one  that 
 mourns.     (Comp.  Ps.  xxxviii.  6 ;  Josh.  v.  11.) 
 
 (22)  is  there  no  balm  in  Gilead  .  .  .  ?— The 
 resinous  gums  of  Gilead,  identified  by  some  naturalists 
 with  those  of  the  terebinth,  by  others  with  mastich, 
 the  gum  of  the  Pistaccia  lentiscus,  were  prominent  in 
 the  pharmacopoeia  of  Israel,  and  were  exported  to  Egypt 
 for  the  embalmment  of  the  dead  (Gen.  xxxvii.  25,  xliii. 
 11 ;  Jer.  xlvi.  11,  li.  8).  A  plaister  of  such  gums  was 
 the  received  prescription  for  healing  a  wound.  The 
 question  of  the  prophet  is  therefore  a  parable.  "Are 
 there  no  means  of  healing,  no  healer  to  apply  them, 
 for  the  spiritual  wounds  of  Israel  P  The  prophets  were 
 her  physicians,  repentance  and  rig'hteousness  were  her 
 balm  of  Gilead.  Why  has  no  balsam-plaister  been 
 laid  on  the  daughter  of  my  people  ?  Why  so  little 
 result  from  the  means  which  Jehovah  has  provided  ?  " 
 The  imagery  re-appears  in  chap.  xlvi.  11,  li.  8.  The 
 balm  which  was  grown  at  Jericho  under  tho  Roman 
 Empire  (Tae.,  Hist.  v.  6;  Plin.,  Nat.  Hist.  xii.  25),  and 
 was  traditionally  reported  to  have  been  brought  by  the 
 Queen  of  Sheba,  was  probably  the  Amyris  Opobalsamum, 
 now  cultivated  at  Mecca,  which  requires  a  more  tropical 
 climate  than  that  of  Gilead.  Wyclif's  version,  "  Is 
 there  no  triacle  in  Gilead  ?"  may  be  noted  as  illustra- 
 ting the  history  of  a  word  now  obsolete.  "  Triacle  " 
 was  the  English  form  of  theriacum,  the  mediaeval 
 panacea  for  all  wounds,  and  specially  for  the  bites  of 
 serpents  and  venomous  beasts. 
 
 IX. 
 
 (H  Oh,  that  my  head  were  waters  .  .  .  !— Liter- 
 ally, Who  will  give  my  head  waters  .  .  .?  The  form  of 
 a  cpiestion  was.  in  Hebrew  idiom  as  in  Latin,  tho  natural 
 utterance  of  desire.  In  the  Hebrew  text  this  verse  conies 
 as  the  last  in  chap.  viii.  It  is,  of  course,  very  closely 
 connected  with  what  precedes;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
 it  is  even  more  closely  connected  with  what  follows. 
 Strictly  speaking,  there  ought  to  be  no  break  at  all,  and 
 the  discourse  should  How  on  continuously. 
 
 A  fountain. — Here,  as  in  chap.  ii.  13,  xvii.  13,  and 
 elsewhere,  the  Hebrew  word  inahor  is  a  tank  or  reser- 
 voir  rather  than  a  spring. 
 
 (2)  Oh,  that  I  had  .  .  .  !— Literally,  as  before, 
 Who  will  give  .  .  .  / 
 
A  Maris  Foes  in  his  Father's  Ho\  JEREMIAH.    TX.  Th     \  Arrow 
 
 an  assembly  of  treacherous  men.  W  And 
 they  bend  their  tongues  like  their  bow 
 for  lies  i  but  I  bey  ore  not  \  alianl  for 
 the  truth  upon  the  eartb ;  for  they 
 proceed  from  evil  to  evil,  and  they  know 
 1 1 « •  t  me,  sailli  the  Loan. 
 
 (♦'•Take  ye  beed  every  one  of  bis 
 'neighbour,  and  trust  ye  not  in  any 
 brother:  for  every  brother  will  atterh 
 supplant, and  every  neighbour  will  walk 
 with  slanders.  ' ;,)  And  they  will  'deceive 
 every  one  his  neighbour,  and  will  not 
 speak  the  truth:  they  have  taughi 
 their  tongue  to  speak  lies,  «>/</  weary 
 themselves  to  commrl  iniquity.  "'Thine 
 habitation  is  in  the  midst  of  deceit  ; 
 through  deceit  they  refuse  to  know  me, 
 saith  the  Lord. 
 
 PJ Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
 
 1  Or, /mm/. 
 
 -■ ;  4  1».  3. 
 
 ■  hosts,  Behold,  I  will    melt    them,  and 
 t  ry  them ;  for  how  shall   I  do  for 
 daughter    of     my     people  P      "■  Their 
 
 tongue   18   '/.-;  irrow   sh..t   out  ;   it, 
 
 speaketh  'deceit  :  one  speaketh  *  peace- 
 ably^ hi-  neighbour  with  his  mouth, 
 lint  :iu  near!  h<'  layetb  'his  wait. 
 «•)  'Shall  I  not  visit  them  for  these 
 things?  saitli  the  Lord:  shall  not  my 
 ioul  l»'  avenged  on  Buch  a  nation 
 this  ? 
 
 Tor  the  mountains  will  I  take  u]> 
 
 a  weeping  and  trailing,  and  for  the 
 'habitations  of  the  wilderness  a  lamen- 
 tation, because   they  are  'burned   up, 
 
 so   that    none   can   pass  tin uh    them; 
 
 neither  can  men  hear  the  voice  of  the 
 cattle;  7both  the  fowl  of  the  heavens 
 and  the  beast  are  fled;  they  are  gone. 
 
 turfs. 
 
 0  Or,  desulatt. 
 
 A  lodging  place  of  wayfaring   men.-i.c,  a 
 
 pliu t'  shelter,  a  khan  or  caravanserai,  such  as  were 
 
 built  for  travellers,  such,  «.</.,  as  the  "inn"  of  Gen. 
 xlii.  27.  ilir  "habitation"  of  Chimham  chap.  xli.  17), 
 which  the  son  of  Bandllai  had  erected  mar  Bethlehem, 
 as  nn  :ici  of  munificent  gratitude  to  his  adopted  country 
 (■J  Sam.  six.  10).  la  some  such  shelter,  tar  from  tho 
 cities  of  Jndah,  the  prophet,  with  a  feeling  like  thai  of 
 the  Paahnisl  I  Ps.  lv.  6 — <s)  would  fain  find  refuge  from 
 his  treacherous  enemies — "  adulterers,"  alike  spiritually 
 and  literal)]  (chap  v.  8). 
 
 (3)  Liko"  their  bow  for  lies.— Tin1  inserted  words 
 turn  the  boldness  of  the  metaphor  into  a  comparatively 
 tame  simile.  They  bend  their  tongue  to  be  their  bow 
 of  lies.  The  same  figure  meets  us  in  Pss.  Ivii.  t,  lviii. 
 7.  txiv.  3. 
 
 Thoy  aro  not  valiant  for  tho  truth  upon 
 tho  earth.— Better,  they  are  not  mighty  for  truth,  i.e., 
 faithfulness,  in  tin-  land — <'.<•..  they  do  ooi  rale  faith- 
 fully.  It  is  nol  without  some  regret  thai  we  pari  with 
 a  phrase  which  has  gained  something  of  ■  proverbial 
 character  .-is  applied  to  the  champions  of  speculative 
 triu  li  or  abstract  right,  but  tho  above  gives  the  true 
 meaning  of  the  Hebrew. 
 
 They  know  not  me.— " Know"  in  the  sense  of 
 acknowledging  and  obeying  il  Sam.  ii.  12;  Jol>  x\'iii. 
 21 1.  This  was  the  root  ovil  from  which  all  other  evils 
 issued. 
 
 '  Take  ye  heed  .  .  .—The  extreme  bitterness  of 
 the  prophet's  words  is  explained  in  part  by  what  we  read 
 afterwards  of  liis  persona]  history  (chap.  xii.  6,  xviii. 
 Is).  Then,  as  a)  other  times,  a  man's  roes  were  those 
 of  his  own  household  (Matt.  x.  36). 
 
 Every  brother  will  utterly  supplant.— The 
 word  is  that  which  gave  the  patriarch  his  significant 
 name  of  Jacob,  the  supplanter  (Gen.  xxv.  26,  xwii.  36  . 
 Jeremiah  seems  to  say  that  the  people  have  forfeited 
 their  claims  to  the  name  of  the  true   Israel.    Every 
 
 brother  Israelite  is  found  to  lie  a  t horongh-paced  Jacob. 
 
 The  adverb  ••utterly"  expresses  the  force  of  the 
 Hebrew  reduplication  of  the  verb. 
 
 Will  walk  with  slanders.— Better,  waUeeOi  a 
 eland,  n  r. 
 
 (5)  Deceive. — The  word   is  commonly  translated.  I  - 
 
 in   tho   margin,  mock.      (So    in    1   Kings  xviii.   27  \ 
 
 Judges  x\i.  In,  13,  15.)  The  context  here  shows, 
 however,  that  the  kind  of  mockery  is  thai  which  at  once 
 deludes  and  derides;  and  as  the  former  meaning  is 
 predominant,  the  text  of  tho  English  version  had  better 
 I  as  ii  is. 
 
 To  commit  iniquity.— Literally.  /■>  go  crooh' 
 or,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  to  do  wrong. 
 
 (8)  Thine  habitation  .  .  .—The  woois  may  be 
 an  individualised,  and  therefore  more  emphatic,  re- 
 production of  the  general  warning  of  verse  I.  It  is, 
 however,  better  to  take  them  as  spoken  by  Jehovah 
 to  the  prophet  individually,  Tho  LXX.,  followii 
 different  reading  and  punctuation,  translates  "usury 
 upon  usury,  deceit  upon  deceit;  they  refuse  to  know 
 Me,  saith  the  Lord."  And  this  has  been  adopted  by 
 Ewald,  among  recent  commentators. 
 
 (")  I  will  melt  them,  and  try  them.— The 
 prophet,  speaking  in  the  name  ,,f  Jehovah,  falls  back 
 upon  the  imagery  of  chap. vL  28 — 30;  Ess.  xl\iii.  10 
 The  evil  has  com.'  to  BUch  a   pass  that  nothing  U 
 
 I  nit  the  melting  of  the  fiery  furnai f  affliction.      I 
 
 else    could   Ho   act    for    the    daughter  of     Bis    people P 
 
 The  phrase  throws  us  Lack  upon  chap.  \iii.  21.  22.    Tho 
 halm  of  Gilead  had  proved  ineffectual.     The  di- 
 required  a  severer  remedy. 
 
 -    An  arrow  shot  "out.— Better,  an  arrow   thai 
 pierceih,  or  slayi  th. 
 
 In  heart.    More  literally,  Inwardly. 
 
 '■"  Shall  I  not  visit  .  .  .  ?■  The  previous  use  of 
 the  same  warning  in  chap.  \.  '•'.  29  gives  these  words 
 also  the  emphasis  of  iteration. 
 
 (id)  For  the  mountains  .  .  .—The  Hebrew  pre- 
 position means  both  "  upon  '"  and  "  on  account  of."  and 
 probably  both  meanings  were  implied.  The  prophet 
 -ees  himself  »•■■  n  the  mountains,  taking  up  the  lamen- 
 tation/or them  because  they  are  "  burned  up." 
 
 Tho  habitations.  —  Better,  as  in  the  margin. 
 pastures.  The  wilderness  is  simply  the  wild  open 
 country. 
 
 So  that  nono  can  pass  .  .  .  neither  can  men 
 hear. — Better,  with  ■    ■ 
 
 Both  the  fowl  .  .  .— Tlie  Hebrew  is  more  em- 
 phatic; from  the  fou-l  of  the  heavens  to  the  beast  .  .  . 
 they  are  fit  d. 
 
The  Scattering  of  the  People. 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   IX. 
 
 Wailing  and  Lamentation. 
 
 <n)  And  I  will  make  Jerusalem  heaps, 
 and  "a  den  of  dragons  ;  and  I  will  make 
 the  cities  of  Judah  1  desolate,  without 
 an  inhabitant. 
 
 <i2)  "Who  is  the  wise  man,  that  may 
 understand  this  ?  and  who  is  he  to  whom 
 the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken, 
 that  he  may  declare  it,  for  what  the 
 land  perisheth  and  is  burned  up  like  a 
 wilderness,  that  none  passeth  through  ? 
 <13)  And  the  Lord  saith,  Because  they 
 have  forsaken  my  law  which  I  set  before 
 them,  and  have  not  obeyed  my  voice, 
 neither  walked  therein ;  (U>  but  have 
 walked  after  the  ~  imagination  of  their 
 own  heart,  and  after  Baalim,  which 
 their  fathers  taught  them :  <15)  there- 
 fore thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel ;  Behold,  I  will  feed 
 them,  even  this  peojile, '  with  wormwood, 
 and  give  them  water  of  gall  to  drink. 
 (16)  J  -will  c  scatter  them  also  among  the 
 heathen,  whom  neither  they  nor  their 
 fathers  have  known :  and  I  will  send  a 
 
 1  Heb.,  desolation 
 
 Or,  stubboninat 
 
 0  eta.  8. 14  ;  &  23. 15. 
 
 sword  after  them,  till  I  have  consumed 
 them. 
 
 (i?)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 Consider  ye,  and  call  for  the  mourning 
 women,  that  they  may  come  ;  and  send 
 for  cunning  women,  that  they  may 
 come :  (18)  and  let  them  make  haste, 
 and  take  up  a  wailing  for  us,  that  our 
 eyes  may  run  down  with  tears,  and  our 
 eyelids  gush  out  with  waters.  (19)  For 
 a  voice  of  wailing  is  heard  out  of  Zion, 
 How  are  we  sjioiled !  we  are  greatly 
 confounded,  because  we  have  forsaken 
 the  land,  because  our  dwellings  have 
 cast  us  out.  (20>  Yet  hear  the  word  of 
 the  Lord,  0  ye  women,  and  let  your 
 ear  receive  the  word  of  his  mouth,  aud 
 teach  your  daughters  wailing,  and  every 
 one  her  neighbour  lamentation.  (21>  For 
 death  is  come  up  into  our  windows,  and 
 is  entered  into  our  palaces,  to  cut  off 
 the  children  from  without,  and  the 
 young  men  from  the  streets.  (22)  Speak, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Even  the  carcases 
 
 <u)  A  den  of  dragons. — Better,  here  and  in  chap, 
 x.  22;  Isa.  xiii.  22,  jackals.  The  word  means,  literally, 
 a  howler.  The  English  version  follows  the  LXX.  and 
 Vulgate  versions ;  bat  even  taking  "  dragons "  in  its 
 non-niytliical  sense  as  applied  to  some  species  of 
 serpent,  there  is  nothing  in  the  word  to  lead  ns  to 
 assign  this  meaning.  The  mistake  lias  probahly  arisen 
 from  the  likeness  of  the  word  to  those  translated 
 "serpent"  in  Exod.  vii.  9,  10,  12,  "whale  "  in  Gen.  i. 
 21  and  Job  vii.  12,  and  "  dragons  "  in  Pss.  lxxiv.  13, 
 xci.  13. 
 
 (12)  Who  is  the  wise  man  .  .  .  ?— Sago  (comp. 
 chap.  viii.  9)  and  prophet  are  alike  called  on  to  state 
 why  the  misery  of  which  Jeremiah  speaks  is  to  come 
 upon  the  people.  But,  they  are  asked  in  vain,  and 
 Jehovah,  through  the  prophet,  makes  answer  to  Him- 
 self. 
 
 That  none  passeth  through.— The  English  is 
 ambiguous.  "That."  stands  either  for  a  relative  with 
 "  wilderness "  as  its  antecedent,  or  as  a  conjunction 
 equivalent  to  "  so  that."  Better,  and  none  there  is 
 that  passeth  through. 
 
 (u)  Imagination.— Stubbornness,  as  in  chap.  iii.  17. 
 
 Baalim. — The  generic  name  for  false  gods  of  all 
 kinds,  and  therefore  used  in  the  plural.  (Comp.  chap. 
 ii.  8,  23.) 
 
 (15)  Wormwood. — As  a  plant,  probably  a  species  of 
 Artemisia,  four  species  of  which  are  found  in  Palestine. 
 In  Dent.  xxix.  IS  it  appears  as  the  symbol  of  moral 
 evil,  hero  of  the  bitterness  of  calamity. 
 
 Water  of  gall.— See  Note  on  chap.  viii.  14. 
 
 C7)  Mourning  women  .  .  .  cunning  women. — 
 Eastern  funerals  were,  and  are,  attended  by  mourners, 
 chiefly  women,  hirod  for  the  purpose.  Wailing  was 
 reduced  to  an  art,  and  they  who  practised  it  were 
 cunning.  There  are  the  "mourners"  that  "go  about 
 the  streets  "  (Eccles.  xii.  5),  those  (hat  "are  skilful  of 
 lamentation"  (Amos  v.  hi),  those  that  mourned  for 
 Jehoiakim  (Jer.  xxii.  18),  those  that  "  wept  and  wailed 
 
 10 
 
 greatly  "  in  the  house  of  Jairus  ( Mark  v.  38).  They  are 
 summoned  as  to  the  funeral,  not  of  a  friend  or  neigh- 
 bour, but  of  the  nation. 
 
 (18)  Take  up  a  wailing  for  us.— There  is  in  all 
 such  figures  of  speech  an  inevitable  blending  of 
 metaphors.  The  mourners  wail  for  the  dead  nation, 
 and  yet  the  members  of  the  nation  are  sharers  in  the 
 obsequies,  and  their  eyes  run  down  with  tears. 
 
 (19)  We  have  forsaken.— Better,  we  have  left. 
 The  English  version  suggests  a  voluntary  abandon- 
 ment, which  is  not  involved  in  the  Hebrew. 
 
 (20)  Teach  your  daughters  wailing.  —  The 
 thought  of  verse  9  is  continued.  The  words  rest  upon 
 the  idea  (hat  wailing  was  an  art,  its  cries  and  tones 
 skilfully  adapted  to  the  special  sorrows  of  which  it 
 was  in  theory  the  expression.  They  perhaps  imply 
 also  that  death  would  do  its  work  so  terribly  that 
 the  demand  for  mourners  would  be  greater  than  the 
 supply,  and  that  supernumeraries  must  be  trained 
 to  meet  it.  Looking  to  the  many  other  coincidences 
 between  our  Lord's  teaching  and  that  of  Jeremiah,  it 
 is  not  too  much  to  sec  in  His  words  to  the  daughter  of 
 Jerusalem,  "  Weep  for  yourselves  aud  for  your  chil- 
 dren "  (Luke  xxiii.  27,  28),  a  parallel  to  what  we  read 
 here. 
 
 (21)  Death  is  come  up  into  our  windows.— 
 "  Death  "  stands  here,  as  in  chap.  xv.  2,  specifically  for 
 (he  pestilence,  which  is  to  add  its  horrors  to  those  of 
 (ho  famine  and  the  sword,  and  which  creeps  in  with  its 
 fatal  taint  at,  (he  windows,  even  (hough  the  invader  is  for 
 a  (into  kept  at  bay.  and  cuts  off  t he  children  who  else 
 would  play  "  without,"  sc.,  in  the  court-yard  of  the  house, 
 and  (he  "young  men"  who  else  would  gather,  as  were 
 their  wont,  in  the  streets  or  the  open  places  of  the  city. 
 The  Hebrew  word  rehoboth  (comp.  Gen.  xxvi.  22) 
 answers  to  "  piazza,"  "  square,"  "  market-place,"  rather 
 than  to  our  street. 
 
 (--)  Speak,  Thus  saith  the  Lord.— The  abrupt 
 opening  indicates  a  new  prediction,  coming  to  him  un- 
 
The  ZVus  Ground  for  Glorying. 
 
 JEREMIAH,  X. 
 
 Tic    Uncircumeued  in   Heart. 
 
 of  men   shall   fall   aa  dung  opon   the 
 open    field,  and    as   fche    handful   after 
 
 the   1 1:1 1-\ estinan,  ;iinl    none   shall   gather 
 them. 
 
 Thus  sailli  the  LOED,  Let  nut  flic 
 wise  man  glory  iii  liis  wisdom,  neither 
 let  the  mighty  mom  glory  in  lis  might, 
 let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in  hie 
 riches :  '-'"  lint  -  let  him  that  glorietfa 
 glory  in  this,  that  In'  onderatandeth 
 and  knoweth  me,  that  I  am  the  Loed 
 which   exercise   loving-Mndness,  judg- 
 
 nient,  and    righteousness,   in   the    earth  : 
 
 for  iii  these  things  1  delight,  saith  the 
 
 LOED. 
 
 .1  l   Onr.   I.   31  ; 
 
 l  nch  ,  Viiil  upon. 
 
 I  1 1 .  ■  t  • ,  en 
 
 .  <.r,  /i.m- 
 
 anun  «»f 
 
 tl.c.r  lutlr  yvlktl. 
 
 ■  21. 
 c  ltiiiu.  s. as,  lo. 
 
 i25'  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the 
 Lobd,  that  I  will  'punish  all  them  which 
 are  circumcised  with  t he  oncircumciaed  ; 
 
 Egypt,  ami   .linlah,   ami     Ivh.m,   ami 
 
 the  children  of  Ammon,  ami  .M •  »a l>,  and 
 nil  that  are    'in  the   'utmost   corners, 
 
 that    dwell    in    the    wilderness :    for    ;ill 
 
 these  nations  are  nncircumciaed,  and  nil 
 
 the  house  of  Israel   are   'uncin-iiiic 
 
 in  the  heart. 
 CHAPTBB  X.    "   Bear  ye  the  word 
 
 which      the     LOED     -|>c;il;eth     unto    yOU, 
 
 0  house-  of  Israel:  '-'  Thus  saith    the 
 Loud,  Learn  not  the  way  of  the  heathen, 
 
 bidden,  which  he  is  constrained  in  otter  as  a  met 
 
 from  .lohovah. 
 
 As  the  handful. — The  reaper  gathered  into  swathes, 
 
 or  email  sheaves,  what  h uld  ln>l<  I  in  his  lefi  hand,  as  he 
 
 went  on  cutting  with  liis  sickle.  These  he  threw  down 
 «s  they  became  1  ■ «« >  big  to  hold,  and  they  were  lefl 
 strewn  on  the  Geld  till  he  returned  to  gather  them  up 
 into  larger  sheaves.  Bo  should  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
 be  strewn,  the  prophet  says,  on  the  open  Geld,  but  there 
 
 .should  be  none  to  take  il i  up  and  bury  them. 
 
 1  Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in  his  wis- 
 dom. The  I •  ■  i ■  ^r  prophecy  of  judgment  had  reached 
 iis  climax.  Now  there  comes  the  conclusion  of  the 
 whole  matter— that  the  one  way  of  salvation  is  to 
 renounce  all  reliance  on  the  wisdom,  greatness,  wealth 
 of  the  world,  and  to  glory  only  in  knowing  Jehovah. 
 The  "  wise  in  in  '  is,  a-*  before  in  chap.  viii.  !•,  and  verse 
 L2,  the  scribe,  or  r ignised  teacher  of  the  pooplo 
 
 i-'1  Lot  him  that  glorieth  glory  in   this  .  .  . 
 
 The  passage  is  interesting  as  having  clearly  been 
 present  to  the  mind  of  Si.  Paul  in  writing  1  ('or.  i.  31 ; 
 2  Cor.  x.  17.  Hi-  had  learnt  IV ii  to  estimate  the  wis- 
 dom .-mil  ill.-  greatness  on  which  I  ho  Corinthians  prided 
 themselves  al  their  true  value  Wo  may  find  a  parallel 
 in  (ho  higher  words  which  teach  us  that  "eternal 
 life  is  io  know  God"  John  svii.  8),  to  understand  those 
 attributes,  love,  judgment,  righteousness,  which  wo 
 associate  with  our  ihou^ius  of  Him.  as  indeed  they 
 arc  In  their  infinite  perfection,  and  which  when  wo 
 know  them  as  we  ought  to  know,  wo  must  needs  atrive 
 to  reproduce. 
 
 <-■>  f  will    punish  all  them  which   are  cir- 
 cumcised with  tho  uncircumcisod.    The  passage 
 is  difficult,  but  tho  English  rerse  is  misleading.    Bettor, 
 /  will  punish  nil  those  thai  m-r  circumcised   in 
 nmcinon     all,  /.<-.,  who  have  tho  outward  sign,  lie 
 
 nil  the   inward    purity  of  which   it  was  the  symbol.      In 
 
 the  i lay  of  God's  judgments  (this  being  the  connecting 
 link  with  tho  pr ling  verse)  there  would  ho  no  differ- 
 ence between  tho  Jew  and  other  race-;  who  like  him 
 
 p  aetised  circumcision  on  the  one  hand,  and  tl utlying 
 
 heathen  world  on   the  other,     lion',  again,  Jeremiah 
 
 anticipated  St.   Paul.  •'  To  the  .low  first,  and  al-o  to  I  ho 
 
 Gentile;  for  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  God" 
 
 (Bom,  ii.  9),  The  lino  oireuinci-ion  is  that  which  is 
 "  In  the  spirit,  not  in  tho  letter"  |  Rom.  ii.  29), 
 
 Kgypt,  and  Judah  .  .  .  The  nations  enume- 
 rated were  all  alike,  the  Egyptians  certainly  .llorod.  ii. 
 86,  87),  and  the  others,  as    belonging  to   the  same    raiv 
 
 ■n^  Judah,  ju-obably,  in  the  fact  of  circumcision,  and 
 
 are  apparently  brought  together  not  without  some  touch 
 of  scornful   humour,      HOW  Could    Israel  pride  itself  iii 
 
 that  which  ii  had  in  common  with  St A  tho  nations 
 
 that  it  most  abhorred.  The  later  [dumsans  seem  to 
 have  abandoned  the  practice  till  it  was  forced  upon  them 
 by  John  Ryreanus  (Joseph.,  Ant.  xi.  9,  xv.  7  .  Jerome 
 i.,/  loe.)  affirms  that  the  nation-,  named  practised  cir- 
 cumcision in  his  time,  and  its  adoption  by  Islam  indicates 
 its  prevalence  among  the  Arabs  in  that  of  Mahomet. 
 
 All  that  aro  in  tho  utmost  corners.  -Better, 
 all  thai  have  ike  corners  (of  their  temples)  thorn.  The 
 epithet,  like  our  "cross-eared"  or  " round- head," was 
 obviously) of  s -n.aud  was  applied  (as  again  in  chaps. 
 
 x\\.  23,  xli\.  32]  to  a  wild  Arahian  tribe  who,  as  de- 
 scribed hy  1 1  erodot  us  (iii.  Si,  shaved  their  temples  and  lot 
 their  hair  •.'row  long  behind.      The  "  wilderness  "  is  tho 
 
 Arabian  desert  to  the  east  of  Palestine,  inhabited  by 
 
 the    Ishinaolitos    and    other   kindred    races.       As    if    to 
 
 complete  the  contempt  which  he  pours  on  circumcision, 
 
 the    prophet    speaks   of     the    barbarous    people,    wdioso 
 Customs    were  specially   forbidden    to    Israel    (Lev. 
 27),  as  in   this   respect   standing  on  the  same  level  with 
 Israel.        [f     circumcision     by    itself     were    enough     to 
 
 secure  immunity  from  judgment,  they  too,  as  practising 
 a  rile  analogous  thongh  nut  identical,  might  claim  it. 
 
 All  these  nations  are  uncircumcisod.  Tie- 
 English  Version  makes  the  prophet  say  exactly  the 
 opposite  of  what   ho  really  said.     All  the  heathen  (not 
 
 "these  nations")  an'  in   (bid's  Bight  as  uneireiitne 
 whether   they  practise  the  outward   rite  or  not — and  the 
 stale  of  Israel  was  not  a  whit  better  than  theirs,  for  she 
 too  was  uneirennieiseil   in  heart.      ( )nee  again  Jeremiah 
 
 is  the  forerunner  of  St.  Paul's  Bom.  ii.  25—29.     It 
 
 may   he   noted    that    tho   same   nations   aro  enumerated 
 afterwards  as  coming  under  Nebuchadnezzar's  eonqu 
 chap.  xxv.  'S3). 
 
 X. 
 
 ("  House  of  Israel.— This  forms  the  link  that 
 connects  what  follows  with  what  precedes.  'J  ho 
 "  house  of  Israel"  had  boon  told  that  it  was  •■  tinoir- 
 cumeised    in   heart."  on   a   level  with  I  he  heathen  ;   now 
 
 the  special  sin  of  the  heathen,  which  il  was  dispost 
 
 follow,  is  set  forth  in  words  of  scorn  and  indignation. 
 
 (-')  Bo  not  di-mayed  at  the  signs  of  heaven.— 
 The  special  reference  is  to  the  "astrologers,  the  - 
 gazers,  tho  monthly  progi  - "  of  tlf  <  lhalda  ana 
 
 \l\ii  13),  finding  portents  either  in  the  conjunc- 
 ture of  planets  and  constellations,  or  in  eclipses, comets, 
 and  other  like  phenomena.     In  singular  contrast  with 
 
 II 
 
The  Vain  Customs  of  the  People. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    X. 
 
 The  Doctrine  of  Vanities 
 
 and  be  not  dismayed  at  the  signs  of 
 heaven;  for  the  heathen  are  dismayed 
 at  them.  (3)  For  the  Customs  of  the 
 people  are  vain :  for  one  cutteth  a  tree 
 out  of  the  forest,  the  work  of  the  hands 
 of  the  workman,  with  the  ax.  M>  They 
 deck  it  with  silver  and  with  gold ;  they 
 fasten  it  with  nails  and  with  hammers, 
 that  it  move  not.  <5>  They  are  upright 
 as  the  palm  tree,  "but  speak  not:  they 
 must  needs  be  l  borne,  because  they 
 cannot  go.  Be  not  afraid  of  them ;  for 
 fthey  cannot  do  evil,  neither  also  is  it 
 in  them  to  do  good. 
 
 i  Heb.,  etahdt  e,  or, 
 ordinances     are 
 
 vanity. 
 
 a  Pa.  115.5. 
 b  [BE.  10.  1,  7. 
 C  Isa.  41.  23. 
 
 d  Pa.  86.  8. 10. 
 r  Rev.  IS.  4. 
 
 2  Or,  it  Ukcth  thee. 
 
 3  Hcb.,  in  one,  or 
 
 tit  vuue. 
 
 !  Ian.  41.  29:    I r ; l  1 . 
 
 2.  18;  Zi'fli.  10.2. 
 
 (6)  Forasmuch  as  there  is  none  rflike 
 unto  thee,  0  Lord  ;  thou  art  great,  and 
 thy  name  is  great  in  might.  (7'  "Who- 
 would  not  fear  thee,  0  King  of  na- 
 tions? for  3to  thee  doth  it  appertain: 
 forasmuch  as  among  all  the  wise  men  of 
 the  nations,  and  in  all  their  kingdoms, 
 there  is  none  like  unto  thee.  (8>  But  the}' 
 are  3  altogether  /brutish  and  foolish :  the 
 stock  is  a  doctrine  of  vanities.  (9)  Silver 
 spread  into  plates  is  brought  from  Tar- 
 shish,  and  gold  from  Uphaz,  the  work 
 of  the  workman,  and  of  the  hands  of 
 the  founder :  blue  and  purple  is  their 
 
 the  abject  attitude  of  mind  thus  produced,  the  prophet 
 shows  that  what  has  been  called  in  scorn  an  anthropo- 
 morphic theology,  was  then  the  one  effectual  safeguard 
 against  the  superstition  that  bows  in  fear  before  any- 
 thing that  is  unusual  and  unexplained. 
 
 (3)  The  customs  of  the  people. — Better,  ordi- 
 nances of  the  peoples.  The  prophet  is  speaking,  not 
 of  common  customs,  but  of  religious  institutions, 
 and  of  these  as  belonging,  not  to  "  the  people,"  i.e., 
 Israel,  but  to  the  nations  round  them.  The  verses 
 that  follow  are  so  closely  parallel  to  Isa.  xli.  7,  xliv. 
 9 — 17,  xlvi.  5—7  (where  see  Notes),  that  the  natural 
 conclusion  is  that  one  writer  had  seen  the  work  of 
 the  other.  The  grandeur  and  fulness  of  Isaiah's 
 language,  and  the  unlikeness  of  what  we  find  here 
 to  Jeremiah's  usual  style,  makes  it  more  probable 
 that  he  was  the  copyist,  and  so  far  adds  to  the 
 argument  for  the  authorship  of  the  chapter  ascribed 
 to  Isaiah.  It  is,  however,  possible,  as  some  critics 
 have  thought,  that  these  verses  are  an  interpolation, 
 and  in  that  case  they  supply  no  evidence  either 
 way.  The  fact  that  they  are  found  in  the  LXX. 
 as  well  as  in  the  Hebrew  is,  however,  in  favour 
 of  their  genuineness.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  sub- 
 stance of  what  follows  has  a  parallel  in  the  Epistle 
 ascribed  to  Jeremiah  in  the  apocryphal  book  of 
 Baruch. 
 
 (5)  Upright  as  the  palm  tree.— Better,  perhaps. 
 A  pillar  in  a  garden  of  gourds  are  they.  The  Hebrew 
 word  translated  "  upright "  has  two  very  different, 
 t  hough  not  entirely  unconnected,  meanings — (1)  "twisted, 
 rounded,  carved,"  and  in  this  sense  it  is  translated  com- 
 monly as  "  beaten  work  "  (Exod.  xxv.  18,  31,  36),  and 
 is  here  applied  (if  we  accept  this  meaning)  to  the 
 twisted  palm-like  columns  of  a  temple,  to  which  the 
 stiff,  formal  figure  of  the  idol,  with  arms  pressed  close 
 to  the  side,  and  none  of  the  action  which  we  find  in 
 Greek  statues,  is  compared;  (2)  the  other  meaning 
 adopted  by  many  commentators  is  that  of  ''a  garden 
 of  gourds  or  cucumbers,"  and  the  word  is  so  rendered 
 in  Isa.  i.  8.  The  comparison,  in  the  so-called  "  Epistle 
 of  Jeremy "  in  the  apocryphal  book  of  Baruch  (verse 
 70),  of  an  idol  to  "a  scarecrow  in  a  garden  of  cucum- 
 bers "  shows  that  the  latter  meaning  was  the  accepted 
 one  when  that  Epistle  was  written.  The  thought,  on 
 this  view,  is  that  the  idol  which  the  men  of  Judah 
 •were  worshipping  was  like  one  of  the  "pillars"  (so 
 the  word  for  "  palm  tree  "  is  translated  in  Song  of  Sol. 
 iii.  6 ;  Joel  ii.  30),  the  Hermes,  or  Priapus-figures  which 
 were  placed  by  Greeks  and  Romans  in  gardens  and 
 orchards  as  scarecrows.     Like  figures  appear  to  have 
 
 been  used  by  the  Phrenieians  for  the  same  purpose, 
 and  the  practice,  like  the  kindred  worship  of  the- 
 Asherah,  would  seem  to  have  been  gainiug  ground  even 
 in  Judah. 
 
 (<>)  Forasmuch  as. — A  somewhat  flat  addition  to 
 the  Hebrew  text,  which  opens  with  a  vigorous  abrupt- 
 ness, None  is  there  like  unto  thee  .  .  . 
 
 Great  in  might. — The  latter  is  an  almost  technical 
 word  (as  in  Isa.  xxxiii.  13 ;  Ps.  xxi.  13,  cxlv.  11)  for  the 
 Divine  Omnipotence.  (Compare  "  the  Mighty  God  " 
 of  Isa.  ix.  6.) 
 
 (7)  King  of  nations.— Emphatically, "  King  of  the 
 heathen,''  expressing  the  universal  sovereignty  of 
 Jehovah  in  contrast  with  the  thought  that  He  was  the 
 God  of  the  Jews  only.     (Compare  Rom.  iii.  29.) 
 
 To  thee  doth  it  appertain.— Better,  for  it  is 
 tit  inc.  i.e.,  the  kingdom  over  the  heathen  implied  in 
 the  title  just  given. 
 
 The  wise  men.— The  word  "men"  is  better 
 omitted.  Jehovah  is  not  compared  with  the  sages  of 
 the  heathen  only,  but  with  all  to  whom  they  looked  as 
 sources  and  givers  of  wisdom. 
 
 In  all  their  kingdoms. — Better,  in  all  their 
 sovereignty. 
 
 (8)  Altogether. — Literally,  in  one,  probably  in  the 
 sense  in  one  word,  in  one  fact,  sc.,  that  which  follows 
 in  the  next  clause. 
 
 The  stock  is  a  doctrine  of  vanities.— Better, 
 inverting  the  subject  and  predicate,  the  teaching  of 
 vanities  (i.e.,  of  idols)  is   a   word,  or  is  a  log.      That 
 is  all  it  comes  to;    that  one  word  is  its   condemna- 
 tion. 
 
 (9)  Tarshish.— As  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament, 
 Spain,  the  Tartcssus  of  the  Greeks  (Gen.  x.  4;  Jonah 
 i.  3;  Ezek.  xxvii.  12),  from  whence  Palestine,  through 
 the  Phoenicians,  was  chiefly  supplied  with  silver,  tin, 
 and  other  metals. 
 
 Uphaz. — Possibly  an  error  of  transcription,  or 
 dialectical  variation,  for  Ophir,  giving  the  meaning- 
 "gold-coast."  The  word  is  found  only  here  and  in 
 Dan.  x.  5.  Some  interpreters,  however,  connect  it 
 with  the  name  of  Hyphasis,  one  of  the  tributaries  of 
 tho  Indus.  We  cannot  attain  to  greater  certainty. 
 (See  Note  on  1  Kings  ix.  28.) 
 
 Blue  and  purple. — Both  were  colours  obtained 
 from  the  murex,  a  Mediterranean  shell-fish,  and  were 
 used  both  for  the  curtains  of  the  Tabernacle  (Exod. 
 xxv.  4)  and  for  the  gorgeous  apparel  of  the  idols  of  the 
 heathen.  "Purple,"  as  elsewhei-e  in  the  English 
 of  the  Bible,  must  be  understood  of  a  deep  crimsons 
 or  scarlet.     (Comp.  Matt,  xxvii.  28 ;  Mark  xv.  17.) 
 
 42 
 
Tin  Greatness  of  the  ZVi*  '• 
 
 JEREMIAH,  X. 
 
 27m  Idols  l 
 
 clothing j  they  are  all  the  work  of  cun- 
 ning men.  ""I  But  the  Loed  is  the  1true 
 Qod,  he  ie  the  Living  God,  and  an  'ever- 
 lasting k i m l;"  :  at  his  wrath  tin'  earth 
 shall  tremble,  and  the   nations  shall  not 
 
 be  able  to  abide  his  indignal  ion. 
 
 <")  Thus  shall  ye  say  u tit < >  them,  The 
 gods  thai  have  nol  made  the  heavens 
 
 ami    the    '-art  h,    i  vm    they    shall    |>i  risli 
 
 from  the  earth,  ami  from  under  these 
 heavens.  ''-'  Ee  hath  made  the  earl b 
 by  his  power,  he  hath  established  the 
 
 world  by  his  wisdom,  and  hath  stretched 
 out  the  heavens  by  las  discretion. 
 Ml  When  he  uttereth  his  voice,  there  is 
 a  'multitude  of  waters  in  the  heavens, 
 
 Hill/. 
 
 •'• ;  cli.51 
 
 mill. 
 
 5  Or.       i*      more 
 ,    than    f" 
 
 li  ch.81.  IT,  18, 
 
 and  he  cansetb  the  vapours  to  a- 
 t'n.in  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  be  maketh 
 
 lightnings     'with      rain,     and     lain 
 fori  h     the    wind    out    of     fads    tl 
 
 I !  ■  r .  man  is  brutish  in  hie  know- 
 ledge: every  founder  is  confounded  by 
 the  graven  image:  for  his  molten  image 
 
 /.•<•  falsehood,  and  there  is  no  breath  in 
 them.  '  They  are  vanity,  and  the 
 work  of  errors:  in  the  time  of  their 
 visitation  they  shall  perish.  "'"  'The 
 portion  of  Jacob  it  not  like  them:  for 
 he  is  the  former  of  all  things  ;  and  Israel 
 is  the  rod  of  his  inheritance:  The  I 
 of  host  -  is  his  name. 
 <17)  Gather  np  thy  wares  out  of  the 
 
 M)  Tho  Lord  is  tho  true  Qod.— Literally, 
 Jehovah  is  the  Qod  thai  is  Truth.    The  thought  ex- 
 
 Sraseed  is  thai  for  which  St.  John,  as  indeed  the  LXX. 
 oes  here,  uses  the  word  alethinos  (Johnxvii.  8j  1  John 
 v.  20),  Truth  in  its  highest  and  most  perfect  form.  So 
 ■■  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life"  (John  xiv.  6). 
 
 An  everlasting  king.— Here,  as  in  other  liko 
 passages,  the  English  Version  ia  not  wrong,  but  the 
 Hebrew  idiom  "  lung  of  Eternity  "  is  far  grander. 
 
 (ii)  Thus  shall  yo  say  unto  them.— The  veree 
 presents  an  almost  unique  phenomenon.     It  is  not,  like 
 
 (ho   rust  of    (lie   1 k.  in    Hebrew,  Imt  in  Ohaldee  or 
 
 Aramaic,  the  language  of  the  enemies  of  Israel.  Two 
 explanations  have  been  offered — 1)  that  a  marginal 
 note,  added  by  one  of  the  exiles  in  Babylon,  found  its 
 way  at  a  later  period  into  the  texl ;  (2]  a  far  more  pro- 
 bable view,  viz.,  thai  the  prophet,  whose  intercourse 
 with  the  Ohaldeans  had  made  him  familiar  with  their 
 language,  put  into  the  months  of  bis  own  countrymen 
 the  answer  they  wen'  to  give  when  they  were  invited 
 to  join  in  the  worship  of  their  conquerors.  Little  as 
 l  hey  plight  know  of  the  strange  language,  they  might 
 learn  enough  to  give  this  answer.  The  words  b 
 the  riti;,'  of  a  Vcii i<l  of  popular  proverb,  and  in  the 
 original  there  is  a  play  of  Bound  which  can  only  be 
 faintly  reproduced  in  English — The  gods  ih  if  I) 
 not  mad*  .  .  .  they  shall  be  m  vie  a/way  w  '»  Tho 
 apocryphal  Epistle  of  Jeremiah,  already  referred  to. 
 may.  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  a  rhetorical  sermon  ou 
 this  i 
 
 He  hath  made  ...  he  hath  established. 
 
 — Tin-  words  are   participial   in    form,    making  .  .  . 
 
 blishing,  and  complete  the  list  of  divine  attributes 
 
 in  verse  in.  contrasting  the  creative  ought  of  Jehovah 
 
 with  the  impotence  of  the  gods  of  the  heathen. 
 
 Tho  world.— As  contrasted  with  the  material  earth, 
 the  inhabited  world,  the  world  considered  in  its  rela- 
 tion to  man,  as  in  Prov.  viii.  81. 
 
 Discretion.— Hotter.  -' 
 
 (13)  A  multitude  of  waters.— Rottor.  a  rush  of 
 waters,  following  mi  the  thunder,  which  is  thought  of 
 as  the  voice  of  (bul  (eoni|>.  Ps.  xxix.  ".  .  The  prophet 
 finds  tho  tokens  of  Almighty  Power  alike  in  the  fixed 
 order  of  the  Cosmos  and  its  most  catastrophic  pertur- 
 bations. The  strict  construction  of  the  Bebrew  gives, 
 At  tlf  votes  i'/'  His  giving  tin-  r  ■'■  rs. 
 
 Ho  maketh  lightnings.—  Tho'  last  half  of  the 
 verse  agrees  verbally  with  Ps.  exxxv.  7  where  see 
 Note),  and  ono  is  obviously  a  quotation  from  the  other, 
 
 or  both  from  some  common  BOUTCe.      We  have  no  data, 
 
 however,  for  saying  which  is  the  older  of  the  two. 
 Tho  idea  of  the  "tr  from  which  the 
 
 winds  are  brought  appears  in  Job  xxxviii.  -J. 
 
 W  Brutish  in  his  knowledge.— Literally 
 
 i.e.,  too  brutish  to  kt  ow,  or,  a-  gome  tuko 
 it,  brutish  without  knowledge,  overwhelmed  and 
 astounded,  so  that  the  power  of  knowing  fails. 
 
 Every  founder. — Tho  smelter,  or  worker  iu  molten 
 metal. 
 
 (15)  The  work  of  errors.— Better,    a    work   of 
 
 orthy  of  thai  and  oj  thai  only,  the  word 
 
 being  apparently  substituted,  after  Jeremiah's  manner, 
 
 for  the  technical  word,  not  unlike  in  sound,  whioh  is 
 
 translated  "  image  work"  in  -  Cbron.  iii.  10. 
 
 In  the  time  of  their  visitation. — ie.,  in  the  time 
 
 when  they  are  visited  with  punishment,  as  in  1  Pet.  ii. 
 1_' ;    Isa.  x.  3,  and  Luke  xix.   U. 
 
 (M)  The  portion  of  Jacob.— As  in  Ps.  xvi.  .".. 
 oxix.  "i7.  (on!  is  described  as  the  "  portion,"  •  .  as  tho 
 treasure  and  inheritance  of   His  people.     He   is  no 
 
 powerless  idol,  but  the  former.  <'....  the  creator,  of  all 
 things,  or  more  literally  of  the  aU,  i.e.,  of  the  nni\. 
 
 The  rod  of  his  inheritance.— Tin-  phrase  was. 
 
 familiar  in  the  poetry  of   Israel  ,  Ps.  lxxiv.  J;   Isa.  lxiii. 
 
 1.7— Heb.  .but  itsexa.-t  meaning  is  not  clear.  The  word 
 may  be  "rod"  in  the  sense  ox  "sceptre,"  as  in  Gen. 
 
 xlix.  |i':  Miejh  vii.  1  I.  brael  is  that  over  which,  or  by 
 means  of  which,  (bid  rules.      Hut  the  other  meaning  in 
 
 which    it   stain i  mi,"    ••division."   ■•  tribe"  (as 
 
 in  ls.i.  xix.  18;  Exod.  xxvin.  21),  w  equally  tenable. 
 
 The  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name.—  The  time- 
 honoured   and   awful    name    is   obviously   brought    iu 
 
 as  in  emphatic  contrast  to  all  the  names  of  the  gods 
 of  the  heathen.  Among  them  all  there  was  no  namo 
 liko  ••Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the  Lord  of  the  armies  of 
 heaven,  of  the  -tars  in  their  courses,  of  the  angels 
 in  their  ordered  ranks,  and  of  the  armies  of  Israel  upon 
 earth. 
 tm  Gather  up  thy  wares.— Tho   section    from 
 
 verses  1 — lb  inclusive  had  1 n  as  a  long  parent}] 
 
 reproving  brael  for  the  sin  which  placed  it  among  tho 
 
 ••  uncirouinci-ed  in  the  heart  "     chap.  ix.  26),      X"W  the 
 prophet  returns  to  his  main  theme,  the  devastation 
 the   land   of     Israel    as    the   penalty    of    that    sin.       Ho 
 begins    with    a    vivid    touch    in    tho    picture   of    titter 
 
 misery.  The  daughter  of  Israel  tic  word  "inhabi- 
 tant is  feminine,  sitting  as  in  a  besieged  fortress,  is 
 to  gather  up  her  goods  and  chattels  into  ono  small 
 
 I  : 
 
The  Tabernacle  of  Judah  broken  up.  JEREMIAH,     X.  The  Prophet's  Prayer  for  Correction. 
 
 land,  0  l  inhabitant  of  the  fortress, 
 (is)  Pqp  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Behold,  I 
 will  sling  out  the  inhabitants  of  the 
 land  at  this  once,  and  will  distress  them, 
 that  they  may  find  it  so.  (19)  Woe  is  me 
 for  my  hurt !  my  wound  is  grievous : 
 but  I  said,  Truly  this  is  a  grief,  and 
 I  must  bear  it.  (20)  My  tabernacle  is 
 spoiled,  and  all  my  cords  are  broken : 
 my  children  are  gone  forth  of  me,  and 
 they  are  not:  there  is  none  to  stretch 
 forth  my  tent  any  more,  and  to  set  up 
 my  curtains.  (21)  For  the  pastors  are 
 become  brutish,  and  have  not  sought 
 the    Lord  :    therefore    they   shall   not 
 
 1  Heb.,iiihabUress. 
 
 a  cli.  1.15;  &5  15; 
 
 &  6.  22. 
 
 c  Prov.  16. 1 ;  &  20. 
 
 d  Vs.  e.  1  ;  &  38.  1 
 cli.  3U.  11. 
 
 2  Hel).,     diminish 
 
 prosper,  and  all  their  flocks  shall  be 
 scattered.  <22>  Behold,  the  noise  of  the 
 bruit  is  come,  and  a  great  commotion 
 out  of  tbe  "north  country,  to  make  the 
 cities  of  Judah  desolate,  and  a  'den  of 
 dragons. 
 
 (-3)  O  Lord,  I  know  that  the  cway  of 
 man  is  not  in  himself:  it  is  not  in 
 man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps. 
 (24>  0  Lord,  ''correct  me,  but  with  judg- 
 ment; not  in  thine  anger,  lest  thou  2  bring 
 me  to  nothing.  (25'  ePour  out  thy  fury 
 upon  the  heathen  that  know  thee  not, 
 and  upon  the  families  that  call  not 
 on  thy  name :  for  they  have  eaten  up 
 
 bundle  (the  English  "wares"  suggests  the  idea  of 
 trade,  which  is  foreign  to  the  context),  and  with  that 
 as  the  sole  remnant  of  her  possessions,  to  go  forth  into 
 exile.  Probably,  indeed,  the  word  may  mean  simply 
 the  travelling  carpet  or  mantle  which  the  exile  was  to 
 take  with  him.  The  whole  phrase  has  something  of  a 
 proverbial  type,  like  our  "  bag  and  baggage  "  or  the 
 collige  sarcinidas  et  exi  ("take  up  your  packages  and 
 begone")  of  Juven.  Sat.  vi.  146. 
 
 (i«)  I  will  sling  out.— The  same  bold  metaphor, 
 though  not  the  same  word,  for  violent  expulsion,  is 
 found,  in  the  prophecy  of  the  fate  of  Shebna  (Isa.  xxii. 
 18). 
 
 That  they  may  find  it  so. — In  the  Hebrew,  the 
 verb,  though  transitive,  stands  by  itself,  without  an 
 object.  The  ellipsis  has  been  filled  up  either  by  "  it, " 
 as  in  the  English  Version,  i.e.,  may  feel  it  in  all  its 
 bitterness ;  or  by  "  me,"  as  in  tho  Syriac  version,  i.e., 
 may  be  led  through  their  misery  to  seek  and  find 
 Jehovah.  The  parallelism  of  Dent.  iv.  29 ;  chap.  xxix. 
 13,  makes  the  latter  meaning  probable  (see  also  Acts 
 xvii.  27) ;  but  it  may  be  suggested  that  the  very  omis- 
 sion of  an  object  was  intended  to  be  suggestive  in  its 
 abruptness.  "  They  would  find  .  .  .  ;"  what  they 
 found  would  depend  upon  themselves.  A  possible 
 construction  is  that  they  (the  enemy)  may  find  them 
 (the  people  besieged),  but  this  is  hardly  the  natural 
 sequel  of  the  exile  of  which  the  previous  words  speak. 
 
 (io)  Woe  is  me  .  .  .—From  this  verse  to  the  end  of 
 the  chapter  we  have,  with  the  prophet's  characteristic 
 dramatic  vividness,  the  lamentation  of  the  daughter 
 of  Israel  in  her  captivity,  bewailing  the  transgressions 
 that  had  led  to  it.  That  this  follows  immediately  on 
 verse  18  gives  some  support  to  the  view  above  given  as 
 to  the  force  of  the  words  "  that  they  may  find."  Israel 
 is  represented  as  having  "  found  "  in  both  aspects  of 
 the  word. 
 
 Grievous. — In  the  sense  of  all  hut  incurable. 
 
 This  is  a  grief  .  .  .—Better,  this  is  my  grief  or 
 plague,  that  which  I  have  brought  upon  myself  and 
 must  therefore  bear.  To  accept  the  punishment  was  in 
 this,  as  in  all  cases,  the  first  step  to  reformation. 
 
 (20)  My  tabernacle  .  .  . — The  tent  which  had  been 
 the  home  of  Israel  is  destroyed,  the  cords  that  fastened 
 it  to  the  ground  are  broken,  the  children  that  used  to 
 help  their  mother  in  arranging  the  tent  and  its  curtains 
 "  are  not,"  i.e.  (as  in  Gen.  xlii.  36 ;  chap.  xxxi.  15  ;  Matt, 
 ii.  18),  they  are  either  dead  or  in  exile.  Tliere  is  some- 
 thing significant,  in  the  fact  that  the  destruction  of  the 
 ■city  is  represented  under  the  imagery  of  that  of  a  tent. 
 
 The  daughter  of  Zion  has,  as  it  were,  been  brought 
 back  to  her  nomadic  state. 
 
 C-i)  The  pastors. — Tho  "  shepherds,"  used,  as  in 
 chaps,  ii.  8,  iii.  15,  and  elsewhere,  of  rulers  generally, 
 rather  than  of  priests  as  such. 
 
 Therefore  they  shall  not  prosper.— Better, 
 therefore  they  have  not  done  wisely.  This  is  the 
 primary  meaning  of  the  word  (that  of  prosperity,  as 
 the  result  of  prudence,  the  secondary),  and  is  adopted 
 by  the  LXX.,  Vulg.,  and  most  other  versions. 
 
 All  their  flocks. — Literally,  all  their  pasture,  the 
 place,  or  the  act,  of  pasturing,  taken  practically  for  the 
 sheep  that  fed  on  it. 
 
 (-'-•)  Behold,  the  noise  of  the  bruit  is  come.— 
 Better,  A  cry  is  heard,  Behold,  it  cometh.  The  cry  of 
 terror  is  heard  and  it  utters  the  tidings,  terrible  in  their 
 brevity,  that  the  army  of  the  invader  is  come,  and  with 
 it  the  "  great  commotion,"  the  stir  and  rush  of  the 
 army,  coming  from  the  north  country  of  the  Chaldeans. 
 (Comp.  chap.  i.  13.)  In  Matt.  xxv.  6,  "  There  was  a 
 cry  made,  Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh,"  we  have 
 a  striking  parallel.  The  word  "  bruit "  (here  and  in 
 Nah.  iii.  19)  may  be  noted  as  one  of  those  which  have 
 become  obsolete  since  the  date  of  the  Authorised 
 Version. 
 
 A  den  of  dragons. — i.e.,  jackals,  as  in  chap.  ix.  11. 
 
 (23)  O  Lord,  I  know  .  .  . — The  confession  is 
 made  not  by  the  prophet  for  himself,  but  as  by  and 
 for  Israel. 
 
 The  way  of  man. — The  path  which  a  man  takes 
 for  good  or  evil,  for  failure  or  success.  His  conduct 
 in  life  depends,  the  prophet  says,  on  something  more 
 than  his  own  choice  : — 
 
 "There's  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
 Rough-hew  them  how  we  will." 
 
 Compare  Prov.  xvi.  9,  xx.  24,  as  expressing  the  same 
 thought  of  the  necessity  of  divine  guidance.  The  two 
 Hebrew  words  for  "  man  "  aro  used  in  the  two  clauses, 
 the  first  expressing  tho  weakness,  the  latter  the  strength 
 of  men.  Even  the  strong  man  has  to  confess  that  he 
 needs  a  hand  other  than  his  own  to  direct  his  steps. 
 
 (-'•)  With  judgment. — The  rendering  is  accurate, 
 but  the  idea  is,  perhaps,  better  expressed  by  the  trans- 
 lation of  the  same  word  in  chaps,  xxx.  11,  xlvi.  28  as 
 "  in  measure."  In  either  case  the  discipline  that  comes 
 from  God  as  the  righteous  Judge,  at  onco  retributive 
 and  reformative,  is  contrasted  with  the  punishment 
 which  is  simply  vindictive. 
 
 Lest  thou  bring  me  to  nothing.— Literally,  lest 
 
 44 
 
Tli>\  Words  of  the  Covenant. 
 
 JKKK.MIAH,    XI. 
 
 77,.  Lorcti  /,'•  monstrance. 
 
 Jacob,  and  devoured  him,  and  oonsumecl 
 him,  and  hare    made    his    habitation 
 
 desolate 
 
 CHAPTER  XL— W  The  word  thai 
 came  to  Jeremiah  from  the  Lord, 
 saying, 
 
 i-'1  Hear  ye  tin-  words  of  ibis  covenant, 
 and  speak  unto  the  men  of  Judah, 
 and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  ; 
 Wand  say  thou  unto  them,  Tims  saith 
 the  Loan  God  of  Israel;  "Cursed  be 
 the  man  that  obeyeth  not  the  words 
 of  this  covenant,  (l)  which  I  com- 
 manded your  fathers  in  the-  day  that 
 I  brought  them  forth  out  of  the  land 
 of  Egypt,  from  the  iron  furnace,  say- 
 ing, 'Obey  my  voice,  and  do  them, 
 according  to  all  which  I  command 
 you:  so  shall  ye  be  my  people,  and 
 I  will  be  your  God :  (■',)  that  I  may 
 perform  the  roath  which  I  have  sworn 
 
 3.  10. 
 
 i  Lav, 
 
 .■  Dent,  7. 12. 
 
 1    llil,  ,  4jMll 
 
 2  Or, stubbornness. 
 
 onto  your  fathers,  i<<  pre  them  a  land 
 flowing  witli  milk  and   honey,  as  it  i$ 
 this  < l;i % .      Then  answered  I,  and 
 lSo  !"• 'it,  o  Loan.         'I  hen  the  Loan 
 said  unto  in.'.  Proclaim  all  these  words 
 
 in  tin'  cities  of  .Judah,  ami  in  tin-  si 
 
 of  Jerusalem,  saying,  Hear  ye  tin-  words 
 of  this  covenant,  and  do  them.  <"•  For 
 1  earnestly  protested  unto  your  fathers 
 
 in  the  day  that  I  brought  them  up  out 
 of  the  land  of  Egypt,  even  unto  this 
 day,  rising  early  and  protesting,  saying, 
 Obey  my  voice.  (S)  Sei  they  obeyed 
 not,  nor  inclined  their  ear,  but  walked 
 every  one  in  the  'imagination  of  their 
 evil  heart:  therefore  I  will  bring  upon 
 them  all  the  words  of  this  covenant, 
 which  I  commanded  them  to  do;  but 
 they  did  them  not. 
 
 M  Ami  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  A 
 conspiracy'  is  found  among  the  men  of 
 Judah,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of 
 
 thou  make  me  small;  but  tin'  English  Version  is  an 
 adequato  expression  of  the  meaning. 
 
 <-■'■>  Pour  out  thy  fury.— Tim  words  are  identical 
 witli  thoso  of  Ps.  lxxix.  6,  7,  but  it  is  more  probable  that 
 tlin  Psalmist  borrowed  from  the  Prophet,  By  many 
 critics  the  Psalm  is  referred  to  the  time  of  the  Macea- 
 beea,  ami  it  would  seem,  from  the  language  of  vereea 
 1 — 3,  that  it  must  at  any  rate  Imve  I u  after  the  de- 
 struction of  tho  Temple  by  the  Chaldeans.  On  the  last 
 supposition  the  two  writers  may  liavo  been  conteni- 
 poraries. 
 
 XI. 
 
 (D  The  word  that  camo  to  Jeremiah.— TIio 
 words  indicate  that  we  are  entering  on  a  distinct 
 messago  or  discourse,  which  goes  00  probably  to  the 
 end  of  chap.  xii.  No  date  is  given,  and  we  are  driven 
 to  infer  it  from  the  internal  eviden E  the  message 
 
 itsolf.  This  points  tn  an  early  period  of  Jeremiah's 
 work,  probably  in   the   reign  OX  Josiah.     The   invasion 
 
 of  tho  Chaldeans  is  noi  bo  near,  as  in  the  preceding 
 
 chapter.  Jeremiah  is  still  residing  at  Anathoth  (chap. 
 xi.  Bl).  By  some  critics,  however,  it  is  referred  to 
 the  reign  of  Jehoiaohin. 
 
 <-')  Tho  words  of  this  covonnnt.— The  phrase  had 
 obviously  acquired  a  definite  and  special  sense  in  con- 
 sequence of  the  discovery  of  the  losi  hook  of  the  Law 
 under  Josiah,  and  the  covenanl  into  which  the  people 
 had  then  entered  (oomp.  2  Kings  xxiii.  3).    The  "curse" 
 
 under  which  the  people  had  fallen  was  practically 
 identical    witli    that    in     Dent,     xxvii.    •_'»;.     the    word 
 
 "obeyeth"  being  substituted  for  "confirmeth." 
 M  Cursed  bo  the  man  .  .  .—The  verse  is,  as  it 
 
 were,  a  mosaic,  so  to  speak,  of  phrases,  with  slight 
 verbal  changes,  from  tho  recently  discovered  book  of 
 Deuteronomy — tho  "iron  furnace  from  Dent.  iv.  20; 
 1  Kings  viii.  51,  "  Hear  my  voice  and  do  them"  from 
 Deut.  xxviii.  1,  "Ye  shall  be  my  people"  from  Dent. 
 x\ix.  13.  Tho  "  iron  furnace  "was,  of  course.  Egypt, 
 tho  "furnace  of  affliction,"  as  in  [sn.  xlviii.  In.  in  which 
 the  people  had  endured  sufferings  of  which  that  was  the 
 
 only  adequato  symbol.  Tho  word  used  denoted  tho"fur- 
 naco  "  of  the  smi'lter,  but  the  actual  form  of  bondage 
 through  which  the  Israelites  had  passed,  working  in 
 tho  brick-kiln  furnaces  (Exod.  i.  It),  had  probably 
 given  a  special  force  to  the  phrase. 
 
 (5)  A  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey. — 
 
 Tho  description  appears  tor  the  first  ti iii  Bxod.  iii. 
 
 8, 17.    It  rapidly  became  proverbial,  and  is  pr incut 
 
 in  Deut.  vi.  3  and  Josh.  v.  6.  It  points  primarily,  it 
 may  bo  noticed,  to  the  plenty  of  a  pastoral  rather  than 
 an  agricultural  people  'sec  Xotc  on  Na.  vii.  28  .  ami  BO 
 far  to  the  earlier  rather  than  the  later  stages  of  the  life 
 of  Israel. 
 
 So  bo  it,  O  Lord.— The  Amen  of  tho  liturgies  and 
 litanies  of  Israel,  brought  probably  into  fresh  promi- 
 nence by  Deut.  xxvii.  15 — -•>.  and  uttered  by  primes 
 and  people  in  the  solemn  ceremonial  of  '_'  Kings  xxiii.  3. 
 
 (8)  In  the  cities  of  Judah  .  .  .—  It  is.  at  least. 
 
 probable  that  the  words  Bre  to  be  taken  literally,  and 
 that  the  prophet  went  from  city  to  city,  doing  his  work 
 
 as  a  preacher  of  repentance,  and  talons' the  new-found 
 book  of  Deuteronomy  as  his  text.    The  narrative  of 
 
 l!  Kings  xxiii.  13—20  indicates  an   iconoclastic  journey 
 
 throiighout  the  kingdom  as  made  by  Josiah;  and  the 
 
 prophetic  discourse  now  before  us.  enforcing  the  ob- 
 servance of  the  covenant  just   made,  would   have   been 
 
 a  fit  accompaniment  for  such  a  mission. 
 
 (7)  Bising  early. — The  phrase  in  its  spiritual  mean- 
 ing, as  applied  to  Jehovah,  is  almost  peculiar  to  Jeremiah, 
 and  is  used  by  him  twelve  times.  In  its  literal  sense, 
 or  as  denoting  only  ordinary  activity,  it  is  found  often, 
 e.g.,  Gen.  xx.  s ;  Pro  v.  xxvii.  14.  (See  Note  on  chap. 
 vii.  13.) 
 
 (8)  Imagination.— Better,  as  beforo  (chap.  iii.  17), 
 stiibbormnet*. 
 
 Therefore  I  will  bring  upon  them.— Better,  I 
 ham  brought  upon  flew.  The  words  contain  not  a 
 direct  prediction,  but  an  appeal  to  the  experiencoof  tho 
 pa-t  as  in  itself  foreshadowing  tho  future. 
 
 P  A  conspiracy.--The  words  explain  the  rapid 
 apostasy  that  followed  on  tho  death  of  Josiah.     There 
 
The  many  gods  of  Judah. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XI.         The  green  Olive-tree  burnt  and  broken. 
 
 Jerusalem.  (10>  They  are  turned  back 
 to  the  iniquities  of  their  forefathers, 
 which  refused  to  hear  my  words;  and 
 they  went  after  other  gods  to  serve 
 them :  the  house  of  Israel  and  the 
 house  of  Judah  have  broken  my  cove- 
 nant which  I  made  with  their  fathers. 
 <u>  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Be- 
 hold, I  will  bring  evil  upon  them,  which 
 they  shall  not  be  able  l  to  escape ;  and 
 "though  they  shall  cry  unto  me,  I  will 
 not  hearken  unto  them.  <12>  Then  shall 
 the  cities  of  Judah  and  inhabitants  of 
 Jerusalem  go,  and  cry  unto  the  gods 
 unto  whom  they  offer  incense :  but  they 
 shall  not  save  them  at  all  in  the  time  of 
 their  2trouble.  (13)  For  according  to  the 
 number  of  thy  'cities  were  thy  gods,  0 
 Judah ;  and  according  to  the  number  of 
 the  streets  of  Jerusalem  have  ye  set  up 
 
 1  Heb.,  to  go  forth 
 of. 
 
 a  Prov.  1. 28  :  Iaa. 
 1.15;  cb.  11.  12  ; 
 Kzek.  8.  18; 
 ilicah  3.  4. 
 
 3  Heb.,  shame. 
 
 c  cli.  7. 16;&14. 11. 
 
 4  Heb.,  evil. 
 
 d  Isa.  1. 11,  &c. 
 
 5  Heb.,  What  is  to 
 mil  beloved  in  my 
 house  ? 
 
 6  Or,  when  thy  evil 
 
 altars  to  that 3 shameful  thing,  even  altars 
 to  burn  incense  unto  Baal.  <u>  There- 
 fore cpray  not  thou  for  this  people, 
 neither  lift  up  a  cry  or  prayer  for  them  : 
 for  I  will  not  hear  them  in  the  time  that 
 they  cry  unto  me  for  their  Hrouble. 
 
 (15)  <*»What  hath  my  beloved  to  do  in 
 mine  house,  seeing  she  hath  wrought 
 lewdness  with  many,  and  the  holy  flesh 
 is  passed  from  thee  ?  6  when  thou  doest 
 evil,  then  thou  rejoicest.  (16)  The  Lord 
 called  thy  name,  A  green  olive  tree, 
 fair,  and  of  goodly  fruit :  with  the  noise 
 of  a  great  tumult  he  hath  kindled  fire 
 upon  it,  and  the  branches  of  it  are 
 broken.  <17)  For  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 that  planted  thee,  hath  pronounced  evil 
 against  thee,  for  the  evil  of  the  house 
 of  Israel  and  of  the  house  of  Judah, 
 which  they  have  done   against   theni- 
 
 liad  been  all  along,  even  while  he  was  urging  his  re- 
 forms, an  organised  though  secret  resistance  to  the 
 policy  of  which  he  was  the  representative. 
 
 (io)  Their  forefathers. — The  Hebrew  is  more 
 specific — their  first  fathers  (as  in  Isa.  xliii.  27),  with 
 special  reference  to  the  idolatries  of  the  forty  years' 
 wandering  and  the  first  settlement  in  Canaan. 
 
 They  went  after  other  gods.— The  Hebrew  pro- 
 noun is  emphatically  repeated,  as  pointing  back  to  the 
 subject  of  the  first  clause  of  the  verse,  the  men  of  Jere- 
 miah's own  time — "  they  have  gone  after  other  gods." 
 
 (H)  I  will  bring  evil. — The  Hebrew  expresses  im- 
 mediate action,  I  am  bringing. 
 
 (13)  According  to  the  number  of  thy  cities 
 .  .  . — This  and  verse  12  reproduce  what  we  have  heard 
 already  in  chaps,  ii.  27,  28  and  vii.  17.  The  "  shameful 
 thing  "  is,  as  in  chap.  iii.  24.,  the  image  of  Baal,  which 
 would  seem  to  have  been  set  up  openly  in  some 
 prominent  place  in  every  city  of  Judah,  every  street 
 of  Jerusalem.  The  reference  is  probably  made,  as 
 before,  to  the  formal  recognition  of  Baal-worship  in 
 the  days  of  Manasseh  (2  Kings  xxi.  3;  2  Chron. 
 xxxiii.  3),  but  the  sin  may  have  been  repeated  as  soon 
 as  the  restraint  of  Josiah's  reign  had  been  removed. 
 
 (14)  Therefore  pray  not. — The  words  imply,  as 
 in  chap.  vii.  16,  that  the  prophet's  human  feelings  had 
 led  him  to  pour  his  soul  in  passionate  intercession  that 
 the  penalty  might  be  averted.  He  is  told  that  it  is 
 at  once  too  early  and  too  late  for  that  prayer.  The 
 people  have  not  yet  been  moved  to  repentance,  and 
 their  cry  is  simply  the  wail  of  suffering.  The  discipline 
 must  do  its  work,  and  the  judgment  they  have  brought 
 down  on  themselves  can  be  stayed  no  longer. 
 
 (15)  My  beloved. — bo.,  Judah — or,  perhaps,  Israel 
 collectively — as  the  betrothed  of  Jehovah.  What  has 
 she  to  do,  what  part  or  lot  has  she  in  that  house  of 
 Jehovah  which  she  pollutes? 
 
 Seeing  she  hath  wrought  lewdness  with 
 many. — The  Hebrew  is  difficult,  and  probably  corrupt. 
 The  most  probable  rendering  is  What  hath  my 
 beloved  to  do  in  my  house,  to  worh  it  even  evil 
 devices  ?  Thy  many,  i.e.  (probably,  as  in  chap.  iii.  1), 
 thy  many  lovers,  and  the  holy  flesh  (i.e.,  her  sacrifices), 
 ivill  they  make  it  (the  guilt  of  her  devices)  to  pass  away 
 
 from  thee  ?  Keeping  the  present  text  of  the  Hebrew 
 the  latter  clause  would  run,  they  shall  pass  away  from 
 thee,  i.e.,  shall  leave  thee,  as  thon  wert,  unreconciled 
 and  unforgiven.  A  conjectural  emendation,  following 
 the  LXX.,  gives,  will  thy  vows  and  the  holy  flesh 
 remove  thy  evil  from  thee  .  .  .  The  general  sense  is, 
 however,  clear.  A  religion  of  mere  ritual-sacrifices 
 and  the  like  will  not  avail  to  save.  The  Hebrew  for 
 "  lewdness  "  does  not  convey  the  idea  which  we  now 
 attach  to  the  English  word,  but  means  primarily  a 
 plan  of  any  kind,  and  then  a  "device"  or  "  scheme  " 
 in  a  bad  sense,  as  in  Ps.  x.  2,  xxi.  11 ;  Prov.  xiv.  17. 
 Probably  the  translators,  here,  as  in  Acts  xvii.  5,  xviii. 
 14,  used  the  word  in  this  more  general  sense.  Primarily, 
 indeed,  "  lewd  "  in  Old  English  was  simply  the  opposite 
 of  "  learned." 
 
 When  thou  doest  evil,  then  thou  rejoicest. 
 — The  clause  is  involved  in  the  same  difficulty  as  the 
 rest  of  the  verse.  The  English  version  is  tenable,  and 
 gives  an  adequate  meaning.  By  some  commentators, 
 however,  the  passage  is  rendered,  referring  evil  to  the 
 previous  sentence,  Will  they  (vows,  &c.)  remove  evil 
 from  thee  ?     Then  mightest  thou  rejoice. 
 
 (16)  A  green  olive  tree. — The  parable  is  essentially 
 the  same,  though  a  different  symbol  is  chosen,  as  that 
 of  the  vine  of  Isa.  v.  1 ;  Jerem.  ii.  21,  or  the  fig-tree  of 
 Luke  xiii.  6.  The  olive  also  was  naturally  a  symbol 
 of  fertility  and  goodness,  as  in  Ps.  Hi.  8 ;  Hos.  xiv.  6 ; 
 Zech.  iv.  3,  11.  In  the  words  "the  Lord  called  thy 
 name  "  we  have  the  expression  of  the  Divine  purpose 
 in  the  "calling  and  election"  of  Israel.  This  was 
 what  she  was  meant  to  be. 
 
 Pair,  and  of  goodly  fruit. — The  words  point,  as 
 before,  to  the  ideal  state  of  Israel.  She  had  made  no 
 effort  to  attain  that  ideal,  and  therefore  the  thunder- 
 storm of  God's  wrath  fell  on  it.  The  word  for  "  tumult " 
 is  used  in  Ezek.  i.  24  for  the  sound  of  an  army  on  its 
 march,  and  is  probably  used  as  combining  the  literal  or 
 figurative  meaning. 
 
 (17)  The  Lord  of  hosts,  that  planted  thee.— As 
 in  chap.  ii.  21,  stress  is  laid  on  the  fact  that  Jehovah 
 had  planted  the  tree  and  bestowed  on  it  all  the  con- 
 ditions of  fruitfulness,  and  that  it  was  He  who  now 
 passed  the  sentence  of  condemnation. 
 
 46 
 
The  Proph  alto  the  Lord.  JEREMIAH,    XII.       The  Message  to  A  Anathoth. 
 
 selves  to  provoke  me  to  anger  in  offering 
 
 i use  mite  Baal. 
 
 <18'  Ami    tin'   Lobs   Lath   given    me 
 knowledge  of  it,  and  I  know  it:  then 
 
 thou  shewedst  nn'  their  doings.     (1:l)  lint 
 
 1  was  like  a  lamb  or  an  ox  that  is 
 brought  to  the  slaughter;  and  I  knew 
 not  that  they  had  devised  devices 
 againal  me,  saying,  Let  us  destroy  '  t  In ■ 
 tree  with  the  fruit  thereof,  ami  Ift  us 
 out  him  off  from  the  land  of  the  living, 
 that  his  name  may  be  no  more  re- 
 membered. '-'"'  But,  O  Lord  of  hosts, 
 that  judgest  righteously,  that  "triest 
 tin'  reins  and  the  heart,  let nte  see  thy 
 veii''ean<'e  on  them  :  for  unto  thee  have 
 I  revealed  my  cause. 
 
 i  1 1 ■  ii,  u 
 
 -  bnatl. 
 
 I 
 
 F.»;i  b  17.  10; A 
 30.  IS;  RIT.1A 
 
 I  Bi 
 
 nic  rt/umi 
 ■  uithtlue. 
 
 ■  :  \'-  ::: 
 1  ;  \  73.  3;  Hal. 
 1.4. 
 
 <-n  Therefore  thus  garth  the  Loan  of 
 
 the    nun    of    Anathuth,    that     - .  .  ■  k     t  liy 
 
 life,  Baying,  Prophesy  not  in  the  name 
 of  t  he  Loan,  I  bat  thou  die  not  bi  "ur 
 hand:  (*)  therefore  thus  saith  the  Loan 
 of  hosts,  Behold,  I  will  'purdah  them: 
 the  young  men  shall  die  by  the  sword; 
 
 their  suns  and  their  daughters  shall  die 
 
 by    famine:    <-';i    and    then.-    shall    he    no 
 
 remnant  of  them:  for  I  will  bring  evil 
 
 upon  the  men  of  Anathoth,  even  the 
 year  of  their  visitation. 
 
 CHAPTER    XII.— <»  Righteous   art 
 thou,  0  Lord,  when  I  plead  with  thee: 
 
 yel  let  me  talk  with  thee  of  thy  judg- 
 ments :  'Wherefore  doth  the  way  of  the 
 
 <18)  And  the  Lord  hath  given  me  knowledge. 
 — A  new  srrtion  opens  abruptly,  and  (he prophet  speaks 
 no  longer  of  the  sins  of  Israel  and  Judah  at  large,  hut 
 of  tlir  "doings"  iif  his  own  townsmen,  of  their  pints 
 against   his  life.     Unless  this  is  altogether  a  distinct 
 
 bag nt,  connected,  possibly,  with   chap,  ix.  8,  the 
 
 abruptness  suggests  the  inference  that  the  plots  of  the 
 men  of  Anathoth  against  him  had  suddenly  been 
 brought  under  his  notice. 
 
 OT  Like  a  lamb  or  an  ox. — Better,  as  a  tame 
 lamb,  i.e..  one,  like  the  ewe-lamb  of  Nathan's  parable 
 (2  Bam.  zii  3),  brought  up  in  the  homo  of  its  master. 
 There  is  no  "or"  iu  the  Hebrew,  and  the  translators 
 seem  to  have  mintuVan  the  adjectrve  (tame)  for  a  noun. 
 Tho  LXX.,  Vulg.,  and  Luther  agree  in  the  rendering 
 now  given.  Assuming  (lie  earlier  dato  of  Isa.  liii.  7, 
 the  words  would  seem  to  have  lieeu  an  allusive  refer- 
 enee  to  the  sufferer  there  described. 
 
 The  tree  with  tho  fruit  thereof.— Literally,  the 
 tree  with  its  bread,  here  taken  for  its  "fruit."  Some 
 scholars,  however,  render  the  word  "sap.''  or  adopt 
 a  reading  which  gives  1 1  ui t  meaning.  Tho  phrase 
 would  seem  to  be  proverbial  for  total  destruction,  not 
 of  the  man  only,  hut  of  his  work.  While  the  prophet's 
 life  had  been  innocent  and  unsuspecting,  bis  own  towns- 
 men were  conspiring  to  amah  him,  and  bury  his  name 
 and  work  in  oblivion.  The  sufferings  of  the  prophet 
 present,  in  tins  matter,  a  parallel  to  thoso  of  the  Christ 
 (Luke  to.  29). 
 
 i-"1  Let  mo  see  thy  vengeance  on  them.— Tho 
 prayor,  liko  that  of  the  so-called  vindictive  Psalms 
 (lxix.,  eix.i  belongs  to  tho  earlier  stage  of  the  re- 
 ligious life  when  righteous  indignation  against  evil  is 
 not  yet  tempered  by  the  higher  law  of  forgiveness. 
 As  such  it  is  not  to  lie  imitated  by  Christians,  hut 
 neither  is  it  to  bo  hastily  condemned.  Tho  appeal  to 
 a  higher  judge,  the  desire  to  leave  vengeance  iii  His 
 hands,  is  in  itself  a  victory  over  the  impulse  to  take 
 vengeance  into  our  own  hands.    Through  it.  in  most 
 
 eases,  the  sulferer  from  wrong  must  pass  before  he  can 
 attain  to  the  higher  and  more  ( Ihrist-like  temper  which 
 utters  itself  in  the  prayer.  "Father,  forgive  them,  for 
 they  know  not   what  they  do"  iLuke  xxiii.  St   . 
 
 Unto  thee  have  I  revealed  my  cause. — i.e.. 
 laid  it  bare  before  thee.  The  thought  and  the  phrase 
 were  eharaeteristie  of  Jeremiah,  and  meet  us  again  in 
 chap.  xx.  12. 
 
 (2i)  Thus  saith  the  Lord.— Tho  "  men  of  Ana- 
 thoth,"   it    would   seem,  had  at   first   tried  to  stop  the 
 
 preaching  of  Jeremiah  by  threats,  as  Amaziuh,  tho 
 
 priest  of  Bethel,  had  tried  to  stop  lliat  of  AmOS  Amos 
 vii.  12,  13).  Failing  in  this,  after  the  manner  ol  the 
 men  of  Nazareth  in  their  attach  on  the  Christ  (Luko 
 iv.  28,  29),  and  of  the  later  Jews  in  their  dealings  with 
 
 St.  Paul,  they  conspired  against  his  life  (Acts  iv.  2:'., 
 29,  xiv.  19,  xxiii.  I J  . 
 
 --'  The  young  men.— As  the  context  shows,  these 
 are  the  men  of  military  age  who  would  die  fighting, 
 while  their  children  should  perish  from  famine  within 
 the  walls  of  the  besieged  cities. 
 
 (88)  There  shall  be  no  remnant  of  them.— In 
 Ezra  ii.  23;  Neh.  vii.  27  we  find  that  12S  of  Anathoth 
 returned  from  exile.  The  words  must  therefore  bo 
 limited  either  to  the  men  who  had  conspired  against 
 the  prophet,  or  to  the  complete  deportation  of  its  inhabi- 
 tants. The  situation  of  Anathoth,  about  three  or  fonr 
 miles  north-east  of  Jerusalem,  would  expose  if  to  the  full 
 
 fury  of  the  invasion.  The  words  are  apparently  spoken 
 with  reference  to  the  ever-recurring  burden  of  Isaiah's 
 prophecy  that  "a  remnant"  should  return  I  Isa.  i.  '.'.  vi. 
 IS,  x.  21).  The  conspirators  of  Anathoth  were  ex- 
 eluded  from  that  promise. 
 
 Even  the  year  of  their  visitation.— See 
 on  chaps,  viii.  12,  x.  15. 
 
 XII. 
 
 The  sequence  of  the  several  sections  is  not  very 
 clear,  and  possibly  we  have  a  series  of  detailed  prophecies 
 
 put   together  without   system.    Verses  1 — :'•  seem  to 
 
 Continue  the  address  to  the  men  of  Anathoth,  verso  4 
 points  to  a  drought,  verse  12  to  the  invasion  of  the 
 Chaldeans,  verso  14  to  the  "evil  neighbours" — 
 Edomites,  Moabites,  and  others — who  exulted  in  the 
 fall  of  Judah. 
 
 t"  Yet  let  me  talk  with  thee.— The  soul  of  the 
 
 prophet   is  VBZed,  as    had    been    the    sonl  of  Job     eh  ip. 
 
 xxi.  7  .  of  Asaph  Ps.  lxxiii.  .  and  others,  by  the  ap- 
 parent anomalies  of  the  divine  government.  He  owns 
 as  a  general   truth    that    God   is   right.'., us,  "yet,"   ho 
 
 adds.  J  vill  speak  (or  argue]  myeouat    literally,  amuse) 
 
 With  Tine.  He  will  question  the  divine  Judge  till 
 his  doubt  is  removed.  And  the  question  is  the  ever- 
 recurring  one,  Wherefore  doth  the  way  of  the  wicked 
 
 J7 
 
Why  do  the  Wicked  Prosper  ? 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XII. 
 
 Foes  in  the  Household. 
 
 wicked  prosper?  wherefore  are  all  they 
 happy  that  deal  very  treacherously? 
 (2)  Thou  hast  planted  thein,  jrea,  they 
 have  taken  root:  1they  grow,  yea,  they 
 bring  forth  fruit :  thou  art  near  in  their 
 mouth,  and  far  from  their  reins.  <3)  But 
 thou,  0  Loed,  "knowest  me:  thou  hast 
 seen  me,  and  tried  mine  heart  3  toward 
 thee :  pull  them  out  like  sheep  for  the 
 slaughter,  and  prepare  them  for  the 
 day  of  slaughter.  W  How  long  shall 
 the  land  mourn,  and  the  herbs  of  every 
 field  wither,  *for  the  wickedness  of  them 
 that  dwell  therein?  the  beasts  are 
 consumed,    and    the     birds;      because 
 
 1  llub.,  they  go  on. 
 
 •J  Hub.,  with  the, 
 
 Or,    they    cried 
 a/ter  tittc  fully. 
 
 i  neb.  ,tjood  things. 
 
 said,   He   shall   not   see   our  last 
 
 they 
 end. 
 
 (5)  If  thou  hast  run  with  the  footmen, 
 and  they  have  wearied  thee,  then  how 
 canst  thou  contend  with  horses?  and 
 if  in  the  land  of  peace,  wherein  thou 
 trustedst,  they  wearied  thee,  then  how 
 wilt  thou  do  in  the  swelling  of  Jordan  ? 
 <6'  For  even  cthy  brethren,  and  the 
 house  of  thy  father,  even  they  have 
 dealt  treacherously  with  thee;  yea,  Hhey 
 have  called  a  multitude  after  thee : 
 believe  them  not,  though  they  speak 
 4fair  words  unto  thee. 
 
 (7)  I  have  forsaken  mine  house,  I  have 
 
 prosper?  (Comp.  Ps.  xxxvii.  l,lxxiii.  3.)  The  "treach- 
 erous dealing  "  implies  a  reference  to  the  conspirators 
 of  the  previous  chapter. 
 
 Wherefore  are  all  they  happy  .  .  .—Better, 
 at  rest,  or  secure. 
 
 (.")  Thou  hast  planted,  them.— The  words  express, 
 of  course,  the  questioning  distrust  of  the  prophet.  The 
 wicked  flourish,  so  that  one  would  think  God  had 
 indeed  planted  them.  Yet  all  the  while  they  were 
 mocking  Him  with  hypocritical  worship  (here  wo  have 
 an  echo  of  Isa.  xxix.  13),  uttering  His  name  with  their 
 lips  while  He  was  far  from  that  innermost  being  which 
 the  Hebrew  symbolised  by  the  "  reins." 
 
 (3)  Thou,  O  Lord,  knowest  me. — Like  all  faithful 
 sufferers  from  evil-doers  before  and  after  him,  tho  pro- 
 phet appeals  to  tho  righteous  Judge,  who  knows  how 
 falsely  he  lias  been  accused.  In  words  in  which  the 
 natural  impatience  of  suffering  shows  itself  as  clearly 
 as  in  the  complaints  of  Pss.  lxix.,  cix.,  ho  asks  that  the 
 judgment  may  bo  immediate,  open,  terrible.  As  if  re- 
 calling the  very  phrase  which  he  had  himself  but  lately 
 used  (chap.  xi.  19),  he  prays  thai  they  too  may  be  as 
 "sheep  for  the  slaughter,"  dragged  or  torn  away  from 
 their  security  to  the  righteous  penalty  of  their  wrong. 
 
 Prepare. — Better,  devote.  The  Hebrew  word,  as  in 
 chap.  vi.  4,  involves  the  idea  of  consecration. 
 
 (*)  How  long  shall  the  land  mourn  .  .  . — 
 The  Hebrew  punctuation  gives  a  different  division, 
 How  long  shall  the  land  mourn,  and  the  herbs  of 
 the  whole  field  (i.e.,  all  tho  open  country)  wither  ? 
 For  the  wickedness  of  them  that  dwell  therein,  cattle 
 and  birds  perish,  for,  say  they,  he  (i.e.,  the  prophet)  will 
 not  see  our  latter  end  (i.e.,  we  shall  outlive  him,  though 
 he  prophesies  our  destruction).  A  slightly  different 
 reading,  however,  adopted  by  tho  LXX.  and  by  some 
 modern  scholars,  would  give  for  tho  last  clause,  "  He 
 (God)  seeth  not  our  ways,"  i.e.,  will  leave  us  un- 
 punished. Tho  opening  words  point  to  a  time  of 
 distress,  probably  of  drought  and  famine.  But  out 
 of  this  wretchedness,  the  men  who  were  Jei'emiah's 
 enemies — tho  forestallers,  and  monopolists,  and  usurers 
 of  the  time — continued  to  enrich  themselves,  and  scorn- 
 fully defied  all  his  warnings. 
 
 <5)  If  thou  hast  run  with  the  footmen. — The 
 prophet  is  compelled  to  make  answer  to  himself,  and 
 the  voice  of  Jehovah  is  heard  in  his  inmost  soul  re- 
 buking his  impatience.  What  are  the  petty  troubles 
 that  fall  on  him  compared  with  what  others  suffer, 
 with  what  might  come  on  himself  ?  The  thought  is 
 not  unlike  that  with  which    St.   Paul   comforts   the 
 
 Corinthians  (1  Cor.  x.  13),  or  what  we  find  in  Heb. 
 xii.  4.  The  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is  plain  enough. 
 The  man  who  was  wearied  in  a  foot-race  should  not 
 venture  (as  Elijah,  e.g.,  had  done,  1  Kings  xviii.  46)  to 
 measure  his  speed  against  that  of  horses.  Tho  latter 
 ("the  swelling  of  Jordan")  suggests  the  thoughts  of 
 tho  turbid  stream  of  tho  river  overflowing  its  banks 
 in  the  time  of  harvest  (Josh.  iii.  15 ;  1  Chron.  xii.  15). 
 In  Zech.  xi.  3,  however,  the  same  phrase  (there  trans- 
 lated "  the  pride  of  Jordan  ")  is  used  apparently  in 
 connection  with  the  lions  and  other  beasts  of  prey  who 
 haunted  tho  jungle  on  its  banks  (chap.  xlix.  19;  1.  44), 
 and  that  may  be  the  thought  here.  Commentators 
 differ,  and  there  are  no  data  for  deciding.  In  any 
 case,  there  is  no  need  for  the  interpolated  words  of  the 
 English  Version.  The  sentence  should  run,  "  In  a 
 land  of  peace  thou  art  secure  (i.e.,  it  is  easy  to  be 
 tranquil  when  danger  is  not  pressing).  What  wilt 
 thou  in  the  swelling  (or,  amid  the  pride)  of  Jordan? 
 
 (6)  Thy  brethren. — It  is  not  certain  whether  we 
 are  to  think  actually  of  the  sons  of  the  same  father, 
 or  only  of  the  men  of  Anathoth  (chap.  xi.  23),  as  be- 
 longing to  the  same  section  of  the  priesthood.  Tho 
 language  of  chap.  ix.  5  favours  the  more  literal  render- 
 ing. In  any  case,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
 proverb  which  our  Lord  more  than  once  quotes,  "  A. 
 prophet  is  not  without  honour  savo  in  his  own  country 
 and  in  his  own  house"  (Matt.  xiii.  57;  Luke  iv.  24; 
 John  iv.  41),  probably  had  its  origin  in  the  sad  expe- 
 rience of  Jeremiah. 
 
 They  have  called  a  multitude  after  thee. — 
 Better,  have  shouted  a  full  shout  (in  our  English  phrase, 
 "have  raised  a  hue  and  cry")  after  thee. 
 
 (?)  I  have  forsaken  mine  house. — The  speaker 
 is  clearly  Jehovah,  but  the  connection  with  what  pre- 
 cedes is  not  clear.  Possibly  we  have,  in  this  chapter, 
 what  in  tho  writings  of  a  poet  woidd  be  called  frag- 
 mentary pieces,  written  at  intervals,  and  representing 
 different  phases  of  thought,  and  afterwards  arranged 
 without  tho  devices  of  headings  and  titles  and  spaces 
 with  which  modern  bookmaking  has  made  us  familiar. 
 So  far  as  a  sequence  of  thought  is  traceable,  it  is  this, 
 "Thou  complainost  of  thine  own  sufferings,  but  there 
 are  worse  things  yet  in  store  for  thee ;  and  what  after 
 all  are  thine,  as  compared  with  those  that  I,  Jehovah, 
 have  brought  upon  mine  heritage,  dear  as  it  is  to  me  ?  " 
 
 I  have  left. — Better,  I  have  cast  away. 
 
 Into  the  hand. — Literally,  the  palm,  as  given  over 
 utterly,  unable  to  resist,  and  not  needing  the  "  grasp  " 
 of  the  whole  hand. 
 
 48 
 
The  Lord's  Heritage  desolate. 
 
 .1  I']  It  KM  I A  1 1 ,    XII.        Souring  Wheat  and  i  Thorns. 
 
 left  mine  heritage;  1  have  riven  'the 
 dearly  beloved  of  my  boh!  into  the 
 hand  of  her  enemies.  '  Bline  beritage 
 is  miiIii  me  as*a  lion  in  the  forest;  it 
 •■crieth  cut  against  me:  therefore  have 
 I  hated  it.  i">  Mine  heritage  it  unto 
 me  as  a  'speckled  bird,  the  bin  Is 
 round  about  on;  against  ber;  come  ye, 
 assemble  all  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
 ■come  to  devour.     (1")  Many  pistons  have 
 
 destroyed  my  vineyard,  they  have  trod- 
 den my  portion  under  foot,  they  have 
 made  my  'pleasant  portion  a  desolate 
 wilderness.  (1U  They  have  made  it  de- 
 solate, and  bemg  desolate  it  monrneth 
 unto  iiic ;  the  whole  land  is  made  de- 
 solate, because  no  man  layeth  it  to  heart. 
 
 I   Uih.llie  turr. 
 
 Or,  ytllctli. 
 
 Heb.,  )H>rti&n  of 
 I 
 
 5:D    . 
 ,   Midi  6. 
 
 i  . ,   ii 
 
 1 1 
 
 "Ji  The  spoilers  are  come  upon  all  high 
 places  through  the  wilderness :  for  the 
 sword  of  the  Loan  .-hall  devour  from 
 
 t he  one  end  of  the  land  even  to  t he 
 other  end  of  the  land:   no  flesh  -hall 
 
 have  peace.      ,li|  'They  have  sown  wheat, 
 
 but  shall  reap  thorns:  they  have  |>ut 
 themselves  to  pain,  but  shall  not  profit : 
 
 and  they  shall  be  ashamed  of  your 
 revenues  because  of  the  tierce  anger  of 
 the  hoi.'o. 
 
 <")  Thus  saith  the  Lord  against  all 
 mine  evil  neighbours,  that  touch  the 
 inheritance  which  T  have  caused  my 
 [ieople  Israel  to  inherit;  Behold,  I  will 
 ''pluck  them  out  of  their  land,  and  pluck 
 out  the   house    of   Judah   from   among 
 
 (8>  As  a  lion  in  tho  forost.  —  i.e.,  fierce,  wild, 
 untuned,  uttering  its  sharp  yells  of  passion,  Tliat 
 mood  was  utterly  unlovable,  and  therefore,  speaking 
 after  the  manner  of  men,  the  love  which  Jehovah  had 
 once  felt  for  it  was  turned  to  hatred. 
 
 ('■')  Mino  horitago  is  unto  mo  as  a  speckled 
 
 bird. — The  Hebrew  is  interrogative,  fs  mine  heritage 
 
 .  ?    Arc  the  birds  corns  round  about  against  her? 
 
 Tho  word  for  "bird"  in  both  oases  means  a  "bird  of 
 
 (ire  y      (Isa.  xlvi.  11;   (ion.  xv.    Ill,   and  the  "  .speckled 
 
 bird  "  is  probably,  bnt  not  certainly,  some  less  i imon 
 
 species  of  vulture.    The  image  was  probably  suggested 
 
 by  something  the  prophet  had  observed,  birds  ox  prey 
 of  ouo    species  collecting   and    attacking  a  solitary 
 stranger  of  another,  joined  by  the  "  beasts  of  the  Geld, 
 the  wolves  and  jackals  and  hyienas,  who  soont  their 
 
 Eroy.  The  word  "speckled,"  perhaps,  points  to  the 
 ird  attacked  as  being  of  more  goodly  plmnago  than 
 tho  others  (ono,  it  may  be,  of  tho  kingfishers  that 
 abound  in  Palestine),  and  therefore  treated  as  a 
 stranger  and  an  enemy.  The  fact  is  ono  which  strikes 
 every  observer  of  bird  life  ^Tac.  Ann.  vi.  28;  Sueton. 
 Cos"  c.  Bl  i. 
 
 ii")  Many  pastors  havo  dostroyed  my  vine- 
 yard.— The  use  of  the  word  "  pastors,"  with  all  its 
 modern  spiritual  associations,  instead  of  "  Bhepherds  " 
 (Jeremiah  is  the  only  hook  in  the  ( >ld  Testament,  it 
 
 may  be  noted,  in  which  the  word  OCCUTb),  is  peculiarly 
 unhappy  in  this  pa— age.  where  the  "  |i:i-tors"  are  reek- 
 less  and  dost  met  h  e.  Sere  the  image  as  in  chap.  vi.  3) 
 is  thai  of  the  shepherds  of  a  wild,  nomadic  tribe  (who 
 
 represent   the  Chaldean   and   other   invaders),  breaking 
 
 down  the  fence  of  the  vineyard,  and  taking  in  their 
 flocks  to  browse  upon  the  tender  shoots  of  the  vine. 
 
 The  thought  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  "boar  out  of 
 the  wood  "  of  Ps.  Ixxx.  13,  but  the  "  shepherds  "  are 
 introduced  to  bring  in  the  thought  of  tho  organisation 
 
 and  systematic  plan  of  destruction. 
 
 (n)  Thoy  havo  made  it  desolate.— The  Ii 
 is  impersonal.   ••  One  has  made  it  .  .  .  ."  i.e.,  if  is  made 
 
 desolate.  As  in  other  poetry  of  strong  emotion,  the 
 prophet  dwells  with  a  strange  solemn  iteration  on 
 the  same  sound — "desolate,"  "desolate, '"desolate" — 
 thrice  in  the  same  breath.  The  Hebrew  word  shemdma, 
 so  uttered,  must  have  sounded  like  a  wail  of  lamenta- 
 tion. 
 Because  no  man  layeth  it  to  heart.— Better, 
 143 
 
 no  mam  laid  it  .  .  .    The  neglect  of  the  past  was  bear- 
 ing fruit  in  the  misery  of  the  present. 
 ,1-'1  All  high  places. — <>.,  the  bare  treeless  hi  ighte 
 
 so  often  chosen  a-  the  site  of  an  idolatrous  sanctuary. 
 
 The  sword  of  tho  Lord.— As  in  the  cry  of  "the 
 sword  of  Jehovah  and  of  Gideon"  [Judges  viL  18)  all 
 
 man's  work  in  war  is  thought  of  as  instrumental  in 
 working  out  a  Will  mightier  than  his  own.     The  •  | 
 
 of  the  Chaldean  invader  was.  after  all,  His  sword. 
 The  thought   was   more  or  less  the  eomiin.u  inheritance 
 
 of  Israel,  but  ii  had  recently  received  a  special  promi- 
 nence from  Dent,  xxxii.  H. 
 
 No  flesh  shall  havo  peace.— Tho  context  limits 
 the  prediction  to  the  offenders  of  the  citieeof  Judah. 
 As  peace  was  for  the  Israelite  the  sum  and  substance 
 
 of  all  blessedness,  so  its  absence  was  the  ext  remest  of 
 all  maledictions.  "Flesh"  is  used,  as  in  Gen.  vi.  ">, 
 for  man's  nature  as  evil  and  corrupt. 
 
 (13)  But  shall  reap  thorns. — Better,  have  reaped 
 thorns;  and  so  in  the  next   clause  they  he 
 nothing.    This  which  is  truer  to  the  Hebrew  is  also 
 
 truer  to  the  Prophet's  meaning.  The  sentence  of 
 failure   is  already   written    on    everything.      The   best 
 
 plans  are  marred,  the  "wheat"  turned  to  "thorn-." 
 
 The  word-  are  obviously  of  the  nature  of  a  proverbial 
 saving,  of  the  same  type  as  that  of  Hagg.  i.  Ii. 
 
 Thoy  shall  be  ashamed.— The  word  is  impera- 
 tive, be  <i,<h'nin  -', 
 
 Revenues.— The  word  had  not  acquired,  at   the 
 
 time  of  the  translation  of  1611,  the  exclusively  tinaneial 
 
 sense  which  now  attaches  to  it.  and  was  nseil  as  equiva- 
 lent  to  marease  or    "produce"   generally.     By  some 
 
 commentators  the  words  are  referred  to  the  conquerors, 
 who  are  to  be  ashamed  "f  their  -canty  spoil;  by  others 
 to  the  conquered,  who  are  to  find  all  their  hopes  nf 
 increase  disappointed.     The  latter  seems  preferable. 
 
 111  Thus  saith  the  Lord.— The  introduction  of 
 a  new  message   from    Jehovah,    speaking  through    the 
 
 prophet,  is  indicated  by  the  usual  formula. 
 
 Mine  evil  neighbours.— The-e  were  the  neigh- 
 bouring nations  —Ed  [oabitee,  Hagarenee  -who 
 I  in  the  fall  of  Judah.  and  attacked  h«r  in 
 her  weakness  -  Kings  mv.  1 .  Pss.  hecriii.  ■:— :•; 
 czxxvii.  7  .  In  the  midst  of  his  burning  indignation 
 against  the  sins  of  his  own  people  the  prophet  is  still  a 
 
 patriot,  and  is  yet    mote  indignant  at  those  who 
 
 her.     For  them,  too,  there  shall  be  a  like  chastisement 
 
The  Restoration  of  Judah. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XIII.  The  Girdle  on  the  Prophet's  Loins. 
 
 them.  '15>  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
 after  that  I  have  plucked  them  out  I 
 will  return,  and  have  compassion  on 
 them,  and  will  bring  them  again,  every 
 man  to  his  heritage,  and  every  man 
 to  his  land.  (16>  And  it  shall  come  to 
 pass,  if  they  will  diligently  learn  the 
 ways  of  my  people,  to  swear  by  my 
 name,  The  Lord  liveth ;  as  they  taught 
 my  people  to  swear  by  Baal ;  then  shall 
 they  be  built  in  the  midst  of  my  people. 
 <17>  But  if  they  will  not  "obey,  I  will 
 
 B.  c. 
 
 Clr.  'Hi'-'. 
 
 utterly  pluck  up  and  destroy  that  na- 
 tion, saith  the  Lord. 
 
 CBAPTER  XIII.— d)  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  unto  me,  Go  and  get  thee  a  linen 
 girdle,  and  put  it  upon  thy  loins,  and 
 put  it  not  in  water.  <2>  So  I  got  a 
 girdle  according  to  the  word  of  the 
 Lord,  and  put  it  on  my  loins. 
 
 W  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
 me  the  second  time,  saying,  <4>  Take  the 
 hast    got,    which   is 
 
 girdle   that    thou 
 
 (coinp.  chap.  xxv.  18 — 26),  but  not  for  them  so  signal  a 
 deliverance  as  that  in  store  for  Judah.  They  should 
 be  "plucked  out"  from  their  own  land,  Judah  from 
 the  land  of  its  exile. 
 
 <15)  I  will  return,  and  have  compassion  on 
 them. — The  words  refer,  as  verse  16  shows,  not  to 
 Judah  only,  but  to  the  "  evil  neighbours."  For  them 
 also  there  is  hope,  and  that  hope  is  bound  up  with  the 
 return  of  Judah.  Strong  as  was  the  prophet's  desire 
 for  retribution,  it  is  overpowered  by  the  new  love  shed 
 abroad  in  his  soul,  and  he  sees  that  it  does  not  exclude, 
 even  in  their  case,  the  pity  and  the  yearning  that  look 
 beyond  it  for  an  ultimate  restoration. 
 
 (is)  To  swear  by  my  name.— There  is  an  obvious 
 reference  to  the  hopes  expressed  in  chap.  iv.  2.  To 
 acknowledge  Jehovah  in  all  the  most  solemn  forms  of 
 adjuration  (comp.  chap.  v.  2 ;  Ps.  lxiii.  11),  and  to  do 
 this,  not  hypocritically,  but  in  the  spirit  of  reverence 
 and  righteousness,  was  the  ideal  state  of  the  restored 
 Judah.  To  be  led  by  her  example  of  faith  and  holiness, 
 instead  of  leading  her  to  acknowledge  Baal  by  like 
 forms  of  speech  as  they  had  done,  was  the  ideal  state 
 of  the  nations  round  about  her.  In  this  hope  the 
 prophet  was  echoing  that  of  Isa.  ii.  3 ;  Micah  iv.  2. 
 
 (1")  I  will  utterly  pluck  up.— In  this,  as  in  the 
 preceding  verse,  there  is  an  obvious  reference  to  the 
 prophet's  calling  as  described  in  chap.  i.  10,  the  self-same 
 word  being  used  as  that  which  is  there  rendered  "  root 
 out."  The  adverb  "  utterly "  answers  to  the  usual 
 Hebrew  reduplication  of  emphasis. 
 
 xin. 
 
 The  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  are  arranged,  it  must 
 be  remembered,  in  an  order  which  is  not  chronological, 
 and  that  which  we  have  now  reached  belongs  to  a  later 
 date  than  many  that  follow.  Comparing  the  notes  of 
 time  in  the  writings  of  the  prophet  with  those  in  the 
 history,  we  get  the  following  as  the  probable  sequence 
 of  events.  In  the  early  years  of  Jehoiakim  the 
 prophet's  preaching  so  provoked  the  priests  and  nobles 
 that  they  sought  his  life  (chap.  xxvi.  15).  Then  came 
 the  burning  of  the  roll  (chap,  xxxvi.  23),  which  Jere- 
 miah had  not  ventured  to  read  in  person.  This  was  in 
 the  fourth  year  of  that  king's  reign  (chap,  xxxvi.  1). 
 During  the  seven  years  that  followed  we  hear  little  or 
 nothing  of  the  prophet's  work.  Then  came  the  short 
 three  months' reign  of  Jehoiaehin,  and  he  re-appears  ou 
 the  scene  with  the  prophecy  in  this  chapter.  The  date 
 is  fixed  by  the  reference,  in  verse  18.  to  the  queen  (i.e.,  as 
 the  Hebrew  word  implies,  the  queen-mother)  Nehushta 
 (2  Kings  xxiv.  8),  who  seems  to  have  exercised  sove- 
 reign power  in  conjunction  with  her  son.  During  this 
 interval,  probably  towards  its  close,  we  must  place  the 
 journey  to  the  Euphrates  now  recorded.     There  are 
 
 60 
 
 absolutely  no  grounds  whatever  for  looking  upon  it  as 
 a  vision  or  a  parable,  any  more  than  thei-e  are  for  so  look- 
 ing on  the  symbolic  use  of  the  "  potter's  earthen  bottle  " 
 (chap.  xix.  1)  or  the  "  bonds  and  yokes  "  (chap,  xxvii.  21, 
 or  on  Isaiah's  walking  "  naked  and  barefoot "  (Isa.  xx.  2). 
 It  may  be  added  that  the  specjaL^ommand  given  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar  in  JHftehap.  xxxix.  11) 
 
 implies  some  prcvioua^aapii^pfl  ^m  may  reasonably 
 be  connected  with  this  visit.  T 
 
 (i)  A  linen  girdle.— The  point  of  comparison  is 
 given  in  verse  11.  Of  all  garments  worn  by  man  the 
 girdle  was  that  most  identified  with  the  man's  activity, 
 nearest  to  his  person.  The  "  linen  girdle  "  was  part  of 
 Jeremiah's  priestly  dress  (Exod.  xxviii.  40 ;  Lev.  xvi. 
 4),  and  this  also  was  significant  in  the  interpretation  of 
 the  symbolic  act.  Israel,  represented  as  the  girdle  of 
 Jehovah,  had  been  chosen  for  consecrated  uses.  The 
 word  "  get "  implies  the  act  of  purchasing,  and  this 
 too  was  not  without  its  symbolic  significance. 
 
 Put  it  not  in  water. — The  work  of  the  priest  as  a 
 ride  necessarily  involved  frequent  washings  both  of  flesh 
 and  garments.  The  command  in  this  case  was  there- 
 fore exceptional.  The  unwashed  girdle  was  to  represent 
 the  guilt  of  the  people  unpurified  by  any  real  contact 
 with  the  "  clean  water"  of  repentance  (Ezek.  xxxvi.  25). 
 In  the  "  filthy  garments "  of  Joshua,  in  Zeeh.  iii.  3, 
 we  have  a  like  symbolism.  This  seems  a  much  more 
 natural  interpretation  than  that  which  starts  from  the 
 idea  that  water  would  spoil  the  girdle,  and  sees  in  the 
 command  the  symbol  of  God's  care  for  His  people. 
 
 (3)  The  second  time.— No  dates  are  given,  but  the 
 implied  interval  must  have  been  long  enough  for  the 
 girdle  to  become  foul,  while  the  prophet  apparently 
 waited  for  an  explanation  of  the  strange  command. 
 
 (*)  Go  to  Euphrates. — The  Hebrew  word  Phrath 
 is  the  same  as  that  which,  everywhere  else  in  the 
 O.T.,  is  rendered  by  the  Greek  name  for  the  river, 
 Euphrates.  It  has  been  suggested  (1)  that  the 
 word  means  "  river  "  generally,  or  "  rushing  water," 
 applied  by  way  of  pre-eminence  to  the  "  great  river," 
 aud  therefore  that  it  may  have  been  used  here  in 
 its  general  sense ;  and  (2)  that  it  may  stand  here  for 
 Ephratah,  or  Bethlehem,  as  the  scene  of  Jeremiah's 
 symbolic  actions,  the  place  being  chosen  on  account 
 of  its  suggestive  likeness  to  Euphrates.  These  con- 
 jectures, however,  have  uo  other  basis  than  the 
 assumed  improbability  of  a  double  journey  of  two 
 hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  this,  as  has  been  shown, 
 can  hardly  be  weighed  as  a  serious  element  in  the 
 question.  In  chap.  Ii.  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
 writer  means  Euphrates.  It  may  be  noted,  too,  as  a 
 coincidence  confirming  this  view,  that  Jeremiah  appears 
 as  personally  known  to  Nebuchadnezzar  in  chap,  xxxix.  11. 
 
The  Journey  to  Euphrates, 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XIII. 
 
 Girdle  good  /or  nothing. 
 
 upon  thy  loins,  ;i i nl  arise,  go  to 
 Euphrates,  and  bide  it  there  is  b  hole 
 of  the  rook.  ' "  80  I  went,  ami  hid  it 
 by  Euphrates,  as  the  Lobd  commanded 
 
 UK'. 
 
 <01  And  it  came  to  pass  after  many 
 days,  that  the  Loud  Baid  unto  me, 
 Arise,  go  to  Euphrates,  and  take  the 
 girdle  from  theme,  which  I  commanded 
 thee  to  bide  there.  <7)  Then  I  went  to 
 Euphrates,  and  digged,  and  took  the 
 girdle  from  the  place  where  I  had  hid 
 it:  and,  hehold,  the  girdle  was  marred, 
 it  was  profitable  for  nothing. 
 
 <8>  Then  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 unto  me,  saying,  W  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord, 
 
 Alter  this  manner  will  I  mar  the 
 pride  of  JuilaU«Aa^^ha^jreiit  pride  of 
 Jerusalem.  (^B'L;  ^iL^jmde,  which 
 refuse  to  hearin7)^W>ms7wnich  walk 
 in  the 'imagination  of  their  heart,  and 
 
 I  Or,  ititbbomnc jj. 
 
 walk  after  otheT  gods,  to  terve   them, 
 and  to  worship  th. •in,  shall  even  b 
 this  girdle,  which  is  good  Bar  nothing. 
 "  For  as    the  girdle  cleaveth   t.«  the 
 
 of    a     man,    su    have    I    caused    to 
 cleave  lllltii  III.'  the  whole  llOUSe  "I'  I 
 
 and  the  wide  house  of  Judali,  saith  tic 
 
 ;  that  they  might  !"■  onto  me  for 
 
 a  people,   and    for    a    name,    and     1 
 praise,  and  for  a  glory  :    hut    they  would 
 
 ii..t  hear. 
 
 P*  Therefore  thou   shalt   speak   i 
 them  this  word;  Thus  saith  tic   Lobd 
 God  of  Isratd, 
 
 Every  bottle  shall  be  tilled  with  wine: 
 and  they  shall  say  unto  thee,  Do  we  not 
 certainly  know  that  every  bottle  shall 
 be  filled  with  wine  J  ";i  Then  shall  th"U 
 say  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lobd, 
 Behold,  I  will  till  all   the  inhabitant-   oi 
 
 this  land,  even  the  Mngs  that  sit  upon 
 David's  throne,  and  the  priests,  and  the 
 
 Those  who  make  Bphratah  the  sceno  of  what  is 
 here  recorded,  point  to  the  oavee  and  clefts  in  the 
 rocky  region  between  Bethlehem  and  the  Dead  Sea  as 
 agreeing  with  the  description.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
 form  Froth  is  nowhere  found  as  substituted  for  the 
 familiar  Bphratah. 
 
 A  hole  of  the  rook. — Better,  cleft.  In  the  lower 
 pari  nf  its  course  the  Euphrates  flows  through  au 
 alluvia]  plain,  and  tlio  words  point  therefore  to  some 
 pari  of  its  upper  course  above  Pyho,  where  its  course  is 
 through  a  valley  more  or  less  rocky. 
 
 (8)  After  many  days. — Hero  again  the  interval  is 
 undefined,  but  it  must  havo  been  long  enough  (we  may 
 conjecture,  perhaps,  seventy  days)  to  be  an  adequate 
 symbol  of   the  seventy  years' exile  which  the  act  of 
 
 pinning    I  ho    girille   by   Euphrates  represented.      So   in 
 
 Hosea   iii.  3  we   have   "  many  Ways  "   for   the   Undefined 
 
 duration  of  the  exile  of  the  Ton  Tribes. 
 
 (73  Tho  girdlo  was  marred.— The  symbolism  is 
 explained  in  verse  9.  The  girdle  stained,  decayed. 
 worthless,  was  a  parable  of  the  state  of  Tudah  after  the 
 exile,  stripped  of  all  its  outward  greatness,  losing  the 
 
 place  which  it  had  unco  occupied  among  the  nations  of 
 the  earth. 
 
 TO  The  pride  of  Judah.— As  the  girdle  v. 
 part  of  the  dress  on  which  most  ornamental  work  was 
 OOSUnonly  lavished.  SO  that  it  was  a  common  gift  among 
 princes  and  men  of  wealth  (1  Sam,  wiii.  I  ;  2  Sam. 
 xviii.  lit,  it  was  the  natuYal  symbol  of  the  outward 
 glory  of  a  kingdom.  As  Jeremiah  was  a  priest,  we 
 may,  perhaps,  think  of  the  embroidered   girdle   "far 
 
 glory   and    for   beauty"    of    the    priestly    £ess      Bxod. 
 
 X.xviii.    to-    K/.ek.  xliv.  17). 
 [10)  Imagination. — Better,  as  before,  stubborn 
 Shall  evon  be  as  this  girdle.— The  same  thought 
 
 is  reproduced  in  the  imagery  of  the  potter's  vessel  in 
 
 chap,  xviii.  1.  On  the  other  hand  there  is  a  partial  re- 
 versal of  the  sentence  in  chap.  x\iv.  5,  where  tie1  "good 
 figs"  represent  the  exiles  who  learnt  repentance  from 
 their  sufferings,  and  the  "  bad  "  those  who  still  remained 
 at  Jerusalem  under  Zedekiah, 
 
 Which  is  good  for  nothing.— Better, profitable 
 for  nothing,  the  Hebrew  verse  being  the  same  as  in 
 
 verso  7. 
 
 <ii)  The  whole  house  of  Israel.— Tho  acted  par- 
 able takes  in  not  only,  as  in  verse  !•.  Judah.  to  whom 
 the  warning  was  specially  addressed,  but  the  other 
 great  division  of  the  people.  The  sense  of  national 
 unity  is  still  strong  in  the  prophet's  mind.  Xot  Judah 
 only,  but  tho  whole  collective  Israel  had  been  as  tho 
 girdle  of  Jehovah,  consecrated  to  His  service,  designed 
 to  lie,  as  the  girdlo  was  to  man.  a  praise  and  glory 
 (Dent.  xx\i.  19  . 
 
 ('->  Every  bottle  shall  be  filled  with  wine.— 
 Another  parable  follows  on  that  of  the  girdle.    The 
 
 germ  is  found  in  the  phrase  "drunken,  but  not  with 
 wine  "  Na.  xxix.  '■'),  and  the  thought  rising  out  of  th  it 
 germ   that    the  effect  of   the   wrath  of    Jehovah    is  to 
 
 cause  an  impotence  and  confusion  like  that  of  drunken- 
 ness Ps.lx.Sj  Isa.li.  17.  Tin'  "  bottle  "  in  this  case 
 is  not  the  ••  skin  "  commonly  need  for  that  purpose,  but 
 
 the  earthen  jar  or  flagOU,  the  "  pottl  r*B  VBSSel  "  ,! 
 xxx.  1 1.  the  "  pitcher"  of  Lam.  iv.  2.     So  taken  we  find 
 an    anticipation    of    the  imagery  of  chaps,  xix.  1.  In, 
 xxv.  1">.     The  prophet  is  bidden  to  vro  and  proclaim  to 
 
 the  people  a  dark  saying,  which  in  its  literal  sense 
 would  seem  to  them  "the  idlest  of  all  truisms.  They 
 would  not  understand  that  the  -wine"  of  which  he 
 spoke  was  the  wrath  of  Jehovah,  and  therefore  they 
 would  simply  repeat    his   words   half  in  astonishment, 
 
 half  in  mockery,  "Do  we  not  know  this P    What  n     I 
 
 to  hoar  il   from  a  prophet's  lips  P  " 
 
 is)  The  kings  that  sit  upon  David's  throne. 
 
 — Literally,  that   sit  for    !'■-    '       ■   .as  his   gnOCeC 
 and    representatives'    OH    hit    Ihrovr.       The    plural    is 
 
 probably  used    in    pointing    to  the   four — Jehoahat 
 
 .lehoiakim.  Jelmiachiu.  and  Zedekiah — who  were  a  1  of 
 them  involved  in  the  sufferings  that  fell  on  Judah. 
 
 With   drunkenness.  — The  intoxication  of    tho 
 "  stron tr    drink" — here,    probably,   palm-win.' — r. 
 than   that   of  the  jui.v  of   the  grape,  involving  inoro 
 confusion  and  loss  of  power. 
 
 51 
 
Stumbling  on  the  dark  Mountains.         JEREMIAH,    XIII.       The  Lord's  Flock  carried  away  captive. 
 
 H\-I>.,   from    rfe- 
 stooging  Uiliu. 
 
 prophets,   and    all    the   inhabitants  of  '5;;1('„s';™ 
 
 Jerusalem,  with  drunkenness.    <U)  And 
 
 I  will  dash  them  Joue  against  another, 
 
 even  the  fathers  and  the  sons  together, 
 
 saith  the  Lord  :    I  will  not  pity,  nor 
 
 spare,    nor    have  mercy,   sbut  destroy 
 
 them. 
 
 <15'  Hear  ye,  and  give  ear ;  be  not 
 proud :  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken. 
 <16>  Give  glory  to  the  Lord  your  God, 
 before  he  cause  "darkness,  and  before 
 your  feet  stumble  upon  the  dark  moun- 
 tains, and,  while  ye  look  for  light,  he 
 turn  it  into  the  shadow  of  death,  and 
 make  it  gross  darkness.  (17J  But  if 
 ye  will  not  hear  it,  my  soul  shall  weep 
 in  secret  places   for   your   pride;    and  4 
 
 b  Lara.  I.  2,  16;  £• 
 
 2.18. 
 
 3  Or,  head  tires. 
 
 'mine  eye  shall  weep  sore,  and  run  down 
 with  tears,  because  the  Lord's  flock  is 
 carried  away  captive. 
 
 (18)  Say  unto  the  king  and  to  the 
 queen,  Humble  yourselves,  sit  down : 
 for  your  principalities  shall  come  down, 
 even  the  crown  of  your  glory.  <19)  The 
 cities  of  the  south  shall  be  shut  up,  and 
 none  shall  open  them :  Judah  shall  be 
 carried  away  captive  all  of  it,  it  shall  be 
 wholly  carried  away  captive.  <20)  Lift 
 up  your  eyes,  and  behold  them  that 
 come  from  the  north :  where  is  the  flock 
 that  was  given  thee,  thy  beautiful  flock  ? 
 (2i)  What  wilt  thou  say  when  he  shall 
 'punish  thee  ?  for  thou  hast  taught  them 
 to  be  captains,  and  as  chief  over  thee  : 
 
 (U)  One  against  another.— The  rendering  answers 
 to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  but  that  idiom,  as  in  the  margin, 
 a  man  against  his  brother,  has  a  force  which  is  Licking 
 in  the  English,  and  forms  a  transition  from  the  symbol 
 to  the  reality.  The  words  point  to  what  we  should  call 
 the  "  crash  "  of  a  falling  kingdom,  when  all  bonds  that 
 keep  society  together  are  broken. 
 
 (15)  Be  not  proud.— With  special  reference  to 
 the  besetting  sin  of  Judah,  as  described  in  verse  9 ; 
 perhaps  also  to  the  character  of  the  symbols  applied — 
 the  marred  girdle  and  the  broken  jar — as  being  in 
 themselves  humiliating,  and  therefore  a  trial  to  their 
 pride. 
 
 (16)  Give  glory  to  the  Lord  your  God.— Pro- 
 bably in  the  same  sense  as  in  Josh.  vii.  19  and  John  ix. 
 24,  perhaps  also  in  Mai.  ii.  2,  "  give  glory  by  confessing 
 the  truth,  even  though  that  truth  be  a  sin  that  involves 
 punishment."  "  Confess  your  guilt  ere  it  be  too  late 
 for  pardon."  This  fits  in  better  -with  the  context  than 
 the  more  general  sense  of  "  ascribing  praise  to  God." 
 
 Before  your  feet  stumble  upon  the  dark 
 mountains. — Literally,  the  mountains  of  twilight, 
 the  word  used  being  employed  exclusively  first  of  the 
 coolness  and  then  of  the  gathering  gloom  of  evening 
 twilight,  and  never  of  the  dawn.  (Compare  its  use  in 
 Job  iii.  9,  xxiv.  15 ;  Prov.  vii.  9.)  The  fact  that  the 
 shadows  are  deepening  is  obviously  one  of  the  vivid 
 touches  of  the  figurative  language  used.  The  "gloam- 
 ing" of  the  dusk  is  to  pass  on  into  the  midnight 
 darkness  of  the  "  shadow  of  death."  The  same  thought 
 is  found  in  Isa.  lix.  10,  and  (probably  with  some  re- 
 ference to  this  very  passage)  in  our  Lord's  words,  "  If 
 a  man  walk  in  the  night  he  stumbleth"  (John  xi.  10, 
 xii.  35). 
 
 (17)  My  soul  shall  weep  in  secret  places  for 
 your  pride.— The  words  present  no  difficulty  that 
 requires  explanation,  but  deserve  to  be  noted  in  their 
 exquisite  tenderness  as  characteristic  of  the  prophet's 
 temperament  (comp.  Lam.  i.  16),  reminding  us  of  the 
 tears  shed  over  Jerusalem  (Lnke  xix.  41)  and  of  St. 
 Paul's  "  great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  "  (Rom. 
 ix.  2).  Nothing  remained  for  one  who  found  his  labours 
 fruitless  but  silent  sorrow  and  intercession.  The 
 "  secret  places "  find  a  parallel  in  our  Lord's  with- 
 drawal for  prayer  into  a  "  solitary  place  "  (Mark  i.  35). 
 
 (IS)  The  queen. — Not  the  usual  word,  the  Hebrew 
 feminine   of    king,    but    literally    "the    great    lady" 
 
 ("  dominatrix,"  Vulg.),  the  title  of  a  queen-mother 
 (in  this  case,  probably,  of  Nehushta,  the  mother  of 
 Jehoiachin,  2  Kings  xxiv.  8),  sharing  the  throne 
 during  her  son's  minority.  The  same  word  is  used 
 of  Maackah,  the  mother  of  Asa  (1  Kings  xv.  13;  2 
 Kings  x.  13 ;  2  Chron.  xv.  16),  and  meets  us  again  in 
 chap.  xxix.  2. 
 
 Your  principalities. — Literally,  as  in  the  margin. 
 your  head-tires,  i.e.,  the  diadems  which  were  signs  of 
 kingly  state.  The  word  is  used  nowhere  else,  and  may 
 have  been  coined  by  the  prophet  or  taken  from  the 
 court  vocabulary  of  the  time. 
 
 (is)  The  cities  of  the  south.— Tho  term  thus  ren- 
 dered (the  Negeb)  is  throughout  the  Old  Testament 
 used  for  a  definite  district,  stretching  from  Mount 
 Halak  northward  to  a  line  south  of  Eugedi  and 
 Hebron.  Tho  strategy  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  attack  (as 
 it  had  been  of  Sennacherib's,  2  Kings  xviii.  13)  was  to 
 blockade  the  cities  of  this  region,  and  then,  when  they 
 were  cut  off  from  sending  assistance,  to  attack  Jerusalem. 
 
 Shall  be  shut  up  .  .  .  shall  be  carried  away. 
 — Both  verbs  shoidd  be  in  the  present  tense,  are  shut 
 up,  is  carried  aivay. 
 
 (20)  Lift  up  your  eyes. — The  Hebrew  verb  is 
 feminine  and  singular,  the  possessive  pronoun  mascu- 
 line and  plural.  Assuming  the  reading  to  be  correct, 
 the  irregularity  may  have  been  intended  to  combine 
 the  ideal  personification  of  Jerusalem,  the  daughter  of 
 Zion,  as  the  natural  protectress  of  the  other  cities,  with 
 the  concrete  multitude  of  her  inhabitants.  The  "  beau- 
 tiful flock  "  of  those  cities  had  been  committed  to  her 
 care,  and  she  is  now  called  to  give  an  account  of  her 
 stewardship. 
 
 Them  that  come  from  the  north. — These  are, 
 of  course,  as  in  chap.  i.  14  and  elsewhere,  the  invading 
 army  of  tho  Chaldeans,  and  probably  also  their  Scythian 
 allies. 
 
 (21)  "What  wilt  thou  say  ?— The  verse  is  difficult, 
 and  requires  an  entire  retranslation.  Wliat  wilt  thou, 
 (the  daughter  of  Zion)  say  1  for  He  (Jehovah)  shall  set 
 over  thee  as  head  those  whom  thou  taughtest  (=tried  to 
 teach)  to  be  thy  familiar  friends.  This  was  to  be  the 
 end  of  the  alliance  in  which  Judah  had  trusted.  She 
 had  courted  the  Chaldean  nobles  as  her  lover-guides  and 
 friends  (the  word  is  the  same  as  in  Jer.  iii.  4 ;  Ps.  lv.  13; 
 Prov.  ii.  17,  xvi.  28).  Another  possible  construction 
 gives,  shall  set  over  thee  those  whom  thou  delightest 
 
The  Ethiopian  and  tht  Leopard, 
 
 .Ii:i:  K.MIA  II.    XIV. 
 
 The  '/'■  rrore  of  the  Drought 
 
 shall  imt  sorrows  take  thee,  as  a  woman  n*iaia 
 
 in  travail P    (--'  Ami  ii'tfioil  say  in  thine 
 
 heart,'  Wnereforo  come  these  thiii^sn  pun 
 
 me?    Foi-tlicLTi-i'atnessof  thine  iniquity 
 
 arc  thv  skirts  discovered, and  thy  heels 
 
 'made  bare. 
 
 Can  tlic  Ethiopian  change  liis 
 skin,  or  the  leopard  Ms  spots  y  then 
 may  ye  also  do  good,  thai  are  'accus- 
 tomed i'>  do  evil.  ,-"  Therefore  will  I 
 BCatter  them  as  the  st.uhhle  that  passeth 
 away  by  the  wind  of  the  wilderness. 
 -  This  it  thy  lot,  the  portion  of  thy 
 measures  from  me,  saith  the  Lord; 
 because  thou  hast  forgotten  me,  and 
 trusted  in  falsehood.  ,-',1)  Therefore 
 will  [  discover  thy  skirts  upon  thv  (ace, 
 that    thy   shame   may    appear.      ,jri    I 
 
 I  Dr.  «Vill  In  rin- 
 taken 
 
 11  a 
 
 1  lid'. 
 
 have  Been  thine  adulteries,  and  thy 
 neighings,  the  lewdness  of  thy  whore- 
 dom,  and  thine  abominations  on   the 
 
 hills   in    the    fields.      Woe    unto   tli 
 
 Jerusalem !    wilt     thou    not    I"-    1 
 clean ?  'when  shall  it  once  &<  ? 
 
 rHAPTER  XIV.—"'  The  word  of 
 tin'  Lobd  that  came  to  Jeremiah  con- 
 cerning 'the  dearth. 
 
 w  Judah  mourneth,  and  ti 
 thereof  languish  ;  they  are  black  onto 
 the  ground ;  and  the  cry  of  Jerusalem 
 is  gone  up.  ;'  And  their  oobles  have 
 sent  their  little  ones  to  the  waters: 
 they  came  to  the  pits,  and  found  no 
 water;  they  returned  with  their  vessels 
 empty;    they    were     ashamed    and    COU- 
 
 to  he  Hi ij  friends  as  head  over  thee,  i.e.,  those  whoso 
 supremacy  Judah  had  acknowledged  in  order  that  -In- 
 might  cuiirt  their  alliance.  What  could  come  then  but 
 that  which  was  to  tin'  Hebrew  the  type  of  extremes! 
 anguish  (Isa.  xiii.  8,  xxi.  :>;  l's.  xlviii.  id.  the  travail- 
 
 {gs  wliirh  were  followed  by  no  .joy  that  a  man  was 
 into  the  world  (John  xvi.  21  |  r 
 <-->  Aro  thy  skirts  discovered.— Tlio  "skirts," 
 
 01  Sowing  train,  worn  by  women  of  rank,  the  removal 
 of  which  was  the  sign  of  extremest  degradation  ilsa. 
 xx.  I.  xlvii.  2:  Ezek. xxiii.  29;  Hos.  ii.  3;  Nahum  iii.  S 
 
 Thy  heels  made  bare. — Better.  outraged,  ot die- 
 ted,   made    to    walk    barefoot,   like    menial    --laves; 
 possibly,    like   the   outcast    harlot.     Compare   Isaiah's 
 walking  "naked  and  barefoot  "  as  the  symbol  of  the 
 coming  degradation  of  his  people  (Isa.  xx.  2—  1 1. 
 
 -;  Can  the  Ethiopian  .  .  .?— Literally,  the 
 Ctuhite,  The  meaning-  of  the  question  is  obvious. 
 The  evil  of  Judah  was  too  deep-ingrained  m  be  capable 
 of  spontaneous  reformation.  There  remained  nothing 
 but  the  sharp  discipline  of  the  exile.  The  invasion 
 of  Tirhakah  and  Pharaoh-nechoh,  the  presence  of 
 Ethiopians  among  the  servants  of  the  royal  household 
 (chap,  xxxviii.  101  the  intercourse  with  the  upper  valley 
 of  the  Nile  implied  in  Zcph.  iii.  Ill  and  Pss.  lxviii.  31. 
 lxxxvii.  1.  had  made  the  swarthy  forms  of  Africa 
 familiar  objects.  Possibly  the  use  of  leopard-skins  by 
 Ethiopian  princes  and  warriors,  as  seen  on  Egyptian 
 monuments  and  described  by  Herodotus  vii.  <'•'.'<  .  had 
 associated  the  two  thoughts  together  in  the  prophet's 
 mind.  If  the  king's  household  were  present  as  in 
 verse  18),  he  may  have  pointed  to  such  an  one.  Ehed- 
 melech  ichap.  xxxviii.  In),  or  another  so  arrayed,  in 
 illustration  of  his  words. 
 
 t-'1  Stubble. — Our  English  word  means  the  "  stalks 
 of  the  corn  left  in  the  field  by  the  reaper"    Johnson  . 
 
 The    Hebrew  word  is  applied  to  the  broken  straw  left 
 
 on  the  threshing-floor  after  the  oxen  hail   1 n  driven 
 
 Over  the  corn,  which  was  liable  to  bo  carried  away  by 
 the  first  gale    Isa.  xl.  21.  xli.  2). 
 
 The  wind  of  the  wilderness.— i.e..  the  simoom 
 blowing  from  the  Arabian  desert  (chap.  iv.  11;  Job 
 i.  19  .  ' 
 
 -  Tho  portion  of  thy  measures.— The  mean- 
 ing of  the  latter  word  is  douhtfnl,  but  it  is  probably 
 used,  as  in  1  Sam.  iv.  12;   Lev.  vi.  11 ;  2  Sam.  xx.  8; 
 
 :>3 
 
 Ruth  iii.  15,  for  the  "upper  garment"  or  "iai> 
 the  dress.     Jn  this  sense  ihe  phrase  is  connected  with 
 
 those   which    speak    of    reward    or    punishment    Ixing 
 
 given  men  "into  their  bosom"  (chap,  xxxii.  18;  Ps. 
 
 Ixxix.  12;   Prov.  xxi.  1  I  >. 
 
 In  falsehood.— Better,  perhaps,  in  a  lie,  i.e.,  iu  the 
 
 worship  of   false  gods  that  were  no  gods. 
 
 -')  Therefore  will  I  discover  .  .  .—The  threat 
 is  substantially  the  same  as  that  in  verse  22.  The  form 
 is  verbally  identical  with  that  of   Xahuni  iii.  5. 
 
 '-'">  Thine  adulteries.— The  words  refer  primarily 
 to  the  spiritual  adultery  of  tin-  idolatries  of  Judah. 
 The  "neighings,"  as  in  chap.  iL  21.  v.  B,  express  tho 
 unbridled  eagerness  of  animal  passion  transferred  in 
 this  passage  to  tho  spiritual  sin.  The  "abominations 
 on  the  hills"  aro  the  orgiastic  rites  of  tho  worship  of 
 the  high  places,  which  ate  further  described  as  "in  the 
 field''  to  emphasise  their  publicity. 
 
 "Wilt  thou  not  bo  made  clean?— Bitter,  fhou 
 wilt    not   be  cleansed;    after   how  long  E  d  as 
 
 the  last  words  are.  they  in  some  measure  soften  tho 
 idea  of  irretrievable  finality.  "  Will  the  time  ever  come, 
 and   if  so,   when?"     Like"  the   cry  addi  od, 
 
 How  long.  O  Lord  .  .  ."Rev.  vi.  10),  it  implies  a 
 hoi"1,  though  only  just  short  of  despair. 
 
 XIV. 
 0)  Concerning  the   dearth.— Literally,  i 
 
 lOOrd  0T  tidings  of  the  drought.  This  is  clearly  the 
 opening  of  a  new  discourse,  which  continues  to  chap. 
 xvii.  18;  but  as  no  special  calamity  of  this  kind  is  men- 
 tioned in  the  historical  account  of  Jeremiah's  life,  its 
 date  cannot  be  fixed  with  certainty.  As  chap.  xv.  IS 
 implies  that  he  had  already  Buffered  seorn  or  persecu- 
 tion for  his  prophetic  work,  we  may  reasonably  assume 
 sonic  period  not  earlier  than  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim. 
 (8)  The  gates  thereof  languish.— Tho  "s 
 
 of  the  cities,  as  the  chief  places  of  enncour-e.  like  the 
 0  of  Greek  cities,  are  taken  figuratively  for  the 
 inhabitants,  who  in  the  "black"  garments  of  BOITOW 
 and  with  the  pallor  of  the  famine,  in  which  all  I 
 gather  blackness,  are  crouching  upon  tho  ground  in 
 t  heir  despair. 
 
 11  Their  little  ones.— Xot  their  children,  but 
 menial  servants.     The  word   is  peculiar  to  Jeremiah, 
 and  occurs  only  here  aud  in  chap,  xlviii.  -t.     The  vivid 
 
The  Prophet's  Prayer  in  the  Drought.       JEREMIAH,    XIV  .  The  Lord's  Answer  to  the  Prayer. 
 
 founded,  and  covered  their  heads. 
 <4>  Because  the  ground  is  chapt,  for 
 there  was  no  rain  in  the  earth,  the 
 plowmen  were  ashamed,  they  covered 
 their  heads.  <5>  Yea,  the  hind  also 
 calved  in  the  field,  and  forsook  it,  be- 
 cause there  was  no  grass.  <0'  And  the 
 wild  asses  did  stand  in  the  high  places, 
 they  snuffed  up  the  wind  like  dragons  ; 
 their  eyes  did  fail,  because  there  ivas  no 
 grass. 
 
 W  O  Lord,  though  our  iniquities 
 testify  against  us,  do  thou  it  for  thy 
 name's  sake :  for  our  backslidings  are 
 many;  we  have  sinned  against  thee. 
 (8)  O  the  hope  of  Israel,  the  saviour 
 thereof  in  time  of  trouble,  why  shouldest 
 
 l  Heb.,Mn/  name  te 
 called  upon  us, 
 
 a  Exod.  32. 10;  cli. 
 7.  10  ;&  11. 1J. 
 
 l>  Prnv.  l.  28  ;  Isa. 
 1.  15;  ch.  11.  11; 
 Ezuk.8.18;Hicah 
 3.4. 
 
 thou  be  as  a  stranger  in  the  land,  and 
 as  a  wayfaring  man  that  turneth  aside 
 to  tarry  for  a  night  ?  <9>  Why  shouldest 
 thou  be  as  a  man  astonied,  as  a  mighty 
 man  that  cannot  save  ?  yet  thou,  O 
 Loed,  art  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  'we 
 are  called  by  thy  name ;  leave  us  not. 
 
 (io)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  this 
 people,  Thus  have  they  loved  to  wander, 
 they  have  not  refrained  their  feet,  there- 
 fore the  Lord  doth  not  accept  them ;  he 
 will  now  remember  their  iniquity,  and 
 visit  their  sins. 
 
 <n)  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  me, 
 "Pray  not  for  this  people  for  their  good. 
 (12)  «When  they  fast,  I  will  not  hear  their 
 cry ;  and  wheii  they  offer  burnt  offering 
 
 picture  of  the  messengers  running  hither  and  thither 
 to  all  wells,  and  springs,  and  tanks,  reminds  us  of 
 Ahsb's  search  for  wells  or  springs  in  the  time  of  the 
 great  drought  of  his  reign  (1  Kings  xviii.  5),  of  the 
 "  two  or  three  cities  wandering  "  to  the  one  city  that 
 was  yet  supplied  with  water  of  Amos  iv.  8. 
 
 The  pits.— The  tanks  or  reservoirs  where,  if  any- 
 where, water  might  be  looked  for. 
 
 Covered  their  heads.— The  extremest  sign  of  a 
 grief  too  great  to  utter  itself  to  others,  craving  to  be 
 alone  in  its  wretchedness  (2  Sam.  sv.  30,  xix.  4).  The 
 student  will  recollect  it  as  occurring  also  in  the  account 
 of  the  painting"  of  Agamemnon  at  the  Sacrifice  of 
 Iphigenia,  ascribed  to  Tiinauthes. 
 
 (*)  The  ground  is  ehapt.—  The  word  is  so  vivid  as 
 describing  the  long  fissures  of  the  soil  in  a  time  of 
 drought  that  one  admits  with  reluctance  that  no  such 
 meaning  is  found  in  the  Hebrew  word,  which  simply 
 means  is  struck  with  terror.  The  translators  ap- 
 parently followed  Luther,  who  gives  lechzet — "  lan- 
 guishes for  thirst,"  "gapes  open  with  exhaustion,"  and 
 so  applied  to  the  earth,  "  is  cracked  or  chapt." 
 
 As  the  "  gates  "  in  verse  2  stood  for  the  people  of 
 the  city,  so  the  "  ground  "  stands  here  as  in  visible 
 sympathy  with  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  "  plowmen  "  of 
 the  next  clause. 
 
 They  covered  their  heads.— There  is  a  singular, 
 almost  awful,  pathos  in  the  iteration  of  this  description. 
 Cities  and  country  alike  are  plunged  into  the  utter 
 blackness  of  despair. 
 
 <5)  Yea. — Better,  For,  as  the  Hebrew  is  usually 
 translated.  What  follows  gives  the  reason  of  the 
 terror  which  has  come  upou  the  people.  Each  region 
 has  its  representative  instance  of  misery.  The  hind 
 of  the  field  (the  female  of  the  common  stag — the  Cervus 
 elaplius  of  zoologists),  noted  for  its  tenderness  to  its 
 young,  abandons  it,  and  turns  away  to  seek  pasture  for 
 itself,  and  fails  to  find  any. 
 
 (6)  The  wild  asses.— From  the  field  the  prophet's 
 eye  turns  to  the  bare  hill-tops  of  the  "  high  places," 
 and  sees  a  scene  of  like  distress.  The  "  wild  asses  " 
 seem  turned  to  beasts  of  prey,  and  stand  gaping  for 
 thirst,  as  the  jackals  (not  "  dragons  " — comp.  chap.  ix. 
 11)  stand  panting  for  their  prey.  By  some  scholars 
 the  word  is  taken  as  meaning,  like  a  kindred  word  in 
 Ezek.  xxix.  3,  xxxii.  2,  "  crocodiles,''  with  their  wide 
 gaping  jaws. 
 
 There  was  no  grass. — The  word  is  not  the  same 
 as  that  in  verse  5,  and  implies  a  larger  and  ranker 
 herbage  than  that  on  which  the  hind  fed. 
 
 (7)  O  Lord  .  .  . — From  the  picture  of  suffering  the 
 prophet  turns  to  a  prayer  for  pardon  and  a  confession 
 of  sins.  He  is  sure  that  the  drought  has  not  come 
 without  cause,  and  that  it  calls  men  to  repentance. 
 
 Do  thou  it. — Better,  more  generally,  act  thou,  not 
 according  to  the  rigour  of  inexorable  justice,  but  ac- 
 cording to  the  Name  which  witnesses  of  mercy  and 
 long-suffering  (Exod.  xxxiv.  6). 
 
 (8)  As  a  wayfaring  man  .  .  .—No  image  could 
 paint  more  vividly  the  sense  of  abandonment  which 
 weighed  on  the  prophet's  heart.  Israel  had  looked  to 
 Jehovah  as  its  help  and  stay,  its  watchful  guardian. 
 Now  he  seemed  as  indifferent  to  it  as  the  passing  tra- 
 veller is  to  the  interests  of  the  city  in  the  inn  or  khan 
 of  which  he  lodges  for  a  single  night. 
 
 ('■>)  As  a  man  astonied. — The  word  so  rendered 
 is  not  found  elsewhere,  but  cognate  words  in  Arabic 
 have  the  meaning  of  being  startled  and  perplexed. 
 
 Thou,  O  Lord,  art  in  the  midst  of  us.— After 
 all,  then,  so  the  prophet's  reviving  faith  tells  him, 
 Jehovah  is  more  than  the  passing  guest.  He  abides 
 still  among  His  people.  He  is  as  a  mighty  man,  strong 
 to  save,  though  as  yet  He  refrains  from  action. 
 
 We  are  called  by  thy  name. — Literally,  as  in 
 the  margin,  Thy  name  is  called  upon  us,  i.e.  (as  in 
 Isa.  iv.  1,  lxiii.  19,  lxv.  1),  "  we  are  still  recognised  as 
 Thine,  the  people  of  Jehovah." 
 
 (io)  Thus  have  they  loved  to  wander.— The 
 prophet  has  to  tell  the  people  that  Jehovah's  answer 
 to  his  prayer  is  one  of  seeming  refusal.  The  time  of 
 pardon  has  not  yet  come.  The  prophet  is  told  that 
 now  (the  adverb  is  emphasised)  is  the  time  for  remem- 
 bering iniquity  and  visiting  sins.  The  latter  half  of 
 the  verse  is  a  verbal  quotation  from  Hosea  viii.  13.  The 
 opening  word  "  thus  "  appears  to  point  back  to  the 
 "many  backslidings"  of  verse  7. 
 
 (ii)  Pray  not  .  .  .—As  before,  in  chaps,  vii.  16,  xi.  14, 
 the  saddest,  sternest  part  of  the  prophet's  work  is  to 
 feel  that  even  prayer — the  prayer  that  punishment  may 
 be  averted — is  unavailing  and  unaccepted. 
 
 (12)  An  oblation.— The  minchah  or  meat-offering 
 of  Lev.  ii.  1.  We  need  not  assume  that  the  fast  and 
 the  sacrifice  were  necessarily  hypocritical,  though  doubt- 
 less much  of  this  mingled  itself  with  the  worship  of 
 
 54 
 
The  Prophet*  that  prophesy  Lies, 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   XIV. 
 
 and  ill'  w  PunUhm  n>. 
 
 and  an  oblation,  I  will  not  accept  tlu-ni : 
 but  I  will  consume  them  1  > \  tin'  Bword, 
 aud  by  Hi''  t ;  l  1 1 1  i  i  n  • ,  and  by  1 1 1  *  -  pesti- 
 lencc. 
 
 <13)  Then  said  I,  Ah,  Lord  God!  be- 
 hold, thf  prophets  say  unto  them,  Ye 
 ■hall  not  see  tlie  sword,  neither  shall 
 ye  have  famine  ;  but  I  will  give  you 
 'assured  peace  in  this  place. 
 
 <u>  Then  the  Loud  said  unto  me,  The 
 prophets  prophesy  lies  in  my  name  :  •  I 
 sent  them  not,  neither  have  I  com- 
 manded them,  neither  spate  unto  them  : 
 they  prophesy  unto  you  a  false  vision 
 and  divination,  and  a  thing  of  aought, 
 and  the  deceit  of  their  heart.  (15)  There- 
 fore thus  saith  the  Lord  concerning  the 
 prophets  that  prophesy  in  my  name,  and 
 I  sent  them  not,  yet  they  say,  Sword 
 and  famine  shall  not  be  in  this  land; 
 By  sword  and  famine  shall  those  pro- 
 phets be  consumed.  (1(i>  And  the  people 
 to  whom  they  prophesy  shall  be    cast 
 
 1    II.  h, 
 trulh. 
 
 b  rh.  U 
 
 1  i  ia 
 
 10] 
 not.  ch.  6.  SI. 
 
 out  iii  the  Btreett  of  Jerusalem  because 
 of  the  famine  and  the  sword ;  and  they 
 
 shall   have   none    to   !>ury    them,    them, 
 
 their  wives,  nor  their  sons,  nor  their 
 daughters:  for  1  will  pour  their  wicked- 
 ness apOH  them. 
 
 M)  Therefore  thou  shall  say  this  word 
 
 unto  them  :  Let  mine  eyes  run  down 
 with  tears  night  and  day,  and    lei    them 
 
 not  cease:  for  the  virgin  daughter  oi 
 iu\  people  is  broken  with  agree!  breach, 
 
 with  a  very  grievous  blow.  '  1 1  I  go 
 forth  into  the  field,  then  lie  hold  the  slain 
 with  the  sword  !  and  if  1  enter  into  the 
 city,  then  behold  them  that  are  sick 
 Avith  famine!  yea,  both  the  prophet 
 and  the  priest  -go  about  into  a  land  that 
 they  know  not.  Ml  Hast  thou  utterly 
 rejected  Judah?  hath  thy  soul  lothed 
 ZionP  why  hast  thou  smitten  us,  and 
 tin  re  is  no  healing  for  as  9  we  looked  for 
 peace,  and  there  is  no  good:  and  for  Un- 
 tune  of  healing,  and   behold  trouble! 
 
 Israel  now  us  it  had  ilono  in  the  days  of  Isaiah,  and 
 mot  with  a  like  rejection  (Isa.  i.  15).  Tin'  lesson  here 
 is  rather  that  they  camo  too  late  to  stay  the  discipline 
 of  chastisement. 
 
 By  the  sword,  and  by  the  famine,  and  by  the 
 pestilence. — The  history  of  the  world  shows  how 
 constantly  the  latter  plagues  have  followed  in  the  wake 
 of  the  former,  and  the  union  of  the  three  lias  become 
 proverbial  (Lev.  xxvi.  25,  26;  E/.ek.  v.  12).  In  E/.ek. 
 xiv.  21  the  "  noisome  beast  "  is  added  to  make  up  the 
 list  of  the  four  sore  judgments  of  God. 
 
 (is)  Ah,  Lord  God!— Literally,  as  iii  chap.  i.  6, 
 
 Alas,  my  Loril  I  At  I  mm  i  )  .Irkm'til: •  !    We  have  had  ill  chap. 
 
 v.  31  a  glimpse  of  the  evil  influence  of  the  great  body 
 
 of  the  prophetic  order;  and  now  the  true  prophet  feels 
 more  bitterly  than  ever  the  misery  of  having  to  contend 
 against  it.     The   colleges   or    schools  of    the    prophets 
 
 had  rapidly  degenerated   b i   their   first   ideal,  and 
 
 had  become  (as  the  mendicant  Orders  did  in  the  history 
 of  mediaeval  Christendom)  corrupt,  ambitions,  seekers 
 
 after  popularity.  So  .Mieah  (chap.  iii.  8 — 11),  whose 
 words  were  VOt  fresh  in  the  memories  of  men  (see 
 chap.  xxvi.  IS),  had  spoken  sharp  words  of  the  growing 
 evil.  So  Ezckiel  through  one  whole  chapter  (chap,  xiii.) 
 inveighs  against  the  guilt  of  the  prophets,  male  or 
 female,  who  followed  their  own  spirit,  and  had  seen  no 
 trno  vision. 
 
 Ye  Shall  not  see  .  .  .—To  the  eye  of  Jeremiah 
 the  future  was  clear.  Tho  sins  of  the  people  must  lead 
 to  shame,  defeat,  and  exile.  Out  of  that  discipline,  but 
 only  through  that,  they  might  return  with  a  better 
 mind  to  better  days.  "  The"  false  prophets  took  the 
 easier  and  more  popular  lino  of  predicting  victory  and 
 "  assured  peace  "  literally.  06006  OJ  truth,  i.e../;'" 
 for  the  people  and  their  city. 
 
 (!■*)  They  prophesy  unto  you  .  .  .— The  four 
 forms  of  the  evil  are  carefully  enumerated  :  1 1 1  the  false 
 vision,  false  as  being  but  the  dream  of  a  disordered 
 fancy;  (2)  it  i  \  ination,  by  signs  and  auguries,  as.  ,.,/.,  by 
 arrows  (Ezek.  xxi.  21)  or  cups  (.Gen.  xliv.  5) ;  (8)  by  "  I 
 
 thing  of  nought,"  or,  more  accurately,  the  "idol"  or 
 small  image  of  a  god.  used  as  the  Teraphim  were  Used 
 (Ezek.  xxi.  21;  Zech.  x.  2),  as  in  some  way  forecasting 
 the  future;  (4)  the  deceit  of  their  heart,  •'.'..  an  im* 
 posture  pure  and  simple,  the  fraud  of  a  deliberately 
 Counterfeit  inspiration. 
 U5)  Therefore   thus   saith  the    Lord.— To  the 
 
 mind  of  a  true  prophet,  feeling  that  lie  was  taught  of 
 God,  nothing  could  be  more  hateful  than  the  acta  of 
 those  who,  for  selfish  ends,  were  leading  the  people  to 
 their  destruction.  For  them  there  was  therefore  the 
 righteous  retribution  that  they  should  perish  in  the 
 very  calamities  ■which  they  had  asserted  would  never 
 come. 
 
 (Hi  Thou  shalt  say  this  word.— Though  not  in 
 form  a  prediction,  no  words  could  express  t <■  em- 
 phatically the  terrible  nature  of  the  judgments  implied 
 in  the  preceding  verse.  The  language  in  part  a  repro- 
 duction of  chap.  xiii.  17)  is  all  but  identical  with  that 
 which  recurs  again  and  again  in  the  Lamentations 
 (chap.  i.  16,  ii.  11.  lv  .  and  may  be  looked  upon  as  the 
 
 germ  of  which  tin Legieeof  woe  were  the  development. 
 
 (is)  Them  that  are  sick  with  famine.— Literally. 
 
 with  even  a  more  awful  lone,  as  summing  all  individual 
 
 sufferings  in  one  collective  unity,  tin'  sit-km**  i>ff<<»tine 
 — the  pestilence  that  follows  on  starvation. 
 Go  about  into  a  land  that  they  know  not.— 
 
 Literally,  go   abotU     as   in    Gen.    xxxiv.    10,    where   the 
 
 Authorised  version  has  "trade"    in  a  land  and  imov 
 
 not,  ('.<-..  whither  they  go — are  in  a  land  of  exile,  and 
 know   no!    where   to   find   a  home,  or  where   they  may 
 
 be  dragged  next,  or,  perhaps,  with  some  comment 
 
 from  their  bitter  experience.    There 
 is  no  adequate  ground  for  the  rendering  in  the  margin, 
 which,  besides,  gives  no  satisfactory  meaning. 
 (19)  Hast  thou  utterly  rejected  Judah  ?-Th.> 
 
 heart  of  the  patriot  OVWUUWerS  even  the  conviction  of 
 the  prophet,  and.  though  bidden  not  to  pray,  he  bursts 
 forth,  in  spite  of  tic  command,  with  a  prayer  of 
 passionate  intercession. 
 
Waiting  upon  the  Lord. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XV. 
 
 The  Four  Sore  Judgments. 
 
 (20)  \ye  acknowledge,  0  Lord,  our 
 wickedness,  and  the  iniquity  of  our 
 fathers:  for  "we  have  sinned  against 
 thee.  <21)  Do  not  abhor  us,  for  thy 
 name's  sake,  do  not  disgrace  the  throne 
 of  thy  glory  :  remember,  break  not  thy 
 covenant  with  us.  (23>  Are  there  any 
 among  the  vanities  of  the  Gentiles  that 
 can  cause  rain  ?  or  can  the  heavens  give 
 showers  ?  art  not  thou  he,  O  Lord  our 
 God  ?  therefore  we  will  wait  upon  thee : 
 for  thou  hast  made  all  these  things. 
 
 CHAPTER  XV.— W  Then  said  the 
 Lord  unto  me,  b Though  'Moses  and 
 ''Samuel  stood  before  me,  yet  my  mind 
 could  not  be  toward  this  people :  cast 
 them  out  of  my  sight,  and  let  them 
 go  forth.  (2)  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
 if  they  say  unto  thee,  Whither  shall  we 
 go  forth?   then  thou  shalt  tell   them, 
 
 a  Ps.  lew.  6 ;  Dan. 
 
 9.8. 
 6  Ezek.  11  14. 
 c  Exod.  32.  11, 12. 
 d  l  Sam. ;.  9. 
 
 e  cb.  43.  11 ;  Zecli. 
 11.9. 
 
 /  Lev.  20.  16. 
 
 1  Ucb.,/u»iilii 
 
 2  Heb.,  1  will  (jir, 
 'hi  mfuraremoc 
 
 rj  Dent.  28.  25  ;  ch. 
 24.  9. 
 
 h  2  Kings  21.  11. 
 
 3  Heb.,(n  ask  of  thy 
 ptiuct  ? 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  "Such  as  are  for 
 death,  to  death;  and  such  as  are  for 
 the  sword,  to  the  sword ;  and  such  as 
 are  for  the  famine,  to  the  famine ;  and 
 such  as  are  for  the  captivity,  to  the  cap- 
 tivity. (3>  And  I  will  /appoint  over 
 them  four  l kinds,  saith  the  Lord:  the 
 sword  to  slay,  and  the  dogs  to  tear,  and 
 the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  the  beasts 
 of  the  earth,  to  devour  and  destroy. 
 (4)  And  3I  will  cause  them  to  be  ^re- 
 moved into  all  kingdoms  of  the  earth, 
 because  of  ''Manasseh  the  son  of  Heze- 
 kiah  king  of  Judah,  for  that  which  he 
 did  in  Jerusalem. 
 
 (5)  Poj.  wu0  shall  have  pity  upon  thee, 
 O  Jerusalem  ?  or  who  shall  bemoan 
 thee  ?  or  who  shall  go  aside  3to  ask  how 
 thou  doest?  <6>  Thou  hast  forsaken 
 me,  saith  the  Lord,  thou  art  gone  back- 
 ward: therefore  will  I  stretch  out  my 
 
 Hath  thy  soul  lothed  Zion  ?— The  Hebrew  im- 
 plies the  act  of  rejection  as  well  as  the  feeling  which 
 leads  to  it. 
 
 (20)  And  the  iniquity.— The  insertion  of  the  con- 
 junction weakens  the  force  of  the  original.  The 
 wickedness  which  Israel  confesses  is  the  iniquity  of  its 
 fathers,  inherited,  accepted,  on  the  way  to  he  per- 
 petuated. 
 
 (21)  Do  not  abhor  us  .  .  .—Even  in  the  English,  and 
 yet  more  in  the  Hebrew,  we  seem  to  hear  the  broken 
 accents,  words  and  sobs  intermingled,  of  the  agony  of 
 the  prayer.  "  Abhor  us  not  .  .  .  disgrace  not  .  .  . 
 remember,  break  not."  The  prophet  can  make  no  plea 
 of  extenuation,  but  he  can  appeal  to  the  character  of 
 God,  and  urge,  with  a  bold  anthropomorphism,  that 
 mercy  is  truer  to  that  character  than  rigorous  justice, 
 and  that  His  covenant  with  Israel  pledges  Him  to  that 
 mercy. 
 
 The  throne  of  thy  glory.— This  is,  of  course, 
 the  Temple  (see  chap.  xvii.  12).  Shall  that  become 
 a  bye-word  of  reproach,  scorned  (so  the  word  means) 
 as  a  fool  is  scorned  ? 
 
 (22)  Vanities.— sc,  as  in  chap.  x.  8,  the  idols  of  the 
 heathen,  powerless  and  perishable. 
 
 Are  there  any  .  .  .  that  can  cause  rain? — 
 The  question  is  asked  with  a  special  reference  to  the 
 drought  which  had  called  forth  the  prophet's  utterance 
 (verse  1).  Israel  remembers  at  last  that  it  is  Jehovah 
 alone  who  gives  the  rain  from  heaven  and  the  fruitful 
 seasons,  and  turns  to  Him  in  patient  waiting  for  His 
 gifts.  The  words  contain  an  implied  appeal  to  the 
 history  of  Elijah  (1  Kings  xviii.  41)  and  that  of  Joel 
 
 23). 
 
 XV. 
 
 (1)  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  me.— With  a  bold 
 and  terrible  anthropomorphism,  the  prophet  again 
 speaks  as  if  he  heard  the  voice  of  Jehovah  rejecting 
 all  intercession  for  the  apostate  people.  The  passage 
 reminds  us  of  the  mention  of  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job, 
 in  Ezek.  xiv.  14,  as  "  able  to  deliver  their  own  souls 
 only  by  their  righteousness."    Here  Moses  (Exod.  xxxii. 
 
 11 ;  Num.  xiv.  13 — 20)  and  Samuel  (1  Sam.  vii.  9,  xii. 
 23)  are  named  as  having  been  conspicuous  examples  of 
 the  power  of  the  prayer  of  intercession. 
 
 Cast  them  out  of  my  sight.— i.e.,  from  my 
 presence,  from  the  courts  of  the  Temple  which  they 
 profane.  That  would  be  the  answer  of  Jehovah,  even  if 
 Moses  and  Samuel  "stood  before  Him"  (the  phrase,  as 
 in  chap.  xxxv.  19,  has  a  distinctly  liturgical  meaning), 
 ministering  in  the  Courts  of  the  Temple. 
 
 (2)  Such  as  are  for  death  .  .  .—The  difference 
 between  the  first  two  forms  of  punishment  is  that  the 
 first  points  possibly  to  being  led  out  to  execution  as 
 criminals,  as  in  Dent.  xix.  6,  but  more  probably  to  death 
 from  pestilence,  as  in  Job  xxvii.  15 ;  the  second,  to  fall- 
 ing in  a  vain  and  hopeless  conflict. 
 
 (3)  Pour  kinds.— The  sword,  as  the  direct  instru- 
 ment of  death,  is  followed  by  those  that  follow  up  its 
 work,  the  beasts  and  birds  of  prey  that  feed  on  the 
 corpses  of  the  slain.  The  latter  feature  has  naturally 
 been  from  the  earliest  stages  of  human  history  the 
 crowning  horror  of  defeat.     So  Homer,  II.  i.  4  : — 
 
 "And  many  mighty  souls  of  heroes  sent 
 To  Hades,  and  their  bodies  made  a  prey 
 To  dogs  and  to  all  birds." 
 
 <.*)  Manasseh  the  son  of  Hezekiah.— The  horror 
 of  that  long  and  evil  reign  still  lingered  in  the  minds 
 of  men,  and  the  prophet  saw  in  it  the  beginning  of  the 
 evils  from  which  his  people  were  now  suffering.  The 
 name  of  Hezekiah  may  have  been  inserted  as  an  aggra- 
 vation of  the  guilt  of  his  successor. 
 
 (5)  To  ask  how  thou  doest? — This  is  a  fair 
 paraphrase  of  the  original,  but  it  wants  the  Oriental 
 colouring  of  the  more  literal  to  ash  after  thy  peace. 
 As  "  Peace  be  with  thee  "  was  the  usual  formula  of 
 salutation,  sc,"  Is  it  peace  ?  "  was  the  equivalent  for 
 our  more  prosaic  question,  "How  do  you  do  ?"  (Gen. 
 xliii.  27  ;  Judges  xviii.  15).  The  same  phrase  meets 
 us  in  Exod.  xviii.  7,  "  They  asked  each  other  of  their 
 welfare,"  literally,  of  their  peace. 
 
 (6)  Thou  hast  forsaken  me.— The  Hebrew  word 
 has  the  stronger  seuse  of  rejecting  or  repudiating  as 
 
 6C 
 
'/'.  rrora  foiling  upon  the  City. 
 
 .IKIiKMIAH,    XV. 
 
 The  Woe  of  the  Prophet 
 
 hand  against  thee,  and  destroy  thee  ;  I 
 am  weary  with  repenting.  "  Ami  I 
 will  fan  them  with  a  fan  in  the  gates  of 
 
 the   land;    I    will    bereave  thr.m  of   'chil- 
 
 dren,  1  will  destroy  my  people]  since 
 they  return  not  from  their  ways.  W  Their 
 
 widows  are  increased  to  me  above  the 
 sand  of  the  seas :  1  have  brought  upon 
 tlieni  'against  the  mother  of  the  young 
 men  a  Bpoiler  at  noonday:  I  have 
 Caused  him  to  fall  upon  it  suddenly, 
 and  terrors  upon  the  city.  (9'  She  that 
 hath  borne  seven  languisheth  :  she  hath 
 given   up  the   ghost;  'her  sun  is  gone 
 
 it 
 
 1 1  i.i     Um 
 
 i,  fee 
 
 ■     Ii. 
 
 I  Or,  /  will  intrtoi 
 iiny    fur 
 
 down  while  it  uxu  yei  day:  Bhe  hath 
 been  ashamed  and  confounded :  and  the 
 
 resid f  them  will  I  deliver  to   i  lo- 
 
 sword  before  their  enemies,  saith  the 
 Lobd. 
 
 (10)  'Woe  is  me,  my  mot  h.-r.  that  thou 
 hast  borne  me  a  man  of  strife  and  a  man 
 
 of   content  ion    to    t  ho    u  hole   earl  h  '       1 
 
 have  neither  lent  on  usury,  nor  men 
 
 have  lent  to  me  on  usury;  yet  everyone 
 
 of  them  doth  curse  me.  *"'  The  Lobd 
 said,  Verily  it  shall  lie  w.  II  with  thy 
 remnant  ;  verily  :!I  will  cause  the  enemy 
 to  entreat  thee  well  in  the  time  of  evil 
 
 well  as  simply  leaving,  and  gives  the  reason  for  a  like 
 rejection  on  the  part  of  Jehovah. 
 
 I  am  weary  with  repenting. — The  long-suffering 
 of  God  is  described,  as  before,  in  anthropomorphic  lan- 
 guage (comp,  1  Sam.  xv.  35).    He  had  "  repented,"  i.e., 
 
 ohanged  His  purpose  of  punishing,  hut  patience  was 
 now  exhausted,  and  justice  was  weary  of  the  delay, 
 and  must  take  its  course.  Perhaps,  however,  /  «/« 
 weary  of  pitying  or  of  reU  nting  would  ho  a  better 
 rendering. 
 
 (?)  I  will  fan  them  with  a  fan.— The  image  is.  of 
 course,  the  familiar  one  of  the  threshing-floor  and  the 
 winnowing-fan  or  shovel  (Pss.  i.  4.  mv.  S;  Matt.  hi. 
 \l<.  The  tenses  should  be  past  in  both  clauses — /  have 
 winnowed  .  .  .  I  have  bereaved  .  .  .  I  have  destroyed. 
 
 In  the  gates  of  the  land  .  .  .—Possibly  the 
 "gates"  stand  for  the  fortified  cities  of  Judan,  the 
 chief  part  being  taken  for  the  whole,  more  probably 
 for  the  "approaches"  of  the  land.  So  the  Greeks 
 spoke  of  tho  passes  of  tho  Taurus  as  the  < 'ilician 
 gates,  and  so  we  speak  of  the  Khyber  and  Bolam 
 passes  as  '■  the  gates  of  India." 
 
 Since  they  return  not.— The  insertion  of  tho  con- 
 junction, which  has  nothing  corresponding  to  it  in  the 
 original,  weakens  the  vigour  of  the  abruptness  of  the 
 clause,  and  probably  suggests  a  wrong  sequence  of 
 thought.  Jehovah  had  Chastened  them,  but  it  was  in 
 vain.       They   ret  mned     not.     from    I  heir    ways.       Yit. 
 
 as  in  the  Vulgate,  rather  than  "since,"  is  the  implied 
 
 conjunction. 
 
 w  I  have  brought  .  .  .—Better.  I  have  brought 
 upon  them,  even  upon  {he  mother  of  the  young  warrior 
 
 i/'e..  upon  the  woman   who  rejoices  most  in  her  son's 
 heroism  .  a  spoiler  at  noon-day,  i.e.,  coming,  when  least 
 expected,  at   the  hour  when  most  armies  rested. 
 Note  on  chap.  vi.  4.  > 
 
 I  have  caused  him  to  fall  upon  it  suddenly 
 .  .  . — Better.  /  have  brought  suddenly  upon  her  the 
 "mother "of  the  previous  sentence)  travaupange  as  in 
 Isa.  xiii.  8)  "ml  dismay.  Tho  Aramaic  word  for  the 
 anguish  of  childbirth  is  also  the  Hebrew  word  for 
 •city."  and  this  has  misled  translators.  The  LXX. 
 gives  the  true  meaning. 
 
 t1'1  She  that  hath  borne  seven.— In  the  picture 
 of  the  previous  verse   the  glory  of  the  mother  was 
 
 found  in  the  valour  of  her  son.  here  in  the  number  of 
 her  children.  "  Seven."  as  the  perfect  number,  repre- 
 sented, as  iu  1  Sam.  ii.  5,  Ruth  iv.  15,  the  typical  com- 
 pleteness of  the  family. 
 
 Her  sun  is  gone  down  while  it  was  yet  day. 
 —The  image  of  this  eclipse  of  all  joy  aud  brightness 
 
 mi  v  possibly  have  been  suggested  by  the  actual  eclipse 
 of  "the  sun  "total  in  Palestine),  Sept.  80,  b.c.  610,  the 
 year  of  tho  battle  of  Megiddo.  just  as  the  earthquake 
 in  the  reign  of  U/.ziah  BUggested  much  of  the  imagery 
 of  Isaiah  and  Amos  Isa.  ii.  19;  Amos  i.  1,  2,  iv.  11; 
 Zech.  xiv.  5).  A  liko  imago  meets  us  iu  Amos 
 viii.  :•. 
 
 10)  Woe  is  me  .  .  .— The  abruptness  of  the  tran- 
 sition  suggests   the   thought   that   we    have    a   distinct 
 
 fragment  which  has  been  merged  in  the  artilicial  con- 
 tinuity of  the  chapter.      Possibly,  as  some  havi  thought, 
 
 verses  in  and  11  have  been  misplaced  in  transcrip- 
 tion, and  should  come  after  Verse  1  1,  where  they  tit  in 
 admirably  with  the  context.  The  sequence  of  thought 
 may.  however,  be  that  tho  picture  of  the  sorrowing 
 mother  in  the  previous  verses  suggests  the  reflection 
 
 that  there  may  be  other  causes  for  a  mother's  sorrow 
 than  that  of  which  he  lias  spoken,  and  so  ho  bursts 
 out  into  the  cry,  "Woe  is  me,  my  mother!"  The 
 prophet  feels  more  than  ever  the  awfulnees  of  his 
 calling  as  a  vessel  of  God's  truth.  He.  too,  found  that 
 lie  had  come  "not  to  send  peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword" 
 (Matt.  x.  3t).  His  days  wire  as  full  of  strife  as  the 
 lifo  of  the  usurer,  whose  quarrels  with  his  debtors  had 
 become  the  proverbial  type  of  endless  litigation.  As 
 examples  of  the  working  of  the  law  of  debt,  see  Exod. 
 xxii.  'Jo;  2  Kings  iv.  1  ;  Prov.  vi.  1 — o;  Isa.  xxiv.  J; 
 Pss.  xv.  5,  cix.  1 1. 
 
 We  note,  as  characteristic  "f  the  pathetic  tenderness 
 of  the  prophet's  character,  the  address  to  his  mother. 
 We  may  think  of  her  probably  as  >till  living,  and  the 
 thought  of  her  suffering  embitters  her  mhi'<  grief. 
 The  sword  was  piercing  through  her  soul  also  (Luke  ii. 
 35        There,  too.  there  was  a  Mob  T  dolorosa. 
 
 (ii)  Verily  it  shall  bo  well  with  thy  remnant. 
 
 — The  passage   is  obscure,  and  the  reading  uncertain  ; 
 
 (11  Thy  freedom  shall  be  for  good,  or  J  i  afiietfhee 
 for  thy  good,  or  (3)  I  stn  ngthen  thee  for  thy  good,  have 
 
 been  proposed  as  better  renderings.  The  second  seems 
 to  give  the  meaning  most  in  harmony  with  tho  con- 
 text. Jehovah  comforts  the  despairing  prophet  by  the 
 promise  that  in  due  time  there  shall  be  S  deliverance 
 from  the  discords  of  his  life,  and  that  "all  things  shall 
 work  toe-ether  for  his  e-ood." 
 
 I  will  cause  the  enemy  to  entreat  thee  well. 
 —The  final  adverb,  which  is  not  found  in  the  Hebrew, 
 obscures  the  sense,  suggesting  the  English  phrase  of 
 "  treating  well."    Better,  J  uri  igtobea 
 
 supptiant  to  th  2.    Partial  fulfilments  of 
 
 the   promise   aro   found   in    chaps,   xxi.    1,   xxxvii.   3, 
 I   xJii.  & 
 
Shall  Iron  break  (he  Steel? 
 
 JEEEMIAH,    XV.  The  Prophet's  Desponding  Prayer. 
 
 and  in  the  time  of  affliction.  (12)  Shall 
 iron  break  the  northern  iron  and  the 
 steel?  (13)  Thy  substance  and  thy 
 treasures  -will  I  give  to  the  "  spoil  with- 
 out price,  and  that  for  all  thy  sins,  even 
 in  all  thy  borders.  (u)  And  I  will  make 
 thee  to  pass  with  thine  enemies  into  a 
 land  which  thou  knowest  not :  for  a  'fire 
 is  kindled  in  mine  anger,  which  shall 
 burn  upon  you. 
 
 <15>  0  Lord,  thou  knowest :  remember 
 me,  and  visit  me,  and  revenge  me  of  my 
 persecutors;  take  me  not  away  in  thy 
 longsuffering :  know  that  for  thy  sake 
 
 c  Ezek.  3.3; 
 10.  9. 
 
 1  Heb.,  thy   name 
 ia catted  uptmrne. 
 
 2  Ueh.,  be  not  sure? 
 
 I  have  suffered  rebuke.  <16)  Thy  words 
 were  found,  and  I  did  c  eat  them ;  and 
 thy  word  was  unto  me  the  joy  and  re- 
 joicing of  mine  heart:  for  lI  am  called 
 by  thy  name,  O  Lord  God  of  hosts. 
 (17)  I  sat  not  in  the  assembly  of  the 
 mockers,  nor  rejoiced ;  I  sat  alone  be- 
 cause of  thy  hand :  for  thou  hast  filled 
 me  with  indignation.  <18->  Why  is  my 
 ''pain  perpetual,  and  my  wound  incur- 
 able, which  refuseth  to  be  healed  ?  wilt 
 thou  be  altogether  unto  me  as  a  liar, 
 and  as  waters  that  2fail? 
 
 (19)  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord,  If 
 
 (12>  Shall  iron  break  .  .  .  ?— The  abruptness  of 
 the  question  and  the  boldness  of  the  imagery  make  the 
 interpretation  difficult.  That  which  most  harmonises 
 with  the  context  (assuming  this  verse  to  carry  on  the 
 thought  of  verses  1 — 9,  after  the  interruption,  possibly 
 the  interpolation,  of  verses  10  and  11)  is,  that  the 
 prayer  of  the  prophet,  strong  though  it  may  be,  cannot 
 change  the  inflexible  purpose  of  Jehovah  to  chastise 
 Bis  people's  sins.  Some  have,  however,  taken  the 
 words  as  declaring  (1)  the  powerlessness  of  Judah  to 
 resist  the  titanic  strength  of  the  Chaldasans,  or  (2)  the 
 impotence  of  the  prophet's  enemies  to  deter  him  from 
 his  work,  or  (3)  the  prophet's  want  of  power  against 
 the  obdurate  evil  of  the  people,  or  (4)  the  weakness 
 of  Pharaoh-nechoh  as  compared  with  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 Of  these  (3)  has  a  show  of  plausibility  from  chaps,  i.  18 
 and  xv.  20,  but  does  not  harmonise  so  well  with 
 what  precedes  and  follows.  The  "northern  iron"  is 
 probably  that  of  the  Chalybes  of  Pontns,  mentioned  as 
 the  "artificers  in  iron"  by  iEschylus  (Prom.  Bound, 
 733),  as  the  coast  of  the  Euxine  is  called  by  him  the 
 land  which  is  "  the  mother  of  iron  "  (Ibid.  309),  famous 
 for  being  harder  than  all  others.  For  "steel"  we 
 should  read  bronze.  The  word  is  commonly  translated 
 "  brass,"  but  that  compound,  in  its  modern  sense,  was 
 unknown  to  the  metallurgy  of  Israel. 
 
 (13)  Thy  substance  and  thy  treasures  .  .  .— 
 Assuming  the  words  to  stand  in  their  right  place,  we 
 must  look  on  them  as  addressed  to  Jeremiah  as  the 
 intercessor,  and  therefore  the  representative,  of  his 
 people,  if  we  admit  a  dislocation,  of  which  there  seem 
 many  signs,  we  may  connect  them  with  verses  5  and  6, 
 and  then  they  are  spoken  to  Jerusalem.  The  recurrence 
 of  the  words  in  chap.  xvii.  3,  4,  as  addressed  to  the 
 mountain  of  the  plain,  i.e.,  Zion,  makes  this  probable. 
 
 Without  price.— As  in  Ps.  xliv.  12 ;  Isa.  Hi.  3, 
 this  implies  the  extremest  abandonment.  The  enemies 
 of  Israel  were  to  have  an  easy  victory,  for  which 
 they  would  not  have  to  pay  the  usual  price  of  blood ; 
 nor  did  God,  on  His  side,  demand  from  them  any 
 payment  for  the  victory  He  bestowed.  He  gave 
 away  His  people  as  men  give  that  which  they  count 
 worthless. 
 
 (u)  I  will  make  thee  to  pass  with  thine 
 enemies  .  .  . — The  Hebrew  text  is  probably  corrupt, 
 and  a  slight  variation  of  the  reading  of  one  word  binngs 
 the  verse  into  harmony  with  the  parallel  passage  of 
 chap.  xvii.  4,  and  gives  a  better  meaning,  I  will  make 
 thee  serve  thine  enemies  in  a  land  thou  dost  not 
 know.  As  it  stands  without  the  pronoun  "  thee  "  in  the 
 Hebrew  we  may  take  it,  with  some  commentators,  as 
 
 meaning,  I  will  make  them  (the  "  treasures  "  of  verse  13) 
 2>ass  with  thine  enemies  .  .  , 
 
 A  fire  is  kindled  in  mine  anger.— Another 
 quotation  from  Deuteronomy  (chap,  xxxii.  22). 
 
 (15)  o  Lord,  thou  knowest .  .  . — The  prophet  con- 
 tinues in  the  bitterness  of  his  spirit  the  complaint  that 
 had  begun  in  verse  10.  The  words  remind  us  of  the 
 impreeatious  of  the  so-called  vindictive  psalms  (such, 
 e.g.,  as  Pss.  lxix.  and  eix.),  and  may  help  us  to  under- 
 stand the  genesis  of  the  emotions  which  they  express. 
 Not  even  the  promise  of  verse  11  has  given  rest  to  his 
 soul.  He  craves  to  see  the  righteous  retribution  for  the 
 sufferings  which  men  have  wrongfully  inflicted  on  him. 
 
 (16)  Thy  words  were  found  .  .  .—The  words  go 
 back  to  the  mission  of  chap,  i.,  and  paint,  with  a  won- 
 derful power,  the  beginning  of  a  prophet's  work,  the 
 new-born  intensity  of  joy  in  the  sense  of  communion 
 with  the  Eternal.  The  soul  feeds  on  the  words  that 
 come  to  it  (see  the  same  figure  in  a  bolder  form  in 
 Ezek.  ii.  8,  iii.  1 — 3;  Rev.  x.  9).  They  are  "sweeter 
 than  honey  and  the  honeycomb"  (Ps.  xix.  10).  They 
 are  incorporated  with  its  life,  are  "  the  rejoicing  of  its- 
 heart."  He  is  called  by  the  Name  of  "the  Lord  God 
 of  hosts,"  or,  more  literally,  that  Name  is  called  upon 
 him.  As  the  witness  of  his  special  consecration,  he 
 becomes,  like  other  prophets,  "  a  man  of  God " 
 (1  Kings  xiii.  1 ;  2  Kings  vii.  2;  1  Tim.  vi.  11). 
 
 (17)  in  the  assembly  of  the  mockers.— Ratheiv 
 of  the  mirthful.  The  word,  which  is  the  same  as  that 
 found  in  Isaac  ( =  laughter),  does  not  necessarily  imply 
 an  evil  or  cynical  mirth,  like  that  of  the  "  scorner " 
 of  Ps.  i.  1.  What  is  meant  is,  that  from  the- 
 time  of  his  consecration  to  his  office  the  prophet's- 
 life  had  not  been  as  the  life  of  other  men,  but 
 had  been  marked  by  a  strange  loneliness,  filled  with 
 the  consuming  wrath  of  Jehovah  against  the  evils  that 
 surrounded  him.  The  "  hand  "  of  Jehovah  is  used  here, 
 as  in  Ezek.  i.  3,  iii.  22,  viii.  1,  for  the  special  overpower- 
 ing consciousness  of  the  fulness  of  inspiration. 
 
 (is)  Wilt  thou  be  altogether  unto  me  as  a 
 liar  .  .  .  ? — The  words  express  a  bitter  sense  of  failure 
 and  disappointment.  God  had  not  prospered  the  mission 
 of  His  servant  as  He  had  promised.  The  Hebrew, 
 however,  is  not  so  startlingly  bold  as  the  English,  and 
 is  satisfied  by  the  rendering,  ivilt  thou  be  unto  me  as 
 a  winter  torrent,  i.e.,  as  in  Job  vi.  15,  like  one  which 
 flows  only  in  that  season,  and  is  dried  up  and  parched 
 in  summer.  See  the  play  upon  the  word  achzib 
 (=  a  lie)  iu  Micah  i.  14. 
 
 (19)  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  .  .  .—The 
 Divine  voice  within  makes  answer  to  the  passionate 
 
Tlf  Prophets  I', ■•n/er  Answered.  JEW  KM  I.\  H,    XVI.  The  Doom  of  the  Fob 
 
 thou  return,  ilu'u  will  I  bring  thee 
 again,  and  thou  shall  stand  before  me: 
 and  if  thou  take  forth  the  precious  from 
 the  rile,  fchon  ahalt  be  as  my  month: 
 
 let  them  return  unto  thee;  but  return 
 not  thou  unto  them.  <-'")  And  I  will 
 make  thee  onto  this  people  a  fenced 
 brasen  "wall:  and  they  shall  right 
 against  thee,  but  *they  shall  net  pre- 
 vail against  1 1 :  for  1  am  with  t  her  to 
 
 save  thee  and  to  deliver  thee,  saitli  the 
 
 Loiti).  (-'"  And  I  will  deliver  thee  out 
 of  the  hand  of  the  wicked,  and  1  will 
 redeem  thee  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
 terrible. 
 
 CHAPTER  XVI.— (»)  The  word  of 
 the  Lord  came  also  unto  me,  saying, 
 (•>  Thou   shalt    not    take   thee   a   wife. 
 
 o  eh.  i.  ix;  ttt.  s: 
 
 l  Or,       in  '■mu 
 
 neither  shalt    thou  have  sons  or  daugh- 
 in   this   place.  For  thus  saith 
 
 the  Lobd  concerning  the  sons  and  con- 
 cerning  the  daughters  thai  are  born  in 
 this  place,  and  concerning  their  mothers 
 that  bare   them,  and  concerning  their 
 
 lathers  that  begat  them  in  this  land; 
 W  They  .shall  die  of  'grieVOUH  death-; 
 they  shall  not  be  lamented;  neither 
 shall  they  be  buried;  but  they  .shall  be 
 as  dung  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  :  and 
 they  shall  be  consumed  by  the  BWOrd, 
 and  liy  famine;  and  their 'carcases  shall 
 be  meat  for  the  fowls  of  heaven,  and  for 
 the  beasts  of  the  earth. 
 
 <5>  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Enter 
 not  into  the  house  of  'mourning, 
 neither  go  to  lament  nor  bemoan  them  : 
 for  I  have  taken  away  my  peace  from 
 
 complaint.  The  prophet  also  needs,  not  less  than  the 
 people,  to  ••  return  "  to  his  true  mind,  to  repent  of  Ilia 
 murmurings  and  distrust.  Dpon  that  condition  only 
 can  he  again  "  stand  before"  the  Lord  in  the  full  sense 
 of  that  word,  and  minister  to  Him  as  a  prophet-priest 
 (romp.  1  Kings  xvii.  1.  xviii.  15;  2  Kings  iii.  14). 
 lie  has  to  distinguish  between  "  the  precious  and  the 
 vile,"  between  the  gold  and  tho  dross,  between  a 
 righteous  zeal  and  the  despondent  bitterness  which 
 is  its  spurious  counterfeit,  not  in  the  peoplo  only  to 
 whom  he  speaks  but  in  himself.  Above  all  he  must 
 beware  of  being  tempted  by  his  sense  of  failure,  to 
 return  to  the  people  in  the  temper  of  one  who  tunes 
 his  voice  according  to  the  time.  Rather  must  they 
 ••return"  to  him  and  riso  to  his  level,  both  "return- 
 ing'" to  Jehovah, 
 
 i-'  I  will  make  thee  unto  this  people  .  .  .— 
 It  is  significant  that  the  promise  reproduced  the  very 
 
 words  which  the  prophet   had   heard  when   he  was  first 
 
 summoned  to  bis  work  (see  Xoto  on  chap  i.  Is',  19). 
 Jehovah  had  not  been  unfaithful  to  His  word,  but,  like 
 all  promisee,  it  depended  on  implied  conditions,  and 
 these  the  faint-hearted,  desponding  prophet  had  but 
 imperfectly  fulfilled.  Let  him  ••return"  to  the  temper 
 of  trust,  and  there  should  bo  au  abundant  deliverauco 
 for  him. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 (D  Tho  word  of  the  Lord  came  also  unto  me. 
 
 — The  formula  introduces  a  new  and  distinct  message, 
 extending  to  chap.  xvii.  18,  and  it  is  one  even  more 
 terrible  in  its  threatenings  than  any  that  have  pre- 
 ceded it.  There  is  nothing  in  its  contents  to  fix  the 
 date  with  any  certainty,  but  we  may  think  of  it  as 
 probably  about  the  close  of  tho  reign  of  Jehoiakim. 
 when  that  king  was  trusting  in  an  alliance  with 
 Egypt  (chap.  x\ii.  18),  and  the  people  taunted  the 
 prophet  with  the  non-fulfilment  of  his  predictions 
 [chap.  xvii.  151. 
 
 M  Thou  shalt  not  take  thee  a  wife  .  .  .—  The 
 words  caino  to  an  Israelite  and  to  a  priest  with  a  force 
 which  we  can  hardly  understand.  With  them  marriage, 
 and  the  hopes  which  it  involved,  was  not  only  a  happi- 
 ness but  a  duty,  and  to  bo  cut  oft'  from  it  was  to 
 renounce  both,  because  tho  evil  that  was  coming  on  the 
 
 nation  was  such  as  to  turn  both  into  a  curse.  We  may 
 compare  our  Lord's  Words  in  .Matt.  xxiv.  11'  and  those 
 spoken  to  tho  daughters  of  Jerusalem  (Luke  xxiii. 
 29),  and  what,  in  pari  at  least,  entered  into  1st.  Paul's 
 motives  for  a  like  abstinence  on  account  of  "the 
 present  distress"  (1  Cor.  vii.  26 
 
 (4)  Of  grievous  deaths.— Literally,  deaths  from 
 diseases,  including,  perhaps,  famine  as  in  chap.  xiv. 
 18),  as  contrasted  with  the  more  immediate  work  of 
 tho  sword. 
 
 They  shall  not  be  lamented.— Among  a  people 
 who  attached  such  importance  to  the  due  observance  of 
 ftutoral  obsequies  as  the  Jews  did.  the  neglect  of  those 
 obsequies  was,  of  course,  here,  as  in  chap.  xxii.  18, 
 a  symptom  of  extremest  misery.  Like  features  have 
 presented  themselves  in  the  pestilences  or  sieges  of 
 other  cities  and  other  times,  as  in  the  description  in 
 Lucretius  (vi.  T27S): — 
 
 "Nee  moe  Die  aepultnrs  ramanebat  in  i 
 
 Quo  pius  Iii.  popolos  semper  consoerat  human." 
 
 "  Xo  more  the  customed  rites  of  sepulture 
 Were  practised  in  the  city,  Buch  as  won) 
 Of  olil  to  tend  the  dead  With  reverent  care." 
 
 Compare  the  account  of  the  plague  at  Athens  in 
 Thucydidcs  ,  ii.  52). 
 
 (5)  The  house  of  mourning.— Better.  mourning- 
 feast.  The  word  is  found  only  here  and  in  Amos  vi.  7. 
 where  it  is  translated  "banquet."  So  the  Vulg.  gives 
 here  domus  com-ivii.  and  the  LXX.  tho  Greek  word 
 for  a  "drinking  party."     The  word  literally  means  a 
 
 'shout,''  and  is  so  far  applicable  to  cither  joy  or 
 sorrow.  The  context  seems  decisive'  in  favour  OX  tin- 
 latter  meaning,  but  the  idea  of  the  "  feast  "  or  "social 
 gathering"  should  be.  at  least,  recognised.  Not  to  go 
 into  the  house  of  mirth  would  be  a  tight  matter  as  com- 
 pared with    abstaining  even    from   visits   nf    sympathy 
 
 and  condolence.     In  socles,  vn.4  the  Hebrew  gives  a 
 
 different  word. 
 
 My  peace.— The  word  is  used  in  its  highest  power, 
 as  including  all  other  blessings.     It  is  Jehovah's  pea 
 
 that  which  He  once  had  given,  but  which  He  now 
 withholds  (comp.  John  xiv.  J7  .  Men  were  to  accept 
 that  withdrawal  in  silent  awe.  not  with  the  conventional 
 routine  of  customary  sorrow. 
 
 5 
 
The  Extremities  of  Woe. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    X  V  I.        The  Shis  that  have  led  to  Judgment. 
 
 this  people,  saith  the  Lord,  even,  loving- 
 kindness  and  mercies.  <6)  Both  the 
 great  and  the  small  shall  die  in  this 
 land :  they  shall  not  be  buried,  neither 
 shall  men  lament  for  them,  nor  "  cut 
 themselves,  nor  make  themselves  bald 
 for  them  :  *7)  neither  shall  men  l  tear 
 themselves  for  them  in  mourning,  to 
 comfort  them  for  the  dead ;  neither 
 shall  men  give  them  the  cup  of  consola- 
 tion to  drink  for  their  father  or  for  their 
 mother. 
 
 <8>  Thou  shalt  not  also  go  into  the 
 house  of  feasting,  to  sit  with  them  to 
 eat  and  to  drink.  <9>  For  thus  saith  the 
 Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel ;  Be- 
 hold, JI  will  cause  to  cease  out  of  this 
 place  in  your  eyes,  and  in  your  days, 
 the  voice  of  mirth,  and  the  voice  of 
 gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom, 
 and  the  voice  of  the  bride. 
 
 <10)  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when 
 thou  shalt  shew  this  people  all  these 
 words,  and  they  shall   say  unto  thee, 
 
 a  Lev.  19.28;  Deul, 
 14.  1. 
 
 1  Or,  break  bread 
 forthem.aaE'isk. 
 
 24.17. 
 
 b  Isa.  24.  7,  « ;  ch. 
 7.  34;  &  25.  10: 
 Ezek.  26.  13. 
 
 c  ch.  5.  19 ;  &  13, 
 
 2  Or,  stubbornness. 
 
 e  Deut.  4.  27  ; 
 64,  65. 
 
 c  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  pronounced 
 all  this  great  evil  against  us?  or  what 
 is  our  inicpiity  ?  or  what  is  our  sin  that 
 we  have  committed  against  the  Lord 
 our  God  ?  (U)  Then  shalt  thou  say  unto 
 them,  Because  your  fathers  have  for- 
 saken me,  saith  the  Lord,  and  have 
 walked  after  other  gods,  and  have 
 served  them,  and  have  worshipped 
 them,  and  have  forsaken  me,  and  have 
 not  kept  my  law ;  (12)  and  ye  have  done 
 ''worse  than  your  fathers;  for,  behold, 
 ye  walk  every  one  after  the  ~  imagination 
 of  his  evil  heart,  that  they  may  not 
 hearken  unto  me :  (13>  '  therefore  will  I 
 cast  you  out  of  this  land  into  a  land 
 that  ye  know  not,  neither  ye  nor  your 
 fathers ;  and  there  shall  ye  serve  other 
 gods  day  and  night;  where  I  will  not 
 shew  you  favour. 
 
 (i4)  Therefore,  behold,  the  /days  come, 
 saith  the  Lord,  that  it  shall  no  more  be 
 said,  The  Lord  liveth,  that  brought  up 
 the  children  of  Israel  out  of  the  land 
 
 (6)  Nor  cut  themselves,  nor  make  themselves 
 bald. — Both  practices  were  forbidden  by  the  Law 
 (Lev.  xix.  28,  xxi.  5;  Deut.  xiv.  1),  probably  in  order 
 to  draw  a  line  of  demarcation  between  Israel  and  the 
 nations  round,  among  whom  such  practices  prevailed 
 (1  Kings  xviii.  28).  Both,  however,  seem  to  have  been 
 common,  and  probably  had  gained  in  frequency  under 
 Ahaz  and  Manasseh  (chaps,  vii.  29,  xli.  5 ;  Ezek.  vii. 
 18 ;  Amos  viii.  10 ;  Micah  i.  16).  The  "  baldness  "  (i.e., 
 shaving  the  crown  of  the  head)  seems  to  have  been  the 
 more  common  of  the  two. 
 
 0)  Neither  shall  men  tear  themselves.— The 
 marginal  reading,  "Neither  shall  men  break  bread  for 
 them,"  as  in  Isa.  Iviii.  7;  Lam.  iv.  4,  gives  the  true 
 meaning.  "We  are  entering  upon  another  region  of 
 funeral  customs,  reminding  us  of  some  of  the  practices 
 connected  with  the  "  wakes "  of  old  English  life. 
 After  the  first  burst  of  sorrow  and  of  fasting,  as  the 
 sign  of  sorrow  (2  Sam.  i.  12,  iii.  35,  xii.  16,  17), 
 friends  came  to  the  mourner  to  comfort  him.  A  feast 
 was  prepared  for  them,  consisting  of  "the  bread  of 
 mourners  "  (Hosea  ix.  4 ;  Ezek.  xxiv.  17)  and  the  "  cup 
 of  consolation,"  as  for  those  of  a  heavy  heart  (Prov. 
 xxxi.  6).  It  is  probable  that  some  reference  to  this 
 practice  was  implied  in  our  Lord's  solemn  benediction 
 of  the  bread  and  of  the  cup  at  the  Last  Supper.  As 
 His  body  had  been  "  anointed  for  the  burial "  (Matt. 
 xxvi.  12),  so,  in  giving  the  symbols  of  His  death,  He 
 was,  as  it  were,  keeping  with  His  disciples  His  own 
 funeral  feast.  The  thought  of  the  dead  lying  un- 
 buried,  or  buried  without  honour,  is  contemplated  in 
 all  its  horrors. 
 
 (g)  Into  the  house  of  feasting.— Literally,  the 
 house  of  drinking,  i.e.,  in  this  case,  as  interpreted  by 
 the  next  verse,  of  festive  and  mirthful  gathering. 
 This  prohibition  follows  a,  fortiori  from  the  other.  If 
 it  was  unmeet  for  the  prophet  to  enter  into  the  house 
 of  mourning,  much  more  was  he  to  hold  himself  aloof 
 from  mirth.     He  was  to  stand  apart,  in  the  awful  con- 
 
 60 
 
 sciousness  of  his  solitary  mission.  The  words  of 
 Eccles.  vii.  2  come  to  our  thoughts  as  teaching  that 
 it  was  better  even  so. 
 
 (9)  The  voice  of  mirth  .  .  . — The  words  had  been 
 used  once  before  (chap.  vii.  34),  and  will  meet  us  yet 
 again  (chaps,  xxv.  10,  xxxiii.  11),  but  they  gain  rather 
 than  lose  in  their  solemnity  by  this  verbal  iteration. 
 
 (10)  What  is  our  iniquity  ?  .  .  . — Now,  as  before 
 (chap.  v.  19),  the  threateniugs  of  judgment  are  met 
 with  words  of  real  or  affected  wonder.  "  What  have 
 we  done  to  call  for  all  this  ?  In  what  are  we  worse 
 than  our  fathers,  or  than  other  nations  ? "  All 
 prophets  had  more  or  less  to  encounter  the  same 
 hardness.  It  reaches  its  highest  form  in  the  re- 
 iterated questions  of  the  same  type  in  Mai.  i.,  ii. 
 
 (i2)  Imagination. — Better,  as  before,  stubbornness. 
 
 (is)  There  shall  ye  serve  other  gods  day  and 
 night. — The  words  are  spoken  in  the  bitterness  of 
 irony  :  "  You  have  chosen  to  serve  the  gods  of  other 
 nations  here  in  your  own  land ;  therefore,  by  a  righteous 
 retribution,  you  shall  serve  them  in  another  sense,  as 
 being  in  bondage  to  their  worshippers,  and  neither 
 night  nor  day  shall  give  you  respite." 
 
 Where  I  will  not  shew  you  favour.— Better, 
 since,  or  for,  I  will  not  shew  you  favour. 
 
 (u,  15)  Behold,  the  days  come  .  .  . — Judgment 
 and  mercy  are  tempered  in  the  promise.  Here  the 
 former  is  predominant.  Afterwards,  in  chap,  xxiii.  5 — 
 8,  where  it  is  connected  with  the  hope  of  a  personal 
 Deliverer,  the  latter  gains  the  ascendant.  As  yet  the 
 main  thought  is  that  the  Egyptian  bondage  shall  be  as 
 a  light  thing  compared  with  that  which  the  people  will 
 endure  in  the  "  land  of  the  north,"  i.e.,  in  that  of  the 
 Chaldseans ;  so  that,  when  they  return,  their  minds 
 will  turn  to  their  deliverance  from  it,  rather  than  to 
 the  Exodus  from  Egypt,  as  an  example  of  the  mercy 
 and  might  of  Jehovah.  Then  once  again,  and  in  a  yet 
 higher  degree,  it  should  be  seen  that  man's  extremity  is 
 God's  opportunity. 
 
Tin-  ih, nl,h  Recompense  for  Iniquity,     -I  KI'KMIAII,    XVII. 
 
 The  GentU  \  turning  to  God. 
 
 Of   i:-v|.t  ;    "•')    but,    The    Loi:i>    liveth, 
 
 dial  brought  up  tli<'  children  of  Israel 
 
 from    tin'   laml  of   the    north,   ami   from 
 
 all  the  lands  whither  be  had  driven 
 them:    and    I   will   bring  then   again 
 
 into  their  laml    that    1   gave  unto  their 
 
 fathers. 
 
 Behold,     [    will     send     lor     many 
 
 fishers,  saith  the  Lord,  ami  they  shall 
 
 fish  them;  ami  after  will  I  semi  (for 
 many    hnntrrs,     ami     they    shall     hunt 
 
 them   from  every  mountain,  ami  from 
 
 every  hill,  ami  out  of  the  holes  of  the 
 rocks.  (17>  For  mine  'ryes  are  upon  all 
 their  ways:  they  are  not  hid  from  my 
 face,  neither  is  their  iniquity  hid  from 
 mine  eyes.  <18>  Ami  first  1  will  re- 
 compense their  iniquity  and  their  sin 
 double;  because  they  have  defiled  my 
 land,  they  bavc  filled  mine  inheritance 
 
 :  Pror.l 
 
 1  neb ,  unit. 
 
 with  the  carcases  of  their  detestable 
 ami  abominable  thin.-  . 
 
 <)    Lobd,   my   strength,  ami   my 
 
 fortress,  and  my  refuse  in  the  day  of 
 affliction,  the  Gentiles  shall  some  unto 
 thee  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
 
 shall  say,  Surely  our  fathers  have  in- 
 herited lies,  vanity,  and  things  wherein 
 there  is  no  profit.  '-''  Shall  a  man 
 make  gods  Unto   himself,  and    'they  un: 
 
 no  gods'J  M> Therefore,  behold,  1  will 
 this  once  cause  them  to  know,  1  will 
 cause  them  to  know  mine  hand  and  my 
 might;  and  they  shall  know  that  my 
 name  is  The  Loicu. 
 
 CHAPTER  XVII.— W  The  sin  of 
 Judah  is  written  with  a  rpen  of  iron, 
 "/"/  with  the  'point  of  a  diamond:  ii  is 
 graven  upon  the    table  of   their  heart. 
 
 (">)  I  will  send  for  many  fishers  .  .  .—Tim 
 words  refer  to  the  threat,  nut  to  the  promise.  The 
 "fishers,"  :>s  in  Amos  iv.  -:  Hab.  i.  15,  aro  tlio  in- 
 vading nations,  surrounding  Judah  ami  Jerusalem  as 
 
 with  a  drag-net,  ami  allowing  d in  escape.    The 
 
 process  is  described  under  this  very  name  lit  "  drag- 
 netting"  the  country  by  Eerodotus  (iii.  L49,  vi.  SI), 
 
 as  applied  by  the  army  of  Xerxes  I"  Ba s,  Chios, 
 
 Tenedos,  and  other  islands.  Tlio  application  of  tlio 
 words  either  to  the  gathering  of  the  people  after  their 
 dispersion  or  to  tlio  later  work  of  the  preachers  of  the 
 Gospel  is  an  after-thought,  having  its  source  in  our 
 Lord'-,  words,  -I  will  make  you  Eisners  of  men"'  (Matt. 
 
 iv.    1:1  .      It    is.   of  course,    possible  enough  that    those 
 
 words  may  have  hern   suggested  by  Jeremiah's,  the 
 
 .same  imago   being  used,  as  in  the  parable  of  Matt.  xiii. 
 
 47,  to  describe  the  blessing  which  had  before  presented 
 its  darker  aspect  of  punishment. 
 
 Hunters.— Another  aspect  of  the  same  thought, 
 pointing,  so  far  as  we  can  trace  the  distinction  between 
 
 the  two,  to  the  work  of  the  irregular  skirmisher  as  the 
 
 former  image  did  to  that  of  the  main  body  of  the 
 
 army:  men  might  take  refuge,  as  hunted  beasts  might 
 do,  in  the  caves  of  the  rucks,  but  they  slmuld  be  driven 
 
 fort  li  e\  en  from  these. 
 
 17   Mino  oyes  aro  upon  all  their  ways.—  The 
 
 context  shows  that  here  also  the  thought  is  presented 
 on  its  severer  side.     The  sinsof  Israel  have  not  escaped 
 
 the  all-seeing  eye  of  Jehovah. 
 
 (M)  I  will  "recompense  their  iniquity  and 
 thoir  sin  double.— A  restitution,  or  tine,  to  double 
 
 the  amount  of  the  wrong  done  was  almost  the  normal 
 standard    of    punishment    under    the    Law    of    MosBS 
 
 (Exod.  xxii.  4,  7).    The  words  threaten  accordingly  a 
 
 full  punishment    according   to   (the   utmost    rigour.     In 
 
 I    i.  xl.  2  the  sane'  thought  is  presented  in  its  brighter 
 
 aspect.  Israel  has  received  ••  double  for  all  her  sins." 
 and  therefore,  having  paid,  as  it  were,  "the  uttermost 
 farthing"  (Matt.  v.  26  .  she  may  now  hope  for  mercy. 
 
 The  carcases  .  .  .—The  word  may  be  used  in  scorn 
 of  the  lifeless  form  of  the  dumb  idols  which  the 
 people  Worshipped,  to  touch  which  was  to  bo  polluted. 
 
 as  by  contact  with  a  corpse   Num.  xix.  Hi;  but  it  more 
 
 probably  points  to  the  dead  bodies  of  the  victims  that 
 
 had  been  sacrificed  to  them.  The  phrase  occurs  also 
 in  a  liko  context  in  Lev.  xxvi.  30.  It  would  appear 
 from  Isa.  lxv.  I  that  these  often  included  animals  which 
 by  the  Law  were  unclean  :  "  swine's  flesh  and  broth  of 
 abominable  things." 
 
 (M)  o  Lord,  my  strength,  and  my  fortress.— 
 The  words  speak  of  a  returning  confidence  in  the 
 prophet's  mind,  and  find  utterance  in  what  is  prac- 
 tically (though  the  Hebrew  words  arc  not  the  Same]  an 
 echo  of  Pa.  xviii.  2,  or  more  closely  of  Pss.  xxviii.  I.  -. 
 lix.  17  ;   -  Sam.  xxii.  :!. 
 
 The  Gentiles  shall  come  unto  thee.— The  sin 
 
 and  folly  of  Israel  are  painted  in  contrast  with  the 
 prophet's  vision  of  the  future.  Tien,  in  that  far-off 
 time  of  which  other  prophets  had  spoken  I  Jlieah  iv.  1  ; 
 Isa.  ii.  'J),  the  Gentiles  should  come  to  Jerusalem, 
 turning  from  the  "vanities"  they  had  inherited;  and 
 yet  Israel,  who  had  inherited  a  truer  faith,  was  now 
 abasing  herself  even  to  their  level  or  below  it.  Israel 
 had  answered  in  the  affirmative  the  question  which 
 seemed  to  admit  only  of  an  answer  in  the  negative: 
 "  Shall  a  man  make  gods  unto  himself,  and  they  are  no 
 g.  H L  P  " 
 
 -1'  I  will  this  once  cause  them  to  know  .  .  .— 
 
 The  warning  comes  with  all  the  emphasis  of  iteration. 
 this  our. .  As  in  a  way  without  a  parallel,  once  for 
 all,  they  should  learn  that  the  name  of  the  God  they 
 had  rejected  was  Jehovah,  the  Eternal  Exod.  iii.  1  I  . 
 unchangeable  in  His  righteousness.  The  thought  is 
 parallel  to  that  of  Ezek.  xii.  15. 
 
 XYII. 
 
 (t)  A  pen  of  iron. — i.e.,  a  stylus,  or  graving  tool, 
 as  in  Job  xix.  24,  chiefly  used  for  engraving  in  stone  or 
 metal.  In  Pa  xlv.  1  it  seem-  to  have  been  used  of  the 
 instrument  with  which  the  scribe  wrote  on  his  tab] 
 
 With  the  point  of  a  diamond.— The  word 
 expresses  the  idea  of  the  hardness  rather  than  the 
 brilliancy  of  the  diamond,  and  is  rendered  "adamant  " 
 in  Ezek.  iii.  i»:  Zech.  vii.  12.  For  the  diamond  as  a 
 precious  stone  a  different  word  is  used  in  Exod.  xxviii. 
 18.)  Strictly  speaking,  it  was  applied  only  to  the 
 diamond-point  set  in  iron  used  by  engraven.  Such 
 instruments  were  known  to  tho  Romans  >Pliuy,  Hist. 
 
 iii 
 
The  Fire  that  Bums  for  ever. 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XVXI. 
 
 The  Heath  in  the  Desert. 
 
 and  upon  the  horns  of  your  altars ; 
 (2)  whilst  their  children  remember  their 
 altars  and  their  "groves  by  the  green 
 trees  upon  the  high  hills.  '3>  O  my 
 mountain  in  the  field,  bI  will  give  thy 
 substance  and  all  thy  treasures  to  the 
 spoil,  and  thy  high  places  for  sin, 
 througlKrat  all  thy  borders.  (1)  And 
 thou,  even  1  thyself,  shalt  discontinue 
 from  thine  heritage  that  I  gave  thee ; 
 and  I  will  cause  thee  to  serve  thine 
 enemies  in  the  land  which  thou  know- 
 est  not :    for   ye   have   kindled   a   fire 
 
 a  Judges  3. 7;  Isa. 
 L29. 
 
 1  Heft.,  in  thyself. 
 
 I  Ps.  2. 12 ;  &  3J.  S ; 
 &  125.  1  ;  Prov. 
 ic.  20 ;  Isa.  30. 18. 
 
 in  mine  anger,  which  shall  burn  for 
 ever. 
 
 (5)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Cursed  be 
 the  man  that  trusteth  in  man,  and 
 maketh  flesh  his  arm,  and  whose  heart 
 departeth  from  the  Lord.  <6>  For  he 
 shall  be  like  the  heath  in  the  desert, 
 and  shall  not  see  when  good  cometh; 
 but  shall  inhabit  the  parched  places  in 
 the  wilderness,  in  a  salt  land  and  not 
 inhabited. 
 
 W  'Blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth 
 in  the  Lord,  and  whose  hope  the  Lord 
 
 Nat.  xxxvii.  15),  and  may  have  been  in  use  in  Phoenicia 
 or  Palestine.  The  words  describe  a  note  of  infamy  that 
 could  not  be  erased,  and  this  was  stamped  in  upon  the 
 tablets  of  the  heart  (comp.  2  Cor.  iii.  3),  and  blazoned 
 upon  the  "  horns  of  the  altars  "  of  their  false  worship, 
 or  of  the  true  worship  of  Jehovah  which  they  had 
 polluted  and  rendered  false.  The  plural  "  altars " 
 points  probably  to  the  former. 
 
 <2)  Whilst  their  children  remember  .  .  .—If 
 we  take  "  children  "  as  referring  to  age,  there  may  be  a 
 reference  to  the  way  in  which  the  horrors  of  Molech 
 worship  were  burnt  in  upon  the  minds  of  boys  who 
 were  present  at  such  a  spectacle,  so  as  never  to  be 
 forgotten,  but  the  general  sense  iu  which  we  speak  of 
 the  "  children  "  of  Israel  or  Judah  seems  sufficient.  The 
 thought  expressed  is  that  every  locality  that  could  be 
 used  for  idolatrous  worship  made  them  "remember" 
 that  worship,  and  set  about  reproducing  it.  By  some 
 interpreters  the  clause  is  rendered,  as  they  remember 
 their  children  so  do  they  their  altars  and  their  groves; 
 i.e.,  their  idols  are  as  dear  to  them  as  their  offspring. 
 The  former  construction  is,  however,  the  more  natural, 
 and  is  best  supported  by  the  versions. 
 
 Groves.— i.e.,  as  throughout  the  Old  Testament, 
 when  connected  with  idolatry,  the  wooden  columns 
 that  were  the  symbols  of  the  Phoenician  goddess 
 Asherah,  possibly  the  same  as  Astarte  (Exod.  xxxiv. 
 13;  Deut.  xvi.  21;  1  Kings  xiv.  23).  The  "green 
 trees  "  suggested  the  thought  of  this  worship — for  the 
 Asherah,  though  not  a  grove,  was  generally  connected 
 with  one — as  the  "  high  hills  "  did  that  of  the  altars. 
 Commonly  the  worship  is  described  as  "  under  every 
 green  tree."  Here  a  different  preposition  is  used,  "  on 
 the  green  trees,"  connecting  them  with  the  verb 
 "  remember." 
 
 (3)  My  mountain  in  the  field.— As  in  chap.  xxi. 
 13;  Isa.  ii.  2;  Micah  iv.  2,  a  poetic  phrase  for  Jerusalem 
 or  Zion,  its  gi-eatness  consisting  not  in  its  material 
 elevation  above  the  "  field  "  or  surrounding  country,  but 
 in  being  "  my  mountain,"  i.e.,  the  mountain  of  Jehovah. 
 The  words  predict  the  plunder  of  the  city,  perhaps 
 specially  the  plunder  of  the  Temple. 
 
 Thy  high  places. — As  having  been  from  the  time 
 of  Samuel  onward  the  chief  scene  of  the  false  worship 
 of  the  people.  The  threat  is  repeated  almost  verbally 
 from  chap.  xv.  13. 
 
 (*)  Thou,  even  thyself.— Literally,  in  or  by  thyself. 
 an  emphatic  form  for  expressing  loneliness  and  abandon- 
 ment. 
 
 Shalt  discontinue  .  .  .—The  word  was  a  half- 
 technical  one,  used  to  describe  the  act  of  leaving  lands 
 untilled  and  releasing  creditors  in  the  sabbatical  year 
 
 (Exod.  xxiii.  11 ;  Deut.  xv.  2).  The  laud  would  have  its 
 rest  now,  would  "  enjoy  its  sabbaths  "  (Lev.  xxvi.  34 ; 
 2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21),  though  Judah  had  failed  in 
 obedience  to  the  Law  which  prescribed  them.  For  the 
 rest  of  the  verse,  see  Note  on  chap.  xv.  14. 
 
 (5)  Cursed  be  the  man  .  .  .—The  words  are 
 vehement  and  abrupt,  but  they  burst  from  the  prophet's 
 lips  as  proclaiming  the  root  evil  that  had  eaten  into  the 
 life  of  his  people.  Their  trust  in  an  arm  of  flesh  had 
 led  them  to  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  alliances,  and  these 
 to  "  departing  from  the  Lord."  The  auathema  has  its 
 counterpart  in  the  beatitude  of  verse  7.  The  opening 
 words,  Tims  saith  the  Lord,  indicate,  perhaps,  a  pause, 
 followed  as  by  a  new  message,  which  the  prophet  feels 
 bound  to  deliver.  It  is  significant  that  the  prophet 
 uses  two  words  for  the  English  "  man,"  the  first  im- 
 plying strength,  and  the  second  weakness. 
 
 (6>  Like  the  heath  in  the  desert. — The  word 
 rendered  heath  is,  literally,  bare  or  nalced,  and  as  such 
 is  translated  by  "  destitute  "  in  Ps.  cii.  17.  That  mean- 
 ing has  accordingly  been  given  to  it  here  by  some  recent 
 commentators.  No  picture  of  desolation  could  be  more 
 complete  than  that  of  a  man  utterly  destitute,  yet  in- 
 habiting the  "  parched  places  of  the  wilderness."  All 
 the  older  versions,  however,  including  the  Targum, 
 and  some  of  the  best  modern  (e.g.  Ewald),  take  the  word 
 as  describing  the  "  heath  "  or  other  like  shrubs  stand- 
 ing alone  in  a  barren  land.  A  like  word  with  the 
 same  meaning  is  found  in  chap,  xlviii.  6,  and  stands 
 in  Arabic  for  the  "  juniper."  Both  views  are  tenable, 
 but  the  latter,  as  being  a  bolder  similitude,  and 
 balancing  the  comparison  to  a  "  tree  planted  by  the 
 waters "  in  verse  8,  is  more  after  the  manner  of  a 
 poet-prophet.  There  is  something  weak  in  saying 
 "A  man  shall  be  like  a  destitute  man."  The  word 
 rendered  "desert"  (arabah)  is  applied  specially 
 to  the  Jordan  valley  (sometimes,  indeed,  to  its  more 
 fertile  parts),  and  its  connection  here  with  the  "  salt 
 land  "  points  to  the  wild,  barren  land  of  the  Jordan  as 
 it  flows  into  the  Dead  Sea  (Deut.  xxix.  23). 
 
 Shall  not  see  when  good  cometh. — The  words 
 describe  the  yearning  that  has  been  so  often  disap- 
 pointed that  at  last,  when  the  brighter  day  dawns,  it  is 
 blind  to  the  signs  of  its  approach.  It  comes  too 
 late,  as  rain  falls  too  late  on  the  dead  or  withered 
 heath. 
 
 P)  Blessed  is  the  man  .  .  .—The  words  that 
 follow  in  verse  8  are  almost  a  paraphrase  of  Ps.  i.  3,  and, 
 we  may  well  believe,  were  suggested  by  them.  The 
 prophet  has,  as  it  were,  his  own  Ebal  and  Gerizim : 
 trust  in  God  inheriting  the  blessing,  and  distrust  the 
 curse. 
 
 62 
 
The  Tret    Planted  by  the  River. 
 
 JEREMIAH,     W'll.         The  Fountain  qf  Limag  Waters. 
 
 is.  (8)  For  be  shall  be  "as  a  tree  planted 
 li\  tin'  uati'i-s,  and  that  spnadetb  Ou1 
 bar  roots  by  the  river,  and  shall  not 
 see  when  heal  cometh,  bul  ber  Leaf  shall 
 
 hi'  jjreeli  ;  ami  shall  not  h>'  rnivt'nl  in 
 the  year  of  'drought,  neither  shall  cease 
 from  yielding  friiit. 
 
 M  The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 
 things,  and  desperately  tricked  :  who 
 ran  know  itP  "",  I  the  Lord  'search 
 the  heart,  I  try  the  reins,  even  to  give 
 every  man  ftCCC-rding  to  his  ways,  iimt 
 according  to  the  fruit  of  his  doings. 
 (11)  As  the  partridge  'sitteth   on   eggs, 
 
 train! 
 
 t>  I  Sum.  in.  :  :  I'- 
 ll. »;  .v 
 
 '.'  Or. 
 
 hitlh  x.  ' 
 A'l-f/i. 
 
 r  l'».  13  I 
 
 ami  batchetb  them  not;  to  he  thai 
 gettetb  riches,  and  not  by  right,  shall 
 leave  them  in  the  midst  of  bis  'la_\-, 
 
 and  at  his  end  shall  be  a  fooL 
 
 W  A  glorious  high  throne  from  the 
 beginning  it  the  place  of  our  Banctuary. 
 
 <13'  O  Lobd,  the  no] f  [srael,  all  that 
 
 forsake  thee  shall  be  ashamed,  and  tln-y 
 thai  depart  from  me  shall  be  tvritten  in 
 the  earth,  because  they  have  forsaken 
 the  Loin i,  tin'  ''fountain  of  living  waters. 
 ""  Ileal  mi',  1 1  Lobd,  and  I  shall  be 
 healed;  save  me,  and  I  shall  he  saved: 
 for    thou    "//   my  praise.      '     Behold, 
 
 (8)  Shall  not  see  when  heat  cometh.— Another 
 reading,  followed  by  the  IjXX.  and  Vulgate,  gives 
 thall  not  fear ;  there  is.  however,  mop'  force  in  the 
 i-e|ieiiiion  of  the  same  word  us  in  verse  6.    The  man 
 
 who  trusts  is  like  the  strong  tree,  clothed  with  foliage, 
 
 that  "does  not  see,"  '.'..  does  not  regard  or  feel,  the 
 
 presen t'  the  heat.    Technically  the  meaning  is  the 
 
 game  in  both  eases,  hut  in  the  latter  case  with  the 
 emphasised  contrast  of  s  parallelism.    Fed  by  the  stream 
 
 that  never  tails,  it  "shall  not  lie  careful  "  or  anxious 
 about  the  scorching  heat    of  summer.      As   the   hlasteil 
 
 heath  sees  ao  good,  so  the  tree,  in  this  case,  sees  no  evil. 
 <M  The  heart  is  deceitful  .   .   .— The  sequence 
 
 of   ideas    seems  as   follows  :     It'    the    blessing   anil    the 
 
 corse  are  thus  so  plainly  marked,  how  is  it  that  man 
 chooses  the  curse  and  not  the  blessing,  the  portion  of 
 the  "  heath  in  the  desert"  rather  than  that  of  the  "  tree 
 planted  by  the  waters"?  And  the  answer  is  found  in 
 the  inscrutable  self-deceit  of  his  nature  blinding  bis 
 perceptions  of  good  and  evil. 
 
 Desporately  wicked.— Bather,  incurably  diseased, 
 as  in  chaps,  xv.  18,  xxx.  1:2,  15  j  Isa.  xvii.  11.  and  else- 
 where. Wickedness  is,  of  course,  implied,  bni  it  is 
 regarded  rather  as  a  moral   taint  following  on  the 
 
 deliberate  choice,  than  as  the  choice  itself. 
 
 (i»)  According  to  his  ways.— The  Hebrew  word  is 
 in  the  singular,  Ms  way,  and  the  interpolated  conjunction 
 "  and  "  is  better  omitted,  so  as  to  leave  the  last  words 
 as  an  explanation  of  what  is  meant  by  it.  Jehovah, 
 who  "searches  the  heart."  answers  the  question  "who 
 can  know  it:j"  He  does  know,  and  will,  in  the  end. 
 judge  with  a  perfectly  righteous  judgment.  Men 
 should  live  as  in  tho  presence  of  One  to  whom  all  hearts 
 are  open. 
 
 Hi)  As  the  partridge  sitteth  on  eggs  .  .  .— 
 Better,  following  the  LXX.  and  Vulg..  and  the  marginal 
 reading  of  the  Authorised  Version.  heaps   up  eggt 
 
 hull'  I  Hi' m.    Tho  words  point    to  a  popular 
 
 belief  among  the  Jews  that  die  partridge  steals  the 
 
 esgB  of  ether  birds  and  adds  them  to  her  own.  with 
 the  result  that  when  the  ego's  are  hatch. 'd  tie-  broods 
 desert  her  (see  Bibl.  Educ.  iii.  p.  78).  It  thus  be 
 a  parable  of  the  covetous  man.  whose  avarice  leads  him 
 to  pile  up  riches  which  are  not  rightly  his.  and  which 
 after  a  while  "  make  to  themselves  wings"  and  are 
 seen  no  more.     Modern   naturalists   have   not  observed 
 
 this  habit,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  belief  originated 
 
 in  the  practice  of  the  ouokoo  laying  its  eggs  in  the  Best 
 
 of  the  partridge,  as  in  that  of  ..ther  birds.  The  cuckoo 
 (Lev.  xi.  I6j  Dent.  xiv.  15)  was  and  is  a  common  bird 
 iu  Palestine  (Bibl.  Educ.  ii.  p.  363). 
 
 Shall  leave  them  in  the  midst  of  his  days.— 
 If  we  retain  the  rendering  of  the  Authorised  Version 
 
 tho   words  may   refer   to   the   praetii f  hunting   the 
 
 partridge  by  driving  it  from  its  nest  and  then  striking 
 it  with  a  club  (see  Bibl.  Educ.  iii.  p.  78  .  .Many  com- 
 mentators, however,  adopt  the  rendering,  //•■;/  the 
 richest  shall  leave  hi, a.  As  covetousness  was  'he 
 besetting  sin  of  Jehoiakim  chap,  xxii,  17  .  the  predic- 
 tion may  have  pointed  specially  to  him. 
 
 (12)  a  glorious  high  throne  .  .  . — The  rexse  is 
 better  taken  iii  connection  with  the  following,  and  not, 
 as  the  interpolated  "is"  makes  it.  as  a  separate  sen- 
 tence, the  nouns  lieingall  in  the  vocatr  {krone 
 of  glory  on  high  from  tin;  beginning,  tin'  place  of  our 
 sanctuary,  the  hope  of  Israel,  Jehovah  .  .  .  The 
 thonghts  of  the  prophet  rise  from  the  visible  to  the 
 eternal  temple,  and  that  temple  is  one  with  the 
 presence  of  Jehovah.  The  term  "throne  "is  applied 
 to  Jerusalem  in  chap.  iii.  17;  practically,  to  the  ark  of 
 tho  covenant  in  Pea  Ixxx.  'J.  x.ix.  I  ;  to  the  throne  in 
 heaven  in  Ezek.  i.  26 ;  Dan.  vii.  'J  ;  Pss.  ix.  i.  xi.  1. 
 
 (is)  They  that  depart  from  me.— The  rapid 
 change  of  person  from  second  to  first  and  first  to 
 third  is  eminently  Hebrew. 
 
 Written  in  the  earth. — In  implied  contrast  with 
 the  name  graven  on  tho  rock  for  ever  (Job  xix.  'J  I  are 
 those  written  on  the  dust  or  sand.  Tho  Eastern  habit 
 of  writing  on  the  ground  (of  which  John  viii.  Ij 
 supplies  one  memorable  instance,  and  which  was  the 
 common  practice  in  Jewish  schools  gave  a  vividness 
 to  the  similitude  which  we  have  almost  lost.  For 
 "the  fountain  of  living  waters."  compare  Xote  on 
 chap.  ii.  13. 
 
 im  Heal  me. — Tho  prophet,  consciously  or  uncon- 
 sciously, contrasts  himself  with  the  deserters  from 
 Jehovah.  Hi'  needs  "healing"  and  "salvation."  lint 
 he  knows  where  to  seek  for  them,  and   is  sure-  that    his 
 
 Lord  will  not  leave  the  work  incomplete.  The  prayer 
 of  the  prophet  is  like  that  of  the  Psalmist  (Pea  \i-  -'. 
 xxx.  '2).  In  "thou  art  my  praise"  we  have  an  echo  of 
 I 'cut.  x.  21  :   Ts.  Ixxi.  6.  " 
 
 Pfl  Behold,  they  say  unto  me. — The  speakers 
 
 are  not  named  OT  defined,  but  they  are  clearly  the 
 mockers  who  questioned  Jeremiah's  prophetic  character, 
 on  the  ground  (comp.  Dent,  xviii.  22)  that  his  threats 
 had  received  no  fulfilment.  Presumably,  therefore,  the 
 words  were  written  before  the  death  of  Jehoiakim  and 
 ilie  rapture  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 Let  it  come  now.— The  List  word  is  tho  usual 
 formula  of  request,  and  implies  a  mocking  tone  in  tho 
 speakers:  "Let  it  oome,  y you f fetus." 
 
The  Prophets  Complaint. 
 
 JEEEMIAH,    XVII. 
 
 The  Profanation  of  the  Sabbath. 
 
 they  say  unto  me,  "Where  is  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  ?  let  it  come  now.  (16)  As 
 for  me,  *I  have  not  hastened  from  being 
 a  pastor  1to  follow  thee :  neither  have  I 
 desired  the  woeful  clay ;  thou  knowest : 
 that  which  came  out  of  my  lips  was 
 right  before  thee.  (17)  Be  not  a  terror 
 unto  me  :  thou  art  my  hope  in  the  day 
 of  evil.  <18)  'Let  them  be  confounded 
 that  persecute  me,  but  let  not  me  be 
 confounded :  let  them  be  dismayed, 
 but  let  not  me  be  dismayed :  bring  upon 
 them  the  day  of  evil,  and  ~d  destroy  them 
 with  double  destruction. 
 
 (i9)  Thus  said  the  Lord  unto  me ;  Go 
 and  stand  in  the  gate  of  the  children 
 of  the   people,   whereby   the   kings  of 
 
 6  Cll.  1.  4.  &C 
 
 1  Heb.,  after  the, 
 
 c  Ps.35.4;&40. 14. 
 
 2  Hc]>.,break  them 
 villi  a  double 
 breach. 
 
 e  Null.  13.  19. 
 
 /  Exod.  20  8:  &  23. 
 12;  &  31.  IS ;  Ezek, 
 
 2u.  12. 
 
 Judah  come  in,  and  by  the  which  they 
 go  out,  and  in  all  the  gates  of  Jeru- 
 salem ;  <20)  and  say  unto  them,  Hear 
 ye  the  word  of  the  Lord,  ye  kings 
 of  Judah,  and  all  Judah,  and  all 
 the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  that 
 enter  in  by  these  gates :  (21)  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  ;  e  Take  heed  to  your- 
 selves, and  bear  no  burden  on  the 
 sabbath  day,  nor  bring  it  in  by  the 
 gates  of  Jerusalem;  <22)  neither  carry 
 forth  a  burden  out  of  your  houses  on 
 the  sabbath  day,  neither  do  ye  any 
 work,  but  hallow  ye  the  sabbath  day, 
 as  I  •/'commanded  your  fathers.  <23)  But 
 they  obeyed  not,  neither  inclined  their 
 ear,  but  made  their  neck  stiff,  that  they 
 
 (16>  I  have  not  hastened  .  .  . — The  words  of  the 
 English  Version  are  somewhat  obscure,  and  a  better 
 rendering  would  perhaps  be,  I  have  not  been  quick  to 
 loitlidraw  from  my  ivork  in  following  thee,  as  a  shep- 
 herd and  guide  of  the  people.  A  possible  meaning, 
 adopted  by  some  commentators,  would  be,  "I  have  not 
 hastened  from  my  work  as  a  shepherd  (in  the  literal 
 sense)  to  follow  thee,"  as  presenting  a  parallel  to  the 
 words  of  Amos  (vii.  14,  15) ;  and,  though  we  cannot  get 
 beyond  conjecture,  it  is  quite  possible  that  Jeremiah, 
 in  his  youth,  before  the  call  of  chap.  i.  4,  may  have 
 been  employed  in  the  pasture  grounds  that  belonged  to 
 Anathoth  as  a  city  of  the  priests  (Num.  xxxv.  4 ;  Josh. 
 xxi.  4,  18 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  60).  It  is  to  some  extent  in 
 favour  of  this  view,  that  throughout  the  book  the  work 
 of  the  shepherd,  when  used  figuratively,  answers  to  the 
 work  of  the  ruler,  and  not  to  that  of  the  prophet.  What 
 he  means,  if  we  keep  the  version  given  above,  is  that  he 
 had  not  been  too  slack  in  his  obedience,  but  neither  had 
 lie  been  over  eager.  He  had  no  desire  to  see  the  woful 
 day  that  would  fulfil  his  predictions.  What  had  come 
 from  his  lips  was  just  what  he  had  been  bidden  to  say 
 and  no  more  (chap.  xv.  16 — 19),  and  thus  he  had  spoken 
 as  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  interpolated  word  "  right " 
 mars  rather  than  mends  the  meaning. 
 
 (17)  Be  not  a  terror  .  .  .—i.e.,  a  cause  of  terror 
 or  dismay.  The  words  are  explained  by  what  follows. 
 The  prophet  had  put  his  hope  in  Jehovah,  but  if  he 
 were  left  to  himself,  his  message  unfulfilled,  himself  a 
 by-word  aud  a  jest,  what  a  contrast  would  all  this  be  to 
 what  he  had  been  led  to  hope  !  Would  not  his  work  as 
 a  prophet  be  more  terrible  than  ever  ?  The  feeling 
 expressed  is  like  that  of  chap.  xv.  10. 
 
 (18)  Let  them  be  confounded  .  .  . — The  prayer 
 reminds  us  of  that  of  the  Psalmist  (Pss.  xxxv.  4, 
 xl.  14). 
 
 Double  destruction.— Literally,  break  them  with 
 a  two-fold  breaking — i.e.,  the  "  double  recompense  "  of 
 chap.  xvi.  18.     (See  Note  there.) 
 
 (19)  Thus  said  the  Lord  unto  me  .  .  .—We 
 enter  here  on  an  entirely  fresh  series  of  messages, 
 arranged  probably  in  chronological  order,  but  having 
 no  immediate  connection  with  what  precedes,  and 
 narrated  with  a  much  fuller  account  of  the  circum- 
 stances connected  with  them.  This,  which  begins  the 
 series,  would  appear  from  verse  25  to  have  been 
 delivered  before  the  sins  of  the  people  had  assumed 
 
 the  hopeless,  irremediable  character  winch  is  implied  in 
 the  two  previous  chapters ;  and  the  first  part  of  this 
 may  probably  be  referred  therefore  to  the  early  years 
 of  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim.  In  its  circumstances  and 
 mode  of  delivery  it  is  parallel  with  the  discourse  of 
 chap.  xxii.  1 — 5. 
 
 The  gate  of  the  children  of  the  people  .  .  .— 
 No  gate  so  described  is  mentioned  in  the  great  topo- 
 graphical record  of  Neh.  iii.  or  elsewhere,  and  we  are 
 therefore  left  to  conjecture  where  it  was.  The  context 
 shows  that  it  was  a  place  of  concourse,  a  gate  of  the 
 Temple  rather  than  of  the  city,  perhaps  the  special  gate 
 by  which  the  kings  aud  people  of  Judah  entered  into 
 the  enclosure  of  the  Temple.  The  name  may  indicate, 
 as  in  chap.  xxvi.  23,  that  it  was  that  "  of  the  common 
 people,"  or  "laity,"  as  in  2  Chron.  xxxv.  5,  as  dis- 
 tinguished from  that  used  by  the  priests  and  Levites ; 
 and  it  would  appear,  from  the  nature  of  the  warning 
 proclaimed  there,  to  have  been  the  scene  of  some  open 
 desecration  of  the  Sabbath — possibly  of  the  sale  of 
 sheep  or  doves  for  sacrifice,  like  that  of  John  ii.  14; 
 Matt.  xxi.  12,  or  of  the  more  common  articles  of  the 
 market,  as  in  Neh.  xiii.  15.  By  some  writers  it  has 
 been  identified  with  the  "  gate  of  Benjamin  "  (chaps. 
 xx.  2,  xxxviii.  7),  but  this  would  seem  to  have  been 
 more  conspicuous  as  a  place  of  judgment  than  of 
 trade ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  why  it  should  be 
 described  by  a  different  name  here.  Some,  indeed, 
 have  conjectured  that  we  should  read  "  gate  of 
 Benjamin  "  instead  of  "  gate  of  Beni-am,"  which  gives 
 the  meaning  "  children  of  the  people."  It  is  noticeable 
 that  the  message  was  to  be  delivered  at  the  other  gates 
 as  well,  as  being  a  protest  against  a  prevalent  sin. 
 
 (22)  Neither  carry  forth  a  burden. — Interpreted 
 by  the  parallel  passage  in  Neh.  xiii.  15 — 22,  the  burden 
 would  be  the  baskets  of  fruit,  vegetables,  or  fish  which 
 were  brought  in  from  the  country  by  the  villagers  who 
 came  to  the  Temple  services,  and  the  wares  of  the  city 
 which  were  taken  to  the  gates  to  be  sold  in  turn  to 
 them.  The  Sabbath  was  observed  after  a  fashion,  but,  as 
 Sunday  has  been  for  many  centuries  and  in  many  parts 
 of  Christendom,  it  was  turned  into  a  market-day,  and 
 so,  though  men  abstained  probably  from  manual  labour, 
 the  quiet  sanctity  wliich  of  right  belonged  to  it  was 
 lost.  Passages  like  Isa.  lvi.  2 — 6,  lviii.  13  show  that  the 
 evil  was  one  of  some  standing,  and  the  practice  of  the 
 time  of  Jehoiakim  was  not  likely  to  be  more  rigorous 
 
 64 
 
TJie  Bhsring  on  8aibaih4ceeping.        JEREMIAH,    XVIII.     Th    Parabb   qf  tl     PoU 
 
 mighl  n"i  bear,  nor  receive  instruction. 
 
 '-li  Ami  it  shall  come  I/O  pass,  if  ye 
 diligently  hearken  unto  me,  saith  the 
 Loan,  to  bring  in  no  burden  through 
 
 the   urates    Of  this    city  on    the   w:t  I  >l  «.i  t  li 
 
 day,  bul  hallow  the  sabbath  day,  bo  do 
 no  work  therein;  '-'■''  'then  sliall  there 
 enter  into  the  gates  of  this  city  kings 
 unci  princes  Bitting  upon  the  throne  of 
 David,  riding  in  chariots  and  on  horses, 
 they,  and  their  princes,  the  men  of 
 Judah,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
 salem: and  this  city  shall  remain  for 
 
 ever.      |J|"  And  I  hey  shall  < from  the 
 
 cities  of  Judah,  and  from  the  places 
 about  Jerusalem,  and  from  the  land  of 
 
 min,  ;i  ml  from  the  plain,  ami  from 
 
 th"    nitains,    ami    from    the     south, 
 
 bringing  burnt  offerings,  and  sacrifices, 
 and  meat  offerings,  and  incense,  and 
 bringing  sacrifices  of  praise,  unto  the 
 house  of  the  Loro.      -7i  But  if  ye  will 
 
 B.C 
 
 thi  luiNil 
 
 r.tnrued 
 
 not  hearken  onto  me  to  hallow  the 
 Babbath  day,  and  not  to  bear  a  burden, 
 oven  entering  in  at  the  gates  of  Jeru- 
 salem on   the  Babbath   day;   then  will  I 
 
 kindle  a  lire  in  the  gates  thereof,  and  it 
 BhaU  devour  the  palaces  of  Jerusalem, 
 ami  it  BhaU  m.t  be  quenched. 
 
 XVm.  —  cu  The    word 
 to    Jeremiah    from    the 
 
 CHAPTER 
 which    came 
 
 LOBD,  >a\  ine;. 
 
 Arise,  and  <jo  down  to  tin-  pot 
 house,  and  there   I   will   cause    thee  to 
 hoar   my  words.      'Then   I    went    down 
 
 to  the  potter's  house,  and,  behold,  be 
 wroughl  a  work  on  the  'wheels.  '■'  And 
 the  vessel  'thai  be  made  ,,f  clay  was 
 marred  in  the  hand  of  the  potter:  BO 
 he  8made  it  again  another  vessel,  as 
 seemed  good  to  the  potter  to  make  it. 
 
 (°)  Then  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 to  me,  saying, 
 
 than  it  had  boon  in  the  (dine  of  Isaiah,  or  was,  at  a  later 
 period,  after  the  return  from  the  Captivity. 
 
 (■)  Kings  and  princes.— Tim  plural  is  obviously 
 used  to  give  greater  vividness  and  grandeur  to  the 
 picture  of  revived  majesty  which  would  be  the  reward 
 of  faithfulness,  perhaps  also  to  express  t ho  idea  that 
 the  majesty  would  be  enduring. 
 
 (26)  They  shall  come  .  .  .—The  verse  lias  a 
 special  interest  (1)  a*  a  topographical  description  of 
 the  country  about  Jerusalem,  and  (2)  as  a  summary 
 of  the  chief  forms  of  sacrifice  under  the  Mosaic 
 Law.  (1)  The  "plain"  (Shephelah)  is  the  lowland 
 country  of  Philistia,  stretching  to  the  Mediterranean; 
 the  "mountain"  the  hill-country  of  Judah;  the 
 "south"      v  the  region  lying  to   the  south  of 
 
 Hebron,  ami  including  Beersheba  (comp.  Josh.  iv.  21, 
 Js  .  Each  name,  though  descriptive  in  meaning, 
 was  used  in  almost  as  definite  a  sense  as  thai  m 
 which  we  speak  of  the  "Oampagna"  of  Borne  or 
 the  "Weald"  of  Kent.  (2)  The  list  includes  the 
 "burnt  offerings,"  in  which  the  flesh  of  the  victim 
 was  consumed  entirely  on  the  altar;  the  " sacrifices," 
 
 in    which    the    flesh    01    the    victim    was   eaten    partly 
 
 by  the   priest    ami    partly    by  the  worshipper;    the 
 
 "nieat    Offerings,"   which    were    of    meal    ami    salt,    mil 
 
 of  flesh,  ami    were    always  a mpanied  by  incense 
 
 i  Lev.  ii.  1);  and, lastly , praw  —the  word  "sacrifice"  net 
 being  found  in  the  Eebrew  —the  utterance  of  prayer  ami 
 psalm,  which  the  Psalmist  had  named  as  more  accept- 
 able than  the  flesh  of  hulls  ami  goats  I  Ps.  1.   II. 
 
 '->  Then  will  I  kindle  a  fire  .  .  .—The  fire  is 
 figurative  rather  than  literal  i  the  ■■  fierce  anger  "of  the 
 Lord  which  man  cannot  quench,  ami  which  brings 
 destruction  in  its  train,  of  which  an  actual  conflagra- 
 tion may  have  been  the  instrument  (Hoe.  viii.  14; 
 Amos  i.  11).    Compare  chaps.  \ii.  20,  \xi.  14. 
 
 XVIII. 
 (i)  The  word  which  came  to  Jeremiah.— Tho 
 message  that  fellows  comes  in  close  sequence  upon  that 
 of    tho  preceding   chapter,    i.e.,   probably   before    the 
 144 
 
 fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  JehoiaMm.  it  his  the 
 character  of  a  last  warning  to  king  ami  people,  and  it* 
 
 rejection   is   followed   in   its  turn   le  decisive 
 
 use  of  the  same  symbol  in  chap.  xix. 
 
 (2)  The  potter's  house.— '1  lie  place  was  probably 
 identical  with  the  "potter's  field"  of  Zech.  n.  13,  the 
 
 well-known  spot  where  the  workers  in  1  li.it  an  carried 
 
 on  their  business.  The  traditional  Aceldama,  tic 
 "potter's  field"  of  Matt,  xxvii.  7.  is  on  the  southern 
 face  of  the  valley  of  Hiimoiii.  south  of  Jerusalem. 
 soil  is  still  a  kiud  of  clay  suitable  ami  employed  for  the 
 same  purpose  Hitter,  Palestine,  iv.  165,  Eng.  Trans.). 
 Th.'  purchase  of  the  field  to  "bury  Btrangera  in" 
 [Matt,  xxvii.  7)  implies,  however,  that  it  was  looked 
 upon  as  a  piece  of  waste  ground,  and  that  its  use  had 
 been  exhausted. 
 
 0')  He    wrought    a   work   on    the   wheels.— 
 laterally,  (he  two  wheels.     The  nature  of  the  work  is 
 described  more  graphically  in  Ecolus.  xxxviii.  29, 
 Tho  potter  sat  moving  one  horizontal  wheel  with  his 
 
 feet,  while  a  smaller  one  was  used,  as  it  revolve. 1.  to 
 fashion   the   shape  of    the   vessel   he   was  malrwig   with 
 
 his  hands.    The  image  had  been  already  used  of  1 1 
 
 creative  work  in  Isa.  xxix.  l'i.  xlv.  9,  Ixiv.  8. 
 
 (*)  Of  clay. — The  reading  in   the  margin,   which 
 
 gives  "as  day."  must  be  regarded  as  a  clerical  error. 
 originating,  probably,  in  the  desire  to  bring  the  | 
 
 into  conformity  with  verse  (i.  that  in  the  text  of  the 
 Authorised  Version  being  continued  by  many  MSS.  and 
 Versions. 
 He  made  it  again.— Literally,  and  more  vividly. 
 tde.  As  we  read,  we  have  to  re- 
 member that  what  is  narrated  in  a  few  words  implied 
 a  loiip;  train  of  thoughts.  The  prophet  went  by  the 
 impulse  which  he  knew  to  lie  from  (  fod  to  the  "  field  " 
 in  the  valley  of   Hinnom  ;   he  stood  ami  gated,  and  then 
 
 as  he  watched  he  was  led  '..  see  in  the  potter's  work 
 
 a  parable  of  the  world's  history:  God  as  the  great 
 artificer,  men  and  nations  as  the  \e>-els  which  Be 
 makes  for  honourable  or  dishonourable  uses  i2  Tim. 
 ii.  20;  Bom.  ix.  21). 
 
The  Parable  of  the  Potter  Interpreted.    JEEEMI  AH,    XVIII. 
 
 "T/ie  Call  to  Repentance. 
 
 <6)  0  liouse  of  Israel,  "cannot  I  do  with 
 you  as  this  potter?  saith  the  Lord. 
 Behold,  as  the  clay  is  in  the  potter's 
 hand,  so  are  ye  in  mine  hand,  0  house 
 of  Israel.  I7)  At  what  instant  I  shall 
 speak  concerning  a  nation,  and  con- 
 cerning a  kingdom,  to  'pluck  up,  and  to 
 pull  down,  and  to  destroy  it ;  's>  if  that 
 nation,  against  whom  I  have  pronounced, 
 turn  from  their  evil,  fI  will  repent  of 
 the  evil  that  I  thought  to  do  unto  them. 
 (9)  And  at  what  instant  I  shall  speak 
 concerning  a  nation,  and  concerning  a 
 kingdom,  to  huild  and  to  plant  it ;  <w>  if 
 it  do  evil  in  my  sight,  that  it  ohey  not 
 my  voice,  then  1  will  repent  of  the  good, 
 wherewith  I  said  I  would  benefit  them. 
 
 a  Isa.  45.  9;   Wisd. 
 15.  7:  Iloiu.il.  2a 
 
 l>  eh.  1.  10. 
 c  Jonah  3. 10. 
 
 d  2  Kings  17.  13; 
 ell.  7.3;  Si  25.5;  & 
 35.  15. 
 
 1  Or,  my  fnhU  for 
 n  rock,  or  for  tin 
 enowo/Jiebajnont 
 sltullthe  running 
 witters  lie  for- 
 ttuksfl  fur  the 
 strange  cold  wa- 
 ters .' 
 
 (n)  Now  therefore  go  to,  speak  to  the 
 men  of  Judah,  and  to  the  inhabitants 
 of  Jerusalem,  saying,  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord; 
 
 Behold,  I  frame  evil  against  you,  and 
 devise  a  device  against  you  :  d  return  ye 
 now  every  one  from  his  evil  way,  and 
 make  your  ways  and  your  doings  good. 
 <12)  And  they  said,  c  There  is  no  hope : 
 but  we  will  walk  after  our  own  devices, 
 and  we  will  every  one  do  the  imagina- 
 tion of  his  evil  heart.  (13)  Therefore  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  ;  /Ask  ye  now  among  the 
 heathen,  who  hath  heard  such  things : 
 the  virgin  of  Israel  hath  done  a  very 
 horrible  thing.  <u)  Will  a  man  leave 
 xthe  snow  of  Lebanon  which  cometh  from 
 
 (6)  Cannot  I  do  with  you  as  this  potter?— 
 
 The  question  implies  a  theory  of  the  universe,  which  is 
 neither  (as  some  have  thought)  one  of  absolute  fatalism, 
 crushing  man's  freedom,  nor.  on  the  other  hand,  one 
 which  merges  God's  sovereignty  in  man's  power  of 
 choice.  The  clay  can  resist  the  potter,  or  can  yield 
 itself  willingly  to  his  hands  to  be  shaped  as  he  wills. 
 Its  being  "  marred"  is  through  no  fault  of  the  potter, 
 but — in  the  framework  of  the  parable — through  the  de- 
 fect of  the  material,  and,  in  its  application,  through  the 
 resistance  of  the  human  agents  whom  God  is  fashioning. 
 And  when  it  is  so  marred  one  of  two  courses  is  open  to 
 the  potter.  He  can  again  ro-mould  and  fashion  it  to  his 
 purpose,  to  a  new  work  which  may  be  less  honourable 
 than  that  for  which  it  was  originally  designed ;  or,  if  it  be 
 hojielessly  marred,  can  break  it  and  cast  it  away,  and  with 
 fresh  clay  mould  a  fresh  vessel.  The  history  of  nations 
 and  churches  and  individual  men  offers  many  examples 
 of  both  processes.  They  frustrate  God's  gracious  purpose 
 by  their  self-will,  but  His  long-suffering  leads  them  to 
 repentance,  and  gives  them,  to  speak  after  the  manner 
 of  men,  yet  another  chance  of  being  moulded  by  His 
 hands.  Here  the  prophet  invites  the  people,  as  the 
 clay,  to  accept  the  former  alternative.  St.  Paul,  taking 
 the  same  analogy,  looks  forward  to  the  time  when  the 
 marred  vessel  of  Israel  shall  be  restored  to  the  Master's 
 house  and  be  honoured  in  His  service  (Rom.  ix.  21, 
 xi.  '26).  The  closing  verses  of  Browning's  poem, 
 "  Rabbi  Ben-Ezra,"  in  Men  and  Women,  may  be  re- 
 ferred to  as  embodying  the  same  thought : — 
 
 "  But  I  need  Thee,  as  then. 
 
 Thee,  God,  who  mouldest  men  ; 
 And  since,  not  even  while  the  whirl  was  worst, 
 
 Did  t-to  the  wheel  of  lite. 
 
 With  shapes  and  colours  rife. 
 Bound  dizzily— mistake  my  end,  to  slake  Thy  thirst, 
 
 "  So  take  and  use  Thy  work  ! 
 
 Amend  what  flaws  may  lurk, 
 What  strain  o'  the  stuff,  what  warpings  past  the  aim ! 
 
 My  times  be  in  Thy  hand  ; 
 
 Perfect  the  cup  as  planned  ! 
 Let  age  approve  of  youth,  and  death  comprete  the  same." 
 
 (7—io)  At  what  instant  I  shall  speak  concern- 
 ing a  nation  .  .  . — The  words  carry  the  thoughts  of 
 the  prophet  back  to  those  which  had  been  stamped  in- 
 delibly on  his  memory  when  he  was  first  called  to  his 
 work  (chap.  i.  10).  He  is  now  taught  that  that  work 
 was  throughout  conditional.  In  bold  anthropomorphic 
 speech   Jehovah  represents  himself   as  changing  His 
 
 purpose,  even  suddenly,  "  in  an  instant,"  if  the  nation 
 that  is  affected  by  it  passes  from  evil  to  good  or  from 
 good  to  evil.  The  seeming  change  is  but  the  expres- 
 sion of  an  unchanged  eternal  Law  of  Righteousness, 
 dealing  with  men  according  to  their  works.  This,  and 
 not  the  assertion  of  an  arbitrary,  irresistibly  predestina- 
 ting will,  was  the  lesson  the  prophet  had  been  taught 
 by  the  parable  of  the  potter's  wheel. 
 
 (li)  I  frame  evil. — The  verb  chosen  is  that  which 
 specially  describes  the  potter's  work,  and  from  which  the 
 Hebrew  word  for  potter  is  itself  derived.  This,  so  to 
 speak,  is  the  shape  of  the  vessel  actually  in  hand, 
 determining  its  use,  but  its  form  is  not  unalterably 
 fixed.  It  is  shown  in  terrorem,  and  the  people  are 
 invited  to  accept  the  warning  by  repentance. 
 
 (12)  And  they  said. — Better,  Bat  they  say,  as  of 
 continued  action.  This  was  the  ever-recurring  answer 
 (see  Iv'ote  on  chap.  ii.  25)  which  they  made  to  the 
 prophet's  pleas.  It  was  the  answer  of  defiance  rather 
 than  of  despair.  "  There  is  no  hope,  you  need  not 
 hope,  that-  we  will  do  as  you  bid  us.  We  will  go  on 
 our  way,  and  walk  after  our  own  devices." 
 
 Imagination. — Better,  as  elsewhere,  stubbornness. 
 
 (13)  Ask  ye  now  among  the  heathen.— The 
 appeal  of  chap.  ii.  10,  11  is  renewed.  Judah  had  not 
 been  true,  even  as  heathen  nations  were  true,  to  its 
 inherited  faith  and  worship.  The  virgin  daughter  of 
 Israel  (Isa.  i.  8 ;  Jer.  xiv.  17) — the  epithet  is  emphasised, 
 as  contrasted  with  the  shame  that  follows — had  fallen 
 from  a  greater  height  to  a  profounder  depth  of  debase- 
 ment. 
 
 (it)  ■Will  a  man  leave  .  .  .  ?— The  interpolated 
 words  "  a  man"  pervert  the  meaning  of  the  verse,  which 
 should  run  thus  :  Will  the  snow  of  Lebanon  fail  from 
 the  rock  of  the  field  ?  or  shall  the  cold  (or,  with  some 
 commentators,  "  rushing  ")  fioiving  waters  from  afar 
 (literally,  strange,  or,  as  some  take  it,  that  dash 
 down)  be  dried  up  ?  The  questions  imply  an  answer 
 in  the  negative,  and  assert  in  a  more  vivid  form  what 
 had  been  expressed  more  distinctly,  though  less  poeti- 
 cally, iu  chap.  ii.  13.  The  strength  of  Jehovah  was 
 like  the  unfailing  snow  of  Lebanon  (the  "  white  "  or 
 snow  mountain,  like  Mont  Blanc  or  Snowdon),  like  the 
 dashing  stream  that  flows  from  heights  so  distant  that 
 they  belong  to  a  strange  country,  and  which  along  its 
 whole  course  was  never  dried  up,  and  yet  men  forsook 
 that  strength  for  their  own  devices.     The  "  streams  of 
 
 CC 
 
Stumbling  in  the  Ancient  Paths,        JKRKMT A  H t    \  V  I  1 1.         /'/,,    i>  |  //.     /■ 
 
 the  nick  of  the  field P   or  sliall    the   cold 
 
 flowing  waters  thai  come  from  another 
 place  l»'  forsaken  P  "'"  Because  my 
 people  hath  forgotten  "me,  they  hate 
 burned  Incense  to  vanity,  and  they  have 
 caused  them  to  stumble  in  their  trays 
 from  ilif  'ancient  paths,  to  walk  in 
 paths,  in  a  way  uo1  cast  up;  ll"  to 
 make  (heir  land  "desolate,  and  a  per- 
 petual  hissing;  every  one  that  passeth 
 thereby  shall  be  astonished,  and  wag 
 bis  head.  Il7i  I  will  scatter  them  as 
 with  an  cast  w ind  before  the  enemy  ;   1 
 
 .  1 1  11  , 
 
 will  Bhew  them  the  hack,  and  not  the 
 ('.i.e.  in  the  day  of  their  calamity. 
 
 Then  said  they,  Come,  and  let 
 u-  devise  devices  against  Jeremiah; 
 'for  the  law  shall  not  perish  from  the 
 priest,  nor  counsel  from  the  wise,  nor 
 the  word  from  the  prophet.  Come,  and 
 let  as  smite  him  '  with  the  tongue,  and 
 
 |e|    ns  not   e/jve  heed   to  any  of  his  words. 
 
 I  live  heed   to   me,  • »   Loan,   and 
 
 hearken    to    the   voice   of    them    that 
 contend  with  me.     <*'  Shall  evil  h 
 compensed   for  good  P    for   they  have 
 
 Lebanon"  appear  as  the  type  of  cool  refreshing  waters 
 in  Bong  of  Sol.  iv.  l">.  The  term  "rock  of  the  field" 
 is  applied  in  chaps,  svii.  '■'*.  xxi.  IS  to  Jerosalem, 
 iini  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  used  of 
 Lebanon  01  any  other  mountain  soaring  above  the 
 plain.  The  notion  thai  the  prophet  spoke  of  the 
 >k  (lilioii  mi  Mount  Zion,  as  fed,  l>y  an  under- 
 ground channel,  bom  the  snows  of  Lebanon,  has  uot 
 sufficient  evidence  to  commend  it.  but  the  "dew  of 
 Sermon,  and  at  the  dew  that  descended  upon  the 
 mountains  of  Zion"  (Ps.  exxxiii.  :;  presents,  to  say 
 the  least,  a  suggestive  parallel.  Possibly  tlie  prophet 
 has  the  Jordan  in  his  mind.  Tacitus  (Hist.  v.  6) 
 describes  it  as  fed  by  tlio  snows  of  Lebanon,  the 
 iiiinuit  of  which  is.  in  his  expressive  language,  faithful 
 to  its  snows  through  the  heat  of  summer, 
 
 (IS)  Vanity. — The  word  is  not  that  commonly  so 
 translated  (as  in  chaps,  ii.  5,  z.  8  j  Eccles.  \.2,etal.,q.v.), 
 but  thai  which  had  been  used  of  idols  in  chaps,  ii.  30, 
 iv.  80,  \i.  29,  rendered  "  in  vain."     Bee  also    Ezek. 
 
 xiii.  Ii.  S.  !». 
 
 They  have  caused. — No  persons  have  been  named, 
 
 but   the   prophet   dearly  has   in  view  the  prophets  and 
 
 teachers  who  had  led  the  people  astray. 
 
 To  stumble  in  their  ways  from  the  ancient 
 paths. — The  preposition  "from  "  is  not  in  the  Hebrew, 
 and  does  not  improve  the  sense.  The  words  "  the 
 ancient  paths,"  literally,  the  paths  of  (he  age,  or  of 
 eternity,  are  in  apposition  with  "their  ways,"  and  point 
 to  the  old  immemorial  faith  of  the  patriarchs,  a  Eaith 
 not  of  to-day  or  yesterday.  The  second  "paths"  is  a 
 different  word  from  the  first,  and  implies  rather  the 
 
 "  by-ways,"  as  contrasted  with  the  "way  cast  up."  the 
 
 raised  causeway,  the  "king's  highway,"  on  which  a  man 
 
 could  not  well  lose  his  way. 
 
 (U)  Desolate  .  .  .  astonished.— Better.   (Jcnolati- 
 
 in  both   clauses.     Tho  Hebrew  verb   is   the   same,  and 
 
 then- is  a  manifest  emphasis  in  the- repetition  which  it 
 
 is  belter  to  reproduce  in   English. 
 
 A  perpetual  hissing.— The  Hebrew  word  is 
 onomatopoetic,  and  expresses  the  inarticulate  sounds 
 winch  we  utter  on    Beeing  anything  that    makes  us 
 
 shudder,  rather   than   "hissing      in  its  modern   use  as 
 
 an  expression  of  contempt  or  disapproval 
 
 Wag  his  head.— Better,  thake  his  head.  The  verb 
 is  not  the  same  us  that  which  describes  the  gesture  of 
 scorn  in  Pas.  xxii.  7,  cix.  25 ;  Lam.ii.  15;  Zeph. ii.  15, and 
 
 describes  pity  or  bemoaning  rather  than  cent  cm  pt.    Men 
 
 would  not  mock  the  desolation  of  Israel,  but  would  u'a»' 
 
 on  it  astounded  and  pitying,  themselves  also  i\,'~ 
 
 (17)  With  an  east  wind.    MBS.  vary,  some  giving 
 
 "with"  and  some  "as  an  cast  wind."  The  difference  docs 
 
 not  much  affect  the  meaning.    The  east  wind  blowing 
 from  the  desert   was  the   wind   of   -terms,  tempi 
 and  parching  heat   Jon.  iv.  8;  Pe.  xlviii.  7;  Isa.xxvi 
 
 I  will  shew  them  the  back,  and  not  tho  face. 
 — The  figure  is  boldly  anthropomorphic.  The  light 
 of  God's  countenance  is  the  fulness  of  joy  Num.  \  i  - 
 
 To  turn  away   that    light    was   to   leave  the    ] pie    to 
 
 the  darkness  of  their  misery.  What  was  thus  done  by 
 Jehovah  was  but  a  righteous  retribution  on  the  people 
 
 who  had   "  turned  their  back"  and  "not  their  face  "  to 
 
 Him  [ chap.  ii.  27 1. 
 
 (is)  Come,  and   lot   us  devise   devices.— The 
 
 priests  and    people   thus  far    appear   to   have    listened 
 
 to  the  prophet,   but  at  the  threatening  words  of  the 
 
 preceding  verse  their  anger  bea «  hatred,  and  their 
 
 hatred  seeks  to  kill  (verse  23).     We  are  reminded  of 
 the  of  t-recurring  statement  in  the  Gospels  that  prii 
 and  elders  "took  counsel"  against  our  Lord  to  "put 
 Him  to  death"  (Matt.  xii.  1-f,  xxvii.  1;   Mark  iii.  6  . 
 Luko  vi.  11 ;  et  al.). 
 
 For  the  law  shall  not  perish  .  .  .—The  words 
 meant  apparently  (1)  that  they  had  enough  guidance 
 
 in  the  Law.  in  the  priests,  and  in  the  prophets  who  met 
 
 (heir  wishes,  and  (2)  thai  they  might  trust  in  the  eon- 
 linuanee  of  that  guidance  in  spite  of  the  threatonings 
 of  destruction  thai  the  prophet  had  just  spokcu.  Tie- 
 words  are  Buggestive  as  showing  the  precise  nature 
 
 of    the    guidance    expected    from    each.       The    prii 
 interpret  the  Law.  the  wise  give  the  counsel  of  experi- 
 ence, the  prophet  speaks  what  claims  to  be  the  word, 
 or  message,  of  the  Lord.     A  striking  parallel  is  found 
 
 ill   K/.ek.   vii.  26. 
 
 Come,  and  let  us  smite  him  with  the  tongue. 
 — We  probably  find  the  result  of  the  conspiracy  in  the 
 
 measures  taken   by  P&shur  in  chip.  xx.  1 — 3.     He  had 
 
 "heard  that  Jeremiah  prophesied  these  things,"  and  we 
 
 may  well  believe  that  his  informants  were  s, one  of  those 
 
 «ho  ihus  announced  their  intentions.   There  ;s  no  suffi- 
 cient reason  for  the  marginal  reading, "  for  the  tongue." 
 (19)  Givo  heed  to  me   .   .  .—This  is  the  prophet's 
 
 answer  to  the   resolve  of  the    people.  "  1 ,,  t  n-   not    give 
 
 heed."     He  appeals   in   the  accents  of    a  passionate 
 
 Complaint  to  Cue  who  will  heed  his  words.  'Jlc 
 Opening  words  are  almost  as  an  echo  of  Ps.  xxxv.  1. 
 
 i1  hey  have  digged  a  pit  for  my  soul.— Tlio 
 
 e  his  become  so  familiar  that   WO  have  all   but  lost 
 its    vividness.      What    it    meant    here  (as    In    Ps.   ]\" 
 
 was  that  the  man  was  treated  as  a  beast,  the  prophet 
 
 who    Bought    their    e; 1    as    the    wolf    or    the   jackal 
 
 whom  they  entrapped  and  slew. 
 
 Remember  that  I  stood  before  thee.— The 
 phrase  is   used  frequently,  though  not  uniformly,   of 
 
 67 
 
The  Prophet  Prays  against  his  Foes.        JEREMIAH,     XIX. 
 
 The  Parable  of  the  Potter  ended. 
 
 digged  a  pit  for  rny  soul.  Remember 
 that  I  stood  before  thee  to  speak  good 
 for  tbem,  and  to  turn  away  thy  wrath 
 from  them.  (21)  Therefore  "deliver  up 
 their  children  to  the  famine,  and  1pour 
 out  their  blood  by  the  force  of  the 
 sword ;  and  let  their  wives  be  bereaved 
 of  their  children,  and  be  widows ;  and 
 let  their  men  be  put  to  death ;  let  their 
 young  men  be  slain  by  the  sword  in 
 battle.  (22>  Let  a  cry  be  heard  from 
 their  houses,  when  thou  shalt  bring  a 
 troop  suddenly  upon  them :  for  they 
 have  digged  a  pit  to  take  me,  and  hid 
 
 il  P.«.  109.  10. 
 
 1  Hel>.,  pour  them 
 out 
 
 2  Beb.,  for  death. 
 
 snares  for  my  feet.  <23)  Yet,  Lord,  thou 
 knowest  all  their  counsel  against  me 
 3  to  slay  me :  forgive  not  their  iniquity, 
 neither  blot  out  their  sin  from  thy 
 sight,  but  let  them  be  overthrown 
 before  thee ;  deal  thus  with  them  in 
 the  time  of  thine  anger 
 
 CHAPTER  XIX.— di  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord, 
 
 Go  and  get  a  potter's  earthen  bottle, 
 and  take  of  the  ancients  of  the  people, 
 and  of  the  ancients  of  the  priests ; 
 (2)  and  go  forth  unto  the  valley  of  the 
 
 the  act  of  worship,  of  the  communion  of  the  soul  with 
 God  (cornp.  chap.  vii.  10;  Deut.  x.  8,  xix.  17,  xxix.  10; 
 
 1  Kings  xix.  11),  and  is  cloarly  used  in  this  sense  here. 
 The  prophet  refers  to  his  repeated  though  fruitless 
 entreaties  for  the  people  in  chaps,  xiv.  and  xv.  It  is 
 interesting  to   note   the   description  of   Jeremiah,   in 
 
 2  Mace.  xv.  14,  as  "  a  lover  of  the  brethren  who 
 prayeth  much  for  the  people  and  the  holy  city."  Men 
 had  come  to  recognise  that  the  spirit  of  intercession 
 had  been  the  prophet's  dominant  characteristic. 
 
 (2i)  Therefore  deliver  up  their  children  .  .  .— 
 The  bitter  words  that  follow  startle  aud  pain  us,  like  the 
 imprecations  of  Pss.  xxxv.,  lxix.,  and  cix.  To  what  extent 
 they  were  the  utterances  of  a  righteous  indignation,  a 
 true  zeal  for  God,  which  had  not  yet  learnt  the  higher 
 lesson  of  patience  and  foi-giveness.  or  embodied  an 
 element  of  personal  viudictiveness,  we  are  not  called 
 on  to  inquire,  and  could  not,  in  any  case,  decide.  It  is 
 not  ours  to  judge  another  man's  servant.  In  all  like 
 cases  we  have  to  remember  that  the  very  truthfulness 
 with  which  the  prayer  is  recorded  is  at  least  a  proof 
 that  the  prophet  felt,  like  Jouah,  that  he  did  well  to  be 
 angry  (Jon.  iv.  9),  that  a  righteous  anger  is  at  least  one 
 step  towards  a  righteous  love,  aud  that  we,  as  disciples 
 of  Christ,  have  passed,  or  ought  to  have  passed, 
 beyond  that  earlier  stage. 
 
 Pour  out  their  blood  by  the  force  of  the 
 sword. — Literally,  with  a  bolder  metaphor,  pour  them 
 out  into  the  hands  of  the  sword. 
 
 (22)  Let  a  cry  be  heard  from  their  houses.— 
 i.e..  let  their  city  be  taken  by  the  enemy  and  the  people 
 suffer  all  the  outrage  and  cruelty  which  their  heathen 
 invaders  can  inflict.  What  these  were,  the  history  of 
 all  wars,  above  all  of  Eastern  wars,  tells  us  but  too 
 plainly  (2  Kings  viii.  12;  Hos.  xiii.  16).  Some  of 
 them,  prisoners  impaled  or  flayed  alive,  are  brought 
 vividly  before  our  eyes  by  the  Assyrian  sculptures. 
 
 The  "  snares "  are  those  of  the  bird-catcher 
 (Pss.  cxl.  5,  cxlii.  3). 
 
 (23)  Yet,  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  their  counsel 
 .  .  . — Secret  as  their  plots  had  been,  they  were  not 
 hidden  from  Jehovah,  nor,  indeed,  as  the  words  show, 
 from  the  prophet  himself.  The  words  might  seem, 
 at  first,  to  refer  specially  to  the  conspiracy  of  the  men 
 of  Anathoth  (chap.  xi.  21).  but  by  this  time,  as  verse  18 
 shows,  the  hatred  provoked  by  the  warnings  of  the 
 prophet  had  spread  further,  and  united  the  priests 
 and  false  prophets  of  Jerusalem  in  a  common  hostility 
 against  him.  So  afterwards,  in  the  Gospel  history,  the 
 conspiracies  that  began  at  Capernaum  (Mark  iii.  6) 
 were  developed  in  Jerusalem  (Matt,  xxvii.  1). 
 
 Deal  thus  with  them.— The  interpolated  word 
 "  thus,"  intended  to  emphasise  the  prayer,  really  weakens 
 it:  in  the  time  of  Thine  anger  deal  with  them,  as 
 implying  that  the  day  of  grace  was  past,  that  nothing 
 now  remained  but  retribution.  The  prayer  was  the 
 utterance  of  an  indignation,  not  unrighteous  in  itself, 
 yet  showing  all  too  plainly,  as  has  been  said  above,  like 
 the  language  of  the  so-called  imprecatory  Psalms, 
 the  contrast  between  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  and 
 Christ-like  way  of  meeting  wrong  and  hatred.  For  us 
 such  prayers  are  among  the  things  that  have  passed 
 away,  and  we  have  learnt  to  admire  aud  imitate  the 
 nobler  temper  of  the  proto-martyr,  "  Lord,  lay  not  this 
 sin  to  their  charge  "  (Acts  vii.  60).  The  New  Testa- 
 ment utterances  of  St.  Peter  against  Simon  the  sorcerer 
 (Acts  viii.  20),  of  St.  Paul  against  Ananias  (Acts  xxiii.  3), 
 the  Judaisers  of  Galatia  (Gal.  i.  9),  and  Alexander 
 the  coppersmith  (2  Tim.  iv.  14),  present  an  appa- 
 rent parallelism ;  but  the  words  spoken  iu  these  cases 
 have  more  the  character  of  an  authoritative  judicial 
 sentence. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 (D  And  get  a  potter's  earthen  bottle. — The 
 word  for  "  get "  involves  buying  as  the  process.  The 
 similitude — one  might  better  call  it,  the  parable  drama- 
 tised— represents  the  darker  side  of  the  imagery  of 
 chap,  xviii.  3,  4.  There  the  vessel  was  still  on  the 
 potter's  wheel,  capable  of  being  re-shaped.  Now  we 
 have  the  vessel  which  has  been  baked  and  hardened. 
 No  change  is  possible.  If  it  is  unfit  for  the  uses  for 
 which  it  was  designed,  there  is  nothing  left  but  to 
 bi-eak  it.  As  such  it  became  now  the  tit  symbol  of 
 the  obdurate  people  of  Israel.  Their  polity,  their 
 nationality,  their  religious  system,  had  to  be  broken 
 up.  The  word  for  "vessel"  indicates  a  large  earthen 
 jar  with  a  narrow  neck,  the  "  cruse  "  used  for  honey  iu 
 1  Kings  xiv.  3.  Its  form,  bakbuk,  clearly  intended  to 
 represent  the  gurgling  sound  of  the  water  as  it  was 
 poured  out,  is  interesting  as  an  example  of  onomato- 
 poeia in  the  history  of  language. 
 
 Take  of  the  ancients"  of  the  people,  and 
 of  the  ancients  of  the  priests.— The  elders, 
 and  therefore  the  representatives  of  the  civil  and 
 ecclesiastical  rulers,  were  to  be  the  witnesses  of  this 
 acted  prophecy  of  the  destruction  of  all  that  they 
 held  most  precious.  The  word  "  take"  is  not  in  the 
 Hebrew,  but  either  some  such  verb  has  to  be  supplied, 
 or  the  verb  "  go  "  has  to  be  carried  on, "  Let  the  ancients 
 .    .     .    go  with  thee." 
 
 (2)  Unto  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom.—  The 
 
 68 
 
Th>    S'  nil  in-''  "f  />',., i n. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XIX. 
 
 Tl,-     V  iht.,: 
 
 son  of  Ilinniiiii,  which  is  by  the  entry 
 of  'the  eas1  gate,  and  proclaim  there 
 the  wnnls  thai  I  Bhall  tell  thee, ' ;i  and 
 Bay,  Hear  ye  the  word  of  the  Loan, 
 o  kings  of  Jndah,  and  inhabitants  of 
 Jerusalem;  Tims  Baith  the  Lobs  of 
 hosts,  the  God  of  Israel;  Behold,  I 
 will   bring   evil    upon    this   place,  the 
 
 which  whosoever  lieareth,  his  ears  shall 
 
 ■tingle.  '"  Because  they  bare  forsaken 
 me,  and  have  estranged  this  place,  and 
 
 have  Inirned  incense  in  it  unto  other 
 gods,  whom  neither  they  nor  their  lathers 
 
 nave  known,  nor  the  kings  of  Judah, 
 
 and  have  Oiled  this  place  with  the  blood 
 of  innocents;  W  they  have  built  also 
 the  high  places  of  Baal,  to  burn  their 
 sons  with  lire  for  burnt  offerings  unto 
 Baal,  'which  I  commanded  not,  nor 
 spake  it,  neither  came  U  into  my  mind: 
 
 . 
 
 c  cii. :.  n . 
 
 SO :  Dcut. 
 
 1  .LIU       I.    10. 
 
 ■  therefore,  behold,  the  days  come, 
 Baith  the  Loan,  thai  this  place  Bhall  no 
 more  be  called  Tophet,  nor  The  valley 
 of  the  Bon  of  llinnom,  hut  The  valley 
 of  slaughter.  "  And  1  will  make  void 
 the  counsel  of  Judah  and  Jerasalem  in 
 
 this  place;  and  I  will  cause  them  to 
 tall  by  the  sword  before  their  enemies, 
 and    by   the    hands    of    them    that    -'■>■)< 
 
 their  lives:  ami  their  'carcases  will  I 
 give  to  be  meat  for  the  fowls  of  the 
 heaven,  and  for  the  beasts  of  the  earth. 
 And  I  will  make  this  city  'desolate, 
 and  an  hissing ;  everyone  that  passeth 
 thereby  Bhall  be  astonished  and  hiss 
 because  of  all  the  plagues  tic 
 i:'  And  I  will  cause  them  to  eat  the 
 'flesh  of  their  sonsand  the  flesh  of  their 
 daughters,  and  they  shall  eat  every 
 one  the  flesh  of  his  friend  in  the  sie-;e 
 
 rite  was  chosen  as  having  i n  the  scene  of  the  most 
 
 t'nl    form    of    idolatry   to    which    the    people    had 
 
 addicted  themselves,  perhaps  also  as  connected  locally 
 
 with  the  potnr's  field.   (See  Note  on  chap.  vii.  31 ;  aud 
 
 Matt,  xxvii.  7.) 
 
 By  tho  ontry  of  the  east  gate.— The  Hebrew 
 
 word  is  obscure.  The  Authorised  Version  adopts  a 
 doubtful  etymology,  connecting  tho  word  with  the  sun 
 isu  ■■sun  gate"  in  the  margin)  and  therefore  with  the 
 Bast.  Luther,  with  the  Vulgate  and  most  modern 
 scholars,  renders  it  as  "the  potter's  irate."  or  more 
 literally,  the  gate  of  pottery.  The  I, XX.  treats  it  as  a 
 proper  name,  and  gives  "  the  gate  Kharsith."  No  such 
 appears    in    the    topographical    descriptions   of 
 
 .Veil,  ii.,  iii.:  and  the  two  gates  which  led  into  the 
 valley  of  llinnom  were  the  Fountain  ami  the  Dung  gate 
 
 N'eh.  iii.  18 — 15  .    He it  has  l n  inferred  thai  this 
 
 was  a  small  postern  gate  leading  into  the  valley  just  at 
 the  point  where  it  was  filled  with  rubbish,  possibly  with 
 broken  fragments  like  those  which  were  now  "to  be 
 added  to  it.  On  this  supposition  the  connection  both 
 of  the  name  of  the  gate  and  its  use  with  the  sym- 
 bolism of  the  prophets  act  may  have  determined  the 
 command  which  was  thus  given  him. 
 (8)  O  kings  of  Judah.— The  plural  seems  need  to 
 
 include    In. Hi   the    reigning   king,   Jehoiakim.   and   his 
 
 heir-apparent  or  presumptive 
 His  ears  shall  tingle.— The  phrase,  occurring  as 
 
 it  does  in  1  Sam.  iii.  11.  in  the  prophecy  of  the  doom  of 
 the  earlier  sanctuary.  Beams  intentionally  used  to  re- 
 mind  those  who  heard  il  of  the  fate  that  had  fallen  on 
 Shiloh.     Tho  destruction  of  the  first  sanctuary  of  Israel 
 
 was  to  he  the  type  of  i hat  of  the  8 ml  (Pa.]xxviii.  60 i 
 
 Jerem.  vii.  11).     The  phrase   had.  however,  been   used 
 more  recently  (2  King^  xxi.  !_:  . 
 W  Have    estranged    this    place.  —  i.e..    have 
 
 alienated  it   from    Jehovah   its    true   Lord,   and   given 
 
 it  to  a  strange  god.    The  words  refer  specially  to  the 
 guilt  of  Uanasseb   J  Chron.  xxxiii    t  . 
 The  blood  of  innocents.— The  words  seem  at 
 
 first  to  refer  to  the   Biolech  sacrifices,  which  had  made 
 
 the  valley  of  Hinnoni  infamous.  These,  however, are 
 mentioned  separately  in  the  next  verse,  and  the  pro- 
 phet  probably  spoke  rat  her  here,  as  in  chaps,  ii.  34,  Til.  6, 
 
 of   the  "  innocent    blood"   with  which  Manasseb 
 filled  Jerusalem  (2   Kings  xxi.  lb.    xxiv.    f.   where  the 
 same  word  is  ie 
 (5)  The  high  places  of  Baal.— Baal,  as  in  chap. 
 
 ii.  23,  is  identified  with  Bfolech,  and  the  terms  in  which 
 tho   guilt    of    the    people    ami    its    punishment 
 described  arc  all  but  identical  with  those  of  chap.  vii. 
 31.  32.    The  fact  that  smh  sacrifices  were  offered  is 
 indicated  in  Ps.  cvi.  37,  38. 
 
 («)  Tophet.— See  Notes  on  chap.  vii.  31,  :'.J. 
 
 (")  I  will  make  void.— The  Hebrew  verb  [ba&dk) 
 is  onnmatopoetie,  as  representing  the  gurgling  sound  of 
 water  flowing  from  the  mouth  of  a  jar.  and  contains,  as 
 stated  in  the  note  on  verse  1,  the  root  of  the  word 
 rendered  "bottle,"  and  was  obviously  chosen  with  an 
 
 allusive  reference  to  it.    Such  a  play  upon  tic  sound  and 
 
 sense  of  words  is  quite  in  accordance  with  tin'  genius 
 of     Hebrew   prophecy,   but    it    is    obviously   in   most 
 
 cases   impossible   to    reproduce  it   in  another  langu 
 The  primary  meaning  is  "to  pour  out.  to  spill.''  and 
 so  "to  waste,  or  bring  to  nought."    (Comp,  I-a.  xi\ 
 
 Some  interpreters   have  supposed   that  the  Words    v. 
 
 accompanied  by  corresponding  acts,  and  that  tho 
 earthen  bottle,  which  the  prophet   had   brought   E 
 
 with  water,  was  now  emptied  in  the  Bight  of  the 
 people,  with  a  symbolism  like  that  of  1  Sam.  vii.  o  . 
 li  Sam.  xiv.  1  f. 
 
 (8)  Desolato,  and  an  hissing.— So- chap,  xviii.  l»i. 
 
 Because  of  all  the  plagues  thereof.— The  word 
 is  used  in   its  wider,  and  yet   stricter.  ~.  ose   as  includ- 
 ing  all  the  blows  or  smitmga  (as  in    Isa.    xiv. 
 that    are   thought    of   as    coming  from  the   hand    of 
 God. 
 
 '•  I  will  cause  them  to  eat  .  .  . — Ouce  again 
 an  echo,  almost  a  quotation,  from  Deuteronomy  (chap. 
 
 xxviii.  53).  The  woes  of  that  memorable  chapter  had 
 obviously  furnished  the  prophet  both  with  imagery  and 
 language.  Ill  Lam.  ii.  'Jo.  iv.  10  we  find  proof  of  the 
 fulfilment  of  the  prediction.  Thus,  by  the  dread  law  of 
 retribution,  were  the  people  to  pay  the  penalty  of  their 
 sin  in  the  Holech  sacrifices,  in  which  they,  sinning 
 oral  affection  and  against  the 
 faiih  of  their  fathers,  had  slain  their  sons  and 
 daughters. 
 
 69 
 
The  Earthen  Bottle  Broken. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XX.        The  Doom  Repeated  in  the  Temple. 
 
 and  straitness,  wherewith  their  enemies, 
 and  they  that  seek  their  lives,  shall 
 straiten  them. 
 
 <10>  Then  shalt  thou  break  the  bottle 
 in  the  sight  of  the  men  that  go  with 
 thee,  (U>  and  shalt  say  unto  them, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  Even  so 
 will  I  break  this  people  and  this  city, 
 as  one  breaketh  a  potter's  vessel,  that 
 cannot  xbe  made  whole  again  :  and  they 
 shall  "bury  them  in  Tophet,  till  there  he 
 no  place  to  bury.  (12)  Thus  will  I  do 
 unto  this  place,  saith  the  Lord,  and  to 
 the  inhabitants  thereof,  and  even  make 
 this  city  as  Tophet :  (13)  and  the  houses 
 of  Jerusalem,  and  the  houses  of  the 
 kings  of  Judah,  shall  be  defiled  as  the 
 place   of    Tophet,   because   of   all   the 
 
 1  Ht-'b.,  be  healed. 
 
 c  1  Chron.  2(.  14. 
 
 houses  upon  whose  6  roofs  they  have 
 burned  incense  unto  all  the  host  of 
 heaven,  and  have  poured  out  drink 
 offerings  unto  other  gods. 
 
 (u)  Then  came  Jeremiah  from  Tophet, 
 whither  the  Lord  had  sent  him  to  pro- 
 phesy ;  and  he  stood  in  the  court  of  the 
 Lord's  house  ;  and  said  to  all  the  people, 
 (is)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel ;  Behold,  I  will  bring  upon 
 this  city  and  upon  all  her  towns  all  the 
 evil  that  I  have  pronounced  against  it, 
 because  they  have  hardened  their  necks, 
 that  they  might  not  hear  my  words. 
 
 CHAPTER  XX.— (D  Now  Pashurthe 
 son  of  'limner  the  priest,  who  was  also 
 chief  governor  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
 
 (io)  Then  shalt  thou  break  the  bottle  .  .  .— 
 Those  who  heard  tho  prophet  and  saw  his  act  were 
 not  unfamiliar  with  the  imagery.  Tho  words  of  Ps. 
 ii.  9  had  portrayed  the  Messianic  king  as  ruling  over 
 the  nations,  even  as  "  breaking  them  in  pieces  like  a 
 potter's  vessel."  But  it  was  a  new  aud  strange  thing 
 to  hear  these  words  applied  to  themselves,  to  see  their 
 own  nation  treated,  not  as  the  potter's  clay  that  could 
 be  remodelled,  as  in  chap,  xviii.  1 — 6,  either  for  a  nobler, 
 or,  at  least,  for  some  serviceable  use,  but  as  the  vessel 
 which  once  bi-oken  could  never  be  restored.  Happily 
 for  Israel,  there  was  a  depth  of  Divine  compassion 
 which  tho  parable  failed  to  represent.  Tho  after-his- 
 tory showed  that  though,  as  far  as  that  generation  went, 
 the  punishment  was  final,  and  their  existing  polity  could 
 never  bo  made  whole  again,  there  was  yet  hope  for  the 
 nation.  The  things  that  were  "  impossible  with  man" 
 were  "possible  with  God."  The  fragments  of  the 
 broken  vessel  might  be  gathered  from  the  heap  of 
 rubbish  on  which  the  prophet  had  flung  them,  and 
 brought  into  a  new  shape,  for  uses  less  glorious  indeed 
 than  that  for  which  it  had  been  originally  designed, 
 but  far  other  than  those  of  a  mere  vessel  of  dishonour. 
 
 (12)  And  even  make  this  city  as  Tophet.— 
 This  is  an  allusive  reference  partly  to  the  state  of  the 
 valley  of  Hinnom  as  a  heap  of  ruins  and  rubbish, 
 partly  to  the  meaning  of  the  name  Tophet,  as  a  place 
 spat  upon  and  scorned.     (See  Note  on  chap.  vii.  31.) 
 
 (is)  Defiled  as  the  place  of  Tophet.  —  A 
 difficulty  affecting  the  construction,  but  not  the  sense, 
 of  the  passage,  makes  the  rendering  as  the  2>la-ce  of 
 Tophet  the  defiled  preferable. 
 
 "Upon  whose  roofs  they  have  burned  in- 
 cense.— Tho  flat  roofs  of  Eastern  houses  were  used, 
 as  for  exercise  (2  Sam.  xi.  2)  so  also,  as  in  Peter's 
 vision  at  Joppa  (Acts  x.  9),  for  prayer  and  meditation, 
 and  seem  from  Zeph.  i.  5  to  have  been  specially  chosen, 
 as  was  natural,  for  worship  addressed  to  the  host  of 
 heaven.  Tho  two  altars  "  on  the  top  of  tho  upper 
 chamber  of  Ahaz"  (2  Kings  xxiii.  12)  were  probably 
 so  situated.  Where  men  had  been  wont  to  keep  the 
 holy  days  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (Neh.  viii.  16) 
 they  had  celebrated  their  idolatrous  rites.  (See  chap. 
 xxxii.  29.)  So  Strabo  (xvi.  p.  1,131)  describes  tho 
 Nabathoeans  as  worshipping  tho  sun,  and  offering  in- 
 cense on  an  altar  on  the  roof  of  their  houses. 
 
 (!*)  He  stood  in  the  court  of  the  Lord's 
 house. — The  acted  sermon  had  been  preached  in 
 Tophet,  in  the  valley  of  Ben-Hinnom,  in  the  presence 
 of  a  few  chosen  representatives  of  priests  and  people. 
 It  is  followed  by  one  addressed  to  the  whole  assembled 
 congregation,  announcing  the  same  doom. 
 
 (is)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.— The  address 
 to  the  people  could  hardly  have  been  confined  to  the 
 limits  of  a  single  verse,  and  it  is  probable,  therefore, 
 that  we  have  here  but  tho  summary  of  a  discourse,  so 
 like  in  substance  to  what  had  been  given  before  that 
 the  prophet  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  report  it  at 
 length. 
 
 XX. 
 
 (l)  Pashur  the  son  of  Immer.— The  description 
 
 must  be  remembered  as  distinguishing  him  from  the 
 son  of  Melchiah  of  tho  same  name  in  chap.  xxi.  1. 
 Wo  may  probably  identify  him  with  the  father  of  the 
 Gedaliah  named  in  chap,  xxxviii.  1  as  among  the 
 "  princes "  that  at  a  later  date  opposed  the  prophet's 
 work,  and  with  the  section  of  the  priesthood,  the  six- 
 teenth, named  in  1  Chrou.  xxiv.  14,  as  headed  in  the 
 time  of  David  by  Immer.  The  name  here  (like  that  of 
 "  the  sons  of  Korah ")  may  indicate  simply  the  fact 
 that  he  belonged  to  this  section  ;  or,  possibly,  tho  name 
 of  the  patriarch  (so  to  speak)  who  gave  its  name  to  it 
 may  have  re-appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the  line 
 of  his  descendants.  The  name  of  Pashur  appears  again, 
 after  the  Captivity,  in  Ezra  ii.  37,  38. 
 
 Chief  governor. — Better,  deputy-governor.  The 
 word  for  governor  is  Ndgid,  and  this  office  was  assigned 
 to  tho  high  priest  as  the  "  ruler  of  the  house  of  God  " 
 (1  Chron.  ix.  11 ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  13).  In  the  case  of 
 Zephaniah,  who  appears  as  Ndgid  in  chap.  xxix.  26,  it 
 was  given  to  him  as  the  "  second  priest "  (2  Kings  xxv. 
 18 ;  Jer.  lii.  14).  Next  in  order  to  him  was  the  Palcid, 
 the  deputy,  or,  perhaps,  better,  superintendent.  Here 
 Pashur  is  described  by  tho  combination  of  the  two 
 titles,  possibly  as  implying  that  he  was  invested,  thongh 
 a  "deputy,"  with  the  full  powers  of  the  "governor." 
 By  some  commentators,  however,  the  relation  of  the 
 two  words  is  inverted,  tho  Ndgid  being  added  to  the 
 Palcid,  to  imply  that  Pashur  was  the  chief  warden  or 
 overseer.  As  such,  on  either  view,  the  act  and  the 
 words   of    Jeremiah   camo   under   his    official  notice. 
 
 70 
 
Nut  Pashur,  but  Magor  missabib. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XX. 
 
 Tlf     Ihn.in    /'/•.. 
 
 heard  thai  Jeremiah  prophesied  these 
 things.  J  Then  Pashur  Bmote  Jere- 
 miah the  prophet,  and  put  him  in  the 
 stocks  that  were  in  the  high  gate  of 
 Benjamin,  which  was  by  the  In >use  of 
 
 the   LoBD.      '  '    A  i m1    i!    rain.-    fco    pa 
 
 the  morrow,  that   I'asluir  linmuiit    forth 
 
 Jeremiah  out  of  the  stocks.  Then  Bald 
 Jeremiah  onto  him,  The  Lord  hat  li  not 
 
 c-iilli'il  tliy  name  Pashm-,  but  ■Ma^ur- 
 missabih.  ("  For  thus  saith  the  Lord, 
 Behold,  I  will  make  thee  a  terror  to 
 thyself,  and  to  all  thy  friends  :  and  they 
 shall  tall  by  the  sword  of  their  enemies, 
 and  thine  eyes  shall  behold  U  :  and  I 
 
 will  give  all  .luilah  iutu  the  hand  of  the 
 king  of  Babylon,  and  he  shall  carry  them 
 
 rvnitd  ulMUt. 
 
 a  I  Km**,  20.  IT. 
 
 captive  into  Babylon,  and  shall  Blay  them 
 with  the  sword.  '■'"  Moreover  I  "will 
 deliver  all  the  strength  of  this  city, 
 and  all  the  labours  thereof,  and  all  th  • 
 precious  things  thereof,  and  all  the 
 treasures  of  the  kings  of  Jndah  will  I 
 give  int. i  the  hind  of  their  enemies, 
 which  shall  spoil  them,  and  take  them, 
 ami  carry  them  to  Babylon.  '  Ami 
 thou,  Pashur,  and  all  that  dwell  in  thine 
 house  shall  go  into  captivity  :  ami  thoo 
 shalt  come  to  Babylon,  and  there  thou 
 shalt  die,  ami  shalt  be  buried  there, 
 thou,  and  all  thy  friends,  to  whom  thou 
 hast  prophesied  lies. 
 
 <7)  0  Loud,  thou  hast  deceived  me, 
 and  I  was  2  deceived  :  thou  art  stronger 
 
 That  such  words  should  be  spoken  in  the  court  of  the 
 Temple  to  the  multitude  assembled  then  was.  we 
 must  believe,  something  now,  and  Pashm  was  resolved 
 at  any  cost  to  prevent  its  repetition. 
 
 *-'  Thon  Pashur  smoto  Jeremiah  the  prophet. 
 — It  is  the  first  time  that  he  has  been  so  described,  the 
 office  to  which  he  was  called  being  apparently  named 
 to  emphasise  the  outrage  which  had  been  inflicted  on 
 him.  Other  prophets  had,  under  Ahah  or  Manasseh, 
 been  slain  with  the  sword,  but  none,  so  far  as  we 
 know  (with  the  one  exception  of  Hanani  the  seer  in 
 2  Ohron.  xvi.  10),  had  ever  before  been  subjected  to 
 an  ignominious  punishment  such  as  this.  It  was  so 
 far  analogous  to  the  outrage  against  which  St.  Paul 
 protested  in  A.cts  wiii.  -.  :!.  The  word  "smote" 
 implies  a  blow  struck  with  the  priest's  own  hands 
 rather  than  the  infliction  of  the  legal  punishment  of 
 forty  stripes  save  ono  (Dent.  xxv.  8).  The  English 
 word  "stocks"  expresses  adequately  enough  the  in- 
 strument nf  torture  which,  like  the  nervtu  of  Roman 
 punishment,  kept  the  body  (as  in  Aets  xvi.  24)  in  a 
 crooked  ami  painful  position.  Tho  word  here  used 
 occurs  in  the  Hebrew  nf  -  Ohron.  xvi.  In,  as  above,  ami 
 in  chap.  xxix.  26,  hut  the  A.  V.  there  renders  it  as 
 "prison-house."  In  that  humiliating  position  the 
 prophet  was  left  I'm-  the  whole  night  in  one  of  the 
 most  conspicuous  places  of  the  city,  the  temple-gate  of 
 Benjamin  ithe  upper  gate)  on  tho  northern  siilo  of 
 the  inner  enurt.  probably  tho  higher  or  northern  gate 
 of   K/.ek.  viii.  :'..  ."i  ]   ix.  'J. 
 
 <3>  Magor-missabib.— Tho  words  aro  a  quotation 
 from  Ps.  xxxi.  1:!.  anil  are  rightly  rendered,  "  Fear  is 
 rouml  about;"    they  hail  already  been   used   by  the 
 
 prophet    iu   chap.    vi.   25.      We   may    venture   to  think 
 
 that  tli.>  Psalm  had  been  bis  comfort  in  those  night- 
 watches  of  Bufferiug,  ami  that  he  now  uttered  th.' 
 wonls  which  described  the  bitterness  of  the  Psalmist's 
 
 sorrow,  as  at  last  feeling  sure  that  they  belonged  to 
 his    persecutor   rather   than   to  himself.      It    is  scarcely 
 
 necessary  to  seek  a  special  significance  in  the  name  of 
 Pashur  as  contrasted  with  this  new  nomen  et  on 
 but  Hebrew'  scholars,  according  to  various,  and  it  must 
 
 be  owned,  conjectural  etymologies,  have  found  in  it  the 
 
 ideas  of  wide-spread  joy,  "  joy  round  about,"  or  elso 
 of  freedom  and  deliverance.  The  prophet  repeats  the 
 combination  in  chaps,  xlvi.  5,xlix.  29;  Lam.  n.  22,  and 
 it  had  evidently  become  a  kind  of  "burden"  in  both 
 
 i  senses  of  tho  word,  weighing  on  the  prophet's  thoughts 
 and  finding  frequent  utterance.    The  word  that  stands 
 
 for  "  l'ear"  is  a  rare  one,  and  outside  the  passages  now 
 referred  t.>  is  found  only  in  Tea,  xxxi.  9. 
 
 (*)  I  will  make  thee  a  terror  to  thyself,  and 
 to  all  thy  friends. — We  should  have  looked  for  a 
 different  explanation,  indicating  that  terrors  from 
 with. mi  should  gather  round  the  cruel  ami  relentless 
 persecutor,  but  the  prophet's  words  go  deeper.  He 
 should  bo  an  object  of  self-loathing,  outer  fears  in- 
 tensifying his  inward  terror  and  acting  through  him 
 on  others.  He  is  the  cent  re  from  which  terrors  radiato 
 as  well  as  that  to  which  they  eonve  j 
 
 (5)  All  the  strength. — i.e.,  the  treasure  or  "  sub- 
 stance" of  the  city. 
 
 (6)  Thou  shalt  come  to  Babylon    .    .    .—The 
 
 sons  of   I  miner,  tho  section  of  priests  to  which  Pashur 
 belonged,   wero  found   iu  large   numbers  at  Babylon 
 (Ezra  ii.  37,  38),  and   it    lies  in   the  nature  of  l! 
 that  ho,  as  a  high  official,  would  he  among  the  captives 
 when   Nebuchadnezzar  carried  into  exile  all  but  the 
 
 r  sort  of  the  people  nf  the  land." 
 
 To  whom   thou   hast  prophesied   lies.— Tho 
 
 special  predictions  in  question  are  net  r irded,  hut  we 
 
 may  infer  that  Pashur  was  one  of  those  who  . 
 
 the  people  to  fight  against  the  dial. beans,  and  to  dc- 
 
 spiso  Jeremiah's  warnings  by  holding  nut  the  hope 
 that  an  alliance  with  Egypt  would  avert  the  threatened 
 
 danger  (chaps,  xiw  1"..  wiii.  17). 
 (")  O  Lord,  thou  hast  deceived  me.— There  is 
 
 an  obvious  break  between  vereee  li  and  7.  'the  nar- 
 rative ends,  and  a  psalm  of  passionate  complaint  I 
 Its  position  probably  indicates  that  the  compiler  of  the 
 prophecies  in  their  present  form  looked  mi  the  com- 
 plaints as  belonging  to  this  period  of  the  prophet's 
 work,  representing   the   thoughts   of    that    night   of 
 
 shame  which  was.  as  it  were,  the  cxtreniest  point  of 
 apparent  failure.  This  then  was  the  end  of  his  pro- 
 phetic calling,  this  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  which 
 
 told   him   that  he  was  set  over  the  nations,  and  that  his 
 
 enemies  sh.mM  not  prevail  against  him  chap.  i.  8 — 10). 
 Somo  touches  of  this  feeling  we  have  heard  already  in 
 
 chap.  xv.  Is.    Now  it  is  more  dominant  and  continuous. 
 Thou   art   stronger   than  I,  and   hast  pre- 
 vailed.— Better,  thou  li"*t  laid  :  Jehovah 
 
 now  appears  to  tho  prophet  as  a  hard  taskmaster  who 
 had  forced   him,  against    his   will  (chap.  xvii.  16),  hi 
 71 
 
The  Prophet's  Passionate  Complaint.       JEREMIAH,    XX. 
 
 The  Joy  of  the  Answered  Prayer. 
 
 than  I,  and  hast  prevailed :  I  am  in 
 derision  daily,  every  one  mocketh  me. 
 <8>  For  since  I  spake,  I  cried  out,  I  cried 
 violence  and  spoil ;  because  the  word  of 
 the  Lord  was  made  a  reproach  unto  me, 
 and  a  derision,  daily. 
 
 <IJ|  Then  I  said,  I  will  not  make  men- 
 tion of  him,  nor  speak  any  more  in  his 
 name.  But  his  word  was  in  mine  heart 
 as  a  "burning  fire  shut  up  in  my  bones, 
 and  I  was  weary  with  forbearing,  and  *I 
 could  not  stay.  (10)  For  I  heard  the 
 defaming  of  many,  fear  on  every  side. 
 Report,  say  they,  and  we  will  report  it. 
 1  All  my  familiars  watched  for  my  halting, 
 saying,  Peradventure  he  will  be  en- 
 ticed,   and    Ave    shall    prevail    against 
 
 l  Hiji>.,Ei'>  ry  man 
 11/  my  peace. 
 
 c  ch.  15. 20:417.18. 
 
 e  ch.  11.  20;  &  n 
 
 /  Job  a  3;    ch.  15. 
 
 him,  and  we  shall  take  our  revenge  on 
 him. 
 
 <n)  But  the  Lord  is  with  me  as  a 
 mighty  terrible  one  :  therefore  my  per- 
 secutors shall  stumble,  and  they  shall 
 not  c  prevail :  they  shall  be  greatly 
 ashamed;  for  they  shall  not  prosper: 
 their  ''everlasting  confusion  shall  never 
 be  forgotten.  W  But,  0  Lord  of  hosts, 
 that  ftriest  the  righteous,  and  seest  the 
 reins  and  the  heart,  let  me  see  thy  ven- 
 geance on  them :  for  unto  thee  have  I 
 opened  my  cause.  (13)  Sing  unto  the 
 Lord,  praise  ye  the  Lord  :  for  he  hath 
 delivered  the  soul  of  the  poor  from  the 
 hand  of  evildoers. 
 
 (u)  /Cursed  be  the  day  wherein  I  was 
 
 enter  ou  a  work  from  which  he  shrank,  and  who  gave 
 him  scorn  and  derision  as  his  only  wage.  He  felt,  in 
 St.  Paul's  language,  that  "  a  necessity  was  laid  upon  " 
 him  (1  Cor.  is.  16);  or  in  Isaiah's,  that  the  "strong 
 hand  "  of  the  Lord  was  on  him  (Isa.  viii.  11). 
 Daily. — Literally,  all  the  day. 
 
 (8)  I  cried  out,  I  cried.— The  two  Hebrew  words 
 are  not,  as  in  the  English,  alike,  the  first  being-  the  cry  of 
 complaint,  the  second  of  protest :  Wlien  I  speak  (the 
 tense  implies  from  the  beginning  of  his  work  till  now), 
 I  complain;  I  call  out  (against)  violence  and  sjioil. 
 They  had  formed  the  burden  of  his  discourses,  he  had 
 borne  his  witness  against  them,  and  yet  "  the  word  of 
 Jehovah "  so  proclaimed  by  him  had  exposed  him 
 simply  to  derision.  He  had  been  the  champion  of  the 
 people's  rights,  and  yet  they  mocked  and  scorned  him. 
 
 (9)  Then  I  said  .  .  .—The  sense  of  a  hopeless 
 work,  destined  to  fail,  weighed  on  the  prophet's  soul, 
 and  he  would  fain  have  withdrawn  from  it ;  but  it  (the 
 words  in  italics,  though  they  do  not  spoil  the  sense,  are 
 hardly  needed)  burnt  like  fire  within  him,  and  would 
 not  be  restrained. 
 
 I  could  not  stay.— Better,  I  prevailed  not.  Here 
 again  the  interpolated  word  is  needless,  and  in  part 
 spoils  the  emphasis.  The  "  I  could  "  is  the  same  word 
 as  the  "prevailed"  of  verse  7.  God  had  prevailed 
 against  him,  compelled  him  to  undertake  a  work 
 against  his  will,  but  he  could  not  prevail  against  God. 
 Like  so  much  of  Jeremiah's  language  this  also  came 
 from  the  hymns  of  Israel  (Ps.  xxxis.  3). 
 
 (10)  The  defaming  of  many.— Another  quotation 
 from  the  Psalms  (xxxi.  13),  where  the  Authorised 
 Version  has  "  the  slander  of  many." 
 
 Fear  on  every  side.— The  Magor-missabib  still 
 rings  in  the  prophet's  ears,  and,  for  himself  as  for 
 others,  is  the  burden  of  his  cry.  It  may  be  noted  that 
 this  also  comes  from  the  same  verse  of  the  psalm  just 
 quoted. 
 
 "  Report,  say  they,  and  we  will  report  it.— 
 Better,  do  you  report.  The  words  are  not  spoken  as  to 
 the  prophet,  but  are  those  with  which  his  persecutors 
 encouraged  each  other  to  inform  against  him.  (Coinp. 
 chaps,  xi.  19,  xviii.  18.) 
 
 All  my  familiars. — Literally,  every  man  of  my 
 peace,  i.e.,  the  men  who  used  to  greet  him  with  the 
 wonted  "  Peace  be  with  thee."  The  same  phrase  is 
 used  in  the  "  familiar  friends  "  of  Ps.  xli.  9,  but  it  does 
 
 72 
 
 not  in  itself  describe  the  intimacy  of  friendship,  but 
 rather  the  courtesy  and  good-will  of  acquaintances  who 
 thus  salute  each  other. 
 
 Watched  for  my  halting.— Comp.  Pss.  xxxv.  15 
 (where  the  same  word  is  rendered  "adversity")  and 
 xxxviii.  17. 
 
 He  will  be  enticed. — The  same  word  as  the 
 "  deceived  "  of  verse  7.  They  were  on  the  look-out  for 
 some  rash  aud  hasty  word  spoken  in  prophetic  zeal, 
 and  the  prophet,  iu  the  bitterness  of  his  soul,  looked  on 
 their  work  and  that  of  Jehovah  as  tending  to  the  same 
 result.  Compare  the  conduct  of  the  Scribes  and 
 Pharisees  towards  our  Lord  (Matt.  xii.  10,  xxii.  15; 
 Mark  xii.  13). 
 
 (u>  But  the  Lord  is  with  me.— As  in  Ps.  xxii. 
 and  other  like  utterances,  the  prophet,  though  perplexed, 
 is  yet  not  in  despair  (2  Cor.  iv.  8).  He  passes  through 
 the  deep  waters,  but  struggles  out  of  them  to  the  rock 
 of  refuge.  The  word  "  terrible  "  was  used  with  a 
 special  significance.  Jehovah  had  promised  to  deliver 
 the  prophet  from  the  "terrible"  ones  (chap.  xv.  21). 
 He,  the  mighty  God  (Isa.  ix.  6)  would  now  show  that 
 He  was  more  terrible  than  the  prophet's  foes,  that  it 
 was  better  to  come  under  their  wrath  than  His  (Isa. 
 viii.  12,  13). 
 
 For  they  shall  not  prosper.— Better,  because 
 they  have  not  dealt  wisely.  The  word  is  the  same  as 
 in  chap.  x.  21,  where  see  Note. 
 
 Their  everlasting  confusion. — Better,  as  carry- 
 ing on  the  structure  of  the  previous  clause,  with  an 
 everlasting  confusion  that  shall  never  be  forgotten. 
 
 02>  But,  O  Lord  of  hosts  .  .  .—The  verse  is 
 almost  verbally  identical  with  chap.  xi.  20,  where  see 
 Note. 
 
 (is)  Sing  unto  the  Lord  .  .  . — It  was  as  though 
 heaviness  had  endured  for  a  night,  and  joy  had  come 
 in  the  morning.  As  with  so  many  of  the  Psalms 
 (Ps.  xxii.  22  is.  perhaps,  the  most  striking  parallel), 
 what  began  in  a  cry  Dc  profundis  ends  in  a  Hallelujah. 
 
 (i*)  Cursed  be"  the  day  wherein  I  was  born 
 .  .  . — The  apparent  strangeness  of  this  relapse  from 
 the  confidence  of  the  two  previous  verses  into  a  despair 
 yet  deeper  than  before  is  best  explained  by  the  sup- 
 position that  it  is  in  no  sense  part  of  the  same  poem  or 
 meditation,  but  a  distinct  fragment  belonging  to  the 
 same  period,  and  placed  in  its  present  position  hj 
 Jeremiah  himself,  or  by  the  first  editor  of  his  prophecies. 
 
Tli-  Prophet  Cwaet  hit  Birthday.  JE  REM  I  AH,    XXI.         Zedelaah't  M  '>j*/tel 
 
 born:     let    not     tin-    day    wh.nin    my 
 
 mother  bare  me  be  blessed.  : "  ( tarsed 
 //.  the  man  who  brougbl  tidings  to  my 
 father,  Baying]  A  man  child  is  born  unto 
 thee;  making  him  rery  glad.     "",  And 
 
 l.t  thai  man  be  as  the  cities  which  the 
 Loan  overthrew,  and  repented  not: 
 ami  let  him  hear  the  cry  in  the  morn- 
 ing, and  the  Bhonting  at  noontide; 
 1171  because  be  slew  me  no!  from  the 
 womb;  or  thai  my  mother  might  have 
 been  my  grave,  and  lier  womb  to  be 
 always  givat  n'itli  mr.  '■'  'Wherefore 
 came    1    forth  out  of  the   womb  to  see 
 
 n  c 
 
 labour  ami  sorrow,  that  my  days  should 
 
 be  consumed  with  Bhame P 
 
 CHAPTEB  XXI.  —  "  The  word 
 which  came  onto  Jeremiah  from  the 
 Loan,  when  king  ZedeMab  sen!    unto 
 
 him    PashUT   tin-   son    of    XI •  l<-lii;i h,    and 
 
 Zephaniah  the  son  of  Maaseiah  the 
 priest,  saying,  W  Enquire,  I  pray  thee, 
 of  the  Loin,  for  us;  for  Nebuchadrezzar 
 king  of  Babylon  maketh  war  against  us ; 
 
 if  so  be  that  the  Lord  will  d>-.il  with  us 
 according  to  all  his  wondrous  works, 
 that  he  may  go  up  from  us. 
 
 By  some,  indeed,  it  has  been  thought  that  we  have 
 here  an  accidental  dislocation,  and  chat  verses  11- — IS 
 should  stand  before  verse  7.  The  prophet  utters  a  cry 
 of  anguish  yet  keener  than  that  which  now  precedes  it. 
 
 and  borrows  the  language  of  that  cry  from  the  book  of 
 
 .lull  chap.  iii.  3  .  The  prophet  turned  in  the  depth  of 
 liis  Buffering  to  the  words  in  which  the  neat  represen- 
 tative of  sufferers  had  "  cursed  his  day."  The  question 
 whether  we  are  to  blame  or  to  palliate  such  utterances, 
 
 how  far  they  harmonise  with  Christian  feeling,  is  one  on 
 which  we  need  not  dwell  long.  It  is  enough  to  note  (1) 
 that,  while  we  cannot  make  Ear  them  the  half-evasive 
 apology  which  Bees  in  Jeremiah's  prayers  against  Ins 
 mee,  and   in   the  imprecatory  psalms,  prophecies 
 
 rather  than  prayers,  they  indicate  the  same  temper  as 
 those  psalms  and  prayers  indicate  when   taken  ill  their 
 
 natural  sense,  and  so  help  us  to  understand  them;  and 
 
 1  that  in  such  cases,  while  we  give  thanks  that  we 
 have  the  Messing  of  a  higher  law  and  the  example  of 
 a  higher  life,  we  are  not  called  upon  to  apportion  praise 
 or  blame.     It  is  enough  to  reverence,  to  sympathise, 
 
 to  be  silent. 
 
 '"  Making  him  very  glad.— The  memory,  or 
 rather  the  thought  of  that  day.  the  joy  of  father  and 
 mother  when  their  child   was   horn  (John  xvi.  "Jll  was 
 
 wanted,  as  in  the  irony  of  destiny,  to  add  the  keenest 
 
 pang    to   the   misery  of  the   present.       The   "sorrow's 
 
 crown  of  sorrow"  was  found  in  remembering  happier 
 days.  We  note  the  same  tenderness  turned  to  bitter- 
 ness as  in  chap.  xv.  10.      The  day  of  his  birth  was  to 
 
 him  a  day  of  darkness  and  not  of  light. 
 
 (Ml  The  cities  which  tho  Lord  overthrew.— 
 The  verb  is  the  same  as  that  used  in  Gen.  xix.  i!!'.  and 
 
 the   reference   is  clearly   to   the  "cities   of   the   plain." 
 
 whose  destruction  is  there  described.    The   reference 
 
 to  them    iii    Dent,  xxxii.   82;     tsa.   i.   9,   10,   shows  that 
 
 they  had  already  become  familiar  to  men  as  the  great 
 
 representative  instances  both  of  evil  and  its  punish- 
 ment. 
 
 Tho  cry  .  .  .  tho  shouting.— The  former  word 
 describes  the  wail  of  lamentation,  the  latter  the  shout 
 of  an  ini  ading  army. 
 
 t~>  Because   he    slew  me  not  .  .  .—The  wish 
 
 that  he  had  never  been  horn  is  uttered  by  the  prophet 
 
 iii  strange,  hold  language.     It  would  have  been  better 
 
 that  the  messenger  that  told  that  he  was  born  had  slain 
 
 him  before  his  birth,  that  his  mother's  womb  had  been 
 
 his   grave,  that    she   had    never   had  strength   to  bring 
 
 him  forth.  Thought,  structure,  even  grammar  are,  in 
 their  abruptness  and  irregularities,  alike  significant  of 
 intense  emotion. 
 
 (18)  Wherefore  came  I  forth  .  .  .  ?— Like  the 
 
 preceding  verso,  this  is  in  its  tone,  almost  in  its  words, 
 an  echo  of  Job  iii.  11,  12,  20. 
 
 XXI. 
 (i)  Tho   word  which   came   unto   Jeremiah 
 
 .  .  . — There  is  obviously  a  great   gap  at   tins  point  in 
 
 th flection  of  the  prophets  otters «,  and  we  enter 
 
 on  a  new  body  or  group  of  prophecies  which  extend 
 
 the  close  of  chap,  xxxiii.  Thus  far  we  have  had  his 
 ministry  tinder  Johoiakira.  the  roll  which  was  read 
 before  that  king,  and  formed  the  lirst  part  of  his  work. 
 X'ow  we  pass  to  the  later  stage,  which  form-  what  lias 
 been  called  the  roll  of  Zedekiah.  The  judgment  pre- 
 dicted in  the  previous  roll  had  come  nearer.  Tic 
 armies  of  Nebuchadnezzar  were  gathering  round  the 
 eitv.  The  prophet  was  now  honoured  and  consulted, 
 and  the  king  sent  his  chief  minister.  Pashur  [not  the 
 priest    who    had   been   the   prophets    persecutor,  as 
 
 in  the   pre ling   chapter,  but   the  head  of  the  family 
 
 or  course  of  Melchiah  .  and  Zephaniah,  the  "  second 
 priest,"  or  deputy  of  chap.  Iii.  24,  to  a-k  his  inter 
 sion.  We  learn  from  their  later  history  that  they 
 were  in  their  hearts  inclined  to  the  policy  of  resistance, 
 and  ready  to  accuse  Jeremiah  of  being  a  traitor 
 (chap  xxxviii.  1 — t). 
 
 i->  Nebuchadrezzar. — This  form  of  the  name,  as 
 might  he  expected  in  the  writings  of  one  who  was 
 personally  brought  into  contact  with  the  king  and  his 
 officers,  is  more  correct  than  that  of  Xelniehad/ovzar. 
 which  we  find  elsewhere,  and  even  in  Jeremiah's  own 
 writings  (chaps,  xxxiv.  1.  xxxix.  S  - 
 
 The  name  has  been  variously  interpreted  by  scholars 
 as  "  Xeho  i 
 
 the  land-marks,"  "  Nebo  protei- 
 nic shilling  tiod." 
 
 If  so  be  that  the  Lord  will  deal  with  us  .   .   . 
 
 — The  messengers  come  to  impure  of  the  prophet,  and 
 
 yet  suggest  the  answer  which  he  is  expected  to  give 
 
 Jehovah  is  to  -how  His  wondrous  works  in  the  do. 
 livcranco    of   the    city.      The    history   of   Sennacherib's 
 
 army  i  J  Kimrs  xix. ;  Isa,  xxxvii.i  was  probably  present 
 
 to  their  minds.  It  was  apparently  an  attempt  on  the 
 part  of  the  king  and  his  counsellors,  under  the  show  of 
 a  devout  reverence,  to  entice  Jeremiah  to  change  his 
 tone  and  side  with  the  policy  of  resistance  to  the 
 Chahheans.  In  chap,  xxxvii.  :>  we  have  another  like 
 n,i"ion.  coming  apparently  at  a  somewhat  later  date 
 in  the  reign  of  Zedekiah 
 
 That  ne  may  go  up  from  us.— i.e..  in  n 
 phraseology,  that  he  may  "  raise  the  -     _ 
 
 protects  against  misfortune."  "Nebo  pro' 
 narks,"  "  Nebo  protects  t lie  crown,"  or  "  Fire. 
 
 " 
 
The  Project's  Message  to  Zedekiah.         JEEEMIAH,    XXI. 
 
 The  City  to  be  taken  and  burnt. 
 
 <3>  Then  said  Jeremiah  unto  them, 
 Thus  shall  ye  say  to  Zedekiah  :  <4>  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel ;  Behold, 
 I  will  turn  back  the  weapons  of  war  that 
 are  in  your  hands,  wherewith  ye  fight 
 against  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  against 
 the  Chaldeans,  which  besiege  you  with- 
 out the  walls,  and  I  will  assemble  them 
 into  the  midst  of  this  city.  <3)  And  I 
 myself  will  fight  against  you  with  an 
 "outstretched  hand  and  with  a  strong 
 arm,  even  in  anger,  and  in  fury,  and  in 
 great  wrath.  <-e>  And  I  will  smite  the 
 inhabitants  of  this  city,  both  man  and 
 beast :  they  shall  die  of  a  great  pesti- 
 lence. <7J  And  afterward,  saith  the 
 Lord,  I  will  deliver  Zedekiah  king  of 
 Judah,  and  his  servants,  and  the  people, 
 and  such  as  are  left  in  this  city  from 
 the  pestilence,  from  the  sword,  and  from 
 the  famine,  into  the  hand  c  f  Nebuchad- 
 rezzar king  of  Babylon,  and  into  the 
 hand  of  their  enemies,  and  into  the 
 hand  of  those  that  seek  their  life :  and 
 
 a  Exud.  6.  6. 
 
 c  ch.39.  18;  &  45.5. 
 
 B.C. 
 Clr.  609. 
 
 1  Heb ,  Judge. 
 
 he  shall  smite  them  with  the  edge  of 
 the  sword;  he  shall  not  spare  them, 
 neither  have  pityr,  nor  have  mercy. 
 
 <8)  And  unto  this  people  thou  shalt 
 say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Behold,  I  set 
 before  you  the  way  of  life,  and  the  way 
 of  death.  ^  He  that  'abideth  in  this 
 city  shall  die  by  the  sword,  and  by  the 
 famine,  and  by  the  pestilence :  but  be 
 that  goeth  out,  and  falleth  to  the  Chal- 
 deans that  besiege  you,  he  shall  live., 
 and  chis  life  shall  be  unto  him  for  a. 
 prey.  <10'  For  I  have  set  my  face 
 against  this  city  for  evil,  and  not  for 
 good,  saith  the  Lord  :  it  shall  be  given 
 into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon, 
 and  he  shall  burn  it  with  fire. 
 
 (n>  And  touching  the  house  of  the 
 king  of  Judah,  say,  Hear  ye  the  word  of 
 the  Lord  ;  <12)  0  house  of  David,  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  ;  d  J  Execute  judgment  in 
 the  morning,  and  deliver  him  that  is 
 spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor, 
 lest  my  fury  go  out  like  fire,  and  burn 
 
 (*)  Behold,  I  will  turn  back  .  .  . — Jeremiah's 
 answer  is  far  other  than  they  looked  for,  and  had  even 
 ventured  to  suggest.  The  judgment  could  no  longer 
 be  averted.  The  hand  of  Jehovah  was  against  them, 
 and  would  bring  the  Chaldseans  that  were  now  outside 
 the  walls  nearer  and  nearer,  till  they  came  within  them. 
 In  the  structure  of  the  sentence,  however,  "  without  the 
 walls  "  belongs  to  "  wherewith  ye  fight."  The  defen- 
 ders of  the  city  were  to  be  driven  back  within  its  gates 
 from  the  outer  line  of  fortifications. 
 
 («)  They  shall  die  of  a  great  pestilence.— This 
 was  doubtless,  as  in  other  instances  (Thuc.  ii.  52), 
 the  natural  consequence  of  the  siege,  but  it  came 
 before  the  people  as  another  proof  that  Jehovah  had 
 stretched  out  his  arm  against  them,  that  they  were 
 fighting  against  that  arm  as  well  as  against  the  host  of 
 the  invaders.  The  "outstretched  hand  "  may  be  noted 
 as  another  Deuteronomic  phrase  (Deut.  iv.  34,  v.  15, 
 xxvi.  8). 
 
 (?)  He  shall  smite  them  with  the  edge  of  the 
 sword. — The  words  were  bold  words  for  the  prophet 
 to  utter  while  the  king  was  still  on  the  throne,  and 
 urged  on  by  his  princes  to  defy  the  power  of  the 
 Chaldaean  king.  In  chap.  Hi.  10,  24 — 27  we  find  their 
 literal  fulfilment. 
 
 (8)  The  way  of  life,  and  the  way  of  death.— 
 The  words  are  not  unlike  those  of  Deut.  xi.  26,  27,  xxx. 
 15,  19,  but  there  is  something  like  a  solemn  irony  in 
 their  application  here.  They  obviously  present  them- 
 selves, not  with  the  wide  spiritual  application  with 
 which  they  meet  us  there,  but  are  to  be  taken  in  their 
 lowest  and  most  literal  sense.  The  "  way  of  life  "  is  no 
 longer  that  way  of  righteousness  which  the  men  of 
 Judah  had  forsaken,  leading  to  the  life  of  eternal 
 blessedness,  but  simply  submission  to  the  Chakkeans, 
 and  the  life  so  gained  was  one  of  exile  and  poverty,  if 
 not  of  bondage  also. 
 
 (9)  And  falleth  to  the  Chaldeans.— Tho  words 
 must  have    seemed    to    the    messengers    to    counsel 
 
 74 
 
 treachery  and  desertion,  and  were  remembered  against, 
 the  prophet  in  tho  taunt  of  chap,  xxxvii.  13.  They  were, 
 however,  acted  on  by  not  a  few  (chaps,  xxxix.  9,  Hi.  15). 
 
 His  life  shall  be  unto  him  for  a  prey.— 
 The  phrase  is  characteristic  of  Jeremiah,  and  forcibly 
 illustrates  the  misery  of  the  time.  Life  itself  was  not 
 a  secure  possession,  but  as  the  spoil  which  a  man  seizes 
 on  the  field  of  battle,  and  with  which  he  hastens  away, 
 lest  another  should  deprive  him  of  it.  It  occurs  again 
 in  chaps,  xxxix.  18,  xlv.  5. 
 
 (10)  He  shall  burn  it  with  fire. — Another  detail 
 of  prediction  fulfiUed  HteraUy  in  chap.  Hi.  13.  Such  a 
 destruction  was,  of  course,  common  enough  as  an  inci- 
 dent of  the  capture  of  besieged  cities,  but  it  was  not 
 universal.  Often,  indeed,  the  conquerors  sought  to 
 preserve  the  city  and  to  occupy  its  palaces.  The  actual 
 answer  to  Zedekiah's  messeugers  possibly  ended  with 
 this  verse. 
 
 (H)  Say,  Hear  ye  the  word  of  the  Lord.— 
 The  interpolated  "  say "  is  not  wanted,  and  tends  to 
 convey  the  probably  wrong  impression  that  we  are  deal- 
 ing with  a  new  message  rather  than  a  continuation  of 
 the  former  one.  The  question  whether  it  is  such  a 
 continuation  has  been  variously  answered  by  different 
 commentatoi's.  On  the  one  hand,  the  conditional  thrcat- 
 enings  are  said  to  imply  an  earlier  stage  of  Jeremiah's 
 work  than  the  doom,  absolute  and  unconditional,  pro- 
 nounced in  verses  1—10,  and  so  have  led  men  to  i-efer 
 the  message  to  the  earlier  years  of  Jehoiakim.  On  the 
 other,  it  is  urged  that  the  words  may  have  the  charac- 
 ter of  a  last  promise,  and  therefore  a  last  warning. 
 
 (12)  Execute  judgment  in  the  morning.— The 
 words  point  to  one  of  the  chief  duties  of  the  ideal 
 Eastern  king.  To  rise  at  dawn  of  day,  to  sit  in  the 
 gate  and  listen  to  the  complaints  of  those  who  had  been 
 wronged,  was  the  surest  way  to  gain  the  affection  of 
 his  people.  It  was  David's  neglect  of  this  that  gave 
 an  opening  for  the  rebellion  of  Absalom  (2  Sam.  xv.  2). 
 Solomon's  early  fame  for  wisdom  rested  on  his  discharge 
 
Tli'-  /nisi-  Security  «f  .!•  rv 
 
 .1  KI.'KM  I  A  II,     XXII.        i  re  to  the  King  o/Judak 
 
 that    aOO.6  Oft!!  c|tieneh  it,  because  of  tin' 
 
 evil  of  tout  doings.  '"'  Behold,  I  am 
 against  thee,  0  ^inhabitant  of  the  valley, 
 
 Hint  rock  of  I  be    plain,   sail  li    the    LiOED  : 
 
 which  say,  Who  shall  comedown  against 
 
 us  V  or  who  shall  enter  into  our  habita- 
 tions P  '"'  Bu1  I  will  'punish  you  accord- 
 ing fco  the  'iVnit  of  your  doings,  saith 
 the  Lou!) :  and  1  will  kindle  a  fire  iii 
 the  fores!  thereof,  and  it  shall  devour 
 all  things  round  about  it, 
 
 CHAPTER  XXII.— (DThus  saifh  the 
 Loud;  Go  down  to  the  house  of  the 
 king  of  .Judah,  and  speak  there  this 
 word,  W)  and  say.  Sear  the  word  of  the 
 Loan,  0  king  of  Judah,  that  sit  test  upon 
 the  throne  of  David,  thou,  and  thy  ser- 
 
 "    I'l'.V.  1 .  -'li. 
 
 :;  II.  :       '  .r   !>.:■  >,t 
 upon  I 
 
 vants,  and  thj  people  that  enter  in  by 
 us  saith  the   Loan ; 
 ate  ye  judgment  and  right 
 
 ami  deliver  the   spoiled  out   of  the  hand 
 
 of  the  oppressor :  ami  do  no  wrong,  do 
 no  violence  to  the  stranger,  the  father- 
 less, nor  the  widow,  neither  shed  inno- 
 cent blood  in  this  place.  For  if  ye 
 do  this  thing  indeed,  then  shall  there 
 enter  in  by  the  gates  of  t  his  bouse  kings 
 sitting  "upon  the  throne  of  David,riding 
 in  chariots  and  on  horses,  he,  and  his 
 servants,  and  his  people.  (5)  But  if  ye 
 will  not  hear  these  words,  I  swear  by 
 myself,  saith  the  Lord,  that  this  house 
 shall  become  a  desolat  inn. 
 
 (6»  For  thus  saitb  the  Lord  unto  the 
 king's  house  of  Judah;  Thou  art  I  rilead 
 
 of  tliis*  duty  1 1  Kings  iii.  28).  If  tli"  king  remained 
 slutlil'iiUy  in  his  palace  in  1 1  n ■  -i. ■  golden  hours  of  morn- 
 ing, tln>  noontide  heat  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 
 retrieve  the  tost  opportunity.    (Camp.  -  Sam.  iv.  5.) 
 
 Still  worse  was  it  when,  as  with  luxurious  and  sensit  il 
 idngS,   tin'   morning  hours  were   given  to   revelry   and 
 
 feasting  (Eccl.  x.  fit,  17'. 
 
 W  O  inhabitant  of  tho  valloy  .  .  .—Tin; 
 BOOn,  as  the  marginal  "  inhabit  ross"  shows,  is  feminine; 
 anil,  as  in  "  the  daughter  of  Zion  "  for  Zion  itself,  de- 
 scribes the  lower  city  of  Jerusalem,  Isaiah's   "  valley  pf 
 
 vision"  i  Isa.xxii.  1, 5),  the  Tyropoeon  of  Josephns.    The 
 
 "  roek    of    t lie  plain  "    (comp.    Notes  on  chaps,    xvii.    :!. 
 
 xviii.  lti  is,  in  like  manner,  the  higher  city  built  on 
 the  hill  of  Zion.  The  king  and  his  people  trusted, 
 as  tho  Jcliusites  had  done  of  old  r_!  Sam.  v.  8),  in 
 what  seemed  to  them  the  impregnable  strength  of  their 
 natural  position.  There  seems  do  adequate  reason  for 
 taking  tho  words  as  symbolising  the  kingly  house  of 
 Judah,  hut  it  is  probable  enough  that,  local  associa- 
 tions, palaces  on  the  hill  or  in  tho  valley,  may  havo 
 given  thi'  words  a  specially  pointed  application, 
 (i*)  I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  forest  thereof.^ 
 
 The   "  forest  "  thus  referred  to  may  bo  eithor  literally 
 
 the  woods,  then  covering  a  larger  surface  than  in  later 
 
 times,    at    Kirjath- jearim     l's.  exxxii.  li ,    1   Sam.  vii.  2), 
 
 or  the  wood  of  the  lone  wilderness  of  Ziph   1  Sam.  xxiii. 
 
 15),  or  the  valley  of  lephaim  (2  Sam.  v.  22),  or,  figura- 
 tively, the  royal  palace,  which,  from  its  cedar  columns 
 (1  Kings  vii.  li,  x.  21),  was  known  as  "the  house  of 
 the  forest  of  Lebanon.        (Comp.  the  comparison  of  the 
 
 king's  house  to  "Qileadand  the  head  of  Lebanon," in 
 chap.  xxii.  6.)    The  desolation  wrought  by  an  invading 
 
 army  such  as  that  of  N'ohuehailnozzar.  cuttiuir  down  the 
 "choice  Iii-. trees  of  Lebanon  and  the  forest  Of  Carmel" 
 
 (2  Sings  xix.  23),  showed  itself  in  this  destruction  of 
 
 forests  in  its  most  conspicuous  form,  and  explains  the 
 Comparative  scarcity  of  trees  in  modern    Palestine.      So 
 
 Assur-nasirpal  narrates,  iii  the  history  of  bis  conquests, 
 
 how  he  had  cut  down  the  pine.  box.  Cypress,  and  other 
 trees  of  the  forest     A'     IKM  "J  tin  Pan,  iii.  p    • 
 
 XXII. 
 (t)  Thus  saith  the  Lord    .    .    .—The 
 
 delivered   in   continuation  of  chap.    xxi..   and   then 
 probably  as  following  np  tho  answer  to  the  messengers 
 
 of  Zedekiah  (chap.  xxi.  1 1.  reviews  the  history  of  the 
 three  preceding  reigns,  and  apparently  reproduces  the 
 
 very  words  of  the  warnings  which  he  had  uttered  in 
 each  to  the  king  who  then  ruled,  and  which  had  been 
 but  too  terribly  fulfilled.  It  was  delivered,  we  aro 
 told,  in  the  very  palace  of  the  king. 
 
 P    That  sittest  upon  the  throno  of  David.— 
 
 The   words  ohvioii  dy  imply  that    tli-    I  ■    was  de- 
 
 livered to  the  king  as  lie  sat  in  the  gate  in  the  presence 
 
 of  his  people. 
 (3)  Execute  ye  judgment.— As  the  Hebrew  verb 
 
 is  not  identical  with  that  in  chap.  xxi.  L2,  and  implies  a 
 
 less  formal  act.  it    might   lie   better   to  render  it.  ./ 
 
 j'ul'Jill-  nt      .      .      . 
 
 Do  no  wrong  .    .    .—The  Hebrew  order  connects 
 
 both  verbs  with  the  suhstant ives — /..  the  stranger,  II"- 
 fatherless,  and  the  widow,  do  no  wrong,  ee — 
 
 and  gives  the  latter  the  empha-is  of  position.  The 
 whole  verse  paints  but  too  vividly  a  reiirn  which  pre- 
 senteil  t  lie  very  reverse  of  all  that  the  prophet  describes 
 
 as  belonging  to  a  righteous  king. 
 
 (')  Then  shall  there  ontor  in  .  .  .—The  picture 
 of  renewed  and  continued  prosperity  gains  a  fresh  force, 
 as  reproducing  the  very  terms  of  chap.  xvii.  25.     In  both 
 
 the"  chariots  and  horses"  are  conspicuous  as  the  si  mbol 
 of  kingly  pomp  (1  Kings  iv.  26),  ]ust  as  their  absence 
 furnished  a  topic  to  the  sarcastic  taunts  of  Etabshakeh 
 
 (Isa.  xxxvi.  8),  and  entered  into  tho  picture  of  the  true, 
 peaceful  king  in  Zech.  ix.  !'.  In. 
 
 I  swear  by  myself.— The  formula  is  an 
 
 tionally  rare  one.   but    meets   ns  in   (ion.    xxii.    L6.      In 
 
 Dent,  xxxii.   in  tin-  same  thought   is  embodied  in  the 
 
 language  of  the  loftiest  poetry.  The  principle  in  both 
 eases  is  that  on  which  the  writer  of  the  BpistiS  to  the 
 Hebrews  dwells  in  chap.  VI.  I-'.  Men  swear  by  the 
 greater,  but   God  can   swear  by  nothing  greater  than 
 
 Himself. 
 
 This  house. — The  context  determines  the  applica- 
 tion of  the  word  as  meaning  the  king's  palace,  not  thi' 
 Temple. 
 
 1 ;  Thou  art  Gilead  unto  me,  and  the  head  of 
 Lebanon. — The  conjunction,  which  is  not  found  in 
 the  Hebrew,  is  better  omitted.     Even  in  his  utteranco 
 
 of  woes  th.'  prophet's  mind  is  still  that  of  a  ] '.    The 
 
 chief  point  of  the  comparison  in  both  «~s  is  to  be 
 
 found  in  the   forests  that   crowned  the  heights  of  lioth 
 
The  Heir  tluit  brought  Punishment.       JEEEMIAH,    XXII. 
 
 The  Fate  of  Shalhuu. 
 
 urito  me,  and  the  head  of  Lebanon :  yet 
 surely  I  will  make  thee  a  wilderness, 
 and  cities  which  are  not  inhabited. 
 <7)  And  I  will  prepare  destroyers  against 
 thee,  every  one  with  his  weapons :  and 
 they  shall  cut  down  thy  choice  cedars, 
 and  cast  them  into  the  fire.  (8)  And 
 many  nations  shall  pass  by  this  city, 
 and  they  shall  say  every  man  to  his 
 neighbour,  "Wherefore  hath  the  Lord 
 done  thus  unto  this  great  city  ?  <9)  Then 
 they  shall  answer,  Because  they  have 
 forsaken  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  their 
 God,  and  worshipped  other  gods,  and 
 served  them. 
 
 do)  Weep  ye  not  for  the  dead,  neither 
 bemoan  him :    but  weep  sore    for  him 
 
 Omit.  29.  24;    1 
 Kings  9.  8. 
 
 &Lov.ial3;Peiu 
 24.  M,  15;  Hali 
 2.  9. 
 
 1  Heh., 
 airt  a. 
 
 through 
 
 that  goeth  away :  for  he  shall  return  no 
 more,  nor  see  his  native  country.  (11>  For 
 thus  saith  the  Lord  touching  Shallum 
 the  son  of  Josiah  king  of  Judah,  which 
 reigned  instead  of  Josiah  his  father, 
 which  went  forth  out  of  this  place ;  He 
 shall  not  return  thither  any  more : 
 (12)  but  he  shall  die  in  the  place  whither 
 they  have  led  him  captive,  and  shall  see 
 this  land  no  more. 
 
 (13)  Woe  unto  6him  that  buildeth  his 
 house  by  unrighteousness,  and  bis 
 chambers  by  wrong;  that  useth  his 
 neighbour's  service  without  wages, 
 and  giveth  him  not  for  his  work ; 
 <u>  that  saith,  I  will  build  me  a  wide 
 house  and  l  large  chambers,  and  cutteth 
 
 ranges  of  mountains.  The  "  oaks  of  Bashan,"  in  the 
 Gileacl  district  (Isa.  ii.  13;  Zech.  xi.  2),  were  as  famous 
 as  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  and  both  were  alike  the  fit 
 symbol  of  the  glory  of  sovereignty  (Isa.  xxxvii.  24 ; 
 Ezek.  xvii.  3).  There  may  be  a  reference  to  the  group 
 of  cedar-buildings,  which  of  old  gave  to  one  of  the 
 palaces  the  name  of  "  the  house  of  the  forest  of 
 Lebanon"  (2  Sam.  vii.  2,  7 ;  1  Kings  vii.  2,  x.  21). 
 
 (7)  I  will  prepare  destroyers. — The  verb,  as  in 
 chap.  vi.  4,  implies  the  idea  of  a  solemn  appointment 
 or  consecration. 
 
 They  shall  cut  down  thy  choice  cedars. — 
 The  metaphor  of  the  preceding  verse  is  carried  further, 
 and  the  "  choice  cedars "  ai'e  the  princes  of  the  royal 
 house  of  Judah,  and  the  chief  counsellors  and  generals, 
 as  well  as  the  actual  columns  of  cedar-wood. 
 
 (8.  9)  Wherefore  hath  the  Lord  done  thus  .  .  . 
 — The  coincidence  of  thought  and  language  with  Deute- 
 ronomy (xxix.  24 — 26)  again  calls  for  notice. 
 
 (io)  Weep  ye  not  for  the  dead. — With  this  verse 
 begins  the  detailed  review  of  the  three  previous  reigns, 
 the  prophecies  being  reproduced  as  they  were  actually 
 delivered.  The  "  dead  "  for  whom  men  are  not  to  weep 
 is  Josiah,  for  whom  Jeremiah  had  himself  composed  a 
 solemn  dirge,  which  seems  from  2  Chron.  xxxv. 
 25  to  have  been  repeated  on  the  anniversary  of  his 
 death. 
 
 For  him  that  goeth  away. — This  is  obviously 
 Jehoahaz,  the  sou  and  successor  of  Josiah,  who  was 
 deposed  by  Pharaoh-nechoh,  and  carried  into  Egypt 
 (2  Kings  xxiii.  31—34:  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  2—4).  The 
 latter  passage  shows  that  he  was  younger  than  his 
 successor,  Jehoiakim,  by  two  years.  The  doom  of  the 
 exile  who  was  to  return  no  more  was  a  fitter  subject 
 for  lamentation  than  (lie  death  of  the  righteous  king 
 who  died  a  warrior's  death  (2  Kings  xxiii.  29),  and  was 
 thus  "  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come." 
 
 (ii)  Shallum. — Josiah's  successor  appears  in  the 
 historical  books  as  Jehoahaz  ( "  Jehovah  sustains."  meant 
 as  a  nomen  et  omen),  the  latter  being  probably  the 
 name  assumed  on  his  succession  to  the  throne.  Such 
 changes  were  common  at  the  time,  as  iu  the  case  of 
 Jehoiakim  and  Zedekiah  (2  Kings  xxiii.  34,  xxiv.  17). 
 Shallum  (=  retribution)  might  probably  have  seemed  a 
 name  of  evil  augury.  In  1  Chron.  iii.  15  a  Shallum 
 appears  as  the  fourth  son  of  Josiah,  Jehoiakim  being 
 the  second,  and  one  otherwise  unknown,  Jokanan,  the 
 
 eldest.  This  may  have  been  the  same  as  the  one  now 
 referred  to  (the  order  of  the  last  two  names  being  in 
 some  way  inverted  I,  or  there  may  have  been  two  brothers 
 bearing  the  same  name.  The  short  and  disastrous 
 reign  of  Shallum,  and  the  meaning  of  the  word  pro- 
 bably account  for  the  prophet's  using  the  private  rather 
 than  the  kingly  name.  The  fact  that  the  name  had 
 been  borne  by  one  of  the  later  kings  of  Israel  whose 
 reign  lasted  but  for  a  single  month  (2  Kings  xv.  13) 
 may  have  given  a  further  point  to  its  use,  as  being  full 
 of  disastrous  memories  that  made  it  ominous  of  evil. 
 The  title  "king  of  Judah"  belongs  grammatically  to 
 Shallum,  not  to  Josiah. 
 
 (i2)  Shall  see  this  land  no  more.— There  is  no 
 record  of  the  duration  of  the  life  of  Shallum  in  his 
 Egyptian  exile,  but  the  total  absence  of  his  name  in 
 the  history  that  follows  is  presumptive  evidence  of  the 
 fulfilment  of  the  prediction.  There  is  no  trace  of  his 
 being  alive  when  the  prophet  is  dragged  by  his 
 countrymen  to  Egypt  (chap,  xliii.  6,  7). 
 
 (13)  Woe  unto  him  that  buildeth  .  .  .—The  pro- 
 phet now  turns  to  Jehoiakim,  and  apparently  reproduces 
 what  he  had  before  uttered  in  denouncing  the  selfish 
 bearing  of  that  king.  The  feelings  of  the  people, 
 already  suffering  from  the  miseries  of  foreign  invasion, 
 were  outraged  by  the  revival  of  the  forced  labour  of 
 the  days  of  Solomon,  pressing  in  this  instance  not  on 
 the  "  strangers  "  of  alien  blood  ( 1  Kings  v.  13 — 15 ; 
 2  Chron.  ii.  17,  18),  but  on  the  Israelites  themselves. 
 We  are  reminded  of  the  general  characteristics  of 
 Eastern,  and  perhaps  of  all  other,  despotism.  Like 
 the  modern  rulers  of  Constantinople.  Jehoiakim  went 
 on  building  palaces  when  his  kingdom  was  on  the 
 verge  of  ruin,  and  his  subjects  were  groaning  under 
 their  burdens. 
 
 His  chambers. — Strictly  speaking,  the  upper  storeys 
 of  the  house.  This  is  dwelt  on  as  aggravating  the  seve- 
 rity of  the  work. 
 
 Without  wages. — The  labourers  were  treated  as 
 slaves,  and,  like  the  Israelites  in  their  Egyptian  bondage 
 (Exod.  xvi.  3),  received  their  food,  but  nothing  more. 
 
 (i+)  Large  chambers. — As  before,  "  upper  storeys 
 or  chambers." 
 
 Cutteth  him  out  windows.— The  verb  is  the 
 same  as  that  used  in  chap.  iv.  30  for  dilating  the  eyes 
 by  the  use  of  antimony,  and  implies  accordingly  the 
 construction  of  windows  of  unusual  width.    These,  after 
 
'/'A.'  Guilt  "ml  Punishment 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXII 
 
 of  ./•  hoiukim. 
 
 him  nut  'windows;  Bad  ii  is  deled  v.  iili  i 
 oedar,  and  painted  with  vermilion. 
 ,r"  shall  thou  reign,  because  thou  clos- 
 es! thyst  //in  cedarP  did  do!  I  hj  t'al  her  ea1 
 ami  drink,  and  'I"  judgment  and  jusi  ice, 
 and  then  it  was  yreU  withhimP      "' "  Be 
 
 judged  the  cause  of  the  poor  ami  mvd\  ; 
 
 then  it  was  well  with  him  :  was  not  this 
 t.i  know  meP  saith  the  Lobd.  (17)  But 
 thine  eyes  and  thine  heart  an:  not  hut  for 
 thy  covetousuess,  ami  tor  to  shed  inno- 
 cent blood,  and  for  oppression,  and  for 
 'violence,  to  do  it.  (1S1  Therefore  thus 
 saith    the  Lord    concerningr   Jehoiakim 
 
 the  -"ii  of  Josiah  Icing  of  Judah;  Thej 
 shall  not  lament  for  him,  saying,  Ahmj 
 brother  '  or,  Ah  lister !  thej  shall  not 
 lament  for  him,  saying,  Ah  lord  !  or,  Al. 
 his  glory  '  '  Ee  shall  be  buried  with 
 the  burial  of  an  ass,  draw  □  and 
 t'..rth  beyond  the  gates  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 I  in  up  to  Lebanon,  and  cry  ;  and 
 lift  up  thy  voice  in  Bashan,  and  cry 
 from  t  he  passages  :  for  all  thy  lovei 
 destroyed.  '-1'  I  spake  unto  thee  in  thy 
 'prosperity;  but  thou  Baidst,  I  will  not 
 hear.  This  hath  been  thy  manner  from 
 thy  youth,  that    tlmu   <>l»-y«'<lst   not  m\ 
 
 the  Eastern  fashion,  wore  fitted  with  lattice-work,  or 
 shielded  by  curtains. 
 
 Vermilion.— Probably  the  red  pigment  (sulphurei 
 of  mercury  P)  still  conspicuous  in  the  buildings  <>f 
 Egypt,  The  word  meets  us  again  in  E/.ek.  xxiii.  II. 
 The  king  was  probably  impelled  by  a  vainglorious 
 desire  to  imitate  the  magnificence  of  the  Egyptian  king 
 Pharaoh-nechoh)  who  had  placed  him  on  the  throne, 
 
 (is)  Thou  closest  thyself  in  cedar.  —Bettor,  thine 
 a/ml  cedar.    The  verb  means  strictly,  aa  in 
 
 chap.  xii.  5,  "to Tie  with"  or  "to  contend,*' and  Jehoia- 
 kiin    is    reproached   for   endeavouring   to   outdo   the 
 
 magnificent ran  of  his  greatest   predecessors.     A 
 
 various  reading,  followed  by  tho  LXX.,  gives,  "thon 
 viest  with  Abac,"  or"Ahab,"  probably,  in  this  latter 
 ease,  with  reference  to  tho  ivory  palace  built  by  that 
 king    1   Kings  xxii.  39  . 
 
 Did  not  thy  father  eat  and  drink  .  .  .  ?— Tho 
 words  arc  obviously  those  of  praise,  and  paint  a  healthy, 
 blameless  enjoyment  like  that  of  Eoelos.  ii.  Jt;  liko 
 those,  we  maj  add,  which  tho  Sou  of  Man  used  to  de- 
 scribe tl ul  want  portion  of  His  own  life  i  Matt,  xi.  19). 
 
 .Insiali  was  not  an  ascetio,  devotee  king,  lmi  lived  liis  life 
 happily,  and  did  bis  work — the  true  kingly  work  of 
 judgment  and  justice — well.  There  was  a  truer  great- 
 ness in  that  than  in  tho  stateliness  of  Jehoiakhn's 
 palaces.  "Then  it  was  well  with  him  "  is  repeated 
 with  the  emphasis  of  iteration. 
 
 Was  not  this  to  know  me?— Tho  prophet, 
 as  a  true  witness  of  tho  law  of  righteousness,  proclaims 
 that    tli"   religious    fame   of   Josiah    rested   not   on   his 
 
 restoration  of  the  Temple  worship,  nor  on  bis  suppres- 
 sion of  idolatry,  but  much  more  on  bis  faithfulness  in 
 
 his  kingly  work  to  I  he  cause  of  righteousness  and  mercy. 
 
 They  only  could  know  Him  who,  in  this  respect,  strove 
 to  be  like  Sim    1  John  iii.  9  . 
 
 <>">  Thy  covotousness.— Moro  literally,  thy  gain, 
 the  word  used  implying  (as  in  chaps,  vi,  IS,  \iii.  I"   the 
 
 idea  of  violence  and  oppression  as  the  means  by  which 
 it    was   obtained.      The   verb  from   which   the   noun   is 
 
 derived  is  so  translated — "  violence  "  literally.  "  crush- 
 ing "i— in  Pent,  xxviii.  33.    The  marginal  reading.  "  in- 
 
 oursion,"  has  nothing  to  commend  it.  In  "the  blood  of 
 the  innocent  "  here,  as  in  verse  3,  we  have  an  allusive 
 
 reference  to  many,  for  the  most  part  unrelenting,  acts  of 
 cruelty.  (  me  of  these,  the  murder  of  Urijah,  meets  us 
 in  chap,  sxvi,  23, 
 
 (18)  They  shall  not  lament  for  him.— The  words 
 contrast  the  death  as  well  as  the  life  of  Jehoiakim  with 
 that  of  Josiah,  For  him  there  should  be  no  lamenta- 
 tion such  as  was  made  for  the  righteous  king  iJ  Chron. 
 
 xxw .  25),  either  from  kindred   mourning,  as  a 
 brother  or  a  sister  i  perhaps,  however,  as  ■•  sister"  would 
 
 not  be  appropriate  to  t  he  king.  I  lie  words  are  tho-e  of  a 
 chorus  of   mourners,  male  and  female,  addressing  each 
 
 other), or  from  subjects  wailing  over  the  death  of  their 
 •lord''  and  the  departure  of  his  "dory."  For  the 
 funeral  ceremonies  of   [srael,  see    1   Kings  nii 
 
 Matt.  ix.  Jo:    Mark  ( 
 
 U")  He  shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of  an 
 ass. — Tho  same  prediction  appears  in  another  form  in 
 chap,  xxxvi.  :jo.  The  body  of  the  king  was  "to 
 out  in  the  day  to  the  heat,  and  in  the  night  to  the  I 
 We  have  uo  direct  record  of  its  fulfilment,  but  its  re- 
 production shows  that  the  prophet's  word  had  not 
 failed.  The  king  was  dragged  in  chains  with  the 
 other  captives,  who  were  being  carried  otV  to  Babylon 
 (2  Chrou.  xxxvi.  6),  and  probably  died  on  the  journey. 
 his  corpse  left   behind  unburied  as  the  tinny  marched 
 
 The  phrase  "he  slept  with  his  fathers"  in  3  Kings 
 
 xxiv.  Ii  cannot  be  pressed  as  meaning  more  than  tin 
 mere    fait    of   death.      So  Ahab.  who  died   in   battle, 
 
 "slept  with  his  fathers"  i'I  Kings  xxii.  10  . 
 
 (20)  Go  up  to  Lebanon.— The  great  mountain- 
 ranges — Lebanon  and  Bashan  £Ps.  lxviii.  1". — running 
 
 from  north  to  south,  that   overlooked  the  route  of  the 
 
 Babylonians,  are  invoked  by  the  prophet,  as  those  of 
 
 Gilboa  bad  been  by  David  2  Sam.  i.  21  i,  as  witni 
 
 of  the  misery  that  was  coming  on  the  land  and  peopli 
 Even  here,  as  in  verse  2-i.  there  is  probably  still  the 
 same  reference  as  before  to  the  cedar-palaces  of  Jeru- 
 salem.     The  people   are   called    from    the    count 
 ■■  forests  of  Lebanon  "  to  the  height  of  the  real  moun- 
 tains, and  hidden  to  look  forth  from  thence. 
 
 Cry  from  tho  passages.— It  is  hotter  to  take  the 
 
 word  J  i  proper  name.     As  in  Num.  xxvii.  12, 
 
 xxxiii.  -17:  Dent,  xxxii.  I'.',  it  was  part  of  the  range  of 
 Nebo,  south  of  Gilead  and  BlUlhan.  and  earning  there- 
 fore naturally  after  the  last  of  those  two  mountains. 
 
 All  thy  lovers. — The  word  points,  as  in  the  cor- 
 responding language  "f  ESsek.  xxiii.  ■">.  9,  to  the  Egyp- 
 tians and  other  nations  with  whom  Judah  had  made 
 alliance-.  The  destruction  reached  its  ,-limax  in  the 
 overthrow  of  Pharaoh-nechoh'a  army  by  Nebuchad- 
 ■  at  Carehemish  (chap,  xh 
 
 (81)  In    thy   prosperity.— Literally. 
 The  word  is  used,  as  in  I'rov.  i.  32;   Ezck.  xvi.  !' 
 xw,  6,  in  reference  to  what  in  old  English  was  called 
 "security,"  the  careless,  reckless  temper  engendered 
 by  outward  prosperity.    The  plural  is  used  to  include 
 all  the  tonus  of  that  temper  that  had  been  mam 
 
 in  the  course  of  centuries. 
 
The  Word  of  Hie  Lord 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXII. 
 
 against  Coniah. 
 
 voice.  (22)  The  wind  shall  eat  up  all 
 thy  pastors,  and  thy  lovers  shall  go  into 
 captivity :  surely  theu  shalt  thou  be 
 ashamed  and  confounded  for  all  thy 
 wickedness.  (23)  0  l  inhabitant  of  Leba- 
 non, that  makest  thy  nest  in  the 
 cedars,  how  gracious  shalt  thou  be 
 when  pangs  come  upon  thee,  the  pain 
 as  of  a  woman  in  travail ! 
 
 (24)  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  though 
 ■Coniah  the  son  of  Jehoiakim  king  of 
 Judah  were  the  signet  upon  my  right 
 hand,  yet  would  I  pluck  thee  thence ; 
 <25'  and  I  will  give  thee  into  the  hand 
 of  them  that  seek  thy  life,  and  into  the 
 hand  of  them  whose  face  thou  fearest, 
 even  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadrezzar 
 king  of  Babylon,  and  into  the  hand  of 
 
 1  Heb.,iiiltabitrcss. 
 
 Krl,.,ti/tupthei, 
 mind. 
 
 the  Chaldeans.  (26>  And  I  will  cast  thee 
 out,  and  thy  mother  that  bare  thee,  into 
 another  country,  where  ye  were  not 
 born ;  and  there  shall  ye  die.  <27>  But 
 to  the  land  whereunto  they  2  desire  to 
 return,  thither  shall  they  not  return. 
 
 f28'  Js  this  man  Coniah  a  despised 
 broken  idol  ?  is  he  a  vessel  wherein  is  no 
 pleasure  ?  wherefore  are  they  cast  out, 
 he  and  his  seed,  and  are  cast  into  a  land 
 which  they  know  not?  <29'  0  earth, 
 earth,  earth,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
 (30)  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Write  ye 
 this  man  childless,  a  man  that  shall  not 
 prosper  in  his  days  :  for  no  man  of  his 
 seed  shall  prosper,  sitting  upon  the 
 throne  of  David,  and  ruling  any  more 
 in  Judah. 
 
 (22)  The  wind  shall  eat  up  all  thy  pastors.— 
 The  word  for  "  eat  up "  is  the  root  of  the  noun 
 rendered  "  pastors,"  and  the  play  of  sound  may  be 
 expressed  iu  English  by  shall  feed  on  them  that  feed 
 thee — i.e.,  thy  princes  and  statesmen.  The  "lovers" 
 are,  as  before  in  verse  20,  the  king's  chosen  allies. 
 
 (23)  O,  inhabitant  of  L3banon.— The  phrase  de- 
 velopes  the  thought  of  verse  6.  The  king,  in  his  cedar- 
 palace,  is  as  one  who  has  made  Lebanon  his  home, 
 literally  and  figuratively  (see  Note  on  verse  7),  and  is 
 as  an  eagle  nestling  in  the  cedar. 
 
 Howgraeious  shalt  thou  be  .  .  . !— Better,  how 
 wilt  thou  sigh  !  or,  how  wilt  thou  groan  '.  as  connected 
 with  the  pangs  of  travail.  No  pomp  or  majesty  could 
 save  the  royal  house  from  the  inevitable  doom. 
 
 (2*)  Coniah  the  son  of  Jehoiakim.— The  gram- 
 matical structure  of  the  sentence  fixes  the  original 
 utterance  of  the  message,  now  reproduced,  at  a  time 
 when  Coniah  was  actually  king,  during  his  short 
 three  months'  reigu.  The  name  of  this  prince  appears 
 in  three  forms: — (1)  The  abbreviated  Coniah,  as  here 
 and  in  chap,  xxxvii.  1 :  this  was  probably  the  name  by 
 which  he  was  kuowu  before  he  was  proclaimed  as  king. 
 (2)  Jeconiah,  with  slight  variations,  in  chaps,  xxiv.  1, 
 xxvii.  20,  and  elsewhere.  (3)  Jehoiachin,  also  with 
 varied  spelling — probably  the  regal  title  assumed  on 
 his  accession  (chap.  Hi.  31 ;  Ezek.  i.  2).  The  mean- 
 ing of  the  name  "Jehovah  establishes"  is  constant  in 
 all  the  forms.  In  2  Kings  xxiv.  8  he  is  said  to  have 
 been  eighteen  years  old  when  he  began  to  reign.  In 
 2  Chron.  xxxvi.  9  the  ago  is  given  as  eight.  The  latter 
 is  obviously  au  error  of  transcription.  His  x-eign  lasted 
 for  three  months  only.  There  is  probably  a  touch  of 
 scorn,  as  in  the  case  of  Shallum,  in  the  prophet's  use  of 
 the  earlier  name  instead  of  that  which  he  had  assumed 
 as  king. 
 
 The  signet  upon  my  right  hand.— The  seal-ring 
 was,  as  in  Hagg.  ii.  23,  the  symbol  of  kingly  power 
 (Geu.  xli.  42  ;  Esth.  iii.  10,  viii.  2),  authenticating  every 
 edict,  and  was  therefore  the  type  of  all  that  was  most 
 precious.    (Comp.  Song  of  Sol.  viii.  6.) 
 
 (26)  Thy  mother  that  bare  thee.— The  youth  of 
 Coniah  probably  led  to  his  mother  assuming  the 
 authority  of  a  queen-regent.  She  directed  the  policy 
 of  his  brief  reign,  and  shared  in  his  downfall.  Her 
 name,  Nehushta,  is  given  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  8,  and  in 
 
 chap.  xxix.  2  she  is  named  as  the  gebirah,  the  "  great 
 lady  "  or  "  princess-queen." 
 
 (27)  Whereunto  they  desire  to  return.— The 
 English  expresses  the  sense,  but  lacks  the  poetic  force, 
 of  the  Hebrew,  to  which  they  lift  up  their  souls  to 
 return,  yearning  thitherward  with  the  longing  of  un- 
 satisfied desire. 
 
 <28)  Is  this  man  Coniah  a  despised  broken 
 idol? — Better,  a  broken  piece  of  handiwork.  The 
 word  is  not  the  same  as  that  elsewhere  rendered 
 "  idol,"  though  connected  with  it,  and  the  imagery 
 which  underlies  the  words  is  not  that  of  an  idol  which 
 men  have  worshipped  and  flung  away,  but  of  the  potter 
 (as  in  chap.  xix.  11)  rejecting  and  breaking  what  his 
 own  hands  have  made.  (Comp.  Pss.  ii.  9,  xxxi.  12.)  The 
 question  implies  au  affirmative  answer.  The  prophet 
 speaks  as  ideutifying  himself  with  those  who  gazed 
 with  wonder  and  pity  at  the  doom  which  fell  on  one 
 so  young,  and  yet  not  the  less  does  he  pronounce  that 
 doom  to  be  inevitable. 
 
 (29)  o  earth,  earth,  earth. — The  solemnity  of  the 
 mystic  threefold  repetition  expresses  the  certainty  of 
 the  Divine  decree  (comp.  chap.  vii.  4).  So  in  our  Lord's 
 most  solemn  utterances  we  have  the  twice-repeated 
 "  Simon,  Simon"  (Luke  xxii.  31),  and  the  recurring 
 "Verily,  verily"  of  St.  John's  Gospel  (viii.  51  et  al.). 
 
 (30)  Write  ye  this  man  childless. — The  meaning 
 of  the  prediction,  as  explained  by  the  latter  clause  of 
 the  verse,  was  fulfilled  in  Jeconiah's  being  the  last 
 kingly  representative  of  the  house  of  David,  his  uncle 
 Zedekiah,  who  succeeded  him,  perishing  before  him 
 (chap.  Iii.  31).  In  him  the  sceptre  departed,  and  not 
 even  Zerubbabel  sat  upon  the  throne  of  Judah. 
 Whether  he  died  actually  childless  is  less  certain. 
 In  1  Chron.  iii.  17  Assir  (possibly,  however,  the  name 
 should  be  translated  "Jeconiah  the  prisoner")  appears 
 as  his  son,  and  as  the  father  of  Salathiel,  or  Shealtiel; 
 and  in  Matt.  i.  12  we  find  "  Jeehonias  begat  Salathiel." 
 In  these  genealogies,  however,  adoption  or  succession, 
 or  a  Levirate  marriage  so  constantly  takes  the  place  of 
 parentage,  that  nothing  certain  can  be  inferred  from 
 these  data,  and  St.  Luke  (iii.  27)  places  Salathiel 
 among  the  descendants  of  Nathan,  as  though  the  line 
 of  Solomon  became  extinct  in  Jeconiah,  and  was  re- 
 placed by  the  collateral  branch  of  the  house  of  David 
 (see  Note  on  Luke  iii  23).     The  command,  "  write  ye 
 
 78 
 
T/te  Woe  ago  hut  the  Evil  Shepht  rd$.    .1  E  REM  I A II ,    XXIII. 
 
 Th'.  liiiji  ,,•/,. 
 
 CHAPTEB  X  X  HI.— «  "Woe  be  onto 
 the  pastors  I  hat  destroy  and  [scatter  I  be 
 sheep  of  my  pasture  I  Baitb.  the  Lobd. 
 M  Therefore  thus  saiili  the  Lobd  God 
 of  Israel  against  the  pastors  thai  feed 
 my  people;  Ye  have  scattered  mv  Bock, 
 and  driven  them  away,  and  have  not 
 visited  them  :  behold,  I  will  \  i-ii  upon 
 rou  the  evil  of  your  doings,  saitb  the 
 Loitn.  (:i>  Ami  I  will  gather  the  reni- 
 n:iiit  of  mv  llu.-k  out  of  all  Countries 
 whither  I  have  driven  them,  ami  will 
 brin^c  them  again   to  their  folds j    ami 
 
 M.  ll,  l;. 
 
 .    II.  I . 
 
 i ;  j.i.n 
 I  1. 
 
 they   shall    be    fruitful   ami    imi 
 1    Ami    1    will  si-t    uji  'shepherds  over 
 them  which  shall  feed  them:  and  they 
 .shall   fear  oo  more,  nor   I"-  dismayed, 
 neither  shall  they  be  lacking,  Baitb  the 
 
 L 
 
 (5)  Behold, ' the  days  come,  saith  'he 
 
 LOBD,  that  I  will  raise  mit'i  David  a 
 righteous  Branch,  and  a  King  shall 
 rei^n  and  prosper,  and  shall  execute 
 judgment  and  justice  in  the  earth        In 
 
 his    days    Judah     shall     be    saved,    and 
 I   shall    dwell    safely:    and    tl. 
 
 this  man  childless,"  is  apparently  addressed  to  tlio 
 scribes  who  kept  the  register  of  tho  royal  genealogies 
 i  Bsek  xiii.  9;  Ps.  box.  58,  29).  They  were  told  how, 
 without  waiting  for  his  death,  they  were  to  enter 
 Ooniah's  name  in  tliat  register. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 (]|  Woe  be  unto  tho  pastors  .  .  .— Tho  nicssago 
 that    follows  in  verses  1      *■>   i i'S  .is  a   natural  sequel 
 
 to  licit  of  chap.  xxii.  The  unfaithful  shepherds  who  had 
 boon  there  denounced  are  contrasted  with  those,  more 
 
 faithful  to  their  trust,  whom  Jehovah  will  raise  up.    As 
 
 before,  in  chap.  ii.  8  and  alsewheie,  we  have  to  remember 
 
 that  the  "pastors"  are  like  the  "shepherds  of  the 
 people  "  in  Greek  poets)  the  civil  rulers,  not  tho  prophets 
 or    the    priests,    of    Israel.     The    parallelism  with  the 
 
 prophecy  of  Ezek.  xxxiv.,  delivered  aboat  the  samo 
 time  in  the  land  of  exile,  is  suggestive  either  of  direct 
 communication  between  the  two  writers,  or  of  traditional 
 lines  of  thought  common  to  the  two  priest-prophets, 
 
 The  sheep  of  my  pasture.— The  words  assert 
 tho  claims  of  Jehovah  to  be  the  true  Shepherd  of  His 
 people.    (Comp.  Pss.  lxxix.  13,  c  3.) 
 
 (->  Ye  havo  scattored   my  flock.— Tho  charge 
 
 was  true  literally  as  well  as  spiritually.  The  dispersion 
 of  the  people  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  anil  Chahhea  was  the 
 
 result  of  the  neglect,  the  tyranny,  the  feebleness  of  their 
 rulers.    They  bad  I n  led,  not  as  the  Eastern  shepherd 
 
 leads  i John  x.  I.  •".  .  but  '■driven" — not  to  the  fold. 
 but  "  away  "  into  far  lands. 
 
 Have  not  visitod.-  i.e.,  eared  for  ami  regarded. 
 They  were  negligent,  hut  God  was  not,  and  He  there- 
 for.' would  "  visit  "  them  by  reproof  and  chastisement. 
 
 {3)  To  their  folds.— Better,  habitations,  or  pastures. 
 
 There  was  hope,  as  in  [sa.  i.  9,  vi.  1"..  for  the  -  remnant  " 
 of  tho  people,  though   the  sentence  on   their   rulers,  as 
 
 such,  was  final  and  irreversible. 
 
 (*)  I  will  set  up  shepherds  .  .  .—Tho  words 
 imply,  in  one  sense,  a  return  to  the  theocracy,  the 
 breaking  oil'  the  hereditary  succession  of  the  house  of 
 
 David,  and  the  giving  of  power  to  those  who.  like  K/ra 
 and  Nehemiah,  and.  later  on  in  history,  the  Maer.V 
 were  called  to  rule  I  localise  they  had  the  capacity  for 
 ruling  well.  The  plural  is  noticeable,  as  in  chap.  iii. 
 15,  as  not  limiting  the  prophecy  to  the  Christ  who 
 is  yet   the  "ohiei  Shepherd"  il  Pet.  v.   I).    In  the 
 
 verli  for  "sel   Up"  tiler,'  is  an  allusive   reference   to   the 
 
 names  of  Jehoiatdm  and  Jehoiachin,  into  both  of  which 
 it  entered.  Jehovah  would  "  raise  up  "  shepherds,  but 
 not  such  as  they  had  proved   themselves  to  he. 
 
 Noither  shall  they  be  lacking.— i.e..  the  Book 
 would  be  so  cared  for  that  not  one  sheep  should  be  lost. 
 
 Care  extending  even  to  every  individual  member  was 
 
 tho  true  ideal  of  the  Shepherd's  work  John  \.  ■'■.  wii. 
 U  i.  and  therefore  of  the  ruler's. 
 
 1  Behold,  the  days  come.— The  words  point  to 
 an  undefined,  far-off  future,  following  on  the  proi  isunud 
 
 order  implied  in  verse  I,  when  the  kingdom  should  OnOS 
 more  rest  in  one  of  t  he  house  of  I)a\  id. 
 
 Arighteous  Branch. — The  idea  is  the  same,  though 
 the  word  is  different  here  Zemach,  and  then 
 as  in  Isa.  xi.  1.  In  both  eases,  however,  the  word  m 
 a  "sprout  "  or  "  seion."  springing  up  from  the  mot  even 
 after  the  tie,'  had  been  cut  down  i  Isa.  vi.  13),  and 
 not  a  branch  growing  from  the  trunk.  Tt  is  probably 
 in  reference  to  this  prophecy  that  we  find  the  name 
 of  "the  Branch "  (Ztmaeh)  so  prominent  in  Zech.m.8, 
 vi.  VI.  Sere,  it  is  obvious,  the  prophet  speaks  of  the 
 oue  great  Shepherd. 
 
 A  King  shall  reign.— Better,  he  shall  reign  as 
 King,  the  Branch  or  Sprout  being  the  subject  of  the 
 sentence.     As  with  all  the  Messianic  prophecies  of  this 
 
 class,  tho  thoughts  of  the  prophet  dwell  on  tho  acts  and 
 attributes  of  a  sovereignty  exercised  personally  on  earth. 
 Such  a  sovereignty,  "all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth" 
 (Matt,  xxviii.  lS),"waa  indeed  given  to  the  Christ,  hut 
 not  after  the  fashion  that  men  expected. 
 
 (i!)  Judah  shall  be  saved,  and  Israel  shall 
 
 dwell   safely. — The    true    King    shall    reign    over    a 
 
 re-united  people.     The  Ten  Tni.es  ,.f  the  Northern 
 
 Kingdom,  as  well  as  the  two  of  tie-  Southern,  .should 
 find  in  Him  deliverance  and  peace. 
 
 Whereby  he  shall  be  called.— Literally,  w) 
 
 Imi!  oaH    k'un.  the  indefinite,  almost   impersoual 
 aeti\e  having  the  force  of  the  English  passive. 
 
 The  Lord  our  Righteousness.— It  is  significant 
 that  in  chap,  xxxiii.  L6  the  same  name  is  given  to 
 Jerusalem.  There  it  is  clearly  not.  in  logical  language, 
 the  predicate  of  the  city,  hut  that  which  she  takes  a-  her 
 watchword,  and  blazons,  as  it  were,  on  her  banner  J  and 
 we  cannot  consistently  press  more  than  that  meaning 
 here.  So  in  Ezek  x'lviii.  "••">  the  new  name  ,,f  Jeru- 
 salem is  "  Jehovah  shaminah  "  the  Lord  is  there). 
 So    in    Exod    xvii.     1".    .Moses    calls    the    altar    which 
 
 he  builds  "  Jehovah-nissi  "  i  =  the  Lord  is  my  banner). 
 
 The  interpretation  which  sees  in  the  words  (1)  the 
 identification  of  the  Messianic  Kim:  with  Jehovah,  the 
 Eternal,  and  2  the  doctrine  of  imputed  righteousness, 
 must   accordingly  he   regarded  as  one  of  the  apnli- 
 
 nis  of   the    words  rather  than   their  direct  meaning. 
 That    meaning   would    seem    to   he  that    the    Kim.',    th" 
 
 righteous  Branch,  will  look  to  Jehovah  as  giving  and 
 
 working    righteousness.     Some  commentators,   ind 1. 
 
 refer   the   pronoun   "ho"   to   Israel,  and  not   to  tho 
 
 79 
 
The  Lord  our  Righteousness. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXIII.        The  Guilt  of  Priests  and  Prophets. 
 
 his  name  whereby  he  shall  be  called,  '  jh)<r  f"><> 
 irTHE  LOED  OUE  EIGHTEOUS- 
 NESS.  m  Therefore,  behold,  "the  days 
 come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  they  shall 
 no  more  say,  The  Lord  liveth,  which 
 brought  up  the  children  of  Israel  out  of 
 the  land  of  Egypt;  <8)  but,  The  Lord 
 liveth,  which  brought  up  and  which  led 
 the  seed  of  the  house  of  Israel  out  of 
 the  north  country,  and  from  all  coun- 
 tries whither  I  had  driven  them ;  and 
 they  shall  dwell  in  their  own  land. 
 
 <9'  Mine  heart  within  me  is  broken 
 because  of  the  prophets ;  all  my  bones 
 shake;  I  am  like  a  drunken  man,  and 
 like  a  man  whom  wine  hath  overcome, 
 because  of  the  Lord,  and  because  of  the 
 words  of  his  holiness.  <10)  For  the  land 
 is   full  of  adulterers ;    for  because    of 
 
 ii  Or,  cursing. 
 
 3  Or,  violence. 
 
 4  Or,    an    absurd 
 thing. 
 
 5  Kfto.,vnsaxowry. 
 
 the     land    niourneth ;     the 
 
 6  Ov.filthinrss. 
 
 pleasant  places  of  the  wilderness  are 
 dried  up,  and  their  3  course  is  evil,  and 
 their  force  is  not  right.  (11<  For  both 
 prophet  and  priest  are  profane  ;  yea,  in 
 my  house  have  I  found  their  wickedness, 
 saith  the  Lord.  (12)  Wherefore  their 
 way  shall  be  unto  them  as  slippery  ways 
 in  the  darkness  :  they  shall  be  driven 
 on,  and  fall  therein  :  for  I  will  bring 
 evil  ujjon  them,  even  the  year  of  their 
 visitation,  saith  the  Lord.  {13)  And 
 I  have  seen  *5  folly  in  the  prophets  of 
 Samaria ;  they  prophesied  in  Baal, 
 and  caused  my  people  Israel  to  err. 
 <U)  I  have  seen  also  in  the  prophets  of 
 Jerusalem  can  horrible  thing :  they 
 commit  adultery,  and  walk  in  lies  :  they 
 strengthen  also  the  hands  of  evildoers, 
 that  none  doth  return  from  his  wicked- 
 ness :  they  are  all  of  them  unto  me  as 
 
 righteous  Branch.  We  cannot  forget  that,  at  the 
 very  time  when  Jeremiah  uttered  this  prophecy,  a 
 king  was  on  the  throne  whose  name  (Zedekiah  = 
 righteous  is  Jehovah)  implied  the  same  thought.  His 
 reign  had  been  a  miserable  failure,  and  the  prophet 
 looks  forward  to  a  time  when  the  ideal,  which  was  then 
 far  off,  should  at  last  be  realised.  If  with  many  critics 
 we  refer  the  prediction  to  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim  (see 
 Note  on  verse  1),  we  might  almost  see  in  Mattaniah's 
 adoption  of  the  new  name  a  boast  that  he  was  about  to 
 fulfil  it.  The  Christ,  we  may  say,  answered  to  the 
 name,  not  as  being  Himself  one  with  Jehovah,  though 
 He  was  that,  but  as  doing  the  Father's  will,  and  so 
 fulfilling  all  righteousness  (comp.  Matt.  iii.  15). 
 
 (7)  The  days  come,  saith  the  Lord.— See  Notes 
 on  chap.  xvi.  14,  1.5,  of  which  the  words  are  almost 
 verbally  a  reproduction.  There,  however,  stress  is  laid 
 chiefly  on  the  fact  of  the  exile,  here  on  that  of  the  re- 
 storation. The  LXX.  version  omits  them  here,  but  inserts 
 them,  where  they  are  obviously  out  of  place,  at  the  end 
 of  the  chapter.  It  was  fitting  that  they  should  be  re- 
 peated here,  as  connecting  the  hope  that  had  before 
 been  general  with  the  personal  reign  of  the  "  Branch  " 
 of  the  house  of  David. 
 
 (9)  Mine  heart  within  me  is  broken  .  .  .— 
 The  abrupt  transition  shows  that  we  are  entering  on  an 
 entirely  new  section.  In  the  Hebrew  order  and  punc- 
 tuation of  the  words  this  is  shown  still  more  clearly — 
 Concerning  the  prophets :  My  heart  is  broken  within 
 me — the  first  words  being  the  supei'scription  and  title  of 
 what  follows.  The  four  clauses  describe  the  varied 
 phenomena  of  horror  and  amazement,  and  then  comes 
 the  cause  of  the  horror — the  contrast  between  the  words 
 of  Jehovah  and  His  holiness  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
 wickedness  of  priests  and  prophets  on  the  other.  The 
 whole  section  is  the  complement  of  that  which  denounced 
 the  wickedness  of  the  pastors — i.e.,  of  the  civil  rulers — 
 in  verses  1 — 4. 
 
 (10)  The  land  is  full  of  adulterers.— The  context 
 shows  that  the  words  must  be  taken  literally,  and 
 not  of  the  spiritual  adultery  of  the  worship  of  other 
 Gods.  The  false  prophets  and  their  followers  were  per- 
 sonally profligates,  like  those  of  2  Pet.  ii.  1-4.  (Comp. 
 chaps,  v.  7,  8,  xxix.  23.) 
 
 Because  of  swearing.— Better,  because  of  the 
 curse — i.e..  that  which  comes  from  Jehovah  on  account 
 of  the  wickedness  of  the  people. 
 
 The  land  mourneth.— This,  and  the  "drying  up" 
 of  the  "  pleasant  places  "  or  "  pastures,"  refers  appa- 
 rently to  the  drought  described  iu  chaps,  xii.  4,  xiv.  2, 
 or  to  some  similar  visitation. 
 
 Their  course. — Literally,  their  running — i.e.,  their 
 way  or  mode  of  life. 
 
 Their  force  is  not  right.— Literally,  their  might 
 or  their  valour:  that  in  which  they  exulted  was  might, 
 not  right. 
 
 (H)  In  my  house  have  I  found  their  wicked- 
 ness.— Prophet  and  priest  are  joined,  as  before  (chaps. 
 v.31,  vi.  13.  viii.  10),  as  playing  into  each  other's  hands. 
 It  seems  probable,  from  chap,  xxxii.  34,  that  the  sins 
 of  Ahaz  and  Manasseh  had  been  repeated  under  Je- 
 hoiakim, and  that  the  worship  of  other  gods  had  been 
 carried  on  side  by  side  with  that  of  Jehovah.  With 
 this,  almost  as  its  natural  accompaniment,  there  may 
 have  been  sins  of  another  kind — shameless  greed  or  yet 
 more  shameless  profligacy — like  those  of  the  sons  of 
 Eli  (1  Sam.  ii.  22). 
 
 <12)  Slippery  ways  . . .  darkness  . .  .  driven  on. 
 — The  words  and  the  thoughts  flow  in  upon  the  prophet's 
 mind  from  Isa.  viii.  22 ;  Ps.  xxxv.  5,  6. 
 
 The  year  of  their  visitation.— The  prophet  re- 
 turns to  his  characteristic  word  for  the  time  appointed 
 by  the  Divine  Judge  for  chastisement.  (Comp.  chaps, 
 viii.  12,  x.  15,  xi.  23.) 
 
 (13)  I  have  seen  folly.  .  . — Literally,  as  in  Job  vi.6, 
 that  which  is  unsavoury — i.e.,  insipid,  and  so,  ethically, 
 foolish.  The  guilt  of  the  prophets  of  Samaria  cannot 
 be  passed  over,  but  it  is  noticed,  as  in  chap.  iii.  6 — 10, 
 only  in  order  to  compare  it  with  the  darker  evils  of 
 those  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem. 
 
 They  prophesied  in  Baal.  — i.e.,  in  the  name  and 
 as  if  by  the  power  of  Baal.  Comp.  1  Kings  xviii.  10, 
 xxii.  6,  7. 
 
 (u)  They  commit  adultery,  and  walk  in  lies 
 .  .  . — The  union  of  the  claim  to  prophesy  in  the  name 
 of  Jehovah  with  these  flagrant  breaches  of  His  law  was 
 more  hateful  in  the  prophet's  eyes  even  than  the 
 open  recognition  of  Baal.     In  the  terrible  language  of 
 
 80 
 
77,.-  Quilt  of 
 
 JEREMIAH,    Will 
 
 Of  Falte  Prop 
 
 "Siuloiii,  and  tho  inhabitants  thereof  as 
 ( lomorrah. 
 
 Therefore  thus  Baith  bhe  Lobd  of 
 hosts  concerning  the  prophets  ;  Behold, 
 
 I  will  feed  them  with  *wormv< I,  and 
 
 make  them  drink  the  water  of  gal] :  for 
 
 from  the  prophets  of  Jerusalem  is  '  nro- 
 faneness  gone  forth  into  all  the  land. 
 W  Tims  saith  the  Lokd  of  hosts, 
 Eearken  not  unto  the  words  of  the 
 prophets  that  prophes y  nnto  yon :  thej 
 make  YOU  vain  :  they  speak  a  vision  of 
 their  own  heart,  and  not  out  of  the 
 mouth  of  the  Lokd.  (lri  They  say  still 
 onto  them  that  despise  me,  The  Lord 
 hath  said,  ''Ye  shall  have  peace;  and 
 they  say  nnto  every  one  thai  ualketh 
 after  the  'imagination  of  his  own  heart. 
 No  evil  shall  come  upon  you.  (18)  For 
 who  hath  stood  in  the  *  counsel  of  the 
 
 I  ;  &  ft  15. 
 
 1  Or,  hiti'oerltiy. 
 
 r  cli.o.ll;*.-  ».  II 
 lo.  t. 
 
 ■J  Or,*tnW*>nin«*. 
 
 /  eh.  14.  n ;  *  ■_•;. 
 
 Lord,  and  hat  h  perceived  and  heard 
 his  word  P  who  hath  marked  hi-  word, 
 and  heard  il  f  B  hold,  a  'whirlwind 
 
 of  the  Lobd  is  gone  forth  in  fury,  even 
 a  grievous  whirlwind :  it  shall  fall  griev- 
 ously upon  the  head  of  the  wicked. 
 '-•>  The  'anger  of  the  Lobd  shall  not 
 
 nturn,    until     he     have     executed,    and 
 
 till  he  have  performed  the  thoughts  of 
 
 his  heart:  in  the  latter  days  ye  shall 
 consider  it  perfectly.  ('-'1'  I  have  nol 
 sent  these  prophets,  yel  thej  ran:  1 
 have  not  spoken  to  them,  yef  they  pro- 
 phesied. '"'  But  if  they  had  stood  in 
 my  counsel,  and  had  caused  my  people 
 to  hear  my  words,  then  they  should 
 have  tuned  them  from  their  evil  way, 
 and  from  the  evil  of  their  doin 
 
 ,J;>  Am  I  at  ioil  at  hand,  saith  the  LoBD, 
 and    not  a  God  afar  off  P       :'    <  !an  any 
 
 Isaiah  li.  In),  prophets  and  people  had  lir.-i.me  like  the 
 dwellers  in  the  cities  of  tho  plain.  Sere,  also,  the 
 language  of  Deuteronomy  ixxix.  23,  xxxii.  :JJ)  probably 
 influenced  thai  of  t  he  prophet, 
 
 (is)  Wormwood  .  .  .  water  of  gall.— Sco  Notes 
 on  chaps.  viii.  1  t.  ix.  15. 
 
 Proi'anoness.— Tho  root-meaning  of  tho  Hebrew 
 word  is  thai  of  "veiling,"  hence  thai  of  simulated 
 holiness,  or,  as  in  the  margin,  "hypocrisy;"  but  the 
 associations  of  the  word  attached  to  it  the  further 
 Konso  of  the  hypocrisy  that  desecrates,  so  thai  "pro- 
 faneness"  is,  on  the  whole,  the  besi  rendering.  The 
 corresponding  concrete  noun  is  rendered  in  tsa.  ix. 
 17  by  " hypocrite ; "  in  Pa.  xxxv.  16  by  "hypocritical 
 mocker;  "  above,  in  verso  11,  by  "  profane." 
 
 (16)  They  mako  you  vain.— i.t .,  they  befool,  deceive 
 you.  As  the  next  vers.'  shows,  they  tilled  tho  peoplo 
 with  vain  hopes  of  peace.    This  was  i  hen.. is  always,  the 
 
 Crucial  test  befcw I  the  true  prophet  and  the  false.      Tho 
 
 ono  roused  the  conscience,  caused  pain  and  anger  by  his 
 reproofs;  tho  other  soothed  and  quieted  men  with  a 
 false  assuranee  (chaps,  vi.  14,  xiv.  13).  They  invented  a 
 vision  which  did  not  come  to  them  from  tho  month  of 
 Jehovah,    (Comp.  Deut.  xiii.  1 — 5.) 
 
 P*J  Imagination.— As  Int.  .re  chap.  iii.  17  and  else- 
 where), tifubi  irnness.  The  tendency  of  all  that  the  false 
 prophets  ottered  was  to  confirm  the  people  in  their  sins, 
 not  to  lead  them  to  repentance,     li  is  noticeable  that 
 
 the   Hebrew  verb   for   "hath  said"  is  not   the  samo  as 
 
 the  received  formula  of  the  true  prophets,  "The  Lord 
 
 hath spoften."  Tho  prophet  seems  to  indicate  in  this 
 waytliat   those  whom  ho  condemns  placed  the  Divino 
 
 message  on  a  level  with  a  man's  every-day  utterance. 
 
 They  were  self-eonvieted  l.y  the  very  phrase  they  used. 
 
 .is i  Tho  counsel.— Better,  perhaps,  ihecovmeil,  the 
 
 "  assembly  "  of  choson  friends  with  whom  a  man  shares 
 his  secret  plans.    So  in  chaps,  vi.  11,  xv.  17;  Ps.  lx\xi\. 
 
 7,  "assembly."    Could  any  of  the  false  prophets  aay 
 
 that  they  had  thus  been  called  as  into  the  privy  council 
 of  Jehovah?  (Comp.  Amos  iii.  7;  1  Kings  \\ii. 
 19— 'J::,  i 
 
 (19)  Behold,  a  whirlwind  .  .  .—Better.   Behold, 
 On  storm  of  Jehovah,  tarath   is  gone  forth,  a  whirling 
 storm,  upon    the   heads  of  tlie    Kicked  shall  it  whirl 
 145 
 
 down.    The  word  translated  "  whirlwind "  is  properly 
 
 more  generic  in  its  manning  f"  tempest  "  in  I-a.  x\i\.  <• 
 
 and  gets  its  specific  force  here  from  the  associated 
 uerd  rendered  in  tho  Authorised  Version  "grievous," 
 but  rightly,  as  above,  whirling. 
 
 (-°)  Shall  not  return  .  .  . — i.e., shall  not  turn  baek 
 from  its  purpose,  Men  should  look  hack  on  it  in  the 
 "latter  days  — literally.//"  end  of  tin  days  Gen.xhx 
 
 1;  Num.  xxiv.  It;  Deut.  iv.  30,  xxxi.  29),  !.■..  in  the 
 then  distant  future  of  the  exile  and  the  return — and 
 should  see  that  it  had  done  its  work  both  of  chastise- 
 ment and  discipline.     (Comp.  Ezek.  xiv.  .- 
 
 P1)  Yet  they  ran. — The  image  is  that  of  mese 
 who  rush  eagerly,  as  from  the  long's  councfl-nhainhnr, 
 on  their  self -appointed  mission,  without  waiting  for  the 
 command  of  the  .Master  in  whose  name  they  prof- 
 come.      (Comp.  tho  question,  "  Who  will  go  for  us  ':  " 
 in  Isa.  vi.  8.) 
 
 >--<  If  they  had  stood  in  my  counsel.— 
 Better,    as    before,  The    'est    of   the    true 
 
 mission  is  seen  in  results.     Are  the  people  better 
 
 or    Worse     for    the    prophet's     work  ?      What     are    tho 
 
 fruits  of  his  teaching  P  (Comp.  -Matt.  \ii.  20.  Tho 
 question  meets  us.  Is  this  always  a  t.st;-'  Was  Jere- 
 miah's own  work  sin ssful  in  this  sense?     Mu-t  not 
 
 the  t  rue  teacher  speak  "  whether  they  [men]  will  hear,  or 
 whether  they  will  forbear  P  "     |  K/.ok.  ii.  5. 1    The  answer 
 
 is  found  :1    in  the  fact  that  true  teaching  seldom  fails 
 
 .ether   of    its    work;     (2)    that    where    it 
 fail   it    satisfies    the   other    test,  and  at    least    stirs  and 
 rOUSea    men   from    lethargy,    even    if    it    stirs   them    to 
 antagonism.     It  is  never  satisfied  with  speaking  smooth 
 thines  and  acquiescing  ill  the  evil  that  surrounds  it. 
 
 '-"■•  Am  I  a  God  at  hand  .  .  .?— This  and  the  two 
 questions  thai  follow  are  essentially  the  same  in  thought. 
 The  false  prophets  acted  as  it'  (;,..!  were  far  away 
 out  of  their  Bight  l'-s.  x.  11.  Ixxiii.  11.  xciv.  7  .  not 
 knowing  or  caring  what  men  did.  as  if  their  affair- 
 it  has  been  epigrammatieally  said,  came  under  a  "colo- 
 nial department."  The  true  prophet  feels  that  lb'  is 
 equally  near,  equally  God.  in  all  places  alike.     Familiar 
 
 as  the  word  omnipresence  is  to  u so  familiaras almost 
 
 to  have  lost  i-s  power— the  fact,  when  we  realise  it.  is  as 
 awful  now  as  it  was  when  it  presented  itself  to  the  souk 
 
The  Guilt  of 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXIII. 
 
 the  False  Prophets. 
 
 "hide  himself  in  secret  places  that  I  shall 
 not  see  him  ?  saith  the  Lord.  Do  not 
 I  fill  heaven  and  earth  ?  saith  the  Lord. 
 (25>  I  have  heard  what  the  prophets 
 said,  that  prophesy  lies  in  my  name, 
 saying,  I  have  dreamed,  I  have  dreamed. 
 (26)  JJ0W  long  shall  this  be  in  the  heart 
 of  the  prophets  that  prophesy  lies  ?  yea, 
 they  are  prophets  of  the  deceit  of  their 
 own  heart;  (27)  which  think  to  cause 
 my  people  to  forget  my  name  by  their 
 dreams  which  they  tell  every  man  to  his 
 neighbour,  Jas  their  fathers  have  for- 
 gotten my  name  for  Baal.  <28)  The  pro- 
 phet xthat  hath  a  dream,  let  him  tell  a 
 dream ;  and  he  that  hath  my  word,  let 
 him,  speak  my  word  faithfully.     What 
 
 a.  Pa.  ]3!>.  r,   ic. 
 Awos  y.  2,  3. 
 
 b  Judges  3.  7;  & 
 6.33. 
 
 t    HVb.,WMi  wliOlil 
 
 c  Dout.  18.  20  ; 
 14.  14,  la. 
 
 2  Or,  that  smooth 
 their  tongues. 
 
 is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat  ?  saith  the 
 Lord.  f29'  Is  not  my  word  like  as  a 
 fire  ?  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  like  a  ham- 
 mer that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  ? 
 
 (30)  Therefore,  behold,  <T  am  against  the 
 prophets,  saith  the  Lord,  that  steal  my 
 words  every  one  from  his   neighbour. 
 
 (31)  Behold,  I  am  against  the  prophets, 
 saith  the  Lord,  3that  use  their  tongues, 
 and  say,  He  saith.  <32>  Behold,  I  am 
 against  them  that  prophesy  false  dreams, 
 saith  the  Lord,  and  do  tell  them,  and 
 cause  my  people  to  err  by  their  lies,  and 
 by  their  lightness  ;  yet  I  sent  them  not, 
 nor  commanded  them :  therefore  they 
 shall  not  profit  this  people  at  all,  saith 
 the  Lord. 
 
 of  Patriarch,  Psalmist,  or  Prophet.  ( Gen.  xvi.  13 ;  Pss. 
 xxxii.  6,  7,  lxxiii.  23 — 26,  cxxxix,  7 — 12 ;  Amos  ix.  2 — 4 ; 
 Job  xi.  8    -9. 
 
 (25)  i  have  dreamed  ;  .  .—The  words  point  to  the 
 form  of  the  claim  commonly  made  by  the  false  prophets. 
 Dreams  took  their  place  among  the  recognised  channels 
 of  divine  revelation  (Gen.  xl.  8.  xli.  16;  Joel  ii.  28; 
 Dan.  vii.  1),  but  their  frequent  misuse  by  the  false 
 prophets  brought  them  into  discredit,  and  the  teaching 
 of  Deut.  xiii.  1 — 5  accordingly  brought  the  "  dreamer  of 
 dreams  "  no  less  than  the  prophet  to  the  test  whether 
 what  he  taught  was  iu  accordance  with  tho  law  of 
 Jehovah.  The  iteration  of  "  I  have  dreamed  "  repre- 
 sents the  affected  solemnity  with  which  the  false  pro- 
 phets proclaimed  their  visions.  Of  the  disparagement 
 of  dreams,  consequent  on  this  abuse,  we  have  a  strik- 
 ing example  in  Eccles.  v.  3,  and  later  still  in  Ecclus. 
 xxxiv.  1 — 7. 
 
 (26)  How  long  shall  this  be  .  .  .  ?— The  Hebrew 
 text  gives  a  double  interrogative :  How  long  ?  Is  it 
 in  the  heart  of  the  prophets  that  prophesy  lies,  prophets 
 of  the  deceit  of  their  own  hearts  ?  Do  they  think  to 
 cause  my  people  .  .  .  ?  A  conjectural  alteration  of  the 
 text  gives  "  How  long  is  the  fire  in  the  heart  of  the 
 prophets  .  .  .  ? "  as  if  anticipating  the  thought  of 
 verse  29,  and  reproducing  that  of  chap.  xx.  9. 
 
 (27)  As  their  fathers  have  forgotten  .  .  . — The 
 two  evils  of  open  idolatry  and  of  false  claims  to  prophecy 
 stood,  the  prophet  seems  to  say,  on  the  same  footing. 
 Tho  misuse  of  tho  name  of  Jehovah  by  the  false  pro- 
 phets was  as  bad  as  the  older  worship  of  Baal  and  the 
 prophesying  in  his  name.     (Comp.  verses  13,  14.) 
 
 (-'»)  Let  him  tell  a  dream.— The  point  of  the 
 words  lies  in  the  contrast  between  the  real  and  the 
 counterfeit  revelation.  Let  the  dreamer  tell  his  dream 
 as  such,  let  the  prophet  speak  the  word  of  Jehovah 
 truly,  and  then  it  will  bo  seen  that  the  one  is  as  the 
 chaff  and  stubble,  and  the  other  as  the  wheat — one 
 worthless,  tho  other  sustaining  life.  What  have  they 
 in  common  ?  What  has  one  to  do  with  the  other  ? 
 
 (29)  Is  not  my  word  like  as  a  fire  ?  .  .  .—The 
 prophet  speaks  out  of  the  depths  of  his  own  experience. 
 The  true  prophetic  word  burns  in  the  heart  of  a  man,  and 
 will  not  be  restrained  (chaps,  v.  14,  xx.  9 ;  Ps.  xxxix.  3), 
 and  wheu  uttered  it  consumes  the  evil,  and  purifies 
 the  good.  It  will  burn  up  the  chaff  of  the  utterances 
 of  the  false  prophets.    (Comp.  1  Cor.  iii.  12, 13.)    As  the 
 
 hammer  breaks  the  rock,  so  it  shatters  the  pride  and 
 stubbornness  of  man,  is  mighty  to  the  pulling  down 
 of  strongholds  (2  Cor.  x.  4),  and  the  heart  of  him  who 
 hears  it  as  it  should  be  heard  is  broken  and  contrite. 
 What  these  words  paint  iu  the  language  of  poetry,  St. 
 Paul  describes  without  imagery  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  24,  25. 
 (Comp.  also  Heb.  iv.  12.) 
 
 (30)  That  steal  my  words  .  .  .—Another  note 
 of  the  counterfeit  prophet  is  found  in  the  want  of  any 
 living  personal  originality.  The  oracles  of  the  dreamers 
 were  patchworks  of  plagiarism,  and  they  borrowed,  not 
 as  men  might  do  legitimately,  and  as  Jeremiah  himself 
 did,  from  the  words  of  the  great  teachers  of  the  past, 
 but  from  men  of  their  own  time,  false  and  unreal  as 
 themselves.  What  wo  should  call  the  "  cliquo "  of 
 false  prophets  went  on  repeating  each  other's  phrases 
 with  a  wearisome  iteration.  In  "  my  words  "  we  have, 
 probably,  the  fact  that,  in  part  also,  they  decked  out 
 their  teaching  with  tho  borrowed  plumes  of  phrases 
 from  true  prophets. 
 
 (3i)  That  use  their  tongues,  and  say,  He  saith. 
 — Literally,  that  take  their  tongues.  There  is  no 
 adequate  evidence  for  the  marginal  rendering  "  that 
 smooth  their  tongues."  The  scornful  phrase  indicates 
 the  absence  of  a  true  inspiration.  These  false  prophets 
 plan  their  schemes,  and  take  their  tongue  as  an  instru- 
 ment for  carrying  them  into  effect.  The  formula  which 
 they  used,  "  He  saith,"  was  uot  the  word  for  common 
 speaking,  but  that  which  indicated  that  the  speaker 
 was  delivering  an  oracle  from  God.  (See  Note  on 
 verse  17.)  Elsewhere  the  word  is  only  used  of  God, 
 but  the  prophet,  in  his  stern  irony,  uses  it  of  the  false 
 prophets,  they  say  oracularly,  This  is  an  oracle. 
 
 (32)  False  dreams. — The  words  may  mean  cither 
 actual  dreams,  which  have  nothing  answering  to  them 
 in  the  world  of  facts,  or  dreams  which  are  not  really 
 such,  but  simply,  as  in  verse  31,  the  form  in  which  the 
 deceiver  seeks  to  work  out  his  plans. 
 
 By  their  lightness. — The  Hebrew  word  is  the 
 same  in  meaning  as  the  "unstable  as  water"  of  Gen. 
 xlix.  4,  the  "  light  persons  "  of  Judges  ix.  4  ;  Zeph.  iii. 
 4,  and  points  primarily  to  the  gushing  or  spurting 
 forth  of  water.  Here  it  points  to  what  we  may  call  the 
 "  babbling  "  of  tho  false  prophets.  We  are  almost  re- 
 minded of  the  words  in  which  an  English  poet  describes 
 a  hollow  and  pretentious  eloquence  as  poured  out — 
 "In  one  weak,  washy,  everlasting  flood." 
 
 82 
 
'/'/,■  l'.iinb  a  qfthe  Lord. 
 
 .1  i:i;i:m [AH,  \.\i v.       /■/.■  d, 
 
 VihI  when  this  people,  or  the  pro- 
 phet, nr  ;i  pi-icst ,  shall  ask  thee,  saying, 
 W'hai  is  the  burden  of  tl"'  LobdP  thou 
 slialt  1 1 n 'ii  mi  \  ii nt u  thr i ii,  W'liat  burden P 
 I  will  even  forsake  yon,  saith  the  Lord. 
 <il>  Ami  at  for  the  prophet,  and  the 
 priest,  and  the  people,  thai  shall  Bay, 
 The  burden  of  the  Lokk,  I  will 
 1  punish  that  man  ami  his  house.  '  ;'  Thus 
 
 shall  ye  say  every  one  to  his  neighbour, 
 
 ami  cviT\  "in'  to  his  lirntlnT,  What  hath 
 
 the  Loud  answered?  and,  What  batb 
 the  Lord  spoken?  (:*;)  Ami  the  burden 
 of  thr  LoBD  shall  ye  incut  ion  no  more: 
 for  every  man's  word  shall  be  his  bur- 
 den; for  ye  have  perverted  the  words  of 
 tin'  living  God,  of  the  Lobd  of  hosts  our 
 God.  <:,7>  Thus  shall  thou  say  to  the 
 prophet,  What  hath  the  Lord  answered 
 
 B    .' 
 cir.  MR. 
 
 b  3  Klin- 
 1 1  In  < 
 
 theeP  ami.  What  hath  the  Lobd  spoken  9 
 Knt  rinoe  ye  Bay,  The  burden  of  the 
 I  therefore  thus  Bail h  the  Loan ; 
 Because  ye  »j  this  word,  The  burden  of 
 i  he  Lobd,  and  I  have  Bent  unto  y  to, 
 Baying,  Xe  shall  m.t  say,  The  burden  of 
 the  Lobd;     "  therefore,  behold,  I, even 
 
 I,  will  utterly  forgel   mhi,  ami   1   will  ti.r- 
 
 Bake  you,  and  the  city  that   1  . 
 ami  your  l'at  hers,  and  oimy 
 
 presence:  "' "  and  I  will  bring  "an  ever- 
 lasting reproach  apon  yon,  and  a  per- 
 petuaJ  shame,  which  shall  not  be  fur- 
 gotten. 
 
 'CHAPTER  XXTV.  —  0)  The  Lobd 
 sln'w.'d  me,  ami,  behold,  two  baskets  of 
 figs  were  set  before  the  temple  of  the 
 
 LoifD,  afti-r  that   Nelmrliadivz/ar  'king 
 
 Thoreforo   .    .   . — Bettor,   simply,  and   they  skull 
 not  profit. 
 I    l  The  burdon  of  the  Lord.— The  English  ex- 
 
 ?>ro8so3  tho  literal  meaning  of  tin'  word,  ••  something 
 ifted  np,  or  borne."  Ii  passed,  however,  as  the 
 English  equivalent  has  done,  throngh  many  Bhades  of 
 meaning, and  became,  in  the  language  of  the  prophets, 
 one  of  the  received  terms  for  a  Bolemn,  emphatic  utter- 
 [n  1  Chron.  xv.  22, 27  it  is  applied  to  the  chanted 
 mnsic  of  the  Temple.  Isaiah  had  brought  it  into  use 
 (see  Note  on  Isa.  \iii.  1 ),  and  emploj  9  ii  I  welve  lames  as 
 the  title  of  special  prophecies.  Jeremiah  never  nses  ii 
 of  his  own  messages,  probably,  as  this  verse  indica 
 because  it  had   become  a  favourite  formula  with  the 
 
 false  prophets.     This  seems  a   more  rational   view  than 
 
 that  which  assumes  that  the  false  prophets  applied 
 tin'  words  in  mockery  to  his  utterances  as  being  "  bur- 
 dens"  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word,  oppressive 
 and  intolerable. 
 
 What  burdon  P— The  false  prophets  had  come, 
 not  without  a  supercilious  scorn,  asking,  with  affected 
 grandeur,  what  burden,  what  oracle  Jeremiah  hail  from 
 Jehovah  He  repeats  their  question  with  a  deeper 
 scorn,  and  tells  them  thai  for  them  the  "  burden  "  tells 
 of  exile  and  shame.  A  different  division  of  the  words 
 of  the  prophet's  answer  (which  presents  some  ex- 
 ceptional grammatical  difficulties  rives  a  rendering 
 adopted  by  the  IA"  X .  and  Vulgate,  "  i  e  are  the  burden  " 
 — i.e.,  it  is  about  you  and  for  yon. 
 
 I  will  ovon  forsake  you.— Bettor.  I  vnO,  east  you 
 off.  with  a  play  upon  the  literal  sense  of  the  word 
 '•burden."  They  have  made  themselves  too  grievous 
 to  be  borne.    Jehovah  will  disburden  Eimself  of  U 
 
 ('•"  That  shall  say,  The  burden  of  the  Lord. 
 —The  language  thus  pni  into  the  mouths  of  the 
 prophets  is  not  that  of  derision,  but  of  boastful  assump- 
 tion.    It  is  for  that  tho  boaster  will,  in  due  time,  be 
 punished. 
 
 Thus  shall  ye  say  .  .  .—The  word-  are  a 
 protest  against  the  high-sounding  phase,  "This  is  the 
 burden,  the  oracle  of  Jehovah."  This,  with  which  the 
 false  prophets  covered  their  teachings  of  lies,  the 
 prophet  rejects,  and  he  calls  men  back  to  the  simpler 
 
 terms,    which    were    less    open    to    abuse,        The    true 
 
 prophet's  message  was  to  be  called  an  "answer"  when 
 
 men  had  conic  to  him  with  questions — a  "  word   of  the 
 Lord"    when    it    was    spoken     to    them    without    any 
 previous  inquiry. 
 1 :'    The  burden  of  the  Lord  shall  ye  mention 
 
 no  more     .     .     . — The  misused  term   was  no  longl  r 
 
 to  be  applied  to  the  messages  of  Ji  hovah.     If  men 
 
 continued  to  apply  it  to  the  words  of  their  own  heart, 
 they  would   find  it   a  "burden"  in  another  sense  (the 
 
 prophet  plays  once  more  on  the  etymology  of  tin-  v. 
 
 too  heavy  to  be  borne.  This  would  be  I  he  righteous 
 punishment  of  the  reckless  levity  with  which  they  had 
 treated  the  sacred  Name  which  Jeremiah  reproduces  in 
 all  the  amplitude  of  its  grandeur.  They  had  Di 
 .  realised  the  awfulness  of  speaking  in  the  name  "of 
 the  living  (bid,  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth." 
 
 I  "'  Thus  shalt  thou  say  to  the  prophet    .    .    . 
 — The  verse  repeats  verse  35,  with  the  one  difference 
 
 that  men  are  to  use  this,  the  simpler  form  of  language, 
 when  they  come  to  the  prophet,  as  well  as  when  they 
 are  speaking  one  to  another.  The  affectation  of  big 
 words   was    equally   out    of   place    in   either   case.      In 
 
 modern  phraseology,  the  whole  passage  is  a  pi 
 
 nst  the  hypocrisy  which  shows  itself  in  • 
 
 in  the  use  of  solemn  Words  that  have  become  hollow 
 and  unmeaning. 
 
 (38)  But  since  yo  say.— Better. 
 
 I,  even  I,  will  utterly  forgot  you  .  .  .—A 
 very  slight  alteration  in  a  single  letter  of  the  Hebrew 
 verb  gives  a   rendering   which  was  followed  by  the 
 
 1AX.  and  Vulgate,  and  is  adopted  by  many  modern 
 commentators,  and  connects  it  with  the  root  of  the 
 word  translated  "burden" — 7  will  taJo  I/OH  up  as  a 
 Uiir.hu.  p.    The  words  in  italics, 
 
 /•o'.  in  the  latter  clause  have  nothing  correspond- 
 ing to  them  in  the  Hebrew,  but  show  that  some  at  least 
 of  the  translators  felt  lhat  this  was  the  true  lneanii 
 
 the  words.    This  ■■  everlasting  reproach  "  was  to  be  the 
 
 outcome  of  these  big  swelling  words  of  vanity  in  which 
 they  claimed  prophetic  inspiration. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 0)  Tho  Lord  shewed  me  .  .  i— The  chapter  l-  • 
 longs  to  the  same  period  as  the  two  precedl 
 the  reign  of  Zedebah,  after  the  Bit  of  Jeru- 
 
 salem and  the  captivity  of  the  chief  inhabitants.     Tho 
 
The  Good  and  Bad  Fiys. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXIV.        Promises  to  the  Exiles  in  Babylon. 
 
 of  Babylon  had  carried  away  captive 
 Jeconiah  the  son  of  Jehoiakini  king  of 
 Judah,  and  the  princes  of  Judah,  with 
 the  carpenters  and  smiths,  from  Jeru- 
 salem, and  had  brought  them  to  Baby- 
 lon. <2>  One  basket  had  very  good  figs, 
 even  like  the  figs  that  are  first  ripe  :  and 
 the  other  basket  had  very  naughty  figs, 
 which  could  not  be  eaten,  Hhey  were  so 
 bad. 
 
 <3>  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  me,  What 
 seest  thou,  Jeremiah  ?  And  I  said,  Figs ; 
 the  good  figs,  very  good ;  and  the  evil, 
 very  evil,  that  cannot  be  eaten,  they  are 
 so  evil. 
 
 W  Again  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 
 [  Heb.,  for 
 
 ness. 
 
 Hri...    the    cap- 
 tivity. 
 
 a  Dout.  30.  6 ;  cb. 
 82.  39;  Kzck.  li. 
 
 19  ;  &  36.  26,  27. 
 
 30.  22 ; 
 &  32.  3 
 
 unto  me,  saying,  (5)  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord,  the  God  of  Israel;  Like  these 
 good  figs,  so  will  I  acknowledge  3them 
 that  are  carried  away  captive  of  Judah, 
 whom  I  have  sent  out  of  this  place  into 
 the  land  of  the  Chaldeans  for  their  good. 
 («)  For  J  -will  set  mine  eyes  upon  them 
 for  good,  and  I  will  bring  them  again  to 
 this  land :  and  I  will  build  them,  and 
 not  pull  them  down;  and  I  will  plant 
 them,  and  not  pluck  them  up.  (7)  And 
 I  will  give  them  "an  heart  to  know  mer 
 that  I  am  the  Lord  :  and  they  shall  be 
 'my  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God  :  for 
 they  shall  return  unto  me  with  their 
 whole  heart. 
 
 opening  words  indicate  that  the  symbols  on  which  the 
 prophet  looked  were  seen  in  vision,  as  in  Amos  vii.  1,4, 
 7 ;  Zech.  i.  8,  ii.  1,  and  the  symbols  of  chap.  i.  11,  13; 
 or,  if  seen  with  the  eyes  of  the  body,  were  looked  on  as 
 with  the  prophet-poet's  power  of  finding  parables  in 
 all  things.  The  fact  that  the  figs  were  set  before  the 
 Temple  of  the  Lord  is  significant.  They  were  as  a 
 votive  offering,  first-fruits  (Exod.  xxiii.  19 ;  Deut. 
 xxvi.  2)  or  tithes  brought  to  the  Lord  of  Israel.  A 
 like  imagery  had  been  used  by  Amos  (viii.  1,  2)  with 
 nearly  the  same  formula?. 
 
 The  carpenters  and  smiths.— See  2  Kings  xxiv. 
 14.  The  word  for  "carpenters"  includes  craftsmen  of 
 all  kinds.  The  deportation  of  these  classes  was  partly 
 a  matter  of  policy,  making  the  city  more  helpless  by 
 removing  those  who  might  have  forged  weapons  or 
 strengthened  its  defences,  partly,  doubtless,  of  ostenta- 
 tion, that  they  might  help  in  the  construction  of  the 
 buildings  with  which  Nebuchadnezzar  was  increasing 
 the  splendour  of  his  city.  So  Esar-haddou  records 
 how  ho  made  his  captives  "  work  in  fetters,  in  making 
 bricks  "  {Records  of  the  Past,  iii.  p.  120).  So,  from 
 the  former  point  of  view,  the  Philistines  in  the  time 
 of  Samuel  either  carried  off  the  smiths  of  Israel  or 
 forbade  the  exercise  of  their  calling  (1  Sam.  xiii.  19). 
 The  word  for  "  smith  "  is  foimd  in  Isa.  xxiv.  22,  xlii. 
 7  in  tho  sense  of  "  prison,"  but,  as  applied  to  persons, 
 only  here  and  in  tho  parallel  passage  of  2  Kings  xxiv. 
 14,  16.  It  has  been  differently  interpreted  as  meaning 
 "  locksmiths,"  "  gatekeepers,"  "  strangers,"  "  hod- 
 carriers,"  and  "  day-labourers. "  Probably  the  rendering 
 of  the  E.V.  is  right. 
 
 (2)  Like  the  figs  that  are  first  ripe.— Figs  were 
 usually  gathered  in  August.  The  "  first  ripe,"  the 
 "summer  fruits"  of  Micah  vii.  1,  the  "  hasty  fruit  before 
 the  summer"  (Isa.  xxviii.  4;  Hosea  ix.  10)  were  looked 
 upon  as  a  choice  delicacy.  The  "  naughty  "  (i.e.,  worth- 
 less) fruits  were  those  that  had  been  left  behind  on  the 
 tree,  bruised  and  decayed.  The  word  was  not  confined 
 in  the  16th  century  to  tho  language  of  the  nursery,  and 
 was  applied  freely  to  things  as  well  as  persons.  So 
 North's  translation  of  Plutarch  speaks  of  men  "fighting 
 on  naughty  ground." 
 
 "So  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world." 
 
 Siiakespeabe,  Ma-chant  of  Venice,  v.  1. 
 
 (3)  What  seest  thou,  Jeremiah  ?— The  question 
 is  asked  as  if  to  force  the  symbol  as  strongly  as  possible 
 on  the  prophet's  mind,  leaving  him  to  wait  till  another 
 
 word  of  tho  Lord  should  come  and  reveal  its  true  in- 
 terpretation. "Wo  are  reminded,  as  ho  must  have  been, 
 of  the  vision  and  tho  question  which  had  first  called 
 him  to  his  work  as  a  prophet  (chap.  i.  11). 
 
 (-*)  Again  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
 me. — Tho  words  seem  to  imply  an  interval,  during 
 which  the  prophet  was  left  to  ponder  over  tho  symbols 
 that  lie  had  thus  seen.  At  last  "  the  word  of  tho  Lord 
 came  "  and  made  their  meaning  clear. 
 
 (5)  So  will  I  acknowledge. — Tho  expected  revela- 
 tion came.  Tho  two  baskets  represented  the  two  sections 
 of  the  people.  Tho  captives  who  had  been  carried  to 
 Babylon  were,  as  the  list  shows,  for  the  most  part  of 
 higher  rank  than  those  who  were  left  behind.  The 
 workmen  were  tho  skilled  labourers  of  tho  artisan 
 class.  There  are  many  indications  that  under  tho 
 teaching  of  Daniel  and  his  companions,  and  of  Ezekiel, 
 they  were  improving  morally  under  their  discipline  of 
 suffering.  Their  very  contact  with  the  monstrous, 
 idolatry  of  Babylon  made  them  more  conscious  than 
 they  had  ever  been  before  of  tho  greatness  of  then- 
 own  faith.  The  process  which,  at  the  end  of  the  seventy 
 years  of  exile,  made  them  once  more  and  for  ever  a 
 purely  monotheistic  people  had  already  begun. 
 
 («)  I  will  set  mine  eyes  upon  them  for  good.— 
 Tho  state  of  tho  Jews  at  Babylon  at  the  time  of  the 
 return  from  exile  was  obviously  far  above  that  of  slaves 
 or  prisoners.  They  had  money  (Ezra  ii.  69),  they 
 cultivated  land,  they  built  houses  (chap.  xxix.  4,  28). 
 Many  were  reluctant  to  leave  their  new  home  for  tho 
 land  of  their  fathers,  and  among  these  must  have  been 
 the  families  represented  at  a  later  date  by  Ezra  and  tho 
 priests  and  Levites  who  accompanied  him  (Ezra  viii. 
 15).  They  were  not  subjected,  as  many  conquered 
 nations  have  been,  to  tho  misery  of  a  second  emigration 
 to  a  more  distant  laud.  Tho  victory  of  Cyrus  manifestly 
 brought  with  it  every  way  an  improvement  in  their 
 condition ;  but  even  under  Nebuchadnezzar  they  rose, 
 as  in  the  case  of  Daniel  and  his  companions,  to  high 
 honour. 
 
 ("'  I  will  give  them  an  heart  to  know  me  .  .  . 
 — Of  this  also  the  history  of  the  return  gives  at  least  a 
 partial  proof.  Whatever  other  faults  might  bo  growing 
 up,  they  never  again  fell  into  the  apostasy  from  the  true 
 faith  in  God,  which  up  to  the  time  of  the  exile  had  been 
 their  besetting  sin. 
 
 They  shall  be  my  people  .  .  . — Tho  prophet 
 clearly  remembers  and  reproduces  the  promise  of 
 Hosea  ii.  23. 
 
 81 
 
Doom  of  the  Eetidut  of  Jerusalem.        JEREMIAH]    X  X  \  . 
 
 Tlf  Prophets  Sermon  to  Judah. 
 
 |K)  And  as  the  ''vil  *figfl,  which  caj I 
 
 be  eaten,  they  are  so  evil;  Burelj  thus 
 aoith  the  Loan,  Bo  will  1  give  Zedekiah 
 the  king  of  Jadah,  and  liis  princes,  and 
 the  residue  of  Jerusalem,  that  remain  in 
 this  land,  and  them  that  dwell  in  the 
 land  of  Egypt:  '''  and  I  will  deliver 
 them  l to  'be  removed  into  all  the  king- 
 doms of  the  earth  for  their  hurt,  to  be  a 
 reproach  and  a  proverb,  a  taunt  and  a 
 curse,  in  all  places  whither  I  shall  drive 
 them.  ""'  A  ml  I  will  Bend  the  Bword, 
 the  (amine,  and  the  pestilence,  among 
 
 them,  till  they  be  cousin  in -<1  I'roin  oil'  (lie 
 land  that  I  gave  unto  them  and  to  their 
 
 lathers. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXV.—  <»  The  word  that 
 came  to  Jeremiah  concerning  all  the 
 people  of  Judah  in  the  fourth  year  of 
 Jehoiakim  the  son  of  Josiah  king  of 
 Judah,  that  was  the  first  year  of  Nebu- 
 ohadrezzar  king  of  Babylon;  M  the 
 which  Jeremiah  the  prophet  spake  unto 
 all  the  people  of  Judah,  and  to  all  the 
 inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  Baying, 
 
 i 
 
 .  i 
 
 [I   17.  1.1: 
 
 Prom  the  thirteenth  year  of  J< 
 the  -on  of  Anion  king  of  Judah,  even 
 unto  this  day,  thai  -;  the  three  and 
 twentieth  year,  the  word  of  the  Loan 
 bath  come  unto  me,  and  I  have  poken 
 unto  you,  rising  early  and  speaking; 
 but  ye  have  not  hearkened.  •  And  the 
 Loan  hath  sent  unto  yon  all  his  servants 
 ill"  prophets,  rising  early  and  sending 
 them;  but  ye  have  not  hearkened,  nor 
 inclined  your  ear  to  hear.  '"  They  said, 
 ''Turn  ye  again  now  every  one  from  his 
 evil    way,    and    from    the    evil    of    your 
 
 doings,  and  dwell  in  the  land  that  the 
 Lord  hath  given  unto  you  ami  to  your 
 fathers  for  ever  ami  ever:  and  f  • 
 
 not  after  other  gods  to  serve  them,  and 
 to  worship  them,  and  provoke  me  not  to 
 anger  with  the  works  of  your  hands  ; 
 and  I  will  do  you  no  hurt.     '7    Jet   ye 
 
 have  not  hearkened  unto saith  the 
 
 Lobd;  that  ye  might  provoke  me  to 
 anger  with  the  works  of  your  hands  to 
 your  own  hurt. 
 
 Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lokd  of 
 hosts;  Because  ye  have  not    heard  my 
 
 (8)  And  them  that  dwell  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 
 — These  were,  iii  hot,  anotf  as  bad  been  carried  into 
 captivity  with  Jehoahai  by  Pharaoh-nechoh  (see  Note 
 ohap.  xxii.  11).  in-  had  Bed  thither  in  order  to  avoid 
 submission   to    NebuohadnezBar,  .'in<l  were  Bottled   in 
 liigdol,  and  Tahpanhes,  and  Noph.      We  meet  with 
 them  later  mi  in  chap.  iliv.    For  these  then  was  < 
 no  return,  no  share  i"  the  work  of  restoration.    They 
 formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Jewish  population  of  Egypt. 
 and  in  course  of  time    B.C.  150)  set  up  a  rival  temple 
 (i  Leontopolis,    (See  Note  on  tea,  \i\.  19.1 
 '"  To  bo  a  reproach  and  a  proverb.— The  Ian- 
 tge  of  the  verse  is  coloured  by  that  of  Dent,  xxviii. 
 Si.  :17.  from  which  most  of  the  words  are  chosen, 
 
 iii)  The  sword,  the   famine,  and  the    pesti- 
 
 lonce. — Tho   three  forms  of   suffering  are    grouped 
 
 fcher,  as  in  ohap.  xiv.  12  and  Ezek.  xiv.  21.    The 
 
 two  latter  followed  almost  inevitably  in  the   wake  of 
 
 •tho  first. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 (!)  In  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim  the  son  of 
 Josiah. — Wo  are  carried  back  in  the  present  arrange- 
 ment of  Jeremiah's  prophecies  to  a  much  earlier  period 
 
 than  that  of  the  pr ling  chapter.    It  is  the  fourth   in 
 
 Dan.  i.  1,  the  third]  year  of  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim,  who 
 had  been  made  king  by  Pharaoh-nechoh  after  his  defeat 
 of  Josiah  ami  capture  of  Jerusalem.  Since  the  pro] 
 had  been  called  to  hi-  work,  B.C.  629,  a  great  revolu- 
 tion had  lieen  In-might  about  ill  llie  relations  of  the 
 colossal  monarchies  of  tho  East.  Nineveh  had  fallen 
 (B.C.  60t>)  under  the  attacks  of  Cyaxaros  t lie  Meile.  and 
 
 Nabopolasaar  the  Ohaldtean.     Nebuchadnezzar,  the  son 
 
 of  the  latter,  though  bis  father  did  not  (lie  till  the 
 following  year.  Mas  practically  clothed  with  supreme 
 authority,  and  had  defeated  I'haraoh-neelioh  at  C'arehe- 
 mish,  on  the  hanks  of  the  Euphrates,  in  B.C.  605.     The 
 
 form  of  the  name  ns,.,l  lure.  Nebuchadrezzar,  i 
 ponds  with  the  Assyrian,  Ndbu-kudu  <Cliap. 
 
 xlvi.  1;  -  Kings  xxiii.  -'.< ;  2Ghron.XZXV.20.     lie  was  now 
 
 the  master  of  the  East,  anil  it  was  given  to  Jeremiah  to 
 
 dis. •em  the  hearings  of  the  new  situation  on  the  future 
 destinies  of  Judah,  and  to  see  that  the  wisdom  of  its  rulers 
 would  be  to  accept  the  position  of  tributary  rulers  under 
 tho  great  conqueror  instead  of  rashly  seeking  either  t.. 
 
 assert   their  independent r  to  trust  to  the  Bupporl  of 
 
 Egypt,  crushed  as  she  was  by  the  defeat  at  ( Saichemish. 
 The  clear  vision  of  the  prophet  saw  in  the  Chaldaean 
 king  the  servant  of  Jehovah— in  modern  phrase,  the 
 instrument   of  the   designs  of  the  Providence  which 
 
 orders  the  events  of  history — and  he  became,  from  that 
 
 moment,  the  unwelcome  preacher  of  the  truth — that 
 
 the  independen f  Judah  had  passed  away,  and  that 
 
 nothing  but  evil  could  follow  from  fanatical  attempts. 
 or  secret  intrigues  and  alliances.  Mining  ;it  resist 
 
 1 1)  The  three  and  twentieth  year  in.c.  60:3 — I). 
 — Thus  there  had  been  nineteen  years  of  prophetic  work 
 
 under  Josiah,  and  between  three  and  f OUT  under  Jehoia- 
 kim (chap.  i.  2.     Of  the  former  period  we  have  but 
 
 scanty  record.  The  year  is  noticeable  BS  that  which 
 Apparently  witnessed  the  first  collection  of  Jeremiah's 
 prophetic  utterances  chap,  xxxvi. .". 
 
 Rising    early    and    f  psaking.  —  Se    Note  on 
 vii.  18. 
 
 (3)  Turn  ye  again  now  .  .  .    The  sum  and  sub- 
 stance  of  the  work  of  all  true  prophets  has  always  he.  n 
 
 found,  it  need  scarcely  be  -aid.  in  tl all  t 
 
 and  conversion  :  hut    there   is,  perhaps,  a  special 
 
 euee  to  tin'  substance  of  their  preaching  a-  r rded  in 
 
 •J  Kin^s  xvii.  1:1.  The  words  are  interesting  as  allowing 
 that  Jeremiah  was  probably  seconded  in  his  work  by 
 other  prophets  whose  names  have  not  gome  down  to  us. 
 
 («l  The  works  of  your  hands.— The-e  v 
 course,  the  idols  which  they  had  made  and  worshipped. 
 
 s;. 
 
Tlie  Exile  of  Seventy  Years. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXV.         The  Wine  Cup  of  the  Lord's  Fury. 
 
 words,  <9>  behold,  I  will  send  and  take 
 all  the  families  of  the  north,  saith  the 
 Lord,  and  Nebuchadrezzar  the  king  of 
 Babylon,  my  servant,  and  will  bring 
 them  against  this  land,  and  against  the 
 inhabitants  thereof,  and  against  all 
 these  nations  round  about,  and  will 
 utterly  destroy  them,  and  make  them 
 an  astonishment,  and  an  hissing,  and 
 perpetual  desolations.  (10)  Moreover  XI 
 will  take  from  them  the  "  voice  of  mirth, 
 and  the  voice  of  gladness,  the  voice  of 
 the  bridegroom,  and  the  voice  of  the 
 bride,  the  sound  of  the  millstones,  and 
 the  light  of  the  candle.  <u>  And  this 
 whole  land  shall  be  a  desolation,  and  an 
 astonishment;  and  these  nations  shall 
 serve  the  king  of  Babylon  seventy  years. 
 (12>  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  swken 
 seventy  years  are  accomplished,  that  I 
 
 i  Bel).,  Iwill  caust 
 
 them. 
 
 a  ch.  7.  34;  ilo.9 
 Ezek.  36.  13 
 Husea  2. 11. 
 
 &2Chron.36.21,22; 
 Ezra  1.  1  ;  rli.  88. 
 10 ;  Dan.  9.  2. 
 
 2  Hcb.,  visit  upon. 
 
 d   Job  21.  20:    Ps. 
 
 75.  S ;  Isa.  51.  17. 
 
 will  32>unisli  the  king  of  Babylon,  and 
 that  nation,  saith  the  Lord,  for  then- 
 iniquity,  and  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans, 
 and  -will  make  it  perpetual  desolations. 
 (13>  And  I  will  bring  upon  that  laud  all 
 my  words  which  I  have  pronounced 
 against  it,  even  all  that  is  written  in 
 this  book,  which  Jeremiah  hath  pro- 
 phesied against  all  the  nations.  (14)  For 
 many  nations  and  great  kings  shall 
 r serve  themselves  of  them  also :  and  I 
 will  recompense  them  according  to  their 
 deeds,  and  according  to  the  works  of 
 their  own  hands. 
 
 (is)  Yor  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of 
 Israel  unto  me;  Take  the  ''wine  cup 
 of  this  fury  at  my  hand,  and  cause 
 all  the  nations,  to  whom  I  send  theer 
 to  drink  it.  <16)  And  they  shall  drink, 
 and  be  moved,  and  be  mad,  because  of 
 
 (9)  The  families  of  the  north.— The  phrase 
 reminds  us  of  the  vision  of  "  the  seething  pot  from  the 
 face  of  the  north  "  in  chap.  i.  13,  and  includes  all  the 
 mingled  races,  Scythians  and  others,  who  owned  the 
 sway  of  the  Chakkean  king. 
 
 Nebuchadrezzar  .  .  .  my  servant.— The  use 
 of  the  word  which  is  applied  by  psalmists  and  prophets 
 to  David  (Ps.  lxxviii.  70 ;  2  Sam.  vii.  8)  and  to  the  future 
 Christ  (Isa.  xlii.  1,  lii.  13)  is  every  way  remarkable. 
 It  has  its  parallel,  and,  in  fact,  its  explanation,  in  the 
 language  in  which  Isaiah  speaks  of  Cyrus  as  the 
 shepherd,  the  anointed,  of  Jehovah.  (Isa.  xliv.  28, 
 xlv.  i.)  Each  ruler  of  the  great  empires  of  the  world 
 was,  in  ways  he  knew  not,  working  out  the  purposes  of 
 God.  The  phrase  "  I  will  utterly  destroy "  may  be 
 noted  as  specially  characteristic  of  Deuteronomy  (ii.  34, 
 iii.  6,  et  al.)  and  Joshua  (ii.  10,  vi.  21,  viii.  26). 
 
 (10)  The  voice  of  mirth,  and  the  voice  of  glad- 
 ness.—The  language  is  mainly  an  echo  of  chaps,  vii.  34 
 and  xvi.  9,  but  there  are  now  features  in  the  cessation 
 of  "  the  sound  of  the  millstone,"  i.e.,  of  the  grinding  of 
 corn  by  female  slaves  for  the  mid-day  meal  (Exod.  xi. 
 5;  Matt.  xxiv.  41),  and  the  lighting  of  the  candle  when 
 the  day's  work  was  done  (Matt.  v.  15).  No  words  could 
 paint  more  terribly  the  entire  breaking  up  of  family 
 life,  not  only  in  its  occasional  festivities,  but  in  its  daily 
 routine.     The  imagery  reappears  in  Rev.  xviii.  22,  23. 
 
 d)  Shall  serve  the  king  of  Babylon  seventy 
 years. — This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  duration  of  the 
 captivity.  The  seventy  years  are  commonly  reckoned 
 from  B.C.  606,  the  date  of  tho  deportation  of  Jehoiakim 
 and  his  princes,  to  B.C.  536,  when  the  decree  for  the 
 return  of  the  exiles  was  issued  by  Cyrus.  In  2  Chron. 
 xxxvi.  21  the  number  is  connected  with  the  land  "  en- 
 joying her  Sabbaths,"  as  though  tho  long  desolation 
 came  as  a  retribution  for  the  people's  neglect  of  the 
 law  of  the  Sabbatical  year,  and,  perhaps,  also  for 
 their  non-observance  of  the  weekly  Sabbaths.  (Isa.  hi. 
 4;  Jer.  xvii.  21,  22.)  For  tho  apportionment  of  the 
 reigns  of  the  Babylonian  kings  that  made  up  the 
 seventy  years,  seo  the  Chronological  Table  in  tho 
 Introduction.  Symbolically  the  number,  as  the  lnul- 
 tiple  of  seven  and  ten,  represents  the  highest  nieasvu-e 
 of  completeness  (comp.  Matt,  xviii.  22). 
 
 86 
 
 (12)  I  will  punish  the  king  of  Babylon  .  .  .— 
 The  words  are  omitted  in  the  LXX.  version  of  the 
 chapter,  which  differs  materially  from  the  Hebrew  text, 
 and  there  are  some  internal  grounds  for  suspecting  it 
 to  be  a  later  addition,  possibly  from  tho  hand  of  the 
 prophet  himself,  or,  more  probably,  from  that  of  Barucli 
 as  collecting  and  editing  his  writings,  or  of  some  later 
 transcriber.  In  verse  26,  as  commonly  interpreted, 
 there  is  a  prediction  of  the  destruction  of  the  king  of 
 Babylon  veiled  in  enigmatic  language.  That  we  can 
 understand  well  enough,  if  it  was  meant  only  for  the 
 initiated,  but  it  is  '  not  easy  to  see  why  tho  same 
 prophetic  discourse  should  contain  both  the  veiled  and 
 the  open  prediction.  On  the  relation  of  the  LXX. 
 version  to  the  Hebrew,  see  Introduction. 
 
 (13)  Which  Jeremiah  hath  prophesied  .  .  .— 
 Hero  again  we  have  the  trace  of  an  interpolation.  In 
 tho  LXX.  the  words  appear  detached,  as  a  title,  and 
 are  followed  by  xlix.  35 — 39,  and  the  other  prophecies 
 against  the  nations  which  the  Hebrew  text  places  at 
 the  end  of  the  book  (chaps,  xlvi. — li.).  The  words  "all 
 that  is  written  in  this  book"  are  manifestly  tho  addi- 
 tion of  a  scribe.     (See  Introduction.) 
 
 (u)  Shall  serve  themselves  of  them.— Better, 
 shall  make  them  their  servants.  The  English  "  serve 
 themselves"  (a  Gallicism  in  common  use  in  the  seven- 
 teenth century),  which  occurs  again  in  chap,  xxvii.  7, 
 is  now  ambiguous,  aud  hardly  conveys  tho  force  of  the 
 original.  What  is  meant  is  that  the  law  of  retribution 
 will  in  duo  time  be  seen  in  its  action  upon  those  who 
 were  now  masters  of  the  world.  The  thought  is  the 
 same  as  that  expressed  in  the  familiar  "  Grcecia  capta 
 feru/m  victorem  cepit"  of  Horace  (Ep.  II.  i.,  156). 
 
 (15)  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God.— In  the  LXX. 
 this  is  preceded  by  chaps,  xlvi. — li.,  which  are  in  their 
 turn  in  a  different,  order  from  that  of  tho  Hebrew. 
 
 The  wine  cup  of  this  fury.— Literally,  the  cup 
 of  vine,  even  this  fury,  or,  better,  this  wrath. 
 
 (is)  They  shall  drink  .  .  .—The  words  describe 
 what  history  lias  often  witnessed,  the  panic-terror 
 of  lesser  nations  before  the  onward  march  of  a  great 
 conqueror — they  are  as  if  stricken  with  a  drunken  mad- 
 ness, and  their  despair  or  their  resistance  is  equally 
 infatuated.      The   imagery  is   one   familiar  in  earlier 
 
The  Nations  tlmt 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXV. 
 
 Drink  ■■/ < 
 
 the     swonl     that     L     will      Keml      ;i  Mi"  .nu 
 
 t  In   III. 
 
 <171  Thru  book  1  the  cup  al  the  Lord's 
 hand,  and  made  all  t  he  oationa  to  drink, 
 onto  whom  i  be  Loan  bad  sen!  me  : 
 wit,  Jerusalem,  and  the  cities  of  Judah, 
 mill  the  kings  I bereof,  and  the  princes 
 thereof,  to  make  them  a  desolation,  an 
 astonishment,  an  bisBing,  and  a  curse; 
 as  it  is  this  day;  "",  Pharaoh  king  of 
 Egypt,  and  his  servants,  and  liis  princes, 
 and  all  bis  people ;  ,J'"  and  all  the  min- 
 gled i pie,  and  nil  the  kings  of  the  land 
 
 b  .  b  i"  l. 
 
 II.  w.  I. 
 
 .1  .1..  ir.  i. 
 
 li.  Ml  a 
 
 I  II.  i,.  ailafinl 
 
 ui'j  ih 
 
 rli.  ll  20. 
 
 of   Uz,   and    all    the   kingi   of    the    land 
 
 of  the  Philial ines,  and  A ihk<  Ion,  and 
 A //.all,  and  Elkron,  and  the  remnanl  of 
 Aflhdod,  -"  "Edom,  and  »Moah,  and 
 the  children  of  Amnion,  -'-'  and  nil  the 
 kings  of  'Tyros,  and  all  the 
 Zidon,  and  the  kings  of  the  '  ialea  which 
 are  beyond   the  h.  dan,  and 
 
 Tenia,  and  Buz,  and  all  Hhai  are  in  the 
 utmost  corners,  '-1'  and  all  the  kings  of 
 
 Araliia,  and  all  the  kin^.s  of  tin.1  'mingled 
 
 people  t li.it  dwell  in  the  •'■  and 
 
 all  tin ■  kings  of  Zimri,  and  all  the  kings 
 
 prophets,  I -a.  li  17.  11  \  I  lab.  ii.  16;  Pas.  Ix.  5, 
 ixxv.  8i   Bsek,  xxiii.  31.) 
 
 (17)  Then  took  I  the  cup  .  .  .—The  words  describe 
 tin-  ad  of  the  prophet  as  in  the  ecstasy  of  vision.  One 
 by  one  the  nations  are  made  to  drink  of  that  enp  of 
 the  wrath  of  Jehovah  of  which  His  own  country  was 
 to  have  the  first  and  fullest  draught  It  is  a  strange 
 example  of  the  literalism  of  minds  incapable  of  enter- 
 ing into   the  \ try  of   a   prophet's  work,  thai   one 
 
 commentator  Kiehaelis)  h:is  supposed  that  the  prophet 
 offered  an  actual  goblet  of  wine  to  the  ambassadors 
 of  the  states  named,  who  were  then,  .-is  he  imagines, 
 assembled  at  Jerusalem,  asm  chap,  xxvii.  3. 
 
 (is)  As  it  is  this  day.— Tho  words  aro  not  in  the 
 
 LXX..  .■mil  may  probably  have  l n  added  after  the 
 
 prediction  had  received  its  fulfilment  in  the  final 
 capture  of  Jerusalem  and  the  desolation  of  the  country. 
 Here,  as  before  in  verse  LS,  we  trace  the  hand  of  a 
 transcriber.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  prophet  begins 
 with  the  judgment  about  to  fall  on  his  own  people,  and 
 thru  passes  on  Erom  "  the  house  of  Qod"  (1  Pet.iv.  17 1 
 to  those  that  are  wit  hunt. 
 
 U">  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  .  .  .—Tho  list  of  the 
 nations   begins,   it   will   be  seen,  from  the  south  and 
 
 proceeds   northwards;   those   that    lav   On    the  east    and 
 
 west  being  named,  as  it  won',  literally,  according  to 
 their  position.  Tho  Pharaoh  of  the  time  was  Nechoh, 
 wlio  had  been  defeated  at  ( 'archemiah. 
 
 (-'">  All  the  mingled  people— Tho  word  is  all  but 
 identical  with  that  used  in  Exod.  xii.  38  of  the  "mixed 
 multitude"  that  accompanied  the  Israelites  from  Egypt, 
 and  in  Wh.  xiii. :'.  of  tin-  alien  population  of  Jerusalem. 
 It  occurs  again  in  verse  24,  chap,  1.  87,  and  Ezek.  xxx. 
 5,  and  is  applied  to  the  tribes  of  mixed  races  who  were, 
 in  various  degrees  tributary  to  the  state  in  connection 
 with  which  tiny  aro  named.  Horo  tho  word  probabl] 
 refers  n>  the  [onians  or  Carians  whom  Psammitichus, 
 the  father  of  Nechoh,  had  settled  at  Bubastis,  and  who 
 Berved  in  his  army  as  auxiliaries.  (Herod,  ii.  I"'-'. 
 154) 
 
 Uz.— A  district  of  Edom,  famous  as  the  scene  of 
 the  great  drama  of  the  book  of  Job.  It  is  commonly 
 identified  with  the  Arabia  Den  rtoof  classical  geography. 
 
 (Soo  Notes  ou  joi)  i.  1 1  Con.  x.  aa 
 
 Tho  land  of  the  Philistinos.— Tho  four  cities  that 
 follow  belong  to  the  same  region.  "  A/./.ah  "  is  the 
 -a mo  as  Gaza,  the  translators  oj  the  Authorised  Version 
 having  in  this  instance,  and  in  Deut.iL  l'<:  1  Kings  " 
 
 24,  adopted  this  instead  of  the  more  familiar   form   of 
 
 the  LXX.  and  Vulgate.    "  Oath."  which  appears  in  the 
 
 older  lists  of  the  live  lords  of  the  I'hilisiines  1  Sam. 
 v.  S,  vi.  17,  vii.  1 1 1.  has  disappeared,  having  possibly 
 
 seceded    from     tho     confederacy.       Tho    ••remnant     of 
 
 Ashdod  "  (the  Greek  ftxotns  is  a  phrase  characteristic 
 of  the  prophet's  time,  the  Egyptian  kin";  Pnammirichna 
 having  captured  it.  after  a  siege  of  twenty-nine  year-. 
 
 in  u. e.  680.     I  Herod,  ii.  157. 
 
 Tho  isles  which  aro  beyond  the  sea.— 
 Bettor,  island.  The  Hebrew  word  is  in  the  singular, 
 and  is  properly,  as  in  tho  margin,  a  "  region  by  the 
 
 sea-Side    —a  "coast-land."  and  thus  wider  in  it-  extent 
 
 than  our  "island."  Hero  the  position  in  which  it 
 Occurs  tends  to  identify  it  either  with  Cyprus  or  tho 
 coast  of  Cilicia,  or  Phoenician  colonies  generally  in  the 
 Mediterranean..     Cyprus  seems  tho  most  probable  of 
 
 these. 
 
 1  Dodan,   and  Tema,  and    Buz.— From 
 west  we  pass  again  to  the  east,  the  first  two  districts 
 lying  to  the  south-east  of  Edom,  the  last  probably  in 
 the  same  region.     For  Dedan  seo  Gen.  x.  7.  xxv.  3,  1 . 
 1   Chrou.   i. ''.',   82;  Isa.  xxi.  13;  Ezek.   xxv.    l& 
 Tenia,  ou  the  modern  pilgrims'  road  from  I>m 
 Mecca,  see  Isa.  xxi.   1  I:   Job  vi.  19.     For  Buz  seo  Gen. 
 xxii.  11.    The  fact  that  the  ■•travelling  companies  of 
 Dedanim "  (Isa.  xxi.  L3   carried  on  the  trade  between 
 Tyre  and  Arabia  (Ezek,  xxvii.  15)   accounts  in   pari 
 
 for  their  mention  hero. 
 
 All  that  are  in  the  utmost  corners.— The  mar- 
 ginal reading  gives  the  true  meaning — all  thai  have 
 the  corners  of  mi  ir  it  mples  the  a     Note  on  chap. 
 
 ix.    26.)      The    words    point    to    the    nomad    tribe 
 
 Cedar,  who  wore  distinguished  by  this  peculiarity. 
 For  "mingled  people."  see  Note  on  verse  20.  Tho 
 genealogies  of  Gen.  x..  xxv.  1—16,  and  1  Chron.i  point 
 
 to  a  great  intermingling  of  Cu-hite  and  Semitic  races 
 in  these  region* 
 
 ->  All  the  kings  of  Arabia.— The  same  phrase 
 occurs  in  1  Kings  x.  15,  and  is  used  for  the  nomadic 
 tribes  bordering  on  Pale-tine  rather  than  in  the  wider 
 sense  of  classical  geographers. 
 
 -     Zimri.— The  name  ocean  nowhere  else  in  the 
 
 Bible  or  out  of  it  as  the  name  of  a  country.  It  is  pos- 
 sibly connected  with  Zimran.  the  oldest  son  of  Abraham 
 by  keturah  Hen.  xxv.  2),  and  points, therefor.  —  ssdoes 
 it's   position   hen — to   a   nomad   tribe   in  Arabia 
 
 between  the  Bed  Sea,  Arabia,  and  the  Persian  (iulf. 
 The  name  Zabram  occurs  in  Greek  geographers  a* 
 that  of  a  city  on  the  Bed  Sea  west  of  Mecca,  and  there 
 was  a  Zimara   on   the  Upper  Euphrat.  im," 
 
 properly  applied  to  the  region  of  which  Susa  was  the 
 capital  (Dan.  viii  -.  was  extended  by  the   Hebrew 
 
 writers  to  the  whole  of  Persia.      iS  1  Gen.  X. 
 
 22,xiy.   I — 12 j    Isa.  xxi.   2.)     As  in  the  last  of  r 
 
 ii..-.  it  is  coupled  hero  with  Media. 
 
 " 
 
The  King  of  Sheshach. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXV. 
 
 The  Judgment  on  the  Heathen. 
 
 of  "Elam,  and  all  the  kings  of  the  Medes, 
 (2,i)  and  all  the  kings  of  the  north,  far 
 and  near,  one  with  another,  and  all  the 
 kingdoms  of  the  world,  which  are  upon 
 the  face  of  the  earth :  and  the  king  of 
 Sheshach  shall  drink  after  them. 
 
 (27)  Therefore  thou  shalt  say  unto 
 them,  Thus  saith  the  Lokd  of  hosts, 
 the  God  of  Israel ;  Drink  ye,  and  be 
 drunken,  and  spue,  and  fall,  and  rise 
 no  more,  because  of  the  sword  which  I 
 will  send  among  you.  (28)  And  it  shall 
 be,  if  they  refuse  to  take  the  cup  at 
 thine  hand  to  chink,  then  shalt  thou 
 say  unto  them,   Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 
 6  1  Peter  4. 17. 
 
 I  Heh.,vpon  wlUch 
 mil  name  ie 
 called. 
 
 c  Joel  3. 1G;  Amos 
 
 of  hosts ;  Ye  shall  certainly  drink. 
 (2!l)  For,  lo,  I  begin  to  bring  evil  on  the 
 4  city  1  which  is  called  by  my  name,  and 
 should  ye  be  utterly  unpunished  ?  Ye 
 shall  not  be  unpunished  :  for  I  will  call 
 for  a  sword  upon  all  the  inhabitants 
 of  the  earth,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 
 (30)  Therefore  prophesy  thou  against 
 them  all  these  words,  and  say  unto 
 them, 
 
 The  Lord  shall  croar  from  on  high, 
 and  utter  his  voice  from  his  holy  habi- 
 tation ;  he  shall  mightily  roar  upon  his 
 habitation ;  he  shall  give  a  shout,  as 
 they  that  tread   the  grapes,  against  all 
 
 (26)  The  kings  of  the  north.— The  term  is  used 
 generally  (the  Jews  knowing  comparatively  little  of 
 the  detailed  geography  of  that  region,  the  Gog,  Magog, 
 Meshech,  and  Tubal  of  Ezek.  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.),  as 
 in  chap.  i.  14,  for  the  Scythians  and  other  nations  lying 
 between  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Tigris.  In  the  cor- 
 responding passage  of  chap.  li.  27,  Ararat,  Minui,  and 
 Ashkenaz  are  specially  named. 
 
 The  kingdoms  of  the  world.— The  words  are, 
 of  course,  limited  by  the  horizon  of  the  prophet's  vision. 
 As  the  "  world "  of  the  New  Testament  writers  was 
 the  Roman  Empire,  so  in  the  life  of  Jeremiah  it  was 
 identical  with  that  of  Babylon.  (Conip.  Dan.  ii.  38, 
 iv.  22.) 
 
 The  king  of  Sheshach.  —  The  name,  which 
 obviously  is,  from  its  position,  the  culminating  point  of 
 the  whole  prophecy,  is  found  only  here  and  in  chap.  li. 
 41.  No  city  or  country  bearing  this  name  is  mentioned 
 in  the  Old  Testament  or  in  any  ancient  writer.  The 
 traditional  Rabbinic  explanation  is  beyond  doubt  the 
 true  one.  We  have  here  the  earliest  known  example  of 
 the  use  of  a  cypher-writing  to  disguise  the  meaning 
 of  what  was  written  from  all  but  the  initiated.  The 
 cypher  in  this  instance,  known  by  the  significant 
 name  of  ATBASH  (i.e.,  A  taking  the  place  of  T,  and 
 T  of  A,  B  of  SH,  and  SH  of  B,  and  so  on),  consisted 
 in  the  use  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  in  an  inverted  order, 
 thus  giving  SHeSHaCH  as  an  equivalent  for  BaBeL. 
 This,  then,  was  the  crowning  mystery  reserved  to  the 
 last.  The  Chaldasan  kingdom  was  to  do  its  work  as 
 the  scourge  of  God  upon  the  nations ;  but  it  was 
 .simply  an  instrument  in  His  hand,  as  the  Assyrians 
 had  been  in  their  day  (Isa.  x.  15) ;  and  when  the  work 
 was  done,  the  law  of  a  righteous  retribution  would  be 
 felt  by  it  aud  by  its  rulers.  It  adds  to  the  point  of 
 the  enigma  that  the  word  Sheshach  would  suggest 
 to  an  Hebrew,  taking  its  probable  etymology,  the  idea 
 of  "crouching"  or  "sinking."  It  may  be  noted  (1) 
 that  the  use  of  such  a  cypher  seems  to  belong  to 
 the  same  mental  characteristics  as  the  prominence  of 
 the  Hebrew  alphabet  in  the  acrostic  structure  of  the 
 Lamentations;  (2)  that  the  name  is  omitted  by  the 
 LXX.  both  hero  and  in  chap.  li.  41 ;  and  (3)  that 
 another  instance  of  the  same  cypher  is  found  in  chap, 
 li.  1.  The  second  fact  is  presumptive  evidence  that  it 
 was  not  found  in  the  copy  which  the  Greek  translators 
 had  before  them ;  and  the  natural  inference  from  this 
 is  that  there  were  two  editions  of  the  prophecy  even  in 
 the  prophet's  time — one  with  and  tho  other  without,  the 
 enigmatic  word,  the  latter  being  probably  the  earlier  of 
 
 the  two,  the  former  adding,  for  the  comfort  of  Israel, 
 at  once  the  limits  of  their  exile  (verse  14),  and  this  in- 
 timation (so  veiled  that  the  Chaldseans,  if  they  came 
 across  it,  would  not  bo  likely  to  understand  its  mean- 
 ing) of  the  way  in  which  it  would  at  last  be  brought  to 
 its  close.  The  use  of  the  cypher  has,  however,  been 
 questioned  by  some  writers,  who  refer  the  name  to 
 shishaii,  a  possible  form  of  the  name  of  the  moon- 
 god  of  the  Chaldeans  (Rawlinson:  Herod,  i.,  p.  616). 
 If  the  existence  of  any  obscure  region  bearing  the 
 name  could  be  proved,  it  would  still  bo  perfectly  com- 
 patible with  the  use  of  the  cypher,  as  veiling  its  true 
 significance.  Other  meanings  for  the  word,  such  as 
 "the  warlike  city,"  "the  king's  palace,"  have  been 
 suggested  by  recent  scholars. 
 
 (27)  Drink  ye,  and  be  drunken  .  .  .—The  bold 
 imagery  points,  Hke  that  of  verse  16,  to  the  terror 
 and  dismay  which  made  joint  action  impossible,  and 
 reduced  the  nations  whom  it  affected  to  a  helpless 
 impotence.  The  word  most  alien  to  our  modern 
 feeling — "spue" — is  significant,  as  implying  that  the 
 spoilers  of  Israel  should  be  spoiled.  They  should  be 
 made,  to  use  a  word  which  expresses  essentially  the 
 same  thought,  to  disgorge  their  prey. 
 
 (28)  Ye  shall  certainly  drink.— Literally,  Briixk- 
 inij,  ye  shall  drink. 
 
 (29)  I  begin  to  bring  evil  .  .  .  ?— The  thought  is 
 the  same  as  that  of  1  Pet.  iv.  17,  "  If  judgment  shall 
 begin  at  the  house  of  God  .  .  .  ? "  If  this  were  His 
 chastisemeut  of  those  who  were  His  chosen  people,  it 
 followed  a,  fortiori  that  those  who  were  less  favoured 
 and  had  less  claims  should  not  escape.  For  them,  as 
 for  Judah,  the  one  wise  aud  safe  course  was  to  accept 
 their  punishment  and  submit.     (Conip.  chap.  xlix.  12.) 
 
 (30)  He  shall  mightily  roar  upon  his  habita- 
 tion.— The  use  of  the  same  English  word  for  two 
 Hebrew  words  of  very  different  meaning  is  here 
 singularly  infelicitous.  The  first  "habitation"  is  the 
 dwelling-place  of  Jehovah,  from  which  the  thunders  of 
 His  wrath  are  heard.  The  second  is  the  "pasture"  or 
 dwelling-place  of  the  flock  aud  its  shepherds,  as  in  chaps, 
 vi.  2,  x.  25  ;  Ps.  lxxix.  7,  upon  whom  tho  storm  falls. 
 Possibly,  under  its  association  with  this  new  word,  the 
 roaring  becomes  to  the  prophet's  mind  as  that  of  the 
 lion  which  attacks  the  flock.  The  same  bold  imagery 
 for  the  Divine  judgments  meets  us  in  Joel  iii.  16 ;  Amos 
 i.  2,  iii.  8. 
 
 A  shout,  as  they  that  tread  the  grapes. — 
 The  image  is  reproduced  from  Isa.  lxiii.  3.  The 
 "  shout "  of  those  who  tread  the  wine-press,  crushing 
 
 SS 
 
The  Controversy  ivith  the  Nations.        JERKMIAH,    XX >  I. 
 
 Tlu  Bowling  of  the  Shepherd*. 
 
 the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  ' 
 noise  ahall  come  even  to  Hie  ends  of  the 
 earth;  for  the  Loan  bath  ;i  controversy 
 with  the  nations,  he  will  plead  with  all 
 flesh;  he  will  sire  then  thai  are  wicked 
 to  the  sword,  saith  the  LoBO.  '  Ll  Tims 
 Baith  the  Loin)  of  hosts,  Behold,  evil 
 shall  go  forth  from  nation  to  nation, 
 and  a  great  whirlwind  shall  be  raised 
 up  from  the  coasts  of  the  earth. 
 And  tin'  slain  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
 at  that  day  from  one  end  of  the  earth 
 even  unto  the  other  end  of  the  earth: 
 they  shall  not  be  "lamented,  neither 
 gathered,  nor  bnried;  they  shall  be 
 dung  upon  the  ground.  <:u'  'Howl,  ye 
 shepherds,  and  cry;  and  wallow  your- 
 selves in  the  aehes,  ye  principal  of  the 
 Hock:   for  lthe  days  of  your  slaughter 
 
 • 
 
 i 
 
 l»r  atum/liter. 
 
 -_■    1 1  ■    ■  ,  ■ . 
 
 ■■-I     from, 
 Ac. 
 
 luiii.* 
 
 1 1 1  I 
 
 and     of    your    di-p.-rsions     are     accom- 
 1  >1  i -s  1  !•  ■< I  ;      and     ye     shall     fall     likl 
 plea8ant   Vessel.         :'    And      lie-  shepherds 
 
 shall  have  do  way  to  flee,  nor  the 
 principal  of  the  floek  to  eseaiie.  '  \ 
 voice  of  the  cry  of  the  shepherds,  and 
 an  howling  of  t he  principal  of  the  flock, 
 ah, ill  be  heard:  fox  the  Loan  hath 
 spoiled  their  pasture.  *  '■■  >  And  the 
 peaceable  habitations  are  nit  down 
 because  of  the  fierce  anger  of  the  Loan. 
 (••»)  He  hath  forsaken  his  covert,  as  the 
 lion:  for  their  land  is  'desolate  because 
 of  the  fierceness  of  the  oppressor,  and 
 because  of  bis  fierce  anger. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVI.— <l>  In  the  be- 
 ginning of  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim  the 
 son  of  Josiah  king  of  Judah  came  this 
 
 the  napea  beneath  their  feet  (Isa.  xvi  LO),  ie  as 
 the  notorious  war-cry  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  working 
 through  human  conquerors,  and  crushing  the  nations 
 of  the  earth  in  Bis  avenging  wrath. 
 
 < ;l '  A  noise.— /.<'..  the  tumult  of  an  advancing 
 army  (Isa.  xiii.  t,  xvii.  12  . 
 
 A  controversy.— Tin"  term  properly  denotes  a 
 legal  process,  like  tho  "  pleading  of  chap,  ii.  9,  36, 
 rather  than   a  debate  or  discussion,  and  is  therefore 
 
 rightly  followed    by    the   technical    term  "will  plead" 
 
 or  "judge."  Jehovah  appears,  so  to  speak,  as  the 
 Accuser  in  tho  suit  in  which  He  is  also  the  supreme 
 Judge. 
 
 (SJJ  Whirlwind.— Tho  word,  as  in  chap,  xxiii.  19.  is 
 more  generic,  n  I-  >/>/•-  /.  The  storm  is  seen  as  ii  were 
 rising  from  tho  "coasts" — i.e.,  the  sides  or  horizon  of 
 tho  earth,  as  in  chap.  vi.  'JJ — and  spreading  over  all 
 the  nations. 
 
 (88)  They  shall  not  be  lamented  .  .  .—As  in 
 other  pictures  of  slaughter  (chaps,  viii.  -.  xvi.  I  <  the 
 omission  of  the  nsual  rites  of  sepulture  is  brought  in 
 as  an  aggravation  of  the  wretchedness.  The  corpses  of 
 tho  slain  are  i"  lie  rotting  on  the  ground.    Ihe  phrase 
 
 "slain  of  the  Lord"  reproduces  Isa.  lxvi.  16. 
 
 (8*)  Howl,  ye  shepherds.— The  idea  of  tho  flock 
 
 suggested  in  the  "habitation"  or  "pasture"  of  vorse 
 
 30  is  here  expanded    Tho  "  shepherds  "  are,  as  usual, 
 
 tho  rulers  of  the  people  (chaps,  x.  21,  xxii.  JJ.  et  al.). 
 
 Wallow  yourselves  in  the  ashes.— The  words 
 in  italics  have  probably  been  added  to  bring  the 
 passage  into  conformity  with  chap.  vi.  2i>,  but  they 
 are  not  needed,  and  tho  interpretation  is  unauthoris  id, 
 
 Botter.  therefore,  roll  on  the  (/round.  By  some  in- 
 terpreters the  word  is  rendered  "  sprinkle  yourselves." 
 The  "principal  of  the  flock  "  are  the  "strong  ones." 
 i.e.,  the   best    and   fattest  of  the   rams,  denoting   ligura- 
 
 tively  the  princes  ami  captains  of  the  people. 
 And  of  your   dispersions.— The    Hebrew  text 
 
 seems   faulty,   and   a  slight    alteration,    now    generally 
 
 accepted,  gives,  on, I  l  imlisoatter  you. 
 Like  a  pleasant  vessel.— Tile  sudden  change  of 
 
 metaphor  is  somewhat  startling,  as  judged  by  our  rules 
 of  rhetoric;   hut  the  ports  and  prophets  of  Israel  wrote 
 
 without  the  fear  of  criticism,  and  used  each  image  that 
 presented  itself,  if  it  was  tit  for  its  immediate  purp 
 
 without  caring  much  for  continuity.  The  thought  of 
 the  scattered  flock  suggested  the  idea  of  a  dispersion 
 or  breakiug-up  of  another  kind,  even  that  of  tho 
 "  pleasant  vessel  "  (literally,  Ihe  vessel  of  d\  tin  .  i.e.,  a 
 rase  made  as  for  kingly  and  honourable  uses),  falling 
 with  a  crash  and  shivered  into  fragments,  which  Jere- 
 miah had  pr.  siiit.-d  to  tho  people  in  his  acted  parable 
 and  spoken  words  in  chap.  xix.  10,  11,  and  in  chap. 
 xxii.  28.  The  LXX.  translators  give  Wee  ///.■  chosen 
 rams,  as  if  anxious  to  avoid  tho  mixed  metaphor,  and 
 venturing  on  a  conjectural  emendation  of  the  text. 
 
 (an  a  voice  of  the  cry  .  .  .  shall  be  heard. 
 — Hen"  again  the  insertion  of  tho  words  in  italics  is  a 
 change  for  the  worse,  and  reduces  the  dramatic  vivid- 
 ness of  the  Hebrew  to  the  tamest  prose.  The  pro- 
 phet   speaks  as  if  ho  actually   heard   tho  "cry  of  tho 
 
 shepherds" — /.>.,  the  prinoee — and  the  howling  of  tho 
 "principal  of  the  flocks" — i.e.,  o{  tho  captains  under 
 them.     The  work  of  spoiling  was  begun. 
 
 (37)  Peaceable  habitations. — Better,  as  before 
 (  rerse  SO  .  p<  aeeful  pastures. 
 
 (38)  He  hath  forsaken  his   covert  .  .    .— Tbo 
 
 image    of    verso   30   is   reprod L     The   thunder  of 
 
 Jehovah's   wrath  is  as    the  roaring   of  tho  lion  (Amos 
 
 iii.  8).  He  is  as  the  lion  leaving  its  hiding-plaoe  iii 
 the  forest,  and  going  forth  to  do  its  work  of  vengeance 
 Because  of  the  fierceness  of  the  oppressor. 
 — A  slight  alteration,  adopted  by  many  commenta- 
 tors, gives  "  hoeauso  of  tin-  sn-ord  •<(  oppression."  as  in 
 chaps,  xlvi.  lti,  1.  16,  The  wont  for " opproaoor "  or 
 •oppression"  also  means  "dove."  and  is  so  taken  by 
 
 the  vulg.,  n  fo-  ■-.-,, ,i„r,  and  H  hi  bated 
 
 that  this  bird  was  blazoned  on  the  standards  of  th" 
 Babylonians  (Diod.  Sic.  ii.  +1,  and  so  had  become* 
 symbol  of  their  power.  In  chaps,  xlvi.  L6,  L  16  tbo 
 LXX,  which    here    gives  "   the   great  sword."  reads 
 
 "the   Gh k     sword."    as    though    tho    Hebrew   word 
 
 mi  .l.ivan  or  Ionia.  That  meaning  is  of 
 course,  out  of  the  question  here.  On  the  whole  there 
 seems  no  reason  for  altering  the  English  version,  though 
 the  precise  combination  of  wonts  is  an  unusual  one. 
 
 X  XVI. 
 (i)  In  the  beginning  of  tho  reign  of  Jehoiakim. 
 — The  section  which  follows  is  among  the  earlier  frag- 
 
 I 
 
The  Prophet's  Sermon, 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXVI. 
 
 and  its  Results.. 
 
 word  from  the  Lord,  saying,  (2)   Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  ; 
 
 Stand  in  the  court  of  the  Lokb's 
 house,  and  speak  unto  all  the  cities  of 
 Judah,  which  come  to  worship  in  the 
 Lord's  house,  all  the  words  that  I 
 command  thee  to  speak  unto  them ; 
 "diminish  not  a  word  :  <3)  if  so  be  they 
 will  hearken,  and  turn  every  man  from 
 his  evil  way,  that  I  may  'repent  me  of 
 the  evil,  which  I  purpose  to  do  unto 
 them  because  of  the  evil  of  their  doings. 
 WAnd  thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  Tlras 
 saith  the  Lord  ;  If  ye  will  not  hearken 
 to  me,  to  walk  iu  my  law,  which  I  have 
 set  before  you,  <5>  to  hearken  to  the 
 words  of  my  servants  the  prophets, 
 whom  I  sent  unto  you,  both  rising  up 
 early,  and  sending  them,  but  ye  have 
 not  hearkened;  (6)  then  will  I  make 
 this  house  like  'Shiloh,  and  will  make 
 
 c  1  Sam.  4.  12 
 78.  60;  ch. 
 14. 
 
 this  city  a  curse  to  all  the  nations  of 
 the  earth. 
 
 <"'  So  the  priests  and  the  prophets 
 and  all  the  people  heard  Jeremiah  speak- 
 ing these  words  in  the  house  of  the 
 Lord.  <8)  Now  jt  came  to  pass,  when 
 Jeremiah  had  made  an  end  of  speaking 
 all  that  the  Lord  had  commanded  him 
 to  speak  unto  all  the  people,  that  the 
 priests  and  the  prophets  and  all  the 
 people  took  him,  saying,  Thou  shalt 
 surely  die.  <9>  Why  hast  thou  prophe- 
 sied in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  saying, 
 This  house  shall  be  like  Shiloh,  and  this 
 city  shall  be  desolate  without  an  in- 
 habitant? And  all  the  people  were 
 gathered  against  Jeremiah  in  the  house 
 of  the  Lord. 
 
 (io)  wiien  the  princes  of  Judah  heard 
 these  things,  then  they  came  up  from 
 the  king's  house  unto  the  house  of  the 
 
 ments  of  the  book,  some  three  years  before  that  of  the 
 preceding-  chapter.  It  will  be  noted  that  there  is  no 
 mention  of  the  Chaldseans,  and  that  Jehoiakiin  is  on 
 friendly  terms  with  Egypt  (verso  22).  This  points  to 
 the  vei-y  earliest  period  of  his  reign.  The  chapter  that 
 follows,  though  referred  to  the  same  period  in  the 
 present  Hebrew  text,  really  belongs  to  the  reign  of 
 Zedekiah.  (See  Note  on  chap,  xxvii.  1.)  The  common 
 clement  that  led  the  compiler  of  the  book  to  bring  the 
 narratives  together  is  the  conflict  of  Jeremiah  with  the 
 false  prophets. 
 
 (2)  Stand  in  the  court  of  the  Lord's  house.— 
 The  occasion  was  probably  one  of  the  Feasts,  and  drew 
 worshippers  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  As  in 
 chap.  vii.  1,  the  prophet  had  to  stand  in  the  crowded 
 court  of  the  Temple  and  utter  his  warning.  Some 
 critics  have  supposed,  indeed,  that  in  chap.  vii. — xi. 
 we  have  the  full  text  of  the  discourse,  while  here 
 there  is  only  an  epitome  of  the  discourse  itself,  and 
 a  narrative  of  the  circumstances  connected  with  it. 
 The  command,  "  diminish  not  a  word,"  reminds  us  of 
 Deut.  iv.  2,  xii.  32  ;  Rev.  xxii.  19.  There  was  some- 
 thing iu  the  message  that  the  prophet  felt  himself 
 called  to  deliver  from  which  he  would  naturally  have 
 shrunk. 
 
 (3)  If  so  be  they  will  hearken  .  .  .—The  threat 
 that  follows  in  verse  6  is  a  very  terrible  one,  but  it  is 
 uttered  in  order  that  it  may  not  be  realised.  So  in  the 
 same  spirit  St.  Paul  warns  men  of  his  power  to  inflict  a 
 supernatural  punishment,  yet  prays  that  he  may  have 
 no  occasion  to  use  it  (2  Cor.  xiii.  3 — 10). 
 
 (**.  5)  To  walk  in  my  law,  which  I  have  set 
 before  you. — The  words  present  more  vividly  than 
 in  the  parallels  of  chaps,  vii.  25  and  xxv.  4  the  relation 
 of  the  Law  as  the  groundwork  of  the  teaching  of  the 
 Prophets,  their  office  being  that  of  preachers  and  ex- 
 pounders, making  men  feel  that  the  commandment  was 
 "  exceeding  broad."  The  "  Law  and  the  Prophets  "  are 
 already  coupled  together,  as  in  Matt.  v.  17,  xxii.  40,  as 
 making  up  God's  revelation  of  His  will  to  Israel. 
 
 <6)  I  will  make  this  house  like  Shiloh.— Seo 
 Notes  on  chap.  vii.  14.     The  surprise  and  anger  with 
 
 90 
 
 which  the  announcement  was  received  indicate  that  it 
 was  now  heard  for  the  first  time,  and  so  far  confirms 
 the  view  that  we  have  here  a  summary  of  the  discourse 
 given  in  extenso,  and  probably  edited,  as  it  were,  with 
 many  additions,  in  chaps,  vii. — x. 
 
 (?)  The  priests  and  the  prophets.— The  mention 
 of  the  latter  is  significant.  Jeremiah  had  to  separate 
 himself  from  both  the  orders  to  which  he  belonged,  in 
 the  one  case,  by  birth,  iu  the  other,  by  a  special  vocation. 
 His  bitterest  foes  were  found  among  those  who  claimed 
 to  speak  as  he  did,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  but  who 
 tuned  their  voice  according  to  the  time,  and  prophesied 
 deceits.     See  Notes  on  chap,  xxiii.  9 — 40. 
 
 (8)  Thou  shalt  surely  die. — Better,  as  expressing 
 the  Hebrew  emphasis  of  reduplication,  Thou  shalt  die 
 the  death.  The  phrase  is  the  same  as  iu  Gen.  ii.  17. 
 The  threat  of  the  men  of  Anathoth  (chap.  xi.  21)  is 
 repeated  by  the  priests  and  prophets  of  Jerusalem. 
 They  look  on  Jeremiah  as  oue  who  has  incurred  the 
 condemnation  of  Deut.  xviii.  20. 
 
 (9)  Why  hast  thou  prophesied  in  the  name 
 of  the  Lord  .  .  .  ?— The  threat  that  the  house  in 
 which  they  gloried  should  be  as  the  old  sanctuary  of 
 Ephraim,  over  whose  fall  they  had  exulted,  was  as  the 
 last  drop  that  made  the  cup  of  wrath  and  bitterness 
 run  over.  They  had  chanted  their  psalms,  which  told 
 how  that  God  "  forsook  the  tabernacle  of  Shiloh,  even 
 the  tent  which  He  had  pitched  among  men"  (Ps.  lxxviii. 
 60).  They  could  not  bear  to  hear  that  a  liko  fate  was 
 impending  over  them. 
 
 (io)  when  the  princes  of  Judah  heard  these 
 things  .  .  . — The  princes  appear  not  to  have  been 
 present  when  the  words  were  spoken.  The  report  was 
 carried  to  them  as  they  sat  in  council  with  the  king, 
 and  they  came  down  to  the  Temple  and  took  their 
 place,  to  watch  and  listen  what  would  come  next. 
 They  went  appai-ently  by  what  was  known  as  the 
 king's  entry  into  the  Temple  (2  Kings  xvi.  18),  the 
 high  gate  which  had  been  built  by  Jothani  (2  Chron. 
 xxvii.  3),  from  which  they  coixld  command  a  view  of  the 
 crowds  in  the  Temple  court.  (See  Note  on  chap.  xxii. 
 2).     One  of  them,  in  all  probability,  was  Ahikam,  the 
 
J        iah's  Apologia. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXVI. 
 
 '/'/<•     /',;,],/,■'    / 
 
 Lord,  and  sat  down  'in  the  entry  of  the 
 new  gate  of  the  Lobo'h  htnue.  '"'Then 
 Bpake  the  priests  and  the  prophets  unto 
 the  princes  and  to  all  the  people,  saying, 
 'This  man  is  worthy  to  'li<';  for  he 
 hath  prophesied  againsi  this  city,  as  ye 
 have  beard  wi1  h  yonr  cars. 
 *'-'  Then  spake  Jeremiah  unto  all  the 
 
 princes    and    to  all    tin-   people,    savin--. 
 
 The  Loan  Bent  me  to  prophesy  againsi 
 
 this  house  ami  agamsi  this  city  all  the 
 words  that  ye  have  heard.  MJ  There- 
 fore now  "amend  your  ways  and  yonr 
 doings,  and  obey  the  voice  of  the  Loud 
 your  God;  and  the  Loud  will  ''repent 
 him  of  the  evil  that  he  hath  pronounced 
 against  you.  (U)  As  for  me,  behold,  I 
 am  in  your  hand  :  do  with  me  3  as 
 Beemeth  good  and  meet  unto  you. 
 <15)   But    know  ye   for   certain,  that    it' ye 
 
 man. 
 
 n  II.  li  , 
 
 II.  0. 
 
 put   in--  \n  dent!,.  y(.  shall  surely  bring 
 
 innocent    I >1 1     upon    \ 'selves,   and 
 
 u]>"ii  this  city,  and  upon  the  inhabitants 
 
 there,, |':    for  of  a    truth   the    LoBD    hath 
 sent    me    nut,,    _\<,ii    t,,   sj„-ak  all    I 
 words  in  yonr  ears. 
 
 ",;i  Then  said  the  princes  and  all  the 
 people  nut,,  die  priests  and  t,,  the 
 prophets;   This  man  is  not  worthy  to 
 
 die  :    I'm-   he    hath    sj„,1;,ii    t,,    u-    in   t  be 
 
 nan !'  t  be   LoBD  OUT  I  rod. 
 
 (17)  Then  rose  ap  certain  of  the  elders 
 of    the    laud,    and    spake    to   all    tic 
 
 sembly  of  the  people, saying,  ""'  "Micab 
 the  Morasthite  prophesied  in  the  daws 
 
 of  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah,  and  Bpake 
 to  all  the  people  of  Judah,  Baying,  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  d  Zion  shall  be 
 plowed  like  a  field,  and  Jerusalem  shall 
 become  heaps,  and  the  mountain  of  the 
 
 son  of  Shaphan  rerse  24).  As  in  chap,  xxxvi.  19,  :;.">, 
 tho  princes  are  less  bitterly  hostile  than  the  priests. 
 
 ('•)  This  man  is  worthy  to  die.— Literally,  A 
 judgment  of  death  for  thia  man.  Tin-  phrase  seems  to 
 have  boon  in  current  forensic  use.  (Seo  Dent.  xix.  li, 
 xri.  22.)  Among  the  accusers  we  may  think  of  Pashur, 
 tho  son  of  Immer  (chap.  xx.  1).  Personal  rancour 
 mingles  with  the  class  feeling  which  animates  the  whole 
 body  of  the  priesthood.  They  appeal  to  what,  in 
 later  language,   would   be  ktt,,wn   as  the   secular   arm. 
 
 to  be  the  instrument  of  their  vindictiveneas  against  tho 
 heretic  and  blasphemer. 
 
 ('->  The  Lord  sent  me  to  prophesy    .    .    .— 
 
 Tho  answer  of  the  accused  is  that  of  all  true  prophets 
 and  preachers  of  the  word,  "Tho  Lord  God  hath  spoken, 
 and  he  can  but  prophesy"  (Amos  iii.  8).  Ho  must 
 "  obey  God  rather  than  man  "  I  Acta  v.  29)1  And  in  this 
 instance  the  prophet  has  nothing  ill  the  way  of  creden- 
 tials but  the  message  itself.  lie  worked  no  signs  or 
 wonders. 
 
 (13)  Thereforo  now  amend  your  ways  .  .  . 
 — The  prophet's  apologia  consists  in  repeating  the  sub- 
 stance of  his  message.  He  had  not  denom 1  an  irre- 
 versible doom,  lie  had  held  oul  the  assurance  of  pardon 
 on  repentance.  He  had  threatened  only  to  bring  about 
 repentance.  The  whole  history  reminds  us  of  the  accu- 
 sation brought  against  One  greater  than  Jeremiah.  Ho 
 had  foretold  a  destruction  of  the  Second  Temple  as 
 complete  as  that  of  Shiloh  (Luke  xix.  Hi.  He, 
 too,  was  accused  of  having  -aid  that  Ho  would  destroy 
 tho  Temple  (Matt.  xxvi.  81),     And  Be,  foreseeing  thai 
 
 the  people   would   not    repent,  had  pronoun 1.  though 
 
 not  publicly, a  sentence  on  the  Temple  which  succeeded 
 that  against  which  Jeremiah  had  prophesied,  which  was 
 irrevocable  (Matt,  \xi\-.  '2  ;  Mark  xiii.  2  ;  Luke  xix.  11  . 
 (in  As  for  mo,  behold  .  .  .—Literally.  And  I. 
 behold.  I  ■nit  in  in, m-  li'intl* ;  and  for  "  as  seoineth  good 
 and  meet  unto  you,"  read   in  yow  ayes.     The  prophet 
 
 feels  himself  powerless  in  the  preseni f  his  accuser- 
 
 and  judges,  and  can  but  appeal  to  the  Judge  of  all. 
 
 (15)  But  know  ye  for  certain.— laterally,  with 
 tho  Hebrew  emphasis  of  reduplication.  Knowing,  / 
 y,\    Tho  appeal  is  addressed]  it  will  be  remembered, 
 to  tho  lay  judges,  tho  princes,   and  the  people,  nut   to 
 
 the  priests  and  prophets  who  accused  him.    He  believes 
 
 that  they  at  least  would  shrink  from  shedding  inno- 
 cent 1, loud.  Ami  he  solemnly  protests  that  he  is  inno- 
 cent  of  any  wilful   attack   upon   what    his  countrymen 
 
 revered.  He  has  spoken,  but  it  has  been  by  a  constraint 
 above  his  own  will.  A  ''necessity  has  been  laid  upon 
 him  "  1 1  Cor.  ix.  16). 
 
 (i«)  This  man  is  not  worthy  to  die.— Lite- 
 rally, as  before  in  verso  11,  There  is  no  judgment  of 
 death  for  this  man.  Here  again  the  later  parallel  comes 
 unbidden  to  our  memory.  The  lay-rulers  are  in  favour 
 of  the  true  prophet,  whom  the  priests  and  false  prophets 
 
 would  have  condemned.  Pilate  declare-,  in  presence  of 
 priests  and  scribes,  and  the  clamouring  multitude.  •■  I 
 
 ii ltd  no  fault  in  this  man'"  (Luke  xxiii.  I  .  Here,  how- 
 ever, as  yet  the  people  are   with   the   truo  prophet,  and 
 
 against  the  priests,  as  they  were  when  they  shot 
 
 their  Hosannas  to  the  prophet's  great  antitype. 
 
 ('">  Certain  of  the  elders  of  the  "land.— Tho 
 word  is  probably  to  be  taken  rather  in  the  literal 
 than  in  an  official  sens, — or.  if  officially,  then  as  in- 
 cluding the  literal  meaning  also.  The  eider-  speaking 
 ill  the  time  of  Jehoiakim  icir.  B.C.  ,;,|s  remembe  I 
 the  tradition  of  what  had  passed,  a  century  or  si  before, 
 
 in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  (b.c.  726—898  .  and  could 
 appeal  to  it  as  a  precedent  in  favour  of  the  prophet. 
 The  word  for  "assenihlj  '*  elsewhere  rendered  ••  con- 
 gregation ")  corresponds  to  the  if  a  Greek  city. 
 PS)  Micah  the  Morasthite.— On  the  general  his- 
 tory and  work  of  this  prophet,  see  Introdi 
 Mir, ih.       The    Hebrew    text     gives    Mieaiah.    the     two 
 
 form-  being  (as  in  Judges  xvii.  1,  t,  compared  with 
 5,  12),  in  the  Hebrew  interchangeable.  The  epithet  in- 
 dicated his  birth  in  More-hot  h-gath  ill  Phili-tia  .Micah 
 i.  14).  As  Micah  had  prophesied  under  Jotham  and 
 Aha/,  (Mic.  i.  1).  the  prediction  here  referred  to  D 
 havo  been  delivered  towards  the  close  of  his  mini-try. 
 The  words  cited  are  from  Mic.  iii.  12,  and  immediately 
 precede  the  prediction  of  an  ultimate  re-t  .ration  of 
 Judah  in  (lie  la-t  days  in  Mic.  iv.  1.  J.  which  we  find 
 in  identical  terms  in'  1-a.  ii.  2.  '■',.  Here.  then,  wa-  a 
 ease,  is  the  implied  argument  of  the  elders,  in  which 
 a  threat  did  its  work,  and  therefore  w.is  not  fulfilled. 
 It  did  good,  and  not  evil.     The   phrase  ••  mountain  of 
 
The  Precedent  of  Micah. 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   XXVI. 
 
 Martyrdom  of  Urijah. 
 
 house  as  the  high  places  of  a  forest. 
 (19J  Did  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  and  all 
 Judah  put  him  at  all  to  death  ?  did  he 
 not  fear  the  Lord,  and  besought  Hhe 
 Lord,  and  the  Lord  repented  him  of 
 the  evil  which  he  had  pronounced 
 against  them  ?  Thus  might  we  procure 
 great  evil  against  our  souls.  (20)  And 
 there  was  also  a  man  that  prophesied 
 in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  Urijah  the 
 son  of  Shemaiah  of  Kh'jath-jeariui,  who 
 prophesied  against  this  city  and  against 
 this  land  according  to  all  the  words  of 
 Jeremiah :  <21)  and  when  Jehoiakim  the 
 
 1  Ue\>.,tlit  fueeo/ 
 trie  LOUD. 
 
 B.  C. 
 
 cir.  f>i9. 
 
 Heh„  sons  of  the 
 people. 
 
 king,  with  all  his  mighty  men,  and  all 
 the  princes,  heard  his  words,  the  king 
 sought  to  put  him  to  death :  but  when 
 Urijah  heard  it,  he  was  afraid,  and  fled, 
 and  went  into  Egypt ;  (22>  and  Jehoiakim 
 the  king  sent  men  into  Egypt,  namely, 
 Elnathan  the  son  of  Achbor,  and  certain 
 men  with  him  into  Egypt.  (23)  And 
 they  fetched  forth  Urijah  out  of  Egypt, 
 and  brought  him  unto  Jehoiakim  the 
 king ;  who  slew  him  with  the  sword, 
 and  cast  his  dead  body  into  the  graves 
 of  the  ~  common  people. 
 
 (24j  Nevertheless  the  hand  of  Ahikam 
 
 the  house "  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  Jeremiah  as  a 
 description  of  the  Temple. 
 
 (19)  Did  Hezekiah  .  .  .  put  him  at  all  to 
 death  ? — Literally,  make  him  die  the  death,  the  same 
 phrase  as  in  verse  8.  There  is  no  special  record  of  the 
 repentance  thus  referred  to,  but  it  is  quite  in  accord  with 
 Hezekiak's  general  character,  as  seen  in  2  Chron.  xxix. 
 6 — 10  (which  may  be  the  occasion  referred  to)  and 
 xxxii.  26.  The  whole  tone  of  the  advice  of  "  old  ex- 
 perience," approximating  to  something  like  "  prophetic 
 strain,"  in  this  case,  reminds  us  of  the  counsels  of 
 Gamaliel  in  Acts  v.  35 — 39.  The  closing  woi'ds,  "  Thus 
 might  wo  procure  great  evil  to  our  souls,"  present  an 
 exact  parallel  to  "  lest  haply  we  be  found  even  to  fight 
 against  God."  The  result  of  the  counsel  thus  given  is 
 left  to  be  inferred.  It  obviously  left  the  prophet  free 
 to  continue  his  work  as  a  preacher,  though  probably 
 under  a  kind  of  police  surveillance,  like  that  implied 
 in  chap,  xxxvi.  1 — 5.  The  favourable  result  is  attri- 
 buted in  verse  24  to  the  influence  of  Ahikam. 
 
 (20)  And  there  was  also  a  man  that  prophesied 
 .  .  . — The  verses  that  follow,  seeing  that  they  state  a 
 fact  which  tends  in  the  opposite  direction,  cannot  be  re- 
 
 farded  as  part  of  the  argument  of  the  "  elders  "  of  verse 
 7.  Nor  is  there  any  sufficient  reason  for  supposing, 
 in  the  absence  of  any  statement  to  that  effect,  that  the 
 case  of  Urijah  was  alleged  in  a  counter-argument  by 
 the  priests  and  prophets.  Verse  24  shows  rather  that 
 Jeremiah,  or  the  compiler  of  the  book,  wished  to  record 
 the  fact  that  he  did  not  stand  absolutely  alone,  and 
 that  at  least  one  prophet  had  been,  as  an  Abdiel, 
 — "faithful  found  among  the  faithless," — who  had 
 courage  to  follow  his  example.  He  took  up  the  strain 
 of  Jeremiah,  and  reproduced  it.  Of  this  Urijah  we 
 know  nothing  boyond  what  is  here  recorded.  It  is, 
 perhaps,  worth  noting  that  the  history  of  his  native 
 place  may  in  some  measure  have  influenced  his  thoughts, 
 as  presenting,  like  Shiloh,  the  history  of  a  sacred  place 
 that  had  lost  its  sanctity  (1  Sam.  vii.  1 ;  2  Sam.  vi.  2), 
 and  that  its  position  on  the  border  of  the  tribe  of 
 Benjamin  may  have  brought  him  into  contact  with 
 the  prophet  of  Anathoth.  The  distance  between  the 
 two  towns  was  but  a  short  day's  journey. 
 
 (21)  And  when  Jehoiakim  the  king  .  .  .— 
 The  fact  that  the  princes  of  Judah,  who  defended 
 Jeremiah,  were  against  Urijah,  suggests  the  inference 
 either  that  his  words  wero  more  vehemently  denuncia- 
 tory, or  that  he  was  less  fortunate  in  finding  a  personal 
 friend  and  protector  like  Ahikam.  The  flight  into 
 Egypt  presents  a  parallel  to  that  of  Jeroboam 
 (1  Kings  xi.  40),  Hadad  (1  Kings  xi.  18),  and  Joseph 
 
 and  Mary  (Matt.  ii.  13—15).  Egypt  was  at  all  times 
 the  natural  asylum  for  political  refugees  from  Judasa. 
 The  presence  of  the  deposed  Jehoahaz  and  of  other 
 Jews  in  Egypt  may  possibly  have  been  an  attraction 
 (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  4;  Jer.  xxiv.  8,  xliv.  1). 
 
 (22)  And  Jehoiakim  the  king  sent  men  into 
 Egypt. — It  will  be  remembered  that  the  king  had  been 
 appointed  by  Pharaoh-necho,  and  rested  therefore  on  his 
 alliance.  Elnathan,  the  envoy  employed  on  this  mission, 
 was  the  king's  father-in-law  (2  Kings  xxiv.  8).  His 
 father,  Achbor,  had  taken  a  prominent  part,  together 
 with  Shaphan,  the  father  of  Ahikam,  in  the  work  of 
 reformation  under  Josiah,  and  was  sent  by  the  king  to 
 the  prophetess  Huldah  (2  Kings  xxii.  12).  Elnathan 
 appears  again  in  the  list  of  princes  in  chap,  xxxvi.  12 
 as  favourable  to  Jeremiah. 
 
 (23)  And  they  fetched  forth  Urijah  out  of 
 Egypt. — The  martyr-death  of  the  prophet  had  its 
 parallels  in  the  earlier  history  of  Judah.  So  Jezebel 
 had  slain  the  prophets  of  Jehovah  with  the  edge  of  the 
 sword  (1  Kings  xviii.  4,  xix.  10,  14),  and  Zechariah  the 
 son  of  Jehoiada  had  been  stoned  to  death  at  the  com- 
 mand of  Joash  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  21),  and  Isaiah,  as  the 
 Jewish  tradition  runs,  had  been  sawn  asunder  (Heb.  xi. 
 37).  The  fact  now  recorded  was  to  Jewish  feeling  an 
 act  of  brutal  outrage.  The  body  of  the  prophet  was 
 not  allowed  to  rest  in  the  sepulchre  of  his  fathers,  with 
 the  due  honour  of  embalmment,  but  flung  into  the 
 loathsome  pits  of  "the  sons  of  the  people,"  in  the 
 Kidron  valley  (2  Kings  xxiii.  6).  It  is  not  without 
 interest  to  those  who  believe  in  a  special  as  well  as 
 righteous  retribution,  to  note  the  fact  that  the  king  who 
 thus  added  brutality  to  cruelty  was  himself  afterwards 
 "  buried  with  the  burial  of  an  ass,"  without  honours  or 
 lamentations  (chap.  xxii.  18,  19).  For  the  phrase, 
 "  children  of  the  people,"  see  Note  on  chap.  xvii.  19. 
 The  circumstances  are  apparently  narrated  in  detail 
 either  by  the  prophet  himself  or  by  the  compiler  of  his 
 prophecies,  to  show  how  narrow  his  escape  had  been. 
 
 (24)  Nevertheless  the  hand  of  Ahikam  .  .  . 
 — The  family  to  whom  tho  prophet's  protector  belonged 
 played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  history  of  this  period, 
 and  may  be  said  to  have  furnished  examples  of  three 
 generations  of  Jewish  patriotism.  Shaphan,  the  father, 
 was  prominent  as  a  scribe  in  tho  reformation  of  Josiah 
 (cir.  A.D.  624).  Ho  superintended  the  restoration  of 
 the  Temple  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  8).  To  him  Hilkiah  the 
 priest  gave  the  book  of  the  Law  which  had  been  found 
 in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  Shaphan  took  it  to  the 
 king.  He  "took  his  son  Ahikam  with  him  when  he  was 
 sent  to  consult  the  prophetess  Huldah  (2  Kings  xxii.  12; 
 
 92 
 
and  Yokes. 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XXVII. 
 
 the  son  of  Shaphan  was  with  Jeremiah, 
 
 Unit they  should  nut   irwe  liiiu  into  the 
 
 hand  of  the  people  to  put  him  n>  death. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVII.—'"  h>  the  be- 
 ginning of  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim  the 
 
 II   of  JnSKlll    Iv 1 1 1 «jf  <it'  Jmlali    came   this 
 
 nrord  unto  Jeremiah    from   the    Loan, 
 eai  Lng,  '-'>  Thus  aaith  llm  Lobd  to  me  ; 
 
 Make  thee  honds  and  yokes,  and  put 
 them  u | m hi  thy  neck,  (;i)  and  Bend  them 
 bo  the  king  of  Edom,  and  to  the  king  of 
 Moab,  ami  to  the  king  of  the  Ammon- 
 ites, and  to  tin-  king  of  Tyrus,  and  to 
 the  king  of  Zidon,  by  the  hand  of  the 
 
 l  Or.      tonfnthiq 
 
 II    0 
 
 clr.  :,'M. 
 
 a  Dan.  4.  ir,  25, 31. 
 
 6  ch. 
 
 ID. 
 
 messengers  which  oome  to  Jerusalem 
 onto  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah  ;  ;  and 
 command  them  lto  say  onto  their  mas- 
 ters, Thus  saith  the  Lobd  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  [srael;  Tims  Bhall  ye  say  onto 
 yum-  masters;  ■'■<  I  have  made  the 
 earth,  the  man  ami  the  beasl  thai  are 
 apon  the  ground,  by  my  greal  power 
 
 and  by  my  outstretched  arm,  ami  have 
 given    it    unto    wlioin    it    seemed    inert 
 
 unto  me.  '"'  And  now  have  I  given  all 
 these  lands  into  the  hand  or  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar the  king  of  Babylon,   'my 
 
 servant;  and  the  brasts  of  the  field 
 have   I  given  him    also  to  serve   him. 
 
 l'  ( 'hron.  xxxiv.  20).     Moro  tlio  son  meets  us,  true  to  tlio 
 
 early  lessons  o£  his  Life,  as  die  protector  of  the  prophet) 
 whose  work  rested  so  largely  on  the  impression  made 
 by  the  Hook  of  t tin  Law  tlms  discovered.  A  brother 
 of  Aliilc.'iin.  Geroariah,  appears  in  a  like  character  in 
 
 ohap.  \\\vi.  12,  25.  After  the  conquest  of  the  land  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar.  Jeremiah  linds  rcfugo  with  <  iodaliah, 
 
 the  son  of  Aliikam  (ohap.  xl.  6),  who  hail  I n  made, 
 
 apparently  through  the  prophet's  influence,  satrap,  or 
 
 r •,  of  the  lands  under  the  Ohaldman  king;  and 
 
 after  a  fruitless  warning,  falls  a  victim  to  the  Con- 
 spiracy of  I  In'  princes  of  the  royal  house  (chap,  xli.  1,  2). 
 Here  stress  is  laiil  on  the  fact,  of  Ahikain's  protection, 
 bowing  how  it  was  that  Jeremiah  escaped  the  fate 
 which  fell  im  Urij.ih. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 <"  In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Johoiakim. 
 — Tlio  mention  of  the  name  of  Zedekiah  as  king  of 
 Jmliih  in  verse 3  shows  thai  the  Hebrew  text  has  here 
 perpetuated  an  error,  due  probably  to  the  transcriber 
 
 or  first   editor  of  the  eolleete.l   prophecies.      Wo   have 
 
 to  think,  accordingly,  of  the  state  of  things  which 
 followed  on  the  ileal h  of  Jehoiakim.  and  the  deposition 
 
 ■ad  exile  of  Jehoiachin.      The   tone    of    the    prophecy 
 
 seems  to  indicate  .a  time  about  the  middle  of  Zedekiah's 
 reign.     His  position  was  that  of  a  tributary  sovereign, 
 
 suliject  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  He  .-mil  the  neighbouring 
 kings,  who  were   in  a  like  position,   bad    not    quite   re- 
 
 1  Hie  hope  of  throwing  oil'  the  yoke,  anil  assert- 
 ing i  heir  independence. 
 
 (-)  Mako  thoe  bonds  and  yokes.— This  met  hod 
 of  vivid  symbolic  prediction  had  a  precedent  in  the 
 conduct  of  Isaiah  when  he  walked  "naked  and  bare- 
 foot" (Iaa.  xx.  2).  We  have  to  realise  the  infinitely 
 more  vivid  impression  which  the  appearance  of  the 
 prophet  in  this  strange  guise,  a-  though  ho  wero  at 
 
 ■  a  captive  slave  and  a  beast  of  burden,  would  mako 
 
 the  minds  of  men,  as  compared  with  simply  warning 
 them  of  a  coming   subjugation.      The   principl 
 
 which  the  prophet  acted  was  that  of  Horace  I'.n.  ad 
 Pis.  180)  ?- 
 
 "  Segnius  irritant  animoa  demtssa  per  aures  . 
 
 i  '/"■•  foil  o<-uiis  eubfectafldelUma,  it  quce 
 sihi  tnutit  spectator. 
 
 "Things  that  we  hear  leas  -air  the  inmost  soul. 
 Than  what  the  eye  sees  dramatised  in  act." 
 
 So  Agabus  bound  himself  with  Haul's  girdle  'Acts  xxi. 
 11).  So  Ezokiel  due  through  the  wall  of  his  bouse  and 
 carried  out  his  stuff  (Esek.  iii.5.  7),     We  find  from 
 
 93 
 
 chap,  xxviii.  10  that  tlio  prophet  obeyed  the  command 
 quito  literally. 
 
 (;)  And  sond  thom  to  tho  king  of  Edom.— 
 The  princes  thai  are  named  had,  as  the  context  ahowB, 
 sent  their  ambassadors  to  Zedekiah,  proposing  an  alli- 
 ance against  Nebuchadnezzar.  They  are  named  in  the 
 samo  order  as  in  the  prophecy  of  ohap.  xxv.  21,  -'- 
 which    had   been    delivered    lifteen    year-,    before. 
 
 prophecy  then  delivered  had  been  in  pari  fulfilled 
 but  these  princes  wire  still  struggling  against  it, 
 encouraged,  apparently,  by  the  difficulties  which  in 
 Media  and  elsewhere  seemed  to  delay  the  eomp 
 triumph  of  tho  Chaldsean  king;  and  the  prophet  is 
 commissioned  to  tell  all  of  them  aliko  that  their 
 efforts  are  in  vain,  and  that  the  supremacy  of 
 ISabylon  was,  for  the  time,  part  of  God's  order,  fur 
 the  chastisement  of  the  nations.  Iu  chap.  xlix.  we 
 have  a  fuller,  and  probably  later,  development  of  tie- 
 same  strain  of  prediction. 
 
 H)  Thus  saith  tho  Lord  of  hosts,  tho  God  of 
 Israel. — As  addressed  to  the  outlying  heathen  nations, 
 who  were  not  His  worshippers,  the  proclamation  of  the 
 message,  as  coming  from  Jehovah  Sabaoth,  the  God  of 
 Israel,  had  a  special  force,  which  we  hardly  appreciate 
 as  wo  read  the  English.  They,  with  their  hosts  of 
 earth,  were  setting  themselves  against  tho  Lord  of  the 
 hosts  alike  of  heaven  and  of  earth. 
 
 (5)  I  have  made  tho  oarth  .  .  .— The  pronoun 
 is  emphatic.  For  "upon  the  ground"  read  ■  n  l)i- 
 face  of  the  earth,  and  for  "it  seemed  meet  unto  mo" 
 t  1,1  my  eyes.  The  " stretched-out 
 arm"  is  a  phrase  specially  characteristic  of  tho  Book 
 of  Deuteronomy  iv.  34,  v.  15,  vii.  19,  xxvi.  8), and  may 
 be  noted  among  the  many  traces  of  iis  influence  on 
 Jeremiah's  language.    The  whole  preface,  which  i 
 
 to  a  height  of  rhythmic  loftiness  not  common  in 
 Jeremiah's  writings,  assorts  the  truth  thai  the  Creator 
 of  the  material  world  is  also  the  ruler  over  the  king- 
 doms of  the  earth.  For  a  like  utterance  of  tho  samo 
 thought,  see  Amos  iv.  1:!.  ix.  6. 
 («)  Nebuchadnezzar   .    .    .   my  servant.— Sec 
 
 Note  on  chap.  x\v.  !>  for  the  title  tlms  given.  The 
 special  stress  laid  on  "the  beasts  of  the  field "  is, 
 perhaps,  connected  with  the  resistance  of  the  nation- 
 
 to  the  levies  mad.-  by  the  Babylonian  officers  upon  their 
 
 horses  .and  cattle,   nr   their  claim  to   use  the  land  they 
 
 hud  subdued,  after  the  manner  which  we  s lepi 
 
 on  Assyrian  sculptures,  as  a  hunting-ground.     I 
 especially  the  account  of  Tiglath-P  hunting 
 
 expedition  in  Records  of  the  Past,  xi..  p.  :'. 
 
Nebuchadnezzar  as  the 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXVII. 
 
 Servant  of  Jehovah. 
 
 <7)  And  all  nations  shall  serve  him,  and 
 his  son,  and  his  son's  son,  until  the  very 
 time  of  his  land  come  :  and  tben  many- 
 nations  and  great  kings  shall  serve 
 themselves  of  him.  (s>  And  it  shall 
 come  to  pass,  that  the  nation  and  king- 
 dom which  will  not  serve  the  same 
 Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  of  Babylon, 
 and  tli  at  will  not  put  their  neck  under 
 the  yoke  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  that 
 nation  will  I  punish,  saith  the  Lord, 
 with  the  sword,  and  with  the  famine, 
 and  with  the  pestilence,  until  I  have 
 consumed  them  by  his  hand.  (9)  There- 
 fore hearken  not  ye  to  your  prophets, 
 nor  to  your  diviners,  nor  to  your 
 1  dreamers,  nor  to  your  enchanters,  nor 
 to  your  sorcerers,  which  speak  unto  you, 
 saying,  Ye  sball  not  serve  the  king  of 
 Babylon :  '10>  for  they  prophesy  a  lie 
 unto  you,  to  remove  you  far  from  your 
 land ;  and  that  I  should  drive  you  out, 
 and  ye  should  perish.  <u)  But  the  na- 
 tions that  bring  their  neck  under  the 
 yoke  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  serve 
 
 1  Heb.,  dreams. 
 
 I  eta.  14.  14 ;  &  2:: 
 21 ;  &  29. 8. 
 
 Heb.,  in  a  lie,  or 
 lyingly. 
 
 him,  those  will  I  let  remain  still  in  their 
 own  land,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  they 
 shall  till  it,  and  dwell  therein. 
 
 <12)  I  spake  also  to  Zedekiah  king  of 
 Judah  according  to  all  these  Avords, 
 saying,  Bring  your  necks  under  the  yoke 
 of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  serve  him 
 and  his  people,  and  live.  <13)  Why  will 
 ye  die,  thou  and  thy  people,  by  the 
 sword,  by  the  famine,  and  by  the  pesti- 
 lence, as  the  Lord  hath  spoken  against 
 the  nation  that  will  not  serve  the  king 
 of  Babylon  ?  <u*  Therefore  hearken  not 
 unto  the  words  of  the  prophets  that 
 speak  unto  you,  saying,  Ye  shall  not 
 serve  the  king  of  Babylon :  for  they 
 prophesy  "a  lie  unto  you.  (15)  For  I 
 have  not  sent  them,  saith  the  Lord, 
 yet  they  prophesy  2a  lie  in  my  name; 
 that  I  might  drive  you  out,  and  that  ye 
 might  perish,  ye,  and  the  prophets  that 
 prophesy  unto  you. 
 
 <16>  Also  I  spake  to  the  priests  and  to 
 all  this  people,  saying,  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  ;    Hearken   not   to  the  words  of 
 
 V)  And  his  son,  and  his  son's  son. — The  words 
 may  have  had  the  meaning  that  this  was  to  he  the 
 farthest  limit  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dynasty,  as  denned 
 by  the  "  seventy  years  "  of  chap.  xxv.  11.  The  use  of 
 the  phrase,  however,  in  Exod.  xxxiv.  7,  Deut.  iv.  25, 
 points  rather  to  an  undefined  prolongation,  subject  only 
 to  the  fact  that  there  was  an  appointed  limit.  His- 
 torically we  may  note  the  fact  that  Nebuchadnezzar 
 was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Evil-merodach  (chap.  lii.  31) ; 
 he  by  his  brother-in-law,  Neriglissar,  and  he  by  Nabou- 
 ahid  and  his  sou  Belshazzar.    (See  Introduction.) 
 
 Shall  serve  themselves  of  him. — Better,  shall 
 make  him  to  serve.  It  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
 that  the  prononn  refers  to  the  King  of  Babylon  for  the 
 time  being.  The  confederacy  of  nations  which  shall 
 overthrow  the  Babylonian  monarchy,  Medes  and  others, 
 is  described  more  fully  in  chap.  li.  11,  27,  28.  The  words 
 were  clearly  meant  to  point  both  ways.  They  warn  the 
 nations  not  to  resist  the  Chaldsean  king  then.  They 
 warn  the  king  not  to  think  that  he  is  founding  a 
 dynasty  of  long  duration.  The  whole  verse  is  wanting 
 in  the  LXX.,  perhaps  because  they  imagined  that  the 
 "  son's  son  "  of  verse  7  was  inconsistent  with  the  facts 
 of  history,  as  they  read  them. 
 
 (8)  That  nation  will  I  punish.— Better,  I  will 
 visit.  The  three  forms  of  punishment  go  naturally 
 together.  In  Ezek.  xiv.  21  they  appear,  with  the  addi- 
 tion of  the  "  noisome  beast,"  as  the  four  sore  iudgments 
 of  God.  h 
 
 (9)  Therefore  hearken  ye  not  to  your  pro- 
 phets.— The  almost  exhaustive  list  of  the  names  given 
 to  the  men  who  claimed  the  power  of  prevision,  may 
 have  had  its  ground  in  the  fact  that  each  of  the  five 
 names  was  characteristic  of  this  or  that  among  the  five 
 nations  to  whom  the  message  was  sent.  Of  the  names 
 themselves,  the  prominent  idea  in  "  prophet "  is  that  of 
 full-flowing  utterance ;  in  "  diviners,"  that  of  casting 
 lots,  as  in  Ezek,  xxi.  21 ;    in   "  dreamers,  "  what  the 
 
 91 
 
 English  word  indicates ;  in  enchanters,  that  of  prac- 
 tising "  veiled  "  or  "  secret "  arts  (Lev.  xix.  26  ;  Deut. 
 xviii.  10) ;  in  "  sorcerers,"  that  of  muttered  and  whis- 
 pered spells  (Isa.  viii.  19,  xlvii.  9 — 13 ;  2  Kings  ix.  22). 
 It  is  clear  that  the  five  nations  of  the  confederacy  were 
 sustained  in  their  rebellion  against  Nebuchadnezzar  by 
 a  unanimity  of  prediction  from  men  of  all  these  classes 
 like  that  which  lured  Ahab  to  his  destruction  (1  Kings 
 xxii.  22).  Every  oracle  was  tuned,  as  it  were,  in  favour 
 of  the  policy  of  resistance. 
 
 (in)  To  remove  you  far  from  your  land. — The 
 prophet  speaks  of  what  he  foresees  will  be  the  result  of 
 the  rebellion  to  which  soothsayers  and  diviners  were 
 urging  men,  as  if  it  were  actually  contemplated  by 
 them.  They  are  to  him  like  the  lying  spirit  in  the 
 mouth  of  Ahab's  prophets  persuading  him  to  go  up  to 
 Ramoth  Gilcad  to  battle,  in  order  that  he  might  perish. 
 
 (U)  But  the  nations  that  bring  their  neck 
 under  the  yoke  .  .  . — The  advice  thus  given  to  the 
 five  nations  that  were  seeking  an  alliance  with  Judah 
 before  the  actual  invasion,  is  specifically  addressed  to 
 Judah  in  the  next  verse,  and  is  repeated  more  fully 
 after  the  population  of  Jndeea  had  been  carried  into 
 captivity,  in  chap.  xxix.  The  first  warning  had  been 
 despised,  and  the  exiles  were  then  reaping  the  fruit  of 
 their  selfwill,  but  the  principle  that  obedience  was 
 better  than  resistance  remained  the  same. 
 
 (12)  I  spake  also  to  Zedekiah  .  .  . — There  was, 
 as  we  see  in  chap,  xxviii.  13,  a  party  of  resistance  in 
 Judah  also,  and  they,  too,  were  trusting  in  delusive 
 prophecies  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Chaldsean  monarchy. 
 Sadly  and  earnestly  the  prophet  pleads  witli  thcin  in 
 the  question,  "  Why  will  yo  die,  thou  and  thy  people, 
 by  the  sword    .    .    .  ? 
 
 (is)  Behold  the  vessels  of  the  Lord's  house  .  . . 
 — The  importance  attached  to  this  specific  prediction, 
 on  which  apparently  the  false  prophets  staked  their 
 credit,  can  easily  be  understood.     The  vessels  referred 
 
/'/„•  Vessels  qftht  Lords  Home        .!  EREMIAH,    XX  VIII. 
 
 i  Babylon, 
 
 your  prophets  that  prophesy  unto  you, 
 Baying]  Behold,  the  vessels  of  the  Lord's 
 bouse  shall  now  shortly  be  brought 
 again  from  Babylon:  for  they  prophesy 
 ;i  lie  onto  you.  "''  Hearken  not  unto 
 them;  serve  the  king  of  Babylon,  and 
 live :  w berefore  should  this  city  be  laid 
 
 waste  y  ,ls>  But  it'  they  be  prophets, 
 anil    if  the    word   of  the    L<>i:ii    lie   with 
 
 them,  let  them  now  make  intercession 
 to  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  the  vessels 
 which  are  left  in  the  house  of  the 
 Loed,  and    in    the   house  of  the  king  of 
 
 Judah,  and   at  Jerusalem,  go  not  to 
 
 Babylon,      <1!l)    For  thus  suit  h    t  he    Loi:i) 
 
 of  hosts  concerning  the  pillars,  and  con- 
 cerning the  sea,  and   concerning  the 
 
 ba8es,  and  Concerning  the  residue  of  t  he 
 
 vessels  I  hat  remain  in  this  city,  IJ"'  which 
 Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  IJahylon  took 
 not,  when  he  carried  away  "captive  Je- 
 
 (.  :  King 
 
 coniab   the   sou  of  Jehoiakim  bang  of 
 Judah  from  Jerusalem  to  Babylon,  and 
 all  the  nobles  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  ; 
 (M  yea,  thus  sail h  t be  Loan  of  1 
 the  <  '".l  of  [srael,  concerning  the  \* 
 
 that   remain    in    the   house   of  the    LoBD, 
 
 and  in  the  house  of  the  king  of  Judah 
 and  of  Jerusalem;  ("1  they  shall  be 
 'carried  to  Babylon,  and  there  shall 
 they  be  until  the  day  that  I  visit  them, 
 saith  the  Loan;  then  will  1  bring  them 
 up,  and  restore  them  to  this  place. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVIII.- i  Audit  came 
 to  cass  the  same  year,  in  the  beginning 
 of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah, 
 in  the  fourth  year,  and  in  the  fifth 
 month,  that  Ilananiah  the  son  of  A/ur 
 the  prophet,  which  was  of  Gibeon,  spake 
 unto  me  in  the  bouse  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
 presence  of  the  priests  and  of  all  the 
 
 to  arc  tliosr  which  had  been  carried  off  by  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar in  his  first  invasion,  and  before  the  accession  of 
 Zedekiah  (2  Kings  xxiv.  13;  -  Chron.  xxxvi.  7).  The 
 people  mourned  over  the  absence  of  what  tliey  had  so 
 prized  among  the  treasures  of  the  Temple,  .-nut  the 
 
 prophets  at rdingly  soothed  them  with   predictions 
 
 thai  they  would  before  long  l>c  brought  hack.  In 
 marked  contrast  to  these  prophecies  of  their  restoration 
 •■  shortly,"  we  find  them  brought  out  tor  use  at  Bel- 
 shazzars  feast,  inwards  the  dose  of  tho  Babylonian 
 exile  (Dan.  i.  _;  v.  2),  and  restored  to  the  .lews  by 
 Cyrus,  after  the  capture  ef  Babylon  (Ezra  i.  7).  In 
 the  apocrypha]  book  of  Barnch  (i.  8)  we  find  a  tradi- 
 tion that  seine  .if  them  (silver,  not  gold)  were  restored 
 in  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  but  this  can  hardly  be  regarded 
 as  historical.    It  is  noticeable  that  the  restoration  is 
 
 i nected,  in  that  narrative,  with  I  he  agency  of  Baruch 
 
 himself,  ami  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  he  would  have 
 brought  about  a  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  of  the 
 false  prophets,  who  were  his  Blaster's  enemies. 
 
 (W)  Hearken  not  unto  them.— The  prophecy  of 
 the  restoration  of  the  vessels  of  the  Temple  was  clearly 
 not  a  mere  prediction.  It  bad  been  used  as  bo  incen- 
 tive to  rebellion.  "Mako  one  last  effort,"  the  prophets 
 virtually  said,  "and  the  spoiler  shall  be  compelled  to 
 
 disgorge    his  booty."     The  prophet   saw  that    such  an 
 
 effort  would  tint  hasten  tho  otter  destruction  of  the 
 Temple  and  the  cit  v. 
 
 <ls>  But  if  they  bo  prophets  .  .  .— The  rivals  of 
 Jeremiah  bad,  as  has  been  said,  staked  their  credit 
 upon  the  return  of  the  vessels  thai  had  already  been 
 taken,  lie  stakes  his  on  the  prediction  that  what  had 
 been  spared  in  the  first  invasion  should  be  taken  on  the 
 
 ■id.       They    had    heller   use    theii-   griff    of    the    Spirit, 
 
 if  they  had  any.  in  interceding  for  their  preservation. 
 
 (»"  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  con- 
 corning  the  pillars  .  .  .—The  "pillars'-  referred  to 
 
 were  probably  the  two  bronj lumns  known  as  Jachin 
 
 and  Boaz,  on  each  side  of  the  porch  of  the  Temple 
 (1  Kings  vii.  l'1).     The  molten  "sea,"  standing  on 
 
 twelve  oxen  as   it>  supporters,  is  described  in    1    Kind's 
 
 vii.  23— 26.     The  ten  "bases"  for  the  ten  lavers,  with 
 
 their  engraved  work  of  cherubim,  lions,  and  palm-trees, 
 
 are  described  in  1  Kings  vii.  :!7 — :;7.  The  work  of 
 plunder  was  apparently   confined,  in   the  first   instance, 
 
 to  the  more  portable  vessels    cups,  flagons,  and  the 
 
 like.  The  absence  of  tho  specific  list  of  the  vs-cls  in 
 tho  LXX.  version  has  led  some  critics  to  the  con- 
 clusion that  it  was  a  later  addition  to  the  Hebrew  text. 
 
 -1  They  shall  be  carried  to  Babylon.  The 
 fulfilment  of  the  prediction  is  recorded  in  -  Kings  xxv. 
 13-17. 
 
 Until  the  day  that  I  visit  them.— The  date 
 is  not  given  definitely,  but  seventy  years  had  been 
 already  named  as  the  period  between  the  plunder  and 
 the  restoration  (chap.  xxv.  12).     Here  the  undefined 
 
 vagueness  of  "the  day  that  I  will  visit  them"  is  con- 
 trasted with  the  equally  indefinite  but  more  exciting 
 "  shortly  "  of  the  false  prophet-,  (Terse  16  . 
 
 XXTIII. 
 (D  And  it  came  to  pass  the  same  year  .  .  . 
 
 — The    chapter    stands     in    immediate    aSOUe with 
 
 that  which  precedes  ami  confirms  the  conclusion  that 
 
 the  name  Jehoiakim  in  chap,  xxvii.  1  is  simply  a  tran- 
 srriher's  mistake.  Of  the  Ilananiah  who  appears  as 
 the  most  prominent  of  the  prophet's  adversaries,  we 
 know  nothing  beyond  what  is  here  recorded.  He  was 
 clearly  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  party  of  resistance 
 whom  we  have  seen  at  work  trying  to  form  an  alliance 
 with  the  neighbouring  nations  in  chap,  xxvii..  and  whose 
 
 hopes  had  been  revived  by  the  accession  of  Phai 
 Hophra  (Apries)  to  the  thro (  Egypt  in  B.C.  595. 
 
 The  mention  of  Gibeon  BUggests  two  or  three  thoughts 
 
 not  without  interest  : —  li  li  was, like Anathoth, within 
 the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  about  six  oar  aeven  miles  from 
 Jerusalem,  and  so  the  antagonism  between  the  true 
 prophet  and  the  false  in  Jerusalem  may  have  been  the 
 
 revival  of  older  local  conflicts.  -  Gilx-on.  like  Ana- 
 thoth. was  one  of  the  cities  of  priests  Josh  xxi.  17  . 
 and  Ilananiah  was  probably,  therefore,  a  priest  as  w.  II 
 as  prophet.  :5l  As  Mill  retaining  the  venerable  relics 
 of  a  worship  that  had  passed  away:  it  had  also 
 once  been  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah    1  ('hron.  xvi 
 
 There  the  old  tabernacle  st 1  which  had  been  with  the 
 
 people  in  the  wilderness — which  had  been  removed  from 
 
Hcmaniah's  Fake  Prophecy . 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXVIII. 
 
 The  Yoke  Broken. 
 
 people,  saying,  '2>  Thus  speaketh  the 
 Loed  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  saying, 
 I  have  broken  the  yoke  of  the  king  of 
 Babylon.  (3)  Within  Hwo  full  years 
 will  I  bring  again  into  this  place  all  the 
 vessels  of  the  Lord's  house,  that  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar king  of  Babylon  took  away 
 from  this  place,  and  carried  them  to 
 Babylon :  (4)  and  I  will  bring  again  to 
 this  place  Jeconiah  the  son  of  Jehoiakim 
 king  of  Judah,  with  all  the  "  captives  of 
 Judah,  that  went  into  Babylon,  saith 
 the  Lord  :  for  I  will  break  the  yoke  of 
 the  king  of  Babylon. 
 
 <5>  Then  the  prophet  Jeremiah  said 
 unto  the  prophet  Hananiah  in  the 
 presence  of  the  priests,  and  in  the 
 presence  of  all  the  people  that  stood  in 
 the  house  of  the  Lord,  <G)  even  the 
 prophet  Jeremiah  said,  Amen :  the  Lord 
 do  so :  the  Lord  perform  thy  words 
 which  thou   hast  prophesied,  to  bring 
 
 1  Hel).,  two  years 
 of  duys. 
 
 Ht-h.,  captwitij. 
 
 again  the  vessels  of  the  Lord's  house, 
 and  all  that  is  carried  away  captive,  from 
 Babylon  into  this  place.  (7)  Nevertheless, 
 hear  thou  now  this  word  that  I  speak 
 in  thine  ears,  and  in  the  ears  of  all  the 
 people ;  (8)  the  prophets  that  have  been 
 before  me  and  before  thee  of  old  prophe- 
 sied both  against  many  countries,  and 
 against  great  kingdoms,  of  war,  and  of 
 evil,  and  of  pestilence.  (9>  The  prophet 
 which  prophesieth  of  peace,  when  the 
 word  of  the  prophet  shall  come  to  pass, 
 then  shall  the  prophet  be  known,  that 
 the  Lord  hath  truly  sent  him. 
 
 (io)  Then  Hananiah  the  prophet  took 
 the  "yoke  from  off  the  prophet  Jere- 
 miah's neck,  and  brake  it.  (u>  And 
 Hananiah  spake  in  the  presence  of  all 
 the  people,  saying,  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  ;  Even  so  will  I  break  the  yoke 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon  from 
 the  neck  of  all  nations  within  the  space 
 
 Shiloli  when  the  sacred  ark  was  taken  (2  Ckron.  i.  3). 
 There  Solomon,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  offered  a 
 stately  sacrifice  (1  Kings  iii.  4).  Ought  not  the  prophet 
 who  had  grown  up  in  the  midst  of  those  surroundings 
 to  have  learnt  that  no  place,  however  sacred,  could 
 count  on  being  safe  from  the  changes  and  chances  of 
 time,  all  f ulfilling*the  righteous  purposes  of  God  ?  The 
 occasion  on  which  ho  now  appears  was  probably  one  of 
 the  new  moon,  Sabbath,  or  other  feast-days  on  which 
 the  courts  of  the  Temple  were  crowded. 
 
 (2)  I  have  broken  the  yoke  .  .  . — The  word 
 is  obviously  used  with  special  reference  to  the  symbol 
 which  Jeremiah  had  made  so  conspicuous  (chap,  xxvii.  2). 
 With  something,  it  may  be,  of  ironical  repetition,  lie 
 reproduces  the  very  formula  with  which  the  true 
 prophet  had  begun  his  message.  He,  too,  can  speak 
 in  the  name  of  "the  Lord  of  Sabaoth,  the  God  of 
 Israel." 
 
 (3)  Within  two  full  years. — Literally,  two  years 
 of  days.  Hananiah,  not  deterred  by  the  previous  warn- 
 ings of  Jeremiah,  becomes  bolder  iu  the  definiteuess  of 
 his  prediction.  The  conspiracy  of  Judah  and  the  neigh- 
 bouring states  against  Nebuchadnezzar  was  clearly 
 ripening,  and  he  looked  on  its  success  as  certain. 
 Prediction  stood  against  prediction,  and,  as  there  were 
 no  signs  or  wonders  wrought,  men  had  to  judge  from 
 what  they  knew  of  the  lives  of  the  men  who  uttered 
 them  which  of  them  was  most  worthy  of  credit.  The 
 contest  between  the  two  prophets  reminds  us  of  Deut. 
 xviii.  20—22. 
 
 (4)  And  I  will  bring  again  to  this  place 
 Jeconiah  the  son  of  Jehoiakim  .  .  . — We  get.  here 
 a  new  glimpse  into  tho  nature  of  the  anti-Chaldeean 
 confederacy.  Zedekiah  was  to  be  deposed  as  too  sub- 
 missive to  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  the  young  Jeconiah 
 was  to  be  brought  back  from  his  prison  at  Babylon, 
 and  re-established  in  the  kingdom  as  the  representative 
 of  the  policy  of  resistance,  resting  on  tho  support  of 
 Pharaoh-Hophra. 
 
 (G)  Amen,  the  Lord  do  so. — It  is  impossible  to 
 mistake  the  tone  of  keen,  incisive  irony  with  which  tho 
 words  were  spoken.     The  speaker  could,  without  false- 
 
 9(3 
 
 hood,  echo  the  wish  as  far  as  it  was  a  wish,  but  he 
 knew  that  it  was  a  wish  for  the  impossible.  Tho  whole 
 condition  of  things  would  have  to  be  altered  before  there 
 could  be  the  slightest  prospect  of  its  fulfilment.  It 
 was  not  wise  to  pray  for  that  which  was  obviously  out 
 of  the  lines  of  God's  normal  methods  of  working  in 
 history,  and  against  His  purpose,  as  uttered  by  His 
 prophets. 
 
 (8)  The  prophets  that  have  been  before  me 
 and  before  thee  .  .  . — The  appeal  to  the  past  is  of 
 the  nature  of  an  inductive  argument.  The  older  prophets 
 whoso  names  were  held  in  honour  had  not  spoken 
 smooth  things.  They  had  not  prophesied  of  peace  ; 
 war,  pestilence,  and  famine  had  been  the  burden  of  their 
 predictions.  And  there  was,  therefore,  an  antecedent 
 probability  in  favour  of  ono  who  spoke  in  the  same 
 tone  now,  rather  than  of  those  who  held  out.  flattering 
 hopes  of  peace  and  victory.  The  onus  -prohandi  in 
 such  a  conflict  of  claims  lay  with  the  latter,  not  the 
 former.  Prophecies  like  those  of  Elijah  (1  Kings  xvii. 
 1,  xxi.  21—24),  Micaiah  (1  Kings  xxii.  17),  Elisha  (2 
 Kings  viii.  1),  Joel  (i.  1 — 20),  Hosea  (ii.  11,  12),  Amos 
 (i. — iv.),  Micah  (iii.  12),  Isaiah  (ii. — vi.),  were  probably 
 in  Jeremiah's  thoughts. 
 
 (9)  The  prophet  which  prophesieth  of  peace. 
 — "Peace,"  with  its  Hebrew  associations,  includes  all 
 forms  of  national  prosperity,  and  is  therefore  contrasted 
 with  famine  and  pestilence,  not  less  than  with  war. 
 The  obvious  reference  to  tho  test  of  a  prophet's  work, 
 as  described  in  Deut.  xviii.  22,  shows,  as  other  like 
 references,  the  impression  which  that  book  had  made 
 on  the  prophet's  mind. 
 
 (io,  ii)  Then  Hananiah  the  prophet  took  the 
 yoke  .  .  . — We  are  reminded  of  the  conduct  of  Zede- 
 kiah, the  son  of  Chenaanah,iu  1  Kings  xxii.  24.  Personal 
 violence,  as  has  been  the  case  in  some  Christian  contro- 
 versies, takes  the  place  of  further  debate.  The  hateful 
 symbols  of  servitude  should  not  bo  allowed  to  outrage 
 the  feelings  of  the  people  any  longer.  His  success  in 
 breaking  that  was  to  be  tho  pledge  of  the  destruction 
 of  the  power  which  it  represented.  Jeremiah,  it  will 
 be  noted,  does  not  resist  or  retaliate,  but  commits  him- 
 
The  />'  nth  of  Hananiah. 
 
 JEREMIAB     XXIX. 
 
 of  two  full  yean.  And  tJxe  prophet 
 Jeremiah  went  his  wag . 
 
 ('-'  Then  the  word  of  the  Lobs  came 
 unto  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  after  thai 
 Eananiah  the  prophet  had  broken  the 
 roke  Prom  off  the  neck  of  the  prophet 
 
 Jeremiah,  Baying,  ,l;'  Go  and  tell  Hana- 
 niah, Baying,  Thus  Baith  the  Lobd; 
 Thou  liast  broken  the  yokes  of  wood; 
 but  thou  shalt  make  for  them  yokes  of 
 iron.  (U)  For  thus  Baith  the  Loan  "I 
 hosts,  the  God  of  Israel;  1  have  put  a 
 yoke  of  iron  upon  the  neck  of  all  these 
 nations,  that  they  may  serve  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar king  of  Babylon;  ami  they  shall 
 serve  him:  and  I  have  given  him  the 
 beasts  of  the  field  also. 
 
 "■'"  Then  said  the  prophet  Jeremiah 
 untn  Hananiah  the  prophet.  Hear  now, 
 Hananiah  ;  the  LOBD  hat  h  not  sent  thee  • 
 but  thou  makest  this  people  to  trust  in 
 
 11,'MI.    13.   5,  ell 
 
 cir.  aui. 
 
 II.  I' 
 
 a    i 
 
 JKlngi . 
 
 .'  Ortchamber\ain». 
 
 a    lie.        !     Therefore   thus   saith    the 
 Lobd;  Behold,  I  will  cast  thee  from  off 
 the  face  of  the  earth :    this  year  thou 
 shall    'lie,    he, -an,,.   I),, ,11   bast    taught 
 ■  i  rebellion  against  the  Lobd. 
 
 (17>  Sn  Hananiah  the  pn.phet  died  tho 
 Same  year  in  the  seventh  month. 
 
 CHAPTER  X  X I X .— ■ '  N< m  these  are 
 the  words  of  the  letter  that  Jeremiah 
 the  prophet  Bent  from  Jerusalem  unto 
 the  residue  of  the  elders  which  were 
 carried  away  captives,  ami  to  the 
 priests,  and  to  the  prophets,  ami  to  all 
 the  people  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
 carried  away  captive  from  .Jerusalem  to 
 Babylon;  <->  (alter  that  'Jeconiah  the 
 king,  ami  the  queen,  ami  the  'eunuchs, 
 the  princes  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem, 
 and  the  carpenters,  ami  the  smiths, 
 were  departed  from  Jerusalem;)    <3)  by 
 
 self  I,,  Him  that  judgeth  righteously.     "  He  "cut  his 
 
 way." 
 
 (fa)  Then  the  word  of  the  Lord  .  .  .—The  narra- 
 tive suggests  the  thought  of  a  ti of  silent  Buffering  and 
 
 of  prayer,  In  wliicli  tli,'  "  word  of  th,'  [jnnl "  came  as  an 
 
 answer.  Ami  thai  word  declared,  keeping  to  the  same 
 symbolism  as  before,  that  all  attempts  at  resistance  t,, 
 tho  power  which  was  for  tho  time  tho  scourge,  and 
 therefore  tho  servant,  of  Jehovah,  would  only  end  in  a 
 
 moro   bitter  anil   aggravated   hoiidage.       In   tho   "iron 
 
 yoke"  we  have  an  echo  of  Dent  xxviii.  18. 
 
 W)  I  havo  given  him  the  beasts  of  the  field 
 also. — On  tho  significance  of  thin  addition  sec  Xote 
 on  chap,  zxvii.  ti. 
 
 (is)  Hear  now,  Hananiah  .  .  .— Tho  narrative 
 loa\os  the  time  and  place  of  the  interview  uncertain, 
 
 lint   suggests  an  interval  of  some  days   between   it  and 
 
 the  soono  in  tho  Temple  court  just  narrated.  In  the 
 strength  of  tin-  ••  word  of  tho  Lord"  which  had  come 
 
 to   him.  tho   prophet  r.'in   now  toll  his  rival   that    ho  is  a 
 
 pretender,  claiming  tho  gift  of  prophecy  for  his  own 
 purposes  ami  that  of  his  party.    There  is  a  strange 
 significance  in  tho  fact  that  the  same  official  title  is 
 applied  to  both  the  true  and  the  false  prophets. 
 i'"1  I  will  cast  thee  .  .  .— Literally.  /  tend  thee. 
 
 The  verb  is  the  same  as  in  tho  preceding  verso,  and  is 
 
 repeated  with  an  emphatic  irony. 
 
 This  year  thou  shalt  die  .  .  .—The  punishment 
 is  announced,  with  time  given  for  repentance.     In  part, 
 
 perhaps,  ill,,  threat  may  have  tended  to  work  nut  its 
 own  fulfilment  through  the   gnawing  consciousness  of 
 
 shame    and    ifusion    in    the    detection    of    tho    false 
 
 prophet's  assumptions.  Ho  know  that  the  Lord  had 
 not  sent  him.  Seven  months  passed,  and  then  the 
 stroke  foil.  It  ;s  oue  0f  the  instances  of  the  prophet's 
 work,  as  "rooting  out"  and  "polling  down"  chap.  i. 
 10),  and  has  iis  parallels  in  the  punishment  of  Ananias, 
 in  Acts  v.  I.  ",,  and  of  ESlymas,  in  Acts  xiii.  11. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 (i)  These  are  the  words.— The  propneov  in  this 
 chapter  was  addressed  to  those  whom  wo  ma\  describe 
 
 as    tho  first  of  tho   Babylonian  exiles   who  had   been 
 146 
 
 carried  into  captivity  with  . I, 'coniah  (see   Note  on  chap. 
 
 xxxv.  2).    Among  th,-so  also,  probably  in  connection 
 
 with  the  projects  which  we  have  I  ra 1  in  the  pre- 
 ceding chapter,  there  was  a  restless  disquietude,  fostered 
 
 by    false    prophets,    who    urged     the    | pie    to    rebel 
 
 against  their  conquerors.    Against  that  policy  Jeremiah. 
 
 in  accordance  with  th amotions  on  which  he  had  all 
 
 along  acted,  enters  an   earnest  protest      The  letter  was 
 
 sent  by  special  messengers, of  whom  we  read  inverse  '■'•, 
 and  slmus  that  Jeremiah  had  been  kept  well  informed 
 
 of    all    that    passed   at    Babylon.     The  spelling  of  tic 
 
 prophet's  name,  in  the   Hebrew  text,  as   Jeremiah, 
 
 instead  of  the  form  Jerotnia/i ».  which  is  the  more 
 common  form  throughout  the  hook,  is  probably  an 
 indication  that  the  opening  verso  which  introdo 
 letter  was  the  work  of  a  later  hand.  The  date  of  the 
 letter  was  probably  early  in  the  reign  of  Zc  lekiah. 
 before    the    incidents    of    the    previous    chapter.      It    is 
 
 brought  before  us  as  following  in  almost  immediate 
 so, pie]  on  th,-  deportation  mentioned  in  verse  -.  The 
 term  "  residue  of  the  elders."  in  connexion  with  "  priests 
 
 and  prophets,"  points  to  the  fa.-t  that  the  whole  body 
 of  counsellors,  go  named,  had  ttot  been  carried  into 
 exile,  hut  only  the  more  prominent  inemliers.  Such 
 "elders"  we  tied  in  K/ek.  viii.  1.  xx.  1.  Ezekiel 
 himself  may  he  thought  of  as  among  the  priests  and 
 prophets. 
 
 -  The  queen.— This  was  probably  the  qneen- 
 mother,  Nehushta,  the  daughter  of  Klnathan  2  Kind's 
 xxiv.  8).  The  name  probably  indicates  a  connection 
 with  the  Elnathan  the  s,,n  of  Achhor.  ,,f  chap  xxvi.  •22, 
 hut  we  cannot  assert  with  any  confidence  the  identity 
 of  the  one  with  the  other. 
 
 The  carpenters,  and   tho  smiths.— See  Note 
 
 on  chap.  xxiv.  1.  Aiming  the  exiles  thus  referred  t"  as 
 "  princes  "  we  have  to  think  of  Daniel,  and  those  who 
 are  best  known  to  us  hv  their  Bahylonian  DM 
 Shadraoh,  ICeshach,  ami  Abed-nego  (Dan.  i.  'i.  7. 
 The  conduct,  we  ni.iv  well  believe,  was  in  accordance 
 with  Jeremiah's  teaching. 
 
 By  the  hand  of  Elasah  .  .  .—The  nan 
 th,-  messengers  are  of  some  interest.     Elasah,  t 
 of  shaphan.  was  the  brother  of  Jeremiah's  pro 
 
Jeremiah's  Letter 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXIX. 
 
 to  tlie  Jews  at  Babylon. 
 
 the  hand  of  Elasah  the  son  of  Shaphan, 
 and  Geniariah  the  son  of  Hiikiah, 
 (whom  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah  sent 
 unto  Babylon  to  Nebuchadnezzar  king 
 of  Babylon)  saying,  (4)  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  unto 
 all  that  are  carried  away  captives, 
 whom  I  have  caused  to  be  carried  away 
 from  Jerusalem  unto  Babylon ; 
 
 <5'  Build  ye  houses,  and  dwell  in  them  ; 
 and  plant  gardens,  and  eat  the  fruit  of 
 them  ;  <6)  take  ye  wives,  and  beget  sons 
 and  daughters  ;  and  take  wives  for  your 
 sons,  and  give  your  daughters  to  hus- 
 bands, that  they  may  bear  sons  and 
 daughters ;  that  ye  may  be  increased 
 there,  and  not  diminished.  (7)  And 
 seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I 
 have  caused  you  to  be    carried    away 
 
 a  cb.  H.  14;  &  23 
 21 ;  &  27.  15. 
 
 1  Hcb.,  in  a  lie. 
 
 B.  C. 
 
 cir.  Gu6. 
 
 b  2  Chrrm.  36.  21, 
 22 ;  Ezra  1.1;  ch. 
 23.  12  ;  &  27.  22  ; 
 Dan.  9.  2. 
 
 2  Heb.,   end    and 
 expectation. 
 
 captives,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for 
 it :  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye 
 have  peace. 
 
 <8>  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 the  God  of  Israel ;  Let  not  your 
 prophets  and  your  diviners,  that  be  in 
 the  midst  of  you,  "deceive  you,  neither 
 hearken  to  your  dreams  which  ye  cause 
 to  be  dreamed.  <9'  For  they  prophesy 
 1  falsely  unto  you  in  my  name :  I  have 
 not  sent  them,  saith  the  Lord.  <10>  For 
 thus  saith  the  Lord,  That  after  *  seventy 
 years  be  accomplished  at  Babylon  I  will 
 visit  you,  and  perform  my  good  word 
 toward  you,  in  causing  you  to  return  to 
 this  place.  <u)  For  I  know  the  thoughts 
 that  I  think  toward  you,  saith  the 
 Lord,  thoughts  of  peace,  and  not  of 
 evil,    to   give   you   an  ~  expected    end. 
 
 Aliikam  (chap.  xxvi.  24).  Geniariah  (to  be  distin- 
 guished from  his  namesake  the  son  of  Shaphan  in 
 chap,  xxxvi.  12)  was  probably  the  son  of  Hiikiah,  the 
 high-priest  under  Josiah  who  found  the  lost  Book  of 
 the  Law  (2  Kings  xxii.  4),  and  took  a  prominent  part 
 in  the  work  of  reformation.  Each  would  therefore 
 naturally  take  his  place  among  the  prophet's  friends 
 and  supporters.  They  carried  his  letter  as  well  as  the 
 diplomatic  missive  of  the  king.  That  they  had  been 
 sent  as  envoys  by  Zedekiah  indicates  that  the  policy  of 
 the  weak  and  vacillating  king  had  been  to  some  extent 
 affected  by  the  counsels  of  Jeremiah,  and  that  he  had 
 at  least  half  abandoned  the  idea  of  revolt,  and  had 
 sent  to  acknowledge  the  suzerainty  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 It  is  hardly  likely,  at  least,  that  the  letter  from  the 
 prophet,  of  which  they  were  the  bearers,  should  have 
 been  in  flagrant  antagonism  with  their  mission  as 
 envoys  froni  the  king.  The  embassy  was  probably 
 prior  to  the  personal  visit  of  Zechariah  recorded  in 
 chap.  li.  59. 
 
 (■*)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  .  .  .—We 
 have  here  the  nearest  parallel  in  the  Old  Testament  to 
 the  Epistles  which  make  up  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
 New,  the  very  text  of  a  written  letter  sent  to  those 
 with  whom  the  teacher  was  no  longer  able  to  hold 
 personal  communication.  It  obviously  furnished  the 
 typo  which  was  followed  by  the  writer  of  the  apocry- 
 phal letter  from  Jeremiah  iu  Baruch  vi. 
 
 P)  Build  ye  houses,  and  dwell  in  them. — 
 The  command  had  a  two-fold  bearing.  It  counselled  a 
 patient  acceptance  of  the  present  state  of  things.  It 
 announced,  as  the  next  verse  does  yet  more  emphatically, 
 that  their  exile  would  last  for  at  least  two  generations. 
 It  indicates,  also,  the  comparative  leniency  with  which 
 the  exiles  were  treated.  They  were  allowed  to  become 
 possessors  both  of  lands  and  houses.  The  favour 
 shown  to  Daniel  and  his  friends  would,  of  course,  tend 
 to  make  their  condition  more  tolerable. 
 
 (?)  And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city  .  .  . — This 
 was,  we  may  believe,  the  hardest  command  of  all.  To 
 refrain  from  all  curses  and  imprecations,  even  from 
 such  as  came  from  the  lips  of  those  who  hung  their 
 harps  on  the  willows  by  the  waters  of  Babylon  (Ps. 
 cxxxvii.).  to  pray  for  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the 
 city  where  they  were  eating  the  bread  of  captivity — 
 
 this  surely  required  an  almost  superhuman  patience. 
 Yet  this  was  the  prophet's  counsel.  It  seems  almost  to 
 follow — unless  we  apply  Augustine's  rule,  Distingue 
 tempora,  aud  refer  the  psalm  to  a  time  prior  to 
 Jeremiah's  letter,  or  nearer  the  day  of  vengeance — that 
 those  imprecations,  natural  as  they  seem,  belonged  to  a 
 lower  stage  of  spiritual  progress  than  that  represented 
 by  the  prophet.  He  was,  to  those  impatient  exiles,  as 
 our  Lord  was  to  the  impatient  disciples  who  sought 
 to  call  down  fire  on  the  village  of  the  Samaritans 
 (Luke  ix.  54 — 56).  So,  we  may  remember,  Christians 
 living  under  Nero  were  told  to  pray  for  the  Emperor 
 (1  Tim.  ii.  2). 
 
 (8)  Let  not  your  prophets  and  your  diviners 
 .  .  . — The  words  are  significant  as  showing  that  the 
 same  agencies  which  were  counteracting  the  prophet's 
 teaching  in  Jerusalem  were  at  work  also  in  Babylon. 
 There,  too,  "  prophets  and  diviners,"  whom  the  Lord 
 had  not  sent,  were  prophesying  of  a  speedy  deliver- 
 ance, and  it  was  necessary  to  reiterate  for  those  who 
 would  listen  to  the  prophet's  warnings,  that  the  exile 
 would  run  its  appointed  course  of  seventy  years,  as 
 Jeremiah  had  announced  to  the  people  of  Jerusalem  in 
 chap.  xxv.  12,  xxvii.  22.  The  "dreams  which  ye  cause 
 to  be  dreamed"  (an  altogether  exceptional  phrase)  in- 
 dicates that  the  supply  was  created  by  a  demand  for 
 visions  of  this  nature. 
 
 (ii)  For  I  know  the  thoughts  .  .  .—The  word 
 used  for  "  saith  the  Lord "  implies  that  the  gracious 
 promise  came  to  the  prophet's  sold  as  an  oracle  from 
 heaven.  In  the  "  thoughts  "  of  God  there  is,  perhaps, 
 a  reference  to  what  had  been  said  before  of  the  Baby- 
 lonian exiles  in  chap.  xxiv.  6. 
 
 To  give  you  an  expected  end. — Better,  to  give 
 you  a  future  (that  which  is  to  bo  hereafter)  and  a  hope. 
 This  is  the  literal  rendering  of  the  words,  and  it  is  far 
 more  expressive  than  that  of  the  English  version.  An 
 "expected  end"  may  be  one  from  which  we  shrink  in 
 fear  or  dislike.  Each  word,  in  the  amended  translation, 
 has  its  full  meaning.  The  "  future  "  tells  them  that  their 
 history  as  a  people  is  not  yet  over ;  the  "  hopo  "  that 
 there  is  a  better  time  iu  store  for  them.  To  wait  for 
 that  future,  instead  of  trusting  in  delusive  assurances 
 of  immediate  release,  was  the  true  wisdom  of  the 
 exiles. 
 
 9S 
 
77c'  Fain  Prophets  at  Babylon, 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXIX. 
 
 Mini,  at,-/  /.•■!■  /.;,(/(. 
 
 !l '  Then  shall  y  "  cull  upon  me,  and  ye 
 b1i;i1  I  go  and  praj  onto  me,  and  1  will 
 hearken  onto  yon.  ";  Aid  ye  shall 
 sr.'k    me,  and  find  im ,  when  ye  shall 
 
 search     fur     me     with    all    your    heart, 
 
 <"'  Ami  I  will  be  Pound  of  you,  aaitb 
 the  Lobd  :  unci  I  will  turn  away  your 
 captivity,  and  I  will  gather  you  tram 
 all  the  nations,  and  from  all  the  places 
 
 whither  I  have  driven  you,  saith  the 
 Lord;  and  I  will  bring  you  again  into 
 Hie  place  whence  I  caused  you  to  be 
 carried  away  captive. 
 
 Because  ye  have  said,  The  Lord 
 hath  raised  us  up  prophets  in  Babylon; 
 M)  hmir  that  thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
 the  king  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne 
 of  David,  and  of  all  the  people  that 
 dwelleth  in  this  city,  arid  of  your 
 brethren  that  are  not  gone  forth  with 
 jou  into  captivity;  ll7)  thus  saith  the 
 Lord  of  hosts ;  Behold,  I  will  send  upon 
 them  the  'sword,  the  famine,  and  the 
 pestilence,  and  will  make  them  like 
 vile  figs,  that  cannot  be  eaten,  they 
 are  so  evil.  (13)  And  I  will  persecute 
 them  with  the  sword,  with  the  famine, 
 and  with  the  pestilence,  and  will  deliver 
 
 a  Dan.  9. 3,  lie. 
 
 1  Heb.,/(/racur«f. 
 
 ./  i-li.  2i.  J  .  &   S3, 
 S3. 
 
 them  to  be  removed  to  all  the  kingdoms 
 
 Of  the  earth,  'to  be  a  CUne,  and  an  as- 
 tonishment, and  an  hissing,  and  a  re- 
 proach, among  all  the  nations  whither 
 I    have  driven  them:  "'    because  they 
 
 have  not  hearkened  to  my  words,  >aith 
 the  Lord,  which  '1    sent    unto  them  by 
 
 my  servants  the  prophets,  rising  up 
 earh  and  Bending  them;  but  ye  v. 
 
 not  hear,  saith  the  Loi:n. 
 
 <20'  Hear  ye  therefore  the  word  of  the 
 
 Lord,  all  ye  of  the  captivity,  whom  I 
 ha\e  sent  from  Jerusalem  t"  Babylon: 
 '-"  Thus  saith  the  I,oi:i.  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel,  of  Ahab  the  son  of 
 Kolaiah,  and  of  Zedekiah  the  son  of 
 MaaBfiian,  which  prophesy  a  lie  unto 
 you  in  my  name;  Behold,  I  will  deliver 
 them  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadrezzar 
 king  of  Babylon;  and  he  shall  slay 
 them  before  your  c  and  of  them 
 
 shall  be  taken  up  a  curse  by  all  the  cap- 
 tivity of  Judah  which  are  in  Babylon, 
 saying.  The  Lord  make  thee  like  Zede- 
 kiah and  like  Ahab,  whom  the  king  of 
 Babylon  roasted  in  the  fire  ;  -  I.,  cause 
 they  have  committed  villany  in  Israel, 
 and  have  committed  adultery  with  their 
 
 1  Then  shall  ye  call  upon  me  .  .  .—The 
 words  need  no  comment,  hut  they  cannot  bo  passed 
 over  without  dwelling  on  the  infinite  tenderness  which 
 they  manifest  in  the  prophet's  soul,  the  retlex  of  a 
 like  tenderness  iu  the  mind  of  God,  from  whom  he 
 gives  the  message.  It  is  the  anticipation  of  the  like 
 message  from  the  lips  of  Ghrist,  "  De  thai  aeeketh 
 findeth,  and  to  him  that  knockoth  it  shall  booponed" 
 .Matt.  \ ii.  B).    As  t hey  stand,  the  words  are  an  oelio  of 
 
 Dent,  iv.  29,  80,  as  verse  11  is  of  Deut.  xxx.  3 — 5. 
 
 ("*  I   will  turn  away  your  captivity  .  .  •— 
 
 On  the  Substance  and   fulfilment  of   the  prediction,  see 
 
 Notes  on  chap,  xxiii. :! — 8. 
 
 (i5i  Because  ye   have  said,  Tho   Lord  hath 
 raised  us  up  prophots  .  .  .-The  words  point  to 
 
 the   boas)  of  some  01   the  exiles,  that    they.  too.  had  the 
 
 guidance  of  prophets  whom,  as  in  verses  20  and  24, 
 thej  were  inclined  to  follow  in  preference  to  Jeremiah. 
 Iu  answer  to  thai  boast,  he  emphasises  the  contrast 
 between  the  exiles  in  whom  the  prophet  sees  the  future 
 hope  of  his  nation  and  the  worthless  king   Zedekiah] 
 
 and  people  who  had  I a  left  in  Jerusalem,  and  for 
 
 whom  he  foretells  yet  sharper  Bufferings.  The  sym- 
 bolism of  the  "vile  tigs  '"  is  reproduced  in  verse  17 
 from  chap.  xxiv.  l.-j.     The  word  for  "vile  "is,  however, 
 
 not    the  same  as  in  that   passage,  and  has  the  stronger 
 
 force  of  "  horrible  "  or  "  loathsome." 
 
 B)  Ahab  the  son  of  Kolaiah  .  .  .—We  know 
 
 nothing,  beyond  what  is  lure  r tided,  of  either  of  these 
 
 prophets.  They  would  serin  to  have  been  the  leaders  of 
 the  party  of  revolt,  and  to  have  been  conspicuous,  like 
 their  brethren  at  Jerusalem  chap,  xxiii.  IT.  for  base  and 
 profligate  lives.  The  record  of  the  prediction  of  their 
 late  implies  its  fulfilment.    They  were  punished  by  the 
 
 Ohaldsean  king  as  traitors  and  rebels,  and  were  burnt 
 alive.  The  history  of  the  "three  children"  in  Dan. 
 iii.  (i,  20,  shows  that  this  was  a  sufficiently  familiar 
 punishment.  A  strange  legend  in  the  Targum  of 
 Etabbi  Joseph  on  -  Chron.  xwiii.  ."  records  that  the 
 future  high-priest    Joshua,  the  sen  of  Josedek,  was 
 
 thrown  into  the  furnace  with  them,  and  came  out  un- 
 injured (Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible,  Art.  -  Zedekiah"). 
 
 We    may.    perhaps,    trace   the    SOUTC6   of  the    legend   in 
 
 the  figurative  language  of  Zech.  iii.  2,  "Is  not  this  a 
 
 brand   plucked   out    01   the    tire!-"'      The  name  Kolaiah 
 which  admits  of  being  derived  from  a  verb  mesa 
 "roasting"!  possibly  suggested  the  cruel  mockery  ox 
 a   punishment   which  turned   it    into  an  omen  of  tho 
 prophet's  fate. 
 -    Of  them  shall  be  taken  up  a  curse  .  .  .— 
 We  note  the  characteristic  tendency  of  Hebrew  thought 
 to  fix  on  individual  cases  of  highest  blessedness,  as  in 
 Ruth  iv.  11,  or  of  deepest  shame,  as  here,  and  to  bring 
 them  into  formula'  of  M— iwg  and  of  cursiug. 
 
 •-■'■>  Because   they   have   committed   villany 
 .  .  . — The  Hebrew  noun  is  almost  always  used  for 
 of  impurity.     It   is  more  commonly  rendered  "folly" 
 
 p.    Gran.  x\xiv.   7:    Dent.  x\ii.  21  j   Judg.  xi\ 
 Ji  .    The  English  word  "  villainy '"  is  used  definitely 
 
 with  this  meaning  by  Bishop  Hall    Sat  i    9  ■ 
 
 Even  I  know,  and  am  a  witness,  saith  the 
 Lord. — The  words  find  an  echo  in  Mai.  iii.  5.  AVe 
 are  left  to  conjecture  whether  tho  prophet  refers 
 his  ,,wn  knowledge  of  the  facts  to  a  direct  super- 
 natural source,  or  had  received  private  information 
 from  his  friends  at  Babylon.  The  special  stress  laid 
 on   the  Lord's   knowledge   of  their   guilt  the 
 
 thought    that    the   false  prophets  with  their  rcstri 
 
 99 
 
Shemaiah's  Plots 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXIX. 
 
 and  Pvjnishmenk. 
 
 neighbours'  wives,  and  have  spoken 
 lying  words  in  my  name,  which  I  have 
 not  commanded  them;  even  I  know, 
 and  am  a  witness,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 '24>  Thus   shalt   thou    also    speak   to 
 Shemaiah     the    1Nehelamite,     saying, 
 
 (25)  Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 the  God  of  Israel,  saying,  Because  thou 
 hast  sent  letters  in  thy  name  unto  all 
 the  people  that  are  at  Jerusalem,  and 
 to  Zephaniah  the  son  of  Maaseiah  the 
 priest,  and   to  all  the  priests,  saying, 
 
 (26)  The  Lord  hath  made  thee  priest  in 
 the  stead  of  Jehoiada  the  priest,  that 
 ye  should  be  officers  in  the  house  of  the 
 Lord,  for  every  man  that  is  "mad,  and 
 maketh  himself  a  prophet,  that  thou 
 shouldest  put  him  in  prisonx  and  in  the 
 stocks.  <27)  Now  therefore  why  hast 
 thou  not  reproved  Jeremiah  of  Anathoth, 
 which  maketh  himself  a  prophet  to  you  ? 
 (28)  Yor  therefore   he   sent  unto  us  in 
 
 '!     KilUJS    0.    11 
 Acts  36,  24. 
 
 2  Hilj.,  revolt. 
 
 Babylon,  saying,  This  captivity  is  long  r 
 build  ye  houses,  and  dwell  in  them; 
 and  plant  gardens,  and  eat  the  fruit  of 
 them.  <2S'  And  Zephaniah  the  priest 
 read  this  letter  in  the  ears  of  Jeremiah 
 the  prophet. 
 
 (30)  Then  came  the  word  of  the 
 Lord  unto  Jeremiah,  saying,  <31)  Send 
 to  all  them  of  the  captivity,  saying, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  concerning 
 Shemaiah  the  Nehelamite ;  Because 
 that  Shemaiah  hath  prophesied  unto 
 you,  and  I  sent  him  not,  and  he  caused 
 you  to  trust  in  a  lie  :  (32)  therefore  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  ;  Behold,  I  will  punish 
 Shemaiah  the  Nehelamite,  and  his 
 seed :  he  shall  not  have  a  man  to 
 dwell  among  this  people  ;  neither  shall 
 he  behold  the  good  that  I  will  do  for 
 my  people,  saith  the  Lord  ;  b  because 
 he  hath  taught  2  rebellion  against  the 
 Lord. 
 
 ideas  of  God  liad  persuaded  themselves  that  Jehovah 
 the  God  of  Isi-ael  hardly  exercised  his  attributes  of 
 power  in  a  distant  plaeo  like  Babylon.  There  they 
 might  siu  without  fear  of  detection  or  of  punishment. 
 They  thought  of  him  as  a  God  uot  nigh  at  hand,  but 
 far  off  (chap,  xxiii.  23). 
 
 C24J  Thus  shalt  thou  also  speak  to  Shemaiah 
 the  Nehelamite. — It  is  clear  that  this  section  (verses 
 24 — 32)  is  of  the  nature  of  a  fragment  attached  to  tho 
 Epistle  to  Babylon  on  account  of  its  associations  with 
 it,  but  not  forming  part  of  it.  It  gives,  in  fact  (as 
 verse  28  shows),  tho  sequence  of  events,  and  so  far 
 stands  iu  the  same  relation  to  it  as  the  Second  Epistle 
 to  the  Corinthians  does  to  the  First.  Jeremiah's  letter 
 had  naturally  roused  the  indignation  of  the  rival  pro. 
 phcts  at  Babylon,  and  they  organised  a  movement, 
 of  which  Shemaiah  was  the  chief  instigator,  for  his 
 destruction.  Of  Shemaiah  himself  we  know  nothing 
 more  than  is  hero  recorded.  Tho  description  "  Nehela- 
 mite "  gives  us  no  information,  as  the  name  Nehelam 
 does  not  appear  as  belonging  to  any  person  or  place 
 in  tho  Old  Testament.  It  is  just  possible,  as  in  the 
 marginal  reading,  that  there  may  be  a  play  upon  tho 
 Hebrew  word  (Halam)  for  "  dreamer." 
 
 (25)  Because  thou  hast  sent  letters  in  thy 
 name  .  .  . — The  letters  were  probably  sent  through 
 the  envoys  named  in  verse  3  on  their  return  from 
 Babylon.  Their  object  was  to  urge  Zephaniah,  who 
 appears  in  2  Kings  xxv.  18  as  the  Sagan,  or  second 
 priest,  to  exerciso  his  authority  to  restrain  Jeremiah 
 from  prophesying,  and  to  punish  hini  as  a  false  pro- 
 phet. It  was  an  attempt  to  turn  the  tables  on  him 
 for  the  manner  in  which  ho  had  thwarted  the  plans  of 
 tho  party  of  revolt  at  Babylon.  The  part  taken  by 
 Zephaniah  in  acting  for  the  king  when  he  wished  to 
 consult  Jeremiah  (chap.  xxi.  1),  and  imploring  his 
 intercession  (chap,  xxxvii.  3),  makes  it  probable  that 
 he  endeavoured  to  maintain  a  neutral  Gamaliel-like 
 position  between  the  two  parties. and  had  seemed  so  luke- 
 warm and  temporising  that  he  was  open  to  the  influeuco 
 of  threats.  On  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuzar- 
 adan  he  was  taken  prisoner  and  slain  (chap.  lii.  24 — 27). 
 
 100 
 
 (26)  The  Lord  hath  made  thee  priest  in  the 
 stead  of  Jehoiada  .  .  . — The  priest  so  named  had 
 apparently  been  deposed,  as  not  favouring  the  stringent 
 policy  of  the  party  of  revolt.  As  Sagan,  it  was  pro- 
 bably bis  special  duty  to  maintain  order  in  the  Temple, 
 and  punish  pretenders  to  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  the 
 letter  reproaches  him  for  his  lukewarm  timidity  in  dis- 
 charging that  duty.  In  the  word  "  mad,"  as  in  2  Kings 
 ix.  11,  Hos.  ix.  7,  we  havo  tho  habitual  term  of  scorn 
 applied  to  such  pretenders.  On  the  punishment  of  the 
 stocks,  see  Note  on  chap.  xx.  2.  The  word  translated 
 "  prison  "  is  probably  another  form  of  punishment  like 
 that  of  the  stocks. 
 
 (28)  This  captivity  is  long  .  .  .—As  the  italics 
 show,  there  is  no  word  corresponding  to  "captivity" 
 in  the  Hebrew,  and  some  commentators  render  the 
 words,  It  is  far  off  ...  as  though  Jeremiah  had 
 counted  on  the  distance  of  Babylon  as  enabling  him  to 
 write  the  letter  with  impunity,  or  possibly  in  all  tho 
 emphasis  of  abruptness.  "All  is  a  long  way  off — the 
 end  of  your  exile,  your  present  distance  from  your 
 native  land,  and  haste,  therefore,  is  but  folly." 
 
 (29)  And  Zephaniah  the  priest  .  .  .—The  fact 
 thus  related  agrees  with  what  has  been  said  as  to  tho 
 character  of  Zephaniah.  He  does  not  act  as  Shemaiah 
 wished  him.  At  the  most  he  only  uses  the  letters  as  a 
 threat,  possibly  to  put  the  prophet  on  his  guard  against 
 the  machinations  of  his  enemies,  possibly  also  to  induce 
 him  to  moderate  his  tone.  We  are  reminded  of  the 
 like  conduct  of  the  Pharisees  who  reported  Herod's 
 threats  to  our  Lord,  in  Luke  xiii.  31. 
 
 (3D  Send  to  all  them  of  the  captivity.— Tho 
 words  imply  something  in  the  nature  of  another  epistle 
 to  the  exiles,  sent,  probably,  like  the  previous  one,  by 
 the  hands  of  envoys  from  one  government  to  the  other. 
 We  have  no  record  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  prediction, 
 but  its  insertion  implies  its  fulfilment.  This  frequent 
 intercourse  between  Jerusalem  and  Babylon  is  notice- 
 able (1)  as  confirming  the  literal  interpretation  of  the 
 journey  to  Euphrates  in  chap.  xiii.  4,  and  (2)  as  account- 
 ing for  the  special  instructions  given  to  Nebuzar-adan 
 by  Nebuchadnezzar  iu  chap,  xxxix.  11. 
 
Tht  Prophet'*  Words. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXX. 
 
 The  Promitt  oj  l> 
 
 cilAl'ir.i;  XXX.— W  Theword  thai 
 come  to  Jeremiah  from  the  Lobd,  Bay- 
 ing, Tims  Bpeaketh  the  Lobd  <  i « .. I  of 
 [srael,  Baying, 
 
 Write  thee  all  the  words  that  I  have 
 spoken  onto  thee  in  b  book  For, 
 
 lo,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lobd,  thai 
 I  will  bring  agais  the  captivity  of 
 my   people   Israel  and  Judah,  .saith   the 
 
 Lobd  :  and  I  will  cause  them  to  rei  dth 
 
 to  the  lanil  thai  I  gave  to  their  fathers, 
 and  they  shall  possess  it. 
 
 (*)  Ami  these  are  the  words  that  the 
 Loi;p  spake  eoncerning  Israel  and  con- 
 oerning  Jndah.  <5)  For  thus  saith  the 
 Lord  ; 
 
 We  have  heard  a  voii f  trembling, 
 
 'of  fear,  ami  not  of  peace,  (li,  Ask  ye 
 now,  and  see  whether  ;a  man  doth 
 travail  with  child  V  wherefore  do  I  see 
 every  man  with  his  hands  on  his  loins, 
 as  B  woman  in  travail,  and  all  faces  are 
 
 I   or,  til.  r 
 
 and  nol 
 
 I  mi. . 
 
 .-..  i- ;  Zeph.  1.11, 
 
 ICC 
 
 .1    3;   i 
 MM  ,  M 
 
 IM.  41.  n  ;  t   in 
 .,;  ,v  II.  1  i  cb.  4« 
 
 turned  into  paleness?  '"'  Ala-!  for 
 that  day  u  great,  so  that  aone  it  like 
 it:  it  is  even  the  time  >•!'  Jacob's 
 trouble ;  hut  lie  shall  lie  Baved  out  of 
 11 .  For  it  - 1 1 •  1 1 1  come  t..  pass  in  that 
 
 day.  saith  the  LOBD  of  hosts,  that  I 
 will  break  his  yoke  from  oil'  thy  neck, 
 ami  will   burst   thy  bonds,  and   strangers 
 
 shall  no  more  Berve  themselves  of  him  : 
 
 <'•'»  but  they  shall  serve  the  Loi.n  their 
 God,  and  ''David  their  king,  whom  I 
 will  raise  up  unto  them. 
 
 U«)  Therefore  tear  thou  not,  O  iny 
 servant  Jacob,  saith  the  Lord;  neither 
 be  dismayed,  0   Israel:    for,  lo,   I   will 
 
 save  thee  from  afar,  and  thy  s 1  from 
 
 the  land  of  their  captivity  ;  and  Jacob 
 shall  return,  and  shall  be  in  rest,  and 
 be  quiet,  and  none  shall  make  him 
 afraid.  <u'  For  I  am  with  thee,  saith 
 the  Lord,  to  save  thee  ■  though  1  make 
 a  full  end  of  all  nations  whither  I  have 
 
 XXX. 
 
 ('->  Writo  thee  all  the  words  .  .  .—The  opening 
 words  emphasise  the  tact   thai   what  Follows  was  not 
 
 Spoken    at    first,   like   chaps,    xxvii.   and    xxviii..    in    the 
 
 presence  of  thepeople, but  was  from  the  first  committed 
 to  writing.     There  is  no  definite  point  at  which  wo 
 
 may  lie  certain  that  the  section  mils,  and  there  is  room 
 for  many  conjectures  as  to  interpolations  hero  and 
 there,  hut  the  opening  of  chap,  xxxii.  suggests  the 
 conclusion  that  it  takes  in  the  whole  of  chaps,  xxx.  ami 
 xxxi.  The  general  ehavaeter  of  the  prophecy,  probably 
 in  part  consequent  on  tho  acceptance  of  the  prophet's 
 teaching  by  tho  exiles  of  Babylon,  is  one  of  blessing 
 ami  restoration,  and  ho  is  thus  led  on  to  tho  great 
 utterance  which,  from  one  point  of  view,  makes  him 
 moro  tho  prophet  of  tho  Gospel  even  than  Isaiah.  It 
 is  here  that  we  tiuil  that  promise  of  a  New  Covenant 
 (chap.  xxxi.  81)   which   both  as  a  word  and  a  fact   has 
 
 been  prominent  in  the  history  of  Christendom, 
 
 ffl  I  will  bring  again"  tho  captivity  of  my 
 people  Israel  and  Judah  .  .  .—The  oracle  of 
 chap,  xxix.  lo  — II-  becomes,  as  it  were,  the  text  of  a 
 new  utterance,  and  that  with  a  wider  range  more  dis- 
 tinctly including  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel  as  well  as  the 
 two  of  Judah  ami  Benjamin,  There  is  no  narrow  pro- 
 vincialism in  the  prophet's  heart.  He  yearns  for  the 
 exiles  who  arc  far  off  on  tho  Euphrates;  he  yearns 
 also  for  those  who  are  yet  farther  in  Assyria  and  the 
 cities  ,,f  the  Uedee   -  Kinus  xvii.  6). 
 
 •'••  '•'  Thus  saith  the  Lord ;  We  have  heard  a 
 voice  of  trembling  .  .  .—There  is  a  strange  min- 
 
 gling  of  the  divine  and  human  elements  in  these  words. 
 The  prophet  speaks  with  the  sense  that  the  words  are 
 not  his  own,  ami  yet  what  he  utters  is.  at  first,  the 
 expression  of  his  own  horror  ami  astonishment  at  the 
 Vision  of  woe  that  is  opening  before  hi-  .•yes.     ]fe  sees,  as 
 
 it  were,  the  famine-st  rick  en  people,  their  faces  gathering 
 
 blackness,  the  strong  men  giving  way  to  a  woman's  an- 
 guish, wailing  with  their  hands  on  their  loins.  In  horror 
 rather  than  in  scorn,  he  asks  the  question,  What  means 
 
 all  this?  Are  these  men  in  the  pangs  of  childbirth? 
 (Comp.  chaps,  iv.  31,  vi  ^t.  xiii.  21.)  In  Lament,  ii. 
 lit — --  we  have  a  fuller  picture  of  alike  scene.  By 
 some  commentators  the  three  verses  (5 — 7  are  referred 
 to  the  alarm  caused  in  Babylon  by  the  advance  of 
 Cyrus,  and  "that  day"  is  the  day  of  his  captun 
 the  city,  but  there  seems  no  sufficient   reason  for  such 
 
 an  interpretation. 
 (s)  For  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day  .  .  . 
 
 — Better,  And  it  shall  come.  Hero  there  comes  in  the 
 ground  of  tho  hope  uttered  in  tho  words  ''he  shall 
 be  saved  out  of  it,"  which  keeps  tho  prophet  from 
 sinking  under  the  burden  of  his  sorrow.  The  second 
 ami  third  person  are  strangely  mingled.  Jehovah 
 speaks  to  Israel,  "thy  bonds."  "  thy  yoke,"  and  "his 
 yoke"  i-  that  of  the  oppressor,  i.e.,  of  the  Babylonian 
 ruler,  and  then,  the  person  changing,  "  strangers  shall 
 no  more  get  service  done  for  them  by  him."  /.<..  by 
 The  prophet  echoes  the  words  of  Isa.  x.  -7. 
 1  David  their  king  .  .  .—The  name  of  the  old 
 hero-king  appears  as  that  of  the  new  representative  of 
 the  house  WUO  is  to  restore  the  kingdom.  There  i-  to 
 lie   a   second  David  for  Israel,  a   true  king  answering 
 
 to  the  ideal  which  he  imperfectly  represented.    Zernb- 
 
 baliel.  in  whom  some  interpreters  have  seen  the  fulfil- 
 ment of  Jeremiah's  words,  was.  in  his  measure,  another 
 partial  representative  of  such  a  king    Hagg.  ii.  Jl — 28 
 
 The  same  rnode  of  speech  appears  in  Hos.  iii.  ■">.  Isa. 
 Iv.  4.  and  was  probably  deliberately  reproduced  by 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 (io)  Therefore  fear  thou  not.— The  higher  strain 
 
 of  language  into  which   the  prophecy  has  here  risen  is 
 
 indicated  by  the  parallelism  of  the  two  clauses  in  each 
 
 member  of  the  sentence.  The  whole  verse  is  poetic  in 
 ii-  form.  The  words  have  in  them  something  of  the 
 ring  of  Isa.  xli.  10. 
 
 it   Though  I  make  a  full  end  of  all  nations. 
 
 — On  the  phrase,  see  Notes  on  chaps,  iv.  J7.  v.  10, 
 Iv  Tt  is  eminently  characteristic  ot  the  prophets  of 
 Jeremiah's  time  K/ek.  xi.  13,  xx.  17:  Nan.  i.  v.  o. 
 Here  the  thought,  implied  elsewhere,  and  reproduced  in 
 
 101 
 
The  Misery  of  Israel 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   XXX. 
 
 and  her  Restoration. 
 
 scattered  thee,  yet  will  I  not  make  a 
 full  end  of  thee  :  but  I  will  correct  thee 
 "in  measure,  and  will  not  leave  thee 
 altogether  unpunished. 
 
 I12'  For  thus  saith  the  Lord,  Thy 
 bruise  is  incurable,  and  thy  wound  is 
 grievous.  <13>  There  is  none  to  plead 
 thy  cause,  Hhat  thou  ruayest  be  bound 
 up :  thou  hast  no  healing  medicines. 
 t1*)  AU  thy  lovers  have  forgotten  thee ; 
 they  seek  thee  not ;  for  I  have  wounded 
 thee  with  the  wound  of  an  enemy,  with 
 the  chastisement  of  a  cruel  one,  for  the 
 multitude  of  thine  iniquity ;  because 
 thy  sins  were  increased.  <15)  Why 
 'criest  thou  for  thine  affliction?  thy 
 sorrow  is  incurable  for  the  multitude  of 
 thine  iniquity  :  because  thy  sins  were 
 increased,  I  have  done  these  things 
 unto  thee.  <16>  Therefore  all  they  that 
 devour  thee  '  shall  be  devoured  ;  and  all 
 thine  adversaries,   every  one  of  them, 
 
 a  Ps.  6.  1 ;  cb.  lo. 
 24  ;  &  46.  2S. 
 
 1  Heb.,/or  binding 
 up,  or,  pressing. 
 
 B   Q 
 
 cir,  'XHj. 
 
 c  Exod.23.22;  Isa. 
 11.  11. 
 
 2  Or,  MIL- hill. 
 
 shall  go  into  captivity ;  and  they  that 
 spoil  thee  shall  be  a  spoil,  and  all  that 
 prey  upon  thee  will  I  give  for  a  prey.. 
 (17>  For  I  will  restore  health  unto  thee, 
 and  I  will  heal  thee  of  thy  wounds,  saith 
 the  Loed  ;  because  they  called  thee  an 
 Outcast,  saying,  This  is  Zion,  whom  no 
 man  seeketh  after. 
 
 <18>  Thus  saith  the  Loed  ;  Behold,  I 
 will  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Jacob's 
 tents,  and  have  mercy  on  his  dwelling- 
 places  ;  and  the  city  shall  be  builded 
 upon  her  own  3heap,  and  the  palace 
 shall  remain  after  the  manner  thereof. 
 <19)  And  out  of  them  shall  proceed 
 thanksgiving  and  the  voice  of  them  that 
 make  merry  :  and  I  will  multiply  them, 
 and  they  shall  not  be  few ;  I  will  also 
 glorify  them,  and  they  shall  not  be 
 small.  <20>  Their  children  also  shall 
 be  as  aforetime,  and  their  congrega- 
 tion shall  be  established  before  me,  and 
 
 chap.  xlvi.  28,  is  expressed  more  fully  than  before,  that 
 while  the  destruction  of  the  national  life  of  the  heathen 
 nations  on  whom  judgment  was  to  fall  should  be  com- 
 plete and  irreversible,  so  that  Moab,  Amnion,  Edom, 
 should  no  more  have  a  place  in  the  history  of  the 
 world,  the  punishment  of  Israel  should  be  remedial  as 
 well  as  retributive,  working  out,  in  due  time,  a  complete 
 restitution.  In  "  correcting'  in  measure  "  we  trace  an 
 echo  of  Ps.  vi.  1  (see  Note  on  chap.  x.  24).  That  thought 
 sustains  the  prophet  in  his  contemplation  of  the  captivity 
 and  apparent  ruin  of  his  people.  To  be  left  "  altogether 
 unpunished"  would  be,  as  in  the  "let  him  alone  "  of 
 Hos.  iv.  17,  the  most  terrible  of  all  punishments. 
 
 (12)  Thy  bruise  is  incurable  .  .  .—The  mind  of 
 the  prophet  dwells  on  the  seeming  hopelessness,  in 
 words  which  sound  like  an  echo  from  his  Lamentations 
 (chap.  ii.  13),  in  order  to  enhance  the  blessedness  of  the 
 reverent  utterance  of  hope  which  appears  in  verse  17. 
 
 (13)  There  is  none  to  plead  thy  cause  .  .  . — 
 The  words  bring  before  us  two  images  of  extremest 
 misery — the  criminal  who,  standing  before  the  dread 
 judgment-seat,  has  no  advocate,  the  plague-stricken 
 sufferer  who  has  no  physician.  The  word  is  that  used 
 of  Josiah  in  chap.  xxii.  16.  There,  and  commonly  else- 
 where, it  is  translated  "  judge."  The  second  part  of 
 the  sentence  is  better  rendered,  with  a  different  punc- 
 tuation, by  Thou  hast  no  healing  medicines  for  binding 
 up.  It  continues  the  symbolism  of  verse  12,  and  re- 
 produces that  of  Isa.  i.  6.  There,  and  in  Isa.  xxxviii. 
 21,  Hos.  v.  13,  and  probably  in  Prov.  iii.  8,  we  have 
 indications  of  the  prominence  given  to  external  applica- 
 tions such  as  plasters,  bandages,  and  the  like,  in  the 
 Eastern  treatment  of  disease. 
 
 I1*)  All  thy  lovers  have  forgotten  thee  .  .  .— 
 The  lovers  of  a  nation  are,  of  course,  as  in  chap.  xxii. 
 20,  its  allies  and  tributaries.  Moab,  Amnion,  Edom, 
 Tyre,  had  at  one  time  courted  the  favour  of  Judah 
 (chap,  xxvii.  3).  They  looked  on  her  now  as  "smitten 
 of  God  and  afflicted."  He  had  smitten  her  as  an 
 enemy  smites.  His  chastisement  had  seemed  to  imply 
 that  she  was  given  over  to  a  deserved  destruction.     In 
 
 chaps,  xl.  14,  xlviii.  27,  Lam.  iv.  21,  Ps.  cxxxvii.  7,  we 
 have  traces  of  this  change  of  feeling. 
 
 (15)  "Why  criest  thou  .  .  .  ? — The  personification 
 of  the  previous  verse  is  continued.  The  prophet  looks 
 on  Judah — as  in  Lam.  i.  1,  2 — as  on  some  forlorn  and 
 desperate  castaway  smitten  with  pestilence,  crying  in 
 the  agony  of  her  hopelessness ;  and  he  reminds  her  that 
 she  is  but  bearing  the  righteous  punishment  of  her 
 inicprities.  In  accepting  the  law  of  retribution,  as  seen 
 in  her  own  sufferings,  she  might  find  hope  for  the 
 future.  Her  oppressors  also  would  come  under  that 
 law.  The  wheel  would  come  full  circle,  and  the 
 devourers  would  be  themselves  devoured. 
 
 ('")  I  will  restore  health  unto  thee  .  .  . — 
 Literally,  I  ivill  place  a  healing  plaster  on  thee.  The 
 image  of  the  plague-stricken  sufferer  is  resumed  from 
 verse  13.  Men  had  scorned  her.  The  contemptuous 
 term  of  outcast  had  been  flung  at  her.  She  was  like 
 Tyre,  as  a  "  harlot  that  had  been  forgotten  "  (Isa.  xxiii. 
 16).  There  were  none  who  sought  her  company.  No 
 nation  courted  her  alliance.  It  was  as  though  that  ex- 
 tremest misery  had  touched  the  heart  of  Jehovah  with 
 pity,  even  for  the  adulteress  who  had  forsaken  Him. 
 The  whole  passage  brings  the  history,  or  the  parable, 
 of  Gomer  very  vividly  to  our  memory  (Hos.  i. — iii.). 
 
 (is)  I  wiU  bring  again  the  captivity  of 
 Jacob's  tents  .  .  . — The  promise  of  restoration  takes 
 naturally  a  material  form.  The  prophet  sees  the  tents 
 of  those  who  still  kept  up  the  old  nomadic  life,  pitched 
 once  more  in  tho  land  of  Israel  (comp.  1  Kings  xii. 
 16;  Jer.  xxxv.  10),  while  for  those  who  dwell  in  towns, 
 city  (tho  Hebrew  has  no  article)  and  palace  shall 
 rise  again  from  their  ruins  upon  their  old  foundations 
 on  the  hills  of  Judah.  The  verses  that  follow  carry  on 
 the  picture  of  restored  prosperity — the  streets  of  the 
 city  thronged ;  the  joyous  procession  of  triumphant 
 leaders  or  of  bride  and  bridegroom  ;  the  children  playing 
 in  the  market-place  (Zech.  viii.  5  ;  Matt.  xi.  16) ;  tho 
 Temple-courts  filled  with  the  "congregations"  of 
 worshippers ;  the  people  ruled  by  their  own  councillors 
 and  princes,  and  not  by  the  satraps  of  their  concpierors. 
 
 102 
 
The   Whirl  n-iiiil  of  the  Lord. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXXI 
 
 The  People  Finding  /'■  •'. 
 
 I  will  punish  all  thai  oppress  fchem. 
 (W  And  their  nobles  shall  be  of  them- 
 selves, and  their  governor  shall  proceed 
 
 from  t  lie  midst  of  them  ;  and  I  will 
 cause    him    to   draw   near,   and    he   shall 
 
 approach  unto  me:  for  who  is  this  that 
 engaged  his  heart  to  approach  unto  me  P 
 
 saith  the  LoBD.  (">  And  ye  shall  he 
 "my  people,  and  I  will  be  your  God. 
 
 (-■')  [Jehold,  the  'whirlwind  of  the 
 I,. .in  goetb  forth  with  fury,  a  'con- 
 tinuing whirlwind:  it  shall  -fall  with 
 paill     upon    the    head    of    the    wicked. 
 
 (->lJ  The  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord  shall 
 not  return,  until  he  have  done  if,  and 
 until  he  have  performed  the  intents  of 
 his  heart  :  in  the  latter  days  ye  shall 
 consider  it. 
 
 »  cb.  H  J ;  *  31. 
 
 it,  ax 
 
 <!I|||0. 
 
 Q         num. 
 
 :i  [Kb.,/ 
 
 I  i  >r,    h.i,  I      1    -  I 
 
 9       untu 
 thee. 
 
 Exu.l.     ):..     so 
 
 Jujgvs  II.  M. 
 
 :>  Or,  timbrel*. 
 
 CHAPTKR     XXXI.        !      At   the  same 
 
 time,  saith  the  Loan,  will  1  be  the  God 
 
 of  all    the    families   of    Israel,  and    they 
 
 shall  he  my  people.  I  hue  sail  h  the 
 
 Loltl),  The  people  irh'irh  ie,  ,v  hit  of  t  la- 
 sword  found  grace  in  the  wilderness; 
 even  Israel,  when  I  went  to  cause  him 
 to  pest.  W  The  Lord  hath  appeared 
 :iof  old  unto  me,  toying,  Sea,  I   have 
 
 loved  thee  with  an  everlasting  love: 
 therefore  'with  loviiigkiiidness  have  J 
 drawn  thee.  (4)  Again  I  will  build 
 thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  built,  O  virgin 
 of  Israel :  thou  shalt  again  be  adorned 
 with  thy  c5tabrets,  and  shalt  go  forth  in 
 the  dances  of  them  that  make  merry. 
 '•'■  Thou  shalt  yet  plant  vines  upon  the 
 mountains   of   Samaria :     the   planters 
 
 ('-')  Their  nobles.— Literally,  Sis  glorious  one,  as 
 pointing  to  some  single  ruler.  Tho  word  is  the  earns 
 as  the  "  excellent  "  of  l's.  viii.  1. 
 
 Who  is  this  that  engaged  his  heart  to  ap- 
 proach unto  me?— Tho  question  points  to  the  ruler 
 
 of  the  house  of  David  whom  the  prophet  sees  in  visions 
 — in  oilier  words,  to  the  far-oil'  Messiah.  So  in  Isaiah 
 we  have  a    like  introduction  of  the  figure  of  the  con- 
 
 queror, "  Who  is  this  that  eomethfj i  EdomP"  (Isa, 
 
 Wiii.  1).    As  in  Isa.  xi.  1 — 3,  xlii.  1  — t.  the  dominant 
 
 thought  is  that  of  one  who  will  not  lie  treacherous  or 
 faithless,  like  the  it  generate  hoirs  of  the  house  of 
 David  whom  Jeremiah  had  known,  hut  one  who  would 
 "engage"  (literally,  pledge,  or  give  as  security)  his 
 heart    and    soul    to    the   service    of    Jehovah.        In    the 
 
 advent  of  such  a  king  the  true  relation  between  God 
 
 and    His  people  (Hos.  i.  10;   Jer.   xxiv.    7 1   should  yet 
 
 be  re-established.    In  tin'  words  "to  approach  unto  me" 
 
 we  have  the  germ  of  the  thought  that  the  true  King 
 will  also  be  a  priest,  and  will  enter,  as  others  could  not 
 enter,  into  the  Holy  Place  (seo  Noto  on  chap.  xxxv. 
 19,  aiwl   Num.  xvi.  5)  :  a  priest,   such   as  Ps.  ex.  1-  had 
 
 spoken  of,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek. 
 
 (28,  U)  Behold,  tho  whirlwind  of  tho  Lord  .  .  . 
 — The   "wicked      who  are   thus  threatened   are   the 
 
 enemies  and  oppressors  of  the  penitent  and  rescued 
 ] pie.      In  tin'  "  latter  days,"  the    far-off   future  1 1  ion. 
 
 xlix.  1;  Num.xxiv.lt;  Isa.  ii.  2),  it  should  he  seen  thai 
 
 He  was  their  avenger,  i  See  Notes  on  chap,  xxiii.  19,20.) 
 A  right  division  of  chapters  would  probably  connect 
 this  with  the  great  promise  of  chap,  xxxi.  1. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 Ci  The  God  of  all  the  families  of  Israel.— 
 
 The   union  of  tin'    Ion    tribes  of   Israel    and    the  two  of 
 
 Judah  is  again  prominent  in  the  prophet's  mind.     He 
 
 cannot  hear  to  ihiuk  of  that  division,  with  its  deep 
 lines  of  cleavage   in    the  religious  and  soeial  life  of   tin' 
 
 people,  being  perpetuated.  Israel  should  be  Israel. 
 This  is  the  crown  and  consummation  of  the  promise  of 
 chap.  x\\.  J  I. 
 
 -'»  Tho  people  which  were  loft  of  the  sword 
 
 •   .   . — Thi'   main   thought  of  this  and   the   next  verse  is 
 
 that  the  past  experience  of  (.'oil's  love  i-  a  pledge  or 
 earnest   for   the   future.      Israel  of  old    had   "  found 
 
 grace  in  die  wilderness"  (comp.  II"-  \i  1  .  But  as 
 the  prophet  has  iu,  his  thoughts  a  new  manifestation  of 
 
 that  love,  his  language  i-  modified  accordingly.  Ho 
 thinks  of  the  oaptlTM  that  had  escaped,  or  should 
 hereafter  escape,  the  sword  of  the  Chalda  had 
 
 been  no  such  deliverance  in  tho  case  of  the  Egyptian 
 exodus),  and  of  their  finilii  n  the  wilderness  that 
 
 lies  between  Palestine  and  tho  r'uphratcs.    The  verses 
 
 that  follow  show,  however,  that  tho  prophet  is  thinking 
 
 also  of  the  more  distant  exiles,  the  tin   tribes  in  the 
 
 cities  of  tho  Medes  beyond  the  Tigris  (2  Kin^s  x\ii.  6). 
 
 Even  Israel,  when  I  went  to  cause  him  to 
 
 rOSt. — The  verh  that  answers  to  the  last  five  words 
 includes  the  meaning  of  "settling"  or  "establishing," 
 as  well  as  of  giving  rest ;  and  the  whole  clause  is  hitter 
 translated  Let  me  go,  or  I  wilt  go  the  verh  is  in  tho 
 infinitive  with  the  force  of  an  imperative,  hut  thi-  i-. 
 its  meaning]  to  set  him  at  rest,  em*  Israel. 
 
 «)  The  Lord  hath  appeared  of  old  unto  me 
 .  .  . — Tho  Hebrew  adverb  more  commonly  refers  to 
 distance  than  to  time.  From  "fur  tin-  Lord  appeared 
 unto  me.  The  thought  is  that  of  a  deliverer  who  hears 
 the  cry  of  his  people  in  the  distance,  and  then  draws 
 near  to  help  them.  Jehovah  enthroned  in  /.ion.  or  in 
 the  heaven  of  heavens,  hears  the  cry  of  tho  exiles  by 
 the  waters  of    Babylon  or  Nineveh. 
 
 Therefore  with  lovingkindness  have  I  drawn 
 thoe. — Some  translators  render  /  hone  preserved  or 
 respited)  thee,  others  /  have  continued  my  lotringkmd- 
 ness  to  thee,  as  in  Pa,  xxxvi.  10,  cix.  11:  but  the  l.NX. 
 Yulg..  and  Luther  agree  with  the  English  Version,  and 
 it  finds  sufficient  rapport  in  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew 
 verh  and  in  the  parallel  of  Hos.  xi.  t. 
 
 W  Thou  shalt  again  be    adorned  with  thy 
 
 tabretS  .  .  .—  The  implied  idea  is  that  of  a  time  of 
 rejoicing  after  triumphant  restoration  (the  "  building  " 
 
 of  the  previous  sentence   is  more  than  that  of  material 
 
 walls  and  tower-  ,  when  tic  daughters  "f  Israel  fas  iu 
 Exod.xv.20j  Judg.  xL34;   L  Sam.  xriii.  6 ;   P>.  Ixviii. 
 
 11)  should  again  go  forth  with  "  timbre's  and  dances," 
 with  tahrets  and  joy  and  instruments  of  music.  The 
 "  tahret  "  was  a  musical  instrument  of  the  drum  type, 
 somewhat  like  the  Spanish  or  Italian  tambourine,  with 
 bells  attached  to  the  metal  hoop. 
 
 <5>  Thou  shalt  yet  plant  vines  upon  the 
 mountains    of    Samaria  .  .  . — The    mention   of 
 
 He: 
 
The  Cry  of  the  Watchmen. 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   XXXI. 
 
 The  Return  of  Israel. 
 
 shall  plant,  and  shall  Jeat  them  as 
 common  things.  <6)  For  there  shall  be 
 a  day,  that  the  watchmen  upon  the 
 mount  Ephraim  shall  cry,  Arise  ye,  and 
 let  us  go  up  to  Zion  unto  the  Lord  our 
 God. 
 
 (7)  For  thus  saith  the  Loed  ;  Sing 
 with  gladness  for  Jacob,  and  shout 
 among  the  chief  of  the  nations :  publish 
 ye,  praise  ye,  and  say,  0  Lord,  save  thy 
 people,  the  remnant  of  Israel.  (8)  Be- 
 hold, I  will  bring  them  from  the  north 
 
 1  He!).,       profane 
 them. 
 
 Or,  favours. 
 
 country,  and  gather  them  from  the 
 coasts  of  the  earth,  and  with  them  the 
 blind  and  the  lame,  the  woman  with 
 child  and  her  that  travaileth  with  child 
 together  :  a  great  company  shall  return 
 thither.  (9)  They  shall  come  with  weep- 
 ing, and  with  2suj>plications  will  I  lead 
 them :  I  will  cause  them  to  walk  by 
 the  rivers  of  waters  in  a  straight  way, 
 wherein  they  shall  not  stumble :  for  I 
 am  a  father  to  Israel,  and  Ephraim  is 
 my  "firstborn. 
 
 Samaria  shows  that  the  prophet  is  thinking  of  the 
 restoration  of  the  northern  kingdom,  as  well  as  of 
 Judah,  under  the  rule  of  the  true  King.  In  the  Hebrew 
 words  "shall  eat  them  as  eommou  things"  we  have  a 
 singular  train  of  associations.  The  primary  meaning 
 of  the  verb  is  to  "  profane."  The  rule  of  Lev.  xix.  23, 
 24,  based  partly,  perhaps,  on  grounds  of  culture,  partly 
 with  a  symbolic  meaning,  required  that  a  vineyard  for 
 three  years  after  it  was  planted  should  be  treated  as 
 "  imcircumcised  "  (i.e.,  that  no  use  should  be  made  of 
 the  fruit),  in  the  fourth  year  the  fruit  was  to  "be  holy 
 to  praise  the  Lord  with,"  and  in  the  fifth  the  planter 
 might  take  the  fruit  for  himself.  So  accordingly  in 
 Deut.  xx.  6  we  have,  as  one  of  the  laws  affecting  war, 
 that  if  a  man  had  planted  a  vineyard  and  had  not  made 
 it  common — the  same  word  as  that  used  here — i.e.  had 
 not  got  beyond  the  fixed  period  of  consecration,  he  might 
 be  exempted  from  military  service,  lest  he  should  die  and 
 another  eat  of  it.  Compare  also  Deut.  xxviii.  30,  where 
 the  English  "  gather  "  answers,  as  the  marginal  reading 
 shows,  to  the  same  verb.  What  is  meant  here,  therefore, 
 is,  in  contrast  with  the  chances  and  changes  of  a  time 
 of  war,  that  the  planters  of  the  vineyard  should  not  be 
 disturbed  in  their  possession  of  it.  They  should  not 
 plant,  and  another  eat  thereof.  (Comp.  Isa.  lxv.  22 ; 
 Deut.  xxviii.  30.) 
 
 (6)  The  watchmen  upon  the  mount  Ephraim 
 shall  cry  .  .  . — The  special  fact  is  given  as  the 
 ground  of  the  previous  prediction.  The  two  kingdoms 
 should  be  united,  and  therefore  the  possession  of  the 
 vineyards  should  be  undisturbed.  The  city  of  Samaria 
 stood  on  one  of  the  mountains  of  Ephraim.  The 
 "  watclnnen  "  may  be  either  the  sentinels  stationed  in 
 the  towers  of  the  city,  or,  more  probably,  those  that 
 were  on  the  look-out  for  the  first  appearance  of  the 
 crescent  moon  as  the  signal  for  the  observance  either 
 of  the  Passover  or  the  new-moon  festival.  What  fol- 
 lows is  all  but  decisive  in  favour  of  the  latter  view. 
 What  is  implied  is  that  the  rival  worship  in  Bethel 
 and  in  Dan,  which  had  so  long  kept  the  ten  tribes  of 
 Israel  from  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  should  cease,  and 
 that  from  the  mountains  of  Ephraim  there  should  lie 
 heard  the  cry  which,  with  a  solitary  exception  in  the 
 reign  of  Hezekiah  (2  Chron.  xxx.  11,  18),  had  not  been 
 heard  for  centuries — "  Let  lis  go  up  to  Zion."  The 
 long  schism  which  had  caused  the  ruin  of  the  nation 
 would  at  last  be  healed.  Unity  of  worship,  at  once  the 
 ground  and  symbol  of  national  unity,  should  be  restored. 
 
 (")  Shout  among  the  chief  of  the  nations  .  .  . 
 — Better,  Shout  over  the  head  of  the  nations,  i.e.,  over 
 Israel.  It  would  seem  from  Amos  vi.  1  as  if  this  was 
 a  title  specially  claimed  by  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten 
 Tribes.  (Comp.  Exod.  xix.  5  ;  Lev.  xx.  24,  26 ;  Deut. 
 vii.  6,  xxvi.  19.)      The  prophet,  in  his  vision  of  the 
 
 future,  calls  even  on  the  heathen  (see  verse  10)  to 
 rejoice  in  the  restoration  of  the  remnant  of  Israel, 
 and  pray  for  their  prosperity.  In  "  deliver  "  we  have 
 the  same  verb  as  in  the  "  Hosanna  "  of  Ps.  cxviii.  25, 
 Matt.  xxi.  9.  The  old  bitterness  of  feeling  was  to  pass 
 away,  and  heathen  and  Israelite  were  to  join  together 
 in  a  chorus  of  praise  and  prayer.  The  thought  is  the 
 same  as  that  of  Isa.  xlix.  6,  lx.  3. 
 
 (8)  And  with  them  the  blind  and  the  lame 
 .  .  . — The  vision  of  restoration  continues,  and  the  pro- 
 phet sees  in  the  spirit  the  great  company  of  those  that 
 return.  Even  those  who  are  commonly  left  behind 
 in  such  an  expedition,  as  incumbrances  hindering  its 
 march,  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  women  with  child  or  in 
 the  very  pangs  of  childbirth,  will  be  seen  in  that  com- 
 pany.  None  shall  remain  behind.  They  are  to  come 
 from  the  land  of  the  North,  the  wide  range  of  the  term 
 covering  the  exiles  both  of  Judah  in  Babylon  and  of 
 Israel  in  the  cities  of  the  Medes.  For  "the  coasts  of 
 the  earth  "  see  Note  on  chap.  xxv.  32. 
 
 Shall  return  thither— i.e.,  to  the  land  of  Israel, 
 as  the  goal  of  the  company  of  travellers. 
 
 (9)  They  shall  come  with  weeping  .  .  .—The 
 present  version  agrees  with  the  Hebrew  punctuation, 
 but  a  slight  change  would  give,  They  shall  come  with 
 weeding  and  with  supplications;  1  will  lead  them;  I 
 will  cause  them  to  walk  .  .  .  The  procession  of  those 
 whom  the  prophet  sees  with  his  mental  eye  is  that  of 
 those  who  weep  tears  of  sorrow  for  the  past,  of  joy 
 for  the  present,  and  pour  out  prayers  for  the  future. 
 Of  this  we  have  a  partial  fulfilment  in  the  memorable 
 and  touching  scene  brought  before  us  in  Ezra  iii.  12, 
 13.  A  hand  which  they  do  not  see  shall  lead  them  by 
 the  "  rivers  of  waters,"  both  literally  and  figuratively. 
 (Comp.  Isa.  xxxv.  7,  8,  xliii.  19,  xlviii.  21,  xlix.  10,  11, 
 for  like  promises.) 
 
 Ephraim  is  my  firstborn.— Ephraim  stands  here, 
 as  often  elsewhere  (e,g.,  Hos.  xi.  3,  12,  xiii.  1,  12)  for 
 the  whole  northern  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes,  of 
 which  it  was  the  most  conspicuous  member.  The  term 
 "firstborn"  is  used,  as  an  echo  of  Exod.  iv.  22,  as 
 marking  out  Ephraim  as  the  object  of  the  special  favour 
 of  Jehovah,  the  birthright  of  Reuben  having  been 
 transferred  to  the  sons  of  Joseph  (1  Chron.  v.  1).  The 
 prominence  of  Ephraim  over  the  other  tribes  is  con- 
 spicuous throughout  the  whole  history  ( Judg.  xii.  1 — 3). 
 The  prophet  apparently  recognised  it  as  taking  its  place 
 once  more  in  the  restored  unity  of  the  people,  when  the 
 king  should  be  of  the  house  of  David,  Jerusalem  the 
 centre  of  worship,  Ephraim  the  leading  tribe.  iComp. 
 the  contemporary  prophecy  of  Ezek.  xxxvii.  19.)  It  is 
 not  without  interest  to  note  how  the  northern  prophet 
 looks  to  Judah  as  more  faithful  than  Ephraim  (Hos. 
 xi.  12),  while   Jeremiah  turns  from  the   sins  of   the 
 
 104 
 
The  J";/  qfthe  Bettortd  Israel. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXXI.        Rachd  Weeping  for  her  CHUkm. 
 
 do)  Sear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  O  ye 
 
 nations,  ami  declare  it  in  the  isles  alar 
 Off,  ami  Bay,  II''  that  scattered  Israel 
 will  gather  him,  ami  keep  him,  as  a 
 shepherd    doth    his    flock.        <n>     For    the 
 
 Loed  hath  redeemed  Jacob,  and  ran- 
 somed him  from  the  hand  of  him  llml 
 was  stronger  than  he.  (1-)  Therefore 
 they  shall  eome  and    sill";  ill   the   height 
 
 of  Zion,  ami  shall  How  together  to  the 
 goodness  of  the  Lord,  tor  wheat,  and 
 tor  wine,  and  lor  oil,  and  for  the  young 
 Of  the  flock  and  of  the  herd  :  and  their 
 soul  shall  he  as  a  "watered  garden;  and 
 they  shall  not  sorrow  any  more  at  all. 
 11:11  Then  shall  the  virgin  rejoice  in  the 
 dance,  both  young  men  and  old  to- 
 gether: fori  will  turn  their  mourning 
 
 into  joy,  and  will  comfort  them,  and  make 
 
 them  rejoice  from  their  IprrOW.    '"And 
 
 I  will  sat  iate  the  sou]  of  the  priests  with 
 fatness,  and  my  people  shall  be  satisfied 
 
 with  my  gOOdnOSS,  saith  the  LoBD. 
 
 (is)  Thus  saith  the  Loan;  4A  voice 
 beard  in  Raman,  lamentation, 
 hitter  weeping;  Rahel  weeping  tor  her 
 children  refused  to  he  comforted  for 
 her  children,  because  they  wen  not. 
 i'"' Thus  saith  the  Loud;  IM'rain  thy 
 voice  from  weeping,  and  thine  eyes 
 from  tears :  for  thy  work  shall  be  re- 
 warded, saith  the  Loan;  ami  they  shall 
 
 come  a^ain  from  the  land  of  the  enemy. 
 W>  And  there  is  hope  in  thine  end,  saith 
 the  Loan,  that  thy  children  shall  come 
 again  to  their  own  border. 
 
 princes  and  priests  of  Judah  to  look  wit Ii  hope  on  the 
 
 remnant  of  Israel. 
 ""<  Declaro  it  in  the  isles  afar  off  .  .  .— The 
 
 "isles"  appear  Into.  as  in  Ps.  lxxii.  10,  Isa.  xl.  15, 
 xli.  1,  xlix.  I.  Ixvi.  19,  as  tho  vague  representative  of 
 the  distant  lands  of  the  west — sometimes  (as  in  Num. 
 xxiv.  2-t;  Jer.  ii.  10)  with  the  addition  of  Chittim.  Of 
 the  isles  so  referred  to,  Cyprus  and  Crete,  so  far  as  any 
 definite    localities  were  thought    of,  would   probably  M 
 
 most  oanspicnona  Both  the  "nations  "sod  tho"isles" 
 represent  the  heathen  whom  the  prophet  calls  to  join 
 in  the  praises  offered  by  Israel. 
 
 (in  For  the  Lord  hath  redeemed  Jacob  .  .  . 
 — Of  tho  two  verbs  "redeem"  and  "ransom"  here 
 used,  the  tii-Ht  expresses  the  act  of  sotting  free,  tho 
 oilier  that  of  acting  as  tho  god,  or  nearest  kinsman, 
 who  was  not  only  the  liberator,  bat  the  avenger  of  those 
 to  whom  he  stood  in  that  relation.  (Comp.  Num.  xxxv. 
 19;  Deut.  xix.  0;  2  Sam.  xiv.  11  ;  Isa.  lix.  20;  Ps.  xix. 
 It.)  The  idea  of  a  "  ransom,"  however — i.e..  of  a  price 
 paid  for  freedom — does  not  lie  in  the  Hebrew  word. 
 
 (12—n)  Therefore  they  shall  come  and  sing  .  .  . 
 — Tho  vision  of  return  culminates  in  a  picture  of  the 
 prosperity  of  tho  restored  kingdom.  The  "  goodness  of 
 the  Lord"  is,  as  in  Ho-,  iii.  5,  tho  attribute  on  which 
 the  prophets  love  to  dwell,  as  shown  in  all  forms  of 
 outward  abundance.  Tie1  picture,  always  among  the 
 brightest  which  an  Eastern  mind  can  draw,  of  a 
 "  watered  garden  "  (comp.  Isa.  Ii.  3.  lviii.  11 ;  Gen. 
 xiii.  10)  should  be  but  the  symbol  of  the  continuous  joy 
 and  freshness  of  their  life.  The  dances  of  joy,  as  in 
 the  days  of  Miriam  (Exod.  xv.  20),  and  Jenhthah 
 iJudg.  xi.  34),  and  David  (1  Sam.  xviii.  (5).  should  take 
 the  place  of  lamentation.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in 
 all  these  instances,  the  dancing  company  consists  of 
 women  only.  Sacrifices  should  bo  offered  in  the 
 thankfulness  of  a  prosperous  people,  beyond  the 
 utmost  expectations  of  the  priests,  who  had  the  right 
 of  eating  of  the  victims'  flesh.  Young  and  old.  priests 
 and  laity,  should  rejoice  together. 
 
 (15)  A  voice  was  heard  in  Ramah.— The  sharp 
 contrast  between  this  and  the  exulting  joy  of  the  pre- 
 vious verse  -hows  that  we  are  entering  on  a  new  s,.,.|i,,n 
 which  repeats  in  altered  form  the  substance  of  the  fore- 
 going, presenting  in  succession  the  same  pictures  of 
 present   woe  and   future  gladness.     The  prophet 
 
 first  the  desolation  of  the  captivity.  Rachel,  as  tho 
 neither  of  Joseph,  and  therefore  of  Ephraini,  becomes 
 the  ideal  representative  of  tho  northern  kingdom.  Her 
 voice  is  heard  in  Ramah  i  possibly,  as  in  1  Sam.  xxii.  6, 
 
 K/.ek.  xvi.  2t,  and  in  the  Vulgate  lure,  not  as  the  name 
 of  a  locality. but  in  its  general  meaning,-/rom  a  »<• 
 In  ii/lili  weeping  for  the  children  who  have  been  6lain  or 
 carried  into  exile.  When  u-ed  elsewhere  as  a  proper 
 name,  tho  noun  always  has  the  article.  Here  it  -lands 
 without  it.  If  Kamah  be  definitely  one  of  the  places 
 of    that     name,     known    fully    as     Ramathaim-zophim 
 
 (1  Sam.  i.  1. 19),  it  is  probably  that  within  the  borders 
 of  Jenjamin  (Josh,  xviii.  25),  not  far  from  Rachel's 
 sepulchre  d  Sam.  x.  2).  She,  even  in  her  grave,  weens 
 for  her  cliildren.  Tho  mention  of  Ramah  in  Isa  x.  2'.' 
 seems  to  indicate  that  it  was  the  scene  of  some  special 
 massacre  in  the  progress  of  the  Assyrian  invader,  in  the 
 reign  of  Hezekiah;  and  Jeremiah  may  possibly  refer  to 
 it,  as  well  as  to  some  later  atrocity,  in  connection  with 
 that  of  the  Chaldceans  (comp.  chap.  xl.  1 1,  over  which 
 Rachel,  in  her  sepulchre  near  Bethlehem,  i-  supposed  to 
 Weep,      Possibly  also  the  meaning  of  the  name  Raohel 
 
 (  =  ewe)  may  have  added  something  to  the  force  of  the 
 prophet's  description.  He  hears  the  cry  of  the  ewe 
 on  the  bill-top  bleating  for  her  lambs.  The  passage 
 has  gained  a  special  significance  a-  being  cited  by  St. 
 Matthew   ii.  18),  a-  fulfilled  in  Herod's  massacre  "f  the 
 
 infant-  of  Bethlehem.  <  hi  the  nature  of  this  fulfilment 
 see  Note  on  Matt.  ii.  18. 
 
 (16)  Thy  work  shall  be  rewarded,  saith  the 
 Lord.— Literally,  there  shall  be  a  n  wardfor  0 
 Tin-  words   are   a  reproduction   of   the  old  prophecy  of 
 
 Asariah,  the  son  of  Oded    2  Chron.  xv.  7).     Rachel, 
 
 personifying  the  northern  kingdom,  perhaps  even  the 
 Collective  unity  of  all  Israel,  is  thought  of  as  labouring 
 
 in  the  work  of  repentance  and  reformation,  as  with  a 
 mother's  care,  and  is  comforted  With  the  thought  that 
 her  labour   shall   not    be   in    vain.       This  Seems  a    noire 
 
 satisfactory  interpretation  than  that  which  refers  the 
 "work  "  of  the  weeping  Rachel  to  tho  travail  of  child- 
 birth. 
 
 |1">  And  there  is  hope  in  thine  end  .  .  .— 
 Better,]  for  flkw/Wnw.    Tbewordeare  the 
 
 same  as  in  chap.  x\i\.  II.  whore  the  English  version  has 
 
 -an  expected  end."  The  hope  here  i-  defined  as  that 
 of  the  return  of  Rachel's  children  to  their  own  border 
 
 103 
 
The  Repentance  of  Ephraim. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXXI.         The  Woman  Compassing  the  Man, 
 
 <18)  I  have  surely  heard  Ephraim  be- 
 moaning himself  thus:  Thou  hast  chas- 
 tised  me,  aud  I  was  chastised,  as  a 
 bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke  ;  turn 
 thou  me,  and  I  shall  be  turned;  for 
 thou  art  the  Lord  my  God.  <19)  Surely 
 "after  that  I  was  turned,  I  repented; 
 and  after  that  I  was  instructed,  I  smote 
 upon  my  thigh  :  I  was  ashamed,  yea, 
 even  confounded,  because  I  did  bear  the 
 reproach  of  my  youth.  <2°)  Is  Ephraim 
 my  dear  son  ?  is  he  a  pleasant  child  ? 
 for   since  I  spake   against  him,   I   do 
 
 a  Deut.  30.  2. 
 
 1  Heb.,  sound. 
 
 earnestly  remember  him  still :  therefore 
 my  bowels  Jare  troubled  for  him;  I 
 will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him,  saith 
 the  Lord. 
 
 <21>  Set  thee  up  waymarks,  make  thee 
 high  heaps  :  set  thine  heart  toward  the 
 highway,  even  the  way  which  thou 
 wentest :  turn  again,  O  virgin  of  Israel, 
 turn  again  to  these  thy  cities.  (22>  How 
 long  wilt  thou  go  about,  O  thou  back- 
 sliding daughter?  for  the  Lord  hath 
 created  a  new  thing  in  the  earth,  A 
 woman  shall  compass  a  man. 
 
 — the  return,  that  is,  of  the  Ten  Tribes  from  their 
 captivity. 
 
 US)  I  have  surely  heard  Ephraim  bemoaning 
 himself. — The  prophet's  thoughts  still  dwell  upon  the 
 exiles  of  the  northern  kingdom.  They  have  been  longer 
 under  the  sharp  discipline  of  suffering.  By  this  time, 
 he  thinks,  they  must  have  learnt  repentance.  He  hears 
 — or  Jehovah,  speaking  through  him,  hears — the  moan- 
 ing of  remorse ;  and  in  that  work,  thought  of  as  already 
 accomplished,  he  finds  a  new  ground  for  his  hope  for 
 Judah.  Ephraim  at  last  owned  that  he  had  deserved 
 the  chastisement  of  the  yoke  that  had  been  laid  on  him. 
 
 As  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke.— 
 The  comparison  is  the  nearest  approach  in  the  Old 
 Testament  to  the  Greek  proverb  about  "  kicking  against 
 the  pricks"  (Acts  is.  5,  xxvi.  14).  In  Hos.  x.  11 
 ("  Ephraim  is  as  an  heifer  that  is  taught "),  which  may 
 well  have  been  in  Jeremiah's  thoughts,  we  have  a  like 
 comparison  under  a  somewhat  different  aspect.  The 
 cry  which  is  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  penitent, 
 "  Turn  thou  me  .  .  .  ,"  is,  as  it  were,  echoed  from 
 chap.  iii.  7,  12,  14,  and  is  reproduced  in  Lam.  v.  21. 
 
 U9)  After  that  I  was  turned.— The  words  have 
 been  referred  by  some  commentators  (Hitzig)  to  the 
 previous  turning  away  from  God — the  apostasy  of 
 Ephraim ;  but  the  repetition  of  the  word  that  had 
 been  used  in  the  previous  verse  makes  it  far  more 
 natural  to  connect  it  with  the  first  movement  of  re- 
 pentance. The  "  smiting  upon  the  thigh  "  is,  like  the 
 Publican's  "  smiting  on  his  breast  "  (Luke  xviii.  13),  an 
 Eastern  expression  of  extreniest  grief.  So  in  Ezek.  xxi. 
 17  we  have  the  "  smiting  of  the  hands  together  "  as  a 
 symbol  of  anger,  which  is  also  sorrow.  In  Homer 
 (Odyss.  xiii.  193)  we  have  the  very  gesture  here 
 depicted — 
 
 "And  then  he  groaned,  and  smote  on  both  his  thighs 
 With  headlong  hands,  and  so  in  sorrow  spoke." 
 
 The  reproach  of  my  youth — i.e.,  the  shame 
 which  the  sins  of  his  youth  had  brought  upon  him. 
 
 (20)  is  Ephraim  my  dear  son  ? — Literally,  a  child 
 of  delight — i.e.,  fondled  and  caressed. 
 
 Is  he  a  pleasant  child? — We  have  to  ask  whether 
 an  affirmative  or  negative  answer  is  implied  to  these 
 questions.  On  the  former  view,  the  words  express  the 
 yearning  of  a  father's  heart  towards  the  son  whom  ho 
 still  loves  in  spite  of  all  his  faults.  Jehovah  wonders, 
 as  it  were,  at  his  affection  for  one  who  has  been  so 
 rebellious.  On  the  latter,  they  give  prominence  to  the 
 faults  as  having  deprived  him  of  all  claim  to  love,  even 
 though  the  father's  heart  yearned  towards  the  prodigal 
 in  pity.     The  former  gives,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  best 
 
 meaning.  In  every  word,  whether  of  reproof  or  in- 
 vitation, there  was  implied  a  loving  remembrance. 
 
 For  since  I  spake  against  him. — Better,  As  often 
 as  I  speak  to  him.  The  preposition  can  hardly  have  the 
 meaning  of  "  against,"  for  which  Jeremiah  uses  dif- 
 ferent words,  and  implies  rather  (as  in  the  "  communed 
 with  "  of  1  Sam.  xxv.  39 ;  "  When  she  shall  be  spoken 
 for,"  Song  Sol.,  viii.  8) — speaking  with  a  view  to  win. 
 By  some  commentators  (Ewald)  the  word  for  "speak" 
 is  rendered  "  smite,"  but  the  ordinary  rendering  gives 
 an  adequate  meaning.  The  original  gives  both  for 
 "  earnestly  remember  "  and  "  surely  have  mercy  "  the 
 Hebrew  idiom  of  reduplication — Remembering,  I  re- 
 member ;  pitying,  I  pity.  The  thought  expressed  is 
 that  Jehovah  could  not  bring  himself  to  utter  the  sen- 
 tence of  rejection.  His  love  turned  to  the  penitent 
 who  turned  to  Him.  We  have  something  like  a  fore- 
 shadowing of  the  love  of  the  father  of  the  prodigal  in 
 Luke  xv.  20. 
 
 (2i)  Set  thee  up  waymarks  .  .  . — It  will  be 
 noted  that  the  figure  is  changed,  and  that  instead  of 
 "Ephraim,  the  dear  son,"  we  have  Israel,  the  ''back- 
 sliding daughter."  The  idea  of  the  return  of  the  exiles 
 is  still  prominent,  and  she,  as  represented  by  the  first 
 group  of  those  who  came  back,  is  called  on  to  set  up 
 "heaps  of  stones,"  after  the  manner  of  Eastern  travel- 
 lers, as  waymarks  for  those  who  followed.  (Comp. 
 Ezek.  xxxix.  15.)  The  way  which  she  had  trodden  when 
 she  was  led  out  into  captivity  was  to  be  re-trodden  in 
 the  fulness  of  joy  on  her  return.  She  was  to  pass  in 
 her  joy  through  the  self-same  cities  that  had  then  seen 
 her  in  her  shame. 
 
 (22)  How  long  wilt  thou  go  about  .  .  P-^The 
 word  describes  the  restless  pacing  to  and  fro  of  im- 
 patient, unsatisfied  desire.  The  backsliding  daughter 
 — i.e.,  the  adulterous  yet  now  penitent  wife — is  de- 
 scribed, like  Goiner  in  the  parable  or  history  of  Hos. 
 ii.  7,  as  hesitating  between  her  lovers  and  her  husband. 
 
 A  woman  shaU  compass  a  man. — The  verse  is 
 obscure,  and  has  received  very  different  interpretations. 
 It  will  be  well  to  begin  our  inquiry  with  the  meaning 
 which  the  translators  attached  to  it.  On  this  point  the 
 following  quotation  from  Shakespeare  is  decisive  : — 
 
 "  If  I  can  check  my  erring  love,  I  will ; 
 If  not,  to  compass  her  I'll  use  my  skill."         .. 
 
 Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  11.  t. 
 
 To  "  compass "  is  to  woo  and  win.  And  this  gives, 
 it  is  believed,  the  true  meaning.  The  Hebrew  verb 
 (which  presents  a  striking  assonance  with  the  word  for 
 "backsliding")  means  literally  "to  go  round  about," 
 and  this  (as  in  Ps.  xxvi.  6,  xxxii.  7,  10)  as  an   act  of 
 
 106 
 
TheDrtam  qf  Beat  and  Refreihment.    JEREMIAH,    XXXI.  The  Proverb  qftfi  Grapet. 
 
 Thus  saiili  tli.'  Liii;i>  of  boats,  the 
 i  \o6  of  [arael ;  As  jei  they  shall  tue 
 this  Bpeeob  in  the  land  of  Judah  and  in 
 tin'  cities  thereof,  when  I  shal]  bring 
 again  their  captivity;  The  Lobs  bit  — 
 
 II ,    ()    habitation    of    justice,     and 
 
 mountain  of  holiness.  ('-"  And  there 
 shall  dwell  iu  Judah  itself,  and  in  all 
 the  cit  Lea  thereof  together,  husbandmen, 
 
 and  they  Hud  go  forth  with  flocks. 
 <-5)   Fur  l   ha\r  satiated  the  weary  soul, 
 
 and  I  have  replenished  every  sorrowful 
 
 soul.  (-6)  Upon  this  I  awaked,  and  be- 
 held ;  and  my  sleep  was  sweet  unto  me. 
 
 W  Behold,  the  days  oome,  saitb  the 
 
 LOBD,    that    1    will    BOW     the     house    of 
 I  and  the  house-  of  Jildah  with   the 
 seed  of  man,  and  wit  h  t  he  s 1  of  I.. 
 
 f28'  And  it  shall  oome  t..  pass,  thai  like 
 as  I  have  watched  over  them,  to  pluck 
 up,  and  to  break'  down,  and  to  throw 
 down,  and  to  destroy,  and  to  afflict 
 will  I  watch  over  them,  to  build,  and  to 
 plant,  saith  the  Lobd.  '-"'  In  those 
 days  they  shall  say  no  more,  The 
 fathers  bave  eaten  a  sour  grape,  and  the 
 children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge.  lint 
 every  one  shall  die  for  his  own  iniquity  : 
 
 reverential  tenderness  and  love.  In  the  normal  order 
 of  man's  life,  tlie  bridegroom  woos  the  bride.  In  the 
 spiritual  relationship  whieli  the  prophet  has  in  view,  this 
 shall  lie  Inverted,  and  Israel,  the  erring  but  repentant 
 wile,  shall  woo  her  Divine  husband.  The  history  of 
 Gomer  in  Eos.  ii.  14 — 'in  again  presents  a  striking 
 
 Sarallel.      A  like  inversion  of  the  normal  order   is  in- 
 icated,  though  with  a  different  meaning,  in  Isa.  iv.  1, 
 
 Where  tin.  seven  women  might  he  said  to  ■•  compass" 
 the  one  man.  It  may  he  noticed  that  the  words  u-.nl 
 express  the  contrast  of  the  two  B6XSS  in  tic  strongest 
 possible  form.     .1  female  "hull  eompeua  (i.e.,  woo)  a 
 
 in, ilr,  possibly  as  emphasising  the  fart  that  what  the 
 prophet  deserilies  was  an  exception  to  the  normal  order, 
 not  of  human  society  only,  hut  of  the  whole  animal 
 society.  By  some  interpreters  (Ewald)  the  words 
 are  rendered  "a  woman  shall  he  turned  into  a  man;" 
 meaning  that  the  weak  shall  he  made  strong,  as  a  kind 
 of  contrast  to  the  opposite  kind  of  transformation  in 
 ehap.  \xx.  ii;  lint  this  gives  a  far  less  satisfactory 
 meaning,  and  the  same  may  lie  said  of  such  transla- 
 tions as  ■•the  woman  shall  protect  the  man."  and  "a 
 woman  shall  [nit  a  man  to  Might.''  The  notion  that 
 the  words  can  iu  even  the  remotest  degree  he  con- 
 nected with  the  mystery  of  the  [nearnation  belongs  to 
 the  region  of  dreams,  and  not  of  realities;  and.  lacking 
 as  it  does  the  support  of  even  any  allusive  reference  to 
 
 it  in  the  New  Testament,  can  only  be  regarded,  in  spite 
 
 of  the  authority  of  the  many  Fathers  and  divines  who 
 have  adopted  it.  as  the  outgrowth  of  a  devout  hut  un- 
 critical imagination.  The  word  used  for  "woman," 
 indeed,  absolutely  excludes  the  idea  of  the  virgin-birt h. 
 
 '-' :   As  yet  they  shall  use  this  speech  in  the 
 land  of  Judah  .  .  . — Better,  Ones  more,  or  j 
 
 The  phrase  is  the  same  as  in  verso  5.  The  eyo  of  the 
 prophet  turns  from  the  northern  kingdom  to  that  of 
 Judah,  and  sees  it  also  as  a  sharer  in  the  restoration. 
 Jerusalem  should  he  blest,  and  he  worthy  of  blessing — 
 '  more  a  faithful  city,  a  holy  mountain,  righteous 
 oess  dwelling  in  it  (Isa.  i.  21).  The  "holy  mountain"  is 
 Used  with  a  special  reference  to  Moriah  and  the  Temple. 
 llusbandmon,  and   they  that    go   forth 
 
 With  flocks. — Tho  prophet's  ideal  of  the  restored 
 life  of  Israel  is  that  it  should  combine  the  best  features 
 of  the  patriarchal  and  the  kingly  life.  A  people  pas- 
 toral, yet  not  nomadic — agricultural,  yet  sharing  in  the 
 culture  and  safety  of  cities — this  was  the  picture  that 
 rose  up  in  Jeremiah's  thoughts,  in  sharp  enntra-t  to 
 the   facts   that    actually  surrounded  him   in  the  shape 
 
 of  devastated  fields  and  pastures,  with  no  flocks  and 
 herds  (chap.  iv.  •2b' — 29 
 
 (*)  I  have  satiated  the  weary  soul  .  .  .— 
 Here  again  wo  note  an  instance  of  an  anticipation 
 of  the  thought,  almost,  of  the  very  language,  of  the 
 Gospel,  "The  hungry  and  the  thirsty"  shall  he  "tilled" 
 (  Matt.  v.  C),  tho  weary  shall  lie  refreshed  .Matt.  xi.  28, 
 29). 
 
 (26)  Upon  this  I  awaked   .   .    .—The  words  thai 
 
 follow  have  been  very  differently  interpreted.  By  some 
 writersi  RosenmiillerHliey  have  been  referred  to  Jehovah 
 under  the  figure  of  the  husband  who  has  dreamt  of  his 
 wife's  return.  Others  (Ewald)  have  seen  in  them  a 
 ((notation  from  some  well-known  psalm  or  hymn,  like 
 Pa  xvii.  15,  indicating  that  in  the  golden  days  to  which 
 Jeremiah  looked  forward  there  should  be  freedom  i  ran 
 from  tho  evil  and  dark  dreams  of  a  time  of  peril,  so 
 that  every  man  should  bo  able  to  give  thanks  for  the 
 "  sweet  "  gift  of  sleep  fPs.  exxvii.  2).  It  is,  however,  far 
 more  natural  to  take  them  as  the  prophet's  own  words. 
 The  vision  of  a  restored  Israel,  such  as  he  paints  it  in  the' 
 preceding  verses,  had  come  to  him  in  his  sleep. 
 chap,  xxiii.  28;  Joel  ii.  2s,  as  to  this  mode  of  revela- 
 tion.)     And   when   he  woke  up  there  was   no    sense  of 
 
 bitter  disappointment  like  that  of  the  dreamer  described 
 
 iu  Isa.  xxix.  8.  The  promise  that  came  to  him  when  he 
 woke  was  as   distinct    and    blessed  as   the  dream   had 
 
 1 n.     Tho   "sweet  sleep"  has  its  parallel  iu  Prov. 
 
 iiL24 
 CW)  I  will  sow  tho  house  of  Israel  .   .   .—The 
 
 same  image  of  a  fertile  and  happy  population  appears 
 in  Hos.  ii.  23;   Zeeh.  x.  t» ;   Ezek.' xxxvi.  9,  1".  11.     It 
 will  be  noted  that    it   embraces  both  Israel  and  Judah, 
 which  had  once  been  rhals.  each  watching  the  •:. 
 of  tho  other  with  jealousy  and  suspicion. 
 
 (28)  Like  as  I  have  watched  over  thorn   .   .   . 
 
 — Some  twenty-three  years  had  passed  since  the  pro- 
 phet's call  to  ids  office,  but  tic  words  that  called  him 
 to  it  are  living  still.  The  very  symbolism  of  the 
 "almond."  with  the  play  upon  its  meaning,  as  the 
 "wakeful"  or  "watching"  tree  (see  Notes  ,,n  chap. 
 i.  In.  II  .  the  \ery  terms  in  whieli  his  two-fold  work 
 was  painted,  are  present  to  his  thoughts,  yet  are  seen 
 under  a  new  and  brighter  aspect,  t'p  to  this  time  his 
 task  had  been  mainly  that  of  a  prophet  of  evil,  "rooting 
 out  "  and  "  pulling  down."  Xow  fie  sees  before  him  tho 
 happier  work  of  "building  up"  and  "planting." 
 
 The  fathers  have  eaten  a  sour  grape 
 
 .  .  . — The  proverb  was  one  which,  as  we  find  from 
 Ezek.  xviii  2.:!.  had  at  this  time  come  into  common  use. 
 Men  found  in  it  an  explanation  of  their  sufferings 
 which  relieved  their  consciences.  They  were  suffering, 
 they  said,  for  the  sins  of  their  fathers,  not  for  their  own. 
 Ie7 
 
The  New  Covenant 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXXI. 
 
 and  its  Promises. 
 
 every  man  that  eateth  the  sour  grape, 
 his  teeth  shall  be  set  on  edge. 
 
 (31>  Behold,  the  "days  come,  saith 
 the  Loed,  that  I  will  make  a  new 
 covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel, 
 and  with  the  house  of  Judah  :  <32>  not 
 according  to  the  covenant  that  I 
 made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day 
 that  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to 
 bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ; 
 which  my   covenant    they    brake,    :al- 
 
 1  Or,  should  I  have 
 cu  nt  t  it  tied  an 
 h  usbamd  unto 
 than. 
 
 Isa.  54. 13;  John 
 6.45. 
 
 though  I  was  an  husband  unto  them, 
 saith  the  Lord:  t33)  but  this  shall  be 
 the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with 
 the  house  of  Israel;  After  those  days, 
 saith  the  Loed,  I  will  put  my  law  in 
 their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their 
 hearts ;  6and  will  be  their  God,  and 
 they  shall  be  my  people.  <34>  And  they 
 shall  teach  no  more  everjr  man  his 
 neighbour,  and  every  man  his  brother, 
 saying,  Know  the  Loed  :  for  cthey  shall 
 
 They  distorted  the  words  which,  as  asserting  the  con- 
 tinuity  of  national  life,  were  attached  to  the  second 
 Commandment  (Exod.  xx.  5),  and  instead  of  finding  in 
 them  a  warning  restraining  them  from  evil  by  the  fear 
 of  transmitting  evil  to  another  generation,  they  found 
 in  theni  a  plea  for  their  own  recklessness.  Both  EzeHel 
 and  Jeremiah  felt  that  the  time  was  come  when,  even 
 at  the  risk  of  a  seeming  contradiction  to  words  clothed 
 with  aDivine  authority,  the  other  aspect  of  God's  govern- 
 ment had  to  be  asserted  in  all  its  fulness  :  and  therefore 
 they  lay  stress  on  the  truth  that  each  man  is  responsible 
 for  his  own  acts,  and  for  those  alone,  and  that  the 
 law  of  the  inheritance  of  evil  (what  we  have  learnt  to 
 call  the  law  of  herediti)  leaves  untouched  the  freedom 
 of  man's  will.  The  "  eater  of  the  sour  grape,  his 
 teeth  shall  be  set  on  edge,"  is,  as  it  were,  an  emenda- 
 tion of  the  proverbial  saying.  The  words  of  the  Latin 
 poet,  "  Delicta  majorum  immeritus  lues,"  "  Thou,  for 
 no  guilt  of  tliine,  shalt  pay  the  forfeit  of  thy  fathers' 
 sins"  (Hor.  Od.  iii.  6,  1),  show  how  ready  men  have 
 been  at  all  times  to  make  a  like  excuse.  How  the 
 two  truths  are  to  be  reconciled,  the  law  of  hereditary 
 tendencies,  and  punishments  that  fall  not  on  the 
 original  offenders,  but  on  their  children,  and  the  law 
 of  individual  responsibility,  is  a  question  to  which  we 
 can  give  no  formal  answer.  We  must  be  content  to 
 accept  both  laws,  and  rest  in  the  belief  that  the  Judge 
 of  all  the  earth  will  assuredly  do  right. 
 
 (3i)  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  .  .  .—Both 
 in  itself,  and  as  the  germ  of  the  future  of  the  spiritual 
 history  of  mankind,  the  words  are  of  immense  signifi- 
 cance. It  was  to  this  that  the  Lord  Jesus  directed  the 
 thoughts  of  His  disciples,  as  the  prophecy  which,  above 
 all  other  prophecies,  He  had  come  to  fulfil  by  the  sacri- 
 fice of  Himself.  In  that  "  New  Covenant"  in  His  blood, 
 which  He  solemnly  proclaimed  at  the  Last  Supper  (Matt. 
 xxvi.  28),  and  which  was  commemorated  whenever  men 
 met  to  partake  of  the  Supper  of  the  Lord  (1  Cor.  xi.  25), 
 there  was  latent  the  whole  argument  of  the  writer  of 
 the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (chaps,  viii. — x.),  the  whole 
 Gospel  of  justification  by  faith  as  proclaimed  by  St. 
 Paul  (Gal.  iii.  15 — 17).  From  it  the  Church  took  the 
 title  of  the  New  Covenant,  the  New  Testament,  which 
 it  gave  to  the  collected  writings  of  the  Apostolic  age. 
 This  title  in  its  turn  gave  the  name  of  the  Old  Testa- 
 ment to  the  collected  writings  which  recorded  how  "  in 
 sundry  times  and  divers  manners  "  God  had  spoken  in 
 time  past  to  Israel. 
 
 The  promise  is  too  commonly  dealt  with  as  standing 
 by  itself,  without  reference  to  the  sequence  of  thought 
 in  which  we  find  it  placed.  That  sequence,  however, 
 is  not  hard  to  trace.  The  common  proverb  about  the 
 sour  grapes  had  set  the  prophet  thinking  on  the  laws  of 
 God's  dealings  with  men.  He  felt  that  something  more 
 was  needed  to  restrain  men  from  evil  than  the  thought 
 
 108 
 
 that  they  might  be  transmitting  evil  to  their  children's 
 children — something  more  even  than  the  thought  of 
 direct  personal  responsibility,  and  of  a  perfectly 
 righteous  retributiou.  And  that  something  was  to 
 be  found  in  the  idea  of  a  law — not  written  on  tablets 
 of  stone,  not  threatening  and  condemning  from  with- 
 out, and  denouncing  punishment  on  the  transgressors 
 and  their  descendants,  but  written  on  heart  and  spirit 
 (2  Cor.  iii.  3 — 6).  It  is  noticeable,  as  showing  how 
 like  thoughts  were  working  in  the  minds  of  the  two 
 prophets,  that  in  Ezekiel  also  the  promise  of  a  "  new 
 heart  and  new  spirit "  comes  in  close  sequence  upon 
 the  protest  against  the  adage  about  the  "  children's 
 teeth  being  set  on  edge"  (Ezek.  xviii.  31).  In  the 
 words  for  "saith  the  Lord"  we  have  the  more  solemn 
 word  which  carries  with  it  the  announcement  as  of  an 
 oracle  from  God. 
 
 (32)  N0t  according  to  the  covenant  .  .  . — 
 Our  familiarity  with  the  words  hinders  us,  for  the  most 
 part,  from  recognising  what  must  have  seemed  their  ex- 
 ceeding boldness.  That  the  Covenant  with  Israel,  given 
 with  all  conceivable  sanctions  as  coming  directly  from 
 Jehovah  (Exod.  xxiv.  7,  8),  should  thus  be  set  aside,  as 
 man  repeals  an  earthly  law ; — the  man  who  could  say 
 this  without  trembling  must  indeed  have  been  confi- 
 dent that  he  too  was  taught  of  God,  and  that  the  new 
 teaching  was  higher  than  the  old. 
 
 Although  I  was  an  husband  unto  them.— The 
 words  declare  the  ground  on  which  Jehovah  might 
 well  have  looked  for  the  allegiance  of  Israel.  (See 
 Notes  on  chaps,  ii.  2,  iii.  20.) 
 
 (33)  This  shall  be  the  covenant  .  .  .—The  pro- 
 phet felt  that  nothing  less  than  this  would  meet  the 
 wants  of  the  time,  or,  indeed,  of  any  time.  The  ex- 
 periment, so  to  speak,  of  a  law  requiring  righteousness 
 had  been  tried  and  had  failed.  There  remained  the 
 hope — now,  by  the  Divine  word  that  came  to  him, 
 turned  into  an  assurance — of  a  Power  imparting  right- 
 eousness, writing  the  "  law  in  the  inward  parts,"  the 
 centre  of  consciousness  and  will,  in  which  God  re- 
 quired truth  (Ps.  Ii.  6),  in  the  heart  as  the  region  at 
 once  of  thoughts  and  of  affections.  In  2  Cor.  iii.  3 — 6 
 we  have  a  manifest  reference  not  only  to  the  idea,  but 
 to  the  very  words  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy. 
 
 (34)  They  shall  teach  no  more  "every  man 
 his  neighbour  .  .  .—We  trace  in  that  hope  for  the 
 future  the  profound  sense  of  failure  which  oppressed 
 the  mind  of  the  prophet,  as  it  has  oppressed  the  minds 
 of  many  true  teachers  since.  What  good  had  come  of 
 all  the  machinery  of  ritual  and  of  teaching  which  the 
 Law  of  Israel  had  provided  so  abundantly  ?  Those 
 repeated  exhortations  on  the  part  of  preachers  and 
 prophets  that  men  should  "  know  the  Lord,"  what  did 
 they  present  but  the  dreary  monotony  as  of  an  "old 
 worm-eaten  homily"  ?  To  know  Him,  as  indeed  He  is, 
 
Tin  Promise  of  Forgiveness. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXXI. 
 
 The  Restoration  of  J 
 
 all  know  me,  from  the  least  of  them 
 onto  the  greatest  of  them,  Baith  the 
 Lobd  :  for  1  will  forgive  their  iniquity, 
 and  I  will  remember  their  sin  no 
 more. 
 
 Thus  Baith  the  Lord,  'which  giveth 
 (In?    sun    for  a   li^ht    by    day,  and    the 
 
 Ordinances  of  the  in i  anil  of  the  stars 
 
 r<>r  a  light  by  night,  which  divideth 
 fthe  sea  when  the  waves  thereof  roar; 
 The  Lobd  of  hosts  is  his  name:  (36)  ''if 
 those  ordinances  depart  from  before  me, 
 Baith  the  Lokd,  then  the  seed  of  Israel 
 also    shall    cease   from   beiiiLT    a    nation 
 
 .1  H,  si.  t;   Mi. -.' 
 
 r.iai  \. 
 
 e  iM.tt.  15. 
 
 .(  lMl.54.9;Cb.33. 
 
 before  me  for  ever.    <;)7'  Tims  Baith  the 
 Lobd  ;    [f  '  heaven  above  can  I"-  mea- 
 
 BUred,  and  the  foundation,  of  the  earth 
 
 searched  out  beneath,  I  will  . 
 
 off  all   the   seed  of  Israel   for   all    that 
 
 they  have  done,  saith  the  Lobd. 
 
 Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the 
 Lord,  that  the  city  shall  be  built  to 
 the  Lobd  from  the  tower  of  llananeel 
 unto  the  gate  of  the  comer.  '  ■"■  And 
 the  measuring  line  shall  jei  go  forth 
 over  against  it  upon  the  hill  <  iareb,  and 
 shall  compass  about  to  Goath.  "  And 
 the  whole  valley  of  the  dead  bodies,  and 
 
 required  nothing  lees  than  a  special  revelation  of  His 
 
 pre-.. .nee    to    eacli    man's    heart    and     spirit,    and    that 
 
 revelation  was  now,  for  his  oomfort,  promised  Cor 
 all  who  were  willing  to  reoeive  it.  as  the    special  gift. 
 
 of  the  near  or  distant  future  which  opened  to  his  view- 
 in  his  virion  of  a  restored  Israel.  Hero  also  tho 
 words  of  Jeremiah  echo  those  of  an  older  prophet 
 <  I ~:i  li\-  13  .  and  find  their  fulfilment  in  those  of 
 i  Ihrisl    John  vi.  15). 
 
 I  will  forgive  thoir  iniquity  .  .  .— Tlio  s md 
 
 clan,'  repeat,  the  promise  of  the  first,  in  a  form  which 
 
 is.  perhaps,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  after  the 
 manner  of  men.  Our  thoughts  of  Qod  as  the  Ail- 
 knowing  preclude  the  idea  of  any  limitation  of  His 
 knowledge,  siieh  as  the  words  "  1  will  remember  DO 
 more"  imply.  What  is  meant  is  t li.it  lie  will  be  to 
 him  who  repents  and  knows  Him  as  indeed  Ho  is,  in 
 His  essential  righteousness  and  love,  as  men  8X6  to 
 D    when    they  "forget    and  forgive."     He  will  tiv.it 
 
 the  past    offences,  even  (hough  their  inevitable  con. 
 
 Sequences    may    continue,    as    though    they    had     never 
 
 I ii.    so    far   as    they    affect    the    communion    of    tlio 
 
 soul  with  Qod.  He  will,  in  the  language  of  an- 
 other prophet,  "blot  out"  the  sins  which  yet  belong 
 to  the  indelible  and  irrevocable  past  (Isa.  din,  25, 
 xliv.  22). 
 
 Which  giveth  the  sun  for  a  light  by 
 day  .  .  . — The  leading  thought  in  tin-  lofty  language 
 
 of  this  passage  is  that  the  reign  of  law  which  we  re- 
 cognise in  (Jod's  creative  work  has  its  counterpart  in 
 His  spiritual  kingdom.    The  stability  and  permanence 
 
 of  natural  order  isa  pledge  and  earnest  of  the  fulfilment 
 
 of  Sis  promises  to  Israel  as  a  people.  The  new  Cove- 
 nant of  pardon  and  illumination  is  to  ]„..  what  tho  first 
 Covenant  was  not,  eternal  in  its  duration.  We  have 
 learnt,  through  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul,  whilo  not  ex- 
 cluding Israel  according  to  the  flesh  from  its  share  in 
 that  fulfilment,  to  extend  its  range  to  the  children  of 
 the  faith  of  Abraham,  the  truo  Israel  of  God  ^Roin.  ii. 
 28,  29,  iv.  11,  12  . 
 
 (W)  If  hoaven  above  can  be  measured  .  .  .— 
 The  thought  of  the  preceding  verse  is  reproduced  with 
 a  slight  modification  of  meaning.    Over  and  shove  the 
 
 idea,  as  stated  above,  that  the  stability  of  nature  is 
 a  parable  of  (he  steadfastness  of  (bid's  laws  and  pur- 
 poses in  the  spiritual  world,  there  is  implied  a  feeling. 
 
 like  that   of  Rom.  xi.  :!:!,  that  man's  finite   intellect 
 
 cannot  fathom  His  modes  of  working  out  that  purpose 
 any  more  than  it  can  measure  what  to  the  prophet's 
 mind  were  the  illimitable  heaven  and  the  unfathomable 
 earth. 
 
 v»>  Prom  the  tower  of  Hananeel  unto  the 
 gate  of  the  corner.— There  seems  to  us  something 
 
 almost  like  an  anti-climax  in  this  sudden  transition 
 from  tins  loftiest  Gospel  promises  to  the  obscure- 
 localities  of  the  ancient  Jerusalem.  With  Jeremiah, 
 however,  as  before  with  Isaiah  chap.  Ixv.  17 — -~>  .  and  on 
 a  much  larger  scale  with  K/.ekiel  chaps.  iL—  xlviii.  I,  this 
 was  the  natural  outgrowth  of  tho  vividness  with  which 
 the  restored  city  came  before  his  mental  vision.  lb 
 saw  a  goodly  city  rise  as  from  the  ruins  of  the  old, 
 truly  and  not  in  name,  only  consecrated  to  Jehovah, 
 and  describes,  as  best  he  can,  how  it  differed  from 
 them.       The    tower    of    Uana 1    appears    from   Neh. 
 
 iii.  1.  xii.  39,  to  have  been  identical,  or  connected,  with 
 tho  tower  of  Meah,  and  to  have  been  between  the  fish- 
 gate  and  the  sheep-gate,  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the 
 city  walls.  It  is  named  again,  as  one  of  the  conspicuous 
 landmarks  of  the  city,  in  Zech.  xiv.  10.  The  "corner- 
 gate''  at  the  north-west  corner,  and  near  the  present 
 Jaffa-gate,  appears  in  J.  Kings  xiv.  I"  :  J  Chron.  xxvi. 
 9;   Zech.   xiv.    Ill;   Neh.  iii.  Jl.  :V1.      The   wall   in  this 
 
 iter  had  apparently  been  battered  during  the  siege 
 
 of  Jerusalem,  and  the  prophet  naturally  sees  the  re- 
 building of  the  wall  as  among  tho  first-fruits  of  the 
 
 restoration. 
 
 (■■■■>  Tho  hiU  Gareb  .  .  —Neither  of  the  two 
 localities  named  is  mentioned  elsewhere,  and  their 
 position  is  accordingly  simply  matter  for  conjecture. 
 Tho  name  of  the  first,  as  signifying  "the  leper's  hill" 
 (the  term  being  one  that  includes  leprosy  as  well  as 
 Other    skin-diseases.   Lev.  xxi.   20,    x\ii.   22),    indicates 
 
 probably  a  position  outside  the  walls  assigned  as  a 
 dwelling  to  persons  suffering  from  that  disease,  cor- 
 responding, as  some  think,  with  the  hill  on  the  north 
 
 side  of  Jerusalem  which  Josephus  describes  as  Becetba 
 {Wars,  v.  4,  §  2).  Others,  however,  assign  its  posi- 
 tion to  the  south-west  corner  of  tho  walls.  Tho  name 
 Gareb  appears  in  -J  Sam.  xxiii.  38  as  belonging  to  One 
 of  David's  thirty  heroes,  but  there  is  nothing  to  con- 
 nect him  with  the  locality.  Goath  is  a  word  of 
 doubtful  etymology.  Somo  scholars  (Hit/.ig)  inter- 
 pret it  as  ■•  high-towering,"  and  refer  it  to  the 
 height  overlooking  Kidron,  afterwards  surmounted 
 by  the  tower  Aiitonia.  Tho  Targum.  however,  para- 
 phrases it  as  "tho  pool  of  the  heifers."  and  connects 
 the  name  with  the  verb  for  the  lowing  of  that  animal. 
 By  some  writers  it  has  been  identified  with  Golgotha, 
 but  both  topography  and  etymology  aro  against  this 
 view. 
 
 The  whole  valley  of  tho  dead  bodies  ... 
 — Wo  have  to  think  of  this  city  as  Jeremiah  saw  it 
 
 109 
 
Jeremiah  in  the  Court  of  the  Prison.  JEREMIAH,    XXXII. 
 
 Prophecy  of  ZedehiaKs  Fate. 
 
 of  the  ashes,  and  all  the  fields  unto  the 
 brook  of  Kidron,  unto  the  corner  of  the 
 horse  gate  toward  the  east,  shall  he 
 holy  unto  the  Loed  ;  it  shall  not  be 
 plucked  up,  nor  thrown  down  any  more 
 for  ever. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXII.— d)  The  word 
 that  came  to  Jeremiah  from  the  Loed 
 in  the  tenth  year  of  Zedekiah  king  of 
 Judah,  which  ivas  the  eighteenth  year 
 of  Nebuchadrezzar.  <2)  For  then  the 
 king  of  Babylon's  army  besieged  Je- 
 rusalem: and  Jeremiah  the  prophet 
 "was  shut  up  in  the  court  of  the  prison, 
 which  ivas  in  the  king  of  Judah's  house. 
 <3)  For  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah  had  shut 
 him  up,  saying,   Wherefore  dost  thou 
 
 B.  c. 
 cir.  590. 
 
 prophesy,  and  say,  Thus  saith  the 
 Loed,  "Behold,  I  will  give  this  city  into 
 the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and 
 he  shall  take  it ;  <4>  and  Zedekiah  king 
 of  Judah  shall  not  escape  out  of  the 
 hand  of  the  Chaldeans,  but  shall  surely 
 *be  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  king 
 of  Babylon,  and  shall  speak  with  him 
 mouth  to  mouth,  and  his  eyes  shall 
 behold  his  eyes ;  <5>  and  he  shall  lead 
 Zedekiah  to  Babylon,  and  there  shall  he 
 be  until  I  visit  him,  saith  the  Loed  : 
 though  ye  fight  with  the  Chaldeans,  ye 
 shall  not  prosper. 
 
 (6'  And  Jeremiah  said,  The  word  of 
 the  Loed  came  unto  me,  saying,  (7)  Be- 
 hold, Hanameel  the  son  of  Shallum 
 thine  uncle  shall  come  unto  thee,  sajdng, 
 
 during  the  horrors  of  the  siege — the  lower  part,  the 
 "  plain  "  or  "  valley  "  of  the  city,  the  valley  of  Hinnoni 
 (conip.  ehap.  six.  11),  filled  with  corpses  lying  uuburied 
 in  the  streets  (Lam.  ii.  21,  iv.  9),  the  "  ashes"  of  burnt 
 and  shattered  houses  encumbering  the  streets  with 
 their  debris,  the  fields  or  open  spaces  that  stretched  to 
 the  Kidron  valley,  and  the  "horse-gate"  by  the  king's 
 palace  (2  Kings  xi.  16 ;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  15  ;  Neh.  iii.  28) — 
 all  this  now  lay  before  him  as  a  scene  of  unspeakable  de- 
 solation ;  but  in  his  vision  of  the  restored  city  he  sees  it 
 all  cleansed  from  whatever  was  defiling,  consecrated  to 
 Jehovah,  and  holy  as  the  precincts  of  the  Temple.  It 
 is,  perhaps,  not  without  significance  in  connection  with 
 this  passage,  that  when  the  city  was  restored,  the  region 
 above  the  " horse-gate"  was  repaired  by  the  priests,  who 
 seem  to  have  had  their  houses  in  that  quarter  (Neh.  iii. 
 28,  29).  They  appear  to  have  been  anxious  to  restore 
 the  sanctity  of  that  over  which  Jeremiah  had  lamented 
 as  desecrated  and  defiled.  The  word  for  "ashes"  was 
 a  technical  one  (Lev.  vi.  10,  11)  for  the  refuse  which 
 remained  on  the  altar  after  a  burnt-offering,  and  which 
 was  to  be  carried  without  the  camp  (Lev.  iv.  12,  vi.  11). 
 Probably  this  and  the  sweepings  of  the  Temple  were 
 thrown  into  the  valley  of  Hiunoin. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 (!)  In  the  tenth  year  of  Zedekiah  .  .  .—We 
 are  carried  oyer  a  period  of  six  years  from  the  prophecy 
 of  chap,  xxviii.  1  to  B.C.  589,  when  the  treacherous 
 and  intriguing  policy  of  Zedekiah  had  provoked  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar to  besiege  Jerusalem  in  the  ninth  year 
 of  the  king  of  Judah's  reign,  and  the  king,  irritated 
 by  Jeremiah's  continued  predictions  of  defeat,  had 
 imprisoned  him  in  the  dungeon  for  state-prisoners 
 attached  to  the  palace  (Neh.  iii.  25).  It  would  ap- 
 pear from  chaps,  xxxvii.  15,  xxxviii.  26,  both  of  an 
 earlier  date  than  this  chapter,  that  he  had  previously 
 been  confined  in  the  house  of  Jonathan  the  scribe  as  a 
 private  prison,  and  that  the  kiug  had  removed  him 
 thence  with  a  view  to  consulting  him  on  the  probable 
 issue  of  the  siege.  He  was  not  allowed  to  leave  his 
 prison,  but  friends  were  permitted  to  have  access  to 
 him. 
 
 (3,  *)  Behold,  I  will  give  this  city  into  the 
 hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon  .  .  .—A  comparison 
 of   these   verses   with  chaps,  xxxiv.  2,  3,  xxxviii.  23, 
 
 shows  that  Jeremiah  never  for  a  moment  varied  in  his 
 tone.  To  see  the  king  of  Babylon  face  to  face,  to  stand 
 before  him  in  shame  and  confusion — that  was  to  be 
 the  end  of  the  king's  frantic  resistance  to  the  Diviue 
 purpose.  The  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  (xii.  13),  and  the 
 fact  that  Nebuchadnezzar  put  out  the  eyes  of  the 
 captive  king  (chap,  xxxix.  7),  give  a  special  force  to 
 Jeremiah's  word.  The  face  of  the  great  king,  in  all 
 the  terror  of  his  wrath,  was  to  be  the  last  object 
 Zedekiah  was  to  behold  on  earth  (2  Kings  xxv.  6,  7; 
 Jer.  xxxix.  6,  Iii.  10,  11). 
 
 (5)  There  shall  lie  be  until  I  visit  him  .  .  .— 
 The  word  for  "visit"  is  ambiguous,  being  used  else- 
 where both  for  "punishing"  and  "  delivering."  Its 
 use  in  chap.  xxix.  10  is  in  favour  of  the  latter  meaning 
 here.  The  prophet  looks  forward  to  a  general  deliver- 
 ance, or  at  least  mitigation  of  suffering,  for  the  exiles 
 in  Babylon,  and,  though  he  does  not  in  distinct  terms 
 predict  that  Zedekiah  will  share  in  it,  seems  to  cherish 
 the  hope  that  he  will  not  be  altogether  excluded. 
 Of  his  fate  after  he  arrived  in  Babylon  we  know 
 nothing,  but  the  absence  of  his  name  when  Jehoiachin 
 was  released  from  his  imprisonment  (chap.  Iii.  31)  by 
 Evil-merodach  suggests  the  conclusion  that  he  was  then 
 dead. 
 
 (?)  Behold,  Hanameel  the  son  of  Shallum 
 .  .  . — The  teaching  of  the  narrative  that  follows  lies 
 almost  on  the  surface,  and  is  brought  out  distinctly  in 
 verse  44.  With  all  the  certainty  of  desolation,  misery, 
 exile  in  the  immediate  future,  the  prophet  was  to  give 
 a  practical  proof  that  he  was  as  certain  of  the  ultimate 
 restoration.  It  was  worth  while  to  buy  a  field  even 
 for  what  might  seem  the  contingency  of  that  remote 
 reversion.  Roman  history  records  a  parallel  act  of 
 patriotic  faith  in  the  purchase  of  land  at  Rome  at  its 
 full  market  value,  at  the  very  time  when  the  armies 
 of  Hannibal  were  marching  to  the  gate  of  the  city 
 (Livy,  xxvi.  11).  Nothing  more  is  known  of  the  Hana- 
 meel who  is  here  mentioned  than  that  he  was  the  first 
 cousin  of  the  prophet  (verses  8,  9).  The  word  "uncle" 
 in  this  verse  therefore  applies  strictly  to  Shallum.  As 
 the  lands  belonging  to  the  priests  and  Levites  as  such 
 eonld  not  be  alienated  (Lev.  xxv.  34),  wo  must  assume 
 either  that  the  land  in  question  had  come  into  the  family 
 by  marriage  and  was  private  property,  or  that  the  law 
 had  been  so  far  relaxed  as  to  allow  of  the  transfer  of 
 
 110 
 
Jen  in  'mil's  Purchase 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXXII. 
 
 of  a  J-'li  Id  ni  Anathotk. 
 
 Boy  tl my  field  that  is  in  Anathoth  : 
 
 for  the  r  i  i  •_;- 1 1 1  of  redemption  fa  thine  to 
 buy  it.  'So  Hanameel  mine  uncle's  son 
 came  to  me  in  the  court  of  the  prison 
 
 according  to  tin-  word  of  the  LoED,  and 
 .said  onto  me,  Buy  my  field,  I  pray  thee, 
 
 that    is    in    Anal  IidI  li,    which    Is    in    the 
 
 country  of  Benjamin:  for  the  right  of 
 inheritance  is  thine,  and  the  redemp- 
 tion is  thine;  buy  it  for  thyself.     Then 
 
 I  knew  thai  this  was  the  word  of  the 
 Loan.  Ami  1  bonghi  the  field  of 
 Hanameel  my  ancle's  son,  that  was  in 
 Anathoth,  and  weighed  him  the  money, 
 .  vi  a  '  seventeen  shekels  ofsilver.    ' '  And 
 
 I       Subscribed    tin-   i'Yi<lrn<c,  and    S'-ali-d 
 
 it,  and  took  witnesses,  and  weighed  him 
 the  money  in  the  halances.  <u>  So  I 
 took  the  evidence  of  the  purchase,  both 
 
 that  which  was  sealed  according  to  the 
 
 I  Or,  mm  uhektli 
 
 and  r>  n  | 
 
 '.'  llr\i.,u-rot*inthc 
 
 land  within  tin'  limits  of  the  family,  and  up  to  Che  date 
 
 of  ill \l  year  of  jubilee.      In  such  a  case,  as  in   Kuth 
 
 iii.    I  J.    iv.    I,    I  he  option    of    purchase    was    offered    in 
 
 the  lirst  install.-. ■  to  the  need  of  km  the  '.'.•</.  or  " re- 
 deemer," of  I  lie  family:,  so  that  it  might  still  lio  kept  in 
 
 the  lii f  succession  'Lev.  xw.  24,  82).    The  prophet 
 
 naturally  lays  stress  on  the  tact  thai  he  was  wain. si 
 
 beforehand  of  the  visit  of  Hanameel  and  of  its  object, 
 The  Ooincidenoe  was  to  him  what  the  arrival  of  the 
 messenger  of  Cornelius  was  to  Peter  (Acts  x.  19 — -1  I. 
 (8)  Buy  my  field,  I  pray  thee,  that  is  in 
 Anathoth  .  .  . — We  arc  not  told  what  led  Hanameel 
 
 to  make  the  offerof  sale.      Probably,  88  in  the  Assyrian 
 
 invasion  ha.  t.30  .  Anathoth  was  occupied  and  ravaged 
 by  the  army  of  the  Ohaldajans,  and  the  field  seemed 
 
 to  its  possessor  little  more  t hau  a  ilnuiiosa  htereditas 
 i"  an  inheritance  of  ruin":,  which  he  was  glad  to  got 
 
 rid  of   a  I    any  price.      Perhaps,  too,  looking  CO  the   part 
 
 that  Jeremiah  had  taken  in  urging  submission  to 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  it  seemed  prudent  to  transfer  the 
 ownership  of  the  Held  to  one  whom  the  Ghaldsans 
 were  disposed  to  protect,  while,  as  Jeremiah  was 
 in  prison,  Hanameel  might  well  expect  to  remain  iu 
 occupation  as   his   representative.      The  words  "the 
 
 right  of  inheritance  is  thine"  indicate  that  Hanameel 
 had  no  children.  The  description  "Anathoth.  which  is 
 in  the  country  of  Benjamin,"  hardly  natural  in  the 
 lips    of  cousin    speaking    to    cousin,    is   wanting    in   the 
 
 LXX.  version,  and  is  traceable  probably  to  the  . I. 'wish 
 
 lial.it    of  writing  in   tho  text  what    with  us    would   be 
 
 notes  in  the  margin. 
 
 •■'<  Weighed  him  the  money,  even  seventeen 
 shekolsof  silver.— The  Hebrew  presents  the  singular 
 combination,  seven  shekels  and  ten  [pieces  of]  stiver, 
 and  is  followed  by  the  LXX.  and  Vulg.  There  is  no 
 md  for  thinking  that  thoro  is  any  difference  be- 
 tween the  coins  or  bullion  so  described,  and  the  formula 
 
 was  probably  one  of  the  technicalities  of  Jewish  con. 
 Veyanoing.  As  regards  the  price  it  is  not  easy,  in  the 
 absence  of  any  measurement  of   the  field,  to  form  an 
 
 estimate  of  its  value;  but,  speaking  roughly,  as  com- 
 pared with  the  four  hundred  shekels  paid  by  Ahra' 
 
 for  the  field  of  Bphron   (Gen.  xxiii.  16  .  or  the  fifty 
 
 paid  by  David  for  the  threshing-Moor  and  oxen  of 
 Arauuah  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  24;  in  1  Chron.  \\i.  Jo  tin- 
 price  is  fixed  at  six   hundred  shekels  of  gold  I,  or  to  the 
 
 thirty  shekels  paid  for  the  potter's  field  in  Matt  xxvii. 
 •  '.  or  to  the  market  price  of  a  slave  varying  from 
 fifteen  II..,.  iii.  2)  to  thirty  shekels  iZech.  xi.  ]1  .  the 
 price,  under  B2  sterling,  would  seem  to  have  been  far 
 below  its  average  market  value,  and  in  this  respect  the 
 
 story  falls  short  of  the  dignity  of  its  Roman  parallel 
 
 see    Xote    oii\el'se    7.       Hanameel.  as    said    above,  was 
 
 probably  glad  to  part  with  it  at  any  price.    It  is  possible, 
 
 \er,  that    the  siuallness  of  the  sum    was   Owing  to 
 
 the   fact    that   tho  sale,  as  above  suggested,   conveyed 
 
 possession  only  for  the  unexpired  term  of  ■  tenancy 
 
 which  was  to  end  with  the  next  year  of  Jubilee.    On  that 
 
 assumption  the  prophet's  motive  in   purchasing  may 
 
 have  been  to  keep  it  in  the  family  instead  of  letting  it 
 pass  to  a  stranger  who  might  be  unwilling  to  surrender 
 it  when  the  year  of  Jubilee  arrived.  As  the  prophet 
 was  unmarried  he  had  no  son  to  inherit  it.  The  pre. 
 eise  sum  fixed,  perhaps  even  the  form  in  which  the  sum 
 is  Stated,  may  have  originated  in  Jeremiah's  wi-h  to  con- 
 nect ill  this  way  the  two  numbers,  ten  and  seven,  which 
 when  multiplied  together  produced  the  number  which 
 he  had  fixed  for  the  years  of  captivity,  and  therefore  for 
 
 the  term  of  restoration.  Such  an  elaborate  artifice  of 
 symbolism  would,  at  least,  be  quite  in  character  in  a 
 prophet  who  adopts  the  acrostic  form  iii  his  Lamenta- 
 tions and  the  cypher  of  an  inverted  alphabet  knowu  as 
 the  Aflibush.     (See   \.,i.    hap.  xxv.  26.) 
 
 (io)  And  I  subscribed  the  evidence  .  .  . — 
 Literally, as  iu  the  margin.  I  wrott  in  II"  booh — the  last 
 word  being  used  for  any  kind  of  document,  as  for  an  in- 
 dictment in  Job  x.xxi.  '.}'>,  and  here  for  a  deed  of  convey- 
 ance. The  minuteness  with  which  the  transaction  i-  re- 
 corded is  every  way  remarkable,  partly  as  showing  that 
 tho  prophet  was  careful  that  no  legal  formality  should 
 be  lacking  to  give  validity  to  the  purchase;  partly,  as 
 the  next  verse  shows,  because  there  was  a  secret,  unat- 
 tested, unsealed  (and  in  that  sense  "open  "  document. 
 which  the  witnesses  did  not  subscribe,  and  with  the 
 contents  of  which  they  were  probably  not  acquainted. 
 The  sealed  document  was  one  closed  up  as  a  safeguard 
 against  fraudulent  alterations  (coinp.  Isa.  xxix.  IK  In 
 the  weighing  of  the  money  we  Bee  an  indication  of  the 
 
 old  practice — probably  consequent  on  the  practi f 
 
 "clipping"  coined  money — 01  dealing  even  with  the 
 current  coin  as  if  it  were  bullion,  just  as  bankers 
 weigh  a  parcel  of  sovereigns  now  before  riving  credit 
 for  the  amount.     (Comp,  Hen.  xxiii.  16;   Zeoh.  xi.  12.) 
 
 CD  Both   that  which  was   sealed  .  .  .  and 
 
 that  which  was  open. --We  are  left  to  conjecture 
 
 why   there    were    two    documents,    anil    why    one    was 
 
 ■1    and    the    other   open.       Possibly,   as    in    modem 
 
 transactions]  ono  was  simply  »  duplicate  copy  of  the 
 
 other,  the  sealed  document   being  the   formal  evidl 
 
 of   purchase  kept  by  the  buyer,  and   the  other  left 
 
 with  the  vendor  for  reference.  The  more  probable 
 explanation,  however,  is  that  the  unsealed  document, 
 which  the  witnesses  did  not  subscribe  or  BB6,  contained 
 details  which  did  not  concern  the  witnesses,  the  p 
 paid  (though  the  mention  of  the  witnesses  before  the 
 weighing  of  the  money  militates  against  this  view  .the 
 
 tions  of  resumption  by  the  vendor,  possibly  some 
 
 reference  to  the  period  Of  seventy  year-,  at  the  end  of 
 which,  and  not  before,  the  heirs  of  Jeremiah  might 
 expect  to  enter  on  pofiooaoion 
 
 According  to  the  law  and  custom.— Better, 
 to   wit,    the    agreemmi    and    the  conditions.     Tho 
 
 in 
 
The  Completion  of  the  Purchase.  JEREMIAH,    XXXII. 
 
 The  Prophets  Thanksgiving. 
 
 law  and  custom,  and  that  which  was 
 open :  (12)  and  I  gave  the  evidence  of 
 the  purchase  unto  Baruch  the  son  of 
 Neriah,  the  son  of  Maaseiah,  in  the 
 sight  of  Hanameel  mine  uncle's  son, 
 and  in  the  presence  of  the  witnesses 
 that  subscribed  the  book  of  the  pur- 
 chase, before  all  the  Jews  that  sat  in 
 the  court  of  the  prison.  (13)  And  I 
 charged  Baruch  before  them,  saying, 
 (14)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel;  Take  these  evidences, 
 this  evidence  of  the  purchase,  both 
 which  is  sealed,  and  this  evidence  which 
 is  open ;  and  put  them  in  an  earthen 
 vessel,  that  they  may  continue  many 
 days.  <15)  For  thus  saith  the  Loed  of 
 hosts,  the  God  of  Israel;  Houses  and 
 
 l  Or, hidfromthcc. 
 
 a  Exod.34. 7;  Deut 
 5.9. 
 
 Heb.,  doing. 
 
 b  Joli  34. 21 ;  Prov 
 5.  21  :    ch.  16.  17. 
 
 fields  and  vineyards  shall  be  possessed 
 again  in  this  land. 
 
 (16)  Now  when  I  had  delivered  the 
 evidence  of  the  purchase  unto  Baruch 
 the  son  of  Neriah,  I  prayed  unto  the 
 Lord,  saying, 
 
 (1?)  Ah  Lord  God  !  behold,  thou  hast 
 made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  by  thy 
 great  power  and  stretched  out  arm, 
 and  there  is  nothing  Hoo  hard  for  thee : 
 (18)  thou  shewest  "lovingkindness  unto 
 thousands,  and  recompensest  the  ini- 
 quity of  the  fathers  into  the  bosom  of 
 their  children  after  them:  the  Great, 
 the  Mighty  God,  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 is  his  name,  <19>  great  in  counsel,  and 
 mighty  in  3work :  for  thine  'eyes  are 
 open  upon  all  the  Avays  of  the  sons  of 
 
 whole  transaction  may  be  compared,  as  au  example 
 of  ancient  conveyancing,  with  the  transfer  of  the  field 
 and  cave  of  Machpelah  in  Gen.  xxiii. 
 
 <12)  Baruch  the  son  of  Neriah,  the  son  of 
 Maaseiah. — This  is  the  first  mention  of  a  man  who 
 played  a  more  or  less  prominent  part  in  connection 
 with  Jeremiah's  later  work.  Nothing  is  known  of  his 
 father  or  grandfather,  bnt  the  fact  that  both  are  named 
 indicates  that  he  belonged  to  the  nobler  families  of 
 Jndah ;  and  this  is  confirmed,  partly  by  the  fact  that 
 his  brother  Seraiah  (chap.  li.  59,  where  see  Note)  held  a 
 high  position  in  the  court  of  Zedekiah,  partly  by  Jose- 
 phus,  who  describes  him  as  of  "a  very  illustrious  house," 
 and  "  highly  educated  "  (Ant.  x.  6,  §  12).  The  mention  of 
 Chelcias  (the  Greek  form  for  Hilkiah)  among  his  ances- 
 tors, in  the  apocryphal  book  that  bears  his  name  (Bar.  i. 
 1),  may  indicate  a  connection  with  the  family  of  the  high- 
 priest  in  the  reign  of  Josiah  (2  Kings  xxii.  4 — 14),  and 
 we  may  find  in  this  fact  an  explanation  of  his  regard 
 for  Jeremiah.  In  relation  to  the  prophet,  he  appeal's 
 in  chap,  xxxvi.  4  as  acting  as  his  secretary,  as  accused 
 of  instigating  Jeremiah  to  preach  submission  to  the 
 Chaldseans  (chap,  xliii.  3),  as  sharing  his  sufferings  and 
 dangers  (chap,  xxxvi.  26),  and,  according  to  Josephus 
 (as  above),  as  thrown  into  prison  with  him.  He  was 
 probably  an  influential  member  of  the  Chaldaean  part)' 
 in  the  court  of  Judah,  protesting  against  the  policy 
 which  courted  an  alliance  with  Egypt  and  entered 
 into  intrigues  and  schemes  of  rebellion  against  the 
 power  of  Babylon.  The  book  that  bears  his  name  is 
 probably  pseudonymous,  but  it  bears  witness,  in  the 
 very  fact  of  its  being  ascribed  to  him,  to  the  importance 
 of  the  position  which  he  occupied  in  the  politics  of 
 the  time.  Here  he  is  present  as  at  least  visiting  the 
 prophet  in  prison,  even  if  he  did  not  share  his  imprison- 
 ment, and  Jeremiah  hands  over  the  deeds  of  conveyance 
 to  his  custody. 
 
 Before  all  the  Jews  that  sat  in  the  court  of  the 
 prison. — The  incidental  mention  of  these  is  interest- 
 ing, as  showing  the  freedom  of  access  which  was  per- 
 mitted to  the  prisoner.  Looking  to  the  freedom  and 
 fulness  of  the  prayer  that  follows  (verses  17 — 25),  it 
 is  a  legitimate  inference  that  they  formed,  as  it  were, 
 a  congregation  of  disciples,  on  whom  the  prophet  sought 
 to  impress,  by  the  transaction  of  the  purchase,  his  own 
 sure  and  certain  hope  of  the  restoration  of  his  people. 
 
 (14)  Put  them  in  an  earthen  vessel  .  .  .—We 
 are  reminded  of  the  "  earthen  vessels  "  in  which  men 
 kept  their  most  precious  treasures  (2  Cor.  iv.  7).  Such 
 a  vessel  was  obviously  a  better  protection  against  damp 
 or  decay  than  one  of  wood,  and  was,  as  it  were,  the 
 "safe"  of  a  Jewish  household.  (See  Note  on  chap. 
 xli.  8.)  In  the  "many  days"  we  have  an  implied 
 warning  to  the  listeners  that  they  were  not  to  expect 
 a  speedy  deliverance  or  restoration,  however  certain 
 might  be  their  assurance  that  it  would  como  at  last. 
 
 (15)  Houses  and  fields  and  vineyards  .  .  .— 
 It  is  a  natural,  though,  of  course,  not  a  certain  infer- 
 ence, that  the  land  which  Jeremiah  had  purchased  in- 
 cluded the  three  items  that  are  thus  specified. 
 
 US)  I  prayed  unto  the  Lord. — The  prophet,  it  is 
 obvious,  records  his  own  prayer.  Nowhere,  perhaps 
 — the  prayer  of  Ezra  (Ezi-a  ix.  5 — 15),  of  Hezekiah 
 (Isa.  xxxvii.  16—20),  of  Daniel  (Dan.  ix.  4—19),  being 
 the  nearest  parallels — do  the  writings  of  the  Old 
 Testament  present  us  with  so  striking  an  example  of 
 the  manner  in  which  a  devout  Israelite  poured  out  his 
 heart  to  God,  dwelling  on  the  gi-eatness  of  His  attributes 
 — praying  for  himself,  intei-ceding  for  his  people. 
 
 (17)  Tnere  is  nothing  too  hard  for  thee. — 
 The  thought  of  the  omnipotence  of  God  was  here,  as 
 always,  the  ground  of  prayer.  The  occurrence  of  the 
 self-same  phrase  in  Gen.  xviii.  14  shows  that  it  had 
 been,  even  from  patriarchal  times,  one  of  the  axioms  of 
 the  faith  of  Israel.     We  note  its  repetition  in  verse  27. 
 
 (18)  Thou  showest  lovingkindness  unto  thou- 
 sands .  .  . — The  words  are,  in  part,  an  echo  from 
 Exod.  xx.  6,  yet  more  from  the  revelation  of  the  Divine 
 glory  in  Exod.  xxxiv.  7.  They  recognise  the  laws  of  a 
 righteous  retribution,  working  even  through  the  seem- 
 ing injustice  of  that  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon 
 the  children  which  is  inseparable  from  the  continnity 
 of  family  or  national  life,  and  which  had  been  cari- 
 catured in  the  "  sour  grapes  "  proverb  of  chap.  xxxi.  29. 
 They  recognise  also  a  mercy  which  is  wider  than  that 
 retribution,  and  at  last  triumphant.  In  the  "  Mighty 
 God  "  we  have  the  reproduction  of  the  name  used  by 
 Isaiah  in  his  great  Messianic  prediction  (Isa.  ix.  6). 
 
 (19)  Great  in  counsel  .  .  . — So  far  as  this  is 
 more  than  the  continuance  of  the  adoring  ecstasy  of 
 the  previous  verse,  it  gives  a  fresh  prominence  to  the 
 law  of  direct,  equitable,  individual  retribution.    No  law 
 
 112 
 
The  Proph  it  Prayi  r 
 
 JEEEMIAH,    XXXII. 
 
 fin'/  ill--  I  ioer. 
 
 men:  to  give  every  one  acoording  fco 
 liis  ways,  : 1 1 ■< I  acoording  to  the  frail  of 
 his  doings:  '-"'  which  hast  set  signs 
 and  wonders  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  even 
 onto  this  day,  and  in  Israel,  and  among 
 other  men  ;  and  bast  made  thee  b  aame, 
 as  at  this  day ;  '-'"  and  nasi  broughl 
 forth  thy  people  Israel  "out  of  the  land 
 of  Egypi  wit  1 1  Bigns,  and  with  wonders, 
 and  with  a  strong  hand,  and  with  a 
 stretched  oul  arm,  and  with  greal 
 terror;  --'and  hast,  given  them  this 
 land,  which  thou  didst  swear  to  their 
 fathers  to  give  them,  a  land  flowing 
 with  milk  and  bone]  ;      'and  they  came 
 
 in,  and  possessed  it;  but  they  obeyed 
 not  thy  voice,  neither  walked  in  thy 
 law;  they  have  done  nothing  of  all 
 that  thou  commaiidedst  them  to  do: 
 therefore     thou     hast,    caused     all     this 
 
 evil  to  come  upon  them  :  (•*)  behold  the 
 
 'mounts,  they  are  come  unto  the  city 
 to  take  it  ;  and  the  city  is  given  into 
 the    hand   of  the   Chaldeans,   that    fight 
 
 against  it,  1 anse  of  the  sword,  and  of 
 
 the  famine,  and  of  I  be  pestilence  :  and 
 what  t  hou  hast  spoken  is  come  to  pass  ; 
 and,    behold,    tin ai    seest    it.        W   And 
 
 IT.1L 
 
 lines    of 
 
 i 
 
 thOD    baSl     said    mito     me,    <  )    l,.,rd    • 
 
 l!u\  thee  the  field  tor  money,  and 
 witnesses;    for  the   city   is  given    into 
 
 the  hand  of  I  Q£  <  'liald. 
 
 Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lobd 
 onto  Jeremiah,  Baying, 
 
 Bi  bold,  I  '"/i  the  Lobd,  the  M  lod 
 of  all  flesh:  is  there  any  thing  too  hard 
 for  meP  i-"'  Therefore  thus  Baith  the 
 Lobd  ;  Behold,  I  will  give  this  city  int.. 
 
 the  hand  of  the  (  'ha  Idea  lis,  and  into  the 
 
 hand  iif  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of  Baby- 
 lon, and  be  shall  take  it:  '-  '  and  the 
 Chaldeans,  that   flghi  againsi  this  city, 
 
 shall    come   and    Bet     lire    on    this    city, 
 
 and    burn    it   with  the    houses,   'upon 
 whose  roofs  they  have  offered   in< 
 until  Baal,  and  poured  out  drink  offer- 
 ings unto  other  °;ods,  to  provoke  me  to 
 anger.     '  ''  For  the  children  of   [srael 
 
 and  the  children  of  Judah  have  only 
 dmie  c\il  before  me  from  their  youth: 
 for  the  children  of  Israel  have  only  pro- 
 voked me  to  anger  with  the  work  of 
 their  hands,  saith  the  Lokd.  (:j1  Pi  I 
 this  city  hath  been  to  me  us  -'a  provo- 
 cation of  mine  anger  and  of  my  fury 
 from  the  day  that  they  built  it  even  unto 
 
 of  llic  transmission  of  the  inheritan f  good  or  evil 
 
 will  be  found,  in  tin'  long-run,  to  slash  with  that. 
 
 «-")  Even  unto  this  day  .  .  .—The  reference  to 
 tin'  signs  and  wonders  in  Egypi  seems  natural  enough, 
 Inn  in  wli.it  sense,  we  ask,  eoald  those  wonders  have 
 been  said  to  have  been  wroughl  "  unto  this  day"!'  It  is 
 conceivable  thai  what  he  had  beard  of  the  frogs,  and 
 the  lice,  and  the  boils  of  Egypt  might  seem  to  Jeremiah 
 
 the  perpetuation,  in  part,  of  1 1 \<\  plagues;  hut  we  get, 
 
 perhaps,  an  adequate  meaning  by  seeing  in  the  words 
 the  assertion  that  the  old  signs  ami  wonders  continued 
 in  their  effect  ami  in  their  memory,  The  "name" 
 eout iinioil.  though  the  signs  themselves  hail  passed 
 away. 
 
 Among  other  mon.-i:  ong  men.    There 
 
 is  mi  word  I'm-  "  other  "  in  tin'  Bebrew,  ami  the  words 
 have  their  full  force  el'  declaring  •  kid's  universal  govern- 
 ment over  mankind  at  huge, 
 
 (.»i-ii)  And  hast  brought  forth  thy  people 
 Israel  .  .  . — The  verses  travel  over  srround  so 
 ■miliar as  to  require  no  comment,  but  the  parallelism 
 with  Deut.  \wi.  8,  with  the  other  prophetic  prayers 
 above  referred  to.  ami  with  Ps.  exxxvi.  II,  12,  is  sig- 
 nificant, 'fh,'  thoughts  of  all  true  worshippers  moved 
 more  or  less  in  the  same  groove,  anil  clothed  them, 
 selves  in  the  same  language,  when  they  meditated  on 
 the  past  history  of  their  people. 
 
 '-'>  Bohold  the  mounts  .  .  .  The  mounts  hotter. 
 mda  are  as  in  chap.  vi.  6,  where  see  Note  the  hanks 
 
 or  towers  of  wood  which  finned  the  chief  part  of  ancient 
 
 siege  operations,  What  the  prophet  had  then  predicted 
 had  now  come  to  pas.,,  ami  Jerusalem  was  now  exposed 
 
 to  the  sword,  1  he  famine,  and  the  pestilence,  which  were 
 
 its  inevitable  accompaniments.    Aud  it  was  at  such  a 
 147  1 
 
 time  as  this,  when  the  darkness  was  thickest,  thai  a  ray 
 
 of  hope   for  the   future   was  given   by  the  ( imanil  to 
 
 buy  the  field  at   Anatlmth.      And  yet  the  command  was 
 
 so  strange,  and  the  hope  so  apparently  against  all  pro- 
 babilities, that  the  prophet  end-  his  prayer  liy  leaving 
 the  whole  matter  in  the  hands  of  .lelmvaii. 
 
 (-")  Is  there  any  thing  too  hard  for  me  ? 
 Tlio   answer  to   the   prayer   is   an   echo   of   the   prayer 
 
 itself  (veroe  17).    The  prophet  i  thai  be  was 
 
 not  wrong  when  he  cast  himself,  in  the  full  confidence 
 of  faith,  on  the  loving  omnipotent  The  words 
 
 which  he  had  used  were  more  than  a  liturgical  formula 
 to  one  who  had  that  confidence. 
 
 <-' W   Upon   whose   roofs   they   have    offered 
 incense  unto  Baal  .  .  . — On  of  worship 
 
 to  which   the   words   refer,  see   Xote   on   chap.   xix.  13. 
 
 Here  the  leading  thought  is  thai  of  the  righteous  judg- 
 ment which  i-  to  fall  on  the  very  -p.it-    that    had    thus 
 
 been  turned  from  the  worship  of  Jehovah  to  that  of  the 
 
 false  gods  whom  men  had  worshipped  ill  Hi-  -tead.    The 
 
 incense-smoke  of  their  false  worship  had.  a-  its  end.  the 
 smoke  of  burning  roof  ami  timbers. 
 
 The  children  of  Israel  havo   only  pro- 
 voked me  to  anger  .  .  .-The  words  "the  children 
 
 of   [srael"  are  apparently  taken  with  a  different  range 
 
 of  extension  in  the  two  clauses—  I)  for  the  northern 
 
 ii.  as  contrasted  with  Judah;   ami    .    for  the 
 
 collective  unity  of  [srael  before,  and  perhaps  also  after, 
 
 the  division  Of  the  monarchy.      The  latter  words  of  the 
 reproduce   I  lent,  x\\i.  29. 
 
 I  '■'■  From  the  day  that  they  built  it  .  .  .-The 
 words  confirm  the  inference  already  drawn  in  ti 
 ceding  note,  that  the  thoughts  of  the  prophet  turn  to 
 the  time  when  Israel  wa-  yet  ono  people  under  David 
 
 IS 
 
The  Abominations  of  Judah. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXXII. 
 
 The  Everlasting  Covenant. 
 
 this  day ;  that  I  should  remove  it  from 
 before  my  face,  <:!2)  because  of  all  the 
 evil  of  the  children  of  Israel  and  of  the 
 children  of  Judah,  which  they  have 
 done  to  provoke  me  to  anger,  they,  their 
 kings,  their  princes,  their  priests,  and 
 their  prophets,  and  the  men  of  Judah, 
 and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem. 
 (33)  A.nd  they  have  turned  unto  me  the 
 loback,  and  not  the  face:  though  I 
 taught  them,  rising  up  early  and  teach- 
 ing them,  yet  they  have  not  hearkened 
 to  receive  instruction.  t34'  But  they 
 'set  their  abominations  in  the  house, 
 which  is  called  by  my  name,  to  defile 
 it.  <;55>  And  they  built  the  high  places 
 of  Baal,  which  are  in  the  valley  of  the 
 son  of  Hinnom,  to  'cause  their  sons  and 
 their  daughters  to  pass  through  the 
 fire  unto  ''Molech ;  which  I  commanded 
 them  not,  neither  came  it  into  my  mind, 
 that  they  should  do  this  abomination, 
 to  cause  Judah  to  sin. 
 
 (36)  ^nd  now  therefore  thus  saith 
 the  Loed,  the  God  of  Israel,  concerning 
 this  city,  whereof  ye  say,  It  shall  be 
 delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of 
 Babylon  by  the  sword,  and  by  the 
 famine,  and  by  the  pestilence  ;    (37'  Be- 
 
 1  Heb.,  neck. 
 
 c  ch.  "  31 ;  &  19.  5. 
 
 f  ah.  24.  7;    &  : 
 »•-' ;  &  31.  33. 
 
 (j  Ezek.  ll  19. 
 
 2  Heb.,  all  days. 
 
 3  Heb.,  front  after 
 
 titan. 
 
 4  Heb.,   in    truth, 
 or,  stability. 
 
 hold,  I  will  'gather  them  out  of  all 
 countries,  whither  I  have  driven  them 
 in  mine  anger,  and  in  my  fury,  and  in 
 great  wrath ;  and  I  will  bring  them 
 again  unto  this  place,  and  I  will  cause 
 them  to  dwell  safely :  (38)  and  they  shall 
 be  •''my  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God  : 
 <39)  and  I  will  "give  them  one  heart,  and 
 one  way,  that  they  may  fear  me  2for 
 ever,  for  the  good  of  them,  and  of  their 
 children  after  them  :  (40)  and  I  will 
 make  an  everlasting  covenant  with 
 them,  that  I  will  not  turn  away  3from 
 them,  to  do  them  good ;  but  I  will  put 
 my  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall 
 not  depart  from  me.  (41)  Yea,  I  will 
 rejoice  over  them  to  do  them  good,  and 
 I  will  plant  them  in  this  land  4  assuredly 
 with  my  whole  heart  and  with  my  whole 
 soul.  (^  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  ; 
 Like  as  I  have  brought  all  this  great 
 evil  upon  this  people,  so  will  I  bring 
 upon  them  all  the  good  that  I  have 
 promised  them.  (43>  And  fields  shall  be 
 bought  in  this  land,  whereof  ye  say, 
 It  is  desolate  without  man  or  beast ;  it 
 is  given  into  the  hand  of  the  Chaldeans. 
 t44'  Men  shall  buy  fields  for  money,  and 
 subscribe  evidences,  and  seal  them,  and 
 
 and  Solomon.  Even  then,  ho  seems  to  say,  the  city  had 
 fallen  far  short  of  the  holiness  which  it  ought  to  have  at- 
 tained, and  which  David  sought  for  it  (Ps.  xv. — xxiv.), 
 and  had  only  been  for  anger  and  for  fury  to  the 
 Lord.  Thero  is  no  Hebrew  word  answering  to  "  pro- 
 vocation." It  is  noticeable  that  the  prophet,  as  if 
 forgetting  that  Jerusalem  had  been  a  Jebusite  city 
 before  David  took  possession  (2  Sam.  v.  6 — 10),  speaks 
 as  if  it  had  been  built  by  Israel.  It  is  obvious,  how- 
 ever, that  it  was  so  much  enlarged  and  altered  after 
 this  capture,  that  the  words  which  so  describe  it  may 
 have  been  not  only  practically,  but  almost  literally, 
 true. 
 
 (33)  They  have  turned  unto  me  the  back  .  .  . 
 — It  will  be  remembered  that  this  image  was  more  or 
 less  a  favourite  one  with  the  prophet.  (See  Notes 
 on  chaps,  ii.  27  ;  vii.  24.)  The  same  holds  good  of  the 
 "  rising  up  early."     (See  Notes  on  chap.  vii.  13,  25.) 
 
 (34, 35)  They  set  their  abominations  in  my 
 house  .  .  . — On  the  sins  thus  referred  to,  see  Notes 
 on  chap.  vii.  30,  31,  which  are  here  almost  verbally 
 reproduced. 
 
 (39)  i  will  give  them  one  heart,  and  one  way. 
 — The  previous  verse  has  described  the  restoration  of 
 Israel  in  the  old  familiar  all-inclusive  terms — "  They 
 shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God "  (Exod. 
 vi.  7 ;  Deut.  xiv.  2 ;  Hos.  ii.  23).  Here  a  new 
 feature  is  added.  The  prophet,  in  his  vision  of 
 the  future,  in  place  of  the  discords  of  the  present — 
 some  serving  Jehovah,  and  some  Baal  and  Molech; 
 some  urging  submission  to  Babylon,  and  some  in- 
 triguing with  Egypt — sees  a  unity  in  faith  showing 
 itself  in  unity  of  action.     The  hope  of  Jeremiah  has 
 
 114 
 
 never  yet  been  realised,  but  it  has  appeared  as  with 
 a  transfigured  glory  in  the  prayer  of  the  Christ  for 
 His  people  that  they  "  all  may  be  one,"  even  as  He  and 
 the  Father  are  one  (John  xvii.  21 — 23),  in  the  prayer  of 
 the  Apostle,  that  all  might  be  joined  together  "  in  the 
 unity  of  the  faith"  (Eph.  iv.  13).  And  that  prayer 
 also  waits  for  its  fulfilment,  and  receives  only  partial 
 and  (to  use  Bacon's  phrase)  "  germinant"  accomplish- 
 ments. "  For  ever"  represents  the  Hebrew  all  the  days. 
 
 (-40)  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  .  .  . 
 — The  "  covenant "  thus  promised  is,  it  must  be  remem- 
 bered, identical  with  that  of  chap.  xxxi.  31 — the  "  new 
 covenant,"  which  shall  never  wax  old  and  decay,  but 
 shall  abide  for  ever.  "  My  fear  "  is  identical  with  "  the 
 fear  of  the  Lord,"  which  is  "  the  beginning  of  wisdom." 
 The  curse  of  Israel  had  been  that  they  had  been  without 
 that  fear  to  restrain  them  from  evil,  and  that  the  mere 
 dread  of  punishment  had  proved  powerless  to  supply 
 its  place. 
 
 («)  I  will  plant  them  in  this  land  assuredly. 
 — Literally,  in  truth,  as  in  1  Sam.  xii.  24,  and  elsewhere. 
 By  some  interpreters  the  words  have  been  referred  to 
 the  stability  of  possession  implied  in  the  promise,  but 
 it  is  better  to  see  in  them  au  attestation  of  the  faithful- 
 ness of  the  Promiser.  In  meaning,  as  in  form,  the  word 
 corresponds  closely  with  the  frequent  "Amen,"  "Verily, 
 verily,"  in  our  Lord's  teaching. 
 
 (43,  44)  And  fields  shall  be  bought  in  this  land 
 .  .  . — The  significance  of  the  whole  transaction  of  the 
 purchase  of  the  field  in  Anathoth  is  again  solemnly 
 confirmed.  Men  were  desponding,  as  though  the  land 
 were  to  belong  to  the  Chaldseans  for  ever.  Thoy  are 
 told  that  the  very  region  which  was  now  covered  with 
 
Tht  Word  of  the  Lord 
 
 JBKEM1  All.    XXXIII. 
 
 to  tht  Tmpritontd  Prophet. 
 
 take  wit  ncssrs  iii  the  land  of  Benjamin, 
 
 and  in  tlu«  places  al I    Jerusalem,  and 
 
 in  the  cities  of  Jndah,  and  in  the  cities 
 of  tlic  mountains,  and  in  the  cities  of 
 
 the  valley,  and  in  the  cities  of  the  south  : 
 l,.r  I  will  cause  their  captivity  to  ret  inn. 
 saitb  the  Lord. 
 
 t'HAI'TUlt  XXX III.— <»  Moreover 
 the  word  of  the  Loud  came  unto  Jere- 
 in iali  the  second  time,  while  he  was  yet 
 'shut,  up  in  the  court,  of  the  prison, 
 saying 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  *the  maker 
 thereof,  the  LoED  that  formed  it,  to 
 establish  it;  the  Loan  u  his  name; 
 <3)  Call  unto  me,  and  I  will  answer  thee, 
 
 and  shew  tl great  and  'mighty  things, 
 
 which  thou  knowest  not.  '"  For  thus 
 .saith  the  Loi;i>,  the  thai  of  Israel,  con- 
 cerning the  houses  of  this  city,  and 
 concerning  the  houses  of  the  kings  of 
 Jndah,  which  are  thrown  down  by  the 
 mounts,  and  hy  the  sword  ;  l5)  They  come 
 to  fieht  with  the  Chaldeans,  but  it  is  to 
 till  them  with  the  dead  bodies  of  men, 
 
 .1  rii  .-c  i,  a 
 
 '.  l-:i  :;7  :•>'.. 
 
 ll   c 
 
 1  Or.  hidden. 
 
 ch.  31.  34;    Mir 
 
 whom    I    have    slain    in    mine  angei   :i ml 
 
 in  my  fury,  and  for  all  whose  wickedness 
 
 I    have   hid   my    face   from    this    city. 
 
 Behold,   I   will  bring  it    health  and 
 
 Cure,    and     1     will    .  ure    them,   and    will 
 
 rev.al   unto  them    tin-    abundance    of 
 
 peace  and   truth.     ,:    And    1   will   cause 
 
 the  captivity  of  Judahand  the  captivity 
 
 of  Israel  to  return,  and  will  huild  them, 
 as  at  the  first.  ''  And  1  will  cleanse 
 them  from  all  their  iniquity,  whereby 
 they  have  sinned  against  me;  and  I 
 will  ■'pardon  all  their  iniquities,  whereby 
 they  have  sinned,  and  whereby  they 
 have  transgressed  against  me.  '"  And 
 it  shall  be  to  me  a  name  of  joy,  s  praise 
 and  an  honour  before  all  the  nations  of 
 the  earth,  which  shall  hear  all  the  good 
 that  1  do  unto  them  :  and  they  shall  fear 
 and  tremhle  for  all  the  goodness  and  for 
 all  the  prosperity  that  I  procure  unto  it. 
 (io)  Thus  saith  the  Lord;  Again  there 
 shall  be  heard  in  this  place,  which  ye 
 say  shall  be  desolate  without  man  and 
 without  beast,  even  in  the  dtiec 
 Judah,  and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 their  oncampments  should  onco  again  ho  possessed 
 freely  by  its  own  people.    Iu  the  " mountain h,"  the 
 
 "  valleys."  and  the  south,  or  wyub  district,  stretching 
 towards  the  country  of  tho  Philistines,  we  have,  as 
 before  in  chap.  xvii.  26,  tho  familiar  division  of  the 
 laud  of  Jndah,  which  had  been  transmitted  from  what 
 has  well  been  called  the  Domesday  Book  of  Israel 
 (Josh.  xv.  21,  33,  48). 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 (i-3)  The   second  time,  while   he   was  yet 
 
 shut  up. — The  discourse  that  follows  belongs  to  the 
 same    period    as    the    preceding    chapter,    and    presents 
 
 the  same  general  characteristics,  lis  connexion  with 
 tho  operations  of  the  siege  to  which  Jerusalem  was 
 exposed  will  be  traced  in  verse  I.  As  with  other  pro- 
 phedes,  its  starting-point  is  found  in  the  thought  of 
 the  majesty  of  the  attributes  of  God. 
 Great  and  mighty  things.— Tho  two  adjectives 
 
 occur  in  the  same  combination  in  Deut.  i.  28,  ix.  1,  and 
 
 this  fact  is  iu  favour  of  the  rendering  "  mighty  "  rather 
 than  "hidden,"  as  in  the  margin  of  the  A.  v. 
 (*)  Concerning  the  houses  of  this  city  .   .  . — 
 
 The  words  point  to  I  he  incident  which  was  the  occasion 
 of   the  prophecy.      The    houses   referred   to  had  either 
 
 been  destroyed  by  the  invaders,  or,  more  probably,  by 
 the  besieged,  in  order  to  erect  a  eoonter-worh  against 
 the  '•mounts"  which  the  Ohaldsaans  had  get  against  it. 
 The  "swords"  (the  won]  is  translated  by  "axes"  in 
 Baek.  \\\i.  9)  include  tools  used  for  breaking  down 
 walls. 
 
 fl>)  They  come  to  fight  with  the  Chaldeans 
 •  .  . — Tho  Hebrew  construction  is  participial,  and  has 
 the  force  expressed  in  English  by  "they  used  indefi- 
 nitely.    The   prophet   sees,  as  it  «  of  the 
 
 besieged,  bat  it  is  doomed  to  failure,  and  the  houses  of 
 the  city  are  tilled  with  those  who  were  slain  by  tho 
 
 11' 
 
 sword,  as  well  as  by  the  "famine  and  pestilence"  chap. 
 
 xxxii   J  I  . 
 
 <">  Health  and  cure  .  .  .—The  first  word  is,  as 
 in  chap.  viii.  2-.  xxx.  17,  the  bandage,  or  "plaister," 
 which  was  prominent  in  the  therapeutics  of  the  Bast. 
 
 It  is  possible  that  both  words  may  have  been  spoken 
 in  direct  contrast  with  the  pestilence  which  WBS  ravaging 
 the  city  (chape. nL  9;  xxvii.  13;  xxxviii.  J  .  In  any  case, 
 however,  the  words  have  a  higher  and  figurative  mean- 
 ing. It  was  true  of  the  city  and  its  people  thai  tho 
 •'  whole  head  was  -ick.  and  the  whole  heart  faint  "  Isa. 
 i.5);  and  Jehovah  promisee  to  manifest  Himself  as  the 
 healer  of  that  spiritual  disease  which  was  worse  thau 
 anv  pestilence. 
 
 (7,8)  I  .  .  .  will  build  ...  I  will  cloanse 
 .  .  .  I  will  pardon  .  .  . — The  vision  of  the  re- 
 turn of  the  exile*  and  of  a  restored  city,  prominent 
 iu  chap.  xxxL  88—40,  is  not  allowed  to  overshadow  tho 
 yet  more  glorious  vision  of  spiritual  blessings  of  purity 
 and  pardon. 
 
 (9)  It  shall  be  to  me  a  name  of  joy  .  .  . 
 — The  thought  presents  two  aspects  in  its bearingon 
 
 tho  outlying  nations.  On  the  one  hand,  they  shall  sing 
 the  praises  of  the  restored  city;  on  the  other,  they  shall 
 fear  and  tremble  before  its  greatness,  a*  showing  that 
 it  was  under  the  protection  of  the  Lord  of  Israel.  Tie- 
 word  for  '•  fear  "  i*  Qsed  in  I-a.  Ix.  S  :    Bos.  iii.  5,  for  the 
 
 quivering,  trembling  emotion  that  aseompan 
 
 joy,  and  i<.  perhaps,  used  hen-  to  convey  the  thought 
 
 that  the  fear  would  not  be  a  mere  slavish  terror. 
 
 Again  there  shall  be  heard  in  this  place.— 
 The  promise  of  restoration  is  repeated  with  a  more  local 
 distinctness.      "This   place"    i-    ]'  in    chap. 
 
 rliL  18,  Jerusalem.     The  "streets"    are.  more  stri 
 the  ••  open   places,"  the   "bazaars."  or  evcu   the  "out- 
 skirts" of  the   city,   which   were   deserted   during  tho 
 progress  of  the  siege.    Now  they  were  waste  and  silent. 
 
The  Return  of  the  Captivity. 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XXXIII. 
 
 Jerusalem  in  Safety. 
 
 that  are  desolate,  without  man,  and 
 without  inhabitant,  and  without  beast, 
 ("'the  "voice  of  joy,  and  the  voice  of 
 gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom, 
 and  the  voice  of  the  bride,  the  voice  of 
 them  that  shall  say,  Praise  the  Lord  of 
 hosts :  for  the  Lord  is  good ;  for  his 
 mercy  endureth  for  ever:  and  of  them 
 that  shall  bring  the  sacrifice  of  praise 
 into  the  house  of  the  Loed.  For  I  will 
 cause  to  return  the  captivity  of  the 
 land,  as  at  the  first,  saith  the  Loed. 
 
 <12>  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts ; 
 Again  in  this  place,  which  is  desolate 
 without  man  and  without  beast,  and  in 
 all  the  cities  thereof,  shall  be  an  habi- 
 tation of  shepherds  causing  their  flocks 
 to  lie  down.  (13)  Li  the  cities  of  the 
 mountains,  in  the  cities  of  the  vale,  and 
 in  the  cities  of  the  south,  and  in  the 
 
 a  eta.  7.  31 ;  &  ic.  9. 
 
 b  Ina.  4.  2 ;  &.  11. 1 
 
 ll.  23.  5. 
 
 1  Hell.,     Jehovah 
 taidwnu. 
 
 2  Hcb.,  ThcrcshnU 
 Tiotbecutqfffram 
 
 David. 
 
 c  2  Sam.  7.  16 ;  1 
 Kings  2.4. 
 
 land  of  Benjamin,  and  in  the  places 
 about  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  cities  of 
 Judah,  sball  the  flocks  pass  again  under 
 the  hands  of  him  that  telleth  them,  saith 
 the  Lord. 
 
 <U)  Behold,  the  dajrs  come,  saith  the 
 Loed,  that  I  will  perform  that  good 
 thing  which  I  have  promised  unto  the 
 house  of  Israel  and  to  the  house  of 
 Judah.  (15)  In  those  days,  and  at  that 
 time,  will  I  cause  the  *  Branch  of 
 righteousness  to  grow  up  unto  David; 
 and  he  shall  execute  judgment  and 
 righteousness  in  the  land.  <16)  In  those 
 days  shall  Judah  be  saved,  and  Jeru- 
 salem shall  dwell  safely :  and  this  is  the 
 name  wherewith  she  shall  be  called, 
 xThe  Loed  our  righteousness.  (17)  For 
 thus  saith  the  Lord;  2David  shall  never 
 cwant  a  man  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of 
 
 Tho  time  would  come  when  they  would  once  again 
 re-echo  with  the  sounds  of  jubilant  exultation. 
 
 (U)  The  voice  of  joy,  and  the  voice  of  glad- 
 ness .  .  . — The  words  gain  greater  emphasis  as  being 
 those  which  tho  prophet  had  hiinself  used  (chaps,  vii.  34; 
 xvi.  9  ;  xxv.  10)  in  foretelling  the  desolation  of  the  city. 
 He  points,  as  it  wore,  by  implication  to  the  fulfilment 
 of  tho  one  prediction,  as  a  guarantee  that  the  other  also 
 will,  in  due  season,  have  its  fulfilment. 
 
 Praise  the  Lord  of  hosts  .  .  . — The  words 
 were  used  as  the  ever-recurring  doxology  of  the  Temple- 
 services  (Ezra  Hi.  11;  2  Chron.  vii.  6;  xx.  21;  Ps.  exxxvi. 
 2,  3 ;  1  Mace.  iv.  24).  The  Courts  of  the  Temple,  now 
 hushed  in  silence,  should  once  again  re-echo  with  the 
 Hallelujahs  of  the  Priests  and  Levites.  The  "  sacrifice 
 of  praise  "  (the  same  phrase  as  in  chap.  xvii.  26 ;  Ps. 
 lvi.  12)  may  be  either  "  the  sacrifico  which  consists  in 
 praise,"  or  the  "  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving  "  of  Lev.  vii. 
 12,  which  were  offered  in  acknowledgment  of  special 
 blessings.  The  ground  of  the  thanksgiving  in  either 
 case  would  be  that  the  Lord  had  "  turned  again  the 
 captivity  "  of  Jacob.  The  phrase  was  a  familiar  one, 
 as  in  Ps.  xiv.  7 ;  liii.  6 ;  Deut.  xxx.  3.  The  words  "  as 
 at  the  first"  (literally,  as  at  the  beginning)  do  not  refer 
 to  any  previous  restoration,  like  that  of  the  Exodus  from 
 Egypt,  but  to  the  state  before  the  exile. 
 
 (12, 13)  Again  in  this  place. — The  "  place  "  includes, 
 as  in  verse  10,  "  the  cities  of  Judah  and  the  streets  of 
 Jerusalem."  The  "  habitation  "  for  shepherds  is  trans- 
 lated sometimes  by  "sheepcote"  (1  Chron.  xvii.  7;  2 
 Sam.  vii.  8),  sometimes  by  "fold"  (Isa.  lxv.  10;  Ezek. 
 xxxiv.  14),  sometimes  by  "dwelling"  or  "habitation." 
 It  would  seem  here  to  answer  to  the  "  towns  "  of  our 
 old  English  speech,  as  meaning  enclosed  spaces,  with 
 the  tower  of  the  watchman  (2  Kings  xvii.  9 ;  Isa. 
 i.  8),  in  which,  in  times  of  average  tranquillity, 
 shepherds  and  their  flocks  found  shelter,  but  which 
 were  abandoned  when  the  land  was  overrun  by  an 
 invading  army.  In  verso  13  the  eye  of  the  prophet 
 travels  over  such  districts  within  the  kingdom  of 
 Judah  to  the  north  and  south  of  Jerusalem,  and 
 adds  to  the  picture  the  vivid  touch  that  the  "  sheep 
 shall  pass  under  the  hands  of  him  that  telleth  them." 
 the  shepherd  whose  work   it  was  to   count  tho  flock 
 
 — in  older  English,  "to  tell  his  tale" — as  it  went 
 out  in  tho  morning  and  returned  at  nightfall,  should 
 find  that  ho  had  lost  none  of  them. 
 
 (it,  15)  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord 
 .  .  . — Tho  words  are  manifestly  a  conscious  reproduc- 
 tion of  chap,  xxiii.  5,  6.  In  "  I  have  promised"  wo  may 
 indeed  trace  a  distinct  reference  to  that  passage.  Once 
 more  "  the  Branch  of  righteousness  "  (Isa.  iv.  2;  xi.  1) — 
 the  coming  heir  of  the  throne  of  David,  the  true  King 
 who  is  to  execute  judgment — is  put  forward,  as  seen  in 
 the  vision  of  tho  prophet's  hopes. 
 
 (16)  This  is  the  name  wherewith  she  shall 
 be  eaUed,  The  Lord  our  righteousness. — It  will 
 be  noticed  that,  while  this  reproduces  the  language  of 
 chap,  xxiii.  6,  it  does  so  with  a  remarkable  difference. 
 There  the  title,  "  The  Lord  our  Righteousness,"  is  given 
 to  the  future  King,  and  the  passage  has  accordingly  been 
 used  as  a  proof  of  the  full  divinity  of  the  Christ,  who 
 is  that  King.  Here  it  is  given  to  the  city,  and,  so 
 given,  can  only  mean  that  that  name  will  be,  as  it  wore, 
 the  motto  and  watchword  of  her  being.  She  will  be  a 
 city  marked  by  a  righteousness  which  will  bo  tho  gift 
 of  Jehovah ;  He  will  inscribe  that  name  on  her  banners, 
 and  grave  it  on  her  portals.  It  is  obvious  that  this 
 throws  light  on  the  meaning  of  tho  title  as  applied  to 
 the  King. 
 
 (17)  David  shall  never  want  a  man  .  .  . — 
 Tho  words  are  hardly  more  than  a  repetition  of  pro- 
 mises like  those  of  2  Sam.  vii.  16;  1  Kings  ii.  4;  Ps. 
 lxxxix.  29,  36,  but  it  is  here  repeated  under  very  different 
 circumstances.  Then  it  had  been  given  when  the  lino 
 of  David  was  in  all  the  freshness  of  its  strength.  Now 
 it  is  uttered  when  that  line  seemed  on  the  very  point  of 
 dying  out.  The  hope  of  the  prophet  is,  however,  inex- 
 tinguishable. He  is  certain  that  the  true  King  will 
 always  be  of  the  house  of  David.  It  lay  almost  in 
 tho  nature  of  tho  case  that  the  words  of  the  prophet 
 should  find  a  fulfilment  other  than  that  which  was 
 present  to  his  thoughts;  and  that,  while  ho  pictured 
 to  himself  an  unbroken  succession  of  sovereigns  of 
 David's  line,  thero  was  in  fact  a  higher  fulfilment  in 
 the  continuous  sovereignty  of  the  Christ  as  tho  true 
 Son  of  David.  We  have  something  liko  an  echo  of 
 the  words  in  the  words  of  the  Angel  at  the  Annuncia- 
 
 116 
 
TheC't'f.  H.int  with  David 
 
 JEJBEMIAH,   XXXIII. 
 
 'he  Levitts. 
 
 the  house  ol  [srael;  ^'neither shall  the 
 is  tin'  Levites  want  a  man  before 
 me  t"  offer  burn!  offerings,  ami  bo 
 kindle  meal  offerings,  ami  to  do  sacri- 
 fice * ■  •  -ill  imially. 
 
 \ ml  i he  word  of  the  Loan  came 
 unto  Jeremiah,  saying,  '-'"'  Tims  saitb 
 tlic  Lobd ;  "If  ye  can  brea b  my  eove- 
 naiit  of   the  day,  and  my  covenant  of 
 
 the  night,  ami  that  then'  should  not 
 be  daj  and  night  in  their  season  ; 
 (-11  then  may  also  my  covenani  be  broken 
 with  David  m\  servant,  thai  he  should 
 nut  have  a  son  to  reign  upon  his  throne ; 
 and  with  the  Levites  the  priests,  my 
 ministers.    '--''  As     the  hosl  of  heaven 
 
 ranmit    he   minibored,   neither   the   saml 
 
 ct' the  sea  measured:  so  will  I  multiply 
 
 the  sei'd  of  David  my  servant,  ami  the 
 Levites  that  minister  unto  me. 
 
 :    ■':  rh.  31 
 
 Moreover  tlie  word  of  the    I 
 
 '■■■ ■   to    Jeremiah,    Baying,    IJ"  <  'mi- 
 
 siderest  thou  nol  what  this  people 
 have  spoken,  Baying,  The  two  families 
 which  the  Loan  hath  chosen,  he 
 hath  even  cast  them  offP  thus  they 
 have  despised  my  people,  thai  they 
 sliouhl  be  no  more  a  nation  b 
 t  hem. 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Loin ;  [f  my 
 covenant  be  not  with  day  and  night, 
 and  if  I  have  nol  appointed  the  ordi- 
 nances of  heaven  and  earth;  <W  then 
 will  I  cast  a  way  the  Beed  of  Jacob, 
 and  David  my  servant,  so  that  I 
 will  not  take  any  of  his  seed  to  be 
 rulers  over  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
 [saao,  and  Jacob;  for  I  will  cause 
 their  captivity  to  return,  and  have 
 merry  on  them. 
 
 tiim  (Luke  i.  32,  33),  and  ii   is  an  echo  tlmt  interprets 
 
 tllrlll. 
 
 (18)  Neither  shall  the  priests  the  Levites  want 
 a  man  .  .  .-  -Here  Again  we  have  a  promise  which  re- 
 ceived :i  fulfilment  other  than  that  which  the  words 
 appeared  to  imply,  and  which  doubtless  was  in  the 
 prophet's  thoughts.  The  Levitical  priesthood  passed 
 away  I  Heb.  vii.  11).  but  Ohrist  was  made  a  Priest  after 
 the  order  of  Melchizedek;  and  by  virtue  of  their  onion 
 with  Him.  His  people  became  a  holy  priesthood  (Heb. 
 \.  l;1  -22),  offering,  not  the  burnt-offerings  and  meat- 
 offerings which  were  figures  of  the  true,  but  the 
 spiritual  sacrifices  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  (1  Pet. 
 ii.  S  I,  the  sacrifice  <>f  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  which  alone 
 was  acceptable  to  God  (Rom.  xii.  1). 
 
 The  Bpecial  combination,  "the  priests  the  Levites," 
 is  mil    round  elsewhere  in  Jeremiah,  but  appears  in 
 
 Dent  x\ii.  9;  xviii.  1  ;  Josh.  iii.  3;  J.  Clirnii.  xxx.  "J  7  ; 
 k.  xliii.  19;  xliv.  15  j  Isa.  lxvi.  21.  As  far  as  it  lias 
 any  special  significance,  it  may  indicate  either  that  the 
 priestly  character,  though  not  the  specific  priestly  {mic- 
 tions, extended  to  tho  whole  tribe  of  Levi,  or,  more  pro- 
 bably,  that  Jeremiah  speaks  of  the  L '\ite. priests  of 
 Jndah  as  contrasted  with  the  priests  of  the  "high 
 places,"  or  such  as  Jeroboam  had  made  of  thelov 
 of  the  people. 
 
 To  kindle  meat  offerings.— Tho  meat-offering, 
 
 ah,  it  will  he  remembered,  was  of  meal  and 
 
 frankincense,  not  of  flesh  i  Lev.  ii.  L— 15).    It  was  burnt 
 
 with  lire  on  the  altar,  and  the  fragrant   smoke  was  a 
 
 "sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord." 
 
 fi»-aa)  ^n(j  tij0  wor(j  0f  (kg  Lord  came  unto 
 Jeremiah,  saying  .  .  .—The  new  introduction  here 
 and  in  verse  j:'>  indicates  a  fresh  message  borne  in  on 
 
 the  prophet's  mind  after  an  interval  of  time.  In  sub- 
 stance it  repeats  the  promise  of  verses  17.  18.  but  it 
 reproduces  them  with  vet  greater  solemnity.  The 
 covenant  of  Jehovah  with  David  and  with  the  Levites 
 the  priests  is  piaeed  on  the  same  level  of  permanence 
 as  the  ordered  su, ssion  of   day  and   night.    If  the 
 
 Old  order  ultimately  gave  way  to   the   new.  it  was  only 
 
 because  the  new  was  the  transfigured  and  glorified  re- 
 production of  the  old.      Whatever  may  hoe  1 n  the 
 
 thoughts  of  the  prophet,  we  are  authorised  in  looking 
 
 for  t lie  seed  of  David  and  of  the  Levites  in  those  who, 
 by  virtue  of  their  union  with  Christ,  are  made  both 
 
 kings    and   priests    unto    the    father   !  Kev.  i.  H  .      .lu-r 
 
 as  tlie  promise  to  the  seed  of  Abraham  is  fulfilled  in 
 those  who  are  spiritually  the  children  of  the  faith  of 
 
 Abraham  (Rom.  ix.  7,  si,  so  in  this  sense  onlj  can  it  be 
 true  that  the  seed  of    David  and   the    Levites  -hall  out. 
 
 number  the  hosl  of  the  heaven  and  the  Band  of  the  sea. 
 (84-as)  Considerest  thou  not  what  this  people 
 
 have    spoken     .     .     .—The    words    that     follow    have 
 
 been  regarded  by  many  commentators  as  the  taunt  of 
 
 the  heathen  nations — Qhalds  ans.  Egyptians,  1'Moinite-, 
 and  others — as  they  beheld  what    seemed  to  them   the 
 
 entire  downfall  of  the  kingly  and  the  priestly  orders, 
 
 SUoh  as  we  find  put  into  the  lips  of  the  heathen  in  Esek. 
 
 xxxv.  lie  mvi. 20.   The  words  "this  people,"  however, 
 
 used  as  they  are  iuvarialily  of  that  to  which  the  prophet 
 
 himself  belonged  (chap.  iv.  L0 ;  v.  1 1.  23;  vi.  It',  and  i 
 
 wherei.  and  indeed  in  the  hundred  or  more  passages  in 
 
 which  the  phrase  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament,  lead  to  a 
 different  conclusion.  The  prophet's  declaration  of  the 
 steadfastness  of  Clod's  covenant  was  made  in  answer, 
 
 not  to  the  taunts  of  the  heathen,  hut  to  the  despair  of 
 I     . i ■  ■  1 .  such  as  had  found  utterance  ill  the  words  f ided 
 
 in  verse  10 and  chap. xxxii.  13.  It  ill''  words  "thus they 
 have  despised  my  people  "  mvih  t  .  favour  the  former 
 interpretation,  it  must  he  remembered  that  tie-  subject 
 of  the  verbis  not  necessarily  the  same  as  that  of  the 
 
 previous    clause,   and   that    the    scorn    of    other   nations 
 would  he  the  natural  outcome  of  the  despondency 
 which  Israel  had  fallen:  or  they  might  emphasise  the 
 fact    that    the    despondency  was    itself,   as   i'    wt 
 
 suicidal.  Those  who  despised  their  own  nation  were 
 de8pising  the  people  of  Jehovah.  In  contrast  with  this 
 despondency,  the  prophet  renews  his  assurance  of  the 
 permanence    of    the    kingly    and    priestly    lines,    and 
 
 strengthens    it    by    reference    to    the    three    great 
 
 Jiatriarchs  of  the*  race,  with  whom  the  truth  of 
 lehovah"s  promises  was  identified  ESxod.  iii  15  .  and 
 by  Connecting  it  with  the  promise  of  a  return  from 
 the  captivity.  When  that  return  came,  it  would  be 
 the   pledge  "and   earnest    of  tl  ter    bless 
 
 which  were  involved  in  the  new  and  everlasting 
 covenant. 
 
 117 
 
Tlw  Prophet's  Message  to  Zedekiah.     JEEEMIAH,    XXXIV. 
 
 Nebucliadnezzar's  Invasion. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XXXIV.— W  The  word 
 wliich  came  unto  Jeremiah  from  the 
 Loed,  "when  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of 
 Babylon,  and  all  his  army,  and  all  the 
 kingdoms  of  the  earth  l  of  his  dominion, 
 and  all  the  people,  fought  against  Je- 
 rusalem, and  against  all  the  cities 
 thereof,  saying,  <2)  Thus  saith  the  Loed, 
 the  God  of  Israel ; 
 
 Go  and  speak  to  Zedekiah  king  of 
 Judah,  and  tell  him,  Thus  saith  the 
 Loed  ;  Behold,  I  will  give  this  city  into 
 the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  he 
 shall  bum  it  with  fire  :  (3)  and  thou  shalt 
 not  escape  out  of  his  hand,  but  shalt 
 surely  be  b  taken,  and  delivered  into  his 
 hand ;  and  thine  eyes  shall  behold  the 
 eyes  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  2he 
 shall  speak  with  thee  mouth  to  mouth, 
 and  thou  shalt  go  to  Babylon.  (4)  Yet 
 hear  the  word  of  the  Loed,  0  Zedekiah 
 
 2Kings25.  I,&c.; 
 ch.  52.  4. 
 
 i  Heb.,  tlu  domin- 
 ion of  his  hand. 
 
 B.  C. 
 
 cir.  591. 
 
 Hi'K,  his  month 
 shall  speak  to  thy 
 mouth. 
 
 king  of  Judah  ;  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of 
 thee,  Thou  shalt  not  die  by  the  sword : 
 <5)  but  thou  shalt  die  in  peace :  and 
 with  the  burnings  of  thy  fathers,  the 
 former  kings  which  were  before  thee, 
 so  shall  they  burn  odours  for  thee ;  and 
 they  will  lament  thee,  saying,  Ah  lord  ! 
 for  I  have  pronounced  the  word,  saith 
 the  Loed. 
 
 (6)  Then  Jeremiah  the  prophet  spake 
 all  these  words  unto  Zedekiah  king  of 
 Judah  in  Jerusalem,  <7'  when  the  king- 
 of  Babylon's  army  fought  against  Je- 
 rusalem, and  against  all  the  cities  of 
 Judah  that  were  left,  against  Lachish, 
 and  against  Azekah  :  for  these  defenced 
 cities  remained  of  the  cities  of  Judah. 
 
 (8)  This  is  the  word  that  came  unto 
 Jeremiah  from  the  Loed,  after  that  the 
 king  Zedekiah  had  made  a  covenant 
 with  all  the  peoj>le  which  were  at  Jeru- 
 
 XXXIY. 
 
 (i)  When  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon 
 .  .  . — The  prophecy  that  follows  is  probably  a  fuller 
 statement  of  that  in  chap,  xxxii.  3, 4,  and  delivered  shortly 
 before  it,  being  referred  to  there  as  the  cause  of  his  im- 
 prisonment. In  the  form  of  the  name  Nebuchadnezzar 
 (m  instead  of  r,  as  in  chap.  xxiv.  1;  xxv.  1),  we  may 
 probably  trace  the  hand  of  a  later  transcriber.  The 
 same  hand  is,  perhaps,  traceable  in  the  accumulation 
 of  substantives  after  the  manner  of  Dan.  iii.  7 ;  v.  19. 
 
 (2.  3)  Go  and  speak  to  Zedekiah  .  .  .—See  Notes 
 on  chap,  xxxii.  3,  4. 
 
 (4)  Thou  shalt  not  die  by  the  sword.— The 
 tone  is  one  of  comparative  mildness,  the  motive  ap- 
 parently being  the  wish  to  persuade  the  king  to  abandon 
 his  useless  resistance,  and  to  court  the  favour  of  the 
 conqueror.  His  going  to  Babylon  would  not  neces- 
 sarily shut  him  out  from  a  life  of  comparative  ease  and 
 an  honourable  burial.  Jeconiah,  it  is  true,  had  been 
 thrown  into  prison  (chap.  li.  31),  and  remained  there 
 during  the  whole  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  but  that 
 was  the  result  of  his  obstiuate  resistance,  and  Zedekiah 
 might  avert  that  doom  by  a  timely  submission. 
 
 (5)  And  with  the  burnings  of  thy  fathers  .  .  . 
 — Spices  and  perfumes  were  burnt  as  a  mark  of 
 honour  at  the  burial  of  kings  and  persons  of  high 
 rank,  and  this  is  the  burning  here  referred  to  (2 
 Chrou.  xvi.  14  ;  xxi.  19).  The  Hebrews  never  adopted 
 the  practice  of  burial  by  cremation,  and  for  the  most 
 part  embalmed  their  dead  after  the  manner  of  Egypt 
 (comp.  Gen.  1.  2 ;  John  xix.  39,  40). 
 
 They  will  lament  thee,  saying,  Ah  lord! 
 .  .  . — The  words  derive  their  full  effect  from  their 
 contrast  with  the  prediction  which  the  prophet  had 
 uttered  (chap.  xxii.  18)  as  to  the  burial  of  Jehoiakim 
 without  any  of  the  usual  honours  of  the  funeral  dirges 
 of  the  mourners.  Here  he  comforts  Zedekiah  with  the 
 thought  that  no  such  shameful  end  was  in  store  for 
 him,  leaving  the  place  where  he  was  to  die  uncertain. 
 
 (?)  Against  Lachish,  and  against  Azekah  .  .  . 
 — The  two  cities  are  named  in  this  book  for  the  first 
 time.     Lachish  was  one  of  the  strongest  towns  of  the 
 
 Amorites  in  the  time  of  Joshua  (Josh.  x.  3,  5),  and  was 
 situated  in  the  Shephelah,  or  lowland  district  (Josh.  xv. 
 39).  It  was  restored  or  fortified  by  Kehoboam,  as  a 
 defence  against  the  northern  kingdom  (2  Chron.  xi.  9). 
 Amaziah  took  refuge  there  on  his  flight  from  the  con- 
 spiracy at  Jerusalem  (2  Chron.  xiv.  19 ;  2  Chron.  xxv. 
 27).  It  was  taken  by  Sennacherib  on  his  way  from 
 Assyria  to  Egypt,  and  made  the  monarch's  head- 
 quarters (2  Chron.  xxxii.  9 ;  2  Kings  xviii.  17).  A 
 slab  at  Kouyunjik  (Layard's  Nineveh  and  Babylon, 
 149 — 152  ;  Monuments  of  Nineveh,  2nd  Series,  Plates 
 21,  24)  represents  the  siege  of  Lahhisha  by  the  armies 
 of  Sennacherib,  and  gives  something  like  a  ground-plan 
 of  the  city.  Its  site  has  not  been  identified  with 
 certainty,  but  ruins  still  known  as  Um-lahis  are  found 
 between  Gaza  and  Eleutheropolis.  It  is  mentioned 
 here  as  being,  next  to  Jerusalem,  one  of  the  strongest 
 fortresses  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  which  as  yet 
 had  resisted  the  attack  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  armies. 
 Azekah,  less  conspicuous  in  history,  was  also  in  the 
 Shephelah  region,  and  is  named  with  other  cities  in 
 Josh.  x.  10,  11,  xv.  35.  The  Philistines  were  en- 
 camped between  it  and  Shochoh  in  the  days  of  Saul 
 (1  Sam.  xvii.  1).  It  also  was  fortified  by  Rehoboam 
 (2  Chron.  xi.  9).  Its  site  has  not  been  ascertained,  but 
 Eusebius  and  Jerome  speak  of  it  as  lying  between 
 Eleutheropolis  and  Jerusalem. 
 
 (8)  After  that  the  king  Zedekiah  had  made 
 a  covenant  .  .  . — The  remainder  of  the  chapter 
 brings  before  us  an  historical  episode  of  considerable 
 interest.  The  law  of  Moses  did  not  allow  in  the  case 
 of  a  free-born  Hebrew  more  than  a  temporary  bondage 
 of  seven  years  (Exod.  xxi.  2 ;  Dent.  xv.  12—18),  ex- 
 tended (but  under  the  form  of  serfage  rather  than 
 slavery)  in  the  later  regulations  of  Lev.  xxv.  39,  40 
 to  the  time  that  might  intervene  between  the  date 
 of  purchase  and  the  commencement  of  the  next  year 
 of  jubilee.  In  2  Kings  iv.  1  we  have  an  instance  of 
 the  working  of  the  law,  as  bringing  even  the  sons 
 of  a  prophet  into  this  modified  slavery.  Only  if  the 
 man  preferred  his  state  as  a  slave  to  the  risks  of 
 freedom  could  his  master  retain  him  after  the  ap- 
 pointed limit  (Exod.  xxi.  5,  6).      The   law  had   appa- 
 
 lls 
 
Slat*  8  ft  |    /',•  ",    «»./ 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XXXIV. 
 
 brought  ■■  ■  Bondagt, 
 
 ■alem,  to  proclaim  'liberty  onto  them; 
 
 (:'»    t  hat    every   man    should    lit,    his  liiini- 
 
 servant,  and  every  man  bis  maidservant, 
 being  an  Bebrew  or  an  Bebrewess,  go 
 free;  that  none  shonld  Berve  himself  of 
 them,  to  wit,  of  a  Jew  his  brother. 
 11  ■■  Now  when  all  the  princes,  and  all 
 the  people,  which  had  entered  into  the 
 
 Covenant,  heard  that  everyone  should  let 
 
 bis  manservant,  ami  every  one  bis  maid- 
 
 ser\ ant,  l,o  free,  that  none  should  serve 
 
 themselves  of  them  any  l'e,  then  they 
 
 obeyed,  and  let  I  hem  go.  (11)  But  after- 
 ward the\  turned,  and  caused  the  ser- 
 vants and  the  handmaids,  whom  they 
 bad  let  £o  free,  to  return,  and  brought 
 them  mto  subjection  for  servants  and 
 for  handmaids. 
 
 (1-'  Therefore  the  word  of  the  Loed 
 came  to  Jeremiah  from  the  Lord, 
 saying,  (13>  Thus  saith  the  Loud,  the 
 God  of  Israel ;  I  made  a  covenant  with 
 your  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  brought 
 
 /.  Kl  vi 
 
 '/i     toUl 
 
 B  I 
 
 IU't> ,  lodny. 
 
 .1  II'  l>.,  u-hnmpon 
 mu      it 
 
 them    forth    out    of   tie-    land   of    Eg]  pt, 
 
 out  of  the  house  of  bondmen,  sa_\in:_r, 
 1  At  the  end  of  seven  yean  lei  ye  go 
 every    man    his    In-other    an    Hebrew, 
 
 which  'hath    been   sold   unto   thee;   and 
 
 whin     he    hath    B6TVed     the,.    m\     \ 
 
 l  hoc    shalt    let    him   £0    tree   (torn  t  bee  : 
 
 hut    yonr    fathers   hearkened    not     unto 
 
 me,  mil  lnr  Lncli 1  t  heir  ear.     M)  And 
 
 ye    wen-      iiie.\     turned,    and    had    done 
 
 rigbl  in  my  Bight,  in  proclaiming  liberty 
 every  man   to  his  neighbour;    and   ye 
 
 had  made  a  covenant  before  mi'  in  the 
 house  ; which  is  called  by  my  name: 
 <"'<  but  ye  turned  and  polluted  my  name, 
 and  caused  every  man  his  servant,  and 
 every  man  his  handmaid,  whom  he  had 
 i  liberty  at  their  pleasure,  to  re- 
 turn, and  brought  them  into  subject  ion. 
 to  be  unto  yuu  for  servants  and  for 
 handmaids. 
 
 (17>  Therefore  thus   saith  the  Lord; 
 Ye   have    not    hearkened    unto    me,    in 
 
 ri'iitlv  fallen  into  disuse,  and  tho  nobles  of  Judah, 
 like  those  of  Athens  before  Solon,  and  Home  before 
 lie-  institution  of  tlio  Tribunate,  had  used  the  law 
 of  debt  to  bring  a  largo  number  of  their  fellow  citi- 
 zens into  slavery,  just  as  their  successors  did  after 
 tho  return  from  Babylon  (Neh.  v.  5).  Under  the 
 pressure  of  the  danger  bom  the  Ohaldsau  invasion, 
 ami  that  he  might  have  the  ready  service  of  freemen 
 instead  of  the  (breed  work  of  slaves,  perhaps  also  in 
 consequence  of  the  revival  of  the  law,  that  followed  <>n 
 its  discovery,  probably  in  the  form  of  the  Book  of 
 Deuteronomy,  in  the  days  of  Josiah  (2  Kings  xxii.  8), 
 Zedekiah  had  been  led  to  promise  freedom  to  all  tho 
 slave  population  of  this  class  that  were  within  the 
 walls  of  Jerusalem,  either  as  a  celebration  of  a  Sabbatic 
 year,  or  jubilee,  or.  irrespective  of  any  such  observance. 
 as  a  reparation  for  past  neglect.  The  step  was  pro- 
 bably nut  withoni  its  influence  in  giving  fresh  energy 
 to  the  defenders  of  the  city.  The  t'hald;rans.  threatened 
 by  the  approach  of  an  Egyptian  army  (chap,  xxxvii.  5), 
 raised  the  siege  verse  21'.  When  the  danger  was  past, 
 however,  the  princes  who  had  agreed  to  the  emancipa- 
 tion returned  to  their  old  policy  of  oppression  (verse 
 11),   and    those  who    had    been    liberated  were   brought 
 
 under  a  bondage  all  the  more  bitter  for  the  temporary 
 
 taste  of  freed, mi.  Against  this  perfidious  tyranny  the 
 prophet,  stirred  by  "  the  word  of  the  Lord.'"'  bears  his 
 protests.  His  sympathies,  like  those  of  true  prophets 
 a!  all  times,  were  with  the  poor  and  the  oppressed.  The 
 phrase  "  proclaim  liberty  "was  closely  connected  with 
 the  year  of  jubilee,  as  in  Lev.  xxv.  LO,  Tsa.  lxi.  1. 
 
 t1'"  Thus  saith  tho  Lord  .  .  .-The  prophet  takes 
 
 as  his  r,\t  the  law  which  had  been  so  flagrantly  broken 
 lExod.  x\i.  2'.  reminding  them  under  what'  circum- 
 stances that  law  had  been  given.  Their  fathers  had 
 then  been  delivered  from  the  house  of  bondage,  and 
 this  was  part  of  the  covenant  which  God  bad  made 
 with  them- freedom  and  blessing  being  given  by 
 Him,  obedience  promised  by  them.  They  wero  never 
 to  forget   the    bitterness   of    the    bondage    they    had 
 
 known  (comp.  the  form  of  the  fourth  commandment 
 in  Dent.  v.  [5),  and  wen- to  make  it  one  of  the  funda- 
 mental laws  of  tin  ir  national  polity  that  no  Israelite 
 should   ever  pass,  except    by  his  own  free:  choice,  into  a 
 
 condition  of  hopeless  Gfe-long  slavery. 
 
 i")  At  the  end  of  seven  years  .  .  .— Tho  im- 
 mediate context.  "  when  he  hath  served  thee  six  years." 
 shows  that  the  liberation  was  intended  to  take  plaeo  at 
 the  beginning  of  the  seventh  year.  The  Sabbath-year 
 was  to  bring  its  rest  to  the  slave  as  well  as  to  the   land. 
 
 Your  fathers  hearkened  not  unto  me  .  .  .— 
 
 The  words  imply  the  fact  already  stated,  that  there  had 
 been  a  long-continued  violation  of  the  law  to  which  the 
 prophet  refers.  In  Isa.  lviii.  6,  lxi.  1  (assuming  the 
 earlier    date   of    those    prophecies)   wo    may    trace    a 
 
 protest  against  that  \  iolation. 
 
 (is)  Ye  had  made  a  covenant  before  me  in 
 the  house  which  is  called  by  my  name. — Th •■ 
 
 words  point  to  the  solemnity  with  which  the  DSW 
 engagements  had  I o itracted.     It  was  not  merely 
 
 that  the  king  had  issued  an  edict,  or  that  judges  had 
 given   their  decisions  in    accordance    with   t lie  old  law, 
 
 but  princes  and  people  had   met   together  in   th mrts 
 
 of  the  Temple,  and  there,  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah, 
 had  entered  into  this  covenant,  as  did  their  descend- 
 ants afterwards  in  the  days  of  \ehemiah  Neh.  V.  12. 
 1  '•  .  with  Him  and  with  each  other.  Their  sin  in 
 breaking  their  covenant  was  therefore  a  sin  ag 
 Him  as  well  as  against  their  brethren. 
 
 (lis)  But  ye  turned  and  polluted  my  name  .  .  . 
 — Tho    second    verb    is    the    same    as    that    trail-! 
 
 "profane  the   nan f  the   Lord"  in   Lev.  xix.  12.  in 
 
 close  connexion  with  the  ~in  of  swearing  falsely.    The 
 
 sin  of  which  the  princes  and  rich  men  had  been  guilty 
 Was   not   merely  an  act  of  injustice.      They  had  broken 
 
 the  third  commandment  as  well  as  the  eighth,  and  wero 
 accordingly  guilty  of  sacril 
 (17)  Behold,  I  proclaim  a  liberty  for  you  .  .  . 
 
 The  phrase  "proclaim  liberty."  prominent  in  en. 
 nexion  with  the  law  which  had  been  broken  (Lev.  xiv. 
 
 119 
 
The  Punishment 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XXXV. 
 
 of  the  Covenant  Breakers. 
 
 proclaiming  liberty,  every  one  to  his 
 brother,  and  every  man  to  his  neigh- 
 bour :  behold,  I  proclaim  a  liberty  for 
 you,  saith  the  Lord,  to  the  sword,  to 
 the  pestilence,  and  to  the  famine ; 
 and  I  will  make  you  xto  be  "removed 
 into  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth. 
 <18)  And  I  will  give  the  men  that  have 
 transgressed  my  covenant,  which  have 
 not  performed  the  words  of  the  cove- 
 nant which  they  had  made  before 
 me,  when  they  cut  the  calf  in  twain, 
 and  passed  between  the  parts  thereof, 
 <19)  the  princes  of  Judah,  and  the 
 princes  of  Jerusalem,  the  eunuchs,  and 
 the  priests,  and  all  the  people  of  the 
 land,  which  passed  between  the  parts 
 of  the  calf;  '20)  I  will  even  give  them 
 into  the  hand  of  then-  enemies,  and  into 
 the  hand  of  them  that  seek  their  life : 
 
 1  Heb.,  for   a  re- 
 moving. 
 
 a  Deut.  28.  64 ; 
 
 29.  18. 
 
 b  eta.  7. 33 ;  &  16.  4. 
 
 B.C. 
 cir.  607. 
 
 and  their  sdead  bodies  shall  be  for 
 meat  unto  the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and 
 to  the  beasts  of  the  earth.  <21>  And 
 Zedekiah  king  of  Judah  and  his  princes 
 will  I  give  into  the  hand  of  their 
 enemies,  and  into  the  hand  of  them  that 
 seek  their  life,  and  into  the  hand  of  the 
 king  of  Babylon's  army,  which  are  gone 
 up  from  you.  (22>  Behold,  I  will  com- 
 mand, saith  the  Loed,  and  cause  them 
 to  return  to  this  city;  and  they  shall 
 fight  against  it,  and  take  it,  and  burn 
 it  with  fire  :  and  I  will  make  the  cities 
 of  Judah  a  desolation  without  an  in- 
 habitant. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXV.— d)  The  word 
 which  came  unto  Jeremiah  from  the 
 Lord  in  the  days  of  Jehoiakim  the  son 
 of  Josiah  king  of  Judah,  saying, 
 
 10 ;  Isa.  lxi.  1),  is  emphasised  with  an  indignant  irony. 
 They  had  refused  to  act  "  as  the  servants  of  Jeho- 
 rah"  (Lev.  xxv.  55)  under  His  protection,  finding  in 
 that  service  their  perfect  freedom ;  and  He,  there- 
 fore, in  His  righteous  wrath,  would  punish  them  by 
 giving  them  the  emancipation  which  they  denied  to 
 others.  He  would  set  them  free  from  His  service,  and 
 therefore  from  His  protection,  and  leave  them  to  their 
 fate — to  the  sword,  to  the  famine,  to  exile.  They  had 
 refused  the  obedience  which  was  freedom  :  they  should 
 have  the  freedom  which  would  be  bondage. 
 
 (18)  When  they  cut  the  calf  in  twain  .  .  .— 
 The  passage  is  interesting,  as  showing  the  survival  of 
 one  of  the  oldest  rites  of  Patriarchal  times.  So,  when 
 Jehovah  made  a  covenant  with  Abraham,  the  victims 
 that  had  been  slain  were  cut  up  and  arranged  opposite 
 each  other,  and  when  the  "burning  lamp"  passed 
 between  the  pieces  it  was  the  token  that  Jehovah  had 
 completed  the  covenant,  even  as  men  complete  it  ( Gen. 
 xv.  10 — 17).  The  implied  thought  thus  symbolised 
 was  that  the  parties  to  the  contract  prayed,  as  in  the 
 analogous  case  of  1  Sam.  xi.  7,  that  they  might  be  torn 
 limb  from  limb  like  the  victims  if  they  broke  the 
 covenant.  The  antiquity  and  wide  extent  of  the  sym- 
 bolism is  shown  by  its  appearing  in  the  ritual  of 
 Greece,  as  in  the  phrase  Spxia  refivtiv — to  ratify  (literally, 
 to  cut)  oaths,  in  Homer  (Iliad,  ii.  124,  Od.  xxiv.  483, 
 and  elsewhere),  and  the  Latin  fozdus  ferire.  In  Livy 
 (i.  24)  we  have  both  the  phrase,  the  act  which  it  im- 
 plied, and  the  prayer  which  accompanied  it,  that  if  the 
 Roman  people  proved  unfaithful  to  their  covenant 
 Jupiter  would  slay  them  as  the  priest  slew  the  victim. 
 "  Tu  illo  die,  Jupiter,  populum  Romanum  sicferito,  ut 
 ego  hunc  porcum  hie  hodie  feriam,  tantoqve  magis 
 ferito,  quanto  magis  potes  pollesque."  ("  Do  thou, 
 Jupiter,  on  that  day  so  smite  the  Roman  people  [if 
 they  break  the  covenant]  as  I  this  day  smite  this  swine 
 — yea,  so  much  the  more  smite  them  as  thou  art 
 mightier  and  more  prevailing.") 
 
 (19)  The  eunuchs.— See  Note  on  chap.  xxix.  2. 
 They  were  for  the  most  part,  if  not  always,  of  alien 
 birth  (conip.  Isa.  lvi.  3),  as  in  the  case  of  Ebed-meleeh 
 (chap,  xxxviii.  7),  who  had  become  proselytes  on  enter- 
 ing tho  king's  service.     The  prominence  given  to  them 
 
 indicates  that  in  Judah  as  in  Assyria,  and  wo  may  add, 
 in  all  Oriental  monarchies,  they  held  high  position  in 
 the  king's  court,  and  had  probably,  like  the  princes  of 
 Judah  and  Jerusalem,  enriched  themselves  by  lending 
 money  to  the  poorer  Israelites,  and  then  bringing  them 
 into  bondage.  It  is  significant  that  here  they  take 
 precedence  of  the  priests,  as  in  chap.  xxix.  2  of  the 
 princes. 
 
 (20)  Their  dead  bodies  shall  be  for  meat  .  .  . 
 — As  in  chaps,  vii.  33,  xvi.  4,  xix.  7,  this  takes  its  place 
 as  the  extreniest  penalty  of  transgression.  The  sen- 
 tence on  Zedekiah  and  his  princes — i.e.,  those  who 
 were  more  immediately  connected  with  his  policy — is  as 
 before  (verse  5)  somewhat  milder,  probably  because  he, 
 though  too  weak  and  vacillating  to  stop  the  evil  which 
 the  prophet  condemned,  had  not  been  actively  pro- 
 minent in  the  transgression  of  the  covenant,  and 
 showed  more  disposition,  as  in  chap,  xxxvii.  17,  to 
 listen  to  his  counsels. 
 
 (2i)  The  king  of  Babylon's  army,  which  are 
 gone  up  from  you  .  .  .—The  words  are  important, 
 as  showing,  as  before  stated,  that  the  siege  had  actually 
 been  raised,  and  that  tho  nobles  of  Judah  were  flatter- 
 ing themselves  that  the  danger  which  had  led  them  to 
 a  simulated,  or,  at  best,  transient  repentance,  had  passed 
 away  altogether.  They  were  reckoning  once  again  on 
 the  help  that  they  trusted  was  to  come  from  Egypt 
 (chap,  xxxvii.  7)  They  are  warned,  however,  in  the 
 next  verse  that  the  Babylonian  army  shall  return,  as 
 executing  the  judgment  of  Jehovah,  and  that  then 
 there  will  be  no  escape  for  them. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 (i)  In  the  days  of  Jehoiakim.— The  prophecy 
 that  follows  carries  us  back  over  a  period  of  about 
 seventeen  years  to  the  earlier  period  of  the  prophet's 
 life  and  work.  Jerusalem  was  not  yet  besieged. 
 Jehoiakim  had  not  filled  up  the  measure  of  his  ini- 
 quities. The  armies  of  the  Chaldseans  were,  however, 
 in  the  meantime  moving  on  the  outskirts  of  the  king- 
 dom of  Judah  (verse  11)  or  were  driving  the  nomad 
 inhabitants,  who  had  hitherto  dwelt  in  tents,  to  take 
 refuge  in  the  cities.  The  first  capture  of  the  city  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar  was  in  B.C.  607. 
 
 120 
 
The  Recital lih n 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXX V 
 
 i/i  t/f  ii 
 
 M  Go  unto  the  house  of  the  Re- 
 ohabites,  and  Bpeai  unto  them,  and 
 bring  them  into  1 1 1 *  -  house  of  the  Lobd, 
 into  one  of  the  chambers,  and  give 
 them  wine  I"  drink. 
 
 1  '  Then  I  took  Jaazaniah  the  son  of 
 Jeremiah,  the  Bon  of  Sabaziniah,  and 
 
 his  brethren,  and  all  hit  sons,  and  the 
 w  hole  bouse  of  t  he  Bechal  md  I 
 
 broughl   them   into  the   house  of  the 
 Loan,  into  the  chamber  of  the  so 
 Hanan,  the  son  of  [gdaliah,  b  man  of 
 God,  which  wa»  by  the  chamber  of  the 
 princes,  which  was  above  the  chamber 
 
 (SJ  Go  unto  tho  house  of  tho  Roehabites  .  .  . 
 
 — Tlir  word  "I ae"  is  used  throughout  the  chapter  in 
 
 the  aense  of  "family."  Among  those  who  had  thus 
 taken  refnge  were  the  tribe,  or  Beet,  or  even  fraternity 
 I wn  by  tliis  name.    Their  founder  was  the  Jonadab, 
 
 in-  Jehonadab,  who  appears  as   the  ally  <>f  Jehu  in  tin' 
 
 overthrow  of  the  house  of  A  hah  (2  Kings  x.  L5).     It 
 
 la  clear  from  thai  history  thai  1 lercisea  an  influence 
 
 over  tin-  people  which  Jehu  was  glad  to  secure,  and 
 
 tliat   he  wel oed  "<he  sea]  for  the  Lord  "which  led 
 
 Jehu  to  the  massacre  of  the  worshippers  of  Baal.  Ho 
 is  described  as  the  "son  of  Etechab,"  but  seeing  thai 
 thai  name,  which  means  " chariot,"  was  applied  to  the 
 
 great    Tishbite   prophet,   as   in    ••  tin-    chariot    of    Israel, 
 
 and  the   horsemen  thereof"  (2  Kings  ii.   12),  it    has 
 
 been  tl ght,  with  some  probability,  thai  the  name  "son 
 
 of  Rechab"  means  "Son  of  the  chariot"  (so  iii  later 
 .Jewish  history  we  have  Bar-cochba  bou  of  the  star), 
 {.e.,  "  disciple  of  the  greal  prophet."  Anyhow,  the  life 
 which  Jonadab  enforced  on  his  followers  presented  all 
 the  characteristic  features  of  thai  of  Elijah.    It  was  a 
 
 protest    against   the    Baal-worship  that    had  flowed   into 
 
 Israel  from  Phoenicia,  against  the  corruption  of  tho 
 life  of  cities,  againsl  the  intemperance  which  was  fault- 
 ing the  life  of  Israel  (Amos  ti.  4 — 6).     It  reminds  us 
 
 in    this   rasped    of  the   more    ascetic    sects,  such   as   the 
 
 Wahahees  of  Arabia  in  the  eighteenth  century 
 Burckhardfs  Bedouins  and  Wahabys,  p.  283;  Pal- 
 grave's  Arabia),  thai  have  at  times  arisen  among 
 the  followers  of  Mahomet.  It  has  Borne  points  of 
 resemblance  to  the  Mendicant  Orders  of  mediaeval 
 Christendom.  From  1  Ohron.  ii.  5.*>  it  appears  that 
 "the  house  of  Rechab" belonged  to  the  btenites  who 
 
 liml  joined  the  Israelites  on  their  exodus  from  Egypt, 
 and  had  setl  led  in  their  lands,  retaining  their  old  habits 
 (Judg.  i.  16;  iv.  II;  Num.  x.  29  —  32;  1  Sam. 
 xv.  ii;  xxvii.  10).  .Such  a  ]jei.|ile  li.i  t  lira  I  ly  retained 
 many    of  the    habits  of  patriarchal    life,   ami  it   is  nut 
 
 improbable  that  Elijah  himself  issued  from  their 
 tents. 
 
 <■)  Then  I  took  Jaazaniah  the  son  of  Jere- 
 miah .  .  . — The  names   Jaazaniah  =  Jehovah   hears, 
 Jeremiah  =  Jehovah  exalts.    Ilalia/.iniah  =    Jeho 
 gathers)  are  not  without  significance,  as  showing  that 
 
 the  Rechabites  were  sharers  in  the  faith  of  Israel. 
 perhaps,  as  an  order,  conspicuous  witnesses  for  that 
 faith.      The  name  Jeremiah   may  possibly  indicate  that 
 
 then- «as  some  previous  connexion  between  the  Recha- 
 
 liites  and  the  prophet's  family. 
 
 His  brethren,  and  all  his  sons  .  .  .— Tlio  words 
 
 may  he  taken  ill  their  literal  sense,  hut  on  the  assump- 
 tion that  the  Hechahites  were  a  religious  order  rather 
 than  a  family,  the  terms  may  indicate  dilferent  stages 
 or  degrees  of  membership,  the  "  brethren  "  being  those 
 who  were  fully  incorporated,  the  "vuh,"  those  wdio 
 like  "tho  sons  of  the  prophets"  (2  Kings  iv.  38;  vi. 
 1  :  ix.  1  ;  Amos  vii.  1  I  were  still  in  training  as  pro- 
 bationers. Such  a  use  of  the  word  " brethren "  would 
 grow  naturally  out  of  that  of  "sons."  and  is  found 
 in   this   wider  sense  of  priests  and   Levites  tl    (hron. 
 
 xv.  5 — IX;  xxvi.  7 — 32  and  elsewhere)  ami  of  prophets 
 
 xxii.  'J  I. 
 W  I  brought   them   into  tho   house   of  tho 
 Lord  .  .  . — The  Temple    of    Solomon    appears    from 
 
 1  KiiiL's  vi.  5  to  have  had.  like  a  cathedral,  apartments 
 
 constructed  in  its  precincts  which  were  assigned,  by 
 
 special    faVOQr,    fertile     resilleui f    con  spiclluHs    priests 
 
 or  prophets.  Huldah  the  prophetess  seems  to  have 
 dwelt  in  some  such  apartments  known  as  "the college" 
 see  2  Kind's  xxii.  II:.     Iii  this  case  the  chamber  was 
 
 occupied  by  the  sons  of  Hanan.  He,  or  [gdaliah  'I1" 
 Hebrew  punctuation  is  decisive  in  favour  of  Hanan  .  is 
 described  as  "a  man  of  God — <'.>■..  as  a  prophet — and 
 therefore  sympathising-,  we  may  believe,  with  Jere- 
 miah's work  (Dent,  xxxiii.  1  ;  I  Bam.ii.27;  1  Kings 
 xiii.  1;  xx.  28;  2   Kings   iv.    7,9;    1    Chrou.  xxiii.    It; 
 
 2  Chron.  xi.  2).  It  would  seem,  from  the  narrative. 
 thai  Jeremiah  had  no  chamber  of  his  own.  Here 
 also  "the  sons  of  Hanan"  are  probably  a  company 
 of  scholars  onder  the  training'  of  the  prophet,  Jere- 
 miah introducing  as  it  were  the  two  religious  orders 
 to  each  oilier.  The  "princes,"  as  in  chaps,  xxvi. 
 10,  xxxvi.  12,  were  probably  official  persons  who. 
 though  not  priests,  woro  entitled  to  residence  in  the 
 precincts,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of  Qemariah  in  chap. 
 xxxvi.  10.  The  "  keeper  of  the  door."  as  in  chap.  Iii.  2t. 
 was  probably  one  of  tho  higher  section  of  the 
 
 hood.  The  stress  laid  on  all  these  details  was  pro- 
 bably intended  to  show   that    the   memorable   dramatic 
 
 scene  that  followed,  daring  as  it  seemed,  was  .< 
 the  presence  of  representatives  of  the  priestly,  pro- 
 phetic, and  official  orders.     The  name  of  fifaaseiah  has, 
 however,  a  special  interest  attached  to  it.    Bhallnm, 
 
 the  name  of  his   father,  is  found   in  2  Kings  xxii.   I  I  as 
 
 that  of  the  husband  of  Huldah  tin'  prophetess  of  the 
 reign  of  Josiali.  and  he  is  described  as  the  "  keeper  of 
 the  wardrobe,"  Le.,  probably  of  the  vestments  of  the 
 
 priests,  and  as  dwelling  in  the   "college"    literally,  the 
 
 "second"  part,  or  annt  m  of  some  other  building 
 
 is  hardly  possible  to  resist  the  inference  that  in  the 
 Btaaseiah  who  now  appears  as  receiving  Jeremiah 
 and  the  Kechabitcs.  we  have  the  son  of  the  prophetess 
 who  had  taken  so  active  a  part  in  tho  work  of  refor- 
 mation in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  whose  influence  bad 
 coloured  the  whole  of  the  prophet's  life,  wdio  had 
 brought  up  her  son  within  the  precincts  of  the  Temple. 
 We  are  brought   as   it   were  into   the  innermost  circle 
 
 of  tin'  prophetic  company  of  Jerusalem,  and  a»a re- 
 minded of  Simeon  and  Anna,  and  those  wdio  waited 
 for    the    consolation,    for   the    redemption    of    Israel 
 
 I  Luke  ii.  2."..  38  .  The  inlluenee  of  Shallum  may.  per- 
 haps, be  traced  in  the  fact  that  the  king  who  ap- 
 pears in  history  as  Jehoahaa  bail  probably  i "  named 
 
 by  Josiah  after  him    2  Kiiurs  xxiii.  :'<"'  1  Chron.  iii. 
 
 15  .  as  David  named  one  of  hi-  sons  after  Nathan 
 i,2  Sam.  v.  In.  It  is.  perhaps,  from  this  point  'f  view, 
 characteristic  of  Jeremiah  that  he  adheres  in  chap. 
 xxii.  1  to  the  old  name  given  on  his  birth,  and  not 
 to  that  which  be  bad  apparently  adopted  Upon  his 
 accession  to  the  throne.     The  name  Shallum.  it  may 
 
 r.'i 
 
The  Faithfulness  of  the  Rechabites.       JEREMIAH,    XXXV. 
 
 The  Unfaithfulness  of  Judah. 
 
 of  Maaseiah  the  son  of  Shalltim,  the 
 keeper  of  the  ^oor:  (5)  and  I  set 
 before  the  sons  of  the  house  of  the 
 Rechabites  pots  full  of  wine,  and  cups, 
 and  I  said  unto  them,  Drink  ye  wine. 
 <6>  But  they  said,  We  will  drink  no 
 wine :  for  Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab 
 our  father  commanded  us,  saying, 
 Ye  shall  drink  no  wine,  neither  ye, 
 nor  your  sons  for  ever:  W  neither 
 shall  ye  build  house,  nor  sow  seed, 
 nor  plant  vineyard,  nor  have  any : 
 but  all  your  days  ye  shall  dwell  in 
 tents ;  that  ye  may  live  many  days 
 in  the  land  where  ye  be  strangers. 
 (8)  Thus  have  we  obeyed  the  voice  of 
 Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab  our  father 
 in  all  that  he  hath  charged  us,  to  drink 
 no  wine  all  our  days,  we,  our  wives,  our 
 sons,  nor  our  daughters  ;  <9>  nor  to  build 
 houses  for  us  to  dwell  in :  neither  have 
 we  vineyard,  nor  field,  nor  seed :  <10)  but 
 we  have  dwelt  in  tents,  and  have 
 obeyed,  and  done  according  to  all  that 
 Jonadab  our  father  commanded  us. 
 (11>  But  it  came  to  pass,  when  Nebu- 
 chadrezzar king  of  Babylon  came  up 
 into  the  land,  that  we  said,  Come,  and 
 let  us  go  to  Jerusalem  for  fear  of  the 
 army  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  for  fear  of 
 
 ]  ffeb.,  threshold 
 or,  vessel. 
 
 a  ch.  18. 11 ;  &  25.  5. 
 
 the  army  of  the  Syrians  :  so  we  dwell  at 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 I12'  Then  came  the  word  of  the 
 Lord  unto  Jeremiah,  saying,  <13>  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of 
 Israel ;  Go  and  tell  the  men  of  Judah 
 and  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  Will 
 ye  not  receive  instruction  to  hearken  to 
 my  words  ?  saith  the  Lord.  <u>  The 
 words  of  Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab, 
 that  he  commanded  his  sons  not  to 
 drink  wine,  are  performed ;  for  unto  this 
 day  they  drink  none,  but  obey  their 
 father's  commandment :  notwithstand- 
 ing I  have  spoken  unto  you,  rising  early 
 and  speaking ;  but  ye  hearkened  not 
 unto  me.  '15)  I  have  sent  also  unto 
 you  all  my  servants  the  prophets,  rising 
 up  early  and  sending  them,  saying, 
 "Return  ye  now  every  man  from  his 
 evil  way,  and  amend  your  doings,  and 
 go  not  after  other  gods  to  serve  them, 
 and  ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  which  I 
 have  given  to  you  and  to  your  fathers : 
 but  ye  have  not  inclined  your  ear,  nor 
 hearkened  unto  me.  (16)  Because  the 
 sons  of  Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab  have 
 performed  the  commandment  of  their 
 father,  which  he  commanded  them ;  but 
 this  people  hath  not   hearkened   unto 
 
 be  noted,  means  "  retribution,"  whether  for  good  or 
 for  evil. 
 
 (6—8)  We  will  drink  no  wine  .  .  .—We  hare  here, 
 as  it  were,  the  rale  of  the  tribe  or  order  which  looked 
 to  Jonadab  as  its  founder.  Like  Samson  (Judg.  xiii. 
 4,  5),  Samuel  (inferentially  from  1  Sam.  i.  11,  15),  and 
 the  Baptist  (Luke  i.  15),  they  were  life-long  Nazarites 
 (Num.  vi.  1 — 6).  Jonadab's  intention  was  obviously  to 
 keep  them  as  a  separate  people,  retaining  their  nomadic 
 form  of  life,  free  from  the  contamination  of  cities,  or 
 the  temptations  of  acquired  property,  or  the  risks  of 
 attack  which  such  property  brought  with  it.  They 
 are  now  invited,  and  it  must  have  seemed  to  them  a 
 strange  invitation  to  come  from  a  prophet's  lips,  to 
 break  that  rule,  and  they  answer  almost  in  the  tone  of 
 a  calm  but  indignant  protest.  They  have  been  faithful 
 hitherto,  and  they  will  continue  faithful  still.  In  the 
 words  "  that  your  days  may  be  long  in  the  land  "  we 
 may,  perhaps,  trace  an  echo  of  the  fifth  commandment 
 (Exod.  xx.  12),  viewed  as  extending  to  the  relations 
 which  connect  the  members  of  an  order  with  its  head. 
 The  rule  has  descended  to  the  followers  of  Islam, 
 and  the  law  of  abstinence  has  been  extended  by  Abd- 
 ul-Wahab  to  tobacco.  Diodorus  Siculus  (xix.  94)  re- 
 lates that  the  Nabathaeans  adopted  the  Rechabite  rule 
 in  its  completeness.     Possibly  they  were  Rechabites. 
 
 <H)  When  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of  Babylon 
 came  up  into  the  land  .  .  .—The  statement  has 
 the  character  of  an  apologetic  explanation.  They 
 had  been  driven,  as  the  peasants  of  Judeea  had  been 
 (chaps,  iv.  6 ;  viii.  14),  to  take  refuge  from  the  in- 
 vading armies,  probably  in  the  invasion  of  Nebuchad- 
 
 122 
 
 nezzar  in  the  eighth  year  of  Jehoiakim  (2  Kings  xxiv. 
 1,  2),  bringing  their  flocks  and  their  herds,  as  far  as 
 they  could,  with  them,  but  this  was  only  a  temporary 
 casualty,  and  they  intended,  when  the  danger  was 
 over,  to  return  to  their  former  mode  of  life.  The 
 Syrians  are  joined  with  the  Chaldees  in  the  invasion, 
 as  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  2. 
 
 (12)  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto 
 Jeremiah. — Up  to  this  time  the  prophet  had  acted  on 
 the  thought  which  came  into  his  mind  as  an  inspiration, 
 without  apparently  more  than  a  partial  insight  into  its 
 meaning.  Now,  as  the  words  indicate,  he  passes  at 
 once  into  the  prophetic  state  and  speaks  the  prophetic 
 words.  It  follows  from  verse  18  that  it  was  uttered  in 
 the  presence  of  the  Rechabites  and  formed,  we  may 
 believe,  the  conclusion  of  this  strange  dramatic  scene. 
 
 (13)  Will  ye  not  receive  instruction  .  .  .—The 
 argument  of  tho  prophet  is  naturally  an  a  fortiori  one. 
 The  words  of  Jonadab  had  been  kept  faithfully  as  a 
 rule  of  life  for  300  years  by  his  descendants  or 
 his  order.  The  words  of  Jehovah,  "  rising  early  and 
 speaking  "  through  His  prophets  (we  note  the  repetition 
 of  the  characteristic  phrase  of  chaps,  vii.  13  and  xxv.  3), 
 were  neglected  by  the  people  whom  He  had  adopted  as 
 His  children.  They,  too,  had  the  same  promise  that  by 
 obeying  they  should  dwell  in  the  land  which  He  had 
 given  them,  but  they  had  turned  a  deaf  ear  both  to  the 
 promise  and  the  warning  which  it  implied. 
 
 (15)  Return  ye  now  every  man  from  his  evil 
 way. — The  words  are  more  than  a  general  summary 
 of  the  teaching  of  earlier  prophets,  and  we  find  in  them 
 an  almost  verbal  reproduction  of  the  burden  of  Jere- 
 
Tic    Promixf  I"  (hi;  Hrrhahitrs. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXXVI. 
 
 ■ihtey. 
 
 me:    ^therefore  thus  saith  the  Loan 
 
 God  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel;  Be- 
 hold, I  will  bring  upon  Judah  and  apon 
 
 all  (lie  inhabitants  of  Joruaalem  all  tin' 
 evil  (bat  I  have  pronounced  againsl 
 lln'iii  :  licca.use  I  liave  spoken  unto 
 them,  bat  they  hare  Dot  heard;  and  1 
 hare  called  unto  them,  but  they  have 
 not  answered. 
 
 '18)  And  Jeremiah  said  unto  the  hou.se 
 of  the  Iteebabites,  Tims  saith  the  Lord 
 of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel;  Because  ye 
 have  obeyed  the  commandmenl  of  Jona- 
 dab  jour  father,  and  kept  all  his  pre- 
 
 tut  d  m 
 
 I 
 '.  Jcc. 
 
 eepl  -,  ami  done  according  unto  nil  thai 
 he  hath  commanded  you  ■  !  •  therefore 
 thus  s:i it li  the  Loan  of  hosts,  the  God 
 of  Israel;  'Jonadab  the  ~,,n  of  Bechab 
 shall  noi  irant  a  man  to  stand  before 
 me  for  ever. 
 
 CHAPTEB    XXXVI.—!"    And   it 
 came  to  pass  in  the  fourth  year  of  Je- 
 
 hoialim  the  son  of  Josiah  king  of 
 Judah,  thai  this  \\<>nl  came  onto  Jere- 
 miah (Vom  the  Loan,  Baying,  '-''  Take 
 thee  a  roll  of  a  book,  and  write  therein 
 all  the  words  that  I  hare  spoken  unto 
 
 miali's  own  preaching,  in  chap,  xxv.  .">.  ti,  in  the  fourtli 
 year  of  Jchniakim,  i.e.,  before  tbo  incident  boro  re- 
 corded. 
 
 (17)  Bocauso  I  have  spoken  unto  them,  but 
 thoy  have  not  heard. — Tbo  prophet  in  part  repro- 
 duces bis  own  earlier  complaint  from  chaps,  vii.  13, 
 xxv.  7,  a  complaint  which  has  been  the  ever-recurring 
 burden  of  all  teachers  of  wisdom  (Prov.  i.  2-1)  and  of 
 all  true  prophets  (Isa.  lxv.  12,  lxvi.  4). 
 
 (18)  Because  ye  have  obeyed  the  command- 
 ment of  Jonadab  your  father.— Tbo  words  docido 
 nothing  as  to  tbo  obligation  of  tbo  commandment  re- 
 ferred  to   upon    others.      Tbo   law   which  Jeremiah 
 
 i lived  as  given  by  God  laid  down  no  such  rule  of  life. 
 
 A  righteous  life  was  possiblo  without  it  (chap.  xxii.  15; 
 Matt.  xi.  19).  Wbat  be  was  taught  to  praise  was  the 
 steadfastness  and  loyalty  with  which  they  adhered  to  a 
 merely  human  precept,  not  at  variance  with  tbo  letter 
 of  any  divine  law.  and  designed,  like  the  Nazarito  vow. 
 to  carry  tbo  spirit  of  that  law — the  idea  of  a  life-long 
 consecration — to  its  highost  point.  Tbo  temper  of 
 faithfulness  to  any  rule  of  life  sanctioned  by  pre- 
 scription, whether  it  bo  that  of  a  school,  a  collogo, 
 a  guild,  or  a  religions  order,  is  in  itself  praiseworthy 
 as  compared  with  that  of  individual  self-assertion  and 
 self-will. 
 
 ""  Jonadab  the  son  of  Reehab  shall  not 
 want  a  man  to  stand  before  me  for  ever.— 
 
 Taking  the  words  in  theil  simplest  literal  sense,  they 
 find   B    fulfilment   in  the   strange  unlooked-for  way  in 
 
 which  the  name  and  customs  of  tbo  Rechabites  have 
 
 dropped  up  from  time  to  time.     The  Jewish  historian 
 
 Hi-gcMppus  (see  Euseb,  Hint.  Eccl .  ii.23),  in  Ins  account 
 of  the  martyrdom  of  James  tbo  Just,  names  the  sons  of 
 the  Rechabites  as  looking  on  in  reverential  sympathy 
 with  our  whoso  fife,  like  their  own,  carried  tbo  Nazarito 
 type  to  its  highest  perfection.  In  the  account  which 
 Diodoms  Siculus  i  xix.  94)  gives  of  the  Nabatlueans 
 as  neither  sowing  seed,  nor  planting  fruit-trees,  nor 
 building  houses,  and  enforcing  this  rule  of  life  nnder 
 
 pain    of   death,   we    can    scareely   fail   to   recognise  the 
 
 Eteehabite  type.  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  in  the  twelfth 
 century,  reports  that  he  found  100,000  Jews  who  were 
 named    Etechabitee,   and   who   lived  after  their  fashion 
 
 near  El  Jvbar,  and  that  they  were  governed  by  a  pro 
 
 of  the  house   of    David.     More  recent    travellers.  Dr. 
 
 Woltr  ./ noi,  1829,  ii.  334  ;  1839,  j>.  389)  and  Signor 
 
 Pierotti  (Transactions  ef  British   Association,  1862), 
 
 report  that  they  have  met  tribes  near  Meeea,  on  the 
 Head  Sea,  or  in  Yemen  and  Senaar,  who  observed  the 
 rule  of   Jonadab,  claimed  to  be   bis  descendants,  re- 
 
 123 
 
 ferred  to  Jerem.  xxxv.  19  as  fulfilled  in  them,  and  led 
 tbo  life  of  devout  Jews.  It  is  probable,  however,  that 
 in  theso  later  instances  we  may  trace  the  effect  of  the 
 Wahabee  ascetic  movemont  among  tbo  Mahomcdau 
 Arabs,  identifying  its  rule  with  tbo  old  practice  of  the 
 son  of  Reehab  (Burckhardt:  Bedouins  and  Waho1 
 p.  283). 
 
 The  words  "  stand  before"  have,  however,  in  Hebrew 
 a  distinct  secondary  moaning.  It  was  a  definitely 
 liturgical    expression    for    the    ministrations     of    the 
 
 Levites  who  were  chosen  to  "stand  before  "the  Lord 
 
 (Dent.  x.  8,  xviii.  5,  7),  and  a  like  meaning  is  prominent 
 in  chap.  vii.  10,  xv.  19;  Gen.xviii.22;  Judges  xx.  28  ;  Ps. 
 exxxiv.  1.  The  Targum  of  this  passage,  indeed,  actually 
 gives  "ministering  before  me"  as  its  paraphrase.  The 
 natural  inference  would  bo  that  the  Rechabitee  wero 
 by  those  words  admitted,  in  virtue  of  their  Nazarito 
 character,  to  servo  as  Levites  in  tbo  Temple — to  be, 
 in  fact,  a  higher  class  of  Nethinim  (see  Notes  on 
 1  Cbron.  ix.  2;  Ezra  ii.  43) — and  this  view  is  con- 
 firmed (1)  by  the  fact  that  tbo  LXX.  ascribes  Ps.  lxxi. 
 to  "the  sons  of  Jonadab.  the  first  that  were  led  captive;" 
 2  thai  a  son  of  Reehab  is  associated  in  Neb.  iii.  It  with 
 priests  and  Levites  and  nobles  in  repairing  tbo  walls  of 
 Jerusalem;  (3)  in  1  Cbron.  ii.  55  the  Reeliabitos  have  be- 
 come scribes,  and  in  the  Vulgate   evident (  a  Jewish 
 
 tradition  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  words  .  the  proper 
 names  of  the  English  version,  "  Tirathites,  Shimeathitee, 
 and  Sucathites,"  which  add  nothing  to  our  knowledge, 
 are  represented  by  "camsntes  ■>  resonantes  et 
 naciili  eommoromtes"  ("  singing,  and  playing  instru- 
 ments, and  dwelling  in  tents"),  which  unite  the  functions 
 
 of  Levites  with  the  mode  of  life  of  the  Etechabitee.    So 
 
 Hogesippns    as  above    speaks  of  priests  who  were  of 
 the  sons  of  Reehab  in  the  Apostolic  age. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 (i)  The  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim  .  .  .— The 
 prophetic  message  that  follows  is  brought  by  the  date 
 thus  given  into  closo  contact  with  chap.  x\v..  and  it  is 
 a  reasonable  inference  that  we  have  in  that  chapter  the 
 substance  of  part,  at  least,  of  wbat  was  written  by 
 Baruch  from  the  prophet's  dictation  in  verse  1.  The 
 contents  exactly  agree  with  the  description  of  the 
 prophecy  given  hero  in  veroe  2 
 
 (-)  Take  thee  a  roll  of  a  book.— The  same  phrase 
 meets  us  in  Ps.  xl.  7  ascribed  by  some  critics  to  Jere- 
 miah), but  does  not  occur  in  any  earlier  prophet  or 
 historical  book.     It  is  found   in  later  prophets     Kzek. 
 
 ii.  9,  iii.  1;   Zech.  v.  1,  2'.    It  probably  followed  oU 
 the  introduction  of  parchment  as  a  material  for  writing 
 
The  Prophets  Discourses 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXXVI.         read  by  Baruch  in  the  Temple. 
 
 thee  against  Israel,  and  against  Judah, 
 and  against  all  the  nations,  from  the 
 day  I  spake  unto  thee,  from  the  days 
 of  "Josiah,  even  unto  this  day.  <3)  It 
 may  be  that  the  house  of  Judah  will 
 hear  all  the  evil  which  I  purpose  to  do 
 unto  them ;  that  they  may  return  every 
 man  from  his  evil  way ;  that  I  may 
 forgive  their  iniquity  and  their  sin. 
 
 (i)  Then  Jeremiah  called  Baruch  the 
 son  of  Neriah  :  and  Baruch  wrote  from 
 the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  all  the  words  of 
 the  Lord,  which  he  had  spoken  unto 
 lum,  upon  a  roll  of  a  book.  (5)  And 
 Jeremiah  commanded  Baruch,  saying, 
 I  am  shut  up ;  I  cannot  go  into  the 
 house  of  the  Lord  :  '6)  therefore  go 
 thou,  and  read  in  the  roll,  which  thou 
 hast  written  from  my  mouth,  the  words 
 of  the  Lord  in  the  ears  of  the  people 
 iu  the  Lord's  house  upon  the  fasting 
 day  :  and  also  thou  shalt  read  them  in 
 
 !.  C. 
 .600. 
 
 1  Hob.,  their 
 pUcativil 
 /all. 
 
 the  ears  of  all  Judah  that  come  out  of 
 their  cities.  (7)  It  may  be  Hhey  will 
 present  their  supplication  before  the 
 Lord,  aud  will  return  every  one  from 
 his  evil  way  :  for  great  is  the  anger  and 
 the  fury  that  the  Lord  hath  pronounced 
 against  this  people.  <8)  And  Baruch 
 the  son  of  Neriah  did  according  to  all 
 that  Jeremiah  the  prophet  commanded 
 him,  reading  in  the  book  the  words  of 
 the  Lord  in  the  Lord's  house. 
 
 (9)  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  fifth 
 year  of  Jehoiakim  the  son  of  Josiah  king 
 of  Judah,  in  the  ninth  mouth,  that  they 
 proclaimed  a  fast  before  the  Lord  to 
 all  the  people  in  Jerusalem,  and  to  all 
 the  people  that  came  from  the  cities  of 
 Judah  uuto  Jerusalem.  (10)  Then  read 
 Baruch  in  the  book  the  words  of  Jere- 
 miah in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
 chamber  of  Gemariah  the  son  of 
 Shaphan  the  scribe,  iu  the  higher  court, 
 
 on,  and  the  consequent  substitution  of  the  roll  for  the 
 papyrus  books,  for  which,  from  their  fragile  fabric,  a 
 different  form  was  necessary.  The  command  thus 
 given  to  Baruch  is  interesting  as  letting  us,  so  to 
 speak,  into  the  "  workshop "  of  the  prophet.  He 
 speaks  probably  without  premeditation,  as  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  comes  to  him  (Matt.  x.  19).  A  disciple  acts 
 as  reporter,  and  preserves  the  utterance  iu  writing.  It 
 is  interesting  in  this  respect  to  note  the  parallelism 
 between  Jeremiah's  modus  operandi  and  St.  Paul's 
 (Rom.  xvi.  22;  Gal.  vi.  11;  2  Thess.  iii.  17).  From 
 time  to  time  the  prophet  collects,  repeats,  revises, 
 and,  in  modern  phrase,  edits  what  he  has  uttered. 
 We  have  here  accordingly  what  may  be  described 
 as  the  history  of  the  first  volume  of  his  discourses — a 
 volume  which  perished,  as  the  chapter  records,  but  of 
 which  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  present  book  are  sub- 
 stantially a  reproduction. 
 
 <3)  It  may  be  that  the  house  of  Judah  will 
 hear  .  .  . — Better,  hearken  to,  as  implying  more  than 
 the  physical  act  of  listening.  Here  again,  in  the 
 expression  of  the  hope  that  Israel  would  "  return  every 
 man  from  his  evil  way,"  we  have  a  distinct  echo  from 
 chap.  xxv.  5. 
 
 W  Then  Jeremiah  called  Baruch  the  son  of 
 Neriah.— See  Note  on  chap,  xxxii.  12.  The  prophet 
 was,  as  the  next  verse  shows,  in  some  way  hindered, 
 though  apparently  not  by  imprisonment,  as  he  and 
 Baruch  could  hide  themselves  (verse  19) :  Baruch 
 therefore  had  to  act  not  only  as  the  prophet's  amanuensis, 
 but  as  the  preacher  of  his  sermon.  It  will  be  noted 
 that  an  interval  of  some  months  elapsed  between  the 
 dictation  and  the  public  utterance. 
 
 (6)  In  the  Lord's  house  upon  the  fasting  day. 
 — Literally,  a  fast  day.  We  learn  from  verse  9  that 
 this  was  one  of  the  special  fasts  "  proclaimed"  in  times 
 of  national  distress  (comp.  Joel  ii.  1 ;  2  Chron.  xx.  3, 
 4 ;  1  Kings  xxi.  10),  and  it  was  accordingly  a  time  when 
 the  courts  of  the  Temple  would  be  more  than  usually 
 thronged,  aud  when,  it  might  be  hoped,  the  people 
 gathered  iu  them  would  be  more  than  usually  disposed 
 
 124 
 
 to  listen  to  warnings  and  exhortations  to  repentance. 
 Probably,  however,  the  king  had  proclaimed  the  fast  by 
 the  advice  of  the  priests  and  false  prophets,  to  rouse 
 the  people  to  the  "  holy  war "  of  an  enthusiastic 
 religious  resistance  to  the  Chaldeans,  and  this  may 
 account  for  the  eagerness  of  Jeremiah  to  counteract  the 
 scheme  by  the  unlooked-for  sermon.  The  addition, 
 "aud  also  thou  shalt  read  them  in  the  ears  of  all  Judah," 
 implies  that  Baruch  was,  if  opportunity  offered,  to 
 read  the  words  of  the  prophecy  on  other  occasions 
 and  to  other  gatherings  of  the  people.  The  ordinary 
 fast  of  the  Day  of  Atonement  was,  it  will  be  remem- 
 bered, in  the  seventh  month — i.e.,  October ;  this  accord- 
 ingly was  in  November  or  December.  This  agrees,  it 
 may  be  noted,  with  the  charcoal  fire  which  was  burning 
 in  the  king's  chamber  (verse  22). 
 
 (9)  It  came  to  pass  in  the  fifth  year  of 
 Jehoiakim. — The  LXX.  gives  "  the  eighth  year," 
 but  the  Hebrew  text  gives  much  the  more  probable 
 date.  What  follows  refers  apparently  to  the  same 
 occasion  as  verse  8,  and  is  of  the  nature  of  a  note 
 explaining  the  circumstances  under  which  the  prophetic 
 discourse  was  read.  An  interval  of  some  months  thus 
 passed  between  the  writing  of  the  book  and  its  delivery 
 in  the  Temple,  during  which  its  substance  was,  perhaps, 
 made  known  to  the  inner  circle  of  the  prophet's  dis- 
 ciples. The  fast  was  probably  proclaimed  on  the 
 king's  hearing  of  the  approach  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
 army,  as  described  by  the  Rechabites  in  chap.  xxxv.  11. 
 
 (i°)  In  the  chamber  of  Gemariah  the  son  of 
 Shaphan. — The  man  thus  named  belonged  to  a  family 
 which,  through  three  successive  generations,  presented 
 couspicuous  examples  of  devout  patriotism.  His  father 
 Shaphan  was  energetic  in  the  work  of  re-building  the 
 Temple  under  Josiah  (2  Kings  xxii.  3),  in  conjunction 
 with  the  high  priest  Hilkiah,  and  had  taken  an  active 
 part  iu  publishing  the  contents  of  the  newly-discovered 
 book  of  the  Law  of  the  Lord  (2  Kings  xxiii.  12).  As  a 
 seribe,  he  must  have  taken  part  in  the  king's  edicts  for 
 the  restoration  of  the  true  worship,  and  probably  also 
 in    ordering    copies    of   the    new-found    treasure — the 
 
The  Dinmuraea  read  befon 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XXXVI. 
 
 thd    /'lines   (if  Jmlnh. 
 
 at  the  '  entry  of  the  new  gate  <>f  tin- 
 Lobd'b  honse,  in  the  ears  of  all  the 
 people. 
 
 When  Michaialt  tin-  sim  of  (Wina- 
 riiili,  the  sun  of  Bhaphan,  bad  beard  onl 
 of  the  book  all  the  words  of  the  Lord, 
 '-''  then  be  went  down  into  the  king's 
 honse,  into  the  scribe's  chamber:  and, 
 
 In,    all     tin'     princes     sat      there,    rm, 
 
 ESishama   the  Bcribe,  and   Delaiah  the 
 
 sun    nf   Bhemaial id    EDnathan  the 
 
 sun  uf  Ai'hliur,  and  Gemariah  the  son 
 of  Shaphan,  and  Zedekiah  the  son  of 
 llananiali,  and  all  the  princes.  " ;  Then 
 M~inTm.in.Ti  declared  unto  them  all  the 
 words  that  he  had  heard,  when  Baruch 
 read  the  book  in  the  ears  of  the  people. 
 W  Therefore  all  the  princes  sent  Jehndi 
 
 on  of  Nethaniah,  tin-  sun  oi  Shele- 
 miah,  the  sun  of  Onthi,  onto  Barnch, 
 Baying,  Take  in  thine  hand  the  rull 
 wherein  thou  hast  read  in  the  eai 
 the  people,  and  come.  Bo  Barnch  tin- 
 sun  of  Neriah  took  the  roll  in  liis  hand, 
 ami  rami'  unto  them.  ' '"  And  they  said 
 onto  him,  sit  down  now,  and  read  it  in 
 our  earn.  Bo  Barnch  read  ii  in  their 
 ears. 
 
 M  Now  it  came  to  pass,  when  they 
 had  heard  all  the  words,  they  were 
 afraid  both  one  and  other,  and 
 onto  Barnch,  We  will  Burely  tell  the 
 king  of  all  these  words.  ""'And  they 
 asked  Baruch,  Baying,  Tell  ob  now,  How 
 didst  thou  write  all  these  words  at  his 
 mouth?      (18)  Then   Baruch   answered 
 
 whole  Law,  or,  more  probably,  the  book  of  Deute- 
 ronomy—  to  be  made  by  the  scribes  who  worked 
 under  him.  We  have  soph  oiu>  of  liis  sun-.,  Ahikam, 
 ting  the  prophet  Jeremiah  in  chap,  xwi.  ill. 
 Sere  Gemariah  plaoee  liis  chamber  in  the  Temple 
 court  at  the  service  of  the  prophet's  delegate.  The 
 ••  new  gate  "  may  well  have  Been  a  prominent  part  of 
 the  wink  effected  by  Shaphan  and  Hilkinh  (2  Kings 
 
 xxii.  .'p.  6),  iukI  this  may  have  led  to  a  chandler 
 nver  ii  being  assigned  to  hie  son.  (Seo  Noto  on 
 chap.  xxxv.  I.)  The  people  addressed  may  have  been 
 either  in  the  outer  court  of  the  Temple,  or  gathered 
 
 ontside  the  gate.  A  chandler  over  tin-  gateway  would 
 naturally  have  an  opening  on  either  sido.  The  general 
 me  of  the  word  for  "entry"  is  in  favour  of  the  latter 
 hypothesis. 
 'mi  when  Michaiah  the  son  of  Gemariah  .  .  . 
 — Gemariah  himself  was.  as  we  find  in  the  next  verse, 
 not    one   of   the   listeners,  but    took  his  place  with  the 
 
 other  princes,  in  the  "scribe's  chamber,"  probably  osed 
 as  a  council-room,  in  the  king's  palace.  It  seems  obvious 
 from  Michaiah's  relation  to  him  that  his  purpose  in  re- 
 porting Barneh's  discourse  was  not  unfriendly.  Probably 
 it  was  pan  of  a  preconcerted  plan,  arranged  between  the 
 
 prophet  and  his  friends,  that  he  should  report  it.  and  so 
 
 give  an  opening  tor  bringing  Barnch  into  the  presence 
 
 of  the  kin"-  and  his  counsellors,  as  they  sat  in  what  we 
 may  call  their  council-chamber. 
 (B)  And,  lo,  all  the  princes  sat  there.— The 
 
 following  particulars  may  lie  noted  as  to  the  princes 
 thus  named.  Klishama  may  have  been  identical  with 
 the  prince  of  that  name  in  2  Kings  xxv.  :!.">.  and.  if  so, 
 WBS  the  grandfather  of  a  man  who  afterwards  plays  a 
 conspicuous  part  in  the  history  of  the  prophet's  life 
 (chap.  xli.  i  He  appears  to  have  taken  a  purely  official 
 line,  as    scribe,   standing   neutral    between    the   prophet 
 
 and  his  opponents.  Delaiah  the  name  signifies  "the 
 Lord  delivers,"  and  is  found  as  that  of  a  priest  in 
 
 the  time  of  David.  1  t'hron.  xxiv.  18  .i"in~  Klnathan 
 and  ( ,'cmariah  in  pleading  against  the  king's  destruction 
 of  the  prophetic  roll.  The  name  Shemaiah.  which  ap- 
 pears here  as  that  of  his  father,  is  found  in  Xeh.  vi.  10 
 
 as  belonging  to  a  sou  of  Delaiah.  and  this  probably 
 
 indicates  relationship.  On  Klnathan.  the  B t   Achhor. 
 
 see  Note  on  ohap.  xwi.  22,    On  Gemariah,  Bee  Note 
 
 on  verse  10.     Of   Zedekiah  nothing   moro   is   known. 
 
 unless  his  father  Hananiah  lie  the  prophet  who  opposes 
 Jeremiah  in  chap,  xxviii.  1 — 17. 
 
 (u>  Therefore  all  the  princes  sent  Jehudi  the 
 son  of  Nethaniah.  .  .  , — There  must  obviously  have 
 been  some  reason  for  the  exceptionally  long  genealogy 
 thus  given.  It  is  probably  indicated  by  the  first  and  last 
 names  on  the  list.  Cushi  |  ■  Ethiopian — the  name 
 appears,  probably  with  this  sense,  as  that  of  a  courier 
 of  Joab's  in  2  Sam.  xviii.  21 — was  an  alien  by  birth, 
 who.  like  Ebed-melech  tho  Ethiopian  (ohap  xxzviii.  7), 
 had  gained  the  favour  of  one  of  Jehoiakim'e  predeces- 
 sors, and  had  become  a  proselyte.  The  re 
 xxiii.  8  did  not  admit  of  the  full  incorporation  of  thi 
 descendants  of  such  proselytes — Edomite  or  Egyptian, 
 
 the  latter  term  being  taken  probably  as  including 
 Ethiopian — till  the  third  generation,  and  the  nam.' 
 Jehndi   (  =  Jew)   was    naturally   enough   given    to   tin! 
 
 child  who  first  became  entitle,!  to  that  privilege.    Tim 
 
 part  he  takes  in  the  prOC lings,  though  not  more  thai. 
 
 ministerial,  indicates  sympathy  with  the  prophet,  and 
 we  may  perhaps  connect  this  with  the  like  sympathy 
 shown   by  Ebed-melech    in   chap,    xxxviii.    7.      In    IV 
 
 lxxxvii.  i  (probably  belonging  to  the  reign  of  Sezakiah) 
 
 we  have,  it  may  be  noted,  a  record  of  the  admission  of 
 
 such  Ethiopian  proselytes.  The  purpose  of  his  mission 
 was  to  bring  Baruch  to  the  council  of  princes,  that  they 
 
 might  judge,  on  hearing  the  contents  of  the  roll,  how 
 
 far  it  corresponded  with  Michaiah's  report.  He  comes, 
 the  princes  listen,  and  the  impression  made   on   them 
 
 is  given  in  verse  16.     We  note  ■  tone  of  reaped  in 
 
 the  request  that  Baruch  would  "sit  down" — .....take 
 the  attitude  of  a  teacher    Luke  h 
 
 (16)  They  were   afraid  both  one  and  other 
 .  .  . — The  words  indicate  a  conflict  of  footings.    They 
 
 were  alarmed  for  themselves  and  their  country  ::- 
 heard,  with  at  least  a  partial  faith,  the  woes  that  were 
 threatened  as  impending.  They  were  alarmed  also  for 
 the  safety  of  the  prophet  and  "the  scribe  who  had  the 
 boldness  to  utter  those  woes.  They  have  no  hostile 
 purpose  in  communicating  what  they  had  heard  to  the 
 King,  but  the  matter  had  come  to  their  official  know- 
 ledge, and  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  r.  i 
 Lev.  v.  1  :    PrOV.  xxix.  -  I  . 
 
 (17-M)  Tell  us  now, How  didst  thou  write  ... 
 
 — The  question  was  clearly  put   as  a  judicial  ini 
 
 tory.     The  princes  were  anxious  to  ascertain  how  far 
 
 125 
 
The  Prophet's  Roll 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   XXXVI. 
 
 by  Order  of  the  King. 
 
 tliein,  He  pronounced  all  these  words 
 unto  me  with  his  mouth,  and  I  wrote 
 them  with  ink  in  the  book.  (19>  Then 
 said  the  princes  unto  Baruch,  Go,  hide 
 thee,  thou  and  Jeremiah;  and  let  no  man 
 know  where  ye  he. 
 
 (so)  And  they  went  in  to  the  king  into 
 the  court,  but  they  laid  up  the  roll  in 
 the  chamber  of  Elishaina  the  scribe,  and 
 told  all  the  words  in  the  ears  of  the  king. 
 <21>  So  the  king  sent  Jehudi  to  fetch  the 
 roll:  and  he  took  it  out  of  Elishama 
 the  scribe's  chamber.  And  Jehudi  read 
 it  in  the  ears  of  the  king,  and  in  the 
 ears  of  all  the  princes  which  stood  be- 
 side the  king.     <22)  Now  the  king  sat  in 
 
 the  winterhouse  in  the  ninth  month: 
 and  there  was  a  fire  on  the  hearth  burn- 
 ing before  him.  <23>  And  it  came  to  pass, 
 that  when  Jehudi  had  read  three  or  four 
 leaves,  he  cut  it  with  the  penknife,  and 
 cast  it  into  the  fire  that  was  on  the 
 hearth,  until  all  the  roll  was  con- 
 sumed in  the  fire  that  ivas  on  the 
 hearth,  f24)  Yet  they  were  not  afraid, 
 nor  rent  their  garments,  neither  the 
 king,  nor  any  of  his  servants  that 
 heard  all  these  words.  <25)  Nevertheless 
 Elnathan  and  Delaiah  and  Gemariah 
 had  made  intercession  to  the  king  that 
 he  would  not  burn  the  roll :  but  he 
 would  not  hear  them.     ^  But  the  king 
 
 each  of  the  parties  concerned  was  responsible.  Had 
 Baruch  exercised  any  discretion  in  writing  so  that  the 
 words  were  his,  though  the  substance  was  Jeremiah's  ? 
 or  had  he,  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  without  the 
 prophet's  will,  published  what  had  been  written 
 privately?  or  had  every  syllable  as  it  was  read  come 
 from  the  prophet's  lips  ?  The  scribe's  answer  showed 
 that  the  last  hypothesis  answered  to  the  facts  of 
 the  case.  On  hearing  this  they,  obviously  with 
 a,  friendly  regard,  advise  him  and  the  prophet  to 
 hide  themselves  till  they  should  see  what  effect  the 
 report  would  have  on  the  king's  mind.  It  would 
 appear  from  verse  19  that  Jeremiah,  though  "  shut 
 up "  and  unable  to  go  into  the  house  of  the  Lord 
 (verse  5),  was  not  actually  so  imprisoned  as  to  hinder 
 him  from  concealing  himself.  Either,  therefore,  we 
 must  assume  that  he  was  in  a  "  libera  custodia," 
 that  gave  him  facilities  for  an  escape,  which  the 
 princes  connived  at,  or  that  by  "shut  up"  he  meant 
 only  hindered  by  some  cause  or  other.  The  latter 
 seems  the  more  probable  hypothesis.  In  the  conceal- 
 ment of  the  prophet  we  find  a  parallel  to  that  of  Elijah 
 and  the  other  prophets  under  Ahab  (1  Kings  xvii.  3, 
 xviii.  4),  of  Polycarp  (Mart.  Polyc.  c.  5),  perhaps  also 
 of  Luther  in  the  Wartburg. 
 
 (20)  They  laid  up  the  roll  in  the  chamber  of 
 Elishama  .  .  . — The  step  was  a  material  one,  from 
 the  official  standpoint.  If  either  the  prophet  or  the 
 disciple  were  to  be  prosecuted  for  what  had  been 
 spoken,  it  was  important  that  the  corpus  delicti  should 
 itself  be  ready  for  reference,  whether  on  behalf  of  the 
 accusers  or  accused.  The  precaution  taken  by  the 
 princes  of  lodging  it  with  Elishama,  as  the  scribe  or 
 keeper  of  the  archives,  indicates  an  apprehension  that 
 the  king,  in  his  passionate  waywardness,  might  act  as 
 he  actually  did.  They  accordingly  content  themselves 
 with  reporting  from  memory  the  substance  of  what  they 
 had  heard. 
 
 (2i)  So  the  king  sent  Jehudi  .  .  .—The  prudence 
 of  the  counsellors  was  foiled  by  the  king's  impatience. 
 He  was  not  satisfied  with  hearing  a  general  report. 
 He  would  have  the  words  themselves. 
 
 (22)  Now  the  king  sat  in  the  winterhouse  in 
 the  ninth  month. — The  "winterhouse"  (the  palaces 
 of  kings  seem  to  have  been  commonly  provided  with 
 such  a  special  apartment;  comp.  Amos  iii.  15),  was 
 probably  the  southern  wing  of  the  palace.  It  was  in 
 November  or  December,  and,  as  glass  windows  were 
 unknown,  a  charcoal  fire,  placed  after  the  Eastern 
 
 fashion  in  a  brazier,  or  earthen  pot,  in  the  middle  of 
 the  room,  was  a  necessity.  So  we  find  a  fire  in  the 
 court  of  the  high  priest's  palace  in  the  raw  early 
 morning  of  a  Passover  in  March  or  April  (John 
 xviii.  18). 
 
 (23)  Three  or  four  leaves  .  .  .—The  English 
 words  suggest  the  idea  of  a  papyrus  book  rather  than 
 a  parchment  roll  (see  Note  on  verse  4),  but  the  Hebrew 
 word  (literally  =  a  door)  may  indicate  the  column  of 
 writing  on  such  a  roll,  as  well  as  a  leaf.  The  act,  in  its 
 childish  impatience,  betrayed  the  anger  of  the  king. 
 He  could  not  bear  to  hear  of  the  seventy  years  of  exile 
 which  were  in  store  for  his  people,  and  which,  if  we 
 assume  the  roll  to  have  included  the  substance  of  chap, 
 xxv.,  would  have  come  into  one  of  the  earlier  columns. 
 The  word  for  "pen-knife"  is  used  generally  for  any 
 sharp  instrument  of  iron — for  a  razor  (Ezek.  v.  1),  and 
 for  a  sword  (Isa.  vii.  20).  Here  it  is  the  knife  which 
 was  used  to  shape  the  reed,  or  calamus,  used  in  writing. 
 It  should,  perhaps,  be  noted  that  the  Hebrew,  like  the 
 English,  leaves  it  uncertain  whether  the  king  himself 
 cut  and  burnt  the  roll,  or  Jehudi  with  his  apjjroval. 
 Terse  25  is  in  favour  of  the  former  view.  We  are 
 reminded,  as  we  read  the  words,  of  like  orders  given  by 
 Antiochus  Epiphanes  for  the  destruction  of  the  Law 
 (1  Mace.  i.  56),  by  Diocletian  for  that  of  the  sacred 
 books  of  the  Christians,  perhaps  also  of  those  of  the 
 Court  of  Rome  for  the  destruction  of  the  writings  of 
 Wyclif  and  Luther. 
 
 (24-25)  Yet  they  were  not  afraid,  nor  rent 
 their  garments  .  .  . — If  we  suppose  that  the  "ser- 
 vants" are  identical  with  the  princes,  these  were  the 
 very  men  who,  when  they  first  heard  the  words,  had 
 been  afraid,  "both  one  and  other."  Now  the  king's 
 presence  restrains  them,  and  they  dare  not  show  their 
 alarm  at  the  contents  of  the  scroll,  nor  "  rend  their 
 clothes  "  (comp.  Matt.  xxvi.  65 ;  Acts  xiv.  14)  at  what 
 must  have  seemed  to  them  the  sacrilege  of  burning  a 
 scroll  that  contained  a  message  from  Jehovah.  Three 
 only  had  the  courage,  though  they  did  not  show  their 
 abhorrence,  to  entreat  the  king  to  refrain  from  his 
 impiety.  (See  Note  on  verse  12.)  Possibly,  however, 
 the  "servants"  or  " courtiers  "  are  distinguished  from 
 the  princes,  and  arc  specially  named  in  the  next  verse. 
 
 (26)  But  the  king  commanded  Jerahmeel  .  .  . 
 — Instead  of  "  the  son  of  Hammelech,"  we  have  to 
 read,  if  we  take  the  usual  meaning  of  the  words,  "  the 
 king's  son,"  as,  indeed,  the  LXX.  rightly  renders  it. 
 The  term  would  not  imply  more  than  that  he  belonged 
 
 126 
 
The  Prophets  RoU  Rewritten.         JEREMIAH,    WWII.     Zedehiaie$  Meetage  to  the  Prophet 
 
 commanded  Jerahmee]  the  boh  'of  Bam- 
 melech,  and  Keraiah  1  Ik-  son  of  Azriel, 
 :■  i m1  Shelemiah  1 1 1 « -  son  of  Ahdeel,  to 
 take  Baruch  the  scribe  and  Jeremiah 
 i  he  prophel  :  bul  the  Lobd  hid  t  hem. 
 
 pw  Ttii-n  the  word  of  I he  Lobd  came 
 to  Jeremiah,  after  thai   the  kin;,'  had 
 
 burned    tin'    roll,   and    (he   words   which 
 
 Baruch  wrote  at  t  he  month  of  Jeremiah, 
 saying,  <Jh)  Take  thee  again  another  roll, 
 
 and  write  in  it  all  tin'  former  words  that, 
 wire   in    the   first   roll,  which  Jehoiakim 
 
 the  kingof  Jndah  hath  burned.    '-"I  And 
 
 thou  shall  say  to  Jehoiakim  king  of 
 .ludali,  Thus  saith  the  Lord;  Thou  hast 
 burned  this  roll,  saving.  Why  hast  thou 
 written  therein,  saying,  The  king  of 
 Babylon  shall  certainly  come  and  de- 
 stroy this  land,  and  shall  cause  to  cease 
 from  thence  man  and  beast '?  (•>'  There- 
 fore thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Jehoiakim 
 king  of  Jndah;   He  shall  have  none  to 
 
 sit    ii] the  throne  of  David:  and  his 
 
 dead  body  shall  be  "cast  out  in  the  day 
 
 to  tho  heat,  and  in  the  night  to  the  frost. 
 
 11  And  I  will  'punish  him  and  his  seed 
 
 and  his  servants  for  their  iniquity;  and 
 
 I  Mr,  o/tli 
 
 II     C. 
 Or.  oris. 
 
 ii*  UpOlL 
 
 n.  c. 
 
 clr.  fty9. 
 
 ;i  IU1'.. ".-  tht'j. 
 
 b  2  King 
 ch.1 
 
 I  II.  ]>.,hitthr1iand 
 rmlut. 
 
 I  will  bring  upon  them,  and  opon  the 
 
 inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  upon  tie: 
 men  of  Jndah,  all  the  evil  that  I  have 
 pronounced  against  them  ;  hut  they 
 hearkened  not. 
 
 Then  took  Jeremiah  another  roll, 
 and  gave  it  to  Baruch  the  scribe,  the 
 
 sou  of  Neriah;    who  wrote  therein  from 
 
 t be  in. -tit h  of  Jeremiah  all  tin-  won 
 
 the  hook  which  .Jehoiakim  king  of  Jndah 
 
 had  burned  in   tie-   lire:    and  there  were 
 
 added   besides   unto  them 
 words. 
 
 many 
 
 1  like 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXVIL— W  And  king 
 ''Zedekiah  the  son  of  Josiah  reigned 
 instead  of  Coniah  the  son  of  Jehoiakim, 
 whom  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of  Babylon 
 made  king  in  the  land  of  Judah.  -  Bui 
 neither  he,  nor  his  servants,  nor  tin; 
 people  of  tin'  land,  did  hearken  unto 
 the  words  of  the  Loi;i>,  which  he  spake 
 4  by  the  prophet  Jeremiah.  W 
 Zedekiah  the  king  sent  Jehucal  the  son 
 of  Shelemiah  and  Zephaniah  the  son  of 
 Maaseiah  the  priest  to  the  prophel  Jere- 
 miah, saying,  Pray  now  unto  the  Lord 
 
 to  tho  "  royal  houso."  Jehoiakim  was  only  twenty-five 
 when  lie  came  t«i  the  throne,  Bad  could  not  have  had  ■ 
 son  old  enough  to  execute  the  orders  given  to  Jerah- 
 meel.  Of  Seraiali  nothing  more  is  known.  He  is 
 clearly  not  identical  with  the  "quiet  jinnee,"  the  son 
 of  Neriah,  in  chap.  Ii.  50.  Tho  namo  of  Shelemiah 
 appears  in  chap,  xxxvii.  3,  as  tho  father  of  Jehucal, 
 who  is  first  sent  by  Zedekiah  to  consult  tho  prophet, 
 and  who  afterwards  arrested  him  (chap,  xxxviii.  1). 
 It  is  probable  in  tho  nature  of  tho  case  that  they 
 belonged  in  tlio  party  of  tho  prophet's  enemies.  The 
 counsel  el'  verse  li)  had  fortunately  been  given  in  time, 
 and  the  attempt  to  seize  the  prophet  and  his  scribe  was, 
 as  wo  say,  providentially  frustrated. 
 
 (-7)  Thon  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
 Joremiah.— This  was  probably  during  the  conceal- 
 ment of  the  two  friends,  and  to  the  command  thus 
 given  we  probably  owe  the  present  form  of  chap.  xxv. 
 — perhaps,  also,  of  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  book. 
 But.  in  addition  to  the  reproduction  of  the  judgment 
 denounced  opon  the  nation  at  large,  there  was  now  a 
 special  prediction  as  to  Jehoiakim  himself.  ,  1 1  He  was 
 to  have  "none  to  -it  upon  th  ■  throne  of  David."    As  a 
 
 matter  of  hot,  be  was  succeeded  by  his  sou  Jehoiachm, 
 or  Jeconiah,  but  the  reign  of  the  boy-prinoe  as  a  tribu- 
 tary kinu'  lasted   for  three   mouths  only,  and  Zedekiah. 
 
 who  succeeded  him.  was  the  brother  and  not  the  son  of 
 Jehoiakim  (eomp.  eliap.  xxii.  30).  J  B3s  dead  body 
 WB8  t"  be   "east  out  in  the  day   to  the   heat,  and  in  the 
 
 night  to  the  frost"  The  same  prediction  is  found  in 
 chap.  xxii.  is.  19,  written  probably  after  the  incident 
 thus  recorded.    See  Note  there  as  to  its  fulfilment 
 
 •Vnd  there  were  added  besides  unto  them 
 many  like  words.— The  passage  i-  interesting  as 
 showing,  as  it  were,  the  geneeia  of  the  present  volume 
 
 of  the  prophet's  writings.  Tho  discourse  delivered  in 
 the  Temple  court  was,  in  modern  phrase,  revised  and 
 enlarged,  dictated  to  Baruch  as  before,  and  in  this  shape 
 has  probably  come  down  to  us  in  chap.  xxv. 
 
 XXXVIL 
 
 (i)  And  king  Zedekiah  the  son  of  Josiah  .  .  . 
 — The  eight  chapters  that  follow  form  a  continuous 
 narrative  of  the  l;:ter  work  and  fortunes  of  the  prophet. 
 They  open  with  recording  the  accession  of  Zedekiah, 
 
 following  on  the   deposition  of   Coniah  or  .1 iiah. 
 
 Here,  as  in  chap.  xxii.  :!t.  we  have  the  shortened  form 
 of  the  name  of  the  latter.  The  relative  pronoun  "  whom 
 Nebuchadrezzar   .   .   .  nude  king  "refers  to  Zedekiah. 
 
 (2)  But  neither  he,  nor  his  servants  .  .  . — 
 The  verse  gives  a  general  survey  of  the  character  of 
 Zedeldah's  reign  preparatory  to  the  actual  history  that 
 follows,  which  falls  towards  its  close,  probably  in  tho 
 seventh  or  eighth  year  of  his  reign.  It  will  be  noted 
 that  the  "servants  here,  as  in  chap,  xxxvi.  -Jt,  are  the 
 personal  attendants  of  the  kinir.  his  courtiers,  as  ilis. 
 tinet  from  tho  "princes"  of  Jndah  and  the  "people 
 of  the  land."  that  is,  the  great  body  of  unotlicial 
 laymen. 
 
 (3)  And  Zodekiah  the  king  sent  Jehucal  .  .  . 
 — The  time  and,  probably,  occasion  of  the  mission  is 
 riven  in  verse  5.  The  Chahheans  had  raised  the  siege 
 of  Jerusalem  on  hearing  of  the  approach  of  the  Egyptian 
 army  under  PharaohJElbphra,  the  Apriee  of  Herodotus 
 
 Herod,  ii.  L61 — 169.    Bask,  xvii.  1"..  xxix.  1—16,  \\x — 
 
 xxxii.  1.  and  the  kinur  seems  to  have  thought  that  an  oppor- 
 tunity presented  itself  for  asserting  his  independence, 
 and  wished  to  rain  the  -auction  and  the  prayers  of  the 
 prophel  for  this  policy.    Of  the  two  officers  who  are 
 
 here   named,  Jehucal  appears  as  accusing  the  prophet 
 
 127 
 
Jeremiah's  Answer  to  the  King.         JEREMIAH,  XXXVTI.      The  Prophet  Arrested  as  a  Deserter. 
 
 our  God  for  us.  W  Now  Jeremiah  came 
 in  and  went  out  among  the  people :  for 
 they  had  not  put  him  into  prison. 
 <5)  Then  Pharaoh's  army  was  come  forth 
 out  of  Egypt :  and  when  the  Chaldeans 
 that  besieged  Jerusalem  heard  tidings 
 of  them,  they  departed  from  Jerusalem. 
 <C)  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 unto  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  saying, 
 C)  Thus  saith  the  Lokd,  the  God  of 
 Israel;  Thus  shall  ye  say  to  the  king 
 of  Judah,  that  sent  you  unto  me  to 
 enquire  of  me ;  Behold,  Pharaoh's  army, 
 which  is  come  forth  to  help  you,  shall 
 return  to  Egypt  into  their  own  land. 
 <8>  And  the  Chaldeans  shall  come  again, 
 and  fight  against  this  city,  and  take  it, 
 and  burn  it  with  fire.  (9)  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord;  Deceive  not  ^ourselves,  saying, 
 
 1  Heb.,  souln. 
 
 :'  Heb.,    thrust 
 through. 
 
 3  Heh.,    made    to 
 ascend. 
 
 4  Or,  to  sUp  away 
 from  thence  in 
 the  midet  of  the 
 'people. 
 
 The  Chaldeans  shall  surely  depart  from 
 us :  for  they  shall  not  depart.  (10)  For 
 though  ye  had  smitten  the  whole  army 
 of  the  Chaldeans  that  fight  against  you, 
 and  there  remained  but  2  wounded  men 
 among  them,  yet  should  they  rise  up 
 every  man  in  his  tent,  and  burn  this 
 city  with  fire. 
 
 (n)  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  the 
 army  of  the  Chaldeans  was  s  broken  up 
 from  Jerusalem  for  fear  of  Pharaoh's 
 army,  <12)  then  Jeremiah  went  forth 
 out  of  Jerusalem  to  go  into  the  land  of 
 Benjamin,  4to  separate  himself  thence 
 in  the  midst  of  the  people.  (13)  And 
 when  he  was  in  the  gate  of  Benjamin, 
 a  captain  of  the  ward  ivas  there,  whose 
 name  was  Irijah,  the  son  of  Shelemiah, 
 the  son  of  Hananiah ;  and  he  took  Jere- 
 
 in  chap,  xxxviii.  1,  Zephaniah  in  chaps,  xxi.  1,  xxix.  25. 
 They  clearly  belonged  to  the  anti-Chaldacan  party,  and 
 were  therefore,  for  the  most  part,  openly  hostile  to  the 
 prophet.  Their  application  to  him  was  either  simply 
 an  official  act  in  obedience  to  the  king's  commands, 
 or  sprang  from  the  hope,  as  before  in  chap.  xxi.  1,  that 
 they  might,  by  a  show  of  religions  zeal  for  Jehovah, 
 win  him  over  to  their  cause.  The  stress  which  they 
 lay  on  his  praying  to  "  the  Lord  our  God "  indicates 
 the  latter  alternative  as  probable. 
 
 (i)  Jeremiah  came  in  and  went  out  among 
 the  people. — The  statement  is  made  in  refei'ence  to 
 the  event  narrated  in  verse  15.  He  was  free  when  the 
 king's  message  came  to  him  :  it  was  his  answer  to  that 
 message  that  led  to  his  imprisonment. 
 
 (5)  Then  Pharaoh's  army  was  come  forth  out 
 of  Egypt. — The  despatch  of  the  Egyptian  army  was 
 the  result  of  negotiations  which  Zedekiah  had  opened 
 with  Pharaoh-Hophra,  with  a  view  to  resisting  the 
 power  of  Nebuchadnezzar  (Ezek.  xvii.  15).  Like  the 
 Egyptian  armies  in  general,  it  was  strong  in  chariots 
 and  horses  (Ezek.  xvii.  15;  Isa.  xxxi.  1,  xxxvi.  9), 
 and  able  to  carry  out  the  operations  of  a  siege  (Ezek. 
 xvii.  17).  In  chap.  xliv.  30  we  have  the  full  name  of 
 the  Egyptian  king. 
 
 (?)  Behold,  Pharaoh's  army,  which  is  come 
 forth  to  help  you,  shall  return  to  Egypt.— 
 A  like  prediction  as  to  the  fate  of  the  Egyptian  army 
 is  found  in  Ezek.  xvii.  17,  and  is  there  connected  with 
 the  fact  that  Zedekiah's  application  to  Egypt  was  a 
 distinct  breach  of  the  compact  which  he  had  made  with 
 the  Chaldseans.  Their  arrival,  like  that  of  Tirhakah  in 
 the  Assyrian  invasion  (2  Kings  xix.  9;  Isa.  xxxvii.  9), 
 caused  only  a  temporary  suspension  of  hostilities,  and 
 led  finally  to  the  conquest  and  subjugation  of  Egypt 
 by  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 (9,io)  Deceive  not  yourselves  .  .  .—Literally. 
 Deceive  not  your  souls.  The  words  indicate  that  the 
 king  and  his  counsellors  had  buoyed  themselves  up 
 with  expectations  of  deliverance.  The  cliariots  and 
 horses  of  Egypt  were,  they  thought,  certain  to  defeat 
 the  ChaldEeans  in  a  pitched  battle.  The  prophet  tells 
 them,  in  the  language  of  a  bold  hyperbole,  reminding 
 us  of  Isa.  xxx.  17,  that  even  the  wounded  remnant 
 of  the  Chaldsean  army  should  be  strong  enough  to  ac- 
 
 complish the  purpose  of  Jehovah  in  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 (12)  Then  Jeremiah  went  forth  out  of  Jeru- 
 salem .  .  . — The  prophet's  motive  in  leaving  the  city 
 may  well  have  been  his  apprehension  that  the.  answer  he 
 had  sent  would  move  the  king's  anger,  and  load,  as  it 
 actually  led,  to  an  order  for  his  arrest.  The  fact  that  the 
 Chaldteans  had  raised  the  siege  gave  him  free  egress. 
 
 To  separate  himself  thence  in  the  midst  of 
 the  people. — More  accurately,  to  take  a  share  from 
 thence  in  the  midst  of  the  people.  This  gives  probably 
 the  ostensible  reason  of  his  journey.  As  a  priest  be- 
 longing to  Anathoth,  he  had  property  (like  that  which 
 he  afterwards  bought  of  his  uncle,  chap,  xxxii.)  in  the 
 land  of  Benjamin,  and  he  now  went  to  look  after  it, 
 either  in  the  way  of  ploughing  and  sowing,  or  to  receive 
 his  share  of  its  produce  during  his  sojourn  in  Jerusalem. 
 If,  as  seems  probable  from  chap,  xxxiv.  8 — 10,  this  was 
 a  Sabbatical  year,  the  former,  assuming  the  siege  to 
 have  been  raised  when  the  year  was  over,  would  be  the 
 more  probable  alternative,  and  would  better  explain, 
 as  in  Ruth  iv.  2,  9,  the  addition  of  the  clause  "  in  the 
 midst  of  the  people,"  as  showing  that  there  was  nothing 
 clandestine  in  his  proceedings.  Other  meanings  that 
 have  been  given  to  the  words,  "  to  buy  bread,"  "  to  till 
 a  field,"  "  to  separate  a  field,"  "  to  conciliate,"  "  to 
 divide  the  spoil,"  are  less  satisfactory.  At  such  a 
 time  all  the  owners  of  laud  would  be  eager  to  take 
 advantage  of  the  opportunity  presented  by  the  depar- 
 ture of  the  Chaldsean  army  to  transact  any  business 
 connected  with  it. 
 
 (is)  And  when  he  was  in  the  gate  of  Benjamin 
 .  .  . — The  prophet's  fears  were  not  groundless.  He 
 had  to  leave  the  city  by  the  entrance  known  as  the 
 gate  of  Benjamin  (chap,  xxxviii.  7),  on  the  north  side 
 (Zech.  xiv.  10).  The  officer  in  command,  Irijah,  the  son 
 of  Shelemiah  (probably,  therefore,  the  brother  of  Jehu- 
 cal,  who  is  named  in  verse  3,  and  so  probably  acquainted 
 with  Jeremiah's  last  prophetic  utterance),  charged 
 him  with  treachery.  He  was  "  falling  away  to 
 the  Chaldseans."  It  was  assumed  that,  though  the 
 ChaldEeans  had  gone,  the  prophet  was  about  to  make 
 Ills  way  to  their  encampment  to  incite  them  to  return, 
 and  so  work  out  the  fulfilment  of  his  own  prediction. 
 The  very  phrase  "thou  fallest  away"  may  have  been 
 
 128 
 
./■  /••  miaJi 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXXVII. 
 
 in  hU  Dungeon. 
 
 miali  the  prophet,  saying,  Thou  fallesl 
 away  to  tin-  Chaldeans.  ""  Then  said 
 Jeremiah,  Ti  it  'false;  I  fall  not  away 
 to  the  Chaldeans.  But  he  hearkened 
 not  to  him:  so  Irijah  took  Jeremiah, 
 and  brought  him  to  the  primes, 
 (is)  Wherefore  tho  princes  were  wroth 
 with  Jeremiah,  and  smote  him,  and  put 
 him  in  prison  in  the  house  of  Jonathan 
 the  scribe:  for  they  had  made  that  the 
 prison. 
 
 (";)  When  Jeremiah  was  entered  into 
 the  dungeon,  and  into  the  -cabins,  and 
 Jeremiah  had  remained  there  many  days; 
 <17»  then  Zedekiah  the  king  sent,  and  took 
 him  out :  and  the  king  asked  him  secretly 
 in  his  house,  and  said,  Is  there  any 
 word  from  the  Loed?  And  Jeremiah 
 said,  There  is :  for,  said  he,  thou  shalt 
 
 I      II.    I,    ,       l„!    ■}:■.     ■{, 
 
 Or,  celh. 
 
 *  my  sup- 
 pUeonon  /nil. 
 
 he  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  kiliu' 
 of  Babyhm.    ""  Moreover  Jeremiah 
 onto  king  Zedekiah, Whai  have  I  offended 
 
 against   thee,  or  against  thy  servants,  or 
 
 against  this  people,  thai  ye  have  pal 
 
 me  in  prison?  IW  Where  are  now  your 
 prophets  which  prophesied  unto  you, 
 saying,  The  king  of  Babylon  shall  not 
 come  against  you,  nor  against  this  land? 
 (*>)  Therefore  hear  now,  I  pray  thee,  O 
 my  lord  the  king;  3let  my  supplication, 
 I  pray  thee,  be  accepted  before  thee; 
 that  thou  cause  me  not  to  return  to 
 the  house  of  Jonathan  the  scribe,  lest 
 I  die  there.  <-"  Then  Zedekiah  the  king 
 commanded  that  they  should  commit 
 Jeremiah  into  the  court  of  the  prison, 
 and  that  they  should  give  him  daily  a 
 piece  of  bread  out  of  the  bakers'  street, 
 
 nn  allusive  reference  to  Jeremiah's  own  words  in  chap, 
 xxi.  9,  if.  with  the  host  critics,  we  refer  those  words  to 
 an  earlier  date  than  the  raising  of  the  siege. 
 
 u*J  Irijah  took  Jeremiah,  and  brought  him  to 
 the  princes. — These  were  probably,  as  a  body,  iden- 
 tical with  those  named  in  ohap.  xxxvi.  12,  but  tho  party 
 opposed  to  the  prophet  were  now  apparently  stronger 
 than  they  had  been.  Neither  they  nor  Irijah  would 
 listen  to  the  prophet's  denial  of  the  accusation.  The 
 fact  that  the  siege  had  been  raised  by  the  ( 'lialda-ans 
 may  have  given  fresh  strength  to  the  party  of  resist- 
 ance. Possibly  also  many  of  the  prophet's  friends  had 
 shared  the  captivity  of  Jehoiakim. 
 
 (is)  The  princes  .  .  .  put  him  in  prison  in 
 the  house  of  Jonathan  the  scribe.— Tho  honse 
 was  probably  chosen  as  being  under  the  direct  control 
 of  one  who.  as  scribe,  exercised  functions  like  those  of 
 n  minister  of  police.  It  had  not  only  the  subterranean 
 dungeon  and  pit  common  to  all  Eastern  prisons,  but 
 separate  "cabins"  or  colls  (tho  Hebrew  word  does 
 not  occur  elsewhere)  for  the  confinement  of  indi- 
 vidual prisoners  (verso  16).  Of  the  severity  with 
 which   the   prophet   was   treated    there,  we    may  judge 
 
 from  his  entreaty  not  to  be  taken  hack  there  after  his 
 release  (chap,  xxxviii.  ->'<).     We  hare  fairly  adequate 
 
 data   for   measuring  the  duration  of  the  "many  days" 
 
 of  his  imprisonment,    It  began  before  the  second  siege 
 
 of  Jerusalem,  which  lasted  for  nearly  two  yean  -  Kings 
 XXV.  1 — '■>'.  ami  when  the  city  was  taken  he  was  still  in 
 the  Court  of  the  prison.  The  incidents  of  chap,  xxxii. 
 — xxxiv.  belong  to  this  period. 
 
 <i")  Thon  Zedokiah  the  king  sent,  and  took 
 him  out  .  .  . — Tho  king  seems  to  have  boen  at  once 
 better  than  his  counsellors,  and  afraid  of  thoin.  He 
 regrets  the  severity  of  the  prophet's  treatment,  and 
 hopes  that  there  may  yet  bo  "a  word  of  the  Lord" 
 less  harsh  than  before,  and  with  this  view  summons 
 him  to  his  palace,  as  before  he  had  sent  asking  for  his 
 intercession.  Tho  prophet  is.  however,  true  to  his 
 calling,  and  not  even  tho  hope  of  gaining  protection 
 against  his  persecutors  will  lead  him  to  change  one  jot 
 or  tittle  of  his  message.  He  answers  with  a  stern 
 abruptness,  and  adds  the  new  prediction,  that  the  king 
 himself  shall  bo  taken  prisoner. — what  is  now  repotted 
 being  earlier  than  chap,  xxxii.  4 — 5. 
 148 
 
 (is)  What  have  I  offended  against  thee  .  .  .  ? 
 — Tho  cruelty  of  his  treatment  draws  from  the  prophet 
 an  indignant  protest.  Of  what  crime  had  ho  been 
 guilty,  but  that  of  speaking  the  word  which  the  Lord 
 had  given  him  to  speak,  and  was  this  a  crime  in  the 
 eyes  of  any  true  Israelite?  No  act  of  treachery  or 
 desertion  could  be  proved  against  him. 
 
 (I*)  Whore  aro  now  your  prophets  .  .  .  ?—  Tho 
 failure  of  the  past  predictions  of  tho  false  prophets  is 
 urged  mi  the  king  as  a  reason  why  he  should  not  trust 
 them  in  the  present  crisis.  They  had  assured  him 
 (chap,  xxviii.  3;  that  within  two  years  the  city  should 
 be  delivered,  and  the  result,  had  been  that  it  had  been 
 besieged.  The  temporary  departure  of  the  Chaldaians 
 had  again  raised  their  hopes,  and  they  were  now  tempt- 
 ing the  king  with  the  assurance  that  the  Egyptian  army 
 would  make  short  work  of  them. 
 
 (BO)  That  thou  cause  me  not  to  return  to  the 
 house  of  Jonathan  the  scribe  .  .  .—The  petition 
 shows  tho  cruelty  with  which  the  prophet  had  been 
 treated.  Half-starved,  and  thrust  into  a  foul  and 
 lot  id  dungeon,  ho  felt  that  to  return  to  it  would  bo 
 death. 
 
 i-i i  Into  the  court  of  the  prison   .   .   .—This 
 
 was  obviously  a   concession  to  Jeremiah's   request,  and 
 
 here  he  remained  (see  chaps,  xwii.   2.   xxxiii.    1 
 
 one  brief  exception  (chap,  xxxviii.  6),  till  the  capture 
 
 Of  the  city.  it  was  "in  the  king's  bouse,"  above 
 ground,    with    free    access    for    light    and   air,   and    it 
 
 was  therefore  in  his  power  to  see  that   the  prophet 
 
 was  treated  with  respect,  and  not  left  to  starve. 
 
 A  pioce  of  bread  out  of  the  bakers'  street. 
 — The  locality  is  not  mentioned  elsewhere,  but  Jeru- 
 salem, like  other  Kastern  cities,  seems  to  have  had 
 distinct  localities  assigned  as  bazaars  to  special   trades. 
 
 Thus,  one  of  the  broad  streets  running  through  the 
 city  was  known,  in  New  Testament  tines,  as  t lie  valley 
 
 of  Tyropuwn  (—  cheesemakers  .  Merchants  and  gold- 
 smiths appear  in  Neb.  iii.  :!J  as  Inning  their  separate 
 quarters,  and  apothecaries  in  Neh.  iii.  B,     The  "street 
 
 of  the  bakers      was   probably  com ted   with   "the 
 
 tower  of  the  furnaces"  in  Neh.  iii.  11.  Tho  order 
 given  by  the  king  indicates  that  the  city  was  already 
 blockaded,  and  that  the  supply  of  provisions  was  falling 
 short. 
 
Tlie  Prophet  cast 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   XXXVIII. 
 
 into  the  Dungeon  of  Malchiah. 
 
 until  all  the  bread  in  the  city  were  spent. 
 Thus  Jeremiah  remained  in  the  court  of 
 the  prison. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXVIIL— W  Then 
 Shephatiah  the  son  of  Mattan,  and 
 Gedaliah  the  son  of  Pashur,  and  Jucal 
 the  son  of  Shelemiah,  and  Pashur  the 
 son  of  Malchiah,  heard  the  words  that 
 Jeremiah  had  spoken  unto  all  the  people, 
 saying,  <2)  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  "He  that 
 remaineth  in  this  city  shall  die  by  the 
 sword,  by  the  famine,  and  by  the  pesti- 
 lence: but  he  that  goeth  forth  to  the 
 Chaldeans  shall  live;  for  he  shall  have 
 his  life  for  a  prey,  and  shall  live. 
 (3)  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  This  city  shall 
 surely  be  given  into  the  hand  of  the 
 king  of  Babylon's  army,  which  shall 
 take  it.  W  Therefore  the  princes  said 
 unto  the  king,  We   beseech  thee,  let 
 
 1  Heb.,  peace. 
 
 2  Or,  o/  the  king. 
 
 this  man  be  put  to  death :  for  thus 
 he  weakeneth  the  hands  of  the  men  of 
 war  that  remain  in  this  city,  and  the 
 hands  of  all  the  people,  in  speaking  such 
 words  unto  them :  for  this  man  seeketh 
 not  the  1  welfare  of  this  people,  but  the 
 hurt.  (5)  Then  Zedekiah  the  king  said, 
 Behold,  he  is  in  your  hand :  for  the 
 king  is  not  he  that  can  do  any  thing 
 against  you.  (6)  Then  took  they  Jere- 
 miah, and  cast  him  into  the  dungeon  of 
 Malchiah  the  son  3of  Hammelech,  that 
 was  in  the  court  of  the  prison :  and 
 they  let  down  Jeremiah  with  cords. 
 And  in  the  dungeon  there  was  no 
 water,  but  mire :  so  Jeremiah  sunk  in 
 the  mire. 
 
 w  Now  when  Ebed-melech  the  Ethio- 
 pian, one  of  the  eunuchs  which  was  in 
 the  king's  house,  heard  that  they  had 
 put  Jeremiah  in  the  dungeon ;  the  king 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 (!)  Then  Shephatiah  the  son  of  Mattan  .  .  . 
 — Of  the  four  princes  of  Judah  who  are  named  here, 
 Jucal  or  Jehucal  has  been  mentioned  in  chap,  xxxvii.  3, 
 and  would  appear,  from  the  frequent  occurrence  of  the 
 name  Shelemiah  in  1  Chron.  xxvi.  1, 2,  9, 14,  to  have  been 
 a  Levite;  Pashur  is  named  in  chap.  xxi.  1.  Of  the  other 
 two  nothing  is  known,  but  the  name  Shephatiah  appears 
 in  three  or  four  instances  in  the  royal  house  of  Judah, 
 beginning  with  a  son  of  David  (2  Sam.  iii.  4 ;  2  Chron. 
 xxi.  2;  Ezra  ii.  4;  Neh.  vii.  9),  and  may,  perhaps,  indi- 
 cate a  connexion  with  it,  like  that  of  Jerahmeel  in 
 chap,  xxxvi.  26.  Gedaliah,  the  son  of  Pashur  (pos- 
 sibly of  the  man  of  that  name  who  is  mentioned  last 
 in  the  list),  must  be  distinguished  from  Jeremiah's  pro- 
 tector, the  son  of  Ahikaui  (chaps,  xxvi.  24,  xl.  5).  They 
 all  belonged  obviously  to  the  party  of  the  prophet's 
 enemies. 
 
 (2)  Thus  saith  the  Lord. — The  words  carry  us 
 back  to  chap.  xxi.  9,  and  in  any  chronological  arrange- 
 ment of  the  book  the  one  chapter  would  follow  the 
 •other.  It  is  obvious  that  to  all  who  did  not  recognise 
 the  divine  mission  of  the  prophet,  words  like  those 
 which  he  had  then  spoken  would  seem  to  come  from  the 
 lips  of  a  traitor.  Desertion  to  the  enemy  was  repre- 
 sented as  the  only  way  of  safety,  and  this  was  the 
 counsel  given  to  those  who  were  defending  the  city 
 of  their  fathers  against  an  alien  invader.  What  made 
 it  appear  worse  was  that  the  prophet  himself  had  been 
 caught  in  an  act  which,  though  he  denied  the  charge, 
 might  not  unnaturally  seem  like  an  act  of  treacherous 
 desertion. 
 
 W  Let  this  man  be  put  to  death. — The  hatred 
 of  the  princes  of  Judah  becomes  more  bitter  than  ever, 
 and  they  seek  to  overcome  the  king's  lingering  rever- 
 ence for  the  prophet.  In  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim  they 
 had  said  that  he  was  worthy  of  death  (chap.  xxvi.  11). 
 Within  the  last  few  weeks  he  had  been  thrown  into 
 a  loathsome  dungeon,  from  which  the  king  had  but 
 just  delivered  him.  Now  they  press  for  a  yet  severer 
 sentence.  The  weak  king,  conscious  of  his  want  of 
 power  to  resist,  yields  a  reluctant  consent.     The  whole 
 
 130 
 
 history  reminds  us  of  Pilate's  conduct  in  circumstances 
 more  or  less  analogous. 
 
 (6)  The  dungeon  of  Malchiah  the  son  of 
 Hammelech. — Literally,  the  pit,  or  cistern.  The 
 LXX.  agrees  with  the  marginal  reading  in  describing 
 him  as  "  a  son  of  the  king."  The  same  phrase  is  so 
 translated  in  1  Kings  xxii.  26  ;  2  Chron.  xxviii.  7,  and 
 would  seem  to  have  been  an  official  or  court  title,  ap- 
 plied to  one  of  the  royal  house,  as  distinguished  from 
 others.  (See  Note  on  Jerahmeel  in  chap,  xxxvi.  26.) 
 We  have  no  data  for  judging  whether  this  Mal- 
 chiah is  identical  with  the  father  of  Pashur  in 
 verse  1 ;  but  it  is  not  unlikely.  In  Lam.  iii.  53 — 55  we 
 have  probably  a  reminiscence  of  these  days  of  horrible 
 suffering.  The  cistern  had  been  partly  dried  up  (possi- 
 bly through  the  supply  of  water  having  been  cut  off 
 during  the  protracted  siege),  but  there  remained  a  thick 
 deposit,  three  or  four  feet  deep,  of  black  foetid  mud, 
 and  there,  it  is  obvious  from  verse  9  of  this  chapter, 
 his  enemies  meant  to  leave  him  to  die  of  hunger.  They 
 probably  shrank  from  the  odhun  of  a  public  execution,  or 
 thought,  with  the  strange  superstition  of  the  Eastern 
 mind,  that  in  this  way  they  could  escape  the  guilt  of 
 shedding  the  prophet's  blood.  The  death  by  starva- 
 tion might  easily  be  represented,  even  to  themselves, 
 as  a  death  by  disease. 
 
 (7)  Ebed-melech  the  Ethiopian.  —  The  name 
 signifies  "  servant  of  the  king,"  but  the  absence  of  the 
 article  in  the  Hebrew  makes  it  probable  that  it  had  come 
 to  be  used  as  a  proper  name,  and  so  both  the  LXX.  and 
 Vulgate  take  it.  The  use  of  Ethiopian  or  Cushite  slaves 
 in  the  king's  household,  probably  as  keeping  guard  over 
 the  harem,  had  been  of  some  standing ;  perhaps  even 
 as  early  as  the  time  of  David,  as  in  the  case  of  Cushi 
 (or  the  Cushite),  in  2  Sam.  xviii.  21.  Then,  as  in  other 
 countries  and  times  (Terent.,  Eunuch,  i.  2),  there  was  a 
 fashion  which  led  princes  and  men  of  wealth  to  think 
 that  eunuchs  were  part  of  their  magnificence.  The  law 
 of  Moses,  it  may  be  notsd,  forbade  such  mutilation  in 
 the  ease  of  Israelites  (Deut.xxiii.  1).  In  Ps.  lxxxvii.  4,  we 
 find  probably  a  record  of  the  admission  of  such  persons 
 on  the  register  of  the  citizens  of  Zion.  Of  the  previous 
 history  of  the  Eunuch  thus  named  we  know  nothing, 
 
./.  remioh  named  hy  Sin  d  m  I  eh.     ■!  E  EUSMIAH,    XXXVIII. 
 
 '/'/<•■  A  ■    lilm. 
 
 then  Bitting  la  the  gate  of  Benjamin; 
 <s»  Ebed-meleoh  wenl  forth  trai  of  the 
 king's  boose,  and  spake  to  the  king, 
 Baying)  ''''  My  lord  the  king,  these  men 
 have  done  evj]  in   all   that    they  have 
 
 done  to  Jeiviniiih  tlie  prophet)  whom 
 they  have  cast  into  the  dungeon;  and 
 ^e  is  like  to  die  for  hunger  in  the 
 place  where  he  is :  for  there  is  no  more 
 bread  in  the  city.  (10)  Then  the  king 
 commanded  Ebed-melech  the  [Ethiopian, 
 Baying,  Take  from  hence  thirty  men 
 -with  thee,  and  take  up  Jeremiah  the 
 prophet  out  of  the  dungeon,  before  he 
 die.  (">  So  Ebed-melech  took  the  men 
 with  him,  and  went  into  the  house  of 
 the  bang  under  the  treasury,  and  took 
 thence  old  cast  clouts  and  old  rotten 
 rags,  and  let  them  down  by  cords  into 
 the  dungeon  to  Jeremiah.     (1-'>  And  Ehcd- 
 
 1  Hot).,  he  Kill  die. 
 
 I  ft  I>h    In    (Mm 
 
 i 
 
 hatul. 
 
 3  Or,  principal 
 
 melech  the  Ethiopian  Baid  unto  Jere- 
 miah, I  *i 1 1    now  //,.  .-.   .,1.1  .  ,i  -•    .]..nt  -  and 
 
 rotten  rags  under  thine  armholes  under 
 
 the  oords.    And  Jeremiah  did  bo. 
 
 they  drew  ap  Jeremiah  with  cords,  and 
 
 took  him  up  out  of  the  dungeon:  and 
 Jeremiah  remained  in  the  eourl  of  the 
 prison. 
 
 ("J  Then  ZouVkiah  the  king  sent,  and 
 took  Jeremiah  the  prophet  unto  him 
 into  the  3third  entry  thai  is  in  the 
 bouse  of  tin-  Loi:n:  ;ui.l  ■',<•■  king  said 
 unto  Jeremiah,  I  will  ask  thee  a  thing; 
 hide  nothing  from  me.  ,1;"  Then  Jere- 
 miah said  unto  Zedekiah,  It'  I  declare  it 
 unto  thee,  wilt  thou  not  surely  put  un- 
 to death?  and  if  I  give  thee  counsel, 
 wilt  thou  not  hearken  unto  me?  ",J  So 
 Zedekiah  the  king  sware  secretly  unto 
 Jeremiah,  saying,  As  the  Lord  liveth, 
 
 but  ho  appears  lu-ri'  as  the  favourite  of  tho  king,  using 
 
 bis  influence  to  protect  the  prophet.    The  Ethiopian 
 
 descent   of  .lohudi  (chap,  xxxvi.  Ill)  may  probably  have 
 
 brought  him  into  contact  with  an  officer  of  the  king's 
 household  of  the  same  race,  and  Ebed-melerli's  feelings 
 may  have  been  drawn   to  the  prophet  by  what  he  thus 
 
 heard. 
 
 In  the  gate  of  Benjamin.— This  was  on  the 
 northern  wall  of  the  city,  t lie  most  exposed  to  the 
 attack  of  the  invading  army,  and  tlie  king  apparently 
 had  gone  there  oithor  to  direct  the  operations  of  the 
 defence,  or,  perhaps,  to  prevent  others  from  following, 
 as  they  might  think,  Jeremiah's  example,  and  either 
 deserting  to  the  enemy  or  abandoning  the  defence  of 
 the  eity  (chap,  xxxvii.  13).  Ebod-nieleeh  had  accord- 
 ingly to  leave  the  palaeo,  and  wont  to  seek  the  king  at 
 his  post,  in  order  to  obtain  aH  order  of  release  in  time 
 to  save  the   prophet's   life.      Ho  alone,  as  if  inheriting 
 
 the  blessing  of  Isa.  hi.  3 — 6,  has  the  courage  to  appear 
 as  the  friend  of  the  persecuted. 
 
 TO  These  men  have  done  evil.  .  .  . — It  is 
 noticeable  that  some  MSS.  of  the  LXX.,  following 
 apparently  a  different  text,  represent  the  Eunuch  as 
 asauming  that  the  king  himself  had  given  the  order, 
 "  Thou  Gael  done  evil  in  all  that  thou  hast  done." 
 
 He  is  like  to  die  for  hunger.— Literally,  and 
 lif  dies  .  .  .  painting  vividly  what  would  be  the 
 certain  issue  if  no  help  were  sent.  It  lies  in  the 
 nature  of  the  ease  that  those  who  had  thrown  the  pro- 
 phet into  the  pit  were  not  likely  to  continue  the  supply 
 of  his  daily  rations  (chap,  xxxvii.  21  i,  and  the  scarcity 
 that  prevailed  in  the  besieged  city  made  it  all  but  im- 
 possible that  his  friends,  even  if  they  could  gain  aCOOSS 
 (0  him.  should  help  him  out  of  their  i.wn  resources, 
 Ebed-melech  had  obviously  no  power  to  help  him  with- 
 out the  king's  s.ui. -lion. 
 
 Take  from  hence  thirty  men.— The  number 
 Beems  a  large  one  for  the  purpose,  especially  when  we 
 
 Consider  that  the  men  were  sent  from  a"  post  from 
 which  they  could  ill  be  spared,  but   the   king  may  have 
 
 wished  to  guard  against  resistance  on  tho  part  of  the 
 
 princes.  Eitejg,  however,  conjectures  that  "three 
 men''  was  the  original   reading  of  the  Hebrew  text. 
 
 (ii)  Under  the  treasury  .  .  .—This  was  obviously 
 
 uhat  we  should  call  the  "  lumber-r.ioin  "  of  the  palace. 
 X. .thing    could    show    the    acuteness    of    the    prophet's 
 
 sufferings  more  vividly  than  the  precautions  which  tho 
 thoughtful  kindness  of  I  he  Eunuch  thn-  suggested.  The 
 
 pit  was  so  deep  that  ropes  were  needed  to  draw  him  up, 
 
 as  they  had  been  to  let  him  down,  and  k'st  they  should 
 cut  into  the  flesh  of  Jeremiah's  emaciated  form, 
 improvised  cushions  had  to  be  fastened  to  the  ropes, 
 that  he  might  rest  his  arm-pits  on  them.  He  was.  how- 
 ever, at  last  rescued,  anil  re-instated  in  his  former 
 position,  as  a  prisoner  under  the  king's  protection. 
 
 "Clout  "  in  old  English  was  used  for  a  patch  of  cloth 
 as  distinct  from  the  "rags,"  which  were  of  linen.  So 
 Spenser,  "  His  garments  nought  but  many  ragged 
 clouts." 
 
 (i+)  The  third  entry  that  is  in  the  house  of 
 the  Lord.— In  2  Kings  xvi.  18  we  read  "i''  the  kind's 
 entry  without."  an  outside  entrance,  and  of  "  a  covert," 
 or  covered  gallery,  both  leading  from  the  palace  to  the 
 Temple.  The  passage  now  mentioned  the  name  does 
 not  occur  elsewhere  was  probably  distinct  from  both 
 these,  leading  from  the  lower  city,  and  may  therefore 
 have  been  chosen  by  Zedekiah  as  a  more  suitable  place 
 for  a  private  interview   with  the  prophet    It   seems 
 
 probable    from    2    Kings   x.xiii.    11.    that    there 
 chamber  for  the  chief    Eunuch,  or   chamberlain  of  the 
 king's  household,  and  if  so.  it   may  have  been  arranged 
 
 by  Ebed-melech  that  the  meeting  should  take  place 
 there.  As  in  chap,  xxxvii.  17.  the  king  has  still  a  secret 
 respect    for  Jeremiah's  mission,  and.  it   may  be.  guided 
 
 now  by  the  Eunuch's  better  counsels,  hanker-  after  a 
 word  of  the  Lord  from  him.    Will  the  prophet,  utter 
 
 what  has  passed,  tell  him  the  whole  truth  r 
 
 (15)  Wilt  thou  not  surely  put  me  to  death  ?— 
 
 The  prophet  obviously  speaks  as  if  he  believed  the  king 
 
 to  have  sanctioned  the  severe  measures  thai  had  been 
 taken  against  him.  and  having  no  other  "  word  of  tho 
 
 Lord  "to  speak  than  that  which  he  had   spoken  l>ef..r.\ 
 fears  to  provoke  his  wrath      The  latter  part  of  i' 
 tence  is  better  taken  with  tlie  LXX..  Villi;.. and  Luther, 
 
 "thou  unit  itoihearkei  ";  ox  the  farm  of  the 
 
 question  altered  so  as  to  imply  that  answer. 
 
 As  the  Lord  Hveth,  that   made  us   this 
 soul.— The  formula  of  the  oath  was  obviously  intended 
 
 131 
 
The  Iiiten 
 
 between 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XXXVIII. 
 
 the  Prophet  and  Zedekiah. 
 
 that  made  us  this  soul,  I  will  not  put 
 thee  to  death,  neither  will  I  give  thee 
 into  the  hand  of  these  men  that  seek 
 thy  life.  <17>  Then  said  Jeremiah  unto 
 Zedekiah,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God 
 of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel ;  If  thou  wilt 
 assuredly  go  forth  unto  the  king  of 
 Babylon's  princes,  then  thy  soul  shall 
 live,  and  this  city  shall  not  be  burned 
 with  fire ;  and  thou  shalt  live,  and  thine 
 house :  <18)  but  if  thou  wilt  not  go  forth 
 to  the  king  of  Babylon's  princes,  then 
 shall  this  city  be  given  into  the  hand  of 
 the  Chaldeans,  and  they  shall  burn  it 
 with  fire,  and  thou  shalt  not  escape 
 out  of  their  hand.  <19>  And  Zedekiah 
 the  king  said  unto  Jeremiah,  I  am 
 afraid  of  the  Jews  that  are  fallen  to 
 the  Chaldeans,  lest  they  deliver  me  into 
 their  hand,  and  they  mock  me.  <20>  But 
 Jeremiah  said,  They  shall  not  deliver 
 thee.  Obey,  I  beseech  thee,  the  voice  of 
 the  Lord,  which  I  speak  unto  thee  :  so 
 it  shall  be  well  unto  thee,  and  thy  soul 
 shall  live.     <21>  But  if  thou  refuse  to  go 
 
 1  Heb.,  Men  of  thy  \ 
 peace. 
 
 2  Heb.,  thou  Shalt 
 bum,  &c. 
 
 forth,  this  is  the  word  that  the  Lord 
 hath  shewed  me  :  <22)  and,  behold,  all 
 the  women  that  are  left  in  the  king  of 
 Judah's  house  shall  be  brought  forth  to 
 the  king  of  Babylon's  princes,  and  those 
 women  shall  say,  JThy  friends  have  set 
 thee  on,  and  have  prevailed  against 
 thee :  thy  feet  are  sunk  in  the  mire, 
 and  they  are  turned  away  back,  t23'  So 
 they  shall  bring  out  all  thy  wives  and 
 thy  children  to  the  Chaldeans :  and 
 thou  shalt  not  escape  out  of  their 
 hand,  but  shalt  be  taken  by  the  hand 
 of  the  king  of  Babylon  :  and  2thou  shalt 
 cause  this  city  to  be  burned  with  fire. 
 
 (2i)  Then  said  Zedekiah  unto  Jeremiah, 
 Let  no  man  know  of  these  words,  and 
 thou  shalt  not  die.  f25*  But  if  the 
 princes  hear  that  I  have  talked  with 
 thee,  and  they  come  unto  thee,  and  say 
 unto  thee,  Declare  unto  us  now  what 
 thou  hast  said  unto  the  king,  hide  it 
 not  from  us,  and  we  will  not  put  thee 
 to  death ;  also  what  the  king  said  unto 
 thee:  (26>  then  thou  shalt  say  unto  them, 
 
 to  be  one  of  unusual  solemnity ;  more  so  even  than  the 
 simpler  form  of  "  The  Lord  liveth  "  (chap.  xvi.  14,  15). 
 The  king  swears  by  Jehovah  as  the  living  God,  author 
 and  giver  of  his  own  life.  The  two-fold  promise  shows 
 that  the  king  felt  the  implied  reproof  of  Jeremiah's 
 question.  He  separates  himself  from  those  who  sought 
 the  prophet's  life,  and  declares  that  for  the  future  he 
 will  not  give  them  even  the  sanction  of  acquiescence. 
 It  is  characteristic  of  his  weakness  that  even  now  the 
 oath  is  given  secretly. 
 
 (17)  If  thou  wilt  assuredly  go  forth.— Literally, 
 If  going  thou  wilt  go,  the  Hebrew  idiom  of  emphasis. 
 The  prophet  places  before  the  king  the  alternative  of 
 surrender  and  safety,  resistance  and  destruction,  and 
 leaves  him  to  make  his  choice.  The  princes  of  the 
 king  of  Babylon  were  those  in  command  of  the  army 
 by  which  Jerusalem  was  invested.  The  king  himself 
 was  at  Riblah,  on  the  Orontes,  in  Northern  Syria 
 (chap,  xxxix.  5). 
 
 <19)  I  am  afraid  of  the  Jews  .  .  .—The  special 
 form  of  fear  was  characteristic  of  the  weak  and  vacilla- 
 ting king.  It  was  not  enough  to  know  that  his  life 
 would  be  safe.  Would  he  also  be  saved  from  the 
 insults  of  his  own  subjects,  who  had  already  deserted 
 to  the  enemy?  These  were,  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
 friends  and  followers  of  the  prophet,  and  had  acted 
 on  his  advice  (chap.  xxi.  9).  The  king,  who  had  shrunk 
 from  Jeremiah's  taunts  (chap,  xxxvii.  19),  could  not,  for 
 very  shame,  expose  himself  to  the  derision  of  others. 
 Perhaps  even  he  feared  more  than  mere  derision — out- 
 rage, death,  mutilation,  such  as  Saul  feared  at  the  hands 
 of  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  4). 
 
 (20-22)  Obey,  I  beseech  thee.  .  .  —The  king's 
 misgiving  is  met  in  part  by  an  earnest  entreaty  to  obey 
 the  voice  of  the  Lord,  in  part  by  the  assurance  that 
 thus  it  "  shall  be  well  with  him  "  (literally,  there  shall 
 be  peace  to  thee) ;  in  part  also  by  bringing  before  him 
 the  mockery  which  is  certain  to  await  him  if  he  per- 
 
 sists in  his  defiance.  The  women  of  the  harem,  the 
 surviving  wives  and  concubines  of  former  kings,  as 
 well  as  his  own,  should  become  the  spoil  of  the 
 Chaldiean  princes,  and  should  take  up  their  taunting 
 proverbs  against  him.  "  Thy  friends "  (literally,  the 
 men  of  thy  peace,  as  in  chap.  xx.  10  ;  the  men  who  pro- 
 mised peace  and  safety),  "  they  set  thee  on,  and  having 
 dragged  thee  into  the  mire  of  shame,  have  left  thee 
 there."  The  imagery  of  the  taunt  seems  drawu  from 
 the  prophet's  recent  experience  (verse  6).  The  king 
 was  plunging  into  a  worse  "  slough  of  despond "  than 
 that  into  which  Jeremiah  had  sunk  in  the  dungeon  of 
 Malchiah. 
 
 (23)  So  they  shall  bring  out  .  .  .—The  picture  of 
 defeat  and  destruction  is  once  more  repeated  from 
 verse  18.  Probably,  the  last  clause  should  be  read  with 
 a  different  punctuation  of  the  Hebrew,  "  This  city  shall 
 be  burnt  with  fire."  As  the  text  now  stands,  the  mar- 
 ginal rendering,  Thou  shalt  bum,  gives  the  true  force  of 
 the  word.  The  king  himself  would  have  that  destruc- 
 tion to  answer  for.     It  would  be  his  own  act  and  deed. 
 
 (24-26)  Let  no  man  know  .  .  . — The  weak  king 
 vacillated  to  the  last  moment.  He  feared  the  prophet, 
 he  feared  the  princes  yet  more.  To  hush  up  all  that 
 had  passed  in  the  interview,  to  urge  the  prophet  to* 
 baffle  the  eager  suspicions  of  the  princes  by  a  prevari- 
 cating statement,  as  if  it  had  been  he  who  had  sought 
 the  meeting,  and  had  petitioned  the  king,  as  before 
 (chap,  xxxvii.  20),  to  protect  him  from  the  cruelties 
 which  he  had  suffered  in  the  house  of  Jonathan  :  this 
 was  the  only  course  he  could  bring  himself  to  follow. 
 The  plan  so  far  succeeded  that  the  prophet  returned 
 and  gave  the  evasive  answer  which  the  king  suggested. 
 The  nature  of  the  interview  was  concealed,  and  events 
 took  their  course  ;  and  Jeremiah  remained  in  the  court 
 of  the  prison  till  the  city  was  taken.  The  king's  sug- 
 gestion as  to  the  house  of  Jonathan  implies  either  that 
 he  believed  that  the  princes  would  urge  that  Jeremiah 
 
 132 
 
Jeremiah  remains  in  I'r:  J.E1»  I  >  M  I  A  I  I  ,     XX  X  I  X.  Jerutal  „, 
 
 I  presented  my  supplication  before  the 
 king,  thai    be  would   aol   cause  me  to 
 
 return  to  Jonathan's  house,  to  die  t  here. 
 
 i-"1  Then  came  all  the  princes  unto 
 
 Jeremiah,  and  asked  him  :  and  he  told 
 them    according   to   all    these,  words  that 
 
 the  kirn,'  had  commanded.  So  'they 
 left  oft'  speaking  with  him  ;  for  the 
 matter  was  not  perceived, 
 
 <-*)  So  Jeremiah  ahode  in  the  court  of 
 the  prison  until  the  day  that  Jerusalem 
 was  taken  :  and  he  was  there  when  Jeru- 
 salem was  taken. 
 
 CHAPTER     XXXIX.— (')  In   the 
 
 "ninth  year  of  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah, 
 in  the  tenth  month,  came  Nebuchad- 
 rezzar king  of  Babylon  and  all  his  army 
 against  Jerusalem,  and  they  besieged  it. 
 
 u  2  KincB  55. 
 
 •   i,,./  in  the  eleventh  rear  of  Zedi  kiah, 
 
 in   the   fourth    month,  the   ninth    d 
 the    month,    the    city    was    broken    op. 
 ,:i>  And  all  the  princes  of  the  king  of 
 Babylon  came  in,  and  sat  in  the  middle 
 
 gate, i  '•  »  Nergal-8harezer,Samgar-n6bo, 
 liim,  Bab-saris,  Nergal-sharezer, 
 
 Bab-mag,  with  all  the  residue  of  the 
 princes  of  the  king  of  Bab}  km. 
 
 <4)  And  it  came  to  pass,  thai  when 
 Zedekiah  the  king  of  Judah  saw  them, 
 and  all  the  men  of  war,  then  they  tied, 
 and  went  forth  out  of  the  city  by  night, 
 bj  the  way  of  the  king's  garden,  by  the 
 gate  betwixt  the  t  wo  walls  :  and  he  went 
 out  the  way  of  the  plain.  (S|  But  the 
 Chaldeans'  army  pursued  after  them, 
 and  overtook  Zedekiah  in  the  plains 
 of  Jericho :   and  when   they  had   taken 
 
 should  be  sent  thereafter  his  rescue  from  the  dungeon 
 
 of  Malchiah,  or  else  a  wish  to  slur  over  that  transaction 
 altogether, 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 (t)  In  the  ninth  year  of  Zedekiah  .  .  .— Tlio 
 i  crisis  came  at  last,  as  Jeremiah  had  long  ago 
 predicted.  A  fuller  narrative  of  tho  siege  and  capture 
 is  given  in  chap.  Hi.  Tho  two  verses  which  open  the 
 chapter  seem  to  have  been  inserted  hero  by  the  editor 
 of  I  he  prophecies  in  their  present  form,  as  explaining 
 the  fact  with  which  chap,  xxxviii.  had  closed.  Tho 
 te  had  lasted  eighteen  months,  beginning  in  b.c.  590 
 
 and  ending  ao,  588.     It,  came  to  an  end.  as   we  learn 
 
 from  chap.  Hi.  6,  through  the  pressure  of  the  famine, 
 of  which  we  have  seen  traces  in  chap.  zxxviL  21. 
 
 ;  In  the  middlo  gate.— Tho  term  indicates  a 
 position  in  the  lino  of  walls  botwoon  the  citadel  of 
 Zion — the  "upper  city"  of  Josephus  {Ant.  v.  "it.  2), 
 which  as  yet  was  not  surrendered  I  verse  4) — and  tho 
 lower  city,  in  the  walls  of  which  a  breach  had  been 
 effected.  Here  an  open  space,  originally  used  as  a 
 j'liriim,  or  place  of  judgment,  now  gave  the  t'hahhean 
 
 generals  a  central  encampment,  from  which  they  could 
 command  both  quarters  of  the  city,  and  by  taking  then- 
 place  iu  til.'  hear)  of  its  life,  formally  assert  their  mas- 
 tery. Each  of  the  names  that  follow  has  a  meaning 
 and  history  of  its  own. 
 
 Norgal-sharezer.— The  first  half  of  the  name 
 appears  in  2  Kings  xvii.  30  as  that  of  a  Cuthite,  or 
 Assyrian  deity,  and  means  the  "great  hero."  It 
 occurs  frequently  in  the  inscriptions  of  Tiglath-piloser 
 and  Assur-bauipal  (e.g.,  lu-cords  of  th<-  Past,  i.  77. 
 108).  The  whole  namo  appears  in  Assyrian  monuments 
 Nergal-shar-UZnr.  Two  of  the  generals  mentioned 
 here  bore  the  same  name,  and  each  apparently  was 
 distinguished  by  a  special  title. 
 
 Samgar-nobo.— Here  the  second  half  is  tho  name  of 
 a  Babylonian  deity  Isa.  xlvi.  1;  Jer.  xlviii,  1),  possibly 
 •eonnected  with  the  Hebrew  Nabi  (  =  prophet  ,  and  BO 
 answering  to  the  Egyptian  Tlioth  and  the  Greek 
 Hermes.  The  great  temple  at  Borsippa.  known  as 
 Bin  Nimroud,  was  dedicated  to  him  [Mecordt  of  (ht 
 J'ast,  vii.  77).  Tho  first  half  has  been  explained  by  some 
 scholars  as   meaning  "warrior,"  by  others   as  "cup- 
 
 133 
 
 bearer," and  so  equivalent  to  Babehakeh  Isa.  xxxvi.  2), 
 and  as  such  is  attached  to  the  foregoing  name  of 
 Norgal-sharezer.  As  a  rule,  the  name  of  Nebo  appears 
 always  in   the   beginning    ol  aid   words,   as  in 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  Nebuzar-adan,  \e. ;  and  probably  wo 
 should  connect  it  here  with  the  name  that  follows. 
 
 Sarsochim,  Rab-saris.— Probably,  as  indicated  in 
 the  previous  Note,  the  namo  should  stand  as  Nebo-sar- 
 sochim.  The  two  names  go  together,  tho  first  as  a 
 proper  name,  tho  second  as  a  tit!  g  "the  chief 
 
 eunuch."  In  verso  13.  Nebushasban  appears  as  bear- 
 ing the  same  title.  In  2  Kings  xviii.  17  it  appears 
 simply  as  a  title,  as  in  Bab-shakeh  we  have  "the  chief 
 cup-bearer." 
 
 Norgal-sharezer,  Rab-mag.  —  Here  also  the 
 second  namo  is  the  title  of  office,  meaning  probably 
 "  chief  of  the  Magi,"  or  "  chief  of  the  priests."  Tho 
 man  thus  named,  who  appears  on  the  Assyrian  monu- 
 ments as  Nergal-shar-uzur  Rubu-cmga,  played  a  pro- 
 minent part  afterwards  as  murdering  Evil-merodaoh, 
 the  son  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  whose  sister  he  had  married. 
 He  reigned  for  three  or  four  years,  and  appears  in 
 Berosus  (Joseph,  c.  Apion.  i.  20)  under  the  name  of 
 Ncriglissar.  The  older  name  is  found  on  the  bricks  of 
 a  palace  at  Babylon,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Euphrates 
 (Smith's  Diet,  of  Bible.    Art.  Nergal-shar 
 
 i'i  When  Zedekiah  the  king  of  Judah  saw 
 them.  .  . — Tho  hasty  flight  is  narrated  again  in  chap. 
 Hi.  7.  The  gate  between  the  two  walls  was  one  appa- 
 rently that  opened  from  the  park-like  garden  of  tho 
 palace,  near  the  pool  of  Siloah  N'cli.  iii.  15  :  probably 
 identical  with  the  garden  of  Una,  which  was  used  as  a 
 burial-place  for  M  nd  Anion    J  Kings  \xi.  IS 
 
 — 26  ;  and  led  to  tho  Arabah,  the  plain  always  known 
 by  this  distinct;ye  name i  of  the  valley  of  the  .Jordan 
 (Dent.  i.   1;    iii.    17;    IT.    It);     Josh.  iii.    1,   and   else- 
 
 vt  here),  The  "  two  walls  "  appear  as  part  of  ths  defence 
 
 of  the  city  in  Isa.  xxii.  11.  ami  connected  Zion  with  the 
 
 fortress  known  as  Pphel    9  Clin.n.  wvii    Si   xwiii.  14). 
 
 (5)  In  the  plains  of  Jericho.— Here  again  we 
 have  {he  distinctive  w..nl.  tic  j  I   the  Jordan, 
 
 the  enlargement  of  the  Jordan  valley,  three  miles  wide. 
 
 near  Jericho.  The  intention  of  the  king  was  apparently 
 to  make  his  way  to  the  ford  near  Jericb  eriver, 
 
 and  escape  to  the  open  country  of  Gilead. 
 
The  Fate  of  Zedekiah. 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   XXXIX. 
 
 The  Captivity  to  Babylon. 
 
 him,  they  brought  him  up  to  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar king  of  Babylon  to  Riblah  in  the 
 land  of  Hamath,  where  he  xgave  judg- 
 ment upon  him.  (6>  Then  the  king  of 
 Babylon  slew  the  sons  of  Zedekiah  in 
 Kiblah  before  his  eyes  :  also  the  king  of 
 Babylon  slew  all  the  nobles  of  Judah. 
 (7)  Moreover  he  put  out  Zedekiah's  eyes, 
 and  bound  him  3with  chains,  to  carry 
 him  to  Babylon.  (8>  And  the  Chaldeans 
 burned  the  king's  house,  and  the  houses 
 of  the  people,  with  fire,  and  brake  down 
 the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 ^  Then  Nebuzar-adan  the  34  captain 
 of  the  guard  carried  away  captive  into 
 Babylon  the  remnant  of  the  people  that 
 
 1  Hi1)).,  spake  with 
 
 linn  judgments. 
 
 :'  Her*.,    teith    two 
 bragen      cliain. 
 or,  fetters* 
 
 3  Or.    chief    mar- 
 sluit. 
 
 i  Hcb.,  chief  of  the 
 executioners,  or, 
 slaughtermen: 
 
 and    so  ver.  10, 
 11,  &c. 
 
 5  Heb.,  in  that  day. 
 
 Heb.,bythehand 
 of. 
 
 7  Heb  ,   set    thine 
 eyes  upon  him. 
 
 remained  in  the  city,  and  those  that 
 fell  away,  that  fell  to  him,  with  the 
 rest  of  the  people  that  remained.  <10)But 
 Nebuzar-adan  the  captain  of  the  guard 
 left  of  the  poor  of  the  people,  which  had 
 nothing,  in  the  land  of  Judah,  and  gave 
 them  vineyards  and  fields  5at  the  same 
 time. 
 
 <U)  Now  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of 
 Babylon  gave  charge  concerning  Jere- 
 miah 6to  Nebuzar-adan  the  captain  of 
 the  guard,  saying,  <12)  Take  him,  and 
 7  look  well  to  him,  and  do  him  no  harm ; 
 but  do  unto  him  even  as  he  shall  say 
 unto  thee.  <13'  So  Nebuzar-adan  the 
 captain  of  the  guard  sent,  and  Nebu- 
 
 Riblah  in  the  land  of  Hamath.— The  city  of 
 Hamath  stood  on  the  Orontes,  about  half-way  from 
 its  source,  near  Baalbek,  to  the  bend  which  it  makes 
 at  Jisr-hadid,  and  commanded  the  whole  valley  of  the 
 river  to  the  defile  of  Daphne,  below  Antioch.  It  was 
 a  well-known  city  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus  (Num.  xiii. 
 .21 ;  xxxiv.  8),  and  in  that  of  David  was  the  capital  of 
 a  kingdom,  which  became  tributary  to  him  and  Solomon 
 (2  Sam.  viii.  10 ;  1  Kings  iv.  21—24).  Riblah  (still 
 retaining  its  name,  Bibleh),  also  on  the  Orontes,  and 
 near  its  source,  was  a  centre  from  which  the  great  lines 
 of  traffic  led  by  the  Euphrates  to  Nineveh,  by  Palmyra 
 to  Babylon,  by  Lebanon  and  the  coast  to  Palestine  and 
 Egypt,  and  through  the  Jordan  valley  to  the  Holy 
 Land.  It  was,  therefore,  a  natural  post  of  observation 
 for  the  Chaldfean  king  while  his  generals  were  carrying 
 on  the  sieges  of  Tyre  and  Jerusalem.  So  when  Pharaoh- 
 necho  was  for  a  time,  before  the  battle  of  Carchemish, 
 master  of  the  Assyrian  territory,  it  was  to  Riblah  that 
 he  summoned  Jehoahaz,  aud  there  imprisoned  him 
 (2  Kings  xxiii.  33).  In  this  instance  Zedekiah  was 
 brought  before  Nebuchadnezzar  as  a  vassal  prince  who. 
 having  received  his  authority  from  the  Chaldsean  king  (2 
 Kings  xxiv.  17),  had  rebelled,  and  met  with  scant  mercy. 
 
 (6)  The  sons  of  Zedekiah.— The  history  of 
 Eastern  monarchies  presents  us  with  many  examples 
 of  this  refinement  of  cruelty,  notably  in  the  case  of 
 (Eobazus  under  Darius  (Herod,  iv.  84),  and  Pythius 
 under  Xerxes  (Herod,  vii.  39).  The  slaughter  of  the 
 "  nobles  "  probably  included  most  of  those  whom  we 
 have  seen  in  chap,  xxxvi.  12,  and  elsewhere. 
 
 P)  Moreover  he  put  out  Zedekiah's  eyes.— 
 The  special  form  of  punishment  is  noticeable  as  fulfilling 
 the  two  prophecies— (1)  that  Zedekiah  should  see  the 
 king  of  Babylon  and  be  taken  to  that  city  (chap,  xxxii. 
 4) ;  and  (2)  that  though  he  was  to  die  in  Babylon,  ho 
 should  never  see  it  (Ezek.  xii.  13).  Beyond  this,  the 
 fate  of  the  last  king  of  Judah  is  buried  in  darkness. 
 His  brother  Jehoiachin  was  already  a  prisoner  in 
 Babylon  (2  Kings  xxiv.  15),  but  we  do  not  know 
 whether  the  two  were  allowed  to  meet.  Twenty-six 
 years  later  Jehoiachin  was  released  by  Evil-merodach 
 (2  Kings  xxv.  27) ;  but  there  is  no  mention  of  Zede- 
 kiah, and  it  is  a  natural  inference  that  his  sufferings 
 had  ended  previously. 
 
 Bound  him  with  chains.— Literally,  as  in  the 
 margin,  with  two  brazen  chains. 
 
 <8)  And  the  Chaldeans  burned  the  king's 
 house. — In  the  fuller  account  of  chap.  lii.  12,  we  find 
 
 that  this  was  the  work  of  Nebuzar-adan,  who  had  been 
 sent  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  on  hearing  of  the  capture  of 
 the  city,  and  that  it  included  the  destruction  of  the 
 Temple  as  well  as  the  palace. 
 
 (9)  Then  Nebuzar-adan  the  captain  of  the 
 guard. — Here  again  the  title  in  the  Hebrew — Bab-tab- 
 bachim — takes  a  form  like  that  of  Rab-saris  and  Rab- 
 shakeh,  and  means  literally,  "  chief  of  the  slaughterers." 
 The  title  is  given  to  Potiphar  in  Gen.  xxxvii.  36,  and 
 probably  answered  to  our  "  commander  of  the  king's 
 body-guard."  The  name  has  been  interpreted  as  "  the 
 prince-lord,  or  the  worshipper,  of  Nebo,"  but  the 
 etymology  of  the  last  three  syllables  is  uncertain. 
 He  does  not  appear  as  taking  part  with  the  other 
 generals  in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  but  comes  on 
 the  capture  of  the  city,  arriving  a  month  afterwards 
 (chap.  lii.  12)  to  direct,  even  in  its  minute  details,  the' 
 work  of  destruction  (2  Kings  xxv.  9).  The  defenders 
 and  deserters  were  involved  in  the  same  doom  of  exile. 
 It  need  scarcely  be  said  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  con- 
 quests of  Tiglath-pileser  (2  Kings  xv.  29),  Shalmaneser 
 (2  Kings  xvii.  6),  Esar-haddou  (2  Kings  xvii.  24),  and 
 Sennacherib  (2  Kings  xviii.  32),  this  wholesale  deporta- 
 tion was  part  of  the  systematic  policy  of  the  great 
 Assyrian  and  Babylonian  monarchs.  So  Darius  carried 
 off  the  Pseonians  from  Thrace  (Herod,  v.  14).  To  dis- 
 tribute the  lands  of  the  exiles  thus  dispossessed 
 among  "  the  poor  of  the  people,"  was,  it  was  thought, 
 likely  to  enlist  their  interests  on  the  side  of  the  con- 
 queror ;  and.  by  keepiug  up  the  cultivation  of  the  soil, 
 secured  the  payment  of  tribute. 
 
 (ii)  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of  Babylon.  .  .  . — 
 It  is  clear  that  Nebuchadrezzar  had  been  well  informed 
 of  the  part  which  Jeremiah  had  taken  from  first  to  last 
 in  counselling  submission.  This  he  may  have  heard 
 from  the  deserters  named  in  verse  9,  or  even  from  the 
 lips  of  Zedekiah.  Possibly  the  journey  to  Euphrates, 
 of  which  we  read  in  chap.  xiii.  5,  may,  at  even  an  earlier 
 period,  have  brought  the  kiug  and  the  prophet  into* 
 contact.  Prom  the  time  of  Nebuzar-adan' s  arrival,  the 
 position  of  Jeremiah  was  obviously  changed  for  the 
 better,  and  he  became  an  honoured  and  trusted  coun- 
 sellor. It  appears  from  chap.  xl.  1  that  the  prophet 
 had  at  first  been  taken  in  chains  to  Ramah,  with  the 
 other  captives.  Probably  he  had  been  sent  back  to 
 Jerusalem  when  the  others  were  carried  off  to  Riblah, 
 or  Babylon  (verses  6 — 9). 
 
 (13)  Nebushasban.— The  name,  wlrich  occurs  in 
 the  Annals  of  Assur-banipal  (Records  of  the  Past,  i. 
 
 131 
 
The  Zord'a  Promise  to  Ebed-melech.        J  JjKK.M  I A  1 1,    XL.       Neb  ieKmdnem  to  Jeremiah. 
 
 shashan,  l'ali-saris,andNergal-.sharey..  r, 
 
 Bab-mag,  and  all  ( h< ■  king  of  Babylon's 
 princes  j  t"*  even  they  Bent,  and  book 
 Jeremiah  on1  of  the  court  of  the  prison, 
 Bjid  committed  him  unto  Gedaliah  tin- 
 son  of  Aliikam  thr  si  in  of  Shaphan,  that 
 
 lie  should  carry  him  borne:  bo  be  dwelt 
 among  the  people. 
 
 '  Now  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 unto  Jeremiah,  while  be  was  shut  up  in 
 the  court  of  bhe  prison,  saying,  <16>  Go 
 and  Bpeak  to  Kbed-inclcch  the  Ethio- 
 pian, Baying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
 hosts,  the  (lod  of  Israel;  Behold,  I  will 
 bring  my  words  upon  this  city  for  evil, 
 and  not  for  good;  and  they  shall  be 
 accomplished  in  that  day  before  thee. 
 ('")  But  [  will  deliver  thee  in  that  day, 
 saith  the  Loud:  and  thou  shalt  not  be 
 given  into  the  hand  of  the  meD  of 
 ■whom  thou  art  afraid.  <18)  For  I  ■will 
 surely  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  not 
 fall  by  the  sword,  but  thy  life  shall  be 
 for  a  prey  unto  thee  :  because  thou  hast 
 put  thy  trust  in  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 1  Or,  maniclca. 
 
 1  Heb.,  /  trill  irt 
 
 th<<-. 
 
 CHAPTER  XL.—'"  The  word  that 
 Came  to  Jeremiah   from    the    I,oi:i>,  after 
 
 that   Nebozar-adan  the  captain  of  the 
 
 guard    had    let    him    go    from    Rainah, 
 when  he  had  taken   him  being  hound  in 
 
 'chains  among  all   that   were   carried 
 
 away   captive  of  Jerusalem   and   .Judah, 
 
 which  were  carried  away  captive  unto 
 
 Babylon. 
 
 '-'  And  the  captain  of  the  guard  took 
 Jeremiah,  and  said  unto  him,  The  Lord 
 thy  God  hath  pronounced  this  evil  upon 
 this  place.  (3>  Now  the  Lord  hath 
 brought  it,  and  done  according  as  he 
 hath  said:  because  ye  have  sinned 
 against  the  Loud,  and  have  not  obej'ed 
 his  voice,  therefore  this  thing  is  come 
 upon  you.  (l'  And  now,  behold,  I  loose 
 thee  this  day  from  the  chains  which 
 were  upon  thine  hand.  If  it  seem  good 
 unto  thee  to  come  with  me  into  Babjdon, 
 come  ;  and  -I  will  look  well  unto  thee  : 
 but  if  it  seem  ill  unto  thee  to  come  wit  h 
 me  into  Babylon,  forbear:  behold,  all 
 the  land   is    before   thee :    whither   it 
 
 tit),  is  possibly  another  form  of  tlio  Nebo-sarsechim 
 iif  verse  3  Bab-saris  i  =  chief  eunuch,  or  chamberlain) 
 is,  as  befi  re,  his  title  Ashpenaz  appears  as  holding  the 
 Bame  position,  possibly,  as  Nebushasban's  predecessor, 
 in  Dan.  i.  3. 
 (in  Out  of  the  court  of  the  prison.— Then  is  a 
 
 slight  apparent  discrepancy  between  this  statement  and 
 that    in   chap,   xl.    1.  that    the   prophet    was   set   free  nt 
 
 Rainah.  It  seems  likely  that,  at  fest,  lie  was  sent  back 
 to  the  prison  where  he  hail  been  found,  till  he  could  be 
 plaee.l  ander  the  protection  of  Gedaliah, 
 
 Gedaliah  the  son  of  Ahikam  the  son  of 
 Shaphan. -The  reason  of  the  choice  lies  almost  on 
 the  surface.  Gedaliah  was  the  representative  of  a 
 house  which  for  three  generations  had  been  true  to  the 
 prophets  who  spoke  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.     Shaphan 
 
 hail  1 D  t  lie  king's  seribo  in  the  early  years  of  Josiah. 
 
 and  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  restoration  of  the 
 Temple  (2  Kings  xxii.  :i — 7).     He  was  the  first  to  read 
 
 the  newly-found  lost  copy  of  tho  Law.  which  we 
 identify  with  the  Hook  of  Deuteronomy  ('-!  Kings  xxii. 
 8 — 14),    and    his    son    Ahikam    acted    with    him.     The 
 
 latter  protected  Jeremiah  in  the  reign  of  JehoiaMm 
 
 (chap.  xxvi.  24).  His  brother  Gcmariab  gave  the 
 prophet  the  use  of  his  chamber  in  the  Temple  i  chap, 
 xxxvi.  I",  and  tried  to  turn  aside  the  king's  wrath 
 (chip,  \\xvi.  J.'i  .  And  now  the  son  of  Ahikam  appears 
 as  the  prophet's  friend  and  protector. 
 
 1     Go  and  speak  to  Ebod-melech.— Tt  lies  in 
 
 the   nature  of  the  case  that    the   prophet,  when  he  put 
 
 this    prediction,   given   during   the    progress  of    the 
 
 Siege,    mi    record,     knew    that    it    had    been    fulfilled. 
 
 We  hear  nothing  more  of  the  faithful  Ethiopian, 
 but  we  may  believe  that  he  was  spared  by  the  t'hal- 
 daeaus,  probably  at  the  prophet's  intercession.  It  is 
 not  without  significance  that  the  promise  is  given  in 
 the  same  terms  as  that  to  Baruch  iu  chap.  xlv.  5.  The 
 "men"    of    whom   he  was   afraid  were  obviously  the 
 
 princes  whom  he  had  irritated  by  his  interference  on 
 behalf  of  Jeremiah. 
 
 XL. 
 
 (t)  The  word  that  came  to  Jeremiah  from 
 the  Lord. — It  is  noticeable  that  this  introduction  is 
 not  followed  by  any  specific  utterance  of  prophecy 
 until  wo  i ie  to  chap.  xlii.  7.  It  is  a  natural  con- 
 clusion that  it  stands  as  a  kind  of  heading  to  the 
 section  of  the  collected  prophecies  subsequent  to  tho 
 capture  of  the  city. 
 
 Had  let  hini  go  from  Raman.— The  town  so 
 named  was  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  Jo>h.  xviii.  25  . 
 about  six  miles  from  Jerusalem,  and  retains  its  old 
 name  in  the  form  Kr-Iunn.  It  was  used  on  this 
 occasion  as  a  depot  for  the  prisoners  who  were  brought 
 to  it  from  Jerusalem,  to  await  the  orders  of  N'.-l  uzar- 
 adan  as  to  their  ultimate  disposal      The  captain  of   the 
 
 guard  and  the  prophet  had  apparently  not  met  before, 
 
 and  the  latter  had   1 n   brought   in   chains    literally, 
 
 monocles,  chains  fastened  to  the  wrists,  verse  1  ,  liko 
 the  other  captives. 
 
 (8—4)  The  Lord  thy  God  .  .  .—It  is  significant  that 
 the  Chahhean  general  speaks  a^  if  recognising  Jehovah 
 as  the  God  of  Israel,  and  the  prophet'-  im—jim  from 
 
 Him.     Such    a    r fruition    did    not.    however,   imply 
 
 more  than  the  belief  of  the  polytheist,  that  each  nation 
 
 had   its  own  guardian  deity.    We  find  language  of 
 
 a  like  kind,  though  spoken  with  a  tone  of  sarcasm, 
 coming    even    from    the    lips  of    Kab-shakeli     J    Kinirs 
 
 xviii.  25).  As  a  prophet,  however.  Jeremiah  is  treated 
 with  marked  respect — in  part,  perhaps,  due  to  the  policy 
 he  had  advocated;  in  part,  possibly,  to  the  influence  of 
 
 men  like  Daniel  and  his  friends  at  Babylon — and  offered 
 the  option  of  going,  with  the  promise  of  honourable  treat- 
 ment, to  that  city,  from  which,  however,  it  is  assumed, 
 that  he  would  not  return,  or  remaining  in  Juda-a.  t. 
 where   he  will.      The   prophet   obviously  chooses   tlie 
 
 135 
 
Jeremiah  under  Protection. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XL. 
 
 Gedaliah's  Promise. 
 
 seemeth  good  and  convenient  for  thee 
 to  go,  thither  go.  <5)  Now  while  he  was 
 not  yet  gone  back,  he  said,  Go  back  also 
 to  Gedaliah  the  son  of  Ahikam  the  son 
 of  Shaphan,  whom  the  king  of  Babylon 
 hath  made  governor  over  the  cities  of 
 Judah,  and  dwell  with  him  among  the 
 peojrie :  or  go  wheresoever  it  seemeth 
 convenient  unto  thee  to  go.  So  the 
 captain  of  the  guard  gave  him  victuals 
 and  a  reward,  and  let  him  go.  (6)  Then 
 went  Jeremiah  unto  Gedaliah  the  son 
 of  Ahikam  to  Mizpah ;  and  dwelt  with 
 him  among  the  people  that  were  left  in 
 the  land. 
 
 (7)  Now  when  all  the  captains  of  the 
 forces  which  were  in  the  fields,  even 
 they  and  their  men,  heard  that  the 
 king  of  Babylon  had  made  Gedaliah  the 
 son  of  Ahikam  governor  in  the  land, 
 
 1  Hefo.,  tostandbe- 
 fore:  and  so  ver. 
 
 and  had  committed  unto  him  men,  and 
 women,  and  children,  and  of  the  poor  of 
 the  land,  of  them  that  were  not  carried 
 away  captive  to  Babylon ;  (8)  then  they 
 came  to  Gedaliah  to  Mizpah,  even 
 Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah,  and 
 Johanan  and  Jonathan  the  sons  of 
 Kareah,  and  Seraiah  the  son  of  Tan- 
 humeth,  and  the  sons  of  Ephai  the 
 Netophathite,  and  Jezaniah  the  son  of 
 a  Maachathite,  they  and  their  men. 
 (9>And  Gedaliah  the  son  of  Ahikam 
 the  son  of  Shaphan  sware  unto  them 
 and  to  their  men,  saying,  Fear  not 
 1  to  serve  the  Chaldeans  :  dwell  in  the 
 land,  and  serve  the  king  of  Babylon, 
 and  it  shall  be  well  with  you.  (10>  As 
 for  me,  behold,  T  will  dwell  at  Mizpah, 
 to  serve  the  Chaldeans,  which  will  come 
 unto  us :    but  ye,  gather  ye   wine,  and 
 
 second  alternative,  but  before  he  acts  on  it  another 
 plan  occurs  to  Nebuzar-adan. 
 
 (5)  Go  back  also  to  Gedaliah  the  son  of 
 Ahikam. — The  captain  of  the  guard  seems  to  have 
 felt,  on  second  thoughts,  possibly  after  hearing  the 
 prophet's  unrecorded  answer,  that  he  had  not  taken 
 sufficient  precaution  for  Jeremiah's  safety,  and  there- 
 fore consigns  him  once  more  to  the  care  of  his  friend 
 and  protector.  On  parting  with  him  he  treats  him 
 as  an  honoured  guest,  sends  him  a  portion  of  food 
 from  his  own  table  (comp.  chap.  lii.  34) —  a  wel- 
 come gift,  doubtless,  after  the  privations  of  the  siege 
 — and  an  honorarium  in  money  as  a  compensation 
 for  the  sufferings  he  had  undergone  as  a  preacher  of 
 submission  to  the  conqueror. 
 
 Governor  over  the  cities  of  Judah.— The 
 official  title  is  significant.  Jerusalem  is  treated  as  if  it 
 had  been  blotted  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  re- 
 quired no  superintendence.  Gedaliah,  the  prophet's 
 friend,  had  obviously  acted  on  his  counsels,  and  accepted 
 the  sovereignty  of  Nebuchadnezzar  as  being  for  the 
 time  the  ordinance  of  God.  A  true  patriot  might  well 
 hold  it  to  be  his  duty  at  such  a  time  to  accept  office 
 under  the  conqueror,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  do 
 something  for  the  remnant  of  the  nation  that  was  left 
 under  his  charge. 
 
 (6)  To  Mizpah. — The  name,  which  signifies  "  watch- 
 tower  "  (Gen.  xxxi.  49),  was  natui-ally  not  uncommon. 
 Of  the  six  or  seven  cities  that  were  so  called,  that 
 which  comes  before  us  here  was  Mizpah  of  Benjamin 
 (Josh,  xviii.  25,  26),  prominent  in  the  history  of  Samuel 
 and  Saul  (1  Sam.  vii.  5—13,  x.  17—25),  not  far  from 
 Gibeah  of  Saul  (Isa.  x.  29;  Judg.  xix.  13).  It  has  been 
 identified  by  Dr.  Robinson  (Bibl.  Res.  i.  460)  with 
 Neby-Samwil,  about  6ix  miles  north  of  Jerusalem. 
 Dean  Stanley,  Mr.  Grove,  and  Dr.  Bonar,  however, 
 find  it  in  the  ridge  which  forms  a  continuation  of  the 
 Mount  of  Olives  on  the  north,  and  which  Joseplms 
 (Wars,  v.  2),  apparently  giving  the  Greek  equivalent  of 
 the  old  Hebrew  name,  calls  Skopos,  or  "  the  watch- 
 tower."  Mizpah,  it  may  be  noted,  is  twice  translated 
 Sleopia  in  the  LXX.  version  (Hos.  v.  1  ;  1  Sam. 
 xxii.  3).  It  will  be  seen  that  the  latter  identification 
 fits  in  better  with  the  narrative  than  the  former. 
 
 (?)  Now  when  all  the  captains  of  the  forces. 
 — A  new  section  of  the  history  begins,  ending  with  the 
 murder  of  Gedaliah  and  its  sequel,  in  chap.  xli.  18. 
 The  commanders  of  the  armies  that  had  fought  against 
 the  invader  in  the  open  country  found  it  hopeless  to 
 continue  the  struggle  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem. 
 What  were  they  to  do  ?  The  king  of  Babylon  had,  by 
 appointing  Gedaliah,  himself  a  prince  of  Judah,  shown 
 a  disposition  to  treat  the  conquered  people  leniently. 
 Could  they  do  better  than  aj>ply  to  him  for  pro- 
 tection ? 
 
 (8)  Then  they  came  to  Gedaliah.  — Of  the 
 captains  thus  named,  Ishmael,  "  of  the  seed  royal " 
 (we  have  no  date  for  determining  his  precise  position 
 in  the  line  of  successors)  (chap.  xli.  1),  is  prominent  in 
 the  history  of  the  next  chapter,  Johanan  (the  Hebrew 
 form  of  Joannes  or  John)  in  that  of  chap,  xlii., 
 Seraiah  and  Jaazaniah  are  named  in  the  parallel 
 passage  of  2  Kings  xxv.  23,  but  nothing  more  is 
 known  of  them.  Netophah,  to  which  the  sons  of 
 Ephai  belonged,  was  a  town  of  Benjamin  not  far 
 from  Bethlehem  (1  Chron.  ii.  54,  ix.  16 ;  Ezr.  ii.  22 ; 
 Neh.  vii.  26).  The  Maachathite,  whose  father  is  not 
 named,  was  probably  a  naturalised  alien  from  the 
 small  kingdom  of  Maachah,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
 Jordan,  near  Argob  (Deut.  iii.  14;  2  Sam.  x.  6,  8) 
 and  Bashan  (Josh.  xii.  5),  not  far  from  the  modern 
 Lejah. 
 
 (9)  Pear  not  to  serve  the  Chaldeans  .  .  .— 
 Gedaliah,  acting  as  Satrap  of  the  province,  assures 
 them  that,  though  they  had  fought  against  the  con- 
 querors, there  would  lie  a  full  amnesty,  and  that  they 
 might  therefore  banish  all  fears  of  being  maltreated. 
 He  will  remain  at  his  post,  and  they  may  return  to 
 their  own  homes. 
 
 (10)  Gather  ye  wine,  and  summer  fruits. — 
 The  words  show  that  the  application  took  place  in  the 
 autumn.  The  captains  and  their  followers  were  invited 
 to  help  themselves  freely  from  the  fields  and  vineyards 
 and  olive-yards,  the  owners  of  which  had  been  carried 
 off  to  Babylon,  so  as  to  relieve  their  immediate  wants 
 and  provide  for  the  coming  winter.  The  "  summer 
 fruits"  would  probably  include  figs,  apples,  and  the 
 like. 
 
 136 
 
Return  qftht  Fugitive*  to  Judah, 
 
 .ii:i;i;.mi.\ii,  xli. 
 
 Otdaliah  Ifurdertdby  Ithmati, 
 
 glimmer  fruits,  and  oil,  and  put  them 
 in  % i mi-  vessels,  and  dwell  in  yum-  cities 
 that  ye  have  taken. 
 
 <n)  Likewise  when  all  the  Jews  that 
 were  in  Ifoab,  and  among  the  Ammon- 
 ites, and  in  Edom,  and  thai  wert  in  all 
 the  countries,  heard  that  the  king  of 
 Babylon  had  left  a  remnant  of  Judah, 
 and  that  he  had  set  over  them.  Ge- 
 daliah  the  son  of  Ahikam  the  son  of 
 Shaphan;  W  even  all  the  Jews  re- 
 turned out  of  all  places  whither  they 
 were  driven,  ami  came  to  the  land  of 
 Judah,  to  Gedaliah,  unto  Mizjiah,  and 
 gathered  wine  and  summer  fruits  very 
 much. 
 
 (raj  Moreover  Johanan  the  son  of 
 Kareah,  and  all  the  captains  of  the 
 forces  that  were  in  the  fields,  came  to 
 Gedaliah  to  Mizpah,  (ll)  and  said  unto 
 him,  Dost  thou  certainly  know  that 
 Baalis  the  king  of  the  Ammonites  hath 
 sent  Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah  Lto 
 slay  thee?  But  Gedaliah  the  son  of 
 Ahikam  believed  thein  not.  (15)  Then 
 Johanan  the  son  of  Kareah  spake  to 
 Gedaliah  in  Mizpah  secretly,  Baying, 
 Let  me  go,  I  pray  thee,  and  I  will  slay 
 Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah,  and  no 
 man  shall  know  it:    wherefore  should 
 
 1  Fleh.,    to    ntrikr 
 
 he  slay  thee,  thai  all  tin-  Jews  which 
 
 are  gathered  nut.,  tie-.-  should  he  s<-at- 
 
 tered,  and  the  remnant  in .)  odah  perish  9 
 
 Bui    Gedaliah   the   son   of  Ahikam 
 
 said  unto  Johanan  the  son  of  k'areah, 
 Thou  slialt  not    do  this   thing:   for  ihoii 
 
 speakest  falsely  of  Ishmael. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLI.— W  Now  it   came 
 
 to     pass    in    the    seventh     month,    that 
 
 Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah  the  son 
 
 of  Elishama,  of  the  seed  royal,  and  the 
 princes  of  the  king,  even  ten  men  with 
 him,  came  unto  Gedaliah  the  son  of 
 Ahikam  to  Mizpah  ;  and  there  they  did 
 eat  bread  together  in  Mizpah.  '->  Then 
 arose  Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah, 
 and  the  ten  men  that  were  with  him, 
 and  smote  Gedaliah  the  son  of  Ahikam 
 the  son  of  Shaphan  with  the  sword,  and 
 slew  him,  whom  the  king  of  Babydon 
 had  made  governor  over  the  land. 
 <3>  Ishmael  also  slew  all  the  Jews  that 
 were  with  him,  even  with  Gedaliah,  at 
 Mizpah,  and  the  Chaldeans  that  were 
 found  there,  and  the  men  of  war. 
 
 W  And  it  came  to  pass  the  second 
 day  after  he  had  slain  Gedaliah,  and  no 
 man  knew  it,  <5>  that  there  came  certain 
 from  Shechem,  from  Shiloh,  and  from 
 
 (",  1-*)  When  all  the  Jews  that  were  in  Moab 
 .  .  . — It  lay  in  tlio  nature  of  tilings  that  many  of 
 tho  dwellers  in  Judas  Hod  before  the  mareh  of  the 
 Clialduan  armies,  and  took  refuge  in  the  neighbouring 
 regions.  In  Ruth  i.  2,  1  Sam.  xxii.  3,  Isa.  xvi.  4,  we 
 find  analogous  instances  of  fugitives  from  Judah 
 finding  shelter  in  tho  Moabito  country.  These,  on 
 hearing  of  tho  generous  policy  adopted  by  Gedaliah. 
 took  courage  and  returned  in  time  to  profit  by  his 
 permission  to  gather  tho  produce  which  otherwise 
 would  have  I n  left  to  perish  on  tho  soil." 
 
 (M)  Dost  thou  certainly  know  that  Baalis  .  .  . 
 — The  king  of  the  Ammonites  so  named  appears  from 
 chap,  xxvii.  3  to  have  been  in  alliance  with  Zedekiah ; 
 and  Ishmael,  as  belonging  to  the  royal  house  of  Judah. 
 seems  to  have  been  si  ill  plotting  with  him  against  tho 
 authority  of  tho  Chahheans.  Open  resistance  being 
 now  impossible,  they  have  recourse  to  assassination. 
 Tho  plot  becomes  known,  and  Johanan.  faithful  to  his 
 now  protector,  warns  him  against  it,  but,  as  the  sequel 
 Shows,  in  vain.  Gedaliah,  in  the  guileless  trustfulness 
 of  his  character,  does  not  believe  that  Ishmael  is 
 capable  of  such  a  crime,  and  will  not  sanction  another 
 crime  by  way  of  precaution. 
 
 XLI. 
 (!)  It  came  to  pass  in  the  seventh  month.— 
 
 It  lies  in  tin'  nature  of  the  case  that  the  visit  purported 
 to  bo  ono  of  courtesy  and  recognition.  The  remaining 
 representatives   of  the  house  of  David    chap.  xl.  8) 
 
 would  show  that  they  were  ready  to  welcOBH  tho  now 
 Satrap.     As  the  seveuth  mouth  included  tho  Feast  of 
 
 137 
 
 Tabernacles,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  they  came  as  if  to 
 share  in  its  festivities.  Thin'  months  had  passed  since 
 the  capture  of  the  city  (chap,  xxxix.  2). 
 
 (-)  Then  arose  Ishmael.— The  narrative  suggests 
 the  thought  that,  as  in  the  massacre  of  Glencoe,  the 
 guests  murdered  their  host  at  the  very  time  when  ho 
 was  receiving  them  with  open  arms. 
 
 '  Ishmael  also  slew  all  the  Jews.  .  .  .—Wo 
 wonder  at  first  that  ton  men  were  able  to  effect  so 
 much.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  the  massacre 
 went  beyond  the  Jews  and  Chahhean  officers  who  « 
 sharing  Gedaliah's  hospitality,  and  they  may  easily  have 
 been  surprised,  like  Gedaliah,  unarmed,  and  in  the  act 
 of  feasting.  Possibly,  too,  the  ten  princes  may  each 
 have  brought  their  retinue  of  attendants.  Greek  his- 
 tory presents  two  analogous  UHlimu  1 1 that    of    tho 
 
 Persian  generals  by  Alexander,  tho  son  of  Amyntas 
 Herod,  v.  19,  SO] ;  and  that  of  Archiasand  Leontiades, 
 tie'  tyrants  of  Thebes,  by  Pclopidas  and  his  associates. 
 The  massacre  in  this  case  was  so  complete  that  none 
 escaped  to  tell  the  tale  verse  I  .  The  italics  in  tho 
 last  clause  of  the  verse  indicate  that  the  conjunction 
 ••  and  "  is  not  in  the  Hebrew,  and  that  the  words.  ••  the 
 men  of  war.*'  are  in  apposition  with  the  previous  clause, 
 and  limit  their  extent. 
 
 M  There  came  certain  from  Shechem,  from 
 Shiloh,  and  from  Samaria.— The  I. XX.  gives 
 Salem  instead  of  Shiloh.  and  this  agrees  better  with 
 the  order  of  the  names.  Salem  being  a  tower  or  fortress 
 near  Shechem  (ien.  xxxiii.  18.  while  Shiloh  lay  further 
 off.  The  eighty  travellers  were  coming  apparently  on 
 a  pilgrimage  of  mourning  to  the  ruins  of  the  Temple, 
 
Murder  of  Seventy  Pilyrims 
 
 JEREMIAH,  XLI. 
 
 by  Ishmael,  Son  of  Netlianiah. 
 
 Samaria,  even  fourscore  men,  having 
 their  beards  shaven,  and  their  clothes 
 rent,  and  having  cut  themselves,  with 
 offerings  and  incense  in  their  hand,  to 
 bring  them  to  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
 W  And  Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah 
 went  forth  from  Mizpah  to  meet  them, 
 1  weeping  all  along  as  he  went :  and  it 
 came  to  pass,  as  he  met  them,  he  said 
 unto  them,  Come  to  G-edaliah  the  son 
 of  Ahikam.  GO  And  it  was  so,  when 
 they  came  into  the  midst  of  the  city, 
 that  Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah  slew 
 them,  and  cast  them  into  the  midst  of 
 the  pit,  he,  and  the  men  that  were  with 
 him.  <8>  But  ten  men  were  found 
 among  them  that  said  unto  Ishmael, 
 Slay  us  not :  for  we  have  treasures  in 
 the  field,  of  wheat,  and  of  barley,  and 
 of  oil,  and  of  honey.  So  he  forbare,  and 
 slew  them  not  among  their  brethren. 
 (9)  Now  the  pit  wherein   Ishmael   had 
 
 1  Heb.,    in   going 
 and  weeping. 
 
 2  Or,   near  Geda- 
 liah. 
 
 3  He!).,  by  the 
 hand,  or,  by  the 
 side  vf  Gedaliah. 
 
 cast  all  the  dead  bodies  of  the  men, 
 whom  he  had  slain  2  3  because  of  Ge- 
 daliah, was  it  which  Asa  the  king  had 
 made  for  fear  of  Baasha  king  of  Israel : 
 and  Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah  filled 
 it  with  them  that  were  slain.  <10'  Then 
 Ishmael  carried  away  captive  all  the 
 residue  of  the  people  that  were  in 
 Mizpah,  even  the  king's  daughters,  and 
 all  the  people  that  remained  in  Mizpah, 
 whom  Nebuzar-adan  the  captain  of 
 the  guard  had  committed  to  Gedaliah 
 the  son  of  Ahikam :  and  Ishmael  the 
 son  of  Nethaniah  carried  them  away 
 captive,  and  departed  to  go  over  to- 
 the  Ammonites. 
 
 (u>  But  when  Johanan  the  son  of 
 Kareah,  and  all  the  captains  of  the 
 forces  that  were  with  him,  heard  of  all 
 the  evil  that  Ishmael  the  son  of  Ne- 
 thaniah had  done,  <12>  then  they  took  all 
 the  men,  and  went  to  fight  with  Ishmael 
 
 perhaps  to  keep  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  in  the  hope 
 of  finding  at  least  an  altar  there  on  which  they  might 
 present  their  oblations.  Mizpah  lay  directly  on  their 
 road  from  all  three  places.  It  is  significant  that  they 
 bring  with  them  not  burnt  offerings  but  the  minclia, 
 or  meat  offering,  the  cakes  of  flour  with  incense.  The 
 outward  signs  of  mourning  were,  perhaps,  connected 
 either  with  the  approaching  Day  of  Atonement,  which 
 fell  in  the  seventh  month;  or  with  some  special  fast 
 day  belonging  to  the  same  season  (Zech.  vii.  5) ;  or  in 
 token  of  their  sorrow  for  the  destruction  of  the  Temple. 
 In  the  signs  themselves  we  note  a  relapse  into  a  half- 
 heathen  custom  which  the  Law  had  forbidden  (Lev. 
 xix.  27  ;  Deut.  xiv.  1 ;  Jer.  xlviii.  37). 
 
 <6)  "Weeping  all  along  as  he  went.— The  trea- 
 cherous prince  met  them  as  sharing  in  their  grief.  He 
 does  not  tell  them  of  the  murder  ;  bat  assuming  that 
 they  have  heard  of  Gedaliah's  appointment  as  Satrap, 
 invites  them  to  come  and  see  him,  as  being  now  within 
 the  bounds  of  his  jurisdiction.  The  LSX.,  it  may  be 
 noted,  represents  the  pilgrims,  and  not  Ishmael,  as 
 weeping. 
 
 (?)  Ishmael  the  son  of  Nethaniah  slew  them. 
 — The  purpose  of  the  new  murder  does  not  appear  at 
 first  sight.  The  very  presence  of  the  devout  mourners 
 may  have  roused  him  to  bitterness.  Their  recognition 
 of  Gedaliah  may  have  seemed  the  act  of  traitors  to 
 their  country.  Possibly  also  the  act  may  have  been 
 one  of  vindictive  retaliation  for  the  murder  of  his  kins- 
 men (chap.  lii.  10),  or  have  been  perpetrated  for  the 
 sake  of  plunder. 
 
 (8)  But  ten  men  were  found  among  them. — 
 The  stores  which  formed  the  purchase-money  by  which 
 the  ten  saved  their  lives  represented  probably  the  pro- 
 duce of  the  previous  year,  which,  after  the  manner  of 
 the  East,  had  been  concealed  in  pits,  far  from  the  habi- 
 tations of  men,  while  the  land  was  occupied  by  the 
 Chaldeean  armies. 
 
 (9)  Because  of  Gedaliah.— Literally,  by  the  hand 
 of  Gedaliah  ;  i.e.,  by  using  his  name  to  entrap  the  un- 
 suspecting pilgrims. 
 
 138 
 
 Which  Asa  the  king  had  made  for  fear  of 
 Baasha  .  .  .—See  1  Kings  xv.  22 ;  2  Chron.  xvi.  6. 
 Baasha  had  tried  to  fortify  Ramah  as  an  outpost  of 
 his  kingdom.  Asa  called  in  the  help  of  Benhadad,  king 
 of  Syria,  and  compelled  him  to  desist,  and  then  carried 
 off  the  stones  and  timber  to  strengthen  Mizpah  as  a 
 position  of  defence.  The  "  pit "  was  probably'a  trench 
 with  a  drawbridge  over  it,  so  constructed  as  to  stop 
 all  approach  from  the  neighbouring  kingdom;  or 
 else  one  of  the  tanks  or  reservoirs  constructed  to 
 supply  the  fortress  with  water.  A  various  reading 
 gives  "  the  pit  of  Gedaliah,"  instead  of  "  because  of 
 Gedaliah." 
 
 (io)  Even  the  king's  daughters.— We  find  in 
 chap,  xxxix.  6  that  the  sons  of  Zedekiah  were  slain  at 
 Riblah.  The  daughters  (the  word  was  probably  used 
 generally  for  all  the  princesses  of  the  royal  house)  were 
 spared,  and  consigned  to  the  protection  of  Gedaliah. 
 In  taking  possession  of  them,  Ishmael  was  asserting, 
 after  the  fashion  of  the  East,  his  claim  as  the  represen- 
 tative of  the  royal  house.  The  Ammonites  had  been  in 
 alliance  with  Zedekiah  (chap,  xxvii.  3),  and  Ishmael 
 reckoned  on  finding  a  safe  retuge  with  them.  It  would 
 seem,  indeed,  from  chap.  xl.  14,  that  he  had  been  sent, 
 or  was  believed  to  have  been  sent,  by  the  king  of  the 
 Ammonites  for  the  very  purpose  of  the  murder  of 
 Gedaliah. 
 
 (12)  By  the  great  waters  that  are  in  Gibeon. 
 — Johanan  and  his  friends  had  been  unable  to  pre- 
 vent the  slaughter  of  which  they  had  warned  Gedaliah 
 (chap.  xli.  15),  but  they  were  not  too  late  to  avenge  it. 
 Gibeon,  retaining  its  name  with  little  alteration  in  the 
 modem  El-jibe,  lay  about  two  miles  from  Mizpah ;  so> 
 that  Ishmael  must  have  halted  on  thinking  himself  safe 
 against  attack.  On  the  east  side  of  the  hill  on  which 
 it  stands  there  are  the  remains  of  a  large  tank,  about 
 120  feet  by  100.  It  appears  as  the  "  pool  of  Gibeon  " 
 in  2  Sam.  ii.  13,  as  the  scene  of  a  conflict  between  Joab 
 and  Abner.  Josephus  (Ant.  x.  9 — 15)  places  the  attack 
 on  Ishmael  at  "  the  pool  in  Hebron,"  which  is  men- 
 tioned in  2  Sam.  iv.  12.     This,  however,  would  hardly 
 
fohana     />  >'■  ait  IthmaeL 
 
 •I  I'] li  li.M  I A  1 1 ,    X  I j 1 1 .  Apply  to  Jeremiah, 
 
 the  son  of  Net  ban iah,  and  found  him  by 
 the  great  waters  thai  ara  in  Gribeon. 
 (is)  Now  it  came  to  pass,  thai  when  all 
 the  people  whicli  nurr  with  Ishmael 
 saw  Johanan  the  bod  of  Eareah,  and  all 
 1  In-  captains  of  the  forces  thai  were 
 with  him,  then  fchej  were  glad.    ""  Bo 
 
 ;ill  the  people  that  Isliniael  liail  earned 
 away  captive  from  Mi/pah  east  about 
 and  returned,  and  went  onto  Johanan 
 the  sou  of  Kaivah.  :l  '  liul  fshmael  the 
 son  of  Nethaniah  escaped  from  Jo- 
 hanan with  eight  men,  and  went  to  the 
 Ammonites.  l"i>  Then  took  Johanan  the 
 son  of  Kareah,  and  all  the  captains  of 
 the  forces  that  were  with  him,  all  the 
 remnant  of  the  people  whom  he  had 
 recovered  from  Ishmael  the  son  of  Ne- 
 thaniah, from  Mizpah,  after  thai  he  had 
 slain  Qedaliah  the  son  of  Ahikam,  even 
 mighty  men  of  war,  and  the  women, 
 and  the  children,  and  t  he  eunuchs,  whom 
 
 he  had   brought  again    from    Gibeon  : 
 
 |l7)  and  they  departed,  and  dwelt  in  the 
 habitation  of  Chimham,  which  is  by 
 Bethlehem,  to  go  to  enter  into  Egypt, 
 (is)  because  of  the  Chaldeans :  for  they 
 were  afraid  of  them,  because  Ishmael 
 
 1  Or.  I.rt  our  »i*p- 
 i  Jail  be- 
 
 thesonof  N<-thaniah  had  .-lain  ll.-diliah 
 the   son    of  Ahikam,    whom    the   Id] 
 
 Babylon  made  governor  in  th>-  land. 
 
 CHAFTEB  XLIL— «  Then  all  the 
 captains  of  the  forces,  and  Johanan  tin- 
 son  of  Kareah,  and  Jezaniah   the  son  of 
 
 Eoahaiah,  and  all  the  j pie  from  the 
 
 leasi  even  onto  I  he  greatest,  came  near, 
 M  and  said  onto  Jeremiah  the  prophet, 
 
 'Let,  we  beseech  tl ,  our  supplication 
 
 be  accepted  b.-fbre  thee,  and  praj  for 
 us  unto  the  Loan  thy  God,  even  for  all 
 this  remnant;  (for  we  are  left  but  a 
 few  of  many,  as  thine  eyes  do  behold 
 us:)  (:;>  that  the  Lord  thy  God  may 
 shew  us  the  way  wherein  we  may  walk, 
 and  the  thing  that  we  may  do. 
 
 W  Then  Jeremiah  the  prophet  said 
 unto  them,  I  have  heard  you  ,•  behold,  I 
 will  pray  unto  the  Lord  your 
 according  to  your  words;  and  it  shall 
 come  to  pass,  ilmf  whatsoever  thing  the 
 Lord  shall  answer  you,  I  will  declare  it 
 unto  you;  I  will  keep  nothing  back 
 from  you.  (5)  Then  they  said  to  Jeren  dah, 
 The  Lord  be  a  true  and  faithful  witness 
 between  us,  if  we  do  not  even  according 
 
 have  been  in  Ishmael's  route  to  tho  country  of  tho 
 Ammonites. 
 
 (18)  Thoy  were  glad.— Tho  words  are  signifi- 
 cunt  as  implying  the  popularity  of  Qedaliah,  and  the 
 
 joy  of  those  who  had  I n  under  him  at  seeing  the 
 
 prospect  of  his  murder  being  avenged.  They  at  once 
 to,.k  refuge  with  the  leader  of  the  avenging  party. 
 
 (15)  With  oight  men.— Ho  had  come  with  ten 
 (verso  I),  and  it  is  a  natural  inference  that  two  had 
 perished  in  one  or  other  of  tho  conflicts  of  verses  -'.  12. 
 
 (W  Mighty  men  of  war  .  .  .—These  were  appa- 
 rently such  as  had  escaped  the  massacre  of  verse  2.  Lo 
 tho  women,  the  children,  and  theennnohs  wo  find  tho 
 
 survivors  of  the  king's  hatvm.     Ebed-melsch  may  well 
 
 have  been  ainuni;  the  latter. 
 
 (U)  They  departed,  and  dwelt  in  the  habita- 
 tion of  Chimham.— The  word  translated  '•habita- 
 tion "  i-  not  (onnd  elsewhere,  but  it  is  connected  with 
 one  which  means  " stranger,"  " foreigner ,"  and  means 
 probably  a  caravanserai,  or  hoapMum  for  travellers. 
 
 The  name  of  Chimham  throws  us  back  on  the  history 
 of  Barzillai  in  -  Sam.  xix.  87.  When  tho  Gileadito 
 chief  pleaded   his  age  as  a  ground  for  not  accepting 
 
 Davids   invitation   to   live   at    his   court,  the   offer  was 
 
 transferred  to  hi*  sou  Chimham.  On  the  king's  death- 
 bed he  was  specially  commended  to  the  care  of  Solo- 
 ninii  1  Kings  ii.  7).  It  seems  probable  that  some  part 
 of  David's  personal  patrimony,  as  distinct  from  his 
 royal  domains,  bad  been  bestowed  on  him.  and  that  ho 
 
 had  perpetuated  his  gratitude  by  erecting  a  resting- 
 place  for  travellers,  probably  enough  identical  with  tho 
 "inn"  of  the  Nativity  (Luke  ii.  7).  The  plan  of  the 
 fugitives  under  Johanan  took  them  to  Bethlehem,  as 
 lying  on  the  road  to  Egypt,  where  they  hoped  to  find  a 
 
 refuge  both  from  the  anarchy  in  which  the  laud  had 
 been   left   by  the   death    of    GedaHah,   and    from    tho 
 
 severe  punishment  which  the  Chaldaans  were  likely 
 to  inflict,  without  too  careful  an  inquiry  into  the 
 question  who  had  been  guilty  of  it,  for  the  murder  of 
 tho  ruler  whom  they  had  appointed.  The  mere 
 of  their  having  remained  with  Ishmael  might  be  con- 
 strued into  circumstantial  evidence  of  complicity. 
 There  they  halt,  and  take  counsel. 
 
 XLII. 
 (i)  Jezaniah  the  son   of  Hoshaiah.— Possibly 
 identical   with  ".Jezaniah  tho  son  of  a  Maachathite  " 
 p.  xl.  8).     In  Azariah  the  son   of  Hoshaiafa    chap, 
 xliii.  "J i  we  may  recognise  his  brother.    The  I, XX..  in- 
 deed,  reads   Azariah  here,  and  it   is  possibly  the  true 
 
 reading. 
 
 CD  Pray  for  us  unto  tho  Lord  thy  God.— The 
 
 prophet  had  gone  to  Qedaliah  at  Mizpah  chap.  xl.  6), 
 and  would  seem  to  have  been  among  the  Captives  whom 
 
 [shmael  was  carrying  off  when  they  wererescued  by 
 Johanan  at  Qibeon  chap.  xli.  IS,  L4).  The  people  now 
 turn  to  him.  acknowledging  him  as  a  true  prophet, and, 
 
 trusting  to  his  patriotism,  a^k  for  his  guidance,  'lheir 
 positioii  was  difficult  and  dangerous.  Would  he  not 
 pray  to  Jehovah  for  wisdom,  that  they  might    see  their 
 
 way — the  way  to  escape  from  the  threatening  peri] — 
 clearly P     He  complies  with  their  wishes,  and  they,  on 
 
 their  "side,  promise  to  follow  the  guidance  for  which 
 they  ask. 
 
 (5.  6)  The  Lord  bo  a  true  and  faithful  witness 
 .  .  .—The  emphatic   adjuration  implies  that   they  are 
 
 ready  to  a. pt    the  punishment  which  the  righteous 
 
 Judge  will  indict  in  the  event  of  their  proving  unfaithful 
 
 139 
 
Jeremiah' s  Address  to  the  Fugitives        JEREMIAH,    XLII. 
 
 against  their  Going  to  Egypt. 
 
 to  all  things  for  the  which  the  Lord 
 thy  God  shall  send  thee  to  us.  <6>  Whe- 
 ther it  be  good,  or  whether  it  be  evil,  we 
 will  obey  the  voice  of  the  Lord  our 
 God,  to  whom  we  send  thee;  that  it 
 may  be  well  with  us,  when  we  obey  the 
 voice  of  the  Lord  our  God. 
 
 <7)  And  it  came  to  pass  after  ten  days, 
 that  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
 Jeremiah.  <8>  Then  called  he  Johanan 
 the  son  of  Kareah,  and  all  the  captains 
 of  the  forces  which  were  with  him,  and 
 all  the  people  from  the  least  even  to 
 the  greatest,  <9)  and  said  unto  them, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 
 unto  whom  ye  sent  me  to  present  your 
 supplication  before  him ; 
 
 do)  jf  ye  -will  still  abide  in  this  land, 
 then  will  I  build  you,  and  not  pull  you 
 down,  and  I  will  plant  you,  and  not 
 pluck  you  up :  for  I  repent  me  of  the 
 evil  that  I  have  done  unto  you.  <n>  Be 
 not  afraid  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  of 
 whom  ye  are  afraid ;  be  not  afraid  of 
 him,  saith  the  Lord  :  for  I  am  with  you 
 to  save  you,  and  to  deliver  you  from  his 
 baud.  *12)  And  I  will  shew  mercies  unto 
 you,  that  he  may  have  mercy  upon  you, 
 
 1     Heb.,       shall 
 cleave  after  you. 
 
 2  Heb.,  So  shall  all 
 the  men  be. 
 
 and  cause  you  to  return  to  your  own 
 land. 
 
 <13>  But  if  ye  say,  We  will  not  dwell 
 in  this  land,  neither  obey  the  voice  of 
 the  Lord  your  God,  (U>  saying,  No  ;  but 
 we  will  go  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  where 
 we  shall  see  no  war,  nor  hear  the  sound 
 of  the  trumpet,  nor  have  hunger  of 
 bread ;  and  there  will  we  dwell :  (15)  and 
 now  therefore  hear  the  word  of  the 
 Lord,  ye  remnant  of  Judah ;  Thus  saith 
 the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel ; 
 If  ye  wholly  set  your  faces  to  enter  into 
 Egypt,  and  go  to  sojourn  there ;  (16)  then 
 it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the  sword, 
 which  ye  feared,  shall  overtake  you  there 
 in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  famine, 
 whereof  ye  were  afraid,  l  shall  follow 
 close  after  you  there  in  Egypt ;  and 
 there  ye  shall  die.  <17)  3  So  shall  it  be 
 with  all  the  men  that  set  their  faces  to 
 go  into  Egypt  to  sojourn  there;  they 
 shall  die  by  the  sword,  by  the  famine, 
 and  by  the  pestilence :  and  none  of  them 
 shall  remain  or  escape  from  the  evil  that 
 I  will  bring  upon  them.  (18)  For  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of 
 Israel ;  As  mine  anger  and  my  fury  hath 
 
 to  their  promise.  The  name  of  the  place  where  they 
 had  lately  been  staying  may  have  reminded  them  of  the 
 history  of  Gen.  xxxi.  49  (though  that  refers  to  another 
 Mizpah),  in  which  we  find  the  same  formula. 
 
 (7)  After  ten  days. — The  interval  is  significant,  as 
 indicating  that  the  prophet  would  not  give  an  answer 
 of  his  own  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  but  waited  in 
 prayer  and  meditation  until  there  came  into  his  mind 
 that  which  he  could  utter  as  an  oracle  of  God.  So 
 Ezekiel  waited  for  seven  days  among  the  exiles  that 
 dwelt  by  the  river  of  Chebar,  till  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 came  to  him  (Ezek.  iii.  16).  When  the  hour  came,  the 
 prophet  preached  to  a  multitude  whose  eagerness  to 
 hear  him  had  been  intensified  by  the  suspense. 
 
 (io)  Then  will  I  build  you,  and  not  pull  you 
 down  .  .  . — We  note  the  characteristic  recurrence  of 
 the  formulae  with  which  Jeremiah's  work  as  a  prophet 
 had  begun  (chap.  i.  10).  The  word  for  "  repent"  does 
 not  imply  regret  for  the  past,  as  men  repent  of  their  sin, 
 but,  as  in  chaps,  xviii.  8,  xxvi.  3,  a  change  of  purpose 
 from  what  had  been  the  mind  of  judgment  to  one  of 
 mercy.  The  prophet's  counsel  is,  as  it  had  been  all 
 along,  that  the  people  should  accept  the  punishment 
 which  God  had  inflicted  on  them,  that  they  shoidd  stay 
 where  they  were  and  as  they  were,  and  not  in  terror  or 
 suspicion  seek  safety  in  plans  of  their  own  devising. 
 
 (12)  And  cause  you  to  return  to  your  own 
 land. — The  words  admit  of  two  interpretations — (1) 
 that  they  should  be  carried  away  to  Babylon,  as  others 
 had  been,  and  should  afterwards  return  to  their  own 
 country;  (2)  that  they  (the  remnant  who  had  been 
 allowed  by  Nebuzaradau  to  remain  to  till  the  soil) 
 should  at  once  be  allowed  to  return  each  man  to  his 
 own  field  and  vineyard.     The  latter  is  clearly  more  in 
 
 HO 
 
 harmony  with  the  prophet's  aim  and  temper,  and  it  was 
 probably  in  his  purpose  to  intercede  with  their  con- 
 querors to  this  effect.  The  thought  of  a  far-off  exile 
 as  impending  over  them  in  the  nearer  future  would 
 hardly  have  induced  them  to  remain  where  they  were. 
 
 (i*)  No ;  but  we  will  go  into  the  land  of 
 Egypt. — The  thoughts  that  were  in  the  hearts  of  the 
 applicants  ai-e  stated  with  dramatic  vividness.  Egypt, 
 then  under  Apries  (the  Pharaoh-hophra  of  chap.  xliv. 
 30),  seemed  to  them  so  safe  and  peaceful.  As  of  old,  it 
 was  still  the  granary  of  the  East,  and  its  plenteous  har- 
 vests formed  a  bright  contrast  to  the  famine  which  they 
 had  experienced  during  the  invasion  of  the  Chaldseans. 
 Jeremiah,  however,  has  simply  to  reject  the  plan,  as 
 from  first  to  last  he  had  resisted  altogether  the  thought 
 of  an  Egyptian  alliance  (chaps,  ii.  36,  xxxvii.  7) :  there 
 would  be  no  safety  nor  peace  nor  plenty  found  in  acting 
 on  it.  Ezekiel's  prophecies  as  to  Egypt  and  her  king 
 were  in  this  respect  in  harmony  with  Jeremiah's  (Ezek. 
 xvii.  11 — 18,  xxix. — xxxii.),  and  were,  as  nearly  as  pos- 
 sible, contemporary  with  them. 
 
 (17)  So  shall  it  be  with  all  the  men  .  .  .—The 
 words  possibly  imply  that  others  were  taking  the  same 
 course  as  those  who  had  applied  to  Jeremiah.  There  was 
 something  like  a  "  rush  "  from  many  nations — Moab, 
 Edom,  and  others  (chap,  xxvii.  3) — of  fugitives,  looking 
 to  Egypt  as  their  one  hope  of  safety  against  the 
 Chaldasans,  and  joining  with  the  Jews  that  had  sought 
 shelter  in  their  respective  territories  (chap.  xl.  11). 
 We  note  in  the  prophet's  warning  the  recurrence  of 
 the  old  familiar  phrases,  "  by  the  sword,  by  the  famine, 
 by  the  pestilence"  (chap.  xxiv.  10;  Ezek.  vi.  11),  of  an 
 "  execration  and  an  astonishment  and  a  curse  and  a 
 reproach"    (chaps,  xxiv.   9,   xxvi.  6,  xxix.  18).     They 
 
Jeretnin/i  Accused  >;/'  Tt 
 
 •i i:im:.m iaii,  xuii 
 
 by  Out  Fuijitivtt. 
 
 been  poured  forth  apon  the  inhabitants 
 hI'  Jerusalem;  so  shall  my  fury  l>e 
 poured  forth  apon  you,  when  ye  shall 
 
 cuter    into    lv_;'\  [d  :     and   ye    shall    be  an 
 
 execration I  an  astonishment,  ami  a 
 
 curse,  and  a  reproach;  and  ye  shall  see 
 this  place  no  more. 
 
 (io)  The  Lord  hath  said  concerning 
 yon,  0  ye  remnant  of  Jiulah  ;  <  io  y<'  not 
 into  Egypt  :  know  certainly  that  1  have 
 1  admonished  you  this  day.  (-0)  For  -ye 
 dissembled  in  your  hearts,  when  ye  sent 
 me  unto  the  Lord  your  God,  saying,  Pray 
 for  as  unto  the  Lord  our  God;  and 
 according  unto  all  that  the  Lord  our 
 God  shall  say,  so  declare  unto  us,  and 
 we  will  do  it.  (-1'  And  now  I  have  this 
 day  declared  it  to  you  ;  hut  ye  have  not 
 obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord  your  God, 
 nor  any  thing  for  the  which  he  hath  sent 
 me  unto  you.  (22)  Now  therefore  know 
 certainly  that  ye  shall  die  by  the  sword, 
 by  the  famine,  and  by  the  pestilence,  in 
 the  place  whither  ye  desire  to  go  and  to 
 sojourn. 
 
 CHAPTEK  XLIII.— <■>  And  it  came 
 to  pass,  that  when  Jeremiah  had  made 
 an  end  of  speaking  unto  all  the  people 
 
 i   Bab.,     UttifleJ 
 against  you. 
 
 1  Or.  ye  have  wrd 
 againsl 
 your  aouU. 
 
 all  the  words  of  tie-  Lobd  their  God,  for 
 which  th.'  Loan  their  God  had  sent  him 
 to  them,  evt  n  all  these  word-,   -   then 
 
 Spake  A/.niah  th.'  JOB  of   lloshaiah.  and 
 
 johanan  the  Bon  of  Kareah,  and  all  the 
 proud  men,  saying  unto  Jeremiah,  Thou 
 speakest  falsely  :  the  Lord  our  <  kid  hath 
 not  sent  thee  to  say,  Go  not  into  Bgypi 
 to  sojourn  there :  W  but  Baruch  the  son 
 of  Neriah  setteth  thee  on  against  us, 
 for  to  deliver  OS  into  th.'  hand  of  the 
 Chaldeans,    that     they   Illicit     |iilt   US   to 
 
 death,  and  carry  us  away  captives  into 
 Babylon. 
 
 (4'  So  Johanan  the  son  of  Kareah,  and 
 all  the  captains  of  the  forces,  and  a  LI  the 
 people,  obeyed  not  the  voice  of  the 
 Lord,  to  dwell  in  the  land  of  Judah. 
 <5>  But  Johanan  the  son  of  Kareah,  and 
 all  the  captains  of  the  forces,  took  all 
 the  remnant  of  Judah,  that  were  re- 
 turned from  all  nations,  whither  they 
 had  been  driven,  to  dwell  in  the  land  of 
 Judah  ;<6)  even  men,  and  women,  and 
 children,  and  the  king's  daughters,  and 
 every  person  that  Nebuzar-adan  the 
 captain  of  the  guard  had  left  with 
 Gedaliah  the  son  of  Ahikam  the  son  of 
 Shaphan,  and  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  and 
 
 would  involve  themselves  by  rejecting  his  counsels 
 in  all  tin'  worst  evils  that  lie  had  prupliesiod.  before. 
 What  had  been  addressed  to  the  mixed  multitude  is 
 emphatically  repeated  in  verse  19  to  the  "remnant  of 
 
 .lllilah." 
 
 (SO)  For  ye  dissembled  in  your  hearts  .  .  .— 
 Looks  and  whispers  betrayed,  we  may  believe,  the  feel- 
 ings of  tho  prophet's  hearers.  Ho  saw  by  such  out- 
 ward signs, or  ho  read,  as  by  the  intuition  ox  inspiration, 
 the  Becrel  counsels  of  their  hearts  (1  Oor.  xiv.  21,  25), 
 
 thai  t  hey  hail  made  a  false  profession  of  their  readiness 
 to  obey, and  really  meant  all  along  to  act  as  they  likeil. 
 
 with  the  prophet's  approval,  it'  they  oould  get  it;  if 
 nut.  without.  Hypocrisy  such  as  this  could  not  fail 
 to  draw  down  a  righteous  punishment. 
 
 XLin. 
 
 (->  Azariah  the  son  of  Hoshaiah.— Tho  LXX., 
 
 it  will  he  remembered,  gives  this  name  in  chap.  xlii.  1, 
 where  th.'  Hebrew  has  Jezaniah.  Possibly,  however,  as 
 suggested  above,  the  two  names  represent  brothers  who 
 were  both  prominent  as  leaders  of  the  people.  Here, 
 we  may  note,  he  takes  precedence  of  Johanan.  probably 
 as  the  ehiet'  spokesman  of  the  prevailing  discontent. 
 
 The  special  mention  of  "all  the  proud  men"  suggests 
 the  thought  that  thero  were  some  who.  left  to  them- 
 selves, would  have  been  willing  to  follow  the  prophet's 
 Counsel.  Those  who  join  in  tho  protest  oontent  them- 
 selves with  a  flat  denial  of  his  inspiration,  and  charge 
 him,  as  ho  had  been  charged  before  (chap,  xxxvii.  13  . 
 with  sinister  intentions.  It  is  suggestive,  in  connexion 
 with  the  view   taken   in   the    Xote  on  chap.  xlii.  17.   that 
 
 the  LXX.,  following  apparently  a  different  reading  of 
 
 the  Hebrew,  gives  "  all  the  aliens"  instead  of  "all  the 
 proud." 
 
 (3)  Baruch  the  son  of  Neriah  setteth  thee 
 on  against  us.— This  was  tho  solution  which  pre- 
 sented itself  to  the  suspicions  of  tho  murmurers. 
 Tho  prophet's  amanuensis  had  become  his  leader, 
 and  was  making  use  of  him  as  a  tool  for  tho  further- 
 ance of   his  own   designs,  and  those  designs  were  to 
 
 euurt   the  favour  of  th Dqneror  by  delivering  the 
 
 remnant  of  the  people  into  his  hands.  The  warning  of 
 chap.  xlv.  5  may  perhaps  be  taken  as  an  indication  that 
 thore  was  a  certain  ambition  and  lovo  of  eminence  in 
 Barnch's  character  which  gave  ■  colour  to  the  sus- 
 picion. Baruch  himself  lias  not  appeared  on  the  scene 
 since  tho  days  of  Jehoiakim  'chap,  xxxvi.  ii'Ji.  but  it 
 lies  in  the  nature  of  the  ease  that  he  would  lie  known 
 as  advocating,  like  Jeremiah,  the  policy  of  submission 
 to  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  apocrypha]  Hook  of  Bnruch 
 (i.  1)  represents  him  as  lx-ing  actually  at  Babylon 
 at  the  time  of  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  and  this 
 was  in  itself  probable  enough.  On  this  assump- 
 tion Jeremiah  was  perhaps  1  of  actually 
 receiving  instructions  from  the  Babylonian  Court 
 through  Baruch,  who    in  verse  6  suddenly  re-api 
 
 u  the  prophet's  companion.    Prophet  and  scribe  were 
 
 apparently  seized  and  carried  off  by  force,  to  prevent 
 their  carrying  out   the  schemes  of  which  they  were 
 
 sus] ted.     The  ••  remnant  of  Judah  returned  from  all 
 
 nations"  refers  to  the  fugitives  from  Moab,  Amnion,  or 
 Edom,  mentioned  in  chap.  xl.  11.  As  the  emigration 
 included  all  who  had  gathered  together  under  the  pro- 
 tection of  Gedaliah,  it  must  have  left  the  lands  ,,f 
 Judah  almost  entirely  depopulated,  and  the  fear  of  this 
 
 HI 
 
■Jeremiah  and  the  Fugitives 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XLIII. 
 
 at  Tahpanhes. 
 
 Baruch  the  son  of  Neriah.  <7)  So  they 
 came  into  the  land  of  Egypt :  for  they 
 obeyed  not  the  voice  of  the  Lord  :  thus 
 came  they  even  to  Tahpanhes. 
 
 <8)  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 unto  Jeremiah  in  Tahpanhes,  saying, 
 (9)  Take  great  stones  in  thine  hand,  and 
 hide  them  in  the  clay  in  the  brickkiln, 
 which  is  at  the  entry  of  Pharaoh's 
 house  in  Tahpanhes,  in  the  sight  of  the 
 men  of  Judah ;  W  and  say  unto  them, 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  of*  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel ;  Behold,  I  will  send  and 
 take  Nebuchadrezzar  the  king  of  Baby- 
 lon, my  servant,  and  will  set  his  throne 
 upon  these  stones  that  I  have  hid  ;  and 
 he  shall  spread  his  royal  pavilion  over 
 
 a  eta.  15.  2 ;  Zecta. 
 
 B.  C.  588. 
 ending. 
 
 1  Heb.,statW8,  or, 
 standing  images. 
 
 2  Or.  the  house  oj 
 the  sun. 
 
 them.  (u>  And  when  he  cometh,  he 
 shall  smite  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  de- 
 liver "  such  as  are  for  death  to  death ; 
 and  such  as  are  for  captivity  to  captivity  ; 
 and  such  as  are  for  the  sword  to  the 
 sword.  <12>  And  I  will  kindle  a  fire  in 
 the  houses  of  the  gods  of  Egypt ;  and 
 he  shall  burn  them,  and  carry  them 
 away  captives :  and  he  shall  array 
 himself  with  the  land  of  Egypt,  as 
 a  shepherd  putteth  on  his  garment; 
 and  he  shall  go  forth  from  thence 
 in  peace.  <13)  He  shall  break  also  the 
 1  images  of  3  Bethshemesh,  that  is  in 
 the  land  of  Egypt ;  and  the  houses 
 of  the  gods  of  the  Egyptians  shall 
 he  burn  with  fire. 
 
 result  may  well  have  been  among  the  reasons  that 
 determined  Jeremiah's  counsels. 
 
 CT  Thus  came  they  even  to  Tahpanhes.— 
 The  town  was  obviously  on  the  north-eastern  frontier 
 of  Egypt.  In  Judith  i.  9  it  appears  between  the  river 
 of  Egypt  (the  Rhinoeolura,  which  divided  Egypt  from 
 Palestine)  and  Ramesse  (the  Raamses  of  Exod.  i.  11, 
 or  Rameses  of  Num.  xxxiii.  3,  5)  and  all  the  land  of 
 Gesen,  or  Goshen.  In  Ezek.  xxx.  16 — 18  it  is  named, 
 in  conjunction  with  No  (—  Thebes)  and  Noph  (—  Mem- 
 phis), among  the  chief  cities  of  Egypt.  In  Greek  his- 
 torians it  appears  as  Daphnes  and  as  near  Pelusium 
 (Herod,  ii.  30) ,  and  in  the  Itinera  ry  of  Antoninus  is  placed, 
 under  the  name  of  Daf  no,  at  a  distance  of  sixteen  Roman 
 miles  from  the  latter  city.  Its  name  may  be  connected 
 with  that  of  the  Egyptian  Queen  Tahpenes,  mentioned 
 in  1  Kings  xi.  19.  Here  apparently  the  emigrants  de- 
 termined to  settle  and  found  a  new  home  for  themselves. 
 
 (9)  Take  great  stones  in  thine  hand,  and 
 hide  them  in  the  clay  in  the  brickkiln. — 
 Better,  in  the  mortar  on  the  platform.  There  seems 
 something  incongruous  in  the  idea  of  a  brickkiln, 
 or  a  place  for  baking  bricks,  at  the  entrance  of  a 
 royal  palace  ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  see  why  Nebuchadrezzar 
 shoidd  have  chosen  it  as  a  place  for  his  throne.  It  seems 
 better,  with  Hitzig,  Furst,  and  others,  to  take  the 
 Hebrew  word,  which  occurs  only  here  and  in  2  Sam. 
 xii.  31  and  Nah.  iii.  14,  as  meaning  a  structure  of 
 brick,  a  dais  or  raised  pavement,  like  the  Gabbatha 
 or  Pavement  on  which  Pilate  sat  (John  xix.  13), 
 in  front  of  the  entrance  of  the  palace,  on  which 
 the  king  naturally  placed  his  throne  when  he  sat 
 in  judgment  or  received  petitions.  Assyrian  and 
 Babylonian  monuments  present  many  instances  of 
 kings  thus  seated.  As  making  his  prediction  more 
 vivid,  the  prophet  places  stones  in  the  mortar  or 
 cement  (not  "  clay")  with  which  the  mass  was 
 covered,  and  conceals  them  apparently  with  a  fresh 
 coat  of  mortar.  There  they  were  to  remain  till  his 
 prediction  should  be  fulfilled.  The  symbolic  act  was 
 of  the  same  type  as  the  breaking  of  the  potter's  vessel 
 in  chap.  xix.  10,  and  the  yoke  worn  on  the  prophet's 
 shoulders  (chap,  xxvii.  2),  and  Ezekiel's  digging  through 
 the  wall  (Ezek.  xii.  7).  It  may  be  noted  that  our 
 version  follows  Luther  in  translating  "  brickkiln." 
 The  LXX.  evades  the  difficulty  by  taking  refuge  in 
 vague  terms  "  in  the  vestibule  {npodvpa),  in  the  gate  of 
 
 the  house,"  and  the  "Vulgate  gives  "  in  the  crypt  which 
 is  under  the  brick  walls." 
 
 00)  He  shall  spread  his  royal  pavilion  over 
 them. — Here,  again,  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word 
 is  doubtful.  The  English  Version,  as  before,  follows 
 Luther  in  taking  it  for  the  awning  or  canopy  which 
 was  stretched  over  the  throne  when  the  king  sat  in 
 state  as  judge.  Others  {e.g.,  Hitzig)  find  in  it  the 
 leather  covering  which  was  placed  over  the  pavement 
 on  which  the  throne  was  set,  upon  which  the  criminal 
 knelt  as  on  a  scaffold  to  receive  the  death-stroke  of  the 
 executioner.  So  taken,  the  prediction  assumes  a  more 
 definite  and  terrible  aspect.  The  king  was  to  sit  upon 
 the  stones  which  Jeremiah  had  hidden,  not  merely  in 
 his  regal  pomp,  but  in  the  character  of  an  avenger 
 executing  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  against  the  rebellious. 
 
 (U)  Such  as  are  for  death  to  death.— Again 
 we  note  the  re-appearance  of  a  characteristic  formula 
 (chap.  xi.  2). 
 
 (12)  I  will  kindle  a  fire. — The  change  of  person 
 is  full  of  significance.  Jehovah  Himself  kindles  the 
 fire  which  is  to  destroy  the  temples  of  the  gods  of 
 Egypt,  and  the  Chaldsean  king  is  but  His  instrument. 
 
 As  a  shepherd  putteth  on  his  garment.— The 
 words  may  point  simply  to  the  easiness  of  the 
 conquest.  To  take  possession  of  the  whole  country 
 will  be  as  quick  and  light  a  matter  as  when  the 
 shepherd  takes  up  his  garment  at  night  and  wraps  it 
 round  him.  Possibly  (as  Hitzig  suggests)  there  may 
 be  a  reference  to  the  fact  that  when  the  shepherd  so 
 wraps  himself  he  tarns  the  fleecy  coat  which  he  wears 
 inside  out  (the  " pellibus  inversis" of  Juvenal,  Sat.  xiv. 
 136).  So,  the  prophet  may  suggest,  shall  the  conqueror 
 turn  the  whole  land  upside  down.  (Comp.  2  Kings 
 xxi.  13). 
 
 (13)  He  shaU  break  also  the  images  of  Bethshe- 
 mesh.— This  name,  which  means  "  Home  of  the  Sun  " 
 (so  the  Vvdgate  renders  it  here  by  domus  solis),  was 
 naturally  not  an  uncommon  one  where  sun-worship  had 
 prevailed,  and  we  find  it  accordingly  in  Judah  (Josh, 
 xv.  10;  1  Sam.  vi.  9,  12),  in  Issachar  (Joshua  xix.  22), 
 and  in  Naphtali  (Joshua  xix.  38 ;  Judges  i.  33).  Here 
 the  context  shows  that  it  was  the  name  of  an  Egyptian 
 city.  The  LXX.  renders  the  words  "  he  shall  break 
 the  pillars  of  Heliopolis,  which  are  in  On,"  and  so 
 identifies  it  with  the  city  of  that  name  on  the  Pelusiac 
 branch  of  the  Nile,  just  below  the  point  of  the  Delta, 
 
 U2 
 
The  Word  oftfu  Lord 
 
 .IKI.'H.MIAir,   XLIV. 
 
 ■ 
 
 CHAPTi:K  XLIV.— <»  Tin.  word  that 
 came  to  Jeremiah  concerning  all  tin- 
 Jews  which  dwell  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
 winch  dwell  at  Biigdohand  al  Tahpanhee, 
 and   at    Nbph,   and   in  the  country  of 
 
 Pathros,  say  in"-, 
 
 Phua  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel;  Ye  have  seen  all  the 
 evil  that  1  have  Drought  upon  Jerusalem, 
 and  upon  all  the  cities  of  Judah;  and, 
 
 behold,  this  day  they  an  a  desolation, 
 and  00  man  dwelleth  therein,  l ;'  because 
 of  their  wickedness  which  they  have 
 committed  to  provoke  me  to  anger,  in 
 that  they  went  to  burn  incense,  awl  t<> 
 serve  other  gods,  whom  they  knew  not, 
 neither  tiny,  ye,  nor  your  fathers. 
 <*>  Howbeit  I  sent  unto  you  all  my  ser- 
 vants the  prophets,  rising  early  and 
 sending  them,  Baying,  Oh,  do  not  this 
 abominable  thing  that  I  hate.  <5>  But 
 they  hearkened  not,  nor  inclined  their 
 ear  to  turn  from  their  wickedness,  to 
 burn    no     incense     unto     other     gods. 
 
 rat  o/  tiu 
 
 mitlat  '  ! 
 
 Or.  pun- 
 UhmenU,  Ac. 
 
 Wherefore  mj  fury  and  mine  i 
 
 WU    poured    forth,    and    wai   kindled    in 
 
 the  cities  of  Judah  and  in  the 
 Jerusalem ;  andthej  are  meted  and  ■ 
 
 late,  a>  at  this  day.  P  Therefore  now  thus 
 saith  theLoBD,  the  <  tod  of  boats,  t fo 
 
 of  Israel ;  Wherefore  commit  jethis  great 
 evil  against  your  souls,  to  cui  off  from 
 
 TOO  man  and  woman,  child  and  juckling, 
 
 1  out  of  Judah,  to  leave  you  none  to 
 remain;  ''in  that  ye  prOToks  me  unto 
 wrath  with  the  works  of  TOUT  bands, 
 burning  incense  unto  other  gods  in  the 
 land  of  Egypt,  whither  y  be  gone  to 
 dwell,  that  ye  might  cut  yourselves  off, 
 and  that  ye  might  be  a  curse  and  a 
 reproach  among  all  the  nations  of  the 
 earth?  ' ''  Have  ye  forgotten  the'wicked- 
 ness  of  j'our  fathers,  and  the  wickedness 
 of  the  kings  of  Judah,  and  the  wicked- 
 ness of  their  wives,  and  your  own 
 wickedness,  and  the  wickedness  of  your 
 wives,  which  they  have  committed  in 
 the  land  of  Judah,  and  in  the  streets  of 
 
 and  about  twenty  miles  north-east  of  Memphis.  Under 
 the  namo  of  On  it  appears  in  Gen.  xli.  45.  The, 
 "images"    in-  "pillars"  nit  now  represented  by  a 
 
 solitary  obelisk  OX  red  granite,  sixty-eight  feet  high, 
 its  companion  having  been  brought  to  Rome  and 
 erected  in  the  Vatican  Circus  in  front  of  St.  Peter's 
 (Herod.  II.,  III.;  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxvi.  11).  There 
 were  at  cue  time  many  others,  besides  colossal  statues. 
 The  fnllilment  of  the  prediction,  as  far  as  it  referred 
 to  the  defeat  and  death  of  Pharaohdiophra,  is  related 
 by  Josophus  (Ant.  x.  9,  §  7). 
 
 XLIV. 
 0)  At   Migdol,  and    at  Tahpanhes  .  .  .—We 
 
 find  from  vane  15  that  the  discourse  that  follows  was 
 delivered  at  a  large  gathering  of  the  Jews  at  Pathros. 
 The  number  of    places  named  (the   three   appear  in  the 
 
 combination  in  chap.    xlvi.    14)  indicates   the 
 
 extent  of  the  emigration.  Migdol  (here,  as  elsewhere, 
 meaning  a  "  tower"  or  "fortress")  is  named  in  Exod. 
 xiv.  -J  as  on  the  route  of  the  Israelites  before  they 
 crossed  the  Red  Sea,  between  Pidiahiroth  and  Baal- 
 zephon.  and  again  in  Ezek.  xxix.  10,  xxx.  6.     It  appears 
 
 in  the  Itinerary  of  Antoninus,  under  the  name  Magdolo, 
 
 as  twelve  miles  south  of  Pchisium.    The  latter  is  thought 
 
 by  Lapsing  to  1h>  different  from  the  former,  and  to 
 answer  n>  the  8tratopeda  or  ••  camp"  which  Herodotus 
 
 mentions  as  having  been  founded   by  Psammetiehus  I. 
 
 as  a  settlement  for  his  Ionian  or  Oarian  mercenaries 
 (Smith'-  Ihri.,,/  the  Bible, Ait. Migdol).  Nbphwas 
 identical  with  Memphis,  and  appears  in  Esa.  xix.  13; 
 
 Jar,  ii.  16;  K/.ek.xxx.  l:>.  1 « t :  and  as  Moph  in  the  Hebrew 
 
 of  Hos.ix.6.  ^  The  position  of  Pathros  i-  less  certain,  but 
 
 it  may  be  inferred  from  the  mention  of  the  other  cities 
 with  it  that  it  was  ill  Lower  Egypt,  and  possibly,  from 
 verse  15,  that  it  was  the  name  of  the  region  in  which  it 
 
 was  >ituated.    So  iu  Ka.  ri.ll,  it  appears  iii  conjunction 
 
 with  Mizraim  (=  Egypt]  and  Cush  (=  Ethiopia  ,  both 
 of  which  aro  names  of  regions  and  not  of  cities.     I'.v 
 
 Brugseh  i  Egypt,  1. 2 12]  it  has  1 n  identified  with  Upper 
 
 Egypt,  the  region  of  the  Thehaid.     Ther  rtaiu 
 
 note  of  the  interval  '  he  arrival  of  the  Jew-  in 
 
 Egypt  and  the  delivery  of  the  discour-e.  but  it  would 
 appear  that  there  had  been  time  for  the  Jews  to 
 disperse  and  settle  in  the  three  or  four  cities  here 
 named,  and  to  adopt  the  worship  of  the  Egyptians.  It 
 is.  however,  implied  throughout  that  the  prophet  is 
 speaking  to  the  emigrants  themselves,  and  not  to  their 
 descendants  (verses  17.  21). 
 
 (-)  Ye  have  seen  .  .  .  —  The  prophet  begins, 
 naturally  enough,  with  an  appeal  to  the  personal 
 experience  of  his  hearers.  Was  not  that  enough  to 
 show  them  that  the  source  of  all  their  evils  had  bean 
 their  falling  away  from  the  faith  or  worship  of  their 
 fathers  ? 
 
 (■*)  Rising  early  and  sending  them  .  .  .— The 
 prophet  uses  the  same  anthropomorphic  language  as  of 
 old  i  chaps,  vii.  25,  xxv.  4.  xxvi.  ."..  xxix.  19).     The  term 
 
 "abominable  thing."  or  " abomination," though  com- 
 mon in  many  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  a~  in 
 
 the  Proverbs,  where  it  is  applied  to  moral  enormities 
 
 (e.g..  Prov.  iii.  32,  vi.  16).  is  specially  characteristic,  as 
 applied  to  idolatry,  of  Deuteronomy  (xxvii.  ].'>.  xxxii. 
 18 J,  Jeremiah  (here  and  chape,  vii.  10,  Tin.  12.  xxxii. 
 35),  and  Ezek.  (v.  11.  and  some  forty  other  passages  . 
 18)  Burning  incense  unto  other  gods  in  the 
 land  of  Egypt. — The  words  imply  that  the  exiles 
 
 were  not  only  carrying  on  the  old  idolatrous  pra.  I 
 with  which  they  had  been  familiar  iu  their  own  lands. 
 but  had  adopted  those  of  the  Egyptians.  This  was  the 
 evil  which  the  prophet  had  all  along  dreaded,  and 
 which  had  made  him  from  the  first,  like  his  preded  ssar, 
 Isaiah  xxx.  'J.  xxxi.  1).  hostile  to  e\ory  plan  of  an 
 alliance  with  Egypt. 
 (9)  The  wickedness  of  their  wives. — As  in  the 
 
 first  introduction  of  idolatry  uuilcr  Solomon  1  Kings 
 xi.  4l  so  in  the  feigns  of  his  successors,  as  in  the  case 
 of  Asa  (1  Kings  IT.  13)  and  Ahaziah  (2  Chron.  xxii.  .'  . 
 
 143 
 
Tlie  Answer  of  the  Exiles 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XLIV. 
 
 to  the  Prophet's  Warnings. 
 
 Jerusalem  ?  <10)  They  are  not 1  humbled 
 even  unto  this  day,  neither  have  they 
 feared,  nor  walked  in  my  law,  nor  in  my 
 statutes,  that  I  set  before  you  and  before 
 your  fathers. 
 
 (ii)  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
 hosts,  the  God  of  Israel ;  Behold,  "  I 
 will  set  my  face  against  you  for  evil,  and 
 to  cut  off  all  Judah.  <12>  And  I  will 
 take  the  remnant  of  Judah,  that  have 
 set  their  faces  to  go  into  the  land  of 
 Egypt  to  sojourn  there,  and  they  shall 
 all  be  consumed,  and  fall  in  the  land  of 
 Egypt ;  they  shall  even  be  consumed  by 
 the  sword  and  by  the  famine  :  they  shall 
 die,  from  the  least  even  unto  the  greatest, 
 by  the  sword  and  by  the  famine :  and 
 they  shall  be  an  execration,  and  an 
 astonishment,  and  a  curse,  and  a  re- 
 proach. (13>  Eor  I  will  punish  them  that 
 dwell  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  as  I  have 
 punished  Jerusalem,  by  the  sword,  by 
 the  famine,  and  by  the  pestilence : 
 <U)  so  that  none  of  the  remnant  of  Judah, 
 which  are  gone  into  the  land  of  Egypt 
 to  sojourn  there,  shall  escape  or  remain, 
 that  they  should  return  into  the  land  of 
 Judah,  to  the  which  they  3  have  a  desire 
 to  return  to  dwell  there  :  for  none  shall 
 return  but  such  as  shall  escape. 
 
 (15)  Then  all  the  men  which  knew  that 
 their  wives  had  burned  incense   unto 
 
 2Heb.,liftuptheir 
 
 8QUl. 
 
 3  Or,  frame  of  hear 
 
 it.il. 
 
 1  Heb„  contrite. 
 
 5  Or,  husbands  ? 
 
 other  gods  and  all  the  women  that 
 stood  by,  a  great  multitude,  even  all 
 the  people  that  dwelt  in  the  land  of 
 Egypt,  in  Pathros,  answered  Jeremiah, 
 saying, 
 
 '16>  As  for  the  word  that  thou  hast 
 spoken  unto  us  in  the  name  of  the 
 Lord,  we  will  not  hearken  unto  thee. 
 (17)  But  we  will  certainty  do  whatsoever 
 thing  goeth  forth  out  of  our  own  mouth, 
 to  burn  incense  unto  the 3  'queen  of  hea- 
 ven, and  to  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto- 
 her,  as  we  have  done,  we,  and  our  fathers, 
 our  kings,  aud  our  princes,  in  the  cities 
 of  Judah,  and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem : 
 for  then  had  we  plenty  of  4  victuals,  and 
 were  well,  and  saw  no  evil.  (18)  But  since 
 we  left  off  to  burn  incense  to  the  queen 
 of  heaven,  and  to  pour  out  drink  offer- 
 ings unto  her,  we  have  wanted  all  things, 
 and  have  been  consumed  by  the  sword 
 and  by  the  famine.  (19)  cAnd  when  we 
 burned  incense  to  the  queen  of  heaven, 
 and  poured  out  drink  offerings  unto 
 her,  did  we  make  her  cakes  to  worship 
 her,  and  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto 
 her,  without  our  5  men  ? 
 
 (20)  Then  Jereiniah  said  unto  all  the 
 people,  to  the  men,  and  to  the  women, 
 and  to  all  the  people  which  had  given 
 him  tJiat  answer,  saying,  (21)  The  incense 
 that  ye  burned  in  the  cities  of  Judah, 
 
 the  queens  for  the  time  being,  often  of  alien  birth, 
 seem  to  have  been  the  chief  patrons  of  foreign  and 
 idolatrous  worship,  and  their  example  was  naturally 
 followed  by  the  wives  of  the  nobles  and  other  citizens. 
 
 (!3)  I  will  punish  them  that  dwell  in  the 
 land  of  Egypt. — The  words  point,  Hie  those  of 
 chap,  xliii.  11,  to  a  punishment  which  should  fall  on 
 the  whole  of  Egypt,  and  from  which  the  Jews  who 
 .dwelt  in  it  should  find  no  exemption. 
 
 (W)  To  the  which  they  have  a  desire  to  re- 
 turn.— Literally,  unto  which  they  lift  up  their  souls  to 
 return.  The  words  are  significant  as  showing  that  the 
 exiles  still  cherished  the  hope  of  getting  back  to  the 
 land  of  their  fathers. 
 
 None  shall  return  but  such  as  shall 
 escape. — The  words  seem  at  first  a  truism,  but  they 
 imply  that  the  escape  woidd  be  difficult.  The  formula 
 seems  to  have  been  not  uncommon  (Ezek.  vii.  16).  In 
 verse  28  we  have  the  fact  more  definitely  stated : 
 there  should  be,  as  in  previous  chastisements,  a 
 remnant,  and  a  remnant  only  (Isa.  i.  9,  vi.  13).  By 
 some  critics  the  limiting  clause  has  been  looked  on  as 
 an  interpolation,  inserted  to  bring  the  verso  into 
 agreement  with  verse  28. 
 
 (is)  All  the  men  which  knew  that  their  wives 
 had  burned  incense. — The  fact  thus  mentioned 
 incidentally  shows  that  the  prophet's  words  in  verse  9 
 had  not  missed  their  mark.  As  of  old — as,  we  may  add, 
 in  the  Rome  of  the  Empire  (Juvenal,  Sat.  vi.  526 — 
 
 534) — the  women  practised  a  cultus  in  which  their  hus- 
 bands acquiesced,  even  though  they  did  not  join  in  it. 
 
 (18)  To  burn  incense  to  the  queen  of  heaven. 
 — This  form  of  worship,  characterised  specially  by  its 
 offerings  of  crescent-shaped  cakes,  would  seem  to  have 
 been  the  dominant  fashion  of  the  idolatry  of  the 
 time.  (See  Note  on  chap.  vii.  18.)  The  men  who  felt 
 themselves  condemned  by  the  prophet's  words  vindi- 
 cate their  line  of  action.  They  had  practised  this 
 worship  of  old,  and  woidd  practise  it  still,  and  they 
 set  their  experience  of  the  prosperity  of  those  past  days 
 against  the  prophet's  picture  of  the  evil  that  had  fol- 
 lowed. Might  they  not  argue,  as  the  Romans  did  in 
 the  calamities  that  fell  on  the  Empire  (Tertull.  Apol.  c. 
 40 ;  August.  Be  Civ.  Dei,  I.  c.  36),  that  they  suffered 
 because  they  had  left  off  the  worship  under  the  in- 
 fluence of  a  different  teaching  ? 
 
 (19)  Without  our  men.  —  Better,  as  in  the 
 margin,  without  our  husbands.  "We  have  here,  it  is 
 obvious,  the  very  words  of  the  women  who  were  stung 
 by  what  they  looked  on  as  Jeremiah's  intimation  that 
 the  chief  guilt  lay  on  them.  They  disclaim  any  special 
 responsibility.  Their  husbands  had  joined  in  the 
 worship,  or  had,  at  least,  sanctioned  it. 
 
 (20—23)  Then  Jeremiah  said  .  .  . — The  prophet 
 makes  an  effective  rejoinder  to  the  assertion  that  the 
 prosperity  of  past  years  had  coincided  with  the  idol- 
 atrous worship  which  he  condemned.  That  prosperity 
 had  not  been  lasting,  and  though  the  long-suffering 
 
 144 
 
Only  a  I'  a'  ^/i"// 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XLV. 
 
 ami  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  v.  and 
 your  fathers,  your  kings,  and  your 
 princes,  and  the  people  of  the  land,  did 
 m  >t  the  Lord  remember  them,  and  came 
 it  not  into  his  mindP  W  So  thai  the 
 Lord  could  no  longer  bear,  because  of 
 the  evil  of  your  doings,  uml  1>.  cause  of 
 the  abominations  which  ye  have  win- 
 mil  i ell ;  therefore  is  your  land  a  desola- 
 tion, and  an  astonishment,  and  a  curse, 
 without  an  Inhabitant,  as  at  this  day. 
 i-;i  lircatisi'  ye  have  burned  incense,  and 
 use  ye  have  Binned  against  the 
 Lord,  and  have  nut  obeyed  the  voice  of 
 the  Loud,  nor  walked  in  his  law,  nor  in 
 his  statutes,  nor  in  his  testimonies; 
 therefore  this  evil  is  happened  unto  you, 
 as  at  this  day. 
 
 Moreover  Jeremiah  said  unto  all 
 the  people,  and  to  all  the  women.  Hear 
 the  word  of  the  LORD,  all  .liulah  that 
 are  in  the  land  of  ESgypi  i  J"  Thus  saith 
 the  Lokd  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel. 
 Baying;  Ye  and  your  wives  have  both 
 Spoken  with  your  mouths,  and  fulfilled 
 with  your  hand,  saying,  We  will  surely 
 perform  our  vows  that  we  have  rowed, 
 to  burn  incense  to  the  queen  of  heaven, 
 and  to  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto 
 her:  ye  will  surely  accomplish  your 
 vows,  and  surely  perform  your  vows. 
 '-";  Therefore  hear  ye  the  word  of  the 
 Loud,  all  Judah  that    dwell  in  the  land 
 
 B.  r 
 
 dr.  --'7. 
 
 of  Bgypt :  Behold,  I  have  sworn  by  mj 
 jjreaf    came,   saith  the   Lord;  thai    m\ 
 
 name  shall  no  nmre  be  named  iii  the 
 
 mouth    iif  any  man    of  .Judah    In  all  the 
 
 land  of   Egypt,  Baying,  The  Lord  G 
 liveth.      -'■    Behold,   I    will   watch  • 
 t  liem  for  e\  il,  and  aol  for  good  :  and  all 
 
 the  men    of  .Judah  that    are    in   the  land 
 
 of    Egypl    shall    l"'   consumed    bj    the 
 
 sword  and  by  the  famine,  until  there  be 
 
 an  end  of  them.  '-  JTe1  b  -mall  aumber 
 that  escape  the  sword  shall  return  out 
 of  the  land  of  Egypt  into  the  land  of 
 Judah,  and  all  the  remnant  of. Judah, 
 are  gone  into  the  land  of  Egypt  to 
 sojourn  there,  shall  know  whoBe  words 
 shall  stand,  'mine,  or  their'-. 
 
 l-"'»  And  this  ehaU  be  a  Bign  unto  you, 
 saith  the  Lord,  thai  I  will  punish  you 
 in  this  place,  that  ye  may  know  that 
 my  words  shall  Burely  stand  againsl 
 you  for  evil:  ("J  Thus  saith  the  Lord; 
 Behold,  I  will  give  Pharaoh-hophra  king 
 of  Egypt  into  the  hand  of  his  enemies, 
 
 and  into  the  hand  of  1  In  in  that  Seek  his 
 life;  as  I  gave  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah 
 into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadrezzar  bang 
 of  Babylon,  his  enemy,  and  that  BOUghl 
 his  life. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLV.— W  The  word  that 
 Jeremiah  the  prophet  spake  unto  Baruch 
 the  son  of  Neriah,  when  he  had  written 
 
 nf  God  had  borne  with  them,  the  judgments  had  at 
 last  come.  The  tenor  of  his  argument  was  thai  which 
 Augustine  adopts  in  his  treatise  De  Gwttate  Dei.  See 
 Note  "ii  rarse  1  •  i . 
 
 (M  B)  Hear  tho  word  of  the  Lord  .  .  .— The 
 appeal  to  the  experience  ol  the  past  is  followed  by  a 
 prediction  of  the  future,  addressed  to  the  wives  as  wel] 
 as  to  the  husbands.  The  new  mm  would  lead  to  a  new 
 punishment.  A  tone  of  irony  is  perceptible  in  the 
 words,  "  Ye  will  surely  accomplish  your  tows."     That, 
 
 at  all  events,  was  a   promise  they   were  likely  to  keep, 
 
 however  faithless  they  might  have  shown  themselves 
 in  keeping  their  vows  to  the  God  of  their  fathers. 
 But  the  Lord  of  Israel  meets  that  vow  by  another.    By 
 
 that  "great  name"  lira.  xxii.  161  of  the  I.nril  Goil 
 [Jehovah  Adonai),  which  they  had  alighted  and 
 profaned,  Be  declares  that  it  shall  be  profaned  no 
 more  by   the   Egyptian    exiles,  not  because  they,  of 
 
 their  own  aeeonl,  woiilil  06886  to  use  it.  hut  because 
 nouo  of  them  should  lie  left  there.  The  small  rem- 
 nant that  survived  the  sword  and  the  famine  should 
 
 return  to  Juilah  as  a  witness  of  the  judgment  that  had 
 fallen    on    them,    ami    of    the    truth   of    the    prophet's 
 
 warning.  The  words  of  Jehovah  should  stand,  while 
 (hose  of  men  should  fail. 
 
 (3°)  Behold,  I  will  give  Pharaoh-hophra  .  .  . 
 — The  fate  of  the  Egyptian  king  isannounoed,  coming, 
 
 as  it  did,  before  that  of  tho  fugitives,  a>  a  "  sign  "  that 
 149 
 
 the  prediction  of  their  doom  also  would  in  due  course 
 be  accomplished.    The  king  thus  named — the  Apri  • 
 Herod.  II..  161, 163,  10'.' — was  the  sou  of  Psammis,  ami 
 reigned  for  twenty-five  yean.     He  attacked  Sidon  by 
 land  ami  Tyre    by    sea.   presumably    before    Nebu- 
 
 ehailnez/.ar'-    invasion  of    Phoenicia,  ami    then    Bent   his 
 
 armies  against  Gyrene.    The  issue  of  that  was 
 
 disastrous,  ami    his  subjects  revolted.     His  general 
 Amasis.  who  was  ssnl  to  pacify  the  rebels, put  hum 
 
 at  their  head.     Apri.-.  was  deposed,  kept  in  honourable 
 
 imprisonment    at     Sais     for    a     time,    anil    afterwards 
 Strangled.      His   reign    extended   fnun    B.C.  694 to 
 
 Jeremiah  probably  delivered  his  prediction  clrc.  b.c. 
 S80, and  it  i>  the  last  recorded  event  in  his  life.    A 
 late  Christian  tradition,  resting  probably  on  aJevi 
 one.    states    that    then,    or    shortly   afterwards,    the 
 Egyptian  Jew*,  irritated  by  his   reproaches,  rose  n\> 
 against  him   ami   stomal  him   to  death.     ■Tertnll.  Adv. 
 Gnoet,  e.  s;  Hioroii.  Adv.  Ji  pin,  ii.:'.7  i    In  Heb.  \ 
 ("  they  were  stoned  "    We  may  probably  find  a  refer, 
 to  his  fate  as  one  of  the  "  noble  army  of  martyrs." 
 
 XLV. 
 
 (i»  The  word  that  Jeremiah  the  prophet 
 spake  unto  Baruch  .  .  . — The  chapter  is  obviously 
 nuspla I  a-  far  as  chronological  onh-r  is  concerned. 
 
 and   might    to   follow   on    shape,    xxiv.  and  xxivi.     It 
 
 -   us    a   glimpse    of    singular   interest    into   the 
 
Baruch' s  Ambition  Rebuked. 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   XLVI. 
 
 The  Prophecy  against  Pharaoh. 
 
 these  words  in  a  book  at  the  mouth  of 
 Jeremiah,  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoia- 
 kim  the  son  of  Josiah  king  of  Judah, 
 saying, 
 
 (2)  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
 Israel,  unto  thee,  O  Baruch;  <3)  Thou 
 didst  say,  Woe  is  me  now  !  for  the  Lord 
 hath  added  grief  to  my  sorrow  ;  I  fainted 
 in  vaj  sighing,  and  I  find  no  rest. 
 W>  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  him,  The 
 Lord  saith  thus  ;  Behold,  that  which  I 
 have  built  will  I  break  down,  and  that 
 which  I  have  planted  I  will  pluck  up, 
 even  this  whole  land.  <5'  And  seekest 
 thou  great  things  for  thyself  ?  seek  them 
 not :  for,  behold,  I  will  bring  evil  upon 
 
 all  flesh,  saith  the  Lord  :  but  thy  life 
 will  I  give  unto  thee  "  for  a  prey  iu  all 
 places  whither  thou  goest. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVI.— ("The  word  of 
 the  Lord  which  came  to  Jeremiah  the 
 prophet  against  the  Gentiles  ; 
 
 (2)  Against  Egypt,  against  the  army 
 of  Pharaoh-necho  king  of  Egypt,  which 
 was  by  the  river  Euphrates  in  Carche- 
 mish,  which  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of 
 Babylon  smote  in  the  fourth  year  of 
 Jehoiakim  the  son  of  Josiah  king  of 
 Judah. 
 
 (3)  Order  ye  the  buckler  and  shield, 
 and  draw  near  to  battle,     w   Harness 
 
 character  of  the  prophet's  helper.  He  was  discouraged 
 and  desponding,  and  yet  the  very  despondency  was 
 that  of  an  ambitious  temperament  eager  to  take  the 
 lead.  His  master  was  in  prison.  Neither  king  nor 
 nobles  listened  to  him.  He  had,  it  may  be,  drawn  for 
 himself  an  ideal  picture  of  a  successful  work,  in  which 
 he  himself  should  be  a  chief  agent.  (See  Note  on  chap, 
 xliii.  Li.)  "  Grief  was  added  to  his  sighing,  and  he 
 found  no  rest."  And  now  all  seemed  failure.  The 
 prophet  had  passed  through  such  moods  himself  (chaps. 
 xv.  10 — 21,  xx.  7 — 18),  and  knew,  when  they  found 
 utterance  in  words  that  were  the  very  echo  of  his 
 own,  how  to  deal  with  them.  The  scribe  must  accept 
 the  doom  that  fell  on  him  as  on  others.  He  must  not 
 hope  to  pass  unscathed,  still  less  to  attain  the  "  great 
 things  "  which  he  had  imagined  for  himself.  It  was 
 enough  that  his  life  was  given  him  "  as  a  prey  "  (chaps. 
 xxi.  9,  xxxix.  18),  as  spoil  rescued  from  the  spoiler. 
 What  his  future  was  to  be  was  not  revealed  unto  him, 
 but  the  closing  words  pointed  to  a  life  of  wandering 
 and  exile ;  and  Baruch  was,  we  know,  among  those  who 
 went  down  to  Egypt  (chap,  xliii.  6),  and  had  probably 
 been  for  some  years  at  Babylon  (Bar.  i.  1).  According 
 to  one  tradition  he  died  in  Egypt  (Jerome,  Oomm.  in 
 Isa.  xxx.) ;  another  represents  him  as  having  returned 
 to  Babylon  after  his  master's  death,  and  ending  his 
 life  there.  The  apocryphal  book  that  bears  his  name 
 testifies  to  the  reverence  felt  for  him  by  a  later  genera- 
 tion. It  is  not  without  interest  to  note  the  general 
 parallelism  of  the  words  in  which  Elisha  rebuked  the 
 covetousness  of  Gehazi  (2  Kings  v.  26)  and  those 
 with  which  our  Lord  met  the  ambitious  recpiest  of  the 
 sons  of  Zebedee  (Matt,  xx.  20—23). 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 (!)  The  word  of  the  Lord  .  .  .—We  come  here 
 upon  something  like  the  traces  of  a  plan  in  the  arrange- 
 ment of  Jeremiah's  prophecies.  Those  that  were  con- 
 cerned exclusively  with  the  outside  nations  of  the 
 heathen  were  collected  together,  and  attached  as  an 
 appendix  to  those  which  were  addressed  directly  to  his 
 own  people.  Most  of  those  that  follow  were  connected 
 historically  with  chap.  xxv.  15 — 26,  and  may  be 
 regarded  as  the  development  of  what  is  there  given 
 in  outline,  and  belong  accordingly  to  the  reign  of 
 Jehoiakim  (circ.  B.C.  607). 
 
 (8)  Against  Egypt,  against  the  army  of 
 Pharaoh-necho.— The  king  of  Egypt  thus  named 
 was  the  last  of  its  great  native  sovereigns.     Ho  was 
 
 the  sixth  king  of  the  twenty-sixth  dynasty  of  Manetho, 
 and  succeeded  his  father  Psammetichus  in  B.C.  610,  and 
 reigned  for  sixteen  years.  Herodotus  (ii.  158,  159) 
 relates  as  his  chief  achievements  that  ho  anticipated 
 the  Suez  Canal  by  endeavouring  to  connect  the  Nile 
 with  the  Red  Sea,  but  was  stopped  by  an  oracle, 
 and  sent  a  fleet  of  Phoenician  ships  to  circumnavi- 
 gate Africa.  One  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
 lives  were  said  to  have  been  sacrificed  in  the  former 
 enterprise.  On  desisting  from  it,  he  turned  his  atten- 
 tion to  other  plans  of  eoncpiest,  defeated  the  Syrians 
 at  Magdolus,  near  Pelusium,  and  took  Cadytis,  a  great 
 city  of  Syria,  which  Herodotus  describes  as  not  much 
 less  than  Sardis.  By  some  writers  this  has  been  iden- 
 tified with  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  in  2  Chron.  xxxvi. 
 3,  the  name  Cadytis  being  looked  on  as  equivalent  to 
 Kadusha  (=the  holy  city ) ,  and  so  anticipating  the  modern 
 Arabic  name  of  El-Khuds.  Herodotus,  however  (iii.  5), 
 describes  it  as  being  near  the  coast,  and  this  has  led  to 
 its  being  identified  with  Gaza,  or  Kedesh-Naphtali,  or 
 a  Hittite  city — Ketesh — on  the  Orontes,  near  which  the 
 great  commercial  and  military  road  turned  off  for 
 Damascus  and  the  Eivphrates.  In  any  case,  it  was 
 in  the  course  of  this  invasion,  directed  against  the 
 Babylonian  Empire,  then  ruled  by  Nabopolassar,  the 
 father  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  that  he  defeated  and 
 slew  Josiah  at  Megiddo  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  20—24), 
 deposed  Jehoahaz.  and  appointed  Jehoiakim  (2  Chron. 
 xxxvi.  4).  By  some  writers,  accordingly  (R.  S.  Poole, 
 in  Smith's  Diet.  Bible,  Art.  Pharaoh-necho),  Megiddo 
 is  identified  with  the  Magdolus  of  Herodotus.  His 
 army  advanced,  and  took  the  city  of  Carchemish, 
 by  some  (Hitzig)  identified  with  Cireesium,  an  island 
 formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  Chaboras  and  the 
 Euphrates ;  by  others  (Rawlinsou)  with  a  Hittite  city, 
 now  Jerablus,  a  corruption  of  the  Greek  Hierapolis, 
 much  higher  up  the  Euphrates.  (See  Note  on  Isa. 
 x.  9).  After  the  capture  Necho  appears  to  have  re- 
 turned to  Egypt.  Three  years  later  (B.C.  606)  Car- 
 chemish was  taken  by  Nebuchadnezzar  with  the  almost 
 total  defeat  of  Necho's  army,  he  himself  having  returned 
 to  Egypt,  and  it  is  this  defeat  of  which  Jeremiah  now 
 proceeds  to  speak  as  in  a  song  of  anticipated  triumph 
 at  the  downfall  of  the  Egyptian  oppressor. 
 
 (3. i)  Order  ye  the  buckler  and  shield  .  .  . — 
 The  poem  opens  with  a  summons  to  the  hosts  of 
 Nebuchadnezzar  to  prepare  for  their  victory.  First 
 the  foot-soldiers  are  called,  then  the  horse,  lastly  the 
 light-armed  troops. 
 
 14G 
 
The  Mm-ch  of  Pharaoh's  Arm;/ 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XI, VI. 
 
 • 
 
 the  horses;  and  gei  up,  ye  horsemen, 
 and  staml  forth  with  yowr  helmets; 
 furbish  the  Bpears,  ana  put  on  the 
 brigandines.  (5)  Wherefore  have  1  si'm 
 them  dismayed  and  turned  away  back? 
 Bud  their  mighty  ones  are  '  beaten  down, 
 ami  are    Bled  apace,  and  look  not  bad  : 
 
 for  fear  WOt  round  about,  saith  the 
 LORD.      '"  Lei    not    the  swift  fiee  a-way, 
 
 nor  the  mighty  man  escape;  theyshaU 
 
 stninli  I   fall  toward  the  north   l>\ 
 
 the  river  Euphrates.  (7)  Who  is  this  that 
 Cometh  up  as  a  flood,  whose  waters  are 
 moved  as  the  rivers?  <8)  Egypt  riseth 
 up  like  a  Hood,  and  his  waters  are  moved 
 like  the  rivers;  and  he  saith,  I  will  go 
 up,  ami  will   cover  the  earth;    I   will 
 
 !    M'  b  ,    ' 
 
 1  Ui:b.,/kda/Ughl. 
 
 M     fir' 
 llC      untv 
 
 destroy  the  city  and  the  inhabitants 
 thereof.  « lomi  up,  ye  horsei :  and 
 rage,  ye  chariots;  and  lei  the  mighty 
 men  come  forth  ;  ■  the  Ethiopian 
 'the  Libyans,  thai  handle  the  shield; 
 and  the  Lydians,  that  handle  and  bend 
 the  how.     ,!'"  For  this  it  the  day  of  the 
 
 Lord  (  Ion  of  hosts,  a    day  of  \ , 
 
 thai  he  may  avenge  him  of  his  adver- 
 saries :  and  the  sword  shall  devour,  and 
 it  shall  be  satiate  and  made  drunk  with 
 their  blood ;  for  the  Lord.  God  of  hosts 
 hath  a  sacrifice  in  the  north  country  by 
 the  river  Euphrates.  ,ll)  Go  up  into 
 Gilead,  and  take  balm,  0  virgin,  the 
 daughter  of  Egypt:  in  vain  shalt  thou 
 use  many   medicines;  for  5  thou  shalt 
 
 Put  on  tho  brigandines.— The  history  of  the 
 word  is  not  without  interest.  Light-armed  skir- 
 mishers were  known  in  Italian  .as  "brigands"  [brigemti 
 
 — literally.  "  <|iiarrellers"i  ;  the  light  coat  of  mail  WOTD 
 by  them  was  accordingly  known  as  a  "  brigandine." 
 When     the     Italian     word     lieeaine     sy vinous    with 
 
 robbera  by  land  or  sea.  the  ship  need  by  them  was 
 called  a  origanHno,  and  from  tliis  is  derived  oni 
 English  "brig"  \V.  A.  Wright:  Bible  Word  Book). 
 The  won!  "bngandine"  is  m rdingly  need  by  writers 
 
 of  the  sixteenth  eentnry  in  both  senses :  by  Spenser, 
 
 "  Like  as  a  warlike  brigandine  applied 
 To  lib-lit ;  '• 
 
 and  by  Milton — 
 
 "Then  put  on  all  thy  gorgeous  arms,  thy  lielmet 
 And  brigandine  of  brass  " 
 
 (Same.  Agonist.,  1120) — iu  tho  same  sense  as  here  and 
 in  chap.  li.  3. 
 
 Wherefore  have  I  seen  them  dismayed 
 .  .  .? — The  prophet  speaks  as  seeing  already  in  his 
 mind's  eye  the  confusion  of  the  defeated  army,  with 
 no  way  to  escape,  driven  back  on  the  Euphrates.  In 
 the  ••  fear  round  about  "  i  Magor-misaabib  we  have  one 
 of  his  characteristic  formula  (chape,  vi.  25,  xx.  3,  10, 
 xlix.  29). 
 
 <■•  •'  Who  is  this  that  cometh  up  as  a  flood? 
 •  .  .—The  Hebrew  word  for  "Hood''  is  used  as  a 
 proper  name  almost  exclusively  (Dan.  xii.  .">,»;  being  the 
 only  exception)  for  the  Nile  (e.jr.,  Gen.  xli.  1—3;  K 
 ii.  :!,  iv.  !•;  Amos  viii.  8,  ix.  5).  and  thus  the  very  form 
 of  tlie  question  points  to  the  answer  that  follows'  The 
 prophet  goes  back,  as  an  English  poet  might  have  done 
 it'ter  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  to  the 
 
 ime  when  all  the  strength  of    Egypt  had  I n  pound 
 
 forth  in  the  exultation  of  anticipated  victory*,  as  the 
 gnat  river  of  Egypt  poured  its  waters.  The  word 
 for  -  riven,"  though  more  general,  has  a  like  allusive 
 reference,  being  used  in  Exod.  vii.  19,  viii.  •".  and  Esek. 
 
 xxxii.  2,  1  I  for  the  arms  or  canals  of  the  Nile. 
 
 Tho  Ethiopians  and  tho  Libyans.— In  the 
 Hebrew,  C^l,   and    l'<it.     The  verse  describee    the 
 
 prominent  elements  in  the  composition  of  tie'  Egyptian 
 
 army.  The  "chariots  and  horses"  had  long  been  pro- 
 verbial .  1  Kings x. 28, 29;  2Chron.i.l6;  Exod. xv.  19). 
 The  Cushites  were  the  Ethiopians  of  the  Upper  Valley 
 
 of  the  Nile,  sometimes,  as  under  Zerah  (2  Chron.  xiv. 
 ;*  and  Tirhakah  2  Kin^s  xix.  9),  asserting  their  inde- 
 pendence, hut  at  this  time  subject  to  Necho.  Tlie 
 name  Phut  meets  OS,  with  t'u^h  and  Mizraini,  in  the 
 list  of  the  sons  of  Ham  in  (  b-n.   X.  6  ;   and  presumably, 
 
 therefon,  belongs  to  an  African  people,     wherevi  r  it 
 
 is  mentioned   by   the  prophets  it   is  as  an  ally  or  tribu- 
 
 i  tary  of  Egypt  Nahum  iii.  9-  Esek.  xxvii.  10,  xxx.  5, 
 xxwiii.  .",  i.  The  I. XX.  version  renders  it  by  Libyan, 
 and  is  followed  by  the  Vulgate  and  the  English."  Iu 
 
 Nahum  iii.  9,  however.  Phut  is  distinguished  from  the 
 Libyans  (  =  Lubim);  and  the  LXX.  has  but  one  word  for 
 both.  The  word  PET  is  found  on  Egyptian  inscrip- 
 tions, both  as  meaning  a  "  bow  ''  and  as  the  name  of  a 
 people,  and  this  may  correspond  to  the  Put  of  the 
 Hebrew  text.  The  Lydians.  or  Ludim,  are  named  in  the 
 list  of  Hamite  nations  as  descended  from  Mi/.raim 
 (Gen.  x.  13);  the  name  is  joined  with  Phut  iu  Exek. 
 i  xxvii.  10,  with  Oush  and  Phut  iu  Ezck.  xxx.  4,  5.  This 
 would  .seem  to  point  to  an  African  rather  than  an 
 Asiatic  people  like  the  Lydians.    <  in  the  other  hand, 
 
 we  learn  from  Herodotus    ii.  158    that,  some  tie 
 forty  years  before   the  time  of  Jeremiah   an  I 
 Psammcticbus  I.  had  settled  a  large  COlonyof  Ionian  and 
 
 Carian  emigrants  on  both  bank-  of  the  Nile,  between 
 
 Bubastis  and  the  Pelttsiac  mouth  of  that  river,  and 
 that  Amasis  afterwards  formed  them  into  a  body- 
 guard at  Memphis.    It  is  obvious  that  the  fa 
 
 the  monarchy  which   had   its  capital  at    Sardis  might 
 
 easily  lead   to  thes,.  Crnks  being  cla 1  as   Lydians, 
 
 and  that  thus  the  name  without  entering  iuto  its 
 earlier  ethnological  significance)  would  acquire  a  new 
 prominence  at  the  time  when  the  prophets  wi 
 
 connexion  with  Egypt. 
 H"'  This  is  tho" day  of  the  Lord  God  of  hosts. 
 
 — The  prophet  contemplate-  the  issue  of  all  these 
 preparations,  and  sees  that  they  will  end  in  a  disastrous 
 
 overthrow,  the  righteous  retribution  for  long  years  of 
 
 cruelty  and  Outrage.      la   doing  BO  he   falls  back 
 
 the  langi  iriier  prophets    [si   xxxiv. 8;  Zeph-L 
 
 7),  in  part  also  upon  thai  of  Dent,  xxxii.  12.     There  is 
 
 ■  great  sacrifice," and  the  army  of  Egypt  is  the 
 
 destined  victim:  and  the  banks  of  the  Euphrat. 
 Carchemish)  arc  to  be  a-  the  altar. 
 
 W  Go  up  into  Gilead,  and  take  balm  .  .  . — 
 
 The  words  have  the  tone  of  a  triumphant  irony.  Tlie 
 "  balm  of  Gilead"    was   looked   on   as  a  cure  for  all 
 
 147 
 
Prophecy  of  1.' ebuchadnezzar's 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   XLVI. 
 
 Invasion  of  Egypt, 
 
 not  be  cured.  <12>  The  nations  have 
 heard  of  thy  shame,  and  thy  cry  hath 
 filled  the  land :  for  the  mighty  man 
 hath  stumbled  against  the  mighty,  and 
 they  are  fallen  both  together. 
 
 (is)  The  word  that  the  Loed  spake 
 to  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  how  Nebuchad- 
 rezzar king  of  Babylon  should  come  and 
 smite  the  land  of  Egypt. 
 
 <14)  Declare  ye  in  Egypt,  and  publish 
 in  Migdol,  and  publish  in  Noph  and  in 
 Tahpanhes :  say  ye,  Stand  fast,  and 
 prepare  thee ;  for  the  sword  shall  devour 
 round  about  thee.  (15>  Why  are  thy 
 valiant  men   swept   away?    they  stood 
 
 1  Heb.,  nii'llipUid 
 the/alter. 
 
 Heb.,  make  thee 
 tmetriimenti     of 
 
 captivity. 
 
 not,  because  the  Lord  did  drive  them. 
 (i6)jje  i  ma(je  maily  to  fall,  yea,  one  fell 
 upon  another :  and  they  said,  Arise,  and 
 let  us  go  again  to  our  own  people,  and 
 to  the  land  of  our  nativity,  from  the 
 oppressing  sword.  <17'  They  did  cry 
 there,  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  is  but  a 
 noise ;  he  hath  passed  the  time  ap- 
 pointed. <18'  As  I  live,  saith  the  King, 
 whose  name  is  the  Lord  of  hosts,  Surely 
 as  Tabor  is  among  the  mountains,  and 
 as  Carmel  by  the  sea,  so  shall  he  come. 
 (19>  O  thou  daughter  dwelling  in  Egypt, 
 2 furnish  thyself  to  go  into  captivity: 
 for  Noph  shall  be  waste  and  desolate 
 
 wounds  (chaps,  viii.  22,  li.  8),  but  the  wounds  which 
 Egypt  received  at  Carchemish  would  be  found  incur- 
 able. It  proved,  in  fact,  to  be  a  blow  from  which  the 
 old  Egyptian  monarchy  never  recovered.  In  the  ' '  vir- 
 gin, the  daughter  of  Egypt  " — virgin,  as  being  till  then, 
 as  it  boasted,  uuconquered  (Isa.  xxiii.  12) — we  have  a 
 like  touch  of  sarcasm.  The  report  of  the  defeat  and 
 the  utter  rout  and  confused  flight  that  followed 
 (verse  12)  would  spread  far  aud  wide  among  the 
 nations. 
 
 (is)  The  word  that  the  Lord  spake  .  .  .—The 
 opening  words  clearly  point  to  this  as  a  distinct  pro- 
 phecy from  the  preceding,  pointing  to  subsequeut 
 events,  and  it  was  probably  delivered  much  later, 
 possibly  in  connexion  with  chap,  xliii.  10,  and  placed 
 where  it  is  as  belonging  to  the  series  of  predictions 
 which  had  Egypt  as  their  subject. 
 
 (li)  Declare  ye  in  Egypt.— The  general  procla- 
 mation is  afterwards  defined  by  the  names  of  the 
 cities  which  were  the  more  immediate  objects  of 
 Nebuchadrezzar's  attack.  For  the  three  cities  named 
 see  Note  on  chap.  xliv.  1. 
 
 (15)  Why  are  thy  valiant  men  swept  away  ?— 
 Better,  Why  is  thy  strong  bull  dragged  away  ?  The 
 Hebrew  verbs  are  in  the  singular,  and  the  adjective  is 
 given  in  the  same  number  both  in  the  LXX.  and  Vulgate. 
 The  former  gives  the  renderiug  "  Why  did  Apis  flee 
 from  thee,  and  thy  chosen  calf  abode  not,"  as  if  re- 
 ferring to  the  bull  Apis  as  the  representative  of  Osiris, 
 the  chief  deity  of  Egypt;  and  this  version  receives 
 some  support  from  the  use  of  the  Hebrew  words  for 
 "oxen,"  "bulls,"  "  beasts,"  inlsa.xxxiv.  7  andPss.  xxii. 
 12,  lxviii.  30,  and  from  the  fact  that  the  same  word 
 is  used  in  Isa,  i.  24,  xlix.  26  as  a  Divine  name  "  the 
 mighty  one  of  Israel."  So  understood,  the  prophet's 
 words  contemplate  the  triumph  of  the  God  of  Israel 
 over  the  theriomorphic  deity  of  Egypt.  We  may  find 
 a  literal  fulfilment  of  the  words  in  the  slaughter  of 
 the  sacred  bull  by  Cambyses  (Herod,  iii.  29). 
 
 (16)  Arise,  and  let  us  go  again  to  our  own 
 people. — The  case  contemplated  is  that  of  the  settlers 
 in  Egypt,  the  Lydians,  Ionians,  and  Carians  (see  Note  on 
 verse  9)  whom  Psammetichus  had  encouraged,  or  the 
 fugitives  from  Judsea  of  chap,  xliii.  5 — 7.  These  should 
 find  that  it  was  no  longer  a  safe  home  for  them.  The 
 "  oppressing  sword"  is  beyond  question  the  right 
 rendering,  but  it  is  curious  that  both  the  LXX.  and 
 Vulgate  have  taken  the  adjective  in  different  senses  :  the 
 former  giving  "  from  the  Greek  sword,"  as  if  the  word 
 for  oppressing  (Ionah)  meant  Ionian;    and  the  latter, 
 
 the  apparently  strange  version,  a  facie  gladii  columbce 
 ("  from  before  the  sword  of  the  dove").  See,  however, 
 as  giving  a  possible  explanation  of  the  words  as  ref  erring 
 to  the  dove  as  a  symbol  of  the  Chaldaean  power,  the  Note 
 on  chap.  xxv.  38. 
 
 (I?)  They  did  cry  there  .  .  .—Better,  Tliere  they 
 cry  .  .  .  The  difficulty  of  the  verse  lias  led  to  very 
 various  renderings.  The  meaning  of  the  English  ver- 
 sion is  that  the  exiles  returning  to  their  own  land 
 would  say  that  Pharaoh  with  all  his  haughty  boasts  was 
 but  an  empty  noise,  that  he  had  passed  the  limit  of 
 God's  long-suffering,  and  that  the  day  of  retribution 
 had  come.  A  slight  change  in  the  Hebrew  words, 
 however,  gives,  They  have  called  the  name  of  Pharaoh 
 king  of  Egypt,  A  Noise ;  he  hath  passed  (or  lost)  the 
 appointed  season — i.e.,  the  time  allowed  by  the  long- 
 suffering  of  God.  This  is  supported  by  some  of  the 
 ancient  versions,  and  may  be  accepted  as  the  best 
 rendering.  The  LXX.  and  Vulg.  agree  in  taking  the ' 
 opening  words  as  an  imperative,  "  Gall  ye  the  name  of 
 Pharaoh  .  .  . ; "  but  the  former,  as  if  despairing  of  the 
 meaning,  simply  reproduces  the  Hebrew  words  that 
 follow  in  Greek  letters,  while  the  latter  translates, 
 Tumultum  adduxit  tempus  ("  Time,  the  appointed  time, 
 has  brought  the  noise  " — i.e.,  of  war  and  destruction), 
 as  if  it  were,  like  Magor-missabib,  a  new  nomen  et  omen 
 given  to  the  Egyptian  king.  Luther,  giving  another 
 meaning  to  the  words  translated  "  appointed  time," 
 renders  "  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  lies  prostrate,  he 
 has  left  his  tent,"  Ewald.  following  the  line  of  the 
 Vulgate,  renders  the  name  by  which  Pharaoh  is  spoken 
 of  as  "  tumult,  which  a  sign  or  '  moment '  disperses," 
 the  "  tumult "  being  his  boastful  clamour,  the  "  sign  " 
 the  token  of  Jehovah's  will.  Hitzig  agrees  more  closely 
 with  the  English  version  in  the  latter  clause,  and  it 
 may  be  accepted  as  having  on  the  whole  most  in  its 
 favour. 
 
 (18)  Surely  as  Tabor  is  among  the  moun- 
 tains .  .  . — Nebuchadnezzar  in  his  high-towering 
 greatness  is  compared  to  two  of  the  most  conspicuous 
 mountains  of  Palestine,  Tabor  rising  in  solitary  great- 
 ness 1,350  feet  above  the  plain,  Carmel  1,805  feet 
 above  the  sea.  So,  in  chap.  xxii.  6,  the  king  of  Judah 
 is  compared  to  "  Gilead  and  the  head  of  Lebanon." 
 
 (19)  O  thou  daughter  dwelling  in  Egypt.— 
 As  in  verse  11,  the  daughter  is  Egypt  itself  personified. 
 She  is  to  prepare  herself  (literally,  with  the  instru- 
 ments of  captivity),  as  with  "bag  and  baggage"  for  a 
 long  journey.  (Comp.  Ezek.  xii.  3.)  Noph  (=  Mem- 
 phis) is  to  be  left  as  a  depopulated  city. 
 
 its 
 
The  Downfall  of  Egypt. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XLVI. 
 
 77/.  Return  and  /.'■  ■'  ■•/Israel. 
 
 without  an  inhabitant.  ''-'"'  Egypt  w  like 
 »  very  fair  heifer,  buf  destruction  cometh; 
 it  oometh  out  of  the  aorth.  '-'  \ >  o 
 her  hired  men  are  in  the  midst  of  her 
 like  '  fatted  bullocks;  fur  they  also  are 
 turned  back,  and  are  tied  away  together  : 
 they  did  noi  stand,  because  the  da]  of 
 their  calamity  was  come  upon  them,  and 
 the  time  of  their  visitation.  <-'  The 
 voice  thereof  shall  yo  like  a  serpent  ; 
 for  they  shall  march  with  an  army,  and 
 come  against  her  with  axes,  as  hewers 
 of  wood.  ' -"■'  They  shall  cut  down  her 
 forest,  saith  the  Lord,  though  it  cannot 
 be  searched;  because  they  are  more 
 t  han  t  he  grasshoppers,  and  are  innumer- 
 able. <-"  The  daughter  of  Egypt  shall 
 be  confounded:  she  shall  be  delivered 
 into  the  hand  of  the  people  of  the 
 north.  <W  The  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel,  saith;  Behold,  I  will 
 punish  the -'■  multitude  of  No,  and 
 Pharaoh,   and  Egypt,  with  their  gods, 
 
 'lock*  of 
 
 2  Or,  noitriMher. 
 
 a  laa.  n.13:  443, 
 
 14    I;   .I. 
 
 »'.  in. 
 
 I,  rll.  10.  34  : 
 
 n. 
 
 4  Or,    not    utterly 
 
 culth. 
 
 and    their  kings;   even  I'haraoh,  and  ■ill 
 t  lieiii    t  hat     t  rust    in    him  :    -'     and   I   will 
 
 deliver  them   into  the  hand   of  those 
 that    seek    their   lives,    and    into    the 
 
 hand      of      Xehuchadre/./ar       king      of 
 
 Babylon,   and    into    the   hand    of    his 
 
 servants:    and    afterward     it    shall     be 
 inhabited,  as  in  the  days  of  old,  saith 
 
 t  he    LoKli. 
 
 <W«But  fear  not  thou,  <>  my  servant 
 Jacob,  and  be  not  dismayed,  0  brael: 
 
 for,  behold,  I  will   save    thee   from  afar 
 oil',  and  thy  seed  from  the   land  of  their 
 
 captivity;  and  Jacob  shall  return,  and 
 be  in  rest  and  at  ease,  and  none  shall 
 lii, it  afraid.  '-"'  fear  thou  not,  O 
 Jacob  my  servant,  saith  the  Lord:  for 
 I  urn  with  thee;  fori  will  make  a  full 
 end  of  all  the  nations  whither  I  have 
 driven  thee:  but  I  will  not  make  'a  full 
 end  of  thee,  but  correct  thee  in  measure; 
 yet  will  I  '  not  leave  thee  wholly  un- 
 punished. 
 
 -  Kgypt  is  like  a  very  fair  heifer.— The  simi- 
 litude points,  like  the  "  strong  one "  of  verse  L5,  tothe 
 
 Apis  worship  of  rOirypt.  The  nation  is  like  its  god, 
 The  figure  is  continued  in  the  wonts  t ii.it  follow. 
 There  comes  from  the  north  (from  the  land  of  the 
 Ohaldees,  us  in  chap,  i.  L),  not  "destruction,"  but  a 
 gadfly  that  shall  sting  the  heifer  into  the  madness  ,.r 
 agony.    So.  in  Na.  vii.  is,  the  "  By"  of  Egypt  and  the 
 
 •liee"  of   Assyria   are   invited    to  work  evil  on   .Indali. 
 
 The  words  find  a  striking  parallel  in  the  Greek  legend 
 of  lo  [probably  to  be  identified  with  the  Egyptian 
 [sis]  transformed  into  a  heifer,  and  her  gadfly  tor- 
 mentor, this  also  coimeeteil  with  the  Apis  or  Mnevis 
 deities  of    Egypt    i-'Eschyl.  Prom.  V.  569  ,       The   word 
 
 for  "destruction"  is  not  found  elsewhere,  but  the  ety- 
 mology suggests  the  idea  of  "pinching"  or  "stinging," 
 and  the  meaning  "gadfly"  is  accepted  by  many  recent 
 scholars. 
 
 (-'>  Her  hired  men  are  in  the  midst  of  her 
 like  fatted  bullocks.— Literally,  bullocks  of  the 
 stall.  The  prophet  harps,  as  it  were,  on  the  same 
 image,  The  mercenaries — Ionian*.  Carians,  and  others 
 — in  the  army  of  Pharaoh-Hophra,  who  had  their  camp 
 
 at    Bubastifi     Herod,    ii.    l"i_!.    L63  .    should    be    like    a 
 
 drove  of  terrified  cattle,  fed  to  the  full,  driven  to  the 
 slaughter-house. 
 
 i--'1  Tho  voice  thereof  shall  go  like  a  serpent. 
 — Better,  her  voice — Le.,  the  voice  of  Egypt.    In  early 
 prophecies  Egypt  had  been  compared  to  a  "dragon 
 or   "serpent"   (laa.   xxvii.   1,    li.   9;    Pe.   lxxh.   13). 
 Here  the  serpent  is  represented  as  hissing  in  its  rage 
 
 and   terror  in   the  forest  against  which   the  enemies  are 
 
 advancing.  The  sign  then  gives  way  to  the  thing 
 signified,  and  the  latter  clause  of  the  verse  brings 
 before  us  the  hosts  of  the  Cbaldtean  allies,  barbarous 
 tribes  like  the  Scythians,  MassagetcB,  and  Sacs,  armed 
 
 with  axes  instead  of  swords  or  -pears  Herod  i.  -7"i. 
 iv.  ."ii.  They  OOme,  but  it  is  to  cut  down  the  trees  ,,f 
 the  forest,  /.c.the  symliols  of  the  power  of  Egypt,  and 
 there    is    no    power    to    resist    them    (laa.  iTSS).     The 
 
 forest  is  so  dense  that  the  trees  cannot  i.e  counted,  lmt 
 the  fellers  of  the  ti s  are  as  numerous,  and  the  forest 
 
 is  destined  to  destruction  at  the  hands  of  "{he people 
 
 of  the  north." 
 
 The   multitude  Of  No.— More    accurately.    I 
 
 punish  Amon  No.    The  first  word  is  the  Egyptian 
 Amnion  orHammon,  lmt  is  probably  used  also,  with  a 
 
 natural  paronomasia  on  the  name  of  the  city,  in  its 
 Hebrew  sense  of  "multitude."  "No"  here,  and  as 
 No  Anion  in  Nail.  iii.  8,  stands  for  Tlielie-.  the  capital 
 of  Upper  Egypt  The  name  appears  in  the  form  XIA 
 in  Assyrian  inscriptions.  Compare  also  Ezek.  x\x. 
 14-16. 
 
 -     Afterward  it  shall  be  inhabited,  as  in  the 
 
 days  .  .  . — As  in  the  earlier  utterance  of  Isaiah  xix. 
 21 — 26]  and  the  contemporary  prophecies  of  E/.ckiel 
 (xxix.  11 — It)  I  there  is  a  gleam  01  hope  at  the  end 
 of  the  vision  of  judgment.  Egypt  was  to  revive, 
 though  not  again  to  take  its  place  among  the  con- 
 querors and  tyrants  of  the  world.  (Oomp.  chaps. 
 xlviii.  17.  xlix.  39. 
 
 »)  Fear  not  thou,  O  my  servant  Jacob  .  .  . 
 
 — The  words  that  follow  are  found  also  in  chap.  XXX. 
 10.  11.  and  have  been  Commented  "li  there,  and  ware 
 either  inserted  here  by  the  prophet  himself,  or  hy  some 
 
 later  editor  of  his  writings,  as  an  appropriate  con- 
 clusion, contrasting  the  care  of  Jehovah  for  His  people 
 
 with   the   sentence    upon    the  power  in  which  they  '■■ 
 
 trusting  for  protection,     Why  should  they  insist,  as 
 
 in  chap,  xliii.  7.  on  placing  themselves  in  a  position 
 which   would  involve    them    in    the  destruction   which 
 
 the  prophet  thus   foretells?     The  words,  it    may  be 
 
 noticed,   are    a    manifest    echo  of  the    word-  of    I-aiah 
 
 xli.  18,  xliii.  5).      Such  a  consolation  was.  we   may  well 
 
 believe,    needed     by    the    people    when    they    saw    the 
 
 armies  of  Nebuchadnezzar  laying  waste  the  country 
 
 in  whose  protection  they  had  trusted,  and  where  they 
 had  hoped  to  find  a  home.  Better  things,  they  are 
 told,  were  in  store  for  them,  even  a  return  to  the  land 
 of  their  fathers. 
 
 149 
 
The  Word  of  the  Lord 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XLVIII. 
 
 against  the  Philistines. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVII.— d)  The  word  of 
 the  Lord  that  came  to  Jeremiah  the 
 prophet  against  the  Philistines,  before 
 that  Pharaoh  smote  1  Gaza. 
 
 (2)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ; 
 
 Behold,  "  waters  rise  up  out  of  the 
 north,  and  shall  be  an  overflowing  flood, 
 and  shall  overflow  the  land,  and  "  all 
 that  is  therein ;  the  city,  and  them  that 
 dwell  therein  :  then  the  men  shall  cry, 
 and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  shall 
 howl.  <3>  At  the  noise  of  the  stamping 
 of  the  hoofs  of  his  strong  horses,  at  the 
 rushing  of  his  chariots,  and  at  the 
 rumbling  of  his  wheels,  the  fathers  shall 
 not  look  back  to  their  children  for  feeble- 
 ness of  hands ;  W  because  of  the  day 
 that  cometh  to  spoil  all  the  Philistines, 
 and  to  cut  off  from  Tyrus  and  Zidon 
 
 I  B.C. 
 
 cir.  600. 
 
 1  Hel).,  Azzah. 
 
 2  Heb.,  the  fulness 
 thereof. 
 
 3  Hel).,  the  isle. 
 
 4  Hob.,  gather  thy- 
 self. 
 
 5  Heb.,  How  canst 
 thout 
 
 every  helper  that  remaineth :  for  the 
 Lord  will  spoil  the  Philistines,  the 
 remnant  of  3the  country  of  Caphtor. 
 (5)  Baldness  is  come  upon  Gaza ;  Ash- 
 kelon  is  cut  off  with  the  remnant  of 
 their  valley :  how  long  wilt  thou  cut 
 thyself?  '6)  0  thou  sword  of  the  Lord, 
 how  long  will  it  be  ere  thou  be  quiet  ? 
 4  put  up  thyself  iuto  thy  scabbard,  rest, 
 and  be  still.  (7)  5  How  can  it  be  quiet, 
 seeing  the  Lord  hath  given  it  a  charge 
 against  Ashkelon,  and  against  the  sea 
 shore  ?  there  hath  he  appointed  it. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVIII.  —  «  Against 
 Moab  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel ; 
 
 Woe  unto  Nebo !  for  it  is  spoiled : 
 Kiriathaim  is  confounded   and   taken : 
 
 XL  VII. 
 
 (!)  Against  the  Philistines.— Here  also  we  have, 
 as  in  the  preceding  chapter,  a  message  connected  with 
 chap.  xxv.  20.  The  Gaza  of  this  verse  is  the  Azzah  of 
 that,  and  the  date  is  fixed  at  a  time  prior  to  Neeho's 
 attack  on  that  city.  Writers  who,  like  Hitzig.  identify 
 the  Cadytis  of  Herod,  ii.  159,  iii.  5,  with  Gaza,  sup- 
 pose his  attack  to  have  been  made  on  his  return  from 
 his  victory  at  Carchemish.  The  date  of  the  prophecy 
 is  thus  fixed  in  the  interval  between  the  two  events. 
 Ezek.  xxv.  15  should  be  compared  as  a  contemporary 
 and  parallel  prediction. 
 
 (2)  Behold,  waters  rise  up  out  of  the  north. 
 — The  reference  to  the  north  iudicates  that  the  in- 
 vasion which  the  prophet  contemplates  is  that  of 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  not  of  Pharaoh-necho.  For  the 
 metaphor  of  the  overflowing  river  see  chap.  xlvi.  7 ; 
 Isa.  viii.  7.  For  "  the  land  and  all  that  is  therein " 
 read,  as  in  the  margin,  "  the  laud  and  the  fulness 
 thereof." 
 
 (3)  The  fathers  shall  not  look,  back  to  their 
 children. — The  selfishness  of  panic  was  to  reach  its 
 highest  point,  and  to  crush  out  the  instincts  of  natural 
 affection.  Even  fathers  would  be  content  to  save 
 themselves,  regardless  of  their  children's  lives. 
 
 W  To  cut  off  from  Tyrus  and  Zidon.— The  two 
 Phoenician  cities  are  coupled  with  Philistia.  Both,  as 
 occupying  the  sea-board  of  Palestine.were  to  suffer  from 
 Nebuchadnezzar's  invasion.  Ps.  lxxxiii.  7  indicates 
 that  they  were  not  unfrequeutly  in  alliance.  In  the 
 "  helper  that  remaineth"  we  have  probably  a  reference 
 to  the  foreign  mercenaries,  especially  the  Philistines, 
 employed  by  the  two  great  commercial  cities.  "  Caph- 
 tor" has  been  identified  with  Crete,  Cyprus,  Caria, 
 Cappadocia,  and  the  delta  of  the  Nile.  On  the  latter 
 view  the  name  is  held  to  be  connected  with  Coptic. 
 Amos  ix.  7  points  to  a  migration  of  the  people  known 
 as  Philistines  from  that  region,  and  there  is  accord- 
 ingly a  touch  of  scorn  in  the  way  in  which  Jeremiah 
 speaks  of  them  as  the  mere  "  remnant  of  Caphtor." 
 In  agreement  with  the  first  view  we  find  among  David's 
 mercenaries  the  Cherethim  and  Pelethim  (2  Sam.  viii. 
 18),  the  two  names  being  probably  modifications  of 
 Cretans  and  Philistines.     The  ethnological   table   of 
 
 Gen.  x.  14  connects  both  the  Philistines  and  the  Caph- 
 toriin  with  Mizraim  or  Egypt,  and  is,  so  far  as  it  goes, 
 in  favour  of  the  Egyptian  identification. 
 
 (5)  Baldness  is  come  upon  Gaza. — The  bald- 
 ness is  the  outward  sign  of  extremest  mourning  (chap, 
 xlviii.  37 ;  Isa.  xv.  2,  3),  perhaps,  also,  of  extremest 
 desolation  (Isa.  vii.  20). 
 
 Ashkelon  is  cut  off  .  .  .—Better,  perhaps, 
 Ashkelon  is  speechless.  The  LXX.  apparently  fol- 
 lowed a  different  text,  and  gives  "  the  remnant  of  the 
 Anakim"  instead  of  "the  remnant  of  their  valley." 
 Hitzig  adopts  this  rendering,  and  connects  it  with  the 
 known  fact  that  a  remnant  of  the  old  gigantic  non- 
 Semitic  race  had  taken  refuge  among  the  Philistines 
 (1  Sam.  xvii.  4 ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  22 ;  1  Chron.  xx.  5—8) 
 after  they  had  been  driven  from  Hebron  (Josh.  xiv. 
 12 — 15,  xv.  13,  14).  Others,  without  adopting  the 
 LXX.  reading,  interpret  the  word  rendered  "  their 
 valley"  as  meaning,  as  in  Isa.  xxxiii.  19,  those  that 
 speak  an  unintelligible  language,  barbarians  (Amalcim), 
 and  suppose  this  form  to  have  passed  in  the  LXX.  into 
 the  more  familiar  form  of  Anakim.  The  English  ver- 
 sion, however,  is  accepted  by  many  critics,  and  may 
 refer  to  Ashkelon  and  Gaza  as  the  "  remnant,"  the  last 
 resource  of  the  valley  (Enieh)  or  low-country  of  the 
 Philistines,  more  commonly  known  as  the  Bhephelah. 
 
 How  long  wilt  thou  cut  thyself? — The  words 
 point  to  a  ritual  of  supplication,  like  that  of  the  priests 
 of  Baal  in  1  Kings  xviii.  28,  as  prevailing  among  the 
 Philistines. 
 
 (6)  O  thou  sword  of  the  Lord  .  .  .—This  is 
 the  question  and  entreaty  of  the  Philistines,  "  When 
 will  there  be  an  end  of  war  ? "  And  the  prophet  has 
 but  one  answer :  the  sword  must  do  its  work  till  it 
 has  done  what  Jehovah  had  appointed  it  to  do. 
 
 (7)  Against  the  sea  shore. — In  the  "  sea  shore," 
 as  in  Ezek.  xxv.  16,  we  have  the  term  specially  ap- 
 propriate to  the  territory  of  the  Philistines. 
 
 XLYIII. 
 
 t1)  Against  Moab  thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
 hosts  .  .  . — Better,  with  a  different  punctuation,  Con- 
 cerning Moab  (this  being  the  title  of  the  section),  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  In  the  long  prophecy  that 
 follows  Jeremiah  in  part  follows  in  the  wake  of  "  the 
 
 150 
 
The  Word  of  the  Lord 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XLVJII. 
 
 against   1/ 
 
 'Misgab  is  confounded  and  dismayed. 
 
 ffl  77/i '/•«'  >aaZ2  b«  no  more  praise  of  Moab  : 
 in  Heshbon  they  have  devised  evilagainsi 
 il  ;  cOme,  and  let  ns  out  it  off  from  tetno" 
 a  nation.  also  thou  shall  'be  cut  down, 
 0  Madmen;  the  sword  shall  'pursue 
 thee.  (''  A  voice  of  crying  shall  be  from 
 Horonaim,  spoiling  ami  »;reat  destruc- 
 tion. ,"  Moab  is  destroyed;  her  little 
 ones  havi'  caused  a  cry  to  be  heard. 
 1,1  For  in  the  going  up  of  Luhith  v°  con- 
 
 1  Or,ttuh1ghplac&. 
 
 till  net. 
 
 :i  Hob.,    go    a/lrr 
 
 </»■<•. 
 
 1    Deb., 
 
 u  i//i  y  l 
 I &  5. 
 
 0 1  .  i  Hi 
 /,  oh.  17.  8. 
 B  |  h.  u  •: 
 
 tinual  weeping  shall  go  op;  for  in  the 
 
 going  down   of  Horonaiin    the  enemies 
 
 have  heard  a  cry  of  desi  ruction. 
 
 I  e  your  lives,  and  be  like 
 
 5  the  •  heath  in  the  wilderness.  <r  Woa 
 because  thou  hast  trusted  in  thy  works 
 
 and  in  thy  treasures,  thou  shall  also  I" 
 
 taken  :  and  ( 'heniosh  shall  go  forth  into 
 captivity  with  his  '  j « i- j.  -  - 1  s  a  ml  his  princes 
 together.  (H)  And  the  spoiler  shall  come 
 upon  every  city,  and  no  city  shall  escape  : 
 
 burden  of  B£oab"  in  [sa.  xv.,  xvi,  entering  even  more 
 
 fully    into     geographical    details.      (See    Notes    there.) 
 
 The   relations   between    Bfoab  and    [arael   had    for  a 
 
 knur  period  I d  more  or  Leas  uneasy.    The  former 
 
 had  been  tributary  to  the  latter  under  Ahab,  but  i>u 
 his  death    Mesha   revolted,  ami  a  war  ensued,  which 
 
 ended   In   tin-  defeat  lit'  tile   Moahitos  ley  till'  allied  forces 
 
 of  [srael,  Jndah,  and  Bdom  (2  filings  iii.).  They  re- 
 peated  their  attack,    however     -    Kings   xiii.  -JIM,  and 
 
 appear  to  have  occupied  the  territory  of  the  Trans- 
 jordanio  tribes  on  their  deportation  by  Tiglath-pileser. 
 
 Of  the  three  places  named.  N'elio,  memorable  as  the 
 summit  nf  Pisgah,  from  which  Moses  looked  U]ion  the 
 land   of   promise,    and    forming    ]iai't    of    the   range   of 
 
 the  mountains  of  A  ha  rim  (Dent,  x x \ i i .  19,  xxxiv.  1), 
 has  been  identified  ccnjecturally  with  Djebel-d-Attarus, 
 
 or    Djebel-el-Jel'ad.        Ilil/.ig    derives    the    name    from 
 
 the  Sanscrit  Nabho  (  =  the  cloud-heaven).    Kiriathaim 
 
 (      the  doulile   city)   is   named    in  lien.  xiv.  ,r>  and  Xuin. 
 
 xwii.  .">7.  in  the  latter  passage  in  conjunction  with 
 Eloaleh.   Heshbon,  and  Nebo.    Jerome  places  it  .-it  a 
 
 distance  of   ten    miles  west    of    Medaba,    as   one  of    the 
 
 cities  rebuilt  by  the  Benbenites,  hut  it  has  not  been 
 identified.  Dlisgab,  the  "high  fort"  or  ■■citadel"  of 
 [sa.  xxv.   12,  has  shared  the  same  fate,  but  has  been 
 
 referred  by  some  writers  to  Kir-Moah.  or  Kir-heres. 
 as  the  chief  fortified  city  of  the  country  usee  verses 
 81,    36  ;      [sa.     \v.    I.    xvi.    7).       The    article    which    is 
 
 prefixed  to  it   in  the  Hebrew  has  led  Fiirst  (Lexicon' 
 
 to  take  it    in  a  wider  sense,  as  meaning  tho  plateau  iir 
 
 highland  country  of  Moah  generally. 
 
 (-'  Thoro  shall  be  no  more  praise  of  Moab. 
 — The  Belf-glorifying  boasts  of  Moat,  (of  which  the 
 Ifoabite  Inscription  discovered  at  Dihan  in  lstis  is  a 
 conspicuous  instance,  see  Ginsburg'a  Koabite  Stone 
 and  "Records  of  the  Past,  a  p.  168)  seem  to  have  been 
 alum  i  pi  ivi  rbial    verse  29;  lsa.  x\i.  6).    Heshbon  (the 
 
 city  is  perhaps  chosen  on  account  of  the  similarity  of 
 
 sound  with  the  word  for  "  devise  ")  was  on  the  Ammo- 
 nite or  northern  frontier  of  Moah  chap,  xlix.  8),  and  is 
 represented    therefore  as  the    scene  of    the    plans  and 
 
 hemes  of  t  lie  invading  Chaldsaans.  The  site  of  Madmen  is 
 
 unknown,  luit  tl gnate  form  Madmeiiah  is  translated 
 
 "dunghill"  in  [sa.  xxv.  [0,  and  may  have  I a  chosen 
 
 by  each  prophet  on  ai unt  of  its  ignominious  mean- 
 ing. The  name  appears  as  belonging  to  a  town  in 
 Benjamin   (lsa,  x.  31)  and  in  Judah  ( Josh.  xv.  81). 
 
 Here  again   there   is  an  olivious  assonani r  parono. 
 
 masia,  the  verb  "  thou  shalt  be  cut  down,"  or  better, 
 thou  shalt  be  brought  in  silence,  reproducing  the  chief 
 consonants  of  I  he  aoun.  The  LX  X..  vulgate.and  Sj  riao, 
 
 indeed,  take  the  Words  with  this  meaning.  "  In  silence 
 thou  shalt  he  made  silent,"  hut  are  probably  wrong  iu 
 doing  so.  If  we  take  the  word  in  somewhat  of  tho 
 same  sense  as  iii   Isaiah,  the  words   may  point  to  the 
 
 151 
 
 place  being  filled  with  tho  mouldering  carcases  of  the 
 
 silent  dead. 
 
 (3)  Horonaim— literally,  th<  In-,,  ,-,,,■,  ,-,n.  or  the  two 
 Uorons — may   imply,  like  other  dual  names  of   towns, 
 
 that  there  was  an  upper  and  a  lower  city.     It  is  men- 
 tioned in  lsa.  xv.  .">.  inn  ha-  not  been  identified. 
 (*>  Her  little  ones.— The  Hebrew  adjective  is  the 
 
 same  as  tho  Zoar,  the  little  one,  of  Gen.  xix.  20,  and 
 that  city  may  probably  have  been,  as  in  lsa.  XV.  •">.  in 
 the  prophet's  mind.  In  any  case  the  "little  ones" 
 are  cities,  and  not  children. 
 
 (5)  In  the  going  up  of  Luhith.— Here  again  wo 
 
 have  an  echo  from    lsa.  xv.  5.     Jerome     Oi <   I.  •-'.'■. 
 
 Luitln  describes  it  as  between  Zoar  and  aVreopolis 
 (  =  Rabbath-Moab).  The  ascent  was  probably  to  a  local 
 sanctuary.    A  various  reading,  Laboth,  followed  by  the 
 
 LXX..  gives  the  meaning  "  the  ascent  of  planks."  as 
 though  il  were  a  wooden  staircase.  Alike  in  that  ami  in 
 the  descent  from  Horonaim  (possibly  the  fugitives  who 
 came  down  from  the  heights  of  the  one  city  are  repre- 
 sented   as    going    up   with    wailing    to    tl then   the 
 
 enemies  of  Moab  would  hear  theory  that  proclaimed  it  - 
 downfall. 
 (8)  Be  like   the  heath   in  the  wilderness.— 
 
 Here,  as  in  chap.  xvii.  ii.  the  stunted  solitary  shruh  in 
 the  desert  is  taken  as  the  type  of  desolation.  The 
 LXX.,  which  adopts  the  meaning  in  xvii.  6,  here 
 strangely  enough  gives  "  as  a  wild  ass  in  the  wilder- 
 ness." Ps.  xi.  1  gives  us  an  example  of  a  like 
 comparison.     Here    probably  there  is.  as   before,  a 
 
 paronomasia   on  the  name  of  the  Moahite  city  Aroor. 
 
 which  closely  resembles  the  Hebrew  word  for  "  heath." 
 
 In  thus  finding  an  ominous  significance  in  the  nam 
 cities.  Jeremiah  follows  in  the  wake  of  Mie.  i. 
 
 i"]  Chemosh  shall  go  forth  into  captivity.— 
 The  name  appears  as  that  of  the  national  deity  of 
 Moab  in  Num.  xxi.  'J'.',  as  worshipped  also  by  the 
 Ammonites  in  Judg.  xi.  24.      Solomon  introduced   and 
 
 Josiah  abolished  his  worship  at  Jerusalem     1    Kings 
 
 xi.  7;   2   Kings   xxiii.  13).      lie   is   identified    l.y  Jer 
 (Com i)i.    on    lsa.    xv.    2)    with    the   Baal-poor  of  Num. 
 xxv.   8.       The    name   is  prominent    in    the    Moahito  In- 
 scription   as  that    of    the  national    deity,   who   sill, 
 the    people    of    his    rival.   Jehovah.     The    captivity  of 
 
 tho    idol    implies,    of    course,     thai     of     the    ] pie. 
 
 The  "works"  in  which  Moah  is  said  to  have  trust 
 are    represented  in   the  LXX.   anil   Vulgate  as    "for- 
 tresses."   but    the    word    is    not     used    in     this     - 
 elsewhere,   and   it    is    more  probable   that    the    prophet 
 represents   Moah    as  relying   on    its   pa-t    achieve!., 
 and    deeds    of  prowess.      The   last    words    of  the    \ 
 are  an  echo  of  Amos  i.  15. 
 
 (8)  The  valley  also  shaU  perish  .  .  .—The  cities 
 
 of  "the  plain"  are  enumerated  in  rerses  -\ — 24. 
 They  belonged  to  the  Aralwih,  the  sunken  valley  of  the 
 
The  Shame  and 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   XLVIII. 
 
 Desolation  of  Moab. 
 
 the  valley  also  shall  perish,  and  the 
 plain  shall  be  destroyed,  as  the  Lord 
 hath  spoken.  <9>  Give  wings  unto  Moab, 
 that  it  may  flee  and  get  away :  for  the 
 cities  thereof  shall  be  desolate,  without 
 any  to  dwell  therein.  <10>  Cursed  be  he 
 that  doeth  the  work  of  the  Lord  1  deceit- 
 fully, and  cursed  be  he  that  keepeth  back 
 his  sword  from  blood. 
 
 (n>  Moab  hath  been  at  ease  from  his 
 youth,  and  he  hath  settled  on  his  lees, 
 and  hath  not  been  emptied  from  vessel 
 to  vessel,  neither  hath  he  gone  into 
 captivity :  therefore  his  taste  a  remained 
 in  him,  and  his  scent  is  not  changed. 
 (12)  Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come, 
 saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  send  unto 
 him  wanderers,  that  shall  cause  him  to 
 wander,  and  shall  empty  his  vessels,  and 
 break  their  bottles.  <13>  And  Moab  shall 
 be  ashamed  of  Chemosh,  as  the  house 
 
 l  Or,  negligently. 
 
 a  1  Kings  12.  29. 
 
 3  Hel>.,  the  choice 
 of- 
 
 4  Heb.,      inhabit 
 
 of  Israel  was  ashamed  of  "  Beth-el  their 
 confidence. 
 
 (u)  How  say  ye,  We  are  mighty  and 
 strong  men  for  the  war?  (15)  Moab  is 
 spoiled,  and  gone  up  out  of  her  cities, 
 and  3his  chosen  young  men  are  gone 
 down  to  the  slaughter,  saith  the  King, 
 whose  name  is  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 <i6)  >phe  calamity  of  Moab  is  near  to 
 come,  and  his  affliction  hasteth  fast. 
 f1")  All  ye  that  are  about  him,  bemoan 
 him ;  and  all  ye  that  know  his  name, 
 say,  How  is  the  strong  staff  broken,  and 
 the  beautiful  rod  ! 
 
 (is)  Thou  daughter  that  dost  inhabit 
 Dibon,  come  down  from  thy  glory,  and 
 sit  in  thirst;  for  the  spoiler  of  Moab 
 shall  come  upon  thee,  and  he  shall  de- 
 stroy thy  strongholds.  <19'  0  4  inhabitant 
 of  Aroer,  stand  by  the  way,  and  espy  ; 
 ask    him    that    fleeth,    and    her    that 
 
 Jordan,  the  "plains  of  Moab  "  of  Num.  xxii.  1;  Deut. 
 iii.  10,  iv.  43.  The  "  valley  "  here  is  not  connected 
 with  anything  that  helps  us  to  identify  it,  but  it  may 
 have  been  that  of  the  Anion,  or  the  words  may  be  used 
 generically  for  "  every  valley"  and  "  every  plain." 
 
 (9)  Give  wings  unto  Moab  .  .  .—"No  other 
 prayer,"  the  prophet  seems  to  say,  in  grave,  stern  irony, 
 "  is  left  but  this.  Resistance  is  hopeless.  There  is 
 nothing  left  but  to  wish  for  the  wings  of  a  bird  that 
 safety  may  be  found  iu  flight."     (Coinp.  Ps.  Iv.  6.) 
 
 (W)  Cursed  be  he  .  .  .—To  the  prophet  the  de- 
 struction of  the  tyrannous  haughtiness  was  a  righteous 
 retribution  in  which  he  saw  the  work  of  Jehovah,  and 
 he  could  not  wish  that  it  should  be  done  otherwise  than 
 effectually.  The  thought  rests  on  the  belief  iu  the 
 Divine  government  that  works  through  war  as  well  as 
 through  pestilence  and  famine  (chaps,  xxv.  31,  xlvi.  1(1). 
 (Comp.  like  utterances  in  Judg.  v.  23  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  3, 18  ; 
 1  Kings  xx.  42.1  Even  Christian  nations  fighting 
 against  slave-traders  or  pirates  might  legitimately  echo 
 the  same  prayer.  It  has  been  used,  with  less  justifica- 
 tion, in  the  religious  wars  of  our  own  and  other 
 countries. 
 
 (ii)  He  hath  settled  on  his  lees.— The  image, 
 found  also  in  Zeph.  i.  12,  is  drawn  from  the 
 practice  of  pouring  wine  from  one  vessel  into  another 
 to  clarify  it  and  improve  its  flavour.  Wine  not  so 
 treated  retained  its  first  crude  bitterness.  So,  the 
 prophet  says,  it  is  with  nations.  It  is  not  good  for 
 them  to  remain  too  long  in  a  prosperity  which  does 
 but  strengthen  their  natural  arrogance.  Thei'e  is  a 
 wholesome  discipline  in  defeat,  even  in  exile.  In  verse 
 47  we  have  the  hope  of  the  prophet  that  the  discipline 
 will  do  its  work.  Tho  "vessels"  and  "bottles"  of 
 verse  12  are,  of  course,  the  cities  and  villages  of  Moab. 
 (Comp.  the  imagery  of  chap.  xix.  10.) 
 
 (13)  Beth-el  their  confidence.— The  name  of  the 
 sanctuary  stands  for  the  golden  calf  that  was  wor- 
 shipped there  as  the  symbol  of  Jehovah  (1  Kings  xii. 
 29 ;  Amos  vii.  10).  That  worship  had  been  put  to 
 shame  in  the  captivity  of  the  Ten  Tribes.  So  also 
 should  it  be  with  the  Chemosh-worsliip  of  Moab. 
 
 (14—17)  How  say  ye  .  .  . — In  the  boast  that  follows 
 
 we  trace  the  characteristic  pride  of  Moab.  The  prophet 
 points  to  the  fact  that  the  pride  is  brought  low.  She, 
 too,  is  subject,  like  other  nations,  to  invasion  and  defeat. 
 He  summons  her  people  to  wail  for  her  overthrow.  The 
 "  staff "  is  the  sceptre  of  the  rider,  as  in  Ps.  ex.  2. 
 The  "  rod"  is  the  stick  with  which  a  man  walks  (Gen. 
 xxxii.  10;  Exod.  xii.  11),  but  which  may  also  be  used 
 as  a  weapon.  The  epithet  "beautiful"  perhaps  points 
 to  the  splendour  of  a  royal  staff  or  wand  of  ivory  and 
 gold. 
 
 (18)  Thou  daughter  that  dost  inhabit  Dibon. 
 — Dibon  is  mentioned  among  the  cities  of  Moab  in 
 Num.  xxi.  30  ;  Isa.  xv.  2,  and  as  rebuilt  by  the  Gadites 
 in  Num.  xxxiii.  45.  It  is  prominent  in  the  Moabite 
 Stone  inscription  as  a  royal  city.  In  the  distribution 
 of  the  conquered  territory  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Reuben 
 (Josh.  xiii.  7,  9),  but  must  afterwards  have  been  retaken 
 by  Moab.  The  "  strongholds  "  indicate  a  fortress.  In 
 Isa.  xv.  9  it  appears  under  the  form  of  Dimon,  and  is 
 there  described  as  abounding  in  water,  the  site  being 
 probably  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Aruon.  This  last 
 feature  gives  point  to  the  words  of  the  prophet  here. 
 Its  waters  will  not  save  its  inhabitants  from  the  thirst 
 which  falls  on  those  who  are  dragged  as  captives  into 
 exile. 
 
 (19)  O  inhabitant  of  Aroer. — There  seems  to  have 
 been  two  cities  of  this  name :  one  which  had  belonged 
 first  to  the  territory  of  Sihon,  then  to  Reuben,  then  to 
 Moab,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Anion  (Deut.  ii.  36, 
 iii.  12,  iv.  48;  Josh.  xii.  2);  another  in  the  Ammonite 
 territory  belonging  to  Gad,  near  Rabbath-Ammon,  in 
 the  valley  of  the  Jabbok  (Num.  xxxii.  34 ;  Josh.  xiii. 
 25 ;  Judges  xi.  33).  Both  are  probably  comprised 
 under  the  "  cities  of  Aroer "  in  Isa.  xvii.  2.  The 
 name  exists  in  the  modern  Arair.  As  lying  on  the 
 frontier,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Northern  Aroer  are 
 represented  as  seeing  the  fugitives,  male  and  female, 
 from  Dibon,  and  asking  what  had  happened  to  drive 
 them  from  their  city.  Milton's  lines  (Par.  Lost,  L  407) 
 may  be  quoted  as  illustrating  the  topography : 
 
 "  From  Aroer  to  Nebo.  and  the  wild 
 Of  Southmost  Abarim  ;  in  Hesebon 
 And  Horonaim,  Seon's  realm  ..." 
 
 152 
 
Tin  Shank  and 
 
 JEBEMIAH,    XLVIII. 
 
 D    I  Moab. 
 
 escapeth,  and  say,  What  is  doneP 
 ' M ■  >:i l>  is  confounded  ;  for  it  is  broken 
 down:  "liuwl  and  cry;  tell  ye  it  in 
 Anion,  thai  Moab  is  spoiled,  '-'"  and 
 judgment  lb  come  upon  theplaincount  ry ; 
 upon  Solon,  and  apon  Jahazah,  and 
 upon  Mephaath,  M  and  apon  Dibon,  and 
 upon  Nebo,  and  apon  Beth-diblafthaim, 
 and     upon    Kiriatliaim,    and    upon 
 
 |{etli-<r;imul,and  uj Bel  h-tin ■< jti,'-' '  and 
 
 upon    l\iriolli,    and    upon    Hozrali,    and 
 
 Or.  mottdet  Viy- 
 „lf. 
 
 upon  all  the  cities  of  the  land  of  Bfoab, 
 
 lit r  or  near.  '-■  Tim  horn  n!'  Moab  il 
 i-ut  otr,  and  bis  arm  is  broken,  saith  the 
 Lord. 
 
 Blake   ye   him   drunken :    for   he 
 
 magnified  liimxflf  against  the  LoBD  : 
 Mo;il>  alBO  shall  wallow  in  his  vomit,  and 
 he  also  shall  be  in  derision.  {J7>  For  was 
 not  Israel  a  derision  unto  th.-^y  was  he 
 found  among  thieves?  for  since  thou 
 Bpakest  of  him,  thou  Lskippedst  for  joy. 
 
 (20)  Tell  yo  it  in  Arnon.  The  name,  wliirli  means 
 a  rushing  stream,  belonged  to  the  chief  river  of  Moab, 
 now  the  Mugab,  which  rises  in  the  Arabian  nuiuntnins 
 and  flows  into  the  Dead  Sea,  It  appears  in  the  war- 
 song  quoted,  in  Num.  xzi.  1 1,  from  the  "  Booh  of  the 
 Wars  of  the  Lord," and  the  "high  places"  on  either 
 side  its  course  were  crowned  with  the  castles  of  the 
 lords  of  Moab  (Num.  \\i.  28).  The  verse  contains  the 
 answer  to  the  question  thai  precedes  it — "This is  what 
 has  come  i"  pass,  Moab  is  confounded  and  spoiled." 
 For  the  "  plain  country  "  see  Not rorse  s. 
 
 (-"  And  judgment  is  come  upon  the  plain 
 country  .  .  .  \\  •■  enter  here  apon  >  list  of  less 
 known  names,  of  which  Jahaz,  Beth-diblathaim,  Beth- 
 Baal  meon  are  found  on  the  Moabite  Stone  inscription 
 [Records  of  the  Past,  xi.  L6S  168).  Union  docs  not 
 appear  elsewhere.  Jahazah  (under  the  form  Jahaz) 
 appears  in  Num.  xxi.  23;    Dent.  li.32;  Judges  xi.  20, 
 
 .is  the  Bee (  .-I  famous  battle  between  Sihon  and 
 
 ilii'  Israelites,  and  in  [sa.  w.  t  in  connexion  with 
 Heshbon  and  Elealeh.  Mephaath  was  assigned  to  the 
 Renbenites  (Josh,  xiii.  L8),  and  afterwards  to  the 
 Levites  (Josh,  xxi.  37;  1  Chron.  vi.  79),  but  it  had 
 slearl]  (alien  afterwards  into  the  hands  of  the  Moabites. 
 Like  the  other  cities  named,  il  was  in  the  Mishor,  or 
 -plain,"  on  the  north  of  the  Arnon. 
 
 (--'>  Beth-diblathaim.— riic  name  signifies  "  the 
 house  of  the  doable  cake  of  figs,"  and  was,  probably, 
 applied  to  one  of  the  more  fertile  districts  of  the 
 Uoabite  country.  In  Num.  xxxiii.  Iii.  47,  tha  name 
 Almon-diblathaim  appears  as  one  of  the  stations  of 
 the  Israelites  between  Dibon  and  "the  mountains  of 
 Abarim  before  Nebo,"  ami  the  conjunction  of  the  names 
 implies  its  identity  with  the  place  here  mentioned.  For 
 Dibon  and  Nebo,  see  Notes  on  rarses  1.  lit. 
 Kiriathaim.    See  verse  L 
 
 Both-gamul.  -Tlie  place  is  not  named  in  the  earlier 
 lists  Of  Num.  xx\ii.  lit — 38  and  Josh,  xiii.  16 — -».  The 
 name  (=h0US6  of  the  camel)  has  a  parallel  in  < Jainala. 
 and    appears    in     the    modern    I' m-rl-.li  „nil .    south    of 
 
 Bu/.rah.  in  the  Hauran.  This,  however.  lies  out  of  the 
 range  of  the  Mishor,  or  "plain  country,"  to  which  tho 
 eities  here  enumerated  belonged 
 
 Beth-moon.-  The  name  appears  in  its  full  form  as 
 Beth-baal-meon  in  Josh. xiii.  17.  as  Baal-meon  in  Num. 
 xxxii.  :>s;  H'hron.  v.S;  Ezekxxv.  8.  The  name  Meon 
 ( = citadel  of  heaven)  survives  in  the  modern  Mt'un,  Its 
 combination  with  Baal  makes  it  probable  thai  it  was 
 famous  as  a  sanctuary  where  the  Moabite  Baal  was 
 worshipped. 
 
 I-1'  Kerioth. — The  name,  plural  in  form  i  cities), 
 has  been  identified  by  Mr.  Porter,  Five  Years,  &c  ii. 
 19]     L98)  with  Kurevyeh,  a  rained  town  Lying  not  far 
 
 from    Busrah,    identiHed    with     the     Bo/.rah     that     i- 
 
 iupled  with  it   here,   in  the  Hauran.     These    are. 
 
 i 
 
 however,  some   sixty  miles  north  of   II. ishbon,  and  this 
 
 has  been  thought  adverse  to  the  identification.    <>n  the 
 
 other  ha  nil,  the  expression  "  far  and  near"  indicates  that 
 
 Jeremiah  takes  in  the  more  distant  cities  to  which  the 
 
 power  of  Moab  may  have  extended.     Fr the  mention 
 
 of  "  the  palaces  of  Kirioth  "  in  Amos  ii.  2.  it  appears  to 
 have  been  a  place  of  importance.  Mr.  Grove  'art.  Ki  rioth 
 in  Smith's  ZHct.  Bible]  BUggests  its  possible  identity 
 with  Kwreiyat,  not  far  from  Dilion  and  Beth-mcon. 
 
 Bozrah. — The  name  (=  fortification)  is  familiar  as 
 belonging  to  the  more  famous  cityof  Edom  (chap.  xlix. 
 
 13).    Tho  Moahite  town,  identified  as  above  with  the 
 
 Buzrah  of  the   Hauran.  appears   in    1    Mace.    v.   :M  as 
 
 Bosora.  one  of  the  town-,  of  Qalaad  or  Qilead,  and  in 
 Roman  history  as  Bostra,  the  birthplace  of  the  Emperor 
 
 Phili[).  known  as  the  Arabi 
 (85)  The  horn  of  Moab.— Tlie  horn  of  animals  was 
 
 naturally   the  Symbol    of   their   strength,  anil    it    was  as 
 
 natural  that  the  symbolism  should  be  extended  to  men 
 and  nations.  (Coinp.  1  Sam.  ii.  1;  Ps.  xeii.  10;  Lam.  ii. 
 Si  Dan.  vii.  7,  8;  Luke  i.  69.)  The  figure  of  the 
 broken  arm.  powerless  to  grasp  --word  or  sceptre,  m 
 sin  in  K/.ik.  xxx.  21. 
 (-'  I  Make  ye  him  drunken  .  .  .—The  image  is 
 suggested  by  the  wine-cup  of  Jehovah's  fury  in  chap. 
 
 x\v.  15,  and  was  familiar  in   the    symbolic    language  OX 
 
 the  prophets  I-a.li.17;  Job  xxi.  20;  K/.ek.  xxiii.dJ; 
 Rev.  xiv.  10).  The  words  that  follow  paint  the  image 
 ill  its  strongest  colours.      As  men  looked  with  BCOID  on 
 
 the  drunkard  wallowing  iii  his  shame,  so  should  they 
 
 look  on  Moal».  that  had  been  so  boastful  in  its  pride, 
 when  it  was  brought  low. 
 
 -7>  Was  not  Israel  a  derision  unto  thee  ?— The 
 
 "derision"  had  I n  shown  at  an  earlier  stage  in  the 
 
 history  of  Judah  (Zeph.  ii.  s;  comp.  Ezek.  XXV.  6),  but 
 
 was.  we  may  well  lielieve.  reproduced  when  the 
 Moabites  heard  of  the  disasters  that  fell  on  I-rael  in 
 the   days  of  Josiah  and   his  su.-eessor-.      The  question 
 
 thai  follow-  "  Was  he  found  among  thieves  P  "  im] 
 
 an  answer  in  the  negative.    Israel  had  not  1 n  among 
 
 the  lawless,  aggressive  nations,  the  robbers  of  tin- 
 earth.     Compare  -  Sam.  iii.  33,  where  tlie  question, 
 
 "Died   Aimer  a-    a    fool    diethP"   implies  that    he   had 
 
 not  deserved  his  death  as  guilty  ox  any  crime.  By 
 6omo  critics,  however,   the   Hebrew    interrogative  is 
 
 taken  as  meaning  "  when."  and  so  involving  the 
 admission  that  I-rael  had  Keen  guilty  of  unjust  in- 
 vasion, and  Keen  led  to  that  L'uilt  by  her  alliance  with 
 the  robber  nations  of   the  heathen. 
 
 Thou  skippodst  for  joy. — The  gesture  described, 
 
 like  the  wagging  of  the  head  of  chap,  xviii.  L6,  or  tho 
 
 Bhrnggingof  the  shoulders. is  one  of  triumphant  malice. 
 The  symbolism  of  Oriental  gesture  is,  it  may  be  noted, 
 specially  rich  in  expressions  of  this  farm  of  evil  (Oomp. 
 
 Isa.  lvii.  -t;  Ps.  xxii.  7.) 
 
The  Pride  of  Moab. 
 
 JEEEMIAH,    XLVIII. 
 
 Lamentation  over  Moab. 
 
 (28)  o  ye  tliat  dwell  in  Moab,  leave  the 
 cities,  and  dwell  in  the  rock,  and  be  like 
 the  dove  that  maketh  her  nest  in  the 
 sides  of  the  hole's  mouth.  <29)  We  have 
 heard  the  "  pride  of  Moab,  (he  is  exceed- 
 ing proud)  his  loftiness,  and  his  arro- 
 gancy,  and  his  pride,  and  the  haughtiness 
 of  his  heart.  <3°)  I  know  his  wrath,  saith 
 the  Loed  ;  but  it  shall  not  be  so ;  x  his 
 lies  shall  not  so  effect  it. 
 
 <31>  Therefore  will  I  howl  for  Moab, 
 and  I  will  cry  out  for  all  Moab ;  mine 
 heart  shall  mourn  for  the  men  of  Kir- 
 heres.  <32>  O  vine  of  Sibmah,  I  will 
 weep  for  thee  with  the  weeping  of  Jazer : 
 
 rt  lS!\.  16.  6,  i'C. 
 
 1  Or, those  fm  whom 
 he  stayeth  (Ili'b., 
 his  bars)  do  not 
 right. 
 
 2Hefo.,  desolations. 
 
 thy  plants  are  gone  over  the  sea, 
 they  reach  even  to  the  sea  of  Jazer : 
 the  spoiler  is  fallen  upon  thy  summer 
 fruits  and  upon  thy  vintage.  (33)  And 
 *joy  and  gladness  is  taken  from  the 
 plentiful  field,  and  from  the  land  of 
 Moab ;  and  I  have  caused  wine  to  fail 
 from  the  winepresses  :  none  shall  tread 
 with  shouting;  their  shouting  shall  be 
 no  shouting.  *34>  From  the  cry  of  Hesh- 
 bon  even  unto  Elealeh,  and  even  unto 
 Jahaz,  have  they  uttered  their  voice, 
 '  from  Zoar  even  unto  Horonaim,  as  an 
 heifer  of  three  years  old :  for  the  waters 
 also    of    Mmrim    shall    be    "  desolate. 
 
 (28)  o  ye  that  dwell  in  Moab  .  .  .—The  general 
 thought  is  the  same  as  in  verses  6  and  9,  but  is  more 
 vivid  as  being  more  specific.  The  Moabites  are  to 
 leave  their  cities  and  take  refuge  in  the  caves,  always 
 in  Palestine  the  asylum  of  fugitives  (1  Sam.  xiii.  6 ; 
 2  Sam.  xvii.  9),  as  the  wild  dove  flies  to  "  the  clefts  of 
 the  rock"  (Song  Sol.  ii.  14). 
 
 (29)  We  have  heard  the  pride  of  Moab  .  .  .— 
 It  will  be  seen  that  here  and  in  the  next  verse  the  very 
 words  of  Isaiah  (xvi.  6)  are  reproduced.  The  prophet 
 seems  to  find  a  pleasure  in  going  back  to  the  old 
 words  as  showing  that  the  fault  of  which  he  spoke  was 
 inveterate,  and  had  shown  itself  incurable.  It  is, 
 however,  a  free  reproduction,  and  Jeremiah,  instead  of 
 making  the  whole  utterance  that  of  the  Jews,  inserts 
 the  words,  "  I  know  his  wrath,  saith  the  Lord,"  which 
 come  as  an  oracle  from  God,  affirming  the  judgment 
 of  the  people. 
 
 (30)  His  lies  shall  not  so  effect  it.— The  Hebrew 
 for  "  lies  "  has  also,  as  in  the  margin,  the  meaning 
 of  "  bars  "  or  "  staves  "  or  "  branches  "  as  the  symbol 
 of  defence  (Hos.  xi.  6),  but  the  version  in  the  text  is 
 preferable.  The  emphasis  of  the  original  lies  in  the 
 iteration.  "  Not  so,"  the  sentence  of  frustration,  is 
 written  alike  on  the  wrath  which  leads  to  passionate 
 outrage,  and  on  the  lies  in  which  it  seeks  to  find 
 safety. 
 
 (3i)  Therefore  will  I  howl  for  Moab— The 
 changes  of  person  are  remarkable.  The  "I"  that 
 speaks  is  neither  Jehovah  nor  the  prophet,  but  the 
 unnamed  mourner,  who  in  the  next  clause  appears  in 
 the  third  person  ("  she  shall  mourn,"  the  English 
 "  mine  heart  "  having  no  equivalent  in  the  Hebrew)  as 
 the  representative  of  those  who  mourn  for  Moab.  In 
 verse  33,  "I  have  caused  wine  to  fail"  appears  as  the 
 utterance  of  Jehovah.  In  Isa.  xvi.  7,  of  which  the 
 whole  passage  is  a  free  reproduction,  Moab  is  named 
 as  the  mourner.  Possibly,  however,  Jeremiah  in  his 
 sympathy  may  speak  here  in  his  own  person. 
 
 For  the  men  of  Kir-heres. — The  name  appears 
 in  Isa.  xvi.  7  as  Kirhareseth,  and  is  probably  identical 
 with  the  "Kir  of  Moab"  of  Isa.  xv.  1.  The  place  was 
 obviously  an  important  stronghold.  The  Targum  on 
 Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  renders  it  by  Crac,  and  this  has  led 
 to  its  being  identified  with  the  modern  Kerah,  occupy- 
 ing a  strong  position  on  one  of  the  Moabite  mountains  to 
 the  south-east  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  name,  which  sig- 
 nifies "  City  of  the  Sim,"  may  indicate  its  connection 
 with  that  form  of  nature-worship. 
 
 (32)  o  vine  of  Sibmah. — Here  again  we  have  an 
 
 echo  of  Isa.  xvi.  9.  Sibmah  appears  in  Josh.  xiii.  19 
 as  assigned  to  the  Reubenites,  in  the  region  east  of 
 Jordan.  After  that  date  it  does  not  appear  again  till 
 we  find  it  in  these  prophetic  notices.  Jerome  (Comm. 
 in  Isa.  chap,  v.)  names  it  as  a  strong  city  about  half  a 
 mile  from  Heshbon,  but  its  site  has  not  been  identified 
 by  modern  travellers.  It  would  appear  from  these 
 notices  to  have  been  famous  for  vineyards  that  ex- 
 tended to  Jazer.  The  city  so  named,  identified  with 
 the  modern  Es  Szir,  had  belonged  to  the  Amorites 
 (Num.  xxi.  32,  there  spelt  Jaazer),  and  lay  between 
 Heshbon  and  Bashan,  about  fifteen  miles  north  of  the 
 former  city.  It  passed  afterwards  into  the  possession 
 of  the  Gadites  (Josh.  xiii.  25  ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  5),  and 
 was  evidently,  when  the  two  prophets  wrote,  in  that  of 
 the  Moabites.  The  phrase  "  weeping  of  Jazer"  implies 
 that  it  was  to  share  in  the  desolation  of  Sibmah.  The 
 "  sea  of  Jazer  "  (if  the  text  is  right,  the  LXX.  giving 
 "  city ")  must  have  been  some  inland  lake  or  pond, 
 which  has  not  since  been  identified.  The  "  sea "  of 
 the  parallel  passage  of  Isa.  xvi.  8  is  commonly 
 interpreted  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  "  summer  fruits  " 
 were  the  figs  and  pomegranates  which  were  commonly 
 cidtivated  together  with  the  vine. 
 
 (33)  None  shall  tread  with  shouting.  —  The 
 words  bring  before  us  the  vintage-song  of  those  who 
 trod  out  the  grapes  (chap.  xxv.  30 ;  Isa.  xvi.  10).  Of 
 this  the  prophet  says,  in  a  form  which  reminds  us  of 
 the  S»po  SSoipa  ("  gifts  that  are  no  gifts  ")  of  Soph. 
 Aias.  674,  that  it  shall  be  "  no  shouting,"  i.e.,  that  it 
 shall  be  turned  to  wailing  and  lamentation,  or  the 
 shout  and  tumxdt  of  battle  shall  have  taken  its  place. 
 
 (34)  From  the  cry  of  Heshbon  .  .  . — Elealeh 
 (now  El-Al)  and  Heshbon  (now  Hesbdn)  were  about 
 two  miles  apart.  The  panic-cry  of  the  one  city  was 
 echoed  in  the  other ;  it  reached  even  to  Jahaz  (see 
 Note  on  verse  21),  to  the  south-west  of  Heshbon. 
 
 From  Zoar  even  unto  Horonaim  .  .  . —  Both 
 names  represent  the  south  district  of  Moab.  In  the 
 "  heifer  of  three  years  old "  (see  Isa.  xv.  5)  many 
 critics  find  simply  a  proper  name,  "  the  third  Egiath," 
 and  conjecture  that  it  was  either  one  of  three  towns 
 having  the  same  name,  or  part  of  a  tripolis  or  tripartite 
 city,  the  other  two  members  of  which  were  Zoar  and 
 Horonaim.  Nothing  is  known,  however,  of  any  town 
 so  constituted,  and  the  epithet  of  the  "  third-year 
 heifer,"  i.e.,  a  heifer  not  brought  under  the  yoke,  would 
 be  a  suitable  name  enough  for  either  Zoar  or  Horonaim, 
 as  a  virgin  fortress,  as  yet  uutaken  by  the  foe.  (Comp. 
 Hos.  iv.  16,  x.  11.) 
 
 151 
 
The  Shame  and  <  'onfiuion 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   XL VIII. 
 
 ';/  M 
 
 |3S)  Moreover  I  will  cause  to  cease  in 
 Moab,  saith  the  Lobd,  him  thai  offereth 
 in  the  high  places,  and  him  thai  burneth 
 incense  to  bis  gods.  (:,ti)  Therefore  mine 
 heart  shall  sonnd  for  Moab  like  pipes, 
 and  niinc  heart  shall  sound  like  pipes 
 for  the  men  of  Eir-heres:  because  the 
 riches  that  he  hath  gotten  arc  perished. 
 (37)  jTyx-  "every  head  8kall  be  bald,  and 
 every  beard  'clipped  :  upon  all  the  hands 
 shall  be  cuttings,  and  upon  the  loins 
 Backcloth.  ' ;,)  77(c, •«■  shall  be  lamenta- 
 tion generally  upon  all  the  housetojis  of 
 Moab,  and  in  (he  streets  thereof:  for  I 
 have  broken  Moab  like  a  vessel  wherein 
 is  no  pleasure,  saith  the  Loud.  W  They 
 shall  howl,  saying,  How  is  it  broken 
 clown  !  how  hath  Moab  turned  the  '  back 
 with  shame  I  BO  shall  Moab  he  a  derision 
 and  a  dismaying  to  all  them  about  him. 
 For  thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Behold, 
 he  shall  fly  as  an  eagle,  and  shall  spread 
 
 3  Or,  17(0  cities. 
 
 1  Iu.  M,  IT,  IB. 
 
 his  wings  over  Moab.  <">  'Kerioth  is 
 talon,  and  the  strong  holds  are  sur- 
 prised, and  the  mighty  men's  hearts  in 
 Moab  at  t liat  da j  shall  be  as  the  hear! 
 
 Of    a    woman    in    her   pang  And 
 
 Moab  shall  be  destroyed  from  being  a 
 people,  because  he  hath  magnified  him- 
 self against   the  Lokd.    W*Fear,  and 
 
 the  pit,  and  the  snare,  shall  be  upon 
 thee,  <)  inhabitant  of  Moab,  saith  the 
 Lord.  '"  lie  that  fk-eth  from  the  fear 
 shall  fall  into  the  pit;  and  he  that 
 gettetk  up  out  of  the  pit  shall  be  taken 
 in  the  snare:  for  I  will  bring  upon  it. 
 even  upon  Moab,  the  year  of  their 
 visitation,  saith  the  Lord.  (w)  They 
 that  fled  stood  under  the  shadow-  of 
 Ibshbon  because  of  the  force:  but  a 
 lire  shall  come  forth  out  of  Heshbon, 
 and  a  flame  from  the  midst  of  Silion, 
 and  shall  devour  the  corner  of  Moab, 
 and   the   crown    of    the    head    of  the 
 
 Tho  waters  also  of  Nimrim  shall  be  desolate. 
 — Recent  travellers!  Seetzen  and  I)'-  Sauloy,  have 
 found  .'i  brook  Nimrab,  with  a  mass  of  nuns  near  it .  near 
 the  southern  extremity  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Tho  Nimrah 
 of  Num.  \\\ii.  S,  36;  Josh.  xiv.  27.  is  probably  too  far 
 to  the  north.  Tristram  (Land  of  Israel,  p.  54)  iden- 
 tifies it  with  the  Wiiihj-sh.iiii  neat  tho  fords  of  the 
 Jordan,  and  possibly  with  tho  Bethabara  of  Jolm  i.  28. 
 
 (35>  I  will  cause  to  cease  in  Moab  .  .  .—Tho 
 words  indicate  that  tho  pilgrimages  to  the  sanctuary 
 of  Ohemosh,  on  the  mountains  of  Moab,  were  a 
 prominent  feature  in  the  nation's  life.  One  result  of 
 the  Chaldean  conquest  would  bo  that  they  should  be 
 brought  i"  an  end. 
 
 I  *  Mine  heart  shall  sound  for  Moab  like 
 pipes  .  .  . — The  words  reproduce  Ess,  xvi.  11.  His 
 heart  becomes,  as  it  were,  musical  in  its  groans  and 
 sighs.  He  cannot  look  an  the  panic-stnaken  and 
 mourning  city  without  sharing  in  its  misery.  In  the 
 baldness  (chaps,  vii.  29,  xvi.  6),  the  clipped  beard,  the 
 cuttings  (chaps,  xvi.  ii.  xli.  5),  the  sackcloth  (chaps,  iv. 
 
 8,  vi.  'Jii  ;  Joel  i.  v  We  have  t  he  wanted  signs  of  mourn. 
 Lag  for  the  dead.     The   "pipe"   is  chosen  rather  than 
 
 the  harp,  as  in  Isa.  xvi.  11.  because  it  had  come  to  be 
 the  recognised  music  for  funerals  (so  in  Matt.  ix.  23). 
 
 Upon  all  tho  housetops  of  Moab.— The  flat 
 root'  of  Eastern  houses  was  the  natural  gathering- 
 I'la, t  men  in  a  time  of  panic  and  distress,  as  it  was. 
 
 in   a   time  of  peace,  for  prayer  or  meditation,  or  even 
 
 for  festive  meetings.  So  in  Isa.  xxii.  1.  the  city 
 described  as  "the  valley  of  vision"  (Samaria  or 
 Jerusalem  is  represented  as  "gone  up  to  the  house- 
 tops." 
 
 I  have  broken  Moab  like  a  vessel  wherein 
 is  no  pleasure.— The  image  is  one  with  which  the 
 
 prophet  had  made  men  familiar  Ivy  his  symbolic  act  in 
 chap.  xix.  10.       So  Ooniah  was  "a  Vessel  wherein  is  no 
 
 pleasure  "  chap.  xxii.  28 
 
 (*>)  They  shall  howl,  saying,  How  is  it  broken 
 down!— Better,  taking  the  words  in  the  Hebrew 
 order,  jEToic  is  she  broken  down  !    How  do  they  howl  I 
 
 Iu  the  word  "derision"  wo  have  the  emphatic 
 iteration  of  t ho  term  that  had  hcen  pointedly  Used  in 
 verses '20,  27.  At  this  stage  the  parallelism  with  [sa 
 xv..   xvi.   ceases,   and    the    prediction   has    a   more  in- 
 
 dependenf  character. 
 
 (•«»  He  shall  fly  as  an  eagle  .  .  .—The  image,  as 
 in  Dent,  xxviii.  19;  Isa.  xlvi.  11;  Ezek.  rvii.  3,  was  the 
 natural  symbol  of  a  fierce  invader,  probably,  in  this 
 case,  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Here  it  receives  a  fresh 
 vividness  from  the  previous  comparison  of  Moab  to  the 
 dove  l  hat  had  its  nest  in  tho  clefts  of  the  rock.  The 
 verse  is  reproduced  in  chap.  xlix.  22.  in  reference  to 
 Edam. 
 
 (■«)  Kerioth.— (See  Note  on  versc240  Hero  the  word 
 
 is  used  with  the  article,  and  should  probably  be 
 translated,  as  in  the  margin,  the  cities,  as  painting  the 
 widespread  devastation  that  was  to  come  on  all  tho 
 fortresses. 
 
 As  tho  heart  of  a  woman  in  hor  pangs.— 
 See  Notes  on  chap.  xxx.  6;  Isa.  xiii.  8,  xxi.  :>.  Tho 
 precise  phra-e.  however,  occur.-  only  hero  and  iu  chap, 
 xlix.  22. 
 
 ('-'»  Moab  shall  be  destroyed  .  .  .—What  is 
 predicted  is  not  annihilation   ~ee  verse  17  ,buf  the  loss 
 
 of  national  independence.  And  the  08088  of  this 
 punishment  is  once  more  asserted.  With  Moab,  88 
 with  other  nations,  it  was  her  self-exalting  pride  that 
 called  for  chasf  i-emont. 
 
 (**>  Fear,  and  tho  pit,  and  the  snare.— The 
 
 words    are  a    reproduction  of   Isa.  xxiv.  17.  which    had 
 
 probably  passed  into   something  like  proverbial   use. 
 
 The  sequence  in  each  case  -hows  that  each  word  ph 
 distinct  part  in  the  imagery.  First  there  is  the  tenor 
 of  the  animal  pursued  by  huntsmen,  then  the  pit  dug 
 in  the  earth  that  it  may  fall  into  it  Pa  vii.  1">:  Pro\ . 
 xxvi.  27  ;  Ecclcs.  r.  8);  then,  if  it  scrambles  out  of  the 
 pit.  the  snare  or  trap  which  finally  secures  it. 
 
 (46)  Because    of  the   force.  —  Better,    without 
 
 sf  renal  h.      What    is    meant    is    that    the    fugitives    of 
 
 Moab  seek  shelter  in  Eeehban,  the  capital  of  the 
 Ammonites  (chap.  xlix.  3),  and  find  no  protection  there. 
 
 166 
 
The  Word  of  the  Lord 
 
 JEREMIAH,    XLIX. 
 
 against  the  Ammonites. 
 
 1  tumultuous  ones.  W  Woe  be  unto 
 thee,  O  Moab !  the  people  of  Chemosh 
 perisheth  :  for  thy  sons  are  taken  ~  cap- 
 tives, and  thy  daughters  captives.  (47)  Yet 
 will  I  bring  again  the  captivity  of 
 Moab  in  the  latter  days,  saith  the  Lord. 
 Thus  far  is  the  judgment  of  Moab. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XLIX.— (D  3  Concerning 
 the  Ammonites, 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  ; 
 
 Hath  Israel  no  sons  ?  hath  he  no 
 heir  ?  why  then  doth  4  their  king  inherit 
 "  Gad,  and  his  people  dwell  in  his  cities  ? 
 <2>  Therefore,   behold,   the    days   come, 
 
 1  Hi-b.,  children  of 
 
 2  Heb.,     in     cap- 
 tivity. 
 
 3  Or,  Aijainst. 
 
 4  Or,  Melcom. 
 a  Amos  L  13. 
 b  Amos  1. 14. 
 
 5  Or,  Melcom. 
 c  Ch.48.  7. 
 
 6  Or,    thy    valley 
 flowcth  aicay. 
 
 saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  cause  an 
 alarm  of  war  to  be  heard  in  *  Rabbah  of 
 the  Ammonites ;  and  it  shall  be  a  desolate 
 heap,  and  her  daughters  shall  be  burned 
 with  fire  :  then  shall  Israel  be  heir  unto 
 them  that  were  his  heirs,  saith  the 
 Lord.  W  Howl,  0  Heshbon,  for  Ai  is 
 spoiled:  cry,  ye  daughters  of  Rabbah, 
 gird  you  with  sackcloth ;  lament,  and 
 run  to  and  fro  by  the  hedges ;  for  5  their 
 king  shall  go  into  captivity,  and  his 
 c  priests  and  his  princes  together. 
 <4)  Wherefore  gloriest  thou  in  the  valleys, 
 6  thy  flowing  valley,  0  backsliding 
 daughter  ?  that  trusted  in  her  treasures, 
 
 A  fire  shall  come  forth  out  of  Heshbon  .  .  .— 
 
 The  words  are  interesting  as  being  a  quotation  from  a 
 fragment  of  an  old  poem,  probably  from  the  "  Book  of 
 the  Wars  of  the  Lord,"  which  is  also  to  be  found  in 
 Num.  xxi.  28.  Heshbon,  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus 
 the  capital  of  the  Amorites,  is  here  identified 
 with  Sihon  as  their  king.  In  the  prophet's  applica- 
 tion of  the  words,  the  Moabites  are  represented  as 
 taking  refuge  under  the  walls  of  Heshbon,  but, 
 instead  of  finding  shelter,  fire  bursts  out  from  walls 
 and  gates.  They  have  come  to  look  on  its  conflagration. 
 The  flames  spread  far  and  near.  They  devour  the 
 "  corner  "  as  of  the  beard,  the  hair  on  the  crown  of  the 
 head.  The  symbolism  of  destruction  is  the  same  as 
 in  Isa.  vii.  20.  In  the  "  tumultuous  ones  "  (literally, 
 children  of  tumult)  we  have  the  panic-strickeu 
 clamorous  crowds  of  the  Moabite  fugitives.  The  phrase 
 in  the  Hebrew  is  nearly  the  same  as  "  the  children  of 
 Seth"  in  Num.  xxiv.  17. 
 
 f")  Yet  will  I  bring  again  .  .  .—This  inter- 
 mingling of  the  hope  of  a  far-off  return  is  specially 
 characteristic  of  these  later  chapters,  as  in  the  case  of 
 the  Ammonites  (chap.  xlix.  6)  and  Elam  (chap.  xlix.  39). 
 
 Thus  far  is  the  judgment  of  Moab.— This  is 
 very  probably  originally  a  note  made  by  editor  or 
 transcriber  to  indicate  the  close  of  oue  section  and  the 
 beginning  of  another.  A  like  conclusion  meets  us  in 
 chap.  li.  64. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 (i)  Concerning  the  Ammonites.— The  history  of 
 this  people  was,  to  a  great  extent,  parallel  with  that  of 
 the  Moabites.  They  had  been  conquered  by  Sihon,  the 
 great  Amorite  king,  and  when  that  monarch  was,  in 
 his  turn,  conquered  by  the  Israelites  (Num.  xxi.  21 
 — 31)  their  territory  was  assigned  to  the  tribes  of  Gad 
 and  Reuben  (Num.  xxxii.  34 — 38).  In  Judges  xi.  12 
 — 33  we  have  the  record  of  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
 to  recover  their  lost  territory,  and  like  attempts  appear 
 to  have  been  made  by  Nahash  (1  Sam.  xi.  1 — 11),  and 
 Hanun  (2  Sam.  x.  6—14,  xii.  26—31).  On  the 
 deportation  of  the  Trans-jordanic  tribes  by  Tiglath- 
 pileser  (2  Kings  xv.  29 ;  1  Chron.  v.  6,  26),  they  made 
 a  more  successful  effort,  aud  their  king  Baalis  appears 
 as  prompting  the  conspiracy  of  Ishmael.  the  son  of 
 Nethaniah  (chap.  xl.  14).  The  prophecy  on  which  we 
 now  enter  was  probably  delivered  before  that  time,  in 
 or  about  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim  (chap.  xxv.  21). 
 Its  opening  words  recall  the  long-standing  territorial 
 controversy.     "  Had  Israel  no  heir?"     Was  the  land 
 
 166 
 
 he  had  occupied  so  long  to  pass  into  the  possession  of 
 a  stranger  ? 
 
 Why  then  doth  their  king  inherit  Gad  .  .  .  ? 
 — Better,  with  the  margin  and  all  the  older  ver. 
 sions,  Melcom.  The  name,  all  but  identical  with 
 the  "Malcham"  of  Zeph.  i.  5,  and  connected  with 
 Moloch,  was  that  of  the  god  of  the  Ammonites,  as 
 Chemosh  was  that  of  the  Moabite  deity.  He,  as  his 
 very  name  implied,  was  their  true  king ;  and  the 
 complaint  of  the  prophet  is  that  he  inherits  Gad, 
 which  had  been  in  the  possession  of  Israel. 
 
 (2)  Rabbah  of  the  Ammonites.— More  fully, 
 of  the  children  of  Amnion.  —  Rabbah,  or  Rabbath, 
 the  "  city  of  waters "  (the  word  signifies  "  Great," 
 and  the  city  was,  as  it  were,  the  Megalopolis  of 
 Amnion),  was  the  capital,  and  this  was  its  full  and 
 formal  title  (Deut.  iii.  11 ;  2  Sam.  xi.  1,  xii.  26).  It 
 had  been  captured  by  Joab  after  the  siege  made 
 memorable  by  the  death  of  Uriah  the  Hittite. 
 Jeremiah  now  predicts  its  destruction  as  Amos  (i.  14) 
 had  done  before  him.  Israel  shall  then  re-enter  on  its 
 occupation.  Its  site  is  now  marked  by  ruins  of  a 
 stately  temple  and  theatres  of  the  Syrian  period 
 (Tristram,  Land  of  Israel,  p.  540). 
 
 (3)  Howl,  O  Heshbon,  for  Ai  is  spoiled. — 
 Heshbon  has  appeared  in  chap,  xlviii.  2,  45,  as  con- 
 nected with  the  fortunes  of  Moab,  but  it  was  strictly 
 an  Ammonite  city.  The  "  Ai "  here  is  obviously  not 
 the  city  near  Jericho  of  Josh.  viii.  28,  and  unless  we 
 assume  an  error  in  the  text  ("  Ai  "  for  "  Ar  "=  city), 
 we  must  infer  the  existence  of  a  Trans-jordanic  city 
 of  the  same  name. 
 
 Run  to  and  fro  by  the  hedges.— Hedges,  in 
 the  English  sense  of  the  word,  have  never  been  common 
 in  the  East,  and  the  word  here  denotes  either  the 
 palings  round  the  sheep-folds,  or  the  walls  round  the 
 vineyards  of  the  villages  that  are  described  as  the 
 "  daughters  of  Rabbah."  The  word  is  never  used  for 
 the  walls  of  a  city,  but  appears  in  Num.  xxii.  24,  xxxii. 
 16,  24,  36  in  the  sense  of  "  sheep-folds." 
 
 Their  king  shall  go  into  captivity.— Better,  as 
 before,  Melcom.  As  in  chap,  xlviii.  7,  the  captivity  of 
 the  national  deity  with  his  priests  (the  fact  that  they 
 are  named  is  decisive  as  to  the  meaning)  involves  the 
 captivity  of  the  people. 
 
 W  In  the  valleys.— The  word  exactly  describes 
 the  conformation  of  the  Ammonite  country,  as  a  high 
 plateau  intersected  by  streams  which  make  their  way 
 to  the  Jordan.  For  "thy  flowing  valley"  read  "thy 
 valley  "  (this  is,  of  course,  the  valley  in  which  Rabbah 
 
The  Word  qftk  Lord 
 
 JEREMIAH,    WAX 
 
 agamti  Edam. 
 
 saying,    Who    shall    come    unto    me 
 
 Behold,  I  «ill  bring  a  fear  upon  thee, 
 siiiih  the  Lord  God  of  hosts,  from  all 
 those  t hat  hr  about  i bee ;  ami  ye  shall 
 in'  driven  out  every  man  right  fori b  ; 
 ami  mmi'  shall  gather  up  him  thai 
 wamliTi'th.  (,l>  Ami  afterward  1  will 
 hrin<,'  a^ain  tin'  captivity  <>f  the  children 
 i.f  Amnion,  snitli  t  lie  LoBD. 
 r'  i  'oncernine;  I'Mom, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ; 
 /.-■  wisdom  no  more  in  Teman  P  is 
 counsel  perished  from  the  prudent?  is 
 their  wisdom  vanished P  (8)  Flee  ye, 
 'turn  back,  dwell  deep,  0  inhabitants 
 of  Dcdau;  for  I  will  bring  the  calamity 
 of  Esau  upon  him,  the  time  lit" I  I  will 
 visit  him.     <9>   If  *  grapegatherers  come 
 
 1  Or,ttM 
 
 •:  ii  i' ,  th 
 
 tu  thee,  would  they  nut  leave  form 
 gleaning  grapes P  it'  thieves  by  night, 
 they  will  destroy    till  they  have  enough. 
 
 But  1  have  made  Ksau  hare,  I  have 
 Uncovered  his  scen-t  places,  and  he  shall 
 not   he  able  to   hide  himself:    his  s 1  is 
 
 spoiled,  ami  his  hret hreii,  and  his  neigh- 
 bours, and  he  is  not.  (U>  Leave  thy 
 fatherless  children,  I  will  preserve  them 
 alive;  and  let  thy  widows  trusi  in  me. 
 (1-»  For  thus  saith  the  Lobd;  Behold, 
 tiny  whose  judgment  was  not  to  drink 
 of  the  cup  have  assuredly  drunken;  and 
 wrt  thou  he  tlmt  shall  altogether  go  un- 
 punished? thou  shalt  not  go  unpunished, 
 but  thou  shalt  surely  drink  of  it.  ' li>  For 
 1  have  sworn  by  myself,  saith  the  Lord, 
 that  Bozrah  shall  become  a  desolation, 
 
 was  situated)  "tli.it  fioweth  with  plenty."  The  words 
 admit,  however,  of  being  tendered,  "Thy  valley  fioweth 
 away,"  i.e.,  is  wasted  and  emptied. 
 
 0  backsliding  daughter.— There  is  something 
 suggestive   in  the   fact  that   the  prophet    applies  to 
 
 \ minim  the  epithet  which  he  had  applied  before  t.> 
 the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes  (chap.  iii.  *i.  8,  11.  I  I 
 Aiiuiii'M  also  had  the  opportunity  of  worshipping  the 
 God    of    [srael,   and    had  probably,  as  long  as  the 
 [sraelites    were    her    rnlers,    adopted    that    worship 
 
 wholly  or  in   part,   anil   so   slip    also   was  an   apostate. 
 
 Tlic  question  which  follows,  as  in  chap.  xxi.  13,  implies 
 that  tin'  pooplo  of  Rabbah  looked  ou  their  city  as  im- 
 pregnable. 
 
 I  will  bring  a  fear  upon  thee  .  .  .—As  in 
 tlio  case  of  Moali,  there  is  the  doom  of  exile  fur  Amnion 
 also,   lmt    the    sentence  of    punishment    is  tempered 
 
 witli  mercy,  ami  there  is  to  lie  a  return  from  the 
 seemingly  hopeless  captivity. 
 
 01  Concerning  Edom.— A  short  survey  of  the 
 past  history  is  necessary  that  we  may  enter  into  the 
 force  of  the  prophet's  words.    On  the  journey  of  the 
 
 Israelites  to  Canaan  the  Eihiinites  were  left  unmolested 
 
 (Nom.xiv.21j  Dent. ii.  I).  Conquered  by  Saul  (1  Sam. 
 xiv.  47),  and  yet  more  completely  by  David    -  Sam. 
 
 viii.  1  I-  .  they  made  an  Unsuccessful  attempt  to  throw- 
 off  the  yoke  in  the  time  of  Solomon  (1  Kind's  xi.  1  I — 
 
 -\l  .  but  finally  revolted  with  success  in  that  of  Joram 
 
 (2  Kings  viii.  20—22;   -  Ohron.  xxi.  8).     Amaziah  anil 
 
 TJ/./iah  endeavoured  to  reassert  dominion  over  them  (2 
 Kinirs  xiv.  7.  22),  lmt  under  Aha/,  they  invaded  Judah 
 
 l-'    Chron.    xxviii.    17).   anil    in    the   reign    Of    Zedekiah 
 
 appear  as  an  independent  power  seeking  to  ally  them. 
 
 selves  with  that  king  against  their  common  enemy 
 Nebuchadneziar  (chap,  xxvii. :!'.  Soon,  however,  they 
 allied  themselves  with  the  Ohaldsaana,  and  were  con- 
 spicuous fur  their  triumphant  exultation  in  the  destruc- 
 tion of  Jerusalem   (IV  exxxvii.  7;    Lam.  iv.   '21  ;   Ezek. 
 
 xw\  15,  xxwi.  .",>.  Obadiah  had  prophesied  against 
 them,  probably  shortly  before  Jeremiah's  utterance, 
 
 and  what   we  lind    here  stands  in  the  same   relation  to 
 
 his  language  as  the  prophecy  against  nfoab  in  chap. 
 
 xlviii.  does  to  U.i.  xv..  xvi.   Possibly,  however,  as  Obad, 
 verse  11   seems  t..  indicate,  Obadiah  was  the  later  of 
 the  two.     See  Inbrodwstim  to  Obadiah.) 
 Is  wisdom   no  more  in  Teman   .  .  .  ?—  The 
 
 exact  locality  of  Teman  has  not  heen  determined,  lmt 
 it  is  always  closely  connected  with  Edom.  ami.  as  the 
 
 word    means    ••  smith,"    may    describe    that     region    of 
 
 the  Bdomite  country'.  Its  fame  for  wisdom  seems  to 
 have  heen  proverbial  So  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  ap- 
 pears as  the  chief  speaker  among  Job's  three  friend- 
 
 t.loli  ii.  11,  iv.  1 1.    So  Obadiah    raree  8)  speaks  of  thi 
 
 "wise  men"  of  Edom.      So  Solomon's  wisdom  excelled 
 
 that  of  "the  children  of  the  Bast  "  (1  Kings  iv.  30 
 
 The  form  of  the  questions  implies  that  all  three  ai 
 bo  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
 
 (8)  O  inhabitants  of  Dedan.— See  Note  on  chap 
 xxv.  -l.\.  In  Ezek.  xxv.  13  Dedan  appears,  as  here,  it 
 company  with  Edom  and  Teman.  In  foa.  xxi.  1:!  th 
 "travelling  companies  of  Dedanim"  appear  as  earn- 
 ing- on  the  traffic  of  Edom  with  other  countries.  Tin 
 words  "dwell  deep"  aro  as  a  warning;,  bidding  th.-n, 
 retire  as  far  as  possible,  so  as  to  escape  from  the 
 Chahhean   invaders. 
 
 <s)  If  grapegatherers  come  to  thee  .  .  .— 
 The  words  are  reproduced  in  Obad.  verse  5.  Vine. 
 gatherers  leave  some  hum-lies  for  the  gleaner:  robber- 
 are  at  last  satiated  with  plunder;  but  the  destroyers  of 
 Edom  would  be  insatiable  comp.  Isa.  xvii.  til.  E 
 (the  name  stands  for  Edom  should  lie  laid  bare,  ami 
 perish  utterly.  It  IS  significant  that  there  is  no  pro- 
 miss  to  Edom  that  h.r  c.ipth  ity  should  he  brought  hack 
 
 (ii)  Leave  thy  fatherless  children  .  .  .  -Wen 
 
 the  words  uttered  in  the  stern  irony  of  one  who  veils  I 
 threat  in  the  form  of  a  promise,  as  some  have  thought. 
 Or  was  there  even  in  the  ease  of  EdomaniiiiL'liiiL.'  of  pit] 
 tor  the   helpless?      The   latter  view   seems  truer  to  the 
 
 prophet's  character  (chap,  xlviii  36).    If  the  sentence 
 
 was  passed  which  left  the  wives  of  Edom  widoWB,  alio 
 their  children  orphans,  yet  G©d  had  not  forgotten  that 
 He  was  the  (rod  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless 
 
 i-   Bohold,  they  whose  judgment  .   .  .—The 
 
 imagery   is   taken   up   from   chap.  xxv.  1">.      Even   those 
 
 of  whom  it  might  have  seemed  that  they  were  exempted, 
 
 by  God's  decree,  from  drinking  of  the  cup  of  Hi- 
 wrath,  had  drunk.  Conld  Esan  hope  for  immunity:' 
 The  thought  is  parallel  to  that  of   1  Pet.  iv.  17. 
 
 (13)  Bozrah.— This,  as  in  la*,  xxxiv.  6,  lxiii.  1.  was 
 one  of  the  chief  cities  of  Edom,  probably  identical  with 
 the  modern  Bl-Busairch,  half-way  between  IVtra  and 
 the  Dead  Sea. 
 
 167 
 
The  Desolation 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   XLIX. 
 
 of  Edom. 
 
 a  reproach,  a  waste,  and  a  curse ;  and 
 all  the  cities  thereof  shall  be  perpetual 
 wastes. 
 
 <u)  I  have  heard  a  "  rumour  from  the 
 Loed,  and  an  ambassador  is  sent  unto 
 the  heathen,  saying,  Gather  ye  together, 
 and  come  against  her,  and  rise  up  to 
 the  battle.  <15>  For,  lo,  I  will  make  thee 
 small  among  the  heathen,  and  despised 
 among  men.  <16)  Thy  terribleness  hath 
 deceived  thee,  and  the  pride  of  thine 
 heart,  0  thou  that  dwellest  in  the  clefts 
 of  the  rock,  that  boldest  the  height  of 
 the  hill :  though  thou  shouldest  make 
 thy  *  nest  as  high  as  the  eagle,  I  will 
 bring  thee  down  from  thence,  saith  the 
 
 d  Gen.  19. 
 5o.  40. 
 
 1  Or,   convent    me. 
 inju&gment. 
 
 e  Jot)  41.  10;    eh.' 
 
 50.  44,  45. 
 
 Lord.  <17>  Also  Edom  shall  be  a  desola- 
 tion :  c  every  one  that  goeth  by  it  shall 
 be  astonished,  and  shall  hiss  at  all  the 
 plagues  thereof.  <18>  d  As  in  the  over- 
 throw of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  the 
 neighbour  cities  thereof,  saith  the  Lord, 
 no  man  shall  abide  there,  neither  shall 
 a  son  of  man  dwell  in  it. 
 
 <19'  Behold,  he  shall  come  up  like  a 
 lion  from  the  swelling  of  Jordan  against 
 the  habitation  of  the  strong  :  but  I  will 
 suddenly  make  him  run  away  from  her : 
 and  who  is  a  chosen  man,  that  I  may 
 appoint  over  her?  for  who  is  like  me? 
 and  who  will  1 '  appoint  me  the  time  ? 
 and  who  is  that  shepherd  that  will  stand 
 
 (U)  I  have  heard  a  rumour  from  the  Lord 
 
 .  .  . — The  thought  is  that  of  Jehovah,  as  the  great 
 King,  sending  forth  His  herald  or  envoy  to  call  the 
 nations  to  the  attack  on  Edom.  (Comp.  chap.  xlvi. 
 3,4.) 
 
 (is)  Among  the  heathen.— Better  here,  as  no 
 marked  contrast  with  Israel  is  intended,  among  the 
 nations. 
 
 (16)  Thy  terribleness  hath  deceived  thee.— 
 The  substantive  does  not  occur  elsewhere.  Etymo- 
 logieally  it  may  mean  "  terror  of,"  or  "  object  of 
 terror ; "  hut  a  cognate  word  is  foimd  hi  1  Kings  xv. 
 13;  2  Chron.  xv.  16  in  the  sense  of  an  "  idol,"  probably 
 of  the  Phallic  or  Priapus  type,  and  that  is  probably 
 the  meaning.  Such  an  idol  is  called  scornfully  the 
 horror  of  Edom,  just  as  the  God  of  Israel  was  "  the 
 fear  of  Isaac"  (Gen.  xxxi.  42).  So  Milton  speaks  of 
 Chemosh  as  the  "  obscene  dread  of  Moab's  sons " 
 {Par.  Lost,  I.  406.) 
 
 O  thou  that  dwellest  in  the  clefts  of  the 
 rock. — Better,  perhaps,  in  the  fortresses  of  Sela.  The 
 words  describe  with  a  wonderful  vividness  the 
 aspect  of  the  rock-fortresses  of  Edom,  the  cities 
 built  into  a  ravine.  The  remains  of  Petra  (the  Sela 
 of  2  Kings  xiv.  7 ;  Isa.  xvi.  1),  commonly  referred  to 
 as  illustrating  this  description,  are,  it  must  be  remem- 
 bered, of  Roman  origin ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt 
 that  it  occupied  the  site  of  an  earlier  city,  and  that 
 there  were  other  fortresses,  even  more  like  the  eagle's 
 nest,  perched  upon  the  summit  of  the  crags.  In  Job 
 xxxix.  27 — 30  we  have  a  picture  of  the  eagle's  nest 
 drawn  by  a  writer  who  was  probably  familiar  with 
 these  rock  fortresses. 
 
 I1')  Edom  shall  be  a  desolation.— The  words 
 did  not  receive  an  immediate  or  even  a  rapid  fulfilment. 
 Idumaea  was  a  populous  and  powerful  country  in  the 
 time  of  John  Hyrcanus.  Petra,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
 rebuilt  by  the  Romans  as  a  centre  of  trade  and  govern- 
 ment, and  had  its  baths,  and  theatres,  and  temples. 
 But  the  end  came  at  last,  and  there  are  few  lands,  once 
 the  seat  of  a  thriving  nation,  more  utterly  desolate 
 than  that  of  Edom.  From  the  ninth  century  of  the 
 Christian  era  it  disappears  from  history  (Robinson's 
 Researches,  ii.  575). 
 
 (!8)  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  the  neighbour 
 cities  thereof. — The  destruction  of  the  two  cities 
 named  had  become  i>roverbial,  as  in  Isa.  i.  9;  Jer. 
 xiii.  19 ;  Amos  iv.  11.  What  is  noticeable  here  is  the 
 mention  of  the  "neighbour  cities."    We  may  connect 
 
 15S 
 
 it  -with  the  fact  that  they  are  named  as  Admah  and 
 Zeboim  in  Dent.  xxix.  23. 
 
 (is)  Like  a  lion  from  the  swelling  of  Jordan. 
 — Better,  as  in  chap.  xii.  5,  the  pride  of  Jordan — i.e., 
 the  thick  jungle-forests  which  were  the  glory  of  its 
 banks. 
 
 Against  the  habitation  of  the  strong.— Better, 
 against  the  evergreen  pasturage.  The  word  for  "  habi- 
 tation "  is  that  used  in  chap.  vi.  2  for  the  place  where 
 shepherds  encamp,  the  other  substantive  conveys  the 
 idea  of  permanence  rather  than  strength,  and  the  image 
 by  which  the  prophet  paints  the  Chaldrean  invasion  is 
 that  of  a  lion  (comp.  chap.  v.  6)  making  its  way 
 through  the  jungle,  and  rushing  upon  the  flocks  and 
 herds  in  one  of  the  meadow  tracts  along  the  course  of 
 the  Jordan. 
 
 But  I  will  suddenly  make  him  run  away 
 from  her. — Literally,  I  will  wink,  I  will  make  him 
 .  .  .  The  pronouns  are  obscure  in  the  Hebrew  as  in  the 
 English,  but  the  meaning  seems  to  be,  "  I  will,  as  in 
 the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  drive  him  (Edom)  away  from 
 it"  (his  pasturage,  or  habitation). 
 
 And  who  is  a  chosen  man,  that  I  may 
 appoint  over  her  ? — Better,  who  is  a  chosen  one, 
 and  I  will  appoint  him  .  .  .?  The  word  translated 
 "  chosen  one  "  is  commonly  associated  with  the  idea  of 
 youth,  the  flower  of  a  nation's  strength,  its  chosen 
 champions.  Commentators  for  the  most  part  apply  it 
 to  Nebuchadnezzar  as  being,  in  the  full  vigour  of  his 
 strength,  the  chosen  ruler  whom  Jehovah  would  appoint 
 over  Edom.  The  interrogative  form,  however,  and  the 
 implied  negative  answer  to  the  questions  that  follow 
 suggest  a  different  interpretation.  "  Who,"  the  pro- 
 phet asks  in  a  tone  of  scorn,  as  though  Jehovah  spoke 
 by  him,  "  is  a  chosen  champion  of  Edom  ?  and  I  will 
 appoint  him."  The  implied  answer  is  that  Edom  has 
 no  such  champion.  Compare  the  taunting  words  uttered 
 by  Jehu  (2  Kings  x.  2,  3) — "Look  even  out  the  best 
 and  meetest  of  your  master's  sons" — and  Rabshakeh 
 (2  Kings  xviii.  23). 
 
 Who  is  like  me?  and  who  will  appoint  me 
 the  time  ? — The  questions  follow  rapidly  one  on 
 another  in  the  same  tone.  To  "  appoint  a  time  "  was 
 the  technical  phrase,  as  in  Job  ix.  19,  for  the  notice 
 by  which  a  prosecutor  summoned  the  accused  to  trial. 
 "  Who,"  Jehovah  asks.  "  will  thus  summon  Me.  and 
 before  what  tribunal'?"  "What  shepherd  (i.e.,  what 
 rider)  will  stand  before  Me  to  defend  his  flock  against 
 My  power  P  " 
 
The  Word  of  the  Lord 
 
 JEBEMIAH,   XI  AX. 
 
 •  "'ii». 
 
 before  meP  ("'Therefore  bear  the 
 counsel  of  tin-  Loui>,  that  lie  hath  taken 
 against  ESdom;  and  his  purposes,  that 
 he  hath  purposed  against  the  inhabitants 
 ofTeman:  Surely  the  Leasi  of  the  flock 
 
 shall    draw    them    out:    surel\    he    shall 
 
 make  their  habitations  desolate  with 
 them.  '-'"  The  earth  is  moved  at  the 
 noise  of  their  fall,  at  the  ory  the  noise 
 thereof    was   heard   in   the   '  Red  sea. 
 
 <-'-•  Behold,  he   shall    come   up   and  lly  as 
 
 the  eagle,  and  spread  his  wings  over 
 
 Bozrah:   and  at  that  day  shall  the  heart 
 Of  the    mighty  men  of   lOdoin  he   as  the 
 heart  of  a  woman  in  her  pangs. 
 Concerning  Damascus. 
 Eamath  is  confounded,  and  Arpad: 
 l'ir   they  have  heard   evil   tidings:   they 
 
 I  II.  I..,  melted. 
 
 :  or,  111 1  n  &u  N  a 
 
 a  Ajuob  I.  4. 
 
 are  'fainthearted;  there  is  sorrow  3on 
 the  sea ;  it  cannot  be  quiet.  '-■  Damas- 
 cus is  waxed  feeble,  and  turneth  herself 
 
 to  flee,  and  fear  hath  seized  "ti  her: 
 anguish  and  sorrows  have  taken  her,  as 
 8  woman  in  travail.      -:,>  How  is  the  eity 
 
 of  praise  not  left,  the  city  of  my  joy! 
 <*■> Therefore  her  young  nun  shall  fall 
 in  her  streets,  and  all  the  men  of  war 
 shall  be  cut  off  in  that  day,  saith  the 
 Loan  of  hosts.  -:  And  I  will  kindle  a 
 "fire  in  the  wall  of  Damascus,  ami  it 
 shall  consume  the  palaces  of  Ben-hadad. 
 
 (28)  Concerning  Cedar,  and  concerning 
 the  kingdoms  of  Hazor,  which  Nebu- 
 chadrezzar king  of  Babylon  shall  smite, 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  ; 
 
 Arise  ye,  go  up  to  Kedar,  and  spoil 
 
 (*>)  Surely.— Literally.  If  not  .  .  ." — the  strongest 
 Hebrew  idiom  of  asseveration. 
 
 Tho  least  of  the  flock  shall  draw  them  out 
 .  .  . — Tlie   English  is  obscure,   probably  because  the 
 
 object  of  tlie  vert)  lias  been  taken  as  its  subject. 
 Better,  Surety   (hey  (i.e.,  the   Chaldican   invader-,)   irlll 
 
 tlu  iii,  the  feeble  ones  of  the  flock:  surely  hen-ill  make 
 their  pasturage  terror-stricken  nl  litem.  Tlie  thought 
 expressed  is  that  the  very  fields  el'  Kilnui  would,  as  it, 
 
 were,  shudder  at  the  eruelty  ol  their  conquerors.     It  is 
 iceable   that    the  whole   passage  is  repeated  iu  chap. 
 [.II,   I",,  and  is  there  applied  to  Babylon. 
 
 <-')  The  noise  thereof  was  heard  in  the  Red 
 sea. — Literally,  as  in  the  margin,  /he  Weedy,  or  Reed 
 Tlie  crash  of  the  fall  of  Edoni,  tlio  cries  of  the 
 slaughtered  people,  were  to  bo  heard  far  off  on  tho 
 Waters  of  the  sea  that  washed  its  shores.  Elath,  on 
 the  (i nit'  el'  Akaba,  was  the  sea-pert  of  Edoni  (2  (,'hrou. 
 
 rxvi  - 1. 
 I--'    He  shall  come  up  and  fly  as  tho  eagle. 
 
 — The  prophet    passes  from  one   symbol  of  sovereignty 
 
 to  another, and  instead  of  tlie  lion  we  have  (see  Note  on 
 chap,  xh  iii.  W   the  eagle.    What  BZerioth  was  to  Bloab, 
 
 Bozrah  was  to  lvlom.  and  its  capture  is  painted  in  the 
 '■ins. 
 
 i-';i  Concerning  Damascus.— Damascus  is  named 
 
 as  the  capital  of  Aram,  or  Syria.      The  kingdom  first 
 
 1 aine   powerful   under   lie/.on   after   David's  death  (1 
 
 KiiiLTs  xi.  23,  -I  I.      In  the  history  of  1  and  2  Kings  we 
 
 find  it   engaged   in  constant  wars  against,  Israel  and 
 
 dudali     I    Kings   xxii.  1;    2    Kiny's  vi.   Si  or  ill  alliance 
 
 with  Israel  against  Judah  1  Sings  vr.  lt>:  2  Kings 
 xvi.  ■">,  6  .    The  last  of  these  alliances  was  the  memo. 
 
 rable  confederacy  of  I>a.  vii.  2.  between  Re/.in  and 
 IVkah.  That  ended,  as  Isaiah  foretold,  in  the  subju- 
 gation ,,f    Damascus   by  the  Assyrians  (2  Kinirs  wi. 
 
 '.'I.       And    so  the    Syrians    continued    subject    till    the 
 
 downfall  of  the  Assyrian  Empire,  when  they  naturally 
 fell  before  tin'  power  of  rTeouohadneszar.    The  Ian- 
 
 re  of  the  prophet  i-  vague,  but  probably  points  t,i 
 
 his  attack. 
 
 Hamath  is  confounded,  and  Arpad.—  The 
 former  town  was  originally  pointed  out  as  tin'  northern 
 
 limit   of  the  territory  of   Israel   i  N'um.   xx\i\.   B),  and 
 
 this  was  attained  under  Sol. in  (2  Chron.  viii.   i).     It 
 
 in  a  strong  position  in  the  valley  of  the  Orontes. 
 
 and  under  the  name  of    lluuinh   is  still  a   flourishing 
 
 city  with  30,onn  inhabitants,     Arpad.  always  joined 
 
 with  Hamath  i  [sa.  x.  '.'.  xxxvi.  II',  xxxvii.  1:1  .  must  at, 
 the    time  have   been    nearly    as  important.      The    I 
 Jrpatldti   has    been  found  in  cuneiform    inscripti 
 
 and  its  site  has  been  placed  at    about   fonrt dies 
 
 north  of  Aleppo.      For  further  details  seo  Notes  on 
 Isa.  x.  9. 
 There  is  sorrow  on  the  sea ;   it  cannot  be 
 
 quiet. — The  mention   of    the    sea    in    connexion    with 
 
 Damascus  presents  some  difficulty.    The  most  simple 
 
 solution  is  probably  tlie  truest.  The  terror  that  pre- 
 vails at  Damascus  is  thought  of  as  extending  to  the 
 sea  (i.e.,  to  tho  Mediterranean  .  possibly  with  special 
 reference  to  its  commerce  with  lyre  Kzek.  xxvii.  18). 
 All  is  restless  and  unquiet,  as  the  sea  itself.  The  last 
 clause  seems  like  a  reminiscence  of  Isa.  lvii.  2i>.  Many 
 MSS.  give  the  various  reading  "  like  the  sea,"  which 
 would  make  the  parallelism  more  complete. 
 
 (»)  How  is  the  city  of  praise  not  left  .  .  .  !— 
 
 The  exclamation,  half  scornful,  half  ironical,  point 
 
 the  fact  that  the  inhabitants  of  Damascus  had  tried  in 
 
 vain  to  flee  verse  21  .  The  city  so  fair  and  glorious, 
 with  its  rivers  Abana  and  Pharphar (2  Kind's  v.  12), 
 had  not  been  ••left."  would  not,  J.e  empty  when  it  was 
 
 taken.  The  people  would  perish  with  it.  Her  young 
 warriors  and  her  veterans  should  be  cut  off  within  the 
 walls. 
 
 <-:i  It  shall  consume  the  palaces  of  Ben-ha- 
 dad.—Three  kings  of  the  name  appear  in  old  Testament 
 history;  one  as  warring  against  Omri  1  Kim:-  xx.  :'.l  . 
 another  as  a  contemporary  of  Ellisha  (2  Kings  vhi.  7  .  a 
 
 Quid  as  the  son  of  Sacael,  and  therefore  belonging  to  a 
 different  dynasty (2  rHngBxiii.3  ,    I'  is  possible, aa  the 
 
 name  was  thusa~-.oci.ited  with  the  greatness  of  the  king- 
 dom, that  it  may  have  been  borne  also  by  later  kiiiL's.    It 
 appears  in  the  form  Ben-hidri   iu  Assyrian  iuscript 
 The   prophet's  WOlds  are,  at  any  rate,  a   proof  that  the 
 
 cee  of  Damascus  were  either  built  by  one  of  them. 
 
 probably  the  first,  or  at  any  rate  bore  their  name. 
 
 Concerning  Kedar  .  .  :— The  name  belonged 
 to  a  tribe  of  the  Bedouin  type, descended  from  Lanmael 
 
 i  (Jen.  xxv.  18),  and  at   this  time  conSpicuOUB  as  -upply- 
 irketsof  Tyre  with  -he-pan  -vii. 
 
 21  .  In  Ps.  exx.  5  it  appears  aa  the  representative  of 
 the  tierce  nomadic  life  of  the  Arabians.    Haaorap] 
 
The  Word  of  the  Lord 
 
 JEREMIAH,   XLIX. 
 
 against  Hazor  and  Elam. 
 
 the  men  of  the  east.  <29>  Their  tents 
 and  their  flocks  shall  they  take  away  : 
 they  shall  take  to  themselves  their 
 curtains,  and  all  their  vessels,  and  their 
 camels  ;  and  they  shall  cry  unto  them, 
 Tear  is  on  every  side.  <30)  "  Flee,  1  get 
 you  far  off,  dwell  deep,  0  ye  inhabitants 
 of  Hazor,  saith  the  Lord  ;  for  Nebu- 
 chadrezzar king  of  Babylon  hath  taken 
 counsel  against  you,  and  hath  conceived 
 a  purpose  against  you.  <31)  Arise,  get 
 you  up  unto  the  3  wealthy  nation,  that 
 dwelleth  without  care,  saith  the  Lord, 
 which  have  neither  gates  nor  bars,  which 
 dwell  alone.  (32)  And  their  camels  shall 
 be  a  booty,  and  the  multitude  of  their 
 cattle  a  spoil :  and  I  will  scatter  into 
 
 1  Hub.,  flit  greatly. 
 
 2  Or,    that    is    at 
 
 S  Ili'b.,  cut  off  iata 
 com  vs,  or,  that 
 hnn  f/i,-  corn*  ra 
 of  their  hair 
 polled. 
 
 all  winds  them  that  are  3  in  the  utmost 
 corners  ;  and  I  will  bring  their  calamity 
 from  all  sides  thereof,  saith  the  Lord. 
 (33)  An(j  Hazor  shall  be  a  dwelling  for 
 dragons,  and  a  desolation  for  ever  :  there 
 shall  no  man  abide  there,  nor  any  son 
 of  man  dwell  in  it. 
 
 (3-t)  The  word  of  the  Lord  that  came 
 to  Jeremiah  the  prophet  against  Elam 
 in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Zede- 
 kiah  king  of  Judah,  saying, 
 
 (35)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ; 
 
 Behold,  I  will  break  the  bow  of  Elam, 
 the  chief  of  their  might.  (36)  And  upon 
 Elam  will  I  bring  the  four  winds  from  the 
 four  quarters  of  heaven,  and  will  scatter 
 them  toward  all  those  winds  ;  and  there 
 
 as  the  name  of  many  cities  in  Palestine  (Josh.  xi.  1, 
 xv.  23,  xix.  36),  but  the  combination  with  Kedar  points 
 to  quite  a  different  region.  The  probable  explanation 
 is  that  Jeremiah  uses  the  term  (as  a  like  word,  hazerein, 
 is  used  in  Isa.  xlii.  11  for  the  "  villages"  of  Kedar)  for 
 the  region  in  which  the  Kedar  Arabs  had  ceased  to  be 
 nomadic,  and  had  made  a  permanent  settlement.  Ac- 
 cording to  Niebuhr  (Assur  u.  Bab.,  p.  210)  it  answers  to 
 the  modern  Hadschar  in  the  angle  formed  by  the 
 southern  course  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Persian 
 Gulf. 
 
 Spoil  the  men  of  the  east. — Literally,  the  B'eni- 
 Kedeni,  or  children  of  the  East.  The  term  appears  in 
 the  Old  Testament  history  from  a  very  early  date 
 (Gen.  xxix.  1 ;  Judges  vi.  3,  33,  vii.  12 ;  1  Kings  iv.  30 ; 
 Job  i.  3),  and  has,  as  might  be  expected,  though  obvi- 
 ously indicating  a  nomadic  form  of  life,  like  that  of  the 
 Midianites,  a  somewhat  wide  and  undefined  connota- 
 tion. The  picture  of  the  attack  on  them  presents  a 
 marked  contrast  to  that  of  the  attack  on  Damascus : 
 not  palaces  and  treasm-es,  but  tents  and  flocks,  the 
 curtains  or  hangings  of  the  tent,  their  implements 
 (weapons,  kneading  troughs,  and  the  like),  their  very 
 camels,  seized  by  the  conquerors. 
 
 (»)  Fear  is  on  every  side. — There  is  a  striking 
 individuality  in  this  reproduction  of  the  Magor-missabib 
 cry  which  had  been  so  prominent  in  the  prophet's  own 
 life  and  preaching  (chaps,  vi.  25,  xx.  3,  10,  xlvi.  5). 
 
 (30)  Dwell  deep. — See  Note  on  verse  8.  The 
 dwellers  in  the  villages  of  Hazor  are  told,  as  those 
 of  Dedan  had  been,  to  flee  into  the  furthest  recesses 
 of  the  wilderness.  The  words  probably  point  to  the 
 time  after  the  battle  of  Oarchemish,  when  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar established  his  sovereignty  over  the 
 lower  Euphrates,  Northern  Arabia,  and  the  Syrian 
 desert. 
 
 (31—33)  Arise,  get  you  up  .  .  .—The  command 
 of  Jehovah  goes  forth  to  the  invaders.  Their  work 
 will  be  an  easy  one,  for  they  are  sent  against  a  people 
 that  dwell  defenceless  in  the  open  country,  with  no 
 walls  or  gates,  dwelling  alone,  without  allies,  their 
 camels  and  their  flocks  offering  an  easy  prey.  Compare 
 the  description  of  Laish  in  Judges  xviii.  7.  The  prophet 
 repeats  the  characteristic  term  of  scorn  which  we  nave 
 found  in  chaps,  ix.  26,  xxv.  23,  "  them  that  dwell  in 
 the  utmost  corners,"  or  more  accurately,  those  with 
 cropped-hair  temples,  as  descriptive  of  the  wild  tribes 
 
 160 
 
 that  are  thus  doomed  to  destruction.  Their  land  shall 
 be  a  dwelling-place  lor  jackals  (not  "dragons";  see 
 Note  on  chap.  ix.  11),  desolate  for  ever. 
 
 (34)  The  word  of  the  Lord  that  came  to 
 Jeremiah  the  prophet  against  Elam  .  .  . — 
 It  is  noticeable  that  this  is  the  only  prophecy  in  chaps, 
 xlviii.,  xlix.  with  a  date  attached  to  it.  Assuming  the 
 date  to  be  rightly  given,  it  indicates  a  time  later  than 
 that  of  those  that  precede  it,  which  belong  probably  to 
 the  group  of  predictions  connected  with  chap.  xxv.  It 
 has  been  maintained,  however,  by  many  critics  that  the 
 absence  of  the  name  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  so  prominent 
 in  Jeremiah's  predictions  after  the  deportation  of 
 Jehoiachin,  indicates  an  earlier  rather  than  a  later 
 date,  and  that  the  compiler  of  the  prophecies  was 
 mistaken  in  thus  fixing  the  time  of  its  delivery.  The 
 inference  is,  however,  somewhat  precarious,  as  the  faet 
 is  common  to  the  prophecies  against  the  Philistines, 
 Moabites,  Ammonites,  &c,  that  precede  this.  Elam, 
 though  commonly  identified  with  Persia,  as  in  Isa. 
 xi.  11,  xxi.  2,  xxii.  6,  appears  to  be  used  with  a 
 somewhat  wider  connotation  for  the  tribes  beyond 
 the  Tigris  (chap.  xxv.  25).  The  tone  of  the  pro- 
 phecy seems  to  imply  that  Elam  had  been  prominent 
 among  the  enemies  of  the  people  of  Jehovah  (as  in 
 Isa.  xxii.  6),  and  this  has  led  to  the  inference  that  they 
 had  taken  part  in  the  attack  on  Judah,  as  auxiliaries 
 in  the  army  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  It  is  significant  that 
 the  thought  that  Elam  is  to  be  the  instrument  of 
 Jehovah  for  the  destruction  of  Babylon  (Isa.  xxi.  2), 
 and  that  out  of  it  was  to  come  the  appointed  deliverer 
 of  Israel,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  present  to  the 
 prophet's  mind.  His  horizon  is,  as  it  were,  bounded 
 for  the  time  by  the  more  immediate  future. 
 
 (35)  i  wiu  break  the  bow  of  Elam.— As  in  Isa.  xxii. 
 6  ;  Herod,  vii.  61 ,  Elam  was  conspicuous  for  its  archers. 
 We  are  reminded  of  the  account  which  Herodotus  gives 
 (ii.  136)  of  the  three  things  taught  to  the  youth  of  Persia 
 — to  ride,  to  draw  the  bow,  and  to  speak  the  truth. 
 This  weapon  was  "  the  chief  of  their  might." 
 
 (36)  Tjpon  Elam  will  I  bring  the  four  winds 
 .  .  . — The  words  reproduce  those  of  verse  32  as  to  the 
 extent  of  the  dispersion,  but  there  is  an  added  circum- 
 stance of  terror  in  the  picture  of  destruction.  The 
 "four  winds"  whirling  round  as  in  a  cyclone  are  to 
 be  the  instruments  of  destruction.  The  imagery  of  the 
 tln-eshing-floor  seems  once  more  brought  before  us,  and 
 
The  Lord's  Throne  in  Elam, 
 
 JEREMIAH,   L. 
 
 !'!'■  Word 
 
 shall  be  qo  nation  whither  the  outcasts 
 ut'  Klam  shall  rial  cm me    ''■''  For  I  will 
 
 cause  Khun  tn  lie   (lisinaviil   before  1  li.ir 
 
 enemies,  and  before  them  thai  seek  their 
 life:  and  I  will  bring  evil  upon  them, 
 
 SVen  mj  fierce  anger,  saith  the  Lot;i>; 
 and  1  "ill  send  the  sword  after  them, 
 till  I  have  consumed  them:  ' !>;  ami  1 
 will  set  my  t Incur  in  Elam,  and  will 
 destroy  from  thence  the  king  ami  the 
 princes,    saith    the   Lord.      <:"'  J!ut    it 
 
 IT  .    V.T.  'I. 
 
 I  Btb.,»yM«*m4 
 
 ......A. 
 
 I  ,  I  ft  U,>. 
 
 shall    ci. me   tn    pass    in    the    latter  <  In  \  -, 
 
 thai  '  I  will  bring  again   the  captivity 
 
 of  Elam,  saith  the  LoBD. 
 
 CHAPTER  L._'i'The  word  that  the 
 Loan  spake  against  Bain  lun  ami  against 
 the  land  of  the  Chaldeans  '  by  Jeremiah 
 the  prophet. 
 
 I  declare  ye  among  the  nations,  and 
 publish,  and  ;  set  ap  a  standard;  publish, 
 and  conceal  not :  say,  Babylon  is  taken, 
 
 tin'  islamites  are  as  the  chaft  which  the  winds,  in  such 
 a  tempest,  carry  oft  in  all  directions. 
 
 (SB)  I  will  sot  my  throne  in  Elam.— Tin-  throne 
 of  Jehovah  is,  it  is  clear,  the  throne  of  the  king  who  is. 
 for  the  time,  Bis  chosen  Instrument  ami  servant,  in  this 
 case  therefore  the  throne  of  Nebuchadnezzar  chap,  xliii. 
 10),  aj^ain^t  whom  Elam,  like  the  other  nations  in  chap. 
 xxv.  13 — 25,  and  in  chaps,  xlviii.,  xlix..  had  apparently 
 risen  in  rebellion.  Of  this  we  have,  perhaps,  ■  trace  in 
 tlin  statement  of  Judith  i.  1 — 13,  thai  Nebuchadnezzar 
 defeated  Axphaxad,  a  king  of  Media,  in  the  seventeenth 
 year  of  his  reign.  The  words  find  an  historical  fulfil- 
 iii.nt  in  the  tad  thai  Shnshan,  "in  the  province  of 
 
 Elinn,"  lici-.'iini'  oiii'  of  the  royal  residences  of  the 
 ( 'hahhean  kings  (Dan.  viii.  2),  and  continued  to  be 
 so  under  those  of  Persia,  who,  as  regards  the  population 
 of  Elam   proper,  were  as   conquerors  (Nell.  i.    1;    Esth. 
 
 i.  2).  A  like  prediction  of  the  fall  of  Elam,  among 
 other  nations,  before  the  attack  of  the  King  of  Babylon 
 
 is  found  in  Ezek.  xx\ii.  24. 
 
 '■"  I  will  bring  again  tho  captivity  of  Elam. 
 — Of  the  special  history  of  Elam.  as  distinct  from  the 
 
 other  provinces  of  the  Persian  Empire,  history  records 
 
 but  little.      The  mention  of  Elamite-  among  those  who 
 
 were  present  at  Jerusalem  on  tho  day  of  Pentecost 
 (Acts  ii.  9  shows  that  they  were  ■  recognised  province 
 
 under  the  Parthian  monarchy,  and  that  .lews  had 
 settled  among  them  in  large  numbers,  and  BO  BUpplies 
 a  partial  fulfilment  of  their  return  from  their  captivity. 
 
 The  long  continuous  prophecy  which  occupies  the 
 
 place  of  a  great  finale  in  the  collection  of  Jeremiah's 
 
 writings  (chaps.  1.  and  li.)  is  in  many  ways  the  most  im- 
 portant of  the  whole  1 k.     It  presents  an  aspect  of 
 
 the  prophet's  mind  and  character  which  elsewhere  is 
 almost  or  altogether  latent.     For  the  most   part,  he 
 
 appears   :s   I  lie   supporter   of  the   Chaldaaiis.  opposing 
 the  policy  of  the   kings  and   rulers  who  were  bent   on 
 
 resistance,  Lidding  the  exiles  to  pray  for  the  peaci 
 Babylon  (chap.  xxix.  7).     Only  once  before,  as  in  a 
 
 germinal    hint    afterwards  to   be    developed,  and   veiled 
 
 beneath  the  cypher  of  the  mysterious  Sheshaen   chap. 
 
 x\\    26  .  bad  he  given  any  intimation  that  it  came  within 
 
 the  horizon  of  his  \isi.m  that  she,  too,  was  to  drink  of 
 
 "the  wine-cup  of  the  Lord's  fury"    chap.  xxv.   !■".         Il 
 
 bu  scarcely  be  imagined,  however,  that  the  predictions 
 of  Isaiah  against  the  Ohaldsaan  city  in  chaps,  xiii. — 
 xiv.  \l\l.  or  it'  we  acknowledge  the  later  chapters  of  thai 
 book  as  authentic)  those  in  chaps,  zlvi  .  xH ii..  were  un- 
 known to  him;  and  we  may  well  believe  that  wl 
 great  catastrophe  had  come  upon  Jerusalem,  and  the 
 people  »ere  in  exile   bj    the   waters  of   Babylon,   he 
 
 desired   to  comfort    them    with    the    thought    that    the 
 righteous  law   of   retribution  under   which  they   were. 
 150  161 
 
 Buffering  would  in  due  time  bring  down  the  pride  of 
 their  oppressor.  When  he  had  told  them  that  their 
 Captivity  would  last  for  seventy  years  chap.  xxix.  10  . 
 that  lands  should  once  again  be  DOUghi  and  sold,  and 
 ploughed   and   planted   in  Judah    .-hap.  \xxii.   1",  .  there 
 
 was  an  implied  fore-knowledge  of  the  doom  of  the 
 
 golden  city;  and  at  last,  probably  as  the  closing  vision 
 OX  his  life,  the  last  ease  in  which  he  was  to  "root  out. 
 and  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy."    it  was  given   to  him 
 
 to  see  how  that  destruction  would  be  accomplished. 
 
 The  authenticity  of  the  chapter  has,  it  is  true.  I n 
 
 questioned    by   -nine   critics,   parti]    On    the   assumption 
 
 that  prop] y  cannot  be  prediction,  and  thai  the  ful- 
 ness of  detail  with  which  the  apparent  prediction  is 
 giver  implies  a  pn.pl y  after  il rent,  partly  on  tho 
 
 ground  that   the   style  differs   from   that   of    the  other 
 
 writings  ascribed  to  Jeremiah's  name,  and  that  it 
 presents  so  many  traces  of  acquaintance  with  Babylon 
 
 and  its  customs  that  it  must  has,,  been  written  by  one 
 
 who  had  1 n  resident  in  that  city.  (In  this  hypo- 
 thesis Baruch  has  been  named  as  its  possible  author. 
 
 The  first  ground  of  objection  opens  a  wide  question 
 which  cannot  well   be  discussed  on    e\,ry  -urrence  of 
 
 the  principle  which  it  involves.    Here  it  will  l>o  enough 
 
 to  say  that  the  assumption  in  question  is  at  variance 
 with  the  whole    idea  if  their  office   which  the   prophets 
 
 themselves  rec. ionised ,  and  that  it  is  not  that  on 
 which    the    lines    of    interpretation    followed     in    this 
 
 Commentary    have    been    based.     Judgments    based 
 
 upon  variations  and  differences  in  style  are  always 
 more   or  less  precarious.     For  my  own  pari    I   do  not 
 
 see  any  such  differences  as  to  .lash  with  the  belief 
 that   these   chapters   were   written    by  Jeremiah,   and    I 
 
 find  many  parallelisms  and   coincide] s.  which  will  bo 
 
 noticed  as  we  proceed,  falling  in  with  that  belief.  The 
 third  difficulty  is  sufficiently  met  by  the  thought  thai 
 one  who  was  in  frequent  intercourse  both  with  the 
 captive  Jews  at  Babylon  and  with  the  Chaldaans  as 
 Jeremiah  was  (chap.  xxix.  1 — :>_!  .  to  say  nothing  ..f  his 
 
 personal  journeys  to  the  Euphrates    chap.  xiii.  1 — 7  . 
 
 might    well    have   acquired    BUch    a    knowledge   "f    the 
 
 country  as  is  indicated  in  these  chapters, 
 
 i  By  Jeremiah  the  prophet.— Literally,  by 
 the  hand  of  Jeremiah.  The  phrase  is  not  found  else- 
 where in  Jeremiah's  writings,  with  the  one  exception 
 
 of  chap,  xxxvii.  J.  It  probably  indicates  that  the 
 prophecy   that    follows   was  written  with  his  own  hand. 
 
 and    in it    dictated.       S -hap.  I 
 
 -  Set  up  a  standard.— Better,  lift  up  a  turned. 
 The  noun    is  tl:  -    in  chap.   iv.  6,   21.     Sere, 
 
 however,  its  us,,  is  not  that  of  tarnishing  a  rallying- 
 point  for  an  army,  but  that  "f  a  means  of  rapid  com- 
 munication, like  the  succession  of  In-acon. tiros  in  the 
 opening  of  the  Agamemnon  of  >i]schyliis  (Again.,  2~J 
 
The  Word  of  the  Lord 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   L. 
 
 against  Babylon. 
 
 Bel  is  confounded,  Merodach  is  broken 
 in  pieces  ;  her  idols  are  confounded,  lier 
 images  are  broken  in  pieces.  (3>  For 
 out  of  the  north  there  cometh  up  a 
 nation  against  her,  which  shall  make 
 her  land  desolate,  and  none  shall  dwell 
 therein :  they  shall  remove,  they  shall 
 depart,  both  man  and  beast. 
 
 M>  In  those  days,  and  in  that  time, 
 saith  the  Lord,  the  children  of  Israel 
 shall  come,  they  and  the  children  of 
 Judah  together,  going  and  weeping : 
 they  shall  go,  and  seek  the  Lord  their 
 God.  (5)  They  shall  ask  the  way  to  Zion 
 with  their  faces  thitherward,  saying, 
 Come,  and  let  us  join  ourselves  to  the 
 
 1  Hob.,  place  to  lie 
 down,  in. 
 
 a  Isa.  4ft.  20;    cb. 
 51.  li;  Rev.  16.  J. 
 
 Loed  in  a  perpetual  covenant  that  shall 
 not  be  forgotten. 
 
 <6)  My  people  hath  been  lost  sheep : 
 their  shepherds  have  caused  them  to  go 
 astray,  they  have  turned  them  away  on 
 the  mountains  :  they  have  gone  from 
 mountain  to  hill,  they  have  forgotten 
 their  1  restingplace.  (7)  All  that  found 
 them  have  devoured  them  :  and  their 
 adversaries  said,  We  offend  not,  because 
 they  have  sinned  against  the  Lord,  the 
 habitation  of  justice,  even  the  Lord,  the 
 hope  of  their  fathers.  <8)  "  Remove  out 
 of  the  midst  of  Babylon,  and  go  forth 
 out  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans,  and 
 be   as   the  he  goats  before  the  flocks. 
 
 —307).  The  tidings  of  the  fall  of  Babylon  are  to 
 he  proclaimed  as  quickly  as  may  be  throughout  the 
 world. 
 
 Bel  is  confounded,  Merodach  is  broken  in 
 pieces. — Strictly  speaking  these,  as  found  in  the 
 inscriptions,  were  names  of  the  same  deity  (see  Note  on 
 Isa.  xlvi.  1).  The  name  of  Bel  appears  in  the  names 
 of  the  two  great  walls  of  Babylon,  Imgur-Bel  and 
 Nimetti-Bel  (Records  of  the  Past,  v.  125).  The  latter 
 name,  sometimes  in  the  form  of  Marduk,  appears  as 
 lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  Nebo  is  subordinate  to 
 him.  Nebuchadnezzar's  devotion  to  him  is  indicated 
 by  the  name  he  gave  his  son,  Evil-merodach  (chap.  Hi. 
 31),  and  by  describing  himself  in  his  inscriptions  as 
 "worshipper  of  Marduk"  (Records  of  the  Past,  v.  113). 
 So  we  have  among  Chaldsean  names  Merodaeh-baladan 
 (2  Kings  xx.  12 ;  Isa.  xxxix.  1),  Kurdur-Marduk,  and 
 others.  The  inscriptions  at  Borsippa  speak  of  him  as 
 "  the  great  lord,  the  most  ancient  of  the  gods,  the  lord 
 of  the  gates  of  heaven,"  and  so  on  (Rawlinson's  Hero- 
 dotus, i.  627—631). 
 
 Idols  .  .  .  images.— The  words  had  better  be  in- 
 verted. The  former  word  denotes  sculptured  pillars, 
 the  latter  blocks  or  columns.  (See  Note  on  Lev. 
 xx vi.  30.) 
 
 (3)  Out  of  the  north  there  cometh  up  a 
 nation. — It  is  significant  that  the  very  phrase  which 
 had  described  the  danger  that  threatened  Judah 
 from  Babylon  (chap.  i.  10)  is  now  used  for  the 
 danger  that  threatened  Babylon  itself  from  Media. 
 It  is  as  though  the  jjrophet  -watched  that  northern 
 quarter  of  the  heavens,  and  saw  storm  after  storm, 
 torrent  after  torrent,  bursting  out  upon  the  south. 
 The  nations  are  named  in  chap.  li.  27,  28.  We  are 
 almost  irresistibly  reminded  of  the  language  in  which 
 the  historians  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  speak  of 
 the  Gothic  and  Teutonic  tribes  that  poured  down  upon 
 the  Roman  Empire. 
 
 (*)  The  children  of  Israel  shall  come  .  .  . — 
 The  union  of  the  divided  sections  of  the  people  is 
 significant  as  being  that  which  the  prophet  had  all  along 
 hoped  for  (chap.  iii.  14 — 16).  And  the  united  people 
 are  to  return  with  tears  of  mingled  joy  and  penitence 
 (comp.  Ezra  iii.  13,  viii.  21 — 23),  no  longer  worshipping 
 Baal  and  the  cpieen  of  heaven  (chaps,  vii.  18,  xliv.  17), 
 but  "  seeking  Jehovah  their  God." 
 
 (5)  They  shall  ask  the  way  to  Zion  with 
 their  faces  thitherward.— Literally,  hithcrward. 
 The  correction  is  not  without  significance,  as  showing 
 
 that  the  prophecy  was  written  in  Judah,  and  therefore 
 as  far  as  that  fact  goes,  as  being  in  favour  of  Jere- 
 miah's authorship. 
 
 A  perpetual  covenant.— The  prophet  may  have 
 had  the  promise  of  the  new  covenant  of  chap.  xxxi.  31 
 in  his  thoughts,  as  being'  about  to  receive  at  least  a 
 partial  fulfilment.  In  Ezra  viii.  21 — 23.  x.  3  we  find 
 what  we  may  look  on  as  an  effort  of  the  people  to 
 enter   into   such  a  covenant. 
 
 («)  My  people  hath  been  lost  sheep  .  .  . — 
 We  note  as  interesting  the  dominance  of  this  imagery 
 here  as  in  Isa.  liii.  6 ;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  5.  The  "  shepherds" 
 are,  as  ever,  the  kings  and  civil  rulers  of  the  people. 
 In  the  ''mountains"  and  "hills"  we  see  partly  the 
 natural  surroundings  of  the  imagery,  partly  a  special 
 reference  to  the  idolatrous  worship  of  the  high  places 
 (chap.  iii.  2,  6).  The  Hebrew  text  as  it  stands  gives, 
 they  have  led  them  on  seducing  mountains,  i.e.,  the 
 "  high  places  "  which  had  so  strange  a  fascination  for 
 them.  The  Authorised  version  follows  the  marginal 
 reading  of  the  Hebrew.  The  "  forgotten  resting- 
 place,"  or,  perhaps,  the  fold,  is,  as  in  verse  7,  the 
 "habitation  of  justice,"  the  true  pasturage,  the  right- 
 eousness which  is  found  in  fellowship  with  Jehovah 
 Himself. 
 
 (~)  Their  adversaries  said,  We  offend  not 
 .  .  .—  The  words  are  suggestive  as  indicating  a  special 
 aspect  of  the  thoughts  of  the  prophet  as  to  the  idolatry 
 of  Judah.  What  was  to  him  its  extremest  humiliation 
 was  that  it  put  a  taunt  into  the  mouths  of  the  enemies 
 of  her  people.  They  were  able  to  say,  "  We  arc  acting 
 rightly:  we  are  but  instruments  in  the  hands  of  God." 
 The  words  that  follow  can  scarcely  be  thought  of 
 as  those  of  the  enemies  of  Israel,  but  as  added 
 by  the  prophet  to  emphasise  the  guilt  of  his  own 
 people. 
 
 (8i  Remove  out  of  the  midst  of  Babylon  .  .  . 
 — The  prophet  re-echoes  almost  the  very  words  of  Isa. 
 xlviii.  20,  Iii.  11.  It  is  obviously  in  marked  contrast 
 with  the  counsels  in  chap.  xxix.  5 — 7  that  the  exiles 
 should  build  houses  and  plant  gardens,  and  seek  the 
 peace  of  the  city  of  their  conquerors.  That  was  a 
 wise,  and  right  counsel  for  the  time,  but  it  was  for  a 
 time  only ;  and  when  the  hour  of  the  fall  of  Babylon 
 came  they  were  to  be  as  the  he-goats  (better,  rams)  of 
 the  flock,  leading  the  captives  of  other  nations  in  the 
 work  of  liberation  and  of  flight.  That  was  their  only 
 way  of  escape  from  being  involved  in  the  destruction 
 of  the  doomed  city. 
 
 1C2 
 
The  Nations  of  1/1.  North 
 
 .ikkkmiah,  l. 
 
 Gatht  n  da 
 
 <9>  For,  lo,  I  will  raise  and  cause  to  come 
 Dp  against  Babylon  an  assemldy  of  <jrvat 
 nations  from  the  north  country:  and 
 fchey  shall  Bel  themselves  in  array 
 against  her;  from  thence  she  shall  be 
 taken:  their  arrows  shall  be  as  of  a 
 mighty  *  expert  man;  none  shall  return 
 
 in    vain.       <1"1    And    Chaldea   shall   be   a 
 
 spoil :  all  that  spoil  her  Bhall  be  satisfied, 
 saith  the  Loed.  ,1U  Because  ye  were 
 glad,  bt'causr  y<"  rejoiced,  0  ye  de- 
 scroyersof  mine  heritage,  because  ye  are 
 
 grown  'I'ai  as  the  heifer  at  grass,  and 
 bellow  as   bulls:   (1->    your   mother   shall 
 
 be  sore  confounded;  she  that  bare  you 
 shall  be  ashamed:  behold,  the  hinder- 
 most  of  the  naf  ions  shall  be  a  wilderness, 
 a  dry    land,  and   a   desert.     (u>  Because 
 
 1  Or,  dtttrtjyvr. 
 
 curfnUt  ut. 
 
 3  Or.  scythe. 
 
 of  the  wrath  of  the  Loan  it  Bhall  not 
 
 be   inhabited,   but   it   shall   be   wholly 
 
 ate:    ■  every   one    that    goeth    by 
 
 Uabylon  shall  he  astonished,  and  b 
 
 all  her  plagui 
 
 <ln   1'ut    yourselves    in   array    against 
 
 Babylon  round  about  :  all  ye  thai  I"  nd 
 the  how,  shoot  at  her,  spare  no  an 
 for  she  hath  sinned  against  the  Lobd. 
 1,1  si o  .ut  against  her  round  about :  she 
 
 hath  given  her  hand  :  her  foundations 
 are  fallen,  her  walls  are  thrown  down: 
 for  it  is  the  vengeance  of  the  Loan: 
 take  vengeance  npon  her;  as  she  hath 
 done,  do  unto  her.  <16'  Cut  off  the 
 sower  from  Babylon,  and  him  that 
 handleth  the  "sickle  in  the  time  of  har- 
 vest: for  fear  of  the  oppressing  Bword 
 
 <9>  An  assembly  of  great  nations  from  the 
 north  country.— Like  .-ill  the  great  monarchies  of 
 the  Bast,  the  Medo-Persiaa  kingdom,  which  was  to 
 be  the  destroyer  of  Babylon,  was  made  np  of  a  con- 
 geriesof  many  different  races.  Herodotus  (vii.  61 — 69), 
 in  his  account  of  the  army  of  Xerxes,  names  twenty- 
 two,  from  the  Bfedes  and  Persians  at  the  head  of  the 
 list  to  the  Arabians  and  Ethiopians  at  its  close. 
 
 From  thence  she  shall  be  taken.— The  Hebrew 
 adverb  may  be  taken  either  of  time  or  place.  The 
 latter,  as  referring  to  the  region  from  which  the  assail- 
 ants come,  gives  the  better  sense. 
 
 As  of  a  mighty  expert  man.— The  marginal 
 rendering,  "destroyer,"  follows  the  Vulgate  and  the 
 Targnm,  and  represents  a  various  reading.  There 
 is  no  sufficient  reason  for  rejecting  the  Authorised 
 version,  which  has  the  support  of  the  LXX.  and  the 
 Syriac  versions. 
 
 None  shall  return  in  vain.— Grammatically  the 
 words  may  refer  either  to  the  warrior  or  the  arrow. 
 The  use  of  the  same  phrase  in  -  Sam.  i.  --■.  Isa.  lv.  11 
 is  perhaps  in  favour  of  the  latter. 
 
 (1°)  Chaldea. — The  -same  word  is  used  as  for 
 OhaldsBans,  but  it  is  treated  as  the  name  of  the  country, 
 and  is  therefore  joined  with  a  verb  in  the  feminine 
 singular. 
 
 Destroyers     of    mine     heritage  — ! 
 'plunderers  or  roo6<  rs. 
 
 Ye  are  grown  fat  as  the  heifer  at  grass  — 
 Better,  the  Hebrew  text  being  in  the  singular,  thou 
 
 pedsi  as  the  heifer  while  threshing.  The  rule  of 
 Dent.  sxv.  1  ("Thou  shall  not  muzzle  the  ox  that 
 treadeth  out  the  corn"  made  the  image  significant 
 enough.  The  English  version  has.  however,  the  sup- 
 port of  the  I. XX.  and  Vnlg. 
 
 And  bellow  as  bulls!— Better,  thou   didst 
 Wong  steeds.    The  verb  is  the  same  as  in  chap  \.  8, 
 the  noun  the  same  as  in  chap.  viii.  lti. 
 
 t'-'i  Your  mother  shall  be  sore  confounded 
 ...    The  prophet  speaks  to  the  people  of  Babylon, 
 
 and  the  city  is  therefore  described  as  their  mother.' 
 
 The  hihdermost  of  the  nations  shall  be  a 
 wilderness  . .  .—The  interpolated  words  mar  the  force 
 of  the  sentence.     Better,  behold  II  ■  -7  of  the 
 
 nations,a  wilderness,  a  a  desert.     This  was 
 
 to  be  the  state  to  which  Babylon  should  be  reduced. 
 
 1G3 
 
 (IS)  Every  one  that  goeth  .  .  .—We  note  the 
 reproduction  of  the  formula  of  chaps.  \i\.  B,  xlix.  17. 
 
 Cu  All  ye  that  bend  the  bow.— Tie-  won 
 
 descriptive  of  the  Light-armed  tt pethat  formed  the 
 
 strength  of  the  Medo-Persian  army  -■ baps.  \ii\.  35, 
 
 1.14).  The  words  belong  properly  to  the  previous  clause, 
 and  the  colon  should  come  after  them.  Stress  is  laid 
 in  the  latter  clans, ■  on  the  fact  that  Babylon  has  sinned 
 
 in  her    cruelty    and    luxury  and    tyranny  against    the 
 
 righteous  government  of  Jehovah. 
 (isj  She  hath  given  her  hand.— The  words  paint 
 
 the    attitude  of  one   who   submits  and   stretches    forth 
 
 his  hand,  as  a  sign  that  he  gives  himself  into  the 
 power  of  the  conqueror.  [Comp.  Ezr.  x.  19;  2  Chron. 
 xxx.  s  :  Lam.  v.  ii.  So  in  Latin  " dare manum "  was  a 
 synonym  for  submission  (Gic.  dt  Amic  H>). 
 
 Her  foundations  are  fallen.— Better,  with  the 
 LXX..  bastions  or  bulwarks. 
 
 As  she  hath  done,  do  unto  her.— AW  note  nu 
 
 identity  of  thought    and   almost    of  language   with   Ps. 
 
 cxxxvii,  8.    Had  the  Psalmist  heard  the  prophecy,  or 
 the  prophet  the  psalm P    The  former  seems  the  o 
 probable  alternat  ive. 
 
 Cut    off    the    sower  .  .  .— The    rich    alluvial 
 
 plains  of  Babylon,  so  plentiful  that  they  yielded  an 
 
 increase  of  two  hundred-fold    Herod,  iii.  8  .  were  to  be 
 
 laid  waste.  There  may.  possibly,  be  a  special  reference 
 to  tlie  fields  within  the  walls  of  the  city,  upon  which  the 
 population  largely  depended,  and  which  were  now  to  be 
 devastated.  Died.  Sic.ii.9;  Pliny, fitrf.  .Y»..xi.  111.) 
 For  fear  of  the  oppressing  sword.— The 
 versions  present  the  same  noticeable  variations,  as  in 
 chap.xlvi.  lti.  the  LX  X.  giving  "  from  the  <  ireek  sword," 
 possibly  with  reference  to  the  1  !  Syrus  had  sub- 
 
 dued the  -Kolians  and  lonians  before  the  conquest  of 
 
 Babylon,  and  that  they  were  fighting  in  his  army,  or  to 
 
 Alexander's  capture  of  the  city,  and  the  Vnlg.  "  from 
 
 the  sword  of  the  dove,"  the  latter  rendering  being 
 supposed  to  refer  to  the  dove  on  the  Babylonian 
 standard,  as  the  emblem  of  Semiramis,  Here,  however, 
 as  Babylon  is  the  object  of  attack,  the  latter  allusion  is 
 scarcely  applicable,  and  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  for 
 
 altering  the  English  version.  (See  Note  on  chaps,  xw. 
 38,  xlvi.  lo. 
 
 They  shall  flee  every  one  to  his  own  land. 
 — The  words  are  significant  as  showing  that  the  Jews 
 
T/ie  Punishment  of 
 
 JEREMIAH,   L. 
 
 Assyria  and  Babylon* 
 
 they  shall  turn  every  one  to  his  people, 
 and  they  shall  flee  every  one  to  his  own 
 land. 
 
 <17>  Israel  is  a  scattered  sheep ;  the 
 lions  have  driven  him  away  :  first  the 
 king  of  Assyria  hath  devoured  him ; 
 and  last  this  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of 
 Babylon  hath  broken  his  bones.  (18)  There- 
 fore thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 God  of  Israel;  Behold,  I  will  punish 
 the  king  of  Babylon  and  his  land,  as  I 
 have  punished  the  king  of  Assyria. 
 (19>  And  I  will  bring  Israel  again  to  his 
 habitation,  and  he  shall  feed  on  Carmel 
 and  Bashan,  and  his  soul  shall  be  satis- 
 fied upon  mount  Ephraim  and  Gilead. 
 (20>  In  those  days,  and  in  that  time,  saith 
 
 1  Or,  of  the  rebels. 
 
 3  Or,  visitation. 
 
 the  Lord,  the  iniquity  of  Israel  shall  be- 
 sought for,  and  there  shall  be  none ;  and 
 the  sins  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  not  be 
 found :  for  I  will  pardon  them  whom  I 
 reserve. 
 
 (21)  Go  up  against  the  land  J  of  Mera- 
 thaim,  even  against  it,  and  against  the 
 inhabitants  of 3  Pekod  :  waste  and  utterly 
 destroy  after  them,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
 do  according  to  all  that  I  have  com- 
 manded thee.  (22>  A  sound  of  battle  is 
 in  the  land,  and  of  great  destruction. 
 <23)  How  is  the  hammer  of  the  whole 
 earth  cut  asunder  and  broken  !  how  is 
 Babylon  become  a  desolation  among  the 
 nations  !  t2*)  I  have  laid  a  snare  for  thee, 
 and  thou   art   also  taken,  O  Babylon, 
 
 were  not  the  only  people  for  whom  the  f all  of  Babylon 
 was  the  signal  of  a  return  from  exile.  The  policy  of 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  like  that  of  Assyria,  had  been  to 
 people  his  own  territory  with  the  captive  populations 
 of  other  countries,  and  Israel  (as  in  verse  8)  was  to 
 lead  the  way  in  the  return. 
 
 W)  Israel  is  a  scattered  sheep  .  .  .—The  words 
 paint  vividly  the  two  blows  that  had  fallen  on  Israel, 
 as  a  sheep  driven  from  the  fold :  first  from  the  Assyrian 
 conquest  of  the  northern  kingdom  by  Salmaneser,  and 
 then,  when,  as  it  wei-e,  the  carcase  was  half  devoured 
 and  only  the  bones  left,  from  that  of  Judah  by  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar. The  "lion"  appears  here,  as  in  Dan.  vii. 
 4,  as  the  symbol  of  the  great  Eastern  monarchies. 
 The  fact  that  the  sculptured  winged  lion  appears  so 
 constantly  in  the  remains  both  of  Assyria  and  Babylon 
 gives  the  imagery  a  special  force. 
 
 <18)  As  I  have  punished  the  king  of  Assyria. 
 — Nineveh  had  fallen  before  Cyaxaresand  Nabopolassar, 
 and  Babylon  was  in  like  manner  to  fall  before  Cyrus. 
 The  one  judgment  was  the  pledge  and  earnest  of  the 
 other. 
 
 (is)  I  will  bring  Israel  again  to  his  habitation. 
 — Better,  to  his  pasturage  (as in  chaps,  x.  25,  xxiii.  3),  as 
 keeping  up  the  figure  of  verse  17.  The  "  scattered  sheep  " 
 was  to  be  brought  back  and  to  find  pasture.  The 
 regions  named  are  the  representatives  of  the  most 
 fertile  districts  of  Palestine,  Carmel  and  Mount 
 Ephraim  on  the  west  (Ezek.  xxxiv.  13),  Bashan  and 
 Gilead  on  the  east,  of  Jordan  (Num.  xxxii.  1  ;  Mic. 
 vii.  14). 
 
 (2°)  In  those  days,  and  in  that  time  .  .  .— The 
 formula  is  that  which  in  prophetic  language  points  to 
 the  far-off  times  of  the  Christ.  Their  restoration  to 
 their  earthly  homes  was  but  a  small  thing.  That  which 
 was  to  the  prophet  the  great  blessing  of  the  future 
 was  that  it  would  bring  with  it  the  New  Covenant  of 
 chap.  xxxi.  31,  pardon  and  peace,  iniquity  and  sin  re- 
 membered no  more. 
 
 I  will  pardon  them  whom  I  reserve.— The 
 latter  verb  contains  the  root  of  the  "  remnant  "  which 
 is  so  prominent  in  Isaiah  (i.  9,  vii.  3),  and  expresses 
 the  same  thought.  "  The  reninant,"  the  reserved  ones, 
 shall  be  pardoned. 
 
 <21>  Go  up  against  the  land  of  Merathaim. 
 — No  such  name  is  found  in  Babyloniau  inscriptions 
 or  is  mentioned  by  historians.     The    most  probable 
 
 explanation  of  its  use  is  that  the  prophet  coined  it  as 
 a  descriptive  word  ( =  land  of  two  rebellions),  and  then 
 substituted  it,  after  his  manner  (as  with  Sheshach,  chap. 
 xxv.  6 ;  Magor-missabib,  chap.  xx.  3),  for  the  name  Arain- 
 Naharaini  ( —  land  of  the  two  rivers  =  Mesopotamia), 
 which  was,  as  in  Gen.  xxiv.  10 ;  Dent,  xxiii.  4 ;  Judges 
 iii.  8,  10,  the  recognised  name  of  the  country  between 
 the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.  It  was,  he  seems  to  say, 
 the  country,  not  of  rivers,  but  of  rebellions,  choosing 
 the  dual  form,  partly  for  the  sake  of  assonance,  partly 
 to  express  the  fact  that  Babylon  having  rebelled 
 against  Assyria,  as,  e.g.,  Merodach-baladau  (Isa.  xxxix. 
 1)  and  Nabopolassar  had  done,  had  also  rebelled 
 against  Jehovah.  Possibly,  however,  the  dual  may 
 simply  express  intensity.  Such  changes  of  names  were 
 quite  after  the  manner  of  Old  Testament  usage.  So 
 Beth-aven  was  substituted  for  Bethel  (Hos.  x.  5), 
 Mephibosheth  for  Meribbaal  (2  Sam.  iv.  4 ;  1  Chron. 
 viii.  34).     Micah  i.  is  full  of  such  paronomasias. 
 
 Against  the  inhabitants  of  Pekod.— Here  we 
 have  a  name  which  is  found  in  Ezek.  xxiii.  23  and  in 
 inscriptions  as  that  of  a  Babylonian  town,  as  in  a  list 
 of  rebels,  and  in  the  form  Buhudu,  as  in  the  Cylinder 
 of  Sennacherib  {Records  of  the  Past,  i.  26),  and  is  the 
 name  of  a  city,  Nahar-Pekod,  mentioned  in  the  Talmud 
 (Fiirst,  Lex.  s.v.,  and  Ncubauer,  Geog.  du  Talm.,  p. 
 363).  We  can  scarcely  doubt,  however,  that  the 
 prophet  chose  this  name  for  the  sake  of  its  meaning, 
 "  visitation."  It  was  necessary  to  find  a  word  to  be  at 
 once  nomen  et  omen  for  the  guilt  of  Babylon.  There 
 was  one  ready  at  hand  applicable  to  its  punishment. 
 
 Waste  and  utterly  destroy. — Better,  slay  and 
 devote  to  destruction.  The  latter  verb  is  connected 
 with  the  Hebrew  Cherem,  which  expressed,  as  in  Deut. 
 vii.  26  ;   Josh.  vii.  13,  the  idea  of  a  solemn  anathema. 
 
 (23)  How  is  the  hammer  of  the  whole  earth  cut 
 asunder  .  .  . ! — The  image  had  been  used  before  (chap, 
 xxiii.  29)  of  the  might  of  right  as  seen  in  the  words  of 
 Jehovah.  Here  it  describes  the  right  of  might  as  seen 
 in  the  despotism  of  Babylon.  The  name  of  Charles 
 Martel  and,  according  to  one  etymology,  that  of  Judas 
 Maccabaeus,  present  interesting  parallelisms.  And  now 
 the  hammer  itself,  which  had  been  as  an  instrument 
 in  the  hand  of  Jehovah  (chap.  li.  20),  is  to  be,  in  its 
 turn,  crushed  by  a  power  mightier  than  its  own. 
 
 (2-*)  I  have  laid  a  snare  for  thee. — The  two 
 captures    of    Babylon    by    Cyrus    and    Darius    both 
 
 164 
 
The  Pride  and  il"  I'lniislnii'  ut 
 
 .IKK  EM  I A II,    L. 
 
 >  f  Babylon. 
 
 and  thou  wast  not  aware:  thou  art 
 found,  and  also  caught,  because  thou 
 had  striven  against  the  Lobd.  w  The 
 Lobd  hath  opened  bis  armoury,  and 
 hath  brought  forth  the  weapons  ut' his 
 indignation  :  for  this  it  the  wori  of  the 
 Lord  God  of  hosts  in  the  land  of  the 
 
 Chaldeans.  *-''•>  Oome  against  her  '  from 
 the  utmost  border,  open  her  storehouses  : 
 'cast  Iht  upas  heaps,  and  destroy  her 
 utterly:  let  nothing  of  her  be  left. 
 <27)  Slay  all  her  bullocks ;  let  them  go 
 down  to  the  slaughter  :  woe  unto  them  ! 
 for  their  day  is  come,  the  time  of  their 
 visitation.  (2S)  The  voice  of  them  that 
 flee  and  escape  out  of  the  land  of  Baby- 
 lon, to  declare  in  /ion  the  vengeance  of 
 the  Loan  our  God,  the  vengeance  of  his 
 temple.  (29)  Call  together  the  archers 
 against  Babylon:  all  ye  that  bend  the 
 bow,  camp  against  it  round  about ;  let 
 none   thereof  escape:    recompense  her 
 
 i  ii. i., 
 
 -  Ml 
 
 from    the 
 
 2  Or,  tread  Iter. 
 
 ,  rride. 
 
 4  Ili-b.,  pride. 
 
 according  to  her  work  ;  according  t..  all 
 that  she  hath  done,  do  onto  her:  Cor 
 
 she  hath  1 ii  proud  against1  the  L 
 
 againsi  the  Hol\<  me  or  braeL 
 fore  shall  her  young  men  fall  in  the 
 Streets,  and  all  tier  men  of  war  shall  be 
 cut  off  in  that  day.  saith  the  Lobd. 
 '  Behold,  I  nut  against  thee,  0  thou 
 3most  proud,  saith  the  Lord  God  of 
 hosts:  for  thy  day  is  come,  the  time 
 that  I  will  visit  thee.  <:i-''  And  '  the 
 most  proud  shall  stumble  and  fall,  and 
 none  shall  raise  him  up :  and  I  will 
 kindle  a  fire  in  his  eities,  and  it  shall 
 devour  all  round  about  him. 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lokd  of  hosts; 
 The  children  of  Israel  and  the  children 
 of  Judah  were  oppressed  together:  and 
 all  that  took  them  captives  held  them 
 fast  ;  they  refused  to  let  them  go. 
 (**)  Their  Redeemer  it  strong  ;  tie'  Lord 
 of  hosts  it  his  name  :  he  shall  throughly 
 
 answered  to  this  description.  Cyrus  tuned  aside 
 the  waters  ut'  tin-  Euphrates  into  another  channel, 
 and  entered  by  the  river-bed,  so  that  the  city  was 
 taken  before  those  who  lived  in  the  middle  of  tin'  city 
 knew  that  it  was  attacked  (Herod,  i.  L91).  Iu  the 
 latter  case  the  gates  were  opened  to  Darius  by  tin' 
 treachci-y  of  t lie  Babylonian  genera]  Zopyrus  ( Herod, 
 iii.  losi.  (Com]).  Dan.  v.  SO,;  [sa.  xlv.  1.)  In  chap.  li. 
 31,32  we  have  tin'  same  fact  more  vividly  described.. 
 
 i->  Tho  Lord  hath  opened  his  armoury.— 
 Tlic  word   is   tli«'  same  as  tli.it    fur  "treasures"  in 
 
 chaps,   x.    1:!.   Ii.    1  * ► .   the   ehoii f  tin'  appropriate 
 
 Rngliah  word  being  determined,  in  each  case,  by  the 
 context.  If 'it  the  figure  is  that  of  a  mighty  king 
 going  t"  his  arsenal  and  equipping  himself  with  the 
 weapons  which  will  insure  his  victory.  An  expansion 
 of  the  same  imagery  is  found  in  Wisd.  v.  17 — 23,  xviii. 
 16,  hi. 
 
 This  is  the  work  of  the  Lord  God  of  hosts.— 
 Better,  I  In:  Lord  Qod  of  hosts  hath  a  work  .  .  . 
 
 (86)  Open  her  storehouses.— Tho  noun  is  nut 
 found  elsewhere.  Probably  granaries  would  lie  a 
 better  tendering.    The  wi.nl  for  "heaps"  is  used  in 
 
 Song  Sol.  vii.  -  |  Ruth  iii.  7  for  "  heaps  of  emu."  anil 
 this    is    probably    its    meaning    Iht,..       Iu    Xeh.   iv.   '_', 
 
 however,  it  is  used  of  heaps  of  rubbish,  The  stored-up 
 provisions  of  the  captured  city  are  to  he  piled  up  in  its 
 open  places,  as  men  pile  the  sheaves  of  corn  after 
 harvest,  and  burnt  (for  "  destroy "  read  devote  to  de- 
 struction), as  had  been  done,  e.g.,  in  the  capture  of 
 Jericho  and  other  cities  Josh,  \i.  2t.  xi.  ]-.  13). 
 Let  nothing  of  her  be  left.— Literally,  let  there 
 
 be  "  .  as  iu   marked  contrast  with  the  "  rem- 
 
 nant "  of  Israel  i  verse  20). 
 
 i-'"1  Slay  all  her  bullocks.— Tho  words  are  pro- 
 
 bably  to  he  taken  figuratively  of  the  captains  and 
 men  of  war  of   Babylon,  as  iu    l's.  xxii.  12-   Isa.  xxxiv. 
 
 7:  Jer.  xlviii.  15  (see  Note),  and  li.  I" 
 
 0*>  Tho  voice  of  them  that  flee  .  .  .—The 
 abruptness  of  the  opening  words,  as  if  the  prophet 
 heard  tho  cry  of  the  escaping  exiles,  would  lie  perhaps 
 
 best  represented  by  Mark,  the  voice  .  .   .    The  wo 
 that  follow  define  tin.  cry  as  coming  chiefly  from  the 
 
 Captive   -lews,  who   see   in   the  dest rui't ion  of  Babylon 
 
 tho  vengeance  of  Jehovah  for  the  destructii f  His 
 
 Temple. 
 
 '-''  Recompense  her  according  to  her  work  .. . 
 — As  before,  in  vers,.  1."..  the  prophet  sees  iii  the  fall  of 
 Babylon  the  working  of  the  Divine  law  of  retribution. 
 
 In  "the  Holy  One  of  Israel "  we  note  the  occurrence, 
 for  the  first  time  in  Jeremiah,  of  the  characteristic 
 
 name  which  is  so  prominent   in   Isaiah,  and   is  seldom 
 
 found  elsewhere.      It  occurs  again  in  chap.  li.  5. 
 
 (30)  Therefore  shall  her  young  men  fall  .  .  . 
 — The  verse  is  reproduced  almost  literatim  from  the 
 
 prophecy  against   Damascus  in  chap.  xlix.  26. 
 
 (3i)  O  thou  most  proud.— Literally.  0  Pride,  the 
 
 prophet  Using  'I"'  word  [Zodon  as  a  proper  name  for 
 Babylon,  as  he  had  before  need  Merathaim  and  Pekod 
 (verse  21 ).  It  is  analogous  in  its  meaning  to  the  Kahab 
 of  Isa.  li.  9;  Pss.  Ixxxvii.  t.  lxxxix.  10,  as  the  name  of 
 Egypt.  The  word  points,  perhaps,  to  the  self-exalta- 
 tion of  Nebuchadnezzar  as  embodying  that  of  his 
 people  I  Dan,  iv.  30), 
 i  '•-'  And  the  most  proud  shall  stumble  .  .  . 
 
 — As  before.  Pride.  The  gender  of  the  pronoun  in 
 "none  shall  raise  him  up"  is  determined  by  that  of 
 the  Hebrew  noun.  The  words  furnish  a  striking  illus- 
 tration of  the  teaching  of  Prov.  xvi.  18, 
 
 (33)  Were  oppressed.— Better,  arc  opprcsstil.  and 
 SO  on  through  the  verse.  The  English  tense  is  mis- 
 leading. The  prophet,  having  described  the  doom  that 
 lies  in  the  future,  now  returns  to  the  present,  and  finds 
 in  the  actual  state  of  Israel  that  wlii.li  made  the  de- 
 struction of  Babylon  a  necessary  condition  of  its 
 liberation.  All  appeals  to  the  mercy  of  their  con- 
 querors. Assyrian  or  Chaldaan.  had  been  made  in 
 vain. 
 
 (3»)  Their  Redeemer  is  strong.— The  word  for 
 "  Redeemer  "  I  Ooi  I  includes,  as  elsewhere  Num.  xxxv. 
 12j   Ruth  iv.  1.  8;  Job  xix   25  .  the  thought  of  "tho 
 
 next   of  kin."  with   whom   the   right   of  redemption   (in 
 
 16S 
 
The  Overthrow  and 
 
 JEREMIAH,   L. 
 
 Desolation  of  Babylon. 
 
 plead  their  cause,  that  he  may  give  rest 
 to  the  laud,  and  disquiet  the  inhabitants 
 of  Babylon.  (35)  A  sword  is  upon  the 
 Chaldeans,  saith  the  Lord,  and  upon 
 the  inhabitants  of  Babylon,  and  upon 
 her  princes,  and  upon  her  wise  men. 
 (36)  a  sword  is  upon  the  1 2  liars  ;  and 
 they  shall  dote :  a  sword  is  upon  her 
 mighty  men ;  and  they  shall  be  dis- 
 mayed. <37)  A  sword  is  upon  their  horses, 
 and  upon  their  chariots,  and  upon  all 
 the  mingled  people  that  are  in  the  midst 
 of  her  ;  and  they  shall  become  as  women : 
 a  sword  is  upon  her  treasures  ;  and  they 
 shall  be  robbed.  <a9>  A  drought  is  upon 
 her  waters  ;  and  they  shall  be  dried  up  : 
 for  it  is  the  land  of  graven  images,  and 
 they  are  mad  upon  their  idols.  (39)  There- 
 fore the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  with 
 the  wild  beasts  of  the  islands  shall  dwell 
 
 a  Or,  chief  stays. 
 
 1  Heb.,  bars. 
 
 Gen.  1 
 49. 18. 
 
 there,  and  the  owls  shall  dwell  therein  : 
 and  it  shall  be  no  more  inhabited  for 
 ever ;  neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from 
 generation  to  generation.  <w)  "  As  God 
 overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  the 
 neighbour  cities  thereof,  saith  the  Lord  ; 
 so  shall  no  man  abide  there,  neither 
 shall  any  son  of  man  dwell  therein. 
 
 <41>  Behold,  a  people  shall  come  from 
 the  north,  and  a  great  nation,  aud  many 
 kings  shall  be  raised  up  from  the  coasts 
 of  the  earth.  <42>  They  shall  hold  the 
 bow  and  the  lance :  they  are  cruel,  and 
 will  not  shew  mercy :  their  voice  shall 
 roar  like  the  sea,  and  they  shall  ride 
 upon  horses,  every  one  put  in  array,  like 
 a  man  to  the  battle,  against  thee,  O 
 daughter  of  Babylon.  <43>  The  king  of 
 Babylon  hath  heard  the  report  of  them, 
 and  his  hands  waxed  feeble :    anguish 
 
 the  technical  sense)  rested,  and  to  whom  helonged  the 
 duty  of  pleading  for  and  avenging  his  kinsman  when 
 oppressed.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  in  connection 
 with  the  obvious  allusion  to  Prov.  xvi.  18,  that  here, 
 with  the  exception  of  the  name  of  "  the  Lord  of  hosts 
 is  his  name,"  we  have  an  actual  citation  from  Prov. 
 xxiii.  11. 
 
 That  he  may  give  rest  to  the  land.— Better, 
 to  the  earth,  in  its  widest  extent,  as  implying  that  the 
 whole  earth  had  groaned  under  the  oppression  of 
 Babylon.  "  The  land,"  if  we  retain  that  rendering, 
 would  be,  of  course,  "  the  land  of  Israel."  Some  ver- 
 sions, however  (e.g.,  the  Vulg.),  and  some  commentators 
 (e.g.,  Ewald),  give  the  verbs  the  sense  of  "  set  in 
 motion,"  i.e.,  "  trouble,"  and  so  make  the  parallelism  of 
 the  two  clauses  one  of  resemblance  and  not  of  contrast. 
 
 (35>  A  sword  is  upon  the  Chaldeans.— Better, 
 A  sword  upon  the  Chaldeans.  Here,  and  in  the  verses 
 that  follow,  the  interpolated  verb  weakens  the  force 
 of  the  passage.  Jehovah  is  represented  as  calling  the 
 "  sword "  and  the  "  drought "  to  do  their  work  of 
 destruction. 
 
 Upon  her  wise  men. — The  term  points  espe- 
 cially to  the  "  wise  men"  in  the  technical  sense  of  the 
 term,  the  soothsayers  and  astrologers  who  were  pro- 
 minent among  Nebuchadnezzar's  counsellors  (Dan.  ii. 
 2,  13). 
 
 (36)  A  sword  is  upon  the  liars ;  and  they  shall 
 dote. — The  Hebrew  word  for  "liars" — literally,  boast- 
 ings— implies  the  falsehood  of  folly  rather  than  of  pur- 
 pose. Better,  perhaps,  the  prating  fools.  The  marginal 
 readings  "  chief  stays  "  and  "  bars"  rest  on  no  adequate 
 authority.  Here  the  word  applies  to  the  diviners 
 and  magicians  (conrp.  Isa.  xliv.  25). 
 
 (37)  And  upon  all  the  mingled  people  .  .  . — 
 The  phrase  is  the  same  as  in  chap.  xxv.  20.  Here  it  is 
 used  of  the  auxiliaries  of  Babylon,  which  were  probably 
 as  numerous,  and  to  a  large  extent  the  same,  as  those 
 of  Persia.  (See  Note  on  verse  9.)  The  "treasures" 
 point,  to  the  wealth  in  which  Babylon  exulted,  and 
 which  gave  to  her  the  epithet  of  the  "  Golden  City " 
 (Isa.  xiv.  4).  Even  under  the  Persian  monarchy 
 iEsehylus  uses  "gold-abounding"  as  a  normal  epithet 
 for  it.     (Fersae,  53.) 
 
 (38)  A  drought  is  upon  her  waters.— Better, 
 A  sword.  The  Hebrew  word  for  "  drought "  has  the- 
 same  consonants  as  that  for  "  sword,"  with  different 
 vowel-points.  In  the  original  text  the  form  of  the  two 
 words  must  have  been  identical,  as  the  vowol-points 
 were  of  later  introduction.  The  editors  of  the  present 
 text  were  probably  guided  by  the  thought  that  the 
 context  in  this  case  determined  the  meaning  of  the 
 word  as  meaning  "drought,"  and  not  a  "sword." 
 So  in  Dent,  xxviii.  22  the  text  of  the  Authorised  ver- 
 sion gives  "  sword,"  and  the  margin  "  drought."  There 
 is.  however,  a  certain  loss  of  rhetorical  emphasis  in 
 the  change  of  the  word  with  which  the  three  previous 
 verses  had  begun.  The  "  waters  "  include  the  canals 
 of  Babylon  as  well  as  the  Euphrates. 
 
 They  are  mad  upon  their  idols. — The  word  for 
 "  idols  "  means  literally  "  terrors,"  or  "  objects  of 
 terror,"  as  in  Ps.  lxxxviii.  16 ;  Job  xx.  25,  and  this 
 is  the  only  place  in  which  it  is  used  of  the  objects 
 of  worship.  In  Gen.  xiv.  5 ;  Deut.  ii.  10,  11  it  appears 
 as  the  name  of  the  Emim,  probably  as  meaning  "  the 
 terrible,  or  gigantic  ones."  Here  it  seems  used  for 
 the  colossal  figures — winged  bulls,  human-headed  lions, 
 and  the  like — which  were  the  objects  of  Babylonian 
 worship.     (See  note  on  chap.  xlix.  16.) 
 
 (39)  Wild  beasts  of  the  desert  .  .  .—The  com- 
 bination of  the  two  forms  of  animal  life  seems  taken 
 from  Isa.  xiii.  21,  22.  In  the  original  the  two  words 
 tzhjyim  and  iiyyimhaN&  a  kind  of  emphatic  assonance. 
 The  English  word  in  the  first  case  answers  to  the 
 etymology,  but  the  animal  referred  to  has  been  iden- 
 tified by  some  naturalists  with  the  wild  cats,  which 
 appear  from  Baruch  vi.  22  to  have  abounded  in 
 Babylon.  In  the  second  word  the  Authorised  version 
 follows  a  wrong  etymology.  Strictly  the  word  means 
 "howlers,"  and  should  be  translated  "jackals."  For 
 "  owls  "  read  "  ostriches,"  as  in  Isa.  xiii.  21. 
 
 (■*°)  As  God  overthrew  Sodom  .  .  .—The  whole 
 verse  is  reproduced  from  chap.  xlix.  18.  We  enter 
 here,  indeed,  upon  a  mosaic  of  quotations,  or  at  least 
 recollections  of  other  prophecies.  Thus  verses  41 — 43 
 are  taken  from  chap.  vi.  22 — 24,  "Babylon  "  being  sub- 
 stituted for  "  Ziou,"  and  "  the  king  of  Babylon  "  for 
 "  we ;  "  verses  44 — 46  from  chap.  xlix.  19 — 21,  with  the 
 
 1GS 
 
JEREMIAH,    LI. 
 
 I         hold  of  him,  a  of  a 
 
 woman  in  travail.     |U   Behold,  he  shall 
 come  up    like  ■  Bon  from  the  swelling 
 ..t'  Jordan  onto  the  habitation  of  the 
 ■bong:  but  I  will  make  them  suddenly 
 run  awaj  from  her  :  and  who  it  a  ehosen 
 .  that  I  ma j  appoint  over  herP  Gar 
 who  -  like  me?  and  '  who  will  'appoint 
 ••  time?  and  who  it  that  shepherd 
 that  will  Btand  before  me?     B Th. re- 
 hear ye  the  counsel  of  the  Lord, 
 that  In-  hath  taken  against   Babylon; 
 and  his  porposea,  that  he  hath  purposed 
 
 ■gainst    the     land    of    the    Chald 
 
 k  shall  draw 
 them  out :  surely  he  shall  make  their 
 habitation  desolate  with  them.  \- 
 
 the  Doiae  of  the  taking  of  Babylon  the 
 earth  i<  moved,  and  the  cry  is  heard 
 mmtmg  the  nations. 
 
 CHAPTER     LI.—  1    Thus  saith  the 
 :    Behold,  I  will  raise  up  aijainst 
 
 10;    ct> 
 
 S  Heb., 
 
 Babylon,  and  agai 
 
 in    th  them    that    rise    up 
 
 ■gains!  og  win 
 
 will  Bend  unto   Baby]  that 
 
 shall  fan  h.-r,  and  -hall  empty  her  land: 
 for  in  th.-  day  "f  trouble  they  .-hall  be 
 against  her  round   about.  Against 
 
 ■  th  let  the  archer  bend  his 
 bow,  and  against  him  thai  lifteth  himself 
 up  in  his  brigandine  :  ami  spare  \enot 
 her  young  men;  destroy  ye  utterly  all 
 her  hi      .  L'hus  the  slain  shall  fall  in 
 
 the  land  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  they  that 
 hrust     through     in    her 
 Par  Israel  hath  not  ;  taken,  nor 
 
 Judah  of  his  God,  of  the  Lord  of  fa 
 though  their  land  was  tilled  with  sin 
 against  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  W 
 out  of  the  midst  of  Babylon,  and  deliver 
 every  man  his  soul :  be  not  cut  off  in 
 her  iniquity ;  for  this  is  the  time  of  the 
 Lord  _  :  he  will  render  unto 
 
 her  a  reeompence. 
 
 •itutions   of  "Babylon"  for   "  Edoui." 
 *  the  Chaldeans  "  fas  "  Temau."  "among  the  nations'' 
 for  ••  in  the  Red  sea."     The  reader  is  retorted  ae 
 dinj:  usages.  The  reproduction 
 
 in  identical  terms  i-  probably  connected  with  the 
 thoughts  "f  the  retribution,  an  which  the  prophet 
 dwells  in  All  that  she   had  dune   Babylon 
 
 was  now  to  suffer. 
 
 LI. 
 I  will  raiae  up  ...  a  destroying  wind.— 
 
 Literally,   the  In    Hagg.   i.  It; 
 
 1  Chron.  r.  Jo'  the  phrase  i-  oaed  for 
 -ring  op  the  spirit '"  of  a  man.  and  that  may  l>e  its 
 — Miiwg  here.     Tlie  context,  howi  i  .  the 
 
 "fanners"  of  the  next  Terse,  the  literal  meaning  of 
 "wind,"  and  it  i-  quite  ponrrihln  that  the  phrase  may  have 
 been  u-^-d  by  Jeremiah,  iu  this  sense,  and  afterwards 
 acquired  a  figurative  meaning.  It  does  not  appear  in 
 any  i  -t.umnt. 
 
 Against   them  that  dwell  in  the  midst  of 
 
 them  that  rise  up  against  me.— Literally,  in  the 
 
 /n;/  adcertarie*.     In  the  judgment  of  moat 
 
 eommentatore  the   Hebrew  words    /"iiifi  In— ill,  which 
 
 answer  to  the  last  ten  words  of  the  English,  furnish 
 
 another  example  of  the  -    fjljiw  mitil  B 
 
 which  we  liave  seen  an  inntanrn  in  tl.     S  K  of 
 
 chap  \w  Jo     Interpreted  by  that  eypher  1. 
 
 Mm  or  Chaldsans.    Obnooaly  the  simii- 
 the  cyph  to  its  employ. 
 
 raent  here,  and  pr  -  u!!.-l  to  the  use  of  the 
 
 name-    Merathaim    and   Pekod  iu  eliap.  1.  i\.     6 
 
 tors,  indeed,  rest  in  that  ni{j,aifii  larr  without 
 e  the  hidden    mining   ,.f    the   Atkish.      The 
 
 LXX         i    Syriac    Terskau    translate    "against   the 
 
 E   the   eypher. 
 
 Both  tliis  and  Sheshach  had  proKibly  become  familiar 
 in  the  correspondence  between  the 
 their  countrymen  who  remained  in  JmLea.  and  so  both 
 would  understand  them  when  used  by  Jeremiah. 
 
 -    Fanners,  that  shall  fan  her.— T 
 word  as  it  stands  means  "  str 
 
 the    rowel-points    woald    .  ymoIogieaOy    "win- 
 
 nowers" or  "'  fanners."  though  the  mid 
 
 'here.     On  the  whole  it  would  -  .pt 
 
 the  meaning   of    "  -  the  prop' 
 
 it  with  the  verb  for   "  fan."  which  <-ontains  the   same 
 •  of  a  rhythmical  :.-- 
 :i  either  case   is   that   of    the   familiar 
 pieture  of  the  "  threshing-floor.""  when  ~ong 
 
 wind"  eeatters  the  chaff   in  all  direction-     Pas.  i.  4. 
 xxxv.  5  ;  I -a.  xvii.  13.  xxix.  •">  .     The  word  for  "  en.-, 
 is  the  same  as  that  used  with  an  emphatic  significance 
 in  chap.  xix.  7. 
 
 Let  the  archer  bend  his  bow.— Th-  words 
 represent  the  sense  of  the  original,  but  the  Hebrew 
 word  for  "  archer"  is  literally  bender,  and  so  the  H 
 tion  of  the  verb  gains  its  full  rhetorical  fore-.  On 
 "  brigandine,*'  as  meaning  the  "coat  of  mail"'  of  heavy- 
 armed  troops.   -  on  chap.  xlvi.  4.      The   two 
 
 ribe    cullectively  the  gSR 
 that  defended  Babylon. 
 
 Israel  hath   not    been   forsaken.  —  i 
 
 The  participle  Ls  from  the  word  that  com- 
 monly represent-  the  idea  of  widowhood     Judah  and 
 Israel,  the  prophet  declares,  were  ■ 
 abandoned  by  their   husband  Jehovah.      He  was    - 
 their  The  prophet  has  in  his  thoughts  at 
 
 once  the  image  of  apparent  widowhood,  as  in  lsa.  1.  1, 
 liv.  4 — 6;  Lam.  i.  1.  and  the  thought  that  Jehora] 
 after  all.  as  the  husband  ready  to  I    v  <ps.  iii.  4. 
 
 14.  20,   iv.   1  .     The  assurance  of    this   rvtnr: 
 does  not  rest  on  any  plea  in  exteanatioa  of  the  nar 
 guilt,   which    the   words    that    follow   admit   wit.' 
 
 it  would  be  better  to  read  her  or 
 their,  as  keeping  up  the  meta] 
 
 Against  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.— On  Jere- 
 miah"s  use  of  the  nan 
 
 Flee  out  of  the   midst  of   Babylon.— The 
 words   reproduce  the  call  of  chap.  1.  8  with  a  fresh 
 
 " 
 
The  Work  of  the  Lord  for  Zion. 
 
 JEREMIAH,    EI.         TheMedes  summonedagainst  Babylon. 
 
 <7>  Babylon  hath  been  a  golden  cup  in 
 the  Lord's  hand,  that  made  all  the 
 earth  drunken :  the  nations  have  drunken 
 of  her  wine ;  therefore  the  nations  are 
 mad.  (8)  Babylon  is  suddenly  "  fallen 
 and  destroyed  :  howl  for  her ;  take  balm 
 for  her  pain,  if  so  be  she  may  be  healed. 
 (9)  We  Would  have  healed  Babylon,  but 
 she  is  not  healed :  forsake  her,  and  let 
 us  go  every  one  into  his  own  country : 
 for  her  judgment  reacheth  unto  heaven, 
 and  is  lifted  up  even  to  the  skies. 
 (io)  rphe  Lord  hath  brought  forth  our 
 righteousness  :  come,  and  let  us  declare 
 in  Zion  the  work  of  the  Lord  our  God. 
 
 [  Isa.  21.  9;  Rev, 
 M.8;  &  18.2 
 
 2  Heb.,  pure. 
 
 3  Heb., 
 wait. 
 
 (11)  Make  l  bright  the  arrows  ;  gather 
 the  shields :  the  Lord  hath  raised  up 
 the  spirit  of  the  kings  of  the  Medes : 
 for  his  device  is  against  Babylon,  to 
 destroy  it ;  because  it  is  the  vengeance 
 of  the  Lord,  the  vengeance  of  his 
 temple.  (12)  Set  up  the  standard  upon 
 the  walls  of  Babylon,  make  the  watch 
 strong,  set  up  the  watchmen,  prepare 
 the  2  ambushes  :  for  the  Lord  hath  both 
 devised  and  done  that  which  he  spake 
 against  the  inhabitants  of  Babylon. 
 <13)  0  thou  that  dwellest  upon  many 
 waters,  abundant  in  treasures,  thine 
 end  is  come,  and  the  measure  of  thy 
 
 motive.  The  city  was  doomed.  It  was  ill  done  for 
 those  who  had  not  been  guilty  of  her  sins  to  involve 
 themselves  in  her  destruction.  The  call  is  reproduced, 
 as  referring  to  the  mystical  Babylon,  in  Rev.  xviii.  4. 
 
 (?)  Babylon  hath  been  a  golden  cup  .  .  .— 
 The  "  golden  cup  "  points  to  the  splendour  of  Babylon, 
 outwardly,  as  a  vessel  made  to  honour  (see  Notes  on 
 chap.  1. 37).  But  the  "  wine  "  in  that  cup  was  poisoned, 
 intoxicating  men  with  wild  ambitions  and  dark  idola- 
 tries.    The  same  image  re-appears  in  Rev.  xiv.  8,  xvii. 
 
 4,  save  that  there  the  "  golden  cup  "  is  in  the  hand  of 
 the  harlot.  "  whose  name  is  MYSTERY,  BABYLON 
 THE  GREAT." 
 
 (8)  Babylon  is  suddenly  fallen  .  .  .—The  form 
 of  announcement  seems  taken  in  part  from  Isa.  xxi.  9. 
 
 Take  balm  for  her  pain  .  .  .—The  words  are 
 significant.  The  captive  people  are  not  invited  simply 
 to  raise  a  shout  of  triumph  at  the  fall  of  their  op- 
 pressor :  they  are  to  "  take  balm "  (comp.  the  use  of 
 the  same  image  in  chaps,  viii.  22,  xlvi.  11),  and  try  to 
 heal  her.  They  are  still  to  "  seek  the  peace  of  the 
 city  "  (chap.  xxix.  7),  to  render  kindly  service,  to  pour 
 bahn  into  the  bleeding  wounds. 
 
 (9)  We  would  have  healed  Babylon  .  .  .— 
 This  is  the  dramatic  answer  of  the  Israelite  exiles  to 
 the  prophet's  appeal.  They  have  done  what  they 
 could,  but  all  was  in  vain.  The  guilt  could  not  be 
 washed  away,  the  punishment  could  not  be  averted. 
 The  "  judgment "  is  measureless  as  is  the  distance  from 
 heaven  to  earth.     This  is  also  reiiroduced  in  Rev.  xviii. 
 
 5.  For  the  phrase,  as  applied  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  see 
 Dan.  iv.  20.  Possibly  there  may  be  an  allusive  refer- 
 ence to  the  tower  of  Babel,  "  reaching  unto  heaven,"  as 
 the  type  of  Babylonian  greatness  (Gen.  xi.  4). 
 
 (10;  The  Lord  hath  brought  forth  our  right- 
 eousness .  .  . — The  Hebrewnoun  is  plural — the  many 
 righteous  acts  or  forms  of  righteousness.  The  thought 
 is  parallel  to  that  of  Isa.  lxii.  1.  The  exile  in  Babylon 
 had  been  a  time  of  reformation  and  growth  in  right- 
 eousness. The  day  of  vengeance  on  the  oppressing 
 city  was  also  a  day  of  acquittal  for  Israel.  It  was  seen 
 that  she  had  not  forfeited  the  favour  of  Jehovah.  She 
 could  still  sing,  as  of  old  (Judges  v.  11),  the  righteous 
 acts  of  the  Lord,  and  would  sing  them,  as  of  old,  in 
 the  restored  sanctuary  of  Zion. 
 
 (ii)  Make  bright  the  arrows. — Better,  Sharpen, 
 the  "polishing"  or  "making  bright"  being  as  the 
 means  to  that  end. 
 
 Gather  the  shields. — Literally,  fill  the  shields, 
 i.e.,  arm  yourselves  with  them.     The  large  shields  of 
 
 the  Persian  soldiers  covered  the  whole  body,  and  the 
 man  literally  filled  them.  The  LXX.  and  Vulgate  agree 
 in  rendering  the  noun  "  quivers"  instead  of  "  shields," 
 but  this  would  seem  to  have  been  a  conjecture  rising 
 out  of  a  wish  to  connect  the  two  clauses.  The  render- 
 ing of  the  Authorised  version  agrees  with  the  use  of 
 the  word  in  Song  Sol.  iv.  4 ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  11 ;  2  Kings 
 xi.  10.  Some  critics  interpret  the  words  as  meaning 
 "fill  the  shields  with  oil,"  as  parallel  to  "sharpen  the 
 arrows,"  and  agreeing  with  "  anoint  the  shield "  in 
 Isa.  xxi.  5. 
 
 Of  the  kings  of  the  Medes.— As  with  the  Greeks 
 in  their  use  of  the  terms  Medise  and  Medism,  bo 
 with  the  Hebrews  the  Medes  are  more  prominent 
 than  the  Persians  in  the  work  of  destruction  (comp. 
 Isa.  xiii.  17).  The  "  kings"  are  the  chieftains  of  tribes 
 more  or  less  independent,  but  owning  the  suzerainty  of 
 the  Persian  king.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  ruler  of 
 Babylon,  after  its  capture  by  Cyrus,  in  Dan.  v.  31,  is 
 "  Darius  the  Median,"  and  that  he  is  called  a  "  king." 
 
 (i2)  Set  up  the  standard  upon  the  walls  of 
 Babylon.  —  The  Authorised  version,  following  the 
 LXX.  and  the  Vulgate,  takes  the  words  as  an  ironical 
 summons  to  a  defence  which  will  prove  fruitless.  The 
 preposition  for  "upon"  may,  however,  mean  against, 
 and  this  agrees  better  with  the  context.  The  "  stan- 
 dards "  are  the  banners  or  signals  that  direct  an  attack 
 on  a  given  point  of  the  walls.  The  "  watch "  and 
 '•  watchmen "  are  the  scouts  and  sentinels  placed  to 
 give  notice  of  any  attempt  at  a  sally  on  the  part  of 
 the  besieged.  The  "  ambush  "  may  indicate  generally 
 any  sudden  attack,  or,  more  specifically,  the  stratagem 
 of  a  feigned  flight,  like  that  employed  by  Joshua  in 
 the  attack  on  Ai  (Josh.  viii.  14—16 ;  comp.  Judges 
 xx.  33—35). 
 
 (13)  O  thou  that  dweUest  upon  many  waters. 
 — The  words  find  an  illustration  of  singular  interest  in 
 an  inscription  of  Nebuchadnezzar"s  given  by  Oppert 
 (Exped.  en  Mesop.  i.  p.  231) :  "  I  made  water  to  flow 
 all  around  in  this  immense  dyke  of  earth.  I  carried 
 an  aqueduct  across  these  great  waters  that  are  like 
 unto  the  depths  of  the  sea."  See  also  Records  of  the 
 Past,  v.  128.  The  channels  which  were  cut  for  the 
 waters  of  the  Euphrates  seemed  at  once  intended  for 
 a  line  of  defence  against  attack,  and  for  irrigation 
 and  navigation.  To  some  extent  Babylon,  though  an 
 inland  city,  must  have  presented  an  appearance  like  that 
 of  Venice  or  Amsterdam. 
 
 The  measure  of  thy  covetousness.— The  mea- 
 sure is  literally  "  an  ell,"  and  for  "  covetousness"  many 
 
 168 
 
The  Mttjrsty  of  the  Lord  of  11 
 
 JEREMIAH,  LI. 
 
 77,.  Battl  .1  n  oftht 
 
 covetousncss.  '"'"Tin-  Lobd  of  hosts 
 bath  sworn  '  by  himself,  saying,  Barely 
 
 I  will  till  tl with  men,  as  with  oater- 
 
 pillers  and  they  shall  -lift   up  a  shout 
 against  thee. 
 W  » Ho  hath  made  the  earth  by  his 
 
 power,  lie  hath  established  the  world  by 
 Bis  wisdom,  and  hath  stretched  nut  the 
 heaven  by  his  understanding.  "'"  When 
 he  uttereth  his  voice,  there  wa8multi- 
 tade  of  waters  in  the  heavens;  and  he 
 oanseth  the  vapours  to  ascend  from  the 
 
 ends  of  I  he  cart  li  :  he  makct  li  light  oingS 
 with  rain,  and  hringetb  forth  the  wind 
 out  of  liis  treasures.  (17)  '  Kvery  man 
 'is  brutish  by  hix  knowledge;  every 
 founder  is   confounded   by   the  graven 
 
 image :  for  his  molten  image  is  false] 1, 
 
 and  there  u  ao breath  in  them.  (l8)  They 
 are  vanity,  the  work  of  errors:  in  the 
 time  of  their  visitation  they  shall  perish. 
 (U)  'The  portion  of  Jacob  is  not  like 
 them  ;  for  he  is  the  former  of  all  things  : 
 and  Isrml  is  the  rod  of  his  inheritance: 
 the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name. 
 
 1    II.  I.  ,l,ijl,i,  ,oul. 
 
 •-•  II. ■!».,  wler 
 
 i,  <:.n.  I.  1,  I;  cli. 
 I"  12,  &c 
 
 4  Or,  in  mart  brut~ 
 Uli  than  to  ktivvc. 
 
 EAMLor.byl 
 
 Thou  art  my  battle  ai  and  weapons 
 
 of  war  :  for    with  thee  ^%  i I !  I   break  iii 
 
 pieces  the    nations,  and  with    the-  will  I 
 
 destroy  kingdoms;  '-'  and  with  thee 
 will  I  break  in  pieces  the  hone  and  his 
 
 rider;  and  with  the  will  I  break  in 
 pieces  the  chariot  and  his  rider;  -'•'  with 
 
 1 1 also  will  I  break  in  pieces  man  and 
 
 woman;  and  with  thee  will  ]  break  in 
 pieces  old  and  young;  and  with  thee 
 will  I  break  in  pieces  tic-  young  man 
 and  the  maid  ;  -;i  I  will  also  break  in 
 pieces  with  thee  the  shepherd  and  bis 
 flock;  and  with  thee  will  I  break  in 
 pieces  the  husbandman  and  his  yoke  of 
 oxen ;  and  with  then  will  I  break  in 
 pieces  captains  and  rulers.  (**'  And  I 
 will  render  unto  Babylon  and  to  all  the 
 inhabitants  of  Chaldea  all  their  evil 
 that  they  have  done  in  Zion  in  your 
 sight,  saitli  the  Lord. 
 
 (25>  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  0  de- 
 stroying mountain,  saitli  theLoi;i>. which 
 destroyest  all  the  earth  :  and  I  will 
 stretch  out  mine  hand  upon    thee,  and 
 
 commentators  give  the  meaning  of  "tli.it  which  is  cut 
 off,"  .-I  "  piece  "  or  "  section."  S< ,  taken,  we  may  trans- 
 late the  I -ll-nifiifurc  of  thij  portion,  the  allotted  time  of 
 prosperity  decreed  in  the  Divine  counsels,  others, 
 following  the  Vulgate,  "pedalis  preeisionia  hue,"  give 
 "  the  ell-measure  of  thy  cutting  off,'1  i.e.,  the  appointed 
 
 time  of  ilrstruelii.il. 
 
 (it)  The  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sworn  by  himself. 
 
 — This  is.  as  in  chap,  xlix.  I:!,  Amos  \i.  S.  the  most 
 Bol&mn  form  of  atlirmatiou.  Compare  Heli.  vi.  13,  and 
 Note  on  chap.  xlix.  13. 
 
 Surely  I  will  fill  thee  with  men,  as  with 
 catorpitlers — Better,  with  yrusslinpjiers  or  locusts, 
 the  fullest  type  of  the  swanns  of  tin-  destroyer  iNah. 
 iii- 15 1.    Tlie  "Surely"  answers  to  the  Hebrew  "  For 
 
 if."   as  giving    the    condition    on    which   the    shouting 
 
 <1<  pends. 
 They  shall  lift  up  a  shout  against  thee.— 
 
 The    thought    is    the    same    as    in    chap.    xxv.   30.      The 
 
 "shout  "  is  that  of  those  who  tread  the  grapes  in  the 
 wine-press,  and  that,  as  in  Isa.  Ixiii.  'J,  li.  is  the  received 
 
 symbol  of  conquest  ami  destruction. 
 (15-in)  Ho  hath  made  the  earth  by  his  powor 
 
 .  .  . — Tile   live  verses  are  a  reproduction  of  chap.  x.  12 
 
 — lt>.  titted  in  here  to  enhance  the  majesty  of  llim  Who 
 
 decrees  the  destruction  of  Babylon,  and  appoints  Israel 
 to  he  the  instrument  of  that  destruction.  The  word 
 "  Csrael."  as  the  italics  show,  is  wanting  in  the  Hebrew, 
 and  we  have  a  sufficient  sense  without  it.    "He  is  the 
 
 former  of  all  things,  and  of  the  rod  ,'.''..  tlie  tribe)  of 
 his  inheritance."  The  Kngiish  version  follows  the  Vul- 
 gate and  the  Targuni  in  treating  tin-  omission  as  an 
 ■  ■nor  of  transcription.     (See  Notes  on  ediap.  x.  12 — 16.) 
 
 (20)  Thou  art   my  battle  ax  .   .   .—Better,  mij 
 
 macs.     The  axe   is   not    found  on  Assyrian  monuments 
 i    weapon   of  war  till  a   comparatively   late  period. 
 
 It  is  a  question  who  is  thus  addressed — Babylon,  or 
 Cyrus  as  the  destroyer  of  Babylon,  or  Israel.     On  the 
 
 whole,  the  second  semi-   the  more   probable  .newer. 
 
 The  "hammer  of  the  whole  earth"  is  broken  l.y  a 
 mightier  weapon  than  itself.      Bee  Note  on  chap.  1   - 
 
 With  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  .  .  .  Tl. - 
 tense,  in  this  and  in  the  following,  Bhould  !>••  the 
 present  The  force  of  the  verb  is  multiplied  by  the 
 emphatic  iteration.      All  obstacles  are  to  !,.■  crushed  ill 
 
 the  victorious  march  of  the  conqueror. 
 i-'i  With  thee  will  I  break  in  pieces  captains 
 
 and  rulers. — The  exhaustiug  of  all  sort~  and  condi- 
 tions  of    men    culminates    in    the    ruling   caste.      The 
 
 Hebrew  word  for  "captain"  [Pekha    is  interesting 
 
 as  connected  with  the  Arabic,  with  which  we  arc  now 
 familiar  in  the  form  Pacha  i  Furst.  /, 
 (25)  O  destroying  mountain.— Singularly  enough 
 
 the  phiase  is  the  same  as  that  which  is  applied  in  2 
 Kings  xxiii.  13  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  i-  there 
 rendered  l.y  the  Authorised  version  as  "the  Mount  of 
 Corruption."  It  adds  to  the  interest  that  this  name  so 
 given  appears  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  ami  must  there- 
 fore have  been    familiar  to  Jeremiah.      There  it    is  a], 
 
 plied  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  as  having  been  tl entn 
 
 of  the  worship  of  Aahtoreth  and  Ohemoeb  and  Milnom, 
 
 destroying  the  faith  and  life  of  Israel.  Here,  not 
 without  the  thought  that   the  false  worship  of  Babylon 
 
 was  the  root  of  all  its  evils,  tlie  prophet  applies  it  to 
 that  city.     The  use  of  the  term   "mountain."  literally 
 
 quite  inapplicable,  was  symbolical  of  its  sovereignty. 
 
 The  latter  clause  of  the  verse  suggests  the  idea 
 that  the  prophet  had  before  him  the  picture  of  a 
 volcano. 
 
 And  will  make  thee  a  burnt  mountain.— 
 Literally.  .,  mowetam  of  burning — either  actively,  as 
 
 rolling  down  its  lava  and  stones  to  the  destruction  of  all 
 
 below;   or  passively,  as  spent  ami  burnt  out.     A- 
 sentence   describes  the  doom   of  Babylon,  tlie  latter 
 meaning  seems  preferable.    It  is  interesting  to  note 
 the    fact   that     there    is    an    extinct    volcano  known 
 
 169 
 
Babylon  as  a  Burnt  Mountain. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   LI. 
 
 The  Sudden  Capture  of  Babylon, 
 
 roll  thee  down  from  the  rocks,  and  will 
 make  thee  a  burnt  mountain.  f26'  And 
 they  shall  not  take  of  thee  a  stone  for  a 
 corner,  nor  a  stone  for  foundations  ;  but 
 thou  shalt  be  ]  desola-te  for  ever,  saith 
 the  Lord. 
 
 (27)  Set  ye  up  a  standard  in  the  land, 
 blow  the  trumpet  among  the  nations, 
 prepare  the  nations  against  her,  call 
 together  against  her  the  kingdoms  of 
 Ararat,  Minni,  and  Ashchenaz  ;  appoint 
 a  caj)tain  against  her ;  cause  the  horses 
 to  come  up  as  the  rough  cater pillers. 
 (28)  Prepare  against  her  the  nations  with 
 the  kings  of  the  Medes,  the  captains 
 thereof,  and  all  the  rulers  thereof,  and 
 all  the  land  of  his  dominion.     (29*  And 
 
 l  Eel).,  everlasting 
 desolations. 
 
 the  land  shall  tremble  and  sorrow:  for 
 every  purpose  of  the  Lord  shall  be  per- 
 formed against  Babylon,  to  make  the 
 land  of  Babylon  a  desolation  without  an 
 inhabitant.  (30)  The  mighty  men  of 
 Babylon  have  forborn  to  fight,  they  have 
 remained  in  their  holds :  their  might 
 hath  failed ;  they  became  as  women  : 
 they  have  burned  her  dwelling-places ;, 
 her  bars  are  broken.  (31)  One  post  shall 
 run  to  meet  another,  and  one  messenger 
 to  meet  another,  to  shew  the  king  of 
 Babylon  that  his  city  is  taken  at  one 
 end,  <32)  and  that  the  passages  are  stopped, 
 and  the  reeds  they  have  burned  with 
 fire,  and  the  men  of  war  are  affrighted. 
 (38)  Yov  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
 
 as  Kouhal  (  =  fire),  which  rises  to  a  height  of  300 
 feet  above  the  river  Khabour,  in  Western  Assyria 
 (the  Chebar  of  Ezek.  i.  3),  consisting  of  loose  lava, 
 scoria?,  and  ashes.  (Rawlinson's  Ancient  Monarchies, 
 i.  189.)  Possibly  the  prophet,  who  had  journeyed 
 to  the  Euphrates,  had  seen  in  this  the  symbol  of 
 the  "  destroying  mountain "  that  destroyed  itself. 
 Babylon  was  for  him  an  extinct  volcano. 
 
 (26)  They  shall  not  take  of  thee  a  stone  for 
 a  corner. — The  prophet  uses  general  language  ap- 
 plicable to  any  city  destroyed  by  fire,  without  noting 
 the  special  fact  that  Babylon  was  built  of  bricks. 
 
 (27)  Prepare  the  nations.— The  word  here  and 
 in  verse  29  conveys,  as  in  chap.  xxii.  7,  the  idea  of 
 consecration. 
 
 Call  together  against  her  the  kingdoms  of 
 Ararat,  Minni,  and  Ashchenaz.— The  first  of  these 
 names  was  unknown  to  Greek  and  Roman  geographers, 
 and  though  here  rendered  Arareth  by  the  LXX.,  is 
 elsewhere  translated  by  Armenia,  as  in  the  English 
 version  of  Isa.  xxxvii.  38.  The  name  Ararat  is  Sanscrit, 
 and  means  "  the  holy  land."  The  site  of  Minni  has  not 
 been  identified,  and  the  name  does  not  occur  elsewhere, 
 unless,  with  some  scholars,  we  find  it  in  Ps.  xlv.  9, 
 and  translate  "  out  of  the  ivory  palaces  of  Minni." 
 The  name  "Minyes"  is  found  in  Josephus  (Antt. 
 i.  3,  p.  6),  and  Minnai  iu  the  Assyrian  inscriptions. 
 Rawliuson  (Herod,  i.  p.  464)  places  them  above 
 Lake  Urum.iyeh.  It  is  clear  from  the  context  that 
 their  country  formed  part  of  Armenia.  Ashchenaz 
 appears  in  Gen.  x.  3  as  connected  with  Gomer,  i.e., 
 with  the  Scythians.  The  first  syllable  has  been  sup- 
 posed to  contain  the  root  of  the  name  Asia,  which  has 
 been  gradually  extended  to  the  continent.  The  modern 
 Jews  apply  the  name  Aslikenazim  to  those  of  their  raco 
 that  are  settled  in  Germany  and  Eastern  Europe,  the 
 name  Sephardim  being  applied  to  those  of  Spain  and 
 the  West. 
 
 Appoint  a  captain  against  her.— The  word  for 
 "  captain "  is  found  only  here  and  in  Nah.  iii.  17. 
 It  was  probably  an  Assyrian  word,  meaning  either 
 "  captain  "  or  "  host." 
 
 Cause  the  horses  to  come  up  as  the  rough 
 caterpillers. — Better,  as  the  bristly  locusts.  The 
 word  describes  the  insect  in  its  third  stage  of  growth, 
 when  the  wings  are  not  yet  unfolded  from  their  cases, 
 and  when  they  are  most  destructive  in  their  ravages. 
 
 (28)  AH  the  land  of  his  dominion.— The  use  of 
 
 the  singular  pronoun  indicates  that  the  prophet  recog- 
 nises the  fact  that  the  kings,  captains,  and  rulers  (seo 
 Note  on  verse  23)  are  all  under  one  sovereign  leader — 
 i.e.,  under  the  king  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 
 
 (29)  And  the  land  shall  tremble  and  sorrow. 
 — The  verbs  in  tho  Hebrew  are  in  the  past  tense,  the 
 prophet  seeing,  as  it  were,  the  very  event  which  he 
 portrays  passing  before  him  in  his  vision. 
 
 (30)  The  mighty  men  of  Babylon  have  for- 
 born to  fight.— The  versos  that  follow  paint  the 
 capture  of  the  city  by  the  stratagem  related  in  tho 
 Note  on  chap.  1.  24.  Those  who  "  have  burned  "  are,  of 
 course,  the  invaders.  They  hero  begin  by  setting  the 
 houses  of  the  city  on  fire  and  breaking  open  the  gates 
 that  led  from  the  river  into  the  streets  of  the  city,  while 
 the  panic-stricken  people  fled  to  their  citadel  in  despair. 
 
 (3i)  One  post  shall  run  to  meet  another. — 
 The  words  exactly  answer  to  tho  account  of  tho  capture 
 of  Babylou  given  in  Herod,  i.  (see  Note  on  chap.  li.  24). 
 The  history  of  Belshazzar's  feast  (Dan.  v.  1 — 30)  must 
 obviously  have  ended  in  a  like  result.  No  words  could 
 paint  more  vividly  the  panic  of  the  surprised  city. 
 
 (32)  That  the  passages  are  stopped. — These 
 were  probably  the  ferries  across  the  Euphrates,  by 
 which  one  part  of  the  city  was  in  communication 
 with  the  other.  These  were  at  the  ends  of  the  streets 
 that  ran  at  right  angles  to  the  river,  and  gates — left 
 open  in  the  panic  of  surprise — led  down  to  them.  Be- 
 sides these  there  was  one  bridge  over  the  Euphrates  in 
 the  middle  and  a  tunnel  under  it  (Herod,  i.  186).  The 
 word  is  elsewhere  used  for  fords,  as  in  Gen.  xxxii.  22 ; 
 Judges  iii.  28,  but  cannot  have  that  meaning  here,  as 
 the  Euphrates  was  not  fordable  at  Babylon. 
 
 The  reeds  they  have  burned  with  fire.- -The 
 word  for  "reeds"  is  elsewhere  (Isa.  xiv.  23,  xli.  18; 
 Exod.  vii.  19,  viii.  5)  translated  "  pool."  Here  it  pro- 
 bably refers  to  the  great  pool  constructed  by  Nitocris  as 
 a  reservoir  or  dock.  This  was  probably  left  dry  by  the 
 diversion  of  the  river  into  another  channel,  and  the 
 reeds  which  grew  in  it,  perhaps  also  the  flood-gates  of 
 the  canals,  and  the  ships  that  were  in  dock,  were  burnt 
 by  tho  Persians.  The  very  pools  were  the  scene  of 
 a  conflagration. 
 
 (33)  The  daughter  of  Babylon  .  .  .—More 
 literally,  The  daughter  of  Babylon  is  like  a  threshing- 
 floor,  in  the  time  ichen  it  is  trodden  {i.e.,  when  it  is 
 
 170 
 
77,,  Day  of  Vengeance  on  Babylon, 
 
 JEREMIAH,    LI. 
 
 /'  nlation. 
 
 God  of  Ism.'l;  The  daughterof  Babylon 
 is  like  a  fchreahingfloor,  Hi  fa  time  to 
 thresh  her:  yet  a  little  while,  and  the 
 time  of  her  harvest  shall  come. 
 
 Nebuchadrezzar  tin;  kin^  of  Iiahy- 
 ioa  bath  devoured  me,  be  bath  crushed 
 iu.\  be  bath  made  me  an  empty  ressel, 
 be  bath  swallowed  me  ap  like  a  dragon, 
 be  bath  ailed  bis  belly  with  my  delicates, 
 
 be  bath  cast,  m it.    ,;"  'The  \  Iolence 
 
 done  i and  to  my  ;  flesh  be  upon 
 
 Babylon,  shall  the  '  inhabitant  of  Eon 
 sax  ;  and  my  blood  apon  the  inhabitants 
 of  ChaMea,  shall  Jerusalem  say.  (WThere- 
 fore  thus  saith  (lit-  Loi;n;  Behold,  I  will 
 plead  thy  cause,  and  take  vengeance  for 
 thee;    and   I  will  dry  up  her  sea,  and 
 
 ii.  i. , 
 
 ! 
 
 Or,  llulJhl  them- 
 
 make  her  springs  dry.  '•  And  Babylon 
 shall  become  hea]  llingplace  for 
 
 dragons,  an  astonishment,  and  an  hiss- 
 ing, without  an  inhabitant.  '  •  The\ 
 shall  roar  together  bke  1  i< .1 1 - :  they  shall 
 
 5 yell  as  lions'  w  1  h ■  1  ] > ^ .  '  '  In  their  heal 
 I  will  make  their  feasts,  and  I  will  make 
 them   drunken,  thai    they    may    n-joicc, 
 
 ami  Bleep  a  perpetual  Bleep,  and  not 
 wake,  saith  the  Loed.  ' "  I  will  bring 
 them  down  like  lambs  to  the  slaughter, 
 like  rams  with  be  goats. 
 
 (m  How  is  Sheshach  taken!  and  bow 
 is  the  praise  of  the  whole  earth  sur- 
 prised! how  is  Babylon  become  an 
 astonishment  among  the  nations!  "-'Tin; 
 sea  is  come  up  upon  Babylon :  she  is 
 
 ■_■■  prepared  for  tlio  actual  process),  ijil  a  little 
 white,  mi'l  the  time  qf  harvest  shall  come  to  her.  The 
 imager;  is  ra  familiar  thai  it  hardly  needs  an  illustra- 
 tion (see  Ps.  i.  1;  Is.i.  xxi.  10,  xwiii.  -J7.  28;  Mieah 
 iv.  13),  The  time  of  "  her  harvest "  of  the  Authorised 
 version  is  ambiguous.  What  is  meant  is  that  the 
 heaped-np  treasures  of  Babylon,  are  hut  astheharvesl 
 which  shall  be  reaped  by  her  oonquerors,  and  the  city 
 itself  as  the  threshing-floor  on  which  men  shall  trample 
 on  the  plunder. 
 
 (8*)  Ho  hath  mado  me  an  empty  vessel.— Tlie 
 pronouns  in  one  form  of  the  Hebrew  text  are  most  of 
 them  in  the  plural,  "devoured  us,  crushed  us,  made 
 us."  The  prophet  speaks  of  himself  and  [srael  as 
 having  Buffered  wrong  and  outrage  at  the  hands  of 
 Nebuchadnezzar.  The  land  had  been  spoiled  till  it 
 3  an  "  empty  vessel." 
 
 He  hath  swallowed  me  up  like  a  dragon.— 
 The  Hebrew  noun  probably  stands  for  a  "  crocodile  " 
 (as  in  ha.  xxvii.  1,  li.  9;  Ezek.  xxix.  8),  or  is  used 
 generally  for  any  sea-monster.  The  "delicates" 
 ("dainties"  in  Gen.xlix.  20]  are  the  corn  and  wine  and 
 oil  and  fruits  of  Palestine  with  which  the  Chaldean 
 armies  had  enriched  themselves. 
 
 <  The  violonce  done  to  me  and  to  my  flesh 
 .  .  . — The  imagery  of  the  "dragon  "  or  "  crocodile"  is 
 continued.  The  " inhabUress  of  Zion"  pleads  that 
 her  "flesh" and  "blood "have  been  devoured  by  the 
 Babylonian  conqueror,  and  asks  for  the  application  of 
 the  bra  of  retribution. 
 
 1 ;;)  I  will  dry  up  her  sea  .  .  .—The  nouns  have 
 been  variously  interpreted,  some  commentators  refer- 
 ring it  to  the  "sea"  of  confluent  nations,  and  Uniting 
 the  wealth  of  Babylon  in  the  "springs"  that  fed  its 
 greatness;  others  to  the  Euphrates,  or  to  the  sea-like 
 alluvial  plain,  intersected  by  canals  and  streams  in 
 which   the  city  stood,  often  flooded  by  the  river,  so 
 
 thai    it   1 aine  as  an  actual   sea  (Herod  i.   184  .  or 
 
 specially  to  the  large  lake  described  in  the  Nof  ■ 
 on  verse  32.  So  in  [aa,  xxi.  1  Babylon  is  described 
 as  "the  desert  of  the  sea."  The  Hebrew  word  for 
 •■  springs  "  is  in  the  singular,  her  reservoir.  Pro- 
 bably the  literal  ami  figurative  meanings  run  into 
 one  another,  and  the  "drying  up"  describes  the 
 exhaustion  of  the  power  of  which  the  "sea"  was  tho 
 symbol.  In  Rev.  xvi.  U  we  have  apparently  an 
 allusive  reference  to  the  language  of  this  prediction. 
 
 (37)  Babylon  shall  become  heaps  .  .  .—It  is 
 significant,  as  emphasising  the  law  of  retribution,  that 
 the  terms  are  tho  same  as  those  used  of  Jerusalem 
 in  chaps,  ix.  11.  xix.  s,  xxv.  'a.  Is.  Nothing  is  n 
 characteristic  of  the  present  aspect  of  Babylon  than 
 tho    "heaps"    or    mounds  of    brickwork,  fragments 
 
 nf   pottery  anil  earth,  that    are   now    Scattered    OVW   the 
 
 plain,  ami  aro  slowly  yielding  ap  their  records  of  the 
 past  to  explorers.  The  "dragons"  here  (not  the  snmo 
 word  as  in  verse  34)  are  the  "jackals"  that  howl  iu 
 the  ruins,    i  See  Note  on  chap.  x.  H.  i 
 
 (38)  They  shall  roar  together  like  lions  .  .  . — 
 
 The  words  are  nol  a  continuation  of  the  picture  of  the 
 
 preceding  verse,  but  carry  us  to  th  i  revelry 
 
 that  preceded  the  capture  of  the  city.    The  princes  ox 
 
 Babylon  were  as  "young  lions"    Amos   iii.  4)  roaring 
 
 over  their  prey.  The  first  clause  as  well  as  the  second 
 conveys  this  meaning,  and  there  is  probably  a  reference 
 to  the  youth  of  rulers  like  Belshaazar. 
 
 (39)  in  their  heat   I  will  make  their  feasts 
 
 .  .  . — The  words  are  stern  and  hitler  in  their  irony. 
 When  the  revellers  are  hot  with  wine  and  lust  (coin]). 
 Hos.  vii.  4 — 7)  Jehovah  would  call  them  to  a  banquet 
 of  another  kind.  The  wine  cup  which  He  would  give 
 them  would   be  that   of  Hi-   wrath     chap.  XXV.   L6,  I7i. 
 
 and  their  drunken  joy  should  end  in  an  eternal  Bleep. 
 
 So  Herodotus  ii.  1: •  I  i  narrates  that  when  Cyrus  took 
 the  city  by  his  stratagem  the  inhabitants  were  keeping 
 a  feast  With  their  wonted  revelry  and  license.  (Com- 
 pare X .  •  1 1 .  i  j  1 1 1 .  Oyropced.  vii.  29 
 
 I  will  bring  them  down  like  lambs  to 
 the  slaughter  .  .  .—The  figure  is  changed,  and  the 
 revellers  appear  as  themselves  destined  to  be  the  vic- 
 tims of  the  slaughter-house  chaps,  xlviii.  15,  L  27).  Aa 
 the   "bullocks"  of  chap.  1.  -7  are  the  chosen  warriors, 
 
 so  the  lambs,  slurp,  he-goats  represent  the  different 
 classes  of  the  population  of  Babylon  [aa.  xxriv.  <<; 
 Ezek.  xxxix.  18).  All  alike  are  given  over  to  the  sword. 
 en  How  is  Sheshach  taken  I—"  Sheshach,"  it 
 will  be  remembered,  is  the  cypher  which,  as  explained 
 in  the  Note  on  chap.  xxv.  26,  stands  for  Babylon. 
 Here,  in  the  parallelism  of  Hebrew  poetry,  it  balai 
 
 the  actual  name  of  the  city  in  the  second  clause  of 
 the  verse.  The  word  "surprised"  is  the  same  as  that 
 rendered  "  stopped  "  in  verse  32. 
 
 I  H)  The  sea  is  come  up  upon  Babylon  .  .  .— 
 The  literal  explanation  of  the  words  as  referring  to  tho 
 
 171 
 
27te  Punishment  of  Bel. 
 
 JEKEMIAH,   LI. 
 
 Judgment  on  tlie  Graven  Images. 
 
 covered  with  the  multitude  of  the  waves 
 thereof.  (43)  Her  cities  are  a  desolation, 
 a  dry  land,  and  a  wilderness,  a  land 
 wherein  no  man  dwelleth,  neither  doth 
 any  son  of  man  pass  thereby.  (w)  And 
 I  will  punish  Bel  in  Babylon,  and  I  will 
 bring  forth  out  of  his  mouth  that  which 
 he  hath  swallowed  up  :  and  the  nations 
 shall  not  flow  together  any  more  unto 
 him :  yea,  the  wall  of  Babylon  shall 
 faU. 
 
 («)  ]\fy  people,  go  ye  out  of  the  midst 
 of  her,  and  deliver  ye  every  man  his 
 soul  from  the  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord. 
 <46)  And  lest  your  heart  faint,  and  ye 
 fear  for  the  rumour  that  shall  be  heard 
 in  the  land  ;  a  rumour  shall  both  come 
 
 1  Heb.,  visit  upon. 
 
 2  Or.  Both  Baby- 
 lon is  to  fall.  O 
 n<'  ttain  oflsraelt 
 and  with  Baby- 
 lon, lie. 
 
 3  Or,  the  coutitry 
 
 one  year,  and  after  that  in  another  year 
 shall  come  a  rumour,  and  violence  in  the 
 land,  ruler  against  ruler. 
 
 (47)  Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come, 
 that  I  will l  do  judgment  upon  the  graven 
 images  of  Babylon  :  and  her  whole  land 
 shall  be  confounded,  and  all  her  slain 
 shall  fall  in  the  midst  of  her.  W>  Then 
 the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  all  that 
 is  therein,  shall  sing  for  Babylon  :  for 
 the  spoilers  shall  come  unto  her  from 
 the  north,  saith  the  Lord,  f49'  2As 
 Babylon  hath  caused  the  slain  of  Israel 
 to  fall,  so  at  Babylon  shall  fall  the  slain 
 of  all  3the  earth.  W  Ye  that  have 
 escaped  the  sword,  go  away,  stand  not 
 still :  remember  the  Lord  afar  off,  and 
 
 inundation  of  the  Euplrrates  adopted  by  some  com- 
 mentators is  clearly  inadmissible,  and  is  at  variance 
 with  the  next  verse.  The  prophet  falls  back  on  an 
 image  which  he  had  used  before  (chap.  xlvi.  7),  and 
 which  had  become  familiar  through  Isaiah  (viii.  7,  8, 
 xvii.  12),  and  speaks  of  Babylon  as  covered  with  the 
 great  sea  of  nations  that  were  sweeping  over  her. 
 
 (43)  Her  cities  are  a  desolation  .  .  .—The  word 
 for  "wilderness"  is  Arabah,  commonly  used  of  the 
 sandy  desert  south  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  prophet 
 seems  to  dwell  with  a  stern  delight  on  the  seeming 
 paradox  that  the  sea  with  which  Babylon  is  to  be  over- 
 flowed, the  floods  of  invaders  and  destroyers,  shall 
 leave  her  cities  and  her  plains  drier  and  more  sandy 
 than  before. 
 
 (44)  And  I  will  punish  Bel  in  Babylon.— See 
 Note  on  chap.  1.  2.  The  god  whom  Babylon  wor- 
 shipped is,  as  before,  thought  of  as  sharing  her  down- 
 fall. He  is  made  to  disgorge  his  spoil,  the  vessels  of 
 the  Temple  of  Jehovah  that  had  been  placed  in  his 
 temple  (Dan.  v.  2  ;  Ezra  i.  7). 
 
 The  wall  of  Babylon  shall  fall.— The  words, 
 though  they  repeat  the  statement  of  chap.  1.  15.  have 
 here  a  special  significance.  The  two  great  walls  of 
 the  city  bore,  as  has  been  stated  above,  the  names  of 
 Imgur-Bel  (=  Bel  protects)  and  Nimetti-Bel  (—  the 
 dwelling  of  Bel),  and  were  thus  specially  consecrated 
 to  him  as  their  tutelary  deity  (Oppert,  Expedit.  en 
 Mesop.,  i.  p.  227;  Records  of  the  Past,  v.  124).  The 
 name  of  the  last  king  of  Babylon,  Belshazzar,  is  a 
 further  indication  of  the  reverence  felt  for  him  as  the 
 supreme  object  of  worship. 
 
 («)  Go  ye  out  of  the  midst  of  her  .  .  .—The 
 prophet  repeats,  with  all  the  emphasis  of  iteration,  the 
 summons  of  chaps.  1.  8,  li.  6.  The  "  fierce  anger  of  the 
 Lord "  is  that  which  was  directed  primarily  against 
 Babylon,  but  which  would  also  fall  on  those  who  chose 
 to  remain  and  become  "  partakers  in  her  plagues." 
 (Compare  Rev.  xviii.  4.) 
 
 (46)  And  lest  your  heart  faint  .  .  .—Better,  Let 
 not  your  heart  faint ;  fear  ye  not.  .  . 
 
 For  the  rumour  that  shall  be  heard  in  the 
 land. — It  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  final 
 catastrophe  of  the  city  would  be  preceded  by  a  period 
 of  uncertainty  and  suspense.  Men  would  hear  of  the 
 union  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  under  Cyrus,  of 
 the  murder  of  Evil-Merodach  by   Neriglissar,  of  the 
 
 death  of  Neriglissar  in  fighting  against  the  enemy 
 (B.C.  555).  The  child-king,  whom  Berosus  calls  Labo- 
 rosoarehod,  was  dethroned  by  his  nobles  after  a  few 
 months,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  father  of  the  Bel- 
 shazzar of  Dan.  v.  1,  the  Labynetus  of  Herodotus,  whose 
 true  name  was  Nabo-nahid.  The  whole  empire  was  in 
 the  throes  of  dissolution.  The  words  present  a  singular 
 parallel  to  those  which  speak  of  "  wars  and  rumours  of 
 wars  "  in  Matt.  xxiv.  6,  7  ;  Luke  xxi.  9. 
 
 (47)  Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come  .  .  .— 
 The  first  word  has  its  full  force.  The  Israelite  exiles 
 were  to  infer  from  the  rumours  and  disorders  of  the 
 preceding  verse,  that  the  day  of  vengeance  was  at  hand. 
 The  formula,  "  behold,  the  days  come,"  was  Jeremiah's 
 customary  manner  of  announcing  a  prediction  (comp. 
 chaps,  vii.  32,  xvi.  14,  et  al.).  For  "  slain  "  some  com- 
 mentators read  "  wounded"  or  "  smitten,"  as  the  word 
 is  rendered  in  Ps.  lxix.  26 ;  Job  xxiv.  12,  the  words 
 that  follow  indicating  that  the  wounded  shall  have 
 no  power  to  escape,  but  shall  fill  the  city  with  their 
 corpses. 
 
 (48)  Then  the  heaven  and  the  earth  .  .  . — 
 The  prophet,  following  in  the  track  of  Isaiah  (xliv.  23), 
 thinks  of  the  whole  creation  as  rejoicing  in  the  righteous 
 judgment  of  Jehovah  on  the  guilty  city,  and  in  the 
 liberation  of  His  people.  They  sing,  as  it  were,  their 
 Te  Deum  over  the  fall  of  Babylon  under  the  attack  of 
 the  Medo-Persian  armies  "  from  the  North." 
 
 (49)  As  Babylon  hath  caused  .  .  .—The  inter- 
 polated words  and  the  marginal  reading  indicate  that 
 the  construction  is  obscure,  but  the  Authorised  version 
 probably  comes  close  to  the  meaning  of  the  original. 
 The  punishment  that  falls  on  Babylon  comes  on  account 
 of  her  slaughter  of  the  Israelites,  but  in  that  punish- 
 ment other  nations  from  all  parts  of  the  earth  who 
 are  mingled  with  her  people  shoirid  be  involved. 
 Perhaps,  however,  we  should  read  the  slain  of  all  the 
 land,  as  giving  more  emphatically  the  law  of  retribution. 
 The  rendering  of  the  margin,  "  Both  Babylon  is  to 
 fall,  O  ye  slain  of  Israel,  and  with  Babylon  .  .  ,"  is 
 adopted  by  some  recent  commentators,  but  gives  a  less 
 satisfactory  meaning. 
 
 (50)  Te  that  have  escaped  the  sword  .  .  .— 
 The  words  call  on  the  people  to  fulfil  the  prediction  of 
 chap.  1.  4,  5.  Even  in  that  distant  land,  "afar  off" 
 from  the  Temple  of  Jehovah,  they  are  to  remember 
 that  they  are  Israelites,  and  to  think  of  Jerusalem  as 
 
 172 
 
The  Sorrows  ofihe  Ernies  in  Babylon.        •!  K1JKM  IAII,    LI. 
 
 The  Watte  of  Babylon  Broken. 
 
 let  Jerusalem  come  into  your  mind. 
 "''  We  are  confounded,  because  we  have 
 heard  reproach :  ahame  hal  li  covered 
 our  faces  :  for  Btrangers  are  come  into 
 the  sanctuaries  of  the  Loan's  house. 
 W Wherefore,  behold,  the  days  come, 
 
 Bilil  li    tin-    Loi;i>,  that    1    will  do  judgment 
 
 upon  her  graven  images:  and  through 
 all  her  land  the  wounded  shall  groan. 
 (M)  Though  Babylon  should  mount  up 
 to  heaven,  and  though  Bhe  should  fortify 
 thr  height  of  her  strength,  yet  from  me 
 shall  Bpoilers  wint'  unto  her,  saith  the 
 Lord. 
 
 1 '"  A  sound  of  a  cry  cometh  from 
 Babylon,  and  great  destruction  from 
 thr  land  of  the  Chaldeans:  (55>  because 
 tin'  Loan  hath  spoiled  Babylon,  and 
 destroyed  out  of  her  the  great  voice; 
 when  her  waves  do  roar  like  great 
 waters,  a  noise  of  their  voice  is  uttered : 
 
 or,  7V 
 broad  HaOyiun 
 
 1  Or,  made  naked. 
 
 ■ 
 
 (56)  because  the  spoiler  is  come  upon 
 her,  even  upon  Babylon,  and  her  mighty 
 men  are  taken,  even  one  of  their  bows 
 ib  broken:  for  the  Loan  God  of  recom- 
 
 pences  shall  Burely  requite.  '  r  And  I 
 will  make  drunk  her  princes,  and  her 
 wise  men,  her  captains,  and  her  rulers, 
 
 and    her   mighty    men  :    and    t  hey 
 
 sleep  a  perpetual  sleep,  and  not  wake, 
 saith  the  King, whose  name  is  the  Loan 
 
 Of    hosts. 
 
 (58)  Tim.--  saith  the  Lord  of  ho-t-; 
 1  The  broad  walls  of  Babylon  shall  be 
 utterly  "  broken,  and  her  high  gates 
 shall  be  burned  with  fire ;  and  the  people 
 shall  labour  in  vain,  and  the  folk  in  the 
 fire,  and  they  shall  he  weary. 
 
 {:,''>  The  word  which  Jeremiah  the  pro- 
 phet commanded  Beraiah  the  son  of 
 Neriah,  the  son  of  Maasriah,  when  he 
 went  'with  /rdikiah   the  king  of  Judah 
 
 their  home.  In  Pa  exxxvii.  5,  8  we  hare,  as  it  were, 
 liy  anticipation,  the  answer  of  the  exiles.  The;  had 
 not  forgotten  Jerusalem  in  (he  revelry  <>f  their  con- 
 querors. They  were  not  likely  to  forget  her  when 
 their  conquerors  were,  in  their  turn,  conquered. 
 
 (51)  Wo  are  confounded,  because  we  have 
 heard  roproach  .  .  .—The  answer  which  the  prophet 
 seems  to  hear  from  the  lips  of  the  exiles,  is.  however, 
 for  the  present,  of  n  different  character.  They  are 
 east  down  and  oppressed  by  the  disgrace  thai  has 
 fallen  on  them  anil  on  the  Holy  City.  Aliens  in  blood 
 anil  faith  have  profaned  their  sanctuaries,  (.'an  any- 
 thing wipe  off  the  stain  of  that  disgrace  !J  The 
 prophet  had  known  the  bitterness  of  that  thought  him- 
 
 Bell  (Lam,  i.  10.  ii.  7.  iv.  12),  and  hail  learnt  how  to 
 ileal  with  it.  "Yes."  lie  answers  in  the  next  verse, 
 "there  is  comfort  iii  the  thought  of  retribution.  The 
 idol-temples  which  had  been  enriched  with  the  spoils 
 of  their  Temple  shall  lie  despoiled;   the  plunderers 
 
 shall   fall  by  the  BWOrd  of  the  destroyer." 
 
 Though    Babylon    should  mount  up   to 
 
 heaven    .    .    . — The  special  form  of  the  phrase  recalls 
 
 the  language  of  the  builders  of  the  Tower  which  made 
 
 the  name  of  Babylon   conspicuous  (Gen.  xi.  4).      Even 
 
 though  that  boastful  attempt  should  be  realised,  Jere- 
 miah says,  it  should  prove  a  vain  defence.      As  it  was. 
 
 the  walis  of  Babylon  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  built 
 were  of  enormous  height.  Greek  writers,  possibly 
 speaking  of  different  walls  (as  there  were  two  lines 
 of  fortifications),  give  from  75  to  335  feet.  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, in  one  of  his  inscriptions,  records  their  greatness 
 in  words  that  remind  US  of  Dan.  iv.  30.  "To  make 
 more   difficult    the  attack    of  an   enemy  against    Iingnr 
 
 Bel,  the  indestructible  wall  of  Babylon,  I  constructed 
 a  bulwark  like  a  mountain  "(Oppcrt.  E.'-r 
 i.  p.  230;  Records  of  the  Poet,  v.  p.  131). 
 (55)  Because  the  Lord  hath  spoiled  Babylon 
 
 .    .    . — In   verso  54  the   prophet    hears  the  cry  of   the 
 
 captured  city.  The  "great  voice"  which  Jehovah 
 ••  destroys  "  or  "  makes  to  cease  "  is  the  stir  and  tumult 
 of  life  that  surged,  as  it  were,  through  the  city  (Isa, 
 
 xviii.  12.  13).  The  "waves"  are  those  of  the  "sea" 
 of  the  legions  of  her  conqueror  (see  verse  42),  and  they 
 
 "roar"  while  the  voices  that  were  heard  before  arc 
 hushed  in  the  silence  of  death. 
 
 (56)  The  Lord  God  of  reeompences  .  .  .—The 
 prophet   clothes  the  law  of  retribution  which  he  has 
 
 liei'ii  asserting  throughout  the  chapter  with  a  new 
 majesty  by  connecting  it  with  a  new  Divine  Name 
 (comp.  chap,  xxiii.  6).  Jehovah  delights,  a^  it  were, 
 to  manifest  Himself  in  that  aspect.  He  is  n  God  of 
 retribution.  Jehovah,  and  will  he  true  to  that  title. 
 
 (57)  i  wiU   make    drunk   her    princes.— The 
 
 imagery  is  repeated  from  verse  39,  and  carries  out  the 
 thought  of  chap.  xxv.  15,  10,  27.  On  the  list  of 
 officers  see  Note  on  verse  j:!. 
 
 (58)  Her  high  gates  shaU  be  burned  with  fire. 
 
 — These  were  jiart  of  the  works  on  which  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar prided  himself  as  the  restorer  of  the  cit\. 
 The  inscription  already  quoted  refers  to  these  as 
 well  as  to  the  walls:  "Babylon  is  the  refuge  of 
 the  god  Merodach.  I  have  finished  Imgwr  Bel. 
 his  great  enclosure.  In  the  threshold  of  the  great 
 gates  1  have  adjusted  folding-doors  in  hrass."  (Oppcrt. 
 ut  supra  ;  Comp.  also  Records  of  the  Past,  v.  pp. 
 125,  127  . 
 
 The  people  shall  labour  in  vain.— Tin-  words 
 are  all  hut  verbally  identical,  in  some  MSS.  absolutely 
 so.  with  those  of  Hab.  ii.  13.  In  both  the  thought  is 
 that  the  stately  edifices  which  had  been  raised  with  so 
 much    toil    by    the    slave-labour    of    Nebuchadnezzar's 
 
 subjects  and  captives   should  all   be   fruitless.    The 
 
 walls    of    Babylon   are  described    by    Herod,    ii..  173l. 
 
 possibly  with  some  exaggeration,  as  50  cubits  (=  To 
 feet    thick  and  200  high, 
 (so)  Seraiah  the  son  of  Neriah.-  The  great  pro 
 
 phecy  has  reached  its  close,  and  the  remainder  of  the 
 Chapter  is  of  the  nature  of  an  historical  appendix.     The 
 
 mention  of  both  father  and  grandfather  leaves  no  doubt 
 
 that  Seraiah  was  the  brother  of  Jeremiah's  friend  and 
 secretary,  Baruch  (chap.  xxxii.  1".  .  It  was.  therefore, 
 natural  that  the  prophet  should  select  him  as  the  de- 
 pository of  the  great  prediction.  The  term  "quiet 
 prince,  which  the  Authorised  version  adopts  from 
 Luther,  means  really  r-ylace,  and  de- 
 
 scribee an  office  like  that  of  our  quartermaster-general. 
 
 173 
 
The  Book  Thrown  into  the  River. 
 
 JEEEMIAH,   LII. 
 
 The  Reiyn  of  Zedekiah, 
 
 into  Babylon  in  the  fourth  year  of  his 
 reign.  And  this  Seraiah  was  a  1  quiet 
 prince.  (60)  So  Jeremiah  wrote  in  a 
 book  all  the  evil  that  should  come 
 upon  Babylon,  even  all  these  words  that 
 are  written  against  Babylon. 
 
 <61'  And  Jeremiah  said  to  Seraiah, 
 When  thou  comest  to  Babylon,  and 
 shalt  see,  and  shalt  read  all  these  words ; 
 <62)  then  shalt  thou  say,  0  Lord,  thou 
 bast  spoken  against  this  place,  to  cut  it 
 off,  that  none  shall  remain  in  it,  neither 
 man  nor  beast,  but  that  it  shall  be 
 3  desolate  for  ever.  (63)  And  it  shall  be, 
 when  thou  hast  made  an  end  of  reading 
 this  book,  that  thou  shalt  bind  a  stone 
 to   it,  and   cast   it   into  the  midst  of 
 
 1  Or,  prince  of  Mi 
 nucha,  or,  chief 
 clumberwiu 
 
 2      Heb.,      deSOla- 
 tiL'ltS. 
 
 a  2  Kings  24. 18. 
 
 3  Hub.,  reigned. 
 
 Euphrates  :  f64'  and  thou  shalt  say,  Thus 
 shall  Babylon  sink,  and  shall  not  rise 
 from  the  evil  that  I  will  bring  upon  her : 
 and  they  shall  be  weary. 
 
 Thus  far  are  the  words  of  Jeremiah. 
 
 CHAPTEE  LII.— «  Zedekiah  was 
 "  one  and  twenty  years  old  when  he 
 3  began  to  reign,  and  he  reigned  eleven 
 years  hi  Jerusalem.  And  his  mother's 
 name  was  Hamutal  the  daughter  of 
 Jeremiah  of  Libnah.  <2>  And  he  did 
 that  which  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the 
 Lord,  according  to  all  that  Jehoiakim 
 had  done.  <3>  For  through  the  anger  of 
 the  Lord  it  came  to  pass  in  Jerusalem 
 and  Judah,  till  he  had  cast  them  out 
 
 He  would  seem  to  have  been  attendant  on  Zedekiah, 
 probably  appointed  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  regulate  the 
 details  of  the  journey  to  Babylon,  and  arrange  the 
 resting-places  at  its  several  stages.  The  versions 
 seem  to  have  been  perplexed  by  the  unusual  title,  the 
 LXX.  giving  "  rider  of  the  gifts,"  and  the  Vulgate 
 "  prince  of  prophecy."  The  prediction  would  seem 
 to  have  been  of  the  nature  of  a  parting  gift  to  him. 
 
 In  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign. — The  date  is 
 significant  as  giving  a  missing  link  in  the  history. 
 The  beginning  of  Zedekiah's  reign  was  memorable  for 
 the  gathering  at  Jerusalem  of  ambassadors  from  the 
 kings  of  Edoni,  Moab,  Ammon,  Tyre,  and  Zidon, 
 obviously  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  confederacy 
 against  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  Jeremiah  had  condemned 
 all  such  schemes  as  contrary  to  the  will  of  Jehovah 
 (chap,  xxvii.  1 — 13).  It  is  probable  that  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar summoned  the  king  of  Judah  to  Babylon  to 
 question  him  as  to  this  scheme,  and  to  demand  an 
 act  of  renewed  homage.  On  this  journey  he  was  accom- 
 panied by  the  brother  of  the  prophet's  friend  and 
 fellow-worker,  and  Jeremiah  takes  the  opportunity  of 
 committing  to  his  charge  what  we  may  call  an  esoteric 
 prophecy,  lifting  up  the  veil  of  the  future.  He  coun- 
 selled submission  for  the  present,  because  resistance 
 was  premature,  and  would  prove  futile.  He  looked 
 forward  to  the  time  when  the  law  of  retribution  would 
 be  fulfilled  in  Babylon  as  it  had  been  fulfilled  in 
 Jerusalem.  The  whole  proceeding  was  in  perfect  har- 
 mony with  the  prediction  of  chap,  xxvii.  7,  that  all 
 nations  should  serve  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  son  and 
 his  son's  son  till  the  "  very  time  of  his  land  "  should 
 come.  It  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  a  duplicate 
 copy  was  kept  by  Baruch  or  Jeremiah,  of  which  the 
 present  text  of  chaps.  1.  and  li.  is  a  transcript. 
 
 (60)  So  Jeremiah  wrote  in  a  book.— The  "  book  " 
 is,  as  elsewhere,  a  parchment  roll.  Stress  is'  laid  ou 
 the  fact  that  the  long  prophecy  was  all  written  on  one 
 roll,  so  that  it  might  be  a  titter  symbol  of  the  city  that 
 was  its  subject. 
 
 (ci)  When  thou  comest  to  Babylon,  and  shalt 
 see,  and  shalt  read  .  .  . — The  meaning  of  the 
 Hebrew  would  be  better  expressed  by,  thou  shalt  see 
 to  it  and  read,  or  see  to  it  and  read.  The  English 
 version,  as  it  is,  leaves  it  doubtful  who  or  what  is  to 
 bo  seen.  The  verb  for  "  read  "  implies  reading  aloud. 
 Seraiah  was  to  read  the  prophecy  to  those  whom  it 
 
 concerned,  pi'obably  to  a  chosen  few  among  his  own 
 countrymen.  The  idea  that  it  was  to  be  read  to  the 
 Babylonians  is  in  the  highest  degree  improbable. 
 
 (6a)  Then  shalt  thou  say,"0  Lord  .  .  .—The 
 words  which  recite  the  predictions  of  chap.  1.  3,  39  are 
 of  the  nature  of  an  implied  prayer,  reminding  Jehovah 
 of  that  which  He  had  promised,  and  entreating  him 
 to  fulfil  it.  "Thou  hast  said"  was  to  be  the  ground 
 of  the  suppliant's  prayer  for  the  fulfilment. 
 
 (63)  Thou  shalt  bind  a  stone  to  it. — The  meaning 
 of  the  symbolic  act,  which  has  its  parallel  in  the  girdle 
 of  chap.  xiii.  1 — 7,  in  the  potter's  vessel  of  chap.  xix. 
 10,  and  in  the  yokes  of  chap,  xxvii.  2.  is  explained  in 
 the  following  verse.  The  parchment  roll  by  itself  might 
 have  floated,  and  beenpickedup  and  read,  and  so  the  stone 
 was  tied  to  it  that  it  might  sink  at  once,  and  thus  pre- 
 figure the  destruction  of  the  city.  (Compare  the  re- 
 appearance of  the  symbols  iu  Rev.  xviii.  21,  in  connec- 
 tion with  the  destruction  of  the  mystical  Babylon.) 
 
 (64)  They  shall  be  weary.— The  words  are  iden- 
 tical with  those  that  had  closed  the  great  prophecy  in 
 verse  58.  What  was  meant  was  probably  that  Seraiah 
 was  to  repeat  the  last  words  of  the  prediction,  and, 
 as  they  passed  his  lips,  was  to  fling  the  roll  into  the 
 river.  That  submersion  was  typical  of  the  end  of 
 the  futile  labour  and  weariness  of  the  men  of  the 
 doomed   city. 
 
 Thus  far  are  the  words  of  Jeremiah.— The 
 words  are  clearly  of  the  nature  of  what  we  should  call 
 an  editorial  note  by  the  compiler  of  Jeremiah's  pro- 
 phecies, Baruch  or  another.  He  is  careful  to  inform 
 his  readers  that  the  narrative  that  follows  in  chap.  lii. 
 was  not  written  by  Jeremiah. 
 
 LII. 
 
 The  narrative  that  follows  is  of  the  nature  of  an 
 historical  appendix,  and  is,  to  a  great  extent,  identical 
 with  2  Kings  xxiv.  18 — xxv.  30.  For  the  most  part, 
 accordingly,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Notes  ou 
 those  chapters.  Whether  the  compiler  of  2  Kings 
 copied  from  the  editor  of  Jeremiah,  or  conversely; 
 whether  the  prophet  was  his  own  editor,  or  whether 
 that  office  was  undertaken  by  a  contemporary,  Baruch 
 or  another,  or  at  a  much  later  date ;  whether  it  was 
 written  at  Babylon  or  Jerusalem,  are  questions  which 
 must  remain  unsettled.  The  last  fact  mentioned  in 
 each  case,  the  release  of  Jehoiachin  by  Evil-Merodach, 
 
 174 
 
The  Capture  of Jerusalem, 
 
 JEEBMIAH,  LII. 
 
 Zedekiah  Imprisoned  at  Bab 
 
 froml lis  presence,  that  Zedekiah  rebelled 
 against  the  king  of  Babylon. 
 
 \ ml  it  came  to  pass  in  (lie  "  ninth 
 year  of  hia  reign,  in  the  tenth  month,  in 
 the  tenth  day  of  the  month,  thai  Nebu- 
 chadrezzar king  of  Babylon  came,  he 
 and  all  his  army, againsi  Jerusalem, and 
 pitched  againsi  it,  and  buill  forts  against 
 i  round  about.  W  So  l  he  city  was  be- 
 sieged unto  i  he  elevent  h  year  of  king 
 Zedekiah.  ,,;i  Ami  m  the  fourth  month, 
 in  the  niulli  day  of  the  month,  the 
 famine  was  sore  i"  the  city,  so  thai 
 there  was  no  bread  for  the  people  of  the 
 
 land.      (7)  Then    the  city    was   broken  up, 
 
 and  all  the  men  of  war  fled,  and  wenl 
 forth  nut  of  the  city  by  night  by  the 
 way  of  the  gate  between  the  two  walls, 
 which  was  by  the  king's  garden;  (now 
 the  Chaldeans  were  by  the  city  round 
 about:)  and  they  went  by  the  way  of 
 the  plain.  (SJ  But  the  army  of  the 
 Chaldeans  pursued  after  the  king,  and 
 
 Overtook  Zedekiah  in  the  plains  of 
 Jericho;  and  all  his  army  was  scattered 
 from  him.  ("  Then  they  took  the  king, 
 and  carried  him  up  unto  the  king  of 
 Babylon  toEiblah  in  the  land  of  Hamath; 
 
 a    2    KtliKft    23.    1 
 Cll.  SI.  I. 
 
 1    II    I... 
 
 I  or, /.H.r* 
 
 :;  H.  t...    house    of 
 
 4  Or.     chuf    mar- 
 shal. 
 
 B  Hi!...  el 
 
 ru  n,  or, 
 
 ■  ver.  h. 
 
 where  he  gave  judgment  upon  him. 
 (M) And  the  king  of  Babylon  Blew  tin- 
 sons  of  Zedekiah  before  his   eyes:    he 
 
 slew   also    all    the    princes   of   .Jndah    in 
 
 Riblah.     ""  The,,  he  '  put   o,,t  tl yes 
 
 of  Zedekiah  ;  and  the  king  of  Babylon 
 
 boii, nl    him    in      chain  -.  and  carried  him 
 
 to  Babylon,  and  put  him  in  ''prison  till 
 the  day  of  his  death. 
 
 Now   in   the  fifth    month,   in    the 
 tenth  day  of  the  month,  which  was  the 
 
 nineteenth  year  of  N'ebuchadre/.zar  king 
 
 of  Babylon,  came  Nebuzar-adan,  '  'cap- 
 tain of  the  o;uard,  which  6  served  the 
 king  of  Babylon,  into  Jerusalem,  :l :  and 
 burned  the  bouse  of  the  Loan,  and  tin- 
 king's  bouse ;  and  all  the  bouses  of 
 Jerusalem,  and  all  the  bouses  of  the 
 great  hi,  a,  burned  he  with  fire  :  (ll)  and 
 all  the  army  of  the  Chaldeans,  that  were 
 with  the  captain  oft  be  guard,  brakedown 
 all  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  round  about. 
 (is)  Then  Nebuzar-adan  the  captain  of 
 the  guard  carried  awajT  captive  certain 
 of  tbe  poor  of  the  people,  and  the 
 residue  of  the  people  that  remained  in 
 the  city,  and  those  that  fell  away,  that 
 fell  to  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  the  rest 
 
 indicates  a  date  aire,  B.o.  562.  It  may  be  noted,  as 
 indicating  that  tin-  »■< .] >\ i --t .  in  either  case,  exercised 
 an  independent  judgment,  that  while  -  Kings  xxv. 
 presents  the  form  Nebuchadnezzar,  Jer.  Hi.  has  Nebu. 
 ohadrezzar,  tin-  latter  being  the  more  accurate  form. 
 
 (•)  And  in  the  fourth  month.— Omitted  in  the 
 Hebrew  of  ii  Kings  sxv.  3,  but  supplied  in  the  English 
 
 version. 
 
 m  Wont  forth  out  of  tho  city— Omitted  in  J 
 
 Kind's  xxv.   I. 
 
 Tlioy  wont  by  tho  way  of  the  plain.— In  2 
 
 Kings   \\v.    I    "the   /.;,/,/    (net    in   the    Hebrew)   went 
 
 (verb  in  tin'  singular)  the  way  toward  the  plain." 
 
 '    To  Riblah  in  tho  land  of  Hamath.— The 
 Tiptive  words  are  omitted  in  J  Kings  xxv.  6.    (See 
 Note  <>n  chap,  xzxfox.  5 
 
 Ho  gave  judgment  upon  him.— In  2  Kings  xxy. 
 6,  tin  ii  gave  judgment.    So  in  the  next  verse  "the  king 
 
 Of    Babylon   slew"  takes   the   plaee   of  "they  slew"  in 
 -  Kings  xxv.  7. 
 11 "  Ho  slew  also  all  the  princes  of  Judah  in 
 
 Riblah.— Tin-  fact  is  no!  stated  in  2  Kings  xxv..  but  is 
 
 found  in  chap.  xx\ix.  6. 
 
 >'"  And  put  him  in  prison  till  the  day  of  his 
 death.— This  also  is  an  additional  detail  net  mentioned 
 in  -2  Kings  wv..  and  its  absence  is  probably  due  to  the 
 fact  that  that  was  the  earlier  narrative  of  the  two.  The 
 word  I'm-  "prison"  is  a  peculiar  cue.  and  differs  from 
 that  in  Terse  81.  Literally  ii  means  " house  of  visita- 
 tion," and  this  may  imply  either  stricter  custody,  or 
 mine  severe  punishment  in  additieii  to  imprisonment. 
 The  LXX.  renders  it  by  "  house  of  the  mill,  as  though 
 Zedekiah,  alter  he  had  Keen  blinded,  had  been  made  to 
 
 17. » 
 
 do  slave-work  like  that  of  Samson.  Possibly  this  was 
 merely  an  inference  from  Lam. v.  13.    Such  treatment 
 
 of  captive  kings  was.  however,  quite  in  keeping  with 
 the  character  of  Assyrian  and  Chalihean   rulers.      Thus 
 
 Assur-bani-pal  boasts  that  he  placed  a  king  of  Arabia 
 
 in  chains,  and  bound  him  with  the  dog's,  and  caused 
 
 liini  to  be  kept  in  one  of  the  great  gates  of  Nineveh 
 {Records  of  the  Past,  i.  p.  '■>■)•.  So  Darius.  i„  the 
 Belvistwn  inscription,  boasts  of  having  taken  a  rebel 
 king  of  Sagartia,  cut  oil'  his  nose  and  ears,  anil  kept 
 him  chained  at  Ins  door  (Records  of  the  Past,  i.  p.  Ill*  . 
 <i'->  In  the  tenth  day  of  the  month.-  J  Kings 
 
 xxv.  8  gives  the  "  B<  '■■  nth  day."     We  have  no  mean 
 ascertaining  which  of  the  two  statements  is  the   more 
 accurate.     The  Jews  have  always  kept  the  ninth  d: 
 a  commemorative  fast.      And    this  date   is   given  in  the 
 
 Syriac  version  of  -  Kings. 
 
 Which  served  the  king  of  Babylon.— Bet  t.  r, 
 which  si. nut  before  the  king.    The  Hebrew  word  is  one 
 
 used  continually  ttf  honourable  service  (chap.  xxxv.  1'.'; 
 Num.  xxvii.  '2.  -Jl  :  Dent.  i.  80).  In  J  Kind's  wv.  8  we 
 have   the   less   accurate    term    of  "  servant  "  or  "  slave" 
 
 or"  captain  of  the  guard."    See  Note  on  chap,  xxxu 
 (13)  All  the  houses  of  the  great  men.— More 
 
 accurately,  all  the  great  houses, 
 
 l:'  Certain  of  the  poor  of  tho  people. —Omit  ted 
 
 in  -  Kings  xxv.  11,  and  probably  inserted  here  by  an 
 error  of  transcription,  as  the  next  \c-sc  states  that  the 
 "  POOT  of  the  land  "  were  left  in  their  own  country. 
 
 The  rest  of  the  multitude.— Better,  perhaps,  On 
 
 pie,  as  in  I'rov.  viii.  SO,  where 
 many  commentators  so  render  the  word.   "  1  was  with 
 
 him  as  a  worker"  and  Bong  Sol. vii.  1.    The  versions, 
 
 however,  agree  in  giving  "  multitude." 
 
The  Spoils  of  the  Temple. 
 
 JEREMIAH,   LII. 
 
 The  Massacre  of  Captives. 
 
 of  the  multitude.  <16'  But  Nebuzar- 
 adan  the  captain  of  the  guard  left  curtain 
 of  the  poor  of  the  land  for  vinedressers 
 and  for  husbandmen.  (17)  Also  the 
 "  pillars  of  brass  that  were  in  the  house 
 of  the  Lord,  and  the  bases,  and  the 
 brasen  sea  that  ivas  in  the  house  of  the 
 Lord,  the  Chaldeans  brake,  and  carried 
 all  the  brass  of  them  to  Babylon. 
 (is)  The  caldrons  also,  and  the  l  shovels, 
 and  the  snuffers,  and  the  ~  bowls,  and 
 the  spoons,  and  all  the  vessels  of  brass 
 wherewith  they  ministered,  took  they 
 away.  <19)  And  the  basons,  and  the 
 8  firepans,  and  the  bowls,  and  the  cal- 
 drons, and  the  candlesticks,  and  the 
 spoons,  and  the  cups  ;  that  which  was 
 of  gold  in  gold,  and  that  which  was 
 of  silver  in  silver,  took  the  captain  of 
 the  guard  away.  <20>  The  two  pillars, 
 one  sea,  and  twelve  brasen  bulls  that 
 were  under  the  bases,  which  king  Solomon 
 had  made  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  : 
 4  the  brass  of  all  these  vessels  was 
 without  weight.  (21)  And  concerning  the 
 6  pillars,  the  height  of  one  pillar  was 
 eighteen  cubits ;  and  a  5  fillet  of  twelve 
 cubits  did  compass  it ;  and  the  thickness 
 thereof  was  four  fingers  :  it  was  hollow. 
 (22)  And  a  chapiter  of  brass  ivas  upon  it ; 
 and  the  height  of  one  chapiter  was  five 
 
 1  Or,  instruments 
 to  remove  tlie 
 ashes. 
 
 3  Or,  censers. 
 
 4  Keb.,their brass 
 
 b  1  Kings  7.  15;  2 
 Klugs  25.  17;  2 
 t'urcm.  3.  15. 
 
 5  Heb.,  thread. 
 
 6  Heb.,  threshold. 
 
 Heb.,    saiv    the 
 fact  of  the  king. 
 
 8  Or,  scribe  of  the 
 captain  of  the 
 host. 
 
 cubits,  with  network  and  pomegranates 
 upon  the  chapiters  round  about,  all  of 
 brass.  The  second  pillar  also  and  the 
 pomegranates  were  like  unto  these. 
 (23)  And  there  were  ninety  and  six  pome- 
 granates on  a  side ;  and  all  the  pome- 
 granates upon  the  network  were  an 
 hundred  round  about. 
 
 <24)  And  the  captain  of  the  guard  took 
 Seraiah  the  chief  priest,  and  Zephaniah 
 the  second  priest,  and  the  three  keepers 
 of  the  6  door :  <25)  he  took  also  out  of 
 the  city  an  eunuch,  which  had  the 
 charge  of  the  men  of  war ;  and  seven 
 men  of  them  that 7  were  near  the  king's 
 person,  which  were  found  in  the  city  ; 
 and  the  8  principal  scribe  of  the  host, 
 who  mustered  the  people  of  the  land; 
 and  threescore  men  of  the  people  of 
 the  land,  that  were  found  in  the  midst 
 of  the  city.  <26)  So  Nebuzar-adan  the 
 captain  of  the  guard  took  them,  and 
 brought  them  to  the  king  of  Babylon 
 to  Eiblah.  <27>  And  the  king  of  Babylon 
 smote  them,  and  put  them  to  death  in 
 Eiblah  in  the  land  of  Hamath.  Thus 
 Judah  was  carried  away  captive  out  of 
 his  own  land. 
 
 (28)  This  is  the  people  whom  Nebu- 
 chadrezzar carried  away  captive  :  in  the 
 seventh  year  three  thousand  Jews  and 
 
 (is-20)  The  caldrons  also,  and  the  shovels .  .  . 
 
 — The  list  in  2  Kings  xxv.  14 — 16  omits  the  basons,  the 
 caldrons,  the  candlesticks,  and  the  cups ;  in  verse  15 
 it  gives  the  definite  article  in  the  Hebrew  "  the  one  sea," 
 and  omits  the  "  twelve  brasen  bulls.  Strictly  speaking, 
 the  bases  (1  Kings  vii.  27)  were  under  the  ten  lavers 
 which  were  used  for  washing  the  meat  for  the  sacrifices, 
 and  the  twelve  bulls  (1  Kings  vii.  25)  supported  the 
 molten  sea,  or  bigger  laver,  for  the  priests'  ablutions ; 
 2  Kings  xvi.  17  suggests  the  thought  that  the  bulk  of 
 the  bronze  had  been  removed  by  Ahaz  and  given  to 
 Tiglath  Pileser,  though  possibly  not  taken  away  by  him. 
 
 (21-23)  And  concerning  the  pillars  .  .  .—In  2 
 Kings  xxv.  16.  17  we  have  a  list  abbreviated  by  the 
 omission  of  some  of  the  measurements  and  of  the 
 number  and  arrangement  of  the  pomegranates.  "  Chap- 
 iter" is  the  old  English  word  for  the  "capital"  of  a 
 column. 
 
 On  a  side. — The  exact  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  is 
 towards  a  (  =  each)  wind — i.e.,  there  were  twenty -four 
 pomegranates  on  each  side  of  the  square  pillars,  with 
 one  at  each  corner,  making,  as  in  verse  23,  one  hundred 
 in  all. 
 
 (25)  An  eunuch,  which  had  the  charge  of  the 
 men  of  war.— Omit  the  article  before  "  charge." 
 The  Hebrew  term  (Pahid)  conveys  the  meaning  of 
 "  deputy,"  a  superintendent  under  a  chief  commander. 
 The  officer  in  question  had  probably,  together  with 
 the  persons  named  in  verse  2 1,  been  more  conspicuous 
 than  his  fellows  in  resisting  the  Chaldeeans. 
 
 Seven  men. — 2  Kings  xxv.  19  gives  "  five  "  as  the 
 number.  Here  also  we  have  to  think  of  the  exile  as  the 
 punishment  of  prominence  in  the  defence  of  the  city. 
 The  chief  scribe  of  the  army,  the  "  secretary  of  war," 
 would  naturally  occupy  such  a  position.  The  descrip- 
 tion of  the  men  as  those  "  that  were  near  the  king's 
 person  "  (literally,  saiv  the  Icing's  face)  implies  a  high 
 official  rank. 
 
 (28)  This  is  the  people  .  .  . — Here  the  parallelism 
 with  2  Kings  xxv.,  which  goes  on  to  give  a  brief  sum- 
 mary of  the  history  of  Gedaliah  and  Ishmael.  as  narrated 
 iu  chaps,  xl. — xliii.,  ceases,  and  the  writer  of  the  appendix 
 goes  on  to  give  particulars  as  to  the  various  stages  of  the 
 deportation  of  the  captives.  It  presents  some  difficul- 
 ties in  detail.  (1)  The  date  given  here,  the  "  seventh 
 year  "  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  does  not  agree  with  2  Kings 
 xxiv.  12,  whidi  gives  the  ' '  eighth  year  "  as  the  time  of 
 the  first  deportation  after  the  defeat  of  Jehoiachin. 
 (2)  The  number  of  the  captives  then  carried  into  exile, 
 given  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  14  at  10,000,  besides  the  crafts- 
 men and  the  smiths,  is  given  hero  as  3,023.  The  precision 
 of  the  number  seems  to  imply  reference  to  a  register  or 
 record  of  some  kind,  and  so  far  bears  prima  facie 
 evidence  of  accuracy.  Probably  the  word  "  ten  "  has 
 dropped  out  before  "  seven,"  and  we  have  here  the 
 record  of  a  second  deportation  in  the  seventeenth  year 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar,  while  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  was 
 going  on,  and  made  np  in  part  of  prisoners  taken  in 
 skirmishes,  and  partly  of  the  numerous  Jews  who  "fell 
 away  to  the  Chaldaeans  "  (chap,  xxxvii.  13). 
 
 17G 
 
The  Register  of  the  Three  Captivitii*.       •!  ICRKM  I  A  II,    LIT.     Jehoiachin  Released  by  Evil  Merodach. 
 
 three  ami  twenty  :  '-"'  in  the  eighteenth 
 rear  <>f  Nebuchadrezzar  lie  carried  away 
 
 captive  lVum  Jerusalem  eight  hundred 
 
 thirty    and     two    LperBOHB:       '">    in     the 
 three  and  twentieth   year  of   N > •  I > 1 1 < •  ] i : i <  1  - 
 
 rezzar  Nebuzar-adan  the  captain  of  the 
 
 guard  carried  away  captive   of  Hi''  .lews 
 seven    liuiulred    forty  and    live   persona: 
 
 all  the  persons  were  four  thousand  and 
 six  hundred. 
 
 (:">  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seven 
 and  thirtieth  year  of  the  captivity  of 
 Jehoiachin  king  of  Jndah,  in  the  twelfth 
 
 month,  in  the  live  and  twentieth  day  of 
 
 lie 
 
 .... 
 
 i   ll.  i. 
 
 loula. 
 
 B.0 
 
 HO. 
 
 lie 
 
 sag. 
 
 '        loodtHtttffi 
 
 n,th  linn. 
 
 lie 
 
 MS. 
 
 I  n.  i., 
 
 tttr  matter 
 
 day  in  /iifl 
 
 the  month,  that  Kvil-inerodaeh  king  of 
 Babylon    in    the  first    year  of  his   reign 
 
 lifted  np  the  la-ad  of  Jehoiachin  king  of 
 Jndah,  and  brought  him  forth  out  of 
 prison,  {:">  and  spake  -  kindly  unto 
 him,  and  set  his  throne  above  the  throne 
 of  the  kings  that  were  with  him  in 
 Babylon,  w  and  changed  bis  prison  gar- 
 ments: and  he  did  continually  eat  bread 
 before  him  all  the  days  of  his  life. 
 (**)  And  for  his  diet,  there  was  a  con- 
 tinual diet  given  him  of  the  kin";  of 
 Babylon,  ;! every  day  a  portion  until  the 
 day  of  his  death,  all  the  days  of  his  lite. 
 
 (■)  Eight  hundred  thirty  and  two  persons.— 
 Tim  comparatively  una]]  unmoor  indicates  the  ravages 
 of  thr  sword,  the  pestilence,  and  the  famine  to  which 
 
 Jeremiah  so  often  refers.  Tin*  captives  were  probably 
 tln<  scanty  remnant  of   the  defenders  of   the   city,   and 
 
 the  deportation    that   by    Nebuzar-adan     narrated  in 
 
 verse  15. 
 
 <:»)  In  tho  three  and  twentieth  year  of  Nebu- 
 chadrezzar .  .  . — There  is  no  record  <>f  this  final  de- 
 portation, ii\ c  years  after  the  capture  of  the  city,  in  the 
 historical  hunks.  It  probably  followed  mi  the  conquest 
 of  Egypt  predicted  in  chap.  xliv.  II,  -8,  and  in- 
 chiileil  some  of  those  who  had  emigrated  to  that  country; 
 
 perhaps  also   on   that    of    the    Mouhitcs    and    Kdomites, 
 
 among  whom  many  .lews  had  probably  taken  refuge. 
 The  total  number,  including  the  LO.000  who  are  not 
 mentioned  here    see  Note  on  verse  28),  mounts  np  to 
 
 1  t.tiilll.      In    K/.ra    ii.  lit.  li.1   the   number  of  those   who 
 
 returned   from   Babylon   is  given   at   42,360,  besides 
 
 T.o.iT  male  and  female  slaves,  and  this,  as  many  remained 
 
 behind  in  Babylon,  is  mure  than  can  be  accounted  (or 
 
 by  the   natural   increase  of  population.     Assuming;  the 
 
 correctness  of  the  numbers,  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion 
 that  after  the  exiles  were  settled  in  Babylon,  and  found 
 themselves  in  a  more  favourable  position  than  was  at 
 lirst  anticipated  (chap.  xxix.  5,  6),  they  were  joined  bj 
 friends  and  kindred,  who  hoped  to  be  better  oft  there  than 
 
 iii  the  desolation  and  disorders  of  their  own  country. 
 
 (31)  In  the  seven  and  thirtieth  year  of  the 
 captivity  of  Jehoiachin  .  .  .  The  closing;  nar- 
 rative is  almost  identical  with  that  of  'J  Kings  xxv.  27. 
 the  only  differences  being  (1)  that  "  five  anil  twentieth" 
 .stanils  for  ■•seven  and  twentieth."  (2)  tliat  in  raiee  :'l 
 we  have  "the  king  of  Babylon  "  instead  of  "the  king." 
 
 and  (3)  that  the  pleonastic  words  "until  the  day  of  his 
 
 death  "  are  inserted  before  "all  the  days  of  his  life." 
 The  reader  is  referred  to  t In-  notes  on  that  section. 
 The  variations  between  the  two  chapters,  the  most 
 important   of  which  have  been   noticed   in    the   Notes. 
 
 are  not   without   importance,  though   insignificant   in 
 
 themselves,  as  implying  that  a  consistent  belief  in  the 
 substantial  truthfulness  of  the  historical  records  of  the 
 Old  Testament  is  independent  of  mere  verbal  accord- 
 ance in  matters  of  minute  detail. 
 
 151 
 
 177 
 
THE   LAMENTATIONS    OF   JEREMIAH. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE   LAMENTATIONS  OF  JEREMIAH. 
 
 T. — Title.— We  are  so  familiar  with  the  title  which 
 
 implies  Jeremiah's  authorship  of  this  1 k  thai  it  would 
 
 surprise  mod   readers  of  the   Bngliali  Bible  to  learn 
 
 tlmt,  as  tlie  book  stands  in  the  Hebrew  text,  it  is  abso- 
 lutely   auonynioirs.      It-    only    title     there     is,    as   with 
 
 Genesis  (B'reshith)  ami  Exodus  [VeUe  Bkemoth),  the 
 
 opening  word  of  the  I k    Eehah).  For  this  the  LXX. 
 
 translators  substituted,  after  their  manner,  as  in  I  renesis, 
 EJxodus,  Nuiniiiis.  and  the  like,  a  title  descriptive  of 
 
 the   character   and    contents   of  the  book,  and    found  it 
 
 in  TU  n  ii  iii.  the  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  won  I  rendered 
 Lamentations  in  Jer.  vii.  29,  ix,  1  <  >.  ii<  ► ;  2  0hron.  4 
 
 25.  The  Vulgate  simply  reproduced  the  LXX.  in 
 Threni,  Luther  translated  it  by  Klag-lieder,  and  the 
 Knglish  versions  followed  in  his  footsteps  in  the  ren- 
 dering Lamentations. 
 
 II.— Authorship.— The  LXX.,  however,  did  some- 
 thing more  than  give  a  new  and  descriptive  title  to  the 
 
 book.  They  prefixed  a  short  note  by  way  of  intro- 
 duction:  "And    it   came  to  pass  after   Israel   had  I n 
 
 led  into  captivity  and  Jerusalem  hail  been  laid  waste, 
 Jeremiah  sat  weeping,  and  he  lamented  with  this 
 lamentation   over   Jerusalem,  and    said  —  How  doth  the 
 
 city,"  &c. 
 
 It  would,  in  the  nature  of  the  ease,  have  been  natural 
 to  recognise  in  such  a  notes  tradition  entitled  to  respect. 
 
 .losephus  [Ant.  X.  5,  ^  I)  repeats  the  statement,  but 
 apparently  identifies  the  book  now  extant  with  the 
 ■•lamentations  "  which  the  prophet  wrote  for  the  funeral 
 of  Josiah  (2  Chron.  XXXV.  2S);   and   the  authorship  has 
 
 been  received  by  mosl  critics  and  commentators  without 
 
 question.  A  consensus  so  striking  rests,  as  might  be 
 expected,  on  strong  internal  evidence.  The  very  fad 
 that  Jeremiah  began  his  career  as  ■  writer  with  a  work 
 
 i  this  kind  makes  it  probable  thai  be  would  not  leave 
 
 the  downfall  and  the  miseries  of  his  people  without  the 
 same  kind  of  tribute  that  he  had  paid  tothe  memory  of 
 the  reforming  king  r*nnd  there  is  absolutely  no  other 
 writer    living  at    the  time    ami    the    fad    of    the  book 
 
 being  contemporaneous  with  the  sufferings  it  describes 
 is  transparently  evident    to  whom  it  can  be  ascribed 
 
 with  the  Blighted  shadow  of  probability/  The  character 
 of  the  book  shows  the  same  emotional  temperament, 
 the  same  Sensitiveness  to  sorrow,  the  same  glowing  and 
 consuming  patriotism  that  are  conspicuous  in  the  pro- 
 phecies that  bear  Jeremiah's  name.  A  closer  comparison 
 
 brings  out  striking  coincidences  in  detail.  In  both  we 
 have  the   picture   of  the  •Virgin    daughter  of   /ion" 
 
 sitting  on  the  ground  in  her  shame  and  misery  (Lam. 
 i.  IS,uM3;  Jer.  xiv.  17.  In  both  the  prophet's  eyes  flow 
 down  with  tears  (Lam.  i.  Iti.ii.  11,  iii.48,49;  Jer.  ix.1, 
 
 \iii.   17,  xiv.  17).     There  is  the  same  haunting  dread 
 
 as  of  a  man  encompassed  with  "  fear  round  about  '' 
 on  every  side  (Lam,  ii.  22.  iii.  48,  49;  Jer,  \i.  25, 
 xlvi.  5).  In  both,  the  worst  of  all  the  evils  of  the 
 nation  is  represented  as  being  the  wickedness  of  the 
 priests  and  of  the  false  prophets  (Lam.  ii.  11,  iv.  ]:i; 
 Jer.  v.  30,  31,  xiv.  1:!,  14).  The  sufferer  appeals  for 
 vengeance  to  the  righteous  Judge  (  Lam.  iii.  64 
 Jer.  xi.  20).  The  rival  nations,  Edom  and  the  rest, 
 which  exulted  in  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. are  bidden  in  each 
 case  to  prepare  for  a  like  judgment  (Lam.  iv.  2]  ;  Jer. 
 
 A-.xlix.  12).      Even    in    the   absen f  any  external   testi- 
 
 *  mony  from  tradition  or  otherwise,  it  would  have  been 
 perfectly  natural  for  the  compilers  of  theOld  Testament, 
 at  or  after  the  Return  from  Babylon,  or  for  any  later 
 critic,  to  assign  it  to  Jeremiah  as  its  author.  For  the 
 most  part,  as  stated  above,  this  conclusion  has  been 
 adopted  by  recent  critics.  Some,  however,  among  whom 
 we  may  name  Ewald,  Bunsen.  and  Nagelsbach.  have 
 been  led  by  real  or  supposed  differences  of  vocabulary 
 and  style  to  assign  it  to  some  other  writer  of  the  same 
 period,  the  first  two  fixing  on  Jeremiah's  disciple. 
 Baruch.  as  the  probable  author.  The  most  exhaustive 
 discussion  of  the  question  is  to  be  found  iu  the  ItUro. 
 duction  to  Lamentations,  in  Dr.  Schaff's  edition  of 
 Lange's  Commentary,  the  case  against  the  authorship 
 being  stated  by  Nagelsbach,  and  that  in  favour  of  it 
 by  Dr.  W.  H.  Horublower. 
 
 III.— Date  and  Purpose.— Assuming  authorship. 
 there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  prefatory  note  ,f 
 the  LXX.  gives  a  true  account  of  the  origin  of 
 the  Lamentations.  Josephus.  it  is  true,  says  that  the 
 elegiac  lamentations  on  the  death  of  Joshul  were  ex- 
 taut  in  his  time,  and  as  there  is  no  trace  of  any  other 
 book  bearing  that  title  besides  that  which  now  remains 
 to  us,  he  apparently  thought  that  the  latter  "  lamenta- 
 tion-," at  least,  included  the  former.  In  this  view  he  has 
 been  followed  by  Jerome,  and  by  some  modern  critics. 
 The  internal  evidence  is,  however,  altogether  on  the 
 other  side.  From  first  to  last  the  picture  that  n  - 
 us  is  not  of  foreseen  but  of  completed  desolation. 
 Famine  has  done  its  work  (Lam.  ii.  19.  20.  iv.  :i.  4  . 
 Judah  is  gone  iuto  captivity  (Lain.  i.  3).  The  strong- 
 holds and  palaces  are  destroyed  (Lam.  ii.  5).  The 
 anointed  of  the  Lord  has  been  taken  in  the  pits 
 I  (Lain.  iv.  20).  The  daughter  of  Edom  rejoices  in  the 
 I   overthrow  of  her  hereditary  enemy  i  Lam.  iv.  21).     It 
 
 can    scarcely    therefore    be    que-tio 1    that    Josephus 
 
 I    was  in  this  instance,  as   in   many  others,  inaccurate  and 
 
 superficial,  and  that  the  book  belongs  to  the  latest 
 period  of  Jeremiah's  life,  that  it  was  written  either  in 
 |  Palestine,  before  the  migration  to  Bgypt,  or  more 
 probably,  at  Tahpanhes,  after  that  migration.    Attempts 
 
 181 
 
LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 to  connect  each  chapter  with  some  definite  event  in  the 
 prophet's  life  are,  for  the  most  part,  simply  a  fruitless 
 waste  of  ingenuity.* 
 
 It  has  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  five 
 chapters  are  distinct  and  separate  poems,  each  complete 
 in  itself,  with  no  link  binding  them  to  each  other, 
 except  the  unity  of  subject  and  of  feeling,  f  They  aro 
 the  outpourings  of  a  man's  heart,  full  to  over- 
 flowing with  bitter  sorrows,  as  he  contemplates  now 
 the  miseries  of  his  people,  and  now,  as  in  chap  iii.,  those 
 that  concern  himself.  The  language  throughout  is  that 
 of  a  sufferer  rather  than  a  teacher,  guided  by  the  Spirit 
 that  gave  him  the  power  to  express  thoughts  that  would 
 otherwise  have  been  unable  to  clothe  themselves  in 
 words,  but  with  no  direct  "  Word  of  Jehovah "  to  be 
 delivered  to  the  people.  It  was.  one  may  believe,  in 
 consequence  of  this  characteristic  feature  that  the  book 
 was  placed  by  the  compiler  of  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old 
 Testament  among  the  Hagiographa,  the  poetical  and 
 sapiential  writings,  and  not  among  the  prophets ;  and 
 that  Rabbinic  writers  {e.g.,  Kimchi,  Prcef.  in  Psalm.) 
 spoke  of  them,  and  of  the  other  books  of  that  group,  as 
 written  indeed  by  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  not 
 with  the  special  gift  of  prophecy. 
 
 Other  differences  between  the  two  books  that  bear 
 Jeremiah's  name  grew  naturally  out  of  this.  Tho 
 Lamentations  are  more  distinctly  a  work  of  art  than 
 the  prophecies.  The  rhythm  is  more  elaborate  and 
 uniform.  The  whole  book,  with  the  exception  of  tho 
 last  chapter,  which  has  apparently  reached  us  in  an 
 uufiuished  state,  is  characterised  by  the  alphabetic 
 arrangement. J  of  which  Ps.  cxix.  is  the  most  familiar 
 example,  but  which  is  found  also  in  more  or  less  com- 
 
 *  Thus  we  have  a  classification  given  by  De  Wette  :— 
 Chap.     I.    During  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  ( Jer.  xxxvii.  5). 
 II.    After  the  destruction  of  the  Temple. 
 
 III.  At  the  time  of  Jeremiah's  imprisonment. 
 
 IV.  After  the  capture  of  Zedekiah. 
 V.    After  the  destruction  of  the  city. 
 
 t  The  following  passage  from  Lowth's  Preelections  de  Sacra 
 Poesi  Hebraorum  is  worth  giving  in  his  own  exquisite 
 Latinity  (Pral.  xxii.)  :— 
 
 "Qui  itaque  artificiosam  totius  argumenti  dispositionem, 
 aptam  partium  collocationem,  rerum  juneturam  et  seriem,  et 
 in  his  omnibus  singularem  aliquam  elegantiam  requirit,  id 
 postulat  a  vate  quod  erat  a  proposito  ejus  alienum.  Patriae 
 perditee  et  extinctse  luctuoso  carmine  quodammodo  parentans. 
 et  veluti  in  exequiis  ejus  lugentis  personam  gerens,  quicquid 
 ejus  animo  in  tot  tantisque  miseriis  primum  obversatur,  quic- 
 quid maxime  calamitosum  videtur  et  miserabile,  quicquid  ei 
 prsecipit  instans  dolor,  id  subito  quasi  in  re  prsesenti  exprimit 
 et  effundit.  In  iisdem  rebus  hseret  plerumque  et  immoratur 
 diutius :  eadem  novis  vocibus,  imagmibus,  figuris,  variat  et 
 amplificat ;  ita  ut  fiat  potius  rerum  prope  simihum  coacervatio 
 qusedam  ac  cumulus  quam  plurium  et  diversarum  subtilis 
 aliqua  connexio  atque  per  gradus  ordinate  facta  deductio." 
 
 I  subjoin  a  translation  for  those  who  are  not  scholars  :— 
 "He  who  looks  for  an  elaborate  arrangement  of  the  whole 
 subject,  with  a  due  arrangement  of  parts,  a  connected  order  of 
 events,  and  a  certain  peculiar  refinement  in  dealing  with  each 
 of  them,  expects  that  which  is  altogether  foreign  to  the  poet's 
 nature.  As  if  he  were,  in  a  manner,  attending  the  funeral 
 obsequies  of  his  ruined  and  fallen  country  and  sustaining  in 
 his  mournful  dirge  the  character  of  chief  mourner,  he  expresses 
 and  pours  forth  at  once,  as  if  the  thing  passed  before  his  eyes, 
 whatever  in  its  many  and  great  miseries  first  meets  his 
 mental  vision,  whatever  seems  most  calamitous  and  wretched, 
 whatever  the  urgency  of  his  grief  suggests  to  him.  He  dwells, 
 with  lingering  iteration,  on  the  self-same  themes  ;  varies  and 
 expands  the  same  facts  in  ever-fresh  words  and  images  and 
 metaphors,  so  that  we  have  rather  an  accumulation,  heaped  up 
 high,  of  things  all  but  identical,  than  a  subtly  arranged  series 
 of  many  different  things,  and  an  orderly  treatment  of  them 
 according  to  the  rules  of  art." 
 
 t  Ewald  (Poet.  Buck.  i.  p.  110)  looks  on  the  tendency  to  the 
 alphabetic  structure  as  first  showing  itself  in  the  seventh 
 century  b.c.  It  may  be  noticed  that  this  writer  has  succeeded 
 with  singular  skill  in  maintaining  the  alphabetic  arrangement 
 in  his  German  version  of  the  Lamentations,  even  in  the 
 triple  complications  of  chap.  iii.  , 
 
 plctcness  in  Pss.  xxv.,  xxxi v.,  xxxvii., cxi.,  cxii.,cxlv.,  and 
 iu  the  singularly  beautiful  poem  on  the  excellence  of  an 
 ideal  womanhood,  which  finds  a  place  in  Prov.  xxxi. 
 10 — 31.  Traces  of  it,  as  if  the  work  had  been  left 
 half-finished,  appear  also  in  Pss.  ix.  and  x.  In  the 
 Lamentations  it  is  found  with  some  noticeable  pecu- 
 liarities. Chaps,  i.,  ii.,  and  iv.  contain  twenty-two 
 verses  each  in  alphabetic  order,  each  verse  falling  into 
 three  evenly  balanced  clauses  (Ewald,  Introd.  to  Lam,). 
 Chap.  ii.  19  forms  an  exception,  as  having  a  fourth 
 clause,  as  if  the  writer  had  for  the  moment,  impulsively 
 or  deliberately,  shaken  off  the  restrictions  of  his  own 
 self-imposed  law.  In  chaps,  ii.,  iii.,  and  iv.  the  two 
 letters  Ayin  and  Pi  appear  in  the  inverted  order  of 
 that  in  which  they  are  found  iu  chap,  i.,  and  in  the 
 received  Hebrew  alphabet.  The  variation  has  been 
 explained  (as,  e.g.,  by  Grotius)  on  the  assumption  that 
 Jeremiah  followed  here  the  order  of  the  Chaldsean 
 alphabet ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  that  order  was 
 different  from  that  of  the  Hebrew,  and  the  exception 
 may  be  regarded  as  one  of  those  variations  which 
 resulted  either  from  oversight  or  from  the  inevitable 
 difficulties  of  the  task  which  had  been  undertaken. 
 Similar  variations  meet  us,  we  may  note,  in  the  alpha- 
 betic order  of  Ps.  xxxvii. 
 
 Chap.  iii.  contains  three  short  verses  under  each 
 letter  of  the  alphabet,  the  initial  letter  being  three  times 
 repeated. 
 
 Chap.  v.  contains  the  same  number  of  verses  as  the 
 first  two  and  the  fourth  chapters,  but  witli  no- 
 alphabetical  arrangement.  The  thought  suggests  itself, 
 either  that  the  writer  found  himself  too  overwhelmed 
 by  emotion  to  keep  within  the  limits  of  tho  artificial 
 pla,n  he  had  before  prescribed  to  himself,  or  that  it  was 
 his  plan  to  write  his  thoughts  freely  at  first  and  then 
 to  reduce  them  into  the  alphabetic  structure. 
 
 Our  estimate  of  the  excellence  of  the  poems  thus 
 written  will  depend  on  our  insight  into  the  working  of 
 strong  emotions  on  the  poetic  temperament,  on  our  power 
 of  throwing  ourselves  into  mental  sympathy  with  such  a 
 one  as  Jeremiah.  A  superficial  and  pedantic  criticism 
 finds  it  easy  to  look  down  on  the  alphabetic  structure 
 as  indicating  a  genius  of  an  inferior  order,  and  the 
 taste  of  a  degenerate  (so  De  Wette,  Comment,  fiber  die 
 Psalm.,  p.  56,  and  even  Ewald,  Poet.  Buch.  i.  p.  140), 
 or  to  allow  condescendingly  that  they  are  "  not  without 
 a  certain  degree  of  merit  in  their  way  "  (De  Wette,  as 
 above).  A  wider  induction  from  the  literature  of  all 
 nations  and  ages  leads,  however,  to  a  different  con- 
 clusion. The  man  iu  whom  the  poetic  gift  is  found 
 fears,  it  would  seem,  to  trust  himself  to  an  unregulated 
 freedom.  He  accepts  the  discipline  of  a  self-imposed 
 law  just  in  proportion  to  the  vehemence  of  his 
 emotions.  The  metrical  systems  of  Greek  and  Latin 
 poetry  with  all  their  endless  complications,  hexameters, 
 elegiacs,  lyrics,  the  alliterative  verse  of  Anglo-Saxon 
 writers,  the  rhymes  of  mediaeval  Latin  and  of  modern 
 European  poetry  in  general,  the  rigid  structure  of  the 
 sonnet,  as  seen  in  the  great  Italian  poets  and  their 
 imitators,  the  terza  rima  of  the  "  Divina  Commedia,"  and 
 the  yet  more  artificial  structure  of  the  canzoni  and  bal- 
 late  of  Dante,  the  stanzas  of  the  "  Faerie  Queen,"  are  all 
 instances  of  the  working  of  the  same  general  law  of  which 
 we  find  a  representative  example  in  the  Lamentations.* 
 
 *  A  singular  example  of  the  extreme  application  of  this 
 straining  after  the  freedom  which  moves  easily  in  fetters  is 
 found  in  the  Latin  poetry  of  Aldhelm,  Abbot  of  Halmesbury, 
 one  of  whose  poems  is  a  double  acrostic,  the  first  and  last 
 letters  of  every  line  forming  the  hexameter,  "  Aldhelmus 
 eccinit  mitlcnis  vcrsibus  odas."  (Behnsch,  Englische  Sprache, 
 p.  31.) 
 
 182 
 
LAMENTATIONS 
 
 There  are,  of  ooune,  instances  enough  in  all  lit 
 <>f  t lit-  form  without  tho  spirit,  ijut  enongfa  has  been  said 
 to  show  thai  the  choice  at  an  artificial  method  of  rami- 
 fication siu-li  as  this  docs  not  necessarily  imply  anything 
 
 weak  or  artificial  in  the  genius  nf  the  writer.      In    the 
 
 absence  of  rhyme  and  of  definite  metrical  laws  in 
 Hebrew  poetry  it  was  natural  that  itehonld  be  chosen 
 as  supplying  at  once  the  restraint  and  the  support 
 which  the  prophet  needed.     The  alphabetic  structure 
 
 hail  also  another  advantage  as  a  guide  to  memory.  If, 
 as  seems  probabli',  the  Lamentations  were  intended  to 
 he  sung,  as  in  t'aet  they  were  sung  by  those  who 
 mourned  then,  or  in  later  times,  for  tin-  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem,  then  it  is  obvious  that  the  task  of  the 
 learner  would  he  iniieh  easier  with  this  mnemonic  help 
 than  without  it. 
 
 The  words  of  Zeehariah  at  the  close  of  the  Captivity 
 aire  a  striking  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  the 
 
 LamentatiotU  had  impressed  themselves  on  the  iniuds 
 of  the  exiles.  He  appeals  to  the  words  of  tho  prophets 
 who  had  gone  before  him  as  having  taken  hold  of  their 
 Esthers,  "and  they  returned  and  said,  Like  as  the 
 Lord  of  hosts  thought  to  do  unto  us,  according  to 
 our  ways  and  according  to  our  doings,  so  hath  He 
 done  with  08  "iZeeh.  i.  ill,  thus  putting  into  their  lips 
 the  very  words  which  we  find  in  Lam.  i.  1:5,  ii.  17. 
 When  tiic  exiles  returned  to  Jerusalem   this  was  their 
 
 book  of  remembrance.  At  a  later  period,  probably  not  till 
 
 after  the  destruction  of  the  second  Temple,  it  was  read 
 on  the  ninth  day  of  the  month  Ah  in  every  year  with 
 fasting  and  prayer,  as  commemorating  tho  destruction 
 of  the  Temple,  and  the,  day  and  the  practice  still  rotain 
 
 their  place  in  the  ri  t  nil  of  the  Jewish  calendar.  It  la 
 -aid  to  he  used  often  by  the  pilgrims  who  still  gather 
 at  "the  plaeo  of  wailing"  in  Jerusalem.  It  enters 
 largely  into  the  order  of  the  services  of  tie-  Latin 
 Church  in  Holy  Week,*  and  at  the  last  revision  of  the 
 Leetionary  was  admitted  to  a  like  position  in  that  of 
 tho  Church  of  Kngland.  Men  have  felt  that  the 
 words  of  the  suffering  poet,  flowing  from  the  die], 
 fountain  of  tin:  heart,  met  the  wants  of  other  sufferers, 
 however  unlike  in  their  outward  conditions,  and  that 
 therefore  they  found  their  fulfilment  in  the  .Sufferer 
 who  gathered  up  into  His  owu  experience  the  infinite 
 sorrows  of  humanity. 
 
 A  few  facts  in  the  external  history  of  tho  book 
 remain  to  be  stated.  It  has  not  always  occupied  tho 
 same  position  in  the  arrangement  of  the  Old  Testament 
 Canon,  in  the  received  Hebrew  order  it  is  placed,  ■  I 
 stated  above,  among  the  h'lthnbim  or  Hagiograph.", 
 between  Ruth  mid  Kulielelh  (Eeclcsiastes).  In 'that 
 adopted  for  synagogue  use,  and  reproduced  in  somo 
 printed  editions  and  in  tho  Bomborg  Hebrew  Bible  of 
 A.D.  1521,  it  stands  among  the  five  Alegilloth  or  Roll* 
 (see  General  Introduction  in  Vol.  I.  of  this  Com- 
 mentary), after  the  Books  of  Moses.  Tho  LXX. 
 groups  the  writings  eonnected  with  tho  name  of 
 Jeremiah  together;  but.  the  Book  of  Baruch  comes 
 between  the  prophecies  and  the  Lamentations. 
 
 •  Three  lessons  are  assigned  to  each  of  the  three  last  days  of 
 the  week,  each  ending  with  the  versicle,  Jerusalem,  Jeru- 
 salem Converterc  ad  Domiiuun  Ucum  tuinn. 
 
 183 
 
THE    LAMENTATIONS    OF    JEREMIAH. 
 
 CHAPTEE  I.— (D  How  doth  the  city 
 sit  solitary,  that  was  full  of  people  !  how 
 is  she  become  as  a  widow  !  she  that  was 
 great  among  the  nations,  and  princess 
 among  the  provinces,  how  is  she  become 
 tributary  !  <2>  She  "  weepeth  sore  in  the 
 4 night,  and  her  tears  are  on  her  cheeks: 
 among  all  her  lovers  she  hath  none  to 
 comfort  her :  all  her  friends  have  dealt 
 treacherously  with  her,  they  are  become 
 her  enemies.  (S)  Judah  is  gone  into 
 captivity  because  of  affliction,  and  l  be- 
 cause of  great  servitude :  she  dwelleth 
 among  the  heathen,  she  findeth  no  rest : 
 all  her  persecutors  overtook  her  between 
 the  straits.  (4)  The  ways  of  Zion  do 
 mourn,  because  none  come  to  the  solemn 
 
 B.C. 
 clr.  588. 
 
 1    Heb.,  for  the 
 yreatness  o/  ser- 
 vitude. 
 
 s  Deut.  28.  13,  43, 
 
 d  Jer.  52.  28. 
 
 2  Or,  desirable. 
 
 feasts  :  all  her  gates  are  desolate :  her 
 priests  sigh,  her  virgins  are  afflicted, 
 and  she  is  in  bitterness.  (5)  Her  adver- 
 saries care  the  chief,  her  enemies  pros- 
 per ;  for  the  Lord  hath  afflicted  her  for 
 the  multitude  of  her  transgressions :  her 
 ''children  are  gone  into  captivity  before 
 the  enemy.  <6'  And  from  the  daughter 
 of  Zion  all  her  beauty  is  departed  :  her 
 princes  are  become  like  harts  that  find 
 no  pasture,  and  they  are  gone  without 
 strength  before  the  pursuer.  <">  Jeru- 
 salem remembered  in  the  days  of  her 
 affliction  and  of  her  miseries  all  her 
 3  pleasant  tilings  that  she  had  in  the 
 days  of  old,  when  her  people  fell  into 
 the  hand  of  the  enemy,  and  none  did 
 
 (i)  How  doth  the  city  .  .  — The  poem  of 
 twenty-two  verses  divides  itself  into  two  symmetrical 
 halves,  (1)  verses  1 — 11,  in  which  the  prophet  laments 
 over  Jerusalem;  and  (2)  verses  12 — 22,  more  dramatic 
 in  its  form,  in  which  the  daughter  of  Zion  bewails  her 
 own  miseries.  Each  verse  is  divided  into  three  lines, 
 each  line  beginning,  in  the  Hebrew,  with  the  same 
 letter.  The  opening  picture  reminds  us  of  the  well- 
 known  Judoea  capta,  a  woman  sitting  under  a  palm- 
 tree,  on  the  Roman  medals  struck  after  the  destruction 
 of  Jerusalem. 
 
 How  is  she  become. — Better,  making  one  sentence 
 instead  of  two,  She  is  become  a  widow  that  was  great 
 among  the  nations,  and  so  with  the  clause  that  follows. 
 
 Provinces. — The  word,  used  in  Esther  i.  1,  22,  and 
 elsewhere,  of  the  countries  subject  to  Persia  and  Assy- 
 ria, and  so  in  Ezra  ii.  1 ;  Nell.  vii.  6,  of  Judah 
 itself,  here  iudicates  the  neighbouring  countries  that 
 had  once,  as  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  been  subject 
 to  Judah.  "  Tributary,"  as  used  here,  implies,  as  in 
 Josh.  xvi.  10,  personal  servitude,  rather  than  the  money 
 payment,  for  which,  at  a  later  period,  as  in  Esther 
 x.  1,  it  was  commuted. 
 
 (2)  She  weepeth  sore  in  the  night.— The  in- 
 tensity of  the  sorrow  is  emphasised  by  the  fact  that  the 
 tears  do  not  cease  even  in  the  time  which  commonly 
 brings  rest  and  repose  to  mourners.  The  "  lovers  " 
 and  the  "  friends  "  are  the  nations,  Egypt  (Jer.  ii.  36), 
 Edomites,  Moabites,  and  others,  with  which  Judah  had 
 been  in  alliance,  and  which  now  turned  against  her. 
 (Gomp.  Ps.  exxxvii.  7  ;  Ezek.  xxv.  3 — 6;  Jer.  xl.  14,  for 
 instances  of  their  hostility,  and  specially  Lam.  iv.  21.) 
 
 (3)  Because  of  affliction.— The  Authorised  version 
 suggests  the  thought  that  the  words  refer  to  the  volun- 
 tary emigration  of  those  who  went  to  Egypt  and  other 
 countries  (Jer.  xlii.  14),  to  avoid  the  oppression  to 
 which   they  were   subject  in  their  own  land.      The 
 
 184 
 
 Hebrew  admits,  however,  of  the  rendering  "  from 
 affliction,"  and  so  the  words  speak  of  the  forcible 
 deportation  of  the  people  from  misery  at  home  to  a  yet 
 worse  misery  in  Babylon  as  the  land  of  their  exile. 
 Even  there  they  found  no  "  rest "  (Deut.  xxviii.  65). 
 Their  persecutors  hunted  them  down  to  the  "  straits  " 
 from  which  no  escape  was  possible. 
 
 (*)  The  ways  of  Zion  do  mourn. — The  words  paint 
 what  we  may  call  the  religious  desolation  of  Jerusalem. 
 The  roads  leading  to  it,  the  "  gates  "  by  which  it  was 
 entered,  were  no  longer  thronged  with  pilgrims  and 
 worshippers.  "  Virgins  "  are  joined  with  "  priests  "  as 
 taking  part  in  the  hymns  and  rejoicing  processions  of 
 the  great  festivals  (Exod.  xv.  20 ;  Ps.  lxviii.  25 ;  Judg. 
 xxi.  19 — 21 ;  Jer.  xxxi.  13). 
 
 (5)  Her  adversaries  are  the  chief.— Literally, 
 have  become  the  head  (Deut.  xxviii.  13). 
 
 Her  enemies  prosper. — Better,  are  at  ease,  secure 
 from  every  resistance  on  her  part.  "  Before  the 
 enemy,"  driven,  i.e.,  as  slaves  are  driven. 
 
 (6)  Her  princes  are  become  like  harts  .  .— 
 Probably  a  reference  to  the  flight  and  capture  of 
 Zedekiah  (2  Kings  xxv.  5  ;  Jer.  xxxix.  5),  who,  with  his 
 sons  and  princes,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Chaldaeans, 
 like  fainting  and  stricken  deer. 
 
 (7)  Jerusalem  remembered. — Better,  remem- 
 bereth.  The  present  is  contrasted  with  the  past.  Still, 
 the  "  sorrow's  crown  of  sorrow  is  remembering  happier 
 things." 
 
 That  she  had  in  the  days  of  old.— Better, 
 which  have  been  since  the  days  of  old. 
 
 Did  mock  at  her  sabbaths.— The  noun  is  not 
 found  elsewhere,  but  is  connected  with  that  commonly 
 rendered  "sabbath."  It  seems  coined  as  a  word  of 
 pregnant  meaning  to  express  at  once  the  enforced 
 sabbaths  of  the  unfilled  land  (Lev.  xxvi.  34,  35),  and 
 the  sabbaths,  no  longer  festivals,  but  conspicuous  for 
 
The  Heathen  in  the  Sanctuary. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,    I.         The  Daughter  qf Zion Desolate. 
 
 help  her:  the  adversaries  saw  her,  and 
 did  mock  at  her  sabbat  lis.  <K)  Jerusalem 
 hath  grievously  sinned  ;  therefore  she 
 lig removed:  all  that  honoured  her  de- 
 spise her,  because  tiny  have  seen  her 
 nakedness:  yea,  she  Bigheth,  and  t  urneth 
 backward.  1'1  Her  lilthiness  is  in  bet 
 skirts ;  she  remembereth  not  her  last 
 end  ;  therefore  she  came  down  wonder- 
 fully :  she  had  no  comforter.  O  Lord, 
 behold  my  affliction  :  for  the  enemy 
 bath  magnified  himself.  ""I  The  adver- 
 sary hath  spread  out  his  hand  upon  all 
 her  'pleasant  things:  for  she  hath  seen 
 that  the  heathen  entered  into  her 
 sanctuary,  whom  thou  didst  command 
 that  "they  should  not  enter  into  thy 
 congregation.  (11)  All  her  people  sigh, 
 they  seek  bread  ;  they  have  given  their 
 pleasant  things  for  meat  sto  relieve  the 
 
 i  mi,,  i 
 
 H  renu 
 
 Kami' 
 
 iraMt. 
 
 ) 
 
 B  Or,  to  n 
 
 MUl    to    COttU 
 
 Or,  It  1- 
 
 Hcb.,   path    hit 
 
 soul :  see,  O  Lokd,  and  consider  ;  for  I 
 
 am   become  vile. 
 
 (12)  tjs  {(  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  tliat 
 5pass  by?  behold,  and  see  it  there  be 
 any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow,  which 
 is  done  unto  me,  wherewith  the  Lord 
 hath  afflicted  mc  in  the  day  of  his  fierce 
 anger.  W  From  above  hath  he  sent 
 fire  into  my  bones,  and  it  prevaileth 
 against  them  :  he  hath  spread  a  net  for 
 my  feet,  he  hath  turned  me  back  :  lie 
 hath  made  me  desolate  and  faint  all  the 
 day.  (14)  The  yoke  of  my  transgressions 
 is  bound  by  his  hand :  they  are  wreathed, 
 and  come  up  upon  my  neck  :  he  hath 
 made  my  strength  to  fall,  the  Lord  hath 
 delivered  me  into  their  hands,  from 
 whom  I  am  not  able  to  rise  up.  (1S)  The 
 Lord  hath  trodden  under  foot  all  my 
 mighty  men  in  the   midst  of  me:   he 
 
 tin-  absence  of  any  religions  rites,  which  had  fallowed 
 <>n  tin-  destruction  of  the  Temple, 
 
 is)  Therefore  she  is  removed.— The  verb  is  used 
 technically  for  the  separation  of  >  woman  under  cere- 
 monial defilement;  and  the  daughter  of  Zion  iu  her  sin 
 and   shi'inii'   is  compared  (as   in   verse  17)  to  such  a 
 
 woman,  Tlie  figure  is  continued  with  a  startling 
 boldness.  Like  a  woman  exposed  to  the  gaze  of 
 soorners,  Jerusalem  would  fain  turn  her  back  upon 
 those  who  exult  in  the  twofold  nakedness  of  her  sin 
 and  lit'  its  punishment. 
 (9)  Her  fllthiness.— The   picture  of   pollution  is 
 
 pushed  to  its  must  tooths e  extreme.     The  very  skirts 
 
 Of  the  garment  are  defiled. 
 
 She  remembereth  not  .  .—Better,  she  remem- 
 bered not.  It  was  her  recklessness  as  to  the  future 
 (camp.   Dent,  xxxii.  2!'.  for   tile   phrase)    which    brought 
 
 her  down    to   this    "wonderful"    and   extreme   prostra- 
 tion. 
 
 O  Lord,  bohold  my  affliction.— The  words  are 
 
 not  those  of   the  prophet,  but  of  Zion.  anticipating  the 
 dramatic   personation    which   begins   systematically   at 
 
 verse  12. 
 
 (i")  Upon  all  hor  pleasant  things    .    .    .    The 
 
 use  of    a    like    phrase   in  2  Chron.   xxxvi.  10,  19,   of   the 
 
 vessels  of  the  Temple,  leads  us  to  think  primarily  of 
 
 them;     but      the    word    itself    has   :\    wider    range,   and 
 includes  all  works  of  art  and  ornamentation. 
 
 Whom  thou  didst  command.— Stress  is  laid  on 
 the  profanation  rather  than  the  plunder  of  t he  sanctuary. 
 Ammonites  and  Moabites  were  excluded  from  the  con- 
 gregation iu  Dent,  xxiii.  3,  and  yet  they  and  other 
 heathen  nations  now  rushed  even  into  the  Holy  of 
 holies,  which  none  but  the  High  Priest  might  enter. 
 
 t'n  All  her  people  sigh  .  .  .  .—The  words 
 which  describe  the  famine  at  Jerusalem  are  in  the  present 
 tense,  either  as  painting  the  sufferings  of  the  past  with 
 the  \i\  idness  of  the  historic  present,  or  because  the 
 Bufferings  still  continued  even  after  the  capture  of  the 
 city.  The  remnant  that  was  left  had  to  bring  out  their 
 treasures,  jewels,  and  the  like,  and  offer  them  for 
 bread. 
 
 To  relieve  the  soul. —  Better,  to  revive,  literally, 
 to  bring  lurk. 
 
 18") 
 
 (•'-)  Is  it  nothing  to  you  .  .  .—  Literally.  Not 
 to  you,  ye  passers  by,  which  the  Authorised  version 
 takes  as  a  epiestion.  The  LXX.  and  Vulg.,  however. 
 Beem  to  have  taken  the  adverb  as  an  interjection:  "0 
 all  ye  that  pass  by  .  ■"  And  some  interpreters  have 
 taken  the  negative  but  not  the  question,  "  Xnr  In  you 
 .  .  .  (do  I  say  this)."  The  Authorised  version, 
 however,  has  most  to  eonimend  it.  What  the  mourning 
 city  felt  most  keenly  was  that  her  unparalleled  suffer. 
 ingswere  met  with  an  unparalleled  indifference. 
 
 lit)  From  above  .  .  . — The  words  are  probably 
 figurative.  The  judgments  that  had  fallen  on  Jerusalem 
 were  as  a  fire  from  heaven, piercing  even  to  "the  joints 
 and  marrow,"  the  innermost  recesses  of  life. 
 
 He  hath  turned  me  back  .  .  .—The  phrase 
 points  not  to  the  defeat  and  flight  of  battle,  but.  com- 
 pleting the  figure  of  the  net.  paints  the  failure  of  every 
 effort  to  escape.  The  word  for  "  desolate  "  implies,  as 
 in  the  case  of  Tamar  (2  Sam.  xiii.  20).  an  utter,  hopeless 
 misery. 
 
 <u)  Is  bound  by  his  hand  .  .— The  verb  is  not 
 found  elsewhere,  but  was  probably  a  technical  term  for 
 the  twisting  of  the  thongs  by  which  the  yoke  was 
 fastened,  the  "  yoke  "  in  this  case  being  the  transgres- 
 sions of  Judah.  which  were  as  a  sore  burden  too  heavy 
 to  bo  borne. 
 
 He  hath  made. — Better,  it  hath  mack  ,  i.e.,  the 
 
 yoke  which  was  above  her  strength  to  bear. 
 
 The  Lord. — It  is  noticeable  that  here,  and  in 
 thirteen  other  passages  in  this  book,  the  word  Jtlonai 
 is  used  instead  of  the  more  usual  Jehovah,  as  though 
 the  latter,  the  covenant  Name  of  the  God  of  Israel, 
 was  less  appropriate  in  the  lips  of  one  who  was  under 
 His  condemnation. 
 
 (is)  Trodden   under  foot — Better.   /i"//i    made 
 
 contemptible,  as  those  who  are  weighed  in  the  balance 
 and  found  wanting. 
 
 All  my  mighty  men  .  .  . — The  adjective  is 
 used  elsewhere  of  bulls  (Pss.  xxii.  12;  Na.  x\\i\.  7  . 
 but  stands  here  for  the  heroes  of  Judah.  who  fell,  not 
 in  open  battle,  but  ignominionsly  "  in  the  midst"  of 
 the  captured  city. 
 
 He  hath  called  an  assembly. — The  point  of  the 
 phrase  lies  in  its  being  that  commonly  used  for  proclaim- 
 
Zion  with  None  to  Comfort  Her.         LAMENTATIONS,    II. 
 
 The  Famine  and  the  Sword. 
 
 hath  called  an  assembly  against  me  to 
 crush  my  young  men :  the  Lord  hath 
 trodden  Hhe  virgin,  the  daughter  of 
 Judah,  as  in  a  winepress.  (16)  For  these 
 things  I  weep;  "mine  eye,  mine  eye 
 runneth  down  with  water,  because  the 
 comforter  that  should  3  relieve  my  soul 
 is  far  from  me :  my  children  are  deso- 
 late, because  the  enemy  prevailed. 
 (17'  Zion  spreadeth  forth  her  hands,  and 
 there  is  none  to  comfort  her :  the  Lord 
 hath  commanded  concerning  Jacob,  that 
 his  adversaries  should  be  round  about 
 him :  Jerusalem  is  as  a  menstruous 
 woman  among  them. 
 
 (18)  The  Lord  is  l  righteous  ;  for  I 
 have  rebelled  against  his  3  command- 
 ment :  hear,  I  pray  you,  all  people,  and 
 behold  my  sorrow  :  my  virgins  and  my 
 young  men  are  gone  into  captivity. 
 (19)  I  called  for  my  lovers,  but  they  de- 
 ceived me  :  my  priests  and  mine  elders 
 
 1  Or,  the  iviiu  press 
 of  the    vmjui, 
 fie 
 
 a  Jer.  13.  17  &,  14. 
 
 17;  cb.  L\  IS. 
 
 Hc\)..bring  bach: 
 
 3  Hcl).,  mouth. 
 
 c  Is*.    16. 11  ;  Jcr. 
 48.36. 
 
 4  Or,  proclaimed. 
 
 gave  up  the  ghost  in  the  city,  while 
 they  sought  their  meat  to  relieve  their 
 souls.  (aj)  Behold,  O  Lord  ;  for  I  am  in 
 distress :  my  c  bowels  are  troubled  ;  mine 
 heart  is  turned  within  me ;  for  I  have 
 grievously  rebelled :  abroad  the  sword 
 bereaveth,  at  home  there  is  as  death. 
 (2i)  They  have  heard  that  I  sigh :  there 
 is  none  to  comfort  me :  all  mine  enemies 
 have  heard  of  my  trouble ;  they  are 
 glad  that  thou  hast  done  it :  thou  wilt 
 bring  the  day  that  thou  hast  4  called, 
 and  they  shall  be  like  unto  me.  (22)  Let 
 all  their  wickedness  come  before  thee ; 
 and  do  unto  them,  as  thou  hast  done 
 unto  me  for  all  my  transgressions : 
 for  my  sighs  are  many,  and  my  heart  is 
 faint. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— (D  How  hath  the 
 Lord  covered  the  daughter  of  Zion  with 
 a   cloud  in  his  anger,  and   cast  down 
 
 ing  a  religious  festival  (Lev.  xxiii.  4).  Here  the 
 festival  is  proclaimed,  not  for  Jerusalem,  but  against 
 her,  and  is  to  be  kept  by  those  who  exult  iu  the  slaughter 
 of  her  youthful  warriors. 
 
 The  Lord  hath  trodden  the  virgin  .  .  . 
 — Better,  hath  trodden  the  winepress  for  the  virgin 
 .  .  .  For  the  winepress  as  the  symbol  of  judgment 
 and  slaughter,  see  Isa.  lxiii.  2 ;  Rev.  xiv.  19,  six. 
 15. 
 
 (16)  For  these  things  .  .  . — The  unparalleled 
 misery  finds  vent  in  a  flood  of  bitterest  tears.  We 
 note  the  emphasis  of  iteration  in  "  mine  eye,  mine  eye." 
 On  "  relieve,"  see  Note  on  verse  11 ;  and  on  "  desolate," 
 see  Note  on  verse  13. 
 
 (tf)  Zion  spreadeth  forth  her  hands  .  .  . 
 — The  normal  attitude  of  Eastern  prayer,  or,  perhaps, 
 of  lamentation  and  despair. 
 
 That  his  adversaries  .  .  . — Better,  that 
 those  round  about  him  should  be  his  adversaries,  the 
 nearest  neighbours  being  the  bitterest  foes. 
 
 Jerusalem  is  as  .  .  . — The  image  is  the  same 
 as  in  verse  8,  and  might  be  rendered  as  one  polluted, 
 or  as  an  abomination. 
 
 (18)  The  Lord  is  righteous  .  .  . — An  echo  from 
 Jer.  xii.  1 ;  2  Chron.  xii.  6.  Misery  does  its  work, 
 and  issues  in  repentance.  The  suffering  comes  from 
 the  all-righteous  Judge.  It  is,  perhaps,  significant 
 that  with  this  beginning  of  conversion  the  name 
 "  Jehovah  "  reappears. 
 
 All    people     .     .     .—Better, 
 addressed  are  the  heathen  nations, 
 to  gaze  on  the  desolate  mourners. 
 
 (i"9)  I  called  for.— Better,  to. 
 in  verse  2,  are  the  former  allies  of  Judah 
 
 My  priests  and  mine  elders. — The  pressure  of 
 the  famine  of  the  besieged  city  is  emphasised  by  the 
 fact  that  even  these,  the  honoured  guides  of  the 
 people,  had  died  of  hunger.  On  tlie  phrase  that 
 follows,  see  verse  11.  A  conjectural  addition,  at  the 
 end  of  the  verse,  "  and  found  not,"  is  supplied  in  the 
 LXX  and  Syriac  versions ;  but  rhetorically  there  is  more 
 
 all  peoples.     Those 
 who  are  snmmoned 
 
 The   "  lovers,"    as 
 
 186 
 
 force  in  the  aposiopesis,  the  suggestive  silence,  of  the 
 Hebrew. 
 
 (20)  Behold,  O  Lord  .  .  .  —Deserted  by  men, 
 the  mourner  appeals  to  Jehovah.  "  Bowels "  and 
 "  heart  "  are  used  almost  as  synonymous  for  the  deepest 
 emotions  of  the  soul.  The  word  for  "  troubled," 
 elsewhere  (Ps.  lxxv.  8)  used  of  colour,  might,  perhaps, 
 be  better  rendered  inflamed. 
 
 At  home  there  is  as  death.— The  "  as  "  seems 
 inserted  to  give  the  emphasis  of  the  undefined.  It  is 
 not  death  pure  and  simple  that  makes  each  home 
 tremble,  but  the  "  plurima  mortis  imago"  (Virg.  A  en. 
 ii.  369),  the  starvation,  disease,  exhaustion,  which 
 all  were  deadly,  i.e.  deathlike,  in  their  working. 
 
 (2i)  They  are  glad  that  thou  hast  done  it  .  .  . 
 — Historically  the  words  refer  to  the  conduct  of  nations 
 like  the  Edomites,  as  described  in  Ps.  exxxvii.  7. 
 
 Thou  wilt  bring  the  day  that  thou  hast 
 caUed. — Better,  proclaimed.  By  some  commentators 
 the  first  verb  is  taken  as  a  perfect, "  Thou  hast  brought," 
 and  the  "  day"  is  that  of  vengeance  upon  Judah.  With 
 the  rendering  of  the  Authorised  version  the  clause 
 coheres  better  with  that  which  follows,  and  the  "  day" 
 is  that  of  the  punishment  of  the  exulting  foes. 
 
 (22)  Let  all  their  wickedness  .  .  .—The  prayer 
 for  a  righteous  retribution,  the  first  natural  prayer  of 
 the  outraged,  reminds  ua  of  Pss.  lxix.,  cix.,  exxxvii., 
 yet  more  strongly  of  the  language  of  the  prophet  him- 
 self in  Jer.  xviii.  21 — 23.  It  is  something  more  than 
 a  prayer  for  revenge,  and  rests  on  the  underlying 
 thought  that  righteousness  requires  the  punishment. 
 By  some  critics,  it  may  be  noted,  Pss.  lxix.  and  cix. 
 have,  on  the  strength  of  this  parallelism,  been  ascribed 
 to  Jeremiah 
 
 II. 
 
 (i)  How  hath   the   Lord  . — The    second 
 
 dirge  follows  the  pattern  of  the  first,  opening 
 with  a  description  of  the  sufferings  of  Jerusalem, 
 (verses  1 — 10),  and  closing  with  a  dramatic  soliloquy 
 spoken  as  by  the  daughter  of  Zion  (verses  11 — 22). 
 
The  Strongholds  o/Jitdah 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,    II 
 
 ild  down. 
 
 from  heaven  unto  the  earth  tin-   beaut] 
 
 of  brael,  and  remembered  not  bis  foot- 
 stool in  the  day  of  his  anger  I  W  The 
 Lord  hath  swallowed  op  all  the  habita- 
 tions uf  .Jacob,  and  hath  not  pitied:  he 
 bath    thrown    down    in    his    wrath    the 
 
 strong  holds  of  the  daughter  of  Jndah  ; 
 he  hath  'brought  them  down  to  the 
 ground:  be  hath  polluted  the  kingdom 
 
 and  the  princes  thereof.  (;;)  llehathcut 
 oil'  in  his  tierce  anger  all  the  horn  of 
 brael:  he  hath  drawn  hack  his  righi 
 hand  from  before  the  enemy,  and  he 
 burned   against  Jacob  like  a    flaming 
 
 lire,  which  devoureth  round  ahoiit. 
 W  lie  hath  hint  his  bow  like  an  enemy: 
 he  stood  with  his  right  hand  as  an  ad- 
 versary, and  slew  -all  that  were  pleasant 
 to  the  eye  in  the  tabernacle  of  the 
 daughter  of  Zion :  he  poured  out  his 
 fury  like  lire.  <5)  The  Lord  was  as  an 
 enemy  :  he  hath  swallowed  up  Israel, 
 he  hath  swallowed  up  all  her  palaces  : 
 
 ii.  i.. 
 
 II.  I... i,7  tlir  it 
 ei/t. 
 
 iv  n  i 
 
 I  )i    . 
 
 Ilil... 
 ing  up. 
 
 he  hath  destroyed  his  strong  holds,  and 
 hath  increased  in  the  daughter  of  Judah 
 
 inoiuniiiLT  and  laimntat  ioll.  ''"And  he 
 hath  violently  "taken  away  his  'taber- 
 nacle, as  //'  it  were  <;/'a  garden  :  he  hath 
 destroyed  his  places  of  the  assembly  : 
 the  Loan  hath  caused  the  solemn  feasts 
 and  sabbaths  to  be  forgotten  in  Zion, 
 and  hath  despised  in  the  indignation 
 of  his  anger  the  king  and  the  priest. 
 <7>  The  Lord  hath  cast  off  his  altar,  be 
 hath  abhorred  his  sanctuary,  he  hath 
 'given  up  into  the  hand  of  the  enemy 
 the  walls  of  her  palaces  ;  they  have 
 made  a  noise  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
 as  in  the  day  of  a  solemn  feast.  ,K>  The 
 Lord  hath  purposed  to  destroy  the  wall 
 of  the  daughter  of  Zion  :  he  hath 
 stretched  out  a  line,  he  hath  not  with- 
 drawn his  hand  from  destroying  :  there- 
 fore he  made  the  rampart  and  the  wall 
 to  lament ;  they  languished  together. 
 <9>  Her  gates  are  sunk  into  the  ground ; 
 
 The  image  that  floats  before  the  poet's  mind  is  that  of 
 a  dark  thunder-cloud  breaking  into  a  tempest,  which 
 overthrows  the  "beauty  of  Israel,"  xc.  the  Temple 
 (Is.  Ixiv.  11),  or,  as  in  2  Sam.  i.  1!',  the  heroes  who  de- 
 fended it.  The  footstool  is,  as  in  1  Chron.  xxviii.  '2  ;  Ps. 
 xeix.  ">,  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  which  was  involved 
 in  the  destruction  of  tho  Temple.  The  "Lord"  is,  as 
 before.  Ailoiini,  not  Jehovah. 
 
 ('-')  The  habitations  of  Jacob  .    .    .—The  term 
 
 is  used  primarily  for  the  dwellings  of  shepherds,  and 
 it  accordingly  stands  here  for  the  open  unwalled 
 villages  as  contrasted  with  the  fortified  towns  that  are 
 here  mentioned. 
 
 He  hath  polluted  the  kingdom.— See  Ps. 
 lxxxix.  39.  Tho  term  involves  the  thought  that  it  had 
 been  a  Consecrated  thing.      It  had  become  unclean,  first 
 
 through  the  sins,  and  then  through  the  defeat  and 
 degradation,  of  its  rulers, 
 
 (;!>  All  the  horn  of  Israel  .  .  .—The  horn,  as 
 elsewhere  (1  Sam.  ii.  1;  Pss.  xcii.  lo,  cxii.  9),  is  the 
 symbol  of  strength,  aggressive  or  defensive,  and 
 may  therefore  stand  here  for  every  clement  of 
 strength,  warriors,  rulers,  fortresses. 
 
 He  burned  against  Jacob.— Botter,  And  He 
 hindhd  a  burning;  i.e.,  was  as  one  who  applies  the 
 
 torch. 
 
 t*J  He  stood  with  his  right  hand  .  .  .—The 
 point  of  the  phrase  is  that  the  "  light  hand,"  the 
 natural  symbol  of  divine  power,  which  had  been  uf  old 
 stretched  forth  to  protect,  was  now  seeu  shooting 
 tho  arrows  and  wielding  tho  sword  of  vengeance. 
 
 Slow  all  that  were  pleasant  .  .  .—Better, 
 "  Destroy  id  all  that  was  pleasant,"  the  destruction 
 including  not  only  warriors  and  youths,  but  every- 
 thing dear  and  precious. 
 
 The  tabernacle  .  .  .—Not  the  Temple,  but  the 
 city  itself  as  the  habitation  of  the  people,  who  are 
 actively  represented  as  "  the  daughter  of  Zion." 
 
 (&)  Her  palaces :  .  .  .  his  strong  holds  .    .  . 
 
 Tho  change  of  gender  is  remarkable,  probably  rising 
 
 1H7 
 
 from  the  fact  that  the  writer  thought  of  the  "  palaces  " 
 in  connection  with  the  "  daughters  of  Zion,"  and  of  the 
 "  strong  holds"  in  connection  with  tho  laud  or  people. 
 A  like  combination  is  found  in  Hosea  viii.  14. 
 
 Mourning  and  lamentation. — The  two  Hebrew 
 nouns  are  formed  from  the  same  root,  and  have  an 
 assonance  like  "  the  sorrow  and  sighing  "  of  Is.  xxxv. 
 10. 
 
 (6)  He  hath  violently  taken  away  his 
 tabernacle  .  .  . — Tho  noun  represents  a  "  booth  " 
 or  "  shed,"  like  those  erected  in  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
 nacles. Jehovah  is  represented  as  laying  waste  that 
 "  tabernacle,"  i.e.,  His  own  temple,  as  a  man  might 
 remove  a  temporary  shed  from  an  orchard  or  garden. 
 
 His  places  of  the  assembly.— The  noun  i>  the 
 same  as  that  rendered  "solemn  raasts"  in  the  next 
 clause.  The  destruction  involved  the  non-observance 
 of  all  such  feasts,  as  well  as  of  the  sabbath.  "  King 
 and  priest,"  the  two  representatives  of  tho  nation's  life 
 (Jer.  xxxiii.  21),  were  alike,  as  it  seemed,  rejected. 
 
 (7)  Hath  east  off  .  .  .  hath  abhorred.— Tho 
 two  verbs  are  used  in  a  like  context  in  Ps.  lxxxix. 
 38. 
 
 His  sanctuary.— The  word  points  to  the  Holy  of 
 Holies,  and  "  the  walls  of  her  palaces  "  aro  therefore 
 those  of  tho  Temple  rather  than  of  the  city. 
 
 They  have  made  a  noise. — Tho  shouts  of  the 
 enemies  in  their  triumph,  perhaps  even  the  shouts  of 
 their  worship,  had  taken  the  place  of  the  hallelujahs 
 of  the  "  solemn  feast." 
 
 (8)  He  hath  stretched  out  a  line.— Tin-  phrase 
 implies  (Sec  Notes  on  2  Kings  xxi.  13;  Isa.  xxxiv.  11 ; 
 Amos  vii.  7)  the  systematic  thoroughness  of  the  work 
 of  destruction. 
 
 He  made  the  rampart.— Even  the  very  stones 
 of  the  walls  of  Zion  are  thought  of  as  "  crying  out/' 
 and  wailing  over  their  own  downfall.  (Comp.  Hab.  ii. 
 11 ;  Luke  xix.  40.) 
 
 (9)  Her  gates  .  .  . — Tho  picture  of  ruin  is  com- 
 pleted.    The  gates  are  broken,  and  hidden  by  heaps  of 
 
The  Horrors  of  the  Famine. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,   II. 
 
 The  Triumph  of  the  Enemy. 
 
 he  hath  destroyed  and  broken  her  bars : 
 her  king  and  her  princes  are  among  the 
 Gentiles :  the  law  is  no  more ;  her 
 "prophets  also  find  no  vision  from  the 
 Lord.  (10>  The  elders  of  the  daughter 
 of  Zion  sit  upon  the  ground,  and  keep 
 silence:  they  have  cast  up  dust  upon 
 their  heads ;  they  have  girded  them- 
 selves with  sackcloth :  the  virgins  of 
 Jerusalem  hang  down  their  heads  to  the 
 ground.  (11)  Mine  eyes  do  fail  with 
 tears,  my  bowels  are  troubled,  my  liver 
 is  poured  upon  the  earth,  for  the  de- 
 struction of  the  daughter  of  my  people; 
 because  the  children  and  the  sucklings 
 1  swoon  in  the  streets  of  the  city. 
 (12)  They  say  to  their  mothers,  Where  is 
 corn  and  wine '?  when  they  swooned  as 
 the  wounded  in  the  streets  of  the  city, 
 when  their  soul  was  poured  out  into 
 their  mothers'  bosom.  <13'  What  thing 
 shall  I  take  to  witness  for  thee  ?  what 
 thing  shall  I  liken  to  thee,  O  daughter 
 of  Jerusalem?  what  shall   I   equal   to 
 
 1  Or,  faint. 
 
 b  .lor.  2.  8  k  5.  SI 
 &  14.  14  &  23.   10. 
 
 Hub., 
 
 way. 
 
 by    the 
 
 d    Lev.    26.    1 
 Deut.  28. 15. 
 
 thee,  that  I  may  comfort  thee,  0  virgin 
 daughter  of  Zion?  for  thy  breach  is 
 great  like  the  sea :  who  can  heal  thee  ? 
 I14)  Thy  'prophets  have  seen  vain  and 
 foolish  things  for  thee  :  and  they  have 
 not  discovered  thine  iniquity,  to  turn 
 away  thy  captivity ;  but  have  seen  for 
 thee  false  burdens  and  causes  of  banish- 
 ment. <15>  All  that  pass  3by  clap  their 
 hands  at  thee ;  they  hiss  and  wag  their 
 head  at  the  daughter  of  Jerusalem,  say- 
 ing, Is  this  the  city  that  men  call  'The 
 2>erfection  of  beauty,  The  joy  of  the 
 whole  earth  ?  (16>  All  thine  enemies  have 
 opened  their  mouth  against  thee  :  they 
 hiss  and  gnash  the  teeth  :  they  say,  We 
 have  swallowed  her  up  :  certainly  this  is 
 the  day  that  we  looked  for ;  we  have 
 found,  we  have  seen  it.  (17)  The  Lord 
 hath  done  that  which  he  had  ^devised ; 
 he  hath  fulfilled  his  word  that  he  had 
 commanded  in  the  days  of  old  :  he  hath 
 thrown  down,  and  hath  not  pitied  :  and 
 he  hath  caused  thine  enemy  to  rejoice 
 
 rubbish  as  if  they  had  been  buried  iu  the  earth  ;  they 
 cannot  be  closed,  for  the  bars  are  gone.  King  and 
 princes  are  captives  to  the  Chaldseans.  The  Law  was 
 practically  repealed,  for  the  conditions  of  its  observance 
 were  absent,  and  prophecy  had  become  a  thing  of  the 
 past.  The  outward  desolation  was  but  the  shadow  of 
 that  of  the  nation's  spiritual  life. 
 
 UO)  The  elders  of  the  daughter  of  Zion  .  . — 
 The  despondency  of  the  people  is  indicated  by  the  out- 
 ward signs  of  woe.  Instead  of  taking  counsel  for  the 
 emergency,  the  elders  sit,  like  Job's  friends  (Job  ii. 
 11 — 13),  as  if  the  evil  were  inevitable.  The  maidens, 
 who  had  once  joined  with  timbrels  and  dances  in  fes- 
 tive processions,  walk  to  and  fro  with  downcast  eyes. 
 
 (U)  My  liver  is  poured  upon  the  earth  .  .  . — 
 The  phrase  is  not  found  elsewhere,  but  admits  of  an 
 easy  explanation.  The  "  liver,"  like  the  "  heart  "  and 
 the  '"  bowels,"  is  thought  of  as  the  centre  of  all  intense 
 emotions,  both  of  joy  or  sorrow  (Prov.  vii.  23).  As 
 such  it  is  represented  as  giving  way  without  restraint 
 (comp.  verse  19),  under  the  pressure  of  the  horror 
 caused  by  the  calamities  which  the  next  words  paint, 
 by  the  starving  children  who  fainted  for  hunger  iu  the 
 streets  of  the  city. 
 
 (12)  They  say  .  .  .— The  words  seem  to  paint 
 what  was  actually  passing  before  the  writer's  eye,  but 
 may  be  the  vivid  present  which  represents  the  past. 
 The  children  cried  for  food,  and  their  mothers  had 
 none  to  give  them.  They  were  like  wounded  men  at 
 their  last  gasp,  and  breathed  out  their  life  as  they 
 clung  in  their  despair  to  their  mothers'  breasts. 
 
 (13)  What  thing  shall  I  take  to  witness  .  . — 
 Practically  the  question  is  the  same  as  that  which 
 follows,  and  implies  that  there  was  no  parallel  to  the 
 sufferings  of  Zion  in  the  history  of  the  past.  Had 
 there  been,  and  had  it  been  surmounted,  it  might  have 
 been  cited  iu  evidence,  and  some  consolation  might 
 have  been  derived  from  it.  As  it  was  there  was  no 
 such  parallel,  no  such  witness.      Her   "breach,"  i.e., 
 
 188 
 
 her  ruin,  was  illimitable  as  the  ocean,  aud  therefore 
 irremediable. 
 
 (i*)  Thy  prophets  have  seen  vain  and  foolish 
 things. — The  words  are  eminently  characteristic  of 
 Jeremiah,  whose  whole  life  had  been  spent  in  conflict 
 with  the  false  prophets  (Jer.  ii.  8,  v.  13,  vi.  13,  viii. 
 10,  xiv.  14.  xxviii.  9,  and  elsewhere),  who  spoke  smooth 
 things,  and  prophesied  deceit.  They  did  not  call  men 
 to  repent  of  their  iniquity. 
 
 False  burdens. — The  noun  is  used,  as  in  Jer.  xxiii. 
 33,  with  a  touch  of  irony,  as  being  that  in  which  the 
 false  prophets  delighted.  What  they  uttered,  however, 
 as  a  vision  of  God,  did  not  tend  to  restoration,  but  was 
 itself  a  "  cause  of  banishment,"  and  tended  to  per- 
 petuate and  aggravate  the  miseries  of  exile. 
 
 (is)  All  that  pass  by. — The  triumphant  exultation 
 of  the  enemies  of  Zion  came  to  add  bitterness  to  her 
 sorrows.  They  reminded  her  of  what  she  had  been  in 
 the  past,  and  contrasted  it  with  her  present  desola- 
 tion. 
 
 The  perfection  of  beauty  .  .  .—Like  phrases 
 are  used  of  Zion  in  Pss.  xlviii.  2,  1.  2  ;  of  Tyre  in  Ezek. 
 xxvii.  3.  Now  that  beauty  was  turned  into  squalor 
 and  desolation. 
 
 (16)  All  thine  enemies. — The  exultation  of  the 
 enemies  is  expressed  by  every  feature  in  the  phy- 
 siognomy of  malignant  hate,  the  wide  mouth,  the 
 hissing,  the  gnashing  of  the  teeth.  They  exult,  as  in 
 half-broken  utterances,  in  the  thought  that  they  have 
 brought  about  the  misery  at  which  they  mock.  It 
 is  what  they  had  long  looked  for ;  they  had  at  last 
 seen  it. 
 
 (IV)  The  Lord  hath  done  .  .  .—The  writer 
 points,  iu  opposition  to  the  boasts  of  the  enemies,  to 
 the  true  author  of  the  misery  of  the  people.  In  that 
 thought,  terrible  as  it  might  at  first  seem,  there  was  an 
 element  of  hope.  It  was  better  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
 God  than  into  those  of  men  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  14).  The 
 suffering  came  as  a  chastisement  for  past  transgressions, 
 
T'-iii-h  Hitiiiiittij  lib:  a  Rit< •  r. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,   III. 
 
 The  Sod  of  Jehovah's  Wrath, 
 
 over  thee,  be  hath  Bel  up  the  horn  of 
 thine  adversaries.  '" 'Their  heart  cried 
 onto  the  Lord,  0  waJJ  of  the  daughter 
 
 of  Zion,  "lit  tears  rundown  like  8  river 
 (lay    and     nigdit  :     give    thyself    no    rest  ; 
 
 l.t  not  the  apple  of  thine  eye  cease. 
 
 11 "'  Arise,  cry  out  in  tin-  night:  in  the 
 beginning  of  the  watches  pour  out  thine 
 heart  like  water  before  the  face  of  the 
 Lord:  lift  up  thy  hands  toward  him  for 
 the  life  of  thyyoung  children,  thai  faint 
 for  hunger  in  the  top  of  every  street. 
 
 i-"1  Behold,  0  Loud,  and  consider  to 
 whom  thou  hast  done  this.  Shall  the 
 women  eat  their  fruit,  <nnl  children  'of 
 a  Bpan   longP   shall   the    priest    and  the 
 
 Eiciphet  he  slain  in  the  sanctuary  of  the 
 ord ?  (-"The  young  and  the  old  lie  on 
 the  ground  in  the  streets:  my  virgins 
 and   my  young   men  are  fallen  by    the 
 
 ,i  .1.  r.    14.    17;    rh 
 
 i.  m 
 
 i 
 
 tAi  \r 
 hand*  ? 
 
 sword;  thou  has!  slain  them  in  thedaj 
 of  thine  anger;  thou  hasi  killed,  ami 
 not  pitied.  *--'  Thou  hast  called  as  in  a 
 Bolemn  day  my  terrors  round  about,  bo 
 that  in  the  day  of  the  Loan's  anger 
 aone  escaped  nor  remained :  those  that 
 1  have  swaddled  and  brought  up  hath 
 mine  enemy  consumed. 
 
 CHAPTER  III. —  <"  I  am  the   man 
 that  hath  Been   affliction  by  the    rod  of 
 
 his  wrath.  W  He  hath  led  me,  and 
 brOUghl  me  mto  darkness,  but  not  into 
 light.  <3)  Surely  against  me  is  he 
 turned;  he  turneth  his  hand  against  me 
 all  the  day.  "' My  flesh  and  my  skin 
 hath  he  made  old;  he  hath  broken  my 
 bones.  (5'  He  hath  builded  against  me, 
 and  compassed  me  with  gall  and  travel. 
 (6)  He   hath  set  me  in  dark  places,  as 
 
 and  Height  therefore  be  mitigated  by  repentance.  The 
 Destroyer  was  also  the  Sealer,  and  would  answer  the 
 prayers  of  those  who  called  on  Him. 
 
 il_i  Their  hoart. — The  possessive  pronoun  does 
 not  refer  to  any  immediate  antecedent,  but  points,  with 
 n  wild  abruptness,  to  the  mourners  of  Zion.  Yet  more 
 boldly  their  cry  is  an  appeal  to  the  "wall"  of  Ziou 
 (comp.  \  erse  8,  and  [sa.  xiv.  ;il  |,  to  take  up  its  lamenta- 
 tion, as  though  it  were  a  human  mourner. 
 
 Like  a  river.— Better,  lib  n  tun-rut . 
 
 The  apple  of  thine  eye.  —  Literally,  "  the 
 daughter,'  as  in  the  English  phrase,  the  "pupil"  of 
 the  eye. 
 
 <W  In  tho  boginning  of  tho  watches-/....  of 
 each  watch,  bo  that  the  lamentation  was  continued 
 throughout  the  night. 
 
 Lift  up  thy  hands.— Tin-  wall  is  still  addressed  in 
 
 Its    character    as    a    mourner,    beholding    the   children 
 
 dying  of  hunger  and  lifting  up  hex  hands  as  in  despair- 
 big  supplication  lor  them. 
 
 '"  To  whom  thou  hast  done  this— i.e.,  not  to 
 ■  heathen  nation,  but  to  the  people  whom  Jehovah 
 Himself  had  chosen. 
 Shall  the  women  eat  their  fruit.— Atrocities  of 
 
 this  nature  had  lieen   predicted  in   Lev.  XXVi.  26 ;  Dent. 
 
 xxviii.  "iT ;  Jer.  xi\.  9.  They  were,  indeed,  the  natural 
 incidents  of  a  besieged  city  reduced  to  starvation,  as  in 
 the  ease  of  Samana  [2  Kings  vi.  28),  and  the  siege  of 
 Jerusalem  by  the  Unmans  (Jos.,  B.  J.  v.  12  .  and  had 
 
 l n   witnessed,  as  tho  words  show,  in  that,  by  the 
 
 Chaldaans.  it'uraii.,  ns  to  tho  famine.  E/.ek.  iv.  lti, 
 17.  v.  lei.  i 
 
 Shall  the  priest  .  .  .—Stress  is  laid  cm  this  as 
 being  the  next  element  of  horror.  The  very  Holy  of 
 Solies  was  profaned  with  the  blood  of  the  priests  and 
 prophets  of  Jehovah. 
 
 i-'»  The  young  and  tho  old    .    .—The  thoughts 
 
 of  the  mourner  turn  from  the  massacre  in  the  sanctuary 
 to  the  slaughter  which  did  its  dread  work  in  every 
 corner  of  the  city. 
 
 W)  Thou  hast  called  .  .  .—Better,  Thou  hasi 
 summoned',  at  for  a  solemn  feafi-day.  (Comp.  chap, 
 i.  15.)  In  "  terrors  round  about  "  wo  have  a  characteristic 
 phrnso   of  Jeremiah's   (Jer.   vi.  25,  xx.   3,    10).     The 
 
 LXX..  followed  by  some  commentators.  gives  the 
 rendering,  "  Thou  hast  summoned .  .  .my  villages," 
 but  ou  uo  sufficient  grounds. 
 
 111. 
 The    elegy     which    is    contained    in   this    chapter    is 
 
 alphabetic  in  its  structure,  like  the  two  that  pr de  it, 
 
 but  it  is  of  a  more  complicated  character,  three  con- 
 secutive verses  beginning  with  the  same  letter  of  the 
 alphabet. 
 
 t1)    I  am  the  man. — Tho  lamentation   is   one  of  ( 
 more  intense  personality.     For  that  very  reason  it  has 
 been   the  true  inheritance  of  all   mourners,  however 
 
 widely  different  in  time,  country,  circumstance,  whose 
 sorrows  have  approximated  to  that  intensity. 
 
 The  rod  of  his  wrath.— The  "wrath"    is    ob- 
 \  li  msly  that  of  Jehovah  (comp.  Prow  xxii.  8  ;  Isa.  x.  5 
 but  there  is  something  significant  in  the  fact  that  He 
 is  not  named. 
 
 (->    Into  darkness.— The  moral  darkness  of  per- 
 
 plcxitv  as  well  as  misery.  The  cry  of  the  mourner  wa- 
 like  that  of  A.jax  (Horn.  //.  xvii.  647),  "Slay  me  if  thou 
 wilt,  but  slay  me  in  the  light." 
 
 (3)  Against  me  is  he  turned.— Better,  against 
 me  Hr  turneth  Hu  hand  again  and  again,  the  first 
 verb  being  one  of  frequentative  action,  and  giving  that 
 significance  to  the  second. 
 
 <*)  Hath  he  made  old.— Better,  lie  hath  watted, 
 the  verb  describing  the  wear  ami  tear  of  life  rather 
 than  tin-  affects  of  age.     "Flesh."  "skin."  "bones. "arc 
 
 grouped  together  as  representing  the  whole  being  of  the 
 
 mourner. 
 
 (5)  He  hath  builded. — The  attack  of  sorrow  is 
 presented  under  the  figure  of  a  siege.  In  the  next 
 clause  the  figure  is  dropped.  "Gall"  stands,  as  in 
 Jer.  viii.  14.  tor  bitterest  sorrow.  "  Travel  "  is  the  old 
 English  form  of  "travail."  the  two  forms,  originalh 
 identical,  being  now  used  with  different  meanings. 
 
 (6)  He  hath  set  mo  in  dark  places.— A  verbal 
 reproduction  of  Ps.  cxliii.  3.  The  "  dark  places  "  are 
 those  of  hell  or  Hades.      For  dead  of  OM  read  ,/■ 
 
 ai<  rnoOy  or  dead  for  ever,  tho  adverb  looking  forward 
 rather  than  back. 
 
 189 
 
The  Arrows  ofJelwvah's  Quiver.        LAMENTATIONS,    III. 
 
 The  Wormwood  and  the  Gall. 
 
 they  that  be  dead  of  old.  <7>  He  liatli 
 hedged  ine  about,  that  I  cannot  get  out : 
 he  hath  made  my  chain  heavy.  (8)  Also 
 when  I  cry  and  shout,  he  shutteth  out 
 my  prayer.  <9)  He  hath  hi  closed  my 
 ways  with  hewn  stone,  he  hath  made 
 my  paths  crooked.  (10)  He  was  unto  me 
 as  a  bear  lying  in  wait,  and  as  a  lion  in 
 secret  places.  <n)  He  hath  turned  aside 
 my  ways,  and  pulled  me  in  pieces  :  he 
 hath  made  me  desolate.  <12)  He  hatb 
 bent  his  bow,  and  set  me  as  a  mark  for 
 the  arrow.  <13>  He  hath  caused  the 
 1  arrows  of  his  quiver  to  enter  into  my 
 reins.  <u)  I  was  a  "derision  to  all  my 
 people ;  and  their  song  all  the  day. 
 <15>  He  hath  filled  me  with  2  bitterness, 
 he  hath  made  me  drunken  with  worm- 
 
 II. K.  bitter- 
 
 neases. 
 
 Or,  rolled  me 
 the  aahes. 
 
 Or,  Remember. 
 
 6  Heb.,  boived. 
 
 Hrb..   make  li 
 return   to    my 
 heart. 
 
 Ps.  IG.  5  &  73.    2G 
 
 &   119.  57;   Jer. 
 
 10.  16. 
 
 wood.  (16)  He  hath  also  broken  my  teeth 
 with  gravel  stones,  he  hath  3  covered  me 
 with  ashes.  <17'  And  thou  hast  removed 
 my  soul  far  off  from  peace :  I  forgat 
 *  prosperity.  <18>  And  I  said,  My  strength 
 and  my  hope  is  perished  from  the  Lord  : 
 
 (19) 
 
 5  remembering   mine    affliction    and 
 
 my  misery,  the  wormwood  and  the  gall. 
 <-°)  My  soul  hath  them  still  in  remem- 
 brance, and  is  "humbled  in  me.  (21)  This 
 I  7recall  to  my  mind,  therefore  have  1 
 hope. 
 
 t22)  It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies  that  we 
 are  not  consumed,  because  his  compas- 
 sions fail  not.  (23'  They  are  new  every 
 morning  :  great  is  thy  faithfulness. 
 (24)  The  Lord  is  my  'portion,  saith  my 
 soul ;    therefore    will    I   hope   in   him. 
 
 (?)  He  hath  hedged.— From  the  darkness  of  Hades 
 we  pass  to  that  of  the  prison-house,  in  which  the 
 mourner  is  "  hedged  "  or  confined,  bound  with  a  heavy 
 chain  (literally,  brass). 
 
 (8)  He  shutteth  out  my  prayer — i.e.,  stops  it 
 so  that  it  does  not  reach  the  ear  of  Jehovah  ;  and  it  is 
 Jehovah  himself  who  does  this. 
 
 (9)  He  hath  inclosed.— Yet  another  figure  of 
 resourceless  misery  follows.  A  massive  wall  of  stone 
 runs  across  the  mourner's  way.  When  he  turns  aside 
 into  by-paths,  they  are  turned  and  twisted  in  labyrin- 
 thine confusion,  and  lead  uowhither. 
 
 (10)  As  a  bear  .  .  .  as  a  lion.— The  figure  found 
 in  Hos.  xiii.  8 ;  Amos  v.  19,  is  specially  characteristic  of 
 Jeremiah  (Jer.  iv.  7,  v.  6,  xlix.  19,  1.  44).  We  are 
 reminded  of  Dante  (Inferno,  i.  31 — 51). 
 
 (ii)  He  hath  turned  aside.— The  terror  caused 
 by  the  lion  turns  the  traveller  from  his  path,  and  there 
 is  no  other ;  and  then  comes  the  attack  by  which  he  is 
 torn  in  pieces. 
 
 He  hath  made  me  desolate.— Better,  made  me 
 astonied,  as  in  Ezra  ix.  3.  The  verb  (which  occurs  forty 
 times  in  Jeremiah's  prophecies  and  three  times  in  Lam.), 
 paints  the  stupefaction  of  terror. 
 
 (12)  He  hath  bent  his  bow.— (Comp.  Job  xvi. 
 12.)  The  figure  is  changed,  but  there  is  a  natural 
 sequence  of  thought.  The  lion  suggests  the  huntsman, 
 but  he  appears  on  the  scene  not  to  save  the  victim,  but 
 to  complete  the  work  of  destruction. 
 
 (13)  The  arrows  of  his  quiver.— Literally,  chil- 
 dren. The  other  side  of  the  analogy  appears  in  Ps. 
 exxvii.  5. 
 
 (14)  I  was  a  derision.— The  personal  experience  of 
 the  prophet  breaks  through  the  succession  of  imagery. 
 The  arrows  that  pierced  to  the  quick  were  the  taunts  of 
 the  mockers  who  derided  him  (Jer.  xx.  7).  "  Their 
 song."     (Comp.  Job  xxx.  9.) 
 
 (is)  Bitterness.— The  Hebrew  gives  the  plural,  bitter- 
 nesses. With  these,  the  sorrows  which  are  as  the  bitter 
 hei-bs  of  life  (the  same  word  meets  us  in  Exod.  xii.  8, 
 and  Num.  ix.  11),  the  mourner  had  been  filled  even  to 
 satiety,  even  as  he  had  been  made  drunk  with  worm- 
 wood. 
 
 (is)  He  hath  also  broken  my  teeth.— The 
 metaphor  of  food  is  continued.  The  mourner  eats 
 bread  that  is  gritty,  as  if  made  of  sand  instead  of  flour. 
 
 l'JO 
 
 (Comp.  Prov.  xx.  17.)  Here,  again,  we  are  reminded  of 
 Dante  (Parad.  xvii.  58),  when  he  speaks  of  the  bitter- 
 ness of  the  bread  which  comes  as  the  grudging  gift  of 
 strangers. 
 
 (17)  Thou  hast  removed  my  soul  far  off  from 
 peace. — The  verb  is  found  in  this  sense  in  Ps.  lxxxviii. 
 14.  By  some  critics  it  is  taken  as  passive,  and  in  the 
 3rd  person  feminine.  My  soul  loathes  peace,  i.e.,  has 
 lost  even  the  desire  of  better  tilings;  or,  My  soul  is 
 despised  of  peace,  i.e.,  is  shut  out  from  it.  But  the 
 Authorised  version  is  preferable. 
 
 (18)  I  said,  My  strength.— The  sorrow  of  the 
 mourner  comes  to  the  very  verge  of  despair.  There 
 was  "  no  help  for  him  from  his  God  ;"  even  that  hope 
 had  left  him.  But,  as  the  sequel  shows,  this  despair 
 was  the  beginning  of  a  reaction.  The  very  name  of 
 Jehovah  (no  longer  Adonai)  reminded  him  of  the 
 everlasting  mercies. 
 
 (19)  Bemembering.— The  verb,  which  is  rendered 
 by  the  Authorised  version  as  a  gerundial  infinitive, 
 is  better  taken  as  an  imperative,  Memember  ?nine 
 affliction;  the  prayer  being  addressed  to  Jehovah. 
 The  two  terms  of  the  first  clause  are  taken  from  chap.  i.  7. 
 The  mourner  begins  his  prayer,  as  it  were,  by  a 
 recapitulation  of  his  sufferings.     (Comp.  Ps.  lxix.  21.) 
 
 (20)  Biy  soul  hath  .  .  .—The  verb,  as  in  verse 
 17,  may  be  either  in  the  second  person  or  the  third ; 
 the  former  gives,  Thou  wilt  surely  remember  that  my 
 soul  is  humbled.  Ps.  xlii.  4  supports  the  Authorised 
 version. 
 
 (21)  This  I  recall  to  my  mind.— Better,  This  will 
 I  recall.  The  first  gleam  of  hope  breaks  through  the 
 darkness.  The  sorrow  has  not  been  in  vain ;  it  has 
 brought  humility,  and  out  of  humility  springs  hope. 
 
 (22)  It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies.— It  is,  perhaps, 
 part  of  the  elaborate  art  of  this  poem  that  verses 
 22 — 42,  which  form  its  centre,  and  that  of  the  whole 
 book,  represent  the  highest  point  of  trust  to  which  the 
 mourner  attains,  being  both  preceded  and  followed  by 
 words  of  lamentation. 
 
 (23)  They  are  new. — The  subject  of  the  sentence 
 is  found  in  the  "  compassions  "  of  the  preceding  verse. 
 With  the  dawn  of  every  day  there  dawn  also  the  mercies 
 of  Jehovah. 
 
 (24)  The  Lord. — An  inversion  of  the  sentence  gives 
 a  closer  and  more  emphatic  rendering  :  My  portion  is 
 
Tie  Salvation  »/  Jehovah. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,  III. 
 
 Tin  Confesnon  <_</  the  Penitent. 
 
 ii. i... 
 
 '-'•''!  The  Limn  in  good  unto  tin-in  that 
 w  :i  i  1  I'm-  him,  to  tin-  BOU]  Hint  seeketh 
 liini.  '-';|  //  it  good  thai  "  /""</  should 
 both  lmj"'  and  quietly  wait  for  the 
 salvation  of  the  Lobd.    (-'7i  It  it  good 
 
 for  a  man  that  he  bear  tin-  yoke  in  his. 
 \i  ailli.      I'-'S)  Hi'  silt  i 'tli  a  1(  mi' and  keepeth 
 
 sih 'in-.',  l ause  In'  hath  borne  it  upon 
 
 him.  '-'"'  II''  pnttetfa  his  mouth  in  the 
 dust  ;  if  bo  In'  there  may  1)0  hope. 
 ;i"  Hi-  givetb.  hit  cheek  to  him  that 
 amiteth  him:  he  is  filled  full  with  re- 
 proach. <:1"  For  the  Lord  will  not  cast 
 i iff  for  ever:  m  but  though  be  cause 
 grief,  yet  will  be  have  compassion  ae- 
 cording  to  the  multitude  of  bis  mercies. 
 W  For  be  doth  not  afflict  'willingly  nor 
 grieve  the  children  of  men.    ,M)  To  crush  ior,»i 
 
 under  his  Gael  all  tin-  prisoners  of  the 
 earth,  W to  turn  aside  tin-  right  of  a 
 man  before  the  face  of 'the  most  Sigh, 
 
 t36)  to  subvert  a  man  in  his  cause,  tin- 
 Lord  3  appro  veth  not. 
 
 OT  Who  in  be  'thai  Baith,  and  it 
 cometb  tu  pass,  when  tin-  Lord  com- 
 manded] It  not?  t38'  Out  of  the  mouth 
 of  the  most  High  proceedeth  not  'evil 
 and  good  ?  <:1:''  Wherefore  doth  a  li\  ing 
 man  *  complain,  a  man  for  tin-  punish- 
 ment of  his  sins  ?  (<0)  Let  us  search  and 
 try  our  ways,  and  turn  again  to  tin- 
 Lord.  <41>  Let  us  lift  up  our  heart  with 
 our  hands  unto  God  in  the  heavens. 
 (42)  -yYe  nave  transgressed  and  have  re- 
 belled: thou  bast  not  pardoned.  <B)Thou 
 hast  covered  with  anger,  and  persecuted 
 
 ( 
 
 Jehovah.  Tin-  phrase  is  a  remmiseenoe  Cram  Pss.  xvi. 
 5,  Kxiii.  26,  alii.  •r>,  <-xix.  .">",  the  thought  resting 
 primarily  on  Num.  xviii.  20. 
 
 ('-■'»)  The  Lord  is  good.— The  alliterative  form  of  the 
 Hebrew  makea  "good"  the  first  word  of  this  ami  the 
 
 two    following    verses,   tin-  adjective   being  predicated, 
 
 first  of  the  essential  character  of  Jehovah,  and  then 
 
 of  tin minimis  in  mail  "ii  which  the  manifestation  of 
 
 that  character  depends. 
 
 0*1  Quietly  wait. — Literally,  wait  in  silence  :  i.e. 
 abstain  from  murmurs  asd  complaints. 
 
 (87)  Bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth.— The  words 
 have  been  pressed  "  with  a  strange  literalism  "  in  favour 
 of  the  view  tliat  the  Lamentations  were  written  in  the 
 youth  of  Jeremiah  and  on  the  death  of  Josiah.  It  may 
 fairly  be  contended,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  tone  of 
 the  maxim  is  that  of  one  who  looks  baek  from  the 
 experience  of  age  on  the  passionate  eomjiliiiuts  of  his 
 earlier  rears  i  Jer.  xv.  10,  xx.  7 — 18). 
 
 C*l  Ho  sittoth  alone  .  .  . — Better,  Let  him  eti 
 alone,  and  keep  silence  when  He  (Jehovah.)  hath  laid 
 
 t     the   yoke)    "yum    liiui  :    and    so    ill  the    next    verses. 
 /.  I    him    jint    liis    mouth  .     Let    him    give    lti< 
 
 ohl  1 1:. 
 
 (■1  Ho  putteth  his  mouth  in  the  dust    .    .— 
 
 The  outward  image  is  that  of  the  prostration  of  an 
 Eastern  subject  before  B  king:  his  very  faee  laid  in 
 the  dust,  so  that  he  cannot  speak. 
 
 <■'-"  Ho  givoth  his  chook  .  .  .—The  submis- 
 sion enjoined  reaches  its  highest  point — a  patienee  like 
 that  of  .!"li xvi.  10;  we  may  add.  like  that  of  the  Sermon 
 
 mi  the  Blount  (Matt.  v.  39.)  It  was  harder  to  accept  tin- 
 Divine  chastisement  when  it  came  through  human 
 agents.  Not  bo  had  Jeremiah  once  taught  and  acted 
 (Jer.  xx.  1 — ii,  xx\iii.  15).    (Comp.  Isa.  1.  6.) 
 
 (  a)  For  the  Lord  .  .  . — The  counsels  of  submis- 
 sion are  followed  by  the  grounds  of  hope.  The  first,  a 
 quotation  from  IV  Km  ii.  7.  had  been  of  old  a  favourite 
 thought  of  the  writer's  Jer.  iii.  5,  12).  The  second 
 (verse  32)  rests  on  the  fact  that  compassion  underlies 
 chastisement  tPs.  xxx.  5;  Job  v.  18;  Isa.  Hv.  8);  the 
 third  (verse  33)  on  the  truth  that  the  primary  eternal 
 will  of  God  is  on  the  side  of  love,  and  that  punish- 
 ment is,  as  it  were,  against  thai  will. 
 
 (88)  Not  .  .  willingly.  —  Literally,  not  from  the 
 heart,  as  being  the  ventre  of  volition  as  well  as  emotion 
 
 (31-30)  TO  Crush  .  .  .—The  triplet  of  M-r-.es 
 forms  one  sentence  dependent  upon  the  final  clause, 
 "The  Lord  approveth  not,"  literally,  doth  not  look 
 on.  By  some  critics  the  literal  meaning  is  kept  in  the 
 form  of  a  question  :  Doth  not  (he  Lord  look  on  this  t 
 Tho  fact  that  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  is  against 
 those    who,    unlike     Him.    cause    wilful    and     needless 
 
 Buffering  is  another  ground  of  hope  to  the  sufferer. 
 
 The  three  forms  of  evil  specified  are  (1)  the  cruel  treat- 
 ment of  prisoners  of  war,  such  as  Jeremiah  had 
 witnessed  daily  ;:  the  hands  of  the  Chaldeans  ;  (2)  the 
 perversion  of  justice  in  a  public  tribunal  acting  in  tin- 
 name  of  God  (Exod.  xxiii.  6);  (3)  every  form  even 
 of  private  injustice. 
 
 (37—39)  New  grounds  of  patient  faith  are  given :  (1) 
 In  an  echo  f rom  Ps.  xxxiii.  9.  affirming  the  sovereignty 
 of  God.  Tho  evil  which  He  permits  is  under  tin- 
 control  of  this  loving  purpose;  and  (2)  as  far  as  it  is 
 not  absolute  evil,  may  be  said  to  come  from  Him. 
 
 t39)  Wherefore  doth  a  living  man  .  .—Better, 
 Why  doth  a  man  who  liven  !  i.e..  whose  life  is  spared 
 him  (comp.  Jer.  xlv.  5),  with  all  its  possibilities  of 
 good,  complain  of  sufferings  which,  however  unjust  as 
 far  as  those  who  cause  them  are  concerned,  are,  in  rela- 
 tion to  thesufferer,  the  just  pnnishmentof  hisown  sins? 
 
 t40*  Let  us  search  .  .  . — Warnings  against  mur- 
 murs are  followed  by  counsels  which  point  to  a  more 
 excellent  way.  Suffering  calls  a  man  to  self-scrutiny. 
 We  should  seek  to  know  tho  sins  which  it  is  meant  to 
 punish  and  correct. 
 
 To  the  Lord. — The  preposition  is  an  emphatic  one: 
 ■  m  H  to  the  Lord.  Tln-re  is  to  be  no  halting  half-way 
 in  the  work  of  conversion. 
 
 (ii)  "With  our  hands.— Literally,  to  our  hands. 
 There  is,  as  it  were,  a  psychological  analysis  of  prayer. 
 Men  can  by  an  act  of  will,  lift  up  the  heart  as  tho  centre 
 of  affection  :  this,  in  its  turn,  prompts  the  outward  act 
 of  the  uplifted  hands  of  supplication;  God  is  the  final 
 object  to  whom  the  prayer  is  addressed. 
 
 (48)  \ye  have  transgressed  .  .  . — Tho  verses 
 that  follow  (42 — 17)  give  the  prayer  which  answers  to 
 the  call  of  verso  41.  Both  pronouns  arc  emphatic. 
 The  suppliant  has  sinned  and  God  has  not  yet  pardoned. 
 in  the  sense  of  ceasing  to  punish. 
 
 («)  Thou  hast  covered  with  anger. — Bettor,  as 
 in  tho  next  verse.  27ioi<  hast  covered  thyself.     "Wrath  is 
 
 191 
 
The  Prophets  Sufferings. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,  III. 
 
 The  Reproaches  of  the  People. 
 
 us :  thou  hast  slain,  thou  hast  not 
 pitied.  <w>  Thou  hast  covered  thyself 
 with  a  cloud,  that  our  prayer  should  not 
 pass  through.  <45>  Thou  hast  made  us 
 as  the  "offscouring  and  refuse  in  the 
 midst  of  the  people.  (4(i)  All  our  enemies 
 have  opened  their  mouths  against  us. 
 (47)  *Fear  and  a  snare  is  come  upon  us, 
 desolation  and  destruction.  (48)  Mine 
 eye  runneth  down  with  rivers  of  water 
 for  the  destruction  of  the  daughter  of 
 my  people.  <49>  Mine  eye  trickleth  down, 
 and  ceaseth  not,  without  any  intermis- 
 sion, <50'  till  the  Lord  look  down,  and 
 behold  from  heaven.  (51)  Mine  eye  affect- 
 eth  'mine  heart  -  because  of  all  the 
 daughters  of  my  city.  <52>  Mine  enemies 
 chased  me  sore,  like  a  bird,  without 
 cause.  (53>  They  have  cut  off  my  life  in 
 the  dungeon,  and  cast  a  stone  upon  me. 
 (54)  Waters  flowed  over  mine  head ;  then 
 I  said,  I  am  cut  off. 
 
 a  1  Cor.  4.  13. 
 
 1  HL'b.,  my  soul. 
 
 :  Or.  more  than  all. 
 
 y  Or,  obstinacy  of 
 heart. 
 
 <55>  I  called  upon  thy  name,  0  Lord, 
 oat  of  the  low  dungeon.  <56)  Thou  hast 
 heard  my  voice  :  hide  not  thine  ear  at 
 my  breathing,  at  my  cry.  (57>  Thou 
 drewest  near  in  the  day  that  I  called 
 upon  thee  :  thou  saidst,  Pear  not.  I58*  O 
 Lord,  thou  hast  pleaded  the  causes  of 
 my  soul ;  thou  hast  redeemed  my  life. 
 (59>  0  Lord,  thou  hast  seen  my  wrong  : 
 judge  thou  my  cause,  f60*  Thou  hast 
 seen  all  their  vengeance  and  all  their 
 imaginations  against  me.  (G1)  Thou  hast 
 heard  their  reproach,  O  Lord,  and  all 
 their  imaginations  against  me  ;  <62)  the 
 lips  of  those  that  rose  up  against 
 me,  and  their  device  against  me  all 
 the  day.  (63>  Behold  their  sitting  down, 
 and  their  rising  up  ;  I  am  their 
 musick. 
 
 (W)  Render  unto  them  a  recompence, 
 0  Lord,  according  to  the  work  of  their 
 hands.     (65>  Give  them  3 sorrow  of  heart, 
 
 as  the  garment  in  which  God  wraps  Himself  to  execute 
 His  righteous  judgments.  In  verse  44  the  wrath  is 
 represented  more  definitely  as  a  cloud  through  which 
 the  prayers  of  the  afflicted  cannot  pass. 
 
 («)  In  the  midst  of  the  people.— Literally, 
 peoples :  i.e.,  the  heathen  nations  of  the  world.  A 
 like  phrase  meets  us  in  1  Cor.  iv.  13. 
 
 (47)  Fear  and  a  snare.— A  quotation  from  Jer. 
 xlviii.  43,  and  Isa.  xxiv.  17. 
 
 Desolation.— Better,  devastation.  The  Hebrew 
 noun  is  not  found  elsewhere,  but  the  cognate  verb  in 
 Isa.  xxxvii.  26  is  rendered  "  to  lay  waste." 
 
 (48)  Mine  eye  .  .  .—A  stronger  utterance  of  the 
 thought  of  chaps,  i.  16,  ii.  18;  Ps.  cxix.  136. 
 
 (49)  Trickleth  down.— Better,  poureth  down. 
 
 (51)  Affeeteth.— Better,  harmeth,  or  causeth  grief 
 to. 
 
 The  daughters  of  my  city.— The  words  have 
 been  understood  (1)  of  the  maidens  of  Jerusalem 
 (comp.  chaps,  i.  4,  18,  ii.  20,  21);  and  (2)  of  the 
 daughter-towns  which  looked  to  it  as  their  metropolis. 
 Of  these  (1)  is  preferable. 
 
 (52)  Without  cause  .  .  .—The  words  connect 
 themselves  in  the  Hebrew  with  "  mine  enemies  "  (comp. 
 Pss.  xxxv.  7,  19,  lxix.  4),  and  it  has  been  inferred  from 
 this  that  Jei-emiah  speaks  not  of  the  Chaldeans  as  ene- 
 mies of  his  nation,  but  of  those  who  were  individually 
 his  persecutors.  The  hypothesis  receives  some  confir- 
 mation from  the  apparent  reference  in  the  "  dungeon  " 
 and  the  "  waters  "  to  the  narrative  of  Jer.  xxxviii.  It 
 has  been  urged,  on  the  other  hand,  that  those  ex- 
 pressions may  be  figurative  hero,  as  they  are  in  Pss. 
 xlii.  7,  Ixxxviii.  7,  exxiv.  4. 
 
 (53)  Cast  a  stone  upon  me.— The  words  admit  of 
 two  meanings  :  (1)  that  they  cast  stones  at  him ;  (2)  that 
 they  placed  a  stone  over  the  opening  of  his  dungeon  so 
 as  to  prevent  escape. 
 
 (55)  Out  of  the  low  dungeon.— Here,  again,  we 
 have  to  choose  between  a  literal  reference  to  Jeremiah's 
 sufferings  or  a  figurative  interpretation.  The  phrase 
 is  the  same  as  that  of  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  6. 
 
 192 
 
 (56)  Thou  hast  heard  .  .  hide  not  thine  .  .  . — 
 There  is  something  eminently  suggestive  in  the  se- 
 quence of  the  two  clauses.  The  recollection  that  prayer 
 was  answered  in  the  past,  prompts  its  utterance  in 
 the  present.  Historically,  the  words  may  point  to  the 
 intervention  of  Ebed-melecli  in  Jer.  xxxviii.  7. 
 
 At  my  breathing — i.e.,  the  "sighs''  or  "sobs" 
 of  the  mourner. 
 
 (58)  Thou  hast  pleaded  the  causes  of  my 
 soul —  i.e.,  Jehovah  had  appeared  as  the  advocate,  or 
 next-of-kin  protector,  of  the  prophet  in  the  persecutions 
 which  were  aimed  against  his  life.  Another  personal 
 reference  to  the  prophet's  sufferings.  (Comp.  Jer. 
 xxvi.  8 — 17.  xxxvii.  14,  xxxviii.  4.) 
 
 (60)  AH  their  imaginations  .  . — Same  word  as 
 the  "devices"  of  Jer.  xi.  19,  xviii.  18,  to  which  the 
 writer  obviously  refers. 
 
 (61)  Thou  hast  heard.— The  verb  governs  the 
 "  lips  "  of  the  next  verse  as  well  as  the  "  reproaches  " 
 of  this.  In  the  last  clause  we  note  the  emphasis  of 
 iteration,  the  natural  dwelling  on  what  was  prominent 
 in  the  prophet's  thoughts. 
 
 (62)  The  lips  .  .  .  The  organs  of  speech  are  used 
 boldly  for  the  words  which  they  uttered,  and  so  stand 
 parallel  with  "  reproaches  "  in  verse  61. 
 
 (63)  Their  sitting  down,  and  their  rising  up 
 .  .  . — The  two  words,  as  in  Deut.  vi.  7,  xi.  19 ;  Ps. 
 exxxix.  2 ;  include  the  whole  daily  and  hourly  conduct 
 of  those  spoken  of. 
 
 I  am  their  musick. — The  noun,  though  not 
 identical,  is  cognate  with  that  of  Ps.  lxix.  12,  of  which 
 the  complaint  is,  as  it  were,  an  echo. 
 
 (64)  Render  unto  them  .  . — The  words  are 
 noticeable  as  being  taken  from  Ps.  xxviii.  4,  and 
 reproduced  by  St.  Paul  in  2  Tim.  iv.  14. 
 
 (65)  Sorrow  of  heart— Literally,  covering,  with 
 a  sense  liko  that  of  the  "  veil  upon  the  heart "  of 
 2  Cor.  iii.  15,  and  so  signifying  the  blindness  of 
 obstinacy.  The  imperatives  in  both  verses  65  and  66  are 
 better  rendered  as  futures — Thou  shall  give;  Thott 
 shalt  persecute. 
 
The  Fine  Gold  become  Dim. 
 
 I,\M  ENT  ATIONS,    IV.        The  Starvation  of  the  A  a  writes. 
 
 t  hv  curse  unto  I  hem. 
 destroy   them    in   anger 
 
 ■heavens  of  the  Lobd. 
 
 (M)  Persecute  ami 
 from  under  the 
 
 CHAPTER  IV.— '"How  is  the  gold 
 become  dim  !  how  is  the  most  tine  gold 
 changed!  the  stones  of  the  sanctuary 
 arc  poured  out  in  the  top  of  every  street. 
 (2>  The  precious  sons  of  /ion,  comparable 
 to  fine  gold,  how  are  they  esteemed  as 
 earthen  pitchers,  the  work  of  the  hands 
 of  the  potter!  ,;!  Kveti  the  'sea,  mon- 
 sters draw  out  the  breast,  they  give 
 suck  to  their  young  ones  :  the  daughter 
 of  my  people  is  become  cruel,  like  the 
 ostriches  in  the  wilderness.  (,)  The 
 tongue  of  the  sucking  child  cleaveth  to 
 the  roof  of  his  mouth  for  thirst :  the 
 young  children  ask  bread,  and  no  man 
 
 l  Or,  fM 
 
 2  Or,  iniquity. 
 
 .    darker 
 Mun  blacknaie. 
 
 i  \l<-\>.,  flow  out. 
 
 breaketb  it  unto  them.  <S)  They  that 
 did  i'l'i'd  delicately  are  desolate  in  I  lie- 
 streets  :  they  that  were  brought  up  in 
 scarlet  embrace  dunghills.  "  For  the 
 ■punishment  of  the  iniquity  of  the 
 daughter  of  my  people  is  greater  than 
 the  punishment  of  the  sin  of  Sodom, 
 that  was  'overthrown  as  in  a  moment, 
 and  no  hands  stayed  on  her.  <"■  Her 
 Nazarites  were  purer  than  snow,  they 
 were  whiter  than  milk,  they  were  more 
 ruddy  in  body  than  rubies,  their  polish- 
 ing was  of  sapphire :  (8)  their  visage  is 
 blacker  than  a  coal;  they  are  not 
 known  in  the  streets  :  their  skin  cleaveth 
 to  their  bones;  it  is  withered,  it  is  be- 
 come like  a  stick.  l">  They  that  be  slain 
 with  the  sword  are  better  than  they  tluit 
 be  slain  with  hunger:  for  these    *pine 
 
 (6«)  From  under  the  heavens  of  the  Lord. 
 — Tlio  phraso  is  exceptional,  but  it  is  obviously 
 equivalent  to  the  whole  world,  considered  as  God's 
 kingdom. 
 
 IV 
 
 <D  How    is    the    gold  .      .—The    chapter, 
 
 considered  as  a  distinct  poem,  reproduces  in  its 
 general  character  that  of  chaps,  i.  and  ii..  differing 
 tram  them,  however,  in  tracing  more  fully  the  connec- 
 tion between  the  Bufferings  and  the  sins  of  Judah. 
 Tho  "  gold  "  and  the  stones  of  holiness  arc  none  ot  tier  t  ban 
 the  material  treasures  of  palace  or  temple,  and  the 
 repetition  of  the  plira.se  "in  the  top  of  every  street," 
 used  in  chap.  ii.  1!'  of  children,  scents  intended 
 to  indicate  that  the  words  include  all  that  was  most 
 precious  among  the  possessions  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 (-)  The  precious  sons  of  Zion  .  .  .—Tho 
 adjective  is  applied  not  to  a  special  class,  priests, 
 nobles,  or  the  like,  but  to  all  tho  "sons  of  Zion  "  in 
 their  ideal  character  as  a  "  kingdom  of  priests  "  (Exod. 
 xix.  Ii).  They  had  been  "comparable  to"  (literally, 
 weighed  with),  <<.,  aqua]  to  their  weight  in,  fine  gold, 
 the  work  of  ( lod.  Now  thoy  had  became  as  "  earthen 
 pitchers,"  the  work  of  the  potter.  Wo  note  the 
 comparison  as  characteristic  of  tho  writer  (Jer.  xviii. 
 1— <j,  xix.  I— 10). 
 
 ii)  Even  the  sea  monsters  .  .  . — Better, 
 jackals.  The  Authorised  Version  is  intendod  apparently 
 to  apply  to  cetaceous  mammals;  elsewhere  (.Jcr.  xiv.  6) 
 
 the  won!  is  rendered  "dragons,*1  •  Jackals," it  may  be 
 
 Doted,  are  combined  with  "  owls  "or  "ostriches,"  as  they 
 are  here,  in  Job  xxx.  29 ;  Isa.  xiii.  21.  A  like  reference 
 to  the  Booming  want  of  maternal  instinct  in  the  ostrich 
 is  found  in  Johxxxix.  It).  The  comparison  was  obviously 
 suggested  by  facts  like  those  referred  to  in  chap.  ii.  20. 
 
 W  They  that  were    brought   up     .     .     .— 
 
 Literally,  that  lean  curried  (as  children  are  carried). 
 "Scarlet  "  as  in  'J  Sam.  i.  21,  stands  for  the  shawls  or 
 garments  of  the  rich,  dyed,  as  they  were,  in  tho  Tyrian 
 purple  or  crimson.  Those  thai  had  been  once  wrapped 
 in  .such  shawls  now  throw  themselves,  "embracing" 
 them  as  their  only  refuge,  on  dunghills. 
 
 W  The  punishment  of  the  iniquity.— Better, 
 The    inti/uHy    of  the    daughter    of   my   people    was 
 
 152  193 
 
 greater  than  the  sin  of  Sodom.  The  words  in  both 
 cases  point  to  guilt  rather  than  its  penalty,  though,  as 
 the  context  shows,  tho  greatness  of  the  former  is 
 inferred  from  that  of  the  latter.  The  point  of  com- 
 parison  was  that  Sodom  was  not  doomed  to  a 
 protracted  misery,  like  that  which  had  been  tho  lot  of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 No  hands  stayed  on  her  .  .  . — Literally.  »o 
 hands  went  round  about  her  :  i.e.,  her  destruction  was 
 the  direct  work  of  God,  and  not  of  human  agents, 
 with  their  more  merciless  tortures.  (Comp.  2  Sam. 
 xxiv.  14.)  The  main  thought  may  be  noticed  as 
 reproduced  in  Matt.  x.  15.  xi.  2t 
 
 (<)  Her  Nazarites  .  .  . — Tho  word  has  been 
 rendered  "  princes "  by  some  commentators,  on  the 
 ground  that  it  means  lit  orally  those  who  are  "  separated" 
 from  their  brethren  (Gen.  xlix.  26 ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  16), 
 whether  by  rank  or  by  the  vows  of  consecration. 
 There  is  no  reason,  however,  for  abandoning  the  render- 
 ing of  the  Authorised  version.  The  reference  to  the 
 Nazarites  in  Amos.  ii.  11,  12  shows  that  they  were  pro- 
 minent as  a  body  during  the  history  of  the  monarchy, 
 and  the  drift  of  Jeremiah's  mind,  as  seen  in  his  admira- 
 tion of  the  Reehabites  (chap,  xxxv.),  shows  that  he  was 
 likely  to  think  of  them  with  reverence.  The  temperance, 
 purity,  cleauliness  of  such  a  body  seem  to  have  made 
 them  conspicuous  among  their  fellows  for  an  almost 
 aiigi die  beauty.  (Comp.  the  interesting  parallel  of 
 Dan.  i.  15.)  They  had  the  red  and  white  com- 
 plexion which  was  in  the  East  the  ideal  of  comeliness 
 (1  Sam.  xvii.  42  ;  Song  Sol.  v.  10).  Their  "  polishing  ' 
 (better,  their  form)  was  faultless,  like  that  of  a  well- 
 cut  sapphire.     For  "  rubies  "  read  coral. 
 
 (s)  Their  visage  is  blacker  .  .  .—We  look, 
 as  it  were,  on  the  two  pictures :  the  bloom  and  beauty 
 of  health,  the  wan,  worn,  spectral  look*  of  starvation. 
 
 (9)  For  want  of  .  .  .—The  italics  indicate  the 
 difficulty  of  the  sentence.  Literally  tho  clause  stands, 
 fromihe  fruits  if the  field,  and  it  has  been  explained 
 by  some  as  referring  to  those  that  died  in  battle, 
 stricken  through  ichile  yet  there  were  fruit*,  i.e., 
 not  doomed  to  perish  slowly  from  hunger.  The 
 construction  of  Ps.  cix.  24,  however,  "faileth  of 
 fatness  "—i.e.,  for  want  of  fatness — gives  a  sufficient 
 support  to  the  Authorised  version. 
 
Tits  Blood-stained  Garments 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,   IV. 
 
 of  tlie  Priests. 
 
 away,  stricken  through  for  want  of  the 
 fruits  of  the  field.  l»J  The  hands  of 
 the  pitiful  women  have  "  sodden  their 
 own  children :  they  were  their  meat  in 
 the  destruction  of  the  daughter  of  my 
 people.  (11>  The  Lord  hath  accomplished 
 his  fury  ;  he  hath  poured  out  his  fierce 
 anger,  and  hath  kindled  a  fire  in  Zion, 
 and  it  hath  devoured  the  foundations 
 thereof.  <13)  The  kings  of  the  earth,  and 
 all  the  inhabitants  of  the  world,  would 
 not  have  believed  that  the  adversary 
 and  the  enemy  should  have  entered  into 
 the  gates  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 (isj  i  por  the  sins  of  her  prophets,  and 
 the  iniquities  of  her  j>riests,  that  have 
 shed  the  blood  of  the  just  in  the  midst 
 of  her,  (14>  they  have  wandered  as  blind 
 men  in  the  streets,  they  have  polluted 
 themselves  with  blood,  'so  that  men 
 could  not  touch  their  garments.  <15>  They 
 cried  unto  them,  Depart  ye  ;  "it  is  un- 
 clean ;  depart,  depart,  touch  not :  when 
 
 Deut.   28.  67 
 Kiugs  6.  39.S 
 
 b  Jot.  5.  31  &  23. 
 
 1  Or,  in  that  they 
 could  not  but 
 touch. 
 
 2  Or,  ye  polluted. 
 
 3  Or,  face. 
 
 they  fled  away  and  wandered,  they  said 
 among  the  heathen,  They  shall  no  more 
 sojourn  there.  (16)  The  3anger  of  the 
 Lord  hath  divided  them ;  he  will  no 
 more  regard  them  :  they  respected  not 
 the  persons  of  the  priests,  they  favoured 
 not  the  elders.  (17'  As  for  us,  our  eyes 
 as  yet  failed  for  our  vain  help  :  in  our 
 watching  we  have  watched  for  a  nation 
 that  could  not  save  us.  <18>  They  hunt 
 our  steps,  that  we  cannot  go  in  our 
 streets  :  our  end  is  near,  our  days  are 
 fulfilled  ;  for  our  end  is  come.  (19)  Our 
 persecutors  are  swifter  than  the  eagles 
 of  the  heaven :  they  pursued  us  upon 
 the  mountains,  they  laid  wait  for  us  in 
 the  wilderness.  (20)  The  c  breath  of  our 
 nostrils,  the  anointed  of  the  Lord,  was 
 taken  in  their  pits,  of  whom  we  said, 
 Under  his  shadow  we  shall  live  among 
 the  heathen.  <21>  Rejoice  and  be  glad, 
 0  daughter  of  Edom,  that  dwellest  in 
 the  land  of  Uz ;  the  cup  also  shall  pass 
 
 (io)  The  hands  of  the  pitiful  women.— See  Note 
 on  chap.  ii.  20. 
 
 (H)  And  hath  kindled  a  fire  .  .  .—The 
 phrase  is  partly  literal  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  19),  partly 
 ligurative,  for  the  complete  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
 the  wrath  of  Jehovah. 
 
 (12)  Would  not  have  believed. — In  looking 
 to  the  fact  that  Jerusalem  had  been  taken  by  Shishak 
 (1  Kings  xiv.  26),  Joash  (2  Kings  xiv.  13),  the  state- 
 ment seems  at  first  hyperbolical.  It  has  to  be 
 remembered,  however,  that  since  the  latter  of  these 
 two  the  city  had  been  strongly  fortified  by  Uzziah, 
 Hezekiah,  and  Manasseh,  and  the  failure  of  Sennacherib's 
 attempt  had  probably  led  to  the  impression  that  it  was 
 impregnable. 
 
 I13)  That  have  shed  the  blood  of  the  just 
 
 .  .  . — The  words  point  to  incidents  like  the  death 
 of  Zechariah  the  son  of  Jehoiada  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  21) ; 
 the  "innocent  blood"  shed  by  Manasseh  (2  Kings  xxi. 
 16) ;  the  attempts  on  Jeremiah's  own  life  ( Jer.  xxvi.  7) ; 
 possibly  to  some  unrecorded  atrocities  during  the  siege 
 on  the  part  of  the  priests  and  false  prophets,  who 
 looked  on  the  true  prophets  as  traitors  (Jer.  xxvi.  23). 
 
 (14)  They  have  wandered  .  .  . — Literally, 
 reeled.  The  blindness,  i.e.,  either  that  of  the  insatiable 
 lust  of  blood,  or  of  hopeless  despair,  or  both.  (Comp. 
 Deut.  xxviii.  28;  Jer.  xxiii.  12;  Isa.  xxix.  10.)  The 
 horror  of  the  picture  is  heightened  by  the  fact  that  the 
 very  garments  of  the  priests  were  so  dripping  with 
 blood  that  men  shrank  from  touching  them. 
 
 (is)  They  cried  unto  them — i.e.,  these,  as  they 
 passed,  cried  to  the  blood-stained  priests.  The  cry 
 "  unclean  "  was  that  uttered  by  the  leper  as  a  warning 
 to  those  he  met  (Lev.  xiii.  45).  Here  it  comes  from 
 those  whom  they  meet,  and  who  start  back  in  their  fear 
 of  defilement. 
 
 When  they  fled  away.— The  words  seem  to  refer 
 to  some  lost  facts,  liko  those  suggested  by  verse  14  : 
 the  murderers  fleeing  from  their  own  countrymen,  and 
 finding  themselves  equally  abhorred  among  the  heathen. 
 
 (W)  The  anger  of  the  Lord.— Literally,  the  face, 
 as  the  symbol  of  wrath. 
 
 They  respected  not.— The  subject  of  the  verbs 
 has  to  be  supplied.  The  enemies,  or  the  heathen,  or  men 
 in  general,  ceased  to  feel  any  reverence  for  the  fugitive 
 priests  and  elders. 
 
 <1'')  As  for  us.  .  . — Better,  Still  do  our  eyes 
 waste  aivay,  looking  for  our  vain  help. 
 
 In  our  watching. — Better,  upon  our  watch-tower. 
 (Comp.  Hab.  ii.  1.)  The  people  of  Judah  are  repre- 
 sented as  looking  out  for  the  approach  of  an  ally, 
 probably  Egypt  (Jer.  xxxvii.  7),  and  looking  in  vain. 
 
 (18)  They  hunt  our  steps. — Better,  They  lie  in 
 wait.  The  words  probably  point  to  the  posts  occupied 
 here  and  there  near  the  wide  places  of  the  city,  which  led 
 people  to  avoid  them  through  fear  of  being  attacked. 
 The  only  cry  possible  at  such  a  time  was  that  "all  was 
 over." 
 
 (19)  Our  persecutors. —  Better,  Our  pursuers,  the 
 words  referring  to  the  Chaldsean  enemies  rather  than  to 
 persecutors  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word.  The  com- 
 parison with  eagles  has  a  parallel  in  Deut.  xxviii.  49. 
 If  we  take  the  second  clause  as  referring  to  tho  flight 
 of  Zedekiah,  mentioned  in  the  next  verse,  the  mountains 
 would  be  the  heights  east  of  Jerusalem,  beginning  with 
 the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  the  wilderness  that  of  the 
 Ghor,  or  Jordan  Valley  (Jer.  xxxix.  5). 
 
 (20)  The  breath  of  our  nostrils. — The  "  breath 
 of  life  "  of  Gen.  ii.  7.  The  phrase  emphasises  the  ideal 
 character  of  the  king  as  the  centre  of  the  nation's  life. 
 So  Seneca  ( Clement,  i.  4)  speaks  of  a  ruler  as  the  spiritus 
 vitalis  of  his  people. 
 
 Of  whom  we  said.— The  words  that  follow  point 
 to  the  scheme  which  was  rendered  abortive  by  Zedekiah's 
 capture.  Those  who  followed  him  had  hoped  to  find  a 
 refuge  among  some  friendly  neighbouring  nation,  where 
 they  might  at  least  have  maintained  the  continuity  of 
 their  national  existence,  and  waited  for  better  days. 
 
 (21)  O  daughter  of  Edom.— The  triumph  of  Edom 
 in  the  downfall  of  Zion  was,  as  in  Ps.  exxxvii.,  the  crown. 
 
 194 
 
The  I'iniishment  o/JSdom, 
 
 LAMENTATIONS,  V. 
 
 The  Svfferingt  qfJudak. 
 
 (through    onto    thee:    thou    shalf    he 
 
 drunken,  and   shall   make  thyself  11:1 1< ■  -« I . 
 
 '-•''riii-   jiunisli nt    di'    thine  iniquity 
 
 is  accomplished,  O  daughter  of  Zion  ; 
 be  "ill  no  more  carry  thee  away  info 
 captivity:  li"  will  visit  thine  iniquity, 
 < )  1  la  lighter  of  Edom  ;  he  will  -discover 
 thy  sins. 
 
 CHAPTER     V.—  PJ   Remember,    O 
 
 Loud,  what  is  conic  upon  us  :  consider, 
 and  behold  our  reproach.  (-'>  Our  in- 
 heritance is  turned  to  Btrangers,  our 
 houses  to  aliens.  (:i>  We  are  orphans 
 and  fatherless,  our  mothers  an1  as 
 widows.     ( ''  We  have  drunken  our  water 
 
 "j. 
 
 ■ru     the- 
 •III,. 
 
 •  iiirttt/tir 
 
 • 
 
 ,1  J.r.  81  '.       i 
 IS,  :•. 
 
 Or.    terror*,  or. 
 
 f  tor  mi. 
 
 for  money  ;  our  wood  3is  sold  unto  us. 
 ,4>  'Our  necks  «/,-,  under  persecution  : 
 we  labour,  and  have  no  rest.  '  We 
 have  given  the  hand  lo  the  I'.Vyptian-. 
 and  to  the  Assyrians,  to  be  satisfied  with 
 bread.     P)  «Our    fathers    have    Binned, 
 
 mill   urn    nut  ;   and  we   have   borne   their 
 
 iniquities.  '  '  Servants  have  ruled  over 
 us:  //(-(•'  u  none  thai  doth  deliver  us 
 out  of  their  hand.  ,('<  We  gat  our  bread 
 with  the  peril  of  our  lives  because  of  the 
 sword  of  the  wilderness.  <I0>Our  *  skin 
 was  black  like  an  oven  because  of  the 
 1  terrible  famine.  <U)  They  ravished  the 
 women  in  Zion,  and  the  maids  in  the 
 cities  of  Judah.     (1-')  Princes  are  hanged 
 
 ing  sorrow  of  the  mourner.  But  with  this  sorrow  there  is 
 
 ion   11I'  judgment,  which  is  also  a  vision  of  hope ; 
 
 tlir  prophet   returning  to  his  favourite  image  of  the 
 wine-cup  (Jer.  xxv.  17).     Ou  the  "Land  of  Uz  "  see 
 hi  Job.  i.  1,  Jer.  xxv.  20. 
 
 Shalt  make  thyself  naked.— See  Note  on  chap, 
 i.  8,  and  comp.  Nahum  iii.  .">  for  a  bolder  form  of  the 
 te  image. 
 
 <-->  Is  accomplished..— Tho  mourner  shares  iu  the 
 Messianic  hopes  of  Isa.  xl.  2,  and  expresses  it  nearly  in 
 the  same  words. 
 
 He  will  no  more  carry  thee  away.— Inter- 
 preted by  later  history,  the  words  take  their  place  in  the 
 list  of  unfulfilled  prophecies,  for,  like  all  promises,  they 
 Were  dependent  upon  implied  conditions,  and  iu  the 
 rejection  of  the  Christ  by  the  Jews  of  His  time  there 
 was  a  sin  which  involved  a  forfeiture  of  tho  blessing, 
 and  made  tho  chastisement  of  a  prolonged  gnflt  neces- 
 sary. For  five  centuries,  however,  tho  prophet's  words 
 held  good,  and  there  was  no  thorough  •dispersion  "  of 
 tho  Jews  till  after  the  Roman  conquest. 
 
 He    will   discovor    thy    sins.— To    cover    sins 
 is  to  forgive  them  (Pss.  xxxii.   1,  5,  lxxxv.  J  ;  so  to 
 Cover  sins  is,  therefore,  to  punish  them. 
 
 V. 
 
 (')  Remember,  O  Lord.— The  fact  that  the  number 
 of  verses  is,  as  iu  chaps,  i..  ii.,aud  iv.,  the  same  as  that  of 
 
 the  Hebrew  alphabet  suggests  the  inference  that  this 
 chapter  also,  though  not  actually  alphabetic,  was  in- 
 
 1  einleil  1.1  have  been  s .,  and  that  we  have  the  last  of  the 
 five  elegies  in  a  half-finished  state.  It  would  semi  as 
 if  Jeremiah  first  wrote  freely  what  was  in  his  mind,  ami 
 
 then  set  to  work  as  an  artist  to  bring  it  under  the 
 alphabetic  scheme.  This  chapter,  it  may  be  stated, 
 has  more  the  character  of  a  prayer  than  any  other, 
 ami  the  prayer  begins   with   recapitulating  the  woes 
 
 of  Judah  as  a  ground  for  the  compassion  of  Jehovah. 
 
 P)  Turned.— Used  here  as  in  the  sensed  irons/  rred. 
 
 Houses.— In  Jer.  Hi.  18,  the  (  halda  aus  aro  said  to 
 have  burnt  the  houses  of  Jerusalem,  aud  thoso  of  the 
 great  men  elsewhere;  here,  therefore,  the  "houses" 
 spoken  of  are  thoso  of  the  farmers  aud  peasants  in  the 
 country. 
 
 PI  Our  mothers  are  as  widows— i.e.,  their 
 husbands,  though  living,  wero  carried  into  exile,  and 
 they  were  as  destitute  as  though  they  had  been  deprived 
 of  them  by  death.  The  Chahleo  paraphrase  gives  the  same 
 meaning  to  the  last  clause  also,  "  Wo  are  like  orphans." 
 
 IU  5 
 
 (■»)  Our  water  .  .  .  our  wood.— Tho  point  of  the 
 complaint  lies  in  the  possessive  pronoun.   The  Ohald 
 
 conquerors  were  in  possession  of  the  country,  and  the 
 very  necessaries  of  life,  which  bad  been  looked  on  as  the 
 Common  property  of  all,  were  only  to  be  had  for  money. 
 In  the  Hebrew  of  the  first  clause  tho  fact  appears  y  t 
 more  emphatically  :  Owt  water  oomes  to  us  for  money. 
 The  words  have  been  referred  by  some  eoininentato 
 the  sufferings  of  theexiles  in  Egypt,  but  the  context 
 in  better  with  the  idea  of  the  hardships  of  those  who 
 wero  left  in  Judah. 
 
 (5)  Our  necks  are  under  persecution.— Better, 
 ivere  under  pursuit:  £.&,  the  enemies  were  pressing  clot 
 ou  them,  always,  as  in  our  English  phrase,  at  their  very 
 heels. 
 
 <6)  We  have  given  the  hand.— The  recognised 
 phrase  for  submission  (Jer.  1.  16).  "Assyria,  as  in 
 Jer.  ii.  18;  Ezra  vi.  22.  stands  for  "Babylon."  The 
 people  had  been  forced  by  sheer  pressure  of  hunger  to 
 submit  to  one  or  other  of  these  princes.  "Egypt 
 refers,  probably,  to  the  fugitives  who  had  sought  a 
 homo  in  that  country  (Jer.  xlii.  II 
 
 (")  We  have  borne  their  iniquities.— The  words 
 seem  at  first  parallel  to  the  proverb  of  the  "sour 
 grapes"  in  Jer.  x.x.xi.  29 ;  Bzek.  xviii.  l'.  Here,  however, 
 it  is  followed  in  verso  16  by  a  confession  of  j>ersonal 
 guilt,  and  the  complaint  is  simply  that  the  former 
 generation  of  offenders  had  passed  away  without  the 
 punishment  which  now  fell  upon  their  descendants,  who 
 
 thus  had  to  bear,  as  it  were,  a  double  penalty. 
 
 IS)  Servants  have  ruled  over  us. -The  Glial. 
 dssans,  il  would  scorn,  added  insult  to  injury,  sending 
 as  rulers  those  who  had  filled  menial  offices  in  the 
 courts  of  their  kings.     (Comp.  Jer.  xxxix.  3.) 
 
 (9)  The    sword    of  the    wilderness.— Another 
 
 element  of  suffering  is  hinted  at.     Those  who  were 
 in   the  land  were  attacked,   as  they  gathered   in   their 
 scanty  harvest,  by  the  nomad  tribes  of  the  wildem 
 Amalekites.  Midianites.  and  others.  (Comp.  Jer.  xl.  1  t.) 
 
 (10)  Our  skin  was  black  .  .  .—Better,  fiery 
 red,  and  for  "  terrible  famine,"  the  fever-blast  of 
 famine.  The  words  paint  the  hot  fever  of  hunger 
 rather  than  the  livid  paleness  of  exhaustion. 
 
 ('-)  Princes  are  hanged  .  . — The  words  point 
 to  the  shameless  exposure  of  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 
 (Comp.  the  treatment  of  Saul  and  his  sons  in  1  Sam. 
 xxxi.  10 — 12.)  This  was  the  common  practice  of  the 
 Assyrian  kings  (Records  of  the  Pcut,  i.  38b  Neither 
 age  nor  dignity  (both  are  implied  in  the  word  "  elders  ") 
 
The  Dance  Turned  to  Mourning.        LAMENTATIONS,    V.  The  Final  Prayer  for  EenewaL 
 
 up  by  their  hands  the  faces  of  elders 
 were  not  honoured.  <13)They  took  the 
 young  men  to  grind,  and  the  children 
 fell  under  the  wood.  <14>  The  elders 
 have  ceased  from  the  gate,  the  young 
 men  from  their  musick.  <15>  The  joy  of 
 our  heart  is  ceased ;  our  dance  is  turned 
 into  mourning.  (16)  lThe  crown  is  fallen 
 from  our  head :  woe  unto  us,  that  we 
 have  sinned  !  <17)  For  this  our  heart  is 
 faint ;  for  these  things  our  eyes  are  dim. 
 
 1  Heb.,  The  crown 
 of  our  head  is 
 /alien. 
 
 a  Ps.  9.  7  &  29.  10 
 &  102.  12  &  145. 
 13. 
 
 2  Heb.,  for  length 
 of  days  T 
 
 3  Or,  For  wilt  thou 
 utterly  reject  us  T 
 
 (18>  Because  of  the  mountain  of  Zionr 
 which  is  desolate,  the  foxes  walk  upon 
 it.  <19>  Thou,  O  Lord,  "remainest  for 
 ever ;  thy  throne  from  generation  to 
 generation.  <2°)  Wherefore  dost  thou 
 forget  us  for  ever,  and  forsake  us  2so 
 long  time?  (31>  'Turn  thou  us  unto 
 thee,  O  Lord,  and  we  shall  be  turned  ; 
 renew  our  days  as  of  old.  <22)3  But  thou 
 hast  utterly  rejected  us ;  thou  art  very 
 wroth  against  us. 
 
 was  any  safeguard  against  atrocities,  either  in  life  or 
 death. 
 
 (13)  They  took  .  .  . — Better,  Young  men  bear 
 the  mill :  i.e.,  were  not  only  set  to  grind  the  handniill, 
 which  was  itself  the  work  of  a  menial  slave,  commonly 
 of  women,  but  were  made  to  carry  the  mill  itself, 
 probably  as  they  marched  along  with  the  Clialdsean 
 armies  on  their  way  to  Babylon.  (Comp.  Isa.  xlvii.  2.) 
 So  in  like  manner  the  next  clause  describes  the  suffer- 
 ings of  the  striplings,  who  were  made  to  carry  the  wood 
 which  was  used  as  fuel  or  other  purposes,  and  who 
 literally  "  fell  "  (or  staggered)  under  their  burdens. 
 
 (14)  Have  ceased  from  the  gate.— The  gate  in 
 an  Eastern  city  was  the  natural  place  of  meeting  for 
 the  elder  citizens  as  for  counsel  and  judgment  (Ruth  iv. 
 1 ;  Josh.  xx.  4),  and  also  for  social  converse  (Job.  xxix. 
 7 ;  Prov.  xxxi.  23).  The  "  music  "  of  this  verse  and  the 
 "  dancing  "  of  the  next  point  to  a  like  interruption  of 
 the  social  joys  of  the  young. 
 
 (is)  The  crown  is  fallen.— Tho  phrase  is  natu- 
 rally symbolic  of  degradation,  and  need  not  be  restricted 
 to  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  or  the  devastation  of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 We  have  sinned ! — The  confession  of  personal 
 sinfulness  produced  by  the  contemplation  of  the 
 miseries  of  the  people  contrasts,  as  has  been  already 
 noticed,  with  the  half -complaining  tone  of  verse  7. 
 
 (17)  For  this  .  .  for  these  things.— The  first 
 clause  refers  to  the  loss  of  national  honour  indicated  in 
 verse  16 ;  the  latter,  to  all  the  horrors  named  in  verses 
 8—15. 
 
 (18)  Poxes. — Better,  jackals,  who  are  thought  of  as 
 haunting  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem.     (Comp.  Ps.  hriii.  10.) 
 
 (19)  Thou,  O  Lord,  remainest.  —  Literally, 
 Thou  sittest:  i.e.,  as  the  next  clause  shows,  upon  a 
 throne.  The  lamentation  is  drawing  to  its  close,  and 
 the  mourner  finds  comfort  in  the  thought  of  the  eternity 
 of  God  (Ps.  cii.  12),  and  therefore  the  unchangeableness 
 of  His  purpose  of  love  towards  His  people. 
 
 (20)  Wherefore  dost  thou  forget  .  .  .—This 
 was  the  problem  of  the  mystery  of  suffering  then,  as  it 
 has  been  at  all  times.  Jehovah  had  seemed  forgetful 
 of  His  people,  indifferent  to  their  miseries. 
 
 (2i)  Turn  thou  us  .  .  O  Lord  .  .—The  answer 
 to  the  problem  was  found  in  man's  submission  and 
 in  prayer.  He  could  not  turn  himself,  and  so  re- 
 establish the  old  filial  relation.  He  could  ask  God  to 
 turn  him,  and  he  felt  that  the  prayer  would  not  be 
 asked  in  vain. 
 
 (22)  But  thou  hast  .  .  .—The  Authorised  ver- 
 sion represents  the  mourner  as  falling  back  from  the 
 hopeful  prayer  into  the  depths  of  despair.  For  "but"  we 
 should,  however,  read  unless.  The  hypothesis  of  utter 
 rejection  is  just  stated  as  the  only  thing  that  could 
 prevent  renewal  and  restoration,  and  it  is  stated  as  per 
 iinpossibile  ;  God  has  not  rejected,  and  therefore  He 
 will  renew. 
 
 It  may  be  noted  that  in  Synagogue  use,  and  in  many 
 MSS.,  verse  21  is  repeated  after  verse  22,  so  that  the 
 book  may  not  end  with  words  of  so  terrible  a  signifi- 
 cance. The  same  practice  obtained  in  the  case  of  the 
 last  verse  of  Isaiah,  Ecclesiastes,  and  Malachi. 
 
 IDG 
 
THE     BOOK     OF    THE     PEOPHET 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 THE    BOOK    OF    THE    PROPHET 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 This  book  is  placed  in  the  Authorised  Version,  us  well 
 as  in  the  order  of  the  Hebrew  canon,  third  «n«ng  the 
 writings  o£  the  four  greater  prophet&  This  is  certainly 
 its  true  chronological  place  ;  for  although  Jeremiah  and 
 Daniel  were  both  contemporary  with  K/.ekiol,  yet  the 
 former  began  liis  prophecies  long  before,  and  the  latter 
 continued  nis  visions  long  afterwards.  Of  its  authen- 
 ticity and  canonicity  there  is  no  question, 
 
 I.  The  porsonal  history  of  Ezekiel. — Nothing 
 is  known  of  this  beyond  whai  may  be  gathered  from 
 the  book  itself , and  from  the  circumstances  of  the  times 
 in  which  the  author  lived.  He  is  never  mentioned  in 
 any  other  hook  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  his  writings 
 
 are  never  directly  quoted  in  the  New,  although  some  of 
 the  imagery  in  the  Apocalypse  is  undoubtedly  founded 
 
 upon  lh'  unions  of  Ezekiel.  Fortunately,  however, 
 everything    which    it    is   important    to    know    may    he 
 
 learned  from  the  sources  mentioned. 
 
 His  name,  ' .' od  U)ill  strength  u.  like  the  names  of  so 
 many  others  of  the  saints  of  old,  was  singularly  appro- 
 priate to  his  Life  and  work.  In  the  opening  of  nis  book 
 (chap.  i.  3)  lie  speaks  of  himself  as  a  "  priest,  the  son  of 
 
 Buzi."  Of  Buzi  nothing  whatever  is  known;  hut  the 
 faet  that  Ezekiel  himself  was  of  the  Aaronic  family  is 
 a  most  important  one  in  the  interpretation  of  his  writ- 
 ings; for  lie  was  evidently  "  every  inch  a  churchman." 
 and  his  Btrong  ecclesiastical  character  pen  ados  and 
 gives  ton.-  to  his  prophecies.  Whether  ho  actually 
 entered  upon  the  exercise  of  priestly  functions  at 
 Jerusalem  cannot  In'  known  without  a  previous  deter- 
 mination of  the  uncertain  question  of  the  age  at  which 
 he  was  carried  into  captivity;  hut  he  was  certainly 
 well  instructed  in  what  seemed  likely  to  he  his  future 
 duties.  These  facts,  taken  in  connection  with  the  dis- 
 ordered condition  of  the  country  and  the  tendency  to 
 Concentrate  the  priests  i"  and  a  round  the  holy  city,  make 
 
 it  probable  that  he  lived  in  Jerusalem  or  iis  immediate 
 \  icinity. 
 
 The  prophet  was  carried  captive  to  Babylon  with  the 
 king  Jehoiachin(ehap.i.'J;  com  p.  with  chap.ZZ3du.21)  in 
 
 the  eighth  year  of  the  reign  of  NebuchadneBzar(B.c.596), 
 
 ten  thousand  of  the  more  important  part  of  the  people 
 being  transplanted  to  Babylonia  at  the  same  tie 
 CingS  xxiv.  It),  eleven  years  before  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem  and  the  Temple.  According  to  Josephus 
 (Antt.  X.  6,  8),  he  was  then  a  young  man.  This  state- 
 ment has  been  called  in  question,  hut  seems  likely  to  be 
 true,  from  the  fact  that    one  of  liis  prophecies  is  dated 
 
 twenty-seven  yearslater(chap.zziz.  17). and  that  he  appa- 
 rently exercised  his  office  for  some  time  longer.  How- 
 over  this  may  he.  it  is  certain  that  he  entered  on  his  pro- 
 phetic activity  "  by  the  river  Chebar  "  (chap.  i.  :>).  where 
 the  mass  of  the  captives  had  been  planted.     This  river 
 
 was  formerly  supposed  to  be  the  Chaboras,  or  Khabour, 
 a  stream  emptying  itself  into  the  Euphrates  about  two 
 hundred  miles  above.  Babylon;  but  this  cannot  be  {hi 
 river  intended,  since  it  is  said  to  be  "  in  the  land  of  the 
 Chahkeans,''  and  the  name  of  (.'hahUea  was  never  ex- 
 tended so  far  north.  Recent  authorities  generally 
 identify  it  with  the  Nahr  Maleha,  or  royal  canal  of 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  on  the  excavation  of  which  it  is  sup- 
 posed that  the  Jewish  captives  were  employed  for  a 
 time.  These  were  doubtless  "  the  rivers  of  Babylon"  by 
 whose  side  the  Jewish  exiles  wept  when  tiny  "  remem- 
 bered Zion"  (Ps.  exxxvii.  1).  Here  Ezekhl  lived  in  Ms 
 own  house  (chap  viii.  1),  to  which  the  eldi  re  id'  Judah 
 resorted  to  receive  his  counsels.  He  was  married,  and 
 when  his  wife  died  suddenly  he  was  forbidden  to  mourn 
 
 for  her  (chap.  xxiv.  li>.  17).  This  occurred  near  the  close 
 
 of  the  ninth  year  of  his  captivity  (chap.  xxiv.  1),  and  left 
 the  exiled  prophet  to  bear  in  solitude  the  great  trials  of 
 Ins  prophetic  life. 
 
 There  is  no  record  of  the  time  of  the  close  of  his 
 prophetic  activity  or  of  his  life,  and  the  few  traditions 
 that  remain  about  him  are  of  littlo  value.  Of  great  in- 
 terest, however,  art — 
 
 II.  His  relations  with  contemporary  pro- 
 phets.— The  great  prophet  of  Judaea  during  Ezokiel's 
 youth,  and  for  a  long  time  after  he  was  carried  into 
 captivity,  was  Jeremiah.  Jeremiah  was  himself  a  priest 
 who  occupied  a  large  share  of  public  attention,  and 
 exercised  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  the 
 nation  during  the  most  susceptible  years  of  Ezekiel's 
 life.  Neither  of  them  ever  mentions  the  other's  name, 
 Vet  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  the  young  priest  Ezekiel 
 should  not  have  personally  known  tic  older  priest  and 
 great  prophet  at  .Jerusalem.  After  he  had  gone  into 
 captivity,  and  in  the  year  before  he  wa-  called  to  the 
 prophetic  office,  Jeremiah  sent  a  prophecy  to  Babylon, 
 predicting  its  overthrow  (Jcr.  li.  -V.I) ;  and  on  another 
 occasion,  whether  earlier  or  later  is  unknown,  he  sent  by 
 another  messenger  to  rebuke  the  false  prophet,  who  had 
 risen  up  among  the  captives  (Jet.  xxix.  21 — 28).  These 
 false  prophets  had  undertaken  to  thwart  Jeremiah  and 
 to  put  a  stop  to  his  prophesying,  and  his  denunciation 
 of  them  must  have  removed  a  great  ODetackl  from  t lie 
 way  of  Ezekiel;  while,  on  the  other  hand.  H/okicl's 
 own  prophecies  among  the  captives  must  have  helped 
 to  sustain  Jeremiah's  authority  among  the  remnant  at 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Meantime,  while  these  relations  appear  to  have  ex- 
 isted between  the  prophet  of  Judiea  and  the  captive  by 
 the  river  Chebar,  the  "  royal  prophet  "  Daniel  had  also 
 began  his  seriosof  wonderful  revelations  at  the  court  of 
 Babylon.  He  makes  no  mention  of  Ezekiel,_  as  indeed 
 he  scarcely  speaks  of  anything  outside  the  immediate 
 
 199 
 
EZEKIEL. 
 
 scope  of  his  own  prophecies;  but  Ezekiel  speaks  of  him 
 byname  three  times:  twicefor  his  eminent  holiness  (chap, 
 xiv.  14,  20),  and  once  for  his  great  wisdom  (chap,  xxviii. 
 3) ;  but  as  Daniel  was  early  raised  to  high  office  in  the 
 internal  administration  of  the  kingdom,  and  must  have 
 been  intimately  acquainted  with  the  affairs  of  his  own 
 captive  people,  it  is  hardly  possible  that  he  should  not 
 have  known  personally  one  so  eminent  among  them  as 
 Ezekiel.  Daniel  was  of  noble,  if  not  of  royal,  birth 
 (Dan.  i.  3),  and  hence  could  not  have  failed  to  know 
 Jeremiah  before  he  was  himself  carried  from  Jerusalem. 
 Thus  there  seems  to  have  been  a  very  interesting  per. 
 sonal  connection  between  these  three  great  prophets, 
 all  engaged  in  their  Divine  mission  at  the  same  time, 
 but  under  strikingly  different  circumstances,  and  eacli 
 with  his  own  strongly-marked  individuality.  God  was 
 thus  pleased  to  vouchsafe  to  His  Church  in  the  time  of 
 its  utmost  distress  and  need  a  fulness  of  prophetic 
 counsel  such  as  marked  no  other  period  of  the  old  dis- 
 pensation. The  only  time  at  all  comparable  to  it  was 
 that  other  critical  period,  more  than  a  century  before, 
 when  the  northern  kingdom  had  been  carried  into 
 captivity  —  a  period  which  was  distinguished  by  the 
 prophecies  of  Isaiah,  Hosea,  Amos,  and  Micah. 
 ,  The  prophecies  of  Daniel  are  of  so  peculiar  a  cha- 
 racter, and,  for  the  most  part,  embrace  such  a  far- 
 reaching  sweep  of  time,  that  they  throw  comparatively 
 little  light  upon  those  of  Ezekiel.  Jeremiah,  on  the 
 other  hand,  prophesying  at  the  same  time  and  about  the 
 same  events,  is  constantly  parallel  to  Ezekiel,  and  both 
 his  prophecies  and  his  interwoven  historical  narrative 
 should  be  read  in  connection  with  Ezekiel.  The  two 
 will  be  found  of  great  value  in  mutually  illustrating 
 each  other. 
 
 III.  The  character  of  the  captivity.  —  Judaea 
 had  been  made  tributary  to  Babylon  some  years  before 
 Nebuchadnezzar's  accession  to  the  throne,  and  while  he 
 was  still  acting  as  the  general  of  his  aged  father.  Jehoi- 
 akiin,  in  the  third  year  of  his  reign  (2  Kings  xxiv.  1), 
 had  rebelled  against  him,  and  had  been  conquered  and 
 carried  captive  to  Babylon  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  6)  eight 
 years  before  the  captivity  of  Ezekiel.  It  is  not  known 
 how  many  other  captives  were  taken  at  the  same  time, 
 the  only  mention  of  them  being  in  Dan.  i.  3,  when  cer- 
 tain "  of  the  king's  seed  and  of  the  princes  "  (among 
 whom  were  Daniel  and  his  three  companions)  were  se- 
 lected from  the  general  company  of  "  the  children  of 
 Israel  "  to  be  trained  in  the  learning  and  tongue  of  the 
 Chaldteans.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  but  few  of 
 them  were  kept  in  the  city  of  Babylon  itself,  and  that 
 the  others  were  placed  in  the  same  region  with  the  sub- 
 sequent captives  "  by  the  river  Chebar."  They  would 
 thus  have  had  time  to  make  homes  for  themselves, 
 to  become  familiar  with  the  language  and  the  country, 
 and  hence  to  be  of  no  small  service  to  their  brethren 
 when  the  10,000  fresh  captives  arrived.  Especially 
 must  the  learning,  the  wisdom,  the  high  station  of 
 Daniel,  together  with  his  familiarity  with  affairs,  have 
 been  of  great  importance  to  them.  It  was  still  eleven 
 years  later  than  this  great  captivity  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
 eighth  year  (which  was  also  the  captivity  of  Ezekiel) 
 that  Zedekiah's  rebellion  forced  Nebuchadnezzar  to  a 
 fresh  capture  of  Jerusalem  and  the  destruction  of  the 
 Temple  (2  Kings  xxv.  1 — 12).  The  "  rest  of  the  people 
 of  the  city,  and  the  fugitives,"  and  "  the  multitude  " 
 were  carried  off  at  this  time,  which  was  "  in  the  nine- 
 teenth year  of  King  Nebuchadnezzar "  (ib.,  verse  8). 
 By  obsei-ving  that  the  first  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
 the   fourth  of   Jehoiakim  (Jer.  xxv.  1),  tliis  and  the 
 
 following  dates  may  be  synchronised  with  those  of  the 
 Jewish  history.  Meantime,  several  minor  deportations, 
 amounting  in  all  to  4,600  people,  are  mentioned  by  Jere- 
 miah (chap.  lii.  28 — 30)  as  occurring  in  the  seventh  and 
 the  eighteenth  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  a  subse- 
 quent one  in  the  twenty-third  year.  These  later  captives 
 lived  in  and  around  Jerusalem  under  wicked  and  idola- 
 trous kings,  going  down  from  one  wickedness  to  another, 
 while  the  captives  of  Ezekiel's  time  had  been  for  years 
 under  the  elevating  influences  of  affliction  and  of  the 
 prophet's  counsels.  There  was,  therefore,  a  marked 
 difference  in  the  character  of  the  people  whom  he  ad- 
 dressed before  and  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 
 The  following  table  of  the  several  recorded  deportations 
 may  be  useful : — 
 
 1.  Dan.  i.  1. 
 
 Jehoiakim  III.*      Jehoiakim, 
 
 Daniel,  and  others. 
 
 2.  Jer.  lii.  28.  Nebuchadnezzar  VII.         3,023. 
 
 3.  2  Kings  xxiv.  14.  „  VIII.         10,000,    with 
 
 Jehoiachin  and  Ezekiel. 
 i.  Jer.  lii.  29.  „  XVIII.  832. 
 
 5.  2  Kings  xxv.  11.  „  XIX.      "  Rest  of  the 
 
 city,"  and  "remnant  of  the  multitude." 
 a  Jer.  lii.  30.  „  XXIII.  715. 
 
 It  thus  appears  that  the  progress  of  the  captivity, 
 from  first  to  last,  covered  twenty-four  years,  from  B.C. 
 605  to  581,  or  from  thirteen  years  before  to  eleven  years 
 after  the  beginning  of  Exekiel's  prophecies.  It  is 
 probable  that  the  comparatively  small  deportations  of 
 the  seventh  and  eighteenth  years  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
 took  place  in  the  early  part  of  the  same  campaigns 
 which  terminated  with  the  great  deportations  of  the 
 eighth  and  nineteenth.  The  numbers  mentioned 
 amount  in  all  to  14,600,  but  in  two  instances  the 
 number  is  not  given,  and  the  latter  of  these  probably 
 included  many  more  captives  than  all  the  others  to- 
 gether. There  were  still  left  behind  "  of  the  poor  of 
 the  land  to  be  vine-dressers  and  husbandmen  "  (2  Kings 
 xxv.  12),  which  implies  a  certain  degree  of  sifting  of 
 the  people,  the  captives  being  those  in  better  social  po- 
 sition, and  hence,  on  the  whole,  likely  to  be  more  in- 
 telligent, and  more  easily  brought  under  the  prophet's 
 influence  in  their  affliction. 
 
 In  regard  to  the  condition  of  the  people  in  their  cap- 
 tivity, it  is  not  improbable  that  they  may  at  first  have 
 been  treated  with  some  rigour.  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
 evidently  annoyed  and  irritated  by  their  repeated  re- 
 bellions, and  showed  himself  capable  of  no  little  harsh- 
 ness towards  them.  (See  Jer.  lii.  24 — 27 ;  2  Kings 
 xxv.  7.)  He  was  also  engaged  in  the  construction  of 
 magnificent  public  works,  and  on  the  accession  of  so 
 large  a  body  of  captives,  would  naturally  have  employed 
 them  for  this  purpose,  and  especially  for  making  his 
 royal  canal.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  a  man  of  too 
 much  breadth  of  view  to  indulge  in  national  animosity, 
 and  from  the  first  he  placed  Daniel  and  his  Jewish 
 companions  in  offices  of  high  honour  and  trust,  while 
 the  condition  of  the  captives  generally  appears  to  have 
 rapidly  ameliorated.  It  has  already  appeared  that  in 
 the  sixth  year  of  his  captivity  Ezekiel  was  living  in  his 
 own  house  (chap.  viii.  1).  It  was  but  little  more  than 
 thirty  years  from  the  last  date  of  his  prophecy  to  the 
 decree  of  Cyrus  for  their  return.  At  that  time  only  a 
 portion  of  the  exiles  cared  to  exchange  the  comforts  of 
 the  land  of  their  exile  for  the  difficulties  of  removal  to 
 the  home  of  their  fathers,  and  they  who  remained  behind 
 
 *  The  Roman  numerals  refer  to  the  years  of  the  reign.  Ne- 
 buchadnezzar is  here  spoken  of  as  "  king  "  before  the  formal 
 beginning  of  his  reign,  which  occurred  in  the  following  year. 
 The  third  year  afterwards  is  called  in  Dan.  ii.  1  the  second  year 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar.    (Comp.  also  Jer.  xxv.  1). 
 
 200 
 
EZEKIEL. 
 
 ■were  ablo  to  help  thoso  who  went  "  with  vessels  of 
 silver,  with  (fold,  with  goods,  unci  with  beasts,  and  with 
 
 precious    things"     i  K/.ni    i.    6)  i     and  at    a    little    late 
 
 period  the  Boos  of  Esther  represents  them  as  numerous, 
 with  powerful  friends  at  the  court,  ami  of  sufficient 
 wealth  to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  their  enemies.  The 
 Impression  obtained,  on  the  whole,  is  thai  the;  speedily 
 
 ruse,  and  wore  en iragcd  to  rise,  from  a  servile  cou- 
 
 dxtion  to  ono  of  comfort, and  in  many  eases  of  opulenee. 
 
 IV.  The  date  of  Ezekiel's  prophecies.— A 
 large  part  of  the  prophecies  are  carefully  and  minutely 
 dated,  the  era  being  always  that  of  the  captivity  of 
 
 Jehoiaeliin,  which  was  also  that  of  E/.ekiel  himself. 
 One  ether  era  is  mentioned  in  the  first  verse  :  "it  came 
 to  pass  in  the  thirtieth  year,"  and  has  been  the  subject 
 of  much  discussion.  The  only  thing  certain  about  it 
 is  that  it  coincided  (verse  3 1  with  the  fifth  year  of 
 Jehoiachin's  captivity.  Some  writers  have  supposed  it 
 to  refer  to  the  thirtieth  year  from  the  last  jubilee,  but 
 this  is  never  elsewhere  used  (or  the  purpose  of  date, 
 probably  because  it  began  at  a  special  and  inconvenient 
 time,  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month  (Lev. 
 XIV.  9),  ami  it  would  have  been  particularly  unlikely  to 
 be  used  under  the  existing  circumstances.  Others  con- 
 sider that  it  (bites  from   the  era  of  the  accession  of 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's  father  and  the  ( lineucement  of  the 
 
 Chaldean  dynasty  (  Michaelis,  Rosenmuller,  Ewald,  and 
 others);  but  there  is  no  evidence  thai  this  era  had  then 
 come  into  use,  and  the  most  recent  investigations  tend 
 to  show  a  discrepancy  between  this  and  the  date  here 
 given.  A  very  common  ancient  view — (Chaldee,  Jerome, 
 Theodore!)  also  adopted  by  some  moderns  (Haveruick 
 and  others) — is  that  the  era  was  that  of  the  finding  of 
 the  Book  of  the  Law  and  of  the  beginning  of  a  great 
 reformation  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Josiah's  reign. 
 This  would  certainly  exactly  accord  with  the  time  imli- 
 eated;  but  if  this  had  been  meant  we  should  expect 
 that  it  would  have  been  indicated.  The  most  probable 
 supposition  is  that  of  Origen,  that  it  refers  to  Ezekiel's 
 own  age,  particularly  impressive  to  him,  because  it  was 
 the  ago  at  which  the  Levites  by  the  law  (Num.  iv.  23, 
 30,  :!!'.  43)  entered  upon  their  duties. 
 
 Although,  as  already  said,  a  large  part  of  Ezekiel's 
 
 prophecies  are  carefully  dated,  many  also  are  without 
 date.  Are  these  to  be  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
 time  between  the  preceding  and  the  succeeding  dates? 
 If  the  dates  given  were  all  arranged  in  chronological 
 
 order  this  would  be  the  natural  and  highly  probable 
 supposition;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  thus 
 arranged,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  prophecies,  where 
 the  change  of  order  admits  of  easy  explanation.  These 
 prophecies  are  the  two  parts  of  chap.  xxix..  the  first 
 part  of  which  is  dated  nearly  three  months  before  the 
 prophecy  in  chap,  xxvi.,  and  the  last  part  is  sixteen 
 years  later  than  the  prophecy  following  it;  the  remain- 
 ing instances  are  the  two  parts  of  chap,  xxxii.,  dated 
 nearly  two  months  after  the  prophecy  of  chap,  xxxiii. 
 
 SI,  The  reason  of  these  anomalies  is  that  chaps.  XXV. — 
 xxxii.  form  a  special  section  of  the  book,  relating  t'1 
 various  heathen  nations,  and  including  nearly  all  the 
 prophecies  of  this  character.     The  general  arrangement 
 
 in  this  section  also  is  chronological,  but  gives  way  to 
 
 the  extent  of  placing  together  all  prophecies  against 
 the  same  nation  whenever  uttered.  There  being  thus 
 an   obvious    reason    for  the  arrangement  of  this  special 
 
 non,  and  the  dates  of  the  rest  of  the  book  being 
 
 strictly  consecutive,  the  whole  may  Ih'  considered,  with 
 a  high  degree  of  probability,  as  arranged  in  chrono- 
 logical order,   the    internal   character  of   the   undated 
 
 prophecies  for  the  most  part  assimilating  them  closely 
 to  t ih.se  just  before  them.    This  probability  is  increased 
 
 by  the  fad  thai  there  remain  two  other  undated  pro- 
 phecies against  the  hnathrm  chaps,  xxxv.,  xxxviii., 
 xwiv.i,  which  are  so  much  of  the  nature  of  promises  to 
 [srael  through   the  destruction  of  their  enemies  that 
 
 they   are    allowed    to    stand    in  n    with    those 
 
 promises,   and   doubtless   in  their  proper  chronological 
 
 position. 
 
 V.  The  reception  of  the  prophocios  by  the 
 captives. — During  the  period  of  the  captivity  the 
 .lews  were  greatly  changed.  Notwithstanding  various 
 sins  which  lingered  among  them,  the;  learned  generally 
 to  repudiate  the  idolatry  which  had  been  hitherto  their 
 characteristic  sin,  and  they  showed  also  a  disposition 
 to  observe  the  law  of  Moses  more  closely  than  they  had 
 ever  done  before,  and  with  so  much  zeal  that  tins  re- 
 mained ever  after  their  distinguishing  national  charac- 
 teristic. The  chief  human  instrument  of  this  change 
 was  the  teaching  of  the  prophet  Ezokicl.  He  was, 
 indeed,  often  called  upon  to  rebuke  them  chaps,  xiv. 
 1,  3,  xviii.,  &c),  and  was  made  to  understand  that  while 
 they  seemed  to  listen,  they  still  refused  to  take  his 
 words  to  heart  (chap,  xxxiii.  30 — 33);  yet  they  regarded 
 him  as  a  true  prophet,  and  resorted  to  him  for  counsel, 
 and  to  ask  through  him  the  mind  of  God  (chaps,  viii.  1, 
 xiv.  1,  <fcc.).  Doubtless,  as  time  Went  on,  the  people 
 became  more  and  more  purified.  Jeremiah  xxiv.  shows 
 distinctly  the  great  moral  difference  at  that  time  between 
 the  people  who  had  gone  into  captivity  and  those  who 
 still  remained  behind.  Various  allusions  in  the  book 
 (see  chap.  iii.  9,  &c.)  show  that  Ezekiel's  life,  especially 
 in  the  earlier  part  of  his  work,  was  one  of  much  trial, 
 and  that  he  had  to  contend  against  great  difficulties  in 
 the  midst  of  abounding  evil.  He  himself  passed  away. 
 as  is  usually  the  lot  of  man,  before  he  was  able  to  see 
 the  full  result  of  his  labours.  Hengstenberg,  in  his 
 Christology,  describes  him  as  "  a  spiritual  Samson,  who, 
 with  a  strong  arm,  seized  the  pillars  of  the  temple  of 
 the  idols,  and  dashed  it  to  the  ground:  an  energetic, 
 gigantic  nature,  who  was  thereby  suited  effectually  to 
 counteract  the  Babylonish  spirit  of  the  times,  which 
 loved  to  manifest  itself  in  violent,  gigantic,  grotesque 
 forms :  one  who  stood  alone,  but  was  yet  equal  to  a 
 hundred  scholars  of  the  prophets."* 
 
 VI.  The  divisions  of  the  book  may  be  given 
 differently,  according  to  the  point  of  view  from  which  it  is 
 regarded.  It  is  quite  common  to  make  an  arithmetically 
 equal  division  into  two  parts,  of  twenty-four  chapters 
 each;  and  this  plan  is  to  a  certain  extent  just,  as  then 
 occurs  a  manifest  change  of  subject  at  the  close  of  chap, 
 xxiv.  But  it  is  far  better  to  divide  the  book  in  connec- 
 tion with  the  great  historic  event  of  the  overthrow  of 
 Jerusalem  and  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  the  tidings 
 of  which  reached  E/ekiel  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his 
 captivity,  at  chap,  xxxiii.  21.  At  this  point  the  general 
 tone  of  the  prophecies  changes.  Up  to  this  time  they 
 have  I n  chiefly  occupied  with  sin  and  consequent  judg- 
 ment; from  this  time  onward,  as  the  great  manifestation 
 of  the  Divine  wrath  had  taken  place,  they  are  mainly 
 concerned  with  promises  and  consolations.  Each  great 
 division  has  an  introductory  portion  i  chap-,  i. — iii.  con- 
 taining the  call  of  the  prophet,  with  the  instructionsta 
 
 him  and  his  installation  in  his  office,  and  chap,  xxxiii., 
 more  briefly,  as  was  fitting,  a  renewal  of  the  charge  to 
 
 201 
 
 •  Chri.itnlomi  of  the  Old  Tc-tamrnl.    liy  K.  W.  Ilenirstenbcrg. 
 Translated  by  R.  Keith.    "Ezek.  lntrod.,"  VoL  111.,  p  ItM. 
 
EZEKIEL. 
 
 Mm  in  relation  to  that  office.  Each  division  closes,  too, 
 with  a  special  section :  the  first  with  a  series  of  prophe- 
 cies against  heathen  nations,  the  enemies  of  Israel  (chaps. 
 xxv. — xxxii.),  and  the  second  with  the  future  glory  of  the 
 Temple  and  the  Holy  Land  and  city  (chaps,  xl. — xlviii.). 
 Minor  sub-divisions  will  be  treated  as  they  occur. 
 
 VII.  The  style  of  Ezekiel  is  more  varied  than 
 that  of  any  other  prophet.  All  forms  of  prophetic 
 writing  are  laid  under  contribution  to  further  the  great 
 work  he  was  set  to  accomplish.  Hence  different 
 writers,  looking  at  his  book  from  different  points  of 
 view,  have  formed  very  different,  and  often  exaggerated, 
 estimates,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  of  its  literary  merits. 
 Ewald  justly  says  of  him  (Propheten,  p.  212) : — ■"  Con- 
 sidered simply  as  a  writer,  this  prophet  exhibits  great 
 excellences,  especially  as  living  in  so  dismal  a  period. 
 His  mode  of  representation,  indeed,  like  that  of  most  of 
 the  later  writers,  has  a  tendency  to  length  and  expansion, 
 with  sentences  often  veiy  much  involved,  and  rhetorical 
 breadth  and  copiousness.  ,  .  His  language  has  scattered 
 through  it  several  Aramaic  and  foreign  expressions,  in 
 which  one  may  perceive  the  influence  of  his  exiled  con- 
 dition ;  though  for  the  most  part  it  is  formed  after  the 
 older  and  better  models."  Lowth  (Led.  on  Sacred 
 Poetry,  21,  p.  294)  says : — "  His  diction  is  sufficiently 
 perspicuous ;  all  his  obscurity  consists  in  the  nature  of 
 the  subject."  In  regard  to  this  matter  of  obscurity, 
 which  has  been  so  mtich  objected  to,  Fairbairn  *  well 
 says,  '"  that  the  darkness  inseparably  connected  with 
 our  prophet's  delight  in  the  use  of  parable  and  symbol 
 was,  when  lightly  contemplated,  by  no  means  at  vari- 
 ance with  his  great  design  as  a  prophet.  His  primary 
 object  was  impression — to  rouse  and  stimulate,  to 
 awaken  spiritual  thoughts  and  feelings  in  the  depths  of 
 the  soul,  and  bring  it  back  to  a  living  confidence  and 
 faith  in  God.  And  for  this,  while  great  plainness  and 
 force  of  speech  were  necessary,  mysterious  symbols  and 
 striking  parabolical  delineations  were  also  fitted  to  be 
 of  service. 
 
 Accordingly,  while  Ezekiel  often  addresses  the  people 
 in  the  simplest  language  of  admonition  or  of  promise, 
 he  also  abounds  in  the  most  elaborate  visions  (as  chaps. 
 i.,  viii. — x.,  xxxvii.,  xl. — xlviiii.)  and  symbolical  actions 
 (chaps,  iv.,  v.,  and  xii.) ;  and  has  also  similitudes  (chaps, 
 xv.,  xxxiii.,  xxxv.)  and  parables  (chap,  xvii.)  and  pro- 
 longed allegories  (chap,  xxiii.) ;  while  in  his  denuncia- 
 tions, as  of  Egypt  (chaps,  xxix. — xxxii,),  he  sometimes 
 rises  to  the  height  of  most  bold  and  effective  poetiy. 
 "  He  has  remarkable  power  in  grouping  a  mass  of  some- 
 what minute  details  in  a  way  to  heighten  the  effect 
 exceedingly.  Witness  his  portrayal  of  the  horrible 
 impurities  of  idolatry  in  Jerusalem  and  Samaria  (chap, 
 xxiii.),  or  his  description  of  the  commerce,  the  splen- 
 dour, and  the  fall  of  ancient  Tyre  (chaps.  xxvii.,xxviii.)."f 
 In  such  varied  ways  did  inspiration  manifest  itself  in 
 this  remarkable  prophet  that  he  might  accomplish  his 
 work  under  the  extraordinary  circumstances  in  which 
 he  was  placed. 
 
 Underlying  all  this  varied  form,  the  personal  cha- 
 racteristics of  the  prophet  are  always  to  be  kept  in 
 mind  that  we  may  understand  his  writings.  He  was 
 eminently  realistic,  always  striving  after  a  concrete 
 representation  of  abstract  thoughts;  and  moreover,  in. 
 tensely  energetic,  always  having  before  his  mind  the 
 accomplishment  of  a  definite  practical  result.     With  all 
 
 *  Fairbairn  :  On  Ezekiel,  2nd  Ed.,  Introd..  p.  12. 
 t  Ezekiel.    By  Rev.  H.  Cowlea,  D.D.    Introd.  p.  11. 
 
 this,  he  had  a  rich  fancy,  and  was  possessed  of  deep- 
 emotions ;  he  was  an  earnest  priest,  and  deeply  imbued 
 with  the  symbolism  and  imagery  of  the  Jewish  temple- 
 and  worship,  and  was  also  a  captive  in  Babylonia,  where 
 the  symbolism  of  the  great  Chaldsean  works  of  art  had 
 produced  a  strong  impression  on  his  mind.  It  is  some- 
 times difficult,  therefore,  to  distinguish  in  his  utterances 
 between  the  form  in  which  he  so  vividly  sets  forth  the 
 truth  and  the  truth  itself  which  he  wishes  to  convey  to- 
 the  mind.  But  in  this  great  help  may  be  derived  from 
 observing  the  progressive  character  of  his  prophecies, 
 and  making  ourselves  thoroughly  familiar  with  the- 
 earlier  before  we  attempt  to  grapple  with  the  difficulties 
 of  the  later.  In  no  other  prophet  is  it  of  so  great 
 importance  to  study  his  writings  in  the  order  in  which 
 he  was  inspired  to  deliver  them,  and  also  the  personal 
 characteristics  of  the  writer.  The  main  clue  to  guide 
 us  through  the  difficulties  of  the  interpretation  of  his 
 book  is  the  appreciation  of  his  tendency  to  express 
 every  thought  and  every  Divine  communication  in  con- 
 crete form.  This  tendency  is  so  intense  in  Ezekiel, 
 and  is  so  carried  into  detail,  that  there  has  always  been 
 a  disposition  to  mistake  his  ideal  descriptions  of  the 
 future  for  prophecies  of  coming  realities.  It  will  be  seen 
 on  examining  them  that  they  contain  particulars  which, 
 if  literally  interpreted,  would  be  self-contradictory, 
 and  that  they  cannot  therefore  have  been  intended  to- 
 be  so  understood.  Nevertheless,  the  descriptions  are 
 so  vivid,  and  the  idea  to  be  conveyed  is  so  concretely 
 expressed,  that  it  is  only  by  following  his  prophecies  in 
 their  order,  and  coming  gradually  to  enter  into  his  spirit, 
 that  we  can  appreciate  their  truly  ideal  character. 
 
 It  is  quite  in  accordance  with  these  general  cha- 
 racteristics of  Ezekiel's  writings  that  much  of  them 
 should  be  on  the  border-land  between  poetry  and  prose. 
 Parts,  indeed,  are  plainly  in  simple  prose,  and  in  other 
 parts  the  complete  poetic  form  corresponds  to  the 
 thought ;  but  there  are  many  passages  thoroughly  poetic 
 in  their  matter  which  yet  defy  the  attempt  to  reduce 
 them  to  the  parallelism  which  characterises  Hebrew 
 poetry,  and  much  that,  while  it  must  on  the  whole  be 
 classed  as  poetry,  is  yet,  very  irregular  in  form.  The 
 earnestness  and  impetuosity  of  the  thought  continually 
 overrides  artificial  rules  of  diction. 
 
 VIII.  Literature.  —  The  principal  commentators 
 upon  this  book  are : — Among  the  ancients,  Origen, 
 Jerome,  and  Theodoret;  among  the  Jews,  the  Rabbis 
 D.  Kimchi  and  Abarbanel ;  of  the  period  of  the  Refor- 
 mation, (Ecolampadius  and  Calvin,  whose  work  was 
 terminated  by  his  illness  and  death  at  chap.  xxi. ;  and 
 of  the  Romanists,  Pradus  and  Villalpandus,  a  huge 
 work  in  three  volumes,  fol.  1596 — 1604;  more  modern 
 commentaries  are  those  of  Starck,  1731  ;  Venema,  1790 
 (this  does  not  include  the  last  nine  chapters) ;  Newcome, 
 1788;  W.  Greenhill  (London,  1645—62,  five  volumes, 
 4to  reprinted),  1829;  Rosenmuller,  Scholia,  second 
 edition,  1826 ;  Ewald,  1841 ;  Umbreit,  1843 ;  Hiivernick, 
 1843;  Hitzig,  1847;  Henderson.  1855;  Fairbairn,  third 
 edition,  Edinburgh,  1863,  a  work  of  exceptional  value, 
 from  which  considerable  extracts  are  made  in  the  trans- 
 lation of  Ezekiel  in  Lange's  Bibehoerk ;  Cowles,  New 
 York,  1867 ;  G.  R.  Noyes,  New  Trans,  of  the  Eeb. 
 Prophets,  with  notes,  third  edition,  Boston,  1866,  Vol. 
 II.;  Hengstenberg,  1867-68,  subsequently  translated 
 into  English;  Kleifoth,  1864-65;  Dr.  G.  Currey.in  the 
 collection  known  as  The  Speaker's  Commentary,  1876  ; 
 and  the  Commentary  of  Keil,  translated  and  published 
 in  Clark's  Foreign  Theolog.  Library,  1876. 
 
 202 
 
THE    BOOK    OF    THE    PROPHET 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.— ("Now  it  came  to 
 pass  in  the  thirtieth  year,  in  the  fourth 
 month,  in  the  fifth  day  of  the  month,  as 
 I  was  among  the  'captives  by  the  river 
 of  ( Jhebar,  that  the  heavens  were  opened, 
 ami  I  saw  visions  of  God.  <2>In  the  fifth 
 day  of  the  month,  which  was  the  fifth 
 year  of  king  Jehoiachin's  captivity, 
 <3>  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  expressly 
 
 :    III  b .  MytfettV' 
 
 2  Hcb.,  Jthczkcl. 
 
 3  Hcb.,    catching 
 iuci;. 
 
 unto  'Ezekiel  the  priest,  the  son  of  Buzi, 
 in  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans  by  the  river 
 Chebar;  and  the  hand  of  the  Loud  was 
 there  upon  him. 
 
 <*)  And  I  looked,  and,  behold,  a  whirl- 
 wind came  out  of  the  north,  a  great  cloud, 
 and  a  fire  3  infolding  itself,  and  a  bright- 
 ness was  about  it.  and  out  of  the  midst 
 thereof  as  the  colour  of  amber,  out  of 
 
 Tin-  firai  three  chapters,  describing  the  circumstances 
 nml  character  of  Bzekiel's  call  fa  the  prophetic  office, 
 fin-in  the  introduction  to  the  whole  book,  and  the  three 
 first  verses,  giving  the  time,  the  person,  and  the  place, 
 ■re  the  introduction  to  this  introduction.  (Comp.  the 
 similar  arrangement  of  Rev.  i.,  which  Forms  the  intro- 
 duction to  that  book,  and  of  verses  1 — 3,  which  are  the 
 introduction  to  that  chapter.) 
 
 ID  The  thirtieth  year. — On  this  date  see  Intro. 
 duction,  §  iv.  It  ma]  be  added  here  that  the  eoucur- 
 rence  of  the  "fifth  day  of  the  month"  in  connection  with 
 this  epoch,  and  with  that  of  Jehoiachin's  captivity  in 
 verse  J.  shows  that  the  years  of  the  two  epochs  began 
 at  the  same  time. 
 
 Among  the  captives. — i.e.,  in  the  midst  of  the 
 region  where  they  were  settled.     The  vision  which  fol- 
 
 lows  Was  seen  by  K/.okicl  only,  and  was  probably  vouch- 
 safed tu  him  in  solitude.  "  The  captives,"  or  rather, 
 Hi'  as  it  is  in  the  original,  is  the  same  word 
 
 a>  is  used  of  Jehoiacbin  in  the  in>xt  verse,  and  yet  must 
 be  somewhat  differently  understood  in  the  two  cases,  Je- 
 hoiachin  was  actually  in  prison  for  many  years;  his 
 people,   within    certain   limits,   were    free.      They   were 
 
 more  than  Li- ('/<■.<,  tuit  less  than  prisoners.  (On  "the 
 heavens   were  opened,"    comp,    Matt,    iii.  1G ;    Acts 
 
 vii. 
 
 Visions  of  God.— Not  men  !  .  as  the 
 
 Divine  name  is  often  added  iii  Scripture  to  express 
 greatness  or  intensity  (see  Gen.  x.  i» ;  Pss.  xxxvi.  ti, 
 marg.,  lxxx.  10,  marg. ;  Jonah  iii.  3,  morff.  j  Acts  vii. 
 SO,  marg.),  but  Divine  visions,  visions  sent  from  God, 
 
 as   in  chaps,  viii. ."..  xl.  L.'. 
 
 1     Came  expressly.— Or.  came  esrimnfy.with  tho 
 
 fullest  proof  of  reality.  In  tile  original  there  is  simply 
 the  ordinary  form  of  the  repetition  of  the  verb  far  the 
 sake  of  emphasis.  The  prophet  mentions  his  own  name 
 only  here  and  in  chap.  x\iv.  24. 
 
 The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  there  upon  him.— 
 A  form  of  expression  to  indicate  that  special  power  and 
 influence  which  the  Spirit  exercised  over  the  prophets  at 
 times    when  they  were  called   to   become  the    means  of 
 
 the  Divine  communications.     Comp.  1  Kings  xviii.  16, 
 
 and  chap.  iii.  'JJ,  xxxvii.  1  ;  see  also  Dau.  viii.  18, 
 x.  10;    Rev.  i.  17.)     It  is  noticeable  that  Ezekiel  here 
 
 speaks  of  himself  in  the  third  person,  while  in  Terse  1. 
 and  always  after  this,  lie  usee  the  first  person.      It  has 
 been  suggest ed  thai  this,  together  with  the  mention  of 
 his  own  name,  may  indicate  the   insertion   of  these  twi 
 verses  on  a  revision  of  his  work  by  the  prophet. 
 
 In  entering  upon  the  vision  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 
 which  fills  the  rest  of  this  chapter,  it  is  to  he  remembered 
 that  E/.ekiel  is  struggling  to  portray  that  which  neces- 
 sarily exceeds  the  power  of  human  language;  it  is  not 
 therefore  surprising  that  there  should  be  something 
 of  repetition  and  of  obscurity  in  the  detail.  All  similar 
 descriptions  of  Divine  manifestations  are  marked  more 
 
 or  less  strongly  by  the  same  characteristics.  (See 
 Exod.  xxiv.  9,  lo';  Isa.  vi.  1— f ;  Dan.  vii  0.  1". 
 Rev.  L  12— 20,  iv.  2— 6,  4c.)  Il  k  also  to  be  borne 
 in  mind  that  what  the  prophet  saw  was  not  the 
 eternal  Father  in  His  own  absolute  essence,  who 
 dwells  in  unapproachable  light,  and  whom  "  no  man 
 hath  seen,  nor  can  see  '*  1 1  Tim.  vi.  lt>  ;   and  had  it  been 
 
 possible  that  Ezekiel  .should  have  been  so  transported 
 
 out  of  the  body  as  to  behold  this,  it  would  then  haw- 
 been  impossible  for  him  to  describe  it-  But  what  he 
 saw  in  vision  was  such  manifestation  as  man  could  bear, 
 in  which  God  hides  His  face,  and  allows  to  be  seen  mih 
 His  uttermost    par's  (Exod.  xxxiii.  'J'J.  23).      In  the  de 
 
 seription  that  follows  may  be  n gnised  a  mingling  of 
 
 the  symbols  of  the  Divine  manifestation  at  Sinai  with 
 the  "patterns  of  heavenly  things''  in  the  most  holy 
 place  of  the  Temple,  the  whole  modified  to  suit  the 
 present  occasion,  and  possibly  somewhat  coloured  by  the 
 now  familiar  symbolic  art  of  Babylonia. 
 
 (•»)  A  whirlwind  came  out  of  the  north.— 
 The  noW/i  is  seen  as  the  quarter  from  which  the  vision 
 proceeded,  not  because  the  Babylonians  conceived  that 
 there  was  the  seat  of  Divine  power  (Isa.  xiv.  13,  14), 
 but  because  it  was  common  with  the  prophets  to  repre- 
 sent the  Divine  judgments  upon  Judaea  as  coming  from 
 the  north  see  jer.  i.  14.  15,  iv.  6,  vi.  I),  and  it  wa- 
 from  that  direction  that  the  Assyrian  and  the  Chalihcan 
 
 conquerors  were  accustomed  to  descend  n]>on  theHolj 
 
 Land.  The  vision  is  actually  seen  in  (  haMa  a.  but  it  has 
 reference  to  Jerusalem,  and  is  described  as  if  viewed 
 from  that  standpoint. 
 
 203 
 
The  Vision  of 
 
 EZEKIEL,   I. 
 
 the  Whirlwind. 
 
 the  midst  of  the  fire.  <5>  Also  out  of  the 
 midst  thereof  came  the  likeness  of  four 
 living  creatures.  And  this  was  their 
 appearance ;  they  had  the  likeness  of  a 
 
 1  Hcb.,  a  straight 
 foot. 
 
 man.  (6>  And  every  one  had  four  faces, 
 and  every  one  had  four  wings.  <7>  And 
 their  feet  were  1  straight  feet;  and  the 
 sole  of  their  feet  was  like  the  sole  of  a 
 
 A  great  cloud. — As  in  the  Divine  manifestation 
 on  Sinai  (Exod.  xix.  9 — 16).  The  cloud  serves  at  once 
 as  the  groundwork  for  all  the  other  details  of  the  mani- 
 festation— a  place  in,  and  by  means  of  which,  all  are 
 located,  and  also  as  a  hiding-place  of  the  Divine  majesty, 
 so  that  all  may  be  seen  which  human  eye  can  bear,  and 
 that  which  it  cannot  bear  may  yet  be  known  to  be  there, 
 shrouded  in  the  cloud.  The  transposition  of  a  single 
 letter  from  the  end  of  one  word  in  the  Hebrew  to  the 
 beginning  of  the  next  will  change  the  reading  to  "  a 
 whirlwind  out  of  the  north  brought  on  a  great  cloud." 
 
 A  fire  infolding  itself. —  More  literally  trans- 
 lated in  the  margin,  catching  itself.  The  idea  intended 
 to  be  conveyed  is  that  of  flames  round  and  round  the 
 cloud,  the  flashes  succeeding  one  another  so  rapidly 
 that  each  seemed  to  lay  hold  on  the  one  that  had  gone 
 before ;  there  were  tongues  of  flame,  where  each  one 
 reached  to  another.  The  same  word  occurs  in  Exod.  ix. 
 24,  in  connection  with  "  fire,"  and  is  there  translated 
 mingled.  The  vision  thus  far  seems  moulded  on  the 
 natural  appearance  of  a  terrific  thimderstorm  seen  at  a 
 distance,  in  which  the  great  black  cloud  appears  illumi- 
 nated by  the  unceasing  and  coalescing  flashes  of  light- 
 ning. So,  with  all  its  impressive  darkness,  "  there  was 
 a  brightness  about  it." 
 
 As  the  colour  of  amber.— Colour  is,  literally, 
 eye.  The  word  rendered  "  amber"  (chasmal)  occurs  only 
 in  this  book  (here,  and  verse  27  and  chap.  viii.  2),  and  is 
 now  generally  recognised  as  meaning  some  form  of 
 bright  metal,  either  glowing  in  its  molten  state,  or  as 
 the  "  fine  brass"  of  verse  7  and  Rev.  i.  15,  burnished  and 
 glowing  in  the  light  of  the  "  infolding  flame."  There 
 is  therefore  now  superadded  to  the  first  appearance  of 
 the  natural  phenomenon,  a  glowing  eye  or  centre  to  the 
 cloud,  shining  out  even  from  the  midst  of  the  fire. 
 
 (5)  The  likeness  of  four  living  creatures  next 
 appeared  from  this  centre  of  the  fiery  cloud.  The  word 
 "  likeness  "  is  not  without  significance.  The  prophet 
 would  make  it  plain  that  this  was  a  vision,  that  these 
 were  symbolic,  not  actually  existing  creatures.  Their 
 prominent  characteristic  is  that  they  were  "living." 
 This  word  is  used  over  and  over  again  in  connection 
 with  them  (see  verses  13,  14,  15,  19,  21,  &c);  and  in 
 fact,  in  Ezekiel  and  Revelation  (chap.  iv.  6,  &c.,  where  it 
 is  mis-translated&eas£s)it  occursnearly  thirty  times.  The 
 same  characteristic  is  further  emphasized  in  verse  14 
 by  the  speed, "  as  of  a  flash  of  lightning,"  with  which 
 they  "  ran  and  returned,"  by  the  multiplicity  of  eyes 
 in  the  wheels  connected  with  them  (verse  18),  and  by 
 their  going  instantly  "  whithersoever  the  spirit  was  to 
 go"  (verse 20);  while  in  Rev.  iv.  8  it  is  said  that  "they 
 rest  not  day  and  night."  Their  life  is  represented  as 
 most  closely  connected  with  the  source  of  all  life,  the 
 "  living  God,"  whose  throne  is  seen  in  the  vision  (verse 
 26)  as  above  the  heads  of  these  "  living  creatures." 
 
 Ezekiel  does  not  here  say  what  these  living  creatures 
 were,  but  in  a  subsequent  vision,  when  he  saw  them 
 again  in  connection  with  the  Temple,  he  recognised 
 themasthe  cherubim  (chap.x.  15,20).  Cherubim,  whether 
 here,  or  in  the  Temple  overshadowing  the  mercy-seat, 
 or  in  the  garden  of  Eden  keeping  the  way  of  the  tree 
 of  life,  always  indicate  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
 God  of  holiness.     The  prophet  again  mentions   these 
 
 composite  symbolic  figures  in  connection  with  the 
 vision  of  the  Temple  in  chap.  xli.  18 — 20.  The  origin 
 of  such  ideal  figures  has  been  variously  ascribed  to  the 
 Egyptians,  the  Assyrians,  the  Phoenicians,  and  the 
 Arabs ;  but  this  symbolism  was,  in  fact,  almost  universal 
 throughout  the  East.  Dr.  Currey  (Speaker's  Com.,  note 
 on  Ezek.  i.)  points  out  the  striking  difference  between 
 this  symbolism  and  that  of  the  Greeks.  They  tried  to 
 delineate  the  Divine  attributes  with  the  utmost  beauty  of 
 form  and  harmony  of  detail  under  some  human  figure 
 in  which  those  attributes  were  conspicuous.  In  conse- 
 quence, the  mind  of  the  worshipper  lost  sight  of  the 
 ideal,  and  became  absorbed  in  the  sensuous  imagery  by 
 which  it  was  represented;  while  here,  by  the  very 
 strangeness,  and  sometimes  grotesqueness,  of  the 
 imagery,  its  purely  symbolic  character  was  kept  con- 
 stantly in  view.  Cherubim  are  associated  in  the  Old 
 Testament  with  that  tree  of  life  of  which  man  might 
 not  partake  save  through  Him  who  is  "  the  life,"  and 
 with  that  typical  holy  of  holies  which  man  might  not 
 enter  until  the  true  Holy  of  Holies  was  entered  once 
 for  all  by  Christ  through  His  own  blood  (Heb.  ix. 
 8, 12). 
 
 They  had  the  likeness  of  a  man. — With  all 
 the  strange  variety  of  details  to  be  described  im- 
 mediately, they  had  yet  a  general  human  form,  and  are 
 to  be  understood  as  like  man  in  whatever  is  not 
 specified. 
 
 (6)  Four  faces. — The  cherubim,  being  merely  sym- 
 bolical figures,  are  variously  represented.  Those  placed 
 in  the  Tabernacle  and  in  the  Temple  of  Solomon  appear 
 to  have  had  only  a  single  face ;  those  described  in  Ezekiel's 
 vision  of  the  Temple  (chap.  xli.  18, 19)  had  two  ;  the  four 
 living  creatures  of  Rev.  iv.  7  were  each  different  from 
 the  other:  one  like  a  man,  one  like  a  lion,  one  like  an  ox, 
 and  one  like  an  eagle,  and  these  four  are  combined 
 here  in  each  one  of  the  cherubim  (verse  10).  Man  is  the 
 head  of  the  whole  animal  creation,  the  lion  of  wild 
 beasts,  the  ox  of  the  domestic  animals,  and  the  eagle  of 
 the  birds. 
 
 Four  wings. — In  Rev.  iv.  8,  six  wings  are  men- 
 tioned, as  also  with  the  seraphim  of  Isa.  vi.  2.  The 
 cherubim  in  Solomon's  Temple  had  two  (1  Kings  vi.  27). 
 In  chap.  x.  21,  as  here,  they  have  four.  The  number  is 
 plainly  not  important,  though  doubtless  assigned  to 
 them  with  reference  to  the  number  of  creatures,  and  of 
 their  faces,  and  of  the  wheels ;  but  that  they  should 
 have  more  than  the  normal  number  of  two  is  here  ap- 
 propriate, partly  to  concur  with  the  other  indications  of 
 the  fulness  of  their  life  and  activity,  and  partly  because 
 (verse  11)  two  of  them  were  used  to  express  their 
 reverence,  as  were  four  of  those  of  the  seraphim  in 
 Isaiah. 
 
 (7)  Their  feet  were  straight  feet. — Rather,  each 
 of  their  legs  was  a  straight  leg,  i.e.,  without  any  bend 
 in  it,  as  at  the  knee,  but  was  equally  fitted  for  motion 
 in  any  direction.  So  also  "  the  sole  of  their  feet,"  the 
 part  which  rested  on  the  ground,  was  not,  like  the 
 human  foot,  formed  to  move  forward  only,  but  was 
 round  and  solid,  something  "  like  the  sole  of  a  calf's 
 foot." 
 
 They  sparkled. — This  refers  only  to  "  the  sole  of 
 the  feet,"  the  hoof.     The  "  burnished  brass  "  is  a  dif- 
 
 204 
 
Tin-  Finn-  lirimj  Creatures 
 
 EZEKIEL,   I. 
 
 in  t/te  Vision. 
 
 calf's  foot:  and  they  sparkled  like  the 
 colour  of  burnished  brass.  (M'Aiul  (key 
 had  the  hands  of   a    man    under   their 
 
 wings  on  their  four  sides;  and  bheyfour 
 
 had  their  faces  and  their  wings.  ' wTh( dl 
 wings  were  joined  one  to  another  ;  they 
 burned  not  when  they  went;  they  went 
 every  one  straight  forward.  *10'  As  for 
 the  likeness  of  their  faces,  they  four  had 
 the  face  of  a  man,  and  the  face  of  a  lion, 
 on  the  right  side  :  and  they  four  had  the 
 face  of  an  ox  on  the  left  side ;  they  four 
 also  had  the  face  of  an  eagle.  ,H)  Thus 
 were  their  faces  :  and  their  wings  were 
 1  stretched  upward  ;  two  wings  of  every 
 one  were  joined  one  to  another,  and  two 
 
 i  o^dtoftifdotoN 
 
 covered  their  bodies.  (12)And  they  went 
 every  one  straight  forward  :  whither  the 
 spirit  was  to  go,  they  went  ;  uml  they 
 burned  not  when  they  went.  (U!)Asfor 
 the  likeness  of  the  living  creatures,  their 
 appearance  was  like  burning  coals  of 
 fire,  and  like  the  appearance  of  lamps : 
 it  went  up  and  down  among  the  living- 
 creatures;  and  the  fire  was  bright,  and 
 out  of  the  fire  went  forth  lightning. 
 <u>  And  the  living  creatures  ran  and  re- 
 turned as  the  appearance  of  a  flash  of 
 lightning. 
 
 (is)  Now  as  I  beheld  the  living  crea- 
 tures, behold  one  wheel  upon  the  earth 
 by  the   living   creatures,  with  his  four 
 
 t'i -rent  word  from  that  used  in  verse  4,  and  gives  another 
 feature  to  tlio  general  brilliancy  and  magnificence  of 
 the  vision. 
 
 (8)  Tho  hands  of  a  man. — Implying,  of  course, 
 also  human  arms.  This  particular  adds  to  tho  generally 
 human  appearance  of  the  cherubim,  yet  we  must  under- 
 stand  (see  verse  11)  that  there  were  four  hands  corres- 
 ponding to  the  wings  for  each  cherub.  These  hands 
 wrre  "  under  their  wings  on  their  four  sides."  Hence 
 the  wings  must  have  been  attached  at  the  shoulder. 
 The  repetition,  "  they  four  had  their  faces  and  their 
 wings,"  is  for  the  sako  of  emphasis  and  distinctness. 
 
 (9)  Their  wings  were  joined  one  to  another. 
 — i.e.,  tho  outstretched  right  wing  of  one  cherub  was 
 joined  at  its  tip  to  the  left  wing  of  another,  so  that 
 although  four,  they  yet  constituted  in  some  sense  but 
 one  creature,  all  moving  in  harmony  and  by  a  common 
 impulse.  This  applies  to  tho  cherubim  only  when  in 
 motion;  when  they  stood,  the  wings  were  let  down 
 (verse  24).  Tho  joining  of  the  extremities  of  the  out- 
 stretched wings  <>f  the  cherubim  recalls  the  arrange- 
 ment in  Solomon's  Temple  (1  Kings  vi.  27),  in  which  the 
 wings  of  the  larger  cherubim  touched  one  another  above 
 the  mercy-seat. 
 
 They  turned  not  when  they  went. — Which- 
 ever way  they  wished  to  go,  they  could  still  go  "straight 
 forward,"  i.e.,  in  tho  direction  towards  which  they 
 looked,  Bines  they  looked  in  all  directions,  and  their 
 round  (eei  made  it  equally  easy  to  move  in  any  way.  It 
 would  at  lirst  seem  that  as  two  of  the  wings  of  each 
 cherub  were  used  to  cover  their  bodies  (verse  11),  tho 
 wings  would  havo  required  their  turning  when  tiny 
 changed  their  course  ;  but  if  wo  conceive  of  the  four 
 cherubim  as  arranged  to  form  a  square,  and  with  their 
 wings  moving  as  one  creature,  this  difficulty  dis- 
 appears. 
 
 (i°)  On  the  right  side  ...  on  the  left  side. 
 — The  apparent  obscurity  of  this  description  is  due 
 only  to  the  punctuation  in  the  English  Bible.  "They 
 four  had  the  face  of  a  man"  (viz.,  in  front,  as  Ezekiol 
 viewed  them),  "and  the  face  of  a  lion  on  tho  right  side  j 
 and  they  four  had  tho  face  of  an  ox  on  the  left  sido ; 
 they  four  also  had  the  face  of  an  eagle"  (viz.,  on  tho 
 bacT<,  or  side  opposite  to  Ezekiol).  These  faces  are  the 
 same  as  those  given  to  the  living  creatures  in  Rev.  iv.  7, 
 except  that  there  each  creature  bad  but  ono  of  them. 
 
 (it)  Thus  were  their  faces :    and  their  wings 
 were  stretched  upward. — Bather,  am!  th< itr  w 
 and  their  faces  were  separated  above.     Tho  word  never 
 
 has  the  sense  of  stretched,  but  always  that  of  separated 
 or  divided,  as  given  in  the  margin.  Each  cherub  was 
 essentially  one  creaturo,  and  yet  (not  Janus-like,  with 
 four  faces  upon  one  head)  their  heads  and  their  wings 
 were  separated  above,  and  when  they  were  in  flight  tho 
 two  lifted  wings  touched  on  either  sido  tho  wing  of  tho 
 next  cherub,  while  two  were  used  to  veil  their  bodies. 
 There  is  much  of  emphatic  repetition  throughout  tho 
 description. 
 
 ('-')  Whither  the  spirit  was  to  go.— The  one 
 informing  spirit  which  animated  all  the  living  creatures 
 alike,  and  in  accordance  with  which  all  their  movements 
 wore  ordered. 
 
 (is)  Like  the  appearance  of  lamps.— Tho  word 
 "  and"  before  this  phrase  is  not  in  tho  original,  and  should 
 be  omitted.  Tho  words  aro  merely  a  further  explana- 
 tion. Tho  cherubim  wcro  like  burning  coals  of  fire, 
 like  torches  or  lightnings.  The  word  "lamps"  does  not 
 refer  to  tho  material,  but  to  the  light,  and  whether  in 
 the  Hebrew  or  in  its  Greek  equivalent,  is  translated  by 
 torches  (Nahum  ii.  4;  John  wiii. 3), firebrands  (Judges 
 xv.  4),  or  lightnings  (Exod.  xx.  18).  Ezekiol  could  find 
 no  single  word  to  express  his  meaning,  and  has  there- 
 fore given  two,  that  between  them  the  idea  of  the  fiery 
 brilliancy  may  be  better  conveyed. 
 
 It  went  up  and  down. — "It"  refers  to  the  fire. 
 This  indescribable  fiery  appearance  went  up  and  down 
 among  the  living  creatures,  "  bright "  in  itself,  and 
 throwing  out  coruscations  of  "lightning." 
 
 (M)  A  flash  of  lightning.  —  Not  only  was  tho 
 appearance  of  the  cherubim  thus  glittering,  but  also 
 
 their  si d  as  they  "ran  and  returned"was  that  of  the 
 
 lightning. 
 
 Tho  vision  up  to  this  point,  so  far  as  wo  may  venture 
 to  interpret  its  object,  seems  designed  to  show  forth 
 the  power  and  activity,  tho  irresistible  energy  of  the 
 agencies  employed  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine 
 purposes,  and  at  the  samo  time  their  perfectly  har- 
 monious action,  controlled  by  ono  supreme  will.  \\  e 
 now  enter  upon  a  fresh  phase  of  the  vision,  in  which  the 
 same  things  are  represented  still  further  by  an  addi- 
 tional and  peculiar  symbolism. 
 
 05)  Behold  one  wheel  upon  the  earth  by  the 
 living  creatures.— Tho  prophet  sees  this  while  still 
 looking  intently  upon  the  cherubim— "as  I  beheld  the 
 living  creatures  " — showing  that  it  was  still  a  part  of 
 one  and  the  same  vision.     The  wheel  was  one  in  the 
 
 206 
 
The  Wheels 
 
 EZEKIEL,    I. 
 
 in  the  Vision. 
 
 faces.  <16)  The  appearance  of  the  wheels 
 and  their  work  was  like  unto  the  colour 
 of  a  beryl :  and  they  four  had  one  like- 
 ness :  and  their  appearance  and  their 
 work  was  as  it  were  a  wheel  in.  the  middle 
 of  a  wheel.  <17)  When  they  went,  they  went 
 upon  their  four  sides  :  and  they  turned 
 not  when  they  went.  *18)As  for  their 
 rings,  they  were  so  high  that  they  were 
 dreadful ;  and  their  l  rings  were  full  of 
 eyes  round  about  them  four.  (19>  And 
 when  the  living  creatures  went,  the 
 wheels  went  by  them:  and  when  the 
 living   creatures   were    lifted   up    from 
 
 II  Or,  strokes. 
 
 2  Or,  of  life. 
 
 3  Or,  of  life. 
 
 the  earth,  the  wheels  were  lifted  up. 
 (20)  Whithersoever  the  spirit  was  to  go, 
 they  went,  thither  ivas  their  spirit  to  go  ; 
 and  the  wheels  were  lifted  up  over  against 
 them  :  for  the  spirit  2of  the  living  crea- 
 ture was  in  the  wheels.  (21)  When  those 
 went,  these  went ;  and  when  those  stood, 
 these  stood  ;  and  when  those  were  lifted 
 up  from  the  earth,  the  wheels  were  lifted 
 up  over  against  them  :  for  the  spirit 3  of 
 the  living  creature  was  in  the  wheels. 
 
 (22)  And  the  likeness  of  the  firmament 
 upon  the  heads  of  the  living  creature  was 
 as  the    colour  of  the   terrible    crystal, 
 
 same  sense  in  which  the  living  creatures  were  one,  yet 
 actually  four,  as  appears  from  the  following  verse  and 
 the  whole  subsequent  description.  In  the  corresponding 
 vision  (chap.  x.  9),  they  are  at  once  described  as  four. 
 The  cherubim  had  been  seen  in  the  cloud  (verses  4,  5) ; 
 now  they  need  to  be  connected  below  with  the  earth, 
 and  presently  (verse  26)  above,  with  the  throne  of  God. 
 Therefore  the  wheel  is  "  upon  the  earth,"  but  of  a  great 
 height  (verse  18).  There  was  a  wheel  in  front  of  each 
 of  the  cherubim,  again  forming  a  square,  yet  so  that,  as 
 already  said,  they  might  in  a  sense  be  all  considered  as 
 one  wheel.  Reference  has  been  made  for  the  oi'igin  of 
 this  imagery  to  the  wheels  under  the  ten  bases  of 
 Solomon's  Temple  (1  Kings  vii.  32,  33) ;  but  there  seems 
 to  be  nothing  either  in  size  or  form  to  correspond,  and, 
 so  far  as  we  know,  the  imagery  here  is  purely  original. 
 
 (16)  Their  work  was  like  unto  the  colour  of  a 
 beryl. — "  Work"  is  used  in  the  sense  of  workmanship  or 
 construction ;  and  "  beryl"  here,  and  in  chap.  x.  9,  is  not 
 the  precious  stone  of  a  green  colour  which  we  know  by 
 that  name,  but  the  "  chrysolite  "  of  the  ancients,  the 
 modern  topaz,  having  the  lustre  of  gold,  and  in  harmony 
 with  the  frequent  mention  throughout  the  vision  of  fire 
 and  brilliant  light. 
 
 A  wheel  in  the  middle  of  a  wheel.— "We  are  to 
 conceive  of  the  wheels  as  double,  and  one  part  at  right 
 angles  to  the  other,  like  the  equator  and  a  meridian  circle 
 upou  the  globe,  so  that  they  could  go,  without  being 
 turned,  equally  well  in  any  direction.  Of  course,  such 
 a  wheel  would  be  impossible  of  mechanical  construction; 
 it  is  only  seen  in  vision  and  as  a  symbol ;  it  was  never 
 intended  to  be  actually  made. 
 
 (iv)  Upon  their  four  sides  —  i.e.,  forwards  or 
 backwards  upon  the  one  wheel,  and  to  the  right  or  the 
 left  upon  the  other.  Four  directions  are  considered 
 throughout  the  vision  as  representing  all  directions,  just 
 as  elsewhere  the  four  winds  represent  all  winds,  and 
 the  four  corners  of  the  earth  the  whole  earth. 
 
 (18)  Their  rings. — The  same  word  is  used  twice  in 
 tliis  verse,  and  means  what  we  call  the  felloes.  "  They 
 were  both  high  and  terrible,"  i.e.,  they  had  both  these 
 characteristics,  but  not,  as  seems  to  be  implied  in  our 
 translation,  that  one  was  the  cause  of  the  other.  The 
 height  might  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  wheel 
 was  "  upon  the  earth,"  and  yet  was  "  by  the  living 
 creatures  "  (verse  15)  who  were  seen  in  the  cloud  (verse 
 5).  The  terribleness  was  in  keeping  with  all  other 
 parts  of  the  vision,  and  its  reason  is  explained  in  the 
 circumstances  which  follow. 
 
 Pull  of  eyes. — In  chap.  x.  12  it  is  said  of  the  living 
 creatures,  "  their  whole  body,  and  their  backs,  and  their 
 
 hands,  and  their  wings,  and  the  wheels  were  full  of 
 eyes  round  about."  It  was  the  same  vision  in  either 
 case  (chap.  x.  20 — 22),  only  in  the  effort  to  describe  it, 
 which  the  prophet  evidently  feels  it  impossible  to  do 
 adequately,  he  mentions  now  one  particular  and  now 
 another.  In  the  corresponding  vision  in  the  Apoca- 
 lypse the  four  living  creatures  are  represented  as  "  full 
 of  eyes  within  "  (Rev.  iv.  8).  In  both  places  alike  the 
 symbolism  sets  forth  God's  perfect  knowledge  of  all 
 His  works  :  here  as  showing  the  absolute  wisdom  of  all 
 His  doings  (conip.  2  Chron.  xvi.  9),  there  as  resulting  in 
 perfect  and  harmonious  praise  from  all  His  works.  The 
 Hebrew  seers  ever  looked  through  all  secondary  causes 
 directly  to  the  ultimate  force  which  originates  and 
 controls  all  nature,  and  which  they  represent  as  intelli- 
 gent and  self-conscious.  To  do  this  the  more  effectively, 
 they  often  use  in  their  visions  such  concrete  imagery 
 as  this  before  us. 
 
 (20,  21)  The  spirit  of  the  living  creature— Not, 
 as  in  the  margin,  "the  spirit  of  life."  The  object  of 
 verses  19 — 21  is  by  every  repetition  and  variety  of  ex- 
 pression to  represent "  the  living  creatures"  and  "  the 
 wheels  "  as  one,  animated  by  one  spirit,  and  moved  by  one 
 impidse.  The  word  is  the  same  throughout,  and  there 
 was  no  "  spirit  of  life  "  in  the  wheels  independent  of 
 that  of  the  living  creatures.  All  formed  together  one 
 strange,  symbolic  whole. 
 
 The  mention  in  verses  19 — 21  of  the  wheels  being 
 "  lifted  up  from  the  earth  "  simultaneously  with  the 
 living  creatures  is  not  in  opposition  to  the  symbolism 
 already  explained,  of  the  wheels  resting  upon  the  earth. 
 That  was  to  show  that  God's  purposes  are  carried  out  as 
 He  wills  in  this  world.  This  brings  out,  in  addition,  the 
 perfect  harmony  of  these  purposes,  whether  relating  to 
 earth  or  to  heaven. 
 
 (22)  The  likeness  of  the  firmament.  —  The 
 word  rendered  "  firmament"  has  undoubtedly  originated, 
 etymologi  cally,  from  a  verb  originally  signifying  to  beat 
 out,  as  in  the  case  of  metals  ;  but  the  derivative  word, 
 in  its  use  in  connection  with  the  heavens,  had  wholly 
 lost  this  reference,  and  had  come  to  mean  simply  an 
 expanse.  The  Hebrews  do  not  appear  to  have  ever  en- 
 tertained the  classical  idea  of  the  sky  as  a  metallic 
 vault,  the  only  passage  seeming  to  indicate  such  a  notion 
 (Job  xxxvii.  18)  being  capable  of  quite  a  different  ex- 
 planation. We  are  here  to  conceive,  therefore,  of  that 
 which  was  "  stretched  forth  over  their  heads  above  "  as 
 a  simple  expanse,  like  the  sky,  as  if  he  had  said,  "  And 
 above  their  heads  was  stretched  forth  the  sky."  This 
 expanse  is  not  represented  as  supported  by  the  cherubim, 
 or  resting  upon  them,  and  it  remained  undisturbed  when 
 
 206 
 
J'lc-  Sapphire  Throne, 
 
 KZEKIEL,   I. 
 
 tiiul  //■  thai  sal  thereon. 
 
 stretched   forth  over  their  heads  above. 
 \ ml  under  the  firmament  wen  their 
 
 wings    Btraightj   tl oe     toward    the 
 
 other:  ever}  one  had  two,  which  covered 
 on  this  Bide,  and  every  one  had  two, 
 which  covered  on  thai  wide,  their  bodies. 
 W)  And  when  they  went,  1  heard  the 
 noise  of  their  wings,  like  the  noise  of 
 great  waters,  as  the  voice  of  the  Almighty, 
 (he  voice  of  speech,  as  the  noise  of  an 
 host:  when  they  stood,  they  lei  down 
 their  winga  '-'"And  there  was  a  voice 
 from  the  firmament  that  was  oxer  their 
 heads,  when  they  stood,  and  had  let  down 
 
 their  wings.  ,26)  And  above  the  firma- 
 ment that  iniK  over  their  heads,  wcu  the 
 likeness  of  a  throne,  as  the  appearance 
 of  a  sapphire  stone:  and  upon  the  like- 
 ness of  the  throne  was  the  likeness  as 
 
 the  appearance  of  a  man  above'  upon  it. 
 '-"'And  I  saw  as  the  colour  of  amber,  as 
 t  he  appearance  of  fire  round  about  within 
 it,  from  the  appearance  of  his  loins  even 
 upward,  and  from  the  appearance  of  his 
 bans  even  downward,  1  saw  as  it  were' 
 the  appearance  of  fire,  and  it  had  bright- 
 ness round  about.  (28)  As  the  appearance 
 of  the  bow  that  is  in   the  cloud   in   the 
 
 they  li-t  down  their  winga  (veree  25).  It  was  simply 
 "  stretched  forth  over  their  heads,"  at  once  separating 
 them  tram,  and  yet  uniting  them  with,  the  throne  above. 
 
 It    Fulfils,  therefore,  tin mplementary  pari    to  the 
 
 wheels.    They  connected  the  vision  witli  the  earth;  this 
 connects  it  with  God. 
 The  colour  of  the  terrible  crystal.— The  ex. 
 
 iiression  "  crystal"  is  doubtless  derived  cram  Bxod.  xxiv. 
 0,  as  in  torn  it  became  tin-  foundation  tor  Rev.  iv.  6. 
 
 Vet    it  is  not    here  any    particular  Crystal  ;   the   word  is 
 
 merely  used  to  convey  some  idea  of  the  appearance  of 
 the  expanse  beneath  the  throne,  clear  ae  crystal,  terrible 
 iu  its  ii—Kling  brightness. 
 
 US]  Two,  whiuh  covered  on  this  side.— The  ex- 
 oeseive  literalness  of  this  translation  obscures  the  sense, 
 
 tor  it  seems  to  imply  that  each  cheruli  used  four  wings 
 to   cover    bis  body;    whereas    the   tvur   nmrniu;    is   that 
 
 "each  had  two  wings  covering  his  body  on  cither  side." 
 
 Tin ■  other  two  wings  of  each  elieruli  were  "  straight."  ex- 
 tended when  they  were  in  motion,  lmt  let  down  when  at 
 rest  (verso  25). 
 (-ti  The  noise  of  their  wings.— The  same  word 
 ted  "noise"  three  times  in  this  verse  is  also  trans- 
 lated "v.  nee"  twieo  here,  and  once  iii  the  next  verse.  It  is 
 
 hotter  to  keep  voice  throughout.  "I  hoard  the  voire  of 
 their  wings,  like  the  voice  of  many  waters."  The  same 
 Comparison  is  used  to  deserilie  the  voire  of  God  in  chap. 
 xliii.  2;  Rev.  i.  15.  Further  attempts  to  convey  an  im- 
 pression of  the  effect  are: — "As  the  voice  of  the 
 Almighty," by  which  thunder  is  often  described  iu  Scrip- 
 ture   JOD  xxxvii.    I.  ."> ;    i's.    xxix.   :!.    I);   "the   voire  of 
 
 speech,"  by  which  is  not  to  be  understood  articulatelan- 
 
 guage.     The  word  -nrs  elsewhere  only  in  Jer.  xi.    Iii. 
 
 and  is  there  translated  a  I  inn  nit.      The  idea  en  in  eyed  by 
 
 the  word  is  probably  thai  of  the  confused  sound  from  a 
 great  multitude,  and,  finally,  "as  the  voice  of  an  host." 
 
 All  these  comparisons  concur  in  representing  a  vast  and 
 terrible  sound,  but  inarticulate. 
 (88)  a  voice  from  the  firmament.  —  Rather,  from 
 
 above  the  Jir»m»ii  >it,  n  coding  from  the  firma- 
 
 ment itself.  This  is  a  new  feature  in  the  vision  :  tile  Voice 
 b)  quite  different  from  the  sounds  mentioned  In-fore,  and 
 
 although   not  here  expressly  said  to  have  1 D  articulate. 
 
 yet  it    is  probably  to  be  identified  with  the  Divine  voire 
 
 spoken  of  in  verse  28,  chap.  iii.  12,  and  elsewhere.    The 
 
 latter  part  of  the  verse,   literally   translated,   is  simply. 
 
 In,  or  at,  their  standing  they  I,  I  down  tht  ir  vringt,  and 
 
 may  bo  simply  a  repetition  of  the  last  clause  of  the  pre- 
 ceding verse.  In  its  connection,  however,  it  seems 
 rather  to  convoy  the  idea  of  a  fresh  act  of  reverence 
 inwards  the  majesty  above.     When  the  voice  was  heard 
 
 the  cherubim  stood  still,  the.  mighty  sounds  of  their 
 going  were  hushed,  and  (heir  wings  fell  motionless,  all 
 in  tho  attitude  of  reverential  attention. 
 
 Tho  vision  now  jidvanees  to  another  and  final 
 Wo  have  had  the  whirlwind  from  the  north,  with  its 
 L'leat  cloud  and  infolding  fire,  as  tho  background  on 
 which  tho  whole  is  portrayed;  then  the  cherubim,  with 
 all  their  marvellous  .symbolism  ;  the  wondrousand  terri- 
 ble wheels,  connecting  them  with  tho  earth  below,  the 
 glowing  firmament,  connecting  them  with  the  throne 
 above;  and  uowwe  come  to  the  throne  itself,  and  to  Him 
 that  sat  upon  it. 
 
 (26)  As  the  appearance  of  a  sapphire  stone. 
 — Comp.  Exod.  xxiv.  10,  where  the  same  description  is 
 applied  to  "  the  pavement  under  His  feet"  as  here  and 
 in  chap.  X.  1  to  his  throne,  in  either  rase  indicating  the 
 intense  clearness  of  the  heavenly  blue.  The  constant 
 repetition  of  the  words  "  likeness "  and  "appearance" 
 is  very  striking  throughout  this  vision.  They  occur 
 five  times  in  this  verse,  and  four  times  in  each  of  the 
 two  foil. .wing.  The  prophet  thus  labours  to  make  it 
 plain  that,  what  hesaw  was  not  the  realities  of  existing 
 things,  but  certain  symbolic  representations  given  for 
 the  purpose  of  producing  their  fitting  impression  upon 
 the  mind.  It  is  especially  important  to  remember  this 
 in  connection  with  "  the  likeness  as  the  appearance  of  a 
 man  "  "  upon  the  likeness  of  the  throne."  It  was  not 
 the  Divine  Being  Himself  whom  Ezekiel  saw,  but  cer- 
 tain appearances  to  impress  upon  him  the  character  and 
 attributes  of  Him  whom  "  no  man  hath  seen,  nor  can 
 
 see." 
 
 The  appearanco  of  a  man. — As  in  the  case  of 
 the  cherubim  the  form  of  a  man,  as  the  highest  known 
 in  nature,  was  made  the  groundwork  to  which  all  their 
 peculiarities  were  attached,  so  here,  in  rising  to  some- 
 thing still  higher,  the  same  basis  must  be  retained  in 
 the  impossibility  of  anything  better;  only  that  which 
 is  added  is  more  vague,  as  being  incapable  of  any  defi- 
 nite description.  Yet  possibly  there  may  be  even  here 
 a  hint  at  the  great  truth  of  the  incarnation.  (Comp. 
 i    IS;    t.'ev.  i.  13.) 
 
 (j:i  As  the  colour  of  amber. — Sco  on  the  same 
 expression  verse  4.  Literally,  as  an  eye  of  bright 
 metal.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  simply  an  attempt,  by 
 various  repetitions,  fa)  Convey  an  idea  of  the  exceeding 
 brightness  and  glory  of  the  vision,  yet  also  with  the 
 notions  of  purity  and  holiness,  of  power  and  activity 
 always  associated  with  tire.  (Comp.  Exod.  xxiv.  17; 
 Dan.  viL  9;  Rev.  i.  It,  15,  iv.  5.) 
 
 (-->  As  the  anpoarance  of  the  bow  that  is  in 
 the  cloud.  —  Comp.  Rev.  iv.  3,  x.  1.      The  addition. 
 
 207 
 
The  Glory  of  the  Lord. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   IT. 
 
 The  Voice  of  the  Lord. 
 
 day  of  rain,  so  was  the  appearance  of  the 
 brightness  round  about. 
 
 This  ivas  the  appearance  of  the  like- 
 ness of  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  And  when 
 I  saw  it,  I  fell  upon  my  face,  and  I  heard 
 a  voice  of  one  that  spake. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— (D  And  he  said  unto 
 
 1  Heb.,  nations. 
 
 me,  Son  of  man,  stand  upon  thy  feet, 
 and  I  will  speak  unto  thee. 
 
 <2>  And  the  spirit  entered  into  me  when 
 he  spake  unto  me,  and  set  me  upon 
 my  feet,  that  I  heard  him  that  spake 
 unto  me.  (3)  And  he  said  unto  me, 
 Son  of  man,  I  send  thee  to  the  chil- 
 dren of  Israel,  to  a  rebellious  Nation 
 
 "  in  the  day  of  rain,"  is  not  merely  a  reference  to  the 
 ordinary  natural  phenomenon,  but  distinctly  connects 
 this  vision  with  the  gracious  promise  in  Genesis,  and 
 shows  that  God,  who  has  in  this  vision  presented  His 
 attributes  of  terrible  majesty,  will  add  to  them  also 
 those  of  mercy  and  loving-kindness.  It  was  in  both 
 alike  that  He  was  to  be  made  known  to  His  people 
 through  the  prophet  who  is  now  receiving  his  com- 
 mission. This  was  the  merciful  "  appearance  of  the 
 brightness  round  about." 
 
 I  fell  upon  my  face. — The  immediate  manifes- 
 tation of  the  Divine  has  always  proved  overpowering  to 
 man.  (Comp.  chap.  iii.  23 ;  Isa.  vi.  5 ;  Dan.  viii.  17  ; 
 Acts  ix.  4 ;  Rev.  i.  17.     Comp.  also  Luke  v.  8,  viii.  37.) 
 
 In  considering  the  general  significance  of  this  vision, 
 it  is  to  be  remembered  that  it  was  seen  four  times  by 
 Ezekiel  in  various  connections  in  his  life-work.  First, 
 at  this  time,  when  he  is  called  to  the  exercise  of  the 
 prophetic  office ;  a  second  time  when,  shortly  afterwards, 
 he  is  sent  to  denounce  judgments  upon  the  sinful  people, 
 and  to  foretell  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
 Temple  (chap.  iii.  23,  &c.) ;  again,  a  year  and  a  half  later 
 (chaps,  viii.  4,  x.  15),  he  sees  the  same  vision,  while  he  is 
 made  to  understand  the  evils  and  abominations  wrought 
 in  the  Temple  (which  is  still  standing),  until  the  "  glory 
 of  the  Lord  "  forsakes  His  house  and  departs  from  the 
 city  (chap.  xi.  23),  in  token  that  God  had  given  them  over 
 to  punishment ;  finally,  in  the  prophecy  of  future  restora- 
 tion and  blessing,  he  again  sees  the  presence  of  the 
 Lord,  by  means  of  the  same  vision,  re-enter  and  fill  the 
 house  (chap.xliii.  3 — 5).  Its  meaning,  therefore,  clearly 
 relates  to  the  whole  prophecies  of  Ezekiel,  whether  of 
 judgment  or  mercy;  and,  without  attempting  an  ex- 
 planation of  the  symbolism  in  detail,  we  cannot  be 
 wrong  in  assuming  that  it  represents  the  resistless 
 Divine  activity,  controlling  alike  the  agencies  of  judg- 
 ment and  of  mercy,  directed  to  every  corner  of  the 
 earth,  and  requiring  of  all  profoundest  homage  and 
 veneration.  The  perfect  unity  of  purpose  in  all  God's 
 doings  is  made  especially  prominent,  and  the  consis- 
 tency of  His  wrath  with  His  love,  of  His  judgments 
 with  His  mercy ;  while  over  all  seems  to  be  written,  as 
 on  the  plate  of  the  mitre  which  He  had  of  old  com- 
 manded the  high  priest  to  wear  in  His  temple,  "  Holi- 
 ness unto  the  Lord." 
 
 II. 
 
 Chaps,  ii.  and  iii.  record  the  call  of  the  prophet 
 to  his  office  and  the  instructions  given  him  for  his 
 work.  As  far  as  chap.  iii.  13,  this  seems  to  have  been 
 still  in  the  presence  of  the  vision  of  chap.  i. ;  then  he 
 was  directed  to  go  to  another  place,  where  he  remains 
 silent  among  the  captives  for  seven  days  (chap.  iii.  14, 
 15).  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  receives  fresh  instruc- 
 tions (chap.  iii.  16 — 21),  and  then  he  is  told  to  go  forth 
 into  the  plain  (chap.  iii.  22),  where  the  same  vision 
 reappears  to  him  (chap.  iii.  23),  producing  upon  him 
 
 again  the  same  overpowering  effect ;  he  is  again  made 
 to  stand  up,  and  further  instructed. 
 
 The  full  time  occupied  by  these  things  is  not  ex- 
 pressly mentioned,  but  it  was  apparently  just  eight 
 days  from  the  first  to  the  second  appearance  of  the 
 vision — from  the  beginning  to  the  completion  of  his  pro- 
 phetic consecration.  This  period,  corresponding  to  the 
 period  of  the  consecration  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  (Lev. 
 viii.  33 — ix.  4),  must  have  been  peculiarly  impressive  to 
 the  priestly  Ezekiel,  and  have  added  its  own  power  of 
 association  to  the  other  solemnities  of  his  call.  Since 
 the  time  of  Moses  there  had  been  no  other  prophet 
 whose  call  had  been  accompanied  by  such  manifesta- 
 tions of  the  Divine  glory,  and  perhaps  no  time  in  which 
 the  condition  of  the  Church  had  made  them  so  impor- 
 tant. 
 
 C1)  Son  of  man. — The  voice  that  now  came  to 
 Ezekiel  was  articulate,  and  spoke  to  him  in  words  which 
 he  could  understand.  It  is  not  said  who  it  was  that 
 spoke,  but  the  "  He "  in  connection  with  the  vision 
 before  him  could  be  none  other  than  the  Most  High, 
 whose  glory  that  vision  was  given  to  reveal.  The 
 j>brase  "  son  of  man  "  is  common  enough  throughout 
 the  Scriptures,  as  meaning  simply  man,  but  is  never 
 used  in  an  address  to  a  prophet,  except  to  Ezekiel  and 
 Daniel.  To  Daniel  it  is  used  only  once  (Dan.  viii.  17), 
 while  to  Ezekiel  it  is  used  above  ninety  times.  The 
 reason  is,  doubtless,  that  since  he  was  the  prophet  of  the 
 captivity  he  was  addressed  in  the  common  terms  of  the 
 language  where  he  lived.  "  Son  of  man  "  for  "  man  " 
 is  so  common  in  the  Aramaic  languages  that  it  is  even 
 used  of  Adam  himself  in  the  Syriac  version  of  1  Cor. 
 xv. 45 — 47.  The  address  to  Ezekiel  here  as  "man," 
 just  as  under  similar  circumstances  to  Daniel  when  he 
 had  fallen  upon  his  face  through  awe  of  the  superna- 
 tural presence  (Dan.  viii.  17),  is  doubtless  in  compassion 
 to  his  weakness.  And  then  comes  the  strengthening 
 command,  "  Stand  upon  thy  feet,"  that  he  may  be  able 
 to  receive  the  communication  God  is  about  to  make 
 to  him. 
 
 (2)  And  the  spirit  entered  into  me. — Always 
 Divine  strength  is  vouchsafed  to  the  prophets  when 
 thus  overcome  by  the  glory  of  their  visions.  (Comp. 
 Isa.  vi.  5,  6,  7 ;  Dan.  viii.  18,  x.  15—19 ;  Rev.  i.  17.) 
 There  can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  the  spirit  is  here 
 the  Spirit  of  God,  and  not  merely  the  prophet's  own 
 human  vigour  and  courage ;  and  this  is  made  still  more 
 plain  in  chap.  iii.  24.  It  was  this  which  "  set  him  upon 
 his  feet,"  and  enabled  him  amid  such  surroundings  of 
 awe  to  receive  the  word  spoken  to  him  ;  for  while  the 
 revelation  by  vision  still  remained  before  him  (see  chap, 
 iii.  12,  13).  he  was  now  to  be  instructed  also  by  the 
 clearer  revelation  of  the  direct  voice  from  heaven.  We 
 are  not  to  think  of  any  physical  force  exerted  upon  the 
 prophet,  but  of  all  these  tilings  as  still  taking  place  in 
 vision. 
 
 (3)  I  send  thee  to  the  children  of  Israel.— 
 Here  properly  begins  the  distinct  commission  of  the 
 
 208 
 
The  Prophet  sent  to 
 
 EZEKIEL,    II. 
 
 /,'.  /,.  l/iaua  Israel. 
 
 that  hath  rebelled  against  me:  they  and 
 their  fathers  have  transgressed  against 
 me,  even  onto  this  very  day.     WForthey 
 
 are  'impudent  children  ami  stitf  hearted. 
 
 I  do  sci  ill  thee  unto  t  In  an  ;  ami  t  hmi  shalf 
 sa\  until  tin 'in,  Thus  saith  1 1n-  Lonl  (inn. 
 
 '"  Ami  they,  whether  they  will  hear,  or 
 whether  they  will  forbear,  (for  they  a/re 
 
 a  rebellious  house,)  yet  shall  know  that 
 there  hath  hern  a  prophet  among  them. 
 ,,;i  Ami  thou,  son  of  man,  lie  not  afraid  of 
 them,  neither  be  afraid  of  their  words, 
 though  'briers  and  thorns  be  with  thee, 
 
 i    Beh 
 
 hard     of 
 
 .1  Bah ,  rtbtllm. 
 
 and  thou  dost  dwell  among  scorpions: 
 be  not  afraid  of  their  words,  nor  be  dis- 
 mayed at  their  looks,  though  they  be 
 a  rebellious  house.  W  And  thou  shall 
 speak  my  words  unto  them,  whether 
 they  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  for- 
 bear :  for  they  are  3most  rebellious. 
 
 (S)  But  thou,  son  of  man,  hear  what  I 
 say  unto  thee  ;  Be  not  thou  rebellious 
 like  that  rebellious  house :  open  thy 
 mouth,  and  "eat  that  I  give  thee.  And 
 when  I  looked,  behold,  an  hand  wag  sent 
 iiiitu  me;  and,  lo,  a  roll  of  a  book  was 
 
 prophet.  After  tin'  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  tin-  two 
 Forming  the  kingdom  oi  Judah,  with  such  remnants  of 
 tlin  others  as  had  been  induced  by  Eezekiah  and  others  to 
 
 Oast  in  their  lot  with  theiti.  arc  constantly  spoken  of  as 
 "  Israel."  (Seo  Ezra  ii. 2. )  The  continuity  of  the  whole 
 nation  was  considered  as  preserved  in  the  remnant,  and 
 he&ee  this  same  1 le  of  expression  passed  into  the  New 
 
 Testament.    (See  Acts  xxvL  7.'    It  is  only  when  there  is 
 
 especial  occasion   to   distinguish    lietween  the  two  parts 
 
 of  the  nation,  as  in  chap.  iv.  5,  6,  that  the  name  of  Israel 
 
 is  used  in  contrast  with  that  of  Judali. 
 
 A  robollious  nation.— Literally,  as  in  the  margin, 
 
 OUS    nations,   the   word    being   the   same  as   that 
 
 com ly  used  distinctively  for  t  he  heathen,  so  that  the 
 
 children  of  Israel  are  here  spoken  of  as  "  rebellious 
 heal  lien."  There  could  he  no  epithet  which  would 
 carry  home  more  forcibly  to  the  mind  of  an  Israelite  the 
 state  of  antagonism  in  which  lie  bad  placed  himself 
 against  his  God.  (Comp.  the  "  Lo-ammi  "  of  Hosea 
 i.  It.  and  also  urse  of  our  Lord  in  John  viii.  39.) 
 
 Yet  still,  the  Hod  from  whom  they  bad  turned  aside  was 
 even  now  sending  to  them  His  prophet,  and  seeking  to 
 win  them  back  to  His  love  and  obodience,  in  true  cor- 
 respondence to  the  vision  of  the  bow  in  the  cloud  about 
 the  majesty  on  high. 
 
 Tho  following  verses  enlarge,  with  a  variety  of 
 epithets  ami  repetitions,  upon  tho  liard-heartedness  and 
 perversenees  of  the  people.     This  had  always  been  the 
 
 character  of  the  Israelites  from  the  time  of  Moses  (see 
 Bxod  x\xii.  !'.  xxxiii.  3,  5,  &c.),  and  continued  to  bo  to 
 the  end   (see    Acts   <,\\    51)  ;   BO  cut  i  rely  wit  bout  ground 
 
 is  the  allegation  that  they  were  chosen  as  a  people  pe- 
 culiarly inclined  to  the  right.  It  is  to  such  a  people 
 thai  K/.ekiel  is  to  be  sent,  and  be  needed  to  be  prepared 
 and  encouraged  for  bis  work. 
 
 Ml  Impudont  children.— Literally,  as  in  margin, 
 
 hard  of  face.  The  epithet  is  repeated  in  chap.  iii.  7, 
 and  it  is  with  reference  to  this  that  in  chap.  iii.  7,  8  the 
 prophet's  fee  is  lo  be  made  strong,  and  bis  forehead 
 -harder  than  Hint."  "The  Lord  God"  is  in  the 
 original  "  the  Lord  Jehovah."  the  second  name  taking 
 inting  of.  and   being  translated  "God,"  because 
 
 of  the  word  "  Lord  "  preceding, 
 
 W  Whother  they  will  hear,  or  whether  they 
 will  forbear.— Comp.  chap.  iii.  11.  God's  word  re- 
 mains the  same  whatever  reception  man  may  accord  to 
 it  :  it  cannot  return  unto  Him  void,  bill  must  accom- 
 plish that  which  He  pleases  (Isa.  Iv.  11);  just  as  the 
 Apostles  remained"  unto  God  a  sweet  savour  of  Christ" 
 alike  "  in  them  that  are  saved  and  in  them  that  perish  " 
 
 153  209 
 
 (2  Cor.  ii.  15,  16).  But  while  the  mighty  power  of  the 
 Divine  word  must  thus  produce  it-,  ,  met,  the  character 
 of  the  effect  depends  upon  those  to  whom  it  comes; 
 "to  the  one  we  are  a  savour  of  death  onto  death,  ami  to 
 the  other  the  savour  of  life  unto  lite."  So  it  would  bo 
 among  the  captives  by  the  Chebar:  some  would  be 
 brought  back  to  their  allegiance  to  their  God,  and  would 
 
 constitute  the  remnant  through  whom  He  would  bless 
 His  people  and  the  world;  and  some,  resisting  the 
 offered  grace,  would  be  thus  made  more  obdurate  than 
 ever.  In  either  case,  they  could  not  remain  as  before. 
 Whether  for  gain  or  for  loss,  they  should  "know  that 
 there  bath  been  a  prophet  among  tbein."  by  the  change 
 
 his  ministrations  should  produce  among  them.  The 
 offer  of  grace,  imposing  the  responsibility  of  accepting 
 
 or  rejecting  it.  ever  becomes  thus  "  a  irreat  and  terrible 
 day  of  the  Lord."  (See  Joel  ii.  31  ;  Mai.  iv.  5,  compared 
 with  Matt,  xvii.  12  ;  Acts  ii.  16—22.) 
 
 A  rebeUious  house.— Literally,  a  house  of  re- 
 in Won.  This  phrase,  used  in  Ezekiel  about  eleven 
 times,  seems  to  be  more  than  a  simple  epithet;  it  is  a 
 significant  substitute  for  the  name  in  which  they  gloried. 
 Instead  of  "  house  of  Israel,  the  prince  of  God,"  they 
 had  come  to  be  the  "house  of  rebellion." 
 
 t«i)  Briers  and  thorns. — These  words  occur  only 
 here,  but  their  meaning  is  sufficiently  plain.  Briers, 
 indeed,  might  admit  of  the  marginal  translation,  rebel*, 
 but  both  words  should  be  taken  together,  either  as  ad- 
 jectives or  nouns,  and  the  latter  is  more  in  accordance 
 with  the  following  "  scorpions."  and  with  the  general 
 strongly  figurative  style  of  Ezekiel. 
 
 ■*■"'  Eat  that  I  give  thee.— Thi-  is  to  be  understood, 
 like  all  that  has  gone  before,  as  done  in  vision,  as  in  the 
 case  of  the  book  eaten  by  St.  John  in  Rev.  X.  9,  10. 
 The  figuro  of  eating  for  receiving  into  the  heart,  so  as 
 to  be  thoroughly  possessed  by  what  is  communicated,  is 
 not  an  uncommon  one.  (Comp.  Jer.  xv.  16;  John  \i. 
 53— os.i 
 
 (9)  Was  sent  unto  me.— Bottcr,wa*pwf/i.r//i.as 
 the  same  word  is  translated  in  Gen.  iii.  22.  xix.  10; 
 chap.  viii.  3.  In  chap.  x.  7  it  is  rendered  ttr etched  forth, 
 with  the  marginal  sent  forth,  and  the  corresponding 
 Chaldee  word  in  Dan.  v.  24  is  translated  "  sent."  It  is 
 not  that  a  hand  by  itself  containing  the  roll  was  gent  to 
 the  prophet,  but  a  band,  either  of  one  of  the  cherubim, 
 or  from  the  throne  above,  was  stretched  forth  to  him. 
 In  the  corresponding  vision  in  Rev.  x.  8, 9,  it  is  handed 
 to  the  seer  by  the  angel 
 
 A  roll  of  a  book.— Books  were  anciently  written 
 upon  skins  sewed  together,  or  upon  papyrus  in  long 
 strips,  which  Were  rolled  up.  one  hand  unrolling  and  the 
 other  rolling  up  from  the  other  end  as  the  contents  were 
 
The  Propfiet  eateth  the  Roll. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   III. 
 
 He  is  encouraged  by  God- 
 
 therein ;  <10>  and  he  spread  it  before  me ; 
 and  it  was  written  within  and  without : 
 and  there  was  written  therein  lamenta- 
 tions, and  mourning,  and  woe. 
 
 CHAPTEK  III.— (U  Moreover  he  said 
 unto  me,  Son  of  man,  eat  that  thou 
 findest ;  eat  this  roll,  and  go  speak  unto 
 the  house  of  Israel.  (2)  So  I  opened  my 
 mouth,  and  he  caused  me  to  eat  that 
 roll.  <3>And  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of 
 man,  cause  thy  belly  to  eat,  and  fill  thy 
 bowels  with  this  roll  that  I  give  thee. 
 Then  did  I  "eat  it ;  and  it  was  in  my 
 mouth  as  honey  for  sweetness. 
 
 (4)  And  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
 go,  get  thee  unto  the  house  of  Israel, 
 and  speak  with  my  words  unto  them. 
 (s)  For  thou  art  not  sent  to  a  people  :of 
 
 !  Heb.,  deep  of  lip, 
 and  heavy  of 
 tongue :  ulid  su 
 ver.  6. 
 
 Heb.,  deep  of  lip, 
 and  heavy  of lan- 
 guage. 
 
 I  Or,  If  I  had  sent 
 thee,  &c,  would 
 tliey  not  have 
 hearkened    unto 
 
 4  Heb.,  stiff  of  fore- 
 head and  hard  of 
 heart. 
 
 a  strange  speech  and  of  an  hard  lan- 
 guage, but  to  the  house  of  Israel ;  ,6)  not 
 to  many  people2  of  a  strange  speech  and 
 of  an  hard  language,  whose  words  thou 
 canst  not  understand.  3  Surely,  had  I 
 sent  thee  to  them,  they  would  have 
 hearkened  unto  thee.  (7)  But  the  house 
 of  Israel  will  not  hearken  unto  thee ; 
 for  they  will  not  hearken  unto  me  :  for 
 all  the  house  of  Israel  are  4impudent  and 
 hardhearted.  (8)  Behold,  I  have  made 
 thy  face  strong  against  their  faces,  and 
 thy  forehead  strong  against  their  fore- 
 heads. <9)  As  an  adamant  harder  than 
 flint  have  I  made  thy  forehead :  'fear 
 them  not,  neither  be  dismayed  at  their 
 looks,  though  they  be  a  rebellious  house. 
 (io)  Moreover  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of 
 man,  all  my  words  that  I  shall  speak 
 
 read.  These  were  ordinarily  written  on  one  side  only, 
 as  it  would  have  been  inconvenient  to  read  the  other ; 
 but  in  this  ease  it  was  written  on  both  sides,  "  within 
 and  without,"  to  denote  the  fulness  of  the  message. 
 
 (io)  He  spread  it  before  me.— The  roll  was  given 
 to  the  prophet  open,  as  the  book  in  Rev.  x.  8,  that  he 
 might  first  see  it  all  as  a  whole,  before  becoming 
 thoroughly  possessed  with  it  in  detail.  What  he  saw 
 was  "  lamentations,  and  mourning,  and  woe ; "  in  other 
 words,  this  was  the  whole  character  of  the  message  he 
 was  commissioned  to  bear  until  the  great  judgment  in 
 the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  should  be 
 fulfilled,  when,  after  chap,  xxxiii.,  his  prophecies  assume 
 a  consolatory  character.    (See  Introduction,  VI.) 
 
 III. 
 
 The  division  between  this  and  the  preceding  chapter 
 is  unfortunate  ;  both  should  be  read  as  one  continuous 
 passage.  What  is  symbolically  described  in  the  last 
 verses  of  chap.  ii.  and  the  first  of  chap.  iii.  is  expressed 
 plainly  in  verses  10,  11. 
 
 (3)  It  was  in  my  mouth  as  honey  for  sweet- 
 ness.— That  is,  the  first  impression  made  upon  him  by 
 his  prophetic  call  was  one  of  delight.  Such  it  must 
 always  be  to  those  whose  high  privilege  it  is  to  bear 
 God's  message  to  their  fellows.  He  does  not  expressly 
 add,  as  St.  John  does  (Rev.  x.  10)  after  a  similar  first 
 sensation,  "  as  soon  as  I  had  eaten  it  my  belly  was 
 bitter ; "  but  it  may  easily  be  inferred  from  verse  14 
 that  such  was  his  experience  also,  when  he  went  with 
 his  heavy  message  to  a  people  indisposed  to  give  ear. 
 (Comp.  Jer.  xv.  16  and  xx.  7 — 18.) 
 
 (5)  To  a  people  of  a  strange  speech.— In  verses 
 4 — 7  it  is  emphasised  that  Ezekiel's  immediate  mission 
 is  to  be,  like  that  of  his  great  Antitype,  to  "  the  lost 
 sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  "  and  yet  that  they  would 
 not  give  the  heed  to  him  which  men  far  below  them  in 
 spiritual  privilege  would  have  gladly  yielded.  Similar 
 facts  are  continually  encountered  in  the  Scriptures, 
 whether  in  its  histories,  as  in  those  of  Naaman  the 
 Syrian,  of  the  faith  of  the  Syro-Phcenician  woman 
 (Matt.  xv.  21 — 28),  and  of  the  Roman  centurion  (Matt. 
 viii.  10 — 12),  or  in  the  express  declarations  of  our  Lord 
 that  the  teaching  and  signs  given  to  Chorazin,  Bethsaida, 
 
 and  Capernaum  in  vain  would  have  been  more  than 
 sufficient  for  the  conversion  of  Tyre,  or  Sidon,  or  even 
 of  Sodom  (Matt.  xi.  21,  23,  xii.  41,  42).  If  it  be  asked, 
 Why  then  should  so  much  of  the  Divine  compassion  be 
 expended  upon  a  nation  which  so  generally  refused 
 to  avail  itself  of  its  blessings?  the  answer  must  be 
 that  only  thus  could  even  a  few  be  raised  at  all  above 
 the  very  lowest  spiritual  plane,  and  that  the  raising  of 
 these  few  leads  ultimately  to  the  elevation  of  many. 
 As  an  accountable  being,  man  must  be  left  free  to 
 neglect  the  proffered  grace ;  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
 Israelites  to  whom  Ezekiel  was  sent,  there  would  always 
 be  many  who  choose  to  do  so.  The  consequence  of  this 
 neglect  must  be  such  a  hardening  of  the  heart,  as  was 
 now  shown  by  these  people,  and  every  man  is  warned 
 by  their  example  of  the  responsibility  attached  to  the 
 enjoyment  of  religious  privilege.  But  the  same  thing 
 woidd  have  happened  with  any  other  nation ;  and  that 
 God's  faithfulness  should  not  fail,  and  that  His  pur- 
 poses for  man's  salvation  should  be  accomplished,  more 
 grace  must  yet  be  given  and  His  people  must  still  lie 
 pleaded  with,  that  at  least  a  remnant  of  them  might  be 
 led  to  repentance  and  be  saved  from  the  impending  ruin. 
 Theodoret  calls  attention  to  the  contrast  between  the 
 restriction  of  the  grace  of  the  Old  Dispeusation  to  a 
 single  people,  and  the  universal  diffusion  of  the  preach- 
 ing of  the  Gospel. 
 
 (?)  All  the  house  of  Israel— Means,  of  course, 
 the  people  generally,  as  the  word  all  is  often  used  in 
 Scripture  and  elsewhere.  There  were  even  then  among 
 them  such  saints  as  Jeremiah  and  Daniel. 
 
 (8)  Thy  face  strong  against  their  faces.— 
 The  word  strong  is  the  same  here  as  that  rendered 
 impudent  (marg.  stiff)  in  verse  7.  Of  course  it  must 
 have  a  different  shade  of  meaning  in  its  application  to 
 the  rebellious  people  and  to  the  prophet ;  but  the  main 
 thought  is  taken  from  the  figure  of  horned  animals 
 in  their  contests,  and  God  promises  Ezekiel  to  make 
 him  in  the  struggle  stronger  than  those  who  oppose 
 him.  The  same  tiling  is  expressed  by  another  figure  in 
 verse  9. 
 
 (o)  An  adamant  harder  than  flint. — Adamant 
 is  the  diamond,  as  it  is  translated  (Jer.  xvii.  1).  The 
 people  were  as  hard  as  flint,  but  as  the  diamond  cuts 
 flint,  so  Ezekiel's  words  should  be  made  by  the  Divine 
 
 210 
 
He  is  carried  a/way 
 
 bzektel,  irr. 
 
 by  the  Spirit  to  Telrabib. 
 
 unto  thee    receive   in   thine    heart,    ami 
 
 hear  with  thine  ears.  ""And  go,  eei 
 thee  tut  hem  of  the  captivityj  onto  the 
 
 children  of  thy  people,  and  speak  unto 
 them,  and  tell  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 (ion;  whet  her  they  will  hoar,  or  whether 
 I  hey  will  forbear.  <'-' Then  the  spirit 
 tools  me  up,  and  I  heard  behind  me  a 
 voice  of  a  great  rushing,  saying,  Blessed 
 lie  the  glory  of  the  Lokii  from  his  place. 
 '■  ■'  I  heard  also  the  noise  of  the  wings  of 
 the  living  creatures  that  'touched  one 
 
 i  11.  r.  .kutat. 
 
 :i  Uih  .  hot  awj-  > 
 
 another,  and  the  noise  of  the  wheels  over 
 against  them,  and  a  noise  of  a  gn 
 ing.  (U)  So  the  spirit  lifted  me  up,  and 
 took  me  away,  and  I  ivenl  in  ^bitterness, 
 in  the  3heat  of  my  spirit ;  but  the  hand 
 of  the  Loed  was  strong  upon  me. 
 
 (is)  Then  I  came  to  them  of  the  capti- 
 vity at  Tel-abib,  that  dwelt  by  the  river 
 of  Chebar,  and  I  sat  where  they  sat,  and 
 remained  there  astonished  among  them 
 seven  days.  <16'Ainl  it  came  to  pass  at 
 the   end  of  seven  days,  that  the  word 
 
 power  to  cut  through  all  their  resistance.     Armed  with 
 this  strength,  he  need  not  fear  their  obduracy,  however 
 great. 
 (it)  Get  thee   to   them   of   the   captivity.— 
 
 Ezckicl's  mission  is  now  made  mure  definite.  In  verse 
 In   he   has   been  tulil  in  plain   terms   what    li.nl   already 
 
 been  symbolically  conveyed  under  the  figure  of  the 
 
 mil.  and  now  he  is  further  infor d  that  his  immediate 
 
 mission  tii  the  lnmse  uf  Israel  is  limited  to  that  part  of 
 it  which,  like  himself,  was  already  in  captivity.  At. 
 this   time,   and    for   several  years   to   come,  this    was   n 
 
 comparatively  small  par)  of  the  whole  nation;  but  before 
 
 Kzckiel's  minis!  rat  ions  were  (hushed  it  embraced  the 
 mass  of  them.  (See  lntrod.,  III.)  It  is  noticeable  that 
 God  directs  him  to  go,  not  to  My,  but  to  thy  people; 
 jusi  as  in  chap.  ii.  8  He  speaks  of  them  as  heathen, 
 so  here  He  refuses  to  recognise  them  in  their  present 
 state  as  really  His  people.  iCoinp.  Exod.  xxxii.  7; 
 chap,  xxxiii.  2.  12,  17;  Dan.  ix.  24,  X.  14.)  At  the  same 
 time,  there  is  thus  indirectly  suggested  to  the  prophet. 
 8  reminder  that  he  is  himself  one  of  the  same  people,  and 
 
 ii Is  therefore  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  sin  and 
 
 obduracy  which  characterise  them. 
 
 »■->  Then  the  spirit  took  me  up.— This  also  is 
 to  be  understood  as  done  in  vision,  as  in  chaps,  viii.  3, 
 xi.  1,  '24.  (C'omp.  Acts  viii.  39.)  1"  the  last  ease  the 
 "  taking  up  "  is  expressly  said  to  have  been  in  vision. 
 This  closes  one  act,  so  to  speak,  of  the  prophet's  con- 
 secration, and  now  the  vision  which  he  has  been  Seeing 
 all  along  leaves  him  for  a  time.  He  hears  the  groat 
 voice  of  ascription  of  praise,  without  definite  mention 
 of  its  source,  but  doubtless,  as  in  Isa.  vi.  and  Rev.  iv., 
 from  all  that  surround  the  throne;  and  he  hears  the 
 noise  of  the  moving  wings  of  the  cherubim,  and  of  the 
 wheels.  He  has  seen  the  representation  of  the  glory  of 
 Him  who  sends  him,  and  has  heard  the  character  of  his 
 
 message.  Be  must  now.  in  the  light  of  this  knowledge, 
 see  those  to  whom  he  is  sent.  The  Hebrew  for  "  wings 
 that  touched  one  another"  is  beautifully  figurative: 
 
 "  wings  that  kissed  each  one  its  sister." 
 
 (i*)  I  went  in  bitterness,  in  the  heat  of  my 
 spirit. — The  prophet  now  begins  to  realise  the  sorrow 
 and  the  trial  ot  the  task  laid  upon  him.  The  command 
 of  the  Lord  was  sweet  verse  ft),  its  performance  is  bitter. 
 "  Rut  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  strong"  upon  him,  and 
 he  could  not  forbear.  Compare  t lie  similar  experience  of 
 Jeremiah  i.Jer.  xx.  X.  il;  see  also  Amos  iii.  8),  when  in 
 his  discouragement  he  had  almost  resolved  to  refuse  to 
 declare  (bid's  message,  but  the  word  of  the  Lord  was 
 as  a  burning  fire  within,  and  he  could  not  refrain — an 
 experience  which  every  faithful  teacher  in  God's  name 
 is  obliged,  more  or  less  fully,  to  pass  through. 
 
 (IB)  I  came  to  them  of  the  captivity  at  Tel- 
 abib. — Ezekiel  now  leaves  the  place  where  he  had  been. 
 
 and  comes  to  Tel-abib,  which  is  described  as  still  by 
 the  same  "  river  of  Chebar,"  and  which  signifies  the 
 "mound  of  cars  (of  grain),"  and  was  probably  a  place 
 of  especial  fruitfulness,  but  which  cannot  be  further 
 identified.  It  appears  to  have  been  the  central  place  of 
 the  captivity. 
 
 I  sat  where  they  sat  is  an  expression  of  so  much 
 
 difficulty  in  tin-  Hebrew,  that  it  has  given  rise  to  various 
 readings  in  the  manuscripts,  and  to  a  marginal  eorree. 
 tion  which  has  been  followed  by  the  English.  Probahlv 
 the  VOWel-pomting  of  the  first  word  should  be  changed, 
 and  it  will  then  read,  "and  1  saw  where  th.\  sit." 
 
 Bemained  there  astonished  among  them 
 seven  days.  —  Comp.  Dan.  iv.  1!) ;  Ezra  ix.  ft,  4. 
 The  word  implies  a  fixed  and  determined  silence.  "  To 
 be  silent  was  the  characteristic  of  mourners  (Lam.  iii. 
 28);  to  sit,  their  proper  attitude  ( Isa.  iii.  2(i;  Lam.  i.l); 
 seven  days,  the  set  fame  of  mourning  (Job  ii.  lftt."  Ey 
 this  act  the  prophet  shows  his  deep  sympathy  with  his 
 people  in  their  affliction.  This  week  of  silent  medita- 
 tion among  those  to  whom  he  was  commissioned  to 
 speak  corresponds,  as  already  said,  to  the  week  of  the 
 consecration  of  his  fathers  to  their  priestly  office  (Lev. 
 viii.).  Such  a  season  of  retirement  and  thought  has 
 been  given  to  other  great  religious  leaders — to  Moses. 
 in  his  forty  years  of  exile;  to  Elijah,  in  his  forty  days 
 in  Mount  Horeb  (1  Kings  xix.  4 — 8);  to  St.  Paul,  in 
 his  journey  to  Arabia  (Gal.  i.  17);  and  to  our  Lord 
 Himself,  when  He  went  into  the  wilderness  after  His 
 baptism. 
 
 t";>  At  the  end  of  seven  days.— A  fresh  Divine 
 communication  comes  to  the  prophet,  designed  especially 
 
 to  impress  upon  him  the  responsibility  of  his  office 
 (verses  It! — 21).  In  chap. xxxiii.  1 — 20  the  same  charge 
 is  repeated  with  some  amplification,  and  there  verses 
 2 — 6  are  taken   up  with   describing   the   duties  of  the 
 
 military  sentinel,  upon  which  both  these  figurative  ad- 
 dresses are  founded.  The  language  is  there  arranged 
 in  the  parallelism  of  Hebrew  poetry,  to  which  there  is 
 indeed  an  approach  here,  but   too  imperfect  to  be  easily 
 
 represented  in  English.  What  is  said  there,  moreover, 
 is  expressly  required  to  be  spoken  to  the  people  verse 
 11.  while  this  seems  to  have  been  immediately  for  the 
 prophet's  own  ear. 
 
 The  substance  of  the  communication  in  either  place 
 is  this:  man  must  in  all  cases  live  or  die  according  to 
 his  own  personal  righteousness  or  sinfulness ;  but  such 
 a  responsibility  rests  upon  the  watchman,  that  if  he  die 
 unwarned  his  blood  will  be  required  at  the  watchman's 
 hand.  The  responsibility  extends  only,  however,  to  the 
 giving  of  the  wanting,  not  to  its  results;  when  the 
 warning  is  given  the  watchman  has"  delivered  his  soul," 
 whether  it  is  heeded  or  not.  The  word  SOftl  in  VcroOO 
 19,  21,  as  also  in  chap,  xxxiii.  5,  9,  is  uot  to  be  uuder- 
 
 211 
 
Tlie  Watchman  of  Israel. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   III. 
 
 By  t/te  River  of  Chebar. 
 
 of  the  Loed  came  unto  me,  saying, 
 ,17'aSon  of  man,  I  have  made  thee  a 
 watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel : 
 therefore  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth, 
 and  give  them  warning  from  me.  <18) 
 When  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  Thou 
 shalt  surely  die ;  and  thou  givest  him 
 not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn  the 
 wicked  from  his  wicked  way,  to  save  his 
 life ;  the  same  wicked  man  shall  die  in 
 his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will  I  require 
 at  thine  hand.  <19)  Yet  if  thou  warn  the 
 wicked,  and  he  turn  not  from  his  wicked- 
 ness, nor  from  his  wicked  way,  he  shall 
 die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  thou  hast  deli- 
 vered thy  soul.  <20>  Again,  When  a 
 *  righteous  man  doth  turn  from  his 
 1  righteousness,  and  commit  iniquity, 
 and  I  lay  a  stumblingblock  before  him, 
 he  shall  die :  because  thou  hast  not 
 given  him  warning,  he  shall  die  in  his 
 
 1  Heb.,  righteous- 
 nesses. 
 
 sin,  and  his  righteousness  which  he  hath 
 done  shall  not  be  remembered  ;  but  his 
 blood  will  I  require  at  thine  hand. 
 (21)  Nevertheless  if  thou  warn  the  righ- 
 teous man,  that  the  righteous  sin  not, 
 and  he  doth  not  sin,  he  shall  surely  live, 
 because  he  is  warned ;  also  thou  hast 
 delivered  thy  soul. 
 
 (22)  And  the  hand  of  the  Loed  was  there 
 upon  me  ;  and  he  said  unto  me,  Arise, 
 go  forth  into  the  plain,  and  I  will  there 
 talk  with  thee.  <23>  Then  I  arose,  and 
 went  forth  into  the  plain  :  and,  behold, 
 the  glory  of  the  Loed  stood  there,  as 
 the  glory  which  I  csaw  by  the  river  of 
 Chebar  :  and  I  fell  on  my  face.  W>  Then 
 the  spirit  entered  into  me,  and  set  me 
 upon  my  feet,  and  spake  with  me,  and 
 said  unto  me,  Go,  shut  thyself  within 
 thine  house.  *25)  But  thou,  0  son  of  man, 
 behold,  they  shall  put  bands  upon  thee, 
 
 stood  distinctively  of  the  immortal  part  of  man.  but  is 
 equivalent  to  life,  and  forms  here,  as  often  in  Hebrew, 
 little  more  than  a  form  of  the  reflective,  thy  soul  = 
 thyself. 
 
 In  this  charge  the  individual  and  personal  relation 
 in  which  every  Israelite  stood  to  God  is  strongly  em- 
 phasised, that  they  may  neither  feel  themselves  lost 
 because  their  nation  is  undergoing  punishment,  nor,  on 
 the  other  hand,  think  that  no  repentance  is  required  of 
 them  individually  because  they  "  had  Abraham  to  their 
 father."  The  gradual  bringing  out  more  and  more 
 fully  the  individual  relation  of  man  to  God,  at  the  ex- 
 pense of  the  comparative  sinking  of  the  federal  relation, 
 is  one  of  the  most  strongly  marked  features  of  the 
 progress  of  revelation,  and  at  no  other  time  was  this 
 progress  so  great  as  under  the  stern  discipline  of  the 
 captivity.  In  Ezekiel's  office  of  "  watchman,"  there  is 
 even  an  approach  to  the  pastoral "  cure  of  souls  "  under 
 the  Christian  dispensation.  Such  an  office  had  almost 
 no  place  under  the  Old  Testament,  and  Ezekiel  is  the 
 only  one  of  the  prophets  who  is  charged  to  exercise 
 this  office  distinctly  towards  individuals.  Habakkuk, 
 indeed,  speaks  of  standing  upon  his  watch  on  the  tower 
 (Hab.  ii.  1) ;  Jeremiah,  of  the  watchmen  whom  the 
 people  would  not  hear  ( Jer.  vi.  17)  ;  and  Isaiah,  of  the 
 "  blind  watchmen  "  (Isa.  lvi.  10) ;  but  the  duty  of  all 
 these  was  far  more  collective  and  national. 
 
 (20)  when  a  righteous  man  doth  turn  from 
 his  righteousness.— Quite  independently  of  any 
 theological  question,  it  is  undeniable  that  the  Scripture 
 here,  as  often  elsewhere,  represents  the  upright  man  as 
 exposed  to  temptation,  and  in  danger  of  falling  into 
 sin.  The  duty  of  the  prophet,  therefore,  is  not  only  to 
 seek  to  turn  the  wicked  from  his  evil  way,  but  also  to 
 warn  the  righteous  against  falling  into  the  same  path. 
 Both  terms  must  necessarily  be  taken  as  comparative ; 
 but  they  show  that  there  was  even  now  a  considerable 
 difference  in  character  among  the  captives. 
 
 I  lay  a  stumblingblock  before  him.  —  A 
 "  stumbling-block  "  is  anything  at  which  people  actually 
 stumble,  whether  intended  for  that  purpose  or,  on  the 
 contrary,  designed  for  their  highest  good.  Thus  Christ 
 is  foretold  as  a  stumbling-block  to  both  the  houses  of 
 
 Israel  (Isa.  viii.  14),  and  is  several  times  spoken  of  as 
 such  by  the  apostles  (1  Cor.  i.  23;  Rom.  ix.  32,  33; 
 1  Pet.  ii.  8).  The  word  is  used  oftener  by  Ezekiel  than 
 by  all  the  other  Old  Testament  writers  together ;  in 
 chap.  vii.  19  the  riches  of  the  people  are  spoken  of  as 
 their  stumbling-block,  and  in  chap.  xliv.  12  (marg.)  the 
 sinful  Levites  are  described  as  a  stumbling-block.  The 
 meaning  here  is  plainly,  "  when  a  man  perverts  any  of 
 God's  gifts  or  providences  into  an  occasion  of  sin." 
 
 (22)  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  there  upon 
 me. — The  prophet's  week  of  silent  meditation  being- 
 past,  and  the  charge  of  responsibility  given,  the  con- 
 straining power  of  God  again  comes  upon  him,  and 
 sends  him  forth  to  the  final  act  of  preparation  for  his 
 work. 
 
 (23)  Went  forth  into  the  plain.— As  he  was  now 
 again  to  see  the  same  vision  as  at  the  first,  it  was  fitting 
 that  he  should  leave  the  thickly -peopled  Tel-abib  and 
 seek  a  place  of  solitude,  and  in  that  solitude  God 
 promises  him, "  I  will  there  talk  with  thee."  The  vision 
 reappeared;  again  the  prophet  fell  on  his  face,  and 
 again  the  Spirit  set  him  upon  his  feet,  and  talked  with 
 him. 
 
 t24)  Go,  shut  thyself  within  thine  house.— 
 The  prophet's  consecration  being  now  complete,  he  is 
 to  enter  upon  his  actual  work ;  yet,  in  view  of  the  dis- 
 position of  the  people,  he  is  to  begin  his  prophecies  in 
 a  private  way,  shut  up  in  his  house.  Or  it  may  be  that 
 this  should  be  understood  of  a  period  of  absolute  silence 
 and  meditation  preparatory  to  entering  upon  his  work. 
 Moreover,  fresh  warning  is  given  of  the  reception  he 
 must  be  prepared  to  meet. 
 
 (25)  They  shall  put  bands  upon  thee.  — 
 Ezekiel's  contemporary  prophet,  Jeremiah,  was  actually 
 thrown  into  prison  in  Judaea,  and  even  into  a  foul 
 dungeon  (Jer.  xxxvii.  21,  xxxviii.  6) ;  but  nothing  of 
 this  kind  is  to  be  understood  here.  There  is  no  trace 
 of  such  treatment  throughout  the  book,  nor  is  it  likely 
 that  it  would  have  been  suffered  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
 among  his  captives,  or  possible  under  the  administra- 
 tion of  Daniel.  Besides,  a  similar  laying  of  bands 
 upon  him  (although  for  a  different  purpose)  is  mentioned 
 in  chap.  iv.  8,  which  must  necessarily  be  understood 
 
 212 
 
The  Prophtt  to  be  Dumb. 
 
 KZKKIEL,    IV. 
 
 Tlw.  Drawing  on  tlie  Tile. 
 
 and  shall  hind  t  lice  wit  li  them,  and  tbofl 
 shall  not  £0  out  mnrmg  tlit'in  :  Wand  I 
 will  make  thy  tongue  eleave  to  the  roof 
 of  thy  month,  thai  thou  shall  be  dumb, 
 and  .-halt  not  be  to  them  *a  reprover : 
 for  they  area  rebellious  house.  '-"'But 
 when  I  speak  with  thee,  I  will  open 
 thy    mouth,    and    thou   shall    say   unto 
 
 them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;   He 
 
 that  beareth,  let  him  hear;  and  hi'  that 
 forheareth,  let  him  forbear  :  for  they  are 
 a  rebellious  house. 
 
 1    II'  ii  .  -i  truin  re 
 yrucuiij. 
 
 Qr.chUf  Uaderi. 
 
 3   Or,  a  flat  platr, 
 or,  slice. 
 
 CHAPTER  IV.— W  Thou  also,  son  of 
 man,  take  thee  a  tile,  and  lay  it  before 
 thee,  and  ponrtray  upon  it  the  city,  even 
 i  Jerusalem  :  <->  and  lay  siege  against  it, 
 and  build  a  fort  against  it,  and  i-ast 
 a  mount  against  it;  set  the  camp 
 also  against  it,  and  set  ibattering  rams 
 against  it  round  about.  (3)  Moreover 
 take  thou  unto  thee  3an  iron  pan,  and 
 set  it  for  a  wall  of  iron  between  thee  and 
 the  city  :  and  set  thy  face  against  it,  and 
 it  shall  be  besieged,  and  thou  shalt  lay 
 
 figuratively.  The  compulsion  described  in  this  and  the 
 following  verse  was  a  mors]  one.  Esekiel's  country- 
 man, especially  during  tin'  period  of  liis  warnings  until 
 ili'  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  should  so  absolutely 
 refuse  t"  heai  him,  that  it  would  become  practically 
 jmpnmihln  t',>r  linn  t.>  declare  liis  prophecies;  In-  would 
 in-  as  if  la-  were  bound. 
 
 (M  I  will  make  thy  tongue  cleave  to  tho 
 roof  of  thy  mouth.— Here,  under  another  figure. 
 i  lii-  enforced  silence  is  attributed,  not  to  "the  rebellious 
 house,"  by  whom  it  was  immediately  brought  about*  but 
 t'»  God   Himself,  whose  providence  was  the   ultimate 
 
 cause  by  which  the  prophet  was  pla I  in  such  oircum- 
 
 stanrrs.  It  is  a  way  of  expressing  strongly  the  difficul- 
 ties Under  which  he  was  tu  exercise  his  ministry. 
 
 i-7'  When  I  speak  with  thee,  I  will  open  thy 
 mouth.-  To  this  Ezekiel  evidently  refers  iii  chaps. 
 wiv.  'J7.  xwiii.  J_'.  when,  after  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
 salem, his  mouth   shoiihl   mo  longer  he  shut.     But  until 
 
 then,  although  he  should  he  greatly  restrained  in  liis 
 ordinary  utterances  by  the  opposition  of  the  people,  yet 
 there  would  be  times  when  God  would  give  him  a 
 message  with  such  power  that  he  would  lie  constrained 
 
 to  declare  it.  whether  the  people  would  hear  or  whether 
 they  would  forbear.  Such  messages  are  those  con- 
 tained in  this  book,  which  at  this  paint  begin  to  be 
 recorded.  By  all  this  tho  difficulties  and  trials  under 
 which  the  prophet  must  exercise  his  office,  are  clearly 
 and  strongly  sei  before  him.  (See  Excursus  I.,  "  On  tho 
 Figurative  and  Symbolical  Languago  of  EzekioL") 
 
 IV. 
 
 (')  Take  thee  a  tile.— The  use  of  tiles  for  such 
 purposes  as  that  here  indicated  was  common  both  in 
 Babylonia  and  in  Nineveh.  When  intended  for  pre- 
 servation the  writing  or  drawing  was  made  upon  the 
 Soft  and  plastic  clay,  which  was  afterwards  baked. 
 It  is  from  the  remains  of  great  libraries  prepared  in 
 this  way  that  most  of  our  modern  knowledge  of  Nineveh 
 and  Babylon  has  been  derived.  It  is,  of  Course,  quite 
 possible  th.it  K/ekiol  may  have  drawn  in  this  way  upon 
 a  soft  clay  tile;  but  from  the  whole  account  in  this  and 
 the  following  chapters  it  i-  more  likely  that  ho  simply 
 described,  rather  than  actually  performed,  these  sym- 
 bolical acts. 
 
 M  Lay  siege  against  it.— It  must  have  seemed 
 at  this  time  unlikeh  that  Jerusalem  would  soon  become 
 the  subject  of  another  siege.    The  only  power  by  whom 
 
 Mich  a  siege  could  be  undertaken  was  Babylon,  Egypt 
 having  I n  so  thoroughly  defeated  as  to  be  for  a  long 
 
 time  out  of  the  question;  and  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
 now.  within  a  few  years,  thrice  completely  conqnered 
 Judaa.liad  carried  two  of  its  kings,  one  after  the  other, 
 captive  in  chains,  and  had  also  taken  into  captivity 
 
 213 
 
 10,000  of  the  chief  of  the  people,  setting  up  as  king 
 over  the  remnant  a  creature  of  his  own,  who  was  yet  of 
 the  royal  bouse  of  Judah.  A  fresh  Siege  could  only  bo 
 the  result  of  a  fresh  rcbellion.au  act,  under  the  circum- 
 stances, of  simple  infatuation.  1  H  of  this  infatuation 
 Zeihkiah.  through  the  "anger  of  tho  Lord  "  (2  Kings 
 xxiv.  20),  was  guilty,  and  thus  the  prophecy  was  ful- 
 filled.     The  prop] V  itself  is  undated,  but  must-  have 
 
 been  between  the  call  of  Ezekiel  ill  tile  fifth  month  of 
 the  fifth  year  (chap.  i.L'i  and  the  next  date  given  (chap. 
 viii.  1),  tho  sixth  month  of  the  sixth  year.  The  siege 
 began, according  to  Jer.  Iii.  4,  in  the  tenth  month  of  the 
 ninth  year,  so  that  the  prophecy  preceded  its  fulfilment 
 by  only  about  four  years. 
 
 Build  a  fort  against  it.— Rather,  a  tower.  The 
 several  acts  of  a  siege  are  graphically  described.  First 
 tho  city  is  invested;  then  a  tower  is  built,  as  was 
 customary,  of  sufficient  height  to  overlook  the  walls 
 and  thus  obtain  information  of  the  doings  of  the  be- 
 sieged.  Instruments  for  throwing  stones  ordarts  were 
 also  .sometimes  placed  in  such  towers;  next  is  "cast  a 
 mound  against  it."  a  common  operation  of  the  ancient 
 sioge  iconip.  Isa.  xxxvii.  33 ;  Jer.  xxxii.  '24 1.  in  which 
 a  sort  of  artificial  hill  was  built  to  give  the  besiegers 
 an  advantage  ;  then  the  camps  not  merely  camp)  are 
 set  round  the  eity  to  prevent  ingress  and  egress;  and 
 finally  "the  battering  rams  "  are  brought  against  the 
 wall-.  These  last  were  heavy  beam-,  headed  with  iron, 
 and  slung  in  towers,  so  that  they  could  be  swung 
 against  the  walls  with  great  force.  They  are  fre- 
 quently to  be  noticed  in  the  representations  of  sieges 
 found  in  the  ruins  of  Nineveh.  The  praetil f  form- 
 ing the  end  of  the  beam  like  a  ram's  bead  belongs  to 
 the  Greeks  and  Romans;  but  the  instrument  itself  was 
 much  older. 
 
 (8)  An  iron  pan.-  The  margin  gives  the  sense  more 
 accurately.  a  flat  plate.  It  was  used  for  baking  cakes 
 (see  TjCV.  ii.  5.  marg.).  This  was  to  be  set  for  a  wall  of 
 iron  between  the  prophet  representing  the  beeiegl 
 and  the  city,  doubtless  as  symbolical  of  the  strength  of 
 the  besiegers'  lines,  and  of  the  impossibility  there  would 
 be  of  an  escape  from  the  eity  by  a  sally.  Their  foes 
 should  be  made  too  strong  for  them  defensively  as  well 
 as  offensively. 
 
 A  sign  to  the  house  of  Israel.— As  already 
 said,  the  tribe  of  Jmlah,  witli  the  associated  remnants 
 of  the  other  tribes,  is  considered  as  representing  the 
 whole  nation  after  the  Assyrian  captivity,  and  is  spoken 
 of  as  "  the  house  of  Israel  "  except  when  there  is  occa- 
 sion to  distinguish  especially  between  the  two  parts  of 
 the  nation.  See  chaps,  iii.  7.  17.  v.  4.  viii.  6;  2  Cliron. 
 xxi.  •_'.  xxviii.  27.  4c.)  The  prophecy  would  have  Wen 
 equally  effective  whether  seen  as  a  symbolic  act  or 
 only  related 
 
Bearing  the  Iniquity 
 
 EZEKIEL,   IV. 
 
 of  the  House  of  Israel. 
 
 siege  against  it.     This  shall  be  a  sign  to 
 the  house  of  Israel. 
 
 <4>  Lie  thou  also  upon  thy  left  side,  and 
 lay  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Israel 
 upon  it :  according  to  the  number  of  the 
 days  that  thou  shalt  he  upon  it  thou 
 shalt  bear  their  iniquity.  (5)  For  I  have 
 laid  upon  thee  the  years  of  their  iniquity, 
 according  to  the  number  of  the  days, 
 three  hundred  and  ninety  days :  °so  shalt 
 thou  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of 
 Israel.  (6)  And  when  thou  hast  accom- 
 plished them,  lie  again  on  thy  right 
 side,  and  thou  shalt  bear  the  iniquity  of 
 the  house  of  Judah  forty  days :  I  have 
 appointed  thee  ^ach  day  for  a  year. 
 m  Therefore  thou  shalt  set  thy  face  to- 
 
 a  Num.  14.  31. 
 
 I  Heh.,  a  day  for 
 a  year,  a  day  far 
 d  year. 
 
 2  Hel>..  from   thy 
 ide  to  thy  side. 
 
 3  Or,  spelt. 
 
 ward  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  thine 
 arm  shall  be  uncovered,  and  thou  shalt 
 prophesy  against  it.  <8)  And,  behold,  I 
 will  lay  bands  upon  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
 not  turn  thee3 from  one  side  to  another, 
 till  thou  hast  ended  the  days  of  thy 
 siege. 
 
 <9<  Take  thou  also  unto  thee  wheat, 
 and  barley,  and  beans,  and  lentiles,  and 
 millet,  and  z  fitches,  and  put  them  in  one 
 vessel,  and  make  thee  bread  thereof, 
 according  to  the  number  of  the  days 
 that  thou  shalt  lie  upon  thy  side,  three 
 hundred  and  ninety  days  shalt  thou  eat 
 thereof.  (10)  And  thy  meat  which  thou 
 shalt  eat  shall  be  by  weight,  twenty  she- 
 kels a  day  :  from  time  to  time  shalt  thou 
 
 (*)  Lie  thou  also  upon  thy  left  side. — Here 
 a  fresh  feature  of  this  symbolical  prophecy  begins, 
 while  the  former  siege  is  still  continued  (verse  7). 
 
 Lay  the  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Israel 
 upon  it. — The  expression,  to  bear  the  iniquity  of  any 
 one,  is  common  in  Scripture  to  denote  the  suffering  of 
 the  punishment  due  to  sin.  (See,  among  many  other 
 passages,  chaps,  xviii.  19,  20,  xxiii.  35;  Lev.  xix.  8; 
 Num.  xiv.  34;  Isa.  liii.  12.)  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that 
 Ezekiel  is  here  to  represent  the  people  as  enduring  the 
 Divine  judgment  upon  their  sins.  This  may  seem 
 inconsistent  with  his  representing  at  the  same  time  the 
 besiegers  of  Jerusalem,  the  instruments  in  the  Divine 
 hand  for  inflicting  that  punishment ;  but  such  incon- 
 sistencies are  common  enough  in  all  symbolic  repi-esen- 
 tations,  and  neither  offend  nor  in  any  way  mar  the 
 effect  of  the  representation.  "  The  house  of  Israel " 
 is  here  expressly  distinguished  from  "  the  house  of 
 Judah,"  and  means  the  ten  tribes.  They  are  symbolised 
 by  the  prophet's  lying  on  his  left  side,  because  it  was 
 the  Oriental  habit  to  look  to  the  east  when  describing 
 the  points  of  the  compass,  and  the  northern  kingdom 
 was  therefore  on  the  left. 
 
 (5)  The  years  of  their  iniquity,  according  to 
 the  number  of  the  days.— Comp.  Num.  xiv.  34. 
 In  regard  to  the  number  of  the  years,  see  Excursus  II. 
 at  the  end  of  this  book. 
 
 (6)  The  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Judah  forty 
 days.  —  This  forty  days  is  clearly  subsequent  and 
 additional  to  the  390  days,  making  in  all  a  period  of 
 430  days.  (On  these  numbers  see  Excursus  II.  at  the 
 end  of  this  book.)  The  great  disproportion  between  the 
 two  is  in  accordance  with  the  difference  in  the  two 
 parts  of  the  nation,  and  the  consequent  Divine  dealings 
 with  them.  Judah  had  remained  faithful  to  its  ap- 
 pointed rulers  of  the  house  of  David,  several  of  whose 
 kings  had  been  eminently  devout  men ;  through  what- 
 ever mixture  with  idolatry  it  had  yet  always  retained 
 the  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  had  kept  up  the  Aaronic 
 priesthood,  and  preserved  with  more  or  less  respect 
 the  law  of  Moses.  It  was  now  entering  upon  the 
 period  of  the  Babylonish  captivity,  from  which,  after 
 seventy  years,  a  remnant  was  to  be  again  restored  to 
 keep  up  the  people  of  the  Messiah.  Israel,  on  the 
 other  hand,  had  set  up  a  succession  of  dynasties,  and 
 not  one  of  all  their  kings  had  been  a  God-fearing  man ; 
 they  had  made  Baal  their  national  god,  and  had  made  ' 
 
 214 
 
 priests  at  their  pleasure  of  the  lowest  of  the  people,  and 
 in  consequence  of  their  sins  had  been  carried  into  a 
 captivity  from  which  they  never  returned. 
 
 (7)  Set  thy  face  is  a  common  Scriptural  expres- 
 sion for  any  steadfast  purpose.  (See  Lev.  xvii.  10, 
 xx.  3,  5,  6,  xxvi.  17 ;  2  Chron.  xx.  3,  marg.,  &c.)  It  is  a 
 particularly  favourite  phrase  with  Ezekiel  (chap.  xv.  7, 
 xx.  46,  &c).  Here  this  steadfastness  of  purpose  was  to 
 be  exercised  "  toward  the  siege  of  Jerusalem ;  "  there 
 woidd  be  no  relenting  in  this  matter — God's  purpose 
 of  judgment  should  surely  be  fulfilled.  Further  sym- 
 bolism to  the  same  effect  is  added,  "  Thine  arm  shall 
 be  uncovered,"  withdrawn  from  the  loose  sleeve  of  the 
 Oriental  robe,  and  made  ready  for  battle.  (Coinp.  Isa.lii. 
 10.)  Withal  he  is  to  "  prophesy  against  it,"  doubtless 
 by  words  suited  to  his  actions. 
 
 (g)  I  will  lay  bands  upon  thee. — See  on  chap, 
 iii.  25.  This  is  a  fresh  feature  of  the  unrelenting  cha- 
 racter of  the  judgment  foretold :  God's  power  should 
 interpose  to  keep  the  prophet  to  his  work.  Not  only 
 pity,  but  even  human  weakness  and  weariness,  should 
 be  excluded  from  interfering.  The  prophet  is  spoken 
 of  as  besieging  the  city,  because  he  is  doing  so  in  figure. 
 
 (9)  Take  thou  also  unto  thee  wheat.  —  The 
 grains  enumerated  are  of  all  kinds  from  the  best  to 
 the  worst,  indicating  that  every  sort  of  food  would 
 be  sought  after  in  the  straitness  of  the  siege.  If  the 
 mixing  of  these  in  one  vessel  and  making  bread  of 
 them  all  together  was  not  against  the  exact  letter  of  the 
 law,  it  was,  at  least,  a  plain  violation  of  its  spirit  (Lev. 
 xix.  19  ;  Deut.  xxii.  9),  thus  again  indicating  the  stern 
 necessity  which  shoidd  be  laid  upon  the  people. 
 
 Three  hundred  and  ninety  days.— No  mention 
 is  here  made  of  the  additional  forty  days.  (See  Excursus.) 
 
 (io)  By  weight,  twenty  shekels  a  day.— The 
 weight  of  the  shekel  is  somewhat  differently  estimated 
 by  different  authorities.  The  best  computations  fix  it 
 at  about  220  grains,  and  this  woidd  make  the  allowance 
 of  twenty  shekels  equal  to  something  less  than  eleven 
 ounces,  scarcely  enough  to  sustain  life.  "  Meat "  is 
 here  used,  as  often  in  Scripture,  of  any  kind  of  food. 
 The  extreme  scarcity  of  food  is  also  denoted  by  its 
 being  weighed  rather  than  measured.  "  From  time  to 
 time  "  means  at  set  intervals  of  time  (see  1  Chron.  ix. 
 25),  here  doubtless  once  a  day.  Only  the  longer  period 
 of  390  days  is  here  mentioned,  but  the  same  command 
 doubtless  applied  to  both  periods. 
 
The  Staff  of  Dread 
 
 EZEKIEL,  V. 
 
 i7i  Jerusalem  Broken. 
 
 eat  it.  '"'Thou  shall  <  I  rink  also  water 
 by  measure,  the  sixth  pari  of  : t f i  Inn: 
 from  time  to  time  shalt  thou  drink. 
 "-'And  thou  shalt  eat  it  a.i  barley  cakes, 
 mid  I  Ik. u  sha.lt.  bake  it  with  dung  thai 
 COmeth  oul  of  man,  iii  their  Bight. 
 ":i|  And  the  li(iKl)  said,  Kveli  thus  shall 
 the  children   ut'    Israel    eat     their   detiled 
 
 bread  among  the  Gentiles,  whither  I 
 will  drive  them. 
 
 <">  Then  said  I,  Ah  Lord  God  !  behold, 
 mv  smil  hath  not  been  polluted:  for  from 
 m\  youth  up  even  till  now  have  I  not 
 eaten  of  that  which  dieth  of  itself,  or 
 is  torn  in  pieces;  neither  came  there 
 abominable  llesliiiitomy  mouth.  (15)Then 
 he  said  unto  me,  Lo,  1  have  given  thee 
 cow's  dung  for  man's  dung,  and  thou 
 shalt  prepare  fchj  bread  therewith. 
 
 11  Lot.  n  m  ;  cb 
 
 6. 10;  A  14.  13. 
 
 <10>  Moreover  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of 
 man,  behold,  I  will  break  the  "  staff  of 
 bread  in  Jerusalem :  and  they  shall  eat 
 bread  by  weight,  and  with  care;  and 
 they  shall  drink  water  by  measure,  and 
 with  astonishment :  <17'  that  they  may 
 want  bread  and  water,  and  be  astonied 
 one  with  another,  and  consume  away  for 
 their  iniquity. 
 
 CHAPTER  V.— W  And  thou,  son  of 
 man,  take  thee  a  sharp  knife,  take  thee 
 a  barber's  razor,  and  cause  it  to  pass 
 upon  thine  head  and  upon  thy  beard : 
 then  take  thee  balances  to  weigh,  and 
 divide  the  hair.  (2)  Thou  shalt  burn 
 with  fire  a  third  part  in  the  midst  of 
 the  city,  when  the  days  of  the  siege  are 
 fulfilled :  and  thou  shalt  take  a  third 
 
 (M)  Tho  sixth  part  of  an  hin.— Tliero  is  also 
 a  difference  among  tho  authorities  as  to  the  measures  of 
 capacity  fur  liquids.  These  would  make  the  sixth  pari 
 of  .in  bin  from  six-tenths  to  nine-tenths  of  a  pint. 
 This  also  was  to  l>e  drunk  once  a  day. 
 
 (U)   As    barley    cakes.— These    were  commonly 
 
 OOoked  in  till)  hot  ashes,   hence   the  especial   defilement 
 
 caused  by  the  fuel  required  to  be  used.    Against  this 
 
 the   prophet    pleads,  not    merely  as   revolting  in   itself, 
 
 but  as  cere aially  polluting  (verso  14;  see  Lev.  v.  .'i, 
 
 vii.  L'l  |,  and  a  mitigation  of  the  requirement  is  granted 
 to  him  I  verse  15). 
 
 In  their  sight.— This  is  still  a  part  of  the  vision. 
 The  words  have  heen  thought  to  determine  that  the 
 whole  transaction  was  all  actual  symbolic  act  and  not  a 
 vision;  hut  this  does  not  follow.  It  need  only  have 
 been  B  part  of  the  vision  that  what  was  dune  was 
 done  publicly. 
 
 (13)  Eat  their  defiled  bread  among  the  Gen- 
 tiles.- The  Mosaic  law  purposely  so  hedged  the  people 
 
 about  with  detailed  precepts  in  regard  to  their  food  and 
 its  preparation,  thai  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  share 
 
 the  food  of  the  Gentiles  without  contracting  ceremonial 
 defilement ;  and  the  declared  object  of  this  symbolism 
 
 is  t.i  teach  that  the  Israelites  should  thus  lie  forced  to 
 contract   defilement.     Their  sins  had  brought  them  to 
 
 that    pass,  which  is  so  often  the  result  of  continued  and 
 
 obdurate  sin, that  it  should  be  impossible  lor  them  to 
 avoid  further   transgression.     Ezekiel    shows   by  his 
 
 reply,  in  verse  1  I.  that  like  St.  Peter,  in  Acts  x.  14\  he 
 had  ever  been  a  scrupulous  observer  of  the  law.  To 
 St.  Peter,  however,  it  was  made  known  that  in  the 
 breadth  of  the  Christian  dispensation  this  ceremonial 
 law  was  now  done  away,  while  to  Ezekiel  it  still  re- 
 mained in  full  force. 
 
 (15)  Cow's  dung.— In  the  scarcity  of  fuel  in  the 
 East,  cow's  dung  and  especially  camel's  diuig,  is  dried, 
 
 and  becomes  the  common  fuel. 
 
 (16]  i  will  broak  the  stafT  of  bread  in  Jeru- 
 salem. --In  verses  16,  IT.  the  meaning  of  the  fore- 
 going Bymbolism  is  declared  in  plain  language.    Bread, 
 
 as  the  chief  article  of  food  is  put  for  all  food,  the  spe- 
 cific for  the  general.  There  shall  be  extreme  suffering 
 and  distress,  as  a  part  of  tho  punishment  for  thoir  long- 
 continued  sins. 
 
 This  chapter  is  closely  connected  with  the  preceding, 
 forming  part  of  the  same  denunciation  of  judgment 
 upon  the  Jews,  although  this  is  here  set  forth  in  verses 
 1 — 4  by  a  fresh  symbolism,  and  in  the  rest  of  the 
 chapter  by  plain  declarations. 
 
 (U  Take  thee  a  sharp  knife,  take  thee  a 
 barber's  razor. — Rather,  take  thee  a  sharp  sword, 
 as  a  barber's  razor  shalt  thou  take  it  to  thee.  The 
 word  knife  is  the  samo  as  that  used  twice  in  verse  2, 
 and  translated  once  by  knife  and  once  by  sword.  It 
 is  occasionally  used  for  any  sharp-cutting  instrument, 
 but  is  most  commonly  taken,  as  here,  for  a  sword.  The 
 English  version  also  neglects  to  notice  the  prononn  in 
 the  second  clause.  Tho  thought  is  plainly  that  tho 
 prophet  is  to  take  a  sword,  on  account  of  its  symbolism, 
 and  use  it  instead  of  a  razor. 
 
 Upon  thine  head,  and  upon  thy  beard.— The 
 cutting  off  the  hair  was  a  common  mark  of  mourning 
 (seo  Job  i.  20;  Isa.  xxii.  12;  Jer.  vii.  29);  but  the 
 allusion  here  seems  to  be  rather  to  Isa.  vii.  20,  in  which 
 God  describes  his  coming  judgments  upon  Israel  as  a 
 shaving,  "  with  a  razor  that  is  hired  .  .  .  by  the  king  of 
 Assyria."  of  the  head  and  the  beard.  Tho  symbolism 
 was  tho  more  marked  becauso  Ezekiel  was  a  priest, 
 and  the  priests  were  expressly  forbidden  in  the  law  to 
 shave  either  the  head  or  tho  beard  (Lev.  xxi.  5).  Tho 
 shaving,  therefore,  of  a  priest's  head  and  beard  with  a 
 sword  betokened  a  most  desolating  judgment. 
 
 Then  take  thee  balances  to  weigh  is  not  a 
 mere  detail  introduced  to  give  vividness  to  the  sym- 
 bolism, but  seems  designed  to  show  the  absolute  cer- 
 tainty of  the  impending  judgment. 
 
 (-)  Burn  with  fire  a  third  part  in  the  midst 
 of  the  city.— It  is  better  to  suppose  this  done  only  in 
 description  than  to  imagine  that  tho  prophet  carried  it 
 out  in  act  upon  tho  tile  on  which  tho  city  (Jerusalem) 
 was  portrayed.  The  meaning  of  this  verso  is  explained 
 in  verse  12,  and  is  mado  plainer  by  translating  the 
 same  word  uniformly  "sword,"  instead  of  changing  to 
 "knife."  The  third, which  is  scattered,  plainly  signifies 
 the  small  part  of  the  people  who,  escaping  destrue- 
 tion,  shall  be  scattered  among  the  heathen.  A  similar 
 prophecy,  referring  however  to  a  later  time,  may  be 
 
 215 
 
The  Type  of 
 
 EZEKIEL,   V. 
 
 the  Prophet's  Hair. 
 
 part,  and  smite  about  it  with  a  knife : 
 and  a  third  part  thou  shalt  scatter  in 
 the  wind ;  and  I  will  draw  out  a  sword 
 after  them.  <3>  Thou  shalt  also  take 
 thereof  a  few  in  number,  and  bind  them 
 in  thy  Skirts.  <*>Then  take  of  them 
 again,  and  cast  them  into  the  midst  of 
 the  fire,  and  burn  them  in  the  fire ;  for 
 thereof  shall  a  fire  come  forth  into  all 
 the  house  of  Israel. 
 
 <5>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  This  is 
 Jerusalem  :  I  have  set  it  in  the  midst  of 
 the  nations  and  countries  that  are  round 
 
 1  Heb.,  winge. 
 
 about  her.  <6)And  she  hath  changed 
 my  judgments  into  wickedness  more 
 than  the  nations,  and  my  statutes  more 
 than  the  countries  that  are  round  about 
 her :  for  they  have  refused  my  judg- 
 ments and  my  statutes,  they  have  not 
 walked  in  them.  (7)  Therefore  thus  saith 
 the  Lord  God  ;  Because  ye  multiplied 
 more  than  the  nations  that  are  round 
 about  you,  and  have  not  walked  in  my 
 statutes,  neither  have  kept  my  judg- 
 ments, neither  have  done  according  to 
 the  judgments  of  the  nations  that  are 
 
 found  in  Zech.  xiii.  8,  9.  The  expression,  "  when  the 
 days  of  the  siege  are  fulfilled,"  of  course  refers  to  the 
 symbolic  siege  of  the  prophet.  The  words,  "  I  will 
 draw  out  a  sword  after  them,"  are  taken  from  Lev. 
 xxvi.  33,  and  are  repeated  in  verse  12,  and  again  in 
 chap.  xii.  14.  The  suffering  from  the  Divine  judgments 
 should  still  follow  them  in  their  exile.  Plain  prophecy 
 is  here  mixed  with  the  symbolism. 
 
 (3)  A  few  in  number,  and  bind  them  in  thy 
 skirts. — A  small  remnant  of  the  people  was  still  left 
 in  the  land  after  the  great  captivity  (2  Kings  xxv.  22) ; 
 but  even  of  these  some  were  to  perish  by  violence 
 ("  cast  them  into  the  midst  of  the  fire  ")  in  the  dis- 
 orders which  arose,  and  from  this  "  shall  a  fire  come 
 forth  into  all  the  house  of  Israel."  (See  Jer.  xl.,  xli.) 
 The  ultimate  result  was  the  expatriation  of  all  that 
 remained  in  Judaea,  and  the  entire  emptying  of  the 
 land  of  the  chosen  people. 
 
 At  this  point  the  use  of  symbolism  ceases  for  a 
 while,  and  the  prophet  now,  for  the  first  time,  begins 
 to  utter  his  prophecies  in  plain  language.  Accordingly, 
 he  changes  his  style  from  prose  to  the  more  ordinary 
 form  of  prophetic  utterance  in  parallelisms,  which  con- 
 stitute the  distinctive  feature  of  Hebrew  poetry,  and  this 
 continues  until  another  vision  begins  with  chap.  viii. 
 
 <5)  I  have  set  it  in  the  midst  of  the  nations. 
 — This  was  eminently  true  of  Jerusalem,  and  of  Israel 
 as  represented  by  Jerusalem,  in  all  the  ages  of  its 
 history.  It  constituted  one  of  the  great  opportunities 
 of  Israel  had  they  been  faithful  to  their  calling,  while 
 it  became  a  chief  source  of  their  disasters  when  they 
 went  astray  from  God.  Ou  the  south  were  Egypt  and 
 Ethiopia ;  on  the  north,  at  first  the  great  nation  of 
 the  Hittites,  and  later  the  Syrians,  and  also  Assyrians 
 (who  must  reach  Palestine  from  the  north) ;  on  the 
 coast  were  the  Philistines,  at  the  southern  end,  and  on 
 the  northern  the  Phoenicians,  the  great  maritime  nation 
 having  intercourse  with  all  "  the  isles  of  the  sea ;  " 
 while  on  the  deserts  of  the  east  and  immediate  south 
 were  the  Ishmaelites,  the  chief  inland  traders,  who 
 kept  up  an  intercourse  by  land  with  all  these  nations. 
 Even  with  the  great  but  little-known  nations  of  India, 
 commerce  was  established  by  Solomon.  Thus  centrally 
 situated  among  the  chief  kingdoms  of  antiquity,  Israel 
 had  the  opportunity  of  presenting  to  the  world  the 
 spectacle  of  a  people  strong  and  prosperous  in  the 
 worship,  and  under  the  guardianship,  of  the  one  true 
 God,  and  of  becoming  the  great  missionary  of  mono- 
 theism in  the  ancient  world.  At  the  same  time  they 
 were  separated  from  most  of  these  nations  by  natural 
 
 216 
 
 barriers,  the  deserts  on  the  east  and  south,  the  sea 
 on  the  west,  the  mountains  on  the  north,  which  were 
 sufficient  to  isolate  them  as  a  nation,  and  allow  of  their 
 free  development,  without  interference,  as  a  God-fear- 
 ing people.  But  when,  by  the  unfaithfulness  of  the 
 Israelites  to  their  religion,  the  one  bond  of  national 
 unity  was  weakened,  they  became  a  ready  prey  ti- 
 the nations  around  them.  During  the  period  of  the 
 Judges  they  fell  under  the  power  of  one  and  another 
 of  the  petty  tribes  on  their  confines ;  and  later,  when 
 the  great  empire  of  Solomon  was  broken  up  in  con- 
 sequence of  their  sins,  they  were  easily  overcome  by 
 the  powerful  nations  on  either  side.  In  all  their  later 
 history  the  Israelites  were  a  football  between  Egypt 
 and  Chaldaaa,  alternately  spoiled  by  tribute  as  friends 
 or  devastated  as  enemies  by  each  of  them.  So,  in 
 the  Divine  ordering  of  the  world,  responsibility  must 
 always  be  proportioned  to  privilege;  and  the  failure 
 to  fulfil  the  responsibility  leads,  as  in  this  case,  not 
 only  to  a  withdrawal  of  the  privilege,  but  to  corre- 
 sponding condemnation. 
 
 (6)  Changed  my  judgments  into  wickedness. 
 — Better,  hath  wickedly  resisted  my  judgments,  the 
 sense  adopted  by  most  modern  expositors. 
 
 More  than  the  nations. — Not,  of  course,  abso- 
 lutely, but  in  proportion  to  the  knowledge  and  the 
 privileges  given  them.  It  would  be  an  exaggeration 
 to  say  that  the  Israelites  were  actually  more  evil  in 
 their  life  than  the  surrounding  heathen  ;  for  they  were, 
 no  doubt,  far  better.  Even  of  those  cities  which  our 
 Lord,  at  a  later  day,  so  strongly  upbraided,  it  would 
 be  absurd  to  suppose  that  they  equalled  Sodom  aud 
 Gomorrah  in  their  iniquity.  God's  judgments  are 
 always  relative  and  proportioned  to  the  opportunities 
 He  has  granted  to  men.  The  point  is  that  the  Israelites 
 had  resisted  His  judgments  more  than  the  heathen ; 
 they  had  sinned  against  greater  light.  The  pronoun 
 they  in  the  last  clause  refers,  of  course,  to  the  Israelites, 
 not  to  the  heathen. 
 
 (7)  Because  ye  multiplied.— Rather,  Because  ye 
 have  raged,  as  the  same  word  is  translated  in  Ps.  ii.  1, 
 and  as  its  meaning  is  given  in  the  lexicons.  The  mean- 
 ing is,  because  they  had  shown  more  self-will  and 
 opposition  to  God. 
 
 Neither  have  done  according  to  the  judg- 
 ments of  the  nations.— These  words  admit  of  either 
 of  two  senses  :  "  neither  have  kept  those  natural  laws 
 observed  by  the  heathen,"  and  in  this  case  the  Israelites 
 would  have  been  represented  as  worse  in  their  actual 
 conduct  than  the  surrounding  heathen ;  or,  "  neither 
 have  kept  your  Divine  laws  as  the  heathen  have  ob- 
 served those  laws  which  they  know  by  the  light  of 
 
Famine,  Sword, 
 
 BZEKIEL,  V. 
 
 and  Dispersion  Threatened. 
 
 round  about  you;  ,H)  therefore  t.lius 
 snith  the  Lord  Go»;  Heboid,  I,  even  I, 
 am  against  thee,  and  will  execute  judg- 
 ments in  the  midst,  of  thee  in  the  sight 
 of  the  nations.  |!"  And  I  will  do  in 
 thee  that  which  I  have  not  done,  and 
 (Thereunto  I  will  not  do  any  more  the 
 like,  because  of  all  thine  abominations. 
 
 00) Therefore  the  fathers  "shall  eat  the 
 sons  in  the  midst  of  thee,  and  the  sons 
 shall  eat  their  fathers;  and  I  will  exe- 
 cute judgments  in  thee,  and  the  whole 
 remnant  of  tl will  I  scatter  into  all 
 
 the  winds.  '"'  Wherefore,  OS  I  live,  saith 
 the  Lord  God;  Surely,  hecause  thou  hast 
 defiled  my  sanctuary  with  all  thy  detest- 
 able things,  and  with  all  thine  abomi- 
 nations, therefore  will  I  also  diminish 
 ihee  ;  'neither  shall  mine  eye  spare,  nei- 
 ther will  1  have  any  pity.  <1-)  A  third 
 I 'art  of  thee  shall  die  with  the  pestilence, 
 and  with  famine  shall  they  be  consumed 
 in  the  midst  of  thee  :  and  a  third  part 
 shall  fall  by  the  sword  round  about  thee  ; 
 an  1  1  will  scatter  a  third  part  into  all 
 the  winds,  and  I  will  draw  out   a  sword 
 
 nl.i'V.  ? 
 
 ■V  H  .  I  Klngtfl 
 
 :-j.    I. .mi    «.  i" 
 itarurli  2.  3. 
 
 c  [km  |&  IT. 
 
 tl  Lot.  m.  » ;  ch 
 
 4   l(i ;  &  u.  IS. 
 
 after  them.  ,l;  Thus  shall  mine  anger 
 be  accomplished,  and  I  will  cause  mj 
 
 furv  to  rest  apon  them,  and  1  will  be 
 
 comforted:  and  they  shall  know  that 
 I  the  Loud  have  spoken  H  in  my  zeal, 
 when  L  have  accomplished  my  tuvy  in 
 thcni.  (ll)  Moreover  1  will  make  thee 
 waste,  and  a  reproach  among  the  nations 
 that  an  round  about  thee,  in  the  si'_rht 
 of  all  that  pass  by.  <15'  So  it  shall  be  a 
 rreproach  and  a  taunt,  an  instruction 
 and  an  astonishment  unto  the  nations 
 that  are  round  about  thee,  when  I  shall 
 execute  judgments  in  thee  in  anger  and 
 in  fury  and  in  furious  rebukes.  I  the 
 Lord  have  spoken  it.  M  When  I  shall 
 send  upon  them  the  evil  arrows  of  famine, 
 which  shall  be  for  their  destruction,  ami 
 which  I  will  send  to  destroy  you  :  and  I 
 will  increase  the  famine  upon  you,  and 
 ■will  break  your  'staff  of  bread  :  <17>  so 
 will  I  send  upon  you  famine  and  'evil 
 beasts,  and  they  shall  bereave  thee;  and 
 pestilence  and  blood  shall  pass  through 
 thee  ;  and  I  will  bring  the  sword  upon 
 thee.     I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it. 
 
 nature  ami  tradition."  The  latter  wo  Conceive  to  be 
 the  true  sense  here  If  Israel  did  precisely  what  the 
 heathen  did,  they  would  be  tar  more  unfaithful.  (See 
 ohap.  xi.  12.)  In  chap,  xvi.  t".  also,  tliey  are  distinctly 
 charged  with  being  even  more  corrupt  than  the  heathen; 
 
 and   there,  too.  the   thought    is    plainly    that   they   had 
 
 sinned  against  more  grace.    (See  Excursus  III.) 
 
 <s>  In  tho  sight  of  tho  nations.— The  conspieu. 
 OUSness  of   Israel's  position  (see   under  verse  5)  made  it 
 
 necessary  that  the  punishment  for  their  failure  to  keep 
 God's  law  should  be  as  public  as  their  sin.  All  had 
 seen  their  unfaithfulness;  all  must  see  the  consequent 
 judgment. 
 
 * '  That  which  I  have  not  done,  and  where- 
 unto  I  will  not  do  any  more  the  like.— Our 
 Lord  uses  similar  language  (Matt.  xxiv.  21)  in  fore- 
 telling the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
 Romans,  But  all  question  whether  EseMel  here  looks 
 forward  to  that  calamity,  and  all  comparison  between 
 that  and  the  destruction  under  Nebuchadneciar,areout 
 of  place.    What  the  prophet  here  intends  is  not  a  com. 
 
 panson   between   different   judgments   upon   the   Jews. 
 
 but  between  God's  treatment  of  them  and  of  others. 
 As  they  had  received  at  His  hand  higher  opportunities 
 
 and  privileges  than  He  had  before  given  or  would  after- 
 wards rive  to  any  other  nation,  so  must  the  ponishmenJ 
 
 for  their  sin  tie  more  severe  and  more  conspicuous  than 
 
 He  had  inflicted  or  would  inflict  on  any  other.    All  the 
 
 Divine  judgments  Upon  them  through  all  time  may  there- 
 fore he  considered  as  here  coming  into  view.  The  present 
 captivity  and  the  impending  destruction  of  the  temple 
 were  hut  single  features  of  i  long  series  of  judgments, 
 
 in  the  course  of  which  the  terrible  particulars  men- 
 tioned in  verse  10  should  have   [dace,  ending  with  what 
 
 is  the  present  condition  of  the  people  before  our  eyes. 
 
 scattered  "into  all   the  winds."     Such  evils  had  been 
 
 217 
 
 foretold  by  their  prophets  all  through  their  history  as 
 
 tin.  consequence  of  disobedience  (see  Lev.  xxvi.  29; 
 Dent,  xxviii.  53 — the  sons  eating  their  fathers  is  a  fear- 
 ful addition  here;  Jer.  xix.  !'),  and  from  time  to  time 
 had  in  some  degree  come  to  pass  (2  Kings  \i.  28,  -■'  i 
 Lam.  ii.  20  .  although  the  culmination  of  the  punishment, 
 like  the  culmination  of  the  sin.  was  still  future. 
 
 on  Because  thou  .  .  .  thorefore  will  I.— The 
 parallel  between  Israel's  conduct  and  God's  judgments 
 is  lure,  as  everywhere,  brought  into  strong  light.  I  I'd 
 Would  inflict  no  evil  upon  them  which  they  had  not 
 themselves  called  down  by  their  obdurate  and  infatuated 
 persistence  in  rebellion  against  Him. 
 
 Also  diminish  thee.  The  word  diminish  is 
 hardly  an  adequate  translation  of  the  original,  and  the 
 pronoun  flies  is  not  in  the  Hebrew.  The  word  pro- 
 perly means  to  withdraw,  and  is  to  be  taken  cither 
 as  reflective,  "  withdraw  myself."  or  as  having  for  it,s 
 object    "mine  eye"   of  the   following    clause,  the   sense 
 
 being  the  same  in  either  ease  i  the  Lord  will  withdraw 
 from  them  His  presence  and  His  compassion. 
 
 Verses  12—17  follow  in  plain  language  the  gym- 
 helical  prophecies  of    verses  1 — t,  and  give  the  inspired 
 
 interpretation  of  their  meaning.  They  bring  out  very 
 distinctly  the  fact  that  the  judgments  should  not  end 
 with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 (13)  i  will  be  comforted.— The  word  employed 
 here  is  nsed  in  two  different  senses;  either  that  of  feel- 
 ing  compassion,  and  so  of  repenting  of  one's  anger,  as 
 in  [as,  xii.  1.  xlix.  l:i.  Ii.  :!.  12,  Hi.  9,  tut. ;  or  of  con- 
 soling oneself  by  taking  vengeance,  as  in  Gen.  xx\  ii.  i-. 
 Isi.  i.  24  (Authorised  Version,  eass  myself).    (Comp. 
 
 also  chaps,  xxxi.  16,  xvxii.  SL)  The  latter  is  evidently 
 the  meaning  here;  the  Divine  honour,  WOUnded  by  the 
 sins  of  the  chosen   people  and  dishonoured  before   the 
 
Tlie  Judgment  of  Israel 
 
 EZEKIEL,  VI. 
 
 for  their  Idolatry, 
 
 CHAPTER  VI.— W  And  the  word  of 
 the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,  <2'  Son 
 of  man.  set  thy  face  toward  the  "moun- 
 tains of  Israel,  and  prophesy  against 
 them,  <3>  and  say, 
 
 Ye  mountains  of  Israel,  hear  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  God  ;  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God  to  the  mountains,  and  to  the  hills, 
 to  the  rivers,  and  to  the  valleys  ;  Behold, 
 I,  even  I,  will  bring  a  sword  upon  you, 
 and  I  will  destroy  your  high  places. 
 W  And  your  altars  shall  be  desolate,  and 
 your  '  images  shall  be  broken  :  and  I  will 
 cast  down  your  slain  men  before  your 
 idols.     <5)  And  I  will  3lay  the  dead  car- 
 
 1  Or,  sun  images. 
 auU  so  ver.  6. 
 
 Heb.,  give. 
 
 cases  of  the  children  of  Israel  before 
 their  idols;  and  I  will  scatter  your 
 bones  round  about  your  altars.  (B)  In 
 all  your  dwellingplaces  the  cities  shall 
 be  laid  waste,  and  the  high  places  shall 
 be  desolate ;  that  your  altars  may  be 
 laid  waste  and  made  desolate,  and  your 
 idols  may  be  broken  and  cease,  and  your 
 images  may  be  cut  down,  and  your  works 
 may  be  abolished.  (7)  And  the  slain  shall 
 fall  in  the  midst  of  you,  and  ye  shall 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord. 
 
 (8'Yet  will  I  leave  a  remnant,  that 
 ye  may  have  some  that  shall  escape  the 
 sword  among  the  nations,  when  ye  shall 
 
 heathen,  should  be  vindicated  by  their  punishment  in 
 the  sight  of  all  the  world. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The  two  prophecies  contained  in  chaps,  vi.  and  vii. 
 are  distinct,  although  both  closely  connected  with  the 
 explanation  of  the  symbolism  in  chap.  v.  They  were 
 probably  uttered  at  sufficient  intervals  of  time  from 
 chap.  v.  and  from  each  other  to  allow  of  a  distinct  im- 
 pression being  made  by  each  of  them  ;  yet  the  interval 
 could  not  have  been  long,  since  chap.  viii.  is  dated  in 
 the  sixth  month  of  the  sixth  year.  There  must  there- 
 fore have  been  such  a  following  up  of  one  blow  after 
 another  of  prophetic  denunciation  as  was  calculated 
 to  produce  the  most  profound  effect.  In  the  present 
 chapter  judgment  is  denounced  upon  the  idolatrous 
 places  and  people,  although  a  remnant  are  to  be  saved 
 who  shall  recognise  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  then  the 
 terribleness  of  the  judgment  of  desolation  is  enlarged 
 upon.  In  chap.  vii.  the  quickness  and  inevitableness  of 
 this  judgment  is  the  chief  thought.  In  both  the  judg- 
 ment is  no  longer  denounced  merely  against  Jerusalem, 
 as  representing  the  people,  but  is  expressly  extended 
 to  the  whole  land. 
 
 (2)  Toward  the  mountains  of  Israel.— It  is  not 
 uncommon  to  address  prophetic  utterances  to  inanimate 
 objects  as  a  poetic  way  of  representing  the  people. 
 (Comp.  chap,  xxxvi.  1  ;  Micah  vi.  2,  &e.)  The  mountains 
 are  especially  mentioned  as  being  the  chosen  places  of 
 idolatrous  worship.  (See  Deut.  xii.  2 ;  2  Kings  xvii.  10, 
 11 ;  Jer.  ii.  20,  iii.  6 ;  Hosea  iv.  13.)  Baal,  the  sun- 
 god,  was  the  idol  especially  worshipped  upon  the  hills. 
 
 (3)  To  the  rivers,  and  to  the  valleys.— These 
 words  stand  to  each  other  in  the  same  relation  as 
 "  mountains  and  hills,"  that  is,  they  are  specifications 
 of  the  same  general  character.  The  word  frequently 
 occurring,  and  uniformly  translated  in  Ezekiel  rivers, 
 would  be  better  rendered  ravines.  It  is  a  deep  sort  of 
 valley,  along  which,  at  times,  a  stream  might  run. 
 Such  places  were  also  favourite  places  for  idolatrous 
 rites  (see  2  Kings  xxiii.  10;  Isa.  lvii.  5,  6;  Jer.  vii.  31, 
 xxxii.  35),  especially  for  the  worship  of  the  Phoenician 
 Astaroth,  the  female  divinity  worshipped  in  conjunc- 
 tion with  Baal.  The  same  putting  together  of  moun- 
 tains and  hills,  valleys  and  ravines,  occurs  again  in 
 chaps,  xxxv.  8,  xxxvi.  4,  6.  By  the  expression,  "  I,  even 
 I,"  strong  emphasis  is  placed  on  the  fact  that  these 
 judgments  are  from  God.  Inasmuch  as,  like  most 
 other  events  in  the  world,  they  were  to  be  wrought  out 
 
 218 
 
 by  human  instrumentality,  the  attention  might  easily 
 be  taken  up  with  the  secondary  causes ;  but  by  thus 
 declaring  them  beforehand,  and  claiming  them  as  His 
 own  work,  God  would  make  it  evident  that  all  was. 
 from  Him. 
 
 (*)  Your  images. — The  original  word  indicates,  as- 
 is  shown  in  the  margin,  that  these  were  images  used 
 in  connection  with  the  worship  of  the  sun.  The  whole 
 verse  is  taken  from  Lev.  xxvi.  30.  The  same  woes  were 
 there  foretold  by  Moses  in  the  contingency  of  the 
 people's  disobedience ;  that  contingency  had  now  come 
 to  pass,  the  promised  judgments  had  already  begun, 
 and  Ezekiel  declares  that  the  fulfilment  of  them  was 
 close  at  hand. 
 
 Your  slain  men  before  your  idols.— Their 
 idols  should  be  worshipped  no  longer  by  the  living,  but 
 by  the  prostrate  bodies  of  their  dead  worshippers.  In 
 this  and  the  following  verse  a  kind  of  poetic  justice 
 is  described.  There  was  nothing  so  utterly  defiling 
 under  the  Mosaic  law  as  the  touch  of  a  dead  body.  (See 
 Num.  ix.  6—10 ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  14,  16.)  The  Israelites, 
 had  defiled  the  land  with  idols,  now  the  idols  them- 
 selves should  be  defiled  witli  their  dead  bodies. 
 
 (6)  May  be  abolished.— The  word  abolished  is 
 a  strong  one,  meaning  utterly  obliterated,  wiped  out. 
 This  was  what  Israel  should  have  done  to  the  nations- 
 who  inhabited  Canaan  before  them ;  they  and  their 
 works  should  have  been  so  utterly  blotted  out  that  no 
 temptations  from  them  should  have  remained.  But 
 Israel  had  failed  to  observe  the  Divine  command,  and 
 now  in  turn  their  works,  done  in  imitation  of  the  guilty 
 nations  they  had  supplanted,  must  be  blotted  out. 
 
 (7)  And  ye  shall  know. — As  this  prophecy  began 
 in  verse  2  with  an  address  to  the  mountains,  many 
 consider  that,  by  a  strong  poetic  figure,  they  are  still 
 referred  to  by  the  pronoun  ye.  It  is  better,  however, 
 to  consider  that  as  the  discourse  has  gone  on,  the 
 figure  has  gradually  been  chopped,  and  the  people  are 
 spoken  to  directly.  In  the  same  way,  the  change  of 
 the  pronoun  from  the  third  to  the  second  person,  as  in. 
 verse  5,  is  very  frequent  in  Ezekiel. 
 
 (8)  Yet  will  I  leave  a  remnant.— In  verses 
 8 — 10  the  general  gloom  of  this  prophecy  of  judgment 
 is  lightened  for  a  moment  by  the  mention  of  the 
 remnant  who  shall  be  brought  by  their  afflictions  "  to 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord  "  in  a  far  higher  and  better 
 sense  than  those  mentioned  in  verse  7.  This  Divine 
 plan  pursued  from  the  beginning,  as  is  shown  by 
 St.  Paul  in  Rom.  ix.  6 — 13,  of  purifying  the  people 
 by  setting  aside  the  mass,  and  showing  mercy  to  a 
 
Tlir  Fiiiih/iil  are  to 
 
 EZEKIEL,   VII. 
 
 Lam*  ui  their  Calai 
 
 l>c  scattered  through  the  countries. 
 1 ''  A  ml  lliry  that  isrape  of  you  shall  re- 
 member me  among  the  nations  whither 
 they  shall  be  carried  captives,  because 
 1  am  broken  with  their  whorish  heart, 
 
 which  hath  departed  from  me,  and  with 
 
 their  eyes,  which  go  a  whoring  after 
 their  idols :  and  they  shall  lothe  them- 
 Belves  tor  the  evils  which  they  have 
 committed   in   all   their    abominations. 
 
 '""And  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
 Loud,  and  thai  1  have  not  said  in  vain 
 that    1  would  do  this  evil  unto  them. 
 
 <u>Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Smite 
 "with  thine  hand,  and  stamp  with  thy 
 foot,  and  say,  Alas  for  all  the  evil  abo- 
 ininations  of  the  house  of  Israel!  for 
 they  shall  fall  by  the  sword,  by  the 
 famine,  and  by  the  pestilence.  (12)  He 
 that  is  far  off  shall  die  of  the  pestilence  ; 
 and  he  that  is  near  shall  fall  by  the 
 sword  ;  and  he  that  remaineth  and  is 
 besieged  shall  die  by  the  famine:  thus 
 
 1  <)r,tlr*nlnt'  from 
 tliC  wild* 
 
 will  I  accomplish  my  fury  upon  them. 
 (1:l>  Then  shall  ye  Know  that  1  "»<  the 
 [lOBD,  when  their  slain  man  shall  be 
 among  their  idols  round  about  then- 
 altars,  upon  every  high  hill,  in  all  the 
 tops  of  the  mountains,  and  under  every 
 green  tree,  and  under  every  thick  oak, 
 the  place  where  they  did  offer  sw.it 
 savour  to  all  their  idols.  (14)  So  will  I 
 stretch  out  my  hand  upon  them,  and 
 make  the  land  desolate,  yea,  ]  more  deso- 
 late than  the  wilderness  toward  Ilildath, 
 in  all  their  habitations  :  and  they  shall 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII.— M  Moreover  the 
 word  of  the  Loud  came  unto  me,  say- 
 ing, <2)  Also,  thou  son  of  man,  thus  saith 
 the  Lord  God  unto  the  land  of  Israel ; 
 
 An  end,  the  end  is  come  upon  the  four 
 corners  of  the  land.  (3)  Now  in  the  end 
 come  upon  thee,  and  I  will  send  mine 
 anger  upon  thee,  and  will  judge  thee 
 
 remnant,  looks  far  beyond  the  Babylonish  captivity,  .-is 
 is  shows  by  the  parallel  prophecy  oJ  Zeoharian,  uttered 
 
 after    the    return    from    tli.it     captivity.    "  They    shall 
 
 remember  me  in  far  countries;  and  they  shall  live 
 with  their  children,  and  turn  again"  (Zech.  x.  9). 
 Beyond  this  brief  glimpse  at  the  remnant,  however. 
 the  cloud  settles  down  again  upon  the  prophecy;  for 
 the  period  until  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  now  but 
 a  few  years  off.  must  be  almost  exclusively  a  period  of 
 the  denunciation  of  judgment . 
 (!'»  Because    I    am   broken.-  The  verb  in   the 
 
 Hebrew  is  passive  in  form,  but  it  is  hotter  to  take  it, 
 with  most  modern  commentators,  as  a  middle,  iu  a 
 transitive  sense.  "  Because  I  have  broken  their  whorish 
 
 heart   .   .    .  and  their  eyes,"  the  eyes  being  mentioned 
 
 as  the  means  by  which  their  hearts  had  been  enticed  to 
 evil.  Here,  as  constantly  in  all  parts  of  Scripture. 
 apostacy  from  Qod  is  described  under  the  figure  of 
 unfaithfulness  in  the  marriage  relation.  "  They  shall 
 loathe  themselves "  indicates  a  true  repentance;  they 
 shall  loathe  the  sin  and  themselves  for  having  committed 
 
 it.  Thus  their  am  has  drawn  down  punishment; 
 punishment  has  destroyed  many,  but  brought  a  "rem- 
 nant "to  repentance;  and  repentance  leads  to  a  true 
 knowledge  of  God,  and  communion  with  Him.  The 
 Divine  word  and  act  has  not  been  "in  vain." 
 
 (U)  Smite  with  thine  hand,  and  stamp  with 
 
 thy  foot.  -The  prophecy  returns  again  to  its  heavy 
 tidings  of  woe.  To  clap  the  hands  and  stamp  the  feet. 
 either  singly  I  N'uni.  xxiv.  LO;  chaps,  xxi.  14,  lT.xxii.  13) 
 or  together  I  chap.  xxv.  6),  iea  gesture  of  strong  emotion 
 or  earnestness  of  purpose.  The  prophet  is  here 
 directed  to  use  it  as  indicating  (bid's  unchangeable 
 determination  united  to  a  sense  of  grievous  wrong. 
 ('-»  That  is  far  off  .  .   .   that  is  near.— That  is, 
 
 all.  wherever  they  may  be,  shall  be  reached  and  over- 
 whelmed by  the  coming  judgments;  yet  not  in  such 
 wise  that  we  arc  to  think  of  one  kind  of  judgment  as 
 especially  reserved  for  one  class,  and  another  kind  for 
 another.     The  different  forms  of  punishment  shall  all 
 
 219 
 
 fall   upon  the  people;  and  they  that  escape  one  shall 
 fall  by  .net  her. 
 (is)  Upon  every  high  hill.— The  various  localities 
 
 especially  selected  for  idolatrous  rites  are  enumerated 
 one  after  another,  to  give  more  vividness  and  graphic 
 character  to  the  whole  judgment.  The  words  -'.sweet 
 Bavonr"  are  constantly  applied  to  the  commanded 
 sacrifices  to  the  Lord,  and  are  here  used  ironically  of 
 the  idol  sacrifices. 
 
 n't  More  desolate  than  the  wilderness  to- 
 ward Diblath.  The  name  Diblalh  does  not  occur 
 elsewhere  ;  lint  Dibhttliaim,  t lie  dual  form,  is  mentioned 
 in  Num.  xxxiii.  46,  47,  Jer.  xlviii.  22,  as  a  double  city 
 i hi  the  eastern  border  of  Moab,  beyond  which  lay  the 
 great  desert  which  stretches  thence  eastward,  nearly  to 
 the  Euphrates.  It  was  customary  to  call  any  wilder- 
 ness by  the  name  of  the  nearest  town.  (Seel  Sam.  xxiii. 
 14,  15,  -I.  25.  xxv.  J,  Act  That  wilderness  appears 
 from    this    passage    to    have    been    proverbial    for    its 
 
 desolation. 
 
 VII. 
 The  prophecy  of  this  chapter  is  occupied  with  the 
 
 nearness  and  the  completeness  of  the  judgment  already 
 foretold.  It  takes  tho  form,  to  some  extent,  of  a  song 
 of  lamentation  ;  and  is  more  thoroughly  poetic  in  its 
 .structure  than  anything  which  has  gone  before. 
 
 (2)  The  four  corners.  —  A  frequent  Seriptural 
 phrase  for  every  part.  (Comp.  Isa.  xi.  12  ;  Rev.  vii.  1.) 
 The  origin  of  the  expression  is  to  be  sought,  not  in  any 
 Supposed  popular  belief  that  the  earth  was  square .  but 
 in  the  fact  that  SO  many  common  things  had  just  four 
 -ides  or  four  corners  (see  Exod.  xxv.  12,  xxvii.  2  j  Job  i. 
 19;  Acts  x.  11,  &c).  that  the  phrase  came  naturally  to 
 be  a  common  expression  of  universality.  "  An  end. 
 the  end,"  is  a  repetition  for  tho  sake  of  emphasis.  It 
 occurs  again  in  verse  ti.  and,  in  varied  words,  also  in 
 verses  10,  12,  and  26. 
 
 Verses  ,i  and  4  are  repeated  almost  exactly  in  verses 
 
The  Filial  Desolation 
 
 EZEKIEL,   VII. 
 
 of  Israel. 
 
 according  to  thy  ways,  and  will J recom- 
 pense upon  thee  all  thine  abominations. 
 (4>  And  mine  eye  shall  not  spare  thee, 
 neither  will  I  have  pity:  but  I  will 
 recompense  thy  ways  upon  thee,  and 
 thine  abominations  shall  be  in  the  midst 
 of  thee :  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord. 
 
 (5>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  An  evil, 
 an  only  evil,  behold,  is  come.  <6>  An  end 
 is  come,  the  end  is  come  :  it  3watcheth 
 for  thee ;  behold,  it  is  come.  <7>  The 
 morning  is  come  unto  thee,  0  thou  that 
 dwellest  in  the  land :  the  time  is  come, 
 the  day  of  trouble  is  near,  and  not 
 the  3  sounding  again  of  the  mountains. 
 (8»  Now  will  I  shortly  pour  out  my  fury 
 upon  thee,  and  accomplish  mine  anger 
 upon  thee :  and  I  will  judge  thee  accord- 
 ing to  thy  ways,  and  will  recompense 
 thee  for  all  thine  abominations.  (9)  And 
 mine  eye  shall  not  spare,  neither  will  I 
 have  pity  :  I  will  recompense  ''thee  ac- 
 
 1  Heb.,  give- 
 
 '£    Hi'li.,    awaketh 
 
 against  lh<  < . 
 
 4  Heb.,  upon  thee. 
 
 0  Or,  their  tumul- 
 tuous persons. 
 
 7  Heb.,  though 
 tlnir  life  were 
 yet  among  the 
 living. 
 
 8  Or,  whose  life  is 
 ill  his  iniquity. 
 
 9  Heb.,    his     ini- 
 quity. 
 
 cording  to  thy  ways  and  thine  abomina- 
 tions that  are  in  the  midst  of  thee  ;  and 
 ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  that 
 smiteth. 
 
 i10>  Behold  the  day,  behold,  it  is  come  : 
 the  morning  is  gone  forth ;  the  rod  hath 
 blossomed,  pride  hath  budded.  <u>  Vio- 
 lence is  risen  up  into  a  rod  of  wicked- 
 ness :  none  of  them  shall  remain,  nor  of 
 their  5  multitude,  nor  of  any  of  c  their 's  : 
 neither  shall  there  be  wailinp-  for  them. 
 i1'-1  The  time  is  come,  the  day  draweth 
 near :  let  not  the  buyer  rejoice,  nor  the 
 seller  mourn :  for  wrath  is  upon  all  the 
 multitude  thereof.  (13)  For  the  seller 
 shall  not  return  to  that  which  is  sold, 
 7  although  they  were  yet  alive  :  for  the 
 vision  is  touching  the  whole  multitude 
 thereof,  which  shall  not  return  ;  neither 
 shall  any  strengthen  himself  8iu  9the 
 iniquity  of  his  life.  (u)  They  have  blown 
 the  trumpet,  even  to  make  all  ready ; 
 but    none    goeth    to    the    battle  :    for 
 
 8  and  9.  The  frequent  repetitions  of  this  chapter  are 
 designed,  and  give  great  force  to  the  denunciation  of 
 woe.  "•  Thiue  abominations  are  in  the  midst  of  thee," 
 in  the  sense  of  calling  down  punishment  upon  them,  as 
 appears  from  the  parallel  in  verse  9. 
 
 (5)  An  only  evil. — That  is,  an  evil  so  all-embracing 
 as  to  be  complete  in  itself,  and  need  no  repetition. 
 Compare  the  same  thought  in  Nahuni  i.  9,  "  affliction 
 shall  not  rise  up  the  second  time."  Some  MSS.,  and 
 tho  Chaldee,  by  the  alteration  of  one  letter,  read  "  evil 
 after  evil,"  as  in  verse  26. 
 
 0)  The  morning  is  come  unto  thee.— The 
 word  here  used  is  not  the  usual  one  for  morning. 
 This  word  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  verse  10  aud 
 Isa.  xxviii.  5,  where  it  is  translated  crown.  There  is 
 much  difference  of  opinion  both  as  to  its  derivation  and 
 its  meaning.  The  most  probable  sense  is  circuit — 
 "  the  circuit  of  thy  sins  is  finished,  and  the  end  is 
 come  upon  thee." 
 
 The  sounding  again  of  the  mountains. — 
 This  is  again  a  peculiar  word,  occurring  only  here ;  but 
 it  is  nearly  like  and  probably  has  the  same  meaning  as 
 the  word  in  Isa.  xvi.  10,  Jer.  xxv.  10,  denoting  the 
 joyous  sounds  of  the  people,  especially  at  harvest-time, 
 tilling  the  land  and  echoing  back  from  the  mountains. 
 Instead  of  this  shall  be  the  tumult  (rather  the  trouble) 
 of  the  day  of  war.  (See  the  opposite  contrast  in  Exod. 
 xxxii.  17,  18.) 
 
 <9)  The  Lord  that  smiteth.— In  verse  4  it  is  only 
 said,  "  Ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,"  without 
 saying  in  what  respeet;  here  this  is  specified— they 
 fhall  know  that  God  is  a  God  of  judgment,  and  that 
 these  calamities  are  from  Him. 
 
 (10)  The  morning  is  gone  forth. —  The  same 
 word  as  in  verse  7,  and  in  the  same  sense — the  circle 
 is  complete,  the  end  is  reached,  sin  hath  brought  forth 
 death.  "  The  rod "  is  commoidy  understood  of  the 
 Chaldsean  conqueror ;  bnt  as  the  word  is  the  same  for 
 rod  and  for  tribe,  and  is  very  often  used  in  the  latter 
 sense,  it  will  be  more  in  accordance  with  the  connection 
 
 220 
 
 to  understand  here  a  play  upon  the  word.  There  will 
 be  then  an  allusion  to  the  rods  of  the  tribes  in  Num. 
 xvii.  8.  There  the  rod  of  Aaron  was  made  to  bud  and 
 blossom  by  Divine  power  in  evidence  of  his  having  been 
 chosen  of  God ;  here  the  rod  representing  the  tribe  at 
 Jerusalem  in  its  self-will  and  pride  has  budded  and 
 blossomed  to  its  destruction.  So  the  description  con- 
 tinues in  the  next  verse,  "  Violence  is  risen  up  into  a 
 rod  of  wickedness."  Not  a  rod  for  the  punishment  of 
 wickedness ;  but  into  a  wicked  people. 
 
 (U)  Neither  shall  there  be  wailing  for  them. 
 — The  word  for  wailing  is  another  of  those  words 
 occurring  only  in  this  passage  which  have  been  variously 
 understood.  It  is  now  generally  taken  for  that  which 
 is  glorious  or  beautiful.  Israel  has  run  its  circle; 
 prosperity  has  developed  pride,  and  pride  has  cul- 
 minated in  all  wickedness ;  now  the  end  has  come, 
 they  and  their  tumult  (niarg., /or  multitude)  disappear 
 together,  and  of  their  glory  there  shall  be  nothing 
 left. 
 
 (is)  The  seller  shall  not  return.— The  previous 
 verse  described  the  general  cessation  of  all  the  business 
 of  life  in  the  utter  desolation  of  the  land.  Among  the 
 Israelites  the  most  important  buying  and  selling  was 
 that  of  land,  and  it  was  provided  in  the  law  (Lev.  xxv. 
 14 — 16)  that  this  should  in  no  case  extend  beyond  the 
 year  of  jubilee,  when  all  land  must  revert  to  its  possessor 
 by  inheritance.  The  seller  in  that  year  should  return 
 to  his  possession.  Now  it  is  foretold  that  the  desola- 
 tion shall  continue  so  long  that,  even  if  the  seller  lived, 
 he  should  be  unable  to  avail  himself  of  the  jubilee  year. 
 "It  is  a  natural  thing  to  rejoice  in  the  purchase  of 
 property,  aud  to  mourn  over  its  sale,  but  when  slavery 
 and  captivity  stare  you  in  the  face,  rejoicing  and 
 mourning  are  equally  absurd  "  (S.  Jerome).  The  idea 
 of  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  is,  that  no  one  shall  grow 
 strong  since  his  life  is  passed  in  iniquity. 
 
 (U)  None  goeth  to  the  battle.— The  last  thought 
 is  followed  up  here.  The  people  are  so  enfeebled  by 
 their  sins  as  to  have  no  power   against  the  enemy. 
 
Those  thai  Escape. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    VII. 
 
 The  Type  of '  (Jte  Chain. 
 
 my  wrath  in  upon  all  the  multitude 
 thereof. 
 
 <'•''»  The  sword  is  without,  and  the 
 pestilence  and  the  famine  within:  he 
 that  18  in  the  field  shall  die  with  the 
 BWOrd  ;  and  he  that  U  in  the  city,  famine 
 
 and  pestilence  Bhall  devour  him.  ('"'  Bui 
 they  that  escape  of  them  shall  escape, 
 
 and  shall  he  on  the  mountains  like  dines 
 of  the  valleys,  all  of  them  mourning, 
 every  one  for  hie  iniquity.  ''"'All  "hands 
 shall  he  feeble,  and  all  knees  shall  'be 
 weak  as  water.  '"''  They  shall  also  'gird 
 Ihenisi  Iris  with  sackcloth,  and  horror 
 shall  cover  them;  and  shame  shall  be 
 11  |ion  all  faces,  and  baldness  upon  all 
 their  heads.  <19>  They  shall  cast  their 
 silver  in  the  streets,  and  their  gold  shall 
 he  removed:  their  silver  and  their  gold 
 shall  not  be  able  to  deliver  t  hem  in  the 
 day  of  the  wrath  of  the  Lord:  they 
 shall  not  satisfy  their  souls,  neither  fill 
 their  bowels  :  'because  it  is  the  stum- 
 blingblock  of  their  iniquity.     '-"'As  for 
 
 „  m.  i.i.  ; ;  ler. 
 
 ■  i     '    ■ 
 
 I  IT  b  .  f"r  n  urpn- 
 
 ,    or,     itn 
 R  MM 
 
 Prov.  ll  I:  /..rii 
 I      l«;      Kcouh 
 
 i  lit  tlit'lr 
 
 4  Or,7n<'"' 
 Unity. 
 
 5  Or,  burglem. 
 
 0  Or,  thru 
 
 It.rtl    n. 
 
 7   Hcli .,('«>!>'»!/ ■>/. 
 
 the  beauty  of  his  ornament,  he  set  it  in 
 majesty:  but  they  made  the  images  of 
 their  abominations  and  of  their  detest- 
 able things  therein  :   therefore  have  I 
 
 4set  it    far   ti i    them.     <-l>  And   I  will 
 
 give  it  into  the  hands  of  tie-  strangers 
 for  a  prey,  and  to  the  wicked  of  the 
 
 earth  for  a  spoil;  and  they  shall  pollute 
 it.  '--'  My  lace  will  1  turn  also  from 
 them,  ami  they  shall  pollute  my  secrei 
 place:  for  the 6 robbers  shall  enter  into 
 it,  and  defile  it. 
 
 '  Make  a  chain  :  for  the  land  is  full 
 of  bloody  crimes,  and  the  city  is  full  of 
 violence.  •**' Wherefore  I  will  bring  the 
 worst  of  the  heathen,  and  they  shall  pos- 
 sess their  houses  :  I  will  also  make  the 
 pomp  of  the  strong  to  cease  ;  and  °  their 
 holy  places  shall  be  defiled.  ^''Destruc- 
 tion comet  h  ;  and  they  shall  seek  peace, 
 and  there  shall  be  none.  (26) Mischief 
 shall  come  upon  mischief,  and  rumour 
 shall  be  upon  rumour;  then  shall  they 
 seek  a  vision  of  the  prophet;  but  the 
 
 Consequently  (verse  15)  they  shall  all  perish,  directly 
 
 oi'  indirectly,  at  t  lie  hands  of  their  foes. 
 
 (M)  Like  doves  of  the  valleys.— To  this  general 
 
 destruction  there  will  he  exceptions,  as  generally  ill 
 war  there  are  fugitives  and  captives;  hut  these,  like 
 doves  whose  home  is  in  the  valleys  driven  by  fear 
 to  the  mountains,  sliall  mourn  in  their  exile.  In  the 
 mourning  "  every  one  fur  his  iniquity," iniquity  is  to  lie 
 
 Understood  in  the  sense  of  the  punishment1  for  iniquity; 
 the  thought  nf  repentance  is  not  here  brought  forward. 
 
 Their  utter  discouragement  and  feebleness  and  grief 
 are  further  described  in  verses  17.  18. 
 
 (18)  Cast  their  silver  in  tho  streets.— As  in  the 
 
 rout   of  an   army  the   soldier   throws  away  everything, 
 
 even   his   most    valuable   things,  as   impediments  to   his 
 
 Might  and  temptations  to  the  pursuing  enemy,  so  the 
 
 Israelites  in  their  terror  should  abandon  everything. 
 Their  riches  will  be  utterly  unavailing.    The  expression 
 
 in  the  original  is  even  stronger:  their  gold  shall  be  to 
 them  "an  unclean  thing,"  u  tilth,"  because  they  shall 
 perceive  that  it  has  been  to  them  an  occasion  of  sin. 
 
 '-'">  In  majesty.— Bather,  for  pride.    That  which 
 
 had   hern   riven    them  "  tat  the   beauty  of  ornament." 
 
 viz..  their  silver  and  gold  (verse  19),  they  had  perverted 
 
 to  purposes  of  pride.     Nay,  further,  they  had  even  made 
 their  idols  of  it  ;   therefore  Qod  "  set  it  far  from  them." 
 Tic   same   strong  word    is    used    here  as  in  verse  IS 
 made  it  tilth  unto  them.     The  singular  and  plural  pro- 
 nouns, "  he."  "  his."   "  they,"  "  their,"  "  them,"  all  alike 
 
 refer  to  the  people, 
 
 (23)   My  secret  place.— The  holy  of  holies,  sacredly 
 guarded  from  all   intrusion,  and   representing  the  very 
 
 culmination  both  of  the  religion  and  of  the  national 
 
 life  of  Israel,  shall  be  polluted.  If  the  pronoun  "  they  " 
 represents  any  one  in  particular,  it  must  be  the  t'hal- 
 ihe.ius;   but  it  is  better  to  take  the  verb,  as  often  ill  the 
 
 third  person  plural,  impersonally,  i.e.,  "shall  be  (di- 
 luted." The  agents  in  this  pollution  are  immediately 
 mentioned  as  "  the  robbers,"  i.t  ,  tho  Chaldiean  armies. 
 
 (23>  Make  a  chain.— In  the  midst  of  this  plain 
 prophecy  tiie  strong  tendency  of  the  prophet's  mind 
 
 .still  runs  to  the  symbolic  act  ;  but  this  can  be  thought 
 of  here  only  as  done  in  word.  The  chain  is  to  bind 
 captive  the  guilty  people. 
 
 &*)  Worst  of  the  heathen.- -Wont  refers  to  the 
 
 power  and  thoroughness  of  their  work  against  the 
 Israelites.  tComp.  Dent,  xxviii.  It'.  50;  also  Lev.  xwi. 
 19,  where  the  word  here  rendered  "pom])  of  the  strong" 
 is  translated  "pride  of  power.*')  Both  passages  are  the 
 warnings,  long  ages  ago,  of  the  judgments  now  declared 
 to  he  close  at  hand.  "  Their  holy  places;"  no  longer 
 God's,  since  Hi-  has  abandoned  them  for  the  sin  of  the 
 
 people.     (See  chap.  \i.  23, 
 
 (-5)  Destruction  Cometh.     This  is  another  of  the 
 peculiar  words   occurring   only  in   this   chapter.     It   is 
 
 generally   explained   of  the  dismay  and   horror  B) m- 
 
 panving  great  judgments,  and  vividly  described  by  our 
 U0M  as  "men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear  "  I  Luke 
 xxi.  86). 
 
 (SS)  Then  shall  they  seek  a  vision.—  Comp.  chap, 
 xx.  1 — ii.  The  three  chief  source- of  counsel.the  pn  phets, 
 
 the  priests,  and  the  elders,  areall  represented  as  applied 
 to  in  vain.  God  had  forsaken  the  people  who  had  re- 
 jected Him.  (Oamp.  Prov.  i.  28,  and  the  story  of  Saul's 
 despair  at  his  abandonment  by  God,  1  Sam.  xxviii.  15.) 
 
 In   the  following   verse   the  trouble  is  described  as 
 
 affecting  all  classes  alike,  the  king,  the  prince,  and  the 
 people  of  the  land.  and.  further,  as  being  the  fitting 
 consequence  and  retribution  of  their  own  chosen  way. 
 
 Here  closes  the  first  series  of  E/ekii  l's  prop] 
 extending  from  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  to  the  end  of 
 the  seventh  chapter,  They  were  all  uttered  within  the 
 period  of  a  year  and  two  months.  Like  the  following 
 -cries  i chaps,  viii. — xix'.  they  begin  with  a  remarkable 
 series  of  symbolic  acts,  or  rather  of  descriptions  of  such 
 acts,  and  are  continued  by  plain  prophecies.  Ezekiel 
 and    his  fellow-captives    had  now  been    between   five 
 
 •221 
 
Punishment  and  Sorrow. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   VIII. 
 
 The  Propliet  Seeth  a  Vision. 
 
 law  shall  perish  from  the  priest,  and 
 counsel  from  the  ancients.  (27-1  The  king 
 shall  mourn,  and  the  prince  shall  be 
 clothed  with  desolation,  and  the  hands  of 
 the  people  of  the  land  shall  he  troubled: 
 I  will  do  unto  them  after  their  way,  and 
 1  according  to  their  deserts  will  I  judge 
 them ;  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTEE  VIII.— (D  And  it  came  to 
 
 I  Heb.,  with  their 
 judyulznU. 
 
 pass  in  the  sixth  year,  in  the  sixth  month, 
 in  the  fifth  day  of  the  month,  as  I  sat  in 
 mine  house,  and  the  elders  of  Judah  sat 
 before  me,  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
 God  fell  there  upon  me.  <3>  Then  I 
 beheld,  and  lo  a  likeness  as  the  appear- 
 ance of  fire  :  from  the  appearance  of  his 
 loins  even  downward,  fire  ;  and  from  his 
 loins  even  upward,  as  the  appearance 
 of  brightness,  as  the  colour  of  amber. 
 (3)  And  he  "  put  forth  the  form  of  an 
 
 and  six  years  iii  exile,  and  they  still  looked  to  Jerusa- 
 lem and  the  Temple  as  their  pride  and  the  strength  of 
 their  nation,  and  doubtless  many  of  them  hoped  to  be 
 able  to  return  there  to  lead  again  their  former  lives. 
 There  could  be  no  hope  of  affecting  a  thorough  and 
 lasting  reformation  among  the  people  except  by  utterly 
 dashing  these  hopes  to  the  ground,  and  showing  that 
 the  people  must  be  led  to  repentance  through  a  thorough 
 humiliation  and  heavy  punishment.  Such  is  the  pur- 
 pose of  these  prophecies,  and  it  is  carried  out  with  ex- 
 traordinary vigour  and  power  of  language. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Here  begins  a  fresh  series  of  prophecies,  extending 
 through  chap.  xix.  This  is  introduced  as  before,  by  a 
 remarkable  vision  which,  with  its  accompanying  messages, 
 occupies  chaps  viii. — xi.  The  date  (chap.  viii.  1)  shows 
 that  this  series  began  just  a  year  and  two  months  after 
 Ezekiel's  call  to  the  prophetic  office  (chap.  i.  1,  2),  while 
 the  next  date  (chap.  xx.  1)  allows  eleven  mouths  and 
 five  days  for  its  completion.  As  in  the  former  ease, 
 it  is  probable  that  its  several  prophecies,  twelve  or 
 thirteen  in  all,  were  uttered  at  short  intervals,  allow- 
 ing time  for  each  to  produce  its  impression  upon  the 
 people.  The  previous  series  of  prophecies  was  directed 
 against  the  whole  nation,  including  alike  those  already  in 
 captivity,  and  those  who  remained  behind  in  Jerusalem ; 
 but  that  the  exiles  might  understand  the  reason,  and 
 therefore  the  certainty  of  the  impending  judgment 
 upon  Jerusalem,  it  was  necessary  that  the  extreme  sin- 
 fulness of  the  people  remaining  there  should  be  especially 
 set  forth.  Accordingly,  the  vision  of  chaps,  viii. — xi., 
 and  the  following  prophecies  of  chap,  xii.,  are  directed 
 to  Jerusalem  exclusively.  Afterwards  they  again  be- 
 come more  general,  and  there  are  some  especially  relating 
 to  the  exiles  ;  but  still  this  whole  section,  to  chap.  xix. 
 inclusive,  is  mainly  occupied  with  the  people  still  re- 
 maining in  their  own  land. 
 
 The  prophet  is  transported  in  vision  to  Jerusalem, 
 and  to  the  Temple  itself  (chap.  viii.  1 — 4),  where  he  is 
 first  made  to  see  the  various  idolatries  of  Israel  (chap, 
 viii.  5 — 18),  and  then  the  consequent  judgment  whereby 
 all  who  have  not  received  the  mark  of  God  upon  their 
 foreheads  are  to  be  destroyed  (chap,  ix.);  he  sees  the 
 city  itself  given  over  to  fire,  and  the  glory  of  the 
 Lord  depart  from  the  Temple  (chap,  x.);  after  this  he  is 
 charged  to  pronounce  judgment,  especially  upon  certain 
 leaders  of  the  people  (chap.  xi.  1 — 13),  with  God's  mercy 
 and  blessing  upon  a  repenting  remnant  ( chap.  xi.  14  —  21 ) ; 
 then  the  glory  of  the  Lord  leaves  the  city  altogether 
 (verses  22, 23),  and  the  prophet  is  brought  back  in  vision 
 to  declare  what  he  has  seen  to  his  fellow-captives  (verses 
 24,  25).  This  closes  the  vision,  after  which  he  is  directed 
 to  set  forth  the  impending  captivity  by  a  symbolical  action 
 interpreted  to  the  people  by  a  plain  prophecy,  and  this  is 
 
 followed  by  two  short  further  prophecies,  meeting  the 
 objection  that  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  the  judgment 
 because  its  comiug  is  delayed  (chap.  xii.).  Chap.  xiii. 
 is  directed  agaiust  false  prophets.  The  first  half  of 
 chap.  xiv.  is  called  out  by  an  inquiry  from  the  elders, 
 but  is  made  general  against  any  attempt  to  combine 
 asking  counsel  of  the  Lord  with  alienation  of  the  heart 
 from  Him,  recurring  again  (verses  9,  10)  to  the  case  of 
 the  false  prophets ;  the  latter  half  of  the  chapter  is 
 another  prophecy,  showing  the  certainty  and  terribleness 
 of  the  judgment  upon  Jerusalem.  In  chap.  xv.  the 
 same  tiling  is  set  forth  imder  the  parable  of  the  vine ; 
 and  in  chap.  xvi.  still  the  same  is  declared  with  a 
 recounting  of  Israel's  strange  history,  under  the  figure 
 of  matrimonial  unfaithfulness.  Still  another  parable  is 
 employed  in  chap,  xvii,  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
 that  Zedekiah  and  his  court  shall  utterly  fail  to  deliver 
 them,  aud  shall  themselves  be  carried  captive,  while 
 there  shall  again  be  prosperity  under  his  descendant. 
 Chap,  xviii.  is  occupied  with  showing  that  God's  punish- 
 ments come  upon  the  people  for  their  own  sins,  and 
 not  for  those  of  their  fathers ;  while  chap.  xix.  closes 
 this  whole  series  of  prophecies  with  a  lament  over  the 
 captivity  and  the  desolated  countiy. 
 
 (i)  The  elders  of  Judah  sat  before  me.— It 
 is  plain  from  this  that  Exekiel,  as  a  priest,  and  now 
 already  known  as  a  j>rophet,  was  held  in  consideration 
 among  the  captives.  It  also  appears  that  he  lived  in 
 his  own  house.  Judah  is  not  used  in  contradistinction 
 to  Israel ;  but  as  the  captives  were  chiefly  of  the  tribe 
 of  Judah,  so  their  elders  were  known  as  "  the  elders  of 
 Jndah." 
 
 (-)  A  likeness  as  the  appearance  of  fire- — 
 This  is  not,  as  often  supposed,  a  reappearance  of  the 
 vision  of  chap.  i.  That  vision  bursts  again  on  the  pro- 
 phet after  he  has  been  carried  in  the  spirit  to  the 
 Temple  at  Jerusalem  (verse  4).  Tliis  is  not  expressly 
 described  as  a  human  form,  but  from  the  mention  of  the 
 loins,  and  of  "  the  form  of  an  hand,"  m  verse  3  it  is 
 implied  that  it  was  so.  No  further  description  is  given, 
 except  that  it  was  something  bright  aud  glorious  like 
 fire ;  aud  by  the  repetition  of  the  words  "  likeness," 
 "  appearance,"  and  "  form  of  an  hand,"  the  prophet 
 here,  as  in  chap,  i.,  takes  pains  to  show  that  it  was  only 
 a  vision,  not  an  outward  reality.  It  is  also  to  be  re- 
 membered that  this  and  the  subsequent  vision  occurred 
 while  the  elders  were  sitting  before  the  prophet.  They 
 saw  nothing  themselves,  but  must  have  witnessed  his 
 ecstasy,  and  thus  have  been  prepared  for  his  telling 
 them  at  its  close  (chap.  xi.  25)  "  all  the  things  that  the 
 Lord  had  showed  "  him.  "  The  colour  of  amber  "  is 
 the  same  as  in  chap.  i.  4,  where  see  Note. 
 
 (3)  Took  me  by  a  lock  of  mine  head.— Not.  of 
 course,  literally,  in  the  body,  but  in  vision.     Ezekiel 
 
 222 
 
The  Image  of  JtdUnuy. 
 
 EZEKIEL,  VIII. 
 
 Greater  Abominations. 
 
 hand,  and  took  me  by  a  look  of  mine 
 
 head;  and  the  spirit  lifted  me  up  be- 
 tween  the  earth  ami  the  heaven,  and 
 brought  me  in  the  visions  of*  God  to 
 Jerusalem,  to  the  door  of  the  inner  crate 
 that  looketh  toward  the  north;  where 
 was  the  seat  of  the  image  of  jealousy, 
 which  provoketh  to  jealousy.  '"And, 
 behold,  the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel 
 was  there,  according  to  the  vision  that  I 
 "saw  in  the  plain. 
 
 '"*'  Then  said  he  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
 lift  up  thine  "eyes  now  the  way  toward 
 
 the  north.     So  I  lifted  up  mine  eyea  the 
 
 way  toward  the  north,  and  behold  north- 
 ward at  the  rate  of  the  altar  this  image 
 of  jealousy  in  the  entry.     "■'  He  said 
 
 furthermore  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  seest 
 tin  in  what  they  do?  even  the  great  abo- 
 minations that  the  house  of  Israel  com- 
 mitteth  here,  that  I  should  go  far  oil' 
 from  my  sanctuary  ?  but  turn  thee  yet 
 again,  «ncZ  thou  shalt  see  greater  abomi- 
 nations. 
 
 '7>  And  he  brought  me  to  the  door  of 
 the  court ;  and  when  I  looked,  behold  a 
 
 did  not  actually  leave  Chaldaja  at  all,  as  is  shown  by 
 chap,  xi.  24. 
 
 Tho  door  of  the  inner  gate.— This  is  one  of  the 
 gates  which  led  from  the  court  of  tho  people  to  the 
 court  of  the  priests  which  w:is  on  :i  higher  level.  In 
 the  account  ol  the  bnilding  of  the  temple  there  is  no 
 mention  of  gates  leading  from  the  one  to  the  other, 
 
 but  they  would  naturally  have  been  placed  there,  as  we 
 know  they  were  in  the  later  temple  of  IleroiL.  The 
 particular  gate  was  tho  one  "which  looketh  toward  the 
 north,"  as  the  one  by  which  the  priests  went  directly 
 to  the  great  altar. 
 
 The  image  of  jealousy  is  explained  in  the  follow- 
 ing clause.  "  which  provoketh    to  jealousy."     It  is  not 
 
 necessary  to  consider  "jealousy"  as  a  proper  name — 
 
 the  name  of  any  particular  heathen  divinity — but 
 rather  as  a  descriptive  name,  an  image  which  aroused 
 the  Divine  indignation.  It  has  even  been  thought  that 
 it  is  not    meant    to  indicate   any  particular  idol,  but  is 
 
 only  a  picture  to  set  forth  the  prevailing  idolatry.  It 
 is,  however,  altogether  probable  thai  at  this  time  there 
 actually  were  heathen  idols  set  up  in  the  temple,  and 
 nothing  could  give  a  more  vivid  picture  of  the  corrup- 
 tion of  priests  and  people  alike  than  the  mention  of 
 their  presence.  Idolatry  had  been  growing  more 
 general  and  more  bold  from  the  time  of  Solomon.  He 
 built  places  of  worship  for  the  various  idols  X)f  his 
 wives  "  in  the  hill  that  is  before  Jerusalem"  (1  Kings 
 xi.  7  >  :  hut  Ahaz,  under  the  influence  of  the  Assyrian 
 king,  had  placed  an  idolatrous  altar  in  tho  temple  itself, 
 removing  the  braaen  altar  to  make  room  ('iKingsxvi. 
 10 — 16),  and  Manasseh  afterwards  did  the  same 
 (2  Kings  xxi.  4).  All  the  subsequent  kings  of  Judah, 
 except  Josiah,  were  wicked  men,  and  although  this  par- 
 ticular sin  is  not  distinctly  recorded  of  Zedekiah,  yet  it 
 seems  altogether  likely  that  he  too  made  use  of  tho 
 temple  for  idolatrous  worship,  anil  that  K/.ckicl  in  vision 
 now  saw  his  idols  standing  in  the  court. 
 
 (41  The  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  was  there. 
 — Not  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filling  the  temple  as  in 
 tho  days  of  old,  but  the  glory  "  according  to  the  vision 
 that  1  saw  in  the  plain" — i.e..  the  same  vision  which  had 
 before  appeared  to  the  prophet  now  in  his  vision — a  vision 
 within  a  vision — appeared  to  him  again  in  the  temple. 
 The  identity  of  the  vision  is  again  particularly  men- 
 tioned in  chap.  x.  15,  22,  and  even  without  this  would 
 be  plain  from  the  description  given  of  it  in  chap.  x. 
 At  the  same  time,  various  particulars  are  mentioned 
 (as  in  chap.  x.  12)  which  were  omitted  in  chap,  i.,  and 
 others  are  mentioned  there  which  are  omitted  here,  as 
 the  cloud  and  the  firmament  chap.  i.  t.  22);  and  there 
 are  also  some  entirely  new  features  introduced,  as  the 
 
 "  six  men  "  and  ''the  man  clothed  in  linen  "  u-hap.  ix. 
 2),  for  which  there  was  no  occasion  in  the  former  vision. 
 
 "The  God  of  Israel  "  is  emphatic,  the  God  who  had 
 
 loved  and  cho-eu  Isra.  1.  and  Whom    Israel  should  have 
 served,  in  contrast  with  the  idol  which  they  had  placed 
 in  His  temple. 
 (5)  The  way  toward  the  north.— Tins  shows  that 
 
 Ezekiel  in  his  vision  was  within  the  court  of  the  priests, 
 as  otherwise  he  could  not  have  looked  toward  tin- north 
 to  see  the  idol  in  the  north  gate.  He  had  already  seen 
 this;  but  now  his  attention  is  directed  to  it  partieu. 
 larly.  It  was  not  enough  that  he  should  see  it  ;  it  was 
 to  be  especially  pointed -out  as  a  part  of  the  reason  for 
 the  Divine  judgments.  The  expression,  "  Gate  of  the 
 altar,"  may  find  an  additional  explanation  in  the  fact 
 mentioned  in  2  Kings  xvi.  14.  that  Ahaz  removed  the 
 altar  towards  the  north,  and  thus  wotdd  have  placed  it 
 very  near  this  gate. 
 
 "''  That  I  should  go  far  off  from  my  sanc- 
 tuary.— In  the  original  this  is  simply  an  infinitive, 
 without  any  subject  expressed,  "for  the  removing  far 
 off,"  and  may  therefore  bo  understood  either  01  the 
 removing  of  the  people  or  of  the  Divine  abandonment 
 of  the  sanctuary.  The  hitter  sense,  however,  which  is 
 that  given  in  the  Authorised  Version,  is  more  probable 
 and  more  in  accordance  with  the  whole  teaching  of  the 
 vision.  There  was  a  strong  feeling  among  the  people 
 that  they  were  safe  at  Jerusalem;  God,  whom  they 
 still  regarded,  notwithstanding  their  idolatries.  a~  a 
 powerful  national  God.  would  certainly  protect  His 
 temple.     It  is  the  office  of  the  prophet    to  show   that 
 
 the  transgressions  of  the  people  led,  as  their  natural 
 consequence,  to  his  giving  over  the  city  to  desolation. 
 The  "great  abominations  "  spoken  of  are  the  constant 
 refrain  of  this  chapter  (verses  9,  13,  15,  17  .  The 
 people's  own  acts  make  necessary  the  judgments  im- 
 pending over  them.     Still  worso  is  in  store. 
 
 (")  To  the  door  of  the  court.  This  is  clearly  a 
 different  place  from  that  in  which  the  prophet  had 
 hitherto  been  in  his  vision,  and  yet  is  not  so  described 
 that  its  locality  can  be  certainly  fixed.  He  had  been 
 inside  the  inner  court  near  its  north  gate;  in  verse  14 
 he  is  taken  to  the  north  gate  of  the  outer  enclosure  of 
 the  temple  precincts.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that 
 this  was  between  them.  We  do  not  know  from  the 
 description  of  Solomon's  temple  that  there  were  any 
 other  than  the  inner  and  the  outer  courts;  hut  as  there 
 were  others  in  the  temple  of  Herod  built  upon  the 
 same  area,  it  is  altogether  likely  that  there  WM  a 
 further  division,  and  that  it  was  to  such  a  dividing 
 wall,  with  chambers  attached,  that  the  prophet  was  now 
 brought.     Here  he  finds  a  hole,  or  window,  too  small 
 
The  Chambers 
 
 EZEKIEL,   VIII. 
 
 of  Imagery. 
 
 hole  in  the  wall.  <8>  Then  said  he  unto 
 me,  Son  of  man,  dig  now  in  the  wall : 
 and  when  I  had  digged  in  the  wall,  be- 
 hold a  door.  <9>  And  he  said  unto  me, 
 Go  in,  and  behold  the  wicked  abomina- 
 tions that  they  do  here.  (10)  So  I  went 
 in  and  saw  ;  and  behold  every  form  of 
 creeping  things,  and  abominable  beasts, 
 and  all  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
 pourtrayed  upon  the  wall  round  about. 
 (U>  And  there  stood  before  them  seventy 
 
 men  of  the  ancients  of  the  house  of 
 Israel,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  stood 
 Jaazaniah  the  son  of  Shaphan,  with 
 every  man  his  censer  in  his  hand ;  and 
 a  thick  cloud  of  incense  went  up. 
 (is)  Then  said  he  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
 hast  thou  seen  what  the  ancients  of  the 
 house  of  Israel  do  in  the  dark,  every  man 
 in  the  chambers  of  his  imagery  ?  for  they 
 say,  "The  Lord  seeth  us  not ;  the  Lord 
 hath  forsaken  the  earth. 
 
 for  entrance,  and  is  directed  to  enlarge  it  that  he  may 
 go  in.  Having  done  so,  he  finds  a  door  which  he  is 
 told  to  enter.  The  object  of  this  part  of  the  vision  is 
 to  show  the  extreme  secrecy  of  what  he  is  now  to  see — 
 a  secrecy  made  necessary  by  the  connection  of  this 
 idolatry  with  Egypt,  the  foe  of  Clialdaea.  Any  ques- 
 tion in  regard  to  the  way  the  idolaters  themselves 
 entered  is  out  of  place,  as  all  is  only  in  vision. 
 
 (10)  Every  form  of  creeping  things,  and 
 abominable  beasts.— The  description  of  the  idola- 
 trous rites  here  practised  clearly  indicates  their 
 Egyptian  origin.  Creature  worship  was  indeed  prac- 
 tised among  other  nations,  and  the  painting  of  idolatrous 
 objects  upon  walls  is  expressly  mentioned  in  chap,  xxiii. 
 14 — 16,  as  introduced  by  the  Jews  from  Chaldsea;  yet 
 the  combination  is  so  thoroughly  Egyptian,  and  the 
 political  relations  of  the  time  also  point  so  strongly 
 in  the  same  direction,  that  the  origin  seems  settled.  It 
 was  during  this  period  that  Jeremiah  was  obliged  to 
 contend  strenuously  against  the  desire  of  a  considerable 
 part  of  the  court  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  Egypt 
 against  Chaktea.  The  party  among  the  Jews  who 
 sought  an  Egyptian  alliance,  as  abundantly  appears 
 from  Jeremiah,  was  also  the  party  most  unwilling  to 
 submit  to  the  Divine  commandments.  They  were  the 
 persons  who  engaged  in  this  creature-worship ;  and 
 they  are  here  represented  as  constituting  the  leaders  of 
 the  nation.  As  if  this  were  not  enough,  "  all  the  idols 
 of  the  house  of  Israel,"  gathered  from  every  quarter, 
 were  also  portrayed  upon  the  walls. 
 
 in)  Seventy  men  of  the  ancients  of  the  house 
 of  Israel. — There  may  have  been  no  enclosed  chamber 
 about  the  courts  of  the  temple  capable  of  actually 
 containing  so  large  a  number;  but  again  we  are  to 
 remember  that  as  this  is  in  vision  and  for  purposes 
 of  instruction,  it  is  not  necessary  that  all  the  details 
 should  be  actually  possible.  The  seventy  elders  were 
 not  the  sanhedrin,  which  was  not  constituted  until 
 after  the  return  from  Babylon;  but  the  number  has 
 probable  reference  to  the  seventy  chosen  to  enjoy  with 
 Moses  the  Theophany  of  Exod.  xxiv.  9,  10,  and  the  other 
 seventy  selected  to  share  with  him  in  the  gifts  of  the 
 Spirit  (Num.  xi.  16).  In  contrast  with  those  selected 
 for  especial  nearness  to  God,  these  seventy  are  engaged 
 in  abominations  most  abhorrent  to  Him. 
 
 Jaazaniah,  the  son  of  Shaphan. — Son  is  per- 
 haps used  here,  as  often  in  Scripture,  in  the  sense  of 
 grandson.  In  this  case  he  may  have  been  the  same 
 with  "Jaazaniah,  the  son  of  Azur,"  mentioned  in  xi.  1 
 as  one  of  the  wicked  princes  of  the  people,  against 
 whom  Ezekiel  was  directed  to  prophesy.  It  is  hardly 
 probable  that  two  persons  of  the  same  character  and 
 the  same  (not  very  common)  name  should  have  been 
 among  the  leaders  of  the  people  at  the  same  time. 
 The  mention  of  his  grandfather  here  would  be  appro- 
 
 priate, as  bringing  out  the  contrast  in  their  characters, 
 and  showing  the  change  for  the  worse  that  had  been 
 going  on  among  the  people.  Shaphan  was  an  officer  of 
 the  court  of  King  Josiah,  and  active  in  the  reformation 
 instituted  by  him  (2  Kings  xxii.  3,  14) ;  while  his  son 
 (Elasah)  was  one  of  the  messengers  by  whom  Jeremiah 
 sent  his  prophecies  to  the  Captivity  ( Jer.  xxix.  3) ;  and 
 another  son,  Gemariah,  was  a  scribe,  having  a  chamber 
 "  in  the  higher  court,  at  the  entry  of  the  new  gate  of 
 the  Lord's  house,"  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim 
 (Jer.  xxxvi.  10).  At  the  same  time  his  grandson, 
 Michaiah,  was  sufficiently  prominent  at  court  to  join 
 in  the  intercession  of  the  princes  against  the  destruction 
 of  Jeremiah's  prophecies  (ib.  11,  25) ;  and  a  little  later, 
 in  the  general  captivity  of  the  ninth  year  of  Zedekiah, 
 another  grandson,  Gedaliah,  had  the  person  of  Jeremiah 
 given  into  his  charge  (Jer.  xxxix.  14 ;  xl.  5),  and  was 
 made  governor  over  the  remnant  of  the  people  (Jer.  xl. 
 11).  Sucli  being  the  family  connections  of  Jaazaniah, 
 the  corruption  whicli  could  make  him  a  leader  of 
 idolatry  is  strongly  shown. 
 
 With  every  man  his  censer  in  his  hand. — 
 The  burning  of  incense  was  the  exclusive  function  of 
 the  priesthood  (Num.  xvi. ;  2  Chron.  xxvi.  16 — 18); 
 and  it  was  alike  the  necessity  and  the  choice  of  the 
 idolaters  of  Israel  to  devolve  this  office  upon  those  who 
 were  not  of  the  Aaronic  family.  (Comp.  1  Kings  xii. 
 31.)  When  the  seventy  elders  offered  incense  to  their 
 idols  they  claimed  thereby  to  be  the  priests  of  those 
 idols. 
 
 (i'2)  Do  in  the  dark,  i.e.,  in  secret.  Hence  the 
 difficulty  of  access  to  the  place  of  their  worship.  The 
 ordinary  idolatries  of  Israel,  as  of  most  heathen,  con- 
 sisted in  the  worship  of  the  true,  or  of  a  supposed 
 spiritual  Deity,  by  means  of  sensible  images  (comp. 
 Exod.  xxxii.  8).  This  was  open  and  public  enough  at 
 Jerusalem  at  this  time ;  but  the  peculiar  sin  here 
 portrayed  was  the  actual  worship  of  the  creature  by 
 means  of  images  and  paintings.  This,  although  joined 
 in  by  the  chief  people  of  the  nation,  was  practised 
 secretly,  perhaps,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  concealing 
 its  Egyptian  tendencies  from  the  Chaldceans,  but  also  to 
 throw  over  it  the  charm  of  mystery,  as  was  so  common 
 among  the  heathen. 
 
 Every  man  in  the  chambers  of  his  imagery. 
 — By  "  chambers  of  imagery "  (the  same  word  as  in 
 Lev.  xxvi.  1)  is  intended  chambers  painted  with  images 
 like  the  one  now  shown  to  the  prophet.  This  was  not 
 a  solitary  case  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  but  an  example 
 of  what  was  done  everywhere.  The  people  stifled  the 
 Tjoice  of  conscience  then,  as  in  every  age,  by  saying 
 "  The  Lord  seeth  us  not,"  comp.  Pss.  x.  11,  xciv.  7, 
 &c.  Yet,  besides  this,  they  argued,  doubtless  from 
 the  calamities  that  had  already  fallen  upon  their 
 country,  "  the    Lord    hath  forsaken   the  earth,"  or, 
 
 224 
 
'Mourn  rs  for  Tamrmut 
 
 EZEKIEL,    IX 
 
 <l:i>  He  said  also  unto  me,  Turn  thee 
 vet  again,  and  thou  shalt  see  greater 
 abominations  thai  they  do.  P^Thenhe 
 brought  me  to  the  door  of  the  gate  of 
 the  Lord's  hoose  which  wot  toward  the 
 north;  and,  behold,  there  sat  women 
 weeping  for  Tammuz.  "'  Then  said  he 
 until  me,  Hast  thou  seen  //»'*■,  O  son  of 
 man?  turn  thee  yei  again,  and  thou 
 shalt  see  greater  abominations  than 
 these. 
 
 ""Ami  he  brought  me  into  the  inner 
 court  of  the  Lord's  house,  and,  behold, 
 at  the  door  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord, 
 between  the  poivh  and  the  altar,  were 
 about  live  and  twenty  men,  with  their 
 backs  toward  the  temple  of  the  Loan, 
 and    their   faces    toward   the  east;  and 
 
 to  cuimmt. 
 
 a  eh.  5.  11 ;  &  7.  4. 
 
 b  Pro.  i.  s:  Im. 
 
 I  r.  it.  n; 
 
 MIc.  3.  4. 
 
 they  worshipped  the  sun  toward  tin- 
 east.  WThen  be  said  unto  me,  Hast 
 thou  seen  this,  0  sou  of  man  P  '  Is  it  a 
 light  thin^  to  the  house  of  Judah  thai 
 they  commit  the  abominations  which 
 they  commit  here?  for  they  Lave  filled 
 the  land  with  violence,  and  have  re- 
 turned to  provoke  me  to  anger:  and, 
 lo,  they  put  the  branch  to  their  nose. 
 |1S)  Therefore  will  I  also  deal  in  fury  : 
 mine  "eye  shall  not  spare,  neither  will  I 
 have  pity  :  and  though  they  'cry  in  mine 
 ears  with  a  loud  voice,  yet  will  I  not  hear 
 them. 
 
 CHAPTER  IX.—'1'  He  cried  also  in 
 mine  ears  with  a  loud  voice,  saying, 
 Cause  them  that  have  charge  over  the 
 
 rathor.  the  land;  ami  therefore  they  must  have  recourse 
 to  other  help.    But  the  prophet  was  to  see  yet  «  re  i 
 
 tiling. 
 
 ("j  Women  weeping  for  Tammuz.—  Tin-  pro- 
 phet is  now  taken  to  the  north  gate  of  the  outer 
 enclosure  of  the  Temple  courts,  and  then  sees  a  new 
 and  exceedingly  corrupt  form  of  idolatry.  Tammuz  is 
 nowhere  else  mentioned  in  Scripture,  but  is  identified 
 by  ancient  tradition  (incorporated  into  the  Vuhj.) 
 wiili  the  Greek  Adonis,  the  beloved  of  Venus.  The 
 name  Adonis  could  not  well  have  been  used,  because 
 in  its  Hebrew  form  it  means  Lord,  ami  is  frequently 
 used  of  God  His  worship  is  first  heard  of  in  Phce- 
 niiia.  and  was  wide-spread  throughout  Syria  ami  the 
 adjacent  countries.  As  the  creature  worship  before 
 mentioned   was  undoubtedly  connected  with  jwlitieal 
 
 reasons,    while  aiil  was   being  sought  from   Egypt,   BO 
 
 the  worship  of  Ail. mis  may  have  been  affected  by  the 
 league  which  Zedekiah  attempted  to  form  (Jer.  xxvii. 
 
 1  ll)  with  the  Edomites,  Moabrtes,  Ammonites,  and 
 Philistines  against  Nebuchadneraar.  The  annual  feast 
 of  Ail'.nis  consisted  of  a  mourning  by  the  women  for 
 his  death,  followed  by  a  rejoicing  over  his  return  to 
 life,  ami  was  accompanied  by  great  abominations  and 
 licentiousness.  The  myth  of  Adonis  was  also  closely 
 associated  with  the  worship  of  nature.    This  festival 
 
 (liil  not  fall  in  the"  sixth  month."   hut    the   description 
 
 is  not  necessarily  of  what  was  actually  occurring  at 
 the  moment ;  there  is  brought  before  the  prophet's 
 vision  a  representation  of  tho  wickedness  practised  at 
 
 various  times  iii  Jerusalem.  Women  engaged  in  the 
 Bervii f  idolatry  mar  the  Temple  are  mentioned  in 
 
 2  Kings  xxiii.  7.     (Oomp.  Jer.  vii.  18 
 
 Thus  far.  the  prophet  has  seen  in  the  different  courts 
 of  the  Temple  the  general  image  worship  of  the  people, 
 then  the  creature  worship  of  their  elders,  and  now  the 
 corrupt  and  debasing  rites  of  their  women. 
 
 1,;  Between  the  porch  and  the  altar.— E/eki.l 
 
 now  returns  to  the  court  of  the  priests,  and  there  sees 
 
 — not  about,  hut  as  it  were  (referring  to  the  nature  of 
 the  vision    -"twenty-five  men."    These  nro  probably 
 
 the   high    priest    and    the    heads    of    the  twenty-four 
 
 courses,  representing  the  whole  body  of  the  priests,  as 
 
 the  elders  iv|.iv,euted  the  wdiole  body  of  the  people. 
 They  were  standing  between  the  altar  and  the  Temple, 
 therefore  in  the  most  sacred  part  of  the  court,  and  there. 
 
 154 
 
 turning  their  backs  upon  tho  Temple  of  the  Lord, 
 worshipped  the  sun.  The  adoration  of  the  sun,  pro- 
 bably the  earliest  form  of  take  religion,  was  the  especial 
 worship  of  Persia,  but  had  been  long  since  praetised 
 by  the  kings  and  people  of  Judah  -  Kings  xxiii.  5,  1 1  . 
 Thus  all  classes  of  the  nation  are  seen  to  be  involved 
 in  common  sin;  ami  the  priests  partieiilarly,  tlie cspeei.d 
 guardians  of  true  religion,  are  found  practising  this 
 sin  under  circumstances  of   peculiar  insult  to  God. 
 
 That  the  "chief  priests"  did  pollute  the  sanetuary  at 
 this  time  is  expressly  asserted  in  the  history  at  2  Chrou. 
 xxxvi.  14.. 
 
 ('")  For  they  have  filled  the  land  with 
 violence. — Corruption  in  religion  here,  as  always. 
 bore  its  proper  fruit  in  moral  deterioration.  A  people 
 who  go  astray  from  their  duty  to  God  are  always  found 
 to  neglect  also  their  duty  to  man.  Israel  had  before 
 fallen  into  great  and  grievous  sins.  Within  the  memory 
 of  those  still  living,  the  good  king  Josiah,  supported 
 by  the  prophet  Jeremiah  and  many  others,  had  made 
 great  effort  at  reformation,  and  had  purged  the  Temple 
 of  its  abominations;  hence  God  says  the  people  "  have 
 rsfwned  to  provoke  me  to  anger.*' 
 
 Put  the  branch  to  their  nose. — This  is  an 
 obscure  expression,  on  which  the  learning  and  ingenuity 
 of  commentators  have  been  spent  in  vain.  It  is  an  allu- 
 sion to  some  custom  well  known  at  the  time,  bnt  now 
 lost.  Tho  simplest  explanation  seems  to  l»>  in  a  refe- 
 rence to  the  habit  of  the  PaneeS  mentioned  by  Strata 
 in  their  worship  to  hold  twigs  of  the  tamarisk,  palm, 
 and  the  pomegranate  before  their  mouths. 
 
 (18)  Will  I  not  hear  them.— The  time  for  prayer 
 was  past.  They  had  rejected  God.  and  when  His 
 wrath  came  upon  them  it  was  too  late  to  turn  to  Him. 
 I'rov.  i.  24—28;  Matt. vii. 22, 23.)  The  possibility 
 of  -imiimj  beyond  the  term  of  the  day  of  grace  is  one 
 of  the  most  important  lessons  of  this  chapter. 
 
 IX. 
 
 This  chapter  forms  part  of  the  same  continuous  vision 
 with  the  preceding  one,  but  while  the  former  is  occu- 
 pied with  the  exposure  of  the  sin,  this  latter  specifies 
 the  consequent  punishment. 
 
 (i)  He  cried  also  .  .  .  with  a  loud  voice.- 
 The  pronoun  refers  to  the  same  Being  as  throughout 
 
 225 
 
The  Six  Destroyers. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   IX. 
 
 Tlie  Mark  on  ilie  Righteous. 
 
 city  to  draw  near,  even  every  man  with 
 his  destroying  weapon  in  his  hand. 
 <2)  And,  behold,  six  men  came  from  the 
 way  of  the  higher  gate,  :  which  lieth  to- 
 ward the  north,  and  every  man  2a 
 slaughter  weapon  in  his  hand  ;  and  one 
 man  among  them  was  clothed  with 
 linen,  with  a  writer's  inkhorn  3by  his 
 side :  and  they  went  in,  and  stood  be- 
 side the  brazen  altar.  <3)  And  the  glory 
 of  the  God  of  Israel  was  gone  up  from 
 the  cherub,  whereupon  he  was,  to  the 
 
 Heb.,  which   u 
 turned. 
 
 Heb.,  a  weapon 
 of  his  bnjakinu 
 in  pieces. 
 
 Heb.,    upon  liis 
 loins. 
 
 Heb.,    mark    a 
 mark. 
 
 Ex.  12.  7  ;    Rev. 
 7.3. 
 
 5  Heb.,  mine  ears 
 
 threshold  of  the  house.  And  he  called 
 to  the  man  clothed  with  linen,  which 
 had  the  writer's  inkhorn  by  his  side ; 
 <4)  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Go 
 through  the  midst  of  the  city,  through 
 the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  ''set  "a  mark 
 upon  the  foreheads  of  the  men  that 
 sigh  and  that  cry  for  all  the  abomina- 
 tions that  be  done  in  the  midst  thei'eof. 
 (5>  And  to  the  others  he  said  in  5mine 
 hearing,  Go  ye  after  him  through  the 
 city,  and  smite  :  let  not  your  eye  spare, 
 
 the  previous  chapter.  His  nature  is  sufficiently  shown 
 by  the  prophet's  address  to  Him  in  verse  8 :  "  All,  Lord 
 God !"  The  "  loud  voice"  was  to  give  emphasis  to  what 
 is  said ;  it  is  the  natural  expression  of  the  fierceness  of 
 the  Divine  indignation  and  wrath. 
 
 Them  that  have  charge  over  the  city.— Not 
 earthly  officers,  but  those  to  whom  God  has  especially 
 entrusted  the  execution  of  His  will  concerning  Jerusa- 
 lem. The  word  is,  no  doubt,  used  often  enough  of 
 human  officers,  but  such  sense  is  necessarily  excluded 
 here  by  the  whole  circumstances  of  the  vision.  Nor 
 does  the  phrase  "  every  man  "  at  all  indicate  that  they 
 were  human  beings,  the  same  expression  being  con- 
 stantly used  of  angels  (as  in  Gen.  xviii.  1,  2;  Josh.  v. 
 13 ;  Judges  xiii.  11 ;  Dan.  viii.  16,  &c),  and  the  repre- 
 sentation here  being  plainly  that  of  angelic  execu- 
 tioners of  God's  wrath.  They  appear  only  in  the 
 light  of  the  administrators  of  vengeance,  the  des- 
 cription of  them  being  that  each  had  "  his  destroying 
 weapon  in  his  hand."  This  is  repeated  in  the  following 
 verse. 
 
 (2)  One  man  among  them  was  clothed  with 
 linen. — He  was  among  them,  but  not  of  them.  There 
 were  six  with  weapons,  and  this  one  without  a  weapon 
 formed  the  seventh,  thus  making  up  the  mystical 
 number  so  often  used  in  Scripture.  He  was  "  clothed 
 in  linen,' '  the  ordinary  priestly  garment,  and  the  special 
 garment  of  the  high  priest  at  the  ceremonies  on  the 
 great  Day  of  Atonement  (Lev.  xvi.) ;  yet  also  used  by 
 others,  and  on  other  occasions,  simply  as  a  garment  of 
 purity  and  of  distinction  (comp.  Dan.  x.  5),  so  that  there 
 is  no  need  here  to  suppose  a  priestly  chai-acter  attached 
 to  this  one.  He  carried  in  his  girdle  the  "  inkhorn," 
 i.e.,  the  little  case,  containing  pens,  knife,  and  ink,  com- 
 monly worn  by  the  Oriental  scribe.  There  is  no  occa- 
 sion to  understand  this  person  either,  on  the  one  hand, 
 as  a  representation  of  the  Babylonian  god  Nebo,  "  the 
 scribe  of  heaven,"  nor,  on  the  other,  as  is  done  by  many 
 commentators,  of  our  Lord.  There  is  nothing  men- 
 tioned which  can  give  him  any  special  identification. 
 He  is  simply  a  necessity  of  the  vision,  an  angelic 
 messenger,  to  mark  out  those  whose  faithfulness  to  God 
 amid  the  surrounding  evil  exempts  them  from  the 
 common  doom  (comp.  Rev.  vii.  3).  This  party  are  seen 
 coming  "  from  the  way  of  the  higher  gate."  The 
 courts  of  the  Temple  were  built  in  stages,  the  inner- 
 most the  highest.  This,  then,  was  the  gate  of  the  inner 
 court,  and  was  on  the  north,  both  as  the  place  where 
 the  prophet  had  been  shown  the  idolatries,  and  as  the 
 quarter  from  which  the  Chaldsean  destruction  was 
 poured  out  upon  the  nation.  They  took  their  station 
 "  beside  the  brazen  altar,"  as  the  central  point  at  once 
 of  the  true  worship  of  Israel  and  of  the  present  pro- 
 fanation of  that  worship. 
 
 226 
 
 (3)  The  glory  ...  to  the  threshold.— In  chap, 
 viii.  4  the  prophet  had  seen  the  same  vision  as  he  has 
 described  in  chap.  i.  standing  at  the  entrance  of  the 
 court  of  the  iiriests,  and  there  it  still  remained.  The 
 word  cherub  is  here  used  collectively.  Now  that  special 
 glory  above  the  cherubim,  which  represented  the  Divine 
 Being  Himself,  was  gone  from  its  place  to  the  threshold 
 of  the  house,  but  is  returned  again  in  chap.  x.  1.  At 
 the  same  time,  there  is  also  suggested  the  idea  that 
 the  ordinary  presence  of  God  between  the  cherubim  in 
 the  Holy  of  Holies  within  the  Temple  has  left  its  place, 
 and  come  out  to  the  door  of  the  house.  The  two  ideas 
 are  indeed  distinct,  and  yet  by  no  means  incapable  of 
 being  blended  in  the  imagery  of  a  vision.  The  signifi- 
 cance of  the  former  is  that  the  command  for  judgment 
 proceeds  from  the  very  Temple  itself  to  which  the 
 Pharisaic  Jews  looked  as  the  pledge  of  their  safety ; 
 while  the  other  would  mean  that  the  Lord  had  already 
 begun  to  forsake  His  Temple.  Both  thoughts  are  true, 
 and  both  are  emphasised  in  the  course  of  the  vision. 
 
 M  Set  a  mark  upon  the  foreheads.— The  word 
 for  mark  is  literally  a  Tan,  the  last  letter  of  the 
 Hebrew  alphabet.  This,  in  many  of  the  ancient 
 alphabets,  and  especially  in  that  in  use  among  the 
 Hebrews  up  to  this  time,  and  long  retained  upon 
 their  coins,  was  in  the  form  of  a  cross — X  or  +. 
 Much  stress  was  laid  upon  this  use  of  the  sign  of  the 
 cross  as  the  mark  for  the  Divine  mercy  by  the  older 
 Christian  writers,  Tertulliau,  Origeu,  Cyprian,  and 
 Jerome.  This  marking  was  done,  it  is  true,  in  vision, 
 but  the  symbolism  is  taken  from  such  passages  as 
 Gen.  iv.  15  ;  Exod.  xii.  7,  13,  xxviii.  36 ;  and  it  is  used 
 several  times  ill  the  Apocalypse  (chaps,  vii.  3,  ix.  4, 
 xiv.  1).  Such  marks  may  lie  necessary  for  the  guidance 
 of  the  angelic  executors  of  God's  commands,  and  at 
 all  events,  the  symbolism  is  of  value  to  the  human 
 mind.  It  is  with  reference  to  such  Scriptural  instances 
 of  marking,  doubtless,  that  the  Church  has  provided 
 for  the  signing  of  the  baptized  with  the  sign  of  the 
 cross.  It  is  to  be  observed  here  that  the  distinction  of 
 the  marking  has  reference  wholly  and  only  to  character. 
 No  regard  is  paid  to  birth  or  position  ;  they  and  they 
 only  are  marked  who  mourned  for  the  prevailing  sin- 
 fulness, and  kept  themselves  apai-t  from  it. 
 
 (5)  G-o  ye  after  him.  —  No  interval  is  allowed. 
 Here,  as  in  the  corresponding  visions  in  Revelation 
 referred  to  above,  judgment  waits  only  until  those 
 whom  mercy  will  spare  have  been  protected.  (Comp. 
 the  deliverance  of  Lot,  Gen.  xix.  22—25.)  The  de- 
 struction was  to  be  utter  and  complete,  and  was  to 
 begin  at  the  sanctuary,  where  the  gross  sin  of  the  people 
 had  culminated.  This  is  one  of  those  many  important 
 passages  in  Scripture  (comp.  Matt.  xxv.  41 ;  Luke 
 xxiii.  30 ;  Rev.  vi.  16,  &c.)  in  which  God  reveals  Him- 
 
Destruction  of  the  Oth  rt. 
 
 EZEKLEL,   X. 
 
 /'  Fire, 
 
 neither  nave  ye  pity:  W  slay1  utterly  old 
 mill  young,  both  maids,  and  little  chil- 
 dren, and  women:  but  come  not  neat 
 
 ;iny  man    1 1  ]  ><  •  I  ■  whom  /.sthe    mark;   and 
 
 begin  at  my  sanctuary.  Then  thej 
 began  at  the  ancient  men  which  were 
 before  the  house.  '"'  And  he  said  unto 
 them,  Defile  the  house,  and  fill  the 
 courts  with  the  slain:  <jo  ye  forth. 
 And  they  went  forth,  and  slew  in  the 
 city. 
 
 ,S|  And  it  came  to  pass,  while  they 
 were  slaying  them,  and  I  was  left,  thai 
 I  toll  upon  my  lace,  and  cried,  and  said, 
 Ah  Lord  God  !  wilt  thou  destroy  all  the 
 residue  of  Israel  in  thy  pouring  out  of 
 thy  fury  upon  Jerusalem  P 
 
 Then  said  he  unto  me,  The  iniquity 
 <>f  the  house  of  Israel  and  Judah  is  ex- 
 ceeding great,  and  the  land  is  3full  of 
 blood,  and  the  city  full  of 3 perverseness : 
 for  they  say,  "The  Lord  hath  forsaken 
 the  earth,  and  the  Lord  seeth  not. 
 "'"  Ami  as  for  me  also,  mine  *eye  shall 
 not   spare,  neither   will  I  have  pity,  but 
 
 I   Beth,  to  lUatrae- 
 
 Hi-ti.,  filled  vith 
 
 mcnl. 
 
 b  i-li.  5.  11;  4  7.  < 
 
 l   IT- N.,    returned 
 tlu  word. 
 
 :.  BelJ .  ' 
 of  thine  hand. 
 
 IKU  lifted 
 
 I  will  recompense  their  way  upon  their 
 bead.  '"'  And,  behold,  the  man  clothed 
 with  linen,  which  had  the  inkhorn  bi  his 
 
 side, 'lejiorted  the  matter,  saying,  1  have 
 done  as  thou  hast  commanded  me. 
 
 CHAPTER    X.— d)  Then   I    looked, 
 
 and,  behold,  in  the  lirnia  nn-iit  that  was 
 above  the  head  of  the  cherubims  there 
 appeared  over  them  as  it  were  a  sapphire 
 stone,  as  the  appearance  of  the  likeness 
 of  a  throne.  <J|  And  be  spake  unto  the 
 man  clothed  with  linen,  and  said,  Go  in 
 between  the  wheels,  even  under  the 
 cherub,  and  fill  "thine  hand  with  coals 
 of  fire  from  between  the  cherubims,  and 
 .scatter  thum  over  the  city.  And  he  went 
 in  in  my  sight.  (3>  Now  the  cherubims 
 stood  on  the  right  side  of  the  house, 
 when  the  man  went  in  ;  and  the  cloud 
 tilled  the  inner  court.  '"Then  the  glory 
 of  the  Lord  "went  up  from  the  cherub, 
 and  stood  over  the  threshold  of  the 
 house ;  and  the  house  was  filled  with 
 the  cloud,  and  the  court  was  full  of  the 
 
 self  .'is  one  who  will  ultimately  take  vengeance 
 without  pity  upon  those  who  have  rejected  and  insulted 
 His  mercy  and  long-suffering  kindness.  The  revela- 
 tion of  future  wrath  is  n.>  loss  dear  and  distinct  than 
 that  of  love  to  those  who  trust  in  Him. 
 
 ("i  Defile  the  house.— The  utmost  possible  pollu- 
 tion under  the  Mosaic  economy  was  the  touch  of  a 
 (lead  body.  (See  Num.  xix.  11;  1  Kings  xiii.  2; 
 2  Kings  xxiii.  16.)  It  might  bethought  that  the  Temple 
 would  be  spared  this  defilement  ;  but  not  only  must 
 the  execution  of  justice  override  all  technicalities,  as 
 at  the  execution  of  Joab  (1  Kings  ii.  128 — 31),  but  in 
 this  case  the  very  defilement  itself  was  8  pari  of  the 
 judgment,  since  God  was  about  to  forsake  His  sanc- 
 tuarv,  and  give  over  even  this  to  tin-  desolations  of  the 
 
 heathen.  From  the  Temple  the  destroying  angels 
 passed  onl  into  the  city. 
 
 i-1  I  was  left.— Tlie  words  imply  left  alone.  Tho 
 prophet  had  just  before  seen  the  courts  of  the  sanc- 
 tuary thronged  with  idolaters  in  the  full  glory  of  their 
 heaven-defyuig  sin.  Now  it  is  a  city  of  the  .bad,  and 
 he  is  left  Standing  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  dad.  He 
 falls   upon   his  face  in   consternation,   and   pleads  that 
 
 "  the  residue  of  Israel"  may  not  Kc  utterly  destroyed. 
 
 The   sternness   of  the    Divine    answer    loaves    no    room 
 
 for  hope    of    any   mitigation    of    the    judg nt.       No 
 
 mention  is  made    here   of   those  who   were   to  be  saved  ; 
 they  were  so  few  among  the  mas-,  as  to  have  no  ofl 
 Upon  the  general    impression   .if  the   vision.      Yet  thev 
 aie  not  forgotten;  and   to   show    that   thev  are  not.  tin- 
 man in  linen  is  represented  in  the  next  verse  (11)  as 
 
 reporting  that  he  had  executed  the  Command  given  him. 
 X. 
 
 This  chapter  is  chiefly  occupied  with  a  fresh  descrip- 
 tion of  the  vision  of  chap.  i..  but  includes  two  new 
 points  :  the  giving  up  of  the  city  to  tire  (verse  2),  and 
 tho  abandonment  of  tho  Temple  (verses  IS,  19). 
 
 2-27 
 
 (D  As  it  were  a  sapphire  stone.— Comp.  chap. 
 i.  2fi.    No  mention  is  here  made  of  »  being  upon   the 
 
 throne,  but  it  is  implied  by  the  "he  spake  "  .if  the  fol- 
 lowing verse.  The  word  cherubim  corresponds  through- 
 out this  chapter  to  the  living  creatures  of  chap.  i. 
 
 (-)  TTnto  the  man  clothed  with  linen.— 
 Hitherto,  in  chap,  ix.,  he  lias  been  employed  only  in  a 
 work  of  mercy  and  protection.  It  is  not  without  sig- 
 nificance  that  now  the  .same  person  is  made  the  agent 
 of  judgment.  As  God's  hue  is  turned  to  wrath  by 
 man's  impenitence,  and  as  His  blessings  given  to  man 
 
 1 me  curses  by  their  abuse  employed  by 
 
 Him  as  the  instruments  of  His  loving-kindness  become 
 
 the    very    executioners   of  his  ••  fury."      The    -coals   of 
 
 fire."  the  symbols  of  Divine  wrath,  are  represented  as 
 ••  bet  ween  the  cherubim."     In  every  possible  way  it  is 
 
 signitiedth.it  the  impending  doom  is  not  from  man's 
 will,  however  men  may  be  used  as  iis  instruments,  or 
 from  any  accident,  but   from  God  lliins.lt'. 
 
 Scatter  them  over  the  city.-  For  its  destruc- 
 tion. Perhaps  the  imagery  does  in.t  signify  anything 
 more  than  destruction,  without  especial  reference  t"  the 
 means  employed  ;  but  -  Kings  xxv.  0  and  2  Chron. 
 x\\\i.  19  show  that  the  Temple  and  city  were  actually 
 
 burned  by  the  ChaldsBanS,  as  was  often  done  with  COD- 
 qnered  cities  that  had  resisted  obstinately. 
 
 (4i  The  glory  of  tho  Lord  went  lip  from  the 
 cherub.— As  in  verse   -.  the  singular,  cherub,  instead 
 
 of  the  usual  plural.      Here  it  is  thought  to  designate, 
 
 not    the    four   living  creatures   of   the   vision,    but   the 
 cherubim  overshadowing  the  merey-s.  at.  and  to  indit 
 that  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  presence  now  left 
 the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  went  to  the  threshold  of  the  door 
 of   the   house,  preparatory  t..    leaving  it   altogether. 
 
 The  expression  is  obscure, since  the  place  of  the  mani- 
 festation of  the  Divine  presence  in  the  most  holy  place 
 
 is  usually  described  as  ''between  the  cherubim  "  ■  Exod. 
 xxv.  '22;  Num.  vii.  89;  Fss.  lxxx.  1.  xcix.   1,  <&c).     Of 
 
Vision  of  the  CherUbim 
 
 EZEKIEL,   X. 
 
 and  of  the  Wheels: 
 
 brightness  of  the  Lord's  glory.  <5>  And 
 the  "sound  of  the  cherubims'  wings 
 was  heard  even  to  the  outer  court,  as 
 the  voice  of  the  Almighty  God  when  he 
 speaketh. 
 
 <6>  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  he 
 had  commanded  the  man  clothed  with 
 linen,  saying,  Take  fire  from  between 
 the  wheels,  from  between  the  cherubims ; 
 then  he  went  in,  and  stood  beside  the 
 wheels.  (7>  And  one  cherub  l  stretched 
 forth  his  hand  from  between  the  cheru- 
 bims unto  the  fire  that  was  between  the 
 cherubims,  and  took  thereof,  and  put  it 
 into  the  hands  of  him  that  ivas  clothed 
 with  linen  :  who  took  it,  and  went  out. 
 <8)  And  there  appeared  in  the  cherubims 
 the  form  of  a  man's  hand  under  their 
 wings. 
 
 <9)  And  when  I  looked,  behold  the  four 
 wheels  by  the  cherubims,  one  wheel  by 
 one  cherub,  and  another  wheel  by  ano- 
 ther cherub :  and  the  appearance  of  the 
 wheels  was  as  the  colour  of  a  'beryl 
 stone.  (10)  And  as  for  their  appearances, 
 they  four  had  one  likeness,  as  if  a  wheel 
 had  been  in  the  midst  of  a  wheel. 
 (ii)  When  they  went,  they  went  upon 
 their  four  sides ;  they  turned  not  as  they 
 went,  but  to  the  place  whither  the  head 
 
 1  Heb.,  sent  forth. 
 
 2  Heb.,  flesh. 
 
 3  Or,  they  were 
 called  in  my 
 heartnff,  wheel, 
 or,  galgal. 
 
 4  Or,  of  life. 
 
 looked  they  followed  it ;  they  turned 
 not  as  they  went.  <12)  And  their  whole 
 2  body,  and  their  backs,  and  their  hands,, 
 and  their  wings,  and  the  wheels,  ivere 
 full  of  eyes  round  about,  even  the  wheels 
 that  they  four  had.  (13>  As  for  the 
 wheels,  3it  was  cried  unto  them  in  my 
 hearing,  0  wheel.  (u>And  every  one 
 had  four  faces :  the  first  face  was  the 
 face  of  a  cherub,  and  the  second  face 
 was  the  face  of  a  man,  and  the  third  the 
 face  of  a  lion,  and  the  fourth  the  face  of 
 an  eagle.  (15)  And  the  cherubims  were 
 lifted  up.  This  is  the  living  creature 
 that 5 1  saw  by  the  river  of  Chebar. 
 (ifi)  And  when  the  cherubims  went,  the 
 wheels  went  by  them :  and  when  the 
 cherubims  lifted  up  their  wings  to 
 mount  up  from  the  earth,  the  same 
 wheels  also  turned  not  from  beside 
 them.  (17>  When  they  stood,  these 
 stood;  and  when  they  were  lifted  up, 
 these  lifted  up  themselves  also  :  for  the 
 spirit  4of  the  living  creature  was  in 
 them. 
 
 (is)  Th^  the  glory  of  the  Loed  de- 
 parted from  off  the  threshold  of  the 
 house,  and  stood  over  the  cherubims. 
 (19)And  the  cherubims  lifted  up  their 
 wings,  and  mounted  up  from  the  earth 
 
 the  main  point,  however,  there  can  be  no  doubt — that 
 the  Divine  presence  is  represented  as  in  the  act  of 
 leaving  the  Temple.  "  The  house  was  filled  with  the 
 cloud,  and  the  court  was  full  of  the  brightness  of  the 
 Lord's  glory  "  as  He  departed,  in  striking  contrast  with 
 the  similar  manifestations  (Exod.  xl.  34,  35  ;  1  Kings 
 viii.  10,  11),  when  God  accepted  the  tabernacle  and  the 
 Temple  as  the  peculiar  place  of  His  abode. 
 
 (5)  The  sound  of  the  cherubims'  wings. — 
 This  sound  indicates  that  the  cherubim  were  already  in 
 motion,  for  when  they  stood  they  "  let  down  their 
 wings"  (chap.  i.  24).  They  were  now  just  on  the  eve 
 of  going  away,  and  the  movement  was  a  great  one,  so 
 that  the  sound  was  "  heard  even  to  the  outer 
 court."  Throughoixt  this  chapter  the  s  in  eheru&ims  is 
 quite  unnecessary,  since  cherubim  is  already  the  Hebrew 
 plural  of  cherub. 
 
 Verses  6  and  7  are  not  subsequent  in  time  to  verse  5, 
 but  are  simply  a  more  particular  account,  given  paren- 
 thetically, of  what  had  already  been  briefly  mentioned 
 iu  verse  2. 
 
 Verses  8 — 17  are  largely  a  repetition  of  the  descrip- 
 tion of  the  vision  in  chap,  i.,  but  it  is  here  given  in 
 parts,  parenthetically,  in  connection  with  the  progress 
 of  the  narrative.  The  course  of  the  narrative  itself  is 
 as  follows  : — After  the  man  in  linen  has  gone  out  (verse 
 7),  a  command  is  issued,  "  O  wheel."  They  were  to  set 
 themselves  in  motion.  Then  (verse  15)  they  "  were 
 lifted  up,"  and  (verses  18,  19)  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
 departed  "  from  the  Temple,  and  "  mounted  up  from  the 
 earth."  The  repetition  of  the  description  of  chap.  i.  is 
 by  no  means  accidental,  but  serves  partly  to  connect  the 
 
 228 
 
 various  particulars  with  the  course  of  the  symbolic  nar- 
 rative, and  mainly  to  emphasize  the  identity  of  the 
 glory  departing  from  the  Temple  with  the  Divine  glory 
 before  seen.  There  are,  however,  several  variations  from 
 the  former  description.  Particularly  in  verse  12  (as  in 
 Rev.  iv.  6)  there  is  mention  of  the  abundance  of  eyes, 
 a  symbol  of  vigilance  and  activity,  covering  the  whole 
 body  of  the  cherubim  and  the  wheels.  In  verse  14, 
 after  saying  that  "  every  one  had  four  faces,"  as  in 
 chap,  i.,  the  particular  faces  are  described,  but  with  this 
 important  variation  : — the  first  is  said  to  be  "  the  face  of 
 a  cherub,"  instead  of  "  the  face  of  an  ox,"  as  in  chap.  i. ; 
 more  exactly  it  is  "  the  face  of  the  cherub,"  since  the 
 Hebrew  has  the  definite  article.  The  reason  of  this 
 variation  and  the  meaning  of  "  the  face  of  the  cherub  " 
 are  both  obscure.  In  verse  22  it  is  exjiressly  said  that 
 their  faces  were  the  same  as  those  seen  by  the  Chebar; 
 and  again,  in  verses  15 — 20,  the  whole  vision  is  described 
 as  the  "  living  creature  "  seen  by  the  Chebar.  It  is  plain, 
 therefore,  that  the  variation  is  only  in  the  description, 
 and  not  in  the  thing  described.  The  most  natural  so- 
 lution of  the  difficulty  in  the  text  as  it  stands  is  that  a 
 cherub  was  ordinarily  represented  with  the  face  of  an 
 ox.  But  there  is  no  evidence  of  this,  and  it  is  not  im- 
 possible that  a  slight  error  may  have  been  introduced 
 into  the  text.  The  Greek  version  did  not  contain  the 
 verse  in  the  time  of  St.  Jerome,  and  in  its  Roman  form 
 does  not  now.  It  was  introduced  into  the  Alexandrian 
 copies  from  the  later  version  of  Theodotion,  and-  Theo- 
 doret  does  not  recognise  it. 
 
 (is)  Mounted  up  from  the  earth. — In  verse  3 
 the  cherubim  stood  by  "  the  right  side  of  the  house," 
 
'I'll    Lords  Departure. 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XI. 
 
 Sin  of  the  Princes. 
 
 in  my  Bight:  when  they  went  oat,  the 
 whirls  also  were  beside  them,  and  every 
 one  stood  at  the  door  of  the  easl  gate  of 
 
 the  Lord's  house;  ami  the  ejory  of  the 
 (ioil  of  Israel  trux  over  them  above. 
 
 This  is  the  living  creature  thai  I 
 
 saw    miller    the   God    of    Israel    by    the 
 
 river  of  Chebar ;  and  1  knew  that  they 
 were  the  cherubims.     (W  Every  one  had 
 
 tour  faces  apiece,  and  every  one  four 
 wings;  and  the  likeness  of  the  hands  of 
 a  man  wax  under  their  winys.  (--'And 
 the  likeness  of  their  faces  was  the  same 
 faces  which  I  saw  by  the  river  of  Chebar, 
 their  appearances  and  themselves  :  they 
 went  every  one  straight  forward. 
 
 CHAPTER     XI.  —  <»>  Moreover    the 
 
 I  Or,  It  In  not  tot 
 
 Uttofrtlt 
 
 near. 
 
 .1  I  Pet.  3.  4 
 
 spirit    lifted   me    up,  and    brought   me 
 unto  the  east  gate  of   the  LoBD'a  I 
 
 which  looketfa  eastward:  and  behold  at 
 
 the  doOX  of  the  gate  live  and  t\\ 
 men;  among  whom  I  saw  Jaazaniah  tin- 
 son  of  A/.ur,  and  IVlatiah  the  son  of 
 Benaiali,  princes  of  the  people.  "'  'I  hi  □ 
 said  he  unto  me.  Son  of  man,  these  are 
 the  in.  ii  that  devise  mischief,  and  give 
 wicked  counsel  in  this  (ritj  :  ;  which 
 say,  '//  ix  not  near;  lei  us  build  hOTJ 
 this  city  ix  the  caldron,  and  we  be  the 
 flesh.  M  Therefore  prophesy  against 
 thein,  prophesy,  0  son  of  man. 
 
 (5>  And  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  fell 
 upon  me,   and   said   unto   me,    Sp. 
 Thus   saith   the   Lord;  Thus    have   ye 
 said,  0  house  of  Israel :  for  I  know  the 
 
 iiml  in  Terse  IS  "the  glory  of  the  Lord"  left  the 
 threshold,  and  resumed  its  place  shore  the  waiting  che- 
 rubim; now  the  whole  mount  op  from  the  earth,  and 
 go  "to  the  east  gate  of  the  Lord's  In. use" — that  is,  to 
 the  main  entrance  of  the  outermost  curt.  The  words 
 "every  one"  are  not   in  the  original,  and  should   be 
 
 omitted.    "They  si l,"or"it  stood,"  would  be  better, 
 
 the  vision  being  regarded  as  a  whole. 
 
 XI. 
 
 This  chapter  continues  ami  concludes  the  vision; 
 yet  its  scenes  are  not  to  be  considered  as  consecutive 
 with  those  which  have  gone  before.  In  chap.  ix.  all 
 who  had  not  the  Divine  mark  upon  their  foreheads 
 were  slain  by  the  destroying  angels;  in  chap.  x.  the 
 city  itself  was  given  up  to  lire:  but  here  the  evil-doers 
 are  igain  seen,  and  again  made  the  subject  of  the 
 rophetio  denunciation.  It  in,  therefore,  rather  a 
 nkmg  ai  the  same  things  from  another  point  of  view 
 
 than  an   a nut  of  them  in  historical  sequence.     The 
 
 prophetic  vision  shifts  as  in  a  dream,  without  any 
 attempt  to  be  consecutive. 
 
 The  lirst  part  of  the  chapter  (verses  ] — 12)  is  occupied 
 with  judgment  upon  the  sins  of  the  princes,  while  the 
 latter  par)  (verses  1:!— 21)  foretells  the  Divine  blessing 
 upon  the  repentant  and  restored  remnant  of  the  exiles. 
 At  the  close  (verses  22— 25}  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
 
 seen  to  depart  altogether  from  the  city,  ami  the  prophet 
 
 is  restored  tot  Ihaldan  to  communicate  the  vision  to  the 
 
 captives. 
 
 r 
 i. 
 
 (i)  Brought  me  unto  tho  east  gate  of  the 
 
 Lord's   house. -This    is    the   same   place,   the   main 
 
 outer  entrance  to  the  whole  Temple  enclosure, to  which 
 the  prophet  had  seen  the  cherubim  go  (chap.  x.  19),    h 
 
 is  not  expressly  said  where  he  was  brought  from;  but 
 the  last  place  mentioned  was  the  court  of  the  priests 
 (chap,  \iii.  16),  and  so  far  the  vision  appears  to  be  eon- 
 SeCUtive.  Standing  in  that  innermost  curt,  ho  had 
 seen  the  Divine  presence  go  forth  to  the  outer  entrance; 
 and  he  also  is  now  transported  thither. 
 
 Here  he  sees  twenty-live  men,  the  same  number 
 whom  ho  had  seen  worshipping  the  sun  in  the  inner 
 court.  They  appear.  howo\or.  to  have  been  priests, 
 while  these  seem  to  he  secular  leaders.  Hence  tlicy 
 are  generally  supposed  to  be  a  different  set  of  men. 
 
 229 
 
 It  is  nevertheless  by  no  means  impossible  that  they 
 may  lie  the  same  idolatrous  priests,  who,  by  prostitnting 
 their  holy  office  to  idolatry,  gained  an  ascendancy  over 
 a  sinful  people.  Otherwise,  the  number  twenty-five 
 may  represent  the  king,  with  two  princes  from  each 
 of  the  twelve  tribes ;  or  is  possibly  a  number  without 
 
 any  other  especial   .significance  than   as   representing  a 
 considerable  array  of  the  most  prominent  people  oj 
 nation.    Two  of  these  are  mentioned  by  name.    If  the 
 Jaazaniah  here  is  tho  same  with  the  Jaazaniah  of  'hap. 
 viii.U.it    settles   the    point    that    the    men  here  ar. 
 
 to  bo  understood  of  the  priests,  since  he  there  repre- 
 sented a  different  class  I  see  Xote  on  chap.  viii.  ]  1  |.  The 
 names  are  significant  :  Jaazaniah  =  Jehovah  hears,  son 
 of  Azur  =  the  helper;  Pelatiah  =  Go<l  rescues,  son  of 
 Bcnaiah=Jchovah  builds.  Names  of  this  sort 
 common  enough  among  the  Jews,  but  they  seem  here 
 intended  to  brine;  out  the  false  hopes  with  which  tho 
 people  beguiled  themselves;  and  in  view  of  this,  the 
 sudden  death  of  Pclatiah  verse  13)  was  particularly 
 impressive.  These  princes  were  active  in  misleading 
 the  people  to  their  destruction. 
 
 <3>  It  is  not  near ;  lot  us  build  houses.— Neither 
 the  text  nor  the  marginal  reading  of  the  Authorised 
 Version  quite  accurately  represent  the  original  The  ex- 
 pression is  literally  pioi  near  to  build  houses ;  and  it  i-  to 
 he  explained  by  the  prophecy  and  narrat  ive  of  Jer.  xxix. 
 After  the  10,000  (among  whom  was  K/.kicl)  had  been 
 carried  captive — and  apparently  shortly  after — Jere- 
 miah had  sent  word  to  the  captives  to  build  houses  and 
 
 make  themselves  comfortable,  because  the  captivity 
 would  be  long  verses  5— 10).    This  greatly  offended  the 
 
 captives;  and  Shemaiah,  a  false  prophet  among  them, 
 had  consequently  scut  letters  to  Jerusalem,  asking 
 that  Jeremiah  might  he  punished  for  thus  prophesying 
 i  verses  21 — 28).  The  princes  of  the  people  now 
 appear  in  K/.  Lid's  vision  as  taking  up  this  prophecy 
 of  Jeremiah's  and  contradicting  it:  "this  need  of 
 building  houses  for  a  long  captivity  is  not  near."  In 
 chaps,  vii.  2,  3,  12,  xii.  23,  E/.ekicl  expressly  declares 
 that  it  is  very  near.  The  princes  further  confirmed  the 
 people  in  their  fancied  security  Ivy  comparing  the  city 
 to  a  caldron,  the  Strong  walls  of  which  should  protect  the 
 flesh  within  it,  i.< ■.,  the  people,  from  the  fire  of  all  hos- 
 tile attack.  In  the  prophecy  .  f  chap.  xxiv.  6  this  tiirure 
 is  taken  up,  and  a  very  different  application  given  to 
 
Their  Judgment. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XL 
 
 Death  of  Pelatiah. 
 
 things  that  come  into  your  mind,  every 
 one  of  them.  (6)  Ye  have  multiplied 
 your  slain  in  this  city,  and  ye  have 
 filled  the  streets  thereof  with  the 
 slain.  <7)  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  Your  slain  whom  ye  ha.ve 
 laid  in  the  midst  of  it,  they  are  the  flesh, 
 and  this  city  is  the  caldron :  but  I  will 
 bring  you  forth  out  of  the  midst  of  it. 
 <8>  Ye  have  feared  the  sword  ;  and  I  will 
 bring  a  sword  upon  you,  saith  the  Lord 
 God.  (9)  And  I  will  bring  you  out  of 
 the  midst  thereof,  and  deliver  you  into 
 the  hands  of  strangers,  and  will  execute 
 judgments  among  you.  (10)  Ye  shall  fall 
 by  the  sword  ;  I  will  judge  you  in  the 
 border  of  Israel ;  and  ye  shall  know  that 
 I  am  the  Loed.  (11)  This  city  shall  not 
 be  your  caldron,  neither  shall  ye  be  the 
 flesh  in  the  midst  thereof;  but  I  will 
 judge  you  in  the  border  of  Israel :  (12,and 
 
 I  Or,  which  have 
 not  walked. 
 
 ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  :  'for 
 ye  have  not  walked  in  my  statutes,  nei- 
 ther executed  my  judgments,  but  have 
 done  after  the  manners  of  the  heathen 
 that  are  round  about  you. 
 
 <13>  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  I  pro- 
 phesied, that  Pelatiah  the  son  of  Benaiah 
 died.  Then  fell  I  down  upon  my  face, 
 and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  and  said, 
 Ah  Lord  God  !  wilt  thou  make  a  full 
 end  of  the  remnant  of  Israel  ? 
 
 (14>  Again  the  word  of  the  Loed  came 
 unto  me,  saying,  <15'  Son  of  man,  thy 
 brethren,  even  thy  brethren,  the  men  of 
 thy  kindred,  and  all  the  house  of  Israel 
 wholly,  are  they  unto  whom  the  inha- 
 bitants of  Jerusalem  have  said,  Get  you 
 far  from  the  Loed  :  unto  us  is  this  land 
 given  in  possession.  (16>  Therefore  say, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Although  I 
 have    cast    them    far    off    among    the 
 
 it ;  it  is  also  turned  against  them  immediately  iu  verse 
 7.  In  consequence  of  this  attitude  and  these  sayings 
 of  the  princes,  the  prophecy  of  verses  5—12  is  now 
 directed  against  them. 
 
 (6)  Ye  have  multiplied  your  slain.— Crimes 
 of  violence,  as  well  as  of  licentiousness,  are  always  the 
 fruit  of  defection  from  God.  In  this  case  the  apostacy 
 of  the  people  had  produced  its  natural  result ;  and  the 
 abundant  crimes  against  life  formed  a  prominent 
 feature  of  the  terrible  indictment  against  the  city. 
 
 (7)  Your  slain  .  .  .  they  are  the  flesh. — They 
 had  boasted  of  the  protection  of  their  strong  city:  it 
 should  be  a  security  only  to  the  dead  who  had  fallen  by 
 their  own  violence.  The  living  who  vainly  trusted  in 
 its  strength  should  be  brought  out  of  it,  and  delivered 
 as  captives  to  the  stranger.  The  prophecy  here  takes 
 up  their  own  simile  of  verse  3,  and  shows  that  it  shall 
 not  avail  them.  On  the  contrary,  in  verse  11  it  is 
 expressly  said  that  the  figure,  iu  their  sense  of  it,  shall 
 not  be  true.  The  use  of  and  repeated  recurrence  to  this 
 singular  figure  may  illustrate  the  familiarity  of  the 
 people  with  language  of  this  kind,  and  help  us  to 
 appreciate  the  figurative  character  of  many  of  Ezekiel's 
 expressions. 
 
 (io)  in  the  border  of  Israel.— The  judgment 
 shoidd  be  cumulative  :  first,  the  sword  should  come 
 upon  them  (verse  8) ;  then  they  should  be  driven  out  of 
 the  city  in  which  they  trusted,  and  delivered  into  the 
 hands  of  strangers  (  verse  9)  j  and  then,  finally — what 
 was  most  terrible  to  a  Jew — they  were  to  be  arraigned 
 and  punished  "  in  the  border,"  i.e.,  at  the  extremity  or 
 outside  of  the  land  of  Israel.  Historically,  it  appears 
 from  2  Kings  xxv.  20,  21,  and  Jer.  lii.  9—11.  that  the 
 general  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  after  the  capture  of  the 
 city,  carried  the  people  of  the  land  to  the  king  at 
 Biblah,  just  on  the  northern  confines  of  Palestine. 
 There  Nebuchadnezzar  pronounced  his  cruel  judg- 
 ments upon  them,  slaying  the  king's  sous  before  his 
 eyes,  and  executing  many  others,  and  then,  putting  out 
 Zedekiah's  eyes,  carried  him  and  the  rest  captive  to 
 Babylon.  By  all  this,  not  in  repentance,  but  through 
 the  experiencing  of  the  Divine  judgments,  they  should 
 be  at  last  forced  to  recognise  Jehovah  as  the  Almighty 
 
 Ruler  and  Disposer  of  events.  This  place  of  the 
 judgment,  and  this  consequence  of  it,  are  emphatically 
 repeated  in  verses  11,  12. 
 
 I13)  Pelatiah  .  .  .  died.— This  Pelatiah  was  one  of 
 the  "  princes  of  the  people  "  mentioned  in  verses  1,  2 
 as  "  those  that  devise  mischief  and  give  wicked  counsel." 
 The  prophet's  mind  is  greatly  affected  by  his  sudden 
 death,  and  he  earnestly  intercedes  that  in  the  judgments 
 God  will  not  "  make  a  fidl  end  of  the  remnant." 
 
 (14)  Again  the  word. — This  does  not  mark  the 
 beginning  of  a  separate  prophecy,  but  only  the  Divine 
 answer  to  the  prophet's  intercession.  This  answer 
 differs  entirely  from  the  denunciations  that  have  gone 
 before,  because  it  no  longer  relates  to  the  people  of 
 Jerusalem  (for  whom  intercession  was  in  vain  :  chap.  ix. 
 9,  10),  but  turns  to  the  exiles,  and  foretells  God's  mercy 
 and  blessing  upon  them. 
 
 (15)  Thy  brethren  —  i.e.,  those  who  were  with 
 Bzekiel  in  the  Captivity.  The  expression  is  made  em- 
 phatic by  repetition,  and  by  the  addition,  "  men  of  thy 
 kindred."  The  people  l'emaining  in  Jerusalem,  with 
 arrogant  confidence  in  themselves,  and  without  sym- 
 pathy for  the  exiles,  had  said  to  them,  by  words  aiid  by 
 deeds,  "  We  are  holier  than  you ;  we  dwell  in  the  chosen 
 city,  we  have  the  Temple,  the  appointed  priesthood  and 
 sacrifices,  and  we  have  in  possession  the  land  of  the 
 Church  of  God ;  you  are  outcasts."  The  prophet  is 
 taught  that  these  despised  exiles,  deprived  of  so  many 
 privileges,  are  yet  his  true  brethren,  and  that  he  is  to 
 regard  these  as  his  true  kindred  rather  than  the 
 corrupt  priests  at  Jerusalem.  In  this  word  there  is  an 
 allusion  to  the  office  of  Gael,  the  next  of  kin,  whose 
 duty  it  was  in  every  way  to  assist  his  impoverished  or 
 unfortunate  kinsman.  Still  further,  these  exiles  are 
 called  "  all  the  house  of  Israel  wholly  ; "  the  others,  not 
 these,  are  cast  out,  and  God  will  make  His  people  from 
 those  who  are  now  undergoing  His  purifying  chastise- 
 ment. This  contrast  is  carried  out  in  the  following  verses.. 
 
 (16)  Therefore  say. — These  words,  again  repeated 
 in  verse  17,  refer  to  what  the  people  of  Jerusalem  had 
 said  in  verse  15.  Their  saying  these  things  was  a 
 reason,  not  for  what  God  would  do,  but  for  His  declar- 
 ing His  merciful  purpose  beforehand. 
 
 230 
 
on  n/ii    /.'.  iiiii'int. 
 
 BZEKIEL,   XI. 
 
 Tin  ir   Sept  ,. In  ,,,;•_ 
 
 beathen,  ami  although  I  have  scattered 
 
 them  among-  the  countries,  y\  will  I  1)0 
 to  them  as  a  lift  If  sanctuary  in  the 
 countries  where  they  shall  come. 
 (W)Therefbre  say,  Tims  saith  the  Lord 
 God;  I  will  even  gather  you  from  the 
 people,  ami  assemble  you  out  of  the 
 countries  where  ye  have  been  scattered, 
 and  I  will  give  you  the  land  of  Israeli 
 "  And  llie\  shall  eomo  thither,  and  they 
 shall  take  away  all  the  detestable  things 
 
 u  Jflr   ':.  39;  ch. 
 H,  ao. 
 
 thereof  and  all  the  abominations  thereof 
 from  thence.     '"'And  "I  will  give  them 
 
 ■  me  beart,  and  I  will  put  a  new  Bpirit 
 within  y«.u  ;  and  L  will  take  the  stony 
 beart  out  of  their  flesh,  and  will  give 
 
 them  ;m  heart  of  flesh  :  '-'"  that  i 
 may  walk'  in  my  statute's,  and  keep  mine 
 ordinances,  and  do  t  hem  :  and  they  shall 
 be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God. 
 (21»  But  as  Jor  them  whose  heart  walketli 
 after  the  heart  of  their  detestable  things 
 
 As  a  little  sanctuary. — Rather,  at  a  sametuary 
 for  <<  little.  The  original  word  is  (a  be  taken  as  an 
 adverb  rather  than  an  adjective,  .•mil  in  itself  may  refer 
 
 either  to  tim •  to  amount  :   either  a  sanctuary  far  a 
 
 little  time,  "i'  a  sanctuary  in  some  degree,  Tim  con- 
 nection puints  to  Iho  former  as  t lie  true  souse;  for  a 
 little  while,  during  the  term  of  their  captivity,  God's 
 presence  with  them  spiritually  would  be  instead  of  the 
 outward  symbolical  presence  in  Hi--  Temple.  The  con- 
 trast is  striking.    God  has  already  said  that  he  would 
 
 alia  in  loll  the  Temple.  .'111(1  give  up  .lerusaleiu  to  i  lest  rue  - 
 
 tion,  and  east  out  its  people;    but  now   to  the  exiles. 
 scattered  among  the  heathen.  He  would  Himself  be  (or 
 a  sanctuary. 
 (1")  I   will   givo   you  tho    land   of   Israel.— 
 
 flkgain    in    contrast    to    the    people    of    Jerusalem,    who 
 
 claimed  the   land  as  their  own  exclusive   possession. 
 
 They  shall  be  east  out  ;    the  exiles  whom    they  ilespi.sed 
 
 shall  be  gathered  again  and  possess  the  laud.  (Gamp, 
 Num.  xiv.  3.  31,  '■'•-.  where  when  the  people  refused  the 
 
 Divine  i imand   to  take  possession  of  the  land,  and 
 
 feared    that    their    little    ones    should    lie    a    prev.    the 
 
 doom  came  that  they  should  all  themselves  perish  in 
 
 the  wilderness,  hut  their  little  ones  should  inherit  the 
 land.) 
 
 '-They  shall  take  away.  —  Chastened  and 
 purified  by  their  chastisement,  they  should  return  to 
 
 the  land  to  do  away  utterly  with  the  abominations 
 which   had   caused   their   exile.      Historically,   this   was 
 
 fully  realised  in  the  abomination  in  which  idolatry,  the 
 
 freat  sin  of  the  people,  was  ever  after  held  among   the 
 ews.    The  change  of  person  from  yon  to  they,  though 
 
 80  common  as  not  necessarily  to  eall  for  remark,  may 
 yet    here    possibly    indicate   that    what    is    foretold   was 
 
 to  belong  rather  to  their  children  than  to  themselves. 
 Here  follows  one  of  those  gennhaaart  and  ever 
 
 developing  prophetic  promises  which  in  fuller  ami 
 fuller  degree  have  formed  from  the  very  first,  ami  -till 
 form,  the  ho] (  I  he  future.    Trim  religion  and  a  sen  ice 
 
 i  must  spring  from  a  subjection  of  the 
 affections  of  the  heart  to  His  will.  Accordingly,  the 
 promise  to  [srael  of  old  waa:  "The  Lord  tin-  God  will 
 rarcumoise  thine  heart,  ami  the  beart  of  thy  seed,  to 
 love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and  with 
 all  thy  soul "  (Deut.  xxx.  6).  This.  too.  had  been  the 
 prayer  of  the  devout  penitent,  "Create  in  me  a  clean 
 ;  Ps.  li.  li".  Hut  this  change  i-  necessarily  the 
 most  difficult  to  effect  in  man.  ami  consequently  the 
 
 promise,  though  with  some  degree  of  accomplishment 
 as  the  ages  roll  by,  still  looks  forward  to  the  future. 
 E/.ckiel  here,  and  with   more  fulness  In  chap.  xxx\i,  26, 
 
 27,  sjN'aks  of  it  as  a  part  of  the  blessing  of  the  restora- 
 tion.     A  marked  progress  was  then  made  towards  it  in 
 
 the  hearty  abandonment  of  idolatry,  and  the  better 
 
 appreciation  of  religion  as  a  matter  of   internal  heart 
 
 231 
 
 service  ;  hut  the  prophecy  of  Jer.  xxxi.  83,  given  about 
 the  same  time,  shows  that  it  looked  forward  to  the  Mes- 
 sianic days  for  a  more  complete  realisation.  And  cer- 
 tainly under  the  Christian  dispensation  a  great  advance 
 has  been  made  in  this  respect  ;  hut  even  the  closing; 
 Hook  of  Revelation  slill  points  forward  to  tho  future. 
 state  of  existence,  when  this  promise  shall  attain  its 
 fidl  realisation  i  Rev.  xxi.  3).  It  is  remarkahle  that 
 this  closing  prophecy  of  the  inspired  volume  follows 
 exactly  the  pun  lie  re  laid  out.  of  adding-  to  this  glorious 
 promise  the  warning  to    -the  fearful  and  unbelieving." 
 
 What    E/.ckiel    foretells    of    the    time    of     the    restoration 
 
 must  therefore  l.e  considered  as  not  expected  then  to 
 
 receive  its  ultimate  and  complete  fulfilment,  hut  only  a 
 
 fulfilment  in  a  degree,  to  he  ever  after  more  and  more 
 realised,  until  it  shall  roach  its  consummation  in  the 
 heavenly  state. 
 
 (if)  One  heart.— Unity  of  purpose  among  tho 
 restored  exiles  was  to  he  at  once  a  consequence  and  a 
 condition  of  their  improved  moral  condition.  The 
 opposite  evil  is  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  sins  of  the 
 people  in  Isa.  liii.  ti :  '•  We  have  turned  every  one  to  his 
 own  way."  Self-will,  which  leads  to  division,  and  sub- 
 mission to  God's  will  are  necessarily  contradictory 
 terms.  Hence  the  corresponding  promise  in  Jer,  x.xxii. 
 39:  "I  will  give  them  one   heart  and  one  way."  and  the 
 
 blessed  realisation  of  this,  described  in  tin-  first  fervency 
 
 of  the  early  Church  Actsiv.  32 1:  "The  multitude  of 
 them  that  believed  wen-  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul." 
 
 Stony  heart  .  .  .  heart  of  flesh.  —  This 
 phraseology  is  peculiar  to  Ezekiel,  but  the  same  thing 
 is  often  described  in  other  terms.    The  figure  here 
 
 seems  to  be  that  of  a  atony  heart  as  unnatural,  ill  the 
 higher  sense  of  that  word,  unfitting,  and  incongruous ; 
 this  is  to  be  removed,  and  in  its  place  is  to  be  Substituted 
 "an  heart  of  flesh" — one  that  can  Ik'  moved  by  the 
 Divine  appeals,  and    is  suitable  to  the  whole  being  and 
 
 condition  of  the  people,  [Comp,  chap,  xxxvi.  26.)  Tho 
 effect  of  this  change  will  be  obedience  to  the  Divine 
 will,  and  consequently  a  realisation  of  tho  covenant 
 relation  in  a  fellowship  with  (bid. 
 
 (M  I  will  recompense  their  way.— In  striking 
 
 contrast  to  the  mercy  granted    to  the   repentant,    is 
 forth  here,  ,-e  in   l!e\.  xxi.  8,  the  Divine  wrath  Upon  the 
 impenitent.     It   has  never  been  promised  that  all  men 
 shall    In-   brought    to  a   true  sense  of    their  relations  to 
 
 (bid.  for  human  responsibility,  ami  consequently  power 
 
 of  choice,  is  not   removed:     but    Gods  grace   is    never 
 in  vain,   and    if    it    docs    not    lead   to   blessing  through 
 its    acceptance,   must    result    in    greater    condemnation 
 through  its  rejection.     iComp.  "2  Cor.  ii.  16. 
 The    heart   of  their  detestable  things,  is  a 
 
 figurative  expression.  Idols  in  themselves  are  inani- 
 mate thines.  hut  the  heart  of  the  people  was  so  e-iven 
 to  the  spirit  of  idolatry  and  alienation  from  God.  tliat 
 
The  Vision  departs. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XII. 
 
 The  Symbol  of  Removing. 
 
 and  their  abominations,  I  will  recom-  i 
 pense  their  way  upon  their  own  heads, 
 saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 (22)  Then  did  the  cherubims  lift  up  their 
 wings,  and  the  wheels  beside  them  ;  and 
 the  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  ivas  over 
 them  above.  (23)And  the  glory  of  the 
 Lord  went  up  from  the  midst  of  the 
 city,  and  stood  upon  the  mountain  which 
 is  on  the  east  side  of  the  city. 
 
 (24)  Afterwards  the  spirit  took  me  up, 
 and  brought  me  in  a  vision  by  the  Spirit 
 of  God  into  Cbaldea,  to  them  of  the  cap- 
 tivity. So  the  vision  that  I  had  seen 
 went  up  from  me.  (25>  Then  I  spake  unto 
 them  of  the  captivity  all  the  things  that 
 the  Loed  had  shewed  me. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XII.— (i)  The  word  of  the 
 Loed  also  came  unto  me,  saying, 
 
 (2)  Son  of  man,  thou  dwellest  iu  the 
 
 i  Or,  instruvients. 
 
 2  Heb.,  as  the  g> 
 ings  forth  of  cap- 
 tivity. 
 
 3    Heb.,   Dig    for 
 thee. 
 
 midst  of  a  rebellious  house,  which  have 
 eyes  to  see,  and  see  not ;  they  have  ears 
 to  hear,  and  hear  not :  for  they  are  a 
 rebellious  house.  (3)  Therefore,  thou  son 
 of  man,  prepare  thee  1  stuff  for  removing, 
 and  remove  by  day  in  their  sight ;  and 
 thou  shalt  remove  from  thy  place  to 
 another  place  in  their  sight :  it  may  be 
 they  will  consider,  though  they  be  a  re- 
 bellious house.  (4>  Then  shalt  thou  bring 
 forth  thy  stuff  by  day  in  their  sight,  as 
 stuff  for  removing  :  and  thou  shalt  go 
 forth  at  even  in  their  sight,  2as  they  that 
 go  forth  into  captivity.  (5)  3Dig  thou 
 through  the  wall  in  their  sight,  and  carry 
 out  thereby.  <6>  In  their  sight  shalt  thou 
 bear  it  upon  thy  shoulders,  and  carry  it 
 forth  in  the  twilight :  thou  shalt  cover 
 thy  face,  that  thou  see  not  the  ground : 
 for  I  have  set  thee  for  a  sign  unto  the 
 house  of  Israel. 
 
 the  abstract,  as  usual  with  this  prophet,  is  represented 
 in  this  concrete,  figurative  form. 
 
 (22)  And  the  wheels  beside  them.— These  are 
 the  wheels  described  as  with  the  cherubim,  and  ani- 
 mated in  their  movements  by  one  common  impulse  with 
 them,  and,  as  all  along,  the  Divine  glory  was  above. 
 
 (23)  stood  upon  the  mountain.— This  mountain, 
 on  the  east  of  the  city,  is  that  which  was  afterwards 
 known  as  the  Mount  of  Olives.  It  is  considerably 
 higher  than  the  city,  and  commands  a  view  over  its 
 entire  extent.  Hei-e  the  Divine  glory  rested  after 
 taking  its  departure  from  the  Temple  and  the  city  in 
 the  vision  of  the  prophet.  Here,  in  the  vision  of  a  later 
 prophet  (Zech.  xiv.  4),  the  Lord  is  represented  as  stand- 
 ing in  the  day  of  final  judgment.  Here,  not  in  vision, 
 the  incarnate  Son  of  God  proclaimed  the  second  de- 
 struction of  the  obdurate  city  (Matt,  xxiv.;  Luke  xxi. 
 20) ;  and  from  the  same  mountain  He  made  His  visible 
 ascension  into  heaven  (Luke  xxiv.  50,  51 ;  Acts  i.  11, 12). 
 The  vision  is  now  closed,  and  the  prophet  is  transported 
 in  spirit  back  into  Chaldsea,  to  declare  what  he  had  seen 
 to  his  fellow-captives,  and  show  them  the  vanity  of 
 their  trust  in  the  preservation  of  the  guilty  city. 
 
 XII. 
 
 The  vision  being  finished,  there  follows  a  series  of 
 connected  prophecies,  extending  through  chap,  xix.,  just 
 as  the  vision  of  chaps,  iv.,  v.  was  followed  by  the 
 prophecies  of  chaps,  vi.,  vii.j  and  in  this  case,  as  in  the 
 former,  the  prophecy  includes  symbolical  action  (verses 
 3 — 7).  In  verse  9  the  people  are  represented  as  inquir- 
 ing the  meaning  of  this  action,  and  in  verse  8  the 
 Divine  answer  is  spoken  of  as  given  "  in  the  morning  " 
 after  the  action  ;  it  was,  therefore,  undoubtedly  actually 
 performed.  The  object  of  this  whole  series  of  prophe- 
 cies is  the  same  as  that  of  the  preceding  vision:  to 
 show  the  worthlessness  of  the  trust  in  the  preservation 
 of  the  kingdom  of  Jndah  and  Jerusalem,  and  in  an  early 
 release  from  the  Babylonian  yoke.  In  the  present 
 chapter  the  prophet  is  required  to  foreshow  the  cap- 
 tivity of  the  king  and  the  people  by  a  symbolical  action 
 (verses  3—7) ;  to  explain  this  action  (verses  8 — 16) ;  to 
 set  forth  by  another  symbolical  action  the  distress  of 
 
 the  people  (verses  17 — 20) ;  and,  finally,  to  meet  the 
 objection  that  these  things  will  either  never  occur,  or 
 at  least  will  be  long  delayed  (verses  21 — 28). 
 
 (2)  A  rebellious  house.— Comp.  Deut.  i.  26 ;  Rom. 
 x.  21.  The  seeing  not  and  hearing  not  is  that  perverse 
 refusing  to  see  and  to  hear  so  often  spoken  of  iu 
 Scripture.  (See  Deut.  xxix.  4 ;  Isa.  vi.  9 ;  Jer.  v.  21 ; 
 Matt.  xiii.  14,  15.)  It  was  becaxise  of  this  disposition 
 that  the  prophet  was  to  give  them  a  sign  to  which  they 
 could  not  shut  their  eyes. 
 
 (3)  Prepare  thee  stuff  for  removing.— The  same 
 words  are  translated  in  Jer.  xlvi.  19,  "  Furnish  thyself 
 to  go  into  captivity."  S£»_/f  includes  all  that  an  emigrant 
 would  require,  clothes,  utensils,  &c;  and  "  removing  " 
 is  the  same  word  as  is  translated  captivity  in  verse  4. 
 The  symbolical  action  was  that  of  one  preparing  to  leave 
 his  home  to  go  into  captivity.  The  prophet  is  to  make 
 his  preparations  during  the  day,  and  to  carry  forth  his 
 stuff  (verse  7),  but  not  himself  to  go  forth  until  even 
 (verse  4).  The  action  seems  to  be  that  of  one  who  must 
 abandon  his  home,  using  the  whole  day  to  carry  out  all 
 he  can  with  the  purpose  of  saving  it,  and  then  himself 
 leaving  the  house  when  the  day  is  done. 
 
 (*)  Dig  thou  through  the  wall.— This  is  a  sub- 
 sequent action,  as  shown  by  verse  7.  The  wall  was 
 probably  of  adobe,  sun-dried  brick,  the  common  building 
 material  of  the  country,  and  there  was,  therefore,  no 
 great  difficulty  in  digging  through  it ;  but  this  way  of 
 entering  the  house  indicates  something  of  stealth  and 
 secrecy.  He  was  to  carry  forth  his  goods  openly 
 through  his  door  during  the  day.  and  then  to  re-enter 
 at  evening,  and  secretly  to  carry  forth  those  things 
 which  he  would  not  otherwise  be  allowed  to  take  away. 
 
 (S)  Bear  it  .  .  .  carry  it. — The  pronouns  are  not 
 in  the  original,  and  are  better  omitted.  Otherwise,  the 
 "  it "  might  seem  to  refer  to  the  stuff  already  carried 
 out  during  the  day.  Read,  "  Thou  shalt  bear  upon  thy 
 shoulders,  and  carry  forth  in  the  dark."  The  word 
 rendered  "  twilight "  is  used  only  here  and  in  verse  12, 
 and  in  Gen.  xv.  17,  and  means  dark. 
 
 That  thou  see  not  the  ground. — This  covering 
 of  the  face  might  primarily  be  a  token  of  grief  ^  but  as 
 
 232 
 
Captivity  of  Zt  <!■  kiah. 
 
 EZEKEBL,   XII. 
 
 ruioa  (if  (If    /' 
 
 <7)  And  I  did  so  ;is  I  was  comin led  : 
 
 I  broughl  forth  my  staff  by  day,  as  stuff 
 for  captivity,  and  in  the  even  I  'digged 
 through  the  wall  with  mine  hand;  I 
 brought  it  forth  in  the  twilight,  and 
 1  bare  it  upon  my  shoulder  in  their 
 sight. 
 
 *8'  And  in  the  morning  came  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  unto  me,  saying,  '"'  Son  of 
 man,  bath  not  the  house  of  Israel,  the 
 rebellious  house,  said  unto  thee,  Whai 
 does!  tluHi?  ""'Say  thou  unto  them,  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God  ;  This  burden  con- 
 r,  rin Hi  the  prince  in  Jerusalem,  and  all 
 the  house  of  Israel  that  ars  among  them. 
 <U)  Say,  I  « m  your  sign  :  like  as  I  have 
 done,  so  shall  it  be  done  unto  them : 
 "they  shall  remove,  and  go  into  captivity. 
 <12)  And  the  prince  thai  is  among  them 
 shall  bear  upon  his  shoulder  in  the  twi- 
 light, and  shall  go  forth :  they  shall  dig 
 through  the  wall  to  carry  out  thereby: 
 he  shall  cover  his  face,  that  he  see  not 
 the  ground  with  Ms  eyes.     <1:)>  My  "net 
 
 ii     . 
 
 Hi''.,      VICH 
 
 also  will  I  spread  1  ■  ] ••  >n  him,  a  nd  be  .-hall 
 
 betaken  in  my. snare:  and  I  will  bring 
 
 him  to  Jiabylon  to  the  land  of  the  Chat 
 'lean-;  yet   shall  he  not  see  it,  though 
 
 1"'  shall  die  tin  re.    '"'  And  1  will  Bcatter 
 
 Inward  every  wind  all  that  </,v  about 
 J i i iii  1"  help  him,  and  all  his  bands:  and 
 I  will  draw  out  the  sword  after  them. 
 "•'"And  they  shall  know  that  I  mn  the 
 Lord,  when  I  shall  scatter  them  a-iti/vng 
 the  nations,  and  disperse  them  in  the 
 countries.  "0)  But  1  will  have  -,\  few 
 men  of  them  from  the  sword,  from  the 
 famine,  and  from  the  pestilence ;  that 
 they  may  declare  all  their  abominations 
 among  the  heathen  whither  they  come ; 
 and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
 Lord. 
 
 ""'  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 came  to  me,  saying, 
 
 <18>  Son  of  man,  eat  thy  bread  with 
 quaking,  and  drink  thy  water  with 
 trembling  and  with  carefulness  ;  "9)  and 
 say  unto  the  people  of  the  land,  Thus 
 
 tlic  whole  action  is  distinctly  prophetic  (and  is  so  in- 
 terpreted ;  -re  \  ersea  11 — 14),  so  especially  was  this  sign. 
 (See  the  account  of  the  capture  of  Zedekiah  in  -  Kings 
 wv.  I — 7  ;  Jer.  xxxix.  t — 7,  Hi.  7 — 11.)  The  king,  with 
 liis  men  of  war.  escaped  from  tin'  city  secretly  by  night, 
 was  pursued  and  captured,  and  carried  to  Riblah, 
 where  liis  eves  wore  nut  out,  and  ho  was  then  taken  in 
 chains  to  Babylon. 
 
 (8)  In  the  morning.— This  implies  that  the  fore- 
 going symbolical  action  was  actually  performed,  since 
 the  Divine  message  comes  in  answer  to  the  inquiry  of 
 tlie  People  (Terse  8  .  "  Whatdoeet  thou?" 
 
 (io)  All  the  house  of  Israel.  The  harden  (or 
 message  of  woe)  was  directed  immediately  to  the  king 
 
 ami   his   princes,    hut    the   people   were   also   necessarily 
 
 involved.  Israel  is  here,  as  elsewhere,  used  for  the 
 Chen  existing  nation,  which  was  considered  as  repre- 
 senting tin-  whole,  although  composed  chiefly  of  the 
 trilie-  of  Judah. 
 
 (ii)  Your  sign. — The  change  of  pronoun  is  inten- 
 tional The  prophet's  action  \\a-  to  be  a  -itru  no!  only 
 to  Zed. 'kiah  ami  the  people  in  Jerusalem,  but  also  to 
 
 those  in  captivity,  since  they  rested  their  hopo  upon  the 
 
 safety  of  the  holy  city. 
 
 ii-'  They  shall  dig  through  the  wall.— This 
 circumstance  is  not  mentioned,  in  the  history  of  Zede- 
 kiah's  flight  ;  yet  it  is  not  necessary  to  understand  it 
 figuratively,  since  such  a  breach  in  the  walls  at  a  place 
 unwatehed  by  the  enemy  might  easily  be  arranged  to 
 Becnre  Becrecy,  mid  as  easily  be  passed  over  in  the 
 brevity  of  the  historical  account.    (See  Note  on  vera 
 
 Shall  cover  his  face.— This  he  would  naturally 
 do  to  avoid  recognition;  lmt  the  words  were  doubtless 
 
 meant    also  as   an    intimation   of   what   is  more  plainly 
 
 hinted  in  the  following  verse, 
 
 "  Yet  shall  he  not  see  it,  though  he  shall 
 die  there. — The  prophet  dues  not  explain  how  this 
 eoulil  I,,-  but  Jeremiah  chap. lii.  11  makes  it  plain  by 
 recording  that  Zedekiah's  eyes  were  put  out  in  Etiblah, 
 
 233 
 
 before  he  was  earned  to  Babylon.     Josephus  has  a 
 
 Curious  story  (Antitj.  x.  7,  §  '2).  that  Zedekiah  was  in- 
 clined to  believe  the  warnings  of  Jeremiah  that  he 
 should  be  carried  captive  to  Babylon  ;  but  when  E/.ekiel 
 
 sent  this  prophecy  to  Jerusalem,  saying  that  he  should 
 not  sec  the  laud,  he  conceived  the  two  prophecies  ' 
 Contradictory,  and  so  disbelieved  them  both.     Zedekiah*s 
 death  in  Babylon  is  mentioned  in  Jer.  lii.  11. 
 
 (U)  I  will  scatter  toward  every  wind.— The 
 
 I pie  of  Judah  were  not  carried  captive  to  Babylon 
 
 only,  but  many  of  them  were  scattered  wherever  they 
 could  tinil  refuge;  and.  finally,  the  remnant  left  in  the 
 land  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  after  the  murder  of  his 
 governor  Gedaliah.  escaped  into  Egypt    Jer.  xli — xliii.). 
 
 (16)  May  declare    all   their   abominations.— 
 
 This  they  were  to  do.  that  the  false  impiOOOiofl  that 
 God  was  unable  to  ]>roteet  His  people  might  be  re- 
 moved from  the  minds  of  the  heathen,  and  the  truth 
 that  He  was  punishing  them  for  their  sins  be  made 
 known.  They  should  do  it  both  by  word  of  mouth  (as 
 in  Jer.  xxii.  8,  9),  and  also  by  their  conduct  (as  in  chap, 
 xiv.  l!J.  :.':»>.  The  word  "  few  "  is  literally,  as  shown  in 
 the  margin.  m<  n  of  number,  L.6.,  men  who  can  easily  be 
 numbered  or  counted:  and  in  the  very  similar  ex- 
 pression  in  the  original  for  "declare."' there  i- a  play 
 upon  the  word,  something  like  our  "  count  "  and  "  re- 
 count." 
 
 They  shall  know,  may  grammatically  refer  either 
 to  the  heathen,  ox  to  the  Israelites  in  their  dispersion; 
 
 but    the    latter   is    so   constantly   the   refrain    of    t 
 
 prophecies  see  verse  J".  «.;/..  that  it  is  also  to  be 
 onderstood  here. 
 
 1 1*1  Eat  thy  bread  with  quaking.  —  This  is 
 another  symbolical  action,  the  meaning  of  which  is 
 immediately  explained.  The  prophet  is  to  eat  and 
 drink  as  men  in  the  terror  and  distress  of 
 
 Unto  the  people  of  the  land,—;'...  of  the 
 land  of  Ohaldssa  :  Esekiel's  fellow-captives.  All  these 
 prophecies,  though  concerning  Jerusalem  and  its  people, 
 
Nearness  of  the  Judgment. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XIII. 
 
 False  Prophets. . 
 
 saitli  the  Lord  God  of  the  inhabitants 
 of  Jerusalem,  and  of  the  land  of  Israel ; 
 They  shall  eat  their  bread  with  careful- 
 ness, and  drink  their  water  with  asto- 
 nishment, that  her  land  may  be  desolate 
 from  J  all  that  is  therein,  because  of  the 
 violence  of  all  them  that  dwell  therein. 
 (20'  And  the  cities  that  are  inhabited 
 shall  be  laid  waste,  and  the  land  shall 
 be  desolate ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I 
 am  the  Lord. 
 
 <21'  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 unto  me,  saying, 
 
 C22'  Son  of  man,  what  is  that  proverb 
 that  ye  have  in  the  land  of  Israel,  say- 
 ing, The  days  are  prolonged,  and  every 
 vision  faileth  ?  <23>  Tell  them  therefore, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will  make 
 this  proverb  to  cease,  and  they  shall  no 
 more  use  it  as  a  proverb  in  Israel ;  but 
 say  unto  them,  The  days  are  at  hand, 
 and  the  effect  of  every  vision.  (24)  For 
 there  shall  be  no  more  any  vain  vision 
 nor  flattering  divination  within  the 
 house  of  Israel.  (25)  For  I  am  the  Lord  : 
 I  will  speak,  and  the  word  that  I  shall 
 
 1  Ilrl).,  tlie/ulncss 
 thereof. 
 
 Hill.,  them  that 
 are  prophets  out 
 of  their  own 
 hearts. 
 
 3  Heb.,  walk  after. 
 
 l  Or,  and  things 
 which  they  hav 
 not  seen. 
 
 speak  shall  come  to  pass ;  it  shall  be  no 
 more  prolonged :  for  in  your  days,  O 
 rebellious  house,  will  I  say  the  word, 
 and  will  perform  it,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 (26)  Again  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 to  me,  saying, 
 
 <27)  Son  of  man,  behold,  they  of  the 
 house  of  Israel  say,  The  vision  that  he 
 seeth  is  "for  many  days  to  come,  and  he 
 prophesieth  of  the  times  that  are  far  off. 
 (28)  Therefore  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith 
 the  Lord  God  ;  There  shall  none  of  my 
 words  be  prolonged  any  more,  but  the 
 word  which  I  have  spoken  shall  be  done, 
 saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XIIL— W  And  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying, 
 
 <2>  Son  of  man,  prophesy  against  the 
 prophets  of  Israel  that  prophesy,  and 
 say  thou  unto  2them  that  prophesy  out 
 of  their  own  *  hearts,  Hear  ye  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  ;  (3)  Thus  saitli  the  Lord 
 God  ;  Woe  unto  the  foolish  prophets, 
 that 3  follow  their  own  spirit,  4and  have 
 seen   nothing !       W  0  Israel,    thy   pro- 
 
 were  immediately  addressed  to  the  exiles,  and  their 
 teaching  was  primarily  for  them.  It  is  not  unlikely, 
 however,  as  St.  Jerome  says,  that  all  these  prophecies  of 
 Ezekiel  were  sent  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  corresponding 
 utterances  of  Jeremiah,  made  in  Jerusalem,  were  sent 
 to  Chaldcea, 
 
 From  all  that  is  therein. — The  margin,  which  is 
 the  literal  rendering,  explains  this  :  "  The  land  shall  be 
 stripped  of  its  richness  and  excellence,  of  all  that 
 makes  it  desirable." 
 
 (21—28)  These  verses  contain  two  distinct  messages 
 from  the  Lord  (verses  21 — 25  and  26 — 28),  both  designed 
 to  meet  the  objection  that  warning  prophecies  had 
 been  uttered  now  for  a  long  time,  and  as  they  had  not 
 come  to  pass  there  was  no  reason  to  expect  their  fulfil- 
 ment, at  least  until  some  far  distant  future.  It  is 
 always  the  tendency  of  sinful  man  to  take  this  ground 
 while  experiencing  the  long-suffering  and  forbearance 
 of  God  (see  Eccles.  viii.  11 ;  Amos  vi.  3 ;  Matt.  xxiv. 
 43 ;  1  Thess.  v.  3) ;  and  the  scoff,  "  Where  is  the 
 promise  of  His  coming  ?  "  will  still  continue  to  the  end 
 of  time  (2  Pet.  iii.  4).  In  this  case,  the  objection  was 
 evidently  encouraged  by  false  prophets  (verse  24),  and 
 accordingly  the  following  chapter  is  devoted  to  them. 
 
 (22)  in  the  land  of  Israel,  is  not  here  simply 
 equivalent  to  the  "  in  Israel "  of  verse  23,  but  refers 
 to  a  proverb  current  among  those  who  had  not  yet  been 
 carried  into  captivity,  and  who  fancied  that  they  should 
 not  be. 
 
 (23)  The  effect  of  every  vision.— The  sense 
 would  be  made  clearer  by  rendering  "  the  accomplish- 
 ment "  of  every  vision. 
 
 XIIL 
 
 A  prophecy  very  similar  to  this  was  uttered  by 
 Jeremiah  (chap,  xxiii.),  only  a  few  years  before,  against 
 
 234 
 
 the  false  prophets  in  and  around  Jerusalem.  It  is  not 
 unlikely  that  Ezekiel  may  have  read  it ;  as  Jeremiah 
 (chap.  xxix.  1)  certainly  sent  some  of  his  prophecies  to 
 those  in  the  captivity,  and  it  is  altogether  probable  that 
 he  knew  its  substance.  He,  however,  addi-esses  himself 
 here  to  the  false  prophets  among  the  captives  (see  verse 
 9),  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  chapter  (verses  17 — 23) 
 especially  to  the  prophetesses.  In  both  parts  their 
 conduct  is  first  described  (verses  3 — 7,  17 — 19),  and 
 then  their  doom  (verses  8 — 16,  20 — 23).  Such  false 
 prophets  have  always  been  a  chief  hindrance  to  the 
 truth  (just  as  false  teaching  within  the  Church  now  is 
 far  more  dangerous  than  any  attack  from  without),  and 
 they  especially  abounded  in  times  of  difficulty  and 
 danger.  Jeremiah  speaks  repeatedly  of  their  opposi- 
 tion to  him  in  Judsea  (chaps,  xiv.  13,  14,  xxiii.  9,  13, 
 16,  21,  25,  xxvii.,  xxviii.),  and  expressly  mentions  also 
 their  activity  among  the  exiles  (chap.  xxix.  15 — 22). 
 
 (3)  Foolish  prophets. — They  were  certainly  foolish 
 who  undertook  to  forge  the  name  of  the  Omniscient,  as 
 it  were,  to  utterances  of  their  own  devising.  Folly, 
 according  to  the  use  of  the  word  in  the  Old  Testament, 
 was  not  merely  an  intellectual  failing,  but  was  always 
 associated  with  moral  obliquity.  (See  Ps.  xiv.  1,  aud 
 Proverbs  throughout.)  The  last  clause  of  the  verse  is 
 better  expressed  in  the  margin :  these  prophets  were 
 "  seers  of  that  which  they  have  not  seen." 
 
 (*)  Like  the  foxes  in  the  deserts. — The  com- 
 parison is  sufficiently  close  if  it  is  considered  as  extend- 
 ing only  to  these  mischievous  men  living  unconcerned 
 among  the  ruins  of  their  state  aud  country,  as  the  foxes 
 find  their  home  in  desolated  cities  (Lam.  v.  18);  but 
 many  extend  the  simile  to  the  undermining  of  the 
 ground  by  the  foxes,  as  these  prophets  accelerated  the 
 ruin  of  their  people. 
 
Prophttt. 
 
 EZETOEL,   XIII. 
 
 Ruin  i if  lli-'tr   Work. 
 
 phots  are  like  the  foxes  in  the  deserts. 
 '"  S"e  hare  not  gone  up  into  the  'gaps, 
 neither  'made  up  the  hedge  for  the 
 house  of  Israel  to  stand  is  the  battle  in 
 the  day  of  the  Loan.  WThej  hare  seen 
 v;uiitv  and  Lying  divination,  saying,  The 
 Lord  saith;  ami  the  Lord  hath  not  sent 
 them:  and  tlirv  have  made  others  to 
 1io]m>  that  they  would  confirm  the  word. 
 (7)  Have   ye   not  seen  a  vain  vision,  ami 
 
 have  ye  not  spoken  a  lying  divinati 
 
 whereas  ye  say,  The  Loud  saith  it;  albeit 
 I  have  not  spoken? 
 
 <8>  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ; 
 Because  ye  have  spoken  vanity,  and  seen 
 lies,  therefore,  behold,  I  am  against  you, 
 saith  the  Lord  God.  (9>  And  mine  hand 
 skill  be  upon  the  prophets  that  see 
 vanity,  and  that  divine  lies  :  they  shall 
 not  be  in  the  3assembly  of  my  people, 
 neither  shall  they  be  written  in  the  writ- 
 ing of  the  house  of  Israel,  neither  shall 
 they  enter  into  the  land  of  Israel;  and 
 ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  God. 
 
 (1,l)  Because,  even  because  they  have 
 seduced  my  people,  saying,  "Peace ;  and 
 Him;  was  no  peace  ;  and  one  built  up  la 
 wall,  and,  lo,  others  daubed  it  with  on- 
 tempered    mortcr :     <n>  Say   unto    them 
 
 1  Or,  breaches. 
 
 nv>> .  hedged  thr 
 
 3  or,    secret,  or, 
 
 co'tncU. 
 
 I  Or.  a  slight  uall 
 
 which  daub  it  with  uiitemp<-r-'d  mnrt>T, 
 thai  it  shall  fall:  there  shall  be  an 
 overflowing   shower;    and   ye,  0  great 
 
 hailst b,  shall  fall;   ami  a  stormy  wind 
 
 shall  rend  it.  "-''  Lo,  when  the  wall  is 
 fallen,  shall  it  not  he  said  unto  you, 
 Where  is  the  daubing  wherewith  ye 
 have  daubed  it?  n■'  Therefore  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  <i"i>;  I  will  even  rend  it 
 
 with  a  stormy  wind  in  my  fury;  and 
 there  shall  be  an  overflowing  shower  in 
 mine  auger,  and  great  hailstones  in  my 
 fury  to  consume  it.  <"'So  will  I  break 
 down  the  wall  that  ye  have  daubed  with 
 untempered  morter,  and  bring  it  down  to 
 the  ground,  so  that  the  foundation 
 thereof  shall  be-  discovered,  and  it  shall 
 fall,  and  ye  shall  be  consumed  in  the 
 midst  thereof:  and  ye  shall  know  that  I 
 tun  the  Lord.  <15>  Thus  will  I  accom- 
 plish my  wrath  upon  the  wall,  and  upou 
 them  that  have  daubed  it  with  untem- 
 pered morter,  and  will  say  unto  you,  The 
 wall  is  no  more,  neither  they  that 
 daubed  it ;  <16>  to  wit,  the  prophets  of 
 Israel  which  prophesy  concerning  Jeru- 
 salem, and  which  see  visions  of  peace  for 
 her,  and  there  is  no  peace,  saith  the  Lord 
 God. 
 
 ffl  Ye  have  not  gone  up  into  the  gaps.— The 
 change  of  person  is  frequent  enough  in  prophecy, 
 and  especially  common  in  EzeMel.  It  is  changed  pack 
 in  verse  ii.  and  changed  again  in  verso  7.  The  <jnp^ 
 refer  to  the  breaches  in  the  wan  made  by  the  enemy, 
 which  became  the  rallying  point  of  every  brave  leader 
 chap.  xxii.  30  .  and  the  following  words  express 
 essentially  the  same  thought.  The  wont  •■  hedge'1  should 
 rather  be  translated  icofl  — "  neither  have  ye  built  op  the 
 
 wall."  The  false  prophets,  like  the  hireling  shepherds 
 of  John  x.  1J.   were  only  selfish,  and  had   no  care  for 
 
 the  (luck.  The  whole  language  is  figurative,  the 
 breaches  in  the  material  walls  representing  the  moral 
 
 decay  of  the  people. 
 
 " :i"  They  havo  mado  others  to  hope.— Omit  the 
 word  ".it  hers."  which  is  not  in  the  original,  and  translate, 
 
 "  The  Lord  hath  not  sent  them  that  they  should  liopo  " 
 — i.e.,  they  have  no  ground  to  export  that  their  pro- 
 phecies will  prove  true,  because  they  have  no  warrant 
 
 for  ottering  them. 
 
 W  The  assembly  of  my  people.— The  original 
 
 word  bears  also  the  meanings  placed  in  the  margin,  but 
 the    sense    here    is   correctly   given   in    the  text.     The 
 
 several  clauses  are  intended  to  emphasise  the  otter 
 
 exclusion  of  the  false  prophets  from  the  people  of  God: 
 they  shall  not  be  in  the  congregation;  their  names 
 shall  not  be  written  in  the  genealogical  registers  of 
 Israel;  they    shall    not    even  enter  the  land  when   the 
 
 purified  and  repentant  people  should  once  more  return. 
 0°)  One  built  up  a  wall.— The  original  word  is 
 used  for  a  partition  wall — of  course  a  comparatively 
 slight  wall — as  noted  in  the  margin;  in  verse  12,  how- 
 ever,  the  ordinary  word  for  an  outer,  or  a  city  wall,  is 
 
 used.  One  of  the  false  prophets  would  build  a  wall, 
 up  of  his  own  device — same  vision  as  a  defence 
 against  the  warnings  of  calamity;  and  his  fellows 
 Would  join  in  his  deceit  by  covering  this  wall  "  with 
 untempered  mortar."  The  word  is  not  the  usual  one 
 for  plaster,  and  indeed  is  used  in  this  sense  only  in 
 these  verse-  and  in  chap.  xxii.  'J^.  Elsewhere,  the 
 word  is  used  in  Job  vi.  6=1MMM>OWy,  Lam.  ii.  14= 
 foolii-li  things,  and  a  closely-related  form  in  Jcr.  xxiii. 
 13=folly  (marg.,  on  absurd  thing).  Here  (and  ale 
 verses  11.  11.  1~>  it  must  mean  plaster,  but  the  use  of 
 the  word  elsewhere  show-  plainlv  enough  what  sort  of 
 plaster  is  intended.  Calvin  understands  it  of  mortar 
 mixed  with  sand  and  water  only,  the  lime  being  left 
 out.  It  is  still  a  common  practice  in  the  East,  as  it  has 
 always  been,  to  cover  over  their  walls  with  stucco.  In 
 this  case  the  other  false  prophets  are  represented  as 
 joining  with  the  ono  who  built  the  wall  by  covering 
 over  its  weaknesse-  and  defects  with  a  fair-seeming 
 plaster.  (Comp.  Matt,  xxiii.  J7  :  Act-  xxiii.  :i.l  They 
 helped  on  the  delusion  by  giving  it  the  weight  of  their 
 
 influence,  and  persuading  the  people  to  believe  a  lie. 
 
 (in  Great  hailstones. — Hail  is  unusual  in  Pales- 
 tine, but  its  destructive  effect-  were  well  known.  The 
 figure  of  this  prophecy  may  be  compared  with  tho 
 parable  of   Matt.  \ ii.  J7. 
 
 i-'1  Where  is  tho  daubing  ?— The  basis  of  all 
 their  false  prophesying  being  destroyed  by  the  coming 
 judgments,  the  folly  and  falsehood  of  their  words 
 would  be  exposed  to  the  eyes  of  all.  As  it  is  said  in 
 verse  1  t.  the  wall  itself  being  thrown  down  to  it-  very 
 foundation,  they  who  have  tried  to  make  the  people 
 trust  in  it  -hall  be  overwhelmed  in  its  ruiu. 
 
 235 
 
Falsi  Prophetesses. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XIV. 
 
 Judgment  upon  them. 
 
 *17>  Likewise,  thou  son  of  man,  set  thy 
 face  against  the  daughters  of  thy  people, 
 which  prophesy  out  of  their  own  heart ; 
 and  prophesy  thou  against  them,  (18)  and 
 say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Woe  to 
 the  women  that  sew  pillows  to  all  1  arm- 
 holes,  and  make  kerchiefs  upon  the  head 
 of  every  stature  to  hunt  souls  !  Will  ye 
 hunt  the  souls  of  my  people,  and  will  ye 
 .save  the  souls  alive  that  come  unto  you  ? 
 <19)  And  will  ye  pollute  me  among  my 
 people  for  handfuls  of  barley  and  for 
 pieces  of  bread,  to  slay  the  souls  that 
 should  not  die,  and  to  save  the  souls 
 alive  that  should  not  live,  by  your  lying 
 to  my  people  that  hear  your  lies  ? 
 
 (20)  Wherefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God;  Behold,  I  am  against  your  pil- 
 lows, wherewith  ye  there  hunt  the  souls 
 2  to  make  them  fly,  and  I  will  tear  them 
 
 2  Or,  into  gardens. 
 
 3  Or,  that  I  should 
 save  his  life. 
 
 4  Hel).,&yg)«ffcc?i- 
 iiig  him. 
 
 B.O. 
 cir.  5M. 
 
 from  your  arms,  and  will  let  the  souls 
 go,  even  the  souls  that  ye  hunt  to  make 
 them  fly.  <21)  Your  kerchiefs  also  will  I 
 tear,  and  deliver  my  people  out  of  your 
 hand,  and  they  shall  be  no  more  in  your 
 hand  to  be  hunted ;  and  ye  shall  know 
 that  I  am  the  Lord.  (22>  Because  with 
 lies  ye  have  made  the  heart  of  the 
 righteous  sad,  whom  I  have  not  made 
 sad  ;  and  strengthened  the  hands 
 of  the  wicked,  that  he  should  not 
 return  from  his  wicked  way,  3'  *  by  pro- 
 mising him  life :  <23>  therefore  ye  shall 
 see  no  more  vanity,  nor  divine  divina- 
 tions :  for  I  will  deliver  my  people  out 
 of  your  hand  :  and  ye  shall  know  that  I 
 am  the  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  XIV.— («  Then  came  cer- 
 tain of  the  elders  of  Israel  unto  me,  and 
 
 (17—23)  Likewise,  thou  son  of  man,  set  thy  face 
 .  .  . — This  passage  deals  with  a  class  of  people,  the 
 •false  prophetesses,  who  are  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
 the  Old  Testament.  True  prophetesses,  as  in  the  case 
 of  Miriam  (Exod.  xv.  20),  Deborah  (Judges  iv.  4),  and, 
 at  this  very  time,  Huldah  (2  Kings  xxii.  14 ;  2  Chron. 
 xxxiv.  22),  and  somewhat  later,  Noadiah  (Neh.  vi.  14), 
 are  frequently  spoken  of,  and  continued  to  exist  in  New 
 Testament  times,  as  in  the  case  of  Anna  (Luke  ii.  36). 
 It  was  naturally  to  be  expected  that  as  false  prophets 
 dogged  the  steps  of  the  true,  the  same  thing  would 
 happen  with  the  other  sex,  and  we  find  express  mention 
 of  a  false  prophetess  in  Rev.  ii.  20.  Their  course,  in 
 prophesying  "  out  of  their  own  heart,"  deceiving  the 
 people,  was  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  the  false 
 prophets  ;  but  they  are  described  as  doing  this  in  ways 
 suited  to  their  sex.  Of  the  general  meaning  of  this 
 description  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  it  is  difficult  to 
 follow  it  with  certainty  in  the  details,  because  of  the 
 occurrence  of  some  words  of  uncertain  meaning,  found 
 nowhere  else,  and  of  some  others  in  an  unusual  sense. 
 Without  attempting  a  discussion  of  each  single  word, 
 (which  would  be  useless  except  with  a  careful  examina- 
 tion of  the  original),  the  following  is  given  as  the  most 
 probable  translation  of  verses  18 — 21 ;  but  it  is  to  be  re- 
 membered  that  several  of  the  words,  like  the  similar 
 ones  in  Isa.  iii.  16 — 24,  are  so  uncertain  that  there  is  a 
 difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  their  exact  meaning : — 
 "  Woe  to  those  who  fasten  charms  on  every  finger-joint, 
 that  place  kerchiefs  on  heads  of  every  height  to  snare 
 souls.  Will  ye  snare  the  souls  of  my  people,  and  keep 
 your  own  souls  alive  ?  (19)  And  will  ye  profane  me 
 with  my  people  for  handfuls  of  barley,  and  for  pieces  of 
 bread,  to  slay  souls  that  should  not  die,  and  to  make 
 live  souls  that  should  not  live,  by  your  lying  to  my 
 people  who  hearken  to  a  lie  ?  (20)  Theref  ore,  thus  saith 
 the  Lord  Jehovah,  Behold,  I  am  against  your  charms, 
 when  ye  snare  the  souls  like  birds,  and  I  will  tear  them 
 from  your  arms,  and  will  let  the  souls  go,  the  souls  that 
 ye  are  snaring  like  birds.  (21)  Tour  kerchiefs  also  will 
 I  tear,  and  deliver  my  people  out  of  your  hand,  and  they 
 shall  be  no  more  in  your  hand  to  be  snared ;  and  ye 
 shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  (See  Excursus  viii. 
 at  the  end  of  this  book,  on  chap.  xiii.  verses  6,  7, 14.) 
 
 236 
 
 (18)  Souls.— This  word  is  used  in  the  Old  Testament 
 in  a  variety  of  significations.  Here  and  in  the  following 
 verses  it  is  nearly  equivalent  to  persons. 
 
 (19)  Handfuls  of  barley.— It  was  an  ancient  cus- 
 tom to  bring  presents  to  a  prophet  on  consulting  him 
 (1  Sam.  ix.  7,  8 ;  1  Kings  xiv.  3) ;  but  as  barley  was  a 
 cheap  grain,  and  handfuls  a  very  small  quantity,  these 
 words  show  the  exceedingly  small  gains  for  which  these 
 false  prophetesses  were  willing  to  pervert  the  truth,  and 
 lead  the  people  to  destruction.  God  was  "  polluted  "  by 
 attaching  His  name  and  authority  to  that  which  was 
 not  true,  and  would  not  come  to  pass,  thus  "  making 
 Him  a  liar  "  like  themselves.  Like  all  falsehood,  their 
 lies  tended  both  ways — to  entice  the  upright  to  their 
 ruin,  and  to  give  false  security  to  the  wicked.  It  is 
 always  impossible  that  a  perversion  of  the  truth, 
 especially  in  regard  to  the  Divine  judgments,  can  be 
 harmless. 
 
 Hear  your  lies.— Or,  hearken  to  a  lie.  The 
 words  imply  a  willingness  to  listen  to  the  pleasing 
 falsehood,  and  the  state  of  things  is  that  described  by 
 Jer.  v.  31.  "  The  prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and 
 the  priests  bear  rule  by  their  means,  and  my  people 
 love  to  have  it  so." 
 
 (23)  Ye  shall  see  no  more  vanity.— As  so  often 
 the  judgment  is  expressed  in  the  same  form  with  the 
 sin.  These  false  prophetesses  had  sinned  by  their 
 lying  visions,  and  they  should  see  them  no  more,  because 
 the  event  should  soon  expose  their  utter  falsity  to  the 
 eyes  of  all.  The  result  would  be  the  deliverance  of 
 God's  people,  whom  they  sought  to  ensnare,  and  their 
 own  conviction,  not  in  penitence,  but  under  judgment, 
 that  He  is  the  Lord. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 This  chapter  consists  of  two  distinct  but  closely- 
 connected  prophecies,  the  first  of  which  (verses  1 — 11) 
 was  called  out  by  the  coming  of  the  elders  to  enquire 
 of  the  prophet,  and  announces  to  them  that  God  will 
 not.  answer,  but  will  destroy  idolatrous  enquirers ; 
 while  the  second  (verses  12 — 23)  shows  the  falsity  of 
 the  hope  that  God  will  spare  the  land  for  the  sake  of 
 the  righteous  that  may  be  therein.  Both  of  these  are 
 closely  connected  with  the  prophecies  that  have  gone 
 
Qod  will  answer  TdolaU  rt 
 
 EZEKIHL,    XIV. 
 
 according  to  their  own  heart. 
 
 sat  before  un •-  '-'  Ami  the  word  of  the 
 Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,  ' ;|  Son  of 
 man,  these  men  hare  set  ap  their  idols 
 in  t In  ir  heart,  and  put  the  stumbling- 
 block  of  their  iniquity  before  their  Bice: 
 should  I  l)o  enquired  of  at  all  l>y  tliem  V 
 (*)  Therefore  speak  onto  thein,  and  say 
 unto  them,  Thus  Baith  Hie  Lord  God; 
 Every  mau  of  the  house  of  Israel  thai 
 setteth  up  his  idols  in  his  heart,  and 
 putteth  the  stumblingblock  of  his  ini- 
 quity In  fore  his  face,  and  oometh  to  the 
 prophet ;  I  the  Lord  will  answer  him 
 that  cometh  according  to  the  multitude 
 of  his  idols ;  (5)  that  I  may  take  the 
 house  of  Israel  in  their  own  heart,  be- 
 cause they  are  all  estranged  from  me 
 through  their  idols. 
 
 rvu.  m.  37 : 
 
 &.  15. 
 
 <6>  Therefore  say  unto  the  house  of 
 Israel,  Thus  .sailh  the  Lord  God;  Re- 
 pent, and  turn  lyowreelv6»  from  your 
 idols;  and  turn  away  your  faces  from 
 all  your  abominations.  PI  For  every  one 
 '  if  t  be  house  of  Israel,  or  of  the  stranger 
 that  sojourneth  in  Israel,  which  separ- 
 atetfa  hiinself  from  me,  ami  setteth  up 
 his    idols    in    his    ln-art.  and  putteth    the 
 
 Btumblingbloch   of  his  iniquity  before 
 
 his  face,  ami  cornel h  to  a  prophet  to  en- 
 quire of  him  concerning  me:  I  the  Lmm, 
 will  answer  him  by  myself :  <8)  and  I  will 
 set  my  face  against  that  man,  and  will 
 make  him  a  "sign  and  a  proverb,  and  I 
 will  cut  him  oft'  from  the  midst  of  my 
 people;  ;iml  ye  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord. 
 
 before,  and  are  doubtless  placed  in  their  chronological 
 Older,  ms  ottered  in  the  Becond  year  of  Ezckid's 
 ministry,  the  sixth  or  Beventh  year  ox  bis  captivity. 
 
 in  Cortain  of  the  oldors  of  Israel.— There  is 
 no  distinction  intended  here  between  the  elders  of 
 /  rael  and  the  elders  of  Judah  mentioned  in  viii.  1, 
 and  therefore  there  is  no  occasion  to  suppose  a  deputa- 
 tion sent  to  the  prophet  from  Jerusalem.  Israel  is 
 now  becoming  the  ordinary  name  of  the  existing  nation, 
 except  where  it  is  used  with  some  special  mark  of 
 distinction.  The  object  of  their  enquiry  is  not  men- 
 tioned, n.ir  is  it  even  expressly  said  that  they  made  any 
 enquiry;  out  the  message  to  them  implies  this,  and 
 from  what  is  said  to  them  we  may  probably  gather 
 
 what    was   uppermost  in  their  minds.     Already  told  by 
 
 the  previous  prophecies  that  God  would  not  spare 
 Jerusalem  for  its  own  sake,  and  that  His  long  for- 
 bearance  hitherto  was  no  warrant   for  its  continuance, 
 
 they  still  evidently  cherished  the  hope  that,  however 
 sinful  they  might  be  in  themsrlves.  their  city  Would 
 yet  be  delivered  for  the  sake  of  the  holy  men  who  lived 
 
 therein.  With  such  thoughts  in  their  minds  the  elders 
 came  and  sat  before  the  prophet,  in  whose  fearless 
 
 words  they  had  already  learned  to  have  confidence,  and 
 awaited  what  he  might  have  to  say  to  them. 
 
 <3>  Have  set  up  their  idols  in  their  heart.— 
 
 It  was  not  the  open  idolatry  of  .luikca  which  is  re. 
 proved  anion;;  these  elders  of  the  captivity;  that  had 
 already  passed  away,  but  still  their  heart  was  not 
 ritrht.  Like  Lot's  wife,  they  longed  for  that  which 
 they  dared  not  do.      With  such  ■  disposition,  they  were 
 
 in  the  greatest  danger,  putting  "  the  stumbling-block 
 
 of  their  iniquity,"  the  temptation  to  gin,  directly 
 before  them.  And  not  only  so,  but  they  kept  them- 
 selves in  a  state  of  alienation  from  God,  so  that   it  was 
 
 idle  to  imagine  He  would  allow  Himself  to  be  enquired 
 of  by  them.  The  question  implies  the  negative  answer 
 which  is  fully  expressed  in  the  following  verses, 
 
 <>>  Will  answer  him  that  cometh.— The  words 
 (hat  oometh,  not  beinsr  iu  the  original,  should  be 
 omitted.  The  verb  answer  in  tin'  original  is  in  the 
 passive,  and  has  a  reflexive  seuse="I  will  show  myself 
 answering,"  a  softer  form  than  the  English.  The 
 principle  that  when  mau  persists  in  going  counter  to 
 God's  known  will  He  will  allow  him  to  misunderstand 
 
 that  will,  i,  abundantly  established  by  sneh  instances 
 as  that  of  Balaam  (Num.  xxii.  20)  and  of  Micaiah 
 (1  Kinjrs  Xxii.  1">).  No  man  can  hope  to  know  what 
 (  led  would  have  him  to  do  unless  his  own  heart  is  truly 
 submissive  to  the  Divine  will.  The  threat  here  is,  that 
 the  man  coming  to  impure  of  God  with  a  heart  full 
 of  idolatry,  shall  receive  no  true  answer  from  that 
 Omniscience  which  he  does  not  respect;  but  will 
 rather  find  himself  deceived  by  the  illusions  of  Ids  own 
 heart.  This  idea  is  more  fully  developed  in  the  follow- 
 ing verse.     (Comp.  Isa.  xliv.  J". 
 
 ('■)  Repent  and  turn.— The  announcements  of  the 
 previous  verses  form   the   basis  for  the  earnest  call  to  a 
 
 true  repentance.    There  can  be  no  hope  for  Israel  in 
 
 any    merely    outward    reformation;     thoy    have    to    do 
 
 with  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  and  the  only  repentance 
 
 a ptable   to   Him   is  that   which   lias   its  seat  in  the 
 
 affections  of  the  heart. 
 
 i"!  Or  of  the  stranger.— Under  the  Mosaic  ],  j 
 Iation.  "  the  stranger"  living  anion";  the  Israelites  was 
 
 bound  to  observe  a  certain  outward  deference  to  the 
 law  of  the  land,  just  as  a  foreigner  in  any  country  now 
 
 is  bound  to  respect  in  certain  things  the  law  of  the 
 
 country  in  which  he  lives.  Israel  being  a  theocracy, 
 its  fundamental  law  against  idol-worship  could  not  be 
 
 violated  with  impunity  by  those  who  sought  the  pro- 
 tection of  its  government  (Lev.  xvii.  10  j  xx.  1,  2,  <sc.). 
 
 In  this  case,  however,  outward  idolatry  is  not  alleged, 
 as  the  accusations  of  this  verse  and  Verse  t  refer  only 
 to  the  secret  idolatry  of  the  heart  ;  and  the  point 
 insisted  upon  is  not  so  much  the  idoLworshin  in  itself, 
 as  the  hyprocrisy  of  attempting  to  join  with  this  the 
 enquiring  of  the  Lord.  God  declares  that  He  will 
 answer  such  hypocrisy,  in  whomsoever  it  maybe  found, 
 
 not  by  the  prophet  through  whom  the  enquiry  is  made, 
 but  by  Himself  interposing  to  punish  the  enquirer,  and 
 
 to  make  him  an  example  to  deter  others  from  a  like  course. 
 
 M  Will  make  him  a  sign.— The  text  of  the 
 Hebrew  is  lure  preferable  to  its  margin,  which  lias 
 been  followed  by  our  translators,  as  well  as  by  the 
 ancient  versions.  There  is  a  similar  threat  in  Dent, 
 xxviii.  37;  and  the  clause  should  be  rendered,  "  will 
 make  him  desolate  ..r  destroy  him)  for  a  sifjn  and  a 
 proverb."     The    English   almost    [osee  the   idea  of  the 
 
 wonder  which  will   1 asioned  by  the  severity  of 
 
 God's  dealings  with  the  false  worshipper. 
 
 i 
 
Punishment  of  False  Prophets. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XIV. 
 
 Threat  of  Famine. 
 
 W  And  if  the  prophet  be  deceived 
 when  he  hath  spoken  a  thing,  I  the 
 Lord  "have  deceived  that  prophet,  and 
 I  will  stretch  out  my  hand  upon  him, 
 and  will  destroy  him  from  the  midst  of 
 my  people  Israel.  (10>And  they  shall 
 bear  the  punishment  of  their  iniquity  : 
 the  punishment  of  the  prophet  shall  be 
 even  as  the  punishment  of  him  that 
 seeketh  unto  him ;  <n)  That  the  house  of 
 Israel  may  go  no  more  astray  from  me, 
 neither  be  polluted  any  more  with  all 
 
 a  1  Kings  22.  23. 
 
 6  Lev.  26.  26 ;  ch. 
 4. 16  ;  &  5.  16. 
 
 their  transgressions ;  but  that  they  may 
 be  my  people,  and  I  may  be  their  God, 
 saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 (12)  >pne  word  of  the  Lord  came  again 
 to  me,  saying,  (13)  Son  of  man,  when  the 
 land  sinneth  against  me  by  trespassing 
 grievously,  then  will  I  stretch  out  mine 
 hand  upon  it,  and  will  break  the  'staff 
 of  the  bread  thereof,  and  will  send  famine 
 upon  it,  and  will  cut  oif  man  and  beast 
 from  it :  <u)  'though  these  three  men, 
 Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  were  in  it,  they 
 
 (9)  And  if  the  prophet  be  deceived.— The  exact 
 sense  of  the  original  is,  "  If  a  prophet  be  persuaded 
 and  speak  a  word,  I  the  Lord  have  persuaded  that 
 prophet."  The  thought  is  thus  in  close  connection 
 ■with  what  precedes ;  in  verses  3,  4,  7,  the  Lord  has 
 refused  to  allow  an  answer  through  the  prophet  to  the 
 hypocritical  enquirer;  but  if  the  prophet,  by  giving 
 the  desired  answer,  allows  himself  to  become  a  par- 
 taker of  the  sin  which  God  abhors,  then  God  will  treat 
 him  according  to  that  general  method  of  dealing  with 
 sin  which  is  here  described.  He  "  persuades "  the 
 prophet  in  the  same  sense  in  which  He  hardened 
 Pharaoh's  heart,  by  making  such  persuasion  the  natural 
 consequence  of  the  immutable  moral  laws  which  He 
 has  ordained.  Men  are  held  back  from  sin  only  by 
 God's  own  Holy  Spirit  drawing  them  towards  Himself. 
 When  they  set  this  aside  by  transgressing  God's  com- 
 mands, the  inevitable  tendency — the  tendency  under 
 the  moral  laws  God  has  established — is  to  further  sin. 
 Hence  the  prophet  who  allowed  himself  to  be  per- 
 suaded, contrary  to  God's  command,  to  answer  the 
 hypocritical  enquirer  at  all,  would  inevitably  be  per- 
 suaded further  to  answer  him  according  to  his  desires. 
 God  does  not  force  men  either  to  receive  the  truth  or 
 to  act  righteously.  If,  notwithstanding  His  remon- 
 strances, their  hearts  are  set  upon  wrong,  He  will  even 
 give  them  up  and  "  send  them  strong  delusion  that 
 they  should  believe  a  lie"  (2  Thess.  ii.  11).  We  are 
 too  often  told  iu  Scripture  of  this  method  of  the 
 Divine  dealiug  to  leave  any  room  for  us  to  misunder- 
 stand the  principle.  The  result  is  a  terrible  one,  but  it 
 is  quite  in  keeping  with  all  we  can  observe  of  the 
 Divine  work  in  nature.  The  man  that  refuses  the 
 medicine,  must  sink  under  the  disease.  The  principle 
 is  clearly  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Ahab  (1  Kings 
 xxii.  19 — 23),  where  the  Lord  is  represented  as  sending 
 a  lying  spirit  into  the  mouths  of  the  pi-ophets,  that  they 
 might  counsel  the  king  to  the  wrong  course  be  was 
 already  determined  to  take.  God  is  declared  to  do 
 this  because  it  was  the  result  under  His  moral  laws  of 
 the  wicked  and  domineering  spirit  of  the  king  who 
 had  driven  away  the  true  prophets  and  gathered  around 
 himself  those  who  were  willing  to  pervert  their  office 
 and  prophesy  falsely  to  gratify  his  wishes.  Of  course 
 this  is  not  to  suppose  that  God  can  ever  be  the  author 
 of  sin  and  d  eceit ;  but  Ho  has  ordained  that  sin  shall 
 punish  itself,  and  when  the  heart  rejects  Him,  He 
 withdraws  His  Spirit  from  it  and  gives  it  up  to  its 
 own  delusions.  Thus  when  Saul's  heart  became 
 alienated  from  God,  and  "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  de- 
 parted from  "  him,  the  evil  spirit,  which  came  instead, 
 is  said  to  be  "  from  the  Lord  "  (1  Sam.  xvi.  14). 
 This  kind  of  judgment  is  necessarily  more  common  in 
 times  of  great  and  general  declension  from  the  right. 
 
 23S 
 
 Hence  false  prophets  were  especially  abundant  towards 
 the  close  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  form  a  marked 
 characteristic  in  the  New  Testament  prophecies  of 
 "  the  last  days."  No  more  terrible  judgment  can  be 
 imagined  thau  that  of  thus  giving  up  the  sinner  to  the 
 consequences  of  his  own  sin. 
 
 Will  destroy  himfrom  the  midst  of  my  people 
 Israel. — This  is  not  the  word  which  is  so  often  used 
 in  the  penalties  of  the  law,  "  will  cut  him  off  from  my 
 people."  The  latter  refers  only  to  excommunication, 
 to  exclusion  from  the  privileges  of  the  chosen  people ; 
 but  this  means  that  the  untrue  prophet  shall  literally  be 
 destroyed,  like  Balaam  (Num.  xxxi.  8),  among  the 
 enemies  of  God  with  whom  he  had  cast  iu  his  lot. 
 
 <u)  May  go  no  more  astray. — Here  is  given  the 
 object  of  all  the  previous  severity  of  judgment — that 
 Israel  may  be  brought  to  a  true  repentance  and  bo 
 reunited  in  communion  with  God. 
 
 The  prophet  is  now  directed,  in  a  distinct  communi- 
 cation, to  meet  the  thought  which  was  evidently  in  the 
 minds  of  the  people,  that  Jerusalem  would  yet  be 
 spared  for  the  sake  of  the  righteous  dwelling  therein, 
 as  had  been  promised  to  Abraham  even  in  the  case  of 
 Sodom  and  Gomorrha  (Gen.  xviii.  23 — 32).  The  course 
 of  thought  is  this  :  If  any  land  should  sin  as  grievously 
 as  Israel  had  done,  and  God  should  send  a  judgment, 
 it  would  not  be  spared,  though  Noah,  Daniel  and  Job 
 were  in  it.  This  is  repeated  in  connection  with  each 
 one  of  four  successively  mentioned  judgments ;  and 
 then  the  climax  is  reached,  that  much  less  can  Jeru- 
 salem be  spared  when  all  these  judgments  are  combined 
 together.  In  the  end,  the  justice  of  the  Divine  dealings 
 shall  be  acknowledged. 
 
 A  few  years  earlier,  Jeremiah  (chaps,  xiv.,  xv.)  had 
 uttered  a  very  similar  prophecy  in  connection  with  the 
 denunciation  of  false  prophets  (chap.  xiv.  13,  15)  in 
 which  not  only  he  himself  is  forbidden  to  intercede 
 for  the  people  (chap.  xiv.  11),  but  it  is  said  (chap.  xv. 
 1)  that  the  presence  of  Moses  and  Samuel  would  be 
 unavailing. 
 
 (13)  When  the  land  sinneth. — The  definite  article 
 is  not  in  the  Hebrew,  and  should  be  omitted,  as  the 
 proposition  is  a  general  one.  Also  the  future  tenses 
 throughout  the  verse  should  be  rendered  as  present, 
 in  accordance  with  this  character  of  a  general  state- 
 ment :  "  When  a  land  sinneth  .  .  .  and  I  stretch 
 out  .  .  .  and  break  the  staff  .  .  .  and  send 
 famine  .  .  .  and  cut  off."  The  particular  judg- 
 ment of  famine  was  threatened  in  the  warnings  of  the 
 law  (Lev.  xxvi.  26  ;  Deut.  xxviii.  38 — 40),  and  also,  in 
 immediate  connection  with  it,  all  the  other  woes  here 
 mentioned. 
 
 (!•*>  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job. — These  three  are 
 selected,  doubtless,  not  only  as  examples  of   eminent 
 
77c  Judgment*  Irrt  vocable. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XV. 
 
 ,1  Remnant  to  >■■  & 
 
 should  deliver  hut  their  own  souls   by 
 their  rightei  msness,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 *ls'Ji  1  cause  noisome  beasts  to  pan 
 through  the  land,  and  they  'spoil  it,  so 
 that  it  be  desolate,  that  no  man  may 
 pass  through  because  of  the  tn 
 i")  though  these  three  men  were  ain it, 
 as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  they  sliall 
 deliver  neither  sons  nor  daughters  ;  they 
 only  shall  be  delivered,  but  the  land  shall 
 be  desolate. 
 
 0?)  Or  if  I  bring  a  sword  upon  that 
 land,  and  say.  Sue  ml,  go  through  the 
 land;  so  that  I  cut  off  man  and  beast 
 from  it:  (18)  though  these  three  men  were 
 in  it,  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  they 
 shall  deliver  neither  sons  nor  daughters, 
 but  they  only  shall  be  delivered  them- 
 selves. 
 
 (is»)  Or  if  I  send  a  pestilence  into  that 
 
 land,  and  pour  out  my  fury  upon  it  in 
 
 blood,  to  cut  off  from  it  man  and  beast  : 
 
 -'"  though    Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  »•,,•,■ 
 
 in  it,  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  they 
 
 "/  it , 
 
 3  Or,  AUo  Khen. 
 
 n.c. 
 
 fir.  V/L 
 
 shall  deliver  neither  son  nor  daughter; 
 hall  lmt  deliver  their  own  souls  by 
 their  righteousness. 
 
 <21'  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God; 
 3  How  much  more  when  I  send  my  four 
 sore  judgments  upon  Jerusalem,  the 
 sword,  and  the  famine,  and  the  noisome 
 beast,  and  the  pestilence,  to  cut  off  from 
 it  man  and  beast?  I22*  Yet,  behold, 
 therein  shall  be  left  a  remnant  that 
 shall  be  brought  forth,  both  sons  and 
 daughters :  behold,  they  shall  come 
 forth  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  see  their 
 way  and  their  doings:  and  ye  shall  be 
 comforted  concerning  th«  evil  that  1 
 have  brought  upon  Jerusalem,  i  >•  n  con- 
 cerning all  that  I  have  brought  upon  it. 
 (23'  And  they  shall,  comfort  you,  when  ye 
 see  their  ways  and  their  doings  :  and  ye 
 sliall  know  that  1  have  not  done  without 
 cause  all  that  I  have  done  in  it,  saith  the 
 Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XV.— O)  And  the  word  of 
 
 holiness  themselves,  but  as  men  who  had  been  allowed 
 to  be  tin'  means  of  saving  others.  For  Noah's  si 
 whole  family  had  been  .spared  (Gen.  vi.  18)  j  Daniel 
 was  tin'  means  of  saving  his  Companions  Dan.  ii.  17, 
 is  |  and  Job's  friends  had  been  spared  in  consequence 
 of  his  intercession  (Job  xlii.  7,  81.  Muses  and  Samuel 
 might  seem  still  more  remarkable  instances  of  the 
 value  at  intercessory  prayer ;  but  these  had  already 
 linn  cited  by  Jeremiah  (chap.  XT.  1).  The  mention  of 
 Daniel,  a  contemporary  of  Ezekiel.  with  the  ancient 
 patriarchs.  Noah  and  job,  need  occasion  no  surprise. 
 Tho  distance  in  time  between  Noah  and  Job  was 
 greater  than  between  Job  and  Daniel,  and  it  has  been 
 well  said  that  there  was  nerd  of  the  mention  of  a  con- 
 temporary to  bring  out  the  thought — were  there  in 
 Jerusalem  the  mod  holy  men  of  either  past  or  [ 
 time-,  it  would  avail   nothing.     It    is  also  to  be  remem- 
 
 that   Daniel  nt  separated  from  Ezekiel  by  cir. 
 
 oumstanoes  which  created  a   distance  between   them 
 
 Bonding  to  that    which  separated   him   in  time 
 
 from  the  patriarchs.     Ezekiel  was  a  captive  aiming  the 
 captives  j   Daniel  had  now  been  for  about  twelve  years 
 
 in  important  office  at  the  royal  court,  and  possessed  Of 
 the  very  highest  rank.  There  is.  therefore.  DO  occasion 
 for  the  strange  supposition  that  the  reference  is  to 
 some  older  Daniel,  of  such  eminence  as  to  lie  spoken  of 
 in  the  way  he  is  hero  and  in  chap,  xxviii.  S,  and  yet 
 Whose  name  has  otherwise  completely  faded  out  from 
 Bui  besides  all  this,  there  was  an  especial 
 propriety,  and  even  necessity  for  the  purpose  in  band, 
 that  Daniel  should  be  mentioned.  He  was  not  only  in 
 high  office,  but  was  the  trusted  counsellor  of  Xchuchad- 
 
 neasar  by  whom  Jerusalem  was  to  lie  destroyed.     He 
 bob/ man,  and  a  most  patriotic  Israelite. 
 
 The  Jews,  therefore,  might    well   have  thought  that    his 
 influence  Would  .avail  to  avert    the  threatened  calamity, 
 ami  by  placing  his  name  in   the  list,  their  last  hope  was 
 to  be  .lashed  as  it  could  be  by  nothing  els,.. 
 (IS— SO]  In   these  verses  tlio  same  declaration  is  re- 
 
 239 
 
 peated,  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  with  each  one  of  threo 
 other  instruments  of  punishment,  with  only  such  varia- 
 tions of  phraseology  as  are  required  (or  rhetorical 
 reasons.  The  phrase  "their  own  souls"  is  here  also 
 simply  equivalent  to  '•themselves."  The  judgments 
 mentioned  arc  all  taken  from  the  warnings  in  Lev.  xxvi., 
 the  famine  from  verse  26,  the  wild  beasts  from  verse 
 21.  the  sword  and  also  the  pestilence  from  VBXBe  25. 
 
 (2i)  My  four  sore  judgments.— The  teaching  of 
 
 the  preceding  eight  verses  is  here  gathered  up  into  its 
 climax.  Iutheeaseof  any  oneof  the  four  punishments 
 mentioned  in  succession,  the  presence  of  the  holiest  of 
 men  should  be  of  no  avail  to  avert  it  ;  how  much  more 
 then,  when  all  these  are  combined  in  the  judgment 
 upon  Jerusalem,  will  it  be  impossible  to  stay  its  doom. 
 
 (~»  Ye  shall  be    comforted  concerning  the 
 
 evil. — Iu  this  and  the  following  verse  it  is  promised 
 that  a  remnaut  shall  be  brought  from  Jerusalem  ;  and 
 
 it  is  clearly  implied  that   they  shall  i ie  to  Babylonia. 
 
 There  the  present  exiles  shall  see  them,  and  thus  be 
 comforted.  But  in  what  sense  comforted f  The  con- 
 nection absolutely  decides  this  :  "  when  ye  see  their 
 ways  and  their  doings,  ye  shall  know  that  I  have  not 
 done  without  cause  all  that  I  have  dono  iu  it."  That 
 is.  when  you  see  the  wickedness  of  this  remnant,  you 
 will  cease  to  mourn  over  the  judgment,  for  you  cannot 
 but  perceive  that  it  was  a  righteous  aet  of  God.  The 
 expression  "  sons  and  daughters  "  is  used  in  verse 
 21  with  reference  to  the  same  phrase  in  verses  16,  18, 
 ami  20;  and  the  form  •'they  shall  comfort  you"  in 
 Terse  23  is  explained  by  what  is  said  in  verse  21.  not  as 
 meaning  "  they  shall  administer  comfort,"  but  "  they 
 shall  be  a  cause  of  comfort  "  by  showing  you  their 
 exceeding  wickedness. 
 
 XV. 
 
 This  short  chapter  contains  a  sin<:lc  simile  and  its 
 application,  designed  to  show  that  Israel,  having  failed 
 to  fulfil  the  purpose  for  which  they  had  been  chosen, 
 
Parable  of  the  Vine  Branch. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVI. 
 
 Natural  State  of  IsraeL 
 
 the  Lokd  caine  unto  me,  saying,  <2)  Son 
 of  man,  What  is  the  vine  tree  more  than 
 any  tree,  or  than  a  branch  which  is 
 among  the  trees  of  the  forest  ?  <3>  Shall 
 wood  be  taken  thereof  to  do  any  work  ? 
 or  will  men  take  a  pin  of  it  to  hang  any 
 vessel  thereon?  M  Behold,  it  is  cast 
 into  the  fire  for  fuel ;  the  fire  devoureth 
 both  the  ends  of  it,  and  the  midst  of  it 
 is  burned.  TIs  it  meet  for  amy  work? 
 <5>  Behold,  when  it  was  whole,  it  was 
 2  meet  for  no  work :  how  much  less 
 shall  it  be  meet  yet  for  any  work,  when 
 the  fire  hath  devoured  it,  and  it  is 
 burned  ? 
 
 (6)  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ; 
 As  the  vine  tree  among  the  trees  of  the 
 forest,  which  I  have  given  to  the  fire  for 
 fuel,  so  will  I  give  the  inhabitants  of 
 Jerusalem.     <7)  And  I  will  set  my  face 
 
 Hel).,    Will 
 prosper ? 
 
 2  Heb.,  made  fit. 
 
 II<1. ,  trespassed 
 a  trespass. 
 
 4  Heb.,  cutting  out, 
 or,  habitation. 
 
 5  Or,  when  T  looked 
 ui>ou  thee. 
 
 against  them;  they  shall  go  out  from 
 one  fire,  and  another  fire  shall  devour 
 them  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
 Lord,  when  I  set  my  face  against  them. 
 (8)  And  I  will  make  the  land  desolate, 
 because  they  have  3  committed  a  tres- 
 pass, saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XVI.— (D  Again  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,, 
 (-'  Son  of  man,  cause  Jerusalem  to  know 
 her  abominations,  (3)  and  say,  Thus  saith 
 the  Lord  God  unto  Jerusalem ;  Thy 
 4  birth  and  thy  nativity  is  of  the  land  of 
 Canaan ;  thy  father  was  an  Amorite, 
 and  thy  mother  an  Hittite.  (4)  And  as 
 for  thy  nativity,  in  the  day  thou  wast 
 born  thy  navel  was  not  cut,  neither  wast 
 thou  washed  in  water  6to  supple  thee; 
 thou  wast  not  salted  at  all,  nor  swaddled. 
 
 were  worthless,  and  could  have  no  other  end  than  de- 
 struction. 
 
 (2)  What  is  the  vine  tree  ?— The  comparison  of 
 Israel  to  a  vine  or  to  a  vineyard  is  common  in  Scripture 
 (Ps.  lxxx.  8 — 13 ;  Isa.  v.  1 — 7  ;  Jer.  ii.  21 ;  Hosea  x.  1 ; 
 Matt.  xxi.  33 — 11,  &c),  and  is  very  apt ;  for  the  vine, 
 bringing  forth  its  appointed  fruit,  was  amoug  the  most 
 precious  of  the  earth's  productions,  but  failing  this, 
 was  utterly  worthless  for  anything  but  fuel.  The  fact 
 that  Israel  did  not  yield  the  fruit  required  is  not 
 especially  mentioned,  being  taken  for  granted  here,  and 
 abundantly  expressed  in  the  connected  prophecies. 
 The  fruit  of  righteousness,  as  our  Lord  has  shown  in 
 John  xv.  1 — 8,  under  the  same  figure  of  the  vine,  is 
 only  possible  by  a  steadfast  clinging  to  the  Source  of 
 righteousness,  and  this  was  the  point  in  which  the 
 Jews  of  this  time  had  signally  failed. 
 
 (5)  How  much  less  shall  it  be  meet?— The 
 wortlilessness  of  the  wood  of  the  vine  having  been 
 shown  in  verse  3,  and  it  having  been  said  in  verse  4 
 that  it  is  therefore  "  cast  into  the  fire,"  the  climax  is 
 here  reached.  According  to  verse  4,  it  is  burned  off  at 
 the  ends,  and  then  the  remnants  are  pushed  also  into 
 the  fire  to  be  burned,  just  as  one  would  do  with  grape 
 branches  to  save  the  trouble  of  cutting  them  up.  This 
 comparison  is  carried  out  in  verse  7. 
 
 P)  Shall  go  out  from  one  fire  and  another 
 fire  .  .  . — The  words  one  and  another  are  not  in  the 
 original  and  may  be  omitted,  and  the  articles  inserted  : 
 "  they  go  from  the  fire,  and  the  fire  devours  them." 
 This  was  exactly  the  condition  of  Israel.  Partially 
 consumed  in  the  fire  of  the  Divine  judgments,  they 
 had  been  again  and  again  overtaken.  The  "  ends  " 
 were  already  gone;  now  "the  midst  of  it"  was  to  be 
 burned  up — the  final  result,  as  always,  being  a  recog- 
 nition of  God. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 In  the  magnificent  allegory  which  occupies  this 
 chapter,  the  sin  and  consequent  rejection  of  Israel  is 
 set  forth  in  still  btronger  terms  than  in  anything  which 
 has  gone  before.  There  are  three  main  parts  of  the 
 chapter :  the  sin  (verses  3 — 34),  the  punishment  (verses 
 35 — 52),  and  the  final  restoration  of  Israel  (verses  53 — 
 
 63).  The  extreme  aggravation  of  the  sin  is  shown 
 from  the  fact  that  Israel  had  no  original  claim  upon 
 God's  favour,  nor  anything  to  make  her  attractive — 
 she  was  merely  an  exposed  and  repulsive  foundling 
 (verses  3 — 5) — when  God  took  pity  upon,  and  saved, 
 and  cared  for  her  (verses  6,  7).  Then  when  she  had 
 come  of  age,  He  entei'ed  into  covenant  with,  and 
 greatly  blessed  her  (8 — 14) ;  but  she  proved  utterly 
 unfaithful  to  her  covenant — an  unfaithful  wife ;  wanton 
 beyond  all  precedent  (15 — 34).    Hence  her  punishment. 
 
 (S)  Thy  birth  and  thy  nativity  is  of  the  land 
 of  Canaan. — In  the  original  the  words  "  births  "  and 
 "  nativities  "  are  in  the  plural,  already  indicating  what 
 the  whole  context  makes  plain,  that  the  reference  is 
 not  to  the  natural,  but  to  the  spiritual  origin  of  Israel. 
 So  our  Lord  says  to  the  Jews  of  His  time,  "  Te  are  of 
 your  father,  the  devil"  (John  viii.  44  ;  comp.  Matt.  iii. 
 9) ;  and  Isaiah  addresses  his  contemporaries  as  "  riders 
 of  Sodom"  and  "people  of  Gomorrha "  (Isa.  i.  10). 
 The  word  births,  as  indicated  by  the  margin,  comes 
 from  a  verb  meaning  to  cut  or  dig  out,  as  stone  from  the 
 quarry ;  and  there  is  a  play  upon  this  sense  in  Isa.  Ii. 
 1.  Israel's  character,  her  spiritual  nativity,  was 
 thoroughly  Canaanitish. 
 
 An  Amorite  ...  an  Hittite.— These  two  tribes, 
 especially  the  former,  as  the  most  prominent  in  Canaan, 
 are  frequently  put  for  the  whole  (Gen.  xv.  16  ;  Deut.  i. 
 44,  with  Num.  xiv.  45  ;  Josh.  x.  5 ;  2  Kings  xxi.  11, 
 &c).  The  dealings  of  the  patriarchs  in  Canaan  were 
 particularly  with  the  Hittites  (Gen.  xxiii. ;  xxvi.  34,  35 ; 
 xxvii.  46 ;  xxviii.  1,  6 — 8).  This  once  great  aud 
 powerful  nation  had  almost  faded  from  history;  but 
 their  monuments  and  inscriptions  are  just  now  begin- 
 ing  to  be  discovered  and  deciphered. 
 
 (■*)  Washed  in  water  to  supple  thee.— The 
 various  particulai-s  of  this  and  the  following  verse 
 describe  a  child  cast  out  into  the  field  immediately 
 upon  its  birth,  unpitied  by  any  one,  and  in  a  condition 
 in  which  it  must  soon  have  perished.  Neither  the  text 
 nor. the  margin  seems  to  have  hit  upon  the  sense  of  the 
 word  translated  "  to  supple,"  the  probable  meaning  of 
 which  is  "  to  cleanse."  The  rubbing  of  the  body  of 
 the  new-born  infant  with  salt,  a  custom  still  prevailing 
 
 210 
 
God"  Pity  "u  her. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVI. 
 
 Hit  Love  and  BUetmg. 
 
 at  all.  lh)  None  eye  pitied  I  hoe,  to  do 
 .my  (rf  tins.'  unto  thee,  to  have  compas- 
 sion upon  thee;  hut  thou  wast  cast  out 
 in  the  < >j >■  ii  field,  to  tin-  lothing  of  thy 
 person,  in  the  day  that  thou  wast  born. 
 <6>  And  when  1  passed  by  thee,  ami 
 
 saw  thee  'polluted    in    thine   own  blood, 
 
 I  Baid   unto    tl when  thou  vast  in  thy 
 
 blood,  Live;  yea,  I  said  unto  thee  when 
 Ihitu  wast  in  thy  hldiid,  Live.     (7)  I  have 
 
 'caused   tl to  multiply  as  the  bud  of 
 
 the  field,  and  thou  hast  increased  and 
 waxen  great,  and  thou  art  come  to  3ex- 
 oelleni  ornaments:  thy  breasts  are  fash- 
 ioned, and  thine  hair  is  grOVTO,  whereas 
 thou  »•((.->■/  naked  and  bare.  <8>Now  when 
 I  passed  by  thee,  and  looked  upon  thee. 
 
 i  Or,  ' 
 
 It.  i>..  mait  01* 
 
 a  million. 
 
 3  Heli.,   i 
 
 l  Hdi..  bloods. 
 
 behold,  thy  time  was  the  time  of  love; 
 and  I  spread  my  skirt  over  thee,  ami 
 covered  thy  nakedness:  yea,  I  swan- 
 unto  thee,  and  entered  into  a  covenant 
 with  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God,  and  thou 
 becamest  mine.  (9)  Then  washed  I  thee 
 with   water;   yea,  I  throughly  washed 
 
 away     thy     'blood     from     thee,     and     I 
 
 am.inted  thee  with  oil.  <'">  I  clothed 
 thee  also  with  bioidered  work,  ami  Bhod 
 thee  with  badgers'  skin,  and  I  girded 
 thee  about  with  fine  linen,  ami  I  covered 
 thee  with  silk.  <u>  I  decked  thee  also 
 with  ornaments,  and  I  put  bracelets 
 upon  thy  hands,  and  a  chain  on  thy  neck. 
 ''-'Ami  I  put  a  jewel  on  thy  forehead, 
 and  earrings  in  thine  ears,  and  a  bean- 
 
 in  Bome  parts  of  the  east,  probably  had  a  symbolical, 
 ■a  well  as  ■  supposed  physical  effect  ;  and  is  re- 
 commended for  t  lie  latter  reason  by  Galen  (Da  S<niit.  i. 
 '•.   The  (Trapping  the  body  tightly  in  swaddling-bands 
 
 (<  lomp.  Luke  ii.  7i  is  Mill  con i,  even  in  [taly.    The 
 
 lime  here  referred  to  in  the  life  of  [srael  is  thai  in 
 which  it  passed  from  its  embryonic  state  in  the  family 
 of  the  patriarchs  to  a  nation  in  the  bondage  of  Egypt, 
 Despised,  oppressed,  and  enslaved,  no  other  people 
 ever  became  a  nation  under  such  circumstances. 
 Humanly  speaking,  national  life  was  an  impossibility 
 for  them. 
 
 (6)  Live.— While   they  were   in   this   i lit  ion,  God 
 
 took    pity   on    them.       lie    delivered    them    from    their 
 
 oppressors;  He  raised  np  a  leader  for  them.-  He  gave 
 
 them  a  law  and  a  Church,  with  its  priesthood  and 
 its  sacraments;  He  led  them  into  the  land  of  promise, 
 
 delivered    them    from    their   enemies,   and    constituted 
 
 them  a  nation  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances 
 for  their  growth  and  development  in  till  righteousn — i, 
 
 The   sense    is   well   expressed    in  our   version:   but   the 
 
 original  does  ool  contain  the  word  when,  nor  words  cor- 
 responding to  the  words  in  italics.  The  connection  shows 
 thai  "  in  thy  blood  "  is  to  lie  taken  with  "  I  said."  and 
 not  with  "  live;"   it  was  while  Israel  was  in  its  unclean 
 
 and  neglected  condition  that  the  gracious  word  "  live" 
 was  spoken.    The  Ohaldee  paraphrast  litis  adopted  the 
 
 other  ( ncctioii,  and  ingeniously  explained,  "I  re- 
 vealed myself  that  1  might  redeem  you,  because  1  mw 
 thai  yon  were  afflicted  in  your  bondage;  and  1  said 
 unto  you.  In  the  blood  of  oirpumcision  1  will  pity  you, 
 
 and  1  said  unto  you.  In  the  ''1 1  "f  the  passover  I  will 
 
 redeem  you."  The  word  polluted  is  better  rendered 
 by  the  margin,  trodden  under  foot,  referring  to  their 
 oppressed  condition  in  Egypt. 
 
 ':'  I  havo  caused  thee.— Omit  the  "have,"  and 
 modify  the   tenses  throughout  the  verse.    "1  caused 
 
 thee  .  .  .  tlioii  didst  increase  and  wax  tall  .  .  .  and 
 came  to  beauty  .  .  .  were  fashioned  .  .  .  was  grown." 
 Ill  the  first  clause,  "caused  thee  to  multiply."  the 
 literal  sense  takes  the  place  , if  the  figurative  j  but  Un- 
 rest of  the  verse  describes  Israel  as  a  young  woman  just 
 growing  up  into  (he  beauty  of  early  womanhood.  The 
 phrase   ••excellent    ornaments"  is   somewhat    difficult; 
 
 hut  is  now  generally  understood  as  meaning  literally 
 
 "ornament  of  cheeks."  £,«.,  beauty.  The  whereat  in 
 the  last  clause  may  give  the  impression  of  a  contrast 
 
 155  2 
 
 between  the  stale  described  and  the  former  one  of 
 infancy:  this  is  not  intended.  ISut  the  meaning  is, 
 that  while  Israel  was  thus  growing  into  the  full 
 development  and  beauty  of  womanhood,  she  was  still 
 "  naked  and  hare." 
 
 ts>  Now  when  I  passed  by  thee.— Here,  as  in 
 verse  6,  omit  the  when,  and  render,  "and  1  passed  by 
 
 thee."  Two  separate  visits  are  spoke],  of:  the  one  in 
 Israel's  infancy  in  Egypt,  when  God  blessed  and  mul- 
 tiplied her  ,  verse  6);   the  other  when  she  had  In me  a 
 
 nation,  and  God  entered  into  covenant  with  her  in  the 
 Exodus  and  at  Sinai.  The  verse  describes  this  covenant 
 in  terms  of  the  marriage  relation,  a  figure  very  frei|Uent 
 in  Scripture.  On  the  phrase  "  spread  my  skirt.''  comp. 
 Until  iii.  !•.  and  on  "  becamest  mine,"  Ruth  iv.  10. 
 
 (9—11)  These  verses  describe  the  purifications  and 
 preparations  for  marriage  to  one  of  high  rank  leomp. 
 Beth.  ii.  9, 121.  The  reality  corresponding  to  the  figure 
 is,  of  course,  the  Divine  care  over  Israel  at  Sinai,  in 
 the  wilderness,  and  in  tin quest  of  Canaan. 
 
 (10)  Badgers'  skin.— See  Ex.  xrv.  5.    The  thing 
 
 intended  is  a  fine  kind  of  leather  prepared  from  the 
 skin  of  some  sea  animal;  but  the  critics  differ  as  to 
 the  particular  animal  intended,  whether  the  dolphin 
 or  the  dugOUg.  "Fine  linen"  was  a  luxury  much 
 valued  by  the  ancients,  while  "  silk  "  is  a  word  used 
 only  here  and    in  verso   18,  and    its   meaning   is   much 
 
 questioned    By  its  etymology  it  is  thought  to  express 
 
 fineness  of  texture:  and  our  translators  have  followed 
 the  rabbinical  tradition  in  understanding  it  to   mean 
 
 silk. 
 
 (U— 14)  In  these  verses  the  Divinely. given   prosperity 
 
 and  glory  of  Israel  is  set  forth  under  the  sustained 
 figure  of  the  ornaments  and  food  of  a  royal  eastern 
 bride.  The  various  particulars  mentioned  are  familiar 
 to  all  readers  of  the  Scripture  histories.  The  latter 
 part  of  verse  13  and  verse  1 1  evidently  refer  to  the  times 
 of  David  and  Solomon,  when  the  kingdom  of  Israel  ex- 
 tended from  the  Euphrates  to  the  "  river  of  Egypt," 
 and  very  many  of  the  surrounding  kingdoms  were 
 made  tributary.  Israel  then  was  renowned  among  the 
 heathen,  but  its  glory  was  pre-eminently  as  the  nation 
 of  Jehovah,  "through  my  comeliness  which  1  had  put 
 upon  thee.'' 
 ll-)  A  jewel  on  thy  forehead. — Literally.  "  Hose- 
 on  thy  nostril,  the  custom  of  the  time  sanctioning 
 this  mode  of  ornament. 
 
 1 
 
Her  Unfaithfulness. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVI. 
 
 Her  Ingratitude. 
 
 tiful  crown  upon  thine  head.  (13)  Thus 
 wast  thou  decked  with  gold  and  silver  ; 
 and  thy  raiment  was  of  fine  linen,  and 
 silk,  and  broidered  work;  thou  didst 
 eat  fine  flour,  and  honey,  and  oil :  and 
 thou  wast  exceeding  beautiful,  and  thou 
 didst  prosper  into  a  kingdom.  (14'  And 
 thy  renown  went  forth  among  the 
 heathen  for  thy  beauty  :  for  it  ivas  per- 
 fect through  my  comeliness,  which  I 
 had  put  upon  thee,  saith  the  Lord 
 God. 
 
 <15)  But  thou  didst  trust  in  thine  own 
 beauty,  and  playedst  the  harlot  because 
 of  thy  renown,  and  pouredst  out  thy 
 fornications  on  every  one  that  passed 
 by ;  his  it  was.  (16>  And  of  thy  gar- 
 ments thou  didst  take,  and  deckedst  thy 
 high  places  with  divers  colours,  and 
 playedst  the  harlot  thereupon  :  the  like 
 things  shall  not  come,  neither  shall  it  be 
 so.  <17)  Thou  hast  also  taken  thy  fair 
 jewels  of  my  gold   and   of   my   silver, 
 
 1  Heb.,  ofamale. 
 
 Heb.,   a  savour 
 of  rent. 
 
 3  Heb.,  to  devour 
 
 which  I  had  given  thee,  and  madest  to 
 thyself  images '  of  men,  and  didst  com- 
 mit whoredom  with  them,  <18>  and  tookest 
 thy  broidered  garments,  and  coveredst 
 them :  and  thou  hast  set  mine  oil  and 
 mine  incense  before  them.  <19'  My  meat 
 also  which  I  gave  thee,  fine  flour,  and 
 oil,  and  honey,  wherewith  I  fed  thee, 
 thou  hast  even  set  it  before  them  for 3  a 
 sweet  savour  :  and  thus  it  was,  saith  the 
 Lord  God.  <20)  Moreover  thou  hast 
 taken  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters,  whom 
 thou  hast  borne  unto  me,  and  these  hast 
 thou  sacrificed  unto  them  3to  be  de- 
 voured. Is  this  of  thy  whoredoms  a 
 small  matter,  <21>  that  thou  hast  slain 
 my  children,  and  delivered  them  to 
 cause  them  to  pass  through  the  fire  for 
 them  ?  <—>  And  in  all  thine  abomina- 
 tions and  thy  whoredoms  thou  hast  not 
 remembered  the  days  of  thy  youth,  when 
 thou  wast  naked  and  bare,  and  wast 
 polluted  in  thy  blood. 
 
 In  contrast  to  God's  kindness  and  abundant  blessing, 
 Israel's  grievous  siu  is  now  described  (verses  15 — 34).  It 
 is  to  be  remembered  that  however  this  extraordinary  sin 
 was  the  natural  fruit  of  neglected  grace,  it  yet  was  ex- 
 traordinary. It  is  not  by  mere  hyperbole  that  Israel  is 
 represented  as  worse  than  others.  The  grace  which 
 <loes  not  elevate  always  reacts  by  directing  to  a  lower 
 depth.  (See  Excursus  at  end  of  this  Book  on  chap, 
 v.  7). 
 
 (is)  Didst  trust  in  thine  own  beauty.— Comp. 
 Dent,  xxxii.  15  ;  Hos.  xiii.  6.  Thei-e  can  scarcely  be  a 
 more  striking  instance  of  the  working  of  the  hand  of 
 Providence  in  history  than  the  story  of  the  kingdom  of 
 Israel  during  and  after  the  reign  of  Solomon.  Raised 
 as  a  theocracy  to  great  power  and  wealth  by  the  Divine 
 blessing,  it  began  to  trust  in  its  own  beauty.  Solomon's 
 policy  was  to  make  it  a  great  and  powerful  empire 
 among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  losing  sight  of  its  true 
 character  as  the  kingdom  of  God.  Consequently  the 
 very  means  he  took  to  aggrandise  it  became  the  instru- 
 ments of  its  fall.  His  vast  Oriental  harem,  gathered 
 from  all  surrounding  nations,  introduced  idolatry  into 
 the  palace,  and  fostered  it  throughout  the  laud. 
 His  magnificence  was  sustained  by  taxation,  which 
 gave  the  pretext  for  revolt.  The  doom  was  pro- 
 nounced that  the  kingdom  shoidd  be  divided,  and 
 when  this  was  fulfilled  at  Solomon's  death,  his 
 empire  outside  the  boundaries  of  Palestine  fell  apart 
 like  a  rope  of  sand,  while  within,  instead  of  one  com- 
 pact and  united  monarchy,  were  two  petty  kingdoms 
 often  in  hostility  to  one  another,  and  each  inviting 
 to  its  assistance  the  most  powerful  neighbouring 
 monarchs,  to  whose  rapacity  the  whole  ultimately  fell  a 
 prey. 
 
 Playedst  the  harlot  .  .  his  it  would  be.— 
 The  political  relation  of  the  two  parts  of  Israel  just  de- 
 scribed, placed  her  at  the  mercy  of  every  more  powerful 
 nation,  and  gave  the  impetus  to  every  sort  of  idolatry 
 which  her  masters  chose  to  encourage.  This  apostacy 
 from   God,  still  keeping  up  the  figure  of  the  earlier 
 
 part  of  the  chapter,  is  represented  as  harlotry;  and 
 not  only  so,  but  as  indiscriminate  harlotry,  for  Israel 
 never  adopted  and  clung  to  any  one  false  God,  but  wor- 
 shipped the  abominations  of  every  nation  which  pre- 
 vailed over  her. 
 
 (is)  Deckedst  thy  high  places  with  divers 
 colours. — Theuscof  colours,  and  especially  of  tapestry 
 in  colours,  in  the  adornment  of  places  of  worship,  was 
 universal  throughout  the  religions  of  antiquity.  It 
 formed  a  striking  feature  of  the  adornment  of  the  Ta- 
 bernacle, and  what  is  censured  here  is  the  perversion  of 
 this,  which  should  have  been  for  the  glory  of  God,  to 
 the  honour  of  idols.  Translate  the  last  clause  of  the 
 verse,  as  in  apposition  with  what  goes  before,  "  Things 
 which  should  not  come,  and  that  which  should  not  take 
 place." 
 
 The  three  following  verses  emphasise  the  apostacy  of 
 Israel  by  taking  up  various  particulars  of  the  symbolical 
 good  gifts  which  God  had  given  her,  and  showing  how 
 she  had  perverted  them  to  idolatry.  It  was  a  chief 
 feature  of  the  charge  against  her  that  these  gifts  were 
 from  God,  and  that  she  had  given  them  to  another — 
 a  charge  which  must  for  ever  remain  true  of  the  per- 
 version of  the  talents  God  has  given  to  any  other  than 
 His  own  service. 
 
 (20)  Hast  sacrificed  unto  them,  i.e.,  hast  sac- 
 rificed the  children  unto  the  idols.  This  was  a  terrible 
 development  of  the  later  idolatries  of  Israel.  At  first 
 the  custom  appears  to  have  been  a  ceremony  of  passing 
 young  children  through  the  fire  to  thereby  consecrate 
 them  to  Moloch ;  but  afterwards  it  became  an  actual  sac- 
 rifice of  them  in  the  fire  to  the  idol.  The  Lord  speaks 
 of  them  in  verse  20,  as  "  thy  children  whom  thou  hast 
 borne  unto  Me;"  they  were  indeed  Israel's  children, 
 but  still  children  whom  God  had  given  to  her.  Then  in 
 verse  21,  by  a  most  significant  change  of  the  pronoun, 
 He  calls  them  "  My  children,"  the  sin  itself  being 
 aggravated  by  giving  to  the  idol  that  which  belonged  to 
 Jehovah.  The  last  clause  of  the  verse  would  be  better 
 translated,  Were  thy  whoredoms  too  little  I — i.e.,  was 
 
 242 
 
Hi ■/■  imdworvnwnatt  Sin, 
 
 EZEKEEL,   XVI. 
 
 and  vntaiiabU  Widen    i 
 
 Ami  if  came  to  pass  after  all  thy 
 
 wickedness,  (woe,  w nto   tlii'i'!    saifh 
 
 the  Lord  God  ; )  W  that  tihoia  hasi  also 
 
 built    unli>  tl '  t ■  1 1 1 i 1 1 < - ) 1 1    place,  and 
 
 hast  mad.'  thee  ;<  ti  high  place  in  every 
 street.  t»>  Thou  hasi  buill  thj  high 
 place  ill  everj  head  of  the  way,  and  hast 
 made  thy  beauty  to  be  abhorred,  and 
 hasi  opened  thj  Eee1  to  every  one  thai 
 passed  by,  and  mnltiplied  thy  whore- 
 doms. <-',;)  Thou  hast  also  committed 
 fornication  with  the  Egyptians  thy 
 neighbours,  great  of  flesh,;  and  hast 
 increased  thy  whoredoms,  to  provoke 
 me  <<>  anger.  r-'; '  Behold,  I  herefore,  I 
 have  stretched  out  my  hand  over  thee, 
 and  have  diminished  thh dinary /ood, 
 
 i  Di.  brotMilkeun 
 
 and  delivered  thee  onto  the  will  of  them 
 thai    hate  thee,  the  -  daughters  of  the 
 
 Philistines,  which  are  ash* 1  of  thy 
 
 lewd  way.  '-'"'  Thou  hast  played  the 
 whore  also  with  the  Assyrians,  because 
 thou  wast  (insatiable;  yea,   thou    haei 
 
 |  d ;  i  \  ed  the  harlot  with  them,  and  \.  t 
 couldesi  not  he  satisfied.  '-"'■'  Thou  ha-l 
 moreover   multiplied   thy   fornication   in 
 
 the  land  of  Canaan  onto  Chaldea  ;  and 
 w  i  thou  wast  nol  satisfied  herewith. 
 
 <30>  How  weak  is  thine  heart,  Baith  the 
 Lord  God,  seeing  thou  doesi  all  these 
 things,  the  work  of  an  imperious  whorish 
 
 woman  ;    '  ''   '  in  that  thou  hiiildest  thine 
 
 eminent  place  in  the  head  of  every  way, 
 
 and  makes t   thine  hi^h  place  in   every 
 
 net  apostacy  enough  without  willing  thereto  this 
 terrible  and  unnatural  crime  P 
 
 |J i)  Aftor  all  thy  wickedness.— The  sin  and 
 idolatry  hitherto  described  had  been  derived  by  Israel 
 
 chiefly  ft the  Oanaanitee,  the  old  inhabitants  of  the 
 
 1 1 in  1 ;  but  now.  in  acoordance  with  what  was  said  in 
 verse  15,  the  prophet  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  other 
 abundant  idolatries  adopted  eagerly  by  the  Israelites 
 from  foreign  oat  ions. 
 
 t;t  Built  unto  thee  an  eminent  place.— The 
 word  means  literally,  arches.  Such  arched  rooms 
 were  used  in  connection  with  the  worship  of  idols  for 
 licentious  purposes,  and  hence  the  translation  of  the 
 margin  indicates  the  real  object  of  the  structure, 
 whether  the  word  be  taken  in  its  literal  sense,  or  spiri- 
 tually, of  unfaithfulness  to  God.  In  the  following 
 verse  the  indiscriminateness  of  Israel's  idolatry  is  ex- 
 pressed  in  the  strongest  tonus,  and  then  in  the  follow- 
 ing verses  the  adoption  of  the  idolatries  of  .several 
 -  in  particular  is  specified. 
 
 W)  The  Egyptians  .  .  .  great  of  flesh.— 
 The  Egyptians  are  properly  named  first,  because,  even 
 in  the  golden  calf  of  the  wilderness,  the  Israelites 
 turned  wiili  avidity  to  the  worship  of  Egypt  This 
 tendency  Beems  to  have  been  only  suppressed,  not 
 .  itinguished,  during  the  subsequent  ages,  and  remained 
 ever  ready  to  develop  itself,  as  in  the  calves  of  Joro- 
 I .nam  il  Kings  iii.  28 — 30);  bat  it  received  great 
 sioD  of  strength  daring  the  reigns  of  Solomon  and 
 hissucccssors.  The  EgyptiansarooaJledugreai  of  flesh" 
 from  the  character  of  their  popular  worship,  »  inch  was 
 :i  thoroughly  sensuous  nature  worship.  The  connection 
 of  Israel  with  Egypt  in  the  latter  part  of  the  monarchy 
 not  only  religious,  Imt  political,  in  Kohl  defiance  of 
 the  reiterated    Divine  commands.    Especially  at  this 
 
 time,   a   great    part   of  the   work   of  Jeremiah   was  to 
 
 oppose  the  tendency  of  the  successive  kings  of  Judah 
 Uiance  with  Egypt. 
 
 i-7'  Diminished  thine  ordinary  food.— This 
 cutting  short  of  the  power  and  prosperity  of  Israel  was 
 n  discipline  of  correction  designed  to  bring  her  to  a 
 consciousness  of  her  sin. 
 
 The  daughters  of  the  Philistines,  £.*.,  their 
 cities,  according  to  the  figurative  language  of  the  chapter, 
 and  indeed  the  common  figurative  language  of  Scrip- 
 ture. PhUistia  was  but  a  small  power  in  the  south-west 
 corner  of  Palestine,  yet  from  the  time  of  the  Judges 
 
 :M3 
 
 down  through  the  whole  period  of  the  monarchy,  they 
 
 were   tlic   persistent    foes  of    Israel.      During   the   time 
 
 immediately  before  Samuel,  they  held  nearly  the  .mire 
 land  in  subjection,  and  although  subdued  by  David, 
 they  became  troublesome  again  in  the  times  of  the  later 
 
 kings  (see  -  Chron.  xxvi.  7.  xxviii.  18  .  and  are  often 
 spoken  of  not  only  by  tl arlier  prophets.  Isiiah  and 
 
 Amos,  imt  also  by  Jeremiah  (chaps,  xxv.  20,  xlvii  1.  I  . 
 
 E/.ekiel  (chap.  xxv.  1".,  16),  and  Xechariah    chap,  iv  fl 
 
 Ashamed  of  thy  lewd  way.— The   Philistines, 
 
 true  to  their  own  false  gods,  despised  the  Israelii, 
 their  unfaithfulness   to  .Jehovah.     It  is  the  old  l.nt  ever 
 new  story  of  the  heathen  repelled  from  the  truth  by  the 
 unworthiness  of  ils  professed  followers. 
 
 «-'s»  With  the  Assyrians.— The  Assyrians  and 
 Egyptians  were  for  many  centuries  in  deadly  hostility 
 against   each    other,  and  it    would    seem   that    Israel 
 
 Could  hardly  have  formed  alliances  with  and  adopted 
 the  idolatries  of  both.  Nevertheless  they  had  done  so, 
 and  in  addition  to  their  Egyptian  idolatries,  had 
 gone  to  the  extent,  in  the  time  of  Aha/.,  of  displacing 
 the   altar  in  the  court    of  the  Temple,  and   patting   in 
 
 its  stead  an  altar  of  the  gods  of  Assyria  .  Kings  xvi. 
 i"    -16). 
 
 In  the  land  of  Canaan  unto  Chaldsea. — 
 
 Canaan  was  originally  the  nam.-  of  only  thai    strip 
 
 land  between  the  bills  and  the  sea  occupied  by  the 
 Phoenicians,  in  other  words,  the  lowlands.  Thence  it 
 became  extended  over  the  whole  land.  It  is  thought 
 by  some  writers  to  revert  here  to  its  original  meaning, 
 and  be  equivalent  to  the  low,  flat  land.  The  expression 
 will  become  clearer  if  translated,  "the  Canaan  land. 
 Chaldma."  The  word,  however,  hears  also  the  meaning 
 of  traffic,  commerce  (Isa.  xxiii.  8;    Eos.  xii.7;   Zeph. 
 
 i.  11  .and  in  this  sens,,  is  applied  to  Babylon  in  chap, 
 xvii.  I.  ami  this  is  the  better  in. -aning  here.  The  idea 
 will  then  lie  that  Israel,  beginning  its  idolatries  in  the 
 actual  Canaan,  had  extended  them  along  with  her 
 commercial    intercourse  on  every  side,  until   at    last    she 
 
 had  carrie. 1  them  even  to  Chalda  a.  the  great  commercial 
 emporium  of  the  time. 
 
 Weak. — The    English    word    scarcely  cxpr 
 
 the'for f  the  original : — languishing  with  desire.   The 
 
 word  heart  occurs  h.-rc  only  in  the  feminine. 
 
 (81)  Eminent  place.— Sec  note  on  verse  -I. 
 
 In  that  thou  scornest  him.  — It  was  charac- 
 teristic of  both  the  kingdoms  of  Israel  after  the  division. 
 
The  Jews  Worse  than  Otht 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVI. 
 
 Their  Judgment. 
 
 street ;  and  hast  not  been  as  an  harlot, 
 in  that  thou  scornest  hire ;  (3->  hut  as  a 
 wife  that  committeth  adultery,  which 
 taketh  strangers  instead  of  her  hus- 
 band !  (33)  They  give  gifts  to  all 
 whores  :  but  thou  givest  thy  gifts  to  all 
 thy  lovers,  and  l  hirest  them,  that  they 
 may  come  unto  thee  on  every  side  for 
 thy  whoredom.  <34'  And  the  contrary  is 
 in  thee  from  other  women  in  thy  whore- 
 doms, whereas  none  followeth  thee  to 
 commit  whoredoms  :  and  in  that  thou 
 givest  a  reward,  and  no  reward  is  given 
 unto  thee,  therefore  thou  art  contrary. 
 
 (35)  Wherefore,  0  harlot,  hear  the 
 word  of  the  Lord  :  <36)  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  Because  thy  filthiness  was 
 poured  out,  and  thy  nakedness  dis- 
 covered through  thy  whoredoms  with 
 thy  lovers,  and  with  all  the  idols  of  thy 
 abominations,  and  by  the  blood  of  thy 
 children,  which  thou  didst  give  unto 
 them  ;  I37'  behold,  therefore  I  will  gather 
 all  thy  lovers,  with  whom  thou  hast 
 taken  pleasure,  and  all  them  that  thoii 
 hast  loved,  with  all  them  that  thou  hast 
 
 1  Heb.,  lribe$t 
 
 Heb.,  Kith  judri- 
 mailsof. 
 
 Heb.,  instrv 
 victits  of  thiiu 
 ornament. 
 
 a  2  Kin?s   25. 
 Jev.  52.  is. 
 
 hated ;  I  will  even  gather  them  round 
 about  against  thee,  and  will  discover 
 thy  nakedness  iinto  them,  that  they  may 
 see  all  thy  nakedness.  <38)  And  I  will 
 judge  thee,  "  as  women  that  break  wed- 
 lock and  shed  blood  are  judged  ;  and  I 
 will  give  thee  blood  in  fury  and  jealousy. 
 
 (39)  And  I  -win  also  give  thee  into  their 
 hand,  and  they  shall  throw  down  thine 
 eminent  place,  and  shall  break  down  thy 
 high  places :  they  shall  strip  thee  also 
 of  thy  clothes,  and  shall  take 3  thy  fair 
 jewels,  and  leave  thee  naked  and  bare. 
 
 (40)  They  shall  also  bring  up  a  company 
 against  thee,  and  they  shall  stone  thee 
 with  stones,  and  thrust  thee  through 
 with  their  swords.  <-u)  And  they  shall 
 "burn  thine  houses  with  fire,  and 
 execute  judgments  upon  thee  in  the 
 sight  of  many  women  :  and  I  will  cause 
 thee  to  cease  from  playing  the  harlot, 
 and  thou  also  shalt  give  no  hire  any 
 more.  (42)  So  will  I  make  my  fury  to- 
 ward thee  to  rest,  and  my  jealousy  shall 
 depart  from  thee,  and  I  will  be  qttiet, 
 and  will  be  no  more  angry. 
 
 that  the  interference  of  foreign  nations  in  their  affairs 
 was  generally  sought  first  by  Israel  itself  and.  purchased 
 at  a  heavy  price.  The  people  were  so  situated  on  the 
 great  highway  between  the  rival  nations  of  Egypt  and 
 Assyria,  that  their  friendship  ought  to  have  been  of  value 
 to  either  of  them,  and  to  have  been  sought  with  great 
 inducements.  But  Israel,  in  its  weakness  and  wicked- 
 ness, more  than  threw  itself  away  and  purchased  its 
 own  ruin.  The  particulars  mentioned  in  this  verse 
 belong  to  the  past  rather  than  to  the  present,  and  all 
 the  tenses  should  be  so  translated. 
 
 (33)  Thou  givest  thy  gifts.— 2  Kings  xvi.  8,  9. 
 may  be  referred  to  as  an  instance  in  illustration.  Alias; 
 "  took  the  silver  and  gold  that  was  found  in  the  house 
 of  the  Lord,"  as  well  as  "  the  treasures  of  the  king's 
 house,"  and  used  it  to  secure  the  alliance  of  the  king 
 of  Assyria. 
 
 The  prophet,  having  up  to  this  point  described  the 
 sin,  now  turns  to  pronounce  the  punishment  upon  Israel 
 (verses  35 — 52).  The  same  allegory  is  still  preserved, 
 and  the  punishment  is  depicted  in  the  same  figurative 
 language  as  the  sin.  This  portion  of  the  prophecy  may 
 be  subdivided  into  two  parts,  in  the  first  of  which 
 (verses  35 — 43)  the  punishment  itself  is  described  in 
 terms  taken  from  the  legal  punishment  of  the  adulteress 
 and  murderess  ;  while  in  the  second  (verses  44 — 52)  the 
 justice  of  this  doom  is  vindicated,  especially  by  a  com- 
 parison with  Samaria  on  the  one  side,  and  with  Sodom 
 on  the  other. 
 
 (36)  Thy  filthiness.  —  Literally,  thy  brass,  i.e., 
 money,  which,  as  said  in  the  previous  verses,  Israel  had 
 lavished  upon  the  surrounding  nations.  Either  gold  or 
 silver  is  the  more  common  term  for  money,  and  the 
 prophet  appears  to  have  here  used  brass  contemp- 
 tuously.    In  this  verse    the  people's   apostasies    are 
 
 briefly  recapitulated,  under  the  names  of  adultery  and 
 child  murder,  as  the  basis  fur  what  follows. 
 
 (3<)  Thou  hast  loved  .  .  .  hast  hated. — 
 Not  only  those  with  whom  Israel  had  sought  alliances, 
 but  those  who  had  been  her  hereditary  foes,  like  the 
 Philistines  and  Edomites,  shared  in  the  spoil  of  her 
 land.  Much  of  this  had  been  already  accomplished 
 (see  2  Kings  xvi.  6  ;  2  Chron.  xxviii.  17,  18.  Sue.). 
 Israel's  weakness  and  wickedness  should  be  fully  ex- 
 posed to  all  her  enemies. 
 
 (38)  "Women  that  break  wedlock  and  shed 
 blood. — Under  the  Mosaic  law  the  penalty  for  adul- 
 tery was  death  (Lev.  xx.  10),  and  the  same  penalty  also 
 was  attached  to  the  devotion  of  "  seed  to  Moloch " 
 (Lev.  xx.  1 — 5),  and  to  murder  (Exod.  xxi.  12).  The 
 Jewish  method  of  capital  punishment  on  individuals 
 was  by  stoning  (see  Lev.  xx.  2,  and  comp.  John  viii.  5), 
 and  of  punishing  an  apostate  city  was  by  the  sword 
 (Deut.  xiii.  15).  Hence  both  modes  are  mentioned 
 together  in  verse  40.  though  somewhat  at  the  expense 
 of  the  consistency  of  the  allegory.  The  last  clause 
 would  be  more  exactly  translated.  "  I  will  make  thee 
 blood  of  fury  and  jealousy,"  the  fury  referring  to  the 
 avenging  of  murder,  and  the  jealousy  to  the  punishment 
 of  adultery,  each  requiring  the  life,  or  blood,  of  the 
 offender. 
 
 (30)  Eminent  places.— See  Note  on  verse  24.  The 
 destruction  of  her  idolatries  as  well  as  the  desolation  of 
 Israel  herself  is  foretold. 
 
 W  Shall  burn  thine  house.— Comp.  Deut.  xiii. 
 16.  The  figurative  and  the  literal  sense  here  blend 
 together;  the  house  of  the  unfaithful  wife  shall  be 
 destroyed,  and  the  houses  of  Jerusalem  shall  be  burned. 
 
 <«)  'My  fury  .  .  .  to  rest.— Not  in  pity  but  in 
 satiety,  as  having  accomplished  the  utter  desolation  of 
 Israel. 
 
 244 
 
They  are  like  their  Moth  r, 
 
 K/.KIUEL,    XVI. 
 
 and  Worse  than  their  dieters. 
 
 Because  thou  has!  not  remembered 
 the  days  of  tin  youth,  bui  hasi  fretted 
 me  in  all  these  tin' mis  •  behold,  therefore 
 I  also  will  recompense  thy  way  upon 
 thine   head,   saith   the  Lord  <i"n:  and 
 
 thou  shult  not  commit  this  lewdness 
 above  all  thine  abominations.  '"'  l!e- 
 hold,  every  one  that  u.seth  proverbs  shall 
 use  this  proverb  against  thee,  saying, 
 As  is  the  mother,  bo  is  lei-  daughter. 
 <''■'  Thou  art  thy  mother's  daughter,  that 
 lotheth  her  husband  ami  her  children; 
 ami  thou  art  the  sister  of  thy  sisters, 
 which  lotheth  their  husbands  and  their 
 children:  your  mother  icus  an  Hittite, 
 and  your  father  an  Aniorite.  (46)  And 
 thine  elder  sister  is  Samaria,  she 
 her  daughters  that  dwell  at  thy  left 
 band:  and1  thy  younger  sister,  that 
 dwelleth  at  thy  right  band,  is  Sodom 
 and  her  daughters.     <-i7)  Yet  bast   thou 
 
 l  II.  I..,  Utttrthan 
 thvu. 
 
 Or,     that     teat 
 <  u  small 
 
 not  walked  after  i  loir  ways,  nor  done 
 after  their  abominations:  hut.  'as  <Y 
 that  were  a  very  little  thing,  thou  wast 
 corrupted  more  than   tiny   in   all   thy 
 
 I  1  li\e,  saith  t  he  Li, ril  ' 
 Sodom  thy  sister  hath  not  done,  sin- 
 ner her  daughters,  as  thou  hast  done, 
 thou  and  thy  daughters.  (48)  Behold, 
 this  was  the  iniquity  of  thy  gist*  t  Sodom, 
 pri'l.',  fulness  of  bread,  ami  abundance 
 of  idleness  was  in  her  and  in  her 
 daughters,   neither  did   she    strengthen 
 
 the  hand  of  the  p -and needy.    '"  And 
 
 they  were  haughty,  and  committed 
 abomination    before   me  :    therefore     1 
 
 took    them    away     as     I     saw     a I. 
 
 (a)  Neither  hath  Samaria  committed  half 
 of  thy  sins ;  but  thou  hast  multiplied 
 thine  abominations  more  than  they,  and 
 hast  justified  thy  sisters  in  all  thine 
 abominations   which   thou   hast    done. 
 
 W  Hast  fretted  me. — Better,  hast  rmjeil  iiijninsi 
 DM.     This  form  of   the  verb  (lues   not    have  a  transitive 
 
 sense.  (Comp.  Gen.xlv.  24;  Prov.  rrix.9;  ami  in  this 
 particular  form,  -  Kings  rix.  -7.  28;  lea.  xxxvii.  28, 
 29,  where  the  same  word  is  used.) 
 
 Thou  shalt  not  commit.  —  The  English  here 
 follows  the  Masoretic  pnnctnation,  patting  the  verb  in 
 the  Becond  person.  Probably  it  should  be  read  in  the 
 first  pereon  (which  only  changes  the  Masoretie  vowels) 
 and  translated  "that  1  may  not  commit  wickedness 
 concerning  all  thine  abominations."    The  word   for 
 
 wickedness  is  the  especial  word  used  for  ouo  who  tole- 
 rates >in  in  another  who  is  under  his  control  (see  Lev. 
 xix.  2!').     God   represents   that    it    would  be   wroug   to 
 
 allow  Israel's  sin  to  go  unpunished. 
 
 NJ  As  is  the  mother.— The  sin  of  the  people  had 
 become  so  notorious  as  to  attract  general  attention,  and 
 
 lead  to  the  application  of  this  proverb.  The  nativity 
 of  Israel  described  in  verse  9  18  here  in  mind,  and  the 
 proverb  becomes  equivalent  to  saying,  these  sins  belong 
 to  every  people  living  in  Canaan;  once  practised  by 
 the  Anionics  and  Bittdtes,  they  are  now  continued  by 
 the  Israelites. 
 («)  Which  lothed  their    husbands.  —  Israel, 
 
 like  Samaria  and  Sodom,  being  spiritually  of  Aniorite 
 and  Bittite  descent,  they  are  represented  as  her  sisters. 
 A  certain  difficulty  arises  from  the  statement  that  they. 
 too,   "  lothed   their  husbands   and  their  children,"  and 
 
 this  is  only  removed  by  remembering  that,  notwith- 
 standing their  heathenism  and  long  course  of  idolatry, 
 they  are  still  regarded  as  having  gone  astray  from 
 primeval  revelation,  and  proved  false  to  tin-  only  true 
 God  whom  they  once  had  known. 
 (*8)  Thine  elder  sister.  —The  words  elder  and 
 vnger  mean,  literally,  greater  and  smaller.  They 
 thus  conic,  like  the  Latin  major  and  minor,  to  be  need 
 for  oUL  r  and  younger  ;  but  still  their  original  and  most 
 common    meaning,  which    should   be    retained    here,   is 
 
 greater  and  smaller.    Chronologically,  Sod. 'in  was  not 
 
 younger    than   Jerusalem,    nor    is    there   evidence   that 
 
 Samaria  was  older.      The  terms  are  to  be   nudeiM 1  of 
 
 Samaria  as  the  capital  of  the  far  larger  northern  kingdom, 
 and  of  Sodom  as   a  single  city  of  no  great  population. 
 
 The  orientals,   in  describing  geographical    positions, 
 
 considered    themselves    as    facing    the    east,   and    hence 
 
 Samaria  tat  the  north)  was  on  the  left)  and  Sodom  on 
 
 the  right.  Sodom  is  spoken  of  poetically  as  if  -- 1 i  11  in 
 existence.  They  were  both  the  Spiritual  sisters  of 
 Judali,  just  as  ail  alike  were  daughters  of  the  Amorite 
 and  Hittite. 
 
 ('">  As  if  that  were  a  very  little  thing.— 
 Better,  thou  hast  not  walked  after   li>-  nor 
 
 done  after  their  «l<  a  little  only,  hut  hasi 
 
 done  more  corruptly  than  they,  &c.  This  excess  of 
 wickedness  is  constantly  charged  upon  the  Jews  (sec 
 chap.  v.  ti.  7).  Sodom  had  indeed  sinned  grievously  in 
 its  day,  but  more  than  1,000  years  had  since  passed, 
 in  which  resistance  to  Divine  admonitions  had  led  'in 
 to    a    still    more    grievous    depth    of    wickedness;  and 
 
 Samaria   had  been  carried  into  captivity  more  than  a 
 
 century  before  the  time  of  the  prophet,  and  daring  this 
 period  the  people,  with  now  ana  then  a  few  short  inter- 
 vals of  reformation,  bad  been  tending  steadily  down- 
 wards. This  same  thought  is  dwelt  upon  in  the  four 
 following  verses,  in  which  the  siu  of  Sodom  is  de- 
 scribed, while  that  of  Samaria  is  passed  over  as  beiug 
 Sufficiently  well  known. 
 
 <'">  Pride,  fulness  of  bread,  and  abundance 
 of  idleness. — The  description  strikes  at  the  & 
 
 rather   than    the    overt   acts  of  sin.  and  the  unnatural 
 
 crimes  which  are  always  associated    in  our  minds  with 
 
 the  name  of  Sodom  are  not  mentioned.   It  is  noticeable, 
 
 however,  that  the  distinct  sin  which  is  mentioned  in 
 this  passage  is  the  negative  one  too  common  ill  all 
 ages.  '•  neither  did  she  strengthen  the  hand  of  the  poor 
 and  needy." 
 
 (50)  As"  I  saw  good.— The  word  good  is  not  in  the 
 Original,  and  should  be  omitted,  and  the  particle  trans- 
 lated when  :  ••Therefore  1  t. .. .k  them  away  when  I  saw 
 this."    Punishment  followed  upon  the  manifestation  of 
 
 their  sill.      (Comp.  Gen.  xviii.  21.) 
 
 (M)  Hast  justified  thy  sisters.— The  same  ex- 
 
 pression   is  repeated  in  the  following  verse.      In  both  it 
 
 is  evidently  used   in  a   comparative  sense.     By  the 
 
 greatness  of   Judah  en    Sodom   and   Sauiaria 
 
 were  made  to  appear  innocent  in  comparison. 
 
 245 
 
Their  Judgment  Irrevocable, 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVI. 
 
 but  Mercy  at  last. 
 
 (52)  Thou  also,  which  hast  judged  thy 
 sisters,  bear  thine  own  shame  for  thy 
 sins  that  thou  hast  committed  more 
 abominable  than  they :  they  are  more 
 righteous  than  thou :  yea,  be  thou  con- 
 founded also,  and  bear  thy  shame,  in 
 that  thou  hast  justified  thy  sisters. 
 
 (53)  "^  ken  j  snall  bring  again  their 
 captivity,  the  captivity  of  Sodom  and 
 her  daughters,  and  the  captivity  of 
 Samaria  and  her  daughters,  then  will  I 
 bring  again  the  captivity  of  thy  captives 
 in  the  midst  of  them :  <w>  that  thou 
 mayest  bear  thine  own  shame,  and 
 mayest  be  confounded  in  all  that  thou 
 hast  done,  in  that  thou  art  a  comfort 
 unto  them.  <55>  When  thy  sisters, 
 Sodom  and  her  daughters,  shall  return 
 to  their  former  estate,  and  Samaria  and 
 her   daughters    shall    return    to    their 
 
 1  Hi'lv,  for  a  re- 
 port,ov,  hearing. 
 
 2  Heb..  prides,  or, 
 excellencies. 
 
 3  Heb.,  Aram. 
 
 4  Or,  spoil. 
 
 5  Reh.,bor)tcthcm. 
 
 former  estate,  then  thou  and  thy 
 daughters  shall  return  to  your  former 
 estate.  '56>  For  thy  sister  Sodom  was 
 not 1  mentioned  by  thy  mouth  in  the  day 
 of  thy  -  pride,  (57)  before  thy  wickedness 
 was  discovered,  as  at  the  time  of  thy 
 reproach  of  the  daughters  of 3  Syria,  and 
 all  that  are  round  about  her,  the 
 daughters  of  the  Philistines,  which 
 *  despise  thee  round  about.  l58)  Thou 
 hast  5  borne  thy  lewdness  and  thine 
 abominations,  saith  the  Lord.  <59>  For 
 thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will  even 
 deal  with  thee  as  thou  hast  done,  which 
 hast  despised  the  oath  in  breaking  the 
 covenant.  (60>  Nevertheless  I  will  re- 
 member my  covenant  with  thee  in  the 
 days  of  thy  youth,  and  I  will  establish 
 unto  thee  an  everlasting  covenant, 
 (a)  Then  thou  shalt  remember  thy  ways, 
 
 (52)  Hast  judged  thy  sisters.— Judah  had  ap- 
 proved the  judgments  upon  Sodom  aud  Samaria,  as  it 
 is  always  easy  for  man  to  approve  judgments  upon  the 
 sins  of  others  ;  but  now  this  must  be  brought  home  to 
 herself  for  her  own  greater  sius.     (Conip.  Rom.  ii.) 
 
 Having  described  the  sin  and  the  punishment,  the 
 prophet  now  goes  on  in  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  to 
 speak  of  the  restoration  of  Israel.  This  is  first  declared 
 in  the  strongest  terms  to  be  impossible  (verses  53 — 59), 
 and  the  efforts  of  many  commentators  to  transform  the 
 language  into  a  covert  promise  of  restoration  are 
 entirely  unsuccessful.  After  this,  indeed,  in  verses 
 60 — 63,  the  establishment  of  the  Divine  covenant  with 
 Israel  is  fully  aud  distinctly  promised.  Yet  there  is 
 no  contradiction  between  the  two,  for  the  prophet  had 
 a  right  to  suppose  that  the  people  would  remember 
 what  had  been  so  plainly  declared  before  :  that  while 
 the  nation  as  a  whole  must  perish,  yet  after  the  purify- 
 ing chastisements  of  the  Lord  He  would  have  mercy 
 upon  and  bless  a  remnant  who  should  be  saved.  The 
 general  doom  is  first  announced  as  irrevocable;  then 
 the  exception  js  made  for  the  few. 
 
 (53)  Shall  bring  again  their  captivity.— This  is 
 not  a  promise  of  restoration  to  Israel;  but,  on  the 
 contrary,  is  an  expression  of  the  utter  hopelessness  of 
 their  punishment  in  the  strongest  possible  form.  The 
 "  bringing  again  of  captivity  "  does  not,  indeed,  neces- 
 sarily mean  a  return  from  exile  (into  which  Sodom  had 
 not  been  carried) ;  but,  as  explained  in  verse  55,  a 
 return  to  the  former  estate,  that  is,  a  state  of  happiness 
 and  prosperity.  In  the  case  of  Sodom  this  was 
 manifestly  impossible ;  and  even  in  the  case  of  Samaria 
 it  would,  if  accomplished,  lack  any  historical  identifi- 
 cation. Sodom  and  her  daughters  (the  surrounding 
 cities)  had  perished  witli  all  their  inhabitants  many 
 ages  ago,  leaving  no  descendants  behind.  Restoration 
 was,  therefore,  obviously  impossible ;  and  by  condition- 
 ing the  restoration  of  Jerusalem  on  an  impossible 
 thing,  it  is  meant  to  be  most  strongly  denied. 
 
 (5*)  Art  a  comfort  unto  them.— Compare  what 
 was  said  of  justifying  them  in  verses  51,  52.  The 
 greater  sin  of  Judah  became  a  comfort  by  throwing 
 their  own  evil  into  the  shade. 
 
 246 
 
 (57)  Thy  reproach  of  the  daughters  of  Syria. 
 — The  pronoun  should  be  omitted,  and  the  phrase  read, 
 "|the  reproach."  The  time  referred  to,  when  Jerusalem 
 was  too  proud  to  make  mention  of  Sodom,  was  in  the 
 days  of  her  prosperity.  Later  her  "  wickedness  was 
 discovered,"  and  her  pride  humbled  by  such  disasters 
 as  fell  upon  her,  especially  from  the  days  of  Ahaz 
 onward.  At  that  time  she  was  hard  pressed  both  by 
 the  Syrians  and  by  the  Philistines  (2  Kings  xv.  37 ; 
 2  Chron.  xxviii.  18,  19),  and  impoverished  herself  to 
 obtain  aid  from  Assyria  (2  Kings  xvi.  8) ;  and  such 
 straits  continued  to  mark  her  subsequent  history. 
 (See  2  Kings  xxiv.  2.)  In  the  weakness  and  disasters 
 towards  the  close  of  her  kingdom,  Judah  became 
 an  object  of  contempt  to  the  surrounding  nations, 
 "  despised  "  by  Sp'ia  and  Philistia  alike.  Another  view 
 less  probably  refers  "thy  reproach"  to  Judah's  exulta- 
 tion at  the  fall  of  Syria  and  the  Philistines  before  the 
 march  of  the  Assyrians. 
 
 (39)  In  breaking  the  covenant. — This  was  the 
 especial  point  of  the  heinousness  of  the  sin  of  the 
 Jews,  and  the  one  which  so  greatly  aggravated  their 
 gnilt.  The  sin  was  necessarily  proportioned  to  the 
 light  against  which  it  had  been  committed.  (Coinp. 
 John  ix"  39,  41 ;  xv.  22,  24) 
 
 (60)  i  -win  remember  my  covenant.— The  re- 
 membrance of  God's  covenant  is  made  the  basis  of  His 
 mercy  to  His  penitent  people  (Lev.  xxvi.  42 — 45)  from 
 the  beginning,  and  it  is  often  spoken  of  as  an  ever- 
 lasting covenant.  In  the  New  Testament  (Luke  i.  54, 
 55,  72,  73,  &c.)  this  covenant  is  regarded  as  fulfilled  in 
 the  Christian  dispensation.  At  the  same  time,  the 
 Christian  covenant  is  described  as  new  in  Jer.  xxxi. 
 31 — 34 ;  it  was  both  the  continuation  and  designed 
 fulfilment  of  the  old,  and  in  its  superiority  aud  plainer 
 revelation  of  the  Divine  will  was  new.  Hence  the 
 contrast  between  My  covenant  here  and  Tliy  covenant 
 in  the  following  verse.  The  covenant  to  be  afterwards 
 established  shall  be  "  an  everlasting  covenant." 
 
 (6i)  G-ive  them  unto  thee  for  daughters.— The 
 humiliation  of  Jerusalem  must  be  so  complete  that  she 
 will  gladly  receive  these  once-despised  enemies  to  the 
 closest  family  relationship.  We  are  not  here  to  think 
 of  Sodom  specifically,  but  (the  concrete  passing  into 
 
Fiivil  Ii'i /» iitance. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVII. 
 
 .1  Riddle  of  Two  Eagles. 
 
 and  !»•  ashamed,  when  tl slmlt  receive 
 
 thy  Bisters,  thine  elder  and  thj  jrounger  : 
 and  I  «ill  give  them  onto  thee  for 
 ■  daughters,  Bui  nol  by  tin  covenant. 
 \nil  I  will  establish  my  covenani 
 with  thee;  and  thon  shalt  mow  thai  1 
 
 urn  the  LOBD:  ''"'  that  thou  uniyest  re- 
 ineiiilier,   and   In-  confounded,  ami  never 
 
 open  th\  month  any  more  because  of 
 tin  shame,  when  I  am  pacified  toward 
 thee  for  all  that  thon  hast  done,  saith  the 
 Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XVII.—")  And  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  came  onto  me,  Baying, 
 '-',  Bon  of  man,  put  forth  a  riddle,  and 
 speak  a  parable  unto  the  bouse  of  Israel ; 
 
 I!    1.  ,  i  mf>r.  m(. 
 
 lie. 
 dr.BM. 
 
 II     ll.  Jill/    if   III  II 
 
 field  of  teed. 
 
 <3>  and  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God; 
 A  greal  eagle  with  ^'"«  ■;' t  wings,  Long- 
 winged,  full  of  feathers,  which  had 
 'divers  colours,  came  unto  Lebanon, 
 and  took  the  highest  branch  of  the 
 cedar:  (4)  he  cropped  oil'  tin- top  of  his 
 young  twigs,  and  carried  it  into  a  land 
 of  traffic;  he  set  it  in  a  city  of  mer- 
 chants. (5)  He  took  also  of  the  seed  of 
 the  land,  and  'planted  it  in  a  fruitful 
 tii'ld  ;  In'  placed  it  by  givat  wati-rs,  and 
 set  it  at  a  willow  tree.  "■'  And  it  grew, 
 and  became  a  spreading  vine  01  low 
 staturi',  whose  branches  turned  toward 
 him,  and  the  roots  thereof  were  under 
 kim  :  so  it  became  a  vine,  and  broughl 
 forth  branches,  and  shot  forth  sprigs. 
 
 Hi.'  general)  of  that  which  Sodom  represented,  the 
 heathen  world  at  large.  This  shall  be  received  with 
 Jerusalem  to  the  church  of  God;  "hot  not  l>y  thy 
 covenant."  The  covenant  with  Israel,  however  it  may 
 have  been  preceded  by  a  "  preaching  of  the  <  fospel "  to 
 Abraham  (GaL  iii.  8),  was  distinctly  a  covenant  of 
 works,  under  which  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile  could 
 attain  salvation  (see  Bom.  and  Gal  throughout).  Not, 
 therefore,  bj  this  should  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
 given  tn  Jerusalem  as  representing  the  Church. 
 
 <i;-)  Establish  my  covenant  with  thee.— The 
 old  covenant,  having  failed,  is  merged  in  the  new  and 
 better  covenani  promised  in  xi.  i'.i;  xviii.  31  j  and 
 more  fully  in  Jer.  xxxi.  31 — 31.  This  new  covenant, 
 established  through  a  perfect  Mediator,  can  alone 
 perfectly  fulfil  I  rod's  gracious  designs  for  man,  although 
 the  way  for  it  must  necessarily  have  been  prepared  by 
 the  less  perfect  covenani  of  old. 
 
 i" ;i  Pacified  toward  theo.  —  Better,  when  I 
 pardon  thee.  The  original  word  is  the  one  used 
 technically  in  the  law  far  the  atonement  or  "covering 
 
 ii]i "   of    sins;    and    the    thought    is.    when    God    shall 
 five  the  sins  of  His  people,  and  receive  them  to 
 communion  with  Himself. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 This  chapter  contains  a  "  riddle"  or  "parable"  verses 
 3 — 10),  with  its  explanation  (verses  11  81),  closing 
 with  a  dear  BCessianie  prophecy  couched  in  language 
 taken  from  the  parable  (verses  22—24).  While  ii  is  b 
 distinct  communication,  it  belongs  to  the  same  series  of 
 prophecies  which  began  with  the  vision  of  chaps,  viii. — 
 
 D.,  and   is   continued  through  chap.  xix.     The  meaning 
 
 of  the  parable  is  made  entirely  clear  by  the  explanation 
 the  tir-t  eagle  (verses  3 — 6    is  Nebuobadnescar;  "the 
 
 top  of  his  young  twin's"  is  .Tehoiai'hin.  carried  to 
 Babylon  :   the  "vine  of   low   stature  "  is   Zedekiah  :  the 
 
 second  eagle  is  Pharaoh  verse  7).  The  historical  facte 
 on  which  the  parable  is  based  are  recorded  in  3  (Tongs 
 x\i\.  8 — 20;  -2  Ohron.  xxxvi.  !> — 13;  Jer.  xxxvii.  and 
 Iii.  1-7. 
 
 i-'1  A  riddle  ...  a  parable.— What  the  prophet 
 has  to  gayis  •ailed  a  riddle  as  well  as  a  parable,  because 
 their  is  something  in  it  recondite  and  obscure— some- 
 thing which,  until  it  is  explained,  should  excite  the 
 minds  of  the  people  to  guess  its  meaning. 
 
 247 
 
 (3)  a  great  eagle  with  great  wings.— In  the 
 original  "  the  great  eagle."  This  is  explained  in  verse 
 1:2  of"  the  king  of  Babylon."  Nebuchadnezzar  is  com- 
 pared to  an  eagle  also  in  Jer.  xl  viii.  IU  :  LUX.  22;  and 
 Cyrus  to  8  bird  of  prey  in  lsa.  xlvi.  11.      He   has   great 
 
 and  long  wings,  because  he  has  already  Sown  victori- 
 ously   over    wide-spread     lands;     and    he    is    "full    of 
 
 feathers  which   had  divers   colours."  1 ansa  be   had 
 
 embraced  in  his  empire  a  variety  of  nations  differing  iu 
 languages,  manners,  and  eiist s. 
 
 Came  unto  Lobanon.— Jerusalem  is  called  Leba- 
 non, as  in  Jer.  xxii.  :!:'..  because  Lebanon  is  the  h I 
 
 the  cedar,  and  the   royal   palace    in  Jerusalem   was  so 
 
 rich  in  cedar  as  to  be  called  "the  house  at  the  forest 
 of  Lebanon"  (1  Kings  vii.  2  . 
 
 The  highest  branch.— This  is  a  word  I urring 
 
 only  in  Ezckiel  (verse  22,  and  chap.  xxxi.  ::.  (.  10).  It 
 is  of  uncertain  etymology,  but  is  explained  in  verse  1 
 as  meaning  "  the  top  of  his  young  twigs."  The  English 
 branch  hardly  conveys  the  exact  idea,  and  it  would  be 
 better  to  translate  "topshoot," 
 
 (*)  Into  a  land  Of  traffick.— Literally,  <j  land  of 
 Canaan,  the  word  being  sometimes  used  for  merchant 
 M  merchandise,  as  in  Hosea  xii.  8  (Engl.  7):  lsa.  xxiii. 
 8;  Zepli.  i.  11.  The  parallelism  of  the  next  clause 
 shows  that  this  is  its  meaning  here.  Babylon  has 
 already  been  called  Canaan  inchap.  xvi,  29,  probably 
 
 from  its  commercial  character. 
 
 1 5)  Of  the  seed  of  the  land.— In  place  of  the 
 captive  Jehoiachin  Nebuchadnezzar  did  not  set  over  the 
 
 land   an   eastern   satrap,  but   appointed  a  native   prince, 
 
 Zedekiah.  the  uncle  of  Jehoiachm.    He  was  "planted," 
 
 not  like  the  tall  ecdar  on  the  mountain,  but  yet  like  "  a 
 willow  tree  by  great  waters"  where  it  might  flourish  in 
 
 its  degree  see  verse  1 1  I. 
 
 isi  A  spreading  vine  of  low  stature.— Had 
 Zedekiah  been  faithful  to  his  ..ath  and  allegiance  t  i 
 Nebuchadnezzar  and  to  his  higher  allegiance  to  (rod, 
 Israel  might  have  been  fruitful  and  prosperous  as  a 
 dependent  kingdom. 
 
 Whose  branches  turned  towards  him.— 
 Better.  Tlutt  it.<  branches  might  (urn  towards  him, and 
 itsroote  mightbe  under  him.  This  was  Nebuchadnezzar's 
 
 object — to  make  of  Israel  a  flourishing  kingdom,  which 
 
 should    yet    be    entirely    dependent    Upon    himself    and 
 
 helpful  to  him  iii  his  greal  struggle  with  the  power  of 
 Egypt;    and  hence  his  especial   rage  when  his  politic 
 
I'd  ruble  of  a  Vine. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVII. 
 
 Judah's  Treachery. 
 
 (7)  There  was  also  another  great  eagle 
 with  great  wings  and  many  feathers : 
 and,  behold,  this  vine  did  bend  her  roots 
 toward  him,  and  shot  forth  her  branches 
 toward  him,  that  he  might  water  it  by 
 the  furrows  of  her  plantation.  '8>  It 
 was  planted  in  a  good  1soil  by  great 
 waters,  that  it  might  bring  forth 
 branches,  and  that  it  might  bear  fruit, 
 that  it  might  be  a  goodly  vine. 
 
 (9>  Say  thou,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God  ;  Shall  it  prosper  ?  shall  he  not 
 pull  up  the  roots  thereof,  and  cut  off 
 the  fruit  thereof,  that  it  wither  ?  it  shall 
 wither  in  all  the  leaves  of  her  spring, 
 even  without  great  power  or  many 
 people  to  pluck  it  up  by  the  roots 
 thereof.  <10*  Yea,  behold,  being  planted, 
 shall  it  prosper?  shall  it  not  utterly 
 wither,  when  the  east  wind  toucheth  it  ? 
 it  shall  wither  in  the  furrows  where  it 
 grew. 
 
 <n>  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lokd 
 came  unto  me,  saying,  <12>  Say  now  to 
 the  rebellious  house,  Know  ye  not  what 
 
 1  Heb.,  field. 
 
 2     Heb.,    brought 
 him  to  an  oath. 
 
 Heb.,  to  keep 
 his  covenant,  to 
 Maud  to  it. 
 
 these  things  mean  ?  tell  them,  Behold, 
 the  king  of  Babylon  is  come  to  Jeru- 
 salem, and  hath  taken  the  king  thereof, 
 and  the  princes  thereof,  and  led  them 
 with  him  to  Babylon;  <13>  and  hath 
 taken  of  the  king's  seed,  and  made  a 
 covenant  with  him,  and  hath  ~  taken  an 
 oath  of  him :  he  hath  also  taken  the 
 mighty  of  the  land  :  <14'  that  the  king- 
 dom might  be  base,  that  it  might  not 
 lift  itself  up,  %ut  that  by  keeping  of  his 
 covenant  it  might  stand.  <15>  But  he  re- 
 belled against  him  in  sending  his  ambas- 
 sadors into  Egypt,  that  they  might  give 
 him  horses  and  much  people.  Shall  he 
 prosper  ?  shall  he  escape  that  doeth  such 
 things  ?  or  shall  he  break  the  covenant, 
 and  be  delivered  ?  <16Ms  I  live,  saith  the 
 Lord  God,  surely  in  the  place  where  the 
 king  divelleth  that  made  him  king,  whose 
 oath  he  despised,  and  whose  covenant 
 he  brake,  even  with  him  in  the  midst  of 
 Babylon  he  shall  die.  (17)  Neither  shall 
 Pharaoh  with  his  mighty  army  and  great 
 company  make  for  him  in  the  war,  by 
 
 arrangements  were  frustrated  by  Zedekiah's  treachery 
 and  folly. 
 
 (")  Another  great  eagle.— This  is  explained  in 
 verse  15  of  Pharaoh.  He  was  also  powerful,  ruling  a 
 populous  laud,  but  is  not  described  as  with  the  varie- 
 gated feathers  of  verse  3,  because  he  did  not  rule  over 
 the  same  diversity  of  people  with  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 Zedekiah,  while  owing  his  position  to  Nebuchadnezzar, 
 treacherously  sought  the  aid  of  Egypt,  as  mentioned  in 
 verse  15,  and  more  fully  in  the  historical  passages 
 referred  to  in  the  note  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter. 
 A  chief  task  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah  was  to  endeavour 
 to  dissuade  Zedekiah  from  this  Egyptian  alliance. 
 
 (9)  Of  her  spring.— Our  translators  probably  in- 
 tended by  this  word,  as  they  evidently  did  in  Ps.  Ixv. 
 10,  "  her  springing  forth,"  her  growth  ;  but  it  would  be 
 better  now  to  substitute  the  word  growth. 
 
 Pluck  it  up  by  the  roots.— The  word  here  is  a 
 different  one  from  the  "  pull  up  "  in  the  earlier  part  of 
 the  verse,  and  has  rather  the  sense  of  "  raise  up  from 
 the  roots."  The  whole  clause  would  be  better  trans- 
 lated, "  not  even  with  great  power  and  many  people  is 
 it  to  be  raised  up  from  its  roots  again."  The  meaning 
 is  explained  in  verse  17,  that  the  strength  of  Pharaoh 
 would  be  utterly  insufficient  to  restore  the  people  whom 
 God  had  blighted. 
 
 (ii)  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lord.— The 
 form  of  expression  leaves  it  uncertain  whether  the 
 explanation  of  the  parable  was  given  at  the  same  time 
 with  the  parable  itself,  or  whether,  as  is  more  probable, 
 a  little  time  was  suffered  to  elapse,  during  which  it 
 should  be  "  a  riddle  "  to  the  people  that  they  might  be 
 the  more  attentive  to  its  meaning  when  given  to  them. 
 
 <u>  That  the  kingdom  might  be  base.— (See 
 the  Notes  on  verse  6.) 
 
 (is)  Shall  he  escape  that  doeth  such  things  ? 
 —The  faithlessness  of  Zedekiah  and  his  court  to  his 
 own  sworn  covenant  was  au  act,  in  addition  to  all  his 
 
 other  wickedness,  especially  abominable  to  God.  The 
 sanctity  of  an  oath  had  always  been  most  strongly 
 insisted  upon  in  Israelitish  history.  It  must  be  remem- 
 bered that  even  when,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Gibeonites 
 (Josh,  ix.),  the  oath  had  been  obtained  by  fraud,  and 
 centuries  had  passed  since  it  was  given,  God  yet  sorely 
 punished  the  land  for  its  violation  (2  Sam.  xxi.  1,  2); 
 and  in  this  case  the  king  had  been  more  than  once 
 Divinely  warned  through  the  prophet  Jeremiah  of  the 
 danger  of  his  treachery.  As  Zedekiah's  intrigues  with 
 Egypt  were  just  now  going  on,  it  was  particularly 
 important  that  they  should  be  exposed,  and  their  result 
 foretold  to  the  captives  who  were  yet  trusting  in  the 
 safety   of  Jerusalem. 
 
 (iG)  In  the  place  ...  he  shall  die.— The  distinct 
 prophecy  of  the  death  of  Zedekiah  at  Babylon  is  here 
 given  in  a  form  to  bring  out  in  the  strongest  light  the 
 fitness  and  justice  of  his  punishment.  It  was  to  be  in 
 the  place  of  the  king  to  whom  he  owed  his  crown,  and 
 to  whom  he  had  given  his  fealty,  yet  against  whom  he 
 had  rebelled.  The  tense  here  changes  to  the  future, 
 because  the  events  of  this  and  the.  following  verse 
 were  yet  to  be  fulfilled. 
 
 (17)  By  casting  up  mounts.  —  This  translation 
 implies  that  "  the  casting  up  mounts  and  building 
 forts  "  were  to  be  the  act  of  Pharaoh  ;  but  such  things 
 are  done  not  by  the  relieving,  but  by  the  besieging 
 army.  A  better  translation  would  be,  "when  they 
 cast  up  mounts,"  &c. — i.e.,  at  the  time  of  the  siege. 
 We  learn  from  Jer.  xliv.  30  that  the  particular  Pharaoh 
 here  referred  to  was  Hophra,  the  Apries  of  the  Greeks. 
 In  Jer.  xxxvii.  5 — 11,  it  is  said  that  an  Egyptian  army  did 
 come  up  and  temporarily  raise  the  siege  of  Jerusalem ; 
 but  it  was  of  no  avail.  Pharaoh  did  him  no  good — 
 did  not  "  make  for  him  in  the  war."  The  Chaldreans 
 speedily  returned,  drove  away  the  Egyptians,  and  re- 
 newed the  siege,  finally  capturing  and  burning  the 
 city. 
 
 24S 
 
//-/•  Judgment. 
 
 EZEKLEL,  XVIII. 
 
 A  Uegory  of  the  ' 
 
 (vmfing  up  mounts,  and  building  forts, 
 
 to  Cul    off  many    persons:    llM  seeing   lie 
 
 despised  the  oath  by  breaking  the  cove- 
 nant, when,  lo,  he  had  given   his  hand, 
 
 and  hath  done  all  these  tliiwjit,  he  shall 
 BOi  escape.  <W)  Therefore  thus  saith  the 
 Lead  God;  As  I  live,  surely  mine  oath 
 that  he  hath  despised,  and  my  covenant 
 that  he  hath  broken,  even  it  will  I  re- 
 compense UpOIl  his  own  head.  '-'"'And  I 
 will  'spread  my  net  upon  him,  and  he 
 shall  Be  taken  in  my  snare,  and  I  will 
 bring  him  to  Babylon,  and  will  plead 
 with  him  there  for  his  trespass  that  he 
 hath  trespassed  against  me.  '-''  And  all 
 his  fugitives  with  all  his  bands  shall  fall 
 by  the  sword,  and  they  that  remain  shall 
 be  scattered  toward  all  winds :  and  ye 
 shall  know  that  I  the  Lord  have 
 spoken  it. 
 
 :  rb.  12.  13 ;  &  3: 
 3. 
 
 B.  C.  SSI. 
 
 Thus  saith  the.  Lord  God  ;  I  will 
 also  take  of  the  highest  branch  of  the 
 high  cedar,  and  will  set  it  .•  1  will  crop 
 off  from  the  top  of  his  young  twigs  a 
 tender  one,  and  will  plant  it  upon  an 
 high  mountain  and  eminent :  (-;  in  tie- 
 mountain  of  the  height  of  Israel  will  I 
 plant  it  :  and  it  shall  bring  forth  houghs, 
 and  bear  fruit,  and  be  a  goodh  cedar: 
 and  under  it  shall  dwell  all  fowl  of  every 
 wing;  in  the  shadow  of  the  branches 
 thereof  shall  they  dwell.  Jl  And  all  the 
 trees  of  the  field  shall  know  that  I  the 
 Lord  have  brought  down  the  high  tree, 
 have  exalted  the  low  tree,  have  dried  up 
 the  green  tree,  and  have  made  the  dry 
 tree  to  flourish  :  I  the  Lord  have  spoken 
 and  have  done  it. 
 
 CHAPTER  XVIII.—")  The  word  of 
 
 (IS)  Mine  oath  .  .  .  my  covenant.  —  Zedekiah's 
 oath  and  covenant  to  Nebuchadnezzar  arc  called  the 
 Lord's,  because  made  is    the  Lord's  name,  and   also 
 
 because  He  had  i landed  them.     Rebellion  against 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar  was.  therefore,  under  the  circum- 
 stances, apostasy  from  the  Lord  ff,m«alf 
 
 With  verse  21  the  explanation  of  the  parable  ends. 
 What   follows  is  a  distinct  Messianic   prophecy,  which, 
 
 although  couched  in  the  same  figurative  language,  lias 
 nothing  corresponding  to  it  either  in  the  parable  or  in 
 iis  explanation. 
 
 i--'1  I  will  also  take.— In  what   has  passed  all  has 
 
 been  done  at ding  to  God's  will,  but   yet   through 
 
 human  instrumentality:  Israel  has  been  punished, 
 Jehoiaohin  has  been,  and  ZedeUah  is  about  to  be, 
 carried  into  captivity,  as  God  designed ;  yet  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar has  done  it  ail  for  his  own  purposes.  Now  God 
 Himself  directly  interposes,  and  takes  a  scion  of  the 
 mini'  "high  cedar."  the  royal  house  of  David.  In 
 accordance  with  the  allegory,  this  can  only  be  an  his- 
 torical  personage,   and    from   the  description    which 
 
 follows,  this  person  can  only  be  the  MnacriaJi       So  it  lias 
 
 been  undersi 1  by  nearly  all  interpreters,  Jewish  and 
 
 Christian. 
 
 A  tonder  one.— This  epithet  is  used  of  the  Messiah 
 in  reference  to  the  lowliness  of  His  immediate  human 
 origin  and  condition.  (Comp.  lea.  fin.  2.)  David 
 applies  the  same  expression  to  himself  (2  Sam.  iii.  89  . 
 and  to  Solomon  '1  Chron.  xxii.  5,  xxix.  1).  in  reference 
 
 to  their  want  of    strength  for  the  work  required  of 
 
 them  as  the  heads  of  Israel.  This  figure  of  the 
 Messiah  as  a  scion  of  the  royal  tree  of  David,  though 
 naturally  growing  out  of  the  allegory  here,  had  been 
 used  by  the  prophets  long  before,as  in  Esa.  xL  1,  and 
 
 the  name  "  the  Branch  "  had  almost  liccomo  a  distinc- 
 tive title  for  Him  i  Ki.  iv.  'J;   Jar.  \\iii.  5,  &C.). 
 
 W  In  the  mountain  of  the  height  of  Israel, 
 »'.< ..  Mount  Zion.  called  in  the  parallel  passage  (chap, 
 xx.  tm  "mini'  holy  mountain."  Similar  prophecies 
 arc  also  to  be  found  in  Isa.  ii.  2 — t:  Micah  iv.  1 — 3; 
 Ps.  ii.  Ii.  No  point  is  made  more  clear  in  the  pro- 
 phecies of  the  Christian  dispensation  than  that  it  is  to 
 have  its  roots  in  the  Jewish,  that  the   "  law  shall   go 
 
 forth  from  Zion."  and  that  the  new  covenant  shall  yet 
 be  a  covenant  with  God's  people  of  old.  This  moun- 
 tain is  to  be  understood  as  the  representative  of  the 
 
 centre  and  scat  of   the  kingdom  of   Israel,  and  not  to  be 
 
 confined  too  literally  to  the  actual  hill  of  Zion  itself. 
 Be  a  goodly  cedar. — Not   like  the  vine  of  low 
 
 stature;  this  shall  grow  into  a  strong  and  great  tree, 
 under  whose  shadow  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth 
 shall  find  sustenance  and  protection.  A  similar  figure 
 is  used  by  the  contemporary  prophet  Daniel  (chap.  iv. 
 20,  21),  and  by  our  Lord  Himself  in  the  parable  Matt. 
 xiii.  3'2).  The  universality  of  the  blessings  of  the 
 Christian  dispensation,  in  contrast  with  the  narrowness 
 of  the  Jewish,  is  one  of  its  features  most  t're(|uontly 
 dwelt  upon  both  in  prophecy  and  in  the  New  Testa- 
 ment, and  shall  still  enter  into  the  burden  of  the  songs 
 of  the  redeemed  (Rev.  v.  9).  The  last  clause  of  the 
 verse  repeats  and  emphasises  the  permanence  of  the 
 connection  of  the  believer  with  Christ. 
 ■-"  All  the  trees  of  the  field  shall  know.— As 
 
 the  cedar  represents  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  so  the 
 other  trees  represent  all  other  earthly  powers  who 
 shall  ultimately  acknowledge  the  work  of  the  Lord  in 
 the  redemption  of  mankind  through  His  Son. 
 
 Have  brought  down  the  high  tree.— Comp.  the 
 sung  of  Hannah  il  Sam.  ii.  1— lo  and  that  of  the 
 Virgin  Mary  Luke  i.  52—55).  In  all  alike  there  is 
 the  acknowledgment  that  all  power  is  from  Cod.  and 
 that  He.  in  the  working  out  of  His  purposes,  gives  and 
 
 takes  away  as  to  Him   sccin-   B 1.      Very  precious  to 
 
 His  Church  of  old  in  its  desolation  and  000688  must 
 have  been  the  announcement  of  this  truth,  and  very 
 precious  it  is  still  to  all  who  pray  "Thy  kingdom 
 come." 
 
 xvm. 
 
 This  chapter  connects  itself  closely  with  the  foregoing 
 scries   of    prophecies.      The   certainty    of    the    Divine 
 
 judgments  had  now  been  repeatedly  and  most  emphati- 
 cillv  foretold,  but  that  this  might   have  the  effect  of 
 
 leading  the  ] pie  to  true  repentance,  it  was  s-t ill  di 
 
 sary  that  the  Bense  of  sin  should  be  brought  homi 
 them  individually.    The  people  were  by  no  means  m- 
 elincdto  acknowledge  their  own  personal  guilt,  but  were 
 
 249 
 
The  Proverb 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XVIII. 
 
 of  Sour  Grapes. 
 
 the  Lord  came  unto  me  again,  saying, 
 (2)  What  mean  ye,  that  ye  use  this  proverb 
 concerning  the  land  of  Israel,  saying,  The 
 
 "fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the 
 children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge '?  (3)  As 
 I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  ye  shall  not 
 
 rather,  like  sirmers  of  every  age,  disposed  to  look  upon 
 their  sufferings  as  the  consequence  of  the  sins  of  others 
 who  had  gone  before.  This  disposition  is  here  met  by 
 the  most  full  aud  emphatic  assurance  that  God  deals 
 with  each  man  in  view  of  his  own  acts — that  no  one 
 shall  lie  either  punished  or  rewarded  for  another's  guilt 
 or  virtue,  but  only  for  his  own. 
 
 The  statements  here  made  are  exposed  to  two  diffi- 
 culties : — (1)  that  it  is  expressly  declared  in  the  second 
 commandment  that  God  does  visit  the  sins  of  the 
 fathers  upon  the  children  (Exod.  xx.  5,  xxxiv.  7 ;  Dent, 
 v.  9).  and  that  all  history  shows  that  this  is  a  law  of  His 
 moral  government  of  the  world  ;  and  (2)  that  it  is  by  no 
 means  true  that  individual  suffering  and  happiness  are 
 exactly  proportioned  in  this  world  to  individual  cha- 
 racter and  conduct.  On  the  contrary,  from  the  time  of 
 Job  to  that  of  our  Lord,  this  was  one  of  those  pernicious 
 views  of  the  Jews  which  the  inspired  word  takes  great 
 pains  to  combat.  How,  then,  are  the  statements  of  this 
 chapter  to  be  justified  ?  In  regard  to  the  first  difficulty, 
 simply  by  remembering  the  two-fold  relation,  the  indi- 
 vidual and  the  federal,  in  which  each  man  stands  to  his 
 Maker.  It  is  in  virtue  of  the  federal  relation  that,  on 
 the  one  hand,  as  children  of  Adam,  we  are  all  born  into 
 the  world  with  a  pre-disposition  to  sin ;  aud,  on  the 
 other,  are  all  partakers  of  the  benefits  of  the  i-edemption 
 wrought  out  for  us  by  the  second  Adam.  Under  the 
 laws  of  nature  it  must  necessarily  come  about  that  the 
 children  shall  suffer  or  enjoy  in  consequence  of  the  up- 
 rightness or  the  sin  of  their  fathers.  Yet  more  im- 
 portant, aud  prevailing  above  this  federal  relation,  is 
 the  attitude  of  each  individual  towards  God.  By  this, 
 through  the  reconciliation  effected  by  the  redemption  of 
 Christ,  he  is  brought  into  communion  with  God,  and  be- 
 coming one  with  Christ,  is  viewed  aud  treated  as  a 
 member  of  the  body  of  the  oidy  begotten  Son.  This 
 does  not  hinder  that  the  laws  of  nature  shall  still  work 
 out  their  natural  effects — we  still  must  be  subject  to 
 death,  because  our  first  father  sinned;  but  it  does  bring 
 about  that  all  these  natural  sufferings  become  trans- 
 formed into  higher  blessings.  Even  death  becomes  to 
 us,  through  Him  who  has  overcome  death,  but  the  gate- 
 way to  a  new  and  higher  life.  Thus  it  is  true  that  God 
 does  both  visit  the  sius  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children, 
 and  at  the  same  time  does,  through  all,  punish  and  re- 
 ward each  single  person  according  to  their  own  individual 
 bearing  towards  Him. 
 
 These  considerations  have  already  met  the  second 
 difficulty.  In  a  sense,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  individual 
 suffering  is  certainly  the  consequence  of  individual  sin, 
 for  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature — in  other  words, 
 of  the  will  of  God — must  always  be  attended  with  dis- 
 astrous consequences ;  but  these  consequences  are  often 
 slow  in  their  development,  and  may  fall  not  upon  the 
 individual  who  has  done  the  wrong,  but  upon  some  more 
 or  less  remote  descendant,  or  even  upon  some  wholly  dis- 
 connected person,  as  in  the  case  of  David's  suffering 
 with  his  whole  people  for  Saul's  treatment  of  the 
 Gibeonites.  From  this  it  results  that  the  ills  of  life 
 are  by  no  means  proportioned  to  the  deserts  of  those 
 upon  whom  they  fall.  But  more  important  than  this 
 consideration  is  the  fact  that  these  ills  are  factors  in 
 God's  moral  government  of  the  world,  having  in  view 
 the  development  in  man  of  the  character  which  He  ap- 
 proves.    Hence  it  comes  about  that  "  whom  the  Lord 
 
 loveth  he  chasteneth"  (Prov.  iii.  11.  12;  Heb.  xii  6), 
 and  leads  them  through  earthly  suffering  to  heavenly 
 joy.  The  same  events  happen  to  the  godly  aud  the 
 wicked.  God  causeth  His  sun  to  shine  and  His  rain  to 
 fall  alike  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust ;  but  the  effect 
 of  both  dispensations  depends  upon  the  character  of  the 
 person  to  whom  they  come.  To  him  who  is  alienated  in 
 heart  from  God  the  sunshine  becomes  no  blessing,  while 
 the  rain  of  calamity  and  sorrow  only  too  often  results 
 in  further  alienation  and  hardening ;  but  on  him  who 
 accepts  both  as  the  dispensations  of  a  loving  Father, 
 they  produce  their  intended  effect,  aud  he  finds  that  in 
 them,  as  in  all  else,  God  makes  all  tilings  work  together 
 for  good  to  them  that  love  Him.*  This,  too,  is  in  ac- 
 cordance with  natural  law,  where  the  effect  of  any  force 
 is  often  dependent  upon  the  substance  on  which  it  is 
 exerted.  The  dew  is  drunk  in  by  the  already  growing 
 vegetation,  but  does  not  fall  on  the  dry  and  thirsty 
 gravel  at  its  side.  It  was  precisely  this  sort  of  dis- 
 cipline through  which  this  very  people  were  now  pass- 
 ing. They  had  been  chosen  and  blessed  for  the  faith 
 of  Abraham,  yet  they  were  suffering  for  many  genera- 
 tions of  persistent  neglect  of  and  rebellion  against  God. 
 (See  especially  Jer.  xv.  4 ;  Lam.  v.  7 ;  2  Kings  xxiv.  3.) 
 All  this  belonged  to  their  federal  relation ;  but,  at  the 
 same  time,  they  stood  each  one  individually  before  the 
 Lord,  to  hear  or  to  refuse  His  word.  Such  as  obeyed 
 His  voice  would  find  in  these  very  calamities  the  ground 
 and  the  means  of  repentance,  and  their  sorrows  would 
 become  transformed  into  the  richest  of  all  possible 
 blessings,  while  those  who  continued  obdurate  woidd 
 find  their  present  calamity  but  the  shadow  of  the  darker 
 approaching  judgment  of  being  utterly  cast  out  from 
 God's  presence.  This  great  truth  culminated  for  the 
 Jews  in  both  its  parts  at  the  Christian  era,  when,  on 
 the  one  side,  our  Lord  represents  the  punishment  of  the 
 sins  of  their  whole  history  as  coming  "  upon  this  genera- 
 tion "  (Matt,  xxiii.  35,  36);  and,  on  the  other,  He  then 
 remembered  His  promise  to  their  fathers,  and  estab- 
 lished with  those  who  would  receive  Him  an  everlasting 
 covenant. 
 
 There  was  thus  an  important  truth  contained  in  the 
 perverted  views  of  the  people,  and  it  was  very  necessary 
 that  the  still  higher  truths  of  this  chapter  should  be  im- 
 pressed upon  them ;  for  only  thus  could  the  inferior  aud 
 more  obvious  facts  be  correlated  with  the  justice  of  God 
 aud  His  purposes  of  love  towards  His  people. 
 
 (-)  What  mean  ye  ? — Almost  the  same  expression 
 occurs  in  chap.  xii.  22.  The  literal  translation  would 
 be,  Wliat  is  it  to  you  who  are  tising  this  proverb  ?  and 
 the  sense  is  "  Wliy  do  you,  &c.  ?  "  Proverb  shows  that 
 it  was  a  common  saying,  a  way  in  which  the  people 
 habitually  sought  to  shirk  the  responsibility  for  their 
 guilt.  The  same  proverb  is  quoted  in  Jer.  xxxi.  29, 
 and  condemned  in  the  same  way.  "  Concerning  the 
 land  "  should  rather  be  in  the  land,  i.e.,  among  the 
 people,  including  both  those  at  Jerusalem  and  in  cap- 
 tivity. The  teaching  of  this  chapter  concerning  indi- 
 vidual responsibility  is,  in  one  form  or  another,  often 
 repeated  by  Ezekiel.  It  is  set  forth  in  regard  to  the 
 prophet  and  people,  iu  chap.  iii.  18 — 21;  in  regard  to 
 those  upon  whom  the  mark  was  set,  in  chap.  ix.  4 — 6  ; 
 in  regard  to  those  who  enquire  of  the  Lord,  iu  chap.  xiv. 
 
 250 
 
 See  Augustine  :  Dc  Civ.  Dei,  I.  e.  8. 
 
<;,„/  is  Just  in  nil. 
 
 EZEE]  E  \j,     XVIII.  The  Just  Full,,  r,  and  ■ '-./Vw  Son. 
 
 have  occasion  any  more  to  use  this  pro- 
 vi'ili  in  [srael.  '"  Behold,  all  soiiIh  air 
 mine  ;   as  tin-  si. nl  of   tin-  father,  so  also 
 
 the  smil  of  the  sou  is  mine :  the  soul 
 that  ainneth,  it  shall  die. 
 
 1   I  lut   if   ;i    man    be    just,  and  do  that 
 which  is  'lawful  and  right,  ' "'  <md    hath 
 
 not  eaten  upon  the  mountains,  neither 
 
 hath   lifted   n|>   his  eyes   to  the   idols  of 
 
 the  house  of  Israel,  neither  hath  ■  denied 
 
 his  neighbour's  wife,  neither  hath  come 
 near  to  ''a  nieiistruous  woman,  ,7)  and 
 hath  not  'oppressed  any,/"//  hath  re- 
 stored   to    the   debtor   bis    'pledge,  bath 
 
 spoiled  none  by  violence,  bat  h  'given  his 
 bread  to  the  hungry,  and  bath  covered 
 the   naked  with  a  garment  ;  (s|  be   Unit 
 
 ■i  i..  v.  i-  ax 
 
 ■     10 ;  & 
 
 W.  la. 
 
 i  Bz.  tt, 
 M,  Ik 
 
 li.  -lit      1,7;    I-n 
 :.-.  .'  I    M 
 
 /  Ei.  a. 
 
 17;  D 
 
 21.  lu;  P 
 
 tor  up  oj 
 
 '  tlorth  to 
 
 Mi     /..  .■ 
 
 /  ofthtw. 
 
 hath  not  given  forth  upon  •|i,-nry.  neither 
 hiitli  taken  any   increa-e,  thai  liath  with- 
 
 drawn    his   hand    from    iniquity,   hath 
 
 executed     true'    judgment      between      mall 
 
 and      man,     ' ''   hath       walked     in      my 
 statutes,  and  hath  kept   my  judgments, 
 
 todeal  truly  ;    be   ',.<  just,  he  shall  surely 
 live,  saith  the  Lord  (  Jod. 
 
 "">  If  he  begel  a  son  thai  fas  'robber, 
 a  shedilei-  of  blood,  and  *  that  doetfa  tie 
 like  to  any  one  of  these  thin*!*,  :ll!  and 
 that  doeth  not  any  of  those  duties,  but 
 even  hath  eaten  upon  the  mountains, 
 and  defiled  his  neighbour's  wife, 
 <12)  hath  oppressed  the  poor  and  needy, 
 hath  spoiled  by—  violence,  hath  not 
 restored  the  pledge,  and  bath  lifted  up 
 
 3 — !»;  and  generally  the  teaching  of  this  chapter  is  re- 
 peated in  Chap,  xxxiii.  1 — 20. 
 
 ('»  All  souls  are  mino.— This  is  the  basis  of  the 
 subsequent  teaching.  Since  all  alike  belong  to  God  and 
 are  absolutely  in  His  power,  He  has  no  occasion  to 
 punish  one  test  another  shonld  escape;  and  again, 
 since  all  are  His.  He  Lotos  and  would  saw  them  all,  and 
 inflicts  punishment  only  when  it   is  deserved  and  llis 
 
 grace  is  rejected.       Four  rases  arc  now  discussed  sepa- 
 rately i  ill  Thai   of  the  righteous  man  who  honestly 
 eeks  to  follow  the   ways  of  the  Lord  (verses  5    9); 
 (2)  thai  of  his  wicked  son    rersee  10— 18);  (3)  thai  of 
 
 the  right is  s,.n  of  the  wicked  (verses  1 1 — 20) ;  (4)  that 
 
 of  a  change  of  character  in  the  individual,  whether  from 
 sin  to  righteousness  or  the  reverse  I  verees2]     86).   The 
 
 weird  "soul  "  throughout  the  Chapter  dues  not  mean  ex- 
 clusively the  immortal  part  of  our  nature,  but,  as  so  often 
 in  Scripture,  is  equivalent  to  man,  or  person,  or  self; 
 and  the  word  "  die"  is  used,  as  often  ehevi  here,  in  the 
 broad  sense  of  wffer  puniahnu  nt. 
 
 (5)  If  a  man  be  just. — At  the  opening  and  close 
 of  the  statement  in  regard  to  the  righteous  man  (verses 
 ■">.  '.' .  he  is  described  in  general  and  comprehensive 
 terms;  while  in  the  intermediate  verses  various  parti- 
 culars of  an  upright  life  are  specified  as  examples  of 
 the  whole.  These  particulars  have  reference,  first,  to 
 religious  duties  (verse  6a),  then  to  moral  obligations, 
 bucd  as  the  avoidance  of  adultery  (verse  66  ,  and  finally 
 to  duii.s  negative  and  positive  towards  ime's  neighbour 
 (verses  7,   s>.    The   whole,  including  verses  5 and  9, 
 
 may  lie  considered   as   B  terse-   summary  of  the  practical 
 
 duty  of  man. 
 
 c;>  Eaten  upon  tho  mountains. — The  various 
 
 sins  here  specified  are  all  enumerated  again,  with 
 others,    and    charged     upon    Jerusalem    in    chap.    \\ii. 
 
 2—12.  The  particular  of  eating  upon  the  mountains 
 is  mentioned  m  verse  9,  and  refers  to  the  feasts  iu  eon- 
 oection  with  sacrifices  to  idols  which  were  commonly 
 held  in  high  places.  The  Lord  Himself,  indeed,  was 
 als..  worshipped  in  high  places,  in  express  violation  of 
 the  law  (Deut.  xii.  17, 18),  lmt  the  connection  here 
 points  to  the  sacrificial  idol-feasts  (comp.  Exod  xxxii. 
 8;  1  ('or.  x.  7).    The  lifting  up  of  the  eyes  to  the  idols 
 
 is  probably  meant  to  express  anyloogmg  after  them 
 short  of  actual  worship  (comp.  Qfln,  xix.  26).  The 
 other  sins  mentioned  in  this  verse  were  expressly  for- 
 ludden  in  the  law  (Exod.  xx.  14;  Lev.  xviii.   lift,  and 
 
 were  to  he  punished  either  with  deatli  Lev.  xx  1". 
 Deut.  xxii.  2'J)  or  with  excommunication    \Jt-y,  xx.  I  -  . 
 
 PJ  To  the  dobtor  his  pledge.  In  the  simple 
 state  of  early  Hebrew  society  borrowing  was  resorted 
 
 to  only  by  the  very  poor,  .and  the  law  abounds  in  pre- 
 cepts against  any  oppression  or  taking  advantage  in 
 
 such  eases  (Exod.  xxii.  Jo  —  27;     Lev,  xxv.   1  I.  17.  &C.). 
 
 Especial  provision  was  made  for  restoring  in  a  con- 
 siderate way  a  pledge  for  borrowed  money  (Exod.  xxii. 
 26;  Deut.  xxiv.  li.  10,  An. 
 
 Given  his  bread. — In  addition  to  the  negative 
 duties  mentioned,  ware  also  the  positive  ones  of  feeding 
 
 the   hungry  and   clothing  the  naked;   and    it    is    to    he 
 
 remembered  that  these  duties,  and  general  helpfulness 
 
 to  those  who  need  our  help,  are  not  left  optional  in 
 Scripture,  but  are  positively  required,  both  in  the  Old 
 
 and  the  New  Testament,  and  their  neglect  is  siu.  (See 
 Deut.  xxii.  1—4  ;  Job  xxxi.  16 — 22;  Isa.  lviii.  5,7; 
 Matt.  xxv.  34 — 16;  James  i.  27,  ii.  15,  16). 
 
 (8)  Given  forth  upon  usury. —  In  Scripture 
 usury  does  not  mean  excessive  interest,  as  often  in 
 modem  legislation,  but   any  interest   at   all.     This  was 
 
 strictly  forbidden  in  the  law  to  he  taken  of  any  Hebrew, 
 
 though    allowed,    without     limit    as    t.i    amount,    from 
 
 foreigners.    It  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  regulation 
 
 of  commercial   transactions,   l.ut    was   simply  a   law   of 
 
 kindness  to  a  fellow  member  of  the  -.-hold  of 
 
 faith  in  a  primitive  state  of  society.      The  Israelite  was 
 
 to  lend  freely  to  Ms  impoverished  neighbour  to  assist 
 
 him,  hut  without  any  ex| tation  of  train  for  himself. 
 
 Executed  true  judgment.  —  This    applies,  of 
 
 course,  especially  and  directly  Injudicial  sentences,  lmt 
 extends  also  to  all  cases  in  which  One  is  brought  to  in- 
 tervene in  any  way  in  transactions  between  others. 
 What  is  required  is  absolute  fairness,  truthfulness,  and 
 integrity  in  the  constant  transactions  of  man  with  man. 
 
 CM)  That  doeth  the  like  to  any  one  of  these 
 
 things. — The  prophet  now  enters  upon  the  Considera- 
 tion of  the   se. 1   case,  that  of   the  son  of  a  righteous 
 
 father   who   takes    to    wicked   courses,   and    it    is  shown 
 
 that  he   shall    he   dealt    with   tt rding   to   his  own  |kt- 
 
 sonal  character.  It  is  not  necessary  that  he  should  lie 
 wholly  given  over  to  evil  or  have  committed  all  the  sins 
 enumerated,  lmt  if  he  show  the  alienation  of  his  heart 
 from  God  by  choosing  to  .1..  any  of  those  thiiu-'s  which 
 He  has  forhidden,  he  must  fall  under  His  nghteOQB 
 condemnation. 
 
 2a  1 
 
The  Just  Son. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XVIII. 
 
 The  Wicked  Repenting. 
 
 his  eyes  to  the  idols,  hath  committed 
 abomination,  (13)  hath  given  forth  upon 
 usury,  and  hath  taken  increase  :  shall  he 
 then  live  ?  he  shall  not  live :  he  hath 
 done  all  these  abominations  ;  he  shall 
 .surely  die  ;  his  l  blood  shall  be  upon 
 him. 
 
 <U)  Now,  lo,  if  he  beget  a  son,  that 
 seeth  all  his  father's  sins  which  he  hath 
 done,  and  considereth,  and  doeth  not 
 such  like,  (15)  that  hath  not  eaten  upon 
 the  mountains,  neither  hath  lifted  up 
 his  eyes  to  the  idols  of  the  house  of 
 Israel,  hath  not  defiled  his  neighbour's 
 wife,  (16)  neither  hath  oppressed  any, 
 2  hath  not  withholden  the  pledge,  neither 
 hath  spoiled  by  violence,  but  hath  given 
 his  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  hath 
 covered  the  naked  with  a  garment, 
 <17>  that  hath  taken  off  his  hand  from  the 
 poor,  tliat  hath  not  received  usury  nor 
 increase,  hath  executed  my  judgments, 
 hath  walked  in  my  statutes  ;  he  shall 
 not  die  for  the  iniquity  of  his  father,  he 
 
 1  Heb„  btooils. 
 
 Heb.,   hath   not 
 pledged  the 
 
 pledge,  or,  taken 
 to  pledge. 
 
 a  Deut.  24.  16;  5 
 Elu.  14.  6  ;  2 
 Chr.  2C.  4;  Jer. 
 31.29. 
 
 shall  surely  live.  (18)  As  for  his  father, 
 because  he  cruelly  oppressed,  spoiled  his 
 brother  by  violence,  and  did  that  which 
 is  not  good  among  his  people,  lo,  even 
 he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity. 
 
 <19>  Yet  say  ye,  Why  ?  doth  not  the 
 son  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father? 
 When  the  son  hath  done  that  which  is 
 lawful  and  right,  and  hath  kept  all  my 
 statutes,  and  hath  done  them,  he  shall 
 surely  live.  (20)  The  soul  that  sinneth, 
 it  shall  die.  "  The  son  shall  not  bear 
 the  iniquity  of  the  father,  neither  shall 
 the  father  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  son : 
 the  righteousness  of  the  righteous  shall 
 be  upon  him,  and  the  wickedness  of  the 
 wicked  shall  be  upon  him.  (21>  But  if 
 the  wicked  will  turn  from  all  his  sins 
 that  he  hath  committed,  and  keep  all 
 my  statutes,  and  do  that  which  is  lawful 
 and  right,  he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall 
 not  die.  (22>  All  his  transgressions  that 
 he  hath  committed,  they  shall  not  be 
 mentioned  unto  him  :  in  his  righteous- 
 
 <13)  Hath    done   all   these    abominations.  — 
 
 This  expression  is  collective,  while  that  in  verse  10  is 
 partitive.  This  is  not  because  he  who  commits  one 
 sin  is  considered  as  having  committed  all,  but  because 
 he  who  willingly  commits  any  sin  thereby  puts  himself 
 into  the  class  of  sinners,  of  those  who  do  not  wish  or 
 intend  to  abide  by  the  Divine  will,  but  choose  rather  to 
 do  their  own.  Such  a  man  places  hiinself  among  the 
 enemies  of  God.     (Comp.  James  ii.  10.) 
 
 (14)  Doeth  not  such  like.— This  is  the  third  case 
 — that  of  the  righteous  son  of  a  wicked  father.  The 
 general  principle  is  the  same,  that  each  man  is  to  be 
 judged  according  to  his  own  individual  character. 
 The  son  of  the  righteous  man  has  advantages,  and  the 
 son  of  the  wicked  has  hindrances  in  the  way  of 
 righteousness  which  are  not  specified  here,  although 
 elsewhere  we  are  abundantly  taught  that  responsibility 
 is  directly  proportioned  to  privilege ;  but  here  the 
 object  is  only  to  set  forth  in  the  clearest  way,  and 
 apart  from  any  other  issues,  the  single  fact  of  indi- 
 vidual responsibility.  In  each  case  the  particular 
 examples  of  sin  are  somewhat  varied,  to  show  that  they 
 are  mentioned  only  as  examples,  in  order  to  set  forth 
 more  clearly  the  general  principle. 
 
 (18)  As  for  his  father.— There  is  here  a  recurrence 
 to  the  second  case,  to  bring  out  more  sharply  the 
 contrast  between  the  two,  and  to  emphasise  the  fact 
 insisted  upon,  that  each  individual  must  be  judged 
 according  to  his  own  character,  without  help  or  pre- 
 judice from  that  of  his  father. 
 
 This  third  case  was  especially  adapted  to  the 
 prophet's  purpose  of  refuting  the  proverb,  because 
 here  was  the  father  who  had  "  eaten  sour  grapes,"  and 
 his  son's  teeth  were  not  to  be  set  on  edge. 
 
 (19)  Why  ?  Doth  not  the  son  bear  ?— It  would 
 be  clearer  to  read  this  as  a  single  question,  "  Why  doth 
 not  the  son,  &c  ?  "  It  is  the  question  projiosed  by  the 
 people  in  objection  to  what  lias  been  declared.  To 
 them  it  seemed  the  law  of  nature,  the  necessity  of  the 
 
 case,  the  teaching  of  history,  that  the  son  should  bear 
 the  iniquity  of  his  father.  Their  ideas  had  not 
 risen  to  the  conception  of  man's  individual  responsi- 
 bility to  God ;  to  them  the  individual  was  still  but  a 
 part  of  the  nation  or  the  family.  They  ask,  therefore, 
 why  tliis  universal  law  should  now  be  reversed.  It 
 was  not  true  that  any  law  was  reversed,  it  was  only 
 that  the  superior  prevailed  over  the  inferior  law  ;  but, 
 as  usual  in  such  cases,  the  Divine  word  does  not  reason 
 with  the  human  objection,  but  in  this  and  the  following 
 verse  only  reiterates  most  emphatically  the  law  of 
 individual  responsibility. 
 
 (2i)  If  the  wicked  will  turn. — The  prophet  now 
 takes  up  the  fourth  and  last  case — that  of  a  change  in 
 the  individual  character.  This  has  necessarily  two 
 sub-divisions:  (1)  that  of  the  wicked  repenting  and 
 doing  righteousness  (verses  21 — 23,  and  verses  27,  28), 
 and  (2)  that  of  the  righteous  falling  into  wickedness, 
 (verses  24 — 26),  which  latter  case  is  more  briefly  treated, 
 because  the  object  is  to  encourage  hope  in  repentance. 
 This  case,  in  both  its  parts,  is  first  treated  in  verses 
 21 — 24,  and  then,  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  repeated 
 in  reverse  order  in  verses  26 — 28. 
 
 (22)  Shall  not  be  mentioned  unto  him. — A 
 strong  way  of  expressing  the  completeness  of  the 
 Divine  forgiveness.  Here,  again,  at  first  sight,  there 
 seems  to  be  an  inconsistency  between  the  Divine 
 promise  and  the  actual  facts  of  the  world.  The 
 penitent  and  forgiven  sinner  is  continually  seen  to 
 suffer  through  life  from  the  consequences  of  his  sin, 
 as  David's  whole  reign  was  overclouded  with  trouble 
 and  sorrow  after  his  great  sin  in  the  matter  of  Bath- 
 sheba  and  Uriah.  But  here  also  it  is  the  natural  law 
 continuing  to  work  in  subservience  to  a  higher  moral 
 law.  The  natural  cousequeuces  of  any  acts  are  not 
 changed,  or  are  only  partially  modified,  by  the  sub- 
 sequent moral  state  of  him  who  has  done  them ;  but 
 that  moral  state  determines  whether  those  conse- 
 quences, however  painful  they  may  be  in  themselves, 
 
Thi:  Right  </  Astray. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XIX. 
 
 A'x/tortii'.ioit  to  KepetitaTU-e. 
 
 0688  thai  he  hath  done  he  shall  live. 
 ':  I  lave  I  any  pleasure  at  all  thai  t  he 
 wicked  should  dieP  sail  h  tin'  Lord  I  Hon  : 
 and  aol  thai  he  Bhonld  return  Erom  his 
 frays,    and    liveP     |J"  Bui    when    the 
 
 righteous     turneth     awaj     t'i i     his 
 
 righteousness,  ami  eommitteth  iniquity, 
 and  doeth  according  to  all  the  abomi- 
 nations that  the  wicked  nuin  i lo. 'th,  shall 
 he  live?  All  his  righteousness  thai  he 
 hath  done  shall  m >t  be  mentioned  :  in 
 his  trespass  that  he  hath  trespassed,  ami 
 
 in  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  ill  them 
 shall  he  die. 
 
 Yet  ye  say,  '  The  way  of  the  Lord 
 is  not  equal.  Hear  now,  O  house  of 
 Israel;  Is  not  my  way  equal 9  are  not 
 your  ways  unequal  ?  IJi1  When  a  right- 
 eous man  turneth  away  from  his 
 righteousness,  and  committeth  iniquity, 
 and  dieth  in  them  ;  for  his  iniquity  that 
 
 he    hath    done    shall    he  die.       (*)  Again, 
 
 when  the  wicked  man  turneth  away  Erom 
 his  wickedness  that  he  hath  committed, 
 and  doeth  that  which  is  lawful  and 
 right,   he   shall    save    his    soul    alive. 
 
 i  .1 
 
 ii.  IS;  1 
 
 11  ;  2  PYl 
 
 t28' Because  he  consider.)  h.  and  turneth 
 
 awa\  Erom  all  his  transgressions  that  he 
 hath  committed,  he  shall  surely  live,  he 
 shall  not  die. 
 
 Y.  i  saith  the  house  of  Israel,  The 
 way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal.  O  house 
 of  Israel,  are  not  my  ways  equal?  are 
 not  your  ways  unequal?  |;,)  Therefore 
 I  will  judge  you,  <  >  house  of  Israel, 
 everyone  according  to  his  ways,  saith 
 the  Lord  God.  c  Repent,  and  turn 
 1  i/mirs'  lr,  *  from  all  your  transgressions ; 
 s"  iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin. 
 (31)  Cast  away  from  j'ou  all  your  trans- 
 gressions, whereby  ye  ha \e  transgressed  ; 
 and  make  you  a ''new  heart  and  a  new 
 spirit  :  for  why  will  ye  die,  0  house  of 
 Israel ?  (32)  For  •  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
 the  death  of  him  that  dieth,  saith  the 
 Lord  God:  wherefore  turn  •  yourselves, 
 and  live  ye. 
 
 CHAPTER  XIX.—'1)  Moreover  take 
 thou  up  a  lamentation  for  the  princes 
 of  Israel,  |J'  and  say.  What  is  thy 
 mother?  A  lioness:  she  lay  down  anion"; 
 
 Bhal]  ei-  shall  not  be  really  for  his  own  highest  gain. 
 The  absoluteness  of  the  Divine  forgiveness  is  seen  by 
 us,  under  the  Christian  dispensation,  to  lie  a  necessary 
 result  of  the  ground  on  which  it  rests — the  atonement 
 of  Christ.  If  ill.'  believer  is  truly  united  to  Him  by 
 faith,  he  is  a  new  creature  (2  Cor.  v.  17),  ami  is  looked 
 
 Upon  no  lunger  as  a   sinful   sun  of  Adam,  hut.  as   he  is 
 
 in  reality,  a  member  of  the  beloved  and  only-begotten 
 Smi  el'  God.  Hence  his  forgiveness  must  he  complete, 
 fkn  his  sins  are  atoned  for,  covered  up.  bidden  from 
 God's  sight. 
 
 '-:i  Have  I  any  pleasure  at  all?— This  hrings 
 out  that  fundamental  truth  which  underlies  the  whole 
 
 teaching  of    both    the   Old    and    NViv    Testa nls.  and 
 
 which  should  have  satisfied  Israel  of  the  Lord's 
 readiness  to  receive  every  penitent  sinner.    God  created 
 
 man  ;   and    when    he   had    fallen,  ordered   both   the  old 
 
 and  the  new  dispensations,  and  employed  methods  of 
 infinite  love  to  win  him  t"  salvation.  He  can  ' 
 pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked;  His  delight  ean 
 only  lie  when  man  fulfils  the  design  for  which  he  was 
 created,  and  returns  to  obedience  and  communion  with 
 God.  Yet  neither,  as  is  declared  in  the  next  von 
 the  Almighty  suffer  that-  His  creature  should  set  at 
 nought  His  love  and  despise  His  salvation. 
 
 i-  3  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal.— The 
 won!   means  literally,   weighed   out,   balanced.     The 
 
 accusation  of  the  Israelites  was  --till    here  and  in  verse 
 
 -■><   that    the   Lord   was  arbitrary  and  unjust.     His 
 
 Statement    in    reply   is   that    He    rewards  and    punishes 
 
 according  to  eternal  and  immutable  principles  of  ri^ht. 
 
 Every  man  must  reap  that  which  lie  has  sown. 
 
 Rom.  ii.  •"> — 10.) 
 
 W)  Shall  save  his  soul  alive.— This  does  net 
 
 mean  that  any  man  ean  by  his  own  power  save  himself, 
 for  that  question  is  not   here  in  view  at  all.  hut   that 
 
 the  consequent E  a  certain  course  of  conduct  will  be 
 
 his  salvation,  ami  that  the  adoption  of  that  course  is 
 within  the  man's  own  choice. 
 
 i ;  i  Repent,  and  turn.— The  three  last  vers. 
 the    chapter    contain     an     earnest     exhortation    to    the 
 
 Israelites,  based  on  the  principles  of  God's  dealings 
 
 with  man  just  now  declared,  to  repent  and  receive  His 
 mercy  and  blessing.  Here,  as  before,  there  is  no 
 question  of  human  sufficiency;  and  when  the  counsel 
 is  given  i  verse  3]  I,  "Make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new 
 spiril,"  it  is  not  meant  to  say  that  this  can  ever  he  tin' 
 work  of  any  ol  her  than  God's  Holy  Spirit  ;  hut  that 
 Spirit  is  ever  tri veil  to  them  that  a~k  Him.  and  the 
 question  of  salvation  is  still  one  which  each  man  must 
 decide   for    himself    before   God.      The   whole    point    of 
 
 the  chapter  is  that  God's  dealing  with  man  is  deter- 
 mined by  man's  own  attitude  t< .wards  Him.  He  that 
 is  alienated   in  his  heart  from  God,  whatever  may  1 
 
 been  his   previous  life,  God  will  judge;  and  he  that 
 
 now  seeks  to  conform  his  life  to  God's  will,  God  will 
 receive  and  forgive. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 This  chapter  forms  the  close  of  thi-,  long  Beries  of 
 prophecies,  and  enlists  of  a  lament  over  the  fall  ..f  the 
 royal  family  of   Israel  and   over  the  utter  desolation  oi 
 
 the  nation  itself.    It  fitly  closes  the  aeries  of  warnings, 
 
 and  takes  away  any  angering   hope  of  escape  from   the 
 
 Divine  judgments. 
 
 <-l  Thy  mother.-  Mother  stands  for  the  whole 
 national    community — the    theocracy,  AS    is   plain   from 
 
 verse  1".  This  was  represented,  since  the  captivity  of 
 the  ten  tribes,  by  Judah;  and  her  "princes,"  of  the 
 line  of  David,  were  the  legitimate  kings  of  the  wi 
 
 nation.      The  figure  of  the  lion  is  a  common  one   in 
 
 263 
 
Parable  of  the  Lion's  Whelps. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XIX. 
 
 Parable  of  the  Vine. 
 
 lions,  she  nourished  her  whelps  among 
 young  lions.  (3)  And  she  brought  up 
 one  of  her  whelps  :  it  became  a  young 
 lion,  and  it  learned  to  catch  the  prey ; 
 it  devoured  men.  (4)  The  nations  also 
 heard  of  him ;  he  was  taken  in  their 
 pit,  and  they  brought  him  with  chains 
 unto  the  land  of  "  Egypt.  (5)  Now  when 
 she  saw  that  she  had  waited,  and  her 
 hope  was  lost,  then  she  took  another  of 
 her  whelps,  and  made  him  a  young  lion. 
 (6>  And  he  went  up  and  down  among  the 
 lions,  he  became  a  young  lion,  and 
 learned  to  catch  the  prey,  and  devoured 
 men.  P)  And  he  knew  l  their  desolate 
 palaces,  and  he  laid  waste  their  cities ; 
 and  the  land  was  desolate,  and  the  ful- 
 ness thereof,  by  the  noise  of  his  roaring. 
 <8>  Then  the  nations  set  against  him  on 
 every  side  from  the  provinces,  and  spread 
 
 ,     2    Kill.    23    33 
 
 Jer.9S.ll. 
 
 l  Or,  their  widows. 
 
 2  Or,  in  hooks. 
 
 3  Or,  in  thy  quiet- 
 ness.  or,  in  th;/ 
 likeness. 
 
 b  Hos.  13.  15. 
 
 their  net  over  him :  he  was  taken  in 
 their  pit.  <9'  And  they  put  him  in  ward 
 2  in  chains,  and  brought  him  to  the  king 
 of  Babylon :  they  brought  him  into 
 holds,  that  his  voice  should  no  more  be 
 heard  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel. 
 
 (10)  Thy  mother  is  like  a  vine  3  in  thy 
 blood,  planted  by  the  waters  :  she  was 
 fruitful  and  full  of  branches  by  reason 
 of  many  waters.  <n>  And  she  had 
 strong  rods  for  the  sceptres  of  them  that 
 bare  rule,  and  her  stature  was  exalted 
 among  the  thick  branches,  and  she  ap- 
 peared in  her  height  with  the  multitude 
 of  her  branches.  (12)  But  she  was 
 plucked  up  in  fury,  she  was  cast  down 
 to  the  ground,  and  the  *  east  wind  dried 
 up  her  fruit :  her  strong  rods  were 
 broken  and  withered ;  the  fire  consumed 
 them.     (13)  And  now  she  is  planted   in 
 
 Scripture  (see  Gen.  xlix.  9  ;  Numb,  xxiii.  24,  xxiv.  9), 
 and  was  also  familiar  in  Babylonia. 
 
 (3)  It  became  a  young  lion. — There  can  be  no 
 doubt  (see  verse  4)  of  the  reference  of  this  to  Jehoahaz. 
 After  the  death  of  Josiah,  "  the  people  of  the  land 
 took  Jehoahaz,  the  son  of  Josiah  .  .  .  and  made  him 
 king"  (2  Kings  xxiii.  30).  In  verse  6  Jelioiachin  is 
 also  spoken  of  particularly.  These  two  are  mentioned 
 as  examples  of  all  the  other  kings  after  Josiah. 
 Jehoiakim  and  Zcdekiah  are  simply  passed  over, 
 although  it  may  be  that  the  prophet  looked  upon  them 
 as  creatures  of  Pharaoh  and  Nebuchadnezzar  rather 
 than  as  legitimate  kings  of  Israel.  Jehoiakim,  more- 
 over, died  in  Jerusalem,  and  Zedekiak  was  at  this 
 moment  still  upon  the  throne. 
 
 It  devoured  men. — Thisatonee keeps  up  the  figure, 
 and  has  also  its  special  justification  in  the  evil  courses 
 of  Jehoahaz  (2  Kings  xxiii.  321  He  is  represented  as 
 growing  up  and  being  like  the  heathen  kings  around. 
 See  also,  in  verse  2,  Israel  as  a  whole  is  represented  as 
 going  aside  from  her  high  calling  as  a  theocracy,  and 
 making  herself  "  like  the  nations  round  about." 
 
 (i)  Brought  him  with  chains  unto  the  land 
 of  Egypt. — Jehoahaz  was  conquered  by  Pharaoh- 
 iiecho,  deposed,  and  carried  captive  (2  Kings  xxiii.  33; 
 2  Chron.  xxxvi.  4).  "  Chains "  is  literally  nose-rings, 
 keeping  up  the  figure  of  the  lion.  In  the  first  part  of 
 the  verse  also  there  is  allusion  to  the  custom  of  assem. 
 bling  the  neighbourhood  to  secure  a  lion  or  other  wild 
 beast. 
 
 (5)  Another  of  her  whelps.  —  After  the  three 
 months'  reign  of  Jehoahaz,  his  brother  Jehoiakim  was 
 appointed  king  by  Pharaoh  (2  Kings  xxiii.  34).  He 
 was  conquered  and  "bound  in  fetters"  by  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, with  the  intention  of  carrying  him  to  Babylon 
 (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  7) :  he  died,  however,  in  disgrace 
 in  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xxiv.  6  ;  comp.  Jer.  xxii.  18,  19), 
 and  was  succeeded  regularly  by  his  son  Jehoiachin 
 without  foreign  interference.  His  character,  as  shown 
 in  verses  6,  7  (comp.  2  Kings  xxiv.  9;  2  Chron.  xxxvi. 
 9).  was  evil  like  that  of  his  father. 
 
 (")  Knew  their  desolate  palaces. — This  verse 
 continues  to  describe  the  abominations  of  Jehoiachin's 
 ways.      The  word    "  desolate   palaces,"   although   de- 
 
 fended by  some  authorities,  should  be  rendered,  as  in 
 the  margin,  widows.  The  mention  of  the  king's  vio- 
 lation of  these  is  an  unavoidable  departure  from  the 
 figure,  such  as  often  occurs  in  Ezekiel. 
 
 <8)  The  nations. — As  in  verse  4,  for  one  nation :  in 
 that  case  Egypt,  in  this  Babylon.  The  plural  is  natu- 
 rally used,  as  several  nations  were  concerned  in  the  whole 
 history,  of  which  single  particulars  only  are  here  men- 
 tioned. 
 
 (9)  Brought  him  to  the  king  of  Babylon.— 
 2  Kings  xxiv.  8 — 17.  Jehoiachin  reigned  oidy  three 
 months  when  Jerusalem  was  conquered  by  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. He  "  went  out  to  the  king  of  Babylon,"  but 
 only  because  he  could  not  help  doing  so,  and  was  carried 
 to  Babylon  and  put  in  prison,  where  he  was  still  living 
 at  the  time  of  this  prophecy.  It  was  not  till  many 
 years  later  that  he  was  released  (Jer.  lii.  31,  32 1. 
 
 (10)  A  vine  in  thy  blood. — The  figure  here  changes 
 to  the  more  common  one  of  a  vine,  yet  by  no  means  the 
 "  vine  of  low  stature  "  of  chap.  xvii.  6 ;  it  is  rather  a 
 strong  and  goodly  vine.  The  phrase  "  in  thy  blood  "  is. 
 obscure,  and  has  occasioned  much  perplexity  to  the 
 commentators.  Some  of  the  ancient  versions  and  some 
 manuscripts  have  modified  the  text ;  but  the  meaning 
 seems  to  be,  if  the  text  is  taken  as  it  stands.  "  Thy 
 mother  is  like  a  vine  living  in  the  blood  (i.e.,  in  the  life) 
 of  her  children."  This  would  then  be  a  statement 
 amplified  in  the  following,  "  fruitful  and  full  of 
 branches."  The  general  sense  is  plain :  Israel  is  de- 
 scribed as  having  been  planted  a  strong  and  fruitful 
 vine,  with  every  advantage  for  growth  and  full  develop- 
 ment. 
 
 (ii)  Thick  branches  shotdd  rather  be  translated 
 clouds.  It  is  a  hyperbolical  expression  in  the  figure, 
 to  expi-ess  the  excellence  of  the  vine  of  Isi-ael. 
 
 (i2)  She  was  plucked  up.— With  the  captivity  of 
 Jehoiachin  and  a  part  of  the  people  the  desolation  had 
 begun.  Much  still  remained  to  be  accomplished,  but  it 
 was  now  close  at  hand ;  and  the  prophet  speaks  of  it  in 
 the  past  tense,  as  if  he  saw  it  already  fulfilled. 
 
 <13)  In  a  dry  and  thirsty  ground. — Such  was 
 Babylon  to  Israel  in  its  national  relations,  and  even 
 after  the  return  from  the  exile  the  Jews  never  rose 
 agaiu  to  much  importance  among  the  nations  of  the 
 
 251 
 
Qod  Refute* 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XX. 
 
 /.,  /„  Enquired  "f. 
 
 the  wilderness,  in  a  dry  and  thirsts 
 ground.  '"'  And  fire  is  gone  onl  of  ;i 
 n>il  of  her  branches,  which  hath  de- 
 voured In  i-  Emit,  so  that  she  hath  no 
 strong  roil  /,*  /..  a  Bceptre  to  role.  This 
 it  a  lamentation,  and  shall  be  for  a 
 lamentation. 
 
 <  IIAPTER  XX.-0  And  it  came  t<> 
 pass    in    the  seventh  year,   in   the   fifth 
 
 ■month,  the  tenth  d<tij  of  the  month,  Unit 
 
 certain  of  the  elders  of  [sraelcameto 
 enquire  of  the  Lokd,  and  sat  before  me. 
 
 W)  Then  eanie  the  word  of  the  Loud  unto 
 
 me,  Baying,  i:i  Son  of  man,  speak  unto 
 
 I    nr.    t'Uifl  for 
 
 :;  d  Z>. 
 
 Ri 
 
 3  Or,  nenre:  and 
 
 <•,  &iC. 
 
 Y.\  3.8;  &  J.  31 
 
 the  elders  of  Lim-l,  and  say  unto  them, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  Got  ;   Are  ye  i  onu; 
 
 to  enquire  of  meP     Am  1  lire,  Baith  the 
 
 Lord  God,  I  will  not  !>••  enquired  of  by 
 you.  ,l'  Wilt  thou  '  judge  them,  son 
 of  man,  wilt  thou  judge  them  '■   cause 
 
 them  to  know  the  a  humiliations  of  their 
 fathers:  '"and  say  unto  them.  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God  ;  In  the  day  wh.-n  I 
 i  hose  Israel,  and  -  lifted   up  mine   hand 
 
 unto  the  s 1  of  the  house  of  Jacob,  and 
 
 made  myself  *  known  unto  them  in  tic- 
 land  of  Egypt,  when  I  lilted  op  mine 
 hand  unto  them.  Baying,  I  am  the  Loud 
 your  God  ;   '     in  the  day  llml  1  lifted  up 
 
 e 
 
 earth;  but  meantime  they  were  being  disciplined,  that 
 at  [east  a  few  of  them  might  be  prepared  for  the  plant- 
 ing among  them  of  that  kingdom  not  of  tliis  world, 
 
 .spoken  i if  at  the  close  of  chap,  xvi.,  which  should  fill 
 
 the  whole  earth. 
 
 • '  'i  Firo  is  gone  out  of  a  rod  of  her  branches. 
 — The  rods,  as  shown  in  verse  11.  are  the  royal  sceptres 
 of  her  kind's.  It  was  by  the  *in  and  folly  of  these 
 kings,  together  with  the  sins  and  follies  of  the  whole 
 teople,  that  judgment  was  drawn  down  upon  them, 
 of  them  did  their  full  Bhare  of  theevil  work; 
 inn  a  "rod"  is  here  spoken  of  in  the  singular,  with 
 
 especial     reference    to    the    last     kiiu,'.    Zodckiall,    who 
 
 finally  brought  on  the  otter  ruin  of  both  himself  ami 
 his  people. 
 
 This  is  .  .  .  and  shall  be.- It  is  a  lamentation 
 now  in  the  half  accomplished  desolation;  it  shall 
 remain  for  a  lamentation  when  all  shall  be  fulfilled. 
 
 XX. 
 
 lleiv  begins  ■  new  series  of  prophecies,  extending  to 
 the  close  of  chap,  xxiii..  and  immediately  called  out 
 (verse  L),  like  chap,  xir.,  by  an  inquiry  on  the  part  of 
 the  elders  of  Israel.  The  Bubjeet  of  the  inquiry  is  not 
 given  in  either  ease,  and  can  only  be  inferred  from  the 
 prophecy  itself .  This  series  begins  a  little  more  than 
 two  years  (two  years,  one  month,  and  five  day-  after 
 I0/.okiel's  rail  to  the  prophotie  otliee  (chap.  1.2  .or  a 
 little  less  than  a  year  i exactly  eleven  month-,  and  five 
 
 days  ;  com  p.  verse  1  with  chap.  viii.  1  after  tin-  beginning 
 
 of  the  former  series;    and   it  is  just  two  years  and  five 
 
 month-  (chap.  x\i\.   I    before  another  series   begins. 
 
 illowlng  series   is  simultaneous  in  date  with  the 
 
 commencement  of  the  final  sire.-  of  Jerusalem,  and  this 
 
 series  therefore,  in  part  at  least,  mu-t  have  extended 
 ever  the  time  of   the  preparations  for  the  Bisge,  when 
 
 generals  and  armies  wen-  marching  out  for  the  destruc- 
 tion of  Jerusalem  and  the  removal  of  the  people.     At 
 
 fUis  near  approach  of  the  long-threatened  judgments 
 these  prophecies  take  a  peculiarly  dark  and  gloomy 
 
 tone,  relieved  only  by  the  briefest  intimation-  of  distant 
 
 Rood.  They  are  for  the  most  part  couched  in  plain 
 language,    though   falling   occasionally,  especially  in 
 
 chap,  xxiii..  more  or  less  into  an  allegorical  form. 
 
 Chapter  xx.  r rants  the  history  of  [srael  along  with 
 
 the  often  repeated  Warnings  given,  and  may  lie  com- 
 pared With  Nell,  ix.;    Ps.  lxxviii..  and  the  speech  of  St. 
 
 Stephen  iii  Arts  \ii.  It  i-  also  to  a  large  extent  a  more 
 literal  repetition  of  the  allegory  of  chap.  xvi.    Alter  the 
 
 first  four  introductory  verses,  the  chapter  falls  into  two 
 
 main  portions,  the  lirst  of  which  i  verses  5 — 31 1  is  sub- 
 divided into  the  sections,  corresponding  to  as  many 
 marked  periods  iu  the  history  of  Israel. 
 
 (')  Came  to  enquire.— It  does  not  appear  that  the 
 elders  actually  proposed  their  enquiry.    It  douhtless 
 
 had  relation  not  to  personal  affairs,  hut  to  the  welfaro 
 of  the  nation,  and  in  this  prophecy  the  Lord  meet-  their 
 unspoken  question. 
 
 <3»  I  will  not  be  enquired  of  by  you.— As  in 
 chap.  xiv.  3.  St.  Jerome  thus  comments  on  the  words: 
 — ••  To  the  holy,  and  to  those  who  ask  for  right  tilings, 
 the  promise  is  given, 'While  they  are  yet  speaking,  I 
 will  say.  Here  I  am; '  but  to  -inners,  such  as  these  elders 
 of  Israel  were,  and   as  those   whose    sins   the   prophet 
 
 proceeds  to  describe,  no  answer  is  given,  hut  only  a 
 
 fierce  rebuke  for  their  sins,  to  which  He  add-  Hi-  oath, 
 ■A-  1  live,1  to  strengthen  His  solemn  refusal." 
 
 (*)  Wilt  thou  judge  them?— The  form  of  tho 
 repeated  question  is  equivalent  to  an  imperative — judge 
 
 them.    Instead  of  allowing  their  enquiry  and  entreaty 
 
 for  the  averting  of  judgment, the  prophet  is  directed  to 
 set  In-fore  them  their  long  series  of  aposta-ies  and 
 provocations.  "  Judge  "  is  used  in  the  sense  of  "  bring 
 to  trial."  "prefer  charges." 
 
 tit  When  I  chose  Israel.—  In  verses  5—8  the 
 Lord  take-  upthe  first,  or  Egyptian  period  of  the  history 
 
 of  Israel.     The  record  of  that  period,  as  it  has  i te  to 
 
 us  in  the  Pentateuch,  doe-  not  contain  cither  any  com- 
 mands against  idolatry,  or  any  notice  of  the  rebellion  of 
 the  people  against  such  command  ;  but  both  arc  clearly 
 implied.      The  very  mission  of  ICosea  to  deliver  them 
 
 ed  upon   a  covenant  by  whii-h  they  were  to  be  the 
 
 peculiar  people  of  Jehovah  (ExocLvi  2 — I);  the  com- 
 mand to  go  into  the  wildernes-  to  sacrifice  to  the  Lord 
 
 implies  that  thi-  was  a  duty  neglected  in  Egypt  ;  and 
 their  previous  habitual  idolatries  may  be  certainly  in- 
 ferred from  Lev.  xvii.  7.  while  the  disposition  of  their 
 hearts  is  seen  in  their  prompt  relapse  into  the  idolatry 
 of  the  golden  ealf  in  Exod.  xxxii.  Their  whole  inur- 
 mnrings  and  rebellions  were  but  the  manifestation  of 
 their  resistance  to  having  the  Lord  for  their  God, and 
 His  will  for  their  guide. 
 
 Lifted  up  mine  hand— As  the  form  of  taking  an 
 
 oath  see  ver-e  23  and  chap.  xl\ii.  1  I  ■.  The  reference  i- 
 to  -neh  passages  a-  Gen.  xv.  17 — '21  ;  Exod.  vi.  8  ;  Dent. 
 xxxii.  |e.  a..-.    The  phrase  i-  repeated  in  ver-e  >'<,  which 
 
 is  a  continuation  of  ver-e  5. 
 
 (61  The  glory  Of  all  lands.— So  Pale-tine  i-  eon- 
 -tantly  spoken  of.  both  iu  the  promise  and  iu  its  fulfil- 
 
Israel's  Rebellion  in  Egypt, 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XX. 
 
 and  in  the  Wilderness. 
 
 mine  hand  unto  them,  to  bring  them 
 forth  of  the  land  of  Egypt  into  a  land 
 that  I  had  espied  for  them,  flowing  with 
 milk  and  honey,  which  is  the  glory  of 
 all  lands  :  <7)  then  said  I  unto  them, 
 Cast  ye  away  eveiy  man  the  abomi- 
 nations of  his  eyes,  and  defile  not  your- 
 selves with  the  idols  of  Egypt :  I  am 
 the  Lord  your  God.  <8>  But  they  re- 
 belled against  me,  and  would  not 
 hearken  unto  me  :  they  did  not  every 
 man  cast  away  the  abominations  of  their 
 •^yes,  neither  did  they  forsake  the  idols 
 of  Egypt :  then  I  said,  I  will  pour  out 
 my  fury  upon  them,  to  accomplish  my 
 anger  against  them  in  the  midst  of  the 
 land  of  Egypt.  <9>  But  I  wrought  for 
 my  name's  sake,  that  it  should  not  be 
 polluted  before  the  heathen,  among 
 whom  they  were,  in  whose  sight  I  made 
 myself  known  unto  them,  in  bringing 
 them  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 
 
 1  Heb.,  wade  than 
 to  know. 
 
 b  Lev.  18. 5 ;  Rom, 
 10. 5 ;  Gal.  S.  12. 
 
 c  Ex.  20.  6;  Cc  SI 
 13,  4c. ;  &  36.  2 , 
 Diut.5.  IS. 
 
 e  Num.  11.  29  ;    & 
 
 do)  Wherefore  I "  caused  them  to  go 
 forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
 brought  them  into  the  wilderness. 
 (n>  And  I  gave  them  my  statutes,  and 
 1  shewed  them  my  judgments,  b  which  if 
 a  man  do,  he  shall  even  live  in  them. 
 <13>  Moreover  also  I  gave  them  my 
 c  sabbaths,  to  be  a  sign  between  me  and 
 them,  that  they  might  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord  that  sanctify  them.  <13>  But 
 the  house  of  Israel  rebelled  against  me 
 in  the  wilderness :  they  walked  not  in 
 my  statutes,  and  they  despised  my  judg- 
 ments, which  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  even 
 live  in  them ;  and  my  sabbaths  they 
 greatly  d  polluted  :  then  I  said,  I  would 
 pour  out  my  fury  upon  them  in  the 
 e  wilderness,  to  consume  them.  <u>  But 
 I  wrought  for  my  name's  sake,  that  it 
 should  not  be  polluted  before  the 
 heathen, 
 them  out. 
 
 in    whose    sight   I   brought 
 
 nient.  (Conip.  Dan.  xi.  16.)  However  strange  this  may 
 seem  to  ns  now  in  regard  to  parts  of  the  land,  after 
 centuries  of  desolation,  misrule,  and  oppression,  it  is 
 plain  from  Josh,  xxiii.  Lt,  and  many  other  passages, 
 that  at  the  time  the  Israelites  entered  upon  its  possession 
 it  fulfilled  their  utmost  expectation. 
 
 (8)  The  land  of  Egypt.— Of  this  idolatrous  re- 
 bellion, and  of  this  threat  of  the  Divine  anger  while 
 they  were  still  in  Egypt,  as  already  said,  we  have  no 
 specific  record.  But  they  had  the  same  disposition 
 then  as  they  had  afterwards ;  and,  even  without  such  a 
 charge,  we  could  infer  the  probability  of  their  idolatry. 
 It  is  possible  that  the  prophet  may  have  had  in  mind 
 such  incidents  as  are  related  in  Num.  xiv.  11 — 20,  hap- 
 pening while  the  Israelites  were  still  in  the  neighbour- 
 hood of  Egypt,  and  when  the  report  of  them  would 
 speedily  have  reached  Egyptian  ears.  It  is  by  no  means 
 necessary  to  suppose  that  in  this  broad  and  general 
 review  of  the  teachings  of  history  each  incident  is  kept 
 in  its  strict  chronological  place.  Yet  idolatry  in  Egypt 
 is  distinctly  charged  upon  the  Israelites  in  chap.  xvi. 
 3,  19,  and  this  verse  may  well  refer  to  God's  judgment 
 for  this  sin  suspended  and  delayed  while  they  were  in 
 Egypt  lest  it  should  be  misunderstood  by  the  heathen. 
 
 (9)  For  my  name's  sake.— This  is  the  express 
 ground  of  Moses'  pleading  for  the  people  in  the  passage 
 just  referred  to,  and  again  in  Exod.  xxxii.  12  ;  Deut. 
 ix.  28 ;  and  it  is  repeatedly  given,  as  in  Deut.  xxxii.  27, 
 28,  as  the  ground  on  which  the  Lord  spared  His  rebel- 
 lious people.  Had  they  been  treated  according  to  their 
 deserts,  and  destroyed  for  their  sins,  the  heathen  would 
 have  said  that  God  was  unable  to  deliver  them. 
 
 (10)  Brought  them  into  the  wilderness. — 
 Here  begins  the  second  period  of  the  history  under  re- 
 view— viz.,  the  earlier  part  of  the  life  in  the  wilderness 
 (verses  10 — 17).  It  includes  the  exodus,  the  giving  of 
 the  law,  the  setting  up  of  the  tabernacle,  the  establish- 
 ment of  the  priesthood,  and  the  march  to  Kadesh.  By 
 all  this  the  nation  was  constituted  most  distinctly 
 the  people  of  God,  and  brought  into  the  closest  cove- 
 nant relation  with  him. 
 
 (U)  He  shall  even  live  in  them.  — Comp. 
 Deut.  xxx.  15—20.  It  becomes  plain,  on  a  careful 
 perusal  of  this  passage,  that  what  was  required  was  not 
 a  mere  outward,  technical,  and  perfunctory  keeping  of 
 certain  definite  precepts,  but  a  living  and  loving  obe- 
 dience to  God's  will  from  the  heart.  The  same  funda- 
 mental principle  of  life  underlies  the  Old  Testament  as 
 the  New ;  yet  the  former  is  justly  regarded,  and  fre- 
 quently spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament,  as  a  covenant 
 of  works,  because  the  people  were  not  yet  sufficiently 
 educated  spiritually  to  be  able  to  receive  the  principle 
 of  faith,  and  were  therefore  placed  under  a  law  of  many 
 definite  precepts,  that  by  keeping  these  with  glad 
 alacrity  they  might  show  their  readiness  and  desire  to 
 do  the  Lord's  will.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  a  man  should 
 live  by  doing  the  statutes  of  the  law,  and  not  on  the 
 ground  of  his  thereby  earning  for  himself  salvation. 
 But  even  thus,  they  failed  miserably  under  the  test. 
 
 <12)  I  gave  them  my  sabbaths. — "Not because 
 it  is  of  Moses,  but  of  the  fathers"  (John  vii.  22).  The 
 Sabbath,  like  circumcision,  was  an  institution  far  older 
 than  the  period  here  spoken  of,  but  was  now  commanded 
 anew,  and  made  the  especial  pledge  of  the  covenant 
 between  God  and  His  people.  The  verse  is  a  quotation 
 from  Exod.  xxxi.  13  ;  and  every  one  must  have  remarked 
 the  great  stress  everywhere  laid  in  the  Old  Testament 
 upon  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  prominence 
 given  to  it  among  the  privileges  of  the  Divine  covenant. 
 It  is  plain  that  the  day  is  regarded  not  in  its  mere 
 outward  character,  as  a  day  of  rest,  but  as  "  a  sign  "  of 
 the  covenant,  and  a  means  of  realising  it  in  the  study 
 of  God's  word,  and  the  communion  of  the  soul  with 
 Him.  It  is  in  these  latter  aspects  also  that  the  weekly 
 day  of  rest  still  retains  its  inestimable  value — that  men 
 "  might  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  that  sanctify  them." 
 
 (13)  Rebelled  against  me. — See  Exod.  xxxii.  1 — 6; 
 Num.  xiv.  1 — 1,  xvi.,  xxv.  1 — 3 ;  and  for  the  desecration 
 of  the  Sabbath  in  particular,  Exod.  xvi.  27;  Num.  xv.  32. 
 
 I  will  pour  out  my  fury.  —  Comp.  Exod. 
 xxxii.  10 ;  Num.  xv.  12 ;  and  on  verse  14  comp.  Note  on 
 verse  9. 
 
 256 
 
Qod  Span  <l  ih,  in. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XX. 
 
 Th&y  Rebelled  further. 
 
 <15>  Yet  also  I  lifted  up  my  hand  onto 
 them  in  the  wilderness,  thai  1  would  no1 
 bring  them  into  the  land  which  I  had 
 given  them,  flowing  with  milk  and 
 honey,  which  in  the  glory  of  all  lands; 
 ("')  because  they  despised  my  judgments, 
 and  walked  not  in  my  statutes,  but 
 polluted  my  sabbaths :  for  their  heart 
 went  after  their  idols.  "">  Nevertheless 
 mine  eye  spared  them  from  destroying 
 them,  neither  did  I  make  an  end  of  them 
 in  the  wilderness.  (18)  But  I  said  unto 
 their  children  in  the  wilderness,  Walk 
 \e  n<  it  iii  the  statutes  of  your  fathers, 
 neither  observe  their  judgments,  nor 
 defile  yourselves  with  their  idols  :  P*J  I 
 urn  the  Loud  your  God  ;  walk  in  my 
 statutes,  and  keep  my  judgments,  and 
 do  them  ;  IJ"'  and  hallow  my  sabbaths  ; 
 and  they  shall  be  a  sign  between  me 
 and  you,  that  ye  may  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord  your  God.     (21)  Notwithstand- 
 
 ing the  children  rebelled  against  me: 
 tley  walked  not  in  m\  statutes,  neither 
 kepi  ni\  judgments  to  do  them,  which 
 
 if  a  man  do,  he  shall  even  live  in  them  ; 
 they  polluted  my  sabbaths  :  then  1  said, 
 I  would  pour  Out  niy  fury  upon  them,  to 
 accomplish  my  anger  againsl  them  in 
 the  wilderness.  I--'  Nevertheless  I  with- 
 drew mine  hand,  and  wrought  for  my 
 name's  sake,  that  it  should  not  be 
 polluted  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  in 
 whose  si^ht  I  brought  them  forth. 
 
 I  lifted  up  mine  hand  unto  them 
 also  in  the  wilderness,  that  I  would 
 scatter  them  among  the  heathen,  and 
 disperse  them  through  the  countries; 
 (**)  because  they  had  not  executed  my 
 judgments,  but  haddespisedmy  statutes, 
 and  had  polluted  my  sabbaths,  and  their 
 eyes  were  after  their  fathers'  idols. 
 (2.r.)  Wherefore  I  gave  them  also  statutes 
 tint   were    not    good,    and    judgments 
 
 (!•'•)  I  would  not  bring  them  into  the  land.— 
 Num.  xiv.  28,  -'-K     In  consequence  of  their  rebellion 
 
 nml  want  of  faith,  all  the  men  above  twenty  years  old 
 when   they   came   out  of  Egypt    were   doomed    by  the 
 
 Divine  oath  to  perish  in  the  wilderness.     Vet  lie  did 
 
 nut  utterly  take  His  mercy  from  them,  but  promised 
 that  their  children  should  bo  brought  into  the  land,  as 
 is  set  forth  in  verse  17. 
 
 PS)  Unto  their  children.— The  prophet  comes 
 now  to  the  third  part  of  liis  historical  retrospect  I  verses 
 ]8 — 2ii| — the  generation  which  grew  up  in  t he  free  air 
 of  the  wilderness,  and  under  the  influence  of  the  legis- 
 lation and  institutions  given  at  Sinai.  At  the  same 
 time,   it  would    lie  a   mistake   to  confine   what  he   says 
 
 exclusively  to  thai  generation.     Tn  this,  as  in  the  other 
 
 parts  of  the  discourse,  he  regards  Israel  as  a  whole,  and 
 while  speaking  of  one  period  of  their  history  especially. 
 yet    treats  of  national   characteristics  which   may   have 
 
 come  to  their  most  marked  development  only  at  i  later 
 time.     This    generation    was  very   earnestly  warned 
 
 against  the  sins  of  their  fathers,  ami  exhorted  to 
 obedience  to  the  Divine  law.  The  whole  Book  of 
 Deuteronomy  is  the  comment  on  verses  18 — '20. 
 
 '-'>  The  children  rebelled.—  Tho  history  of  the 
 wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  given  in  Exodus  and 
 Numbers,  offers  abundant  illustrations  of  the  truth  of 
 
 this  and  the  following  verse. 
 
 -■  I  would  scatter  them  among  the  heathen. 
 — This  threatening  was  not  designed  to  be  fulfilled  in 
 that  immediate  generation,  as  abundantly  appears  from 
 
 Lev.  xxvi.  33;  Dent.  iv.  27,  xxvii.  64,  and  the  other 
 passages  in  which  it  is  given,  especially  Dent.  xxix.  and 
 
 xxx.     It  was  given  to  that  generation  as  representing 
 
 the  nation,  but  was  only  to  be  carried  out  when,  by  I 
 long  course  of  obdurate   sin,  it    should    be  shewn   tube 
 
 imperatively   required.      The    threat    had   now    been 
 
 already  realised  in  part,  and  was  mi  the  eve  of  being 
 fully  accomplished.  It  was  important  that  the  people 
 should    be   made  to  understand  that    this   had   been  the 
 
 Divino  waning  from  the  beginning,  and  that  in  its 
 fulfilment  they  were  only  receiving  that  punishment 
 
 156  -''■ 
 
 which  had  always  been  designed  for  such  sin  as  they 
 
 had  commit  ted. 
 
 (25)  Statutes  that  were  not  good.— In  this  verse 
 
 the  general  statement  is  made  of  which  a  particular 
 instance  is  given  in  the  next.  The  "statutes  that 
 were  not  good,  and  judgments  whereby  they  should  not 
 live."  cannot  be  the  same  with  those  described  in  vena 
 11  as  "judgments  which,  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  even 
 live  in  them."  They  are  not.  therefore,  to  be  under- 
 stood (as  many  of  the  fathers  took  tin m  of  any  part 
 of  the  Mosaic  law.  Neither  is  it  a  sufficient  explana- 
 tion to  say  that  God  gave  them  wdiat  was  intrinsically 
 good,  but  it  became  evil  to  them  through  their  sins; 
 such  a  view  of  the  law  is  emphatically  discarded  in 
 Rom.  vii.  13.  The  statutes  of  the  Mosaic  law  are  not 
 intended  here  at  all.  as  is  plain  from  the  particular 
 instance  of  the  consecration  of  children  to  Moloch  in 
 the   next    verse.    These  evil   statutes  and  judgmi 
 
 were  those  adopted  from  the  heathen  whom  they  had 
 suffered  to  dwell  among  them,  and  from  the  surround- 
 ing nations.  But  how  can  the  Lord  say  thai  //•  gave 
 th.se  to  them?  In  the  same  way  that  it  is  said  in 
 Isa.  Ixiii.  17,  "O  Lord,  why  hast  thou  made  us  to  err 
 from  Thy  ways,  and  hardened  our  heart  from  Thy 
 fear?"  So  also  St.  Paul  says  of  the  heathen  (Rom.  i. 
 21 — 281  that  God  "gave  them  up  to  uneleannet 
 "  unto  vile  affections,  "  t"  a  reprobate  mind  ]  "  and  of 
 certain  wicked  persons  (2  These,  ii.  11.  1 12 1  "God 
 shall  send  them  strong  delusion,  that  they  should 
 believe  a  lie:  that  they  all  might  be  damned  who 
 believe  not  the  truth."  And  St.  Stephen  says  of  these 
 very  Israelites  at  this  very  time.  "  God  gave  them  up 
 to  worship  the  host  of  heaven  "(Acts  \ii.  12).  It  is 
 part  of  that  universal  moral  government  of  the  world, 
 
 to    which    E/.ekiel   so   frequently  refers,  that    the  effect 
 
 of  disobedience  and  neglect  of  grace  is  to  lead  the 
 sinner  mi  to  greater  sin.  The  Israelites  rebelled 
 againsl  the  Divine  government,  and  neglected  the 
 grace  given  them:  the  natural  consequence  was  that 
 they  fell  under  the  influence  of  the  Heathen.  Comp. 
 Note  on  chap.  xiv.  9. 
 
They  Rebelled  in  Canaan  also. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XX. 
 
 God  will  Punish  them. 
 
 whereby  they  should  not  live ;  (26)  and  I 
 polluted  them  in  their  own  gifts,  in  that 
 they  caused  to  pass  "  through  the  fire  all 
 that  openeth  the  womb,  that  I  might 
 make  them  desolate,  to  the  end  that 
 they  might  know  that  I  am  the  Lord. 
 
 (27)  Therefore,  son  of  man,  speak  unto 
 the  house  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Yet  in  this 
 your  fathers  have  blasphemed  me,  in 
 that  they  have *  committed  a  trespass 
 ao-ainst  me.  (28>  For  when  I  had  brought 
 them  into  the  land,  for  the  which  I 
 lifted  up  mine  hand  to  give  it  to  them, 
 then  they  saw  every  high  hill,  and  all 
 the  thick  trees,  and  they  offered  there 
 their  sacrifices,  and  there  they  presented 
 the  provocation  of  their  offering :  there 
 also  they  made  their  sweet  savour,  and 
 poured  out  there  their  drink  offerings. 
 <29>  Then 2 1  said  unto  them,  What  is  the 
 high  place  whereunto  ye  go  ?  And  the 
 name  thereof  is  called  Bamah  unto  this 
 day. 
 
 1  Hell.,  trespassed 
 a  trespass. 
 
 2  Or,  /  told  them 
 what  the  hujli 
 place  was,  or, 
 Bamah. 
 
 (30)  Wherefore  say  unto  the  house  of 
 Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Are 
 ye  polluted  after  the  manner  of  your 
 fathers  ?  and  commit  ye  whoredom 
 after  their  abominations  ?  <31>  For  when 
 ye  offer  your  gifts,  when  ye  make  your 
 sons  to  pass  through  the  fire,  ye  pollute 
 yourselves  with  all  your  idols,  even  unto 
 this  day  :  and  shall  I  be  enquired  of  by 
 you,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  As  I  live,  saith 
 the  Lord  God,  I  will  not  be  enquired  of 
 by  you.  <32>  And  that  which  cometh 
 into  your  mind  shall  not  be  at  all,  that 
 ye  say,  We  will  be  as  the  heathen,  as  the 
 families  of  the  countries,  to  serve  wood 
 and  stone. 
 
 (33)  ^s  j  iiVg5  saith  the  Lord  God, 
 surely  with  a  mighty  hand,  and  with  a 
 stretched  out  arm,  and  with  fury  poured 
 out,  will  I  rule  over  you :  '34)  and  I  will 
 bring  you  out  from  the  people,  and  will 
 gather  you  out  of  the  countries  wherein 
 ye  are  scattered,  with  a  mighty  hand, 
 and  with  a  stretched  out  arm,  and  with 
 
 (26)  To  pass  through  the  fire. — The  word  "  fire  " 
 here,  as  in  chaps,  xvi.  21  and  xxiii.  37,  is  not  in  the 
 original,  but  is  rightly  supplied  from  verse  31.  The 
 custom  referred  to  was  probably  that  of  consecrating 
 their  seed  to  Moloch,  expressly  forbidden  in  Lev.  xx. 
 1 — 5.  (Oomp.  also  Acts  vii.  43.)  The  causing  children 
 to  pass  through  the  fire  continued  a  common  sin  even 
 to  the  later  days  of  the  monarchy  (2  Kings  xvii.  17, 
 xxi.  6). 
 
 (27)  Your  fathers  have  blasphemed  me.— The 
 fourth  period  of  Israelitish  history,  though  actually 
 far  the  longest,  is  very  briefly  passed  over  (verses  27 — 
 29).  It  includes  the  whole  period  of  the  settlement  in 
 Canaan,  from  the  conquest  to  the  prophet's  own  time, 
 and  was  marked  by  the  same  characteristics  as  before. 
 The  particular  way  here  specified  by  which  they  blas- 
 phemed was  by  the  erection  of  idolatrous  altars  on 
 every  high  place. 
 
 (29)  Is  called  Bamah.  —  Bamah  itself  means 
 high  place.  Some  have  fancied  that  the  word  is 
 derived  from  the  two  words  "  go  "  and  "  where,"  and 
 therefore  that  it  contains  a  play  upon  the  question  in 
 the  first  part  of  the  verse  ;  but  this  etymology  must 
 be  considered  fanciful. 
 
 (30)  Are  ye  polluted? — This  and  the  two  following 
 verses  constitute  the  fifth  and  concluding  portion  of 
 this  historical  review,  and  relate  to  the  then  existing 
 generation.  The  questions  asked  answer  themselves, 
 and  yet  in  the  following  verse  are  answered  for  the 
 sake  of  emphasis.  They  bring  home  to  Ezekiel's  own 
 contemporaries  the  sins  which  had  characterised  their 
 race  through  nearly  all  the  ages  of  their  history,  and 
 show  the  justice  of  those  long-threatened  judgments 
 which  were  now  bursting  upon  them. 
 
 (31)  I  will  not  be  enquired  of  by  you. — 
 This  takes  up  the  refrain  of  verse  3,  and  with  the 
 following  verse  fitly  closes  this  portion  of  the  prophecy 
 which  was  introduced  by  the  coining  of  the  elders  to 
 enquire. 
 
 (32)  As  the  heathen.— The  desire  to  be  "  like  the 
 nations  that  are  round  about,"  had  long  been  a  ruling 
 ambition  with  the  Israelites,  as  shown  in  their  original 
 desire  for  a  king  (1  Sam.  viii.  5,  20),  and  this  desire,  as 
 shown  in  the  text,  had  been  one  chief  reason  for  their 
 tendency  to  idolatry. 
 
 The  second  part  of  this  prophecy  extends  from  verse 
 33  to  verse  44,  where  the  chapter  closes  in  the  Hebrew, 
 and  it  would  have  been  better  if  the  same  division  had 
 been  observed  in  the  English,  as  the  fresh  prophecy  of 
 verses  45 — 49  is  more  closely  connected  with  the  follow- 
 ing chapter.  The  object  of  this  concluding  part  of  the 
 prophecy  is  to  declare  the  mingled  severity  and  good- 
 ness with  which  God  is  about  to  deal  with  His  people 
 to  wean  them  from  their  sins,  and  prepare  them  to  re- 
 ceive His  abundant  blessing. 
 
 (33)  "With  a  mighty  hand,  and  with  a 
 stretched  out  arm. — As  the  delineations  of  this 
 whole  passage  are  founded  upon  the  exodus  from 
 Egypt  (comp.  Hos.  ii.  14,  15),  so  this  particular  ex. 
 pression  is  the  standing  form  in  the  Pentateuch  for  the 
 series  of  mighty  acts  by  which  the  Lord  effected  that 
 deliverance  (see  Exod.  vi.  1,  6 ;  Deut.  iv.  34  ;  v.  15  ;  vii. 
 19,  &c).  In  Exod.  vi.  6  it  is  connected  with  "  great 
 judgments  "  ;  here  and  in  the  next  verse,  on  the  contrary, 
 with  "  fury  poured  out."  Then  the  Almighty  power 
 was  manifested  for  deliverance,  but  now  it  shall  be  for 
 discipline  ;  He  "  will  rule  over"  and  purify  them  with 
 the  same  resistless  energy  which  He  formerly  put  forth 
 to  save  them  from  their  enemies. 
 
 (3-t)  Bring  you  out  from  the  people.  —  This 
 and  the  parallel  clause,  "  gather  you  out  of  the  coun- 
 tries," cannot  refer  to  the  restoration  of  the  people  to 
 their  land,  both  because  it  is  an  avenging  act,  "  with 
 fury  poured  out  " ;  and  also  because  its  object  is  said  in 
 the  next  verse  to  be  to  bring  them  into  the  wilderness. 
 It  must  therefore  refer  to  the  Divine  dealings  with  tho 
 
 >58 
 
They  ahull  be  Purified, 
 
 EZHKIEL,    XX. 
 
 and  Si  rve  God  acceptably. 
 
 tray  poured  out.    W  And  I  will  bring 
 
 yitU    into    til"    wilderness    of    the    people, 
 
 and  there  will  I  plead  w  itfa  you  face  to 
 lace,  i  '•"  l,ike  as  I  pleaded  with  your 
 fathers  in  the  wilderness  of  the  land  of 
 
 Egypt,   so   will    1    plead   with  you,  saith 
 
 the  Lord  God.  (:i7'  And  I  will  cause  you 
 to  pass  under  the  rod,  and  I  will  bring 
 yon  into1 the  bond  of  the  covenant: 
 \nd  I  will  purge  out  from  among 
 you  the  rebels,  and  them  that  transgress 
 
 against  me:  L  will  brine  them  forth  out 
 01  1he  country  where  they  sojourn,  and 
 they  shall  not  enter  into  the  land  of 
 Israel :  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
 Lokd. 
 
 l  Or,  a  tleliceri'ig. 
 
 !  Or,  chief. 
 
 ."  II.  h.,   tavour  of 
 
 (39)  As  for  you,  O  house  of  Israel,  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  <Jod;  Go  ye,  serve  ye 
 every  one  his  idols,  and  hereafter  alio, 
 if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto  me  :  bui 
 pollute  \e  my  holy  nam.-  do  more  with 
 your  gifts,  and  with  your  idols.  ""  For 
 in  mine  holj  mountain,  in  the  mountain 
 of  the  height  of  [srael,  saith  the  Lord 
 God,  there  shall  all  the  house  of  Israel, 
 allot'  them  in  the  land,  serve  me  :  there 
 will  I  accept  them,  and  there  will  ]  re- 
 quire your  offerings,  and  the  :  firBtfruita 
 of  your  oblations,  with  all  your  holy 
 things.  <u)  I  will  accept  you  with  your 
 3  sweet  savour,  when  I  bring  you  out 
 from  the  people,  and  gather  you  out  of 
 
 people  in  their  dispersion.  He  will  separate  thorn  from 
 other  people  ;  He  will  not  allow  them,  ae  they  proposed 
 (verse  32 1,  to  "  be  as  tli<'  heathen  ; "  bui  will  bring  them 
 
 out  and  gather  them  as  a  distinct  HUSO  sad  spiritually 
 separated  from  them  all,  to  be  dealt  with  as  His  own 
 peculiar  people. 
 
 <K)  Into    the   wilderness   of  the    people.— 
 \    in  the  put  there  was  a  period  of  probation  and  dis- 
 
 •cipline  in  the  wilderness,  go  shall  there  be  in  the  future. 
 The  similarity  is  insisted  upon  in  verse  'X.  and  the 
 phrase  "  face  to  face "  is  taken,  from  Dent.  v.  I,  not  to 
 i  that  the  liord  will  interpose  again  with  the  same 
 sensible  manifestations,  hut  will  plead  with  them  in 
 ways  equally  adapted,  in  their  more  advanced  condition, 
 to  show  them  Bus  overruling  band,  As  this  phrase  is 
 plainly  to  be  understood  according  to  its  sins.',  and 
 not  according  to  the  letter,  bo  it  is  quite  idle  to  attempt 
 in  locate  "  the  wilderness  of  the  people  "  as  any  material 
 
 wilderness,  as  that  of  Arahia,  or  that .  hotweeii  Babylonia 
 and  Palestine.  The  phrase  must  mean  that  wilderness 
 condition  of    the   people,  scattered   among   the  nations. 
 
 in  which  the  Lord  will  plead  with  them  as  He  did  with 
 
 their  fathers.      This  might  refer,  as  some  comment;! 
 think,  to   thc>   state  of   the  Jews   in   our  own  time,  dis- 
 persed among  all   nations;   hut  there   is  nothing  in  the 
 Connection  to  indicate  so  distant  a   future,  and   it    may 
 
 quite  as  well  refer  to  the  then  approaching  condition  of 
 
 the  people.    Already  many  thousands  of  them  had  1 n 
 
 earned  captive  to  Babylon;  others  seeJer.  x.  12;  xliii. 
 
 .">)  had  been  scattered  am. me;  all  the  surrouudi liq- 
 uations;  the    mass   of    the    ten    trilies   had   long  hef ore 
 
 been  carried  by  the  king  of  Assyria  to  other  regions ; 
 and  the  large  remnant  still  left  in  Judas,   influenced 
 
 by  their  own  fears,  soon  afterwards  went  down  to 
 Kgypt.  In  E/.ckiel's  own  life-time.  Israel  was  scattered 
 Widely  among  all  the  prominent  nations  of  the  earth, 
 and    thus     brought     into    the    "  wilderness    of    the 
 
 people." 
 
 7  To  pass  under  the  rod.  —  A  figure  taken 
 from  the  shepherd's  way  of  counting  and  examining  his 
 tloek.    (Gomp.   Lev.  xxvii.  32;  Jer,  xxxiii.  13;    Mioah 
 
 vii.  11.)  By  I  his  the  people  were  to  he  brought  "into 
 the   land  of   the    covenant."   selected    and   reconstituted 
 
 <  tad's  eoi  enaiit  people. 
 
 (38>  i  will  purge  out.— The  discipline  of  affliction 
 should  have  the  effect  of  separating  the  rebellious  in 
 
 heart  from  the  purified  remnant,  so  that  they  should  not 
 return  with  them  to  the  land  of  their  fathers.  A  strik- 
 ing instance  of  the  way  in  which  the  Divine  purposes 
 
 are  fulfilled  through   the   operations  of  ordinary  laws. 
 
 orred  on  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  their  exile. 
 
 After  a  resident f  more  than  two  generations  in 
 
 Babylonia,  they  had   made  themselves  homes  there,  and 
 
 had  become  prosperous  and  contented.    Jerusalem  and 
 
 JudcBS  "ere  utterly  desolated  and  environed  with  their 
 persistent    enemies.      The    journey    thither    was     bug, 
 
 attended  with  hardships  and  danger,  and  at  its  close 
 
 lay  the  toilsome  and  self-sacrificing  work   of  pioni 
 
 When  therefore,  the  permission  was  given  for  the  re- 
 turn, only  those  who  were  most  earnest  in  their  zeal 
 for  the  home  and  religion  of  their  fathers  were  ready  to 
 avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity.  A  great  sifting  of 
 the  people  thus  took  place  from  the  very  circumstances 
 of  the  ease,  and  only  a  comparatively  small  portion, 
 constituting  the  better  part,  returned  to  rebuild  Jeru- 
 salem and  the  Temple. 
 
 Go  ye,  serve  ye  every  one  his  idols.— 
 Comp.  Josh.  xxiv.  1.',.  if.  after  the  warning  given,  ye 
 still  refuse  obedience,  then  the  Lord  gives  you  up  to 
 
 your  fate  ;   "  go,  serve  your  idols."      Such  should  he  the 
 
 terrible  cud  of  the  persistently  rebellious  pari  of  the 
 
 nation,  as  with  the  obdurate  sinner  of  all  ages,  they  will 
 
 be  given  up  to  the  punishment — than  which  nothing  can 
 he  imagined  more  fearful — of  being  allowed  to  follow 
 
 to  the  end  tin'  ways  of  their  own  choice. 
 
 (*))  In  mine  holy  mountain.  -See  not,'  on  xvii. 
 
 •2:>.  The  former  prophecy  WBS  distinctly  Messianic ; 
 in  this,  taken  liy  itself,  there  is  nothing  which  might 
 not  refer  to  the  restoration  from  the  exile.  Yet  in 
 view  of  the  parallelism  and  connection  between  the 
 two.  we  can  hardly  avoid  the  supposition,  that  in  pre. 
 dieting  the  restoration  the  prophetic  eye  looked  beyond 
 
 to  tin-  greater  glory  of  the  christian  dispensatioi 
 
 which  that  restoration  was  a   type.     But,  however  this 
 
 be,   it    is    not    necessary    to    explain    any    of    the 
 
 expressions   in   this   passage  BS  looking  for  their  direct 
 
 and   immediate  fulfilment   beyond  the  restoration  under 
 
 Zerubbabel. 
 
 All  the  house  of  Israel.— It  has  already  ; 
 
 shown    (see    notes    on    ii.    '■'• :    IV.   3)    that    the    existing 
 
 nation  is  recognised  as  constituting  "Israel,"  except 
 
 where  special  occasion  arises  for  distinguishing  be- 
 tween  the   ten    tribes   and    the   two.      Here  "  Israel  "  is 
 
 need  throughout  for  the  people  whom  the  prophet  is 
 directed  to  address   verse  39  ,  as  is  further  shown  by 
 
 the  parallel,  "all  of  them  in  the  land."  Though  the 
 restored  nation  was  made  up  chiefly  of  Judah  and 
 Benjamin,  there  were  also  among  them  considerable 
 
Parable  of  the  Forest. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXI. 
 
 Prophecy  against  the  Land. 
 
 the  countries  wherein  ye  have  been 
 scattered ;  and  I  will  be  sanctified  in 
 you  before  the  heathen.  ^  And  ye 
 shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I 
 shall  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel, 
 into  the  country  for  the  which  I  lifted 
 up  mine  hand  to  give  it  to  your  fathers. 
 '*J*  And  there  shall  ye  remember  your 
 ways,  and  all  your  doings,  wherein  ye 
 have  been  defiled;  and  ye  shall  lothe 
 yourselves  in  your  own  sight  for  all 
 your  evils  that  ye  have  committed. 
 <w>  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
 Lord,  when  I  have  wrought  with  you 
 for  my  name's  sake,  not  according  to 
 your  wicked  ways,  nor  according  to 
 your  corrupt  doings,  O  ye  house  of 
 Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 <45>  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 came  unto  me,  saying,  (46>  Son  of  man, 
 set  thy  face  toward  the  south,  and  drop 
 thy  word  toward  the  south,  and  prophesy 
 against  the  forest  of  the  south  field ; 
 (47>  and  say  to  the  forest  of  the  south, 
 Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  ;  Thus  saith 
 
 the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I  will  kindle  a 
 fire  in  thee,  and  it  shall  devour  every 
 green  tree  in  thee,  and  every  dry  tree : 
 the  flaming  flame  shall  not  be  quenched, 
 and  all  faces  from  the  south  to  the 
 north  shall  be  burned  therein,  '48>  And 
 all  flesh  shall  see  that  I  the  Lord  have 
 kindled  it :  it  shall  not  be  quenched, 
 (49)  Then  said  I,  Ah  Lord  God  !  they  say 
 of  me,  Doth  he  not  speak  parables  ? 
 
 CHAPTEE  XXL— U)  And  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,. 
 (2)  Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  toward  Jeru- 
 salem, and  drop  thy  word  toward  the 
 holy  places,  and  prophesy  against  the 
 land  of  Israel,  (3)  and  say  to  the  land  of 
 Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Behold,  I 
 am  against  thee,  and  will  draw  forth  my 
 sword  out  of  his  sheath,  and  will  cut 
 off  from  thee  the  righteous  and  the 
 wicked.  (4)  Seeing  then  that  I  will  cut 
 off  from  thee  the  righteous  and  the 
 wicked,  therefore  shall  my  sword  go 
 forth  out  of  his  sheath  against  all  flesh 
 
 remnants  of  the  other  tribes ;  and  it  is  declared  that 
 the  offerings  of  them  all  shall  be  alike  acceptable. 
 
 (13)  Ye  shall  lothe  yourselves.— The  especial 
 sin  above  all  others  for  which  Israel  had  been  reproved 
 in  past  ages,  and  which  still  formed  the  burden  of 
 Ezekiel's  denunciations,  was  idolatry ;  from  this  they 
 were  weaned,  once  for  all,  at  the  restoration,  and  what- 
 ever other  sins  may  have  been  committed  by  them,  into 
 this,  as  a  nation,  they  have  never  since  relapsed. 
 
 "With  verse  44  this  prophecy  ends,  and  here  the 
 chapter  closes  in  the  Hebrew  and  in  the  ancient 
 versions. 
 
 («)  Toward  the  south.— The  parable  of  verses 
 45 — 48  forms  what  might  be  called  the  text  of  the 
 discourse  in  chap.  xxi.  The  word  south,  here  occurring 
 three  times,  is  represented  in  the  Hebrew  by  three 
 separate  words,  which  mean,  by  their  derivation,  res- 
 pectively, "  on  the  right  hand "  (the  orientals  always 
 supposing  themselves  to  face  the  east  when  they  speak 
 of  the  points  of  the  compass),  "the  brilliant"  or 
 "  mid-day  direction,''  and  "  the  dry  land,"  a  common 
 name  for  the  south  of  Palestine.  Judsea  is  spoken  of 
 as  "  the  south,"  because,  although  actually  nearly  west 
 from  Babylon,  it  could  only  be  approached  by  the 
 Babylonians  from  the  north,  on  account  of  the  great 
 intervening  desert.  Hence  the  prophets  always  speak 
 of  the  armies  of  Babylon  as  coining  from  the  north 
 (see  Note  on  i.  4;  Jer.  i.  14,  15,  &c). 
 
 The  forest  of  the  south  field,  might  be  originally 
 a  mere  poetic  description  of  the  land ;  but  the  figure  is 
 developed  in  the  following  verses,  to  make  the  forest 
 the  nation,  and  its  trees  the  people  which  compose  it. 
 
 (17)  Every  green  tree  in  thee,  and  every  dry 
 tree  —  i.e.,  persons  of  every  conditiou,  the  condition 
 here  having  reference  probably  to  their  moral  state; 
 the  approaching  desolation  should  be  so  complete,  that, 
 like  other  national  judgments,  it  should  sweep  away  all 
 alike.     No  distinction  could  be  made  in  favour  of  those 
 
 who  might  be  less  ripe  in  evil.  Our  Lord  may  have 
 had  this  expression  in  mind  in  Luke  xxiii.  31.  At  the 
 close  of  the  verse,  by  introducing  the  words  "  all 
 faces,"  the  prophet,  as  he  so  often  does,  breaks  away 
 from  the  figure  to  its  interpretation,  and  shows  plainly 
 the  meaning  of  the  former. 
 
 (45)  Doth  he  not  speak  parables  ? — Or  enigmas 
 — things  that  we  cannot  understand.  This  the  prophet 
 did  designedly,  as  he  had  done  in  other  cases,  to- 
 awaken  the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  explanation 
 he  was  about  to  give. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 This  chapter  consists  of  three  distinct  but  closely- 
 connected  prophecies,  which  together  may  be  called 
 the  prophecy  of  the  sword.  The  first,  verses  2 — 7, 
 re-states,  in  comyiaratively  plain  language,  the  enig- 
 matical denunciation  of  the  last  verses  of  chap.  xx. ; 
 the  second,  verses  8 — 17,  substantially  repeats  and 
 emphasises  the  first;  while  the  third,  verses  18 — 27, 
 goes  again  over  the  same  ground,  with  more  of  circum- 
 stance and  detail,  closing  (verses  28 — 32)  with  a 
 prophecy  against  the  Ammonites. 
 
 (2)  Set  thy  face  .  .  .  drop  thy  word  .  .  . 
 prophesy. — These  expressions,  with  the  "  say  to  the 
 land "  of  verse  3,  connect  this  with  xx.  46,  47  ;  but 
 there  they  were  followed  by  figurative  terms,  while 
 here  we  have  plainly  "  Jerusalem,"  "  the  holy  places," 
 and  "  the  land  of  Israel." 
 
 (3, 4)  The  righteous  and  the  wicked.  —  This 
 explains  the  green  tree  and  the  dry  of  xx.  47 ;  and  "  all 
 flesh  "  of  verses  4,  5,  corresponds  to  "  all  faces  "  of  the 
 same.  These  expi-essions  are  meant  to  show  the  uni- 
 versality of  the  approaching  desolation.  The  actual 
 separation  in  God's  sight  between  the  righteous  and 
 the  wicked  has  already  been  plainly  set  forth  in  ix. 
 4 — 6.     But  still  in  this,  as  in  all  national  judgments, 
 
 260 
 
The  Sharp  Sword, 
 
 EZEKIKL,    XXI. 
 
 The  K.i in  mi    I  ■ 
 
 from  tin-  south  to  the  north  :   '  "  I  li;il  nil 
 
 ilcsli  may  know  that  I  the  Lobs  have 
 
 ■  1  raw  n  forth  IMV  BWOrd  out  of  his  she 'at  h  : 
 
 it  shall   not   return  any  more.    ,',)  Sigh 
 
 therefore,    thou    son    of    man,    with    thf 
 
 breaking  of  thy  loins;  ami  with  bitter- 
 ness sigh  before  their  eyes.    (7' Ami  it 
 
 shall  he,  when  t  hi'V  say  unto  I  I ,  \\ 'heiv- 
 
 Eore  sighestthouP  that  thou  shalt answer, 
 for  tlir  tidings;  because  it  cometh; 
 and  everj  heart  shall  melt,  and  all  hands 
 shall  he  feeble,  ami  every  spirit  shall 
 faint,  ami  all  knees  '  shall  be  weak  at 
 water:  hehold,  it  cometh,  ami  shall  be 
 brought  to  pass,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 again  the  word  of  the  Lord  ci 
 
 unto  me,  Baying,  (:''  Son  of  man, 
 prophesy,  and  say,  Thus  saith  the  IjOKD  ; 
 Say ,  A  BWOrd,  a  sword  is  sharpened,  and 
 
 also   furbished:  (lu>  it   is  sharpened   to 
 
 I        III    li    .       HtflU       I/O 
 
 llr,     lit 
 
 or,      II. 
 tri'il  Inch    I li, 
 
 Hit., 
 Intuit. 
 
 make  a  Bore  llanghter;  it  is  furbished 
 
 that  it  may  glitter:  should  we  then 
 make  mirth 'J  2 it  conteinnet  h  ihe  rod  of 
 my  son,  as  every  tree.  W  And  he  hath 
 given  it  to  be  furbished,  that  it  may  be 
 handled:  this  sword  is  sharjieiieil,  an. I 
 it  is  furbished,  to  give  it  into  the  hand 
 of  the  slayer.  "->  Cry  ami  howl,  son  of* 
 man  :  lor  it  shall  be  ujion  my  people,  it 
 shall  be  upon  all  the  princes  of  Israel : 
 3  terrors  by  reason  of  the  sword  shall  be 
 
 upon  in)-  ] pie :  *  smite  therefore  upon 
 
 Hi;/  thi^li.  ''■''  '  I Jeeause  it  in  a  trial,  and 
 what  if  the  sword  contemn  even  the  rod? 
 it  shall  be  no  more,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 W  Thou  therefore,  son  of  man,  prophesy, 
 and  smite  thine  '  hands  togel  ber,  and  let 
 the  sword  be  doubled  the  third  time, 
 the  sword  of  the  slain:  it  is  the  sword 
 of  the  great  men  that  are  slain,  which 
 
 (lie  innocent  must  i.f  necessity  !»■  involved  in  the  same 
 temporal  sufferings  with  tin-  Entity.  The  general 
 terms  "I'  1 1 1 i  —  prophecy  are  to  be  limited  by  what  is 
 where  Baid  of  the  meroy  which  shall  lie  shown  to  ;i 
 remnant. 
 (5)  It  shall  not  return  any  more— i.e.,  until  it 
 
 has  folly  ooi tpliahed  its  purpose.    Other  judgments 
 
 upon  [srael  had  been  arrested  in  mercy — tin-  sword  had 
 a  returned  to  the  scabbard  while  its  work  was  still 
 
 incomplete.      This  will  go  on  to  the  end. 
 
 <ffl  With  the  breaking  of  thy  loins.— The  loins 
 were  regarded  as  the  sent  of  strength  (Job  xl.  lii) ;  and 
 the  breaking  of  these,  therefore,  expresses  entire  pros- 
 tration. Oomp.  Ps.  lxvi.  11;  lxix.  2:!;  [sa.  xxi.  3; 
 Nullum  ii,  10.    The  prophet  was  to  do  this  "  before 
 
 their   eyes."    i.e.,   was    in    some    way  to    express    before 
 
 them  a  sense  of  extreme  dejection  ami  prostration, 
 such  as  should  call  forth  the  question  and  reply  of  the 
 following  verse.  With  the  expression  "Every  heart 
 shall  melt  "  romp.  Luke  xxi.  26. 
 
 (8  -17)  This  second  prophecy  is  an  expansion  of  the 
 last,   verses   8 — 13   corresponding    to    2-   .">.   ami    verses 
 
 1-1 — 17  to  verses  (>.  7.  In  several  of  its  clauses  modern 
 criticism  has  been  able  to  improve  the  translation,  ami 
 make  it  el. 'are'-. 
 
 i"11  Mako  mirth.— The  answer  to  this  question 
 has  already  been  given  in  verse  6,  and  is  repeated  in 
 
 verse  12. 
 
 Contemneth  the  rod  of  my  son.— This  refers 
 to  Gen.  xlix.  9,  10,  in  which  Jacob  addresses  Judahae 
 
 "my  son,"  and  foretells  that  "the  sceptre  shall  not 
 depart  from  "  him  until  Shlloh  come.  There  is 
 another     allusion    to    the    same    passage    in    verse    27. 
 
 Clomp  als,,  ehap.  xvii.  22,  23.  There  is.  however, 
 serious  difficulty  as  to  the  construction  and  mean- 
 ing   of    the    clause.     The   ancient   versions    and    many 
 
 commentators  have  more  or  less  changed  the  text 
 without  improvement.    The  original  is  obscure  in  its 
 
 extreme  brevity,  and  allows  "  the  rod  of  my  son  "  to  lie 
 either   the    object     as   it    is    taken    in    the    text'    or   the 
 
 subject  i as  iii  the  margin).    The  true  sens,-  is  probably 
 
 that   which    makes  the   clause  into  an  objection   offered 
 
 by  the  Jew  t»  the  prophet's  denunciation :  "But 'the 
 
 rod  of  my  sou'  despiseth  every  tree:  "  ,■'....  the   Divine 
 
 promise  of  old  to  Judah  is  sure,  and  his  sceptre  d 
 remain  whatever  power  arises  against  it.   The  objection 
 
 was  in  a  certain  sense  true,  but  tin-  objectors  had  little 
 idea  of  the  means  by  which  its  truth  should  In-  esta- 
 blished, and  vainly  imagined  that  it  gave  a  temporal 
 security  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  whatever  might  bo 
 
 its  sins.    The  prophet  does  not    notice  tin-  objection 
 
 further   than  to  go  on  with   his   prediction   of  the   ap- 
 proaching desolation. 
 (ii)  The    slayer  is  lure    mentioned    indefinitely, 
 
 but  in  the  next  and  more  circumstantial  prophecy  i  \ 
 191  is  declared  to  lie  the  kin";  of  Babylon. 
 
 fl8)  Smite  therefore  upon  thy  thigh.— A  mark 
 
 of  extreme  grief,  see  Jer.  xxxi.  1!).  The  connection  of 
 verses  11  and  12  with  the  objection  in  verse  1"  is  this: 
 you  think  there  is  BOCUritj  for  you  in  the  promise  to 
 Judah;    do    not    deceive    yourselves,    but    prepare    for 
 
 sorrow  and  desolation. 
 
 I  i  '■>  Because  it  is  a  trial. — Here  again  the  original 
 
 is  obscure  from  its  conciseness  and  abruptness,  loading 
 to  great  variety  of  interpretation.  Neither  the  text 
 imr  the  margin  of  our  translation  is  quite  intelligible. 
 
 The  words  for  "  rod  "  and  "  contemn  "  are  the  same  as  in 
 Verse  10,  and  must  lie  taken  in  the  same  sense.  The 
 most     satisfactory    translation    is    this:     "For    it     (the 
 
 sword  i  has  been  proved  (viz..  on  others),  and  what  if 
 this  contemning  rod  shall  bono  more!'"  /.. ..  the  power 
 
 of  the  sword  01  Babylon  has  already  been  proved  j  and 
 the  seeptre  of  Judah,  which  despises  it,  shall  be  clean 
 swept  away.    Various  other  translations,  ditfering  in 
 
 detail,  give  the  same  general  sense. 
 
 (i-*)  Smite  thine  hands  together.— A    gesture 
 
 of  strong  emotion  (see  vers.'  17.  chap.  xxii.  1:1.  and 
 coiii]i.  Note  on  chap.  vi.  11  :    Num.  xxiv.  10). 
 
 Let  the  sword  be  doubled  the  third  time.— 
 
 The  exact  translation  is  here  also  obscure  and  difficult, 
 but  the  meaning  is  plain  that  the  activity  of  the  sword 
 is  to  be  intensified  to  the  utmost. 
 
 The  sword  of  the  slain :  it  is  the  sword  of 
 the  great  men  that  are  slain.— Literally,  the 
 sword  of  ihe  overthrown  (plural),  it  is  the  eword  "/the 
 overthrown  {tang.),  of  {he  great  one.  The  word  trans- 
 lated slain  does  let  necessarily  mean  actually  killed, 
 but  is  used  in  a  moral  as  well  as  physical  sense  :  and  in 
 
 261 
 
Universality  of  Punishment 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXL 
 
 The  Two  Ways. 
 
 eutereth  into  their  privy  chambers. 
 <15'  I  have  set  the  l  point  of  the  sword 
 against  all  their  gates,  that  their  heart 
 may  faint,  and  their  ruins  be  multiplied  : 
 ah  !  it  is  made  bright,  it  is 3  wrapped  up 
 for  the  slaughter.  *16)  Go  thee  one  way 
 or  other,  either  on  the  right  hand,  3  or 
 on  the  left,  whithersoever  thy  face  is 
 set.  (17)  I  will  also  smite  mine  hands 
 together,  and  I  will  cause  my  fury  to 
 rest :  I  the  Lord  have  said  it. 
 
 (18)  iphe  Word  0f  the  Loed  came  unto 
 
 1  Or,  glittering,  or, 
 fear. 
 
 2  Or,  sharpened. 
 
 3  Heb.,  set  thyself, 
 take  the  left  hand. 
 
 i  Heb.,  mother  of 
 the  way. 
 
 me  again,  saying,  (19>  Also,  thou  son  of 
 man,  appoint  thee  two  ways,  that  the 
 sword  of  the  king  of  Babylon  may  come : 
 both  twain  shall  come  forth  out  of  one 
 land  :  and  choose  thou  a  place,  choose 
 it  at  the  head  of  the  way  to  the  city. 
 (20)  Appoint  a  way,  that  the  sword  may 
 come  to  Rabbath  of  the  Ammonites,  and 
 to  Judah  in  Jerusalem  the  defenced. 
 (2i)  por  the  king  of  Babylon  stood  at  the 
 *  parting  of  the  way,  at  the  head  of  the 
 two  ways,  to  use  divination :  he  made 
 
 chap.  xx.  16,  21,  24,  as  often,  the  verb  from  which  this 
 adjective  is  formed  is  translated  polluted.  The  sword 
 is  called  "  the  sword  of  the  overthrown  "  because  it  is 
 the  means  of  their  overthrow,  and  "  the  sword  of  the 
 great  one  overthrown,"  with  especial  reference  to  the 
 king. 
 
 "Which  entereth  into  their  privy  chambers. 
 — Rather,  which  begirts  them  round  about,  so  that 
 none  can  escape. 
 
 (15)  The  point. — The  Hebrew  word  occurs  only 
 here.  The  marginal  rendering  comes  nearer  its  sense, 
 but  the  exact  meaning  is  the  glance  or  the  whirl  of  the 
 sword.  The  glancing  or  the  whirling  motion  of  the 
 sword  was  to  be  everywhere,  "  against  all  their  gates." 
 
 Their  ruins  be  multiplied. — Literally,  their 
 stumbling  blocks  be  multiplied.  The  thought  is  that 
 in  the  coming  desolation  trouble  shall  be  on  every  side 
 and,  in  their  perplexity,  occasions  for  ill-advised  action 
 shall  arise  all  around.  "Bright"  means  "glittering." 
 (Comp.  Deut.  xxxii.  41 ;  Job  xx.  25  ;  Nahum  iii.  3.) 
 
 It  is  wrapped. — The  margiu  has  sharpened,  but 
 the  exact  sense  is  drawn,  "  drawn  out  for  the 
 slaughter." 
 
 (16)  Go  thee  one  way  or  other. — An  address  to 
 the  sword,  the  animation  of  which  is  singularly  lost  in 
 our  version ;  the  sword  is  addressed  as  a  host,  to  be  pre- 
 pared for  instant  action  in  every  quarter  :  "  Gather 
 thyself  up  (close  up  ranks)  right;  set  thyself,  left." 
 
 (!7)  My  fury  to  rest.— As  iu  chap.  xvi.  42,  because 
 it  has  accomplished  its  purpose  and  has  nothing  more 
 to  do.     (Comp.  chaps,  v.  13  and  xxiv.  13.) 
 
 At  verse  18  the  third  and  final  prophecy  of  the 
 chapter  begins,  and,  besides  being  much  more  explicit 
 than  the  others,  includes  also  a  new  subject  (verses  28 
 — 32),  a  prophecy  against  Ammon.  Hitherto  it  has 
 only  been  foretold  that  Judah  shall  be  desolated,  now  it 
 is  added  that  this  shall  be  effected  by  the  king  of 
 Babylon,  and  that  he  shall  also  extend  his  conquests  to 
 the  Ammonites. 
 
 (19)  Appoint  thee  two  ways.— Or,  set  before  thee. 
 The  prophet  is  directed  to  represent  Nebuchadnezzar  as 
 about  to  go  forth  with  his  armies,  and  hesitating 
 whether  he  should  take  first  the  road  to  Jerusalem  or 
 to  the  capital  of  the  Ammonites.  His  choice  of  the 
 former  is  determined,  as  he  supposes,  by  his  divinations, 
 but  really  by  the  overruling  hand  of  the  Lord,  who 
 thus  shows  beforehand  what  it  shall  be.  The  whole  is 
 set  forth  in  the  vivid  and  concrete  imagery  so  charac- 
 teristic of  Ezekiel ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  the  scene 
 in  real  life  was  to  be  thus  determined  by  the  prophet's 
 open  interference.  The  whole  is  a  vision,  in  which  life 
 and  action  is  conveyed  by  this  maimer  of  describing  the 
 course  of  future  events  as  actually  taking  place  before 
 the  eyes  of  his  hearens.     The  two  ways  "  come  forth 
 
 out  of  one  land ; "  their  starting-point  is  the  same, 
 Babylon,  and  they  diverge  towards  different  desti- 
 nations. 
 
 Choose  thou  a  place. — Literally,  make  a  hand, 
 or,  as  we  say,  a  finger-post.  The  verb  here  used  never 
 means  "  choose,"  nor  does  the  noun  evermeau  "place"; 
 but  the  verb  is  often  used  both  in  the  sense  of  to  make 
 and  to  engrave,  and  "  hand  "  frequently  occurs  in  the 
 sense  of  a  pillar,  and  occasionally  in  that  of  a  guide- 
 post.  (See  1  Sam.  xv.  12;  2  Sam.  xviii.  18;  Isa.  Ivi.  5.) 
 The  prophet  in  vision  sets  up  this  guide-post  to  direct 
 the  king  on  his  march.  The  roads  to  Rabbah  and  to 
 Jerusalem  from  Babylon  woidd  be  the  same  for  many 
 hundred  miles.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  suppose 
 that  Ezekiel  actually  stood  at  their  parting. 
 
 Head  of  the  way,  called  more  poetically  in 
 verse  21  "  mother  of  the  way,"  is  the  point  where  the 
 road  forks.  From  this  point  the  road  to  Jerusalem 
 would  lie  on  the  right,  that  to  Rabbah,  the  capital  of 
 the  Ammonites,  on  the  left. 
 
 (21)  To  use  divination. — Various  particular  forms- 
 of  divination  are  mentioned  just  afterwards.  This  is  a 
 general  term  to  include  them  all.  Divination  was  al- 
 ways resorted  to  by  the  heathen  on  occasions  of  impor- 
 tant questions.  In  this  case,  while  Nebuchadnezzar 
 thought  in  this  way  to  determine  his  action,  it  was 
 already  fixed  for  him  by  a  higher  Power. 
 
 Made  his  arrows  bright. —  Rather,  shook  his 
 arrows.  This  was  a  mode  of  divination  in  use  among 
 the  ancient  Arabs,  as  well  as  in  Mesopotamia,  and 
 something  very  similar  is  mentioned  by  Homer  as  prac- 
 tised among  the  ancient  Greeks  (II.,  iii.  316).  It  con- 
 tinued to  be  used  among  the  Arabs  until  the  time  of 
 Mohammed,  who  strictly  foi'bade  it  in  the  Koran  (chaps, 
 iii.  39,  v.  4,  94).  Several  arrows,  properly  marked,  were 
 shaken  together  in  a  quiver  or  other  vessel,  and  one 
 drawn  out.  The  mark  upon  the  one  drawn  was  supposed 
 to  indicate  the  will  of  the  gods.  It  was  thus  simply 
 one  form  of  casting  lots. 
 
 Consulted  with  images. — The  particular  images 
 here  mentioned  were  "teraphim,"  small  idols,  which  are 
 often  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  used  in  divination  by 
 the  Israelites  themselves,  and  common  also  among  the 
 heathen.  (See  1  Sam.  xv.  23,  where  the  word  "  idolatry  " 
 is  in  the  original  "teraphim.")  Nothing  is  known  of 
 the  way  in  which  these  were  used  in  divination. 
 
 Looked  in  the  liver. — The  inspection  of  the  en- 
 trails of  sacrificial  victims,  and  especially  of  the  liver, 
 as  a  means  of  ascertaining  the  will  of  the  gods,  is 
 familiar  to  every  reader  of  classical  literature.  There 
 is  evidence  that  the  same  custom  prevailed  also  in 
 Babylonia.  The  king  is  represented  as  employing  all 
 these  different  kinds  of  divination  to  make  sure  of  the/ 
 proper  path. 
 
 262 
 
.V, hiirhiiilii'  .-.'ir'.-i  Divination. 
 
 KZEKLEL,     XXI.  Punishment  <ff  the  I 'r  luce  of  Israel. 
 
 /lis  '  ill-rows    bright,    lie    consulted    with 
 
 'images,  be  looked  in  the  liver.    (*•)  At 
 
 his  right  hand  was  the  divination  for 
 Jerusalem,     to    appoint   ;  '  captains,     to 
 
 open  the nth  in  the  slaughter,  to  lift 
 
 uji  the  voice  with  shouting,  to  appoint 
 battering  rams  against  the  gates,  to  east 
 a  mount,  qmd  to  build  a  fort.     M  And 
 
 it  shall  be  unto  them  as  a  false  divi- 
 nation in  their  sight,  '  to  them  that  have 
 sworn  oaths:  but  he  will  call  to  re- 
 ineinhrance  the  iniquity,  that   tho\    ma\ 
 
 he  taken. 
 
 <'-'"  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God; 
 Because  ye  have  made  your  iniquity  to 
 
 1  or,  knurl 
 
 1   li.  I.  .  (•  nijihml 
 
 n     Or,     I 
 mm  4. 
 
 the  (tilths 
 
 .;  Id  b.  Perverted, 
 ..,  rvt  rt.u.  t"  f- 
 n  rt .  ./,       icill      I 
 
 maJN  .( 
 
 he  remembered,  in  that  your  trans- 
 gressions an-  discovered,  BO  that  in  all 
 \oiir  doings  your  sins  do  appear;  be- 
 cause, 1  siiij,  that  ye  an-  come  to  re- 
 membrance,  ye  shall  he  taken  with  the 
 
 hand.  I25'  And  thou,  profane  wicked 
 prime  of  Israel,  whose  da  \  is  oome,  when 
 iniquity  shall  home  an  end,  -'"  thus  saith 
 
 tic  Lord  <  o.D  ;  Remove  the  diadem,  and 
 take  off  the  Crown  :  this  ultull  not  /..the 
 same:  exalt  him  (hat  is  low,  and  abase 
 him  thai  is  high.  >-">  ,;I  will  overturn, 
 overturn,  overturn,  it :  and  it  shall  be 
 no  more,  until  he  come  whose  right  it  is ; 
 and  I  will  give  it  him. 
 
 '--  At  his  right  hand  was.— This  is  too  exactly 
 litrr.'il.  Tlic  en  .■  is.  into  his  right  hand  came  thodi- 
 \  inatinn  which  determined  liis  course  towards  Jerusalem. 
 "Captains"  Bhonld  be  as  in  the  margin,  battering- 
 rams  (see  chap,  iv,  2),  for  tin-  siege  of  Jerusalem;  the 
 same  word  is  so  translated  Farther  on  in  this  verse.  The 
 remaining  clauses  portray  the  operations  of  the  attack. 
 
 (**)  As  a   false  divination  in    their   sight. 
 
 Tin' ili\  itllltioll  of    ill.-     I!ali\  lolli/IMS  seemeil     false    to  tile 
 
 Jews,  primarily,  l anse  they  were  determined  not   to 
 
 believe  it ;  yet, doubtless,  there  was  mingled  with  this  a 
 secret  consciousness- of  the  worthlessnesa  of  theidokv 
 tries  which  they  themselves  practised,  and  a  consequent 
 readiness  to  east  them  aside  when  opposed  to  their 
 wishes, 
 
 To  them  that  have  sworn  oaths.— These  words 
 have  been  very  variously  interpreted,  but  the  simplest 
 meaning  seems  t lie  Lest;  the  resolution  of  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar to  attack  Jernsalem  Beamed  impossible  to  the 
 .l.-us.  because  they  were  his  vassals,  and  under  oaths  of 
 fidelity  to  him.    They  must   have  been  conscious  of 
 
 their  own  violation  01  those  oaths,  anil  yet  have  per- 
 snaded  themselves  that  their  intrigues  with  Egypt  were 
 not  known  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  that  therefore  he 
 WOnld  not  attack  them. 
 
 But  he  will  call  to  remembrance  the 
 iniquity.— Tin-  pronoun  is  here  understood  by  many 
 as  referring  to  the  Lord,  and  "  iniquity  "  as  expressing 
 
 the  general  sinfulness  of  the  people.  It  is  Letter  to 
 refer    the    pronoun    to    N'oLuchadnez/ar.    who   will   call 
 
 to  remembrance  and  punish  the  violation  of  their  oaths 
 to  him.  It  is  constantly  to  be  remembered  that  Zedekiah 
 was  placed  upon  the  throne  by  him  under  a  solemn  oath 
 of  fidelity  to  himself  (2  Chron.xxxvi  10,  I3j  Jer.lii.3j 
 Ezek.  wii.  15,  18,  4c). 
 
 -'    In  all  your  doings  your  sins  do  appear. 
 
 —  Hut  one  parti.-ular  has  just  been  nient ione.l,  their  re- 
 bellion and  perjury;  lint  this  was  only  the  last 
 act  of  a  long  course  of   -in  in  many  ways.      These  have 
 
 been  spoken  of  at  huge  in  previous  chapters,  and  there- 
 tore,  when  this  last  >in  is  expose, I,  it  may  well  lie  said 
 that  sin  is  shown  ill  all  their  doings. 
 
 Profane.  The  prophet  DOW  turns  from  the 
 people  as  a  whole  to  the  individual  prince  at  their 
 head.  The  word  for  "  profane  "  is  the  same  as  is  trans- 
 lated '■  slain  "  in  verse  It;  it  would  Ix-  Letter  rendered 
 here,  as   there,  overthrown.      What  is  close  at    hand  is 
 
 described  as  ai mplished. 
 
 Whon  iniquity  shall  have  an  end.— Literally, 
 
 at   the   lime  of  the    iniquity   of  the   end.     The   same 
 
 expression  is  repeated  inverse  29,  and  the  meaning  is 
 plainly,  at  the  time  of  that  final  transgression  which 
 shall  be  closed  by  the  immediate  manifestation  of  the 
 
 Divine  judgment.      The   representation   of  iniquity  as 
 
 being  allowed  to  run  a  certain  course  through   the 
 
 Divine  forbearance,  and  arrested  and  punished  when  it 
 has  reached  its  culmination,  is  a  eommoii  one  in 
 Scripture.  (See  Gen.  xv.  16;  Dan.  viii.  23;  Matt, 
 xxiii.  3-t — 36,  &c.) 
 
 (SB)  Remove  the  diadem.— The  word  translated 
 ■■diadem"  is  rendered  in  every  other  place  in  which  it 
 occurs  (Exod.  xxviii.  4,  37  h'ls.  39,  xxix.  6  bis,  xxxix. 
 28,31;  Lev.  viii.  9  bis,  xvi.  I-  the  mitre  of  the  high 
 priest,  and  undoubtedly  has  the  same  sense  here.     Not 
 
 only  was    the    royal  but    also  the   high-priestly  offic 
 
 be  overthrown  in  the  approaching  desolation.     Neither 
 
 of  them  were  ever   r vered    in    their  full  power  after 
 
 the  captivity.    The  various  verbs  here.  .-.  move,  taki  off, 
 
 t,  abase,  are  ill  the  original  in  the  infinitive,  and 
 although  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  translate  the 
 intinitiveasauimperativc.it  is  Letter  here  to  keep  to 
 its  more  common  sense  of  indicating  an  action  without 
 reference  to  the  agent   which   is  most  readily  expressed 
 
 in  English  by  the  passive:  "  The  mitre  shall  be  removed, 
 
 and  file  crown  taken  off  .  .  .  the  low  exalted,  ami  the 
 high  aliased." 
 
 This  shall  not  be  the  same.-  Literally,  HI 
 this,  or,  sup]. lying  the  verb,  as  is  often  required,  this 
 shall  not  be  this — <'.■..  as  the  following  clauses  express, 
 
 there  shall  be  an  utter  change  and   overturning  of  the 
 
 whole  existing  state  of  things.    For  the  abasement  of 
 
 the  high  and  exaltation  of  the  low,  as  an  expression  of 
 the  Divine  interposition  at  the  introduction  of  a  new 
 order  of  things, COmp.  1  Sam.  ii.  6 — Bj  Luke  i.  51 — 63 
 !-'"i  And  it  shall  be  no  more. — Literally,  this  also 
 shall  not  he.  After  the  emphatic  repetition  of  "  over- 
 turn "  at  the  beginning  of  the  reme,  it  is  now  added  that 
 the  condition  which  follows  the  overthrow  shall  let  be 
 permanent:  ••the  foundations"  shall  be  put  '•out  of 
 curse."  and  everything  thrown  into  that  condition  of 
 flux  and   Change, without   permanent    settlement,  which 
 
 was  so  characteristic  of  the  state  of  Judica  until  the 
 coming  of  Christ. 
 
 Until  he  come  whose  right  it  is.  —  This  is 
 generally  acknowledged  as  a  reference  to  Gen.  xlix.  10, 
 
 ••until    Shiloh   come,"   even    by    those    who    reject    the 
 
 interpretation  of  Shiloh  as  meaning  "  he  t..  whom  it 
 belongs."  The  promise  here  made  refers  plainly  both 
 to  the  priestly  and  to  the  royal  prerogatives,  and  a  still 
 more  distinct  foretelling  of  the  union  of  both   in  the 
 
 263 
 
Prophecy  against  Amnion. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXII. 
 
 Jerusalem's  Blood-guiltiness. 
 
 (28)  And  thou,  son  of  man,  prophesy 
 and  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  con- 
 cerning the  Ammonites,  and  concerning 
 their  reproach ;  even  say  thou,  The 
 sword,  the  sword  is  drawn :  for  the 
 slaughter  it  is  furbished,  to  consume 
 because  of  the  glittering:  (29>  Whiles 
 they  see  vanity  unto  thee,  whiles  they 
 divine  a  lie  unto  thee,  to  bring  thee  upon 
 the  necks  of  them  that  are  slain,  of  the 
 wicked,  whose  day  is  come,  when  their 
 iniquity  shall  have  an  end.  <30)  *  Shall  I 
 cause  it  to  return  into  his  sheath  ?  I  will 
 judge  thee  in  the  place  where  thou  wast 
 created,  in  the  land  of  thy  nativity. 
 <31)  And  I  will  pour  out  mine  indignation 
 upon  thee,  I  will  blow  against  thee  in 
 
 1  Or.  cause  it  to  re- 
 turn. 
 
 2  Or,  burning. 
 
 a  oh.  20.  4;  &  i3. 
 36. 
 
 3  Or.  plead  for. 
 
 4    Heb.,    city    of 
 bloods. 
 
 5   Heb.,  make  her 
 know. 
 
 the  fire  of  my  wrath,  and  deliver  thee 
 into  the  hand  of 8  brutish  men,  and 
 skilful  to  destroy.  (32)  Thou  shalt  be  for 
 fuel  to  the  fire ;  thy  blood  shall  be  in 
 the  midst  of  the  land ;  thou  shalt  be 
 no  more  remembered :  for  I  the  Lord 
 have  spoken  it. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XXII.— d)  Moreover  the 
 word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying, 
 (2>  Now,  thou  son  of  man,  "wilt  thou 
 3 judge,  wilt  thou  judge  the4 bloody 
 city  ?  yea,  thou  shalt 5  shew  her  all  her 
 abominations.  <3>  Then  say  thou,  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God,  The  city  sheddeth 
 blood  in  the  midst  of  it,  that  her  time 
 may  come,  and  maketh  idols   against 
 
 Messiah  may  be  found  in  Zech.  vi.  12,  13.  In  Him, 
 and  in  Him  alone,  will  all  this  confusion  and  uncer- 
 tainty come  to  an  end ;  for,  as  Ezekiel's  contemporary 
 declared,  "  His  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion, 
 which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  His  kingdom  that  which 
 shall  not  be  destroyed  "  (Dan.  vii.  14). 
 
 (28)  Concerning  the  Ammonites.  —  At  the 
 opening  of  this  prophecy  (verses  19,  20)  the  king 
 of  Babylon  was  represented  as  hesitating  whether 
 to  attack  Jerusalem  or  Rabbah,  and  as  being  led  to  the 
 determination  of  attacking  the  former.  This  would 
 leave  the  inference  that  the  Ammonites  might  escape 
 altogether ;  and  from  the  destruction  of  God's  peculiar 
 people,  along  with  the  immunity  of  their  ancient 
 enemies,  the  heathen  would  be  likely  to  draw  conclu- 
 sions inconsistent  with  the  power  and  majesty  of  God. 
 Hence  this  prophecy  is  added  to  show  that  His  judg- 
 ments shall  certainly  fall  on  them  also,  and  in  this 
 case  the  ruin  foretold  is  final  and  hopeless,  without  the 
 promise  given  to  Israel  in  verse  27.  Another  prophecy 
 against  Amnion  is  given  in  chap.  xxv.  1 — 7.  As  a 
 matter  of  history,  the  Ammonites  were  conquered,  and 
 their  country  desolated,  by  Nebuchadnezzar  a  few 
 years  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  they 
 gradually  dwindled  away  until  their  name  and  place 
 among  the  nations  finally  disappeared. 
 
 Their  reproach — i.e.,  their  exultation  in  the  deso- 
 lation of  Israel.     (See  chap.  xxv.  3 ;  Zeph.  ii.  8.) 
 
 (29)  See  vanity  unto  thee. — "  See  "  is  used  in  the 
 sense  of  the  utterances  of  the  "  seer,"  or  prophet.  The 
 Ammonites  also  had  false  prophets  among  them. 
 
 Thee  upon  the  neeks  of  them  that  are  slain. 
 — Judah  is  to  fall  first,  then  Amnion  immediately  after, 
 as  it  were,  upon  the  necks  of  those  already  slain.  The 
 figure  is  taken  from  the  battle,  in  which  one  warrior 
 falls  upon  the  body  of  him  who  fell  before  him. 
 
 When  their  iniquity  shall  have  an  end.— 
 Not  through  repentance,  but  because  it  ceases  of  neces- 
 sity with  the  death  of  the  sinner. 
 
 (3°)  Shall  I  cause  it  to  return  ?  —  There  is 
 nothing  in  the  original  to  indicate  either  a  question,  or 
 that  this  is  spoken  in  the  first  person.  It  is  addressed 
 to  the  Ammonites,  "  Return  it  "  (the  sword)  "  into  his 
 sheath  ;  "  and  it  means  that  all  resistance  will  be  vain, 
 the  coming  destruction  cannot  be  averted.  And  this 
 judgment  is  to  be  executed  in  the  Ammonites'  own 
 country :  they  are  to  be  destroyed  at  home. 
 
 (31)  Mine  indignation.— The  figure  of  the  sword, 
 wliich  has  been  kept  up  through  the  entire  chapter,  is 
 here  dropped ;  but  the  language  immediately  falls  into 
 another  figure,  already  employed  in  chap.  xx.  47,  "  I 
 will  blow  against  thee  in  "  (rather,  with)  "  the  fire  of 
 my  wrath."  (Comp.  the  same  expression  in  chap.  xxii. 
 21.)  The  image  is  that  of  the  consuming  fire  of  God's 
 wrath  blown  by  His  power  against  Amnion,  as  fire  is 
 turned  by  the  wind  upon  a  forest  to  its  destruction. 
 (Comp.  Isa.  liv.  16.)  The  word  "  brutish"  of  the  text 
 in  the  last  clause  is  better  than  the  "  burning  "  of  the 
 margin. 
 
 <32)  Shalt  be  no  more  remembered. — Ammon 
 should  be  utterly  destroyed,  as  fuel  in  the  fire ;  the 
 life-blood  of  the  nation  should  be  poured  out,  and  her 
 name  vanish.  For  her  there  should  be  no  future,  like 
 that  promised  to  Israel  in  verse  27. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 This  chapter  also  consists  of  three  short  prophecies, 
 less  intimately  connected  with  one  another  than  those 
 of  chap.  xxi.  In  the  first  (verses  2 — 16)  the  sins  of 
 Jerusalem  are  recounted,  with  evident  reference  to  chap, 
 xviii. ;  in  the  second  (verses  17 — 22)  the  punishment 
 and  purification  of  Israel  is  represented  uuder  the 
 figure  of  melting  mixed  metals  in  the  furnace ;  while 
 the  third  returns  to  the  recounting  of  other  sins  than 
 those  mentioned  in  the  first,  showing  that  the  corrux^- 
 tion  pervades  all  classes,  and  closing  with  the  warning 
 of  certain  punishment.  This  chapter,  like  chap  xx.,  is 
 a  justification  of  the  Divine  judgment. 
 
 (2)  Wilt  thou  judge. — The  same  expression  as  in 
 chap.  xx.  4.  (See  Note  there.)  The  sense  of  the  margin, 
 "  plead  for,"  is  not  appropriate  here. 
 
 Bloody  city. — In  verses  2—  6  crimes  of  bloodshed 
 and  idolatry  are  dwelt  upon,  between  which  there 
 seems  always  to  have  been  a  close  connection.  The 
 same  words  are  used  in  chap.  xxiv.  6,  9,  and  iu 
 Nahum  iii.  1. 
 
 (3)  That  her  time  may  come.  —  Her  time  of 
 punishment.  That  wliich  will  be  the  inevitable  con- 
 sequence of  her  acts  is  represented  by  a  very  common 
 figure,  as  if  it  were  her  purpose  in  doing  them.  She 
 has  been  so  fully  warned  of  the  result  that  con- 
 tinuance in  her  course  seems  to  involve  the  design  of 
 bringing  on  that  result. 
 
 264 
 
Her  "t/f  r  Sins. 
 
 KZKKIKL,    XXII. 
 
 //.  r  a  rtain  Punishment. 
 
 herself  to  defile  Herself.    (1»  Thou  art 
 
 become  guilty  in  thy  bl I  thai    thou 
 
 shcil ;  and  lust  defiled  t 1 1 n  self  in 
 
 thine  idols  which  thou  has!    made  ;   ami 
 
 thou  liast  oansed  thj  days  to  draw  near, 
 
 ami     art     COme    even     iiiitu    thy    years: 
 
 therefore  have  I  made  thee  a  reproach 
 onto  the  heathen,  and  ;i  mocking  to  all 
 countries.  ,;''  Those  thai  be  near,  and 
 those  that  be  fax  from  thee,  shall  mock 
 thee,    which   art  '  infamous  and  much 
 
 Vexed. 
 
 Behold,  the  princes  of  Israel,  every 
 
 one  were  in  thee  to  their  '  p< >wer  to  shed 
 blood.  (7'  111  thee  have  they  set  lighl  bj 
 father  and  mother:  in  the  midst  of  thee 
 have  they  dealt  by  3 oppression  with  the 
 stranger:  in  thee  have  they  vexed  the 
 fatherless  and  I  he  widow.  (»)  Thou  hast 
 despised  mine  holy  things,  and  hast 
 profaned  my  sahhaths.  (''»  In  thee  are 
 'men  that  carry  tales  to  shed  hlood  : 
 ami  in  t! lhe\  eat  apon  the  moun- 
 tains: in  the  midst  of  thee  they  commit 
 lewdness.      (1U)  In   thee    have    t  hoy '' dis- 
 
 covered    their    father's    nakedness:  in 
 
 u  2  KlmeO.'l.  ID. 
 
 I    II.  1..  ! 
 
 nam*.   ■■ 
 imoattem. 
 
 .'   II.  h  .  nrm 
 
 I     1 1 .  T >  .     RIM      <</ 
 
 h  Lot.  18.81  Sc  20. 
 
 II. 
 
 I..  >.  l».  1». 
 r>j  one. 
 
 18.  so :  Jcr 
 
 6.0. 
 
 0  Or,  every  erne. 
 
 e  Lin-.  18.  0. 
 /  i  ll.  SI.  17. 
 
 I 
 
 8  Or.  «lii>r 
 
 thee  have  they  humbled  her  that  was 
 •set  apart  for  pollution.  W  And  one 
 hath  committed  abomination  with  his 
 neighbour's ''wife  ;  and 'another  hath 
 'lewdly  defiled   his  daughter  in  law; 
 
 and   another   in    thee    hat  h  humbled  hi, 
 
 ■  sister,    his   father's  daughter.    "J|  In 
 
 t  hee  have  I  hey  taken  oifts  to  shed  hlood  ; 
 thou  hast  taken  USUry  and  increase,  and 
 
 thou  hast  greedily  gained  of  thy  neigh- 
 bours by  extortion,  ami  ha   I    forgotten 
 me,  saith  the  Lord  <j!od. 
 P*)  Behold,  therefore  I  have  /'smitten 
 
 mine  hand  at  thy  dishonest  -ain  which 
 thou  hast  made,  and  at  thy  hlood  which 
 hath  been  in  the  midst  of  t  hee.  P*J  (  'a  n 
 thine  heart  endure,  or  can  thine  hands 
 be  strong,  in  the  days  that  1  shall  deal 
 with  thee?  I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it, 
 and  will  do  it.  (I5)  Ami  I  will  scatter 
 thee  among  the  heathen,  and  disperse 
 thee  in  the  countries,  and  will  consume 
 thy  filthiness  out  of  thee.  "  '  And  thou 
 8  shalt  take  thine  inheritance  in  th 
 in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  and  thou 
 shalt  know  that  1  am  the  Loan. 
 
 (')  Thy  days  ....  thy  years.— Viz.,  of 
 judgment  and  visitation.  The  Rabbinical  commentators 
 interpret  the  days  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
 vrs  of  the  captivity  in  Bab]  Ion. 
 
 A  mocking  to  all  countries.  —  This  is  fre- 
 quentlj  spoken  of  in  E/rl.i.l.  and  is  tlic  necessary 
 result  in  nil  ages  <>f  the  contrast  between  high  profes- 
 sions and  inconsistent  performance.  Israel's  law  stood 
 hi  above  the  legislation  of  any  other  nation  of  the 
 period,  but  the  habitual  condnct  of  her  people  was  in 
 utter  disregard  of  that  law.  The  effect  was  the  Bame 
 as  at  a  later  day.  when  St.  Paul  said,  "The  name  of 
 God  is  blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles  through  you" 
 
 (Bom.  ii.  24),    just    as    the    same    evils    ami    tin'    same 
 
 hindrances  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  now  result  from 
 the  unworthy  lives  of  Christians.  But  the  Jews 
 peculiarly  exp  eed  themselves  to  derision  by  their  el  aim. 
 as  the  chosen  people  of  I  lod,  to  nun ersal  ami  everlast- 
 ing dominion,  contrasted  with  their  present  overthrow 
 and  desolation ;  and  this  desolation  was  a  punishment 
 for    the  outrageous  sins  of    a  people    whose    whole 
 
 national    existence    was   hased   upon   a   call  to  peculiar 
 holiness. 
 (*)  Infamous  and  much  vexed.— It  is  better 
 
 to    unlit    the    words    in    italics,    which  art.      The  literal 
 
 meaning  of  "  infamous  "  is  given  in  the  margin;  but 
 
 the  "  much  Vexed"  refers  to  the  internal  confusion. 
 Commotions,  and    social   disorders   which   characterised 
 
 the  decaying  state  of  the  kingdom, 
 («]  w'oro    in    thee    to    their    power.  —  The 
 
 tense  is  the  same  with  that  of   tin-  verba  in  veTSS  7.  and 
 
 both  should  be  translated  alike;  the  order  of  the  words 
 should  also  be  changed :  "The  princes  of  Israel,  every 
 one  according  to  his  power,  have  been  in  thee  to  shed 
 hlood."  The  rulers,  who  should  have  preserved  order 
 and  administered  justice,  were   (oremoat  in  deeds  of 
 
 violence.  (See  the  instances  of  Mannsseli,  2  Kiir.'s 
 xxi.  10'.  and  of  Jehoiakini.  J  Kings  xxiv.  I.i 
 
 (<■)  By  father  and  mother. — Filial  respect  was 
 one  of  the  most  frequently  enjoined  precepts  of  the 
 law  (see  Lev.  xix.  :!J.  XX.  9,  ex.).  So  the  other  sins 
 mentioned  in  this  and  the  following  verses  are  trans- 
 gressions of  special  Divine  commands.  "  Dealt  by 
 oppression"  is  "dealt  oppressively"  (see  Lev.  xix.  10; 
 
 Exod.  xxii.  21;  Deut.xxiv.lt.  &C.)  ;  for  "the  father- 
 less  and  widow "  (Exod.  xxii.  22—21.  &0.).  The  despis- 
 ing of  holy  things  and  the  profanation  of  the  sabbaths 
 
 were  the  constant    subject  01   I  he  warnings  of  the   law; 
 
 tale-bearers  are  forbidden  iii  Lev.  xix.  16;  the  "eating 
 upon  the  mountains"  (which  means  joining  in  the 
 idol  sacrifices)  is  often  reproved  by  this  and  the  other 
 prophets;  and  the  sins  of  lewdness  enumerated  are  all 
 specifically  forbidden  in  Lev.  xviii.  and  xx.,  as  well  as 
 
 elsewhere;  while  the  various  sins  arising  from  covetous- 
 neSB,    mentioned     in     verse    12,     had     been     constantly 
 
 denounced  both  by  the  law  and  in  the  warnings  of  the 
 prophets.    The  expression  "hast  forgotten  me"  is  at 
 
 once  the  root  of  all  these  sins,  and  in  itself  the  climax 
 of  all. 
 
 (13)  Smitten  mine  hand. — See  Note  on  chap,  vi 
 11,  and  eomp.  verse  17  and  chap.  xxii.  13. 
 
 CM)  Shalt  take  thine  inheritance.  —  Rat  In  r. 
 thou  shalt  be  profaned  6y  thyself.    The  same  word 
 
 OCCUrB  in  chap.  vii.  :!t,  and  is  there  rendered  "shall  be 
 defiled;"  it  admits  of  either  sense,  according  to  its 
 derivation.  The  meaning  is  that  through  their  own 
 misconduct  they  forfeit  the  privileges  of  ■    holy  nation. 
 
 and  become  profaned  or  dishonoured  in  the  sight  of  the 
 heathen.  The  tirst  prophec]  of  this  chapter  closes  with 
 the   terrible  warning  of  verses   U     I"-   showing  the 
 
 extreme  suffering  necessary  for  the  purification  of 
 Israel. 
 
Simile  of  purifying  Silver. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXII. 
 
 Sin  of  all  Classes. 
 
 (17)  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
 unto  me,  saying,  <18>  Son  of  man,  the 
 house  of  Israel  is  to  me  become  dross  : 
 all  they  are  brass,  and  tin,  and  iron,  and 
 lead,  in  the  midst  of  the  furnace  ;  they 
 are  even  the  1  dross  of  silver.  (19>  There- 
 fore, thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Because 
 ye  are  all  become  dross,  behold,  there- 
 fore I  will  gather  you  into  the  midst  of 
 Jerusalem.  *2°)  "  As  they  gather  silver, 
 and  brass,  and  iron,  and  lead,  and  tin, 
 into  the  midst  of  the  furnace,  to  blow 
 the  fire  upon  it,  to  melt  it;  so  will  I 
 gather  you  in  mine  anger  and  in  my 
 fury,  and  I  will  leave  you  there,  and  melt 
 you.  (21)  Yea,  I  will  gather  you,  and 
 blow  upon  you  in  the  fire  of  my  wrath, 
 and  ye  shall  be  melted  in  the  midst 
 thereof.  (22>  As  silver  is  melted  in  the 
 midst  of  the  furnace,  so  shall  ye  be 
 melted  in  the  midst  thereof;  and  ye 
 shall  know  that  I  the  Lokd  have  poured 
 out  my  fury  upon  you. 
 
 (23>  And  the  word  of  the  Lokd  came 
 unto  me,  saying,  (2i)  Son  of  man,  say 
 unto  her,  Thou  art  the  land  that  is  not 
 
 1  Heb.,  drosses. 
 
 2  Heb., According 
 to  tho  gathering. 
 
 a  Mat.  23.  14. 
 
 3  Heb.,  offeredvio- 
 fence  to. 
 
 b  Mic.3. 11; 
 3.3. 
 
 Zepb 
 
 cleansed,  nor  rained  upon  in  the  day  of 
 indignation.  (25)  There  is  a  conspiracy 
 of  her  prophets  in  the  midst  thereof,  like 
 a  roaring  lion  ravening  the  prey  ;  they 
 "  have  devoured  souls ;  they  have  taken 
 the  treasure  and  precious  things  ;  they 
 have  made  her  many  widows  in  the 
 midst    thereof.     (2I3)  Her    priests   have 
 
 3  violated  my  law,  and  have  profaned 
 mine  holy  things :  they  have  put  no- 
 difference  between  the  holy  and  profane, 
 neither  have  they  shewed  difference  be- 
 tween the  unclean  and  the  clean,  and 
 have  hid  their  eyes  from  my  sabbaths, 
 and  I  am  profaned  among  them. 
 t27'  Her  b  princes  in  the  midst  thereof  are 
 like  wolves  ravening  the  prey,  to  shed 
 blood,  and  to  destroy  souls,  to  get  dis- 
 honest gain.  <28>  And  her  prophets  have 
 daubed  them  with  untempered  morter, 
 seeing  vanity,  and  divining  lies  unto 
 them,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God, 
 when  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken. 
 (29)  rphg  pe0pie  0f  the   land   have   used 
 
 4  oppression,  and  exercised  robbery,  and 
 have  vexed  the  poor   and   needy :  yea, 
 
 (18)  Become  dross. — The  second  prophecy  (verses 
 17 — 22)  is  occupied  with  a  figure  taken  from  the  refin- 
 ing of  silver,  which  is  a  favourite  one  with  the  prophets 
 (see  Isa.  i.  25;  Jer.  vi.  29;  Zech.  xiii.  9;  Mai.  iii.  3). 
 The  peculiar  appropriateness  of  this  figure  has  been 
 often  noted  in  the  fact  that  the  completion  of  the 
 process  of  refining  silver  in  the  furnace  was  determined 
 l>y  the  parting  of  the  floating  dross  and  the  reflection  of 
 the  image  of  the  refiner  from  its  molten  surface. 
 This  figure,  while  setting  forth  the  punishment  of 
 Israel,  shows  clearly  that  this  punishment  was  for  the 
 purpose  of  purification. 
 
 (is)  Into  the  midst  of  Jerusalem. — Jerusalem 
 is  represented  as  the  refining  pot  into  which  the  people 
 were  to  be  cast,  because  this  was  at  once  their  national 
 centre,  and  also  the  centre  of  the  war  by  which  they 
 were  carried  into  captivity. 
 
 (20)  I  -will  leave  you  there.  —  Better,  I  will 
 cast  you  in. 
 
 (2-t)  That  is  not  cleansed. — The  third  and  last 
 Divine  communication  of  this  chapter  begins  with 
 verse  23,  and  contains  a  further  enumeration  of  the  sins 
 of  Israel,  showing  that  they  have  been  committed  by 
 all  classes  alike,  and  ending,  like  the  others,  with  the 
 prophecy  of  the  outpouring  of  God's  wrath.  There  is 
 much  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
 clause  "  that  is  not  cleansed  ; "  the  most  probable  view 
 is  that  it  speaks  of  the  land  as  neglected  and  uucared 
 for — the  stones  not  gathered  up  and  the  weeds  allowed 
 to  grow.  It  has  had  neither  human  care,  nor  has  it 
 received  the  Divine  blessing  of  rain. 
 
 (25)  a  conspiracy  of  her  prophets.  —  The 
 opposition  of  false  prophets  to  the  Divine  measures 
 for  the  reformation  of  the  people  is  continually  spoken 
 of  (conip.  chap,  xiii.,  Zeph.  iii.  4,  and  many  passages  in 
 Jeremiah)  as  among  the  most  serious  obstacles  to  the 
 
 work  of  the  true  prophets  :  there  is  also  frequent  men- 
 tion of  them  in  history  (1  Kings  xxii.,  &c),  as  they  had 
 been  foretold  from  of  old  in  prophecy  (Deut.  xviii. 
 20 — 22).  Nothing,  it  may  be  observed,  coidd  have 
 afforded  more  plausible  excuse  to  the  people  for  not 
 obeying  the  Divine  admonitions  than  an  opposing 
 "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."  The  greed  of  the  false  pro- 
 phets and  the  disastrous  effects  of  their  counsel  are 
 spoken  of  here  in  stronger  terms  than  in  any  other 
 passage. 
 
 (26)  Have  violated  my  law. — The  next  class  to  be 
 spoken  of,  as  the  next  in  influence,  were  the  priests. 
 It  was  their  especial  office  to  observe  and  to  teach  the 
 distinction  between  the  holy  and  the  unholy  (Lev.  x.  10), 
 and  to  care  for  the  Sabbath.  In  all  they  had  been  un- 
 faithful.    (Conip.  Micah  iii.  11;  Zeph.  iii.  4.) 
 
 (27)  Her  princes. — These  are  not  only  the  kings, 
 but  also  the  nobles  and  those  in  authority  at  court — in 
 other  words,  the  ruling  class.  Their  injustice  and 
 violence  is  a  constant  theme  for  prophetic  rebuke. 
 
 (28)  With  untempered  morter. — See  Note  on 
 chap.  xiii.  10.  The  prophets  are  here  again  spoken  of 
 in  reference  to  their  powerful  influence  upon  the  princes 
 in  leading  them  astray  by  falsehoods.  "  Seeing  vanity  " 
 is  an  expression  for  pretended  and  false  visions.  (Conip. 
 chap.  xiii.  7,  9,  10.) 
 
 (29)  The  people  of  the  land, — i.e.,  the  common 
 people,  not  belonging  to  any  of  the  above  classes.  In 
 regard  to  their  general  corruption  see  chap,  xviii. 
 
 (3°)  Make  up  the  hedge,  is  only  another  form  of 
 "stand  in  the  gap."  added  for  the  sake  of  emphasis.  Both 
 refer  to  intercession  for  the  people  (sec  Ps.  cvi.  23). 
 It  is  not  meant  that  there  was  not  a  single  godly  man, 
 but  not  one  of  such  a  pure,  strong,  and  commanding  cha- 
 racter that  his  intercessions  might  avert  the  threatened 
 doom. 
 
 2GG 
 
Ahnl, ill  and  Aholibah. 
 
 i:xi:kii;l  win. 
 
 Sin  of  Ah, link. 
 
 they  have  oppressed  tin;  stranger 
 1  wrongfully.     i:"»  And  I   sought    for    a 
 
 man  among  them,  that  should  make  up 
 the  hedge,  and  stand  in  the  gap  before 
 nif  for  the  land,  that  I  should  not 
 destroy  it:  but!  found  none.  P^There- 
 fore  have  1  poured,  oat  mine  indignation 
 oponthem;  [have consumed  them  with 
 the  fire  of  my  wrath:  their  own  way 
 have  1   recompensed  upon  their  heads, 
 
 :ni  h  the  Lord  (Jul). 
 
 CHAPTER  XXIIL— W  The  word  of 
 thf  Loud  came  again  unto  me,  Baying, 
 
 M  Son  of  man,  there  were  two  women, 
 the  daughters  of  one  mother:  <:;)  ami 
 they  committed  whoredoms  in  Kgypt  ; 
 they  committed  whoredoms  in  their 
 youth  :  there  were  their  breasts  pressed, 
 and  there  they  bruised  the  teats  of  their 
 virginity.  ("And  the  names  of  them 
 were  Aholah  the  elder,  and  Aholibah  her 
 
 sister:  and  they  were  mine,  and  they 
 bare  suns   and  daughters.     Thus  were 
 
 their  names;  Samaria  M  Aholah,  and 
 Jerusalem  Aholibah. 
 
 (•)  And  Aholah  played  the  harlot  when 
 she  was  mine ;    and  she  doted  on   her 
 
 n.  i, , 
 
 riylit. 
 
 "'.  Beb  , 
 
 If  r       f 
 
 tAi  m. 
 
 a  ii.  t. ,  u 
 
 u  3  Kill.  17. » 
 
 i  Hi  i...  fl  name. 
 
 '.    II.  1... 
 
 thiiiitr 
 ttiuii,  ttc. 
 
 Ii  Hrli..  ... 
 heraitUr. 
 
 lovers,  on  the  Assyrians  Aw   neighbours, 
 
 W  which  were  clothed  with  blue,  captains 
 and  rulers,  all  of  them  desirable  young 
 men,    horsemen    riding    upon     ho 
 P'Thus  she  'committed  her  whoredoms 
 
 with  them,  with  all  them  Unit  W6TI  the 
 chosen   nun   of  Assyria,  ami  with  all  on 
 
 whom  she  doted:  w  ith  all  their  idols  she 
 defiled  herself.  M  Neither  left  she  her 
 whoredoms  brought  from  Egypt:  form 
 
 her  youth    they  lay  with    her,  ami    tle-y 
 
 bruised  the  breasts  of  her  virginity,  and 
 
 I red     their     whoredom     upon     her. 
 
 w  Wherefore  I  have  delivered  her  into 
 the  hand  of  her  lovers,  into  the  hand  of 
 the  "Assyrians,  upon  whom  she  dote. I. 
 (io)  These  discovered  her  nakedness:  they 
 took  her  sons  and  her  daughters,  and 
 slew  her  with  the  sword :  and  she  be- 
 came 'famous  among  women  ;  for  they 
 had  executed  judgment  upon  her. 
 
 <U)  And  when  her  sister  Aholibah  saw 
 this,  'she  was  more  corrupt  in  her  inor- 
 dinate love  than  she,  and  in  her  whore- 
 doms "more  than  her  sister  in  her  whore- 
 doms. (12)  She  doted  upon  the  'Assyrians 
 h er  neighbours,  captains  and  rulers  do!  bed 
 most  gorgeously,  horsemen  riding  upon 
 
 XXIIL 
 This  chapter  doses  the  series  of  prophecies  beginning 
 
 With   chap,  xx.,  anil   consists  of   an   extended   allegory, 
 
 1 1    object,  quite  in  connection  with  chaps,  xxi..  xxii..  is 
 
 to  Bet   forth  the  sinfulness  of  .Indali.     The  allegory  is 
 
 much  like  thai  ..f  chap.  \\i.,  but  differs  bom  it  on  the 
 
 one  side  by  omitting  the  historical  features  so  pro- 
 minent there,  and  on  the  other  by  using  as  a  basis  here 
 a  comparison  between  the  northern  and  southern  king- 
 
 tlonis.      The-  allegory  is  too  plain   to  neeil   any  extended 
 
 comment.  It  is  almost  entirely  concerned  with  the 
 southern  kingdom,  enough  only  being  added  in  refer- 
 ence to  the  northern,  which  had  lone  since  passed  away, 
 
 to  bring  out  the  comparison. 
 
 (8)  In  Egypt.— The  idolatries  of  [srael  in  Egypt 
 have  already  hern  spoken  oi  in  the  Note  to  chap,  xx.  8. 
 (See  also  verse  19  below.] 
 
 (*)  Samaria  is  Aholah,  and  Jerusalem  Aho- 
 libah.    Samaria,  as  the  Capital,  is  put  for  the  northern 
 
 kingdom,  and  is  called  Aholah  her  own  tabernacle, 
 because  she  set  up  her  own  worship  instead  of  resort  ing 
 
 to  the  Temple  ;   while  the  southern  kingdom,  represented 
 
 hy  Jerusalem,  is  called   Aholibah  =  my  tabernacle  is 
 
 in  her,  because  she  Mill  contained  the  sanctuary  of 
 the    Lord.      The    W0ld    "elder"    should    he    translated 
 
 greater,  as  in  chap.  xvi.  46.    (See  Note  there.) 
 
 (5)  The  Assyrians  her  neighbours.-  Or.  the 
 Assyrians  drawing  near.    They  arc  described  in  verse 
 
 ■0  as  those  who  "  come  from  far."  The  nearness  here 
 spoken  of  is  to  be  understood  not  locally,  but  spiritually. 
 Of  sympathy  in  idolatry.  Of  the  earlier  connection 
 between   Israel  and  Assyria   there   is  little  remaining 
 
 record.  In  -J.  Kings  xv.  19,  20,  it  is  said  that  Pul 
 exacted  tribute  of  Menahem,  and  the  mention  seems  to 
 imply  a  still  earlier  intercourse.  According  to  the 
 Assyrian  records,  Jehu  was  tributary  to  ShaJxoanesex ; 
 Assyria,  as  representing  tho  great  northern  power,  in 
 contrast  to  Egypt  on  the  south,  is  probably  used  here 
 in  a  sense  broad  enough  to  include  also  Syria. 
 
 («)  Horsemen.- The  Assyrians,  like  the  Egyptians. 
 made  large  use  of  cavalry,  as  was  necessary  to  a  warlike 
 nation  ;  the  multiplication  of  horses  had  on  this  account 
 been  forbidden  to  the  Israelites  (Dent,  xvii.  16). 
 
 i")  With  all  their  idols.  —  The  reality  breaks 
 through  the  figure,  and  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  messing 
 of  tho  allegory. 
 
 il">  Sho  became  famous.-  A  better  word  would 
 
 be  iintnriiiuK.  The  conquest  of  Samaria  and  the  cap- 
 tivity of  the  northern  tribes  had  now  been  accomplished 
 more  than  130  years,  and  had  made  them  a  byword 
 among  the  nations. 
 
 til)  sho  was  more  corrupt.— Enough  having 
 been  said  of  Aholah  to  form  the  basis  for  a  comparison, 
 
 the  prophet  now  turns  to  Aholibah.  The  idolatries  of 
 Judah  not  only  comparatively  but   actually  exceeded 
 
 those  of  her  sister  kingdom.  See.  ..</..  t  lie  account  of 
 Manassch's  reign  (2  Kings  xxi.  1 — lli;  ~  (,'hron.  xxxiii. 
 1 — 9).  In  addition  to  her  connection  with  Assyria. 
 Judah  also  formed  alliances  with  Chahlaa.  and  in- 
 trigued with  Egypt  and  other  nations. 
 
 (is)  Her  neighbours.  -  Sec  Note  on  verse  5.  In 
 both  places  the  warriors  of  Assyria  arc  described  in  the 
 most  attractive  way  to  canrj  out  the  figure;    they  arc 
 
 also  spoken  of  as  very  powerful,  to  explain  the  political 
 attraction  to  them.  Israel  was  both  fascinated  by  their 
 splendour  and  overawed  by  their  power. 
 
 267 
 
Greater  Sin  of  Aholibah. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXIII. 
 
 Site  shall  be  Plagued. 
 
 horses,  all  of  theni  desirable  young  men. 
 <13>  Then  I  saw  that  she  was  denied,  that 
 they  took  both  one  way,  0*)  and  that  she 
 increased  her  whoredoms  :  for  when  she 
 saw  men  pourtrayed  upon  the  wall,  the 
 images  of  the  Chaldeans  pourtrayed  with 
 vermilion,  (15>  girded  with  girdles  upon 
 their  loins,  exceeding  in  dyed  attire  upon 
 their  heads,  all  of  them  princes  to  look 
 to,  after  the  manner  of  the  Babylonians 
 of  Chaldea,  the  land  of  their  nativity : 
 <16>  and l  as  soon  as  she  saw  them  with 
 her  eyes,  she  doted  upon  them,  and  sent 
 messengers  unto  them  into  Chaldea. 
 <17)And  the  2Babylonians  came  to  her 
 into  the  bed  of  love,  and  they  defiled 
 her  with  their  whoredom,  and  she  was 
 polluted  with  them,  and  her  mind  was 
 3  alienated  from  them.  <18'  So  she  dis- 
 covered her  whoredoms,  and  discovered 
 her  nakedness  :  then  my  mind  was  alien- 
 ated from  her,  like  as  my  mind  was 
 alienated  from  her  sister.  <19)  Yet  she 
 multiplied  her  whoredoms,  in  calling  to 
 remembrance  the  days  of  her  youth, 
 wherein   she  had  played  the  harlot  in 
 
 1  Heb.,o£  the  sight 
 of  Illi-  eyes. 
 
 2  Heb.,  children  of 
 
 Heb., 
 Babel. 
 
 3  Heb.,  loosed,  or 
 disjointed.. 
 
 the  land  of  Egypt.  <20>  For  she  doted 
 upon  their  paramours,  whose  flesh  is  as 
 the  flesh  of  asses,  and  whose  issue  is  like 
 the  issue  of  horses.  (21)  Thus  thou 
 calledst  to  remembrance  the  lewdness 
 of  thy  youth,  in  braising  thy  teats  by 
 the  Egyptians  for  the  paps  of  thy 
 youth. 
 
 (22)  Therefore,  0  Aholibah,  thus  saith 
 the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I  will  raise  up 
 thy  lovers  against  thee,  from  whom  thy 
 mind  is  alienated,  and  I  will  bring  them 
 against  thee  on  every  side ;  (23)  the  Baby- 
 lonians, and  all  the  Chaldeans,  Pekod, 
 and  Shoa,  and  Koa,  and  all  the  Assy- 
 rians with  them :  all  of  them  desirable 
 young  men,  captains  and  rulers,  great 
 lords  and  renowned,  all  of  them  riding 
 upon  horses,  t2*'  And  they  shall  come 
 against  thee  with  chariots,  wagons,  and 
 wheels,  and  with  an  assembly  of  people, 
 which  shall  set  against  thee  buckler  and 
 shield  and  helmet  round  about :  and  I 
 will  set  judgment  before  them,  and  they 
 shall  judge  thee  according  to  their  judg- 
 ments.    (25>  And  I  will  set  my  jealousy 
 
 (1*)  Men  pourtrayed  upon  the  wall.— Such 
 portraitures,  with  evidence  that  they  were  once  executed 
 in  brilliant  colours,  are  characteristic  both  of  Egypt 
 and  Assyria,  where  stone  for  sculpture  abounded. 
 From  the  close  connection  in  race  and  customs  between 
 the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
 that  the  same  portraitures  were  also  common  upon  the 
 more  perishable  brick  of  the  latter,  of  whom  the 
 prophet  is  now  speaking.  The  monuments  fully  concur 
 in  representing  the  warriors  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia 
 as_  delighting  in  extreme  gorgeousness  of  apparel,  but 
 it  is  difficult  to  render  into  English  with  accuracy  each 
 particular  of  their  dress.  The  exiles,  whom  Ezekiel 
 immediately  addressed,  were  familiar  with  these  pic- 
 tures, and  his  way  of  speaking  of  them  was  important 
 in  cheeking  any  disposition  to  fall  into  idolatries  by 
 means  of  them. 
 
 (16>  Saw  them  with  her  eyes.— This  is  to  be 
 taken  in  a  sense  wide  enough  to  include  knowledge 
 obtained  in  any  way,  as  well  as  by  actual  sight.  The 
 intercourse  between  Judaea  and  Babylon  was  so  close 
 that  many  of  the  people  had  seen  the  Babylonians 
 personally,  while  others  knew  of  them  through  their 
 report. 
 
 Sent  messengers.— Ahaz  "sent  messengers"  to 
 Assyria  (2  Kings  xvi.  7),  and  Hezekiah  entertained 
 ambassadors  from  Babylon  (2  Kings  xx.  13);  but 
 besides  these,  the  whole  history  of  the  times  implies 
 that  there  must  have  been  frequent  embassies  of  which 
 no  special  mention  is  made.  One  from  Zedekiah  is 
 incidentally  mentioned  by  Jeremiah  (chap.  xxix.  3),  of 
 which  there  is  no  record  in  history. 
 
 (17)  Her  mind  was  alienated.— The  original  im- 
 plies the  disgust  of  satiety.  Josiah  had  been  the 
 devoted  friend  of  Babylon,  and  perished  in  his  zeal  on 
 its  behalf.     Judah   was   then  made  a   dependency  of 
 
 268 
 
 Egypt,  and  turned  for  aid  to  Babylon.  Then  receiving 
 in  turn  the  yoke  of  Babylon,  she  became  impatient,  and 
 sought  the  aid  of  Egypt.  This  vacillating  policy  is 
 described  in  verses  17 — 19,  and  at  either  turn  was  so 
 entirely  wanting  in  sole  reliance  upon  God  as  to  produce 
 the  effect  of  verse  18 :  "  My  mind  was  alienated  from  her." 
 (20)  Their  paramours. — The  word  is  masculine,  as 
 indicating  the  abominable  sins  copied  by  the  Israelites 
 from  the  heathen,  and  asses  and  horses  are  introduced 
 to  show  the  intensity  of  lust.     (Comp.  Jer.  v.  8.) 
 
 (22)  i  will  bring  them  against  thee. — Here,  as 
 everywhere,  the  fitness  of  the  punishment  to  the  sin, 
 the  correlation  between  them,  is  strongly  brought  out. 
 Israel  had  chosen  the  idolatries  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  and 
 Babylon,  and  these  had  drawn  down  upon  her  the  ven- 
 geance of  Him  in  whom  alone  was  her  refuge  ;  she  had 
 sought  strength  in  their  political  alliance,  and  they 
 overwhelmed  her  with  desolation. 
 
 (23)  Pekod,  and  Shoa,  and  Koa.— These  words 
 were  taken  as  proper  names  by  our  translates,  and  are 
 still  considered  by  some  as  indicating  small  Chaldsean 
 tribes;  but  it  is  better,  with  the  Vulg.  and  most 
 modern  commentators,  to  understand  them  as  the 
 names  of  officers,  "  rulers,  lords,  and  nobles."  Shoa  is 
 translated  "  crying  "  in  Isa.  xxii.  5,  "  liberal  "  in  Isa. 
 xxxii.  5,  and  "  rich  "  in  Job  xxxiv.  19  ;  while  Pekod  is 
 rendered  "  visitation  "  in  the  margin  of  Jer.  1.  21. 
 
 (24)  with  chariots,  wagons,  and  wheels. — 
 The  word  translated  "  chariots  "  occurs  only  here,  and  is 
 thought  to  mean  some  weapon  of  war.  It  would  be 
 better  to  translate,  with  weapons,  chariots,  and  wheels. 
 The  clause  "  I  will  set  judgment  before  them,"  is 
 equivalent  to  I  will  entrust  to  them  the  judgment  upon 
 thee. 
 
 (25)  Take  away  thy  nose  and  thine  ears. — 
 The  barbarous  custom  of  mutilating  prisoners  prevailed 
 
By  If  r  oirit   Lor.  rs. 
 
 i:xi:kii:u  xxiii. 
 
 The  Sim  of  i.0th. 
 
 against  thee,  and  they  sh till  deal  furi- 
 ouslv  with  thee:  they  shall  take  awaj 
 thy  Q08e  and  thine  ears;  and  thy  rem- 
 nant shall  la  11  by  the  sword:  tiny  shall 
 take  thy  sons  ami  thy  daughters ;  and 
 th\  residue  shall  be  devoured  by  the  fire. 
 '-'■  Tin',  shall  also  strip  thee  out  of  thy 
 clothes,  and  take  away  thy  'fair  jewels. 
 
 hits  will  I  make  thv  lewdness  to 
 cease  from  thee,  and  thy  whoredom 
 brought  from  the  land  of  Egypt:  so 
 that  thou  shalt  not  lift  up  thine  e\es 
 unto  them,  nor  remember  Egypt  any 
 more. 
 
 For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Be- 
 hold, I  will  deliver  thee  into  the  hand 
 of  them  whom  thou  hatest,  into  the  ham! 
 of  them  from  whom  thy  mind  is  alien- 
 ated: (*>  and  they  shall  deal  with  thee 
 hatefully,  and  shall  take  awa\  all  th\ 
 labour,  and  shall  leave  thee  naked  and 
 hare;  and  t  he  nakedness  of  thy  whore- 
 doms shall  be  discovered,  both  thy  lewd- 
 
 and  thy  whoredoms.  <:l")  I  will  do 
 these  tlunija  unto  thee,  because  thou  hast 
 gone  a  whoring  after  the  heathen,  and 
 because  thou  art  polluted  with  their 
 idols.  <;1)Thou  hast  walked  in  the  way 
 of  thy  sister;  therefore  will  I  give  her 
 cup  into  thine  hand.  (:!-')  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God;  Thou  shalt  drink  of  thy 
 sister's  cup  deep  and  large :  thou  shalt 
 be  laughed  to  scorn  and  had  in  derision; 
 it  containeth  much,  t33)  Thou  shalt  be 
 filled  with  drunkenness  and  sorrow, 
 with  the  cup  of  astonishment  and  deso- 
 lation, with  the  cup  of  thy  sister  Sa- 
 maria .     ,:tl>  Thou  shalt  even  drink  it  and 
 
 «/  thy  •' 
 
 i  rii. 3).  t ;  1:  : 
 
 2  Or,  plead  far. 
 
 8  Hi  1,.,  com'iwj. 
 
 i  IT  l> ,  'a/iiourable 
 
 IM1..1//V  mill- 
 tttudc  ti/mt/i. 
 
 il  Or,  drui 
 
 suck  it  out,  and  thou  shalt  break  the 
 sherds  thereof,  and  pluck  off  thine  own 
 breasts:  for  I  have  Bpoken  it,  saith  the 
 Lord  God.  I88' Therefore  thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  Because  thou  hast  forgotten 
 me,  and  cast  me  behind  thy  back,  there- 
 fore bear  thou  also  thy  lewdness  and  thv 
 whoredoms. 
 
 The  Loud  said   moreover  unto  me; 
 Son   of  man,  will    thou1     judge  Aholah 
 
 and  Aholihah P  yea,  declare  unto  them 
 
 their  abominations  ;  '-'that  tiny  bare 
 committed  adultery,  and  blood  is  in  their 
 hands,  and  with  their  idols  have  they 
 committed  adultery, and  have  also  caused 
 their  sons,  whom  they  bare  unto  me,  to 
 pass  for  them  through  the  fire,  to  devour 
 tin  in.  t38)  Moreover,  this  they  have  done 
 unto  me  :  they  have  defiled  my  sanctuary 
 in  the  same  day,  and  hare  profaned  mj 
 sabbaths.  I :i''»  For  when  they  had  slain 
 their  children  to  their  idols,  then  they 
 came  the  same  day  into  my  sanctuary  to 
 profane  it;  and,  lo,  'thus  have  tiny 
 done  in  the  midst  of  mine  house.   ''"'Ami 
 
 furthermore,  thai  ye  have  sent  for  men 
 3  to  come  from  far,  unto  whom  a 
 scnger  ii-Ks  sent ;  and,  lo,  they  came:  for 
 whom  thou  didst  wash  thyself,  paint.. 1st 
 thy  eyes,  and  deckedst  thyself  with  orna- 
 ments, (ll)  and  safest  upon  a4stately  bed, 
 and  a  table  prepared  before  it,  ''where- 
 upon thou  hast  set  mine  incense  and 
 mine  oil.  <tJ)  And  a  voice  of  a  multi- 
 tude being  at  ease  was  with  her:  and 
 with  the  men  5of  the  common  sort  were 
 brought  6Sabeans  from  the  wilderness, 
 which  put  bracelets   upon   their  hands. 
 
 in  tin'  East  Cram  the  earliest  times;  it  is  here  men- 
 tioned with  eapecial  reference  tn  the  destruction  of  tin' 
 attractiveness  of  the  adulteress  Aholihah,  and  the  par- 
 ticulars of  verse  26  have  the  same  purpose.  (Coinp.  chap. 
 \\i  39  I  In  Egypt  adultery  was  punished  by  catting 
 clT  tlie  nose  anil  ean. 
 (8»)  It  containeth  much.— The  enp  of  humiliation 
 
 already  drunk  l>y  Samaria  was  large,  and  tilled  with 
 pain  and  sorrow,  yet  Jerusalem  must  drink  it  amid 
 the  derision  of  her  neighbours. 
 
 Wilt  thou  judge?— Rather,  jiuhjc  thou,  as  in 
 chaps,  \\.  I.  \xii.  2. 
 
 t»)  In  the  same  day. — This  is  explained  more 
 fully  in  verse  39.  Emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  fact  that 
 they  worshipped  in  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah  in  the 
 Bame  daj  thai  the;  offered  their  children  to  their  idols. 
 because  the  passing  directly  from  the  one  to  the  other 
 showed  an  utter  disregard  of  the  commands  of  the 
 
 Lord,  and  an  entire  want  of  appreciation  of  His  elm. 
 racter  and  holiness.  The  figure  iii  this  and  the  follow- 
 ing verses  is  partly  dropped  to  bring  out  better  the 
 
 reality. 
 
 (*>>  Paintedst  thine  eyes.— The  figuro  is  that  of 
 a  lewd  woman  preparing  herself  for  her  paramour,  and 
 awaiting  his  arrival.      Fainting  the  eyes,  or   rather  the 
 
 li.ls  and  lashes,  was  an  ancient  custom,  still  preserved 
 in  the  East.     (Comp,  2  dings  i\ 
 
 ('"  A  stately  bed  is  rather  tho  couch  or  divan 
 used  for  reclining  at  a  feast.  "  B£ine  incense  and  mine 
 oil"  (comp.  chap.  xvi.  18)  may  be  taken  simply  as  the 
 products  of  the  land,  the  good  gifts  of  Qod  which  Israel 
 bestowed  upon  the  heathen;  but  as  both  of  these  were 
 
 especially  us,-,)  in  sacrifices,  it  is  better  to  connect  with 
 
 this  the  perversion  to  the  worship  of  the  idols  of  the 
 
 heathen  01  what  should  have  been  Jehovah's  only. 
 
 t'->  A  voice  of  a  multitude  being  at  ease  was 
 with.  her. — The  words"  voice  of  a  multitude,"  wherever 
 
 else   they   occur  .1   .Sam.  iv.   11:    Isa.  xiii.  t.   xxxiii.  3; 
 Dan.  x.   il  .  mean    a    loud   tumult,   and   even   the   word 
 here   used   for  "  multitude.'"  when  alone,  alwi  J 
 a   boisterous   multitude.      Translate    T%  '    the 
 
 'if   was  stilled   thereat:    £.«.,   the  tumult   of  the 
 
 invading   army   was    stilled    by   the   gifts   of   Israel,  a 
 fact  of  which  there  is  frequent  record  in  the  history. 
 
 2C9 
 
Their  Punishment 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXIV. 
 
 Dale  of  the  Siege. 
 
 and  beautiful  crowns  upon  their  heads. 
 («)  Then  said  I  unto  her  that  was  old  in 
 adulteries,  Will  they  now  commit 
 1  whoredoms  with  her,  and  she  with 
 them  ?  ('i"  Yet  they  went  in  unto  her, 
 as  they  go  in  unto  a  woman  that  playeth 
 the  harlot :  so  went  they  in  unto  Aholah 
 and  unto  Aholibah,  the  lewd  women. 
 <45'  And  the  righteous  men,  they  shall 
 "judge  them  after  the  manner  of  adul- 
 teresses, and  after  the  manner  of  women 
 that  shed  blood  ;  because  they  are  adul- 
 teresses, and  blood  is  in  their  hands. 
 («)  Yov  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will 
 bring  up  a  company  upon  them,  and  will 
 give  them  3to  be  removed  and  spoiled. 
 (47)  And  the  company  shall  stone  them 
 with  stones,  and  3  dispatch  them  with 
 their  swords  ;  they  shall  slay  their  sons 
 
 1  Ilrh.,  her  ivhore-i 
 Home. 
 
 2Heb.,/orrtr€mof 
 imj  and  spoil. 
 
 3  Or,  single  them 
 out. 
 
 and  their  daughters,  and  burn  up  their 
 houses  with  fire.  (48)  Thus  will  I  cause 
 lewdness  to  cease  out  of  the  land,  that 
 all  women  may  be  taught  not  to  do  after 
 your  lewdness.  (49'  And  they  shall  re- 
 compense your  lewdness  upon  you,  and 
 ye  shall  bear  the  sins  of  yotu-  idols  :  and 
 ye  shall  know  that  I  am,  the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XXIV.— (D  Again  in  the 
 ninth  year,  in  the  tenth  month,  in  the 
 tenth  day  of  the  month,  the  word  of  the 
 Lord  came  unto  me,  saying,  <2'  Son  of 
 man,  write  thee  the  name  of  the  day, 
 even  of  this  same  day  :  the  king  of  Ba- 
 bylon set  himself  against  Jerusalem  this 
 same  day.  (3)  And  utter  a  parable  unto 
 the  rebellious  house,  and  say  unto  them, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Set  on  a  pot, 
 
 The  phrase  translated  "  with  her  "  is  rendered  "  thereby" 
 in  Gen.  xxiv.  14. 
 
 Men  of  the  common  sort  is  better  rendered  in 
 the  margin,  t lie  multitude  of  men ;  and  "  Sabeans  "  is 
 not  a  proper  name,  but,  as  in  the  margin,  drunkards. 
 They  are  represented  as  from  the  wilderness,  not  as 
 their  home,  but  as  the  region  through  which  they  passed 
 in  marching  to  Judsea.  The  whole  sense  of  the  verse 
 is  that  the  conquerors  attacking  the  land  were  satisfied 
 with  heavy  tribute,  and  having  received  this,  many  of 
 the  warriors  gave  themselves  up  to  drunkenness  and 
 debauchery,  decking  out  their  tributary  with  meretri- 
 cious ornaments. 
 
 (43)  Will  they  now  commit?— This  should  not 
 be  made  a  question,  nor  should  the  opening  of  verse  44 
 be  made  adversative.  The  thought  is  that,  after  all 
 means  of  reclamation  had  failed,  God  gave  her  up  to 
 her  sins.  Translate,  Now  shall  her  whoredom  be  com- 
 mitted, even  this.     And  they  went  in,  &c. 
 
 iu)  Unto  Aholah  and  unto  Aholibah.  — 
 From  verses  11 — 35  the  discourse  has  been  altogether 
 of  Aholibah,  as  the  one  now  immediately  concerned ; 
 but  from  verses  36 — 44,  in  the  enumeration  of  their  sins, 
 both  are  included,  though  in  the  greater  part  of  these 
 verses  the  singular  number  is  used,  because  Aholibah 
 was  most  prominent  in  the  prophet's  thoughts.  In  the 
 denunciation  of  judgment,  with  which  the  prophecy 
 closes  (verses  45 — 49),  both  are  again  spoken  of  in  the 
 plural,  because,  although  Aholah  had  long  since  suffered, 
 it  was  important  to  show  that  common  sin  involved 
 both  in  common  punishment. 
 
 (45)  The  righteous  men.— That  is.  men  to  whom 
 the  judgment  of  righteousness  is  committed. 
 
 <«")  With  stones  .  .  .  with  swords.— The  figure 
 and  the  reality  are  here  designedly  mixed.  Stoning  was 
 the  legal  punishment  of  adultery,  but  the  actual  over- 
 throw of  Jerusalem  was  by  the  sword. 
 
 (48)  To  cease. —  By  the  removal  of  the  sinners. 
 "  All  women,"  in  accordance  with  the  allegory,  means 
 all  nations.  The  judgments  upon  Israel  should  be  then, 
 and  for  all  time,  a  conspicuous  monument  of  God's 
 righteous  severity. 
 
 (49)  Bear  the  sins  of  your  idols— i.e.,  the  punish- 
 ment of  the  sins  which  you  have  committed  in  wor- 
 shipping your  idols. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 On  the  exact  day  on  which  Nebuchadnezzar  invested 
 Jerusalem  the  fact  was  revealed  to  the  prophet  in 
 Chaldsea,  and  he  was  commanded  to  declare  the  fate  of 
 the  city  by  a  parable  (verses  3 — 14).  Afterwards  the 
 sudden  death  of  his  wife  was  foretold,  and  he  was  for- 
 bidden to  make  any  outward  sign  of  mourning,  that  by 
 this  symbolical  act  he  might  further  instruct  the  people 
 (verses  15 — 24).  At  the  close  of  the  chapter  he  is  told 
 that  the  fall  of  the  city  will  be  announced  to  him  by  a 
 fugitive,  and  after  that  he  shall  again  prophesy  to  the 
 people  (verses  25 — 27). 
 
 (!)  In  the  tenth  day  of  the  month.— Jehoiaehin's 
 captivity  (by  which  all  these  prophecies  are  dated)  co- 
 incided with  Zedekiah's  reign.  The  date  here  given  is 
 therefore  the  same  as  in  Jer.  xxxix.  1,  lii.  4 ;  2  Kings 
 xxv.  1,  and  was  afterwards  observed  by  the  Jews  as  a 
 fast  (Zeeh.  viii.  19).  It  was  doubtless  the  day  on  which 
 the  investment  of  the  city  was  completed. 
 
 (2)  Write  thee  the  name. — It  is  evident  that  es- 
 pecial attention  was  to  be  called  to  the  exact  date,  and 
 a  note  made  of  it  at  the  time.  The  words  "  has  set 
 himself  against"  would  be  more  accurately  rendered 
 has  fallen  upon.  The  supposition  that  the  reference 
 is  to  some  point  on  his  march  from  which  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar advanced  to  the  attack  upon  Jerusalem,  and 
 that  tidings  of  this  were  brought  to  the  prophet  in 
 the  ordinary  way,  is  quite  inconsistent  with  the  whole 
 verse.  It  is  plain  that  the  prophet  means  to  say, 
 with  especial  emphasis  and  distinctness,  that  he  was 
 informed  of  what  was  taking  place  at  Jerusalem  on  the 
 same  day  in  which  it  happened. 
 
 (3)  Utter  a  parable. — What  follows  (verses  3—14) 
 was  not  a  symbolical  action,  but  was  simply  a  parable 
 spoken  to  the  people,  although  the  language  is  just  that 
 which  would  describe  action. 
 
 Set  on  a  pot. — Rather,  the  cauldron,  the  word  being 
 the  same  as  in  chap.  xi.  3,  and  preceded  by  the  definite 
 article  referring  to  that  passage.  Urgency  is  indicated 
 by  the  repetition  of  the  command  "  set  on."  The 
 people  in  chap.  xi.  3  had  called  their  city  the  cauldron; 
 so  let  it  be.  the  Divine  word  now  says,  and  set  that  city 
 upon  the  fire    of   the   armies   of   my   judgment,  and 
 
 270 
 
I 'it  ruble  of  the  Put. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXIV. 
 
 Its  Purification. 
 
 ■set  it  on,  and  also  poor  water  into  it  : 
 '''  Gather  the  pieces  thereof  into  it,  even 
 every  good  piece,  the  thigh,  and  the 
 shoulder:  lill  U  with  the  choice  bones. 
 (■)  Take  the  choice  of  the  flock,  and1  barn 
 also  the  bones  under  it, and  make  it  i>"il 
 
 well 1  lit  tin  in  seethe  the  bones  of  it 
 
 t  herein. 
 
 "■'  Wherefore  thus  stiith  the  Lord  Goo; 
 
 Woe  to  the  Moody  city,  to  the  pot   whose 
 
 scum  is  therein,  and  whose  scam  is  not 
 gone  out  of  it!  bring  it  out  piece  by 
 
 piece;  let  no  lot  fall  upon  it.  '"'For 
 her  blood  is  in  the  midst  of  her;  she  set 
 it  upon  the  top  of  a  rock  ;  she  poured  it 
 not  upon  the  ground,  to  cover  it  with 
 
 dust  ;     ("'  that    it     iniu'lit     cause    I'ui'y    to 
 
 come  up  to  take  vengeance;  I  have  set 
 
 i  Or.  '"-</' 
 
 a  Fata.  3. 1 ;  Bab. 
 
 •j.  i-'. 
 
 her  blood  upon  the  top  of  a  roek,  that  it 
 should    not    he   covered.     <W  Therefore 
 
 thus    saith   the  Lord  God;   "Woe  to  the 
 
 bloody  city  I  1  will  even   make  the  pile 
 
 for  lire  u'lvat.  [  Heap  on  wood,  kindle 
 the  lire,  consume  the  flesh,  and  Bpice  it 
 well,  and  let  the  bones  be  burned. 
 ("» Then  set  it  empty  upon  the  coals 
 thereof,  that  the  brass  of  it  may  be  hot, 
 and  may  burn,  and  thai  the  lilt  him 
 it  may  be  molten  in  it,  that  the  scum  of 
 it  may  be  consumed.  |1-'1  She  hath 
 wearied /iirxi'// with  lies,  and  her  great 
 scum  went  not  forth  out  of  her:  her 
 scum  shall  be  in  the  fire.  (1:i>  In  thy 
 filthiness  is  lewdness :  because  I  have 
 purged  thee,  and  thou  wast  not  purged, 
 thou  shalt  not  be  purged  from  thy  tilthi- 
 
 gather  into    it   tor  destruction   the   people  who  have 
 
 boasted  of   it  as   their  security. 
 
 (*)  The  pieces  thereof.— Literally,  its  pieces, 
 tlie  pieces  which  pertain  to  the  cauldron,  (he  .lews, 
 wlmse  e  -litre  and  capital  is  Jerusalem.  This  was  the 
 natural    effect   of    Nebuchadnezzar's    campaign ;    the 
 
 Jieople  from  every  aide  sought  refuge  in  the  city.  (Comp. 
 ler.  x\w .  1 1 .)  The  mention  <>t'  the  "good  piece,"  "the 
 choir.'  bones,"  and  "  the  choice  of  the  (lock  "  (vera  5 
 is  not  for  the  purpose  of  designating  any  particular 
 class,  but  only  to  emphasise  thai  all,  even  the  best,  are 
 to  be  included. 
 
 <*)  Burn  also  the  bonos  under  it.— It  is  uncer- 
 tain whether  this  is  oi  is  not  the  exact  sense.  The 
 word  for  "  burn "  means,  as  is  shown  in  the  margin, 
 luup.  and  is  a  noun.    This  is  taken  by  many  with  a 
 
 verh  implied,  in   the  sense  of   "  make  a  heap  of  wood  to 
 
 burn  the  bones."    ( In  the  other  hand,  the  sense  of  the 
 
 text  is  that  given  in  most  of  the  ancient  versions,  and  it 
 is  certain  that  hones,  before   the  fat  is  extracted,  may  be 
 
 used  for  fuel.  It  is  better, therefore,  to  translate  quite 
 literally,  heap  the  bones  wilder  it,  leaving  the  same  am- 
 bignity  as  in  the  original  as  to  whether  the  bones  are 
 to  be  burned  upon  the  fuel  or  themselves  used  for  fuel. 
 In  either  case,  the  bones  are  those  which  are  left  after 
 ••the  good  pieces"  have  been  put  into  the  cauldron. 
 No  part  of  the  people  shall  escape;  the  refuse  alike 
 with  the  choice  is  doomed  to  destruction. 
 
 ■    in  These  verses  contain  the  application  of  the  pa- 
 rable in  two  distinct  parts   verses 6    Band 9     14),  hut 
 
 in  such  wise  that  the  literal  and  the  figurative  OOntinU- 
 ally  run  together.       A  DOW  feature,  that   of  the  rust   on 
 
 the  cauldron,  is  also  introdu 1.      a.  somewhat  similar 
 
 figure  ma]  be  found  in  Isa.  iv.-l.  hut  with  the  difference 
 
 that  H/.ekiel,  as  usual,  goes  much  more  into  minute 
 detail-,. 
 
 (•)  Scum. — This  word,  which  occurs  five  times  in 
 these  verses  (6,  11.  12),  is  found  nowhere  else.  Inter- 
 preters are  agreed  in  the  correctness  of  the  old  Greek 
 version  of  it.  met.  The  thought  is.  that  not  only  the 
 inhabitants  of  the  city  are  wicked,  but  that  this  wicked- 
 ness is  so  great  that  the  city  itself  (represented  by  the 
 cauldron)   is.  as   it  were,   corroded   with    rust.     It    is 
 
 therefore  to  he  utterly  destroyed,  " brought  out   pi, 
 
 by  piece"   aee  J  Cings  txv.  10  .  no  lot  is  to  fall  upon 
 
 it    to   make   a   discrimination,   since    nothing    is    to    be 
 
 spared.  All  previous  judgments  had  been  partial;  this 
 is  to  he  complete. 
 
 (")  Upon  the  top  of  a  rock. — Crimes  of  violence 
 are  continually  charged  upon  Jerusalem  (chaps,  xxii. 
 12,  13,  xxiii.  37,  &C.),  I'ut  here  she  is  further  re. 
 preached   with    such   indifference   to   these    crimes  that 
 
 she  did  not  even  care  to  cover  them  decently.  It  was 
 required  in  the  law  that  the  blood  even  of  the  sacrij 
 
 Lev.  iv.  7.    xvi.  15,  &C.)  and    id'  animals   slain   for  food 
 
 (Dent.  xii.  16)  should  he  poured  upon  tin!  ground,  that 
 it  might  he  absorbed  and  covered  out  of  sight;  but 
 Jerusalem  had  put  the  blood  of  her  victims  upon  the 
 hard  rock,  ami  not  even  covered  it  with  dust,  thus 
 glorying  in  her  shame.  (Comp.  Job  xvi.  1*;  Isa. 
 xxvi.  'JLi 
 
 (8)  I  have  set. — Here  God  Himself  is  said  to  do 
 that  which  has  just  been  charged  upon  Jerusalem. 
 There  is  no  inconsistency  between  the  statements; 
 Jerusalem  gloried  in  her  crimes,  and  God  made  those 
 crimes  conspicuous  as  the  cause  of  her  punishment. 
 
 flO)  Spice  it  well.— With  verse  9  the  second  part 
 
 of  the  application  of  the  parable  begins,  and  is  marked 
 by  great  energy  of  description.  In  this  verse  the  sense 
 oi'  the  won  1  translated  "spice"  is  doubtfuL     If  this  be  its 
 
 true  meaning,  the  idea  must  lie.  I  , i  thoroughly  with 
 
 the  cooking;    '"'I  the  WOrdis  always  used  in  connection 
 
 with  the  preparation  of  compound  incense  or  spies. 
 
 and  seems  therefore  to  refer  to  the  thoroughness  of  the 
 work,  and  thus  to  mean.  Boil  thoroughly.  In  Job  xli. 
 31  (Hcb.  23)  its  derivative  is  used  as  a  simile  for  the 
 raging  sea.  The  process  is  to  be  continued  until  the 
 water  in  the  cauldron  is  all  evaporated,  the  flesh 
 consumed,  and  even  the  hones  burned. 
 
 i")   Set  it  empty  upon  the  coals.    Keeping 
 
 up  the  strong  figure  of  the  parable,  after  all  the  in- 
 habitants have  passed  under  judgment  the  city  itself 
 is  to  be  purged  by  tire.    It  is  unnecessary  here  to  think 
 
 of  heat  as  removing  the  rust  (seuiii)  from  the  cauldron; 
 the  prophet's  mind  is  not  upon  any  physical  effect,  but 
 upon  the  methods  of  purifying  deiiled  metallic  vessels 
 under  the  law  (sec  Num.  xxxi.  23).     It  was  a  symbolical 
 
 rather  than  a  material  purification,  and  in  the  present 
 case  involved  the  actual  destruction  of  the  city  itself. 
 
 In   verses   11— II.  the  obduracy  of  the  people  is   set 
 forth  iii  strong  language,  together  with  the  comp! 
 ness   of  the   coming  judgment   in   contrast   to   the  in- 
 
 -'71 
 
Death  of  Ezekiel's  Wife. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXIV. 
 
 He  is  a  Sign  to  the  People. 
 
 ness  any  more,  till  I  have  caused  rny 
 fury  to  rest  upon  thee.  (U)  I  the  Lord 
 have  spoken  it :  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
 and  I  will  do  it ;  I  will  not  go  back, 
 neither  will  I  spare,  neither  will  I  repent; 
 according  to  thy  ways,  and  according  to 
 thy  doings,  shall  they  judge  thee,  saith 
 the  Lord  God. 
 
 (15)  Also  the  word  of  the  Loed  came 
 unto  me,  saying,  (16>  Son  of  man,  behold, 
 I  take  away  from  thee  the  desire  of 
 thine  eyes  with  a  stroke :  yet  neither 
 shalt  thou  mourn  nor  weep,  neither 
 shall  thy  tears  1nm  down.  <17)  3Forbear 
 to  cry,  make  no  mourning  for  the  dead, 
 bind  the  tire  of  thine  head  upon  thee, 
 and  put  on  thy  shoes  upon  thy  feet,  and 
 cover  not  thy  3lips,  and  eat  not  the  bread 
 of  men. 
 
 <18>  So  I  spake  unto  the  people  in  the 
 morning :  and  at  even  my  wife  died ; 
 and  I  did  in  the  morning  as  I  was  com- 
 manded. (19>  And  the  people  said  unto 
 me,  Wilt  thou  not  tell  us  what  these 
 things  are  to  us,  that  thou   doest   so  ? 
 
 1  Hcb.,  go. 
 
 2  Heb.,  Be  silent. 
 
 3  Hcb.,  vpper  lip  ; 
 and  so  ver.  22. 
 
 4  Heb.,  the  pit}/  of 
 your  soul. 
 
 5  Hcb..  the  lifting 
 vp  0/ their  soul. 
 
 (20)  Then  I  answered  them,  The  word  of 
 the     Loed     came     unto     me,    saying,, 
 
 (21)  Speak  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I  will  pro- 
 fane my  sanctuary,  the  excellency  of 
 your  strength,  the  desire  of  your  eyes, 
 and  4that  which  your  soul  pitieth  ;  and 
 your  sons  and  your  daughters  whom  ye 
 have  left  shall  fall  by  the  sword.  <2JAnd 
 ye  shall  do  as  I  have  done :  ye  shall  not 
 cover  your  lips,  nor  eat  the  bread  of 
 men.  <23)  And  your  tires  shall  be  upon 
 your  heads,  and  your  shoes  upon  your 
 feet :  ye  shall  not  mourn  nor  weep ;  but 
 ye  shall  pine  away  for  your  iniquities, 
 and  mourn  one  toward  another.  &*)  Thus 
 Ezekiel  is  unto  you  a  sign  :  according  to 
 all  that  he  hath  done  shall  ye  do  :  and 
 when  this  cometh,  ye  shall  know  that  I 
 am  the  Lord  God. 
 
 (25)  Also,  thou  son  of  man,  shall  it  not 
 be  hi  the  day  when  I  take  from  them 
 their  strength,  the  joy  of  their  glory,  the 
 desire  of  their  eyes,  and  5  that  whereupon 
 they  set  their  minds,  their  sons  and  their 
 
 effectiveness  of  all  former  efforts  for  their  reformation 
 (verse  13) ;  and,  finally,  the  adaptation  of  the  punish- 
 ment to  the  sin  (verse  14).  The  word  translated  "lies  "  in 
 verse  12  means  pains  or  labour.  Translate,  Tlie  labour 
 is  in  vain;  her  rust  does  not  go  out  of  her,  even  her 
 rust  with  fire.  In  verse  13  "lewdness"  would  be 
 better  rendered  abomination. 
 
 (15)  Also  the  word.— What  follows  is  distinctly 
 separated  from  the  utterance  of  the  foregoing  parable 
 and  its  interpretation,  yet  verse  18  shows  that  it  took 
 place  upon  the  same  day.  Ezekiel  is  warned  of  the 
 sudden  death  of  his  wife,  who  is  described  as  deeply 
 beloved,  and  yet  he  is  forbidden  to  make  any  sign  of 
 mourning  for  her. 
 
 _  (17)  The  tire  of  thine  head.— This  might  be 
 either  the  covering  for  the  head  usually  worn  by  the 
 people  (see  verse  23),  or  the  special  "  mitre  of  fine 
 linen  "  (Exod.  xxxix.  28)  provided  for  the  priests ;  but 
 as  the  peculiar  priestly  garments  were  worn  only  when 
 the  priests  were  on  duty  within  the  tabernacle  (Lev.  vi. 
 10,  11),  it  is  not  likely  that  Ezekiel  used  them  in  his 
 captivity.  The  priests  were  expressly  allowed  to  mourn 
 for  their  nearest  relations  (Lev.  xxi.  2,  3),  and  Ezekiel 
 is  therefore  here  made  an  exception.  Among  the 
 ordinary  signs  of  mourning  was  the  covering  of  the 
 head  (2  Sam.  xv.  30;  Jer.  xiv.  3),  the  sprinkling  of 
 dust  upon  it  (chap,  xxvii.  30;  1  Sam.  iv.  12;  2  Sam.  xv. 
 32),  going  barefoot  (1  Sam.  xv.  30 ;  Isa.  xx.  2),  and 
 covering  the  lips,  or  lower  part  of  the  face  (Micah  iii.  7). 
 All  these  things  are  now  forbidden  to  the  prophet  in  his 
 sorrow. 
 
 Eat  not  the  bread  of  men— i.e.,  the  bread  fur- 
 nished by  other  men.  It  was  customary  for  friends 
 and  neighbours  to  send  food  to  the  house  of  mourning, 
 a  custom  which  seems  to  be  alluded  to  in  Dent.  xxvi. 
 14 ;  Jer.  xvi.  7  ;  Hos.  ix.  4 ;  and  out  of  this  custom  the 
 habit  of  funeral  feasts  appears  to  have  grown  hi  later 
 times. 
 
 272 
 
 (is)  In  the  morning :  and  at  even.— What  the 
 prophet  "  spake  unto  the  people  in  the  morning  "  was 
 what  he  has  recorded  (verses  3 — 14).  Shortly  after 
 tins  the  warning  of  verses  15 — 17  must  have  come  to 
 him,  and  then  his  wife  died  in  the  evening  of  the  same 
 day.  Accordingly,  on  the  following  morning  the 
 strange  conduct  which  had  been  commanded  him  was 
 observed  by  the  people ;  their  curiosity  is  awakened, 
 and,  rightly  surmising  that  there  must  be  some  especial 
 significance  in  the  strange  doings  of  their  prophet,  they 
 come  to  inquire  the  meaning  of  his  actions.  In  reply 
 (verses  20 — 24),  he  announces  again  the  destruction  of 
 the  Temple,  and  that  in  the  depth  of  sorrow  and  trouble 
 at  its  fall  there  shall  be  no  outward  show  of  mourning. 
 
 (20)  That  which  your  soul  pitieth. — In  the  mar- 
 gin the  pity  of  your  soul.  The  word  rather  means  in  this 
 connection  love,  in  the  sense  of  the  object  of  love  :  "  that 
 which  your  soul  loves."  The  expression  in  the  original 
 is  a  difficult  one,  and  is  used  by  Ezekiel  on  account  of 
 the  alliteration  with  the  previous  clause :  "  the  machmad 
 of  your  eyes,  and  the  machinal  of  your  souls."  (Comp. 
 the  parallel  in  verse  25 :  "  That  whereupon  they  set  their 
 minds.") 
 
 (2i)  Profane  my  sanctuary.— Not  merely  by  its 
 destruction,  but  by  the  manner  of  its  destruction, 
 the  Gentiles  being  allowed  to  enter  its  most  sacred  pre- 
 cincts, and  carry  off  in  triumph  its  sacred  vessels  and 
 treasures.  It  was  in  the  confidence  that  God  would 
 protect  this  that  the  last  hope  of  the  Jews  lay;  He 
 tells  them  that  He  will  Himself  profane  it. 
 
 (23)  Ye  shall  pine  away. — In  the  tumult,  distress, 
 and  captivity  of  the  approaching  judgment  there  would 
 be  no  opportunity  for  the  outward  display  of  grief ;  but 
 all  the  moi-e  should  it  press  upon  them  inwardly,  and, 
 according  to  the  terrible  threatening  of  Lev.  xxvi.  3'.!, 
 they  should  "  pine  away  in  their  iniquity "  in  their 
 enemies'  land.  In  the  original  the  preposition  is  the 
 same  here  as  in  Leviticus,  "  in  your  iniquity." 
 
Wlten  he  hears  of  the  Fall  •;/'  the  City        EZEKIEL,    X  X  V. 
 
 hie  Mouth  nlmll  be  Opened. 
 
 daughters,  <'•*'  th<t t    he   that    eseaprth   in 
 
 thai  day  shall  cum.'  unto  thee,  go  cause 
 ttiee  to  beat  it  with  (Atne  earsP  (-71  In 
 that  day  sliall  thy  mouth  he  opened 
 to  him  which  is  escaped,  ami  thou 
 shalt   speak,   and   be   no   more   dumb: 
 
 and  thou  shalt  be  a  sign  unto  them; 
 
 and     they   shall    know    that    I    am    the 
 Lord. 
 
 I  "II  AFTER    XXV.— W  The  word  of 
 the  Lokd  came  again  unto  me,  Baying, 
 
 Off)  Shall  thy  mouth  be  opened.-  The  close  of 
 the  chapter  (versos  -'< — 27)  tells  the  prophet  that  he 
 hIihII  be  informed  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  by  an  escaped 
 fugitive.  After  thai  his  month  shall  again  he  opened 
 to  ntter  his  prophecies  to  the  captives.  Meantime,  for 
 almost  two  years  (oomp.  ohap.  xxiv.  1  with  chap,  xxxiii. 
 21),  from  the  investment  of  the  city  until  he  heard  of  its 
 fall,  K/.ekiel  gave  ii"  prophecy  to  the  Israelites.  Ho 
 had  abundantly  foretold  the  result,  and  now  awaited 
 the  issue  iii  silence.  He  lias,  however,  recorded  a  con- 
 siderable number  of  prophecies  against  foreign  nations 
 (chaps,  \\\ . — xxxii.). 
 
 Hen-  "in  great  division  of  the  prophecies  of  Ezekitd 
 closes,  The]  have  been  hitherto  occupied  almost  ex- 
 clusively with  reproofs  for  sin  and  with  warnings  of 
 impending  judgment  upon  his  people.  The  following 
 prophecies,  as  far  as  chap,  xxxii.,  are  indeed  of  the 
 same  character,  but  aredirected  entirely  against  foreign 
 nations.  This  collection,  as  noticed  in  the  Introduc- 
 tion, ^  ■!.  is  not  arranged  chronologically  like  the  rest 
 of  the  book,  but  on  the  plan  of  putting  together  the 
 prophecies  against  each  nation.  Chapter  xxix.  17 — 31 
 is  dated  re  than  sixteen  years  after  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
 salem, and  chap,  xxxii.  about  two  months  after  the 
 tidings  of  that  event  ;  all  the  others  which  are  dated 
 are  before,  but  only  a  little  before,  the  capture  of  Jeru- 
 salem. Must  of  those  undated  seem  to  bo  in  their 
 chronological  place,  except  that  the  first  of  them 
 (chap,  sxv.)  was  evidently  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 After  that  great  judgment  was  made  known  to  the 
 prophet,  there  is  a  marked  change  in  his  utterances, 
 and  from  that  time  his  genera]  tone  is  far  more  cheering 
 and  consolatory. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Prophecies  concerning  heathen  nations,  from  the 
 time  ox  Balaam  down,  mark  every  period  of  Scripture 
 
 history.     Sometimes,  as  in  the  ease  of  Jonah,  Obadiah. 
 
 and  Nullum,  the  utteram (  the  sen-  is  against   a 
 
 single  nation  ;  sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  Joel,  and 
 possibly  also   in    that    of  Amos,  the  prophecies   against 
 
 the  heathen  are   merely  incidental  and  subsidiary  to 
 
 those  concerning  Israel;  and  sometimes,  as  in  Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah,  and  K/.ekiel.  they  are  collected  in  a  special 
 portion  of  I  lie  hook.    Balaam,  Jonah,  and  to  some  extent 
 
 Daniel,  addressed  their  warnings  directly  to  the  nations 
 concerned;  but  in  most  of  the  other  instances  it  seems 
 unlikely  that  the  prophecies  were  ever  communicated 
 
 to  the  people  to  whom  they  directly  related.  In  all 
 cases  they  appear  to  have  been  given  by  (JihI  for  the 
 sake  of  Eus  Church  as  well  as  for  that  of  its  enemies; 
 
 even  that  of  .Jonah  was  given  to   Xineveh  probably  but 
 
 a   little    time    before  1 1 oiii|iiest    of  Israel,   and    must 
 
 have  impressed  upon  its  haughty  monarchs  some  respect 
 
 for   the   God    whose    ] pie     they   were    soon    to    make 
 
 captive:    while  those    of   Daniel    were    given    to   kings 
 
 who  already  held  the  chosen  people  in  captivity,  and 
 
 who   were   thereby   Compelled    to    make   some    acknow- 
 ledgment of  the  reverence  due  to  the  God  of  Israel. 
 The  reasons  for  the  more  general  prophecies  against 
 
 the   heathen   must   bo   sought    in  the   special  cireuni- 
 157  S 
 
 stances  of  each  ease  in  which  they  were  uttered.    In  the 
 
 present  instance  these  reasons  are  not  tar  to  seek,  for 
 
 both  the  nations  mentioned  and  the  one  omitted  suggest 
 
 a  common  purpose  in  the  prophecy.    Those  mentioned 
 
 are  .seven  in  number — Amnion.  lAoab,  Kdoin,  Phflistis, 
 Tyro.  Sidoii.  and  Egypt,  All  these  were  go  far 
 allies  of  Judah  that  they  w.  re  in  common  hostility  to 
 Babylon;  and  it  appears  from  Jcr.  xxvii.  1 — 3  that  an 
 attempt  had  been  made  in  the  reign  of  Jelioiakim  to 
 unite  five  of  them  in  a  league  against  Babylon,  while 
 Egypt  was  continually  looked  to  by  the  disobedient 
 Jews  for  aid  against  their  common  enemy.  It  was, 
 therefore.  nrCQWItlTJ  for  Israel  to  know  that  there  was 
 no  help  to  be  found  against  Babylon  in  any  earthly 
 power;  all  the  enemies  of  Chahkea  were  to  fall  alike. 
 Moreover,  it  was  important  to  show  by  these  prophecies 
 that  the  judgment  about  to  come  upon  the  surrounding 
 heathen  was  from  God,  sinee  it  is  thus  made  (dear 
 that  all  events  are  of  His  ordering,  and  hence  that  the 
 punishment  of  His  people  also  must  be  from  His  own 
 hand.  This  was  especially  the  place  for  the  prophet 
 to  speak  of  these  judgments  when  he  had  just  finished 
 
 his  denunciations  of  wrath  upon  Israel,  and  when  these 
 
 denunciations  were  about  to  be  fulfilled.     Besides  these 
 
 genera]  reasons,  there  were  other  special  ones  in  the 
 case  of  each  nation.  Egypt  had  been  a  broken  reed 
 piercing  the  hand  of  Jml.ih  as  often  as  she  leaned  upon 
 it  ;  while  of  Amnion.  Moah,  Edoin.  Philistia,  and  Tyre 
 it  is  mentioned  that  they  had  exulted  in  t ho  profanation 
 
 of  the  Temple  and  the  captivity  of  the  people,  and  this 
 
 especially  from  their  hostility  to  the  religion  of  Israel. 
 It  would  help  Israel  to  know  that,  while  they  were 
 themselves  punished  for  their  unfaithfulness  to  their 
 religion,  those  who  altogether  hated  and  rejected  it 
 were  to  suffer  still  more  severely.  It  is  remarkable 
 that  there  is  no  prophecy  in  Ezekiel  against  Babylon, 
 as  there  is  in  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  others;  for  Babylon 
 appears  throughout  this  book  as  the  executor  of  God's 
 judgments  upon  His  people,  and  the  effect  of  this 
 would  have  been  marred  by  the  mention  of  her  own 
 ultimate  punishment.  For  the  present,  all  her  enemies 
 are  to  be  overthrown,  and  she  remains  in  strength; 
 although  she  also  would  be  punished  for  her  sins  when 
 she  should  have  accomplished  the  Divine  purposes,  yet 
 it  would  have  been  worse  than  useless  for  the  thoughts 
 
 of  brae]  to  be  occupied  with  this  now. 
 
 The  number  of   seven   nations  against   whom  pro- 
 phecies  are  uttered    has   been   thought    by  many  to  be 
 
 significant.    It  is  made  up  by  separating  Zidon  from 
 
 Tyre,  tor  which  there  were  probably  special  reasons  at 
 
 the  time.     Zidon  had  long  sine  lost  its  imports] 
 
 and  the  prophecy  against  it  is  very  short  (chap,  xxviii. 
 ■Jl — 24);  yet  its  ancient  enmity  to  God  was  not  tube 
 forgotten,  as  it  might  appear  to  be  if  left  without 
 distinct  mention. 
 
 The  prophecy  against  Edom  is  greatly  expanded  in 
 chap.    XXXV.,    and    there   are    other    prophecies    against 
 
 _'!>  nations  in  chaps,  xxxviii.  and  xxxix.  :   but    ti 
 have   so    much  the    nature  of   promises  to   Israel   that 
 they  are  more  appropriately  placed  where  they  are  than 
 they  would  have  been  iu  this  connection.     Even  here 
 
Prophesy  against  Amnion. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXV. 
 
 It  shall  be  Desolated. 
 
 <2>  Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  "against  the 
 Ammonites,  and  prophesy  against  them; 
 (3)  and  say  unto  the  Ammonites,  Hear  the 
 word  of  the  Lord  God  ;  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  Because  thou  saidst,  Aha, 
 against  my  sanctuary,  when  it  was  pro- 
 faned ;  and  against  the  land  of  Israel, 
 when  it  was  desolate ;  and  against  the 
 house  of  Judah,  when  they  went  into 
 captivity ;  <4>  behold,  therefore,  I  will 
 deliver  thee  to  the  'men  of  the  east  for 
 
 :  Jer.  45. 1,  iSic. 
 
 1  Hub.,  children. 
 
 Heb.,  hand. 
 
 3  Heb.,  foot. 
 
 4  Heb.,  soul. 
 
 a  possession,  and  th?y  shall  set  their 
 palaces  in  thee,  and  make  their  dwellings 
 in  thee :  they  shall  eat  thy  fruit,  and 
 they  shall  drink  thy  milk.  <5'  And  I  will 
 make  Rabbah  a  stable  for  camels,  and 
 the  Ammonites  a  couchingplace  for 
 flocks :  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord.  <6>  For  thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God  ;  Because  thou  hast  clapped  thine 
 2  hands,  and  stamped  with  the  3feet,  and 
 rejoiced  in  4heart  with  all  thy  despite 
 
 the  prophecy  against  Zidon  (chap,  xxviii.  25,  26)  and 
 that  of  the  latest  date  against  Egypt  (chap.  xxix.  21)  end 
 with  promises  to  Israel. 
 
 The  utterances  against  the  various  nations  are  very 
 unequal  in  fulness.  Those  concerning  Amnion,  Moab, 
 Edom,  and  Philistia  are  all  included  together  in  a  single 
 prophecy,  occupying  only  one  chapter  (chap,  xxv.) ; 
 Tyre  is  the  subject  of  four  separate  prophecies,  filling 
 nearly  three  chapters  (chaps,  xxvi. — xxviii.  19);  Zidonis 
 disposed  of  in  the  few  following  verses ;  while  Egypt 
 has  seven  distinct  prophecies,  tilling  chapters  xxix — 
 xxxii.  The  relative  importance  of  these  various  nations 
 is  represented  in  this  proportion. 
 
 The  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  concerning  these  nations 
 had  been  anticipated  by  the  older  prophets,  especially 
 Isaiah  and  Amos,  and  similar  predictions  also  abound 
 in  the  contemporary  Jeremiah,  but  with  this  marked 
 difference:  Ezekiel  foretells  their  utter  overthrow, 
 while  other  prophets  look  forward  to  a  period  of 
 restoration  and  blessing  after  their  punishment.  Thus 
 Isaiah  (chap,  xxiii.  15 — 18)  says  that  after  a  period  of 
 seventy  years  Tyre  shall  again  rejoice,  and  shall  ulti- 
 mately be  converted  to  the  Lord ;  Jeremiah  says  of  the 
 Moabites,  "  I  will  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Moab  in 
 the  latter  day,  saith  the  Lord"  (chap,  xlviii.  47),  and 
 the  same  thing  of  the  Ammonites  (chap.  xlix.  6) ;  and  of 
 Egypt,  that  after  its  temporary  subjection  to  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, "  afterward  it  shall  be  inhabited  as  in  the  days 
 of  old  "  (chap.  xlvi.  26') ;  Isaiah  also  describes  the  time 
 when  "Israel  shall  be  the  third  with  Egypt  and 
 Assyria,  even  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  land " 
 (chap.  xix.  24,  25).  Yet  it  has  generally  been  recognised 
 that  there  is  no  inconsistency  in  these  prophecies. 
 Isaiah  foretells  a  temporary  resuscitation  of  Tyre,  at  the 
 same  time  with  Judah,  in  connection  with  the  Medo- 
 Persian  conquest  of  Babylon ;  but  Ezekiel's  prophecies 
 look  beyond  this,  to  the  final  destruction  of  the  Tyriau 
 power.  On  the  other  hand,  these  various  prophecies 
 speak  of  an  ultimate  gathering  of  a  remnant  of  the 
 descendants  of  these  nations  into  the  Church  of  God ; 
 while  Ezekiel  speaks  of  them  only  as  political  powers, 
 and  foretells  that  utter  desolation  of  them  which  has 
 been  so  strikingly  fulfilled  in  the  course  of  history. 
 
 (2)  Set  thy  face  against  the  Ammonites.— It 
 
 has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  utterances  against 
 the  four  contiguous  nations  of  Amnion,  Moab,  Edom, 
 and  Philistia  are  all  contained  in  one  prophecy,  and 
 that  this  prophecy  was  evidently  spoken  after  the  fall  of 
 Jerusalem,  and,  consequently,  after  the  date  of  chapter 
 xxvi.  1.  The  Ammonites,  descended  from  Lot's  incest 
 with  his  younger  daughter,  had  been  for  centuries  per- 
 sistent enemies  of  Israel.  They  had  joined  the  Moabites 
 in  their  oppression  of  Israel  under  Eglon  (Judg.  iii.  13), 
 and  in  a  later  attack  had  been  subdued  by  Jephthah 
 
 274 
 
 (Judg.  xi.  32,  33) ;  they  fought  with  extreme  cruelty 
 and  insolence  against  Saul  (1  Sam.  xi.  2 — 11);  they 
 insulted  and  warred  against  David  (2  Sam.  x.  1 — 6), 
 and  were  utterly  crashed  by  him  {io.,  xii.  31);  their 
 idolatries  were  favoured  by  Solomon  (1  Kings  xi.  7); 
 uniting  with  Moab  and  Edom,  they  attacked  Judah 
 under  Jehoshaphat  (2  Chron.  xx.  1 — 25),  but  utterly 
 failed,  and  were  tributary  to  his  descendant,  TJzziah 
 (2  Chron.  xxvi.  8) ;  again  they  fought  with  Jotham,  and 
 were  reduced  by  him  to  heavy  tribute  (ib.,  xxvii.  5) ; 
 and  not  long  before  this  time  they  had  occupied  the 
 vacant  cities  of  Gad  (Jer.  xlix.  1).  Now  they  had  joined 
 Nebuchadnezzar's  army  against  Judah  (2  Kings 
 xxiv.  2).  From  verse  3  it  appears  that  their  hostility 
 arose  not  only  from  national  jealousy,  but  from  an 
 especial  hatred  against  the  Jewish  religion  (comp.  also 
 Ps.  lxxxiii.  7).  They  are  the  frequent  subject  of 
 prophetic  denunciation  (Isa.  xi.  14;  Jer.  xlix.  1 — 6; 
 Anos  i.  13—15;  Zeph.  ii.  8-11). 
 
 (■*)  To  the  men  of  the  east.— Literally,  sons  of 
 the  east,  i.e.,  the  various  nomadic  tribes  inhabiting  the 
 Eastern  deserts,  who  occupy  the  country  to  this  day. 
 They  are  described  as  its  possessors,  not  its  conquerors ; 
 the  conquest  was  effected  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  In 
 chap.  xxi.  20 — 23  he  was  represented  as  hesitating 
 whether  to  attack  first  Judah  or  Amnion,  and  deter- 
 mined to  the  former  by  the  Divine  direction;  in  this 
 attack  some  of  the  Ammonites  joined  his  army,  but  he 
 nevertheless  afterwards  carried  out  his  purpose  and 
 desolated  their  country.     (See  chap.  xxi.  28.) 
 
 Palaces. — The  word  properly  means  an  enclosure 
 for  folding  cattle.  The  same  word  is  used  in  connec- 
 tion with  tribes  of  the  desert  in  Gen.  xxv.  16 ;  Num. 
 xxxi.  10,  and  in  both  is  translated  castles,  a  singularly 
 inappropriate  sense.  It  afterwards  came  to  mean  a 
 dwelling  -  place  of  any  kind  The  Ammonites  and 
 Moabites  appear  to  have  practically  constituted  one 
 nation,  the  latter  being,  for  the  most  part,  the  settled, 
 and  the  former  the  nomadic  portion.  After  the  conquest 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar  the  Ammonites  gradually  dwindled 
 away,  until  lost  from  history.  The  Ptolemies  founded 
 the  city  Philadelphia  on  the  site  of  Rabbah,  and  there 
 are  still  extensive  ruins  there  belonging  to  the  period 
 of  the  Roman  occupation ;  but  the  Ammonites  had  no 
 part  in  either  of  these  successive  cities.  The  place  is 
 now  utterly  without  inhabitants,  and  the  most  recent 
 traveller  says,  "  Lonely  desolation  in  a  rich  country 
 was  the  striking  characteristic." 
 
 (5)  Rabbah  was  the  only  important  town  belonging 
 to  the  Ammonites.  It  has  become  literally  a  stable  foi 
 the  camels  of  the  wandering  Bedouins.  In  the  parallel 
 clause  the  "Ammonites"  are  put  for  the  land  which 
 they  inhabit. 
 
 (6)  Clapped  thine  hands,  and  stamped  with 
 the  feet. — See  chap.  vi.  11  and  Note  there. 
 
Againsl  Moab. 
 
 EZEKTEL,   XXV. 
 
 Against  Edom, 
 
 againsl  the  land  of  Israel;  P>  behold, 
 therefore  I  will  Btretch   ou1    mine  hand 
 
 upon  tl ,  and  will  deliver  thee  for 'a 
 
 spoil  twtho  heathen ;  and  I  «ill  iu(  thee 
 off  from  the  people,  and  I  will  cause  thee 
 to  perisli  out  of  the  ooontries:  I  will  de- 
 stroy tl ;  and  thou  shall  know  thai  I 
 
 am  the  I  n  »rd. 
 
 (8'Tlius  saith  the  Lord  God;  "Because 
 that  Moab  and  Seir  do  eay,  Behold,  the 
 house  of  Judah  it  like  unto  all  the  tea- 
 then;   W therefore,  behold,  I  will  open 
 
 the  !side  of  Moab  from  the  cities,  from 
 his  cities  which  are  on  his  frontiers,  the 
 
 glory  of  the  country,  lieth-jeshimoth, 
 Baal-meon,  and  Kiriathaim,  P°l  antothe 
 men  of  the  cast     with  the  Ammonites, 
 
 'i  J.  r    ML  I,  Ac. 
 
 <  of  Am 
 
 i  Deb.,  '  f 
 
 I 
 
 and  will  give  them  in  possession,  thai 
 the  Ammonites  may  not  be  remembered 
 among  the  nations.  "''And  J  will  exe 
 cute  judgments  upon  Bfoab;  and  the] 
 
 -hall  know  that   1  ma  the  Loitli. 
 
 Ml  Thus  saith  the  Lord  <  km ;  Because 
 thai  Edom  hath  dealt  againsl  the  house 
 of  Judah  *by  taking  rengeanoe,  and 
 hath    greatly   offended,    and    rev< 
 
 himself  uj  ion  them  5  'therefore  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will  also  stretch 
 out  mine  hand  upon  Edom,  and  will  cut 
 off  man  and  Least  from  it;  and  I  will 
 make  it  desolate  from  Teman  ;  and  Hhey 
 of  Dedan  shall  fall  by  the  sword.  ""And 
 1  will  lav  my  vengeance  upon  Edom  by 
 the  hand  of  my  people  Israel  :  and  they 
 
 "'  For  a  spoil. — Tins  is  the  aense  of  the  margin 
 of  the  Hebrew;  its  text  is  represented  bj  our  margin, 
 meal  at  food,    The  word  in  the  text  ocean  only  here, 
 
 hut    B    I ip.iuii'l    of    it    is    found   in   Dan,    i.    ">.   \i.    -<': 
 
 The  figure  seems  to  be  the  same  as  thai  which  speaks 
 of  ih  oouring  the  people, 
 
 Shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord.—  This  fre- 
 <iucnt  close  of  the  denunciatory  prophecies  against 
 Israel  in  the  former  chapters  is  here  also  used  at  the 
 
 elo E  each  message  in  this  chapter,  and  of  many  of 
 
 the  other  prophecies  against  foreign  nations,  [t  refers 
 not  to  a  penitent  recognition  of  the  Lord,  bat  to  an  ex- 
 
 perien I  His  wrath  so  plain  thai  they  can  no  longer 
 
 refuse  to  acknowledge  His  power  (see  verse  1 1). 
 
 (81  Moab  and  Seir.- The  two  nations,  hove  men- 
 tioned together,  are  afterwards  treated  separately  — 
 Mo.iii.  verses  8 — 11,  and  Edom,  rones  12 — 14    Moab, 
 
 Springing   from    the    same    source    with    Amnion,   was 
 
 closefy  associated  with  it  in  its  history  and  fortune,  and 
 is  denounced  in  nearly  the  Bame  prophecies,  It  was  a 
 more  Bettled  and  stronger  people,  and  also  contributed 
 it-  quota  to  the  armies  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Additional 
 prophecies  in    regard   to   it   may  l>e  found  in  Nam. 
 
 \\i\.    17  and    Tsa.   xv.,    xvi..  besides   those    immediately 
 
 connected  with  the  prophecies  expressly  against  Am- 
 nion already  cited  The  Moabitee,  so  far  as  they  were 
 separated  from  the  Ammonites,  lay  immediately  to  the 
 
 south  of  them. 
 
 Open  the  side  of  Moab  -i.e.,  lay  il  open  (0 
 
 niij.     This  is  to  lie  done   '•from   the  cdti 
 Which  a  special  emphasis  is  placed.       The  cities  named 
 were  all  on  the  north  of  the  Anion,  and  before  the  time 
 
 of  Hoses  bad  been  wrested  from  the  Moabitee  by  the 
 
 Amorites.  from  whom  in  turn  they  wen  taken  by 
 the  Israelites,  and  long  formed  a  part  of  their  territory. 
 
 In  the  decay  of  the  power  of  Israel  they  were  re-COll- 
 !  hy  MoaK  and  are  here  spoken  of.  perhaps  in 
 TOW  of  their  lieing  rightfully  a  possession  of  Israel,  as 
 appropriately  the  point  from  which  desolation  should 
 go  out  orer  the  whole  of  Moab. 
 
 The  glory  of  the  country. — The  territory  desig- 
 nated by  the  mention  of  these  three  cities  is  stil]  con. 
 
 sidered  by  the  Arabs  as  the  best  pari  of  the  land,  and  is 
 
 called  Brlkii.     Tlioy  have  a  proverli.  "Thou  ran 
 DO  land   like  lVlk.1.'"       The  sites  of  all  the  cities  which 
 arc  alluded  to  here   have  been  probably  identified  by 
 existing  ruins. 
 
 27-3 
 
 (10)  With  the  Ammonites.— The  division  between 
 the  verses  hen  seriously  obscures  the  sense.     The 
 
 meaning  is  that  God  will  throw  open   Hoab,  as  well  as 
 
 Amnion,  to  the  sons  of  the  east,  and  will  give  both 
 nations  in   possession  to  them,  so  that  Amnion  shall   be 
 
 no  more  remembered,  and  judgment  shall  be  executed 
 
 on  Moab.  Tiny  were  to  be  conquered  and  desolated  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  but  possessed  by  the  Bedouins.  The 
 Ammonites  and  Moabites  were  nations  so  closely  con. 
 nested  together  that  nearly  all  which  lias  been  said  of 
 
 the  one  applies  to  the  other. 
 
 (M)  Edom  hath  dealt  against  the  house  of 
 Judah. — The  reason  of  Edoiu's  hostility  to  Israel  is 
 expressly  said  to  be  revenge.  Descended  from  the 
 elder  son.  they  had  never  looked  complacently  on  the 
 spiritual  superiority  given  to  the  descendants  of  the 
 younger.  They  showed  their  hostility  from  the  first  in 
 refusing,  with  a  show  of  violence,  a  passage  to  the  Is- 
 raelites through  their  territory  iNuin.  xx.  18 — 21) j  and 
 although  they  were  subdued  and  made  tributary  under 
 David  and  Solomon  (2  Sam.  viii.  11;  1  Kings  ix.  -<■  . 
 yet  in  the  decline  of  the  Jewish  power  they  availed 
 themselves  of  every  opportunity  fox  hostility  [2  Ohroo. 
 xxviii.  17.  Ac. 1.  At  this  time  they  not  only  joined  the 
 armies  of  Nebuchadne/.zar,  but  appear  to  have  org  I 
 on  the  conqueror  to  greater  cruelty,  and  to  have  them- 
 Selves  waylaid  the  fugitives  to  cut  them  off  I  chap.  XXXV. 
 5;  Ps.  uxxxvii.  7;  Amos  i.  11;  Obad.  11).  They  also, 
 daring  the  Captivity,  took  possession  of  many  towns  f 
 Judea.  including  Hebron  (Jos..  Antt.,  xii.  8,  S  6;  B.J., 
 iv.  9.  §  7),  which  were  n-conqnered  in  the  time  of  the 
 Maccabees.  Other  prophecies  against  Edom  may  I"- 
 found  in  Nam.  xxiv.  18,  19;  Isa.  xi.  14;  Jer.  xlix.  7 — 
 12;  Joel  iii.  l!>,  besides  the  extended  prophecj] 
 Ezekiel  in  chap.  xxxv. 
 
 (13)  From  Teman ;  and  they  of  Dedan.— 
 Teman  (a  word  meaning  south  1  was  a  southern  district 
 of  Edom  (Jer.  xlix.  2.n.  21  ;  Bab.  iii.  S),  famed  for 
 its  wisdom  Jer.  xlix.  7;  Obad.  8,9).  Dedan  is  fre- 
 quently mentioned  by  the  prophets,  but  in  such  a  way 
 that  if  has  not  been  certainly  identified.  A  better 
 translation    would     be.     From     T<  DadoM, 
 
 meaning  from  one  end  of  the  Country  to  the  other. 
 they  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 
 
 (i*)  By  the  hand  of  my  people  Israel.— This 
 points  distinctly  to  the  fact  that  the  Divine  vengeance 
 on  Edom  should  be  accomplished  by  the  hand  of  the 
 
Against  the  Philistines. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXVI. 
 
 Their  Punishment. 
 
 shall  do  in  Edom  according  to  mine 
 anger  and  according  to  niy  fury;  and 
 they  shall  know  my  vengeance,  saith 
 the  Lord  God. 
 
 (is)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Because 
 the  Philistines  have  dealt  by  revenge, 
 and  have  taken  vengeance  with  a  de- 
 spiteful heart,  to  destroy  it 1  for  the  old 
 hatred  ;  (10>  therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God  ;  Behold,  I  will  stretch  out  mine 
 
 1  Or.i'itli  ptrpctuctl 
 hutred. 
 
 2  Or,  /( aven  of  the 
 sea. 
 
 B.C.  588. 
 3  Kch.vcniiatnccs 
 
 hand  upon  the  Philistines,  and  I  will 
 cut  off  the  Cherethims,  and  destroy  the 
 remnant  of  the  2sea  coast.  (17>  And  I 
 will  execute  great 3  vengeance  upon  them 
 with  furious  rebukes ;  and  they  shall 
 know  that  I  am  the  Loed,  when  I  shall 
 lay  my  vengeance  upon  them. 
 
 CHAPTER   XXVI.— N  And  it  came 
 to  pass  in  the  eleventh  year,  in  the  first- 
 
 Israelites,  a  prophecy  which  was  fulfilled  when  they 
 were  conquered  by  John  Hyrcanus,  and  compelled  to 
 submit  to  circumcision  as  a  mark  of  absorption  into 
 the  Jewish  people.  Subsequently  Herod  (who  was 
 himself  of  Idumean  origin),  as  king  of  the  Jews,  reigned 
 over  them,  and  their  name  disappeared  from  history. 
 
 Many  commentators  would  see  in  this  prophecy  a 
 further  intimation  of  their  ultimate  conversion  and  in- 
 corporation into  the  Church ;  but  this  seems  quite 
 foreigu,  not  only  to  the  scope  of  this  series  of  prophe- 
 cies, but  especially  to  the  connection,  "  I  will  lay  my 
 vengeance  upon  Edom,"  and  "  they  shall  know  my 
 vengeance." 
 
 (15)  The  Philistines.— The  historical  books  of  the 
 Old  Testament  are  almost  a  continuous  record  of  the 
 hostility  of  the  Philistines.  At  times  they  held  the 
 greater  part  of  the  land  of  Israel  in  subjection,  and  at 
 times  were  subdued  in  their  turn.  Although  belonging 
 to  another  branch  of  the  Hamitic  family,  their  land  was 
 included  with  that  of  the  Canaanites  in  the  territory  to 
 be  given  to  the  Israelites  (Josh.  xiii.  2,  3).  It  was 
 never,  however,  occupied  by  them,  although  the  cities 
 were  fortified  and  garrisoned  by  some  of  the  kings. 
 The  land  lay  along  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  on 
 the  highway  between  Egypt  and  Assyria  and  Chaldsea, 
 and  consequently,  in  the  struggles  of  those  nations  with 
 each  other  the  Philistines  were  gradually  more  and 
 more  reduced,  until  they  disappeared  entirely.  Among 
 the  many  prophecies  against  them,  the  following  may 
 be  especially  ref errred  to :  Isa.  xiv.  29 — 32 ;  Jer.  xlvii. ; 
 Amos  i.  6— & ;  Zeph.  ii.  4 — 7. 
 
 (16)  Cherethims. — The  Cherethim  were  a  portion 
 of  the  Philistines  living  on  their  southern  coast  (1  Sam. 
 xxx.  14;  Zeph.  ii.  5),  and  are  sometimes  put  for  the 
 whole  nation.  The  name  is  supposed  by  many  to  be 
 equivalent  to  Cretans,  and  to  indicate  the  origin  of  the 
 Philistines  from  the  island  of  Crete  ;  but  the  etymo- 
 logy is  doubtful.  The  reason  for  the  introduction  of 
 their  name  here  was  probably  a  paronomasia  in  the 
 original,  the  phrase  "  I  will  cut  off  the  Cherethim  " 
 reading  I  will  slay  the  slayers. 
 
 XXYI. 
 
 Tyro  was  a  great  and  powerful  commercial  city, 
 made  up  of  two  parts  :  Old  Tyre,  situated  on  a  plain  on 
 the  mainland,  and  New  Tyre,  built  on  a  rocky  island, 
 or  rather  two  islands  joined  together,  lying  about  half 
 a  mile  from  the  shore.  Its  territory  was  insignificant, 
 but  it  was  so  strong  in  its  wealth,  its  ships,  and  its 
 colonies,  that  it  was  able  to  employ  mercenaries  (chap, 
 xxvii.  10, 11)  in  numbers,  and  being  strongly  fortified, 
 resisted  for  five  years,  and  with  final  success,  the  siege 
 by  the  whole  power  of  Assyria  under  Shahnaueser. 
 According  to  the  Assyrian  records,  however,  it  was 
 afterwards  captured  by  Assurbanipal.  A  few  years 
 after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  it  was  again  besieged  by 
 
 276 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar  for  thirteen  years.  There  is  no  ex- 
 press mention  in  the  histories  of  the  time  of  the  result 
 of  this  siege,  although  it  is  implied  in  the  statement  of 
 the  ancient  historians  (Jos.  e.  Apion,  i.  20  ;  Antt.  x.,  11, 
 §  1)  that  Nebuchadnezzar  made  himself  master  of  all 
 Phoenicia.  It  is  also  asserted  by  St.  Jerome  that  he 
 captured  Tyre,  and  he  describes  the  method  by  which 
 it  was  accomplished ;  it  is  also  very  unlikely  that  such 
 a  monarch  as  Nebuchadnezzar  would  have  allowed  him- 
 self to  be  baffled  after  such  effort.  (On  the  difficulty 
 suggested  by  chap.  xxix.  18,  see  the  Note  there.)  In 
 the  days  of  David  and  Solomon,  the  king  of  Tyre  was 
 the  close  friend  of  Israel ;  afterwards  the  two  nations 
 became  alienated,  and  the  Tyrians  sold  Hebrew  cap- 
 tives to  the  Greeks  and  the  Edomites  (Joel  iii.  4 — 8; 
 Amos  i.  9,  10).  Tyre  was  probably  greatly  offended 
 when  Josiah,  in  the  course  of  his  reformation,  denied 
 the  images  of  their  god  Baal,  and  destroyed  his  sacred 
 vessels,  both  at  Jerusalem  and  in  Samaria.  It  was 
 subject  to  the  Persian  Empire,  was  captured  by 
 Alexander,  remained  a  large  city  under  the  Romans, 
 was  still  flourishing  in  the  time  of  St.  Jerome,  was 
 great  at  the  era  of  the  Crusades,  but  soon  afterwards 
 was  totally  destroyed  by  the  Saracens,  and  has  since 
 remained  so  utterly  desolate  that  its  site  might  not 
 even  be  observed  by  the  passing  traveller.  Besides 
 the  prophecies  against  Tyre  just  mentioned,  that  of 
 Isa.  xxiii.  has  already  been  spoken  of  in  the  introduc- 
 tory Note  to  chapter  xxv. 
 
 Ezekiel's  denunciation  of  Tyre  occupies  nearly  three 
 chapters,  and  each  of  these  forms  a  distinct  prophecy, 
 the  last  verses  of  chap,  xxviii.  constituting  a  separate 
 prophecy  against  the  associated  Phoenician  city  of 
 Sidon.  The  first  of  these  (chap,  xxvi.)  is  occupied  with 
 the  threat  of  the  destruction  of  Tyre;  the  second 
 (chap,  xxvii.)  is  a  lamentation  over  this  destruction; 
 while  the  third  (chap,  xxviii.  1 — 19)  is  divided  into 
 two  parts  (which  may  indeed  be  separate  prophecies), 
 of  which  the  former  (verses  1 — 10)  is  a  threat  specifi- 
 cally against  the  king  of  Tyre,  and  the  latter  (verses 
 11 — 19)  is  a  lamentation  over  his  fall. 
 
 Chapter  xxvi.  consists  of  four  sections,  each  intro- 
 duced with  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  the  whole  preceded 
 by  the  mention  of  the  sin  of  Tyre  in  exulting  over  the 
 fall  of  Jerusalem  (verso  2).  The  first  of  these  (verses 
 3 — 6)  describes  the  ultimate  desolation  of  Tyre  by 
 "  many  nations  ;  "  the  second  (verses  7 — 14)  describes 
 circumstantially  its  more  immediate  conquest  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar ;  the  third  (verses  15 — 18)  the  effect 
 upon  the  islands  and  coasts,  doubtless  with  especial 
 reference  to  her  colonies  and  those  with  whom  she  was 
 commercially  connocted ;  while  the  fourth  (verses  19 — 
 21)  is  an  energetic  repetition  and  summary  of  her  doom. 
 
 (i)  In    the    first   day   of  the  month.  —  The 
 
 year  was  that  in  which  Jerusalem  fell  (2  Kings  xxv. 
 
.l</in,isl  Tyre. 
 
 EZEKEBL,   XXVI. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar  thxdl  Attack  Iter. 
 
 day  of  the  month,  that  tlm  word  of  tin- 
 Lord  came  onto  me.  Baying, 
 W  Son  of  man,  because  thai   Tm-u.s 
 
 liatli  said  against  Jerusalem,  Aha,  she 
 is   broken    thai    was   the   gates   of  the 
 
 people:    she  is  turned    unto   me  :    I  sliall 
 
 be  replenished,  now  she  is  laid  waste: 
 I ;i  therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ; 
 Behold,  I  am  against  thee,OTyrus,  and 
 will  cause  many  nations  to  come  up 
 against  thee,  as  the  sea  eauseth  his 
 waves  to  come  up.  (i>And  they  shall 
 destroy  the  walls  of  Tyrus,  and  break 
 down  her  towers  :  I  will  also  scrape  her 
 dust  from  her,  and  make  her  like  the 
 top  of  a  rock.     (*>  It  shall  be  ft  place  for 
 
 fohut. 
 
 the  spreading  of  nets  in  the  midst  of  the 
 sea  :    tor  I   have  spoken  it,  saith  the  Lord 
 
 God:  and  it  shall  become  a  spoil  t,,  the 
 nations.  '"'Ami  her  daughters  which 
 are  in  the  field  shall  be  slain  by  the 
 sword;  and  they  shall    know  that  J  am 
 
 the    LolMi. 
 
 <7>  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Be- 
 hold, I  will  bring  upon  Tyrus  Nebu- 
 chadrezzar king  of  Babylon,  a  king  of 
 kings,  from  the  north,  with  horses,  and 
 with  chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  ami 
 companies,  and  much  people.  (H)  He 
 shall  slay  with  the  sword  thy  daughters 
 in  the  field:  ami  he  shall  make  a  fort 
 against  thee,  and  'cast  a  mount  against 
 
 2 — 1,8,9),  l e 1 1  the  month  is  not  given  here,  and  cannot 
 now  in-  ascertained.  It  is  plain  from  verse  -  that 
 Tyre  already  felt  sure  of  the  issue  of  the  siege;  but 
 there  is  &  marked  difference  between  this  and  the  lan- 
 guage in  chap.  xxv. ;!.  which  oonld  only  have  been  osed 
 after  the  capture  of  the  city.  This  prophecy  may 
 therefore  well  have  been  given  at  any  tone  during  the 
 eleventh  year.  Possibly  the  Alexandrine  Septnagini 
 is  right  in  supplying  "the  first  "month;  but  as  this 
 is  omitted  in  the  Roman  copy,  it  is  mure  likely  to  have 
 
 been  >  mere  Conjecture.     There   is  a   similar   omission 
 
 iii  chap.  \\\ii.  17,  but  the  number  is  easily  supplied 
 there  from  verse  1.  Probably,  in  both  cases  the  omis- 
 sion is  a  mere  error  of  the  snides. 
 
 (*)  She  is  broken  that  was  the  gates  of  the 
 people. — "  (  kites  "  is  in  the  plural  simply  because  the 
 
 word   originally   means  a   leaf  of  a  door  or  gate,  and 
 
 hence    the    two    leases   mean  the  gate;    accordingly 
 
 the  sense  would  lie  better  conveyed  by  using  the 
 singular  in  English.  On  the  other  hand.  "  people,  both 
 here  and  in  chap,  xxvii.  :!.  is  intentionally  in  the  plural 
 •—the  nations.  By  omitting  all  the  words  in  italics  in 
 this  verse  a  better  idea  is  obtained  of  the  exultation  of 
 Tyre  over  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 This  exultation  is  described  as  of  a  purely  selfish 
 and  commercial  character,  and  shows  nothing  of  the 
 Spitefulnese  and  religious  animosity  of  the  nations 
 mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter.  Jerusalem  bad 
 been  made  ill  the  day-,  of  Solomon  the  great  commercial 
 emporium  of  the  inland  trade  from  Arabia,  and  even 
 from  India,  as  well  as  the  negotiator  of  products  between 
 Egypt  and  the  Hittitcs  and  other  northern  nations. 
 Doubtless  something  of  this  commercial  importance 
 
 still  remained  to  Jerusalem  in  her  decay,  of  which  we 
 liavo  already  seen  evidence  in  chap.  xvi. ;  but  however 
 this  may   have   been,    a   considerable   city,  situated    as 
 
 Jerusalem   was.  must  of  necessity  have  1 n  the  centre 
 
 Of  many  of  those  transactions  between  the  surroundiiiLT 
 nations    which    Tyre    would    gladly    have    monopolised 
 
 for  herself.     Hence  her  exultation:  "Jerusalem  being 
 
 destroyed,   all    that    gave    her   importance   among    the 
 
 nations  must  come  to  increase  my  prosperity.'' 
 <:!)  Many  nations.— The  prophet  here, at  the  outset. 
 
 glances  down  through  the  aires  of  Tyre's  future  history. 
 
 He  lias  in  mind  not  merely  the  conquest  by  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, of  which  la-  will  speak  more  particularly  pre- 
 sently (verses  7 — 11),  but  all  the  successive  conquests 
 until  the  proud  city  should  be  reduced  to  utter  desola- 
 
 tion.    Most  appropriate  to  the  situation  and  habit 
 Tyre  is  the  illustration,  "asthe  sea   CSUSeth  his  waves 
 
 to  come  up":  God  will  bring  nation  after  nation  to 
 the  destruction  of  Tyre  as  the  sea  throws  wave  after 
 wave  against  her  rock. 
 M  Her  dust.— Comp.  verse  12,    The  dust  is  thai  of 
 
 her  ruined  walls  and  palaces  and  temples.      "  Scraping  " 
 
 expresses  their  utter  destruction.    As  an  historic  tact, 
 
 the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city  have  all  been  thrown  into 
 the  sea.  and  what  now  remains  is  of  mediaval  construe 
 tion,  although  the  greater  part  of  even  the  media  \al 
 ruins  have  been  carried  away. 
 
 (5)  The  spreading  of  "nets.— Such  has  been  the 
 
 chief    use  of    insular  Tyre   for  ages,    and    although    a 
 
 miserable  village  of  8,000  people  has  sprung  up.  chiefly 
 
 within  the  present  century,  upon  a  part  of  its  site,  other 
 parte  have  still  no  more  important  use.  Tlie  Tyre 
 upon  the  mainland  has  so  utterly  disappeared  that  even 
 its  site  cannot  be  exactly  identified. 
 
 (6)  Daughters  which  are  in  the  field.— Comp. 
 verse  8.  A  poetic  way  of  describing  the  dependencies 
 of  Tyre  upon  the  mainland. 
 
 In  verses  7 — 11  the  particular  anil  now  impending 
 Conquest  by  Nebuchadnezzar  is  graphically  described, 
 ami  then,  with  the  change  to  the  plural  in  verse  12, 
 there  seems  to  be  again  a  lo. .king  forward  to  the   long 
 
 vista  of  successive  devastations. 
 
 (7)  Nebuchadrezzar.-  So  the  name  is  very  often 
 
 written  by  Jeremiah  and  a  few  times  by  K/.ekiel.     It  is. 
 
 perhaps,  a  closer  representation  of  the  Nabu-kudurri. 
 
 <>f  the  Babylonian  cylinders  than  the  form  finally 
 adopted  by  the  Hebrews  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 A  king  of  kings,  from  tho  north.  —He  is  called  a 
 ••  king  of  kin^s"  because  of  the  many  countries  subject 
 to  his  sway,  whose  kings  were  his  vassals;  and  he  is 
 described  as  "from  the  north,"  because,  as  often  befrn-e 
 said.it    was   from   this  direction   that   his  armies  must 
 
 approach  Tyre,  although  Babylon  itself  was  in  actual 
 
 latitude  to  the  south  of  Tyre. 
 
 (8)  A  fort  .  .  .  a  mount.— These  and  the  following 
 particulars  of  the  siege  indicate  the  use  of  the  ordinary 
 methods   as   in   the   attack    of  a  city  on   the   mainland. 
 
 The  explanation  of  this  i-  doubtless  partly  in  the  fad 
 
 that  Paheotyrus.  Old  Tyre,  upon  the  mainland,  was 
 approached  in  the  ordinary  way.  and  partly  that 
 Nebuchadnezzar  must  have  contrived  a  bridge  of  boats. 
 or  some  other  method  of  approaching  the  island  across 
 the  shoal  and  narrow  channel  (1,200  yard-  ,  which  at 
 
 .77 
 
She  shall  be  Conquered 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXVI. 
 
 and  greatly  Lamented. 
 
 thee,  and  lift  up  the  buckler  against 
 thee.  (9>  And  he  shall  set  engines  of 
 war  against  thy  walls,  and  with  his  axes 
 he  shall  break  down  thy  towers.  ll0>  By 
 reason  of  the  abundance  of  his  horses 
 their  dust  shall  cover  thee :  thy  walls 
 shall  shake  at  the  noise  of  the  horsemen, 
 and  of  the  wheels,  and  of  the  chariots, 
 when  he  shall  enter  into  thy  gates,  Jas 
 men  enter  into  a  city  wherein  is  made  a 
 breach.  <n>  With  the  hoofs  of  his  horses 
 shall  he  tread  down  all  thy  streets  :  he 
 shall  slay  thy  people  by  the  sword,  and 
 thy  strong  garrisons  shall  go  down  to 
 the  ground.  <12>  And  they  shall  make  a 
 spoil  of  thy  riches,  and  make  a  prey  of 
 thy  merchandise :  and  they  shall  break 
 down  thy  walls,  and  destroy  2thy  plea- 
 sant houses :  and  they  shall  lay  thy 
 stones  and  thy  timber  and  thy  dust  in 
 the  midst  of  the  water.     <13>  "And  I  will 
 
 l  Hoi).,  according 
 tu  the  m&eringa 
 of  a  city  broken 
 
 Hob.,  Iiouses  of 
 thy  aestre. 
 
 a  Isai.  24.  S 
 7.  34  &  16. 1 
 
 3  Keb.,tremblingz 
 
 cause  the  noise  of  thy  songs  to  cease ; 
 and  the  sound  of  thy  harps  shall  be  no 
 moi-e  heard.  <U)And  I  will  make  thee 
 like  the  top  of  a  rock  :  thou  shalt  be  a 
 place  to  spread  nets  upon ;  thou  shalt 
 be  built  no  more  :  for  I  the  Lord  have 
 spoken  it,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 (is)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  to  Tyrus ; 
 Shall  not  the  isles  shake  at  the  sound  of 
 thy  fall,  when  the  wounded  cry,  when 
 the  slaughter  is  made  in  the  midst  of 
 thee?  '^  Then  all  the  princes  of  the 
 sea  shall  come  down  from  their  thrones, 
 and  lay  away  their  robes,  and  put  off 
 their  broidered  garments :  they  shall 
 clothe  themselves  with3  trembling  ;  they 
 shall  sit  upon  the  ground,  and  shall 
 tremble  at  every  moment,  and  be  asto- 
 nished at  thee.  '17>  And  they  shall  take 
 up  a  b  lamentation  for  thee,  and  say  to 
 thee,  How  art  thou  destroyed,  that  wast 
 
 that  time  separated  it  from  the  mainland,  That  if  he 
 built  a  mole  it  was  afterwards  removed,  is  plain  from 
 the  fact  that  when  Alexander  built  one,  250  years  later, 
 sand  accumulated  upon  it,  until  the  island  has  now 
 become  a  peninsula,  connected  with  the  shore  by  a  beach 
 of  considerable  width. 
 
 The  buckler  is  that  sort  of  roof  made  with  shields 
 used  in  ancient  warfare  by  besiegers  to  defend  them- 
 selves from  the  missiles  of  the  besieged.  Herodotus 
 (chap.  ix.  61,  99,  102)  mentions  its  use  among  the 
 Persians. 
 
 (9)  Engines  of  war.— This  is  now  generally  under- 
 stood to  mean  battering-rams,  although  the  word  is  a 
 different  one  from  that  used  in  chaps,  iv.  2,  xxi.  22. 
 There  are  two  words  here  which  may  form  one  com- 
 pound word. 
 
 Axes  in  the  original  is  swords.  It  may  either  be 
 used,  the  specific  for  the  general,  swords  for  all  instru- 
 ments of  war ;  or  it  may  be  a  poetic  hyperbole,  to 
 express  the  power  of  the  swords  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
 army — they  shall  even  break  down  the  towers. 
 
 (10)  Shall  enter  into  thy  gates.— The  whole  de- 
 scription of  this  verse  again  implies  that  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar had  contrived  some  way  by  which  his  ar'inies, 
 with  horsemen  and  chariots,  could  march  into  the  city, 
 and  the  prophet  gives  a  glowing  poetic  description  of 
 the  effect  of  their  entrance. 
 
 (li)  Thy  strong  garrisons.  —  This  is  the  only 
 instance  in  the  Bible  in  which  this  common  word  is  so 
 translated,  although  a  word  closely  akin  to  it  is  ren- 
 dered garrison  throughout  the  Books  of  Samuel.  Both 
 words  mean  a  pillar  set  up  as  a  monument  or  memorial. 
 Translate,  therefore,  the  pillars  of  thy  strength.  It 
 is  probable  that  the  pillars  intended  are  those  men- 
 tioned by  Herodotus  (Bk.  ii.  44)  as  standing  in  the 
 Temple  of  Hercules  at  Tyre,  one  of  gold  and  the  other 
 (if  emerald. 
 
 d2)  They  shall  make.— In  verse  12  the  nominative 
 changes.  It  is  no  longer  Nebuchadnezzar  who  does 
 these  things,  but  "  they."  This  may  intimate  that  the 
 prophet's  vision  now  again  passes  beyond  the  imme- 
 diate future  to  the  long  succession  of  calamities,  begin- 
 ning indeed    with    Nebuchadnezzar's    conquest,   with 
 
 278 
 
 which  Tyre  was  to  be  visited.  The  "  spoil "  and 
 "  prey  "  is  to  be  understood  more  of  what  the  Tyriaus 
 lost  than  of  what  the  conquerors  gained.  In  the  long- 
 continned  sieges  to  which  the  city  was  subjected  there 
 was  great  waste  of  its  substance ;  but  their  command 
 of  the  water  generally  enabled  them  before  the  close  to 
 send  away  their  moveable  wealth,  so  that  the  booty  of 
 the  victor  was  small.  (With  the  close  of  the  verse 
 comp.  verse  4.)  The  situation  of  Tyre  led  naturally  to 
 her  ruins  being  thrown  into  the  sea.  Robinson  saw 
 in  one  place  as  many  as  forty  or  fifty  marble  columns 
 beneath  the  water. 
 
 (13)  I  wiH  cause.— Here  God  speaks  of  His  own 
 direct  action,  and  declares  that  all  these  calamities 
 are  ordered  by  Him ;  and  in  this  and  the  following 
 verse  the  prophecy  of  verses  4,  5,  is  repeated  that 
 Tyre  shall  be  utterly  wasted  and  desolate,  and  never 
 be  rebuilt. 
 
 In  verses  15 — 21  the  effect  of  the  fall  of  Tyre  upon 
 other  maritime  people  is  set  forth.  It  is  to  be  remem. 
 bered  that  these  people  were  either  her  own  colonies, 
 or  else  in  close  commercial  relations  with  her. 
 
 (15)  The  isles. — This  word  is  constantly  used  in 
 Scripture,  not  merely  for  islands,  strictly  so  called,  but 
 for  any  sea-coasts.  The  main  reference  here,  no  doubt, 
 is  to  the  islands  and  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean ;  but 
 as  Tyrian  commerce  extended  also  beyond,  the  language 
 need  not  be  entirely  restricted  to  these.  The  tidings  of 
 the  conquest  of  Tyre  is  poetically  represented  as  "  the 
 sound  of  her  fall." 
 
 (is)  Princes  of  the  sea.— Or,  as  we  should  say, 
 merchant  princes.  (Comp.  Isa.  xxiii.  8.)  Actual  sove- 
 reigns are  not  meant,  but  those  raised  by  commerce  to 
 wealth  and  power.  Their  astonishment  and  grief  is 
 poetically  described  under  the  figure  of  the  customs  of 
 Oriental  mourning.  (Comp.  Jonah  iii.  6.)  "  Thrones  " 
 shoidd  rather  be  translated  seats,  as  in  Judges  iii.  20; 
 1  Sam.  i.  9,  iv.  13,  18. 
 
 (17)  Inhabited  of  seafaring  men. —  Rather,  in- 
 habited from  the  sea.  The  word,  which  is  very  common, 
 never  bears  the  sense  of  men.  The  thought  is  that  the 
 rock  of  Tyre,  built  up  with  dwellings  to  the  water's 
 edge,  was  like  a  city  rising  from  the  sea. 
 
Tijrr  all, ill  be  ""'  rly  Desolated. 
 
 KZEkTEL,    XXVII. 
 
 Lam*  hi  ...  r  1 
 
 inhabited  '  of  seafaring  men,  the  re- 
 uowned  city,  which  wast  strong  in  the 
 sea,  ahe  and  her  inhabitants,  which 
 cause  their  tenor  to  be  on  all  thai  haunt 
 it!  ""'  Now  shall  the  isles  tremble  in 
 the  day  of  thj  fall;  yea,  the  ialea  that 
 ore  in  tin-  sea  shall  be  troubled  at  thy 
 departure. 
 
 ('»)  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God; 
 When  1  shall  make  thee  a  desolate  city, 
 like  the  cities  that  are  not  inhabited ; 
 when  [shall  bring  up  the  deep  upon 
 thee,  and  great  waters  shall  cover  thee; 
 
 <-0)  when    1  shall    bring  thee   down  with 
 
 them  that  descend  into  the  pit,  with  the 
 
 people  of  old  time,  ami  shall  set  thee  in 
 the  low  pails  of  the  earth,  in  places 
 desolate  of  uhlj  with  them  that  go  down 
 
 l   !(■  i'  ,  ■•/the  teat. 
 
 I  It  l>.,  terrors. 
 
 II.  k.  perfect  of 
 beauty. 
 
 to  the  pit,  that  thou  he  not  inhabited; 
 and  I  shall  s-i  '_rl"i'y  i"  t'"'   ';""'  "*    '!"-' 
 
 living;   '-]l  \    will    make    th a    terror, 
 
 and  thou  xhidt  be  no  mori  :  though  thou 
 be  sought  for,  yet  shalt  thou  never  be 
 found  again,  saith  tin;  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVIL— <»  The  word  of 
 the  Lord  came  again  unto  me,  Baying, 
 
 <->Now,  thou  son  of  man,  take  op  a  la- 
 mentation for  Tyrus  ;  '  '  and  Bay  unto 
 Tyrus, 
 
 0  thou  that  art  situate  at  the  entry  of 
 the  sea,  which  art  a  merchant  of  the 
 j pie  for  many  isles,  Thus  saith  tin- 
 Lord  God;  O  Tyrus,  thou  hasi  said.  1 
 am  3of  perfect  beauty.  (4)  Thy  borders 
 are  in  the  *  midst  of  the  seas,  thy  builders 
 
 Which  cause  their  torror.-This  elanse  has  oc- 
 casioned much  difficulty.  The  literal  translation  is. 
 the  and  her  inhabitants,  which  gave  their  fear  to  all 
 her  inhabitants.  "  Pear"  is  hen  rised  in  the  sense  of  that 
 which  causes  Eear;  and  tin-  meaning  is,  that  tin- power  of 
 Tyre  was  so  feared  that  every  Tynan  was  respected  for 
 her  Bake,  just  as  at  a  later  day  every  Roman  bore  about 
 with  him  something  of  the  majesty  of  Rome,  or,  as 
 now.  the  citizen  of  a  great  Power  is  respected  among 
 foreigners  for  bis  country's  Bake.  (Comp.  chap,  xxxii. 
 24,  28.) 
 
 (18)  Tho  islos  tremble.— "Isles"  here,  as  elsewhere, 
 includes  coasts.  It  must  be  remembered  how  numerous 
 (he  colonies  of  Phoenicia  were.  They  hail  been  estab- 
 lished in  i  '\  prus,  Rhodes,  Malta,  Spain.  Sicily,  Sardinia, 
 the  Balearic  Islands,  and  Africa.  In  some  of  these 
 there  were  several  colonies,  as  TJtica  and  Carthage  in 
 Africa.  Glides  (<  'adiz\  Kalpo  (( lil.raltar).  and  Malaka 
 (Malaga)  in  Spain.  All  of  these  looked  np  to  Tyre  as 
 their  mother-city,  and  received  from  her  (heir  high 
 priests.  Even  Carthage,  the  greatest  of  them,  sent 
 yearly  presents  to  the  Tynan  Hercules. 
 
 Bring  up  the"  deep  upon  thee.— With 
 rerse  19  begins  the  closing  section  of  this  prophecy,  and 
 in  it  the  other  parts  arc  summed  op  and  emphasised. 
 The  figurative  language  by  winch  the  overwhelming  of 
 Tyre  is  here  described  is  again  appropriate  to  her  natural 
 Bit  nation. 
 
 (-"i  With  them  that  descend  into  the  pit.— 
 <''iiil>.  Lsa.  xiv.  i» — 20.  Tyre  is  here  represented,  as 
 Babylon  is  there,  as  joining  itself  to  the  dead — a  striking 
 figure  to  indicate  its  niter  and  final  destruction.  This  i> 
 
 tobeundersi I  of  the  Tyre  that  then  was,  ths  proud 
 
 mistress  of  the  sea,  The  question  whether  there  might 
 or  might  not  ever  be  other  inhabitants  on  the  rock  of 
 Tyre  is  one  which  does  not  at  all  come  within  the  scope 
 of  the  prophet's  vision.     The  way  of  speaking  of  the 
 
 place  of  the  dead,  as  in  the  lower  part  of  the  earth,  BO 
 
 common  in  Scripture  [comp.  Eph.  iv.  9),  does  not  by 
 any  means  prove  that  the  writers  thought  this  to  be  the 
 actual  place  of  departed  spirits,  hut  only  that,  as  it  is 
 a  necessity  of  humau  thought  ami  expression  to  indicate 
 some  locality,  this  locality,  in  association  with  the 
 burial  of  th.'  body,  is  most  naturally  placed  "under  the 
 
 earth."  In  the  same  way.  men.  even  on  Opposite  side-, 
 of  the  globe,  always  speak  of  God  as  "above  them." 
 
 and  their  gestures  and  looks,  as  well  as  their  words,  un- 
 avoidably involve  the  same  idea,  though  they  perfectly 
 
 know  that  He  is  omnipresent.    ■.< ' p.  even  the  example 
 
 of  our  Lord  in  Mark  vi.  II,  vii.  '&;  Luke  is.  16 ;  John 
 xvii.  1.) 
 Sot  glory  in  the  land  of  the  living.— The  word 
 
 for  "glory"  is  the  same  as  that  used  in  chap.  xx.  6,  15; 
 Dan.  viii.it.  xi.  16,  11,  in  connection  with  Palestine.  The 
 prediction  is  that  when  Tyre,  who  is  now  rejoicing  in 
 
 the  calamity  of  Judah.  shall  lie  past  and  forgotten, 
 numbered  with  the  dead.  1  hen  God  will  establish  His 
 people  as  a  living  Church  to  Himself.  A  ray_  of 
 Messianic     promise    shines    through     the     prediction, 
 
 although,  for  the  time,  it  might   seem  nothing  n 
 
 than  a  foretelling  of  the  restoration  from  the  Captivity. 
 
 xx  vn. 
 
 This  chapter  has  been  very  well  called  "  The  Dirgo 
 of  Tyre."  It  is  a  lamentation  over  its  fall,  not  because 
 the  prophet  could  wish  it  to  be  otherwise,  but  simply 
 because  of  the  terror  and  sorrowfulness  of  the  event 
 itself.  It  is  unique  among  Scripture  representations 
 in  the  fulness  of  detail  with  which  the  greatness  of 
 
 Tyre  is  described;   but  this  i>  quite  in  accordance  with 
 
 peculiarity  of  EzekdeTs  mind.    The  description  is 
 
 carried  out  under  the  figure  of  a  well-built  ship, 
 thoroughly  manned   and  equipped,  Bailing  everywhere. 
 
 engaged  in  lucrative  commerce;  but  at  last,  brought 
 into  rough  Bess  and  storm.  Bhe  is  wrecked,  and  sinks. 
 This    prolonged    figure   is   generally  well   sustained. 
 
 although,  after  the  manner  of  this  prophet,  the  reality 
 is  occasionally  allowed  to  break  through  for  the  sake  of 
 clearness  and  emphasis. 
 
 The  whole  lamentation  so  much  explains  itself  tliat 
 it  will  only  be  necessary  to  subjoin  brief  notes  on 
 passages  that,  in  our  version  especially,  are  not  alto- 
 gether clear. 
 
 (3>  At  the  entry  of  the  sea.— The  word  for  "entry" 
 in  the  original  is  plural,  and  means  the  approaches  to 
 the  sea.  .11-  harbours.  Tyre  had  two  of  these,  both 
 remarkably  good :  the  "Egyptian,"  facing  the  Bouth, 
 and  the  "  Siaonian,"  facing  the  north,  the  latter  having 
 
 also  an  outer  harbour  or  roadstead,  formed  by  a  ledge 
 off  the  uorth-west  extremity  of  the  island.    The  former 
 
 270 
 
Her  Glory 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXVII. 
 
 and  Power. 
 
 have  perfected  thy  beauty.  '5'  They  have 
 1  made  all  thy  ship  boards  of  fir  trees  of 
 Senir :  they  have  taken  cedars  from 
 Lebanon  to  make  masts  for  thee.  <6)  Of 
 the  oaks  of  Bashan  have  they  made 
 thine  oars;  23the  company  of  the 
 Ashurites  have  made  thy  benches  of 
 ivory,  brought  out  of  the  isles  of  Chittim. 
 (7)  Fine  linen  with  broidered  work  from 
 Egypt  was  that  which  thou  spreadest 
 forth  to  be  thy  sail ;  4blue  and  purple 
 from  the  isles  of  Elishah  was  that  which 
 covered  thee.  (8)  The  inhabitants  of 
 Zidon   and  Arvad  were   thy  mariners 
 
 2    Or,    then    liar. 
 
 mad*  thtt  hutches 
 of  ivory  icell 
 trodden. 
 
 3  Hob.,  the  dawjh 
 ter. 
 
 4  Or,  purple  and 
 scarlet. 
 
 5   Or,   stoppers   of 
 chinks. 
 
 0  Hob.,  strewjthm- 
 
 I 
 
 thy  wise  men,  O  Tyrus,  that  were  in 
 thee,  were  thy  pilots.  (9>  The  ancients 
 of  Gebal  and  the  wise  men  thereof  were 
 in  thee  thy  5Ccalkers :  all  the  ships  of 
 the  sea  with  their  mariners  were  in  thee 
 to  occupy  thy  merchandise.  (10)  They  of 
 Persia  and  of  Lud  and  of  Phut  were  in 
 thine  army,  thy  men  of  war  :  they  hanged 
 the  shield  and  helmet  in  thee  ;  they  set 
 forth  thy  comeliness.  (11>  The  men  of 
 Arvad  with  thine  army  were  upon  thy 
 walls  round  about,  and  the  Gammadims 
 were  in  thy  towers  :  they  hanged  their 
 shields    upon  thy  walls    round  about; 
 
 is  now  completely,  and  the  latter  nearly,  filled  up  with 
 sand  and  ruins. 
 
 (5)  Ship  boards. — Planking  for  the  sides  of  the 
 ship.  The  word  in  the  original  is  in  the  dual,  with 
 reference  to  its  two  sides.  Senir  was  the  Amorite 
 name  of  Hermon,  or  Antilebanon,  called  by  the  Sido- 
 nians  Sirion  (Deut.  iii.  9).  Ezekiel  wished  to  use  a 
 foreign  name,  and  the  latter  may  at  this  time  have 
 become  obsolete.  The  timber  brought  thence  for  the 
 ship's  planking,  and  called  fir,  was  the  same  with  that 
 furnished  by  Hiram  to  Solomon  for  the  floor  of  the 
 Temple  (1  Kings  vi.  15),  and  may  have  been  either 
 "  fir  "  (spruce  ?)  or  cypress.  The  Scriptm-e  names  of 
 trees  are  not  always  well  identified.  Both  were  esteemed 
 among  the  ancients  for  ship-building,  especially  the 
 cypress,  on  account  of  its  lightness,  durability,  and 
 freedom  from  the  attacks  of  worms. 
 
 (6)  The  company  of  the  Ashurites  have  made 
 thy  benches  of  ivory.— The  literal  rendering  of 
 this  clause  (with  two  words  of  doubtful  meaning  left 
 blank)  is,  they  made  thy  .  .  .  of  tooth  (ivory),  daughter 
 of  .  .  .  The  sense  will  depend  upon  the  filling  up  of 
 these  blanks.  For  the  first  there  need  be  no  difficulty. 
 The  word  is  used  in  Exod.  xxvi.  16  of  the  boards  of  the 
 tabernacle,  and  here  it  is  undoubtedly  used  of  some 
 planking  about  the  ship;  but  it  is  in  the  singular 
 number.  It  is  hardly  likely,  therefore,  to  mean 
 "  benches "  (i.e.,  seats  for  the  oarsmen),  since  there 
 were  usually  two  or  three  tiers  of  these  on  each  side  of 
 the  ship.  It  is  now  generally  taken  collectively  of  the 
 planking  of  the  deck.  If  the  Hebrew  text,  as  it 
 stands,  is  quite  correct,  we  must  read  the  other  word 
 "  daughter  of  Ashurites,"  for  there  is  no  authority  for 
 rendering  "  daughter  "  by  company.  It  is  difficult  or 
 impossible  to  make  any  intelligible  sense  of  this ;  but 
 if  the  two  Hebrew  words  now  written  separately  be 
 joined  together,  we  shall  have  "  in  box-wood,"  the 
 word  being  the  same  as  in  Isa.  lx.  13.  There  will  still 
 be  a  little  doubt,  as  there  is  so  often  in  Scripture,  as  to 
 the  exact  wood  intended,  whether  box-wood  or  the 
 sherbin-cedar ;  but  the  general  sense  is  plain — "  they 
 have  made  thy  deck  of  ivory,  inlaid  in  box-wood." 
 
 Isles  of  Chittim.— Chittim  is  the  Old  Testament 
 name  for  Cyprus,  and  hence  "  isles  of  Chittim"  (as  iu 
 Jer.  ii.  10)  stands  for  the  islands  and  coasts  whose 
 fleets,  in  coming  to  the  East,  made  their  rendezvous  at 
 Cypras.  Thither  were  brought  both  the  ivory  from 
 the  African  coast  and  the  precious  woods  from  various 
 quarters. 
 
 (?)  Pine  linen  with  broidered  work.  — To  a 
 modern  sailor  "  fine  linen "  may  seem  both  an  extra- 
 
 vagant and  an  insufficient  material  for  a  ship's  sails, 
 but  the  State  ships  of  antiquity  were  often  fitted  out  in 
 tiiis  way,  and  the  sails  embroidered  in  colours  in  place 
 of  a  pennon.  The  clause  literally  is,  Linen  with 
 embroidery  from  Egypt  was  for  thy  spreading  out 
 (sail),  to  be  to  thee  for  a  sign. 
 
 Isles  of  Elishah.— In  Gen.  x.  4,  1  Chron.  i.  7, 
 Elishah  is  mentioned  among  the  sons  of  Javan,  or 
 Ionia.  The  regions  here  referred  to  are  the  coasts  of 
 Asia  Minor,  where  an  abundant  supply  of  the  murex 
 (from  which  came  the  famous  purple  dye)  was  obtained, 
 when  the  quantity  on  the  Tyrian  coast  was  insufficient 
 for  its  manufactures.  "  That  which  covered  thee  "  is 
 the  awning  spread  over  the  ship's  deck. 
 
 (8)  Arvad. — The  description  now  turns  to  the  sailors. 
 The  Arvadite  is  mentioned  among  the  family  of 
 Canaan  in  Gen.  x.  18,  and  corresponds  to  the  Greek 
 Aradus.  There  were  two  islands  of  this  name  :  one  in 
 the  Persian  Gulf,  the  other  (the  one  here  intended)  a 
 rocky  island  north  of  the  coast  of  Tripoli,  on  which  a 
 city  was  built  like  Tyre.  The  Phoenician  cities  of 
 Zidon  and  Arvad  furnished  the  oarsmen,  but  Tyre 
 itself  the  superior  captains  and  pilots. 
 
 (9)  The  ancients  of  Gebal.— "  The  ancients  "  is  a 
 thoroughly  Semitic  expression  for  the  prominent  men 
 of  a  city.  Gebal,  the  ancient  Byblos,  the  modern 
 Gebeil,  and  the  Gu-ba-lu  of  the  Assyrian  inscriptions, 
 was  a  famous  Phoenician  town  just  north  of  Beirut. 
 Its  site  is  still  rich  in  ruins.  Its  people  were  famous 
 builders,  and  according  to  the  margin  of  1  Kings  v.  18 
 (so  also  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate)  were  employed 
 by  Solomon  on  the  work  of  the  Temple.  The  repre- 
 sentation is  that  the  whole  widely-dispersed  Phoenician 
 race  were  tributary  to  the  works  of  Tyre.  At  this 
 point  the  figure  of  the  ship  gives  place  for  a  time  to 
 plain  language,  the  better  to  set  forth  the  military 
 resources  and  power  of  this  great  city. 
 
 (io)  Of  Persia  and  of  Lud  and  of  Phut.— Tyre, 
 like  most  commercial  nations,  depended  chiefly  on 
 mercenaries  for  the  rank  and  file  of  its  army.  Persia, 
 more  anciently  called  Elam,  was  just  now  rising  into 
 prominence.  Its  soldiers  were  probably  obtained  by 
 the  Tynans  from  their  commerce  in  the  Persian  Gulf. 
 Lud  is  not  the  one  mentioned  among  the  children  of 
 Shem  (Gen.  x.  22),  but  the  Ludim  (Lydians)  of  Hamite 
 family,  descended  from  Mizraim  (Gen.  x.  13).  Phut 
 was  also  an  African  tribe  (Gen.  x.  6).  Both  are 
 repeatedly  mentioned  on  the  Egyptian  monuments  as 
 furnishing  mercenaries  to  the  army. 
 
 (ii)  The  Gammadims  were  in  thy  towers.— 
 No  people  of  this  name  is  known,  and  it  is  extremely 
 
 280 
 
Many  Nations  Tributary 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXVI  I. 
 
 t'i  If  r  <  'iiumerce. 
 
 they  have  made  thy  beauty  perfect. 
 ""-'  'I'arsliisli  irus  thy  merchant  by  reason 
 of  the  multitude  of  aH  hind  of  riches; 
 with   silver,   iron,  tin,  and   lead,   they 
 
 traded    ill    thy    fairs.     (1,Mavan,   Tubal, 
 
 and  Bfeshech,  they  were  thy  merchants: 
 they  traded  the  persons  of  men  and 
 vessels  of  brass  in  thy  'market.  <ll,They 
 of  the  house  of  Togarmah  traded  in  thy 
 
 fairs  with  horses  and  horsemen  and 
 mules.  (15)  The  men  of  Dedan  were  thy 
 merchants;  many  isles  were  the  mer- 
 chandise of  thine  hand:  they  brought 
 thee  for  a  present  horns  of  ivory  and 
 ebony.  <16*  Syria  was  thy  merchant  by 
 reason  of  the  multitude  of -the  wares  of 
 thy  making :  they  occupied  in  thy  fairs 
 
 ■ 
 
 chryto- 
 
 i  Or,  rosin. 
 
 0   Hi'.  r\othea  ttf 
 
 7    Hrl...  ' 
 tit;/  Itiutit. 
 
 with  emeralds,  purple,    and    broidered 
 
 work,    and    tine    linen,    and    coral,    and 
 
 'agate.       (17)Judah,     and     the     land    of 
 
 braeL  they  were  thy  merchants s  they 
 traded  in  thy  market  wheal  of  Minm'th, 
 and  Pannag,  and  honey,  and  oil,  and 
 'balm.  Ch»  Damascus  was  thy  merchant 
 in  the  multitude  of  the  wares  of  thy 
 making,  for  the  multitude  of  all  riches; 
 in  the  wine  of  Helbon,  and  white  wool. 
 09)  Dah  also  and  Javan  going  to  and 
 fro  occupied  in  thy  fairs :  bright  iron, 
 cassia,  and  calamus,  were  in  thy  market. 
 t20*  Dedan  ivas  thy  merchant  in  'precious 
 clothes  for  chariots.  (-''  Arabia,  and  all 
 the  princes  of  Kedar,  7they  occupied 
 with  thee  in  lambs,  and  rams,  and  goats : 
 
 unlikely  that  the  responsible  post-,  ppon  the  watch. 
 towen  would  have  been  entrusted  t"  foreigners.  The 
 went  occurs  only  here,  and  is  probably  nut  a  proper 
 name,  hut  should  he  translated  brave  men. 
 
 (12)  Traded  in  thy  fairs.— Tarahiah,  Tartessus  iu 
 Spain,  was  fa us  in  antiquity  for  the  metals  enume- 
 rated, esi tally  silver.    The  word  for  " fairs "  occurs 
 
 only  in  this  chapter  i verses  It.  1*!.  L9,  --.  88).  In  the 
 last  ease  it  is  translated  iivircs.  as  it  should  he  through- 
 out.    Tlie  idea  of  the  word   is   "something   left    with 
 
 another  in  place  of  something  else  given  in  exchange," 
 in  accordance  with  the  habits  of  ancient  commerce, 
 which  consisted  chiefly  in  baiter.  Translate  the  clause, 
 <  whanged  for  thy  vnres. 
 
 Verses  12 — 23  give  a  general  survey  of  the  nations 
 with  whom  tho  Tyrians  were  connected  in  commerce, 
 omitting    those    already   mentioned    in    the   previous 
 ioii.      To  avoid    monotony,  the  prophet   also  con- 
 stantly alternates  in  the  use  of  synonymous  words. 
 
 08)  Javan,  Tubal,  and  Meshech.  —  Javau  is 
 strictly  Ionia,  more    generally  Greece.     Tubal    and 
 
 Meshech  are  the  classic  Tibareni  and  ^[oschi,  between 
 the  Black  and  Caspian  Seas.  They  were  famous  for 
 dealing  in  slaves  and  in  brass,  or  rather  copper,  of 
 which  their  mountains  still  contain  ahundaut  supplies. 
 
 (U)  Togarmah.  A  name  for  the  Armenians,  a 
 of  Japhetic  descent  (<  ten.  X.  3).  They  dealt  from 
 most  ancient  times  in  horses  and  asses. 
 
 (15)  Dedan. — This  Dedan  is  a  descendant  of  Hani 
 through  Cosh  (Gen.  x.  7).  The  triho  was  located  in 
 Arabia,  probably  upon  tin-  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf 
 (Isa.  xxi.  13).  The  Dedan  of  verso  20,  on  the  other 
 hand,  is  a  Semitic  tribe,  spoken  of  also  in  chap.  xxv. 
 13;  Jer.  xlix.  8.  Tin'  ■•many  isles"'  of  this  Dedan 
 were  the  islands  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  on  the  Arabian 
 Coast,  and  they  were  '•  merchandise  "  in  the  sense  of 
 supplying  material  for  the  commerce  of  Tyre.  "  Brought 
 thee  for  a  present  "  miglil  seem  to  imply  tribute,  but 
 the  original  rather  conveys  the  idea  of  return  pay- 
 ment .  "  Horns  of  ivory"  is.  literally,  honu  of  teeth  ;  the 
 name  "horn "being  simply  a  commercial  term  derived 
 from  the  shape  of  the  elephant's  tusk.  "Ebony"  is  a 
 Word  used  only  here.  It  was  brought  both  from  India 
 and  Ethiopia,  the  w 1  from  the  latter  being  preferred. 
 
 (M)  Emeralds. — The  precious  stone  intended  here, 
 and  iu  Exod.  xxviii.  IS,  is  now  generally  understood  to 
 
 be  the  carbuncle.  The  word  for  "fine  l\u:n  "  is  not 
 that  of  verse  7.  but  a  PhoMiieiau  word,  occurring  only 
 in  the  books  written  in  the  time  of  the  captivity.  It  is 
 thought  to  mean  cutton,  for  the  woven  fabrics  of  which 
 Babylon  was  famous.  Agate  (marg.,  chrysoprane)  is 
 probably  the  ruby,  or  certainly  some  stone  of  brilliancy 
 (Isa.  liv".  12). 
 
 (i?)  Minnith,  and  Pannag.  —  Miunith  was  in 
 Amnion  (Judges  xi.  33),  rich  in  wheat  (2  Chron.  xxvii. 
 5),  and  the  Tyrians  obtained  its  products  through 
 Israelites.  Pannag  is  unknown;  it  is  even  uncertain 
 whether  it  is  a  proper  name  at  all,  or  somo  sweet  con- 
 fection, as  grape  syrup. 
 
 (18)  Wine  of  Helbon.— Helbon  is  identified  with 
 a  village  of  the  same  name,  three  and  a  half  hours 
 north  of  Damascus,  rich  in  ruins,  and  still  devoted  to 
 
 tl ulture  of  the  vine,  from  which  the  costliest  wine 
 
 of  the  country  was  made.  It  was  probably  the  same 
 with  the  wine  of  Chalybon,  so  much  prized  iu  Persia. 
 
 (19)  Dan  also  and  Javan.— This  is  the  only  in- 
 stance in  this  enumeration  in  which  tlie  name  of  a 
 people  is  introduced  with  a  conjunction.  Besides  this 
 structural  difficulty,  there  seems  no  appropriateness  in 
 the  name  Dan.  a  tribe  of  Israel  long  some  carried 
 into  captivity.  The  city  Dan  was  of  quite  too  little 
 prominence  to  be  mentioned  here.  It  is  probable, 
 therefore,  that  what  our  translators  have  taken  for  the 
 eon  junction  is  really  a  pari  of  the  name  Vcdan.  a  place 
 in  Arabia  not  elsewhere  mentioned,  but  which  BOOM 
 suppose  to  be  Aden.  Javan  does  not  h,  re  stand  for 
 Greece,  but  for  an  Arabian  place  or  tribe,  which  there 
 is  reason  to  think  is  Yemen. 
 
 Going  to  and  fro.— The  margin  is  better,  Menzal, 
 or  rather — the  first  letter  being  a  preposition— /rOJB 
 Uzal,  the  ancient  Sanaa,  afterwards  the  capital  of 
 Yemen.  Yemen  was  famous  for  its  sword-blades, 
 which  may  be  meant  by  the  bright  literally.  wrought) 
 iron,  and  also  for  its  spices  brought  from  India. 
 
 Dedan.— See  note  on  veree  15.  "Precious 
 clothes."  literally,  clothes  of  Spreading,  by  which  saddle- 
 cloths are  probably  meant. 
 
 (-1*  Arabia    .    .    .    Kedar.— Arabia  is  never  used 
 
 in  the  Old  Testament  for  the  whole  of  the  country  now 
 called  bv  that  name,  but  only  for  the  desert  part  of  it 
 Occupied  by  nomadic  tribes.  Kedar  is  the  name  of  a 
 nomadic  pastoral  race  descended  from  Islunael  (Gea 
 xxv.  IS ;  comp.  Isa.  lx.  7 
 
 281 
 
Her  Great  Riches. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXVII. 
 
 Her  Fall. 
 
 in  these  were  they  thy  merchants.  (-'The 
 merchants  of  Sheba  and  Raamah,  they 
 were  thy  merchants  :  they  occupied  in 
 thy  fairs  with  chief  of  all  spices,  and 
 with  all  precious  stones,  and  gold. 
 <23>  Haran,  and ,  Canneh,  and  Eden,  the 
 merchants  of  Sheba,  Asshur,  and  Chil- 
 mad,  were  thy  merchants.  (24)  These 
 were  thy  merchants  in  1aU  sorts  of 
 things,  in  blue  3 clothes,  and  broidered 
 work,  and  in  chests  of  rich  apparel, 
 bound  with  cords,  and  made  of  cedar, 
 among  thy  merchandise.  (25)  The  ships 
 of  Tarshish  did  sing  of  thee  in  thy 
 market :  and  thou  wast  replenished,  and 
 made  very  glorious  in  the  midst  of  the 
 seas. 
 
 (26)  Thy  rowers  have  brought  thee  into 
 great  waters  :  the  east  wind  hath  broken 
 thee  in  the  srnidst  of  the  seas.  (2~)  Thy 
 "riches,  and  thy  fairs,  thy  merchandise, 
 thy  mariners,  and  thy  pilots,  thy  calkers, 
 
 l     Or,    esctfknt 
 
 tliili'JS. 
 
 Heb.,  foldings. 
 
 3  Hub.,  heait. 
 
 a  Rev.  18.  9,  &c. 
 
 4  Or,  even  with  all 
 
 6  Or,  waves. 
 
 and  the  occupiers  of  thy  merchandise,, 
 and  all  thy  men  of  war,  that  are  in  thee,. 
 4  and  in  all  thy  company  which  is  in  the 
 midst  of  thee,  shall  fall  into  the  5  midst 
 of  the  seas  in  the  day  of  thy  ruin. 
 (28)  The  6  suburbs  shall  shake  at  the 
 sound  of  the  cry  of  thy  pilots.  (29)  And 
 all  that  handle  the  oar,  the  mariners,, 
 and  all  the  pilots  of  the  sea,  shall  come 
 down  from  their  ships,  they  shall  stand 
 upon  the  land ;  (30)  and  shall  cause  their 
 voice  to  be  heard  against  thee,  and  shall 
 cry  bitterly,  and  shall  cast  up  dust  upon 
 their  heads,  they  shall  wallow  themselves. 
 in  the  ashes  :  (31)  and  they  shall  make 
 themselves  utterly  bald  for  thee,  and 
 gird  them  with  sackcloth,  and  they  shall 
 weep  for  thee  with  bitterness  of  heart 
 and  bitter  wailing.  (32>  And  in  their 
 wailing  they  shall  take  up  a  lamentation, 
 for  thee,  and  lament  over  thee,  saying, 
 What  city  is  like  Tyrus,  like  the  de- 
 
 (22)  Sheba  and  Raamah  were  both  Hamites, 
 descended  from  Cush  (Gen.  x.  7).  They  occupied  that 
 part  of  Arabia  in  the  south-east  which  lies  on  the  Bay 
 of  Oman,  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  were  famous  in 
 antiquity  for  the  products  mentioned  in  the  text,  and 
 which,  with  the  exception  of  gold,  are  still  found  there. 
 
 (23)  Haran,  and  Canneh,  and  Eden.— The  de- 
 scription now  turns  from  Arabia  to  the  Tyrian  trade 
 with  Mesopotamia.  Haran,  important  in  the  story  of 
 Abraham  (Gen.  xi.  31,  32 ;  xii.  4),  the  Cbarrae  of  the 
 Romans,  was  in  north-western  Mesopotamia,  at  the 
 junction  of  two  great  caravan  routes,  the  one  along  the 
 Tigris,  the  other  along  the  Euphrates.  Canneh,  a 
 contraction  for  the  Calneh  of  Gen.  x.  10,  was  the  most 
 important  commercial  city  on  the  former,  and  was 
 later  known  as  Ctesiphon.  Eden  was  an  unknown 
 town  on  the  Euphrates  (2  Kings  xix.  12 ;  Isa.  xxxvii. 
 12).  and  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  Syrian  Eden. 
 
 Sheba,  Asshur,  and  Chilmad.— Sheba  is  still 
 the  samo  Sheba  before  mentioned;  for  Pliny  (Hist. 
 Nat,  xii.  40)  says  that  the  Sabceans  brought  their  goods 
 from  the  spice  country  to  Carrhae,  where  they  held 
 markets,  and  went  thence  to  Syria  and  Phcenicia.  They 
 were,  therefore,  traders  between  Mesopotamia  and 
 Phoenicia.  Asshur  is  here  not  the  country  of  Assyria, 
 but  the  commercial  city  Sura  (modern  Essurieh),  on  the 
 banks  of  the  Euphrates,  above  Thapsacus.  Chilmad  is 
 supposed  to  be  the  Charmande  of  Xenophon  (Anab.,  i. 
 5,  10),  "  a  great  city  beyond  the  Euphrates,  in  the 
 neighbourhood  of  the  desert."  Others  identify  it  with 
 Kalwada,  near  Bagdad.     It  is  mentioned  oidy  here. 
 
 (24)  All  sorts  of  things.— The  margin,  excellent 
 things,  is  better.  The  word  means  "that  which  is 
 perfect."  In  chap,  xxiii.  12  it  is  "  most  gorgeously,"  and 
 iu  chap,  xxxviii.  4,  as  here,  "  all  sorts."  In  all  "  ex- 
 cellent "  or  "excellently" is  the  true  sense.  "  Clothes" 
 — literally,  foldings — refers  to  the  purple  embroidered 
 cloaks  for  which  Babylonia  was  famous. 
 
 Chests  of  rich  apparel.— Rather,  treasures  of 
 hoisted  yam ;  and  for  "  made  of  cedar  "  read  strong. 
 An  extensive  trade  in  yams  was  kept  up  from  Baby- 
 
 lonia to  Tyre,  where  they  were  dyed  and  woven,  or  sold 
 for  weaving. 
 
 (25)  Ships  of  Tarshish  means  simply,  ships  of 
 the  largest  size,  such  as  were  fitted  for  the  voyage  to 
 Tarshish  :  as  we  now  say,  "  East  Indiaman."  (Comp.  1 
 Kings  xxii.  48 ;  Ps.  xlviii.  7.)    "  Did  sing  of  thee  in  thy 
 
 market"  is,  literally,   thy ,  thy  trade,   the  blank 
 
 being  an  uncertain  word,  supposed  by  our  translators 
 to  mean  singers.  Opinion  is  now  divided  as  to  whether 
 the  meaning  is  bulwarks  or  caravans ;  either  gives  a 
 good  sense.  "  Thy  great  ships  were  at  once  thy  defence- 
 and  the  means  of  thy  commerce,"  or  "  were  thy  cara- 
 vans of  the  sea,  &c."     The  former  is  preferable. 
 
 (26)  Thy  rowers. — As  the  chief  means  of  propelling- 
 vessels  when  the  art  of  sailing  was  imperfectly  under- 
 stood. The  figure  of  the  ship  is  hero  resumed.  "  The 
 east  wind  "  is  powerful,  gusty,  and  dangerous  in  the 
 Levant.  (Comp.  Ps.  xlviii.  7 :  "  Thou  breakest  the  ships- 
 of  Tarshish  with  an  east  wind.") 
 
 (27)  And  in  all. — Better,  as  in  the  margin,  with  all. 
 The  thought  is  that  all  that  went  to  make  up  the 
 strength  and  the  glory  of  Tyre  perished  in  one  great 
 catastrophe.  Many  classes  are  enumerated,  and  the 
 statement  is  made  general  by  adding  "  with  all  thy  com- 
 pany." All  are  represented  as  going  down  together 
 with  the  ship.     (Comp.  verse  34.) 
 
 (28)  Suburbs.  —  This  word  means  an  open  place 
 around  a  building  or  city.  There  was  no  laud  around 
 Tyre,  and  it  is  here  used,  therefore,  in  a  general  sense — 
 all  thy  surroundings. 
 
 <29)  Shall  come  down  from  their  ships.— The 
 colonies  "and  dependencies  of  Tyre  are,  in  keeping  with 
 the  figure,  the  smaller  craft  which  escape  to  the  shore, 
 and  there  lament  the  fall  of  their  mistress. 
 
 (30)  Against  thee.— Rather,  over  thee.  The  com- 
 mercial nations  were  not  inimical  to  Tyre,  but  rather 
 caused  their  wail  for  her  to  be  heard  over  the  seas 
 where  she  had  been  engulphed.  The  usual  signs  of 
 mourning  are  poetically  attributed  to  them  (verses 
 30,  31),  and  then  a  dirge  is  put  in  their  mouths. 
 (verses  32—34). 
 
Trouble  of  ike  .\'"tioiw. 
 
 EZEKIBL,   XXVIII. 
 
 Furtht  r  Prophecy  against  Tyn . 
 
 stroyed  in  the  midstof  the -.  ..   '       'When 
 
 thy  waxes  wenl  fort] I  of  the  seas, 
 
 thou  lillrilst  many  people;  thou  didst 
 enrich  tin1  bangs  "I'  the  earth  with  the 
 multitude  of  tin-  riches  and  of  thy  mer- 
 chandise. ,1"  In  tin'  time  nil,  a  then 
 shall  be  broken  by  the  seas  in  the 
 depths  of  the  waters  thy  merchandise 
 and    all    thy  company   in  the    midst    of 
 
 thee  shall  tall,  m  All  the  inhabitants 
 of  the  isles  shall  be  astonished  at  thee, 
 and  their  kings  shall  be  sore  afraid,  they 
 shall  be  troubled  in  their  countenance. 
 '•  'The  merchants  among  the  people 
 shall  hiss  at  thee;  thou  shalt  be  'a 
 terror,  and  'never  ehaM  be  any  more. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXVIII.— <»  The  word  of 
 the  Lobs  came  again  unto  me,  saying, 
 
 <2>  Son  of  man,  say  unto  the  prince  of 
 Tyrus,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Be- 
 
 I  II'  t>.,  terror*. 
 
 •ill  not 
 ■  icr. 
 
 Hob.,    rtu    Hit 
 
 ■     !■/     tll'l 
 
 cause  thine    heart  in  lifted  up,  and  thou 
 
 bast  said,  I  am  a  I  tod,  1  si'   wi  I  hu 
 
 of  God,  in  the 'midst  of  the  seas;  *yet 
 
 thou   art    a    man,    and    not  I  tod,  though 
 
 thou  Bel  thine  heart  as  the  heart  ol 
 God:  W" behold,  thou  art  wiser  than 
 Daniel  ;  there  is  no  secret  that  they  can 
 
 hide  from  thee  ■  "i  with  thy  wisdom  and 
 
 with  thine  understanding  thou  hast 
 gotten  thee  riches,  and  basi  gotten  gold 
 and  silver  into  thy  treasures :  (5>  4by  thy 
 great  wisdom  and  by  thy  traffick 
 thou  increased  thy  riches,  and  thine 
 heart  is  lifted  up  because  of  thy  riches  : 
 (,i)  therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ; 
 Because  thou  hast  set  thine  heart  as  the 
 bead  of  God;  <7>  behold,  therefore  I  will 
 brine-  strangers  upon  thee,  the  terrible 
 of  the  nations:  and  they  shall  draw 
 their  swords  against  the  beauty  of  thy 
 wisdom,  and  they  shall  defile  thy  bright- 
 
 (3«)  Shall  hiss  at  thee.— In  verse  :!.".  the  prophet 
 no-ain  drops  the  figure  of  the  ship, and  looking  forward 
 
 (as    in  chap,   ncvi.   1 — <i,  12 — 1  ti   to    the   end,  speaks  of 
 
 the  final  and  atter  overthrow  which  shall  come  upon 
 Tyre.  The  wont  hiss  is  ased,  ae  in  [sa.  v.  2ti,  vii.  18; 
 Zech.  x.  8,  Ac.,  in  the  sense  of  calling  for.  The  pro- 
 phet  tells  us  that  the  people  who  have  had  commercial 
 section  with  Tyre  shall  call  for  her  in  vain;  she 
 
 shall    lie    (not    a    terror,    but,    as    in    chap.    xxvi.    21)    a 
 
 sudden  destruction,  and  shall  not  be  for  ever. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Tins  chapter  eonsiste  of  two  prophecies:  the  first  and 
 larger  one  against  the  prince  of  Tyre  (verses  1 — 19)  j 
 the  second,  a  very  brief  one,  against  Zidon  (verses 
 20 — 26).  The  first  prophecy  consists  of  two  parts, 
 corresponding  to  chaps,  xxvi.,  xxvii.  j  in  the  former  of 
 these  the  pride  of  the  prince  is  described,  and  be  is 
 warned  of  his  approaching  death  (verses  1 — 10),  and 
 then  Follows  a  lamentation  (verses  11  — 19).  It  has 
 been  thought  surprising  that  si  commercial  a  nation 
 should  have  been  governed  bya  monarch  ;  but  not  only 
 is  this  a  fact  of  Phoenician  history,  but  the  name  of  the 
 prince  who  gal  on  the  throne  at  this  time,  Ithobain., 
 has  been  preserved. 
 
 The    whole    prophecy   is    full    of    most     varied     and 
 
 striking  imagery,  and  there  i-,  no  other  passage  in 
 Scripture  where  then1  is  sueh  detailed  and  peculiar 
 irony.  It  brings  out  most  powerfully  " the  impiety  of 
 all  ambition,  and  the  vanity  of  all  greatness,  which 
 seeks  its  foundation  and  support  elsewhere  than  in  the 
 power  and  goodness  of  the  Eternal." 
 
 ID  I  am  a  God. — The  arraignment  of  the  prince 
 
 occupies  verses  2 — 5,  his  consequent  doom  verses  6 — ]o. 
 
 The  point    of   the  charge   is   inordinate    pride,  begotten 
 
 of  -i-eat  prosperity;  this  prosperity,  being  attributed 
 
 to  his  own  powers  instead  of  to  its  true  source,  led 
 him  to  imagine  himself  almost  more  than  mortal. 
 Similar  instances  of  what   may  be  Called  "  the  insanity 
 
 of  prosperity"   may  be  seen  in  the  case  of  Sennacherib 
 
 (2  Kings  xviii.  38 — 35] ;  of  the  then  living  monarch  of 
 Babylon,    Nebuchadnezzar,    to   whom    this    prophecy 
 
 283 
 
 might  well  serve  as  a   warning   (Dan.  iii.   !■">.  h 
 eomp.  also  chaps.  \ii.  2">,  xi.  :>i>.  37)  :  of  Pharaoh  (chap. 
 xxix.  3) ;  of  Herod  (Acts  xii.  21 — 23);  of  the  one  fore- 
 told in  2  These,  ii.  4 ;  to  which  list  might  lie  added  the 
 names  of  some  more  modern  conquerors,  and,  in  their 
 
 degree,  of  many  who  have  I n  eminently  successful  in 
 
 ether  walks  of  life,  ami  have  Consequently  sacrificed 
 to  their  own  net  illah.  i.  16).      It   is  not    to  be  supposed 
 
 that  the  king  of  Tyre,  like  some  Oriental  mansions  and 
 
 later  Roman  emperors,  actually  claimed  for  himself 
 religious  homage;  but  he  had  that  proud  sense  of 
 elevation  and  self-sufficiency  which  is  only  translated 
 into  words  in  the  expressions  of  the  text. 
 
 The  seat  of  God. — This  expression  is  chosen  not 
 merely  with  reference  to  the  great  natural  beauty  and 
 apparently  impregnable  position  of  Tyre,  but  also  to 
 the  fact  that  it  was  called  "the  holy  island."  ami 
 looked  up  to  by  all  its  colonies  as  tin'  central  sanetuarx 
 of  their  worship.  The  Temple  of  Melkarth  was  said 
 by  the  priests  to  have  been  founded  as  far  back  as 
 27oO  B.C.,  anil  Arriau  speaks  of  it  as  the  oldest 
 sanctuary   in   the  annals   of   mankind.     (£  Note 
 
 ou  verse  6.) 
 
 (8)  Wiser  than  Daniel.— This  is  ironically  spoken. 
 Daniel  was  so  famed  for  his  wisdom  in  the  great 
 Chaldsaan  Empire    Dan.  i.  20,  ii.  K  iv.  1*.  v.  11.  12.  vi. 
 
 "..  \e.i  that  the  report  must  have  already  reached  Tyre. 
 He  had  been  twenty  yean  in  Xehuchadnoz/.ar's  court 
 when  Jerusalem  fell,  and  the  siege  of  Tyre  was  five 
 years  later. 
 
 («)  Set  thine  heart  as  the  heart  of  God.— The 
 same  expression  as  in  verse  2.    (Oomp.  Obad.  :>.  "The 
 
 pride  of  thine  heart  hath  deceived  thee.")  The  mean- 
 ing is  plain:  thou  hast  entertained  thoughts  and  pur- 
 poses fitting  only  to  the  Supreme. 
 
 *r)  Against  the  beauty  of  thy  wisdom.— The 
 figure   seems  incongruous,  but  it    is  to  be  remembi 
 
 that  the  expression  is  only  a  form  of  designating  Two 
 
 itself.  The  description  of  the  Chahheans  as  "  the 
 terrible  of  the  nations"  is  repeated  in  chaps.  x\x.  11. 
 xxxi.  12  (comp.  also  chap.  xxvi.  7  and  lea.  xlvii.  6; 
 Hal),  i.  6).  The  term,  however,  is  by  no  means  neces- 
 sarily confined  to  them. 
 
^Lament  over  Iter  King. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXVIII. 
 
 His  Pride. 
 
 ness.  <8)  They  shall  bring  thee  down  to 
 the  pit,  and  thou  shalt  die  the  deaths  of 
 them  that  are  slain  in  the  midst  of  the 
 seas.  '9>Wilt  thou  yet  say  before  him 
 that  slayeth  thee,  I  am  God  ?  but  thou 
 shalt  be  a  man,  and  no  God,  in  the  hand 
 of  him  that  J  slayeth  thee.  <10>  Thou 
 shalt  die  the  deaths  of  the  uncircum- 
 cised  by  the  hand  of  strangers :  for  I 
 have  spoken  it,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 <n>  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 came  unto  me,  saying,  (12)  Son  of  man, 
 take  up  a  lamentation  upon  the  king  of 
 '  Tyrus,  and  say  unto  him,  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  Thou  sealest  up  the  sum, 
 full  of  wisdom,  and  perfect  in  beauty. 
 <13)  Thou  hast  been  in  Eden  the  garden 
 of  God;  every  precious  stone  was  thy 
 covering,  the  2sardius,  topaz,  and  the 
 diamond,  the  3  beryl,  the  onyx,  and  the 
 jasper,  the  sapphire,  the  *emerald,  and 
 
 1  Or,  uoundttk. 
 
 Or,  ruby. 
 
 3  Or,  chrysolite. 
 
 4  Or,  chrysoprase. 
 
 the  carbuncle,  and  gold  :  the  workman- 
 ship of  thy  tabrets  and  of  thy  pipes  was 
 prepared  in  thee  in  the  day  that  thou 
 wast  created.  <u)  Thou  art  the  anointed 
 cherub  that  covereth ;  and  I  have  set 
 thee  so  :  thou  wast  upon  the  holy  moun- 
 tain of  God ;  thou  hast  walked  up  and 
 down  in  the  midst  of  the  stones  of  fire. 
 (is)  Thou  wast  perfect  in  thy  ways  from 
 the  day  that  thou  wast  created,  till  ini- 
 quity was  found  in  thee.  (16)  By  the 
 multitude  of  thy  merchandise  they  have 
 filled  the  midst  of  thee  with  violence, 
 and  thou  hast  sinned :  therefore  I  will 
 cast  thee  as  profane  out  of  the  moun- 
 tain of  God :  and  I  will  destroy  thee,  O 
 covering  cherub,  from  the  midst  of  the 
 stones  of  fire.  (17)  Thine  heart  was  lifted 
 up  because  of  thy  beauty,  thou  hast 
 corrupted  thy  wisdom  by  reason  of  thy 
 brightness :     I    will    cast    thee   to    the 
 
 (8)  Deaths. — The  plural  accurately  represents  the 
 rare  form  of  the  original,  and  indicates  emphatically  a 
 violent  death. 
 
 (9)  Thou  shalt  be  a  man.— The  future,  added  to 
 the  text  by  the  words  in  italics,  should  be  omitted. 
 The  origiual  form  is  exactly  the  same  as  in  verse  2,  and 
 should  be  so  translated.  In  both  cases  the  article  is 
 better  omitted.  The  contrast  between  the  weakness  of 
 man  and  the  power  of  God  is  strongly  brought  out : 
 "  yet  thou  art  man,  in  the  hand  of  him  that  slayeth  thee." 
 
 (io)  The  uncircumcised.— To  the  Jew  this  term 
 conveyed  all,  and  more  than  all,  the  opprobrium  which 
 the  Greeks  and  Romans  attached  to  barbarians. 
 (Comp.  chaps,  xxxi.  18;  xxxii.  19,  21,  24—28,  &c.)  It 
 is  equivalent  to  saying  "  the  profane  and  impious." 
 
 Yerses  11 — 19  contain  the  doom  upon  the  prince  of 
 Tyre.  He  is  represented  as  like  the  first  man,  perfect, 
 and  placed  in  Eden,  until,  upon  his  fall  (verses  15,  16), 
 he  is  ignominiously  driven  forth.  The  passage  is 
 strongly  ironical. 
 
 (12)  Thou  sealest  up  the  sum. — Thou  markest  it 
 as  complete  or  perfect.  (Comp.  Dan.  ix.  24  ;  Job.  ix. 
 7.)  The  word  for  sum  occurs  only  here  and  in  chap, 
 xliii.  10,  where  it  refers  to  the  well  measured  and 
 arranged  building  of  the  Temple. 
 
 (13)  Every  precious  stone. — There  is  some  ivn- 
 certainty  in  regard  to  the  names  of  some  of  these  stones 
 (as  sardius  may  be  cornelian,  and  beryl  chrysolite),  but 
 the  general  fact  is  an  allusion  to  tlie  profuse  use  of 
 precious  stones  as  ornaments  of  their  royal  apparel  by 
 Oriental  monarchs.  The  stones  mentioned  are  the  same 
 with  those  in  the  breastplate  of  the  high  priest  (Exod. 
 xxxix.  10),  the  third  row  being  omitted ;  tins  is  sup- 
 plied in  the  Greek. 
 
 Thy  pipes. — The  word  occurs  only  here,  and  its 
 most  probable  sense  is  females,  those  who  played  upon 
 the  tambourines.  All  these  things  did  not  need  to  be 
 collected  by  the  king  of  Tyre,  but  were  ready  prepared 
 to  his  hand  at  the  moment  of  his  accession  to  the 
 throne,  just  as  everything  was  made  ready  for  Adam 
 in  Eden. 
 
 284 
 
 (14)  Thou  art  the  anointed  cherub.— The  tense 
 is  not  expressed  in  the  Hebrew,  and  it  is  better  to 
 supply  the  same  simple  past  as  is  used  throughout  the 
 passage :  thou  wert.  The  imagery  is  taken  from  the 
 Temple  upon  Mount  Zion :  not  that  the  king  of  Tyre 
 had  at  this  time  any  special  connection  with  this,  but 
 that  these  terms  were  natural  to  the  prophet  in 
 this  ironical  description  of  him.  "  The  cherub  that 
 covereth "  the  mercy-seat  is  spoken  of  as  anointed, 
 with  reference  to  Exod.  xxx.  26,  xl.  9. 
 
 Upon  the  holy  mountain  of  God.  —  The 
 prophet  still  has  his  mind  upon  Mount  Zion  (comp. 
 Isa.  xi.  9,  lvi.  7),  but  yet  the  words  are  ironically 
 spoken  of  Tyre  as  a  venerated  sanctuary,  rising  up 
 from  the  sea. 
 
 Stones  of  fire. — An  obvious  explanation  of  this 
 expression,  given  by  many  writers,  is  that  it  refers  to 
 the  brilliant  sparkling  jewels  on  the  robes  in  which  the 
 king  walked.  But  if  this  were  the  case,  the  expression 
 would  be  a  strange  one,  and  the  connection  implies  a 
 deeper  and  a  religious  meaning.  It  is  better,  therefore, 
 to  understand  the  imagery  as  similar  to  that  in 
 Rev.  ii.  1,  and  to  suppose  the  prophet  to  have  had  in 
 mind  such  a  passage  as  Exod.  xxiv.  10,  where  a  paved 
 work  of  sapphire  stone  appears  as  beneath  the  feet  of 
 God.  while  His  glory  is  like  a  devouring  fire."  This 
 would  then  be  one  of  the  ways  in  which  the  king  of 
 Tyre  is  ironically  represented  as  assuming  to  himself 
 God-like  attributes. 
 
 (is)  Till  iniquity  was  found  in  thee.— This 
 and  the  following  verse  renew  still  more  clearly  the 
 comparison  with  Adam.  The  king  was  altogether 
 prosperous  until  his  sin  became  manifest ;  then,  when 
 his  heart  was  corrupted  by  his  prosperity  (verse 
 16),  he  was  cast  out  for  ever,  like  Adam  from  his 
 paradise. 
 
 (16)  Filled  the  midst  of  thee.— The  language 
 passes  very  naturally  here  from  the  king  himself  to  the 
 state  over  which  he  presided,  and  with  which  he  was 
 identified,  immediately  recurring,  however,  to  the  king 
 personally.  He,  as  polluted,  should  be  cast  out  of  his 
 imagined  mountain  of  God :  he,  the  cherub  covering 
 the  mercy-seat,  forsooth,  shall  be  destroyed :  his  fancied 
 
Ifis  Silt  and  Fall. 
 
 EZEK1EL,   XXVTTI. 
 
 Prophecy  againti  Zidon, 
 
 ground,  I  will  lay  thee  before  kings, 
 thai  they  may  behold  thee.  (18>  Thou 
 basi  defiled  thy  sanctuaries  by  the 
 multitude  of  thine  iniquities,  by  the 
 iniquity  of  thy  traffick  ;  therefore  will  I 
 bring  forth  a  fire    from   the  midst  of 
 
 tl ,  it   shall   devour  thee,  and  I  will 
 
 bring  thee  to  ashes  upon  the  earth  in 
 
 the  sighf  of  all  them  that  behold  thee. 
 
 Ml  they  that  know  thee  among  the 
 
 1 pie  shall  be  astonished  at  thee :  thou 
 
 shall  he 'a  terror,  and  never  shall  thou 
 b<  any  more. 
 
 '-"»  Again  the  word  of  the  Loan  came 
 unto  me,  saying, l-"  Son  of  man,  set  thy 
 face  against  Zidon,  and  prophesy  against 
 it,  IW  and  say.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God;    Behold,   I   am    against    thee,  O 
 
 Zidon  ;    and   I  will   be   glorified   in    the 
 
 midst  Of  thee  i    and  they  shall  know  that 
 
 I  am  the  Loan,  when  1  shall  have  exe- 
 cuted  judgments  in  her,  and  shall  be 
 sanctified  in  her.  '-''For  I  will  send 
 into  her  pestilence,  and  blood  into  her 
 streets;  and  the  wounded  shall  be 
 judged  in  the  midst  of  her  by  the  Bword 
 upon  her  on  every  side  ;  and  they  shall 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  (-'l,And  there 
 shall  be  no  more  a  pricking  brie]-  unto 
 the  house  of  Israel,  nor  any  grieving 
 thorn  of  all  that  are  round  aboul  them, 
 that  despised  them  ;  and  they  shall  know 
 that  I  am  the  Lord  God. 
 
 f25)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  When 
 
 I  shall  have  gathered  the  house  of  Israel 
 
 the  people  among  whom  they  are 
 
 God-like  walking  amid  the  stones  of  fire  shall  for  ever 
 
 (is)  Defiled  thy  sanctuaries.— These  are  not  to 
 
 In-  undent 1  so  much  of  t  he  actual  temples  of  Tyre  as 
 
 of  the  ideal  "  li<>ly  mountain  of  God,"  in  which  the 
 prophet  baa  represented  tho  prince  of  Tyre  as  "a 
 covering  cherub.  Yet  still. doubtless. own  in  "the  former 
 sense,  it  was  true  that  the  Tynans,  like  the  Gentiles  of 
 
 whom  St.  Paul  speaks  in  Rom.  i.  21,  did  not  act  up  to 
 the  religious  light  they  had,  and  violating  their  own 
 consciences  and  aense  of  right,  defiled  even  such  repre- 
 sentation of  the  true  religion  as  still  remained  in  their 
 
 idolatrous    worship.     The    main    thought,   however,    is 
 
 the  former  one,  and  it  is  in  accordance  with  this  that 
 the  tire  is  represented  as  going  forth  to  consume  the 
 
 king.  Many  of  the  Hebrow  manuscripts  have  sanctuary 
 in  the  singular. 
 
 By  the  iniquity  of  thy  traffick.— Here,  as  so 
 often  in  other  eases,  the  sin  is  represented  as  consisting 
 iii  the  abase  of  the  very  blessings  which  (iod  had  given. 
 and  tlxi  —  sin  as  hailing  directly  to  its  own  punish- 
 ment. No  fact  is  more  striking  in  history,  whether 
 of  Israel  or  of  the  heathen,  than  that  the  gifts  of 
 God,   which    should    have    liccu    to    their    hlnaaing    and 
 
 His  glory,  are  perverted  by  the  sinfulness  of  man: 
 Bret  to  their  own  guilt,  and  then,  in  eousetpieuee,  to 
 their  ruin. 
 
 Verses  20 — 26  constitute  another  distinct  prophecy, 
 of  which  verses  Je — J  I  are  occupied  with  the  denuncia- 
 tion  of  judgment   upon   Zidon,  and   Vterses  -"■.  26  with 
 
 Eroinises  to  Israel.  There  are  several  obvious  reasons, 
 asidsS  that  of  making  op  the  number  of  the  nations  to 
 seven,  why  at  last  a  word  of  prophecy  should  have 
 been  directed  especially  against  Zidon,  notwithstanding 
 her  tormina  s  part  of  Pbomicia  and  contributing  to  the 
 
 mariners  of  Tyre  chap,  xxvii.  8).  In  the  first  place. 
 Zidon  (situated  about  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Tyre) 
 was  the  more  ancient  city  from  which  Tyro  had 
 sprung,  and  always  maintained  her  independence. 
 Hence  she  might  seem  not  to  be  exposed  to  the  judg- 
 ment of  God  upon  lyre,  unless  especially  mentioned. 
 Thou  also  Zidon.  rather  than  Tyre  had  been  peculiarly  the 
 Source  of  corrupting  idolatrous  influences  upon  Israel. 
 This  had  began  as  early  as  the  times  of  the  Judges 
 (.Judges  x.  0);  it  hail  boon  continued  and  increased  in 
 
 the  days  of  Solomon  il  Kings  xi.  33);  it  reached  its 
 Consummation  under  the  reign  of  A li.it).  who  married 
 Jezebel,  the  daughter  of  the  king  of  Zidon  and  high 
 priest  of  Baal  1  Kings  xvi.  31),  and  who  set  up 
 the  worship  of  Baal  as  the  state  religion  of  Israel. 
 That  this  influence  was  still  powerful  in  Judah  also  in 
 the  days  of  E/ekiel  is  plain  from  the  reference  to  the 
 Tnaminu/.  worship  in  chap.  viii.  14-. 
 
 There   is   only   one    mention   'Judges  x.  12)  of  the 
 
 Zidonians   as   < ling   into  armed   conflict    with    Israel: 
 
 but  they  had  rejoiced  in  her  fall.  As  this  prophecy 
 (loses  the  circle  of  the  nations  who  had  thus  exulted  in 
 the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  there  is  appropriately 
 placed  at  the  end  a  promise  of  restoration  to  Israel 
 when  all  these  judgments  upon  her  enemies  shall  have 
 been  accomplished. 
 
 (-')  A  pricking  brier.— The  language  refers  back 
 to  the  threat  of  Xum.  xxxiii.  55,  of  the  reality  of  which 
 Israel  had  long  had  such  hitter  experience.  Nothing 
 is  said  of  the  special  sins  of  Zidon,  and  very  little  OX 
 the  detail  of  her  overthrow;  these  were  already  suffi- 
 ciently known,  or  else  included  in  what  has  been  said  I  f 
 Tyre.  It  is  noticeable  thai  no  such  utter  desolation  is 
 foretold  as  in  the  former  case. 
 
 (X)  Sanctified  in  them  in  the  sight  of  tho 
 
 heathen. — The  course  of  God's  providence  is  very 
 distinctly  marked  out  in  these  \  orses  of  promise.  The 
 judgment  upon  Judah  had  already  come,  in  the  fall  of 
 their  holy  city  and  the  captivity  of  the  people.  This 
 leads  them  to  repentance,  and  thus  God  is  "sanctified 
 in  the  sight  of  the  heathen;"  His  holiness  and  justice 
 are  exhibited  to  the  world.  Then  comes  the  promise  of 
 the  return,  and  the  judgment  of  the  ungodly  enemies 
 who  have  despised  Judah  |  verse  26  |.  This.  too.  shall  be 
 accomplished  in  its  time,  and  then  peace  and  prosperity 
 shall  return  to  Israel. 
 
 The  immediate  point  of  this  prophecy  is  the  rctnrn 
 of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land;  yet.  as  the  Straggle 
 between  them  and  their  enemies  has  been  a  struggle 
 between  the  Church  of  God  and  the  powers  of  the 
 world,  and  as  this  particular  struggle  thus  in  some 
 Borl   symbolises  the  greater  contest  between  religion 
 
 and  the  world  in  all  ages.  ,„  this  promise  of  rest  looks 
 forward  in  some  sense  to  the  final  victory  over  all  evil. 
 
 285 
 
Promises  to  Israel. 
 
 EZEKLEL,   XXIX. 
 
 Propltecy  against  Egypt. 
 
 scattered,  and  shall  be  sanctified  in  them 
 in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  then  shall 
 they  dwell  in  their  land  that  I  have 
 given  to  my  servant  Jacob.  <26>  And 
 they  shall  dwell  1  safely  therein,  and 
 shall  build  houses,  and  plant  vineyards ; 
 yea,  they  shall  dwell  with  confidence, 
 when  I  have  executed  judgments  upon 
 all  those  that 2  despise  them  round  about 
 them ;  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Loed  their  God. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XXIX.— f1' In  the  tenth 
 year,  in  the  tenth  month,  in  the  twelfth 
 day  of  the  month,  the  word  of  the  Loed 
 came  unto  me,  saying,  (2>  Son  of  man, 
 
 1   Or,   vsith   confi- 
 dence. 
 
 Or,  spoil. 
 
 a  Ps.  74. 13, 14 ;  Isa. 
 27.  1,  &  51.  9. 
 
 set  thy  face  against  Pharaoh  king  of 
 Egypt,  and  prophesy  against  him,  and 
 against  all  Egypt :  '3>  speak,  and  say, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ; 
 
 Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  Pharaoh 
 king  of  Egypt,  the  great  "dragon  that 
 lieth  in  the  midst  of  his  rivers,  which 
 hath  said,  My  river  is  mine  own,  and  I 
 hath  made  it  for  myself.  (4)  But  I  will 
 put  hooks  in  thy  jaws,  and  I  will  cause 
 the  fish  of  thy  rivers  to  stick  unto  thy 
 scales,  and  I  will  bring  thee  up  out  of 
 the  midst  of  thy  rivers,  and  all  the  fish 
 of  thy  rivers  shall  stick  unto  thy  scales. 
 '5>  And  I  will  leave  thee  thrown  into  the 
 wilderness,  thee   and  all  the  fish  of  thy 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 The  series  of  prophecies  against  Egypt,  occupying 
 the  four  following  chapters,  and  containing  seven 
 separate  prophecies,  were  all  delivered  in  regular  order, 
 except  the  short  one  at  the  close  of  this  chapter  (verses 
 17 — 21),  which  was  much  later.  The  prophecy  of  chap, 
 xxx.  1 — 19  is  indeed  undated,  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
 suppose  it  is  out  of  its  chronological  place.  Chaps, 
 xxix. — xxxi.,  with  the  exception  just  mentioned,  were 
 uttered  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  consequently 
 before  the  series  of  prophecies  against  other  foreign 
 nations  just  considered,  the  principle  of  arrangement 
 here  being  geographical  rather  than  chronological,  and 
 the  immediate  neighbours  of  Israel  being  taken  up 
 before  the  more  distant  Egypt.  In  the  detail  this 
 series  is  arranged  substantially  on  the  same  plan  as 
 that  against  Tyre :  first,  a  prophecy  against  Egypt 
 (chaps,  xxix.,  xxx.);  then  a  picture  of  her  greatness  and 
 fall  (chap,  xxxi.) ;  and  finally  a  dirge  over  her  (chap, 
 xxxii.). 
 
 At  the  time  when  the  first  of  these  prophecies  was 
 uttered  the  Jews  still  looked  upon  Egypt  as  the  great 
 power  opposed  to  the  Chaldseans,  and  still  hoped  for  aid 
 from  this  source.  Hence  the  teaching  of  this  prophecy 
 was  very  necessary  for  them.  And  even  afterwards  it 
 was  important  for  them  to  understand  that  they  were 
 not  to  rely  on  any  earthly  aid,  and  especially  that 
 Egypt,  to  which  they  had  been  disposed  to  look  during 
 so  many  generations,  could  never  help  them. 
 
 The  monarch  now  upon  the  throne  of  Egypt  was 
 Pharaoh-Hophra,  the  Apries  of  the  Greeks.  On  the 
 question  of  his  death  and  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  see  Excursus  at  the  end  of  this  book. 
 It  is  certain  that  the  period  was  one  of  a  temporary 
 revival  of  Egyptian  power  amid  its  general  course  of 
 decadence.  Egypt  had  been  conquered  by  Assyria,  and 
 again  and  again  subdued  after  its  revolts.  On  the  fall 
 of  Assyria  it  had  thrown  off  all  foreign  yoke,  and 
 Hophra  himself  had  made  a  successf  id  attack  upon  the 
 Phoenicians,  and  had  attempted  to  raise  the  siege  of 
 Jerusalem,  in  which  he  momentarily  succeeded,  but 
 was  driven  off  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  Not  many  years 
 afterwards  Egypt  was  finally  subdued  by  the  Medo- 
 Persian  power,  which  succeeded  the  Chaldsean  at 
 Babylon,  and  never  regained  its  independence  for  any 
 length  of  time.  It  continued  a  Persian  satrapy  until  it 
 fell  successively  under  the  Greek,  the  Roman,  and 
 the  Mameluke  sway. 
 
 (!)  In  the  tenth  year,  in  the  tenth  month.— 
 
 This  was  exactly  a  year  and  two  days  after  the  invest- 
 ment of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  (chap.  xxiv.  1, 
 2 ;  2  Kings  xxv.  1),  and  about  six  months  before  its 
 fall,  or  seven  before  its  destruction  (2  Kings  xxv.  3 — 8). 
 It  must  have  been,  therefore,  after  the  time  when  the 
 siege  was  temporarily  raised  by  the  approach  of  the 
 Egyptians  under  Pharaoh-Hophra  (Jer.  xxxvii.  5,  11), 
 and  when  Jeremiah  prophesied  the  failure  of  that 
 attempt  (ib.  6 — 10) ;  and  probably  was  just  when  the 
 news  of  that  relief  reached  Chaldaea,  and  gave  fresh 
 hope  to  the  exiles  of  the  deliverance  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 (3)  The  great  dragon.— This  word  is  usually 
 translated  dragon  in  the  English  version,  but  some- 
 times whale  (chap,  xxxii.  2),  and  (in  a  slightly  modified 
 form)  serpent  (Exod.  vii.  9,  10,  12).  It  unquestionably 
 means  crocodile,  the  characteristic  animal  of  Egypt,  in 
 some  parts  hated  aud  destroyed,  in  some  worshipped  as 
 a  deity,  but  in  all  alike  feared,  and  regarded  as  the 
 most  powerful  and  destructive  creature  of  their 
 country. 
 
 Lieth  in  the  midst  of  his  rivers.— Egypt,  a 
 creation  of  the  Nile,  and  dependent  entirely  upon  it  for 
 its  productiveness,  is  personified  by  the  crocodile,  its 
 characteristic  animal,  basking  upon  the  sand-banks  of 
 its  waters.  The  expression  "  his  rivers,"  used  of  the 
 branches  of  the  Nile  near  its  mouth,  is  peculiarly 
 appropriate  to  the  Twenty-sixth  Dynasty,  to  which 
 Pharaoh-Hophra  belonged,  whose  capital  was  Sais,  in 
 the  midst  of  the  Delta. 
 
 My  river  is  mine  own. — This  is  characteristic 
 of  the  pride  of  Hophra,  who,  according  to  Herodotus, 
 was  accustomed  to  say  that  "  not  even  a  god  could 
 dispossess  him  of  power."  The  whole  dynasty  to 
 which  he  belonged,  beginning  with  Psammeticus,  im- 
 proved the  river  and  encouraged  commerce  with  foreign 
 nations,  thereby  acquiring  great  wealth. 
 
 (*)  Hooks  in  thy  "jaws. — An  allusion  to  the 
 ancient  way  of  taking  and  destroying  the  crocodile, 
 otherwise  invulnerable  to  their  arms. 
 
 Fish  of  thy  rivers  shall  stick  unto  thy 
 scales. — As  the  crocodile,  the  lord  of  the  Nile,  re- 
 presents the  royal  power  of  Egypt,  so  the  fish  represent 
 the  people  dependent  upon  him.  Pharaoh  is  not  to  fall 
 alone,  but  shall  drag  his  people  with  him  into  a  common 
 ruin. 
 
 (5)  Open  fields  is  synonymous  with  "wilderness" 
 in  the  previous  clause.  The  crocodile  and  the  fish 
 together,  drawn  from  the  river,  are  to  be  thrown  upon 
 
 286 
 
'ation  i'f  Egypt 
 
 KZKKIKL,    XXIX 
 
 Its  Restoration- 
 
 rivers  :  thoti  shall  fall  upon  the  *  open 
 fields;  tluMi  shall  not  be  brought  to- 
 gether, nor  gathered:  I  haw  ;M\vn  thee 
 for  meat  to  the  beasts  of  the  fit'M  and  to 
 the  fowls  <>f  the  heaven.  <u>  And  all  the 
 inhabitants  of  Egypi  shall  know  that  1 
 tun  the  Lobs,  because  they  have  been  a 
 "staff  of  reed  to  the  house  of  Israel. 
 {:>  When  they  took  hold  of  thee  hy  thy 
 band,  thou  didst  break,  and  rem  I  all 
 their  shoulder:  and  when  they  leaned 
 apon  thee,  thou  brakest,  and  madest  all 
 their  loins  to  be  at  a  stand.  <8)  There- 
 fore thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold, 
 1  will  bring  a  sword  apOO  thee,  and  cut 
 off  man  and  beast  out  of  thee.  (!l)  And 
 the  land  of  E-\  \>i  shall  be  desolate  and 
 waste;  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord:  because  he  hath  said,  The 
 river  is  mine,  and  I  have  made  it. 
 ■,"'  liehold,  therefore  I  ,t,,i  against  thee, 
 and  against  thy  rivers,  and  I  will  make 
 
 ■    Of  (*( 
 
 lUld. 
 
 '.'Kin.  l-.21;I«a. 
 
 Heh.,  wastes  of 
 
 u 
 
 :    M. 
 
 B;  .Irr. 
 
 the  land  of  E^ypt  'utt.-rh  waste  and 
 desolate,  from  the  tower  of  Syene  even 
 unto  the  hordei-  of  Ethiopia.  "'No 
 foot  of  man  shall  pass  through  it,  nor 
 foot  of  beast  shall  pass  througb  it, 
 neither  shall  it  be  inhabited  forty 
 years.  ,1J|  And  I  will  make  the  land 
 of  Eejyi»t  desolate  in  the  midst  of  the 
 countries  tlmt  are  desolate,  and  her 
 cities  among  the  cities  that  an  laid 
 waste  shall  be  desolate  forty  years: 
 and  I  will  scatter  the  Egyptians  among 
 the  nations,  and  will  disperse  them 
 through  the  countries. 
 
 Eel  thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  At 
 the  *eml  of  forty  years  will  I  gather  the 
 Egyptians  from  the  people  whither  they 
 were  scattered:  <u>  and  I  will  bring 
 again  the  captivity  of  Egypt,  and  will 
 cause  them  to  return  into  the  land  of 
 Pathros,  into  the  land  of  their* habi- 
 tation ;  and  they  shall  be  there  a  ;  base 
 
 the  sands  of  tin'  neighbouring  desert,  to  be  devoured  by 
 the  birds  and  beasts  of  pray:  thus  representing  that 
 Pharaoh  and  his  people,  uprooted  fr.nn  their  power,  an 
 tn  be  given  over  tor  a  spoil  to  various  nations. 
 
 («)  A  staff  of  reed.— In  Isa.  xxxvi.  6  the  depen- 
 dent  i'  Jndah  upon  Egypt  is  described  as  trust  "in 
 
 tin'  staff  of  tliis  broken  reed  ;  "  bnt  notwithstanding  all 
 wamingB,  they  still  trusted,  especially  at  the  time  of 
 this  prophecy,  and  proved  ba  their  experience  the  truth 
 of  the  Divine  word.  The  figure  is  taken  from  the 
 reeds,  which  grew  abundantly  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile, 
 nnil  the  statement  is  historically  amplified  in  the 
 following  verse,  where  the  reference  is  to  be  understood 
 
 not  of  any  single  fact  so  niui-li  as  of  a  continual,  often 
 repeated  result.  Thorn  should  be  a  period  in  the 
 miihlle  of  verse  6,  the  first  half  forming  the  conclusion 
 of  the  previous  denunciation,  and  the  second  half  being 
 closely  connected  with  verses  7 — t'.  Verse  7  is 
 parenthetical, 
 
 (?)  All  their  loins  to  be  at  a  stand.— The  ex- 
 pression  is  a  difficult  one.  but  the  more  probable  sense 
 is.  ,ili  tiitir  loins  (o  thake.    The  reed  breaks  under  the 
 
 weight  of  the  man  who  leans  upon  it.  an.l  pierces  his 
 shoulder  as  he  falls,  while  in  his  consternation  his  loins 
 tremble. 
 
 ffl  Because  he  hath  said.— Again,  as  in  verse  6, 
 the  division  of  the  versos  is  very  unfortunate.  The 
 expression  "  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord, "  80  common 
 in  Ezekiel.  always  closes  a  train  of  thought.     The  new 
 
 sentence  begins  with  the  reason  foe  the  judgment  upon 
 Egypt — because  of  its  pride. 
 
 i"1  From  the  tower  of  Syene.— The  word  here 
 translated  "tower"  is  a  proper  name.  Migdnl,  a  town, 
 mentioned  in  Ezod.  riv,  i2,  near  Suez.  Syone  has  in  the 
 
 original  tlie  atlix  don. .ting  towards,  and  the  traiislatinii 
 6hould  therefore  be.  fiom  Miqdol  to  8yt 91* '.  SMH 
 Unto  fh»  l"'i-<ler  of  Ethiopia;  in  other  w'..rds,  "the 
 whole  length  of  the  land.'*     Syene  was  a  town  on  the 
 
 extreme  southern  border  of  Egypt,  represented  by  the 
 modern  Assouan,  which  is  situated  mar  its  ruins. 
 There  is  a  like  error  of  translation  in  chap.  xxx.  6. 
 
 <")  Neither  shall  it  be  inhabited  forty  years. 
 — In  verses  9 — '-  s  state  of  desolation  is  predicted  for 
 Egypt,  which,  if  understood  in  the  literal  sense  of  tho 
 wonts,  has  certainly  never  been  fulfilled    In  verse  9  it 
 
 is  said  that  it  "  shall  DC  desolate  and  wa-to."  and  this  is 
 repeated  with  emphasis  in  verse  10;  while  in  verso  11  it  is 
 
 declared  that  neither  foot  of  man  norfoot  of  bene 
 
 pass  through  it.       There  is  also  a  difficulty  in  regard  to 
 
 the  time  of  " forty  years,"  mentioned  in  verses  11.12, 
 and  13.    No  such  definite  period  can  be  made  out  from 
 
 history.       The    two    difficulties    •-■■■  ST,    and    the 
 
 former  is  explained   by  the   latter.     It  has  already  been 
 
 seen  in  chap.  iv.  6  that  the  prophet  represents  the 
 calamity  of  Jndah  in  the  historic  terms  of  their  former 
 suffering  in  the  wilderness,  without  thereby  intending 
 
 either  any  specific  time  or  any  precise  repetition  of  tho 
 same  troubles  they  had  then  experienced  Hedoes  the 
 same  thing  here  in  regard  to  Egypt.  The  people  are 
 to  pass  into  a  condition  like  that  of  the  Israelites  in  the 
 wilderness,  in  which  they  were  to  endure  the  judgment 
 of  God  upon  their  sins.  This  is  expressed,  aft.  r  tho 
 manner  of  E/.ekiel,  in  strong  Concrete  terms,  the  literal 
 fulfilment  of  which  was  neither  intended  nor  expected. 
 W  Scatter  the  Egyptians  among  the  nations. 
 — Megasthenesand  Berosus  state  that  NebuebadnecBur, 
 
 on   his  conquest  of   Egypt,  sent    great   numbers   of  the 
 
 people  captive  to  Babylon;  others  doubtless,  as  in 
 1  similar  cases,  took  refuge  in  Ethiopia,  Libya,  and  other 
 |  neighbouring  lands.  The  kind  of  desolation  foretold 
 for  Egypt  is  the  aame  as  that  for  "desolate"  cities  and 
 countries  that  fell  under  the  power  of  the  conqueror  : 
 they  were  t..  l>e  plundered  and  reduced  to  subjection. 
 
 (13)  At  the  end  of  forty  years.— See  Note  on 
 verse  11. 
 
 (Hi  The  land  of  Pathros.— Comp.  Isa.  xi.  11. 
 Pathros  is  Upper  Egypt,  the  Thebaid    In  the  following 
 
 clause  this  is  described  as  "the  land   of  their  birth  " 
 
 (.Ifn  )■</.).     According    to    ancient     testimony    and    the 
 
 I    opinion  of  many  moderns,  this  was  the  original  seat  of 
 
 I   Egyptian  power.     It  may.  however,  be  put  only  as  tho 
 
 part  for  the  whole — Pathros  for  Egypt. 
 
 287 
 
To  be  a  Base  Kingdo 
 
 EZEKIEIj,    XXIX.       Egypt  (he Reward  of '  Nebucluidnezzar. 
 
 kingdom.  '15>  It  shall  be  the  basest  of 
 the  kingdoms ;  neither  shall  it  exalt 
 itself  any  more  above  the  nations :  for 
 I  will  diminish  them,  that  they  shall  no 
 more  rule  over  the  nations.  (16)  And  it 
 shall  be  no  more  the  confidence  of  the 
 house  of  Israel,  which  biingeth  their 
 iniquity  to  remembrance,  when  they 
 shall  look  after  them :  but  they  shall 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord  God. 
 
 <17>  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  seven 
 and  twentieth  year,  in  the  first  month, 
 hi  the  first  day  of  the  month,  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying, 
 (18>  Son  of  man,  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of 
 Babylon   caused  his    army  to   serve  a 
 
 1  Heb.,  spoil  her 
 spoil,  ")id  prey 
 her  prey. 
 
 2  Or,  for  his  hire. 
 
 great  service  against  Tyrus :  every  head 
 was  made  bald,  and  every  shoulder  was- 
 peeled :  yet  had  he  no  wages,  nor  his. 
 army,  for  Tyrus,  for  the  service  that  he 
 had  served  against  it  :  <19'  therefore 
 thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I 
 will  give  the  land  of  Egypt  unto 
 Nebuchadrezzar  king  of  Babylon ;  and 
 he  shall  take  her  multitude,  and  1  take 
 her  spoil,  and  take  her  prey ;  and  it 
 shall  be  the  wages  for  his  army.  <20)  I 
 have  given  him  the  land  of  Egypt  *for 
 his  labour  wherewith  he  served  against 
 it,  because  they  wrought  for  me,  saith 
 the  Lord  God.  <21>  In  that  day  will  I 
 cause  the  horn  of  the  house  of  Israel  to 
 
 Shall  be  there  a  base  kingdom. — Egypt  should 
 be  restored,  but  not  to  its  former  power.  Historically 
 this  has  been  eminently  true.  For  a  little  while  Egypt 
 struggled  against  its  oppressors,  but  its  power  was 
 already  broken,  and  from  the  time  of  its  conquest  by 
 Cambyses  it  has  never  been  for  any  length  of  time 
 independent.  There  are  few  stronger  contrasts  in  any 
 inhabited  country  than  between  the  ancient  glory, 
 dignity,  power,  and  wealth  of  Egypt,  and  its  later 
 insignificance. 
 
 (is)  The  confidence  of  the  house  of  Israel.— 
 Here  the  result  of  this  judgment  in  God's  providence 
 concerning  His  people  is  brought  out :  they  had  hitherto 
 continually  transgressed  by  looking  to  Egypt  for  aid  ; 
 now  this  temptation  should  be  entirely  removed.  This 
 trust  of  Israel  in  Egypt  had  continually  brought  "  their 
 iniquity  to  remembrance  when  they  looked  "  to  them  for 
 help,  both  by  its  being  against  the  express  command  of 
 God,  and  also  by  its  involving  treachery  and  rebellion 
 against  Chaldsea. 
 
 (!7)  In  the  seven  and  twentieth  year.— This 
 is  the  latest  date  among  all  Ezekiel's  prophecies,  and  is 
 more  than  sixteen  years  after  the  prophecy  of  the 
 former  part  of  the  chapter.  This  date  corresponds 
 with  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  reign 
 (see  2  Kings  xxv.  2,  8),  and,  from  verse  18,  was  evi- 
 dently uttered  after  the  close  of  the  siege  of  Tyre.  As 
 that  siege  lasted  thirteen  years,  it  must  have  been 
 begun  at  least  as  early  as  Nebuchadnezzar's  twenty- 
 second  year,  or  within  three  years  after  the  destruction 
 of  Jerusalem.  Josephus,  however,  states  (Antt.  x.  9,  §  7) 
 that  in  the  twenty-third  year  of  his  reign  Nebnchad- 
 nezzar  made  a  successful  expedition  against  Ceelosyria, 
 after  which  he  brought  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites 
 into  subjection,  and  then  conquered  Egypt.  The  two 
 former  campaigns  are  consistent  enough  with  the  still 
 progressing  siege  of  Tyre ;  but  hardly  the  latter.  We 
 must,  therefore,  suppose  a  considerable  interval  between 
 these  conquests,  of  which  Josephus  takes  no  notice. 
 
 The  present  utterance  may  have  been  either  simul- 
 taneous with  or  only  just  before  the  conquest  of  Egypt. 
 Its  most  probable  time  is  during  the  early  part  of  the 
 campaign  against  Egypt. 
 
 Tliis  passage  is  placed  with  the  other  prophecies 
 against  Egypt  in  order  to  bring  them  all  together,  and 
 is  assigned  to  this  particular  place,  after  the  analogy  of 
 chap.  xxvi.  7,  in  order  to  bring  the  mention  of  the  agent 
 by  whom  the  conquest  is  to  be  effected  immediately 
 after  the  general  prophecy  of  judgment. 
 
 (!8)  Yet  had  he  no  wages.— The  siege  of  Tyre  is 
 here  represented  as  a  service  to  God,  for  which  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar had  not  yet  received  his  reward.  This  is 
 quite  in  accordance  with  the  whole  Scriptural  represen- 
 tation of  that  monarch,  as  a  man  raised  up  to  execute 
 God's  judgments.  He  was  himself  unconscious  of  this, 
 and  yet  did  that  which  had  been  foretold — a  striking 
 instance  that  "  there  is  a  God  in  history."  It  has  been 
 argued  from  this  verse,  and  from  the  fact  that  there  is 
 no  especial  mention  in  history  of  the  result  of  the  siege 
 of  Tyre,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  failed  in  its  capture ; 
 but  all  that  is  meant  is  that  he  failed  to  obtain  any 
 considerable  booty  thereby,  the  Tyrians  having  abun- 
 dant warning  and  opportunity  to  convey  away  their 
 valuables  by  sea.  This  St.  Jerome  expressly  asserts  to 
 have  been  done  by  them,  and  he  further  describes  the 
 method  of  the  capture  of  the  city  by  the  same  means 
 afterwards  used  by  Alexander,  that  of  building  a  mole 
 from  the  mainland  to  the  island ;  thus  explaining  how 
 in  the  besieging  army  "  every  head  was  made  bald,  and 
 every  shoulder  was  peeled  "  by  the  bearing  of  burdens 
 for  the  structure.  Berosus  expressly  testifies  that 
 Nebuchadnezzar  "  conquered  all  Syria  and  Phoenicia  " 
 (Jos.  c.  Ap.,  i.  21) ;  and  Josephus  also  cites  Philostratus, 
 Megasthenes,  and  Diodes  as  mentioning  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's exploits  and  the  siege  of  Tyre  in  a  way  which, 
 while  they  do  not  directly  mention,  yet  certainly  imply 
 the  capture  of  the  city  (ibid.,  and  Antt.  x.  11,  §  1). 
 Besides,  it  is  inconceivable  that  Ezekiel,  who  long 
 survived  that  siege,  should  have  left  that  prophecy  on 
 record  if  the  event  was  otherwise  than  as  he  predicted. 
 
 (19)  I  will  give. — In  the  original  this  is  in  the  form 
 of  a  participle;  literally,  I  am  giving.  This  form  is 
 often  used  of  the  future,  but  with  especial  appropriate- 
 ness of  the  immediate  future.  The  other  tenses, 
 according  to  the  Hebrew  usage,  take  the  temporal 
 meaning  of  the  principal  verb.  This  seems  probably 
 to  have  been  spoken  at  the  very  time  of  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's campaign  and  conquest.  On  the  evidence  that 
 he  did  actually  conquer  Egypt,  see  Excursus  at  the  end 
 of  the  book.  He  must  have  there  found  abundant 
 booty,  as  the  kings  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Dynasty  were 
 commercial,  and  greatly  given  to  the  accumulation  of 
 wealth. 
 
 (21)  In  that  day.— The  tenses  here  change  to  the 
 future,  indicating  that  if  the  conquest  of  Egypt  had 
 already  taken  place,  its  consequences  to  Israel  were  to 
 be  only  gradually  developed.  These  consequences  were 
 primarily  the  conviction  of  the  futility  of  trust  in  anv 
 
 2S8 
 
Judgment  upon  Egypt 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXX. 
 
 and  Iter  Alike. 
 
 bad  forth,  and   I   will   give  thee  the 
 
 opening  of  the  i th  in  the  midst  of 
 
 tlinii ;  and  thej   shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lobd. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXX.— »  The  word  of 
 thr  I. .ii.ii  i-aiiif  again  unto  me,  saying, 
 (JI  Son  of  man,  prophesy  and  say,  Thus 
 Baith  I  In'  Lord  Gon ;  Howl  ye,  Woe 
 north  the  i  lay  !  (*)  For  the  day  is  near, 
 even  the  da)  of  thr  LOBD  U  near,  a 
 Cloudy  'lav;  it  shall  hr  t  hr  t  imr  of  the 
 lira  thr  n.  (*)  Ami  the  sword  shall  come 
 upon  Kijypt,  ami  (jrcat  '  pain  shall  be  in 
 Ethiopia,  when  thr  slain  shall  fall  in 
 Egypt,  ami  thi'y  shall  take  away  her 
 multitude,  ami  her  foundations  shall  hr 
 broken  down.    M  Ethiopia,  ami -Libya, 
 
 I  "r./.nr. 
 
 ::  II-  li ,  children. 
 
 t  Hi  b.,  broken. 
 
 and  Lydia,  and  all  the  mingled  people, 
 and  Chub,  and  the 'men  of  the  land 
 
 that    is   in    league,   shall    fall  with  them 
 
 by  the  sword. 
 
 I'h ns  saith  the   Loan ;  They   also 
 
 that  uphold  Egypt  shall  fall  ;  ami  thr 
 pride  of  her  power  shall  come  down  : 
 from  thr  town- of  Syrnr  shall  they  fall 
 in  it  by  the  sword,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 <7>  And  they  shall  be  desolate  in  the 
 midst  of  the  countries  that  ore  desolate, 
 ami  her  cities  shall  be  in  the  midst  of 
 the  cities  that  are  wasted.  (8)  And  they 
 shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I 
 have  set  a  fire  in  Egypt,  and  when  all 
 her  helpers  shall  be 4 destroyed.  W  In 
 that  day  shall  messengers  go  forth 
 from  me  in  ships  to  make  the  careless 
 
 earthly  aid,  and  hence  a  turning  to  theii  neglected  God, 
 
 and.  as  a   result    of  this,  the  giving   up  nf  their  long 
 
 cherished  idolatries.  The  prophet  speaks  of  this  as 
 only  in  germ,  but  looking  on  to  its  farther  develop- 
 ment, under  the  figure  of  making  a  horn  to  bud  forth, 
 that  is.  to  sprout  or  grow.  (Comp.  Ps.  exxxii.  17.) 
 Israel's  reviving  prosperity  should  date  from  tho  de- 
 struction of  its  trust  in  earthly  aid. 
 
 The  opening  of  tho  mouth. — This  is  elsewhere 
 (chap.  xxiv.  271  promised  to  tho  prophet  as  a  conse- 
 quence of  tile  fall  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  he  had  heard 
 (chap,  xxxiii.  21,  22)  more  than  fourteen  years  before. 
 There  is   no  recorded  prophecy  of  E/.ckiel's  of  later 
 
 date;  the  expression  must  therefore  be  understood  of 
 those  encouraging  and  helpful  instructions  of  the  pro- 
 phet, astlie] pie  improved  under  the  discipline  of  the 
 
 captivity.  Which  it  was  not  seen  fitting  to  put  on  per- 
 manent  record. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 This  chapter  is  made  up  of  two  distinct  prophecies: 
 verses    1  —  \'.K    and    verses    20 — 20.     The    latter   is 
 
 distinctly  dated,  and  comes  in  regular  chronological 
 order   between    chaps,   xxix.   1  — 16    and    xxxi.;   but 
 
 whether  the  former  belongs  to  this  series,  or  is  con- 
 nected trith  chap,  x.xix.  17 — 21,  has  been  questioned. 
 
 There  are  no  sufficient  data  for  a  positive  determination 
 
 of  the  point;  but  the  general  presumption  is  that  an 
 undated  prophecy  belongs  in  the  interval  between  the 
 
 dates    which    precede    and    which    follow.       "With    this 
 
 presumption  the  mention  of  the  nearness  of  the  event 
 
 verse  3  and  of  the  name  of  Nebuchadnezzar  (verse 
 10  agree,  though  not  in  themselves  determinative. 
 
 This  prophecy  is  divided  into  four  parts,  not 
 strongly  distinguished,  but  each  marked  by  the  formula, 
 "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  (verses  2.  6,  10,  13). 
 
 <3)  The  time  of  the  heathen.— The  judgment 
 
 upon     Egypt     is    lint    an    individual    instance,    and    is 
 
 symbolic  ox  general  judgment  upon  all  merely  worldly 
 
 power.  Her  fall  is  cue  step  in  the  general  overthrow 
 of  whatever  exalts  and  opposes  itself  to  God.  Very 
 similar  to  verses  J.  ;',  are  the  propheeies  in   Isa.   xiii.  ti. 
 
 9;  Joel  i.  13,  15,  ii.  -';  Obad  L5 ;  Zeph.  i.  7.  II. 
 
 <5)  Ethiopia,  and  Libya,  and  Lydia.— Ethiopia 
 and  Egypt  were  closely  connected,  and  during  much 
 
 158  289 
 
 of  their  history  were  often  under  one  government. 
 Ethiopian  soldiers  served  in  great  numbers  in  tho 
 Egyptian  armies.  Libya  and  Lydia  are  an  unfortunate 
 Substitution  for  the  original  terms.  Phut  and  Lud, 
 which  are  preserved  in  chap,  xxvii.  10,  where  see  Note. 
 
 They  are  there  mentioned  as  furnishing  rcenariee  to 
 
 the   Tyrian  army;    and  it  is  known  historically  that 
 they  supplied   them  to  a  still   greater  extent    to  the 
 Egyptian  army. 
 All  tho  mingled  people,  and  Chub.— There  is 
 
 the  same  expression,  "mingled  people,''  in  reference  to 
 Egypt,  in  Jer.  xxv.  20.  In  tho  connection  here  it  may 
 bo  understood  especially  of  tho  foreign  mercenaries 
 from  various  quarters  in  tho  Egyptian  armies.  Chub 
 is  a  name  entirely  unknown.  Various  conjectures 
 have  been  hazarded,  and  various  changes  in  the  text 
 proposed,  but  none  are  supported  by  sufficient  evidence. 
 It  evidently  denotes  soino  ally  of  Egypt,  possibly 
 Nubia. 
 
 Men  of  the  land  that  is  in  league.  — 
 Literally,  sons  of  the  land  of  the  covenant.  The  ancient 
 interpreters,  St.  Jerome  and  Theodoret.  understood 
 this  expression  of  the  Jews  who  had  sought  refuge 
 from  Nebuchadnezzar  in  Egypt  after  the  murder 
 of  Gedaliah  (Jer.  xlii..  xliii..  xliv.  .  to  whom  Jeremiah 
 had  expressly  prophesied  that  the  sword  and  famine  of 
 which  they  were  afraid  should  overtake  them  there 
 Jer.  xlii.  16 — 18).  This  interpretation  is  supported 
 by  the  translation  of  the  Septuagint,  made  in  Bgypt, 
 
 "land  of  my  covenant."  The  objection  made  t<>  this 
 view,  that  Palestine  is  never  called  "the  land  of  the 
 covenant."  and  that  this  must  then  fore  signify  some 
 unknown  country  in  alliance  with  Egypt  at  the  time, 
 seems  rather  specious  than  real.  If  it  happens  that 
 this  expression  is  never  used  of  Palestine,  yet  that  was 
 unquestionably  the  land  of  the  people  of  toe  covenant, 
 and  a  particular  expression  may  very  well  be  used  once 
 without  occurring  again. 
 
 («)  From  the  tower  of  Syene.— From  Migdol  to 
 Syene.    (See  Note  on  chap.  xxix.  10.) 
 
 7  Shall  be  desolate.— This  vane  is  almost  an 
 exact  repetition  of  chap.  xxix.  12. 
 
 (»)  Messengers  go  forth  from  mo  in  ships.— 
 
 Camp.  Isa.  xviii.  1.  -J.  This  does  not  mean  the  army 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar,  which  did  not  penetrate  into 
 Ethiopia,  but  the  flying  Egyptians,  who  ascend  the 
 
Nebuchadnezzar  to  be 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXX. 
 
 the  Destroyer  of  all  Egypt. 
 
 Ethiopians  afraid,  and  great  pain  shall 
 come  upon  them,  as  in  the  day  of  Egypt : 
 for,  lo,  it  cometh. 
 
 <10>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will 
 also  make  the  multitude  of  Egypt  to  cease 
 by  the  hand  of  Nebuchadrezzar  king  of 
 Babylon.  (11)  He  and  his  people  with 
 him,  the  terrible  of  the  nations,  shall  be 
 brought  to  destroy  the  land  :  and  they 
 shall  draw  their  swords  against  Egypt, 
 and  fill  the  land  with  the  slain.  (12)  And 
 I  will  make  the  rivers 1  dry,  and  sell  the 
 land  into  the  hand  of  the  wicked  :  and 
 I  will  make  the  land  waste,  and  3all 
 that  is  therein,  by  the  hand  of  strangers  : 
 I  the  Lord  have  spoken  it.  <13)  Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will  also "  destroy 
 the  idols,  and  I  will  cause  their  images 
 to  cease  out  of  Noph ;  and  there  shall 
 be  no  more  a  prince  of  the  land  of 
 Egypt :  and  I  will  put  a  fear  in  the 
 land   of  Egypt.     <u>  And  I  will  make 
 
 1  Htb.,  drought 
 
 Heb.,  the  fulness 
 thereof. 
 
 4  Or,  Pelusium. 
 
 5  Or,  Heliopolls. 
 
 fi  Or,  Pubastum. 
 
 B.C.  688. 
 7  Or,  restrained. 
 
 Pathros  desolate,  and  will   set  fire  in 
 
 3  Zoan,  and  will  execute  judgments  in 
 No.     (15)  And  I  will  pour  my  fury  upon 
 
 4  Sin,  the  strength  of  Egypt ;  and  I  will 
 cut  off  the  multitude  of  No.  <16>  And  I 
 will  set  fire  in  Egypt :  Sin  shall  have 
 great  pain,  and  No  shall  be  rent  asimder, 
 and  Noph  shall  Imve  distresses  daily. 
 (17>  The  young   men   of  5  Aven   and   of 
 
 6  Pi-beseth  shall  fall  by  the  sword  :  and 
 these  cities  shall  go  into  captivity. 
 (is)  At  Tehaphnehes  also  the  day  shall  be 
 
 7  darkened,  when  I  shall  break  there  the 
 yokes  of  Egypt :  and  the  pomp  of  her 
 strength  shall  cease  in  her  :  as  for  her, 
 a  cloud  shall  cover  her,  and  her 
 daughters  shall  go  into  captivity. 
 (is)  Thus  will  I  execute  judgments  in 
 Egypt :  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord. 
 
 <2°)  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  eleventh 
 year,  in  the  first  month,  in  the  seventh 
 
 Nile  to  seek  safety  in  Ethiopia,  and  alarm  it  with  the 
 tidings  of  Egypt's  fall.  The  "  careless  "  are  the  secure 
 Ethiopians.  "  As  in  the  day  of  Egypt "  is  a  reference 
 to  a  past  event,  and  can  only  mean,  as  in  the  day  of 
 judgment  upon  Egypt  at  the  Exodus. 
 
 (12)  Make  the  rivers  dry— i.e. ,  the  canals  of  Egypt, 
 by  which  the  land  was  irrigated,  and  on  which  its 
 fertility  depended.  It  may  also  include  the  com- 
 parative  drying,  the  lessening  of  the  inundation  of  the 
 Nile,  which  occurred  from  time  to  time,  and  was  the 
 cause  of  the  various  famines  in  Egypt  mentioned  in 
 Scripture. 
 
 (13)  Noph. — A  contraction  of  Menoph,  Memphis, 
 the  capital  of  Lower  Egypt,  situated  in  the  region  of 
 the  Pyramids,  the  seat  of  several  dynasties,  one  of  the 
 chief  centres  of  Egyptian  idolatry,  and  celebrated  for 
 its  Temple  of  Ptah. 
 
 There  shall  be  no  more  a  prince  is  to  be 
 understood,  in  accordance  with  the  rest  of  the  prophecy, 
 not  absolutely,  but  relatively :  there  shall  be  no  more 
 a  native  prince  possessing  the  power  of  former  kings. 
 
 (i*)  Pathros  .  .  .  Zoan  .  .  .  No.— For  Pathros, 
 see  Note  on  chap.  xxix.  14.  Zoan  (see  Num.  xiii.  22 ; 
 Isa.  xix.  11)  is  Tanis,  a  city  of  Lower  Egypt,  on  the 
 Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile.  No,  mentioned  again  in 
 the  next  verse,  more  fully  written  No- Anion  (Nah.  iii. 
 8),  is  the  celebrated  Thebes  of  Upper  Egypt,  still 
 famous  for  its  ruins  at  Luxor  and  Karnac.  The 
 mention  of  these  various  cities  is  to  make  emphatic  the 
 universality  of  the  judgment  upon  the  whole  land. 
 
 (15)  Sin  is  Pelusium,  so  called  from  the  marshes 
 around  it,  on  the  easternmost  branch  of  the  Nile,  only 
 two-and-a-half  miles  from  the  sea.  It  was  the  frontier 
 city,  strongly  fortified,  and  considered  rightly  as  the 
 key  of  Egypt,  and  hence  called  in  the  text  its 
 "  strength."  It  is  mentioned  again  in  verse  16.  The 
 expression,  "  distresses  daily  "  (literally,  by  day),  ap- 
 plied to  Noph  (Memphis),  is  a  difficult  one ;  it  is 
 understood  by  many  as  perpetually,  but  more  probably 
 means  distresses  in  the  open  day.  Its  enemies  shall 
 make  no  covert  attack,  but  come  upon  it  boldly. 
 
 290 
 
 (i")  Of  Aven  and  of  Pi-beseth.— Aven  is  the 
 same  as  On  of  Gen.  xli.  45,  50,  and  as  Bethshemesh 
 (House  of  the  Sun)  of  Jer.  xliii.  13,  the  Heliopolis  of 
 the  Greeks,  so  called  because  from  the  remotest  times 
 a  chief  seat  of  the  worship  of  the  sun.  The  vowel 
 points  are  slightly  changed  from  On  to  make  Aven, 
 nothingness,  often  used  of  idols.  Pi-beseth,  on  the 
 monuments  Pi-Pasht — so  called  from  the  cat-headed 
 goddess  there  worshipped — is  Bubastis,  situated  on  the 
 canal  leading  from  the  Pelusiac  branch  of  the  Nile 
 towards  Suez. 
 
 (is)  Tehaphnehes.  —  (Jer.  ii.  16,  xliii.  7—9,  xliv. 
 1,  xlvi.  14.)  Otherwise  called  Tahpanhes ;  the  city 
 Daphne,  also  a  frontier  town  near  Pelusium,  strongly 
 fortified.  It  may  be  especially  mentioned,  because  the 
 Jews  who  fled  from  Palestine  through  fear  of  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar had  taken  refuge  there  (Jer.  xliii.,  xliv.). 
 
 The  day  shall  be  darkened.— This  is  a  common 
 prophetic  form  of  describing  coming  calamity.  (See 
 verse  3,  chap,  xxxii.  8;  Isa.  xiii.  10;  Joel  ii.  10,  31, 
 iii.  15 ;  Amos  viii.  9 ;  Matt.  xxiv.  29,  &c.) 
 
 The  yokes  of  Egypt. — Not  the  yokes  placed 
 upon  Egypt,  but  the  tyranny  which  she  exercised  over 
 others.  The  fuller  expression,  "  bands  of  a  yoke,"  occurs 
 in  chap,  xxxiv.  27,  and  also  in  Lev.  xxvi.  13,  the  latter 
 in  reference  to  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  the 
 bondage  of  Egypt.  It  appears  from  Jer.  xliii.  9,  10 
 that  there  was  a  royal  palace  at  Tahpanhes,  and  it 
 was  foretold  by  the  prophet  that  Nebuchadnezzar  should 
 there  set  up  his  pavilion,  and  thence  smite  Egypt.  It 
 is  correspondingly  foretold  here  that  the  power  of 
 Egypt  should  there  be  broken,  because  this  and  the 
 neighbouring  Pelusium  were  the  frontier  fortresses  and 
 keys  of  the  land. 
 
 (20)  The  eleventh  year. — This  was  the  year  of 
 the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  present  prophecy  (verses 
 20 — 26)  was  uttered  a  little  more  than  three  months 
 and  a  half  before  its  destruction.  Very  likely  this 
 prophecy  had  its  occasion  in  the  temporary  raising 
 of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Pharaoh-Hophra,  and 
 Nebuchadnezzar's    driving    him    away,    the    news   of 
 
Babylon  Strengthened  against  Egypt.       EZEIvIEL,    XXAf. 
 
 Egypt  LUu  tied  to  .1 
 
 day  of  the  month,  that  the  word  of  the 
 Lobs  came  onto  me,  saj  Lug, 
 (-'"  Son  ill'  man,  I  have  broken  the  arm 
 
 of  I'haraoh  king  of  Kgvpt  ;  ami.  In,  it 
 shall     HOl     be     bolllli]    ll|i  to  lie   healed,   to 
 
 |.ui  a  roller  to  hi  ml  it,  to  make  it  strong 
 
 to  hold  the  sword.  <—>  Therefore  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I  am 
 against    Pharaoh    king  of  Egypt,  and 
 
 will  break  his  anus,  the  strong,  ami 
 that  which  was  broken  ;  anil  I  will 
 cause  the  sword  to  fall  out  of  his  haml. 
 <-3>  Ami  1  will  scatter  the  Kgyptians 
 among  the  nations,  and  will  disperse 
 them  through  the  countries.  '-'"And  I 
 will  strengthen  the  arms  of  the  king  of 
 Babylon,  and  put  my  sword  in  his  hand: 
 but  I  will  break  Pharaoh's  anus,  and  he 
 shall  groan    before  him   with  the    grOttn- 
 
 ings  of  a  deadly  wounded  man.  ^  But 
 1  will  strengthen  the  anus  of  the  kill"; 
 id'  Babylon,  and  the  arms  of  Pharaoh 
 shall  fall  down;  and  they  shall  know 
 that  1  a tn.  the  Loud,  when  I  shall  put 
 iu\  SWOrd  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of 
 Babylon,  and  he  shall  stretch  it  out 
 upon  the  land  of  Egypt.  W)  And  I  will 
 scatter  the  Egyptians  among  the  na- 
 tions,   and   disperse   them   among    the 
 
 II.  I..  /Mr 
 
 2  Or,  noufiatud. 
 
 :l  Or,  lit ought  hii 
 ui>. 
 
 t  Or,  cunduiti. 
 
 UkwJuUIi. 
 
 >/  countries;  and  they  shall  know  that   I 
 n in  the  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXI.— '"And  it   came 
 
 to  pass  in  the  eleventh  year,  in  the  third 
 mi'ittli,  in  the  first  day  of  tin/  month,  that 
 the  word  of  the  Loan  came  unto  me, 
 saying,  ,J|  Son  of  man,  speak  unto  Pha- 
 raoh king  of  Egypt,  and  to  his  multi- 
 tude ; 
 
 Whom  art  thou  like  in  thy  greatness  9 
 
 <3>  Behold,  the  Assyrian  UHU  a  cedar 
 in  Lebanon  'with  fair  branches,  ami 
 with  a  shadowing  shroud,  and  of  an 
 high  stature;  and  his  top  was  among 
 the  thick  boughs.  (,)  The  waters  'made 
 him  great,  the  deep  3set  him  up  on  high 
 with  her  rivers  running  round  about  his 
 plants,  and  sent  out  her  4little  rivers 
 unto  all  the  trees  of  the  field.  '^There- 
 fore his  height  was  exalted  above  all 
 the  trees  of  the  field,  and  his  boughs 
 were  multiplied,  and  his  branches  be- 
 came hui";  because  of  the  multitude  of 
 waters,  Dwhen  he  shot  forth.  <6)  All  the 
 "fowls  of  heaven  made  their  nests  in  his 
 boughs,  and  under  his  branches  did  all 
 the  beasts  of  the  field  brin<r  forth  their 
 
 young,  and  under  his  shadow  dwelt    all 
 
 which  wmild  have  been  some  mouths  iu  reaching 
 Ohaldaea. 
 
 (W  I  have  broken.— This  is  in  the  perfect  tense, 
 ami  refers  to  the  breaking  of  tin-  power  of  Egypt  by 
 tlic  former  conquests  of  Assyria,  ana  perhaps  especially 
 
 to  the  groat    battle  of  C'arehomish   laliout  twenty  years 
 
 before),  in  which  Egypt  received  a  blow  from  which  she 
 never  recovered,  The  wool  "roller"  would  be  better 
 understood  now  if  translated  bondage. 
 
 (--)  The  strong,  and  that  which  was  broken 
 — i.e..  the  whole  power  of  Egypt,  hoth  in  so  far  as 
 already  crippled,  and  in  so  far  as  it  still  retained 
 Btrength. 
 
 Will    scattor    the    Egyptians.— Repeated 
 verbally  in  verse  26.    (See  Note  on  chapter  xxix.  12.) 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 This  chapter  consists  of  a  single  prophecy,  ottered  a 
 
 little  less  than  two  months  after  the  previous  one,  and 
 
 a  little  less  than  two  months  before  the  destruction  of 
 
 the  Temple.     It  is  a  further  prophecy  against   Egypt, 
 
 hut   so  couched   in   the  form  of  a  parable  that  it  all 
 
 relates   to   Assyria,  except    tl polling  ■  verses  1  and  _ 
 
 and  close  I  ver-o  18),  which  bring  it  to  hear  upon  Egypt 
 
 The  effectiveness  of  this  comparison  with  Assyria  be- 
 comes plain  when  it  is  remembered  that  she  bad  con; 
 quered  and   held  Egypt  in   vassalage,  and   bad   then 
 
 herself  been  conquered  and  annihilated  only  thirty- 
 seven  years  before  the  date  of  this  prophecy. "and  that 
 by  the  same  CliahUean   power   now  foretold   as    about 
 
 to  execute  judgment  upon  Egypt.  Egypt  could  not 
 hope  to  resist  the  conqueror  of  her  conqueror.  There 
 i^  this  great  difference  hot  ween  the  fate  of  tho  two 
 
 empires:  Assyria  was  to  be  utterly  supplanted  by 
 Babylonia,  and  its  nationality  blotted  out,  but  Egypt, 
 as  the  prophet  had  already  foretold  (chap.  xxix.  If.  IB), 
 should  continue,  though  as  "a  base  kingdom,"  stripped 
 of  its  supremacy. 
 
 The  form  of  parable  whereby  a  kingdom  is  repre- 
 sented as  a  tree  lias  already  appeared  in  chap.  sviL, 
 
 and  is  also  used  in  Dan.  iv.  It  seems  to  be  a  ( 'lialda  an 
 mode  of  representation.  As  is  the  custom  with 
 Ezekiel.  lie  occasionally  interrupts  the  parable  by 
 literal    utterances,   as    in    verse    11,    and    partially    in 
 
 \  erses  1 1 — 16. 
 
 l->    His    multitude.— The     word     means     literally 
 
 tumult,  end  applies  to  the  multitude  as  influenced  by 
 
 whatever  is  the  occasion  of  tumult  ;  their  wealth,  their 
 idols,  their  sources  of  pride  of  every  kind. 
 
 ,;i  A  cedar  in  Lebanon.— Lebanon  is  mentioned 
 
 only  because  it  was  the  place  where  the  most  famous 
 cedars  grew  in  their  greatest  perfection.  Assyria  did, 
 indeed,  at  one  time  possess  Lebanon,  but  this  was  never 
 its  home  or  seat  of  empire.  The  word  "  shroud  "  in  the 
 description  refers  to  the  thickness  of  the  shade  of  the 
 
 branches. 
 
 Among  the  thick  boughs.— Rather,  among  the 
 clouds.  (See  Note  on  chap.  six.  11.  Comp.  also  verses 
 10,  It.) 
 
 (*)  His  plants.— Should  rather  be.  his  plantation. 
 
 Sent  out  her  little  rivers.  The  thought  is  that 
 the  various  surrounding  and  subordinate  nations  were 
 nourished  from  the  great  stream  of  prosperity  which 
 swelled  the  power  and  wealth  of  Assyria. 
 
 All   the   fowls  of  heaven.  —  Comp.    chap. 
 xvii.  S3;    Dan.  iv.  21. 
 
 291 
 
The  Fall  of  Assyria 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXI. 
 
 was  through  her  Pride. 
 
 great  nations.  (7)  Thus  was  lie  fair  in 
 his  greatness,  in  the  length  of  his 
 branches  :  for  his  root  was  by  great 
 waters.  (8)  The  cedars  in  the  "garden 
 of  God  could  not  hide  him :  the  fir 
 trees  were  not  like  his  boughs,  and 
 the  chesnut  trees  were  not  like  his 
 branches;  nor  any  tree  in  the  garden 
 of  God  was  like  unto  him  in  his  beauty. 
 <9>  I  have  made  him  fair  by  the  multi- 
 tude of  his  branches :  so  that  all  the 
 trees  of  Eden,  that  were  in  the  garden  of 
 God,  envied  him. 
 
 (io)  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ; 
 Because  thou  hast  lifted  up  thyself  in 
 height,  and  he  hath  shot  up  his  top 
 among  the  thick  boughs,  and  his  heart 
 is  lifted  up  in  his  height ;  <u>  I  have 
 therefore  delivered  him  into  the  hand  of 
 the  mighty  one  of  the  heathen ;  a  he 
 shall  surely  deal  with  him  :  I  have  driven 
 him  out  for  his  wickedness.  (12)  And 
 strangers,  the  terrible  of  the  nations, 
 have  cut  him  off,  and  have  left  him : 
 upon  the  mountains  and  in  all  the  val- 
 leys his  branches  are  fallen,  and  his 
 boughs  are  broken  by  all  the  rivers  of 
 
 1  Hcli.,  in  doing  he 
 BhaU  do  unto 
 him. 
 
 Or,  stand  upon 
 themselves  for 
 their  height. 
 
 3  HL-b.,  to  be  black 
 
 the  land  ;  and  all  the  people  of  the  earth 
 are  gone  down  from  his  shadow,  and 
 have  left  him.  (13)  Upon  his  ruin  shall 
 all  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  remain,  and 
 all  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  be  upon 
 his  branches :  (u)  to  the  end  that  none 
 of  all  the  trees  by  the  waters  exalt  them- 
 selves for  their  height,  neither  shoot  up 
 their  top  among  the  thick  boughs,  nei- 
 ther their  trees  ~  stand  up  in  then  height, 
 all  that  drink  water :  for  they  are  all 
 delivered  unto  death,  to  the  nether  parts- 
 of  the  earth,  in  the  midst  of  the  children 
 of  men,  with  them 
 pit. 
 
 (15>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  In  the 
 day  when  he  went  down  to  the  grave  I 
 caused  a  mourning  :  I  covered  the  deep 
 for  him,  and  I  restrained  the  floods 
 thereof,  and  the  great  waters  were 
 stayed  :  and  I  caused  Lebanon  3to 
 mourn  for  him,  and  all  the  trees  of  the 
 field  fainted  for  him.  <16)  I  made  the 
 nations  to  shake  at  the  sound  of  his 
 fall,  when  I  cast  him  down  to  hell  with 
 them  that  descend  into  the  pit :  and  all 
 the  trees  of  Eden,  the  choice  and  best  of 
 
 that  go  down  to  the 
 
 (8)  The  garden  of  God.— See  verses  9, 16, 18;  also 
 chap,  xxviii.  13.  This  is  not  a  representation  of  Assyria 
 as  being  in  the  garden  of  God,  as  in  the  case  of  Tyre  in 
 chap,  xxviii.  13,  but  only  a  further  expression  of  its 
 greatness  by  a  comparison  of  the  tree  representing  it 
 with  the  trees  of  Paradise.  Tet  this  comparison  may 
 have  been  suggested  by  the  fact  that  the  traditionary 
 site  of  Eden  was  within  the  bounds  of  the  Assyrian 
 Empire.  Fir  trees  are  generally  understood  to  be 
 cypresses,  and  chestnut  to  be  plane-trees. 
 
 (io)  Among  the  thick  boughs. — The  clouds,  as 
 in  verses  3  and  14,  and  chap.  xix.  11.  As  verses  3 — 9 
 have  described  Assyria's  greatness,  so  verses  10 — 14 
 speak  of  her  fall.  This  was  now  a  past  event,  yet  is  in 
 part  poetically  spoken  of  in  the  future  (verses  11,  13), 
 making  the  whole  more  graphic  and  effective.  The 
 future  may  also  have  been  used  because  the  object 
 of  this  parable  is  not  Assyria,  but  Egypt,  whose  fall 
 was  still  to  come.  At  the  outset  Assyria  is  directly 
 addressed  in  the  second  person  in  the  vividness  of  the 
 description,  but  the  third  person  is  used  afterwards. 
 The  ground  of  the  judgment  upon  Assyria  is  its  pride, 
 on  which  2  Kings  xviii.  32 — 35  may  be  considered  a 
 commentary. 
 
 (ii)  The  mighty  one  of  the  heathen.  —  The 
 Chaldaeau  monarch.  At  the  time  of  the  fall  of  Assyria 
 this  was  Nabupolassar,  Nebuchadnezzar's  father.  In 
 this  verse,  and  partially  in  the  next,  the  prophet  drops 
 his  figure  to  make  clear  literal  statements. 
 
 (12)  Gone  down. — Because  the  cedar  is  represented 
 as  growing  upon  the  height  of  Lebanon.  Yet  "the 
 people  of  the  earth"  is  literal. 
 
 (13)  Upon  his  ruin  shall  all  the  fowls. — There 
 is  no  inconsistency  between  this  and  the  previous  verse. 
 At  the  fall  all  nations  and  people  rush  away,  to  avoid 
 
 becoming  involved  in  the  catastrophe ;  but  as  soon  as 
 the  giant  cedar  is  prostrate,  they  gather  upon  its  trunk 
 and  branches  to  fatten  upon  its  ruin. 
 
 (ii)  Stand  up  in  their  height. — The  original  is 
 more  closely  followed  by  the  margin,  stand  upon  them- 
 selves for  their  height,  and  the  thought  is  that  the  trees 
 (princes)  shall  no  longer  rely  on  their  own  strength  and 
 be  infatuated  by  the  prosperity  which  has  been  given 
 them. 
 
 All  that  drink  water  is  only  a  poetical  expression 
 for  the  trees.  (Comp.  verse  16.)  In  the  constant  men- 
 tion of  water  and  rivers  throughout  this  parable  there 
 may  be  a  covert  allusion  to  Egypt,  made  fertile  by  the 
 irrigation  of  the  Nile. 
 
 To  the  nether  parts  of  the  earth. — See  Note  on 
 chap.  xxvi.  20.  In  the  latter  part  of  this  verse  the 
 figurative  is  again  exchanged  for  literal  language. 
 
 (15)  'I  covered  the  deep  for  him. — Verses  15 — 17 
 describe  the  effect  of  Assyria's  fall.  Verse  15  speaks 
 of  the  moiUTiing  of  the  nations  and  of  the  drying  up  of 
 the  streams,  or  sources  of  Assyria's  prosperity.  "  The 
 deep "  is  the  same  as  in  verse  4,  the  flood  of  waters 
 which  fertilised  the  great  cedar;  this  is  covered,  as  in 
 mourning.  "  Floods  "  is  the  same  word  as  "  rivers"  in 
 verse  4,  and  "  great  waters  "  as  "  multitude  of  waters  " 
 in  verse  5.  "  To  mourn  "  is,  literally,  to  be  black,  and 
 the  sense  is  well  given  in  oiir  version,  although  the 
 original  is  more  appropriate  to  the  figure  of  Lebanon 
 with  its  cedars.  "  The  trees  of  the  field  "  are,  of  course, 
 the  subordinate  potentates,  who  are  dismayed,  "  faint," 
 at  Assyria's  fall.     (Comp.  chap.  xxvi.  15 — 18.) 
 
 0l!>  Hell  is  here,  as  generally,  Sheol,  or  Hades,  the 
 world  of  the  departed. 
 
 Shall  be  comforted.— Comp.  Isa.  xiv.  9,  10, 
 which  was  probably  in  Ezekiel's  mind. 
 
 292 
 
A  like  Falu  in  store  for  Egypt 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XXXI L 
 
 Lamt  nt/or  Pharaoh, 
 
 bohanun,  all  that    drink  water,  shall   lie 
 
 comforted   in   the  nether  parte  of  the 
 
 earth.  (lr)  They  al.su  went  down  into 
 hell  with  him  unto  them  thai  be  slain 
 with   the  Bwordj  and  they  thai  were  his 
 
 arm,  tlml  dwelt  under  his  shadow  in  the 
 midst,  of  the  heathen.  <18)  To  whom  art 
 thoil  thus  like  in  glorv  and  in  greatness 
 
 an g  thr  trees  of  EdenP  yetshaJt  thou 
 
 be  brought  down  with  the  trees  of  Eden 
 Onto  the  nether  parts  of  thr  earth  :  thou 
 shall  lie  in  the  midst  of  the  litieirenni- 
 eisid  with  them  that  be  slain  by  the 
 sword.  This  is  Pharaoh  and  all  his 
 multitude,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXII.— o  And  it  came 
 to  pass  in  the  twelfth  year,  in  the  twelfth 
 month,  in  the  first  day  of  the  month, 
 Unit  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
 me,  saying,  (2)  Son  of  man,  take  up  a 
 lamentation  for  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt, 
 and  Bay  unto  him. 
 
 Thou  art  like  a  young  lion  of  the  na- 
 tions, and  thou  art  as  a  'whale  in  the 
 seas  :  and  thou  earnest  forth  with  thy 
 rivers,  and  troubledst  the  waters  with 
 thy  feet,  and  fouledst  their  rivers.  <:1)Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God;  I  will  therefore 
 "spread  out  my  net  over  thee  with  a 
 company  of  many  people ;  and  they  shall 
 
 IS,  A  1;. 
 
 ■J  Or,   II, 
 
 mming. 
 
 3  Or.cj-f  . 
 
 /.  I  mi.  13.  10;  Jn 
 X  :  1.  &  3.  II 
 M.'ii.ii.  :u 
 
 UUo/tlu 
 tnjkt  ffl 
 
 j  Heth,  them  dark. 
 
 0  U<-h.,  jrrovoke  to 
 or,  yrief. 
 
 bring  thee  up  in  my  net.  W  Then  will  I 
 leave  thee  upon  the  land,  I  will  cast  thee 
 forth  upon  the  open  field,  and  will  cause 
 
 all  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  to  remain 
 
 Upon    the,  and   1   will   till    the    heasts   of 
 
 the  whole  earth  with  tl '    And  I  will 
 
 lay  thy  flesh  upon  the  mountains,  and 
 lil'l  thevalleys  with  thy  height.  ""  I  will 
 also  water  with  thj  blood  2the  land 
 wherein  thou  swimmest,  even  to  the 
 mountains;  and  the  rivers  shall  lie  full 
 of  thee.  '"'And  when  I  shall  put  thee 
 out,  *I  will  cover  the  heaven,  and  make 
 the  stars  thereof  dark;  I  will  cover  the 
 
 sun  with    a    cloud,  and    the   11 11    shall 
 
 not  e-ive  her  light.  W  All  the  *bright 
 lights  of  heaven  will  I  make  'dark  over 
 thee,  and  set  darkness  upon  thy  land, 
 saith  the  Lord  God.  <!'>  I  will  also  'vex 
 the  hearts  of  many  people,  when  I  shall 
 brine- thy  destruction  among  the  nations, 
 into  the  countries  which  thou  hast  not 
 known.  <10>  Yea,  I  will  make  many 
 people  amazed  at.  thee,  and  their  kings 
 shall  he  horribly  afraid  for  thee,  when  I 
 shall  brandish  my  sword  before  them; 
 and  they  shall  tremble  at  every  moment, 
 every  man  for  his  own  life,  in  the  day  of 
 thy  fall. 
 
 <u>  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  The 
 sword  of  the  king  of  Babylon  shall  come 
 
 (18)  To  whom  art  thou  thus  like.— In  Qua 
 closing  verse  the  whole  chapter  is  brought  to  n  point. 
 
 Egypt,    like    Assyria    in    glory,    shall    be    like    her   in 
 
 experience  of  the  judgments  "f  Qod.     Ou  "uncir- 
 
 cumeiscd ''  comp.  Note  on  chap,  xxviii.  10. 
 
 XXXII. 
 This  chapter,  which  consists  of  two  distinct  prophecies 
 
 (YerseS  I  —  hi.  17 — 32),  with  the  interval  of  only  a  fort- 
 night between  them,  closes  the  series  at  once  against 
 Egypt  and  against  foreign  nations.  The  former  of 
 these  prophecies  is  :i  farther  declaration  of  the  approach- 
 ing i [neat   of   Egypt    by  "the  king  of  Babylon," 
 
 while  the  latter  is  a  dirge  over  its  fall,  like  the  dirge 
 over  Tyre  in  chap,  xwiii. 
 
 (1)  In  the  twelfth  year.— This  was  one  year  and 
 between  six  and  seven  months  after  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem,  and  when,  therefore,  one  great  hindrance  to 
 
 Nebuchadneszar'e  march  upon  Egypt  had  been  removed. 
 
 It   is  also  nearly  two  months  (chap,  xxxiii.  l!1  |  since 
 
 H/.ekiol  had  heard  of  this  calamity  through  fl  fugitive. 
 It  could  not  have  been  very  Long  before  the  arrival  of 
 the  fugitive  .Jews  in  Egypt,  after  the  murder  of 
 (iedaliah:  yet  that  it  was  somewhat  earlier  is  plain 
 from  Chap,  xxxiii.24.  It  was  about  the  same  time  with 
 the  similar  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  .chaps,  xliii..  xliv.); 
 Imt  as  the  date  both  of  the  murder  and  of  thr'  (light 
 are  unknown  except  that  the  former  occurred  in  the 
 seventh  month — Jer.  xli.   1 — but  of  what  year  is  not 
 
 293 
 
 stated),  the  exact  chronological  relation  of  these  things 
 must  remain  uncertain. 
 
 (-)  As  a  whale.— Rather,  a  crocodile.  (See  Note  on 
 chap.  xxix.  3,  where  the  same  went  is  used, I    A  striking 
 
 contrast  is  brought  out  in  this  verse  which  is  lost  in  OUT 
 translation.  "Thou  wast  compared  to  a  young  lion  of 
 the    nations,"   /'.<■.,   their  leader  and  glory:    "but   thou 
 
 wast  (really)   like  a  or dile  in   the  seas,"  stirring  up 
 
 and  fouling  the  rivers,  the  sources  of  their  prosperity. 
 
 Thou  earnest  forth  with.— Better,  thou  dtdtt 
 break  forth  in  fhy  rivere,  referring  to  the  crocodile 
 basking  upon  the  bank,  and  suddenly  plunging  into  the 
 stream  and  stirring  Dp  i's  mud. 
 
 (3)  Spread  out  my  not  over  thee.— The  figure 
 (versee  I     <'>   of  drawing  the  crocodile  to  land  and  i 
 
 ing  him  upon  the  desert  for  food  to  the  birds  and  b 
 of  prey  is  the  same  as  in  chap.  xxix.  4,  5.  (Gomp.  also 
 chap.  xxxi.  12.  13.)  In  vers,'  (i.  "  the  land  wherein  thou 
 swimmest  "  i-..  litn-ally.  tic  land  o/  thine  outflow,  and 
 may  be  taken  either  of  the  laud  on  which  his  blood  is 
 poured  out,  or,  more  probably,  the  land  of  the  inunda- 
 tions of  the  Nile,  now  to  be  watered  witli  bleed. 
 
 0">  Make  the  stars  thereof  dark.— This  verse 
 follows  very  closely  Isa.  xiii.  In.  spoken  of  Babylon. 
 In  this  and  the  following  verse  the  judgments  of  God 
 are  described  in  (lie  common  prophetic  figure  of  changes 
 in  the  heavenly  bodies.  (See  Note  on  chap  xxx.  !■-. 
 and  references  there. 
 
 Vox  the  hearts.— The  margin,  provoke  to  grief, 
 is  better,  as  being  less  ambiguous.     "  Thy  destruction  '' 
 
Lament  for  Egypt. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXXII.     She  shall  Fall  with  the  Uncircumcised. 
 
 upon  thee.  <12>  By  the  swords  of  the 
 mighty  will  I  cause  thy  multitude  to 
 fall,  the  terrible  of  the  nations,  all  of 
 them  :  and  they  shall  spoil  the  pomp  of 
 Egypt,  and  all  the  multitude  thereof 
 shall  be  destroyed.  <13)  I  will  destroy 
 also  all  the  beasts  thereof  from  beside 
 the  great  waters  ;  neither  shall  the  foot 
 of  man  trouble  them  any  more,  nor  the 
 hoofs  of  beasts  trouble  them.  <U)  Then 
 will  I  make  their  waters  deep,  and  cause 
 their  rivers  to  run  like  oil,  saith  the  Lord 
 God.  (15>  When  I  shall  make  the  land 
 of  Egypt  desolate,  and  the  country  shall 
 be  x  destitute  of  that  whereof  it  was  full, 
 when  I  shall  smite  all  them  that  dwell 
 therein,  then  shall  they  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord.  (16)  This  is  the  lamentation 
 wherewith  they  shall  lament  her :  the 
 daughters  of  the  nations  shall  lament 
 her :  they  shall  lament  for  her,  even  for 
 Egypt,  and  for  all  her  multitude,  saith 
 the  Lord  God. 
 
 (17>  It  came  to  pass  also  in  the  twelfth 
 year,  in  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month, 
 that  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
 me,  saying, 
 
 1  Hob.,  desolate 
 from  the  fulness 
 thereof. 
 
 2  Or,  the  sword 
 laid. 
 
 3  Or,  dismaying. 
 
 (18)  Son  of  man,  wail  for  the  multi- 
 tude of  Egypt,  and  cast  them  down, 
 even  her,  and  the  daughters  of  the 
 famous  nations,  unto  the  nether  parts 
 of  the  earth,  with  them  that  go  down 
 into  the  pit.  (19)  Whom  dost  thou  pass 
 in  beauty  ?  go  down,  and  be  thou  laid 
 with  the  uncircumcised.  (20)  They  shall 
 fall  in  the  midst  of  them  that  are  slain 
 by  the  sword :  2she  is  delivered  to  the 
 sword  :  draw  her  and  all  her  multitudes. 
 (-1'  The  strong  among  the  mighty  shall 
 speak  to  him  out  of  the  midst  of  hell 
 with  them  that  help  him  :  they  are  gone 
 down,  they  lie  uncircumcised,  slain  by 
 the  sword.  (~)  Asshur  is  there  and  all 
 her  company  :  his  graves  are  about  him : 
 all  of  them  slam,  fallen  by  the  sword : 
 (23)  whose  graves  are  set  in  the  sides  of 
 the  pit,  and  her  company  is  round  about 
 her  grave  :  all  of  them  slain,  fallen  by 
 the  sword,  which  caused  3  terror  in  the 
 land  of  the  living.  <2i>  There  is  Elam 
 and  all  her  multitude  round  about  her 
 grave,  all  of  them  slain,  fallen  by  the 
 sword,  which  are  gone  down  uncircum- 
 cised into  the  nether  parts  of  the  earth, 
 
 means,  the  news  of  thy  destruction.  As  is  more  fully 
 expressed  in  the  following  verse,  the  fall  of  Egypt 
 should  be  such  a  strLkiug  instance  of  Divine  judgment 
 as  to  awaken  fear  in  every  nation  that  should,  hear  of 
 the  catastrophe. 
 
 (13)  Will  destroy  also  all  the  beasts  thereof 
 from  beside  the  great  waters. — The  figurative  de- 
 scription of  this  and  the  following  verses  is  taken  from 
 the  vast  herds  of  cattle  in  Egypt  goiug  to  the  river  to 
 drink,  and  trampling  the  banks  and  disturbing  the 
 water  with  their  feet  (comp.  verse  2).  These  represent 
 the  restless  activity  aud  stir  of  Egyptian  life,  and  its 
 constant  disturbance  of  surrounding  nations.  With  its 
 conquest  all  this  ceases,  and,  restrained  within  its  own 
 boundaries,  Egypt  shall  no  longer  be  a  disturber. 
 
 (11)  Deep  should  rather  be  rendered  quiet.  When 
 the  restless  ambition  of  Egypt  should  be  curbed,  there 
 would  come  about  peace  aud  quiet  prosperity.  This  is 
 thought  by  many  to  be  a  glance  forward  at  the 
 Messianic  blessing  of  the  future ;  but  it  does  not 
 necessarily  look  so  far. 
 
 (16)  Daughters  of  the  nations  is  a  common 
 enough  expression  for  the  natious  themselves,  but  is 
 peculiarly  appropriate  in  connection  with  a  lamentation, 
 since  the  formal  mourning  of  the  East  was  always 
 performed  by  women. 
 
 (17)  The  fifteenth  day  of  the  month.  —  The 
 month  itself  is  not  mentioned,  but  since  the  previous 
 prophecy  was  in  the  twelfth,  or  last  month  of  the  year, 
 this  must  be  in  the  same.  There  was  thus  an  interval 
 of  just  fom-teen  days  between  them.  This  dirge,  which 
 occupies  the  rest  of  the  chapter,  is  to  be  compared  with 
 Isa.  xiv.,  on  which  it  is  evidently  founded. 
 
 (18)  Cast  them  down. — The  prophet  is  here,  as 
 often  elsewhere,  told  to  do  that  which  he  prophesies 
 
 shall  be  done.  This  is  a  forcible  way  of  stating  the 
 certain  fulfilment  of  that  which  is  declared  by  Divine 
 command. 
 
 (19)  With  the  uncircumcised.— See  Note  on  chap, 
 xxviii.  10.  All  question  as  to  the  use  of  circumcision 
 among  the  Egyptians  is  out  of  place ;  the  word  is 
 simply  used  as  the  ordinary  phrase  for  the  heathen. 
 
 (20)  Draw  her. — Viz.,  down  to  her  judgment. 
 
 (21)  Speak  to  him. — The  pronoun  oscillates  between 
 the  masculine  and  the  feminine,  because  the  thought  is 
 partly  of  the  king  and  partly  of  the  kingdom.  The 
 pronoun  is  determined  by  whichever  is  for  the  moment 
 uppermost  in  the  prophet's  mind.  On  Hell,  see  Note  on 
 chap.  xxxi.  16,  17.     It  occurs  also  at  verse  27. 
 
 (22)  Asshur  is  there.— In  the  previous  verses  we 
 have  had  a  general  picture  of  the  fallen  nations  awaiting 
 to  receive  Egypt  as  their  companion ;  in  verses  22 — 30 
 there  follows  an  enumeration  of  the  most  prominent  of 
 them,  with  a  few  words  about  each.  Some  of  them 
 were  not  yet  fallen ;  but  in  this  prophetic  view  it  is 
 their  ultimate  condition  which  rises  to  the  prophet's 
 mind.  All  worldly  power  that  opposes  itself  to  God  must 
 go  down  and  share  the  judgment  soon  to  fall  on  Egypt. 
 
 His  graves  are  about  him.— The  graves  of  the 
 people  are  about  those  of  their  monarch.  All  are 
 fallen  together  into  one  common  ruin. 
 
 (21)  There  is  Elam. — Jeremiah  had  already  pro- 
 phesied against  Elam  twelve  years  before  ( Jer.  xlix.  34). 
 Elam  is  substantially  equivalent  to  Persia,  and  had 
 been  repeatedly  conquered  by  Assyria  and  Chaldsea. 
 It  was  a  fierce  and  warlike  nation,  and  its  soldiers  had 
 long  served  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  army.  It  was  by  the 
 aid  of  Persia  that  he  had  succeeded  in  overthrowing 
 Assyria.  It  was  by  a  subsequent  union  of  the  same 
 Power  with  the  Medes  that  the  Babylonian  power  was 
 
 294 
 
With  otfur  Destroyed  Nations, 
 
 BZEKIEL,   XXXIII 
 
 Egypt  alto  thall  Suffer. 
 
 which  caused  their  terror  in  (Jh ■  laud  of 
 the  living;  yel  bave  they  borne  their 
 shame  with  them  thai  go  down  to  the 
 pit.    WThej  bare  se\  her  a  bed  in  the 
 
 midst  of  Hi"'  slain  with  all  ber  multi- 
 bade:  bergravesora  round  about  him : 
 nil  lit'  them  nnciivimi'-isril,  slain  by  the 
 swiinl;  though  1  lii-if  terror  was  caused 
 in  the  land  of  the  living,  vet  have  they 
 borne  their  shame  with  them  that  go 
 down  to  the  pit:  he  is  put  in  the  miilst 
 of  them  that  be  slain. 
 
 WThere  is  Meshech,  Tubal,  and  all 
 her  multitude:  her  graves  are  round 
 about  him  :  all  of  them  uncircumcised, 
 slain  by  the  sword,  though  they  caused 
 their  terror  in  the  land  of  the  living. 
 '-"'And  they  shall  not  lie  with  the  might}' 
 that  are  fallen  of  the  uncircumcised, 
 which  are  gone  down  to  hell  'with  their 
 weapons  of  war:  and  they  have  laid 
 their  swords  under  their  heads,  but  their 
 iniquities  shall  be  upon  their  bones, 
 though  they  were  the  terror  of  the 
 might  v  in  the  land  of  the  living.  '^'Yea, 
 thou  shalt  bo  broken  in  the  midst  of 
 
 i  n.  i, . ... 
 
 ii.  I...  .... 
 
 I'tU. 
 
 the  uncircumcised,  and  shall  Ii"  with 
 them  thai  are  slain  with  the  Bword. 
 
 '"'There  U  Bdom,  her   kings,  and    all 
 
 ber  princes,  which  with  their  might  are 
 'hud    by   them    (hoi    were   -lain    by  the 
 
 SWOrd:  they  shall  lie  with  the  uneir- 
 cuincised,  and  with  them  that  go  down 
 to  the  pit.  '■'">  There  In  the  prwices  of 
 the  north,  all  of  them,  and  all  the  Zi- 
 donians,  which  are  gone  down  with  the 
 slain  ;  with  their  terror  they  are  ashamed 
 of  their  might ;  and  they  tie  nucircum- 
 cisedwith  them  that  be  slain  by  the  sword, 
 and  bear  their  shame  with  them  that  go 
 down  to  the  pit. 
 
 '31>  Pharaoh  shall  see  them,  and  shall 
 be  comforted  over  all  his  mult  it  tide, even 
 Pharaoh  and  all  his  army  slain  by  the 
 sword,  saitli  the  Lord  God.  (:i-'i  For  1 
 have  caused  my  terror  in  the  land  of  the 
 living  :  and  he  shall  be  laid  in  the  midst 
 of  the  uncircumcised,  with  tin  m  lh<<l  <>,; 
 slain  with  the  sword,  even  Pharaoh  and 
 all  his  multitude,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER   XXXIII.—"  >  Again  the 
 
 overthrown.  Nut  until  after  that  union  did  Persia 
 become  a  very  prominent  nation.  It  continued  n  great 
 Power  until  its  conquest  by  Alexander.  The  prophet 
 is  therefore  anticipating  the  events  of  the  future  when 
 
 ho  represents  Elani  as  already  in  the  pit.  But,  as 
 before  said,  liis  thought  looks  on  to  the  ultimate  result. 
 
 without  making  prominent  the  comparative  dates  of 
 
 the  future.  It  is  possible,  however,  BO  far  to  separate 
 Elam  from  Persia  as  to  luuk  upon  the  former  as  ouo  of 
 those  nations  nut  of  whose  ruins  the  latter  arose,  and 
 in  this  ease  Elam  was  already  past.  The  former  inter- 
 pretation seems  preferable. 
 
 -,;  There  is  Meshech,  Tubal.  —  See  Note  on 
 chap,  xxvii.  Hi.  It  is  difficult  to  obtain  historical  data 
 for  the  exact  time  of  the  fall  of  these  more  obscure 
 kingdoms;  hut  at  this  period  id'  the  world  these 
 Smaller   states    were    heini;   rapidly    swallowed    up    and 
 
 absorbed  by  the  greater  Powers  who  were  contending 
 
 for  the  world's  empire.  Meshech  and  Tulial.  like 
 Persia,  do  not  appear  at    this  time  to   have  yet  attained 
 
 their  greatest  development, 
 
 '-'7'  And  they  shall  not  lie.— If  this  be  the  correct 
 translation,  then  a  distinction  is  implied  between  these 
 nations  and  the  others.  The  others  have  been  honour- 
 ably Imried  "  with  their  weapons  of  war."  while  these 
 come  to  a  more  disgraceful  end.  It  is  better,  however. 
 to  take  it  as  a  question  I  which  tho  Hebrew  fully  admits  |; 
 "Shall  they  not  ?  "  &0. 
 
 Their  iniquities  shall  be  upon  their  bones— 
 i.e..  they  shall   die   in    their  ihi</ki7>/.      \  iy  in 
 
 English,  their  sins  shall  bo  upon  their  heads. 
 
 i-""  There  is  Edom.—  Edotn  had  been  long  since 
 conquered  and  almost   destroyed   by  Israel,  but   had 
 
 ■gain  revived  to  moek  at    tier  calamity  (chap.  xxv.  12 — 
 
 li).  It  was  soon,  like  its  neighbours,  to  be  swept 
 away  by  the  armies  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 (30)  The  princes  of  the  north.— The  word  is  not 
 the  same  as  that  used  for  the  princes  of  Edom  in  verse 
 29.  That  refers  to  the  heads  of  the  Edoinite  tribes. 
 but  this  is  thought  to  imply  enfeoffed  or  vassal  princes. 
 However  this  may  lie.  from  the  connection  with  the 
 Zidoniaus  it  is  clear  that  not  the  far  north  is  in- 
 tended, but  perhaps  chieftains  of  Syria,  Damascus,  and 
 the  like. 
 
 The  Zidonians. — With  tho  rise  of  Tyre.  Zidou 
 had  long  since  lost,  its  pre-eminence  among  the  Phoeni- 
 cian cities:  but  it  was  still  an  important  and  an 
 independent  city,  and  was  doomed  to  far  greater  humi- 
 liation in  the  future. 
 
 (31)  Shall  be  comforted.— Comp.  chap.  xxxi.  16. 
 
 Here  closes  the  series  of   prophecies  against  foreign 
 
 nations.  Ii  is  true  that  there  are  other  prophecies 
 against  them  in  chaps,  xxxv..  xxxviii.  and  xxxix. ;  but 
 these,  as  already  said,  have  much  more  of  the  character 
 of  promises  to  Israel  than  of  simple  denunciation  of 
 
 their  enemies.  The  greater  part  of  this  series  was 
 uttered    between    the    investment    and   the  close   of   the 
 
 siege  of  Jerusalem,  a  time  during  which  the  prophet 
 
 was  to  l.e  dumb  towards  tin-  children  of  1:  and 
 
 at  the  close  of  which  his  mouth  was  again  to  be  opened. 
 
 At  this  time,  therefore,  his  prophetic  gifts  were  appro, 
 priatelv  exercised  towards  foreigners,  anil  at  the  close, 
 with  the  renewal   of  his  instructions   to  Israel,  a  Freeh 
 
 charge  is  given  as  a  sort  of  fresh  induction  to  his  pro- 
 photie  office   chap,  xxxiii.  1 — 30  . 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 This  chapter  consists  of  two  communications 
 
 1—20  and  21—33).  The  first  of  them  is  without  date, 
 but  at  least  a  very  probable  conjecture  may  be  formed 
 of  the  time  when'it  was  uttered.      In  verses  'Jl.  22.  it 
 
 295 
 
Duty  of  Ike  Watchman. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXIII. 
 
 Ezekiel's  Duty  the  same. 
 
 word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  say- 
 ing, <2>  Son  of  man,  speak  to  the  children 
 of  thy  people,  and  say  unto  them, 
 
 1When  I  bring  the  sword  upon  alarid, 
 if  the  people  of  the  land  take  a  man  of 
 their  coasts,  and  set  him  for  their  watch- 
 man :  <3'  if  when  he  seeth  the  sword  come 
 upon  the  land,  he  blow  the  trumpet,  and 
 warn  the  people ;  (i)  then  ~  whosoever 
 heareth  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  and 
 taketh  not  warning ;  if  the  sword  come, 
 and  take  him  away,  his  blood  shall  be 
 upon  his  own  head.  <5>  He  heard  the 
 sound  of  the  trumpet,  and  took  not 
 warning  ;  his  blood  shall  be  upon  him. 
 But  he  that  taketh  warning  shall  de- 
 liver his  soul.  <6>  But  if  the  watchman 
 see  the  sword  come,  and  blow  not  the 
 trumpet,  and  the  people  be  not  warned ; 
 if  the  sword  come,  and  take  any  person 
 from  among  them,  he  is  taken  away  in 
 his  iniquity  ;  but  his  blood  will  I  require 
 at  the  watchman's  hand. 
 
 l7)  *  So  thou,  0  son  of  man,  I  have  set 
 thee  a  watchman  unto  the  house  of 
 Israel ;  therefore  thou  shalt  hear  the 
 word  at  my  mouth,  and  warn  them  from 
 me.  (8>  When  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  0 
 wicked  man,  thou  shalt  surely  die;  if 
 thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the  wicked 
 from  his  way,  that  wicked  man  shall  die 
 in  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will  I  re- 
 quire at  thine  hand.  (°>  Nevertheless,  if 
 thou  warn  the  wicked  of  his  way  to  turn 
 
 Heb.,  A  land 
 when  I  brain  a 
 sword  upon  her. 
 
 2    Heb..    he     that 
 hearing  heareth. 
 
 a  ch.3. 17,  &c. 
 
 b  2  Sam.  M.  14  ;  cli. 
 18.  32. 
 
 3    Heb.,  judgment 
 andjusticc. 
 
 from  it ;  if  he  do  not  turn  from  his  way, 
 he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  thou 
 hast  delivered  thy  soul. 
 
 (io)  Therefore,  O  thou  son  of  man,  speak 
 unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  Thus  ye  speak, 
 saying,  If  our  transgressions  and  our 
 sins  be  upon  us,  and  we  pine  away  in 
 them,  how  should  we  then  live  ?  <n)  Say 
 unto  them,  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  God, 
 bI  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the 
 wicked  ;  but  that  the  wicked  turn  from 
 his  way  and  live  :  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from 
 your  evil  ways  ;  for  cwhy  will  ye  die,  0 
 house  of  Israel? 
 
 (12)  Therefore,  thou  son  of  man,  say 
 unto  the  children  of  thy  people,  The 
 rf  righteousness  of  the  righteous  shall  not 
 deliver  him  in  the  day  of  his  transgres- 
 sion :  as  for  the  wickedness  of  the 
 wicked,  he  shall  not  fall  thereby  in  the 
 day  that  he  turneth  from  his  wicked- 
 ness ;  neither  shall  the  righteous  be 
 able  to  live  for  his  righteousness  in  the 
 day  that  he  sinneth.  <13>  When  I  shall 
 say  to  the  righteous,  that  he  shall  surely 
 live ;  if  he  trust  to  his  own  righteous- 
 ness, and  commit  iniquity,  all  his  right- 
 eousnesses shall  not  be  remembered;  but 
 for  his  iniquity  that  he  hath  committed, 
 he  shall  die  for  it.  <u>  Again,  when  I 
 say  unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely 
 die  ;  if  he  turn  from  his  sin,  and  do  3that 
 which  is  lawful  and  right ;  (15>  if  the 
 wicked  restore  the  pledge,  give  again 
 
 is  said  that  Ezekiel  was  informed  in  the  morning  by  a 
 fugitive  from  Jerusalem  of  the  destruction  of  the  city, 
 and  in  accordance  with  tho  promise  of  chap.  xxiv.  27, 
 his  '*  mouth  was  opened,  and  I  was  no  more  dumb." 
 But  it  is  added  in  verse  22  that  "  the  hand  of  the 
 Lord  was  upon  me  iu  the  evening,  afore  he  that  was 
 escaped  came."  It  is  clear,  then,  that  Ezekiel  uttered 
 some  prophecy  on  the  evening  before  that  recorded  in 
 the  latter  part  of  the  chapter,  while  there  is  none 
 bearing  such  a  date.  The  prophecy  of  the  earlier  part 
 is,  however,  just  such  an  one  as  might  be  expected  at 
 that  time  ;  for  it  is  a  renewal  of  the  charge  to  him  in 
 his  work  on  entering  afresh  on  his  prophetic  activity 
 towards  Israel.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no  reasonable 
 doubt  that  this  is  the  prophecy  of  the  evening  before 
 he  received  the  official  tidings  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem, 
 and  is  placed,  like  all  his  other  prophecies  (except  those 
 against  foreign  nations),  in  its  proper  chronological 
 order. 
 
 The  prophecjr  itself  is  an  amplification  of  the  charge 
 given  in  chap.  iii.  16—21,  but  also  with  constant  re- 
 ference to  chap,  xviii. 
 
 <2)  Set  him  for  their  watchman.— The  same 
 figure  as  in  chap.  iii.  17.  Verses  2 — 9  form  the  in- 
 troduction to  this  renewed  commission,  and  closely 
 correspond  to  chap.  iii.  17—21.     Yet  these  verses  have 
 
 also  a  distinct  retrospective  object,  and  explain  to  the 
 people  why  he  had  hitherto  spoken  to  them  so  much 
 of  judgments  and  in  such  warning  tones  ;  this  liad  been 
 liis  duty,  both  in  obedience  to  God's  commands  and  in 
 regard  for  their  welfare,  and  it  would  still  be  his  duty 
 in  the  future.  The  passage  is  too  clear  to  need  com- 
 ment. 
 
 (io)  How  should  we  then  live  ?— Formerly, 
 when  the  prophet  had  given  them  warning  of  im- 
 pending judgments,  the  people  had  refused  to  believe; 
 now,  however,  when  those  judgments  had  been  realised, 
 they  despaired,  and  cried  out,  "  If  all  this  is  in  punish- 
 ment for  our  sins,  how  can  there  yet  be  any  hope 
 for  us  ?  " 
 
 (n)  I  have  no  pleasure.— Conip.  chap,  xviii.  28,32. 
 Ezekiel  meets  the  despair  of  the  people  by  the  assur- 
 ance, long  before  given  in  another  connection,  that 
 the  Creator  and  Father  of  all  can  have  no  pleasure  in 
 the  death  of  any,  and  adds  an  earnest  exhortation  to 
 repentance  that  they  may  be  saved.  Yet  it  was  very 
 important  that  there  should  be  no  misunderstanding  in 
 regard  to  the  basis  of  acceptance  with  God,  and  the 
 prophet  therefore,  in  the  following  verses  (12 — 20), 
 briefly  reiterates  the  teaching  of  chap,  xviii.  in  regard 
 to  the  individual  responsibility  of  every  one  for  himself 
 before  God.  This  teaching  has  already  been  explained 
 under  chap,  xviii. 
 
 296 
 
(lull's  Ways  an  Just. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXXriI. 
 
 The  Prophets  Mouth  Opt  ned. 
 
 that  In'  had  robbed,  wali  in  the  statutes 
 of  life,  without  committing  iniquity; 
 In-  shall  surely  live,  he  shall  nut  die. 
 <'">  Niuii'  of  his  sine  thai  he  hath  corn- 
 mil  ted  sha II  be  ment ioned  onto,  him :  he 
 hat  h  done  thai  which  is  lawful  and  right; 
 In'  shall  surely  live. 
 
 <17>  Yel  the  children  of  thy  people  say, 
 The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal  :  hut 
 as   far   them,  their  way  is   not   equal. 
 
 <'"'  When  the  righteous  turneth  from  his 
 
 righteousness,  and  i itteth  iniquity, 
 
 he  shall  even  ilie  thereby.     t1"1  Bui   if  the 
 
 nicked    turn    from   his  wickedness,  and 
 
 do  thai  which   is   lawful  and  rights  he 
 
 shall  live  I  hereby. 
 
 (»)  y(.(  ye  BaTj  aT]ie  way  0f  tiie  Lor(| 
 
 is  not  equal.  0  ye  house  of  Israel, 
 1   will  judge  you  every  one   after  his 
 
 ways. 
 
 1JM  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  twelfth 
 year  of  our  captivity,  in  the  tenth  month, 
 
 in  the  fifth  day  of  the  month,  that  one 
 thai  had  escaped  oul  of  Jerusalem  came 
 Hutu  me,  saying, 'The  city  is  smitten. 
 
 Xuw  the  hand  uf  the   l.oi:i>  u  a  -   upon 
 
 me  in  the  evening,  afore  he  thai  was 
 
 escaped    came;    and     had    opened   my 
 
 lie. nth,    until     he    came    tu    me     in    the 
 
 morning;  and  my   mouth  was  opened, 
 
 and  I  was  no  more  'dumb. 
 
 (^  Then   the  word  nf   the  Loimj   came 
 unto    me,   saying;,  <-n  Son   of    man,   1he\ 
 
 that  inhabit  those  wastes  of  the  land  of 
 Israel  speak,  saying.  Abraham  was  one, 
 and  he  inherited  the  land :  but  we  an 
 
 many;  the  land  is  given  us  for  inherit- 
 ance. <-''  Wherefore  say  unto  them, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Ye  eat  with 
 the  blood,  and  lift  up  your  eves  toward 
 your  idols,  and  shed  blood:  and  shall 
 ye  possess  the  land  ?  WYe  stand  upon 
 your  sword,  ye  work  abomination,  and 
 ye  defile  every  one  bis  neighbour's  wife: 
 
 <21>  In  the  twelfth  year.  Oomp.  2  Singe  m, 
 8;  JVr.  lii.  L2.  It  was  now  a  year  and  five  immt hs 
 siiuv  ilie  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple, 
 and  this  seems  to  be  a  long  time  to  be  occupied  in 
 carrying  the  news  to  Ohaldea,  The  news  itself  must 
 have  reached  Babylon  long  since,  but  Bzekiel  was  to 
 receive  the  tidings,  doubtless  with  full  and  circumstan- 
 tial details,  from  the  month  of  a  fugitive,  and  there  arc 
 reasons  why  1 1 1  i  — i  could  not  well  have  occurred  earlier. 
 \  i'i  i-i-  the  capture  of  the  city, the  general, Nebusaradan, 
 
 took  tin'   mass   of  the  people  and  the  abundant  spoil  to 
 
 carry  them   to  Babylon   (Jar.  lii.  15 — 27).     He  first 
 
 took  them  to  Xi'liuehaihic/.zar  at  Riblah,   where  a   few 
 
 were  executed,  and  some  time  must  have  been  occupied 
 in  settling  the  affairs  of  the  desolated  land.  After 
 this,  the  journey  of  the  captives,  earning  along  with 
 ih. 'm  the  weighty  spoil,  was  a  slow  one.  ami  perhaps 
 with  frequent  halts.  We  know  from  Ezra  vii.  9  that 
 the  returning  captives,    nol  thus  hindered,  occupied 
 
 exactly    four   months    in    the   journey  from   Babylon  to 
 
 Jerusalem.  It  U  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  it 
 should  have  been  four  tunes  as  long  from  the  capture 
 of  Jerusalem  to  the  arrival  of  the  captives  in  Chaldea. 
 This  prephcy  was  oearl]  two  months  before  that  re- 
 corded in  chap.  xxxii. 
 
 l'--i  Was  Upon  me.-  The  sentence  hecoiues  clearer 
 
 by  translating  this  in  the  •phuperf.:  The  hand  of  the 
 Lord  had  been  (already)  upon  me. 
 
 i-;>  Then  tho  word.— There  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
 that  the  following  prophecy  was  uttered  immediately 
 
 after  the  arrival  of  the  fugitive;  but  there  may  have 
 hen   a   short    interval.      None   of   the    prophecies   from 
 
 this  point  to  the  close  of  chap.  xxxix.  arc  dated .    Chape. 
 
 ll, — xlviii.  form  one  continuous  prophecy,  which  closes 
 the  hook,  and  is  dated  more  than  twelve  years  after  the 
 
 present  one,  We  are  then  to  suppose  that  the  prophe- 
 cies, to  chap.  x\\ix.  inclusive,  were  uttered  at  intervals 
 during  these  twelve  years,   but    we   have  no   means  of 
 
 fixing  their  dates  more  exactly. 
 
 t-"  Inhabit  those  wastes.-  ft  is  said  in  2  Kings 
 xxv.  12,  22 ;  Jer.  lii.  16,  xl..  that  the  poor  of  the  people 
 
 were  left  in  the  laud  for  vinedressers  and  for  husband- 
 men, and  that  these  were  joined  by  fugitive  Jews  from 
 Moab  and  Amnion  and  other  places.      It  is  to  these  that 
 
 the  present  part  of  this  prophecy  (verses  23 — 29)  is 
 
 addressed,  and  it  is  plain  that  the  murder  of  (Jedaliah, 
 and  consequent  (light  into  Egypt,  had  not  yet  taken 
 place. 
 
 Abraham  was  one  .  .  .  we  are  many.— The 
 argument  used  by  these  people  was  a  simple  one  :  the 
 land  was  promised  to  Abraham  and  his  seed  in  per- 
 petuity, lie  was  hut  one. and  the  promise  was  fulfilled; 
 we,  his  seed,  are  many,  and  it  cannot  fail  us.  This  dis- 
 position  to  rely  upon  their  descent  from  Abraham  was 
 
 characteristic  of  the  Jews  in  all  ages   see  Matt.  iii.  9; 
 
 John  viii.  33 — 39).  The  same  tendency  to  trust  in  the 
 external  privileges  given  them  is  apt  to  be  found  in  all 
 BgeS  among  those  whose  hearts  are  alienated  from  tied. 
 These  Jews,  to  avoid  the  force  of  the  prophet's  reproofs, 
 pa-sed  from  one  subterfuge  to  another.  First  it  was 
 that  God  would  not  abandon  His  holy  city  and  Temple; 
 then  that  the  judgments  were  so  far  in  the  future  that 
 they  need  cause  no  present  alarm;  now,  when  these 
 warnings  had  all  been  fulfilled,  they  clung  to  the  fact 
 that    tin-    land    was    theirs   by    pre  tting    the 
 
 conditions  which  had  been  attached  from  the  first  to  its 
 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Ye  eat  with  the  blood.— The   people  who 
 
 remained  in  the  land  went  on  as  before  in  their  course 
 of  sin.  The  crimes  here  charged  upon  them  verses  •_'.",. 
 2b)  are   the  same  as  those  all  along  alleged   against 
 
 them,  and   Jeremiah   gives  a  sad    picture   of  their  open 
 
 rebellion  against   the  express  commands  of  Qod    Jer. 
 
 xlii..   xliii.i.     This   particular  sin   of  eating  flesh   with 
 
 the  blood  had  been  repeatedly  forbidden,  first  to  Noah 
 
 (Gen.  ix.  4l.  and  again  under  the  Law  i  Lev.  iii.  17.  vii. 
 26,  \vii.  In— 1  I  ;    Dent.  xii.  16  . 
 
 (26)  Ye  stand  upon  your  sword.— Xot  to  engage 
 in  war.  which  cannot  here  be  thought  of.  but  to  take 
 part  in  individual  crimes  of  violence. 
 
 t-:'  In  the  forts  — is  rather,  in  the  natural  fast- 
 nesses in  which  the  land  abounded. 
 
 297 
 
Judgment  upon  Israel. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXIV. 
 
 Hypocrisy  of  the  People. 
 
 and  shall  ye  possess  the  land  ?  (27)  Say 
 thou  thus  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  As  I  live,  surely  they  that 
 are  in  the  wastes  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 
 and  him  that  is  in  the  open  field  will  I 
 give  to  the  beasts  Ho  be  devoured,  and 
 they  that  be  in  the  forts  and  in  the 
 caves  shall  die  of  the  pestilence.  (28)  For 
 I  will  lay  the  land  3most  desolate,  and 
 the  "  pomp  of  her  strength  shall  cease ; 
 and  the  mountains  of  Israel  shall  be 
 desolate,  that  none  shall  pass  through. 
 <29)  Then  shall  they  know  that  I  am  the 
 Lord,  when  I  have  laid  the  land  most 
 desolate  because  of  all  their  abomina- 
 tions which  they  have  committed. 
 
 (30)  Also,  thou  son  of  man,  the  children 
 of  thy  jteople  still  are  talking  against 
 thee  by  the  walls  and  in  the  doors  of  the 
 houses,  and  speak  one  to  another,  every 
 
 neb.,  to   devour 
 him. 
 
 Urb.,  desolation 
 and  denotation. 
 
 <h.  r.  94, & 24.21, 
 
 &  30.  6,  7. 
 
 Seb.,  according 
 to  tiic  coming  of 
 
 t!tc  people. 
 
 Or,  my  people  nit 
 before  thee. 
 
 Heh.,  they  make 
 loces,  or,  jests. 
 
 Heb..  ft  song  of 
 loves. 
 
 one  to  his  brother,  saying,  Come,  I  pray 
 you,  and  hear  what  is  the  word  that 
 cometh  forth  from  the  Lord.  <31>  And 
 they  come  unto  thee  3  as  the  people 
 cometh,  and  4they  sit  before  thee  as  my 
 people,  and  they  hear  thy  words,  but 
 they  will  not  do  them :  for  with  their 
 mouth  5they  shew  much  love,  but  their 
 heart  goeth  after  their  covetousness. 
 (32)  And,  lo,  thou  art  unto  them  as  6a 
 very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a 
 pleasant  voice,  and  can  play  well  on  an 
 instrument :  for  they  hear  thy  words, 
 but  they  do  them  not.  (s3)  And  when 
 this  cometh  to  pass,  (lo,  it  will  come,) 
 then  shall  they  know  that  a  prophet 
 hath  been  among  them. 
 
 CHAPTER    XXXTV.  —  W  And  the 
 word  of  the  Lokd  came  unto  me,  say- 
 
 (28)  Most  desolate. — When  the  people  of  the  nor- 
 thern kingdom  had  been  carried  into  captivity,  the  land 
 had  been  re-populated  by  colonies  brought  from  various 
 quarters  by  the  king  of  Assyria,  for  the  ten  tribes  were 
 not  to  return ;  but  now  the  land  of  Judah  was  to  be 
 left  utterly  desolate  and  uninhabited,  that  it  might  yet 
 be  re-occupied  by  the  returning  exiles.  The  complete 
 dispersion  of  the  people,  not  to  be  effected  even  by  war 
 and  conquest,  was  finally  accomplished  by  the  flight  of 
 the  remnant  into  Egypt  (Jer.  xliii.  5 — 7),  in  consequence 
 of  their  fears.' 
 
 (30)  The  children  of  thy  people.— The  few  re- 
 maining verses  of  this  chapter  are  concerned  with  those 
 in  exile — perhaps  uot  so  much  those  who  had  been  with 
 Ezekiel  all  along  as  fresh  captives  of  a  worse  moral 
 character  now  just  brought  from  Jerusalem.  Yet  of 
 them  all  alike  it  was  still  true  that  they  were  much  more 
 ready  to  listen  with  deferential  air  to  the  words  of 
 the  prophet  than  to  take  them  to  their  hearts  and  act 
 upon  them  iu  their  life.  The  prophet  is  here  warned 
 (verses  30 — 33)  not  to  be  misled  by  the  apparent  com- 
 pliance of  the  people,  as  he  had  been  before  strengthened 
 against  their  opposition  (chap.  iii.  8,  9) ;  but  it  must 
 have  carried  a  pang  deep  into  his  heart  to  know  how 
 superficial  was  the  effect  of  those  labours  to  which  he 
 had  devoted  himself  with  such  faithfulness. 
 
 Against  thee.— Rather,  of  thee.  The  people  are 
 not  represented  as  opposed  to  Ezekiel,  but  rather  as 
 enjoying  his  eloquence,  and  talking  about  liini  as  they 
 met  one  another,  but  without  any  serious  effort  to 
 follow  his  counsels — much  like  the  treatment  of  a 
 popular  preacher  by  his  people  at  the  pi-esent  day. 
 
 By  the  walls  and  in  the  doors.— Better,  within 
 the  walls.   The  meaning  is,  both  privately  and  publicly. 
 
 (3i)  As  the  people  cometh. — In  the  original, 
 according  to  the  coming  of  a  people — i.e.,  in  crowds. 
 In  the  following  clause,  "  as  my  people,"  there  is  an 
 emphasis  on  the  pronoun,  as  the  true  people  of  God. 
 Such  was  their  outward  bearing,  while  their  inward 
 disposition  was  far  different. 
 
 (33)  When  this  cometh  to  pass.—"  This  "  refers 
 to  what  the  prophet  is  commissioned  to  utter.  By  the 
 fulfilment  of  his  prophecies  of  judgment  they  had 
 already  been  brought  to  an  outward  recognition  of  his 
 
 authority;  it  remained  that  by  the  fulfilment  of  the 
 prophecies  yet  to  come  their  hearts,  or  at  least  the 
 hearts  of  the  better  part  of  them,  should  be  bowed  in 
 true  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  as  made  known 
 through  him. 
 
 xxxrv. 
 
 The  latter  part  of  the  Book  of  Ezekiel,  after  the 
 fulfilment  of  the  great  judgment  in  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem,  is  consolatory  in  its  character,  and  full  of 
 rich  promises  to  the  afflicted  people  of  God.  But  as 
 this  necessarily  involves  denunciations  of  the  oppressors 
 and  enemies  of  the  people,  it  will  aid  in  obtaining  a 
 clear  view  of  the  whole  to  make  a  brief  summary  of  the 
 contents  of  chaps,  xxxiv. — xxxix.  in  their  literal  inter- 
 pretation. Chap,  xxxiv.  announces  that  the  Lord  will 
 deliver  His  people  out  of  the  hands  of  the  selfish  and 
 wicked  shepherds  who  have  injured  and  oppressed 
 them,  and  will  Himself  feed,  protect,  and  bring  bless- 
 ings to  them  through  His  servant  David.  Chap, 
 xxxv. :  Because  Edom  has  always  hated  Israel,  and 
 sought  to  possess  itself  of  her  laud  in  the  time  of  her 
 distress,  therefore  its  own  land  shall  become  a  per- 
 petual desolation.  Chap,  xxxvi. :  On  the  other  baud, 
 Israel's  land  shall  be  restored  to  prosperity  for  the 
 Lord's  own  sake ;  His  people,  gathered  from  the 
 nations,  shall  be  cleansed  from  their  sins,  renewed  in 
 heart,  and  greatly  multiplied,  and  their  land  made  like 
 a  garden  of  God.  Chap,  xxxvii. :  The  house  of  Israel, 
 which  has  become  like  dry  bones,  shall  be  raised  to 
 new  life,  its  two  divided  kingdoms  re-united,  and  their 
 sins  forgiven;  and  God  will  make  them  dwell  in  their 
 land,  under  the  sovereignty  of  David,  with  a  perpetual 
 covenant  of  peace  with  Himself,  and  He  will  establish 
 His  sanctuary  among  them  for  ever.  Chaps,  xxxviii., 
 xxxix. :  Finally,  although  tlie  Lord  will  bring  their 
 enemies  agaiust  them  with  a  powerful  array,  yet  He 
 will  ultimately  destroy  these  foes,  have  compassion  on 
 Israel,  and  hide  His  face  from  His  people  no  more 
 for  ever.  The  meaning  of  these  prophecies  will  be 
 more  fully  discussed  in  its  place. 
 
 Chap,  xxxiv.  consists  of  three  parts :  in  the  first 
 (verses  1 — 10)  the  unfaithful  shepherds  are  denounced, 
 and  God  promises  to  take  His  flock  out  of  then-  hands  j 
 
 298 
 
Rebuke  of  ike  Shepherds, 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXIV 
 
 Jvdgrru  nl  upon  them 
 
 lag,    (:)  Scion    of   man,   prophesy    against 
 
 the  "shepherds  of  [srael,  prophesy,  and 
 BRJ  onto  them,  Tims  suit li  the  Lord 
 (ion  unto  tlic  shepherds  ;  Woe  l><  to  the 
 shepherds  of  Israel  thai  do  feed  them- 
 selves I  Bhould   nut   the  Bhepherds  feed 
 
 Hi,'    flocks  ?      (  :i  re   cat    the    fat,  ami   y 
 
 clothe  you  with  the  wool,  ye  kill  then 
 thai  are  fed  :  but  \  e  feed  not  the  flock, 
 
 ("Tin'  diseased  have  ye  not  strength- 
 ened, neither  have  ye  healed  that  which 
 was    sick,  neither  have  ye  hoiuid  up  that 
 
 which    was    broken,    neither    have    ye 
 
 hroiiLfht  ae-ain  that  wliich  was  driven 
 away ,  neither  have  ye  sought  that  which 
 was  lost;  but  with  'force  and  with 
 cruelty  have  ye  ruled  them.  M  And 
 they  were  scattered,  'because  tht  re  is  no 
 shepherd:  and  they  became  meat  to  all 
 the  beasts  of  the  field,  when  they  were 
 scattered.  (0)  My  sheep  wandered  through 
 all  the  mountains,  and  upon  every  high 
 hill :  yea,  my  flock  was  scattered  upon 
 all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  none  did 
 search  or  seek  after  them. 
 
 <7>  Therefore,  ye  shepherds,  hear  the 
 word  of  the  Lord;  Mis  I  live,  saith 
 
 1    Or.   it 
 
 I .  ami  Bo 
 vi-r.  8. 
 
 to  the  s<  i 
 
 the  Lord  <Joi>,  surely  because  my  flock 
 became  a   prey,  and   mj    flock   became 
 
 liic.il    to  every    beast    of  the   field,    Localise 
 
 there  was  no  shepherd,  neither  did  my 
 
 shepherds  search  for  my  Hook,  hut  the 
 shepherds    fed    themselves,  and    fed    not 
 
 iu\  Hock;  (•)  therefore,  0  ye  Bhepherds, 
 hear  the  word  of  the  Lobd ;  ""'Thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God;  Behold,  I  am 
 against  the  shepherds;  and  I  will  re- 
 quire my  flock    at  their  hand,  and  cause 
 
 them  to  cease  from  feeding  the  £ 
 
 neither  shall  the  shepherds  feed  them- 
 selves any  more;  for  I  will  deliver  my 
 flock  from  their  mouth,  that  they  may 
 not  be  meat  tor  them. 
 
 <u)  For  thus  Baith  the  Lord  God;  Be- 
 hold, I,  awn  [,  will  both  search  my  sheep, 
 and  seek  them  out.  (1->  -As  a  shepherd 
 seeketh  out  his  flock  in  the  day  that  he 
 is  among  his  sheep  that  are  scattered  ; 
 so  will  I  sck  out  my  sheep,  and  will  de- 
 liver them  out  of  all  places  where  they 
 have  been  scattered  in  the  cloudy  and 
 dark  day.  (13)  And  I  will  bring  them 
 out  from  the  people,  and  gather  them 
 from  the  countries,  and  will  bring  them 
 
 in  the  second  (verses  11 — 22),  lie  dedans  that  Ho  will 
 Eimself  take  charge  of  the  flock,  gather  it  together, 
 teed  it  in  good  pastures  in  Israel,  and  i t  out  the  evil 
 
 Erom  it;  while  in  the  last  pari  (verses  2:> — 31)  He 
 promises  to  appoint  David  as  His  shepherd  over  it,  to 
 make  with  them  I  covenant   nl'   peace,  and  to  bless  the 
 
 land  with  all  fruit  fulness,  so  that  they  shall  recognise 
 
 Him  as  their  God.  and  that  there  shall  l>e  communion 
 between    them.       TllO    whole    chapter    may    lie    looked 
 
 upon  as  an  amplification  of  the  short  prophecy  in  Jer. 
 
 xxiii.  1 — 8. 
 
 i-1  Shopherds  of  Israel.— This  is  a  common 
 Scriptural  expression  for  rulers,  and  the  whole  context 
 shows  that  these  are  the  persons  here  intended.  Iu 
 the  passage  in  Jer,  xxiii.  they  are  treated  under  this 
 name    separately    from    the    prophets   and    priests,   anil 
 
 also  in  Jer.  ii.  8  they  are  distinguished  from  prophets 
 
 and  priests.  The  name  itself  is  a  peculiarly  appro- 
 priate one.  and  seems  to  have  been  in  use  throughout 
 the  Bast,  but  especially  in  Israel,  from  the  time  when 
 
 David  was  taken  from  the  care  of  the  Bocks  to  feed 
 the    Lord's   people       i  ( 'omp.  2    Sam.   v.  2;   Ps.  lxxviii. 
 
 70,  71.) 
 
 That  do  feed  themselves.— This  nnlfinhnfinn  is 
 characteristic  of  the  unfaithful  shepherd (oomp.  John 
 
 x.  1 — 17).  and  is  enlarged  upon  in  verses  ;!,  t.  The 
 history  show  -  I  hat  for  a  long  time  it  bad  been  eminently 
 true  of  the  rulers,  and  especially  of  the  kiiisjs  of  Israel". 
 
 1  ■'"  They  wore  scattered,'  because  ;  .  .  .— Tho 
 
 Calamities  of  the  people  are  attributed  to  the  fault  of 
 the  rulers,  not  because  the  people  themselves  were  Eree 
 from  sin — the  contrary  has  already  been  abundantly 
 asserted   in    this  book — but    because  the   people's    sins 
 
 were  largely  due  to  the  evil  example,  the  idolatries, 
 
 the  oppressions,  and  the  disobedient'  of  their  rulers. 
 
 299 
 
 (fi)  My  sheep  wandered.— In  the  nrononm 
 
 sheep  and  mm  Mock.  God  again  claims  the  people  for 
 His  own.  Without  proper  guides,  they  have  indeed 
 strayed  far  away  from  Him,  and  there  lias  been  none 
 to  inquire  after  or  .seek  them  out  in  their  lost  condition. 
 The  two  words  search  and  so/.-  refer,  the  former  to 
 asking  or  inquiring,  the  latter  to  searching  after. 
 
 Iu  such  a  state  of  things,  plainly  the  first  act  of 
 mercy  to  the  dock  must  be  the  removal  of  the  unfaith- 
 ful shepherds.  This  is  promised  (verses  7 — I'M,  but, 
 after  E/ckid's  manner,  with  reiterated  declaration  of 
 the  unfaithfulness  of  the  Bhepherds. 
 
 (in  Behold,  I,  oven  I.— The  rich  promisee  of  the 
 
 following    verses    arc    all    essentially  contained    in   this, 
 
 that  Jehovah  Himself  will  be  the  Shepherd  of  His  Sock. 
 It  is  the  same  assurance  as  thai  given  by  the  Saviour 
 
 in   John   x.,  and    here,  as   there,   must    necessarily    be 
 
 understood  spiritually.    In  the  following  verses  many 
 
 promisee  are  given  of  an  earthly  and  temporary 
 character,  and  these  were  fulfilled  partly  in  the  re- 
 storation from  exile,  partly  in  the  glorious  deliverance 
 
 of  the  Church  from  its  foes  Under  the  Maecal s.     But 
 
 these  deliverances  themselves  were  but  types  of  the 
 more  glorious  Messianic  deliverance  of  the  future,  and 
 necessary  means  whereby  it  was  secured.  The  promise 
 of  that  deliverance  could  only  be  brought  at  all  within 
 the  comprehension  of  the  people  by  settiiiLT  it  forth  in 
 earthly  language,  just  as  even  now  it  is  impossible  for 
 us  to  understand  the  glories  of  the  Church  triumphant, 
 except  by  the  aid  of  the  sensible  images  in  which 
 Scripture  has  portrayed  them.  Far  less  was  it  possible 
 to  this  people,  so  much  behind  us  in  spiritual  education 
 and  enlightenment. 
 
 (I3)  Bring  them  to  their  own  land.— It  is  not 
 to  be  forgotten  that  this  is  a  pari  of  the  same  figurative 
 
Mercy  to  the  People. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXIV. 
 
 The  Kingdom  of  Christ. 
 
 to  their  own  land,  and  feed  them  upon 
 the  mountains  of  Israel  by  the  rivers, 
 and  in  all  the  inhabited  places  of  the 
 country.  (14)  I  will  feed  them  in  a  good 
 pasture,  and  upon  the  high  mountains 
 of  Israel  shall  their  fold  be  :  there  shall 
 they  lie  in  a  good  fold,  and  in  a  fat 
 pasture  shall  they  feed  upon  the  moun- 
 tains of  Israel.  (1S)  I  will  feed  my  flock, 
 and  I  will  cause  them  to  lie  down,  saith 
 the  Lord  God.  (16)  I  will  seek  that  which 
 was  lost,  and  bring  again  that  which 
 was  driven  away,  and  will  bind  up  that 
 which  was  broken,  and  will  strengthen 
 that  which  was  sick  :  but  I  will  destroy 
 the  fat  and  the  strong ;  I  will  feed  them 
 with  judgment. 
 
 <17>  And  as  for  you,  O  my  flock,  thus 
 saith  the  Lord  God;  Behold,  I  judge 
 between  battle  and  cattle,  between  the 
 rams  and  the  3he  goats.  (18)  Seemeth  it 
 a  small  thing  unto  you  to  have  eaten  up 
 the  good  pasture,  but  ye  must  tread 
 down  with  your  feet  the  residue  of  your 
 pastures  ?  and  to  have  drunk  of  the  deep 
 waters,  but  ye  must  foul  the  residue 
 with  your  feet?  <19>And  as  for  my  flock, 
 they  eat  that   which  ye  have  trodden 
 
 1  Heb.  .small  cattle 
 of  lambs  ami 
 kids. 
 
 2    Heb.,  great   he 
 goats. 
 
 a  lea.  40. 11 ; 
 10. 11. 
 
 with  your  feet ;   and  they  drink  that 
 which  ye  have  fouled  with  your  feet. 
 
 <20>  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God 
 unto  them ;  Behold,  I,  even  I,  will  j  udge 
 between  the  fat  cattle  and  between  the 
 lean  cattle.  (21)  Because  ye  have  thrust 
 with  side  and  with  shoulder,  and  pushed 
 all  the  diseased  with  your  horns,  till  ye 
 have  scattered  them  abroad;  (^'there- 
 fore will  I  save  my  flock,  and  they  shall 
 no  mor*e  be  a  prey ;  and  I  will  judge  be- 
 tween cattle  and  cattle.  (23)  And  I  will 
 set  up  one  "shepherd  over  them,  and  he 
 shall  feed  them,  even  my  servant  David; 
 he  shall  feed  them,  and  he  shall  be  their 
 shepherd.  (24)  And  I  the  Lokd  will  be 
 their  God,  and  my  servant  David  a 
 prince  among  them;  I  the  Lord  have 
 spoken  it.  (25)  And  I  will  make  with 
 them  a  covenant  of  peace,  and  will  cause 
 the  evil  beasts  to  cease  out  of  the  land  : 
 and  they  shall  dwell  safely  hi  the  wilder- 
 ness, and  sleep  in  the  woods.  (2C)  And  I 
 will  make  them  and  the  places  round 
 about  my  hill  a  blessing ;  and  I  will 
 cause  the  shower  to  come  down  in  his 
 season ;  there  shall  be  showers  of  bless- 
 ing.    <27>  And  the  tree  of  the  field  shall 
 
 language  with  "  the  cloudy  and  dark  day  "  of  the  pre- 
 ceding verse,  and  that  they  must  be  explained  in  the 
 same  way.  God's  people  have  wandered  in  the  gloom, 
 and  they  shall  be  gathered  back  to  Hiin  again. 
 
 (16)  The  fat  and  the  strong.— While  fatness  is  in 
 general  an  emblem  of  prosperity,  it  is  frequently  used 
 in  Scripture,  as  here,  for  that  prosperity  which  begets 
 hardness  of  heart  and  forgetfumess  of  God.  (See 
 Dent,  xxxii.  15  ;  Acts  xxviii.  27,  &c.) 
 
 With  judgment. — This  does  not  mean,  as  the 
 ambiguous  sense  of  the  English  word  might  make  it 
 possible  to  supjiose,  with  wisdom,  but  with  righteous- 
 ness and  authority,  as  is  plainly  seen  from  the  con- 
 nection with  the  following  verses. 
 
 (17)  Between  cattle  and  cattle.— In  other  words, 
 between  one  and  another  of  the  flock.  They  are  not 
 all  alike  to  be  saved  and  blessed,  but  only  those  who 
 turn  in  penitence  and  submission  to  God,  their  Shep- 
 herd. The  same  contrast  is  again  expressed  in  verses 
 20  and  22.  It  is  not  between  "  the  cattle  "  on  the  one 
 side,  and  "  the  rams  and  the  he-goats  "  on  the  other, 
 but  between  the  cattle  themselves,  and  also  between  the 
 rams  and  he-goats  themselves  ;  all  the  evil,  of  whatever 
 class,  are  to  be  rejected.  Verses  18,  19  are  addressed 
 to  those  who  will  be  rejected. 
 
 (18)  Tread  down  .  .  .  foul  the  residue.— The 
 charge  against  them  is  that  they  not  only  first  supplied 
 and  took  care  of  themselves,  but  with  careless  insolence 
 destroyed  what  should  have  been  for  others. 
 
 <23)  Set  up  one  shepherd. — He  is  one  both  with 
 reference  to  the  many  evil  rulers  who  have  gone  before 
 (and  this  implies  the  perpetuity  of  His  rule),  and  also 
 with  reference  to  the  two  kingdoms  of  Israel,  which  are 
 hereafter  to  be  for  evermore  united  in  the  one  Church  of 
 
 God.  Obviously  this  prophecy  can  find  its  accomplish- 
 ment in  no  merely  human  ruler. 
 
 My  servant  David.— The  name  of  David  is  here 
 put  simply,  as  in  verse  24,  chap,  xxxvii.  24,  25 ;  Jer.  xxx. 
 9 ;  Hos.  iii.  5,  instead  of  the  more  usual  designations 
 of  the  Messiah  as  the  Son,  the  Branch,  the  Offspring  of 
 David;  but  there  can  be  no  possible  doubt  of  the 
 meaning,  any  more  than  of  who  is  meant  by  Elijah  in 
 Mai.  iv.  5,  in  view  of  our  Lord's  own  interpretation  in 
 Matt.  xi.  14,  xvii.  11 — 14.  Yet  it  should  be  remem- 
 bered, if  any  one  should  incline  to  understand  this 
 whole  prophecy  literally,  that  if  one  part  is  to  be  so  un- 
 derstood the  rest  must  be  taken  in  the  same  way ;  if  "we 
 are  to  think  that  the  prophet  here  foretells  the  literal 
 restoration  of  the  two  kingdoms  of  Israel  to  their  own 
 land,  and  their  union  under  one  governor,  then  that 
 governor  must  be  David  himself.  The  absurdity  of 
 such  a  supposition  is  one  important  "element  in  show- 
 ing that  the  whole  is  to  be  understood  of  a  promise  of 
 spiritual  blessings,  and  of  the  gathering  of  God's  people 
 into  His  Church  as  one  flock  under  their  Almighty 
 Shepherd.  (Comp.  John  x.  14 — 18.)  David,  as  the 
 head  of  the  theocracy  and  the  ancestor  of  our  Lord 
 after  the  flesh,  constantly  appears  in  the  Scriptures  as 
 the  type  of  the  Messiah,  and  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
 doubt  that  this  prophecy  must  have  been  so  understood, 
 even  at  the  time  when  it  was  uttered. 
 
 <2«)  Bound  about  my  hill.— "  My  hill "  is  Zion. 
 (Comp.  the  similar  figurative  language  in  Isa.  xxxi.  4.) 
 The  centre  of  the  old  theocracy  is  always  spoken  of  in 
 Scripture  as  also  the  centre  from  which  goes  forth  the 
 new  covenant  of  salvation,  and  this  was  historically  ful- 
 filled in  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  cradling  of  His 
 Church  in  the  Jewish  Church.     The  continuity  of  the 
 
 300 
 
Its  Great  Blesamge. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXV 
 
 Judgm  nt  on  Edom. 
 
 yielil  ber  I'ruit,  and  the  earth  shall  yield 
 her  increase,  and  they  shall  be  saii-  in 
 their  land,  and  shall  know  thai  i  wm  the 
 Lobd,  when  I  have  broken  the  bands  of 
 their  yoke,  and  delivered  them  onl  of  the 
 
 hand  of  those  (hat  Served  themselves  of 
 
 them.  '-"-)  And  they  shall  no  more  be  a 
 prey  to  the  heathen,  neither  shall  the 
 
 I icast  of  t  he  land  devour  them;  hut  t  he\ 
 
 shall  dwell  safely,  and  none  shall  make 
 
 them  afraid.      I'-"'1  And   1  will  raise  nj.  for 
 
 them  a  'plant 1  of  renown,  and  they  shall 
 
 he  no  more  Consumed  with  hunger  in 
 the  land,  neither  hear  the  shamo  of  the 
 heathen  anymore.  (:!0)  Thus  shall  they 
 know  that  I  the  Lord  their  God  am 
 with  them,  and  that  they,  even  the  house 
 
 Of  Israel,  are  my  people,  saith  the  Lord 
 God.     <31>  And  ye  my  'flock,  the  flock  of 
 
 a  Isfl.  II.  I  :    Jit. 
 
 ii.  t.  ,(a 
 
 3    II.  t>..    ! 
 
 ilation. 
 
 i  Or,  hatn 
 
 r,  lit  l>.,  hnniU. 
 
 my  pasture,  are  men,  and  I  "»'  your  God, 
 saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXV.— »>  Moreover  the 
 word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me, saying, 
 
 IJ|  Bon  of  man,  set  thy  face  againsi 
 mount  Seir,  and  prophesy  againai  it, 
 :i  and  say  unto  it,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 (ioi>  ; 
 
 Behold,  0  mount  Seir,  I  am  against 
 thee,  and  I  will  stretch  out  mine  hand 
 against  thee,  and  I  will  make  thee  'most 
 desolate,  ffl  [  will  lay  thy  cities  waste, 
 and  thou  shalt  be  desolate,  and  thou 
 shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord. 
 
 (5>  Because  thou  hast  had  a  'perpetual 
 hatred,  and    hast  5shed  tin:  hlmul    <•/  the 
 
 children  of  Israel  by  the  "force  of  the 
 s\\ old  in  the  time  of  their  calamity,  in 
 
 Ohuroh   was   preserved  quite  a<  fully    through    the 
 
 Ohri  ii i   as   through  the    Babylonian  captivity, 
 
 quite  as  large  a  number  of  the  Jews  having  embraced 
 Christ  iauiiv  as  over  returned  from  the  exile  in 
 Ohaldea. 
 
 Will  raise  up  for  them  a  plant  of  re- 
 nown.-  Better,  a  plantation  for  renown.  The  same 
 Hebrew  word  occurs  mehaps.xvii.  7.  xxxi.  4,  and  means 
 plantation.  The  thought  is  that  God  would  provide 
 Israel  with  such  a  (air and  fruitful  land  as  should  make 
 them  famous  for  their  bleseings.  The  idea  of  tin- went 
 is  not  that  which  seems  to  be  implied  by  our  version 
 (with  its  marginal  references  to  lsa.  xi.  1 ;  Jer.  xxiii.  5), 
 a  plant  iir  a  branch,  referring  to  the  Messiah;  a 
 different  word  is  used  here,  which  occurs,  besides  the 
 places  oamed,  only  in  lsa.  lx.  21,  lxi.  3,  and  Micali  i.  6, 
 in  nil  of  which  it  is  translated  planting. 
 
 (si)  The  flock  of  my  pasture.— The  chapter 
 closes  with  the  strangest  and  tenderesi  assurance  that 
 the  object  of  its  figurative  language  is  to  point  ont  the 
 renewed  and  close  communion  which  is  to  come  about 
 between  Qod  and  His  people.  They  are  to  be  His  dock. 
 and  He  is  to  !"•  their  Qod.  Yet  still,  the  vast  and  in- 
 tinite  distance  between  them  is  not  left  out  of  view,  but 
 rather  brought  prominently  forward — they  are  men  j  He 
 is  Qod,  They  were  not  yet  prepared  to  understand 
 bow  this  infinite  chasm  could  be  bridged  over;  only  it 
 
 should  he  liy  t  heir  sin). herd  David.  We  know  t  hat  He 
 was  the  Mediator,  both  God  and  man,  thus  uniting  both 
 in  one. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 This  and  the  following  chapter  are  closely  conn 
 in  fait.  (haps.  xxxv. — xxxvi.  15  form  one  continuous 
 prophecy,  while  chap,  xxxvi.  16—88  is  another  and  dis- 
 tinct one.  and  the  division  of  the  chapters  should  have 
 been  made  between  them.  The  prophecy  contains  a 
 denunciation  of  .Mount  Seir  as  the  enemy  of  Israel 
 (chap.  xxxv).  and  in  contrast  with  this,  a  promise  of  the 
 richest  blessings  Upon  the  mountains  of  Israel.     Ezckiel 
 
 had  already  foretold  the  desolation  of  Edom  (Mount 
 Seir.  chap.  xxv.  12 — 17);  but  in  the  present  prophecy 
 
 this  becomes  a  foil  to  set  off  the  prosperity  of  Israel. 
 and  in  fact,  under  the  circumstances,  a  necessary 
 element  of  that  prosperity.     Moreover,  as  iu  the  last 
 
 301 
 
 Chapter  Israel  stood  as  the  representative  of  the  Church 
 of  Qod,  so  here  Edam  and  Israel,  while  they  stand  in 
 the    foreground   as    actually   existing    nations,    are    yet 
 
 evidently  regarded  in  the  Divine  Word  as  representing, 
 
 the  one  the  kingdom  of  God.  and  the  other  all  hostile 
 powers  of  tin-  world.      This  typical   and  symbolical  way 
 
 of  looking  at  present  things  hecoines  increasingly  pro- 
 minent in  all  the  latter  part  of  Ezckiel. 
 
 (-)  Mount  Seir.— This  poetical  designation  of  the 
 
 Edomitcs  from  the  hind  which  they  inhabited  is  common 
 in  Scripture  (Gen.  xxxvi.  8,  '.' ;  Dent,  ii.  1,5;  1  Chron. 
 iv.  4  2,  \e.).  The  land  included  the  whole  mountainous 
 region  between  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Elanitie  Gulf,  or 
 eastern  branch  of  the  Red  Sea.  The  earlier  denuncia- 
 tion of   the   Edomites  had   in  view    their  historical 
 
 relations  to  Israel;  this,  on  the  other  hand,  as  already 
 said— like  lsa.  xxxi  v..  lxiii.  1  -6 — while  still  keeping  this 
 
 historical  relation  in  view,  regards  them  also  as  repre- 
 sentative of  the  world's  hostility  to  the  covenant  people 
 
 of  God.      This   appears    from   the  fact    that   the  dec 
 tion    of  Edom.  it-elf  but   a   small   province,    IS    put   in 
 contrast     (verse     lb    with    the    rejoicing   of    (he    whole 
 earth,  and  that  in  chap,  xxxvi.  5  (ai  illy  verses 
 
 3 — 7)  Edom  is  coupled  with  "the  residue  of  the 
 heathen."  For  the  phrase  "set  thy  face  against."'  see 
 chap.  xiii.  17;    and  on  verse  3,  conip.  chap.  vi.  14-. 
 
 Perpetual  hatred.— Enmity  towards   Israel  is 
 
 also  imputed  to  the  Ammonites,  Moabitee,  ami  Philis. 
 
 tines  in  chap.  xxv.  :   but   that  of  Edom  was  deeper  and 
 
 val  with  its  first  ancestor  (sec  I  ten,  \\v.  22,  A..-.,  xxvii. 
 
 41);  it-  peculiar  malignity  is  noticed  by  Amos  i.  11. 
 (Comp.  also  Obad.  10—15.) 
 
 Shed  the  blood.— ''Blood  "is  not  in  the  original,  and 
 should  be  omitted.  The  verb  means  literally  to  pour 
 Out,  and  the  clause  should  be  rendered  host  scattered 
 the  ehUdrt  n  of  Israel.  The  same  expression  occurs  in 
 Ps.  lxiii.  10;Jer.  xviii.  21.  The  time  specifically  re- 
 ferred to  is  that  of   the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  as 
 
 both  that  of  their  great  "calamity"  and  that  when 
 "  their    iniquity  had  an  end."       t>n   the  last  phrase,  see 
 
 Note  an  chap.  xxi.  -itu    So  the  world-power  generally. 
 
 while  it  may  fawn  upon  and  corrupt  the  Church  in  the 
 day  of  its  prosperity,  shows  its  undisguised  hostility  in 
 every  time  of  adversity. 
 
Because  she  Hated  Israel 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXVI. 
 
 She  shall  be  Punished. 
 
 the  time  that  their  iniquity  Ivad  an  end : 
 <6)  therefore,  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord 
 God,  I  will  prepare  thee  unto  blood,  and 
 blood  shall  pursue  thee  :  sith  thou  hast 
 not  hated  blood,  even  blood  shall  pursue 
 thee.  (7)  Thus  will  I  make  mount  Seir 
 ^lost  desolate,  and  cut  off  from  it  him 
 that  passeth  out  and  him  that  returneth. 
 (8)  And  I  will  fill  his  mountains  with  his 
 slain  men :  in  thy  hills,  and  in  thy  val- 
 leys, and  in  all  thy  rivers,  shall  they  fall 
 that  are  slain  with  the  sword.  <9)  I  will 
 make  thee  perpetual  desolations,  and  thy 
 cities  shall  not  return  :  and  ye  shall  know 
 that  I  am  the  Loed. 
 
 (10>  Because  thou  hast  said,  These  two 
 nations  and  these  two  countries  shall  be 
 mine,  and  we  will  "possess.it ;  2  whereas 
 the  Lord  was  there  :  (n)  therefore,  as  I 
 live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  will  even  do 
 according  to  thine  anger,  and  according 
 to  thine  envy  which  thou  hast  used  out 
 of  thy  hatred  against  them  ;  and  I  will 
 make  myself  known  among  them,  when 
 I  have  judged  thee.     <12>  And  thou  shalt 
 
 1  Heb.,  desolation 
 and  desolation. 
 
 2    Or,    thouoh    the 
 Loud  was  tliere. 
 
 3  Heb.,  to  devour. 
 
 i  Heb.,  magnified. 
 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  and  that  I 
 have  heard  all  thy  blasphemies  which 
 thou  hast  spoken  against  the  mountains 
 of  Israel,  saying,  They  are  laid  desolate, 
 they  are  given  us  3to  consume.  (13)  Thus 
 with  your  mouth  ye  have  *boasted 
 against  me,  and  have  multiplied  your 
 words  against  me  :  I  have  heard  them. 
 <u>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  When  the 
 whole  earth  rejoiceth,  I  will  make  thee 
 desolate.  (1S)  As  thou  didst  rejoice  at 
 the  inheritance  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
 because  it  was  desolate,  so  will  I  do  unto 
 thee  :  thou  shalt  be  desolate,  O  moimt 
 Seir,  and  all  Idumea,  even  all  of  it : 
 and  they  shall  know  that  T  am  the 
 Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXVI.— d)  Also,  thou 
 son  of  man,  prophesy  unto  the  b  moun- 
 tains of  Israel,  and  say, 
 
 Ye  mountains  of  Israel,  hear  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  :  <2>  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God;  Because  the  enemy  hath  said 
 against  you,  Aha,  even  the  ancient  high 
 
 (6)  I  will  prepare  thee  unto  blood.— Rather,  I 
 ivill  make  thee  blood.  There  is  here  a  play  upon  the 
 name  of  Edom  in  the  original :  I  will  make  thee  dom 
 (=  blood) ;  Edom  itself  means  red.  The  latter  part  of 
 the  verse  brings  out,  as  frequently,  the  eongruity  of 
 the  punishment :  violence  shall  come  upon  him  who 
 has  loved  ("  not  hated  ")  violence. 
 
 0)  Him  that  passeth  out.— The  cutting  off  of 
 the  traveller  is  a  striking  feature  in  the  doom  of  Edom, 
 for  her  nomadic  tribes  had  been  the  great  carriers 
 between  India  and  the  East  and  Egypt,  and  she  had 
 grown  rich  by  this  commerce.  The  fierceness  of  the 
 few  tribes  now  wandering  over  the  land  make  even  the 
 occasional  visit  of  the  curious  traveller  a  matter  of 
 difficulty  and  danger. 
 
 (8)  Rivers. — As  elsewhere  =  river-courses,  in  which 
 water  was  found  only  at  times. 
 
 (io)  These  two  countries  shall  be  mine.— In 
 verses  3 — 9  the  sin  charged  upon  Edom  is  its  hatred 
 of  Israel;  in  verses  10 — 15,  its  desire  to  possess  itself 
 of  Israel's  inheritance.  The  two  nations  and  countries 
 are,  of  course,  the  two  kingdoms  of  Israel  and  Judah. 
 
 Whereas  the  Lord  was  there. — This  fact  brings 
 out  the  real  sin.  Edom  desired  Israel's  possessions, 
 not  as  it  might  have  desired  those  of  other  nations,  but 
 knowing  that  this  was  the  peculiar  inheritance  given  by 
 God  to  His  people,  and  which  it  thought  ought  to  have 
 been  given  to  itself  as  the  elder  branch,  thus  arraying 
 itself  in  direct  opposition  to  God. 
 
 <12)  Blasphemies.  —  Rather,  reproaches.  These 
 indeed  became,  under  the  circumstances,  constructively 
 blasphemies  against  God ;  but  it  is  better  not  to  push 
 the  meaning  f  urther  than  was  intended. 
 
 (U)  The  whole  earth.— This  is  taken  by  some 
 writers — as,  indeed,  Hebrew  usage  very  well  allows — of 
 the  whole  land,  viz.,  of  Israel.  It  seems  better,  how- 
 ever, to  keep  the  sense  of  our  version,  for  the  thought 
 is  not  confined  to  Edom.     When  all  the   earth  shall 
 
 302 
 
 rejoice  in  the  salvation  of  God,  and  "  the  earth  shall  be 
 full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,"  then  Edom,  the 
 hostile  power  of  the  world,  shall  be  desolate. 
 
 <15)  Because  it  was  desolate.— This  is  spoken  of 
 Israel ;  yet  Israel  was  to  preserve  a  remnant  who  should 
 return  to  their  land,  and  idtimately  become  the  centre 
 of  the  new  covenant.  So  the  desolation  of  Edom, 
 though  ultimately  perpetual  as  far  as  its  nationality  is 
 concerned,  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  fact  foretold  by 
 Amos  (chap.  ix.  12),  that  a  remnant  even  of  Edom 
 should  at  last  be  received  into  the  Church. 
 
 All  Idumea. — It  is  better  to  keep  the  uniform 
 name  of  Edom.  Idumea  is  essentially  the  same  country, 
 but  is  a  more  modern  name,  and  when  it  came  into  use 
 the  bounchmes  had  somewhat  changed. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 The  first  fifteen  verses  of  this  chapter,  as  already 
 noted,  belong  to  chap,  xxxv.,  and  form  part  of  the 
 same  prophecy. 
 
 (i)  The  mountains  of  Israel.— The  word  "moun- 
 tains" is  used  for  the  land  and  people  of  Israel,  to  keep 
 up  the  connection  (by  contrast)  with  the  Mount  Seir  of 
 the  previous  chapter.  The  personification  is  a  strong 
 one,  by  which  the  mountains  represent  the  people  as 
 well  as  the  land. 
 
 (2)  The  ancient  high  places. — This  is  very  nearly 
 the  same  expression  as  in  Gen.  xlix.  26 ;  Deut.  xxxiii. 
 15,  where  it  is  translated  "  everlasting  (or  lasting) 
 hills,"  and  is  probably  an  allusion  to  those  passages. 
 "  The  enemy  "  is  a  general  term,  which  may  refer  to 
 Edom  ;  but  from  the  following  verses  it  is  more  likely 
 that  it  is  used  for  the  heathen  at  large.  When  Israel's 
 land  had  been  left  desolate,  the  surrounding  nations 
 claimed  that  God's  promise  to  His  people  had  failed, 
 and  that  they  themselves  might  now  enter  upon  its 
 secure  possession. 
 
Uettruction  of  hi  r  /.'■ 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXVI. 
 
 and  Comfort  to 
 
 places  axe  oar's  in  possession:  (^there- 
 fore prophesj  and  Bay,  Thns  s;iitli  the 
 fjord  Qon;  '  Because  they  have  made  you 
 desolate,  and  Bwallowed  yon  ap  on  everj 
 siil.',  thai  ye  might  be  a  possession  unto 
 the  residue  of  the  heathen,  and  '  ye  are 
 taken  op  in  the  lips  of  talkers,  and  wn 
 an  infamy  of  the  people!  "'  therefore,  ye 
 mountains  of  Israel,  hear  the  word  of  the 
 
 Lord    <  rOD  ;    Thus    saith    the    Lore!    <  Ion 
 
 t < >  the  ontains,  and  to  the  hills,  t<> 
 
 the  8rivers,  and  to  the  valleys,  to  the 
 desolate  wastes,  and  to  the  cities  that 
 are  forsaken,  which  became  a  prey  and 
 
 derision  to  the  residue  of  the  heathen 
 that  a/re  round  about;  <5>  therefore  thus 
 suit  h  the  Lord  (loo;  Surely  in  the  fire 
 of  my  jealous\  have  1  spoken  against 
 the  residue  of  the  heathen,  and  against 
 all  Iduiuea,  which  have  appointed  my 
 land  into  their  possession  with  the  joy 
 Of  all  lln'ir  heart,  with  despiteful  minds, 
 
 to  ea>t  it  out  lor  a  prey.  W>  Prophesy 
 therefore  concerning  the  land  of  Israel, 
 and  say  unto  the  mountains,  and  to  the 
 hills,  to  the  rivers,  and  to  the  valleys. 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I 
 have  spoken  in  my  jealousy  and  in  my 
 fury,  heeause  ye  have  borne  the  shame 
 of  the  heathen  :  W  therefore  thus  saith 
 
 i  no. .  /:. 
 
 I  <  >r,  yt   a 
 
 "i»t>t  tin 
 
 hi*  of  UU 
 
 'torn*,  or. 
 
 1  Or,  cause  to  fall 
 
 the  Lord  God;  I    have  lifted  up  mine 
 
 hand,  Surely  the' heathen  that  ./,-.  ahoiit 
 
 von,  they  shall  bear  their  Bhame. 
 <8>  But  ye,  0  mountains  of  Israel,  ye 
 
 shall    shoot    forth    your    branches,    and 
 
 yield  your  fruit  to  my  people  of  Israel; 
 
 for  they  are  at  hand  to  come.     '     For,  be- 
 hold, I  "ni  for  you,  and   I   will  turn  unto 
 you,  and  ye  shall    be  tilled   and  sown  : 
 li"  and  I  will   multiply  men  upon  you, 
 
 all   the   house  of   Israel,   even    all  of   it  : 
 
 and  the  cities  shall  be  inhabited,  and 
 the  wastes  shall  be  buflded  !  '"'  and  I 
 will  multiply  upon  you  man  and  beasi  ; 
 and  they  shall  increase  and  bring  fruit  : 
 and  I  will  settle  you  after  your  old  es- 
 tates, and  will  do  better  unto  you  than 
 at  your  beginnings  :  and  ye  shall  know- 
 that  I  am  the  Lord.  0*)  Yea,  I  will 
 cause  men  to  walk  upon  yon,  even  my 
 people  Israel  ;  and  they  shall  possess 
 thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  their  inheritance, 
 and  thou  shalt  no  more  henceforth  be- 
 reave them  a/  hi- 
 
 (1:;)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  (  Ion  :  iJeoause 
 they  say  unto  you,  Thou  land  devourest 
 up  men,  and  hast  bereaved  thy  nations  ; 
 <u>  therefore  thou  shalt  devour  men  no 
 more,  neither  d bereave  thy  nations  any 
 more,  saith  the  Lord  God.     W  Neither 
 
 (3)  In  the  lips  of  talkers,  and  are  an  infamy. 
 — A  phrase  ci[uiv:iU'iit.  to  a  by-word  and  "  np roach. 
 (Oomp.  Deut.  xwiii.  :!7  ;  1  Kings  ix.  7.  &r.)  Iu  the 
 previous  clause  tlio  wools,  "liavc  swallowed  you  up," 
 should  rather  be  "pant  for  yon,"  the  word  being 
 taken  bom  the  muffing  and  panting  of  wild  boasts.  It 
 was  after  this  fashion  that  " tin i residue  of  the  heathen," 
 all  those  whom  the  oonqoests  of  Netmohadneziar  had 
 
 yet  left,  panted  for  the  possession  of  the  lands  of  Israel. 
 (*)  Idumea  =  Edoiu.  as  in  chap.  xxxv.  15,  where  see 
 Note.  Fur  "  east  it  out,''  iu  tho  last  clause  of  the  \orse. 
 read,  empty  U  out.  The  idea  nt'  casting  out.  a  land 
 for  a  prey  is  incongruous,  and  the  other  seuso  is  ad- 
 lnissilile. 
 
 PI  Lifted  up  mine  hand.— As  in  chap.  xx.  6  = 
 
 "  I  have  sworn." 
 
 Shall  bear  thoir  shame. — Comp.  verso  0.  The 
 Israelite-,  have  been  compelled  to  hear  the  reproaches 
 
 of  the  heath. 'ii.  hut  these  now  return  span  themselves. 
 i"1  Shoot  forth  your  branches.— The  land  of 
 Israel,  represented  by  its  mountains,  is  now  to  put 
 forth  its  fruit,  for  the  time  is  at  hand  when  tho  peoplo 
 will  return — a  strong  and  \i\id  way  of  Betting  forth  at 
 Once  the  certainty  and  the  008X11088  of  the  return. 
 
 pi)  Will  multiply  upon  you.— The  promisee  of 
 abundant  blessing  of  this,  with  the  previous  and  follow- 
 ing verses,  certainly  received  a  partial  fulfilment  at  the 
 
 time  following  the  return  from  tl xile,  and  in  the 
 
 subsequent  ttaooabean  period;  yel  one  cannot  hut  feel 
 that  the  language  of  promise,  if  taken  only  in  a  literal 
 
 sense,    goes    far    beyond    the    historic    fulfilment,   and 
 
 heuee   that    these  earthly  blessing  are  the  shadow  and 
 
 type  by  which  is  set  forth  the  higher  spiritual  blessing 
 given  to  the  Church  without  stint. 
 
 Settle  you  after  your  old  estates. — This  does 
 not  mean  that  particular  families  are  to  have  again 
 each  their  own  former  inheritance — though,  doubtless, 
 this  was  true,  as  far  as  circumstances  allowed,  of  tho 
 comparatively  small  number  of  families  who  returned — 
 but  that  they  shall  in  general  be  settled  and  prosperous, 
 as  of  old.  And  even  this  promise  is  eclipsed  bythe 
 next  clause:  "1  will  do  better  unto  you  than  at  your 
 beginnings,"  which  can  only  be  considered  as  fulfilled 
 in  the  spiritual  blessings,  far  higher  and  letter  than 
 anything  of  earth,  of  the  Messianic  kingdom. 
 
 1  Thou  land  devourest  up  men.— Comp. 
 Num.  xiii.  32,  a  passage  probably  in  the  prophet's 
 mind,  though  he  uses  it  for  a  different  reason.  Israel 
 had  so  often  sinned,  and  so  often,  in  consequence, 
 suffered  the  Divine  punishments,  that  the  heathen,  not 
 recognising  the  true  cause,  superstitiously  attributed 
 the  result  to  something  iu  the  land  itself. 
 
 With  the  promises   of    this  chapter  oomp.   Isa.   liv. 
 
 1 — 8.  It  is  impossible  to  interpret  that  passage  other- 
 wise than  of  spiritual  blessings;  and  E/.eki.d.  as  a 
 devout  .Tow.  as  well  as  a  prophet,  was  thoroughly 
 penetrated  with  the  Bame  hopes  as  are  there  express    1 
 
 by  the  evangelic  prophet, 
 
 (is)  Cause    ...   to  fall.— In  the  last  four 
 
 there  is  a  delicate  play  upon  words  which  cannot  well 
 
 be  expressed  in  English.    Two  verba  are  used,  each 
 
 of  them  twice  («'  bereave"  in  verse   It  should  be  cause 
 
 303 
 
Israel  was  Punished  for  her  Sin. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXVI. 
 
 She  shall  be  Pitied. 
 
 will  I  cause  men  to  hear  in  thee  the 
 shame  of  the  heathen  any  more,  neither 
 shalt  thou  hear  the  reproach  of  the 
 people  any  more,  neither  shalt  thou 
 cause  thy  nations  to  fall  any  more,  saith 
 the  Lord  God. 
 
 (ic)  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 came  unto  me,  saying, 
 
 <17>  Son  of  man,  when  the  house  of 
 Israel  dwelt  in  their  own  land,  they  de- 
 filed it  hy  their  own  way  and  by  their 
 doings  :  their  way  was  before  me  as  the 
 uncleanness  of  a  removed  woman. 
 (is)  Wherefore  I  poured  my  fury  upon 
 them  for  the  blood  that  they  had  shed 
 upon  the  land,  and  for  their  idols  where- 
 with   they  had  polluted  it :  <19>  and  I 
 
 a  Isa.  52. 5  ;  Roni. 
 
 2.24. 
 
 scattered  them  among  the  heathen,  and 
 they  were  dispersed  through  the 
 countries :  according  to  their  way  and 
 according  to  their  doings  I  judged  them. 
 <20>  And  when  they  entered  unto  the 
 heathen,  whither  they  went,  they  "  pro- 
 faned my  holy  name,  when  they  said  to 
 them,  These  are  the  people  of  the  Lord, 
 and  are  gone  forth  out  of  his  land. 
 (21)  But  I  had  pity  for  mine  holy  name, 
 which  the  house  of  Israel  had  profaned 
 among  the  heathen,  whither  they  went. 
 (22)  Therefore  say  unto  the  house  of 
 Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  do 
 not  this  for  your  sakes,  O  house  of 
 Israel,  but  for  mine  holy  name's  sake, 
 which  ye  have   profaned    among    the 
 
 to  fall,  as  in  margin),  one  of  them  meaning  to  bereave, 
 the  other  to  cause  to  fall ;  and  these  verbs  have  the 
 same  radical  letters,  but  with  tho  first  two  of  them 
 transposed. 
 
 In  reviewing  this  whole  prophecy  (chaps,  xxxv. — 
 xxxvi.  15),  it  is  evident  that  the  time  had  in  view  by 
 the  prophet  was  one  in  which  Edom  still  existed  as  a 
 nation,  and  was  rejoicing  in  the  fall  of  Israel.  It 
 cannot,  therefore,  look  forward  to  any  literal,  but  still 
 future,  accomplishment,  since  Edom,  as  a  nation,  has 
 long  since  disappeared  ;  and  no  future  people,  occupy- 
 ing the  same  territory  or  bearing  the  same  name, 
 could  possibly  sustain  the  same  historic  relations  to 
 Israel  as  are  here  attributed  to  Edom.  Whatever, 
 therefore,  is  to  be  literally  understood  in  the  prophecy 
 must  have  been  long  ago  fulfilled.  And  this  was 
 much.  Israel  was  restored  to  its  land,  and  there 
 greatly  multiplied,  so  that  the  country  became  for  ages 
 one  of  the  most  fertile  and  prosperous  in  Asia.  At 
 the  same  time,  the  sinfulness  of  the  people,  as  of  old, 
 hindered  the  fulness  of  blessing  that  was  within  their 
 reach.  But  a  small  part  of  them  availed  themselves  of 
 the  opportunity  to  return  to  their  land ;  and  they  who 
 did  so  suffered  themselves  so  to  live  that  when  the 
 crowning  blessing  of  the  ages  was  fulfilled  in  the 
 coming  of  the  Messiah,  the  mass  of  the  nation  rejected 
 and  crucified  Him.  The  blessings  promised  were  ful- 
 filled literally  as  far  as  the  sinfulness  of  the  people 
 allowed;  but  inasmuch  as  these  prevented  anything 
 like  the  full  realisation  of  the  terms  of  the  prophecy, 
 and  as  no  future  realisation  of  these  is  possible,  on 
 account  of  the  total  change  of  conditions  and  circum- 
 stances, it  is  plain  that  under  these  earthly  terms  the 
 prophet,  like  his  predecessors,  Isaiah  and  the  others, 
 sets  forth  the  glories  of  the  spiritual  future,  and  uses 
 earthly  blessings  as  the  types  of  those  better  ones 
 which  are  heavenly. 
 
 Verses  16 —  38  constitute  a  separate  prophecy,  but 
 one  closely  connected  with  that  which  has  gone  before. 
 It  is  here  declared  that  Israel  has  been  scattered  among 
 the  heathen  because  they  had  defiled  the  laud  by  their 
 sin  (verses  16 — 19) ;  then,  that  although  they  had  yet 
 further  profaned  God's  name  among  the  heathen,  He 
 yet  had  pity  for  that  name's  sake  (verses  20 — 23) ;  and, 
 accordingly,  that   He  will  gather  and  restore  Israel, 
 
 cleansing  them  from  their  sins,  and  giving  them  a 
 heart  to  keep  His  commandments  (verses  24 — 32) ;  and 
 in  consequence  of  this  change  that  He  will  greatly  bless 
 them  (verses  35 — 38).  The  great  point  of  the  prophecy 
 is  the  moral  change  foretold  in  verses  25 — 27,  31. 
 
 (17)  They  defiled  it.— In  verses  17—20  the  sin  of 
 Israel  in  the  past  is  set  forth  as  the  reason  of  their 
 present  condition.  "  The  land  "  is  always  regarded  in 
 Scripture  as  peculiarly  consecrated  to  God,  and  defiled 
 by  the  sin  of  the  people.  (Comp.  Lev.  xviii.  28 ;  Num. 
 xxxv.  34.)  The  comparison  is  with  a  woman  who  has 
 been  set  apart  for  uncleanness  (Lev.  xv.  19),  who  until 
 her  purification  was  not  allowed  to  come  into  the 
 sanctuary. 
 
 (20)  When  they  said  to  them.— We  are  not  here 
 to  understand  that  the  Israelites  profaned  God's  name 
 among  the  heathen  in  the  way  spoken  of  in  Rom.  ii.  24, 
 though  this  also  may  have  been  done ;  but  they  pro- 
 faned it  by  the  very  fact  of  their  captivity,  the  conse- 
 quence of  their  former  sins.  The  heathen  regarded 
 Jehovah  as  merely  the  national  God  of  the  Israelites, 
 and  seeing  them  dispersed,  in  distress,  and  in  captivity, 
 concluded  that  He  was  unable  to  protect  them.  Hence, 
 for  the  vindication  of  His  name  (verses  21 — 24)  God 
 would  restore  His  people  to  their  land. 
 
 (2i)  Pity  for  mine  holy  name. — The  meaning  of 
 this  has  been  already  explained  in  the  Note  on  the 
 previous  verse ;  and  in  the  following  verses  it  is  em- 
 phasised that  God  would  restore  His  people,  not  for 
 their  sakes,  but  for  His  own. 
 
 (22)  Hot  .  .  .  for  your  sakes,  .  .  .  but  for 
 mine  holy  name's  :  sake. — Comp.  Exod.  xxxii. ; 
 Num.  xiv. ;  Dent.  ix.  This  is  the  constant  burden  of 
 God's  teaching  to  His  people  throughout  their  history. 
 Hence  it  is  an  idle  objection  to  the  Scripture  narrative 
 that  it  represents  Israel  as  the  favourite  of  heaven,  and 
 is  thus  just  like  the  human  legends  of  every  other 
 ancient  nation.  In  fact,  this  narrative  is  unlike  any 
 other.  It  speaks  of  God  as  having  chosen  one  nation 
 as  the  means  of  accomplishing  His  purpose  for  the 
 salvation  of  the  whole  world,  but  continually  chastising 
 them  for  their  sins,  again  and  again  setting  aside  the 
 mass  of  them,  and  restoring  and  purifying  and  blessing 
 a  remnant,  not  for  their  own  sake,  but  for  the  accom- 
 plishment of  His  own  holy  purpose  and  promise,  thus 
 sanctifying  His  name. 
 
 304 
 
and  Pwnfitd, 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXVI. 
 
 but  not/or  If  r  .!/•  i  it. 
 
 heathen,  whither  ye  went.  '-';i  And  I 
 will  Banctifj  ins  uivat  1 1 : 1 1 1 1  •  ■ ,  which  was 
 profaned  among  the  heathen,  which  ye 
 have  profaned  in  the  midst  of  them; 
 ami  tin'  heathen  shall  know  thai  I  own 
 i  he  Lord,  Baith  I  he  Lord  *  k>D,  n  hen  I 
 shall  in-  sanctified  in  yon  before  '  their 
 cms.  >-'»  For  I  will  take  yon  from 
 among  the  heathen,  and  gather  yon  out 
 of  all  countries,  and  will  bring  you  into 
 your  own  land.  (-■^',  Then  will  I  sprinkle 
 dean  water  upon  j on,  and  ye  shall  be 
 
 dean  :  from  ;ill  your  lilthiness,  and 
 from  all  your  idols,  will  I  cleanse  you. 
 \  ■' iii'w  heart  also  will  I  <rive  you, 
 and  a  aew  Bpiritwil]  1  put  within  you: 
 and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart 
 out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  yive  you  an 
 heart  of  flesh,  '-'">  And  I  will  put  my 
 'spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to 
 walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep 
 my  judgments,   and   do    them,      I28'  And 
 
 ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to 
 your  fathers;  and  ye  shall  be  my  people, 
 and  I  will  be  your  God.  (-'>  I  will  also 
 Bare  you  from  all  your  unclcaunesses  : 
 and  I  will  call  for  the  corn,  and  will  in- 
 crease it,  and  lay  no  famine  upon  you. 
 I*')  And  I  will  multiply  the  fruit  of  the 
 
 or,  ;/.■'!'. 
 
 11.  i'j. 
 
 (  ch.  17.  SI,  & 
 
 14,  A  n,  14. 
 
 tree,  and  the  increase  of  the  field,  that 
 ye  shall  receive  no  more  reproach  of 
 famine  among  the  heathen.  '"'Then 
 shall  ye  remember  your  own  evil  ways, 
 and  your  doings  that  were  not  good,  and 
 
 shall  lotln-  yourselves  in  your  own  si^ht 
 
 for  your  iniquities  and  for  your  abomi- 
 nations. '-'.Not  for  your  sakes  do  1 
 this,  saith  the  Lord  God,  be  it  known 
 unto  you  :  he  ashamed  and  confounded 
 for  pour  own  ways,  0  house  of  Israel. 
 
 <:ci>Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  In  the 
 day  that  I  shall  have  cleansed  you  from 
 all  your  iniquities  I  will  also  cause  you 
 to  dwell  in  the  cities,  and  the  wastes 
 shall  be  builded.  (i"  And  the  desolate 
 land  shall  be  tilled,  whereas  it  lay  deso- 
 late in  the  sight  of  all  that  passed  by\ 
 f*5*  And  they  shall  say,  This  land  that 
 was  desolate  is  become  like  the  garden 
 of  rEden  ;  and  the  waste  and  desolate 
 and  ruined  cities  are  become  fenced,  and 
 are  inhabited,  t36'  Then  the  heathen 
 that  are  left  round  about  you  shall  know 
 that  I  the  Lord  build  the  ruined  places, 
 a  ml  plant  that  that  was  desolate  :  I  ■'the 
 Lobd  have  spoken  it,  and  I  will  do  it. 
 
 171  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will 
 yet  for  this  be  enquired  of  by  the  house 
 
 <-:b  Before  their  eyes.— The  Hebrew  text  as  it 
 stands  has  your  eyes,  as  in  the  margin.  Many  manu- 
 Boripta  and  other  authorities  have  their.  Either  of 
 t ln-111  ailmits  of  an  excellent  sense;  but  the  reading 
 your  brings  out  the  important  truth  that  God  must 
 
 first  be  sanctified  in  ll yes  of  the  people  themselves 
 
 by  their  repentance  and  moral  reformation,  and  then, 
 through  them  and  the  consequent  blessing  upon  them, 
 lie  «  ill  be  sanctified  in  the  eyes  of  tho  heathen  also. 
 Sprinkle  clean  water.— Com]>.   Hel>.  ix.  13. 
 
 x.  22.  K/ekiel,  the  priest,  here  refers  to  those  manifold 
 purifications  of  the  Law  {e.g.,  Num.  viii.  7.  xix.  9,  ]7; 
 Lev.  \iv.  5 — 7.  9,  &o.)  which  were  performed  by  means 
 
 of  water;  yet  lie  refers  to  these  BS  a  whole,  in  their 
 symbolical  signification,  rather  than  to  any  one  of  them 
 in  particular,  lie  speaks  primarily  of  the  cleansing 
 from  idolatry  and  such  gross  outward  sins,  and  he  treats 
 of  the  people  collectively;  yet  this  purification,  as  the 
 following  verses  show,  must  necessarily  extend  much 
 farther,  and  be  applied  to  them  individually.    It  was  the 
 
 same  symbolism  which    led    in   later  SgeS   to  the  u-e  of 
 
 baptism  in  the  admission  of  proselytes  to  the  Jewish 
 Church,  a  practice  adopted  by  the  forerunner  of  our 
 Lord  in  the  preparation  of  the  people  far  Hi*  coming. 
 Baptism  is  also  alluded  to  by  our  Lord  Himself  in  His 
 conversation  with  Nioodemus  John  hi.  5.)  and  after- 
 wards established  by  Him  as  the  initiatory  sacrament 
 of  the  Christian  Church.  ( Comp.  Eph.  v.  2b' ;  Titus  iii. 
 5j   Beb.x.22.) 
 
 A  new  heart.— Comp.  chap,  xi.  18 — 20,  where 
 the -..ime  promise  is  given,  although  somewhat  less  fullv 
 
 than   here.      On    the    expression    "  heart    of    th'-h."    see 
 
 Note  there  on  verse  19.    With  this  prophetic  preaching 
 
 159  305 
 
 of  the  Gospel  comp.  Jer.  xxxi.  31 — 34,  and  partieularly 
 the  connection  of  that  passage  with  the  temporal  pro- 
 mises in  its  continuation  i  verses  35 — 10). 
 
 (•■»)  Ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land.-The  Israelites 
 were  not  yet  able  to  seek  the  spiritual,  except  as  con- 
 nected with  the  temporal  blessing;  and,  indeed,  the 
 temporal  was.  in  the  ordering  of  Providence,  a  necessary 
 means  to  the  spiritual.  Therefore  tho  promise  of 
 earthly  restoration  must  yet  be  made,  and  must  in  due 
 time  lie  lit. u-ally  fulfilled. 
 
 (89)  Your  uncleannesses.— In  verse 25  they  had 
 
 already  been  made  clean,  and  in  vane  26  a  new  heart 
 had  been  given  them  ;    why,  then,  was  then  vet  further 
 
 need  of  cleansing f    This  cannot, therefore, refer  to  the 
 
 idolatries  from  which  they  had  been  already  purged, 
 but  IS  plain  enough  if  understood  of  that  ordinary  sin- 
 fulness of  man  which,  being  continually  renewed,  needs 
 continual  forgiveness. 
 
 <31)  Shall  lothe  yourselves.— Comp.  Note  on 
 chap.  xx.  13. 
 
 Not  for  your  sakes.— See  verse  --. 
 
 (35)  Like  the  garden  of  Eden.— This   may  be 
 
 meant  merely  to  describe  the  exceeding  excellence  and 
 prosperity  of  the  land:  but.  in  connection  with  what 
 has  been  previously  said,  it  seems  rather  to  point  for- 
 ward to  that  Mate  in  which  man  shall  again  be  entirely 
 t'r 1  from  sin.  which   has  Keen  the  state  for  which  the 
 
 Church  in  all  ages  has  been  preparing. 
 (37)  I  will   yet  for    this   be    enquired   of.  — 
 
 Oomp.  chap-.  xiv.  :'..  I.  \x.  3.     Formerly  God  refused  to 
 
 he  inquired  of  by  a  | pie  whose  hearts  were  far  from 
 
 Him;  now  that  He  has  given  them  a  new  heart  He  is 
 to  hear  them. 
 
The  Vision 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXVII. 
 
 of  the  Dry  Bones. 
 
 of  Israel,  to  do  it  for  them  ;  I  will  in- 
 crease theni  with  men  like  a  flock. 
 (38)  As  the  :holy  flock,  as  the  flock  of 
 Jerusalem  in  her  solemn  feasts  ;  so 
 shall  the  waste  cities  he  filled  with  flocks 
 of  men  :  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXVn.— (J)  The  hand 
 of  the  Lord  was  upon  me,  and  carried 
 me  out  in  the  spirit  of  the  Lord,  and 
 set  me  down  in  the  midst  of  the  valley 
 which  ivas  full  of  bones,  (2)  and  caused 
 me  to  pass  by  them  round  about :  and, 
 behold,  there  ivere  very  many  in  the  open 
 2  valley ;  and,  lo,  they  were  very  dry. 
 <3)  And  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  can 
 these  bones  five  ?  And  I  answered,  O 
 Lord  God,  thou  knowest. 
 
 (4)  Again  he  said  unto  me,  Prophesy 
 
 Kch.,flockofholu 
 things. 
 
 B.C. 
 Cir.  587. 
 
 2  Or,  chtsmpaign. 
 
 upon  these  bones,  and  say  unto  them,  O 
 ye  dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
 
 (5)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  unto  these 
 bones ;  Behold,  I  will  cause  breath  to 
 enter    into    you,    and    ye    shall   five  : 
 
 (6)  and  I  will  lay  sinews  upon  you,  and 
 will  bring  up  flesh  upon  you,  and  cover 
 you  with  skin,  and  put  breath  in  you, 
 and  ye  shall  live ;  and  ye  shall  know 
 that  I  am  the  Lord. 
 
 (7)  So  I  prophesied  as  I  was  commanded: 
 and  as  I  prophesied,  there  was  a  noise, 
 and  behold  a  shaking,  and  the  bones 
 came  together,  bone  to  his  bone.  <8,And 
 when  I  beheld,  lo,  the  sinews  and  the 
 flesh  came  up  upon  them,  and  the  skin 
 covered  them  above :  but  there  was  no 
 breath  in  them. 
 
 CJ>Then  said  he  unto  me,  Prophesy 
 unto  the  3wind,  prophesy,  son  of  man, 
 
 (38)  The  flock  of  Jerusalem.  —  The  comparison 
 is  with  the  vast  flocks  of  sacrificial  animals  accustomed 
 to  be  carried  to  Jerusalem  at  the  great  annual  feasts. 
 The  object  is  to  give  a  vivid  idea  of  the  numbers  of  the 
 people,  but  there  is  an  especial  appropriateness  in  the 
 simile  from  the  fact  that  these  flocks  —  ere  devoted  to 
 the  Lord. 
 
 *      XXXVII. 
 
 This  chapter  consists  of  two  distinct  communications. 
 In  the  first  (verses  1 — 14)  the  prophet  sees  a  vision, 
 and  is  directed  in  consequence  to  utter  a  prophecy ;  in 
 the  second  (verses  15 — 28)  he  is  told  to  perform  a  sym- 
 bolical act,  and  explain  its  meaning  to  the  people. 
 There  is  a  close  connection  between  the  two,  and  also 
 between  the  latter  and  the  two  following  chapters.  In 
 verses  1 — 10,  Ezekiel,  in  a  vision,  sees  a  plain  full  of  bones 
 and  is  directed  to  prophecy  to  them ;  in  consequence  of 
 which  they  come  together,  are  clothed  with  flesh,  aud 
 become  alive.  In  verses  11 — 14,  the  vision  is  expressly 
 explained  to  mean  that  the  children  of  Israel,  in  their 
 scattered  and  apparently  hopeless  condition,  shall  yet 
 be  brought  together  again  and  restored  to  national  life. 
 The  vision  is  not  at  all  concerned  with  the  future  resur- 
 rection ;  aud  yet  it  may  well  be  thought  that  the  idea  of 
 this  was  familiar  to  the  mind  of  the  people,  as  other- 
 wise the  prophet  would  hardly  have  chosen  such  a 
 simile. 
 
 The  course  of  thought  in  the  later  prophecy  and  its 
 connection  with  what  follows  will  be  explained  in  its 
 place. 
 
 (!)  In  the  midst  of  the  valley. — The  word  is 
 the  same  as  in  chaps,  iii.  22,  viii.  4,  and  having  the 
 definite  article  prefixed,  is  very  probably  the  same 
 plain,  now  seeu  in  spirit,  in  which  Ezekiel  had  seen 
 his  former  visions. 
 
 Which  was  full  of  bones. — It  is  better,  with 
 the  Hebrew,  to  put  a  stop  after  "  plain  "  (valley),  and 
 then  read,  this  was  full  of  bones.  The  bones,  as  the 
 subsequent  verses  show,  were  not  heaped  together,  but 
 thickly  strewn  upon  the  face  of  the  plain.  After  the 
 prophet's  mind  had  so  long  dwelt  upon  the  desolating 
 campaigns  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  these  ghastly  reminders 
 
 of  the  loss  of  human  life  might  naturally  enter  into 
 his  thoughts. 
 
 (2)  Very  dry — as  showing  that  it  was  a  long  time 
 since  life  had  left  them,  and  that  the  possibility  of  their 
 living  again  was  far  removed. 
 
 (3)  Can  these  bones  live  ? — The  question  is  put 
 to  the  prophet  in  order  to  emphasise  the  human  impos- 
 sibility of  that  which  is  immediately  brought  about  by 
 the  Divine  omnipotence.  (Comp.  Matt.  ix.  5,  6.)  It  was 
 precisely  this  teaching  which  the  people  needed.  As 
 they  had  formerly  refused  to  believe  his  announce- 
 ments of  impending  judgment,  so  now  that  this  had 
 come,  they  were  utterly  incredulous  in  regard  to  his 
 declarations  of  future  blessing.  It  seemed  to  them 
 impossible,  and  what  they  needed  to  be  taught  was 
 that  "  what  is  impossible  with  man  is  possible  with 
 God." 
 
 Thou  knowest. — The  prophet  sees  the  natural 
 impossibility,  yet  perceives  that  there  must  be  some 
 deeper  reason  for  the  question,  and  therefore  replies  in 
 these  words.  It  may  be,  too,  that  the  question  thus 
 asked,  before  its  object  is  suggested,  connected  itself 
 in  his  mind  with  the  thought  of  the  bteral  resurrection 
 of  the  dead  and  the  difficulties  it  suggests. 
 
 (4)  Prophesy  upon  these  bones. — "  Prophesy  " 
 is  here  used  (as  frequently)  in  its  original  sense  of 
 "  speak  on  God's  behalf,"  and  does  not  convey  the  idea 
 of  prediction. 
 
 (5)  Breath. — The  three  words,  "breath,"  "  wind, "and 
 "  spirit,"  are  represented  in  the  Hebrew  by  the  same 
 word,  and  the  context  must  determine  which  sense  is 
 intended.  Similarly  in  Greek  there  is  the  same  word 
 for  the  last  two  of  these.    (Comp.  John  iii.  5 — 8.) 
 
 (8)  No  breath  in  them. — The  restoration  of  the 
 dry  bones  to  life  is  described  as  taking  place  in  two 
 stages,  with  evident  reference  to  the  record  of  the 
 creation  of  man  in  Gen.  ii.  7.  In  the  first,  they  are 
 restored  to  perfect  form,  but  yet  without  life ;  in  the 
 second,  they  receive  breath  and  become  "  living  crea- 
 tures," as  in  Gen.  i.  20,  21,  24,  ii.  7,  in  all  which  the 
 same  expression  is  used. 
 
 (9)  Upon  these  slain. — The  word  is  used  design, 
 cdly.  The  bones  which  Ezekiel  had  seen  were  those 
 not  merely  of  dead,  but  of  slain  men ;  and  in  this  was 
 
 306 
 
ftrael  iliall  be  Rt  oivi  d. 
 
 EZEKIEL.   XXXVII. 
 
 Symbol  of  tin  Tim  Sticks. 
 
 Bad  sa\  to  the  wiml,  Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  Come  from  the  four  winds, 
 o  breath,  and  breathe  upon  these  slain, 
 
 thai  i  bej  maj  live.     Bo  I  prophesied 
 
 as  be  < imanded   me.  ami  the  breath 
 
 oame    into  them,  and  they  lived,  and 
 
 si I  up  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding 
 
 great  arm] . 
 <'"  Then  In' said  onto  me,  Son  of  man, 
 
 these  hones  arc  the  whole  house  of  Israel : 
 
 behold,  1 1 1 .  •  \  Bay,  Our  bones  are  dried, 
 
 and  our  hope  is  lost  :  we  are  eui  off  for 
 OUT  parts.  <1J»  Therefore  prophesy  ami 
 unto  them.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 GrOD  ;  Behold,  ()  my  people,  I  will  open 
 your    graves,  and  cause   you   to  come    up 
 
 out  of  your  graves,  and  bring  you  into 
 
 the  land  of  Israel.  C3)  And  ye  shall 
 know  that    I  ,un    the  Loud,  when  1  have 
 
 opened   your  {graves,  0  my   \ pie,   and 
 
 brought  you   ap  out   of  your  graves, 
 
 P*)  and  shall  put  my  spirit  in  \oii,  ami 
 ye   shall   live,  and  1  shall  place  you  in 
 
 your  Own  land:  then  shall  ye  know  lhat 
 I  the  Loud  have  spoken  (7, and  performed 
 it,  sait  h  the  LoBD. 
 
 " "'  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  again 
 unto  me.  Baying,  W) Moreover,  thou  son 
 
 of    man.  take    1  bee  stick,  ami  write 
 
 upon  it,  For  Judah,  ami  for  the  children 
 of  Israel  his  companions:  then  take 
 another  stick,  and  write  upon  it,  For 
 Joseph,  the  stick  of  Ephraim,  and  for 
 all  the  house  of  Israel  his  companions  : 
 l'7>  and  join  them  one  to  another  into 
 one  stick  ;  and  they  shall  become  one  in 
 thine  hand. 
 
 \ud  when  the  children  of  thy 
 people  shall  speak  unto  thee,  saying, 
 Wilt  thou  not  shew  us  what  thou 
 meanest  bj  these?  (19)  Say  unto  them, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  (  k)D  ;  Behold,  I 
 will  take'  the  stick  of  Joseph,  which  is 
 in  the  hand  of  Ephraim,  and  the  tribes 
 of  Israel  his  fellows,  and  will  put  them 
 with  him,  even  with  the  stick  of  Judah, 
 
 fcheix  likeness  to  [srael:  .-is  desolated,  and  their  nation- 
 ality for  the  t  i  i  m  •  destroyed  by  their  enemies. 
 
 (in  Are  the  whole  house  of  Israel.  —  This 
 Divine  interpretation  of  the  vision  leaves  no  donbt  of 
 its  meaning.  Whatever  other  sense  might  possibly  lie 
 attached  to  its  language,  there  can  be  no  uncertainty 
 as  to  that  which  the  Spirit  intended.  Tho  last  clause 
 of  the  verse.  "  cut  off  for  our  parts,"  is  obscure  in  the 
 English,  but  in  the  original  is  simply  for  us — i.e., 
 "  as  for  us.  we  are  cut  off." 
 
 (is)  Open  your  graves. — In  verse  2  it  is  said 
 thai  the  bones  were  "in  the  open  valley."  literally, 
 upon  the  face  of  (he  valley.  This  was  a  necessity  of 
 the  vision,  in  order  that  they  might  be  seen;  new  the 
 people,  whom  the  bones  represented,  are  spoken  of  as 
 in  graves,  since  this  was  tho  normal  and  proper  puce 
 (Or  the  dead. 
 
 [U<  Put  my  spirit  in  you.— Here,  as  through- 
 out this  Beriea  of  prophecies,  the  moral  resurrection  of 
 the  people  and  their  restoration  to  their  own  land  are 
 intimately  associated  together.  The  farmer  was  at 
 once  the  necessary  condition  of  the  latter,  and  would 
 also  be  its  consequence  in  a  --till  higher  development, 
 Compare  a  similar  association  of  the  spiritual  with  the 
 literal  resurrection  in  John  v.  21 — 29. 
 
 Verses  I.", — 28  constitute  another  prophecy,  which 
 probably  was  given  very  Boon  after  tho  former,  since 
 
 then-    is   a   dose  eonneetion  between  the  two.      In   the 
 
 former,  under  the  figure  of  the  revival  of  the  dry  bones, 
 
 ( iod  had  set  forth  His  power  to  accomplish  the  promise 
 Ho  made  of  the  spiritual  resurrection   of  Israel;  in 
 
 the  latter.    He  adds    to    this  the   specific  declaration  of 
 
 what  had  been  before  only  implied,  that  the  two  long* 
 
 severed  nations  of  Israel  shall  he  re-united  and  pros- 
 perous under  the  rule  of  the  future  David,  while  He 
 Himself  will  dwell  among  them,  and  they  shall  be 
 obedient  to  Him.    These  promisee  prepare  tho  way  for 
 
 the  prophecy  of  the  great  and  final  attack  of"  the 
 enemies  of  the  Church  (chaps,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.)  and  their 
 
 307 
 
 Overthrow  by  the  power  of   Cod.      The  promise  of  this 
 
 prophecy  is  first  set  forth  bya  symbolic  action  (v< 
 15 — 17'.  which  is  then  to  l»-  explained  to  the  people 
 
 (verses  18 — 2u  .  as  in  the  ease  of  the  vision  (verse  11), 
 and  then  the  promises  of  Messing  follow. 
 
 (is)  One  stick    .    .    .    another  stick. —  These 
 
 are  not  rods,  as  in  Xum.  xvii.  6 — 9,  although  Ezekiel 
 may  have  had  that  event  in  mind;  the  word  hero  is  an 
 entirely   different    one.  and    means    simply  a    piece    of 
 
 w 1.    The  two  pieces  were,  no  doubt,  so  shaped  that 
 
 being  firmly  held  together  they  would  appear  as  one. 
 
 For  Judah,  and  for  the  children  of  Israel 
 his  companions.—  The  object  is  to  represent  by  the 
 two  pieces  of  wood  tho  two  kingdoms.  It  would  be 
 insufficient,  therefore,  to  mention  Judah  only;  for  with 
 
 him    Benjamin    had    been  always   associated,    and 
 
 considerable  fragments  of  the  other  tribes    2  citron. 
 
 xi.  16,  xv.  9  .  After  the  fall  of  the  northern  king- 
 dom, individual  members  of  the  ten  tribes  who  had 
 not  been  carried  into  captivity  joined  themselves  more 
 or  less  completely  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah  (2  Citron. 
 xxx.  11 — 18,  xxxi.  1). 
 
 For  Joseph,  the  stick  of  Ephraim.— Joseph, 
 as  including  tho  two  great  tribes  of  Ephraim  and 
 Manasseh,  is  put  for  the  whole  of  the  ten  tribes,  and 
 Ephraim  is  specified  as  being  the  leading  tribe,  and  this 
 makes  necessary  the  addition.  "  and  all  the  house  of 
 Israel  his  companions,"  to  show  that  the  whole  northern 
 kingdom  is  included.  The  word  for,  in  italics,  should 
 be  omitted. 
 
 (is)  Which  is  in  the  hand  of  Ephraim.— Again 
 
 Joseph  is  put  for  the  whole  ten  tribes,  and  again  it 
 is  indicated  that  the  control  of  these  was  chiefly  with 
 Ephraim.  The  human  power,  which  led  to  and  per. 
 petuated  the  division,  is  in  contrast  with  the  "  miuc 
 hand,"  where  all  shall  bo  re-united  under  Divine 
 rule. 
 Will  put  them.—  Grammatieallythe  plural  pronoun 
 them  "  refers  to  the  piece  of  wood,  which  is  in  the  sin. 
 
Reunion  of  Israel  and  Judah. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXVII. 
 
 David  shall  be  their  King. 
 
 and  make  thein  one  stick,  and  they 
 shall  be  one  in  mine  hand,  f20'  And  the 
 sticks  whereon  thou  writest  shall  be  in 
 thine  hand  before  their  eyes.  <21)  And 
 say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
 God  ; 
 
 Behold,  I  will  take  the  children  of 
 Israel  from  among  the  heathen,  whither 
 they  be  gone,  and  will  gather  them  on 
 every  side,  and  bring  them  into  their 
 own  land  :  (22)  and  I  will  make  them  one 
 nation  in  the  land  upon  the  mountains 
 of  Israel;  and  "one  king  shall  be  king 
 to  them  all :  and  they  shall  be  no  more 
 two  nations,  neither  shall  they  be  divided 
 into  two  kingdoms  any  more  at  all: 
 <33>  neither  shall  they  defile  themselves 
 any  more  with  their  idols,  nor  with  their 
 detestable  things,  nor  with  any  of  their 
 transgressions  :  but  I  will  save  them  out 
 of  all  their  dwellingplaces,  wherein  they 
 
 it  Isa.  40.  11 ;  Jei- 
 l'S.  5,  &  30.  9 ;  cli 
 
 34.23. 
 
 Ps.  69.  3 ;  Cll.  34. 
 
 have  sinned,  and  will  cleanse  them  :  so 
 shall  they  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be 
 their  God. 
 
 <24>  And  ''David  my  servant  shall  be 
 king  over  them  ;  and  they  all  shall  have 
 one  shepherd  :  they  shall  also  walk  in 
 my  judgments,  and  observe  my  statutes, 
 and  do  them.  <25)  And  they  shall  dwell 
 in  the  land  that  I  have  given  unto  Jacob 
 my  servant,  wherein  your  fathers  have 
 dwelt ;  and  they  shall  dwell  therein, 
 even  they,  and  their  children,  and  their 
 children's  children  for  ever :  and  my 
 servant  David  shall  be  their  prince  for 
 ever. 
 
 (26)  Moreover  I  will  make  a  'covenant 
 of  peace  with  them  ;  it  shall  be  an  ever- 
 lasting covenant  with  them  :  and  I  will 
 place  them,  and  multiply  them,  and  will  set 
 my  d  sanctuary  in  the  midst  of  them  for 
 evermore.     (27)  My  tabernacle  also  shall 
 
 gular ;  but  the  construction  is  according  to  the  sense, 
 the  wood  representing  the  ten  tribes. 
 
 (2")  Before  their  eyes. —  The  symbolical  action 
 was  not  only  to  be  performed  before  the  people,  but  the 
 united  wood  was  to  remain  in  the  prophet's  hand,  while 
 he  unfolded  to  them  the  Divine  promise.  That  promise 
 is  essentially  a  repetition  of  chaps,  xxxiv.  11 — 31  and 
 xxxvi.  22—30. 
 
 (21)  Will  gather  them.— The  restoration  of  Israel 
 from  their  captivity  among  the  heathen  here,  as  often 
 elsewhere,  is  the  first  step  in  the  fulfilment  of  the 
 Divine  promises.  This,  however,  like  the  other  Divine 
 promises,  was  fulfilled  only  to  a  "remnant,"  a  course 
 which,  as  St.  Paul  shows  in  Rom.  ix.,  had  been  foreseen 
 and  foretold  from  the  first.  A  fulfilment  on  a  larger 
 scale  was  perpetually  prevented  by  the  sins  of  the 
 people ;  God  did  for  them  all  that  their  obdurate  dis- 
 obedience would  allow  Him  to  do.  Tet  He  did  not 
 wholly  reject  them,  but  allowed  a  remnant  to  keep 
 alive  His  Church,  and  become  the  channel  of  those 
 richer  blessings  of  the  new  covenant,  in  which  all  who 
 will  accept  His  salvation  are  united  in  a  holier  bond,  and 
 led  to  a  land  of  higher  promise  than  Israel  after  the 
 flesh  could  ever  know. 
 
 (23)  Out  of  all  their  dwellingplaces.— This  ex- 
 pression can  hardly  refer  to  their  places  of  exile  and 
 temporary  sojourn  among  the  heathen,  since  these  were 
 not  especially  the  places  where  they  had  sinned.  Their 
 sins  were  rather  committed  in  their  own  land ;  the 
 "  lands  of  their  captivity  "  were  the  places  where  those 
 sins  were  punished.  "  Their  dwellingplaces  "  is  then 
 to  be  understood  of  their  own  land  of  Canaan,  where 
 they  had  been  led  into  idolatry  and  all  abominations  by 
 the  heathen  dwelling  among  them ;  and  the  promise 
 is  that  this  land  shall  be  purged,  that  all  evil  shall  be 
 cast  out  from  it,  and  the  people  delivered  from  the 
 temptations  by  which  they  had  hitherto  been  overcome. 
 
 (»)  David  my  servant.— Here,  as  in  chap,  xxxiv. 
 23,  24,  David  personally  is  described  as  their  one  king 
 and  shepherd.     (See  the  Note  there.) 
 
 (25)  For  ever. — Strong  emphasis  is  placed  upon  this 
 declaration  by  its  frequent  repetition.  In  this  verse, 
 the  occupancy  of  the  land  is  to  be  for  ever,  and  the 
 
 kingshij)  of  David  is  to  be  for  ever ;  and  in  verses  26 
 and  28  the  sanctuary  is  to  be  "  in  the  midst  of  them 
 for  evermore,"  and  the  covenant  of  peace  is  to  be  "  an 
 everlasting  covenant."  Such  promises  are  taken  up 
 continually  in  the  New  Testament,  and  explained  of 
 the  everlasting  reign  of  the  King  of  kings,  the  Good 
 Shepherd,  over  His  people,  and  of  the  Temple  of  the 
 Holy  Ghost  in  the  heart  of  the  believer. 
 
 (26)  Multiply  them. — In  accordance  with  what  has 
 gone  before,  comes  this  promise  of  the  great  increase 
 of  the  spiritual  Israel.  Even  John  the  Baptist  had 
 said,  "  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children 
 unto  Abraham " ;  but  our  Lord  more  emphatically 
 taught  that  the  true  children  of  Abraham  were 
 those  who  followed  Him  (John  viii.  39,  &c.) ;  while  His 
 Apostle  St.  Paul  explains  repeatedly,  and  at  length,  that 
 Abraham  was  the  father  of  all  those  who  walk  in  his 
 faith,  whether  they  be  of  the  circumcision  or  the  uncir- 
 cumcision  (Rom.  iv.  12,  &c.) ;  and  again,  "  that  they 
 which  are  of  faith,  the  same  are  the  children  of  Abra- 
 ham" (Gal.  iii.  7).  Thus  was  fulfilled  the  promise  that 
 he  should  be  "  the  father  of  many  nations  "  (Gen.  xvii. 
 5,  interpreted  in  Rom.  iv.  17),  and  in  the  same  way  also 
 was  to  be  fulfilled  the  present  promise  of  the  multipli- 
 cation of  the  seed  of  Israel. 
 
 (27)  My  tabernacle  also.  — Compare  the  whole 
 promise  of  this  verse  with  2  Cor.  vi.  16:  "Ye  are  the 
 temple  of  the  living  God;  as  God  hath  said,  I  will 
 dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them :  and  I  will  be  their 
 God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people."  This  promise  of  "  a 
 sanctuary  in  the  midst  of  them  for  evermore  "  was  in 
 type  and  shadow  set  before  the  eyes  of  the  people  with 
 the  restoration  of  the  Temple  of  Zerubbabel ;  but  in  its 
 reality  began  to  be  fulfilled  at  the  incarnation  of  the 
 Son  of  God,  of  whom  it  is  said  by  St.  Jolm  (chap. 
 i.  14)  that  "  He  dwelt  (literally,  tabernacled)  among 
 us,"  and  is  continued  by  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy 
 Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  believers  (1  Cor.  iii.  16,  vi.  19); 
 while  it  is  to  receive  its  final  consummation  in  that 
 future  when  the  tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  with  men, 
 and  "  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the 
 temple"  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  (Rev.  xxi.  3 — 22). 
 See  Excursus  P  at  end  of  this  book. 
 
 30S 
 
Prophecy  against  Gog 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XXX VIII. 
 
 and  hie  many  Allies, 
 
 be  with  them  :  yea,  r  will  be  ■theirGod, 
 and  they  shall  be  mj  people.     '-'",  And 
 
 1  lie  heal  1 1 •  -i i  shall  know  that    1   the   LORD 
 
 do  sanctdf]    [arael,  when  my  Banctnarj 
 
 shall  be  in  the  midst   of  them  for  ever- 
 
 iv. 
 
 CHAITHR  XXXVIII.— <»  And  the 
 word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  Baying, 
 W  Son  of  man.  Bet  th\  face  against  '<  Jog, 
 the  land  of  magog,  '  tin-  chief  prince  of 
 M('sh(.'cliaiidTiihal,a!id  pTophesyagainsI 
 
 ili.ll.ai.&ll.ll 
 
 nu  of  tin 
 
 him,  ,:i  and  Bay,  Thus  saitb  the  Lord 
 God;  Behold,]  am  against  thee, O Grog, 
 the  chief  prince  of  meshech  and  Tubal : 
 
 "ami  I  will  turn  thee  back,  and  put 
 hooks  into  thy  jaws,  ami  I  will  bring 
 thee  forth,  ami  all  thine  army,  horses 
 and  horsemen,  all  of  them  clothed  with 
 all  sorts  of  armour,  <  <■  n  a  !_r>''-at  a  impany 
 with  bucklers  and  shields,  all  of  them 
 handling  swords:  ' ''  Persia,  Ethiopia, 
 and  'Libya  with  them  ;  all  of  them  with 
 shield  and  helmel  :       Gromer,  and  all  his 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 Chapters  KxxvhU.  sad  xxxix.  form  one  continuous 
 prophecy,  divided  into  tour  main  parts  by  the  renewed 
 command  to  the  prophet,  "Son  of  man"  (chaps 
 txxviii.  1,  1 1-,  xxxix.  l,  w),  and  these  again  into  smaller 
 divisions  by  the  repetition  of  the  form,  "Thns  saith 
 the  Lord  "  (chaps,  xxxviii.  3,  LO,  1 1.  1".  xx\k.  I,  5,  8, 
 10,  L3,  IT.  20,  85).  The  whole  paseage  is  to  be  look.'.! 
 npon  as  one  sustained  prophetic  parable,  in  which 
 nvidness  and  force  are  given  to  the  truth  the  prophet 
 
 won  M  gel  forth  by  the  introduction  of  so  many  i arete 
 
 details  thai  one  would  !"•  tempted  to  understand  them 
 literally,  were  it  not  thai  they  carry  within  themselves 
 the  evidence  thai    they  were  not   so  intended.     The 
 
 general  meaning  will  be  better  understood  after  i - 
 
 sidering  such  obscurities  as  occur  in  the  names  men- 
 tioned and  in  the  language  used,  and  is  therefore 
 deferred  to  the  Excursus  <i  al  the  end  of  this  book. 
 Meantime,  the  details  of  both  chapters  may  be  very 
 rapidly  examined. 
 
 It  is  tn  be  remembered  thai  this  prophecy  imme- 
 diately follows  chap,  xxxvii..  in  which  God's  people  are 
 represented  as  united  in  one  told,  purified  from  their 
 miis,  and  dwelling  in  perpetual  covenant  with  Him, 
 under  the  oare  of  His  "  servant  David."  It  is  also  ii"t 
 tu  be  forgotten  thai  a  final  conflict  is  described  in  Rev. 
 xx.  7 — lu  between  the  saints  and  their  enemies,  under 
 the  names  of  Grog  and  Magog,  in  which  those  enemies, 
 as  here,  are  destroyed  by  the  immediate  Divine  inter- 
 position. 
 
 (*)  Gog,  tho  land  of  Magog.—"  Magog  "  is  men- 
 tioned in  (ien.  x.  2  (I  Ohron.  i.  •">  in  connection  with 
 Gromer  (the  Cimmerians)  and  Madai  (the   ttedes),  as 
 
 the  name  of  a  i pie  descended  from  Japhet.    Early 
 
 Jewish  tradition,  adopted  by  Josephus  and  St.  Jerome, 
 
 identities  them   with   the  Scythians;   ami  this  view  lias 
 
 seemeil  probable  to  nearly  all  modern  expositors.    But 
 
 the  name  uf  Scythians  must    lie  understood  rather  in  a 
 
 Biographical  than  in  a  strictly  ethnological  sense,  of 
 the  tribes  living  north  of  the  Caucasus.  Driven  from 
 their  original  heme  by  the  Masaagetes,  they  bad  poured 
 down  upon  Asia   Minor  and  Syria  shortly  before  the 
 
 lime   of    Bzekiel,  and    had    advanced    even    as    far    as 
 
 Egypt,  Tlie\  took  Sardis  B.C.  629),  spread  themselves 
 in  Media  (B.C.  624  ,  were  bribed  off  from  Egypt  by 
 Psammeticus,  and  were  finally  driven  back  (B.C.  596), 
 leaving  their  name  as  a  terror  tu  the  whole  eastern 
 world  for  their  fierce  skill  in  war,  their  cruelty,  and 
 
 rapacity.     It  was  probably  the  memory  of  their  n nt 
 
 disastrous  inroads  thai  led  Esekiel  to  the  selection  of 
 their  name  as  the  representative  of  the  powers  hostile 
 to  the  Church  of  God. 
 
 The  name  Grog  occurs  only  in  connection  with 
 Magog,  except  in  1  Chron.  \.  I.  as  the  name  of  an 
 otherwise  unknown  Beubenite.    It  is  also  tJie  reading 
 
 of  the  Samaritan  and  Septuagint   in   Num.  xxiv.  7  for 
 
 Agag.  It,  lias  generally  been  supposed  thai  Ezeldel 
 here  formed  the  name  from  Magog  by  dropping  the 
 first  syllable,  which  was  thought  to  mean  simply  place 
 
 or  laiid;   hut  an   Assyrian  inscription  has  I d  dis- 
 
 oovered,  in  which  Qa-a-gi  is  mentioned  as  a  chief  of 
 the  Saka    Scythians),  and   Mr.  Geo.  Smith  ("Hist  of 
 
 Assurlianipal    )    identifies   this   name   with   Gog.     The 
 
 text  sln.ulil  lie  read.  Oog,  of  the  land  of  Magog. 
 
 The  chief  prince  of  Meshech"  and  Tubal.— 
 Rather,  (heprince  of  Rosh,  Meshech,  and  Tubal,  Our 
 version  has  followed  St.  Jerome  in  translating  Rosh 
 "  chief,"  because  formerly  uo  people  of  that  name  was 
 definitely  known,-  but  they  are  frequently  mentioned 
 by  Arabic  writers  as  a  Scythian  tribe  dwelling  in  the 
 
 Taurus,  although  the  attempt  to  derive  from  them  the 
 
 name  of  Russian  cannol  bi isidered  as  sufficiently 
 
 supported.  In  Rev.  xx.  8,  G<>g  and  Magog  are  both 
 symbolic  names  of  nations.  For  Meshech  and  Tubal 
 see  Note  on  chap,  xxi  ii.  L3, 
 
 <3)  The  chief  prince.— As  in  verse  2,  the  prince  of 
 Rosh. 
 
 (*)  I  will  turn  thee  back.— This    is   the  mi 
 common  meaning  of  the  word;  hut  if  this  meaning  be 
 retained   lure,  it   is  not  to  be  taken  in  the  sms,-  of 
 
 turning  back  from  the  holy  laud,  hut  rather,  in  connec- 
 tion with  the  figtu t'  the  next  clause,  of  turning  away 
 
 the  wild  heasl  bom  his  natural  inclination  to  the  fullil- 
 
 ment  of  God's  purpose.     It  is  better,  however,  to  take 
 
 it  in   the  sense  iii  which   it    is   used   iii   J-a.   xlvii.   Ill 
 
 perverted  |  and  Jer.  viii.  o   slidden  hack ;  comp.  chap,  1. 
 
 6),    'I   will   lead    thee  astray."     In    Rev,  xx.  8,  this 
 
 leading  astray  of  the  nations  is  ascribed  to  Satan,  just 
 as  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  1.  I  h  id,  and  in  1  Chron.  xxi.  1.  Satan, 
 are  said  to  move  David  to  number  the  people;  in  cither 
 ease  (ioil  is  said  to  do  that  which  He  allows  to  he  done 
 
 by  Satan.  For  the  same  Divine  fathering  of  the 
 n.itiiitis  against  God's  people  see  Joel  iii.  -;  Zech.  xiv. 
 2,  3. 
 
 Hooks  into  thy  jaws. — See  the  same  figure  in 
 chap.  xxix.  1. 
 
 (5)  Persia,  Ethiopia,  and  Libya.— Having  sum- 
 moned the  nations  from  the  extreme  north,  the  prophet 
 now  turns  first  to  the  east,  and  then  to  the  south  ami 
 west.     No  neighbouring  nations  are  mentioned  at  all. 
 
 hut    only    those    living   on    the    confines    of    the    known 
 
 world  are  summoned  to  this  symbolic  contest     The 
 
 supposition  of   a   literal  alliance  of  nations  so  situated 
 
 is  out  ..f  the  question. 
 
 (•>)  Gomer  .  .  .  Togarmah.— Airain  the  address 
 turns   to   the   extreme   north.      (Joiner,   like   Magog,  a 
 
 309 
 
His  Enmity  and  Attack 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXVIII. 
 
 upon  Israel. 
 
 bands ;  the  house  of  Togarmah  of  the 
 north  quarters,  and  all  his  bands :  and 
 many  people  with  thee.  (7)  Be  thou  pre- 
 pared, and  prepare  for  thyself,  thou,  and 
 all  thy  company  that  are  assembled  unto 
 thee,  and  be  thou  a  guard  unto  them. 
 
 (8)  After  many  days  thou  shalt  be  visited: 
 in  the  latter  years  thou  shalt  come  into 
 the  land  that  is  brought  back  from  the 
 sword,  and  is  gathered  out  of  many 
 people,  against  the  mountains  of  Israel, 
 which  have  been  always  waste :  but  it  is 
 brought  forth  out  of  the  nations,  and 
 they  shall    dwell    safely  all    of    them. 
 
 (9)  Thou  shalt  ascend  and  come  like  a 
 storm,  thou  shalt  be  like  a  cloud  to 
 cover  the  land,  thou,  and  all  thy  bands, 
 and  many  people  with  thee. 
 
 d°)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  It  shall 
 also  come  to  pass,  that  at  the  same  time 
 shall  things  come  into  thy  mind,  and 
 thou  shalt l  think  an  evil  thought :  (11>  and 
 thou  shalt  say,  I  will  go  up  to  the  land 
 of  unwalled  villages ;  I  will  go  to  them 
 
 Or,  conceive  n 
 mischievous  pur- 
 pose. 
 
 2  Or,  confidently. 
 
 3  Set.,  to  spoil  the 
 spoil,  and  toprejt 
 Uieprey. 
 
 that  are  at  rest,  that  dwell 2  safely,  all  of 
 them  dwelling  without  walls,  and  having 
 neither  bars  nor  gates,  (12)3to  take  a  spoil, 
 and  to  take  a  prey  ;  to  turn  thine  hand 
 upon  the  desolate  places  that  are  now 
 inhabited,  and  upon  the  people  that  are 
 gathered  out  of  the  nations,  which  have 
 gotten  cattle  and  goods,  that  dwell  in 
 the  4niidst  of  the  land.  <13>  Sheba,  and 
 Dedan,  and  the  merchants  of  Tarshish, 
 with  all  the  young  lions  thereof,  shall 
 say  unto  thee,  Art  thou  come  to  take  a 
 spoil  ?  hast  thou  gathered  thy  company 
 to  take  a  prey  ?  to  carry  away  silver  and 
 gold,  to  take  away  cattle  and  goods,  to 
 take  a  great  spoil  ?  (U)  Therefore,  son 
 of  man,  prophesy  and  say  unto  Gog, 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  In  that  day 
 when  my  people  of  Israel  dwelleth  safely, 
 shalt  thou  not  know  it  ?  <15)  And  thon 
 shalt  come  from  thy  place  out  of  the 
 north  parts,  thou,  and  many  people  with 
 thee,  all  of  them  riding  upon  horses,  a 
 great  company,   and   a   mighty    army : 
 
 people  descended  from  Japheth  (Gen.  x.  2  ;  1  Chron.  i. 
 5),  is  identified  with  the  Cimmerians ;  and  for  the 
 house  of  Togarmah,  the  Armenians,  see  Note  on  xxvii. 
 14.  In  the  last  clause  of  the  verse,  people  should  be  in 
 the  plural.  This  was  to  be  a  general  gathering  of  the 
 strength  of  the  world  against  the  Church  of  God. 
 
 (7)  Be  thou  a  guard  unto  them.— Every  pre- 
 paration is  to  be  made  on  the  part  of  Gog  and  the 
 nations,  and  then  Gog  himself  is  to  be  their  guard,  or 
 to  control  and  guide  the  assault. 
 
 (8)  After  many  days  thou  shalt  be  visited.— 
 This  clause  has  been  variously  interpreted.  The  ex- 
 pression "  after  many  days "  is  the  common  one  to 
 indicate  that  what  is  predicted  is  yet  far  in  the  future, 
 and  corresponds  to  the  "  latter  years "  of  the  next 
 clause.  The  words  ''thou  shalt  be  visited"  are  the 
 usual  form  of  expressing  a  coming  judgment.  Various 
 ingenious  attempts  have  been  made,  with  no  great  suc- 
 cess, to  give  the  words  a  different  sense  here.  The  sup- 
 posed difficulty  arises  from  not  observing  that  the  whole 
 course  of  Gog  is  here  viewed  together  as  a  single 
 transaction.  It  is  not  merely  his  ultimate  destruction, 
 but  the  steps  which  led  to  it,  his  hostile  attacks  upon 
 the  Church,  which  are  represented  as  brought  about 
 under  God's  providence  and  forming  a  part  of  the 
 visitation  upon  him.  It  is  as  if  one  spoke  now  of  a 
 man's  whole  career  of  sin  as  a  Divine  visitation  upon 
 the  sinner  in  consequence  of  his  neglect  of  proffered 
 grace,  instead  of  speaking  only  of  his  ultimate  punish- 
 ment. 
 
 The  land.— Rather,  a  land.  Judaea  had  been  long 
 desolated,  but  was  now  restored.  The  word  people  here, 
 as  in  verse  6,  is  in  the  plural  and  marks  the  gathering 
 back,  not  from  one,  but  from  many  quarters. 
 
 Always  waste. — Literally,  continually  waste. 
 The  mountains  of  Israel  had  been  by  no  means  always 
 waste,  but  during  the  period  of  the  captivity  had  been 
 so  constantly.  Yet  the  word  is  commonly  used  for  a 
 relatively   long   period,   for   which    the    time   of    the 
 
 captivity  seems  too  short.  It  may  therefore,  with  the 
 dispei-sion  among  "many  peoples"  of  the  previous 
 clause,  indicate  the  time  of  the  later  and  longer  con- 
 tinued dispersion  of  the  Jews.  In  the  last  clause 
 "  shall  dwell "  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  future,  but  as  a 
 description  of  the  existing  condition  of  the  people. 
 
 (10)  Think  an  evil  thought.— In  verses  10—14 
 the  motives  of  Gog  in  his  attack  upon  Israel  are  fully 
 exposed.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  verse  4,  and 
 again  in  verse  16,  the  leading  of  this  foe  against  the 
 Church  is  represented  as  God's  own  act;  here  it  is 
 explained  that  God  did  this  by  allowing  him  to  follow 
 out  the  devices  of  his  own  heart. 
 
 (ii)  The  land  of  unwalled  villages.— Again, 
 omit  the  definite  article  before  land,  as  in  verse  8. 
 The  description  of  a  people  living  in  prosperity  and 
 security  looks  quite  beyond  anything  hitherto  realised 
 in  the  history  of  the  Jews,  and  points  to  such  a  state  of 
 things  as  is  described  in  Zech.  ii.  4,  5.  The  description 
 of  the  attack  of  Gog  and  Magog  in  Rev.  xx.  9  corre- 
 sponds to  this. 
 
 (12>  In  the  midst  of  the  land.— Literally,  in 
 the  navel  of  the  earth.  (See  Note  on  chap.  v.  5.)  The 
 important  position  of  Israel  in  reference  to  the  other 
 nations  of  the  earth  combined  with  its  unsuspecting 
 security  and  its  riches  to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  Gog 
 and  his  allies, 
 
 (13)  Sheba,  and  Dedan  ....  Tarshish.— 
 The  first  two  are  districts  of  Arabia,  and  the  last  is 
 probably  the  Tartessus  in  Spain.  These  names  seem  to 
 be  added  to  those  of  verses  5,  6,  to  show  that  all  the 
 nations  of  the  world  sympathise  in  this  attack  upon  the 
 Church. 
 
 (i+)  Shalt  thou  not  know  it  ?— The  second  part 
 of  this  prophecy  (verses  14 — 231,  describing  the  doom 
 of  Gog,  is  introduced  (verses  14 — 16)  with  a  repetition 
 of  the  peaceful  security  of  Israel,  and  of  God's  lead- 
 ing against  her  this  great  foe  in  whose  destruction 
 He  shall  be  magnified  before  all  people.     The  whole 
 
 310 
 
(lull's  Anger  against  (Joy, 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XXXIX 
 
 and  his  Destruction. 
 
 <16>  and  th«m  shall  conic  up  against  my 
 
 people  of  Israel,  as  a  eloiid  fco  C0V6T  the 
 laud  ;  it  shall  lie  in  the  latter  (lavs,  and 
 I  will  bring  thee  against  my  land,  that 
 the  heathen  may  kimw  me,  when   I  shall 
 
 be  sanctified  in  thee,  0  Gog,  before  their 
 eyes. 
 
 Ilri  Thus  saith  the  Lord  (Jon  ;  Art  thou 
 
 1 1'  whom   1   have    spoken    in    old   time 
 
 lby  my  Bervants  the  prophets  of  Israel, 
 which  prophesied  in  those  days  uunii) 
 years  that  I  would  bring  thee  against 
 them?  ('*)And  it  shall  come'  to  pass  at 
 the  same  time  when  (Jog  shall  come 
 againsi  the  land  of  Israel,  saith  the 
 Lord  God,  thai  my  fury  shall  come  up 
 in  my  lace.    (19)  For  in  my  jealousy  and 
 
 in   the   tire  of    iu\    wrath    have  I  spoken, 
 
 Barely  in  that  daj  there  shall  be  a  great 
 
 shaking  in  the  land  of  Israel  ;  l-'"1  so 
 that  the  lishes  of  the  sea,  and  the  fowls 
 Of  the  heaven,  and  the  beasts  of  the 
 field,  and  all  creeping  things  that  creep 
 upon  the  earth, and  all  the  men  that  are 
 upon  tin'  face  of    the    earth,  shall   shake 
 
 at  my  presence, and  the  mountains  shall 
 he  thrown  down,  and  the '-steep  places 
 shall  fall,  and  every  wall  shall  fall  to 
 the  ground,  (-''And  I  will  call  for  a 
 sword  against  him  thrOUghoul  all  my 
 mountains,  saith  the  Lord  Gon  :  every 
 man's  sword  shall  be  against  his  brother. 
 
 ii'  i  . 
 
 •J  Or,   toiccrt.  or, 
 alaint. 
 
 «  Hi.  30.  si.  Si  :i;. 
 
 I  Or, 
 
 u  eh.  n  i. 
 
 I  II'  li.W  jiifejo/ 
 th>  north. 
 
 ■    Ihl..  triu'J. 
 
 <>    Hill.,  In  ,/.  <;■'(,. 
 
 ■  Hob..  (A, 
 
 1  And   I  will  plead  against  him  with 
 
 pestilence    and   with    hi 1;   and    I    will 
 
 rain  upon  him,  and  upon  his  hands,  and 
 upon  tin-  many  people  thai  are  with  him, 
 an  Overflowing  rain,  and  great  hailstones, 
 fire,  and  brimstone.  lj;'Thus  will  1 
 ■magnify  myself,  ami  sanctify  myself ; 
 and  I  will  he  known  in  the  eyes  of  manv 
 nations,  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Loud. 
 
 CHAPTER  XXXIX.— W  Therefore, 
 thou  son  of  man,  prophesy  against  ( }og, 
 and  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Be- 
 hold, I  am  against  thee,  0  Gog,  the  chief 
 prince  of  Meshech  and  Tubal :  M  and  I 
 will  turn  thee  back,  and  leave  but  the 
 sixth  part  of  thee,  and  will  cause  thee 
 to  come  up  from  'the  north  parts,  and 
 will  bring  thee  upon  the  mountains  of 
 Israel  :  '  '  and  1  will  smite  thy  bow  out 
 of  thy  left  hand,  and  will  cause  thine 
 arrows  to  fall  out  of  thy  right  hand. 
 ("  Thou  shalt  fall  upon  the  mountain-  of 
 Israel,  thou,  and  all  thy  hands,  and  Un- 
 people that  is  with  thee  :  I  will  give  thee 
 uuto  the  ravenous  birds  of  eveiy  5sort, 
 and  to  the  beasts  of  the  field  "to  be  de- 
 voured. (5)  Thou  shalt  fall  upon  "the 
 open  field:  for  I  have  spoken  it,  saith 
 the  Lord  God.  (,i)  And  1  will  send  a  fire 
 on  Ma  goo-,  and    among  them  that  dwell 
 
 passage  becomes  dearer  by  omitting  the  question  and 
 reading  simply.  "  When  Israel  dwells  securely  thou  wilt 
 observe  it  ana  come,"  <feo. 
 
 (M)  Latter  days.— The  expression  is  indefinite  lint 
 concurs  with  those  in  verse  8  in  indicating  a  distent 
 future. 
 
 (i")  Of  whom  I  have  spoken  in  old  time— 
 This  is  put  in  that  interrogative  Conn  which  is  often 
 
 DOed    for  emphatic   assurance.      The  word    uiiimj  lieforc 
 
 "years"  is  not  in  the  original,  but  is  correctly  inserted 
 
 to  mark  the  accusative  el'  duration.      The   statement  is 
 
 then   an   emphatic    one.  that    Goil  hail  of   old  and  for  a 
 
 long  time  foretold  by  His  prophets  this  attack  of  Gog. 
 
 Bui  the  name  of  Gog  is  not   mentioned  in  any  earlier 
 
 prophecy  now  extant,  nor  is  it  likely  that  any  such,  far 
 
 less  that  any  long  series  of  such  prophecies,  have  been 
 lost.  This  concurs  with  many  of  her  iudii  -at  ions  in  the 
 prophecy  to  show  that  it  docs  not  nlale  to  any  par- 
 ticular event,  hut  that  Gog  and  his  allies  represent  the 
 enemies  of  the  Church  in  general,  and  that  the  prophet 
 is  here  depicting  the  same  great  and  prolonged  straggle 
 
 between  evil  and  good,   between   the   powers  of  the 
 
 world  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  which   has  formed  the, 
 
 burden  of  so  much  of  hoth  earlier  and  later  prophecy. 
 (20)  The  mountains  shall  be  thrown  down.— 
 
 In    verses    1'.'—  22    the    whole    earth,    animate    and    in. 
 
 animate,  is  represented  as  affected  by  the  terrible 
 judgment  of  the  Almighty  upon  His  enemies.  Such. 
 ■8  has  been  already  noted,  is  the  common  language  of 
 
 31 
 
 prophecy  in  describing  great  moral  events,  and  it  is 
 especially  used  iu  connection  with  the  judgments  of  the 
 last  day. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 This  chapter  is  a  continuation  of  the   pi ding,  and 
 
 contains  the   two    latter   parts  of  the   prophecy     \> 
 
 1 — IU.  17 — 2'.').     It  opens  with  a  briei  summary  of  the 
 
 earlier  part  of  chap,  xxxviii. 
 
 (2)  Leave  but  the  sixth  part  of  thee.— This 
 
 word  occurs  only  here,  ami  the  translation  is  based  on 
 t  he  supposition  that  it  is  derived  from  the  word  meaning 
 hut  even  on  this  supposition  the  renderings  in  tho 
 margin  are  as  likely  to  be  right  as  that  of  the  text. 
 This  derivation,  however,  is  probably  wrong;  all 
 the  ancient  versions  give  a  sense  corresponding  to 
 xxxviii.  t.  lii.  and  also  to  t he  clauses  immediately  before 
 ami  after,  "1  will  lead  thee  alone."  The  greater  part 
 of  the  modern  commentators  concur  in  this  view. 
 
 W  Unto  the  ravenous  birds.  —  Compare  tho 
 account  of  the  destruction  of  Pharaoh  in  chap.  xxix. 
 4,5. 
 
 (6)  A  fire  on  Magog.— Magog  is  tho  country  of 
 Hop;  chap,  xxxviii.  1),  and  the  Divine  judgment  is  to 
 fall  therefore  not  only  upon  the  army  in  the  land  of 
 Israel,  but  also  upon  the  far-distant  country  of  G 
 In  Rev.  xx.  !'  this  lite  is  represented  as  coming  "down 
 from  God  out  of  heaven." 
 
Israel's  Great  Victory. 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XXXIX. 
 
 Gog's  Army  shall  be  Buried. 
 
 1  carelessly  in  the  isles  :  and  they  shall 
 know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  (7)  So  will  I 
 make  my  holy  name  known  in  the  midst 
 of  my  people  Israel ;  and  I  will  not  let 
 them  pollute  my  holy  name  any  more  : 
 and  the  heathen  shall  know  that  I  am 
 the  Lord,  the  Holy  One  in  Israel.  (8)  Be- 
 hold, it  is  come,  and  it  is  done,  saith  the 
 Lord  God  ;  this  is  the  day  whereof  I  have 
 spoken. 
 
 (9>  And  they  that  dwell  in  the  cities  of 
 Israel  shall  go  forth,  and  shall  set  on 
 fire  and  bum  the  weapons,  hoth  the 
 shields  and  the  bucklers,  the  bows  and 
 the  arrows,  and  the  2  handstaves,  and  the 
 spears,  and  they  shall  3burn  them  with 
 fire  seven  years  :  (10)  so  that  they  shall 
 take  no  wood  out  of  the  field,  neither 
 cut  down  any  out  of  the  forests ;  for 
 they  shall  bum  the  weapons  with  fire  : 
 and  they  shall  spoil  those  that  spoiled 
 them,  and  rob  those  that  robbed  them, 
 saith  the  Lord  God.  <u>  And  it  shall 
 come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will  give 
 unto   Gog  a  place  there  of 
 
 1  Or,  confidently. 
 
 Or,  javelins. 
 
 3  Or,  make  a  fire  of 
 
 tlum. 
 
 4  Or,  mouths. 
 
 5  That  is.  The  mul- 
 titude of  Gojf. 
 
 Heb.,  menof  con- 
 tiniuince. 
 
 7  Heb.,  build. 
 
 8  That  is.Tltc  mul- 
 titude. 
 
 Israel,  the  valley  of  the  passengers  on 
 the  east  of  the  sea :  and  it  shall  stop  the 
 inoses  of  the  passengers  :  and  there  shall 
 they  bury  Gog  and  all  his  multitude : 
 and  they  shall  call  it  The  valley  of 
 5Hamon-gog.  (12)  And  seven  months 
 shall  the  house  of  Israel  be  burying  of 
 them,  that  they  may  cleanse  the  land. 
 (13>  Yea,  all  the  people  of  the  land  shall 
 bury  them  ;  and  it  shall  be  to  them  a  re- 
 nown the  day  that  I  shall  be  glorified, 
 saith  the  Lord  God.  I1*)  And  they  shall 
 sever  out  Gmen  of  continual  employment, 
 passing  through  the  land  to  bury  with 
 the  passengers  those  that  remain  upon 
 the  face  of  the  earth,  to  cleanse  it :  after 
 the  end  of  seven  months  shall  they 
 search.  <15)  And  the  passengers  that 
 pass  through  the  land,  when  any  seeth 
 a  man's  bone,  then  shall  he  7set  up  a 
 sign  by  it,  till  the  buriers  have  buried 
 it  in  the  valley  of  Hamon-gog.  (16)And 
 also  the  name  of  the  city  shall  be  8Ha- 
 monah.  Thus  shall  they  cleanse  the 
 land. 
 
 In  the  isles. — This  common  Scriptural  expression 
 for  the  remoter  parts  of  the  earth  is  added  here  to  show 
 the  universality  of  the  judgment  upon  all  that  is  hostile 
 to  the  kingdom  of  God. 
 
 (9)  Shall  burn  them  with  fire  seven  years.— 
 The  representation  of  this  and  the  following  verse,  that 
 the  weapons  of  the  army  of  Gog  shall  furnish  the 
 whole  nation  of  Israel  with  fuel  for  seven  years,  cannot, 
 of  course,  be  understood  literally,  and  seems  to  have 
 been  inserted  by  the  prophet  to  show  that  we  are  to 
 look  for  the  meaning  of  his  prophecy  beyond  any  literal 
 event  of  earthly  warfare. 
 
 Verses  11 — 16  again  present  the  magnitude  of  the 
 attack  upon  the  Church  by  describing  the  burial  of  the 
 host  after  it  is  slain.  The  language,  if  it  could  be  sup- 
 posed it  was  meant  to  be  literally  understood,  would 
 be  even  more  extravagant  than  that  of  verses  9,  10. 
 The  whole  nation  of  Israel  is  represented  as  engaged 
 for  seven  months  in  burying  the  bodies  (verses  12, 13) ; 
 after  this  an  indefinite  time  is  to  be  occupied  by  one 
 corps  of  men  appointed  to  search  the  land  for  still 
 remaining  bones,  and  by  another  who  are  to  bury 
 them. 
 
 (ii)  rphe  valley  of  the  passengers.— The  name 
 cannot  be  derived  from  the  Scythians,  as  if  they  were 
 spoken  of  "  as  a  cloud  passing  over  aud  gone,"  because 
 the  same  word  is  used  again  in  this  verse,  and  also  in 
 verses  It,  15,  evidently  in  a  different  sense.  It  simply 
 denotes  some  (probably  imaginary)  thoroughfare,  which 
 is  to  be  blocked  up  by  the  buried  bodies  of  the  slain.  No 
 definite  locality  is  assigned  to  it,  except  that  it  is  "  on 
 the  cast  of  the  sea,"  meaning  the  Dead  Sea.  It  was  to 
 be,  therefore,  on  the  extreme  south-eastern  outskirts  of 
 the  land.  This  is  another  of  the  features  of  the  de- 
 scription which  indicate  some  other  than  a  literal 
 interpretation;  for  how  should  such  a  host,  invading 
 
 the  land  from  the  north  for  purposes  of  plunder,  be 
 found  in  that  locality,  and  how  could  such  vast  numbers 
 of  dead  bodies  be  transported  thither  ? 
 
 Stop  the  noses. — The  word  "  noses  "  is  not  in  the 
 original,  and  should  be  omitted.  The  meaning  is 
 simply  that  the  bodies  of  the  host  shall  so  fill  up  the 
 valley  as  to  stop  the  way  of  travellers. 
 
 The  valley  of  Hamon-gog.  —  It  is  better  to 
 translate  the  word  Hamon,  as  in  the  margin :  The  valley 
 of  the  multitude  of  Gog.     So  also  in  verso  15. 
 
 (13)  All  the  people  of  the  land.—"  It  would  be 
 but  a  very  moderate  allowance,  on  the  literal  supposi- 
 tion, to  say  that  a  million  of  men  would  be  thus 
 engaged,  and  that  on  an  average  each  woidd  consign  to 
 the  tomb  two  corpses  in  one  day ;  which,  for  the  180 
 working  days  of  the  seven  months,  woidd  make  an 
 aggregate  of  360,000,000  of  corpses  !  "  (Fairbaim.) 
 
 (M)  Men  of  continual  employment. — The  word 
 for  "  continual"  is  the  same  as  that  translated  always 
 in  chap,  xxxviii.  8,  where  see  Note.  It  implies  that  this 
 occupation  is  to  be  one  of  long  continuance,  and  the 
 fact  that  they  are  to  search  the  land  through  for  the 
 remains  shows  that  the  army  of  Gog  is  not  conceived 
 of  as  perishing  when  collected  in  one  place,  but  when 
 distributed  all  over  the  land.  This  search  is  only  to 
 begin  after  the  close  of  the  burying  for  seven  months 
 already  described. 
 
 (16)  Shall  be  Hamonah.— As  a  further  monument 
 of  this  great  overthrow  some  city  (not  more  definitely 
 described,  but  probably  yet  to  be  built)  shall  be  called 
 "  Multitude." 
 
 Thus  shall  they  cleanse  the  land.— The  ex- 
 tremest  defilement,  according  to  the  Mosaic  law,  was 
 caused  by  a  dead  body  or  by  human  bones.  From  this 
 the  land  could  only  be  purified  by  the  burial  of  the  last 
 vestige  of  the  host  of  Gog.  In  the  spiritual  contest 
 which  this  prophecy  is  designed  to  set  forth  undei 
 these  material  figures,  this  cleansing  looks  to  the  puri- 
 
 312 
 
'ih.'  /•'<  tui  "/  il<-'  Fowls. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XXXIX. 
 
 Everlasting  .!/■  rey  up  m  I 
 
 ('"'  And,  thou  sun  ol  man,  thus  saith 
 til.-  Lord  « tor  ;  Speak  'unto  every  fea- 
 thered fowl,  ami  to  everj  beae"  of  the 
 field,  Assemble  yourselves,  and  come; 
 gather  yourselves  on  every  ride  to  mj 
 ■sacrifice  t  hat  I  do  sacrifice  for  you,  rmi 
 
 a  great  sacrifice  upon  the  mountains  of 
 [srael,  thai  remayeai  flesh,  and  drink 
 blood.  ,|N»  Xe  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
 mighty,   and   drink  the  blood   of    the 
 
 princes  of  tl arth,  of  rams,  of  lambs, 
 
 and  of  "goats,  of  bullocks,  all  of  them 
 fatlings  of  Bashan.  '"'  And  ye  shall  cat 
 fat  till  ye  be  lull,  and  drink  blood  till 
 ye  be  drunken,  of  my  sacrifice  which 
 I  have  sacrificed  for  you.  '*>'  Thus  ye 
 .shall  be  Idled  at  my  table  with  horses 
 and  chariots,  with  mighty  men,  and 
 with  all  men  of  war,  saith  the  Lord 
 (ion. 
 ('-'o  And  I  will  set  my  glory  among  the 
 
 heathen,  and    all    the    heathen    shall  see 
 
 my  judgment  that  I  have  executed,  and 
 m\     hand    that    I   have    laid    upon  them. 
 
 <--'  So  the  house  of  Israel  shall  know  that 
 I  am  the  Loud  their  (Jod  from  that  da> 
 and  forward.  ('J:!)  And  the  heathen  shall 
 know  that  the  house  of  Israel  went  into 
 captivity    for     their    iniquity:     because 
 
 ■my. 
 
 Or,  slaughter. 
 
 •  aigoat* 
 
 ll.i. ,' 
 
 Joel  ?.  25:  Acts 
 
 thev  trespassed  against  me,  therefore 
 hid  I  my  face  from  them,  and  gave  them 
 into  the  hand  of  their  enemies;  so  fell 
 thei  all  by  the  sword,  IJ"  According  to 
 their  oncleanness  and  according  to  their 
 
 transgressions  have  1  done  unto  them, 
 and  hid  my  face  from  them. 
 
 Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God; 
 .Vow  will  I  bring  again  the  captivity  of 
 
 Jacob,  and  have  mercy  upon  the  whole 
 house  of  Israel,  and  will  be  jealous  for 
 
 my  holy  na  me  ;  '  after  that  they  have 
 borne  their  shame,  and  all  their  tree- 
 passes  whereby  they  have  trespassed 
 against  me,  when  they  dwelt  safely  in 
 their  land,  and  none  made  Hum  afraid. 
 (27)  When  I  have  brought  them  again 
 from  the  people,  and  gathered  them  out 
 of  their  enemies'  lands,  and 'am  sancti- 
 fied in  them  in  the  right  of  many  nation,; 
 <-8>  then  shall  they  know  that  I  am  the 
 Lord  their  <  i oil,  which  caused  them  to 
 he  led  into  captivity  among  the  heathen: 
 but  I  have  gathered  them  unto  their  own 
 land,  and  have  left  none  of  them  any 
 more  there.  (29)  Neither  will  I  hide  my 
 face  any  more  from  them :  for  I  have 
 *  poured  out  my  spirit  upon  the  house  of 
 Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 Bcation  of  the  Church  from  cw -i-i-v I  hing  ••  t  hat  defileth 
 :unl  is  unclean."    (Oomp.  Eph.  v.  -<'<.-7;  Rev.  xxL27.) 
 
 With  verse  17  the  last  pari  <>f  this  remarkable 
 prophecy  is  introduced,     lis  representations  are  not  to 
 
 be  considered  as  subsequent,  to  those  of  the  former  part 
 of  the  chapter,  but  as  depicting  the  same  thing  under 
 anot  her  figure. 
 
 (l")  Every  feathered  fowl.  —  Comparo  verse  I. 
 also  chaps,  svii.  23,  xxix.  .*..  The  birds  and  beasts  of 
 all  kinds  represent  all  oat  ion  - 
 
 A  groat  sacrifice.— The  representation  of  a  de- 
 structive   judgment    upon    the    Lord's  enemies  as  a 
 
 BSCrifice   is    found   also   in    Isa.   xxxiv.   ti;    Jer.  xlvi.   10. 
 
 The  figure  is  not  to  be  pushed  beyond  the  single  point 
 
 for  which  it  is  used--"  to  till  out    and   heighten  the  de- 
 
 scription  of  an  immense  slaughter." 
 
 (is)  Drink  the  blood  of  the  princes.— In  these 
 verses  there  is  a  curious  mingling  of  the  figurative  and 
 
 the  literal;  thus  the  "princes  8X6  immediately  ex- 
 plained   by    the    mention    of    the    various    saorificia] 
 
 animals  ;   and  in  verse  -JO  these  are  again  interpreted  of 
 
 •■  horses  and  chariots,  with  mighty  men.  and  with  all 
 men  of  war."      \ml  when  the  figure  is  so  far  explained 
 
 it  only  leads  to  a  literal  sense  which  must  yet  be  con- 
 sidered as  itself  but  the  symbol  of  something  further. 
 
 |>.   Rev.  xix.  17.   I  s 
 
 iJi  My  glory  among  the  hoathen.  —  In  this 
 and  the  following  verse  the  ultimate  effect  of  the 
 Divine  Judgments  in  the  world  is  spoken  of,  and  then, 
 
 in  verses  -J:!.  24,  tliis  is  applied  to  the  present  captivity 
 
 of  Israel.    But  the  effect  is  too  far-reaching  to  be 
 
 limited   to  the  latter,  and  the  kingdom  of   God   was 
 
 never  so  established  among  the  restored  exiles,  either 
 by  external  triumphs  over  their  enemies  or  by  its  in- 
 ternal   development    ill   the    hearts    of    men.    that    the 
 
 Divine  glory    was    generally   ri gnised   among  the 
 
 heathen.  In  the  time  foretold  the  judgments  shall  be 
 of  such  a  character  that  all  shall  perceive  that  they  are 
 
 from  God.  Yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  re- 
 storation from  the  exile  was  one  step,  and  an  important 
 one.  in  the  Course  of  events  leading  to  this  end. 
 
 W)  The    house    of   Israel  shall  know.— The 
 knowledge  here  spoken  of  is  evidently  practical,  and  is 
 
 expressly  declared   to  remain    for  ever.      It  can  only  be 
 
 considered  as  realised,  and  that,  still  but  iii  germ,  in  the 
 Christian  Church. 
 
 <-';i  For  their  iniquity.  —  In  the  times  foretold 
 God's  dealings  shall  no  longer  be  misunderstood,  nor 
 
 the    sufferings    of   Israel    considered    as  the    result    of 
 
 His  want  of  power  to  protect  them.    All  the  world 
 
 shall  so  far  understand  His  righteousness,  that  they 
 shall  see  the  reasonableness  and  necessity  of  His 
 punishing  even  His  chosen  people  for  their  sins,  and 
 purifying  them  that  they  may  become  His  indeed. 
 
 (35)*  Now  will  I  bring  again  the  captivity.— It 
 
 was    needed   for  the   exiles    in    their   distress   that   the 
 
 prophet   at   the  close  of  this  far-reaching    prop] 
 
 should  bring  out  the  tirst  step  in  the  long  course  of 
 events   leading  to  its   fulfilment,  because  that  step  was 
 
 one  of  is] i.il  interest  and  comfort   to  them:    bat  eVBD 
 
 this  promise  is  mingled  with  predictions  which  still 
 lool  on  to  the  then  distant  future. 
 
 t»J  I  have  poured  out.— Oomp.  Joel  ii.  28,  29; 
 
 Lets  ii.  17.     See  Excursus  G  at  the  end  of  this  liook. 
 
 313 
 
EZEKIEL,   XL. 
 
 PRELIMINARY  NOTE   ON  CHAPTERS   XL.— XLVIII. 
 
 These  closing  chapters  of  Ezekiel  form  one  continuous 
 prophecy  of  a  distinctly  marked  character.  They  pre- 
 sent a  vision  of  the  Temple  in  minute  detail,  with 
 careful  measurements  of  its  parts ;  various  ordinances 
 for  the  Temple,  for  the  Levites,  and  the  priests,  and  for 
 the  prince  ;  a  new  and  remarkable  division  of  the  land  ; 
 and  the  vision  of  the  life-giving  waters  issuing  from 
 the  sanctuary.  The  whole  passage  differs  too  much 
 from  anything  in  the  past  to  allow  for  a  moment  the 
 supposition  that  it  is  historical  in  character ;  and  uttered, 
 as  it  was,  at  a  time  when  the  Temple  lay  in  ashes,  and 
 the  laud  desolate,  it  is  equally  clear  that  it  cannot  de- 
 scribe the  present.  It  must,  therefore,  have  been  pro- 
 phetic ;  but  this  fact  alone  will  not  decide  whether  it 
 looked  to  a  literal  fulfilment,  or  was  ideal  in  its  charac- 
 ter ;  although  the  a  priori  presumption  must  be  in  favour 
 of  the  latter,  since  all  was  seen  "  in  the  visions  of  God  " 
 (chap.  xl.  2) — an  expression  which  Ezekiel  always  applies 
 to  a  symbolic  representation  rather  than  to  an  actual 
 image  of  things.  Certainly  the  Temple  was  afterwards 
 rebuilt,  and  the  nation  re-established  in  Palestine ;  but 
 the  second  Temple  was  quite  unlike  the  one  described  by 
 Ezekiel,  and  no  attempt  was  ever  made  to  carry  out  his 
 division  of  the  land.  The  few  interpreters  who  have 
 supposed  that  he  meant  to  foretell  literally  the  sanctuary 
 and  the  state  of  the  restoration  have  been  compelled  to 
 suppose  that  the  returning  exiles  found  themselves  too 
 feeble  to  carry  out  their  designs,  and  hence  that  this  pro- 
 phecy remains  as  a  monument  of  magnificent  purposes 
 which  were  never  accomplished.  If  this  were  the  correct 
 view,  it  is  inconceivable  that  there  should  be  no  allusion 
 to  the  language  of  Ezekiel  in  the  historical  books  of 
 Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  aud  in  the  prophecies  of  Haggai, 
 which  all  relate  to  this  period,  and  describe  the  return 
 and  settlement  in  the  laud,  and  the  rebuilding  of  the 
 Tenrple,  with  no  reference  to  this  prophecy,  nor  any 
 trace  of  a  desire  to  conform  their  work  to  its  directions. 
 Other  objections  to  this  view  will  be  mentioned  pre- 
 sently. 
 
 At  the  same  time,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  a  rem- 
 nant of  the  people  were  restored  to  their  land,  and  their 
 Temple  was  rebuilt  upon  Mount  Zion ;  it  is  but  reason- 
 able to  suppose  that  these  events,  so  often  foretold,  were 
 present  to  the  prophet's  mind,  and  that  he  looked  out 
 from  them  upon  a  more  distant  future,  in  the  same  way 
 that  near  aud  typical  events  often  with  the  other  pro- 
 phets form  the  basis  of  their  foreshadowing  of  the 
 future. 
 
 The  only  other  way  in  which  this  prophecy  can  be 
 literally  understood  is  by  supposing  that  its  fulfilment 
 is  still  in  the  future.  In  general,  it  is  difficult  to  say 
 that  any  state  of  things  may  not  be  realised  in  the 
 future  ;  but  in  this  case  there  are  features  of  the  pro- 
 phecy, and  those  not  of  a  secondary  or  incidental  cha- 
 racter, but  forming  a  part  of  its  main  delineations, 
 which  enable  us  to  say  unhesitatingly  that  their  literal 
 fulfilment  would  be  in  plain  contradiction  to  the  Divine 
 revelation.  For  it  is  impossible  to  conceive,  in  view  of 
 the  whole  relations  between  the  old  and  the  new  dispen- 
 sations, as  set  forth  in  Scripture,  that  animal  sacrifices 
 can  ever  again  be  restored  by  Divine  command,  and 
 find  acceptance  with  God.  And  it  may  be  added  that  it 
 is  equally  impossible  to  conceive  that  the  Church  of  the 
 future,  progressing  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  has 
 made  it  free,  should  ever  return  again  to  "  the  weak  and 
 beggarly  elements  "  of  Jewish  bondage  here  set  forth. 
 But  besides  these  obvious  reasons,  there  are  several  in- 
 
 dications in  the  detail  of  the  prophecy  that  show  it  was 
 never  intended  to  be  literally  understood.  These  cannot 
 all  be  seen  without  a  careful  examination  of  the  details, 
 but  a  few  points  may  be  presented  which  will  make  the 
 fact  sufficiently  clear. 
 
 In  the  first  place,  the  connection  between  the  Temple 
 aud  the  city  of  Jerusalem  is  so  deeply  laid  in  all  the 
 sacred  literature  of  the  subject,  as  well  as  in  the  thought 
 of  every  pious  Israelite,  that  a  prophecy  incidentally 
 separating  them,  without  any  distinct  statement  of  the 
 fact,  or  assignment  of  a  reason  for  so  doing,  is  scarcely 
 conceivable.  Yet  in  this  portion  of  Ezekiel  the  Temple 
 is  described  as  at  a  distance  of  nearly  nine  and  a  half 
 miles  from  the  utmost  bound  of  the  city,  or  about 
 fourteen  and  a  quarter  miles  from  its  centre.  This 
 holds  true,  however  the  tribe  portions  of  the  land  and 
 the  •' oblation"  be  located  (see  the  map  in  the  Notes 
 to  chap,  xlviii.) ;  for  the  priests'  portion  of  the  "  obla- 
 tion" (ehap.  xlviii.  10),  in  the  midst  of  which  the 
 sanctuary  is  placed,  is  10,000  reeds,  or  about  nineteen 
 miles  broad ;  to  the  south  of  this  (xlviii.  15 — 17)  is  a 
 strip  of  land  of  half  the  width,  in  which  the  city  with 
 its  "  suburbs  "  is  situated,  occupying  its  whole  width. 
 
 A  Temple  in  any  other  locality  than  Mount  Moriah 
 would  hardly  be  the  Temple  of  Jewish  hope  and  associa- 
 tion ;  but  Ezekiel's  Temple,  with  its  precincts,  is  a  mile 
 square,  larger  than  the  whole  ancient  city  of  Jerusalem. 
 It  is  hardly  possible  that  the  precincts  of  any  actual 
 Temple  could  be  intended  to  embrace  such  a  variety  of 
 hill  and  valley  as  the  country  presents.  However  this 
 may  be,  the  prophet  describes  it  as  situated  many 
 miles  north  of  the  city,  and  the  city  itself  as  several 
 miles  north  of  the  site  of  Jerusalem.  This  woidd  place 
 the  Temple  well  on  the  road  to  Samaria. 
 
 But,  still  further,  the  description  of  the  oblation 
 itself  is  physically  impossible.  The  boundaries  of  the 
 land  are  the  Jordan  on  the  one  side  and  the  Mediter- 
 ranean on  the  other  (chap,  xlvii.  15 — 21).  The  "  oblation" 
 coidd  not  have  reached  so  far  south  as  the  mouth  of  the 
 Jordan ;  but  even  at  that  point  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
 country  is  but  fifty-five  iniles.  Now  measuring  forty- 
 seven  and  one-third  miles  north  (the  width  of  .the 
 oblation)  a  point  is  reached  where  the  distance  between 
 the  river  and  the  sea  is  barely  forty  miles.  It  is 
 impossible,  therefore,  that  the  oblation  itself  shoidd  be 
 included  between  them,  and  the  description  requires 
 that  there  shoidd  also  be  room  left  for  the  prince's 
 portion  at  either  end. 
 
 Again,  while  the  city  of  the  vision  is  nowhere  ex- 
 pressly said  to  be  Jerusalem,  it  is  yet  described  as  the 
 great  city  of  the  restored  theocracy.  It  cannot,  as 
 already  said,  be  placed  geographically  upon  the  site  of 
 Jerusalem.  Either,  then,  this  city  must  be  understood 
 ideally,  or  else  a  multitude  of  other  prophecies,  and 
 notably  many  in  Ezekiel  which  speak  of  the  future  of 
 Zion  and  of  Jerusalem,  must  be  so  interpreted.  There 
 is  no  good  reason  why  both  shoidd  not  be  interpreted 
 figuratively,  but  it  is  impossible  to  understand  both 
 literally ;  for  some  of  these  prophecies  make  statements 
 in  regard  to  the  future  quite  as  literal  in  form  as  these 
 of  Ezekiel,  and  yet  in  direct  conflict  with  them.  To 
 select  a  single  instance  from  a  prophecy  not  much 
 noticed  :  Obadiah,  who  was  probably  a  contemporary  of 
 Ezekiel,  foretells  (verses  19,  20)  that  at  the  restoration 
 "Benjamin  shall  possess  Gilead;"  but,  according  to 
 Ezekiel,  Gilead  is  not  in  the  land  of  the  restoration  at 
 all,  and  Benjamin's  territory  is  to  be  immediately  south 
 
 314 
 
EZEKEEL,   XI, 
 
 of  the  " oblation."  Again,  Ohadiah  says,  "The  cap- 
 tivity of  .1  ii-iis.iliin  "  (which,  iii  distinction  from  "the 
 captivity  of  the  host  of  tin-  children  of  Israel,"  must 
 refer  to  the  two  tribee)  "shall  possess  the  cities  of  the 
 south;"  but,  according  to  Ezekiel,  Judah  and  Benjamin 
 are  to  adjoin  the  oentral  "  oblation,"  and  on  the  south 
 four  of  the  other  tribes  are  to  have  their  portion,  Bush 
 instances  might  be  multiplied  if  accessary. 
 The  division  of  the  land  mump  tin-  twelve  tribes; 
 
 tin1  entire  change  in  assigning  tu  tlir  priests  ami  t"  tins 
 
 Levitee  large  landed  estates,  and  t'>  I  he  Conner  as  much 
 
 as    to   tlii>    latter i    the    enormous    si/.o   of    tho   Temple 
 
 precincts  and  of  the  city,  with  tlio  comparatively  small 
 allotment  of  land  for  ita  support,  an  all  so  smgnlar, 
 and  so  entirely  without  historical  precedent,  thai  only 
 the  clearest  evidence  would  justify  the  assumption  that 
 these  things  were  intended  to  !><'  literally  earried  out, 
 No  regard  is  paid  to  the  differing  numbers  of  the 
 various  tribes,  l»ut  an  equal  strip  of  land  is  assigned  to 
 each  of  them;  ami,  tin-  trans-Jordanic  territory  being 
 excluded  and  about  one-fifth  of  the  whole  land 
 apart  as  an  "  oblation,"  the  portion  remaining  allows  to 
 each  of  the  tribee  but  about  two-thirds  as  mush 
 territory  as.  on  the  average,  they  hail  formerly  pos- 
 sessed. The  geographical  order  of  the  tribee  is  extremely 
 singular:  Judah  ami  Benjamin  are, indeed, placed  on 
 the  two  sides  of  the  consecrated  la  ml.  ami  the  two  eldest, 
 
 Ri'ulieu  and  Simeon,  are  placed  no\t  to  them,  ami  Dan 
 is  put  at  the  extreme  north,  where  a  part  of  the  tribe 
 DM    formerly   lived;    lint    the   classification   extends   110 
 
 further,  and  the  remaining  tribes  are  arranged  neither 
 
 in    order    of    seniority    nor    of    maternity,    nor    yet    of 
 
 aneieiit  position  Moreover,  nearly  the  whole  territory 
 assigned  to  Zebulon  ami  Gad  is  habitable  only  by 
 nomads,  except  on  the  supposition  of  physios]  changes 
 
 in  the  land. 
 
 Another   consequen E   this  division  of  the  land    is 
 
 important  :  the  l,e\ites,  being  now  provided  for  in  the 
 "oblation,"    no    longer    have    their    cities    anon;    the 
 
 tribes.  Hut  it  had  been  expressly  provided  that  the 
 "  cities  of  refuge  "  (which  must  he  distributed  through 
 
 the    land    in    order   to    fulfil    their   purpose)    should    be 
 
 Levitical  cities  >  Num.  xxxv.  9 — 1">).    With  this  change, 
 
 therefore,  the  provision  for  cities  of  refuge  eea-.es,  and 
 a  profound  alteration   is   made  in  the  whole  Mosaic  law 
 
 in'  regard  to  manslaughter  and  murder. 
 
 The  ordinances  for  the  sacrifices  ami  feasts,  as  given 
 in  chaps.  \lv.,  xlvi.,  differ  greatly  from  those  o!  the 
 Mosaic  law,  as  will  lie  pointed  QUI  in  the  commentary. 
 For  the  variation  in  the  amount  of  the  "  meat  offering," 
 and  of  the  nuinlier  and  character  of  tile  victims  on 
 various  occasions,  it  is  difficult  to  assign  any  other 
 reason  than  that  they  were  intended  as  indications  that 
 the  prophet's  scheme  was  n. it  to  be  taken  literally  ;  it  is 
 certain   that    no  attempt    was    made   at    the   restoration 
 
 thus  to  modify  the  Mosaic  ritual,  although  this  could 
 
 have  been  done  without  difficulty  if  it  had  been  under- 
 stood that  it  was  intended.  The  ample  provision  for 
 the   prince,  and    the    regulations    for    his   conduct,  were 
 
 politically  wis,-  and   useful   additions  to  the   Mosaic 
 
 economy,  if  literally  ondersl 1.  bui    which  DO  attempt 
 
 was  ever  made  to  carry  out  in  practice.  Tint  in  the 
 ordering  of  the  great  cycle  of  feasts  ami  fasts,  the  modi- 
 fication of  the  .Mosaic  system  is  so  profound  as  epiite 
 to  change  its  Symbolic  value.  The  "feast  of  weeks" 
 and  the  great  day  of  atonement  are  altogether  omitted  ; 
 and  also  the  "  new  moons."  except  that  of  the  first 
 month,  which  is  enhanced   in   value.      The  fact  that  the 
 
 men  who  received  these  teachings  from  Ezekiel's  own 
 
 lips,  and  had  charge  of  the  ordering  of  the  services  in 
 
 the  restored  Temple,*  paid  no  attention  to  theee 
 changes,  is  strong  evidence  that  they  did  not  consider 
 them  as  meant  to  lie  literally  carried  out. 
 
 In  connection  with  the  omission  of  the  day  of 
 atonement,  all  mention  of  the  high  priest  is  carefully 
 left  out  that  this  is  not  accidental  is  shown  by  the 
 fad  that  the  laws  of  marriage  and  of  mourning  for 
 all  the  priests  are  made  more  strict  than  in  the  legis- 
 lation of  MoOOS  (chap.  \liv.  -2 — ^7).  evidently  as  .1 
 of  Compensation  for  the  omitted  legislation  in  regard 
 to  the  high    priest.      Hut    the    Levitical   system  without 
 
 :i  high  priest  I imes  a  different  institution  in  itself, 
 
 and  is  also  greatly  changed  in  its  symbolism. 
 
 It  may  he  remarked  in  passing  that  the  system  hero 
 sot  forth  is  not  at  all  of  the  nature  of  an  intermediate 
 or  transitional  ritual  between  'hat  which  we  know 
 existed  under  the  monarchy,  and  that  which  is  set 
 forth  in  tho  Levitical  law,  and  therefore  affords  no 
 I. asis  for  the  theory  that   the  Levitical   system  was  tho 
 
 outgrowth  of  the  captivity.    The  absence  of  the  high 
 
 priest,  so  prominent  both  in  the  law  and  in  the  history, 
 is  alone  a  sufficient  proof  of  this;  and  to  this  may  bo 
 added  the  full  regulations  for  the  prince  in  Ezckiel.  of 
 which   there    is   no   trace   in   either   the   earlier   or   the 
 
 subsequent  history. 
 A  further  difficulty  with  the  literal   interpretation 
 
 may  lie  found  in  the  description  of  the  waters  which 
 issued  from  under  the  eastern  threshold  of  the  Temple 
 chap,  xlvii.  1 — 12).  These  waters  run  to  the  "east. 
 country."  and  go  down  "  to  the  sea."  which  can  only 
 be  the  Dead  Sea;  but  such  a  course  would  lie  physically 
 
 impossilile  without  changes  in  the  surf. of  the  earth, 
 
 sinco  tho  location  of  the  Temple  of  the  vision  is  on  the 
 west  of  the  watershed  of  the  Country.  They  had, 
 moreover,  the  effect  of  "healing"  the  waters  of  the 
 sea.  an  effect  which  could  not  he  produced  naturally 
 without  providing  an  outlet,  from  the  sea;  no  supply 
 of  fresh  water  could  remove  the  saltnoss  while  this 
 water  was  all  disposed  of  by  evaporation,  and  Ezckiel 
 (in  chap,  xlvii.  11)  excludes  the  idea  of  an  outlet. 
 But,  aliovo  all,  the  character  of  the  waters  themselves 
 
 is  impossible  without  a  perpetual  miracle.  Setting 
 aside  the  difficulty  of  a  spring  of  this  magnitude  upon 
 the  top  of  "a  very  high  mountain"  (chap.  xl.  2)  in 
 this  locality,  at  the  distance  of  1,000  cubits  from  their 
 Source,  the  waters  have  greatly  increased  in  volume; 
 and  so  with  each  successive  1.IKXI  cubits,  until  at  the 
 end  of  1,000  cubits  about  a  mile  and  a  half)  they  have 
 become  a  river  no  longer  fordable,  or.  in  other  words, 
 comparable  to  the  Jordan.  Such  an  increase,  without, 
 accessory  streams,  is  clearly  not  natural.  But.  beyond 
 all  this,  the  description  of  tin' waters  tbemselvis  clearly 
 marks  them  as  ideal.  They  are  life-giving  and  heahng; 
 trees  of  perennial  foliage  and  fruit  grow  upon  their 
 banks,  the  leaves  being  for  "  medicine/1  and  the  fruit, 
 although  for  food,  never  wasting.  The  reader  cannot 
 fail  to  he  reminded  of  "  the  pure  river  of  water  of  life" 
 in  Rev.  xxii.  1.  "J,  "  on  either  side  "  of  which  was  "  the 
 tree  ..f  life  "  with  "  its  twelve  manlier  of  fruits,"  and 
 its  leaves  "  for  the  healing  of  the  nations."  The 
 author  of  the  Apocalypse  evidently  had  this  passage 
 in  mind;  and  just   as  he  has  adopted  the  description 
 
 •  This  prophecy  was  given  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  tho 
 captivity,  ami  was,  therefore,  tori'  (.■■tore  the  r 
 
 ration.     The  elderly  men  of  the  restoration  must  have  been  of 
 
 full  we  to  appreciate  this  prophecy  at  the  time  it  was  ottered, 
 ami  in  the  immediately  subsequent  years  of  its  perusal  and 
 discussion.  There  can  bo  no  reasonable  doubt,  also,  that  the 
 prophecies  of  Ezekiel  were  earried  back  to  judna  by  tho 
 returning  exiles,  ami  from  their  very  nature  they  must  have 
 been  made  generally  known  to  those  who  were  in  the  captivity. 
 
 315 
 
The  Time  and  Mawne'r 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XL. 
 
 of  the.  Vision. 
 
 CHAPTER  XL.— (D  In  the  five  and  \ 
 twentieth  year  of  our  captivity,  in  the 
 beginning  of  the  year,  in  the  tenth  day 
 of  the  month,  in  the  fourteenth  year 
 after  that  the  city  was  smitten,  in  the 
 
 l  Or,  upon  which. 
 
 selfsame  day  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was 
 upon  ine,  and  brought  me  thither.  (2)  In 
 the  visions  of  God  brought  he  me  into 
 the  land  of  Israel,  and  set  me  upon  a 
 very  high  mountain,  :by  which  was  as 
 
 of  Gog  and  Magog  as  an  ideal  description,  and  applied 
 it  to  the  events  of  the  future,  so  he  has  treated  this  as 
 an  ideal  prophecy,  and  applied  it  to  the  Church 
 triumphant. 
 
 It  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  whole  vision  is 
 essentially  one,  and  that  it  would  be  unreasonable  to 
 give  a  literal  interpretation  to  one  part  of  it  and  a 
 figurative  to  another.  All  the  objections,  therefore, 
 which  lie  against  the  supposition  of  the  restoration  of 
 animal  sacrifices  hold  also  against  the  supposition  of 
 the  general  restoration  of  the  Jewish  Temple  and  polity. 
 This  was  felt  at  an  early  day,  and  such  Christian  com- 
 mentators as  Ephrem  Syrus,  Theodoret,  aud  Jerome 
 adopted  throughout  a  symbolic  or  typical  explanation. 
 The  changes  in  the  Mosaic  law  are  indeed  great,  but 
 still  are  only  of  detail,  and  leave  it  open  to  the  Apos- 
 tolic description  as  a  "  bondage  "  to  which  we  cannot 
 suppose  the  providence  of  God  would  ever  lead  back 
 the  Church  Christ  has  redeemed  at  the  cost  of  the 
 sacrifice  of  Himself.  Either  the  whole  argument  of 
 the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  a  mistake,  not  to  speak 
 of  those  to  the  Romans  and  Galatiaus,  nor  of  our 
 Lord's  own  discourses  (as  with  the  woman  of  Samaria), 
 or  else  the  Holy  Spirit  could  not  have  intended  a  literal 
 realisation  in  the  future  of  this  vision  of  Ezekiel. 
 
 We  thus  come  to  regard  this  prophecy  as  an  ideal 
 one  on  every  ground,  not  looking  for  any  literal  and 
 material  fulfilment.  If  it  should  be  asked,  Why  then 
 is  it  given  with  such  a  wealth  of  minute  material 
 detail  ?  the  answer  is  obvious,  that  this  is  thoroughly 
 characteristic  of  Ezekiel.  The  tendency,  strongly 
 marked  in  every  part  of  his  book,  merely  culminates 
 in  this  closing  vision.  The  two  previous  chapters, 
 especially,  have  abounded  in  concrete  and  definite 
 details  of  the  attack  of  a  great  host  upon  the  land  of 
 Israel,  while  yet  these  very  details  have  given  evidence 
 upon  examiuation  that  they  could  not  have  been  meant 
 to  be  literally  understood,  and  that  the  whole  prophecy 
 was  intended  to  shadow  forth  the  great  and  final 
 spiritual  conflict,  prolonged  through  ages,  between  the 
 power  of  the  world  and  the  kingdom  of  God.  So 
 nere,  the  prophet,  wishing  to  set  forth  the  glory,  the 
 purity,  and  the  beneficent  influence  of  the  Church  of 
 the  future,  clothes  his  description  in  those  terms  of  the 
 past  with  which  his  hearers  were  familiar.  The  use  of 
 such  terms  was  a  necessity  in  making  himself  intelli- 
 gible to  his  contemporaries,  just  as  to  the  very  close  of 
 the  inspired  volume  it  is  still  necessary  to  set  forth  the 
 glory  and  joy  of  the  Church  triumphant  under  the 
 figures  of  earthly  and  familiar  things,  while  no  one  is 
 misled  thereby  to  imagine  that  the  heavenly  Jerusalem 
 will  bo  surrounded  with  a  literal  wall  of  jasper, 
 "twelve  thousand  furlongs "  =  1,500  miles  (Rev.  xxi. 
 16,  18),  or  that  its  twelve  gates  shall  be  each  of  an 
 actual  pearl.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  two  instances, 
 that  of  Gog  and  that  of  the  river  of  life,  the  imagery 
 is  the  same  in  Ezekiel  and  in  Revelation.  At  the  same 
 time  Ezekiel  is  careful  to  introduce  among  his  details 
 so  many  points  that  were  impossible,  or,  at  least,  the 
 literal  fulfilment  of  which  would  have  been  strangely 
 inconsistent  with  his  main  teaching,  as  to  show  that 
 his  description  must  be  ideal,  and  that  its  realisation 
 
 is  to  be  sought  for  beneath  the  types  and  shadows 
 in  which  it  was  clothed.  It  may  be  as  impossible  to 
 find  the  symbolical  meaning  of  each  separate  detail  as 
 it  is  to  tell  the  typical  meaning  of  the  sockets  for  the 
 boards  of  the  tabernacle,  although  the  tabernacle  as  a 
 whole  is  expressly  said  to  have  been  a  type.  This  is 
 the  case  with  every  vision,  and  parable,  and  type,  and 
 every  form  of  setting  forth  truth  by  imagery ;  there 
 must  necessarily  be  much  which  has  no  independent 
 signification,  but  is  merely  subsidiary  to  the  main  point. 
 It  is  characteristic  of  Ezekiel  that  these  subsidiary 
 details  should  be  elaborated  with  the  utmost  minute- 
 ness. His  purpose  was  understood  by  his  contem- 
 poraries, and  by  the  generation  immediately  succeeding, 
 so  that  they  never  made  any  attempt  to  carry  out  Ins 
 descriptions  in  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  aud  recon- 
 stitution  of  the  State.  The  idea  of  a  literal  interpreta- 
 tion of  his  words  was  reserved  for  generations  long 
 distant  from  his  time,  from  the  forms  of  the  Church 
 under  which  ho  lived,  and  from  the  circumstances  and 
 habits  of  expression  with  which  lie  was  familiar,  aud 
 under  the  influence  of  which  he  wrote. 
 
 XL. 
 
 (1)  In  the  five  and  twentieth  year.— It  is  the 
 habit  of  Ezekiel  in  giving  the  year  to  make  no  mention 
 of  the  era  from  which  it  was  reckoned ;  but  in  a  few 
 important  passages  (chaps,  i.  2,  xii.  21,  and  here)  it  is 
 described  as  "  of  our  captivity."  This  vision  was  seen 
 "  in  the  beginning  of  the  year."  The  Jews  always 
 reckoned  the  month  Abib,  or  Nisan,  in  which  the 
 Passover  was  celebrated,  as  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
 according  to  the  command  given  in  Exod.  xii.  1,  aud 
 the  "  tenth  day  "  of  that  mouth  was  the  day  in  which 
 the  preparations  for  the  Passover  began,  and  hence 
 a  most  appropriate  season  for  this  vision  of  the 
 Church  of  the  future.  Others  consider  that  this 
 was  a  Jubile  year  (for  which  there  is  no  evidence) ; 
 and  since  the  Jubile  begau  at  the  great  fast  of 
 the  Atonement,  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh 
 month,  it  is  thought  that  this  is  the  day  here  in- 
 tended. At  a  much  later  time  the  Jews  sometimes 
 reckoned  the  years  from  the  Jubile,  but  there  is 
 nothing  to  show  that  this  custom  began  so  early.  In 
 either  case  the  text  distinctly  says  that  it  was  fourteen 
 years  after  the  destructiou  of  Jerusalem  ;  a  substantial 
 period  had,  therefore,  elapsed  in  which  this  great 
 judgment  would  have  produced  its  effect  upon  the 
 minds  of  the  exiles ;  there  was  thus  now  occasion  for 
 bringing  before  them  the  brighter  hopes  of  the  future. 
 
 (2)  In  the  visions  of  God.— This  expression  pre- 
 supposes that  what  follows  is  an  ideal  description 
 rather  than  an  account  of  anything  that  ever  had  or 
 ever  should  have  a  literal  existence.  The  same  expres- 
 sion has  been  used  in  the  same  sense  in  regard  to 
 chaps,  i. — iii.,  and  again  chaps,  viii. — xi.  It  always 
 refers,  not  to  an  actual  image  of  existing  things,  but  to 
 a  symbolic  representation  of  their  substance. 
 
 Upon  a  very  high  mountain. — Comp.  Isa.  ii.  2  ; 
 Mic.  iv.  1.  This  cannot  apply  literally  to  the  hill  of 
 Moriah,  surrounded  by  greater  heights,  but  is  fre- 
 quently used  to  mark  the  spiritual  importance  of  the 
 
 310 
 
The  Meaturing  Line. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XL. 
 
 The  Weill 
 
 the  IViiiiio  ill'  a  i-it  v  mi  tin-  smith.  '  \  i  ' 
 ln>     brought     me    thitlnT,    ami,    behold, 
 
 there  was  a  man,  whose  appearance  woe 
 like  the  appearance  of  braes,  with  a  line 
 ■  it  flax  in  his  hand,  and  a  measuring 
 reed  ;  and  he  stood  in  the  gate.    "'Ami 
 
 the  man  saiil  unto  me,  Smi  of  man,  be- 
 hold with  thine  eyes,  ami  hear  with  thine 
 ears,  and  set  thine  heart  QpOO  all  that  I 
 shall  shew  1 1 ;    fur  ti  i  t  he  intent   that   I 
 
 miffhl    shew   them   onto   thee  art  thou 
 
 Iom  fact 
 
 u-cirti  lu 
 
 brought  hither:  declare  all  that  thou 
 seest  to  tin-  house  of  Israel.  ' "  And  be- 
 hold a  wall  on  tin-  outside  of  the  bouse 
 round  about,  ami  iii  tin-  man's  hand  a 
 
 measuring  r 1  of  six  cubits  long  by  the 
 
 cubit  ami  an  hand  breadth  :  so  be  mea- 
 sured the  breadth  of  the  building,  one 
 r I  ;   and  the  height,  one  r 1. 
 
 (°)T)n"ii  came  he  onto  the  irate  'which 
 
 looketh   toward    the   east,  and  went  up 
 
 the  stairs  thereof,  ami  measured  the 
 
 Temple  site.  (Comp.  chap,  tvii.  22,  :!:> ;  also  Rev. 
 xxi.  1(1.1 
 
 By  which.— Tin"  margin  is  more  accurate,  »/i"» 
 which.  This  proposition  ami  the  one  just  before 
 translated  upon  are  different  in  tin-  original,  but  upon 
 is  the  proper  Bense  of  iliis  one,  while  the  former  has 
 tin"  meaning  of  "«'".    The  structure  which  the  prophet 
 
 sim's  is  loioii  tho  ontain,  and  is  not  the  city,  bin  in 
 
 size  and  with  walls,  \c  "as  tin"  frame  of  a  < ■  i t y ;  in 
 fart.it  was  tin"  neatly  enlarged  Temple,  as  the  whole 
 following  description  shows. 
 
 On  the  south.- The  prophet,  although  transported 
 only  in  vision,  lias  in  mind  tin'  usual  way  of  entering 
 Palestine  from  Chaldan,  via.,  at  the  north.  Hence  he 
 sits  the  Temple  "  on  the  Bouth." 
 
 ;»  A  lino  of  flax  ...  a  measuring  reed.— 
 Tin'  former  for  the  longer,  the  latter  for  t  he  shorter 
 measures,  a  characteristic  definiteness  in  details. 
 
 (*)  By  the  cubit  and  an  hand  breadth.— The 
 sense  will  be  more  dearly  conveyed  by  reading,  "  each 
 being  ■  cubit  ami  a  hand-breadth,"  i.r..  each  of  the  six 
 cnbits  which  made  up  the  reed  was  an  ordinary  cubit 
 and  a  hand-lireailtli  mote.      It  is  difficult    or  impossible 
 
 to  t i x  with  precision  the  length  of  the  cubit  of  Scripture, 
 
 more  especially  as  the  value  of  the  measure  appears  to 
 
 have  changed  in  the  course  of  ages.  In  2  Ohron.  di.Sthe 
 measurements  of  Solomon's  Temple  are  given  •"  liy 
 euliits  after  the  first  [or  ancient]  measure."  It  appears, 
 therefore,  that  the  euliit  in  common  use  at   the  time  of 
 
 the  compilation  of  that  booh  (after  the  return  from  the 
 
 Captivity)  Was  different  from  the  standard  Mosaic  ellbit. 
 
 E/.okiel  evidently  intends  to  use  the  latter  in  his  Temple 
 
 measurements,  and  therefore  adds  ••  an  hand  breadth" 
 to  the  common  cubit.     Different  writers  vary  iii  their 
 
 estimate    of   the    length   of  the  measure   thus  obtained 
 
 from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  inches,    By  considering 
 
 it  twenty  inches  we  shall  have  a  convenient  nuinlier  for 
 use.  and  can  net  he  far  wrong.     The  "  reed  of  six  euliits  " 
 
 was  therefore  about  ten  feel  long. 
 
 Tho  breadth  of  the  building-  i.e..  the  thichu  u 
 of  Hi,  wall  gurrounding  fhe  eouri.    The  length  of  this 
 
 wall   is   not   given  until   verse    17.     The   thickness   and 
 
 height  are  mad pal,  evidently  for  the  sake  of  the 
 
 symmetry  of  the  measures,    (Oomp.  Rev. xxi.  Iii. ) 
 
 Verses    8 — 16    contain    a    description    of  the    eastern 
 
 gate,  or  rather,  gate-building  of  the  Temple,  by  which 
 
 one  entered  from  the  precincts  into  the  outer  court. 
 The  other  gates  were  like   it.  hut   this  is  described  first. 
 
 because  it  had  the  pre-eminence.     I'  looked  straight  to 
 
 the  door  of  the  Temple  itself:  it  was  by  this  that  the 
 glory  of  the  Lord  was  afterwards  seen  to  enter  His 
 house  (chap,  xliii.  1  :  ;  and  in  consequence  this  gate  was 
 to  be  kept    shut,  except  for  the  prime    chap.  xli\.  2,  8). 
 
 The  accompanying  plan  may  lie  a  help  in  understanding 
 
 the   description.     Notwithstanding   the   minuteness    of 
 
 detail  iii  the  text,  a  few  points  remain  undetermined; 
 
 hut  the  plan  represents  the  main  features  -reetly.  and 
 
 gives  the  most  probable  view  of  the  parts  that  are  not 
 entirely  settled. 
 
 Plan  I. — Outer  Gate. 
 
 A  steps. 
 C  columns. 
 D  doors. 
 G  guard-rooms 
 P  porch. 
 
 S  spaces, 
 o  s 
 
 ssosblts 
 
 (6)  The  stairs. — These  steps  to  the  porch  were 
 seven  iii  number  (verses  22,  ->'<  for  the  north  and  south 
 gates,  and  therefore  probably  also  for  this.  They  were 
 entirely  outside  of  the  threshold,  and  hence  are  not 
 reckoned  in  the  dimensions  of  the  gate-building.  (See 
 plan.  A.I 
 
 One  reed  broad.— That  is.  from  east  t,,  w 
 plan,  t).     This  was  just  the  thickness  of  the  enclosing 
 
 "17 
 
The  East  Gate 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XL. 
 
 and  its  Chambers. 
 
 threshold  of  the  gate,  which  was  one 
 reed  broad ;  and  the  other  threshold  of 
 the  gate,  which  was  one  reed  broad. 
 P)  And  every  little  chamber  ivas  one  reed 
 long,  and  one  reed  broad  ;  and  between 
 the  little  chambers  were  five  cubits ;  and 
 the  threshold  of  the  gate  by  the  porch  of 
 the  gate  within  was  one  reed.  <8)  He 
 measured  also  the  porch  of  the  gate 
 within,  one  reed.  (9)  Then  measured  he 
 the  porch  of  the  gate,  eight  cubits  ;  and 
 the  posts  thereof,  two  cubits  ;  and  the 
 porch  of  the  gate  was  inward.  (10>  And 
 the  little  chambers  of  the  gate  eastward 
 were  three  on  this  side,  and  three  on  that 
 
 Hi'b.,  limit,  or, 
 humid. 
 
 side  ;  they  three  were  of  one  measure  : 
 and  the  posts  had  one  measure  on  this 
 side  and  on  that  side.  (11)  And  he  mea- 
 sured the  breadth  of  the  entry  of  the 
 gate,  ten  cubits ;  and  the  length  of  the 
 gate,  thirteen  cubits.  '^  The  l  space 
 also  before  the  little  chambers  was  one 
 cubit  on  this  side,  and  the  space  was  one 
 cubit  on  that  side  :  and  the  little  cham- 
 bers were  six  cubits  on  this  side,  and  six 
 cubits  on  that  side.  (13)  He  measured 
 then  the  gate  from  the  roof  of  one  little 
 chamber  to  the  roof  of  another :  the 
 breadth  was  five  and  twenty  cubits,  door 
 against  door.     (li)  He  made  also  posts  of 
 
 wall,  w  (verse  5).  The  text  of  this  verse  becomes 
 clearer  by  omitting  the  words  in  italics  which  are  not 
 in  the  original;  also  throughout  the  description  it  is 
 better  to  omit  the  inserted  words  was  and  were,  since 
 the  various  things  mentioned  are  all  dependent  upon 
 measured. 
 
 The  other  threshold. — This  is  the  threshold  at 
 the  opposite,  or  inner  end  of  the  gate-building  (t').  It 
 is  mentioned  here  to  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  two 
 were  alike,  but  is  spoken  of  again  in  its  place  in 
 verse  7. 
 
 (7)  Little  chamber. — Rather,  guard-chamber,  and 
 so  throughout  this  passage.  The  original  word  is  quite 
 different  from  that  translated  "  chamber  "  in  verse  17, 
 and  is  used  in  1  Kings  xiv.  28 ;  2  Chron.  xii.  11  in  the 
 sense  of  guard-chamber.  These  rooms  were  only  ten 
 feet  square,  but  there  wei-e  three  of  them  (verse  10)  on 
 each  side  of  the  entrance-way.  They  were  for  sentries 
 who  were  to  guard  against  the  entrance  of  any  improper 
 person  or  thing  (see  plan,  g).  These  guard-rooms  were 
 separated  by  spaces  (s)  one  cubit  narrower  than  them- 
 selves, which  probably  formed  a  part  of  the  solid  wall, 
 and  the  ward-rooms  were  therefore  in  reality  large 
 niches  in  the  wall. 
 
 (8)  The  porch  of  the  gate  within.— The  same 
 expression  as  in  the  previous  verse,  and  indicates  a 
 porch  or  vestibule  to  the  gateway  on  the  inner  or 
 Temple  side.  Its  width  from  east  to  west  was  the 
 same  as  that  of  the  guard-rooms,  added  to  the  thickness 
 of  the  porch-walls,  and  was  probably  equal  also  to  the 
 space  occupied  by  the  steps  leading  to  the  other  end  of 
 the  gateway  (p). 
 
 (9)  Eight  cubits.— This  is  often  considered  the 
 measurement  of  the  porch  from  north  to  south.  A 
 more  probable  suggestion  is  that  this  is  the  same 
 measurement  as  in  verse  8,  but  is  now  the  external 
 instead  of  the  internal  length.  In  this  case  the  porch 
 must  be  considered  as  built  independently  of  the  gate- 
 way proper,  and  having  short  return  walls  on  the  east 
 and  west  of  a  cubit  each.  In  this  way  the  whole  length 
 of  the  gateway  (including  the  porch  and  its  "  posts  "), 
 as  given  in  verse  15,  exactly  agrees  with  the  details. 
 It  is  accordingly  so  drawn  on  the  plan. 
 
 (10)  The  posts. — This  verse  gives  the  further  in- 
 formation about  the  guard-chambers  of  verse  7,  that 
 they  were  all  alike,  and  also  about  the  "posts"  of 
 verse  9,  that  they  were  alike  (see  plau,  c).  The 
 supposition,  therefore,  that  there  was  a  colonnade 
 inside  the  gateway  is  quite  uncalled  for.  Such  an 
 arrangement    would    have    seriously    obstructed    the 
 
 passage-way,  and  is  hardly  supposable  in  view  of  the 
 height  of  the  columns  mentioned  in  verse  14. 
 
 in)  The  breadth  of  the  entry  of  the  gate.— 
 This  is  the  measurement  of  the  clear  space  between 
 the  sides  of  the  gate,  and,  according  to  the  length  of 
 the  cubit  adopted,  was  16J  feet. 
 
 The  length  of  the  gate,  thirteen  cubits.— 
 This  is  a  difficult  expression,  and  has  been  variously 
 explained.  It  is  now  generally  understood  of  that 
 part  of  the  gateway  winch  was  roofed  over,  including 
 the  threshold  of  six  cubits,  and  the  first  pair  of  guard- 
 chambers  of  six  cubits  more,  together  with  one  cubit 
 of  the  space  or  wall  between  these  guard-chambers  and 
 the  next.  The  reason  for  extending  it  over  this  last 
 cubit  was  doubtless  that  the  width  was  otherwise  too 
 great  (10  cubits  +  6  X  2  =  22)  to  span  with  the  roof 
 without  support.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  carry 
 it  one  cubit  further.  In  the  plan  the  part  supposed  to 
 be  thus  roofed  is  marked  by  lines  (be).  Whether 
 there  was  a  corresponding  roofing  at  the  other  end  of 
 the  gateway  does  not  appear,  but  that  some  at  least  of 
 the  guard-chambers  were  roofed  is  certain  from  verse  13. 
 
 (12)  The  space. — The  guard- chambers  themselves 
 were  just  six  cubits  square  (verse  7),  but  in  front  of  each 
 was  a  space  (a)  of  one  cubit  projecting  into  the  passage- 
 way. This  must  have  been  separated  by  some  sort  of 
 railing  from  the  passage-way  itself,  although  there  is 
 no  mention  of  this.  The  object  of  this  space  was 
 evidently  to  allow  the  guard  to  command  a  view  of  the 
 passage-way,  as  they  could  not  have  done  if  kept  behind 
 the  line  of  its  walls. 
 
 (13)  JTrom  the  roof  ....  to  the  roof.— 
 This  is  a  measurement  across  the  gateway  from  north 
 to  south.  The  passage-way  was  ten  cubits,  each  guard- 
 chamber  six,  and  an  allowance  of  a  cubit  and  a  half  for 
 the  outer  wall  will  exactly  make  up  the  sum  of  "  five 
 and  twenty  cubits  "  (10  +  2  X  (6  +  li)  =  25). 
 
 Door  against  door. — The  immediate  object  of 
 this  clause  is  to  mark  the  direction  in  which  the  above 
 measurement  was  taken;  but  besides  this,  it  shows  that 
 there  were  doors  to  the  guard-rooms.  These  doors 
 were  presumably  in  the  outer  wall  to  allow  the  watch- 
 men free  passage  between  the  court  and  their  posts  of 
 duty.  There  is  no  mention  of  an  inner  wall  between 
 these  chambers  and  the  passage-way,  and  it  is  more 
 probable  that  there  was  none.  If  any  existed  its  thick- 
 ness must  be  deducted  from  that  given  above  for  the 
 outer  wall. 
 
 (U)  He  made  also  posts  of  threescore 
 cubits. — The   word    "  made "    instead   of    measured 
 
 318 
 
Its  Measurements. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XI,. 
 
 Tin:  Cowrt. 
 
 threescore  cubits,  even  onto  the  post  of 
 the  court  roundabout  the  gate.  '"And 
 from  the  face  of  the  gate  of  the  entrance 
 onto  the  face  of  the  porch  of  the  inner 
 
 Lead'  it'i-i-f  titty  cubits.  ""I  Ami  there  were 
 ■•narrow  windows  to  tin-  little  chambers, 
 iiml  tn  their  posts  within  the  gate  round 
 about,  ami  likewise  to  the  -atvltes:  ami 
 windows  were  round  about  inward:  and 
 upon  each  post  were  palm  trees. 
 
 I   II.  I,.  ,■;„... I 
 
 ■   ,  or, 
 
 I  Or, 
 
 <17>  Then  brought  he  me  into  th rt- 
 
 uanl  court,  ami,  lo,  there  were  chambers, 
 ami  a  pavement  made  for  the  court 
 round  about  :  thirty  chambers  were 
 upon  the  pavement.  P8'  And  the  pave- 
 ment   hy    the    side'    of    the    elites    over 
 
 against  the  length  of  the  gates  was  the 
 lower  pavement.  <'"' Then  he  measured 
 the  breadth  from  the  forefront  of  the 
 lower  gate   until   the    forefront    of    the 
 
 correctly  represents  the  original,  and  the  change  is 
 I'm-  the  obvious  reason  that  columns  of  the  height 
 mentioned  could  not  be  directly  measured  by  the  reed. 
 Made  is  therefore  nsed  in  the  sense  of  determined  or 
 flmed,  although  we  are  not  told  by  what  method  of 
 oalculat  ion 
 
 The  height  of  these  columns,  sixty  cubits,  though 
 only  half  that  given  in  -  Chron.  iii.  I  as  the  height  of 
 the  porch  of  Solomon's  Temple,  is  sufficient  to  remind 
 us  of  the  Egyptian  custom  ox  placing  obelisks  before 
 the  doors  ox  their  templee.  The  height  is  also  ren 
 great   in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  columns,  whion 
 
 Were    but    two    cubits    square    i  verso  !l).      Probably   (lie1 
 
 <■< iliimiis  were  engaged  with  the  wall  as  far  as  the 
 height  of  the  porch,  as  the  original  word  for  "posts" 
 seems  to  indicate,  and  as  the  dimensions  of  the  gate- 
 way suggest.  Thus  buttressed  the  size  would  besuf- 
 Beient  tor  stability.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  however, 
 thai  as  in  the  case  of  the  wheels  in  i.  Hi,  17,  we  are 
 here  studying  only  a  vision,  not  an  actual  structure. 
 
 Even  unto  the  post  of  the  court  round 
 about  the  gato. — This  is  scarcely  intelligible,  and 
 even  the  original  is  obscure:  lit,  "And  unto  the  post 
 the  court  the  gato  round  about;"  anil  the  proper 
 translation  seems  to  be.  "the  court,  (extended)  to  the 
 column  nuil  was  round  about  the  gate."  The  object 
 is  to  show  that  the  court  reached  quite  to  the  gate. 
 building  and  encircled  it  on  three  sides,  so  that  the 
 gate  structure  projected  inwards  from  the  line  of  the 
 wall  and  terminated  in  the  columns,  beyond  which,  and 
 on  each  side  of  the  gate,  the  outer  court  of  the  Temple 
 began. 
 
 OSi  Fifty  cubits.— The  length  of  the  gate-building 
 
 was  just  twice  its  breadth,  and  was  made  up  as  follows  : 
 outer   thresholil.il   cubits;    three   gu  aril  -rooms,  each    6 
 
 cubits      I8j    two   "spaces"   between    these,  each  ,r> 
 
 cubits  s  10;  inner  threshold.  i'<  cubits;  porch.  8  cubits; 
 columns.  J  cubits  (6+  L8 +  10+  6  +  8  +  2  =  50). 
 
 (16)  Narrow  windows.— This  is  an  abbreviated 
 form  of  the  expression  used  in  1  Kings  vi.  t  of  the 
 windows  in  Solomon's  Temple.  Narrow  should  be 
 closed,  as  in  the  margin  :   the  windows  had  over  them 
 
 lattice-work  which  could  not  be  opened.     It  is  difficult 
 
 to  understand  the  situation  of  these  windows  on  account 
 of  the  uncertainty  in  the  meaning  of  the  words  trans- 
 lated "their  posts"  and  "the  arches."  The  former, 
 from  its  use  in  1  Kings  vi.  81,  and  also  in  chap,  xli.  .'!. 
 Of  the  "  side  posts"  of  the  door  into  the  Holy  of  Holie-.. 
 must  mean  the  jambs  Or  parte  of  the  wall  to  which  the 
 doors  were  attached;  ami  the  latter  indicates  some 
 projection  of  the  wall  which  is  most  probably  to  be 
 explained  of  the  "spaces"  between  the  guard-chambers 
 nnd  at  the  sides  of  the  inner  threshold.  The  meaning 
 of  the  whole  verse  will  then  be,  that  within  the  gate- 
 way windows  were  seen  on  both  sides,  both  at  the  side 
 of  the  doors  leading  from   the   court   to   the  guard- 
 
 chambers,  and  also  in  the  parts  of  the  wall  projecting 
 between  the  guard-chambers.  <  In  the  plan  these  are 
 marked  i  w  |. 
 
 Upon  each  post  were  palm  trees.— The  palm 
 had  been  largelv  used  in  the  carving  of  Solomon's 
 Temple  (1  Kings  vi.  29,  82,  85  . 
 
 The  prophet    is   now   taken   across   the  outer  court, 
 
 which  he  describee  on  the  way  (verses  17 — 19),  to  the 
 
 north  gate  (verse  20),  and  then  to  the  south  gate 
 I  verse  24). 
 
 C7)  Outward  court.— Tho  Temple  of  Ezekicl  has 
 
 two  courts,  an  outer  and  an  inner;  but  there  is  no  ap- 
 propriation of  these  courts  to  the  special  use  of  any 
 classes.  It  may  be  assumed  that  the  inner  eoiirt.  from 
 its  size  and  arrangements,  was  for  the  priests  engaged 
 in  the  sacrifices,  and  tl liter  for  the  people  generally. 
 
 A  pavement.— Comp.  -  Ohron.vh.3j  Esther  i.  "<;. 
 
 The  word  is  generally  understood  to  mean  a  tesselated 
 or  mosaic  pavement. 
 Thirty  chambers.— The  size  and  location  of  these 
 
 chambers  is  not  given.    In  a rdanee  with  the  general 
 
 symmetry  of  the  arrangements,  it  may  be  assumed 
 that  there  were  ten  on  each  of  the  three  sides  not 
 occupied  by  t lie  Temple  buildings,  and  that  live  were 
 on  each  side  of  the  gate.  They  are  conjecturally 
 indicated  on  Plan  II.  (page  124)  by  DD.  They  are 
 drawn  as  if  joined  together;  but  this  is  not  certain. 
 Such  chambers  for  the  use  of  officiating  priests  and 
 Levitee, and  for  the  storage  of  the  tithes,  arc  mentioned 
 both  in  connection  with  Solomon's  Temple  and  witli 
 'hat  of  tho  restoration  (see  Jer.  xxxv.  4,  xxxvi.  10; 
 1  Chron.  ix.  26;   Nab,  x.  :>>— tO). 
 
 (18)  Over  against  the  length  of  the  gates.— 
 
 The  width  of  the  pavement  was  the  same  as  the  projec- 
 tion of  the  gateways  into  the  court .  ..,.,  II  cubits  (50 
 cubits,  le--s  the  thickness  of  the  wall'. 
 
 Lower    pavement. — In    contradistinction    to    the 
 pavement  of  the  inner  court,  which  was  upon  a  higher 
 
 level 
 
 111  An    hundred   cubits   eastward.— As    tho 
 
 prophet  is  taken  through  the  outer  court  its  width  is 
 measured  from  the  eastern  gate,  which  he  had  already 
 examined,  and  from  the  northern  gate,  to  which  he 
 is  next  taken  i  verse  -Jn  .  Afterwards  (verse  J7:  the 
 same  measurement  is  made  to  the  southern  gate,  and 
 these  all  agree  as  Inn  cubits  each.  The  starting-point 
 of  the  measurement  is  (dearly  defined  as  "  from  the 
 forefront  of  tho  lower  gate."  i.e..  from  the  western  or 
 innermost  extremity  of  the  outer  gate-building;  but 
 the  final  point,  as  given  in  this  verse,  "the  forefront 
 of  the  inner  court,  leaves  the  question  open,  whether 
 this  was  to  the  wall  of  the  inner  court  itself,  or  only  to 
 the  outer  extremity  of  its  gate.  This  doubt  is  removed 
 in  \ersos  23  and"  27,  which  UiprUOoly  say  that  the 
 measurement  was  "from  gate  to  gate."  i.1 ..  between 
 tho  nearest  points  of  the  gate-buildings. 
 
 319 
 
The  Outer  Gateways. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XL. 
 
 The  Inner  Gateways.. 
 
 inner  court  l  without,  an  hundred  cuhits 
 eastward  and  northward. 
 
 (20)  An(j  the  gate  of  the  outward  court 
 2  that  looked  toward  the  north,  he  mea- 
 sured the  length  thereof,  and  the  breadth 
 thereof.  (21)  And  the  little  chambers 
 thereof  were  three  on  this  side  and  three 
 on  that  side  ;  and  the  posts  thereof  and 
 the  8  arches  thereof  were  after  the  mea- 
 sure of  the  first  gate  :  the  length  thereof 
 was  fifty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  five 
 and  twenty  cubits.  <22)  And  their  win- 
 dows, and  their  arches,  and  their  palm 
 trees,  were  after  the  measure  of  the  gate 
 that  looketh  toward  the  east ;  and  they 
 went  up  unto  it  by  seven  steps  ;  and  the 
 arches  thereof  were  before  them.  (23And 
 the  gate  of  the  inner  court  was  over 
 against  the  gate  toward  the  north,  and 
 toward  the  east ;  and  he  measured  from 
 gate  to  gate  an  hundred  cubits. 
 
 <&)  After  that  he  brought  me  toward 
 the  south,  and  behold  a  gate  toward 
 the  south :  and  he  measured  the  posts 
 thereof  and  the  arches  thereof  ac- 
 cording to  these  measures.  <25)  And 
 there  were  windows  in  it  and  in 
 the   arches   thereof  round   about,   like 
 
 2  Heb.,  whose  fna 
 was. 
 
 those  windows  :  the  length  was  fifty 
 cubits,  and  the  breadth  five  and  twenty 
 cubits.  (26)  And  there  were  seven  steps  to 
 go  up  to  it,  and  the  arches  thereof  were 
 before  them :  and  it  had  palm  trees,  one 
 '  on  this  side,  and  another  on  that  side, 
 upon  the  posts  thereof.  (27)  And  there 
 was  a  gate  in  the  inner  court  toward 
 the  south  :  and  he  measured  from  gate 
 to  gate  toward  the  south  an  hundred 
 cubits. 
 
 (28)  An(j  he  brought  me  to  the  inner 
 court  by  the  south  gate  :  and  he  mea- 
 sured the  south  gate  according  to  these 
 measures;  (29>  and  the  little  chambers 
 thereof,  and  the  posts  thereof,  and  the 
 arches  thereof,  according  to  these  mea- 
 sures :  and  there  were  windows  in  it  and 
 in  the  arches  thereof  round  about :  it 
 was  fifty  cubits  long,  and  five  and  twenty 
 cubits  broad.  <30>  And  the  arches  round 
 about  were  five  and  twenty  cubits  long, 
 and  five  cubits  *broad.  <31>  And  the 
 arches  thereof  were  toward  the  utter 
 court ;  and  palm  trees  were  upon  the 
 posts  thereof:  and  the  going  up  to  it 
 had  eight  steps. 
 
 <32>  And  he  brought  me  into  the  inner 
 
 3  Or,  (talleries,  or, 
 
 Verses  20 — 23  describe  the  north  gate,  which  was 
 exactly  like  the  east,  already  described.  In  verse  22 
 is  the  first  mention  of  the  number  of  steps  leading 
 up  to  the  gates  (see  also  verse  26),  and  in  verse  23 
 the  first  mention  of  the  gates  of  the  inner  court  (see 
 also  verse  27). 
 
 Verses  24 — 27  describe  the  south  gate,  exactly  like 
 the  other  two  and  with  the  same  dimensions.  The 
 space  between  the  outer  and  inner  gates  has  now  been 
 measured  on  the  east  (verse  19),  on  the  north  (verse  23), 
 and  on  the  south  (verse  27),  each  being  100  cubits. 
 
 (28)  Brought    me   to   the    inner   court. — The 
 
 preposition  should  be  translated  into,  being  the  same 
 with  that  in  verse  32.  The  prophet  having  entered  the 
 inner  court  by  the  south  gate,  this  is  first  described 
 (verses  28 — 31).  This  and  the  other  gates  of  this  court 
 are  essentially  the  same,  and  require  the  same  changes 
 of  translation  as  in  the  case  of  the  outer  gates.  The 
 same  plan  will  serve  for  both,  remembering  that  it 
 must  be  reversed,  the  porches  of  one  set  of  gates  facing 
 the  porches  of  the  other  set ;  of  course  the  steps  led  to 
 the  porches  of  the  inner  gates  instead  of  to  the  opposite 
 end.  The  few  points  of  difference  between  them  will 
 be  noted  as  they  occur. 
 
 (30)  The  arches  round  about.— This  word,  as 
 already  noted  under  verse  16,  should  be  projections  of 
 the  roalls,  if  it  has  been  correctly  pointed  by  the 
 Masorets ;  but  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  understand 
 what  is  meant  by  the  dimensions  given,  twenty-five 
 cubits  long  and  five  cubits  broad.  This  statement 
 occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  description  of  the  gates,  and 
 the  verse  is  omitted  in  the  Greek  translation,  and 
 either  considered  spurious  or  else  passed  over  in  silence 
 
 by  many  commentators.  One  explanation  given  is  that 
 the  twenty -five  cubits  is  the  sum-total  of  all  the  "  pro- 
 jections of  the  walls "  into  the  interior  of  the  gate- 
 way: thus  there  were  two  "spaces"  (s  on  the  plan), 
 each  of  five  cubits;  two  thresholds  (tt'),  each  of  six 
 cubits ;  and  two  walls  of  the  porch,  each  of  one  cubit,  or 
 in  all  (5x24-6x2+2)  twenty-four  cubits,  the  remaining 
 cubit  being  made  up  by  mouldings  at  the  angles  of 
 these  several  projections.  But  it  is  fatal  to  this  ex. 
 planation  that  in  no  other  case  is  any  measurement  thus 
 made  up  by  adding  together  the  details  of  parts  which 
 do  not  adjoin.  The  same  explanation  requires  the 
 breadth  of  five  cubits  to  be  the  transverse  measure- 
 ment of  these  projecting  parts,  which  certainly  could 
 not  apply  to  the  first  threshold,  and  would  require  a 
 very  awkward  or  even  impossible  narrowing  of  the 
 gateway  where  the  "  spaces  "  are  placed.  The  true 
 solution  of  the  difficulty  seems  to  be  in  a  slight  change 
 in  the  vowels  of  the  Masoretic  punctuation,  which  will 
 transform  the  word  into  "  porch."  That  porches  were 
 connected  with  the  inner  gates  also  is  plain  from  verse 
 39,  yet  they  are  nowhere  mentioned  in  the  description 
 unless  here.  Being  a  somewhat  independent  part  of 
 the  gate,  the  measures  are  taken  in  a  different  direction 
 from  that  of  the  gate  itself.  The  "length"  is  the 
 long  way  of  the  porch,  just  as  long  as  the  gateway  is 
 wide,  twenty-five  cubits ;  and  the  breadth  is  the 
 measurement  between  the  walls,  five  cubits,  thus 
 allowing  a  half-cubit  for  the  thickness  of  each  wall, 
 and  one  cubit  less  clear  space  than  in  the  outer 
 gates. 
 
 <31>  Utter  =  Outer,  and  so  in  verse  37;  chap.  xlii.  1, 
 3, 7, 14 ;  chap.  xliv.  19  ;  chap.  xlvi.  20,  21.  In  old  English 
 utter  and  outer  appear  to  have  been  often  interchanged. 
 
 320 
 
The  Worth  Gate. 
 
 EZEKIKL,    XI.. 
 
 27ie  Place  of  Sacrifice. 
 
 court  toward  the  east':  and  he  measured 
 the  gate  according  to  these  measures. 
 '      And  the  little  chambers  thereof,  and 
 
 the  posts  thereof, and  the  arches  thereof, 
 
 virr  according  to  these  measures:  and 
 there  were  windows  therein  and  in  the 
 arches  thereof  round  about:  it  was  fifty 
 cubits  long,  and  live  and  twenty  cubits 
 broad.  |;"  And  the  arches  thereof  were 
 toward  the  outward  court;  and  palm 
 trees  were  upon  the  posts  thereof,  on  this 
 side,  and  on  that  side  :  and  the  going  up 
 to  it  had  eight  steps. 
 
 1  And  he  brought  me  to  the  north 
 gate,  and  measured  it  according  to  these 
 measures ;  f30'  the  little  chambers  thereof, 
 the  posts  thereof,  and  the  arches  thereof, 
 and  the  windows  to  it  round  about :  the 
 length  was  fifty  cubits,  and  the  breadth 
 five  and  twenty  cubits.  (37)Andthe  posts 
 thereof  were  toward  the  utter  court;  and 
 palm  trees  were  upon  the  posts  thereof, 
 on  this  side,  and  on  that  side  :  and  the 
 going  up  to  il  had  eight  steps,     t*)  And 
 
 I  Or,  at  the  itcp. 
 
 1  Cir.evd-irnn*.  nr, 
 I   h'-arlh- 
 Mtoma. 
 
 the  chambers  and  the  entries  thereof 
 were  by  the  posts  of  the  gates,  where 
 they  washed  the  burnt  offering.  WAnd 
 in  the  porch  of  the  gate  were  two  tables 
 on  this  side,  and  two  tables  on  that  i  !• 
 to  slay  thereon  the  burnt  offering  and 
 the  -in  offering  and  the  trespass  offering. 
 '"And  at  the  side  without, '  as  one  goeth 
 up  to  the  entry  of  the  north  gate,  viere 
 two  tables  ;  and  on  the  other  side,  which 
 was  at  the  porch  of  the  gate,  were  two 
 tables.  (tl I  F>  >ur  tables  were  on  this  side, 
 and  four  tables  on  that  side,  by  the  side 
 of  the  gate;  eight  tables,  whereupon 
 they  slew  their  sacrifices.  (12'  And  the 
 four  tables  were  of  hewn  stone  for  the 
 burnt  offering,  of  a  cubit  and  an  half 
 long,  and  a  cubit  and  an  half  broad,  and 
 one  cubit  high :  whereupon  also  they 
 laid  the  instruments  wherewith  they 
 slew  the  burnt  offering  and  the  sacrifice. 
 (13>  And  within  were  "  hooks,  an  hand 
 broad,  fastened  round  about :  and  upon 
 the  tables  was  the  flesh  of  the  offering. 
 
 Eight  steps.— All  the  gates  of  the  inner  court 
 (see  rerses  34,37)  had  one  more  step  than  those  of  the 
 outer,  the  inner  court  being  raised  so  much  more  above 
 
 the  outer  than  the  outer  was  aliovc  the  precincts.     The 
 
 two  seta  together  made  up  fifteen  steps,  the  same 
 number  as  led  op  in  the  later  Temple  Eton  the  court  of 
 the  women  to  the  court  of  Israel,  and  on  which,  ac- 
 cording to  Jewish  tradition,  the  Levitcs  stood  to  chant 
 the  fifteen  Psalms  (Ps.  cxx. — exxxiv.)  called  "Songs  of 
 Degrees." 
 
 Verses  32 — 34  describe  the  east  gate,  and  verses 
 85 — :!7  the  north  gate,  both  exactly  like  the  ono 
 aln  ady  described. 
 
 And  the  chambers  and  the  entries 
 thereof.— These  words  in  the  original  are  in  the 
 singular,  and  have  no  article.    The  word  for  chamber 
 
 is  ,mu  entirely  different  one  from  that  used  in  the 
 former  purl  of  the  chapter  verses  In,  12,  13).  The 
 Verse  Bhould  he  translated,  "And  a  cell  with  its  doOT 
 by  the  posts  .if  the  gates  ;  there  they  washed  the  burnt 
 offering."  All  the  arrangements  for  sacrificing  are 
 here   described    in  connection  with    the  north  gate, 
 
 although  in  chap.  xlvi.  2  it  is  said  that  at  certain 
 festivals  the  prince  shall  enter  by  the  east  gate,  and 
 there  worship  while  the  priests  pre]. are  Ins  offerings. 
 In  the  law  it  was  required  (Lev.  i.  11;  vi.25;  vii.  J 
 that  all  sacrifices  should  he  slain  in  the  court  at  the 
 north  side  ..f  the  altar.  Here  the  slaying  is  done  at 
 the  north  gate,  but  within  the  outer  court.  The  reason 
 appears  to  !«■  that  in  the  law  each  offerer  was  to  slay 
 his  own  victim,  but  here  (chap.  xliv.  Ill  the  sacrifice 
 is  to  he  slain  hy  the  Lovites.  and  it  was  therefore  desir- 
 able that  it  should  be  done  in  the  presence  of  the 
 
 offerer  and  the  people,  i.e..  in  the  outer  court.  There 
 was  also  a  further  reason  in  the  convenience  of  dis- 
 posing of  the  tlcsh  of  the  victims.  Only  the  whole 
 burnt  offerings  and  the  fat  and   the  kidneys  of  the 
 
 160  321 
 
 others  required  to  he  taken  to  the  altar  in  the  inner 
 COUrt  ;  while  all  the  llesh  of  the  sin  offerings  and  the 
 priests'  portion  of  the  peace  offerings  was  to  bo  carried 
 to  the  priests'  cooking  place  (F,  Plan  II.)  to  which  a 
 walk  led  from  this  point.  The  rest  of  the  tlcsh  of  tbo 
 peace  offerings  was  taken  to  t  he  people's  cooking  places 
 i:    in  the  corners  of  the  outer  court. 
 
 1  In  the  porch.— Tho  preposition  admits  the 
 sense  of  either  in  or  by.  hut  as  the  porch  was  very 
 small  for  two  tables  on  either  side,  and  as  a  thorough- 
 fare would  lie  an  inconvenient  place  for  the  slaughter 
 of  the  victims,  it  is  hitter  to  take  tho  sense  of  by.  The 
 four  tables  were  arranged,  two  on  either  side,  near  the 
 porch. 
 
 (■»)  At  the  side  without.— If  there  could  be  any 
 doubt  that  this  means  in  the  outer  curl,  it  would  1)0 
 Removed  hy  the  explanation  "as  one  goeth  up,"  Jit.,  at 
 this  ascent.  These  tallies  were  of  stone  (verse  42),  and 
 they  stood,  two  on  each  side,  just  in  advance  of  the 
 steps,  for  the  purpose  t, verse  42)  of  slaying  the  sacrifices 
 upon  them. 
 
 (41)  Four  tables.— The  eight  tables  of  this  verse 
 are  evidently  meant  to  he  distinguished  from  those  of 
 verses  40  and  42.  and  make  twelve  tables  in  all.  They 
 Stood  four  on  each  side  of  the  gate,  somewhat  nearer, 
 therefore,  than  the  others  to  the  wall  of  tho  inner 
 court.  They  were  used  for  the  same  sacrificial  purpose, 
 except  that  the  others  only  are  mentioned  verse  12i  as 
 places  "whereupon  they  laid"  the  sacrificial  instru- 
 ments. 
 
 (48)  Hooks. — This  is  a  word  of  doubtful  meaning, 
 found  elsewhere  only  in  Ps.  lxviii.  13.  where  it  is  trans- 
 lated  pots.  It  certainly  designates  something  "within" 
 the  porch,  and  therefore  could  not  have  been  anything 
 attached  to  the  tallies  which  were  ••without."  Our 
 translators,   following  the  ancient  Chaldee  paraphra~t, 
 
 have  probably  given  the  true  sense,  hooks,  upon  which 
 the  flesh  of  the  victims  was  hung  after  it  had  been 
 prepared  upon  the  tables. 
 
The  Singers'  Chambers. 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XL. 
 
 The  Priests'  Chamber. 
 
 (**>  And  without  the  inner  gate  were  the 
 chambers  of  the  singers  in  the  inner 
 court,  which  was  at  the  side  of  the  north 
 gate ;  and  their  prospect  tvas  toward  the 
 south :  one  at  the  side  of  the  east  gate 
 having  the  prospect  toward  the  north. 
 C45)  And  he  said  unto  me,  This  chamber, 
 
 1  Or,  u-ard,  or,  or- 
 dinance :  and  so 
 vtr.  46. 
 
 whose  prospect  is  toward  the  south,  is 
 for  the  priests,  the  keepers  of  the  '  charge 
 of  the  house.  WAnd  the  chamber  whose 
 prospect  is  toward  the  north  is  for  the 
 priests,  the  keepers  of  the  charge  of  the 
 altar :  these  are  the  sons  of  Zadok  among 
 the  sons  of  Levi,  which  come  near  to  the 
 
 ""xn-n-ru; 
 
 e      ,'k 
 
 (44)  Without  the  inner  gate.  —  Without  must 
 here  be  understood  in  a  different  sense  from  the  with- 
 out of  verse  40,  because  this  is  expressly  said  to  be  "in 
 the  inner  court ; " 
 it   means,   there- 
 fore, only  outside 
 the  gateway. 
 
 Chambers  of 
 the  singers. — 
 The  description 
 of  the  chambers 
 in  verses  44—46 
 is  not  very  clear, 
 and  has  caused 
 very  great  differ- 
 ence of  opinion, 
 and  even  a  dispo- 
 sition to  modify 
 the  text.  But  the 
 text  as  it  stands 
 is  supported  by 
 the  ancient  ver- 
 sions, Greek, 
 Chaldee,  and 
 Syriac,  as  well  as 
 by  the  Masor- 
 etic  punctuation. 
 There  seem  to 
 have  been  three 
 or  more  chambers 
 altogether,  two  at 
 least  at  the  side 
 of  the  north  gate 
 opening  to  the 
 south,  i.e.,  to- 
 wards the  altar, 
 and  one  at  the 
 east  gate  opening 
 toward  the  north. 
 The  purpose  of 
 the  chamber  at 
 the  east  gate  is 
 perfectly  clear ; 
 it  was  "  for  the 
 priests,  the  keep- 
 ers of  the  charge 
 of  the  altar,"  i.e., 
 for  those  priests 
 who  were  on  duty 
 at  the  time  in  con- 
 nection with  the 
 sacrifices.  It  is  not  mentioned  on  which  side  of  the 
 gate  it  was  placed,  nor  how  largo  it  was,  but  it  is  drawn 
 on  the  plan  ou  the  north  (Plan  II.,  o).  The  chambers  at 
 the  north  gate  (n),  however,  are  called  (verso  44)  "  cham- 
 bers of  the  singers,"  and  yet  in  verse  45  one  of  them  is 
 said  to  be  for  the  priests  "  in  charge  of  the  house."  The 
 difficulty  arises  simply  from  the  very  common  use  of 
 the  plural  in  connection  with  only  one  of  several  persons 
 or  things,  the  other  being  separately  specified.    To  make 
 
 Plan  II. — The  Temple  Courts 
 
 Ik,        © 
 
 A,  Altar. 
 
 B  b  b,  Outer  gate. 
 
 B'  B'  b',  Inner  gates. 
 
 c  c,  Outer  court. 
 
 c',  Inner  court. 
 
 D  d,  Chambers  in  outer  court. 
 
 e  e,  People's  cooking-places. 
 
 FF,  Priests'       „  „ 
 
 G,  Building  in  separate  place. 
 
 H  H,  Priests'  chambers. 
 
 I,  Space  in  separate  place. 
 
 J,  Chambers  adjoining  Temple. 
 
 KK,  Walk. 
 
 L  L,  Screen  walls. 
 
 322 
 
 it  entirely  clear,  we  should  say,  "  the  chambers,  one  for 
 the  singers,  and  one  for  the  priests."  The  singers  were 
 particular  families  of  the  Levites  (1  Cliron.  vi.  31 — 
 
 37  ;  ix.  33 ;  XXV.  ; 
 2  Cliron.  v.  12), 
 and  were  not  of 
 the  priestly  order. 
 The  general 
 arrangement  ap- 
 pears to  havebeen 
 as  follows :  the 
 offerer  brings  his 
 victim  into  the 
 outer  court  (c) 
 near  to  the  north 
 gate  leading  into 
 the  inner  court; 
 there  the  Levites 
 slay  it  (at  x)  and 
 prepare  it  for  the 
 altar  upon  the 
 tables  provided, 
 and  then  hang  its 
 flesh  upon  the 
 hooks  within  the 
 porch  of  the  gate; 
 the  priests  "  in 
 charge  of  the 
 house "  hi  the 
 chamber  near 
 the  inner  end  of 
 the  gate  (n)  now 
 notify  the  singers 
 in  the  other 
 chamber  and  also 
 the  priests  on 
 duty  at  the  altar 
 in  the  chamber  at 
 the  east  gate  (o), 
 that  both  may 
 enter  upon  their 
 functions. 
 
 (46)  The  sons 
 of  Zadok.— By 
 the  law  all  sons 
 of  Aaron  were  en- 
 titled to  become 
 priests,  but  in 
 Ezekiel  the  offer- 
 ing of  sacrifice 
 appears  to  be  eon- 
 fined  to  the  sons  of  Zadok  (comp.  xliii.  19;  xliv.  15; 
 xlviii.  11).  The  reason  for  this  is  obscure.  According  to 
 1  Sam.  ii.  30 — 36  the  high-priesthood  was  to  be  trans- 
 ferred from  the  house  of  Eli.  and  this  was  accomplished 
 by  Solomon  in  deposing  Abiathar  and  putting  Zadok 
 into  his  place  (1  Kings  ii.  26,  27) ;  but  there  must  have 
 been  many  other  priests  descended  from  Ithamar  and 
 Eleazar  besides  the  families  of  Eli  and  Zadok,  and  it  is 
 hardly  possible  that  all  these  could  have  perished  in 
 
 I f 
 
 m  m.  Wall  of  outer  court. 
 
 NT,  Chambers  in  inner  court  for  priests 
 
 and  singers. 
 O,  Chamber  for  officiating  priests. 
 pp,  Pavement. 
 r  r,  Wall  of  inner  court. 
 ss,  Steps. 
 t.  Temple. 
 T\  Holy  of  Holies, 
 vv.  Columns. 
 "\v  w,  Winding  staircases. 
 x|x,  Places  for  killing  sacrifices. 
 y  y.  Platform  around  chambers. 
 z,  Porch  of  Temple. 
 
Thr  Porch. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLI. 
 
 T/ie  7'  mple. 
 
 LOBD  to  1 1 1 i 1 1 i s  1 1 •  r    unto   him.      <l7)  So   lie 
 
 measured  the  court,  an  hundred  cubits 
 long,  and  an  hundred  cubits  broad,  fonr- 
 
 s<|ii;nv;  :t ml   the  altar   that    mis    before 
 the  bouse. 
 
 1 '  '  \ i m t  In:  lirini^'lit  me  to  the  porch 
 of  the  bouse,  and  measured  each  posi 
 of  the  porch,  fire  cubits  on  this  side, 
 and  five  nil>its  on  that  side:  and  the 
 breadth  of  the  °;ate  was  three  cubits 
 mi  this  side,  and  three  cubits  on  that 
 side.  <»>  The  length  of  the  porch 
 was  twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth 
 eleven  cubits;  and  he  brought  me  by  the 
 steps  whereby  they  Trent  up  to  it: 
 ami    there    were    pillars    by  the    posts, 
 
 I  Or,  entrance. 
 
 one  on  this  side,  and  another  on  that 
 Bide. 
 
 <ll  AFTER   XLI.—")  Afterward    he 
 brought  me  to  the  temple,  and asured 
 
 the  posts,  six  cubits  broad  on  the  One 
 side,  and  six  cubits  broad  on  the  other 
 Bide,  which  was  the  breadth  of  tin-  taber- 
 nacle. 00 And  the  breadth  of  the  'door 
 was  ten  cubits;  and  the  Bides  of  the 
 door  were  five  cubits  on  the  one  Bide, 
 and  five  cubits  on  the  other  Bide:  and 
 he  measured  the  length  thereof,  forty 
 
 Cubits:   and  the  breadth,  twenty  cubits. 
 
 (i>  Then  went  he   inward,  and  nim 
 
 the  |">st    of  the  door,  two   cubits;  and 
 
 inghter  of  the  eighty-five  priests  by  Saul  at  Nob 
 
 ll    Sain.    xxii.    17 — 19).      But    the    body   of    (lie    priests 
 
 must  have  been  thereby  much  reduced,  and  it  is  very 
 possible  thai  in  the  subsequent  disorders  of  tlio  times 
 .-..>  few  were  left  who,  outside  of  the  family  of  Zadok, 
 bad  not  fallen  into  idolatry,  that  all  who  were  allowed 
 to  officiate  at  the  altar  came  to  be  called  by  his 
 name, 
 
 ('">  Ho  measured  tho  court.— This  is  the  inner 
 oouri  (a*),  in  front  of  the  Temple  building  itself,  and 
 
 was  just  100  cubits  square.    In  this  si I  the  brazen 
 
 altar  i  k),  the  measurements  of  which  are  given  in  xliii. 
 IS     17. 
 
 (48)  Tho  porch  of  the  house.— Versos  48,  49 
 describe  the  porch  of  the  Temple  itself  (z)  and  may  be 
 considered  as  belonging  more  properly  to  tlio  next- 
 chapter;  still,  as  this  porch  projected  into  the  inner 
 court,  they  are  not  inappropriate  here.  The  first  point 
 to  be  determined  in  regard  to  the  construction  of  this 
 porch  is  the  direction  in  which  iis  length  is  measured. 
 The  porch  in  front  of  Solomon's  Temple  equalled  in 
 length  the  interior  breadth  of  the  house  (1  Kin^s  vi.  3; 
 
 'J    ('lirmi.   iii.    I),  tho    thiekness    of    tlio   walls  and   the 
 
 chambers  at  the  sides  projecting  beyond  the  ends  of 
 
 the  porch      The  same   thing   is   true    here,  even    if   the 
 
 length  should  be  measured  from  north  to  south;  the 
 exterior  front  of  the  house  (independently  of  the  side 
 chambers]  was  thirty-two  cubits,  each  of  the  side  walls 
 being  six  cubits  thick  (xli.  5).     But  writers  who  adopt 
 
 this  supposition  find  ii  i ssary  to  alter  the  text  in 
 
 order  to  harmonise  the  measurements  of  both  verses.  It 
 is  better  to  understand  the  measurements  as  taken  the 
 other  way,  like  those  of  all  the  gates  of  both  the  outer 
 and  inner  court.  Tin' exterior  width  of  the  porch  will 
 then  be  sixteen  cubits  or  just  half  the  exterior  width  of 
 
 the  house:   and   the  projection   into  the  court  will    be 
 
 twenty  cubits  added  to  the  thickness  of  the  exterior 
 wall  and  diminished  by  the  thickness  of  the  wall  of  the 
 '■..  I6j  cubits  (20  +  2$— 6),  the  exterior  being 
 thus  almost  exactly  Bquare. 
 
 Each  post  of"  tho  porch.— The  front  wall,  an 
 which  the  gates  were  hung,  was  five  cubits  on  each  side, 
 and  each   leaf  of  the  gate  was  three  cubits,  giving 
 sixteen  cubits  (5x2  +  3x2)  for  the  whole  i 
 breadth  of  the  porch. 
 
 >'•'  The  breadth  eleven  cubits.— This  interior 
 measure  subtracted  from  the  exterior  gives  2j  euliits 
 for  each  wall — s  fair  proportion  between  the  thirlrnonn 
 of  the  wall  and  the  size  OX  the  porch. 
 
 The  steps.— The  number  is  not  stated,  but  is  given 
 
 in    tin'    Greek  as   ten.      It    shows    that    the    In, use 
 stood    upon   a   still    higher   elevation    than    the    inner 
 court. 
 
 Pillars  by  the  posts.— On  either  side  of  the 
 steps,  and  near  the  front  wall  of  the  porch,  was  a  pillar 
 
 corresponding  to  those  in  front  of  the  porches  of  the 
 
 gates,       They  answered   to  the  pillars  Jaehin  ami    I 
 
 of  Solomon's  Temple   1  Kin^s  vii.  IS — -->.  and  appear 
 to  have  been  placed  there  for  the  same  general  pur] 
 as  the  obelisks  iii  front  of  the  Egyptian  tempi 
 
 XLI. 
 
 This  chapter  gives  the  measurements  and  describes 
 the  ornaments  o!  the  Temple  itself  ami  its  various  ap- 
 purtenances. 
 
 (')  Six  cubits  broad.— These  posts,  as  in  other 
 eases,  are  the  parts  of  the  Wall  at  the  sides  of  the  en- 
 trance.    There  is  an  apparent  discrepancy  between  this 
 
 and  the  following  verse,  where  "  the  sides  of   the  d 
 
 are  said  to  be  "  live  cubits,"'  and  the  latter  agrees  with 
 
 the  whole  width  of  the  house  (5  +  10  +5  =  20.)     It  is 
 
 necessary,  therefore,  to  understand  the  measurement 
 
 of  this  verso  as  taken  the  other  way — as  we  should    say. 
 
 the  side  walls  of  the  doors  were  of  the  same  thick: 
 
 with  the  other  walls — \\/.,.  six  cubits.      The  Words  < 
 UHU   are    not  in    the   Original,   and    tend  to  give   a  false 
 
 impression.     Ta  or/,,,/  is  the  name  by  which 
 
 tin'  sanctuary  was  known   before    the    erection  of  the 
 Temple. 
 
 m  The  length  thereof,  forty  cubits.—  T! 
 are  exactly  the  dimensions  of  the  Holy  Place  in  Solo- 
 mon's Temple.    The    Holy  ,,f  Holies  is  not  bach 
 being  measured  by  itself  in  verse  t. 
 
 Went  he  inward — There  is  here  a  notice 
 change  in  the  usual  expression;  iii  all  other  eases  the 
 angel  had  brought  the  prophet  to  the  placi  -  I 
 sured,  but  as  he  is  here  entering  the  Holy  of  ii 
 into  which,  under  the  law,  Ecekiel  might  not  enter 
 angel  goes  in  alone.      The  prophetic  vision  wat 
 
 Sufficiently  clear  to  speak  of  the  way  into  the  true  Holy 
 of  Holies    as   at    length    opened   to   all     Hel>.  ii.  8,  12, 
 
 x.  19). 
 
 The  door,  six  cubits. — Door  is  hero  used  for 
 doorway,  tlio  clear  space  between  the  posts.  The 
 ••  breadth  of  the  door "'  itself  is  immediately  Baid  to  be 
 
 seven    cubits,    the    door    overlapping    the    posts    in    a 
 shoulder  half  a  cubit  ou  each  side. 
 
 323 
 
The  Holy  of  Holies. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLI. 
 
 The  Side  Chambers. 
 
 the  door,  six  cubits  ;  and  the  breadth  of 
 the  door,  seven  cubits.  (4)  So  he  mea- 
 sured the  length  thereof,  twenty  cubits ; 
 and  the  breadth,  twenty  cubits,  before 
 the  temple  :  and  he  said  unto  me,  This 
 is  the  most  holy  'place,. 
 
 <5>  After  he  measured  the  wall  of  the 
 house,  six  cubits ;  and  the  breadth  of 
 every  side  chamber,  four  cubits,  round 
 about  the  house  on  every  side.  (6)  And 
 the  side  chambers  were  three,  Jone  over 
 another,  and  2 thirty  in  order;  and  they 
 entered  into  the  wall  which  was  of  the 
 house  for  the  side  chambers  round  about, 
 that  they  might  3have  hold,  but  they 
 
 1  Heb.,  side  cham- 
 ber over  side 
 chamber. 
 
 Or,  three  and 
 thirty  times,  uv, 
 foot. 
 
 Heb.,  be  holden. 
 
 4Heb.,  it  wasmrtrfe 
 broader,  and 
 icent  round. 
 
 had  not  hold  in  the  wall  of  the  house. 
 (7)  And  i  there  was  an  enlarging,  and  a 
 winding  about  still  upward  to  the  side 
 chambers :  for  the  winding  about  of  the 
 house  went  still  upward  round  about 
 the  house :  therefore  the  breadth  of  the 
 house  was  still  upward,  and  so  increased 
 from  the  lowest  chamber  to  the  highest 
 by  the  midst.  (8)  I  saw  also  the  height 
 of  the  house  round  about :  the  founda- 
 tions of  the  side  chambers  were  a  full 
 reed  of  six  great  cubits.  (9)  The  thick- 
 ness of  the  wall,  which  was  for  the  side 
 chamber  without,  was  five  cubits :  and 
 that  which  was  left  was  the  place  of  the 
 
 (■*>  Before  the  temple. — Temple  is  here,  as  in 
 verse  1,  used  of  the  Holy  Place,  and  before,  or  west 
 of  this,  was  the  Holy  of  Holies,  an  exact  cube,  of  the 
 same  size  as  in  Solomon's  Temple.  The  thickness  of 
 the  dividing  wall  between  the  Holy  Place  and  the  Holy 
 of  Holies  is  nowhere  mentioned,  nor  is  it  taken  into 
 account  in  the  measurements.  It  was  merely  a  division, 
 either  a  vail,  or  perhaps  a  screen  of  wood,  and  occupied 
 little  room. 
 
 (5)  The  waU  of  the  house,  six  cubits.—  The 
 thickness  of  the  wall  is  the  same  with  that  of  the  wall 
 of  the  outer  court  (chap.  xl.  5),  about  ten  feet.  Great 
 massiveness  is  characteristic  of  Oriental  architecture, 
 but  is  carried  to  excess  in  this  vision,  to  set  forth  the 
 firmness  and  security  of  the  things  symbolised. 
 
 Every  side  chamber.  —  Every  is  not  in  the 
 original,  and  is  unnecessary.  He  measured  the  range  of 
 side  rooms,  the  word  being  used  collectively.  These 
 (j  j)  entirely  surrounded  the  house,  except  on  the  front 
 or  east  side  where  the  porch  stood. 
 
 (6)  Three,  one  over  another,  and  thirty  in 
 order. — Literally,  three  (and  that)  thirty  times — i.e., 
 there  were  three  storeys  of  chambers  one  above  the 
 other,  and  this  was  repeated  thirty  times,  giving  thirty 
 chambers  in  each  storey,  or  ninety  in  all.  These  cham- 
 bers were  exactly  like  those  surrounding  Solomon's 
 Temple,  except  that  they  were  one  cubit  narrower,  and 
 the  description  of  them  is  made  clearer  by  a  comparison 
 with  1  Kings  vi.  5 — 10.  The  Greek  version  says  that 
 there  was  a  space  between  these  chambers  and  the  wall 
 of  the  house,  and  several  interpreters  have  followed  this 
 explanation ;  but  this  is  quite  inconsistent  with  the 
 language  of  the  original,  and  would  involve  an  inner 
 wall  for  the  chambers,  of  which  there  is  no  mention, 
 and  for  which  no  space  is  allowed. 
 
 Entered  into  the  wall .  .  .  but  they  had  not 
 hold. — More  exactly,  they  came  upon  the  wall.  The 
 "  house "  cannot  without  violence  be  understood  of 
 anything  but  the  Temple  itself.  The  construction  was 
 the  same  as  in  Solomon's  Temple  (1  Kings  vi.  6),  the 
 wall  receding  with  each  storey  of  the  chambers,  thus 
 leaving  a  ledge  on  which  the  beams  should  rest,  "  that 
 the  beams  should  not  be  fastened  in  the  walls  of  the 
 house." 
 
 Nothing  is  said  of  the  distribution  of  these  chambers, 
 but,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  plan,  a  uniform  size  requires 
 that  they  should  be  placed  twelve  on  each  side,  and  six 
 at  the  end  of  the  Temple. 
 
 (7)  And  there  was  an  enlarging.— The  descrip- 
 tion in  this  verse  is  difficult  to  understand,  and  has  I 
 
 324 
 
 called  out  much  variety  of  opinion.  The  main  facta 
 are  clear :  that  there  was  an  increase  in  the  width  of 
 each  storey  of  the  side  chambers  by  the  distance  which 
 the  wall  receded,  as  is  expressly  said  in  1  Kings  vi.  6 ; 
 but.  whether  there  was  a  corresponding  recession  in  the 
 thickness  of  the  outer  wall  of  the  chambers  is  not 
 stated.  It  is  also  plain  that  the  side  chambers  sur- 
 rounded the  house;  and  that  the  two  upper  storeys 
 were  reached  by  a  winding  staircase  (w).  It  is  impos- 
 sible to  enter  into  more  detail  without  a  careful  dis- 
 cussion of  the  words  in  the  original,  the  meaning  of 
 some  of  which  is  disputed. 
 
 (8>  I  saw  also  the  height  of  the  house. — 
 This  does  not  mean  the  height  of  the  house  itself,  which 
 is  nowhere  stated.  The  words  are,  literally,  I  saw  for 
 the  house  a  height  (i.e.,  an  elevation)  round  about,  and 
 the  meaning  of  this  is  explained  in  what  follows.  The 
 Temple,  as  has  been  already  said  (chap.  xl.  49),  was 
 entered  by  a  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  the  porch, 
 and  was  therefore  on  a  liigher  level  than  the  court. 
 We  are  now  told  that  the  side  chambers  had  a  founda- 
 tion of  six  cubits.  Whether  this  "  foundation  "  of  the 
 Temple  and  the  side  chambers  was  built  of  masonry, 
 or,  as  is  more  probable,  was  a  sort  of  basement  to  con- 
 tain cisterns  and  storage  rooms,  we  are  not  told ;  but  it 
 probably  extended,  under  the  name  of  "  the  place  that 
 was  left"  (verses  9,  11),  five  cubits  beyond  the  outer 
 wall  of  the  chambers,  forming  a  platform  from  which 
 they  were  entered. 
 
 Six  great  cubits. — Literally,  six  cubits  to  the  joint, 
 or  to  the  armpit,  for  the  word  has  both  significations. 
 It  is  plain  that  a  cubit  of  a  different  length,  measured 
 to  the  armpit,  cannot  be  intended,  both  because  no  such 
 cubit  is  known  to  have  been  in  use  at  any  time,  and 
 because  Ezekiel  in  chap.  xl.  5  has  already  fixed  the 
 length  of  the  cubit  he  uses.  The  sense  of  joint  is 
 therefore  to  be  taken,  and  this  applied  architecturally 
 can  only  mean  the  point  at  which  one  part  of  the 
 building  joins  another ;  here,  the  point  where  the  super- 
 structure meets  the  foundation,  or,  as  we  should  say, 
 "  six  cubits  to  the  water-table." 
 
 (9)  That  which  was  left.  —  After  stating  the 
 thickness  of  the  outer  wall  of  the  side  chambers  at  five 
 cubits,  the  prophet  speaks  of  the  remaining  space  left 
 unoccupied  by  the  building.  The  clause  should  be 
 translated,  "and  so  also  (i.e.,  of  the  same  width)  was 
 that  which  teas  left  free  against  the  house  of  side 
 chambers  which  belonged  to  the  house,"  i.e.,  to  the 
 Temple.  The  same  width  is  assigned  to  this  space  in 
 verse  11. 
 
'hi/  in 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XLI. 
 
 the , 
 
 Bide  chambers  that  were  within.  ""Ami 
 between  the  chambers  was  tli<'  wideness 
 
 of  twenty  cubits    round  about  the  house 
 
 <ni  every  side.  (1"  And  the  doors  of  the 
 side  chambers  wi  re  toward  the  place  that 
 
 was  left,  one  door  toward  tin'  north,  and 
 
 ■another  door  toward  the  south  :  and  the 
 hreadth  of  the  place  that  was  left  n-n  ■ 
 live  cubits  round  about. 
 
 d-)  Now  the  building  that  was  before 
 the  separate  place  at  the  end  toward  tin- 
 west  was  seventy  eubits   broad;   anil  the 
 
 wall  of  the  building  was  live  cubits  thick 
 
 round  about,  and  the  length  thereof 
 ninety  cubits.     (13)  So  he  measured  the 
 
 house,  an  hundred  enhits  lone';  and  the 
 separate  place,  and  the  building,  with 
 
 '/  Ballet, 
 
 jiitliirn. 
 
 ■j  Hob, 
 
 3      Or.    inul     I),, 
 wiitdowa. 
 
 the   walls    thereof,    an     hundred    enhits 
 
 long;  W  also  the  breadth  of  the  face  of 
 
 tin-  house,  ami  of   the  separate  place  to- 
 ward the  east,  an  hundred  cubits. 
 
 <15>  And  he  measured  tin:  length  of  the 
 
 building  over  against  the  separate  place 
 which  wu »■  behind  it,  and  tin-  'galleries 
 thereof  on  the  one'  side  and  on  the  other 
 side,  an  hundred  cubits,  with  the  inner 
 temple,  and  the  porches  of  the  conrl  ; 
 "' tiiedoor  posts,  and  the  narrow  win- 
 dows, and  the  galleries  round  about  on 
 their  three  stories,  over  againsi  thedoor, 
 2cieled  with  wood  round  about, 
 from  the  ground  up  to  the  window 
 the  windows  were  covered;  |l7,to  that 
 above  the  door,   even  unto  the   inner 
 
 (io)  Between  tho  chambers.— There  was  a  apace 
 of  twenty  cubits  (i)  between  the  foundation  on  which 
 the  ohamben  and  the  Temple  stood  and  the  wall  of 
 the  court  on  «U  three  aides  on  which  the  chambers 
 extended. 
 
 (ii)  Tho  doors  of  the  side  chambers.— These 
 doors  opened  upon  the  platform,  that  tar  the  aeries  on 
 the  north  side  to  the  north,  and  for  the  other  to  the 
 .snail.  There  was  hut  one  door  on  each  aide,  bo  that 
 the  Beries  of  chambers  must  have  been  entered  one  from 
 another. 
 
 We  may  new  sum   up  the  measurements  of   the 
 
 Temple  With  its  cliamliers  and  surrounding  space. 
 The  wall,  ii  cubits;  tho  chambers,  4;  their  outer  wall, 
 5;  the  platform  lieyond,  5  ;  the  space  lieyond  this,  20 
 <6  +  t  +  5  +  5  +  20  =  40).  This  was  on  each  side, 
 and  therefore  is  to  be  doubled,  making  SO  cubits;  to 
 this  add  the  20  enliits  of  the  inner  width  of  the  Temple, 
 and  we  have  exactly  the  li'O  cubits,  the  width  of  the 
 inner  court.  In  the  same  way  the  length  :  here  the 
 porch  is  considered  as  belonging  to  the  court,  and  with 
 
 it  the  front  wall  of  the  Temple,  the  thickness  of  which 
 is  included  in  the  length  of  the  porch.  Beginning  then 
 at    the   inside   of   the   outer   walls,    we   have    the    inner 
 
 Length  of  Temple,  tin  enliits ;  rear  wall,  6  j  chambers,  1 1 
 outer  wall, 5  j  platform, 5;  space,  20;  in  all,  100 cubits, 
 
 thus  making  an  exact  square. 
 
 "-'>  Tho  separate  place.— Tins  is  the  space  at  tho 
 
 west  end  of  the  Temple  (L'n  enliits  broad) before  coming 
 to  another  building.  Nothing  is  here  said  of  the  pur- 
 poses of   this   other  building;    lint  it   is  probably  "the 
 
 appointed  place"  (chap,  xliii.  21)  for  the  burning  of 
 
 the  sin-offering,  and  also  of  any  remains  of  other  sacri- 
 fices which  required  to  be  consumed  by  fire,  and  of  any 
 
 other  refuse  from  the  Temple.  Its  total  width  of  K) 
 Cubits  (70  enliits  +  2  walls  of  .">  enliits  each)  leaves  a 
 passage-way  of  1(1  enliits  on  each  side:    while  its  length 
 
 [90  enliits  +  two  walls  of  S  cubits  each  =  L00  oubits) 
 just  tills  the  space  from  "  the  separate  place"  to  the 
 
 wall  of  the  court.     (See  plan  II., O.)      The  sum-total  of 
 
 the  exterior  measurements  is  given  in  verses  18,  1 1. 
 (is)  And  he  measured. — The  rest  of  the  chapter 
 
 ■consists  of  an  enumeration   of   various  details,  for  the 
 
 most  part  not  before  mentioned,  and  this  is  introduced 
 by  a  summary  of  the  measurements  already  made. 
 This  clause  is  therefore  to  be  understood  as  equivalent 
 
 to  "So  ho  measured,"  or,  "And  he  had  measured.'' 
 Tho  dimensions  of  each  of  the  principal  parte  is  then 
 repeated:  the  huilding  to  the  west  of  the  Temple,  the 
 Temple  itself,  and  the  porches  of  the  court.  The  only 
 new  point   introduced   is  "the  galleries  thereof."    It 
 
 seems  certain  that  this  must  refer  to  the  building 
 beyond  "the  separate  place;'"  but  the  word  for 
 galleries  occurs  only  here  and  in  verse  16,  and  chap. 
 xlii.  3,  5,  and  its  derivation  is  quite  unknown.  The 
 translation,  galleries,  is  probably  correct ;  and  as  thero 
 was  a  space  of  10  enliits  on  each  side  of  tho  building 
 in  question,  there  may  very  well  have  been  galleries 
 covoring  and  protecting  its  entrances,  although  they 
 are  not  located  with  sufficient  deiinitcness  to  lie  drawn 
 on  the  plan. 
 
 (!«)  The  door  posts.— This  is  tho  same  word  as  in 
 chap,  xl  6,  7,  &c.  and  means  thresholds.  The  various 
 particulars  mentioned — the  thresholds,  the  windows. 
 and  the  galleries — are  all  to  bo  taken  in  connection  with 
 tho  "  ho  measured  "  of  verse  15,  and  aro  details  of  the 
 three  buildings  there  spoken  of.  yet  they  did  not  all  of 
 them  necessarily  belong  to  each  liuilding. 
 
 Narrow  windows.— Rather,  closed  icindows.  (See 
 Note  on  xl.  16.1 
 
 On  their  threo  stories.—"  Stories  "  is  not  in  the 
 original,  and  introduces  a  wrong  idea.  He  measured 
 the  three  buildings  |  yerse  15), and  various  details  about 
 their  three  (constructions]  (verse  16). 
 
 Over  against  the  door,  cieled  with  wood 
 
 round  about.— This  is  really  a  parenthesis,  although 
 scarcely  intelligible  as  it  stands.  Translate.  Opposite 
 the  thresholds  (was    a  ceiling  of  w 1  round  about. 
 
 The  part  strictly  opposite  the  threshold  was  the  lintel; 
 but  the  expression  is  here  broad  enough  to  include  also 
 the  sides  of  the  doorway.  The  doorways  in  the 
 various  buildings  were  all*  ceiled  with  wood,  and  it  is 
 afterwards  said  that  this  was  carved. 
 
 And  from  the  ground.    After  the  parenthesis. 
 
 the  construction  dependent  upon  "he  measured"  is 
 resumed.      As    everything    else   was    measured,   so  also 
 
 the  space  between  the  ground  and  the  windows;  then. 
 
 again.it  is  mentioned  parenthetically  that  the  windows 
 Were  covered,  vi/,..  as  in  chap.  xl.  16,  by  IsU  >R'd 
 
 so  as  not  to  be  opened. 
 (!")  To  that  above  the  door.— Better,  i  The  space) 
 above    the   door,    both    to    the    inner   house   and 
 without    .    .   .    {was)  by  measure.     The  verse   is  an 
 
 325 
 
The  Ornaments. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLII. 
 
 The  Doors. 
 
 house,  and  without,  and  by  all  the  wall 
 round    about  within    and   without,   by 
 
 1  measure.  (18)  And  it  was  made  with 
 cherubims  and  palm  trees,  so  that  a 
 palm  tree  was  between  a  cherub  and  a 
 cherub;  and  every  cherub  had  two  faces; 
 <19>  so  that  the  face  of  a  man  was  toward 
 the  palm  tree  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
 face  of  a  young  lion  toward  the  palm 
 tree  on  the  other  side :  it  was  made 
 through  all  the  house  round  about. 
 (20)  Prom  the  ground  unto  above  the  door 
 were  cherubims  and  palm  trees  made, 
 and  on  the  wall  of  the  temple.     <21>  The 
 
 2  posts  of  the  temple  were  squared,  and 
 the  face  of  the  sanctuary  ;  the  appear- 
 ance of  the  one  as  the  appearance  of  the 
 other.  <32)  The  altar  of  wood  was  three 
 cubits  high,  and  the  length  thereof  two 
 cubits  ;  and  the  corners  thereof,  and  the 
 
 1  Heb.,  measures. 
 
 2  Heb.,  post. 
 
 length  thereof,  and  the  walls  thereof, 
 were  of  wood  :  and  he  said  unto  me,  This 
 is  the  table  that  is  before  the  Lokd, 
 (23)  a11ci  the  temple  and  the  sanctuary 
 had  two  doors.  W  And  the  doors  had 
 two  leaves  apiece,  two  turning  leaves ; 
 two  leaves  for  the  one  door,  and  two 
 leaves  for  the  other  door.  <25)  And  there 
 were  made  on  them,  on  the  doors  of  the 
 temple,  cherubims  and  palm  trees,  like 
 as  were  made  upon  the  walls  ;  and  there 
 were  thick  planks  upon  the  face  of  the 
 porch  without.  (26>  And  there  were 
 narrow  windows  and  palm  trees  on  the 
 one  side  and  on  the  other  side,  on  the 
 sides  of  the  porch,  and  upon  the  side 
 chambers  of  the  house,  and  thick  planks. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XLII.— (i)  Thenhe  brought 
 me  forth  into  the  utter  court,  the  way 
 
 emphatic  repetition  of  the  fact  that  everytliing  was  by 
 measure. 
 
 (18)  With  cherubims  and  palm  trees. — Verses 
 18 — 21  describe  the  interior  ornamentation  of  the 
 Temple,  which  was  like  that  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon 
 (1  Kings  vi.  29,  30).  It  may  be  assumed  that  here,  as 
 there,  these  figures  were  carved  upon  the  woodwork. 
 The  "s"  at  the  end  of  "cherubims"  is  quite  unneces- 
 sary, "  cherubim  "  itself  being  plural. 
 
 Every  cherub  had  two  faces.— In  chaps,  i.  and 
 x.  the  cherubim  are  represented  each  with  four  faces, 
 but  being  merely  symbolic,  not  actual  creatures,  they  may 
 be  modified  at  pleasure,  and  here,  in  accordance  with 
 the  exigencies  of  the  carving,  they  have  but  two  faces. 
 
 (20)  Unto  above  the  door.— The  height  of  the 
 door  is  nowhere  mentioned,  and  therefore  there  is 
 nothing  to  determine  how  high  up  the  carving  was 
 carried ;  but  as  it  is  said  that  it  was  also  "  upon  the 
 wall  of  the  Temple,"  we  may  assume  that  the  whole 
 interior  wall  was  ceiled  with  carved  wood  as  in 
 Solomon's  Temple. 
 
 (21)  The  posts  of  the  temple.— Posts  is  a  dif- 
 ferent word  from  that  hitherto  used,  and  always  means 
 the  framework  in  which  the  doors  were  hung.  Temple 
 is,  as  before,  the  Holy  Place,  in  distinction  from  the 
 sanctuary,  or  Holy  of  Holies.  The  door-frames  of  both 
 were  square  and  just  alike. 
 
 (22)  The  altar  of  wood.— This  is  what  was  known 
 in  the  tabernacle  (Exod.  xxx.  1 — 3)  as  the  altar  of 
 incense,  and  in  the  Temple  as  the  altar  of  gold  (1  Kings 
 vii.  48),  although  here  its  dimensions  are  enlarged. 
 
 The  corners  thereof.— This  doubtless  includes 
 the  "  horns,"  or  projecting  pieces  at  the  corners,  which 
 were  always  an  important  part  of  the  symbolism  of  the 
 altar.  The  expression  "length"  in  its  repetition  is 
 generally  thought  to  mean  (by  a  slight  change  in  the 
 text)  "  the  stand "  or  "  base."  Table  and  altar  are 
 used  synonymously,  as  in  Mai.  i.  7. 
 
 (24)  Two  turning  leaves. — The  doors  both  of  the 
 Holy  Place  and  of  the  Holy  of  Holies  are  more  fully 
 described  in  1  Kings  vi.  31 — 35.  It  is  to  be  under- 
 stood that  each  of  them  was  made  in  two  parts,  and 
 each  part  again  in  two  leaves  folding  back,  so  that 
 there  were  in  all  four  leaves  in  each  door. 
 
 (25)  Thick  planks. — After  stating  that  the  doors 
 just  described  were  ornamented  like  the  walls,  the 
 prophet  speaks  of  something  that  was  on  the  outer 
 front  of  the  porch.  What  this  was,  is  extremely  doubt- 
 ful, as  the  word  is  elsewhere  used  only  in  1  Kings  vii. 
 6,  of  something  in  front  of  Solomon's  cloisters  or 
 ''porch  of  pillars."  Perhaps  the  best  suggestion  is- 
 that  it  may  have  been  a  moulding  of  wood.  The  word 
 in  the  original  is  in  the  singular. 
 
 (26)  Windows  and  palm  trees.  —  These  have- 
 already  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  gate- 
 ways (chap.  xl.  16),  and  are  now  further  described  as 
 in  the  "  side  chambers  of  the  temple."  The  last  word, 
 translated  "  thick  planks,"  is  very  obscure.  If  it  be 
 the  plural  of  the  word  used  in  verse  25,  it  would  mean 
 that  the  mouldings  in  front  of  the  porches  were  also 
 carved  with  palm  trees. 
 
 It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  these  outer  parts  of  the 
 Temple  oidy  palm  trees  were  used  in  the  ornamenta- 
 tion, the  cherubim  being  reserved  for  the  Holy  Place- 
 and  the  Holy  of  Holies. 
 
 The  description  of  the  Temple  proper  is  now- 
 finished,  and  it  is  noticeable  how  very  little  is  said 
 of  its  interior  furniture  and  arrangements.  There  is 
 no  mention  at  all  of  that  profuse  overlaying  with  gold 
 so  characteristic  of  Solomon's  Temple ;  nothing  is  said 
 of  the  candlestick,  or  the  table  of  show-bread;  even 
 the  ark  itself,  that  climax  of  Israel's  symbolic  worship, 
 is  not  mentioned.  The  prophet  seems  to  be  looking 
 forward  to  the  time  described  by  his  contemporary, 
 Jeremiah,  when  these  outward  symbols  should  be  for- 
 gotten in  the  higher  spiritual  presence  of  the  Lord : 
 "  They  shall  say  no  more,  The  ark  of  the  covenant  of 
 the  Lord  ;  neither  shall  it  come  to  mind.  .  .  .  At  that 
 time  they  shall  call  Jerusalem  the  throne  of  the  Lord, 
 and  all  the  nations  shall  be  gathered  unto  it "  (Jer. 
 iii.  16,  17). 
 
 XLII. 
 
 This  chapter  describes  what  is  not  only  new  in  this 
 vision,  but  also  unknown  in  either  the  former  or  the- 
 later  Temple.  Verses  1 — 14  are  occupied  with  the 
 account  of  certain  chambers  for  the  priests  adjoining 
 
 3'2(3 
 
Thr  Building  in 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLII. 
 
 the  Separate  J' 
 
 toward  the  north  :  and  he  brought  me 
 into  tin-  chamber  thai  was  over  against 
 the  Beparate  place,  and  which  was  before 
 the  buililiiiL,'  Inward  tin'  QOrth.  ' ''  I >■  - 
 (ore  the  length  of  an  hundred  cubits  was 
 the  north  door,  and  the  breadth  was  fifty 
 cubits.  '8>Over  againsi  the  twenty  cubits 
 which  wi  n  tor  tit*-  inner  court,  and  over 
 against  the  pavement  which  was  for  the 
 utter  court,  was  gallery  againsi  gallery 
 in  three  stories.  '"'Ami  before  the  cham- 
 bers  was  a  walk   of  ten    cubits   breai.lt h 
 
 or.    ,1,1   tat    •■• 
 thctc. 
 
 fir,     i\ml      tht 
 ill   ../   ft 
 
 and  the  mi<(ti/< 
 
 muat. 
 
 inward,  a  way  of  one  cubit;  and  their 
 doors  toward  the  north.  'Now  the 
 upper  chambers  were  shorter:  for  the 
 galleries  'wen'  higherthan  these,  'than 
 
 the  lower,  and  than  the  middlemost  of 
 the  building.  ":i  For  they  were  in  three 
 stones,  but  had  not  pillars  as  the  pillars 
 of  the  courts  :  therefore  the  bvild/mg  was 
 straitened  more  than  the  lowest  and  the 
 middlemost  from  the  ground.  I7' And 
 the  wall  that  was  without  over  against 
 the  chambers,  toward  the  utter  court  on 
 
 the  i t  rniirt,  iiui  actually  within  the  ana  of  the 
 
 outer.    From  verse  1 1  it  is  plain  t  hut  these  chambers, 
 
 although  thus  situated  in  the  outer  court,  were  con- 
 sidered tor  ecclesiastical  purposes  is  belonging  to  the 
 
 inner.  Verses  \~> — _'l  describe  a  very  large  area 
 enclosing  the  Temple  and  its  courts  as  an  additional 
 aafeguard  to  its  sanctity. 
 
 (lj  Uttor  court.—  Outer  court  (see  Note  on  xl.  31). 
 Tho"into"of  the  next  elanse  should  l)o"uuto";  so 
 also  in  chap.  xh  i.  L9. 
 
 Before  tho  building.— Tin'  preposition  is  the 
 same  as  tliat  translated  just  before,  and  also  twice  in 
 verse  3,  "over  against."  The  length  of  this  chamber,  or 
 series  of  chambers,  was  LOO  cubits  (Terse  2),  and  as  it 
 appears  from  chap,  \Ki.  L9  that  it  did  not  reach  to  the 
 western  wall,  it  must  have  extended  the  whole  remain- 
 Lug  length  of  the  building  to  the  west  of  the  separate 
 place,  across  the  separate  place  itself,  and  probably  also 
 
 across  the  chambers  at   the  west  end  of  the  Temple 
 
 (see    Plan    11..    11.111.      The    chamber  On    the    north    is 
 particularly  described   in  versos  1 — !•,  and  in  verses  10 
 — TJ  mention  is  made   more    briefly  of  a  correspond- 
 ing one  on  the  south. 
 TO  Before  tho  length. — This  verse  is  still  a  purl 
 
 of  the  same  sentence,  and  means,  "he  brought  me 
 before  the  long  side  of  lOO  euliits  with  the  dour  toward 
 
 the  north,  and  the  breadth  50  cubits."  The  entrance 
 being  on  the  north  was  necessarily  in  the  outer  court, 
 and  the  whole  description  requires  that  the  long  way 
 
 of  the  building  should  lie  east  and  west.  The  width 
 therefore  of  50  cubits  projected  into  the  court  just  as 
 far  88  the   gateways  of  the  inner  court.      The    measure. 
 
 incuts  of    this   "chamber"    aro    external,    siuco    tho 
 
 prophet  .lid  not  enter  it. 
 
 (;i   Over  against  the  twenty.— See  under  verse 
 
 1.  This  was  the  space  of  twenty  cubits  1.1)  to  the  west 
 of  the  western  Temple  chambers. 
 
 Tho  pavomont.— Thero  is  but  one  pavement  men- 
 tioned in  the  outer  court,  that  which  ran  alone;  the 
 inside    of    the    wall.      Tho    chamber    in    question    was 
 
 opposite  to  the  pavement  on  the  north  side,  as  it  was 
 
 opposite  to  the  separate  place,  \e„  on  the  south — i.e., 
 its  length  was  parallel  to  both,  or  cast  and  west. 
 ■' Utter"  again  means  out*  r. 
 
 Gallery  against  gallery.— Tho  expression  is  a 
 difficult  one  in  the  original.  "Against"  is  literally, 
 WOto  Hi,-  foot  of,  Or  vn  front  of,  and  stories  is  alto- 
 gether wanting.  The  meaning  seems  to  be  that  in 
 each  chamber  building,  on  the  north  and  on  the  south, 
 
 there  was  a  gallery  iii  the  third  storey,  so  placed  on  tho 
 south  side  of  the  north  building  and  tho  north  side  of 
 the  south  building  that  they  faced  each  other. 
 
 Ml  A  walk  of  ten  cubits  breadth  inward.— 
 Tho  meauiug  of  this  clauso  depeuds  upon  that  of  the 
 
 next,  "a  way  of  ono  cubit."  There  is  evory  reason  to 
 Suppose  lure  an  error  of  the  text,  and   that    one  < 
 
 should    I )'■'  hundred,  as  it  reads  in  the  Greek.      The 
 
 change  requires  only  B  transposition  of  the  first  letters 
 in  one  word,  and  a  consequent  alteration  of  one  letter 
 
 in    tl ther.       Exactly    tho    same    transposition    has 
 
 occurred    in    verso    16,    where    it    is   corrected    in   the 
 
 margin  of  the  Hebrew,  and  properly  translated  "five 
 hundred"  instead  of  "five  cubits."  One  cannot  con- 
 ceive of  a  walk  or  an  entrance  of  oue  cubit  twenty 
 inches)  serving  any  useful  purpose.  Assuming  this 
 Change,  the  rptumnn  will  be  that  a  walk  (seS  Plau. 
 II.,  K)  of  1"  cubits  wide  and  100  long  led  to  the 
 entrance  of  the  chambers.     That  this  was  on  the  north 
 
 is  plain  from  its  being  expressly  said  thai  the  door  was 
 
 on  the  north.  It  may  seem  surprising  that  this  should 
 have  been  in  the  outer  court,  but  a  glao.ee  at  the  plan 
 ill  connection  with  what   is  said  below  will  explain  the 
 
 reason  of  the  arrangement.    The  Length  of  the  walk, 
 
 1 1  io  cubits,  just  reaches  to  the  steps  of  the  north  gate 
 of  the  inner  court.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in 
 chap.  xl.  39 — 13  this  was  described  as  the  place  for 
 killing  and  preparing  tho  sacrifices.  Now,  only  tho 
 fit  and  kidneys  of  tho  sin  and  trespass  and  peace 
 offerings  were  burnt  upon  the  altar;  the  whole  of  the 
 former  (ordinarily)  and  the  priests'  jHirtiou  of  tho 
 latter  were  to  be  carried  to  this  chamber  (verse  13). 
 The  walk  was'  therefore  placed  in  the  best  possible 
 situation. 
 
 (5)  For  tho  galleries  wore  higher  than 
 these. — Translate  this  vers,-.  And  tin-  upper  chambers 
 were  shortened,  because  the  gaUeriea  took  off  from 
 them  (literally,  eat  of  them)  m  comparison  with  the 
 lower  "it, I  the  noddle    chambers']   of  the  building. 
 
 The  building  was  in  tin storeys  (verse  6),  like  tho 
 
 chambers  round  the  Temple,  but  the  gallery  is  men- 
 tioned only  in  connection  with  the  third  (verse  9  ,     As 
 
 it  must  have  been  taken  out  of  tho  width  of  the 
 chambers,  it  made  those  of  the  third  storey  narrower. 
 
 (6)  As  the  pillars  of  the  courts.— This  statement 
 is  introduced  to  show  that  as  there  was  no  external 
 support  for  tho  galleries,  they  must  have  been  taken 
 from  the  width  of  the  chambers;  but  it  gives  inci- 
 dentally the  interesting  information  that  there  were 
 pillars  in  the  courts.  These  could  not  have  been  tho 
 ornamental  pillars  at  tho  entranco  of  the  various 
 porches,  for  the  connection  implies  that  they  sup- 
 ported something.  It  is  quite  likely,  therefore,  that 
 there  were  cloisters  around  the  inside  of  the  wall  of 
 the  courts    on  the  pavement  .  as  in  the  later  Temple. 
 
 (?)    The    wall    that   was  without.— We  have 
 
 two  indications  of  what  wall  is  here  meant.  In  tho 
 first  place,  the  word  itself  is  neither  of  those  which 
 have  been  hitherto  used,  but  one  signifying  a  fence- 
 
 327 
 
Its  Chambers. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLII. 
 
 Their  Use. 
 
 the  forepart  of  the  chambers,  the  length 
 thereof  was  fifty  cubits.  (8)  For  the  length 
 of  the  chambers  that  were  in  the  utter 
 court  was  fifty  cubits :  and,  lo,  before 
 the  temple  were  an  hundred  cubits. 
 (y)  And  l  from  under  these  chambers  was 
 2  the  entry  on  the  east  side,  3as  one 
 goeth  into  them  from  the  utter  court. 
 (io)  The  chambers  were  in  the  thickness 
 of  the  wall  of  the  court  toward  the  east, 
 over  against  the  separate  place,  and  over 
 against  the  building.  <n)  And  the  way 
 before  them  was  like  the  appearance  of 
 the  chambers  which  were  toward  the 
 north,  as  long  as  they,  and  as  broad  as 
 
 1  Or,    from     tin 
 place. 
 
 Or,     he     thai 
 brouuht  me. 
 
 3  Or.'.as  he  came. 
 
 they :  and  all  their  goings  out  were  both 
 according  to  their  fashions,  and  accord- 
 ing to  their  doors.  (12)  And  according  to 
 the  doors  of  the  chambers  that  were  to- 
 ward the  south  was  a  door  in  the  head 
 of  the  way,  even  the  way  directly  before 
 the  wall  toward  the  east,  as  one  entereth 
 into  them. 
 
 (13)  Then  said  he  unto  me,  The  north 
 chambers  and  the  south  chambers,  which 
 are  before  the  separate  place,  they&e  holy 
 chambers,  where  the  priests  that  ap- 
 proach unto  the  Lord  shall  eat  the  most 
 holy  things :  there  shall  they  lay  the 
 most  holy  things,  and  the  meat  offering, 
 
 wall,  and  is  translated  in  chaps,  xiii.  5,xxii.  30,  hedge ; 
 and  in  Num.  xxii.  24,  a  vineyard  wall.  Its  length  is 
 also  said  to  be  fifty  cubits  (the  breadth  of  the  chamber). 
 It  must,  therefore,  have  been  a  screen  wall  at  one  end 
 of  the  chambers,  and  it  could  not  have  been  at  the 
 western  end,  as  that  was  otherwise  occupied  (chap, 
 xlvi.  19,  20).  It  was  then  at  the  eastern  end,  and  was 
 doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  screening  the  windows  at 
 that  end  from  the  outer  court  while  the  priests  were 
 changing  their  garments.  The  word  here  translated 
 over  against  is  not  the  one  used  in  verses  1,  3,  and 
 may  equally  well  be  rendered  parallel  to. 
 
 (8)  The  length  of  the  chambers.— We  should 
 say  the  breadth,  since  a  longer  measurement  the  other 
 way  immediately  follows ;  but  the  word  is  used  in  con- 
 nection with,  and  as  a  reason  for,  the  length  of  the  wall 
 mentioned  in  verse  7,  as  if  it  were  said,  "  The  wall  was 
 fifty  cubits  long,  because  this  side  of  the  building  was 
 fifty  cubits  long."  To  prevent  any  possible  misunder- 
 standing it  is  immediately  added,  "Before  (literally, 
 upon  the  face  of)  the  Temple  an  hundred  cubits ; " 
 i.e.,  the  length  east  and  west  was  100  cubits. 
 
 (9)  From  under  these  chambers.— This  verse 
 as  it  stands  in  our  version  is  scarcely  intelligible. 
 Translate:  And  from  underneath  it  (i.e.,  the  wall  just 
 spoken  of)  these  chambers.  The  wall  screened  the 
 lower  part  of  the  chambers  so  that  to  one  looking  from 
 the  east  they  appeared  to  rise  out  of  it.  Then  a  new 
 clause  begins :  "  The  entrance  was  from  the  east,  as 
 one  goeth  to  them  from  the  outer  court."  It  is  per- 
 fectly clear  that  this  does  not  refer  to  any  entrance 
 from  the  inner  court,  because  it  expressly  says  "  as  one 
 goeth  from  the  outer  court."  The  object  of  the  state- 
 ment is  probably  to  show  that  the  access  to  the 
 chambers  was  from  the  outer  court  by  means  of  the 
 walk  already  described,  leading  from  the  east,  from 
 the  porch  of  the  gate  to  the  inner  court. 
 
 Verses  10 — 12  describe  briefly  another  chamber- 
 building  at  the  south  of  the  "  separate  place,"  exactly 
 like  the  one  already  described  at  the  north.  There  is 
 only  need  to  notice  some  required  changes  in  the 
 translation.  Thus  read  verse  10,  On  the  breadth  of  the 
 wall  of  the  court  going  toward  the  east,  over  against 
 the  separate  place  and  over  against  the  building  were 
 the  chambers.  The  wall  is  here  the  same  word  as  in 
 verse  7,  and  means  therefoi'e  not  the  wall  of  a  building,  i 
 but  a  fence-wall ;  it  is  here  defined,  however,  as  "  tho 
 wall  of  the  court,"  and  must  be  understood  of  the 
 division  wall  between  the  inner  and  outer  courts.  Along 
 
 this,  as  it  stretched  to  the  east,  the  building  was 
 situated.  Some  writers,  by  a  slight  alteration  of  the 
 text,  would  change  east  into  south,  so  that  for  "  going 
 toward  the  east "  we  should  read  on  the  south.  This 
 makes  the  sense  clearer,  but  is  not  necessary. 
 
 (U)  "  And  a  way  in  front  of  them  like  the  chambers 
 which  were  towards  the  north ;  as  long  as  these  and  as 
 broad  as  these,  and  [like]  all  their  goings  out,  and  their 
 arrangements,  and  their  doors." 
 
 (12)  "  So  were  the  doors  of  the  chambers  which  were 
 toward  the  south,  a  door  at  the  head  of  the  way,  the 
 way  over  against  the  corresponding  (?)  wall,  the  way 
 as  one  enters  from  the  east."  The  word  here  trans- 
 lated corresponding  occurs  only  in  this  place,  and  is  of 
 doubtful  signification;  but  the  word  for  wall  is  the 
 same  as  in  verse  7,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
 refers  to  the  screen-wall  to  the  east  of  the  chambers. 
 The  way  from  the  porch  of  the  gate  to  the  inner  court 
 was  directly  "over  against"  the  passage  between  this 
 wall  and  the  chambers,  and  in  fact  joined  it  at  right 
 angles. 
 
 This  closes  the  somewhat  obscure  and  difficult  de- 
 scription of  these  chambers,  where  we  do  not  have,  as 
 in  tho  other  eases,  any  similar  construction  in  the  an- 
 cient Temple  to  guide  the  interpreter.  It  woidd  seem 
 altogether  probable  that  there  must  have  been  an 
 additional  entrance  to  these  chambers  from  the  space 
 at  the  side  of  or  behind  the  Temple,  for  the  convenience 
 of  the  priests  in  changing  their  garments.  Perhaps 
 there  was  such  an  entrance  to  the  second  storey,  which 
 must  have  been  about  on  the  same  level  with  the 
 Temple  court,  but  is  not  mentioned  because  only  the 
 plan  of  the  lower  storey  is  described. 
 
 O3)  Shall  eat  the  most  holy  things.— In  the 
 next  clause  it  is  said,  "  There  shall  they  lay  the  most 
 holy  things,"  both  clauses  referring  to  the  priests'  portion 
 of  the  sacrifices.  We  cannot  think  of  their  laying  the 
 uncooked  flesh  of  the  sacrifice  in  the  same  room  where 
 they  ate  (the  cooking  was  done  in  another  room  west  of 
 this,  chap.  xlvi.  19,  20) ;  but  the  great  size  of  this  build- 
 ing— 166  ft.  long  and  half  as  broad — allowed  of  its  divi- 
 sion into  several  separate  rooms.  It  is  noticeable  that 
 there  is  no  mention  of  the  peace  offerings,  for  it  was 
 not  required  in  the  iaw  that  they  should  be  eaten  in  a 
 holy  place.  For  the  others,  see  Lev.  vi.  16,  26 ;  vii.  6. 
 The  "  meat  offering  "  is  the  unbloody  oblation  usually 
 accompanying  the  animal  sacrifices. 
 
 328 
 
Measures  of  the  Outer  Court. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLIII. 
 
 The  Glory  of  the  Lor'/  ■ 
 
 and  the  sin  offering,  and  the  trespass 
 offering;  forthe  place  taholy.   "'When 
 
 tin'  priests  i'iiter  therein,  then  shall  tli<y 
 not  go  out  of  tin'  holy  "place  into  the 
 utter  court,  but  there  they  shall  lay 
 their  garments  wherein  they  minister  ; 
 Pot  they  are  holy;  and  shall  put  on 
 other  garments,  and  shall  approach  to 
 those  things  which  are  for  the  people. 
 (l:"  Now  when  he  had  made   an   end  of 
 
 measuring  the  inner  house,  he  brought 
 
 uie  forth  toward  the  gate  whose  prosped 
 is  toward  the  east,  and  measured  it 
 round  about.  (16)  He  measured  the  east 
 'side  with  the  measuring  reed,  five  hun- 
 dred reeds,  with  the  measuring  reed 
 round  about.  <17)  He  measured  the  north 
 side,  Jive  hundred  reeds,  with  the  mea- 
 suring reed  round  about.  (18)  He  mea- 
 sured the  south  side,  five  hundred  reeds, 
 with  the  measuring  reed.  <19>  He  turned 
 about  to  the  west  side,  and  measured 
 five  hundred  reeds  with  the  measuring 
 reed.     W  He  measured  it  by  the  four 
 
 t  I'll.  1.  I,  4:  U.4. 
 
 2  Or.  vh 
 t„  prophesy  that 
 
 ted:     see 
 -.  5. 
 
 sides :  it  had  a  wall  round  about,  five 
 hundred  reeds  long,  and  dye  hundred 
 broad,  to  make  a  separation  between  the 
 sanctuary  and  the  profane  place. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLIII.— M  Afterward  he 
 brought  me  to  the  gate,  even  the  gate 
 that  looketh  toward  the  east :  l->  and, 
 behold,  the  glory  of  the  (jod  of  Israel 
 came  from  (In1  way  of  the  east:  and  his 
 voice  was  like  a  noise  of  many  waters: 
 and  the  eai-th  shined  with  his  glory. 
 (3)  And  it  was  'according  to  the  appear- 
 ance of  the  vision  which  I  saw,  even  ac- 
 cording to  the  vision  that  I  saw  'when  I 
 came  to  destroy  the  city  :  and  the  visii  ms 
 were  like  the  vision  that  I  saw  by  the 
 river  Chebar ;  and  I  fell  upon  my  face. 
 W  And  the  glory  of  the  Lord  came  into 
 the  house  by  the  way  of  the  gate  whose 
 prospect  is  toward  the  east.  ,5)  So  the 
 spirit  took  me  up,  and  brought  me 
 into  the  inner  court ;  and,  behold,  the 
 glory   of   the    Loud    filled   the    house. 
 
 00  There  they  shall  lay  thoir  garments.— It 
 
 was  apparently  tho  requirement  of  tho  law  tlint  the 
 priests   should  wear   their  official  garments  only  when 
 
 engaged  in  priestly  duties  within  the  tabernacle;  this 
 
 is  not  expressly  stated  in  general  terms,  but  it  is  said 
 that,  they  were  to  wear  them  when  engaged  iu  such 
 duty  (Ex.  xxviii.  43),  and  in  some  particular  cases  that 
 they  wire  to  put  them  off  when  they  went  out  of  the 
 tabernacle  (Lev.  vi.  10,  11 ;  xvi.  23).  It  seems  probable, 
 therefore,  that  Ezekiol  here  recognises  the  ancient 
 custom. 
 
 (is)  The  inner  house. — This  expression  is  hero 
 evidently  used  neither  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  nor  of  the 
 whole  Temple  building  exclusively,  but  of  all  that  had 
 been  measured,  all  that,  was  included  within  the  wall  of 
 the  outer  ourt.  The  prophet  is  led  out,  from  this  by 
 the  eastern  gate  to  measure  a  much  larger  space  around 
 it.  It  is  not  said  in  what  part  of  this  space  tin  Temple 
 with  its  courts  was  situated;  but,  for  the  reason  given 
 iu  verse  20,  it  is  to  bo  supposed  that  it  was  in  the 
 centre. 
 
 (M)  With  the  measuring  reed.— According  to 
 chap,  xl.  G  the  reed  was  six  cubits  long;  500  reeds 
 therefore,  the  measure  of  each  side  of  the  square,  was 
 8,000  cubits,  or  about  ."..eon  foet  =  nearly  a  mile.  Of 
 course  such  a  space,  quite  as  large  as  was  ever  enclosed 
 by  the  walls  of  ancient  Jerusalem,  would  have  been  im- 
 possible upon  the  hill  of  Horiah,  and  various  efforts 
 have  been  made  by  some  of  the  commentators  to  reduco 
 the  size;  but  tho  use  of  the  reed  as  the  unit  of  measure- 
 ment is  decisive.  The  objection  to  the  si/e  is  without 
 value,  as  Keil  well  says,  "for  the  simple  reason  that  iu 
 chaps.  xl\.  and  xlviii.  there  follow  still  further  state- 
 ments concerning  the  separation  of  the  sanctuary  from 
 the  rest  of  the  land,  which  are  in  perfect  harmony  with 
 this,  and  show  most  indisputably  that  the  Temple  seen  by 
 Ezekiel  was  not  to  have  its  seat  in  the  ancient  Jerusa- 
 lem;" nor.it  may  be  added,  in  any  other  earthly  locality. 
 It  is  a  vision  not  designed  to  have  a  material  realisation. 
 
 (20)  It  had  a  wall.— Around  this  vast  enclosure 
 on  all  sides  was  a  wall,  not  of  the  slight  character  of 
 that  in  verse  7;  but  the  same  word  is  used  as  in  chap, 
 xl.  5,  of  the  massive  wall  surrounding  the  outer  court. 
 The  object  of  this  enclosure  was  to  protect  the  sanctity 
 of  the  Temple  and  its  courts,  "  to  make  a  separation 
 between  the  sanctuary  and  the  profane  place." 
 
 XLni. 
 
 Tho  new  Temple  had  now  been  shown  to  the  prophet 
 with  all  its  arrangements  and  measurements;  it  re- 
 mained that  tho  structure  should  be  divinely  accepted 
 by  the  manifestation  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  as  in  the 
 ease  of  the  Tabernacle  (Exod.  xl.  34,  36  .  and  of  the 
 former  Temple  (1  Kings  viii.  10,  11;  2  Chron.  v.  13, 
 14;  vii.  1 — 3).  The  description  of  this  and  the  accom- 
 panying message  occupy  verses  1  — 12.  With  \ 
 13  the  account  of  the  ordinances  of  Divine  worship  to 
 be  celebrated  in  the  Temple  begins, and  is  continued  to 
 the  close  of  chap.  xlvi. 
 
 (2)  Prom  the  way  of  the  east.— The  prophet 
 
 had  been  brought  t verse  li  to  the  east  gate,  from  which 
 he  had  formerly  seen  the  glory  of  the  Lord  depart 
 (chaps,  x.  18,  19 ;  xi.  1,  23)  on  account  of  the  pollution 
 of  His  house.  By  the  same  way  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
 was  now  to  return  to  the  sanctuary  prepared  for  it. 
 
 (3)  When  I  came  to  destroy  tho  city.— That 
 
 is,  to  MMOIMMM  it*  destination.  (Corup.  chap,  xxxii. 
 18;  Gen.  xlix.  7;  Isa.  vi.  10;  Jer.  i.  10.) 
 
 Like  the  vision  that  I  saw.— C'omp.  chaps,  i. 
 t.  Ac  ;  iii.  23;  x.  15,  22.  Tho  manifestation  of 
 Divine  glory  to  the  prophet  was  the  same  through- 
 out. 
 
 (5)  Brought  me  into  the  inner  court.— Having 
 
 seen  the  Divine  glory  enter  by  the  eastern  gate,  the 
 prophet,  himself  a  priest,  is  brought  into  the  court  of 
 the  priests,  and  there  sees  the  glory  of  tho  Lord  fill  tho 
 house  as  of  old. 
 
 329 
 
V 
 
 Israel's  Sin  hindered  God's  Presence.       EZEKIEL,    XLIII.       Let  them  keep  the  Law  of  the  House* 
 
 <6)  And  I  heard  him  speaking  unto  me 
 out  of  the  house ;  and  the  man  stood 
 by  me.     (7>And  he  said  unto  me, 
 
 Son  of  man,  the  place  of  my  throne,  and 
 the  place  of  the  soles  of  my  feet,  where 
 I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  the  children 
 of  Israel  for  ever,  and  my  holy  name, 
 shall  the  house  of  Israel  no  more  defile, 
 neither  they,  nor  their  kings,  by  their 
 whoredom,  nor  by  the  carcases  of  their 
 kings  in  their  high  places.  t8)  In  their 
 setting  of  their  threshold  by  my  thres- 
 holds, and  their  post  by  my  posts,  2and 
 the  wall  between  me  and  them,  they 
 have  even  defiled  my  holy  name  by  their 
 abominations  that  they  have  committed : 
 wherefore  I  have  consumed  them  in  mine 
 anger.  (9)  Now  let  them  put  away  their 
 whoredom,  and  the  carcases  of  their 
 kings,  far  from  me,  and  I  will  dwell  in 
 the  midst  of  them  for  ever. 
 
 (io)  Thou  son  of  man,  shew  the  house 
 to  the  house  of  Israel,  that  they  may  be 
 
 1  Or.  for  there  was 
 Tint  a  wall  be- 
 tween me  and 
 them. 
 
 Or,    sum,    or, 
 number. 
 
 3  Hcb.,  bosom. 
 
 4  Hel).,  lip. 
 
 ashamed  of  their  iniquities :  and  let 
 them  measure  the  2 pattern.  W  And  if 
 they  be  ashamed  of  all  that  they  have 
 done,  shew  them  the  form  of  the  house, 
 and  the  fashion  thereof,  and  the  goings 
 out  thereof,  and  the  comings  in  there- 
 of, and  all  the  forms  thereof,  and  all  the 
 ordinances  thereof,  and  all  the  forms 
 thereof,  and  all  the  laws  thereof :  and 
 write  it  in  their  sight,  that  they  may 
 keep  the  whole  form  thereof,  and  all 
 the  ordinances  thereof,  and  do  them. 
 
 (12)  XMs  is  the  law  of  the  house  ;  Upon 
 the  top  of  the  mountain  the  whole  limit 
 thereof  round  about  shall  be  most  holy. 
 Behold,  this  is  the  law  of  the  house. 
 
 (13>  And  these  are  the  measures  of  the 
 altar  after  the  cubits  :  The  cubit  is  a, 
 cubit  and  an  hand  breadth ;  even  the 
 
 3  bottom  shall  be  a  cubit,  and  the  breadth 
 a  cubit,  and  the  border  thereof  by  the 
 
 4  edge  thereof  round  about  shall  be  a. 
 span :  and  this  shall  be  the  higher  place 
 
 (6)  I  heard  him  speaking.— Although  the  pro. 
 noun  is  not  expressed  in  the  original,  there  can  ho  no 
 question  that  God  Himself  spoke  directly  to  the 
 prophet,  as  in  chap.  xliv.  2,  5,  9,  &c.  "  The  man  "  is 
 without  the  article  in  the  Hebrew,  which  leaves  it 
 uncertain  whether  the  same  being  is  meant  who  had 
 hitherto  guided  the  prophet;  but  as  measurements 
 were  also  made  by  this  guide  (xlvii.  3,  4,  5),  he  was 
 probably  the  same. 
 
 (7)  The  place  of  the  soles  of  my  feet.— Comp. 
 1  Chron.  xxviii.  2 ;  Ps.  exxxii.  7. 
 
 I  will  dwell  .  .  .  for  ever.— This  should  be 
 the  peculiar  distinction  of  the  Temple  seen  in  the 
 vision.  The  Tabernacle  and  Solomon's  Temple  had 
 both  been  accepted  as  the  peculiar  dwelling-place  of 
 God,  but  both  had  passed  away.  So  also  it  would  be 
 with  the  material  Temple  of  the  restoration.  But  in 
 this  Temple  of  the  vision  God  promises  that  He  would 
 dwell  for  ever. 
 
 By  the  carcases  of  their  kings.— The  "  shall 
 defde "  with  which  the  later  clauses  of  this  verse  are 
 connected  is  not  an  imperative,  but  a  simple  future, 
 and  is  in  accordance  with  the  generally  ideal  character 
 of  the  vision.  The  word  "  carcases  "  is  here  a  difficult 
 one.  Some  commentators  understand  it  literally  of 
 the  burial  of  some  of  the  kings  in  the  Temple  area ; 
 but  there  is  no  historical  proof  that  any  were  so  buried, 
 the  gardens  of  the  royal  palace  being  quite  too  distant 
 for  the  language  here  used,  nor  is  there  anywhere  any 
 allusion  to  such  defilement.  The  simplest  explanation 
 is  that  the  language  is  founded  upon  Lev.  xxvi.  30,  and 
 means  idols.  Manasseh  and  others  had  introduced 
 their  idols  into  the  very  courts  of  the  Temple  (2  Kings 
 xxi.  4 — 7 ;  see  also  2  Kings  xvi.  11). 
 
 I8)  And  the  wall  between.— The  sense  is  given 
 in  the  margin  :  there  was  only  a  wall  between  me  and 
 them. 
 
 (9)  Now  let  them. — This  is  not  an  imperative,  but 
 a  simple  future,  as  in  verse  7.  The  house  of  Israel 
 will  now  put  away  their  abominations,  and  God  will 
 
 dwell  in  their  midst  for  ever.  Carcases  =  idols,  as  in 
 verse  7. 
 
 (1°)  Shew  the  house.— This  is  still  in  vision ; 
 "  mate  known  to  the  people  the  new  Temple  and  its 
 appointments,"  that,  seeing  God's  gracious  purposes, 
 they  may  repent  of  their  evU  doings. 
 
 Let  them  measure  the  pattern.— That  is,  let 
 them  carefully  consider  and  follow  out  the  provisions 
 God  had  made  for  their  worship.  (Comp.  Heb.  viii.  5.) 
 Exactness  in  the  observance  of  all  positive  enactments 
 is  a  necessary  residt  of  a  desire  to  serve  God. 
 
 (ii)  If  they  be  ashamed. — The  same  thing  which 
 had  already  been  declared  positively  is  now  expressed 
 contingently,  showing  that  the  sanctification  of  the 
 people  and  God's  dwelling  among  them  were  correlative- 
 facts  ;  the  one  could  not  be  without  the  other.  Many 
 expressions  of  nearly  the  same  meaning  are  heaped  up, 
 as  it  were,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  verse,  to  emphasis© 
 the  significance  of  the  arrangements  of  the  new  Temple, 
 and  to  secure  for  them  the  thought  and  consideration 
 of  the  people. 
 
 (12)  Upon  the  top  of  the  mountain.— Comp. 
 xl.  2.  The  command  to  keep  and  observe  everything 
 is  closed,  as  often  in  similar  eases,  by  a  summary  state- 
 ment of  the  reason :  for  the  whole  surroundings  of  the 
 dwelling-place  of  the  Most  High  are  holy. 
 
 With  verse  13  a  new  part  of  the  vision  begins, 
 extending  to  the  close  of  chap,  xlvi.,  describing  the 
 new  ordinances  of  the  sanctuary.  This  is  fitly  opened 
 with  a  description  of  the  altar  for  the  sacrifices,  the 
 central  act  of  the  ancient  worship. 
 
 (13)  A   cubit    and   an   hand   breadth.  —  The 
 
 measurement  of  the  altar  begins  with  the  statement 
 that  the  cubit  used  was  of  the  same  length  as  before 
 (see  xl.  5).  The  description  that  follows  (verses  13 — 17) 
 will  bo  made  clearer  by  a  simple  diagram,  with 
 references  to  the  parts  described.  The  size  of  the 
 base  of  the  altar,  it  will  be  seen,  was  16  dibits  square, 
 and  its  entire  height  was  either  11  or  12  cubits.     The, 
 
 330 
 
.1/:  a  furtnu  nte  of  the  Altar, 
 
 EZKKIEL,   XLIII. 
 
 /'  ' ' 
 
 of  the  altar.     !U|  And  from  the  bottom 
 
 upon  i  In-  gr id  even  to  the  lower  Bettle 
 
 ehallbt  two  cubits,  and  the  breadth  i 
 
 ciii.il  ;  and  from  the  leaser  settle  even  to 
 the  neater  Bettle  shall  be  four  cubits, 
 and  the  breadth  mir  mint.  (15'  So  'the 
 altar  shall  be  four  cubits;  and  from  'the 
 altar  and  upward  shall  be  four  horns. 
 ||,;)Ainl  the  altar  shall  be  twelve  cubits 
 long,  twelve  broad,  square  in  the  four 
 squares  thereof.  "7l  Aid  the  Bettle  shall 
 be   fourteen   cubits    Long  and  fourteen 
 
 broad  in  the  four  squares  thereof;  ami 
 the  bonier  about  it  shall  be  half  a  cubit; 
 and  the  bottom  thereof  slmll  be  a  cubit 
 a  I  mm  it  ;  and  bis  stairs  shall  look  toward 
 the  east. 
 
 Vnd  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
 thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  These  are  the 
 
 f/6'vtl. 
 
 Is.    the    Iwn    f 
 Bod, 
 
 ordinances  of  the  altar  in  the  day  when 
 
 they  shall  make  it,  to  offer  I. mat  offer- 
 ings   thereon,    and     to    Sprinkle     blood 
 
 thereon,  w  And  thou  shall  give  to  the 
 priests  the  Levites  that  be  of  the  seed 
 
 of  Zadok,  which    approach    unto   me,  to 
 
 minister  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord  ( Ion,  a 
 young  bullock  for  a  sin  offering.  '-"'And 
 
 thou  shall  take  of  the  blood  thereof,  and 
 
 put  it  on  the  four  horns  of  it,  and  on  the 
 
 four  corners  of  the  settle,  and  upon  the 
 border  round  about :  thus  shalt  thou 
 cleanse  and  purge  it.  (2U  Thou  shalt 
 take  the  bullock  also  of  the  sin  offering, 
 and  he  shall  burn  it  in  the  appointed 
 place  of  the  house,  without  the  sanc- 
 tuary. <—'And  on  the  second  day  thou 
 shalt  offer  a  kid  of  the  goats  without 
 blemish   for   a   sin   offering;  and   they 
 
 altar  in  Solomon's  Temple  was  of  brass,  20  cubits 
 Bquare,  and  lo  cubits  high  (2  Ohran.  iv.  I),  while  that 
 in  the  Tabernacle  (of  shittim-wood  overlaid  with  brass) 
 had  been  5  cubits  Bquare,  and  :!  cubits  high  I  Exod.  xxvii. 
 1).  That  in  Herod's  Temple  is  said  to  have  bi 
 cubits  Bquare,  and  I"  onbits  high,  and  was  of  hewn 
 stone.  The' dimensions  of  Bzekiel'e  altar  seem  to  have 
 elected  for  the  symmetry  of  the  numbers  in  the 
 Beveral  parts.    In  height  it  exceeded  any  of  tho  others. 
 
 (a)  Base  or  "bottom,''  1  cubit,  high,  and  1  broad.  This  was 
 10  ,-iii.ii -*  square. 
 
 (/<//)  "The  border  thereof," a  span  or  J  cubit.   It  is  on 
 whether  this  projected,  forming  a  motildlng  us  at  />.  an>i  in 
 tlii  ■  wd  i  he  height  of  the  altar  : 
 
 or  whether  it  "us  as  at  V,  a  ledge  around  o.    in  verse  13 
 "higher  place"  should  be  base.    The  word  means,  prima] 
 arched,  thi  n  a  back,  and  then  a  support, 
 
 lei  The  "  lower  Bettle,"  _'  cubits  high,  and  1  broad. 
 
 iih  The  "greater (or  higher)  settle,"  I  oubita  high. 
 
 fe)  The  "iutar"  [Marti]  literally,  the  mountain  of  God— I 
 cubits  high,  and  IS  riit.it  -  square. 
 
 (/)  The     "altar"    {Ariel)     literally,     the     lion    ofdiul     the 
 
 hearth   of  the  same  Bixe,  but  the  hei^lit    not   given,    but 
 
 probably  not  more  than  \  cubit; 
 
 Urn)  The  "horns.''  The  whole  height  was  eleven  cubits  nr 
 more,  according  to  whether  the  height  of  /  is  included  iu  ihut 
 of  c,  and  whether  6  passed  under  c,  or  was  merely  a  ledge. 
 
 Verses  18 — 27  make  careful  provision  for  tho  con- 
 secration  ol  the  altar  just  described.  This  is  to  bo 
 compared  with  Exod.  xL  and  Lev. viiL,  although  in  that 
 ease  the  consecration  of  the  altar  and  ol  the  priests 
 wore  joined  together,  while  here  that  of  tho  altar  alouo 
 is  described. 
 
 (is)  in  tho  day  when  they  shall  make  it.— 
 
 This  looks  to   the   future,  and    implies   that    the  whole 
 structure  of   tho  Temple,  and   its   acceptance  by  tho 
 
 331 
 
 manifestation  of  the  Divine  glory,  though  necessarily 
 
 represented   in   the   vision  as   already  done,  were  yet  in 
 
 the  future.  The  phrase,  "in  tin-  day  when  they  shall 
 uiako  it,"  is  intended  only  to  require  tin-  consecration 
 of  tho  altar  before  it  is  used.  Tho  actual  time  occupied 
 by  the  consecration  I  verses  2">.  lit!)  was  to  be  seven 
 days,  as  in  Exod.  xxix   :I7. 
 
 (i-'l  Thou  shalt  give.— Ezekiel  is  not  actually  to 
 do  this,  liko  Moses,  as  the  appointed  consecrator ;  but, 
 as  frequently  in  prophecy,  ho  is  told  to  do  that  which 
 ho  foretells  is  to  bo  doue. 
 
 Of  the  seed  of  Zadok.— See  Note  on  xl.  46. 
 (Comp.  also  xliv.  15.) 
 
 A  young  bullock. — In  tho  case  of  the  altar  of  tho 
 Taboruacle,  the  consecration  began  with  anointing  with 
 oil  (Lev.  viii.  11),  ami  this  was  a  prominent  feature  of 
 tho  service;  but  is  hero  wholly  omitted.  Tho  scrvico 
 bogan  with  the  offering  of  a  sin  offering,  which  was 
 always,  according  to  the  law,  to  bo  first  offered  when 
 several  kinds  of  sacrifice  were  to  occur  together.  Tho 
 propriety  of  this  is  manifest,  sine,-  the  first  act  of 
 man's  approach  to  God  must  always  consist  of  tho 
 confession  of  his  sin. 
 
 1  Take  of  the  blood  thereof.— Comp.  Exod. 
 x\i\.  [2;  Lev.  viii.  15;  Eeb.  ix.  18, 22.   Nothing  is  here 
 
 said  of  the  pouring  the  rest  of  the  Mood  at  tho  foot  of 
 tho  altar,  as  required  in  the  law,  and  nothing  of  the 
 burning  of  the  tat   upon  the  altar,  because  the  prophet 
 
 throughout  supposes  the  ritual  of  tho  sacrifices  to  bo 
 
 well  known,  and  only  mentions  a  few  particulars  to 
 indicate  the  whole,  and  also  B  few  others  now  intro- 
 duced, peculiar  to  the  new  ceremonial. 
 
 ('-•)  Burn  it  in  tho  appointed  place.— The  flesh 
 of  the  ordinary  sin  offerings  was  to  be  eaten  by  the 
 priests;  but  when  the  victim  was  a  bullock,  as  in  caso 
 of  a  sin  offering  for  the  high  priest  i  Lev.  iv.  '■'•.  11.  l-i, 
 or  for  the  whole  congregation  I  ib.  13,  20),  it  was  to  bo 
 burned  without  the  camp  Here  it  is  to  be  burned  "  iii 
 the  appointed  place  of  tho  house,"  and  yet  ••  without 
 the  sanctuary,    or  Temple  building  itself;   it   oust, 
 
 therefore,  have  been  in  the  budding  described  iu  xli.  \2 
 
 (-)  A  kid  of  the  goats.— M  re  exactly,  "  bud-  of 
 the  goats.  This  was  the  sin  altering  prescribed  for  a 
 ruler  (Lev.  iv.  --.  28  .  The  expression  "as  they  did 
 with  the  bullock."  implies  that  the  ritual  was  the  same, 
 
Its  Consecration. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLIV. 
 
 The  East  Gate  is  for  the  Prince. 
 
 shall  cleanse  the  altar,  as  they  did 
 cleanse  it  with  the  bullock.  (33>  When 
 thou  hast  made  an  end  of  cleansing  it, 
 thou  shalt  offer  a  young  bullock  without 
 blemish,  and  a  ram  out  of  the  flock  with- 
 out blemish.  '^And  thou  shalt  offer 
 them  before  the  Lord,  and  the  priests 
 shall  cast  salt  upon  them,  and  they  shall 
 offer  them  up  for  a  burnt  offering  unto 
 the  Lord.  ^  Seven  days  shalt  thou 
 prepare  every  day  a  goat  for  a  sin  offer- 
 ing :  they  shall  also  prepare  a  young 
 bullock,  and  a  ram  out  of  the  flock, 
 without  blemish.  <26)  Seven  days  shall 
 they  purge  the  altar  and  purify  it ;  and 
 they  shall  Consecrate  themselves.  <27And 
 when  these  days  are  expired,  it  shall  be, 
 that  upon  the  eighth  day,  and  so  forward, 
 the  priests  shall  make  your  burnt  offer- 
 ings upon  the  altar,  and  your  3peace 
 
 1    Hob.,  fill    tltci 
 Itutids. 
 
 2  Or,  thank  offer 
 ings. 
 
 offerings  ;  and  I  will  accept  you,  saith 
 the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLIV.  —  <"  Then  he 
 brought  me  back  the  way  of  the  gate  of 
 the  outward  sanctuary  which  looketh 
 toward  the  east;  and  it  was  shut. 
 <2'  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  me ;  This 
 gate  shall  be  shut,  it  shall  not  be  opened, 
 and  no  man  shall  enter  in  by  it ;  be- 
 cause the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  hath 
 entered  in  by  it,  therefore  it  shall  be 
 shut.  <3>  It  is  for  the  prince  ;  the  prince, 
 he  shall  sit  in  it  to  eat  bread  before  the 
 Lord  ;  he  shall  enter  by  the  way  of  the 
 porch  of  that  gate,  and  shall  go  out  by 
 the  way  of  the  same. 
 
 W  Then  brought  he  me  the  way  of  the 
 north  gate  before  the  house :  and  I 
 looked,  and,  behold,  the   glory  of  the 
 
 and  the  flesh  burned  in  the  same  way.  At  the  con- 
 secration of  the  altar  in  Exod.  xxix.  36,  a  bullock  was 
 required  for  the  sin  offering  on  each  of  the  seven  days 
 for  the  consecration  of  both  the  altar  and  the  priests. 
 
 (23)  Hast  made  an  end  of  cleansing  it. — Not 
 an  end  of  the  entire  service  of  consecration,  but  of  the 
 sin  offering  for  the  day,  for  verse  25  says  distinctly 
 that  both  a  sin  offering  and  a  burnt  offering  were  to 
 be  offered  on  each  day  of  the  seven.  The  reason  that 
 the  burnt  offering  is  not  mentioned  on  the  first  day  is, 
 that  the  sin  offering  being  changed  on  the  second 
 day,  the  prophet  first  describes  that  for  both  days, 
 and  then  goes  to  the  other,  which  remained  the  same 
 throughout.  Here  the  burnt  offering  is  a  bullock  and 
 a  ram ;  in  Exod.  xxix.  two  rams. 
 
 (2-t)  Cast  salt. — The  word  means  throw  or  pour,  in- 
 dicating a  more  copious  use  of  salt  than  the  seasoning 
 ordained  by  the  law  (Lev.  ii.  13). 
 
 (26)  Shall  consecrate  themselves.— Our  version 
 has  here  followed  the  Masoretic  emendation  of  the  text ; 
 the  literal  translation  of  the  text  itself  is,  shall  fill  its 
 hand,  referring  to  the  altar.  To  "  fill  the  hand  "  is  a 
 synonym  for  consecration,  commonly  applied  to  the 
 priests,  who  were  consecrated  by  placing  in  their  hands 
 the  gifts  they  were  to  offer  to  God.  Here  it  is  better 
 to  keep  to  the  text  as  it  stands,  "  filling  the  hand  of 
 the  altar  "  being  a  strong  figurative  expression  to  de- 
 note that  it  shall  always  be  supplied  with  sacrificial 
 gifts.  Nothing  is  said  throughout  the  passage  of  the 
 consecration  of  the  priests,  the  whole  family  of  Aaron 
 having  been  consecrated  once  for  all  by  the  ceremonies 
 of  Lev.  viii. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 _  The  altar  being  consecrated,  the  next  thing  is  to  pro- 
 vide for  the  purity  of  the  worship  of  which  it  is  the 
 centre.  _  The  pollutions  of  former  times  had  been 
 largely  introduced  by  the  princes,  and  by  the  Levites 
 and  priests ;  and  these  classes  are  therefore  treated  of 
 in  this  chapter.  Only  three  verses  are  here  given  to  the 
 prince,  since  he  is  to  be  spoken  of  at  greater  length 
 hereafter,  and  the  rest  of  the  chapter  is  occupied  with 
 directions  as  to  the  exclusion  of  strangers,  and  the 
 •duties  of  the  Levites  and  priests. 
 
 332 
 
 (i)  The  gate  of  the  outward  sanctuary.— This 
 is  better  rendered,  the  outer  gate  of  the  sanctuary.  The 
 pi-ophet  had  been  in  the  inner  court,  or  court  of  the 
 priests,  where  the  altar  stood,  and  is  now  brought  back 
 to  the  eastern  gate  of  the  outer  court.  He  finds  it  shut, 
 as  it  was  ordinarily  to  remain ;  but  with  the  exceptions 
 mentioned  in  verse  3,  and  in  chap.  xlvi. 
 
 (2)  Hath  entered  in  by  it.— See  chap,  xliii.  1,  2. 
 The  thought  is,  that  the  gate  which  had  been  sanctified 
 by  such  a  manifestation  of  the  Divine  presence,  should 
 not  afterwards  be  used  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  the 
 entrance  of  the  people. 
 
 (3)  The  prince.— The  Rabbis  understood  tliis  to  re- 
 fer to  the  Messiah,  and  unquestionably  the  same  person 
 must  be  meant  as  by  David  in  chaps,  xxxiv.  23,  2-1; 
 xxxvii.  24.  This  gives  another  and  a  conclusive  reason 
 for  regarding  the  sacrificial  worship  of  chap.  xlvi.  as 
 symbolical. 
 
 To  eat  bread  before  the  Lord.— This  is  the 
 common  scriptural  expression  for  partaking  of  the 
 sacrifices  (see  Gen.  xxxi.  54 ;  Exod.  xviii.  12),  and  there 
 is  no  reason  for  restricting  it  to  the  shew-bread  and 
 other  unbloody  offerings.  The  eating  of  the  latter  was 
 an  exclusively  priestly  prerogative,  and  the  "  prince  "  of 
 Ezekiel,  though  greatly  distinguished,  is  not  in  any  way 
 endued  with  priestly  functions.  He  is  to  partake  of  his 
 sacrificial  meals  within  this  highly-honoured  gate,  while 
 the  people  eat  in  the  outer  court.  There  has  been  much 
 discussion  as  to  whether  the  prince  was  to  go  in  and 
 out  by  this  gateway,  or  only,  having  entered  by  one  of 
 the  others,  to  eat  in  this.  The  language  here  seems 
 sufficiently  plain,  and  if  there  could  be  any  doubt,  it 
 would  be  removed  by  chap.  xlvi.  1,  2,  8,  10,  12.  It  ap- 
 pears there  that  the  prince  is  always  to  enter  and  leave 
 by  this  gate  except  "  in  the  solemn  feasts;  "  then  he  is 
 to  enter  in  the  midst  of  the  people,  by  either  the  north 
 or  the  south  gate,  and  go  out  by  the  opposite  one. 
 
 (*)  The  north  gate. — The  prophet  is  now  carried 
 to  the  north  gate,  and  since  this  is  described  as  "  before 
 the  house "  and  was  in  full  view  of  it,  it  must  have 
 been  the  gate  of  the  inner  court,  the  appointed  place 
 for  the  killing  of  the  sacrifices,  and  therefore  especially 
 fitting  for  the  announcement  of  the  ordinances  of  the 
 priests.     There  he  saw  the  "  glory  of  the  Lord  "  filling 
 
Unfaithful  Priests  may  not 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XI. IV. 
 
 Approach  the  Altar. 
 
 Lord  filled  the  bouse  of  the  Lord  :  and 
 
 I  t'rll  ll]>oii  my  lace.  '  "  Ami  tilt'  LuKli 
 ■Bid  onto  me,  Ekffl  Of  man,  'mark  well, 
 :■  1 1. 1   behold  with  thine  eyes,  ami  bear 
 
 With   thine   ears  all  that    I  say  Onto  thee 
 
 concerning  all  the  ordinances  of  the 
 bouse  of  the  Lobd,  and  all  the  laws 
 thereof;  and  mark  well  the  entering  in 
 of  the  house, with  every  going  forth  of 
 
 the  sanctuary.    ,,;'  Ami  thou  shall  say  to 
 
 the  rebellious,  even  to  the  house  of 
 Israel,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  0  ye 
 house  of  Israel,  let  it  suffice  you  of  all 
 your  abominations,  <7>  in  that  ye  have 
 Drought  into  my  sanctuary  'strangers, 
 uncircumcised  in  heart,  and  uncircum- 
 eised  in  Uesh,  to  be  in  my  sanctuary,  to 
 pollute  it,  m  n  my  bouse,  when  ye  offer 
 my  bread,  the  tat  and  the  blood,  and 
 they  have  broken  my  covenant  because 
 of  all  your  abominations.  <8>  And  ye 
 have  m,t  kept  the  charge  of  mine  holy 
 things:  but  ye  have  set  keepers  of  my 
 'charge  in  my  sanctuary  for  yourselves. 
 '"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  No 
 stranger,  uncircumcised  in  heart,  nor 
 uncircumcised  in  flesh,  shall  enter  into 
 my  sanctuary,  of  any  stranger  tbat  is 
 amon--  the  children  of  Israel.  (10>And 
 the  Levites  that  are  gone  awayfarfrom 
 me,  when  Israel  went  astray,  which  went 
 astray  away  from  me  after  their  idols  ; 
 they  shall  even  bear  their  iniquity. 
 ""  Vet  they  shall  be  ministers    in    my 
 
 i    M.  i ...  »rt  thim 
 
 ;•  IlrK.  el 
 
 n  Or,  ir.rr.t,  r>r,  ftr- 
 
 I  Heb-  " 
 
 sanctuary,  having  charge  at  the  gates  of 
 
 the  bouse, and  ministering  to  the  house: 
 they  shall    slay    the    burnt    offering  and 
 
 the  sacrifice  tor  the  people,  and  they 
 
 shall  stand  before  them  to  minister  unto 
 them.  "-''  Because  they  ministered  unto 
 them  before  their  idols,  and  'caused  the 
 house  of  Israel  to  fall  into  iniquity; 
 therefore  have  I  lifted  up  mine  hand 
 against  them,  saith  the  Lord  God,  and 
 they  shall  hear  their  iniquity.  ";>And 
 they  shall  not  come  near  unto  me,  to  do 
 the  office  of  a  priest  unto  me,  nor  to 
 come  near  to  any  of  my  holy  things,  in 
 the  most  holy  place  ;  but  they  shall  bear 
 their  shame,  and  their  abominations 
 which  they  have  committed.  <">  But  I 
 will  make  them  keepers  of  the  charge  of 
 the  house,  for  all  the  service  thereof,  and 
 for  all  that  shall  be  done  therein. 
 
 <15>  But  the  priests  the  Levites,  the 
 sons  of  Zudok,  that  kept  the  charge  of 
 my  sanctuary  when  the  children  of  Israel 
 went  astray  from  me,  they  shall  come 
 mar  to  me  to  minister  unto  me,  and 
 they  shall  stand  before  me  to  offer  unto 
 me  the  fat  and  the  blood,  saith  the  Lord 
 God  :  M>  tbey  shall  enter  into  my  sanc- 
 tuary, and  tbey  shall  come  near  to  my 
 table,  to  minister  unto  me,  and  they  shall 
 keep  my  charge. 
 
 f17' And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  when 
 they  enter  in  at  tbe  gates  of  tbe  inner 
 court.,  they  shall  be  clothed  with  linen 
 
 tlio   home,  and   was   commanded  to   give   the   utmost 
 attention  to  the  laws  now  to  be  announced. 
 (7>  Strangers,  uncircumcised  in  heart.— The 
 
 heathen  living  in  Israel,  or  coining'  to  worship  at  the 
 Temple,  were  allowed,  and  even  in  somo  eases  required, 
 to  otter  sacrifices  |  Lev.  xvii.  10, 12  ;  Num.  xv.  14,  "Jt>,  29). 
 This  Beema  also  to  have  been  recognised  in  Solomon's 
 prayer  at  the  consecration  of  the  Temple  1 1  Kings  viii. 
 41 — I:!);  Imt  the  ground  on  which  the  Israelites  are 
 here  censured  for  the  licence  given  to  strangers  is.  that 
 
 they  allowed   these  to  draw  near  in  worship  who  wero 
 
 tmoirowncued  in  heart  as  well  as  in  flesh,  i.e.,  ungodly 
 
 men  who  had  no  real  purpose  to  worship  God. 
 
 (8)  For  yourselves.— Comp.  1  Kings  xii.  31. 
 
 (9>  Shall  enter  into  my  sanctuary.— To  guard 
 against  tho  evils  of  the  past,  the  command  is  now 
 given  that  none  of  the  strangers  described  shall  even 
 
 enter  the  sanctuary;  lint  onr  version  gives  a  wrong 
 impression  of  this  prohibition  by  rendering,  " 
 uncircumcised  in  flesh."  It  should  be,  as  in  verso  7. 
 and.  The  command  is  not  that  no  tmcircnmcised 
 person  should  be  allowed  to  enter  the  sanctuary,  for  the 
 residence  of  strangers  among  the  Israelites  is  expre--ly 
 provided  for  in  chap.  xhii.  22,  28 ;  but  the  emphasis 
 here,  as  bef ore.  is  upon  the " uuciivumciscd  in  heart." 
 Mo  godless  heathen  should  bo  allowed  to  enter  in  to 
 profane  the  Divine  worship. 
 
 333 
 
 no)  And  tho  Levites  that  are  gone  away. — 
 
 The  connection  between  this  and  the  preceding  VHTS6  is 
 made  clearer  by  translating  the  first  words,  "Tea, 
 even;"  not  only  the  nncircnmcised  in  heart  among  the 
 heathen  are  to  be  excluded  from  tho  sanctuary,  hut  even 
 the  Levites  who  had  apostatised  arc  to  bear  their  guilt. 
 Levites  is  here  osed  (see  verse  13),  as  often,  emphatic. 
 
 ally  of  the  Lcvitieal  priests.  At  the  great  schism  of 
 the  northern  kingdom  these  had  remained  true  to  tho 
 worship  of  Jehovah  (2  Chron.  xi.  18);  hut  in  the 
 subsequent  general  religious  declension  many  of  them, 
 as  has  appeared  from  chap,  viii.. had  fallen  into  idolatry. 
 Such  priests  are  to  lie  allowed,  like  the  priests  under 
 the  law  who  had  any  physical  blemish  Lev.  xxi. 
 17 — 28),  to  minister  in  the  more  menial  offices  of  the 
 priesthood,  but  not  to  approach  the  altar  (verses 
 11  — 11. 
 
 (15)  The  sons  of  Zadok.— See  Note  on  chap.  xl.  111. 
 They  are  here  described  as  those  who  continued  faithful 
 in  tho  general  apostasy,  and  it  is  pr. .liable  that  Ezckicl 
 uses  the  term  in  this  sense.  As  Zadok  had  continued 
 faithful  in  the  rebellion  of  Adoniiah,  when  even  the 
 high  priest  and  life-long  friend  of  David  went  astray 
 (1  Kings  i.  T,  8),  so  all  the  faithful  priests  in  the  time 
 
 of  apostasy  were  called  "sons  of  Zadok." 
 
 P7)  Clothed  with  linen  garments.— The  r 
 the  chapter  is  occupied  with  directions  for  the  clothing 
 
The  Priests'  Dress. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XLIV. 
 
 Their  Mourning. 
 
 garments ;  and  no  wool  shall  come  upon 
 them,  whiles  they  minister  in  the  gates 
 of  the  inner  court,  and  within.  <18»  They 
 shall  have  linen  bonnets  upon  their 
 heads,  and  shall  have  linen  breeches 
 upon  their  loins ;  they  shall  not  gird 
 themselves  12with  anything  that  causeth 
 sweat.  l'(19)  And  when  they  go  forth  into 
 the  utter  court,  even  into  the  utter  court 
 to  the  people,  they  shall  put  off  their 
 garments  wherein  they  ministered,  and 
 lay  them  in  the  holy  chambers,  and  they 
 shall  put  on  other  garments  ;  and  they 
 shall  not  sanctify  the  people  with  their 
 garments.  (20)  Neither  shall  they  shave 
 their  heads,  nor  suffer  their  locks  to 
 grow  long ;  they  shall  only  poll  their 
 heads.  <21)  Neither  shall  any  priest  drink 
 wine,  when  they  enter  into  the  inner 
 court.  <22>  Neither  shall  they  take  for 
 their  wives  a  "widow,  nor  her  that  is 
 3  put  away :  but  they  shall  take  maidens 
 of  the  seed  of  the  house  of  Israel,  or  a 
 widow4  that  had  a  priest  before.  *23'And 
 they  shall  teach  my  people  the  difference 
 between  the  holy  and  profane,  and  cause 
 them  to  discern  between  the  unclean 
 and  the  clean.  <24>  And  in  controversy 
 they  shall  stand  in  judgment ;  and  they 
 shall  judge  it  according  to  my  judg- 
 
 1  Or,  in  sweating 
 places. 
 
 Heh.,'In,or,  with 
 
 swt-at. 
 
 a  Lev.  21. 13. 
 
 3Web.,thrustferth 
 
 i   Hob.,   from     a 
 priest. 
 
 b  Lev.  21.  l,  11, 
 
 c    Num.      18.     20 ; 
 Dent.  10.  9,  &  18. 
 
 l,  2;    Josb.  13. 
 
 1J,  33. 
 
 6  Or,  chief. 
 
 \  Ex.  13.  2,  &  22. 
 29,  30;  Num.  3. 
 13.  &  18. 12. 
 
 Ex.  22.  31 ;  Lev. 
 22.8. 
 
 ments :  and  they  shall  keep  my  laws  and 
 my  statutes  in  all  mine  assemblies  ;  and 
 they  shall  hallow  my  sabbaths.  <25'  And 
 they  shall  come  at  no  'dead  person  to 
 defile  themselves  :  but  for  father,  or  for 
 mother,  or  for  son,  or  for  daughter,  for 
 brother,  or  for  sister  that  hath  had  no 
 husband,  they  may  defile  themselves. 
 (26)  And  after  he  is  cleansed,  they  shall 
 reckon  unto  him  seven  days.  (27)  And  in 
 the  day  that  he  goeth  into  the  sanc- 
 tuary, unto  the  inner  court,  to  minister 
 in  the  sanctuary,  he  shall  offer  his  sin 
 offering,  saith  the  Lord  God.  (28)  And  it 
 shall  be  unto  them  for  an  inheritance : 
 I  cam  their  inheritance  :  and  ye  shall 
 give  them  no  possession  in  Israel :  I  am 
 their  possession.  (29)  They  shall  eat  the 
 meat  offering,  and  the  sin  offering,  and 
 the  trespass  offering ;  and  every  5  dedi- 
 cated thing  in  Israel  shall  be  their's. 
 <30>  And  the  "first  of  all  the  firstfruits  of 
 all  things,  and  every  oblation  of  all,  of 
 every  sort  of  your  oblations,  shall  be  the 
 priest's :  ye  shall  also  give  unto  the 
 priest  the  first  of  your  dough,  that  he 
 may  cause  the  blessing  to  rest  in  thine 
 house.  <3n  The  priests  shall  not  eat  of 
 any  thing  that  is  "dead  of  itself,  or  torn, 
 whether  it  be  fowl  or  beast. 
 
 and  conduct  of  the  priests.  The  dress  (verses  17 — 19) 
 is  the  same  as  that  prescribed  in  Lev.  xxviii.,  only  a  few- 
 special  points  being  mentioned  partly  for  emphasis,  and 
 partly  as  recalling  to  mind  the  whole. 
 
 (19)  They  shall  put  off  their  garments. — 
 The  requirement  that  the  priests  shall  wear  their 
 official  dress  only  when  engaged  in  official  duty,  put. 
 ting  it  on  when  they  entered  the  inner  court,  and 
 putting  it  off  when  they  went  out,  which  is  only 
 implied  in  Exodus  and  Leviticus,  is  here  expressly 
 enjoined.     Utter  here,  as  elsewhere,  means  outer. 
 
 (20)  Their  locks  to  grow  long.— The  law  forbade 
 the  shaving  of  the  head  (Lev.  xxi.  5),  but  only  con- 
 demned letting  the  hair  grow  long  by  implication,  pro- 
 viding for  it  in  the  exceptional  case  of  the  vow  of  the  Na- 
 zarite.    The  prohibition  of  vei'se  21  is  given  in  Lev.  x.  9. 
 
 (22)  a  widow  that  had  a  priest  before.— 
 In  regard  both  to  marriage  and  to  mourning  (verses 
 25 — 27)  the  Leritical  law  made  a  broad  distinction 
 between  the  ordinary  priest  and  the  high  priest.  The 
 f ornier  was  only  forbidden  to  marry  a  divorced  woman 
 (Lev.  xxi.  7),  but  was  allowed  to  marry  a  widow;  the 
 latter  could  marry  only  a  virgin  of  Israel  (ib.  14).  So 
 also  in  the  law  of  mourning ;  the  high  priest  might  not 
 be  "  defiled  "  nor  make  any  sign  of  mourning  even  for 
 his  nearest  of  kin  (Lev.  xxi.  11 — 14).  Ezekiel  does  not 
 recognise  this  distinction,  and  in  fact  nowhere  men- 
 tions the  high  priest  at  all;  but,  instead,  gives  a 
 general  law  for  all  priests,  somewhat  between  the  two. 
 
 (26)  Reckon  unto  him  seven  days.— In  verses 
 23,  24,  the  general  duties  of  the  priests  are  prescribed 
 in  terms  taken  from  the  Mosaic  law,  and  in  verses  25 — 
 
 334 
 
 27  special  instructions  are  given  about  the  defilement 
 from  a  dead  body.  These  are  in  general  an  exact 
 repetition  of  Lev.  xxi.  1 — 1 ;  but,  in  accordance  with 
 the  principle  mentioned  in  the  last  Note,  there  is  added 
 to  the  ordinary  cleansing  of  seven  days  (Num.  xix. 
 11 — 17)  another  period  of  seven  days,  after  which 
 Ezekiel  requires  (verse  27)  the  priest  to  offer  a  sin 
 offering  before  entering  again  on  his  duties. 
 
 (28)  I  am  their  inheritance. — This  is  a  simple 
 repetition  of  the  frequent  declarations  in  the  law 
 (Num.  xviii.  20 ;  Dent.  x.  9 ;  xviii.  2) ;  the  priests  were 
 to  be  supported  by  the  tithes  given  to  God,  and  by 
 their  portion  of  the  offerings  made  to  Him.  These 
 are  here  summarily  mentioned  in  verses  28,  29,  and 
 may  be  found  more  particularly  described,  as  regards 
 the  priests'  share  of  the  meat,  sin,  and  trespass  offer- 
 ings, in  Lev.  ii.  3 ;  vi.  25, 29;  vii.  6,  7 ;  the  devoted  field, 
 Lev.  xxvii.  21 ;  the  first-fruits,  Exod.  xxiii.  19 ;  xxxiv. 
 26 ;  Num.  xviii.  13  ;  Deut.  xviii.  4 ;  and  for  the  special 
 heave  offerings,  Num.  xv.  19 — 21 ;  xviii.  19.  As  it  was 
 not  inconsistent  with  these  provisions  that  the  priests 
 should  also  have  assigned  to  them  cities  for  residence, 
 with  their  suburbs  for  pasturage,  so  these  gifts  are  not 
 now  excluded  by  the  fact  that  the  priests  should  possess 
 the  "oblation"  of  land  (chap.  xlv.  1 — 5),  although  their 
 portion  is  thereby  greatly  increased. 
 
 (3i)  Dead  of  itself,  or  torn. — Coinp.  Lev.  xxii.  8. 
 The  same  law  was  binding  upon  all  the  Israelites. 
 (Lev.  xvii.  15.)  In  the  wilderness  they  were  required 
 to  "cast  it  to  the  dogs"  (Exod.  xxiii.  31);  afterwards 
 they  might  give  it  to  a  stranger  or  sell  it  to  an  alien. 
 (Deut.  xiv.  21.) 
 
Oblation. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLV. 
 
 Its  Size  and  Dicisiona. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLV.— WMoreover^when 
 ye  shall  divide  by  h>t  the  land  for  inherit- 
 ance, ye  s  1 1 : 1 1 1  offer  an  oblation  onto  the 
 Lord,  'an  holy  portion  of  the  land;  the 
 length  shall  be  the  length  of  five  and 
 twenty  thousand  reedx,  ami  the  breadth 
 ehall  be  ten  thousand.  This  ahaU  be 
 holy  in  all  the  borders  thereof  round 
 about.  W  Of  this  there  shall  be  for  the 
 Banctuary  five  hundred  m  length,  "with 
 live  hundred  tin   breadth,  square  round 
 
 ii'  it . 
 
 :•  licit.,  liit/i)«  v. 
 
 ■ 
 
 aboui  ;  ami  fifty  cubits  round  about  for 
 the  'suburbs  thereof.  (3)  And  of  tbia 
 measure  shah  thou  measure  the  length 
 of  five  and  twenty  thousand,  ami  the 
 breadth  of  ten  thousand  :  and  in  it  shall 
 he  t  he  sam-t  nary  "//</  t  he  most  holy  place, 
 <♦>  The  holy  portion  of  tin;  land  shall  be 
 for  the  priests  the  ministers  of  the  sanc- 
 tuary,  which  shall  come  near  to  minister 
 unto  the  Lord:  and  it  shall  he  a  place 
 for  their  houses,  and  an  holy  place  for 
 
 XLV. 
 
 This  anil  (In'  first  pari  of  the  following  chapter  form 
 a  remarkable  portion  if  tho  book.  They  first  describe 
 ilm  setting  apart  of  a  largo  part  of  tho  whole  land  fur 
 tlui  sanctuary,  tin-  priests,  the  prince,  ami  the  city,  iu  a 
 wav  and  in  a  geographical  position  entirely  unknown 
 either  in  the  past   or  the  subsequent    history  of  the 
 
 1 I'll'  (verses    1     8).     The  portion  assigned  to  the 
 
 prince  is  to  prevent  violence  ami  exaction  on  his  part; 
 iu  this  connection  all  unjust  measurements  are  to 
 cease,  ami  standard  weights  ami  measures  are  pro- 
 Bcribed  (verses  9  12).  Then  follow  directions  for  the 
 lax  or  "oblation"  to  he  paid  by  the  people  to  the 
 prince,  that  he  may  !"■  able  t"  furnish  the  required 
 sacrifices  (verses  13 — 17).  The  chapter  closes  with 
 directions  concerning  the  daily  sacrifices  and  the 
 feasts,  these  feasts  being  iu  part  unknown  to  the 
 law;  while  some  feasts  that  were  prominent  in  the  law 
 
 are    entirely    omitted,   anil    the    ritual    of    nearly   all  is 
 
 greatly  changed.  The  whole  is  so  different  from  tho 
 arrangements  of  the  Mosaic  economy,  and  so  foroign  to 
 tin'  restoration  of  that  economy  on  the  return  from  the 
 
 .  that  it  can  only  lie  explained  of  an  ideal  picture 
 which  both  prophet  ami  people  understood  was  not  to 
 receive  a  literal  realisation. 
 
 (i)  When  ye  shall  divide  by  lot.— The  samo 
 expression  is  used  in  chaps,  rlvii.  22;  xlviii.  29,  as  it  had 
 long  before  been  used  iu  Josh.  xiii.  Ii;  but  that  it  does 
 not  imply  anything  of  chance  is  plain  from  tho  fact 
 that  iu  chap,  xlviii.  a  definite  portion  of  the  land  is 
 assigned  t"  each  of  the  tribes  by  name.  The  idea 
 seems  to  be  the  same  as  is  conveyed  by  our  •word 
 aUottm  "I. 
 
 An  oblation.— Literally  n  heave  offering.  This 
 portion  of  the  land  is  thus  called   from  its  analogy  to 
 
 the  sacrificial  gifts  which  were  lifted  up  or  heaved 
 
 before  the  Lord.  As  a  small  portion  "f  these  was 
 bnrned  upon  the  altar  and  the  rest  given  to  the  pri 
 so  here,  a  small  part  of  this  territory  was  to  bo  occu- 
 pied by  the  sanctuary  and  the  rest  given  to  the  pri 
 and  Levites.  A  fuller  description  of  this  oblation 
 is  given  in  chap  xlviii.  S— 2J;  it  is  here  merely  men- 
 tioned in  connection  with  the  [support  of  the  priests 
 and  the  prince. 
 
 Five   and  twenty  thousand.— In  the  original 
 
 there  is  no  mention  of  the  measure  to  lie  used,  but  the 
 English  has  rightly  supplied  reeds.    This  is  plain  both 
 
 from  the  SUM  of  the  precincts  of  the  Temple,  which  are 
 made  ".mi  reeds  Square  in  chap.  xlii.  lti — 20,  and  from  the 
 special  mention  of  cubits  ill  verse  .  implying  that  the 
 measure  in  other  eases  was  different.  The  length  is  from 
 east  to  west,  as  shown  by  chap,  xlviii.  8.  This  length  of 
 26,000  reeds  or  160,000  cubits  is  something  over  forty- 
 
 seven  statute  miles.    For  its  location  and  comparative 
 
 size  see  the  map  under  chap,  xhiii. 
 
 The   breadth   shall   be  ten   thousand.— The 
 
 Greek  lure  reads  tlOi  nty  I  hoiisand,  and  many  would  alter 
 
 the  text  accordingly,  but  without  any  advantage.    Wo 
 
 know  from  chap,  xlviii.  8,  -".  that  the  whole  width  of  tho 
 oblation    was   25,000,  the   Same  as  its  length;    and    this 
 
 was  made  up  of  three  portions:  the  northernmost,  10,000 
 
 i>.  xlviii.  13),  for  the  Levites;  the  next,  of  the 
 
 samo   width   (chap,  xlviii.   10),  for  the    priests,  in    the 
 
 midst   of  which  was  the  sanctuary ;  and  the  remainder, 
 
 half  as  wide  (chap,  xlviii  16  .  for  "a  profane  place  for 
 
 the   city,   fur  dwelling,  and   for  suburbs."      Vet    while 
 
 this  whole  territory  is  there  called  the  oblation,  the 
 
 particular  portion  for  the  priests  is  also  called  by  the 
 same  name  (chap,  xlviii.  9).     The  word  may  therefore 
 
 lie  used  lure  in  the  SB sense  as  there,  for  that  part  of 
 
 the  oblation  which  was  for  the  priests:  the  oblation  of 
 t  lie  oblation. 
 
 (-)  Fifty  cubits  round  about.— In  chap.  xlii.  It; 
 — 20  the  space  of  500  reeds  square  is  described,  which 
 was  "for,"  or  belonged  to,  the  sanctuary,  to  guard  it 
 from  any  profanation  ;  hut  here  we  have,  still  farther,  a 
 narrow  strip  of  oU  cubits  wide  i about  Ni  feet  i  of  open 
 space  outside  the  wall  to  prevent  the  priests'  houses 
 being  built  too  close  to  the  sacred  precincts.  The  word 
 suburbs  is  better  rendered  iu  the  margin,  void  or  open 
 place.  The  situation  of  the  Banctuary  and  its  surround- 
 ings within  the  priests'  portion  is  more  definitely  fixed 
 in  chap,  xlviii.  In  as  "in  the  midst  thereof." 
 
 (3)  Of  this  measure.— If  the  Hebrew  text  of  verse 
 
 1  be  preserved  unchanged,  we  must  understand  this  to 
 refer  to  the  whole  oblation  of  25,000  reeds  broad  which 
 was  in  the  prophet's  mind,  though  he  docs  not  speak  of 
 it  until  afterwards:  this  verse  will  then  be  a  repetition 
 of  the  latter  part  of  verse  1,  for  the  sake  of  specifying 
 that  the  sanctuary  was  to  be  within  it.  The  territory 
 here  assigned  to  the  priests, more  than  t~  miles  long 
 by  nearly  19  broad,  with  only  one  square  mile  deducted 
 for  the  sanctuary,  is  enormously  larger  than  the  13 
 cities  assigned  for  their  residence  in  Josh.  xxi.  19,  and 
 is  also  considerably  larger  than  that  given  (chap,  xlviii.) 
 to  any  of  the  tribes.  It  has  been  suggested  that,  as 
 E/.ekiol  makes  no  mention  of  the  tithes,  this  large 
 territory  may  have  been  given  to  the  prie-ts  for  their 
 support'  instead  of  the  tithes;  but  the  law  of  tithes  was 
 a  very  ancient  institution  isee  Gen.  xiv.  20;  xxviii. 
 22  .  and  was  important  for  the  good  of  the  people  as  well 
 as  for  the  support  of  the  priests.  It  is  unlikely  that 
 K/ekiel  would  have  introduced  so  radical  a  change 
 without  any  allusion  to  it.  The  enlargement  of  the 
 priests'  possessions  is  quite  in  proportion  to  the  enlarge- 
 ment of  the  Banctuary,  ami  both  seem  designed  in  this 
 symbolical  vision  to'  set  forth  the  prominence  of  the 
 Divine  worship,  and  its  precedence  over  all  other  things. 
 
 335 
 
The  Prince's  Portion. 
 
 EZEKIEL,  XLV. 
 
 Just  Weights  and  Measures, 
 
 the  sanctuary.  <5>  And  the  five  and 
 twenty  thousand  of  length,  and  the  ten 
 thousand  of  breadth,  shall  also  the  Le- 
 vites,  the  ministers  of  the  house,  have 
 for  themselves,  for  a  possession  for 
 twenty  chambers.  <6'  And  ye  shall  ap- 
 point the  possession  of  the  city  five 
 thousand  broad,  and  five  and  twenty 
 thousand  long,  over  against  the  oblation 
 of  the  holy  portion :  it  shall  be  for  the 
 whole  house  of  Israel.  <7>  And  a  portion 
 shall  be  for  the  prince  on  the  one  side 
 and  on  the  other  side  of  the  oblation  of 
 the  holy  portion,  and  of  the  possession  of 
 the  city,  before  the  oblation  of  the  holy 
 portion,  and  before  the  possession  of  the 
 city,  from  the  west  side  westward,  and 
 from  the  east  side  eastward :  and  the 
 length  shall  be  over  against  one  of  the 
 
 1  Heb.,  expulsions. 
 
 a  Lev.  19. 35,  36. 
 
 portions,  from  the  west  border  unto  the 
 east  border.  I8'  In  the  land  shall  be  his 
 possession  in  Israel :  and  my  princes 
 shall  no  more  oppress  my  people ;  and 
 the  rest  of  the  land  shall  they  give  to 
 the  house  of  Israel  according  to  their 
 tribes. 
 
 <9>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Let  it 
 suffice  you,  0  princes  of  Israel :  remove 
 violence  and  spoil,  and  execute  judg- 
 ment and  justice,  take  away  your  1  exac- 
 tions from  my  people,  saith  the  Lord 
 God.  <10>  Ye  shall  have  just  "balances, 
 and  a  just  ephah,  and  a  just  bath. 
 <u'  The  ephah  and  the  bath  shall  be  of 
 one  measure,  that  the  bath  may  contain 
 the  tenth  part  of  an  homer,  and  the 
 ephah  the  tenth  part  of  an  homer :  the 
 measure    thereof    shall    be    after    the 
 
 (5)  For  a  possession  for  twenty  chambers.— 
 Adjoining  the  priests'  portion  of  the  oblation,  another 
 equal  portion  is  assigned  to  the  Levites.  The  last  clause 
 of  the  verse,  as  it  stands,  admits  of  no  satisfactory  ex- 
 planation. The  suggestion  that  it  may  refer  to  twenty 
 out  of  the  thirty  chambers  in  the  outer  court  of  the 
 sanctuary  (chap.  xl.  17)  is  quite  out  of  place.  Even  if 
 these  were  intended  for  the  use  of  the  Levites  (which 
 does  not  appear),  it  would  be  strange  that  they  should  be 
 abruptly  spoken  of  in  the  midst  of  this  description  of 
 the  oblation.  A  slight  change  in  the  text — the  trans- 
 position of  two  letters  in  the  first  word,  and  the  change 
 of  one  letter  in  the  second  for  another  much  like  it — 
 will  make  the  clause  read,  "  for  a  possession  of  gates  to 
 dwell  in,"  gates  being  used,  as  in  Deut.  xii.  18;  xiv.  27; 
 xvi.  11  (comp.  Exod.  xx.  10  j  Deut.  v.  14),  for  cities.  The 
 sense  would  then  be  that  this  portion  shoidd  be  to  the 
 Levites  what  the  former  portion  was  to  the  priests,  a 
 place  for  their  dwellings. 
 
 (6)  The  possession  of  the  city.— This  portion, 
 more  particularly  described  in  chap,  xlviii.  15 — 20,  is 
 there  called  "a  profane  place,"  though  still  constituting 
 a  part  of  the  oblation.  It  was  the  same  length  and  half 
 the  width  of  either  of  the  other  portions,  and  was  for 
 the  city,  and  for  a  common  possession  of  the  nation,  to 
 supply  food  for  those  who  "  serve  the  city"  "  out  of  all 
 the  tribes  of  Israel "  (chap,  xlviii.  18,  19).  Nothing  is 
 anywhere  said  to  identify  this  city  with  Jerusalem,  and, 
 indeed,  it  is  described  as  in  a  different  position  geogra- 
 phically (see  map).  Jerusalem,  like  the  ark,  appears  to 
 have  faded  from  the  prophet's  sight  in  this  vision  of 
 the  future  Church. 
 
 (7). For  the  prince.— The  portion  here  assigned  to 
 the  prince  included  all  the  land  between  the  northern 
 and  southern  bounding  lines  of  the  "  oblation  "  continued 
 to  the  Jordan  on  the  east,  and  the  Mediterranean  on  the 
 west,  not  already  included  within  the  "  oblation  "  itself. 
 Two  pieces  of  land  are  thus  given  to  him,  separated 
 from  each  other  by  the  whole  width  (47J  miles)  of  the 
 "  oblation."     (See  the  map  under  chap,  xlviii.) 
 
 From  the  west  side  westward.— The  prince's 
 position  is  to  adjoin  the  "  oblation"  in  its  entire  width 
 of  25,000  reeds,  stretching  westward  from  its  western 
 side,  and  eastward  from  its  eastern  side. 
 
 The  length. — Throughout  the  measurements  of  the 
 
 land,  length  is  from  east  to  west ;  breadth  from  north  to 
 south.  The  east  and  west  measurement  of  the  prince's 
 portion  was  to  be  "  over  against " — i.e.,  parallel  to — one 
 of  the  portions  of  the  tribes. 
 
 (8)  My  princes  shall  no  more  oppress. — The 
 use  of  the  plural  does  not  imply  that  more  than  one 
 prince  should  reign  at  a  time,  nor  is  it  intended  to  in- 
 clude the  family  of  the  prince ;  but  as  everything  in  the 
 future  is  described  in  terms  of  the  past,  so  the  royal 
 authority  is  conceived  of  as  vested  in  a  succession  of 
 rulers,  although  we  have  been  already  told  that  there 
 shall  be  but  one  king  over  them  for  ever  (chaps,  xxxiv. 
 23,  24;  xxxvii.  24,  25).  The  declaration  that  the 
 "princes  shall  no  more  oppress  my  people"  follows 
 naturally  on  the  assignment  of  this  portion.  Former 
 kings  of  Israel  had  no  domain  given  them,  and  this  had 
 tempted  them  to  acquire  private  property  by  violence 
 and  extortion.  The  people  had  been  forewarned  of  this 
 (1  Sam.  viii.  14),  had  often  experienced  it  in  their  his- 
 tory, and  had  heard  the  rebukes  of  their  prophets  on 
 account  of  it  (e.g.,  Jer.  xxii.  13 — 19). 
 
 <9)  Take  away  your  exactions. — Verses  9—12 
 are  an  exhortation  to  the  princes  to  observe  justice  in  all 
 their  dealings.  (Comp.  Jer.  xxii.  3.)  "  Exaction "  is, 
 literally,  as  in  the  margin,  expulsion,  or  ejection,  with 
 allusion  to  such  cases  as  1  Kings  xxi.  1 — 16.  In  the 
 following  verses  the  exhortation  to  justice  is  extended  to 
 the  whole  people.  (Comp.  Lev.  xix.  35,  36 ;  Deut.  xxv. 
 13—15.) 
 
 (U)  Shall  be  of  one  measure.— The  Ephah  is  first 
 mentioned  in  Exod.  xvi.  36,  and  appears  to  be  a  word 
 of  Egyptian  origin  ;  it  was  used  for  dry  measure.  The 
 Bath  is  not  met  with  before  1  Kings  vii.  26,  and  was 
 the  largest  of  the  liquid  measures  in  use.  The  state- 
 ment that  these  were  of  the  same  capacity,  and  each 
 equal  to  the  tenth  part  of  the  Homer,  is  important  in  the 
 comparison  of  the  Hebrew  dry  and  liquid  measures,  but 
 it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  determine  their  absolute 
 value.  If  we  calculate  on  the  estimates  of  Josephns, 
 the  Homer  was  86'696  English  gallons ;  if  on  those  of 
 the  Rabbinists,  42'286.  Modern  estimates  differ  nearly 
 as  much.  The  Homer,  which  was  ten  Ephahs,  is  to  be 
 carefully  distinguished  from  the  Omer,  which  was  the 
 tenth  part  of  an  Ephah.  The  two  words  are  quite 
 different  in  Hebrew. 
 
 336 
 
77,,  Oblation  for  the  Prince. 
 
 BZEKIEL,   XLV, 
 
 I     ':/'    ,/,C     /','/•.>/     MOtUh. 
 
 homer.    "-'And   il Bhekel    shall    be 
 
 twenty  gerahs.:  twenty  Bhekel9,  live 
 ami  twenty  shekels,  fifteen  shekels, 
 shall  be  pour  maneh. 
 
 osiThis  is  the  oblation  thai  ye  Bhall 
 offer;  the  sixth  part  of  an  ephah  of  an 
 homer  of  wheat,  and  ye  shall  give  the 
 sixth  part  hI'  an  ephah  of  an  homer  of 
 
 barley:  ^concerning  tin'  ordinance  of 
 oil,  the  hath  of  nil,  ye  shall  offer  the 
 tenth  pari  of  a  hath  ont  of  the  cor, 
 which  is  an  homer  of  ten  baths;  for  ten 
 
 baths  are  an  homer:  ''"ami Llamb 
 
 (ml  of  the  dock,  out  of  two  hundred,  out 
 of  the  fat  pastures  of  [srael;  for  a  meat 
 offering,  and  for  a  burnt  offering,  and 
 for  '[icare  offerings,  to  make  reconci- 
 liation for  them,  saith  the  Lord  <o>i>. 
 ""'  All  the  people  of  the  land  'shall  give 
 this  c illation  'for the  prince  in  Israel. 
 ""'And   it  shall  be  the  prince's  partly 
 
 Bl.  90,  It;  l.rv. 
 '-',". 'Jj  ,  .Num. 3.  |7. 
 
 2  Or.  fftniiA:    offCT 
 
 I  Wti.thMbc/oi 
 
 ,  Or,  tlcink   offti 
 tfiys. 
 
 give  hurnf  offerings,  and  meal  offerings, 
 and  drink  offerings,  in  the  feasts, and  in 
 the  new  moons,  and  in  the  sabbaths,  in 
 all  Bolemnii ies  of  the  house  of  [srael : 
 he  shall  prepare  the  Bin  offering,  and 
 the  meal  offering,  and  the  burnt  offer- 
 ing, and  the  'peace  offerings,  to  make 
 reconciliation  for  the  house  of  Israel. 
 
 ""'  Thus  saith  the  Lord  <  Ion  ;  In  the 
 first  month,  in  the  first  day  of  the  month, 
 tlimi  shalt,  take  a  young  bullock  without 
 blemish,  and  cleanse  the  Banctuary: 
 (|,)  and  the  priest  shall  take  of  the  blood 
 of  the  sin  offering,  and  put  it  upon  tin- 
 posts  of  the  house,  and  upon  the  four 
 corners  of  the  settle  of  the  altar,  and 
 upon  the  posts  of  the  gate  of  the  inner 
 court.  <-(l)  And  so  thou  shalt  do  the 
 seventh  day  of  the  month  for  every  one 
 that  onvth,  and  for  Aim  thai  it  simple: 
 so  shall  ye  reconcile  the  house. 
 
 The  first  pari   i>t'  this  verse  is 
 of  the  old  law  (Exod.  xxx.  L3; 
 
 (M)  The  shekel, 
 merely  a  re-statemeni 
 
 Lev.  xxvii.  25  ;  Num.  iii.  47)  that  the  shekel  should  be 
 of  the  value  of  twenty  gerahs,  or  of  'ho  estimated 
 weight  of  220  grains;  but  the  latter  part  of  the  verse 
 i-i  extremely  obscure.  The  maneh  is  mentioned  else- 
 where only  in  I  Kings  x.  17;  Ezra  ii.  69;  Noll.  vii.  71. 
 and  is  translated  in  our  version  pound.  Its  actual 
 value  is  unknown.  If  the  text  as  it  stands  is  correct] 
 it  is  possible  thai  in  Ezekiel's  time  three  different 
 9  were  in  use.  of  the  values  respectively  assigned 
 to  them;   Inn  of  this  there  is  no  other  evidence. 
 
 (18)  The  Oblation. -Verses  13—10'  provide  for  a 
 regular  tax  to  be  paid  to  the  prince,  in  order  that  he 
 may  be  aide  to  furnish  the  required  offerings  at  the 
 sanctuary.  This,  like  the  oblation  of  land  (verse  1),  is 
 described  as  a  "  heave  offering, "  and  was  the  sixtieth 
 part  of  the  grain,  the  hundredth  of  the  oil,  and  the 
 two-hundredth  of  the  (lock,  all  being  from  the  year's 
 meres 
 
 HI)  Tho  cor.-  This  measure  is  first  met  with  iu  1 
 Kings  IV.  22;  v.  11;  J,  ( 'hron.  ii.  [0;  xxvii.  •">,  and  is 
 here  fixed  as  exactly  equal  to  the  "  Homer."  In  the 
 English  it  is  always  translated  elsewhere  VMOSVm. 
 
 Tho  princo's  part. —  The  prince,  receiving 
 
 these  contributions  from  the  people,  was  hound  to  pro- 
 vide the  offerings  on  the  various  stated  occasions  of 
 
 Bacrifice,      This    is    an    entirely    new    feature,    for    the 
 
 blosaic  law  made  no  provision  in  regard  to  the  source 
 from  which  the  festal  sacrifices  were  to  be  obtained. 
 
 What  had  been  left  to  l'i -will  offering  now  becomes 
 
 established  duty. 
 
 Shall  prepare.— The  word  means  simply  provide, 
 not  prepare  in  a  priestly  sense. 
 
 f  n  tho  first  month,  in  the  first  day  of  the 
 month.  Thi>  rest  of  this  and  the  first  fifteen  rones 
 of  the  following  chapter  are  occupied  with  the  ritual  of 
 the  sacrifices  on  certain  special  occasions,     In  each  case 
 
 the  deviations  from  the  Mosaie  law  are  remarkable,  as 
 well  as  the  omission  of  any  mention  of  the  Fea-t  of 
 Weeks  (PenteCOSt )  and  of  the  ( Jreat  Day  of  Atonement . 
 K/.ekiel.  as  a  priest,  must  have  been  familiar  with  the 
 law  in  these  matters,  and  therefore  the  changes  he  in- 
 
 161  337 
 
 traduces  must  have  been  intentional.     Like  the  changes 
 
 in  the  division  of  the  laud,  they  seemed  ■  I.  signed  to 
 show  that  this  was  an  ideal  vision.  No  attempt  was 
 ever  made  to  follow  the  arrangements  here  laid  down. 
 The  Mosaie  law  prescribed  (iu  addition  to  the  burnt 
 Offerings  and   meat  offerings)  a  sin  offering,  which  was 
 
 to  be  a  he-goat  (Num.  xxviii.  15)  for  the  first  of  every 
 
 month  ;  also  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  on 
 the  Great  Day  of  Atonement,  two  he-goats  (one  for  the 
 "  scape-goat")  were  to  be  offered.  Of  all  these  Ezekiel 
 mentions  only  the  sin  offering  for  the  beginning  of  the 
 first  month,  ami  also  for  the  seventh  day  of  the  same,  of 
 which  tho  Mosaic  law  knows  nothing;  but  he  providi  s 
 for  these  bullocks  instead  of  goats.  Iu  the  ritual  of 
 tho  blood  he  makes  a  corresponding  change.  The  law 
 gives  no  special  directions  for  the  sprinkling  of  the 
 blood  of  the  sin  offerings  on  the  first  of  each  month. 
 because  they  were  included  iu  the  ordinary  rale  (  Lev. 
 iv.  25,  30,  &e.)  of  sprinkling  upon  the  side-  id'  ihe  altar 
 of  burnt  offering;  only  in  the  case  of  the  sin  offering 
 for  the  high  priest  or  for  tho  whole  congregation  [when 
 tho  victim  was  a  bullock)  was  the  blood  brought  within 
 the  Temple  itself,  anil  sprinkled  seven  times  before  tho 
 vail,  and  applied  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  of  incon-c. 
 ihi  the  Day  of  Atonement  it  was  carried  into  the  Holy 
 of  Holies,  and  sprinkled  upon  and  before  the  mercy- 
 seat.  All  this  is  here  changed.  Some  of  the  blood  of 
 these  sin  offerings    verse  l'-'    is  to  be  put  upon  the 
 
 "posts  of  the  house"  (see  chap.  xli.  ~Jl),  Upon  tho 
 "  corners  of  the  settle  of  the  altar,  and  "  upon  the  posts 
 of  the  gate  of  the  inner  court." 
 
 -"'  So  shall  yo  reconcile  the  house.— The 
 object  of  "the  sin  offering"  on  the  first  day  of  the 
 mouth  is  expressly  said  to  be  to  "cleanse  tin-  sanc- 
 tuary "(verse  Is);  but  here  the  offering  is  for  "  every 
 one  that  erreth,  and  for  him  that  is  simple,"  i.e..  for  all 
 who    have    sinned   thoughtlessly   rather  than   wilfully. 
 
 Vet  it  is  added,  "so  shall  ye  reconcile  the  house,"  more 
 
 literally,  make-  an  atonement  for  the  house;  and  the 
 question  has  therefore  been  raised  whether  this  offering 
 On  the  seventh  day  was  still  for  tin'  purification  of  the 
 sanctuary  or  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  The  answer  to 
 this  question  must  bo  sought  in  the  sacrifices  of  the 
 
The  Annual  Feasts. 
 
 EZEKIEL    XLVI. 
 
 Ordinances  for  the 
 
 (21>  Iii  the  first  month,  in  the  fourteenth 
 day  of  the  month,  ye  shall  have  the 
 passover,  a  feast  of  seven  days ;  unleav- 
 ened bread  shall  be  eaten.  <-2|And  upon 
 that  day  shall  the  prince  prepare  for 
 himself  and  for  all  the  people  of  the 
 land  a  bullock  for  a  sin  offering.  <23)  And 
 seven  days  of  the  feast  he  shall  prepare 
 a  burnt  offering  to  the  Lord,  seven  bul- 
 locks and  seven  rams  without  blemish 
 daily  the  seveu  days ;  and  a  kid  of  the 
 goats  daily  for  a  sin  offering.  <M>  And 
 he  shall  prepare  a  meat  offering  of  an 
 ephah  for  a  bullock,  and  an  ephah  for  a 
 ram,  and  an  bin  of  oil  for  an  ephah. 
 <25)  In  the  seventh  month,  in  the  fifteenth 
 day  of  the  month,  shall  he  do  the 
 like  in  the  "feast  of  the  seven  days, 
 according  to  the  sin  offering,  according 
 to  the  burnt  offering,  and  according  to 
 
 a  Num.  29.  12. 
 
 the    meat    offering,   and   according    to 
 the  oil. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVI.— d)  Thus  saith 
 the  Lord  God  ;  The  gate  of  the  inner 
 court  that  looketh  toward  the  east  shall 
 be  shut  the  six  working  days ;  but  on 
 the  sabbath  it  shall  be  opened,  and  in 
 the  day  of  the  new  moon  it  shall  be 
 opened.  <2)  And  the  prince  shall  enter 
 by  the  way  of  the  porch  of  that  gate 
 without,  and  shall  stand  by  the  post  of 
 the  gate,  and  the  priests  shall  prepare 
 his  burnt  offering  and  his  peace  offer- 
 ings, and  he  shall  worship  at  the 
 threshold  of  the  gate :  then  he  shall 
 go  forth;  but  the  gate  shall  not  be 
 shut  until  the  evening.  <3)  Likewise 
 the  people  of  the  land  shall  worship  at 
 the  door  of  this  gate  before  the  Lord  in 
 
 Day  of  Atonement  (Lev.  xvi.),  which  these  days  seem 
 intended  to  replace.  These  were  very  distinctly  for 
 the  sins  of  the  priests  and  the  people,  and  at  the  same 
 time  for  the  tabernacle.  The  one  involved  the  other, 
 and  the  holy  place  required  purification  because  of 
 the  sins  of  "  the  holy  people  "  among  whom  it  was 
 placed. 
 
 (22>  A  bullock  for  a  sin  offering. — In  verse  21 
 the  Passover  is  appointed  quite  in  accordance  with  the 
 Mosaic  institution,  although  there  is  a  peculiarity  in 
 the  language  of  the  original  which  has  led  some  writers 
 to  infer,  unnecessarily,  that  the  feast  was  to  be  kept  for 
 seveu  weeks.  But  the  sacrifices  are  in  many  respects 
 quite  different.  Nothing  is  said  of  the  Paschal  lamb 
 itself :  but  this  may  be  because  it  was  understood  as  a 
 matter  of  course.  The  sin  offering  by  the  Mosaic  law 
 (Num.  xxviii.  17,  22)  was  to  be  a  he-goat  for  each  day ; 
 here,  a  bullock  for  the  first  day,  and  a  he-goat  for  the 
 other  days  (verse  23).  The  burnt  offering  by  the  law 
 was  to  be  two  bullocks,  a  ram,  and  seven  yearling  lambs 
 for  each  day ;  here,  seven  bullocks  and  seven  rams. 
 The  meat  offering  was  to  be  three-tenths  of  an  ephah 
 of  meal,  mixed  with  oil,  for  each  bullock,  two-tenths  for 
 each  ram,  and  one-tenth  for  each  lamb,  or  one  and  a 
 half  ephahs  iu  all  daily ;  here,  a  whole  ephah  for  each 
 victim,  making  in  all  fourteen  ephahs  daily  and  as 
 many  hius  of  oil  (verse  24).  The  offerings  required 
 here  therefore  are  much  richer  than  under  the  law. 
 
 (25)  In  the  seventh  month. — This  corresponds  to 
 the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  though  the  name  is  not  men- 
 tioned, doubtless  because  the  custom  of  living  in 
 booths  is  to  be  discontinued.  The  sacrifices  at  this 
 feast  are  to  be  the  same  as  at  the  Passover,  and  are  to 
 be  repeated  for  each  day  of  the  feast.  There  is  in  this 
 an  entire  change  from  the  peculiar  ordinances  of  the 
 Mosaic  law  (Num.  xxix.  12 — 24),  and  on  the  whole  a 
 great  diminution  in  the  number  of  sacrifices,  with  a 
 simplification  of  the  ritual,  and  an  omission  of  the 
 eighth  day,  added  to  the  feast  by  the  Mosaic  law. 
 
 Ezekiel  here  omits  altogether  the  Feast  of  Pentecost, 
 the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  the  Day  of  Trumpets  (the 
 first  of  the  seventh  month)  ;  for  these  he  substitutes  a 
 special  sin  offering  for  the  first  and  seventh  days  of 
 the  first  month,  and  for  the  first  day  of  the  Paschal 
 
 feast ;  he,  moreover,  largely  modifies  the  ritual  of 
 the  two  feasts  which  he  retaius.  All  this  essentially 
 transforms  the  ideas  which  form  the  basis  of  the  cyclo 
 of  the  Mosaic  feasts.  No  attempt  was  ever  made  by 
 the  Jews  of  the  restoration  to  cany  out  the  scheme 
 here  set  forth;  and  it  appears  to  have  been  regarded 
 by  the  prophet's  contemporaries  and  successors  as 
 purely  ideal. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 The  first  fifteen  verses  of  this  chapter  belong  to 
 chap.  xlv.  The  prince  was  required  to  provide  and 
 bring  the  sacrifices  for  himself  and  for  the  people 
 (chap.  xlv.  17) ;  therefore,  as  soon  as  the  yearly  festivals 
 have  been  described,  directions  are  given  (verses  1 — 3) 
 for  the  conduct  of  the  prince  at  these  sacrifices.  He 
 was  required  to  be  always  present,  while  attendance 
 on  the  part  of  the  people  was  obligatory  only  at  the 
 yearly  festivals.  The  prophet  then  goes  on  to  provide 
 for  the  sacrifices  for  the  Sabbaths  and  new  moons,  for 
 free-will  offerings,  and  for  the  daily  sacrifices. 
 
 (1)  The  gate  of  the  inner  court.— It  has  already 
 been  provided  (chap.  xliv.  1 — 3)  that  the  outer  gate  on 
 the  east  should  be  kept  closed,  except  for  the  prince. 
 The  same  thing  is  now  commanded  for  the  east  gate  of 
 the  inner  court  also;  and,  further,  the  days  am  speci- 
 fied, the  Sabbaths  and  new  moons,  on  which  it  shall  be 
 used  by  the  prince. 
 
 (2)  Stand  by  the  post  of  the  gate.— The  prince 
 shall  enter  the  sanctuary  by  the  east  gate  of  the  outer 
 court,  pass  through  that  court  to  the  inner  gate,  and 
 "  worship  at  the  threshold  of  the  gate  "  immediately 
 adjoining  the  inner  court,  while  the  priests  make  ready 
 his  sacrifices.  But  he  is  not  to  enter  the  inner  court, 
 or  to  assume  any  priestly  functions.  Afterwards  he  is 
 to  go  forth  by  the  same  way  (verse  8,  and  chap.  xliv.  3), 
 and  the  gate  stands  open  until  evening,  though  no  one 
 else  is  to  enter  thereby. 
 
 (3)  Worship  at  the  door. — The  people,  in  so  far 
 as  they  might  be  present  on  the  Sabbaths  ami  new 
 moons,  are  not  to  worship  in  the  same  place  with  the 
 prince ;  but  in  the  outer  court,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
 east  gate  to  the  inner  court. 
 
 33S 
 
Prima 's  Worihip. 
 
 KZEK1KL,    XL VI. 
 
 Hi    -  ' 
 
 the  sabbaths  and  in  the  new  moons. 
 ,!i  Lnd  the  hurnt  offering  thai  the  prince  | 
 sli:ill  offer  onto  the  Lobs  in  the  sabbath 
 day  "hull  be  six  lambs  withoul  blemish, 
 and  b  ram  w  ii  h< >ui  blemish.  ' "  A  ml  the 
 meal  offering  ehaU  I"-  an  ephah  for  a 
 rain,  and  the  meal  ottering  for  the  lambs 
 las  be  sliall  be  able  to  ^\\<\  and  an  bin 
 of  oil  to  an  ephah.  '"'  Ami  in  the  day 
 of  the  new  moon  it  shall  be  a  young 
 bullock  without  blemish,  and  six  lambs, 
 
 and     a     ram  :      they    shall     be    wi1  limit 
 
 blemish.      I7>  And  he   shall  prepare  a 
 
 meat  offering,  an  ephah  for  a  bullock, 
 and  an  ephah  for  a  ram,  and  for  the 
 lambs  according  as  his  hand  shall  attain 
 iintn,  and  an  hin  of  oil  to  an  ephah. 
 
 W  And  when  the  prince  shall  enter, 
 he  shall  go  in  by  the  way  of  the  porch 
 of  thai  gate,  and  he  shall  go  forth  by 
 the  way  thereof.  '  '  But  when  the  people 
 of  the  land  shall  come  before  the  Lord 
 in  the  solemn  feasts, he  that  enteretb  in 
 hv  the  way  of  the  north  gate  to  worship 
 anall  go  out  by  the  way  of  the  south 
 gate  ;  ami  he  that  entereth  by  the  way 
 
 nt'  the  smith  gate  shall  go  forth  by  the 
 way  of  the  north  gate:  he  shall  not  re- 
 turn by  the  way  of  the  gate  whereby  he 
 Came  in,  but  shall  go  forth  over  against 
 it.    i1"' And  the  prince  in  the  midst  of 
 
 l   Bel).,  OH  gifto/ 
 
 /tin  A'llld. 
 
 •>nofhit 
 year. 
 
 I    Bi  ''.. 
 
 t  hem,  wneii  they  go  in,  shall  go  in  ;   and 
 
 when  they  go  forth,  shall  go  forth. 
 mi  And  in  the  feasts  and  in  the  boL  m- 
 ii it i.  s  the  meat  offering  shall  be  an 
 ephah  to  a  bullock,  and  an  ephah 
 ram,  and  to  the  lambs  as  he  is  able  to 
 give,  ami  an  bin  of  oil  to  an   ephah. 
 
 1 '-'   Niiw   when  the  prime  shall  prepare  a 
 
 voluntary  burnt  offering  or  peace  offer- 
 ings voluntarily  unto  1  he  Loi:!>.  mu-  shall 
 then  open  him  the  gate  that  looketh  to- 
 ward the  east,  and  In-  shall  prepare  his 
 burnt  offering  and  his  peace  offerings,  as 
 lie  did  mi  the  sabbath  day  :  then  he  shall 
 go  forth  ;  and  alter  his  going  forth  one 
 shall  shut  the  gate. 
 
 (l:"  Thou  shalt  daily  prepare  a  burnt 
 offering  onto  the  Loan  of  a  lamb  'of  the 
 firs!  year  without  blemish:  thou  shalt 
 prepare  it 8  every  morning.  '"'  And  thou 
 shalt  prepare  a  meat  offering  for  it  every 
 morning,  the  sixth  pari  of  an  ephah,  and 
 the  third  part  of  an  hin  of  nil,  to  temper 
 with  the  fine  Hour  :  a  meat  ottering  con- 
 tinually by  a  perpet  ual  ordinance  unto 
 the  Lokd.  <15>Thus  shall  they  prepare 
 the  lamb,  and  the  meat  offering,  and  the 
 oil,  every  morning/or  a  continual  burnt 
 offering. 
 
 U«>Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  If  the 
 prince  give  a  gift  unto  any  of  his 
 
 (o  Six  lambs  .  .  .  and  a  ram.— Tho  burnt 
 offering  fur  the  Sabbath,  according  to  the  Mosaic  law 
 (Num.  xwiii.  9),  was  two  lambs.  This  is  greatly 
 increased  here,  and  tin- "meat  offering"  for  the  ram 
 is  also  made  larger,  while  that  f'>r  the  lambs  (verse  5) 
 is  left  to  the  prince's  generosity. 
 
 ("i  A  young  bullock  .  .  .  and  six  lambs,  and 
 a  ram. — The  law  required  for  tho  new  moons,  for  a 
 burnt  offering,  two  bullocks,  Beven  lambs,  and  a  ram 
 
 'Num.     xwiii.     Ill,    so    that     this    sacrilicc    is     here 
 
 diminished ;    it  also    required    a    he-goat    far  a    sin 
 offering,  of  which  no  mention  is  here  made. 
 
 In  tho  solemn  feasts.— Different  arrange- 
 ments were  required  for  the  great  or  "solemn"  feasts, 
 because  at  these  all  the  males  of  Israel  were  com- 
 manded to  be  present,  and  therefore  the  numbers  were 
 very  large.  This  affects  both  the  people  and  (verse 
 LO  the  prince.  The  first  provision  is  one  for  securing 
 order  in  the  vast  concourse  of  people:  by  whichever 
 
 ri  gate  any  one  enters    (lie  north  or  the  BOttth),  lie 
 
 shall  pass  out  by  the  opposite  one. 
 (10)  The  prince  in   the  midst  of  them.— On 
 
 occasion    of     these     yearly    feasts,    it     was     QO    longer 
 
 necessary  that  the  prince  should  represent  the  people, 
 they  being  themselves  present.  He,  therefore,  now 
 worships  in  their  midst,  entering  with  them  at  the 
 north  or  south  gate, and  going  out  by  the  opposite  one. 
 1111  And  in  tho  solemnities.— The  new  rules  fox 
 the  proportion  of  the  meat  offering,  as  laid  down  in 
 verses  5, 7,  chap.  ilv.  24,  are  here  repeated  I  *  the  feast 
 
 days;  anil   it    is  added  that   the  same  is  to  hold  for  all 
 
 established  seasons,  a  different  proportion  being  pre- 
 scribed only  for  the  daily  Bacrifii  I  I  ■ 
 
 ('-')  A  voluntary  burnt  offering.— One  case  in 
 which  the  prince  might  present  a  sacrifice  is  yet  un- 
 provided for.     Ee.  might  offer,  like  any  of  the  people, 
 
 a  voluntary  sacrifice  at  any  time,  either  a  burnt  offering 
 or  a  peace  offering.      In  this  ease  be  is  still  to  enter  by 
 
 the  east  gate;  but  the  gate,  instead  of  standing  open 
 until  evening,  as  on  the  Sabbaths  aid  new  moons,  is  to 
 
 be   immediately   shut    as    Boon    as    he    retires    after    the 
 
 completion  of  the  sacrifice. 
 
 (13)  Daily  prepare  a  burnt  offering.— Vers,  s 
 1.1 — 15  contain  regulations  for  the  daily  sacrifice.  The 
 victim  is  the  same  as  under  the  Mosaic  law;  bnt 
 instead  of  being  offered  every  morning  and  evening 
 
 Num.  xxviii.  S— 5  .  it    is   here   provided   only   for   the 
 morning.     On  the  other  hand,  the  accompanying  meat 
 
 offering  is  increased  from  the  tenth  to  the  sixth  of  an 
 ephah  of  flour,  and  from  a  fourth  to  a  third  of  a  hin  of 
 oil. 
 
 Tho  rest  of  the  chapter  is  occupied  with  the  rights 
 
 of  the  prii in  regard  to  the  conveyance  of  his  land 
 
 (verses  [6 — is  .and  a  short  description  of  the  sacrificial 
 
 kitchens  for  the  priests  and  the  1"  ople    verses  L9 — S 
 
 '     If  the  prince  give  a  gift.  IS— ^18 
 
 contain  provisions  in  regard  to  the  prince's  alienation 
 
 of  his  domain.      A rding  to  chap.  xlv.  7.  8,  he  was  to 
 
 have  a  portion  of  land  on  each  side  of  the  "  nidation.'" 
 
His  Inheritance. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLVII. 
 
 Kitchens  of  Priests  and  People. 
 
 the  inheritance  thereof  shall  be  his  sons'; 
 it  shall  bt  their  possession  by  inherit- 
 ance. (17)  But  if  he  give  a  gift  of  his  in- 
 heritance to  one  of  his  servants,  then  it 
 shall  be  his  to  the  year  of  liberty ;  after 
 it  shall  return  to  the  prince  :  but  his 
 inheritance  shall  be  his  sons'  for  them. 
 (is;  Moreover  the  prince  shall  not  take  of 
 the  people's  inheritance  by  oppression, 
 to  thrust  them  out  of  their  possession  ; 
 but  he  shall  give  his  sons  inheritance 
 out  of  his  own  possession  :  that  my 
 people  be  not  scattered  every  man  from 
 his  possession. 
 
 <19>  After  he  brought  me  through  the 
 entry,  which  was  at  the  side  of  the  gate, 
 into  the  holy  chambers  of  the  priests, 
 which  looked  toward  the  north :  and, 
 behold,  there  ivas  a  place  on  the  two 
 sides  westward.  (20)  Then  said  he  unto 
 me,  This  is  the  place  where  the  priests 
 shall  boil  the  trespass  offering  and  the 
 
 t  Heb.ta  court  m  a 
 
 Conu  r  "f  ti  court, 
 and  n  court  in  a 
 corner  of  a  court. 
 
 2  Or,  made  with 
 chimntea. 
 
 3  Heb.,  cornered. 
 
 sin  offering,  where  they  shall  bake  the 
 meat  offering ;  that  they  bear  them  not 
 out  into  the  utter  court,  to  sanctify  the 
 people. 
 
 (21)  Then  he  brought  me  forth  into  the 
 utter  court,  and  caused  me  to  pass  by 
 the  four  corners  of  the  court ;  and,  be- 
 hold, lin  every  corner  of  the  court  there 
 was  a  court.  (22)  In  the  four  corners  of 
 the  court  there  were  courts  3 joined  of 
 forty  cubits  long  and  thirty  broad  :  these 
 four  3  corners  were  of  one  measure. 
 (2i>  And  there  was  a  row  of  building  round 
 about  in  them,  round  about  them  four, 
 and  it  was  made  with  boiling  places  under 
 the  rows  round  about.  (2i>  Then  said  he 
 unto  me,  These  are  the  places  of  them 
 that  boil,  where  the  ministers  of  the 
 house  shall  boil  the  sacrificeof  the  people. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XLVII.— l1' Afterward  he 
 brought  me  again  unto  the  door  of  the 
 
 which  should  be  sufficiently  ample  to  prevent  any 
 attempts  on  his  part  at  violence  and  exaction.  For  the 
 same  purpose,  it  was  necessary  that  this  territory  should 
 remain  inalienably  in  his  family.  He  might  therefore 
 convey  any  portion  of  it  to  his  sons  in  fee  simple,  for 
 they  would  naturally  inherit  it ;  but  a  conveyance  to  any 
 one  else  came  under  the  Mosaic  law  (Lev.  xxv.),  and  re- 
 verted to  him  or  his  heirs  in  the  year  of  Jubile,  here 
 called  "the  year  of  liberty." 
 
 <18)  Shall  not  take  of  the  people's  inherit- 
 ance.— Fresh  warning  is  here  given  against  oppression 
 on  the  part  of  the  prince,  and  he  is  reminded  that  the 
 territory  given  inalienably  to  him  and  his  heirs  is  to 
 provide  for  his  sons'  inheritance. 
 
 (19)  At  the  side  of  the  gate.— The  concluding 
 verses  of  the  chapter  are  occupied  with  the  arrange- 
 ments for  cooking  the  sacrificial  food  of  the  priests  and 
 the  people.  The  latter  could  partake  only  of  the  peace 
 offerings,  but  the  priests,  in  addition  to  their  portion  of 
 these,  were  required  to  consume  the  flesh  of  the  sin  and 
 trespass  offerings,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  "  meat 
 offerings."  The  prophet  is  first  shown  the  rooms  for 
 the  priests'  cooking.  He  was  taken  along  the  walk 
 (Plan  II.,  k)  mentioned  in  chap.  xlii.  4,  which  led  from 
 the  steps  of  the  gate  of  the  inner  court  to  the  priests' 
 chambers.  There  he  saw  "  a  place  on  the  two  sides 
 westward,"  i.e.,  two  places,  one  at  the  west  of  each 
 building  of  priests'  chambers.  Nothing  is  said  of  their 
 size,  and  they  may  be  assumed  to  have  had  the  same 
 dimensions  (40  cubits  by  30 — verse  22)  as  those  of  the 
 people's  kitchens.     They  are  marked  f  on  Plan  II. 
 
 (20)  Shall  boil  .  .  .  shall  bake.— The  flesh  of 
 all  sacrifices  except  the  Passover  was  by  the  law  re- 
 quired to  be  boiled,  and  the  unbloody  "  meat  offering," 
 when  not  already  cooked,  was  to  be  baked. 
 
 Bear  them  not  out  into  the  utter  court. — In 
 one  sense  the  priestly  chambers  and  also  these  cooking 
 rooms  were  themselves  in  the  outer  court ;  but  as  already 
 remarked,  these,  with  the  walk  that  led  to  them,  although 
 within  the  enclosure  of  the  outer,  were  considered  as 
 appurtenances  of,  and  therefore  belonging  to,  the  inner 
 
 court.  The  reason  given  for  not  bearing  the  flesh  of 
 the  sin  and  trespass  offering  into  the  outer  court  is,  lest 
 they  should  thereby  "  sanctify  the  people,"  and  the  same 
 reason  is  given  in  chap.  xliv.  19  for  not  allowing  the 
 priests'  garments  to  come  into  the  outer  court.  Under 
 the  law  all  those  offerings  which  it  was  the  duty  of  tho 
 priests  to  consume  are  called "'  most  holy,"  and  whoever 
 touched  them  or  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  sanctuary  be- 
 came "  holy  "  in  the  sense  of  set  apart  to  God  (Lev.  vi. 
 18 ;  also  Exod.  xxix.  37 ;  xxx.  29).  The  object  of  the 
 command  is  therefore  to  pi-event  that  ceremonial  sancti- 
 fication  of  the  people  which  would  interfere  with  their 
 ordinary  life. 
 
 (2i)  The  utter  court.— The  prophet  had  just  been 
 in  those  chambers  which,  although  they  stood  within 
 the  area  of  the  outer  court,  were  considered  as  belonging 
 to  the  inner.  Ho  is  now  brought  into  the  outer  court, 
 properly  so  called. 
 
 In  every  corner  of  the  court  there  was  a 
 court. — In  each  of  the  angles  of  the  outer  court  a 
 place  was  set  apart  for  the  boiling  of  the  flesh  of  the 
 peace  offerings.  These  were  of  considerable  size — 40 
 cubits  by  30  (verse  22),  and  appear  to  have  been  en- 
 closed by  a  wall  but  not  covered  above.  The  word 
 translated  joined  is  of  very  uncertain  meaning,  but  its 
 most  probable  sense  is  enclosed.  These  courts  are 
 marked  e  on  Plan  II. 
 
 (23)  A  row  of  building. — Around  the  walls  of  theso 
 enclosures  were  fixed  tables  of  masonry  with  boiling 
 places  underneath. 
 
 (2i)  Ministers  of  the  house. — Not  priests,  but 
 Temple  servants,  who  were  usually  Levites. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 The  first  twelve  verses  of  this  chapter  constitute 
 what  is  generally  known  as  "the  vision  of  the  living 
 waters ;  "  the  latter  part  of  the  chapter,  verses  13 — 23, 
 more  properly  belongs  with  chap,  xlviii.,  and,  with  that, 
 gives  an  account  of  the  boundaries  of  the  land,  of  its 
 distribution  among  the  tribes,  and  of  the  building  of 
 the  holy  city. 
 
 340 
 
The  Virion  of 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLVH. 
 
 the  Lining  II'- 
 
 house;  and,  behold,  waters  issued  out 
 from  under  the  threshold  of  the  house 
 
 east  ward  :  for  t  lie  forefront  of  the  house 
 stood    toward    the   east,    ami    the    (raters 
 
 came  down  from  under  from  the  right 
 
 side  of  the  house,  at  the  south  ride  of 
 the  altar.  M  Then  brought  he  me  out 
 of  the  way  of  the  gate  northward,  and 
 led  me  about  the  way  without,  unto  the 
 otter  gate  by  the  way  that  looketh  east- 
 ward ;  and,  behold,  there  ran  out  waters 
 on  the  rierht  side.  And  when  the  man 
 that  had  the  line  in  his  hand  went  forth 
 eastward,  he  measured  a  thousand  cubits, 
 and  he  brought  me  through  the  waters: 
 the  'waters  wm  to  the  ancles.  W  Again 
 he  measured  a  thousand,  and  brought 
 me  through  the  waters;  the  waters  were 
 
 i  a. i>. " 
 
 tin  mt'U*. 
 
 rater*  of 
 
 m-ttiitntn'j. 
 
 ' 
 
 to  the  knees.  Again  he  measured  a 
 thousand,  and  brought  me  through;  the 
 waters  were  to  the  loins.  W  Afterward 
 he    measured   a   thousand;   and  it  WO»  a 
 
 river  thai  1  could  not  pass  over:  for  the 
 
 waters  were  risen,  -waters  to  swim  in,  a 
 liver  that  could  not  be  passed  over. 
 
 ''•  And  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
 hast  thou  seen  thin  ?  Then  he  brought 
 ine,  and  caused  me  to  return  to  the 
 brink  of  the  river.  PJ  Now  when  I  had 
 returned,  behold,  at  the  8bank  of  the 
 river  were  very  many  "trees  on  the  one 
 side  and  on  the  other.  <8lThen  said  he 
 unto  me,  These  waters  issue  out  toward 
 the  east  country,  and  go  down  into  the 
 ^desert,  and  go  into  the  sea :  which  being 
 brought  forth  into  the  sea,  the  waters 
 
 The  ideal  character  of  1 1 » i  —  vision  of  the  waters  is  so 
 plain  upon  its  Caoe  that  little  need  be  said  on  tliis  point. 
 The  stream  is  represented  ae  issuing  from  the  summit 
 •of  "a  very  higl nntain"  (chap.  \1.  -  .  and  as  con- 
 stantly and  rapidly  increasing  its  volume,  without  the 
 accession  of  tributaries,  so  that  in  ■  little  more  than  a 
 mile  it  becomes  a  river  no  longer  fordable.  The  trees 
 upon  its  hanks,  too.  are  evidently  symbolical  and  its 
 effect  upon  the  Dead  Sea  (as  already  said  in  the  intro- 
 ductory nolo  to  chaps,  xl. — xlviii.i  is  such  a.s  could  not 
 naturally  occur.   Such  imagery  is  common  in  prophecy. 
 
 Joel  chap,  iii.  |Si  says,  "All  the  rivers  of  Judali  shall 
 0.OW  with  waters,  and  a  fountain  shall  come  forth  of 
 the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  water  the  valley  of 
 Shittiin."  Zechariah  chap.  \iv.  8),  "Living  waters 
 shall  go  out  from  Jerusalem,  half  Of  them  toward  the 
 
 former  Sea,  and  half  of  them   toward  the  hinder  sea ;  " 
 
 and  finally,  the  description  of  the  "pure  river  of  water 
 
 of  life"  in  Rev.  xxii.    1 — :!.   is  evidently  founded  upon 
 
 this  passage  of  K/ckiel.     Passages  in  which  water  is 
 used  as  the  symbol  of  the  influence  of  the  .Spirit  are 
 1oo  numerous  and  familiar  to  need  quotation.     (Comp. 
 Isa.  xliv.  :!;  E/.ek.  xxxvi.  S>— J7  :  Zech,  xiii.  1,  &e.) 
 Ezekiel,  having  in  the  previous  chapters  described 
 
 the    dwelling    of    the    Lord    among    His    people    with 
 
 characteristic  minuteness  of  detail,  now  proceeds  to 
 set  forth  the  blessings  that  How  from  this  presence, 
 
 (')  Door  of  the  house.- This  is  the  entrance  of 
 the  Temple  itself:   the  waters  come  out  from  under  its 
 
 threshold,  just  as  in  Rev.  xxii.  I  they  proceed  "out  of 
 the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb.  The  prophet, 
 who  had  just  been  in  the  outer  court  (chap.  xhi.  21, 
 Ac.),  is  brought  in  to  the  door  of  the  house  that  he  may 
 see  the  waters. 
 From  the  right  side  of  tho  house.— Although 
 
 the    waters    issue    directly    from    the   threshold   which 
 
 was  in  the  centre  of  the  east  front  of  the  Temple,  and 
 
 their  general   course    was    due    east,   it    was    necessary 
 
 that  they  should  he  deflected  a  little  at  the  star!  to  the 
 
 south  ill  Older  to  pass  the  porch  and  the  altar,  as  well 
 
 as  both  the  inner  and  outer  gateways, 
 
 M  Out  of  the  way  of  the  gate  northward.— 
 Bather,  out  by  (he  way  o/  the  north  gate.    The  east 
 
 gate,  the  direct  way.  was  shut  (chap.  xliv.  2);  the 
 prophet  was  therefore  carried  round  to  the  outside  of  it 
 
 by  tin'  way  of  the  north  gate.  There  lie  saw  the  waters 
 on  the  right,  or  south,  side  of  the  gateway. 
 
 Brought    mo   through   the   waters.— The 
 point    from    which    the    measurement    began    is    not 
 
 distinctly  mentioned,  hut  is  to  he  assumed  as  from 
 their  source,  the  threshold  of  the  house.     The  prophet 
 
 is  ••  brought  through  the  waters "  to  impress  upon  him 
 
 a    vivid    sense    of    their    size    and    depth,   and    this    is 
 
 repeated  at  each  1,04)0  cubits  until  the  waters  1 une 
 
 impassahle. 
 
 (5)  A  river  that  could  not  be  passed  over.— 
 The  whole  distance  measured  is  1,000  cubits,  01  less 
 than  a  mile  and  a  half,  during  which  the  waters,  with- 
 out external  addition,  have  swollen  from  a  mere 
 streamlet  to  an  impassable  river,  in  direct  opposition  to 
 
 tl rdinary  fact  in  nature.    A  large  part  (£500  cubits, 
 
 or  half  of  3.000  cubits)  of  this  distance  must  have  been 
 within  the  precincts  described  in  chap,  xlii.  16 — 'JO.  but 
 the  prophet  takes  no  notice  of  this,  as  the  whole  is 
 ideal,  and  the  precincts  were  to  set  forth  oue  truth,  tin- 
 river  another.  The  point  thus  far  brought  out  is 
 plainly  the  increase  of  the  kingdom  of  God — the  same 
 truth   illustrated  by  our  Lord  in  the  parable  of  the 
 
 mustard  seed  (Matt.  xiii.  81,  32),  and  often  declared  by 
 
 the  prophets  see  [sa,  xi.  '.<■.  Hab.  ii.  14;  Dan.  ii.  t  f; 
 vii.  -.IT  :  Ac.).     All  history,  since  the  Christian  era,  has 
 
 been  occupied  with  the  fulfilment  of  the  prop] v. 
 
 (•)  To  return  to  the  brink.— The  angel,  having 
 
 called  the  prophet's  attention  to  this  marvellous  in- 
 crease, now  causes  him  to  return  along  the  hank  to 
 observe  other  things.  The  word  brink  in  this  verse 
 and  bank  in  the  next  are  the  same  in  the  original.  The 
 prophet  dors  not  return  to  the  brink,  for  he  had  not 
 left  it.  hut  is  told  to  pass  along  it. 
 
 (")  Very  many  trees.  —  In  the  corresponding 
 vision  of  Rev.  xxii.  2  the  same  thought  is  symbolised 
 by    the    "tree   of   life,  which    bare   twelve    manner  of 
 
 fruits." 
 
 (8)  Go  down  into  the  desert.— The  word  f»r 
 country  is  the  same  as  is  used  in  Josh.  xxii.  10,  11.  for 
 the  borders  of  the  Jordan,  and  undoubtedly  has  the 
 
 game  meaning  here:    the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  called 
 
 the  Qhor.    The  word  desert  is  better  translated  in  the 
 
 margin,  plain,  and  refers  to  that  expansion  of  tlie 
 Jordan  valley  just  north  of  the  Dead  Sea  in  which  the 
 city  of  Jericho  was  situated.      So  far  the  course  of  the 
 
 311 
 
Their  Virtue 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XL VII. 
 
 and  Healing  Power.. 
 
 shall  be  healed.  (9)  And  it  shall  come  to  i '  aeb,  tm 
 pass,  that  every  thing  that  liveth,  which 
 moveth,  whithersoever  the  l rivers  shall 
 come,  shall  live :  and  there  shall  be  a 
 very  great  multitude  of  hsh,  because 
 these  waters  shall  come  thither :  for 
 they  shall  be  healed ;  and  every  thing 
 shall  live  whither  the  river  cometh. 
 *10>  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the 
 fishers  shall  stand  upon  it  from  En-gedi 
 even  unto  En-eglaim ;  they  shall  be  a 
 place  to  spread  forth  nets ;  their  fish 
 shall  be  according  to  their  kinds,  as  the 
 fish  of  the   great  sea,  exceeding  many. 
 
 2   Or,    and    thai 
 
 W'Licll    skull   no: 
 In  lituled. 
 
 'J  Hrl).,  slltlU  CUiili 
 
 4  Or.principal. 
 
 5  Or,  for  bruises 
 and  sores. 
 
 (11)  But  the  miry  places  thereof  and  the 
 marish.es  thereof  3 shall  not  be  healed; 
 they  shall  be  given  to  salt.  (12)  And  by 
 the  river  upon  the  bank  thereof,  on  this 
 side  and  on  that  side,  s  shall  grow  all 
 trees  for  meat,  whose  leaf  shall  not  fade, 
 neither  shall  the  fruit  thereof  be  con- 
 sumed :  it  shall  bring  forth  4new  fruit 
 according  to  his  months,  because  their 
 waters  they  issued  out  of  the  sanctuary: 
 and  the  fruit  thereof  shall  be  for  meat,, 
 and  the  leaf  thereof  5for  "medicine. 
 
 <13'Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;    This 
 shall  be  the  border,  whereby  ye  shall  in- 
 
 river  has  been  due  east ;  now,  without  any  allusion  to 
 the  Jordan,  it  apparently  takes  its  place  aud  Hows  into 
 the  sea.  Both  the  situation  aud  the  description  show 
 that  the  Dead  Sea  is  intended.  By  its  entrance  "  the 
 waters  of  the  sea  shall  be  healed,"  that  is,  they  shall  be 
 so  changed  that,  from  being  incapable  of  supporting 
 life,  they  shall  become  the  home  of  life  in  all  abundance 
 and  variety  (verses  9,  10). 
 
 (9)  The  rivers.— According  to  the  pointing  of  the 
 Hebrew  text  this  is  the  two  rivers,  as  is  expressed  hi 
 the  margin.  This  peculiar  form  has  occasioned  some 
 perplexity,  especially  because  in  the  vision  of  Zecha- 
 riah  (chap.  xiv.  8)  the  waters  are  represented  as  divided, 
 half  of  them  flowing  to  the  Dead  Sea  and  half  of  them 
 to  the  Mediterranean.  It  is  plain,  however,  that  but 
 one  river  is  intended  here,  flowing  into  the  Dead  Sea. 
 Possibly  there  is  an  allusion  in  the  dual  form  to  the 
 Jordan  flowing  with  it  into  the  sea;  but  this  vision 
 throughout  pays  so  little  regard  to  the  natural  features 
 of  the  country  that  it  seems  more  likely  that  the  dual 
 form  is  simply  used  to  express  the  greatness  of  the 
 river,  "  a  double  river."  By  a  division  of  the  word 
 and  a  slight  change  in  the  vowels  the  expression  would 
 become  "  river  of  tho  sea,"  that  is,  flowing  into  the  sea. 
 
 Shall  live. — This  is  to  be  understood  as  a  pregnant 
 expression ;  all  kinds  of  life  shall  spring  into  beiug 
 whithersoever  the  waters  come.  The  same  thing  is 
 emphatically  repeated  at  the  close  of  the  verse,  and  in 
 the  intermediate  clause  the  same  thought  is  expressed 
 by  the  "  very  great  multitude  of  fish." 
 
 (10)  Prom  "En-gedi  even  unto  En-eglaim.— 
 En-gedi,  "  the  fountain  of  the  goat,"  is  a  well-known 
 copious  spring  about  midway  on  tho  western  coast  of 
 the  Dead  Sea.  En-eglaim  occurs  only  here,  and  has 
 not  been  certainly  identified.  St.  Jerome  speaks  of 
 "Engallim"  as  at  the  junction  of  the  Jordan  with  tho 
 sea,  aud  near  this  point  there  is  a  fountain  now  known 
 as  Ain-el-Feshkhah.  Others  consider  that  the  dual 
 form  of  the  name  indicates  "one  of  the  double  cities  of 
 Moab,"  thus  placing  it  ou  the  eastern  side  of  the  sea, 
 aud  this  seems  more  probable,  since  the  expression 
 would  then  be  equivalent  to  "  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
 sea."  Everywhere  they  shall  stretch  their  nets,  and 
 the  variety  aud  abundance  of  the  fish  shall  be  as  great 
 as  in  "  the  great  sea,"  that  is,  the  Mediterranean.  This 
 whole  verse  in  regard  to  the  fishermen  is  a  striking 
 illustration  of  Ezekiel's  way  of  carrying  out  the  most 
 ideal  description  into  detail. 
 
 (ii)  The  marishes  thereof  shall  not  be  healed. 
 — The  picture  of  the  life-giving  waters  would  bo 
 imperfect  without  this  exception  to  their  effects.     Tho 
 
 342 
 
 Dead  Sea  at  the  southern  end  is  very  shallow,  and 
 beyond  there  is  au  extensive  tract  of  very  low  laud. 
 In  the  season  of  the  flood  of  the  Jordan  this  is  over- 
 flowed to  a  considerable  distance,  and  as  the  river 
 subsides,  is  again  left  bare  aud  encrusted  with  salt 
 from  the  evaporation  of  the  water.  This  allusion, 
 therefore,  shows  plainly  that  the  prophet  did  not  have 
 in  mind  a  flowing  on  of  the  river  through  the  Arabah. 
 or  valley  leading  from  the  Dead  to  the  Bed  Sea,  and 
 that  the  effect  of  the  life-giving  waters  should  cease 
 where  the  waters  themselves  ceased  to  flow;  at  the 
 same  time,  in  the  thing  symbolised,  it  shows  that  wo 
 are  not  to  expect,  as  the  effect  of  the  Gospel,  a  perfect 
 and  universal  obedieuce  to  its  teachings.  Man  is  still 
 left  free  to  hear  or  forbear,  and  the  world  must  be 
 expected  always  to  contain  its  unhealed  miry  aud 
 marshy  places. 
 
 (12)  Be  consumed.— Better,  fail.  The  fruit  is  to- 
 be  eaten,  but  shall  not  fail  to  grow  as  it  is  wanted. 
 These  trees  with  their  supernatural  virtues  are  repre- 
 sented as  produced  by  the  waters  because  "  they  issued 
 out  of  the  sanctuary,"  thus  presenting  a  most  effectiver 
 image  of  the  life-giving  power  of  those  spiritual  in- 
 fluences which  come  from  God  upon  men. 
 
 It  has  been  objected  to  the  spiritual  interpretation 
 of  this  vision,  that  under  it  nothing  can  be  made  of  the 
 fishermen  of  verse  10,  and  that,  therefore,  the  whole  is 
 to  be  considered  as  a  glorification  of  nature  in  the 
 futui'e  Palestine.  But  this  is  to  forget  that  in  every 
 figure  and  parable  there  are,  and  must  be,  details 
 necessary  to  the  figure  which  have  nothing  answering 
 to  them  in  the  thing  signified,  and  that  it  is  the  habit 
 of  Ezekiel  to  carry  out  such  details  very  far.  In  this 
 case,  the  mention  of  the  fishermen  greatly  heightens 
 the  imagery  of  the  life-giving  power  of  the  waters ; 
 while,  if  the  whole  were  to  be  literally  understood,  they 
 would  really  have  no  place,  because  there  woidd  be  no 
 such  fishermen  in  the  supposed  glorified  condition  of 
 the  land. 
 
 Verses  13 — 23,  which,  as  already  said,  properly 
 belong  to  chap,  xlviii.,  give  the  boundaries  of  the  laud 
 to  be  divided  among  the  tribes,  together  with  provision 
 for  the  inheritance  of  strangers  living  among  them, 
 The  tracing  of  the  boundary  itself  is  introduced  by 
 some  gcueral  statements  in  verses  13,  14,  concerning 
 the  distribution. 
 
 (is)  According  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 
 — In  tile  ideal  land  of  the  restoration,  not  Judah  and 
 Benjamin  only,  but  all  the  twelve  tribes  are  to  have 
 
The  Bound 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XLVII. 
 
 lii'iii  the  land  according  t"  the  twelve 
 bribes  of  [srael:  Joseph  shall  have  two 
 portions.  {Ui  And  ye  shall  inherit  it,  one 
 as  well  as  another:  concerning  the  which 
 i  fted  mi  mine  hand  t<>  ^\<-  it  unto 
 four  fathers  :  ami  tliis  land  shall  fall 
 onto  yon  for  inheritance.  ''  "  Ami  this 
 shall  be  tin-  border  of  the  land  toward 
 tin-  north  side,  from  the  great   Bea,  the 
 
 Oct.  15.  ',  *  i" 
 
 nr.    th- 
 
 tray  of  Sethi as  men  ■:<>  to  Zedad; 
 
 !  ELamath,  Berothah,  Bibraim,  which  u 
 between  th.'  border  of  Damascus  ami 
 the  border  of  Eamath;  '  Hazar-hatti- 
 con,  which  is  by  the  coast  of  Eanran. 
 \n.l  tin-  border  from  tin'  sea  shall 
 be  Hazar-enan,  the  border  of  Damascus, 
 ami  tin •  north  northward,  ami  the  border 
 of  Hamath.     Ami  this  is  the  in  nth  Bide. 
 
 their  portions,     fet   Levi  is  otherwise  provided  for  in 
 
 tin-   "oblation,"  and    therefore  Joseph,  in  a •dance 
 
 with  Gen.  ilviii.  5,  22,  aud  with  tin'  whole  history  of 
 tin-  nation,  is  to  have  two  portions.  The  Hebrew  is 
 .simply  "Joseph  portions"  in  the  plural,  but  that  these 
 portions  were  to  be  two  ami  no  muro  was  a  matter  of 
 course,  nol  needing  to  be  specified. 
 
 iiii  ono  as  well  as  another.— This  is  the 
 ordinary  expression  for  equality.  Unlike  the  former 
 division  of  the  land,  the  territory  is  to  In-  arranged  in 
 
 twelve  equal  portions.    Tins  is  generally  undent 1  to 
 
 i  thai  the  strips  of  territory  assigned  to  each  tribe 
 shall  lir  nt'  equal  width,  and  such  is  undoubtedly  the 
 
 {irophet's  meaning,  since  tin-  vision  throughout  makes 
 it 1 1«-  account  of  fie  natural  features  of  tin-  country.  It 
 may  be  well  to  notice  in  passing,  however,  that  the 
 actual  area  of  the  territory  given  to  the  tribes  is  thus 
 mail'  verj  unequal.  The  country  was  nearly  three 
 times  as  broad  at  the  south  as  at  the  north,  ami  the 
 southern  tribes  would  thus  have  actually  nearly  three 
 times  as  much  land  as  the  northern,  although  they  were 
 ideally  equal  Were  the  portions  to  he  made  actually 
 equal,  the  map  given  under  chap,  ilviii  would  be  much 
 changed,  Such  an  arrangement  would  move  the 
 "oblation"  farther  south  ami  give  it  ample  room 
 between  east  ami  west.    Its  north  lino  would  be  .a  little 
 
 north  of  Jerusalem,  ami  its  south    within  ton  or  twelve 
 
 milrs  of  Beersheba,  ami  the  Temple  would  he  situated 
 
 a    few   miles    north-west  of    Hebron  and    still    on    the 
 
 western  watershed. 
 (15)  This  shall  be  the  border  of  the  land.— 
 
 The  boundaries  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  riven 
 in    Num.   xxxiv.    1      15,    only  that    there    the  southern 
 
 boundary  is  given  first  to  the  Israelites  coming  up  from 
 
 Egypt,  while  here  the  northern  is  first  described  for 
 tli.'  people  supposed  to  be  returning  from  Babylon, 
 There  is  also  more  detail  given  in  Numbers,  and  as  the 
 
 points  mentioned  lure  are  the  same,  it  is  fair  to  till  out 
 this  description  from  the  earlier  one.  It  is  remarkable 
 tli.it  in  both  eases  the  eastern  boundary  is  the  Jordan. 
 The   inheritance  of  the   tribes  on  the  east  of  that   river 
 
 having  been  a  modification  of  the  original  allotment, 
 
 and   not   being  taken   into  consideration  at  all  here, 
 
 portions  are  assigned  on  the  west  of  the  river  to  the 
 two  and  a  half  tribes  who  had  lived  all  through  Israel's 
 history  on  the  east. 
 
 The  way  of  Hethlon. — The  boundary  begins  at 
 the  Mediterranean,  but  at  what  precise  point  cannot  be 
 determined:   for  although   it   is  evident    that    the   lines 
 
 between  the  tribes  wen:  straight  and  parallel,  yet  it 
 does  not  appear  whether  they  were  perpendicular  to  the 
 
 Jordan,  which  would  be  substantially  parallel  to  the 
 lines  of  latitude,  or  perpendicular  to  the  Mediterranean, 
 which  would  make  a  small  angle  with  them.  Hethloti 
 is   mentioned   only  here  and  in  chap,  \l\iii.  Land    has 
 
 not    been   identified.      It   was    probably  a  plai f    little 
 
 importance,  as  its  situation  is  described  "as  men  go  to 
 
 Zedad."  The  latter  place  is  mentioned  in  Num.  xxxiv. 
 I'  the  points  in  the  original  northern  border  of 
 the  land.  It  is  clear  from  the  passage  in  Numbers 
 that  it  lay  eastward  of  the  "entrance  to  Hamath."  and 
 has  been  identified   by  some  writers  with   the  modern 
 
 village  of  Badad,  but  this  is  thirty  miles  from  "the 
 entrance   of  Hamath."    which    seems   quite    too   far. 
 
 K/.ekiil     may    have    passed    through    it    when    carried 
 
 captive  to  Babylon. 
 
 UK)  Hamath  is  not  to  be  understood  of  the  city  of 
 Hamath  on  the  Orontes    which  was  much  too  far  to  the 
 
 north),  but  of  the  boundary  of  tile  district  of  Hamath; 
 
 this  cannot  be  now  precisely  filed,  but  certainly  came  as 
 far  south  as  the  "entrance   of  Hamath"  (Num.  xxxiv. 
 
 8),  or  tic  defile  between  the  Lebanon  and  Antilebaaon 
 
 Mountains  which  leads  to  Hamath.  This  defile,  however, 
 is  many  miles  in  length,  and  the  authorities  differ  | 
 
 whether  it>  southern  end  or  its  northern  (where  the 
 
 Lebanon  and  Antihbauoii  ranges  end,  and  a  rolling 
 Country  several  miles  broad  intervenes  .bet ween  them 
 and  the  next  ranges)  should  be  called  "  the  entrance  to 
 I  lamatll.' 
 
 Berothah  is  also  mentioned  in  -  Sam.  viii.  8,  as  one 
 of  the  cities  eompieied  by  David  from  the  king  of 
 Zobah.  and  it  is  evident  from  this  passage  that  it  was 
 between  "Hamath"  and  Damascus;  but  nothing 
 further  is  known  of  its  situation. 
 
 Sibrairn  may  be  the  same  with  Ziphron  of  Num. 
 xxxiv.  th  and  must  have  been  on  the  confines  of  the  two 
 kingdoms    of    Hamath    and    Damascus;     but    nothing 
 
 more  is  known  of  it.  ami  it  is  not  mentioned  elsewhere. 
 Hazar-hatticon.-  That  is.  as  noted  in  the  margin, 
 
 (hi  middle  //,;;../,■.  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Hazar-enan 
 mentioned  in  the  next  verse.  All  that  is  known  of  it 
 is  from  this  passage,  that  it  was  on  the  border  of  the 
 district  of  Hainan.  Hawaii,  here  and  in  verve  18,  is 
 used  ill  a  wider  sense  than  the  classic  .  1  »/'•"<  ' ■'.-'.  and 
 includes  also  (  builanitis  Golan  .and  Batamea  Baslian). 
 in  fact  the  whole  land  between  the  territories  of 
 Damascus  and  Qilead  (vera    L8 
 
 '■  The  border  from  the  sea  shall  be  Hazar- 
 enan.  Comparing  this  with  Num.  xxxiv.  '.K  it  is  plain 
 that  the  sense  is.  "The  (north  boundary  which  started 
 from  the  sea  shall  terminate  at  Ha/ar-cnan.  where  it 
 meets  the  boundaries  of  Damascus."  Hazar-enan 
 mesas  "the  village  of  springs,"  and  is  mentioned  in 
 
 chap,  xlviii.  1.  and  in  Num.  xxxiv.  !».  In.  as  the  end  of 
 the  north  and  beginning  of  the  east  boundary  of  fin- 
 land.       For  "and    the    border   of   Hamath."  read   seen 
 
 llir  border—  i*.t the  northern  boundary  is  th.-  south 
 
 boundary  of  Hamath.  While  it  i-  impossible  to  locate 
 precisely  this  northern  boundary,  either  as  given  in 
 Numbers  or  by  K/.ekiel.  it  is  evident  that  the  two  are 
 identical,  and' that  the  line  stretched  from  the  Medi- 
 terranean to  the  territory  of  Damascus.  The  whole 
 width  of  the  country  at  this  point  would  therefore  be 
 Somewhat  over  thirty  miles. 
 
 343 
 
7ts  Division 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLVIII. 
 
 among  tits  Tribes. 
 
 <18>  And  the  east  side  ye  shall  measure 
 1from  Hauran,  and  from  Damascus,  and 
 from  Gilead,  and  from  the  land  of  Israel 
 by  Jordan,  from  the  border  unto  the 
 east  sea.  And  this  is  the  east  side. 
 <19>  And  the  south  side  southward,  from 
 Tamar  even  to  the  waters  of  2  strife  in 
 Kadesh,  the  3  river  to  the  great  sea. 
 And  this  is  the  south  side  4  southward. 
 (2°)  The  west  side  also  shall  be  the  great 
 sea  from  the  border,  till  a  man  come 
 over  against  Hamath.  This  is  the  west 
 side.  <21>  So  shall  ye  divide  this  land 
 unto  you  according  to  the  tribes  of 
 Israel. 
 
 (22)  Ajyj  ^  shall  come  to  pass,  that  ye 
 
 1   Hob.,  from    be' 
 ticcen. 
 
 3  Or,  valley. 
 
 Or,  toward   Te 
 
 man. 
 
 shall  divide  it  by  lot  for  an  inheritance 
 unto  you,  and  to  the  strangers  that 
 sojourn  among  you,  which  shall  beget 
 children  among  you  :  and  they  shall  be 
 unto  you  as  born  in  the  country  among 
 the  children  of  Israel ;  they  shall  have 
 inheritance  with  you  among  the  tribes 
 of  Israel.  (23)  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
 that  in  what  tribe  the  stranger  so- 
 journeth,  there  shall  ye  give  him  his  in- 
 heritance, saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XLVIII.— P)  Now  these 
 are  the  names  of  the  tribes.  From  the 
 north  end  to  the  coast  of  the  way  of 
 Hethlon,    as    one    goeth    to    Hamath, 
 
 (is)  From  Hauran,  and  from  Damascus.— The 
 eastern  boundary  is  also  the  same  as  that  given  in 
 Num.  xxxiv.  10 — 12,  although  more  particularly  de- 
 scribed there.  In  both  cases  it  excludes  the  territory 
 of  the  trans- Jordanic  tribes,  which  was  not  included  in 
 Palestine  proper,  even  after  its  conquest  by  Moses,  and 
 in  which  the  two  and  a  half  tribes  were  allowed  to 
 settle  with  some  reluctance  (Num.  xxxii.).  The  word 
 "  from,"  occurring  four  times  in  this  verse,  is  literally 
 from  between,  as  is  noted  in  the  margin ;  it  means  that 
 the  boundary  was  to  run  between  the  territories  of 
 Hauran,  Damascus,  and  Gilead  on  the  one  side,  and 
 that  of  Israel  on  the  other.  The  boundary  is  to  be  the 
 Jordan ;  but  as  this  does  not  extend  so  far  north,  it 
 became  necessary  to  mention  the  territory  of  Damascus 
 as  bounding  the  land  of  Israel,  and  in  this  connection 
 Hauran  and  Gilead  are  also  spoken  of.  The  boundary 
 extends,  as  of  old,  bejTond  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan  to 
 the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  thence  to 
 Kadesh.  The  extreme  length  of  the  land  is  somewhat 
 uncertain,  but  must  have  fallen  short  of  250  miles. 
 
 (19)  From  Tamar  even  to  the  waters  of  strife. 
 — The  southern  border,  as  given  in  Num.  xxxiv.  3 — 5, 
 is  identical  with  that  described  here,  as  far  as  the  two 
 can  be  compared.  Tamar  has  been  identified  with 
 Kurnub,  a  ruined  village  some  twenty -five  miles  west 
 of  the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea ;  but  as  the  old 
 boundary  certainly  went  far  to  the  south  of  this,  and 
 as  the  next  place  mentioned  is  Kadesh,  about  thirty 
 miles  nearly  south  from  the  Dead  Sea,  the  Tamar  here 
 meant  is  more  probably  some  place  not  yet  identified. 
 Kadesh,  known  from  the  "  waters  of  strife  "  as  Meribah 
 (Num.  xx.  3 — 14),  is  called  Kadesh-barnea  in  Num. 
 xxxiv.  4.  It  has  been  identified  by  Robinson  with  the 
 Ain-el-Weibeh,  about  thirty  miles  slightly  west  of  south 
 from  the  Dead  Sea.  Its  exact  situation,  however,  is 
 somewhat  doubtful. 
 
 The  river  to  the  great  sea. — Literally,  river- 
 ward  to  the  great  sea.  From  Kadesh  the  boundary 
 was  to  strike  across  the  mountainous  desert  to  what  is 
 often  called  in  Scripture  "  the  river  of  Egypt,"  and 
 was  anciently  known  as  the  Rhinocolura,  now  called 
 the  Wady-el- Arish.  It  followed  this  to  the  Mediterra- 
 nean. The  length  of  the  southern  boundary,  following 
 the  curve  of  the  Rhinocolura,  must  have  been  nearly 
 100  miles,  or  about  eighty- seven  miles  from  east  to 
 west. 
 
 (20)  Over  against  Hamath.— The  westemboundary, 
 as  in  Num.  xxxiv.  6,  is  the  Mediterranean,  and  con- 
 
 tinues to  the  starting-point,  Hamath  being  here,  as  in 
 verses  16,  17,  the  district  of  Hamath. 
 
 (22)  By  lot. — See  Note  on  chap.  xlv.  1. 
 
 To  the  strangers. — An  entirely  new  feature  is 
 here  added  to  the  Mosaic  law.  According  to  Lev.  xix. 
 34,  strangers  were  to  be  treated  with  kindness,  but  the 
 entire  territory  was  to  be  divided  among  the  Israelites, 
 and  strangers  could  therefore  acquire  no  laud  except 
 iu  so  far  as  they  might  purchase  a  temporary  right 
 between  the  years  of  Jubile.  Now,  however,  such  of 
 them  as  "  shall  beget  children  among  you,"  thus  show- 
 ing a  disposition  to  permanent  residence,  are  to  receive 
 an  inheritance  along  with  the  tribes  and  iu  the  portion 
 of  that  tribe  where  they  may  have  chosen  to  fix  their 
 residence.  This  privilege  is  absolute,  without  auy 
 condition  of  receiving  circumcision. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 The  closing  chapter  of  Ezelriel  is  mainly  occupied 
 with  the  distribution  of  the  land  in  detail.  Beginning 
 at  the  north,  a  portion  is  assigned  to  each  of  seven 
 tribes  (verses  1 — 7) ;  then  the  "  oblation  "  is  described, 
 with  its  parts  for  the  Levites,  the  priests  and  Temple, 
 the  city  and  those  that  serve  it,  and  for  the  prince 
 (verses  8 — 22),  and  lastly  portions  for  the  remaining 
 five  tribes.  The  chapter  and  the  book  close  with  an 
 account  of  the  size  and  the  twelve  gates  of  the  city, 
 the  whole  ending  with  its  name,  "  The  Lord  is  there." 
 
 The  distribution  of  the  laud  is  entirely  different  from 
 that  made  under  Joshua,  nor  is  it  easy  to  trace  any  his- 
 torical reasons  for  it,  except  that  the  central  portion, 
 containing  the  Temple,  the  land  of  the  priests  and  the 
 prince,  is  flanked  by  the  two  tribes  of  the  southern 
 kingdom,  Judah  and  Benjamin.  The  chapter  can  best 
 be  understood  by  the  aid  of  a  small  map,  the  outline  of 
 which  is  traced  from  Dr.  Win.  Smith's  ancient  atlas. 
 This  might  be  drawn  with  the  lines  between  the  tribes 
 perpendicular  either  to  the  general  course  of  the  Jordan, 
 or  to  the  general  coast-line  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
 latter  would  give  a  little  more  width  for  the  oblation, 
 but  still  not  enough,  and  would  leave  no  space  at  all  on 
 the  west  for  the  prince.  The  former  arrangement  is  on 
 the  whole  preferred.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  tribes 
 are  not  arranged  either  according  to  their  seniority  or 
 their  maternity.  The  territory  falling  to  each  tribe  was 
 much  smaller  than  of  old,  partly  because  of  the  large 
 space  occupied  by  the  "  oblation  "  (fully  one-fifth  of  the 
 whole),  and  partly  because  the  remainder  was  to  be  di- 
 vided among  the  whole  twelve  tribes,  instead  of  among 
 
 3U 
 
The  Xi'i-i/r ■rii  Tribes. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLVIII 
 
 Tic  Sanctuary. 
 
 Hazar-enan,  the  border  of  Damascus 
 northward,  to  the  coaai  ofHamath;  for 
 
 these  arc  his  sides  easl  and  weei  :  :i  por- 
 tion for  Dan.  9  . \iiil  by  the  border  of 
 Dan,  from  the  easl  side  unto  the  wesl 
 Bide,  a  portion  for  Asher.     ("And  by  the 
 
 border  of  Ashe  r,  from  the  east  side  even 
 
 onto  the  west  side,  a  portion  for  Naph- 
 tali.  (tl  And  l>y  the  border  of  Naphtali, 
 from  the  easl  side  onto  the  wesi  side,  a 
 portion  for  Dfanasseh.  '  And  by  the 
 border  of  Bfanasseh,  from  the  east  side 
 onto  the  west  side,  a  portion  for  Eph- 
 raim.  "'  And  bj  the  border  Of  Bphraim, 
 from  the  east  side  even  onto  the  wesl 
 side,  a  portion  for  Reuben.  (7)  And  by 
 the  border  <>f  Reuben,  from  the  easl 
 side  until  the  west  side,  a  portion  for 
 Judah. 
 
 <8'  And  by  the  border  of  Judah,  from 
 
 Or.  TV 
 
 j-.rlli.i. 
 Joi  (hi  j 
 
 the   east  side    OntO   the  West    Mile,  shall    he 
 
 the  offering  which  ye  shall  offer  of  fire 
 and  twenty  thousand  reeds  in  breadth, 
 and  in  length  88  one  of  the  other  parts, 
 from  the  east  side  onto  the  west  side : 
 and  the  sanctuary  shall  be  in  the  midsl 
 of  it.  »  The  oblation  that  ye  shall  offer 
 unto  the  Lobd  shall  bt  of  fire  and  twenty 
 thousand  in  length,  and  of  ten  thousand 
 in  breadth.  ''"'Ami  for  them,  even  for 
 the  priests,  shall  be  this  holy  oblation  ; 
 toward  the  north  five  and  twenty  thou- 
 sand //<  length,  and  toward  the  west  ten 
 thousand  in  breadth,  and  toward  the 
 east  ten  thousand  in  breadth,  and  to- 
 ward the  south  five  and  twenty  thousand 
 in  length :  and  the  sanctuary  of  the 
 Lord  shall  be  in  the  midst  thereof. 
 d1*1//  shall  be  for  the  priests  thai  are 
 sanctified  of  the  sons  of  Zadok:  which 
 
 only  nine  and  :i  half.  The  portion  thus  given  to  each 
 tribe  was  rather  lees  than  two-thirds  that  assigned, on 
 the  average,  by  Joshua, 
 
 (')  These  are  his  sides  east  and  west.— Lit., 
 The  east  ride,  the  west  ride,  shall  be  to  him,  meaning 
 thai  the  portion  of  Dan  stretches  across  the  conntry 
 from  the  eastern  to  the  western  txmndary.  So  of  them 
 nil.  The  original  portion  of  Dun  was  ;it  the  west  of 
 Benjamin,  but  :\  pari  of  the  tribe  having  conquered 
 Laden,  and  settled  at  the  extreme  north.  D;m  is  now 
 made  the  most  northern  of  the  tribes.  Asher,  Naphtali, 
 Manasseh,  and  Ephraim  arc  so  far  approximated  to  their 
 old  places  as  to  be  north  of  the  sanctuary. 
 
 (8)  In  length  as  one  of  the  other  parts.— The 
 oblation,  which  has  been  already  spoken  of  in  chap.  xlv. 
 1 — Tin  a  different  connection,  is  here  (verses  s — 22) 
 more  exactly  described.  Its  whole  width  is  again  stated 
 as  25,000  reeds,  and  its  length  from  the  eastern  to  the 
 western  boundaries  of  the  land  "as  oue  of  the  other 
 parts,"  tin  account  being  taken  in  this  of  the  varying 
 distance  between  the  Jordan  and  the  Mediterranean. 
 It  cannot,  however,  be  so  placed  as  no)  to  exceed  that 
 distance. 
 
 M  The  oblation.— This  is  the.  same  word  as  is 
 translated  offering  iii  verse  8.  I'  is  used  in  this  passage 
 in  three  different  senses: — (1)  as  including  the  whole 
 Btrip  from  the  Jordan  to  the  Mediterranean  and  25,000 
 
 t Is  wide;    f2)    t'.irtliat    part   of  this  set   aside  fur  the 
 
 priests,  and  for  the  Levites;  (3  for  the  most  sacred 
 pari  of  this,  appropriated  to  the  priests  and  Temple, 
 
 25,000  reeds  from  east  to  west,  and  10,000  from 
 north  to  south.  This  last  portion,  although  in  the 
 middle,  is  mentioned  tirst  on  account  of  its  especial 
 saeredi 
 
 t'M|  In  the  midst  thereof.— The  whole  connection 
 sliows  that  this  is  i.  be  understood  strictly;  the 
 sanctuary  was  to  be  not  merely  within  the  priests'  por- 
 tion, but  in  its  centre. 
 
 CD  Sonsof  Zadok.— See  Xote  on  ehap.xl.  (6. 
 
 As  the  Levites  went  astray.— That  the  Levites 
 were  far  more  affected  than  the  priests  by  the  general 
 
 .apostasy,  may  he  reasonably  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
 
 at  the  restoration  less  than  400  Levites.  and  as  many 
 
 MAP  OF  PALESTINE, 
 Showing  the  Divisions  among  the  Tribes. 
 
 345 
 
Portions  for  Levites  and  Priests. 
 
 EZEKIEL,    XLVIII. 
 
 For  the  City  and  Prince. 
 
 have  kept  my  l  charge,  which  went  not 
 astray  when  the  children  of  Israel  went 
 astray,  as  the  Levites  went  astray. 
 <12>  And  this  ohlation  of  the  land  that  is 
 offered  shall  be  unto  them  a  thing  most 
 holy  by  the  border  of  the  Levites. 
 
 (1:J>  And  over  against  the  border  of  the 
 priests  the  Levites  shall  have  five  and 
 twenty  thousand  in  length,  and  ten 
 thousand  in  breadth :  all  the  length 
 shall  be  five  and  twenty  thousand,  and 
 the  breadth  ten  thousand.  (14>  And  they 
 shall  not  sell  of  it,  neither  exchange,  nor 
 alienate  the  firstfruits  of  the  land :  f or 
 it  is  holy  unto  the  Lord. 
 
 (15>  And  the  five  thousand,  that  are 
 left  in  the  breadth  over  against  the  five 
 and  twenty  thousand,  shall  be  a  profane 
 place  for  the  city,  for  dwelling,  and  for 
 suburbs  :  and  the  city  shall  be  in  the 
 midst  thereof.  <16>  And  these  shall  be 
 the  measures  thereof;  the  north  side 
 four  thousand  and  five  hundred,  and  the 
 south  side  four  thousand  and  five  hun- 
 dred, and  on  the  east  side  four  thousand 
 and  five  hundred,  and  the  west  side  four 
 thousand  and  five  hundred.  (17)  And  the 
 suburbs  of  the  city  shall  be  toward  the 
 north  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  toward 
 
 1  Or,  ward,  or, 
 diiumce. 
 
 the  south  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  to- 
 ward the  east  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and 
 toward  the  west  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
 
 <18)  And  the  residue  hi  length  over 
 against  the  oblation  of  the  holy  portion 
 shall  be  ten  thousand  eastward,  and  ten 
 thousand  westward  :  and  it  shall  be  over 
 against  the  oblation  of  the  holy  portion  ; 
 and  the  increase  thereof  shall  be  for  food 
 unto  them  that  serve  the  city.  (19>  And 
 they  that  serve  the  city  shall  serve  it 
 out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel.  (20>A11 
 the  oblation  shall  be  five  and  twenty 
 thousand  by  five  and  twenty  thousand : 
 ye  shall  offer  the  holy  oblation  four- 
 square, with  the  possession  of  the  city. 
 
 <31'  And  the  residue  shall  be  for  the 
 prince,  on  the  one  side  and  on  the  other 
 of  the  holy  oblation,  and  of  the  posses- 
 sion of  the  city,  over  against  the  five  and 
 twenty  thousand  of  the  oblation  toward 
 the  east  border,  and  westward  over 
 against  the  five  and  twenty  thousand 
 toward  the  west  border,  over  against  the 
 portions  for  the  prince  :  and  it  shall  be 
 the  holy  oblation  ;  and  the  sanctuary  of 
 the  house  shall  be  in  the  midst  thereof. 
 (22)  Moreover  from  the  possession  of  the 
 Levites,  and  from  the  possession  of  the 
 
 Nethiniins,  returned  (Ezraii.  40—58 ;  Neh.  vii.  43—60), 
 while  there  were  4,2^9  of  the  priests. 
 
 (1*)  Shall  not  sell  of  it.— The  Levites'  portion 
 (verse  13)  was  of  the  same  size  as  that  of  the  priests,  in- 
 stead of  their  having  (as  under  the  law)  nearly  three 
 times  as  many  cities,  and  the  restriction  of  Lev.  xxv.  34 
 that  they  might  not  even  temporarily  alienate  the  fields 
 attached  to  their  cities,  is  here  extended  to  their  whole 
 land  on  the  express  ground  that  it  is  "  first-fruits." 
 
 (15)  The  five  thousand  that  are  left.— The  two 
 strips  of  territory  for  the  Levites  and  the  priests,  each 
 10,000  reeds  wide,  being  deducted  from  the  whole 
 width  of  the  oblation,  leaves  a  strip  of  5,000  wide  and 
 25,000  long  which  is  here  apportioned  to  the  city 
 and  its  suburbs.  It  is  called  "  profane  "  in  contrast  to 
 the  "holy"  possession  of  the  Levites  (verse  14),  and 
 the  "most  holy"  of  the  priests  (verse  12),  though  it 
 was  still  a  part  of  the  oblation. 
 
 (16)  The  measures.— The  city  itself  is  to  be  an 
 exact  square  of  4,500  reeds,  and  according  to  verse  17, 
 was  to  have  "  suburbs,"  or  rather  an  open  space  on  all 
 sides  of  250  reeds.  The  whole  was,  therefore,  5,000 
 reeds — a  little  less  than  ten  miles — square,  the  exact 
 width  of  the  space  that  was  left  of  the  oblation,  and 
 leaving  10,000  reeds  on  each  side  of  it. 
 
 (18)  Shall  be  for  food.— This  piece  of  land,  only 
 four  times  the  size  of  the  city  itself,  would  seem  a  very 
 insufficient  provision  for  raising  all  the  food  required 
 for  the  labourers  of  the  city.  But  here,  as  everywhere, 
 it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  description  is  ideal 
 
 (19)  Out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel.— The  city 
 itself  is  no  longer,  as  of  old,  to  belong  to  any  particular 
 tribe,  but  is  to  be  situated  on  the  common  oblation. 
 
 and  its  labourers  are  to  be  taken  alike  from  all  the 
 tribes.  Thus  the  old  jealousies  are  to  be  extinguished. 
 and  in  this,  as  in  all  other  respects,  each  tribe  is  to  be 
 treated  like  every  other. 
 
 (2i)  The  residue  shall  be  for  the  prince.— 
 The  length  of  the  oblation  from  east  to  west  is  supposed 
 to  leave  a  strip  at  either  end  which  is  assigned  to  the 
 prince.  This  strip  is  to  extend  from  north  to  south, 
 the  whole  width  of  the  oblation.  The  expression  "  over 
 against  the  portions  for  the  prince "  is  somewhat 
 obscure  from  its  extreme  brevity  and  want  of  punctua- 
 tion in  our  version ;  it  means  that  the  part  of  the  obla- 
 tion over  against  the  tribe  portions  shall  be  for  the 
 prince — i.e.,  he  is  to  have  all  that  is  left  of  the  oblation 
 between  it  and  the  portions  assigned  to  the  tribes. 
 As  already  said,  this  was  geographically  impossible 
 on  the  estimate  of  the  length  of  the  cubit  here  adopted. 
 Even  if  the  cubit  were  reduced  to  eighteen  inches, 
 which  is  the  smallest  estimate  that  can  well  be  made, 
 the  side  of  the  oblation  would  still  be  42T6„  miles  long, 
 or  more  than  tin;  distance  between  the  Jordan  and  the 
 Mediterranean  at  its  northern  end.  It  is  quite  idle, 
 therefore,  to  attempt  any  calculation  of  the  prince's 
 portion.  The  description  is  necessarily  ideal,  and  no 
 hint  is  given  in  the  vision  of  how  much  was  intended 
 for  the  prince.  If  it  be  suggested  that  the  prophet 
 may  have  had  in  mind  measures  following  the  uneven 
 surface  of  the  ground  and  the  sinuosities  of  the  roads, 
 it  can  only  be  replied  that  such  a  supposition  at  once 
 destroys  all  possibility  of  following  his  measures,  and 
 is  singularly  opposed  to  the  whole  symmetry  of  his 
 description,  as  well  as  inconsistent  with  the  equality 
 of  the  measure  on  the  four  sides. 
 
 346 
 
The  Northern  Thibet. 
 
 EZEKIEL,   XLVIII. 
 
 ../  Oatet  of  ih 
 
 city,  being  in  khe  midBi  of  thai  which  is 
 the  prince's,  between  the  border  of Judah 
 
 mill  (lii!  lmriliT  of  Benjamin,  shall  be  for 
 
 the  prince. 
 
 As  for  the  resi  of  the  tribes,  from 
 the  easl  Bide  unto  the  wesl  Bide,  Benja- 
 min shall  have  la  portion.  '-"Ami  by 
 the  border  of  Benjamin,  from  the  eael 
 Bide  onto  the  west  Bide,  Simeon  shall 
 have  a  portion.   IJ,/  And  by  the  border  of 
 
 Simeon,  I'nmi  t lit.'  easl  side  unto  die  west 
 
 side,  [ssachar  a  portion.  I-'1,1  And  by  the 
 border  of  [ssachar,  from  the  cast  side 
 untu  the  wesi  Bide,  Zebulun  a  portion. 
 <-7' Ami  by  the  border  of  Zebulun,  from 
 the  cast  side  onto  the  wesi  side.  Gad  a 
 portion.  '-''  Ami  by  the  border  of  <  lad, 
 at  the  smith  side  southward,  the  border 
 shall  be  even  fromTamar  unto  the  waters 
 of  'strife  m  Cadesb,  and  to  the  river  to- 
 ward the  greal  Bea. 
 
 <*»This  is  the  land  which   ye    shall 
 divide   l>\   l"t    unto   the   tribes  of  Israel 
 
 Hob,  Utrlbah 
 
 Hcb.,    ■ 
 
 for  inheritance,  and  these  art  their  por- 
 jaii  h  t  be  Lord  <  Jon. 
 1    And  these  are  the  goings  oui  of  the 
 city  on  the  north  Bide,  four  thousand  and 
 
 five      hundred      mi  And     the 
 
 gates  of  the  city  shall  be  after  the  names 
 
 Of  the  tribes  of  Israel:  three  gates  i  lord  i - 
 
 Ward;  one  gate  of  Reuben,  one  gate  oi 
 
 .Iiidah,  one  gate  of  Le\  i.  '  ■-'  And  at  the 
 east  side  four  thousand  ami  five  hundred: 
 mid  three  gates ;  and  one  gate  of  Joseph, 
 one  gate  of   Benjamin,  one  gate  of  Dan. 
 
 1   '■•  And  at  the    south   side  four  tl -and 
 
 and  five  hundred  measures:  and  three 
 gates;  one  gate  of  Simeon,  one  gate  of 
 Issachar,  one  gate  of  Zebulun.  '  k\\ 
 the  west  side  four  thousand  and  five 
 hundred,  with  their  three  gates;  one 
 gate  of  (  hid,  one  gate  of  Asher,  one  gate 
 of  Naphtali.  t35'  It  was  round  about 
 eighteen  thousand  measures: 
 
 Anil  the  name  of  the  city  from  that 
 day  shall  be,  :iThe  Lord  is  there. 
 
 (>B)  The  rest  of  tho  tribes.— In  versos  2:',— 29 
 the  remaining  five  bribes  have  their  portions  assigned 
 mi  the  south  of  the  oblation  in  precisely  the  same  way 
 as  the  seven  on  the  north. 
 
 Tho  goings  out  of  the  city.— In  verses 
 30 — 34  the  dimensions  of  the  city  are  again  given  for 
 the  purpose  of  introducing  the  mention  of  the  gates, 
 three  on  each  Bide,  one  for  each  of  the  bribes  of  Israel. 
 In  this  enumeration  Levi  takes  his  place  as  a  tribe, 
 nml  Joseph  is  therefore  reckoned  as  only  one  tribe; 
 hut  the  order  of  their  names  is  neither  that  of  their 
 geographical  arrangement  nor  of  their  seniority.  It. 
 will  be  remembered  thai  the  symbolism  ox  the 
 twelve  gates  enters  also  into  the  vision  of  Rev.  xxi. 
 12.  21. 
 
 Round  about  eighteen  thousand.— The 
 oircuil  of  the  city,  noi  including  its  "suburbs,"  or 
 open  space,  was  I  ■  1,500  L8,000  reeds,  ox  something 
 over  thirty-four  miles.  Josephue  reckoned  the  circuit 
 of  Jerusalem  in  his  day  at  four  miles. 
 
 Measures.- This  word  is  rightly  supplied  fran 
 verses  30,  33.  <  in  the  symmetry  of  the  city  and  its  gates 
 and  the  names  of  the  gates,  comp.  Etev.  cri.  I-'.  13,  16. 
 
 The  Lord  is  there. — With  this  name  of  the  city 
 K/.ekiel  closes  liis  vision  ami  his  book.  It  is  a  nmst 
 fitting  close ;  for  the  object  has  been  to  depict,  under 
 the  figures  of  the  Jewish  dispensation,  the  glories  of 
 the  Church  of  the  future.  The  culmination  of  this 
 glory  must  ever  be  thai  the  Lord,  according  to  His 
 promise  (John  vi.  56),  will  dwell  in  the  believer,  and  the 
 believer  in  Him.  Imperfectly  as  this  may  be  carried 
 nut  h.-re  mi  earth,  the  effect  of  the  Gospel  is  to  bring 
 about  ever  more  and  more  fully  its  realisation  i  and  t  1k- 
 closing  booh  of  the  volume  of  Revelation,  catching  the 
 echoes  of  Ezekiel's  prophecy,  looks  forward  to  tin- 
 Holy  City,   the    New  Jerusalem    "coming   down   from 
 
 God    out    of    heaven,"    and    declares,  "Behold,  the 
 
 tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men.  and  He  will  dwell  with 
 
 them,  and  they  shall  he  His  people,  and  God  Himself 
 shall  lie  with  them  and  be  their  God"  (Rev.  xxi.  2,  3). 
 
 :i7 
 
EXCURSUS  ON  NOTES  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  THE 
 
 PROPHET    EZEKIEL. 
 
 EXCURSUS  A  (at  end  of  chap,  iii.) 
 
 ON   THE   FIGURATIVE    LANGUAGE   AND    SYMBOLICAL 
 ACTIONS    OP    EZEKIEL. 
 
 At  this  point,  -when  the  prophet  has  been  fully  com- 
 missioned for  his  work,  and  his  actual  prophecies  begin, 
 it  may  be  well  to  consider  their  general  character, 
 especially  as  the  very  next  chapter  brings  us  at  once 
 into  the  midst  of  symbolical  action.  That  much  of 
 Ezekiel's  language  is  figurative,  and  that  some  of  the 
 actions  he  records  were  done  in  vision  only,  it  is  im. 
 possible  to  doubt.  Tims,  for  example,  in  chap.  xxiv.  6 
 the  prophet  is  told  to  "  bring  it  (the  city)  out  piece  by 
 piece,"  and  then  to  set  it  upon  the  coals  (verse  11), 
 which  of  course  could  only  have  been  done  mentally  or 
 symbolically,  and  that  it  was  the  former  is  plain  from 
 verse  3.  In  chap.  xxi.  19,  the  appointing  of  two  ways, 
 from  which  the  king  of  Babylon  was  to  choose,  could 
 not  have  been  literally  done ;  and  there  are  many  like 
 passages,  in  which  it  is  plain  that  the  prophet  has  merely 
 expressed  in  concrete  figures  (thus  giving  them  vivid- 
 ness and  force)  the  ideas  he  wished  to  convey.  On  the 
 other  hand,  there  are  passages  in  which  a  symbolical 
 use  is  made  of  events  and  acts  which  are  evidently  to 
 be  taken  in  a  literal  sense.  Thus  in  chap.  xxiv.  16 — 24, 
 it  would  be  impossible  to  understand  the  sudden  death 
 of  Ezekiel's  wife  and  the  prohibition  of  mourning  for 
 her  as  otherwise  than  strictly  literal,  and  yet  he  is 
 directed  to  make  important  symbolical  use  of  them. 
 What  has  been  said  of  actions  applies  equally  to  pro- 
 phecies. There  is  in  them  also  the  same  mingling  of 
 the  literal  and  the  symbolical,  the  same  intense  dis- 
 position to  embody  every  thought  in  some  concrete 
 form. 
 
 How  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  literal  to  be  dis- 
 tinguished from  the  figurative,  whether  in  language  or 
 in  act  ?  It  may  not  always  be  possible  to  do  so  in 
 regard  to  every  detail ;  to  be  absolutely  certain  whether 
 the  binding  of  chap.  iii.  25,  for  instance,  was  only  a 
 figurative  expression  or  a  symbolical  act,  although,  in 
 this  case,  we  believe  the  former  to  be  the  true  explana- 
 tion. But  the  details  of  the  application  are  compara- 
 tively unimportant ;  and  sometimes  there  may  well  be  a 
 difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  them.  The  literal 
 and  the  figurative  blend  together,  and  pass  the  one  into 
 the  other,  in  the  prophet's  teaching  of  these  spiritual 
 infants,  as  children  often  carry  on  their  tales  partly  by 
 
 sensible  images  an„  partly  by  pure  imagination.  In 
 fact,  this  is  often  a  necessity  in  the  teaching  of  things 
 which  lie  partly  above  human  comprehension,  as  may 
 be  seen,  for  instance,  in  our  Lord's  description  of  the 
 end  of  the  world,  and  in  many  other  passages.  No 
 serious  harm  can  come  of  occasionally  understanding 
 literally  that  which  was  meant  figuratively,  provided  it 
 contains  no  internal  mai'ks  of  its  figurative  character. 
 In  the  chapter  which  immediately  follows  there  has 
 always  been  a  difference  of  opinion  whether  the  prophet 
 actually  performed  the  symbolic  actions  recorded,  or 
 whether  they  were  only  mentally  done,  and  then  related. 
 The  latter  seems  almost  the  necessary  interpretation, 
 for  several  reasons  :  the  mere  lying  upon  one  side  for 
 390  days,  so  bound  that  he  could  not  move,  if  not  an 
 impossibility,  is  extremely  unlikely;  it  is  also  incon- 
 sistent with  the  command  for  the  preparation  of  his 
 food  during  the  same  time ;  the  amount  of  food  allowed, 
 though  sufficient  to  sustain  life,  would  have  led  to  great 
 emaciation;  the  preparation  of  the  food  itself  would 
 have  been,  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  abominable ;  and 
 although  this  is  very  effective  as  a  vision,  it  would  have 
 been  exceedingly  strange  as  a  reality ;  the  tile  seems 
 quite  insufficient  in  size  for  all  the  uses  to  which  it  is 
 put ;  and,  finally,  the  time  of  430  days  in  all  is  scarcely 
 possible.  From  the  fifth  day  of  the  fourth  month  in 
 the  fifth  year  (chap.  i.  1,  2),  to  the  fifth  day  of  the  sixth 
 month  of  the  sixth  year  (chap.  viii.  1),  according  to  the 
 length  of  either  the  Jewish  or  Chaldean  year,  would 
 have  been  420  days  only,  and  at  least  eight  days  of  this 
 had  already  passed.  There  is,  then,  too  little  time  by 
 eighteen  days,  and  even  if  we  were  to  suppose  that  this 
 was  the  year  for  an  intercalary  month  (of  which  there 
 is  no  evidence),  it  would  yet  leave  but  twelve  interven- 
 ing days  for  the  two  important  prophecies  of  chaps,  vi. 
 and  vii.  Still  there  has  been  a  difference  of  opinion 
 here,  and  it  is  not  of  much  consequence  in  itself.  The 
 important  point  is  to  recognise  the  general  habit  of  the 
 prophet's  mind ;  for  there  can  bo  no  satisfactory  inter- 
 pretation of  his  writings  without  a  full  appreciation  of 
 his  readiness  to  clothe  his  thoughts  in  concrete  forms, 
 whether  those  forms  were  sensible  realities  or  only  the 
 creations  of  his  own  mind. 
 
 EXCURSUS   B:    ON   CHAPTER   IV.  5,  6. 
 
 The  explanation  of  the  periods  of  time  here  mentioned 
 has  occasioned  great  difficulty  and  difference  of  opinion 
 among  the  commentators.  The  subject  may  be  best 
 approached  by  first  observing  what  points  are  clearly 
 determined  in  the  text  itself,  and  then  excluding  all 
 interpretations  which  are  inconsistent  with  these. 
 
 In  the  first  place,  it  is  expressly  stated  in  each 
 of  these  verses  that  these  days  represent  years.  No  in- 
 terpretation, therefore,  can  be  admitted  which  requires 
 them  to  be  literal  days.  Secondly,  it  is  plain  that  the 
 period  is  one  of  "  bearing  their  iniquity  " ;  not  a  period 
 in  which  they  are  becoming  sinful,  but  one  in  which 
 
 3iS 
 
BZEKTEL. 
 
 they  are  suffering  the  punishment  of  their  Bin.  Thirdly, 
 it  is  plain  bom  the  whole  structure  of  the  symbolism 
 tli.it  this  period  ia  in  someway  intimately  connected 
 with  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  Finally,  the  two  periods 
 of  :!!'i>  mill  .it'  forty  days  are  distinct,  [f  the  symbolism 
 irasoarried  out  in  act,  they  must  bare  been  eonseentiTe, 
 ami  it  is  still  the  natural  inference  that  they  were  bo, 
 even  if  it  was  only  iii  visi.ni.  The  two  periods  together, 
 then,  constitute  130  days;  yet  tliis  is  no)  t.>  Be  em- 
 phasised,  since  no  express  mention  is  made  of  the 
 whole  period. 
 
 These  points  of  themselves  exclude  several  of  tl x. 
 
 planations  t  hat  have  from  time  t..  time  been  put  forward. 
 
 A og  these  must  be  mentioned,  first,  one  whirl 
 
 perhaps  been  more  generally  adopted  than  any  other  of 
 its  class,  the  supposition  thai  tin-  390  years  of  Israel's 
 punishment  are  tn  be  reckoned  from  sunn,  point  in  the 
 r< -i lti i  of  Jeroboam  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
 Nebuohadnezzar.  This,  however,  was  far  more  a  period 
 of    accumulation  of    Israel's    transgression    than    ■  > f 
 
 Buffering  its  punishment  ;   neither  in  this  ease  eouhl  the 
 
 period  he  fairly  considered  as  extending  beyond  the 
 
 end  of  the   kingdom   of   Israel   (which   lasted   in   all  but 
 
 253  years)  unless  it  was  also  extended  indefinitely. 
 Moreover,  expositors  who  adopt  this  view  are  quite 
 unable  to  give  any  satisfactory  account   of  Judith's 
 
 fnrty  years;  fur  the  proposal  t.i  reckon  them  fi i  the 
 
 reformation  of  Josian  is  quite  at  variance  with  the 
 eh  meter  of  t  he  period  described. 
 
 Every  attempt  to  make  these  periods  refer  to  a 
 future  time,  stretching  on  far  beyond  the  date  of  the 
 prop] y.  fails  for  want  of  any  definite  event  at  the 
 
 en. I  of  either  390,   I".  or  loll  years. 
 
 The  periods  cannot  be  understood  of  events  occurring 
 in  the  course  of  the  Siege  because,  as  already  said,  the 
 numbers  are  expressly  said  to  stand  for  years.  More- 
 over, even  if  they  could  he  taken  of  literal  days,  there 
 •rould  lie  nothing  to  correspond  to  thorn,  since  from 
 the  investment  of  the  city  to  the  flight  of  Zedokiah 
 was  539  days,  and  to  the  destruction  of  the  Temple 
 twenty. eight  days  more  (2  Kings  xxv.  1,  3,  8). 
 
 Of  two  other  explanations,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
 say  a  word  :  that  of  Theodorct  is  based  upon  the  Greek 
 version,  which,  by  a  curious  mistake,  has  190  instead  of 
 390  days,  and  of  course  falls  to  the  ground  when  the 
 true  number  is  considered  ;  the  ancient  Jews  and  some 
 early  Christians  interpreted  the  passage  of  a  period  of 
 
 130  years,  which  they  conceived  was  to  be  fulfilled  fi i 
 
 the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple,  in  the 
 see.ind  year  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  to  its  expected 
 restoration,  which  the  event  has  shown  tobo  groundless. 
 
 Another  ancient  interpretation  makes  of  the  pcri.nl 
 
 of  ISO  years,  the  time  from  the  building  to  the  de- 
 struction of  Solomon's  Temple.    This   is  open  to  the 
 
 same  objections   already  urged   to  others,  and    besides, 
 
 it  makes  the  total  number  the  prominent  thing,  while 
 there  is  no  point   of  division  for  the   390  and   the  40. 
 
 St.  Jerome  reckoned  the  390  years  from  the  captivity 
 
 of   the   northern  kingdom  to  the  deliverance   of    the 
 
 .lews  from  danger  in  the  time  of  Ksther.  and  the  10 
 years  from  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  by  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar to  the  decree  of  Cyrus  for  the  restoration  of 
 tho   Jews;  but    his   chronology   is   at    fault,   and   the 
 
 former  part   of  the  explanation  takes  no  notil f  the 
 
 main  point  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  while  the  events 
 
 in  the  time  of  Bether cannot  be  looked  upon  as  the 
 
 termination  of  the  punisl nt  of  the  [at 
 
 The  later  Jews  make  up  the  two  periods  by  selecting 
 throughout  the  period  of  the  Judges  and  the  monarchy 
 
 the   various   times  in    whieh    the   sins    of    Israel    and    ..t' 
 
 Jiidali  wen-  especially  marked,  and  adding  these  to- 
 
 gether;   but  this  is  utterly  arbitrary  an. 1  unsatisfacf 
 
 So  much  space  has  been  given  t"  these  different  in- 
 terpretations in  order  to  show  that  there  is  no  definite 
 term  of  years,  either  before  or  after  the  date  of  the 
 
 prophecy,  whieh  the  ingenuity  of    the  i imentaiors 
 
 has  been  able  to  discover,  satisfying  the  iditiaus  of 
 
 the  prophecy  itself.     We  are.  therefore,  left    fn 
 
 aeeept  the  interpretation  now  generally  given  by  the 
 best  modern  expositors. 
 
 This  takes  for  its  starting-point  the  evident  allusion 
 of  Ez.ekiel  to  Num.  xiv.  II.  "  After  the  number  of  the 
 days  in  which  ye  searched  the  land,  even  forty  days, 
 eaeh  day  for  a  year  shall  ye  bear  your  iniquities  ;  "  and 
 the    earlier    Prophecies    declaring    that    the    people    in 
 
 punishment  for  their  sins  should  be  brought  again  into 
 Egypt,  whieh  yet  should  not  he  Egypt  (Deut.xxviii 
 
 rXosea  \iii.  13;  ix.  3;  xi.  •">  ,  but  Assyria  or  Babylonia. 
 as  is  expressly  defined  in  some  of  these  prophecies. 
 The  meaning  is  plainly  that  they  should  endure  suf- 
 ferings corresponding  to  the  Egyptian  bondage,  but  in 
 
 another  locality.  Ez.ekiel  himself  elsewhere  XX.  35) 
 speaks  of  ( l.nl's  dealings  with  the  captives  as  a  plead- 
 ing with  them  "in  the  wilderness.'"  Mow  if  this  be 
 Once  recognised  as  the  basis  of  Ez.ekiel's  language  — 
 the  representation  of  the  future  in  terms  of  the  hist. .He 
 past,  whieh  is  so  common  in  all  prophecy — there  need 
 be  no  difficulty  in  the  mention  of  the  precise  numbers. 
 They  become  mere  Catch-wordfi  to  carry  the  mind  to 
 the  period  he  would  indicate.  The  wanderings  in  the 
 wilderness  were  always  reckoned  at  40  years,  and  the 
 sojourn  in  Egypt  (see  Exod.  xii.  40)  "at  430  years. 
 Ez.ekiel  merely  follows  here  his  habit  of  putting  every- 
 thing int..  vivid  and  concrete  form.  Are  his  people  to 
 sutler  for  their  sins  as  they  Buffered  of  old  ?  Judah  is 
 to  endure  the  40  years  of  wilderness  sufferings,  and 
 Israel  those  of  the  Egyptian  bondage;  only,  if  he 
 spoke  of  the  latter  as  130  years,  it  might  seem  that 
 Israel  was  to  endure  the  punishment  belonging  to  both 
 Israel  and  Judah,  and  therefore  he  takes  from  it  the 
 period  already  assigned  to  Judah,  leaving  for  Israel 
 3! to  years.  This  accounts  for  his  not  mentioning  the 
 (30   years    at    all,  and  Could    be  done   the    more    easily 
 
 because  the  actual  bondage  in  Egypt  was  far  less  than 
 
 either  number.  No  precise  period  whatever  is  intended 
 by  the  mention  of  these  number-,  but  only  a  vivid  com- 
 parison  of  the  future  woes  to  the  past.  Again,  what, 
 ever  might  be  their  present  sufferings,  they  still  had 
 hope,  and  even  indulged  in  defiance,  while  Jerusalem 
 and  the  Temple  stood.  This  hope  was  vain.  The  holy 
 city  and  the  Temple  itself  should  be  destroyed,  and 
 then  they  would  know  that  the  baud  of  the  Lord  was 
 heavy  upon  them  indeed  for  the  punishment  of  their 
 sins.  The  siege  of  Jerusalem  is.  therefore,  the  pro- 
 minent feature  of  the  pn .ph.ey  ;  and  there  is  foretold. 
 as     the     consequence   of    this,    the    eating  of    'defiled 
 
 bread  among  the  Gentiles"  (verse  13)  as  in  Egypt  of 
 old.  together  with  the  various  forms  of  want  and  suf- 
 fering set  forth  in  the  striking  symbolism  of  this 
 chapter. 
 
 349 
 
EZEKIEL. 
 
 EXCURSUS   C:    ON   CHAPTER  V.  7. 
 
 The  expression  iii  this  verse,  and  also  that  in  chap, 
 xvi.  47,  are  explained  in  the  commentary  as  meaning 
 that  the  Israelites  were  not  absolutely  worse  than  the 
 heathen,  but  only  relatively,  in  view  of  their  oppor- 
 tunities and  privileges ;  yet  the  language  in  both 
 places,  as  well  as  in  many  other  passages  of  the  pro- 
 phets, seems  on  its  face  to  be  absolute.  The  question 
 may,  therefore,  be  naturally  asked  whether  it  is  jus- 
 tifiable to  interpret  it  in  a  relative  sense,  and  if  so,  on 
 what  grounds  ?  The  answer  to  these  questions  must 
 be  sought  in  a  consideration  of  the  whole  character  and 
 history  of  Israel,  which  will  show  that  what  might  be 
 only  a  relatively  greater  wickedness  in  them  according 
 to  a  human  standard,  becomes,  under  the  circumstances, 
 an  absolutely  greater  sin  against  God. 
 
 It  certainly  is  not  true  that  the  Israelites  as  a  nation 
 habitually  committed  sins  which  were,  in  themselves 
 considered,  of  greater  enormity  than  the  abominations 
 of  the  heathen  ;  nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  they  were 
 originally  chosen  of  God  because  they  had  a  worse  dis- 
 position than  any  other  people.  How,  then,  did  they 
 come  to  be  regarded  by  Him  as  worse,  and  how  did 
 they  come  to  have  a  greater  proclivity  to  evil  ?  The 
 law  of  the  moral  government  of  the  world,  that  respon- 
 sibility is  proportioned  to  privilege,  is  much  insisted 
 upon  in  Scripture ;  and  hence  the  neglect  or  misuse  of 
 privilege  leads  to  a  severer  condemnation  than  if  the 
 privilege  had  never  been  given.  This  law  is  in  accord- 
 ance with  the  fact  of  universal  experience  that  grace, 
 whenresisted,  hardens  the  heart  and  alienates  it  further 
 from  God.  It  is  only  in  view  of  this  fact  that  we 
 can  account  for  the  rejection  of  our  Lord  by  those 
 among  whom  His  mighty  works  were  done.  The  same 
 fact  explains  the  strong  terms  in  which  the  prophets 
 continually  reproach  their  people.  The  Gentiles,  with 
 less  of  grace  and  of  religious  pi-ivilege,  could  not  fall 
 into  the  same  extreme  hardness  of  heart  by  their 
 rejection. 
 
 But  this  suggests  the  still  more  radical  question, 
 Why  should  the  Israelites  have  been  more   prone  to 
 
 abuse  their  greater  privileges  than  the  Gentiles  to  slight 
 those  which  were  far  inferior  ?  The  reason  lies  in  the 
 very  natui-e  of  the  privileges  themselves ;  for  the  oppo- 
 sition of  the  natural  heart  was  far  more  roused  by  the 
 one  than  by  the  other.  The  various  religious  of  the 
 heathen  were  alike  in  imposing  little  check  on  the 
 passions  and  selfishness  and  self-will  of  man  ;  in  fact, 
 they  often  not  only  encouraged  but  deified  the  worst 
 traits  of  human  nature.  The  law  of  God,  on  the  con. 
 trary,  set  before  men  as  the  object  of  their  worship  a 
 Being  of  absolute  purity  and  holiness,  and  made  the 
 devotion  to  Him  of  heart  and  soul  and  strength  its  first 
 and  most  absolute  command.  If  the  privilege  of  the 
 Israelite  was  far  greater,  it  yet  required  of  him  a  harder 
 struggle  against  the  evil  of  his  nature  to  avail  himself 
 of  its  benefits  ;  and  the  failure  in  this,  as  it  led  him 
 away  from  a  higher  standard  of  holiness,  necessarily 
 precipitated  him  into  a  greater  depth  of  sin.  Hence 
 arose  the  striking  contrasts  in  Israel's  history  between 
 the  saiutliness  of  an  Elijah,  an  Isaiah,  or  a  Daniel,  and 
 the  extreme  wickedness  of  the  people  whom  the  prophet 
 was  now  sent  to  rebuke.  There  is  nothing  therefore 
 strange  or  abnormal  in  the  history  of  Israel  as  com- 
 pared witli  that  of  the  Gentiles.  The  same  old  story  is 
 constantly  repeated  in  the  vices  of  Christian  lands, 
 and  is  seen  everywhere  in  the  greater  faithfulness  to 
 their  standards  of  the  devotees  of  every  false  or  cor- 
 rupted religion.  In  passing,  one  cannot  but  remark 
 upon  that  merciful  providence  of  Almighty  God  by 
 which  His  revelation  has  been  ever  progressive,  rising 
 only  as  men  were  in  some  degree  prepared  by  the  lower 
 revelation  to  bear  the  higher. 
 
 Yet,  while  these  results  may  thus  be  traced  to  the 
 working  of  providential  laws,  the  fault  is  without  excuse, 
 whether  in  ourselves  or  in  the  Israelites  of  old.  Neither 
 they  nor  we  would  willingly  forego  the  privilege,  and 
 with  this  the  responsibility  for  its  improvement  is  in- 
 separably joined.  God  gave  then,  as  He  gives  now, 
 sufficient  grace  to  those  that  seek  it ;  and  freely  pardons 
 the  sin  of  all  that  strive  against  its  power. 
 
 EXCURSUS  D:    ON   CHAPTER   XIII.   6,   7,   AND   17. 
 
 In  these  verses  a  broad  and  crucial  distinction  is  made 
 between  the  self-imagined  vision  and  that  which  is  sent 
 from  the  Lord.  It  may  be  that  in  this  case  the  prophets 
 and  prophetesses  were  untrue  to  their  own  convictions, 
 and  wilfully  declared  what  they  knew  to  be  false ;  or  it 
 maybe  that  they  simply  uttered  as  God's  message  that 
 which  they  had  persuaded  themselves  would  be  the  issue. 
 This  point  is  not  entirely  clear  from  the  passage,  and  is 
 of  secondary  importance.  What  deserves  to  be  carefully 
 noted  is  the  difference  here  made  between  subjective 
 views  of  truth — that  which  comes  "  out  of  their  own 
 heart " — and  those  objective  communications  which  God 
 
 gave  to  His  true  prophets.  This  distinction  has  a  most 
 important  bearing  upon  the  whole  subject  of  revelation, 
 and  establishes  clearly  the  fact  that  the  Scriptures  look 
 upon  it  as  something  expressly  communicated  to  their 
 writers,  and  not  as  a  thing  which  could  be  the  result  of 
 their  own  thought  and  reflection.  He,  therefore,  who 
 puts  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  "  before  that  which  God  has 
 not  in  some  objective  way  made  known  to  him.  must 
 fall  under  the  condemnation  pronounced  here  and  else- 
 where upon  '•  the  prophet  which  shall  presume  to  speak 
 a  word  in  my  name,  which  I  have  not  commanded  him 
 to  speak  "  (Dent,  xviii.  20). 
 
 EXCURSUS  E :  ON  CHAPTER  XXIX.  19.— ON  NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S  CONQUEST  OF  EGYPT. 
 
 The  fact  of  this  conquest  having  been  called  in  ques- 
 tion, it  may  be  well  to  state  very  briefly  the  points  of 
 evidence  in  its  favour.  It  is  admitted  by  all  that 
 Pharaoh-Hophra  was  dethroned,  and  died  a  violent 
 death,  and  was  succeeded  by  Amasis,  who  was  at  first 
 
 350 
 
 little  regarded  by  the  people,  though  he  afterwards 
 won  their  confidence.  The  account  given  of  this  re- 
 volution by  the  Egyptian  priests  to  Herodotus  makes 
 no  mention  of  any  foreign  interference,  but  represents 
 it  as  wholly  an  internal  affair,  caused  by  a  revolt  of  the 
 
EZEKIE1  . 
 
 troops  of  Bophra,  He  sent  Amasis  to  them  to  bring 
 them  back  to  their  allegiance,  bnt  they  sainted  bimas 
 kin/.  This  authority  is  suspicious,  since  the  priests 
 were   prone   to  cover  up   whatever    they    considered 
 
 against  the  hon 'of  their  country;  and  the  two  facts 
 
 of  the  popularity  ofAmasis  with  the  troops  and  hi 
 nnpopufanty  with  the  people  are  scareely  consistent, 
 since  ii  is  said  thai  be  spared  Hophra  tt  i  a  time,  but 
 afterwards,  yielding  to  the  wishes  of  the  ] pie,  stran- 
 gled him.  Now  against  this  .suspicious  and  interested 
 Btory  stands  the  much  more  probable  supposition  that 
 Eophra  was  dethroned  and  Amasis  pnt  into  1 1 i -^  plan' 
 by  the  power  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Megasthenes  and 
 Berosus,  according  to  Josephns,  expressly  testify  that 
 "Nebuchadnezzar  conquered  a  great  pari  of  Africa, 
 and  having  invaded  Egypt,  toot  many  captives,  who 
 
 were  i mitted  to  the  charge  of  persons  appointed  t" 
 
 conduct  them  after  him  to  Babylon."  This  conquest, 
 according  to  the  dates  already  given,  must  be  placed 
 just  at  the  time  of  tin-  fall  of  Hophra.  Besides  this, 
 i  line  is  a  very  full  prophecy  of  the  conquest  of  Egypl 
 by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  Jeremiah  (chap,  xlvi.),  uttered 
 in  tin-  first  year  of  his  reign  (comp.  ohap.  ilvi  1  with 
 chap.  xxv.  1 1.  But  Jeremiah  was  himself  afterwards 
 carried  into  Egypt,  and  while  there  ottered  other  pro- 
 phecies to  the  same  effect  (chaps,  xliiL,  xliv.),  It  is 
 altogether  probable  that  he  was  -.till  living  there  at  the 
 time  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  expedition;  ami.  on  the  lowest 
 grounds,  ii  is  inconceivable  that  he  Bhould have  allowed 
 
 e    various  prophecies  to  remain  on  r rd  if  they 
 
 1 1  I  been  proved  raise  by  the  event.    The  -.aim'  thing 
 
 he  said  also  of  the  present   prophecy 
 
 of  Ezekiel,  and  of  that  in  chap.  xxx.  10,  although  the 
 
 prophet  was  not,  like  Jeremiah,  living  where  he  could 
 
 be  tin  eye-witness   of  the   result   of  the  attaek.      Other 
 
 prophecies  against    Egypt  (Isa,  xviii.,  xix..  xxxi. ;  Joel 
 iii.  I;ti  are  more  general,  and   may  not  have  in  view 
 particular  conquest 
 
 Again,  Bzekiel    represents    Egypt    a^    spoiled    by 
 Nebuchadnezzar,   while   both  ancient   history  and  the 
 
 monuments  deseribs  th hi  ut  rv  as  rieh  ami  prosperous 
 
 under  Amasis,     There  is  really  no  inconsistency,  luit 
 
 entire    harmony  between   these   a. mts.    The  great 
 
 drain  a] tin'  resources  of  Egypt  for  many  genera. 
 
 tions  had  been  her   foreign  wars  with  the  p 
 Mesopotamia.    Believed   of  this,  ami   at    peace   with 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  under  the  go  of  his  vassal, 
 
 Egypt  would  soon  have  recovered  her  prosperity  in 
 wealth  and  art,  while  still  politically  desolated  and  no 
 longer  able  to  appear  as  a  great  power  anion/  the 
 nations.  From  this  time  through  all  subsequent 
 history  Egypt  was  a  base  kingdom,  and  never  again 
 able  to  dispute,  as  in  former  days,  the  sovereignty  of 
 
 add. 
 
 There  is  an  apparent  difficulty  about  the  date  of  this 
 
 i quest,  alluded  to  under  verse  17.      The  prophecy  of 
 
 Ezekiel   is    in   the    future,   and   yet    was  spoken   in  the 
 
 thirty.fifth  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar  the  twenty-seventh 
 
 from  i lie  secession  of  Zedekiah  .  Now,  Jerusalem  was 
 taken  in  his  nineteenth  year  -  Slings  xxv.  8  .  and  an 
 interval  of  sixteen  yens  seems,  at  tirst  Bight,  inconsis- 
 tent with  the  statement  of  Josephns.  But  if  that 
 statement    he   examined,  it  will    lie  found    to  be  entirely 
 
 indefinite  (see  under  verae  17),  and  it  is  hardly  to  be 
 supposed  that   Nebuchadnezzar  would  have  undertaken 
 
 the  conquest  of  Egypt  while  still  engaged  in  the  - 
 
 of  Tyre  ;  in  faet,  vers,-,  1>.  l;t  distinctly  imply  that 
 tli ie  was  subsequent  to  the  other.     Now,  the  si  _ 
 
 of  Tyre   appears  to    have   1 D    begun   about    two  years 
 
 alter  the  eapl  tire  of  Jerusalem,  and  last,,!  thirteen  years. 
 It  closed    then   fifteen    years    after  the  destruction  of 
 
 Jerusalem,  and  supposing  th.'  campaign  against  Egypt 
 
 to  have  followed  immediately,  in  the  next  year,  we  get 
 Hie  exact  date  of  this  prophecy.  (For  the  references 
 t  i  Josephns, see  Awtiqq.,'Bk.  x., cap. ix.,  §  7;  Cont.Ap., 
 Bk.  i..  §  l:<.  20.) 
 
 EXCURSUS   F:    ON  CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
 
 So  much  has  been  said  in  the  interpretation  of  this 
 
 iter  of  the  high  spiritual  view  which  can  alone  ex- 
 plain these  prophecies  consistently  with  themselves, 
 that  it  may  he  unnecessary  to  add  anything  further;  yet 
 
 as  correct  views  upon  this  point  are  absolutely  essential 
 to  the  right  understanding  of  the  remaining  parte  of  this 
 
 book,  and  as  much  misapprehension  exists  in  regard  to 
 them,  it    may   he   well   very  briefly  to   mention   some  of 
 
 (he  reasons  why  it  is  impossible  to  understand  the 
 language  of  Ezekiel  in  regard  to  the  future  as  referring 
 
 only  to  the  Israelite,  alter  I  he  flesh,  and  to  the  land  in 
 which  they  once  live  1. 
 
 Every  one  who  compares  the  general  scope  and  pur- 
 pose of  the    tVi  itions    inn, I    see   that    the] 
 essentially    one.  that     the    end     WBS    foreseen    from    the 
 
 beginning,  and  that  the  earlier  was  distinctly  preparatory 
 
 for  the  later.      The   "  Gospel    was   preach  unto 
 
 Abraham,"  and    then   ••  the  law    was    added    1 an,e   of 
 
 transgressions,  until  the  promised  seed  should  come" 
 
 (Gal.  iii.  8,    ll'i  ;    ami  this   preparatory  character  of  the 
 
 <ild  dispensation,    recognised    even   by   Moses  (Dent. 
 
 XViii.    l"i — 18,  &C.),  Was    more   ami    more    insisted    upon 
 
 by  the  prophets  {,.,/..  ,ler.  xxxi.  :'.l — 34;  Hag.  ii.  6 — 9, 
 so.).  At  the  same  time,  they  describe  the  future  con- 
 tinually by  means  of  already  familiar  events  in  their 
 history    see    Isa.  xl. — lxvi.  throughout,  especially  chaps. 
 
 lxii.,  lxiii.  |,  even  going  to  the  extent  of  promising  again 
 the  reign  of  David  (.lor.  xxx.  !»;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  23,"24; 
 xxxvii.  J  t,  '2~i  ;    Bos.  iii.  5),  and   the   coming   in  the   last 
 
 days  of  the  prophet  Elijah  i  Mai.  iv.  5).   These  prophecies 
 
 are  repeatedly  and  expressly  interpreted  of  Christ  and 
 His  forerunner,  while  the  promised  "new  covenant" 
 i,   explained   of  the  Christian  dispensation;     and     the 
 
 description  of  the  wonders  accompanying  it,  introduc- 
 tion (Joel  ii.  28 — :'.-.  \c.)  is  applied  to  the  circum- 
 stances connected  with  the  first  promulgation  of  the 
 
 Gospel  (Acts    ii.  16,    \e.  .      Moreover.it    was   from    the 
 
 rpeoted  that  tin-   "seed  of    Abraham"  should 
 embrace  far  more  than  his  descendants  after  tin'  flesh, 
 
 and  I  he  promise  that  he  should  he  "  the  father  of  many 
 nations"   is   shown    by  St.    Haul  to   mean   that    all   who 
 
 embraced  his  faith  should  he  recognised  as  his  children 
 
 (Hom.  iv.   M1;    while  the  correlated   promise,    "To   thy 
 
 Seed    "ill    1    rive   this    land."   is    extended    in    the  same 
 
 connection  [it.  verse  L3  to  a  promise  "that  he  should 
 
 he  the  heir  of  the  world."  When  these  tact,  are  joined 
 >ith  our  Lord's  teaching  that  the  types  and  shadows 
 of  the  old  economy  were  fulfilled  in  Himself;  that  the 
 time  had  come  when  Jerusalem  should  no  longer  I"'  the 
 place  where  the  Father  should  he  worshipped    John  iv. 
 
 •Jl);  and  {-)  with  the  apostle's  declaration  that  all  earthly 
 
 distinctions   between   Jew  and   Greek,  or  of   whatever 
 
 30 1 
 
EZEKIEL. 
 
 other  kind,  are  passed  away :  that  "  if  ye  be  Christ's, 
 then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed  "  (Gal.  iii.  28,  29)  ;  and 
 also  (3)  with  the  whole  argument  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
 Hebrews  that  the  Aaronic  priesthood  culminated  and 
 was  absorbed  in  the  higher  priesthood  of  Christ,  and 
 that  the  whole  sacrificial  and  Temple  arrangements  of 
 old  were  typical  and  temporary,  and  were  superseded 
 by  the  realities  of  the  Christian  dispensation — there 
 seems  no  longer  room  for  doubt  that  the  Jewish  Church 
 and  nationality  are  things  of  the  past,  and  have  been 
 merged  for  ever  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  At  the  same 
 time,  it  is  never  to  be  forgotten  that  the  prophets  fore- 
 told, and  history  has  fulfilled,  that  "  salvation  is  of 
 the  Jews"  (John  iv.  22),  and  that  the  law  should  "  go 
 forth  from  Sion,"  and  the  "  new  covenant "  be  made 
 with  God's  chosen  people  ;  for  it  is  abundantly  evident 
 that  our  Lord,  after  the  flesh,  was  a  Jew,  and  all  His 
 immediate  followers  were  Jews.  His  Church  was 
 cradled  among  them,  and  it  was  not  until  some  years 
 after  it  had  entered  upon  its  career  for  the  salvation  of 
 the  world  that  its  dooi-s  were  thrown  open  to  the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 If,  however,  it  were  still  urged  that,  all  this  being 
 admitted,  many  prophecies,  and  notably  those  of 
 Ezekiel,  still  seem,  over  and  above  these  things,  to  look 
 forward  to  a  future  restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their 
 own  land,  in  a  condition  of  great  prosperity  and  power, 
 it  must  be  replied  that  the  above  considerations  of  the 
 absolute  removal  in  Christ  of  all  distinctions  among 
 those  who  believe  in  Him  are  inconsistent  with  the 
 future  revival  of  these  distinctions  in  His  Church ;  and 
 that  even  such  an  explicit  prophecy  of  the  restoration 
 of  the  fallen  "  tabernacle  of  David  "  as  is  contained  in 
 Amos  ix.  11,  12  is  expi-essly  applied  by  the  apostles 
 (Acts  xv.  16)  to  the  union  of  Gentiles  and  Jews  in 
 the  Christian  Church. 
 
 Besides  all  this,  in  predicting  the  future  under  the 
 figures  of  what  has  gone  before,  the  prophets  frequently 
 foretell  what  would  be  contradictory  if  it  were  to  be 
 
 understood  literally.  Thus  Zeehariah  (chap.  xiv.  16 — 
 19)  declares  that  all  nations  shall  come  up  to  Jerusalem 
 to  keep  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  :  an  evident  physical 
 impossibility.  So  also  there  is  continual  mention  of 
 the  restoration  of  animal  sacrifices  with  acceptance  to- 
 God,  which  is  inconceivable  in  the  light  in  which  those 
 sacrifices  are  viewed  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
 offering  of  the  "  one  sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever"  (Heb. 
 x.  12)  by  Him  who  was  the  Antitype  of  all  sacrifice 
 necessarily  brought  to  an  end  the  whole  typical  system. 
 
 Finally,  it  is  to  be  considered  that  the  very  represen- 
 tations of  the  old  prophets  are  sometimes  repeated  in 
 the  New  Testament  as  a  means  of  describing  a  state  of 
 things  which  no  one  would  dream  of  interpreting 
 literally.  This  is  particularly  noticeable  in  the  present 
 passage.  Ezekiel  has  been  describing  a  spiritual  resur- 
 rection of  the  people  (comp.  John  v.  21),  and  then  goes 
 on  to  foretell  an  assault  by  their  enemies  which  shall 
 be  frustrated  by  the  power  of  God  (chaps,  xxxviii., 
 xxxix.).  The  same  thing  is  foretold  in  Rev.  xx.  :  the 
 power  of  evil  is  restrained  for  a  time,  and  there  is  a 
 rosivrrection  of  the  believers  in  Christ,  with  a  period  of 
 blessing  and  prosperity ;  then  the  enemies  of  God 
 (under  the  very  same  names  of  Gog  and  Magog)  are 
 gathered  to  battle,  and  destroyed  by  the  power  of  God; 
 and  finally,  the  Church  of  the  future,  the  heavenly 
 Jerusalem,  is  revealed  in  its  power  and  glory,  in  much 
 the  sanio  way  as  in  this  passage  of  Ezekiel. 
 
 It  can  scarcely  be  necessary  to  add  that  the  figurative- 
 interpretation  of  these  prophecies  does  not  affect  the 
 important  question  in  regard  to  the  purpose  of  Divine 
 Providence  in  the  continued  preservation  of  the  Jews 
 as  a  distinct  people,  and  the  intimations  in  regard  to 
 their  future,  given  in  the  Epistle  to  tho  Romans  and 
 elsewhere.  Whatever  may  be  the  future  designed  for 
 Israel,  the  question  here  is  simply,  What  was  the 
 instruction  intended  to  be  conveyed  in  this  chapter? 
 And  the  reasons  above  given  seem  sufficiently  to  indi- 
 cate the  interpi-etation  adopted. 
 
 EXCURSUS    G:    ON   CHAPTERS   XXXVIII.   AND   XXXIX. 
 
 Various  indications  of  the  nature  and  intent  of  this 
 prophecy  have  been  already  given  in  commenting  upon 
 its  verses  in  detail,  but  it  is  desirable  to  gather  up 
 these  indications  and  combine  them  with  others  of  a 
 more  general  character. 
 
 It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the  starting-point  of  the 
 prophecy  may  have  been  in  some  recent  events,  such  as 
 the  Scythian  invasion  already  spoken  of.  It  is  also 
 plain  that  a  prophecy  of  such  a  general  character,  con- 
 cerning the  struggle  of  worldliness  against  the  king- 
 dom of  God,  and  its  final  overthrow,  may  have  had 
 many  partial  fulfilments  of  a  literal  kind,  such  as  in 
 the  contest  between  the  Maccabees  and  Antiochus 
 Epiphaues,  because  such  struggles  must  always  be 
 incidents  in  the  greater  and  wider  contest.  It  is 
 further  evident  from  the  prophecy  itself  that  the 
 restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land,  then  not  far 
 distant,  was  constantly  before  the  mind  of  the  prophet, 
 and  formed  in  some  sort  the  point  of  view  from  which 
 he  looked  out  upon  the  wider  and  more  spiritual  bless- 
 ings of  the  distant  future.  But  these  things  being 
 understood,  there  are  several  clear  indications  that  he 
 did  not  confine  his  view  in  this  prophecy  to  any  literal 
 event,  but  intended  to  set  forth  under  the  figure  of 
 Gog  and  his  armies  all  opposition  of  the  world  to  the 
 
 kingdom  of  God,  and  to  foretell,  like  his  contemporary 
 Daniel,  the  final  and  complete  triumph  of  the  latter  in 
 the  distant  future. 
 
 The  first  thing  that  strikes  one  in  reading  the  pro- 
 phecy is  the  strange  and  incongruous  association  of  the 
 nations  in  this  attack.  No  nations  near  the  land  of 
 Israel  are  mentioned,  and  few  of  those  who,  either 
 before  or  since,  have  been  known  as  its  foes.  On  the 
 contrary,  the  nations  selected  are  all  as  distant  from 
 Palestine  and  as  distant  from  each  other  (living  on  the 
 confines  of  the  known  world)  as  it  was  possible  to 
 mention.  The  Scythians,  the  Persians,  the  Armenians, 
 the  Ethiopians  and  Libyans,  the  tribes  of  Arabia, 
 Dedan  and  Shcba,  and  the  Tarshish  probably  of  Spain, 
 form  an  alliance  which  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  as 
 ever  being  actually  formed  among  the  nations  of  the 
 earth.  Then  the  object  of  this  confederacy,  the  spoil 
 of  Israel  (chaps,  xxxviii.  12,  13 ;  xxxix.  10),  would  have 
 been  absurdly  incommensurate  with  the  exertion; 
 Palestine,  with  all  it  contained,  would  hardly  have  been 
 enough  to  furnish  rations  for  the  invaders  for  a  day, 
 far  less  to  tempt  them  to  a  march  of  many  hundreds,  or 
 even  thousands,  of  miles.  Further,  the  mass  of  the  in- 
 vaders, as  described  in  chap,  xxxix.  12 — 16,  is  more  than 
 fifty  times  greater  than  any  army  that  ever  assembled 
 
 352 
 
EZEKIEL 
 
 ilium  earth,  and  great  enough  to  make  it  difficult  for 
 tliciii  in  find  t\ .-ii  camping -gronnd  upon  the  whole 
 territory  of  Palestine.    Tins  mnltitnde  is  so  evidently 
 
 Ideal,  and  the  eironmstantia]  a ml  of  their  burial  so 
 
 plainly  practically  impossible,  thai  it  is  mn ssary  to 
 
 add  anything  farther  cowhai  has  I □  -aid  in  the  Notes 
 
 to  tliis  passage.  Finally,  in  the  statement  (chap, 
 xxxviii.  17)  that  tliis  prophecy  was  the  same  which  had 
 been  spoken  in  nl<l  tune  by  the  prophets  of  Israel,  we 
 ham  a  dired  assurance  that  it  was  nut  meant,  to  be 
 literally  understood,  because  no  such   prophecies  are 
 
 anywhere  recorded;  but  prophecies  of  what  n n- 
 
 oerre  to  be  here  piotorially  represented,  the  straggle  of 
 
 the  world  with   [ho   kingdom  of  (iod  and   its  final  utter 
 
 overthrow,  do  form  the  constant   burden  of  prophecy, 
 
 and  constitute  one  of  the  striking  features  of  all 
 Revelation. 
 
 To    this    is   to    be  added    the   t'aet    that,  however  the 
 
 passage  in  Rev.  xx.  7 — LO  may  be  interpreted,  the 
 author  of  the  Apocalypse,  by  the  use  of  the  same 
 names,  and  a  short  summary  of  the  same  description, 
 
 has  shown   that    ha   regarded   t hi-,   vision  of  E/.ekiel  a* 
 
 typical,  and  its  fulfilment  as  i"  liis  time  ^i  ill  future. 
 
 The   prophecy,  thus   interpreted,   falls   naturally   into 
 the  place  it  holds  in  tl olhetion  of  Ezckii l's  writings. 
 
 There  has  been  hi  the  last  tew  chapters,  especially  in 
 
 chap,  xxwii..  an  increasing  fulness  of  Messianic  pro. 
 .  then  follows,  in  the  closing  section  of  the  book, 
 a  remarkable  setting  forth  of  the  perfected  worship 
 of  God  by  a  purified  people  under  the  earthly  figure 
 of  a  greatly  Changed  and  purified  temple-worship,  with 
 a  new  apportionment  of  the  land,  a  purified  priest- 
 hood, and  other  figures  taken  from  the  old  dispensation. 
 But  these  things  are  not  to  be  attained  without  trial 
 and  struggle ;  and.  therefore,  just  here  is  placed  this 
 warning  of  the  putting  forth  of  the  whole  power  of  the 
 world  against  the  kingdom  of  (jod  under  the  symbol 
 of  the  gathering  of  the  armies  of  Gog.  with  the  com- 
 forting assurance,  given  everywhere  in  Revelation,  that 
 in  the  ultimate  issue  every  power  which  exalls  itself 
 against  God  shall  be  utterly  overthrown,  and  all  things 
 shall  be  subdued  uuto  Him. 
 
 162 
 
 353 
 
THE    BOOK    OF    DANIEL. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 THE    BOOK    OF    DANIEL. 
 
 I.  Porsonal  history  of  Daniel.— Of  the  per- 
 sonal history  of  this  grant  aeei  nothing  is  known  be- 
 yond what  in  recorded  of  him  in  the  Book  of  Daniel. 
 Being  apparently  of  royal  descent  (chap.  i.  3),  and 
 when  si  ill  ■  youth,  he  was  taken  to  Babylon  captive  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar  iit  tin'  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim.  As 
 history  docs  not  state  that  lie  ever  revisited  his  native 
 land,  it  is  highly  probable  that  he  continued  in  the 
 East  from  tin'  year  of  his  exile  till  the  third  year  of 
 OjTUS,  which  is  the  last  date  mentioned  ill  the  book. 
 Here  his  position  and  his  well-known  character,  nodonbt, 
 enabled  him  to  render  much  aid  to  his  fellow-country- 
 men, whether  at  home  or  in  exile. 
 
 During  this  long  period  he  had  witnessed  the  mar- 
 vellous anil  rapid  growth  of  the  Babylonian  empire 
 under  Nebuchadnezzar.  Ho  then  watched  the  gradual 
 decay  of  this  mighty  empire  after  the  decease  of  its 
 founder;  he  saw  the  final  collapse  of  it,  and  witnessed 
 the  tirsl  beginning  of  the  Persian  supremacy,  nuder 
 which, as  well  as  during  the  short  period  that  a  Median 
 viceroy    presided   over   Babylonia,   he  probably   main. 
 
 tained  the  high  position  which  he  had  filled  during  his 
 younger  days.  The  date  of  his  death,  liko  that  of  his 
 birth,  is  unknown,  but  his  prophetic  activity  must  have 
 
 lasted  over  seventy  years.  The  first  of  the  exiles  him- 
 self, lie  lived  to  seo  the  return  of  the  Jews  under 
 Zerubbabol,  and  to  hoar  of  the  opposition  offered  by 
 the  Samaritans  to  the  progress  of  the  works  at  Jeru- 
 salem. His  fame  spread  among  the  exiles  who  resided 
 in  remoter  parts  of  the  Babylonian  empire,  and  one  of 
 these,  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  mentions  his  wisdom  (chap. 
 xxviii.  3),  and  hints  at  his  intercession  i  Ezok.  xiv.  14) 
 for  the  lives  of  certain  persona       See  Daniel  ii.  Jt.  i 
 
 II.  Authorship  of  the  Book  of  Daniel.— 
 Tho  Book  of  Daniel  is  anonymous.  No  title  is  pre- 
 fixed to  it  such  as  appears  in  the  ease  of  tho  books  of 
 Isaiah  or  Jeremiah.  It  begins  abruptly  with  the  state- 
 ment of  a  historical  fact  connected  with  the  reign  of 
 Jehoiakim.  It  then  proceeds  to  state  certain  incidents 
 that  occurred  in  the  lives  of  Daniel  and  of  his  three 
 friends  ;  it  then  gives  an  account  of  various  visions  and 
 revelations  which  God  gave  to  tho  seer;  and  concludes 
 with  the  solemn  words,  "Thou  shalt  rest  anil  stand 
 in  thy  lot  nt  tho  end  of  days"  (chap.  xii.  13).  In  no 
 place  is  it  definitely  stated  that  tho  author  of  the 
 hook  was  Daniel  himself. 
 
 A  closer  inspection  of  the  book,  however,  brings  to 
 light  a  remarkable  feature  in  it.  Throughout  the  first 
 six  chapters  Daniel  is  invariably  spoken  of  in  the 
 third  person.  Throughout  the  last  six  chapters,  with 
 three  exceptions,  Daniel  invariably  speaks  of  himself  in 
 the  first  person.  Hence  a  conclusion  might  be  drawn 
 that  we  have  traces  of  two  authors,  a  biographer  and 
 an  autohiographcr,  and  that  the  book  is  a  compilation 
 taken  from  the  two  sources.  But  is  such  a  conclusion 
 justifiable  P 
 
 Apparently  not.  For  throughout  the  last  six  chap- 
 ters Daniel  claims  to  have  seen  certain  visions,  and  to 
 have  received  certain  revelations;  a  vision  of  four 
 beasts  (chap,  vii.l,  which  represented  four  kingdoms, 
 three  of  which  the  reader  has  to  identify  for  himself; 
 a  vision  of  two  beasts  (chap.  viii.).  which,  according  to 
 the  words  of  the  heavenly  messenger,  represented  the 
 Medo. Persian  and  the  Greek  empires;  a  revelation  of 
 a  period  of  .seventy  weeks  (chap.  ix.  ,  which  were  closely 
 Connected  with  the  destiny  of  his  people;  and,  finally,  a 
 revelation  concerning  certain  events  which  were  to 
 occur  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Greek  empire.  Eaeli 
 of  these  visions  and  revelations  is  introduced  to  the 
 reader  respectively  by  tho  words,  "I  saw  in  my  vision," 
 
 "a  vision  appeared  unto  me,"  "I  nndersl 1  by  books," 
 
 "I  lifted  up  mine  eyes  and  looked."  It  is  obvious, 
 therefore,  that  the  last  six  chapters  claim  to  have  been 
 composed  by  Daniel. 
 
 But  we  notice  a  remarkable  correspondence  between 
 the  first  six  and  the  last  six  chapters.  Each  chapter  of 
 the  former  series  is  a  prelude  to  the  latter  series.  The 
 whole  of  the  first  series  is  essential  to  render  the  latter 
 series  intelligible.  Again,  the  writer  of  each  series  is 
 •  qnally  familiar  with  Hebrew  and  Chaldee.  Tho  same 
 peculiar  phrases  and  forms  of  language,  some  of  them 
 being  exceedingly  rare,  may  be  noticed  in  each  series. 
 It  is  highly  improbable  that  a  work  which  is  written 
 upon  so  definite  a  plan,  which  has.  moreover,  such 
 complete  uniformity  of  style,  should  lie  the  work  of 
 more  than  one  author.  If  then  the  author  of  the  latter 
 part  was  a  man  named  Daniel,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
 that  the  former  part  was  written  by  the  same  Dauiel. 
 In  fact,  the  change  from  the  third  to  the  first  person 
 no  more  disproves  that  Daniel  was  the  author  of  the 
 whole  work,  than  a  similar  alteration  of  persons  in  Jer. 
 xxiv.  1.  xxv.  1,  proves  that  Jeremiah  wrote  the  former 
 but  not  the  latter  chapter.  It  may  then  be  assumed 
 thai  the  whole  book  claims  to  liave  been  written  by 
 Daniel. 
 
 111.  Date  of  authorship  of  the  Book  of 
 Daniel.—  Let  it  l>e  granted  that  there  was  only  one 
 author  of  the  book,  and  this  is  now  almost  universally 
 acknowledged,  it  remains  to  make  an  approximation  to 
 tho  period  when  it  was  composed.  And  first  we  must 
 examine  what  the  author  states  about  himself.  He 
 claims  to  have  "continued"  (chap.  i.  '2\\  from  the  time 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar  to  the  first  year  of  Cyrns,  and  also 
 (chap.  x.  i.)  to  have  received  a  revelation  from  God  in 
 the  third  year  of  Cyrus.  He  thus  gives  the  cxtremo 
 limits  within  which  his  activity  continued.  He  adds 
 that  he  was  appointed  by  Nebuchadnezzar  "  to  be  ruler 
 over  the  whole  province  of  Babylon"  chap.  ii.  48). 
 He  was  employed  at  court  in  the  third  year  of  Bcl- 
 shazzar  (chap.  viii.  '27>,  and  on  the  night  when  Bel. 
 shazzar  was  slain  became  "  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom 
 (chap    v.   29).      Somo    similar    position   he   occupied 
 
 357 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 during  the  obscure  roign  of  Darius  the  Mede  (chap.  vi. 
 3).  From  what  the  author  states  of  himself  we  gather 
 that  he  lived  chiefly  under  the  Babylonian  empire. 
 
 The  internal  evidence  of  the  book  bears  this  out. 
 The  author  exhibits  a  very  minute  acquaintance  with 
 Babylon.  He  is  aware  of  the  thrco  classes  of  magicians 
 (chap.  ii.  2),  who  are  known  from  external  sources  to 
 have  existed  in  Babylon.  He  knows  the  magician's 
 phraseology  "  dissolving  of  doubts  "  (chap.  v.  12) ;  their 
 theology,  which  recognised  "gods  whose  dwelling  is  not 
 with  tlesh  "  (chap.  ii.  11) ;  and  the  sacred  character  of 
 Babylonian  numbers  (chap.  iii.  1,  19).  Besides  other 
 smaller  points,  he  is  acquainted  with  Babylonian  dress 
 (chap.  iii.  21),  and  Babylonian  punishments  (chaps. 
 ii.  5,  iii.  6).  Minute  particulars  like  these,  recorded  as 
 they  are  casually  and  parenthetically,  betray  an  author 
 living  in  Babylon. 
 
 His  knowledge  of  Persia  is  very  slight.  He  does 
 not  even  profess  to  have  lived  later  than  Cyrus,  and 
 consequently  he  only  knew  Persia,  as  it  were,  in  her 
 infancy.  He  was  only  aware  of  three  Persian  kings 
 after  Cyrus  (chap.  xi.  2),  instead  of  a  series  of  nionarehs 
 whose  united  reigns  extended  over  nearly  two  hundred 
 years.  He  was  aware  of  the  existence  of  Greece,  and 
 claims  to  have  received  a  revelation  that  the  power  of 
 Greece  woidd  overthrow  the  Persian  empire,  and  that 
 the  Greek  empire  would  only  last  during  the  reign  of 
 the  first  king.  But  he  is  uninformed  of  the  important 
 stages  by  which  the  Persian  empire  was  dissolved  and 
 superseded  by  the  Grecian. 
 
 Of  historical  events  that  occurred  after  the  establish- 
 ment of  the  Greek  empire  he  knows  still  less.  It  is 
 revealed  to  him  that  the  Greek  empire  would  finally  bo 
 divided  into  four  parts,  and  perhaps  also  that  two  of 
 these  should  materially  influence  the  fortunes  of  his 
 people;  but  it  is  remarkable  that  there  is  an  absence  of 
 anything  like  minute  accuracy  in  the  delineation  of 
 many  of  the  most  important  events  of  tins  time.  "While 
 certain  events,  such  as  the  wars  of  Ptolemy  Philopator 
 and  Antiochus  the  Great,  or  the  persecutions  in  the 
 time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  may  perhaps  be  pointed 
 out,  yet  other  events  of  great  importance  are  omitted, 
 such  as  the  Maccabeo  wars,  and  others  are  described  in 
 such  a  way  as  is  not  recorded  in  history,  such  as  the 
 death  of  Antiochus.     (See  Notes  on  chap,  xi.) 
 
 It  appears  then  that  the  internal  evidence,  slight 
 though  it  is,  favours  the  hypothesis  that  the  author 
 lived  in  the  Babylonian  period  rather  than  later. 
 Difficulties  have  to  be  encountered  under  any  hypo- 
 thesis as  to  the  date  of  the  authorship  of  the  book,  but 
 those  that  are  involved  in  the  hypothesis  of  an  early 
 date  are  the  least  formidable.     (See  below,  §  6.) 
 
 Another  fact  deserves  notice.  The  author,  though 
 not  claiming  the  title  of  prophet,  and  not  anywhere 
 3tyled  as  such  in  the  Old  Testament,  yet  claims  to 
 have  received  certain  revelations  from  God.  If  there- 
 fore he  was  desirous  that  his  book  should  be  received 
 by  his  contemporaries,  ho  must  have  lived  at  a  time 
 when  the  gift  of  prediction,  or  the  spirit  of  prophecy, 
 was  still  extant.  But  this  gift  was  extinct  in  the  times 
 of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to 
 place  the  author  of  tho  book  of  Daniel  at  an  earlier 
 period :  it  woidd  certainly  be  inconsistent  with  the 
 Maccabee  times  to  suppose  that  so  great  a  seer  as 
 Daniel  could  have  then  existed,  for,  according  to  the 
 trustworthy  historian  of  those  times,  the  people  then 
 complained  of  the  entire  absence  of  prophets.  (1  Mace, 
 iv.  45,  46,  ix.  27,  xiv.  41.) 
 
 The  external  evidence  bearing  upon  the  date  of  tho 
 book  of  Daniel  is  very  slight.    We  know  that  it  existed 
 
 368 
 
 in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era,  from  the  evi- 
 dent allusions  to  it  in  Matt.  xxiv.  15,  John  v.  28,  Matt, 
 xiii.  43.  (Comp.  Dan.  ix.  27,  xii.  2,  3.)  These  refe- 
 rences, and  the  words  of  our  Saviour  (Luke  xxi.  27, 
 where  He  refers  to  Dan.  vii.  13),  are  sufficient  for  those 
 who  believe  in  His  divinity  to  establish  the  authority 
 of  the  book. 
 
 To  the  testimony  of  the  New  Testament  must  be 
 added  that  of  Josephus.  He  cites  largely  from  the 
 Book  of  Daniel,  and  states  that  the  author  was  favoured 
 by  God  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  prophets,  that  his 
 writings  were  then  read,  and  that  it  might  be  inferred 
 that  Daniel  had  converse  with  God  (Ant.  X.  11,  7). 
 Josephus  states  still  further  that  Daniel  not  only  fore- 
 told the  future  as  other  prophets  had  done,  but  that  he 
 defined  the  time  when  the  events  should  occur.  (See 
 also  Ant.  X.  8,  §  5.) 
 
 At  least  150  years  previoiis  to  Josephus,  if  not 
 earlier,  we  find  references  to  the  book  of  Daniel  as  a 
 work  already  in  existence.  In  three  passages  of  the 
 work  already  referred  to  (1  Mace.  i.  54,  ix.  27,  40)  there 
 appears  to  bo  a  verbal  allusion  to  the  Greek  version  of 
 Dan.  ix.  27.  xii.  1,  xi.  27,  while  it  is  hard  to  read  the 
 speech  of  Mattathias  (1  Mace.  ii.  49)  without  seeing 
 references  to  the  language  in  which  Daniel  spoke  of 
 the  coming  tribulation  ;  and  not  only  is  the  example  of 
 Daniel  mentioned  (1  Mace.  ii.  60),  but  also  the  story  of 
 the  three  holy  children  is  alluded  to  as  one  that  was 
 well  known.  It  is  highly  improbable  that  a  book  of 
 recent  origin  should  have  acquired  so  gi-eat  a  notoriety. 
 And  on  the  other  hand,  as  there  is  no  other  known 
 source  of  the  story  of  Daniel  except  the  book  of  Daniel, 
 it  is  highly  probable  that  if  the  story  was  known 
 B.C.  167,  the  book  must  have  existed  also. 
 
 Unfortunately  we  are  unable  to  find  any  earlier 
 traces  of  the  book.  There  are  hardly  any  fragments 
 remaining  of  Hebrew  literature  which  belong  to  the 
 period  intervening  between  the  last  book  in  the  Old 
 Testament  canon  and  the  book  of  Maccabees.  We  are 
 therefore  led  back  to  the  times  of  Daniel  himself,  and 
 then  wo  find  a  man  named  Daniel  mentioned  by 
 Ezekiel.  who  convsponds  (see  §  1)  with  the  Daniel 
 who  claims  to  be  tho  author  of  this  book. 
 
 It  must  be  remembered  that  very  little  is  known  of 
 Hebrew  literatnre  or  of  Jewish  history  from  the  tiuio 
 of  Nehemiah  down  to  tho  Maccabee  period.  It  is 
 therefore  impossible  to  give  a  series  of  authorities  who 
 bear  witness  to  the  existence  of  the  book  of  Daniel  up 
 to  the  earliest  times,  and  so  to  give  a  rigid  demonstra- 
 tion of  the  date  of  the  book.  The  following  facts, 
 however,  have  been  stated  above.  (1)  The  Book  of 
 Daniel  claims  to  have  been  written  by  a  man  named 
 Daniel.  (2)  This  Daniel  was  intimately  acquainted 
 with  Babylon  and  many  customs  of  Babylon.  (3)  He 
 was  much  less  acquainted  with  Persia.  (4)  He  betrays 
 still  less  knowledge  of  the  Greek  empire  and  of  the 
 Seleucidae.  (5)  He  lived  at  a  time  when  the  spirit  of 
 prophecy  was  extant.  (6)  The  Book  of  Daniel  was 
 known  B.C.  167.  (7)  Previous  to  the  year  B.C.  167 
 there  is  a  blank  of  nearly  250  years  in  Jewish  litera- 
 ture, but  one  of  the  latest  Jewish  authors.  Ezekiel, 
 was  acquainted  with  a  man  named  Daniel,  who  corre- 
 sponds with  the  pel-son  who  claims  to  be  the  author 
 of  the  Book  of  Daniel. 
 
 IV.  Place  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  in  the  Old 
 Testament  Canon.— The  Book  of  Daniel,  though 
 placed  in  the  English  Version  after  that  of  Ezekiel. 
 and  reckoned  among  "four  prophets  the  greater" 
 (Art.  vi.),  yet  occupies  a  very  different  position  in  the 
 
I).\xii;l 
 
 Hebrew  canon,      li  is  there  pla 1  among  tli"  Hagio- 
 
 graphs,  or  aacred  writings,   Immediately   before  the 
 
 Bool  "I  Ezra,  ami  no!  in  tli dleetion  of  prophetical 
 
 I l,s.  This  ii  to  !"•  accounted  for  by  the  follow- 
 ing reasons,    (li  The  Hebrew  prophet  had  :i  special 
 
 function    to    fulfil    under    the    Tb iracy.      He    was 
 
 the  authorised  toaoher  of  the  people.  This  was  his 
 special  task,  and  It  was  only  incidentally  Hint  he 
 predicted  the  future.  The  prophet  was  essentially  the 
 preacher  of  righteousness  to  the  generation  amidsf  which 
 be  lived,  and  it  whs  God's  will  that  in  every  instance 
 simple  prediction  should  be  s  subordinate  function. 
 Bui  the  ease  of  Daniel  is  just  the  reverse.  He  appears 
 before  us  as  one  thai  reveals  the  bidden  future,  rather 
 than  as  a  preacher.     This  is  apparent  by  ■  reference  to 
 
 Dan.   iv.  '20 — '27,  v.  17— JH,  \vln>re  it    will   bo  noti 1 
 
 that  while  predicting  the  future  he  inculcates  a  mora] 
 lesson.  This  great  difference  between  Daniel  and  a 
 prophet  stririly  so-called  will  partly  a< ant  for  the 
 
 position  of  tliii  hook  in  I  ho  Hebrew  canon.  But  |2) 
 DOl  only  is  Daniel  a  prophet  in  an  improper  sense,  hut 
 
 the  style  and  matter  of  his  predictions  are  totally 
 
 different  from  those  of  other  prophets.  The  reader  of 
 the  Book  of  Daniel  may  lie  compared  to  a  person  look- 
 ing down  a  long  gallery  hung  transversely  with  cur- 
 tains,   on   which    are    painted    different    scenes,    and  as 
 
 cm-tain  after  curtain  is  drawn  aside  the  scene  behind  it 
 is  unveiled  to  his  new,  till  at  last  he  sees  the  picture 
 at  the  end.  In  this  way  the  writings  of  Daniel  aro 
 apocalyptic  rather  than  predictive,  lie  presents  the 
 future  in  B  Beries  of  enigmatic  pictures  rather  than  in 
 enigmatic  language.  But  it  is  not  only  in  stylo  that 
 his  writings  differ  from  those  of  the  prophets — the 
 subject  matter  which  ho  reveals  is  of  a  different  nature 
 aNo.  While  the  Holy  Spirit  limits  for  the  most  pari 
 the  prediction  of  the  prophets  to  the  Captivity,  anil  to 
 tin'  Messiah  who  is  to  come  after  the  close  of  the 
 Captivity,  Daniel  mentions  the  Captivity  and  the  over- 
 throw of  Jerusalem  only  once,  and  taking  this  as  his 
 point  of  view,  predicts  that  before  the  coming  of  tho 
 Messiah  Israel  lias  to  undorgo  another  period  of  tribu- 
 lation. The  first  impression  produced  upon  tho  reader 
 by  the  words  of  the  prophets  is  that  after  the  return 
 from  tho  Exile  a  golden  age  will  ensue.  Daniel  foretells 
 tho  golden  age,  but  places  it  in  tho  remote  future,  and 
 mentions  a  further  probation  of  Israel,  which  must 
 ".•.•in-  before  the  commencement  of  that  epoch,    it  may 
 
 be  inferred  that  the  great  difference  in  matter  and 
 style  between  the  Book  of  Daniel  and  the  prophetical 
 books,  strictly  so  called,  led  the  men  of  the  Great 
 Synagogue  to  "write  Daniel"  in  a  difforent  collection 
 from  that  in  which  they  inserted  the  twelve  prophets. 
 
 V.  Object  of  tho  Book  of  Daniel.— The  Book 
 
 of    Daniel    has    more   than    one   aim.     (1)   In   the   first 
 
 fdaeo  it  is  essential  to  complete  the  continuity  of  rove. 
 at  ion.  At  the  time  of  the  Exile  the  Israelite  had 
 before  him  the  Law,  the  Prophets,. and  the  Sacred  Books 
 80  far  as  they  had  been  received  into  the  canon.  These 
 were  sufficient  to  teach  him  the  will  of  God,  the  cer- 
 tainty of  tho  return  from  the  Exile,  and  the  coming  of 
 the  Messiah.  But,  as  was  stated  above,  it  might  nave 
 been  supposed  that  tho  Messianic  days  wero  to  appear 
 immediately  after  the  return  from  tho  Exile.  Tho  book 
 of  Daniel  corrects  this  impression,  and  prepares  Israel 
 for  the  period  that  is  to  interveno  between  the  close  of 
 the  Captivity  and  tho  advent  of  the  Messiah.  Those 
 glorious  days  cannot  come  till  a  period  has  passed  far 
 darker  than  any  that  has  been  as  yet  known.  In  fact. 
 just  as  tho  writings  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah   led  the 
 
 359 
 
 Israelite  to  expect  a  captivity,  so  those  of  Daniel 
 prompted  him  to  look  for  a  period  of  persecution  after 
 the  return  from  the  K\ile;  but  at  the  same  time  they 
 Comforted  him  with  the  a-  -u ranee  that  the  duration  of 
 the  persecution  would  be  no  greater  than  what 
 mercy  of  Qod  would  enablo  His  servants  to  bear.  The 
 examples  of  the  three  holy  children  and  of  Daniel  would 
 encourage  them,  and  the  words  of  Daniel  would  com. 
 fort  the  Israelite  in  his  martyrdom,  as  tho  perse* 
 Christian  derived  hope  from  tho  Saviour's  ftrmtonwi. 
 "  Behold  I  have  told  you  before  "  (Matt.  xxiv.  IT,).  (1) 
 But,  secondly,  the  Book  of  Daniel  had  a  very  distinct 
 object  to  fulfil  amidst  the  generation  in  which  it  was 
 Written.  Israel  was  in  captivity.  Her  last  hope  at 
 Jerusalem — tho  temple — was  destroyed.  Must  it  not 
 have  been  a  temptation  to  the  sufferer  to  think  that 
 God's  promises  had  proved  f also  r"  And  even  though 
 Jeremiah  had  foretold  a  return  from  the  Captivity  at 
 the  end  of  seventy  years:  if  God's  promises  to  King 
 Solomon  had  failed,  Israel  might  argue,  why  should  not 
 Jeremiah's  prophecy  fail  as  woll  't  Accordingly  the 
 Book  of  Daniel  shows  by  what  means  tho  hopes  of 
 God's  people  were  sustained.     The  two  great  miracles 
 
 i rded  in  the  Book  proved  that  God  was  as  closo  to 
 
 His  people  in  Babylon  as  He  had  been  at  Jerusalem  or 
 in  tin'  temple.  They  are  led  to  believe  that  He  is  still 
 with  them,  and  that  Ho  will  deliver  them  from  Babylon 
 as  Ho  did  of  old  from  Egypt.  In  this  way  tho  object 
 of  the  Book  of  Daniel  was  tosnpport  Israel  in  times  of 
 doubt  and  despair.  (3)  A  further  purpose  of  the  Book 
 may  bo  noticed.  It  will  be  remembered  that  thero  was 
 a  considerable  amount  of  missionary  zeal  among  the 
 Hebrew  prophets.  Not  only  wore  there  instances  when 
 men  like  Jonah  were  specially  sent  to  preach  righteous- 
 ness to  the  Gentiles,  but  occasionally,  in  the  ordinary 
 course  of  their  ministry,  the  prophets  addressed  nations 
 who  were  outside  the  covenant.  The  Book  of  Daniel  ex- 
 hibits this  missionary  character.  We  know  that  it  was 
 a  general  belief  among  eastern  nations  that  when  a 
 neighbouring  tribe  was  conquered,  its  gods  were  con- 
 quered as  well.  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Selshazzar  both 
 hold  this  opinion.  They  thought  that  when  Jerusalem 
 fell  Bel-Merodach  had  conquered  Jehovah.  If  we  may 
 take  an  inference  from  some  of  the  Psalms,  it  appears 
 that  the  children  of  the  Captivity  were  taunted  about 
 the  weakness  of  their  God  ;  the  enemy  are  described  as 
 "blaspheming  God's  name."  and  asking,  in  mocking 
 triumph,  "  Where  is  now  their  God?  "  Tho  Book  of 
 Daniel  shows  us  how  God  made  Himself  known  to  the 
 Babylonians,  how  Ho  asserted  His  own  power,  and 
 how  in  the  end  the  king  himself  was  brought  to  own 
 the  sovereign  authority  of  Jehovah.  It  may  therefore 
 be  said  that  the  object  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  is  (1)  to 
 supply  a  missing  link  in  the  chain  of  the  continuity  of 
 revelation  ;  (2)  to  support  Israel  amidst  the  doubts  arid 
 fears  occasioned  by  the  Exile ;  (3)  to  reveal  to  a  poly- 
 theistic nation  the  eternal  power  of  the  One  true 
 God. 
 
 VI.  Objections  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
 Book  of  Daniel.— The  objections  to  the  early  dato 
 of  the  Book  of  Daniel  are  weighty  and  numerous,  and 
 require  more  space  for  discussion  than  can  here  be  given. 
 They  depend  partly  on  the  language,  and  partly  on  tho 
 
 history  r< rded  in  the  book.     It  is  asserted  that  (1) 
 
 many  names  in  tho  Book  of  Daniel  are  not  of  Baby- 
 lonian origin,  while  some  betray  a  very  late  date, 
 showing  that  tho  writer  must  have  lived  as  late  as  the 
 Macedonian  period.  The  proper  names  which  aro 
 stated  to  be  of  non-Babylonian  origin  are  Ashpcnaz 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 aud  Hamelsar;  while  neither  Shadrach  nor  Meshach 
 have  as  yet  been  found  in  Babylonian  inscriptions. 
 Nothing,  however,  as  to  the  date  of  the  Book  can  be 
 inferred  from  these  words.  All  that  is  proved  by  them 
 amounts  to  nothing  more  than  that  certain  exotic  words 
 were  prevalent  in  Babylonia  during  Nebuchadnezzar's 
 reign,  just  as  French  and  German  words  occasionally  ap- 
 pear among  us  in  an  English  garb.  Further  difficulty 
 in  identifying  these  names  is  caused  by  the  difficulty  of 
 transliterating  foreign  words  into  Hebrew  characters. 
 Again  (2)  the  derivation  of  the  name  Belteshazzar  (eh. 
 iv.  8),  has  been  stated  to  be  erroneous.  It  must  be 
 remembered,  however,  that  the  authority  for  this  state- 
 ment is  the  king  himself,  who,  perhaps,  did  not  excel 
 in  philology  so  much  as  he  did  in  military  tactics. 
 Another  word,  saknu,  is  stated  to  be  used  in  a 
 wrong  sense.  Whereas  the  word  really  denotes  a  high 
 civil  officer,  it  is  used  in  ch.  ii.  48  to  mean  an  arch 
 magician.  On  this  point,  as  well  as  on  the  presence  of 
 Greek  words,  we  must  defer  our  judgment  till  we  have 
 more  evidence  before  us.  The  principal  historical 
 difficulties  are  with  regard  to  Belshazzar  and  Darius 
 the  Mede.  The  latter  is  spoken  of  as  son  of  Ahasuerus. 
 Now  if  by  Ahasuerus  is  meant  Xerxes,  and  by  Darius 
 the  Mede  Darius  Hystaspis,  the  author  has  fallen  into 
 a  considerable  chronological  error ;  but  as  neither  of 
 the  two  kings  has  been  as  yet  identified,  the  incon- 
 sistency is  only  assumed.  We  know  from  Esther  i.  1 
 that  there  was  more  than  one  Ahasuerus,  and  Greek 
 tradition  knows  of  more  than  one  Darius.     It  is  pos- 
 
 sible that  Darius,  like  Sargon,  may  some  day  be  brought 
 to  light  unexpectedly,  and  then  the  difficulty  about  the 
 satraps  (ch.  vi.  1)  may  find  a  solution.  The  difficulty 
 with  regard  to  Belshazzar  is  not  insuperable.  (See 
 Excursus  C.)  We  know  that  Nabonidus  had  a  sou 
 named  Belshazzar,  aud  that  Maruduk-sarra-usur  (pro- 
 bably Belshazzar)  was  the  last  king  of  Babylon.  When 
 the  queen  speaks  of  Nebuchadnezzar  as  being  Bel- 
 shazzar's  father,  the  words  are  not  to  be  taken  literally. 
 That  Daniel  lived  at  a  late  date  has  also  been  inferred 
 from  the  absence  of  his  name  in  the  list  of  worthies 
 mentioned  in  Ecclus.  xliv.  1.  It  is  not  plain  upon  what 
 principles  exactly  the  list  was  drawn  up.  It  is  cer- 
 tainly surprising  that  the  names  of  Ezra,  Mordecai,  and 
 Esther  should  be  omitted.  It  appears  as  if  the  writer 
 selected  the  names  from  the  books  of  the  Law  and  the 
 Prophets,  and  then  meutioned  Nehemiah  (chap. 
 xlix.  13)  as  the  most  noteworthy  saint  that  is  recorded 
 in  the  Hagiographa.  Of  course  Ezra  or  Dauiel  would 
 seem  more  naturally  mentioned  instead  of  Nehemiah  ; 
 but  the  writer  had  his  own  peculiar  views,  and  omitted 
 both  names.  But  objections  of  this  nature  are  of  no 
 value,  compared  to  those  which  are  to  be  drawn  from 
 the  language  and  history  contained  in  the  Book  of 
 Daniel.  In  the  course  of  time  it  is  possible  that 
 further  discoveries  will  be  made,  which  will  make  us  as 
 well  acquainted  with  the  period  of  the  Exile  as  with  the 
 reigus  of  Ahaz  and  Hezekiah.  Till  then,  we  must 
 suspend  a  hasty  judgment  pronouncing  this  Book  to  be 
 "  obviously  "  of  a  later  date. 
 
 3S0 
 
THE    BOOK    OF    DANIKI, 
 
 CIIAITKK  [.—"'In  tho  third  year  < 
 of  the  reign  of  jehoiakim  king  of  Jadah  ! 
 "came  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon 
 onto  Jerusalem,  and  besieged  it.  ->  And  ! 
 the  Loifi>  gave  Jehoiakim  king  of  Jadah  I 
 into  his  hand,  with  part  of  the  vessels 
 
 Of  tin'  house  of  God:  which  he  tarried 
 into  the  land  of  Shinar  to  the  house 
 of  his  god ;  and  he  brought  the  vessels 
 into  the  treasure  house  of  his  god. 
 
 tW  And  the  king  spake  unto  Ashpenaz 
 the  master  of  his  eunuchs,  that  he 
 should  bring  certain  of  the  children  of 
 Israel,  and  of  the  king's  seed,  and  <>f 
 
 clr.  our. 
 
 a  5  Kin.  VI.  1; 
 
 i   II- 1> ,  a.  . 
 
 Ml  ilnnk. 
 
 the  princes;  W children  in  whom  was 
 no  blemish,  hut  well  favoured,  ami 
 skilful  in  all  wisdom,  and  conning  in 
 knowledge,  and  understanding  science, 
 and  s 1 1 1 ■  1 1  as  had  ability  in  them  to 
 stand  in  the  king's  palace,  and  whom 
 
 they  ini^lit.  teach  ilie  learning  and  the 
 tongue  of  the  Chaldeans.  (4)  And  the 
 king  appointed  them  a  daily  provision 
 of  the  king's  meat,  and  of  '  the  win" 
 which  he  drank  :  so  nourishing  them 
 three  years,  that  at  the  end  thereof  they 
 might  stand  before  the  king.  <6'  Now 
 among   these  were  of  the  children  of 
 
 (')  In  the  third  yoar. — Two  questions  are  in- 
 volved in  this  verse.  (1)  Is  it  historically  true  thai 
 Jerusalem  was  taken  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the  third 
 year  of  Jahoialdm's  reign  ?  (2)  Docs  the  language  of  tho 
 Vetse   imply  that    he  did  so?     The  second  question  is 
 
 rightly  answered  in  t  he  negative.  Tho  word  some  means 
 went,  as  (  on.  xlv.  17;  2  Kings  v.  5.  and  it  is  the  natural 
 wonl  for  a  Hebrew  to  use  wlio  wrote  from  Babylon, 
 and  may  be  translated  marched.  It  is  therefore  im- 
 plied in  this  verse  that  Nebuchadnezzar  started  from 
 Babylon  in  the  third  year  of  Jehoiakim.  The  rest  of 
 the  history  is  easily  supplied  from  other  portions  of 
 Scripture.  In  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim  he  con- 
 quered Pharaoh  at  Carchemish  (Jer.  xlvi.  2).  and  then 
 
 advanced  upon  .Jerusalem.  (See  marginal  reference.] 
 The  name  Nebuchadnezzar  is  sometimes  more  correctly 
 
 spelt  Nebuchadrezzar,  but  no  argument  can  be  based 
 upon  the  different  modes  of  spelling  the  name,  as  the 
 difficulties  of  transliteration  ox  Babylonian  names  into 
 Hebrew  characters  .'ire  considerable. 
 
 (*)  Part  of  tho  vossols.  —Literally,  from  one 
 point  to  another.  Be  did  not  take  them  all  at  once, 
 hut  on  different  occasions.  (On  Shinar,  see  Note,  Geu. 
 x.  10.) 
 
 His  god     i.e.,  Bel-Merodach.  who  was   originally 
 
 an  Accadian  drily,  the  signification  of  tho  second  part 
 
 of  the  name  being  "he  thai  measures  the  path  of  the 
 sun."  The  planet  Jupiter  was  worshipped  under  this 
 name.     He  was  the  tutelary  god  of  Babylon,  and  to  his 
 
 honour  Neiuiehadnoz/.ar  dedicated  a  temple,  For  a 
 further  description  of  this  deity  sco  Barueh  vi.  14,  15. 
 
 (3)  Ashpenaz  .  .  .  his  eunuchs  i.e..  the 
 courtiers  or  attendants  upon  the  king.  (See  marginal 
 translation  of  Glen.xxzvii.36;  and  compare  Jer.  xxxix.S, 
 where  a  Rab-saris,  or  chief  of  the  courtiers,  is  men- 
 tion,-il.      See  also  Isa.  xxxix.  7.) 
 
 Tho  king's  seed.— According  to  the  story  of 
 Josephus  [Ant  X.  10,  I),  Daniel  and  the  three  holy 
 children  were  all  conic,  ted  with  Zcdekiah.  The  con- 
 text makes  iliis  opinion  perfectly  admissible. 
 
 (4)  Children.  If  the  Babylonian  customs  were 
 similar  to  the  Persian,  it  is  probable  that  tho  course  of 
 
 361 
 
 education  would  commence  at  au  early  age.  So  elabo- 
 rate a  system  of  science  as  the  Babylonian,  whether 
 theological,  astronomical,  or  magical,  would  naturally 
 require  an  early  training.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
 that  these  "  children  "  were  quite  young.  So  much  may 
 li -inferred  from  Nebuchadnezzar's  amazement  atwdi.it  he 
 considered  to  be  Daniel's  precocious  genius  (chap.  ii.  26 
 
 To  stand,  i.e.,  to  act  as  courtiers  or  sonants. 
 (Comp.  2  Kings  v.  2">.  and  below,  verse  19.) 
 
 Learning  .  .  .  Chaldeans.— Many  interesting 
 specimens  of  this  maybe  seen  in  the  volumes  of  the 
 Itrconls  i if  the  Vast,  which  are  devoted  to  Assyrian 
 and  Babylonian  subjects.  Many  more  examples  may 
 be  seen  in  the  British  Museum,  and  among  them  the 
 large  treat  ISC  on  magic,  which  originally  consisted  of  no 
 less  than  two  hundred  tablets.  It  appears,  from  com- 
 paring this  with  verse  ]!•,  that  some  form  of  examina- 
 tion was  held  by  the  king,   before  be  admitted  the 
 
 courtiers  into  his  immediate  service.  The  language  ol 
 Obahhea  at  this  time  was  Semitic;  but  there  was  a 
 sacred  language  in  use  besides,  which  prohabh  belonged 
 to  the  Turanian  family.     In  both  these  languages  was 
 
 Daniel  educated. 
 
 (5>  A  daily  portion.—  (Comp.  Jer.  lii.  34)    The 
 
 meat  was  solid  food,  as  opposed  to  the  wine  and  vege- 
 tables which  formed  so  important  a  part  of  Babylonian 
 diet.  The  food  appears  to  have  been  sent  from  the 
 king's  table. 
 
 Three  years. — The  king  appears  to  have  had  suf- 
 ficient insight  into  the  extraordinary  character  of  these 
 youths,  to  enable  him  to  prescribe  not  only  the  siibj.vt- 
 of  their  studies,  but  also  the  length  of  their  course  of 
 instruction.  It  appears  t  hat  Nebuchadnezzar  was  a  man 
 of  far  higher  chancier  than  many  Assyrian  and  Baby- 
 lonian kings.     We  shall   see.  in  the  course  of  the  book, 
 
 that  his  heart  was  fitted  for  the  reception  of  Divine 
 truth,  and  that  in  the  end  he  was  brought  to  know  tl  e 
 true  God. 
 
 ('■)  Now  among  these  .  .  .  Four  persons  oulv 
 are  mentioned  here,  because  the  narrative  of  tho  book 
 is  only  concerned  with  four.  Daniel  calls  onr  attention 
 to  the  fact   that  the  very  four  whom  Providence  had 
 
Daniel  and  his  Fellows 
 
 DANIEL,   I. 
 
 refuse  the  King's  Meat 
 
 Judali,  Daniel,  Hananiah,  Mishael,  and 
 Azariah :  (7'  unto  whom  the  prince  of  the 
 eunuchs  gave  names :  for  he  gave  unto 
 Daniel  the  name  of  Belteshazzar ;  and 
 to  Hananiah,  of  Shadrach ;  and  to 
 Mishael,  of  Meshach ;  and  to  Azariah, 
 of  Abed-nego. 
 
 (8)  But  Daniel  purposed  in  his  heart 
 that  he  would  not  defile  himself  with 
 the  portion  of  the  king's  meat,  nor  with 
 the  wine  which  he  drank  :  therefore  he 
 requested  of  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs 
 that  he  might  not  defile  himself.  <9)  Now 
 God  had  brought  Daniel  into  favour  and 
 tender  love  with  the  prince  of  the 
 eunuchs.  (10)  And  the  prince  of  the 
 eunuchs  said  unto  Daniel,  I  fear  my 
 lord  the  king,  who  hath  appointed  your 
 meat  and  your  drink :  for  why  should 
 he  see  your  faces  l  worse  liking  than  the 
 children  which  are  of  your  2  sort  ?  then 
 shall  ye  make  me  endanger  my  head  to 
 the  king. 
 
 (11)  Then  said  Daniel  to 3  Melzar ,  whom 
 the  prince  of  the  eunuchs  had  set  over 
 Daniel,  Hananiah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah, 
 (12)  pr0ve  thy  servants,  I  beseech  thee, 
 ten  days ;  and  let  them  give  us  *  pulse 
 5  to  eat,  and  water  to  drink.     <13>  Then 
 
 B.C. 
 nir.  607. 
 
 1  Heb.,  sadder. 
 
 Or,  term,  or,  con- 
 tinuancc. 
 
 3  Or,  the  steward. 
 
 A  Heb.,  of  pulse. 
 
 511eh.,thaticemay 
 eat.  &c. 
 
 6  Or,  he  made 
 Daniel  under- 
 stand. 
 
 7  Heb.,  wisdom  of 
 understanding. 
 
 let  our  countenances  be  looked  upon 
 before  thee,  and  the  countenance  of  the 
 children  that  eat  of  the  portion  of  the 
 king's  meat :  and  as  thou  seest,  deal 
 with  thy  servants.  lu>  So  he  consented 
 to  them  in  this  matter,  and  proved  them 
 ten  days.  <15>  And  at  the  end  of  ten 
 days  their  countenances  appeared  fairer 
 and  fatter  in  flesh  than  all  the  children 
 which  did  eat  the  portion  of  the  king's 
 meat.  (16>  Thus  Melzar  took  away  the 
 portion  of  their  meat,  and  the  wine 
 that  they  should  drink ;  and  gave  them 
 pulse. 
 
 (17)  As  for  these  four  children,  God 
 gave  them  knowledge  and  skill  in  all 
 learning  and  wisdom  :  and  6  Daniel  had 
 understanding  in  all  visions  and  dreams. 
 
 (is)  Now  at  the  end  of  the  days  that 
 the  king  had  said  he  should  bring  them 
 in,  then  the  prince  of  the  eunuchs 
 brought  them  in  before  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. I19'  And  the  king  communed 
 with  them ;  and  among  them  all  was 
 found  none  like  Daniel,  Hananiah, 
 Mishael,  and  Azariah :  therefore  stood 
 they  before  the  king.  I20)  And  in  all 
 matters  of  7  wisdom  and  understanding, 
 that   the   king   enquired   of    them,    he 
 
 endowed  with  the  greatest  natural  gifts  were  those  by 
 whose  constancy  and  example  the  king  was  converted. 
 The  names  of  those  four  were  subsequently  changed, 
 with  the  view  of  showing  that  they  had  become  na- 
 tionalised Chaldee  subjects.  (Comp.  2  Kings  xxiii.  34, 
 xxiv.  17.)  The  name  Belteshazzar  must  be  carefully 
 distinguished  from  Belshazzar.  It  is  said  to  mean, 
 protect  his  life  (balatsu-usur).  Daniel  appears,  if  this 
 be  the  true  meaning  of  the  name,  to  have  endeared 
 himself  at  a  very  early  period  to  Ashpenaz.  (See  chap. 
 iv.  18.)  Abed-nego  is  apparently  Servant  of  Nebo, 
 the  6  and  g  having  been  designedly  interchanged,  on 
 account  of  Azariah's  unwillingness  to  bear  a  heathen 
 name.  Shadrach  and  Meshach  have  not  as  yet  been 
 explained,  but  probably  the  clue  to  their  interpretation 
 is  to  be  found  in  the  last  syllable,  ach,  which  occurs 
 also  is  Merodach  and  Arioch. 
 
 (8)  Daniel  purposed  in  his  heart.— He  was 
 cautious  from  the  first.  He  feared  that  he  might  eat 
 something  that  had  been  consecrated  to  idols.  (See 
 1  Cor.  viii.) 
 
 (9)  Into  favour. — The  close  correspondence  between 
 Daniel  and  Joseph  has  been  frequently  remarked.  Each 
 finds  favour  with  his  master,  and  afterwards  witha  foreign 
 monarch.  The  grace  of  God  enables  each  to  overcome 
 the  temptations  into  which  his  circumstances  lead  him. 
 The  acute  natural  faculties  of  each  are  miraculously  in- 
 creased by  God;  and,  lastly,  each  is  sent  into  a  foreign 
 land  to  comfort  exiled  Israel.  (See  Gen.  xxxix.  21  ; 
 1  Kings  viii.  50;  Neh.  i.  11;  Ps.  cvi.  46.)  No  less  stri- 
 king is  the  resemblance  of  Nebuchadnezzar  to  Pharaoh. 
 
 (i°)  Of  your  sort,  i.e.,  of  your  contemporaries, 
 those  who  are  of  the  same  age  with  you. 
 
 362 
 
 (U)  Melzar. — (See  Introduction,  §  VI.)  Not  a  proper 
 name  (Hamelsar),  but  a  cellarman.  The  appeal  of  Daniel 
 to  the  chief  chamberlain  having  proved  insufficient, 
 he  applies  to  tho  man  with  whom  he  was  on  more 
 familiar  terms. 
 
 (12)  Ten  days.— The  number  "  ten  "  is  treated  as 
 a  round  number  here,  and  in  verse  20.  (Comp.  Gen. 
 xxxi.  41.)  By  adopting  this  mode  of  life,  Daniel  re- 
 sumes the  simple  diet  commonly  used  by  his  ancestors 
 previously  to  their  entering  Canaan  (Dent.  xii.  15,  16, 
 xxvi.  5,  9).  This  simplicity  of  life  prevailed  till  the 
 early  times  of  David  (1  Sam.  xvii.  17,  18).  At  the 
 Persian  court,  in  later  times,  Daniel  changed  his  rule  of 
 life  (chap.  x.  3),  the  infirmities  of  age  beginning  to  tell 
 upon  his  constitution. 
 
 (13)  Appeared  fairer. — Thus  was  God  beginning  to 
 assert  His  power  among  the  Babylonians.  This  change 
 in  the  appeai-ance  of  Daniel  was  the  effect  of  his  free 
 grace,  not  of  the  meat  that  came  from  the  king's  palace. 
 May  it  not  have  been  that  the  young  exiles  thought  of 
 the  words  of  Isaiah  (chap.  Hi.  11),  "  Depart  ye,  depart 
 ye,  go  ye  out  thence,  touch  no  unclean  thing  "  ? 
 
 (i?)  Learning  and  wisdom.— These  appear  to  be 
 contrasted  in  this  verse.  The  former  refers  to  literature, 
 and  implies  the  knowledge  of  secular  subjects ;  the 
 latter  implies  philosophy  and  theology,  and  perhaps, 
 also,  an  acquaintance  with  the  meaning  of  portents. 
 Abundant  instances  of  the  latter  may  be  found  in 
 the  Records  of  the  Past  (see  vol.  v.,  p.  167). 
 
 (18)  At  the  end  of  the  days,  i.e.,  the  three 
 years  specified  in  verse  5.  Before  the  conclusion  of 
 this  time,  it  appears  (chap.  ii.  1),  Daniel  was  enabled  to 
 give  a  proof  of  his  wisdom.     (See  chap.  ii.  28.) 
 
The  Dream 
 
 DANIEL,    II. 
 
 of  Ifebuehadtit  . 
 
 found  them  ben  times  better  than  all 
 the  magicians  and  astrologers  th;i(  were 
 in  all  his  realm. 
 
 |J"Ainl  Daniel  continued  even  unto 
 the  first  year  of  king  Cyrus. 
 
 CHAPTER  EC.— « And  in  (lie  second 
 year  of  the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
 Nebuchadnezzar  dreamed  dreams, where- 
 with his  spirit  was  troubled,  and  his 
 Bleep  brake  Prom  him.  <-'  Then  the 
 king  commanded  to  call  the  magicians, 
 anil  tin'  astrologers,  and  the  sorcerers, 
 and  the  Chaldeans,  for  to  shew  the 
 king  his  dreams.  So  they  came  and 
 stood  before  the  king.  (:i)  And  the  king 
 said  unto  them,  I  have  dreamed  a 
 dream,  ami  my  spirit  was  troubled  to 
 know  the  dream. 
 
 lie 
 
 i    ciriiii.,   made 
 
 '-'  Or./C',  Hi    ...  I.\ 
 
 '"Then  spake   the  Chaldeans  to  the 
 
 king  in  Syriack,  "0  king,  live  for  ever: 
 tell  thy  Bervants  the  dream,  and  we  will 
 shew  the  interpretal ion. 
 
 (5>  The  king  answered  and  said  to  tie 
 Chaldeans,  The  thing  is  gone  from  me: 
 if  ye  will  not  make  known  unto  me  the 
 dream,  with  the  interpretation  thereof,  ye 
 shall  be  "cut  in  pieces,  and  your  houses 
 shall  be  made  a  dunghill.  (,i)  But  if  ye 
 shew  the  dream,  and  tin'  interpretation 
 thereof,  ye  shall  receive  of  me  gifts  and 
 'rewards  and  great  honour:  therefore 
 shew  ine  the  dream,  and  the  interpre- 
 tation thereof. 
 
 <7)  They  answered  again  and  said,  Let 
 the  king  tell  his  servants  the  dream, 
 and  we  will  shew  the  interpretation 
 of  it. 
 
 (-')  Continued.— (Sec  Introduction,   §   1.)     The 
 
 E  brass  does  not  mean  that  "he  prophesied,"  but  that 
 o  lived  until  the  time  specified  ;  by  no  means  implying 
 that  he  died  is  the  first  year  of  Cyras.  This  year  is 
 speoified  on  account  of  its  importance  to  the  Jewish 
 
 People  .'is  the  year  of  their  deliverance.  We  .'ire  led  to 
 think  of  Daniel  daring  this  period  holding  high  posi- 
 tions in  tho  courts  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  Belshazzar,  and 
 Darius,  yet  so  using  the  things  of  this  world  that  at 
 the  (dose  of  his  life  (chap,  x.  1 1 )  he  became  the  man 
 greatly  beloved  by  God.  (Soo  Pusey :  Daniel  the 
 Prophet,  pp.  21—23). 
 
 II. 
 
 (1)  Tho  SOCOnd  year.— Nebuchadnezzar  was  pro- 
 
 leptically  spoken  of  as  "king  of  Babylon"  in  chap. 
 
 i.  1,  for  his  father  did   not    die   till   after   the    battle    of 
 
 Oarchemiah.     On  the  reign  of    Nebuchadnezzar,   see 
 
 Notes  on  2  Kings  xxiv.  1.) 
 
 Dreams.— Spoken  of  in  verse  :?  as  "  a  dream."  The 
 one  dream  consisted  of  several  parts,  anil  is  therefore 
 spoken  of  in   the  plural.     For  the  effects  of  the  dream 
 
 upon  the  king's  mind,  comp.  Gen.  xli.  8, 
 
 His  sloop  brake    i.e..    his    sleep    finished,     A 
 
 similar  use  of  tile  word  occurs  chap.  vi.  IS  ;  Esther  vi.  1. 
 The    anxiety    which    the    \isi.m    caused    him    prevented 
 
 him  from  Bleeping  again.  And  no  ivonder.  The  battle 
 of  Oarchemish,  which  forced  Egypt  to  retire  within  her 
 
 ancient    frontiers,    had    indeed    made    Xehuchadne/.zar 
 
 master  of  all  the  district  east  of  the  Euphrates;  but  there 
 
 was  a  growing  power  northward  of  him,  the  Median, 
 which  he  may  have  dreaded,  though  at  this  time  he  was 
 on  good  terms  with  it.  and  this  may  have  increased  his 
 alarm,  and  led  him  to  feel  some  presentiment  of  evil. 
 
 M  Magicians.  — Ilcb.    ehariummim,    so    called. 
 
 most  probably,  from  the  pencil  or  stylus  with  which 
 they  wrote.    The  word  is  elsewhere  used  of  the  Egyptian 
 
 magicians.  (See  Schroder,  Keil-Insohrifttm,  p.  26; 
 Records  of  (he  Port,  vol.  i.  p.  LSI.) 
 
 Astrologers. — Heb.  cuhahaphim,  a  name  derived 
 from  tho  whisperings  or  mutterings  made  by  them 
 while  employed  in  their  incantations.  They  are  men- 
 tioned by  Daniel  only. 
 
 Sorcerers. — Heb.  mekashshaphim;  are  spoken  of 
 in  tho  Pentateuch  both  ns  inalo  and  female,  (e.g.  Dent. 
 
 363 
 
 x\iii.  10).     They  are   mentioned  by  Isaiah  (chap,  xlvii. 
 
 9,  12]  as  prevalent  in  the  Babylon  of  bis  days.  Pro- 
 bably the  Chaldn-ans  spoken  of  in  this  verse  did  not 
 form  a  separate  ela-~s  ,,1'  magicians,  but  denoted  the 
 priests,  snob  as  those  mentioned  Herod,  i.  L81,  and  m 
 
 contained  in  the  first    class   of   magicians ntionad   in 
 
 the  verse.  It  appears  that  Daniel  excelled  (chap.  i.  17) 
 in  all  classes  of  mayic  learning,  whether  it   required  a 
 
 knowledge  of  "learning,  wisd or  dreams." 
 
 (!>  I  have  dreamed.— It  has  been  questioned 
 whether  the  king  had  really  forgotten  his  dream,  or 
 whether  he  only  pretended  to  have  done  so  in  Older  that 
 he  might  prove  the  skill  of  his  wise  men.     The  conduct 
 
 of  the  I'haldaans  |  verse  L0)  makes  the  Latter  hypothesis 
 possible.  However,  it  is  more  in  accordance  with  what 
 is  stated  about  the  anxious  condition  of  the  king's  miud 
 to  assume  that  lie  remembered  a  portion  of  the  dream, 
 but  that  he  had  lost  the  general  outline  of  it. 
 
 (')  In  Syriaok.— Probably  a  fresh  title,  indicating 
 
 to  the  copyist  that  the  ( 'haldce  portion  of  tho  book 
 begins  here.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  this  portion 
 of  the  book  (chap.  ii.  l-vii..  is  a  ( 'haldce  translation 
 of  an  original  Hebrew  work,  but  there  is  no  authority 
 for  the  conjecture.  God  is  about  to  reveal  facts  con- 
 nected with  the  Gentile  world,  and   therefore  a  Gentile 
 
 language  is  nsedaa  the  vehicle  of  the  revelation.    (See 
 
 1  Tim.  ii.  :"..  t:    Matt.  ii.   1.  2i. 
 
 Live  for  ever.— For  this  common  form  of  saluta- 
 tion, comp.  chaps,  iii.  !'.  v.  10,  &C. 
 
 (5)  Is  gone  from  me.— This  dillicult  word,  tin 
 etymology  of  which  is  very  uncertain,  appears  only  here 
 and  verse  8.  It  seems  to  mean.  "  The  order  has  been 
 published  by  mo  (comp.  Esther  vii.  7  ;  Isa.  xlv.  23),  and 
 then-fore  cannot  be  recalled." 
 
 Cut  in  pieces. — This  was  by  no  means  an  un- 
 common form  of  punishment:  (See  Smith's  Assur- 
 bttnipul,  pp.  1:57,  2  bVi 
 
 (6)  Rewards. — A  word  of  uncertain  meaning.  It 
 occurs  again  chap.  v.  17,  and  probably  is  correctly 
 rendered. 
 
 (")  Let  the  king  tell.— Tho  request  was  reason- 
 able enough,  according  to  the  principles  of  Babylonian 
 sorcery.  Nebuchadnezzar's  doubts,  however,  were 
 .awakened,  and  ho  was  not  sure  of  the  veracity  of  his 
 magicians.      He   speaks   with    great    common    sense 
 
The  Chaldeans,  Being  Unable  to 
 
 DANIEL,   II. 
 
 Interpret  it,  are  Judged  to  Die. 
 
 <8>  The  king  answered  and  said,  I 
 know  of  certainty  that  ye  would  x  gain 
 the  time,  because  ye  see  the  thing  is 
 gone  from  me.  (9)  But  if  ye  will  not 
 make  known  unto  me  the  dream,  there 
 is  but  one  decree  for  you :  for  ye  have 
 prepared  lying  and  corrupt  words  to 
 speak  before  me,  till  the  time  be 
 changed  :  therefore  tell  me  the  dream, 
 and  I  shall  know  that  ye  can  shew  me 
 the  interpretation  thereof. 
 
 (id  Tue  Chaldeans  answered  before  the 
 king,  and  said,  There  is  not  a  man  upon 
 the  earth  that  can  shew  the  king's 
 matter :  therefore  there  is  no  king,  lord, 
 nor  ruler,  that  asked  such  things  at  any 
 magician,  or  astrologer,  or  Chaldean. 
 <n)  And  it  is  a  rare  thing  that  the  king 
 requireth,  and  there  is  none  other  that 
 can  shew  it  before  the  king,  except 
 the  gods,  whose  dwelling  is  not  with 
 flesh. 
 
 (12)  for  this  cause  the  king  was  angry 
 and  very  furious,  and   commanded  to 
 
 t  Ctmld.,  buy. 
 
 2  chald.,  returned. 
 
 Or.   chief  mar- 
 
 glial. 
 
 4  Cbald..  chief  of 
 the  executioners, 
 ur  slaughtermen. 
 
 5  Child.,  from  he- 
 fore  Ood. 
 
 Or,  that  they 
 sltould  not  de- 
 stroy DanUli&c, 
 
 destroy  all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon. 
 <13)  And  the  decree  went  forth  that  the 
 wise  men  should  be  slain ;  and  they 
 sought  Daniel  and  his  fellows  to  be 
 slain. 
 
 (ujrphen  Daniel  3answered  with  counsel 
 and  wisdom  to  Arioch  the  3  *  captain  of 
 the  king's  guard,  which  was  gone  forth 
 to  slay  the  wise  men  of  Babylon :  <15)  he 
 answered  and  said  to  Arioch  the  king's 
 captain,  Why  is  the  decree  so  hasty 
 from  the  king  ?  Then  Arioch  made  the 
 thing  known  to  Daniel.  <16'Then  Daniel 
 went  in,  and  desired  of  the  king  that 
 he  would  give  him  time,  and  that  he 
 would  shew  the  king  the  interpretation. 
 (17>  Then  Daniel  went  to  his  house,  and 
 made  the  thing  known  to  Hananiah, 
 Mishael,  and  Azariah,  his  companions  : 
 (18)  that  they  would  desire  mercies  5of  the 
 God  of  heaven  concerning  this  secret; 
 6  that  Daniel  and  his  fellows  should  not 
 perish  with  the  rest  of  the  wise  mew  of 
 Babylon. 
 
 (verse  9),  "  If  you  can  tell  me  the  dream,  I  shall  be 
 sure  that  your  interpretation  is  correct." 
 
 <8)  Gain  time. — They  hoped  that  by  continual 
 postponement  they  would  induce  the  king  to  let  the 
 matter  pass  over ;  or,  if  not,  that  they  might  be  able  to 
 wheedle  the  dream  out  of  him, 
 
 (9)  There  is  but  one  decree. — He  refers  to  the 
 decree  mentioned  verse  5,  that  both  the  dream  and 
 the  interpretation  must  be  told.  These  two  tilings 
 must  go  together,  for  they  form  the  subject  of  one 
 decree. 
 
 Ye  have  prepared  ...  be  changed — i.e., 
 "  you  have  made  an  agreement  among  yourselves  to 
 postpone  the  matter  till  a  more  lucky  time  for  explain- 
 ing the  dream  shall  come."  On  Eastern  notions  about 
 fortunate  days,  comp.  Esther  iii.  7  and  the  standard 
 inscription  of  Nebuchadnezzar  towards  the  end. 
 
 (10)  No  king. — A  further  argument  of  the  wise 
 men,  offering  a  delicate  flattery  to  the  king,  and,  at 
 the  same  time,  assuming  as  a  proof  of  their  wisdom,  that 
 all  possibilities  had  been  already  submitted  to  them. 
 "  Because  no  king,"  they  say,  "  has  left  any  precedent 
 for  such  a  request,  therefore  the  tiling  is  impossible." 
 
 (U)  A  rare  thing— i.e.,  a  difficult  matter.  The 
 difficulty  is  so  great,  that  the  gods  whose  dwelling  is 
 not  with  flesh  are  alone  able  to  solve  it.  Here  the 
 reference  is  to  a  doctrine  of  Babylonian  theology, 
 according  to  which  every  man  from  his  birth  onward 
 had  a  special  deity  attached  to  him  as  his  protector. 
 It  lived  in  him,  or  "  dwelt  with  flesh,"  as  the  wise  men 
 here  remark.  The  deity,  being  united  to  the  man, 
 became  a  partaker  of  human  infirmities.  For  instance, 
 it  was  subject  to  the  action  of  evil  spirits,  and  to  the 
 influence  of  the  spirits  of  sickness  to  such  an  extent 
 that  it  might  injure  the  person  whom  it  was  bound  to 
 protect.  Even  these  deities,  the  wise  men  urge,  cannot 
 do  what  the  king  requires.  Such  wisdom  belongs  only 
 to  the  gods  whose  dwelling  is  apart  from  man.  (See 
 Lenormant,  La  Magie,  pp.  181 — 183.) 
 
 (!2)  This  order  to  massacre  the  wise  men  extended 
 apparently  only  to  those  who  were  resident  in  the  city  of 
 Babylon,  where  they  had  a  fixed  habitation.  Though 
 Daniel  had  been  already  trained  in  their  schools,  he  had 
 not  as  yet  been  appointed  "a  wise  man."  Ho  wever,  being 
 a  student,  his  death  was  implied  in  the  general  order, 
 which,  as  appears  from  verse  13,  had  already  begun  to 
 be  executed. 
 
 (1*)  Arioch. — See  Note  on  Gen.  xiv.  1. 
 
 (15)  So  hasty. — Literally,  why  is  this  severe  decree 
 of  the  Icing  ?  By  this  question  Daniel  wished  Arioch 
 to  understand  that  after  all  the  matter  was  not  im- 
 possible, as  the  wise  men  had  stated  it  to  be. 
 
 (16)  Daniel  went  in. — Two  characteristics  of  the 
 prophet  strike  us,  which  distinguish  the  one  who  trusts 
 in  God's  help  from  those  who  relied  entirely  upon  their 
 secular  wisdom.  (1)  The  courage  of  Daniel,  which  led 
 him  to  venture  into  the  king's  presence  upon  a  humane 
 errand.  (2)  His  humility,  in  asking  the  king  to  give 
 him  time.  The  wise  men  regarded  the  whole  matter  as 
 an  impossibility,  and  treated  it  as  such,  not  even  asking 
 for  any  extension  of  time.  But  the  faith  of  Daniel 
 inspired  him  with  this  courageous  humility,  and  was 
 amply  rewarded. 
 
 We  are  not  told  in  so  many  words  that  this  extension 
 of  time  was  granted,  or  that  Daniel  undertook  to  show 
 more  than  the  interpretation  of  the  dream.  A  true 
 account  of  what  happened  can  only  bo  gathered  by 
 reading  verses  18  and  28  by  the  side  of  this  verse. 
 It  should  be  remembered  that  many  narratives 
 of  scripture  are  related  in  a  very  condensed  form, 
 fuller  details  being  added  afterwards.  (See  verse  24, 
 Note.) 
 
 (18)  The  God  of  heaven. — "We  meet  with  this 
 title  of  Almighty  God  for  the  first  time  in  Gen.  xxiv. 
 7.  After  the  Captivity,  it  frequently  designates  the 
 true  God  as  contrasted  with  the  heathen  gods.  (See 
 Ezra  i.  2,  Neh.  i.  5,  Ps.  exxxvi.  26.)  It  is  used  by 
 Daniel  in  this  sense  in  this  verse. 
 
 364 
 
Tin-  Secret  Revealed  to  Daniel. 
 
 DANIEL,    II. 
 
 //■  1 1  taki  a  in  the  King. 
 
 <u,)  Then  was  the  secret  revealed  auto 
 Daniel  in  a  eight  vision.  Then  Daniel 
 blessed  t  he  i  (oil  of  heaven.  IJ "  Daniel 
 answered  and  said, '  Blessed  be  the  name 
 of  < <<><!  for  ever  and  evers  for  wisdom 
 and  mighl  are  his:  Wand  be  changetb 
 
 i  In-  times  and  the  seasons  :  he  removeth 
 
 kings,  and  Betteth  ap  kings:  be  giveth 
 
 wisdom  unto  the  wise,  and  knowledge 
 to    them    that    know    understanding: 
 
 I--'1  he  revealeth  tin-  deep  and  secret 
 tilings:  lie  knoweth  what  is  in  the 
 darkness,   anil    the    light   dvvellefh    with 
 
 him.  '-■'"  I  thank  thee,  and  praise  thee, 
 O  thou  God  of  lay  fathers,  who  hast 
 given  me  wisdom  and  might,  and  hast 
 made  known  unto  me  now  what  we 
 desired  of  thee  :  for  thou  hast  now 
 made  known  unto  us  the  king's  matter. 
 <-"  Therefore  Daniel  went  in  unto 
 Arioeh,  whom  the  king  had  ordained  to 
 
 1    !'■     lift  2  A   ll.'i 
 
 That   I 
 
 .  children 
 
 destroy  the  wise  men  of  Babylon:  he 
 
 went    and    said    t  lius  unto  him  ;    Destroy 
 
 not  the  wise  mi  a  of  Babylon:  bring  me 
 
 in  before  the  king,  and  I   will  shew  unto 
 
 the  king  the  interpretation.  '-'"Then 
 Arioeh  brought  in  Daniel  before  the 
 king  in  baste,  and  said  thus  unto  him, 
 
 '  I  have  found  a  man  of  the  J  captives  of 
 .ludah,  that   will    make   known    unto  the 
 
 king  the  interpretation. 
 
 '-" "  The  king  answered  and  said  to 
 Daniel,  whose  name  irnx  Belteshazzar, 
 Art  thou  aide  to  make  known  unto  me 
 the  dream  which  I  have  seen,  and  the 
 interpretation  thereof  :J 
 
 (27>  Daniel  answered  in  the  presence  of 
 the  king,  and  said,  The  secrel  which 
 the   king   hath   demanded   cannot  the 
 
 wise  /;/.  //,  t  he  ast  rologers,  the  magicians, 
 the  soothsayers,  shew  unto  the  king; 
 -  '  but   there   is  a  God   in  heaven  that 
 
 (1°)  Night  vision.— Not  in  a  dream,  bat  literally  in 
 
 ■  vision;  Imt  thai  Daniel  saw  a  repetition  of  tlin  king's. 
 dream  cannot  bo  inferred  from  the  words.  Wo  know 
 from  N'nin.  xii.  Ii  that  God  was  pleased  to  reveal  the 
 truth  both  by  dreams  and  by  visions. 
 
 (-">  Blossod  bo  the  name.— Daniel's  prayer  is  for 
 the  most  part-  framed  upon  the  model  of  scriptural 
 language,  while  on  tho  other  hand  it  appears  to  have 
 been  adapted  to  their  own  special  needs  by  later  pious 
 servants  of  God.  Tho  Doxology,  with  which  it  com. 
 incnccs,  is  founded  upon  the  liturgical  formula  con- 
 cluding l's.  xli.,tho  substaneo  of  it  being  repeated  by 
 Nehemiah  (Neh.  ix.  5). 
 
 C-i)  Changeth  times— i.e.,  He  orders  the  events 
 which  occur  at  different  times  and  sea-. ins.  Daniel 
 refers  to  the  dream  which  had  been  recently  revealed 
 to  him,  in  winch  the  changes  of  future  times  and  sea- 
 sons wire  depicted  in  so  marvellous  a  way.  "Times" 
 are  opposed  to  "seasons,"  as  circumstances  of  time  may 
 be  contrasted  with  epochs  of  time.    (Comp.  chap.  vii.  12.1 
 
 He  removeth.— Comp.  1  Sam.  ii.  8, 
 
 Wisdom    .     .     .— Comp.  Jor.  xxxiv  19. 
 
 Tho  wise — i.e.,  wise  men  generally.  Wise  men 
 become  what  they  are.  not  through  their  own  study  and 
 natural  ability,  but  by  the  grace  and  mercy  of  God. 
 
 (88)  He  revealeth. — Comp.  Job  xii.  22. 
 
 He  knoweth.— Comp.  Ps.  exxxix.  12. 
 
 The  light  dwelleth. — Perhaps  "illumination" 
 rather  than  "  light"  expresses  the  actual  meaning.  Mai. 
 himself  requires  illumination  from  an  external  source. 
 This  source  is  (iod,  the  "  sun  of  man's  soul."  in  Whom 
 light  dwells  as  if  He  were  a  palace,  and  in  "  His  light 
 do  we  see  lighl  "  (l's.  xxxvi.  ;t). 
 
 (BB)  Who  hast  given  me.— The  Hebrew  perfect 
 represents  what  has  already  occurred  and  still  con- 
 tinues.   [See  .lor.  ii.  2.)    The  wisdom  spoken  of  here 
 
 does  not  refer  to  the  dream,  but  to  the  same  subjects 
 as  In  chap.  i.  7. 
 
 God  of  my  fathers.— Comp.  1  Kings  xviii.  36, 
 
 Ps.  i'V.  Cod  dealt  gloriously  with  Israel  of  old.  He 
 continues  to  be  faithful  to  His  promises  to  Israel  by 
 bleeaing  Daniel's  education  in  secular  subjects,  and 
 finally    by   tho   dream.     Observe  that  to   Daniel  each 
 
 appears  alike  supernatural,  bis  proficiency  in  Chaldean 
 
 wisdom,  and  his  skill  in  interpreting  dreams, 
 
 (84)  Therefore — i.e.,  now  that  he  knows  the  dream 
 and    the    interpretation.      Daniel    approached   tho  king 
 
 through  Arioeh,  for  it  is  probable  that  the  Babylonian 
 
 custom,  like  the  Persian  (Esther  v.  1)  or  Median 
 (Herod,  i.  Wi,  did  not  permit  any  persons  except  the 
 principal  officers  of  state  to  have  direct  access  to  tin 
 royal  presence.  We  must  suppose  that  in  verse  16 
 iwhero  see  Note)  Daniel  approached  the  king  as  he  does 
 here,  through  Arioeh,  the  captain  of  tho  guard. 
 
 Destroy  not.— Observe  Daniel's  humanity  towards 
 his  heathen  teachers.  It  was  owing  to  his  intercession 
 only  that  the  kiug's  decree  was  not  carried  out.  (See 
 E/.ek.  xiv.  It.) 
 
 (85)  I  have  found. — It  is  not  strictly  true  that 
 Arioeh  had  diligently  searched  for  any  interpreters  of  the 
 Uing's  dream.  However,  the  circumstances  mentioned 
 in  verses  16,  24,  warrant  the  language  which  he  uses. 
 
 (26)  Whose  name  was  Belteshazzar.— A  paren- 
 thetic clause,  introduced  to  remind  the  reader  that  by 
 this  name  only  Daniel  was  known  to  the  king.  (Comp 
 ohap.  iv.  8.) 
 
 Art  thou  able.— The  king  docs  not  pretend  to  be 
 ignorant  of  tho  person  of  Daniel.  He  had.  in  fact, 
 only  recently  chap.  i.  19.  20)  examined  him  in  "mat- 
 ters of  wisdom  and  understanding."  What  surprises 
 him  is.  that  after  the  wise  and  experienced  had  failed  to 
 tell  him  his  dream,  one  so  young  and  a  mere  novice 
 should  Bnoceed. 
 
 (-'">  The  secret  .  .  .—In  this  and  the  next  verse 
 Daniel  justifies  tho  astonishment  of  the  king,  and  ex- 
 plains to  leui  that  what  the  wise  men  had  stated  was 
 perfectly  true.  The  "gods  whose  dwelling  was  with 
 llesh  "  (see  Note  on  verso  11)  could  not  reveal  the 
 secret,  but  there  was  a  God  in  heaven  who  had  made  it 
 known.  Daniel  here  teaches  us  what  Scripture  lays 
 down  elsewhere  (Gen.  xx.  3,  xii.  16,  25,  28;  Num.  xxii. 
 35),  that  all  power  of  prediction  is  to  be  excluded  from 
 heathen  gods,  and  is  possessed  by  wise  men  only  so  far 
 as  they  acquire  it  through  tho  God  of  heaven. 
 
 (28)  Visions  of  thy  head.— Called  "  thoughts," 
 verso  29,  which  were  the  natural  means  through  which 
 
 366 
 
Daniel  Interprets 
 
 DANIEL,   II. 
 
 The  King's  Dream. 
 
 revealeth  secrets,  and  1  maketh  known 
 to  the  king  Nebuchadnezzar  what  shall 
 be  in  the  latter  days.  Thy  dream,  and 
 the  visions  of  thy  head  upon  thy  bed, 
 are  these  ;  <29)As  for  thee,  0  king,  thy 
 thoughts  2  came  into  thy  mind  upon  thy 
 bed,  what  should  come  to  pass  here- 
 after :  and  he  that  revealeth  secrets 
 maketh  known  to  thee  what  shall  come 
 to  pass.  (30)  But  as  for  me,  this  secret 
 is  not  revealed  to  me  for  any  wisdom 
 that  I  have  more  than  any  living,  but 
 for  their  sakes  that  shall  make  known 
 the  interpretation  to  the  king,  and  that 
 thou  mightest  know  the  thoughts  of 
 thy  heart. 
 
 <31>Thou,  0  king,  3sawest,  and  behold 
 a  great  image.  This  great  image,  whose 
 brightness  was  excellent,  stood  before 
 thee  ;  and  the  form  thereof  ivas  terrible. 
 (32)  Tnis  image's  head  was  of  fine  gold, 
 his  breast  and  his  arms  of  silver,  his 
 belly  and  his  4  thighs  of  brass,  <33>  his 
 legs  of  iron,  his  feet  part  of  iron  and 
 part  of  clay.     (31)  Thou  sawest  till  that 
 
 1  Clmld.,  hathtnade 
 knuuii. 
 
 2  Chald.,  came  up. 
 
 3  Child.,  wast  see- 
 
 A  Or,  sides. 
 
 5  Or,  which  w.as 
 not  in  hands  :  as 
 vcr.  45. 
 
 a  stone  was  cut  out  5  without  hands, 
 which  smote  the  image  upon  his  feet 
 that  were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake 
 them  to  pieces.  <35'  Then  was  the  iron, 
 the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the 
 gold,  broken  to  pieces  together,  and 
 became  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer 
 threshingfloors  ;  and  the  wind  carried 
 them  away,  that  no  place  was  found  for 
 them :  and  the  stone  that  smote  the 
 image  became  a  great  mountain,  and 
 filled  the  whole  earth.  <3«)  This  is  the 
 dream;  and  we  will  tell  the  interpre- 
 tation thereof  before  the  king. 
 
 (37)  Thou,  0  king,  art  a  king  of  kings  : 
 for  the  God  of  heaven  hath  given  thee 
 a  kingdom,  power,  and  strength,  and 
 glory.  (^'And  wheresoever  the  children 
 of  men  dwell,  the  beasts  of  the  field 
 and  the  fowls  of  the  heaven  hath  he 
 given  into  thine  hand,  and  hath  made 
 thee  ruler  over  them  all.  Thou  art  this 
 head  of  gold.  <39'  And  after  thee  shall 
 arise  another  kingdom  inferior  to  thee, 
 and  another   third   kingdom  of   brass, 
 
 the  supernatural  revelation  was  communicated.  These 
 "came"  into  his  mind  without  his  forcing  them  upon 
 himself.  He  was  thinking  of  other  things,  further 
 conquests,  perhaps,  and  the  like,  but  these  thoughts 
 came  from  a  higher  source. 
 
 (29)  Hereafter — i.e.,  in  the  course  of  history,  not 
 only  in  the  Messianic  days. 
 
 (30)  por  any  wisdom — i.e.,  by  reason  of  any 
 wisdom  of  his  own,  but  "  for  the  sake  of  the  king." 
 
 (31)  A  great  image. — Properly,  one  great  image. 
 This  is  one  important  feature  in  the  vision.  The  image, 
 though  representing  many  things,  was  itself  only 
 •'one."  (See  Note  on  verse  1.)  That  the  image  was  of 
 human  form  is  evident  from  the  further  descriptions  of 
 the  various  parts  of  the  body  given  in  verses  32,  33,  42. 
 The  "greatness"  of  the  image  implies  the  magnificence 
 and  size  of  it.  As  will  be  shortly  seen,  throughout  the 
 various  parts  it  represented  the  many  complex  phases 
 of  the  one  history  of  the  world. 
 
 (32)  Breast  .  .  . — It  should  be  remarked  that 
 though  many  different  parts  of  the  body  of  the  image 
 are  mentioned,  Daniel  regards  the  whole  thing  as  made 
 up  of  only  four  parts,  each  corresponding  to  one  of  the 
 four  metals.  Similarly  he  shows  the  history  of  the 
 world  in  its  relation  to  God's  people,  complicated 
 though  it  may  be  and  varied  in  its  aspect,  consists  of 
 no  more  than  four  principal  parts.  It  will  be  noticed 
 that  by  the  additional  matter  mentioned  verses  41,  42, 
 certain  minor  complications  of  history  are  intended, 
 which,  however,  do  not  interfere  with  the  fourfold 
 division  of  which  the  outline  is  here  given. 
 
 (34)  Thou  sawest.— Literally,  the  king  Jcept  on 
 gazing  in  wonder  at  the  image. 
 
 (35)  Like  the  chaff. — This  language  recalls  Ps.  i.  4, 
 ii.  9.  It  is  emblematic  of  Divine  judgments,  as  Isa. 
 xli.  15,  16;  Jer.  Ii.  33,  &c.  Comp.  with  this  the 
 description  of  the  Judgment,  chap.  vii.  0 — 14.  Observe, 
 however,  that  the  stone  did  not  crush  the  head,  breast,  or 
 
 366 
 
 loins  of  the  body.  These  became  fragments  by  falling 
 when  the  feet  were  broken.     (Comp.  chap.  vii.  12.) 
 
 (3G)  We- -i.e.,  Daniel  and  his  three  friends,  for  to 
 their  intercession  (verses  17,  18)  the  revelation  was  due. 
 
 (37, 38)  Interpretation  of  the  vision.  Nebuchadnezzar 
 is  the  head ;  or,  in  other  words,  he  is  the  first  of  the 
 four  kingdoms  which  are  denoted  by  the  image.  His 
 kingdom  was  the  largest  that  the  world  had  till  then 
 known ;  in  fact,  a  writer  cited  by  Josephus  (Ap.  i.  20), 
 compares  him  to  Hercules.  We  find  a  similar  allusion 
 to  the  beasts  of  the  field  as  Nebuchadnezzar's  servants 
 Jer.  xxvii.  6,  xxviii.  14.  The  title  of  "  king  of  kings  " 
 is  also  ascribed  to  Nebuchadnezzar  by  Ezekiel  (chap, 
 xxvi.  7).  We  are  therefore  left  in  no  doubt  as  to  what 
 is  meant  by  the  first  of  the  four  empires.  It  is  the 
 Babylonian  Empire,  of  which  Nebuchadnezzar  was  in 
 every  sense  the  head,  being  the  actual  founder  of  it, 
 and  its  mainstay  during  his  long  reign  of  forty -three 
 years. 
 
 (39)  Another  kingdom. — These  words  make  it 
 clear  that  by  "  the  king  "  in  the  last  verse  "  kingdom  " 
 was  meant;  or,  in  other  words,  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
 identified  with  his  kingdom  (comp.  chap.  vii.  5,  viii. 
 3,  20).  The  second  kingdom  is  the  Medo-Persian  (as 
 appears  more  fully  below,  Exc.  E).  The  inferiority  is 
 to  be  found  in  the  divided  character  of  that  empire,  as 
 compared  with  the  massive  solidity  of  its  predecessor. 
 This  is  signified  in  the  image,  partly  by  the  inferiority 
 of  the  metal,  silver  instead  of  gold,  and  partly  by  the 
 symbol  of  division,  the  two  breasts  opposed  to  the  one 
 head.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  other  respects, 
 such  as  extent  of  territory  and  duration  of  empire,  the 
 Medo-Persian  far  exceeded  the  Babylonian  kingdom. 
 
 Another  third. — The  metal  implies  a  certain  in- 
 feriority, but  the  phrase  "  shall  bear  rule  over  the  whole 
 earth  "  speaks  of  an  empire  that  extended  further  than 
 the  preceding.  This  is  the  Graeco-Macedonian  Empire 
 (see  Exc.  E,  and  comp.  chap.  vii.  6,  viii.  5 — 7). 
 
The  Inter jintutinn 
 
 DANIEL,    II. 
 
 Of  the  Dream. 
 
 which  shall  bear  role  over  all  the  earth. 
 
 i"M  Ami  the  fourth  kingdom  shall  be 
 strong  as  iron  :  forasmuch  as  iron 
 breaketh  in  pieces  and  anbdaeth  all 
 things:  and  as  iron  that  breaketh  all 
 these,  shall  it  break  in  pieces  and  bruise. 
 
 '•"'And  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feel 
 
 and  toes,  part  of  potters'  clay,  and  part 
 
 of  iron,  the  kingdom  shall  be  divided; 
 but  there  shall  be  in  it  of  the  strength 
 of  the  iron,  forasmuch  as  thou  Bawest 
 the  iron  mixed  with  miry  clay.  <w'And 
 ns  the  toes  of  the  feet  were  part  of  iron, 
 and  part  of  clay,  so  the  kingdom  shall 
 be  partly  strong,  and  partly  '  broken. 
 WAnd  whereas  thou  sawest  iron  mixed 
 with  miry  clay,  they  shall  mingle  them- 
 selves with  the  seed  of  men:  but  they 
 shall  not  cleave  2  one  to  another,  even 
 
 as  iron  is  not  mixed  with  clay.     '"'And 
 in   ;l  the    days    of   these    kings   shall    the 
 
 ihtt  intii 
 on.. 
 
 ti-iV 
 
 :  rh.  4.  .:, 
 
 M,  A  ;  ii,  -*7 ; 
 Ulc  i  7;  i.iik.- 
 1.33. 
 
 clinl.t  .  kingdom 
 
 ,  Or,  uhirh  wan  not 
 in  ttaml. 
 
 A  tlialil..  aftcTthii. 
 
 (hid  of  heaven  scl  up  a  kingdom, '  which 
 
 shall  never  be  destroyed :  and  the4 king- 
 dom shall  aoi  be  left  to  other  people, 
 lint  il  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume 
 all  these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand 
 fox  ever.  l*J Forasmuch  as  thon  sawest 
 that  the  stone  was  cut  out  of  the  moun- 
 tain 'without  hands,  and  that  it  brake 
 in  pieces  the  iron,  the  brass,  the  clay. 
 the  silver,  and  the  gold  ;  the  great  God 
 hath  made  known  to  the  king  what 
 shall  come  to  pass  "hereafter  :  and  the 
 dream  is  certain,  and  the  interpretation 
 thereof  sure. 
 
 (♦^Then  the  king  Nebuchadnezzar  fell 
 upon  bis  face,  and  worshipped  Daniel, 
 and  commanded  that  they  should  offer 
 
 l-w)  And  the  fourth.— It  should  be  observed  that 
 tlio  description  of  this  kingdom  is  much  fuller  than 
 those  of  the  preceding  empires.  The  same  fact  will 
 be  remarked  in  the  later  visions  (chap,  vii.  7,  8,  ]!».  20). 
 
 Breakoth  all  things.— Remembering  that  the 
 comparison  is  between  iron  and  tlio  fourth  empire,  this 
 portion  of  the  vision  implies  that  tho  Roman  empire, 
 which  is  hen'  intended  (see  Exc.  E),  will  crush  out  all 
 traces  that  remain  of  preceding  empires,  just  as  iron  is 
 capable  of  breaking  gold,  silver,  or  copper.  Of  the 
 second  and  third  empires,  each  borrowed  something 
 t'n>m  that  which  preceded  it.  The  fourth  empire  intro- 
 duces a  new  system,  and  a  new  civilisation. 
 
 <•")  Shall  be  divided.— The  meaning  seems  to 
 bo,"  notwithstanding  thai  there  will  be  inward  divisions 
 in  this  last  empire,  as  is  signified  hy  the  divisions,  first 
 into  two  legs,  then  into  two  feet,  and  lastly  into  ten 
 toes,  yet  the  outward  character  of  it  will  be  the  strength 
 of  iron." 
 
 ('-)  So  the  kingdom.— This  strength,  however,  is 
 only  apparent.  There  arc  certain  discordant  elements 
 in  the  fourth  empire  These  are  here  represented  by 
 the  iron  and  clay,  which  cannot  bo  made  to  cohere. 
 
 (*■'■>  Seed  of  men.— The  gnat  obscurity  of  this 
 verso  is  partially  cleared  by  a  reference  to  .ler.  xx\i.  ^7. 
 Daniel  appears  to  be  contrasting  what  man  is  en- 
 deavouring to  accomplish  by  his  own  efforts  with  that 
 which  the  tied  of  heaven  i \ erse  W)  will  carry  out. 
 Man   will   form    his  plans    for    uniting   the   discordant 
 
 parts  of  this  empire, by  encouraging  marriages  between 
 
 the  royal  families  that  rule  tho  various  component 
 kingdoms.     (Comp.  chap.  xi.  6,  17,  Motes.) 
 
 (*)  In  the  days  of  these  kings.— Yet  no  kings 
 have  been  mentioned  hitherto.  They  must  therefore 
 correspond  to  the  toes  of  the  image.  I  Com]),  chap. 
 vii.  jt.)  It  appears  therefore  that  while  this  fourth 
 kingdom  still  contrives  to  exist  in  some  modified  form, 
 while  its  component  parts  are  in  a  slate  of  war  and 
 turmoil,  the  kingdom  of  God  shall  come.  (Coinp.  chap. 
 vii.  25—27.) 
 
 God  of  heaven.— (See  verse  I 
 
 («)  The  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain.— 
 The  mountain  was  not  mentioned  in  ver-o  34.  In  the 
 language  of  prophecy,  i'  must  mean  Mount  Zion,  which 
 appears  in  other  passages  to  be  closely  connected  with 
 
 367 
 
 (he  Messiah  and  His  Kingdom,  e.g.,  Isa.  ii.  2;  Ps.  1.  2. 
 
 The  stone  is  Bel   free  from  this  mountain,  and  as  it  rolls 
 
 on  in  its  destructive  course,  overthrows  all  the  king- 
 doms of  the  world,  and  becomes  a  mountain  which  fills 
 
 the  whole  earth.  The  Messiah  is  elsewhere  spoken  of 
 under  the  tiguro  of  a  stone  (Isa.  xxviii.  16;  Matt, 
 xxi.  -kit.  Tin'  phrase  "  cut  without  hands"  rafers  to  the 
 supernatural  agency  by  which  tho  stone  accomplishes 
 its  work.  The  stone  is  now  rolling,  as  tho  kingdom  of 
 God  spreads  further  and  further  day  by  day.  Tho 
 image  is  still  standing,  the  stone  has  not  yet  fallen 
 upon  it.  When  that  moment  arrives,  and  not  till  then, 
 "  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  will  become  the  kingdoms 
 of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ  "  (Rev.  xi.  15). 
 
 Throughout  the  vision  we  must  notice  one  great  con- 
 trast. There  is  on  tho  one  hand  the  image,  which,  of 
 course,  was  weak,  by  reason  of  being  formed  of  such 
 incongruous  elements,  composed  of  tho  most  precious 
 metals  at  the  top.  whilethe  lower  parts  ended  in  "miry 
 clay" — in  fact,  the  image  was  top-heavy.  On  the 
 other  hand,  there  isthestone.au  emblem  of  strength 
 and  solidity,  single,  notwithstanding  the  countless 
 atoms  which  unite  in  forming  it.  growing  in  strength, 
 as  it  continues  its  historic  course  till  it  becomes  a 
 mountain,  the  type  of  all  that  is  solid  and  indestructible. 
 And  one  further  point  of  contrast  must  Denoted.  While 
 one  earthly  empire  passes  into  another  as  insensibly 
 as  the  head  yields  to  the  trunk  of  the  body,  and  as  this 
 passes  into  arms.  legs,  bands,  and  feet,  without  any 
 discontinuity — that  is,  as  empire  after  empire  passes 
 away,  while  the  history  of  the  world  remains  continuous 
 — such  is  not  the  case  with  tliestone.  rl  he  work  that  it 
 does  is  instantaneous.  The  moment  it  falls  on  the  feet 
 of  tho  image  the  whole  collapses,  or,  in  other  words, 
 tho  history  of  the  world  comes  toan  end.  .Such  is  the 
 relation  in  which  the  kingdom  of  God  stands  to  the 
 kingdoms  of  this  world.  They  are  all  transient,  in 
 spite  of  their  apparent  strength,  and  their  history  will 
 cease,  as  soon  as  the  "  stone  shall  fall  and  grind  them 
 to  powder"  (Matt.  xxi.  44). 
 
 («)  Worshipped.— This  act  is  of  an  entirely 
 different  nature  from  such  as  are  mentioned  Gen. 
 xxxiii.  7;  1  Kings  i.  10.  The  Hebrew  word  employed 
 here  is  always  used  {e.g..  Isa.  xlvi.  6)  of  paying  adora- 
 tion to  an  idol.     Probably  the  king  imagined  that  the 
 
Daniel's  Advancement. 
 
 DANIEL,   III. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's  Gulden  Image. 
 
 an  oblation  and  sweet  odours  unto  him. 
 (47)  The  king  answered  unto  Daniel,  and 
 said,  Of  a  truth  it  is,  that  your  God  is 
 a  God  of  gods,  and  a  Lord  of  kings, 
 and  a  revealer  of  secrets,  seeing  thoa 
 couldest  reveal  this  secret.  I48'  Then 
 the  king  made  Daniel  a  great  man,  and 
 gave  him  many  great  gifts,  and  made 
 him  ruler  over  the  whole  province  of 
 Babylon,  and  "chief  of  the  governors 
 over  all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon. 
 (49)  Then  Daniel  requested  of  the  king, 
 and  he  set  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 
 Abed-nego,  over  the  affairs  of  the  pro- 
 vince of  Babylon :  but  Daniel  sat  in  the 
 gate  of  the  king. 
 
 CHAPTER  III.— f1'  Nebuchadnezzar 
 the  king  made  an  image  of  gold,  whose 
 height  was  threescore  cubits,  and  the 
 breadth  thereof  six  cubits :  he  set  it 
 up  in  the  plain  of  Dura,  in  the  province 
 of  Babylon. 
 
 <2)  Then    Nebuchadnezzar    the    king 
 
 Clmld.,     with 
 mujlit. 
 
 2  Cbald.,  they  coin 
 
 /nand. 
 
 3  Or,  singinfj. 
 
 4    cli.ild.,    sym- 
 phony. 
 
 sent  to  gather  together  the  princes,  the 
 governors,  and  the  captains,  the  judges, 
 the  treasurers,  the  counsellors,  the 
 sheriffs,  and  all  the  rulers  of  the  pro- 
 vinces, to  come  to  the  dedication  of  the 
 image  which  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king 
 had  set  up.  (3)  Then  the  princes,  the 
 governors,  and  captains,  the  judges,  the 
 treasurers,  the  counsellors,  the  sheriffs, 
 and  all  the  rulers  of  the  provinces,  were 
 gathered  together  unto  the  dedication 
 of  the  image  that  Nebuchadnezzar  the 
 king  had  set  up  ;  and  they  stood  before 
 the  image  that  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
 set  up. 
 
 W  Then  an  herald  cried  l  aloud,  To 
 you  2it  is  commanded,  O  people,  nations, 
 and  languages,  W  that  at  what  time  ye 
 hear  the  sound  of  the  cornet,  flute, 
 harp,  sackbut,  psaltery,  34  dulcimer,  and 
 all  kinds  of  musick,  ye  fall  down  and 
 worship  the  golden  image  that  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar the  king  hath  set  up:  <6'and 
 whoso  falleth  not  down  and  worshippeth 
 
 gods  were  dwelling  in  Daniel  in  a  higher  sense  from 
 that  in  which  they  dwelt  with  his  other  wise  men,  and 
 worshipped  them  on  account  of  the  marvellous  reve- 
 lation which  they  had  vouchsafed  to  him  through  the 
 means  of  Daniel. 
 
 Oblation. — That  is,  the  unbloody  offering  customary 
 among  the  Babylonians ;  some  honour  different  from 
 the  present  mentioned  in  verse  48. 
 
 (*)  God  of  gods. — He  does  not  acknowledge 
 Jehovah  as  the  true  God,  but  deems  Him  worthy  of  a 
 place  in  the  Babylonian  Pantheon. 
 
 (-48)  The  Province. — According  to  chap.  iii.  2, 
 the  Babylonian  empire  consisted  of  several  provinces, 
 each  of  which  had  its  own  ruler  or  Shilton.  Daniel  be- 
 came ruler  of  this  one  province  of  Babylon.  What  the 
 other  office  was  to  which  he  was  advanced  may  possibly 
 be  explained  when  further  discoveries  have  been  made. 
 Hitherto  it  has  been  inexplicable. 
 
 (49)  Over  the  affairs. — Compare  Nek  ii.  16;  Esther 
 iii.  9.  These  holy  children,  it  appears  from  this  verse, 
 were  satraps,  under  Daniel's  supervision. 
 
 Gate  of  the  king. — Compare  Esther  iii.  2,  &c. 
 Daniel  was  of  higher  rank  than  his  three  friends,  and 
 was  therefore  admitted  into  the  inner  part  of  the 
 palace. 
 
 ni. 
 
 An  important  addition  appears  in  both  Greek 
 Versions  of  Daniel,  in  accordance  with  which  the  event 
 recorded  in  this  chapter  took  place  in  the  eighteenth 
 year  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Whence  the  tradition  arose 
 cannot  be  ascertained.  It  was  certainly  unknown  to 
 Josephus.  It  has  been  supposed  that  the  date  was 
 added  by  the  translators,  on  account  of  their  supposing 
 the  erection  of  the  image  to  be  connected  with  the 
 taking  of  Jerusalem.  However,  this  is  improbable,  as 
 the  siege  itself  was  not  finished  till  the  nineteenth  year 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar  (2  Kings  xxv.  8).  It  has  also  been 
 conjectured  that  the  statue  was  one  of  the  Mug  himself. 
 
 368 
 
 erected  in  commemoration  of  some  great  victories  re- 
 cently won  by  him.  This  is  not  impossible;  but, 
 partly  from  the  mention  of  the  sacred  numbers,  6,  60, 
 partly  from  the  language  of  verses  12,  14,  18,  20,  it 
 appears  more  probable  that  the  image  was  erected  in 
 honour  of  some  god.  There  is  no  doubt  (see  Records 
 of  the  Past,  vol.  v.,  p.  113)  that  this  king  did  erect  an 
 image  of  Bel  Merodach.  Possibly  we  have  in  this 
 chapter  a  parallel  account  of  the  dedication  of  the  image. 
 
 (!)  An  image. — If  this  image  was  made  after  the 
 manner  described  (Isa.  xliv.  9—20),  the  body  was 
 formed  of  wood,  and  the  whole,  when  properly  shaped, 
 was  covered  with  thin  plates  of  gold.  As  the  height  of 
 the  whole  is  disproportionate  to  the  width,  it  is  pro- 
 bable that  the  height  of  the  pedestal  on  which  the 
 image  stood  is  included  under  the  sixty  cubits. 
 
 Plain  of  Dura. — The  older  commentators  identi- 
 fied this  place  with  various  sites,  some  north,  some 
 east  of  Babylon.  Recent  discoveries  place  it  nearer 
 to  Babylon,  in  a  place  still  called  by  a  similar  name. 
 
 (2)  Sent — i.e.,  sent  heralds,  as  appears  from  verse  4. 
 (On  the  Babylonian  officers,  see  Exc.  A.) 
 
 (4)  People,  nations. — In  Biblical  language  the 
 latter  word  is  used  (Gen.  xxv.  16)  of  the  tribes  of  Ish- 
 mael,  each  of  which  had  its  own  head,  or  of  the 
 Midianites  (Num.  xxv.  15).  The  former  is  applied  to 
 Israel  in  Ps.  cxi.  6,  where  occurs  the  phrase,  "  people  of 
 Jehovah."  The  word  "languages"  is  applied  (Gen. 
 x  5,  20,  &c.)  to  tribes  as  represented  by  their  lan- 
 guages. Hence  these  three  expressions  denote  all 
 nations  subject  to  the  empire,  of  whatever  description 
 of  language,  government,  or  federation.  (Comp.  verses 
 29,  and  chap.  iv.  1,  vii.  14.) 
 
 (5)  The  cornet. — On  the  musical  instruments,  see 
 Exc.  B. 
 
 '6)  Shall  be  cast  .  .  . — This  punishment  was 
 not  uncommon  among  the  Babylonians.  One  instance 
 of  it  is  mentioned  by  Jeremiah  (chap.  xxix.  22 ;  see 
 
The  Chaldeans  ■  I 
 
 DANIEL,    III. 
 
 the  Jen-.i  in  the  King. 
 
 shall  the  Mine  hoar  be  cast  into  the 
 midst  of  ;i  burning  fiery  rurnaoe. 
 V)  Therefore  at  thai  tune,  when  all  the 
 people  heard  the  sound  of  the  cornet, 
 ante,  harp,  Baokbut,  psaltery,  and  all 
 kinds  of  musick,  all   the   people,   the 
 
 nations,   and    the    languages,    fell    down 
 
 and  worshipped  the  golden  image  that 
 Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  had  set  rip, 
 M  Wherefore  at    that    time  certain 
 
 Chaldeans  came  near,  and  accused  the 
 Jews.  -'•''  They  snake  and  saiil  to  the 
 king  Nebuchadnezzar,  0  king,  live  for 
 
 ever.      '"''Thou,    ()    kiiiLT,    hast     made,   a 
 
 decree,  thai  every  man  that  shall  hear 
 the  sound  of  the  cornet,  Bute,  harp, 
 Baokbut,   psaltery,  and   dulcimer,  and 
 
 all    kinds    of    mnsiek,    shall    fall    down 
 
 and  worship  the  golden  image:  '"'and 
 whoso  falleth  not  down  and  wor- 
 shippeth,   llmt  he  should  be  cast  into 
 
 the  midst  or  a  hurning  fiery  furnace. 
 M)There   are  certain  .lews   whom  thou 
 
 hasl  set  over  the  affairs  of  the  province 
 of  Babylon,  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 
 ahed-nego;  these  men,  0  hang,  'have 
 not  regarded  thee :  they  serve  not  thy 
 
 ■ 
 
 .  hare  pel 
 
 <  >r.  of  purpose . 
 1 1 .  la, 
 
 gods,  nor  worship  the  golden  image 
 « bich  thou  hasi  set  ap. 
 
 Chen  Nebuchadnezzar  in  hit  rage 
 
 and  fury  commanded  to  bring  Shadrach, 
 Meshach,  and  Abed-nego.  Then  they 
 brought    these   men   before   the  king. 
 
 i")  Nebuchadnezzar  spake  and  said  unto 
 
 them,  l.<  it  -true,  i)  Shadrach,  ftfeshach, 
 and  A.bed-nego,  do  not  ye  serve  my 
 gods,    nor   worship    the    golden    image 
 
 which  I  have  set  up?  ("'Now  if  ye 
 be  ready  that  at  what  time  ye  hear  the 
 sound  of  the  cornet,  flute,  harp,  sack- 
 hut,  psaltery,  and  dulcimer,  and  all 
 kinds  of  musick,  ye  fall  down  and  wor- 
 ship the  image  which  I  have  made; 
 n;  II  :  but  if  ye  worship  not,  ye  shall  be 
 cast  the  same  hour  into  the  midst  of  a 
 burning  fiery  furnace  ;  and  who  is  that 
 God  that  shall  deliver  you  out  of  my 
 hands  p 
 
 ""  Shadrach,  Meshach. and  Ahed-nego, 
 answered  and  said  to  the  king,  O  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, we  'ire  not  careful  to  an- 
 swer thee  in  this  matter.  <17<  If  it  be 
 so,  our  God  whom  we  serve  is  able  to 
 deliver  us  from  the  burning  fiery  fur- 
 
 also  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archa  alogy, 
 vol  ii-.  p.  361).  Tin-  occasion  being  a  national  festival, 
 any  refusal  to  worship  the  national  gods  ironld  be  re- 
 garded as  high  treason.  Any  foreign  subjects  would 
 Be  expected  to  take  part  in  the  ceremony,  their  gods 
 being  supposed  to  have  been  conquered,  and  being  re- 
 garded as  demons.  (Camp.  2  Kings  xix.  12;  2  Cliron. 
 xxviii.  J:!. 
 
 i->  Wherefore. — i.e.,  because  certain  Jews  were 
 noticed  to  be  absent  at  the  time.  It  is  natural  to  sup. 
 pose  that  the  promotion  of  three  men  of  Jewish  ex- 
 tinction would   have   been   viewed  with  the  greatest 
 
 jealousy  by  the  Babylonian  officers,  who.  no  dottbt,  had 
 
 been  carefully  watching,  their  opportunity  of  revenge. 
 i lamp.  chap.  v.  II. 
 
 Chaldeans.-  Not  to  be  confused  with  the  astro- 
 logon  mentioned  in  chap.  ii.  .">.  but  Chaldean  native 
 
 subjects,  contrasted  With  the  Jewish  colonists  spoken  of 
 
 at  the  end  of  the  verse. 
 
 Whom  thou  hast  set.— The   high    position 
 of   these  men  is  mentioned   partly  t>  explain   the  king's 
 
 soger  on  account  of  their  supposed  ingratitude,  and 
 partly  to  account  for  the  malice  and  jealousy  of  their 
 
 calumniators.      Hut    why   was   Daniel   absent    from   the 
 
 ceremony F      His   behaviour  some  years  later  [chap. 
 
 vi.  10)  leaves  it  beyond  question  that  he  would  not 
 have   taken  part    in   any  idolatrous   rites.      Possibly  his 
 
 fiosii  ion  as  "  chief  of  the  wise  men  "  chap.  ii.  48)  made 
 lis  presence  unnecessary.  Possibly  he  was  absent  on 
 other  duties.  Two  things  are  certain  :  1  the  object 
 of  the  book  is   not    to  glorify  Daniel;     2    a  writer  of    a 
 
 fictitious  story  would  have  recorded  a  miracle  to  deliver 
 
 Daniel,  as  well  as  the  three  children. 
 
 t"i  Is  it  true?  -  Literally,  It  it  of  design  or  of  set 
 purpose  that  you  have  done  this  I 
 
 163  369 
 
 (15)  Well.— The  word  is  not  iu  the  Chaldee,  where 
 an  aposiopesis  is  to  be  observed,  as  in  Exod.  xxxii.  S-. 
 ( lomp.  Luke  xiii.  9. 
 
 Who  is  that  God  P — Nebuchadnezzar  has  so  little 
 belief  in  his  own  gods  that  he  ranks  himself  as  far 
 above  them  as  above  Jehovah.  He  defies  all  super- 
 natural powers.  Very  different  is  the  boast  of  .Sen- 
 nacherib (isa.  xxxvi.  IS — 20),  who  pits  his  own  god 
 .\s-ui'  Against  Jehovah. 
 
 (is)  b  Nebuchadnezzar.    They  mention  the  king 
 
 byname,  so  as  to  make  their  address  correspond  with  his 
 
 verse  1 L).    His  attention  would  in  this  way  be  direct  d 
 
 to  the  strong  antithesis  between  his  statement  |  \erse  15) 
 
 and  theirs  verse  17).    Great  though  the  distinction  was 
 
 between  kiiur  and  subject  in  such  a  country  as  Babylon, 
 
 rot  that  distinction  was  lost  when  any  collision  occurred 
 between  duty  to  Jehovah  and  obedience  to  a  royal  edict. 
 
 We  are  not  careful.— More  correctly,  as  trans- 
 lated by  Theodotion,  We  Kane  HO  hied — i.e.,  it  is  need- 
 less for  us  to  give  any  reply. 
 
 (i">  If  it  be  so. — The  meaning  becomes  dearer  by 
 
 omitting  the  word  "so."  The  sentence  will  then  stand 
 BS  follows  :  "  If  our  (jod  is  able  to  deliver  us  .  .  .  then 
 He  will  do  so  ;  but  if  He  does  n< 't  deliver  us,  be  assured 
 that  we  will  not  serve  thy  gods."  The  three  holy 
 children  are  quite  content  CO  leave  the  whole  matter  in 
 the  hands  of  Providence.  They  know  that  the  law  of 
 oliedionce  is  the  tirst  law  of  all,  and  this  they  are  re- 
 solved to  keep.  There  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for 
 Supposing  that  they  expected  a  miraculous  del.verance. 
 Then:  language  implies  no  inure  than  faithful  obedience. 
 (See  Isa.  xliii.  2.  • 
 
 Is  able.— They  did  not  question  His  power;  they 
 did  not  know  whether  He  would  will  to  exercise  the 
 use  of  it.     (Comp.  Gen.  xix.  22.) 
 
Shadrach,  Meshach  and  Abed-nego 
 
 DANIEL,   III. 
 
 Delivered  out  of  the  Furnace. 
 
 nace,  and  lie  will  deliver  us  out  of  thine 
 hand,  0  king.  (18>  But  if  not,  be  it 
 known  unto  thee,  0  king,  that  we  will 
 not  serve  thy  gods,  nor  worship  the 
 golden  image  which  thou  hast  set  up. 
 
 (19)  Then  was  Nebuchadnezzar  l  full  of 
 fury,  and  the  form  of  his  visage  was 
 changed  against  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
 and  Abed-nego  :  therefore  he  spake,  and 
 commanded  that  they  should  heat  the 
 furnace  one  seven  times  more  than  it 
 was  wont  to  be  heated.  (20)  And  he 
 commanded  the  2  most  mighty  men  that 
 were  in  his  army  to  bind  Shadrach, 
 Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  and  to  cast 
 them  into  the  burning  fiery  furnace. 
 (2i)  Then  these  men  were  bound  in  their 
 3 coats,  their  hosen,  and  their  4hats,  and 
 their  other  garments,  and  were  cast  into 
 the  midst  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace. 
 (22)  Therefore  because  the  king's  5  com- 
 mandment was  urgent,  and  the  furnace 
 exceeding  hot,  the  G  flame  of  the  fire 
 slew  those  men  that  took  up  Shadrach, 
 Meshach,  and  Abed-nego.  (23)And  these 
 three  men,  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 
 Abed-nego,  fell  down  bound  into  the 
 midst  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace. 
 
 (24)  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king 
 was  astonied,  and  rose  up  in  haste, 
 and  spake,  and  said  unto  his  7  coun- 
 sellors,  Did    not   we    cast    three   men 
 
 l  Chald.,  Jilted. 
 
 2  ('bald.. mighty  of 
 strength. 
 
 R  Or,  mantles. 
 
 5  Chald.,  word. 
 
 G  Or,  spark. 
 
 7  Or,  governors. 
 
 8  Chald.,  there  is  no 
 hint  in  them. 
 
 9  Cbald.,  door. 
 
 10  Chald.,  a  decree 
 I     is  made  by  me. 
 
 bound  into  the  midst  of  the  fire  ?  They 
 answered  and  said  unto  the  king,  True, 
 
 0  king.     (25)  He  answered  and  said,  Lo, 
 
 1  see  four  men  loose,  walking  in  the 
 midst  of  the  fire,  and  8they  have  no 
 hurt ;  and  the  form  of  the  fourth  is  like 
 the  Son  of  God. 
 
 (26)  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  came  near 
 to  the  9  mouth  of  the  burning  fiery  fur- 
 nace, and  spake,  and  said,  Shadrach, 
 Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  ye  servants 
 of  the  most  high  God,  come  forth,  and 
 come  hither.  Then  Shadrach,  Meshach, 
 and  Abed-nego,  came  forth  of  the  midst 
 of  the  fire.  <27>And  the  princes,  gover- 
 nors, and  captains,  and  the  king's  coun- 
 sellors, being  gathered  together,  saw 
 these  men,  upon  whose  bodies  the  fire 
 had  no  power,  nor  was  an  hair  of  their 
 head  singed,  neither  were  their  coats 
 changed,  nor  the  smell  of  fire  had 
 passed  on  them. 
 
 <28>  Then  Nebuchadnezzar  spake,  and 
 said,  Blessed  be  the  God  of  Shadrach, 
 Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  who  hath  sent 
 his  angel,  and  delivered  his  servants 
 that  trusted  in  him,  and  have  changed 
 the  king's  word,  and  yielded  their 
 bodies,  that  they  might  not  serve  nor 
 worship  any  god,  except  their  own  God. 
 <39>  Therefore  10 1  make  a  decree,  That 
 every    people,    nation,    and    language, 
 
 (19)  One  seven  times. — It  is  doubtful  whether 
 "  seven  "  is  used  here  as  a  round  number  or  not.  Ac- 
 cording to  the  Babylonian  mythology,  there  were  seven 
 demons,  named  "  Haskim,"  who  were  the  most  formid- 
 able of  the  infernal  powers.  Perhaps  the  number 
 "  seven "  has  a  reference  to  them,  for  the  religious 
 nature  of  the  punishment  favours  the  view  that  the  over- 
 heating of  the  furnace  was  regarded  as  a  religious  act. 
 
 Than  it  was  wont. — More  correctly,  than  it  was 
 fitting.  The  improper  heating  of  the  furnace  led  to 
 the  death  of  the  mighty  men  (verse  22). 
 
 (20)  The  most  mighty  men.— He  selected  these 
 as  being  the  most  likely  to  be  able  to  bear  the  unusual 
 heat  of  the  fire.  Whether  he  had  any  expectation  that 
 some  attempt  at  a  rescue  would  be  made  does  not 
 appear.  We  may  gather,  however,  that  the  army  was 
 present  at  this  horrible  tragedy. 
 
 (21)  Their  coats. — The  dresses  spoken  of  here 
 correspond  with  what  Herodotus  tells  us  (i.  195)  of  the 
 Babylonian  costume.  As  far  as  can  be  determined 
 from  the  etymology  of  the  words,  the  "  coat "  was  an 
 under-clothing,  which  covered  the  whole  body ;  the 
 "hose"  was  some  species  of  tunic — something  "spread 
 out "  over  the  under-clothing ;  the  "  hat  "  (the  only 
 one  of  the  three  words  of  which  no  Hebrew  root  exists 
 (see  1  Chron.  xv.  27),  was  a  sort  of  cloak,  used  probably 
 for  State  occasions  only. 
 
 (22)  Urgent. — The  same  word  is  translated  hasty 
 (chap.  ii.  15).     The  king's  command  had  been  uttered 
 
 while  he  was  in  a  furious  rage,  and  in  consequence  of 
 this,  the  furnace  was  raised  to  so  high  a  temperature 
 that  the  executioners  were  slain.  The  death  of  the 
 executioners  forms  an  evident  contrast  with  the  de- 
 liverance of  those  who  had  been  sentenced  to  die. 
 
 (24)  "Was  astonied. — He  had  been  watching  the 
 proceedings  from  a  distance  through  the  "mouth" 
 (verse  26),  which  was  in  the  side  of  the  furnace. 
 
 (25)  The  Son  of  God.— These  words,  let  us  re- 
 member, are  uttered  by  a  heathen  king,  who  calls  this 
 same  Person,  in  verse  28,  "  an  angel  "  of  the  God  whom 
 the  three  children  worshipped.  Probably  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar thought  that  He  stood  to  Jehovah  in  the  same 
 relation  that  he  himself  did  to  Merodach.  His  con- 
 ceptions of  the  power  of  Jehovah  were  evidently  raised 
 by  what  he  had  witnessed,  though  as  yet  he  does  not 
 recognise  Him  as  being  more  than  a  chief  among  gods. 
 He  has  not  risen  to  that  conception  of  the  unity  of  God 
 which  is  essential  to  His  absolute  supremacy.  But 
 still  the  question  has  to  be  answered,  What  did  the 
 king  see  P  The  early  Patristic  interpretation  was  that 
 it  was  none  other  than  Christ  Himself.  We  have  no 
 means  of  ascertaining  anything  further,  and  must  be 
 content  with  knowing  that  the  same  "Angel  of  God's 
 presence "  who  was  with  Israel  in  the  wilderness 
 watched  over  the  people  in  Babylon. 
 
 <28)  Have  changed. — Literally,  have  transgressed. 
 (29)  Anything  amiss. — The  marginal  version  is  to 
 be  preferred. 
 
 370 
 
NebwikadnezzHr  /'mixes  (1ml 
 
 DANIEL,    IV. 
 
 A  ml  /,'■  i-i!'  ^  hit  Dream, 
 
 which    speak   'an\     tiling    amiss    against 
 
 the  God  of  Bhadrach,  Meshach,  and 
 a.bed-nego,  shall  be  "-'cut,  in  pieces,  and 
 
 their  houses  shall  be  made  a  dunghill  : 
 because  there  is  nO  Other  God  thai  can 
 deliver  alter  tins  sort.  <:l0)  Then  the 
 k i n g3 promoted  Shadrach,  Meshach,  an<l 
 ahed-nego,  in  the  province  of  Babylon. 
 
 CHAPTER    IV.— (D  Nebuchadnezzar 
 
 the  king,  unto  all  people,  nations,  and 
 languages,  that  dwell  in  all  the  earth; 
 Peace  be  multiplied  unto  you.  (-l4I 
 thought  it  good  to  shew  the  signs  and 
 wonders  that  t  he  high  t  iod  hath  wrought 
 toward  me.  |S|  How  great  n/v  his  signs  ! 
 and  how  mighty  an  his  winders!  his 
 kingdom  it  'an  everlasting  kingdom. 
 and  his  dominion  it  from  generation  to 
 generation. 
 
 l*>  I  Nebuchadnezzar  was  at  rest  in 
 mine  house,  and  flourishing  in  iny 
 palace:  (5)  I  saw  a  dream  which  made 
 me  afraid,  and  the  thoughts  upon  my 
 bed  and  the  visions  of  my  head  troubled 
 me.  ((i)  Therefore  made  I  a  decree  to 
 bring  in  all  the  wise  men  of  Babylon 
 before  me,  that  they  might  make  known 
 unto  me  the  interpretation  of  the  dream. 
 '"'Then    came    in    the    magicians,    the 
 
 i  chald 
 
 Clml.l  . 
 
 pfwtt. 
 
 :  CliaM.,  made  to 
 
 Cll.'il.l.,     II     IMI 
 «<i  mly  ln/vrc  int. 
 
 o  cli.  ;.  u. 
 
 uc. 
 
 cir.  57<X 
 
 Cbald . ; 
 
 astrologers,  the  Chaldeans,  and  the 
 Boothsayera :  ami  I  told  the  dream 
 before  them;  but  they  did  not  make- 
 known  unto  me  the  interpretation 
 thereof.  (h|  But  at  the  last  Daniel  came 
 in  before  me,  whose  name  wot  Belte- 
 slia/.zai-,  according  to  the  name  of  my 
 
 god,  and  in  whom  is  the  spirit  of  the 
 holy  gods:  and  before  him  I  told  the 
 ir&au,  saying,  '"'(j  Belteshazzar,  'master 
 
 of  the  magicians,  because  I  know  that 
 the  spirit  of  the  holy  gods  is  in  thee, 
 and  no  secret  troubleth  thee,  tell  me 
 the  visions  of  my  dream  that  I  have 
 seen,  and  the  interpretation  thereof. 
 "Thus  were  the  visions  of  mine  head 
 in  my  bed;  'I  saw,  and  behold  a  tree 
 in  the  midst  of  the  earth,  and  the 
 height  thereof  ivas  great.  <ln  The  tree- 
 grew,  and  was  strong,  and  the  height 
 thereof  reached  unto  heaven,  and  the 
 Bight  thereof  to  the  end  of  all  the  earth  : 
 '-'the  leaves  thereof  were  fair,  and  the 
 fruit  thereof  much,  and  in  it  wot  meat 
 for  all :  the  beasts  of  the  field  had 
 shadow  under  it,  and  the  fowls  of  the 
 heaven  dwelt  in  the  boughs  thereof,  and 
 all  flesh  was  fed  of  it.  <13>  I  saw  in  the 
 visions  of  my  head  upon  my  bed,  and, 
 behold,  a  watcher  and  an  holy  one  came 
 
 (30)  Promoted— i.e..  he  reinstated  them  to  their 
 former  posts,  from  which  they  had  been  temporarily 
 deposed. 
 
 IV. 
 
 (1)  Peace  .  .  . — For  this  mode  of  address  comp. 
 Ezra  iv.  17.  vii.  12.  The  date  of  the  matter  recorded 
 in  this  chapter  cannot  be  ascertained,  as  a   blank   falls 
 
 upon  the  last  eighteen  years  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  reign. 
 
 Tin-  only  I'acN  that  occurred  during  this  period,  sci  far 
 as  is  known,  an-  tin-  terrible  form  of  mania  from  which 
 the  king  suffered,  by  reason  of  which  he  was  kepi 
 under  restraint  for  some  time,  and  the  further  exten- 
 sion ot  his  dominions  after  his  recovery  iverse  84). 
 
 All  the  earth.— By  this  time  the  king  has  I me 
 
 so  powerful  that  ho  regards  himself  as  universal 
 monarch,  so  that  some  time  must  have  elapsed  since 
 the  events  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter. 
 
 '-'  Signs  and  wonders.— Comp.  Isa.  viii.  18.  The 
 
 appear.-m if  various  scriptural  phrases  in  this  letter 
 
 fails  us  to  believe  that  Daniel  must  have  written  it  at 
 the  king's  request . 
 
 The  high  God. — Referring  to  his  languago  (chap, 
 iii.  26). 
 
 W  Flourishing. — A  word  generally  employed  to 
 
 signify  the  growth  of  trees.  Here,  no  ilmibt.  it  is  sug- 
 gested by  the  dream  which  follows,  and  is  for  that 
 reason  selected  by  Daniel.  It  may  be  observed  that 
 the  LXX.  version  here,  as  in  chap.  iii.  1,  gives  the 
 eighteenth  year  as  the  date. 
 
 My  palace. — See  Layard's  Nimevth  and  Babylon, 
 p.  50t!. 
 
 371 
 
 (8)  At  the  last. — On  account  of  his  position  as 
 the  chief  of  tin-  governors  of  the  wise  men,  Daniel 
 would  not  '•  come  in  '"  till  last. 
 
 Belteshazzar.— See  Note  on  chap.  i.  7;  Introduc- 
 tion, §  vi. 
 
 The  spirit    .     .     . — He   means  his  own  gods,  for 
 
 though  lie  r guised  Jehovah  to  be  a  "  high  God,"  yet 
 
 lie  acknowledged  Him  only  as  one  out  of  many. 
 
 (9)  Troubleth  thee.— Literally,  goadeth  thee,  or, 
 causeth  thee  this  dijjicnUy. 
 
 (10)  A  tree. — For  this  symbol  of  majesty,  comp. 
 Ezek.  xxxi.  3,  Ac.  The  dream  of  Cambysee  (Herod,  i. 
 108)  was  of  a  similar  nature. 
 
 (11)  The  tree  grew.— It  appeared  in  the  vision  to 
 grow  gradually  larger  and  larger.  According  to  the 
 LXX.,  '•  The  sun  and  moon  dwelled  in  it  and  gavo 
 light,  to  the  whole  earth." 
 
 The  sight  thereof— i.e.,   the   tree   could  lie   - 
 from  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  known  world. 
 
 u-i  The  fruit  thereof  much.— By    this    is    im- 
 plied the  great  cpuvutity  of  fruit  as  well  as  the  1 
 ness  of  it. 
 
 (is)  A  watcher  and  a  holy  one-  one 
 
 who  is  watchful;  translated  ••angel"  by  the  LXX.. 
 but  simply  transliterated  into"Eir"  by  Theodotion. 
 'l'lio  word  is  used  twice  by  the  king. and  once  by  Daniel 
 (vene  23),  but  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  prophet 
 substitutes  "the  Most  Sigh"  for  the  words  of  the  king 
 in  verse  17).  We  must  suppose  that  Xebnehadnezzar 
 dreamed  in  a  language  familiar  to  himself,  and  that 
 the  objects  of  his  dream  were  things  with  which  his 
 Babylonian     education    had    made     him    acquainted. 
 
Daniel  called  in 
 
 DANIEL,   IV. 
 
 to  Interpret  the  Dream, 
 
 down  from  heaven ;  <u>  he  cried  l  aloud, 
 and  said  thus,  Hew  down  the  tree,  and 
 cut  off  his  branches,  shake  off  his  leaves, 
 and  scatter  his  fruit :  let  the  beasts  get 
 away  from  under  it,  and  the  fowls  from 
 his  branches  :  <15)  nevertheless  leave  the 
 stump  of  his  roots  in  the  earth,  even 
 with  a  band  of  iron  and  brass,  in  the 
 tender  grass  of  the  field ;  and  let  it  be 
 wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  let  his 
 portion  be  with  the  beasts  in  the  grass 
 of  the  earth :  <16>  let  his  heart  be 
 changed  from  man's,  and  let  a  beast's 
 heart  be  given  unto  him ;  and  let  seven 
 times  pass  over  him.  <17)  This  matter  is 
 by  the  decree  of  the  watchers,  and  the 
 demand  by  the  word  of  the  holy  ones  : 
 to  the  intent  that  the  living  may  know 
 that  the  most  High  ruleth  in  the  king- 
 dom of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whomso- 
 ever he  will,  and  setteth  up  over  it  the 
 basest  of  men.  <18)  This  dream  I  king 
 Nebuchadnezzar  have  seen.  Now  thou, 
 O   Belteshazzar,  declare    the   interpre- 
 
 1     Cbakl., 
 might. 
 
 tation  thereof,  forasmuch  as  all  the 
 wise  men  of  my  kingdom  are  not  able 
 to  make  known  unto  me  the  interpre- 
 tation :  but  thou  art  able ;  for  the  spirit 
 of  the  holy  gods  is  in  thee. 
 
 (i9)  Then  Daniel,  whose  name  was 
 Belteshazzar,  was  astonied  for  one 
 hour,  and  his  thoughts  troubled  him. 
 The  king  spake,  and  said,  Belteshazzar, 
 let  not  the  dream,  or  the  interpretation 
 thereof,  trouble  thee.  Belteshazzar  an- 
 swered and  said,  My  lord,  the  dream  be 
 to  them  that  hate  thee,  and  the  inter- 
 pretation thereof  to  thine  enemies. 
 (20)  ijhe  tree  that  thou  sawest,  which 
 grew,  and  was  strong,  whose  height 
 reached  unto  the  heaven,  and  the  sight 
 thereof  to  all  the  earth ;  <21>  whose  leaves 
 were  fair,  and  the  fruit  thereof  much, 
 and  in  it  was  meat  for  all ;  under  which 
 the  beasts  of  the  field  dwelt,  and  upon 
 whose  branches  the  fowls  of  the  heaven, 
 had  their  habitation :  <22)  it  is  thou,  O 
 king,  that  art  grown  and  become  strong: 
 
 According  to  his  mythology,  the  god  of  Nergal  was 
 l-egarded  as  "  manifesting  himself  in  watching,"  so 
 that  he  may  have  dreamed  that  he  witnessed  a 
 descent  of  one  of  his  deities.  In  this  he  is  corrected 
 by  Daniel,  being  assured  that  the  whole  is  sent  from 
 heaven,  that  the  decree  is  ordered  by  the  one  true 
 God,  and  that  the  holy  watcher  is  an  angel  of  God. 
 
 (14)  Aloud — i.e.,  like  a  king's  herald.  (Corup.  chap, 
 iii.  4.) 
 
 Hew  down. — The  plural  is  here  used,  implying  that 
 several  persons  are  employed  in  carrying  out  the  order. 
 
 (15)  The  stump. — Tho  whole  tree  was  not  to  be 
 destroyed,  but  just  so  much  was  to  remain  as  could 
 produce  a  new  sapling.  (Comp.  Isa.  xi.  1.)  As  long 
 as  the  stump  remained,  it  might  be  hoped  that  the  green 
 branches  might  shoot  forth  again.     (Comp.  verse  36.) 
 
 A  band. — As  the  vision  continues,  the  typical  lan- 
 guage is  gradually  laid  aside,  and  it  begins  to  appear 
 that  by  the  tree  a  man  is  intended.  We  must  not 
 understand  by  "  the  band  "  the  chains  by  which  the 
 unfortunate  king  would  be  confined,  but  metaphorically 
 trouble  and  affliction,  as  Pss.  cvii.  10,  cxlix.  8.  It  has 
 been  assumed  that  during  his  malady  the  king  wandered 
 about  at  large.  This  is  highly  improbable.  That  his 
 courtiers  did  not  avail  themselves  of  his  sickness  to 
 substitute  some  other  king  in  his  place  is  sufficient 
 proof  of  their  regard  for  him.  It  is  natural  to  suppose 
 that  he  was  confined  in  some  court  of  his  palace.  The 
 inscriptions  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  accounts  of  his 
 reign  written  by  historians,  being  all  composed  with 
 the  view  of  glorifying  the  monarch,  naturally  suppress 
 all  mention  of  his  madness. 
 
 (16)  Here  the  metaphor  of  verse  15  is  entirety  dis- 
 continued, and  a  man  is  mentioned. 
 
 Seven  times. — On  the  use  of  the  number  "  seven  " 
 see  Note  on  chap.  iii.  19.  The  period  intended  by 
 "  time  "  is  very  uncertain :  from  the  uso  of  the  word 
 in  Judges  xvii.  10  it  has  been  inferred  that  "years" 
 are  intended.     This  is  purely  conjectural.     It  is  more 
 
 probable  that  the  word  is  used  to  signify  some  definite 
 period  of  time,  which,  as  appears  from  the  words 
 "  over  him,"  was  in  some  way  marked  out  by  the 
 heavenly  bodies.  The  word  "  time  "  is  used  by  Daniel 
 in  the  same  sense  (chap.  vii.  25).  (Comp.  chap.  xii.  7, 
 where,  however,  a  different  word  is  employed.) 
 
 (17)  By  the  decree — i.e.,  the  message  to  the  king 
 rests  on  this  decree  or  sentence,  and  it  is  ascribed  to 
 the  "  watcher,"  because  to  him  pertained  the  execution 
 of  the  decree. 
 
 The  demand. — Comp.  Isa.  xliv.  26.  According  to 
 the  use  of  the  word  in  Chaldee  elsewhere,  this  can  be 
 the  only  true  meaning.  The  "  holy  one  "  makes  this 
 request  of  God,  and  the  carrying  out  of  His  decree 
 pertains  to  the  "watcher."  "This,"  says  Dr.  Pusey, 
 "  gives  another  glimpse  into  the  interest  of  the  holy 
 angels  in  ourselves.  They,  too,  longed  that  oppres- 
 sion should  cease,  and  joining  in  the  cry  which  for 
 ever  is  going  up  from  the  oppressed  to  the  throne  of 
 mercy  and  judgment,  prayed  for  that  chastisement 
 which  was  to  relieve  the  oppressed  and  convert  the 
 oppi-essor  "  (Lectures  on  Daniel,  p.  525). 
 
 Ruleth  .  .  . — i.e..  Almighty  God  disposes  of 
 human  empires  as  He  pleases.     (Comp.  chap.  v.  21.) 
 
 (!8)  This  dream. — More  correctly  translated,  This 
 in  a  dream  I  saw — i.e.,  it  was  communicated  to  me  in 
 a  vision. 
 
 (19)    Hour. — Literally,  moment.  (Comp.  chap.  iii.  6.) 
 
 To  them  that  hate  thee. — A  delicate  way  of  ex- 
 pressing his  hopes  for  the  best.  "  May  that  which  is  im- 
 plied in  the  interpretation  overtake  thine  enemies." 
 
 <3°)  It  should  be  noticed  that  both  in  this  and  in  the 
 following  verse  the  description  of  the  tree  given  in 
 verses  11,  12  is  curtailed.  It  was  observed  that,  on  the 
 contrary,  there  was  an  expansion  of  details  in  the  in- 
 terpretation of  the  former  dream.  (See  Note  on  verse 
 23.) 
 
 (22)  This  gives  us  to  understand  that  Nebuchadnezzar 
 had  arrived  at  the  zenith  of  his  power.     The  extent  of 
 
 372 
 
The  Fulfilment 
 
 DANIEL,    IV. 
 
 of  the  Dream, 
 
 for  thy  greatness  in  grown,  and  reachcth 
 unto  heaven,  and  wr  dominion  to  the 
 end  of  the  earth.  i®)And  whereas  the 
 king  saw  a  watcher  and  an   holy  one 
 
 OOming  <  1  ■  > w n  from   heaven,  and  Baying, 
 
 Hew  the  tree  down,  and  destroy  it  ;  yel 
 Leave  the  stamp  of  the  roots  thereof  in 
 the  earth,  even  with  a  band  of  Iron  and 
 brass,  in  the  tender  grass  of  the  field; 
 
 and  let  it  be  wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven, 
 and  hi  his  portion  /«■  with  the  beasts  of 
 the  field,  till  seven  times  pass  over  him  ; 
 P*)this  it  tl"'  interpretation,  0  king, 
 and  this  is  the  decree  of  tin'  most  High, 
 
 which  is  come  u| my  lord  the  king: 
 
 '  -'■''  (hat  they  shall  "drive  thee  from  men, 
 and  thy  dwelling  shall  be  with  the  beasts 
 of  the  field,  and  they  shall  make  thee 
 to  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  they  shall  wrt 
 thee  with  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  seven 
 limes    shall    |>ass    over    thee,    till    thou 
 
 know  thai  the  most   High  ruleth  In  the 
 
 or.   .in    h'.ilui'j 
 •  rror. 
 
 I  <  ir,  upon. 
 
 kingdom  of  men,  and  giveth  it  to  whom- 
 soever he  will.  '-'"''And  whereas  they 
 e<  miinanded  to  leave  the  stumpof  the  t  n  ■ 
 mots;  thy  kingdom  shall  be  sure  unto 
 thee,  after  thai  thou  shalt  have  known 
 that  the  heavens  do  rule.  ,27»  Where- 
 fore, ()  king,  let  my  counsel  be  accept- 
 able unto  thee,  and  break  off  thy  sins 
 by  righteousness,  and  thine  iniquities  by 
 shewing  mercy  to  the  poor;  if  it  ma] 
 he  'a  lengthening  of  thy  tranquillity. 
 
 All  this  came  upon  the  king  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar. t*'At  the  end  of  twelve 
 months  he  walked  -in  the  palace  of  the 
 kingdom  of  Babylon.  <3°)  The  king  spake, 
 and  said.  Is  not  this  great  Babylon,  that 
 I  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  king- 
 dom by  the  might  of  my  power,  and  for 
 the  honour  of  my  majesty?  (:;1  While 
 the  word  woe  in  the  king's  mouth,  there 
 fell  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  0  king 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  to  thee  it  is  spoken; 
 
 his  dominions  may  be  estimated  with  tolerable  accuracy 
 
 U    follows: — Northwards    lie    possessed   Armenia,   and 
 
 ■  considerable  portion  <>f  Asia  Minor;  in  the  west, 
 Syria,  and  si  onetime  Egypt;  southwards,  his  power 
 reached  the  Persian  Gulf;  while  in  the  east,  the  Modes 
 ami  islamites  were  subject  to  him.  Possessing,  as  he 
 did,  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  all  the 
 treasures  of  tin' known  world  were  at  bis  command,  In 
 his  (irst  vision  he  was  represented  as  the  golden  head 
 of  the  image.  In  his  pride  he  desired  the  whole  image 
 to  he  of  gold, and  himself  to  he  the  image — but  this 
 was  the  sili  for  which  he  was  to  Buffer. 
 
 (23)  Destroy  it. — Observe  how.  iii  this  verse,  these 
 words  stand  for  the  whole  of  the  latter  part  of  verse  l-l. 
 
 '-ll  Which  is  come  upon.    See  Note  on  rase  13. 
 (-51  They  shall  drive  thee.— The  third  person 
 
 plural    verb   in    tin-    active   with   an    impersonal   Subject 
 
 frequently  stands  for  the  second  person  singular  pas- 
 Thus  these  words  mean  "  thou  shalt  be  driven." 
 
 (Comp.  Luke  xvi.  !>.t 
 
 They  commanded—/'.,  the  watchers.    We 
 
 observe,  however,  in  verso  l:i   that  tl mmand  is  only 
 
 ascribed  to  one  of  the  Watchers.  This  makes  it  appear 
 that  they  form  a  council  in  which  one  acts  in  behalf  of  all. 
 
 Thy  kingdom.  -To  make  the  sense  plain  we  must 
 
 Supply  before  this  woid.  "The  interpretation  of  it  is." 
 or  s,,iiie  sentenee  to  that  effect. 
 
 Shall  be  sure.    Literally.  shall  arise.     No  suc- 
 cessor shall  ho  appointed  during  his  life. 
 
 Do  rule     i.r..  the  heavens,  or  One  in  heaven  ruleth 
 the  kingdoms  of  men. 
 
 -71  Break  off.— The  metaphor  is  taken  from  a  re- 
 fractory beast  casting  off  the  yoke.     (Oomp.  Gen.  xxvii. 
 
 In,  where  it  is  foretold  that  Esau's  posterity  shall  •'  break 
 
 off  "the  yoke  of  Jacob.      In  Chaldee  the  word  is  used 
 
 for  the    most  part    ill  the   sense  of  putting  on  one   side. 
 
 Daniel  therefore  counsels  the  king  to  rebel  against  his 
 
 sins,  such  as  pride,  harshness,  and  cruelty  towards  his 
 captives,  and  to  put  all  these  sins  aside.  And  how 
 can  he  do  this  in  a  better  manner  than  by  practising 
 the  contrary  virtues  ■* 
 
 Righteousness.— In  all  wars  of  conquest  many 
 acts  of  injustice  are  perpetrated.  The  king  is  warned 
 here  to  show  justice  or  to  act  justly  for  tho  future. 
 Similar  counsel  is  given,  though  in  different  language 
 I  Micah  vi.  8).  The  idea  of  "  alms  "  and  "  redeeming  " 
 is  not  conveyed  by  the  Chaldee  words,  so  that  the 
 translation  "  redeem  thy  sins  by  alms"  is  incorrect  and 
 unwarrantable. 
 
 If  it  may  be — i.e.,  if  Nebuchadnessar  will  repent, 
 
 his  prosperity  and  peace  will  be  prolonged. 
 
 (29)  Twelve  months -i.e.,  counting  from  the  time 
 of  the   vision.      Sufficient   time  for    repentance   was 
 
 mercifully  granted  to  the  king. 
 
 Palace  of  the  kingdom  of  Babylon.— He  had 
 palaces  in  other  towns.     Daniel  lays  a  stress  upon  the 
 
 faet  that  this  occurred  in  the  town  of  Babylon.  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, the  golden  head  of  the  image,  was  in  the 
 \orv  centre  of  his  dominions,  in  his  own  proud  capital, 
 wben  this  occurred.  It  is  needless,  therefore,  to  assume 
 that  this  was  written  by  a  person  who  lived  a  long  way 
 off  from  Babylon. 
 
 (30)  Great  Babylon.— The  area  of  Babylon  is  said 
 to  have  been  200  Bquare  miles.  It  was  surrounded 
 by  walls  85  feel  in  width,  335  feet  high.  In  these 
 were  bra/.en  gates  leading  to  various  terraces  which 
 faced  the  river  Euphrates.  Within  the  walls  the  city 
 was  laid  out  in  smaller  towns,  separated  from  each 
 other  by  parks  and  plantations  and  gardens;  in  faet. 
 it  is  stated  that  corn  sufficient  for  t lie  whole  population 
 could    be  grown    within    the    walls.       There   were  also 
 
 magnificent  public  buildings.  Nebuchadneziar   Bi 
 
 of  tin  Past,  vol.  v..  pp.  113-  loo  mentions  no  lees 
 than  eight  temples  which  he  completed,  besides  th  .  huge 
 temple  of  Merodach  immediately  across  the  Euphr 
 
 facing  the  royal  palace.  Walking  on  the  Hat  roof  of 
 this  palace,  and  with  this  grand  spectacle  before  him. 
 the  king  uttered  these  words.  True,  indeed,  they  were, 
 but    they  show    that    during   the    twelve   months   which 
 
 hail  been  allotted  to  the  king  for  repentance  his  pride 
 remained  unabated;  he  had  not  repented  as  Daniel  had 
 counselled  him. 
 
 373 
 
The  Restoration 
 
 DANIEL,   V. 
 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 The  kingdom  is  departed  from  thee. 
 (32)And  they  shall  drive  thee  from  men, 
 and  thy  dwelling  shall  be  with  the  beasts 
 of  the  field :  they  shall  make  thee  to  eat 
 grass  as  oxen,  and  seven  times  shall  pass 
 over  thee,  until  thou  know  that  the  most 
 High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and 
 giveth  it  to  whomsoever  he  will. 
 
 (33)The  same  hour  was  the  thing  ful- 
 filled upon  Nebuchadnezzar :  and  he  was 
 driven  from  men,  and  did  eat  grass  as 
 oxen,  and  his  body  was  wet  with  the 
 dew  of  heaven,  till  his  hairs  were  grown 
 like  eagles'  feathers,  and  his  nails  like 
 birds'  claivs. 
 
 (34)  And  at  the  end  of  the  days  I 
 Nebuchadnezzar  lifted  up  mine  eyes  unto 
 heaven,  and  mine  understanding  re- 
 turned unto  me,  and  I  blessed  the  most 
 High,  and  I  praised  and  honoured  him 
 that  liveth  for  ever,  whose  dominion 
 is  "an  everlasting  dominion,  and  his 
 kingdom  is  from  generation  to  genera- 
 
 B.C. 
 cir.  569. 
 
 a  eh.  7. 14;  MIc. 
 7;  Luke  1.  S3. 
 
 B.C. 
 cir.  563. 
 
 B.C. 
 cir.  538. 
 
 Job  9.  12  ;    Isa. 
 45.9. 
 
 tion :  (35)and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
 earth  are  reputed  as  nothing :  and  he 
 doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army 
 of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of 
 the  earth :  and  none  can  stay  his  hand, 
 or  say  unto  him,  b  What  doest  thou? 
 (36)  At  the  same  time  my  reason  returned 
 unto  me ;  and  for  the  glory  of  my  king- 
 dom, mine  honour  and  brightness  re- 
 turned unto  me ;  and  my  counsellors 
 and  my  lords  sought  unto  me ;  and  I 
 was  established  in  my  kingdom,  and 
 excellent  majesty  was  added  unto  me. 
 
 (37)  Now  I  Nebuchadnezzar  praise  and 
 extol  and  honour  the  King  of  heaven, 
 all  whose  works  are  truth,  and  his  ways 
 judgment :  and  those  that  walk  in  pride 
 he  is  able  to  abase. 
 
 CHAPTER  V.  —  N  Belshazzar  the 
 king  made  a  great  feast  to  a  thousand 
 of  his  lords,  and  drank  wine  before  the 
 thousand.  (2>  Belshazzar,  whiles  he  tasted 
 
 (31)  A  voice. — By  this  he  would  he  reminded  of  his 
 di-eam  (verse  14),  when  he  heard  the  watcher  "  cry 
 aloud." 
 
 (32)  They  shall  drive  thee. — This  verse  is  only 
 slightly  abridged  from  verse  25  by  the  omission  of  the 
 clause  "  they  shall  wet  thee  with  the  dew  of  heaven." 
 
 (33)  The  thing  fulfilled.— The  malady  of  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar has  frequently  formed  the  subject  of  discus- 
 sion, and  it  is  now  for  the  most  part  agreed  that  it  was 
 a  form  of  mania  known  as  lycanthropy.  The  peculiar 
 features  of  it  mentioned  in  this  verse  are  partially  con- 
 nected with  the  life  which  the  sufferer's  delusion  forced 
 him  to  lead.  It  appears,  however,  from  the  account  in 
 Daniel,  that  he  retained  his  consciousness,  as  "  he  lifted 
 up  his  eyes  to  heaven  "  (verse  34)  before  "  his  under- 
 standing "  returned  to  him.  Of  this  sickness  nothing 
 is  recorded  by  Berosus,  unless  the  vague  statement 
 "  Nebuchadnezzar  fell  siek  and  died  after  a  reign  of 
 forty-three  years  "  be  pressed.  It  is  remarkable  to 
 observe  that  an  interval  is  mentioned  in  his  inscription 
 during  which  he  executed  no  gi-eat  public  works. 
 
 (34)  Lifted  up  mine  eyes.— A  sign  of  seeking 
 help  from  heaven,  as  Ps.  exxiii.  1.  By  his  "  under- 
 standing "  is  not  meant  his  consciousness  so  much  as 
 his  sense  of  personality,  which  had  been  lost  for  a  time. 
 
 Whose  dominion  .  .  . — These  words,  like  those  in 
 verse  3,  recall  Ps.  exlv.  13 ;  and  the  next  verse  is  not 
 unlike  Isa.  xl.  17,  xliii.  13,  21.  It  is  hard  to  suppose 
 that  the  king  was  so  thoroughly  versed  in  the  Hebrew 
 Scriptures  that  he  should  be  able  to  make  use  of  them 
 as  doxologies.  This  gives  support  to  the  conjecture 
 that  the  letter  was  composed  by  Daniel  and  not  by  the 
 king. 
 
 (36)  por  the  glory.— He  means  that  the  splendour 
 returned,  so  as  to  increase  the  honour  and  glory  of  his 
 reign. 
 
 (37)  The  King  of  heaven.— How  far  the  king 
 arrived  at  a  belief  in  one  God  is  not  clear.  There  may  be 
 noticed,  however,  a  progress  in  his  spiritual  character, 
 effected  by  the  grace  of  God,  after  each  of  the  interviews 
 
 374 
 
 which  ho  held  with  the  prophet.  At  first  (chap.  ii.  26)  his- 
 belief  was  no  higher  than  that  which  a  heathen  has  in 
 his  own  superstitions.  This  develops  (chap.  ii.  47)  into 
 a  belief  that  Daniel's  God  is  "a  God  of  gods,  a  Lord 
 of  kings,  and  a  revealer  of  secrets."  But  even  at  that 
 time  ho  had  not  arrived  at  anything  like  a  belief  that 
 Jehovah  was  equal  to  his  own  gods.  The  story  of  the 
 three  holy  children  shows  how  little  depth  there  was  in 
 his  former  prof ession,  for  in  chap.  iii.  15  he  is  represented 
 as  setting  himself  above  all  gods.  After  the  miracle- 
 wrought  in  their  behalf  he  acknowledges  Jehovah  to  b& 
 "  the  most  high  God,"  though  he  continued  to  regard 
 Him  as  only  on  a  level  with  his  own  Bel-Merodach. 
 This  chapter  represents  him  as  recognising  "  the  Most 
 High  "  to  be  the  cause  of  his  recovery,  and  as  praising 
 the  "  King  of  heaven."  Holding,  as  he  did,  the  Baby- 
 lonian theory  of  sickness,  he  must  have  supposed  him- 
 self to  have  been  under  the  influence  of  some  evil  spirit; 
 and,  with  a  view  to  his  recovery,  his  magicians  must 
 have  treated  his  disease  with  charms,  amulets,  exor- 
 cisms, and  by  placing  before  him  images  of  his  gods. 
 This  thanksgiving  makes  it  possible  to  suppose  that 
 ho  had  relinquished  much  of  Lis  belief  in  Lis  former 
 superstitions,  and  that  he  was  advancing  towards,  if 
 not  actually  in  possession  of,  the  truth. 
 
 V. 
 
 (!)  Belshazzar.— On  this  king  see  Excursus  C.  As 
 he'was  the  son  of  Nabouidus.  a  space  of  about  thirty 
 years  must  have  elapsed  since  the  event  recorded  in  the 
 last  chapter.  The  Babylonian  empii  e  survived  the  death 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar  only  twenty-five  years. 
 
 A  thousand. — There  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  the 
 number  of  the  guests ;  in  fact,  the  LXX.  have  doubled 
 the  number.     (See  Esth.  i.  3,  4.) 
 
 Before  the  thousand. — The  king  appears  to  have 
 had  a  special  table  reserved  for  himself  apart  from  the 
 guests.     For  this  custom  comp.  Jer.  Iii.  33. 
 
 (2)  Whiles  he  tasted — i.e.,  while  he  was  enjoying 
 the  wine.     The  sacred  vessels  were  brought  out  of  the1 
 
Bebhaxzai     I 
 
 DANIEL,   V. 
 
 The  Writing  on  the  Watt. 
 
 the  wiin  I,  i'<>  i  mi  hi  tided  t<  i  bring  the  golden 
 
 ;mh1  silver  ressels  which  his  father  Nebrj 
 
 ohadnezzar  had  '  taken  mil  of  the  temple 
 
 which  woe  iii  Jerusalem;  that  the  king, 
 
 anil  his  princes,  his  wives,  ami  his  con- 
 cubines, might  drinlc  therein.  (3)  Then 
 they   brought   the  golden   vessels  that 
 
 were  taken  mit  of  the  temple  of  the 
 house  of  thul  which  was  at  Jerusalem; 
 anil  the  king,  and  his  princes,  his  wives, 
 
 and  his  concubines,  drank  in  them. 
 <"  They   drank   wine,  ami  praised  the 
 
 e^iils  uf  gold,  and  of  silver,  of  brass,  of 
 iron,  uf  wood,  and  uf  stone. 
 
 <5'  In  the  same  hour  came  forth  fingers 
 of  a,  man's  hand,  and  wrote  over  against 
 the  candlestick  upon  the  plaister  of  the 
 wall  uf  I  he  king's  palace  :  and  the  king 
 saw  the  part  of  the  hand  that  wrote. 
 ('"Then  the  king's  'countenance  3was 
 changed,  and  his  thoughts  troubled  him, 
 so  that  the  "joints  of  liLs  loins  were 
 loosed,  and  his  knees  smote  one  against 
 another.  l7'  The  king  cried  "aloud  to 
 bring  in  the  astrologers,  the  Chaldeans, 
 
 oimi.i.,    Mghi 
 
 I'linlil  .   | 
 
 II. 
 
 I  Or,  ytidUs. 
 
 rlrllil.,MH(M)ipa, 
 or,  Knots. 
 
 I  ,      With 
 
 mii/lif. 
 
 7  Or,  intr^ilt. 
 
 riinM.,   bright- 
 
 B   i  >r,  .,,■>  • 
 
 and    the   soothsayers.     .!»</    the    king 
 
 spake,  mid  said  to  t  he  «  ise  men  of  Bah\  - 
 
 Ion,  Whosoever  shall  rend  this  writing, 
 
 and  shew  me  the  interpretation  thereof, 
 shall  be  clothed  with  "scarlet,  and  have 
 a  chain  of  gold  about  his  neck,  and  shall 
 be  the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom. 
 (8)  Then  came  in  all  the  king's  wise 
 men:  but  they  could  not  read  the 
 writing,  nor  make  known  to  the  king 
 the  interpretation  thereof.  (9>  Then  was 
 king  Belshazzar  greatly  troubled,  and 
 his  Countenance  was  changed  in  him, 
 and  his  lords  were  astonied. 
 
 WNow  the  queen  by  reason  of  tic- 
 words  of  the  king  ami  his  lords  came 
 into  the  banquel  house:  and  the  queen 
 spake  and  said,  O  king,  live  for  ever: 
 let  not  thy  thoughts  trouble  thee,  nor  let 
 thy  countenance  be  changed:  <11)n there 
 is  a  man  in  thy  kingdom,  in  whom  is 
 the  spirit  of  the  holy  gods;  ami  in  the 
 days  of  thy  "father  light  ami  under- 
 standing and  wisdom,  like  the  wisdom  of 
 the  gods,  was  found  in  him  ;  whom  the 
 
 temple  of  Merodach,  and  profaned  in  this  manner  for 
 iii.'  purpose  of  defying  Jehovah.  But  it  may  be  rea- 
 sonably asked)  What  led  him  to  think  of  Jehovah  in 
 the  midst  of  the  revelry?  It  may  have  been  that  some 
 drunken  fancy  seized  him.    It  may  have  been  thai  he 
 
 had    1 n    warned   that    tin'   prophets   '>f   Jehovah   hail 
 
 Foretold  the  overthrow  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus,  whose 
 armies  wen-  now  in  the.  neighbourhood.      Whatever  the 
 
 tine  explanation  may  be,  there,  can  be.  no  doubt,  from 
 
 Daniel's  language  'verse  23),  ami  from  the  way  in  which 
 
 Belshazzar's  gods  are  mentioned   (vane  4),  that  the 
 
 whole  act  was  one  of  defiance  of  Jehovah. 
 
 TO  In  tho  samo  hour — i.e..  suddenly  and  unex- 
 pectedly. (Gomp.  chap.  iii.  60  Observethat  it  was  only 
 a  portion  of  the  hand  that  the  kino;  saw mp.  verse 
 
 24),  and  that  wean'  not  told  whether  the  guests  saw 
 the  hand  or  not.  That  the  writing  was  visible  to  all  is 
 plain  from  verse  s.  We  remark  here,  as  in  other  super- 
 natural manifestations  r rded  in  Scripture,  that  a 
 
 portion   Only   has  I q   witnessed   by  many,  while   the 
 
 whole  has  been  seen  only  bv  one  or  by  a  few.  (Comp. 
 John  xii.  -Js,  29 j   A-Cts  i"x    7 
 
 Candlestick.— This,  of  course,  would  make  both 
 the  hand  and  the  writing  mere  distinctly  visible  to  tho 
 kimr. 
 
 Plaister. — This    was    invariably    used   in   the   inner 
 
 chamber  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  palaces.  (Soe 
 Layard,  A'/»  m  h  and  Babylon,  p.  529.) 
 
 TO  The  king's  countenance  was  changed.— 
 The  effect  of  the  vision  on  the  king  changes  his  whole 
 expression  to  that  of  alarm  instead  of  drunken  mirth. 
 
 t71  The  astrologers.— It  is  worthy  of  notice  that 
 on  this  occasion  the  magicians  (the  chartumm 
 not  appear.  We  must  either  suppose  that  they  are  in- 
 cluded under  the  general  term  "Chaldeans,"  or  that 
 tho  king  in  his  tenor  forgot  to  summon  them.  The 
 "  wise  men"  spoken  of  (verse  8)  were  the  body  over 
 which  Daniel  was  president — a  post  which  it  appears. 
 
 37S 
 
 from  chap.  viii.  27,  he  held  at  this  time.  It  is  nceilless 
 to  discuss  why  Daniel  did  not  come  in  at  first. 
 
 Tho  third  ruler.— See  Excursus  C.  Those  who 
 adopt  another  view  of  Belshazzar  maintain  that  a  trium- 
 virate existed  at  this  time  similar  to  that  iu  the  days  of 
 Darius  the  Mode  (chap.  vi.  2), and  that  the  king  promises 
 to  raise  to  the  rank  of  "triumvir"  the  person  who 
 could  interpret  tin1  vision  successfully.  It  may  be 
 noticed  that  the  form  of  the  ordinal  "third,"  both  hero 
 and  in  verses  lli,  29,  is  very  peculiar,  and  that  in  the 
 last  two  passages  it  resembles  a  substantivo  rather 
 than  an  adject  ivc. 
 
 (si  Then-  i.e.,  after  the  king  had  addressed  the  wise 
 men  whom  he  had  summoned.  But  why  eould  not  they 
 read    an   inscription   which    Daniel   deciphered  at   first 
 
 sight?     It  lias  I n  conjectured   ill  that   the  character 
 
 was  old  Semitic,  or  one  which  the  wise  men  did  not 
 know  ;  (2)  that  the  language  of  the  inscription  was  un- 
 known to  them;  (3  that  the  words  were  written  in 
 vertical  Columns,  and  the  wise  men  endeavoured  to 
 read  them  horizontally.  The  only  true  explanation  is 
 to  lie  found  in  the  supernatural  character  of  the  inscrip- 
 tion, and  in  the  inspiration  of  Daniel.  Iu  this  way  God 
 asserts  Himself  against  the  false  wisdom  of  the  heathens. 
 
 (9)  The  terror  of  Holshaz/ar  and  his  lords  is  caused 
 by  the  impression  that  the  inability  of  the  wise  men  to 
 read  the  inscription  is  the  portent  of  some  terrible 
 calamity. 
 
 (io)  By  reason  of  the  words.— Tho  noise  and 
 confusion  in  the  lianipiet-hall  was  heard  by  the  queen- 
 niothcr  in  her  apartments.  Her  respect  for  Daniel  is 
 evident  from  her  language.  The  position  which  she 
 held  was  one  of  influence,  for  it  appears  that  her  advice 
 was  no  sooner  offered  than  it  was  a Ttted. 
 
 (li)  The  spirit.— Coinp.  chap.  iv.  S,  9. 
 
 Thy  father.— Xo  blood  relationship  is  necessarily 
 implied  by  this  word.  It  means  no  more  than  "pre- 
 decessor."    (See  Introd.,  sec.  VI. 1 
 
Daniel  Brought  in. 
 
 DANIEL,    V. 
 
 He  liejrroves  tlie  King. 
 
 king  Nebuchadnezzar  thy  J father,  the 
 Icing,  I  say,  thy  father,  made  "master  of 
 the  magicians,  astrologers,  Chaldeans, 
 and  soothsayers ;  (12)  forasmuch  as  an 
 excellent  spirit,  and  knowledge,  and 
 understanding,  interpreting  of  dreams, 
 and  shewing  of  hard  sentences,  and 
 3  dissolving  of  4  doubts,  were  found  in 
 the  same  Daniel,  whom  the  king  named 
 Belteshazzar :  now  let  Daniel  be  called, 
 and  he  will  shew  the  interpretation. 
 
 <13>  Then  was  Daniel  brought  in  before 
 the  king.  And  the  king  spake  and  said 
 unto  Daniel,  Art  thou  that  Daniel,  which 
 art  of  the  children  of  the  captivity  of 
 Judah,whom  the  king  my  5father  brought 
 out  of  Jewry  ?  (14)  I  have  even  heard  of 
 thee,  that  the  spirit  of  the  gods  is  in 
 thee,  and  that  light  and  understanding 
 and  excellent  wisdom  is  found  in  thee. 
 (15)  And  now  the  wise  men,  the  astrologers, 
 have  been  brought  in  before  me,  that 
 they  should  read  this  writing,  and  make 
 known  unto  me  the  interpretation  there- 
 of :  but  they  could  not  shew  the  inter- 
 pretation of  the  thing:  <16>and  I  have 
 heard  of  thee,  that  thou  canst  6make 
 interpretations,  and  dissolve  doubts : 
 now  if  thou  canst  read  the  writing,  and 
 make  known  to  me  the  interpretation 
 thereof,  thou  shalt  be  clothed  with 
 scarlet,  and  have  a  chain  of  gold  about 
 thy  neck,  and  shalt  be  the  third  ruler  in 
 the  kingdom. 
 
 <17>  Then  Daniel  answered  and  said 
 before  the  king,  Let  thy  gifts  be  to 
 thyself,  and  give  thy  7  rewards  to  another ; 
 
 1  Or.  grandfather. 
 
 2  Or,  of  an  inter- 
 preter, &c.    | 
 
 3  Or.o/  adissolver. 
 
 4  Chald.,  knots. 
 
 5  Or,  grandfather. 
 
 Chald.,  interpret. 
 
 Or,  fee,  as  ch.2.  G 
 
 8     Or,    to    deal 
 proudly 
 
 9  Chald.,  made  to 
 come  down. 
 
 10  Or,  he  made  his 
 heart  equal,  &e. 
 
 yet  I  will  read  the  writing  unto  the  king, 
 and  make  known  to  him  the  interpreta- 
 tion. (18>0  thou  king,  the  most  high 
 God  gave  Nebuchadnezzar  thy  father  a 
 kingdom,  and  majesty,  and  glory,  and 
 honour :  (19>  and  for  the  majesty  that  he 
 gave  him,  all  people,  nations,  and  lan- 
 guages, trembled  and  feared  before  him : 
 whom  he  would  he  slew ;  and  whom  he 
 would  he  kept  alive ;  and  whom  he 
 would  he  set  up ;  and  whom  he  would 
 he  put  down.  <20>  But  when  his  heart 
 was  lifted  up,  and  his  mind  hardened 
 8  in  pride,  he  was  9  deposed  from  his 
 kingly  throne,  and  they  took  his  glory 
 from  him  :  (21)  and  he  was  b  driven  from 
 the  sons  of  men;  and  10his  heart  was 
 made  like  the  beasts,  and  his  dwelling 
 was  with  the  wild  asses  :  they  fed  him 
 with  grass  like  oxen,  and  his  body  was 
 wet  with  the  dew  of  heaven ;  till  he 
 knew  that  the  most  high  God  ruled 
 in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and  that  he 
 appointeth  over  it  whomsoever  he  will. 
 <22>And  thou  his  son,  O  Belshazzar,  hast 
 not  humbled  thine  heart,  though  thou 
 knewest  all  this;  (23*but  hast  lifted  up 
 thyself  against  the  Lord  of  heaven ;  and 
 they  have  brought  the  vessels  of  his 
 house  before  thee,  and  thou,  and  thy 
 lords,  thy  wives,  and  thy  concubines, 
 have  drunk  wine  in  them;  and  thou 
 hast  praised  the  gods  of  silver,  and 
 gold,  of  brass,  iron,  wood,  and  stone, 
 which  see  not;  nor  hear,  nor  know  :  and 
 the  God  in  whose  hand  thy  breath  is, 
 and  whose  are  all  thy  ways,  hast  thou 
 
 (12)  Forasmuch  as.— The  effect  of  these  words  is 
 to  combine  the  two  facts  mentioned  in  verse  11,  and  to 
 make  the  advice  at  the  end  of  this  verse  more  forcible. 
 "  Because  Daniel  is  a  wise  man,  and  has  proved  his 
 wisdom  in  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  therefore  send 
 for  him  now." 
 
 Dissolving  of  doubts.  — See  marginal  alternative ; 
 and  for  an  illustration  comp.  Records  of  the  Past,  vol. 
 iii. ,  p.  141. 
 
 (13)  And  the  king  spake.— The  words  of  the 
 queen-mother,  especially  her  mention  of  the  circum- 
 stance that  Daniel's  name  had  been  changed  to  Belte- 
 shazzar, at  once  recalls  the  whole  of  the  circumstances 
 to  the  king's  mind.  That  Belshazzar  knew  him  by 
 reputation  is  plain  from  the  description  given  of  him 
 at  the  end  of  the  verse :  "  which  art  of  the  children 
 of  the  captivity  of  Judah." 
 
 Art  thou  that  Daniel?— He  calls  him  by  his 
 Hebrew  name,  so  as  to  avoid  one  wliich  sounded  so  much 
 like  his  own.  Daniel  was  now  nearly  ninety  years  of 
 age. 
 
 (15)  The  thing — i.e.,  the  whole  of  this  miraculous 
 transaction. 
 
 376 
 
 (17)  Let  thy  gifts  be  to  thyself.— Daniel  refused 
 the  king's  offer  of  reward  at  first,  but  afterwards  ac- 
 cepted it.  In  this  way  he  showed  his  determination  to 
 speak  the  truth  without  any  respect  to  fee,  gift,  or  reward. 
 (Comp.  the  conduct  of  Elisha,  2  Kings  v.  16,  viii.  9.) 
 
 (18)  The  most  high  God.— Comp.  this  and  the 
 three  following  verses  with  chap.  iv.  16,  17,  22 — 25. 
 
 (21)  His  dwelling  .  .  . — This  is  a  fact  supple- 
 mentary to  what  is  stated  in  chap.  iv. 
 
 (22)  Though  thou  knewest.— The  whole  history 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar  was  known  to  Belshazzar.  He  had 
 not,  however,  learned  the  moral  lesson  conveyed  by  it. 
 He  was  therefore  doubly  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God, 
 because  his  blasphemy  was  wilful. 
 
 (23)  Gods  of  silver  .  .  .—Comp.  Deut.  iv.  28. 
 Belshazzar  had  exceeded  those  limits  of  authority  over 
 Israel  which  he  had  by  right  of  concpiest.  The  Israel- 
 ites were,  indeed,  his  subjects,  but  he  had  no  right  to 
 blaspheme  their  God.  For  similar  instances  of  men 
 exceeding  the  limits  of  their  authority  while  acting  as 
 ministers  of  God's  chastisement,  see  Isa.  x.  5 — 18 ;  Jer. 
 li.  20—25 ;  Hosea  i.  4,  5. 
 
 Not  glorified — i.e.,  dishonoured. 
 
The  Writing  TnU  rprettd. 
 
 DANIEL,   VI. 
 
 Conspiracy  agoirut  Daniel. 
 
 not  glorified:  TOthen  wns  Ihe  part  of 
 the  hand  sent  from  him;  and  this  writing 
 was  written. 
 
 TO  Ami  this  is  Che  writing  thai 
 was  written,  MENE,  MENE,  TEKEL, 
 IM'IIAKSIN.  WThis  is  the  interpreta- 
 fcion  of  the  thing:  MENE;  God  had, 
 numbered    thv    kingdom,    and     finished 
 
 it.     TOTEKELj  Tnou  arl  weighed  in 
 
 the  lialances,  and  art  found  wanting. 
 TO  PERES;    Thy  kingdom   is  divided, 
 
 and  given  to  the  Medes  and  Persians. 
 
 '-"'  'I'lien  commanded  Belehazzar,  and 
 
 thej  clothed  Daniel  with  scarlet,  and 
 put  a  chain  of  gold  about  his  neck,  and 
 made  a  proclamation  concerning  him, 
 thai  he  should  be  the  third  ruler  in  the 
 kingdom. 
 
 In  that  night  was  Belshazzar  the 
 king  of  the  Chaldeans  slain.  (31)And 
 Darius  the  Median  took  the  kingdom, 
 1  being  'aboul  threescore  and  two  years 
 old.  ' 
 
 i '  1 1 APTER  VI.— f1'  It  pleased  Darius 
 to  si't  over  the  kingdom  an  hundred  and 
 twenty    princes,   which   should  be  over 
 
 I  Chulil  .  I 
 
 no 
 
 30r.cnmtt"multu- 
 
 rafdr. 
 
 n.r 
 nr.  US. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 i  i  ii',  Int 
 
 the  whole  kingdom;  '-'and  over  these 
 three  presidents;  of  whom  Daniel  was 
 first :  that  the  princes  might  give  ac- 
 counts unto  them,  and  the  king  should 
 have  no  damage.  ,;i'  Then  this  Daniel 
 was  preferred  above  the  presidents  and 
 princes,  because  an  excellent  spirit  /'■„..■ 
 in  him  ;  and  the  king  thought  to  set  him 
 over  1  lie  whole  realm. 
 
 <•"  Then  the  presidents  and  princes 
 sought  to  find  occasion  against  Daniel 
 concerning  the  kingdom  ;  but  they  could 
 find  none  occasion  nor  fault ;  forasmuch 
 as  he  irnn  faithful,  neither  was  there  any 
 error  or  fault  found  in  him.  (5>  Then 
 said  these  men,  We  shall  not  find  any 
 occasion  against  this  Daniel,  except  we 
 find  it  against  him  concerning  the  law 
 of  his  God.  <6>  Then  these  presidents 
 and  princes  3assembled  together  to  the 
 king,  and  said  thus  unto  him,  King 
 Darius,  live  for  ever.  '"'All  the  presi- 
 dents of  the  kingdom,  the  governors, 
 and  the  ju-inces,  the  counsellors,  and  the 
 captains,  have  consulted  together  t,, 
 establish  a  royal  statute,  and  to  make  a 
 firm  4decree,  that  whosoever  shall  ask  a 
 
 TO  Then.— Not  only  "  at  that  time," but  also  "be- 
 cause of  this."     Daniel  here  expressly  designates   the 
 
 writing  as  something  proceeding  from  God. 
 
 |J''  Mene  .  .  . — It  should  be  remarked  that  the 
 word  Mene,  which  occurs  twice  in  the  inscription,  is 
 round  only  once  in  the  interpretation,  and  that  the 
 "  Medes"  who  are  mentioned  in  the  interpretation  arc 
 
 nut  spoken  of  in  the  inscription.  Hence  it  Has  been  con- 
 jectured that  the  second  Mene  was  originally  Madai, 
 or  Media.  This,  though  it  appears  plausible,  has  no 
 external    support.      The   word   Mene,  "numbered,"   is 
 
 repeated  twice  for  the  sake  of  emphasis.  The  days 
 of  Babylon  are   numbered;   it    is   (Jod    Himself  who 
 
 has    numbered  them.     "  Mene  "   is   used  in  the  double 
 
 Bense  of  "numbering"  and  "bringing   to  an  end." 
 
 Similarly,  "  Tekol  "  implies  both  the  act  of  "  weighing  " 
 ami   the  fart    of  "being  light.-'      The  "  n  "  in  UpharStn 
 
 is  the  conjunction  "and,  while  pharMin,  '>r,  rather, 
 parsin,  is  the  plural  of  pares,  a  noun  which  implies 
 
 "divisions"  ami  also  Persians.      It  appears   from  verse 
 
 28  thai  the  divided  empire  of  Babylon  ami  the  nfedo- 
 Persian  empire  are  signified. 
 
 (31)  Darius  the  Median.— Note  the  LXX.  varia- 
 tion: "And  Artaxerxes  of  the  Modes  took  the  king- 
 dom, and  Darius,  full  of  days  and  glorious  in  old  ago." 
 i  See  Excursus  D.) 
 
 Took  -i.e..  received  it  from  the  hands  of  a  con- 
 queror,  fComp.  chap.  ix.  1.  when- Darius  is  said  to  have 
 
 Saen  "  made  king  over  the  realm  of  the  Chaldeans." 
 
 VI. 
 
 11  Princes.— See  Ebseurstta  .1.  The  LXX.  make 
 the  number  127.  so  as  to  agree  with  Esth.  i.  1. 
 
 -'  Throo  presidents.— Sei-  Not,,  on  chap.  v.  7. 
 If  there   had   been  a    triumvirate   in    Babylon,   Darius 
 
 377 
 
 continued  the  form  of  government  which  he  found 
 already  existing,  and  retained  Daniel  in  the  official 
 post  to  which  he  had  been  promoted  by  Belshazzar. 
 
 (*)  Was  preferred.— Literally,  he  outshone  Che 
 others.  The  pronoun  "this"  is  prefixed  to  Daniel's 
 name  so  as  to  point  him  out  as  the  favoured  one  already 
 mentioned.     (Camp,  verses  5, 28.) 
 
 (•♦)  Concerning  the  kingdom— i.e.,  in  his  cfficial 
 
 capacity.  The  plan  of  the  conspirators  was  to  place 
 Daniel  in  such  a  situation  that  his  civil  and  religious 
 duties  might  be  forced  to  dash  with  each  other. 
 
 (*)  This  conspiracy  was  evidently  the  result  of 
 jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  other  officers  at  the  advance- 
 ment of  Daniel. 
 
 "'  Assembled. — See  margin.  Such  conduct  was 
 very  unusual   in   Eastern   Courts,  where,  as  a  rule,  the 
 
 strictest  decorum  and  order  was  preserved.  This 
 breach  of  etiquette  must  have  prepared  the  king  to 
 
 ex] t  Some  terrible  crisis  in  the  State. 
 
 W)  All  the  presidents.— tlbserve  Ihe  order  in 
 which  the  State  officers  are  mentioned — civil  rulers, 
 legal   advisors,  military  governors — and  comp.   Note  on 
 
 chap.  iii.  -.  |The  spokesman  represents  all  these  officers 
 
 to  have  come  to  a  fixed  determination  after  doe  delibera- 
 tion. This  was  Ealse,  as  it  i~  plain  from  verso  Lit  that 
 all  were  not  involved  in  the  conspiracy.  The  object  of 
 the    decree    was   political,  as    well   as   hostile    towards 
 
 Daniel     By  consenting  to  the  plan  proposed,  Darius 
 
 would  acknowledge  the  Babylonian  system  of  theology, 
 according  to  which  the  king  was  "the  living  mani- 
 festation  of  all  the  gods."  while,  at  the    same  time,  his 
 
 subjects  would  have  an  opportunity  of  doing  him  reli- 
 gions homage.  Probably  this  prevented  the  king  from 
 perceiving  any  plot  against  I  aniel.  We  sec  from  this 
 history  the  an'tiipiin  »y<   in  political  matters. 
 
Daniel  Saved 
 
 DANIEL,   VI. 
 
 in  the  Den  of  Lions. 
 
 petition  of  any  God  or  man  for  thirty 
 days,  save  of  thee,  O  king,  he  shall  be 
 cast  into  the  den  of  lions.  I8'  Now,  0 
 king,  establish  the  decree,  and  sign  the 
 writing,  that  it  be  not  changed,  accord- 
 ing to  the "  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians, 
 which  2  altereth  not.  <9>  Wherefore  king 
 Darius  signed  the  writing  and  the 
 decree. 
 
 (iO)Now  when  Daniel  knew  that  the 
 writing  was  signed,  he  went  into  his 
 house ;  and  his  windows  being  open  in 
 his  chamber  'toward  Jerusalem,  he 
 kneeled  upon  his  knees  'three  times  a 
 day,  and  prayed,  and  gave  thanks  before 
 his  God,  as  he  did  aforetime.  (11)  Then 
 these  men  assembled,  and  found  Daniel 
 praying  and  making  supplication  before 
 his  God.  <12)  Then  they  came  near,  and 
 spake  before  the  king  concerning  the 
 king's  decree ;  Hast  thou  not  signed  a 
 decree,  that  every  man  that  shall  ask  a 
 petition  of  any  God  or  man  within  thirty 
 days,  save  of  thee,  0  king,  shall  be  cast 
 into  the  den  of  lions?  The  king  an- 
 swered and  said,  The  thing  is  true, 
 according  to  the  law  of  the  Medes  and 
 Persians,  which  altereth  not.  <13>  Then 
 answered  they  and  said  before  the  king, 
 That  Daniel,  which  is  of  the  children  of 
 the  captivity  of  Judah,  regardeth  not 
 thee,  O  king,  nor  the  decree  that  thou 
 hast  signed,  but  maketh  his  petition 
 three  times  a  day. 
 
 (14)  Then  the  king,  when  he  heard  these 
 words,  was  sore  displeased  with  himself, 
 
 il  Esth.  2.  1  &  8.  8. 
 
 1    Cliald.. 
 not. 
 
 passetli 
 
 I:  1  Kin.  8.  iS. 
 
 and  set  his  heart  on  Daniel  to  deliver 
 him :  and  he  laboured  till  the  going 
 down  of  the  sun  to  deliver  him.  (1S>  Then 
 these  men  assembled  unto  the  king,  and 
 said  unto  the  king,  Know,  0  king,  that 
 the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  is, 
 That  no  decree  nor  statute  which  the 
 king  establisheth  may  be  changed. 
 (16)  Then  the  king  commanded,  and  they 
 brought  Daniel,  and  cast  him  into  the 
 den  of  lions.  Noiu  the  king  spake  and 
 said  unto  Daniel,  Thy  God  whom  thou 
 servest  continually,  he  will  deliver  thee. 
 <17)And  a  stone  was  brought,  and  laid 
 upon  the  mouth  of  the  den ;  and  the 
 king  sealed  it  with  his  own  signet,  and 
 with  the  signet  of  his  lords ;  that  the 
 purpose  might  not  be  changed  concern- 
 ing Daniel. 
 
 (18)  Then  the  king  went  to  his  palace, 
 and  passed  the  night  fasting :  neither 
 were  3  instruments  of  musick  brought 
 before  him :  and  his  sleep  went  from 
 him.  <19)  Then  the  king  arose  very  early 
 in  the  morning,  and  went  in  haste  unto 
 the  den  of  lions.  *30)And  when  he  came 
 to  the  den,  he  cried  with  a  lamentable 
 voice  unto  Daniel :  and  the  king  spake 
 and  said  to  Daniel,  0  Daniel,  servant  of 
 the  living  God,  is  thy  God,  whom  thou 
 servest  continually,  able  to  deliver  thee 
 from  the  lions  ?  <21>  Then  said  Daniel 
 unto  the  king,  0  king,  live  for  ever. 
 (22)  jfy  G.0d  hath  sent  his  angel,  and 
 hath  shut  the  lions'  mouths,  that  they 
 have  not  hurt  me  :  forasmuch  as  before 
 
 (8)  Sign  the  writing.— Literally,  record  the  decree, 
 so  that  there  might  be  no  possibility  of  its  being  re- 
 called.    (Comp.  Esth.  viii.  8.) 
 
 (10)  Toward  Jerusalem.— On  the  custom  of  pray- 
 ing thus  see  1  Kings  viii.  33, 35 ;  Pss.  v.  7,  xxviii.  2 ;  and 
 on  prayer  at  the  intervals  mentioned  here,  see  Ps.  lv.  17. 
 There  is  nothing  ostentatious  in  Daniel's  prayer.  He 
 removed  the  lattices  (see  Ezek.  xl.  16)  from  his  window, 
 that  he  might  see  as  far  as  possible  in  the  direction  of 
 Jerusalem,  and  then  continued  his  devotions  just  as 
 though  the  king's  decree  had  not  been  recorded.  The 
 prophet  must  by  this  time  have  been  close  upon  ninety 
 years  of  age,  but  still  his  faith  is  as  firm  and  un- 
 wavering as  that  of  his  three  companions  many  years 
 before. 
 
 (13)  Which  is  of  the  children.— By  adding  this 
 to  the  charge  of  disobedience  to  the  king's  command- 
 ment, they  hoped  to  incense  him  still  further  against 
 the  prophet.  Here  was  a  foreigner,  who  had  received 
 tho  highest  favours  from  the  Court,  setting  himself  up 
 in  antagonism  to  the  laws  of  the  kingdom. 
 
 (is)  They  brought  Daniel.— According  to  Eastern 
 custom,  the  sentence  was  generally  executed  on  the  day 
 when  it  was  pronounced.     This  explains  why  the  king's 
 
 378 
 
 efforts  to  commute  the  sentence  were  prolonged  till 
 sunset  (verse  14).  The  lions  were  probably  kept 'here 
 for  sporting  purposes.  The  form  of  the  den  is  un- 
 known, but  the  etymology  suggests  a  vaulted  chamber. 
 (1")  Sealed  it.— This  sealing  both  by  the  king  and  his 
 nobles  appears  to  have  been  due  to  the  fear  that  the 
 nobles  had  (verse  16)  of  the  king's  attempting  to  rescue 
 Daniel.  The  nobles  also  would  be  unable  to  put 
 Daniel  to  death  in  the  event  of  his  escaping  the  fury  of 
 the  lions. 
 
 (ig)  Instruments  of  musick.— A  word  of  very 
 doubtful  meaning.  Tho  root  whence  it  is  derived 
 means  to  rejoice,  but  what  is  signified  cannot  be  exactly 
 ascertained. 
 
 m  Is  thy  God  .  .  .  able  ?— The  faith  of  this 
 king  is  very  weak.  In  verse  16  he  expressed  a  vague 
 hope  that  God  would  protect  His  servant.  That  hope 
 seems  now  to  have  died  out,  though  afterwards  (verse 
 26)  it  appears  stronger  than  that  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 (Comp.  chap.  iv.  37.)  The  phrase  "living  God"  is 
 remarkable,  coming  as  it  does  from  a  heathen  king. 
 (See  1  Bam.  xvii.  36.) 
 
 f22)  His  angel.— Comp.  Ps.  xxxiv.  7, 10;  chap.  iii.  28. 
 
 Before  thee— i.e.,  thou  knowest  full  well. 
 
Tin'  Deoret  <>/  Dariui. 
 
 DAMKL,    VII. 
 
 Dnuv-fs  Dream. 
 
 him  innoeency  was  found  in  me;  and 
 also  before  thee,  O  king,  have  I  done  im 
 hurl.      Ij;'  Tln'ii  was  (he  king  exi ling 
 
 glad  for  him,  and  commanded  that  thej 
 
 si M   lake  I  >aniel    up  out  of   the   den. 
 
 So  Daniel  was  taken  up  out  of  the  den, 
 and  no  manner  of  hurt,  was  found  upon 
 
 him,  because  be  believed  in  his  God. 
 
 '-'h  And  (lie  king  commanded,  and  they 
 brought  those   men  which   had   accused 
 
 Daniel,  and  they  east  them  into  the  den 
 of  lions,  them,  their  children,  and  their 
 wives  ;  and  the  lions  had  the  mastery  of 
 them,  and  brake  all  their  bones  in  pieces 
 Orevert  liey  raine  at  the  bottom  of  the  den. 
 (WThen  king  Darius  wrote  unto  all 
 people,  nations,  and  languages,  that 
 dwell  in  all  the  earth;  Peace  be  multi- 
 plied   Unto    you.       (-*'•  I    make     a     derive, 
 
 That  in  every  dominion  of  my  kingdom 
 men  tremble  and  fear  before  the  God  of 
 Daniel  :  li>r  he  is  the  living  God,  and 
 sf ed fast  for  ever,  and  his  kingdom  that 
 which  shall  not  be  "destroyed,  and  his 
 dominion  shall  be  rrrn  unto   the   end. 
 
 11  ,i  i.  ■ 
 
 B 
 
 1  Or.  wfti 
 
 .'.  i  ir.  it 
 true  ttom*ni'»i. 
 
 i;;i  Id'  delivereth  and  reecneth,  and  he 
 
 worketh   signs  and    wonders    in    heaven 
 and  in  earth,  who  hath  delivered  Daniel 
 
 from  the  'power  of  the  lions. 
 
 u~>  So  this  Daniel  prospered  in  the 
 reign  of  Darius,  and  in  the  reign  of 
 *Cyrus  the  Persian. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII.— Win  the  first  year 
 of  Belshazzar  king  of  Babylon  Daniel 
 -had  a  dream  and  visions  of  his  head 
 upon  his  bed:  then  he  wrote  the  dream, 
 and  told  the  sum  of  the  3  matters. 
 
 M  Daniel  spake  and  said,  I  saw  inmyr 
 vision  by  night,  and,  behold,  the  four 
 winds  of  the  heaven  strove  upon  the 
 great  sea.  (3)And  four  great  beasts  came 
 up  from  the  sea,diverseone  from  another. 
 (*'  The  first  was  like  a  lion,  and  had 
 eagle's  wings  :  I  beheld  till  the  wings 
 thereof  were  plucked,  4and  it  was  lifted 
 up  from  the  earth,  and  made  stand  upon 
 the  feet  as  a  man,  and  a  man's  heart 
 was  given  to  it.  <5)And  behold  another 
 beast,  a  second,  like  to  a  bear,  and  5it 
 
 (-")  Unto  the  end.— Tho  language  of  this  decree 
 is  remarkably  Scriptural.  This  is  due,  no  doubt,  to  the 
 share  which  Daniel  bad  in  the  composition  of  it.  By 
 the  "end"  is  meant  tho  end  of  all  the  heathen  king- 
 doms which  shall  arise  npon  the  earth,  or,  in  other 
 words,  the  setting  op  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah. 
 
 (»)  So  this  Daniel.— Tho  first  part  of  the  book, 
 which  terminates  here,  concludes  with  a  notice  similar  tn 
 that  in  chaps,  ii.  18,  Hi.  :?<>.  The  history  of  Daniel  anil 
 of  the  three  holy  children  has  thus  far  hern  traced  in  its 
 relation  to  their  work  amongst  tho  people  in  the  midst 
 of  whom  they  were  living  as  exiles.  \Vo  have  seen  the 
 purpose  of  the  miracles  which  God  Wrought  in  behalf 
 Of  His  servants,  all  tending  to  exalt   Him  in  the  eyes  of 
 
 the  Gentiles.     The  second  part  of  the  hook,  which 
 begins  with  chap,  vii.,  speaks  of  the  future  destinies  of 
 
 tlie  Hwgdiwna  of  the  world  in    relation   t,.   the   kingdom 
 
 of  ( Jod.     The  whole  of  this  remaining  sect  ion  presents 
 to  us  a  Beriee  of   revelations  supplementary  to  that 
 
 which  was  recorded  in  chap.  ii. 
 VII. 
 
 (U  The  dato  of  this  and  of  tho  following  chapter  comes 
 in  chronological  order  after  the  fourth  chapter.  As  St. 
 Jerome  lias  observed,  "hi  mtperioribiiK  onlo  sequ 
 historitB  quiil  full  A"i  liiii-limhinosor  et  Bnlfhimar,  et 
 Dm-iVi  n«6  Cyra  m/brabUium  signorum  accident.  In 
 lii.t  vera  tiarrantur  semmia  qua  singulis  tint  visa  tern- 
 paribus:  quorum  solus  propheta  consents  ext.tt  nullum 
 luihiiif  amid  barbaras  nanonea  rigni  vel  revelation/is 
 magnitvdinem,  eed  tamtum  sorioMmw,  vt  apud  pos- 
 faros  eorum  qua  vita  suni  memoria  perssveret," 
 
 Visions.— From  this,  and  from  the  phrase  "  sum  of 
 the  matters."  it  appears  that  Daniel  had  other  visions 
 at  this  time.  By  "  sum  "  is  meant  the  principal  parts 
 of  the  vision. 
 
 M  The  great  sea.— In  general  (e.g..  Josh.  xv.  -17), 
 these  words  imply  the  Mediterranean,    Such  cannot  !»• 
 
 17  • 
 
 the  meaning  here,  so  that  according  to  verso  17  wo  are 
 justified  in  explaining  the  "sea"  to  mean  the  nations 
 of  the  world,  which  are  compared  to  the  sea  (Isa.  xxvii. 
 1;  Ps.  xlvi.  8).  The  raging  of  the  winds  from  the 
 four  quarters  of  the  sky  points  to  the  various  political 
 and  social  agitations  which  disturb  the  world's  history, 
 aud  lead  to  the  changes  and  revolutions  -which  mark  its 
 progress  as  it  tends  towards  the  end. 
 
 (3)  Four  great  beasts.-  The  monstrous  forms  of 
 the  beasts  are  implied,  rather  than  the  hugeness  of 
 
 their  size.  Other  instances  of  beasts  being  taken  as 
 emblems  of  kingdoms  may  be  found  in  Isa.  xxvii.  1; 
 Ezek.  xxix.  ;i,  xxxii.  'J.  It  must  be  observed  that  the 
 beasts  do  not  rise  up  simultaneously,  but  in  succession 
 to  each  other.  In  this  way,  and  in  the  difference  of 
 their  character,  they  form  a  parallel  to  the  subject- 
 matter  of  the  vision  recorded  in  chap.  ii. 
 
 (4)  The  first  was  like  a  lion.— The  lion  and  the 
 eagle  are  chosen  as  being  emblems  of  strength  and 
 swiftness  respectively.  They  characterise  the  empire 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  correspond  to  the  golden  head 
 of  the  Colossus  (chap.  ii.). 
 
 The  wings  .  .  .  plucked.— Tho  eagle,  deprived  of 
 its  wiugs,  loses  its  power  of  swiftness  aud  unrestrained 
 motion. 
 
 From  the  earth.— The  beast  was  raised  from 
 being  on  its  four  feet  into  the  position  of  a  man,  as  is 
 indicated  by  the  words  "a  man's  heart."      We  have  not 
 
 sufficient  historical  details  respecting  the  last  years  of 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's    reign   to   enable    us   to  point   to  the 
 
 reference.     It  has  1 u  suggested  by  St.  Jerome  thai 
 
 the  words  refer  to  the  madness  of  the  king  and  to  his 
 subsequent  recovery;  but  it  mnsi  In'  borne  in  mind  that 
 it  is  the  kingdom  rather  than  the  king  of  Babylon 
 which  i>  the  subject  of  the  vision. 
 
 (5)  And  behold  another  beast.— We  are  not 
 told  what  became  of  the  Bret  beast.  iComp.  verso 
 12.)     The  word  "behold"  implies  that   this  was  the 
 
The  Four  Beasts. 
 
 DANIEL,   VII. 
 
 The  Ancient  of  Days. 
 
 raised  up  itself  on  one  side,  and  it  had 
 three  ribs  in  the  mouth  of  it  between 
 the  teeth  of  it :  and  they  said  thus  unto 
 it,  Arise,  devour  much  flesh.  <6)  After 
 this  I  beheld,  and  lo  another,  like  a 
 leopard,  which  had  upon  the  back  of  it 
 four  wings  of  a  fowl ;  the  beast  had  also 
 four  heads  ;  and  dominion  was  given  to 
 it.  (?)  After  this  I  saw  in  the  night 
 visions,  and  behold  a  fourth  beast,  dread- 
 ful and  terrible,  and  strong  exceedingly ; 
 and  it  had  great  iron  teeth  :  it  devoured 
 and  brake  in  pieces,  and  stamped  the 
 residue  with  the  feet  of  it :  and  it  ivas 
 diverse  from  all  the  beasts  that  were 
 before  it ;  and  it  had  ten  horns.  <8)  I 
 considered  the  horns,  and,  behold,  there 
 
 b  Iter.  20. 12. 
 
 came  up  among  them  another  little 
 horn,  before  whom  there  were  three  of 
 the  first  horns  plucked  up  by  the  roots : 
 and,  behold,  in  this  horn  were  eyes  like 
 the  eyes  of  man,  and  a  mouth  speaking 
 great  things. 
 
 W  I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast 
 down,  and  the  Ancient  of  days  did  sit, 
 whose  garment  was  white  as  snow,  and 
 the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool : 
 his  throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and 
 his  wheels  as  burning  fire.  (10'A  fiery 
 stream  issued  and  came  forth  from  be- 
 fore him  :  "thousand  thousands  minis- 
 tered unto  him,  and  ten  thousand  times 
 ten  thousand  stood  before  him  :  the 
 judgment  was  set,  and  the  Jbooks  were 
 
 next  object  which  arrested  the  seer's  attention.  The 
 second  beast  corresponds  to  the  silver  portion  of  the 
 Colossus  (chap.  ii.). 
 
 One  side. — In  explaining  this  very  difficult  phrase, 
 it  must  be  remembered  that  the  two  sides  of  the  bear 
 are  parallel  in  meaning  to  the  two  breasts  and  two 
 arms  of  the  Colossus.  It  is  implied,  therefore,  that  the 
 second  kingdom  consists  of  two  parts,  and  the  raising 
 up  of  one  side  implies  that  one  part  of  the  kingdom 
 would  come  into  greater  prominence  than  the  other. 
 Such  was  the  case  with  the  Medo-Persian  Empire 
 (comp.  chap.  viii.  3),  in  which  the  Persian  element 
 surpassed  the  Median. 
 
 Three  ribs. — These  cannot  signify  the  people  who 
 constitute  the  second  empire,  but  rather  some  kingdoms 
 which  had  already  been  subdned  by  it;  and  by  the 
 command,  "  Arise  and  devour,"  the  second  empire  is 
 permitted  to  make  further  conquests  before  its  dis- 
 appearance. The  three  ribs  have  been  understood  from 
 the  time  of  St.  Hippolytus  to  mean  three  nations :  the 
 Babylonians,  the  Lydians,  and  the  Egyptians. 
 
 <6)  A  leopard.— More  correctly,  a  panther.  On 
 the  great  vigilance  and  swiftness  of  the  panther,  comp. 
 Jer.  v.  6 ;  fiosea  xiii.  7  ;  Hab.  i.  8.  The  third  beast 
 corresponds  to  the  copper  belly  and  thighs  of  the  image 
 (chap.  ii.).  It  should  be  noticed  that  as  unity  charac- 
 terises the  first  beast,  and  duality  the  second,  so  quad- 
 ruplicity  marks  the  third.  It  has  four  wings— wings 
 as  of  a  bird,  not  of  an  eagle — by  which  a  degree  of 
 swiftness  is  implied  inferior  to  that  of  the  first  beast. 
 It  has  four  heads,  indicating  four  kingdoms,  into  which 
 the  third  kingdom  should  develop  itself.  (Comp.  chap, 
 viii.  8,  where  the  same  predominance  of  the  number 
 "  four"  is  to  be  observed.) 
 
 P)  A  fourth  beast.— This  is  so  different  from  thepre- 
 ceding  three,  and  so  terrible  in  appearance,  that  Daniel 
 can  hardly  find  words  to  describe  it.  The  distinguish- 
 ing feature  of  it  is  the  power  which  it  possesses  of  break- 
 ing and  stamping  out  all  that  it  meets.  In  this  way  it 
 corresponds  to  "iron  that  breakcth  in  pieces,  and  sub- 
 dueth  all  things."  (Comp.  chap.  ii.  40.)  The  descrip- 
 tion of  the  destructive  might  of  this  beast  is  heightened 
 by  the  mention  of  "  iron  teeth  "  and  "brazen  claws." 
 It  should  be  noticed  that  the  horns  imply  strength,  while 
 the  ten  horns  correspond  to  the  ten  toes  of  the  image. 
 
 The  residue— i.e.,  what  it  did  not  destroy  with  its 
 teeth  it  trampled  upon  and  annihilated  with  its  feet. 
 
 380 
 
 (8)  I  considered. — Literally,  I  kept  on  looking. 
 Here,  for  the  first  time  in  the  course  of  the  vision,  there 
 appears  a  change  taking  place  in  the  object  itself. 
 While  the  three  beasts  had  passed  away  unchanged 
 in  any  material  addition,  among  the  ten  horns  of  the 
 fourth  beast  there  was  seen  to  grow  up  a  "little  horn," 
 which  destroyed  three  of  the  other  horns.  That  a  man, 
 and  not  a  kingdom,  is  intended,  though  the  mau  may 
 be  the  representative  of  a  kingdom,  appears  from  the 
 mention  of  "  the  eyes  of  a  man,"  indicating  craft  and 
 cunning,  and  "  the  mouth  speaking  great  things,"  im. 
 plying  vain-glory  and  blasphemy. 
 
 (9)  I  beheld. — Literally,  I  kept  on  looking,  and 
 suddenly  seats  were  placed,  on  which  the  assessors  of 
 the  Great  Judge  were  to  sit.  These  have  been  inter- 
 preted from  Ps.  lxxxix.  7  to  be  the  angels,  but  a  truer 
 explanation  is  to  be  found  in  Matt.  xix.  28.  It  should 
 be  noticed  that  those  who  sat  on  the  thrones  are  dis- 
 tinguished from  the  countless  multitude  mentioned  in 
 verse  10. 
 
 Ancient  of  days. — Literally,  a  very  aged  man. 
 (Comp.  Ezek.  i.  26—28.)  The  attribute  of  age  ex- 
 presses the  majesty  of  the  judge.  (Comp.  Ps.  lv.  19  ; 
 Deut.  xxxiii.  27.)  It  may  be  remarked  that  notwith- 
 standing the  title  "  Ancient "  is  applied  to  the  Deity, 
 "  Anon,"  yet  His  titles,  "  generator  and  father  of  the 
 gods,"  are  so  completely  at  variance  with  Old  Testa- 
 ment doctrines  that  it  is  inconceivable  that  Daniel 
 should  have  incorporated  in  his  vision  any  portions  of 
 Babylonian  mythology.  Similar  remarks  apply  to 
 Silik-moulou-khi,  between  whom  and  the  Sou  of  man 
 (verse  13)  a  parallel  has  been  pointed  out.  The  concep- 
 tion of  the  former  is  completely  different  from  what  is 
 revealed  about  the  latter. 
 
 White  as  snow. — Indicating,  like  the  "  pure  wool," 
 the  purity  and  justice  of  the  Judge. 
 
 Fiery  flame. — Fire  appears  in  Scripture  sometimes 
 as  a  metaphor  for  affliction  or  punishment  (e.g.,  1  Cor. 
 iii.  13,  &c.),  sometimes  as  a  symbol  of  the  chastening 
 and  punitive  righteousness  of  God  (Ezek.  i.  13,  14,  27, 
 28).  Elsewhere  it  sets  forth  the  fiery  indignation 
 which  devours  the  enemies  of  God  (Heb.  x.  27  ;  Rev. 
 xix.  11,  12).  The  figure  of  speech  is  here  used  in  each 
 of  these  senses.  The  "  wheels  "  represent  the  omni- 
 presence of  Almighty  God. 
 
 (10)  The  books — i.e.,  the  unerring  record  of  man's 
 thoughts,  words,  and  deeds,  which  is  written  in  the  un- 
 
The  I  Hi'  r/u'  tniion 
 
 DANIEL,    VII. 
 
 of  DanieVs  Virion. 
 
 opened.  (11)I  beheld  then  because  of 
 the  voice  of  tin-  ^reat  words  which  the 
 horn  spake:  I  beheld  wan  till  the  beast 
 
 was  slain,  and  Ins  hody  destroyed,  and 
 fjfivcn  to  the  burning  flame.  "'-'JAscon- 
 cernin^  the  resi  of  the  beasts,  they  bad 
 their  dominion  taken  away:  yet  'their 
 Uvea  were  prolonged  for  a  season  and 
 time. 
 
 <l;'l    saw    in    tbe   night   visions,   and, 
 
 behold,  one  like  the  Son  of  man  came 
 with  the  eloud.s  of  heaven,  and  came  to 
 
 tlie  Ancient  of  days,  and  tbey  brought 
 him  near  before  him.  '"'And  there  was 
 given   him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a 
 
 Kingdom,   thai    all    people,   nations,   and 
 
 languages,  should  serve  him  :  bis  do- 
 minion in  "an  everlasting  dominion,  which 
 shall   not    pass  away,  and  his  kingdom 
 
 that  which  shall  not    be  destroyed. 
 
 11  ■'■'  1  Daniel  was  grieved  in  my  spirit 
 
 in  the  midst  of  my  ;body,  and  the  visions 
 of  my  head  troubled  me.  ,U1, 1  came 
 near  unto  one  of  them  that  stood  by, 
 and  asked  him  the  truth  of  all  this.  So 
 be  told  me,  and  made  nie  know  the  in- 
 terpretation of  the  things.  ('"'These 
 great  beasts,  which  are  lour,  owe  four 
 kingB,  which  shall  arise  out  of  the  earth. 
 '','  I !ut  the  saints  of  the  3most  High 
 shall  take  the  kingdom,  and  possess  the 
 
 tOHgtna 
 
 waa  yum  Hi-  in 
 
 i  :  Ml.-.  I 
 
 7;  Lii^. 
 
 ■:  elmlj.,  fhnutli. 
 
 .1  Clialil  , ' 
 lira    I*.    tluiiij", 
 or.  place*. 
 
 ,  from  all 
 
 kingdom  for  ever,  even  for  ever  and 
 ever. 
 
 ll:,'Thrn    I    would   know   the   truth    ot 
 
 the  fourth  beast,  which  was  diverse  from 
 
 all  the  others,  exceeding  dreadful,  whose 
 teeth  wen;  of  iron,  and  his  nails  of  brass; 
 which  devoured,  brake  in  pieces,  and 
 stamped  the  residue  with  his  feet ;  -"and 
 of  the  ten  horns  that  were  in  his  head, 
 and  of  the  other  which  came  up,  and 
 before  whom  three  fell;  even  of  thai 
 horn  that  had  eyes,  ami  a  mouth  that 
 spake  very  great  things,  whose  look  wa$ 
 more  stout  than  bis  fellows.  '-"I  beheld, 
 and  the  same  horn  made  war  with  the 
 saints,  and  prevailed  against  them; 
 '-'-'  until  the  Ancient  of  days  came,  ami 
 judgment  was  given  to  the  saints  of 
 the  most  High;  and  t  he  time  came  that 
 the  saints  possessed  the  kingdom. 
 
 («)  Thus  he  said,  The  fourth  beast  shall 
 be  the  fourth  kingdom  upon  earth,  which 
 shall  be  diverse  from  all  kingdoms,  and 
 shall  devour  the  whole  earth,  and  shall 
 tread  it  down,  and  break  it  in  pieces. 
 -'And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this  king- 
 dom are  ten  kings  that  shall  arise  :  and 
 another  shall  rise  after  them;  and  he  shall 
 be  diverse  from  the  first,  and  he  shall 
 subdue  three  kings.  (25)  And  he  shall 
 speak  </iv<//  words  against  the  most  High, 
 
 tailing  memory  of  God.  (Comp.  Exoil.  xxxii.  32  ;  Pss. 
 hi.  8,  lax.  88;   ha,  it.  Sj  Mai.  iii.  L6.) 
 
 (iii  Because  of  .  .  . — Tho  blasphemy  uttered 
 by  the  little  horn  was  the  cause  of  tin'  judgment,  and 
 being  such.it  at  traoted  Daniel's  attention.  We  might 
 have  expected   that    the  Drowning  see-no  of  this  vision 
 
 would  have  been  the  unrooting of  the  little  horn  and 
 the  complete  destruction  of  it.  hut  it  appears  thai  the 
 
 blaspheming  spirit  with  which  it  was  inspired  issuod 
 from  the  fourth  monster,  which  "was  slain  and 
 liurneil." 
 
 Burning  flame— Such  is  the  doctrine  of  final  re- 
 tribution, as  revealed  to  Daniel.  (C'otnp.  Isa.  lxvi.  Jt  ; 
 Rev.  \i\.  20,  w.  10.) 
 
 i-i  Tho  rest  of  the  boasts— i.e.,  tho  three  first 
 
 boasts  which    Daniel  had    seen  coming  out   of  tho  sea. 
 
 Ho  now  learns  what  had  befallen  them.  Their  domi- 
 nions had  passed  away,  and  thsil  lives  had  been  pro- 
 longed up   to  that   definite  point    and   time   which   had 
 
 seemed  lit  to  God,  and  no  further.    The  period  of  life 
 
 allotted  to  them  by  God  was  only  a  little  while.  (On 
 "  times  "  and  "  seasons,"  see  N'ote  on  chap.  ii.  _'l 
 
 (is)  The  Son  of  man.  EEenee  our  Saviour  adopts 
 the  title  which  designates  Hint  as  Judge  '  .Matt.  xxiv. 
 ■27.  \c>.  The  title  implies  one  descended  from  man; 
 but  as  this  Person  is  spoken  of  as  being  "  like  "  one  of 
 human   descent,   it    follows   that    lie   was   not    merely   a 
 
 man.    The  early  Jewish  and  Christian  interpretations 
 
 that  this  is  the  Messiah  are  confirmed  by  our  Saviour's 
 solemn  appropriation  of  tho  title  to   Himself  (Matt. 
 
 xxiv.  301.  In  this  verse  tho  judgment  is  supposed  to 
 have  already  taken  place  upon  earth,  and  tho  Son  of 
 man  minis  in  the  clouds  to  claim  lli^  kingdom. 
 
 (U)  Serve  him.— In  Biblical  Ohaldee  this  word  is 
 
 only  Used  of  rendering  Divine  service  or  worship.  The 
 "  Son  of  man  "  is  therefore  hero  spoken  of  as  GhocL 
 
 (15)  Midst. — See  margin.  The  body  was  regarded 
 as  the  sheath  of  tbe  soul. 
 
 (16)  That  stood  by — i.e.,  one  out  of  the  multitudes 
 mentioned  i  verse  10). 
 
 (17)  Four  kings.— Kingdoms  are  frequently  repre- 
 sented 1  iy  their  heads  or  founders;  hence  kings  aud 
 kingdoms  are  occasionally  used  synonymously.  ('omp. 
 chap.  viii.  21.) 
 
 S  Whose  teeth.  — The  recapitulation  in  this 
 Verse  of  what  was  stated  in  verse  7  must  he  noticed 
 The  additional  features  mentioned  here  are  the  brazen 
 (daws,     i  ('omp.  chaps,  ii.  .".7.  iv.  Jo. ! 
 
 -'"  Made  war. — This  corresponds  to  "the  moutl 
 
 speaking  great  things  "  |  verses  S.  J.e).  These  events 
 occur  while  the  saints  an  expecting  their  deliverance. 
 
 (23)  Tho  fourth  kingdom.— The  ten  are  spoken 
 
 of  as  existing  simultaneously.     <  >f  the  various  attempt- 
 to  account  for  them,   none    have   proved    satisfactory 
 (Seo  Excursus  E.)     We  must  wait    inpatient    humility 
 
 for  the  fulfilment  of  this  pari  of  tbe  prophecy,  noting 
 
 that  marks  by  which  the  little  horn  may  be  identified 
 have  been  graciously  revealed  to  us  by  God  Himself. 
 
 I'25)  And  he  shall  speak. — The  marks  of  identifj 
 catiou  of  the  little  horn  arc — (1 1  blasphemy  of  God  ;    J 
 
 381 
 
Daniel's  Vision 
 
 DANIEL,   VIII. 
 
 at  Shushan 
 
 and  shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the 
 most  High,  and  think  to  change  times 
 and  laws  :  and  they  shall  he  given  into 
 his  hand  until  a  time  and  times  and  the 
 dividing  of  time.  (26'  But  the  judgment 
 shall  sit,  and  they  shall  take  away  his 
 dominion,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it 
 unto  the  end.  <27'And  the  "kingdom  and 
 dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  king- 
 dom under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be 
 given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
 most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an  ever- 
 lasting kingdom,  and  all 1  dominions  shall 
 serve  and  obey  him. 
 
 <28>  Hitherto  is  the  end  of  the  matter. 
 As  for  me  Daniel,  my  cogitations  much 
 troubled  me,  and  my  countenance 
 changed  in  me :  but  I  kept  the  matter 
 in  my  heart. 
 
 CHAPTEE  VIII.  —  W  In  the  third 
 year  of  the  reign  of  king  Belshazzar  a 
 
 'J  Heb.,  the  second. 
 
 3  Or,  none  touched 
 linn  in  the  earth. 
 
 B.C. 
 cir.  553. 
 
 vision  appeared  unto  me,  even  unto  me 
 Daniel,  after  that  which  appeared  unto 
 me  at  the  first. 
 
 (2)  And  I  saw  in  a  vision ;  and  it  came 
 to  pass,  when  I  saw,  that  I  was  at 
 Shushan  in  the  palace,  which  is  in  the 
 province  of  Elam ;  and  I  saw  in  a  vision, 
 and  I  was  by  the  river  of  Ulai.  (3)  Then  I 
 lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and,  behold, 
 there  stood  before  the  river  a  ram  which 
 had  two  horns :  and  the  two  horns  ivere 
 high ;  but  one  was  higher  than  2the 
 other,  and  the  higher  came  up  last.  <4)I 
 saw  the  ram  pushing  westward,  and 
 northward,  and  southward ;  so  that  no 
 beasts  might  stand  before  him,  neither 
 was  there  any  that  could  deliver  out  of 
 his  hand ;  but  he  did  according  to  his 
 will,  and  became  great. 
 
 (5'And  as  I  was  considering,  behold, 
 an  he  goat  came  from  the  west  on  the 
 face  of  the  whole  earth,  and  3  touched 
 
 persecution  and  affliction  of  the  saints;  (3)  attempts, 
 apparently  ineffectual  (he  will  "  think  to  change "), 
 against  all  institutions,  whether  of  Divine  or  human 
 authority :  in  short,  a  general  spirit  of  lawlessness  and 
 unbelief .  It  appears  that  the  little  horn,  the  Antichrist 
 of  the  last  days,  or  the  beast,  will  be  successful  for 
 a  time  in  his  blasphemies  and  persecutions,  but  in  the 
 end  he  will  be  destroyed.     (See  2  Thess.  ii.  8.) 
 
 Time  and  times  and  the  dividing  of  time.— 
 This  is  frequently  explained  to  mean  three  years  and  a 
 half.  Those  who  adopt  this  explanation  assume  that 
 by  "  times"  a  dual  is  implied,  which  in  Chaldee  is  re- 
 presented by  the  plural.  They  next  assume  that  by  "  a 
 time "  is  meant  one  year,  resting  their  assumption 
 partly  on  chap.  iv.  16,  and  partly  on  a  comparison  of 
 chap.  xii.  7  with  Rev.  xiii.  5,  xi.  2,  3.  This  gives  a  sum 
 of  three  years  and  a  half,  which  is  interpreted  either 
 literally,  or  explained  to  mean  half  a  sabbatical 
 period,  or  half  some  divinely-appointed  period  sym- 
 bolised by  the  number  "seven."  According  to  the 
 second  interpretation,  Daniel  teaches  us  that  the  days 
 of  tribulation  shall  be  shortened  (Matt.  xxiv.  22).  But 
 it  may  be  questioned  whether  "  years  "  are  intended  in 
 chap.  iv.  16.  Also  the  language  in  chap.  xii.  7  is  very 
 obscure.  A  more  correct  view  of  the  prediction  is  that 
 the  reign  of  Antichrist  will  be  divided  into  three 
 periods — the  first  long,  the  second  longer,  the  third 
 shortest  of  all.  It  also  appears  that  the  last  is  to  be 
 the  severest  time  of  trial.  It  may  be  remarked  that  in 
 chap.  ix.  the  seventy  weeks  are  divided  into  three 
 periods,  forming  a  similar  series,  7  +  62  +  1  =  70. 
 
 (26)  The  judgment.— The  language  is  similar  to 
 that  in  verse  10.  The  destruction  of  the  beast  recorded 
 in  verse  11  is  here  omitted. 
 
 Unto  the  end.— Comp.  chap.  vi.  26. 
 
 (27)  Comp.  verses  14,  18. 
 
 (28)  The  matter — i.e.,  the  vision  and  the  revelation. 
 In  my  heart. — Daniel  suffers  as  in  verse  15  and 
 
 chap.  x.  8.  However,  he  comforts  himself  by  keeping 
 in  his  heart  the  words  of  the  angel  spoken  in  verse  17. 
 (Comp.  Luke  ii.  19.) 
 
 3S2 
 
 VIII. 
 
 (1)  The  Hebrew  language  is  here  resumed.  The 
 visions  recorded  in  the  remaining  portion  of  the  book 
 having  no  connection  with  Babylon,  the  Chaldee  dialect 
 is  dropped. 
 
 Third  year. — Most  probably,  not  long  before  the 
 end  of  his  reign.  This  vision  is  supplementary  to  the 
 one  recorded  in  the  preceding  chapter,  giving  various 
 details  respecting  the  second  and  third  empires  there 
 omitted,  showing  also  how  a  "little  horn"  is  to  grow 
 out  of  the  third  as  well  as  out  of  the  fourth  empire. 
 
 At  the  first — i.e.,  earlier.     (Comp.  chap.  ix.  21.) 
 
 (2)  At  Shushan — i.e.,  Susa.  At  this  time  (see 
 Records  of  the  Past,  vol.  i.,  p.  71,  &c.)  Susa  was,  as 
 Daniel  describes  it,  in  the  province  of  Elam ;  at  a  later 
 period  it  became  the  capital  of  the  Persian  empire. 
 Daniel  was  at  Susa  only  in  vision,  he  was  not  bodily 
 transported  thither.  The  Ulai  is  the  river  Eulaeus, 
 and  is  mentioned  in  connection  with  Susa  in  the  in- 
 scription cited  above. 
 
 (3)  A  ram — i.e.,  a  single  ram.  The  ram  was  stand- 
 ing before  the  river,  or  eastward  of  it,  and  repre- 
 sented the  Medo-Persian  empire  (verse  20).  The  two 
 horns,  like  the  two  breasts  and  arms  of  the  image, 
 or  the  two  sides  of  the  bear,  symbolise  the  twofold 
 character  of  this  empire.  The  higher  horn  denotes 
 the  Persians,  the  dominant  race.  For  other  instances 
 of  rams  and  goats  representing  nations,  comp.  Isa. 
 xiv.  9;  Jer.  1.  8;  Zech.  x.  3. 
 
 (*)  I  saw  the  ram  pushing. — The  ram  pushes  in 
 three  different  directions.  This  corresponds  to  the 
 three  ribs  in  the  mouth  of  the  bear.  The  animal  does 
 not  push  towards  the  east,  as  it  is  presumed  that  he 
 has  already  made  conquests  in  those  quarters. 
 
 (5)  An  he  goat.— This,  according  to  verse  21, 
 means  the  Gi'eek  empire,  the  large  horn  being  the  first 
 king,  or  Alexander  the  Great.  It  may  be  remarked  that 
 the  goat  and  the  ram  form  the  same  contrast  as  the 
 panther  and  the  bear.  Matchless  activity  is  contrasted 
 with  physical  strength  and  brutal  fierceness. 
 
oftJie  Ram 
 
 DANIEL,    VI IT. 
 
 and  tic:  lit; -goat. 
 
 not  the  ground:  ami  the  goat  had  'a 
 notable  horn  between  his  eyes.  |,;i  Anl 
 be  came  to  the  ran  that  bad  two  horns, 
 which  I  had  Been  standing  before  the 
 river,  and  ran  unto  him  in  the  fury  of 
 his  power.  '"'And  1  saw  him  conn'  close 
 unto   the   rani,  and    lie  was   moved   witli 
 
 oholer  against  him,  and  smote  the  ram, 
 and  brake  his  two  horns  :  and  there  was 
 no  power  in  the  ram  to  stand  before 
 him,  but  he  cast  him  down  to  the  ground, 
 and  stamped  upon  him:  and  there  was 
 none  that  could  deliver  the  ram  out  of 
 his  hand.  |S)  Therefore  the  he  goat 
 waxed  very  great:  and  when  he  was 
 strong,  the  great  horn  was  broken  ;  and 
 for  it  came  up  four  notable  ones  "toward 
 the  four  winds  of  heaven.  (',)  And  out  of 
 one  of  them  came  forth  a  little  horn, 
 which  waxed  exceeding  great,  toward 
 the  South,  and  toward  the  east,  and  to- 
 ward   the    'pleasant    land,      (10>  And   it 
 
 i   Bob.,  a 
 
 ...,m 
 
 ■  & 
 
 3    Or.  against   ttu 
 
 4  Or,//<mi  him, 
 
 11 
 
 [flee 
 
 Mmftirwr 
 
 '...  <<r,  thr 
 WQUdl  r/ul  uum- 
 bercr. 
 
 7  lie  li  ,  rulmoni. 
 
 Or.  ni'ikiwi  tUso- 
 lata 
 
 B    Bet . 
 
 '■  I  ng. 
 
 10  BVb...Jiu<<yi«t 
 
 waxed  great,  even  2to  the  host  of  heaven; 
 and  it  cast  down  stunt  of  tin- host  and  of 
 the  stars  to  the  ground,  and 
 upon  them.  ""Yea,  he  magnified  him- 
 .•.■«■//*  even  to  the  prince  of  the  host,  and 
 4by  him  the  daily  tacrifice  was  taken 
 away,  and  the  place  of  his  sanctuary  was 
 cast  down.  "-'And  'an  host  was  given 
 Mm  against  the  daily  sacrijire  hy  reason 
 of  transgression,  and  it  cast  down  the 
 truth  to  the  ground;  and  it  practised, 
 and  prospered. 
 
 <13'  Then  I  heard  one  saint  speaking, 
 and  another  saint  said  unto  6  7  that 
 certain  saint  which  spake,  How  long 
 shall  be  the  vision  concerning  the  daily 
 sacrifice,  and  the  transgression  8of  deso- 
 lation, to  give  both  the  sanctuary  and 
 the  host  to  be  trodden  under  foot? 
 <14)And  he  said  unto  me,  Unto  two 
 thousand  and  three  hundred  Mays;  then 
 shall  the  sanctuary  be  '"cleansed. 
 
 Touched  not  the  ground.— An  exact  prediction 
 of  the  early  conquests  of  Alexander,  all  whose  move- 
 ments were  characterised  by  marvellous  rapidity.  This 
 is  expressed  hy  "  the  wings  of  a  fowl "  (chap.  vii.  6). 
 
 A  notable  horn. — See  margin.    This  is  explained 
 
 (verse  -I)  to  be  Alexander   himself. 
 
 ";>  Ran  unto  him.— Tho  wonderful  rapidity  of 
 Alexander's  movements,  incredible,  if  it  were  not  so 
 well  attested  in  history,  is  here  pointed  out.  From 
 the  battle  of  Granicus  to  that  of  Arbela  only  three 
 yean  elapsed.  During  this  brief  period  the  whole 
 Persian  empire  fell  to  pieces. 
 
 (8)  Was  broken.— This  points  to  the  sudden  and 
 unexpected  end  of  Alexander,  B.C.  323.  Tho  "  four 
 horns."  which  take  the  place  of  the  "  notable  horn," 
 may  mean  either  that  this  empire  was  dispersed  to  the 
 four  winds  of  heaven  on  the  death  of  its  founder  (comp. 
 chap.  vii.  2.  xi.  I;  Jer.  xlix.  36;  Zech.iL  6\  or  it 
 may  hint  at  tho  ultimate  division  of  the  empire  into 
 four  parts.  Thrace.  Macedonia,  Syria,  Egypt,  under 
 Symmachus,  Cassander,  Selencus,  and  Ptolemy  re- 
 spectively. 
 
 ('•')  Little- — Literally,  out  of  tittletiess.  (Comp. 
 chap.  vii.  8.)  This  is  explained  more  fully  in  verso  23. 
 The  southern  campaigns  of  Autiochus  Rpiphanes  are 
 related  1  Mace.  i.  16;  for  his  eastern  wars  see 
 1  Mace.  iii.  31 — 37,  vi.  1 — 1. 
 
 Tho  ploasant  land— i.e.,  Palestine,  which  here, 
 as  in  lsa.  xix.  23,  21,  is  spoken  of  as  a  third  land, 
 between  south  and  east.  The  phrase,  "pleasant  land.'' 
 or  "  glorious  land."  which  recurs  chap.  xi.  Iii — Id,  was 
 suggested  to  Daniel  by  tho  language  of  Jer.  iii.  19; 
 \\   6,  15. 
 
 ii"1  The  host  of  heaven.— Probably  meaning  the 
 stars,  as  Jer.   xxxiii.   22.   but   in   a  metaphorical   sense 
 
 indicating  the  people  of  Israel.  (Oomp.  Exod.  vii.  I; 
 Num.  xxiv.  17.)  The  actions  of  Antioclius.  predicted 
 here,  are  related  1  Maec.  i.  21,  30,  37.  ii.  38;  2  Mace. 
 ix.  10. 
 
 CUJ  Prince  of  the  host— i.e.,  Jehovah  Himself. 
 (Comp.  verso  25,  chap.  xi.  86. 
 
 833 
 
 The  daily — i.e.,  everything  permanent  in  tho 
 worship  of  God,  such  as  sacriliees,  etc.  (See  Noto 
 on  Lev.  vi.  13.)  On  this  conduct  of  Autiochus  see 
 1  Mace.  i.  30.  45,  &<:.  iii.  45. 
 
 Place  of  his  sanctuary— i.e.,  the  Temple.  (Comp. 
 1  Kings  viii.  13.) 
 
 0-'  An  host  .  .  . — The  host  is  apparently  tho  same 
 as  that  which  is  mentioned  in  verse  10.  anil  means  some 
 of  the  Jewish  people.  It  is  known  tliat  some  of  them 
 lapsed  under  the  persecutions  of  Autiochus,  and  joined 
 in  his  idolatrous  rites.  These  apostates  were  given 
 into  his  hand,  and  on  account  of  their  apostasy  the 
 daily  sacrifice  also  was  taken  away.     (Comp.  verse  13.) 
 
 The  truth — i.e.,  the  word  of  God,  as  appears  from 
 1  Mace.  i.  43—52.  56,  60. 
 
 PS)  One  saint— i.e..  an  angel,  who,  however,  has  not 
 been  mentioned  before.  This  part  of  the  vision  recalls 
 chap.  vii.  16.  It  is  implied  that  the  angels  were  eon- 
 versing  upon  tho  subject  of  this  awful  revelation  con- 
 cerning the  future  of  God's  people.  Only  a  portion  of 
 what  they  said  is  here  recorded. 
 
 The  vision. — The  inquiry  means,  "  How  long  shall 
 bo  the  duration  of  the  object  of  this  vision,  so  far  as  it 
 has  to  do  with  the  great  apostasy  P  " 
 
 Transgression   of  desolation.  —  Comp.  chap. 
 
 ix.  27.      Probably  these   words  mean  the   same  as   the 
 "abomination  that  maketh    desolate"   (chaps,  xi.   31, 
 xii.  11;  see  1  Mace.  i.  59). 
 M  Unto  two  thousand  and   three  hundred 
 
 days. — It  is  (dear  from  the  language  that  the  period 
 here  spoken  of  terminates  with  the  cleansing  of  the 
 sanctuary,  and  that  it  begins  with  the  transgression  that 
 led  to  tho  awful  events  that  occurred  in  the  timo  of 
 Autiochus  Epiphanes.  Judas  Maccabeus  took  Jeru- 
 salem in  the  year  B.C.  165.  and  kept  the  Feast  of  Dedi- 
 cation the  same  year,  Autiochus  being  at  the  timo  in 
 Armenia.  The  period  apparently  commences  with  the 
 events  mentioned  in  2  Mace.  rv.32 — 39,  which  occurred 
 about  B.C.  171.  The  dates,  however,  not  being  re- 
 corded precisely,  it  is  impossible  to  reckon  with  cer- 
 tainty whence  the  starting-point  is  to  be  dated.     The 
 
The  Interpretation 
 
 DANIEL,   VIII. 
 
 of  the  Vision. 
 
 (15>And  it  caine  to  pass,  when  I,  even 
 I  Daniel,  had  seen  the  vision,  and  sought 
 for  the  meaning,  then,  behold,  there 
 stood  before  ine  as  the  appearance  of 
 a  man.  <16)And  I  heard  a  man's  voice 
 between  the  banks  of  Ulai,  which  called, 
 and  said,  "Gabriel,  make  this  man  to 
 understand  the  vision.  (17)  So  he  came 
 near  where  I  stood :  and  when  he  came, 
 I  was  afraid,  and  fell  upon  my  face :  but 
 he  said  unto  me,  Understand,  O  son  of 
 man  :  for  at  the  time  of  the  end  shall  be 
 the  vision.  <18'  Now  as  he  was  speaking 
 with  me,  I  was  in  a  deep  sleep  on  my  face 
 toward  the  ground  :  but  he  touched  me, 
 and  xset  me  upright.  <19)And  he  said, 
 Behold,  I  will  make  thee  know  what 
 shall  be  in  the  last  end  of  the  indigna- 
 tion :  for  at  the  time  appointed  the  end 
 shall  be. 
 
 (20)  rphg  ram  which  thou  sawest  having 
 two  horns  are  the  kings  of  Media  and 
 Persia.  <21>And  the  roiigh  goat  is  the 
 king  of  Grecia  :  and  the  great  horn  that 
 is  between  his  eyes  is  the   first  king. 
 
 1  Hell.,  made  me 
 stand  upon  my 
 standing. 
 
 2  Hrl).,  are  accom 
 plished. 
 
 Hub.,  people   of 
 the  holy  ones. 
 
 4  Or,  prosperity. 
 
 (22)  Now  that  being  broken,  whereas  four 
 stood  up  for  it,  four  kingdoms  shall 
 stand  up  out  of  the  nation,  but  not  in 
 his  power.  (23)  And  in  the  latter  time  of 
 their  kingdom,  when  the  transgressors 
 2  are  come  to  the  full,  a  king  of  fierce 
 countenance,  and  understanding  dark 
 sentences,  shall  stand  up.  (24>And  his 
 power  shall  be  mighty,  but  not  by  his 
 own  power  :  and  he  shall  destroy  won- 
 derfully, and  shall  prosper,  and  practise, 
 and  shall  destroy  the  mighty  and  the 
 3holy  people.  (25)  And  through  his  policy 
 also  he  shall  cause  craft  to  prosper  in 
 his  hand ;  and  he  shall  magnify  himself 
 in  his  heart,  and  by  *peace  shall  destroy 
 many:  he  shall  also  stand  up  against 
 the  Prince  of  princes ;  but  he  shall  be 
 'broken  without  hand.  (26And  the  vision 
 of  the  evening  and  the  morning  which 
 was  told  is  true :  wherefore  shut  thou  up 
 the  vision ;  for  it  shall  be  for  many  days. 
 (27>And  I  Daniel  fainted,  and  was  sick 
 certain  days;  afterward  I  rose  up,  and 
 did  the    king's    business;    and   I   was 
 
 phrase  "  evening  morning  "  (see  margin)  is  used  to  in- 
 dicate a  complete  night  and  day,  and  2,300  complete 
 days  of  twenty-four  hours  make  a  period  of  six  years 
 140  days.  It  has  been  observed  that  this  period  falls 
 short  of  seven  years  (a  week  of  years)  by  about  two- 
 thirds  of  a  year.  If,  then,  seven  years  is  the  number 
 of  years  symbolical  of  Divine  chastisements,  the  pro- 
 phecy implies  that  the  people  shall  not  suffer  persecu- 
 tion according  to  their  full  deserts,  but  "  for  the 
 elect's  sake  those  days  shall  be  shortened."  (See  Note 
 on  chap.  vii.  25.) 
 
 Be  cleansed. — Literally,  be  placed  in  its  proper 
 state. 
 
 (15)  Appearance  of  a  man. — From  verse  16  it 
 appears  that  this  was  the  angel  Gabriel.  The  "  man's 
 voice  "  mentioned  in  verse  16  proceeded  from  Him  Who 
 alone  has  authority  to  command  angels.  (Comp.  chap, 
 xii.  6,  7.) 
 
 (16)  Between  the  .  .  .  Ulai.— The  city,  as  it  would 
 appear,  stood  between  the  two  branches  of  the  river. 
 The  two  branches  were  the  Eulaeus  and  the  Choaspes. 
 
 (17)  The  time  of  the  end— i.e.,  either  at  the 
 final  period  of  earthly  history,  or  at  the  time  which  lies 
 at  the  limit  of  the  prophetic  horizon.  St.  Jerome 
 observes  that  what  happened  in  the  times  of  Antiochus 
 was  typical  of  what  shall  bo  fulfilled  hereafter  in  Anti- 
 christ. 
 
 (18)  A  deep  sleep.— On  the  effects  of  heavenly 
 visions  upon  those  who  beheld  them,  see  Gen.  xvi.  13, 
 Exod.  xxxiii.  20,  &c. 
 
 (19)  End  of  the  indignation— i.e.,  the  revelation 
 of  God's  wrath  at  the  end  of  the  time  of  the  prophecy. 
 
 At  the  time  appointed— i.e.,  the  vision  refers  to 
 the  appointed  time  in  the  end. 
 (20-22)  gee  Notes  on  verses  3—8. 
 
 (22)  Uot  in  his  power— i.e.,  not  like  the  first  king. 
 
 (23)  Transgressors  .  .  . — When  transgressors 
 have  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  guilt  so  as  to  exceed 
 
 the  limits  of  God's  mercy,  then  this  event  shall  take 
 place.  The  transgressors  are  the  apostate  Jews.  Here, 
 as  in  the  other  visions,  the  particulars  respecting  the 
 most  prominent  objects  of  the  vision  are  given  more 
 fully  in  the  interpretation  than  in  the  early  part  of  the 
 chapter.  The  king  is  represented  as  being  "  of  a  fierce 
 countenance,"  he  is  shameless,  he  has  no  reluctance  in 
 pursuing  the  cruelties  which  he  has  designed.  He 
 "  understands  dark  sayings,"  or  uses  falsehood  and  dis- 
 simulation to  carry  out  his  purposes. 
 
 (24)  jfot  by  his  own  power. — Not  might,  but 
 cunning,  will  cause  his  success.  (Comp.  1  Mace.  i. 
 10,  &c.)  Thus  his  destructive  powers  become  astonish- 
 ing. 
 
 The  mighty. — No  special  individuals  are  pointed 
 out,  but  rulers  in  general. 
 
 (25)  Through  his  policy. — This  is  explained  more 
 fully  in  the  next  two  sentences.  Through  his  craft 
 he  succeeds,  and  becomes  able  to  destroy  many  unex- 
 pectedly, and  finally  raises  up  himself  against  God. 
 
 Without  hand. — Not  by  the  hand  of  man  (comp. 
 chap.  ii.  34),  but  by  the  act  of  God. 
 
 (26)  The  concluding  words  of  the  angel  are  intended 
 to  comfort  the  Jewish  Church  in  the  days  of  her  perse- 
 cution. They  teach  her  that  God  has  foreseen  her 
 affliction,  that  it  comes  from  Him  in  His  love,  and  that 
 it  shall  last  only  for  a  short  while.  This  promise 
 accounts  for  the  firmness  which  was  exhibited  by  the 
 saints  of  the  Maccabees,  which  entitles  their  faith  to  a 
 place  in  the  same  list  of  faithful  men  which  contains 
 the  names  of  Abel,  Abraham,  and  Moses  (Heb.  xi. 
 34—38). 
 
 Shut  thou  up. — The  revelation  is  to  be  kept  safe, 
 because  the  time  of  fulfilment  is  far  off,  and  then  the 
 comforting  words  will  be  needed.  Comp.  Rev.  xxii. 
 10,  where  the  opposite  counsel  is  given, "  seal  it  not,  for 
 the  time  of  fulfilment  is  near." 
 
 384 
 
Danii  1 1  Prayer 
 
 DANIEL,    IX. 
 
 and  Confession  of  Sin. 
 
 astonishedal  the  vision,  bnl  nonennder- 
 
 CHAPTER  IX.— <»  In  the  first  year 
 of  Darius  the  SOD  of  Aliasm-rus,  of  the 
 
 seed  lit'  the  filedee,  'which  was  made 
 king  oyer  the  realm  of  the  Chaldeans; 
 M  in  the  lirst  year  of  his  reign  I  Daniel 
 understood  l>y  books  the  number  of  the 
 
 years,    whereof   the    word   <<(   the    LoBD 
 
 came  to  'Jeremiah  the  prophet)  thai  he 
 
 would  accomplish  seventy  years  in  the 
 desolations  of  Jerusalem.  And  I  set 
 my  face  onto  the  Lord  God,  to  seek 
 by  prayer  and  supplications,  with  fast- 
 ing, and  sackcloth,  and  ashes  :  '"and  I 
 prayed  unto  the  Loi;i>  niv  ( Jod,  ami 
 made  my  confession,  and  said, 
 
 O  'Lord,  the  great  and  dreadful  God, 
 keeping-  the  covenant  and  mercy  to 
 them  that  love  him,  and  to  them  that 
 keep  his  commandments ;  ' '  tve  have 
 Binned,  and  have  committed  iniquity, 
 and  have  done  wickedly,  and  have  re- 
 I xlled,  even  by  departing  from  thy 
 precepts     and    from     thy    judgments  : 
 
 l  Or,  in 
 
 lie. 
 
 •  Jer.K  I?* ».  10. 
 
 1.5. 
 
 2  Or,  thou  haat,  &c. 
 
 W  neither  have  we  hearkened  unto  thy 
 servants  the  prophets,  which  spake  in 
 thy    came    to    our   kings,    our    princes, 
 
 and  our  fathers,  and  to  all  the  people 
 of  the  land.  (7' O  Lord,  righteousness 
 lbelongeth  unto  thee,  but  unto  us  con- 
 fusion of  lares,  as  at  this  day;  to  tin- 
 men of  -J ii< hili ,  and  to  the  inhabitants 
 of  Jerusalem,  and  unto  all  Israel,  thai 
 are  near,  and  that  are  far  off,  through  all 
 t  he  countries  whither  thou  hast  driven 
 them,  because  of  their  trespass  that 
 they  have  trespassed  against  thee.  (8)  0 
 Lord,  ''to  us  belongeth  confusion  of  face, 
 to  our  kings,  to  our  princes,  and  to  our 
 fathers,  because  wre  have  sinned  against 
 thee.  <9>  To  the  Lord  our  God  belong 
 mercies  and  forgivenesses,  though  we 
 have  rebelled  against  him;  <10)  neither 
 have  we  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lokd 
 our  God,  to  walk  in  his  laws,  which  he 
 set  before  us  by  his  servants  the  pro- 
 phets. (11,Yea,  all  Israel  have  trans- 
 gressed thy  law,  even  by  departing, 
 that  they  might  not  obey  thy  voice; 
 therefore  the  curse  is  poured  upon  us, 
 
 IX. 
 
 0)  On  Darius  the  Mode  see  Emirnus  I). 
 
 Was  made  king.— The  phrase  corresponds  with 
 "tuck  the  kingdom"  (verse  3]  i,  ami  shows  that  Dsxins 
 was  mil  king  by  his  own  right,  but  that  he  received  his 
 authority  from  another — i.e.,  Cyrus. 
 
 (->  Understood.-  tie  gave  special  attention  to  Jere- 
 miah's prophecy  of  the  seventy  years  of  the  Captivity. 
 Two  passages  occur  in  that  prophet's  writings  where 
 the  duration  of  tlic  Captivity  is  mentioned (Jer.  xxv.  11 
 and  x\ix.  Id.  to  the  Conner  of  which  Daniel  refers  (sec 
 
 especially  verses  9, 11, 12).   It  will  be  observed  that  there 
 
 existed  at  this  time  a  collection  of  sacred  books,  con- 
 sisting of  what  had  been  already  admitted  into  the  ( 'anon. 
 
 Sovonty  years. — It   appears  Cram   Haggai   i.  2, 
 
 Zech.  i.  12,  thai  considerable  uncertainty  prevailed 
 |S  to  I  lie  time  whence  the  seventy  years  were  to  he 
 reckoned.  It  has  been  pointed  out  (Professor  Loathes' 
 ()l,l  Testament  Prophecy,  p.  17I1   that  three  periods  of 
 
 seventy  years  occur  in  connection  with  the  Captivity  I — 
 
 (1)  from  it. c.  606,  the  dale  of  Jeremiah's  propheoy,  to 
 
 K.c.  536,  the  edict  of  Cyrus  ]  (2)  from  ac.  5!»S.  Jehoin- 
 
 chin's  captivity,  to  n.e.  .V2S,  the  peri.nl  of  Ezra  iv.  t>  ; 
 \.\  from  lie.  .W,  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  to 
 B.C.  51S,  the  edict  of  Darius  (Ezra  vi.  1).  In  the  first 
 year  of  Cyrus,  seventy  years  had  elapsed  since  tin- 
 captivity  01  Daniel,  but  to  him  it  was  a  question  of 
 melancholy  importance  whether  his  computation  had 
 begun  at  the  riirht  d 
 
 P)  I  set  my  face.— Comp.  chap.  vi.  11.  Probably 
 he   prayed,  as  09   that    occasion,   with   his  face   towards 
 
 Jerusalem.  The  prayer  of  Daniel  hears  some  resem- 
 blance to  those  offered  by  Bsra  and  Nehemiah,  while 
 
 that  of  Daruch  resembles  it  much  more  closely.  (On 
 this  seo  Rscwsus  I'. 
 
 (*)  The  covenant.— See  Exod.  xix.  5. 
 
 (5)  We  have  sinned.— It  has  been  remarked  that 
 four  stages  of  sin  are  pointed  out  by  the  prophet,  cor- 
 responding to  the  four  different  words  which  he  n 
 "Sin"  refers  especially  to  sins  of  deed,  "committing 
 iniquity"  to  sins  of  word,  "done  wickedly"  to  sins  of 
 thought,  "rebelled"  implies  the  person  against  whom 
 the  siu  has  been  committed.  The  wholo  result  of  sin 
 Ullder  these  several  aspects  is  expressed  by  the  words 
 "  departing  from  Thy  precept-." 
 
 Ml  Neither  have  we  hearkened.— The  aggrava- 
 tion of  guilt.     All  God's  warnings  have  been  mil led 
 
 by    high    and    low    alike,   by  all  to  whom  they  were 
 addressed. 
 
 (7)  Righteousness.  —  The  absolute  righteousness 
 of  God  appears  distinct  and  clear  in  spite  of  the  chas- 
 tisement from  which  the  nation  suffers.  Meanwhile. 
 the  humble  looks  of  the  devout  part  of  the  nation  show 
 that  it  feels  the  present  shame  and  confusion. 
 
 All  the  countries.— See  Isa.  xi.  11,  12.  In  the 
 midst  of  his  sorrow  for  the  past,  the  mind  of  the  pro. 
 phet  recurs  unconsciously  to  the  great  promise  of  future 
 deliverance  by  "  the  root  of  Jesse." 
 
 Confusion  of  face.— Repeated  from  verso  7, 
 
 so  as  to  bring  into  stronger  contrast  the  mercy  of  God 
 
 verse  ;•)  with  the  •'righteousness"  mentioned  in  v 
 
 7.     St.  Jerome  well  remarks,  "Post  sententium  judi- 
 
 eantis  provoeai   sum  "./  cUmmtiam."    The  absolute 
 
 mercy  and  forgiveness  of  God  is   implied  by  the  article 
 in  this  verse,  .just  as  His  absolute  righteousness  is  in 
 
 verse  7. 
 
 (in  The  curse.— The  passages  in  the  books  of  Lcvi- 
 tieus  and  Deuteronomy,  to  which  Daniel  refers,  had 
 already  been  noticed  by  Isaiah  (chap,  i.),  as  having 
 received  a  partial  fulfilment  in  his  times.  It  remains 
 for  Daniel  to  realise  the  complete  "pouring"  out  of 
 
 164 
 
 385 
 
Daniel  Prays  for 
 
 DANIEL,    IX. 
 
 the  Restoration  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 and  the  oath  that  is  written  in  the  "law 
 of  Moses  the  servant  of  God,  because 
 we  have  sinned  against  him.  <12>And 
 he  hath  confirmed  his  words,  which  he 
 spake  against  us,  and  against  our  judges 
 that  judged  us,  by  bringing  upon  us  a 
 great  evil :  for  under  the  whole  heaven 
 hath  not  been  done  as  hath  been  done 
 upon  Jerusalem.  (13>As  hit  is  written  in 
 the  law  of  Moses,  all  this  evil  is  come 
 upon  us:  yet  ^mde  we  not  our  prayer 
 before  the  Loed  our  God,  that  we 
 might  turn  from  our  iniquities,  and 
 understand  thy  truth.  <u>  Therefore 
 hath  the  Loed  watched  upon  the  evil, 
 and  brought  it  upon  us :  for  the  Loed 
 our  God  is  righteous  in  all  his  works 
 which  he  doeth :  for  we  obeyed  not 
 his  voice.  <15^And  now,  0  Lord  our 
 God,  that  hast  brought  thy  people 
 forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  with 
 a  mighty  hand,  and  hast 2  gotten  thee 
 c  renown,  as  at  this  day ;  we  have 
 sinned,  we  have  done  wickedly.  (16'0 
 Lord,  according  to  all  thy  righteous- 
 ness, I  beseech  thee,  let  thine  anger  and 
 thy  fury  be  turned  away  from  thy  city 
 Jerusalem,  thy  holy  mountain :  because 
 
 a  L.'V.  2fi.  14,  &c.  ; 
 Dent.  2a  L5,  &C, 
 &  29.  2",  &c,  & 
 SO.  17,  1B&  31.  ir. 
 tec,  A  32,  vj.kv. 
 
 bLev.26.14 ;  Deut, 
 
 28.  15;  Lam.  2. 17. 
 
 Ht'b.,  tntreated 
 
 we  not  the  face  of 
 the,  fcc 
 
 2  Heb.,  made  thee 
 a  name. 
 
 3  Hob.,  whereupon 
 thii  name  U 
 cedled. 
 
 4  Heb.,  cause   to 
 fall. 
 
 5  Heb.,  with  weari 
 ness.  ov.Jlii/ht. 
 
 for  our  sins,  and  for  the  iniquities  of 
 our  fathers,  Jerusalem  and  thy  people 
 are  become  a  reproach  to  all  that  are 
 about  us.  <17)Now  therefore,  0  our 
 God,  hear  the  prayer  of  thy  servant, 
 and  his  supplications,  and  cause  thy 
 face  to  shine  upon  thy  sanctuary  that 
 is  desolate,  for  the  Lord's  sake.  <18>  O 
 my  God,  incline  thine  ear,  and  hear ; 
 open  thine  eyes,  and  behold  our  deso- 
 lations, and  the  city  3  which  is  called  by 
 thy  name :  for  we  do  not  *  present  our 
 supplications  before  thee  for  our  right- 
 eousnesses, but  for  thy  great  mercies. 
 <19>0  Lord,  hear;  0  Lord,  forgive;  O 
 Lord,  hearken  and  do;  defer  not,  for 
 thine  own  sake,  O  my  God  :  for  thy  city 
 and  thy  people  are  called  by  thy  name. 
 (20>And  whiles  I  was  speaking,  and 
 praying,  and  confessing  my  sin  and  the 
 sin  of  my  people  Israel,  and  presenting 
 my  supplication  before  the  Loed  my 
 God  for  the  holy  mountain  of  my  God ; 
 (21)  yea,  whiles  I  was  speaking  in  prayer, 
 even  the  man  d  Gabriel,  whom  I  had 
 seen  in  the  vision  at  the  beginning, 
 being  caused  to  fly  6  swiftly,  touched  me 
 about  the  time  of  the  evening  oblation. 
 
 the  curse.  It  is  poured  out  like  a  torrent  of  rain  (see 
 Exod.  ix.  33) ;  as  the  fire  melts  the  silver  (Ezek.  xxii. 
 20  —  22),  so  does  the  eurse  cause  the  nation  to  melt 
 away. 
 
 (13)  Our  judges. — Used  in  a  wide  sense  to  signify 
 kings,  princes,  and  rulers  generally.  (Comp.  Hosea  vii.  7.) 
 
 (13)  Made  we  not  our  prayer. — The  reference  is. 
 as  in  verse  6,  to  the  conduct  of  the  nation  from  the 
 first.  There  had  been  plenty  of  external  show  of  pray- 
 ing, as  appears  from  Isa.  i.  and  elsewhere,  but  these 
 prayers  were  of  no  effect  on  account  of  their  formalism. 
 The  conditions  of  acceptable  prayer  are  implied  in  the 
 •closing  words  of  the  verse  "  turning  from  iniquity,  and 
 wisdom  in  the  truth,"  i.e.,  in  the  revelation  of  God. 
 On  the  phrase  "  make  prayer,"  see  Exod.  xxxii.  11. 
 
 (1*)  Watched. — By  the  use  of  this  word  it  seems 
 that  Daniel  is  again  referring  to  the  prophecies  of 
 Jeremiah.  (See  Jer.  i.  12,  &c.)  He  prays  that  as  all  the 
 curses  foretold  by  that  prophet  have  been  poured  upon 
 the  nation,  so  also  the  release  from  the  Captivity,  which 
 was  also  promised  by  him,  may  lie  accomplished  also. 
 
 (15)  Thou  hast  brought.— The  mention  of  past 
 mercies  moves  Daniel  to  pray  that  future  mercies  may 
 be  granted.  His  language  is  founded  partly  upon  Jer. 
 xxxii.  17 — 23,  and  partly  upon  Isa.  lxiii.  11 — 10.  The 
 Babylonian  exile  is  frequently  compared  by  Isaiah  (e.g., 
 Isa.  li.  9,  10)  to  Egyptian  bondage.  Daniel  reproduces 
 the  thought  in  this  verse. 
 
 O6)  Righteousness. — Those  acts  of  Jehovah  which 
 evince  His  righteousness,  or  His  faithfulness  to  His 
 promises.  Mount  Zion,  the  "  holy  mountain,"  holds  a 
 very  important  place  in  prophecy.  It  is  the  outward 
 ■visible  sign  of  the  stability  of  God's  promises  to 
 David,  the  "  sure  mercies  of  David,"  as  well  as  the 
 
 centre  of  all  that  is  Holy  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
 (See  Pss.  lxviii.  15,  16;  exxxii.  13,  14;  Isa.  ii.  2 — 4; 
 and  comp.  verse  20.) 
 
 <i")  Cause  thy  face  to  shine. — See  Num.  vi.  25. 
 The  meaning  is  "  let  thy  works  show  the  fulfilment  of 
 "  thy  Word." 
 
 For  the  Lord's  sake.— Comp.  verse  19,  "because 
 Thou  art  the  Lord."  Never  does  prayer  rise  higher, 
 than  when  the  soul  humbly  appeals  to  God  as  the  sove- 
 reign lord  of  all,  and  patiently  waits  for  Him  to  do  as 
 He  pleases.     (Comp.  Ps.  xliv.  9 — 26.) 
 
 (20)  Whiles  I  was  speaking.— The  answer  to 
 Daniel's  prayer.  He  had  not  even  finished  his  prayer 
 when  the  answer  came.  The  angel  Gabriel,  whom  he 
 had  seen  (chap.  viii.  16),  comes  to  him,  and  reveals  to 
 him  the  mystery  of  the  seventy  weeks. 
 
 (21)  Being  caused  to  fly  swiftly. — A  very  diffi. 
 cult  expression,  occurring  only  here.  The  Authorised 
 Version  follows  the  LXX.  and  Theodotion.  The  ren- 
 dering has  been  defended  on  the  ground  that  the  word 
 translated  "  swiftly  "  comes  from  a  root  meaning  "  to 
 fly,"  and  is  literally  rendered  by  flight.  Thus  "  caused 
 to  fly  in  flight  "  means  "  caused  to  fly  swiftly."  The 
 marginal  version  "  with  weariness  "  finds  supporters, 
 and,  if  adopted,  must  be  taken  to  refer  to  the  bodily 
 condition  of  Daniel  (chap.  viii.  17 — 27).  The  former 
 translation  is  most  in  accordance  with  the  context. 
 The  "  flight "  of  angels  is  implied  in  Isa.  vi.  2,  and 
 shoidd  not  be  regarded  as  an  idea  foreign  to  the  Old 
 Testament. 
 
 Touched  me. — Literally,  reached  me.  (Comp.  this 
 use  of  the  word,  Jonah  iii.  6.)  The  time  of  the  evening 
 sacrifice  is  3  P.M.,  being  the  hour  of  evening  prayer. 
 (See  Exod.  xxix.  39 ;  Num.  xxviii.  4.) 
 
 38G 
 
Tin-  Aiismr 
 
 DANIEL,    IX. 
 
 to  Din"''  Vt  Prayi  r. 
 
 <--'  A  ml  In'  iiifunnoil  tne,  :i  1 1 •  I  talked  with 
 me,  ami  raid,  0  Daniel,  I  am  now  come 
 forth  'to  give  II skill  and  under- 
 standing. -1  At  the  beginning  of  tin 
 supplications  (he  'commandment  came 
 forth,  ami  1  iiiu  come  to  shew  thee  ;  for 
 thuii  uri  'greatlj  beloved:  therefore 
 understand    the   matter,  ami  consider 
 
 t  In'  vision. 
 
 •-"Seventy  weeks  are  determined  upon 
 
 a  a.  i.  i 
 
 I  Or,  I" 
 
 i  Or.fla 
 
 pnphtt. 
 
 thy  people  and  upon  thy  holy  city,  *  to 
 finish  the  transgression,  and    to  m 
 an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make  reconciliation 
 fur  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  everlasting 
 
 righteousness,  and  to  Seal  up  the  \i 
 and  'prophecy,  and    to  anoint    the  i.< 
 
 Soly.  '-'■'  Know  therefore  and  under- 
 stand, thai  from  the  going  forth  of  the 
 commandment  to  restore  and  to  build 
 Jerusalem  unto  the  .Messiah  the  Prince 
 
 i-'-i  Ho  informed  mo-  i.e.,  gave  me  understand- 
 ing (as  verse  J.  chap,  viii.  lie.    The  angel  gave  Daniel 
 
 understanding   in   the   perplexing   words   of  Jeremiah, 
 
 showing  him  that  what  affected  bis  people  was  a  period 
 of  seventy  weeks  thai  were  yet  t,.  come,  rather  than 
 
 seventy  years  whieli  were  already  passed. 
 
 ;i  The  commandment.-  The  marginal  version 
 is  to  be  preferred,  whieh  points  to  the  revelation  which 
 follows  verses  24—27.     The  title  "greatly  beloved" 
 
 Occurs  again  (chap.  x.  11.  19).  It  implies  that  Daniel 
 was   worthy  of  this   proof  of   God's   love.     St.  Jerome 
 
 compares  (2  Sam.  \ii.  J".  Jedidiah. 
 
 (■•in  Seventy  weeks.-  Great  difficulty  is  experi- 
 enced in  discovering  what  sort  of  weeks  i-.  intended. 
 
 Verses  i") — -J7  are  sufficient  to  show  thai  ordinary 
 weeks  cannot  lie  meant.  Possibly,  also,  the  language 
 (chap.    X.    -.    margin    "weeks  of    days  "  I    implies   that 
 
 "weeks  of  days"  are  not  intended  here.  On  the  other 
 hand,  it   is  remarkable   that   in  Lev.  xxv.   1 — 10  the 
 
 Word  week  should  not  have  been  used  to  signify  a 
 period  of  seven  years,  if  year-weeks  are  implied  in  this 
 passage.  However,  it  is  generally  assumed  that  we 
 must  understand  the   weeks  to  consist  of  years  and  not 
 
 of  days  (see  Posey's  Daniel,  pp.  165, 166),  the  principle 
 
 of  year-weeks  depending  upon  Num.  xiv.  34,  Lev.  \\vi. 
 34,  Ezok.  iv.  0.  The  word  "week"  in  itself  furnishes 
 a  due  to  the  meaning.  It  implies  a  "  Heptail."  and  is 
 not  necessarily  more  definite  than  tlio  "time''  men- 
 tioned in  chap  vii.  25. 
 
 Are  determined.— The  word  only  occurs  in  this  pas- 
 sage.   Theod.  translates  <rvv(Tpii0T)<rai> ;   LXX.,  (KfiB-qaav  ; 
 
 Jer.  " aibreniata  aunt."  In  Ohaldee  the  word  means 
 "to  ent."  and  in  that  sense  "to  determine." 
 
 The  object  "determined  "is  twofold:  (1)  transgres- 
 sion and  sin :    j   reconciliation  and  righteousness. 
 
 To  finish. — The  Hebrew  margin  gives  an  alterna- 
 tive rendering,  "to  restrain,"  according  to  whieh  the 
 meaning  is  "to  hold  sin  back"  and  CO  "prevent  it 
 from   spreading."       If  this   reading   is  adopted   it  will 
 
 be  parallel  to  the  second  marginal  alternative,  "  to  seal 
 
 up,"  which  also  implies  that  the  iniquity  can  no  more 
 increase,      although   the  alternative   readings   may   be 
 
 most  in  accordance  with  the  Babylonian  idea  of  "  seal- 
 bag  sins."  the  presence  of  the  word  "to  seal"  in   the 
 
 last  clause  of  the  verse  makes  it  more  probable  that 
 
 the  marginal  readings  are  due  to  the  conjectures  of 
 some  .arly  critics,  than  that  they  once  stood  in  the 
 text.        However,    it    must    be  observed    thai    while    St. 
 
 Jerome  translates  the  passage  "td  conewnmetur  pro- 
 varioatio,  etfinem  habeat peccatum,"  Theodotion  sup- 
 ports the  marginal  reading  "  to  seal." 
 
 To  make  reconciliation— 1. 1. .atonement.  (Comp. 
 Prov.  xvi.  b  ;  Isa.  vi.  7.  xxvii.  9;  Ps.  lxxviii.  38.)  The 
 two  former  clauses  show  that  during  the  seventy 
 \ve,ks  mii  will  cca-v.  The  prophet  now  brings  out 
 another  side  of  the  subject.     There  will  be  abundance 
 
 ::s7 
 
 of   forgiveness    in    store  for   those  who  are  willing 
 
 receive     it. 
 
 Everlasting  righteousness.— A  phrase  not  oc- 
 curring elsewhere.  The  prophet  Beams  to  be  com- 
 bining the  noli,, ns  of  "righteousness"  and  "  eter- 
 nity." which  elsewhere   ai haraeteri-ties  of  Mwariiiia 
 
 prophecy.   (Isa. xlvi.  13, li.  5 — 8;  Ps,  Ixxxix,  36;  chaps. 
 
 ii.    II.  vii.   Is.  27.) 
 
 T08eal  up. — tr<ppayi(7ai,  Theod.;  ovirrfXtcrOfivm,  LXX.; 
 ■  il"i\  Jer.  ;  the  impression  of  the  translators  being 
 that   all  visions  and   prophecies   were  to  receive   their 
 complete     fulfilment     in    the    course    of    I  ,  .nty 
 
 weeks.       It    appears,  however,  to   be   more  agreeabli 
 tlie  context  to  suppose  that   the  prophet    is  speaking  of 
 the  absolute  cessation  of  all  prophecv.         Comp,  1  ('or. 
 xiii.  8. 
 
 To  anoint  the  most  Holy.— The  meaning  of  the 
 sentence  depends  upon  the  interpretation  of  the  w 
 "Most    Holy"   or   "Holy   of    Holies."    In   Scripture 
 
 they  are  used  of     1     the  altar  I  E.Xod.  xxix.  37);    '-)   the 
 
 atonement  (Exod.  xxx.  LO  j  (3)  the  tabernacle  and  the 
 
 Bacred  furniture  (Exod.  x\\.  29);  i  I  the  sacred  per. 
 fume  lExod.  xxx.  :!ii  :  .">  the  remnant  of  the  meat 
 offering  (Lev.  ii.  ."..  10  ;  (6)  all  that  touch  the  offer- 
 ings made  by  tire  (Lev.  vi.  18);  (7)  the  sin  offering 
 (Lev.     X.     17);     (8)    the    trespass    offering    (Lev.    xiv. 
 
 13);  \'h  the  ahewbread  Lev.  xxiv.  9);  (10)  things  de- 
 voted (Lev.  xxvii.  28);    (11)  various  offerings  (Nam. 
 
 xviii.  9);  (12)  the  temple  service  and  articles  connected 
 with  it.  or  perhaps  Aaron  (1  Cliron.  xxiii.  13);  (13)  the 
 limits  of  the  new  temple  (  K/.ck.  xliii.  1_'  ;  I  I  tho 
 sanctuary  of  the  new  temple  lE/.ok.  xiv.  .".  ;  (15  tho 
 territory  set   apart    for  the  sons  of  Zadok  lE/.ek.  xlviii. 
 
 2).  Which  of  th.se  significations  is  to  be  here  adopted 
 can  only  lie  discovered  by  the  context.  Now  from  the 
 careful  manner  in  which  this  and  the  following  verse 
 are  connected  by  the  words  "  Know  therefore,"  it  ap- 
 pears that  the  words  "most  Holy"  are  parallel]  to 
 "Messiah  the  Prince "  (verse  25),  and  that  they  indi- 
 cate a  person,  SeeLev.vi.18;  I Chron. xxiii.  13.)  This 
 was  the  opinion  of  the  Svriae  translator,  who  renders 
 the  words  "  Messiah  the  most  Holy,"  and  of  the  LXX. 
 tin/yiVai  a-yioi'  aytav,  on  which  it  has  been  remarked  that 
 c!i<ppai>ai  would  have  no  meaning  if  applied  to  a   place. 
 
 and  the  phrase  employed  in  thi-  version  for  the  sanc- 
 tuary is  invariably  tJ  ayiov  -ruy  ayiav.  Any  reference 
 to    Zembbabel's    temple,    or    to   the  dedication   of   the 
 
 temple  by  Judas  Maeeabssus,  is  opposed  to  the  context, 
 Know  therefore.— The  difficulty  of  this  verse 
 is  considerably  increased  by  the  principal  accent  in  the 
 Hebrew  text  Ix'ing  placed  after  the  words  "seven  weeks." 
 According  to  the  present  punctuation,  the  translation  is 
 "Unto  an  Anointed  one  a  prince  shall  be  seven  weeks, 
 and  during  sixty-  and  two  weeks  [Jerusalem]  shall  be 
 built  up"  .  .  .  This  is  opposed  (1  to  ancient  trans- 
 lations except  tho  LXX. ;  (2)  io  verse  26, which  eon- 
 
The  Announcement  of 
 
 DANIEL,   IX. 
 
 the  Seventy  Weeks. 
 
 shall  be  seven  weeks,  and  threescore  and 
 two  weeks  :  the  street  l  shall  be  built 
 again,  and  the  3wall,  even  3in  troublous 
 times.  <26)And  after  threescore  and  two 
 weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off,  4but  not 
 for  himself :  and  the  people  of  the 
 prince  that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the 
 
 i  aeb..shallm 
 
 and  be  built. 
 
 Or,  breach,  or 
 
 a  Hcl>.,  in  strait  of 
 times. 
 
 4    Or,    <nnt   ahaU 
 ftavi  nothing. 
 
 5  Or,  it  shall  be  cut 
 "jit  by  ttesolations. 
 
 city  and  the  sanctuary ;  and  the  end 
 thereof  shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto 
 the  end  of  the  war  5  desolations  are 
 determined.  (27)  And  he  shall  confirm 
 the  covenant  with  many  for  one  week : 
 and  in  the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall 
 cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to 
 
 ueets  the  sixty-two  weeks  with  the  Anointed,  and  not 
 with  the  building  of  the  city. 
 
 The  commandment. — To  be  explained,  as  in  verse 
 23,  to  mean  revelation.  But  to  what  revelation  is  the 
 allusion  ?  Is  it  to  the  edict  of  Cyras  (Ezra  vi.  14), 
 which  Isaiah  predicts  (Isa.  xliv.  28)  ?  Or  are  we  to 
 explain  it  of  what  happened  in  the  twentieth  year  of 
 Artaxerxesp  (See  Excursus  G.)  It  is  obvious  that  there 
 is  no  reference  to  Jeremiah's  prophecy,  for  nothing  is 
 there  stated  which  can  be  interpreted  to  be  a  command 
 to  rebuild  Jerusalem. 
 
 Messiah  the  Prince. — Literally,  an  Anointed 
 one,  a  prince,  the  two  nouns  being  placed  in  appo- 
 sition, and  the  article  omitted  before  each,  the  person 
 and  the  office  of  the  person  contemplated  being  suf- 
 ficiently definite.  He  is  to  be  "  anointed,"  that  is, 
 King  and  Priest  at  once  (see  1  Sam.  x.  1,  xiii.  14,  xxv. 
 30) ;  in  fact,  He  is  to  possess  those  attributes  which  in 
 other  passages  are  ascribed  to  the  Messiah.  It  is  need- 
 less to  point  out  that  Cyrus,  though  spoken  of  (Isa. 
 xlv.  1)  as  an  "  anointed  of  Jehovah,"  cannot  be  indi- 
 cated here.  By  no  calculation  can  he  be  said  to  have 
 come  either  seven  weeks  or  sixty-nine  weeks  from  the 
 time  of  the  commencement  of  the  Captivity. 
 
 The  street  .  .  .  the  wall.— By  the  street  is 
 meant  the  large  square,  which,  according  to  Ezra  x.  9, 
 was  in  front  of  the  Temple.  With  this  the  "  wall  "  is 
 contrasted,  but  what  is  meant  cannot  be  ascertained. 
 According  to  the  etymology,  it  means  "  something  cut 
 off."  The  English  Version  follows  the  ancient  trans- 
 lations. 
 
 In  troublous  times.— The  whole  history  of  the 
 rebuilding  of  Jerusalem  tells  us  one  long  tale  of  pro- 
 tracted opposition.  Zerubbabel  was  compelled  to  un- 
 dergo the  persecution  of  his  adversaries,  and  to  bear 
 their  misrepresentations  (Ezra  iv.  1 — 6).  Attempts  to 
 delay  the  works  were  made  in  the  reign  of  Darius 
 (Ezra  v.  6).  In  later  times  (Ezra  iv.  12)  complaints 
 were  made  that  the  walls  were  being  rebuilt.  Probably 
 on  this  occasion  the  works  that  had  been  executed  were 
 destroyed  (Neh.  i.  3),  and  it  was  not  until  the  twen- 
 tieth year  of  Artaxerxes  that  Nehemiah  succeeded  in 
 completing  the  walls,  and  not  even  then  without  the 
 most  indefatigable  labours. 
 
 (20)  After  threescore  and  two  weeks.— These 
 words  can  only  mean  that  in  the  seventieth  week  the 
 Anointed  one  shall  be  cut  off.  Observe  the  care  with 
 which  the  seventy  weeks  are  arranged  in  a  series  of  the 
 form  7  +  62  +  1.  During  the  period  of  seven  weeks 
 Jerusalem  is  to  be  rebuilt.  The  "  ti-oublous  times  "  are 
 not  to  bo  restricted  to  this  period,  but  may  apply  to  the 
 sixty-two  weeks  which  follow.  After  the  end  of  the 
 sixty-nine  weeks  Messiah  is  to  be  cut  off.  By  "  Mes- 
 siah "  we  must  understand  the  same  person  who  is 
 spoken  of  in  verse  25.  It  should  also  be  observed  that 
 the  word  "  prince,"  which  is  applied  to  Messiah  in 
 verse  25,  is  here  used  of  another  person — some  secular 
 prince,  who  stands  in  opposition  to  the  Messiah.  The 
 Greek  versions  render  "unction"  instead  of  " anointed," 
 whence  Jacob  of  Edessa  explains  "  the  cutting  off  "  to 
 
 mean  "  the  cessation  of  the  unction  by  which  judgment 
 and  sovereignty  were  established."  The  word  "  to  cut 
 off,"  however,  applies  to  a  person  more  appropriately 
 than  to  a  thing.  It  is  frequently  used  of  excommuni- 
 cation, e.g.,  Exod.  xxx.  33,  38,  Ps.  xxxvii.  9,  and  must 
 not  be  mistaken  for  the  word  "  to  cut  off  "  (Isa.  liii.  8). 
 
 But  not  for  himself. — On  the  marginal  rendering 
 comp.  John  xiv.  30.  Literally  the  words  mean,  and  He 
 has  not,  but  what  it  is  that  He  loses  is  left  indefinite. 
 Taking  the  sense  according  to  the  context,  the  meaning 
 is  either  that  He  has  no  more  a  people,  or  that  His 
 office  of  Messiah  amongst  His  people  ceases. 
 
 That  shall  come. — These  words  imply  coming 
 with  hostile  intent,  as  chaps,  i.  1,  xi.  10.  Two  such 
 princes  have  been  already  mentioned  (chaps,  vii.  23, 
 &c,  viii.  23,  &c),  the  one  being  Antiochus,  the  other 
 his  great  antitype,  namely,  Antichrist.  Are  we  to 
 identify  this  "  prince  "  with  cither  of  these  ?  Appa- 
 rently not.  Another  typical  prince  is  here  introduced 
 to  our  notice,  who  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanc- 
 tuary after  the  "  cutting  off  "  or  rejection  of  the  Mes- 
 siah. But  it  must  be  noticed  that  the  work  of  destruc- 
 tion is  here  attributed  to  the  "  people,"  and  not  to  the 
 "  prince." 
 
 The  end  thereof. — It  is  not  clear  what  end  or 
 whose  end  is  signified.  According  to  grammatical 
 rules,  the  possessive  pronoun  may  either  refer  to 
 "  sanctuary,"  the  last  substantive,  or  to  "  prince,"  the 
 chief  nominative  in  the  sentence.  The  use  of  the  word 
 "flood"  (chap.  xi.  22)  (comp.  "overflow,"  chap.  xi.  26) 
 makes  it,  at  first  sight,  more  plausible  to  think  of  the 
 end  of  a  person  than  of  a  thing.  (Comp.  also  Nahum  i. 
 8.)  But  upon  comparing  this  clause  with  the  following, 
 it  appears  that  by  "  the  end  "  is  meant  the  whole  issue 
 of  the  invasion.  This  is  stated  to  be  desolation,  such 
 as  is  caused  by  a  deluge. 
 
 Unto  the  end. — That  is,  until  the  end  of  the 
 seventy  weeks,  desolations  are  decreed.  The  words 
 recall  Isa.  x.  22,  23. 
 
 (27)  And  he  shall  confirm.— The  subject  of  the 
 sentence  is  ambiguous.  Theod.  makes  it  to  be  "  one 
 week,"  LXX.  "  the  covenant; "  others  take  it  to  be  the 
 Antichristiau  prince  spoken  of  in  the  last  verse,  an 
 opinion  which  derives  some  support  from  chap.  vii.  25. 
 According  to  this  interpretation,  the  covenant  refers  to 
 the  agreement  which  the  prince  makes  with  the  large 
 number  of  persons  who  become  apostates.  But  (1)  the 
 word  "  covenant "  does  not  apply  to  any  such  agree- 
 ment, but  rather  to  a  covenant  with  God,  and  (2)  in 
 verse  26  it  is  the  people  of  the  prince,  and  not  the 
 prince,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  sentence.  It  is 
 therefore  more  appropriate  to  take  Messiah  as  the  sub- 
 ject. During  the  last  closing  week  of  the  long  period 
 mentioned,  Messiah,  though  cut  off,  shall  confirm  God's 
 covenant  (comp.  chap.  xi.  22,  28,  30,  32)  with  many, 
 that  is,  with  those  who  receive  Him. 
 
 In  the  midst  of  the  week. — Or,  during  half  the 
 week  (the  latter  half  of  the  week,  according  to  the 
 LXX.).  he  will  cause  to  cease  all  the  Mosaic  sacrifices 
 (possibly  those   mentioned  in  chap.  viii.  11),  whether 
 
 388 
 
Daniel  Humbles  Tlimst  If 
 
 DANIEL,    X. 
 
 For  Thru    n 
 
 cease,  and  'for  the  overspreading  '>r 
 ■abominations  he  shall  make  it  desolate, 
 even  until  the  consummation,  and  thai 
 determined  shall  be  poured  upon  the 
 desolate. 
 
 CIIAI'TKK  X.  "Tn  the  third  year 
 of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia  a  thing  was 
 revealed  unto  Daniel,  whose  name  was 
 called  ISellt'shazzar  j  and  the  thing  was 
 true,  lint  the  time  appointed  was  'long: 
 
 0 
 
 M     II; 
 
 1. 1. nk. 
 II.  to. 
 
 I   N.  '• 
 
 B.I 
 
 I 
 
 }    II.  i   . 
 
 and  be  understood  the  1  liinur.  :  •  t  t  •  I  bad 
 understanding  of  the  vision.     J  In  those 
 
 days  I   l)anirl  was   mourning  three     lull 
 
 weeks.  '  '  I  ate  n<>  '  pleaeanl  bread, 
 neither  came  flesh  nor  wine  in  my 
 mouth,  neither  < I i<  1  I  anoint  myself  al 
 
 all,  (ill  throe;  whole  weeks  were  ful- 
 filled. 
 
 Ih  An. I  in  the  four  and  twentieth  day 
 of  the  first  month,  as  I  was  by  the  Bide 
 of  the  great  river,  wlueh  /.-•    Hidd.l,.  1  ; 
 
 bloody  or  onbl ly.    The  verb  "cause  to  cease"  is 
 
 used  here  us  in  .lev.  xxxvi.  29, 
 
 And  for  the  overspreading   .    .    .—The  Greet 
 versions  agree  in  translating  this  as  follows,  ko!  m  rb 
 
 iipbv  /35(Ai/7/ia  Til/  ipr)uiic7nii>,   which   St.  Jerome  follows, 
 
 "  et  erii  in  templo  abominatio  desolationis.  However, 
 it  is  nol  possible  to  obtain  any  such  meaning  from  our 
 present  Hebrew  text  without  omitting  the  last  letter 
 and  altering  the  last  rowel  of  the  word  translated 
 ••  abominations."  As  the  texl  stands  ii  can  be  literally 
 translated  only  as  follows,  "and  upon  the  wing  of 
 abominations  is  a  desolator."  The  desolator,  of  course, 
 is  the  person  who  causes  the  desolations  mentioned  in 
 rone  Jd.  But  what  is  mean!  by  the  *'  wing  of  abomi- 
 nation* V  The  language  is  without  parallel  in  tlio 
 Old  Testament,  unless  such  passages  as  Ps.  xviii.  10, 
 civ. 3  arc  adduced,  where,  however,  the  plural  "  wings," 
 ami  nol  the  singular,  is  used.  If  the  number  is  dis- 
 regarded, the  words  before  us  arc  explained  to  mean 
 that  "the  abomination"  or  idolatry  is  the  power  by 
 wliich  the  desolator  accomplishes  his  purposes,  lie 
 conies  riding  on  the  wings  ox  abominations,  using'  them 
 for  his  ministers  as  God  dues  the  Windsor  the  cherubim. 
 As  it  appears  decisive  against  this  interpretation  thai 
 
 Daniel  has  written  "  Wing,"  and  net  "  wings,"  it  is 
 better  to  explain  the  words  as  referring  to  the  '•  sanc- 
 tuary "  spoken   of   in    the    last    verse.     The  sense   is   in 
 
 thai  case,  "and  upon  {he  wing — i.e.,  the  pinnacle  of  the 
 
 al illations  (comp.  the   use  of  mpAyiov,  Matt.  IV.  5)  is 
 
 a  desolator.  The  Temple  is  thus  called  on  account  of 
 the  extent  to  which  it  had  been  desecrated  ley  Israel. 
 
 Until   the    consummation.— These   words  refer 
 
 back  to  verse  26,  and  mean  that  these  abominations  will 
 continue  till  the  desolation  which  God  has  decreed  shall 
 he  poured  upon  that  wliich  is  desolated.  Though  the 
 WOrd  " desolate "   is    active    in   chaps.    \iii.    1:1.  xii.  ll.it 
 
 appears  in  this  passage  i..  I"'  used  in  a  passive  sense,  as 
 
 also  in  verse  IS.  Thai  which  is  foretold  by  Daniel  is 
 the  complete  and  final  destruction  of  the  same  city  and 
 temple  which  evoked  the  prophet's  prayer.  There  is 
 no  prophecy  that  the  desolator  himself  is  destined  to 
 destruction.  (If  his  doom  nothing  is  here  stated.  The 
 "prince  "  appears  merely  as  the  instrument,  pre-ordained 
 by  I  rod,  by  whose  people  Loth  city  aud  sanctuary  are  to 
 he  destroyed. 
 
 This  and  the  two  following  chapters  form  the  con- 
 cluding section  of  the  hook  of  Daniel  The  vision 
 occurred  two  yean  after  the  departure  of  the  exiles 
 from  Babylon,  and  at  a  time  when  those  who  were  re- 
 building  the  city   were   beginning  to  experience  the 
 
 "troublous"  times  spoken  of  in  chap.  ix.  25.  This 
 section  is  partly  supplemental  to  chaps,  viii..  ix..  and 
 introduces  details  with  regard   to  the  fourth  Empire. 
 
 certain  features  of  chap.  \ii.  being  developed.  The 
 date  of  tin-   vision   is  the  third   year  of  Gyrus,  the 
 
 prophet  continuing  to  In-  known  by  the  name  which  he 
 had  received  more  than  seventy  years  previously. 
 
 111  A  thing. — A  revelation,  as  chap.  ix.  J.",.  The 
 contents  of  the  revelation  are  specified  in  the  perplex- 
 ing words,  "  the  thing  was  true,  and  the  time  appointed 
 (comp.  chap.  viii.  1J.  was  long,"  by  which  is  meant  ap- 
 parently that  trulh  and  long  tribulation  were  the  Bubject 
 ..f  their  vision.  " Time  appointed "  is  translated  "  war- 
 tan"   (Isa.  xl.  2),  and   is   here  used    in  the  same   senSB, 
 
 meaning  " hardship "  or  " i  ribulation."  This  revelation, 
 
 however,  speaks  of  the  "warfare"  which  not  Israel 
 only,  hut  all  <  tod's  people  must  undergo  before  the 
 coming  of  the  Messiah  in  His  kingdom. 
 
 And  he  understood.-  Comp.  chap.  viii.  -27.  It 
 appears  from  chap.  xii.  8  thai  tin1  whole  was  not  under- 
 stood by  him.  Certainly  tin'  duration  of  the  tribulation 
 was  not  clearly  revealed  to  111,,  prophet,  though  he  re. 
 ceived  enigmatic  declarations  respecting  it  (chap.  xii. 
 10,  &<: 
 
 I  .  .  .  was  mourning. — It  is  needless  to  suppose 
 that  Daniel's  fast  was  in  consequence  of  some  breaches 
 
 of   the    passover  ritual,   of  which  his   people   had    I n 
 
 guilty.      The  Jews  were   involved   in  troubles,  and   had 
 
 < mitted   sins  of  faithlessness  which   justified   tlio 
 
 prophet  in   turning  to   God   with   fasting  and   praying. 
 
 At  Jerusalem  there  were  the  factious  oppositions  offered 
 
 to  the  newly  returned  Colonists,  of  which  we  read  ill 
 the  hook  of  Ezra.  They  experienced  the  want  of 
 spiritual  guides  (Ezra  ii.  63)  in  one  very  important 
 matter;     nor   need    we    doubt    that    the    circumstances 
 
 menti 1  in  Ezra  iv.  1 — ti  had  occasioned   many  com. 
 
 plications.     But  there  was  in   Israel  the  sin  of   faith- 
 lessness   to    ( ;,,d's    promises,    which   grieved    the 
 Beer's    heart.      The   number    of   those    who    had    oi 
 
 the  prophet's  command,  "Go  ye  forth  from  Babylon" 
 Isa.  xlviii.  20),  was  comparatively  insignificant,  and 
 
 those  who  should  have  I "  foremost  in  leading  their 
 
 fellow-countrymen — namely. the  Levites — had  preferred 
 
 the  life  in  Babylon  to  the  trials  and  hardships  of  re- 
 building their  own  city  iEzra  ii.  40;  eomp.  Ezra  viii. 
 15). 
 
 I  ;i  Pleasant  bread— i.e.  delicate  food.  Abstain- 
 ing from  this  as  well  as  from  the  use  of  oil  (comp. 
 J  Sam.  xii.  20;  Amos.  vi.  6)  were  the  outward  signs  of 
 Daniel's  grief. 
 
 in  The  four  and  twentieth  day. — After    the 
 
 end  of  his  three  weeks'  fast  the  prophet  was  upon  the 
 hank  of  the  Tigris,  where  he  saw  the  following  vision. 
 Hiddekel   is  the  Accadian  name  of   the  river.       Comp. 
 
 (Jen.  ii.  It.)  "Great  river"  is  an  epithet  usually  applied 
 to  the  river  Euphrates,  as  Gen.  xv.  Is.   Daniel  was  hen 
 
 in  the  body,  and  not  only  in  the  spirit,  as  chap.  viii.  2. 
 
Daniel  Sees 
 
 DANIEL,   X. 
 
 a  Vision. 
 
 <5>  Then   I   lifted    up    mine    eyes,   and  "  h*.,™*™™ 
 
 looked,    and    behold   l  a    certain    man 
 
 clothed  in  linen,  whose  loins  were  "girded 
 
 with  fine  gold  of  Uphaz  :  *6>  his  body 
 
 also  was  like  the  beryl,  and  his  face  as 
 
 the   appearance  of  lightning,  and  his 
 
 eyes  as  lamps  of  fire,  and  his  arms  and 
 
 his  feet  like  in  colour  to  polished  brass, 
 
 and  the  voice   of   his  words   like  the 
 
 voice  of  a  multitude. 
 
 (7)  And  I  Daniel  alone  saw  the  vision : 
 for  the  men  that  were  with  me  saw  not 
 the  vision ;  but  a  great  quaking  fell 
 upon  them,  so  that  they  fled  to  hide 
 themselves.  (8)  Therefore  I  was  left 
 alone,  and  saw  this  great  vision,  and 
 there  remained  no  strength  in  me :  for 
 my  25  comeliness  was  turned  in  me  into 
 corruption,  and  I  retained  no  strength. 
 <9'  Yet  heard  I  the  voice  of  his  words :  e 
 
 a  Kev.  1.13,14.15. 
 
 2  Or,  vi'jour. 
 
 3  He]).,  moved. 
 
 Heb.,  a  man  of 
 desires. 
 
 Heh.,s/rtHtfwpoH 
 thy  standing. 
 
 and  when  I  heard  the  voice  of  his 
 words,  then  was  I  in  a  deep  sleep  on 
 my  face,  and  my  face  toward  the  ground. 
 l10)  And,  behold,  an  hand  touched  me, 
 which  3  set  me  upon  my  knees  and  upon 
 the  palms  of  my  hands.  (11)  And  he 
 said  unto  me,  O  Daniel,  4  a  man  greatly 
 beloved,  understand  the  words  that  I 
 speak  unto  thee,  and  5  stand  upright : 
 for  unto  thee  am  I  now  sent.  And 
 when  he  had  spoken  this  word  unto  me, 
 I  stood  trembling.  <12)  Then  said  he 
 unto  me,  Fear  not,  Daniel :  for  from 
 the  first  day  that  thou  didst  set  thine 
 heart  to  understand,  and  to  chasten 
 thyself  before  thy  God,  thy  words  were 
 heard,  and  I  am  come  for  thy  words. 
 <13)  But  the  prince  of  the  kingdom  of 
 Persia  withstood  me  one  and  twenty 
 days :  but,  lo,  Michael,  6one  of  the  chief 
 
 '  (5)  A  certain  man. — The  appearance  of  this  person 
 is  minutely  described,  while  that  of  the  angels  is  not 
 mentioned.  The  dress  especially  reeals  to  our  minds 
 the  clothing  of  the  high  priest.  (See  Exod.  xxxix. 
 27 — 29,  and  comp.  Rev.  i.  13.)  The  person  himself  is 
 carefully  distinguished  from  Michael  (chap.  x.  21),  and 
 as  we  may  infer  from  Daniel's  silence  (comp.  chap.  ix. 
 21),  he  is  distinct  from  Gabriel  also.  He  is  the  same 
 man  who  stood  before  Daniel  (chap.  viii.  15),  and  must 
 be  regarded  as  "  the  Angel  of  God  "  (Exod.  xxxii.  34), 
 or  "  God's  Presence "  (Exod.  xxxiii.  14),  or  "  God's 
 Name  ;  "  in  fact,  the  One  who  was  the  Logos. 
 
 Uphaz. — A  place  only  mentioned  in  this  passage 
 and  Jer.  x.  9.  The  locality  of  it  is  unknown.  The 
 additions  of  the  LXX.  should  be  noted. 
 
 (6)  Beryl. — Heb.,  Tarshish,  a  variety  of  the  topaz. 
 His  feet. — More  correctly,  the  place  where  his  feet 
 
 were,  or  the  lower  extremities  of  his  limbs.  We  are 
 not  told  in  what  position  the  man  was  when  Daniel 
 first  saw  him.  Later  on  (chap.  xii.  6)  he  is  described 
 as  being  upon  or  above  the  waters.  In  this  position  he 
 symbolises  God  as  supreme  over  the  nations  who  are 
 represented  by  the  Tigris. 
 
 (7)  I  .  .  .  alone  saw  the  vision.— St.  Jerome 
 compares  the  account  of  St.  Paul  (Acts  xxii.  9).  It  may 
 be  added  that,  as  upon  that  occasion  (comp.  Acts  ix.  7), 
 the  companions  of  the  prophet  heard  the  voice  but  saw 
 nothing.  The  words  of  the  voice  (verse  6)  are  un- 
 recorded. 
 
 (8)  This  great  vision. — Daniel  again  distinguishes 
 this  from  former  visions.  The  glory  of  the  man  who 
 appeared  to  him  was  far  in  excess  of  what  he  had  wit- 
 nessed previously  (chap.  viii.  17).  The  effects  of  the 
 vision  upon  him  ai-e  also  mentioned.  His  "  comeliness 
 was  turned,"  or,  he  grew  pale  with  terror  at  what  he 
 saw.  and  fainted. 
 
 (9)  His  words. — He  refers  to  the  unrecorded  words 
 of  verse  6.     (Comp.  chap.  viii.  17,  18.) 
 
 (10)  An  hand.  —  This  hand  was  that  of  the 
 person  who  appeared,  but  it  is  spoken  of  as  "  felt,"  not 
 as  seen.  But  though  supported  by  this  hand,  the 
 prophet  is  unable  to  stand  upright.  He  crouches  in  a 
 terrified  posture.  It  should  be  noticed  that  the  equi- 
 valent of  "  set  "  is  translated  "  scatter  "  (Ps.  lix.  11 
 
 [12]).     It  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  the  passage  be- 
 fore us.     (See  Amos  ix.  9.) 
 
 (ID  Greatly  beloved.— See  chap.  ix.  23,  Note.  The 
 assuring  words  thus  addressed  to  the  prophet  enabled  him 
 to  stand  upright,  but  his  alarm  had  not  as  yet  subsided. 
 
 (12)  From  the  first  day. — The  meaning  appears  to 
 be  that  this  vision  was  vouchsafed  to  him  in  consequence 
 of  his  prayer  to  understand  what  would  bef al  his  people 
 in  the  future.  The  prayer  was  heard  from  the  first  day 
 that  he  offered  it,  but  it  had  been  impossible  for  him  to 
 realise  the  answer  before  the  present  time,  for  reasons 
 mentioned  in  the  next  verse. 
 
 (13)  The  prince  of  the  kingdom. — Perhaps  no 
 single  verse  in  the  whole  of  the  Scriptures  speaks  moi-e 
 clearly  than  this  upon  the  invisible  powers  which  rule 
 and  influence  nations.  If  we  were  without  a  revelation, 
 we  should  have  thought  it  congruent  that  God  Himself 
 should  direct  all  events  in  the  world  without  using  any 
 intervening  means.  But  revelation  points  out  that  as 
 spiritual  beings  carry  out  God's  purpose  in  the 
 natural  world  (Exod.  xii.  23 ;  2  Sam.  xxiv.  16)  and  in  the 
 moral  world  (Luke  xv.  10),  so  also  they  do  in  the 
 political  world.  Prom  this  chapter  we  not  only  lear-n 
 that  Israel  had  a  spiritual  champion  (verse  21)  to  pro- 
 tect her  in  her  national  life,  and  to  watch  over  her  in- 
 terests, but  also  that  the  powers  opposed  to  Israel  had 
 their  princes,  or  saviours,  which  were  antagonists  of 
 those  which  watched  over  Israel.  The  "  princes  "  of 
 the  heathen  powers  are  devils,  according  to  1  Cor.  x.  20. 
 The  doctrine  of  the  ministry  of  angels  is  taught  ill  Pss. 
 xxxiv.  7,  xci.  11,  xcvi.  5  (LXX.) ;  Isa.  xxiv.  21.  xlvi.  2; 
 Jer.  xlvi.  25,  xlix.  3.  Further  passages  in  the  New 
 Testament  bearing  upon  the  question  are  1  Cor.  viii.  5  ; 
 Col.  i.  16. 
 
 Withstood  me. — The  phrase  is  identical  with 
 "  stood  over  against  him  "  (Josh.  v.  13).  The  verse 
 implies  that  the  spiritual  powers  attached  to  Persia 
 were  influencing  Cyrus  in  a  manner  that  was  prejudicial 
 to  the  interests  of  God's  people.  It  must  be  borne  in 
 mind  that  the  vision  occurred  at  the  time  of  the  Sama- 
 ritan intrigues  with  the  Persian  Court  in  opposition  to 
 Zerubbabel. 
 
 Michael.— Mentioned  only  in  the  Book  of  Daniel 
 and  Jude  9,  Rev.  xii.  7.     The  title  "  chief  princes," 
 
 390 
 
//.    U  ( 'on\forted 
 
 DANIEL,   XI. 
 
 by  the  Angel. 
 
 princes,  come  to  help  me;  Bud  I  re- 
 mained there  with  the  kings  of  Persia. 
 <u' Now  I  am  oome  to  make  thee  under- 
 stand what  shall  befall  tin  people  in 
 the  latter  days:  foryel  the  rision  is  for 
 many  dai  b. 
 
 \nd  when  he  had  spoken  such 
 words  onto  me,  I  se!  dm  face  toward 
 the  ground,  and  I  became  dumb.  WAnd, 
 behold,  one  l  i  l<»  ■  the  similitude  of  the 
 sons  of  men  touched  my  lips:  thru  I 
 opened  my  mouth,  and  spake,  and  Baid 
 unto  him  that  stood  before  me,  0  my 
 lord,    by    the    vision     my    sorrows    are 
 
 turned. upon  me,  ami  I  hare  retained  no 
 
 Strength.  (17)  For  how  ran  'the  servant 
 of  this  my  Lord  talk  with  this  my  lord  ? 
 
 for  as  for  me,  straightway   there  re- 
 mained no  strength  in  me,  neither  is 
 there  breath  left  in  me. 
 o^Then  there  came  again  and  touched 
 
 tenant 
 
 M.  !>..    utrenntU 
 
 me  one  like  the  appearance  of  a  man, 
 and  he  strengthened  me,  '"  and  said,  <> 
 man  greatly  beloved,  fear  not  :  peace  be 
 
 unto  thee,  be  strong,  yea,  l»-  strong. 
 And  when  he  had  spoken  unto  me,  I 
 was  strengthened, and  said,  let  my  lord 
 speak  ;  for  thou  hast  strengthened  me. 
 
 '"  Then  said  he,  Knowest  thou  where- 
 fore I  come  unto  thee?  and  now  will  I 
 return  to  fight  with  the  prince  of 
 Persia:  and  when  I  am  gone  forth,  lo, 
 the  prince  of  Grecia  shall  come.  '-"But 
 I  will  shew  thee  that  which  is  noted  in 
 the  scripture  of  truth  :  and  there  is 
 none  that  -  holdeth  with  me  in  these 
 things,  but  Michael  your  prince. 
 
 CHAPTER  XI.— '"Also  I  in  the  first 
 year  of  Darius  the  Mede,  even  I,  stood 
 to  confirm  and  to  strengthen  him.  (2,And 
 now  will  1  shew  thee  the  truth. 
 
 rightly  explained  is  the  margin,  Bhowa  that  the  charge 
 oflsrael  had  been  entrusted  by  God  to  the  highest  of 
 
 the  heavenly  powers;    bni   the   name  "first    pri " 
 
 points  nut  that,  great  though  he  is,  he  ia  inconsiderable 
 »  hen  i ipared  wit  li  ( lod, 
 
 I  remained,  thoro.  -Literally,  I  prevailed  there. 
 as  (Jen.  \lix.  I.  The  person  is  explaining  to  Daniel 
 how  it  had  happened  thai  he  had  received  no  visible 
 answer  to  s  prayer  thai  had  been  offered  with  success 
 three  weeks  previously.  There  had  been  a  conflict  be- 
 tween the  powers  of  Gghi  and  darkness,  in  which  tho 
 t'ennev  had  gained  the  victory,  which  had  been  decisive. 
 By  the  kiiej -^  of  Persia  are  meant  all  the  successors  of 
 Oyrua.  It  maybe  remarked  that  from  this  time  on- 
 ward the  Persian  kings  were,  upon  the  whole,  favour- 
 able to  the  interests  of  [srael. 
 
 ill>  Tho  latter  days.  -Comp.  chaps,  ii.  28,  viii.  17. 
 The  time  is  here  mere  narrowly  defined  as  "those 
 days,"  that  is.  the  period  when  the  vision  of  chap.  xi. 
 shall  receive  its  complete  fulfilment.  The  "  vision  "  is 
 identical  with  "the  thing " (chap.  x.  1),  or  "the  vision" 
 (verse  L6).     It  must  be  carefully  borne  in  mind  that 
 
 there  is  no  reference  to  pw ling  visions,  except  so  far 
 
 as  the  revelation  < tained  in  chap.  xi.  develops  certain 
 
 details  of  oilier  visions. 
 
 11,1  I  set  my  face. — The  conduct  of  Daniel  de- 
 scribed in  this  verse  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  his  fear,  for 
 that  had  been  already  driven  awaj  verse  12),  bni  to  his 
 reverence  for  the  majestic  person  who  was  before  him, 
 and  to  the  gratitude  thai  he  fell  for  the  answer  to  Ida 
 prayer,     d  tamp,  chap.  ix.  ::.  I 
 
 ii">  One  liko  .  .  .—Comp.  ohap.  viii.  1">.  How- 
 ever,  there  i^  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the  person 
 is  different  from  the  one  mentioned  in  verses  10,18. 
 
 By  "  SOITOWB  "  is  meant  the  pain  produced  by  terror. 
 (ffl   For  how.— The  whole  verse  must    be   regarded 
 
 as  addressed  by  Daniel  to  the  angel  On  the  phrase 
 "neither   is  there  any  breath  in  me"  comp,  1  Kings 
 
 xvii.  17.     Here  we   may  noiier  the  same  fear  which 
 
 Possessed  Isaiah  at  the  time  of  hi,  \  iflion    Isa.  vi.  5). 
 Bo  strong. -Comp.  J  Sam.  x.  12. 
 (SO)  Then  said  he.— The  moaning  of  this  verse  is 
 
 ODSOUie.    Apparently  the  person  who  is  speaking  refers 
 
 391 
 
 back  to  what  be  bail  said  (versefl  12 — 11);  ami  from  the 
 question  "  Knowest    thou  ?"   4a,   we  are  to   infer  that 
 
 Daniel  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  reasons  which  caused 
 
 him  to  come,  \i/-.  "  to  make  thee  understand  what  shall 
 
 liefal  thy  people  in  the  latter  days."  But  before  he  pro- 
 ceeds to  makethisrevelation.be  prepares  Daniel's  mind 
 for  a  portion  of  what  is  about  to  he  revealed,  by  mention. 
 ing  thospiritual  powers  which  ruled  over  (ii ee.     "I 
 
 shall  return  to  tight."  referring  to  the  Providence 
 which  watched  over  Israel  during  the  Persian  sove- 
 reignty j  "  but  while  I  am  gone  forth  "  (the  word  being 
 used  in  a  military  sense,  as  in  Josh.  xiv.  Ill"  the  prince 
 of  Javan  will  come,''  this  word  being  also  used  in  a 
 hostile  sense.  The  prophet  is  in  this  manner  prepared 
 for  troublous  times,  which  shall  occur  under  the  Mace- 
 donian supremacy. 
 
 <-l>  But.— A  further  contrast  is  introduced  by  the 
 adversative.  This  may  be  brought  out  by  paraphrasing 
 the  verse  as  follows:  "It  is  true  that  tie'  prince  of 
 Javan  will  attack  you.  hut  do  not  despair  at  tlie  thought 
 
 of  one   persecuting  empire  BUCC ling  another.     It  is 
 
 all  written  in  the  Scripture  of  truth:"  that  is.  in  the 
 revelations  which  Qod  had  already  conveyed,  or  shortly 
 would  convey,  to  Daniel,  and  in  the  book  of  Providence 
 
 (Ps.cxzxix.l6).    We  have  here  a  striking  parallel  to 
 
 our  Saviour's  words.  •■  l..,,  l  have  told  you  before." 
 
 And  there  is  none  .  .  .-•  Astillfurtherground 
 of  encouragement.     Michael,  who  stood  up  as  Israel's 
 
 champion  under  the  Persian  troubles,  will  prove  him- 
 self strong  against  the  evil  powers  which  lead  Javan. 
 
 XI. 
 
 (1)  In  the  first  year  of  Darius.— These  words 
 must  be  closely  connected  with  the  last  verse  of  chap.  x. 
 The  allusion  is,  most  probably,  to  the  fall  of  Babylon 
 
 and  the  return  from  the  Exile,  at  which  time,  as  at  the 
 
 Exodus,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  before  EBa people. 
 
 There  is  also  a  reference  to  chap.  vi.  32. 
 
 (-)  The   truth.  -Comp.    chap.    x.    21.     This   is  the 
 
 commencement  of  the  revelation  promised  in  ohap.  x. 
 
 1  1;  and  from  this  point  till  the  end  of  the  hook  the  diffi- 
 culties that  have  to  bo   encountered   in  attempting  an 
 
 exposition  are  almost   insuperable.      It   has  been  cus- 
 
The  Overthrow  of  Persia 
 
 DANIEL,   XI. 
 
 by  the  King  of  Grecia. 
 
 Behold,  there  shall  stand  up  yet  three 
 kings  in  Persia ;  and  the  fourth  shall 
 be  far  richer  than  they  all:  and  by  his 
 strength  through  his  riches  he  shall  stir 
 up  all  against  the  realm  of  Grecia. 
 
 (*)  And  a  mighty  king  shall  stand  up, 
 that  shall  rule  with  great  dominion, 
 and  do  according  to  his  will.  <4>  And 
 when  he  shall  stand  up,  his  kingdom 
 shall  be  broken,  and  shall  be  divided 
 toward  the  four  winds  of  heaven ;  and 
 not  to  his  posterity,  nor  according  to 
 his  dominion  which  he  ruled  :   for  his 
 
 I  Hi-b.,  ehaU  aaao- 
 cltite  themselves. 
 
 2  Hcb..  lights. 
 
 kingdom  shall  be  plucked  up,  even  for 
 others  beside  those. 
 
 <5>  And  the  king  of  the  south  shall  be 
 strong,  and  one  of  his  princes  ;  and  he 
 shall  be  strong  above  him,  and  have 
 dominion ;  his  dominion  shall  be  a  great 
 dominion.  <s>  And  in  the  end  of  years 
 they  l  shall  join  themselves  together ; 
 for  the  king's  daughter  of  the  south 
 shall  come  to  the  king  of  the  north  to 
 make  -an  agreement :  but  she  shall  not 
 retain  the  power  of  the  arm ;  neither 
 shall   he  stand,  nor  his  arm  :   but  she 
 
 toinary  from  the  time  of  St.  Jerome,  if  not  from  an 
 earlier  epoch,  to  explain  most  of  what  follows  as  refer- 
 ring to  the  Ptolemies  and  Seleucidaj.  The  difficulties 
 which  oppose  this  interpretation  will  be  pointed  out  in 
 the  notes.  It  is  a  question  whether,  after  all,  the 
 early  interpretation  is  correct,  and,  if  not,  whether 
 this  revelation  does  not  still  await  its  complete  ful- 
 filment. The  mere  similarity  which  exists  between 
 certain  things  predicted  here  and  what  actually 
 occurred  in  the  times  of  the  Ptolemies  is  not  suffi- 
 cient to  limit  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  to 
 those  times,  still  less  to  justify  the  assumption  that 
 the  section  before  us  is  a  history  of  what  occurred  from 
 the  disruption  of  the  Greek  Empire  to  the  death  of 
 Antiochus.  "  History  repeats  itself ;"  and  just  as 
 Antiochus  (chap.  viii.  23 — 25)  is  a  type  of  Antichrist 
 (chap.  vii.  21),  so  the  events  and  political  combinations 
 which  preceded  Antiochus  may  be  regarded  as  typical 
 of  what  will  occur  before  the  coming  of  the  Messiah 
 and  the  general  resurrection,  with  a  prediction  of  which 
 (chap.  xii.  2,  3)  this  revelation  concludes. 
 
 Three  kings. — It  is  hard  to  say  who  these  were. 
 Cyrus  being  on  the  throne  already,  it  is  most  probable 
 that  liis  three  successors  are  intended — Cambyses, 
 Darius,  and  Xerxes.  Those  four  kings  appear  to  have 
 been  selected  whose  influence  was  most  prominent  in 
 its  bearings  upon  Israel.  Xerxes  is  called  the  fourth 
 king  because  the  reckoning  dates  from  Cyrus,  and  the 
 short  reign  of  the  Pseudo  Smerdis  is  not  taken  into 
 account.  Not  only  do  the  riches  of  Xerxes  point 
 him  out  as  the  last  king,  but  also  his  conduct  towards 
 Greece  may  be  correctly  described  as  "  stirring  up " 
 against  himself  "  the  realm  of  Grecia." 
 
 Against  .  .  . — The  passage  gives  better  sense  if 
 translated,  he  shall  stir  up  all,  the  kingdom  of  Greece, 
 that  is,  amongst  those  stirred  up  the  kingdom  of  Greece 
 is  most  prominent.  It  should  be  noticed  that  at  the 
 time  of  the  invasion  of  Europe  by  Xerxes,  Greece  was 
 in  no  sense  "  a  kingdom."  Such  language  is  incom- 
 patible with  an  authorship  during  the  Maccabee 
 period. 
 
 (3)  A  mighty  king. — No  clue  is  given  to  show  over 
 what  nation  this  king  reigns.  According  to  the  con- 
 text he  might  be  either  a  Greek  or  a  Persian,  or  he 
 might  belong  to  a  kingdom  not  yet  mentioned.  Those 
 who  explain  what  follows  to  refer  to  the  Ptolemies  and 
 Seleucidfe  identify  him  with  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
 compare  with  this  verse  chaps,  vii.  (3,  viii  5 — 8,  21.  22. 
 Certainly  the  self-will  spoken  of  in  this  verse  was  cha- 
 racteristic of  Alexander  (comp.  also  chap.  viii.  4),  but 
 there  was  nothing  in  the  context  which  makes.it  neces- 
 sary to  limit  the  passage  to  him.     Some  autocrat  may 
 
 arise  "  in  the  latter  times  "  to  whom  it  will  apply  with 
 greater  force  than  it  did  to  Alexander. 
 
 (*)  Broken. — The  shortness  of  the  king's  reign  is 
 implied ;  the  moment  that  he  has  arisen  he  will  come 
 to  nothing.  As  in  chap.  viii.  8,  the  great  horn  was 
 broken,  so  here  the  kingdom  is  broken  and  dismembered. 
 This  has  been  explained  to  mean  the  sudden  collapse  of 
 the  Greek  empire  after  the  death  of  Alexander. 
 
 Not  to  his  posterity. — The  kingdom  disappears 
 without  the  members  of  the  king's  family  reaping  any 
 benefit  from  it.  It  is  "  plucked  up  for  others  besides 
 these  " — i.e.,  to  the  exclusion  of  his  lawful  heirs — and 
 strangers  shall  possess  the  fragments  of  his  empire. 
 This  is  explained  of  the  partition  of  Alexander's  em- 
 pire among  his  generals,  and  of  the  murder  of  his  two 
 sons,  Hercules  and  Alexander,  but  the  language  is  too 
 indefinite  to  make  any  such  identification  certain.  The 
 revelation  directs  our  attention  to  a  self-willed  king, 
 whose  large  empire  is  to  come  to  a  sudden  and  un- 
 expected end ;  the  ruins  of  it  are  not  to  benefit  his  pos- 
 terity, but  apparently  two  strangers,  who  are  designated 
 king  of  the  north  and  king  of  the  south  respectively. 
 
 (5)  The  king. — This  king  of  the  south  (see  verse  8) 
 is  suddenly  introduced  to  our  notice.  The  vagueness 
 of  the  language  prevents  us  from  asserting  that  the 
 reference  is  to  Ptolemy  Soter,  who  assumed  the  title 
 of  king  about  B.C.  304.  Equally  obscure  is  the  phrase 
 "  one  of  his  princes."  Both  the  Greek  versions  inter- 
 pret the  passage  to  mean  "  that  one  of  the  princes  of 
 the  king  of  the  south  shall  be  stronger  than  his  former 
 master."  It  is  hard  to  see  how  Seleucus  Nicator  can 
 be  called  a  "  prince  "  of  Ptolemy  Soter.  Any  attempt 
 at  making  the  pronoun  "  his  "  refer  to  the  mighty  king 
 mentioned  in  the  last  verse  is  opposed  to  the  context, 
 and  to  introduce  any  fresh  sentence  such  as  "  shall 
 arise"  is  an  unwarrantable  assumption.  The  obscurity 
 of  the  Hebrew  text  is  well  reproduced  in  the  English 
 Version.  It  should  be  stated  that  Ptolemy  took  Jeru- 
 salem B.C.  320,  and  that  these  times  must  have  been 
 very  critical  to  the  Jews. 
 
 («)  In  the  end.— Comp.  verses  8,  13,  and  2  Chron. 
 xviii.  2.  Here  again  the  reference  is  most  obscure.  If 
 the  "  joining  themselves  together  "  refers  to  the  mar- 
 riage of  Antiochus  II.  with  Berenice,  the  daughter  of 
 Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  aud  if  "  the  agreement  "  (comp. 
 "  upright  ones."  verse  17)  refers  to  the  terms  of  the 
 marriage,  which  were  that  Antiochus  should  put 
 away  his  former  wife  Laodice,  and  appoint  her  first- 
 born son  successor  to  the  throne,  then  it  must  be 
 remarked  that  history  is  irreconcilable  with  the  pro- 
 phecy. Also  it  appears  from  chap.  x.  14  that  this 
 revelation  bears  upon  the  future  of  Israel,  and  it  does 
 
 392 
 
Leagues  and  '  'onflicts  &<  tun  i  n 
 
 DAN  IK  I;,    XI. 
 
 titt  Kings  of  the  South  and  tin  North, 
 
 II  c 
 
 shall  be  jjiven  up,  and  they  that  brought 
 licr,   and    'In'    that    ln"_rut    her,    and    he 
 
 that  strength" 1  her  in  these  times. 
 
 (7)  But  nut  of  a  branch  of  her  roots 
 shall  one  stand  up  in  bis  estate,  which 
 shall  come  with  un  army,  and  shall 
 enter  into  the  fortress  of  the  king  of 
 
 the  north,  and   shall  deal  against    them, 
 
 ami  shall  prevail :  (s|and  shall  also  carry 
 captives  into  Egypt  their  <,rods,  with 
 their  princes,  ana  with8 their  precious 
 wssrls  of  silver  and  of  gold;  and  he  shall 
 
 broutfhl  forth. 
 
 11  'iselt  of 
 
 continue  more  years  than  the  long  of 
 the  north.  '"'  Si.  the  kin^  of  the  Bonth 
 shall  come  into  his  kingdom,  and  shall 
 
 return  into  bis  own  land. 
 
 (,0'But  his  sons  shall  be  stirred  up, 
 and  shall  assemble  a  multitude  of  great 
 forces :  and  one  shall  certainly  come, 
 and  overflow,  and  pass  through.:  then 
 shall  he  return,  and  he  stirred  up,  even 
 to  his  fortress.  (11'And  the  king  of  the 
 south  shall  be  moved  with  eholer,  and 
 shall   come  forth   and    light    with    him, 
 
 not  appear  thai  this  marriage  affected  the  Jewish 
 people  more  than  any  other  marriage.  This,  and  tin' 
 tact  thai  :i  period  of  mure  than  fifty  years  intervened 
 between  tin-  events  supposed  to  be  implied  in  verses  •">. 
 6,  make  the  traditional  interpretation  rery  unsatisfac- 
 tory. Tin'  language  refers  to  what  is  mentioned  as  one 
 of  tlir  characteristics  of  the  last  empire  (chap.  ii.  I"  . 
 rations  attempts  to  consolidate  earthly  powers  by 
 political  marriages.  These  do  not  characterise  the  era 
 of  tlir  Selencidaa  .'my  more  than  they  'to  the  times  of 
 
 Allah,  or  many  other  periods  of  history. 
 
 Shall  not  rotain.— The  Greek  versions  show  the 
 difficulties  experienced  by  the  translators,  the  HXX. 
 apparently  following  a  different  text.  The  meaning 
 appears  to  be  thai  the  marriage  will  not  accomplish  its 
 intended  purpose.  The  king  of  the  south,  instead  of 
 becoming  independent  of  his  northern  rival,  will  only 
 become  more  subjected  to  him  than  he  was  previously. 
 This  does  not  appear  to  have  happened  with  regard  to 
 
 Ptolemj  Philadelphus  and  Antiochus  Tl a,  the  former 
 
 of  whom  is  generally  identified  with  "he  thai  begat 
 her,"  the  latter  with  "  he  thai  strengthened  her." 
 
 (">  As  yet  there  has  been  no  aeeount  of  any  war  be- 
 tween the  northern  ami  southern  king,  but  it  must    not 
 
 lie  forgotten  that  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  ami  Antiochus 
 
 TheOS  were  at  war  for  ten  years  or  more.       In  this  and 
 
 the  following  verses  there  is  a  description  of  a  s-\nv 
 
 war.  in  which  the  southern  king  is   victorious.      This   is 
 
 explained  of  the  war  between  Ptolemy  Bvergetes  ami 
 Selenens  Gallinicus,  which  lasted  B.C.  246 — 243,  and  in 
 
 which  Ptolemy  was  sneeessful.  carrying  back  with  him 
 into  Egypt  on  his  return  large  quantities  of  spoil  and 
 
 images  of  gods  which  he  had  taken.  The  coincidence 
 between  history  and  prophecy  is  tar  from  establishing 
 
 the  truth  of  the  explanation  ;  Imt  the  mention  of  Egypt 
 
 in  verse  s  directs  our  attention  to  a  country  which  will 
 hereafter  become  the  scene  of  the  fulfilment  of  the 
 prophecy. 
 
 Out  of  a  branch  of  her  roots.— The  same 
 words  occur  in  [sa.  xi.  1.  The  meaning  is,  "a  branch 
 growing  from  her  roots  shall  stand  up  in  the  place  of 
 
 the  person  last  mentioned."  It  is  not  easy  to  say 
 which  king  is  meant,  nor  is  there  any  agreement  among 
 
 commentators  as  to  what  is  intended  by  "her  roots." 
 
 According  to  one  view.  "  her  parents  "  are  intended,  s,, 
 
 that  "the  branch"  is  some  one  of  collateral  descent 
 
 with  herself.  According  to  another  view  the  words 
 mean  "  her  family." 
 
 With  an  army.— Literally,  to  the  army.  Tlu-o- 
 dotion  and  the  LXX.  both  translate  by  Sfoajur,  which 
 Theodore!  explains  to  he  a  name  for  .Jerusalem.  The 
 person  spoken  of  eomes  to  attack  the  army,  and  the 
 fortress  has  been  Supposed  to  he  Selcucia.  However. 
 the  use  of  the  plural  "  them  "  iu  the  latter  part  of  the 
 
 rerse  makes  it  more  probable  that  the  word  "fortress" 
 
 is  used  collectively  for  fortified  cities. 
 
 (">  He  shall  continue.— Apparently  the  meaning 
 
 is  (eonip.  the  use  of  the   preposition    in    verse   31     "He 
 
 shall  stand  on  the  side  of  [i.e.,  as  an  ally  of]  the 
 northern  king  several  years."  Others  translate.  '■  He 
 shall  abstain  from  the  king  of  the  north  some  years." 
 In  either  ease  the  sens,,  is  nearly  the  same,  The 
 reference  is  said  to  be  to  the  cessation  of  hostilities  be- 
 tween Ptolemy  and  BeleUCUS,  hut  there  is  nothing  in 
 these  verses  which  leads  us  to  infer  what   history  states 
 
 as  a  fact,  that  tin-  northern  king  was  completely  crip- 
 pled by  a  serious  defeat,  and  that  his  Meet  was  dispersed 
 by  a  storm. 
 (8)  The   king   of  the  south. — According  to  the 
 
 Hebrew  text,    these    wolds  arc  in    the    gcniti\o. 
 Theod.  Jer.1,  though  the  English  Version  is  supported 
 
 by  the  LXX.  In  this  case  the  meaning  is.  ''The  king 
 of  the  north  shall  eonie  into  the  kingdom  of  the 
 southern  king."  and  then  shall  return  to  hlSOWn  land — 
 i.e.,  the  north — apparently  without  gaining  any  advan- 
 tage. 
 
 (10)  His  sons. — The  pronoun  refers  to  the  subject 
 of  verse  9,  which  is  the  northern  king  (though,  accord- 
 ing to  the  LXX.  and  English  Version,  it  must  he  bis 
 rival).  There  is  a  marginal  alternative  in  the  Hebrew 
 "son."  The  LXX.  supports  tho  text.  If  the  king  of 
 the  north  last  mentioned  is  .Seleucus  C'allinicns,  his 
 sons  must  he  Seleucus  (.'eraunus.  a  man  of  no  im- 
 portance, and  Antiochus  the  Great.  It  is  here  stated 
 of  the  s,,ns  that  they  arc  stirred  up;  that  they  collect  a 
 vast  army,  which  advances  steadily.  Overflowing  like  a 
 torrent,  while  its  masses  pass  throngh  the  land:  that 
 they  shall  return  and  carry  on  the  war  up  to  the  froil- 
 tier  of  the  southern  king.  Considering  the  uncertainty 
 of  the  readings  in  the  Hebrew  text,  and  the  ambiguity 
 of  the  language,  this  is  anything  but  a  definite  state- 
 ment.     However,  it  has  been  explained  to   refer  to  the 
 
 wars  of  Antiochus  and  Ptolemy  Philopator,  in  course  of 
 
 which  they  took  Selcucia,  Tyre,  and  Ptolemais.  besieged 
 
 the  Egyptians  in  Sidon,and  actually  took  possession 
 
 of  Gaza. 
 
 One  shall  certainly  come.— Not  the  king,  but 
 the  multitude  just  sp,,ken  of.  The  words  "  overflow," 
 "  pass  through."  "  return."  all  refer  to  the  ebbing  and 
 flowing  of  the  tide  of  war. 
 
 t")  And  the  king.— The  ambiguity  of  this  verse  is 
 very  great  "  He"  may  refer  to  either  king;  bo  thai  while 
 some  commentators  see  in  the  words  an'  account  of  the 
 
 sii -is  of  Ptolemy  against  Antiochus  in  the  battle  of 
 
 Etaphia  |  B.C.  -\7<-   the  "  multitude  "  being  the  army  of 
 
 Antiochus,  which  was  bct  ited  at  that  place — 
 
 rs  infer  that  the  northern  'kirn;  is  represented  as  de- 
 feating his  rival.     Evidently  the  words  "  with  the  king 
 
 393 
 
Leagues  and 
 
 DANIEL,   XI. 
 
 Conflicts  between- 
 
 even  with  the  king  of  the  north:  and 
 he  shall  set  forth  a  great  multitude  ; 
 but  the  multitude  shall  be  given  into 
 his  hand.  (12)  And  when  he  hath  taken 
 away  the  multitude,  his  heart  shall  be 
 lifted  up  ;  and  he  shall  cast  down  many 
 ten  thousands :  but  he  shall  not  be 
 strengthened  by  it.  <13)  For  the  king  of 
 the  north  shall  return,  and  shall  set 
 forth  a  multitude  greater  than  the 
 former,  and  shall  certainly  come  l  after 
 certain  years  with  a  great  army  and 
 with    much  riches.      (14>And  in  those 
 
 1   Heb.,  at  the  ent 
 of  timet  of  years. 
 
 s  Bel).,  tliaehiidren 
 
 of  robbers. 
 
 3  Heb,  the  city  of 
 
 4  Heb.,  the  i>ee>i>le 
 of  his  choices. 
 
 times  there  shall  many  stand  up  against 
 the  king  of  the  south :  also  2the  robbers 
 of  thy  people  shall  exalt  themselves  to 
 establish  the  vision ;  but  they  shall  fall. 
 (15)  So  the  king  of  the  north  shall  come, 
 and  cast  up  a  mount,  and  take  3  the 
 most  fenced  cities  :  and  the  arms  of  the 
 south  shall  not  withstand,  neither  4  his 
 chosen  people,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
 strength  to  withstand.  (10>  But  he  that 
 cometh  against  him  shall  do  according 
 to  his  own  will,  and  none  shall  stand 
 before  him  :  and  he  shall  stand  in  the 
 
 of  the  north  "  arc  added,  as  iu  Exod.  ii.  6,  for  the  sake 
 of  clearness.  This  makes  it  most  probable  that  the  first 
 of  the  two  interpretations  just  given  is  correct,  and 
 that  "  he  "  refers  to  the  northern  king.  "  his  hand  "  to 
 the  hand  of  the  southern  king.  This  is  supported  by 
 verse  12,  where  we  read  of  the  conduct  of  the  southern 
 king  after  his  victory. 
 
 (12)  And  when  he. — It  is  not  clear  whether  "  the 
 multitude  "  or  "  the  king  "  is  subject  of  the  sentence,  or 
 whether  the  verb  "  he  hath  taken  away  "  is  to  be  trans- 
 lated active  or  passive.  The  verse  might  mean,  "  And 
 the  multitude  is  lifted  up — i.e.,  takes  courage — and  its 
 heart  is  exalted,"  or, "  when  the  multitude  takes  courage 
 the  king's  heart  is  exalted."  The  English  translation  is 
 most  in  accordance  with  the  context,  but  the  second 
 rendering  is  preferred  by  many,  according  to  which 
 the  kiug's  courage  and  pride  increase  as  he  perceives  the 
 mightiness  of  his  troops.  The  LXX.  follow  a  different 
 reading  throughout  the  verse. 
 
 And  he  shall  east  down.— These  words  describe 
 the  victory  of  the  southern  king  after  he  has  taken  the 
 '"  multitude  "  of  the  northern  king. 
 
 But  he  shall  not  be  strengthened— i.e.,  he  does 
 not  pi-ove  so  successful  as  he  had  hoped.  His  aim  was  to 
 gain  complete  supremacy  over  his  rival,  but  for  reasons 
 which  are  about  to  be  stated  he  was  unable  to  gain  his  ob- 
 ject. Those  interpreters  who  see  a  distinct  reference  to 
 the  wars  of  Ptolemy  and  Antioehus  point  out  that  though 
 the  loss  of  the  Syrians  was  very  great,  yet  Ptolemy  did 
 not  follow  up  his  success  as  he  should  have  done. 
 Instead  of  striking  a  decisive  blow,  he  was  content 
 with  regaining  the  towns  which  Antioehus  had  taken 
 from  him. 
 
 (13)  Shall  return.— In  this  and  the  next  two  verses 
 the  causes  are  mentioned  to  which  the  failure  of  the 
 southern  king  was  due.  He  returns  some  years  after 
 his  defeat  to  take  revenge,  and  brings  with  him  a 
 larger  army  than  he  had  on  the  previous  occasion. 
 
 Much  riches— i.e.,  all  that  is  necessary  for  the 
 maintenance  of  a  large  army;  literally,  anything  ac- 
 <j aired.  This  has  been  explained  of  the  invasion  of 
 Egypt  by  Antioehus  and  Philip  of  Macedon,  some 
 thirteen  or  fourteen  years  after  the  battle  of  Raphia. 
 when  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  a  mere  child,  had  succeeded 
 his  fatjier,  Philopator.  On  the  hypothesis  that  these 
 chapters  refer  to  this  period,  it  is  surprising  that  there 
 should  be  no  allusion  to  tho  religious  persecutions  to 
 which  the  Jews  in  Egypt  had  been  subjected  by 
 Ptolemy  Philopator,  who,  after  his  victory  at  Raphia, 
 attempted  to  enter  the  Holy  Place,  as  is  mentioned  in 
 the  Third  Book  of  Maccabees.  It  should  be  remem- 
 bered that  the  Jews  suffered  considerably  from  both 
 
 304 
 
 parties  during  the  whole  of  this  period ;  but  though  the 
 prophecy  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  for  their 
 comfort  and  encouragement  at  this  very  juncture,  yet 
 not  a  word  is  said  which  bears  allusion  to  them. 
 
 d-*)  In  those  times.— It  must  be  noticed  that  at  this 
 verse — the  earliest  in  which  there  is  any  reference  to 
 Daniel's  people  and  to  the  vision  (chap.  x.  1,  7,  8) — we 
 appear  to  be  approaching  the  great  crisis.  We  appear 
 to  be  within  "  a  very  few  days  "  (see  verse  20)  of  the  vile 
 person  who  corresponds  to  the  little  horn  of  the  fourth 
 beast.  At  this  period  the  king  of  the  south  suffers  from 
 many  hostile  opponents,  while  certain  others,  more  closely 
 connected  with  the  Jews,  become  prominent  for  a  while, 
 but  then  fail.  The  obscurity  of  the  Hebrew  text  was 
 felt  by  the  LXX.,  and  distinct  historical  allusions  can 
 be  found  by  those  only  who  are  determined  to  find 
 them.  These  are  stated  to  be  some  insurrections  during 
 the  early  years  of  Ptolemy  Epiphanes,  and  a  league 
 which  some  of  the  Jews  made  with  Antioehus  the  Great 
 agaiust  Ptolemy. 
 "Robbers  of  thy  people.— This  difficult  expression 
 occurs  only  in  five  other  passages  (Ps.  xvii.  4  ;  Isa. 
 xxxv.  9;  Jer.  vii.  11;  Ezek.  vii.  22,  xviii.  10).  The 
 words  in  this  passage  can  only  refer  to  certain  Jews 
 who  committed  various  violent  breaches  of  the  Law, 
 and  on  this  occasion  revolted  against  the  king  of  the 
 south. 
 
 To  establish  the  vision.— The  meaning  is,  the 
 result  of  their  acts  is  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment 
 of  the  vision  (chap.  x.  1-4).  The  significant  part  of  the 
 verse  is  the  "  falling  "  of  the  robbers.  It  seems  to  mean 
 that  the  conduct  of  these  men  shall  bring  them  just  the 
 reverse  of  what  they  had  expected. 
 
 (is)  The  king  of  the  north.  —  This  prince 
 attacks  the  fortress  of  his  rival,  who  is  unable  to 
 resist  him.  Here  it  is  supposed  that  the  allusion 
 is  to  the  capture  of  Sidon  by  Antioehus  the  Great. 
 The  troops  of  Ptolemy  under  Scopas  had  acquired 
 possession  of  Jerusalem  and  of  various  portions  of 
 Syria  during  the  absence  of  Antioehus.  Scopas  and 
 the  Egyptian  troops  under  him  fled  to  Sidon,  where 
 they  were  forced  by  famine  to  surrender  to  the  Syrians 
 (B.C.  198). 
 
 The  arms  of  the  south. — Comp.  verse  31.  The 
 phrase  means  the  armed  force  of  the  south. 
 
 (16)  But  he  that  cometh.— We  now  hear  of  further 
 proceedings  of  the  northern  king.  He  follows  up  the 
 vision  mentioned  in  the  last  verse,  enters  the  glorious  land 
 {i.e.,  Palestine),  and  commits  great  ravages  in  it.  The 
 king  is  described  in  language  which  reminds  us  of  chap, 
 xi.  '3.  He  acts  just  as  he  pleases  after  his  entrance  to 
 the  southern  kingdom.   This  has  been  applied  to  the  con- 
 
The  Kings  (if  the  South 
 
 DA  NIK  I,,    XI. 
 
 and  the  North. 
 
 12glorious  land,  which  by  his  hand  shall 
 be  consumed.     (l7llle  shall  also  set   hifl 
 
 Tare  to  enter  with  the  strength  of  las 
 
 whole    Lineal ,  and  :!uprig;ht  i s  with 
 
 him;    thus    shall    hi'    do:   and    hi'    shall 
 
 give  him  the  daughter  of  women,  'cor- 
 rupting; her:  but  she  shall  not  stand  "/' 
 hie  siilr,  neither  he  for  him.    08)After 
 
 this  shall  he  I  urn  his  I  are  unto  the  isli-s, 
 and  sliall  taLemanv:  Imt  a  prince  'for 
 his  own  In 'ha  It'  shall  cause  ''the  reproach 
 ottered   by   him  to  cease;  without  his 
 
 1 
 
 I       II.    1.    .    I<: 
 
 ...  /,..,,, 
 
 I 
 C'tit<UtttJH4. 
 
 I  ll.'l).,  lo  comitf. 
 
 :.  Beb.,forhim 
 
 •  1     II.  I.,      Ml      r, 
 
 own  reproach  he  shall  cause  it  to  turn 
 upon  him.  (lu'  Then  he  shall  turn  his 
 fai-e  toward  the  fori  of  hi-  own  land: 
 hut   lie   shall   stumble  and  tall,  and  not 
 
 be  found. 
 
 '     Then  shall  stand  up  in  his  estate 
 7a  raiser  of  taxes  in  the  glory  of  the 
 
 kingdom:  bul  within  tew  days  he. -hall 
 be  destroyed,  neither  in  9anger,  nor  in 
 battle. 
 
 '-''  And  in  his  estate  shall  stand  up  a 
 vile  p  i  whom  they  shall  not  give 
 
 duct  of  AntiiM-liii-  the  Great,  but  history  does  not 
 speak  of  any  acts  of  destruction  committed  by  him  in 
 Palestine.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  recorded  of  him  thai 
 he  treated  the  .lews  with  kindness,    (On  tlio  "glorious 
 
 land."  see  chap.  viii.  9.) 
 
 Which  by  his  hand  .  .  .—Literally,  destruc- 
 tion being  in  hi*  hand. 
 
 (17)  Ho  shall  also.-  Tie  has  further  plana  tor  sub- 
 duing the  dominions  of  (he  Bouthern  king.  He  brings 
 together  all  the  forces  he  can  amass,  and  then  attempts 
 liy  means  of  a  political  marriage  to  establish  peace; 
 lini  i  his  also  proves  b  Eailu  v. 
 
 Upright  ones.— Literally,  all  that  is  right;  hence 
 
 the    words    have    I n    explained,    "straightforward 
 
 pl.as"  tf" persons"  are  intended,  it  is  not  impos- 
 sible that  there  may  be  a    hint   at    the  .lews  taking  the 
 
 part  of  tli"  northern  king  in  the  contest. 
 Daughter  of  women— i.e.,  a  woman.   (Camp. the 
 
 phrase  "SOn    Of    man."  K/.ek.    ii.    1.)      The   rest:  Of   the 
 
 ver-e  i-  obscure.  It  seems  to  iiieiin  that  the  conse- 
 quence of  this  marriage  was  the  destruction  of  the 
 woman  mentioned.  Or  it  is  possible  thai  "her"  refers 
 to  the  southern  kingdom.  St.  Jerome  explains  it. 
 ■•  nf  evertai  PtolemcBV/m  sive  regnv/m  ejus."  This  has 
 been  supposed  to  point  to  the  marriage  of  Ptolemy 
 Kpiphanes  with  Cleopatra,  the  daughter  of  Antiochus 
 tin-  Great.     However,  the  language  is   very  general 
 
 (Comp.  Ver-e  Ii. 
 
 But  sho  shall  not  Stand.-  These  words  form  an  ex- 
 planatory clause,  meaning  that  the  plan  will  not  answrr. 
 
 i'"1  Shall  ho  turn.-  He  goes  northward,  this  being 
 the  direction  indicated  by  "the  isles."  This  has  been 
 explained  of  the  victories  gained  by  Antiochus  the 
 Great   in  Asia  Minor.     He  is  stated  to  have  reduced 
 
 various   towns   ami    islands,  ami    finally   to    have    taken 
 
 Ephesus.  lie  was  in  this  way  brought  into  contact 
 with  the  Romans,  ami  was  defeated  by  I,.  Scipio,  who 
 is  identified  with  "the  prince"  mentioned  in  this  verse. 
 'I'ii.  Greek  versions  exhibit  considerable  variations. 
 
 A  prince— It  is  doubtful  whether  this  is  to  he 
 taken   as   nominative   or  as   accusative.      The   English 
 
 Version  treats  it  as  nominative.  St.  Jerome  and  Th.o- 
 dotion    as  accusative.      In   accordance    with    the    latter 
 
 rendering,  the  meaning  is,  "  The  king  of  the  north  will 
 cause  to  cease  the  princes  who  have  been  his  reproach. 
 But  the  princes  shall  return  him  his  reproach.      The 
 
 word  "  prince  "  is  used  collectively  to  mean  the  rulers 
 
 of  the  islands  mentioned  in  the  first  part  of  the  vers,.. 
 
 It  is  stated  that  in  the  first  instance  t!' •<.  northern  king 
 will  be  Successful,  Imt  in  the  end  the  princes  will 
 repay  him  the  reproach  which  he  inflicted  upon  them, 
 as  appears  more  fully  in  the  next  verse. 
 
 P8J  Tho  fort.— The  king  of  the  north  is  foi 1  to 
 
 take  refuge  iu  his  fortress,-,  and  hero  meets  with  his 
 
 39.5 
 
 end.      This   is  explained  of   the  death  of   Antiochus  the 
 
 Great  at  Elymais,  where  he  had  profaned  >  temple. 
 (80)  A  raiser  of  taxes.— The  marginal  version  is  to 
 
 be  preferred,  as  it  gives  the  meaning  of  the  word 
 "  exactor,"  or   "  oppressor,"  which  it   ha-  in  Kxod.  iii.  7, 
 
 and  in  every  passage  where  it  occurs,  except  perhaps  Isa. 
 
 IX.  4.      The   new  king  of  tho  north  causes  tho  "  op- 
 
 Sressor"  to  pass  through  "the  majesty  of  the  king- 
 oin  "  (a  phrase  occurring  elsewhere  only  in    Ps.  cxlv. 
 
 12;  hut  comp.  1  Chron.  xxix.  25),  meaning  the  "  richest 
 
 parts  of  his  kingdom."  and  not  neccs-arily  Palest  inc. 
 The  effect  of  this  policy  was  that  the  king  fell  a  victim 
 to  .i  conspiracy  in  a  few  day-.   Ai -ding  to  St.  Jerome. 
 
 the  person  alluded  to  was  Seleucus  Phuopator. 
 
 With  this  verse  the  first  part  of  the  prophecy  con- 
 cludes.    It  is  to  be  observed  that  thus  far   1}  notes  of 
 
 time  are  very  scanty;  we  only  meet  with  indefinite  ex- 
 pressions, such  as  "  in  the  end  of  years  "  (verse  6), 
 ••  certain  year- "  (verso  13),  "  within  few  day-"  verse 
 20  .  and  vague  terms  expressing  sequence  "f  time. 
 (•J)  There   is   nothing   in    the    text    which   implies   any 
 
 change  of  sovereigns,  except   in  verses  7  and  19.    It 
 
 follows    from    a    careful    study    of    this,.    versos    that 
 
 according  to  their  natural  and  literal  sense  they  speak 
 
 of  only  two  southern  kings  and  only  one  northern 
 king.     The  southern   king  of   whom   we  read   nio-t   is 
 
 apparently  the  offspring  of  the  daughter  of  tin-  first 
 southern  king,  mentioned  in  verse  5,  and  it  is  he  who 
 
 engages  in  Conflict  with  the  first  northern  king,  and 
 with  his  sons  (verse  l").  The  whole  prophecy  is 
 eschatological.    and    refers     to    two     opposing     earlhly 
 
 powers  which  will  affect  the  destiny  of  God's  people  in 
 
 the  last  times.  It  relates  a  series  of  wars  and  political 
 intrigues  hctween  theso  two  powers,  all  of  which  prove 
 futile,  and  it  concludes  with  the  .account  of  the  death  of 
 the  first  northern  king.  Yer-o  20  i-  a  transition 
 verse,  iu  which  another  character  is  introduced,  who 
 will  mark  the  approach  of  the  end;  while  ver-e  Jl  in. 
 troduce- the  most  prominent  object  of  the  prophecy — a 
 person  who  remains  before  the  reader  till  the  end  of 
 the  chapter,  while  the  southern  king  gradually  dis- 
 appears i  verse-  25,  -7.  In  .  and  what  is  apparently  his 
 country  is  mentioned  without  its  sovereign   ill  verse  1:'.. 
 
 <-"  A  vile  person.-  The  meaning  of  the  la   i 
 
 will  he  plainer  after  a  reference  to  Ps.  cxix.  Ill:  Jer. 
 xxii.  'JS.  The  moral  character  of  the  man  is  especially 
 described.  The  words  that  follow  explain  more  fully 
 that    he   was   not    worthy   of    receiving   royal    majesty. 
 
 This  person  is  generally  identified  with  Antiochus 
 Kpiphanes.    The  description  certainly  agrees  with  him 
 
 very  closely.  In  fact,  ju-t  as  his  predecessors  resem- 
 bled in  various  points  the  kimr-  spoken  of  inverses 
 1 — 20,  so  Antiochus  resembles  the  person  here  de- 
 scribed.     The   language  of   St.   Jerome   about   early 
 
Leagues  and  Conflicts 
 
 DANIEL,    XI. 
 
 of  the  Kings 
 
 the  honour  of  the  kingdom :  but  he 
 shall  come  in  peaceably,  and  obtain  the 
 kingdom  by  flatteries.  (22)  And  with  the 
 arms  of  a  flood  shall  they  be  overflown 
 from  before  him,  and  shall  be  broken ; 
 yea,  also  the  prince  of  the  covenant. 
 <23>  And  after  the  league  made  with  him 
 he  shall  work  deceitfully :  for  he  shall 
 come  up,  and  shall  become  strong  with 
 a  small  people.  (24)  He  shall  enter 
 1  peaceably  even  upon  the  fattest  places 
 of  the  province ;  and  he  shall  do  that 
 which  his  fathers  have  not  done,  nor 
 his  fathers'  fathers ;  he  shall  scatter 
 among  them  the  prey,  and  spoil,  and 
 riches :  yea,  and  he  shall 3  forecast  his 
 devices  against  the  strong  holds,  even 
 
 i  Or  into  the  peace' 
 aoie  and/at,  &c 
 
 2    Heb..  think  hi 
 thoughts. 
 
 ^iKeh. .titcirhcarts 
 
 for  a  time.  (25)  And  he  shall  stir  up  his 
 power  and  his  courage  against  the  king 
 of  the  south  with  a  great  army  ;  and 
 the  king  of  the  south  shall  be  stirred 
 up  to  battle  with  a  very  great  and 
 mighty  army ;  but  he  shall  not  stand : 
 for  they  shall  forecast  devices  against 
 him.  <26>  Yea,  they  that  feed  of  the 
 portion  of  his  meat  shaU  destroy  him, 
 and  his  army  shall  overflow  :  and  many 
 shall  fall  down  slain.  <27And  both  these 
 kings'  3  hearts  shall  be  to  do  mischief, 
 and  they  shall  speak  lies  at  one  table  ; 
 but  it  shall  not  prosper:  for  yet  the 
 end  shall  be  at  the  time  appointed. 
 (28)  Then  shall  he  return  into  his  land 
 with  great  riches ;  and  his  heart  shall 
 
 interpreters  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  is  striking : 
 •'  Cunique  nmlta quce postea  lecturi  et  exposituri  sumus 
 super  Antiochi persona  conveniant,  typunieum  volunt 
 Antichristi  habere  ;  et  quce  in  Mo  ex  parte  prceceperint, 
 in  Antichristo  ex  toto  esse  complenda." 
 
 Peaceably.— Unexpectedly,  as  LXX.  (Coinp.  chap, 
 viii.  25.)  The  king  is  here  represented  as  taking  pos- 
 session of  the  kingdom  by  craft,  and  in  the  following 
 clause  he  is  said  to  gain  his  end  by  "  flatteries,"  or  by 
 intrigues  and  cunning  hypocritical  conduct.  It  does 
 not  appear  that  this  was  done  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes. 
 
 (22)  With,  the  arms. — More  correctly,  and  the  arms 
 in  a  flood;  that  is,  the  overwhelming  forces  of  invading 
 armies  are  swept  away  by  the  troops  of  this  terrible 
 king.  But  besides  the  enemy,  the  "  prince  of  the  cove- 
 nant "  is  to  be  destroyed  also.  This  expression  is  most 
 readily  explained  by  observing  that  it  stands  in  con- 
 trast with  the  hostile  armies  mentioned  in  the  first 
 clause.  It  is  an  expression  similar  to  "  men  of  cove- 
 nant," "  lords  of  covenant,"  and  means  "  those  who  were 
 at  peace  with  him,"  "  prince  "  being  used  as  a  collective 
 noun  (see  verse  18).  This  lias  been  supposed  to  refer  to 
 the  murder  of  Onias  III.  (2  Mace.  iv.  1,  &c,  33,  &c.) ;  but 
 there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the  high  priest  was 
 ever  called  by  such  a  title  as  "  prince  of  the  covenant." 
 
 (23)  He  shall  work. — Apparently  this  verse  explains 
 more  fully  the  means  by  which  the  king  succeeds  in 
 maintaining  his  influence.  He  has  already  destroyed 
 those  who  are  at  peace  with  him.  From  the  time  that 
 he  first  becomes  their  confederate,  he  works  deceitfully, 
 coming  up  with  hostile  intent,  accompanied  only  by  a 
 few  people,  and  in  this  way  throwing  off  their  guard 
 those  whom  he  would  destroy. 
 
 (24)  Peaceably.— The  subject  continues  to  be  the 
 perfidious  conduct  of  the  king  mentioned  in  the  last 
 two  verses.  While  the  inhabitants  are  expecting 
 nothing  of  the  sort,  he  enters  the  richest  parts  of  the 
 province,  and  while  he  scatters  largesses  with  profuse- 
 ness  and  in  apparent  friendship,  he  is  really  planning 
 attacks  against  the  fortresses  of  the  district,  en- 
 deavouring to  reduce  them  into  his  power. 
 
 This  has  been  referred  to  the  conduct  of  Antiochus 
 Epiphanes,  mentioned  in  1  Mace.  iii.  27 — 30,  after  the 
 defeat  of  the  Syrian  army  by  Judas  Maccabseus.  Ac- 
 cording to  another  interpretation,  the  meaning  is  that 
 he  will  scatter  or  disperse  the  accumulated  wealth  of 
 the  different  provinces  "  among  them  " — that  is,  to  their 
 
 hurt.  The  former  explanation  appears  to  be  most  in 
 accordance  with  the  deceit  and  craft  which  the  pro- 
 phecy attributes  to  the  king. 
 
 For  a  time. — That  is,  the  end  of  the  time  decreed 
 by  God.     (Comp.  verse  35,  chaps,  viii.  17,  19,  xii.  4,  6.) 
 
 (25)  The  south. — Here,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
 second  portion  of  the  prophecy,  mention  is  made  of 
 the  southern  king.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  deceit 
 mentioned  in  the  last  three  verses  had  this  king  and  his 
 provinces  for  its  object.  This  and  the  next  two  verses 
 ai'e  supposed  to  describe  the  war  of  Antiochus  with 
 Ptolemy  Philometor  (see  1  Mace.  i.  16 — 19),  or  his  war 
 with  Physcon,  on  which  see  Livy,  xliv.  19. 
 
 His  power  and  his  courage — i.e.,  his  military 
 skill  as  well  as  his  personal  energy. 
 
 But  he  shall  not  stand. — Comp.  chap.  viii.  4. 
 The  subject  is  the  king  of  the  south,  who  finds  the  de- 
 vices of  his  opponent  are  more  than  a  match  for  him. 
 The  "  devices  "  are  explained  in  the  next  two  verses. 
 
 (26)  They  that  feed. — The  context  points  to  trea- 
 chery. The  false  companions  of  the  southern  king  betray 
 him  to  the  enemy;  he  is  broken,  the  hostile  army  pours 
 in,  and  many  are  slain.  This  has  been  referred  to  the 
 second  campaign  of  Antiochus  in  Egypt ;  howevei",  His- 
 tory is  silent  of  any  treachery  against  Physcon.  St. 
 Jerome  remarks:  "  Nostri  secundum  superiorem  sensum 
 interpretantur  omnia  de  Antichristo  qui  nasciturus  est 
 de  popido  Judceorum,  et  de  Babylone  venturus,  primum 
 superaturus  est  regem  Egypti,  qui  est  tmus  de  tribus 
 cornibus." 
 
 (27)  Both  these  kings. — The  two  rival  kings  are 
 here  described  as  living  upon  terms  of  outward  friend- 
 ship, while  each  is  inwardly  trying  to  outwit  the  other. 
 The  context  is  opposed  to  any  reference  to  the  combi- 
 nation of  Antiochus  and  Philometor  against  Physcon 
 (see  Livy,  xlv.  11 ;  Polyb.  xxix.  8).  The  object  of  the 
 paragraph  is  to  show  that  the  southern  king  was 
 attempting  to  fight  his  rival  with  his  own  weapons — 
 viz.,  deceit — but  the  plots  of  each  king  fail. 
 
 For  yet  .  .  . — i.e.,  the  end  of  each  will  come  only 
 at  the  time  definitely  ordained  by  God  for  the  consum- 
 mation of  His  kingdom  (verse  35).  Man  cannot  hasten 
 the  events  decreed  by  God's  providence.  For  an  in- 
 teresting commentary,  read  Isa.  xviii.  4 — 6. 
 
 (28)  Then  shall  he  return. — He  returns,  apparently 
 bringing  abundant  spoils  with  him,  and  while  on  the 
 journey  sets  his  heart  against  the  holy  covenant. 
 
 396 
 
The  Tyranny 
 
 DAMKI,,    XI 
 
 of  the  Romans. 
 
 be  Mjainsi    the    hoh    covenant  ;    ami   he 
 shall  (In  exploits,  ami   lit  uru  to  his  own 
 
 land. 
 
 '-':,|At  tlie  time  appointed  he  shall 
 return,  and  come  to  wan  1  the  south;  but 
 it    shall    lint    lie   as  the  tunnel-,  or  as  the 
 
 I. ,11 
 
 er. 
 
 For  the  ships  of  Chittim 
 shall  come  against  him:  therefore  he 
 shall    he    e;rieveil,  anil    return,   ami    ha\.' 
 
 indignation  against  the  holy  covenant  : 
 s.i  shall  he  ilo;  he  shall  even  return, 
 and  have  intelligence  with  them  that 
 forsake  the  holy  covenant.  TOAnd 
 arms  shall  stand  on  his  part,  and  they 
 
 I    Or.  QtHtHtUMk, 
 
 MIMlt.        I 
 
 shall  pollute  the  sanctuary  of  strength, 
 and  shall  take  away  the  daily  sacrifice, 
 ami  they  shall  place  the  abomination 
 that  '  maketh  desolate.  <:1->And  sin-h  as 
 do  wickedly  against  the  covenant  shall 
 he  2  corrupt  by  flatteries:  but  the  people 
 that  do  K in iw  their  God  shall  he  strong, 
 
 and  do  r.rjiloitx.  i::;'And  they  that  un- 
 derstand aiming  the  people  shall  instruct 
 many:   yet   they  shall  fall  by  the  sword, 
 
 ami  byname,  bj  captivity, and  by  spoil, 
 many  days.  l;l  Now  when  they  shall 
 fall,  they  shall  be  holpen  with  a  little 
 help :    but  many  shall  cleave  to   them 
 
 Great  riches. — The  prophecy  points  distinctly  t" 
 Antiochus  after  his  return  from  Egypt,    (See  I   Mace. 
 
 i.  lit — 28;  2  Mace,  v.  11 — 17.)    Tliis  was  tl asioii 
 
 of  his  first  attack  upon  the  theocracy.  The  typical 
 character  of  Antiochus  is  drawn  in  verses  30,  & c ..  with 
 still  greater  elearnesB. 
 
 He  shall  do— i.e.,  prosper  in  his  undertakings 
 against  tlio  covenant.  (See  the  passages  Crom  the  Books 
 ox  Maccabees  referred  to  in  the  last  Note.) 
 
 <-•')  At  tho  time  appointed — i.e.,  iu  God's  own 
 time.     According  to  1  Mace.  i.  29,  it  was  after  two 
 
 years  were  fully  expired  since  his  return  to  Syria  that 
 Antiochus  made  another  attack  upon  Jerusalem.  This 
 attack  was  made  after  his  return  from  Egypt. 
 
 But  it  shall  not  be. — No  such  success  attended 
 him  at  the  latter  as  at  the  former  invasion. 
 
 Ships  of  Chittim— On  Chittim.  see  Gen.  x.  i  ; 
 eomp.  Num.  xxiv.  2t.  The  LXX.  explain  this  of  the 
 Romans,  referring  to  the  story  in  Livy,  xtv.  11. 
 
 He  shall  be  grieved.— Literally,  he  shall  lose 
 heart.     Compare  the  words  of  Livy.  which  describe 
 
 the  feeling  of  Antiochus  at  the  peremptory  demands 
 of  Popilins:  "  Obstwaef act/us  tarn  molento  vmperio." 
 Theodotion  apparently  imagined  that  the  Cyprians 
 came,  as  allies  to  the  aid  of  Antiochus. 
 
 Return. — That  is,  to  Palestine,  where  he  will  in- 
 dulge his  anger. 
 
 Have  intelligence — i.e.,  pay  attention  to  them. 
 These  persons  are  snch  as  those  who  are  mentioned  in 
 
 1  Mace.  i.  11  — 16,  who  were  anxious  to  llelloniso  all 
 their  institutions,  not   only  forsaking  the  outward 
 
 of  the  covenant,  but  actually  taking  Greek  oa s. 
 
 On  the  manner  in  which  Antiochus  treated  the  apos- 
 tates, gee  _  Mace,  iv.  1 1.  &c„  and  eomp.  verse  89. 
 pi)  Arms. — A  further  statement  of  the  assistance 
 
 which  the  kins'  obtains  in  his  attacks  upon  all  sacred 
 institutions.  The  word  "arms,"  as  in  verse  5,  means 
 "assistance,"  especially  military  assistance,  or  some 
 other  aid.  with  which  is  contrasted  in  the  next  verse 
 the  help  given  by  the  apostates. 
 
 The  sanctuary  of  strength.— In  the  Hebrew 
 (see  Theodotion]  there  are  two  nouns  in  apposition. 
 Apparently  the  two  words  are  a  name  for  the  Temple, 
 
 which  is  so  called   because  it  was  the  spiritual  support 
 
 of  God's  people,  as  well  as  a  very  powerful  fortress. 
 
 Isa.  xxv.  1,  &C ;  Ps.  xxxi.  '2 — t ;  and  compare  1 
 Mace.  i.  It.  vi.  7;  2  Mace.  vi.  4,  which  speak  of  the 
 various  deeds  of  Antiochus  upon  this  occasion.!  On 
 the  daily  sacrifice,  and  on  the  abomination  of  desola- 
 tion. Bee  the  Notes  on  chap  viii.  13. 
 
 (88)  Such  as  do  wickedly.— In  theso  verses  are 
 
 traced  the  effects  of  the  apostasy  upon  the  people  of 
 God.  These  persons  have  been  already  spoken  of  in 
 verse  30.  They  had  began  with  indifference  to  true 
 religion,  they  have  now  become  intolerant  of  it. 
 
 Corrupt.— Literally,  make  profane.  On  the  He- 
 brew notion  of  profanity,  sec  Cheyne's  Isaiah,  vol.  i., 
 
 p.  3,  These  persona  have  now  become  as  the  heathen. 
 (See  1  Mace.  ii.  17.  18.) 
 
 But  the  people.    .    .    .—While  tho  large  mass  of 
 
 1 pie  becomes  obedient    to  the  persecutor,  there  is  a 
 
 party  of  true  believers  remaining,  who  are  ••strong," 
 or  rather,  confirm  the  covenant,  and  "do,"  i.e.,  succeed 
 in  their  attempt.  That  such  B  party  existed  in  the 
 time  of  Antiochus  Kpiphanes  appears  from  1  Mace.  i. 
 62,  \e.,  ii.  3,  &c.  Similarly  in  all  times  of  persecution 
 there  will  be  a  remnant,  though  it  may  bo  very  small, 
 which  will  remain  firm  to  their  covenant  with  God. 
 (Camp.  1  Kings  xix.  18.) 
 
 (88)  They  that  understand.— This  is  the  name  by 
 which  those  are  called  who  were  spoken  of  in  the  last 
 verse  as  "knowing  their  God."  (Coinp.  chap.  xJi.  10; 
 Ps.  exi.  10. 1 
 
 Shall  instruct  many.— That  is.  their  example 
 shall  give  instruction  to  "  the  many  "  who  yield  to  the 
 Batteries  mentioned  iu  tho  last  verse.  They  show  them 
 whither  they  are  drifting.  For  illustration,  see  1  Mace 
 ii.  l.&e.;  2  Maei'.  vi.  Is.  Others  may  be  found  in  the 
 history  of  any  religious  persecution. 
 
 Yet  they  shall  fall.— The  prophecy  obviously 
 re  to  martyrdom,  but  whether  to  the  sufferings  of 
 "those  who  understand"  or  of  "those  who  are  in- 
 structed" is  not  clear.  Probably  both  are  intended, 
 as  appears  from  verse  35.  The  deaths  mentioned 
 iu  1  Mace,  i.  57,  &C.,  iii.  tl.  v.  13,  may  be  taken 
 as  typical  of  the  Bufferings  of  the  Church  in  the  last 
 
 times. 
 
 P*)  Now  when  they  shall  fall.— Referringto  thoso 
 who  suffer  during  this  persecution,  to  whichever  class 
 they  belong.  (See  last  Note).  Theso  will  not  lie 
 entirely  without  help,  but  there  will  lie  some  small 
 assistance  given  them.  It  will  bo  small,  either 
 compared    with    their   present    n Is.    or   contrasted 
 
 with  the  grooi  help  which  will  be  given  them  when 
 tho  tribulation  attains  its  greatest  severity.  In  the 
 Maccabee  persecutions  help  was  erven  to  the  sufferers 
 by  .ludas  and  his  brethren  1  Mace.  iii.  11.  &C.,  iv. 
 11.  Ac).  This  prevented  the  faithful  from  disapp- 
 earing entirely. 
 
 Many  shall  cleave.  .  .  .—Dissimulation  will 
 cause  some  to  declare  themselves  upon  the  side  of 
 ■•  those  that  understand."     This  is  a  feature  which  will 
 
 397 
 
The  Invasion 
 
 DANIEL,   XI. 
 
 and  Persecutions. 
 
 with  flatteries.  <35>  And  some  of  them 
 of  understanding  shall  fall,  to  try  1them, 
 and  to  purge,  and  to  make  them  white, 
 even  to  the  time  of  the  end :  because  it 
 is  yet  for  a  time  appointed. 
 
 (36)  And  the  king  shall  do  according 
 to  his  will ;  and  he  shall  exalt  himself, 
 and  magnify  himself  above  every  god, 
 and  shall  speak  marvellous  tilings 
 against  the  God  of  gods,  and  shall 
 prosper  till  the  indignation  be  accom- 
 plished :  for  that  that  is  determined 
 shall  be  done.  (37)  Neither  shall  he 
 regard  the  God  of  his  fathers,  nor  the 
 desire  of  women,  nor  regard  any  god : 
 for  he  shall  magnify  himself  above  all. 
 
 1  Or,  Itij  thuu. 
 
 Hrb.,  i(3  for  the 
 
 illliliijlitit  '.'("/,  in 
 
 li  la  -i  at  lie  shall 
 honour,  yea,  he 
 
 slinlt     lima, in-     a 
 
 fjud  whom,  &c. 
 
 3  Or,  munitions. 
 
 i  Hcli.,  Mniizzim. 
 
 Hrb.,  things  de- 
 sired. 
 
 Heh..  t 
 
 of  mnu'itions. 
 
 7  Hcb.,  a  price. 
 
 (38)  But  3in  his  estate  shall  he  honour 
 the  God  of  3+forces :  and  a  god  whom 
 his  fathers  knew  not  shall  he  honour 
 with  gold,  and  silver,  and  with  precious 
 stones,  and  5  pleasant  things.  <39>  Thus 
 shall  he  do  in  the  6most  strong  holds 
 with  a  strange  god,  whom  he  shall 
 acknowledge  and  increase  with  glory : 
 and  he  shall  cause  them  to  rule  over 
 many,  and  shall  divide  the  land  for 
 7  gain. 
 
 f40)  And  'at  the  time  of  the  end  shall 
 the  king  of  the  south  push  at  him :  and 
 the  king  of  the  north  shall  come  against 
 him  like  a  whirlwind,  with  chariots,  and 
 with  horsemen,  and  with  many  ships; 
 
 be  uoticed  in  religious  persecutions ;  according  as  one 
 party  or  the  other  gains  in  power,  as  its  prospects 
 brighten,  it  gains  fresh  adherents.  This  held  true  in 
 the  days  of  Antiochus.    (See  1  Mace.  vi.  21,  &c,  ix.  23.) 
 
 (35)  Some  of  them. — The  reason  of  this  persecu- 
 tion is  revealed.  Whilst  in  verse  33  it  appears  that  the 
 sufferings  of  "  those  that  understand  "  would  instruct 
 others,  it  appears  that  they  would  themselves  profit  by 
 their  sufferings.  These  gradations  are  mentioned  (1) 
 "  to  try  " — i.e.,  to  refine,  as  a  precious  metal  is  refined 
 by  fire ;  (2)  "  to  purge  " — i.e.,  to  separate  the  bad  from 
 the  good;  (3)  "to  make  white" — i.e.,  to  cause  them  to 
 become  completely  purified.  (Comp.  Ps.  li.  7  ;  Isa.  i. 
 18).  In  this  way  the  dissemblers  are  made  known. 
 The  patient  example  of  the  sufferers  is  followed  by 
 others  who  are  faithful,  while  the  "  flatterers  "  become 
 open  apostates. 
 
 (36)  The  king. — He  raises  himself  by  his  thoughts 
 and  deeds,  not  only  above  the  heathen  deities,  but  above 
 the  true  God.  Though  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
 northern  king  is  still  spoken  of,  it  must  be  remarked 
 that  the  features  of  Antiochus  are  gradually  fading 
 away  from  the  jiortrait.  In  no  sense  can  Antiochus 
 be  called  an  Atheist ;  nor  does  the  language  of  the  writer 
 of  2  Mace.  ix.  12,  "think  of  himself  as  if  he  were 
 God,"  correspond  with  the  words  of  this  verse.  An. 
 tioehus'  main  object  was  to  Hellenise  the  Jewish  reli- 
 gion, and  to  force  the  Greek  gods  iipon  the  Jews.  The 
 character  of  the  northern  king,  on  the  contrary,  finds 
 a  parallel  in  St.  Paul's  description  of  Antichrist  (2 
 Thess.  ii.  4). 
 
 Marvellous  things.— That  is,  his  utterances  and 
 blasj)heinies  against  the  true  God  will  be  astounding. 
 (Comp.  chap.  vii.  8,  11,  20.)  This  will  continue  till 
 God's  indignation  against  His  people  is  accomplished. 
 
 (37)  Neither  shall  they.— A  further  description 
 is  now  given  of  the  godlessness  of  this  king,  but  the 
 people  of  Israel  are  no  longer  mentioned  in  their 
 relation  to  him.  The  northern  king  appears  twice 
 again  in  Palestine  (verses  41,  45),  and  apparently  dies 
 there.  He  discards  his  hereditary  religion,  he  has  no 
 regard  to  that  natural  affection  which  women  look 
 upon  as  most  desirable,  but  exalts  himself  over  all. 
 
 Desire  of  women.— The  language  used  by  Isaiah 
 (chap.  xliv.  9),  "  delectable  things,"  has  led  some  com- 
 mentators to  think  that  an  idol  is  here  intended.  It  has 
 been  stated  that  the  allusion  is  to  the  Asiatic  goddess 
 of  nature,  Mylitta,  who,  again,  has  been  identified  with 
 the  "  queen  of  heaven  "  (Jer.  vii.  18,  where  see  Notes). 
 
 The  context,  however,  leads  us  rather  to  think  of  hiunan 
 affection,  or  some  other  thing  highly  prized  by  women, 
 for  the  words  "  neither  shall  he  regard  any  god  "  would 
 be  unmeaning  if  a  god  were  designated  by  "  the  desire 
 of  women."  It  should  be  remembered  that  according 
 to  Polybius  xxvi.  10,  sec.  11,  Antiochus  exceeded  all 
 kings  in  the  sacrifices  which  he  offered  at  the  gates, 
 and  in  the  honours  which  he  paid  to  the  gods. 
 
 In  his  estate — i.e.,  in  the  place  of  the  God  whom 
 he  has  rejected,  he  will  worship  the  "  god  of  forces." 
 There  is  no  reason  for  taking  this  to  be  a  proper  name, 
 as  is  done  by  the  Syriac  translator  and  Theodotion.  It 
 can  only  mean  "  fortresses  "  (see  margin),  so  that  the 
 whole  religion  of  this  king  is  the  taking  of  fortresses. 
 To  him  war  is  everything,  and  to  war  everything  else 
 must  give  way.  To  war,  as  if  it  were  a  god,  he  does 
 honour  with  all  his  wealth. 
 
 (39)  A  strange  god.— By  this  help  he  carries  out  his 
 schemes,  and  all  who  acknowledge  him  are  rewarded. 
 (Comp.  Rev.  xiii.  4,  16,  17.) 
 
 Divide  the  land.— This  is  evidently  done  as  a  re- 
 ward offered  to  those  who  join  his  ranks.  No  such 
 conduct  of  Antiochus  is  recorded.  Bribery,  however, 
 was  not  an  unusual  mode  of  persuasion  adopted  by  him. 
 (See  1  Maec.  ii.  18,  iii.  30.) 
 
 (4°)  At  the  time  of  the  end.— These  verses  speak 
 of  the  last  expedition  of  the  northern  king,  and  of  the 
 disappearance  of  the  king  of  the  south.  The  portrait 
 of  Antiochus,  as  noticed  in  the  Note  on  verse  36.  was 
 gradually  fading  away,  and  now  not  a  line  of  it  re- 
 mains. No  such  invasion  of  Egypt  as  that  mentioned 
 here  is  mentioned  in  history.  From  the  time  mentioned 
 in  verse  30  he  appears  to  have  abstained  from  approach- 
 ing too  closely  to  the  Roman  authorities.  The  story 
 related  in  1  Mace.  iii.  27 — 37  states  that  on  hearing  of 
 the  successes  of  the  Maccabee  princes  he  went  into  Persia 
 on  a  plundering  expedition,  leaving  Lysias  his  repre- 
 sentative in  Palestine.  Lysias  was  defeated  at  Bcthsur, 
 and  the  news  of  the  overthrow  of  his  army  was  brought 
 to  Antiochus  while  he  was  in  Persia.  So  appalling  was 
 the  effect  upon  him  of  these  tidings,  that  "  he  fell  sick 
 for  grief  "  (1  Mace.  vi.  8),  and  died.  It  is  unnecessary 
 to  suppose  that  the  revelation  l-esumes  the  narrative 
 from  verse  29  after  a  parenthetic  passage  (verses  30 — 
 39),  or  to  assume  that  we  have  a  general  recapitulation 
 of  the  wars  of  Antiochus,  described  in  verses  22 — 39, 
 without  distinguishing  the  different  campaigns.  (For  a 
 good  accoimt  of  Antiochus,  see  Judas  Maccabceus,  by 
 C.  R.  Conder,  R.E.,  chap,  iii.) 
 
 398 
 
The  End  oj 
 
 DA  XI  HI,,    XII 
 
 ili'  North*  i-u  King. 
 
 Bad  be  shall  enter  into  the  countries, 
 
 and  shall  OVerilow  ami  pass  over.  '"  Hi- 
 shall  enter  also  into  the  '  'glorious  Land, 
 ami  ma  nv  eowntriet  shall  be  overthrown : 
 but  these  shall  escape  out  of  his  band, 
 even  ESdom,  and  Moab,  and  the  chief  of 
 the  children  of  Amnion.    "Jl  He   -hall 
 
 'stretch  forth  his  band  also  Q] the 
 
 countries:  ami  the  land  of  LVypt  shall 
 ao1  escape.  ",;i  Bni  be  shall  have  power 
 over  (he  treasures  of  gold  ami  of  silver, 
 and  over  all  tin-  precious  things  of 
 Egypt:  ami  the  Libyans  and  tin'  Ethio- 
 pians   shall    bent    his   steps.       <M,l!u( 
 
 tidings    out   of  tl ast    ami   nut    of  tin' 
 
 north  shall  trouble  him:  therefon-  In- 
 shall  go  forth  with  greal  fury  to  destroy, 
 
 
 
 3  1Kb.,  «ud/vrt/i 
 
 4  Or,  ffocwl/r/. 
 
 ami  utterly  t'>  make  away  many.    "'  Ami 
 
 In-  shall  plant  the  tabernacL  a  of  his 
 palace  between  the  seas  in  the  "glorious 
 lioly  mountain  ;  jei  be  shall  come  to  his 
 end,  ami  Hum-  shall  help  him. 
 
 CHAPTEB  XII.  "  Ami  at  that  linn- 
 shall  Michael  stand  up,  I  in-  greal  prince 
 which  Btandeth  tin- the  children  of  thy 
 
 people:  ami  there  shall  be  a  time  of 
 trouble,  such  as  never  was  siin-i-  tin-re 
 •  i  nation  even  to  that  game  time: 
 ami  at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be 
 delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be  found 
 written  in  tin-  book,  WAnd  many  of 
 tlnni  that  ship  in  the  dust  of  the  earth 
 shall  awake,  "some  to  everlasting  life, 
 
 Time  of  the  end.— Oomp.  chap,  \iii.  17.  The 
 words  ni.-.-ni  tin-  end  of  the  world,  with  which  raree  16) 
 tin-  end  of  this  kins  coincides.  Tin-  word  "push" 
 occurs  also  inchap  vih.  I.  ami  from  the  context  it  may  be 
 inferred  thai  tin-  southern  long  begins  tin-  last  conflict, 
 in  tin-  oonree  of  which  both  kings  come  to  an  end. 
 
 tin  Th.G  glorious  land.— See  verse  lb.  On  the 
 occasion  of  his  hasty  march  against  Egypt,  while  pass- 
 ing through  Palestine,  tin-  king  takes  tin-  shortest 
 route,  avoiding  tin-  three  tribes  which  had  been  distin- 
 guish,-.1  by  their  hostility  towards  tin-  people  "f  Israel. 
 It  is  remarkable  that  these  nations  it  wont'  which  appear 
 ■8  figures  of  Antichrist.  Isa.  XIV.  10,  lxiii.  l)  should 
 escape,  while  other  nations  Cell  before  Antichrist.  It  is 
 also  noteworthy  that  these  three  tribes  an-  called 
 nations,  for  after  the  return  from  the  exile  it  appears 
 
 that  they  eeascil  to  have  any  distinct  national  existence. 
 
 As  triln-s  they  hail  some  considerable  power,  taking  the 
 
 part  of  Antiorlnis  in  the  Maoe.-ihoo  wars.  (See  I  Mace, 
 iii.  In.  v.  1 — S.i  Judas  also  fortified  Zion  against  the 
 Idumeaans. 
 
 Tho  chiof  of— i.e.  the  host  of  them.  (Comp.  Num. 
 xxiv.  20.) 
 
 "-'  He  shall  strotch  forth. — He  seizes  various 
 
 Countries    through    which    lie    passes,  and    anion";   them 
 
 Egypt  is  especially  selected  Cor  mention,  representing, 
 
 as  it  does,  tiie  most  powerful  of  them.  The  king  lias 
 at  last  attained  his  object,  lie  lias  frequently  been 
 partially  sue. -esst'id  in  liis  attempts  see  verses  12,13, 
 l.'i.  29),  hut  now  Bgypi  is  completely  overthrown. 
 
 («)  Libyans  .  '.  .  Ethiopians.— These  nations 
 arc  specified  as  allies  of  Egypt.  '.See  K/.rk.  xxx.  5; 
 Jer.  xlvi.  !t  They  are  represented  as  following  the 
 steps  of  the  conqueror  eomp.  Exod.  xi.  Si.  and  as  sub- 
 mitting themselves  to  him. 
 
 1111  He  shall  go  forth.— The  end  of  the  northern 
 king.  While  in  Egypt  he  has  had  U6WB brought  to  him 
 from  the  north  and  bom  the  east,  which  stirs  op  feelings 
 
 of  revenge.    Once  again  he  halts  in  Palestine,  where  he 
 
 comes  to  an  end.  That  this  cannot  apply  to  Antiochlls 
 is  evident  from  the  following  facts—  1)  Antiochus  was 
 in  Persia  when  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  I, ysias  reached 
 him  ;    (2)   Judiea  and  Jerusalem  cannot    in    any   sense 
 
 he  regarded   as  either  east  or  north  of    Persia;   (3) 
 
 Autiochus  died  in  Persia,  and  not  near  Jerusalem. 
 
 («)  He  shall  plant  .  .  .—For  a  similar  pro- 
 phecy, eomp.  Jer.  xliii.  10  (where  seethe  Targum).  The 
 
 king  is  hen-  represented  as  halting  while  a  palatial  tent 
 
 is    being     erected    for     him.      The    word     "palace"    IS 
 
 omitted  by  the  I..VX..  and  simply  transliterated 
 "Apedno"  by  St.  Jerome  and  Theodotiou,  as  if  it  were 
 
 a  proper  nam.-. 
 
 Botween  the  seas— i.e.,  between  the  Mediter- 
 ranean and  1  he  Dead  Sea. 
 
 The  glorious  holy  mountain.— Literally,  The 
 mountain  ofth*  holy  ornament,  generally  explained  to 
 lie  Mount  /ion.  i  <  'in  ii  p.  Ps.  xlviii/2.)  This  he  threatens, 
 as  once  did  the  Assyrian  (eomp.  Isa.  x.  32 — 34),  but 
 without  success. 
 
 He  shall  come  to  his  end.— It  is  to  lit- remarked 
 
 that  the  end  of  this  hang  is  placed  in  the  same  locality 
 which  is  elsewhere  predicted  by  the  prophets  as  the 
 scene  of  the  overthrow  of  Antichrist  (Ezek.  xxxix.  I; 
 Joel  iii.  2,  12;  Zcch.  xiv.  2). 
 
 XII. 
 
 (II  At  that  time— i.e..  in  the  times  spoken  of  inchap. 
 xi.  45,  previous  to  the  overthrow  of  the  kinp.  During 
 the  tribulation  which  precedes  his  overthrow.  Michael 
 (see  chap.   x.    18)   comes   to   stand   up  in  aid  of  tho 
 
 1 pie. 
 
 A  time  of  trouble.— This  is  the  tribulation  spoken 
 
 of  in  Matt,  in  xxiv.  21.22.  which  follows. as  it  does  in  the 
 Book  of  Daniel,  the  wars,  rumours  of  wars,  and  up- 
 risings  of  sundry  nations.     .See  Matt.  xxi\.  ii.  7.        It 
 
 should  he  observed  that  the  mere  presence  of  Michael 
 
 doesnot  avert    the  times   of   trouble,      lie   hates   G 
 
 ] pie  during  the  time  of  their  trouble.     On  the  1 
 
 in  which  the  intensity  of  the  tribulation  is  described, 
 eomp.  Jer.  xxx.  7. 
 
 Written  in  the  book.— Comp.  chap.  vii.  10;  Phil. 
 IT.  '■'■;  and  see  Note  on  Exod.  xxxii.  32. 
 
 i-i  Many  .  .  .  that  sleep  in  the  dust. — Literally. 
 Vamiu  sleepers  in  ih<  land  of  duet    Theword  "sleep" 
 
 is  applied  to  death  Jer.  Ii.  39;  eoiirp.  1  Thess.  iv.  1  I  ; 
 while  -dust  '•  is  used  tor  theirrave    Ps.  xxii.  2:'  .    Sine 
 
 difficulty  is  presented  by  the  use  of  the  word  "many" 
 
 where   "all      would    have    been    expected.      Theodore) 
 
 explains  it  from  Rom.  v.  15,  where  he  observes"  many 
 
 stands  f.n-  '■  all."  It  is.  however,  more  in  accord- 
 ance with  the  language  to  suppose  that  by  the 
 word  '-many"  some  contrast  is  implied,  which  is 
 apparently  between  the  many  who  sleep  in  the 
 dust  and   the   comparatively  small   number    of    thoso 
 
 399 
 
Daniel  is  Informed 
 
 DANIEL,   XII. 
 
 of  the  Times. 
 
 and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
 tempt. <3'Aiid  they  that  be  1wise  shall 
 "shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament ; 
 and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness 
 as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever. 
 
 W  But  thou,  0  Daniel,  shut  up  the 
 words,  and  seal  the  book,  even  to  the 
 time  of  the  end :  many  shall  run  to  and 
 fro,  and  knowledge  shall  be  increased. 
 
 (5)  The]}  x  Daniel  looked,  and,  behold, 
 there  stood  other  two,  the  one  on  this 
 side  of  the  3bank  of  the  river,  and  the 
 other  on  that  side  of  the  bank  of  the 
 river.  (6)  And  one  said  to  the  man  clothed 
 
 1  Or,  Unvhers. 
 
 a  Mact.  13.  43. 
 
 Hel).,  lip. 
 
 3  Or,  from  above. 
 
 4  Or,  part. 
 
 in  'linen,  which  was  3upon  the  waters 
 of  the  river,  How  long  shall  it  be  to  the 
 end  of  these  wonders?  <7)And  I  heard 
 the  man  clothed  in  linen,  which  was 
 upon  the  waters  of  the  river,  when  he 
 fheld  up  his  right  hand  and  his  left 
 hand  unto  heaven,  and  sware  by  him 
 that  liveth  for  ever  that  it  shall  be 
 for  a  time,  times,  and  4  an  half ;  and 
 when  he  shall  have  accomplished  to 
 scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people, 
 all  these  things  shall  he  finished. 
 
 W  And  I  heard,  but  I  understood  not : 
 then  said  I,  0  my  Lord,  what  shall  be 
 
 who  "  are  alive  and  remain."  (See  John  v.  28, 
 &c.)  It  should  be  noted  that  this  passage  not  only 
 teaches  the  doctrine  of  a  general  resurrection,  which 
 had  already  been  incidentally  revealed  by  Daniel's  con- 
 temporary, Ezekiel  (chap,  xxxvii.  1 — 4),  but  also  the 
 facts  of  eternal  life,  and  a  resurrection  of  the  unjust  as 
 well  as  of  the  just. 
 
 Shame  and  everlasting  contempt.— The  latter 
 word  occurs  only  in  this  passage  and  Isa.  lxvi.  24, 
 where  see  the  Note.  For  the  use  of  the  word  "  shame," 
 comp.  Jer.  xxiii.  40. 
 
 (3)  They  that  be  wise.— Comp.  Matt.  xiii.  43, 
 Notes.  "  The  wise  "  are  the  same  as  "  those  that  under- 
 stand" who  were  spoken  of  in  chap.  xi.  33,  meaning 
 those  who  by  their  own  righteousness — that  is,  by  their 
 faithfulness  to  their  covenant  with  God — had  set  a 
 bright  example  to  the  others,  as  in  chap.  xi.  35.  Such  is 
 the  consolation  held  out  for  the  support  of  those  who 
 shall  witness  the  tribulation  of  the  last  days.  (See 
 Notes  on  Matt.  xxiv.  and  the  parallel  passages.) 
 
 (*)  Shut  up  the  words. — The  revelation,  which 
 commenced  in  chap.  x.  20,  now  draws  towards  a  close, 
 and  the  prophet  receives  a  further  revelation  respecting 
 the  time  of  the  end.  The  revelation  continues  to  be 
 called  by  the  same  name,  "  the  words,"  as  in  chap.  x.  1 ; 
 and  now  the  prophet  is  told  that  the  book  in  which  this 
 revelation  is  written  must  be  placed  in  a  safe  and  sure 
 place,  for  the  need  of  it  will  be  felt  in  "the  time  of  the 
 end,"  that  is,  in  the  time  when  the  fulfilment  makes 
 the  meaning  of  the  prophecy  clear  and  unambiguous. 
 
 Many  shall  run  to  and  fro. — The  verb  "  to  run  " 
 is  used  in  Jer.  v.  1  of  searching  after  knowledge.  In 
 this  sense  it  is  used  of  "  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  "  (Zech. 
 iv.  10;  comp.  Amos  viii.  12).  In  the  same  sense  it  is 
 used  in  this  verse.  Many  will  anxiously  search  in  this 
 book  for  knowledge  of  the  manner  of  God's  dealings 
 with  His  people,  and  will  derive  comfort  and  under- 
 standing therefrom. 
 
 (5)  Other  two. — Two  heavenly  beings  are  now  seen 
 by  the  prophet.  As  the  absence  of  the  article  shows 
 he  had  not  seen  them  before,  St.  Jerome  supposes 
 them  to  be  the  angels  of  Persia  and  Greece,  but  of 
 course  it  is  impossible  to  identify  them. 
 
 The  river — i.e.,  the  Hiddekel,  as  in  chap.  x.  4, 
 though  a  different  word  for  "  river  "  is  used,  which  is 
 generally  employed  to  designate  the  Nile.  For  the 
 reason  of  the  choice  of  this  word,  see  the  next  Note. 
 
 (<3>  And  one  said. — The  speaker  is  evidently  one 
 of  the  persons  just  mentioned,  but  the  LXX.  and  St. 
 Jerome  suppose  Daniel  to  address  the  man  clothed  in 
 white  linen,  who  is  obviously  the  same  person  who  ha* 
 
 already  spoken  (chap.  x.  5,  &c).  The  position  which 
 he  occupies  is  striking.  He  appears  "  upon  "  or  (see 
 margin)  from  above,  i.e.,  hovering  over  the  waters  of 
 the  Tigris.  If,  as  is  frequently  the  case  in  the  sym- 
 bolical language  of  Scripture  (see  Isa.  viii.  6,  7,  Ps. 
 xciii.  4),  waters  or  streams  are  the  emblems  of  nation- 
 alities, the  Hiddekel  will  represent  the  Persian  Empire, 
 in  the  third  year  of  which  Daniel  had  this  vision,  and 
 the  position  of  the  person  implies  his  power  to  protect 
 his  people  from  all  the  assaults  of  the  Persians.  But 
 at  the  same  time,  the  remarkable  word  used  for  "river" 
 recalls  the  Nile,  and  seems  to  be  employed  for  the  pur- 
 pose of  assuring  the  readers  of  the  book  that  "  He  who 
 smote  the  waters  of  the  Nile  "  will  restrain  all  earthly 
 powers  which  war  against  His  people. 
 
 How  long  .  .  end. — The  end  is  that  which  has 
 been  frequently  spoken  of  (chaps,  xi.  40 — xii.  3).  The 
 question  asks,  "  How  long  will  the  end  of  these  wonders 
 continue  ?  The  end  always  appears  to  be  at  hand, 
 yet  it  never  comes.     How  long  will  this  continue  ?  " 
 
 (")  Held  up  his  right  hand  .  .  . — In  general, 
 a  person  when  sweai'ing  lifted  up  the  right  hand  only 
 (see  Gen.  xiv.  22;  Deut.  xxxii.  40).  Both  hands  are 
 repi'esented  here  as  being  raised  up,  so  as  to  give 
 greater  importance  to  the  words.  (See  Note  on  Rev.  x. 
 5,  and  comp.  chap.  iv.  34.) 
 
 A  time,  times  .  .  . — See  Note  on  chap.  vii.  25; 
 and  observe  that  any  reference  to  the  period  of  the 
 persecution  under  Antioehus  is  impossible,  on  account 
 of  the  difference  between  the  measures  of  time.  (See 
 chap.  vii.  14.) 
 
 To  scatter. — The  ancient  versions  (not  the  LXX., 
 however)  appear  to  have  understood  this  to  mean  the 
 dispersion  of  Israel  (see  Deut.  vii.  6),  and  seem  to  have 
 connected  the  "  end,"  of  which  Daniel  speaks,  with  the 
 cessation  of  the  dispersion  of  Israel,  or,  in  other  words, 
 to  have  regarded  it  as  a  prediction  of  the  re-gathering 
 of  Israel,  winch  would  immediately  precede  the 
 coming  of  Elias.  (See  the  remarks  of  Theodoret  on 
 the  passage.)  But  by  the  "  holy  people "  are  meant, 
 more  probably,  those  who  shall  suffer  in  the  last  days 
 (comp.  chap.  vii.  25,  "  the  saints  "),  and  the  word  "  scat- 
 ter "  means  to  break  in  pieces,  as  Ps.  ii.  9,  &c.  So  that 
 the  words  imply  that  the  end  will  not  come  till  "  the 
 shattering  of  the  power  of  the  saints  "  has  been  accom- 
 plished, or  till  persecution  appears  to  have  stamped  out 
 all  that  remains  of  godliness.  This  makes  the  prophecy 
 accord  with  chap.  vii.  25  and  the  parallel  passages  in 
 the  New  Testament. 
 
 <8)  I  understood  not.— He  did  not  understand  the 
 answer  given  in  verse  7.     The  question  did  not  seem 
 
 400 
 
Last  Words 
 
 DANIEL,   XII. 
 
 to  DunieL 
 
 the  end  of  these  thing 8?  <9>  And  he 
 said.  Go  thj  way, Daniel:  I'm- the  words 
 are  rinsed  u|>  :i 1 11 1  BeaJed  (ill  the  time  of 
 
 tl ad.     '  '".M:i  r  i  >'  shall  lie  purified,  ami 
 
 made  white,  and  tried;  but  the  wicked 
 shall  do  wickedly:  and  none  of  the 
 wicked  shall  understand;  but  the  wise 
 shall  understand.  <u>And  from  the 
 time    that    the    daily    sacrifice    shall  be 
 
 lite  ul»"* 
 
 K 
 
 Or,  atUmiihetU. 
 
 taken  away,  and    'the  ahominat ion  thai 
 -niaketli   (le„, late  set   up,  there  shall  /<• 
 
 a   thousand   two  hundred   and    oinet] 
 
 days.     'u>  Blessed   is  he  that    waiteth, 
 
 ami  Cometh  to  the  thousand   three  hun- 
 dred and   five  and  thirty  days.      0*1  Bui 
 
 TO  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be:  3i'6r 
 
 tlioii  shalt   rest,  and  stand   in  thy  lot  at 
 the  end  of  the  days. 
 
 to  have  bad  any  reply.  It  had  been  asked  how  long 
 the  end  should  continue,  and  the  answer  had  been  only 
 tl bscure  words,  "  time,  limes,  ami  an  half." 
 
 What  shall  bo  the  ond?— Daniel  refers  to  the 
 ••  wonderful  ihiir_'s  "  mentioned  in  verse  6,  and  using  a 
 different  Knni  for  "  end,"  asks  which  of  these  wonders 
 is  te  lie  I  he  last  i.e.,  which  of  them  is  to  come  imme- 
 diately before  the  end  of  all  things. 
 
 <*)  Go  thy  way.— That  is.  l>o  at  peace.  Observe 
 that  the  matter  Is  sot  explained  to  Daniel  any  further. 
 He  is  assured   thai    tlie  end    will    must   rertainly  eonie. 
 
 Oompare  another  gentle  rebuke  tliai  was  addressed  to 
 
 one  who  wished  to  see  further  than  was  lilting  into  the 
 future  (John  xxi.  21,  22). 
 
 Closod  up  and  sealed.— Tn  be  explained  as  in 
 I.    The  boob  is  tu  be  carefully  preserved  till  the 
 
 end  of  time. 
 
 i"'1  Many  shall  bo  purified.— See  Notes  on  Rev. 
 wii.  11.  and  comp.  chap,  \i.  35.     The  words  imply  that 
 
 all  shall  he  fulfilled,  the  time  of  persecution  shall  cer- 
 tainly arise,  the  righteous  will  be  purified,  while  the 
 wicked  will  become  apostates,  The  wise  (see  chap.  xi. 
 33),  and  they  only,  will  understand  the  true  meaning  and 
 profit  of  tribulation  as  ii  is  set  forth  in  this  prophecy. 
 
 (U)  From  the  time.— It  appears  as  if  at  this  verse 
 the  prophecy  recurs  to  the  inure  immediate  future,  and 
 
 thai  these  words  point  to  the  same  subject  as  chap.  xi.  31. 
 
 The  language  used  respecting  the  "abomination"  is 
 
 almost  verbally  the  same  as  that  in  chaps,  viii.  :!.  11. 
 ix.  27,  and  prevents  us  from  arriving  at  any  other  con- 
 
 clusion. The  neat  and  apparently  insoluble  difficulty  is 
 the  relation  which  the  1,290  or  the  1,335  days   occupy 
 
 with  regard  to  the  2,300  days,  or  the  time,  times,  and 
 the    dividing    of   a    lime.      Assuming    that    these    four 
 
 periods  all    commence  al    the  sen pooh  (see  Note  on 
 
 chap.  viii.  1  ll,  the  death  of  Antiochus  closes   the    I 
 days,  and   the   1.:;;;:,   days    point    to   some  event    which 
 occurred    forty-five    days,    or    a     month     and    a     half, 
 
 liter.    The  principal  objection  to  this  view  is  that  the 
 
 exact  date  of  the  death  of  Antiochus  is  uncertain,  and 
 therefore  all  calculations  based  upon  the  precise  da\  of 
 his  death  must  he  untrustworthy.  It  is  obvious  that 
 neither  of  the  two  periods  mentioned  in  this  and  the 
 following  vers,'  can  lie  made  to  agree  with   three  years 
 
 and  a  half  without   setting  the  rules  of  arith tie  at 
 
 defiance.  Also  the  obscurity  which  rests  over  the 
 greater  portion  of  the  history  of  Israel  should  guard  us 
 
 against  assuming  that  we  can  explain  all  the  contents 
 
 of  the  last  three  chapters  by  means  of  what  occurred  in 
 those  times,  and  also  against  assuming  our  historical 
 facts  from  Daniel,  and  then  making  use  of  thorn  to 
 illustrate  his  prophecies. 
 
 (12)  Blessed  is  he.— Last  words  to  Daniel.  He 
 shall  rest  in  the  grave,  and  stand  up  iu  his  own  lot  at 
 
 the  end  of  t he  days. 
 
 (18)  In  thy  lot.— The  reference  is  to  the  partition  of 
 Palestine  ley  lot  in  the  times  of  Joshua.  Even  so  shall 
 one  greater  than  Joshua  divide  the  heavenly  Canaan 
 among  His  saints  who  follow  Daniel  in  faith,  firmness, 
 
 and  consistency.     (See  (Jul.  i.  12.) 
 
 165 
 
 401 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLES,  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  PROPHECIES  OF  DANIEL. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 605.  Deportation  of  Daniel. 
 
 604.  First  Year  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 598.  Submission  of  Jehoiakim. 
 
 597.  Deportation   of  Jeboiaehin.     Reign  of  Zedekiah 
 
 commences. 
 593.  Rebellion  of  Zedekiah.    Date  of  Ezek.  i. — vii. 
 592.  Date  of  Ezek.  viii. — xix. 
 591.  Date  of  Ezek.  xx. — xxiii. 
 590.  War  of  Cyaxares  with  Alyattes. 
 389.  Nebuchadnezzar  comes  to  Riblah.     Date  of  Ezek. 
 
 XXIV. XXV. 
 
 588.  Date  of  Ezek.  xxix.  1—16. 
 
 587.  Fall  of  Jerusalem.     Capture  of  Zedekiah.     Date 
 
 of  Ezek.  xxvi. — xxviii.,  xxx.  20 — 26,  xxxi. 
 586.  Siege   of   Tyre   resumed.      Ezek.   xxxii. — -xxxi v., 
 
 xxxv.  (?),  xxxvi. — xxxix.  (?) 
 582.  Deportation   of    Jews,    mentioned    Jer.    lii.    20 
 
 (Nebuchadnezzar's  23rd  year). 
 
 B.C. 
 
 577. 
 573. 
 571. 
 562. 
 561. 
 560. 
 
 559. 
 556. 
 541. 
 
 539. 
 
 538. 
 
 537. 
 536. 
 
 Probable  Capture  of  Tyre, 
 
 Date  of  Ezek.  xl. — xlviii. 
 
 Date  of  Ezek.  xxix.  17— xxx.  20. 
 
 Death  of  Nebuchadnezzar.     Evil  Merodach. 
 
 Release  of  Jehoiachin,  aged  55. 
 
 Murder  of  Evil  Merodach.     Neriglissar  or  Nergal- 
 
 Sharezer. 
 Accession  of  Cyrus  to  the  Median  Empire. 
 Laborosoarchod.     Nabonidus. 
 Probable   date    of    Dau.    vii.      Belshazzar's    1st 
 
 year  (?) 
 Date  of  Dan.  viii.  (?)     Fall  of  Babylon,  Dan.  v. 
 
 Darius  the  Mede.     Date  of  Dan.  ix. 
 First  year  of  Cyrus  according  to  the  Scripture 
 
 reckoning.     Return  of  the  Jews  under  Zerub- 
 
 babel. 
 Foundatiou  Stone  of  the  Temple  laid. 
 Samaritan  Opposition.     Date  of  Dan.  x — xii. 
 
 GENEALOGICAL    TABLE    OF    THE    PTOLEMIES    AND   SELEUCID^,    ILLUSTRATIVE    OF 
 THE  LAST  THREE  CHAPTERS  OF  THE  PROPHET  DANIEL. 
 
 Seleneus  Nicator. 
 
 I 
 
 Antiochus  I.  (Soter)  B.C.  280. 
 
 Ptolemy  (Soter).    Dan.  xi.  5. 
 
 Ptolemy  Philadelphia,  B.C.  285— 247. 
 Dan.  xi.  0. 
 
 Laodiee       =       Antiochus  II.  (Theos.)    =    Berenice 
 Deposed  for  the  sake  I  B.C.  261—246.    Dan.  xi.  6. 
 
 of  Berenice.  She 
 afterwards  mur- 
 dered Antiochus. 
 
 An  infant  murdered 
 by  Laodiee. 
 
 Seleucus  Callinicus 
 (died  B.C.  226) 
 
 I 
 Seleucus  Ceraunus, 
 Assassinated  B.C.  223. 
 
 Antiochus. 
 
 Antiochus  III.  (Magnus) 
 B.C.  224.    Dan.  xi.  10-12,  14. 
 
 Antiochus  IV.  B.C.  175. 
 Epiphanes. 
 
 I 
 Seleucus  Philopator. 
 
 Ptolemy  Evergetes,  B.C.  285-247. 
 Dan.  xi.  7.  8 
 
 Ptolemy  Philopator,  B.C.  222-205. 
 Dan.  xi.  10-12. 
 
 Cleopatra  =  Ptolemy  Epiphanes.  B.C.  205— 181. 
 Dan.  xi.  14. 
 
 Antiochus  V.  B.C.  164. 
 
 Demetrius. 
 
 Ptolemy  Philometor,  B.C.  181-146. 
 Dan.  xi.  25—30. 
 
 Ptolemy  Evergetes 
 
 •«*  It  must  be  noticed  that  only  the  principal  characters  are  inserted  in  the  above  genealogy,  and  also  that  the  application  of 
 them  to  the  passages  in  Daniel  rests  upon  only  one  system  of  interpretation. 
 
 402 
 
EXCURSUS     ON     NOTKS     TO     DANIEL. 
 
 KXi'URSUS  A:    THE  BABYLONIAN   FORM   OF  GOVERNMENT. 
 
 In  the  Babylonian  records  hitherto  deciphered  very 
 few  government  officials  are  mentioned.  i)t'  military 
 offioere  we  End  generals  spoken  of,  and  "f  civil  officers, 
 judges.  If  wo  bear  in  mind  thai  the  object  of  the  in- 
 scriptions was  to  magnify  the  king  rather  than  to  give 
 .■in  account  of  the  internal  social  organisation  of  the 
 country,  we  Bhall  not  find  much  difficulty  in  accounting 
 [or  the  silence  with  which  state  officials  are  treated. 
 ESnongh,  however,  remains  of  an  ancient  inscription 
 some  centuries  earlier  than  Daniel  Bee  Trans,  Soc. 
 liihl.  Arch.,  vol.  i..  p.  .;|  i  to  show  thai  the  government 
 of  the  country  was  carried   on   by  "viceroys"    and 
 
 " rulers."     Mi of  the  names  of  the  state  officials 
 
 mentioned  by  Daniel  arc  etymologically  connected  with 
 these,  nor,  strange  to  say,  have  any  traces  I a  found 
 
 in    the    inscriptions    of    Xehuehadnezzar    of  the    three 
 
 stale  offioere  mentioned  by  Jeremiah — Bab-Mag,  Rab- 
 
 Saris,  Sar-Seellilll. 
 
 It  remains  for  os,'in  the  Eace  of  this  silence,  to  trace 
 
 out  as  far  as  possible  from  Daniel's  language   what  was 
 
 the  fonn  of  government  at  Babylon  in  his  .lays.  He  men- 
 tions: ils  Princes.  This  is  apparently  a  Persian  word, 
 which  in  Greei  takes  the  form  of  satrap.    It  occurs 
 
 again  ill  Dan.  vi.  1.  \c;  Ezra  viii.  S6j  Bath,  iii.  L2.    As 
 
 the  name  implies,  these  persons  were  guardians  of  the 
 subject  kingdoms,  and  representatives  of  the  monarch. 
 
 They  are   called   "kings"    i  lsa.  x.  8),   anil    with   res] t 
 
 to  them  the  monarch  is  called  "  king-  of  kings"  (Ezek. 
 x\\i.    7  .       i"Ji    llnrrrnorn,    also   of   Persian   derivation, 
 
 meaning  commanders.  From  the  posit  ion  of  the  word 
 (Jer.  li.  57),  between  "  captains"  and  "mighty  men,"  it 
 
 appears  that  they  were  military  officers.      (3)    Captains, 
 a    Persian   word,  though    occurring  as   early   as   1 
 
 Kings  x.  15.    The  position  of  these  officials  at  Babylon 
 
 sown   from  Jer.  li.  ">7,   Beak,  xxiii.  ti.  23.     In  Per- 
 sian times  the  title  is  given   to   tlie  rulers  of   Palestine 
 
 (Neh.  v.  14),  or  to  the  governors  of  Persian  provinces 
 
 |  K-th.  iii.  12).  They  were  si il lord ii late  to  the  "  prince,." 
 their  functions  being  civil  rather  than  military.  (4) 
 get,  apparently  from  a  Semitic  root,  meaning  "to 
 decree."  The  word  does  not  occur  elsewhere,  but  if  the 
 etymology  i,  correct  it  must  mean  literally  "a  de- 
 cider." (5  ZVsasttrarS,  a  Persian  word  connected  with 
 the   same   root    as   the   word   "gaza."     (6)   Counsellors, 
 
 connected  with  a  Persian  word  meaning"  law,"  which  is 
 found  in  the  books  of  Daniel  and  Esther.  (7)  Sheriffs, 
 a  Semitic  word,  apparently  formed  from  a  root  which 
 
 .signifies  "to  give  just  sentence."  (81  Balers,  a  Semitic 
 word,  the  root  of  which  is  frequently  found  ill   Hebrew. 
 
 whence  also  the  modern  word  ••  Sultan  "  is  derived. 
 
 It  appears  that  of  the  eight  classes  of  officers  men- 
 tioned   by    Daniel,    seven    may    be    arranged    ill    three 
 
 groups:    (1)   provincial    rulers;    rj,   home  ministers j 
 
 (3)  legal  advisers.      The  last   class,  the  "  rulers."  may 
 
 perhaps  comprehend  the  tlm lasses  already  men- 
 tioned, or  else  may  denote  the  subordinate  rulers  in 
 each  province. 
 
 These  groups  may  be  arranged  as  follows: —  1  Pro- 
 vincial officers,  consisting  of  princes,  governors,  and 
 captains.  It  appears  as  if  the  officers  are  arranged  in 
 descending  order  of  magnitude  j  and  first  i,  placed  the 
 superior  officer  who  administered  the  affairs  of  the 
 province.  As  was  observed  above,  under  the  \-. 
 Syrian  rule  be  was  called  a  king,  and  as  Daniel 
 applies  to  Nebuchadnezzar  the  title  of  king  of  king, 
 chap.  ii.  :I7  ,  it  is  probable  that  the  same  custom  pre- 
 vailed in  Babylon,  He  seems,  therefore,  to  correspond 
 to  the  "  viceroy "  who  is  mentioned  in  the  ancient  in- 
 scription   cited    above.       Although    the    name    of    this 
 
 officer  was  applied  in  Persian  times  to  the  Batrap,  it 
 appears  that  under  the  Babylonian  empire  the  person 
 thus  designated  held  a  higher  position  than  the  Persian 
 
 satrap.    After  the  prin lea  the  governor,  who, 
 
 being  , a  military  man.  stands  to  the  prince  in   the  BBme 
 
 position  as  the  commander  of  an  army  does  to  the 
 
 govern, .r  of  a  colony.      His  duties  Were  entirely  secular, 
 
 the  only  evidence  to  the  contrary  being  the  use  of  the 
 
 word  "governor  "  iu  chap.  ii.  48.  The  last  in  authority 
 is  the  captain.  He  most  closely  resembles  tbfl  Persian 
 satrap.  08  his  oliieo  appears  to  be  of  a  civil  rather  than 
 Of  a    military  character.      Thus   far   it   appears   that    the 
 
 Babylonian  government  was  carried  on   by  viceroys, 
 
 who  were  each  responsible  to  the  king  alone:  but  each 
 viceroy  had  civil  and  military  officers  subordinate  and 
 responsible  to  himself.  (2)  The  home  ministers  appear 
 in  two  (dasses  only,  the  "judges"  and  the  "treasurers." 
 As  staled  above,  the  tirst  of  these  is  only  mentioned  ill 
 this  passage,  so  that  apart  from  the  etymology  it  is  im- 
 possible to  infer  wdiat  his  duties  may  have  been.  How- 
 ever, paying  regard  to  this,  he  seems  to  have  performed 
 all  those  duties  which  now  fall  to  the  share  of  the 
 vizier.  In  home  as  opposed  to  foreign  affairs,  there 
 must  always  have  been  some  persons  with  whom  lay  the 
 final  appeal  in  all  civil  cause,.     Such,  in  all  probability. 
 
 wire  these  judges.  Xhe " treasurers,"  who  are  asso- 
 ciated with  the  judges,  were  connected   with   tin-   1.  -  ■ 
 
 department  of  the  administration.  They  would  be  re- 
 ipiired  to  examine  the  correctness  of  the  revenues  paid 
 
 into  the  treasury  by  the  provincial  collector,,  and 
 perhaps  a  later  development  of  their  office  may  be 
 traced  in  the  royal  scribe  who  was  sent  every  year  from 
 the  capital  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  province,  so 
 as  to  secure  thi>  allegiance  of  the  Batrap.  (S)  The  legal 
 advisers  consist  of  "counsellors  "  and  "sheriffs."  Tic 
 "counsellor"  was  evidently  the  man  "  learned  in  the 
 law."  In  such  a  case  as  the  decree  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
 his  advice  would  be  neces,.iry  to  secure  due  formality 
 in  tin-  decree.  The  "  sheriff."  ill  accordance  with  the 
 Supposed  derivation  of  the  Word,  was  the  officer  en- 
 trusted with  the  administration  of  justice  and  pro. 
 liouneing  of  sentences.  According  to  this  view,  these 
 two  classes  of  officers  represent  the  theoretical  and 
 practical  lawyer,  the  law-maker  and  the  executor  of  the 
 law,  or  perhaps  the  civil  and  the  criminal  judge. 
 
 403 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 EXCURSUS  B:    THE  MUSICAL   INSTRUMENTS  MENTIONED  IN  DANIEL  III. 
 
 The  Babylonians  as  a  nation  appear  to  have  been  re- 
 markably fond  of  music.  Isaiah  (chap.  xiv.  11)  speaks  of 
 the  noise  of  the  viols  of  Babylon  as  forming  part  of  her 
 pomp,  and  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  desire  of  the  Baby- 
 lonians to  hear  some  of  the  strains  of  Zion  (Ps.  exxxvii. 
 2, 3)  was  not  uttered  in  mockery,  but  from  a  genuine  wish, 
 such  as  all  persons  have  who  really  care  for  music  at 
 all,  to  hear  the  melodies  of  foreign  countries.  Further 
 evidence  is  afforded  by  sculptures,  which  represent 
 various  musical  instruments  and  considerable  bands  of 
 performers. 
 
 Whence  the  Babylonian  music  was  originally  de- 
 rived is  not  known,  though  probably  we  must  look  to 
 Egypt  as  the  source ;  but  it  may  be  asserted  that  what- 
 ever was  not  indigenous  to  Babylonia  itself  must  have 
 come  from  the  same  sources  whence  articles  of  com- 
 merce were  acquired.  At  the  time  of  Daniel,  Babylon 
 held  commerce  in  the  west  with  Egypt  and  Tyre.  By 
 means  of  both  these  lines  of  commerce  Babylon  was 
 brought  into  contact  with  Greece,  the  great  mistress  of 
 art  in  the  sixth  century  B.C.  And  as  we  find  traces 
 among  the  Greek  instruments  of  the  Semitic  Nabla  and 
 Kinura,  it  seems,  a  priori,  highly  probable  that  some  of 
 the  Greek  instruments  should  have  found  their  way  to 
 Tyre,  and  to  Egypt,  and  then  penetrated  to  Babylon. 
 
 For  many  years  previous  to  Nebuchadnezzar  there 
 had  been  considerable  commimication  between  Greece 
 and  the  East.  We  know  that  300  years  earlier  Sargon 
 made  Javan  or  Greece  tributary.  The  statue  of  this 
 king  found  at  Idalium  proves  that  he  conquered  the 
 Greek  colony  of  Cyprus.  His  son  Sennacherib,  we 
 know,  was  engaged  in  war  with  Greeks  in  Cilicia.  His 
 grandson,  Esarhaddon,  had  Greeks  fighting  on  his  side 
 during  his  Asian  campaign.  It  would  be  very  remark- 
 able if,  during  the  many  years  throughout  which  Greece 
 and  Assyria  were  brought  into  connection,  the  musical 
 instruments  of  the  one  nation  should  not  have  become 
 known  to  the  other.  And  if  Assyria  acquired  Greek 
 musical  instruments,  what  is  more  probable  than  that 
 many  years  before  Nebuchadnezzar's  time  they  were 
 known  in  Babylon  ? 
 
 The  connection  between  Greece  and  the  East  did  not 
 cease  with  the  fall  of  the  Assyrian  empire.  In  the 
 army  of  Nebuchadnezzar  we  find  serving  as  soldier  the 
 brother  of  the  poet  Alcseus,  and  a  few  lines  arc  extant  in 
 
 which  this  great  lyric  writer  welcomes  home  his  brother 
 from  the  Babylonian  campaign.  The  historical  notices 
 of  these  times  are  very  scanty,  so  that  it  is  not  easy  to 
 demonstrate  the  extent  of  Greek  commerce  in  the  sixth 
 century  B.C.,  but  the  facts  mentioned  above  give  us  strong 
 grounds  for  supposing  that  at  an  early  period  there 
 was  an  interchange  of  musical  instruments  between  the 
 East  and  the  West,  and  with  the  instruments  would 
 pass  their  names,  which  in  the  course  of  time  would 
 become  more  or  less  corrupted  as  the  people  who 
 adopted  them  found  it  hard  or  easy  to  pronounce  and 
 transliterate  the  words. 
 
 We  should  expect  therefore,  a  priori,  in  any  list  of 
 Babylonian  instruments,  to  find  some  of  the  names  of 
 Semitic,  some  of  Greek  extraction,  and  some  of  very 
 doubtful  etymology.  This  is  precisely  what  we  find  in 
 the  book  of  Daniel.  Of  the  names  of  the  six  instru- 
 ments mentioned,  two  are  undoubtedly  of  Semitic 
 origin,  one  if  not  two  are  Greek,  one  is  uncertain,  while 
 the  sixth  is  perhaps  not  an  instrument  at  all,  though 
 the  word  is  undoubtedly  Greek. 
 
 The  instruments  that  have  Semitic  names  are  the 
 "  comet "  and  the  ''  flute."  They  are  both  of  great 
 antiquity.  The  former  is  frequently  found  in  the 
 reliefs  which  represent  military  scenes,  and  the  men- 
 tion of  it  in  this  chapter  is  probably  to  be  accounted 
 for  by  the  fact  that  the  arrny  was  present. 
 
 The  instruments  which  appear  to  have  been  derived 
 from  Greece  are  the  "  harp  "  and  the  "psaltery."  The 
 former  is  frequently  represented  in  the  reliefs,  possess- 
 ing strings  in  number  from  three  upwards.  The  psal- 
 tery is  of  uncertain  etymology,  but  looks  like  a  Greek 
 word.  The  context  requires  a  word  to  denote  "  cym- 
 bals," which  occur  very  frequently  in  the  sculptures, 
 and  do  not  readily  find  an  equivalent  among  the  instru- 
 ments mentioned  by  David. 
 
 What  the  "  sackbut "  may  have  been  must  be  left 
 undecided.  It  is  true  that  a  word  sambuca  occurs 
 in  Greek,  but  it  is  of  foreign  extraction. 
 
 The  "  dulcimer,"  sAmphonia  in  the  Chaldee,  is 
 probably  not  the  name  of  a  musical  instrument,  but 
 means  a  "  concerted  piece  of  music."  The  passages 
 upon  which  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  sumphonia 
 was  an  instrument  are  Polyb.  xxvi.  10,  §  5,  Athen.  x.  53 
 (near  the  end) ;  neither  passage,  however,  is  conclusive. 
 
 EXCURSUS  C :    BELSHAZZAR  (chap.  t.). 
 
 Before  any  opinion  can  be  pronounced  upon  the 
 identification  of  this  king  with  other  known  kings, 
 the  following  questions  require  an  answer.  In  chap, 
 v.  11,  Are  the  words  to  be  taken  literally,  and  explained 
 to  mean  that  Belshazzar  was  Nebuchadnezzar's  own 
 son  ?  In  verse  13,  Does  Belshazzar  claim  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar to  be  his  father  ?  (Comp.  verses  18,22.)  And 
 lastly,  Is  it  stated  in  verse  30  that  the  Chaldean  Empire 
 passed  over  into  the  hands  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  ? 
 or  is  it  only  implied  that  an  insurrection  occurred  in 
 the  town  where  the  events  recorded  in  chap.  v.  occurred, 
 and  that  after  the  murder  of  Belshazzar  a  Median  prince, 
 called  Darius,  was  made  king  in  his  stead  ? 
 
 Scripture  affords  us  very  little  assistance  in  answer- 
 ing any  of  the  above  questions.  The  only  fact  which 
 we  know  from  the  Bible  about  Belshazzar  is  that  he 
 reigned  at  least  three  years.  This  appears  from  the 
 headings  of  chaps,  vii.,  viii. 
 
 404 
 
 If  we  adhere  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  words  (chap, 
 v.  11),  it  follows  that  Belshazzar  was  the  son  and  im- 
 mediate successor  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  But  when  we 
 come  to  examine  what  is  known  from  other  sources 
 about  the  posterity  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  we  find  no 
 such  name  as  Belshazzar  given  to  his  immediate  suc- 
 cessor. Evil  Merodach  came  to  the  throne  upon  the 
 death  of  his  father  (Jer.  Hi.  31);  but  the  fact  that  he 
 had  a  brother  named  Belshazzar  rests  on  no  other 
 authority  than  the  interpretation  which  Eusebius  gave 
 of  the  story  in  Daniel.  Herodotus  knows  nothing  of 
 Belshazzar  or  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  He  mentions  only 
 two  Babylonian  princes,  both  of  whom  were  named 
 Labynetus  (probably  Nabonidus).  One  of  these  was 
 the  husband  of  Nitocris,  and  erected  some  of  the  most 
 stately  buildings  in  Babylon ;  the  other  was  a  son  of 
 hers,  in  whose  reign  Cyrus  took  Babylon. 
 
 The  fragments  of  Berosus  and  Abydenus,  and  the 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 Canon  of  Ptolemy,  confirm  flic  Script unil  account. 
 according  to  which  Nebuchadnezzar  mi  Buooeeded  by 
 Evil  Merodach.  They  add  thai  after  a  "  lawleaa  and 
 Inst  fnl  reign,"  Evil  Baerodach  was  murdered  in  ■  eon. 
 gpiracy  led  by  Neriglissar.  Neriglissar  reigned  fonr 
 yeare,  and  was  succeeded  by  bia  son  Laboroaoarchod, 
 who  was  soon  murdered  Then  Nabonidua,  one  of  the 
 conspirators,  usurped  the  throne,  whioh  he  held  for 
 eighteen  years,  when,  npon  the  assanlf  of  Babylon  bj 
 Oyrus,he  waa-taken  prisoner  af  Borsippa,  where  lie  had 
 fled  for  safety.  It  seems  impossible  to  identify  Bel- 
 shazzar with  any  of  these,  tf  he  was  the  same  as 
 Evil  Merodach,  then  Darius  the  Mede  and  Neriglissar 
 must  have  bees  the  same  person,  whioh  is  impossible. 
 Similar  difficulties  prevent  ns  from  identifying  him 
 with  Laborosoarchoa,  so  that  the  ancient  fragments  do 
 not  help  ns  to  arrive  af  any  < lusion. 
 
 Babylonian  inscriptions,  however,  speak  of  a  certain 
 Bel-sar-usor  as  the  son  of  Nabonidue.  An  inscription 
 [Records  of  the  Past,  yd.  v..  p.  147)  oonclndee  with  a 
 prayer  of  Nabonidna,  praying  the  moon  to  preserve 
 "his  eldest  son.  the  offspring  of  his  body,  Bel-sar- 
 osnr."  Tims  the  «""*«"" E  Belshazzar  is  unques- 
 tionable, thongh  no  inscription  hitherto  discovered 
 speaks  of  bin  as  king.  However,  the  name  of  the  laef 
 king  of  Babylon  was  Marudnk-sarra-nsur,  which  is  not 
 imlike  Belshazzar. 
 
 Still  more  recenf  discoveries  have  been  made,  and  in 
 the  inscription  of  Cyrus  we  find  that  be  ations  his 
 
 faking  Babylon  without  bloodshed,  and  states  that    \:i- 
 
 bonidus  was  taken  prisoner.  He  also  mentions  that 
 the  king's  sou — probably  Belshazzar — was  at  Accad, 
 
 "with  his  greaf  men  ami  soldiers."  in  the  Bame  year 
 
 as  the  capture  nf   lialiylim,  and  thai   the  men  of   Accel 
 
 raised  a  revolt.     Farther  on  in  the  inscription,  whioh 
 
 is  mud)  mutilated,  ;,  statement  is  made,  "and  the  king 
 
 died.    Fr the  seventh  of  the  month  Adar  unto  the 
 
 third  daj  of  the  month  Niaaa  then-  was  weeping  in 
 Accad."  Now, according  to  the  laaf  mention  mad.- of 
 Nabonidna  in  this  inscription,  he  was  taken  bound  to 
 Babylon.     It   is  highly  probable,  therefore,  that  the 
 
 king  who  died  af  Accad  was  the  "king's  son."  men- 
 tinned    in    an   earlier    part    of  the    inscription.      -May    it 
 
 not  he  conjectured  thai  this  was  Belshazzar,  and  thaf 
 the  scene  described  in  Daniel  r.  oocurredaf  Accad,  and 
 not  at  Babylon  f     Further  disc  maj  throw  light 
 
 upon  this  point. 
 
 Ancient     opinions    about    Belshazzar    arc    various. 
 Ephraim   Syrus,    the   earliest    writer  on   Daniel    w 
 
 com Diary  has  come  down  to  us  complete,  states  thai 
 
 he   was    sun    „f    Nebuchadnezzar,    and   wisely    refrains 
 
 from  further  attempts  af  identification.  St.  Jerome,  a 
 little  later,  identities  him  with  Laboroeoarchod,  cau- 
 tioning the  reader  against  supposing  that  lie  was  s,,n 
 of  Nebuchadnezzar.      'I'll loret,  adhering  to  the  literal 
 
 sense  of  Daniel,  supposes  him  to  have  been  the  younger 
 brother  of  Evil  .Merodach.  The  opinion  of  St.  Jerome 
 is  supported  by  Haverniek,  llengstenherg,  and  Keil ; 
 Kraniohfold,  Zuckler,  and  Zundel believe  in  the  iden- 
 tity   of   Belshazzar   and    K  \  i  1    Merodach;    Dr.     1'nsey. 
 
 Delitzech,  Schrader,  and  the  two  moef  recent  of  PSngliA 
 
 Commentators,  identify  him  with  his  father.  Xahonidus, 
 OT  assume   that   he   was  appointed  co. regent   with    his 
 
 father. 
 
 EXCURSUS  D:    DARIUS  THE   MEDE  (chap.  v.  31). 
 
 It  appears  from  the  account  given  by  Daniel  that 
 Darius  the   Mede  was   the   sovereign   appointed  to   rule 
 
 over  Babylonia  after  the  death  of  Belshazzar.    Cyrus, 
 
 after  the  capture  of  Bahylou.  appointed  a  man  named 
 (iuharu  (Gohryasj  as  his  governor  at  Bahylou.  Can 
 he  and  Darius  the  Mede  lie  the  same  person?  It  is 
 impossible  to  identify  Darius  with  any  personage  men- 
 tioned in  profane  history,  and  hitherto  no  traces  of  any 
 such  name  have  heeu  found  in  Babylonian  inscriptions 
 belonging  to  this  period.  Till  time  or  circumstances 
 shall  give  further  information,  we  must  maintain  that 
 a  hook  like  Daniel's,  which  is  correct  on  many  minor 
 points,  cannot  fail  to  he  accurate   upon   the  subject  of 
 
 Dariiia. 
 
 Difficulties  were  experienced  af  a  very  early  tune  in 
 reference  to  this  subject.  The  LXX.,  assuming  that 
 Ahaauarus  (chap.  ix.  1 1  was  Xerxes,  identified  him  with 
 
 Artaxerxes.  The  opinion  of  Josephus  is  that  Darius 
 (Antt.  x.  11,  §  -fi  and  his  kinsman  OvTUS  destroyed  the 
 
 supremacy  mi  Babylon;  and  at  the  fall  of  the  capital, 
 this  Darius,  son  of  Aetyagee,  took  Daniel  with  him  to 
 Media,  and  placed   him  in   an  exalted  situation.     St. 
 
 Jerome  agrees  to  this  relationship  between  Cyrus  and 
 Darius.    St.  Ephraim  is  silent;  but  Theodore!   i 
 
 further,  and  identifies  Darius  with  Cyaxares,  sun  of 
 Aetyagee.  In  modern  times  the  identity  of  Darius 
 with  Cyaxares  II.  has  been  strougly  maintained, 
 though  without  paying  sufficient  attention  to  the  very 
 slight  evidence  in  favour  of  the  existence  of  the  latter. 
 
 The  identification  of  Darius  with  Aetyagee  ha-  an 
 obvious   refutation,  for  iu  b.c.  536  Aetyagee   would 
 
 have  exceeded   the  age  ascribed  to  Darius   by  Daniel 
 
 (chap  v.  3D. 
 
 It  is  evident  from  history  t lint  Cyrus  was  the  imme- 
 diate conqueror  of  Babylon,  and  that  no  Median  Em- 
 pire came  between  the  Babylonian  and  the  Persian 
 Empires.  It  is  also  clear  that  Daniel  regards  Darius  as 
 one  who  "received  the  kingdom"  (chap.  v.  31).  and 
 who  "was  made  king"  (chap.  ix.  1).  H  the  word 
 Darius  means  "a  maintainor,"  all  that  is  mentioned  in 
 this  chapter  amounts  to  no  more  than  the  statement 
 that  "a  Median  governor  took  the  kingdom."  How. 
 ever,  tin1  use  of  the  word  (chap.  ix.  1)  requires  the 
 name  of  a  person  rather  than  an  office. 
 
 EXCURSUS  E:    THE  FOUR  KINGDOMS  (chaps,  ii.,  vii.). 
 
 In  the  notes  opon  the  parallel,  though  supplementary, 
 
 vision  contained  in  chape,  ii.  and  vii.  attention  has  been 
 directed  to  each  of  the  four  empires  which  lias  hitherto 
 governed  the  world.  It  has  been  explained  iu  the 
 notes  that  these  four  empires  are  the  Babylonian,  the 
 
 The  fourth  empire  in   each   case   is  succeeded  by  the 
 kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  which  in  chap.  ii.  is  symbolised 
 
 by  a  stone,  but  in  chap.  vii.  J7  is  described  more  (dearly 
 
 as   the   "kingdom   of  the   ] pie   of   the   saints   of  the 
 
 Most    High."      This  view  of  the  four  kingd s  is  found 
 
 Medo-Persian,  the  I  ir.oco. Macedonian,  and  the  Roman.    I   iu  tile  early  part  of  the  second  century  ail   maintained 
 
 405 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 by  the  author  of  the  epistle  of  Barnabas,  who  speaks  of 
 the  ten  kingdoms  (Barn.,  Ep.  iv.  4,  5)  foretold  by  Daniel 
 as  then  existing,  and  of  the  fourth  beast  as  then  reign- 
 ing. The  fragments  of  St.  Hippolytus  show  that  the 
 same  opinion  prevailed  in  the  Church  a  century  later. 
 The  longer  ecclesiastical  commentaries  of  St.  Jerome 
 and  Theodoret  maintain  the  same  opinion,  which  has 
 been  followed  in  modern  times,  with  some  modifications, 
 by  a  large  number  of  commentators. 
 
 A  second  view,  of  great  antiquity,  is  mentioned  by 
 Porphyry,  who  flourished  in  the  third  cent  my.  His 
 opinion  coincided  with  the  interpretation  just  men- 
 tioned up  to  a  certain  point.  He  made  the  panther,  or 
 third  beast,  represent  Alexander  the  Great ;  but  the 
 fourth  beast,  according  to  him,  meant  the  four  succes- 
 sors of  Alexander.  He  then  enumerated  up  to  the  time 
 of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  those  kings  whom  he  conceived 
 to  have  been  most  remarkable  for  persecuting  God's 
 people  in  the  times  of  the  Ptolemies  and  Seleucidae, 
 and  ultimately  identified  the  little  horn  with  Antiochus 
 Epiphanes,  in  whose  time  he  believed  the  Book  of 
 Daniel  to  have  been  written.  This  view  has  not  been 
 without  support  in  recent  times. 
 
 A  third  view,  which  has  antiquity  to  support  it,  is 
 due  in  the  first  instance  to  St.  Ephraim  Syrus,  accord- 
 ing to  whose  teaching  the  four  kingdoms  are  the  Baby- 
 lonian, the  Median,  the  Persian,  and  the  Greek.  He  is 
 careful,  however,  to  point  out  that  the  fidfilment  which 
 the  prophecy  received  in  the  times  of  the  Maccabees  is 
 only  typical  of  a  further  fulfilment  to  be  expected  in 
 the  last  days.  It  exceeds  the  limit  of  a  note  to  trace 
 the  origin  of  this  opinion  in  the  Syrian  Church,  and 
 the  development  of  it  in  modern  times.  It  is  sufficient 
 to  observe  that,  like  Porphyry's  interpretation,  it  limits 
 the  horizon  of  the  prophet  chiefly  to  the  Greek  period. 
 
 This  view,  which,  more  or  less  modified,  finds  many 
 adherents  in  the  present  day,  rests  upon  the  identifica- 
 tion of  the  little  horn  in  chap.  vii.  S,  with  the  littlo  horn 
 in  chap.  viii.  9.  If  Antiochus  is  the  horn  of  chap,  viii., 
 why  should  he  not  be  hinted  at  in  chap.  vii.  ?  and  if  so, 
 why  should  not  the  goat  (chap.  viii.  5),  which  is  known 
 (chap.  viii.  21)  to  be  the  kingdom  of  Greece,  be  identical 
 with  the  fourth  beast  of  chap.  vii.  ?  It  is  then  argued 
 that  the  period  of  persecution  hinted  at  in  chap.  vii.  25 
 coincides  with  that  which  is  mentioned  in  chap.  ix.  27. 
 being  half  a  week,  or  three  days  and  a  half,  and  that 
 the  same  measure  of  time  occurs  in  chap.  xii.  7.  Is  it 
 possible,  it  is  asked,  that  these  similar  measures  of  time 
 represent  different  events  ?  Again,  it  is  observed  that 
 there  is  no  interval  mentioned  as  occurring  between  the 
 last  times  and  the  times  of  the  persecutions  mentioned 
 in  chaps,  vii.,  viii..  and  x. — xii.,  and  also  that,  the  words  in 
 which  Antiochus  is  predicted  (chap.  viii.  19)  are  spoken 
 of  as  the  "  last  end  of  indignation  "  and  "  the  end." 
 This  is  stated  to  support  the  view  that  the  predictions 
 of  Daniel  are  limited  by  the  times  of  Antiochus. 
 
 On  these  grounds  the  persecution  mentioned  in  chap. 
 vii.  25  is  supposed  to  be  that  of  Antiochus.  The  Greek 
 Empire  is  represented  by  the  fourth  beast,  while  the 
 second  and  third  beasts  represent  the  Median  and  the 
 Persian  Empires  respectively.  But  here  the  question 
 arises.  Are  there  any  grounds  for  believing  that  Daniel 
 intended  to  speak  of  a  distinct  Median  Empire  p  The 
 passages  alleged  in  support  are  chaps,  v.  28,  31,  vi. 
 8,  12,  15.  Daniel  states  of  Darius  expressly  that  he 
 was  a  Mede  and  of  Median  descent  (chaps,  v.  31,  ix.  1, 
 xi.  1),  and,  on  the  contrary,  that  Cyrus  was  a  Persian 
 (chaps,  vi.  28,  x.  1).  Also  in  chap.  vi.  28  the  writer 
 appears  to  be  contrasting  Darius  the  Mede  with  Cyrus 
 the  Persian,  as  if  each  belonged  to  a  different  empire. 
 
 And  though  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia  are  dis- 
 tinctly mentioned  in  chap.  viii.  20,  it  is  maintained  that 
 the  unity  of  the  Medo-Persian  Empire  is  not  established 
 thereby,  because  the  two  horns,  and  not  the  body,  of  the 
 goat  are  assumed  to  be  the  key  of  the  vision.  If  the  brief 
 duration  and  slight  importance  of  the  so-called  Median 
 Empire  is  objected,  it  is  replied  that  tho  importance  of 
 it  to  Israel  was  very  great,  for  in  the  first  year  of  it  the 
 exile  terminated,  and  at  that  very  time  Darius  was 
 under  the  special  protection  of  the  Angel  of  tho  Lord 
 (chap.  xi.  1). 
 
 Upon  this  hypothesis  the  visions  in  chaps,  ii.  and  vii. 
 are  explained  in  the  following  manner  : — The  materials 
 of  which  the  feet  of  the  image  were  formed  corresponds 
 to  the  two  divisions  of  the  Greek  Empire  noticed  in 
 chap,  xi.,  the  iron  representing  the  Ptolemies,  the  clay 
 the  Selcucidje.  The  mixture  of  the  iron  and  clay 
 points  to  such  attempts  as  are  mentioned  in  chap.  xi.  8, 17 
 to  unite  certain  heterogeneous  elements  in  the  political 
 world.  The  silver  breasts  and  arms  are  the  Median 
 Empire,  which  was  inferior  to  the  Babylonian  (chap.  ii. 
 39),  which,  it  is  asserted,  does  not  hold  true  of  the 
 Persian  Empire.  Then  comes  the  Persian  Empire, 
 which,  as  Daniel  interpreted  the  vision  (chap.  ii.  39), 
 "  bare  rule  over  all."  Similarly,  in  chap,  vii.,  those 
 who  maintain  the  interpretation  find  no  difficulty  about 
 the  first  beast;  but  the  second  beast  is  Darius  the 
 Mede ;  the  three  ribs  are  the  three  satrapies  mentioned 
 in  chap.  vi.  2  (St.  Ephraim  explains  them  of  the  Medes, 
 the  Babylonians,  and  the  Persians).  The  command, 
 "Arise,  and  devour  much  flesh,"  means  that  the  empire 
 of  Darius  had  a  great  future  prospect,  which  he  would 
 not  realise.  Then  the  panther  js  Cyrus ;  the  four 
 mugs  are  the  Persians,  Medes,  Babylonians,  and 
 Egyptians;  the  four  heads  are  four  Persian  kings, 
 Cambyses,  Smerdis,  Darius  Hystaspes,  and  the  last, 
 who  is  either  Xerxes  or  Darius  Codemannus.  It  remains 
 that  the  fourth  beast  is  the  Greek  Empire,  the  first 
 which  was  of  a  totally  distinct  character  from  the 
 Asiatic  empires  which  had  preceded  it.  The  little  horn 
 is  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  the  other  ten  horns  are 
 ten  kings,  who  are  not  supposed  to  be  reigning  simul- 
 taneously ;  three  of  them,  however,  were  contempora- 
 neous with  the  little  horn.  The  ten  kings  are  assumed 
 to  be — (1)  Seleucus  Nicator,  (2)  Antiochus  Soter,  (3) 
 Antiochus  Theos,  (4)  Seleucus  Callinicus,  (5)  Seleucus 
 Cerauuus,  (6)  Antiochus  the  Great,  (7)  Seleucus 
 Philopator,  (8)  Heliodorus,  (9 (Demetrius.  (10)  Ptolemy 
 Philometor.  The  last  three  were  deposed  by  Antiochus 
 Epiphanes.  the  allusion  being  to  Demetrius  (chap.  xi. 
 21)  and  to  Ptolemy  Philometor  (chap.  xi.  22—28).  It 
 is  then  alleged  that  all  the  events  which  arc  explicitly 
 mentioned  in  chap.  xi.  are  figuratively  expressed  by  the 
 ten  toes  of  the  imago  and  by  the  ten  horns  of  the 
 fourth  beast. 
 
 In  this  interpretation  there  is  much  that  appears 
 plausible  at  first  sight.  It  seems  to  make  the  whole 
 plan  of  the  book  more  distinct,  and  to  introduce  a  sym- 
 metry and  coherence  among  the  several  parts  which  is 
 wanting  to  the  interpretation  given  above.  But  though 
 the  truth  is  simple,  everything  simple  is  not  true. 
 Grave  difficulties  will  be  found,  upon  closer  inspection,  to 
 underlie  this  hypothesis  respecting  the  four  kingdoms. 
 
 (1)  What  renson  is  there  for  identifying  the  little 
 horn  in  chap.  vii.  8  with  the  little  horn  in  chap.  viii.  9? 
 In  one  ease  it  grows  up  amongst  ten,  in  the  other  out 
 of  four.  In  one  case  it  destroys  three  of  the  othei 
 horns,  in  the  other  none.  Or,  to  take  Daniel's  own 
 interpretation,    the    "  kink   of    a  fierce   countenance " 
 
 406 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 (cli!i|i.  viii.  Jili  arises  while  tin-  four  horns  are.  still  in 
 existence,  though  "in the  latter  t inn'  of  their  kingdom." 
 Bearing  in  mind  that  the  ten  toes  of  the  image  corre- 
 spond to  ihr  ten  boras  of  the  fourth  beast,  there 
 append  i.i  be  strong  prime*  fitcie  evidence  for  rap- 
 posing  tint  tin'  horizon  of  chap.  viii.  is  different  from 
 thai  of  chaps,  ii..  vii..  and  xi. 
 
 (2  Further  consideration  shows  that  Antioohus 
 Epiphanes  does  not  oorreepond  with  the  little  bom 
 (chap,  vii.  .  or  with  the  king  mentioned  (chap.  xL  21, 
 Be.  .  Antiochus  is  foretold  (chap.  viii.  !• — 12,  'J-! — 25] 
 ii-.  ■•  becoming  great  toward  the  south,  and  toward  the 
 cast,  and  toward  the  pleasant  land,  and  waxing  great 
 even  to  the  nosi  of  beaven,"  &&;  but  the  person  fore- 
 told   in   chap.    vii.   S,   -Jil,  S>,   "bus  u    month    speaking 
 
 prond  things,"  <fec,  In  no  point  do  tlioso  two  awful 
 parsonages  agree,  except  in  blaspheming  God  nnd  in 
 making  wax  against  His  people.    They  differ  in  many 
 
 important  respects. 
 
 (8     The    measures    of    tame,    again,  are   different    in 
 
 each  vision.  Antioohus  Bpiphanes  carries  on  his 
 destructive  work  for  2,300  (or  1,150)  days,  but  the 
 Antichrist  mentioned  in  chap.  vii.  J",  has  the  saints  in 
 his  power  for  a  "time,  times,  and  the  dividing  of 
 time."      By    no  possible    calculation    can   these    two 
 
 measures  of  time  l,e  made  identical.  Nor  ean  the 
 same   measure   of  lime  which   occurs   in  chap.  xii.  7   be 
 
 identified  either  with  the  1,290  days,  or  with  the  1,33-j 
 1 1 \  9  mentioned  in  chap.  xii.  11, 12. 
 
 i  I  i  Further,  in  chap.  viii.  !>  "the  last  end  of  indig- 
 nation" doe,  not  mean  the  end  of  all  things,  any 
 more  than  it  means  I  he  end  of  the  captivity.     It  points 
 
 to  the   persecution  of  Autiochus,  when,  for  the  last 
 
 time  in  Jewish  history,  tho  innocent  suffered  for  tho 
 guilt  of  the  apostates.  This  was  a  persecution  of 
 which  the  adherence  of  the  .Jews  to  their  religion  was 
 
 tho  cause.  Politics  provoked  later  persecutions,  but  in 
 this  they    were  involved    in  only  a  secondary   manner. 
 
 The  plain  question  was.  would  tho  Jews  suffer  their 
 
 .ii  to  be   llellenisoil,  or  would  they  not?      This, 
 again,  is  alien  to  the   thoughts  contained   in   chap.   vii. 
 
 21,26. 
 
 i.j  l  Nor  is  it  clear  that  Daniel  knew  of  a  Median 
 as  distinct  from  a  Persiun  Empire.  If  Darius  "  re. 
 calved  the  kingdom,"  some  superior  power  must  have 
 given  it  to   him.      If  he  was  "  made  king,"  some  higher 
 
 authority  must  bare  invested  him  with  the  sovereignty. 
 
 Nor  does  history  give  us  any  reasons  for  supposing  that 
 there  was  at  this  time  any  broad  national  distinction 
 between  the  Mode,  and  Persians. 
 
 6)  Lastly,  the  empire  of  Alexander  the  Great  docs 
 not  correspond  to  the  fourth  empire,  which  is  described 
 
 In  chape  ii.,  vii.  None  of  the  elements  of  iron  appear 
 in  it.  The  leading  characteristic  of  it  was  not  "  break- 
 ing in  pieces  and  bruising"  other  empires,  but  rather 
 assimilation.  The  policy  of  it  was  to  Jlelleniso  them,  to 
 clothe  their  ideas  in  Greek  forms,  to  unite  widely  sepa- 
 rated nations  which  it  hud  subdued,  by  treating  them 
 Courteously,  adopting  their  national  customs,  and  by 
 polishing  the  who!.-  external  with  Greek  culture. 
 
 Grout  nnd  undoubted  though  the  difficulties  are 
 which  an-  contained  in  the  interpretation  given  above 
 
 in  the  Notes,  they  an'  not    so  great    as  those  which  aro 
 
 involved  by  the  so-called  "modern  "  interpretation  just 
 
 mentioned. 
 
 EXCURSUS  F:    DANIEL'S  PRAYER  (chap.  ix.t. 
 
 The  resemblance  between  Daniel's  prayer  and  those 
 
 recorded  in  the  books  of   Ezra.  Xeheiniah,  and  Barucb 
 will  appear  move  distinctly  from  the  following  table  : — 
 
 Daniel  Ex. 
 
 Ezra  ix. 
 
 Nell.  ix. 
 
 Baruch. 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 Si.  :il 
 
 i.  11. 
 
 ii 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 C.  7 
 
 32,33 
 
 i.  15—17 
 
 8 
 
 'i.  7 
 
 33 
 
 II 
 
 17 
 
 1  1 
 
 ii.  7. 
 
 II 
 
 15 
 
 33 
 
 1  . 
 
 10 
 
 ii.  11. 
 
 18 
 
 ii.  lit 
 
 in 
 
 ii.  l.». 
 
 The  resemblance  is  due  to  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
 
 Corresponding  thoughts  are  taken  from  earlier  works, 
 such  as  the  Law  of  Moses,  or  prophetical  writings.  It 
 will    bo    observed    that     this    similarity    can    !..'    traced 
 
 chiefly  in  verses  l—:'.  13—19.    The  language,  how 
 
 is  \rvy  general,  and  can  be  traced  for  the  most  part  to 
 earlier  sources.  A  short  analysis  of  the  pravers  of 
 Ena  and  Xehemiah  shows  that  the  similarity"  of  the 
 prayers    is    less   striking    than    appears    at    first    sight. 
 
 Ears,  confesses  'he  sins  of  the  congregation  from  the 
 
 early  period  of  Israel's  history  down  to  his  own  time; 
 lie   blesses  God  for  allowing  a  remnant    to  escape,  ho 
 
 then  confesses  the  s| ial  sin  ,,f  which  the  nation  wns 
 
 guilty  at  that  time,  and  acknowledges  that  neither  ho 
 nOT  his  people  are  able  to  stand  before  G"d.  Not  once 
 in  the  course  of  his  prayer  does  he  ask  for  forgiveness. 
 Xehemiah.  after  thanking  find  for  His  mercies.  Using 
 the  language  of  Psalmists,  proceeds  to  bless  God  for 
 the  mercies  which  He  has  showered  upon  his  people  in 
 Spite  of  their  frequent  relapses  into  sin.  He  frcipicutly 
 contrasts  the  righteousness  of  God  witli  the  guiltiness 
 of  the  nation,  and.  like  Ezra,  docs  not  pray  for  forgive- 
 ness  ,.r    to    be    delivered    from    bondage.      But   Daniel's 
 
 prayer  is  just  the  reverse.  Not  only  does  be  pray  for 
 the  pardon  nnd  deliverance  of  bis  people,  but  be  con- 
 cludes with   a   petition    that   he   himself  may  be   heard 
 
 verses  17,  is  it  is  therefore  unreasonable  to  sup- 
 pose that  Daniel's  prayer  should  have  been  founded 
 moon  the  model  ..f  the  prayers  of  Ezra  and  Xeheiniah. 
 Still  more  improbable  is  the  hypothesis  that  it  was 
 curtailed  from  the  prayer  of  Baruch.  The  dnte  of 
 the  book  of  Baruch  is  almost  universally  acknow- 
 ledged to  be  late,  and  the  prayer  contained  in  it  de- 
 pends as  much  upon  tile  book  of  Nebcmiab  as  it  docs 
 upon  Daniel. 
 
 EXCURSUS   G:    THE   SEVENTY   WEEKS    chap,  ix    24 
 It  may  be  questioned  in  what    way  this  prophecy  I  in  Terse  25  after  "seven  weeks,"  instead  of  after  '-throe 
 
 presents  any   meaning    to   those   who   follow   the   pune-      sere   and   two   weeks."      The  translation  would   bo  as 
 ttutiou  of  the  Hebrew  text,  and  put  the  principal  stop     follows.  "From  the  going  out  .   .  .   until  Messiah  the 
 
 407 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 prince  shall  be  seven  weeks ;  and  during  sixty -two 
 weeks  the  city  shall  be  rebuilt  .  .  .  and  after  sixty-two 
 weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  oft' "...  This  can  only  bo 
 explained  upon  the  hypothesis  that  the  word  "  week  "  is 
 used  in  an  indefinite  sense  to  mean  a  period.  The 
 sense  is  then  as  follows  : — The  period  from  the  command 
 of  Cyrus  or  of  Artaxerxes  to  rebuild  Jerusalem,  down 
 to  the  time  of  Messiah,  consisted  of  seven  such  weeks ; 
 during  the  sixty-two  weeks  that  followed  the  kingdom  of 
 Messiah  is  to  be  established  amidst  much  persecution. 
 During  the  last  week  the  persecution  will  be  so  intense 
 that  Messiah  may  be  said  to  be  annihilated  by  it,  His 
 kingdom  on  earth  being  destroyed.  At  the  end  of  the 
 last  week  the  Antichristian  prince  who  organises  the 
 persecution  is  himself  exterminated,  and  destroyed  in 
 the  final  judgment. 
 
 According  to  this  view  the  seventy  weeks  occupy  the 
 whole  period  that  intervenes  between  the  times  of 
 Cyrus  or  Artaxerxes  and  the  last  judgment.  The  prin- 
 cipal objection  to  it  is  that  it  gives  no  explanation  of 
 the  numbers  "  seven  "  and  "  sixty-two,-'  which  seem  to 
 have  been  chosen  for  some  particular  purpose.  Nor  does 
 it  furnish  any  reason  for  the  choice  of  the  word  "weeks" 
 instead  of  "  times"  or  "  seasons,"  either  of  which  words 
 would  have  equally  served  the  same  indefinite  purpose. 
 
 The  traditional  interpretation  follows  the  punctuation 
 of  Theodotion,  which  St.  Jerome  also  adopted,  and 
 reckons  the  seventy  weeks  from  B.C.  458,  the  twentieth 
 year  of  Artaxerxes.  From  this  date,  measuring  seven 
 weeks  of  years — that  is,  forty-nine  years — we  are  brought 
 to  the  date  B.C.  409.  It  is  predicted  that  during  this 
 period  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  and  the  city  itself  should 
 be  rebuilt,  though  in  troublous  times.  It  must  be  re- 
 membered that  very  little  is  known  of  Jewish  history 
 during  the  times  after  Ezra  and  Neheniiah.  The  latest 
 date  given  in  Nehemiah  is  the  thirty-second  year  of 
 Artaxerxes,  or  B.C.  446.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the 
 city  was  not  completely  restored  till  nearly  forty  years 
 later.      Reckoning  from  B.C.  409  sixty-two  weeks  or 
 
 434  yeai-s,  we  are  brought  to  a.d.  25,  the  year  when  our 
 Saviour  began  His  ministry.  After  three  and  a  half 
 years,  or  in  the  "  midst  of  a  week,"  he  was  cut  off.  The 
 seventy  weeks  end  in  A.D.  32,  wluch  is  said  to  be  the 
 end  of  the  second  probation  of  Israel  after  rejecting 
 the  Messiah.  The  agreement  between  the  dates  furnished 
 by  history  and  prediction  is  very  striking,  and  the  general 
 expectation  that  there  prevailed  about  the  appearance 
 of  a  Messiah  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  first  advent 
 points  to  the  antiquity  as  well  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the 
 interpretation.  However,  the  explanation  of  the  latter 
 half  of  the  seven  weeks  is  not  satisfactory.  We  have 
 no  chronological  account  of  events  which  occurred 
 shortly  after  the  Ascension,  and  there  are  no  facts 
 stated  in  the  New  Testament  that  lead  us  to  suppose 
 that  Israel  should  have  three  and  a  half  years'  probation 
 after  the  rejection  of  the  Messiah. 
 
 The  modem  explanation  adheres  in  part  to  the 
 Masoi-etic  text,  and  regards  the  sixty-two  year-weeks 
 as  beginning  in  B.C.  t>04.  Reckoning  onwards  434 
 years,  we  are  brought  to  the  year  B.C.  170,  in  which 
 Antiochus  plundered  the  Temple  and  massacred  40,000 
 Jews.  Onias  III.,  the  anointed  prince,  was  murdered 
 B.C.  176,  just  before  the  close  of  this  period  ;  and  from 
 the  attack  upon  the  Temple  to  the  death  of  Antioehus, 
 B.C.  164,  was  seven  years,  or  one  week,  in  the  midst  of 
 which,  B.C.  167,  the  offering  was  abolished,  and  the 
 idolatrous  altar  erected  in  the  Temple.  The  seven 
 weeks  are  then  calculated  onwards  from  B.C.  166,  and 
 are  stated  to  mean  an  indefinite  period  expressed  by  a 
 round  number,  during  which  Jerusalem  was  rebuilt 
 after  its  defilement  by  Antiochus.  This  explanation  is 
 highly  unsatisfactory.  It  not  oidy  inverts  the  order  of 
 the  weeks,  but  arbitrarily  uses  the  word  week  in  a 
 double  sense,  in  a  definite  and  in  an  indefinite  sense  at 
 once.  There  is  still  a  graver  objection  to  assuming 
 that  the  starting  point  of  the  seventy  weeks  is  the  yeai' 
 B.C.  604.  No  command  to  rebuild  Jerusalem  had  then 
 gone  forth. 
 
 408 
 
HOSEA. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 IK)  SEA. 
 
 Thk   importance  of   Hosea  is  testified  not  only  by  the 
 foremost    position  whieh    liis   prophecy   occupies   in    the 
 I, XX..  and   Masorctic  (\-uioti.  but    by   the  evident    lr 
 Of     his    influence    on     Isaiah.    Jeremiah,    and      R/.okicl. 
 
 Moreover,  he   is   probably   il nly    prophei    of    the 
 
 kingdom  of  Israel  whose  oracles  have  come  down  to  ns 
 in  complete  and  literary  form,  bearing  in  their  very 
 language  traoes  of  the  dialed  of  Northern  Palestine. 
 
 lecting  the  prophei  Hoses  (Hebrew  ?Wf,  salva- 
 tion, l,XX.  Cl,rr)f,  BDO  even  AiWji.  we  only  know  for 
 eertain  that  lie  was  the  son  of  ISoeri.  and  from    internal 
 
 indications  we  infer  that  he  prophesied  in  the  northern 
 kingdom  daring  the  closing  years  of  its  existence. 
 This  epoch  was  characterised  by  moral  and  social 
 dissolution.  The  death  of  Jeroboam  II.  left  Israel  a 
 prey  to  anarchy,  A  series  of  short  and  violent 
 usurpations  undermined  the  prestige  of  royally,  and  the 
 kingdom  fell  a  victim  to  disorder.     While  idolatrous 
 
 sensuality  and  excess  prevailed  as  it  had  done  from  the 
 
 days  of  Israel's  disruption,  robbery  and  oppression 
 grew  to  alarming  proportions,  Bands  of  priests  way- 
 laid pilgrims  on  the  way  to  local  shrines,  and  the  nobles 
 were  given  up  to  violence  and  drunkenness.  Meanwhile. 
 the  vast  overshadowing   military  power  of  Assyria  was 
 
 advancing  with  rapid  strides  under  the  energetic  rule 
 
 of  Tiglath-pileser       Egypt    was  unable  to   present   an 
 
 effectual  resistance, and  the  tide  of  Assyrian  conquest 
 rolled  with  scarcely  a  check  to  the  banks  of  the  Jordan, 
 
 "The  word  of  the  Lord  that  came  onto  llosea.  the 
 son  of  Beeri,  in  the  days  of  I'/./iah.  .lotham.  Aliaz, 
 and     lle/.ekiah.    kings  of  .Iinlah.    and     in    the  days  of 
 
 Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Joash,  king  of  Israel."  This 
 superscription,  or  heading  to  the  prophecy,  in  the  firsl 
 verse,  furnishes  a  rough iception  01  the  period  over 
 
 whieh    Hosea's   prophetic  activity  extended!      Without 
 
 discussing  the  question  whether  the  superscription,  like 
 that  of  the  collected  prophecies  of  Amos  and  of  [saiah, 
 proceeded  from  the  prophet's  own  hand  or  from  that  of 
 a  later  editor    as   many  critics  assume),  it   may  be 
 
 affirmed  that  no  cogent  argument  has  yet  been  adduced 
 
 impugning  its  historic  accuracy.     Formerly  difficulties 
 
 Were  felt   to  exist    in  I  lie  excessive    length   of   active    life 
 
 therein  assigned  (65  years  according  to  Ceil,  in  his 
 Introduction  to  the  Old  Teatam  nt).  Bui  the  whole 
 question  of  Scripture  chronology  has  ben  profoundly 
 
 affected   by  the   results  of  Assyrian  discovery,  and  is  a 
 
 problem  still  unsolved.     See"  Goo.  Smith."    I 
 Bbonym    Canon,   pp.    l">n    *OT-i    Kamphausen,    l> 
 Chronologic  dor  heoraisehen  Kbnige;  Bleak,  EXnleit- 
 mm   in    das   atte    Testament,    lib  ed.,   pp.    263—66; 
 Schrader.  Keiiinsehriften,  2nd  ed.,  p]>.  '2-1  .■.■</</..    158 
 
 8<rq.);  and  the  tendency  of  modern  i  tup  dry  is  to  abridge 
 the  interval  between  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  1 1,  and  that 
 of  Hoshea.      (See  article  Hosea  in  Ka.-ijc.  Brit.) 
 
 ( Iritics  at  the  present  time  lay  stress  on  the  argument 
 
 that   the  internal  eviden f  tl racles  themselves 
 
 leads  to  the  assumption  thai  the  mention  of  the  Jud 
 kings  is  due  to  a  later  and  incorrect  interpolation,      I 
 It  is  saiil  thai   the  allusions  to  Gilead  are  incompatible 
 with  a  lime  subsequent  to  its  depopulation  by  llglath- 
 pileser   To  I  n.e.  i.     Bui  iii  the  firsi  place  the  ertenl  of 
 
 the   destruction    there   wrought    cannot     be   ascertained 
 
 from   the   mutilated   r rds  of   his   campaign  ;    while, 
 
 s idly,  the  rery  disordei    in  thai  region,  graphically 
 
 portrayed  by  the  prophet,  may  have  been  aggravated  by 
 
 the  disturbing  effects  wrought  by  thai  invasion.  This 
 is  confirmed  by  the  language  of  chap.  xii.  LI,  where  the 
 
 prophet     refers     to    the    destruction     which     had    been 
 
 wrought  in  Gilead,  and  points  to  the  ruined  "stone- 
 heaps"  which  were  oi the  altars  of  a  false  worship  in 
 
 the  adjoining  district  of  QilgsJ  on  the  west  side  of  the 
 
 Jordan.  (See  Notes  on  chap.  vii.  9, 11.)  (2)  It  is  urged 
 that    these    prophecies,    if   subsequent    to    the    Syro> 
 
 Ephraimitic  war  against  Jiidah.  would  not  have  passed 
 over    it   in  silence.      But    the  a rgv UU  nt n nt   t  silentio   is 
 
 perilous,   unless  adequate   motive  can   be   assigned    for 
 
 such  allusions  rrlntirr  In  thr  tji nuntl  smji,  ,,„.!  yn ■/„... 
 nl'  I},.-  prophecy.     That   purpose   was    to    awaken    the 
 
 slumbering    consciousness    of    Israel    (the    northern 
 
 kingdom]  to  a  senso  of  its  unfaithfulness  to  Jehovah. 
 But  why  should  war  .against  so  unworthy  a  represen- 
 tative of  David  as  the  effeminate  and  superstitious  Aliaz 
 (Isa.  iii.  1 1  appear  in  the  eyes  of  the  prophet  dis- 
 bonouring  to  Jehovah,  and  why  should  we  expect   a 
 
 special  referet to  the  subject  in  these  oracles F     If, 
 
 as  some  writers  argue,  the  policy  of  Resin  and  Pekah 
 was  to  compel  Ahaz  to  unite  in  resisting  die  encroach- 
 ments of  Assyria  >n  (  'hoyiie's  Isaiah,  Introduction 
 to  chap.  vii.  i.  the  moral  .sympathies  of  Hosea  may  well 
 have  been  on  the  side  of  his  countrymen,  and  opposed 
 to  a  monarch  whose  policy  of  subservience  to  Asshur  lie 
 
 would  emphatically  condemn.   (Coiup.  chaps,  v.  13,  vii. 
 
 II.    Xiv 
 
 On  the  other  hand,  indications  are  not  wanting  that 
 the  year  726  B.O.  cire.  may  be  assumed  as  tie-  | 
 ml  mum  of  tic  prophet's  career.     This  was  admitted 
 by  Bleek  ilittnnhiftioti  to  Old  Testam*  nt  I,     The  refer- 
 
 '•' B   to  Judah   in  chaps,  iv.   -xiv.  are  such  as  point    to 
 
 the  national  degradation  brought  about  by  the  reign  of 
 Alia/,  (chaps,  iv.  •>,  13.  vi.  11).    Moreover. Samaria  was  not 
 
 yet  destroyed,  but  there  are  evidences  in  the  closing 
 
 chapters  thai  the  impending  shadows  of  that  terrible 
 catastrophe  darkened  his  soul  chaps,  ix.  13,  x.  Li — B,  1  I. 
 1">.    xiii.  7 — 11.    1"'.    16  .    and    added    path  >8   to   his 
 
 appeal  i chap  xi\ ,), 
 
 The    writings    of    Hosea.    like    must    (lid    Te-t 
 
 oracles,  are  in   a   minor    key.  but    are   character 
 by  the  prevalence  of  a  tragic  discord,  which  was  tho 
 
 411 
 
HOSEA. 
 
 ever-recurring  grief  of  a  sorrow-stricken  heart.  For 
 Hosea  was  doomed  by  the  chastening  hand  of  God 
 to  suffer  the  domestic  misery  of  an  unfaithful  wife. 
 Soon  after  his  marriage  to  Goraer,  daughter  of  Diblaim, 
 the  infidelities  of  her  past  and  present  conduct  became 
 apparent.  The  children  born  under  these  sad  auspices 
 received  significant  names  from  the  prophet,  which 
 exhibit  how  the  mind  of  the  seer  was  working  by 
 Divine  enlightenment  to  a  clear  interpretation  of  the 
 sorrowful  mystery.  Did  the  prophet's  marriage  become 
 to  him  ultimately  a  Divine  summons  to  his  sacred 
 office  ?  We  do  not  know,  but  we  are  justified  in  infer- 
 ring from  his  language  that  this  marriage  was  regarded 
 by  him  as  part  of  a  special  Divine  purpose.  The  wrongs 
 he  had  suffered  were  now  understood  by  him  to  be 
 a  parable  of  the  sins  committed  by  Israel  against 
 Jehovah,  and  of  the  long  history  of  unfaithfulness  to 
 the  God  of  Jacob  who  had  brought  His  people  out  of 
 Egypt.  In  the  Commentary  it  will  be  seen  that  we 
 have  maintained  the  view  that  regards  the  marriage 
 with  Gomer  not  as  mere  allegory,  but  as  historic  fact. 
 The  opinion  there  adopted  is  that  of  Duhm  (Theologie 
 der  Propheten,  p.  82),  Wellhausen,  and  Nowack,  and 
 has  also  been  followed  by  Mr.  W.  R.  Smith.  In  the 
 second  part  of  this  collection  of  prophecies  it  will  be 
 seen  that  Israel's  unfaithfulness  to  Jehovah,  which  is 
 the  central  theme,  falls  into  two  clearly  marked  types. 
 
 (1)  Unfaithfulness  in  political  relations.  From 
 2  Kings  xv.  19,  20  we  learn  that  Menahem  purchased 
 immunity  from  the  attacks  of  Pul  (Tiglath-pileser  II.) 
 by  paying  a  tribute  of  1,000  talents  of  silver.  This 
 event  may  probably  be  assigned  to  about  738  B.C.,  and 
 is  confirmed  by  the  mention  in  Tiglath-pileser's  records 
 of  Menahem  of  Samaria  in  a  list  of  monarchs  who  paid 
 tribute  to  Assyria.  This  may,  with  considerable  likeli- 
 hood, be  assumed  to  have  taken  place  at  a  time  when  a 
 confederacy  organised  by  the  powerful  and  valiant 
 Azariah  (Uzziah),  king  of  Judak,  was  being  broken  up 
 by  the  rapid  successes  achieved  by  the  Assyrian 
 monarch.  Menahem  thus  inaugurated  a  fatal  policy  of 
 dependence  on  Assyria,  which  was  only  too  faithfully 
 imitated  by  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  and  opened  the  way 
 to  the  complete  subjugation  of  the  Western  Syro- 
 Palestinian  chain  of  kingdoms  and  states.  This  policy 
 was  carried  to  its  highest  pitch  in  the  reign  of  king 
 Hoshea.  This  monarch,  as  we  clearly  see  from  the 
 inscriptions  of  Tiglath-pileser  (G.  Smith,  Assyrian 
 Eponym  Canon,  pp.  123,  4),  obtained  his  elevation  to 
 power  by  the  aid  of  Assyria,  and  paid  tribute  to 
 Assyria  as  a  humble  vassal.  But  Hoshea  could  not 
 have  maintained  his  position  long  under  such  condi- 
 tions. He  had  to  reckon  with  a  powerful  party  in 
 Israel  who  aimed  at  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  Assyria 
 by  courting  an  alliance  with  Egypt,  and  at  length  he 
 felt  compelled  to  adopt  their  views,  and  play  a  double 
 part  between  these  two  world-powers.  But  all  this 
 policy  of  subservience  to  foreign  empires  was  in 
 flagrant  violation  of  the  old  theocratic  principle.  To 
 ike  mind  of  the  prophet  it  was  treacherous  abandon- 
 ment of  Israel's  God,  and  with  scathing  words  he 
 denounced  the  unfaithfulness  of  Ephraim  to  Jehovah, 
 the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  leader  of  Israel's  armies,  and 
 the  supreme  protector  of  their  soil.  Ephraim  is  com- 
 pared to  a  silly  dove  hovering  between  Egypt  aud 
 Assyria  (chap.  vii.  11,  comp.  chap.  v.  13).  "A  covenant 
 is  made  with  Assyria  aud  oil  is  carried  to  Egypt" 
 (chap.  xi.  1).  "  Strangers  have  devoured  his  strength, 
 and  he  knoweth  it  not "  (chap.  vii.  9).  It  was  the  aim 
 •of  these  stern  denunciations  to,  lead  Israel   back  to 
 
 faithful  dependence  on  the  God  of  Jacob,  that  they 
 might  "  return  to  Jehovah  their  God "  and  confess 
 with  penitence :  "  Asshur  shall  not  save  us "  (chap. 
 xiv.  1—3). 
 
 (2)  Unfaithfulness  shown  in  idolatry.  The  worship 
 of  the  true  God  had  been  degraded  in  the  northern 
 kingdom  into  the  calf-worship  erected  by  Jeroboam  I. 
 into  a  state-religion.  The  step  from  the  calf-worship 
 to  the  Baal-worship  of  the  Canaanites  was  an  easy  one. 
 The  latter,  indeed,  had  long  exercised  its  fatal  seduc- 
 tions upon  the  Hebrew  race.  Jehovah  was  even  called 
 by  the  name  of  Baal,  as  Hebrew  proper  names,  closely 
 analogous  to  Phoenician,  clearly  testify;  and  the  God 
 of  Israel  was  thus  in  reality  worshipped  in  local  shrines 
 with  all  the  loathsome  accompaniments  of  licentious 
 excess  (see  chaps,  ii.  13,  16,  17,  iv.  12 — 14,  ix.  10,  &c. ; 
 comp.  Introduction  to  Amos),  and  hence  there  resulted 
 a  hideous  blending  of  a  foreign  coitus  with  a  national 
 religion.  This  idolatry  was  regarded  by  Hosea,  as  it 
 was  by  Elijah,  and  afterwards  by  Isaiah,  as  treachery 
 to  the  pure  and  Holy  God  of  Israel.  It  was  the  aim  of 
 the  prophet  to  awaken  a  yearning  for  the  olden  time 
 and  the  old  covenant-relations  when  "  by  a  prophet 
 Jehovah  led  Israel  out  of  Egypt,"  so  that  the  nation 
 might  be  brought  to  make  the  solemn  vow,  "  We  will 
 say  no  more  to  the  work  of  our  hands,  Ye  are  our  gods  " 
 (chaps,  xii.  13,  xiv.  3). 
 
 The  latter  aspect  of  Hosea's  prophecy  is  highly  im- 
 portant. Some  modern  critics  attempt  to  represent 
 Amos  and  Hosea  as  epoch-making  in  the  sense  of 
 introducing  entirely  new  religious  conceptions.  But 
 this  is  an  unwarrantable  inference.  The  language 
 clearly  points  in  the  opposite  direction.  Hosea  recog- 
 nises what  all  Israel  likewise  recognised  from  the  days 
 of  Aliah  to  those  of  Hezekiah,  that  an  old  order  and 
 system  of  worship  existed  (chaps,  viii.  11 — 14,  xii.  9, 
 10,  13),  and  to  this  they  were  summoned  to  return.  If 
 this  common  ground  did  not  exist,  on  what  basis  could 
 the  prophet's  appeal  to  the  uatioual  conscience  rest  ? 
 
 Was  this  appeal  in  vain  ?  We  are  disposed  to  think 
 that  a  considerable  awakening  of  Israel's  slumbering 
 religious  life  was  the  result.  The  brighter  visions  of 
 the  concluding  strophes  (chap,  xiv.)  might  seem  to 
 indicate,  when  connected  with  a  phrase  in  2  Kings 
 xvii.  2,  that  even  in  the  worldly  heart  of  king  Hoshea 
 a  change  had  been  wrought  by  the  exhortations  of  the 
 prophet.  In  the  kingdom  of  Judah  the  policy  and 
 utterances  of  his  younger  contemporary,  Isaiah,  were 
 profoundly  moulded  by  the  words  of  Ephraim's  great 
 preacher  of  repentance,  and  more  than  a  century  after 
 the  language  of  Jeremiah  shows  traces  of  the  same 
 influence. 
 
 We  have  seen  that  the  oracles  of  Hosea  ai-e  linked 
 by  one  dominant  conception  arising  out  of  his  personal 
 history.  These  writings,  like  the  "  Faust "  of  Goethe, 
 are  fragmentary  in  character,  and  were  composed  at 
 intervals  extending  over  a  large  part  of  the  prophet's 
 lifetime. 
 
 An  exact  chronological  arrangement  of  the  prophecies 
 of  Hosea  is,  from  the  conditions  of  the  case,  impossible. 
 They  may,  however,  with  some  probability,  be  divided 
 according  to  their  general  contents  as  follows : — 
 
 I.  Chaps,  i — iii.  (written  in  the  closing  years  of 
 the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II.,  as  is  shown  by  the 
 references  to  the  "  house  of  Jehu"  in  chap.  i.  4). — 
 Descriptive  of  the  unfaithfulness  of  Hosea's  wife 
 as  figurative  of  Israel's  sin. 
 
 II.  Chaps,  iv. — xiv. — A  series  of  discourses  (belong- 
 ing  to  a  later  period),  in  which  the  key-note  of 
 
 412 
 
IIOSKA. 
 
 Israel's  fidelity  to  Jehovah,  lior  Lord,  constantly 
 recurs. 
 I  iii]'  iv. — Moral  degradation  and  idolatrous  corrup- 
 tion of  people  and  priests. 
 Chaps,  v.,  vi.   (Tiglath-pileser'a  invasion  |. —  I  lemorali 
 sation  of  nobles  and  priests  in  Jndah  and  ESphraim 
 Their  repentance  is  8  hollow  one,  .-is  is  proved  by 
 i  he  murders  in  i  Ulead. 
 
 is.  vii.,  viii.    (Hoshea's   reign). — The  drunken- 
 
 ■  .I  the  princes,  and  the  foolish  alliances  with 
 
 j  ria    or    Bgypt.       Ldolatrone    corruption    of 
 
 Ephraim  and  unfaithfulness  to  Jehovah. 
 
 Chaps,  ix.— xi. — Divine    chastisemenl    and    Divine 
 
 pleading. 
 
 ps.  \ii. — xiv. — The  teachings  of  patriarchal  Ins. 
 tory.     Lasl  words  of  rebuke  and  anal  hope. 
 li  has  been  well  observed  thai  Hosea  is  "a  man  of 
 amotion   rather  than  of  logic,  a  poet  rather  than  a 
 
 preacher,"  in  this  reaped  standing  in  contrast  with 
 Amos,  the  prophet  of  irell-ordared  argument.  Justice 
 in  the  key  note  of  the  denunciations  of  Amos;  love, 
 outraged  love,  is  the  key-note  of  Qosea's  pleading.  And 
 wiili  what  a  wealth  of  resonroe  the  pleading  is  en- 
 forced !  "The  language  of  the  prophet,  aays  Eachhorn, 
 "resembles  a  garland  of  divers  flowers;  images  are 
 woven  in  images,  similes  strung  to  similes,  metaphors 
 ranged  on  metaphors."  And  the  rapidity  of  transition 
 fro ii. ■  to  another,  especially  when  confused  by  corrup- 
 tion of  tin-  text,  occasionally  renders  the  path  of  inter- 
 pretation perilous  and  uncertain  <-.'/.,  chaps,  vi.  9,  ix.  12). 
 for  farther  information  we  would  refer  tin'  reader  to 
 11m-  admirable  chapter  in  W.  It.  Smith's  Prophett  of 
 I  rael, pp.  1-V.i  -li'.!i.  and  to  Prof.  Davidson's  article  on 
 '•  Rosea  in  the  Expositor  1879).  The  many  poini 
 contaci  between  Bosea  and  the  Pentateuch  are  clearly 
 indicated  inOnrtiss'  Liriii,      ;         ,  pp.  it.j — 1*1. 
 
 413 
 
HOSEA. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.—'1'  The  word  of  the 
 Lord  that  came  unto  Hosea,  the  son  of 
 Beeri,  in  the  days  of  Uzziah,  Jotham, 
 Ahaz,  and  Hezekiak,  kings  of  Judah, 
 and  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam  the  son  of 
 Joash,  king  of  Israel. 
 
 <2>  The  beginning  of  the  word  of  the 
 Lord  by  Hosea.  And  the  Lord  said  to 
 Hosea,  Go,  take  unto  thee  a  wife  of 
 whoredoms  and  children  of  whoredoms: 
 for  the  land  hath  committed 
 whoredom,  departing  from  the  Lord 
 
 (3<  So  he  went  and  took  Gomer  the 
 daughter  of  Diblaim  ;  which  conceived, 
 and  bare  him  a  son.  (4)  And  the  Lord 
 said  unto  him,  Call  his  name  Jezreel ; 
 for  yet  a  little  while,  and  I  will 1  avenge 
 
 great 
 
 2  Tbat  is,  Not  hav- 
 ing obtained 
 
 mercy. 
 
 3  Hcb.,  /  tofU  not 
 add  any  man  to. 
 
 4  Or,  that  T  should 
 nltooetlier  pardon 
 them. 
 
 the  blood  of  Jezreel  upon  the  house  of 
 Jehu,  and  will  cause  to  cease  the  king- 
 dom of  the  house  of  Israel.  (5)  And  it 
 shall  come  to  pass  at  that  day,  that  I 
 will  break  the  bow  of  Israel  in  the 
 valley  of  Jezreel. 
 
 (6>  And  she  conceived  again,  and  bare 
 a  daughter.  And  God  said  unto  him, 
 Call  her  name  2  Lo-ruhamah  :  for  3 1 
 will  no  more  have  mercy  upon  the  house 
 of  Israel ;  +  but  I  will  utterly  take  them 
 away.  '7)  But  I  will  have  mercy  upon 
 the  house  of  Judah,  and  will  save  them 
 by  the  Lord  their  God,  and  will  not 
 save  them  by  bow,  nor  by  sword,  nor  by 
 battle,  by  horses,  nor  by  horsemen. 
 
 (8>  Now  when    she   had  weaned  Lo- 
 
 in In  the  days  of  Uzziah. — On  the  historical  ques- 
 tions involved  in  this  verse,  see  Introduction. 
 
 (-)  The  beginning  of  the  word  .  .  . — More  cor- 
 rectly. In  the  beginning  when  the  Lord  spohe  to  Hosea, 
 the  Lord  said   ... 
 
 Go,  take  unto  thee  a  wife  of  whoredoms. — 
 How  are  we  to  interpret  the  prophet's  marriage  to  the 
 licentious  Gomer  ?  Is  it  an  historic  occurrence,  the  only 
 too  real  tragedy  of  the  author's  personal  experience, 
 employed  for  the  purpose  of  illustration  ?  (Comp.  the 
 domestic  incident,  Isa.  viii.  1 — i.)  Or  is  this  opening 
 chapter  a  merely  allegorical  representation,  designed  to 
 exhibit  in  vivid  colours  the  terrible  moral  condition  of 
 Israel  ?  (Comp.  the  symbolic  actions  described  in 
 Jeremiah  xxv.  15 — 29 ;  Ezek.  iv.  4 — 6  ;  and  perhaps 
 Isaiah  xx.  1 — 3.)  Able  writers  have  advocated  each  of 
 these  opposed  theories  ;  but  in  our  opinion  the  balance 
 of  evidence  inclines  to  the  former  view,  which  regards 
 the  events  as  historic.  The  farther  question  arises, 
 Was  Gomer  guilty  before  or  after  the  marriage  ? 
 The  former  supposition  involves  the  harshness  of  con- 
 ceiving such  a  marriage  as  the  result  of  a  Divine 
 command;  but  the  latter  supposition  admits  of  a 
 satisfactory  interpretation.  The  wickedness  which 
 after  marriage  revealed  itself  to  the  prophet's  agonised 
 heart  was  transfigured  to  the  inspired  seer  into  an 
 emblem  of  his  nation's  wrong  to  Jehovah.  In  the  light 
 of  this  great  idea,  the  prophet's  past  came  before  him 
 in  changed  aspect.  As  he  reflected  on  the  marvellous 
 .symbolic  adaptation  of  this  episode  to  the  terrible 
 spiritual  needs  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  which  he 
 was  called  by  God  to  supply,  the  Divine  purpose  which 
 shaped  his  sorrowful  career  became  interpreted  to  his 
 glowing  consciousness  as  a  Divine  command — "  Go, 
 take  unto  thyself  a  wife  of  whoredoms."  He  had 
 suffered  acutely,  but  the  agony  was  part  of  God's 
 arrangement,  and  the  very  love  that  was   repeatedly 
 
 outraged  proves  ultimately  to  have  been  suggested  by 
 a  Divine  monition. 
 
 Children  of  whoredoms.— Children  of  Hosea's 
 marriage.  The  whole  result  of  his  family  history  was 
 included  in  this  divinely  ordered  plan. 
 
 (3)  Gomer  the  daughter  of  Diblaim.— Gomer 
 means  complete,  or  perfect,  but  whether  in  external 
 beauty  or  in  wickedness  of  character  is  not  easy  to 
 determine. 
 
 (*)  Jezreel  means  "  God  shall  sow."  The  prophet 
 had  already  discovered  the  faithlessness  of  his  spouse, 
 and  that  his  married  life  was  symbolic  of  his  nation's 
 history.  Observe  the  resemblance  in  sound  between 
 Jezreel  and  Israel,  and  the  historic  associations  of  the 
 former.  It  was  the  name  of  a  very  fertile  plain  in  the 
 tribe  of  Issachar,  which  was  many  times  the  scene  of 
 terrible  struggles  (Judg.  iv.  13,  vi.  33,  vii.  1;  1  Sam. 
 xxix.  1).  It  was  also  the  name  of  a  town  associated 
 with  the  guilt  of  Ahab  and  Jezebel  in  bringing  about 
 the  murder  of  Naboth  (1  Kings  xxi.),  and  with  the 
 final  extinction  of  Ahab's  house  by  Jehu  (2  Kings 
 ix.  21,  x.  11). 
 
 (5)  I  will  break  the  bow  of  Israel  in  the  valley 
 of  Jezreel. — Jehu  was  to  be  punished  for  the  assassina- 
 tion of  Ahab's  descendants.  Though  the  destruction 
 of  the  house  of  Ahab  was  divinely  appointed,  its  value 
 was  neutralised  by  Jehu's  tolerance  of  the  calf- 
 worship. 
 
 (6)  Lo-ruhamah. — "  Unloved,"  or,  perhaps,  "  un- 
 pitied."  The  prophet's  growing  despondency  about  his 
 country's  future  is  revealed  in  her  name.  The  rest  of 
 the  verse  is  best  rendered — For  I  will  no  longer  have 
 pity  on  the  house  of  Israel,  that  I  should  indeed  for- 
 give them. 
 
 (")  Will  save  them  .  .  . — We  may  consider  this 
 verse  to  have  been  literally  fulfilled  in  the  destruction 
 of  Sennacherib's  army.     The  prophetic  outlook  autici- 
 
 4H 
 
A  Promise  of  Restoration. 
 
 HOSEA,    II. 
 
 The  Idolatry  of '  t/m  People. 
 
 rnhamah,  slif  conceived,  and  hare  a  son. 
 TO  Then  said  Ood,  Call  his  name  l  Lo- 
 aniini :  for  ye  are  not  my  people,  and 
 1  will  not  be  your  0»d.  ""'Yet  the 
 number  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall 
 
 be  as  the  Band  of  the  sea,  which  cannol 
 be  measured  nor  numbered;  "and  it 
 shall  come  bo  pass,  thai  -in  the  place 
 where  it  was  said  unto  them,  Ye  arc  not 
 my  people,  there  it  shall  be  said  unto 
 them.  Ye  are  the  sons  of  the  living  God. 
 ""  "Then  shall  the  children  of  Judah 
 and  the  children  of  Israel  be  gathered 
 together,  ami  appoint  themselves  one 
 bead,  and  they  shall  come  up  out  of 
 the  land:  for  great  shall  be  the  day  of 
 Jezreel. 
 
 CHAPTER   IL— (»  Say  ye  unto  your 
 brethren,  8Ammi;  and  to  your  sisters, 
 
 l  Timt  i».  9M  my 
 people. 
 
 a  Roiu.  ».  25.  M. 
 
 •     or.    unltad     of 
 that. 
 
 b  J.t.  .".   i 
 314  37. 
 
 .1    Thai    Is,    My 
 
 obtained 
 
 i    I s:t.  .v>.  I. 
 
 ■ 
 e  Kick.  16.  t. 
 j  ll'-b.,  drinks. 
 
 r,    Hob.,   trail  a 
 
 *  Ruhamah.  (2>  Plead  with  your  mother, 
 plead:  for 'she  18  not  my  wife,  neither 
 am  I  her  husband :  let  her  therefore 
 put  away  her  ■'whoredoms  out  of  net 
 sight,  and  her  adulteries  from  between 
 her  Iti  a-ts  ;  '  '■>  lest  I  strip  her  naked, and 
 set  her  as  in  the  day  that  she  was  'born, 
 ami  make  her  as  a  wilderness,  and  set 
 her  like  a  dry  land,  and  slay  her  with 
 thirst.  W  And  I  will  not  have'  mercy 
 upon  her  children;  for  they  be  the 
 children  of  whoredoms.  (5)  For  their 
 mother  hath  played  the  harlot :  she 
 Hi  a  I  conceived  them  hath  done  shame- 
 fully :  for  she  said,  I  will  go  after  my 
 lovers,  that  give  me  my  bread  and 
 my  water,  my  wool  and  my  flax, 
 mine  oil  and  my  -"drink. 
 
 M>  Therefore,  behold,  I  will  hedge  up 
 
 thy  way  with  thorns,  and  'make  a  wall. 
 
 fiatee  the  foot  that  when  Jodafa  is  captive  and  exiled, 
 isr  restoration  by  the  divine  hand  would  take  Che  form 
 of  mercy  and  forgiveness.  i<  tamp.  Pa  txxvi,  tea.  xl.  1.  -.) 
 (9)  Closes  the  chapter  in  the  Hebrew  text.    The  epi- 
 
 sodo  above  described  is.  in  sonio  particulars,  the  model 
 for  Ezek.  .wi.  (ionior's  child  Lo  '  Ammi  (not  my 
 people),  is  type  of  utter  and  final  repudiation. 
 
 1 "  An  abrupt  transition  from  dark  presage  to  bright 
 anticipation.  The  covenant -blessings  promised  to 
 diam  shall  yet  be  realised. 
 
 "'  Shall  come  up  out  of  the   land.— Better, 
 
 sh.tll  go  up  out  of,  &0..8  phrase  frequently  Occurring  ill 
 Scripture,  to  denote  the  marching  forth  to  war.  Israel 
 shall  then  be  united.  The  envy  of  Israel  and  Judah 
 shall  cease.  (Is.  xi.  12,  13;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  24,  xxxvii.  2-4). 
 A  world-wide  dominion  shall  l>o  established  under  the 
 restored  theocracy.  tTmler  the  word  "  land,"  no  refer- 
 ence is  made  by  the  prophet  to  exile,  either  in  Babylon, 
 Assyria,  or  Egypt,  but  Palestine  is  evidently  meant. 
 Then  the  true  Israel,  having  chosen  their  true  king,  shall 
 demonstrate  the  greatness  of  the  day  of  Jezreel.  The 
 brothers  and  sisters  will  then  drop  "the  enrse  involved 
 in  their  names,  and  recognise  the  Divine  proprietor- 
 ship of  Jehovah  and  the  abundance  of  His  pity. 
 
 II. 
 
 1  Gives  the  explanation  of  the  strange  enigma  of 
 
 the    first   chapter.       Hosea's  d stie   misery  and    his 
 
 symbolically  named  children  pass  ont  of  sight,  and 
 Jehovah  is  represented  as  taking  op  the  language  of 
 
 the  prophet,  and  uttering  His  terrible  and  yearning  cry 
 
 over  Israel,  who  had  been  unfaithful  to  Him.  and  who. 
 bj  her  idolatries,  had  forfeited  all  claim  to  His  cove- 
 nanted love. 
 
 (->  Plead  with  your  mother  .  .  .—Contend,  or 
 plead  in  judgment.     Let  the  awakened  conscience  of 
 
 the  present  generation  rise  up  in  judgment  with  the 
 nation  as  a  whole.    By  "  mother  "  we  are  to  understand 
 
 the  nation  Israel,  viewed  ae  a  collective  abstract;  and 
 
 by  the  "children"  (verse  t)  the  inhabitants  who  are 
 
 units  in  the  total  aggregate.  Ammi  and  Itiihamah 
 without  the  negative  prefix,  show  that  this  awakening 
 of  conscience  has  given  them  back  their  privileges. 
 
 Bender.  That  she  may  pui  uumy    hi  r 
 
 from  her  face  :  i.e.,  her  meretricious  guiles,  her  Unblush- 
 ing idolatry,  her  voluptuous  service  of  gods  that  are 
 no  God.  This  strong  imago  was  constantly  on  the  lips 
 of  I  ho  prophets,  and  had  been  burned  by  cruel  sorrow 
 into  the  very  heart  of  Hosea.  It  acquired  portentous 
 moaning  in  the  hideous  impurities  of  tho  worship  of 
 Baal-pcor  and  Ashtoreth,  against  which  the  Jehovah 
 worship  was  a  tremendous  protest. 
 
 (')  Set  her  .  .  .— Beduce  Israel  to  the  destitute 
 exposed  condition  in  which  she  struggled  into  being  in 
 Egyptian  bondage,  and  endured  the  wanderings  and 
 terrors  of  the  wilderness.  Probably  we  have  here  an 
 allusion  to  the  custom  of  female  infautieide.  which  still 
 prevails  very  widely  in  tho  East,  as  it  did  in  theancicnt 
 world,  the  child  being  simply  abandoned  to  death  ou 
 the  day  that  she  was  born.    (Comp.  Ezek.  xvi.  t  | 
 
 (•'»  Her  children.  —  The  children  are  like  their 
 mother:  not  only  are  they  bora  of  doubtful  parentage, 
 but  are  personally  defiled.  Not  only  is  idolatry  enshrined 
 in  the  national  sanctuary  and  the  royal  palace,  but  the 
 people  love  lo  have  it  so.  They  endorse  the  degrada- 
 tion of  their  mother. 
 
 (8)  For  their  mother  hath  played  .  .  .—Wo 
 might  render,  with  Ewald,  yea.  their  mother  hath 
 played  .  .  .  This  would  more  easily  account  for  the 
 change  of  person  ("  your  "...  "  their  "),  which  is,  how- 
 ever, very  frequent  in  Hebrew  prophecy.  The  next 
 "for  "  introduces  a  parenthetical  clause — "  her  lovers  " 
 — a  word  used  in  a  bad  sense.  The  aggravation  of  her 
 shame  is  that  she  seeks  them,  and  not  they  her.  She 
 attributes  to  these  idol-gods  all  those  temporal  benefits 
 which  theocratic  history  shows  to  have  been  Jehovah's 
 gift,  and  the  consequence  of  loyalty  to  Him.  Tho 
 modern  analogue  of  this  siu  of  Israel  is  tho  use  of 
 "  Fortune.''  "  Nature."  "  Destiny."  "  Impersonal  Law." 
 and  even  "  Humanity,"  as  tho  giver  of  all  good  things, 
 as  though  it  were  superstitious  or  heretical  to  speak  of 
 God  as  the  giver. 
 
 (6-")  Contains  a  brief  introductory  prelude,  snmmariz- 
 ing  tho  general  contents  of  verses  8 — 23.  Jehovah 
 addresses  the  adulterous  wife:  "I  will  erect  impass- 
 able barriers  that  shall  pierce  and  mangle  her  flesh. 
 The  path  of  evil  shall  be  a  path  of  thorns." 
 
 415 
 
God's  Judgments 
 
 HOSEA,   II. 
 
 against  the  People. 
 
 that  slie  shall  not  find  her  paths. 
 <7>  And  she  shall  follow  after  her  lovers, 
 but  she  shall  not  overtake  them;  and 
 she  shall  seek  them,  but  shall  not  find 
 them  :  then  shall  she  say,  I  will  go  and 
 return  to  my  first  husband ;  for  then 
 was  it  better  with  me  than  now.  <8>  For 
 she  did  not  know  that  I  gave  her  corn, 
 and  J  wine,  and  oil,  and  multiplied  her 
 silver  and  gold, ~  ivhich  they  prepared  for 
 Baal.  <9)  Therefore  will  I  return,  and 
 take  away  my  corn  in  the  time  thereof, 
 and  my  wine  in  the  season  thereof,  and 
 will 3  recover  my  wool  and  my  flax  given 
 to  cover  her  nakedness.  (10)  And  now 
 will  I  discover  her  4  lewdness  in  the 
 sight  of  her  lovers,  and  none  shall 
 deliver  her  out  of  mine  hand.  (U)  I  will 
 also  cause  all  her  mirth  to   cease,  her 
 
 1  Hcb.,  new  wine. 
 
 2   Or,  wherewith 
 they  made  Dual. 
 
 3  Or,  take  away. 
 
 4    Heb.,  follii,  or. 
 
 vtlhuiit. 
 
 5  Heb.,  make  deso- 
 late. 
 
 Or,  fnendly. 
 
 7    Heb.,  to   her 
 heart. 
 
 feast  days,  her  new  moons,  and  her 
 sabbaths,  and  all  her  solemn  feasts. 
 ^'And  I  will  5  destroy  her  vines  and 
 her  fig  trees,  whereof  she  hath  said, 
 These  are  my  rewards  that  my  lovers 
 have  given  me  :  and  I  will  make  them 
 a  forest,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall 
 eat  them.  (13,And  I  will  visit  upon  ber 
 the  days  of  Baalim,  wherein  she  burned 
 incense  to  them,  and  she  decked  herself 
 with  her  earrings  and  her  jewels,  and 
 she  went  after  her  lovers,  and  forgat 
 me,  saith  the  Loed. 
 
 (u)  Therefore,  behold,  I  will  allure  her, 
 and  bring  her  into  the  wilderness,  and 
 speak  6  7  comfortably  unto  her.  <15>  And 
 I  will  give  her  her  vineyards  from 
 thence,  and  the  valley  of  Achor  for  a  door 
 of  hope :  and  she  shall  sing  there,  as  in 
 
 Hedge  up  .  .  .  and  make  a  wall. — In  accord- 
 ance with  most  Hebrew  texts,  the  literal  rendering  is, 
 wall  up  her  wall.  Here,  again,  we  have  a  sudden 
 change  of  person. 
 
 She  shall  .  .  . — She  may  anticipate  in  her  exile 
 closer  proximity  to  her  idol-lovers,  but  in  respect  of 
 national  prosperity  or  religious  satisfaction  she  will 
 make  complete  mistake. 
 
 (8)  Translate  in  the  present  tense :  and  she  knows  not 
 that  it  is  I  who  gave,  etc.  This  yearning  of  Jehovah 
 over  the  results  of  his  chastisements  is  a  wonderful 
 anticipation  of  Luke  xv. 
 
 Corn,  and  wine  .  .  . — Corn,  wine,  and  oil  are 
 here  mentioned  as  the  chief  indigenous  products  of 
 Canaan  (Gen.  xxvii.  28;  Deut.  xxxiii.  28,  &c).  Gold 
 was  largely  imported  from  Ophir  (probably  the  west 
 coast  of  India,  where  Tamil  is  spoken :  Delitzsch, 
 Genesis,  pp.  258 — 9.  On  the  other  hand,  Fried.  De- 
 litzsch, in  his  work  on  the  Site  of  Paradise,  p.  99,  holds 
 that  Ophir  was  a  coast  or  island  between  the  north 
 end  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  the  south-west  corner  of 
 Arabia).  Silver  was  obtained  from  Tarshish,  through 
 Phoenician  markets.  Observe  that  Israel  at  this  time 
 abounded  in  the  possession  of  precious  metals.  (Comp. 
 Isa.  ii.  7 ;  Wilkins,  Phoenicia  and  Israel,  pp.  Ill — 116.) 
 
 Which  they  .  .  .  Baal. — They  have  transformed 
 Jehovah's  gift  into  an  image  of  Baal.  Baal-worship 
 was  anterior  to  calf-worship  (Judges  ii.,  iii.,  viii.), 
 and  was  diametrically  opposed  to  Jehovah-worship,  as 
 gross  Pantheism  is  to  pure  and  stern  Monotheism. 
 
 <9>  Therefore  will  I  return,  and  take  . .  .—The 
 Hebrew  form  of  saying,  "  Therefore  I  will  take  back." 
 Jehovah  resumes  all  that  had  been  misappropriated. 
 The  king  of  Assyria  (Tiglath-pileser,  734  B.C.)  was 
 the  agency  whereby  this  was  to  be  accomplished. 
 (Comp.  Isa.  x.  5.)  The  raiment  (wool  and  flax)  was 
 Jehovah's  gift  to  cover  her  nakedness,  i.e.,  to  meet  the 
 actual  necessities  of  Israel.  This  He  will  tear  away, 
 and  the  idol-gods  whom  she  has  courted  shall  see  her 
 prostration,  and  their  own  helplessness  to  deliver  or 
 relieve. 
 
 (U)  Mirth  .  .  .  Cease.— The  mirth  is  here  indica- 
 tive of  the  general  character  of  the  ceremonial — cer- 
 tainly not  in  itself  a  bad  sign.  David  danced  before  the 
 Lord,  and  justified  the  act.     No  one  was  to  appear  with 
 
 sad  countenance  before  Jehovah,  any  more  than  be- 
 fore an  earthly  potentate.   (Comp.  Nchem.  ii.  2.) 
 
 The  "  feast  days  "  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
 "  solemn  feasts."  The  latter  term  is  more  generic  in 
 Hebrew,  while  the  former  denoted  the  three  great 
 festivals  of  the  year  (especially  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
 nacles). These  feasts,  which  Jeroboam  I.  had  instituted, 
 are  not  spoken  of  in  themselves  as  sinful. 
 
 (1-)  Destroy. — For  this  read,  with  margin,  make  de- 
 solate. The  vine  and  fig  tree  are  employed  as  the 
 symbol  of  possession  and  peace  (1  Kings  iv.  25 ;  Isa. 
 xxxvi.  lb',  &c).  The  desolation  may  be  by  fire  or  drought. 
 
 Make  them  a  forest.— The  LXX.  render  make 
 them  a  testimony,  reading  in  the  Hebrew  text  V'ed 
 instead  of  Vya'ar.  The  latter  certainly  yields  a  more 
 vivid  sense.  The  rest  of  the  verse  in  the  LXX.  is 
 amplified :  "  And  the  wild  beasts  of  the  field,  and  the 
 birds  of  the  heaven,  and  the  creeping  things  of  the 
 earth  shall  devour  them."  While  no  candid  critic  will 
 deny  the  possibility  that  such  words  may  have  origin- 
 ally stood  in  the  text,  it  is  a,  priori  more  probable  that 
 it  is  a  gloss  from  verse  18  (verse  20  in  LXX.).  Even 
 so  late  as  in  Hadrian's  days  wild  beasts  rushed  in  upon 
 the  blood-stained  ruins  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 (13)  The  days  of  Baalim.— The  plural  Baalim 
 refers  to  the  worship  of  the  same  deity  in  different  places, 
 with  distinguishing  local  characteristics.  Thus  there 
 was  a  Baal-Zephon,  a  Baal-Hermon,  a  Baal-Gad,  &c. 
 (See  W.  R.  Smith,  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church, 
 p.  229.)  "  The  days  of  Baalim  "  mean  the  whole  period 
 during  which  Baal  has  been  worshipped  by  the  faith- 
 less Israel. 
 
 (14)  Therefore. — This  word  does  not  make  God's 
 gentle  treatment  a  consequence  of  the  sin  of  Israel. 
 Some  prefer  to  render  by  nevertheless,  but  the  Hebrew 
 word  lakhen  is  sometimes  used  in  making  strong 
 transitions,  linked,  it  is  true,  with  what  precedes,  but 
 not  as  an  inference.  (Comp.  Isa.  x.  24.)  Grace  trans- 
 forms her  suffering  into  discipline.  The  exile  in 
 Babylon  shafl  be  a  repetition  of  the  experiences  of  the 
 wilderness  in  which  she  was  first  espoused  to  Jehovah. 
 There  will  I  speak  to  her  heart;  i.e.,  comfortingly, 
 fovingly. 
 
 (15)  From  thence — i.e.,  away  from  thence,  meaning, 
 as   soon  as  she  has  left  the  wilderness  of  exile  and 
 
 416 
 
His  I'mmisea 
 
 HOSKA,    III. 
 
 of  Reconciliation. 
 
 the  days  of  heryoutli,  ami  as  in  the  daj 
 when  she  enme   ii[>  out  of  the  land  of 
 
 Egypt.    (":'  And  it  shall  be  at  thai  day, 
 
 sailh  the  Loid),  that  thou  shalt  call  me 
 'Ishi;  and  shalt  call  me  no  more  3Baali. 
 (l")  Poj  I  will  take  away  the  nanus  of 
 Baalim  out  of  her  mouth,  and  they  shall 
 no  more  In-  remembered  by  their  name. 
 11  And  in  that  day  will  I  make  a 
 ■covenant  for  them  with  the  beasts  of 
 the  field,  ami  with  the  fowls  of  heaven, 
 and  with  the  creeping  things  of  the 
 ground:  and  I  will  break  the  bow  ami 
 the  sword  and  the  battle  out  of  the 
 earth,  and  will  make  them  to  lie  down 
 safely.  C"1  And  I  will  betroth  thee 
 unto  me  for  ever;  yea,  I  will  betroth 
 line  unto  me  in  righteousness,  and  in 
 judgment,  and  in  lovingkimlness,  and  in 
 mercies.  (20)  I  will  even  betroth  thee 
 unto  me  in  faithfulness:  and  thou  shalt 
 know  the  Lord. 
 
 I  Tl.nl  I   . 
 
 ■j  Tiiat  It,  Xy  tori 
 
 I,    Rum.   9.   36;    I 
 Pet  I  m 
 
 3  nvt>.,  ofQrayca. 
 
 I  M.l...  Ulh.,-h 
 
 <21)Aml  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
 day,  I   will    hear,  saith   the  Lord,  I  will 
 
 hear  (In-  heavens,  and  they  shall  hear 
 
 the  earth  ;  '"'  and  the  earth  shall  hear 
 the  corn,  and  the  wine,  and  the  oil;   ami 
 
 they  shall  hear  JezreeL    <23>And  1  will 
 
 sow  her  unto  me  in  the  earth;  and  I 
 will  have  mercy  upon  her  that  had  not 
 obtained  mercy;  and  1  ''will  say  to  them 
 which  were  not  my  people,  Thou  art  my 
 people;  and  they  shall  say,  Thov  art 
 my  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  III.— W  Then  said  the 
 Lord  unto  me,  Go  yet,  love  a  woman 
 beloved  of  her  friend,  yet  an  adulteress, 
 according  to  the  love  of  the  Lord  to- 
 ward the  children  of  Israel,  who  look  to 
 other  gods,  and  love  flagons  sof  wine. 
 <-'  So  I  bought  her  to  me  for  fifteen 
 pieces  of  silver,  and  for  an  homer  of 
 barley, and  an  4half  homer  of  barley: 
 
 discipline,  Tho  valley  of  Achor  (or  trouble)  was 
 associated  with  the  disgrace  and  punishment  which 
 betel  Israel  on  her  first  entrance  into  Palestine  (Josh, 
 vii.  25, 26),  but  it  would  in  later  days  be  regarded  as 
 the  threshold  of  a  blessed  life.  The  sorrowful  aasocia- 
 of  the  nasi  were  to  be  illuminated  with  happy 
 anticipation. 
 
 Sing  may  suggest  a  reference  to  tlio  dances  and 
 responsive  songs  at  the  village  festivals,  as  well  as  to 
 the  triumphant  strains  of  Exod.  xv. 
 
 (16)  Baali.— The  buabandof  the  bride  was  frequently 
 called  her  "lord"  tlsa.  liv.  5;  Exod.  xxi.  22;  2  Sam.  xi. 
 26;  and  Joel  i.  8,  in  the  Heb.).  But  such  a  name-,  as 
 applied  to  Jehovah,  was  henceforth  to  bo  strictly 
 avoided,  on  account  of  its  idolatrous  associations. 
 
 (IS)  Make  a  covenant  .  .  .—Their  shall  be  har- 
 mony without  corresponding  to  the  moral  harmony 
 within.     The  brute  creation  shall  change  from  hostility 
 
 toman.  (Comp,  verse  L2;  so  also  Isa.  xi.  6 — 9.)  Ware 
 with  foreign  toes  shall  not  desolate  israelii  borders. 
 
 P>,  -'  Thru  Jehovah,  turning  again  to  the  wife  of  Sis 
 youth,  says  to  her,  ■■  /  wiU  betroth  Owe"  (as  at   the 
 
 Brat,    when    maiden    Undefiled),       Three    times    is    this 
 
 phrase  repeated.  "Righteousness"  and  "judgment" 
 indicate  the  equitable  terms  on  which  God  would 
 accept  the  penitent;  and  lest  this  thought  should  crush 
 
 her  with   fear.  "  lovingkindness"  and  "tender   m 
 follow;   and    leel    this   should   seem  too  good.    He  adds 
 
 ••  with  faithfulness  "  (to  myself). 
 I  will  botroth  thoo.—  It   is  in  the  betrothal   of 
 
 humanity  to  i  ,,„!  iu  Christ's  incarnation  that  the  human 
 
 race, which  hail  bo  deeply  revolted,  return--  to  Him, and 
 knows  the  Lord. 
 
 '-''    -■'■)  Will  hoar. —  More  correctly,  T  \oUX  ■ 
 
 ithe  prayer  of )  the  heat  m,    A  sublime  personification ! 
 
 Heaven  pleads  with  Jehovah,  the  earth   pleads  with 
 
 n,  ami  the   products  of  the  soil  plead  with  the 
 
 earth.      To   all    these    prayers  an   answer  is  vouchsafed. 
 
 Jehovah  answers  the  heavens  with  the  gifts  of  dew  and 
 
 rain,  wherewith  the  heavens  answer  the  cravings  of  the 
 earth,  and  the  earth  the  cravings  of  the  corn.  wine,  and 
 
 166  "7 
 
 oil.  And  these  last,  in  their  turn,  answer  the  wants  of 
 JezreeL a  name  which,  like  Achor.  is  to  he  invested  with 
 brighter  meanings.      It    is  to  represent  a  Divine  seed — 
 
 the  i pie  whom  the  Lord  hath  blessed.    (See  Stanley, 
 
 Lectures  on  the  Jewish  Church,  11.  Series.  Lecture  ,'1J 
 ad  fin,.,  where  this  idea  is  eloquently  set  forth. 1 
 
 >-' ;    St.    Caul    considers    this   great    prediction   to   be 
 
 truly  fulfilled  when,  l.v  the  acceptance  of  the  Divine 
 
 DO] f   Israel,  both  .lews  and  Gentiles  shall  lie  called 
 
 tho  children  of  the  living  God  (Rom.  ix.  25,  26  . 
 
 III. 
 
 We  must  assume  some  interval  to  have  elapsed  sinco 
 the  events  of  Hosea's  domestic  life,  detailed  in  chap.  i. 
 Meanwhile  the  immoralities  of  Gomer  have  continued. 
 
 She  at  length  abandons  the  home  of  her  lawful  husband, 
 and  cohabits  with  one  of  her  [overs.   At  this  point  comes 
 
 the  Divine  injunction  to  the  prophet. 
 
 (!)  Adultorcss.- The  woman  described  here  is  the 
 daughter  of  Dihlaim — beloved  of  her  friend;  better 
 rendered,  loved  by  another.  This  is  preferable  to  tho 
 LXX.,  "a  lover  of  evil."  which  is  based  on  a  different 
 
 reading  of  the  same  original  text.  Coiner  is  now  the 
 conculiine  slave  of  another — possibly  in  poor  and  desti- 
 tute   condition.      And   yet    the   prophets  love   for   her 
 
 is  like  Jehovah's   love    for  '-the  children   of   Israel, 
 
 even  when  they  are  turned  to  other  gods.  u,i,l  love 
 grape~edke»"  the  luscious  sacrificial  cakes  used  in 
 idolatrous  warship:  a  term  generally  descriptive  of 
 the  licentious  accompaniments  of  the  Aahtoreth  wor- 
 ship.   :<  lamp.  Jer.  vii.  is. , 
 
 <-''  Pieces  of  silver.— Shekels. 
 
 So  I  bought  her. — Gomer  was  treated  as  no 
 longer  a  wife,  hut  requiring  to  he  restored  to  such  a 
 position.     The  purchase  of  wives  is  still  a  very  eoiiimon 
 
 ice  in  the  East    (See  Henderson's  Commentary, 
 
 and  Dent.  x\i.  1  1.) 
 
 Half  homer  of  barley.— Half  a  homer  is  the 
 translation  given  to  the  Hebrew  word  lttlul.li,  which 
 
 occurs  only  in  this  passage.  This  rendering  is  founded 
 on  the  interpretation  half  a  eor  (cor  =  homer),  which  is 
 
Israel's  Repentance. 
 
 HOSEA,  IV. 
 
 The  Wickedness  of  t/is  People. 
 
 <3>  And  I  said  unto  her,  Thou  shalt "  abide 
 for  me  many  days  ;  thou  shalt  not  play 
 the  harlot,  and  thou  shalt  not  be  for 
 another  man  :  so  will  I  also  be  for 
 thee. 
 
 (■*)  For  the  children  of  Israel  shall 
 abide  many  days  without  a  king,  and 
 without  a  prince,  and  without  a  sacri- 
 fice, and  without  J  an  image,  and  with- 
 out an  ephod,  and  without  teraphim : 
 <5>  Afterward  shall  the  children  of  Israel 
 return,  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God, 
 and  h  David  their  king ;  and  shall  fear 
 the  Lord  and  his  goodness  in  the  'latter 
 days. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 cir.  7S0. 
 
 a  Dcut.  21. 13. 
 
 1  Hel)..  a  standing, 
 or,  stutue. 
 
 b  Jer.  30.9;  Ezek. 
 
 34.23. 
 
 2  Hel).,  bloods. 
 
 CHAPTER  IV.— N  Hear  the  word  of 
 the  Lord,  ye  children  of  Israel:  for  the 
 Lord  hath  a  ''controversy  with  the 
 inhabitants  of  the  land,  because  there  is 
 no  truth,  nor  mercy,  nor  knowledge  of 
 God  in  the  land.  <2>  By  swearing,  and 
 lying,  and  killing,  and  stealing,  and 
 committing  adultery,  they  break  out, 
 and  2  blood  toucheth  blood.  <3>  There- 
 fore shall  the  land  mourn,  and  every  one 
 that  dwelleth  therein  shall  languish, 
 with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  with 
 the  fowls  of  heaven ;  yea,  the  fishes 
 of  the  sea  also  shall  be  taken  away. 
 W  Yet  let   no  man  strive,  nor  reprove 
 
 given  in  all  the  Greek  versions  except  the  LXX.  The 
 latter  read  "  and  a  nebhel  of  wine,"  the  nebhel  being 
 probably  a  skin  bottle  of  a  certain  liquid  capacity. 
 This  pre-supposes  a  different  Hebrew  text.  From 
 2  Kings  vii.  1  we  may  infer  that  an  ephah  of  barley  at 
 ordinary  times  would  cost  one  shekel  (coinp.  Amos  viii. 
 5),  and  since  a  homer  contains  ten  ephahs,  the  price 
 paid  by  the  prophet  was  thirty  shekels  altogether. 
 Reckoning  a  shekel  as  =  two  drachms  (so  LXX.),  or 
 2s.  6d.,  the  price  paid  by  Hosea  was  about  £3  15s. 
 According  to  Exod.  xxi.  32,  this  was  the  compensation 
 enacted  for  a  slave  gored  to  death  by  a  bull,  and  is  a 
 hint  of  the  degradation  to  which  Gomer  had  sunk. 
 
 (3)  Shalt  abide  for  me — i.e.,  shalt  abide  in  seclu- 
 sion at  my  discretion.  The  "  many  days "  are  an 
 indefinite  period  of  amendment,  while  watchful  care 
 was  being  exercised  over  her.  During  this  time  she  is 
 to  withdraw  herself  from  her  paramour  and  also  from 
 her  husband. 
 
 Will  I  also  be  for  thee.— Better,  to  thee:  i.e.,  I 
 will  have  no  intercourse  with  thee.  So  Aben  Ezra, 
 Kimchi,  and  others.  That  this  was  only  to  be  a 
 temporary  discipline  is  evident  from  verses  4  and  6. 
 
 W  The  prophet  suddenly  passes  from  his  personal 
 history  to  that  of  Israel,  which  it  symbolised. 
 
 Without  a  king  .  .  .—The  isolation  of  Gomer's 
 position  pre-figured  that  of  Israel  in  the  exile.  Her 
 bitter  experience  was  a  parable  of  Israel's  utter  depriva- 
 tion of  all  civil  and  religious  privilege.  There  was  to 
 be  no  king,  or  prince,  or  sacred  ritual  of  any  kind. 
 Observe  that  the  terms  of  both  cultus  are  here  inter- 
 mingled, suggesting  the  idolatrous  conceptions  of  the 
 piu'e  ancient  practice  which  Jeroboam's  calf-worship 
 was  only  too  likely  to  introduce.  By  ''image"  we  are  to 
 understand  upright  stones,  representing  Baal  or  the 
 sun-god.  (Comp.  chap.  x.  1  and  Exod.  xxiv.  4.)  On 
 "  ephod,"  see  Judg.  xvii.  5,  xviii.  14,  17 — 20 ;  on 
 "  teraphim,"  Gen.  xxxi.  19 — 35  ;  1  Sam.  xix.  13 — 16  ; 
 Ezek.  xxi.  21 ;  Zech.  x.  2.  In  the  last  two  passages 
 the  word  is  translated  "  idols,"  "  images,"  their  use  as 
 instruments  of  divination  being  condemned. 
 
 (5)  David  their  king. —  Meaning  the  predicted 
 representative  of  the  Davidic  dynasty.  Thus  Rehoboam 
 and  his  house  are  spoken  of  as  "  David  "  (1  Kings  xii. 
 16).  The  phrase  "  latter  days  "  is  used  indefinitely  of 
 the  distant  future,  the  horizon  of  the  seer's  gaze. 
 It  occurs  in  Gen.  xlix.  1  (Authorised  version,  "last 
 days  ").  We  can  only  see  the  fulfilment  of  this  antici- 
 pation in  the  Messianic  reign.  (Comp.  Ezek.  xxxiv.  23, 
 xxxvii.  24.) 
 
 418 
 
 IV. 
 
 Here  commences  a  new  part  in  the  collection  of 
 Hosea's  pi'ophecies.  The  entire  chapter  is  one  terrible 
 series  of  accusations,  supporting  the  severe  character  of 
 the  imagery  already  employed.  It  is  difficult  to  assign 
 it  to  any  particular  period.  It  may  have  been  com- 
 posed during  the  years  that  immediately  succeeded  the 
 reign  of  Jeroboam  II.  Ewald  divides  it  into  four 
 strophes:  verses  1—5;  6—10;  11—14;  15—19.  The 
 first  two  expand  the  former  part  of  the  reproach  conveyed 
 in  verses  1  and  2  ;  verses  11 — 14  point  to  the  licentious- 
 ness of  Israel;  while  in  verses  15 — 19  judgment  is 
 pronounced. 
 
 (!)  Controversy. — A  judicial  suit,  in  which  Jehovah 
 is  plaintiff  as  well  as  judge  (Isa.  i.  23,  xli.  21).  By  the 
 "  children  of  Israel "  we  are  to  understand  the  northern 
 kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  as  distinguished  from  Judah. 
 
 Mercy. — Better  rendered  love.  The  Hebrew  word 
 chesed  expresses  (1)  the  love  of  God  for  Israel  under 
 covenant  relationship ;  (2)  the  corresponding  quality  in 
 man  exhibited  to  God  or  towards  his  fellow-men.  (See 
 Hupfeld  on  Ps.  iv.  4 ;  and  Dulrni,  Theologie  der  Pro- 
 pheten,  p.  100.) 
 
 (2)  Blood  toucheth  blood — i.e.,  murder  is  added 
 to  murder  with  ghastly  prevalence.  References  to 
 false  swearing  and  lying  are  repeated  in  terrible  terms 
 by  Amos  ii.  6 — 8  and  Micah  vii.  2 — 8 ;  and  the  form  of 
 the  charge  suggests  the  Decalogue  and  pre-existing 
 legislation  (Exod.  xx.  13 — 15). 
 
 (3)  The  mourning  of  the  land  is  the  judgment  of 
 famine,  which  follows  not  only  upon  the  living  men, 
 but  upon  all  living  things  (the  LXX.  have  introduced 
 into  the  enumeration  the  creeping  things  of  the  earth). 
 Even  the  fishes  of  the  sea  are  swept  away.  There  is 
 plague  on  fish  as  well  as  murrain  on  cattle,  and  starva- 
 tion of  the  birds  of  heaven. 
 
 W  Yet  let  no  man  strive,  nor  reprove 
 another. — Better,  Nevertheless,  let  no  one  contend,  let 
 no  one  reprove,  for  the  voices  of  wise  counsel,  the 
 warnings  of  the  prophet,  will  be  silenced.  Ephraim 
 will  in  his  obstinate  'wrong-doing  be  left  alone.  The 
 last  clause  of  the  verse  is  rendered  by  nearly  all  versions 
 and  commentators,  Though  thy  people  are  as  those  who 
 contend  with  a  priest — i.e.,  are  as  guilty  as  those  who 
 transgress  the  teaching  of  the  Torah  by  defying  the 
 injunctions  of  the  priest  (Deut.  xvii.  12,  13;  Num.  xv. 
 33).  But  the  Speaker's  Commentary  gives  a  different 
 rendering,  which  is  better  adapted  to  the  denuncia- 
 tions of    the  priest  in  the  following  verses   (comp. 
 
Like  People,  like  Priest 
 
 BOSEA,    IV. 
 
 A   Warning  to  Judah, 
 
 another!    for   thy  people  are    as   they 
 
 that  .strive  with  the  priest.  ("Therefore 
 shall  fchou  fall  in  (In-  day,  and  (he 
 prophet,  also  shall  fall  with  tine  in  the 
 night,  and  1  will  '  destroy  thy  mother. 
 
 My  people  are  'destroyed  fur  lark 
 of  knowledge:  because  thou  hast  re- 
 jected knowledge,  1  will  also  reject  thee, 
 that  t  hmi  shalt  be  no  priest  to  me  :  see- 
 ing thou  hast  forgotten  the  law  of  thy 
 God,  I  will  also  forget  thy  children. 
 ,7)  As  they  were  increased,  80  they 
 sinned  against  me  :  therefore  will  I 
 change  their  glory  into  shame.  (8)  They 
 eat  Tip  the  sin  of  my  people,  and  they 
 3set  their  heart  on  their  iniquity.  '"'  And 
 there  shall  he,  "like  people,  like  priest: 
 and  I  will  'punish  them  for  their  ways, 
 and  reward  them  their  doings.  <10'For 
 fchej  shall  eat,  and  not  have  enough: 
 fchej  shall  commit  whoredom,  anil  shall 
 not  increase :  because  they  have  left  off 
 to  take  heel  to  the  Lord. 
 
 b 
 
 I    II'  I..,  Cut  off. 
 
 I    II.     • 
 
 •     their 
 
 l  H.I..,  Piftt  upon. 
 
 I     II' I.,    ca.UK   to 
 
 u  Or,  Bhai 
 
 .v.- 
 
 ;  Or,  be  j 
 
 <•■)  Whoredom  and  wine  and  new  wine 
 take  away  the  heart.      (1-'  My  people  ask 
 
 connsel  al   their  stocks,  and  their  gtaff 
 
 declared)  unto  them:  for  the  spirit  of 
 whoredom-,  hath  caused  tin  in  to  err,  and 
 they  have  gone  a  whoring  from  onder 
 their  God.  (1:;,They  sacrifice  upon  the 
 tops  of  the  mountains,  anil  hum  incense 
 upon  the  hills,  under  oaks  and  poplars 
 and  elms,  because  the  shadow  thereof  in 
 
 g 1:    therefore   your   daughters    shall 
 
 commit  whoredom,  and  your  spouses 
 shall  commit  adultery.  '"'Mwill  not 
 punish  your  daughters  when  they  com- 
 mit whoredom,  nor  your  spouses  when 
 they  commit  adultery :  for  themselves 
 are  separated  with  whores,  and  they 
 sacrifice  with  harlots:  therefore  the 
 people  Unit  doth  not  understand  shall 
 'fall. 
 
 <15>  Though  thou,  Israel,  play  the 
 harlot,  yet  let  not  Judah  offend  ;  and 
 come  not  ye  unto  Gilgal,  neither  go  ye 
 
 chap.  \i.  9).  Bya  slight  change  in  the  punctuation  of 
 the    Hebrew  we  obtain  the  interpretation,  "And  thy 
 
 I | >le,  ( )  priest .  axe  as  my  adversaries."     The  position 
 
 of  the  vocative  in  Hebrew,  and  the  absence  of  the  article, 
 are,  bo  doubt,  objections  to  such  a  construction,  but 
 they  are  nut  insujurahle.  anil  the  compensating  advan- 
 tage to  exegesis  is  manifest. 
 
 I'ln-  priest's  function  is  discharged  in  the  day, 
 and  the  prophet  dreams  in  the  night.  Both  will  totter 
 to  their  fall. 
 
 Thy  mother — i.e..  thy  nation. 
 
 (8)  for  lack  of  knowledge,  which  yon,  O  priest, 
 should  have  kept  alive  in  their  hearts.    The  knowledge 
 
 Of  Qod  is  life  eternal.    I  l.'omp.  John  xvii. .'!.)     The  Lord's 
 
 ••  controversy "  repudiates  the  entire  priesthood,  as  thoy 
 
 had    rejected   the   true   knowledge   01  God.     They  had 
 
 inclined  to  calf  •worship,  had  been  vacillating  respecting 
 Baal,  and  had  oonnived  at  moral  offences.  If.  on  the 
 other  hand,  with  most  commentator-.,  we  consider  the 
 
 people  themselves  as  thus  addressed,  tlie  passage  refers 
 to   the  cessation    of    the   position  of  priesthood,  which 
 
 every  member  of  the  true  theocracy  ought   to   have. 
 
 maintained.  (Comp.  Exod.  xix.  t>.)  The  people  should 
 00  longer  be  priests  to  Jehovah. 
 
 (7,8)  'riie  increase  in  numbers  and  prosperity  pro- 
 bably refers  to  the  priesthood,  who,  as  they  grew  in 
 numbers, became  more  alienated  from  the  true  (Jod, 
 These  cat  up.  or  fatten  on,  the  very  sins  they  ought  to 
 rebuke.       The    reference    here    may    lie    either    to   the 
 
 portion    of    sacrificial   offerings    which    fell    to    the 
 
 share  of  the  priests,  or  less  probably  to  the  sin-money 
 aiul  trespass-money  exacted  in  place  of   sin-offerings  of 
 
 -    Kings   xii.    16.     (On  the  general  condition  of  the 
 priesthood  at  this  time,  see  W.  R.  Smith.  Prophets  of 
 :.  pp.  99-  L01.) 
 
 As  the  people  will  lie  punished,  so  will  the 
 priest.  The  latter  will  not  be  saved  by  wealth  or 
 dignity.  And  I  u-ilt  visit  upon  him  hie  waye  (observe 
 here  the  collective  singular  in  the  pronoun!,  and  cause 
 his  doings    to  return  upon   him.      The   form   of  the 
 
 419 
 
 punishment  is  to  be  noticed.  The  eating  of  the  sin  of 
 the  people  shall  leave  them  hungry,  and  their  licentious. 
 ness  sh.ji  leave  them  childless. 
 
 (11)  Heart.— The  whole  inner  life,  consumed  by  these 
 licentious  indulgences. 
 
 d->  Their  stocks. — Blocks  of  wood  fashioned  into 
 idols  (Heb.,  his  wood,  the  collective  singular  being 
 maintained  . 
 
 Their  Staff. — Cyril  regarded  this  as  referring 
 to  (Urinations  by  means  of  rods  (jSa/38onai/Tc/a),  which 
 wero  placed  upright,  and  after  the  repetition  of  in- 
 cantations, allowed  to  fall,  the  forecast  of  the  future 
 being  interpreted   from   the  manner  in  which  they  fell. 
 
 But  perhaps  the  "  staff  "  may  refer,  like  the  "  stocks," 
 
 to  the  idol  itself.  The  Canaanite  goddess  Ashcrah 
 was  worshipped  under  this  form. 
 
 (18)  The  tops  of  the  hills  were  continually  chosen  for 
 idolatrous  temples,  i.e..  ••  high  places." 
 
 Poplar — i.e..  the  white  poplar,  not  the  etoraa  at  the 
 LXX..  which  is  a  shrub  only  a  few  feet  high. 
 Elms  should  be  "  terebinth  tn  •■  "   '■  Wy. 
 
 (1*1  Jehovah  threatens  to  visit  no  punishment  on  the 
 women  for  their  licentiousness,  because  they  are  more 
 sinned  against  than  Binning. 
 
 Sacrifice  with  harlots.— Referring  to  thi 
 
 suality  of  the  religious  rites,  as  represented  by  the 
 women   (q^desh6th)  who  dedicated  themselves  to   these 
 
 impurities. 
 
 1 18)  Israol  .  .  .  Judah.— The  prophet  wants  Judah 
 of  Israelis  peril,  and  perhaps  hints  at  the  apostacj  of 
 
 some  of  her  kings,  as  Aha/.iah.  Joram.  and  Aha/.  He 
 returns  to  the  symbolic  use  of  the  word  "  whoredom  "  ; 
 
 and  Judah  is  exhorted  not  to  participate  in  the  idolat 
 
 of  Gilgal  or  the  calves  ,.f  Bethel.  There  are  three  dif- 
 ferent places  named  ( iilu'al  mentioned  in  Joshua  (chaps, 
 iv.  19,  xii. :!,  and  xv.  7),  and  a  fourth  seems  to  be  men- 
 tioned in  Dent,  ix  90;  J  Kings  ii.  1.  The  Gilgal  hero 
 referred  to  is  the  first  of  these,  which  Joshua  for  a  eon- 
 siderable  time  had  made  his  bead-quarters.  In  the  (lays 
 of  Samuel  it  acquired  some  importance  as  a  place  for 
 
The  Divine  Judgments  against 
 
 HOSEA,   V. 
 
 the  Priests  and  the  Princes. 
 
 up  to  "Beth-aven,  nor  swear,  The  Lord 
 liveth.  (16)  For  Israel  slideth  back  as  a 
 backsliding  heifer:  now  the  Lord  will 
 feed  them  as  a  lamb  in  a  large  place. 
 <17>  Ephraim  is  joined  to  idols  :  let  him 
 alone.  <18>  Their  drink  Jis  sour:  they 
 have  committed  whoredom  continually : 
 her  3  rulers  with  shame  do  love,  Give  ye. 
 <19>  The  wind  hath  bound  her  up  in  her 
 wings,  and  they  shall  be  ashamed  be- 
 cause of  their  sacrifices. 
 
 CHAPTER  V.— W  Hear  ye  this,  0 
 priests  ;  and  hearken,  ye  house  of  Israel; 
 and  give  ye  ear,  0  house  of  the  king ; 
 for  judgment  is  toward  you,  because  ye 
 have  been  a  snare  on  Mizpah,  and  a  net 
 spread  upon  Tabor.  <2>  And  the  revolters 
 are  profound  to  make  slaughter, 3  though 
 I  have  hem  4a  rebuker  of  them  all.    (3>  I 
 
 a  1  King*  12.  29. 
 
 I  Heb.,  is  gone. 
 
 Hub.,  shields. 
 
 3  Or,  and,  &c. 
 
 4   Heb.,  a  correc- 
 tion. 
 
 5  Hcb.,  Tliey  iriil 
 not  (jive. 
 
 G  Or.  Tlteir  doings 
 will  not  suffer 
 thorn. 
 
 know  Ephraim,  and  Israel  is  not  hid 
 from  me :  for  now,  0  Ephraim,  thou 
 conimittest  whoredom,  and  Israel  is  de- 
 filed. (4)  5SThey  will  not  frame  their 
 doings  to  turn  unto  their  God  :  for  the 
 spirit  of  whoredoms  is  in  the  midst  of 
 them,  and  they  have  not  known  the- 
 Lord. 
 
 <5)  And  the  pride  of  Israel  doth  testify 
 to  his  face :  therefore  shall  Israel  and 
 Ephraim  fall  in  their  iniquity  ;  Judah 
 also  shall  fall  with  them.  <6>  They  shall 
 go  with  their  flocks  and  with  their 
 herds  to  seek  the  Lord  ;  but  they  shall 
 not  find  him ;  he  hath  withdrawn  him- 
 self from  them.  <7>  They  have  dealt 
 treacherously  against  the  Lord  :  for 
 they  have  begotten  strange  children  : 
 now  shall  a  month  devour  them  with 
 their  portions. 
 
 sacrificial  worship  and  the  dispensation  of  justice.  Beth- 
 el had  a  grand  history.  But  Hosea  and  Amos  call  it  by 
 the  altered  name  Beth-aven  (house  of  vanity,  or  idols), 
 instead  of  JBethe7.  (house  of  God).  The  LXX.^in  Alex. 
 MS.  read  On  instead  of  Aven  in  the  Hebrew,  On  being 
 the  name  for  Heliopolis,  the  seat  of  sun-eultus,  whenco 
 Jeroboam  may  have  derived  his  calf-worship.  (See 
 Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible,  Art.  "  On.")  But  the  Vat. 
 MS.  has  iSixias,  in  accordance  with  the  Masoretic  tra- 
 dition (similarly  Aquila  and  Symmachus). 
 
 (!•>)  Slideth  back. — More  correctly,  is  stubborn  as 
 a  stubborn  cow. 
 
 Will  feed  them  as  a  lamb  in  a  large  place.— 
 An  expression  of  tender  commiseration  (so  Ewald). 
 But  most  commentators  understand  it  in  an  unfavour- 
 able sense,  i.e.,  will  lead  them  forth  into  the  desolate 
 wilderness,  a  prey  to  wild  beasts,  or  into  the  loneliness 
 that  a  lamb  would  feol  in  a  boundless  pasture. 
 
 (17)  Ephraim  .  .  .  idols. — The  prophet  calls  on 
 Judah  to  leave  Ephraim  to  himself.  The  Jewish  inter- 
 preters Bashi  and  Kimehi  understand  this  as  the  appeal 
 of  Jehovah  to  the  prophet  to  leave  Israel  to  her  fate,  that 
 so  perhaps  her  eyes  might  be  ovjened  to  discern  her  doom. 
 
 (18, 19)  The  Authorised  version  is  here  very  defective. 
 Translate,  Tlieir  carousal  hath  become  degraded ;  with 
 ivhoring  they  whore.  Her  shields  love  shame.  A  blast 
 hath  seized  her  in  its  wings,  so  that  they  are  covered 
 with  shame  for  their  offerings.  "Shields"  mean  the 
 princes  of  the  people,  as  in  Ps.  xlvii.  9.  The  fern. 
 "  her''  in  these  verses  refers  to  Ephraim,  in  accordance 
 with  the  common  Hebrew  idiom.  The  change  of  person 
 to  the  masculine  plural  is  characteristic  of  the  style 
 of  Hebrew  prophecy.  The  storm -wind  hath  seized 
 upon  her  with  its  wings — carried  her  away  like  a 
 swarm  of  locusts  or  a  baffled  bird. 
 
 Y. 
 
 The  prophet  now  addresses  himself  more  definitely 
 to  the  priests  and  royal  house  of  Israel,  at  the  com- 
 mencement of  the  reign  of  Pekah. 
 
 (!)  House  of  the  king  refers  to  his  following 
 on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan — Mizpah  on  the  east  side, 
 in  Gilead,  and  Tabor  on  the  west.     They  are  singled 
 
 out  as  being  military  strongholds,  where  the  princes  of 
 the  royal  house,  with  the  apostate  priests,  exercised  their 
 deadly  hold  upon  the  people,  waylaying  them,  as  birds 
 and  beasts  are  snared  in  the  mountains  of  prey.  (Comp. 
 chap,  vi,  8,  9.) 
 
 Judgment  is  toward  you. — More  accurately,  is 
 meant  for  you. 
 
 (2)  Are  profound  to  make  slaughter.— Ewald, 
 followed  recently  by  Nowaek,  is  right  in  interpreting 
 the  Heb.  text  as  meaning,  "  The  apostates  have  gone 
 deep  in  iniquity."  In  the  last  clause  the  Authorised 
 version  is  again  incorrect.  Bender,  But  I  (i.e.,  Jehovah) 
 am  chastisement  to  them  all.  The  deceivers  and 
 deceived  shall  alike  perish. 
 
 (■*)  The  margin,  "  Their  deeds  will  not  suffer 
 (them),"  requires  the  introduction  of  the  word  "them," 
 not  in  the  Hebrew.  It  is  favoured  by  the  Jewish  com- 
 mentators, Schmoller,  and  others,  but  it  is  better  to- 
 render,  with  the  Authorised  version,  They  frame  not 
 their  doings,  &c.  The  knowledge  of  the  only  true  God 
 is  life. 
 
 (5)  The  pride  of  Israel  may  be  either  the  true 
 object  of  pride  and  boasting,  viz.,  Jehovah  Himself 
 (comp.  Amos  viii.  7),  or  the  false  object  of  pride  to 
 which  they  had  yielded.  The  latter  interpretation  is 
 to  be  preferred,  and  is  supported  by  Amos  vi.  8- 
 Arroganee  led  Ephraim,  on  numerous  occasions  iu 
 earlier  sacred  history,  to  resent  the  supremacy  of  Judah. 
 This  jealousy  culminated  in  the  rebellion  of  Jeroboam  I., 
 and  characterised  their  history  till  the  reign  of  Ahab. 
 Arrogance  will  be  their  ruin  now ;  and  in  this  Judah  is 
 represented  as  likewise  involved.  This  last  feature  is  a 
 new  note  in  prophetic  utterance.  (Comp  chap.  iv.  15.) 
 We  are  therefore  justified  in  regarding  chap.  v.  as 
 delivered  at  a  later  time  than  the  oracle  standing 
 immediately  before  it. 
 
 (6)  The  vain  effort  to  repent  when  it  is  too  late.  The 
 spirit  with  which  sacrifices  of  flocks  and  herds  were 
 offered  is  of  more  consequence  than  the  multitude  of 
 such  oblations  (Mic.  iii.  -4 ;  Isa.  i.  11 ;  Ps.  xl.  6).  Ghastly 
 and  revolting  results  follow  the  substitution  of  ritual 
 of  any  kind  for  the  weightier  matter  of  the  law. 
 
 P)  Strange  children  refers  to  offspring  that 
 followed  in  tho  ways  of  their  mother.   (Comp.  chap,  i.) 
 
 •120 
 
Ephraim  and  Jndah. 
 
 HOSKA,    VI. 
 
 .!/<  Exhortation  to  Repentance. 
 
 '  Blow  ye  the  cornet  in  Gibeah,  and 
 the  trampet  in  Raman:  cry  aloud  ad 
 Beth-aven,  after  thee,  0  Benjamin. 
 ("  Ephraim  shall  be  desolate  in  the  day  of 
 rebuke:  among  the  tribes  of  Israel  have 
 I  made  known  thai  which  shall  sorely  be. 
 The  prinoes  of  Jndah  were  like  them 
 thai  remove  the  bound:  Hhertfort  I  will 
 
 POUrOUl  my  wrath  upon  them  1  i k i '  water. 
 
 WEphraim  is  oppressed  and  broken 
 
 in  judgment, because  he  willingly  walked 
 
 after  the  commandment.    ^Therefore 
 
 irill  1  be  unto  Ephraim  as  a  moth,  and 
 to  the  bouse  of  Judab  as  'rottenness. 
 
 (18)  When  Epbrairn  saw  bis  sickness, 
 and  Jndah   taw  his   wound,  then   went 
 
 icorm. 
 
 I  Dr.f.i  ll,r  kino  "f 
 
 ::  II.  li.  I.Uthttbc 
 
 Ephraim  to  the  Assyrian,  and  senl  Jto 
 kmgJareb:  yel  could  be  not healyou, 
 nor  cure  yon  of  your  wound.  :l"  For  I 
 will bi  unto  Ephraim  aa  a  lion,  and  as  a 
 
 young  li"ii  to  the  bouse  of  Judab:  I. 
 even  I,  will  tear  ami  go  away;  I  will 
 take  away,  and  none  shall  rescue  him. 
 
 I  will  go  and  return  t.i  myplace, 
 :;till  they  acknowledge  their  offence, 
 and  seek  my  race:  in  their  affliction 
 they  will  seek  me  early. 
 
 CHAPTER  VI.— ">  Come,  and  lei  us 
 return  unto  the  Lord  :  for  he  hath  torn, 
 and  be  will  heal  us;  he  hath  smitten, 
 and  he  will  bind  us  up.    W"  After  two 
 
 Some  reference  is  involved  to  the  consequences  of 
 intermarriage  with  heathen.  The  "month"  may  bo  a 
 personification  of  the  period  of  a  month  (Henderson), 
 during  which  takrs  place  the  now  closely  impending 
 (perhaps  already  commenced)  invasion  by  Tiglath- 
 pileser  (2   Kings  xv.  J'.i ;  'J  Ohron.   xix.  21).     This 
 
 invasion  was  due  in  part  to  Alia/,  having  BOOght  the 
 aid  of  Assyria  against    Pekofa  ami  Ke/,iu. 
 
 is)  Cornet  .  .  .  trumpet. — The  two  kinds  of 
 trumpet  mentioned  here  are  the  cornet,  nude  like  the 
 
 t H'l 1 1      horn     of    an     animal,     anil     the     long,     straight 
 
 iiiflnllir    I  m  in  pet.    used    for   sounding    iui    alarm    and 
 
 convoking  the  congregation    (Num.   x.    8).     Gibeah 
 
 and  Kaniah  wen-  lofty  kills  on  tic-  northern  bound- 
 ary of  Benjamin.  From  the  parallel  passage,  [sa.  x. 
 29,  ws  conclude  that  (iibeah  lay  between  Jerusalem 
 
 and  Raniah  (the  modern  F.r  Bom),  not  far  from 
 the  road  which  passes  in  a  northern  direction  from 
 Jerusalem  to  Mount.  Ephraim.  A  lofty  hill,  which 
 satisfies  these  conditions  (Tel  el  Ful),  has  been  disco- 
 vered l>v  Robinson,  where  there  is  it  prospect  over 
 almost  the  whole  tribal   region  of  Benjamin,  and   with 
 
 this  spot  Gibeah  is  probably  to  be  identified.    Hoses 
 
 does  not  mention  the  metropolis,  but  he  reveals  the 
 imminent  peril  of  Jerusalem  if  these  high  towers, 
 within  sight  of  her  defenders,  were  giving  the  alarm  at 
 the  approach  of  the  Assyrian  king. 
 
 After  thee  is  obscure.  Translate.  He  {the  enemy) 
 it  behind  thee.  0  Benjamin,  the  tribe  in  which  the 
 
 met  ropolis  was  situated.  This  combined  disaster  for  hot  h 
 Israel  and  Judab  is  reiterated  in  a  variety  of  ways.  ■■  The 
 
 tribes  of  Israel  "  are  in  parallelism  with  "  Ephraim." 
 
 (ioi  The  princes  of  Judah,  such  as  Aha/,  whose 
 
 pusillanimity  brought  untold  evil  on  both  Israel  and 
 Judab   |J    Kings   xvi.    I11  —  1* 
 
 Like  thorn  that  remove  the  bound  land- 
 mark1.— A  practice  prohibited  in  Dent.  xix.  II.  and 
 includedin the oursesof Mount  Bbal(Dent.zrviL  17  .an 
 indication  that  this  \ cry  legislation  existed  before  the 
 
 time  of  the  prophet.  They  break  down  the  barrier 
 between  right  and  wrong,  between  truth  and  falsehood, 
 between  Jehovah  and  Baalim. 
 
 (in  Broken  in  judgment.— The  Authorised  ver- 
 sion is  probably  right   in  this  rendering,   the  phrase 
 
 having  reference   to   rights  pertaining  to    individual-. 
 Interpreters  differ  as  to  the  rare  word    t.«ir.  translated 
 "  commandment."     It  only  occurs  in  one  other]] 
 (Isa.    xxviii.   10,    13).     Ewald    regards    it    as    meaning 
 "  wooden  post,"  i.e.,  their  idol,  but  this  has   no  basi- 
 
 ■T'l 
 
 ill  Old  Testament  DSage,  though  etymological])-  in- 
 genious. Tin-  majority  of  Jewish  and  mo. bin  com- 
 mentator- take  it  as  meaning  the  evil  ordinance 
 of  Jeroboam,  who  demanded  the  reverence  of  his 
 subjeets  for  th.-  calf-symbol  of  Jehovah.     The  LXX. 
 
 had  another  t.-xt  [shim  instead  of  ttOV),  which  they 
 render  "  vanities."  and  are  followed  by  the  TarglUU  and 
 SyriaC  version.     This  is  worthy  of  attention. 
 
 Willingly — i.e..  "  waywardly." 
 
 U-)  Rottenness.— The  Authorised  version  is  right 
 in  this  rendering  (the  disea-.-  caries)  rather  than  worm 
 
 (margin).  Both  images  express  concealed  causes  of 
 irreparable  destruction  which  come  suddenly  to  view 
 when  it  is  too  lute. 
 
 (13)  To  the  Assyrian.— Their  adversity  leads  Eph- 
 raim to  seek  protection  from  their  formidable  foe  instead 
 of  turning  to  the  Lord.    (Ou  "  Jareb,"  see  Excursus.) 
 
 (it)  As  a  lion. — First  the  trans-Jordanic tribes, then 
 
 additional  provinces,  and  lastly  the  whole  population, 
 were  carried  away  as  in  the  teeth  of  a  beast  of  prey. 
 (Oomp.   Amos  iii.  fi.)     Assyria   is  here   referred   to  as 
 
 represented  by  Tiglath-pileeer.     We  might  also  quote 
 
 from  the  inscription  of  Sargon  in  fulfilment  of  this 
 prediction:  '-Samaria  1  besieged;  I  captured  1'7,'J:"1 
 ) pie  dwelling  in  the  midst  of  it  ;    I  carried  Captive  " 
 
 (George  Smith,  Assyrian  Eponym  Canon,  p.  125).    A 
 
 similar    fate    overtook    Jerusalem    in   587    B.C.,   at    the 
 
 hands  of   Babylonia,   in  the  reign  of   Nebuchadnezzar 
 
 J  (  hrou.  xxxvi.  4 — 10;    ■-  Kings  xxiv.  lo— Id,    xxv. 
 
 (15)  Tenderness  blend-  with  judgment,  and  insulted 
 love  bleeds  and  hopes.  The  image  of  tin-  lion  is 
 dropped.     Jehovah     speaks     ..f     "His     own    place" — 
 
 Heaven.    He  will  cause  all    manifestations    of  His 
 
 regard   for  them  t aae  till   "they  suffer  punishment. 
 
 and  seek  my  face."  and.  like  the  prodigal  in  the  flush 
 of  a  new  morning',  will  arise  and  go  unto  t lie  Father. 
 
 VI. 
 
 This   chapter   -tun. Is   in    immediate   connection  with 
 
 the  close  of  the  pri ling.     The  words  of  imperfect 
 
 penitence  verses  1 — :>  are  put  by  the  prophet  into  the 
 lips  of  th.se  who  are  in  trouble,  aud  are  counting  too 
 soon  oil  the  boundless  compassion  of  Jehovah.  They 
 are  not  an  exhortation  to  repentance,  for  they  are 
 followed  by  indignant  expostulation. 
 
 (•->  T'.ie  baste  ..f  the  seeming  penitents  for  the  fulfil- 
 ment ..;  then  hope.  They  expect  the  rapid  restoration 
 of  the  national  prosperity,  prompted  by  the  abundance 
 
A  Complaint  of 
 
 HOSEA,  VI. 
 
 Untowardness  and  Iniquity. 
 
 days  will  he  revive  us :  in  the  third  day 
 he  will  raise  us  up,  and  we  shall  live  in 
 his  sight.  <3>  Then  shall  we  know,  if 
 we  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord  :  his 
 going  forth  is  prepared  as  the  morning; 
 and  he  shall  come  unto  us  as  the  rain,  as 
 the  latter  and  former  rain  unto  the  earth. 
 (4>  0  Ephraim,  what  shall  I  do  unto 
 thee  ?  O  Judah,  what  shall  I  do  unto 
 thee?  for  your  1  goodness  is  as  a  morn- 
 ing cloud,  and  as  the  early  dew  it  goeth 
 away.  <5>  Therefore  have  I  hewed  them 
 by  the  prophets ;  I  have  slain  them  by 
 the  words  of  my  mouth:  2and  thy 
 judgments  are  as  the  light  that  goeth 
 forth.     (6>  For  I  desired  "mercy,  and  not 
 
 1    Or,   mercy,   or. 
 
 2  Or,  that  Vni  jud'j 
 
 thai  tint  jiiil/i- 
 ntn  might  bi\ 
 
 a    1    Sara.  15,  22; 
 Ecclea.    5.    1 ; 
 
 Matt.  9.   13  &  12. 
 
 3  Or,  like  Adam. 
 
 4  Or,  cunning  for 
 blood. 
 
 5  Hil...  with  one 
 shoulder,  or,  to 
 Shechem. 
 
 6  Or,  enormity. 
 
 sacrifice ;  and  the  knowledge  of  God 
 more  than  burnt  offering's.  (7)  But 
 they  3like  men  have  transgressed  the 
 covenant :  there  have  they  dealt  trea- 
 cherously against  me.  (8>  Gilead  is  a 
 city  of  them  that  work  iniquity,  and  is 
 i  polluted  with  blood.  (9)  And  as  troops 
 of  robbers  wait  for  a  man,  so  the  com- 
 pany of  priests  murder  in  the  way  5by 
 consent :  for  they  commit  6lewdness. 
 (10)  I  have  seen  an  horrible  thing  in  the 
 house  of  Israel :  there  is  the  whoredom 
 of  Ephraim,  Israel  is  defiled.  (u>  Also, 
 O  Judah,  he  hath  set  an  harvest  for 
 thee,  when  I  returned  the  captivity  of 
 my  people. 
 
 of  the  Divine  love,  and  His  response  to  the  first  touch 
 of  penitence  (signified  in  chap.  v.  15). 
 
 After  two  days. — A  phrase  sometimes  used  for  the 
 second  day,  i.e.,  to-mon-ow. 
 
 In  the  third  day —i.e.,  after  a  short  time.  This 
 and  the  above  expression  are  not  identical  in  the  desig- 
 nation of  time.  Some  Christian  interpreters  (Jerome, 
 Luther,  Pusey)  consider  the  passage  has  sole  reference 
 to  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  But  with  Calvin, 
 Henderson,  Schmoller,  &c,  we  consider  this  to  be  con- 
 tradicted by  the  form  of  the  expression.  To  bring  in 
 the  resurrection  of  Christ  with  no  authority  from  the 
 New  Testament  is  far-fetched  over-refinement,  and 
 breaks  the  consistency  of  the  passage. 
 
 (2,  3)  Render,  So  that  we  shall  live  in  his  presence, 
 and  shall  know  and  strive  after  the  knowledge  of 
 Jehovah,  ivhose  coming  forth  is  sure,  like  the  dawn 
 (another  play  on  verse  15,  "  I  will  return  to  my  place, 
 &c."),  so  that  he  may  come  as  the  plentiful  (dashing) 
 rain  for  lis,  as  the  latter  rain  (needed  for  the  ripening 
 corn)  ivhich  waiereth  the  earth. 
 
 (■*)  Here  ends  the  supposed  language  of  the  peni- 
 tents. If  it  were  genuine,  and  accompanied  by  a  deep 
 sense  of  sin,  it  would  not  be  in  vain.  But  the  prophet 
 utters  the  heartrending  response  and  expostulation  of 
 Jehovah,  who  bewails  the  transitory  nature  of  their 
 repentance. 
 
 Your  goodness  .  .  .—Better  rendered,  Your  love 
 (to  me)  is  like  the  morning  cloud  (which  promises  rain, 
 and  does  not  give  it ;  like  the  dew  (or,  "  morning  mist ;  " 
 see  Note,  chap.  xiv.  5),  which  early  goeth  away,  vanish- 
 ing in  the  blaze  of  summer  day — your  tears  leaving 
 you  parched  and  dried  as  before. 
 
 (5)  The  LXX.  render,  Therefore  I  have  mowed  down 
 their  prophets ;  but  this  would  destroy  the  parallelism, 
 in  which  "  prophets "  correspond  to  "  words  of  my 
 mouth."  The  sense  is,  I  have  slain  them  by  the 
 announcement  of  deserved  doom. 
 
 Thy  judgments  .  .  .—An  error  has  crept  here 
 into  the  Masoretic  text  from  which  the  LXX.  and  other 
 ancient  versions  are  free.  The  mistake  consists  in 
 misplacing  an  initial  letter  as  a  final  one.  Translate,  My 
 judgment  shall  go  forth  as  the  light,  clear,  victorious, 
 and  beneficent.  (Comp.  the  language  of  Ps.  xxxvii.  6 
 and  Isaiah  lxii.  1,  2.) 
 
 (>'•)  Mercy. — Better  rendered,  love.  This  passage 
 is  rchly  sustained  by  our  Lord's  adoption  of  its  teach- 
 
 ■J'22 
 
 ing  (Matt.  ix.  13,  xii.  7).  Mark  xii.  33  shows  that 
 according  to  even  Old  Testament  teaching,  the  moral 
 ranks  above  the  ceremonial,  that  ritual  is  valueless 
 apart  from  spiritual  conformity  with  Divine  will. 
 
 (7)  Critics  differ  much  as  to  the  interpretation  of  this, 
 verse.  The  marginal  rendering  supplies  the  strongest 
 meaning.  God  made  a  covenant  with  Adam,  and 
 promised  him  the  blessings  of  Paradise  on  condition  of 
 obedience.  He  broke  the  condition,  transgressed  the 
 covenant,  and  was  driven  from  his  Divine  home.  So 
 Israel  had  violated  all  the  terms  on  which  the  goodly 
 land  of  conditional  promise  had  been  bestowed.  For 
 the  other  references  to  Adam  in  the  Old  Testament 
 see  Ps.  lxxxii.  7;  Job  xxxi.  33.     (See  Excursus.) 
 
 (8)  Polluted  .  .  . — More  accurately,  betrodden  (or 
 foot-tracked)  with  blood.  We  infer  from  Judg.  x.  17 
 that  there  was  a  town  called  Gilead  east  of  the  Jordan, 
 distinct  altogether  from  Mizpah  (identified  by  many 
 with  the  city  of  refuge  Ramoth-Gilead),  and  this  is 
 confirmed  by  notices  in  Eusebius  and  Cyril.  Murder 
 in  a  "city  of  refuge"  adds  to  the  horror.  On  the 
 murderous  propensities  of  the  Gileadites  see  2  Kings 
 xv.  25. 
 
 <9)  Should  be  rendered,  As  a  robber  lies  in  ivait,  so 
 the  company  of  priests  murder  on  the  road  to  Shechem; 
 yea,  they  execute  the  pilot.  Shechem,  charged  with 
 historic  interest  (Genesis  to  Judges),  is  also  a  city  of. 
 refuge,  a  Levitical  city,  on  the  road  to  Bethel,  where 
 the  pi-iests  of  the  calves  resided.     (Comp.  chap.  v.  1.) 
 
 (10)  House  of  Israel. — This  phrase  means  Ephraim 
 and  Judah  subsequently  discriminated.  The  "  horrible 
 thing  "  refers  to  polluting  idolatry.  This  peculiar  word 
 occurs  again  in  Jeremiah.  According  to  the  punctua- 
 tion of  the  Hebrew  the  reciter  hesitates  before  pro- 
 nouncing the  "  horrible  thing  "  which  grated  through 
 his  teeth. 
 
 (11)  An  harvest.— The  harvest  is  not  of  joy,  but 
 of  sorrow  and  affliction,  befalling  Judah,  like  Israel, 
 for  her  sins  :  a  contrast  to  the  usual  accompaniments 
 of  the  season  when  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was 
 celebrated  (Deut.  xii.  13 — 16  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  40;  Ps.  exxvi. 
 5,  6).  In  regard  of  the  last  clause  of  the  verse,  "  when 
 I  turn  the  captivity  of  my  people,"  it  is  best  to  unite 
 it  with  the  succeeding  chapter.  (So  Ewald,  Reuss,  &c.) 
 Some  writers  (as  recently.  Nowaek)  explain  the  Hebrew 
 word  for  captivity  by  a  different  etymology,  and  here 
 interpret  "  destiny,"  or  "  fate."  The  full  turning  of 
 the  captivity  cannot  be  realised  till  Ephraim  and  Judah 
 accept  the  Christ. 
 
A  Rfjiroofof 
 
 HOSEA,   VII. 
 
 Manifold  Sin.-. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII.— <»  When  I  would 
 have    healed    Israel,    thru    the    iniquity 
 
 of  Ephraim  was  discovered,  and  the 
 'wiobedneea  of  Samaria  :  for  they  com- 
 mit false] I;  and  the  thief  Cometh  in, 
 
 and  the  troop  of  rohbers  'spoileth  with- 
 out. M  Ami  they  'consider not  in  their 
 hearts  lluil  1  remember  all  their  wicked- 
 ness :  now  their  own  doings  have  beset 
 them  about;  they  are  before  my  face. 
 (8)  They  make  the  bang  glad  with  their 
 wickedness,  and  the  princes  with  their 
 lies.  '*'  They  are  all  adulterers,  as  an 
 oven  heated  by  the  baker,  '  who  ceaseth 
 5  from  raising  after  he  hath  kneaded  the 
 dough,  until  it  be  leavened.  (5)  In  the 
 day  of  our  king  the  princes  have  made 
 him  sick  'with  bottles  of  wine;  he 
 stretched  out  his  hand  with  scomers. 
 
 a  ll<  I...  ttrlpptth, 
 
 .1  Bobq  »uy  not  t<> 
 
 l    i  ir.    th4    rautr 
 Kill  cta*c. 
 
 5  Or,  from  waking. 
 
 i;    Or.    trtlh    htHt 
 throuyh  u  in- . 
 
 r  Or,  applied. 
 
 .  rinklcl. 
 a  fli.  5.  5. 
 
 (8>  For  they  have  7made  ready  their 
 heart  like  an  oven,  whiles  they  lie  in 
 wait:  their  baker  sleepeth  all  the  night; 
 in  the-  morning  it  burnetii  as  a  flaming 
 
 tire.  l7'  They  are  all  hot  as  an  oven, 
 and  have  devoured  their  judges;  all 
 their  kings  arc  fallen  :  thin  is  none 
 among  them  that  calleth  unto  me. 
 
 <8>  Ephraim,  he  hath  mixed  himself 
 among  the  people ;  Ephraim  is  a  cake 
 not  turned.  (9'  Strangers  have  devoured 
 his  strength,  and  he  knoweth  it  not : 
 yea,  gray  hairs  are  8here  and  thereupon 
 liim,  yet  he  knoweth  not.  <I0)  And  the 
 *  pride  of  Israel  testifieth  to  his  face : 
 and  they  do  not  return  to  the  Lort> 
 their  God,  nor  seek  him  for  all  this. 
 <n>  Ephraim  also  is  like  a  silly  dove 
 without  heart :  they  call  to  Egypt,  they 
 
 VII. 
 
 This  oraole  is  probably  in  the  beginning  of  Hoehea'e 
 reign,  and  deals  exclusively  with  the  condition  of  the 
 northern  kingdom. 
 
 (i)  Translate,  Wht  n  I  heal  Israel  I  referring  to  a  ces- 
 sation in  the  attacks  of  the  menacing  foe,  or  to  such  a 
 thrill  of  tiner  feeling  as  thai  which  is  recorded  in  2 
 Ohron.  Xzviii.  8 — V>),then  is  revealed  the  inii/iiitij  nf 
 Ephraim  and  the  wickedness  of  Samaria,  that  they 
 commit  falsehood.  Samaria  here  sustains  the  same  re- 
 lation tu  Israel  that  Jerusalem  does  to  Judah,  and  it  is 
 the  retry  source  of  the  corruption  of  the  who! uintry. 
 
 (-)  Have  beset  them  about.— The  wicked  deeds 
 
 of  the  nation  crowded  around  them  as  witnesses  to  re- 
 veal Oleic  treason  against  Jehovah. 
 
 (3)  Glad.— The  evil  awakens  do  alarm,  but  rather 
 sympathy  and  gladness,  in  the  breasts  of  their  kin.es 
 
 and  rulers,  who  are  ready  to  follow  suit  in  all  deeds  of 
 
 violence. 
 
 (*)  Render,  eeaseth  heating  from  the  kneading  of  the 
 dough  till  its  leavening.  The  baser  is  unremitting  in 
 his  exertions  to  keep  op  the  heat  of  the  oven,  the 
 smouldering  fire  being  fed  on  camel's  dung  and  the 
 
 like  fuel,  except  when    he  is  obliged   to  OOCUpy  himself 
 
 with  preparing  the  dough  for  baking— an  apt  image  of 
 
 the  incessant  burning  rage  of  lust  and  riolence. 
 
 (5)   Following   the   hint  of  the    LXX.  and  other  \er. 
 
 si. .us.  the  rendering  of  which  is  based  on  a  slightly 
 different  punctuation  of  the  Hebrew,  we  prefer  to 
 translate,  the  day  of  our  king  th>x  princes  have  begun 
 with  the  glowing  (or  fever)  of  wine — ie.,  the  carousal 
 
 of  the  princely  retinue  in  celchration  of  the  sovereign's 
 
 coronation-day  mr  birthday)  commences  at  an  early 
 hour, significant  of  monstrous  excess.    iComp.  Acts  ii. 
 
 15.)      There   is    liitterncss    in    the    Use   of    the    pronoun 
 
 •■our"  before  "king."    Otherwise   we  must    render, 
 made   ihemeeboes    ill   with    the  fever  at  wine 
 
 (the    Authorised  rersian  is   her,-  inaccurate1.      The  l:i-t 
 
 clause  is  obscure;   probably  it  means  "he  u'.e.,  our 
 
 ting]    hath    made    common   cause    with   --corners."  and 
 
 is  boon-companion    of    the    dissolute  and  depraved. 
 
 [( lomp.  K\'»i.  wiii.  1.) 
 
 i<j)  Render,  Fea,  they  draw  nigh  together.  Iiih-  an 
 oven   in  their  heart  icith   their  wiles.     Their  baker 
 
 sleepeth  all  the  night,  &c.  The  metaphor  of  verse  4  is 
 resumed.  The  baker,  having  1,  It  his  dongh  to  become 
 leavened  and  his  fire  to  smoulder,  cau  afford  to  sleep. 
 
 The  baket  may  mean  the  evil  passion  which  has  1 n 
 
 raffing.  Indeed,  Wunsche  and  Schmoller,  by  a  slight 
 change  of  punctuation,  obtain  the  rendering  "  their 
 anger,"  instead  of  "  their  baker,"  which  is  supported  by 
 the  Targum  and  Syriac  version.  After  the  murderous 
 plots  and  carousal,  the  conspiracy  ripens  with  tho  day  ; 
 then  will  como  the  outburst  of  violence. 
 
 (8)  Cake  not  turned.— Referring  to  the  destruc- 
 tive effect  of  foreign  influences.  Ephraim  was  con- 
 sumed by  the  unhallowed  fire  of  Baal-worship,  with  all 
 its  passion  and  sensualism — a  cake  burnt  on  one  side  to 
 a  cinder,  and  on  the  other  left  in  a  condition  utterly  un- 
 fit for  food.  So  the  activity  of  foreign  idolatries  and 
 foreign  alliances,  and  the  consequent  unfaithfulness  to 
 [srael's  God,  are  the  nation's  ruin. 
 
 ('•')  Have  devoured.— The  past  tense  may  refer  to 
 the  invasions  of  Tiglath-pileser.  Both  Egypt  and  As- 
 syria had  come  to  regard  Israel  as  the  earthen  pipkin 
 
 between  iron  pots.      These  strangers  have  devoured  his 
 
 strength — i.e.,  he  has  less  power  to  resist  aggression, 
 less  treasure,  less  land,  smaller  population.    The  signs 
 
 of  senility  are  npon  him.  "Grey  hairs  arc  his  passing 
 ball."  He  i>  under  sentence  of  death,  and  knoweth  it 
 not. 
 
 (i°)  See  Mote  on  chap.  V.  5. 
 
 lu>  Silly  dove. — No  creature  is  less  able  to  defend 
 itself  than  the  dove,  which  Mies  from  the  bird  of  prey 
 to  the  net  of  the  fowler.  In  this  powerful  metaphor 
 we  have  a  political  allusion.  King  Hoshea  is  called 
 I  /<  on  the  Assyrian  monuments.  Having  usurped 
 the  throne  after  the  murder  of  Pekah.  he  "purchased 
 
 his  recognition  as  king  of  Israel  by  giving  a  large 
 present  to  the  Assyrian  monarch"  (780  B.C.).      B 
 Geo.  Smith.  Assyria— SJP.C.K.)    But  while  Boshes 
 
 was  sending  tribute  to  Assyria  he  was  secretly  coquet- 
 ting with  Egypt.  The  alliance  between  Egypt  and  the 
 king  of  Israel,  mentioned  in  -  Kings  xvii.  t.  took  place 
 later,  aft  r  Tiglath-pileser*  s  death,  and  led  to  Israel's 
 ruin.  On  the  other  hand,  many  commentators  lEwald, 
 Xowack.  ftc.]  refer  the  allusions  of  this  verse  to  the 
 reisru  of  Monahcm. 
 
 Without  heart.— Better,  without  understanding. 
 
Denunciation  of  Hypocrisy. 
 
 HOSEA,   VIII. 
 
 Iniquity  and  Idolatry  Reproved. 
 
 go  to  Assyria.  (12)  When  tliey  shall  go, 
 I  will  spread  my  net  upon  them  ;  I  will 
 bring  them  down  as  the  fowls  of  the 
 heaven ;  I  will  chastise  them,  as  their 
 congregation  hath  heard.  (13)  Woe  unto 
 them !  for  they  have  fled  from  me : 
 destruction  unto  them!  because  they 
 have  transgressed  against  me  :  though  I 
 have  redeemed  them,  yet  they  have 
 spoken  lies  against  me.  (U>  And  they 
 have  not  cried  unto  me  with  their  heart, 
 when  they  howled  upon  their  beds  :  they 
 assemble  themselves  for  corn  and  wine, 
 and  they  rebel  against  me.  <15>  Though 
 1 2have  bound  and  strengthened  their 
 arms,  yet  do  they  imagine  mischief 
 against  me.  (16)  They  return,  but  not  to 
 the  most  High :  they  are  like  a  deceit- 
 ful bow :  their  princes  shall  fall  by  the 
 
 1  Hcb.,  spoil. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 rir.  700. 
 
 2  Or,  chastened. 
 
 3  Hcb..  the  roof  of 
 th>/  mouth. 
 
 sword  for  the  "rage  of  their  tongue : 
 this  shall  be  their  derision  in  the  land  of 
 Egypt. 
 
 CHAPTER  VIIL— M  Set  the  trumpet 
 to  3thy  mouth.  He  sludl  come  as  an 
 eagle  against  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
 because  they  have  transgressed  my 
 covenant,  and  trespassed  against  my 
 law.  (2>  Israel  shall  cry  unto  me,  My 
 God,  we  know  thee.  (3)  Israel  hath  cast 
 off  the  thing  that  is  good :  the  enemy 
 shall  pursue  him.  <4)  They  have  set  up 
 kings,  but  not  by  me  :  they  have  made 
 princes,  and  I  knew  it  not :  of  their 
 silver  and  their  gold  have  they  made 
 them  idols,  that  they  may  be  cut  off. 
 W  Thy  calf,  0  Samaria,  hath  cast  thee 
 off ;  mine  anger  is  kindled  against  them : 
 
 (12)  When  they  shall  go.— Best  rendered,  When- 
 ever they  go,  &e.  The  ultimate  ruin  produced  by  this 
 policy  of  dependence  on  foreign  states  and  of  double- 
 dealing  intrigue  was  even  at  this  early  stage  foreseen 
 by  the  prophet,  and  portrayed  under  the  simile  of 
 Jehovah's  net  snaring  the  unwary  bird. 
 
 As  their  congregation  hath  heard.— Should 
 be,  according  to  the  report  to  their  assembly — i.e.,  ac- 
 cording to  what  they  hear,  perhaps  from  Hosea  him- 
 self. The  threatenings  of  the  Pentateuch  (Lev.  xxvi. 
 14—39;  Deut.  xxviii.  13—68,  xxxii.  15—35)  find  their 
 echoes  here. 
 
 (13)  Fled. — The  word  thus  translated  is  used  of  the 
 wandering  flight  of  birds,  and  arises  naturally  out  of 
 the  images  employed  in  verses  11  and  12. 
 
 (13)  Though  I  have  redeemed.  —  Should  be, 
 Though  I  would  fain  redeem  them  :  an  impressive 
 picture  of  all  the  insults  to  longsuffering  Divine 
 love. 
 
 («)  Cried  .  .  .  Howled  —God  discriminates 
 between  a  heart-cry  to  Him,  and  a  howl  of  despair, 
 resembling  the  yell  of  a  wild  beast.  A  howl  upon 
 their  bed  is  not  a  sob  of  true  repentance. 
 
 They  assemble  themselves. — To  supplicate  Je- 
 hovah for  fruitful  harvests.  This  rendering  is  sup- 
 ported by  several  eminent  authorities.  Others  follow 
 Ewald  in  translating, "  they  excite  themselves  "  with  der- 
 vish-like devices  and  cries.  The  LXX.  render  with 
 great  force,  "  they  cut  themselves."  (Comp.  1  Kings 
 xviii.  28;  Deut.  xiv.  1 ;  Jer.  xvi.  6.)  This  is  based  on 
 a  slightly  different  reading,  contained  in  some  of 
 Kenuieott's  and  De  Rossi's  MSS.,  which  is  not  im- 
 probably the  right  one.  The  charge  is  that  all  their 
 simulated  penitence  is  to  secure  physical  comforts,  not 
 to  show  conformity  with  the  Divine  will. 
 
 (15)  Bound. — Should  be  instructed.  God  has  im- 
 parted skill  and  power  to  fight  their  enemies. 
 (Comp.  Ps.  cxliv.  1.)  So  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  is  often 
 slighted  by  its  recipients. 
 
 <16)  Like  a  deceitful  bow.— Religious  observance 
 has  the  appearance  of  a  bow  with  the  arrow  on  the 
 string,  apparently  aimed  at  some  object,  but  the  string 
 being  slack,  the  aim  is  diverted. 
 
 The  ' '  raving  insolence  of  their  tongue  "  may  mean  the 
 boasts  that  were  made  of  the  friendship  of  King  She- 
 
 421 
 
 baka  of  Egypt,  who  made  Israel  his  tool.  In  the  land 
 of  Egypt  they  would  thus  become  objects  of  derision. 
 ( Comp.  Isaiah's  warning  to  his  countrymen,  chap.  xxx. 
 1-8.) 
 
 VIIL 
 
 A  continuation  of  the  same  indictment  along  a  new 
 line  of  illustration.  Jehovah  bids  the  prophet  put  the 
 trumpet  to  his  lips  and  blow  a  shrill  blast,  announcing 
 the  approach  of  disaster. 
 
 (!)  Eagle. — The  image  of  swiftness  (Jer.  iv.  13, 
 xlviii.  40).  So  Assyria  shall  come  swooping  down  oc 
 Samaria,  to  which  Hosea,  though  with  some  irony, 
 gives  the  name  "  House  of  Jehovah,"  recognising  that 
 the  calf  was  meant  to  be  symbolic  in  some  sense 
 of  Israel's  God.  (See,  however,  Note  on  chap. 
 ix.  15.) 
 
 (2)  Should  be  rendered,  To  me  they  cry,  My  God,  we 
 know  Thee,  we  Israel. 
 
 (3)  Cast  off.— Jehovah's  reply  to  Israel's  hollow  re- 
 pentance. The  word  "cast  off"  means  a  scornful 
 loathing  of  what  is  putrescent  or  obscene.  "  The 
 thing  that  is  good"  is  the  name  of  God,  which  is  the 
 salvation  of  Israel  (Aben  Ezra). 
 
 (*)  Set  up  kings. — It  is  possible  that  the  prophet 
 alludes  to  the  history  of  the  northern  kingdom  as  a 
 whole.  Though  the  revolt  of  the  Ten  Tribes  received 
 Divine  sanction  (1  Kings  xi.  9  — 11),  it  was  obviously 
 contrary  to  the  Divine  and  prophetic  idea  which  associ- 
 ated the  growth  of  true  religion  with  the  line  of  David 
 (chap.  iii.  5).  But  it  is  best  to  regard  the  passage  as 
 referring  to  the  short  reigns  of  usurpers  aud  to  the 
 foul  murders  which  disgraced  the  annals  of  the 
 northern  kingdom  since  the  death  of  Jeroboam  II. 
 Jehovah  repudiates  all  participation  in  their  anarchy. 
 
 Knew  it  not. — Shoidd  be,  knew  them  not — viz., 
 the  gold  and  silver  splendours  wherewith  Israel  had 
 adorned  its  apostacy. 
 
 (5)  Thy  calf  .  .  .  hath  cast  thee  off.— Rather, 
 is  loathsome.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  scorn  of  this 
 outburst.  The  last  clause  should  be  rendered.  How 
 long  are  ye  unable  to  attain  purity  ?  The  attribution 
 of  consuming  fire  to  God  is  not  peculiar  to  the  prophet. 
 (Comp.  Heb.  xii.  29.) 
 
T/ie  Judtjments 
 
 IIUSKA,    IX. 
 
 to  Come. 
 
 how  long  wiU  n  I"-  ere  they  attain  to 
 UmocencyP  '''For  from  Israel  tms  it, 
 also:  the  workman  made  it;  therefore 
 it  it  not  <!<»!  :  lxit  the  calf  of  Samaria 
 shall  be  lirokcn  in  pieces.  (7>  For  they 
 bave  sown  the  wind,  and  they  sh;ill  reap 
 the  whirlwind  :  it  h;ith  no  'stalk:  the 
 bud  shall  yield  no  meal  :  if  so  be  it 
 yield,  the  strangers  shall  swallow  it  up. 
 
 '  Israel    is    swallowed  up:   now  shall 
 
 they  l»'ai <x   the  (.Jentiles   as  a  vessel 
 
 wherein  is  no  pleasure.  (il)  For  they  are 
 gone  up  to  Assyria,  a  wild  ass  alone  h\ 
 himself:  Kphraim  hath  hired  2  lovers. 
 (W)  Yea,,  though  they  have  hired  among 
 the  nations,  now  will  1  gather  them,  ana 
 they  shall  3 sorrow  a  little  for  the  bur- 
 
 l    Or,    it 
 
 Or,  begin. 
 
 i  or,  h,  •■ 
 fleet    0/    mute 
 "fferinya   tlicij. 
 
 A  •  . 
 
 den  of  t  lie  kin";  of  primes.  <"' Because 
 Kphraim  hath  made  many  altars  to  sin, 
 altars  shall  he  unto  him  to  sin.  "-''  I 
 have  written  d,  him  the  "Teat  things  of 
 my    law,    '/"/    the?    were    counted    as   a, 
 
 strange  thing,     w  *They  sacrifice  flesh 
 
 fur  the  sacrifices  of  mine  offerings,  and 
 eat     it  :    but    the    LoBD    BOCeptetfa    t  hem 
 
 not;    now    will    he    remember    their 
 
 iniquity,  and  visit  their  sins:  they  shall 
 ret  inn  to  Egypt.  (U)  For  Israel  hath  for- 
 gotten his  Maker,  and  buildeth  temples  ; 
 and  Jndiih  hath  multiplied  fenced  cities: 
 hut  1  will  send  a  lire  upon  his  cities,  and 
 it  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof. 
 
 CHAPTER  IX.— «  Eejoice   not,   O 
 
 <fi)  It  is  best  to  abandon  the  Masoretio  punctuation, 
 ami  translate,  For  U  i  i.e..  the  calf  is  from  Linn/  (not 
 of  Divine  origin);  at  for  it,  am  artificer  made  U,  and  ii 
 it  an  t/ttti.  Yni,  Hit  fulf  i if  Sn urn rili  kIihII  be  shattered 
 to  fragments  (literally,  become  epUntert  or  fine  duet). 
 
 <7>  Wind  .  .  .  "whirlwind.— Tho  great  law  of 
 Divine  retribution,  the  punishment  for  sin  being  often 
 a  greater  facility  '"  ginning — indifference  to  (rod  be- 
 
 ning  enmity,  forget  fulness  of  duty  or  truth  becoming 
 
 violent    r >il  from  both    "  Wind    expresses  what  is 
 
 empty  and  fruitless,  and  the  pronoun  "ii  "  refers,  in  ac- 
 cordance with  the  metaphor,  to  snob  unproductive  seed. 
 
 It  hath  no  stalk. — Not  even  incipient  prosperity, 
 as  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam  II.    "The  growth  shall 
 
 yield  no  grain,"  as  we  inight  express  tho  play  of  words 
 in  the  Hebrew. 
 
 (8)  Vessel  wherein  is  no  pleasure— i.e..  worth- 
 less (oomp.  Jer.  xlviii.  38;  Ps.  xxxi.  13;  2  Tim.  ii.  20); 
 H  vessel  devoted  to  vilest  uses,  or  smashed  up  as 
 worthless. 
 
 W  Gone  up  to  Assyria.— The  word  thus  trans- 
 lated is  elsewhere  used  for  "goingup"  to  Ihe  sanctuary 
 
 of  the  Lord.  (See  Note-  on  chap.  vii.  11.)  Wild  <•*•  w 
 the  image  of  untamed  waywardness  (Job  xxxix.  5,  eeq.) 
 it  is  deecribed  by  Wettstein  as  inhabiting  the  steppes, 
 ■  oreature  of  dirty  yellow  colour,  with  long  ears  and  no 
 horns,  and  a  head  rnnomhliug  a  gazelle's.    Its  pace  is 
 
 80  swift  that  no  huntsman  can  overtake  it.  It  is 
 seldom  Been  alone,  hut  in  herds  of  several  hundreds. 
 From  Jer.  ii.  lit  we  infer  that  the  animal  wanders 
 .•done  after  the  object  of  its  lust.  Israel,  like  a  solitary 
 wild  ass,  s.cks  strange  loves, courts  strange  alliances. 
 
 On  tho  last  clans,-,  see  E/.ok.  xvi.  32 — 3-i.  Ephraim 
 pays  abnormally  for  her  own  shame. 
 
 i1"'  There  is  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
 interpretation  of  this  verse.  Much  depends  on  the 
 reference  of  the  word  "them."    We  prefer  to  regard 
 
 it  as  referring  to    Kphraim   rather  than  to  the  nations 
 
 .  Assyria  and   Egypt).     Bender,  /  will  gather  them 
 (Israel)  together,  so  that  in  a  short  time  they  man  At  law 
 
 (this    translation    approved    l>y    Ewald,   Wiinsehc.  and 
 
 Simeon]  to  render  the  tribute  burden  due  to  (he  king 
 
 of  princes    (/..-.,    the     Assyrian     monarch).       "Gather 
 
 them  together,"  i.e.,  in  restraint,  so  that  they  cannot 
 
 roam  so  wildly.  seeking  help  (KwaliK  This  accords 
 with  chaps  ii.  S.  9,  iii.  t.  Such  non-payment  of  tribute 
 actually  occurred  ix  few  years  later  (.2  Kings  xvii.  4). 
 
 Others  render  it:  I  will  gather  these  nations  (of  the 
 East  i  round  about  her  to  look  scornfully  on  her  ruin, 
 and  they  shall  sorrow  a  little  (used  ironically)  at  tho 
 imposition  of  the  king  of  the  princes. 
 
 t'1)  Many  altars. — Multiplication  of  altars  was 
 condemned  in  the  law  (Dent.  xii.  .">  seq.).  The  narra- 
 tive in  Josh.  xxii.  shows  that  unity  of  altar  and 
 sanctuary  was    essential    to    the    unity    of    the    nation. 
 
 The  last  clause  should  be  rendered,  he  had  attain  for 
 tinning.  The  worship  of  God  was  degraded  into  tho 
 sensuous  approaching  Baal- worship.  In  the  first  clause 
 sin  equals  transgression,  in  the  last  transgression  jjihs 
 guilt  and   peril. 
 
 (12,13)  I'll,  rendering  should  be.  though  I  write  for 
 him  "  in  nil  Hintr  of  mil  jii-irijitx.  The  tense  "I 
 write"  is  imperfect,  and  represents  the  continuous 
 process — tho  prophetic  teaching  as  well  as  the  ancient 
 Mosaic  law.  In  the  wild  lust  for  a  foreign  religion  the 
 pure  and  spiritual  Mosaic  worship  and  the  religious 
 influence  of  prophecy  had  been  forgotten.  It  seemed 
 something  "strange;"  as  Christ's  cross  and  claims 
 have  been  accounted  strange  by  so-called  Christiana 
 
 iii)  They  sacrifice  flesh  .  .  . — Should  be.  "They 
 sacrifice  the  sacrifices  of  my  gifts — flesh,  and  cat  it." 
 Clear  reference  to  the  Mosaic  institute.  Ye  shall  go 
 hack  to  Egypt,  says  the  prophet,  and  there  learn  again 
 tho  bitter  lessons  of  the  past — cither  the  positive 
 return  to  Egypt  or  the  disastrous  hankering  after 
 Egyptian  alliances, 
 
 (in  Temples.— The  word  here  used  for  temple  is 
 used  sixty  times  for  Jehovah's  temple.  The  building 
 of  these  temple-palaces  was  a  distinct  sin  against  the 
 unity  of  tho  Godhead. 
 
 Judah  hath  multiplied  fenced  cities.  — 
 Referred  to  by  Sennacherib,  in  the  inscription  relating 
 to  the  campaign  of  701  B.C.  :  "Forty-six  of  his 
 lli/ekiah's,  strong  cities,  fortresses  ...  I  besieged,  I 
 captured."  These  were  erected  by  U/./.iah  and  Jot  ham 
 (2  Chrou.  xxvi.  10,  xxvii.  4).  With  the  allusions  to 
 Israel's  temples  (palaces)  compare  Amos  iii.  11,  15. 
 
 IX. 
 It  is  now  harvest  and  vintage-time — the  period  of 
 annual  vintage  festivals,  as  at  Shechemand  anil  oh,  to 
 which  the  neighbouring  villages  gathered  The  corn 
 is  being  reaped  tite  wine-press  is  trodden,  and  the  vats 
 are  overflowing.     But  behind  this  bright  picture  there 
 
 426 
 
Tlie  Distress  and 
 
 HOSEA,   IX. 
 
 Captivity  of  Israel. 
 
 Israel,  for  joy,  as  other  people  :  for  thou 
 hast  gone  a  whoring  from  thy  God, 
 thou  hast  loved  a  "reward  ]upon  every 
 cornfloor.  <2>  The  floor  and  the  -  wine- 
 press shall  not  feed  them,  and  the  new 
 wine  shall  fail  in  her.  <3>  They  shall 
 not  dwell  in  the  Lord's  land ;  hut 
 Ephraim  shall  return  to  Egypt,  and 
 they  shall  eat  unclean  things  in  Assyria. 
 (*)  They  shall  not  offer  wine  offerings  to 
 the  Lord,  neither  shall  they  be  pleasing 
 unto  him  :  their  sacrifices  shall  be  unto 
 them  as  the  bread  of  mourners ;  all  that 
 eat  thereof  shall  be  polluted :  for  their 
 bread  for  their  soul  shall  not  come  into 
 the  house  of  the  Lord.     <5>  What  will 
 
 Jer. «.  17. 
 Or,  in.  &c. 
 Or,  wine/at. 
 He!).,  spoil. 
 
 Or,  their  silver 
 shall  he  desired, 
 the  nettle,  &c. 
 
 5  Heb.,  the  desire. 
 
 Heb..  man  of  the 
 spirit. 
 
 7  Or,  against. 
 
 ye  do  in  the  solemn  day,  and  in  the  day 
 of  the  feast  of  the  Lord  ?  <6)  For,  lor 
 they  are  gone  because  of  3  destruction  :■ 
 Egypt  shall  gather  them  up,  Memphis 
 shall  bury  them :  45the  pleasant  places- 
 tor  their  silver,  nettles  shall  possess. 
 them :  thorns  shall  be  in  their  taber- 
 nacles. (7)  The  days  of  visitation  are- 
 come,  the  days  of  recom pence  are  come;. 
 Israel  shall  know  it:  the  prophet  is  a 
 fool,  6the  spiritual  man  is  mad,  for  the 
 multitude  of  thine  iniquity,  and  the 
 great  hatred.  (8)  The  watchman  of 
 Ephraim  was  with  my  God :  but  the 
 prophet  is  a  snare  of  a  fowler  in  all  his 
 ways,  and  hatred  7in  the  house  of  his 
 
 looms  to  the  prophet's  gaze  a  sombre  background. 
 This  and  the  following  two  chapters,  which  form  a 
 connected  whole,  contains  another  outburst  of  prophetic 
 denunciation  of  the  follies  of  idolatrous  Israel. 
 
 (1)  For  joy. — Better,  to  exultation.  "  The  harlot's 
 hire  on  every  corn-floor"  expresses  in  bold  imagery  the 
 prophet's  scorn  for  the  idolatrous  corruption  of  the 
 people.  The  bounteous  yield  of  the  harvest  is  called 
 the  "  harlot's  hire,"  which  lures  Jehovah's  faithless 
 bride  to  worship  the  false  deity  from  whose  hands  these 
 gifts  were  supposed  to  come.  The  people's  momen- 
 tary prosperity  is  attributed  to  their  idols.  (See  chap, 
 ii.  12;  Jer.  xliv.  17—19.) 
 
 (2)  Winepress. — Read  wine-vat  (with  margin),  into 
 which  the  tirush,  new  wine  ("grape-juice"),  flowed 
 from  the  winepress.  (Comp.  Isa.  v.  2. )  For  "  fail  in 
 her"  read  deceive  her,  with  LXX.  and  Vulgate. 
 
 (3.  4)  Canaan,  the  land  of  Jehovah,  is  holy,  Assyria 
 unholy  (Amos  vii.  17),  where  there  was  no  temple  or 
 sacred  ordinances.  Since  meat  was  not  a  divinely 
 sanctioned  food,  except  in  connection  with  a  Jehovah 
 festival,  it  became  in  the  land  of  exile  unclean.  This 
 became  true  in  the  eyes  of  Hosea  of  all  eating.  "  In 
 the  family  every  feast  was  a  Encharistic  sacrifice " 
 (W.  R.  Smith,  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church, 
 pp.  235  and  237).    (Comp.  Ezek.  iv.  13.) 
 
 (*)  Offer — i.e.,  pour  out  as  a  libation.  A  better  ren- 
 dering is  to  be  obtained  by  abandoning  the  Hebrew 
 accentuation  :  And  their  sacrifices  will  not  be  pleasing 
 to  Him ;  it  shall  be  to  them  as  bread  of  sorrow — i.e., 
 funeral  food,  which  defiles  for  seven  days  those  who 
 partake  of  it.  Another  reference  to  the  Mosaic  legisla- 
 tion (Deut.  xxvi.  14) — Yea,  their  bread  is  for  their 
 appetite  (i.e.,  only  for  bodily  sustenance),  it  cometh  not 
 to  Jehovah's  house  as  a  sacred  offering.*  These 
 verses  show  that  Hosea  did  not  consider  the  worship 
 of  the  Northern  Kingdom  as  in  itself  illegal. 
 
 (s)  See  Note  on  chap.  ii.  11. 
 
 (6)  Translate,  Behold  if  they  have  gone  from  the 
 desolation  (i.e.,  Palestine  laid  waste  by  the  invader), 
 Egypt  shall  gather  them,  Memphis  bury  them — 
 Memphis,  the  vast  city  and  necropolis  of  Ptah,  where 
 Apis   and    Ibis,   kings    and   men,    lay  by   thousands 
 
 *  Kuenen  (Hibbert  Lecture,  p.  312)  proposes  an  alteration  in 
 tlie  text,  whereby  the  parallelism  becomes  more  harmonious 
 and  the  construction  simpler.  He  then  renders,  "They  shall 
 pour  no  libation  of  wine  to  Jehovah,  and  shall  not  lay  out  their 
 sacrifices  before  Him  :  as  food  eaten  in  mourning  is  their  food." 
 This  agrees  better  with  chap.  iii.  4. 
 
 mummied,  the  religious  shrine  of  Egyptian  faith  in  the- 
 under- world,  from  which  Israel  had  been  emancipated 
 at  the  Exodus. — There  is  a  longing  for  their  silver  (i.e., 
 they  shall  long  for  the  silver  left  behind  concealed  in 
 their  desolate  land. — The  thistle  shall  2>ossess  them,  the- 
 thorn  shall  be  in  their  tents.  Hosea  prophesies  an 
 exile  to  Egypt  after  the  anticipated  invasion.  That 
 many  exiles  took  refuge  in  Egypt  in  721  B.C.,  after  the 
 great  overthrow  of  the  northern  kingdom  (as  in  the 
 case  of  Judah  in  the  days  of  Jeremiah),  cannot  admit 
 of  doubt.  (Comp.  chap.  viii.  13  and  verse  3  above ;  see 
 chap.  xi.  5,  Note. ) 
 
 (<)  The  latter  part  of  the  verse  should  be  translated 
 Crazed  is  the  prophet,  mad  the  inspired  one,  because 
 of  the  multitude  of  thy  iniquity,  while  persecution  is 
 increased.  The  prophet  is  crazed  either  in  the 
 depraved  public  opinion  that  Hosea  scornfully  describes, 
 or,  he  is  driven  mad,  distracted,  by  the  persecutions  to 
 which  he  is  subjected.  The  latter  is  more  probable. 
 (Comp.  the  following  verse.)  Other  commentators, 
 including  Maurer  and  Hitzig  (preceded  by  Jeroine  and. 
 many  Jewish  as  well  as  Christian  expositors)  take  the 
 words  for  prophet  in  this  verse  as  signifying  "  false 
 prophet,"  and  would  connect  the  clauses  thus  : — "Israel 
 shall  recognise  that  the  prophet  (who  prophesied  good 
 to  them)  is  a  fool,  the  inspired  one  a  madman,  because 
 of,"  &c.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Hebrew  for 
 "  inspired  one  "  (ish  hariiach)  can  bear  this  unfavour- 
 able sense,  with  the  definite  article  affixed  (comp.  1  Kings 
 xxii.  21,  Heb.) ;  so  Nowack.  The  passage  is  very 
 difficult,  and  no  decisive  superiority  can  be  claimed  for 
 any  rendering  yet  proposed. 
 
 (8)  Prophet. — Many  hold  that  here  (as  in  the  previous 
 verse)  this  word  is  used  in  a  bad  sense  (false  prophet), 
 and  standing  contrasted  with  "  the  watchman  of  Eph- 
 raim "  (or  true  prophet,  Hosea  himself,  Jer.  vi.  17 ; 
 Ezek.  iii.  17).  They  would  render: — "  The  watchman  of 
 Ephraim  is  with  my  God."  But  the  verse  is  capable 
 of  an  altogether  different,  and,  on  the  whole,  more 
 satisfactory  interpretation :  Ephraim  is  a  lier-in-wait,in 
 conflict  with  my  God.  As  for  the  prophet,  the  fowler's 
 snare  is  in  all  his  ways.  (Comp.  Matt,  xxiii.  34,  35.) 
 There  is  persecution  in  the  house  of  his  God.  The 
 objection  to  this  rendering  lies  in  this  use  of  the 
 Hebrew  'im  ("  in  conflict  with  ").  But  the  word  might 
 be  read  'am,  "people"  (comp.  LXX.  on  2  Sam.  i.  2): 
 "Ephraim,  the  people  of  my  God,  is  a  lier-in-wait " 
 — a  thought  full  of  pathos,  and  in  harmony  with  the 
 main  idea  of  this  prophecy. 
 
 426 
 
For  their 
 
 IIOSKA,   X. 
 
 "f/  Idolatry. 
 
 God.     (9)  They  have  deeply  corrupted 
 themselves,  as    in    the  days  of   'Gibeah: 
 llirri'/tirr  lie  will  remember  their  i  1 1 i < j  1 1 i t  \ , 
 he  will  visit  their  sins. 
 i'"1  [  found   Israel  like  grapes  ill  the 
 
 wilderness;  I  saw  your  lathers  as  tin- 
 Bxsiripe  in  the  tig  tree  at  her  first  time: 
 but  they  went  to  ''Baal-peor,  and  separa- 
 ted themselves  unto  mat  shame ;  and 
 Hi nir  ahoininations  were  according  as 
 they  loved.  (11)  As  for  Ephraim,  their 
 glory  shall  fly  away  Uke  a  bird,  from 
 the  birth, and  from  the  womb, and  from 
 the  conception.  <''-' Though  they  bring 
 up  their  children,  yet  will  I  bereave 
 them,  that  there  shall  not  be  a  man  left : 
 yea,  woe  also  to  them  when  I  depart 
 from  them !  (1:1)  Ephraim,  as  I  saw 
 Tyrus,  is  planted  in  a  pleasant  place: 
 but  Ephraim  shall  bring  forth  his 
 children    to    the    murderer.      <U)  Give 
 
 a  Jade. »'  '"• 
 
 i  u,h.ll,atcaalelh 
 tht  fruit. 
 
 .■  dttirtt. 
 
 fruit 
 
 them,  0  Lord:  what  wilt  thou  give? 
 give  them  a  'miscarrying  womb  and  dry 
 breasts.  (15)  All  their  wickedness 'w  in 
 Gilgal:  for  there  I  hated  them  :  for  the 
 wickedness  of  their  doings  I  will  drive 
 them  ont  of  mine  house,  I  will  love  them 
 no  more  :  all  their  princes  ore  revolt,  r-. 
 (l6>  Ephraim  is  smitten,  their  root  ia 
 dried  up,  they  shall  hear  no  fruit:  yea, 
 though  they  bring  forth,  yet  will  I  slay 
 even  2the  beloved  fruit  of  their  womb. 
 
 (17)  jjy  Q0(\  -will  cast  them  away,  be- 
 cause they  did  not  hearken  unto  him: 
 and  they  shall  be  wanderers  among  the 
 natious. 
 
 CHAPTER  X.— (D  Israel  is3  an  empty 
 vine,  he  bringeth  forth  fruit  unto  him- 
 self :  according  to  the  multitude  of  his 
 fruit  he  hath  increased  the  altars;  ac- 
 cording to  the  goodness  of  his  land  they 
 
 (")  For  the  referenoe  to  Gibeah,  see  Jndg,  xix. 
 
 (M)  Grapes  in  the  wilderness.— Ricli  dainties 
 to  tlic  desert  traveller.  So  had  Jehovah  regarded  His 
 people  at  tin'  commencement  of  their  national  history 
 in  tlic  irildomnnn 
 
 Firstripo.— The  early  fig  tli.it  ripens  in  Juuo, 
 while  tin'  rest  oome  to  maturity  about  August  (Isa, 
 xxviii.  4;   Micah  vii.  1  ;  Jer.  xxiv.  2), 
 
 Baal-peor  was  the  place  where  Moabitic  idolatry 
 ma  practised.  Thisgreal  disgrace  had  burned  itself 
 into  their  national  traditions  and  literature  (Num  xxv. ; 
 Dent.  iv.  3;   Ps.  cvi.  28—31). 
 
 Shame. — Heb.  bosheth  was  a  euphemism  for  Baal. 
 Observe  tliat  Dames  ending  in  "  -boanel  li  "  i  Ish-bosheth, 
 &c.)  are  replaced  by  the  older  forms  in  ■• -baal "  in 
 1  Chron.  Render  the  last  clause,  they  heme  become 
 abominations  like  their  love  (i.e.,  Baal). 
 
 (11)  From  the  birth  .  .  .—Or  rather,  so  tluit  tht  re 
 shall  In  no  childbirth,  nor  pregnancy,  nor  conception 
 — an  ascending  climax.  Progeny  iraa  the  glory  of 
 ancient   Israel    Gen,  xxii.  17;   Dout.  vii.  13,  14 j  Ps. 
 
 c\\\  ii.  S  :    I'i'ov.    \\  ii.  tl). 
 
 (13)  The  LXX.  suggest  a  doubt  as  to  the  validity  of 
 our  text.  They  render  "  Ephraim,  even  as  I  saw,  pave 
 their  children  for  a  prey."  The  referenee  to  Tyre  is 
 very  obscure,    Some  wmild  render  the  Hebrew  word 
 
 for  "meadow"  hy  "resting-place."  and  interpret,  "I 
 look  on  Ephraim  even  as  I  look   on   Tyre,  planted  in  ■ 
 
 suro  resting-place,"  The  impregnable  fortress  of  Tyre 
 was  a  conspicuous  object  in  tho  days  of  Hosea,  Simi- 
 larly Samaria  win  I  stronghold  which  was  able  to 
 resist  prolonged  sieges.  (damp,  Isaiah's  graphic  words: 
 Isa.  xxviii.  1 — 4,  and  Amos  vi.  1) — "  Yet  Kphraim  shall 
 bring  forth  sons  to  the  murderer."  i.e.,  in  the  impend- 
 ing overthrow  and  massacre,  721  b.c. 
 
 (u>  Better  universal  childlessness  than  that  the.  off. 
 spring  should  he  expose,)  to  so  terrible  a  fate.  Com- 
 pare this  with  our  Lord's  words  ;  "  Blessed  are  the 
 Barren,  and  the  WOmbs  that  never  hare."  Ac. 
 
 (IB)  Gilgal. — On  Gilgal  as  a  Beat  of  idolatrous  wor- 
 ship, see  chap.  iv.  1">.    "  My  house  "   here,  and  in  chap. 
 
 viii.  1  ("Jehovah's  house"',  is  interpreted  by  Wnnsche 
 and  Nowaek.  with  considerable  show  of  reason,  to  mean 
 
 I '7 
 
 the  "holy  land,"  Canaan.  This  interpretation  is  con- 
 firmed hy  the  use  of  the  Assyrian  word  Bitu,  corre- 
 sponding  to  the  Hebrew  beth  "house."  Tho  term 
 seems  to  have  blended  the  conception  of  a  people  and 
 the  territory  they  occupied.  (See  Schrador.  Keilin- 
 srliriften  und  das  alte  Testament,  p.  St",  where  tho 
 examples  aro  cited  Bit-Am-ma-na  "Amnion,"  Hit- A- 
 ili-in.  "Beth -Eden.")  Similarly.  Egypt  is  called  in 
 Exod.  xx.  2.  "  the  house  of  slaves."  Wo  are  reminded 
 hy  the  word  "house"  of  the  domestic  episode  (chaps. 
 i. — iii.):  Ephraim,  like  an  atlulterons  wife,  is  turned 
 out  of  house  and  home  (comp.  chap.  iii.  4),  and  is  no- 
 longer  Jehovah's  people  (chap.  i.  9). 
 
 t":)  They  shall  bear  no  fruit.— Ephraim,  whoso 
 very  name  signifies  fruitifumeas. 
 
 (ft)  Wanderers. — Strangely  confirmed  from  Assy- 
 rian monuments  and  t lie  entire  subsequent  history  of  tho 
 hulk  of  Israel ;  and  Israel  still  wanders,  not  coalescing 
 with  any  nation,  unless  they  lose  their  ancient  faith 
 by  corruption  into  idolatry,  or  conversion  to  Chris- 
 tianity.     (,SeO  Pusev. 
 
 X. 
 
 (i)  Empty  in  the  English  version  is  wrong,  being 
 
 inconsistent  witli  what  follows.  (Comp.  LXX.  and 
 Vnlg.)  Read  huntriamt.  The  metaphors  of  the  vintage 
 [oomp.  also  Gen.  xlix.  22.  and  Introduction  to  chap,  ix.) 
 are  still  prevalent  in  the  mind  of  the  prophet.  Wiinsche 
 lias  powerfully  illustrated  this  wild  strong  growth  of 
 Israel  as  compared  with  Judah.  Joasli  prevailed  over 
 Aniaziah.  and  plundered  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xiv. 
 12 — 14'.  Jeroboam  II.  extended  his  power  as  far  as 
 Hamath  (2  Kings  xiv.  23—25).  The  kingdom  had 
 resisted  the  attacks  of  Syria,  and  had  become  insolent 
 as  well  as  idolatrous.  The  last  clause  should  ho  ren- 
 dered, The  more  abundant  his  fruit,  the  more  he 
 increased  altars;  the  fairer  liis  land,  the  fairer  the 
 Baal.pillars.  On  "Baal-pillars."  sco  W.  R.  Smith, 
 Old  Testament  in  On-  Jewish  Church,  pp.  248,  4j.-,. 
 (Comp.  ix.  1  and  ii.  5.)  Misapprehending  the  cause 
 of  their  temporal  prosperity,  and  wilfully  ignoring 
 Jehovah's  forbearance  and  lore,  they  attributed  their 
 mercies  to  the  grace  of  Baal,  and  multiplied  idolatrous 
 shrines  vsee  Romans  ii.  4.) 
 
More  Reproof 
 
 HOSEA,   X. 
 
 and  Threatening. 
 
 have  made  goodly  x  images.  (2)  2  Their 
 heart  is  divided ;  now  shall  they  be 
 found  faulty:  he  shall  3m-eak  down 
 their  altars,  he  shall  spoil  their  images. 
 <3>  For  now  they  shall  say,  We  have  no 
 king,  because  we  feared  not  the  Lord  ; 
 what  then  should  a  king  do  to  us  ? 
 <4>  They  have  spoken  words,  swearing 
 falsely  in  making  a  covenant :  thus 
 judgment  springeth  up  as  hemlock  in 
 the  furrows  of  the  field.  <5>  The  inhabit- 
 ants of  Samaria  shall  fear  because  of 
 the  calves  of  Beth-aven :  for  the  people 
 thereof  shall  mourn  over  it,  and  4the 
 priests  thereof  that  rejoiced  on  it,  for 
 the  glory  thereof,  because  it  is  departed 
 from  it.  (6)  It  shall  be  also  carried  unto 
 Assyria  for  a  present  to  "king  Jareb: 
 Ephraim  shall  receive  shame,  and  Israel 
 shall  be  ashamed  of  his  own  counsel. 
 (7>  As  for  Samaria,  her  king  is  cut  off  as 
 
 1  He!)..  ttObUASt  or, 
 
 standing  Images. 
 
 2  Or,  Tic  hath  di- 
 vided their  heart. 
 
 3  Hcl).,  behead. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 cir.  7ii\ 
 
 4  Or,  Chcmurim. 
 a  ell.  5. 13. 
 
 5  Hcl).,  the  face  of 
 the  water. 
 
 b  Isa.  2.  19;  Luke 
 23.  So;  Rev.  6. 
 1C  &  u.  6. 
 
 6  Or.  tehen  T  shall 
 bind    them  for 
 their  two  trans- 
 art  ssionn,  or,  in 
 
 their  tiro  habita- 
 tions. 
 
 i  Heb.,  the  bemdy 
 of  her  neck. 
 
 the  foam  upon  5the  water.  (8)  The  high 
 places  also  of  Aven,  the  sin  of  Israel, 
 shall  be  destroyed:  the  thorn  and  the 
 thistle  shall  come  up  on  then  altars ; 
 4  and  they  shall  say  to  the  mountains, 
 Cover  us ;  and  to  the  hills,  Fall  on  us. 
 
 <9)  0  Israel,  thou  hast  sinned  from  the 
 days  of  Gibeah :  there  they  stood :  the 
 battle  in  Gibeah  against  the  children  of 
 iniquity  did  not  overtake  them.  (10>  It  is 
 in  my  desire  that  I  should  chastise  them; 
 and  the  people  shall  be  gathered  against 
 them,  6  when  they  shall  bind  themselves 
 in  their  two  furrows.  (11)  And  Ephraim 
 is  as  an  heifer  that  is  taught,  and  loveth 
 to  tread  out  the  corn ;  but  I  passed  over 
 upon  7her  fair  neck:  I  will  make 
 Ephraim  to  ride;  Judah  shall  plow,  and 
 Jacob  shall  break  his  clods.  (l2)  Sow  to 
 yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap  in 
 mercy  ;  c  break  up  your  fallow  ground : 
 
 (2)  Their  heart  is  divided  is  the  rendering  of  the 
 LXX.,  Raschi,  Abeu-Ezra,  and  most  ancient  versions. 
 But  modern  expositors  prefer  to  translate  "  Their  heart 
 is  treacherous  {smooth)."  The  rest  of  the  verse 
 should  run  thus : — Now  shall  they  suffer  punishment. 
 He  shall  break  {the  horns  of)  their  altars;  he  shall 
 destroy  their  pillars. 
 
 (3)  To  us. — Better,  as  for  a  king,  what  will  he  do 
 for  us  ?  The  prophet  having  witnessed  a  succession  of 
 Israelite  kings  overthrown,  and  anarchy  as  its  conse- 
 quence, predicts  yet  another  time  of  confusion  and 
 helplessness,  a  full  vindication  of  the  threatenings  of 
 the  prophet  Samuel.     (Comp.  1  Sam.  viii.  19.) 
 
 W  Judgment — i.e.,  Divine  judgments  shall  prevail 
 not  as  a  blessing,  but  as  a  curse ;  not  as  a  precious 
 harvest,  but  as  a  poisonous  plant  (poppy  or  hemlock)  in 
 the  ridges  of  the  field. 
 
 (5)  It  is  hard  to  express  the  sarcastic  force  and  con- 
 centrated scoff  of  the  original :  "  calves,"  literally, 
 she  calves,  the  feminine  form  to  express  contempt, 
 the  plural  in  allusion  to  the  scattered  worship  in 
 numerous  shrines  throughout  Israel  (or,  perhaps,  a 
 pluralis  majestatis  of  mockery).  The  next  clause 
 should  read  thus : — For  it  (pers.  pronoun,  referring 
 to  the  calf  par  excellence  of  the  chief  seat  of  worship  at 
 Bethel,  here  degraded  into  Bethaven),  people  mourn 
 because  of  it,  and  its  priests  tremble  because  of  it.  (The 
 word  for  "  priests,"  kemarim,  means  always  idolatrous 
 priesthood. 
 
 (6)  Translate,  Even  that  {i.e.,  the  calf)  shall  be 
 carried  (in  triumphant  state)  to  Assyria,  cm  offering  to 
 King  Jareb.  (See  chap.  v.  13,  Excursus.) 
 
 (7)  Foam  .  .  .  Water.— One  of  the  most  striking 
 images  in  the  prophecy.  The  word  qetseph,  rendered 
 "  foam" — Speaker  s  Commentary  reads  "  bubble" — 
 properly  signifies  "  chip  "  or  "  fragment."  Translate  : 
 Like  a  chip  on  the  waters'  surface.  The  king  is  tossed 
 on  the  raging  seas  of  political  life  like  a  helpless  frag- 
 ment. Such  was  the  instability  of  the  throne  of  Israel 
 at  this  period.     (Comp.  chap.  xiii.  11.) 
 
 (8)  Aven. — On  Beth- Aven,  see  Note  on  chap.  iv.  15. 
 The  "  thorn  and  thistle  "  are  part  of  the  first  curse  upon 
 ■apostate  Adam  (Gen.  iii.  18),  and  the  prophet  not  only 
 
 predicts  utter  ruin  for  king  and  calf,  temple  and  shrine, 
 hut  the  future  desolation  which  should  conceal  all. 
 Meanwhile,  the  people  shall  desire  death  rather  than 
 life.  The  awful  words  in  the  latter  part  of  this  verse 
 are  used  by  our  Lord  concerning  the  terrors  of  the 
 impenitent  in  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  (Lukexxiii.  30),  and 
 twice  by  St.  John  (Rev.  vi.  16,  ix.  6),  to  denote  the 
 extremity  of  despair. 
 
 (9)  O  Israel  .  .  .  Gibeah. — Thou  didst  commence 
 thy  obscene  transgressions  long  before  the  disruption 
 of  the  kingdom  of  Rehoboam,  even  at  Gibeah.  Gibeah 
 is  emblematic  of  gross  and  cruel  sensuality,  in  allusion 
 to  Judges  xix.  20,  just  as  Sodom  is  used  for  unnatural 
 vice. 
 
 There  they  stood. — Or  rather,  remained  sin- 
 ning after  the  same  manner.  The  rest  of  the  verse 
 should  be  rendered,  Shall  there  not  overtake  them  in 
 Gibeah  (used  mystically)  the  war  made  against  the 
 wicked  ?  (Comp.  Judges  xx.)  But  Dr.  Pusey  and 
 others  take  it  categorically,  implying  that  though  the 
 exterminating  war  against  the  men  of  Gibeah  did  not 
 overtake  them,  and  has  not  yet,  it  shall  now,  and  soon. 
 But  the  former  interpretation  is  to  be  preferred. 
 
 (10)  Translate  (see  Margin;  so  Jerome),  When  I 
 desire,  I  will  chastise  them,  and  peoples  shall  be 
 gathered  against  them,  when  I  chastise  them  for  their 
 two  iniquities  (i.e.,  the  two  calves  which  had  been 
 the  source  of  heresy  and  treason  against  Jehovah). 
 
 (n)  Heifer. — Translate,  Ephraim  is  a  trained  heifer, 
 which  loves  to  thresh.  Here  the  idea  may  be  that  Eph- 
 raim loves  the  easy  and  free  work  of  treading  out  the 
 corn,  and  so  becomes  fat  and  sleek ;  or  the  act  of  tread- 
 ing and  threshing  may  point  to  the  rough  treatment 
 which  Ephraim  has  in  her  pride  dealt  out  to  her  neigh- 
 bours and  enemies.  But  the  former  interpretation  is 
 more  probable.  The  verse  should  continue  to  read 
 thus  : — And  I  passed  by  the  fairness  of  Iter  neck  (to 
 arrest  her  self-indulgence).  I  will  harness  Ephraim 
 for  riding — i.e.,  I  will  cause  a  rider,  Assyria,  to  take 
 possession  of  her,  and  she  shall  be  bound  in  un- 
 welcome toil  to  do  the  bidding  of  another. 
 
 t13)  In  their  despair  come  some  characteristic  gleams 
 of  hope  on  the   desolation;    the  eternal    law  which 
 
 428 
 
Israel  reminded 
 
 IIOSEA,  xr. 
 
 of  Past  Blessings. 
 
 for  if  u  time  to  seek  the  Lord,  till  he 
 oome  and  ruin  righteousness  upon  you. 
 <1:,)  Ye  have  plowed  wickedness,  \<-  h;tv 
 
 reaped  iniquity;  ye  have  eaten  the 
 fruit  of  lies:  because  thou  didst  tragi 
 
 in    fchj    w;iy,    ill    the    mult  it  mle   of    thy 
 
 mighty  men.  ("'  Therefore  shall  ;i  tu- 
 muli   arise   anions   thy    ] pie,  and   all 
 
 thy  fortresses  shall  be  spoiled,  as  Shal- 
 inan  spoiled  "Beth-arbel  in  the  day  of 
 battle:  the  mother  was  dashed  in  pieces 
 upon  her  children.  <15>  So  shall  Beth-el 
 do  unto  you  because  of  lyour  greal 
 wickedness  :  in  a  morning  shall  the  king 
 of  Israel  utterly  be  cut  off. 
 
 CHAPTER  XL— WWhen  Israel  woe 
 
 a  child,  then  I  loved  him,  and  'called 
 
 .1  ;   Km.  18.  SI  A 
 
 1  II.  I. .  U 
 your  evil. 
 
 ■:  ll.l.. 
 
 my  son  out  of  Egypt.  '-'  At  they  called 
 them,  so  they  went  from  them  :  they 
 saerifieed  unto  lia.ilim,  and  burned  in- 
 cense to  graven  images.  '•''  I  taught 
 Kphraim  also  to  go,  taking  them  by 
 their  arms  ;  but  they  knew  not  that  I 
 healed  them.  <l»  I  drew  tle-m  with 
 cords  of  a  man,  with  hands  of  love  :  and 
 I  was  to  them  as  they  that  ;  take  off  the 
 yoke  on  their  jaws,  and  I  laid  meat  unto 
 them. 
 
 '5)  He  shall  not  return  into  the  land  of 
 Egypt,  but  the  Assyrian  shall  be  his 
 king,  because  they  refused  to  return. 
 (0>  And  the  sword  shall  abide  on  his 
 cities,  and  shall  consume  his  branches, 
 and  devour  them,  because  of  their  own 
 counsels.     <"'  And  my  people  are  bent  to 
 
 makes  reaping  a  consequence  of  sowing  will  still 
 apply.  The  mercy  of  Qod  will  be  the  harvest  of  a 
 sowing  to  tli'1  Spirit  (Oomp.  Gal.  vi.  8;  Rom.  viii. 
 7 — 1:!;  and  Mieah  vi.  8.)  The  Tory  soil  of  the  son]  is 
 fallow  anil  unbroken.  Break  it  up.  seek  Jehovah,  ami 
 !!.•  will  com.'  .n  never  before.    This  momentary  rift  hi 
 
 the  sturm -el.  aul  show  -.  the  light  lieliiml  it. 
 
 (13)  Thy  way.— By  a  slight  change  of  the  Hobrow 
 wont  thus  rendered  il  acquires  the  sense.//!;/  chariots,* 
 reading  followed  by  the  LXX.  ami  Ewalil.  Kuin..l,aml 
 
 Nowaek.  It  establishes  a  good  parallelism,  and  bar- 
 monises  with  prophetic  teaching  (chap,  xiv.ii;  Isa.iL  7). 
 
 The  Masorctie  text  gives,  however,  a  line  meaning. 
 
 (")  Then  comes  the  crash  of  the  thunder-pea].    The 
 
 prophot  seems  to  hear  the  advance  of  the  invading  army, 
 and  see  tli,'  fall  of  Samaria's  fortress. 
 
 Shalman.— The  references  in  the  margin  are  not  to 
 the  same  historic-  event.      The  allusion  is  very  obscure. 
 
 Schroder  I  EJeUinechrtften,  2nd  ad.,  pp.  MO — n)  suggests: 
 
 two  theories:  one  that  it  refers  to  an  episode  in  the 
 oampaigD  of  Bhalmaseser  III.  to  the  "cedar  country" 
 
 Lebanon),  in    77">    B.C.,    or    to    Damascus    in   77-1.      lie 
 
 might    then   have  penetrated   into  the  Trensjardanic 
 
 .try.  ami  destroyed  Arbela,  near  l'ella  (Beth-arbel). 
 
 The  other  theory,  that  we   have   here  a  mention   of   the 
 
 M  .ii>itish  king  Salmanm,  whose  name  occurs  in 
 Tiglath-pileser's  inscription,  is  far-fetched  ami  impro- 
 bable.   I  hi  I  he  other  hand.  (  leiger.  following  the  hint  of 
 
 Jerome,  identifies  Shalman  with  Zalmunna  (Judges 
 viii.  1^;  camp.  1's.  Uwiii.  11).    Tin-  kind  of  barbarity 
 
 here  referred   to   is  illustrated  by  -  Kings  viii.  1J;   Ps. 
 
 oxecvii.  8, '.'. 
 P»)  King  .  .  .  Out  oft— The  close  of  the  kingdom 
 
 7^1    B.O.  .   already  more  than    once   referred  to     eonip. 
 
 verse  7).  is  here  prophesied    Translate,  >'..  skaM  II 
 ,il  Bethel 
 In  tho  morning.— Should  he.  in  the  early  morning 
 Hashes   was   utterly  cut   off,  leaving   neither  root  nor 
 branch. 
 
 XI. 
 (l)  Comp.  chap.  ix.  In  and  Bxod  iv.  22,  _'::.     In   this 
 context  there  cannot    he  a    prophecy  of  the   Christ,  for 
 
 obstinate  conduct   and  rebellion  would  thus  he  involved 
 
 in  the  prediction.      It  is  true  t  hat    Matt.  ii.  l"i  ipiotes  the 
 
 Ige  in  illustration  of  the  fact    that    the  true  Son  of 
 
 God  was  also  submitted  iu  His  youth  to  the  hard  school- 
 
 ing of  a  cruel  exile.  The  calling  out  of  Egypt  of  the 
 Messiah  gavo  a  new  indication  of  the  cyclical  character 
 of  Hebrew  history.    The  passage  helps  us  t.P  understand 
 
 what  is  meant  by  the  formula.  "  that  it  might  be  fill- 
 tilled."  &0. 
 
 '->  As  they  (i.e.,  tho  prophets)  called  thorn,  so 
 they  (Israeli  went  from  them.— Sought  to  avoid  the 
 voice  and  preseni f  the  men  of  God. 
 
 (;»  Read.  Yet  is  il  not  I  who  guided  Ephraim's  steps, 
 taking  him  by  his  arms.  There  is  a  beautifid  parallel 
 to  this  in  Dent,  xxxii.  10,  11. 
 
 Knew  not  .  .  . — This  obtusenesa  to  tho  source  of 
 all  mercies — the  refusal  to  recognise  the  true  origin  in 
 Divine  revelation  of  those  ideas  which,  though  they 
 bless  and  beautify  life,  are  not  recognised  as  such  re- 
 velation, but  arc  treated  as  " the  voice  of  nature.'' or 
 "development  of  humanity,"  or  "dictum  of  human 
 reason  " — is  one  of  the  commonest  and  most  deadly  sins 
 of  modern  Christendom.  The  unwillingness  to  recog- 
 nise the  Divine  Hand  in  "  creation,"  "  literature," 
 "history"  takes   the  opposed   forms  of  Pantheism  and 
 
 Pyrrhonism.  To  each  of  these  the  prophet's  words  apply. 
 (■*)  Cords  of  a  man.— In   contrast  with  tfa roe 
 
 with  which  unmanageable  beasts  are  held  in  check. 
 Israel  is    led  with  "hands  of   love."  not  of  compulsion. 
 
 ler  the  last  clause,  And  gently  towards  them  ■ 
 I  food  to  eat,  expressing  the  tenderness,  delicacy,  and 
 
 Condescension  of  his  personal  regard. 
 
 (5)  It  is  best,  with  Ewald.  to  take  the  two  clauses  as 
 interrogative,  BhaU  he  not  return  into  the  land  of 
 Egypt)  And  shall  not  the  Assyrian,  etc.?  See  Notes 
 on  chaps,  viii.  13,  x.  :'. — 1>.     Comp.  also  verse  11.) 
 
 Return— i.e..  to  God. 
 
 (6)  The    rendering  of    the    English    version    i- 
 ineorreet.       Render,    Thm    shall    the    SWord    be  bran- 
 dished  ami  ee,  and  utterly  destroy  his  princes. 
 
 'lii  ■    word    for  "  princes  "  is.  literally.  DOTS,  the  hel 
 
 leaders,  or  defenders  of  the  state  being  aptly  called 
 harriers,  or  bulwarks.  Analogous  metaphors  frequently 
 
 occur  in  the  Old  Testament  ;  such  is  the  interpretation 
 of  the  Targnm. 
 
 7'  No  imagery  is  used,  as  of  unfaithful  wife,  recal- 
 citrant heifer,  or  furnace-piling  baker,  but  homely 
 literal  commonplace.  The  people  were  called  by  suffi- 
 cient mean-  to  the  highest  worship,  but  they  were  bent 
 on  the  lowest. 
 
 429 
 
The  Divine,  Mercy. 
 
 HOSEA,    XII.  Ephraim,  Judah,  and  Jacob  Reproved. 
 
 backsliding  from  me :  though  they  called 
 them  to  the  most  High,  ^one  at  all 
 would  exalt  him. 
 
 <8>  How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim  ? 
 how  shall  I  deliver  thee,  Israel?  how 
 shall  I  make  thee  as  "Admah?  how  shall 
 I  set  thee  as  Zeboim?  mine  heart  is 
 turned  within  me,  my  repentings  are 
 kindled  together.  (9>  I  will  not  execute 
 the  fierceness  of  mine  anger,  I  will  not 
 return  to  destroy  Ephraim  :  for  I  am 
 God,  and  not  man ;  the  Holy  One  in  the 
 midst  of  thee :  and  I  will  not  enter  into 
 the  city.  <10>  They  shall  walk  after  the 
 Lord  :  he  shall  roar  like  a  lion :  when  he 
 shall  roar,  then  the  children  shall  tremble 
 from  the  west.  (W  They  shall  tremble 
 as  a  bird  out  of  Egypt,  and  as  a  dove  out 
 •of  the  land  of  Assyria  :  and  I  will  place 
 them  in  their  houses,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 Hon.,  together 
 they  exacted  not. 
 
 a  Gen.  19.  W  ;Aluos 
 4.11. 
 
 Or.  with  the  most 
 holy. 
 
 3  Heb.,  visit  upon. 
 
 Hoi).,  was  a 
 prince,  or,  be- 
 haved  himself 
 
 princely. 
 
 i  Gen.  35.  9.  10. 
 
 (12'  Ephraim  compasseth  me  about  with 
 lies,  and  the  house  of  Israel  with  deceit: 
 but  Judah  yet  ruleth  with  God,  and  is 
 faithful  2with  the  saints. 
 
 CHAPTER  XII.— (D  Ephraim  feedeth 
 on  wind,  and  followeth  after  the  east 
 wind :  he  daily  increaseth  lies  and  deso- 
 lation ;  and  they  do  make  a  covenant 
 with  the  Assyrians,  and  oil  is  carried 
 into  Egypt.  (2)  The  Lord  hath  also  a 
 controversy  with  Judah,  and  will 3  punish 
 Jacob  according  to  his  ways  ;  according 
 to  his  doings  will  he  recompense  him. 
 
 Is)  He  took  his  brother  *by  the  heel  in 
 the  womb,  and  by  his  strength  he  *chad 
 power  with  God  :  (4)  yea,  he  had  power 
 over  the  angel,  and  prevailed :  he  wept, 
 and  made  supplication  unto  him :  he 
 found   him  in  ''Beth-el,  and  there  he 
 
 (g)  In  the  depth  of  despair  the  prophet  delivers  him- 
 self of  one  of  the  most  pathetic  passages  in  Hebrew 
 prophecy.  On  the  darkest  cloud  gleams  the  bow  of 
 promise.  A  nation  so  much  beloved  as  Israel  cannot 
 toe  destroyed  by  Him  who  has  fostered  it  so  tenderly. 
 As  the  prophet  loved  his  faitldess  bride,  so  Jehovah 
 continued  to  love  His  people.  The  "how?"  of  this 
 verse  expresses  the  most  extreme  reluctance.  Admah 
 aud  Zeboim  were  cities  of  the  plain  destroyed  witli 
 Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  which  are  often  referred  to  as 
 the  type  of  irremediable  catastrophe.  (Comp.  Isa.  i.  9, 
 siii.  19  ;  Matt,  x.  15.) 
 
 Mine  heart  is  turned  within  me. — Better, 
 against  me — a  violent  revulsion  of  feeling.  Divine 
 compassion  pleads  with  Divine  justice. 
 
 (9)  This  sublime  passage  is  remarkable  as  drawing 
 illustrations  from  human  emotions,  and  yet  repudiating 
 all  human  weakness.  It  suggests  a  hint  of  Divine 
 mercy  in  its  greatness,  and  of  Divine  justice  too,  which 
 shows  how,  both  being  alike  infinite,  they  can  adjust 
 themselves  beyond  the  power  of  human  experience  and 
 imagination. 
 
 The  Holy  One  in  the  midst  of  thee  is 
 such  a  blending  of  justice  and  mercy. 
 
 I  will  not  enter  into  the  city. — So  ancient 
 versions.  "Enter" — i.e.,  as  a  destroyer.  (Comp.  verse 
 6.)  But  many  commentators  interpret  the  Hebrew  b'ir 
 ("into  the  city")  to  mean  in  wrath.  This  is  pre- 
 ferable. 
 
 (1°)  Render,  They  shall  go  up  after  Jehovah,  rvho 
 roars  as  a  lion  ;  yea,  he  shall  roar  so  that  the  children, 
 Ac.  Lions  accompanied  Egyptian  monarchs  to  the 
 battle-field.  Read  the  picturesque  description  of 
 Rameses  II.  in  his  battle  with  the  Kheta,  by  George 
 Ebers  in  Uarda.  "  West "  means  the  coast  and  islands 
 of  the  Levant. 
 
 Tremble — i.e.,  come  with  an  awe-stricken  joy  to 
 the  voice  of  the  Divine  summons. 
 
 (U)  Will  place  them. — Better,  ivill  cause  them  to 
 dwell.  The  prophetic  word  looks  beyond  the  restora- 
 tion of  the  sixth  century  B.C.  to  the  gathering  together 
 of  some  from  east  and  west,  from  all  the  places  where 
 they  are  hidden  in  exile  under  the  lion  of  the  tribe  of 
 Judah  ;  the  broader  and  grander  accomplishment  will 
 
 430 
 
 satisfy  and  more  than  fulfil  the  yearnings  of  the 
 spiritual  Israel. 
 
 (12)  Should  stand  as  the  first  verse  of  chaj>.  xii.,  just- 
 as  in  the  Hebrew  text.  The  rest  of  the  prophecy 
 appears  as  a  distinct  composition,  a  new  commence- 
 men,  of  judgment  and  incrimination,  followed  at  last 
 by  one  more  utterance  of  Divine  promise. 
 
 The  rendering  of  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  in  tho 
 English  version  was  that  of  the  Jewish  scholars  who 
 saw  here  a  reference  to  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  but  it  is 
 opposed  to  the  mention  of  the  "  controversy  with 
 Judah"  in  chap.  xii.  3.  Accordingly,  the  rendering 
 adoptedbyEwald,  Wiuische,  Nowack.andothers,  ismore 
 probable  : — "  And  Judah  still  roves  unbridled  towards 
 God,  and  towards  the  faithful  Holy  One,"  Judah's 
 inconstancy  being  contrasted  with  the  faithfulness  of 
 God.  The  plural  form,  the  Holy  Ones,  may,  like  the 
 plural  forms,  Elohim,  Adonim,  suggest  personalities 
 within  the  substance  of  deity.  The  LXX.  seem  to 
 indicate  that  we  have  not  the  right  Hebrew  text  here. 
 
 XII. 
 
 (i)  East  wind.— Comp.  Isa.  xxvii.  8  and  Job  xxvii. 
 21.  On  the  latter  passage  Wetzstein  remarks : — "  This 
 wind  is  more  frequent  in  winter  and  early  spring, 
 when,  if  it  continues  long,  the  tender  vegetation  is 
 parched  up,  and  a  year  of  famine  follows.  Both  man' 
 and  beast  feel  sickly  while  it  prevails."  Hence,  that 
 which  is  unpleasant  and  revolting  in  life  is  compared 
 by  Orientals  to  the  east  wind.  The  idea  expressed  by 
 the  east  wind  here  is  the  same  as  in  Job  xv.  2,  com- 
 bining the  notions  of  destructiveness  and  emptiness. 
 The  covenant  with  Assyria  refers  to  the  events  of  the 
 reign  of  Hoshea.  Covenants  with  Assyria,  and  pre- 
 sents to  Egypt  were  to  Hosea  curses  in  disguise.  (.See 
 Note  on  chap,  vii   11.) 
 
 (2)  Jacob  refers  to  the  northern  kingdom. 
 
 (3,4)  Had  power.  — Should  be,  strove.  Prayers 
 and  tears  were  the  weapons  used  in  the  memorable 
 struggle  for  pardon,  reconciliation,  peace  in  the  self- 
 conquest  as  well  as  the  God-conqnest  which  was 
 achieved.  "At  Bethel  He  (Jehovah)  found  him 
 (Jacob)"'  not  once  only,  but  on    repeated    occasions 
 
An  Exhortation 
 
 HOSKA,   XII. 
 
 in  Rep*  atones. 
 
 Bpake  with   us;   ('>eveii   the   Loi;»   <  b>d  ]•*  t:».  •».  i  . 
 oil  hosts;   the  Lobs  it  his  "memorial.  ior,awi* 
 <">  Therefore  turn  tin  m  t<>  thy  God:  keep  i o,., /,,■.„■.. 
 meroj  and  judgment,  and  wait  on  thy 
 
 <  Jml  runt  inually. 
 
 Wflls  is  la  merchant,  the  balances  of 
 
 deceit   are  in  his  hand:   he   loveth  to 
 
 oppress.    <8)  And  Ephraim  said,  let  I 
 
 am  become  rich,  I  have  found  me  out 
 .substance:  ;,('«,all  my  labours  they  shall 
 find  none  iniquity  in  me  'that  were  sin. 
 (9>  And  I  thai  am  the  Lobs  thy  God  from 
 the  land  of  Egypt  will  yet  make  thee  to 
 dwell  in  tabernacles,  as  in  the  days  of 
 the  solemn  least.  ''"'I  have  also  spoken 
 by  the  prophets,  and  1  have  multiplied 
 
 :t  or.  nil    »"i    l" 
 
 ••(llii      nn 
 
 not;    bfl   "li:iil 
 
 li:iv 
 
 in.  ill  ni 
 
 I  Hi  h,  ||  I 
 
 ,      Mi, 
 
 •i  i  Ii.  I    1  .All.  Ii. 
 
 i  n,n 
 
 .'  BX.   ]'.' 
 13  .1. 
 
 I    Hi    I.   ,   I, ■ill,    lull., 
 
 •  II,  III.  I.l„.„l. 
 
 visions,  and  used  similitudes,  6by  the 
 ministry  of  the  prophets.  <n'  Is  there 
 iniquity  m  GileadP  surely  they  are 
 vanity:  they  sacrilice  bullocks  in  'Gil- 
 gal; sea,  tlnir  altars  are  as  heaps  in 
 the  (arrows  of  the  fields. 
 
 WAnd  Jacob  fled  into  the  country 
 of  Syria,  and  Israel  served  for  a  wile, 
 and  for  a  wife  he  kept  sln-rji.  ll3>  'And 
 by  a  prophet  the  Loud  brought  Israel 
 out  of  Egypt,  and  by  a  prophet  was  he 
 preserved.  '"'  Kphraim  provoked  &MH 
 to  anger  6most  bitterly  :  therefore  shall 
 he  leave  his  "blood  upon  him,  and  his 
 reproach  shall  his  Lord  return  unto 
 him. 
 
 ii.  xxviii.  11.  xxxv.  l  i, and  iii  the  subsequent  history 
 ,.t'  the  children  of  Israel. 
 
 (5)  Lord  God  of  hosts.— Sco  Cheyno's  Isaiah, 
 vnl.  i.,  pp,  11.  12,  Bed  Nbwackfs  commentary  on  tliis 
 passage.     Probably  the  lnpsis  were  the    stars   which 
 
 witc nceived  of  as  celestial  spirits  standing  upon  or 
 
 above  Jehovah's  throne  in  lucaiah'e  vision,  on  the 
 right  hand  and  on  the  loft  (1  Kings  xxii.  1!M.  Theso 
 are  to  be  identified,  in  all  probability,  with  the  sons  of 
 
 (loil  i  (inn.    \i.   2h  described    in    .Mi  i.  Ii  .'is   presenting 
 
 themselves  in  oouuci]  before  Jehovah.  In  Ps.  ciii.  21 
 they  are  described  as  Qod's  ministers;  also  in  Ps.  civ. 
 1.  < |ii< iteil  in  Heli.  i.  7. 
 
 His  memorial— i.e.,  his  name.  (Sec Notes  on  Exod. 
 iii.  15,  vi.  8.)  Jehovah — i.e.,  the  self-existent  One  who 
 nevertheless  came  into  personal  relations  with  Israel. 
 
 («)  Therefore  .  .  .  —More  correctly,  But  do  thou 
 return  to  tlnj  God.  There  is  an  implied  contrast 
 between  the  patriarch  and  his  degenerate  descendants 
 in  the  days  of  Hoeea, 
 
 <")  He  is  a  merchant.—  Tho  vivid  and  fierce  light 
 of  the  prophet's  words  is  obscured  in  the  English 
 version.  The  rendering  "hois  a  merchant"  originates 
 from  the  tact  that  Canaan  (rendered  "  merchant  "  I  is 
 often  used  predominantly  of  Phoenicia,  and  Canaauitcs 
 of  Phosnicians,  the  great  trading  race-  (Isa.  xxiii.  11; 
 Job  xl.  30).  Translate:  As  for  Canaan,  iii  his  hand 
 ure   hi!-r  Imln  /ores  rhmii in/.    The  descen- 
 
 dants of  Canaan  (the  son  of  Sam,  the  abhorred  son  of 
 
 Noah)  became  in  their  whole  career  a  curse  and  a  live. 
 IVOrd  in  every  religious  and  ethical  S0U80.      The  princes 
 
 of  Tvre,  the  merchandise  of  Phoenicia,  were,  perhaps, 
 
 then  in  the  prophet's  mind,      (Comp    K/.ok.  xxvii.l 
 
 tho  prophet  hints  that  Ephraim  had  im- 
 liihed  Phoenicia's  love  of  gain  and  hahits  of  unscrupu- 
 lous trade.  The  literature  of  this  period  contains  fre- 
 quent references  to  these  tendencies  in  Israel  i  Amos  ii. 
 6,  \  iii.  S;     Mieah  \  i.  10). 
 
 (8)  Translate,  .!"•/  Ephraim  saith,  Bursty  I  have 
 become  wealthy;  I  hare  gotten  me  substance  (i.e.,  by 
 legitimate  means,  not  robbery]  :  all  my  earnings  bring 
 me  not  guiti  as  would bs sim  i.e.,  requiring  expiation). 
 Such  a  coarse  pursuit  of  wealth,  and  such  glorying  in 
 the   innocence    of   the    entire    process   by    which    it    has 
 
 been  obtained,  has  its  parallel  in  the' moral  position 
 of  the  Laodicean  Church,  rebuked  by  our  Lord 
 ,  Etev.  iii.). 
 
 (M  Tabernacles.— The  prophet  here  speaks  of 
 Israel's  moral  restoration  under  tho  form  of  a  return 
 
 to  "the  old  ideal  of  simple  agricultural  life,  in  which 
 every  good  gift  i-,  received  directly  from  Jehovah's 
 hand."  To  the  true  theocratic  spirit  the  condition 
 here  spoken  of  i-,  one  of  real  hlpflflflduflflflj  but  to  the 
 worldly,  grasping  Canaan  or  Ephraim  it  would  come 
 as  a  threat  of  expulsion,  desolation,  and  despair. 
 (('iiinp.  chaps,  ii.  1  I.  iii.  3.) 
 
 (U)  Translate.  If  (Ulead  be  worthless,  sunlit  they 
 li:i'-i  become  nought.  In  Qilgalthey  sacrificed  bullocks; 
 tlnir  Hilars  also  are  like  heaps  upon  the  field's  furrows, 
 referring  to  a  past  event,  the  desolating  invasion  of 
 Gilead  by  Tiglath-pileser.  iii  731  B.C.  To  this  military 
 expedition  we  have  undoubted  references  in  the  inscrip- 
 tions of  Tiglath-pileser  II.  But  unfortunately  they 
 i  aro  in  a  very  mutilated  condition.  From  one  passage 
 we  learn: — "The  city  Gil  [ead]  and  [A]  bel  [Maacha] 
 which  is  on  this  side  the  land  Beth  Omri  (Samaria  the 
 distant.  ...  I  joined  in  its  whole  extent  to  tho 
 territory  of  Assyria."  The  biblical  passage,  2  Kings 
 xv.  29,  supplements  this  account  by  stating  that  Napli- 
 tali  and  Galileo  also  fell  victims  to  the  victorious  arms 
 of  the  invader.  From  the  verse  before  us  we  infer 
 that  Gilgal,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Jordan  near 
 Jericho  (see  Note  on  iv.  15),  likewise  felt  the  heavy 
 hand  of  the  conqueror,  or  perhaps  the  inhabitants  fled 
 in  panic  and  the  local  shrines  became  deserted  ruins. 
 Prom  this  time  forth  we  hear  no  nioro  of  Gilgal  as  a 
 religious  centre.  Niwack,  however,  follows  Ewald  in 
 regarding  the  passage  as  prophetic  of  a  coming  calamity. 
 (See Introduction.)  In  the  word  for  "heaps"  (gaffim] 
 there  is  a  play  on  the  name  Gilgal. 
 
 <12)  Jacob  .  .  .  Israel. — Resuming  the  retrospect 
 over  early  patriarchal  history,  begun  in  verse  4.  Not- 
 withstanding the  loneliness  and  humble  position  of  the 
 patriarch,  God  took  care  of  him,  and  he  won  the 
 mighty  name  of  Israel,  and  gave  it  to  his  descendants. 
 
 Country. — More  accurately,  plain. 
 
 (13)  A  prophet. — Hoses  IS  here  referred  to,  and 
 there  is.  perhaps,  a  hint  that  the  Lord  would  yet  again 
 save  Israel  from  worse  than  Egyptian  bondage  by  tho 
 words  and  warnings  of  a  prophet. 
 
 <u)  But  the  rift  in  the  clouds  closes  again,  and 
 another  severe  rebuke  follows.  "  Jacob  "  and  "  Israel  " 
 give  place  to  tho  proud  tribal  name  of  Ephraim.  This 
 portion  of  the  whole  house  of  Israel  incurs  tho  charge. 
 Head.  Ephraim  hath  provoked  bitter  feeling.  The 
 blondguiltiness  of  Moloch  sacrifices  and  other  iniquity 
 Godwill  not  remove.  (Comp.  Gen.  xxvii.  43,  xxviii., 
 xxix.,  for  the  foundation  of  these  references.) 
 31 
 
Ephraim' s  Glory  vanishes. 
 
 HOSE  A,  XIII. 
 
 A  Promise  of  Mercy. 
 
 CHAPTER  XIII.— (D  When  Ephraim 
 spake  trembling,  lie  exalted  himself  in 
 Israel ;  but  when  he  offended  in  Baal, 
 he  died.  (2)  And  now  1they  sin  more 
 and  more,  and  have  made  them  molten 
 images  of  their  silver,  and  idols  accord- 
 ing to  their  own  understanding,  all  of 
 it  the  work  of  the  craftsmen  :  they  say 
 of  them,  Let  3the  men  that  sacrifice  kiss 
 the  calves.  <3>  Therefore  they  shall  be 
 as  the  morning  cloud,  and  as  the  early 
 dew  that  passeth  away,  as  the  chaff  that 
 is  driven  with  the  whirlwind  out  of  the 
 floor,  and  as  the  smoke  out  of  the 
 chimney. 
 
 (4>  Yet "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  from 
 the  land  of  Egypt,  and  thou  shalt  know 
 no  God  but  me :  for  there  is  no  saviour 
 beside  me.  (5)  I  did  know  thee  in  the 
 wilderness,  in  the  land  of 3  great  drought. 
 '6>  According  to  their  pasture,  so  were 
 
 Hc-b.,  then  add 
 to  tin. 
 
 '.  Or,  the  sacrifice™ 
 of  men. 
 
 B.C. 
 cir.  T25. 
 
 Isa.  43.  11 ; 
 12.9. 
 
 3  Htl).,  drewjhts. 
 
 Hrli., r/ie  beastof 
 the  field. 
 
 5  Hcb.,  in  thy  help. 
 
 1  Sam.  8.  5.  &  15. 
 23  &  16.  J. 
 
 they  filled ;  they  were  filled,  and  their 
 heart  was  exalted  ;  therefore  have  they 
 forgotten  me.  *7)  Therefore  I  will  be 
 unto  them  as  a  lion :  as  a  leopard  by 
 the  way  will  I  observe  them :  (8>  I  will 
 meet  them  as  a  bear  that  is  bereaved  of 
 her  whelps,  and  will  rend  the  caul  of 
 their  heart,  and  there  will  I  devour  them 
 like  a  lion :  4the  wild  beast  shall  tear 
 them. 
 
 <9>  0  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thy- 
 self; but  in  me  &is  thine  help.  (10)  I 
 will  be  thy  king :  where  is  any  other 
 that  may  save  thee  in  all  thy  cities? 
 and  thy  judges  of  whom  thou  saidst, 
 Give  me  a  Icing  and  princes  ?  (11)  I  gave 
 thee  a  'king  in  mine  anger,  and  took 
 him  away  in  my  wrath.  (12)  The  iniquity 
 of  Ephraim  is  bound  up  ;  his  sin  is  hid. 
 <13>  The  sorrows  of  a  travailing  woman 
 shall  come  upon  him :  he  is  an  unwise 
 
 XIII. 
 
 (1)  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  con- 
 struction and  rendering  of  this  verse.  We  adopt  the 
 interpretation,  When  Ephraim  littered  terror,  he  re- 
 belled in  Israel;  then  he  committed  sin  through  Baal, 
 and  died.  This  points  to  the  revolt  of  the  Ten  Tribes, 
 and  the  consequent  abandonment  of  the  pure  traditions 
 of  Jehovah  worship  for  those  of  Baal.  This  idea  and 
 that  of  the  previous  verse  (chap.  xii.  14)  may  have  been 
 brought  into  prominence  by  the  recent  untoward  antago- 
 nism aroused  by  the  Syro-Eplirainiitish  war  against 
 Judah. 
 
 (2)  Ewald,  following  the  hint  of  the  LXX.  (who  had 
 a  slightly  different  text),  renders  "according  to  their 
 pattern  of  idols."  (Comp.  the  language  of  satire  in 
 Ps.  cxv. ;   Isa.  xliv.  10 — 17.) 
 
 Men  that  sacrifice.— More  accurately,  sacrificers 
 from  among  men.  Others  would  render  "  sacrificers  of 
 men."  But  the  former  is  epiite  consistent  with  Hebrew 
 usage,  while  the  latter  compels  us  to  adopt  the  un- 
 warrantable supposition  that  human  sacrifices  formed 
 part  of  the  calf- worship.  The  calf  images  were  kissed 
 like  those  of  the  Madonna  in  Roman  Catholic  churches 
 at  the  present  day.  The  Greek  irpoaKwew,  "  to  wor- 
 ship," meant  originally  to  adore  by  kissing  (Curtius, 
 Greek  Etymology,  p.  158). 
 
 (3)  Early  dew  .  .  .— Better,  deiv  that  early  passeth 
 away,  like  chaff  that  flies  in  a  whirlwind  from  the 
 threshing-floor,  and  like  smoke  from  the  window  (i.e., 
 the  lattice  beneath  the  roof  through  which  it  vanished). 
 
 W  The  LXX.  have  an  addition  which  was  not  found 
 by  Jerome  in  any  Hebrew  copy  of  his  day,  and  was  pro- 
 nounced by  him  to  be  spurious  :  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy 
 God,  that  establisheth  the  heavens  and  createth  the 
 earth,  whoso  hands  have  fashioned  all  the  host  of 
 heaven ;  but  I  did  not  show  them  to  thee  that  thou 
 shouldest  go  after  them,  and  I  brought  thee  up  out  of 
 the  land  of  Egypt,  and  thou  shalt  know,"  &c. 
 
 (G)  According  to  their  pasture.— Rather,  As 
 they  pastured.  (Comp.  the  language  of  Dent.  viii.  7— 
 18,  xxxi.  20,  xxxii.  15.)  The  gifts  of  Divine  love  con- 
 cealing the  giver. 
 
 (?)  I  will  be  .  .  . — More  correctly,  have  become 
 .  .  .  as  a  panther  in  the  way  do  I  lie  in  wait.  The 
 idea  of  this  and  the  following  verses  is  that  of  a  Divine 
 judgment  suspended  over  Isi'ael,  destined  soon  to  fall 
 with  overwhelming  ruin  (721  B.C.).  The  English 
 version  follows  the  interpretation  of  the  Targum.  But 
 the  LXX.,  Vulg.,  and  Syriac  versions  are  based  on  a 
 slightly  different  reading  of  the  text  contained  in  some 
 Hebrew  MSS.  They  render,  "  as  a  panther  on  the  way 
 to  Assyria." 
 
 (8)  The  same  imagery  is  continued  to  describe  the 
 destructive  wrath  of  the  Lord.  "  The  caul  of  the  heart" 
 means  hero  the  covering  of  the  heart,  not  the  pericar- 
 dium, but  the  breast  in  which  the  claws  of  the  beast  are 
 fastened. 
 
 (9)  In  me  .  .  .  Help. — The  closo  of  this  verse  is 
 rhetorically  abrupt,  which  is  altogether  missed  in  the 
 English  vei'sion.  Render,  but  against  Me  thy  help.  We 
 must  supply  "  Thou  hast  rebelled,"  the  construction 
 being  the  same  as  inverse  16.  "  Thy  captivity,  O  Israel, 
 is  from  thee  ;  thy  redemption  is  from  Me  ;  thy  perish- 
 ing is  from  thee  :    thy  salvation  is  from  Me"  (Pusey). 
 
 (1°)  The  rendering  should  be,Where,pray,is  thy  king, 
 that  he  may  save  thee  ?  &c.  The  original  demand  for  a. 
 king  who  should  be  a  visible  token  to  Israel  of  pro- 
 tection against  their  surrounding  foes  was  adverse  to- 
 the  true  spirit  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  and, 
 though  granted,  proved  to  the  united  kingdom,  and 
 afterwards  to  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  an  age-long  curse. 
 Probably  the  special  reference  here  is  to  the  latter — 
 the  erection  of  the  Ten  Tribes  into  a  separate  monarchy. 
 
 01)  Gave  .  .  .  Took. — The  past  tenses  should  be 
 present:  "I  give  .  .  ."  "take  away."  The  whole 
 succession  of  Israelite  kings,  who  generation  after 
 generation  had  been  taken  away,  some  by  violent 
 death,  would  close  with  Hoshea,  who  was  to  disappear 
 as  "  a  fragment  on  a  stormy  sea  "  (chap.  x.  7). 
 
 (12)  Bound  up  .  .  .  Hid.—  Tho  binding  up  and 
 hiding  away  of  Ephraim's  sin  as  in  a  secret  place,  for 
 ultimate  disclosure,  prepares  us  for  the  terrible  words 
 that  follow. 
 
 (13)  Travailing  woman. — Ephraim  is  first  ad- 
 dressed as  a  travailing  woman ;  but  the  imagery  passes 
 
 432 
 
.1  Judgment  for  Rebellion, 
 
 HOSE  A,   XIV. 
 
 u/rgt  7  in  /,'■/!,  ntanee. 
 
 son  ;   fur  lie  should  not  stay  '  long  in  the 
 
 place  of  the  breaking  forth  of  children. 
 
 ""I   will  ransom   them    from   4 he  jiowcr 
 
 of  the  grave;  1  will  redeem  them  from 
 
 death:  "O  death,  I  will  hi' thy  plagueej 
 0  grave,  I  will  he  thv  destruction: 
 repentance  shall  he  hid  from  mine 
 eyes. 
 
 (15'  Though  he  be  fruitful  among  his 
 brethren,  'an  east  wind  shall  come,  the 
 wind  of  the  Lord  shall  come  up  from 
 the  wilderness,  and  his  spring  shall  be- 
 come dry,  and  his  fountain  shall  be 
 dried  up  :  he  shall  spoil  the  treasure  of 
 all  'pleasant  vessels,  t18)  Samaria  shall 
 become  desolate ;  for  she  hath  rebelled 
 against  her  God:  they  shall  fall  by  the 
 
 sword:    their  infants  shall   he  dashed  in 
 
 I  Hi 
 
 Beb*U 
 
 a  1  Cor.  la.  u. 
 
 'i  Kwk.  19.  12. 
 
 I  H>l'..  vault   of 
 tlcstre. 
 
 l  Or,  givt  good. 
 
 5  Or,  blnuom. 
 
 pieces,  and  their  women  with  child  shall 
 be  ripped  up. 
 
 CHAPTER  XIV.—")  0  Israel, return 
 
 unto  the   Loan  thy  God;   for  tfaoo  hast 
 
 fallen  by  thine  iniquity.  '-'Take  with 
 you  words,  and  turn  to  the  Loud:  say 
 unto  him,  Take  away  all  iniquity,  and 
 'receive  us  graciously  :  so  will  we  render 
 the  'calves  of  our  lips.  ' :'  Asshur  shall 
 not  save  us ;  we  will  not  ride  upon 
 horses:  neither  will  we  say  any  more  to 
 the  work  of  our  hands,  IV  a  re  our  gods : 
 for  in  thee  the  fatherless  h'ndeth  mercy. 
 W>  I  will  heal  their  backsliding,  I  will 
 love  them  freely :  for  mine  anger  is 
 turned  away  from  him.  (5'  I  will  he  as 
 the  dew  unto  Israel  :  he  shall  5grow  as 
 
 tu  ih.'  condition  <'t'  the  unborn  child,  which  tarries  just 
 
 where  it  ahonld  issue  into  the  light  of  tin-  world.  Lack 
 
 ■  in.ilile  re|  Miit  a  nee  increases  tho  danger  at   this 
 
 critical  stage  of  Israel's  destiny.    The  latter  pari  of 
 
 the  verse  is  misscil  in  the  rendering  of  the  English 
 version.  Head.  Fur  nl  tin  riijlit  time  he  stuuilelli  imt 
 in  tin  place  where  children  break  forth.     But  tie- use 
 
 of  the    Hebrew  word    fur  "  at  the  tight  time"    i 
 doubtful.      Perhaps   the    word    shoulil    lie    read    'ittttih 
 
 i "  ii.iw  "i.    as    Buhl,    in    7.i  itschr j ft   fur    Kvrchliche 
 If    leneehaft,  suggests.     (Oomp. Ezek.  xxvii. 84.) 
 iii' O  death  .  .  .  O  grave.    Tin  tendering  ahonld 
 
 lie.  Where  is  thy  plnyne,  0  death!  Where  is  thy 
 si imj.  0  Sin  a/  '  as  the  LXX.  have  it,  and  as  it 
 is  quoted  in  1  Cur.  xv.  55.  The  rendering  of  tho 
 English  version  is.  however,  supported  by  the  Tar- 
 o-iiiu.  Symmachus,  Jerome,  and  many  modern  ex- 
 positors.    But    the  former    interpretation   is  to    be 
 
 Inferred.  .Many  Christian  interpreters  (Henderson, 
 ■usey,  &o.)  regard  tliis  as  the  sudden  outburst  of 
 a  gracious  promise  as  St.  Paul  takes  it).  The  last 
 clause  then  signifies  that  the  gift  and  calling  of  God 
 
 are    w  it  limit    repentance.     Tliero  is   no    room  for   any 
 
 further  merciful  change  of  purpose.  But  the  objection 
 to  this  interpretation  is  that  in  the  same  breath  the  pro- 
 phet   rushes   on   to   the   most    sweeping  condemnation. 
 
 accordingly  Sohmoller,  Wunsohe,  Suitable  (Bpeah  r*s 
 '  ntary  .  and  others  understand  the  passage  thus  ■ 
 "Shall  I  random  them    il nil  and  dying   ill  agonised 
 
 travail)  from  the  hand  (or  power)  of  Hades  f  shall  I 
 redeem  them  from  death  r  (Alas!  no.)  When 
 thy  plagues,  0  death  F  Bring  them  forth.)  Where 
 is  thy  sting,  O  Hades  r  Strike  these  reprobate  ones.) 
 Relenting  is  hid  from  my  eyes.''  It  should  be  remem- 
 bered that  St.  Paul  quoted  from  Isaiah.  "Death  shall 
 I"-  swallowed  op  in  victory."  and  then,  as  hero,  calls  in 
 derisive  irony  upon  death  and  Sheol  to  do  their  very 
 worst  at  the  very  moment  when  they  are  about  to  be 
 cast  into  the  lake  of  lire. 
 
 (15,  16)  Fruitful.— Observe  tho  play  on    Ephraim's 
 name. 
 
 Wind  of  the  Lord  stands  in    opposition    I 
 wind.     Render  a   wind  of  the  Lord  riling  from  the 
 
 10  'ill  meat.      The  armies  of  Assyria  are  referred  to. 
 
 Become  desolate. — Or  rather,  tmffar  punishment. 
 Thus  mils  the  thunder  of  Divine  judgment    in  one 
 
 167  433 
 
 last  tromendous  crash  of  doom,  beyond  which  scarce 
 anything  worse  can  be  thought  or  said.  It  is  not  until 
 tho  awfid  silence  i»  reached,  after  the  blast  of  denuncia- 
 tion, that  the  prophet  hopes  that  his  appeal  may  not  be 
 iu  vain.  In  the  last  chapter,  uttered  in  gentlest  mood, 
 lie  shows  a  bow  of  promise  painted  on  the  darkness  of 
 the  storm-cloud. 
 
 XIV. 
 0)  Thy.— Tenderness  and  inextinguishable  love  are 
 suggested  by  the  use  of  the  pronoun.     ••  Repentance 
 (say  the  Rabbis)  presses  right  up  to  the  Eternal  Throne." 
 
 (2)  Say  unto  him. — This  putting  of  words  into 
 the  lips  of  penitents  and  others  is  found  iu  Ps.  lxvi. 
 3;  Isa.  xlviii.  20  j  Jer.  xxxi.  7.  In  the  hitter  part  of  the 
 verse  render,  Accept  of  good,  and  we  will  render  as 
 calves  (or  sacrificial  offering  i  mir  lips — i.0.,  the  words 
 of  true  repentance  which  we  take  with  us  shall  be  our 
 offerings  in  place  of  calves.     (Gamp.  Ps.  li.  1  7. 
 
 (3)  The  three  crying  sins  of  Israel  are  here  recounted: 
 (1)  Expected  salvation  from  Assyria:  12)  dependence 
 on  the  world-power  of  Egypt,  famed  for  war-horses 
 and  chariots;  (3)  ascription  of  Divine  names  and 
 h  tnage  to  wrought  images  of  the  Divine  glory.  God's 
 paternal  love  to  the  orphan,  peculiarly  applicable  to 
 Israel  now.  cast  on  a  cold  ami  fatlerh  -s  world. 
 
 W  Heal  .  .  .  Love.— If  the  foregoing  be  the  offer- 
 ing of  penitent  lips,  then  the  majestic  reply  of  Jehovah 
 
 is  full  of  superlative  grace. 
 
 (5,  6)  ^s  the  Dew. — For  this  imagery  see  Ps.  exxx.  3. 
 Properly  it  is  "  a  copious  mist,  shedding  small  im  isible 
 rain,  that  comes  in  rich  abundance  every  night  iu  tho 
 hot  weather,  when  west  or  north-west  winds  blow,  and 
 which  brings  intense  refreshment  to  all  organised  life  " 
 (Neil's  1'ii'testiiie  F.ijilniiil.  p.  136).  The  lily,  which 
 carpets  the  fields  of  Palestine  i  Matt.  vi.  .'.>).  has  slender 
 roots,  which  might  easily  be  upturn,  but  under  God's 
 protection,  even  these  are  to  strike  downward  like  the 
 roots  of  the  cedars.*  Branches  are  to  grow  like  the 
 banyan-tree,  until  one  tree  becomes  a  forest,  and  the 
 
 •  The  lily  of  the  Bible  is  itlentitleil  by  some  with  the  Lilium 
 chalccdonicum,  or  Bcariet  M.utatron,  which  prows  profusely 
 in  the  I.evani,  ami  is  said  to  aliouiul  in  Galilee  in  the  months 
 of  April  anil  May.  Wetzstein.  on  Lhfl  other  hand,  Ident 
 with  a  beautiful  dark  violet  lily  which  grows  in  the  large 
 plain  south-cast  of  the  Hainan  range  of  mountains,  and  is 
 called  susiin.  Tie- opinion  of  the  Chaldee  paraphrast  and  of 
 Rabbinical  writer-,  that  tin-  rose  was  really  meant  by  tho 
 Hebrew,  may  safely  be  rejected. 
 
A  Promise 
 
 HOSEA,  XTV. 
 
 of  God's  Blessing. 
 
 the  lily,  and  acast  forth  his  roots  as 
 Lebanon.  <6>  His  branches 2  shall  spread, 
 and  his  beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive  tree, 
 and  his  smell  as  Lebanon.  <7>  They  that 
 dwell  under  his  shadow  shall  return ; 
 they  shall  revive  as  the  corn,  and  sgrow 
 as  the  vine  :  the  *  scent  thereof  shall  be 
 as  the  wine  of  Lebanon.  '8)  Ephraim. 
 shall  say,  What  have  I  to  do  any  more 
 
 1  Hcb.,  strike. 
 
 Heli.,  shall  go. 
 
 4  Or,  memorial. 
 
 with  idols  ?  I  have  heard  him,  and 
 observed  him  :  I  am  like  a  green  fir  tree. 
 From  me  is  thy  fruit  found. 
 
 (9)  Who  is  wise,  and  he  shall  under- 
 stand these  things  ?  prudent,  and  he 
 shall  know  them  ?  for  the  ways  of  the 
 Lord  are  right,  and  the  just  shall  walk 
 in  them :  but  the  transgressors  shall 
 fall  therein. 
 
 beauty  of  the  olive  in  its  dancing  radiance  is  to  cover 
 all,  while  the  fragrance  shall  go  abroad  like  the  breezes 
 from  the  forest  of  Lebanon. 
 
 (7)  It  would  be  more  in  accordance  with  the  Hebrew 
 idiom  to  render,  The  dwellers  under  its  shadow  shall 
 once  more  cause  the  corn  to  grow.  The  word  trans- 
 lated "  scent "  (margin,  "  memorial  ")  should  be 
 renown.  The  form  of  these  promises  is  derived  from 
 the  external  signs  of  national  prosperity.  (Comp. 
 chap.  xii.  10.)  But  corn  and  wine  are  throughout  the 
 Scriptures  the  great  symbols  of  spiritual  refreshment, 
 and  are  still  the  memorials  of  the  supreme  love  of  Him 
 whose  body  was  broken  and  whose  blood  was  shed 
 for  us. 
 
 (8)  It  would  be  better  to  adopt  the  slightly  different 
 
 reading  indicated  by  the  rendering  of  the  LXX.,  and 
 translate,  As  for  Ephraim,  what  has  he  to  do  with,  &c. 
 Here  again,  as  in  chap.  xiii.  15,  the  Hebrew  for  "  thy 
 fruit  "  contains  a  play  on  the  name  Ephraim.  I  (says 
 Jehovah)  am  to  thee  an  evergreen  tree  of  life  and  pro- 
 tection, and  from  me  is  thy  fruit  found. 
 
 (io>  Who  is  wise. — Hosea  hands  his  words  over  to 
 all  students  of  the  ways  of  God.  The  exhortation  to 
 wisdom  is  expressed  in  the  form  of  a  question. 
 "  Wisdom  "  and  "  wise  men  "  take  in  the  later  Hebrew 
 literature  the  place  of  "  prophecy  "  and  "  prophets." 
 Wisdom  interprets  both  the  word  and  its  fulfilment. 
 Christ's  own  teaching  goes  beyond  wisdom  and  pru- 
 dence (Matt.  xi.  28 ;  comp.  1  Cor.  i.  20) :  it  was  spirit 
 and  life  (John  vi.  63). 
 
 EXCURSUS   ON   NOTES   TO   HOSEA. 
 
 EXCURSUS  A:    ON  JAREB   (Chap.  v.  13). 
 
 Schrader,  in  his  "  Cuneiform  Inscriptions  and  the  Old 
 Testament,"  has  the  following  note  : — "  King  Combat, 
 or  Contention  (Jareb),  is  not  a  proper  name — none  such 
 being  found  in  the  Assyrian  lists.  In  the  prevailing 
 uncertainty  respecting  Biblical  chronology,  it  is  hard  to 
 determine  what  Assyrian  monarch  is  meant  by  this 
 appellative.  If  we  are  to  understand  Salmauassar  III. 
 (781 — 772)  as  the  king  in  chap.  x.  14,  under  the  naiue 
 Salman,  the  allusion  here  may  be  to  Assur-dan-ilu 
 (771 — 754),  who  conducted  a  series  of  expeditions  to  the 
 West."     But  when  we  turn  to  Schrader's  comment  on 
 
 Hosea  x.  14,  we  find  that  he  abandons  the  theory  that 
 Salman  is  Salmauassar  III.  (see  ad.  loc).  On  the 
 other  hand,  Tiglath-pileser,  whom  Schrader  and  Sir  H. 
 Rawliuson  identify  with  the  Pul  of  Scripture,  was  a 
 warrior  of  great  prowess,  to  whom  such  a  designation 
 as  "  King  Combat  "  from  Hosea  and  his  contemporaries 
 would  admirably  apply.  The  verse  might  then  be 
 taken  to  refer  to  the  events  of  the  reign  of  Menahem 
 (2  Kings  xv.  19,  see  also  Introduction).  But  this 
 explanation,  probable  as  it  is,  is  complicated  with 
 questions  of  Biblical  chronology.    (See  Introduction). 
 
 EXCURSUS   B   (Chap.  vi.  7). 
 
 Buhl,  in  Zeitschrift  fur  Kirchliche  Wissenschaft, 
 Part  v.,  1881,  throws  some  light  on  the  enig- 
 matical phrase  TceAdam.  by  pointing  out  that  Adam 
 is  employed  in  many  places  to  express  all  the  other 
 races  of  mankind  as  opposed  to  Israel.  Thus,  lie 
 translates  Jer.  xxxii.  20,  "  Thou  who  didst  perform 
 wonders  in  Israel,  as  well  as  in  Adam."  Similarly 
 Isaiah  xliii.  4,  on  which  Delitzsch  remarks  that  those 
 who  do  not  belong  to  the  chosen  people  are  called 
 Adam,  because  they  are  regarded  as  nothing  but 
 descendants  of  Adam.     In  this  passage  the  emphatic 
 
 434 
 
 position  of  the  Hebrew  pronoun  hemmah  lends  signi- 
 ficance to  the  contrasted  term  Adam.  The  meaning, 
 therefore,  is — the  Israelites,  who  should  be  a  chosen 
 race,  belong  now,  through  their  violation  of  the  covenant, 
 to  the  heathen :  have  become,  in  fact,  Lo  'Ammi.  (Comp. 
 chap.  i.  9. )  The  word  "  there  "  in  the  last  clause  may 
 refer  to  some  local  sanctuary,  notorious  for  idolatrous 
 corruption.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  mention  of  locali- 
 ties in  the  next  verse.  We  prefer,  however,  to  under- 
 stand it  (with  the  Targum  of  Jonathan)  as  referring  to 
 the  Holy  Land. 
 
JOEL. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 JoBL  has  ■  peculiar  claim  upon  the  attention  af  the 
 ( Ihristian  reader,  inasmuch  as  be  foretells  the  advent  of 
 the  Oomforter,  who  would  hereafter  carry  on  and  *  -  <  >i  •  t  - 
 plete  the  work  of  the  Saviour.    Joel  is  aa  emphatically 
 
 the  prophet  of  till'  Holy  Ghost  as  Kaiah  is  <  ■  1 1  ■  ]  >li:it  ically 
 
 of  the  Messiah,  If.  therefore,  ii  is  permissible  to  'lis. 
 cover  in  the  twenty-third  verse  of  the  second  chapter 
 (see  Note]  a  reference  to  Jesus  Christ,  as  in  the  third 
 ehapter  there  is  deeoribed  the  coming  of  the  Almighty 
 Father  to  judge  the  world  atthe  Last  Day.  the  prophet 
 Joel  has  in  his  shorl  book  an  evidence  ot  the  doctrine 
 of  the  most  Holy  Trinity. 
 
 We  may  elaim  for  him  also  ono  of  the  earliest  places 
 among  the  sixteen  prophets  [see  .Vote  on  Acts  ii. 
 17);  nut  Henderson,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Minor 
 Prophets,  considers  him  chronologically  the  first  of  all. 
 
 There  is  absolutely  nothing  known  of  his  personal 
 history,  except  the  name  of  his  father,  Pethuel,  ami 
 his  conjectured  residence  in  Jerusalem.     The  condition 
 
 of  the  kingdom  of  Judnh,  as  indicated  iii  his  prophecy, 
 
 suggests  that  he  llourished  in  the  reign  of  Joash. 
 Besides,  had  he  lived  at  a  later  period  than  this,  in  his 
 enumeration  of  the  imminent  enemies  of  his  country 
 he  would  hardly  have  omitted  the  names  of  the  Baby- 
 lonians, Assyrians,  and  Syrians.  Dean  Milman,  in  his 
 History  of  the  Jews  (vol.  i..  p.  370),  says:  "In  my 
 judgment  the  silence  about  the  Assyrian  power  is  con- 
 clusive as  to  this  early  period  assigned  to  the  prophecies 
 of  Joel."  We  thereforo  assign  to  him  the  date  of  about 
 870  B.C. 
 
 This  period  of  Jewish  history  saw  a  great  revival  of 
 the  worship  of  Jehovah,  after  the  idolatrous  movement 
 
 under  Athaliah,  the  queen-mother,  daughter  of  Ahab 
 
 and  Jezebel,  had  been  suppressed.     The  protect 
 
 the  kingdom  during  the  minority  of  Joash  was  in  the 
 
 bands  of  the  high  priest  Jehoiada  ;  and  he  had  excited 
 
 immense  enthusiasm  in  the  Temple  and  its  services. 
 And  such  an  enthusiasm  as  then  exist, id  is  in  a  marked 
 ina'iner  evident  in  the  prophecy  of  Joel.  In  the 
 vivid  description  of  the  straits  to  which  the  king- 
 dom was  reduced  by  the  famine  and  locusts,  the 
 most     grievous    calamity    is    the    enforced    suspension 
 
 of    the    Temple  sacrifices.      "Gird  yourselves,    and 
 
 lament,  ye  DTK «ts  :  howl,  ye  ministers  of  the  altar: 
 come,  lie    all    night    in    sackcloth,   ye    ministers   of    mv 
 
 God:    for  mi:  meat  offering   and  the  drink 
 
 OFFERING  IS  WITHIIoI.DKN  FlI'iJI  THE  HOUSE  OF 
 vri;   I  ;,'!>"   (chap,  i  18).      While,  On  the  other  hand. 
 
 when  there  is  a  glimpse  of  better  da_\  -  the  prophet's  joj 
 culminates  in  the  hope  that  these  sacrifices  will  be  re- 
 stored: "who  knoweth  if  lie  will  return  and  repent, 
 and    leave   a    blessing    behind   him;     even-    .v    mi  w 
 
 OFFERING     AND     A      DRINK     OFFERING     UNTO     THE 
 
 LORD  IOUB  God?"  (chap.  ii.  14).  There  is  further 
 teaching  in  the  words  of  tins  inspired  prophet  '■(  ex- 
 treme importance  at   all  times,  ami  eB] ially  in  these 
 
 latter  days — the  teaching  tliat  God  heareth  prayer  in 
 
 respect  of  those  events  which  are  due,  as  it  is  said,  to 
 the  laws  of  nature.  We  are  sometimes  met  with  tho 
 argument  that  it  is  even  an  impertinence  to  endeavour 
 to  interfere  witli  such  laws  by  our  prayers.  But  wo 
 have  a  wiser  teacher  in  Joel.  When  our  land  is 
 threatened  with  famine  through  excessive  drought  (or 
 through  excessive  nin)  and  the  natural  impulse  of  our 
 hearts    is   to    offer    up    prayers   and     intercessions     to 
 
 Almighty  God,  we  may  turn  to  the  striking  pr dent 
 
 which  God  has  given  us  in  this  prophet,  for  who 
 knoweth  whether  even  in  our  emergency)  He  will 
 turn  and  repent,  and  have  a  blessing  behind  Him  P 
 
 All  tho  cm imitators  who  have  earnestly  considered 
 
 the  nature  and  the  matter  of  this  prophecy  have  found 
 immense  difficulty  in  t  he  question  whether  Joel  intended 
 literally  a  plague  of  locusts  to  be  understood  as  the 
 calamity  which  he  described, or  whether  he  rather  desired 
 to  convey  under  that  figure  a  description  of  the  human 
 enemies  of  Judah.  It  is  well  known  that  the  ravages 
 of  locusts  were  among  the  punishments  of  God  most 
 highly  dreaded  by  the  Jews.  Solomon  enumerated  them 
 among  the  special  causes  for  prayer  to  the  Lord,  in  his 
 Supplication  at  the  dedication  of  the  Temple.  And, as 
 will  be  found  noticed  in  the  Commentary,  the  Eastern 
 nations  without  exception  dreaded, and  dread,  an  incur- 
 sion of  locusts  as  one  of  the  greatest  scourges  of  their 
 countries.  But  although  such  a  plague  may,  in  the  first 
 instance,  have  aroused  the  prophet's  extreme  apprehen- 
 sion, and  stirred  his  soul  to  its  lowest  depths.  -.tiU  we 
 rise  up  from  the  perusal  of  his  words  convinced  that 
 they  refer  to  some  greater  anxiety  yet  to  come — some 
 incursion  of  enemies,  who  would  inflict  terrible  ravages 
 upon  the  land,  leaving  it  desolate  and  bare  behind  them, 
 after  the  manner  of  these  locusts, 
 
 I 'icier  such  circumstances  as  we  have  suggested, 
 Joel  appeared  at  Jerusalem  with  the  suddenness  of  an 
 !i  before  Ahab.  He  came,  as  it  were,  out  of  tho 
 darkness  of  the  unknown  to  declare  the  wrath  of  God, 
 as  manifest  in  the  visitation  on  the  land.  He  exercised 
 on  the  instant  the  office  and  authority  of  a  prophet, 
 calling  upon  the  priests  to  perform  their  duties  in  a 
 terrible  emergency.  He  demanded  of  them  a  solemn 
 Litany  to  deprecate  the  anger  of  the  Lord,  and  to  in- 
 voke His  compassion  on  the  devastated  country.  He 
 described  the  horror  of  the  situation  in  graphic  details. 
 There  was  an  enemy  in  their  midst,  countless  in 
 number,  inexorable,  remorseless.  Their  ravages  stared 
 them  in  the  face  on  every  side.  The  foliage  of  the 
 country  is  gone,  the  trees  stand  stark  and  bare,  as  if 
 tired,  all  vegetation  is  destroyed;  vines,  fig-to 
 pomegranates,  palms,  apple-trees — all  ate  withered, 
 the  corn  is  wast, si.  the  seed  is  sodden,  the  very  beasts 
 of  tho  field  are  dying  for  lack  of  moisture.  The  lo- 
 cu-'s  of  various  kinds  are  at  work,  sparing  nothing; 
 at  the  -ante  time,  a  drought  as-i>ts  their  ravage-.  The 
 locusts  found  the  land  a  Garden  of  Eden,  they  leave  it 
 a  wilderness.      Fields,   streets,    bouses,   walls  are  occu- 
 
 437 
 
JOEL. 
 
 pied  by  this  terrible  pest.  Let  the  priests  therefore 
 stir  themselves,  proclaim  a  fast  for  high  and  low,  that 
 a  common  supplication  may  be  made  for  the  removal  of 
 this  plague. 
 
 But  there  lay  something  still  more  anxious  beneath 
 the  visitation,  although  it  far  surpassed  all  previous 
 experience  of  locusts.  It  was  in  a  marked  manner 
 symbolical  of  that  scourge  which  David  most,  feared, 
 the  scourge  of  war ;  so  that  the  national  Past  called 
 for  by  the  present  overwhelming  calamity  was  quickened 
 by  the  apprehension  of  an  invasion  by  foreign  enemies. 
 In  this  apprehension  the  prophetic  description  of  Joel 
 culminated.  The  unparalleled  visitation  of  the  locusts 
 was  an  advanced  guard  of  greater  terrors  to  come.  So 
 the  prophet  interpreted  it. 
 
 Joel  then  saw  the  submission  of  the  people,  and  as 
 
 its  effect  the  plague  averted.  Once  more  plenty  smiled 
 upon  the  land — plenty,  which  was  the  gift  of  God. 
 And  the  material  gift  was  an  earnest  of  a  spiritual  gift 
 which  was  to  come  to  pass  "  afterward."  The  Spirit  of 
 God  was  to  be  poured  out,  as  St.  Peter  declared  it  was 
 poured  out  in  the  last  days,  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost. 
 Thenceforward  Joel  was  caught  up,  so  to  speak,  into 
 the  regions  of  apocalyptic  vision.  He  beheld  the 
 victory  of  the  people  completed  in  the  eternal  victory 
 of  the  last  day.  The  multitudes  came  together  to  be 
 judged  in  the  eponymous  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  and 
 the  Lord  was  the  judge.  After  the  conflict,  after  the 
 judgment,  there  was  the  vision  of  peace.  The  enemies 
 have  ceased  to  exist;  the  people  of  the  Lord  are  in 
 the  mansions  of  eternal  blessedness,  and  in  their  midst 
 is  God,  blessed  for  ever. 
 
 438 
 
J  0  E  L. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.— ">  The  word  of  the 
 Lord  thai  came  to  Joel  the  son  of 
 Pethuel. 
 
 (J|  Hear  1 1 1 is.  ye  < >1  <  1  men,  and  give 
 ear,  all  ye  inhabitants  of  the  land. 
 Jlath  this  been  in  yoni  days,  or  even 
 in  the  'lavs  of  your  fathers?  (:i)  Tell 
 ye  Mini-  children  of  it,  and  h I  your 
 children  tell  their  children,  and  their 
 children  another  generation.  '" 'That 
 which  the  pabnerworm  hath  left  hath 
 the  hiensi  eaten;  and  thai  which   the 
 
 Locust    hath    left    hath   the    ea iikerwi inn 
 eaten;  ami  that   which  the  eunkerwonn 
 hath    left    hath    the   eaterpiller   eaten. 
 <*)   Awake,  ye  drunkards,  ami   weep; 
 
 B  0. 
 
 1     II.  1...     Tlu      r. 
 "/       llu 
 
 ami  howl,  all  ye  drinkers  of  wine,  be- 
 cause i>f  the  new  wine  ;  for  it  IS  BOA 
 off  from  yOUT  mouth.  I6)  For  a  nation 
 is  come  up  upon  my  land,  strong,  and 
 without  oumber,  whose  teeth  an:  the 
 teeth  of  a  lion,  and  he  hath  the  click 
 teeth  of  a  great  lion.  (7)  He  hath  laid 
 my  vine  waste,  ami  'barked my  figfeee: 
 he  hath  made  it  clean  hare,  and  cast 
 U  away;  the  hiamhes  thereof  are  made 
 
 white. 
 
 <8)  Lament  like  a  virgin  girded  with 
 sackcloth  for  the  husband  oi  her  youth. 
 (9>  The  meat  offering  and  the  drink 
 offering  is  cut  off  from  the  house  of  the 
 Lord;  the  priests,  the  Lord's  ministers, 
 
 (i)  Jool. — Compounded  of  Jehovah— El,  the  com- 
 posite  title  oi  tlie  God  of  Revelation  ami  of  Nature, 
 which  is  tin-  subject  of  Psalm  \ix.  It  was  a  favourite 
 name  """"g  the  Jews,  and  was  borne  by  an  ancestor 
 of  Samuel,  who  gave  it  to  liis  elder  son.  There  is 
 nothing  known  of  tlio  personal   history  of  Joel  the 
 
 Erophet,  except  the  name  of  his  father,  Pethuel,  or — 
 XX.— Bethuol. 
 
 (-'.  ■■>  Hath  this  been  in  your  days.— The  in- 
 troduction points  to  the  startling  nature  of  the  portent: 
 it  was  unexampled;  it  was  a  cause  of  consternation  to 
 all  who  beheld  it :  it  would  lie  recollected  as  a  subject 
 of  wondering  comment  among  succeeding  generations. 
 The  hand  of  God  was  evident,  recalling  the  marvellous 
 
 things  lie  cliil  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the  field  of  Zoan. 
 
 (*>  That  which  the  palnierworm  hath  left.— 
 The  picture  is  introduced  suddenly  and  graphically. 
 "Behold  the  desolation!"  "Note  the  cause."  The 
 earth  is  bared  by  locusts  beyond  all  previous  ex- 
 perience.   There  were  different  sorts  of  locusts;   as 
 
 many  as  ninety  have  Keen  reckoned.  The  four  names. 
 pabnerworm,  locust,  eankerwunn.  raterpiller,  indicate 
 different  swarms  of  the  insect.  The  lirst  (lnziim  — 
 points  to  its  veracity:  the  second — Arbrh — its  multi- 
 tude; the  third — YeUk — its  manner  of  "licking  up" 
 the  grass  like  cattle;  the  fourth — ChatiX — its  destruc- 
 tive   effect.       The    number    enumerated,  four,    draws 
 
 attention  to  the  "four  sore  judgments"  with  which 
 
 E/.ekiel  was  instructed  t..  threaten  Jerusalem,  and  to 
 the  four  foreign  invasions  liy  the  Assyrians,  Chahhcans, 
 Macedonians,  and  Humans. 
 
 (8)  Awake,    ye   drunkards  —  i.e.,   awake    from 
 
 such  an  insensibility  as  wine  causes  The  people 
 failed   to    see  the   hand  of  God  in  the   terrible  calamity. 
 
 like  an  acted   parable,  of  the  locusts.    Insensate,  as 
 
 the  revellers  in  the  halls  ,.f  lielshazzar,  they  carried 
 ou  their  feasting  even  while  the  enemies  were  at  the 
 
 city  elites. 
 
 It  is  cut  off  from  your  mouth. — Either  joy 
 and  gladness,  as  given  in  the  IA'X..  or  the  means  of 
 indulgence  have  I n  suddenly  taken  away. 
 
 (<>l  a  nation. — It  was  not  uncommon  with  Hebrew 
 writers  to  apply  the  name  people  or  folk  to  animals,  as, 
 "The  ants  are  a  people  not  strong;"  "  The  conies  are 
 hut  a  feeble  folk"  (Prov.  xxx.  25,  -jr.);  hut  the  word  used 
 by  Joel  is  different  from  that  in  the  Provcrhs.  He 
 selected  a  word  indicative  of  foreign  nations,  sug- 
 gestive of  attack,  including  both  the  irrational  invader 
 and  the  foreign  Conqueror.  The  surpassing  strength 
 of  the  nation  is  indicated  by  the  extraordinary  power  of 
 
 the  locust's  teeth.  cem|iared  to  that   of  the  lien's  jaws. 
 
 The  same  comparison  is  made  by  St.  John  (Rev.  ix.  8)  : 
 ••  Their  teeth  (the  locusts   were  as  the  teeth  of  Bona" 
 
 t"1  My  vine. — This  expression  might  well  capti- 
 vate   the    Jewish    ear.      God   appropriates    to     Himself 
 
 this  land  on  which  the  trouble  was.  by  His  providence. 
 to  fall,  and  in  wrath  remembers  mercy.  It  is  "  my 
 vine."  "  my  tig-tree."  the  people  of  God's  own  choice, 
 that  were  afflicted;  and  the  affliction,  however  fully 
 deserved,  was,  to  m  ak  as  a  man.  painful  to  the  Lord, 
 "  who  doth  not  aflhei  willingly."  Yet  the  devastation 
 was  to  he  complete.  God's  pleasant  vine  was  doomed, 
 and  the  tig-trcc  was  to  he  cut  down. 
 
 *8)  For  the  husband  of  her  youth. — The 
 land  is  addressed  as  a  virgin  betrothed,  hut  net  yet 
 married,  and  forfeiting  her  marriage  by  unworthy  con- 
 duct. Such  was  the  relation  of  Israel  to  the  Lord:  He 
 was  faithful,  but  Israel  unfaithful  Now  let  her  mourn 
 the  penalty. 
 
 t''|  The'  meat  offering  and  the  drink  offer- 
 ing— i.e.,  all  the  outward  and  risible  signs  of  com- 
 munion with  God  are  cut  off.  The  means  are  lest 
 through  this  visitation.  There  is  a  total  cessation  of 
 "the  creatures  of  bread  and  wine."  The  immediate 
 significance  of  this  fact  is  naturally  appreciated  first 
 bj   "  the  priests,  the  Lord's  ministers.'' 
 
 •la:' 
 
The  Desolation  of  the  Land. 
 
 JOEL,  IE. 
 
 A  Fast  Prescribed. 
 
 mourn.  <10>  The  field  is  wasted,  the  land 
 moumeth ;  for  the  corn  is  wasted : 
 the  new  wine  is  *  dried  up,  the  oil  lan- 
 guisheth.  <u)  Be  ye  ashamed,  0  ye  hus- 
 bandmen ;  howl,  O  ye  vinedressers,  for 
 the  wheat  and  for  the  barley ;  because 
 the  harvest  of  the  field  is  perished. 
 (12)  ijhe  vine  is  dried  up,  and  the 
 fig  tree  languisheth;  the  pomegranate 
 tree,  the  palm  tree  also,  and  the  apple 
 tree,  even  all  the  trees  of  the  field,  are 
 withered :  because  joy  is  withered  away 
 from  the  sons  of  men. 
 
 (13>  Gird  yourselves,  and  lament,  ye 
 priests  :  howl,  ye  ministers  of  the  altar : 
 come,  He  all  night  in  sackcloth,  ye 
 ministers  of  my  God :  for  the  meat 
 offering  and  the  drink  offering  is  with- 
 holden  from  the  house  of  your  God. 
 'u>  "Sanctify  ye  a  fast,  call  a  2  solemn 
 assembly,  gather  the  elders  and  all  the 
 inhabitants  of  the  land  into  the  house 
 of  the  Lord  your  God,  and  cry  unto 
 the  Lord,  <15>  Alas  for  the  day !  for b  the 
 day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand,  and  as  a 
 
 l  Or,  ashamed. 
 
 Or,  day  of  re- 
 straint. 
 
 3  Heb.,  grains. 
 
 Or,  hfibdations. 
 
 5  Or,  comet. 
 
 destruction  from  the  Almighty  shall  it 
 come.  (16)  Is  not  the  meat  cut  off  be- 
 fore our  eyes,  yea,  joy  and  gladness  from 
 the  house  of  our  God?  '17>  The  3seed 
 is  rotten  under  their  clods,  the  gamers 
 are  laid  desolate,  the  barns  are  broken 
 down ;  for  the  corn  is  withered.  (18)  How 
 do  the  beasts  groan  !  the  herds  of  cattle 
 are  perplexed,  because  they  have  no 
 pasture;  yea,  the  flocks  of  sheep  are 
 made  desolate. 
 
 (19)  0  Lord,  to  thee  will  1  cry :  for 
 the  fire  hath  devoured  the  4  pastures 
 of  the  wilderness,  and  the  flame  hath 
 burned  all  the  trees  of  the  field.  <20>  The 
 beasts  of  the  field  cry  also  unto  thee : 
 for  the  rivers  of  waters  are  dried  up, 
 and  the  fire  hath  devoured  the  pastures 
 of  the  wilderness. 
 
 CHAPTEE  II.— d)  Blow  ye  the 
 5  trumpet  in  Zion,  and  sound  an  alarm 
 in  my  holy  mountain :  let  all  the  in- 
 habitants of  the  land  tremble :  for  the 
 day  of  the  Lord  cometh,  for  it  is  nigh 
 
 (10)  The  new  wine. — The  necessaries  and  delights 
 of  life  are  all  gone  :  "  the  wine  that  maketh  glad  the 
 heart  of  man,  the  oil  that  makes  his  face  to  shine,  the 
 bread  that  strengtheneth  man's  heart "  (Ps.  civ.  15). 
 
 (12)  The  vine  is  dried  up. — The  ravages  produced 
 by  the  locusts  and  the  drought  are  universal.  There 
 seems  to  be  a  method  in  the  enumeration  of  the  trees. 
 The  vine  is  the  favourite  term  for  the  chosen  people; 
 the  fig-tree  has  its  life  prolonged  at  the  intercession  of 
 the  "  dresser  of  the  vineyard,"  in  our  Lord's  parable 
 (Luke  xiii.  8)  ;  the  tall  and  stately  pomegranate  is  of 
 such  importance  as  to  give  its  name  to  the  idol  Rimmon; 
 yea,  and  the  palm-tree,  even  that  is  gone ;  the  apple 
 also,  including  the  lemon,  citron,  &c.  —  all  joy  is 
 vanished. 
 
 (13)  Gird  yourselves,  and  lament.— The  priests 
 are  exhorted  to  commence  preparations  for  a  national 
 humiliation,  beginning  with  themselves;  for  the  visita- 
 tion touches  them  in  a  vital  part:  they  have  no  sacrifices 
 to  offer  to  the  Lord. 
 
 (i*)  A  solemn  assembly. — The  Hebrew  word 
 strictly  means  a  festival  day,  on  which  the  people 
 gathered  themselves  together,  being  relieved  from 
 work.  Here  they  are  summoned  for  a  fast.  The  word 
 may  also  be  translated,  as  in  the  margin,  "  a  day  of 
 restraint,"  its  root  signifying  to  shut,  to  hold  back. 
 
 (ls)  Alas. — The  exclamation  is  repeated  three  times 
 in  the  LXX.  and  Vulg.,  thus  giving  occasion  to 
 Jeremy  Taylor's  comment :  "  When  the  prophet  Joel 
 was  describing  the  formidable  accidents  in  the  day  of 
 the  Lord's  judgment,  and  the  fearful  sentence  of  an 
 angry  judge,  he  was  not  able  to  express  it,  but  stam. 
 mered  like  a  child,  or  an  amazed  imperfect  person, 
 A.  A.  A.  diet,  qutaprope  est  Dies  Domini  "  ("  Christ's 
 Adv.  to  Judgment,"  Serm.  iii.,  pt.  3). 
 
 Almighty. — Shaddai.  A  title  signifying  the  om- 
 nipotence of  God,  especially  with  reference,  as  here, 
 to  His  power  to  destroy.     The  Hebrew  preserves  the 
 
 alliteration,  Shod  Mishaddai,  destruction  from  the 
 destroyer.  The  Almighty  was  the  general  title  of 
 God.  "  I  appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto 
 Jacob  by  the  name  of  God  Almighty,  but  by  My 
 name  Jehovah  was  I  not  known  unto  them."  (See 
 Note  on  Gen.  xvii.) 
 
 (i?)  The  corn  is  withered. — The  results  of  the 
 terrible  drought,  coincident  with  the  ravages  of  the 
 locusts,  are  now  described.  The  ancient  versions  pre- 
 sent difficulty  and  variety  in  the  exact  rendering  of  this 
 verse,  owing  to  several  words  occurring  in  it  being  not 
 found  elsewhere  in  Holy  Scripture.  On  the  whole  the 
 English  text  seems  correct  and  satisfactory. 
 
 (is)  How  do  the  beasts  groan. — All  creation  is 
 represented  as  sharing  in  the  dread  perplexity;  the 
 beasts  are  involved  in  it,  as  also  in  Nineveh  the  animals 
 were  united  in  the  proclamation  of  the  general  fast  by 
 the  king's  decree,  when  he  had  heard  of  the  preaching 
 of  Jonah. 
 
 (w)  The  fire  hath  devoured. — This  may  be  ex- 
 plained as  produced  by  the  scorching  heat  bringing 
 about  spontaneous  combustion,  or  by  the  efforts  of  the 
 people  to  exterminate  the  locusts  by  burning  the  trees, 
 or  by  the  mark,  as  of  fire,  left  upon  all  vegetation  after 
 the  locusts  had  finished  their  work  of  devastation. 
 
 (20)  The  beasts  of  the  field  cry  also  unto  thee. 
 — The  prophet  has  cried  to  God ;  the  very  beasts  echo 
 that  cry,  "  looking  up  "  to  Him.  As  yet,  man  seems 
 dumb. 
 
 II. 
 (!)  Blow  ye  the  trumpet.— The  preaching  of  the 
 prophet  increases  in  its  intensity.  Beliind  the  locusts, 
 exemplified  by  them,  there  is  a  still  more  terrible  visita- 
 tion. He  sees  on  the  horizon  a  mustering  of  the  nations 
 hostile  to  his  people,  bent  on  destroying  them.  Let  the 
 priests  stir  up  the  people  for  a  fast,  and  for  the  defence 
 of  their  land  by  the  trumpet.     The  locusts  have  done 
 
 440 
 
The  Prophet  shows 
 
 JOEL,    II. 
 
 tht   '/'■  irihl.  nest  of  God's  Ju'l'jimnts. 
 
 at     hand;    '-'a    day  of   darkness    :i 1 1 <  1   o£ 
 
 gloominess,  a  day  of  cslouds  and  of  thick 
 
 darkness,  us  the  morning  spread  uj >< >n 
 the    mountains:    a    great     people    and   a 
 
 Btrong;  there  bath  rial  been  ever  the 
 like,  neither  shall  he  any  more  after 
 it,  even  to  the  years  lof  many  genera- 
 tions. (:1)  A  fire  devoureth  before  tln-m  ; 
 and  behind  them  a  flame  burnetii :  the 
 land  is  as  the  garden  of  Eden  before 
 
 them,  and  behind  them  a  desolate  wil- 
 derness; yea,  and  nothing  shall  escape 
 
 them.  (*)  The  appearance  of  them  is 
 as  the  appearance  of  horses;  and  as 
 horsemen,  so  shall  they  run.  W  Like 
 the    noise   of    ehariots    on    the    tops  of 
 
 untains  shall  they  leap,  like  the  noise 
 
 of  a  llaine  of  fire  that  devoureth  the 
 Btnbble,  as  a  strong  people  set  in  battle 
 array.  M  Before  their  face  the  people 
 shall  be  much  pained:  all  faces  shall 
 gather  'blackness.  (7>  They  shall  rim 
 like  mighty  men;  they  shall  climb  the 
 
 (ton  mid  yaurra- 
 
 '.'    \l,\, .,,!,!. 
 
 I  in.  13. 10;  Ezek 
 
 ft  Jcr.  so.  7 ;  Amos 
 5.18;  Zvi'li.  1.  iv 
 
 wall  like  men  of  war;  and  they  shall 
 march  every  one  on  his  ways,  and   they 
 
 shall  not  break  their  ranks :    !    neither 
 
 Shall  one  thrust  another;  they  .-hall 
 walk  every  one  in  his  path  :  and  when 
 they  fall  upon  the  'sword,  they  shall 
 not  be  wounded.  '■'>  They  shall  run  to 
 and  fro  in  the  city ;  they  shall  run 
 upon  the  wall,  they  shall  climb  up  upon 
 the  bouses;  they  shall  enter  in  at  tie- 
 windows  like  a  thief.  (I("  The  earth 
 shall  quake  before  them;  the  heavens 
 shall  tremble:  "the  sun  and  the  moon 
 shall  be  dark,  and  the  stars  shall  with- 
 draw their  shining:  "'and  the  Lord 
 shall  utter  his  voice  before  his  army: 
 for  bis  camp  is  very  great :  for  In-  in 
 st  roiig  that  execiiteth  his  word  :  for  tin- 
 May  of  the  Lord  is  great  and  very 
 terrible ;  and  who  can  abide  it  P 
 
 (12)  Therefore  also  now,  saith  the 
 Lord,  ""turn  ye  even  to  me  with  all 
 your  heart,  and  with  fasting,  and  with 
 
 their  symbolical  work,  thev  have  left  their  mark  on  the 
 country.  Clow  the  day  of  Jehovah,  the  manifestation 
 i>r  His  power,  is  approaching — it  is  imminent. 
 
 i-'1  Tho  morning  spread  upon  the  moun- 
 tains.— The  Hebrew  word  here  need  for  morning  is  de- 
 rived from  a  wrii.  Bhaehar,  which  has  far  cue  mean- 
 ing "tn  be  or  become  black,"  for  the  second  "to  break 
 fort li  "  as  light.  From  this  latter  signification  is  de- 
 rived the  word  tor  morning — dawn;  from  the  former 
 ("mii.s  the  word  "  blackness,''  which  gives  the  name 
 Silitn-  to  the  Nile  (lea.  xxiii.  3).  It  seems  accord- 
 ingly more  in  harmony  with  the  present  context  to  take 
 the  sense  of  the  word  in  its  reference  to  blackness,  and  to 
 understand  ii  as  indicating  a  thick,  dark,  rolling  cloud 
 settled  upon  the  mountain  top.  The  description  fol- 
 lowing comprehends  equally  the  natural  and  political 
 locusts, 
 
 (8)  Boforo  them  .  .  .  behind  them.— As  with 
 
 the  locusts,  so  with  the  invading  hosts  of  enemies:    the 
 
 country  is  found  a  paradise,  and  left  a  desert. 
 
 (*)  As  tho  appoaranco  of  horses.— So  also  are 
 locusts  described  in  the  Revelation:  "  And  the  shapes 
 
 of  the  locusts  were  like  unto  horses  prepared  unto 
 battle"  i  from  this  likeness  the  Italians  call  a  locust 
 cavnllcttat  .  .  .  'and  the  sound  of  their  wings 
 was  as  the  sound  of  ehariots,  of  many  horses  running 
 to  battle"  fBev.  ix.  7.  9  . 
 
 Vll  faces  shall  gather  blackness.— There 
 
 are  different  explanations  of  this  Hebrew  phrase,  which 
 expresses  the  result  of  terror.  Some  translate  it 
 •■withdraw    their    ruddiness."    i,,-.,    glow    pale;    otl 
 
 "draw  into  themselves  their  colour;     others,  "contract 
 
 a  livid  character."  Tin-  alternative  rendering  in  the 
 margin,  "  pot."  which  is  that  of  theLXX.,  the  Vulg., 
 anil  of  Luther's  translation,  is  obtained  from  the  simi- 
 larity of  the  Hebrew  words  for  "  ruddiness"  and  "  pot." 
 The  comparison  is  in  this  ease  between  the  taoee 
 growing  black  under  the  influence  of  fear,  and  of  pot  ■ 
 under  the  action  of  lire.  The  prophet  Nahum  uses  the 
 same  expression  (chap.  ii.  10). 
 
 (7—9)  They  shall  run  like  mighty  men.— The 
 
 onward  irresistible  march  of  the  invaders  is  graphically 
 
 described  by  the  illustration  of  the   advance  of  locusts. 
 
 They  appear  on  the  mountains  which  environ  the  city. 
 
 they  mount    the  walls,  they   rush  through  the  streets, 
 
 they  enter  the  houses,  they  are  in  possession  of  Jeru- 
 salem. Dr.  Thomson  (Tlie  Land  mirf  the  Booh,  p.  tlb) 
 describes  the  movements  of  a  locust  tinny  in  the  follow- 
 ing terms: — "  Their  number  was  astounding;  the  whole 
 face  of  the  mountain  was  black  with  them,  *  hi  they 
 came,  like  a  living  deluge.  We  dug  benches,  and  kin- 
 dled fires,  and   beat   and  burned  to  death  heaps  upon 
 
 heaps;  but  the  effort  was  utterly  useless.    Wave  after 
 wave  rolled  up   tho   mountain-side,  and   poured    over 
 rocks,    walls,   ditches,    hedges — those  behind   covering 
 up  and  bridging  over  the  masses  already  killed." 
 (W)  The  earth  shall  quake   before  them.— 
 
 Some  commentators  call  this  description   "a  -~] mien 
 
 of  the  highly-wrought  hyperbolical  features  of  Hebrew 
 poetry,"  but  it  is  the  presence  and  .judgment,  the  voice 
 of  the  Lord  in  the  thunder,  which  causes  this  trepida- 
 tion. The  signs  in  the  heavens  will  be  manifested  at 
 the  judgment  day. 
 
 (U)  His  army.—"  In  every  stage  of  their  existence 
 these  locusts  give  a  most  impressive  riew  of  the  power 
 
 of  (  i od  to  punish  a  wicked  world  "  |  The  Land  "ml  the 
 Booh,  p.  117'. 
 
 (i-)  Saith  tho  Lord.— Tho  word  saith  is  here  no 
 common  won!  in  the  Hebrew.  It  Duplies  an  authorita- 
 tive and    most    weighty   utterance,   as  in   Psalm  ex.    1, 
 
 "  The  Lord  said  onto  my  Lord."  "The  word  is  need  in 
 almost  every  instance  of  the  immediate  utterance  of 
 
 God   Himself;    more  rarely  of   that  of  the   prophet  or 
 
 inspired  organ  of  the  Divine  revelation--"  (Perowne, 
 
 Psalms,  vol.  ii..  p.  .'! 
 
 Turn  ye  even  to  me. — The  question,  "  Who  can 
 abide  it  P  "  is  left  unanswered.  But  the  only  pos- 
 sible reply  is  inferred  in  the  touching  appeal  which 
 the  prophet  is  inspired  by  Jehovah  to  make,  that  His 
 righteous  auger  may  be  averted. 
 
 4  11 
 
A  Call  to  Repentance. 
 
 JOEL,    II. 
 
 A  Blessing  Promised. 
 
 weeping,  and  with  mourning :  (13)  and 
 rend  your  heart,  and  not  your  garments, 
 and  turn  unto  the  Lord  your  God : 
 for  he  is  "  gracious  and  merciful,  slow 
 to  anger,  and  of  great  kindness,  and 
 repenteth  him  of  the  evil.  <14)  'Who 
 knoweth  if  he  will  return  and  repent, 
 and  leave  a  blessing  behind  him ;  even 
 a  meat  offering  and  a  drink  offering 
 unto  the  Lord  your  God? 
 
 (15)  Blow  the  trumpet  in  Zion,  c  sanc- 
 tify a  fast,  call  a  solemn  assembly : 
 <16)  gather  the  people,  sanctify  the  con- 
 gregation, assemble  the  elders,  gather 
 the  children,  and  those  that  suck  the 
 breasts :  let  the  bridegroom  go  forth 
 of  his  chamber,  and  the  bride  out  of 
 her  closet.  (17>  Let  the  priests,  the  min- 
 isters of  the  Lord,  weep  between  the 
 porch  and  the  altar,  and  let  them  say, 
 Spare  thy  people,  O  Lord,  and  give 
 not  thine  heritage  to  reproach,  that 
 the  heathen  should  l  rule  over  them : 
 ■'wherefore  should  they  say  among  the 
 people,  Where  is  their  God  ? 
 
 a  Exnd.  34.6:  Ps. 
 86.  5 ;  Juuati  4.  2. 
 
 1  Or,  use  a  byword 
 against  them. 
 
 d  Ps.  45.  10 ;  &  79, 
 10;  &  115.2. 
 
 2     Hcb.,    he    hath 
 iiui'jiufiedtodo. 
 
 3  Or,  a  teacher  oj 
 righteousness, 
 
 4  Heb.,    according 
 to  righteousness. 
 
 Lev.  26.4;  Deut. 
 11.  14. 
 
 (is)  Then  will  the  Lord  be  jealous 
 for  his  land,  and  pity  his  people.  (19)  Yea, 
 the  Lord  will  answer  and  say  unto  his 
 people,  Behold,  I  will  send  you  com, 
 and  wine,  and  oil,  and  ye  shall  be 
 satisfied  therewith :  and  I  will  no  more 
 make  you  a  reproach  among  the  hea- 
 then :  <20>  but  I  will  remove  far  off  from 
 you  the  northern  army,  and  will  drive 
 him  into  a  land  barren  and  desolate, 
 with  his  face  toward  the  east  sea,  and 
 his  hinder  part  toward  the  utmost  sea, 
 and  his  stink  shall  come  up,  and  his  ill 
 savour  shall  come  up,  because  3  he  hath 
 done  great  things. 
 
 (21>  Fear  not,  O  land ;  be  glad  and  re- 
 joice :  for  the  Lord  will  do  great  things. 
 (—>  Be  not  afraid,  ye  beasts  of  the  field : 
 for  the  pastures  of  the  wilderness  do 
 spring,  for  the  tree  beareth  her  fruit, 
 the  fig  tree  and  the  vine  do  yield  then- 
 strength.  <23>  Be  glad  then,  ye  children 
 of  Zion,  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord  your 
 God :  for  he  hath  given  you  3  the  former 
 rain  4  moderately,  and  he  e  will  cause  to 
 
 (13)  Repenteth  him  of  the  evil— i.e.,  in  the 
 sense  that  of  His  own  will  He  would  not  the  death  of 
 a  sinner.  The  judgments  of  God,  like  His  mercies,  are 
 conditional.  As  the  "  Lord  repented  (i.e.,  grieved) 
 that  He  had  made  Saul  king  over  Israel,"  and  revoked 
 the  appointment,  so  now  He  repenteth  Him  of  the 
 evil  which  will  fall  on  His  people  if  impenitent.  If 
 they  will  repent,  it  may  be  He  will  do  it  not. 
 
 (U)  Even  a  meat  offering. — The  returning  favour 
 of  the  Lord  will  enable  the  daily  sacrifices  to  be  restored, 
 which  had  failed  through  the  visitation  (chap.  i.  9). 
 
 (15,  16)  Sanctify  a  fast.— The  prophet  renews,  there- 
 fore, his  summons  to  the  priests  to  proclaim  a  day  of 
 humiliation,  on  which  all,  without  distinction  of  age  or 
 circumstances,  are  to  be  required  to  present  themselves 
 before  the  Lord.  There  was  no  room  for  the  plea, 
 "  I  have  married  a  wife,  and  therefore  I  cannot  come." 
 
 (17)  That  the  heathen  should  rule  over  them. 
 —  All  mention  of  the  locusts  is  dropped.  The  lesser 
 calamity  is  swallowed  up  in  the  apprehension  of  the 
 greater. 
 
 (19)  I  will  no  more  make  you.— The  reply  of  the 
 Lord  is  directed  to  remove  the  fear  that  by  reason  of 
 the  destruction  of  the  fruits  of  the  laud  the  people 
 woidd  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  invading  nations. 
 
 (20)  The  northern  army.— Literally,  him  of  the 
 north.  "  This  is  an  exception  to  the  usual  direction 
 of  the  flight  of  locusts  "  (Stanley,  Jewish  Church),  but 
 it  may  be  literally  applied  to  the  Assyrian  hordes, 
 whom  the  Jews  generally  spoke  of  as  dwelling  in  the 
 north.  In  Jeremiah  i.  13  the  symbolical  caldron  is  re- 
 presented as  pouring  its  contents  (the  Chaldsean  army) 
 southwards  from  the  face  of  the  north.  And  even 
 though  the  wind  might  be  conceived  as  capriciously 
 blowing  the  locusts  from  the  north,  yet  the  addition  of 
 the  patronymic  syllable  to  the  Hebrew  word  indicates 
 a  native  of  the  north,  which  excludes  a  reference  to 
 locusts.     Under  the  image  of  the  destruction  of  the 
 
 locusts,  the  prophet  points  to  the  deliverance  from  the 
 northern  invaders. 
 
 The  east  sea  is  the  Dead  Sea ;  the  utmost  or 
 hinder  sea  is  the  Mediterranean ;  the  desolate  land  is 
 the  southern  desert.  The  northern  invader  shall  be 
 expelled  all  along  the  coasts  of  Palestine.  His  stink 
 shall  come  up.  In  the  eighth  plague  of  Egypt,  when 
 on  the  repentance  of  Pharaoh  the  locusts  were  removed, 
 they  were  cast  into  the  Red  Sea,  and  there  remained 
 not  one  locust  in  all  the  coasts  of  Egypt  (Exod.  x.  19). 
 In  the  present  instance  there  is  the  result  stated  in  the 
 case  of  the  decomposition  of  the  bodies  of  the  locusts 
 left  on  the  land :  the  air  was  infected  with  a  horrible 
 pestilence.  There  are  various  allusions  to  this  terrible 
 result  of  their  putrefaction  in  the  writers  who  describe 
 the  horrors  of  a  plague  of  locusts.  St.  Jerome  tells  of 
 the  awful  sufferings  inflicted  on  man  and  beast  through 
 this  cause;  and  St.  Augustine  {Be  Civitate  Dei,  iii.  31) 
 relates  that  eight  hundred  thousand  men  perished  from 
 this  reason  in  the  kingdom  of  Masinissa  alone,  besides 
 many  more  near  the  coast.  Thus  Joel  declares  the 
 complete  destruction  of  the  enemies  of  Israel,  who 
 having  completed  the  purpose  of  vengeance  for  which 
 they  were  summoned,  and,  like  the  Assyrians  under  the 
 walls  of  Jerusalem,  haviug  exalted  themselves  against 
 the  Lord,  perish  miserably  under  the  stroke  of  His 
 power. 
 
 (2i)  Pear  not,  O  land  .  .  .—The  sentence  of 
 the  reversal  of  judgment  has  gone  forth,  and  all  nature 
 — animate  and  inanimate,  rational  and  irrational — which 
 had  been  included  in  the  curse  is  summoned  to  rejoice 
 in  the  blessing  vouchsafed  by  the  Lord. 
 
 (23)  Ye  children  of  Zion — i.e.,  they  were  called 
 upon  to  manifest  their  rejoicings  in  the  place  where 
 the  trumpet  had  been  sounded  for  the  proclamation  of 
 the  fast. 
 
 The  former  rain  moderately.— St.  Paul  ad- 
 duces the  gift  of  the  rain  as  a  witness  to  the  people  of 
 
Zion  i  'omJorU  d  with  !'• 
 
 come  down  for  yon  the  rain,  the  former 
 
 rain,    and    the    latter    rain    in    the    lirst 
 
 month.     **'  Ami  the  floors  shall  be  lull 
 
 of    wheal,    anil    the    tats   shall    overflow 
 
 with  trine  and  oil.  |J"  Ami  I  will  re- 
 store In  vim  the  \ears  that  the  luell-.t 
 hath    eaten,    the    eankeru  uiin,    ami    the 
 
 caterpiller,    ami    the    pal rworm,   my 
 
 greal  army  which  I  sent   among  yon. 
 
 \  ml  ye   shall    eat    in    plenty,  ami    be 
 
 satisfied,  ami   praise  the  nai E  the 
 
 LOBD    yOUr    »  rod,  that     hath    dealt    Wuli- 
 
 droush  with  yon:  and  mi  people  shall 
 
 QOVer  he  ashamed.  l-71  And  ye  shall  know- 
 that  I  am  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  and 
 thai  1  am  the  Loan  your  God,  and  none 
 (dse :  ami  my  people  shall  never  be 
 ashamed. 
 
 '-'S|  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  after- 
 ward, (hat  I  "will  pom-  out  my  spirit 
 upon  all  llesh  ;  and  your  sons  and  your 
 daughters  shall  prophesy,  your  old  men 
 
 shall    dream    dream-,   your   young   men 
 
 '.'.  17. 
 
 JOEL,    III.  and  Futu/n  Bleuktgt, 
 
 shall  see  visions:  (29>  and   also   Upon  the 
 
 servants    and     upon    the    handmaid-    in 
 
 those  days  will  I  pour  out  my  spirit. 
 
 •"  Ami  I  will  shew  wonders  in  the 
 heavens  and  in  the  earth,  blood,  and 
 lire,  and  pillars  of  smoke.  <""The 
 Min  shall   be  turned   into  darkness,  and 
 
 the  i m  into  blood,  before  the  greal 
 
 ami  the  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come. 
 
 ' ;J|  Ami  it  shall  come  to  pass,  thai  who- 
 soever shall  call  on  the  name  of  the 
 Loitn  shall  he  delivered:  for  in  mount 
 Zion  ami  in  Jerusalem  shall  be  deliver- 
 ance, as  the  Loi.n  hath  said,  and  in  the 
 remnant  whom  the  Lord  shall  call. 
 
 CHAPTER  ni.— «')  For,  behold,  in 
 those  days,  and  in  that  time,  when  [ 
 shall  bring  again  the  captivity  of  Judah 
 ami  Jerusalem,  W  I  will  also  gather 
 all  nations,  and  will  bring  them,  down 
 into  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  ami  will 
 plead  with   them   there  for  my  people 
 
 c  Rom.  la  13. 
 
 Lystrs  of  the  existence  and  beneficence  at  God,  who 
 "gave  us  rain  from  heaven,  filling  our  hearts  with  food 
 ami  gladness."  The  possibility  of  the  interpretation 
 nf  "the  former  rain  moderately "  out  of  the  Hebrew 
 words  by  a  "teacher  of  righteousness,"  as  in  the  Vulg. 
 ami  in  our  margin,  lias  led  to  the  connection  of  tliis 
 passage  with  a  prophetic  intimation  of  the  advent  of  the 
 Messiah. 
 In  the  first  month.— Bettor,  at  at  first,  as  before. 
 I  will  restore  to  you  tho  years — i.e..  the 
 
 years  which  would  have  heou  necessary  in  tl rdinary 
 
 course  of  nature  far  the  land  to  recover  fromthe  ravages 
 
 of  the  ■•  great  army." 
 <-:'  I  am  in  the  midst  of  Israel.— This  Divine 
 
 assurance,  similar  to  that  with  which  the  hook  euds, 
 prepares   the  way   for  the  spiritual  blessings  about  to 
 
 lie  announced. 
 
 (88)  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit  upon  all  flesh. 
 — Holy  .Scripture  is  itself  the   interpreter  of  this  most 
 
 weighty  promise.  St.  Peter's  quotation  ami  applica- 
 tion  "f  ii    in    the    Acts   is    its   commentary.       "After 
 
 ward'" — LXX.,  after    these    things    beco S    ill    the 
 
 apostle's  mouth — "in  the  last  days" — /.,  ..in  I  he  Christian 
 dispensation,  when,  after  the  punishment  of  the  Jews 
 by  the  heathen,  their  king  came — "my  Spirit" — St. 
 Peter  renders  "of  my  spirit."  after  the  LXX.,  indi- 
 cating the  gifts  and  influences  of  the  Holy  Ghost  — 
 "Upon   all    llesh  " — i.e..   without   distinction   of  race   or 
 
 person — "they  of  the  circumcision  were  astonished  be- 
 cause that  on  the  Gentiles  also  was  poured  out   the  gift 
 
 of  the  Holy  Ghost."    The  outward  manifestation  "f 
 
 these  gifts,  as  shown  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  in 
 accordance  with  this  prediction,  was  gradually  with- 
 drawn from  the  Church;   the  reality  remains. 
 
 i-"1  And  also  (better,  even    upon  the  servants 
 . — The  result  of  which  promise,  according  to 
 
 St.  Peter's  interpretation,  is  "They  shall  prophesy." 
 "The  promise  is  to  you  and  to  your  children,  and  to 
 all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God 
 shall  call"  (Acts  ii.  38  , 
 
 443 
 
 (80,81)  Tho  sun  .  .  .  and  tho  moon.— Theso 
 words,  recalling  sum,;  of  the  portents  in  the  ancient  his- 
 tory "I'  the  Jews    especially  as  instanced  in  some  of  tin) 
 
 plagues  of  Egypt) are  taken  apbyour  Lord  Himself,  as 
 ushering  in  the  great  day  of  judgment;  and  they  aro 
 echoed  again  by  St.  John  in  the  vision  of  the  owning  of 
 the  sixth  seal  :  "  For  the  great  day  of  His  wrath  is  come, 
 and  who  shall  be  able  to  stand!'"  iCoiup.  verso  11  of 
 this  chapter.)  The  sun  and  moon,  &C.,  may  include  tho 
 luminaries  in  heaven  and  the  potentates  on  earth. 
 
 (88)  Deliverance. — Or.  perhaps  better,  those  that 
 escape.  St.  Paul  quotes  from  this  verso  (Rom. 
 x.  18),  transferring  the  reference  to  the  Messianic  ail- 
 
 vent.  to  prove  the  universality  of  the  deliverance  effi 
 by  our  Lord,  who  abolished  the  difference  between  .Tew 
 and  Greek.     In  His  Church,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
 freed  from  the  persecutions  and  defilements  of  the 
 
 world,  there  is  salvation  for  all  who  call  upon  the  name 
 of   the    Lord,   their  names  are  inscribed   upon    tile   roll 
 
 as  citizens  of  Zion. 
 
 ni. 
 
 (')  That  time.— The  whole  course  ,,f  the  events  of 
 the  world  is  shown  to  lead  up  hy  Divine  providence 
 to  the  lireat  Day  of  the  Lord,  when  "the  crooked 
 shall  he  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain,  and 
 the  Lord  shall  he  exalted.''     Then  will  he  "the  times  of 
 
 the  restitution  of  all  things;"  then  will   the  | pie  of 
 
 God  he  brought  out  of  captivity,  and  vengeance  ex- 
 ecuted upon  their  enemies.  This  progress,  with  its  final 
 consummation,  is  the  subject  of  the  concluding  lines  of 
 
 Joel's  prophecy. 
 
 (-i  The  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.— Some  fifty 
 nan  before  Joel  prophesied  the  kingdom  of  Judah 
 bad  been   menaced    by  an   imposing    confederacy  of 
 
 hostile  tribes.  It  was  an  occasion  of  great  anxiety.  A 
 national  fast  was  proclaimed,  and  after  it  Jehoshaphat 
 engaged   and   completely  routed   the   enemy  in  a   valley 
 
 in  the  wilderness  of  Tekoa.    (See  J  Ohron.  xx.)   The 
 
 victory  was   an  occasion  of  immense  exultation,  and 
 
God's  Judgments 
 
 JOEL,   III. 
 
 against  His  Enemies. 
 
 and  for  my  heritage  Israel,  whom  they 
 have  scattered  among  the  nations,  and 
 parted  my  land.  (3)  And  they  have  cast 
 lots  for  my  people;  and  have  given  a 
 hoy  for  an  harlot,  and  sold  a  girl  for 
 wine,  that  they  might  drink. 
 
 (4)  Yea,  and  what  have  ye  to  do  with 
 me,  0  Tyre,  and  Zidon,  and  all  the  coasts 
 of  Palestine  ?  will  ye  render  me  a  recom- 
 pence  ?  and  if  ye  recompense  me,  swiftly 
 and  speedily  will  I  return  your  recom- 
 pence  upon  your  own  head ;  (5)  because 
 ye  have  taken  my  silver  and  my  gold, 
 and  have  carried  into  your  temples  my 
 goodly  ]  pleasant  things  :  <6>  the  children 
 also  of  Judah  and  the  children  of 
 Jerusalem  have  ye  sold  unto  3the 
 Grecians,  that  ye  might  remove  them 
 far  from  their  border.  <7>  Behold,  I 
 will  raise  them  out  of  the  place  whither 
 ye  have  sold  them,  and  will  return  your 
 recompence  upon  your  own  head :  (8)  and 
 I  will  sell  your  sons  and  your  daugh- 
 ters into  the  hand  of  the  children  of 
 Judah,  and  they  shall  sell  them  to  the 
 Saheans,  to  a  people  far  off:  for  the 
 Lord  hath  spoken  it. 
 
 1  llcb.,  desirable. 
 
 2  Heb.,  the  sons  of 
 the  Grecians. 
 
 3  Heb.,  Sanctify. 
 
 4  Or,  scythes. 
 
 5    Or  ■  the    LORD 
 shall  bring  down. 
 
 b  Rev.  14. 15. 
 
 (I  Or,  concision,  or, 
 threshing. 
 
 tl  Jer.  25. 30 ;  Amos 
 
 <9>  Proclaim  ye  this  among  the  Gen- 
 tiles; 3  Prepare  war,  wake  up  the  mighty 
 men,  let  all  the  men  of  war  draw  near ; 
 let  them  come  up :  (10>  °  heat  your  plow- 
 shares into  swords,  and  your  4  pruning- 
 hooks  into  spears :  let  the  weak  say, 
 I  am  strong.  <u)  Assemble  yourselves, 
 and  come,  all  ye  heathen,  and  gather 
 yourselves  together  round  about :  thither 
 cause  thy  mighty  ones  to  come  down, 
 0  Lord.  <12>  Let  the  heathen  be  wakened, 
 and  come  up  to  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
 phat :  for  there  will  I  sit  to  judge 
 all  the  heathen  round  about.  (13)  *Put 
 ye  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest  is 
 ripe:  come,  get  you  down;  for  the 
 press  is  full,  the  fats  overflow ;  for  their 
 wickedness  is  great.  (U>  Multitudes, 
 multitudes  in  the  valley  of  6  decision : 
 for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in 
 the  valley  of  decision.  (15>  The  csun 
 and  the  moon  shall  be  darkened,  and 
 the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining. 
 (16)  The  Lord  also  shall  'roar  out  of 
 Zion,  and  utter  his  voice  from  Jeru- 
 salem ;  and  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
 shall  shake :  but  the  Lord  will  be  the 
 
 seems  to  supply  the  imagery  with  which  Joel  describes 
 the  day  of  the  Lord.  The  name  of  Johoshaphat  was 
 at  some  period  given  to  the  Kedron  Valley,  but  it  is 
 here  used  rather  in  its  grammatical  meaning  as  the 
 scene  of  the  Divine  judgment,  the  words  signifying 
 "  the  valley  where  Jehovah  judgeth." 
 
 (3)  Cast  lots  .  .  . — The  nations  who  oppressed 
 and  carried  away  the  Jews  treated  them  as  chattels, 
 cast  lots  for  the  possession  of  them  as  slaves,  and  pur- 
 chased a  night's  revelry  or  other  indidgence  with  the 
 captives  they  had  taken. 
 
 W)  What  have  ye  to  do  with  me?— Rather, 
 What  are  ye  to  me  ?  God,  identifying  Himself  with 
 His  people,  threatens  retaliation  upon  their  euemies 
 for  the  wrongs  they  had  inflicted  upon  them.  Tyre 
 and  Zidon  had  oppressed  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  the 
 judges,  and  would  do  so  again :  the  Philistines  also 
 were  to  the  last  the  inveterate  enemies  of  Israel ;  but 
 in  the  end,  could  they  measure  strength  with  God  ? 
 
 (5)  My  silver. — Mine,  as  being  the  property  of  my 
 people,  not  as  being  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the 
 Temple.  In  the  time  of  Jehoram,  the  Philistines  and 
 others  had  "  carried  away  all  the  substance  that  was 
 found  in  the  king's  house"  (2  Chron.  xxi.  17). 
 
 (6)  Unto  the  Grecians.— Javan,  the  Hebrew 
 name  for  Greece,  is  mentioned  iu  Ezekiel  as  one  of  the 
 representatives  of  the  heathen  nations  who  "  traded 
 (with  Tyre)  the  persons  of  men  and  vessels  in  her 
 market"  (Ezek.  xxvii.  13).  The  Grecian  traffic  in 
 slaves  was  enormous. 
 
 (8>  I  will  sell  your  sons  .  .  .  .—The  Philis- 
 tines came  under  the  power  of  Uzziah  and  Hezekiah, 
 who  may  have  sold  them  to  the  Saheans  on  the  Per- 
 sian Gulf,  by  whom  they  would  have  been  passed 
 on  to  India.    The  Philistines  were  also  sold  in  great 
 
 numbers  by  the  Grecian  conquerors  in  the  time  of  the 
 Maccabees. 
 
 (9)  Prepare  war  .  .  . — Literally,  sanctify  war. 
 It  was  to  be  taken  up  deliberately,  and  after  duo  reli- 
 gious rites,  according  to  the  customs  of  the  nations. 
 They  are  thus  challenged,  or  rather  summoned,  to  a  trial 
 of  strength  with  Jehovah  at  a  typical  "  Armageddon." 
 
 (w)  Beat  your  plowshares  .  .  .— When  the 
 contest  was  over,  and  the  victory  of  the  Lord  achieved, 
 Micah  foresaw  the  reversal  of  this  order :  the  weapons 
 of  offence  were  once  more  to  resume  their  peaceful  cha- 
 racter. "  They  " — i.e.,  the  nations — "  shall  beat  their 
 swords  into  plowshares,  and  their  spears  into  priming- 
 hooks  ;  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 
 neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more  "  (Micah  iv.  3). 
 
 (ll)  Thy  mighty  ones— i.e.,  thy,  because  Jeho- 
 vah had  summoned  them  to  take  arms,  as  champions 
 against  Him  in  the  final  conflict. 
 
 (13)  Put  ye  in  the  sickle.— In  the  enthusiasm  of 
 his  vision  the  prophet  crowds  together  metaphors  to 
 intensify  the  description  of  the  coming  encounter  be- 
 tween Jehovah  and  the  enemies  of  His  people.  It  is 
 represented  by  the  judgment  seat,  the  harvest,  and  the 
 vintage.  The  hour  of  judgment  lias  arrived — Jehovah 
 Himself  is  judge.  The  harvest-time,  which  is  the  end 
 of  the  world,  lias  come — let  the  angel-reapers  put  in 
 their  sickle.  In  the  wine-press  the  grapes  are  gathered 
 in — let  the  labourers  hasten  to  press  the  juice  out  with 
 their  feet. 
 
 (U)  Multitudes. — The  command  has  gone  forth ; 
 it  is  obeyed ;  and  the  prophet  stands  aghast  at  the  vast 
 multitudes  assembling  in  the  valley  of  decision,  the 
 place  of  jndgment. 
 
 (16)  The  Lord  also  shall  roar  .  .  . — This  is 
 the  key-note  of  the  prophecy  of  Amos,  who  opens  lis 
 
Gods  Blessing 
 
 JOEL,   III. 
 
 on  I  lis  1'eojjle. 
 
 1  hope  of  his  people,  and  the  strength 
 o!  the  children  of  Israel.  <17>  So  sliall 
 ye  know  that  I  um  the  Lord  yoni 
 God  dwelling  in  Zion,  my  holy  moun- 
 tain: then  sliall  Jerusalem  be  'holy, 
 and  there  shall  no  "strangers  pass 
 through   her  any    more. 
 
 \ud  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
 day,  that  the  mountains  .shall  ''drop 
 down  new  wine,  and  the  hills  shall 
 flow  with  milk,  and  all  the  rivers  of 
 Judah  shall  'flow   with  waters,  and  a 
 
 i  11. ti .  pjd 
 
 l'<ui  r  <>r,  httrhour 
 
 ■  Bar.  II .  S. 
 b  Aiuos  9.  13. 
 
 3  Heb..  go. 
 
 4  Or,  abide. 
 
 ntn  I  thr 
 
 i.itmniiatdmu- 
 
 nth  in  £..<n 
 
 fountain  shall  come  forth  of  the  house 
 of  the  Loud,  and  shall  wat.-r  the  valley 
 of  Shittim.  M)  Egypt  shall  he  a  deso- 
 lation, and  Edom  shall  be  a  desolate 
 wilderness,  for  the  violence  against  the 
 children  of  .ludah,  because  they  have 
 sbed  innocent  blood  in  their  land. 
 <*»But  Judah  shaU  *  dwell  for  ever, 
 and  Jerusalem  from  generation  to 
 generation.  (21)  For  I  will  cleanse  their 
 blood  that  I  have  not  cleansed :  6  for 
 the  Lord  dwelleth  in  Zion. 
 
 appeal  with  these  words.  13m  majestic  roar  of  the  lion 
 is  transferred  to  express  victorious  atteranoe  of  the 
 
 Lord's  judgment  :    it  is  irresistible.     As  St.  Paul  wrote, 
 
 "The  Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with 
 a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the 
 trump  of  God"  (1  Thess.  ii.  16).  The  temporal  success 
 of  tin-  Jews  in  their  future  conflict  with  their  enemies 
 is  blended  with  the  final  triumph  of  the.  Lord  in  the 
 judgment  day. 
 
 "7|  No  strangers  pass  through  her. — 
 Strangers  signify  the  aliens  who  liad  hitherto  oppressed. 
 They  axe  like  the  spots  and  wrinkles  which  would  defile 
 the  bride — the  Church  of  God. 
 
 (is)  The  mountains  shall  drop  down  new 
 wine. — The  material  prosperity  depicted  in  these  verses 
 symbolises  the  glorious  reign  of  Jehovah  when  the  last 
 enemy  has  been  destroyed,  and  "God  is  all  in  all."' 
 
 A  fountain  shall  come  forth.— The  spiritual  fer. 
 t  i  1  i  -  i  1 1  ur  power  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  is  compared 
 in  the  life-giving  influence  of  ■  stream  of  water,  which 
 causes  luxuriance  to  the  trees  ou  its  hanks.  This 
 imagery  is  exemplified  by  Ezekiel,  who  traces  the  course 
 of  the  waters  issuing  from  under  the  threshold  of  the 
 house  of  the  Lord  (Ezek.  xlvii.),  (Oomp.  Zeeh.  xiv.  8; 
 Rev.  xxii.  1.) 
 
 <  The  valloy  of  Shittim.— Heb.,  oeaeuu,  Shittim, 
 in  the  land  of  ttoab,  is  symbolical  of  the  barrenness  and 
 sterility  of  laud  where  there  is  no  water;  of  the  dry 
 
 places   of    the    world,    where    there    arc    trees    lucking 
 moisture:    the    heathen,    to    whom    (iod   is   not    known, 
 shall   yet  become  covered   with   the   knowledge  of  the 
 Lord. 
 0»)  Egypt  shall  be  a  desolation.— Egypt  and 
 
 Edom  always  excited  feelings  of  aliliorreiiec  in  the 
 hearts  of  tho  Jews.  The  memory  of  the  exile  in  Egypt 
 was  always  fresh  and  keen  ;  no  retrospect  of  their  past 
 
 history  could  leave  it  out  of  account.  And  the  national 
 detestation  of  the  false  and  cruel  hearted  I 
 kinsmen  is  recalled  liy  Oliadiah  in  his  prophecy  and 
 touching  record;  as  also  in  Ps.  exxxvii.,  as  rendered  in 
 the  Prayer  Book.  "  Kemcinlier  the  children  of  Kdom, 
 O  Lord,  in  the  day  of  Jerusalem,  how  they  said,  Down 
 with  it.  down  with  it,  even  to  the  ground." 
 
 (21>  I  will  cleanse    .    .    .—The  LXX.  translate 
 
 this  sentence.  "  1  will  avenge  their  lil 1.  and  not    leave 
 
 it  unavenged" — i.e.,  the  "innocent  blood"  mentioned 
 in  verse  1'.';  hut  the  promise  seems  rather  to  indicate. 
 as  in  the  English  Version,  the  extension  of  God's 
 pardon  to  those  hitherto  unpardoned. 
 
 The  Lord  dwelleth  in  Zion — i.e..  over  a  raging 
 and  swelling  world,  probably  unconscious  of  Him.  tin- 
 Lord  nevertheless  reigns  in  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 
 and  all  His  redeemed  shall  dwell  securely  under  His 
 eternal  rule.  "  And  the  name  of  the  city  from  that  day 
 shall  he  Jehovah  Shammah,  the  Lord  IS  THERE " 
 (Ezek.  xlviii.  35). 
 
 445 
 
A  M  0  S. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 AMOS. 
 
 The  early  life  of  tin'  prophet  Amos  was  spent  at 
 Tokos,  the  modem  Tek&a,  an  elevated  spot  between 
 
 four  K&d  five  English  miles  due  south  of  Bethlehem. 
 This  spot,  according  to  Robinson  i  Biblical  Retearches, 
 i.48(i),  Ims  "u  wide  prospect.  Towards  the  north-east 
 the  land  slopes  down  towards  Wady  Ehureitun;  an  the 
 other  side  the  hill  is  surrounded  bya  bell  of  level  table 
 land,  beyond  which  are  valleys, and  then  other  higher 
 
 hills,  (hi  the  smith,  lit  some  distance,  another  deep 
 valley  runs  off  south-east  towards  the  Dead  Sea.  The 
 view    in    this  direction    is    bounded    only   by  the   level 
 
 mountains  of  Moab,  with  frequent  bursts  of  the  Dead 
 
 Sea   seen    through    openings    among    the    rugged    and 
 
 deeolatejintervening  mountains."     (To  fitter  scene  can 
 
 be  imagined  as  the  home  of  the  prophet,  whoso  far- 
 seeing  rision  and  trumpet  voice  were  to  awaken  the 
 corrupt  and  selfish  life  of  the  northern  kingdom. 
 Amos  was  by  birth  noi  a  prophet,  hut  a  herdsman,  and 
 likewise  a  dresser  of  sycamore-fruit.  How  long  he 
 plied    his    peaceful    tasks    in  his  Juihean  home,    secure 
 
 against  invasion  or  disturbance  under  the  strong  rule  of 
 
 King  l'/./.iah,  we  do  not  know,  lint  to  him— a  layman, 
 and  no  prophet — there  eame  the  Word  of  the  Lord  as  he 
 meditated  among  the  lonely  hills  and  their  wide  pros- 
 pects, urging  him  to  utter  (.toil's  doom  against  nations 
 and  kingdoms. 
 
 Respecting  his  prophetic  work,  we  know  that  it  was 
 
 directed  almost  entirely  to  the  northern  kingdom,  and 
 was  likewise  exercised  there.  It  is  uncertain  whether 
 the  striking  episode  described  in  chap.  vii.  10 — 17  be- 
 longed to  the  beginning  or  the  end  of  his  ministry.  We 
 there  read  that  the  prophet  boldly  presented  him-elf  at 
 Bethel,  celebrated  for  its  ancient  historic  associations, 
 
 its  important  temple,  and  as  being  a  place  of  royal  re- 
 sidence.     There   Amos   delivered    the  striking  series  of 
 
 symbolic  oracles ttained  in  chaps,  vii.  and  viii.    This 
 
 provoked  the  hostility  of  Ama/.iah.  priest  of  the  Sanc- 
 tuary, who  endeavoured  to  obtain  from  King  Jeroboam 
 a  sentence  of  banishment  against  the  prophet,  ,,u  the 
 ground  that  he  was  --peaking  treason  against  tin1  throne. 
 To  the  charge- anil  menaces  of   Ama/iah    Amos  replied 
 
 with  a  sentence  of  doom  against  king  and  priest. 
 It  is  extremely  difficult  to  assign  a  probable  date  for 
 
 the  entire  collection  of  oracles.  Wo  know  from  the 
 Superscription  \l)  that  they  were  delivered  two  years 
 befne  "the  earthquake,"  an  event  so  terrible  and 
 marked  in  its  character  that  it  is   referred    to  again    by 
 
 Zechariah    (Zech.    rtv.    5);   (-J)    that    he   prophesied 
 
 during  the  reigns  of  .Jeroboam  and  I'/./.iah.  But  we  do 
 not  know  the  date  of  the  earthquake,  nor  whether  the 
 prophetic  ministry  of  Amos  continued   after  the  death 
 
 of  Jeroboam  II.     It  is  also  doubtful  bow  long  a  period 
 
 is  covered  by  the  extant  collection  of  oracles,  though  in- 
 ternal indications  fa\  our  a  short  rather  than  a  long  in- 
 terval.  To  this  must  be  added  the  uncertainty  which 
 now  prevails  respecting  Biblical  chronology.  (See 
 Introduction   to   Hosea.)     If  we  adopt   Mr.    Sharp's 
 
 168  M9 
 
 chronology,  which  seems  more  free  from  difficulties 
 than    other    systems,   the   death    of    Jeroboam    II.    took 
 
 place  inTtit.     The  Assyriologist ,  Professor  Brandos, 
 
 would  put    it   several   years    later   (Geo,    Smith.   Aliyr. 
 
 Eponi/m  Canon,  pp.  It,  15).  We  might,  therefore, 
 place  the  period   of  the   prophet's  activity   between   x0|. 
 
 tthe  year  of  Jeroboam's  a< ssion,  according  to  Sharpo) 
 
 and  about  760  n.C.  We  shall  assign  reasons  for 
 showing  that  the  prophetic  career  of  Amos  was  probably 
 subsequent  to  780  B.C.  The  fact  that  the  prophet  never 
 makes  mention  of  the  name  of  Assyria,  though  he  refers 
 expressly  to  the  destinies  of  surrounding  nations,  seems 
 to  imply  that  Assyria  was  at  that  period  not  so  disturb- 
 ing a  forco  in  Syro-Palestinian  politics  as  it  had  been  in 
 a  former  generation,  and  as  it  was  destined  to  become 
 during  the  ministry  of  the  prophet  Hosea.  when  the 
 terrible  invasions  of  Tighilh-ViIe-.iT  made  the  names  of 
 Asshur  and  King  Combat  (Jareb)tobe  names  of  dread. 
 
 Accordingly  we  prefer  to  regard  the  prophetic  ministry 
 
 of  Amos  as  exercised   when  Syria  had   begun  to  n \er 
 
 from    the    disastrous    invasion    of   Vulnirari    III. 
 
 Geo.  Smith.  Akhiji:  Eponym  Canon,  p.  L15;  Schrader, 
 Cuneiform  Inscriptions,  second  edition,  pp.  -J  1  •_•  Jib, 
 rails  him  Bamman-nira/ri  .  i.e.,  about  780  b.c* 
 
 For  the  social,  moral,  and  religious  condition  of  the 
 northern   kingdom  during  this  period   wo    fortunately 
 
 possess  varied  sources  of  information.  Apart  from  the 
 accounts  contained  in  the  historical  books,  we  have  the 
 numerous  allusions  scattered  throughout  the  prophet 
 Hosea.  whose  discourses  belong  to  a  somewhat  similar 
 period,  and  are  extremely  valuable  as  illustrating  those 
 of  Amos, 
 
 We  thus  obtain  a  tolerably  vivid  conception  of  this 
 momentous  and  tragic  century  -the  last  days  of  Israel's 
 history.  The  energetic  rule  and  successful  war~  of 
 Jeroboam  II,  had  extended  the  bounds  of  the  kingdom. 
 Syria  had  been  compelled  to  yield  up  to  him  a  large 
 tract  of  country  extending  from  Hamath  to  the  I  >,  ,| 
 Sea.  Amnion  and  Moali  had  become  tributary.  But 
 the  ease  with  which  these  eonquests  were  obtained  were 
 due  to  the  dangers  which  threatened  the   very  existence 
 
 of  the  Syrian  states  from  the  Assyrian  power  which  had 
 
 for  many  centuries  been  formidable,  but  was  now  ex- 
 tending itself  westward,  under  the  energetic  sway  of 
 Vulnirari  III.  Under  that  monarch,  as  we  learn  from 
 his  inscription,  Syria  received  a  terrible  blow  ;f  audit 
 i-  extremely  probable  that   the  recovery  of  the  Trans- 
 
 •  Additional  confirmation  of  this  view  is  to  be  found  in  tho 
 reference  of  chap,  viii  0  to  an  eclipse,  which  probably  oc- 
 curred in  ;si  ii  o.    (See  Excursus  to  the  passage.) 
 
 t"To  Syria  I  went.  Miiriki.  kiiiLr  <>f  Syria,  in  Damascus,  his 
 royal  city.  I  besieged.  Fear  and  terror  of  Assur  his  lord  over- 
 whelmed him,  and  mv  yoke  he  took  Submission  he  made  ; 
 ilents  of  silver,  ju  talents  of  gold,  3.000  talent9  of  copper, 
 •i.OOO  talents  of  iron,  clothing  of  wool  and  flax,  a  couch  of 
 ivory,  a  high  table,  his  goods  ami  his  furniture  without 
 number  in  Damascus,  his  royal  citv,  in  his  palace.  I  received." 
 This  event  is  placed  by  Schrader  in  800  ac,  and  by  G.  Smith 
 in  7'jr. 
 
AMOS. 
 
 jordanic  district  by  Jeroboam  from  Syrian  domination 
 is  to  be  closely  connected  with  this  temporary  over- 
 throw of  Syria  and  the  neighbouring  kingdoms.  (See 
 Note  on  chap.  vi.  14.) 
 
 But  the  external  power  and  foreign  conqnests  of 
 Jeroboam  were  evidently  viewed  with  mistrust  by  the 
 prophet ;  and,  though  Assyria  is  never  expressly  named, 
 it  looms  in  the  background  of  the  seer's  gaze,  as  the 
 sword  of  Jehovah's  vengeance,  which  is  one  day  to  make 
 a  full  end  of  Israel.  ( Conip.  Isa.  x.  5. )  The  oracles  of 
 both  Amos  and  Hosea  abound  in  allusions  to  the  moral 
 and  social  rottenness  of  tho  northern  kingdom.  Amos 
 dwells  upon  the  splendour  of  the  public  buildings  and 
 of  many  private  dwellings  of  the  land  (chap.  iii.  15,  v. 
 11 ;  comp.  Hosea  viii.  14).  "Within  Samaria's  strong 
 fortresses  the  wealthy  nobles  indulged  in  their  drunken 
 orgies,  stretched  upon  ivory  divans,  singing  their  "  lean 
 and  flashy  songs  "  in  wretched  parody  of  David's  min- 
 strels}', and  bidding  farewell  to  all  thoughts  of  coming 
 evil  (chap.  vi. ).  He  rebukes  the  empty  boasts  of  power 
 in  which  these  profligate  leaders  indulged  (ibid.).  He 
 sternly  censures  the  ladies  of  fashion  who  encouraged 
 their  lords  to  acts  of  gross  self-indulgence  (chap.  iv.  1). 
 Meanwhile  their  luxurious  life  is  purchased  at  the  cost 
 and  on  the  gains  of  frightful  oppression.  In  the  days 
 when  Amos  lived,  the  simple  agricultural  life  of  earlier 
 times  had  given  place  to  the  changed  social  conditions 
 produced  by  growing  civilisation  and  commerce  (Hosea 
 xii.  7,  8),  by  the  growth  of  large  towns,  and  by  the 
 extension  of  art  and  refinement,  of  uuscrupulous  trade, 
 and  accumulated  wealth  (Amos  viii.  5  ;  Isa.  ii.  7).  The 
 poor  cultivators  of  the  soil  were  ground  down  to  abject 
 poverty  by  the  princely  landowners.  The  debts  of  the 
 peasant,  however  paltry,  could  only  be  redeemed  by  a 
 personal  service,  which  was  slavery  (chap.  ii.  6,  7). 
 Their  lords  were  also  their  judges  in  the  courts  of 
 justice  at  the  city  gates,  and  extortionate  bribes  were 
 the  appointed  means  of  averting  a  harsh  sentence 
 (chap.  v.  11,  12). 
 
 But  the  root  of  all  the  social  and  moral  disorder  was 
 indicated  by  Amos  and  Hosea  (especially  the  latter)  to 
 consist  in  the  idolatrous  and  sensuous  corruption  into 
 which  the  people  had  sunk.  Baal  and  calf-worship  had 
 become  to  the  popular  intelligence  the  degraded  sub- 
 stitute and  symbol  of  the  ancient  pure  conception  of 
 the  one  true  God  inculcated  in  the  Mosaic  law  and 
 worship  to  which  the  prophet  Hosea  endeavoured  to  re- 
 store Israel.  The  whole  of  Canaan,  from  Dan  to  Beer- 
 sheba,  was  studded  with  local  shrines,  in  which  Baal  or 
 the  calf-symbols  were  adored.  Of  the  former,  probably 
 Beersheba  and  Gilgal,  of  the  latter,  Samaria,  Bethel, 
 and  Dan  were  the  chief  centres.  (See  chap.  viii.  14,  Note, 
 also  chap.  iv.  4;  Hosea  xii.  11.)  Moreover,  all  these 
 sanctuaries  possessed  an  elaborate  ritual  and  calendar  of 
 feast-days  (Amos  v.  21,  22).      Both  prophets  threaten 
 
 foreign  invasion  and  exile  as  the  penalty  for  this 
 abandonment  of  ancient  law  and  observance  (Amos  v. 
 2b',  27  ;  Hos.  ii.  11).  There  are  likewise  traces,  though 
 obscure,  of  the  worship  of  the  Ammonitisli  star  deity, 
 Moloch,  of  the  star  deity  Kevan,  and  of  the  Syrian 
 Hadad-Bimmon.  But  the  passages  on  which  this  is 
 based  are  doubtful  (chap.  iv.  3,  v.  26). 
 
 That  the  herdsman  of  Tekoa  was  a  man  of  wide 
 and  varied  culture,  in  the  current  acceptation  of  the 
 times,  is  clearly  evidenced  by  his  writings.  In  that  ago 
 the  free  movements  of  human  intercourse  diffused 
 knowledge  more  widely  and  equably  among  all  classes 
 of  mankind  than  is  possible  under  present  social  con- 
 ditions. The  mind  of  the  prophet  was  especially  open 
 to  all  physical  phenomena.  The  rising  of  the  Nile,  the 
 constellations  of  the  sky,  the  eclipse,  and  the  earthquake 
 stirred  his  imagination.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in 
 Amos  we  have  the  first  clear  indication  of  the  enlarging 
 sweep  of  the  prophet's  gaze.  His  eye  ranges  over  the 
 surrounding  kingdoms.  Israel  is  no  longer  thought  of 
 exclusively,  its  destiny  is  no  longer  contemplated  apart 
 from  that  of  the  surrounding  empires  with  which  it  was 
 closely  connected.  Jehovah  is  God  of  the  world,  and 
 not  of  his  peculiar  people  the  Hebrew  race  only.  He 
 brought  Philistia  from  Caphtor  as  well  as  Israel  from 
 Egypt, 
 
 This  conception  of  universal  Divine  sovereignty  was 
 certainly  not  a  new  one  in  Israel.  But  it  was  made 
 especially  prominent  by  Amos,  and  is  the  key-note  of 
 his  prophecies.  It  is  from  this  standpoint  that  the 
 oracles  are  delivered.  While  to  Hosea,  Ephraim's  sin, 
 whether  in  morals  or  worship,  appeared  as  an  outrage  to 
 the  relationship  of  loyalty  and  love  to  the  Divine  Lord, 
 it  was  regarded  by  Amos  as  the  violation  of  a  supreme 
 rule  and  a  supreme  justice. 
 
 The  prophecies  may  be  divided  according  to  their 
 contents  as  follows : — 
 
 I.  Chaps,   i. — vi.     Prophetic  threateumgs   directed 
 
 against  the  nations. 
 
 (i.)  Chaps,  i.  2 — ii.  5.  Brief  denunciations  of  sur- 
 rounding peoples; — against  Damascus.  Phil- 
 istia, Tyre.  Edom,  Ammon,  Moab,  and  closing 
 with  Judah. 
 
 (ii.)  Chaps,  ii.  6 — vi.  Indictment  against  Israel. 
 The  prevailing  idolatry — The  oppression  of 
 the  poor,  and  the  debauched  and  indolent  lives 
 of  the  nobles. 
 
 II.  Chaps,  vii. — ix.     Symbolic  visions  of  the  coming 
 
 doom  of  Israel  interrupted  by  the  episode  of  the 
 hostility  of  the  priest  Amaziah  to  the  Prophet. 
 The  series  closes  with  the  Messianic  anticipa- 
 tions of  reunited  and  restored  Israel  dwelling 
 in  peace  under  the  reign  of  the  house  of  David. 
 
 450 
 
A  M  0  S. 
 
 ('IIAI'TEK  r.— The  words  of  Am, is. 
 who  WB8  amoni;'  the  herdinni  of  Tekoa, 
 which  he  saw  concerning  [srael  in  the 
 days  of  Uz/.iah  kin^  of  Jmliili,  and  in 
 the  days  of  Jeroboam  the  sun  of  Joash 
 king  of  Israel,  two  rears  before  the 
 'earthquake.  <2)  And  he  said,  The  Lord 
 will  'roar  from  Zion,  and  utter  his  voice 
 from  Jerusalem ;  and  the  habitations  of 
 the  shepherds  shall  mourn,  and  the  top 
 of  Carmel  shall  wither. 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord;  For  three 
 transgressions  of  Damascus,  'and  for 
 tour,  1  will  not  -turn  away  the  pvmish- 
 meni  thereof;  because  they  have 
 threshed  Gilead  with  threshing  instru- 
 
 .1  zfech.  uj. 
 
 bJi  r.35.8 
 
 10. 
 
 '■it  fuur. 
 
 3  Or.  U, 
 
 i  Or,  Bdh-idcn. 
 
 3.18.      i 
 
 Or,        ■"/  '/"  m 
 
 ments  of  iron  :     "'  bul  I  will  send  a  Bre 
 
 into  the  house  of  lla/.aol,  which  shall 
 devour  the  palaces  of  Bcn-hadad. 
 (5'  I  will  break  also  the  bar  of  Damascus, 
 and  cut  off  the  inhabitant  from  "the 
 plain  of  Aven,  and  him  that  holdeth  the 
 sceptre  from  4the  house  of  Eden  :  and 
 the  people  of  Syria  shall  go  into 
 captivity  unto  Kir,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 <°>Thus  saith  the  Loan;  For  three 
 transgressions  of 'Gaza,  and  for  four,  1 
 will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
 thereof;  because  they  "carried  away 
 captive  the  whole  captivity,  to  deliver 
 up  to  Edom  :  (7)  but  I  will  send  a 
 fire    on  the  wall  of  Gaza,  which    shall 
 
 Tin'  Vrohxjiir  to  tlio  Prophecies  o£  Amos  consists  of 
 :i  Beries  of  denunciations  of  the  surrounding  peoples. 
 The  ground  of  the  awful  thieatenings  is  the  word  of 
 Jehovah  made  known  to  the  prophet.  The  reason  for 
 the  doom  predicted  on  such  nigh  authority,  is  the 
 resistance  and  cruelty  that  were  offered  by  these 
 nations  to  the  theocratic  people,  and,  still  more,  their 
 own  moral  offences,  condemned  by  universal  conscience, 
 The  denunciations  begin  with  a  judgment  upon  Syria, 
 the  age-long  enemy  of  Judah,  sometimes  confederate 
 with  [srael.  Then  he  passes  to  Philistia,  which  had 
 thorn  in  the  side  of  Israel  and  Judah  from  the 
 days  of  the  Judges  till  his  own.  Then  he  directs  liis 
 gaze  njion  Plio'iiic-iaii  cities,  the  emporium  of  the  most 
 extensive amerce  in  the  world,    Next  he  passes  in 
 
 review    other    three    tribes,    or   nations,    more    I 
 
 related  to  Israel  in  blood,  language, and  proximity, and 
 which,  nevertheless,  had  often  manifested  an  undying 
 hatred  of  the  covenanted  people.  Alter  this  Judah, 
 Iris  own  tribe,  does  not  escape.  Lastly,  the  prophet 
 gathers  up  all  his  strength  to  denounce  Israel,  then  at 
 the  height  of  prosperity  and  splendour, 
 
 1,1  Bee  Introduction. 
 
 <-'  Roar. — Tlie  prolonged  thunder-peal,  or  lion 
 of  the   Divine  voice,  reverberates  from  the  theocratic 
 metropolis  of  Zion,  to  the  luxuriant  slopes  of  the  noble 
 Carmel.  which  forms  the  southern  promontory  of  t  he  Bay 
 of  Acre   The  "  pastures  of  the  shepherds "  remind  us  oi 
 
 Psalm  xxiii.,  and  refers  us  to  the  prophet's  own  home  in 
 
 the  wilderness  of  Tekoah.  The  same  expression  "  head 
 (or  '  top  '  of  Carmel"  occurs  in  1  Kings  x\  iii.  12, and  in 
 chap.  ix.  3.    Compare  the  modern  name  Ras-el-Kerum. 
 
 The  whole  country  from  south  to  north  is  summoned 
 to  listen  to  the  Divine  voice. 
 
 Curse  on  Damascus. 
 ">>  Three  transgressions    .    .    .— Thi 
 
 transgression,  which  occurs  eight 
 
 form    of 
 times  in  the   pro- 
 
 logue,  is  net  an  arithmetical,  but  a  strongly  idiomatic, 
 phrase,  signifying  "multiplied  or  repeated  delin- 
 quencies "  !  //' 
 
 Turn  away  .  .    .—Rather,  viU  not  turn 
 — !.:-.,  the  sore  judgment  I  have  purposed.    (Comp. 
 2  Kings  x.  32,33.) 
 
 (*)  I  will  send  a  fire  .  .  .—Compare  Jer.  xlix.  27, 
 where  this  language  is  repeated  at  a  time  when  punish- 
 ment had  fallen  for  a  while  on  Damascus,  and  she  had 
 become,  as  Isaiah   predicted,  "a  ruinous  heap"  i.Isa. 
 
 xvii.  1). 
 
 (5)  I  will  break  .  .  .—The  "bar"  means  r 
 of  iron  or  brass  with  which  the  city  was  defended. 
 
 But    il    is  ii.i~sil.le  that    it    may  be  Used  of  06X8008, 
 
 princes  or   leaders  (com]).  Hosea  iv.  Is,  xi.  li);  and  this 
 
 seems  confirmed  by  the  parallelism.  The  plain  or 
 valley  deft  between  Libanus  and  Antilibanus  is  still 
 called  by  the  Arabs  by  a  name  closely  resembling  the 
 rendering  in  the  margin,  " the  valley.  It  is  probable 
 that  the  word  rendered  "vanity,"  [avm  is  simply  a 
 Masoretic  reading,  and  not  what  Amos  intended.  It  is 
 better  to  follow  the  I. XX.  and  read  the  ward  On  fas  in 
 Ezck.  xxx.  17t.  the  reference  being  to  the  Tempi 
 Baalliec.  then  in  ruins,  the  Syrian  Eleliopolis.  I  Comp. 
 Eoseaiv.15   *    The  site  of  Beth-eden   house  of  Eden) 
 
 cannot  l.c  satisfactorily  determined.  Kir  is  the  region 
 of  the  river  Cyrus,  or,  perhaps,  the  E.  of  the  Upper 
 Euphrates  see  ix.  7  .  .J  Kings  xvi.  9,  we  see  fulfil- 
 ment of  this  doom. 
 
 se  on  Philistia. 
 (6— S)  The  marginal  reading  is  more  literal. and  points 
 
 to  the  special  bitterness  of  the  proceedings  of  Phuistaa, 
 hero  represented  by  Qaza  a~  the  principal  city  comp. 
 -  Clirou.  xxi.  16,  17.  which  implies  a  veritable  sack  of 
 Jerusalem).  The  extreme  barbarity  from  which  .Judah 
 suffered  was  that  her  children  were  delivered  up  to  the 
 
 "  On  the  Other  hand  the  Masoretk'  reading  seems  to  have  boon 
 suggested  (ii  not  confirmed)  by  Amos  v.  5,  where  LXX.  read 
 «  pen. 
 
 I'-l 
 
Curses  on  Tyre,  Edom. 
 
 AMOS,   II. 
 
 A  m  men,  and  Moab. 
 
 devour  the  palaces  thereof:  (8)  and  I 
 will  cut  off  the  inhabitant  from  Ashdod, 
 and  hini  that  holdeth  the  sceptre  from 
 Ashkelon,  and  I  will  turn  mine  hand 
 against  Ekron :  and  the  remnant  of  the 
 Philistines  shall  perish,  saith  the  Lord 
 God. 
 
 <9'  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  For  three 
 transgressions  of  Tyrus,  and  for  four,  I 
 will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
 thereof;  because  they  delivered  up  the 
 whole  captivity  to  Edom,  and  remem- 
 bered not  l  the  brotherly  covenant : 
 <10)  but  I  will  send  a  fire  on  the  wall  of 
 Tyrus,  which  shall  devour  the  palaces 
 thereof. 
 
 (ii)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  For  three 
 transgressions  of  Edom,  and  for  four, 
 I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
 thereof ;  because  he  did  pursue  his 
 brother  with  the  sword,  and  2  did  cast 
 off  all  pity,  and  his  anger  did  tear  per- 
 petually,  and  he   kept   his   wrath  for 
 
 1  Heb.,  the  eorcit 
 ant  o/hrethren. 
 
 2  Hc-1).,  corrupt* 
 his  eompaaaunu 
 
 3   Or.  divided  tin 
 mountains. 
 
 a  2  Kings  3.  27. 
 
 ever:  <12>  but  I  will  send  a  fire  upon 
 Teman,  which  shall  devour  the  palaces 
 of  Bozrah. 
 
 (i3)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  For  three 
 transgressions  of  the  children  of 
 Amnion,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn 
 away  the  punishment  thereof ;  because 
 they  have  3  ripped  up  the  women  with 
 child  of  Gilead,  that  they  might  enlarge 
 their  border:  <14)  but  I  will  kindle 
 a  fire  in  the  wall  of  Rabbath,  and 
 !  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof,  with 
 shouting  in  the  day  of  battle,  with  a 
 tempest  in  the  day  of  the  whirlwind ; 
 (15)  and  their  king  shall  go  into  cajytivity, 
 he  and  his  princes  together,  saith  the 
 Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— Thus  saith  the 
 Lord  ;  For  three  transgressions  of  Moab, 
 and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the 
 punishment  thereof;  because  he "  burned 
 the   bones   of  the   king  of  Edom  into 
 
 implacable  enemy  Edom.  (Comp.  the  language  of  Joel 
 iii.  4 — 6.)  This  may  have  occurred  in  the  border  war- 
 fare, in  which  defenceless  Judaean  villages  were  over- 
 powered, and  the  inhabitants  sold  to  the  Oriental  tribes 
 through  the  medium  of  the  Edomites.  The  utter  fall 
 of  Philistian  independence  is  depicted  (comp.  chap.  vi. 
 2).  The  cities  here  mentioned  are  often  referred  to  in 
 the  books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  and  Samuel,  and  by  the 
 prophet  Zephaniah. 
 
 Curse  on  Tyrus. 
 
 (9)  The  brotherly  covenant.— The  "covenant 
 of  brethren "  (margin)  was  the  league  made  between 
 Hiram  and  David,  and  afterwards  between  Hiram  and 
 Solomon  (2  Sam.  v.  11;  1  Kings  v.  1,  12).  This 
 ancient  covenant  was  forgotten  in  Phoenicia's  mercan- 
 tile cupidity,  and  Tyre  was  tempted  to  sell  Hebrew 
 captives  to  Greeks  and  Idumeaus.  ( Comp.  Isa.  xxiii. ; 
 Ezek.  xxvi.,  and  the  special  excursus  in  the  Speaker's 
 Commentary.) 
 
 Curse  on  Edom. 
 
 (ll)  Edom. — Comp.  the  prophecy  of  Obadiah  and 
 Isaiah  xxxiv.  5.  See  also  Diet,  of  the  Bible,  art.  "Edom." 
 All  through  their  history  Edom  sided  with  the  enemies 
 of  Israel.  (Comp.  1  Sam.  xiv.  47;  2  Sam.  viii.  14; 
 Ps.  lx.  9;  and  2  Chron.  xxi.  8—10.) 
 
 Cast  off.— It  would  be  better  to  render  stifled.  In 
 the  following  clause  read  "  And  his  indignation  rended 
 continually,  and  his  wrath  lurked  ever  on  the  watch." 
 But  auother  punctuation  of  the  Hebrew  original  yields 
 a  different  sense.  "  As  for  his  wrath,  ho  hath  kept  it 
 for  ever"  (almost  as  E.V.).  This  corresponds  closely 
 with  Jer.  iii.  5. 
 
 '12)  Teman. — According  to  Gen.  xxxvi.  11,  a  name 
 for  a  grandson  of  Esau.  The  district  and  chief  town 
 of  this  name  are  often  referred  to  in  the  Prophets 
 (Jer.  xlix.  7,  8;  Ezek.  xxv.  13;  Hab.  iii.  3;  Obad.  8,  9). 
 The  wisdom  and  might  of  the  Temauites  were  well 
 known,  and  Eliphaz  the  Temanite  was  one  of  the  sage 
 
 interlocutors  of  the  Book  of  Job.  It  was  situated,  ac- 
 cording to  Burckhardt  and  Robinson,  south  of  the 
 Wady  Musa. 
 
 Bozrah.— Referred  to  in  Jer.  xlix.  13,  22  ;  Micah  ii., 
 12;  Isa.  xxxiv.  6,  lxiii.  1.  Quite  distinct  from  Bozrah 
 in  Moab  (Jer.  xlviii.  24).  The  former  is  situated  south 
 of  the  Dead  Sea.  identified  by  Robinson  and  Burck- 
 hardt with  the  village  of  El  Buseireh  in  Jebal. 
 
 Curse  on  Ammon. 
 
 (13)  Ammon.— See  art,  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible. 
 The  precise  event  of  atrocious  cruelty  is  not  mentioned 
 in  the  historical  books ;  but  the  barbarous  modes  of 
 warfare  which  prevailed  in  those  days  are  darkly  con- 
 veyed in  1  Sam,  xi.  2;  2  Kings  xv.  16;  Hosea  xiii.  16, 
 &c.  and  in  Assyrian  inscriptions  passim. 
 
 (i-*)  Jeremiah  gives  a  vivid  account  of  the  impending 
 doom  of  Ammon,  quoting  and  expanding  this  very 
 passage  (chap.  xlix.  1 — 3). 
 
 (15)  Their  king.— Not  as  Syrian  and  "Vulg.  read  the 
 original,  Malcam  or  Milcom,  i.e.,  Moloch.  E.V.  is 
 supported  by  LXX.,  Targ.,  and  context  of  the  passage. 
 So  far  we  find  the  prophet  denouncing  the  sin  which 
 trifles  with  blood,  covenants,  and  ancient  agreements, 
 and  recognising  the  responsibilities  of  race ;  but  closer 
 inspection  shows  in  this,  and  in  chap,  ii.,  that  the 
 prophet  condemns  all  violations  of  those  natural  laws 
 and  rights  of  which  he  regards  Jehovah  as  custodian 
 and  executor. 
 
 II. 
 
 Curse  on  Moab. 
 
 (i>  Comp.  Isa.  xv.,  xvi.,  xxv.  10 — 12,  and  Jer.  xlviii. 
 Translate  "  burned  to  lime  the  bones  of  the  king  of 
 Edom."  The  historical  reference  is  obscure.  (See 
 2  Kings  iii.  26,  27.)  Whether  Moab  was  guilty  of  dese- 
 crating royal  tombs,  or  offering  the  heir  of  the  king  of 
 Edom  in  sacrifice,  cannot  be  determined.  When  Moab 
 took  revenge  upon  Edom,  the  latter  was  subject  to 
 Jehoram. 
 
 452 
 
Curses  on  Judali 
 
 AMOS,   II. 
 
 /■iraeL 
 
 lime:    '-  but   I  will   send   ;i    fire   upon 
 Bfoab,  and  ii  shall  devour  the  pakv 
 Kirioths  ami  Bfoab  shall  die  with  tumult, 
 
 with  shooting,  ami  with  tin.'  sou  ml  «if  thi' 
 
 trumpet  :  ' ;'  and  I  will  cut  off  I  be 
 judge  from  the  midst  thereof,  and  will 
 slay  all  the  princes  thereof  with  liim, 
 saith  the  Lokd. 
 
 W  Thus  saith  the  Lokd;  For  three 
 transgressions  of  Judah,  and  for  four,  I 
 will  not  turn  away  tin  ptmUhmuai 
 thereof;  because  they  have  despised  the 
 law  of  the  Lord,  and  have  not  kept  his 
 commandments,  and  their  lies  caused 
 them  to  eir,  after  the  which  their 
 fathers  have  walked  :  (5)  but  I  will  send 
 a  fire  upon  Judah,  and  it  shall  devour 
 the  palaces  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 (6>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  For  three 
 transgressions  of  Israel,  and  for  four,  I 
 will    not     turn    away    the    punishment 
 
 1  Or.j/oimp  unman 
 
 I ,  mulcted. 
 
 D5mn.il 
 
 £31:  Jutll.  SI.  h 
 
 thereof;  because  "they  sold  the  right- 
 eous for  silver,  and  the  poor  for  a  pair 
 of  shoes;  (7)  that  pant  after  the  dust  of 
 the  earth  on   the  head  of  tie-  poor, 
 
 turn  aside  the  way  of  the  meek:  and  a 
 
 man  and  his  father  will  go  in  unto  the 
 x"//e   'maid,   to  profane  m\    holy    nam.-: 
 
 "'and  they  lay  tlnnix*! get  down  upon 
 clothes  laid  to  pledge  by  every  altar, 
 and  they  drink  tie-  wine  of  2  the  con- 
 demned   in   the    house    of    their    god. 
 
 '"  Yet  destroyed  I  the  *  Ainorite  before 
 them,  whose  height  was  like  the  height 
 of  the  cedars,  and  he  was  strong  as  the 
 oaks ;  yet  I  destroyed  his  fruit  from 
 above,  and  his  roots  from  beneath. 
 (10)  Also  c  I  brought  you  up  from  the 
 land  of  Egypt,  and  led  you  forty  years 
 through  the  wilderness,  to  possess  the 
 land  of  the  Amorite.  ,U)  And  I  raised 
 up  of  your  sons   for  prophets,  and   of 
 
 (-1  Kirioth. — This  properly  signifies  a  group  of 
 ♦  owns,  luil    here  refers  to  a  single  large  town   ill   Moab, 
 
 the  modern  KwreiM.    (Camp.  Jer.  xlviii.  24.) 
 Curse  on  Judah. 
 
 Great  privileges  have  met  with  mad  and  foolish 
 despite,  Ehulted  to  the  highest  heaven  of  possibility, 
 Judah  has  despised  the  "  Law  of  the  Lord,"'  instead  of 
 preserving,  with  sacred  reverence,  His  ordinances  and 
 institutions. 
 
 Their  lies. — i.e.,  their  false  deities,  which  they  have 
 treated  as  divine.  "The  lies  after  which  the  fathers 
 walked  deceived  the  children.  Tho  children  canonise 
 the  mors  of  their  fathers.  Human  opinion  is  le  dog. 
 ni.it ie  as  revelation''  (Pussy 
 
 (5)  Judah. — Such  high  privilege  does  not  involve  im. 
 inanity  from  punishment.  Judah  shall  be  chastised  with 
 the  same  penalty  as  Edom,  Philistia.  Ammou,  and  Moab. 
 
 Curse  on  Israel. 
 («)  Transgressions   of   Israel.— The   storm  of 
 Divine  threatening  which  had  swept  over  the  whole 
 
 political  horizon  gathers,  at  last,  over  Israel.  The 
 sins  .iiid  ingratitude  of  the  people  are  aggravated 
 by   a   recital    of   the   Divine    Mercy.     By   comparing 
 
 this  verso  with  chap.  viii.  6,  it  is  clear  that  the 
 Jewish  interpreters  (followed  by  Keili  were  incorrect 
 in    charging   this    sin    upon    corrupt  judges,   who,   by 
 
 bribery,  would  deliver  unjust  judgments  against   the 
 
 righteous.  The  sin  consists  in  the  pel' Verse  straining 
 of  the  law.  which  allowed  an  insolvent  debtor  to  sell 
 himself  into  bondage  to  redeem  a  debt  icoinp.  J  Kings 
 iv.  1;  also  Lev.  \\v.  39).  In  this  ease  the  debtor  was  a 
 righteous  man  in  sore  straits  for  no  fault    of  his   own. 
 
 Render,  on  account  of  a  pair  of  tamdals.  A  peltry 
 debt,  equivalent,  in  worth,  to  a  pair  of  sandals,  would 
 
 not  save  him  from  bondage  at  the  hands  of  an  oppressive 
 
 ruler  (see  Introduction). 
 
 (")  Dust  of  the  earth  on  the  head  of  the 
 poor.— Can  only  mean,  as  Ewald  and  Kcil  interpret  : 
 they  long  to  see  the  poor  reduced  to  such  distress  that 
 dust  is  thrown  on  their  heads  in  token  of  grief.  The 
 meek  are  defrauded  as  being  too  weak  to  claim  their 
 
 own.     The  latter  part  of  the   verse   points   to   the    sen 
 suality  of  the  popular  worship,  the  word  "  maid  "  b 
 
 really  the  prostitute  (Heb.  k'dethah)  who  was  dei 
 
 suality  of  the  popular  worship,  the  word  "  maid  "  being 
 
 really  the  prostitute  (Heb.  k a\  hah    who  was  devoted 
 
 to   the  lustful    ritual    of   Ashera.*     This  obscenity  is 
 
 458 
 
 regarded  by  the  prophet  as  part  of  a  deliberate  act  of 
 desecration  to  the  name  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 
 
 Moreover,  the  relation  of  "father"  and  "son"  was 
 thereby  sullied  and  degraded.  tComp.  Lev.  xviii.  s.  15, 
 a.  11.) 
 
 I8)  Rapacity  and  cruelty  follow  on  pride,  selfishness, 
 and  lust.  With  this  verse  compare  the  provisions  of 
 the  Mosaic  law  (Exod.  xxii.  25).  Render,  And  upon 
 garments  received  in  pledge  they  stretch  iht 
 and  for  "  condemned  "  adopt  the  marginal  translation 
 mulcted.  The  money  that  had  been  wrung  from 
 those  who  coidd  not  pay,  or,  who  have  been  sold  into 
 slavery,  is  spent  in  rioting  and  feasting.  The  LXX. 
 read  this  passage  very  differently,  but  the  Masoretie 
 text  is  justified  by  the  translations  of  the  Targum, 
 Aipiila,  Syniinachus.  and  Jerome. 
 
 In  the"  house  of  their  god. — Probably  here,  as 
 in  the  previous  verse,  we  are  to  understand  the  high 
 places  of  syncretic,  or  heathenish.  Jehovah  worship  as 
 referred  to.  "They  drank  the  wine  of  the  amerced. 
 Wherci-  '  In  the  house  of  their  God.'  What  hard- 
 beartedness  to  the  wilfully  forgotten  poor  is  compen- 
 sated by  a  little  church-going  1     \Piisey.) 
 
 W  Destroyed  I.— Emphasis  belongs  to  the  pro- 
 noun "I."  The  Amorites  proper  occupied  the  S.W. 
 coast  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Their  formidable  stature  and 
 power  were  attributed  occasionally  to  all  the  inhabi- 
 tants of  the  land  Josh.  xxiv.  18;"  Jud.  vi.  10.)  They 
 were  absorbed  before  the  time  of  Amos. 
 
 (10)  Forty  years.— The  forty  years'  wandering  was 
 a  punishment  for  fickleness  and  cowardice,  but  during 
 the  incidence  of  this  judgment,  of  which  we  have  only 
 
 one  or  two  events  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Numbers, 
 
 God  was  disciplining  and  organising  ■  iril f  restless 
 
 wanderers  into  a  nation.     (Dent,  xxxii.  9 — 13.) 
 
 n.  IS)  God  added  to  the  mercies  of  His  providence, 
 the  transcendent  bleesings  of  special  revelation.    The 
 
 •  Kucnen,  Religion  of  Israel,  vol.  i..  pp.  92,  93. 
 
T/te  Misdoings  and 
 
 AMOS,   III. 
 
 Privileges  of  Israel. 
 
 your  young  men  for  Nazarites.  7s  it 
 not  even  thus,  0  ye  children  of  Israel  ? 
 saith  the  Lord.  (12)  But  ye  gave  the 
 Nazarites  wine  to  drink;  and  commanded 
 the  prophets,  "  saying,  Prophesy  not. 
 (13>  Behold,  J I  am  pressed  under  you,  as 
 a  cart  is  pressed  that  is  full  of 
 sheaves.  (14)  Therefore  the  flight  shall 
 perish  from  the  swift,  and  the  strong 
 shall  not  strengthen  his  force,  neither 
 shall  the  mighty  deliver  ~  himself, 
 (is)  Neither  shall  he  stand  that  handleth 
 the  bow;  and  he  that  is  swift  of  foot 
 shall  not  deliver  himself:  neither  shall 
 he  that  rideth  the  horse  deliver  himself. 
 
 1  tOr,  I  will  press 
 your  place  08  a 
 cart    full    ,,f 
 sheaves  preaae&i. 
 
 Ueh.Jtissoul,  or, 
 life. 
 
 3  Heb,,  strong  of 
 his  heart. 
 
 4  Heb.,  visit  vjwjt 
 
 (16)  And  he  that  is  s  courageous  among 
 the  mighty  shall  flee  away  naked  in 
 that  day,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  III.— Hear  this  word  that 
 the  Lord  hath  spoken  against  you,  O 
 children  of  Israel,  against  the  whole 
 family  which  I  brought  up  from  the 
 land  of  Egypt,  saying, 
 
 <2)  You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the 
 families  of  the  earth:  therefore  I  will 
 4 punish  you  for  all  your  iniquities. 
 <3>  Can  two  walk  together,  except  they 
 be  agreed?  <4>  Will  a  lion  roar  in  the 
 forest,  when  he  hath  no  prey?  will  a 
 
 prophets  of  Israel  were  numerous,  and  renowned,  and 
 exposed  to  frequent  persecution,  e.g.,  the  cases  of 
 Micaiah,  Elijah,  and  others.  "  The  Nazarite  vow  to 
 abstain  from  wine,  which,  in  the  earliest  case,  that  of 
 Samson,  appears  a  life-long  vow,  was  undoubtedly  a 
 religious  protest  against  Canaanite  civilisation  in 
 favour  of  the  simple  life  of  ancient  times."  (W.  R. 
 Smith,  Prophets  of  Israel,  p.  8-t.)  The  Nazarite  was, 
 moreover,  a  link  between  the  prophet  and  the  priest, 
 upon  whom,  without  hereditary  rank  or  sacerdotal  rite, 
 great  privileges  were  bestowed.  The  assault  upon  both 
 is  highly  characteristic  of  the  disloyalty  of  Israel. 
 
 (13)  I  am  pressed.— Baur,  Pusey,  and  Speaker's 
 Commentary  support  this  rendering  of  the  Heb.  me'iq, 
 the  corresponding  form  in  the  next  clause  also  being 
 taken  in  the  intransitive  (i.e.,  passive  sense).  But  it  is 
 unlikely  that  God,  in  this  passage,  should  declare  Him- 
 self "  crushed  "  under  the  weight  of  Israel's  sin,  for  in 
 the  context  it  is  Israel,  and  not  God,  who  is  described 
 as  the  victim,  Moreover,  grammatical  usage  is  against 
 the  rendering  of  me'iq  as  passive;  nor  does  it  favour 
 Ewald's,  as  well  as  Keil's,  interpretation  "  press  you 
 doion  "  Translate  (see  margin)  Behold,  I  am  pressing 
 down  beneath  you  (literally,  your  place),  just  as  tile 
 waggon, filled  up  with  sheaves, presses  down.  Jehovah, 
 in  the  awful  judgment  which  He  inflicts,  is  symbolised 
 by  the  heavily-laden  waggon.  The  expression  "  be- 
 neath you  "  suggests  that  the  evil  is  not  confined  to 
 the  present.  Israel,  the  nation  weighted  with  the  doom 
 of  past  iniquities,  bequeathes  a  yet  more  crushing  load 
 to  future  generations.  If  the  text  is  sound,  this  appears 
 the  only  satisfactory  rendering  of  a  difficult  passage. 
 _  (MJ  This  doom  Amos  darkly  foreshadows  to  be  inva- 
 sion and  military  overthrow,  with  all  its  attendant 
 calamities. 
 
 <15>  Is  omitted  in  some  of  Kennicott's  and  De  Rossi's 
 MSS.,  but  without  authority. 
 
 III. 
 
 Chaps,  iii. — vi.  form  a  connected  series,  standing, 
 howevev,  as  a  natural  sequence  upon  the  provious  section 
 (chaps,  i.,  ii.).  In  the  denunciations  with  which  the 
 oracles  of  Amos  open,  the  last  strophe  refers  to  Israel. 
 The  same  subject  is  the  burden  of  the  following  dis- 
 courses, chaps,  iii. — vi.,  and  with  searching  minuteness 
 the  whole  of  Israel's  sin  and  doom  are  laid  bare  by  the 
 prophet ;  the  blindness  to  the  warnings  of  prophecy, 
 the  pride  and  luxury  of  the  powerful,  and  the  misery  of 
 the  oppressed,  as  well  as  the  prevailing  idolatrous  cor- 
 ruption.    In  cliap.  iv.  5,  the  utterance  of  the  prophet 
 
 4:>4 
 
 assumes  the  form  of  a  measured  strain  (as  in  chap,  i.), 
 with  an  intercalary  refrain,  which  may  have  been  the 
 model  for  Isaiah's  yet  more  artistic  effort  (chaps,  ix.  7 — 
 x,  4,  v.  25 — 30).  A  solemn  dirge  over  Israel  and 
 Judah  (chaps,  v.  and  vi.)  closes  the  first  part  of  these 
 prophetic  addresses. 
 
 (i)  Children  of  Israel  rather  than  "  house  of 
 Israel "  is  a  phrase  not  so  usual  in  Amos.  Hence  in 
 many  MSS.  the  latter  phrase  is  substituted.  There  is, 
 however,  significance  in  the  former,  as  Amos  addresses 
 himself  to  both  kingdoms  in  the  phrase  "  the  whole 
 family."  Yet  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes  seems  to 
 be  chiefly  in  the  mind  of  the  prophet. 
 
 (2)  Known.— The  knowledge  of  God  is  love.  There 
 was  special  knowledge  and  intimacy  between  God  and 
 Israel.  Upon  such  knowledge  followed  advantages  and 
 privileges  innumerable. 
 
 Therefore  I  will  .  .  .—This  may  mean,  in  pro- 
 portion to  your  privileges  will  be  your  doom — but  more 
 probably  that  this  intimacy  of  knowledge  is  the  ground 
 of  gracious  chastisement.  For  nation  or  man  to  be 
 allowed  to  go  on  in  sin  without  rebuke  is  the  greatest 
 curse  that  can  befall  it  or  him. 
 
 (3)  Two. — Who  are  the  two  here  represented  ?  Some 
 commentators  say,  two  prophets  ;  Rosenmiiller,  "  God 
 and  the  prophet."  But  Grotius,  Lowth,  Henderson,  and 
 Pusey  refer  it,  with  more  reason,  to  God  and  Israel, 
 the  expression  denoting,  not  merely  God's  knowledge 
 of  a  man,  but  man's  response  to  God.  His  practical 
 obedience,  his  communion  of  heart  and  will,  are  de- 
 scribed as  "  walking  with  "  or  "  before  God."  (Gen.  v. 
 22,  vi.  9,  xvii.  1 ;  Ps.  lvi.  13,  exvi.  9.)  Will,  then,  God 
 walk  with  man,  guiding,  shielding,  strengthening  him, 
 if  man  is  not  in  harmony  with  Him  ?  This  is  the  first 
 of  a  series  of  parabolic  apothegms,  all  of  which  require 
 a  negative  answer.  ( Lev.  xxvi.  23,  24)  Each  states 
 an  event,  closely  and  indissolubly  related  to  another  in 
 the  bond  of  cause  and  effect.  All  these  symbolic 
 utterances  point  on  to  the  climax  in  verses  7,  8. 
 
 (4)  Lion. — The  questions  suggest  that  the  prey  is 
 being  seized.  This  is  intimated  by  the  lion's  roar,  the  loud 
 roar  of  the  lion  in  the  forest,  the  growl  of  the  famished 
 young  lions  in  the  den.  Aben-Ezra  thus  interprets; 
 but  Q.  Baur  thinks  that  Caphir  distinguishes  a  "  hunt- 
 ing lion  "  from  the  beast  that  growls  in  his  lair.  (Comp. 
 chap.  i.  2.)  Amos,  by  his  graphic  representation  of 
 the  terrifying  threat,  signifies  that  nations,  and  king- 
 doms, and  this  family  of  Israel,  are,  at  the  present, 
 moment,  trembling  in  the  grasp  of  the  great  Avenger. 
 
The  Coming 
 
 AMOS,   III. 
 
 Woe  Foretolif. 
 
 yountf  lion  '  cry  out  of  his  den,  if  be 
 have  taken  nothing  P  (:,)  Oan  ;i  bird 
 full  iii  a  Bnare  upon    the  earth,  where 
 
 no  gin   ia  for   liiiiiV   shall  tnu:  take   ii|>  a 
 
 Boare  from  the  earth,  and  hare  taken 
 nothing  at  all  P  W  Shall  a  <riuii|»i  he 
 blown    in     the    city,  and   the    people 
 
 ii. it  lir  afraid p  shall  there  be  evil  ill 
 a  city,  'ami  the  Loud  hath  not  done  iff 
 <7>Surel\  the  Lord  Goo  will  do  nothing, 
 but  he  revealoth  bis  secret  unto  his 
 Bervants  the  prophets.  (K<  The  lion  hath 
 roared,  who  will  not  fearp  the  Lord  (em 
 hath  Bpoken,  who  can  but  prophesy? 
 
 <'•''  Publish  in  the  palaces  at  Ashdod, 
 and  in  the  palaces  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
 and  say,  Assemble  yourselves  upon  the 
 mountains  of  Samaria,  and  behold  the 
 greal  tumults  in  the  midst  thereof,  and 
 the  *  oppressed  iu  the  midst  thereof. 
 (10)  por  ^ey  know  not  to  do  right,  saith 
 the  Lord,  who  store   up  violence   and 
 
 t'Ofi 
 
 i   run  to- 
 
 ■ 
 
 ....    -..tlll'- 
 
 i  Or,  opyn$9bn$i 
 
 5  Or,  ipoll. 
 
 •■  III,  'lilivtreth. 
 
 ' 
 
 miah  Israel 
 
 fur. 
 
 5  robbery  in  their  palaces.  <"'  Therefore 
 thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  An  adversary 
 /A.  i .  shall  be  even  round  about  the  land; 
 and  he  shall  bring  down  thy  strength 
 from  thee,  and  thy  palaces  shall  be 
 spoiled.  "-'  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  As 
 the  shepherd  "take th  out  of  the  mouth 
 of  the  lion  two  legs,  or  a  piece  of  an  ear; 
 so  shall  the  children  of  Israel  be  taken 
 out  that  dwell  in  Samaria  in  the  corner 
 of  abed,  and  "in  Damascus  a  couch. 
 (Ui)  Hear  ye,  and  testify  in  the  house  of 
 Jacob,  saith  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of 
 hosts,  ""  that  in  the  day  that  1  shall 
 s\isit  the  transgressions  of  Israel  upon 
 him  I  will  also  visit  the  altars  of  Beth-el: 
 and  the  horns  of  the  altar  shall  be  cut 
 off,  and  fall  to  the  ground.  <15)  And  I 
 will  smite  the  winter  house  with  the 
 summer  house  ;  and  the  houses  of  ivory 
 shall  perish,  and  the  great  houses  shall 
 have  an  end,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 (5)  Can  a  bird.— Bettor,   Dock   the  sntirr    rim'    »/< 
 
 from  Hi-  ground,  and  take  nothing  at!  «n  ?"  E.V. 
 "take  op  is  due  to  ambiguity  of  the  Hebrew.  The 
 idea  is  that  [arael  "like  a  silly  dove"  ia  Calling  into 
 snares.  The  Bnare,  even  now,  may  be  seen  springing 
 from  the  earth.  The  armies  and  politics  of  the  nation 
 thai  will  enclose  Israel  are  already  in  motion. 
 
 (*• '  Suroly  the  Lord  .  .  .—In  this,  ami  the 
 preceding  verse,  the  future  tense  should  be  replaced 
 by  a  present.  Render  doeth  nothing,  and  in  verso  6 
 is  a  trumpet  sounded  .  .  .  am  not  afraid  .  .  .  is  there 
 evil;  for  the  prophet  intends  to  express  a  continually- 
 recurring  fact.  The  word  translated  "evil"  is  com* 
 nionly.  bni  nut  universally,  used  for  moral  evil.    (See 
 
 I  ien.'xix.  19,  xliv.  34  j    Kx'ixt.  xxxii.    It.)      "Evil    which 
 
 is  sin  the  Lord  bath  uot  done,  evil  which  is  punishment 
 for  evil  the  Lord  bringeth."  (Augustine.)  Compare,  as 
 illustrations  of  the  truth  of  verse  7.  the  revelation  of 
 the  Divine  purpose  to  Noah  with    reference   to   the 
 
 Deluge,  to   Abraham  with   resjieet  tn  Solium,  to  Joseph 
 
 about  the  famine  in   Egypt,  and  to  Moses  concerning 
 Pharaoh,    The  prophets  of  the  Lord  have  given  full 
 irarning  of  the  judgment  of  God  upon  all  sin. 
 (8>  Roared.— Comp.  the  imagery  of  chap.  i.  2,  and 
 
 that  of  70X86  I.     The  voice  of  the  Lord  is  so  audible, 
 BO  clearly  portending  the  coming  judgment,  that   uni- 
 versal   terror  inevitably   follows.     (Oomp.  "If    these 
 should  hold  their  peace,  the  -tones  would  cry  out." 
 (!l)  In  the  palaces.— Rather,  on  the  palaces,  i.e.  on 
 
 their  roofs  in  such  conspicuous  plan's  that  the  popula- 
 tion, high  and  low,  would  hear  the  summons. 
 
 Mountains  of  Samaria.— In  tho  high  ground 
 around  the  city,  from  which  can  be  observed  all  that 
 is  passing  in  the  metropolis.  Foreign  people,  even 
 Philistines  and  Egyptians,  are  gathered  to  witness  the 
 evils  of  the  doomed  realm.  The  marginal  rendering 
 " oppressions "  should  be  adopted  This  is  shown  by 
 the  parallelism. 
 
 I101  Know  not  to  do  right.— Xot  merely  have 
 lost  the  perception  of  what  is  and  what  is  not  right, 
 but  are  indifferent  to  such  distinctions.    They  know 
 
 4S6 
 
 not  and  care  not;  the  awful  state  of  utter  mora) 
 impotence,  wherein  not  only  the  intellectual  conscious- 
 ness,   lint  the  impulses    to  action,  are   languid    or   even 
 
 paralysed — a  dead  conscience  I  Nothing  is  more  con- 
 demnatory than  this  brief  sentence.  The  light  within 
 t ln-iii  is  darkness. 
 
 (ii)  An  adversary. — This  rendering  is  to  be  pre- 
 ferred to  " affliction "  (Chald.,  Syr.).  It  is  the  subject 
 of  the  following  verb  "  bring  down."  Assyria  being 
 referred  to,  though  not  in  express  terms.  The  reading 
 of  LXX.,  "O  Tyre,  thy  land  round  about  thee  is 
 desolate,"  is  incoherent,  and  confounds  Tzar  with 
 /;:.'/•. 
 
 Thy  strength  points  mainly  to  tho  stronghold  of 
 Samaria,  which  the  enemy  was  to  bring  down  or  reduce 
 
 to  ruins,  but  it  may  likewise  include  the  chief  warriors 
 
 who  were  to  be  leii  away  captive. 
 
 (12)  Takoth  out  .  .  .  taken  out.— Should  bo 
 as  in  margin)  deUvereth  .  .  .  F><  delivered.  The  agri- 
 cultural image,   used  by   Amos,   is   very   impressive. 
 
 The  shanks  an.l  pieces  of  the  ear.  worthless  portions, 
 saved  from  the   lion's  jaws,  represent    the   remnants  of 
 
 Samaria's  population  that  shall  escape. 
 
 In  Damascus  in  a  couch.— Some  would  render 
 "in  Damascus  on  that  of  (  ...  crner  of)  a  couch.'* 
 Damascus  corresponding  to  Samaria  in  tho  parallel 
 clause    But  this  construction  is  very  questionable, and 
 
 it  would  be  much  simpler  and  safer  to  adopt  the  read- 
 ing  of  most    Hebrew   texts,  ami    render   on    "   couch's 
 
 damask  aoGeeenlusandEwald  .referring  to  the  silken 
 
 (?)  or  white  woollen  fabric  for  which  Damascus,  even  in 
 that  early  age,  was  famous.  The  relations  between 
 Syria  and  [anal  at  this  moment  were  intimate.  The 
 meaning  is  that  even  the  noblest  ami  wealthiest  will  be 
 regarded,  if  saved,  as  worthless  salvage. 
 
 08)  Hear  ye.— Addressed  to  the  foreign  nations 
 Egypt  and  Philistia  referred  to  in  verse  9. 
 
 '"  Houses. — It  is  uncertain  whether  by  "winter 
 and  summer  houses  "'   are  meant   two  classes  of   royal 
 
 abodes,  or  different  chambers  of  the  same  house  Judges 
 
 iii.  20 ;   Jer.  xxxvi.   22,  are   compatible  with   either). 
 
Denunciation 
 
 AMOS,   IV. 
 
 against  Samaria. 
 
 CHAPTEE  IV.— Hear  this  word,  ye 
 kitie  of  Bashan,  that  are  in  the  moun- 
 tain of  Samaria,  which  oppress  the  poor, 
 which  crush  the  needy,  which  say  to 
 their  masters,  Bring,  and  let  us  drink. 
 (2>  The  Lord  God  hath  sworn  by  his 
 holiness,  that,  lo,  the  days  shall  come 
 upon  you,  that  he  will  take  you  away 
 with  hooks,  and  your  posterity  with 
 fishhooks.  (3)  And  ye  shall  go  out  at 
 the  breaches,  every  cow  at  that  which  is 
 before  her ;  and  J  ye  shall  cast  them  into 
 the  palace,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 (i)  Come  to  Beth-el,  and  transgress;  at 
 Gilgal  multiply  transgression;  and  bring 
 your  sacrifices  every  morning,  and  your 
 tithes  after  a  three  years :  (5)  and  3  offer 
 a  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  with  leaven, 
 and  proclaim  and  publish  the  free  offer- 
 
 1  Or,  ye  shall  cast 
 away  'the  things 
 of  the  palace. 
 
 \  Hch.tthree  years 
 of  days. 
 
 3   Heb.,    offer    by 
 burning. 
 
 4  Hob.,  so  ye  love. 
 
 5  Or,the  mvUUwk 
 •  <!  uour  gardens, 
 &c,      did     tin 
 
 palmer-  worm, 
 
 ings :  for  4  this  liketh  you,  0  ye  children 
 of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 <6>  And  I  also  have  given  you  cleanness 
 of  teeth  in  all  your  cities,  and  want  of 
 bread  in  all  your  places  :  yet  have  ye 
 not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
 <7>  And  also  I  have  withholden  the  rain 
 from  you,  when  there  were  yet  three 
 months  to  the  harvest :  and  I  caused  it 
 to  rain  upon  one  city,  and  caused  it  not 
 to  rain  upon  another  city:  one  piece 
 was  rained  upon,  and  the  piece  where- 
 upon it  rained  not  withered.  <8)  So  two 
 or  three  cities  wandered  unto  one  city, 
 to  drink  water ;  but  they  were  not  satis- 
 fied :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me, 
 saith  the  Lord.  (9)  I  have  smitten  you 
 with  blasting  and  mildew :  5  when  your 
 gardens   and  your  vineyards   and  your 
 
 ■"  Ivory  houses  "  mean  mansions  adorned  with   ivory. 
 For  "  great  houses  "  should  be  read  many  houses. 
 
 IV 
 
 A  continuation  in  highly  tropical  and  sarcastic  lan- 
 guage of  the  denunciation  of  the  kingdom  and  nobles 
 of  Samaria,  which  was  commenced  in  the  previous 
 chapter. 
 
 (!)  Bashan. — This  contained  the  rich  pasture-lands 
 «ast  of  the  Jordan,  between  Hermon  and  the  mountains 
 of  Gilead,  where  cattle  nourished.  The  "  strong  bulls  of 
 Bashan"  (Ps.  xxii.  12)  were  descriptive  of  the  malig- 
 nant enemies  of  the  ideal  sufferer.  The  feminine 
 "  kine  "  refers  to  the  luxurious  self-indulgent  women  of 
 fashion  in  Samaria. 
 
 Which  say  to  their  masters  (i.e.,  their  husbands), 
 Bring,  and  let  us  drink. — Their  very  debauch 
 being  paid  for  by  the  robbery  of  the  poor.  Some 
 regard  the  feminines  as  sarcastic  epithets,  merely 
 expressing  effeminacy  on  the  pai-t  of  men.  But  this  is 
 not  a  probable  explanation. 
 
 (2)  Fishhooks.— Descriptive  of  the  suddenness 
 and  irresistible  ciiaracter  of  the  seizure,  whereby,  as  a 
 punishment  for  their  wanton  selfishness,  the  nobles 
 were  to  be  carried  away  as  captives  from  their  condition 
 of  fancied  security.  The  strangeness  of  the  imagery 
 has  led  to  a  variety  of  interpretations.  Doderlein 
 translates  "  ye  shall  be  driven  into  thorny  districts,  and 
 among  thorn  bushes." 
 
 (3)  Every  cow  .  .  . — Render  each  one  (ref.  to  the 
 women,  verse  1)  straight  before  her.  The  enemy  shall 
 have  broken  down  the  city's  defences,  and  the  women 
 shall  tamely  go  forth  through  the  breaches  into  cap- 
 tivity. The  next  clause  is  very  obscure.  It  is  best  to 
 take  the  verb  as  passive,  Ye  shall  be  thrown  out. 
 The  word  that  follows  is  rendered  "  the  palace  "  by  the 
 E.V.  with  Kimchi  and  other  authorities,  under  the 
 assumption  that  the  Heb.  harmon  is  another  form  of 
 the  word  elsewhere  used  in  Amos  armun.  But  this  is 
 mere  guess-work,  and  yields  no  good  sense.  It  would 
 be  better  to  adopt  a  slight  emendation  of  our  text,  and 
 treat  the  obscure  word  as  a  proper  name  (LXX.,  Targ., 
 Syr.,  Vulg.).  Many  commentators  (Michaelis,  G. 
 Baur,  De  Wette)  follow  the  Targ.  and  Syr.  and  render 
 
 456 
 
 "  Te  shall  be  cast  out  to  the  mountains  of  Armenia  " 
 (their  place  of  banishment).  For  further  information 
 see  Excursus. 
 
 (■*)  Bethel  .  .  .  Gilgal. — In  bitterly  ironical  words 
 the  prophet  summons  Israel  to  the  calf-worship  of 
 Bethel,  and  to  similar  rites  of  bastard  Jehovah- worship 
 at  Gilgal.  These  spots  were  full  of  sacred  associations. 
 The  sarcastic  force  of  .the  passage  is  lost  in  E.V.  For 
 "  three  years  "  read  every  three  days.  The  law  only 
 required  a  tithe  every  third  year  (Deut.  xxvi.  12) ;  but 
 here  the  prophet  is  lashing  the  people  with  hyper- 
 bolical irony  for  their  excessive  generosity  to  the  base 
 priests  and  spurious  sanctuaries. 
 
 (5)  The  margin  is  more  correct,  and  gives  the  key 
 to  the  passage.  Render,  and  offer  by  burning  your 
 thank-offering  of  leaven.  Leaven  was  not  allowed  in 
 any  sacrifice  offei-ed  by  fire.  Amos  ironically  calls 
 upon  them  to  break  the  Levitical  law  (Lev.  vii.  13, 
 xxiii.  17),  as  he  knew  they  were  in  the  habit  of  doing. 
 
 (6)  Cleanness  of  teeth  is,  by  the  poetic  parallelism, 
 identified  with  the  want  of  bread,  the  former  phrase 
 being  a  graphic  representation  of  one  of  the  ghastly 
 aspects  of  famine ;  clean,  sharp,  prominent  teeth  pro- 
 jecting from  the  thin  lips.  Notwithstanding  their 
 chastisement,  God  says,  "  Ye  have  not  returned  even 
 up  to  me."  Jehovah  is  here  introduced  as  grieving 
 over  the  failure  of  his  disciplinary  treatment  of 
 Israel. 
 
 (V,  8)  Three  months  to  the  harvest.  —  The 
 withdrawal  of  rain  at  this  period  (February  and  March) 
 is  at  the  present  day  most  calamitous  to  the  crops  in 
 Palestine. 
 
 Caused  it  to  rain  .  .  . — The  tenses  should  be 
 regarded  as  expressing  repetition  of  the  act,  and  might 
 be,  with  advantage,  rendered  as  present  cause  it  to 
 rain  ...  is  rained  upon,  &c.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
 most  suffering  districts  wander,  distracted  and  weary, 
 to  a  more  favoured  city,  and  find  no  sufficiency.  Comp. 
 the  graphic  description  in  Jer.  xiv.  1 — 6.  Moreover, 
 the  specialties  of  affliction,  in  particular  localities, 
 reveal  the  purpose  of  God  rather  than  the  operation  of 
 universal  laws. 
 
 (9)  Blasting  and  mildew.— Burning  up  the  corn 
 before  it  is  ready  to  ear,  and  producing  a  tawny  yellow, 
 instead  of  golden  red,  was  another  judgment.    Nothing 
 
Aii  Enumeration 
 
 AMOS,   V. 
 
 of  Judgments. 
 
 Bg  trees  ;iinl  yottr  olive  trees  increased, 
 the    pahnerworm    devoured   them:  yet 
 
 have  ye  nut  returned  unto  me,  .saith  tlie 
 liOKii.      ""'   I    luive  sent    among  you   the 
 
 pestilence  *  after  the  manner  of  Egypi  : 
 
 your  TOUng  men  have  I  slain  with  the 
 sword,     -and     have     taken     away     your 
 
 horses;  and  I  have   i le  the  stink  of 
 
 your  camps  to  come  up  unto  your  nos- 
 trils: yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me, 
 Baith  the  Lord.  '",  I  have  overthrown 
 .<«./!/,■  of  you,  as  God  overthrew  "Sodom 
 and  Gomorrah,  and  ye  were  as  a  fire- 
 brand plucked  out  of  the  burning:  yet 
 bare  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the 
 
 LOKD. 
 
 (12)  Therefore  thus  will  T  do  unto  thee, 
 O  Israel :  and  because  I  will  do  this  onto 
 thee,  prepare  to  meet  thy  God,  O  Israel. 
 11  I'or,  lo,  he  that  formeth  the  moun- 
 tains, and  createth  the  3wind,  and 
 declareth  unto  man  what  is  his  thought, 
 
 ■ 
 
 llrli,      IT,  III       III: 
 
 '  i)  of  j/yi(r 
 hortc*. 
 
 3  Or,  ai'irit. 
 
 thai  tnakeththe  morning  darkness,  and 
 treadetb  upon  the  hi'_rh  places  of  the 
 earth,  The  Lord,  The  God  of  hosts,  is 
 his  name. 
 
 CHAPTER  V.— Hear  ye  this  word 
 which  I  take  up  against  you,  even  a 
 lamentation,  0  house  of  Israel. 
 
 '-'  The  virgin  of  Israel  is  fallen;  she 
 shall  no  more  rise:  she  is  forsaken  upon 
 her  land;  there  is  none  to  raise  her  op, 
 (3)  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  the 
 city  that  went  out  by  a  thousand  shall 
 leave  an  hundred,  and  that  which  went 
 forth  by  an  hundred  shall  leave  ten,  to 
 the  house  of  Israel. 
 
 (4)  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  the 
 house  .if  Israel,  Seek  ye  me,  and  ye  shall 
 live.  (5)  But  seek  not  6  Beth-el,  nor 
 enter  into  Gilgal,  and  pass  not  to  Beer- 
 sheba:  for  Gilgal  shall  surely  go  into 
 captivity,    and   Beth-el    shall   come   to 
 
 escapes  tho  Divine  visitation.  "Tour  gardens,  vine- 
 yards, fig-trees,  sad  olive-trees" — which  in  a  well- 
 watered  enclosure  might  escape  the  general  drought — 
 the  locust  devours  in  vast  numbers  (so  the  Heb.  should 
 
 lie  rendered,!  ;  comp.  Joel  i.    I-. 
 
 (10)  With  the  captivity  of  your  horses.— This, 
 the  marginal  reading,  is  more  exact.  Egypt  is  the 
 birthplace  of  the  plague  or  black  death,  and  tho  circum- 
 stances augmenting  its  horror  are  here  terribly  port  raj  ed. 
 G.  Baur  thinks,  that  since  the  drought  is  mentioned 
 after  the  famine  as  its  true  cause,  so  hero  the  prophet 
 explains  the  cause  of  the  pestilence,  or  the  way  in 
 which  it  would  l>o  brought  about,  via.,  by  tho  hosts  of 
 slaughtered  warriors  scattered  over  the  camp. 
 
 (lo  Overthrown. — Another  awful  calamity,  an 
 earthquake,  is  referred  to,  and  perhaps  a  volcanic 
 eruption.  Dr.  Pusey  enumerates  a  Long  series  of 
 earthquakes,  which  distressed  Palestine,  though  uot 
 the  central   parts  of  the  country,  from   the  timo  of 
 
 Julian  to  the  twelfth  century.  The  allusion  to  Sodom 
 and  Gomorrah  gives  a  hint  of  the  tierce  licence  and 
 \  ice  which  had  prevailed  in  some  parts  of  tho  Northern 
 
 kingdom  and  called  for  chastisement. 
 
 Some  of  you. — More  accurately  among  you. 
 
 Brand  plucked  .  .  .—Men  would  cast  such  a 
 brand  back  into   the   lire.     "  Behold  the  goodness  and 
 
 severity  of  I <>»\." 
 "->  Thus  will  I  do.— What   is  he  about   to  do? 
 
 It  is  left  in  awful  uncertainty,  but  the  do,. in  is  wrapt 
 up  in  the  boundless  possibilities  of  the  Divine  judg- 
 ment involved  in  the  drawing  very  near  of  the  Lord 
 
 Himself, to  execute  what  He  lias  said  and  sworn  by  His 
 
 Soilness  in  verses  2  and:;.     All  that  had  previously 
 
 been  done  in  famine,  drought,  blighting  pestilence,  and 
 
 earthquake,  was  not  final,  and  had  failed  in  its  effect 
 The  summons  to  meet  Cod  in  some  other  unknown 
 form  than  these  is  very  solemn. 
 
 i|;i  God  of  hosts."— The  Lord  whom  they  have  to 
 meet  is  no  men' national  deity,  but  the  supreme  Creator. 
 
 Createth  the  wind.— Not  -spirit"  (as  margin). 
 
 But  the  two  ideas  "  wind  "  and  "spirit  "  were  closely 
 
 associated  in  Heb.  (as  in  Greek),  being  designated  by 
 the  same  word  ruach  in  Greek  wrm/ia,  eomp.  John  ill. 
 8).      Hence   the  transition   in    thought    to   the  next 
 
 clause  is  natural.  This  is  curiously  rendered  in  LXX. 
 "and  declareth  to  man  his  Christ"  through  a  mis- 
 understanding of  the  original. 
 
 V. 
 
 Commences  with  a  veritable  dirge  over  tho  calamity 
 already  threatened.  The  form  of  the  dirge  belongs  to 
 the  second  verse  only  I  its  poetic  expression  resembling 
 the  lament  of  David  over  Saul  and  Jonathan.  2  Sam.  i  I, 
 but  the  spirit  of  the  dirge  extends  through  the  entire 
 chapter. 
 
 (->  Forsaken. — Or  rather  dashed  lo  the  earth. 
 "Virgin"  is  a  feminine  designation  of  Israel  poetic- 
 ally expressive  of  grace  ami  beauty.  Comp.  the 
 epithet  "daughter  of  Zion,"  nations  and  cities  being 
 represented  by  a  feminine  personification.  She  is  not 
 annihilated,  but  obliterated  as  ■  nation. 
 
 1  Shall  leave  an  hundred.—  /.'.,  shall  have  an 
 hundred  only  as  a  remnant  of  the  thousand  who  went 
 
 forth  to  war.  The  great  cities  were  to  be  decimated  in 
 the  coming  struggle  with  Assyria. 
 
 *4'  Seek  .  .  .  live. — Search  after  God  is  rewarded 
 by  finding  Him.  and  this  is  life  in  the  highest  sens--. 
 
 (5)  Seek. — The  same  word  is  used  for  the  searching, 
 or  inquiring  at  idol  shrines,  which  is  here  fervently  con- 
 demned. Respecting  Bcersheba,  seo  Note  on  chap. 
 viii.  14.  On  Gilgal  there  is  a  play  of  words  in  the 
 original,  which  it  is  impossible  to  express  accurately  in 
 translation. 
 
 Bethel  shall  come  to  nought.— Render  (with 
 
 Luther)  Ihtli.l  house  of  God)  fill  nil  become  Betha 
 {house  of  vanity).  The  form  Bethaven  lure  is  sup- 
 port,.! by  the  LXX..  and  appears  to  confirm  the 
 basoretic  reading  of  Hos.  iv.  15,  x.  5;  and  Amos  i.  5. 
 where  other  reasons  incline  critics  to  read  On  for  Aven 
 (see  the  passages). 
 
 157 
 
Injunctions  to 
 
 AMOS,   V. 
 
 seek  after  God. 
 
 nought.  <6>  Seek  the  Lord,  and  ye  shall 
 live;  lest  he  break  out  like  fire  in  the 
 house  of  Joseph,  and  devour  it,  and  there 
 be  none  to  quench  it  in  Beth-el. 
 
 <7>  Ye  who  turn  judgment  to  worm- 
 wood, and  leave  off  righteousness  in  the 
 earth,  <8)  seek  him  that  maketh  the 
 "seven  stars  and  Orion,  and  turneth  the 
 shadow  of  death  into  the  morning,  and 
 maketh  the  day  dark  with  night :  that 
 ''calleth  for  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and 
 poureth  them  out  upon  the  face  of 
 the  earth :  the  Lord  is  his  name : 
 (9)  that  strengtheneth  the  x  spoiled 
 against  the  strong,  so  that  the  spoiled 
 shall  come  against  the  fortress. 
 
 (io)  They  hate  him  that  rebuketh  in 
 the  gate,  and  they  abhor  him  that 
 speaketh  uprightly.  <u>  Forasmuch 
 therefore  as  your  treading  is  upon  the 
 poor,  and  ye  take  from  him  burdens  of 
 
 a  Jul)  9.  9,  &  38.  31. 
 
 1  Heb.,  spoil. 
 
 a  Zeph.1.  is. 
 
 2  Hub,  vineyards 
 of  desire. 
 
 d  PS.  34.   14,  &  9 
 10 ;  Rom.  12.  9. 
 
 wheat:  cye  have  built  houses  of  hewn 
 stone,  but  ye  shall  not  dwell  in  them ; 
 ye  have  planted  ~ pleasant  vineyards,  but 
 ye  shall  not  drink  wine  of  them. 
 (12)  ~pov  j  know  your  manifold  transgres- 
 sions and  your  mighty  sins  :  they  afflict 
 the  just,  they  take  3a  bribe,  and  they 
 turn  aside  the  poor  in  the  gate  from  their 
 right. 
 
 (13)  Therefore  the  prudent  shall  keep 
 silence  in  that  time ;  for  it  is  an  evil 
 time.  <u>  Seek  good,  and  not  evil,  that 
 ye  may  live:  and  so  the  Lord,  the  God 
 of  hosts,  shall  be  with  you,  as  ye  have 
 spoken.  <15>  ■'Hate  the  evil,  and  love  the 
 good,  and  establish  judgment  in  the 
 gate :  it  may  be  that  the  Lord  God  of 
 hosts  will  be  gracious  unto  the  remnant 
 of  Joseph.  <16)  Therefore  the  Lord,  the 
 God  of  hosts,  the  Lord,  saith  thus ; 
 Wailing  shall  be  in  all  streets  ;  and  they 
 
 (6)  Render,  lest  he  rush  down  Wee  fire  on  the  house 
 of  Joseph  (i.e.,  the  Northern  Kingdom).  For  "  in 
 Bethel  read  "for  Bethel."  Let  the  blending  of 
 mercy  with  judgment  be  here  observed,  "  Seek  Jehovah 
 and  live,  lest  this  evil  befall  yon."  The  eurse  is  still 
 conditional. 
 
 0)  Is  placed  after  verse  9  by  Ewald,  since  verses  7 
 and  8  stand  in  the  Heb.  without  any  connecting-link. 
 The  holy  thing  "  judgment "  is  perverted  into  the  bitter 
 thing  "  wormwood,"  that  which  is  execrated. 
 
 Leave  off. — Or  rather,  cast  down  righteousness  to 
 the  earth,  i.e.,  by  false  judgments  and  unjust  decrees. 
 Pusey  sees  here  the  analogue  of  the  humiliation  of  the 
 Holy  Oue  by  wicked  hands,  when  He  was  crowned  with 
 thorns,  and  fell  beneath  His  cross. 
 
 (8)  Connected  by  E.V.  with  verse  6  through  the  verb 
 '•  seek  ye,"  so  that  it  may  thus  be  linked  to  verse  7. 
 To  regard  it  as  a  solemn  assertion  "  There  is  one  who 
 maketh,  &c,"  is  not  satisfactory.  We  prefer  to  render, 
 As  for  him  who  made  the  Pleiades  .  .  .  Jehovah  is 
 his  name,  i.e.,  The  God  of  the  Hebrews  is  the  supreme 
 universal  Lord  (comp.  chap.  iv.  13).  This  is  profoundly 
 impressive,  since  the  prophets  were  surrounded  by  the 
 pompous  nature-worship  of  the  East. 
 
 The  Heb.  word  for  the  Pleiades  (seven  stars)  means 
 properly  "  heap "  or  "  cluster,"  and  that  for  Orion 
 signifies  "  stout,  strong  one."  The  appearance  of  the 
 Pleiades  indicated  the  "sweet  influences"  of  spring, 
 that  of  Orion  the  winter  solstice.  Observe  that  Amos 
 the  herdsman,  and  Job  the  Arabian  Emir,  accustomed 
 to  the  naked  sky  of  the  desert,  make  these  special 
 references  to  astronomical  facts.  The  death-shadow 
 suggests  the  darkest  experiences  of  human  life. 
 Jehovah  pours  His  light  upon  the  deepest  gloom  of  our 
 lot.  He,  too,  can  make  the  day  dark  with  night,  cover- 
 ing the  noonday  sky  with  funereal  pall,  as  at  the  Cru- 
 cifixion. God  is  also  made  the  perennial  source  of  the 
 rain,  that  "  river  of  God  which  is  full  of  water,"  and 
 which  is  ever  rising  at  His  command  from  the  great  sea. 
 
 (9)  That  strengtheneth.— The  rendering  should 
 be  who  causeth  desolation  to  gleam  upon  the  strong 
 (who  were  priding  themselves  on  their  immunity),  so 
 that  desolation  cometh  on  the  stronghold. 
 
 0°)  Kebuker  in  the  Gate. — The  person  so  de- 
 scribed might  be  the  pro}:>het  himself.  So  also  he  that 
 speaketh  uprightly. 
 
 (ii)  Burdens  of  wheat. — i.e.,  Te  take  gifts  of 
 sifted  corn,  as  a  contribution  to  your  own  luxury,  and 
 which  the  poor  man  was  not  bound  to  offer,  and  only 
 would  offer  to  purchase  your  good  will.  Therefore 
 your  pomp  and  luxury  shall  be  of  no  avail.  Such  is 
 God's  judgment  on  indifference  to  the  wants  and  feel- 
 ings of  the  poor. 
 
 (12)  I  know. — Most  of  the  commentators  imply  that 
 the  "  I "  is  Jehovah,  but  it  is  more  likely  to  be  the 
 prophet  himself.  The  adjectives  "  manifold,"  "mighty," 
 should  be  rendered  as  predicates,  That  manifold  are 
 your  transgressions,  and  mighty  your  sins,  ye  afflicters 
 of  the  just  and  takers  of  a  bribe,  and  ye  who  bow  down 
 the  poor  in  the  gate.  The  idea  involved  in  the  word 
 rendered  "  bribe  "  is  the  ransom  which  the  poor  and 
 defenceless  were  obliged  to  pay  to  a  tyrannical  judge, 
 in  order  to  escape  a  harsh  sentence.  The  "  gate  "  is  the 
 place  where  judgment  is  passed  by  the  chief  men. 
 
 (is)  Prudent  .  .  .  silence. — The  dumb  silence 
 of  the  prudent  is  the  awful  curse  which  comes  upon 
 a  people  when  they  are  given  up  to  selfishness  and 
 rapacity.  Thus  the  doom : — "  Ephraim  is  joined  to 
 idols,  let  him  alone." 
 
 (14,  15)  Bi-eak  in  like  a  beam  of  sunshine  in  the  dark- 
 ness. The  fearful  doom,  already  spoken  of,  is  after  all 
 conditional.  Let  a  moral  change  be  wrought  in  them, 
 and  even  now  Jehovah,  God  of  hosts,  may  deign  to  be 
 with  them.  Enlist  your  passions  on  the  right  side.  No 
 virtue  is  safe  till  it  is  enthusiastic. 
 
 (16)  Therefore. — Probably  a  pause  occurs  here,  for 
 once  more  the  words  of  the  prophet  assume  a  more 
 lnournful  tone.  "  Therefore  "  points  back  to  the  trans- 
 gressions condemned  in  verses  11 — 13.  On  the  Divine 
 name  "  Lord  of  hosts,"  see  note  on  Hosea  xii.  5,  and 
 Oehler,  Biblical  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament,  §§ 
 194 — 8.  It  is  a  grand  phrase  to  denote  the  antithesis 
 between  "  the  Portion  of  Jacob,"  and  all  heathen  deities. 
 
 The  "  streets  "  are  the  open  wide  squares  near  the 
 gates,  and  the  "  highways "  are  more  properly  the 
 narrow  alleys  of  the  crowded  cities  of  the  East.     The 
 
 4 -.8 
 
Protests  against 
 
 AMOS,    V. 
 
 Hallow  Sacrifice*. 
 
 shall  say  in  all  the  highways,  Alas'  alas1 
 
 and  I  bey  shall  call  the  buabandms  □  t" 
 
 mourning,   and    such    as    arc   skilful    of 
 
 lamentation    to    trailing.      "7|  And    in 
 
 all  vineyards  shall  !»■  wailing  :  for 
 I  will  pass  through  thee,  saith  the 
 Loi.'n. 
 
 fl8)  "Woe  unto  you  that  desire  the  day 
 
 of  the  Loan  !  to  what  end  it  it  for  youP 
 
 the  day  of  the  Lord  is  darkness,  and  not 
 light.  (19)  As  if  a  man  did  flee  from  a 
 lion,  and  a  hear  met  him;  or  went  into 
 the  house,  and  leaned  his  hand  on  the 
 wall,  and  a  serpent  hit  him.  <-']  Shall 
 not  the  day  of  the  Lord  be  darkness, 
 and  not  light?  even  very  dark,  and  no 
 brightness  in  it? 
 
 '-'"  I  1  hate,  I  despise  your  feast  days, 
 and   I  will  not  'smell   in  your   solemn 
 
 10:  Jcr 
 .i>.  ;;  Joel  1  I; 
 
 ! 
 
 I   Or,  iwifl   v"> 
 
 hull/  duyt. 
 
 Or,  thank  offtr- 
 
 <>th  yniu 
 king. 
 
 assemblies.  <-'  Though  ye  "Her  me 
 Imriit  offerings  and  your  meat  offerings, 
 
 I  will  not  accept  them:  neither  will  I 
 regard  the  'peace  offerings  of  your  fat 
 beasts.  <-■''  Take  thou  away  from  me 
 the  noise  of  thy  songs;  for  I  will  not 
 hear  the  melody  of  thy  viols.  (-'l>  But 
 ht  judgment  3run  down  its  waters,  and 
 righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream. 
 
 I  hive  ye  offered  unto  me  sacrifices 
 and  offerings  in  the  wilderness  forty 
 years,  0  house  of  Israel  ?  iM>  But  ye  have 
 borne  4the  tabernacle  of  your  Moloch 
 and  Chiun  your  images,  the  star  of 
 your  god,  which  ye  made  to  yourselves. 
 (-7)  Therefore  will  I  cause  you  to  go  into 
 captivity  beyond  Damascus,  saith  the 
 Lord,  whose  name  is  the  God  of 
 hosts. 
 
 word  for  wailing  i  misprd  denotes  properly  the  beating 
 of  the  breast,  the  Oriental  symptom  of  grief.     The 
 
 nulling  nf  the  husbandman  from  his  agricultural  pursuits 
 
 to  lamentation  is  an  indication  thai  the  disaster  was 
 
 universal,     Ihdse  "skilled  in  wailing"  were  generally, 
 
 ami  are  still,  women  ivho  tear  their  bait  and  dress, 
 throw  dust  over  the  head,  and  otter  the  monotonous 
 
 wail  and  piercing  cry  at  distress.  The  last  clause 
 should  properly  be  inverted,  And  wailing  to  surh  as 
 an  skilful  of  lamentation.  (.Eccles.  xii.  5;  Jer.  ix.  17 
 -19.) 
 
 Pass  through  thee.— Properly  through  On 
 of  thee.     Whenever  Jehovah  is  said  to  pass  through  a 
 land  or  a  city,  heavy  punishment   is  intended.     (Comp. 
 Exml.  xii.  12.)     The  reference  to  the  "  vineyards"  adds 
 to  the  terror  of  the  picture. 
 
 (is)  Desire  the  day  of  the  Lord.— Expecting 
 
 that  day  to  bring  you  deliverance  and  judgments  upon 
 your  enemies.  It  shall  hring  the  reverse!  There  is  a 
 dark  side  to  the  pillar  of  fire. 
 
 (!'•')  Four  escape  »■;//  /,,  impossible.  You  will  avoid 
 one  calamity,  only  to  fall  into  a  worse. 
 
 (■))  Darkness. — In   the   form  of  an  interrogative, 
 
 the  condemnation  contained  in  verse  Is  i-  emphatically 
 reasserted.  The  term  rendered  "very  dark"  is  that 
 used  to  denote  the  irross  Egyptian  darkness  that  might 
 be  felt  (Exod.  x.  22),  the  awful  gloom,  such  as  fell  on 
 Jerusalem  at  tho  Crucifixion,  which  is  always  ac- 
 companied by  the  sense  of  oonfnsion,  terror,  and  in- 
 tolerable suspense.  (Comp.  tho  graphic  metaphorical 
 language  of  lsa.  v.  :>n  | 
 
 c;i.  -i:>  These  verses  closely  resemble  the  condemnation 
 which  Isaiah  pronounces  (chap,  i.  10 — 15)  upon  mere 
 
 ritual,  however  punctilious,  mere  profession  Of  ortho- 
 doxy, however  exacting,  winch  w;is  not  accompanied  by 
 
 righteousness  and  mercy,  and  was  not  tho  expression 
 
 of  inward  penitence  and  purity. 
 
 Will  not  smell  in  your  .  .  . — A  strong  expres- 
 sion for  "  1  take  no  delight  in  them."  That  Baal  wor- 
 ship, as  well  as  the  worship  of  the  true  Qod,  was 
 characterised  l>y  similar  offerings  and  sacrificial  terms 
 is  indicated  by  a  Phoenician  tablet  inscribed  with  a  codo 
 
 of  sacrificial  dues,  discovered  at  Marseilles.  The  word 
 rendered  peace  offering  should  he  translated  as  in  the 
 margin.  Tho  word  for  "  meat  offering"  is  better  inter- 
 
 169 
 
 Dieted  "  meal  offerings."  sine,  it  consisted  of  vegetable 
 products  used  in  food,  meal,  oil,  cake-.  &c 
 
 (-'■!  Songs. — The  very  sound  of  their  tumultuous 
 songs  was  a  burden  to  Jehovah.  As  Christ  cleansed 
 the  Temple,  so  would  He  dispel  all  this  hypocritical 
 and  perilous  confusion  of  idea-. 
 
 <-e  Mighty  stream.— Or  rather  perennial  s/r. 
 
 (25,  2C)Much  uncertainty  belongs  to  the  interpretation 
 of  these  verses  and  their  connection  in  thought.  S 
 commentators  would  treat  verse  25  as  a  statement,  and 
 not  a  question,  the  first  word  being  read  as  a  definite 
 article,  and  not  an  interrogative  prefix  in  the  Hebrew. 
 But  the  construction  of  the  following  words  forbids 
 this  supposition,  and  nearly  all  cxegetes  follow  the 
 LXX.,  Vnlg.,  Targ..  in  taking  the  sentence  as  interro- 
 gative. Is  the  expected  answer  negative  or  affirmative P 
 Heb.  usage  points  to  the  former.  So  Ewald  and  Keil. 
 According  to  the  latter,  the  words  apply  to  the  nation 
 
 as  a  whole,  or  to  the  gresi  mass  of  the) pic.  individual 
 
 exceptions  being  passed  by.     Tho  foil, .wing  verso  is 
 
 then  taken  in  an  adversative  sense.  "To  me  ye  have 
 offered  no  sacrifices,  but  ye  have  borne."  \ e.  The 
 opposition    is    between    the    Jehovah-warship,  which 
 
 they  suspended,  and  the  idol-worship  which  they 
 carried  on.  This  is  a  possible  interpretation,  as  Driver 
 Heb.  ZblMM,  §  119a,  foot-note  admits.  But  as  that 
 writer  shows  (I.e.  i,  it  is  more  in  consonance  with  gram- 
 matical usago  to  translate  in  verse  26  by  i  future.  :is 
 Ewald  does  :  "  So  ye  shall  carry  away  the  tabernacle." 
 Ac,  i.e.,  when  driven  into  exile.  To  this  thought  verse 
 27  forms  a  natural  development :  And  I  trill  carry  you 
 away  eaptioe,  Ac.  Moreover,  in  the  light  of  this  interpre- 
 tation the  logical  connection  of  verses  21 — 27  beCO 
 much  simpler:  "I,  Jehovah,  abhor  the  mechanical 
 round  of  corrupt  and  hollow  ceremonial  cloaking 
 wickedness  of  conduct.  Live  righteously.  Did  I  exact 
 punctilious  discharge  of  ceremonial  in  the  desert 
 wanderings  F  X'.J  Therefore  I  shall  submit  you 
 once  more  to  tlie  discipline  of  exile  wanderings."  On 
 tho  meaning  of  the  difficult  clause.  Cliimi  your  images, 
 the  star  of  your  god,  which  ye  made  for  yourst 
 as  well  as  on  the  rendering  of  the  LXX.  and  St. 
 Stephen's  quotation  of  the  passage,  968  H  '•"■-'  B. 
 Kuenen  is  scarcely  justified  in  founding  an  argument 
 on  this  passage  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Sabbath. 
 
Denunciations  against 
 
 AMOS,   VI. 
 
 the  House  ofJudah. 
 
 CHAPTEE  VI.— "Woe  to  them  that 
 1are  at  ease  in  Zion,  and  trust  in  the 
 mountain  of  Samaria,  which  are  named 
 42  chief  of  the  nations,  to  whom  the 
 house  of  Israel  came !  (2)  Pass  ye  unto 
 Calneh,  and  see;  and  from  thence  go  ye 
 to  Hamath  the  great :  then  go  down  to 
 Gath  of  the  Philistines  :  be  they  better 
 than  these  kingdoms?  or  their  border 
 greater  than  your  border?  W  Te  that 
 'put  far  away  the  ^evil  day,  and  cause 
 the  3seat  of  violence  to  come  near; 
 <4>  that  lie  upon  beds  of  ivory,  and 
 4  stretch  themselves  upon  their  couches, 
 and  eat  the  lambs  out  of  the  flock,  and 
 the  calves  out  of  the  midst  of  the  stall ; 
 (5)  that 5  chant  to  the  sound  of  the  viol, 
 and  invent  to  themselves  instruments  of 
 musick,  like  David;  (6)  that  drink  6wine 
 
 (i  Luk.'S.  24. 
 
 1  Or,  are  secure. 
 
 b  EX.  19.  5. 
 
 2  Or,  firstfruils. 
 C  Ezrk.  a.  27. 
 d  cb.  5. 18. 
 
 3  Or.  habitation. 
 
 4  Or,  abound  with 
 superfluities. 
 
 5  Or,  quaver. 
 
 i>  Or,   in   bowls  of 
 wine. 
 
 7  Heb.  breach, 
 e  Jer.  51. 14. 
 
 fi  RYb.,  the  fulness 
 thereof. 
 
 in  bowls,  and  anoint  themselves  with 
 the  chief  ointments :  but  they  are  not 
 grieved  for  the  7  affliction  of  Joseph. 
 
 <7>  Therefore  now  shall  they  go  captive 
 with  the  first  that  go  captive,  and  the 
 banquet  of  them  that  stretched  them- 
 selves shall  be  removed.  (8)  'The  Lord 
 God  hath  sworn  by  himself,  saith  the 
 Lord  the  God  of  hosts,  I  abhor  the 
 excellency  of  Jacob,  and  hate  his  palaces : 
 therefore  will  I  deliver  up  the  city 
 with  8all  that  is  therein.  (9>  And  it 
 shall  come  to  pass,  if  there  remain  ten 
 men  in  one  house,  that  they  shall  die. 
 (10)  And  a  man's  uncle  shall  take  him  up, 
 and  he  that  burneth  him,  to  bring  out 
 the  bones  out  of  the  house,  and  shall  say 
 unto  him  that  is  by  the  sides  of  the 
 house,  Is  there  yet  any  with  thee  ?  and 
 
 YI. 
 
 The  prophet  now  turns  his  rebuke,  not  only  to  the 
 Northern  kingdom,  but  to  the  House  of  Judah,  though 
 the  burden  of  the  subsequent  charges  are  specially 
 applicable  to  the  former. 
 
 (i)  Trust.— The  word  for  "trust"  is  a  participle, 
 and  we  should  translate  as  the  parallelism  indicates : 
 the  confident  (or  complacent)  dwellers  in  the  mountain 
 of  Samaria:  i.e.,  the  upper  luxurious  classes,  "the  chief 
 of  the  first  of  nations,"  meaning  the  rulers,  to  whom 
 Israel,  the  supreme  and  highly-favoured  nation,  comes 
 up  for  judgment  and  for  guidance  in  all  civil  affairs. 
 These  are  now  summoned  to  listen  to  the  rebuke  of 
 the  Divine  Judge. 
 
 (2)  The  meaning  is  obscure.  Kalneh,  the  Kalno  of 
 Isa.  x.  9,  the  Assyrian  Kulunu  (comp.  Gen.  x.  10),  is 
 here  probably  mentioned  first  because  it  is  most 
 easterly.  It  is  identified  by  Kiepert  with  Hohvdn,  but 
 its  position  is  uncertain,  though  generally  regarded  as 
 lying  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Greek  Ctesiphon,  on 
 the  Tigris.  Hamath  is  the  ancient  Hittite  city  in  the 
 valley  of  the  Orontes,  and  it  had  felt  the  strong  hand 
 of  Jeroboam  II.  (2  Kings  xiv.  28).  We  have  no  reason 
 for  believing  that  at  this  period  the  Assyrian  power  had 
 destroyed  the  importance  of  these  places,  though  the 
 prophet  may  have  regarded  that  issue  as  imminent. 
 Hamath  the  Great  (or  Rabba ;  comp.  Josh.  xi.  8), 
 according  to  the  inscriptions,  sustained  defeats  from 
 Salmanassar  II.  about  850  B.C.  It  was  finally  over, 
 thrown  by  Sargon  in  720  B.C.,  who  in  his  own  boastful 
 language  "  swept  over  its  land  like  a  flood."  Gath, 
 the  home  of  Goliath,  had  probably  lost  its  original 
 importance.  Uzziah  destroyed  it.  Were  Calno,  Hamath, 
 Gath,  more  important  than  Zion  or  Samaria  ?  Then, 
 says  the  prophet,  do  not  expect  in  your  opulence  and 
 self-satisfaction  immunity  from  a  worse  doom. 
 
 (3)  Far  away. — They  choose  to  think  that  the  day 
 of  reckoning  is  far  off,  and  cling  yet  closer  to  their 
 habits  of  defrauding  the  poor  at  the  seat  of  judgment. 
 (Comp.  Ezck.  xii.  21—28.) 
 
 (*/  Of  ivory— i.e.,  inlaid  with  that  material. 
 
 (5)  Chant. — The  original  Hebrew  oidy  occurs  in 
 this  passage,  and  is  best  rendered  prattle,  or  jabber. 
 The   comparison  with   David   is  ironical.     He   made 
 
 460 
 
 these  instruments  to  please  the  Lord,  these  princes  to 
 please  themselves. 
 
 (6)  Bowls. — The  extent  of  their  potations  is  indi- 
 cated by  the  fact  that  they  drink,  not  from  wine-cups, 
 but  from  large  bowls  (in  which  the  wine  was  probably 
 mixed).  The  same  word  is  used  in  Exod.  xxxviii.  3  to 
 describe  the  sacrificial  basons. 
 
 And  anoint  themselves  .  .  .—Render,  anoint 
 themselves  with  the  choicest  of  oils,  and  are  not  sick  at 
 heart  for  the  ruin  of  Joseph.  Self-indulgence  is  in- 
 different to  the  call  of  duty  or  danger. 
 
 (7)  Therefore  (as  a  punishment  for  this  self-indulgence) 
 they  shall  go  into  captivity  at  the  head  of  the  captives, 
 and  the  shout  of  the  loungers  (rioting  in  their  banquets) 
 shall  cease.  All  their  loud  merriment  will  come  to  a 
 sorry  end. 
 
 (8)  By  himself.— Literally,  by  His  sold.  Jehovah 
 swears  by  His  life  or  soul  because  He  could  swear  by  no 
 greater — the  eternal  "  I  Am."  (Comp.  the  formula  of 
 Divine  asseveration :  "  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord," 
 which  derives  illustration  from  the  custom  of  swear- 
 ing by  the  life  of  a  monarch;  Gen.  xlii.  15,  16.)  With 
 the  eternal  unchangeable  being  of  the  Supreme  Monarch 
 stands  contrasted  "  the  excellency  of  Jacob,"  the  false 
 futile  glory  which  Jehovah  abhors.  In  chap.  viii.  7 
 the  phrase  is  used  for  God  Himself;  not,  however,  in 
 either  passage  God's  absolute  perfection  or  objective 
 glory,  but  the  thoughts,  sometimes  wise,  sometimes 
 base,  which  men  have  entertained  about  Him.  From 
 the  context  we  infer  that  the  splendid  shrine  of 
 Samaria,  with  its  unacceptable  offerings  and  calf -wor- 
 ship, is  here  meant.  The  reference  to  the  coming 
 destruction  of  buildings  great  and  small  (verse  11) 
 lends  colour  to  this  interpretation.     (Comp.  verse  13.) 
 
 (9, 10)  Ten  .  .  .  uncle.— In  some  large  house  it 
 might  be  that  ten  are  left  remaining,  but  even  these  are 
 devoured  by  the  pestilence  which  hovers  in  the  track  of 
 war.  Nine  have  fallen  victims.  Fathers  and  brothers 
 are  all  gone,  and  the  uncle  comes  in  as  the  funereal 
 burner,  to  carry  out  the  corpse  to  the  pyre,  and  finds  in 
 the  innermost  parts  of  the  house  the  tenth  victim  of  the 
 fell  disease  yet  alive.  A  hurried  word  or  two  passes  be- 
 tween them :  "  Is  there  yet  another  with  thee  ?  "  and  the 
 answer  comes,  "  Not  one."  Then  shall  he  say  "  Hush  1  " 
 The  lonely  sufferer  begins  to  curse  the  Lord  for  His 
 
A  Nation  to  be  raited  >*/> 
 
 AMOS,    VI L. 
 
 against  the  House  of  Israel. 
 
 he  shall  say,  N<>.  Then  shall  he  say,  ocu.5.13 
 •  Hold  thy  tongue:  for  '  we  may  not  make 
 iin-iitioii  of  the  name-  of  the  Lokd. 
 (id  por)  behold,  the  Lokd  commandeth,  > 
 ami  he  will  Bmite  the  great  house  with 
 'breaches,  and  the  little  house  with 
 clefts. 
 
 (13)  Shall  horses  run  upon  the  rock  ? 
 will  one  plow  there  with  oxen?  for  ye 
 have  turned  judgment  into  gall,  and 
 tlir  fruit  of  righteousness  into  hemlock: 
 "  ;i  ye  which  rejoice  in  a  thin^  of  nought, 
 which  say,  Have  we  not  taken  to  us 
 horns  by  our  own  strength P  (U>  But, 
 heboid,  I  will  raise  up  against  you  a 
 nation,  O  house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Loud 
 the  God  of  hosts;  and  they  shall  afflict 
 
 3  Or,  valley. 
 
 I  Or,  f/rcen  worm*. 
 
 1  of  (or, 
 
 fori  Jot 
 
 you  from  the  entering  in  of  lb-math 
 unto  the  'river  of  the  wilderness. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII.— Thus  hath  tin- 
 Lord  God  shewed  unto  me;  and,  behold, 
 he  formed  'grasshoppers  in  the  begin- 
 ning of  the  shooting  up  of  the  latter 
 growth;    and,    lo,    it   wax   the   latter 
 
 growth  after  the  king's  mowings. 
 (->  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  they 
 had  made  an  end  <>t  eating  the  grass  of 
 the  land,  then  I  said,  O  Lord  God, 
 forgive,  I  beseech  thee:  5by  whom  shall 
 Jacob  arise?  for  he  is  small.  ,!;  The 
 I j < >  1  - 1  >  repented  for  this:  it  shall  not  be, 
 saith  the  Lokd. 
 
 WThus  hath  the    Lord  God   shewed 
 
 judgments,  or  it  may  be  liohogins  to  call  upon  tlio  Name 
 of  tin-  Lord  when  it  is  too  late,  when,  a-*  a  finishing  touch 
 of  darkest  doom  ''""1  despair,  he  is  interrupted  bj  a 
 warning  not  to  stir  \i]>  Jehovah's  wrath  in  this  dav  of 
 His  visitation  by  even  otdoning   His  name.    This 
 
 and  one  other  passage  I  I  Sam.  \xxi.  12)  imply  that  under 
 
 special  circumstances  the  Hebrews  burned  their  dead. 
 
 In  this  case  pestilence  made  cremation  a  necessity. 
 The  references  in  Li  Chrou.  xvi.  14,  xxi.  19 j  Jcr.  xxxiv. 
 ."»,  are  to  honorific  buruiug  of  spices  in  memory  of  the 
 dead. 
 
 (in  Breaches.— For  this  read  ruins.  (Sec  end  of 
 Note  on  verse  8.)  The  overthrow  of  all  classes  of  the 
 population  is  here  referred  to. 
 
 OS)  The  quest  ions  require  a  negative  answer,  and  show 
 
 that  the  conduct  of  Israel  is  as  inconsistent  and  sense- 
 less as  the  supposition  involved  in  the  interrogation: 
 
 that  horses  should  climb  steep  cliffs,  or  oxen  plough  in 
 the  rooky  gorge.  The  conception  of  oppression,  luxury, 
 and  pride  being  tlio  forerunners  of  prosperity  and 
 pet is    anomalous.      The    idea    is,    that    that    which 
 
 should  have  insured  the  stability  of  the  state,  the 
 embodiment   of  its  conscience,  bad  been  turned  into 
 
 narcotic  poison — the  self. satisfaction  of  personal  greed. 
 
 Bosh,  Hie  Hebrew  for  "gall,"  is  a  poisonous  kind  of 
 plant  with  hitter  taste,  and  resembling,  according  to 
 Jerome,  stalks  of  grass,  and  propagating  itself  with 
 
 such    rapidity    that    it    is    difficult    to    exterminate    it. 
 
 (Comp.  Hoses  x.  1.  Speaker's  Commentary  suggests 
 "poppy -head.")  In  chap,  v.  7  the  word  expressed  hereby 
 "hemlock"  is  rendered  "worm-wood,"  as  in  Jer.  ix.  16, 
 
 xxiii.  15;  Dent.  xxix.  Is,  \e..  a  rendering  which  should 
 have  lieen  retained  here,  (tall  and  worm-wood  are 
 constantly  associated    in    Old  Testament   prophecy    in 
 
 this  metaphorical  sense 
 
 (18)  A  thing  of  nought  refers  to  the  calf-worship, 
 the  idol  that  Israel  is  glorying  and  trusting  in,  tlio 
 idolatrous  travesty  of  the  Eternal  that  they  call  "the 
 excellency  of  Jacob."  (Comp.  Verse  S,  and  chap, 
 viii.  7.) 
 
 Taken  to  us  horns— i.e..  instruments  of  resist- 
 ance and  aggression,  the  horn  being  symbolic  of  strength 
 
 (Jer.  lhriii.25;  Pss.  lxxv.  ln.lxxxix.  17.xcii.  10 j  1  Sam. 
 ii.  10).  The  sacred  historian  takes  quite  a  different 
 view  fif  the  success  of  Jeroboam  II.  i  J  Kings  xiv.  26,  27). 
 These  boasters  reckoned  the  success  of  arms  as  ilue  to 
 their  own  ingenuity  or  "  power."     (Comp.  the  language 
 
 put  into  the  mouth  of  Pharaoh  by  E/.ekiel  xxix.  3: 
 "  My  river  is  my  own  i  I  made  it  for  myself.") 
 
 (!')  From  .  .  .  unto.— The  entire  limits  of  the 
 kingdom  of  Israel  after  tlio  victories  of  Jeroboam  II. 
 were,  according  to  Li  Kings  xiv.  25,  identical  with  tho 
 region  which  is  hero  threatened  with  invasion,  i.e., 
 extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Orontes  valley  (eomp. 
 Num.  xxxiv.  8  ;  Josh.  xiii.  5)  to  the  Wady  i  I  Ahsa,  the 
 southern  boundary  of  Moab.  (Comp.  Isa.  xv.  7,  where 
 the  Hebrew  name  appears  under  a  slightly  different 
 form,  implying  "  torrent  of  the  poplars.") 
 
 VII. 
 
 Here  commences  the  third  portion  of  the  prophecy. 
 
 It  is  of  a  different  class  from  that  which  has  pr ded. 
 
 and  may  have  formed  the  main  heads  of  public  dis- 
 courses, the  parabolic  ministry  of  the  prophet  in  the 
 earlier  stages  of  his  career.  These  fiats  of  destruction, 
 contained  in  the  visions  and  dreams  of  coming  doom, 
 had  been  arrested  by  the  intercession  of  the  prophet 
 himself.  But  the  time  was  approaching  when  prayer 
 would  be  of  no  avail,  and  the  desolation  of  tho 
 kingdom  would  be  complete. 
 
 (')  Each  of  the  visions  is  introduced  with  closely 
 resembling  words.    For  "grasshopper,"  read  locusts. 
 
 The  phrase  "king's  mowings"  suggests  that   the   king 
 
 claimed  tyrannically  the  first-fruits  of  the  hay  harvest, 
 which  was  ordinarily  followed  by  the  early  "rain  upon 
 the  mown  grass."     (Comp.  1  Kings  xviii.  5.) 
 
 (-)  The  grass  of  the  land.— The  same  word  is 
 used  ill  the  original  in  Gen.  i.  11.  signifying  herbs  and 
 vegetables.  Amos  saw  the  first  wave  of  disaster  in  the 
 destruction  of  the  food  of  the  people,  and  he  interceded 
 for  respite  and  forgiveness.  The  cry  takes  the  form, 
 ir/in  is  ,l,i, -,.li  Hi, it  /,,  should  stand  '  E.V..  "  by  «l  le.m." 
 is  incorrect)  for  he  is  small. 
 
 (:i)  The  Lord  repented.— The  judgment  is  with- 
 held. On  the  anthropomorphism  of  Jehovah  repenting, 
 comp.  Gen.  vi.  5  and  other  passages. 
 
 OFire. — The  poetical  description  of  a  yet  more  terri- 
 ble calamity.  God  announces  His  intention  of  judging. 
 '  ■  ..  punishing  by  fire  (the  word  in  E.V.,  "contend,"  is  to 
 be  understood  in  this  sense).  For  "a  portion"  read  the 
 portion.  The  image  is  that  of  a  prairie  fire,  that 
 should  eat  up  the  later  grass  spared  by  the  locusts. 
 The  consuming  of  the  "  great  deep  "  is  a  strong  hyper- 
 
 4U1 
 
Amaziah  the  Priest 
 
 AMOS,    VII. 
 
 and  Amos  the  Prophet. 
 
 unto  me:  and,  behold,  the  Lord  God 
 called  to  contend  by  fire,  and  it  devoured 
 the  great  deep,  and  did  eat  up  a  part. 
 (5)  Then  said  I,  0  Lord  God,  cease,  I 
 beseech  thee :  by  whom  shall  Jacob 
 arise?  for  he  is  small.  (6)  The  Lord 
 repented  for  this :  This  also  shall  not  be, 
 saith  the  Lord  God. 
 
 <7)  Thus  he  shewed  me :  and,  behold, 
 the  Lord  stood  upon  a  wall  made  by  a 
 plumbline,  with  a  plumbline  in  his  hand. 
 <s)  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Amos, 
 what  seest  thou  ?  And  I  said,  A  plumb- 
 line.  Then  said  the  Lord,  Behold,  I 
 will  set  a  plumbline  in  the  midst  of  my 
 people  Israel:  I  will  not  again  pass  by 
 them  any  more :  (SI)  and  the  high  places 
 of  Isaac  shall  be  desolate,  and  the  sanc- 
 tuaries of  Israel  shall  be  laid  waste ; 
 and  I  will  rise  against  the  house  of 
 Jeroboam  with  the  sword. 
 
 (io)  Then  Amaziah  the  priest  of 
 Beth-el  sent  to  Jeroboam  king  of  Israel, 
 
 l  Or.  sanctuary. 
 
 2   Heb.,   house   of 
 the  kingdom. 
 
 3  Or,  wtl&flga. 
 
 Heb.,  from    be- 
 hind. 
 
 saying,  Amos  hath  conspired  against 
 thee  in  the  midst  of  the  house  of  Israel: 
 the  land  is  not  able  to  bear  all  his 
 words.  (U)  For  thus  Amos  saith,  Jero- 
 boam shall  die  by  the  sword,  and  Israel 
 shall  surely  be  led  away  captive  out  of 
 their  own  land.  (13)  Also  Amaziah  said 
 unto  Amos,  0  thou  seer,  go,  flee  thee 
 away  into  the  land  of  Judah,  and  there 
 eat  bread,  and  prophesy  there  :  (13>  but 
 prophesy  not  again  any  more  at  Beth-el: 
 for  it  is  the  king's  1  chapel,  and  it  is  the 
 3king's  court. 
 
 (U)  Then  answered  Amos,  and  said  to 
 Amaziah,  I  was  no  prophet,  neither  was 
 I  a  prophet's  son;  but  I  ivas  an  herdman, 
 and  a  gatherer  of  3sycomore  fruit : 
 <15>  and  the  Lord  took  me  4as  I  followed 
 the  flock,  and  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 
 Go,  prophesy  unto  my  people  Israel. 
 (is)  Now  therefore  hear  thou  the  word  of 
 the  Lord  :  Thou  sayest,  Prophesy  not 
 against  Israel,  "and  drop  not  thy  ivord 
 
 bole,  and  can  scarcely  refer  to  the  "  heathen  world," 
 as  Keil  maintains.  The  meaning  rather  appears  to  be 
 that  not  only  the  solitary  remnant  of  pasture,  but  the 
 deepest  springs  of  moisture,  will  be  scorched  up  in  the 
 blaze.  The  same  word  for  "  deep  "  (tehum)  is  used  in 
 Gen.  i.  2,  vii,  11,  vm.  2.  (Comp.  the  Assyrian  tihamtu.) 
 (5,6)  Instead  of  "forgive,"  the  prophet  now  only 
 ventures  to  say  "cease,"  a  cry  for  arrest  of  judgment. 
 Yet  the  same  plea  for  pity  is  urged  as  before.  Jero- 
 boam II.  and  his  house  are  spared  for  awhile.  But 
 another  awful  vision  comes  to  the  prophet. 
 
 (7)  Wall  made  by  a  plumbline — i.e.,  a  perpen- 
 dicular wall,  the  stability  of  the  kingdom  being  repre- 
 sented by  the  closely-fitting  well-jointed  stones  of  a 
 lofty  wall.  Right  in  the  heart  of  this  strong-built  city, 
 the  Lord  Himself  marks  the  extent  of  the  desolation, 
 the  plumb-line  being  used  in  dismantling  buildings,  as 
 well  as  erecting  them  (2  Kings xxi.  13;  Isa.  xxxiv.  11). 
 
 (8)  Pass  by  them.— In  the  sense  of  sparing. 
 There  will  come  a  time  when  prayer  will  be  of  no  avail. 
 All  intercessions,  however  passionate  or  eager,  will  be 
 too  late.     The  door  of  mercy  is  shut. 
 
 (9)  High  places  of  Isaac— The  name  Isaac  is 
 here  spelt  somewhat  differently  in  the  Hebrew  from  the 
 form  we  have  in  Genesis.  The  LXX.  misunderstand  the 
 word,  and  render  "  altars  of  laughter,"  in  accordance 
 with  the  etymological  sense  of  the  proper  name.  The 
 residents  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Beersheba  may  have 
 boasted  of  the  favour  or  honour  belonging  to  them,  as 
 occupying  the  home  of  Isaac  and  the  birthplace  of 
 Jacob. 
 
 Will  rise  against.— This  dreadful  doom  fell  on 
 the  house  of  Jeroboam,  and  was  the  prelude  of  the 
 final  destruction  of  the  nations  by  Shalmanescr  IV.,  in 
 721  (2  Kings  xv.  10). 
 
 (10)  There  follows  a  brief  historical  interlude  of  much 
 interest.  It  shows  that  the  effect  of  the  preaching  of 
 the  Judsean  prophet  had  been  felt  in  the  sanctuary  at 
 Bethel  and  the  palaces  at  Samaria.  The  chief  priest 
 of  the  Temple,  with  the  characteristic  exaggeration  of 
 
 4G2 
 
 fear  and  anger,  accuses  Amos  of  treason  against  the 
 house  of  Jeroboam. 
 
 (11)  Die  by  the  sword.— So  far  as  the  words  of  the 
 prophecy  are  concerned,  it  was  not  accurate  to  say  that 
 Amos  had  threatened  Jeroboam  with  the  sword. 
 
 (12,  13)  Jeroboam  treated  the  charge  made  by  Amaziah 
 with  indifference,  or  perhaps  with  awe :  at  least,  with 
 silence.  And  so  the  priest  of  Bethel  takes  upon  him- 
 self to  dismiss  the  prophet  from  the  kingdom.  The 
 word  for  "seer"  is  here  chozeh,  one  who  has  visions, 
 a  word  not  used  in  a  contemptuous  sense  here  or  in  the 
 Old  Testament  generally.  The  expression  "there  eat 
 bread  and  prophecy  "  is  a  hendiadys  for  "  there  live  on 
 your  profession  as  a  prophet,"  not  here.  To  this  Amos 
 replies  that  that  was  not  his  profession  (verse  14). 
 Bethel  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  holy  place,"  or  sanctuary, 
 and  also  as  the  "royal  residence "  (E.V.,  "king's 
 court  ").  Men  blinded  by  prejudice,  and  bewildered 
 by  the  light  of  our  Lord's  holy  presence,  besought 
 him  to  depart  from  them.  The  awful  peril  of  implor- 
 ing God's  messenger  to  withdraw  is  frequently  referred 
 to  in  Scripture.     (Comp.  Luke  x.  10 — 12.) 
 
 (u)  I  was  .  .  . — An  interesting  biographical  touch. 
 Prophecy,  like  other  occupations,  tended  to  form  a  here- 
 ditary guild,  but  Amos  was  not  by  birth  a  prophet.  The 
 word  for  "  gatherer  "  is  rendered  in  the  LXX.  and  Vulg. 
 "nipper,"  or  "pinchcr."  There  was  a  custom  men- 
 tioned in  Theophrastus,  Hist.  Plant.,  iv.  2,  Pliny,  Hist. 
 Nat.,  xiii.  14,  of  pinching  or  scratching  the  mulberry-fig 
 in  order  to  make  it  ripen.  But  it  is  very  doubtful 
 whether  this  is  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  here, 
 which  is  nowhere  else  employed. 
 
 (is)  Followed  the  floek.—  There  is  no  hint  of  any 
 lack  of  education  or  refinement  (see  Introduction) 
 through  the  exclusion  of  any  special  aid  derived  from 
 the  training  of  earlier  prophets.  In  this  case  God's 
 inward  call  had  been  more  than  sufficient. 
 
 (is)  Drop  not.— A  word  used  in  the  Song  of  Moses 
 for  "  distil,"  expressing  persuasive  and  flowing  discourse 
 (Deut.  xxxii.  2 ;  Ezek.'xxi.  2,  7 ;  Micah  ii.  6,  11). 
 
■God's  Judgments 
 
 AMOS,    VIIT. 
 
 upon  Israel. 
 
 against  (lie  house  of  Isaac.    (^There- 
 fore  thus  Baith   the    Loed;  Thj    wife 
 
 shall    be  an   harlot    in   the  city,  and    tin 
 
 sons  ami  thy  daughters  shall  fall  by  the 
 sword,  ami  thy  land  shall  be  divided  by 
 
 line;   and    fchoo   shall    die   in   a   polluted 
 land  :    and    Israel    shall    surely   yo    into 
 
 captri  it 3  forth  of  hie  land. 
 
 CHAPTEE  VI II.— Thus  hath  the 
 Lord  God  shewed  onto  me:  and  behold 
 a  basket  <>t;  Bummer  fruit.    '-''  And  he 
 
 said,   AmOS,   what    sorst     thouP    And     1 
 
 said,  A  baskel  of  summer  fruit.  Then 
 .said  the  Loed  onto  me,  The  end  is 
 come  upon  my  people  of  Israel;  I  will 
 not  again  pass  by  them  any  more. 
 <3>  And  the  Bongsof  the  temple  '  shall  be 
 
 howlingS  in  that  day,  ,-aitli  the  Lord 
 God  :  there  skull  In:  many  drad  bodies  in 
 every  plan';  they  shall  cast,  them  forth 
 -w it h  silence. 
 
 4  Uvb.,  open. 
 
 :.  Flt'b., 
 
 '"  Hear  this,  Oye  thai  swallowup  the 
 
 needy,  even  to  make  the  poor  of  the 
 land  tn  fail,  '"  saying,  When  will  the 
 ;  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may  sell 
 corn?  and  the  sabbath,  that  we  may 
 'set  forth  wheat,  making  the  ephah 
 small,  ami  the  shekel  great,  ami  s falsi- 
 fying the  balances  by  deceit?    "'That 
 
 we  may  I  my  the  p«,nr  for  'silver,  and  the 
 needy  for  a  pair  of  shoes;  yea,  and  sell 
 the  refuse  of  the  wheatP  '"'  The  Lobd 
 hath  sworn  by  the  excellency  <■!'  Jacob, 
 Surely  I  will  never  forge!  any  of  their 
 works.     W  Shall  not  the  land  tremble 
 
 for    this,    and     every    one     mourn     that 
 
 dwelleth  therein P  and  it  shall  rise  op 
 wholly  as  a  flood;  and  it  shall  be  east 
 out  and  drowned,  as  by  the  flood  of 
 Egypt.  <">  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in 
 that  day,  Baith  the  Lord  God,  that  I 
 will  cause  the  sun  to  go  down  at  noon, 
 and  I  will  darken  the  earth  in  the  clear 
 
 ('">  Harlot.— Tliis  di  am  on  Amaziah's  wife  is  to  be 
 
 regarded  as  the  lii'l a isequence  of  war.    She  shall 
 
 be  ravished.    i'>y  the  polluted  land  we  aretonnderatand 
 
 Assyria,  or  the  land  of  exile;  for  t' I  eaten  in  any 
 
 other  land  than(  lanaan,  theland  of  Jehovah,  was  regarded 
 aclean  (see  W.  ft.  Smith,  O.T.  in  Jewish  Church, 
 pp.  235    8).     We  bear  no  more  of  Ama/.iah.  nor  do  we 
 know  how  or  where  he  met  his  doom. 
 
 V11I. 
 
 Pi  -'  The  visions  are  resumed  as  though  the  priest  at 
 Bethcl.lial  trembled  at  the  presence  of  Ajnos,  and  had 
 ceased  to  persecute  him.  Then'  is  a  remarkable  play 
 of  words,  gait*  being  the  Bebrew  for  "  summer  fruit." 
 and  ;/■ I    for  "end."    It  is  harvest  time,  the  end  of  the 
 
 agricultural  year.  Israel  is  ripe  for  his  final  doom,  that 
 shall  sweep  down  like  a  scythe.      For  "  pass  by  "  see  mi 
 
 chap,  \  ii.  8. 
 
 W>   Temple.— The  word    tlius  rendered  {hSchal    also 
 
 signifies  "  palace,"  and  this  is  probably  the  meaning  in 
 this  passage.  The  "  songs  "  have  been  already  spoken  of 
 in  chap.  vi.  .">.  The  construction  of  the  following  clauses 
 in  the  original  is  somewhat  doubtful.  Some  commen- 
 tators would  break  up  the  sentence  into  abrupt  ejacula- 
 tions. Tims  Keil : — "corpses  in  multitude;  in  every 
 place  he  hath  east  them  forth  :  Hush  I"  For  "he  hath 
 oast,"  some  would  read  .  with  J  Heb.  MSS.  i  the  impera- 
 tive, "east  them  forth."  But  it  would  be  better,  and  more 
 in  consonance  with  the  stylo  of  Amos,  to  connect  the 
 clauses  together  thus :  There  shaU  b  corpses  in 
 
 i  place  thai  one  hath  <-.t.<t  away  in  hushed  silence. 
 The  words  describe  the  reign  of  death  and  doom,  with 
 
 none  to  bury  or  make  lamentation — a  full  end. 
 
 <l  Yo  that  swallow  up  .  .  .—Better,  ye  that 
 2^a»l  lor  ore  greedy  for  the  very  ashes  on  their  heads. 
 
 Make  ...  to  fail.— Literally,  make  .  .  .  to 
 ;.'\.  destroy. 
 
 <■'"  When  .  .  .  gone.— They  desired  that  the 
 festivals  of  the  New  Ubon  and  Sabbath  should  be  over, 
 
 when  they  might  not  only  return  to  their  secular  em- 
 ployments, but  pursue  their  search  for  ill-gotten  gains 
 
 — a  proof  that  these  festivals  were  observed  in  the 
 northern  nation,  even  if  they  were  disliked. 
 
 Set  forth  wheat.-  The  original  signifies  the 
 opening  of  the  sacks,  or  granaries,  where  the  wheat 
 was  stored.  The  greedy  mercantile  das.,  i,  referred  to. 
 The  ephah,  which  was  a  dry  measure  [=  three  English 
 peeks,  was  "made  small.'' so  that   a   smaller  quantity 
 
 might  In-  sold.    The  shekel  was  the  weight    against 
 
 which    the  precious   metal   was   weighed.      If   this   w,  re 
 
 fraudulently  augmented,  more  of  the  gold  or  silver  than 
 was  due  was  demanded  for  the  impoverished  ephah. 
 
 Falsifying  the  balances  .  .  .—More  accurately, 
 falsifying  the  deceitful  balances,  so  that  the  very 
 symliol  of  justice  became  the  implement  of  committing 
 
 injustice.  This  is  frequently  condemned  in  tiie  Law 
 and  Prophets  Lev.  xix.  35,  36;  Deut.  xxv.  15;  1'rov. 
 xi.  1 ;  Micah  vi.  1 1 '. 
 
 I6)  On  this  perverse  straining  of  the  Law.  eonip.  chap. 
 ii.  6.    Their  money-making  propensity  was  carried  to 
 
 such    unscrupulous   lnrngtlw,   that    they   even    sold    the 
 
 refuse  of  corn,  little  better  than  mere  chaff. 
 
 i">  Excellency  of  Jacob.— In  the  previous  use  of 
 this  remarkable  expression   chap.  vi.  8)  Jehovah  is  said 
 
 to  abhor  it.  hut  here  He  swears  by  it.  The  "excellency" 
 which  He  abhorred  was  the  miserable  substitute  which 
 they  had  made  for  His  great  Name.  Here  He  gives  it 
 the  value  which,  in  itself,  it  ought  to  poSG 
 
 (8)  Shall  not  the  land  .  .  .  ?— The  rendering 
 should  be,  Thi  whole  of  it  rises  as  the  Nile,  surges  and 
 subsides  (oi  as  ih.   Egyptian  Nile.    The  - 
 
 land  shall  rise  up  in  earthquake,  like  the  Xile  that 
 ascends  twenty  feet  in  the  time  of  its  inundation,  and 
 then  subsides. 
 
 <9>  Darken  the  earth.— The  darkening  of  the  sun 
 at  noon-day  gives  an  image  of  confusion  and  terror 
 
 Op.  chap.  v.  20),     The  eclipse  of  the  sun  that  is  here 
 alluded   to    see  /.'     ";s»s-  C I,  like  the  earthquake  in  the 
 
 preceding  vers,.,  is  employed  as  a  powerful  image  of 
 
 national  calamity,  the  extinction  of  the  royal  house, 
 and  perhaps  the  final  overthrow  of  Israel.  (Comp. 
 Jer.  xv.  'J ;  Ezek.  xxxii.  7 — 10.) 
 
 463 
 
Days  of  Famine. 
 
 AMOS,   IX. 
 
 TJte  Last  Vision. 
 
 day :  (10)  and  I  will  turn  your  feasts  into 
 mourning,  and  all  your  songs  into  lamen- 
 tation; and  I  will  bring  up  sackcloth 
 upon  all  loins,  and  baldness  upon  every 
 head ;  and  I  will  make  it  as  the  mourn- 
 ing of  an  only  son,  and  the  end  thereof 
 as  a  bitter  day. 
 
 (11)  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the 
 Lord  God,  that  I  will  send  a  famine  in 
 the  land,  not  a  famine  of  bread,  nor  a 
 thirst  for  water,  but  of  hearing  the 
 words  of  the  Lord  :  (12)  and  they  shall 
 wander  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the 
 north  even  to  the  east,  they  sball  run  to 
 and  fro  to  seek  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
 and  shall  not  find  it.  <13)  In  tbat  day 
 shall  the  fair  virgins  and  young  men 
 faint  for  thirst.  <14>  They  that  swear  by 
 the  sin  of  Samaria,  and  say,  Thy  god, 
 
 1  Or,  chapiter,  or, 
 kiiop. 
 
 •2  Or,  wound  them. 
 
 O  Dan,  liveth;  and,  The  manner  of 
 Beer-sheba  liveth ;  even  they  shall  fall, 
 and  never  rise  up  again. 
 
 CHAPTER  IX.— I  saw  the  Lord 
 standing  upon  the  altar :  and  he  said, 
 Smite  the  '  lintel  of  the  door,  that  the 
 posts  may  shake  :  and  2  cut  them  in  the 
 head,  all  of  them;  and  I  will  slay  the 
 last  of  them  with  the  sword :  he  that 
 fleeth  of  them  shall  not  flee  away,  and 
 he  that  escapeth  of  them  shall  not  be 
 delivered.  <2>  "Though  they  dig  into 
 hell,  thence  shall  mine  hand  take  them ; 
 though  they  climb  up  to  heaven,  thence 
 will  I  bring  them  down :  (3>  and 
 though  they  hide  themselves  in  the  top 
 of  Carmel,  I  will  search  and  take  them 
 out  thence;  and  though  they  be  hid  from 
 
 (10,  11)  The  imagery  is  very  vivid.  The  prophet 
 threatens  a  famine  of  the  word  of  Jehovah,  and  a 
 parching  thirst  for  the  Water  of  Life,  now  no  longer 
 attainable.  Such  terrible  destitution  often  supervenes 
 on  the  neglect  of  the  Word  of  God,  the  power  to 
 discern  the  ever-present  Word  being  exhausted.  Then 
 comes  the  withdrawal  of  revelation,  the  silence  of  seers. 
 One  of  the  awful  dooms  of  unbelief  in  the  next  world 
 will  be  this  famine,  this  hopeless  thirst  and  fathomless 
 suspense. 
 
 (12)  They  shall  wander  from  sea  to  sea  .  .  .— 
 Stagger  and  reel  from  east,  to  west  to  find  one  seer 
 who  knows  the  mind  of  the  Lord :  they  shall  not  find 
 one.  The  reference  to  the  east  here  has  an  instructive 
 parallel  in  Isa.  ii.  6,  where  the  house  of  Jacob  is 
 denounced  as  being  "full  of  the  east."  Probably 
 Delitzsch  is  right  in  interpreting  the  east  there  to 
 mean  Arabia  as  inclusive  of  the  whole  tract  from  the 
 Sinaitic  peninsula  to  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates.  The 
 north  would  mean  Phoenicia  and  Aram.  From  these 
 districts  the  distracted  superstitious  Hebrew  sought 
 vain  help  in  idolatrous  forms  of  divination. 
 
 (13)  Faint. — That  fair  virgins  and  strong  brave  youths 
 should  faint  by  reason  of  their  raging  thirst  suggests 
 that  the  less  vigorous  would  suffer  even  more  keenly.  It 
 is  sad  when  old  men  stumble  into  the  darkness  of  unbelief 
 amid  the  shining  of  the  noon-day  sun,  seeing  that  they 
 can  remember  the  brightness  of  their  morning,  but  there 
 is  always  hope  that  their  child-like  spirit  may  return  to 
 them,  and  that  at  the  evening  time  it  may  be  light ;  but 
 if  fair  virgins  and  strong  youths  are  covered  with  the 
 inward  veil,  what  will  become  of  them  in  their  westering 
 days  ?  and  where  will  the  elders  bo  if  they  have  had 
 no  youth  ? 
 
 (14)  Thy  God,  O  Dan,  liveth— Translate,  By  the 
 life  of  thy  God,  0  Dan,  and  by  the  life  of  the  way  of 
 Beersheba.  On  such  forms  of  oath,  sec  Note  on  chap, 
 vi.  8.  The  "way  of  Beersheba"  was  the  ritual  practised 
 at  Beersheba,  another  mode  of  designating  the  deity 
 himself  (probably  Baal).*  So  LXX.  Similarly  the  "  sin 
 
 *  From  chap.  v.  5  we  infer  that  Beersheba,  lying  far  south  on 
 the  borders  of  Judah  (twenty-five  geographical  miles  south  of 
 Hebron),  was  a  famous  religious  centre,  so  that  inhabitants  of 
 the  northern  kingdom  were  in  the  habit  of  "crossing  the 
 frontier "  in  order  to  pay  their  vows,  or  enquire  at  this  high 
 place. 
 
 •4(34 
 
 of  Samaria"  means  the  golden  calf  that  was  wor- 
 shipped there  (Hosea  viii.  5).  The  supposition  of 
 Hitzig  and  Duhm  (followed  by  W.  R.  Smith)  that  it 
 refers  to  the  Ashei'ah  worship  (2  Kings  xiii.  6)  is  not  so 
 probable. 
 
 IX. 
 
 (!)  The  last  vision  is  transferred  to  the  shrine  at 
 Bethel,  the  seat  of  the  calf-worship.  The  prophet  sees 
 Jehovah  Himself  standing  in  pomp  by  the  altar  of  burnt 
 offering,  aud  by  His  side  the  angel  of  His  presence,  to 
 whom  now,  as  on  many  other  occasions,  the  mission  of 
 destruction  has  been  entrusted.  To  him  the  words  of 
 Jehovah  are  addressed  (so  Aben  Ezra,  Kimchi).  It  is 
 doubtful  what  is  meant  by  the  Hebrew  Caphtur  (mis- 
 translated "lintel  of  the  door").  It  may  mean  the 
 wreathed  capital  of  the  columns,  as  in  Zeph.  ii.  14.  So 
 Hitzig  and  Keil.  The  word  sippim  (mistranslated 
 "  posts  "  )  properly  signifies  "  thresholds,"  but  is  here 
 understood  by  the  first-mentioned  commentator  to  mean 
 the  cornice  supported  by  the  columns.  This  is  confirmed 
 by  the  LXX.  on  Isa.  vi.  4  (see  Delitzsch  ad  loc). 
 But  as  there  is  no  mention  of  the  temple  building,  but 
 only  of  the  altar  of  burnt  offering,  it  is  much  safer  to 
 adhere  to  the  ordinary  and  well-established  significa- 
 tions of  these  terms.  We  should  accordingly  follow 
 Ewald  in  taking  Caphtor  as  referring  to  the  oma. 
 mented  horns  of  the  altar.  Similarly,  in  Exod.  xxv.  31, 
 xxxvii.  17,  it  signifies  the  richly  decorated  extremities  of 
 the  golden  candelabra.  The  scene  is  wonderfully  vivid. 
 Round  the  colossal  altar  of  burnt  offering  a  crowd  of 
 eager  devotees  is  gathered.  Jehovah  gives  the  word 
 of  command  to  His  angel,  and  with  a  blow  that  shakes 
 the  very  threshold  the  ornamented  altar  horns  are 
 shivered  to  fragments,  which  are  hurled  down  upon 
 the  panic-stricken  multitude  below. 
 
 And  cut  .  .  . — Rather,  arid  dash  them  in  pieces 
 upon  the  head  of  all  of  them. 
 
 (2)  Dig. — For  this  expression  break  should  be  sub- 
 stituted. "Hell,"  or  rather.  Hades  (Sheol),  the  dark 
 abode  of  the  gathered  dead,  is  contrasted  with 
 "heaven,"  the  abode  of  light.  Escape  from  the 
 universal  Lord  is  impossible. 
 
 (3)  Serpent.— On  this  expression,  i.e.,  the  "water- 
 serpent,"  comp.  Isa.  xxvii.  1. 
 
God  Declares  Himself. 
 
 AMOS,   IX. 
 
 .1  Glud  Restoration. 
 
 my  sight  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  thence 
 will  I  comma i nl  the  serpent,  ami  he 
 shall  bite  them.  1*)  And  though  they  go 
 into  captivity  before  their  enemies, 
 thence  will  I  command  the  sword,  ami 
 it  shall  slay  them  :  and  "  I  will  set  mine 
 eyes  upon  them  Cur  evil,  ami  not  for 
 good.  W  And  the  Lord  (ion  of  hosts  is 
 he  that  tOUCheth  the  land,  and  it  shall 
 melt,  and  all  that  dwell  therein  shall 
 mourn  :  and  it  shall  rise  up  wholly  like 
 a  flood ;  and  shall  be  drowned,  as  by 
 the  Hood  of  Egypt,  "■lit  is  he  that 
 buildeth  bis  '-'stories  in  the  heaven,  and 
 
 hath  founded  his  ''troop  in  the  earth;  he 
 that  "oaUeth  for  the  waters  of  the  sea, 
 ami  poureth  them  out  upon  the  face  of 
 the  earth  :  The  Lord  is  his  name. 
 
 Ire  ,\e  not  as  children  of  the  Ethio- 
 pians unto  me,  O  children  of  Israel? 
 saith  the  Lokd.  Have  not  I  brought  up 
 Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt?  and 
 the  'Philistines  from  Caphtor,  and  the 
 Syrians  from  Kir?  <s|  Behold,  the  eyes 
 of  the  Lord  (Jod  are  upon  the  sinful 
 kingdom,  and  I  will  destroy  it  from  oft' 
 
 ■i  .1.  r.  ii.  ii. 
 
 1  Or,  iphcra. 
 
 2  H0b.,MMM(0fU 
 
 It  Pi.  1M.  S. 
 
 ■  .  h.  :■  s 
 
 a  i. 
 
 i    llrl...  cause   to 
 
 •  Mi  li,.  atone. 
 e  Acta  15.  10. 
 
 'I   Hi  Ii  ,  hedije,  or, 
 watt. 
 
 7  ll«-l>..  up 
 
 8     Hell.,     dni'i-'th 
 
 forth. 
 
 9  Or,  «rm  wine. 
 
 t  jooia.  i«. 
 
 the  face  of  the  earth ;  saving  that  I  w  ill 
 not  utterly  destroy  the  house  of  Jacob, 
 saith  the  Lord.  W  For,  lo,  I  will  com- 
 mand,  and  I  will  4sift  the  house  of 
 Israel  among  all  nations,  like  as  n,,»  is 
 sifted  in  a  sieve,  yet  shall  not  the  least 
 1  grain  fall  upon  the  earth.  {1">  All  the 
 si  in  H  ts  of  my  people  shall  die  by  the 
 sword,  which  say,  The  evil  shall  not 
 overtake  nor  prevent  us. 
 
 (U)  Li  that  day  will  I  raise  up  the 
 'tabernacle  of  David  that  is  fallen,  and 
 "close  up  the  breaches  thereof;  and  1 
 will  raise  up  his  ruins,  and  I  will  build 
 it  as  in  the  days  of  old:  (1-'  that  they 
 may  possess  the  remnant  of  Edom,  and 
 of  all  the  heathen,  7  which  are  called  by 
 my  name,  saith  the  Lord  that  doeth 
 this.  <13)  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith 
 the  Lord,  that  the  plowman  shall  over- 
 take the  reaper,  and  the  t reader  of 
 grapes  him  that  9soweth  seed;  and  the 
 mountains  shall  drop  9/sweet  wine,  ami 
 all  the  hills  shall  melt.  <u>  And  I  will 
 bring  again  the  captivity  of  my  people 
 of  Israel,  and  they  shall  build  the  waste 
 
 (5.  <>>  Accumulate  in  grand  imagery  the  majesty, 
 power,  a  i  ii  I  irresistible  resources  of  the   Lord,  who  has 
 
 :it  length  become  their  enemy.    The  very  world  itself 
 
 melts,  as  Sinai  did,  at   His  touch. 
 
 The  word  "  is  "  should  be  omitted  in  the  rendering. 
 
 The  predicate  "Jehovah  [  the  Lord)  is  His  name"  (verse 
 (!)  stands  at  the  end  of  a  scries  of  attributive  clauses. 
 
 Liko  a  flood  .  .  . — The  sentence  should  run 
 thus:  'The  whole  of  it  rises  like  the  Nile,  and  subsides 
 (or  sinks)  like  the  Egyptian  Nile.  The  futuro  tonses 
 should  be  replaced  by  presents.    (Comp.  ohap.  viii.  8.) 
 
 Stories  -i.e.,  upper  rooms  (comp.  Ps.  civ.  3).  The 
 word  tor  "troop"  is  rightly  rendered  "arch,"  or 
 "vault."  from  a  root  signifying  to  bind  or  compact 
 together,  the  sky  being  regarded   as  a  "firmament."  or 
 
 Bond  extension,  which  rested  on  the  earth  as  a  foundation. 
 
 (")  Ethiopians. — Israel  had  presumed  on  the  special 
 
 Favour  of  Jehovah.    The  prophet  asks  them  whether, 
 
 after  all,  they  are  better  or  safer  than  the  Ethiopians, 
 
 Whom  I  hoy  despised.    He  who  led  Israel  from  Egypt  also 
 
 brought  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor.  and  the  Syrians 
 bom  Kir,    Caphtor  is  mentioned  in  the  table  of  races, 
 
 Gen.  x.  1  t    where  the  clause  referring  to  the  Philistines 
 
 should  probably  be  placed  at  the  end  of  the  verse).  The 
 I. XX.  followed  by  the Targums and  Peshito  interpret 
 
 Caphtor  ns  Cappadocia.  probably  from  resemblance  in 
 form.     R.  S.  Poole,  art.  "Caphtor,"  in  the   Dictionary 
 
 of  the  Bible,  compares  the  Egyptian  Kebtu  or  Koptos, 
 and  places  theCaphtorim  in  Upper  Egypt,  while  fibers 
 
 holds  that  they  had  their  settlements  in  the  Nile  delta. 
 
 But  the  identification  of  Caphtor  with  Crete  is  most 
 
 probable.  So  Kosenmuller.  Lwald,  Dillmann.  Ac.  On 
 Kir.  probably  E.  of  the  Euphrates,  see  Note  on  chap.  i.  ">. 
 (s>  Sinful  nation.— The  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes 
 which  had  so  utterly  revolted  from  tho  true  centre  and 
 spiritual  ideas  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah. 
 
 169  <66 
 
 (9.  10)  Sift.— Literally,  shake  to  and  fro.  That 
 which  is  not  chaff  shall  be  preserved  and  dispersed 
 as  seed.  The  race  shall  live,  though  the  kingdom  be 
 destroyed.  This  peculiar  judgment  is  threatened  in 
 Lev.  xxvi.  33;  Deut.  xxviii.  b'4.  (Comp.  Hosea  ix.  17.) 
 The  prediction  is  very  remarkable,  as  pointing  to  tho 
 indestructible  vitality  of  the  race,  and  its  wide  diffusion 
 among  all  nations. 
 
 Prevent  us. — Better,  assail  us. 
 
 til,  12)  These  verses  present  some  difficulties,  as  the 
 quotation  of  the  passage  in  Acts  xv.  15 — 17  is  a  free 
 reproduction  by  St.  James  of  the  rendering  of  the  LXX. 
 The  apostle  uses  it  to  show  that  there  was  a  prophetic 
 promise  that  after  the  dispersion  of  Israel  the  power 
 and  throne  of  David  should  be  so  re-established  that  it 
 might  be  a  rallying-place  of  the  rest  of  the  nations, 
 "  that  the  residue  of  men  should  seek  after  the  Lord" 
 (LXX.  "me").  The  clause  which  is  quoted  show 
 the  LXX.  made  their  translation  from  a  different 
 Hebrew  text  from  ours,  and  probably  an  inferior  one. 
 The  word  for  "men"  [adam  was  read  in  place  of  Edom 
 in  the  Masoretie  text.  The  rendering  "  seek  "  can  also 
 bo  accounted  for  by  a  slight  modification  of  the 
 Hebrew  characters.  Tho  remarks  of  Dr.  Stanley 
 Loathes  [Old  Testament  Prnplieeij.  p.  7<i  upon  this 
 passage  arc  worthy  of  attention: — "The  Creek  text. 
 which  the  apostle  did  not  make,  but  found,  lent  itself  even 
 more  forcibly  than  the  Hebrew  to  the  peculiar  circum- 
 stances of  the  time  .  .  .  That  he  was  not  speaking 
 critically  we  are  willing  to  admit,  but  arc  we  sure 
 that  he  was  bound  to  do  so?  At  all  events,  our  criticism 
 will  best  display  itself  in  judging  his  Words  according 
 to  his  standard,  and  not  according  to  one  which,  it  is 
 plain,  he  did  not  follow," 
 
 (i3)  Shall  overtake  the  roaper.— So  rapidly 
 will  tho  harvest  follow  tho  ploughing.     These  closing 
 
The  Glories  of  the 
 
 AMOS,   IX. 
 
 Restored  Kingdom. 
 
 cities,  and  inhabit  them ;  and  they  shall 
 plant  vineyards,  and  drink  the  wine 
 thereof;  they  shall  also  make  gardens, 
 and  eat  the  fruit  of  them.     (15>  And  I 
 
 will  plant  them  upon  their  land,  and 
 they  shall  no  more  be  pulled  up  out  of 
 their  land  which  I  have  given  them, 
 saith  the  Loed  thy  God. 
 
 verses     foreshadow    the     glories     of     the     restored 
 kingdom   of  David  (coinp.  Hosea  iii.  5),  wherein  we 
 
 see  the  germ   of  the  great  Messianic  prophecies  of 
 Isaiah. 
 
 EXCURSUS    ON    NOTES    TO    AMOS. 
 
 EXCURSUS  A   (Chap.  iv.  3). 
 
 The  rendering  of  the  LXX.,"  to  the  mountain  Reminau 
 (or  Romman),"  lias  suggested  to  Ewald  the  interpreta- 
 tion, And  shall  cast  Rimmona  to  the  mountain,  i.e., 
 in  their  flight  (comp.  Isa.  ii.  18 — 21),  Rimmona  being 
 the  idol-goddess  of  love,  corresponding  to  the  mas- 
 culine deity  Rirninon  (2  Kings  v.  18).  In  this 
 ingenious,  though  somewhat  far-fetched,  interpretation 
 of  a  difficult  passage,  it  will  be  observed  that  Ewald 
 takes  the  Hebrew  verb  as  an  active,  and  not  a  passive. 
 In  this  he  is  supported  by  most  MSS. 
 
 But  the  credit  of  suggesting  the  most  plausible 
 explanation  belongs  to  Hitzig,  who,  in  his  commentary, 
 proposes  to  read   Hadad-Rimmon,  and  translates,   Ye 
 
 shall  be  cast  away  to  Hadad-Rimmon.  On  Zech.  xii. 
 11,  there  is  a  long  note  by  Steiner  supporting  the  sup- 
 position that  Hadad-Rimmon  was  a  modified  designa- 
 tion of  the  sun-god,  and  was  likewise  the  counterpart  of 
 the  Greek  Adonis,  over  whose  wounding  and  death 
 there  was  an  annual  lamentation,  in  which  the  women 
 took  part,  and  gave  way  to  all  kinds  of  excess.  Hadad- 
 Rimmon  was,  therefore,  the  name  of  the  deity  and  the 
 locality  of  his  worship  (comp.  Ashtaroth  Karnaim  and 
 other  examples),  now  called  Rummdne,  four  miles  south 
 of  Ledshun  (Megiddo).  To  this  spot  the  women  were 
 to  be  carried  off  for  purposes  of  prostitution.  (Comp. 
 the  threat  pronounced  by  the  prophet,  chap.  vii.  1 7.) 
 
 EXCURSUS   B   (Chap.  v.  26). 
 
 Three  obscure  points  render  this  verse  one  of  the 
 most  difficult  in  the  Old  Testament. 
 
 1.  As  to  tense.  The  interpretation  to  which  prefer- 
 ence has  been  given  in  the  commentary  on  the  text — 
 the  time  being  regarded  as  future — has  been  decided 
 on  grounds  of  grammatical  usage  only.  But  certainly 
 the  larger  number  of  commentators  have  rendered  the 
 verb  as  a. past  tense,  "But  ye  bore  the  tabernacle,"  &c, 
 the  time  referred  to  being  that  of  the  desert  wander- 
 ings. This  view  is  upheld  by  Hitzig,  Kuenen,  Keil, 
 Henderson,  and  also  by  R.  S.  Poole.  It  is  also  sup- 
 ported by  the  LXX. 
 
 2.  The  word  Sihhuth,  rendered  tabernacle,  or  tent,  in 
 the  E.V.  and  by  the  LXX.,  is  derived  from  a  root 
 signifying  both  to  interweave  and  to  cover — an  etymo- 
 logy which  confirms  the  above  rendering.  Ewald's 
 conjecture  that  it  signifies  "  stake,"  inferred  from  the 
 Aramaic  Sehkitho,  is  to  be  rejected.  The  conception 
 of  Moloch  being  carried  in  a  tent  may  be  illustrated 
 from  the  Egyptian  monuments  of  Rameses  XII. 
 Birch  (Egypt,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  p.  149),  refers  to  a  tablet 
 found  in  the  south-west  corner  of  Karnak :  "  The 
 picture  of  the  tablet  represents  Rameses  holding  a 
 censer,  and  worshipping  the  ark  of  the  god  [Khons], 
 which,  partly  covered  with  curtains,  is  placed  in  a 
 boat,  .  .  .  Figures  of  priests,  a  sphinx,  and  standards 
 are  in  the  boat,  while  twelve  priests  carry  it  on  their 
 shoulders." 
 
 3.  Both  Moloch  and  Chiun  were  evidently  star- 
 deities.  R.  S.  Poole  endeavours  to  connect  Chiun  with 
 Semitic  deities  worshipped  in  Egypt  (see  art.  "  Reni- 
 phan,"  Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible).  The  name  Chiun 
 appears  as  Remphan  in  the  quotation  of  this  passage  in 
 Stephen's  speech  (Acts  vii.  43).  And  both  Remphan 
 and  Chiun  were  held  by  Mr.  Poole  to  be  the 
 corresponding  male  and  female  deities  of  Asiatic  type, 
 Renpu  and  Ken.  But  the  form  Remphan  can  be 
 clearly  shown  to  have  arisen  from  textual  corruption, 
 originating,  perhaps,  in  some  false  analogy.  In  the 
 New  Testament  passage  the  best  MSS.  read  Rep>han, 
 and  this  reading  has  been  adopted  in  our  Revised  Ver- 
 sion, and  occurs  in  nearly  the  same  form  in  the  LXX., 
 from  which  Stephen  was  freely  quoting.  In  the  LXX. 
 the  original  order  of  the  clauses  has  suffered  transposi- 
 tion, and  it  is  certainly  safer  to  adhere  to  the  Hebrew 
 text  (as  in  chaj>.  ix.  11.  12). 
 
 Rephan  arose  from  the  Hebrew  text  by  the  change  of 
 a  single  character.  Instances  of  such  interchange  are 
 not  infrequent  in  the  Old  Testament.  Yet  the  form 
 Rephan.  though  corrupt,  is  invaluable,  as  indicating  the 
 true  reading  of  the  Hebrew  word.  The  word  for  Chiun 
 was  read  by  the  Masoretes  as  Kiyyiln  (according  to 
 Ewald,  "pedestal"  [?] ).  But  the  LXX.  indicate, 
 and  much  confirmatory  testimony  establishes  the  fact, 
 that  the  word  is  to  be  read  Kevan,  and  that  Kevan, 
 like  the  Ammonitish  Moloch,  represented  the  star-deity 
 
 466 
 
AMOS. 
 
 Saturn,  Thus  Kaivono  is  the  form  of  the  word  in  the 
 Peehito.  This  view  is  supported  by  Aben  E!zra  and 
 K  iiinlii.  who  cite  Ei van  as  the  name  for  the  star  Saturn 
 in  the  Persian  and  Arabic,    This  star    see  quotations 
 
 in    Benderson's    Commentary     was    held    to    '-xrrt 
 malignani   influence.      Schrader  [Cuneiform    /. 
 tton    "/"'  'A'    01  d   T(  {''nun/,  p,   1 1:;    compares  (lie 
 Dame  Ka-ai-vanu,  the  Assyrian  name  for  fli.it  planet. 
 
 EXCURSUS   0    (Chap,  riii.  9). 
 
 That  .-in  eclipse  is  here  referred  to,  and  employed  as  a 
 figure  to  express  1 1 1 •  -  overwhelming  calamities  which 
 were  to  darl  en  [srael,  can  hardly  admit  of  doubt,  when 
 we  compare  the  similar  figurative  use  of  the  earthquake 
 
 in  the  pn ding  verse,     lint  to  what  eclipse  does  the 
 
 prophcl  refer P  Mr.  .1.  \V.  Bosanqnel  baa  attempted 
 to  identify  it  with  a  very  special  one.  mentioned  in  the 
 Assyrian  annals:— "In  the  eponvmy  of  Buraagale, 
 prefecl  of  Qozan,  the  <  •  i  i  >-  of  Assnur  revolted,  and  in 
 In-  in. .utli  Sivan  the  sun  was  eclipsed."  This  has 
 been  calculated  by  Hind  to  have  occurred  mi  June  15, 
 763  B.c,    (So  Etawlinson,  Sohrader,  G.  Smith,  &o.,  as 
 
 against   Opperfa  view,  which  i--  untenable.)    If  this 
 
 eclipse  Wa«   in  th inil  of   tin'    projilift,    it  is  a  fart    of 
 
 considerable     importance      in      chronology.        On      tlir 
 
 whole,  however.it  is  more  probable  that  the  prophet 
 was  thinking  of  an  earner  eclipse,  which  took  place  in 
 784  ti.i-'..  Feb.  9.  It  was  a  total  eclipse,  the  lime  of 
 totality  being  ab  ml  1  p.m.  at  Jerusalem,  tlms  exactly 
 corresponding  with  the  phraseology  of  this  verse.  So 
 remarkable    a    phenomenon    would    naturally    stamp 
 
 itself  for  many  years  upon  the  mind  of  the  people,  and 
 this  vivid  impression  the  prophet  summons  to  his  aid 
 in  foreshadowing  the  calamities  of  the  last  time. 
 
 167 
 
OBADIAH. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 0I3ADIAII 
 
 TJYmuNi:  whatever  is  known  of  the  author  of  the 
 shortest  of  :ill  t In-  prophetical  books  except  his  name. 
 Obadiah,at,  in  its  older  and  longer  form,  Obadiahu, 
 
 means  servant  of  Jehovah,  and  seems  to  have  I n  as 
 
 common  among  the  Hebrews  as  Abdallah,  a  name  of 
 kindred  formation  .- 1 1  ■  <  1  meaning,  is  to-day  among  the 
 
 Arabs,  for  as   many  as   twelve  Scriptural   persons   hear 
 
 it.  The  I, XX.  represent  the  name  by  'A/35iaj  or  'o/35i'a5, 
 the  Vulgate  by  Abdias,  Obdias,  or  Obedia.  Tho 
 prophel  has  been  variously  identified  with  Ahab'a 
 Famous  officer  (1  Kings  xviii.  3).  with  the  Obadiah, 
 Prince  of  Judah,  win. in  Jehoshaphal  sent  with  Zecha- 
 riah,  ALicaiah,  .-uul  others  to  teach  in  the  cities  of  his 
 kingdom  (2  Ohron.  xvii.  7);  with  the  son  of  Morari, 
 a  Levite,  noted  for  his  skill  in  music  l'2  Chron.  xxxiv. 
 12) ;  witli  the  son  of  the  Shunamite  restored  to  life  by 
 Elisha;  with  the  third  of  the  captains  scut  by  Aha/.iaii 
 to  capture  Elijah.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  foundation 
 for  any  one  of  these  guesses,  and  the  patristic  tradition 
 
 assigning  him  to  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  fixing  his 
 abode  at  Bethaohamar  or  Bethacaram),  in  Shechemite 
 
 territory,  is  as  mythical  as  his  grave  pointed  out  in 
 later   times   at    Sebaste,  hy  tho   side  of  those  of  Elisha 
 
 ami  John  the  Baptist. 
 
 Tho  only  external  guidance  of  any  kind  towards 
 fixing  even  approximately  the  dato  of  this  prophecy 
 is  its  place  in  the  canon.     An  attempt  at  chronological 
 
 order  evidently  directed  the  arrangement  of  the  minor 
 
 prophets.  The  discussion  of  the  internal  evidence  for 
 date  and  authorship  offers  a  complicated  problem, 
 which  will  he  better  reserved  for  an  Excursus.      With 
 
 this  question  must  lie  reserved  that  of  the  immediate 
 
 circumstances  arising  out  of  the  relations  of  Israel  and 
 Edom,  to   which   the   hook   primarily  refers,  since  it  is 
 
 so  closely  hound  up  with  it ;  but  the  general  purport  of 
 the  prophecy  is  independent  of  these. 
 
 The  long  feud  between  the  brother  tribes  of  the 
 Beni-Israeland  the  descendants  of  Esau,  which  began 
 
 it  the  birth  of  the  twin  ancestors,  and  continued  with 
 ntried    fortunes    down    to    the    extinction    of    both    as 
 
 distinct  nationalities,  forms  the  subject  of  Obadiah's 
 
 vision.  It  is  remarkable  how  large  and  complete  a 
 view  we  should  have  into  (he  relations  of  the  two  tribes, 
 even  if  this  were  the  only  extant  record  of  them.  Not 
 only  the  close  ancestral  relationship  and  the  bitterness 
 of  the  rivalries  that  had  so  early  divided  Edom  and 
 Israel,  but  even  the  very  nature  of  the  desultory  and 
 protracted  warfare  that  they  waged,  the  tactics  of  the 
 wild  but  wily  sons  of  the  desert,  the  caution  with 
 which  they  moved,  the  attitude  of  watchful  neutrality 
 they  assumed  when  it  suited  them,  and  the  skill  with 
 which  they  sei/.cd  on  the  moment  of  Israel's  weakness, 
 come  clearly  into  view.  We  seem  even  to  see  the  very 
 gestures  of  tho  fierce  hillmeu,  and  to  hear  their  words 
 of  scorn  and  derision  (verses  12, 18).  Their  cunning 
 diplomacy,  overreaching  itself,  as  is  so  generally  the 
 ease  (vSCM  7',  and  their  treachery,  tho  moro  formidable 
 
 l.eraiise  of  the  sagacity  for  which  the  tribes  of  Western 
 Arabia  were  renowned  \eises  If,  H,  ft),  as  well  as  the 
 Unrelenting  spirit  in  which  they  pursued  their  object, 
 and  the  rapacity  which  followed  their  victories,  are  all 
 touched  most  vividly,  though  in  single  words.  We  are 
 taken  also  into  the  mountain  home  of  these  warriors, 
 and  see  them  in  their  rock-hewn  dwellings,  perched 
 like  vultures  on  their  inaccessible  cliffs,  vaunting  their 
 Security,  their  wisdom,  and  their  might  (verses  :;,   I). 
 
 But  this  graphic  picture  of  the  most  \irulentof  all 
 Israel's  iocs  is  not  presented  in  the  mere  sjiirit  of 
 an  enemy  and  a  rival.  There  was  a  higher  purpose 
 Controlling  the  vision  of  Obadiah,  and  in  this  we  see 
 tho  true  motive  and  power  of  prophecy,  that  far- 
 Stretching,  lasting  light,  by  which  men  behold  more 
 than  tho  petty  scene  around  them,  a  light  which 
 spreads  over  centuries  of  thought  and  over  the  life  of 
 nations.  lie  speaks,  indeed,  exultingry  of  the  destined 
 overthrow  of  an  enemy  so  bitter;  but  even  in  his 
 exultation  there  is  a  tone  of  regret  and  sadness  (see 
 verso  5,  Note),  equally  suggestive,  whether  it  be  a 
 touch  of  the  far-off  sense  of  brotherhood  with  Esau, 
 or  a  hint  of  the  Divine  pity  for  the  sinful  and  fallen, 
 afterwards  to  shine  forth  in  the  Gospel.  Compared 
 with  other  oracles  against  Edom.  this  ono  bearing 
 Obadiah's  name  is  singularly  free  from  the  spirit  of 
 unrestrained  revenge  (compare  Obadiah  with  Isaiah 
 xxxiv.  5,  seq.,  lxii.  1 — 0  ;  Ps.  exxxvii.  7 — 9).  This 
 undercurrent  of  regretful  tenderness  has  led  some 
 commentators  to  conjecture  that  the  author  was  him- 
 self an  Idunuean,  but  we  need  no  such  conjecture. 
 Occupied  with  larger  interests  than  those  of  the  im- 
 mediate ]. resent,  with  his  prospect  widened  beyond  the 
 horizon  of  Edom  or  Israel,  though  he  addressed  himself 
 to  the  children  of  Jacob  and  Esau,  and  pronounced 
 their  doom,  and  consoled  the  nation  they  had  injured 
 with  the  promise  of  deliveranco  and  restoration,  tho 
 Beer  was  able  to  rise  above  mere  exultation  in 
 present  triumph  to  the  thought  of  the  far  grander 
 course  of  events,  in  which  the  present  fortunes  of  his 
 own  people  and  their  enemies  formed  only  an  episode. 
 It  is  not  on  Edom  only  that  the  Divine  justice  will 
 assert  itself,  not  for  the  salvation  of  Israel  alone  that 
 tho  Divine  mercy  will  be  displayed.  The  "  Day  of  the 
 Lord  "  is  seen  to  be  near  upon  all  the  heathen,  and  in 
 the  magnificent  utterance  which  concludes  the  short 
 prophecy,  "  the  kingdom  shall  bo  Jehovah's,"  we 
 catch  the  promise  of  a  large  and  far-off  Divine  event, 
 and  recognise  the  higher  purpose  by  which  the  Hebrew 
 prophets  were  gifted  to  look  through  the  present  into 
 the  future,  from  the  needs  of  Israel  to  those  of  a  world 
 not  yet  horn. 
 
 This  promise  of  a  widespread  dominion  has  mado  tho 
 Book  of  Obadiah  a  favourite  study  with  tho  Jews. 
 •'  They  read  in  his  words  the  certainty,  not  merely  of 
 restoration  to  their  own  laud,  and  the  extension  of  their 
 dominion  over  Iduiusa  and  Philistia  (see  verse  19),  but 
 
 471 
 
OBAPIAH. 
 
 of  the  downfall  of  Christianity,  and  the  conquest  by 
 themselves  of  France  and  Spain.  Naturally  we  ask 
 for  the  explanation  of  so  extraordinary  an  interpreta- 
 tion, and  we  find  that  it  is  a  settled  principle  with  the 
 Rabbins  that  Edorn  is  Rome,  and  the  Edomites  all 
 Christians  whatsoever.  For  reasons  which  will  scarcely 
 bear  the  test  of  criticism,  they  believe  that  Janus,  the 
 first  King  of  Latium,  was  Esau's  grandson,  and  that 
 the  Latins  were  not  Trojans,  but  Idumseans.  To  the 
 same  stock  they  refer  all  the  early  Christians,  as  if  the 
 apostles  and  first  disciples  were  not  Jews,  but  Edomites; 
 and  affirm  that  when  Constantine  made  the  Roman 
 Empire  embrace  Christianity,  it  became  Idumaean" 
 (Bible  Educator,  iv.  107).  Accepting  this  as  an  esta- 
 blished principle,  the  Jews  very  easily  arrive  at.  the 
 startling  conclusions  mentioned  in  the  Notes  (verses 
 20-21) 
 
 The  book  divides  naturally  into  three  parts :  1,  The 
 
 general  announcement  of  the  pride  which  has  prepared 
 for  Edom  the  retributive  justice  of  God  (verses  1 — 9) ; 
 2,  Enumeration  of  the  practices  of  Edom  against  the 
 brother  tribe,  and  repetition  of  the  doom  about  to  fall 
 (verses  10 — 16);  3,  The  forecast  of  future  salvation 
 and  glory  for  Zion,  in  which,  though  there  is  no 
 mention  of  the  Messiah,  there  breathes  the  same  hope 
 which  no  earthly  grandeur  could  ever  have  satisfied,  and 
 which  waits  even  yet  for  its  entire  fulfilment  (verses 
 17—21). 
 
 It  is  to  be  remarked  that  Obadiah  uses  many  words 
 or  forms  of  word  peculiar  to  himself,  so  that  even 
 this  short  writing  gives  him  an  individuality.  The 
 style  is  vigorous,  and  there  is  one  image  (verse  4) 
 of  almost  startling  boldness,  but  the  parallelism  is  too 
 defective  to  allow  the  work  to  be  classed  with  the 
 poetical  books.  As  a  defect  in  style,  the  preponderance 
 of  interrogations  may  be  noticed. 
 
 472 
 
OBADTAH. 
 
 CHAPTER    I.  —  W  The  vision  of 
 
 <  >  I  >:  i  <  I  i :  1 1 1 . 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  concerning 
 Edom ; 
 
 ■We  have  heard  a  rumour  from  the 
 L<»ki>,  and  an  ambassador  is  sent  among 
 
 the  heathen,  Arise  ye,  and  let  us  rise 
 up  against  her  in  battle.  (2,Behol'l.  I 
 have  made  thee  small  among  the 
 heathen:  thou  art  greatly  despised. 
 (a'  The  pride  of  thine  heart  hath  de- 
 ceived thee,  thou  that  dwellest  in  the 
 
 1 — 9.— The  Divine  Hostility  against  Edom 
 Proclaim  i:d. 
 
 (l)  The  vision  of  Obadiah. — Properly,  vision  of 
 Obadinh,  without  t he  article  There  are  three  recog- 
 nised headings  to  prophetical  hooks — word,  burden 
 (i.e.,  oracle i.  and  vision  Bad  all  are  used  without  the 
 article,  and  in  a  general  way.  far  the  contents  of  the 
 books,  without  any  intention  to  distinguish  between 
 different    kinds  or  modes  of  prophecy.     Thus  Nahuin 
 
 bines    Imnhu    and    vision:   "Burden  of  Nineveh. 
 
 Book  of  vision  of  Nahum  the  Elkoshite."  Amos  speaks 
 of  the  "words  which  he  saw ;"  Isaiah  (xiii.  1)  of  the 
 "burden  which  he  did  see;"  and  Obadiah,  after  the 
 word  vision,  instantly  proceeds, " Hms  saith,"  &c.  The 
 word  vision  (Heb.,  chazon,  from  tho  same  verb  as 
 "  seer "),  appears,  from  1  Sam.  iii.  1,  ix.  9,  to  have 
 acquired  una  general  sense  at  a  very  early  time.  It  is 
 not  necessary  from  the  use  of  the  word  to  suppose 
 that  the  future  was  unfolded  to  Obadiah  "  in  the  form 
 of  sights  spread  out  before  his  mind,  ...  a  succes- 
 sion of  pictures  which  he  may  have  seen  "  (Pusey). 
 Vision  here  =  revelation,  however  supplied.  Tho 
 question  of  authorship  is  discussed  in  the  Excursus. 
 
 Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  concerning  Edom. 
 — After  these  words  we  should  expect  the  words  of  tho 
 message,  not  the  statement  that  a  message  had  come. 
 Among  the  attempts  at  explanation,  the  two  most  plau- 
 .silile  arc:  (1)  The  two-fold  heading  is  due  to  a  later 
 hand  than  Obadiah,  who  only  prefixed  the  first  part, 
 "vision."  &c,  to  his  work;  (2)  These  words  are 
 merely  a  mode  of  stating  generally  that  the  seer  of  the 
 vision  was  divinely  inspired.  The  view  taken  of  the 
 authorship  and  composition  must  decide  between  these 
 two.  If  an  earlier  oracle  is  incorporated  in  the  book, 
 it  is  more  natural  to  conclude  that  the  second  part  of 
 the  double  title,  which  in  a  slightly  different  form 
 occurs  also  in  ,Ier.  xlix.  7,  was  introduced  in  order  to 
 bring  the  prophecy  into  closer  similarity  to  tin-  circle 
 of  oracles  against  foreign  nations  which  is  contained 
 in  Jeremiah. 
 
 Arise  ye  .  .  . — Now  at  length  we  have  the  Divino 
 message.  Long  ago.  in  the  mysterious  oracle  of  Dumah 
 (Isa.  \\i.  1  1  i.  the  foreboding  of  a  pending  chastisement 
 
 of  Seir  found  a  voice,  and  now.  as  in  lsequcnce  of 
 
 a  signal  from  heaven,  or  as  if  brought  by  an  angel, 
 goes  forth  the  summons  to  the  nations  to  begin  the 
 movement  against  Edom.  The  cup  of  iniquity  was 
 full.  There  is  a  suggestiveness  even  in  the  vagueness 
 of  the  summons.  The  nations,  without  distinction  of 
 good   or   bad,  must  become   the   instruments   of    the 
 
 473 
 
 Divine  chastisement  of  overweening  pride.  Edom  be- 
 comes the  type  of  wickedness  that  has  reached  a  head, 
 and  against  which  all  the  sounder  elements  of  the 
 world  unite  with  God.  For  the  full  picture,  here  sug- 
 gested only  in  a  word,  see  Isa.  xiii.  1 — 17,  and  comp. 
 Joel.  ii.  11;  Jer.  li.  II 
 
 (2—9)  Edom's  pride  and  consequent  humiliation.  A 
 general  statement  of  the  reason  of  the  Divine  wrath 
 against  Edom.  Particular  offences  will  lx?  enume- 
 rated presently  (verses  10 — It). 
 
 (-)  Small  among  the  heathen. — In  comparison 
 with  the  giant  empires  of  Egypt  and  Assyria,  a  mere 
 speck  on  the  map.  Edom  proper  is  not  to  tic  confounded 
 with  the  later  kingdom  of  Idunuea,  which  extended  over 
 the  wilderness  of  Et  Tib.  and  even  to  within  the 
 southern  borders  of  Palestine.  The  original  Mount 
 Seir  (Gen.  xxxii.  3),  or,  as  our  prophet  calls  it,  Mount 
 Esan,  was  a  narrow  tract  of  country  on  the  east  of 
 Wady  Arabah.  extending  from  Elath  to  the  brook 
 Zered  (probably  the  Wady-el-Ahsy ;  see  Deut.  ii.  8, 
 13,  11).  about  100  miles  in  length,  and  nowhere  more 
 than  twenty  miles  broad.  One  of  the  larger  English 
 counties  would  cover  as  much  territory.  In  the  corres- 
 ponding passages  (Jer.  xlix.  15)  our  version  has  the  future 
 instead  of  the  past,  where  also,  instead  of  "  greatly  des- 
 pised," is  the  reading,  "despised  among  men."  The  past 
 is  better.  The  contrast  between  the  size  of  the  nation 
 and  its  overbearing  pride,  created  by  tho  consciousness 
 of  the  natural  strength  of  its  position,  is  lost  if  we  give 
 the  verse  a  future  sense. 
 
 (3)  Clefts  of  the  rock.— The  word  ehagdvim,  clefts, 
 
 is  of  doubtful  derivation.  It  only  occurs  in  the  corres- 
 ponding passage  to  this  (Jer.  xlix.  16)  and  in  Cant. 
 ii.  It.  and  always  with  selah  —  rock.  But  whether  its 
 etymological  meaning  be  refuges  or  fissures  does  not 
 matter,  since  the  actual  thing  signified  is  still  to  be 
 seen.  The  cliffs  at  Petra  (Selah.  or  with  the  article, 
 ha-Sclah).  the  capital  of  Edom,  and  in  its  neighbourhood, 
 are  honeycombed  with  eaves,  natural  or  artificial,  which 
 from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day  have  served 
 as  tombs  for  the  dead,  and  temporary  dwellings  or 
 shelters  for  the  living.  We  read  in  Dent.  ii.  12  that 
 the  "  Horims" — i.e.,  troglodytes, OT dwellers  Ml  carrs — 
 were  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  land.  "The  whole 
 southern  country  of  the  Edomites,"  says  St.  Jerome, 
 "from  Eleutheropolis  to  Petra  and  Selah  (which  are  the 
 possessions  of  Esau),  bad  minute  dwellings  (hahifatinn- 
 eulas  in  eaves ;  and  on  account  of  the  oppressive  heat  of 
 the  sun,  as  being  a  southern  province,  had  underground 
 cottages."  All  more  recent  travellers  confirm  this. 
 Robinson  (ii.  529)  speaks  of"  an  innumerable  multitude 
 
Tlie  Dwelling 
 
 OBADIAH. 
 
 of  Edom, 
 
 clefts  of  the  rock,  whose  habitation  is 
 high ;    that    saith   in   his    heart,  Who 
 
 shall  bring  me  down  to  the  ground? 
 (4)  o  Though   thou  exalt   thyself  as   the 
 
 of  excavations  along  the  whole  coast  of  perpendicular 
 rocks  adjacent  to  the  main  area,  and  in  all  the  lateral  val- 
 leys and  chasms."  But  those  at  present  existing  are  but 
 a  remnant  of  the  vast  number  which  must  at  one  time 
 have  afforded  shelter  to  the  densely  populated  valleys. 
 "  What  remains  are  the  mere  debris  of  what  the  preci- 
 pices once  presented  to  view  .  .  .  The  conduits,  cis- 
 terns, nights  of  steps  scattered  over  the  rocks  and 
 among  the  precipices,  indicate  a  larger  number  of  rock- 
 dwellings  than  remain  now,  very  great  as  that  number 
 is  "  (Miss  Martineau,  Eastern  Life,  iii.  2).  "  Wherever 
 your  eyes  turn  along  the  excavated  sides  of  the  rocks, 
 you  see  steps  often  leading  to  nothing,  or  something 
 which  has  crumbled  away,  often  with  their  first  steps 
 worn  away,  so  that  they  are  now  inaccessible  "  (Stanley, 
 Sinai  and  Palestine,  p.  91).  So  Miss  Martineau  speaks 
 of  "  short  and  odd  staircases  twisted  hither  and  thither 
 among  the  rocks."  So,  too,  B.  H.  Palmer,  Esq.,  in  the 
 Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine  Exploration 
 Fund,  January,  1871 :  "  There  are  many  tombs  and 
 dwellings  which  are  now  inaccessible,  but  traces  of  stair- 
 cases cut  in  the  rock,  and  now  broken  away,  may  be  seen 
 everywhere."  ...  "At  the  northern  turn  in  the  Wady, 
 as  you  leave  the  western  acclivities,  are  three  large  tombs, 
 with  perfect  fronts.  The  first  and  largest  of  these  .  .  . 
 was  at  the  time  of  our  entry  occupied  by  several 
 families  of  the  fellahin.  Every  tomb  has  its  owner, 
 who  dwells  there  with  his  wives  and  family  during  the 
 cold  and  wet  weather."  He  goes  on  to  speak  of  one 
 tomb  which  was  said  to  hold  fifteen  families. 
 
 Whose  habitation  is  high  .  .  .  —Literally, 
 loftiness  of  his  habitation.  The  red  sandstone  rocks 
 are  described  as  rising  "  perpendicularly  to  the  height 
 of  one,  two,  or  three  hundred  feet "  (Stanley,  Sinai 
 and  Palestine,  p.  89).  The  writer  of  the  article  "  Selah  " 
 in  Kitto's  Biblical  Cyclopedia  says  of  the  caves, 
 "  Some  cf  them  are  apparently  not  less  than  from 
 two  hundred  to  three  or  four  hundred  feet  above  the 
 level  of  the  valley."  When  we  think  of  the  power  of 
 the  conception  which  could  frame  a  range  of  moun- 
 tain rocks  into  a  city,  with  ravines  for  streets  and 
 caverns  for  houses,  we  can  understand  the  prophet's 
 words,  "  the  pride  of  thine  heart  hath  deceived  thee." 
 Nor  was  it  wonderful  that  the  children  of  Esau  should 
 deem  themselves  invincible  in  their  mountain  fastnesses. 
 
 Who  shall  bring  me  down  to  the  ground  ?— 
 From  this  eagle' s-nest  (verse  4)  Edom  might  well  utter 
 proud  defiance  against  even  the  strongest  foes.  All 
 travellers  describe  Petra  as  almost  impregnable.  It  is 
 not  even  visible  from  the  heights  in  the  neighbourhood. 
 "  The  whole  space,  rocks  and  valleys,  embedded  in  the 
 mountains  which  girt  it  in,  lay  invisible  even  from  the 
 summit  of  Mount  Hor."  "  Petra  itself  is  entirely  shut 
 out  by  the  intervening  rocks.  The  great  feature  of  the 
 mountains  of  Edom  is  the  mass  of  red  bald-headed 
 sandstone  rocks,  intersected  not  by  valleys,  but  by  deep 
 seams.  In  the  heart  of  these  rocks,  itself  invisible, 
 lies  Petra."  And  it  was  as  strongly  guarded  by  nature 
 as  it  was  securely  hidden.  "  Two  known  approaches 
 only,  from  east  and  west,  enter  into  it,"  and  these  are 
 mere  ravines.  The  most  famous  of  them,  the  defile 
 from  the  east,  the  one  which  "  in  ancient  times  was  the 
 chief— the  only  usual — approach  to  Petra,"  is  named 
 the  Sik,  or  cleft.  "  The  rocks  are  almost  precipitous,  or, 
 rather,  they  would  be  if  they  did  not,  like  their 
 brethren  in  all  this  region,  overlap,  and  crumble,  and 
 
 crack,  as  if  they  would  crash  over  you.  The  gorge  is 
 about  a  mile  and  a  half  long,  and  the  opening  of  the 
 cliffs  at  the  top  is  throughout  almost  as  narrow  aa  the 
 narrowest  part  of  the  defile  of  Pfeffers,  which  in  dimen- 
 sions and  form  it  more  nearly  resembles  than  any  other 
 of  my  acquaintance  "  (Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine, 
 p.  89).  The  other  approach,  though  not  so  picturesque 
 and  striking  to  the  traveller,  would  have  been  equally 
 difficult  for  an  attacking  army.  Miss  Martineau  de- 
 scribes it  as  leading  amid  "  wild  fantastic  mountains," 
 "  rocks  in  towering  masses,"  "  over  steep  and  slippery 
 passes,"  or  "  winding  in  recesses  below."  She  con- 
 tinues :  "A  little  further  on  we  stopped  in  a  hollow  of 
 the  hills ;  our  path,  our  very  narrow  path,  lay  over 
 these  whitish  hills  :  now  up,  now  down,  and  then,  and 
 then  again,  we  were  slipping  and  jerking  down  slopes 
 of  gaudy  rock.  For  nearly  an  hour  longer  we  were 
 descending  the  pass ;  down  we  went,  and  still  down ;  at 
 length  we  came  upon  the  platform  above  the  bed  of  the 
 torrent,  near  which  stands  the  only  edifice  in  Petra  " 
 (quoted  from  Eastern  Life,  ii.  319,  by  Pusey).  Sucli 
 approaches  might,  it  is  obvious,  be  held  by  a  very  small 
 force  against  a  great  superiority  of  numbers.  The 
 width  of  the  sik  "  is  not  more  than  just  sufficient  for 
 the  passage  of  two  horsemen  abreast,"  and  "  a  few  hun- 
 dred men  might  defend  the  entrance  against  a  large 
 army "  (Burckhardt,  Travels  in  Syria  and  the  Holy 
 Land,  p.  432).  Demetrius  "  the  Besieger,"  at  the  head 
 of  8,000  men  (the  4,000  infantry  selected  for  their 
 swiftness  of  foot  from  the  whole  army),  made  repeated 
 assaults  on  the  place,  but  "  those  within  had  an  easy 
 victory,  from  its  commanding  height "  (Pusey,  from 
 Diod.  Sic.  xix.  96).  Little  need  of  art  to  .strengthen 
 such  natural  defences,  yet  Mr.  Palmer  noticed  "  a  fort 
 at  the  top  of  the  left-hand  ravine,  occupying  a  most 
 commanding  position,  as  it  overlooks  the  entire  valley, 
 and  defends  the  only  part  not  protected  by  some  dif- 
 ficult mountain  pass"  (Quarterly  Statement,  Palestine 
 Exploration  Fund.  January,  1871).  And  Dr.  Pusey 
 finely  remarks :  "  But  even  the  entrance  gained,  what 
 gain  besides,  unless  the  people  and  its  wealth  were 
 betrayed  by  a  surprise  ?  Striking  as  the  rock-girt 
 Petra  was,  a  gem  in  its  mountain  setting,  far  more 
 marvellous  was  it  when,  as  in  the  prophet's  time,  the 
 rock  itself  was  Petra.  Inside  the  defile,  an  invader 
 would  be  outside  the  city  yet.  He  might  himself  be- 
 come the  besieged  rather  than  the  besieger.  In  which 
 of  these  eyries  along  all  these  ravines  were  the  eagles 
 to  be  found  p  From  which  of  these  lairs  might  not 
 Edom's  lion-sous  burst  out  upon  them  ?  Multitudes 
 gave  the  invaders  no  advantage  in  scaling  those  moun- 
 tains' sides,  where,  observed  themselves  by  an  unseen 
 enemy,  they  would  at  last  have  to  fight  man  to  man. 
 What  a  bivouac  were  it  in  that  narrow  spot,  themselves 
 encircled  by  an  enemy  everywhere,  anywhere,  and  visibly 
 nowhere,  among  those  thousand  caves,  each  larger  cave, 
 maybe,  an  ambuscade !  In  man's  sight  Edom's  boast 
 was  well  founded ;  but  what,  before  God  ?  "  With  the 
 Edomites'  vaunt  Pusey  aptly  compares  that  of  the 
 Bactrian,  Oxyartes,  who,  trusting  to  the  strength  of 
 another  Petra,  defied  Alexander  the  Great,  bidding 
 him  get  wings  for  his  soldiers  before  attacking  his 
 stronghold.     (Arrian,  Exped.  Alex.  iv.  18.) 
 
 (*)  Though  thou  exalt  thyself  as  the  eagle.— 
 "  Had,  then,  the  ancient  builders  of  these  rock-works 
 wings  like  the  eagles,  with  which  they  raised  themselves 
 
 474 
 
The  Fall  of 
 
 OBADIAB 
 
 Kilmii  Fiininlil. 
 
 eagle,  and  though  Hum  set  thy  iifsl 
 among  1 1 h ■  stars,  thence  will  1  bring 
 the*;  down,  suit li  the  LoBD.  '"  a 
 "thieves  came  to  thee,  if  robbers  by 
 night,  (how  art  thou  cut  oil'!)  would 
 they  not  have  .stolen  till  they  had 
 enough?  if  the  grapegatherera  came  bo 
 thee,  would  they  not  leave  ' some  grapes ? 
 
 1  Or.  ijliittttnyat 
 
 •i  Hob.,  the  men  of 
 thy  \>enee. 
 
 I    llrli.M 
 
 thy  I'n-i'l. 
 
 (,i)  How  are  the  things  of  Esau  i  arched 
 out!  how  are  his  hidden  things  Bought 
 apl  (7,  All  the  men  of  thy  confederacy 
 bave  brought  thee  even  to  the  border: 
 2tbemen  that  were  al  peace  with  thee 
 have  deceived  thee,  and  prevailed  against 
 
 thee;  '■  llinj  Unit  ml  thy  bread  have  laid 
 a    wound     under    thee  :     there   is   none 
 
 to  those  perpendicular  precipices  P "  "  Who  now.  even 
 with  the  foot  of  the  chamois,  could  climb  after  them  P" 
 (  v.  Schubert,  ii.  429  ;  quoted  bj  Pusey).  (Gomp.also 
 Miss  Marl inc'iii.  Eastern  Life,  ii.  320,  lii.  20.) 
 
 This  is  one  of  the  passages  which  identifies  the 
 n<  her,  always  translated  "eagle"  in  1  In ■  Authorised 
 Version,  with  the  griffon-vulture,     "  While  the  cables 
 
 and  other  birds  are< tent  with  lower  elevations,  and 
 
 sometimes  even  with  trees,  the  griffon  alone  selects  the 
 stupendous  gorges  of  Arabia  Petrsss  and  of  the  denies 
 
 of  Palestine,  and  there  in  great  i mnnities  rears  its 
 
 young,  where  the  most  intrepid  climber  can  only  with 
 ropes  and  other  appliances  reach  its  nest"  (Tristram, 
 Nut.  Hist,  of  the  mble,  p.  17-". ;  i p,  Jobxxxix.  27,28). 
 
 And  though  thou  set  thy  nest  among  the 
 stars.    .    . — Tlir  image  of  the  eagle  nesting  among 
 
 the  stars    is   among  the  most   forcible  oven    in  Hebrew 
 
 poetry.    Shakespeare  approaches  it  in  "  eagle- winged 
 pride     of    sky  -  aspiring    and    ambitions    thoughts" 
 {Eiehard  II..  i.  3). 
 Thonco  will  I  bring  thoo  down,  saith  the 
 
 Lord.—  In  tl rigins  1,  more  striking, "  it  is  Jehovah's 
 
 declaration."  This  sentence  against  pride,  not  only 
 national.  In  it  individual  too,  is  indeed  the  Divine  declara- 
 tion, uttered  in  warning  voice  from  one  end  of  Scripture 
 
 to  the  other.  The  doom  pronounced  against,  Edom  is 
 but  one  special  instance  01  the  universal   truth  told  .so 
 
 JKjwerfully  by  Isaiah  at  the  end  of  chap.  ii. :  "  The  lofty 
 Ooks  of  man  shall  be  hunilileil.  and  the  haughtiness  of 
 men  shall  be  bowed  down,  and  the  Lord  alone  shall  lie 
 exalted  in  that  day.  For  the  day  of  the  Lord  of  hosts 
 shall  lie  upon  every  one  that  is  proud  and  lofty,  and 
 Opon  every  one  that  is  lifted  up  ;  anil  lie  shall  lie  brought 
 
 low."  And  it  was  the  more  than  once  repeated  decla- 
 ration of  the  Sou  of  God:  "He  that  exalteth  himself 
 
 shall  lie  aliased,  and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be 
 exalted." 
 
 (5-9)  The  completeness  of  the  overthrow  awaiting 
 Edotn.      II    is    no   mere   inroad   of   a  marauding   tribe. 
 
 Something  would  eseape  the  roo&er,  though  he  might 
 go  away  quite  satisfied  with  his  plunder;  and  even  a 
 raid  in  vintage   time,  for  the  purpose  of  doing  all  the 
 
 misohief  possible  to  the  country,  would  have  hers  and 
 there  a  scattered  bunch,  gleanings  for  the  inhabitants 
 
 when    the  spoilers    had    retired,  lint   UOW  everything   is 
 
 doomed  to  destruction.  Edam  is  completely  robbed 
 and  ransacked.     Notice  how  the  sad.  almost  pathetic, 
 
 eon  vie  t  ion  of  this  breaks  out— as  it'  rather  from  a  friend 
 
 (see  Introduction)  than  an  enemy— in  the  parenthetical 
 
 '•how  art   thou  cut   off!"  in    the   very   middle   of   the 
 
 sentence.     Everyone  must  perceive,  the  prophet  seems 
 
 to  say,  a  higher  hand  at  work  here. 
 
 ffi)  Some  grapes.— Gleanings,  as  in  margin.  (Comp. 
 Isa.  xvii.  t>,  xxxv.  13.) 
 
 (6)  How  are  the  things  of  Esau  searched 
 out! — Literally.  How  are  the;/  searched  out  Esau! 
 Whero  Esau  is  eithor  taken  collectively  =  Edom  as  a 
 
 *7fi 
 
 nation,  or  we  mu^t  supply,  as  in  the  Authorised  Ver- 
 si "the  things   of,"  or,  as    Ewahl,  "  tiny  of."      For 
 
 search,  comp.  Zeph.  i   1-. 
 
 His    hiddon  things.  —  Hob.,   matspvntm,  from 
 tea/pan      to   hide,  but  whether  hidden   tree  wet  or 
 
 hUlhuj  jtlnrcx  cannot  be  determined,  as  the  word  only 
 
 occurs  here. 
 
 (7-o)  Overtaken  by  this  terrible  calamity,  and  deserted 
 
 by  her  allies,  Edom  will  turn  in  vain  for  counsel  to  hi  r 
 
 senators  and  wise  men.  and  for  support  to  her  her.., 
 
 and  mighty  men,  for  these  will  not  only  share  in  the 
 general  ruin,  but  are  marked  out  for  an  overthrow  as 
 signal  as  their  renown. 
 
 (?)  All  the  men  of  thy  confederacy.  .  .  .— 
 This  desertion  by  allies  is  doubtless  i j 1 1 1  prominently 
 
 forward  as  the  due  retribution  on  Kilom  for  his  treachery 
 and  cruelty  to  his  natural  ally,  his  brother  Jacob.  The 
 members  of  the  confederacy  are  not  specified.      In  Jer. 
 
 xxvii.  3  we  find  Edom  associated  with  Moab.  Amnion, 
 Tyre,  and  Siiloii.  in  the  warning  to  submit  to  NYbuclmd- 
 nezzar.  The  two  former  would  be  the  natural  allies  of 
 Edom,  and  in  E/.ek.  xxv.  8  Seir  IS  joined  with  Moab  as 
 reproaching    Israel.      From    Ps.  lx.  8,  we  may  add   to 
 
 these  Philistia  (comp.  also  verse  19)_.     The  expression 
 
 "have  brought  thee  to  the  border"  is  variously  under- 
 stood. The  most  natural  explanation  18  that  the  fugi- 
 tives from  the  ruin  of  Edom,  Dying  into  the  territory  of 
 
 neighbouring  anil  allied  tribes  for  help,  are  basely  driven 
 back  to  their  own  frontier,  and  left  to  their  fate. 
 
 The  mon  that  were  at  peace  with  thee.— 
 As  in  margin,  the   men  of  thy  peace,  an   expressive 
 
 Hebrew   idiom    occurring    in   Jer.  xx.    10,    xxxviii.    JJ. 
 
 and   in  Ps.    xli.   !».   where   it   is  translated  "mil wn 
 
 familiar  friend." 
 
 1 1 1'.it  difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  the  connection 
 
 of  this  and  the  following  clause,  and  as  it    stands  the 
 
 text  presents  considerable  difficulty.    By  dropping  the 
 
 italicised  words  in  our  version,  and  omitting  the  semi- 
 colon, we  get,  "The  men  of  thy  peace  have  deceived 
 thee,  prevailed  against  thee  and  thy  bread,  have  laid 
 a  wound  under  thee."  There  aretwo  verbal  difficulties 
 — lit  •'wound,"  lleb.,  //oi;o.',  which  occurs  in  Hosea 
 v.  13  in  the  sense  of  a  festering  wound  or  abscess,  but. 
 which  the  older  translators  here  render  ambush,  or 
 snare;  deSpa.  (LXX.) ;  insijiir  (Vtdg.i.  Ewald  and 
 Hit/ig.  among  moderns,  prefer  net,  and  defend  it  ctymo- 
 logically.      This  certainly  gives   good  sense,  and  if  :/'i\ 
 
 of  which  it  is  a  derivative,  can  have  the  sense  of  binding, 
 
 may  be  correct.     Our  translators   in  Jer.  xxx.    18,  and 
 
 Aquila  and  Symmachus  in  this  passage,  evidently  give 
 
 it  that  force  (see  also  Lee's  //./-.  /.•  ■■..  sub  voce).  To 
 tgueete  or  crush, however, seems  the  true  meaning  of 
 zi'tr :  as  in  Judges  vi. 38,  of  Gideon's  fleece;  Job.  xxxix. 
 15,  of  the  eggs  of  the  ..strieh.  The  preposition  tachath 
 = under,  also  offers  a  difficulty;  "  Laia  a  wound  under 
 
 thee"  suggests  no  intelligible  meaning.  But  on  the 
 authority  (though  possibly  somewliat   doubtful)    of  2. 
 
Tlie  Guilt  of  Edom 
 
 OBADIAH. 
 
 shall  be  Punished. 
 
 understanding  1iu  him.  (8'"  Shall  I  not 
 in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  even  de- 
 stroy the  wise  men  out  of  Edom,  and 
 understanding  out  of  the  mount  of 
 Esau  ?  (9)  And  thy  mighty  men,  0 
 Teman,  shall  be  dismayed,  to  the  end 
 that  every  one  of  the  mount  of  Esau 
 may  be  cut  off  by  slaughter. 
 
 1  Or,  0/  a. 
 
 a  Isa.  29.  14  ;   Jer. 
 49.7. 
 
 &  Gen.  27.  41:Ezek. 
 av5;  Amusl.  ll. 
 
 2  Or,  carried  away 
 his  substance. 
 
 (10)  For  thy  h  violence  against  thy 
 brother  Jacob  shame  shall  cover  thee, 
 and  thou  shalt  be  cut  off  for  ever. 
 (U)  In  the  day  that  thou  stoodest  on  the 
 other  side,  in  the  day  that  the  strangers 
 3  carried  away  captive  his  forces,  and 
 foreigners  entered  into  his  gates,  and 
 cast   lots   upon  Jerusalem,   even    thou 
 
 Sara.  iii.  12,  where  the  word  is  translated  "  on  behalf  of," 
 but  where  the  context  requires  "  without  his  knowledge," 
 and  on  the  analogy  of  all  other  languages,  we  may  (with 
 Vatablus,  Drusius,  Luther,  and  L.  de  Dieu;  see  Keil) 
 translate  the  word  deceitfully,  or  without  thy  knowledge, 
 a  rendering  in  accordance  with  the  parallelism.  But  the 
 syntax  of  the  passage  still  remains  unexplained.  What 
 is  the  construction  of  lachmeka=  of  thy  bread  ?  From 
 Ps.  xli.  9,  "  The  man  of  my  peace  which  did  eat  of  my 
 bread,"  we  are  led  to  the  conjecture  that  it  forms 
 part  of  a  familiar,  perhaps  proverbial,  expression  for 
 one  bound  by  the  closest  ties  of  fellowship  and  hos- 
 pitality, and  we  must,  therefore,  either  supply  a  par- 
 ticiple, these  eating,  as  in  the  Psalm,  or  understand 
 a  second  a»s7ie!/=men  of.  It  is  true  there  is  no  other 
 instance  of  the  phrase  "  men  of  thy  bread,"  but  it  is  a 
 conceivable  Hebrew  idiom.  Keeping  the  parallelism 
 we  now  get  an  intelligible  rendering  of  the  passage. 
 
 "  Unto  the  border  they  sent  thee,  all  the  men  of  thy  con- 
 federacy. 
 Deceived  thee,  ruined  thee, 
 Men  of  thy  peace,  men  of  thy  bread  ; 
 (They)  gave  thee  a  wound  in  secret. 
 No  understanding  (is)  in  him." 
 
 For  the  arrangement  of  the  second  clause,  which  is  put 
 for  deceived  thee  the  men  of  thy  peace,  ruined  thee  the 
 men  of  thy  bread,  see  Cant.  i.  5,  and  Note  there.  In  the 
 last  clause  the  margin  reads  of  it :  i.e.,  of  the  injury 
 just  mentioned,  instead  of  in  him.  But  it  is  better  to 
 take  it  as  an  abrupt  declaration  in  the  prophet's  manner 
 (comp.  "  how  art  thou  cut  off ! "  in  verse  5)  of  the 
 utter  bewilderment  that  had  come  or  was  coming  on 
 Edom,  unable  either  by  counsel  or  force  to  withstand 
 his  foes. 
 
 <8)  Shall  I  not  .  .  .  — Literally,  Surely  in  that 
 day — it  is  Jehovah's  saying — I  will  make  sages  dis- 
 appear from  Edom,  and  understanding  from  Esau's 
 mountain. 
 
 The  tradition  of  a  peculiar  sagacity  in  Edom,  and 
 especially  in  Teman  (see  Jer.  xlix.  7),  lingered  long. 
 Job's  sage  friend  Eliphaz  was  a  Temanite.  In  Baruch 
 iii.  22,  23  we  read  :  "  It  (wisdom)  hath  not  been  heard 
 of  in  Chanaau,  neither  hath  it  been  seen  in  Theman. 
 The  Agarenes  that  seek  wisdom  upon  earth,  the 
 merchants  of  Meran  and  of  Theman,  the  authors 
 ■(margin,  expounders)  of  fables  and  searchers  out  of 
 understanding,  none  of  these  have  known  the  way  of 
 wisdom,  or  remember  her  paths."  Jeremiah's  words 
 show  even  more  strikingly  how  high  the  reputation 
 had  been:  "  Is  wisdom  no  more  in  Teman  ?  is  counsel 
 perished  from  the  prudent  ?  is  their  wisdom  van- 
 ished p "  "  The  men  of  the  world  think  that  they 
 hold  their  wisdom  and  all  God's  natural  gifts  indepen- 
 dently of  the  giver.  God,  by  the  events  of  His  natural 
 providence,  as  here  by  His  word,  shows,  through  some 
 withdrawal  of  their  wisdom,  that  it  is  His,  not  theirs. 
 Men  wonder  at  the  sudden  failure,  the  flaw  in  the  well- 
 arranged  plan,  the  one  over-confident  act  which  ruins 
 the  whole  scheme,  the  over-shrewdness  which  betrays 
 
 itself,  or  the  unaccountable  oversight."  So  the  utter 
 want  of  perception  and  foresight  in  Edom  seems  unac- 
 countable, till  we  think  of  the  Divine  purpose  and  end 
 in  it  all.  The  wise  were  destroyed,  and  the  mighty 
 men  dismayed,  "  to  the  end  that  everyone  of  the  mount 
 of  Esau  may  be  cut  off  by  slaughter."  It  is  the  pro- 
 phetic statement  of  the  truth  of  the  old  heathen  pro- 
 verb :  "  Whom  God  wishes  to  destroy  He  first  dements." 
 
 (9)  For  Teman,  see  Job  ii.  11. 
 
 10 — 16. — The  Divine  Sentence  Justified  by 
 Edom's  Guilt. 
 
 This  justification  takes  the  form  of  a  warning 
 against  a  repetition  of  the  crimes  which  have  already 
 called  forth  the  sentence  of  Divine  wrath  against 
 Edom.  Various  acts  of  hostility  and  treachery  to- 
 wards Israel  are  specified  by  the  prophet,  in  a  manner 
 to  lead  to  the  feeling  that  though  his  tone  is  pro- 
 hibitory, he  is  recalling  instances  of  past  malignity 
 on  Edom's  part,  as  types  of  what  might  be  found  in  the 
 future. 
 
 (10)  For  thy  violence  .  .  . — Literally,  for  injury 
 of  thy  brother  Jacob,  &c;  the  genitive  of  the  object,  as 
 in  Joel  iii.  19.  The  crime  was  the  more  heinous  because 
 against  the  brother  tribe.  Probably  the  birth-name, 
 Jacob,  of  the  twin  brother  of  Esau  is  used  purposely 
 to  bring  out  the  full  wickedness  of  the  descendants  of 
 Esau.  In  spite  of  all  provocations,  Israel  long  maintained 
 the  duty  of  a  friendly  feeling  for  the  kindred  race — 
 maintained  it  as  a  religious  duty  (Deut.  ii.  5,  xxiii.  7). 
 On  the  other  hand,  Edom  from  the  first  assumed  a 
 jealous  and  hostile  attitude  (Num.  xx.  14,  seqq.),  never 
 imitating  the  generous  disposition  of  their  great  ancestor 
 (Gen.  xxxiii.  4). 
 
 Shame  shall  cover  thee. — Comp.  Micah  vii.  10; 
 Jer.  iii.  25. 
 
 (u)  In  the  day  .  .  .—Literally.  In  the  day  of 
 thy  standing  over  against,  as  if  to  particularise  some 
 one  occasion  ;  but  instead  of  proceeding  to  state  it,  the 
 prophet  recalls  other  events  of  the  same  time,  and  sums 
 up  Edom's  offence  in  the  charge,  "  thou,  too,  as  one  of 
 them,"  acting  the  part  of  an  enemy  instead  of  that  of  a 
 friend,  though  probably  in  the  base  character  of  a 
 neutral  (comp.  "My  lovers  and  my  friends  stand  aloof 
 from  my  sore,"  Ps.  xxxviii.  11),  ready  to  take  the 
 winning  side. 
 
 Forces. — It  is  difficult  to  choose  between  this  and 
 the  marginal  reading,  substance.  Shdvah  is  usually  "  to 
 take  prisoner,"  but  there  are  many  instances  of  its  use 
 in  the  sense  of  carrying  off  booty  (1  Chron.  v.  21 ;  2 
 Chron.  xxi.  17,  where  see  rnarg.,  and  xiv.  14).  And 
 chayil,  whose  root -meaning  is  strength,  while  often 
 meaning  forces,  has  eleven  times  the  meaning  riches 
 (Isa.  viii.  4,  &c),  and  eight  times  substance  (Job  v. 
 5,  &c). 
 
 The  three  clauses  in  this  verse  form  a  climax  : — (1) 
 The  plunder  of  the  open  country ;  (2)  entry  into  the 
 
 47G 
 
The  Day 
 
 OBADIA  II. 
 
 of  l/te  Lord. 
 
 watt  as  one  of  tln'iii.  "Jl  But  '  tli'  ii 
 slniiililcst  ii* > t  bave  looked  ""  the  day  of 
 thy  brother  is  the  day  that  he  became 
 a  stranger;  neither  shonldesl  thou  have 
 rejoiced  over  the  children  of  Judab  in 
 the  day  of  their  destruction;  neither 
 shonldesl  thou  have  'spoken  proudly  in 
 the  day  of  distress.  (li)  Thou  shouluest 
 not  bare  entered  into  the  gate  of  my 
 people  in  tin-  day  of  their  calamity; 
 rea,  thou  shooldest  not  liave  looked  on 
 their  affliction  in  the  day  of  their 
 calamity,  nor  have  [aid  hands  on  their 
 
 i    not  t»  • 
 
 1   Hi-!'.,  magnified 
 thy  iiwutii. 
 
 ■    cca. 
 
 R  0 
 rir.  wo. 
 
 .       :i5.  15. 
 
 s  substance  in  the  day  of  their  calamity; 
 "  neither  shonldesl  thou  have  Btood  in 
 the  crossway,  to  cul  off  those  of  his 
 that  did  escape ;  neither  shonldesl  thou 
 hare  ldelireredup  those  of  his  thai  did 
 remain  i"  the  day  of  distress.  li;i,For 
 the  day  of  the  Loan  it  near  upon  all 
 the  heathen  :  ■  as  thou  hasl  done,  it 
 shall  be  done  unto  tbee :  thy  reward 
 shall  return  upon  thine  own  head. 
 ""'  I'd-  as  ye  have   chunk    Upon    Iliy  holy 
 
 mountain,  *o  shall  all  the  heathen  drink 
 
 continually,  yea,  they  shall   drink,  and 
 
 gates  of  the  <i< i<s ;  (8)  casting  lots  for  the  spoil  in  the 
 very  capital  itself.  It  is  natural  to  regard  tliis  latter 
 event  as  identical  with  that  in  Joel  iii.  3,  the  final  de- 
 struction nt'  Jerusalem  and  dispersion  of  its  inhabitants 
 into  captivity.  But  for  the  question  of  the  event  intended 
 ami  its  connection  with  the  date  of  the  prophecy,  see 
 Excursus. 
 
 i>-  Thou  shouldost  not  .  .  .—Here,  and  in 
 verses  13  and  1 1.  correctly  as  in  marg.,  ]><>  wot,&a.  Al 
 with  the  apoc.  pres.  or  fut.  must  be  prohibitory.  Ca- 
 lasio's  Concordance  supplies  -""  instances  (see  Pussy's 
 note).  Hut  the  warning  against  these  particular  offences 
 undoubtedly  springs  from  the  reminiscence  of  snob  con- 
 dad  in  former  times.  The  passage  is  neither  definitely 
 historical  nor  definitely  prophetic.  What  lias  happened 
 in  the  past  becomes  a  type  of  what  will  happen  in  the 
 future.     Km-  loeih  [raah),  with  the  sense  of  disdain  or 
 
 scorn,  OOmp,  Cant,  i.ij;  Job  xl.  11,   xli.  ill    (Heb.  -'< 
 Tin1  word  is  repeated  with  the  same   sense   in   verse  1:!. 
 
 Posey  remarks ;  "  Malicious  gazing  on  human  calamity, 
 
 forgetful  of  man's  common  origin  and  common  liability 
 to  ill,  is  the  worst  form  of  human  hate.  It  was  one  of 
 the  contumelies  of  the,  Cross." 
 
 In  the  day  that  he  became  a  stranger.  — 
 Literally,  in  At  day  of  bis  strangeness.  The  form 
 tuikher  is  only  found  here,  and  in  Job  xxxi.  :>  (nekher) 
 with  different  pointing,  where  it  is  translated  "  strange 
 punishment."    The   adjective   nokhri.    also,    has   always 
 
 the  sense  of  strange,  though  the  root-verb  seems  to 
 have  the  signification  to  recognise.    From  (o 
 
 Otl    apparent  striinyr  to  treat  n.i  a  stranyer  (which  the 
 
 derived  jngations,  that   akme  are  used,  Bomethnes 
 
 mean)  is  a  natural  transition.  Perhaps  here,  "  unheard- 
 of  calamity." 
 
 Spoken  proudly.— Literally,  as  in  marg., made  thy 
 month  great  (  comp.  Ps.  xxxv.  21;  Isa.  lvii.  4).  The 
 mention  of  grimaeet  adds  to  the  graphic  character  of 
 
 the  picture.    Again  we  are  reminded  of  the  wanton  and 
 
 Bavage  insolence  around  the  Cross. 
 (1*1  The  day  of  their  calamity.— Thrice  repeated, 
 
 to  bring  into  prominence  the  malignity  of  Kdom's  con- 
 duct. Thesame  expression  used  by  K/.okiclichap.  xxx\  ">  . 
 in  the  same  connection,  probably  with  reference  to  the 
 same  occasion. 
 
 Calamity.  Heb..  ryd.  Variously  derived  and  ex- 
 plained, either  as  load  of  trouble  or  dark  gloomy 
 time. 
 
 <"'  Crossway.  —  Heb., pe rck  =  separated  (English. 
 fork).  It  only  occurs  here  and  in  Xahum  iii.  1 .  where  it 
 is  translated  robbery — i.e..  that  which  is  torn  or  divided. 
 Or  it  may  mean  at  the  division  of  the  prey,  but  "cross- 
 (ray  "  is  better. 
 
 Delivered.  —  Margin,  shut  »y> — /<.•.,  either  made 
 prisoners  of  them,  or  cut  them  off  at  the  cross-roads 
 from  any  chance  of  escape. 
 
 For  the  open  violence  assumed  by  the  Bdomites  when 
 
 they  saw  their  chance  was  come.  comp.  Ps.  exxxvii.  7: 
 Joel  iii.  19;  Amos  i.  11  ;  Ezek.  xxxv. 
 
 (is)  The  day  of  the  Lord.— Whether  this  phrase 
 first  makes  its  appearance  in  written  prophecy  m  Joel 
 or  Obadiah  depends,  of  course,  on  the  question  of  the 
 relative  date  of  the  two.  But  probably  it  had  become 
 .i  recognised  prophetic  expression  long  before  it  was 
 committed  to  writing.     The  primary  aning  is  not 
 
 the  day  of  judgment,  but  the  day  on  which  Jehovah 
 reveals  His  majesty  and  omnipotence  in  a  glorious 
 manner,  to  overthrow  all  ungodly  powers  and  to  Com- 
 plete) His    kingdom.       As    the    nusfortttnes    of    Israel 
 
 ineiv.iseil.  and    the  hostility  of   surrounding    nations 
 
 gathered  to  a  successful   he.nl.  it  was   natural   that  the 
 
 idea  of  retribution  upon  them  for  their  violence  to  the 
 
 chosen  race  should  usurp  the  prominent  place  in  pro- 
 
 J'hecy.  The  "  day  of  Jehovah  "  became  the  day  of 
 fehovah's  wrath  (Zeph.  i.  18)  and  Jehovah's  vengeance 
 (Isa.  xxxiv.  8).  The  fading  of  the  temporal  hopes 
 implied  in  the  expression  naturally  led  to  its  higher 
 religious  use;  and  the  various  phrases  for  the  same  idea 
 — "  the  day."  "  the  great  day."  "  the  day  of  judgment." 
 "the  last  dav" — passed  first  into  Jewish,  and  after- 
 wards into  Christian,  eschatology,  taking  with  them  all 
 the  prophetic  imagery  which  painted  the  expectancy  of 
 Israel:  imagery  afthe  aplendour  of  victory  and  triumph 
 on  the  one  side'.  ..f  terrible  overthrow  and  slaughter  on 
 
 the  other,  but    rich   as  well  with  its  infinite   spiritual 
 
 snggestiveness. 
 
 As  thou  hast  done  .  .  .—For  this  stem  an- 
 nouncement of  the  lea  talionis  on  the  offending  nation. 
 coiii]i.  i  in  addition  to  the  reference  in  marg.  |  Joel  iii.  7  ; 
 IV  exxxvii.  8. 
 
 (M)  As  ye  have  drunk  .  .  .— F..r  the  figure. 
 so  common  in  prophecy  and  bo  expressive,  comp,  Jar. 
 
 XXV.  27,  28 i  Ps.  lxxv.'S;  Isa.  Ii.  17;  Rev.  xviii.  3 — 6. 
 But  who  arc  addressed,  the  people  of  Jerusalem  or  the 
 
 Edomites  P    The  question  is  perplexed.    If  we  keep 
 
 the  tropical  sense  of  drink  in  both  clauses,  which  is  the 
 
 most  natural  way.  understanding  by  it  the  cup  of  suf- 
 fering, since  it  issaid  to  have  been  drunk  oiiMount /ion. 
 it    must  have  been  drained  by  Israelites,  as  Ewald   and 
 
 others  take  the  passage.    On  the  other  hand,  it  seems 
 
 awkward  to  make  the  prophet  turn  from  addressing 
 Kilmn  to  Jndah,  not  else  addressed  in  his  prophecy. 
 If  taken  in  a  literal  sense,  the  drinking  on  Mount  Zi.ui 
 would,  of  course,  refer  to  the  carousing  and  revelry 
 which  always  followed  heathen  victory,  and  sometimes 
 
 ■177 
 
The  Deliverance 
 
 OEADIAH. 
 
 of  Zion. 
 
 they   shall  :  swallow    down,    and    they 
 shall  be  as  though  they  had  not  been. 
 
 <17>But  upon  mount  Zion  shall  be 
 2  deliverance,  and  3  there  shall  be  holi- 
 ness ;  and  the  house  of  Jacob  shall 
 possess  their  possessions.  <18>And  the 
 house  of  Jacob  shall  be  a  fire,  and  the 
 house  of  Joseph  a  flame,  and  the  house 
 of  Esau  for  stubble,  and  they  shall 
 kindle  in  them,  and  devour  them ;  and 
 there  shall  not  be  any  remaining  of  the 
 
 1  Or,  sup  tip. 
 
 2  Or,  they  that  es- 
 cape. 
 
 3   Or,   it   shall   he 
 holy. 
 
 4  Or,  shall  possess 
 that  which  is  in 
 fiepharaet. 
 
 house  of  Esau;  for  the  Lord  hath 
 spoken  it.  <19>And  they  of  the  south 
 shall  possess  the  mount  of  Esau ;  and 
 they  of  the  plain  the  Philistines :  and 
 they  shall  possess  the  fields  of  Ephraim, 
 and  the  fields  of  Samaria :  and  Ben- 
 jamin shall  possess  Gilead.  <20>  And  the 
 captivity  of  this  host  of  the  children  of 
 Israel  shall  possess  that  of  the  Canaan- 
 ites,  even  unto  Zarephath ;  and  the 
 captivity   of  Jerusalem,    4  which    is    in 
 
 with  terrible  aggravation  (Joel  iii.  3).  Taking  the 
 passage  in  this  sense,  we  must  understand  the  prophet 
 to  take  Edoin  as  a  type  of  all  heathen  in  their  attitude 
 towards  Israel,  so  that  what  he  says  of  one  nation 
 applies  to  all.  But  it  is  quite  possible  that  our  text 
 embodies  an  old  oracular  saying  addressed  to  Israel. 
 This  is  Ewald's  view. 
 
 Swallow  down. — Margin,  sup  up.  The  substan- 
 tive loa  signifies  a  throat.  (Comp.  Job  vi.  3  :  "There- 
 fore my  words  are  swallowed  up.") 
 
 Shall  be  as  though  they  had  not  been.— 
 For  the  expression,  comp.  Job  x.  19.  Here,  totally  in- 
 sensible from  the  effects  of  the  draught,  therefore  dead, 
 destroyed. 
 
 The  word  continually  offers  some  difficulty.  Ewald 
 translates  immediately,  but  this  is  not  the  natural  sense 
 of  tamid,  which  seems  rather  to  express  that  continuous 
 display  of  the  Divine  purpose  and  judgment  in  the 
 overthrow  overtaking  successively  the  proud  monar- 
 chies of  the  heathen.  "  God  employs  each  nation  in 
 turn  to  give  that  cup  to  the  other.  So  Edom  drank  it 
 at  the  hand  of  Babylon,  and  Babylon  from  the  Medes, 
 and  the  Medes  and  Persians  from  the  Macedonians, 
 and  the  Macedonians  from  the  Romans,  and  they  from 
 the  barbarians." 
 
 17 — 21. — Establishment    op   the    Kingdom    op 
 Jehovah  on  Mount  Zion. 
 
 (17)  Deliverance. — Better,  as  in  margin,  the  fugi- 
 tives of  Israel  who  have  survived  the  recent  calamity. 
 This  is  clear  from  Isa.  x.  20,  where  pheleytah  is  in  paral- 
 lelism with  s/iear=reinnant,  as  well  as  Joel  ii.  32  ;  Heb. 
 iii.  5,  where  it  is  parallel  to  seridim,  also  remnant. 
 (Comp.  also  Judges  xxi.  17;  2  Chron.  xx.  24.)  While 
 the  judgment  is  falling  upon  all  the  heathen  nations, 
 Mount  Zion  will  be  an  asylum  for  all  the  Israelites  who 
 had  fled  for  safety,  and  been  scattered  and  dispersed. 
 
 Holiness. — See  margin.  Zion  was  once  more  to 
 become  a  sanctuary,  and  those  who  inhabited  it  holy. 
 (Comp.  Isa.  vi.  13.) 
 
 Their  possessions. — Whose— their  own  that  had 
 been  lost,  or  those  of  the  nations  ?  The  Vulgate,  f ollow- 
 iug  the  LXX.,  read  "those  who  had  possessed  them," 
 indicating  subjugation  of  the  heathen  tribes.  But  the 
 parallelism  is  undoubtedly  in  favour  of  the  other  view — 
 the  remnant  of  Israel  would  be  saved,  and  regain  their 
 old  possessions.  Having  stated  this,  the  prophet  goes 
 on  to  describe  what  would  happen  to  Edom  and  its 
 possessions. 
 
 (18)  Though,  in  the  preceding  verse,  "  house  of  Jacob" 
 would  seem  to  embrace  all  the  restored  Israel,  without 
 any  reference  to  the  distinction  of  the  two  kingdoms, 
 in  this  verse,  being  opposed  to  "  house  of  Joseph,"  it 
 requires  to  be  taken  as  synonymous  with  Judah ;  as 
 in  Isa.  xlvi.  3  :  "  Hearken  unto  me,  O  house  of  Jacob, 
 
 and  all  the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Israel."     (Comp. 
 Pss.  lxxvii.  15,  lxxx.  1,  lxxxi.  4,  5.) 
 
 For  the  expressive  imagery,  comp.  Nahum  i.  10 ;  Isa. 
 xxvii.  4,  x.  17. 
 
 Any  remaining. — Heb.,  sarld,  a  fugitive.  The 
 LXX.  must  have  had  a  different  text,  as  they  read  here 
 irvpotpjpos,  i.e.,  wheat-bearer,  apparently  (as  the  various 
 reading  shows)  a  mistake  for  irvp(p6pos,  fire-bearer. 
 
 (!9)  After  the  destruction  of  the  heathen  the  new 
 kingdom  of  Zion  will  be  restored,  at  least  as  far  as  the 
 ancient  territories  which  are  at  present  held  by  the 
 Idumaeans,  to  the  north  and  west  of  the  original  Edom, 
 are  concerned.  Three  divisions  are  enumerated  of  the 
 house  of  Jacob  (i.e.,  Judah;  see  Note,  verse  18),  and 
 separate  mention  made  of  Benjamin. 
 
 They  of  the  south. — Those  at  present  occupying 
 the  south — Heb.,  negev — i.e.,  the  dry  parched  country 
 forming  the  southern  portion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah 
 (Josh.  xv.  21),  are  to  inhabit  Mount  Esau:  i.e.,  are  to 
 extend  their  territory  to  its  extreme  south-eastern 
 limit;  they  of  the  Shephelah,  i.e.,  the  western  lowland 
 on  the  Mediterranean,  are  to  seize  on  the  neighbouring 
 Philistia,  at  present  Idumaean ;  while  they  at  present 
 confined  to  the  hill-country  in  the  north  and  centre 
 of  Judah  are  to  spread  themselves  over  Ephraim 
 and  Samaria.  Our  present  Hebrew  text  leaves  the 
 subject  of  this  latter  clause  uncertain,  as  it  is  in  the 
 Authorised  Version  "they."  But  the  LXX.,  rb  opus, 
 indicates  that  hahor  =  the  mountain,  has  dropped  out, 
 a  conjecture  which  is  abundantly  borne  out  by  the 
 geographical  arrangement  of  the  localities  in  the  pas- 
 sage. Benjamin,  for  which  no  room  is  left  on  the 
 west  of  Jordan,  is  to  push  across  it  into  Gilead  instead. 
 This  prophetic  vision  recalls  Gen.  xxviii.  14. 
 
 (2°)  But  there  are  still  others  of  the  restored  Israel, 
 besides  those  comprised  within  the  ancient  territory  of 
 Judah.  The  prophetic  survey  proceeds  northwards, 
 and  we  get  a  general  idea  from  this  verse  that  there 
 were  exiles,  who  had  found  refuge  on  the  north-western 
 and  northern  boundaries  of  ancient  Palestine,  who 
 would  settle  themselves  partly  on  the  sea-coast  of  Tyre 
 and  Sidon,  partly  in  the  south  country,  whose  inhabit- 
 ants had  pushed  downwards  into  Edom.  But  while 
 this  is  plainly  its  general  drift,  the  text  is  full  of 
 difficulties. 
 
 It  is  difficult  to  attach  an  intelligible  meaning  to 
 "  the  captivity  (i.e.,  exiles,  galuth ;  comp.  Isa.  xx.  4, 
 xlv.  13)  of  this  host  of  (literally,  to)  the  sons  of  Israel." 
 
 The  prophet  seems  to  allude  to  some  body  of  exiles, 
 including  himself,  who  had  escaped  from  the  army. 
 But  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  among  grammarians 
 as  to  the  identification  of  chel  with  chayil  =  host. 
 Ewald  takes  it  to  be  a  dialectic  variety  of  c/toZ  = sand, 
 generally  of  the  sea-coast;  and  so  here  "the  banished 
 ones  of  this  coast,"  where  the  prophet  was  at  the  time. 
 
 478 
 
Tin-  Kingdom 
 
 OHADIAH. 
 
 of  the  Lo\  '. 
 
 Si'|ili:ir;nl,  sli:ill  possess  tlio  cities  of  the  I..  mnu.i«;  j«m. 
 south.  '-'Ami  'saviours  shall  oome  ap  on  »i3ii.* 
 
 mount  Zion  to  jiul^e  the  mount  <.t'  I 
 ;iik1  the  ' kingdom  shall  be  tin-  Lord's. 
 
 The  rendering  ehil  trench,  or  fortification,  which 
 Kciiiir  adopt,  is  out  of  the  question,    The  LXX.  have 
 
 TJjt    firTtHKicrlai   i}    apxv,   but    whether  n/'XV  —  jmwrr,   nr 
 
 beginning,  with  allusion  to  the  lirst  dispersion  of  exiles, 
 cannot  be  determined.  Another  difficulty  arises  with 
 respect  to  the  words  thai  of  the  Canaanites—asher 
 Khenaantm  (literally,  which  Canaanites).  To  make  it 
 an  object,  us  in  oni  rersion,  the  particle  eth  is  wanted, 
 and  Gwald,  instead  of  other,  reads  ith-ari  =  the  el 
 of.  Thai  some  change  has  taken  place  in  the  text  appears 
 from  the  IjXX.,  wlin  have  y9,  the  land  Beb.,  i  rets). 
 Ceil,  keeping  the  present  reading,  renders, "  And  the 
 captives  of  this  army  of  the  sons  of  Israel  (will  take 
 possession)  of  what  Oanaanites  there  ore  as  far  as 
 Zarephath  .  .  ."  Pnsey:  "And  the  captivity  of  ( li is 
 host  of  the  children  ox  Israel  which  are  among  the 
 laanites  as  tar  as  Zarephath,"  making  it  joint 
 subject  with  "the  captives  of  Jerusalem"  to  "shall 
 possess  the  cities  of  the  Bouth,"  which  is  in  accordance 
 with  the  construction  of  the  LXX.  and  the  Syriac. 
 But  the  absence  of  the  preposition  be  before  Khenaamim 
 seems  to  make  this  rendering  impossible.    The  Hebrew 
 
 as    it    stands   Can  only    mean    "  whieh  are   Canaanites." 
 
 The  choice  lies  between  ESwald's  emendation  of  the 
 text  and  Keil's  interpretation.  The  Jews  understand 
 by  Zarephath  the  country  of  France. 
 
 The  last  clause  is  hotter  in  the  text  than  in  the 
 margin  :  "  The  exiles  from  Jerusalem  who  are  in  Sepha- 
 
 rail    shall   take    possession   of   the  cities   of  the   south." 
 
 The  only  difficulty  is  in  the  name  Bepharad,  s  place 
 never  mentioned  elsewhere,  and  which  has  not  yet  been 
 satisfactorily  identified.  The  various  conjectures  have 
 been — 
 
 1.  That    of    the    LXX.,  tut   'EcfipaBa.  followed   by   the 
 
 Suable  translation,  probably ir reading  Bepharath. 
 
 Jerome,  in  his  Commentary  on  (  diadiah.  appears  to  have 
 understood  this  reading  as  pointing  to  the  Hebrew 
 Phrath,  sinee  he  translates,  I  run  am  igratio  Jerusdlt  Rl 
 usque  Ehtphratem. 
 
 -.  The  reading  of  the  Vulg.,  qua  in  Bosphoro  est, 
 was  derived  by  Jerome  from  a  Jewish  instructor,  who 
 treated  the  particle  in  Bisparad  as  part  of  the  name, 
 and  rejected  the  final  d  altogether. 
 
 3.  The  Targnm  Jonathan,  the   PeshHo-Syriac,  and 
 
 from  them  the  modern  Jews,  interpret  Bepharad  as 
 Spain  (lspamia  or  Isp.-mia);  hence  BophCVrdvm,  S  name 
 fox  I  be  Spanish    Jews. 
 
 I.  Sipphara  in  Mesopotamia.  But  this  is  more  pro- 
 bably  identified  with  Kijiharvaim. 
 
 5.  Sardis,  from  a  supposed  connection  with  QPaRnD, 
 or  ('p.iiila,  meiitioiieii  in  the  great  arrowJieaded  in- 
 scription of  Nakshi  Hnstain.  in  B  list  of  names  of  tril.es 
 
 bet  ween  Cappadoeia  and  [onia,  which  De  Bacy  idem  i tied 
 with  Bepharad,  and  Lassen  with  Sardis. 
 (i.  Sparta.    Some  relations  there  were  between  the 
 
 Jews  after  the  Captivity  and  the  Lacedn  nionians  'see 
 ]  Mace.  xii.  2,  seqq..  xiv.  Id,  seqq.,  xv.  23).  Possibly 
 there  was  a  colony  of  the  exiles  in  Sparta. 
 
 7.   ES  wald  conjectures  Bepharam  instead  of  Seph 
 and  linils  the  place  in  Bhefa  Ainar.  a  welLknown  place 
 
 a  few   miles  south-east  of   Acco.     The  general    drift 
 
 the  passage  seems  to  require  some  place  not  far  distant 
 
 from,  and  in  the  direction  of,  Zarephath.  The  only 
 serious  objection  te  this  conjecture  is  the,  fact  that 
 Shefa  Amar  was  within  the  b  line, 
 
 and  therefore  those  who  had  taken  refuge  there  would 
 not  strictly  he  exiles.  But  it  is  distinctly  stated  that 
 these  wen-  "of  Jerusalem,"  and  they  might  Well  lie 
 called  refugees,  since  they  had  had  to  go  BO  far  north  to 
 find  an  asylum. 
 
 (21)  Saviours.— Comp.  Judges  iii.  9,  15  ;  Neh.  ix.  27. 
 Tho  Jewish  interpreters  understand  by  "  saviours  "' 
 men  like  the  judges  of  old,  Gideon,  Barak,  &c,  who 
 will  chastise  the  Christians  and  subdue  them.  The 
 Mount  of  Esau  is  of  course,  according  to  tins  inter- 
 pretation. Koine. 
 
 And  the   kingdom  shaU.   be   the    Lord's.— 
 
 Sec  tho  reference  in  margin  to  Zeehariah,  wdio  gives  this 
 anticipation  of  the  pure  form  of  the  theocracy  in  its 
 wider  extent.  But  here.  too.  the  prophetic  look  over 
 the  world  seems  to  extend  far  beyond  Judah  and  the 
 fortunes  of  the  Jewish  race,  and  as  the  vision  widens 
 Zion  and  Edom  both  retire  from  sight;  both  are  com- 
 prehended in  the  one  Divine  kingdom,  and  God  is  all  in 
 all.  For  the  bearing  of  this  conclusion  to  the  prophecy 
 on  its  date,  see  Excursus. 
 
 479 
 
EXCURSUS    ON    NOTES    TO    OBADIAH. 
 
 ON  THE  DATE  AND  AUTHORSHIP  OP  THE  BOOK. 
 
 Obadiah  Las  been  placed  as  early  as  the  beginning 
 of  the  ninth  century,  antecedent  to  the  prophet  Joel, 
 and  by  one  commentator  at  least — Eichorn — has  been 
 brought  down  as  late  as  the  first  century  before  Christ. 
 The  data  for  determining  the  problem  are  : — 
 
 1.  The  identification  of  the  siege  and  capture  of 
 Jerusalem,  mentioned  in  verse  11,  with  someone  known 
 historical  event. 
 
 2.  The  recurrence,  in  an  altered  order  and  form,  of 
 certain  verses  of  this  prophecy  in  Jer.  xlix. 
 
 3.  A  comparison  of  Obadiah  with  other  oracles 
 concerning  Edom. 
 
 1.  There  is  no  question  that  verse  11  records  a  conquest 
 of  Jerusalem,  which  had  already  taken  place.  It  is 
 true  that  in  verses  13,  14  the  margin,  "  do  not  behold," 
 is  the  correct  translation,  and  not  "  thou  shouldest 
 not "  of  the  Authorised  Version.  But  the  tone  of 
 this  warning  makes  it  evident  that  the  particular  prac- 
 tices referred  to  are  enumerated  as  being  such  as  had 
 been  employed  by  Edom  before,  such  as  were  cus- 
 tomary whenever  occasion  offered.  Verse  11 — "  In  the 
 day  of  thy  standing  over  against,  in  the  day  of  taking 
 away  strangers  his  forces  (or  substance),  and  foreigners 
 entered  his  gates,  and  over  Jerusalem  cast  lots,  thou  too 
 as  one  of  them  " — is  too  general  and  indefinite  to  enable 
 us  to  identify  it  with  certainty  with  any  one  of  the  seven 
 captures  of  Jerusalem  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament. 
 But  some  of  these  we  can  eliminate.  The  capture  by 
 the  Egyptian  King  Shishak  in  the  reign  of  Rehoboam 
 is  excluded  by  the  fact  that  at  that  time  Edom  was 
 subject  to  Judah.  Obadiah  cannot  be  referring  to  the 
 civil  war  between  Joash  and  Amaziah,  because  he  ex- 
 pressly calls  the  enemy  that  captured  Jerusalem 
 foreigners. 
 
 There  remain — (1)  The  capture  by  the  Philistines  and 
 Arabians  in  the  reign  of  Jehoram  (related  in  2  Chron. 
 xxi.  16,  17) ;  (2)  by  the  Chaldaeans  in  the  reign  of 
 Jehoiakim  (2  Kings  xxiv.  1,  seqq. ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  6, 
 7) ;  (3)  the  second  capture  by  Nebuchadnezzar  when 
 Jehoiachin  was  taken  prisoner  (2  Kings  xxiv.  10,  seqq. ; 
 2  Chron.  xxxvi.  10) ;  and  (4)  the  final  and  decisive  siege, 
 which  ended  in  the  destruction  of  the  city  and  general 
 captivity. 
 
 There  is  much  to  favour  the  view  that  our  prophet 
 refers  to  the  first  of  these.  We  know  that  Edom  re- 
 volted from  Judah  during  Jehoram's  reign,  and  though 
 that  monarch  was  able  partially  to  recover  his  autho- 
 rity, it  was  never  completely  recovered.  The  Arabians 
 mentioned  as  allied  with  the  Philistines  in  a  raid  on  his 
 territories  may  have  included  the  Petrsean  Arabs.  From 
 the  account  in  Chronicles  we  learn  that  these  marauders 
 burst  into  the  land,  forced  their  way  into  Jerusalem, 
 plundered  the  royal  palace,  and  carried  away  the 
 children  and  wives  of  the  king,  so  that  only  the  youngest 
 son  was  left  behind.  If,  as  seems  probable  from  the 
 remarkable  coincidence  of  language  between  this  pas- 
 sage and  Obadiah  10 — 17,  Joel  iii.  3,  5,  6,  they  refer  to 
 the  same  events,  numbers  of  the  people  also  were  made 
 prisoners,   and  sold  as   slaves.      On   the  other  hand, 
 
 the  state  of  things  indicated  in  Obadiah  seems  to 
 demand  a  captivity  on  a  inuch  larger  scale  than  even 
 this.  The  concluding  part  of  the  chapter  seems  to  re- 
 fer to  a  catastrophe  far  more  wide  in  its  extent  than  the 
 expedition  in  Jehoram's  reign.  The  re-settlement  of 
 the  captives  in  their  old  possessions,  and  overflow  of 
 them  into  the  conquered  territory  of  Edom,  points  to  a 
 previous  dispersion  on  a  grand  scale. 
 
 Altogether,  it  must  be  left  as  impossible  to  decide 
 from  this  datum  to  which  of  the  captures  of  Jerusalem 
 the  prophet  refers.  That  he  had  some  comparatively 
 recent  event  in  his  mind  is  clear,  not  only  from  the  general 
 tone  of  the  language,  but  also  from  the  probable  inference, 
 from  verse  20,  that  he  was  himself  among  the  captives. 
 (See  Note.)  At  the  same  time,  from  verses  11 — 13  we 
 see  that  he  wrote  with  the  fear  of  a  repetition  of  Edom's 
 well-known  practices  in  his  mind.  On  the  whole,  from 
 this  doubtful  historical  reference  alone,  we  incline  to 
 the  opinion  that  our  prophet's  is  a  voice  raised  during 
 the  early  years  of  the  exile,  when  the  memory  of  Edom's 
 unbrotherly  alliance  with  the  Chaldseans  was  still  strong 
 and  bitter,  although  the  sight  of  them  enjoying  the 
 fruits  of  their  conduct  in  the  lands  of  Judah  had  not 
 destroyed  prophetic  hope,  nor  weakened  the  belief, 
 which  older  oracles  had  pronounced,  of  a  swift  and 
 terrible  vengeance  on  this  hated  people. 
 
 2.  If  the  relation  between  Jeremiah  and  Obadiah 
 could  be  satisfactorily  ascertained,  the  question  of  the 
 date  of  the  latter  woidd  be  settled.  The  forty-ninth 
 chapter  of  Jeremiah  contains  an  oracle  about  Edom,  in 
 which  the  earlier  part  of  Obadiah's  prophecy  is  em- 
 bodied. Out  of  the  sixteen  verses  of  which  it  is 
 composed,  four  are  identical  in  language  with  verses 
 from  Obadiah  (Jer.  xlix.  9,  14,  15,  16  correspond  with 
 Obad.  verses  5, 1,  2,  3).  A  fifth  embodies  the  substance 
 of  a  verse  (comp.  Jer.  xlix.  10  with  Obad.  6).  In  two 
 other  verses  respectively  of  the  two  prophets  the  same 
 thought  appears  (Jer.  xlix.  7  and  Obad.  8),  while  the 
 image  in  chap.  xlix.  12  is  that  of  Obad.  16.  Add  to 
 this  that  the  title  which  Jeremiah  prefixes  to  his  oracle 
 — "  concerning  Edom,  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  " — 
 appears  in  a  slightly  changed  form  in  Obadiah,  after 
 the  proper  heading — "vision  of  Obadiah" — in  such  a 
 way  as  to  confuse  the  construction  (see  Note).  Now,  of 
 these  two  passages  Obadiah's  has  undoubtedly  the  ap- 
 pearance of  being  the  original  in  form.  It  is  almost 
 inconceivable  that  a  copyist  should  have  culled  here  and 
 there  a  sentence  from  a  longer  work,  and  woven  them 
 into  a  connected  and  harmonious  whole  like  Obad. 
 1 — 6.  It  was  also  so  much  in  Jeremiah's  manner  to 
 incorporate  and  use,  for  his  own  immediate  purpose, 
 oracles  about  foreign  nations  which  he  found  in  older 
 works  (comp.  Jer.  xlviii. passim,  with  Isa.  xiv.,  xv.,  xvi. ; 
 Jer.  xlix.  1 — 6  with  Amos  i.  13,  15 ;  Jer.  1.  with  Isa. 
 xii.,  &c.)  that  we  should  suspect  him  to  be  the  bor- 
 rower in  this  instance.  The  passage  in  Obadiah,  more- 
 over, reads  as  the  more  ancient  of  the  two.  It  is  the 
 more  concise  and  abrupt,  is  rugged  in  comparison,  and 
 less  polished,  as  we  should  expect  in  an  older  copy,  has 
 30 
 
OBADIAH. 
 
 mi  irregular  grammatical  Conn  where  Jeremiah  sul>- 
 si itntes  :i  regular  (ihdlluaoh,  Jar.  \lix.  11,  for  Obadiah 's 
 ihullach,  verse  I  ,  does  not  attempt  an  easy  flow  of 
 verse  or  earefal  parallelism,  and  preserves  in  image 
 which  is  among  the  boldest  of  even  Hebrew  pool  ry,  and 
 which  is  omitted  in  Jeremiah,  though  the  omission 
 makes  the  construction  faulty,  "  Though  thou  exalt  ae 
 the  eagle,  and  among  itan  set  thy  nett,  thence  will  1 
 bring  thee  down,  salts  tin-  Lord."  Jeremiah  omits  the 
 italicised  words,  and  so  loses  the  direei  antecedent  to 
 ••  thence." 
 
 These  considerations  lead  to  the  conclusion  thai 
 Obadiah  did  oof  copy  from  Jeremiah.  The  fire!  pari 
 of  the  prophecy  bearing  his  name  must  have  been  in 
 existence  before  the  date  of  Jeremiah's  forty-ninth 
 chapter ;  bul  it  does  not  follow  thai  the  whole,  as  il 
 now  exists,  bad  been  written  at  that  time.  A  Utter 
 hand  may  have  incorporated  the  earlier  vision  of 
 Obadiah  with  Irish  matter  of  his  own;  and  there  are 
 indications  thai  such  was  the  case,  besides  the  fad  thai 
 the  vrrsis  identical  with  those  of  Jeremiah  are  confined 
 to  the  Brst  portion  of  the  hook,  riz,,  verses  1 — 9. 
 There  is  a  correspondence  between  the  latter  parts  and 
 
 Joel — not  SO  close 88 thai  of  the  lirst  part  anil  Jeremiah. 
 
 not  extending  to  whole  verses,  bul  confined  to  phrases 
 and  expressions— but  still  a  correspondence  so  close  and 
 striking,  especially  considering  the  very  small  limit-  in 
 which  the  similarities  occur,  as  to  warrant  the  conclu- 
 sion of  a  dependence  of  One  writer  on  the  other.  The 
 originality  of  Joel  will  hardly  be  disputed.  We  arc 
 therefore  DTOUghl  to  infer  that  the  writer  who  left   the 
 
 Book  of  Obadiah  in  its  present  shape  took  the  ancient 
 oracle  against  Edom,  of  which  Jeremiah  also  availed 
 
 himself,  for  the  first    half  of  his  work,  and  in  what   h> 
 
 added  was  indebted  greatlj  to  Joel    This  hypothesis 
 
 aeeepted  brings  the  composition  of  the  work  08  we 
 have  it  within  tl \ile  period,  lint  leaves  it  quite  un- 
 certain to  what  date  in  that  period  to  assign  it.  The 
 concluding  words  of  the  prophecy  arc  an  echo  of  Zccli. 
 xh.  '.i  see  Note  .  ,,r  .-it  least  belong  to  the  same  period. 
 Bul  the  question  remains  whether  Obadiah  was  the 
 name  of  this  later  editor,  or  whether  it  was  the  name  of 
 
 the  older  set  r  whose  oracle  be  incorporated-  The  in- 
 scription leads  to  the  second  of  these  two  conclusions. 
 There  is  no  reason  to  douht  that  the  first  title,"  vision 
 of  Obadiah,"  belongs  to  the  older  part;  the  second 
 heading,  "Thus  saith,"  Sus.,  which  as  it  stands  doc- 
 
 not  harmonise  with  the  first,  may  have  been  inserted  by 
 some  copyist  to  bring  this  oracle  into  similarity  with 
 the  circle  of  oracles  against  foreign  nations  in  Jere- 
 miah, where  tin-  recognised  introduction  is  of  this 
 I  01  "i 
 
 3.   The  lime  to  which  we  have  assigned  our  prophecy 
 
 brings  it  within  the  circle  of  well-known  prophecies 
 about  Edom  :  viz.,  Ezek.  xxv.  12 — 14,  xxxv.  1—15;  Isa. 
 xxxiv..  Ixiii.  1 — 6;   Ps.  exxxvii.  7 — 9;   Lam.  iv.  21,  22  ; 
 
 Ezek.  xxxii.  -'.K  xxxvi.  5. 
 
 It  has  been  noticed  that  the  tone  of  Obadiah  is  not  so 
 fierce  and  vindictive  as  these.      It    is,  however,  quite   in 
 
 accordance  with  their  general  feeling.    We  should  like 
 
 to  know  more  of  this  writer,  who.  commissioned  with 
 only  one  short  message  against  one  of  Israel's  foes, 
 delivered  it  with  such  incisive  force,  yet  such  moderation 
 and  self-restraint.  We  only  know  that,  like  him  whose 
 words  he  adapted  to  his  own  use,  he  too  deserves  the 
 name  "  servant  of  Jehovah." 
 
 170 
 
 m 
 
JONAH. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 JONAH. 
 
 Tin:  Book  of  Jonah  occupies  a  position  unique  in  the 
 Bible.  Chased  among  the  prophetical  books,  ii  has  no 
 single  point  in  common  with  them.  Its  one  prediction 
 of  the  overthrow  of  Nineveh  differs  entirely  from  the 
 judgments  announced  by  Nahnm  against  the  same 
 power,  by  [saiah  and  others  against  Bloab,  or  Pbilistia, 
 or  Babylon,  tn  these,  according  to  the  trne  prophetic 
 rspirit .  ruin  is  connected  immediately  with  sin  as  an 
 inevitable  consequence.  We  have  pictures  of  moral 
 corruption,  and  of  the  social  ami  political  convulsions 
 thai  must  necessarily,  in  the  course  of  Hod's  pmvi- 
 dence,  follow.  En  Jonah's  one  utterance  we  have  simply 
 a  prediction  of  a  coming  overthrow,  with  a  date  pre- 
 cutely  stated  in  a  manner  quite  foreign  to  the  ordinary 
 prophetic  style.  In  the  body  of  prophecy,  therefore, 
 the  book  lias  no  proper  standing.     As  >  narrative  in 
 
 of  the  historical  l ks.  the  story  of  Jonah's  mission 
 
 would  have  been  in  place,    Indeed,  it  appears  as  if  it 
 
 were  R    fragment    from   a   series  of   narratives   of  pro- 
 
 phetic  arts,  similar  to  those  incorporated  in  the  Books 
 of  Kings  abont  Elijah  and  Elisha. 
 
 This  displacement  from  its  true  position  is  no  doubt 
 due  to  the  opinion  of  the  collectors  of  the  canon  as  to 
 
 the  authorship  of  the  book.  They  assumed  that  Jonah 
 himself  wrote   it.     This  assumption   is   nowhere   made 
 
 in  the  narrative  itself,  though  the  use  of  the  third 
 >n  must  not  be  taken  as  conclusive  against  it. 
 That  the  prophet  is  identical  with  the  Jonah  of 
 i!  hongs  \iv.  25,  the  statement  of  his  parentage,  "sou 
 of  \miitai."  leaves  no  doubt.  A  native  of  Gath-hepher, 
 of  the  tribe  of  Zebulun,  Jonah  the  s..n  of  Amittai  pro- 
 phesied at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Jero- 
 boam II.,  %.«.,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  century  b.c. 
 ilis  prophecies,  we  gather  from  the  same  passage,  had 
 reference  to  the  victories  of  Jeroboam.  Beyond  this 
 we  know  nothing  of  him  till  he  abruptly  bursts  on  us 
 as  the  prophet  commissioned  to  announce  the  destruction 
 
 of  Nineveh.      A   passing  allusion  in   the  Book  of  Toliil 
 
 (chap.  xiv.  I.  which  refers  to  the  prediction  as  still 
 waiting  fulfilment,  and  evidently  knows  nothing  of  its 
 ill  the  well-known  references  in  the  New 
 Testament  Matt,  lii.  1".  xvi.  4;  Luke  xi.  30),  exhaust 
 all  that  Scripture  has  to  tell  us  aboul  Jonah  and  his 
 mission.  Tradition,  fastening  on  the  manning  of  the 
 name  Amittai  ('emet,  "truth  ) identified  him  with  the 
 sun   of  the  widow  of  Sarepta,  because,  on  receiving 
 
 him  back  alive,  she  knew  that    the  prophet's  word    was 
 
 "truth."     A    tomb    at    Gath-hepher,    mentioned    by 
 
 Jerome,  was  also  assigned  to  Jonah  by  tradition. 
 
 The  most  various  opinions  have  prevailed  as  to  the 
 nature  of  the  book.  It  has  been  accepted  as  literal 
 history,  it  has  been  described  as  pure  action.  Some 
 havo  called  it   a  parable,  others  an  allegory,  others  a 
 
 4  s.5 
 
 poetical  myth,*  others  a  dream  ;  others  again,  While 
 recognising  an  historical  basis,  hold  that  the  narrative 
 has  been  enlarged  and  embellished  to  suit  the  purposes 
 of  the  unknown  author.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of 
 this  Commentary  to  discuss  these  various  modes  of 
 tivalinoiit.f  and  happily  the  lessons  of  the  book  are 
 entirely  independent  of  the  views  as  to  its  character. 
 Whether  history  or  parable,  it  conveys  in  the  most 
 striking  way  some  of  the  profoiindost  truths  of  religion, 
 truths  which,  if  to  be  discovered  at  all  elsewhere  in  the 
 Old  Testament,  are  certainly  nowhere  else  pronounced 
 with  such  firmness  and  power.  The  story  of  the  three- 
 fold deliveran if  the  vessel  when   relieved  of  its 
 
 burden  of  guilt — of  the  prophet,  in  whom,  however 
 reluctant,  the  Divine  purpose  had  found  its  fitting 
 instrument — of  the  doomed  city,  saved,  in  spite  of  its 
 
 doom,  by  repentance — this  story  does  not  lose  its  hn- 
 pressivenesa  even  if  read  as  the  work  of  imagination 
 trying  to  explain  the  mysterious  dealings  of  God. 
 Many  minds,  not  sceptical  of  a  basis  of  miracle,  yet 
 find  a  difficulty  in  the  concentration  of  so  much 
 
 the  marvellous  round  one  figure  and  one  brief  incident. 
 But  the  figure  is  none  the  less  striking,  the  character 
 none  tin'  less  instructive,  if  it  is  the  creation  of  fiction; 
 and  the  incident,  even  if  unhistorieal.  carries  a  wealth 
 of  profound  spiritual  truth.  The  tradition  mentioned 
 above  connecting  Jonah  with  Sarepta,  however  fanciful, 
 is  singularly  appropriate,  since  in  the  book  bearing  the 
 
 prophet's  name  we  come  upon  a  clear  anticipation  of  SO 
 much  of  the  teaching  of  Him  wfio  commended  the  faith 
 of  the  Sidouian  woman,  ami  relinked  the exclusiveness of 
 the  disciples.  That  the  heathen  world  might  look  to  the 
 great  God  for  blessings  which  the  favoured  race  was 
 rejecting  or  despising,  that  others  beside  Israelites  had 
 a  claim  on  the  justice  and  mercy  of  Jehovah,  that 
 repentance  ami  prayer  could  be  effectual  outside  the 
 .Mosaic  system—these  lessons,  which  even  Christ's  dis- 
 
 *  Two  classical  mvths  have  been  hy  various  critics  brought 
 into  ,  n  itli  the  story  of  Jonah,  thai  ol  11,  none,  who 
 
 was  chained  to  a   rock  a-  food  for  a  Bea-monster,  and  was 
 delivered   bj    Hercules,   ami  that   of  Andromeda  savr.i 
 similar  fate.     The  latter  is  locally  conn, 
 with  Joppa,    A  Babylonian  myth,  in  which  the  name  (ton 
 supposed   lo  be  cognate  with  Jonah,   occurs,   has  also  been 
 ail, lu.' 
 
 t-Thc  reft  our  Lord  to  Jonah  no  more  attc- 
 
 liieral  troth,  than  his  allusion  to  th  Dai  Id's  settles 
 
 nthorshlp  ol  the  whole  of  the  Psalter.     It   would 
 strange  if  He  who  chose  the  parabolic  method  to  convey  the 
 highest   truths  of  His  Kingdom,  Bhould    have   hesitated 
 enforce  them  by  reference  to  writings  of  the  same  kind,  even 
 losing  we  are  n,,t  right   in  judgingof  His  knowledge  on 
 
 points  of  liter.irv  criticism  as  limited.      The   a'  K''ll 
 
 others,  thai  Jonah  could  not  have  been  adduced  as  a  tvpc 
 Of  Christ  unless  his  history  is  actual  fact,  is  only  valid  when 
 
 We  have  restricted    the   moaning  of  the  word  /'//<•    tO  suit   the 
 
 argument.     And  the  New  Testament  does  not  represent  Jonah 
 pe,  hut  as  a  stun 
 
JONAH. 
 
 ciples  were  slow  to  learn,  are  the  prominent  lessons 
 of  this  book.  Others  loss  obvious  are  touched  on  in 
 the  notes.  The  power  and  universality  of  their  appli- 
 cation have  been  well  brought  out  by  Dean  Stanley, 
 who  thus  sums  them  up.  "  In  tho  popular  traditions 
 of  East  and  West,  Jonah's  name  alone  has  survived 
 the  lesser  prophets  of  the  Jewish  Church.  It  still 
 lives,  not  only  in  many  a  Mussulman  tomb  along  the 
 coasts  and  hills  of  Syria,  but  in  the  thoughts  and  devo- 
 tions of  Christendom.  The  marvellous  escape  from 
 the  deep,  through  a  single  passing  allusion  in  the 
 Gospel  history,  was  made  an  emblem  of  the  deliverance 
 of  Christ  Himself  from  the  jaws  of  death  and  the 
 grave.  The  great  Christian  doctrine  of  the  bouudless 
 power  of  human  repentance  received  its  chief  illus- 
 tration from  the  repentance  of  the  Ninevites  at  the 
 preaching  of  Jonah.  There  is  hardly  a  figure  from  the 
 Old  Testament  which  the  early  Christians  in  the  Cata- 
 combs so  often  took  as  their  consolation  in  persecution, 
 as  the  deliverance  of  Jonah  on  the  sea-shore,  and  his 
 naked  form  stretched  out  in  the  burning  sun  beneath 
 the  sheltering  gourd.  But  these  all  conspire,  with  the 
 story  itself,  in  proclaiming  that  still  wider  lesson  of 
 which  I  have  spoken.  It  is  the  rare  protest  of  theology 
 against  the  excess  of  theology ;  it  is  the  faithful  delinea- 
 tion, through  all  its  various  states,  of  the  dark,  sinister, 
 selfish  side  of  even  great  religious  teachers.  It  is  the 
 grand  Biblical  appeal  to  the  common  instincts  of  hu- 
 manity, and  to  the  universal  love  of  God,  against  the 
 narrow  dogmatism  of  sectarian  polemics.  There  has 
 never  been  'a  generation'  which  has  not  needed  the 
 majestic  revelation  of  sternness  and  charity,  each 
 bestowed  where  most  deserved,  and  where  least  ex- 
 pected, in  the  '  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah ' "  (Stanley, 
 /.  C.  ii.  356,  357). 
 
 If  the  question  of  the  nature  of  the  narrative  may  be 
 set  aside  as  of  secondary  importance,  that  of  authorship 
 and  date  must  be  given  up  from  want  of  sufficient  data. 
 
 The  linguistic  argument  may  be  used  as  strongly  for 
 the  North  Palestinian  origin  of  the  author,  as  for  his 
 late  date.  He  was  evidently  familiar,  beyond  most 
 scriptural  writers,  with  the  manners  and  language  of 
 the  maritime  cities  of  Phoenicia,  and  apparently  knew 
 more  of  the  appearance  of  Nineveh  and  its  customs 
 than  mere  hearsay  was  likely  to  give.  The  repentance 
 of  the  city,  and  its  consequent  salvation  from  a  threat- 
 ened overthrow,  have,  as  yet,  found  no  confirmation 
 from  profane  history.*  The  other  references  to  Nineveh 
 in  the  Bible  are  apparently  inconsistent  with  them. 
 Prophets  later  than  Jonah,  Isaiah,  Nahum,  Zephaniah, 
 continue  to  denounce  the  idolatries  of  the  Assyrians, 
 and  predict  their  punishment.  They  give  no  hint  of 
 any  previous  sudden  conversion.  The  only  allusion  to 
 Jonah  in  writings  anterior  to  Christianity  (Tobit,  see 
 above)  is  ignorant,  as  we  have  seen,  of  any  repentance, 
 a  fact  which  makes  the  existence  of  the  book  of  Jonah 
 before  the  probable  composition  of  the  book  of  Tobit, 
 about  B.C.  180,  extremely  doubtful. 
 
 The  various  theories  and  counter  theories  that  have 
 been  built  upon  this  slender  evidence,  leave  the  book 
 with  the  description  that  has  happily  been  given  of  it, 
 "  this  book  of  unknown  authorship,  of  unknown  date, 
 of  disputed  meaning,  but  of  surpassing  interest." 
 
 The  division  into  chapters,  in  the  Authorised  Version, 
 gives  the  best  arrangement  of  the  contents  of  the  book. 
 Its  language  is  prose,  but  with  sparks  of  poetic  feeling 
 showing  in  words  and  expressions,  as  well  as  in  the  hymn 
 (chap,  ii.),  which,  though  modelled  on,  and  in  a  great 
 degree  dependent,  both  in  thought  and  style,  on  the 
 Psalter,  is  yet  evidently  the  work  of  an  original  mind. 
 
 *  Unless  we  may  connect  the  occurrence  with  the  incursion 
 of  the  Scyths  mentioned  by  Herodotus  (I.  103)  which  appears 
 to  have  interfered  with  the  prosecution  of  the  siege  of  Nineveh 
 by  Cyaxares,  and  saved  it  for  some  twenty  or  twenty-five 
 years.  This  historical  fact  may  have  been  used  by  the  author, 
 like  the  name  of  Jonah  himself,  as  a  basis  on  which  to  found 
 his  story. 
 
 486 
 
JONAH. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.— Now  the  word  of  the 
 Loud  came  unto  '  Jonah  the  son  of 
 Amittai,  saying,  '-'  Arise,  goto  Nineveh, 
 thai  greal  city,  and  cry  against  it;  for 
 their  wickedness  is  come  up  before  me. 
 (;i  But  Jonah  rose  up  to  flee  unto  Tar- 
 shish from  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
 and  went  down  to  Joppa ;  and  he  found 
 
 a  ship  going  to  Tarshish:  so  he  paid  the 
 
 lu 
 cir.  S02. 
 
 I  ill  a,  Matt,  iz 
 ium. 
 
 ell.  8.  3. 
 
 I  ll.-l...  . 
 
 8  Bob .  ' 
 1     be  broken. 
 
 fare  thereof,  and  went  down  into  it,  to 
 go  with  them  unto  Tarshish  from  the 
 presence  of  the  Lord. 
 
 <4'  But  the  Lord  2sent  out  a  great 
 wind  into  the  sea,  and  there  was  a 
 mighty  tempest  in  the  sea,  so  that  the 
 ship  ;  was  like  to  be  broken.  (5)  Then 
 the  mariners  were  afraid,  and  cried 
 every  man  unto  his  god,  and  cast  forth 
 
 Jonah's  Disobedience  and  Punishment. 
 
 (')  Now  .  .  , — M ore  strictly,  Ami;  but  the  English 
 quite  aili'i|Uiitt'Iy  represents  the  Hebrew  .style  of  begin- 
 ning a  narrative,  whether  it  formed  a  book  by  itself,  or 
 merely  eon  tinned  m  historical  account.  (See  tho  open- 
 ing of  Exodus.  Leviticus,  and  other  historical  books; 
 Esek.  i.  1  i  and  oomp.  1  Kings  xvii.  1.  &cv) 
 
 Jonah  the  son  of  Amittai.— See  Introduction. 
 
 (-'»  Nineveh,  that  great  city.— The  size  of  Nine- 
 
 rah  is  throughout    the   I k  brought  into  prominent 
 
 notice,     i See  chaps,  iii.  -.  '■'•.  iv.  II.)    The  traditions 
 
 preserved   in  Greek   and    Roman  writers   dwell    on  the 
 
 Bams  feature;  and  modern  researches  among  the  huge 
 mounds  scattered  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Tigris 
 more  than  confirm  the  impression  produced  on  the 
 ancient  world  by  the  city,  or  rather  group  of  cities, 
 buried  beneath  them.     (Comp.  Gen.  x.  11.) 
 
 Cry.— A  Common  word  for  a  proclamation  by  a 
 herald  or  a  prophet.  (Comp.  Isa.  xl.  6,  &c.)  The  Eng- 
 lish word,  in  the  sense  of  "  proclaim,"  lingers  in  the 
 term  "  public  crier." 
 
 For  their  wickedness  is  come  up  before 
 me. — "Every  iniquity  has  its  own  voice  at  the  hidden 
 judgment  seat  of  God  "  (S.  Gregory, Mor.  V. 20;  quoted 
 by  Pusey).    But,  as  Pusey  remarks,  the  Hebrew  implies 
 
 especially  evil-doing  against  others,  that  violence  which 
 
 in  chap,  iii.  S  is  r igmsed  by  the  Xinovites  themselves 
 
 as  their  characteristic  sin. 
 M  But  Jonah  rose  up  to  flee.— Tho  motive  of 
 
 the  prophet's  (light  is  given  by  himself  (chap,  iv,  2). 
 Ho  foresaw  the  repentance  of  the  city,  and  tho  mercy 
 which  would  be  displayed  towards  it,  and  was  either 
 
 jealous  of  his  prophetic  reputation,  or  had  a  patriotic 
 dislike  of  becoming  a  messenger  of  good  to  a  heathen 
 foe  so  formidable  to  his  own  country. 
 
 Tarshish.  —  This  can  hardly  bo  any  other  than 
 Tarieaeue,  an  ancient  Phoenician  colony  on  the  river 
 Quadalquivir,  in  the  south-west  of  Spain.  (See  Gen. 
 x.  I- ;  1  Ohron.  i.  7.) 
 
 A    profound    mural    less, ,n    lies   in  the   choice   of  this 
 
 refuge  bj  Jonah.  A  man  who  tries  to  escape  from  a 
 clearly-recognised  duty — especially  if  he  can  at  the 
 time  supply  conscience  with  a  plausible  excuse— is  in 
 
 danger  ot   falling  all   the   lower,   in   proportion   as  his 
 
 position    was    high.     Jonah,  commanded    to   go    to 
 
 Nineveh,  in  the  far  north-east,  instantly  tries  to  Bee 
 
 to  the  then  farthermost  west.  Often  between  the 
 saintly  height  and  an  abyss  of  sin  there  is  no  middle 
 resting. point.  The  man  with  the  highest  ideal,  when 
 unfaithful  to  it,  is  apt  to  sink  lower  than  the  ordinary 
 mortal. 
 
 Prom  the  presence  of  the  Lord.— Bather, 
 from  before  the  face  of  Jehovah.  The  words  may 
 imply  (1)  the  belief  in  a  possibility  of  hiding  from  the 
 sight  of  God,  (as  in  Gen.  iii.  8),  a  belief  which,  as  we 
 gather  from  the  insistance  on  its  opposite  in  Ps.  exxxix.. 
 lingered  late  in  the  popular  conception  ;  (2)  a  renuncia- 
 tion of  the  prophetic  office.  (Comp.  Deut.  x.  8:  1  Kings 
 xvii.  1) ;  (3)  Flight  from  tho  Holy  Land,  where  the 
 Divine  presence  was  understood  to  bo  especially  mani- 
 fested. Commentators  have  generally  rejected  tho 
 first  of  these  as  implying  ignorance  unworthy  of  a 
 prophet;  but,  on  embarking,  JonAh  went  below,  as  if 
 still  more  securely  to  hide,  and  used  tho  same  expres- 
 sion to  the  mariners,  who  would  certainly  take  it  in  its 
 literal  and  popular  sense. 
 
 Joppa.— Heb.,  Ydpho;  now  Jaffa,  the  port  of  Jeru- 
 salem.    (Seo  Josh.  xix.  46;  2  Chron.  ii.  16.) 
 
 He  found  a  ship. — Probably  a  Phoenician  vessel 
 trading  between  Egypt  and  Spam,  and  accustomed  to 
 touch  at  Joppa. 
 
 (.*)  Sent  out. — Tho  Hebrew  word  I  see  margin,  and 
 comp.  verses  5,  l'J,  15.  where  the  same  word  is  rendered 
 "  cast  forth  "  i  expresses  the  sudden  burst  of  the  storm. 
 A  squall  struck  the  ship.  The  coast  was  well  known 
 to  sailors  as  dangerous.  (See  Josephus.  Ant.  xv.  '.',  §  ti. 
 
 B.J. 
 
 9.5  3.1 
 
 So  that  the  ship  was  like  to  be  broken.— 
 See  margin  for  the  literal  expression,  which  is  that  of 
 a  sailor  to  whom  the  ship  is  a  living  thing,  with  feel- 
 ings, hopes,  and  fears.  For  the  word  break,  of  ship- 
 wreck   comp.  ii'in/i  ■■  1  Kings  xxii.  48. 
 
 <5)  And  cried  every  man  unto  his  god.— If 
 Phoenicians,  the  sailors  would  have  their  favourite 
 deities  in  tho  national  Pantheon;  but  they  may  have 
 been  a  motley  crew  composed  of  various  nationalities. 
 
 For  the  panic  comp.  Ps.  cvii.  23 — 3ft  and  Shakspeare's 
 
 '/'-  mpest, 
 
 "  All  lost !  to  prayers !  to  prayers,  all  Ii  I 
 
 Wares. — The  Hebrew  word  is  of  general  import  for 
 furniture  of  any  kind,  and  so  including  all  the  movables 
 in  tho  ship.     The  cargo  would  probably,  as  in  the  ease 
 
Jonah  Disobeying  God 
 
 JONAH,   I. 
 
 is  Caught  in  a  Storm. 
 
 the  wares  that  were  in  the  ship  into  the 
 sea,  to  lighten  it  of  them.  But  Jonah 
 was  gone  down  into  the  sides  of  the 
 ship;  and  he  lay,  and  was  fast  asleep. 
 ( -i)  So  the  shipmaster  came  to  him,  and 
 said  unto  him,  What  meanest  thou,  0 
 sleeper  ?  arise,  call  upon  thy  God,  if  so 
 be  that  God  will  think  upon  us,  that  we 
 perish  not.  <?J  And  they  said  every  one 
 to  his  fellow,  Come,  and  let  us  cast  lots, 
 that  we  may  know  for  whose  cause  this 
 evil  is  upon  us.  So  they  cast  lots,  and 
 the  lot  fell  upon  Jonah.  <8)  Then  said 
 they  unto  him,  Tell  us,  we  pray  thee, 
 
 1  HelJ., 
 fair. 
 
 2   Hel>. 
 
 silent 
 
 with  great 
 
 ,    may    he 
 from  uat 
 
 for  whose  cause  this  evil  is  upon  us ; 
 What  is  thine  occupation  ?  and  whence 
 comest  thou  ?  what  is  thy  country  ?  and 
 of  what  people  art  thou?  <9>  And  he 
 said  unto  them,  I  am  an  Hebrew ;  and 
 I  fear  the  Lord,  the  God  of  heaven, 
 which  hath  made  the  sea  and  the  dry 
 land.  (10)  Then  were  the  men  1  exceed- 
 ingly afraid,  and  said  unto  him,  Why 
 hast  thou  done  this?  For  the  men  knew 
 that  he  fled  from  the  presence  of  the 
 Lord,  because  he  had  told  them. 
 
 (n)  Then  said  they  unto  him,  What 
 shall  we  do  unto  thee,  that  the  sea  "  may 
 
 of  St.  Paul's  shipwreck,  be  reserved  till  the  last 
 extremity. 
 
 To  lighten  it  of  them.— This  gives  the  sense, 
 though  the  Hebrew  idiom  appears  to  mean,  to  give 
 themselves  relief.  (Comp.  Exod.  xviii.  22,  "  So  shall  it 
 be  easier  for  thyself;  "  1  Kings  xii.  10,  "Make  thou  it 
 lighter  unto  us.") 
 
 Sides.  — Rather,  recesses.  The  word  is  used  of  the 
 inner  part  of  the  Temple  (1  Kings  vi.  16),  of  a  cave 
 (1  Sam.  xxiv.  3),  of  a  dwelling-house  (Ps.  cxxviii.  3). 
 
 Ship. — The  Hebrew  is  different  from  the  word  used 
 earlier  in  the  verse,  and  is  peculiar  to  this  passage. 
 Its  derivation  from  a  root  meaning  "  to  cover  with 
 boards,"  indicates  a  decked  vessel.  Jonah  had  gone 
 below  into  the  cabin,  the  natural  course  for  a  man 
 flying  from  a  disagreeable  duty.  To  stand  on  deck 
 and  watch  the  slow  receding  shore  would  have  been 
 mental  torture. 
 
 And  was  fast  asleep.— The  fatigue  of  the  hasty 
 flight  to  the  sea-shore  accounts  for  this  deep  slumber. 
 The  same  expression  is  used  of  Sisera  (Judges  iv.  21). 
 Besides,  when  a  resolution  is  once  irrevocably  (as  we 
 think)  taken,  conscience  ceases  to  disturb  with  its 
 wakeful  warning,  and  the  restlessness  of  remorse  has 
 not  yet  arrived.  There  is  a  brief  time  during  which 
 "the  exile  from  himself  can  flee." 
 
 (6)  The  shipmaster  .  .  .—Literally,  the  chief  of 
 those  who  ivork  at  the  rope.  Jewish  nautical  terms 
 are  infrequent  and  therefore  obscure.  The  word 
 mariners,  in  verse  5,  correctly  renders  a  term  which 
 seems,  from  its  use  in  Ezek.  xxvii.  8,  27,  29,  as  well  as 
 from  its  derivation  (from  scdt ;  comp.  the  term  "old 
 silts"),  to  denote  seafaring  men  generally.  "Those 
 who  work  the  ropes "  may  be  either  "  steersmen "  or 
 "  topmen  "  as  contrasted  with  rowers. 
 
 What  meanest  .  .  .—Literally,  What  to  thee 
 sleeping  ?  i.e.,  How  canst  thou  sleep  so  sonndly  ?  Tho 
 motive  of  the  cpiestion  was  no  doubt  partly  the  need 
 of  sympathy,  as  in  the  case  of  the  disciples  (Mark  iv. 
 38),  partly  a  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  prophet's 
 prayer.  This  belief  seems  to  have  sprung  not  solely 
 from  superstitious  fear  lest  any  deity  should  be  over- 
 looked, but  from  a  vague  sense  that  the  God  of  Israel 
 was  pre-eminently  great  and  good.  The  term  used  is 
 ha  Elohim,  "  the  God." 
 
 (7)  Come,  and  let  us  east  lots.— "We  are  to  sup- 
 pose that  Jonah,  coming  on  deck  in  compliance  with  the 
 captain's  request,  adds  his  prayers  to  those  of  the  crew. 
 Finding  all  unavailing,  the  sailors  propose  recourse  to 
 the  ancient  custom  of  casting  lots  to  discover  the  guilty 
 person  against  whom  the  deities  are  so  enraged.  Classi- 
 
 cal authors  as  well  as  the  Bible  (comp.  Josh.  vii.  14, 
 seq. ;  1  Sam.  xiv.  36 — 46)  afford  many  illustrations  of 
 the  belief  that  the  presence  of  an  impious  man  would  in- 
 volve all  who  shared  his  company  in  indiscriminate  ruin. 
 Naturally  the  feeling  expressed  itself  most  strongly  at  sea. 
 
 "  Who  drags  Eleusis'  rite  to  day, 
 That  man  snail  never  share  my  home 
 
 Or  join  my  voyage  ;  roofs  give  way, 
 And  boats  are  wrecked  ;  true  men  and  thieves 
 
 Neglected  Justice  oft  confounds." 
 
 Hor.:  Od.  iii.  2,  26-30.    (Conington's  trans.) 
 
 Comp.  the  story  told  by  Cicero  of  Diagoras  (de  Nat. 
 Beor.  iii.  3).  ^Esch.  Sept.  cont.  Theb.  601—604. 
 Soph.  Ant.  372. 
 
 (s)  For  whose  cause  .  .  .  — The  Hebrew  idiom 
 is  peculiar,  on  account  of  which  to  whom;  but  in  this 
 verse,  when  addressed  by  the  sailors  to  the  prophet,  it  is 
 expressed  in  a  more  elegant  form  than  when  used  to  each 
 other  in  the  preceding  verse,  one  among  many  touches 
 marking  the  artistic  perfection  of  this  narrative.  It 
 is  true  some  MSS.  omit  this  repetition  of  the  question, 
 and  it  is  therefore  by  some  commentators  treated  as  a 
 gloss.  But  the  repetition  is  quite  natural.  The  sailors 
 seeing  the  lot  fall  on  one  whose  appearance  was  so 
 little  suspicious,  are  anxious  to  have  it  confirmed  by 
 his  confession.  Not  less  natural  is  the  rapid  and  ex- 
 cited leap  from  question  to  question.  (Comp.  Virg. 
 Mm.  viii.  112, 113.) 
 
 (9)  And  he  said  .  .  .—"The  emergency  recalls 
 Jonah  to  his  true  self.  All  the  better  part  of  his 
 character  now  comes  out.  His  conduct  throughout  the 
 remainder  of  the  chapter  is  dignified  and  manly, 
 worthy  of  a  servant  and  prophet  of  Jehovah"  (Perowne). 
 
 I  am  a  Hebrew.  —  The  original  order  is  more 
 striking.  A  Hebrew  I.  The  LXX.  read,  "  a  servant  of 
 the  Lord." 
 
 Which  hath  made  .  .  . — These  words  mark  tho 
 great  change  that  has  already  come  upon  the  prophet. 
 He  feels  now  how  futile  it  was  to  try  to  hide  or  fly 
 from  the  Creator  of  all  the  universe.  But  he  speaks 
 also  for  the  sake  of  the  crew,  who,  though  recognising 
 the  existence  of  Jehovah  as  the  tribal  God  of  Israel, 
 had  never  realised  His  relation  to  themselves  as  Creator 
 of  the  world  in  which  they  lived,  and  of  the  sea  on  which 
 they  sailed.  The  storm  preached  the  omnipotence  of  God. 
 
 (io)  Why  hast— Rather,  What  is  this  that  thou 
 hast  done!  The  question  expresses  horror,  not  curiosity. 
 
 For  the  men  knew  that. —  Jonah's  answer  in 
 verse  9  is  evidently  intended  only  as  an  abbreviation 
 of  what  he  actually  replied. 
 
 (11)  What  shall  we.  —  The  prophet  would  of 
 course  kuow  how  to  appease  the  God  he  had  displeased. 
 
 4SS 
 
Is  Cast  Overboard, 
 
 JONAH,   II. 
 
 and  SvmUoiaed  by  a  Wltait. 
 
 be  oalm  unto  us?  for  the  bob  ' :  wrought, 
 
 and  was  tempestuous.  M  Ami  lie  saiil 
 unto  them,  Take  me  uj>,  and  cast  me 
 forth  into  the  Bea;  so  shall  tin-  see  be 
 
 Oalm   until  \i>ii:   for  I  know  that  for  my 
 
 Bake  this  great  tempest  is  upon  you. 
 (U)  Nevertheless  the  men  8  rowed  hard 
 In  bring  if  to  the  land;  l>ut  they  could 
 not  :  for  the  sea  wrought,  and  was  tem- 
 pestuous against  them.  I"1  Wherefore 
 tli.v  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  We 
 beseech  thee,  O  Loiai,  we  beseech  thee, 
 let  us  not  perish  for  this  man's  life,  and 
 iay  not  upon  us  innocent  blood :  for 
 thou,  O  Loud,  hast  done  as  it  pleased 
 tine.     <15>  So  they  took  up  Jonah,  and 
 
 1  Or,  (/>■ 
 
 t        I'll! 
 
 "(Ml. 
 
 2  Ufb.,  Milt, 
 
 I  Hi  i'  ..lujged. 
 
 i  III  !>.,  .tool/. 
 
 Lotto,  ami  votctd 
 vows. 
 
 ii  Mill!    IS 
 
 i ;  Lake  u.iri. 
 
 8  Hi  b .,  bowtU. 
 a  Vt.  120. 1. 
 
 r  Oi       •  -/  mini 
 ttgiiciion. 
 
 8  0r,(li' 
 
 cast  him  forth  into  the  sea  :  ami  t  lie  sea 
 'ceased  from  her  raging.  B*>  Then  the 
 men  feared  the  Lord  exceedingly,  ami 
 5  offered  a  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord,  and 
 made  vows. 
 
 (l7)  Now  the  Lord  had  prepared  a 
 great  fish  to  swallow  up  Jonah.  Ami 
 "  Jonah  was  in  the  °  belly  of  the  fish 
 three  days  and  three  nights. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— Then  Jonah  prayed 
 unto  the  Lord  his  God  out  of  the  fish's 
 belly,  (2)  and  said, 
 
 I  *  cried  7  by  reason  of  mine  affliction 
 unto  the  Lord,  and  he  heard  me ;  out. 
 of  the  belly  of  8hell  cried  I,  and  thou 
 
 May  be  calm  unto  us.— Sen  margin.  The  word 
 rendered  e.tim  occurs  (Pa.  <-\  i i.  801  of  a  lull  after  a 
 
 storm,  and  in  Prov.  x.wi.  20  taphorically,  of  peace 
 
 after  strife. 
 
 Wrought,  and  was  tempestuous.  — Literally. 
 going,  and  being  agitated;  an  idiom  rightly 
 explained  in  the  margin.  (Oomp.  a  similar  idiom 
 ( ten,  \  iii.  8.) 
 
 i'-1  Cast  me  forth  into  the  sea.— There  was  no 
 need  of  prophetic  inspiration  to  eualtlo  Jouah  to  pass 
 this  sentence  upon  himself.  He  is  too  manly  not  to 
 prefer  to  perish  without  involving  others  in  his  ruin. 
 
 ,l;  Rowod  hard. — This  is  a  sufficient  rendering  of 
 the  Hebrew  verb,  though  it  misses  the  metaphor.  In 
 every  other  instance  ox  its  use  tlio  word  refers  to  the 
 violence  employed  in  breaking  through  a  wall  or 
 enclosure.  (See  Ezek.  viii.  8,  xii.  .">.  7;  Joh  xxiv.  16; 
 Amos  ix.  '1 ;  ami  compare  the  use  of  the  derivative 
 noun  in  Exod.  xxii.  J  ;  Jer.  ii.  84)  The  figure  of  forc- 
 ing the  .slii]i  through  the  great  wave  wall  is  very 
 striking.  The  Latin  infindere  ntdcos  and  ova  plough- 
 ing the  main  are  kindred  metaphors. 
 
 Ii  is  a  fine  trail  in  tin's.'  Bailors  that  they  will  not 
 ohey  the  prophet's  request  to  throw  him  overboard  till 
 all  efforts  to  save  the  ship  have  been  tried. 
 
 (in  Wherefore  they  cried  unto  the  Lord.— 
 There  is  presented  here,  as  throughout  the  book,  a 
 strong  contrast  between  the  readiness  of  the  heathen 
 to  receive  religious  impressions,  and  the  stubbornness 
 and  obstinacy  of  Israel. 
 
 For  this  man's  life  .  .  .—».«.,  for  taking  it. 
 The  /"»•  q  ion  was  as  familiar  to  them  as  to  the 
 
 Hebrews  I  Dent.  \i\.  23        <  !omp.  -  Sam.  xiv.  7.i 
 
 For  thou. — The  original  is  more  impressive:  For 
 Tli'ni,  Jehovah,  ae  it  hath  pleased  Thee,  Thou  haet 
 done.    The  storm,  the  lot,  the  request  of  the  prophet 
 
 himself,  all    showed    that    the  sailors  were  but   instru- 
 ments in  carrying  out  the  Divine  puri 
 ir"  Raging.  -Gomp.  marts  iro,  Ovid  Met.  i.  330; 
 or.  IBpod,  ii.  •">". 
 
 "  At  whose  bunion 
 The  anger  ins.' 
 
 su  UESPBARE  :  Ant.  and  Chop- 
 
 C18)   Offorod. — There  may  have  been  some  In. 
 
 onboard  suitable  for  sacrifice ;  but  the  offering  could 
 only  be  completed  on  landing,  wherefore  they  n 
 
 d")  Now  tho  Lord.— In  the  Hebrew,  chap.  ii. 
 commences  with  this  verse. 
 
 is  . 
 
 Had  prepared.  —  The  pluperfect  is  mi-],  ailing. 
 Render  appointed,  and  romp.  chap.  iv.  6,  7,  8,  where 
 the  same  word  is  used  of  tho  gourd,  the  worm,  and  th" 
 east  wind.  The  Authorised  version  tenders  tho  word 
 accurately  in  Job  vii.  3;  Dan.  i.  5 — 10.  Previous  special 
 preparation  is  not  implied,  still  less  creation  for  the 
 
 S articular  purpose.     God  employs  existing  agents  to 
 o  His  bidding. 
 
 A  great  fish. — Tho  Hebrew  dag  is  derived  from 
 tho  prolific  character  of  fish,  and  a  great  jisli  might 
 stand  for  any  one  of  the  sea  monsters.  Tho  notion 
 that  it  was  a  whale  rests  on  the  LXX.  and  Matt. 
 xii.  40.  But.  KfjTos  was  a  term  for  any  large  fish,  such 
 as  dolphins,  sharks.  tv.c.  (Soo  Horn.  Od.  xii.  !»7.)  And 
 unless  we  have  previously  determined  the  question, 
 whether  tho  Book  of  Jonah  is  intended  by  the  sacred 
 writer  to  bo  a  literal  history,  or  an  apologue  founded 
 on  a  history  or  a  parable  pure  and  simple,  tota  haze  de 
 piece  JontB  disguieitio.Ba  an  old  commentator  observes. 
 emei  r'nhiiir  atone  inutilie.  The  explanations  given 
 by  commentators  divide  themselves  into  those  of  a 
 Strictly  preternatural  kind,  as  t  lt.it  a  fish  was  created 
 for  the  occasion;  or  into  the  natural  or  semi-natural, 
 as  that  it  was  a  ship,  or  an  inn  bearing  the  sign  m 
 whale;  or  that  it  was  a  white  shark.  (For  tho  last 
 hypothesis  see  all  that  can  be  collected  in  Dr.  Pusey's 
 commentary  on  Jonah.)  In  early  Christian  paintings 
 the  monster  appears  as  a  huge  dragon. 
 
 Three  days  and  three  nights.— See  Matt,  xii 
 New  Teetomeni  Commentary. 
 
 II. 
 
 Jonah's  Prayer  and  Deliverance. 
 
 (D  Thon  Jonah  prayed.— This  introduction,  to 
 what  is  in  reality  a  psalm  of  thanksgiving,  has  its 
 parallel  in  Hannah's  song  (1  Sam.  ii.  1 — 10).  which  is 
 
 introduced    in    the    same  way.     Comp.  also 
 appended  by  the  psalm  collector  at  the  end  of  Ps.  Ixxii.. 
 "  The  proyi  r*  of  David  the  son  of  Jesse  are  ended.'' 
 
 (8)  By  reason  of  mine  affliction.— See  margin. 
 There  is  a  close  correspondence  between  this  opening 
 
 and  that  of  I's.  cxx.     Oomp.  also  Ps.  xviii.  l>. 
 
 Out  of  the  belly  of  hell.  —  This  remarkable 
 
 expression — a  forcible  figure  for  imminent  death  —  has 
 its  nearest  parallel  in  Isa.  v.  14,  when  shedl  (see  Ps. 
 vi.  .">    is  represented   as  opening  a  lmgo    mouth   to 
 
 swallow  the  princes  of  the  world  and  their  pomp.  The 
 under. world  represents  the  Hebrew  word  sheul  more 
 
Jonah's  Prayer. 
 
 JONAH,   III. 
 
 His  Deliverance. 
 
 heardest  my  voice.  (3)  For  thou  hadst 
 cast  me  into  the  deep,  in  the  1  midst  of 
 the  seas ;  and  the  floods  compassed  me 
 about :  all  thy  billows  and  thy  waves 
 passed  over  me.  (4>  Then  I  said,  I  am 
 cast  out  of  thy  sight;  yet  I  will  look 
 again  toward  thy  holy  temple.  (5)  The 
 "  waters  compassed  me  about,  even  to 
 the  soul:  the  depth  closed  me  round 
 about,  the  weeds  were  wrapped  about 
 my    head.     (6)    I    went    down    to    the 
 
 2  bottoms  of  the  mountains ;  the  earth 
 with  her  bars  ivas  about  me  for  ever : 
 yet  hast  thou  brought  up  my  life  from 
 
 3  corruption,  0  Lord  my  God.  a)  When 
 my  soul  fainted  within  me  I  remembered 
 the  Lord  :  and  my  prayer  came  in  unto 
 
 2   Heb.,    cuttings 
 off. 
 
 3  Or,  the  pit. 
 
 b  VS.  SO.  14.  23.  & 
 116.  17;  Hos.  14. 
 2 ;  Ht'b.  13.  15. 
 
 thee,  into  thine  holy  temple.  <8)  They 
 that  observe  lying  vanities  forsake  their 
 own  mercy.  <9>  But  I  will  sacrifice  unto 
 thee  with  the  voice  of  b  thanksgiving ; 
 I  will  pay  that  that  I  have  vowed. 
 c  Salvation  is  of  the  Lord. 
 
 l10)  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  the 
 fish,  and  it  vomited  out  Jonah  upon  the 
 dry  land. 
 
 CHAPTEE  III.— And  the  word  of 
 the  Lord  came  unto  Jonah  the  second 
 time,  saying,  <3'  Arise,  go  unto  Nineveh, 
 that  great  city,  and  preach  unto  it  the 
 preaching  that  I  bid  thee.  (3)  So  Jonah 
 arose,  and  went  unto  Nineveh,  according 
 to  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
 
 nearly  than  hell  or  the  grave  (margin).  (Comp.  Pss. 
 xviii.  5,  xxx.  3.) 
 
 And  thou  heardest  .  .  . — The  conjunction  is 
 unnecessarily  introduced.  The  sudden  change  of 
 person,  a  frequent  figure  in  Hehrew  poetry,  is  more 
 striking  without  the  connecting  word. 
 
 (3>  Hadst  cast. — Rather,  didst  cast.  (See  Psalm 
 Ixxxviii.  6.) 
 
 Floods. — Literally,  river,  used  here  of  the  ocean 
 currents.     (Comp.  Ps.  xxiv.  2.) 
 
 All  thy  billows  and  thy  waves.— More  exactly, 
 nil  thy  breakers  and  billows.  (See  Ps.  xlii.  7,  where 
 the  same  expression  is  used  figuratively  for  great 
 danger  and  distress.) 
 
 W  I  am  cast  out  of  thy  sight.— "  Jonah  had 
 wilfully  withdrawn  from  standing  in  God's  presence. 
 Now  God  had  taken  him  at  his  word,  and,  as  it  seemed, 
 cast  him  out  of  it.  David  had  said  in  his  haste,  "  I  am 
 cut  off"  (Ps.  xxxi.  22),  Jonah  substitutes  the  stronger 
 word,  "I  am  cast  forth,"  driven  forth,  expelled  like 
 the  mire  and  dirt  which  the  waves  drive  along,  or 
 like  the  waves  themselves  in  their  restless  motion, 
 or  the  heathen  (the  word  is  the  same)  whom  God  had 
 driven  out  before  Israel,  or  as  Adam  from  Paradise  " 
 (Pusey). 
 
 Yet  I  will  look  again.— The  Hebrew  is  very 
 impressive,  and  reads  like  one  of  those  exile  hopes  so 
 common  in  the  Psalms :  "  Yet  I  have  one  thing  left,  to 
 turn  towards  Thy  holy  Temple  and  pray."  (For  the 
 attitude  see  Note  on  Ps.  xxviii.  2.) 
 
 (5)  The  waters. — See  reference  in  margin. 
 
 The  weeds  were  wrapped  about  my  head. 
 — This  graphic  touch  is  quite  original.  The  figure  of 
 overwhelming  waters  is  a  common  one  in  Hebrew  song 
 to  represent  some  crushing  sorrow,  but  nowhere  is  the 
 picture  so  vivid  as  here.  At  the  same  time  the  entire 
 absence  of  any  reference  to  the  fish,  which  would, 
 indeed,  be  altogether  out  of  place  in  this  picture  of  a 
 drowning  man  entangled  in  seaweed,  should  be  noticed. 
 That  on  which  the  prophet  lays  stress  is  not  on  the 
 mode  of  his  escape,  but  his  escape  itself. 
 
 (6)  Bottoms  of  the  mountains.— Literally,  ends 
 or  cuttings  off,  as  in  margin.  So  the  Vulg.  extrema 
 montium.  Mountains  were  in  the  Hebrew  conception 
 t  he  pillars  of  the  world  (see  Job  ix.  6,  xxvi.  11),  having 
 their  foundations  firmly  planted  in  the  sea.  These 
 "  hidden  bases  of  the  hills  "  were  therefore  the  verge 
 
 of  the  earth  itself,  and  one  lost  among  them  would  be 
 close  on  the  under-world  of  death. 
 
 The  earth  with  her  bars  .  .  .—Literally,  the 
 earth  her  bars  behind  me  for  ever ;  i.e.,  the  earth's 
 gates  were  closed  upon  me  for  ever,  there  was  no 
 possibility  of  return.  The  metaphor  of  a  gateway  to 
 sheol  is  common  (Isa.  xxxviii.  10,  &c),  but  the  earth  is 
 nowhere  else  said  to  be  so  guarded.  Ewald  therefore 
 proposes  to  read  sheol  here.  But  it  is  quite  as  natural 
 to  imagine  a  guarded  passage  out  of  the  land  of  the 
 living  as  into  the  land  of  the  dead. 
 
 Corruption.— Rather,  pit.     (See  Note,  Ps.  xvi.  10.) 
 
 C)  Fainted. — Literally,  covered  itself.  Comp.  chap, 
 iv.  8.  (See  Pss.  Ixi.  2,  cxlii.  3.  cxliii.  4,  where  the  same 
 Hebrew  word  is  rendered  overwhelmed.  Comp.  Ps. 
 cvii.  5.)  Here,  apparently,  we  are  to  think  of  the 
 blinding  mist  of  death  slowly  stealing  over  sight  and 
 sense. 
 
 Into  thine  holy  temple.— See  verse  4,  and  comp. 
 Ps.  xviii.  6. 
 
 (8)  They  that  observe  lying  vanities.— See 
 Note,  Ps.  xxxi.  6. 
 
 Forsake  their  own  mercy  —  i.e.,  forfeit  their 
 own  share  of  the  covenant  grace.  In  Ps.  xxxvii.  28  it 
 is  said  that  Jehovah  does  not  forsake  his  chasidim; 
 they,  however,  by  forsaking  Jehovah  (Himself  called 
 Israel's  mercy,  Ps.  cxliv.  2,  margin)  and  His  law 
 (Ps.  lxxxix.  30)  can  forfeit  their  chesed  or  covenant 
 privilege. 
 
 (9)  But  I  will. — The  prophet,  however,  is  not 
 among  such.  He  has  sinned,  but  is  still  a  member  of 
 the  covenant  people,  and  by  sacrifice  can  be  formally 
 restored  to  that  favour  which  repentance  has  regained. 
 
 Salvation  is  of  the  Lord.— Or,  Deliverance  is 
 Jehovah's.     (Comp.  Ps.  hi.  8.) 
 
 III. 
 
 The    Prophet    Fulfils    his    Commission. 
 Its  Result. 
 
 (2)  Preach. — In  chap.  i.  2  the  word  is  rendered 
 "  cry." 
 
 (3)  Now  Nineveh  was  .  .  .—The  past  tense  here 
 certainly  seems  to  imply  that  at  the  time  in  which  the 
 author  wrote  the  city  was  no  longer  in  existence,  but 
 the  force  of  a  Hebrew  tense  is  not  to  be  estimated  by 
 the  analogy  of  modern  languages. 
 
 490 
 
Jonah  Preacftetfi 
 
 .JONAH,    III. 
 
 to  (he  Nimmitet. 
 
 Now  Nineveh  was  an  'exceeding 
 neat  citj  of  three  days'  journey. 
 '•"And  Jonah  be^an  to  enter  into  tin' 
 city  a  day's  journey,  and  he  cried,  and 
 Baid,  i"e1  fortj  days,  and  Nineveh  shall 
 be  over!  brow  a. 
 
 15)  So  the  1 pie  of  Nineveh  '  believed 
 
 God,  and  proclaimed  a  fast,  and  put  on 
 sackcloth,  from   the  greatesl    of  them 
 
 1     II.  !,,<./ flwi. 
 
 I      Mull.     IS.    41 
 
 Luke  II.  at. 
 
 '.«(  mm. 
 
 even  to  the  least  of  them.  (':)  For  wonl 
 came  onto  the  king  of  Nineveh,  and  he 
 arose  from  his  throne,  and  he  laid  his 
 
 robe  from  him,  ami  covered  Mm  with 
 Sackcloth,  and  sat  in  ashes.  (7'  Ami  he 
 caused  it  to  be  proclaimed  and  'pub- 
 lished through  Nineveh  by  the  decree  "I' 
 t  he  king  and  hU  "nobles,  saying,  Lei  nei- 
 ther man  nor  beast,  herd  nor  lloek,  taste 
 
 An  exceoding  great  city.  —  Literally,  A  city 
 great  to  Ood;  an  expression  equivalent  t.>  "  divinely 
 at  eity,  and  takes,  as  Ewald  thinks,  from  tho 
 language  of  the  people,  like  the  Arabic  "to  Allah,"  in 
 the  saying  "to  Allah  [i.e.,  d/iroine)  ie  he  that  composed 
 this."  in  tin'  llrinvu  poetic  and  prophetic  writings 
 a  liner  t'orin  is  found,  e.g.,  "mountains  of  God," 
 "cedars  of  (Jod  '  1'ss.  xxxvi.  6,  lx\\.  LO  .  "trees  of 
 Jehovah"  (Vs.  civ.  Mi.  Imt  in  ( ten.  \.  9  a  precisely 
 similar  proverbial  use  shows  itself,  also  belonging  to 
 the  Bfesopotamian  region,  "Nimrod, a  mighty  hunter 
 before  the  Lord." 
 
 Of  throe  days'  journey.—  Hitzig  takes  this  as 
 giving  the  diameter  of  the  city,  but  most  commentators 
 
 refer  it  to  tile  ciivumfeiv >.      The  circuit  of  the  walls 
 
 was  the   most    obvious    measurement    to    give  of  an 
 
 ancient,  city.  Herodotus  variously  reckons  a  day's 
 journey  at  about  eighteen  or  twenty-three  miles  v.  .".:!. 
 iv.  101),  and  the  circuit  of  the  irregular  quadrangle 
 
 composed    of    the    mounds     of     Koujiinjik,     Xiiuiud, 
 
 Karamless,  and  Khorsabad,  now  generally  allowed  to 
 
 represent  ancient  Nineveh,  is  about,  sixty  miles.  This 
 agrees  sufficiently  with  the  obviously  vague  and  general 
 statement  of  1  he  text. 
 
 W  And  Jonah  began  to  enter  into  the  city 
 a  day's  journey. — This  is  apparently  equivalent  to 
 And  Jonah  entered  the  eity,  and  walked  for  a  day 
 through  it.  To  enter  on  a  minute  inquiry  as  to  whether 
 his  course  was  straight  or  circuitous  seems  trivial.  Tho 
 writer  has  no  thought  of  furnishing  data  for  ascertain- 
 ing the  exact  dimensions  of  Ninoveh,  but  only  of  pro- 
 ducing a  general  sense  of  its  vast  sizo. 
 
 Yet  forty  days. — The  conciseness  of  the  original. 
 "Yet  forty  days,  and  Nineveh  overthrown.''  foreil.lv 
 expresses  "the  one  deep  cry  of  woe"  which  the  prophet 
 WBS  Commissioned  to  utter.     "This  simple  message  of 
 
 Jonah  bears  an  analogy  to  what  we  find  elsewhere  in 
 
 Holy  Scripture.     The  great  preacher  of  repentance,  St. 
 
 John  the  Baptist,  repeated  doubtless  oftentimes  that  one 
 
 cry,  "  Repent  ye.  forthe  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 
 
 Our  Lord  vouchsafed  to  begin  His  own  office  with  those 
 
 self-same   words.      Ami   probably,  among   the  civilised 
 
 but  savage  inhabitants  of  Nineveh  thai  one  cry  was 
 
 more  impressive  than  any  other  would  have  been. 
 Simplicity  is  always  impressive.  They  were  four  words 
 which  God  caused  to  be  written  on  the  wall  amid  Bel- 
 
 ahazzar's  impious  revelry:  Mime,  uirn,-,  tekel,upharsm. 
 We  all  remember  the  touching  history  of  Jesus,  son  of 
 
 Anan.  an  unlettered  rustic,  who.  "  four  years  before  the 
 
 war,  when  Jerusalem  was  in  complete  peace  and  afflu- 
 ence," burst  in  on  the  people  at  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
 nacles with  the  oft-repeated  cry.  "  A  voire  from  the 
 east,   a    voice    from  the   west.    11    voice   from   the    four 
 
 winds. a  voice  on  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple,  a  voice  on 
 the  bridegrooms  and  the  brides,  a  voice  on  the  whole 
 
 people  ;  "  how  he  went  about  through  all  the  lanes  of 
 tho   city,   repeating,  day  and  night,   this   one  cry.   and 
 
 when    scourged   till    his    bones   were    laid    bare,   echoed 
 
 every  lash  with  "Woe,  woe,  to  Jerusalem!"  and  con- 
 tinued as  his  daily  dirge  and   his  one  response  to  daily 
 
 g 1    or    ill    treatment,    "Woe.    woe,    to    Jerusalem!" 
 
 1  I'usey.)      Instead  of  "forty   days"    tho  LXX.  read 
 "  three." 
 (»)  Believed  God. — Or,  believed  in  God.    Notice 
 
 again  an  implied  contrast  to  the  dulness  of  the  Jews, 
 who  were  "slow  to  bolicve"tho  prophetic  warnings 
 addressed  to  themselves. 
 
 Proclaimed  a  fast.  —  Apparently  on  a  sponta- 
 neous resolution  of  the  people  themselves.  (See  Eft 
 verse  li.  1  The  fast  woidd  no  doubt  be  for  one  day.  ac- 
 cording to  the  Jewish  and  the  general  Oriental  custom. 
 For  word  came. —  Rather,  And  the  matter 
 reached.  The  Authorised  Version  treats  the  royal  edict 
 that  follows  as  the  same  with  the  prorlitmittimt  in  verse 
 5.  This  is  possible, but  it  is  more  probable  that  the  writer 
 intended  to  describe  tho  effect  produced  on  each  dis- 
 trict of  the  vast  city  in  succession,  and  on  all  grades 
 of  people.  The  piercing  cry  uttered  from  street  to 
 street,  from  square  to  square,  reaches  at  last  the  king 
 on  his  throne  of  state. 
 
 And  he  laid  .  .  . — Stripping  off  the  state  mantle 
 (the  Hebrew  word  implies  amplitude.  See  1  Kings 
 xix.  13.)  It  is  interesting  to  find  it  used  of  the 
 "Babylonish  garment,"  found  in  Aehan's  tent.  See 
 Josh.  vii.  21),  the  monarch  assumes  a  mourning  dress. 
 To  form  a  conception  of  tho  change  involved,  tho 
 descriptions  of  Assyrian  royal  magnificence  should  bo 
 studied  in  Layard,  or  their  representations  in  the 
 Assyrian  courts  of  the  Crystal  Palace.  Forthe  usual 
 signs  of  Oriental  mourning,  eonip.  Gen.  xxxvii.  34; 
 J  Sam.  iii.  31;  Job.  ii.  8;  Ps.  xxxv.  13;  Ezek.  xxvi. 
 16,  &c. 
 
 P)  And  he  caused  .  .  .—The  fact  that  the  word 
 
 rendered  "decree"'  in  this  verse  was  a   technical   name 
 
 for  the  edicts  of  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  kings    see 
 
 Dan.  iii.  10.  29)  would  alone  vouch  for  the  accurate  ac- 
 quaintance of  the  author  with  the  customs  he  describes. 
 But  the  very  form  of  the  royal  edid  is  lure  preserved. 
 The  verse  should   probably  run:  And  lie  caused  to  be 
 
 laimed,  and  be  published  in  Nineveh  "According 
 in  Hi:-  decree  of  the  king  and  his  magnates  /«  it  pro- 
 
 ned  that,"  Ac.    The  word  "  saying "  is  apparently 
 
 formal  like  our  "thus  saith."  Ac. 
 
 And  his  nobles. — For  this  association  of  the  great 
 
 men  with  the  autocrat,  comp.  Dan.  vi.  17.  Traces  of 
 the  custom  can  also  1..-  discovered  in  Assyrian  inscrip. 
 lions,  c.o..  ••  1  am  Assurlianipal  king  of  nations,  king  of 
 Assyria,  Nabu-damiq  and  Umbadara  the  srreat  men." 
 Ac.  (ti.  Smith.  Assyrian  Discoveries,  p.  413  .  Ewald 
 thinks  the  formal  "saying"  in  the  edict  marks  the 
 ..mission  of  the  names,  which  in  the  original  would  be 
 given. 
 
 Beast. — The  Hebrew  word  is  general,  and  might 
 include  all  the  domestic  animals,  but  from  the  addition 
 
 101 
 
The  Ninevites  Repent. 
 
 JONAH,   IV. 
 
 Jonah  Repines  at  God's  Mercy. 
 
 any  thing- :  let  them  not  feed,  nor  drink 
 water :  (8)  but  let  man  and  beast  be 
 covered  with  sackcloth,  and  cry  mightily 
 unto  God :  yea,  let  them  turn  every  one 
 from  his  evil  way,  and  from  the  violence 
 that  is  in  their  hands.  9)  "  Who  can 
 tell  if  God  will  turn  and  repent,  and 
 turn  away  from  his  fierce  anger,  that 
 we  perish  not  ? 
 
 <10>  And  God  saw  their  works,  that  they 
 turned  from  their  evil  way  ;  and  God  re- 
 pented of  the  evil,  that  he  had  said  that 
 he  would  do  unto  them;  and  he  did  it  not. 
 
 CHAPTEE     IV.—  But  it   displeased 
 
 c  Ex.  34.  6;  Ps. 
 5,  J081S.  13. 
 
 1    Or,     Art     thou 
 
 greatly  angry  t 
 
 Jonah  exceedingly,  and  he  was  very 
 angry.  (2)  And  he  prayed  unto  the 
 Lord,  and  said,  I  pray  thee,  0  Lord, 
 was  not  this  my  saying,  when  I  was  yet 
 in  my  country  r>  Therefore  I  *  fled  before 
 unto  Tarshish :  for  I  knew  that  thou  art 
 a  c  gracious  God,  and  merciful,  slow  to 
 anger,  and  of  great  kindness,  and 
 repentest  thee  of  the  evil.  (3)  Therefore 
 now,  0  Lord,  take,  I  beseech  thee,  my 
 lif e  from  me ;  for  it  is  better  for  me  to 
 die  than  to  live. 
 
 (4)  Then  said  the  Lord,  j  Doest  thou 
 well  to  be  angry? 
 
 (5'  So  Jonah  went  out  of  the  city,  and 
 
 of  "  herd  nor  flock "  we  must  doubtless  here  confine 
 it  to  the  horses  and  mules,  &c,  which  even,  according 
 to  our  ideas,  might  have  their  usual  gay  housings 
 changed  to  those  suited  to  a  time  of  mourning.  "  Men 
 think  it  strange  that  the  horses  at  Nineveh  were  co- 
 vered with  sackcloth,  and  forget  how,  at  the  funerals 
 of  the  rich,  black  horses  are  chosen,  and  are  clothed 
 with  black  velvet "  (Pusey).  Herodotus  (ix.  24)  and 
 Plutarch  (Alexander),  have  both  preserved  instances  in 
 which  horses  and  mules  were  associated  with  human 
 beings  in  the  signs  of  public  mourning.  The  instinct 
 which  underlies  the  custom  is  a  true  one.  Not  only 
 are  the  destinies  of  the  animals  which  minister  to  man's 
 wants  often  identical  with  his  own ;  but  there  is  a 
 bond  of  sympathy  between  them  naturally  ;  and  one  re- 
 markable feature  of  this  book  is  the  prominence  given 
 to  this  truth..    (See  chap.  iv.  11.) 
 
 Let  them  not  feed.  .  .  . — Poetically,  the  beasts 
 are  said  by  Virgil  to  fast  at  the  death  of  Daplmis 
 (Ecloy.,  v.  24 — 28),  and  in  Joel  i.  20  their  mute  appeal 
 against  suffering  is  represented  as  audible  to  God.  In 
 the  horror  of  the  impending  ruin  of  Nineveh,  supersti- 
 tion exaggerated  the  true  feeling  underlying  such  re- 
 presentations, and  to  the  belief  in  the  sympathy  of  the 
 lower  animals  with  man  was  added  the  hope  that  their 
 sufferings  would  help  to  appease  the  wrath  of  God. 
 
 Let  them  turn. — Notice  the  insistance  on  a  moral 
 change,  and  the  implied  contrast,  again  showing  itself, 
 with  the  formality  of  Judaism.  Even  in  this  repentance 
 the  edict  does  not  stop  to  distinguish  beast  from  man, 
 but  includes  all,  as  all  were  involved  in  the  threatened 
 destruction. 
 
 Violence. — This  is  the  characteristic  of  Assyrian 
 manners  most  frequently  noticed  in  the  prophets.  (See 
 Nahum  ii.  11,  12,  iii.  1 ;  Isa.  x.  13,  14.)  The  cuneiform 
 inscriptions  abundantly  illustrate  this  point.  Take  this 
 for  example  from  an  inscription  of  Tiglath  Pileser  II. : 
 '•  Tiglath  Pileser,  the  great  king,  the  powerful  king, 
 king  of  nations,  &c„  the  powerful  warrior  who  in  the 
 service  of  Assur  his  lord  the  whole  of  his  haters  has 
 trampled  on  like  clay,  swept  like  a  flood,  and  reduced  to 
 shadows"  (G.  Smith, Assyrian  Discoveries,  p.  254). 
 
 In    their  hands.— Comp.  Ps.  vii.  3. 
 
 Who  can  tell  .  .  .  ?— This  sadden  recognition  of 
 one  God  by  a  king  of  Nineveh  appears  far  more 
 striking  if  contrasted  with  the  long  lists  of  deities 
 usually  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions,  e.g., 
 "  By  command  of  Assur,  Sin,  Shamas,  Vul,  Bel,  Nebo, 
 Ishtar  of  Nineveh,  Sarrat-Kitmuri,  Islitar  of  Arbela, 
 Ninip,  Nergal,  and  Nusku,  into  Minui  I  entered  and 
 
 492 
 
 marched  victoriously "  (from  the  Cylinder  of  Assur- 
 banipal,  Smith,  p.  333). 
 
 (if)  And  God  repented.— See  Note,  Gen.  vi.  6. 
 
 And  he  did  it  not. — As  we  are  entirely  igno- 
 rant of  the  nature  of  the  threatened  destruction,  so  are 
 we  also  of  the  mode  in  which  it  was  averted.  Possibly 
 some  inscription  throwing  light  on  the  book  of  Jonah 
 may  yet  be  discovered. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Jonah's  Discontent  and  Correction. 
 
 (i)  But  it  displeased  Jonah.—  The  Hebrew  (it  was 
 evil  to)  is  stronger.  The  prophet  was  vexed  and  irritated. 
 
 He  was  very  angry. — Literally,  it  (anger)  burnt 
 to  him.  David's  feeling  at  the  death  of  Uzziah  (2  Sam. 
 vi.  8;  1  Chrou.  xiii.  11)  is  described  in  the  same  terms. 
 Selfish  jealousy  for  his  own  reputation,  jealousy  for  the 
 honour  of  the  prophetic  office,  a  mistaken  patriotism 
 disappointed  that  the  great  enemy  of  his  country  should 
 go  unpunished,  Jewish  exelusiveness  which  could  not 
 endure  to  see  the  Divine  clemency  extended  to  tho 
 heathen,  have  each  been  adduced  as  the  motive  of 
 Jonah's  anger.  Possibly  something  of  all  these 
 blended  in  his  mind. 
 
 (3)  Take,  I  beseech  thee. — We  naturally  refer 
 to  the  history  of  Elijah  for  a  similar  weariness  and  dis- 
 gust of  life.  (Comp.  also  the  ease  of  Moses,  Num.  xi. 
 15).  It  should  be  noticed,  as  a  contrast  of  Hebrew 
 with  heathen  feeling',  that  none  of  these  men  in  their 
 loathing  of  life  contemplated  the  possibility  of  suicide. 
 
 (*)  Doest  thou  well  ?  .  .  . — This  rendering  may 
 be  supported  by  Deut.  v.  28 ;  Jer.  i.  12,  and  agrees 
 better  with  the  context  than  the  marginal  translation, 
 which  follows  the  LXX.,  and  is  undoubtedly  a  very 
 likely  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  idiom  if  taken  by  itself. 
 Jonah  apparently  gave  his  own  interpretation  to  the 
 question,  one  that  suited  his  mood,  "Is  thine  anger 
 just?"  Such  a  question  might  imply  that  the  doom 
 of  the  city  was  only  deferred,  and  that  he  had  been 
 too  hasty  in  giving  up  the  fulfilment  of  his  prediction. 
 Accordingly  lie  went  outside  the  walls,  and  sat  down  to 
 watch  what  the  issue  would  be.  On  the  other  hand, 
 the  rendering  "  Art  thou  so  very  angry  H  "  suits  best  the 
 reply  in  verse  9,  "  I  am  very  angry,  even  to  death." 
 Probably  the  Hebrew  word,  like  tho  French  Men.  kept 
 both  its  original  and  derived  meaning,  and  must  be 
 rendered  well  or  very,  according  to  the  context. 
 
 (5)  So  Jonah  went  out. — The  explanation  given 
 in  the  preceding  note  avoids  the  necessity  of  giving  the 
 
//.  it  Reproved  by 
 
 •JONAH,    IV. 
 
 the  Type  "fa  Gourd. 
 
 sat  on  the  cast  side  of  the  city, 
 iiml  there  made  Iiim  a  liooth,  and  sat 
 under  it,  in  the  shadow,  t  ill  he  inifjdil  see 
 what,  would  hecoine  of  the  eit  v.      '''And 
 
 tin'  Lord  God  prepared  a  ''gourd,  and 
 
 made  it  to  come  up  over  Jonah,  that  it 
 might  be  a  shadow  over  his  head,  to 
 deliver  bim  from  bis  grief.     So  Jonah 
 
 3  wasexc linjr^lad   •(  the  gourd.   l7)  But 
 
 God  prepared  a  worm  w  hen  t  he  morniny 
 rose  the  next  day,  and  it  smote  the 
 gourd  that  it  withered.  M  And  it  came 
 to  pass,  when    the  sun   did  arise,  thai 
 
 God  prepared  a  'vehement  east  wind; 
 and  the  sun  heat  upon  the  head  of 
 Jonah,   that    he   fainted,  ami   wished  in 
 
 1  or,  pulmertMt. 
 -  Ilil'.,  /■ 
 n     M.  i.. 
 
 Or.     -t 
 i/reatly  angry  t 
 
 o  or.  Tarn 
 
 n.jrtj. 
 
 '  ' 
 
 B  Beb.,  wo.*  tlit  .ioM 
 O/fAC  N 
 
 himself  to  die,  and  -aid,  It  in  better  for 
 me  to  ilie  than  to  live. 
 
 (»)  And    Cod     said     to    Jonah,    6  Doe8t 
 
 thou  woll  to  he  angry  for  the  gourd? 
 
 And  he  said,''  I  do  well  to  he  angry,  OVM 
 unto  death. 
 
 <10>  Then  said  tin;  Loun,  Thou  hast 
 7  had  pity  on  t  ho  gourd,  f OT  the  which 
 thou  hast  not  laboured,  neither  madest 
 it  grow;  wliieh  *  ciiiiii!  up  in  a  night, 
 and  perished  in  a  night:  <")  and  should 
 not  i  spaie  Nineveh,  that  gnat  city. 
 wherein  are  more  than  sixscore  thousand 
 persons  that  cannot  discern  between 
 their  righl  hand  ami  their  left  hand; 
 and  <ilm>  much  cattle  ? 
 
 verb  in  this  clause  a  pluperfect  force,  which  else  would 
 be  necessary  to  account  for  the  prophet's  continued 
 
 ■  \] tation  of  the  destruction  of   Nineveh  after  his 
 
 irritation  at  the  Divine  clemency  towards  it. 
 
 Booth — i.e.,  of  boughs,  Like  those  used  at  the  Feast 
 of  Tabernacles.    (See  next  Note.) 
 
 W  Prepared.    See  Note.  chap.  i.  17. 
 
 A  gourd.  -So  the  I. XX.  render  the  Hebrew 
 qxqaion,  which,  since  the  time  of  Jerome,  has  been 
 usually  identified  with  the  Arabic  i  /  heroa,  the  castor-oil 
 tree  I  Kieimts  commv/nis,oi  Tahna  Christi;  see  margin  I. 
 It  Is  a    large   shrub,  having   large  palmate  leaves,  with 
 
 serrated  Lobes,  and  spikes  of  blosBoms  which  produce 
 
 the  seed,  whence  the  well-known  medicinal  oil  is  ex- 
 tracted, in  small  rough  lmsks.  Tlie  strongest  argument 
 in  fa\  mir  of  this  view  is  I  he  proposed  derivation  of  the 
 1 1.!. icw  name  from  the  Eg]  plian  kik  /.and  I  lie  rabbinical 
 
 name  for  castor-oiL  kiM-ou.*  In  spite  of  this  etymo- 
 logical argument,  Dr.  Tristram  says  :  "  Practical  reasons 
 cause  me  to  lean  strongly  to  the  rendering  of  our  Eng- 
 lish version,  gourd,  i.e.,  the  bottle  gourd  {Cucvyltilii 
 PSno).  In  Palestine  the  vernacular  names  are  almost  iden- 
 tical in  sound,  "kurah"  being  the  gourd,  "  khurwah  " 
 
 the  castor-oil  tree.     Hut,  t  he  gourd  is  very ninonly  fill- 
 
 ployed  in  Palestine  for  the  purpose  of  shading  arbours. 
 Its  rapid  growth  and   large  leaves  render  it  admii-.il.lv 
 
 adapted  for  training  on   trellis-work  .  .  .     But   the 
 
 plant  withers  as  rapidly  as  it  shoots,  and  after  a  storm 
 01  any  injury  to  its  stem,  its  fruit  may  lie  seen  hanging 
 
 from  the  Leafless  tendrils,  which  so  lately  concealed  it. 
 a  type  of  melancholy  desolation  "  {Xnt.Jlist.  of  the  Bible. 
 p.  448). 
 Made  it  to  come  up.— Rather,  it  came  up, 
 
 Doliver.— In  the  original  there  is  a  play  of  words  on 
 
 this  word  and  shadow. 
 
 (">  A  worm. — Possibly  to  lie  taken  collectively,  as 
 in  1-a.  xiv.  II,  for  a  swarm  of  caterpillars. 
 
 is|  Vehement  east  wind.— The  derivation  from  a 
 root  meaning  silent  (BM  margin)  points  to  what  tra- 
 vellers describe  a^  the  "quiet  kind  of  sirocco,"  which 
 
 is   often   more    overpowering  than   the  more   boisterous 
 
 •  A  Semitic  origin  for  the  word  is  rendered  probable  to  its 
 discovers  under  '!"■  form,  quqartftu,  on  a  small  tablet  which 
 the   Babylonian   king   Marduk-bal-iddin  (Met  ladan) 
 
 ordered  to  lie  set  in  a  garden.  (See  letters  of  Dr.  V.  Deliizsch. 
 to  the  Athenamn  of  May  Ktb  ami  June  Dili,  1883.) 
 
 kind.      (See  Thomson,  Tin:  Luinl  riiul  tlu   Hunk.  pp.  o.'i'i. 
 537.)     Ewald,  however,  derives  differently,  and  makes 
 ugh,  serapy,  stingy  wind. 
 
 Painted.  -Sec  chap.  ii.  7.  Here  tho  effect  of  sun- 
 stroke, in  Amos  viii.  \'.i  of  /' 
 
 Wished  in  himself  to  die.— Literally,  i 
 his  soul  to  die.     it' p.  I  Kingsxix.4.) 
 
 It  is  better.  —  The  italics  are  unnecessary,  and 
 weaken  the  passage,   Better   my  death  than  my  life. 
 
 Physical    suffering  was    now    added    to    the    prop 
 chagrin,  and.  as  usual,  added    to   the  moral   depression. 
 
 It  seemed  much  worse  that  the  logical  consistency  of 
 Jonahs  teaching  should  go  for  nothing  now  that  lie 
 was  so  uncomfortable. 
 
 ('-')  Doest  thou  well  .  .  .  ?— See  Note  to  verse  4. 
 Jonah  was  really  hurt  at  the  loss  of  bis  shade,  not  sorry 
 for  the  destruction  of  the  gourd.  But  it  is  very  true 
 to  nature  that  the  moment  a  worthier  excuse  is  sug- 
 gested, he  accepts  it.  without  perceiving  that  by  so 
 doing  he  prepared  the  way  for  bis  own  condemnation. 
 The  lesson  is  to  till  who  would  sacrifice  the  cause  of 
 humanity  to  some  professional  or  theological  difficulty. 
 
 •  '")  Which  came  up.  —  Tho  original  is  one  of 
 those  forcible  idioms  impossible  to  reproduce,  which  son 
 of  a  night  was,  and  son  of  a  night  perished. 
 
 More  than  .  .  .—This  number  of  infants. 
 r20.0nn.  ace. .rding  to  the  usual  reckoning,  gives  a  popu- 
 lation of  600, I. 
 
 And  also  much  cattle.  —  This,  which  at   first 
 
 reads  like  an  anti-climax,  is  really,  perhaps,  the  most 
 striking  thing  in  the  whole  of  this  marvellous  book. 
 Already  the  idea  that  a  sympathy  could  exist  between 
 Jonah  and  the  gourd  has  seemed  to  anticipate  by  thou- 
 sands ot  y.ars  the  feeling  of  modern  poetry  expressed 
 
 in  the  lines. 
 
 "To  me  the  meanest  flower  that  hlo\v3  can  (rive 
 Thoughts  that  too  often  lie  too  deep  tor  tears;" 
 
 and  now  the  final  touch,  laying  especial  emphasis  on  the 
 thought  that  even  the  cattle  are  an  interest  and  care  to 
 Cod.  seems  ;,i  once  to  leap  to  the  truth  which  even  our 
 own  age  has  been  slow  to  learn. 
 
 '•  He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best. 
 All  creatures  great  anil  smull. 
 For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us. 
 He  made  aud  loveth  all." 
 
 493 
 
MICAH. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 MICAII. 
 
 The  Book  of  (In-  Prophet  Micah  is  presented  as  the 
 sixth  in  order  nt"  the  minor  prophets  in  the  Hebrew, 
 
 V  nlgate,  and :  own  canon,  but  in  the  LXX.  it  follows 
 
 Rosea  and  Amos  ,is  the  third. 
 
 It  would  be  deeply  interesting  to  construe!  ■  life  of 
 Mir.ili,  f.>r  he  was  so  full  of  nvid  personality  that  it 
 could  not  fail  to  I"'  remarkable;  but  the  materials  axe 
 almost   wholly  wanting.     We  conclude  that  his  birth- 
 
 Elace  was   Moresheth,   in  the   maritime  plain  of  the 
 Lngdom  of  Judah,  and  wi njecture  that   this  was 
 
 in  the  neighbourhood  of  Eleutheropolis.  St.  Jerome, 
 indeed,  mentions  that  he  visited  a  village  in  those  parts 
 "which  formerly  contained  the  sepulchre  of  Micah, 
 
 whole  is  now  a  church." 
 
 His  name  itself*  was  no  uncommon  one,  as  is  at 
 once  suggested  by  Ids  adding  to  it  the  title  of  "the 
 Morastinte,"  indicating  his  native  town;  although  it 
 
 seems  hardly  probable  that  he  assumed  it  for  the  pur- 
 
 pose  of  distinguishing  himself  from  the  Samaritan  false 
 
 Erophet,  Mieaiah.  the  son  id'  Imlah.  who  lived  a  century 
 .lore  him.  He  was  evidently  a  man  of  profound 
 affection  for  his  nation  and  fatherland,  and  from  his 
 native  town  he  would  doubtless  pay  anxious  visits  to 
 Jerusalem  to  warn  the  rulers  and  people  of  the  metro- 
 polls,  deeply  steeped  as  they  were  in  the  grossest 
 wickedness,  of  ,tho  judgment  ready  to  fall  upon  them 
 if  they  did  not  repent.  One  of  these  occasions  became 
 historic,  and  was  quoted  ill  the  timoof  Jehoiakim,  when 
 the  priests  and  prophets  were  clamouring  for  the  deatli 
 of  Jeremiah,  who  had  ventured  to  emulate  tho  heroic 
 patriotism  of  Micah  (seo  Note,  chap.  iii.  12),  and  the 
 precedent  probably  saved  that  prophet's  life.  Micah's 
 prophecies  extended  over  the  reigns  of  Jothain  and 
 Ahaz  into  that  of  Hezckiah ;  but  no  would  appear  to 
 have  died  a  few  years  after  tho  last-meutioued  monarch's 
 accession. 
 
 The  Prophet  Micah  foresaw  the  Assyrian  invasion, 
 and  described  with  the  vividness  of  an  eye. witness  tho 
 approach  of  the  enemy  destroying  city  after  city,  draw- 
 ing nigh  even  unto  Jerusalem  itself.  As  to  the  rival 
 capital,  Samaria,  "it  shall  lie  made  as  an  heap  of  the 
 field,  and  as  plantings  of  a  vineyard:  I  will  pour  down 
 the  stones  thereof  into  the  valley,  and  I  will  discover 
 the  foundations  thereof.'' 
 
 But  the  message  of  the  prophet  was  to  the  people  of 
 Judah,  for  if   they,  unwarned  by  the  denunciations  of 
 
 the  aroused  anger  of  Jehovah,  and  unmoved  by  the 
 exhibition  of  His  judgments,  continued  in  their  evil 
 course,  they  would  he  swept  into  captivity,  carried  away 
 to  a  city  the  very  name  of  which  must  have  excited 
 ridicule  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers.      (See  chap.  iv.  10.) 
 
 •  Mloaiah  is  found  hi  many  variations  until  it  reaches  the 
 shortened  form  of  Mjoah.    There  is  Mloaiah  a  great  man  in 
 
 .lo-iali  srciu-ni-  Kins--  wii.l.'i.  ealleil  Micah  CiChroii.  wxiv.'lli. 
 
 Wioaiah  is  a  Dame  Riven  to  the  win-  of  Etehoboam  -'<Uron. 
 xiii.  18  .  which  ma]  lie  a  mistake  for  Manchah;  and  Michaiuh 
 sou  of  Oemariah  (Jor.  axxvt  ll) ;  and  others, 
 
 171  497 
 
 This,  however.  Micah   foresaw  and   foretold,  and  tho 
 
 scope  of  his  prophecy  hecaino  thereupon  extended.  He 
 beheld  the  execution  of  the  decree,  nay.  even  further  than 
 
 that,  its  reversal  at  the  appointed  time.  The  Jews  shall 
 return  to  their  own  land,  and  once  more  dwell  under 
 tho  protection   of   Jehovah.      But    the    vision    grew,    its 
 
 horizon  was  more  and  more  extended,  and  the  prophet 
 
 uttered  predictions  which  every  Jew  interpreted  as 
 referring  to  the  advent  of  their  Messiah  and  His  tri- 
 umphant reign.  He  declared  the  very  town  in  which 
 Ho  should  he  horn,  emphasising  the  fact,  and  anti- 
 cipating the  objections  which  would  naturally  rise  to 
 the  mind  of  the  Jews  from  the  insignificance  of  Beth- 
 lehem for  such  high  dignity.  The  end  of  Micah's  pro- 
 phecy is  Messiah's  eternal  reign,  iii  accordance  with 
 
 tho  truth  of  Jehovah  "  sworn  unto  our  fathers  from 
 the  days  of  old." 
 
 No  student  of  the  Books  of  Isaiah  and  Micah  can  fail 
 to  be  struck  with  a  similarity  of  style  in  the  writings 
 of    the    two    prophets.      Tin  re    is    the    same    power  of 
 
 graphic  description;  there  is  the  similar  identification 
 
 of  themselves  with  their  subject;  there  are  liko  alter- 
 nate heights  and  depths  of  joy  and  trouble.  But  Micah 
 is  more  terse.  He  gives  the  telling  touches  which,  in 
 Isaiah's  utterances,  expand  into  long  bursts  of  sustained 
 eloquence.  The  similarity  in  the  style  of  Isaiah  and 
 Micah  is  strikingly  attested  by  tho  passage  Isji.  ii.  J.  3.4. 
 and  Micah  iv.  1,  2,  3,  common  to  the  two  writers,  but. 
 which  is  eagerly  claimed  as  original  in  behalf  of  both. 
 (Seo  Note  at  the  place.) 
 
 As  far  as  the  individuality  of  Micah  is  discovered 
 in  his  prophecy,  ho  is  conspicuous  even  among  pro- 
 phets for  the  boldness,  the  thoroughness  of  his  de- 
 nunciations, and  for  the  rapidity  of  his  contrasts. 
 The  thunder-cloud  of  blackness  descending  upon  sin 
 again  and  again  darkens  with  the  suddenness  of  a 
 storm  his  bright  visions  of  glory;  anil  on  the  other 
 hand,  tliero  is  always  visible  through  the  heat 
 clouds  the  rainbow  of  hope  from  the  sunshine  of  (ids 
 mercy.  The  light  and  the  darkness  are  in  constant 
 juxtaposition.  Tin'  period  of  Micah's  life  was  cast  in 
 very  troublous  times.  The  reign  of  Ahah  had  im- 
 pressed itself  ineffaccalily  upon  the  character  of  Israel, 
 and  had  left  terrible  marks  upon  that  of  Judah.  Idola- 
 try had  been  introduced  into  tin-  Temple  itself;  statues 
 of  the  accursed  Baal  were  found  even  there.  The 
 abominations  of  the  heathen  in  their  most  repulsive 
 form  prevailed;  Jewish  children  were  burnt  in  the  fire 
 to  propitiate  the  idol  Moloch.  All  society  was  dis- 
 organised; it  was  corrupt  at  the  core.  The  desire  of 
 every  citizen  was  to  outwit  his  fellow.  No  judicial 
 decision  was  to  be  obtained  except  through  bribery  ; 
 every  contract  was  sullied  with  dishonesty. 
 
 In  such  a  time  Micah  stood  forth,  and  proclaimed 
 the  fall  and  destruction  of  Samaria,  which  came  to 
 pass  in  the  fourth  year  of  Hezekiah ;  and  he  drew 
 attention  to  the  danger  which  menaced  tho  cities  of 
 
MICAH. 
 
 Judah,  even  the  Holy  City  itself.  But  his  predictions 
 were  not  satisfied  by  the  Assyrian  invasion.  Their  ful- 
 filment lias  to  be  looked  for  in  the  terrible  descent 
 upon  Judaea  by  the  King  of  Babylon,  a  city  in  Micah's 
 time  too  insignificant  to  attract  any  notice  from  Jewish 
 politicians.  And  then,  further  than  this,  the  prophecies 
 of  Micah  reached  to  a  far  more  distant  horizon.  His 
 words  spoke  to  Jewish  ears  of  a  Messiah  to  come,  and 
 they  were  treasured  up  as  indicating  the  very  place  of 
 His  birth.  The  nearer  and  the  more  remote  events 
 immediately  covered  by  his  predictions  were  significant 
 
 of  the  whole  future  of  the  people  of  God.  There  was 
 the  terrible  wickedness  which  was  to  eat  more  and 
 more  deeply  into  the  heart  of  society;  there  was  the 
 time  of  mourning  for  the  good,  of  rejoicing  for  the 
 evil ;  and  there  was  the  hour  of  signal  punishment  com- 
 mitted to  the  enemies  of  God  against  His  faithless 
 people ;  while  these  enemies,  having  become  insolent 
 and  defiant,  were  to  be  eventually  defeated.  And  then 
 at  the  last  there  was  the  triumph  of  the  faithful  children 
 of  God,  the  Lord  Himself  passing  on  at  the  head  of 
 the  remnant  of  Israel. 
 
 4  !K 
 
MICAH. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.— ")  The  word  of  the 
 Loud  that  came  to  Micah  the  Morastliite 
 in  the  days  (it  Jothum,  Alia/,  nitd  Heze- 
 kiali.  Icings  of  Judah,  which  lie  saw 
 concerning  Samaria  and  .Jerusalem. 
 
 M  'Hear,  all  ye  people;  "hearken,  0 
 earth,  and  all  that  therein  is:  and  let 
 the  Lord  God  be  witness  against  you, 
 the  Lord  from  his  holy  temple.  (3>  For, 
 behold,  b  the  Lokd  coineth  forth  out  of 
 his  'place,  and  will  come  down,  and 
 tread  upon  the  ''high  places  of  the 
 earth,  w  And  •  the  mountains  shall  be 
 molten  under  him,  and  the  valleys  shall 
 be  cleft,  as  wax  before  the  fire,  and  as 
 the  waters  that  are  poured  down  3  a 
 steep  place. 
 
 I5'  For  the  transgression  of  Jacob  is 
 all  this,  and  for  the  sins  of  the  house 
 
 BC. 
 
 I       llrl.  ,     / 
 
 IMupfe,         (,'(       «/ 
 
 !!/■  ,11. 
 
 !»■  ut.:i:.  l ;  Ua. 
 
 1I>1>.,  thr  ftditfs* 
 
 b  Im.26.21. 
 
 c  is.  ll. •...-.. 
 
 i  Dent  3--'.  is,  .".- 
 
 c  P».97.S. 
 
 3  Hcl>.,  a  lUtunt. 
 
 i    ll'N.,  d 
 owl, 
 
 .  I  ir,  ihc  i»  grier~ 
 icK  of  her 
 wotauU, 
 
 of  Israel.  What  is  the  transgression  of 
 Jacob?  is  it  not  Samaria?  and  what 
 are  the  high  places  of  Judah?  are  they 
 not  Jerusalem  ?  <6>  Therefore  I  will 
 make  Samaria  as  an  heap  of  the  field, 
 and  as  plantings  of  a  vineyard  :  and  I 
 will  pour  down  the  stones  thereof  into 
 the  valley,  and  I  will  discover  the  foun- 
 dations thereof.  <"'  And  all  the  graven 
 images  thereof  shall  be  beaten  to  pieces, 
 and  all  the  hires  thereof  shall  be  burned 
 with  the  fire,  and  all  the  idols  thereof 
 will  I  lay  desolate :  for  she  gathered  it 
 of  the  hire  of  an  harlot,  and  they  shall 
 return  to  the  hire  of  an  harlot. 
 
 <8>  Therefore  I  will  wail  and  howl,  I 
 will  go  stripped  and  naked :  I  will  make 
 a  wailing  like  the  dragons,  and  mourn- 
 ing as  the  +  owls.     <9)  For  5  her  wound  is 
 
 (')  Micah  the  Morasthite.— Unlike  Joel,  who 
 identifies  himaalf  liy  his  father's  name,  Micah  intro- 
 duces his  personality  with  reference  f<>  hi*  native  village, 
 Bforeahetn-gath,  Which  was  situated  in  the  lowland 
 district  of  Judah.  The  name — a  shortened  form  of 
 Micaiah,  meaning  "  Who  is  like  Jehovah" — was  not 
 mi  uncommon  one  among  the  Jews,  but  it  was  chiefly 
 famous  in  times  prior  to  the  prophet,  through  Micaiah. 
 tlic  sun  of  Imlah,  who,  about  150 years  previously,  had 
 withstood  Allah  and  his  false  prophets. 
 
 Samaria  and  Jerusalem.—  The  younger  capital 
 is  placed  lirst  because  it  was  the  first  t < >  fall  through  the 
 greater  sinfulness  of  the  northern  kingdom.    The  chief 
 
 cities  are  mentioned  as  representatives  of  the  wicked- 
 ness of  the  respective  nations. 
 
 •'->  Hear,  all  ye  people.— The  three-fold  repetition 
 of  the  appeal,  "  Hear  ye,"  seems  to  mark  three  divisions 
 in  the  book  :  1.  "  Hear,  all  ye  people"  (chap.  i.  2)  ;  -. 
 ••  Hear.  I  pray  you,  O  heads  of  Jacob"  (chap.  iii.  1  j 
 S.  Hear  ye  now  what  the  Lord  saith  "  (chap.  vi.  I). 
 
 From"  his  holy  temple— i.e..  from  heaven:  for 
 "the  Lord  is  in  His  holy  temple,  the  Lord's  throne  is 
 in  heaven  *  (P.s.  xi.   I 
 
 Mieaiah.  the  son  of  Imlah.  ended  his  appeal  to  Ahab 
 and  Johoshaphat  with  the  words  with  which  Micah 
 opens  his  prophecy,  "  Hearken,  O  people,  every  one  of 
 you  '*  1 1   EQllg8  xxii.  28  . 
 
 (*)  The  mountains  shall  bo  molten.— The  mini. 
 testations  of  the.  presence  of  Qod  are  laken  from  the 
 
 description  of  the  giving  of  the  Law,  when  "  the  hills 
 melted  like  wax  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  at  the 
 presence  of  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth  "  iPs.  xcvii.  5). 
 Dean  Stanley  refers  the  imagery  to  Che  memorable 
 earthquake  mentioned  in  Amos  i.  1 :— ••  Mountains  and 
 valleys  arc  cleft  asunder,  and  melt  as  in  a  furnace;  the 
 
 earth  heaving  like  the  rising  waters  of  the  Nile  ;  the 
 sea  bursting  over  the  laud;  the  ground  shaking  and 
 sliding  as,  with  a  succession  of  shocks,  its  solid  frame- 
 work reels  to  and  fro  like  a  drunkard  "  (Jewish  Church, 
 Lect.  37). 
 
 (J)  The  transgression  of  Jacob  .  .  .  the 
 sins  of  the  house  of  Israel.— The  corruption  of 
 the  country  came  from  the  capital  cities.  Samaria,  ou 
 her  bill,  set  an  example  of  idolatry,  drunkenness,  and 
 all  the  evils  of  a  most  profligate  society;  and  even 
 Jerusalem,  the  city  "set  on  an  hill,"  gave  a  home  in  the 
 Temple  of  Jehovah  to  heathen  deities. 
 
 (6)  Samaria  as  an  heap  of  the  field.— Samaria 
 
 was  to  bo  reduced  to  what  it  had  been  before  the  days 
 of  Ahab;  the  palatial  city  of  the  kings  of  the  northern 
 kingdom  should  return  to  the  normal  condition  of  a 
 vineyard,  which  it  had  before  Slienier  sold  it  to  Omri. 
 The  frnitfulness  of  its  vines  suggests  one  cause  of  its 
 ruin.  "Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards 
 of  Ephraim.  whose  glorious  beauty  is  a  fading  (lower, 
 which  are  on  the  head  of  the  fat  valleys  of  them  tUat 
 are  overcome  witli  wino  "  (lsa.  xxviii.  1). 
 
 <">  And  all  the  hires  thereof.— The  falling  away 
 of  Israel  from  her  loyalty  to  God  is  compared  generally 
 by  the  prophets  to  a  wife  deserting  her  husband  ;  and 
 these  "  hires  "  are  the  offerings  made  to  the  shrines  of 
 the  idols  to  which  the  Israelites  forsaking  Jehovah  had 
 transferred  their  worship.  All  these  treasures  shall  be 
 destroyed;  the  Assyrians  shall  carry  them  off  for  the 
 adornment  of  their  temples. 
 
 (8)  Dragons    .    .    .    owls. — laterally,  jackals  and 
 
 OSiriches.  They  are  selected  by  reason  of  the  dismal 
 howls  and  screeches  they  make  during  the  night. 
 
 (-')  Her  wound  is  incurable.  —  The  state  of 
 Samaria  is  incurable  :  she  is  doomed  :  the  destroyer  is 
 
 499 
 
An  Exhortation 
 
 MICAH,   II. 
 
 to  Mourning. 
 
 incurable  ;  for  it  is  come  unto  Judah  ; 
 lie  is  come  unto  the  gate  of  my  people, 
 even  to  Jerusalem. 
 
 (io)  "Declare  ye  it  not  at  Gath,  weep 
 ye  not  at  all :  in  the  house  of 1  Aphrah 
 6  roll  thyself  in  the  dust.  <n>  Pass  ye- 
 a-way, 2  thou  3  inhabitant  of  Saphir, 
 having  thy  c  shame  naked :  the  inhabi- 
 tant of  *  Zaanan  came  not  forth  in  the 
 mourning  of  5Beth-ezel;  he  shall  receive 
 of  you  his  standing.  <12)  For  the  inhabi- 
 tant of  Maroth  6  waited  carefully  for 
 good :  but  evil  came  down  from  the 
 Loed  unto  the  gate  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 <13>  0  thou  inhabitant  of  Lachish,  bind 
 the  chariot  to  the  swift  beast :  she  is 
 
 a  2  Sam.  1.  20. 
 
 1  That  Is,  Dust, 
 b  Jcr.  6. 56. 
 
 2  Or.    thou    that 
 duMtlest  fairly. 
 
 iSei).,inhabitrese. 
 
 c  Isa.  J7. 2, 3. 
 
 4  Or,  the   country 
 of  flocks. 
 
 5  Or,  a  place  near. 
 $  Or,  teas  grieved. 
 
 7  Or,  for. 
 
 8  That  is,  A  lie. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 clr.  730. 
 
 9  Or,  the  tjlortt  of 
 Israel  shall  come. 
 
 the  beginning  of  the  sin  to  the  daughter 
 of  Zion :  for  the  transgressions  of  Israel 
 were  found  in  thee.  (U)  Therefore  shalt 
 thou  give  presents  7  to  Moresheth-gath  : 
 the  houses  of  8  Achzib  shall  be  a  lie  to 
 the  kings  of  Israel.  <15>  Yet  will  I  bring 
 an  heir  unto  thee,  O  inhabitant  of 
 Mareshah :  9  he  shall  come  unto  Adullam 
 the  glory  of  Israel.  <16)  Make  thee  *  bald, 
 and  poll  thee  for  thy  delicate  children ; 
 enlarge  thy  baldness  as  the  eagle ;  for 
 they  are  gone  into  captivity  from  thee. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— W  Woe  to  them  that 
 devise  iniquity,  and  work  evil  upon  their 
 beds !  when  the  morning  is  light,  they 
 
 approaching — nay,  he  comes  near,  even  to  Jerusalem. 
 The  outlying  towns  are  described  as  shuddering  at  the 
 invader's  advance,  but  Jerusalem  itself  is  spared. 
 
 (io)  Declare  ye  it  not  at  Gath.— The  prophet  lets 
 his  lament  flow  after  the  strain  of  David's  elegy,  "Tell 
 it  not  in  Gath,  publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Askelon." 
 In  this  passage  the  parallelism  seems  to  require  the 
 name  of  a  town  where  the  English  Version  has  "  at  all." 
 But  the  Hebrew  word  thus  represented  may,  by  the 
 addition  of  a  letter  which  has  dropped  out  of  the  text, 
 be  rendered  "  iu  Aecho,"  or  Ptolemais,  now  called 
 Acca.  The  LXX.  translation,  Oi  iv  rid  pri  neyaAvveaBc, 
 Kalol  EvaKei/x  ,uj)  (=oJ  ec  'Axe!  fx-i]),  accords  with  this  read- 
 ing. The  parallelism  is  thus  maintained,  and  the 
 thought  is  completed :  "  Mention  not  the  trouble  in  our 
 enemies'  cities;  bewail  it  in  our  own." 
 
 (ii)  Saphir  .  .  .  Zaanan.— The  sites  of  these 
 cities,  like  that  of  Aphrah,  are  a  matter  of  conjecture. 
 They  were  probably  south-west  of  Jerusalem,  the  pro- 
 phet following  the  march  of  the  invading  army. 
 
 The  inhabitant  of  Zaanan  came  not  forth— 
 i.e.,  they  remained  in  their  city  through  fear  of  the 
 enemy. 
 
 In  the  mourning  of  Beth-ezel. — Bather,  the 
 wailing  of  Beth-ezel  shall  take  from  you  his  standing 
 — i.e.,  no  support  will  be  found  in  the  inhabitants  of 
 Beth-ezel. 
 
 (i2)  Waited  carefully. — There  are  various  ways 
 of  arriving  at  the  interpretation  of  the  words,  but  the 
 result  is  the  same.  The  people  of  Maroth  were  in  dis- 
 tress ;  they  were  grieved  at  the  spoiling  of  their  pro. 
 perty ;  they  longed  for  good,  but  evil  was  the  Lord's 
 decree  against  Jerusalem. 
 
 (is)  Bind  the  chariot  to  the  swift  beast— 
 i.e.,  make  haste  to  escape  with  thy  goods.  Lachish  was 
 the  most  important  of  the  cities  enumerated.  It  was 
 fortified  by  Behoboam,  and  was  sought  as  a  refuge  by 
 Amaziah  from  the  conspiracy  formed  against  him  in 
 Jerusalem.  After  the  capture  of  the  Holy  City  by 
 Nebuchadnezzar,  Lachish  alone  remained,  with  Azekah, 
 of  the  def enced  cities  of  Judah.  It  appears,  from  its 
 position  as  a  border  city,  to  have  been  the  channel  for 
 introducing  into  the  kingdom  of  Judah  the  idolatry  set 
 up  by  Jeroboam  in  Israel. 
 
 (14)  Give  presents — i.e.,  thou  shalt  cease  to  give 
 to  Moresheth-gath  the  protection  due  from  a  husband 
 to  a  wife :  thou  shalt  give  her  a  bill  of  divorce.  The 
 Hebrew  word  means  either  the  presents  sent  with  a 
 daughter  or  the  dismissal  sent  to  a  wife. 
 
 Achzib. — A  town  on  the  sea-coast  between  Accho 
 and  Tyre.  Its  name  means  false,  deceptive  ;  it  is  used 
 of  a  river  drying  up,  aud  disappointing  the  traveller. 
 In  like  manner  Achzib  shall  fulfil  the  import  of  its 
 name,  and  prove  a  lie,  a  broken  reed,  to  the  kings  of 
 Israel.  (See  also  Jer.  xv.  18,  where  the  prophet  asks 
 God,  "Wilt  Thou  be  altogether  unto  me  as  a  liar  [Heb., 
 Achzab~],  as  waters  that  fail  ?  ") 
 
 (is)  Yet  will  I  bring  an  heir.— Bather,  the  pos- 
 sessor, one  who  shall  take  it  by  force — i.e.,  Sennacherib. 
 
 Mareshah  was  a  city  iu  the  plain  of  Judah,  near  the 
 prophet's  native  place,  Moresheth-gath.  It  was  forti- 
 fied by  Behoboam,  and  became  the  scene  of  Asa's  vic- 
 tory over  tho  immense  host  of  Zerah  the  Ethiopian. 
 Dr.  Bobiuson  is  of  opiuion  that  after  its  destruction  the 
 town  of  Eleutheropolis  was  built  out  of  its  materials. 
 
 Adullam  the  glory  of  Israel.— Adullam,  in  the 
 neighbourhood  of  Mareshah,  was  situated  at  the  base 
 of  the  hills,  and  gave  its  name  to  the  famous  cave  in 
 which  David  took  refuge.  Joshua  mentions  a  king  of 
 Adullam  in  the  list  of  those  conquered  by  the  Israelites. 
 This,  now  the  last  refuge  of  the  glory  of  Israel,  shall 
 be  seized  by  the  invader. 
 
 (16)  Make  thee  bald.— Joel  appeals  to  the  land  of 
 Judah  to  go  into  deep  mourning  by  reason  of  the  loss 
 of  her  children,  slain  in  war  or  carried  into  captivity. 
 The  shaving  of  the  head  as  a  token  of  grief  was  com- 
 mon amongst  Eastern  nations,  aud  is  distiuct  from  the 
 idolatrous  custom  of  cutting  the  hair  in  a  peculiar 
 shape  denounced  by  Jeremiah  (chap.  ix.  26,  margin), 
 and  forbidden  by  the  Jewish  Law  (Lev.  xix.  27,  28). 
 
 As  the  eagle. — The  Hebrew  name  for  eagle  includes 
 the  different  kinds  of  vultures.  Entire  baldness  is  a 
 marked  feature  of  the  vulture. 
 
 The  terms  iu  which  Joel  speaks  of  the  entire  desola- 
 tion of  the  cities  of  Judah  must  refer  to  a  more  com- 
 plete calamity  than  that  inflicted  by  Sennacherib ;  they 
 rather  suit  the  period  of  the  Babylonian  captivity. 
 
 II. 
 (i)  Woe  to  them  that  devise.— The  prophet  pro- 
 ceeds to  denounce  the  sins  for  which  the  country  was 
 to  receive  condign  punishment  at  the  hands  of  God. 
 There  is  a  gradation  in  the  terms  employed:  they  mark 
 the  deliberate  character  of  the  acts :  there  were  no  ex- 
 tenuating circumstances.  In  the  night  they  formed 
 the  plan,  they  thought  it  out  upon  their  beds,  and  carried 
 it  out  into  execution  in  the  morning.  So  also  the 
 gradually  increasing   intercourse   with   the  wicked  is 
 
 500 
 
A  Reproof  of 
 
 MICAH,   II. 
 
 Oppression  ami  luguM&os. 
 
 practise  it,  because  it  is  in  the  power  of 
 their  hand.     <-''  And  they  covet  'fields, 
 
 Bnd  take  them  by  violence  ;  and  houses, 
 and  take  tli<  111  away:  so  they  '  oj.jiress 
 a  man  Bud  Ids  house,  even  a  man  and 
 his  heritage. 
 
 i;  Therefore  thus  Baitu  the  Lord; 
 Behold,  against  tins  family  do  I  devise 
 an  evil,  from  which  ye  shall  not  re- 
 move your  necks ;  neither  shall  ye  go 
 haughtily:  for  this  time  is  evil.  <*>  In 
 that  day  shall  one  take  up  a  parable 
 against  you,  and  lament  '  with  a  doleful 
 lamentation,  and  say,  We  be  utterly 
 spoiled :  he  hath  changed  the  portion 
 of  my  people :  how  hath  he  removed  it 
 from  me  !  "turning  away  he  hath  divided 
 our  fields.  (5)  Therefore  thou  shalt  have 
 none  that  shall  'east  a  cord  by  lot  in  the 
 congregation  of  the  Lokd. 
 
 (6m **  Prophesy  ye  not,  say  they  to 
 them  that  prophesy :  they  shall  not  pro- 
 phesy to  them,  that  they  shall  not  take 
 shame.  (7)  0  thou,  that  art  named  the 
 house  of   Jacob,   is   the   spirit  of   the 
 
 I  or,  .1. //•«»./. 
 
 I  u<  i. ,  u 
 
 :t    "/   la 
 
 ii  Di  hi  :e.8,». 
 i  Or,  f" 
 
 lit)  theii , 
 .-.   II.  h.  Drop,  4c. 
 e  lM.na  io. 
 6  Or.  shortened. 
 :  11.  i ...  upright. 
 
 8  Hell,  .';.  •!■  r.t.i >/. 
 
 rngairut 
 a  'jitrmcnt. 
 
 II  Kr.tr.tlktrithtlic 
 wind,     and      lit 
 
 Lord  "straitened  r1  an-  these  his  doings? 
 do  not  my  words  do  good  t<>  him  thai 
 walketh  'nprightlyP  WEven  Bof  late  my 
 people  is  risen  up  as  an  enemy:  ye  pull  off 
 
 the  robe  "with  the  garment  from  them 
 t  hat  pass  by  securely  as  men  averse  from 
 war.  "'''The  '"women  of  ni\  people  have 
 ye  cast  out  from  their  pleasant  houses; 
 from  their  children  have  ye  taken  away 
 my  glory  for  ever.  ""'Arise  y,  and 
 depart  ;  for  this  is  not  your  rest:  because 
 it  is  polluted,  it  shall  destroy  //<>",  even 
 with  a  sore  destruction.  ""  If  a  man 
 11  walking  in  the  spirit  and  falsehood  do 
 lie,  saying,  I  will  prophesy  unto  thee  of 
 wine  and  of  strong  drink ;  he  shall  even 
 be  the  prophet  of  this  people. 
 
 (12)  I  will  surely  assemble,  O  Jacob, 
 all  of  thee;  I  will  surely  gather  the 
 remnant  of  Israel;  I  will  put  them 
 together  as  the  sheep  of  Bozrah,  as  the 
 flock  in  the  midst  of  their  fold:  they 
 shall  make  great  noise  by  reason  of  the 
 multitude  of  men.  W  The  breaker  is 
 come  up  before  them :  they  have  broken 
 
 described,  .-is  reaching  its  culmination,  in  the  first  Psalm: 
 Walking  with  tin-  ungodly  leads  t.>  standing  among 
 sinners,  sad  :it  last  sitting  habitually  in  t ho  scat  of  the 
 scornful. 
 
 ('-')  And  they  covet  fields.— The  act  of  Aliab  and 
 Jezebel  in  coveting  and  acquiring  Naboth's  vineyard  by 
 
 Violence  and  murder  was  no  isolated  incident.  The 
 desire  to  accumulate  property  in  land,  in  contravention 
 
 of  the  Mosaic  Law.  was  denounced  by  Mh-ah's  contem- 
 porary, Isaiah:  "Woe  unto  them  that  join  house  to 
 bouse,  that  lay  field  to  field,  till  there  be  no  place,  that 
 they  may  be  placed  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  earth" 
 (Im   v.B) 
 
 (3)  I  devise  an  evil. — As  they  devise  evil  against 
 their  brethren,  so  am  I  devising  an  evil  against  them  : 
 they  shall  bow  their  necks  Under  B  hostile  yoke. 
 
 (')  Shall  ono  tako  up  a  parablo  against  you 
 
 — i.e.,  the  enemies  shall  repeat   in   mockery  the  doleful 
 
 lamentations  with  which  you  bewail  your  pitiable  state. 
 
 Turning  away  ho  hath  divided.— Rather,  to  an 
 
 apostate — i.e.,  an  idolator — he  hath  divided  our  fields. 
 Tin-  land  they  won-  taking  from  others  God  woidd  give 
 into  the  hands  of  an  idolatrous  king. 
 
 (5)  Thou  shalt  have  none  .  .  .—i.e..  thou 
 shalt  have  no  part  or  inheritance  in  the  congregation  of 
 tin-  Lord — apparently  referring  to  the  ancient  division 
 of  the  land  liy  lot. 
 
 (6)  Prophesy  ye  not.  — The  construction  of  this 
 verse  is  very  eonfusi'd.  lmt  the  intention  of   it    is  fairly 
 
 clear.  It  contains  the  address  of  the  oppressors  to  the 
 true  prophets,  and  i heir  reply.  The  oppressors  desire 
 the  prophets  to  cease  prophesying;  nevertheless,  the 
 prophecies  shall  be  continued,  hut  without  benefit  to 
 
 those  who  will  not  put  away  their  shame. 
 
 C)  Is  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  straitened  ?— In 
 
 this  verse  the  prophet  expostulates  with  the  people  who 
 
 arc  the  people  of  the  Lord,  the  house  of  Jacob,  ill  name 
 only.     The  Spirit   of  the  Lord,  who  clunigeth  not,  is 
 
 still  the  same  towards  them.  Tliey  brought  their  suf- 
 ferings on  themselves;  those  who  put  away  their  shame, 
 and  walk  uprightly,  shall  receive  benefit  from  the  pro. 
 phet's  words. 
 
 (s)  Ye  pull  off  the  robe. — AGcah  dwells  upon  the 
 continued  rapacity  of  the  people.  Tiny  robbed  the 
 quiet  inoffensive  traveller  of  both  outer  and  inner  gar- 
 ment; they  took  away  both  "cloke  "  and  "coat."  (Comp. 
 Matt.  v.  40;  Luke  vi.  29.) 
 
 (9)  The  women  of  my  people.— They  spared  not 
 even  the  widows  and  fatherless,  the  objects  of  God't' 
 tender  care. 
 
 t1")  This  is  not  your  rest. — The  Lord,  requiting 
 them  for  their  cruelty  to  the  poor  and  defenceless,  de. 
 clares  that  their  own  time  of  trouble  was  imminent. 
 They  should  he  thrust    forth  from  the  land   which   they 
 
 polluted.  It  was  no  place  of  reel  for  them.  "Therois 
 no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked." 
 
 Ui)  If  a  man  walking  in  the  spirit  and 
 falsehood — i.e.,  in  a  lying  spirit,  speaking  smooth 
 and  pleasant  tilings,  such  as  the  people  loved  to  hoar, 
 after  the  fashion  of  Zedekiah.  the  son  of  Chenaanah — 
 he  will  he  a  tit  prophet  fortius) pie.  So  also  .Jere- 
 miah spake:  '•The  prophets  prophesy  falsely  .... 
 aud  my  people  love  to  have  it  so;  and  wluit  will  ye 
 do  in  the  end  thereof!'"  udiap.  v.  31). 
 
 '-• 18)  I  will  surely  assemble  .  .  .—With  a 
 cbaraeteristie  abruptness  Mieah  turns  from  the  height 
 of  sin  and  punishment  to  the  height  of  the  deliverance 
 
 — from  Ebal  to  Geri/.iin.  Israel  and  the  remnant  shall 
 he  gathered    together  as  a  goodly  flock  ill  the  luxuriant 
 
 pastures  of  Idumsau   Bosrah.     The  Breaker  sliall  go 
 
 Inf.. re  them  as  their  Saviour  and  Deliverer,  yea.  even 
 Jehovah    at    their    head.     The     return    from    captivity 
 
 symbolised  the  eventual  restoration  of  the  people  of 
 God  into  His  everlasting  kingdom. 
 
 (is)  The  breaker.— •This  Breaker  is.  by  the  con- 
 fession of  the  Jews,  the  title  of  the  Messias.  ".  .  .     The 
 
 r.o  1 
 
Cruelty  of  the  Princes. 
 
 MICAH,   III. 
 
 Falsehood  of  the  Prop/iets. 
 
 up,  and  have  passed  through  the  gate, 
 and  are  gone  out  by  it :  and  their  king 
 shall  pass  before  them,  and  the  Lord 
 on  the  head  of  them. 
 
 CHAPTER  III.— W  And  I  said,  Hear, 
 I  pray  you,  0  heads  of  Jacob,  and  ye 
 princes  of  the  house  of  Israel ;  Is  it  not 
 for  you  to  know  judgment?  <2)  Who 
 hate  the  good,  and  love  the  evil ;  who 
 pluck  off  their  skin  from  off  them,  and 
 their  flesh  from  off  their  bones  ;  (3)  who 
 also  eat  the  flesh  of  my  people,  and  flay 
 their  skin  from  off  them ;  and  they 
 break  their  bones,  and  chop  them  in 
 pieces,  as  for  the  pot,  and  as  flesh  within 
 the  caldron.  <4>  Then  shall  they  cry 
 unto  the  Lokd,  but  he  will  not  hear 
 them :  he  will  even  hide  his  face  from 
 them  at  that  time,  as  they  have  behaved 
 themselves  ill  in  their  doings. 
 
 (5)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  concerning 
 the  prophets  that  make  my  people  err, 
 that  "bite  with  their  teeth,  and  cry, 
 Peace ;   and  he  that  putteth  not  into 
 
 Heb., 
 vision. 
 
 from    a 
 
 Hob.,  from  divi- 
 ning. 
 
 3  Heb.,  upper  lip. 
 
 iEzek.22.27;Zeph. 
 3.3. 
 
 4  Heb.,  bloods. 
 
 5  Heb.,  saying. 
 
 their  mouths,  they  even  prepare  war 
 against  him.  <6)  Therefore  night  shall 
 be  unto  you,  l  that  ye  shall  not  have  a 
 vision;  and  it  shall  be  dark  unto  you, 
 3  that  ye  shall  not  divine  ;  and  the  sun 
 shall  go  down  over  the  prophets,  and 
 the  day  shall  be  dark  over  them. 
 <7)  Then  shall  the  seers  be  ashamed,  and 
 the  diviners  confounded :  yea,  they  shall 
 all  cover  their  3  lips ;  for  there  is  no 
 answer  of  God.  '8)  But  truly  I  am  full 
 of  power  by  the  spirit  of  the  Lord,  and 
 of  judgment,  and  of  might,  to  declare 
 unto  Jacob  his  transgression,  and  to 
 Israel  his  sin. 
 
 l9>  Hear  this,  I  pray  you,  ye  heads  of 
 the  house  of  Jacob,  and  princes  of  the 
 house  of  Israel,  that  abhor  judgment, 
 and  pervert  all  equity.  *10>  They  build 
 up  Zion  with  b  4  blood,  and  Jerusalem 
 with  iniquity.  W  The  heads  thereof 
 judge  for  reward,  and  the  priests  thereof 
 teach  for  hire,  and  the  prophets  thereof 
 divine  for  money :  yet  will  they  lean 
 upon  the  Lord,  5and  say,  Is  not  the 
 
 same  appeareth  by  that  saying  of  Moses  Haddershan  in 
 Bereshith  Rabba :  '  Tho  plantation  from  above  is  Mes- 
 sias ;  as  it  is  written,  the  Breaker  is  come  up  before 
 them ' "  (Pearson,  On  the  Creed,  Art.  6,  note). 
 
 III. 
 
 (i)  Hear,  I  pray  you. — In  the  second  division  of 
 his  prophecy  Mieah  protests  against  the  evil  influences 
 exercised  upon  the  people  in  high  places.  The  princes, 
 the  prophets,  and  the  priests,  to  whom  their  interests 
 were  confided,  were  guilty  of  wrong,  oppression,  and 
 robbery. 
 
 Ye  princes. — Rather,  judges,  magistrates ;  but  a 
 different  word  is  used  from  that  which  was  given  to  the 
 chiefs  in  the  old  days  "  when  the  judges  ruled." 
 
 (2,  3)  Who  hate  the  good.— The  judges,  instead 
 of  fulfilling  the  obligations  of  their  office,  whereby  they 
 should  be  "for  the  people  to  God-ward."  perpetrated 
 the  most  flagrant  cruelty  upon  them.  Micah  compares 
 it  to  the  process  of  preparing  food,  in  which  every  part 
 of  the  animal,  even  to  the  bones,  is  utilised.  So  the 
 judges  robbed  the  people  until  there  was  nothing  left 
 to  them. 
 
 W  Then  shall  they  cry.—"  Then  "—i.e.,  in  the 
 day  of  retribution — "  then  shall  they  call  upon  me,  saith 
 the  Lord,  but  I  will  not  hear ;  they  shall  seek  me  early, 
 but  they  shall  not  find  me ;  and  that  because  they  hated 
 knowledge,  and  received  not  the  fear  of  the  Lord, 
 but  abhorred  my  counsel  and  despised  my  correction. 
 Then  shall  it  be  too  late  to  knock  when  the  door  shall 
 be  shut,  and  too  late  to  cry  for  mercy  when  it  is  the 
 time  of  justice "  (Commination  Service).  So  also 
 Isaiah  declared  (Isa.  i.  15) :  "  When  ye  spread  forth  your 
 hands,  I  will  hide  mine  eyes  from  you ;  yea,  when  ye 
 make  many  prayers,  I  will  not  hear :  your  hands  are 
 full  of  blood." 
 
 (5)  That  bite  with  their  teeth.— The  concluding 
 statement  that  the  false  prophets  declare  war  against 
 
 502 
 
 those  who  do  not  put  into  their  mouth  indicates  the 
 meaning  of  the  former  expression,  namely,  "  they  say 
 peace  to  those  who  feed  and  bribe  them."  The  Hebrew 
 word,  nashak,  which  is  rendered  "  bite,"  is  strictly 
 applied  to  serpents,  to  "  an  adder  in  the  path,"  and  is 
 therefore  especially  appropriate  to  the  false  and  lying 
 nature  of  the  prophets. 
 
 (?)  They  shall  all  cover  their  lips.— As  the 
 lepers,  who  were  cut  off  from  all  communication  with 
 men,  so  also  these  false  prophets,  being  cut  off  from  all 
 communion  with  God,  were  to  "put  a  covering  upon  the 
 upper  lip."  It  was  also  a  sign  of  mourning  for  one 
 dead,  and  Ezekiel  was  commanded  to  awakeu  the  aston- 
 ishment of  the  people  by  omitting  to  cover  his  upper  lip 
 when  his  wife  died. 
 
 (8)  I  am  full  of  power.— Micah  reverts  to  his- 
 denunciation  of  sin  in  high  places  with  the  fearlessness- 
 of  his  namesake.  He  contrasts  himself  with  the  pro- 
 phets of  the  "  lying  spirit,"  and  declares  his  own  com- 
 mission from  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  the  ample- 
 equipment  with  which  he  was  endowed. 
 
 (10)  They  build  up  Zion  with  blood — i.e.,  they 
 acquire  money  for  the  erection  of  splendid  buildings- 
 by  spoliation  and  robbery,  not  stopping  short  of 
 murder.  So  also  Habakkuk  (chap.  ii.  12)  denounces, 
 the  king  of  Babylon  for  the  bloody  wars  with  which 
 he  obtained  wealth  for  the  enlargement  of  the- 
 city. 
 
 (li)  For  reward. — Every  function  is  carried  out  by 
 judges,  priests,  and  prophets  through  bribery,  and  yet 
 they  claim  and  count  upon  the  pi-otection  of  Jehovah. 
 They  rely  for  safety  upon  the  presence  of  the  sacred 
 buildings ;  they  cry,  "  The  Temple  of  the  Lord,  the- 
 Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple  of  the  Lord  are  these  ! " 
 "  Is  not  the  Lord  junong  us  ? "  Isaiah  contrasts  in 
 scathing  terms  the  profession  of  holiness  with  the 
 vicious  life  as  seen  in  Jerusalem,  and  likens  the  city,, 
 with  its  rulers,  to  Sodom  (chap.  i.  10 — 15). 
 
Tin  Glory  and 
 
 Mil  'All,    IV. 
 
 Peace  of  the  Church. 
 
 Lord  among  usP  none  < * v i  1  can  come 
 
 ii| is.      IJI  Therefore  shall  Zion  far 
 
 your  sake  he  "|il<>\vril  o-.s-  a  field,  and 
 Jerusalem  shall  become  heaps,  and  1 1n • 
 monntain  of  the  house  as  the  high 
 places  of  the  forest. 
 
 .CHAPTER  IV.— ("But  'in  the  last 
 days  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the 
 mountain  of  the  house  of  the  Lord 
 shall  be  established  in  the  top  of  the 
 mountains,  and  it  shall  lie  exalted  above 
 the  hills;  and  people  shall  How  unto  it. 
 (-'And  man;  nations  shall  come,  and  say, 
 Come,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain 
 of  the  Loud,  and  to  the  house  of  the 
 God  of  Jacob ;  and  he  will  teach  us  of 
 his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths : 
 
 l  ;  Joel  3. 
 
 1  Or.  scythes. 
 
 for  the  law  shall  go  forth  of  Zion,  and 
 the  word  of  the  Lobd  from  Jerusalem. 
 
 (;»  And  he  shall  judge  among  man] 
 people,  and  rebuke  strong  nations  afar 
 oil';  and  they  shall  beat,  their  swords 
 into 'plowshares,  and  their  spears  into 
 1  pruninghooks  :  nation  shall  not  lift  np 
 a  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall 
 they  learn  war  anymore.  ("But  they 
 shall  sit  every  man  under  bis  vine  and 
 under  his  fig  tree ;  and  none  shall  make 
 tlnin  afraid:  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lokd 
 of  hosts  hath  spoken  it.  <5)  For  all 
 people  will  walk  every  one  in  the  name 
 of  his  god,  and  we  will  walk  in  the  name 
 of  the  Lord  our  God  for  ever  and  ever. 
 (6<  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  will  I 
 assemble  her  that  halteth,  and  I  will 
 
 (1S)  Thoreforo  shall  Zion  .  .  .—Micah  de. 
 Blared  this  sentence  of  Divine  judgment  with  an  intre- 
 pidity that  «:is  long  remembered  by  the  Jews.  More 
 than  a  century  later  t lie  elders  of  the  land,  speaking  in 
 justification  of  the  course  taken  by  Jeremiah,  used  as  a 
 precedent  the  example  of  Mirali.    They  spake  to  all  the 
 
 assembly  of  the  people,  saying,  "  Micah  tho  Morasthito 
 prophesied  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  king  of  Jndah. 
 Baying,  'Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  Zion  shall  he 
 plowed  like  a  field,  and  Jerusalem  shall  become  heaps, 
 and  the  monntain  of  the  house  as  the  high  places  of  a 
 t'or.st.'  Did  Hezekiah,  king  of  Jndah,  ami  all  Jndah 
 put  him  at  all  to  death  'i  Did  lie  not  fear  tho  Lord,  and 
 besought  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  repented  Him  of  tho 
 evil  which  Ho  had  pronounced  against  them ?"  (Jer. 
 xxvi.  17—19). 
 
 Shall  become  heaps.^So  also,  in  after-days,  the 
 doom  of  Jerusalem  was  pronounced  by  our  Lord:  "The 
 days  will  come  when  there  shall  not  be  left  one  stone 
 upon  another  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down." 
 
 IV. 
 
 0)  But  in   the  last  days.  —  There   is  again  a 
 
 sudden  transition.  As  the  third  chapter  commenced 
 with  a  startling  denunciation,  following  immediately 
 upon  the   predicted  blessings  of  the  restored   kingdom, 
 
 so  upon  that  chapter,  closed  in  deepest,  gloom,  there 
 
 now   rises  a   vision   of   glorious   light.     The  first  three 
 
 verses  are   almost  identical   with    the  si nd  chapter  of 
 
 Isaiah,  verses  J  to  1;  and  it  has  been  almost  an  open 
 question  which  of  the  two  prophets  is  the  original  author 
 of  them,  or  whether  indeed  they  both  adopted  the 
 words  from  an  older  prophecy  current  at  the  tiiuo. 
 Dr.  Posey  takes  very  decided  ground,  saying,  "It  is 
 now  owned,  well-nigh  on  all  hands,  that  the  great 
 prophecy,  three  verses  of  which  Isaiah  prefixed  to  his 
 second  Chapter,  was  originally  delivered  by  Mieah.  .  .  . 
 No  0110  now  thinks  Micah  adopted  that  great  prophecy 
 from  Isaiah"  >  Minor  Prophets,  p.  289).  This  last 
 statement,  however,  is  far  too  sweeping  ;  all  that  can  bo 
 correctly  said  is  that  the  preponderance  of  opinion  is  in 
 favour  of  Micah  being  regarded  as  the  original  writer. 
 In  tho  top  of  the  mountains— i.e..  the  mountain 
 of  the  Lord's  house  shall  lie  spiritually  elevated  above 
 all  else,  visible  and  invisible,  and  It  shall  be  established 
 for  ever. 
 
 503 
 
 (2)  Many  nations  shall  come.— This  prepares 
 
 the  way  to  the  more  dctinitive  prophecies,  that  there- 
 shall  be  a  common  consent  among  the  nations  journey- 
 ing forth  to  the  house  of  the  Lord:  asking  the  way 
 thither  in  this  world — finding  the  house  itself  in  the 
 eternal  world.  Even  to  this  day  the  hearts  of  Jews 
 and  Christians  alike  yearn  towards  Jerusalem  —  a 
 physical  representative  of  the  love  which  turns  spon- 
 taneously to  the  Messiah. 
 
 (3)  The  namo  of  the  Messiah  is  the  Prince  of  Peace; 
 and  we  still  look  into  the  dim  future  out  of  a  present 
 life,  rjfe  with  wars  and  rumours  of  wars,  for  the  full 
 realisation  of  His  reign  of  peace.  And  we  are  sure  that 
 tho  time  will  come,  tor  "the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
 spoken  it." 
 
 They  shall  beat  their  swords  .  .  . — See  Noto 
 on  Joel  iii.  10. 
 
 (')  They  shall  sit  .  .  .  —  This  was  a  proverbial 
 expression  for  the  feeling  of  security  brought  about  by 
 a  peace  which  no  foreign  power  was  strong  enough  to 
 disturb.  It  describes  the  state  of  the  Israelites  under 
 Solomon — "  Judah  and  Israel  dwelt  safely,  every  man 
 under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig  tree,  from  Dan  even 
 unto  Beersheba,  all  the  days  of  Solomon."  The  vine 
 and  tho  fig-tree  are  the  representative  trees  of  Pales- 
 tine. 
 
 (*)  For  all  peoplo  will  walk. — Tho  compa- 
 ratively near  future  to  Mieah.  and  the  still  distant 
 future  to  us,  atv  blended  in  the  prophet's  vision:  just 
 as  in  the  prophecies  of  our  Lord  the  destruction  of 
 Jorusalem  is  described  in  terms  which  have  their  final 
 accomplishment  in  the  day  of  judgment.  Micah's  de- 
 scription of  the  universal  rulo  of  Messiah  is  primarily 
 applicable  to  the  antecedent  prosperity,  after  the  return 
 of  the  Jews  from  the  captivity.  The  zeal  of  the  Jews 
 for  Jehovah  was  stirred  up  after  witnessing  the  example 
 of  "  the  children  of  this  world  "  in  Babylon.  The  devo- 
 tion of  tho  Babylonian  princes  to  their  god  is  strikingly 
 evident  in  the  diaries  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  other 
 prophets,  as  lately  brought  to  light  in  The  Records  of 
 
 tin  Past.  That  zealous  Society  far  a  national  return  to 
 the  strictness  of  the  Law  of  Moses  at  first  distinguished 
 and  honoured  by  the  name  of  Pharisees  took  its  riso 
 after  tho  return  from  the  captivity. 
 
 (6>  7)  Her  that  halted.— Like  flocks  wearied  witli 
 heat  and  joumeyings.    The  promise  immediately  refers 
 
The  Church's  Victory. 
 
 MICAH,   V. 
 
 The  Birth  of  Chrwt 
 
 gather  her  that  is  driven  out,  and  her 
 that  I  have  afflicted ;  (7)  and  I  will  make 
 her  that  "  halted  a  remnant,  and  her 
 that  was  cast  far  off  a  strong  nation : 
 and  the  Lord  ''  shall  reign  over  them  in 
 mount  Zion  from  henceforth,  even  for 
 ever. 
 
 <8>  And  thou,  0  tower  of  the  flock,  the 
 strong  hold  of  the  daughter  of  Zion, 
 unto  thee  shall  it  come,  even  the  first 
 dominion ;  the  kingdom  shall  come  to 
 the  daughter  of  Jerusalem.  (9)  Now 
 why  dost  thou  cry  out  aloud?  is  there 
 no  king  in  thee  ?  is  thy  counsellor 
 perished  ?  for  pangs  have  taken  thee 
 as  a  woman  in  travail.  (10)  Be  in  pain, 
 and  labour  to  bring  forth,  0  daughter 
 of  Zion,  like  a  woman  in  travail :  for 
 now  shalt  thou  go  forth  out  of  the  city, 
 and  thou  shalt  dwell  iu  the  field,  and 
 thou  shalt  go  even  to  Babylon ;  there 
 shalt  thou  be  delivered ;  there  the  Lord 
 shall  redeem  thee  from  the  hand  of 
 thine  enemies. 
 
 W  Now  also  many  nations  are  gathered 
 
 a  Z.  i4i.  s.  19. 
 
 b  Din.  7.  14  ; 
 
 l.sa 
 
 c  Matt.  2. 6  ;  John 
 
 1  Heli..  the  days  of 
 eternity. 
 
 against  thee,  that  say,  Let  her  be  denied, 
 and  let  our  eye  look  upon  Zion.  <12>  But 
 they  know  not  the  thoughts  of  the  Lord, 
 neither  understand  they  his  counsel : 
 for  he  shall  gather  them  as  the 
 sheaves  into  the  floor.  (13)  Arise  and 
 thresh,  0  daughter  of  Zion :  for  I  will 
 make  thine  horn  iron,  and  I  will  make 
 thy  hoofs  brass :  and  thou  shalt  beat  in 
 pieces  many  people :  and  I  will  conse- 
 crate their  gain  unto  the  Lord,  and 
 their  substance  unto  the  Lord  of  the 
 whole  earth. 
 
 CHAPTEE  V.— (D  Now  gather  thy- 
 self in  troops,  O  daughter  of  troops: 
 he  hath  laid  siege  against  us :  they  shall 
 smite  the  judge  of  Israel  with  a  rod 
 upon  the  cheek. 
 
 <2)  But  thou,  c  Beth-lehem  Ephratah, 
 though  thou  be  little  among  the 
 thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee 
 shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to 
 be  ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth 
 have  been  from  of  old,  from  Everlasting. 
 
 to  the  return,  when  God  would  re-establish  the  Jews, 
 and  eventually  come  Himself  to  the  restored  Temple. 
 And,  further,  His  own  promise  sanctions  the  words  of 
 Micah  as  to  the  abiding  character  of  His  rule,  that 
 legacy  which  He  left  to  the  Church — "  Lo,  I  am  with 
 you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
 
 (8)  O  tower  of  the  flock. — Israel  having  been 
 compared  to  a  flock,  Jerusalem  is  called  its  tower,  or 
 protection ;  and  in  Messiah  the  ancient  dominion  shall 
 return  to  the  Holy  City.  This  is  a  more  satisfactory  in- 
 terpretation than  that  which  makes  the  tower  of  the  flock 
 Migdol-Edah  (Gen.  xxxv.  21),  a  place  near  Bethlehem. 
 
 (9)  Now  why  dost  thou  cry  out  aloud?— 
 The  prophet  places  again,  side  by  side  with  his  vision  of 
 returned  glory,  the  circumstances  of  misery  which  will 
 intervene.  The  king  and  the  counsellors  of  Jerusalem 
 will  be  powerless  to  help  in  the  moment  of  emergency. 
 
 (io)  Thou  shalt  go  even  to  Babylon. — This 
 prediction  has  naturally  caused  difficulty  to  those  who 
 doubt  the  power  of  prophets  to  prophesy :  for  Babylon 
 was  not  at  all  considered  in  the  days  of  Micah,  when 
 Assyria  was  in  the  ascendant.  It  was  a  century  after 
 Micah  s  time  before  Babylon  recovered  its  ancient  dig- 
 nity. The  fact,  however,  remains  that  Micah  wrote, 
 "  Thou  shalt  go  to  Babel ;  "  and  there  is  the  other  fact, 
 that  the  people  of  Judah  (not  Israel)  did  go.  Micah 
 also  declared,  "  There  shalt  thou  be  delivered ;  "  and 
 in  the  time  of  Cyrus  the  Jews  were  delivered  there. 
 The  repetition,  "  There  .  .  .  there,"  is  emphatic. 
 
 (ii)  Let  her  be  defiled. — The  seventy-fourth 
 Psalm  records  the  calamity  foreseen  by  the  prophet: 
 "  They  have  cast  fire  into  Thy  sanctuary,  they  have  de- 
 filed (by  casting  down)  the  dwelling-place  of  Thy  Name 
 to  the  ground." 
 
 Look  upon — i.e.,  contemplate  her  destruction  with 
 pleasure. 
 
 (i2)  They  know  not  the  thoughts  of  the 
 Lord. — As  a  commentary  upon  this  passage,  we  may 
 
 compare  the  message  of  God  with  reference  to  the 
 haughty  thoughts  of  Sennacherib.  Then  the  Lord 
 declared  that  the  Assyrian  king  was  but  His  instru- 
 ment in  all  he  had  done ;  so  that  when  he  presumed 
 to  arrogate  to  himself  the  glory  of  his  victories,  the 
 Lord  revoked  his  commission :  "  I  will  put  my  hook  in 
 thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips,  and  I  will  turn  thee 
 back  by  the  way  by  which  thou  earnest."  And  so  it 
 came  to  pass. 
 
 (13)  Arise  and  thresh. — Micah,  having  likened 
 Israel  to  the  sheaves  safely  gathered,  pursues  the  me- 
 taphor by  calling  upon  the  daughter  of  Zion  to  thresh 
 her  enemies  after  the  manner  of  oxen  treading  out  the 
 corn ;  and  under  the  symbolism  of  the  horn — the  weapon 
 of  strength — he  promises  that  God  will  strengthen  her 
 for  the  work. 
 
 I  will  consecrate. — -The  better  reading  is  that  of 
 the  LXX.,  Vulg.,  and  some  ancient  versions,  which 
 give  the  second  person.  Thou  shalt  consecrate  their 
 gain  unto  the  Lord.  The  termination,  indicating  the 
 first  person  in  our  Hebrew  Version,  may  be  a  form  of 
 the  old  second  person  feminine,  of  which  there  arc  other 
 examples. 
 
 V. 
 
 (i)  O  daughter  of  troops. — This  verse  coheres 
 better  with  the  former  chapter,  to  which  it  is  attached 
 in  the  Hebrew  Version.  Micah  again  interpolates  a 
 prediction  of  trouble  and  dismay  between  the  sentences 
 describing  triumph  and  glory.  The  sentence  of  smiting 
 the  judge  has  its  historical  fulfilment  in  the  indignities 
 which  happened  to  King  Zedekiah. 
 
 (2)  But  thou,  Beth-lehem  Ephratah. — This  is 
 a  passage  of  immense  significance,  through  the  inter- 
 pretation given  to  it  by  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  iu 
 the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew.  Beth-lehem  Ephratah :  the 
 two  names,  modern  and  ancient,  are  united,  each  of 
 them  having  reference  to  the  fertility  of  the  country. 
 
 r>04 
 
The  Kingdom  of  Christ 
 
 .Ml ('AH,    V. 
 
 and  I  I  in  Conquett, 
 
 <■'')  Therefore  will  he  give  them  up,  until 
 the  time  thai  she  which  fcravaileth  hath 
 brought  forth:  then  the  remnant  of  his 
 brethren  .shall  return  unto  the  children 
 
 <.T  Israel.  '"  Ami  he  shall  stand  ami 
 'feed  in   the  strength  of  the  Lord,  in 
 
 the  jeety  of  the  name  of  the  Lord 
 
 his  God;  and  they  shall  abide:  for  now 
 .shall  he  he  great  unto  the  ends  of  the 
 earth. 
 
 <*)  And  this  man  shall  be  the  peace, 
 when  the  Assyrian  sliall  OOme  into  our 
 land  :  and  when  he  shall  tread  in  our 
 palaces,  then  shall  we  raise  against  him 
 seven  shepherds,  and  eight  s  principal 
 men.  W  And  they  shall  ;i  waste  the  land 
 of  Assyria  with  the  sword,  and  the  land 
 of  Nimrod  uin  the  entrances  thereof: 
 thus  shall  he  deliver  us  from  the 
 Assyrian,    when    he    eometh    into    our 
 
 11  i 
 
 prtMM  "f 
 
 n  llrh.,  tut  up. 
 
 4  Or.  trith  hrr  own 
 naked  urvnln. 
 
 :.  <  ir.  poatf. 
 
 land,  and  when  he  treadeth  within  OUT 
 borders. 
 
 <7>  And  the  remnant  of  Jacob  shall  be 
 in  the  midst  of  many  people  as  a  dew 
 from  the  Lomi,  as  the  showers  upon  the 
 
 grass,  that  tarrieth  not  for  man,  nor 
 waiteth  for  the  sons  of  men.  <8>  And 
 the  remnant  of  Jacob  shall  be  among 
 the  Gentiles  in  the  midst  of  many  people 
 as  a  lion  among  the  beasts  of  the  forest, 
 as  a  young  lion  among  the  flocks  of 
 5  sheep :  who,  if  he  go  through,  both 
 treadeth  down,  and  teareth  in  pieces, 
 and  none  can  deliver.  (9)  Thine  hand 
 shall  be  lifted  up  upon  thine  adver- 
 saries, and  all  thine  enemies  shall  be 
 cut  off. 
 
 tl0>  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
 day,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  cut  off 
 thy   horses   out  of  the  midst  of  thee, 
 
 In  the  Gospel  the.  scribes  quote,  evidently  from  me- 
 mory,  the  passage  from  Micah,  in  reply  to  Herod's 
 question;  and  their  first  variation  is.in  the  title  of  the 
 town — "Thou,  Beth-lehem  (not  Ephratah,  but),  land  of 
 Jndah."  So  also  the  people  protested  against  Jesus 
 on  the  ground  of  His  heing  from  Galilee,  for,  "Hath 
 Dot  the  Scripture  said  that  Christ  eometh  <>f  the  seed 
 of  David,  and  out  of  the  town  of  Bethlehem,  whero 
 David  was!-"  (John  vii.  tJ.) 
 
 Though  thou  be  little.— Strictly,  art  little 
 aiming  die  thousands,  or  chiliads:  a  word  analogous 
 to  our  "hundreds;"  a  division  of  the  tribes.  In  St. 
 Matthew  the  word  is  paraphrased  by  princes,  as  repre- 
 senting the  chiliads. 
 
 Yot  out  of  thee.— St.  Matthew—"  for  out  of  thee," 
 the  illative  conjunction — helps  to  show  that  the  quota- 
 tion is  really  a  paraphrase,  conveying  the  ultimate  in- 
 tention  of  the  prophet's  words,  which  contrasts  the 
 emallness  of  the  chiliad  with  the  greatness  of  its  dcs. 
 tiny. 
 
 ■Whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old. 
 
 — The  nativity  of  the  governor  of  Israel   is  evidently 
 
 contrasted  with  an  eternal  nativity,  the  depth  of  which 
 mystery  paeaos  the  comprehension  of  human  intellect: 
 it  must  be  spiritually  discerned.  The  Creed  of  the 
 Church  expresses  the  article  of  faith  as  " Begotten  of 
 
 His  Father  before  all  worlds."  He  came  forth  unto 
 Me  to  be  Baler  in  Israel,  whose  goings  forth  have  been 
 of  old,  from  everlasting,  from  the  days  of  antiquity. 
 
 (:!)  Therefore  will  ho  give  thorn  up. — There 
 is 'a  suggestion  here  of  a  parable,  setting  forth  the 
 smallness  of  Bethlehem,  which  gave  birth  to  the  mighty 
 Ruler  that  was  to  come  from  it.  So  the  nation  was  to 
 lie  brought  very  low  before  the  nativity  of  the  Virgin- 
 liorn. 
 
 (')  He   shall  stand  and  feed— i.e.,   Ho    shall 
 
 stand  with  the  majesty  of  an  assured  sovereignty, 
 uniting  the  dignity  of  king  with  the  tenderness  of  a 
 shepherd's  care — a  thought  which,  underlying  the 
 notion  of  a  Jewish    monarch   (see  Pa,  lxx\iii.  To — 7o  . 
 
 becomes  a  distinguishing  attribute  of  the  King  Messiah 
 (Isa.  \1.  l'  ;  see  also  Note  on  Bask,  xxxh.  2). 
 His  God. — The  Messiah  was  to  be  subordinate  to 
 
 the  Father  in  heaven — "  My  Father  is  greater  than  I" — 
 
 !  and  they — i.e.,  His  subjects — shall  abide.  It  is  impos- 
 sible to  ooneeive  this  prophecy  as  satisfied  by  auy  event 
 short  of  that  which  IS  the  foundation  of  the  Christian 
 faith. 
 
 (■>)  And  this  man  shall  be  the  peace — i.e., 
 Ho  shall  Himself  lie  Peace  (after  the  same  idiomatic 
 expression  David  speaks  of  himself,  "  For  my  love  they 
 are  my  adversaries,  hut  I  am  Prayer" — Ps.  eix.  4).  This 
 sentence  is  connected  with  the  former  instead  of  the 
 following  passage,  with  which  the  Authorised  Version 
 joins  it. 
 
 When  the  Assyrian  shall  come  into  our 
 land. — This  may  refer  to  the  imminent  apprehension 
 
 of  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib,  lint  the  actual  event 
 does  not  correspond  to  it.  It  may  look  forward  to  the 
 time  when  tile   enemies  of   Israel   attacked  the  Jews  in 
 
 the  Maecabaan  period,  and  the  Bhepherds,  seven  or 
 eight — Lb.,  an  indefinite  number — successfully  resisted 
 the  attacks  upon  the  flock.  The  intention  of  the 
 passage  may  he  spiritually  interpreted  as  pointing  t ■  >  the 
 eight  principal,  strictly  anointed  men.  who.  as  Christian 
 pastors,  receive  their  commission  from  the  Messiah. 
 
 ('■)  They  shaU  waste. — Laterally  a,  con- 
 
 sume, depasture.  The  Land  of  Nimrod  represents  the 
 op] losing  world-power. 
 
 i7>  As  a  dew  from  the  Lord.— The  Jews  should, 
 on  their  return  from  captivity,  pour  down  their  influ- 
 ence upon  the  nations,  as  God-sent  showers  upon  the 
 grass.  So,  through  the  dispersion  of  Jewish  Christians, 
 on  the  death  of  St.  Stephen,  the  Lord  caused  the 
 knowledge  of  the  truth  with  which  the  Jews  were 
 cloud-charged  to  descend  upon  many  people:  "He 
 shall  come  down  like  rain  upon  the  mown  grass;  as 
 showers  that  water  the  earth"   (Pa  lxxii.  6 
 
 (8)  As  a  lion  among  the  beasts  of  the  forest. 
 — There  is  righteous  wrath  as  well  as  all-embracing 
 mercy  with  God.    Christ,  whose  graciousneas  is  likened 
 
 to  the  dew,  and  His  gentleness  to  the  lanih,  is  at  the 
 same  time  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Jndah.  At  the 
 opening  of  the  "sixth  seal"  the  kings  of  the  eartli  and 
 
 great  men  are  represented  as  in  extreme  terror  at  "the 
 wrath  of  the  Lamb"  (Bev.  vi.  16). 
 
 hoi  it  shall  como  to  pass  in  that  day.— The 
 prophet  now  passes  on  to  the  purification  of  the  Church 
 
 505 
 
God's  Controversy 
 
 MICAH,   VI. 
 
 with  His  People. 
 
 and  I  will  destroy  thy  chariots  :  <u>  and 
 I  will  cut  off  the  cities  of  thy  land,  and 
 throw  down  ah  thy  strong  holds  :  <12>  and 
 I  will  cut  off  witchcrafts  out  of  thine 
 hand  ;  and  thou  shaft  have  no  more 
 soothsayers :  (13)  thy  graven  images  also 
 will  I  cut  off,  and  thy  l  standing  images 
 out  of  the  midst  of  thee ;  and  thou 
 shalt  no  more  worship  the  work  of  thine 
 hands.  (14>  And  I  will  pluck  up  thy 
 groves  out  of  the  midst  of  thee :  so  will 
 I  destroy  thy  3  cities.  (15>  And  I  will 
 execute  vengeance  in  anger  and  fury 
 upon  the  heathen,  such  as  they  have 
 not  heard. 
 
 CHAPTEE  VI.— (D  Hear  ye  now  what 
 the  Loed  saith ;  Arise,  contend  thou 
 3  before  the  "  mountains,  and  let  the 
 hills  hear  thy  voice.  W  Hear  ye,  O 
 mountains,  the  Lord's  controversy,  and 
 ye  strong  foundations  of  the  earth  :  for 
 
 1  Or,  stuittes. 
 
 2  Or,  enemies. 
 
 Ex. 
 30. 
 
 2.  5], 
 
 &  14. 
 
 Nun 
 23.7. 
 
 .  22. 
 
 5.   & 
 
 Num. 
 5.  10. 
 
 25.1 
 
 J.>.-li. 
 
 Hi-b. 
 year . 
 
 sons  of  (i 
 
 the  Loed  hath  a  controversy  with  his 
 people,  and  he  will  plead  with  Israel. 
 
 <3'  0  my  people,  what  have  I  done 
 unto  thee  ?  and  wherein  have  I  wearied 
 thee?  testify  against  me.  <4>  For  I 
 brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of 
 *  Egypt,  and  redeemed  thee  out  of  the 
 house  of  servants;  and  I  sent  before 
 thee  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Miriam. 
 
 <5)  0  my  people,  remember  now  what 
 cBalak  king  of  Moab  consulted,  and  what 
 Balaam  the  son  of  Beor  answered  him 
 from  d  Shittim  unto  Gilgal  ;  that  ye 
 may  know  the  righteousness  of  the 
 Lord. 
 
 (6)  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the 
 Lord,  and  bow  myself  before  the  high 
 God  ?  shall  I  come  before  him  with 
 burnt  offerings,  with  calves  4of  a  year 
 old  ?  <7>  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with 
 thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thousands 
 of  rivers  of  oil?  shall  I  give  my  first- 
 
 from  the  defilements  mentioned  by  Isaiah  (chap.  ii. 
 6 — 10),  with  reference  to  the  ultimate  holiness  which 
 shall  he  established  "  in  that  day." 
 
 I  will  cut  off  thy  horses. — The  possession  of 
 horses  was  imperatively  forbidden  to  the  Jewish  king 
 (Deut.  xvii.  16),  and  Isaiah  describes  the  land  as  at  this 
 time  "  full  of  horses,  neither  is  there  any  end  of  their 
 chariots."  As  symbolising  the  power  of  man,  these 
 horses  shall  be  cut  off,  and  the  reliance  of  the  Church 
 shall  be  on  God  alone.  "  Some  trust  in  chariots,  and 
 some  in  horses,  but  we  will  remember  the  name  of  the 
 Lord  our  God  "  (Ps.  xx.  7). 
 
 <11)  I  will  cut  off  the  cities.— Fenced  cities  and 
 the  other  paraphernalia  of  war  will  be  unnecessary  in 
 the  Messiah's  kingdom  :  "they  shall  not  learn  war  any 
 more  "  (chap.  iv.  3). 
 
 <14>  I  will  pluck  up  thy  groves — i.e.,  either 
 the  statues,  pillars,  or  trees  connected  with  the  wor- 
 ship of  Baal  and  Astarte.  Some  such  statue  was 
 placed  by  Manasseh  even  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
 from  which  it  was  brought  out  and  burnt  by  Josiah 
 (2  Kings  xxiii.  6). 
 
 Thy  cities — i.e.,  the  pollutions,  tumults,  &c.,  of 
 which  the  cities  were  the  strongholds. 
 
 (|5»  Such  as  they  have  not  heard.— Rather, 
 which  have  not  been  obedient — i.e.,  which  had  not 
 availed  themselves  of  the  opportunities  of  learning  the 
 true  religion. 
 
 VI. 
 
 |i)  Hear  ye  now  what  the  Lord  saith.— The 
 third  portion  of  Mieah's  prophecy  opens  with  a  solemn 
 appeal  to  Nature  to  hear  the  Lord  pleading  -with  His 
 people.  A  similar  summons  is  found  in  Deut.  xxxii.  1  : 
 "  Give  ear,  O  ye  heavens,  and  hear,  O  earth,  the  words 
 of  my  mouth." 
 
 <4>  Tor  I  brought  thee  up.— There  seems  a  pause 
 intended;  but  Israel,  abashed,  remains  silent.  So  the 
 Lord  continues  to  plead:  "Thou  dost  not  testify  against 
 me  ?  No ;  for  I  showed  thee  the  greatest  mercies  :  I 
 redeemed  thee  out  of  Egypt,  the  house  of  bondage." 
 
 506 
 
 Moses,  Aaron,  and  Miriam  are  mentioned  as  the  three 
 great  members  of  the  family  to  whom  it  was  committed 
 to  carry  out  the  Divine  decree. 
 
 <5)  What  Balaam  the  son  of  Beor  answered. 
 — This  incident  is  adduced  in  the  "  pleading  "  as  a. 
 signal  instance  of  the  controlling  power  of  God,  exer- 
 cised in  an  unmistakable  manner  in  behalf  of  the 
 Israelites.  Balaam  was  constrained  to  bless  when  he  had 
 the  highest  conceivable  motive  to  curse  the  Israelites. 
 He  apologised  for  this  involuntary  action  on  his 
 part  to  Balak.  There  is  no  more  conclusive  instance 
 extant  of  the  will  of  man  controlled  to  do  the  exact 
 opposite  of  his  intended  action  in  the  history  of  man- 
 kind. It  is  better  to  put  a  stop  after  "  answered  him." 
 The  next  sentence  records  an  independent  instance  of 
 the  interposition  of  God  in  behalf  of  Israel.  "  Re- 
 member also  the  incidents  which  happened  from 
 Shittim  to  Gilgal."  Shittim  was  the  name  of  a  valley 
 in  the  plains  of  Moab  (Joel  iii.  18),  from  which  place 
 Joshua  sent  two  spies  to  view  Jericho  immediately 
 before  the  passage  of  the  Jordan  to  Gilgal  was  effected, 
 under  the  circumstances  mentioned  in  the  fourth  chap- 
 ter of  Joshua. 
 
 Righteousness. — The  word  rather  means  here 
 liberality,  beneficence. 
 
 (6)  Wherewith  shall  I  come  .  .  .  ? — This 
 has  been  taken  by  some  commentators  as  Balak's 
 question  to  Balaam,  who  gives  his  reply  in  verse  8. 
 Dean  Stanley  writes,  after  his  picturesque  manner,  of 
 "  the  short  dialogue  preserved,  not  by  the  Mosaic  his- 
 torian, but  by  the  Prophet  Micah,  which  at  once  ex- 
 hibits the  agony  of  the  king  and  the  lofty  conceptions 
 of  the  great  Seer  "  (Jewish  Church,  Lect.  8).  But  it 
 is  rather  in  harmony  with  the  context  to  understand  it 
 as  the  alarmed  and  conscience-stricken  reply  of  the 
 Jewish  people  impersonated  in  some  earnest  speaker  to 
 the  pleading  brought  before  them  by  the  prophet  hi 
 the  Lord's  name. 
 
 (")  The  fruit  of  my  body. — Will  God  require 
 the  sacrifice  of  such  a  precious  possession,  as  Isaac  was 
 to  Abraham,  to  atone  for  my  wrong-doing  ?     There 
 
Reproofs  for  Tvgustice 
 
 MM'AII,    VII. 
 
 urn/  Idolatry. 
 
 horn  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of 
 my  '  body/'"/'  the  mm  of  my  soul  '? 
 
 <H)  He  bath  'shewed  thee,  o  man, 
 
 wlnil   is  good  ;   and  what  doth  the  Ijoi:i> 
 rcipii if  of  1 1 ,  lull   to  <lo  justly,  and  to 
 
 love  mercy,  and  to  "walk  humbly  with 
 thy  GodP 
 
 1  "■'  Tin-  Lord's  voice  crieth  unto  the 
 city,  and  B the  man  of  wisdom  shall  see 
 thy  name:  hear  ye  the  rod,  and  who 
 hath  appointed  it. 
 
 |""  '  Are  (here  yet  the  treasures  of 
 wickedness  in  the  house  of  the  wicked, 
 and  the  'scant  measure  that  it  abomi- 
 nal'li '?  t11"1  Shall  I  count  them  pure 
 with  the  wicked  balances,  and  with  the 
 bag  of  deceitful  weights '?  (12)  For  the 
 rich  men  then'.. I'  are  full  of  violence, 
 and  the  inhabitants  thereof  have  spoken 
 lies,  and  their  tongue  is  deceitful  in 
 their  mouth.  >1:1> Therefore  also  will  I 
 make  thee  sick  in  smiting  thee,  in 
 making  thee  desolate  because  of  thy 
 sins.  1")  Thou  shalt  eat,  but  not  be 
 satisfied;  and  thy  casting  down  shall  be 
 
 1   II.  I..  Ml|/. 
 
 1 
 
 watk. 
 
 tOr,thji  n. 
 
 I  which  it 
 
 1    .  >r.    I .  I  !]■•!.•  ./.  I 
 jut/"    . 
 
 mi.,  m* 
 
 .1    nr.    Sti.itl  I  bt 
 
 pun  with,  ftd 
 
 h     ll.'iit.     ».     38 
 IIM.  1.0. 
 
 7  Or,  tU  d 
 
 0  I  KlDgslO.  25,26. 
 d  lKlng8la30.tr, 
 
 8  0r,aatonLi!,vu  ut. 
 
 'I  IT  I...  0 
 liiyj  0/  siuii »ur. 
 
 .-   Ps.   13.   1,    Isa. 
 1;.  I. 
 
 to  Or,    >t 
 
 meicifltl. 
 
 in  the  midst  of  thee  ;  and  thou  shall 
 take  hold,  but  shalt  not  deliver;  and 
 thai  which  thou  delivered  will  I  give 
 up  to  the  sword.  (15>  Thou  shalt  *  SOW, 
 but  thou  shalt  not  reap;  thou  shalt 
 triad  the  olives,  but  thou  shalt  not 
 anoint  thee  with  oil;  and  sweet  wine, 
 but  shalt  not  drink  wine.  (•«)  For  7  tin- 
 statutes  of  c  Omri  are  kept,  and  all  the 
 works  of  the  house  of  JAhab,  and  ye 
 walk  in  their  counsels;  that  I  should 
 make  thee  a  "desolation,  and  the  in- 
 habitants thereof  an  hissing  :  therefore 
 ye  shall  bear  the  reproach  of  my  people. 
 
 CHAPTER  VII.— «!' Woe  is  me  !  for 
 I  am  as  9  when  they  have  gathered  the 
 summer  fruits,  as  the  grapegleanings  of 
 the  vintage:  there  is  no  cluster  to  eat: 
 my  soul  desired  the  first-ripe  fruit. 
 {'->  The  • 10  good  man  is  perished  out  of 
 the  earth  :  and  there  is  none  upright 
 among  men  :  they  all  lie  in  wart  for 
 blood  ;  they  hunt  every  man  his  brother 
 with  a  net.     ri)  That  they  may  do  evil 
 
 may  possibly  lit-  an  allusion  to  human  sacrifices,  such 
 as  Aha/,  offered  to  Molcch,  or  to  the  act  of  Mesha,  King 
 of  Moah,  who  " took  his  eldest  son,  that  should  have 
 reigned  in  his  stead,  and  offered  him  up  for  a  burnt 
 offering  upon  the  wall.'' 
 
 <s)  To  do  justly  .  .  . — God"setteth  more  by 
 mercy  than  by  sacrifice."  So  also  in  Lcelesiastes : 
 "  Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter.  Fear 
 God  and  keep  His  commandments,  for  this  is  the  wholo 
 of  man." 
 
 (:l)  Unto  the  city — i.e.,  Jerusalem,  the  metropolis 
 of  the  wealth  and  sinfulness  of  Judah. 
 
 The  man  of  wisdom  shall  see  thy  namo 
 — i.e.,  will  regard  it.  The  sentence  may  In-  thrown 
 in  parent  helically,  as  in  the  warning,  "Whoso  rcadeth. 
 let  him  understand."  And  he  will  perceive  the  hand 
 of  God  in  the  visitations  for  sin. 
 
 (10)  Tho  scant  measure. — Literally,  the  hateful 
 tphah  0/  leanness — i.e.,  less  than  it  should  be.    The 
 
 Jews  were  much  addicted  to  the  falsification  of  weights 
 and  measures.  They  made  "  the  ephah  small,  and  the 
 shekel  (treat,  falsifying  the  balances  by  deceit  " 
 (Amos  viii.  5). 
 
 t">  Shall  I  count  them  pure  ?— Rather.  Cam  I 
 be  innoci  rU  with  the  dec*  /(/'»/  balances i  The  enactments 
 
 about  weights  were  very  stringently  expressed  in  the 
 Law.  both  affirmatively  ami  negatively:  1.;/.,  ill  Lev.  xix. 
 35,  86,  "  Ve  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in  judgment, 
 in  meteyard,  in  weight,  or  in  measure.  Just  balauo is, 
 just    weights,   a  just   ephah,   and  a   just   hill,  shall    ye 
 
 have."  And,  "  thon  shall  not  have  in  thy  house  divers 
 weights,"  .  .  .  and  "  (livers  measures,  a  great  and 
 small  "  (Dent.  xxv.  18,  1  1'. 
 
 (12)  Tho  rich  men  thereof— i.e.,  of  the  city.  The, 
 sins  of  spoliation  and  fraud  were  practised  by  men  who 
 had  not  even  the  pitiable  excuse  ot  poverty  and  distress. 
 
 (in  Thy  casting  down. — The  Hebrew  word  is 
 found  only  in  this  passage.     It  comes  from  an  unused 
 
 root,  meaning  to  be  void,  empty.      Hence  it  may  be 
 translated  A  itnai  r. 
 Thou  shalt  take  hold.— Thou  shalt  collect  thy 
 
 property  for  Bight,  to  save  it  from  the  enemy;   but  in 
 vain:  it  shall  bo  captured. 
 
 (is)  Thou  shalt  tread  the  olives — i.e.,  as  wheat 
 upon  tho  threshing-floor.  Oil  was  regarded  as  indis- 
 pensable for  personal  comfort.  In  Jotliam's  parable  of 
 the  trees  in  council  about  the  choice  of  a  King,  the 
 olive-tree  was  regarded  first  in  estimation,  before  even 
 the  vine  and  fig-treo. 
 
 (10)  The  statutes  of  Omri. — The  people  of  Judah. 
 instead  of  keeping  the  commandments  of  the  Lord 
 diligently,  adopted  the  statutes  of  tho  house  of  Omri. 
 the  founder  of  tho  idolatrous  dynasty  of  Aliab.  The] 
 reproduced  tho  sins  of  the  northern  kingdom,  and  their 
 conduct  was  aggravated  by  the  advantages  vouchsafed 
 to  them.  The  greatness  of  their  reproach  should 
 therefore  be  in  proportion  to  tho  greatness  of  the  glory 
 which  properly  belonged  to  them  as  the  people  of  God. 
 
 VII. 
 
 (0  Woe  is  me ! — Micah  gives  here  a  fearful  pic- 
 ture of  the  demoralised  state  of  society  in  Judah  which 
 had  called  down  the  vengeance  of  God.  As  tho  early 
 fig  gathered  in  June  is  eagerly  sought   for  by  the 
 
 traveller,  so  the  prophet   sought   anxiously  for  a  g 1 
 
 man;  but  his  experience  was  that  of  the  Psalmist :  "The 
 godly  man   ceascth;   the  faithful  fail  from  among  the 
 
 children  of  men." 
 
 (-•  With  a  net. — The  net.  which  in  the  Hebrew 
 
 term  I IBS  from  a  verb  meaning  to  shut  up.  was  used 
 
 both  by  the  fisherman  and  the  fowler.     "They  lay  wait 
 for  one  another,  as  hunters  for  wild  beasts." 
 
 (3)  That  they  may  do  evil  with  both  hands 
 earnestly. — Literally,  itwli.    Dr.  Benisch,  in  his  Old 
 
 Testament    newly  translated  under  the  Supervision  of 
 the  Rev.  the  Chief  Rabbi  of  the  United  Congregations 
 
 507 
 
Complaint  of  the  Church. 
 
 MICAH,  VII. 
 
 Her  Confidence  in  God. 
 
 with  both  hands  earnestly,  the  prince 
 asketh,  and  the  judge  asketh  for  a  re- 
 ward ;  and  the  great  man,  he  uttereth 
 1  his  mischievous  desire :  so  they  wrap 
 it  up.  (l)  The  best  of  them  is  as  a  brier : 
 the  most  upright  is  sharper  than  a  thorn 
 hedge :  the  day  of  thy  watchmen  and 
 thy  visitation  cometh ;  now  shall  be 
 their  perplexity.  (5)  Trust  ye  not  in  a 
 friend,  put  ye  not  confidence  in  a  guide : 
 keep  the  doors  of  thy  mouth  from  her 
 that  lieth  in  thy  bosom.  <6>  For  "  the  son 
 dishonoureth  the  father,  the  daughter 
 riseth  up  against  her  mother  ,thedaughter 
 in  law  against  her  mother  in  law ;  a  man's 
 enemies  are  the  men  of  his  own  house. 
 
 <7>  Therefore  I  will  look  unto  the 
 Lord  ;  I  will  wait  for  the  God  of  my 
 salvation :  my  God  will  hear  me.  (8)  Re- 
 joice not  against  me,  O  mine  enemy : 
 when  I  fall,  I  shall  arise ;  when  I  sit  in 
 darkness,  the  Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto 
 
 1  Hob.,  the   mis- 
 chief  of  hits  soul. 
 
 a  Matt.  10.  21,  35, 
 36 ;  Luke  21. 16. 
 
 2  Or,  Andthouwilt 
 see    her   that    is 
 
 mini  i  in  my,  and 
 coier  her'  uith 
 shame. 
 
 b  Vs.  79.  10,  &  115. 
 2;  Joel  2.  17. 
 
 3  Heb.,  she  shall  be 
 for    a    tieadina 
 
 lloU'll. 
 
 c  Amos  9. 11,  &c. 
 
 5  Or.  After  that  it 
 hath  been. 
 
 me. 
 
 <9>  I  will  bear  the  indignation  of 
 
 the  Lord,  because  I  have  sinned  against 
 him,  until  he  plead  my  cause,  and  exe- 
 cute judgment  for  me  :  he  will  bring 
 me  forth  to  the  light,  and  I  shall  behold 
 his  righteousness.  (10>  -  Then  she  that  is 
 mine  enemy  shall  see  it,  and  shame 
 shall  cover  her  which  said  unto  me, 
 'Where  is  the  Lord  thy  God?  mine 
 eyes  shall  behold  her :  now 3  shall  she  be 
 trodden  down  as  the  mire  of  the  streets. 
 
 <n>  In  the  day  that  thy  c  walls  are  to 
 be  built,  in  that  day  shall  the  decree  be 
 far  removed.  <u)  In  that  day  also  he 
 shall  come  even  to  thee  from  Assyria, 
 4  and  from  the  fortified  cities,  and  from 
 the  fortress  even  to  the  river,  and  from  sea 
 to  sea,  and  from  mountain  to  mountain. 
 (13)  5  Notwithstanding  the  land  shall  be 
 desolate  because  of  them  that  dwell 
 therein,  for  the  fruit  of  their  doings. 
 
 (U)  6  iree(i  thy  people  with  thy  rod, 
 
 of  the  British  Empire  (1852),  avoids  the  oxymoron  of 
 doing  "  evil"  "  well  "  by  translating  the  passage,  "  con- 
 cerning the  evil  which  their  hands  shonld  amend," 
 which  satisfactorily  harmonises  with  the  rest  of  the 
 passage. 
 
 So  they  wrap  it  up. — Literally,  twist  it,  and 
 pervert  the  course  of  justice. 
 
 (*)  The  day  of  thy  watchmen — i.e.,  the  time 
 which  thy  prophets  have  foreseen,  about  which  they 
 have  continually  warned  thee.  "  Also  I  set  watchmen 
 over  you,  saying,  Hearken  to  the  sound  of  the  trumpet. 
 But  they  said,  We  will  not  hearken"  (Jer.  vi.  17). 
 
 (5, 6)  Trust  ye  not  .  .  .—All  is  now  distrust  and 
 suspicion.  The  households  are  divided  each  against 
 itself,  and  the  relationships  which  should  mean  mutual 
 confidence  and  support  have  become  the  occasion  of  the 
 most  bitter  hostility.  Our  Lord  adopts  these  words  to 
 express  the  strife  and  division  which,  He  foresaw, 
 would  defile  Christianity.  (Comp.  Matt.  x.  35  ;  Mark 
 xiii.  12;  Luke  xii.  53.) 
 
 (?)  Therefore  I  will  look  unto  the  Lord.— 
 Because  of  all  this  gloom  which  has  settled  upon  the 
 earth,  I,  for  my  part,  will  lift  up  mine  eyes  to  the  ever- 
 lasting hills,  whereon  rests  the  light  of  Jehovah's 
 presence. 
 
 (8)  O  mine  enemy. — The  Hebrew  word  is  strictly 
 a  female  enemy  (see  verse  10),  and  is  used  of  enemies 
 collectively.  The  cities  of  Babylon  and  Edom  are 
 probably  intended.  They  are  mentioned  together  in 
 Psalui  exxxvii.:  "Remember,  O  Lord,  the  children 
 of  Edom."  ...  "O  Babylon,  that  art  to  be  de- 
 stroyed." The  fall  of  those  cities  should  be  final,  but 
 Jerusalem  would  rise  again. 
 
 (9)  I  will  bear.  — Micah  places  himself  and  his 
 people  with  confidence  in  the  hands  of  God.  So,  too, 
 did  David  speak  when  his  sin  was  brought  home  to 
 him  by  God :  "  I  am  in  a  great  strait ;  let  us  fall  now 
 into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  :  for  His  mercies  are  great ; 
 and  let  me  not  fall  into  the  hand  of  man"  (2  Sam. 
 xxiv.  14).  "  This  is  the  temper  of  all  penitents  when 
 stricken  by  God,  or  under  chastisement  from  Him." 
 
 60S 
 
 (if>)  Now  shaU   she   be   trodden  down.— The 
 
 enemy  that  had  taunted  the  Jews  with  the  2'owerless- 
 ness  of  Jehovah  should  be  trodden  down  when  the 
 Jews  were  delivered.  Such  was  the  experience  of 
 Sennacherib,  who  inquired  contemptuously  whether  the 
 Lord  could  deliver  Jerusalem  out  of  his  hand. 
 
 (ii)  In  that  day  shall  the  decree  be  far 
 removed. — The  "decree"  was  something  "definite," 
 as  an  appointed  law  or  statute,  and  this  should  be  far 
 removed.  Some  interpret  this  prophecy  to  mean  the 
 removal  of  the  law  of  separation  between  Jews  and 
 Gentiles ;  others  explain  it  as  predicting  that  the  de- 
 cree of  God  concerned  not  the  Jews  only,  but  distant 
 nations  who  should  press  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
 And  this  explanation  coincides  with  the  effect  of  the 
 decree,  which  was  to  bring  to  Jerusalem  people  from 
 "  the  ends  of  the  world." 
 
 (i2)  In  that  day  also  he  shall  come.— Rather 
 translate,  In  that  day  shall  they  (impersonal)  come 
 even  to  thee  from  Assyria  and  (from)  the  cities  of 
 Matzor  (i.e.,  Egypt),  and  from  Matzor  even  to  the  river 
 (Euphrates),  and  from  sea  to  sea,  and  (from)  mountain 
 to  mountain.  The  prophet  beholds  people  coming  from 
 all  parts  of  the  earth  to  Jerusalem.  Isaiah  foresaw  the 
 like  future,  and  spoke  of  Assyria,  Egypt,  and  Israel 
 being  assembled  together,  "  whom  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
 shall  bless,  saying,  Blessed  be  Egypt,  my  people,  and 
 Assyria,  the  work  of  my  hands,  and  Israel,  mine  in- 
 heritance" (Isa.  xix.  25).  The  Christian  reader  can 
 hardly  refrain  from  discerning  ou  the  horizon  of 
 Micah's  vision  that  marvellous  assembly  of  the  repre- 
 sentatives of  the  nations  in  Jerusalem  on  the  Day  of 
 Pentecost. 
 
 (13)  Notwithstanding  the  land  shall  be 
 desolate.— There  is  still  bitterness  in  the  cup.  In 
 the  midst  of  the  triumphant  expectation  of  the  glory 
 to  come,  there  rises  up  the  vision  of  the  desolation  of 
 the  land  in  the  near  future,  by  reason  of  the  sins  of  the 
 people. 
 
 (i*)  Feed  thy  people  with  thy  rod.— Or,  with 
 thy  shepherd's  crook.     The  prophet  lifts  up  his  prayer 
 
Confusion  of  Gods  Enemies. 
 
 MICAH,   VII. 
 
 .1   Promitt  of  .'/•  rcies. 
 
 the   flock   of    thine    heritage,     which 
 
 dwell  solitarily  in  the  wood,  in  the 
 midst  of  Carmel:  let  them  feed  in 
 Bashaii  ami  Gilead,  as  in  the  days  of 
 old. 
 
 <l5>  According  to  the  days  of  thy  coming 
 out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  will  I  shew 
 unto  him  marvellous  tilings.  (10)  The 
 nations  shall  see  and  be  confounded 
 at  all  their  might :  they  shall  lay 
 tin ■/;■  hand  upon  their  mouth,  their  ears 
 shall  be  .leaf.  <">  They  shall  lick  the 
 "dust  like  a  serpent,  they  shall  move 
 out  of  their  holes  like  1  worms  of  the 
 earth  :   they  shall  l>e  afraid  of  the  Lord 
 
 Or,    ertfplii'j 
 thui'ja. 
 
 our    God,   and   shall    fear    because  of 
 thee. 
 
 Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee,  that 
 'pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the 
 transgression  of  the  remnant  of  his 
 heritage?  he  retaineth  not  his  anger 
 forever,  because  he  delightetb  in  mercy. 
 "''  lie  will  turn  again,  he  will  hare 
 compassion  upon  us ;  he  will  subdue 
 our  iniquities ;  and  thou  wilt  cast  all 
 their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
 (20>  Thou  wilt  perform  the  truth  to 
 Jaeoli,  mid  the  mercy  to  Abraham, 
 which  thou  hast  sworn  unto  our  fathers 
 from  the  days  of  old. 
 
 fop  the  people,  either  dwelling  "alone"  ainmi;  the 
 idolaters  of]  tab]  Ion — among  them,  hut  not  of  them — or 
 living  11  nation,  mysteriously  apart  from  other  nations, 
 returned  from  Babylon,  and  settled  on  the  fruitful  moun- 
 tain range  of  Carmel,  or  in  the  rich  pasture  land  on  the 
 east  of  Jordan.  The  extraordinary  fertility' of  this"  IjuhI 
 of  Promise"  has  been  recently  brought  into  promi- 
 nence, and  its  future  prosperity  predicted  in  glowing 
 colours  by  Mr.  Oliphant,  in  The  Land  of  Oileaa, 
 
 (i-r>i  According  to  the  days  of  thy  coming 
 out. — The  promise  of  Jehovah,  in  reply  to  the 
 prophet's  supplication,  graciously  recalls  His  inter- 
 position in  the  land  of  Egypt,  This  interposition  shall 
 be  repeated. 
 
 (171  Thoy  shall  lick  the  dust  like  a  ser- 
 pent.— The  doom  of  the  determined  enemies  of  the 
 Lord  and  His  people  recalls  that  of  Satan,  the  great 
 enemy,  as  personified  l>y  the  serpent.  "  Dust  shalt 
 thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy  life"  (Gen.  iii.  11). 
 
 (18)  Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee  ?— Mieah, 
 with  an  allusion  to  tho  significance  of  his  own  name, 
 
 icludes  his  book  with  a  hurst  of  enthusiastic  hoe 
 
 to  tho  God  of  gods.  The  gracious  character  here 
 ascribed  to  Jehovah  is  unparalleled  in  the  Bible  in 
 
 human  utterances;  it  is  the  response  of  the  pro) diet  to 
 the  glorious  words  spoken  t >y  Jehovah  of  Himself 
 (Exoil.  xxxiv  •  >.  7>.  The  promise  then  made  to  Moses 
 is  here  extended  by  the  inspiration  of  the  prophet  to  the 
 i  (entiles.  The  "  remnant  "  refers  to  the  returned  from 
 the  captivity. 
 
 li»)  Thou  wilt  perform.— The  closing  words  in 
 the   prophecy  Of   Mieah   are   gloriously  tab  n    up  some 
 
 centuries  later  by  Zechariah  :  "  As  He  spake  by  the 
 mouth  of   His  holy  prophets,  which  have  been  since 
 
 the  world  began  :  that  we  should  be  Saved  from  our 
 enemies,  and  from  the  hand  of  all  thai  hate  us.  to  per- 
 forin the  mercy  promised  to  our  fathers,  and  to  remember 
 His  holy  covenant,  the  oath  which  He  sware  to  our 
 father  Abraham,  that  He  would  grant  unto  us.  that  we 
 being  delivered  out  of  the  hand  of  our  enemies,  might 
 seryo  Him  without  fear,  in  holiness  and  righteousness 
 before  Him,  all  the  days  of  our  life"  (.Luke  i.  54,  55). 
 
NAHUM. 
 
I  NTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 NAHUM. 
 
 I.  Tho  Author. — Tins  composition  gives  oaabeo. 
 lately  no  information  about  its  author  beyond  the  (act 
 thai  he  styled  himself  "  Nahum  the  Elkoshite."  As  it 
 is  not  known  where  "  Elkosh  "  i>.  and  it  is  noi  impoe- 
 aible  thai  "  Nahum,"  "oomforter,"  is  a  now  deplume, 
 the  personality  of  tliis  prophet  is  as  shadowy  as  those 
 of  Obadiah  and  Mala. -hi.  His  date  can  only  be  con- 
 jectured from  liis  allusions  to  political  events  [vide 
 infra).  If  "Nahum''  be  regarded  as  a  pseudonym, 
 the  book  will  be  one  of  comfort  to  [srael,  in  thai  it 
 treats  of  the  overthrow  of  toe  notoriously  oppressive 
 Assyrian  power.  Apostolic  titK-s  such  as  "T?eter" 
 and  "Barnabas"  supply  an  analogue,  and  some  have 
 supposed  thai  "  Mal.u-lii."  "my  messenger,"  is  also  a 
 title  adopted  for  a  special  prophetic  mission.  Tito 
 symbolical  names  in  tea.  viii.  :>.  \\  Hoses  i.  '■'>,  7.  may 
 .-ils.,  be  instanced.  But  the  addition  of  the  second 
 designation,  "the  Elkoshite,"  tells  against  the  theory 
 that  "Nahum"  is  an  assumed  appellation.  It  is 
 natural  to  interpret  the  whole  title  on  the  analogy 
 of  "  Elijah  the  Tishbite,"  making  Nahum  the  real 
 name  of  the  man,  Elkosh  that  of  his  abode  or  birth- 
 place. 
 
 Elkosh  remains  to  be  discovered.  Jerome's  guide 
 identified  it  with  Eleesi,  "a  little  village  in  Galilee, 
 small,  indeed,  and  scarcely  indicating  l>y  its  ruins  tin- 
 traces  of  ancient  buildings"  (Jerome,  Comm.  on 
 Kuli.  I.,  1 1.  Eusebius  mentions  'Rtoutr*  as  a  Pales- 
 tinian town  •' whence  was  Nahum  the  Elkes;ean."  hut 
 i|..es  not  say  in  what  part  it  lay.  Cyril  of  Alexandria 
 merely   Bays  it    was    somewhere  in    the  country  of   the 
 
 .lews.  On  the  other  hand,  certain  modern  writers 
 have  moved  Elkosh  altogether  away  from  Jewish  terri- 
 tory, and  identified  it  with  Alcush,  a  village  within 
 two  days'  journey  of  .Mosul,  when'  the  grave  of  the 
 prophet  is  exhibited.  This  site  is  favoured  chiefly 
 because  it  brings  Nahum  close  to  the  scene  id'  the 
 catastrophe  which  he  so  graphically  describes.  It 
 appeared  impossible  that  Nahum  could  see  in  a  vision 
 
 the   future   (all  of    Nineveh.       Date  and  locality   were' 
 
 therefore  shifted  till  the  Beer  of  [srael  became  a  histo- 
 rian   living    in    Assyria.       The   choice   of    this    Village 
 
 Ah-u-h  is  scarcely  creditable  to  the  critical  acumen  of 
 
 tUis  school  of  expositors.     There  is  absolutely  nothing 
 
 to  identify  Nahum  with  the  place  save  the  pretended 
 tomb,  and  this  has  no  more  claim  to  genuineness  than 
 the  tombs  of  Jephthah,  Jonah,  and  Obadiah  in  neigh- 
 bouring localities.  -The  house  containing  the  tomb," 
 writes  Mr.  l.avard.  ■•  is  a  modern  building."  Not  till 
 the  sixteenth  century  was  the  place  even  mentioned 
 in  connection  with  the  prophet  Nahum,    Tlie  legend 
 
 doubtless  rests  on  no  more  substantial  basis  than  a 
 similarity  of  sound.  It  may  lie  added  that  there  is 
 every  reason  to  regard  the  name  Elkosh  as  of  Hebrew 
 
 derivation  (see  Font,  I    etc).    The  place  doubtless  lay 
 
 within  the  borders  of  the  Holy  Land,  but  it  is  impos- 
 sible to  determine  its  situation  more  precisely. 
 
 172  513 
 
 II.  Occasion  of  Writing— The  object  of  this 
 composition  is  tmfficiently  shown  as  in  the  opening 
 words  of    chap.   i. :    "  The   burden   of    [or  sentence 
 
 against]  Nineveh."      Nahum  treats  of  the  downfall  of 
 
 the  Assyrian  empire,  consequent  on  the  capture  of  its 
 
 metropolis.  Nineveh.  In  chap.  i.  the  prophet's  atten- 
 tion appears  to  be  fixed  mainly  on  the  last  Assyrian 
 invasion  of  Judasa — that  which  resulted  in  the  de- 
 struction of  Sennacherib's  host  recorded  in  -  Kings 
 xix.  This  catastrophe  had  doubtless  already  taken 
 place.  It  is  used  by  the  seer  as  an  earnest  of  a  yet 
 more  momentous  future.  Sennacherib's  disaster  was 
 the  first  act  in  a  tragedy  of  which  the  deno&meni  lay 
 yet  in  the  womb  of  time,  discernible  only  to  God  and 
 'a  inspired  prophets.  The  "vision"  of  Nahum 
 reveals    this    unknown    issue    in    chapters    ii.   and    iii. 
 
 Nineveh,  the  Assyrian  metropolis,  the  centre  of  op- 
 pression, the  "bloody  city."  is  to  (all  before  besiegers  ; 
 
 her  population  to  be  led  away  captive,  her  site  to  re- 
 main "empty,  void,  and  wast,'."  We  attribute Nahum'e 
 
 knowledge  of  this  catastrophe,  which  obviously  iden- 
 tifies itself    with    the   destruction    of    Nineveh    by   the 
 
 Meiles  and  Babylonians  (b.c.  625),  to  Divino  inspira- 
 tion.     The  event    is  certainly  future.      It  is  not   past. 
 
 not  even  immediately  impending.    To  prove  even  the 
 
 possibility  of  its  happening,  the  prophet  is  forced  to 
 Distance  the  Back  of  another  mighty  city,  "populous 
 No"  (chap.  iii.  8 — 11).  The  writer,  moreover,  claims 
 to  be  giving  an  account  of  a  "vision"  chap.  i.  1). 
 Were  lie  limited  to  the  events  of  tho  past  or  the 
 present,  the  claim  would  be  an  impertinence,  the  whole 
 composition  robbed  of  its  significance.  None  will  re- 
 fuse to  see  predictive  inspiration  here,  save  those  who 
 start  on  the  assumption  that  this  form  of  Divine  com- 
 munication is  impossible,  and  that  all  such  prophets  as 
 Nahum  are  mere  historians. 
 
 For  those  who  are  net  hampered  by  this  theological 
 prejudice,  Nahum'sdate  will  be  in  the  period  preceding 
 
 the  catastrophe'  ;    but  it  can  only  be  lixeil  approximately, 
 
 He  writes  to  foretell  the'  fall  of  Nineveh;  therefore, 
 before  b.c.  ti'25.  His  prophecy  is  quoted  by  Zephamah, 
 therefore  it  was  probably  ottered  some'  years  before 
 b.c.  630  (see  Zephamah,  Introduction,  II.  .  He  writes, 
 instancing  the  sae-k  of  Thebes;  therefore,  we  believe, 
 not  before  b.c.  <i7o.  perhaps  not  before  B.C.  665* 
 (see  chap.  iii.  8 — 1".  Notes  .  His  composition  maybe 
 assigned  to  any  year  between  B.C.  665  and  b.c.  635. 
 
 The'  great  historical  event  anticipated  by  Nahum's 
 vision  must  now  Ih'  noticed.  The  Assyrians  had  been 
 the-   hailing  power  in  Upper  Asia  for  upwards  of  five 
 
 hundred  years.    The  original  abode  of  this  great  tribe 
 
 appears  (O  have  been  the  flat  alluvial  plain  towards 
 the'  mouths  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.     From  this 
 
 •  Another  terminus  in  tlie  backward  direction  is  the  death 
 nf  Sennacherib,  te>  which  Nahum  refers  in  chap.  i.  11  tsce 
 Tins  event  occurred  in  B.c.  6S0. 
 
NAHUM. 
 
 region  Assyrian  hordes  are  found  migrating  north- 
 wards as  early  as  B.C.  1600.  The  colonists  were  pro- 
 bably subjugated  for  awhile  by  the  Babylonians,  but 
 before  B.C.  1550  had  established  a  monarchy  of  their  own. 
 This  gradually  rose  to  equal  rank  with  that  of  Babylon. 
 Tiglathi-Nin  (B.C.  1270)  styles  himself  the  "conqueror 
 of  Babylonia."  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  rival 
 empire  was  not  effectually  weakened  till  the  time  of 
 Sargou  (B.C.  721),  and  it  appears  that  nearly  every  As- 
 syrian monarch  engaged  in  expeditions  against  Baby- 
 lonia. The  Assyrian  empire  was  at  its  zenith  under 
 Sennacherib  (B.C.  704), who  records  successful  campaigns 
 against  Babylonia,  Susiana,  Egypt,  Syria,  Judaja,  and 
 Cilicia,  and  who  is  even  more  eminent  as  a  builder  and 
 patron  of  art  than  as  a  conqueror.  It  would  perhaps 
 have  been  in  stricter  accordance  with  the  ground-plan 
 of  Nahum's  prophecy  if  the  decline  of  the  Assyrian 
 power  had  begun  from  the  time  when  Sennacherib's 
 army  was  annihilated  before  Jerusalem.  Joseplms 
 states  that  this  was  the  case.  Esar-Haddon's  reign, 
 however,  was  scarcely,  if  at  all,  less  glorious  than  that 
 of  Sennacherib;  and  Asshur-bani-pal  is  described  as 
 •'  a  warrior  more  enterprising  and  more  powerful  than 
 any  of  his  predecessors  "  ( Five  Great  Monarchies,  ii. 
 493).  The  crash  came  in  the  time  of  this  king's  unwar- 
 like  successor,  Asshur-emid-iliu,  called  by  the  Greek  his- 
 torians. Saracus.  Somewhere  about  the  thirteenth  year  of 
 this  reign,  the  Medes  rose  in  arms,  and  invaded  Assyria. 
 They  were  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  their  leader  and  of 
 many  soldiers.  Their  next  king.  Cyaxares,  was  inter- 
 rupted in  his  preparations  for  another  attack  by  an 
 invasion  of  Scythian  hordes,  who  inflicted  great  damage, 
 both  on  Media  and  Assyria.  He  succeeded  in  expelling 
 these  intruders,  and  again  marched  against  Nineveh. 
 He  was  joined  by  the  Susiauians  and  by  a  faithless  As- 
 syriau  dependent,  Nabo-polassar,  king  of  Babylon. 
 The  siege,  according  to  Ctesias,  lasted  three  years.  It 
 may  well  be  believed  that  a  city  22J  miles  in  circum- 
 ference (Xenophon,  Anab.  iii.  4),  with  walls  100  feet 
 high,  wide  enough  to  admit  three  chariots  abreast, 
 with  towers,  moreover,  1,200  in  number,  and  each  200 
 feet  high  (Diod.  Sic.  ii.  3),  would  defy  the  operations  of 
 troops  who  had  hitherto  had  little  experience  in  siege- 
 work.  An  important  victory  was,  however,  gained 
 at  a  time  when  the  Assyrian  host  was  celebrating  its 
 triumph  in  revelry.  Saracus  now  resigned  the  chief 
 command  to  his  brother-in-law,  Sahemenes,  who  ex- 
 perienced another  disastrous  defeat.  The  city,  how- 
 ever, continued  uninjured  apparently,  until  the  spring 
 of  the  third  year.  Then,  according  to  Ctesias  (Diod. 
 Sic.  ii.  27),  a  new  power  appeared  on  the  side  of  the 
 besiegers.  Heavy  rains  had  fallen  and  increased  the 
 volume  of  the  river.  An  inundation  ensued,  which 
 carried  away  a  considerable  part  of  the  fortifications 
 (see  chap.  ii.  6,  Note,  and  comp.  chap.  i.  8).  Saracus  saw 
 in  the  catastrophe  the  fulfilment  of  an  oracle.  He  set 
 fire  to  his  citadel,  and  perished  with  his  concubines  and 
 eunuchs  in  the  flames.  The  enemy  entered  unopposed, 
 "  through  the  broken  part  of  the  wall,"  and  carried  off 
 an  immense  booty  to  Babylon  and  Ecbatana. 
 
 Ctesias  is  often  untrustworthy  aud  inaccurate ;  but 
 it  is  quite  credible  that  his  account  of  the  fall  of 
 Nineveh  is  substantially  correct."  His  account,"  to 
 borrow  the  words  of  Dr.  Pusey,  "as  it  is  in  exact 
 conformity  with  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  prophecy 
 of  Nahum,  so  it  solves  a  real  difficulty,  how  Nineveh, 
 so_  defended,  could  have  fallen."  Ano'ther  remarkable 
 coincidence  between  the  prophecy  of  Nahum  and  the 
 historical  fact  has  been  noticed  by  the  same  commen- 
 tator.    The  usual  sequel  to  the  capture  and  sack  of  a 
 
 city  was  not  its  destruction,  but  its  repeopling.  The 
 captors  of  Nineveh  proceeded  to  destroy  it  with  fire, 
 and  it  remained  uninhabited.  The  fragments  dis- 
 interred by  excavations  at  the  palaces  of  Kouyunjik, 
 Khorsabad,  and  Nimroud  bear  the  marks  of  this  con- 
 flagration (comp.  chap.  ii.  13,  iii.  13,  15).  Nineveh 
 remained  as  Nahum  had  predicted,  "  a  desolation," 
 "empty  and  void,  and  waste"  (chap.  i.  8,  ii.  10). 
 Xenophon  saw  its  walls,  and  went  away  with  a  story 
 that  "the  Medes  inhabited  it  formerly"  (Anab.  iii.  12). 
 Alexander  marched  by,  "  not  knowing  that  a  world- 
 empire  like  that  which  he  gave  his  life  to  found  was 
 buried  under  his  feet "  (Pusey).  In  the  second  century 
 A.D.  Luciau  writes,  "  Nineveh  has  perished,  and  there 
 is  no  trace  left  where  it  once  was."  (Comp.  chap.  iii. 
 7,  seq.,  and  Zeph.  ii.  13,  seq.) 
 
 III.  Contents. — The  chief  divisions  of  Nahum's 
 composition  appear  to  be  these : — (a)  chap.  i.  2 — 8, 
 Jehovah's  very  character  is  a  guarantee  that  He  will 
 right  the  oppressed  faithful,  and  annihilate  their  ene- 
 mies;  (6)  chap.  i.  9  — 15,  the  bootless  : expedition  of 
 Sennacherib  is  portrayed,  chiefly  with  reference  to  the 
 relief  his  overthrow  afforded  Israel,  and  his  own  miser- 
 able end;  (c)  chap.  ii.  1 — end,  the  siege  of  Nineveh  and 
 its  issue — viz.,  the  extinction  of  the  ravening  oppressor ; 
 (d)  iii.  1 — end,  a  more  extended  statement  of d  the  cause 
 of  this  catastrophe,  and  the  utter  ruin  thereby  effected. 
 
 IV.  Character  and  style.— Nahum's  composi- 
 tion is  descriptive  rather  than  hortatory.  Chap.  i.  2 — 8 
 includes  all  the  ethical  or  theological  teaching  of  this 
 prophet,  and  even  here  picturesque  portraiture  predomi- 
 nates. The  rest  of  the  book  presents  a  series  of  historical 
 scenes ;  all  of  which  may  be  regarded  as  illustrating  the 
 great  religious  principles  laid  down  in  the  opening  verses. 
 These  scenes  reveal  in  their  portraiture  the  master- 
 hand  of  a  true  poet.  In  poetic  ability,  indeed,  Nahum 
 ranks  high  among  the  prophets.  His  chief  excellence 
 consists  in  word-painting  of  forcible  terseness.  Chaps, 
 ii.  11 — 13,  iii.  16,  17  are  the  only  places  where  a  figure 
 is  expanded.  The  usual  tendency  is  to  compress  each 
 thought  into  the  smallest  possible  compass.  The  de- 
 scription of  the  siege  in  chap.  ii.  3 — 10  is  a  very  model 
 of  this  kind  of  sententious  eloquence.  In  his  diction 
 Nahum  is  markedly  original.  He  abounds  in  pecu- 
 liarities of  expression.  These  may  perhaps  be  con- 
 nected with  a  provincial  idiom,  but  they  cannot  be 
 attributed  to  any  foreign  source.  Here  and  there  a 
 resemblance  to  Joel,  Isaiah,  and  the  Psalms  perhaps 
 argues  indebtedness  to  earlier  authors.  He  is  himself 
 often  imitated  by  Jeremiah.  (Comp.  chap.  i.  13,  Jer.  xxx. 
 8 ;  chap.  iii.  5,  Jer.  xiii.  22 ;  chap.  iii.  13,  Jer.  1.  37,  li. 
 30;  chap.  iii.  19,  Jer.  x.  19,  and  see  Jer.  li.  passim.) 
 It  has  been  said  that  Nahum  should  be  read  as  a 
 supplement  to  the  Book  of  Jonah.  The  mission  of 
 both  prophets  concerned  Nineveh.  The  one  composi- 
 tion describes  the  remission  of  Divine  punishment  on 
 this  offending  city,  and  the  other  its  execution,  Nahum 
 i.  3  being  a  kind  of  connecting-link  between  the  two 
 phases  of  God's  character — His  longsuffering  and  His 
 justice.  In  poiut  of  style  and  diction,  however,  no 
 two  prophetic  books  are  more  unlike.  The  nature  of 
 Nahum's  subject  precludes  any  but  the  most  meagre 
 allusion  to  his  own  country,  and  we  learn  nothing  with 
 regard  to  the  Jewish  politics  of  the  time.  Save  by 
 way  of  type — the  destruction  of  the  oppressive  world- 
 power  figuring  the  victory  of  the  Church  over  the 
 world — there  is  nothing  in  the  book  that  bears  on  the 
 Christian  dispensation. 
 
 514 
 
NAHUM. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.  —  0>The  burden  of 
 Nineveh.  The  book  of  the  vision  of 
 Nahum  the  Elkoshite. 
 
 <->  'God  is  "jealous,  and  the  Lord  re- 
 vengeth;  the  Lord  revengeth,  and  -/•->• 
 furious  ;  the  Lord  will  take  vengeanee 
 on  liis  adversaries,  and  he  reserveth 
 trrulli  for  his  enemies.  '"The  Loud  6is 
 slow  In  anger,  and  great  in  power,  and 
 will  Dot  a)  all  acquit  tin-  nicked:  the 
 Loan  hath  his  way  in  the  whirlwind  and 
 in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds  <tr< 
 of  his  feet.  ("  He  rebuketh  the  sea,  and 
 maketh  it  dry,  and  drieth  an  all  the 
 rivers  :  l.ashan  languished  li.and  Carmel, 
 and  the  (lower  of  Lelianon  languisheth. 
 (r''  The  mountains  quake  at  him,  and 
 the  hills  melt,  and  t  lie  earth  is  burned 
 
 in- 
 ch.;  13. 
 
 I  Or,  Tht 
 
 OoA 
 
 I    II 
 
 i  !!■  >>  , 
 
 ii  Or.i-/ 
 
 at  his  ]n '-'lice,  yea,  the  world,  and  all 
 thai  dwell  therein.  (6)  Who  can  stand 
 before  his  indignation?  and  who  can 
 3abide  in  the  ferceness  of  bis  anger? 
 his  fury  is  poured  out  like  fire,  and  the 
 rocks  are  thrown  down  by  him. 
 
 71  The  Lord  is  good,  a  'strong  hold  in 
 the  day  of  trouble;  and  be  know -et h 
 them  that  trust  in  him.  (8)  But  with  an 
 overrunning  flood  be  will  make  an  utter 
 end  of  the  |.l;u.'  thereof,  and  darkness 
 shall  pursue  his  enemies. 
 
 What  do  ye  imagine  against  the 
 Loi;i>y  he  will  make  an  utter  end: 
 affliction  shall  not  rise  up  the  second 
 time.  <10>  For  while  they  be  folden  to- 
 gether as  thorns,  and  while  they  are 
 drunken   «*•   drunkards,  they   shall   be 
 
 ("  Tho  burdon  of  Nineveh — i.e.,  the  sentene* 
 against  Nineveh  (see  Isa.  xiii.  1,  Note).  On  the  names 
 Nahum  ami  Elkoshite  see  [introduction. 
 
 (2—8)  God's  character  a  pledge  that  the  oppressor  of 
 His  servants  shall  be  destroyed. 
 
 (D  God  .  .  .  furious. — Better,  A  jealous  and 
 vengeful  Ood  ie  Jehovah,  an  avenger  is  Jehovah,  aye, 
 wrathful.  This  verse  lavs  the  groundwork  for  the  de- 
 claration of  God's  sentence  against  the  offending  city. 
 There  arc.  of  course,  severs]  passages  in  the  Law  which 
 attribute  the  same  character  to  Jehovah,  e.g.,  Exod. 
 xx.  5;  Deut,  iv.  24.  Nahnm's  model,  however,  is  a  pas. 
 sage  of  opposite  purport,  the  well-known  proclamation 
 of  Jehovah  a  attribute  of  mercy  I  Exod.  tmv.  6,  7).  T.o 
 that  passage  the  present  is  a  kind  of  counterpoise,  Kl 
 hanno  v'nfikem  here  being  the  pendant  to  7.7  raehoom 
 o'ehait  noon  t  here, 
 
 1  And  great  in  power.— Better,  but  gr 
 power,  Jehovah's  forbearance  is  not  attributable  to 
 weakness.  To  vindicate  Hi-,  power,  Nahum,  after  the 
 manner  of  other  Hebrew  p. >it -  and  prophets,  reverts  to 
 the  wonders  of  the  Exodus  verses  1,5),  The  pillars  of 
 cloud  and  fire  in  the  desert  march  ;  the  quaking  cliffs 
 of  Sinai;  the  Eted  Sea  and  Jordan  divided  at  His  word; 
 Canaan  succumbing  at  every  point,  upwards  to  mighty 
 Lebanon  in  the  north,  and  across  from  Eastern  Bashes 
 to  Western  Carmel — those  are  the  testimonies  to  Jcho. 
 vah's  illicit.  (Gomp.  Hab.  Hi.  6—10. 
 Is  burned. — Better,  heaves. 
 
 <s|  But. — Better,  and.  Jehovah  proi  cts  His  afflicted 
 servants,  and  therefore  He  exterminates  their  oppressor. 
 
 Overrunning  flood.— On  the  propriety  of  tliis 
 figure  see  chap.  ii.  6,  Note. 
 
 The  place  thereof— i.e.,  that  of  Nineveh.  Thi 
 
 euds,  "and  he  shall  drive  his  enemies  into  darkness." 
 
 (9—15)  The  first  revelation  of  God's  judgment,  by  the 
 awful  overthrow  of  Sennacherib's  invading  army  in  the 
 
 reign  of  Hczekiah. 
 
 <"'  Affliction— i.e.,  Nineveh's  affliction  of  Israel, 
 the'same  Hebrew  word  being  used  in  verse  7  to  denote 
 Israel's  "trouble"  or  "affliction"  proceeding  from 
 Nineveh.  (See  also  verse  12.)  Nineveh  shall  not  afflict 
 Israel  a  second  time.    Applying  the  whole  passage  to 
 
 the  destruction  of  Sennacherib's  host)  we  n ssarily 
 
 prefer  this  to  the  other  possible  interpretation — God 
 will  not  have  occasion  to  Bend  affliction  on  Nineveh  a 
 second  time,  /.<■..  this  visitation  will  be  -,,  exhaustive 
 that  there  will  be  no  need  to  repeal  it.  For  the  .judg- 
 ment on  Sennacherib  was  not  God's  final  visitation. 
 
 1,1    For  while.— Better.  For  they  shall  I"  < 
 bundles  of  thorn  fagots,  a\  '  'I-  steeped  wi  I 
 
 drink  tin  y  shall  be  burnt  up  Ukt  stubbli  fully  dry.  Dry 
 thorn  cuttings  were  eonmionly  used  as  fuel.  (See.  Pss. 
 lviii. !».  i-xviii.  1J  ;   Eccl.  vii.  6.      Tho  verse  compares  the 
 
 victims  of  Jehovah's  wrath,  lirst.  to  a  compact  bundle  of 
 
 thorn  fagots;  Becondly.to  a  material  equally  combustible, 
 the  dry  si  raw  ami  stubble  of  the  threaning-floor.  "\\" it li 
 regard  to  the  words  "while  steeped  in  their  drink,"  it 
 may  be  remarked  that  in  tho  final  siege  of  Nineveh 
 a  great  defeat  of  its  forces  was  effected  by  a  surprise 
 while  the  king  and  his  captains  were  sunk  in  revelry 
 Diod.  Sic.  ii.  26).  Benhadad,  king  of  Syria,  and  Bel- 
 ear,  kino;  of  Babylon,  wen  under  similar 
 
 circumstances  1  Kings  i.  16;  Dan.  v.  I— SO  .  Feast- 
 ing and  revehy  may  have  gone  on  in  Sennacherib's 
 camp  at  the  moment  when  the  sudden  visitation  of  the 
 
 515 
 
God's  Goodness  to  His  People. 
 
 NAHUM,    II. 
 
 The  Bringer  of  Good  Tidings. 
 
 devoured  as  stubble  fully  dry.  (11)  There 
 is  one  conie  out  of  thee,  that  irnagineth 
 evil  against  the  Lord,  1  a  wicked  coun- 
 sellor. 
 
 <12)Thus  saith  the  Lord;  "  Though 
 they  be  quiet,  and  likewise  many,  yet 
 thus  shall  they  be  3  cut  down,  when  he 
 shall  pass  through.  Though  I  have 
 afflicted  thee,  I  will  afflict  thee  no  more, 
 (is)  Yov  now  will  I  break  his  yoke  from 
 off  thee,  and  will  burst  thy  bonds  in 
 sunder.  (u)  And  the  Lord  hath  given  a 
 commandment  concerning  thee,  that  no 
 more  of  thy  name  be  sown  :  out  of  the 
 house  of  thy  gods  will  I  cut  off  the 
 graven  image  and  the  molten  image  : 
 
 i  Set).,  a  counsellor 
 of  Belial 
 
 2  Or,  J"/ they  would 
 have  been  "' 
 peace,  ea  ehonld 
 they  have  Wvn 
 many,  mid  si, 
 should  they  linn 
 been  shorn,  and 
 he  sin, iii, i  have 
 passed  away. 
 
 3  Heb.,  shorn. 
 
 a  Isn.  .".2.  7;  Rom. 
 10. 15. 
 
 l  Sch.,f,,e-t. 
 5  Hcb.,  Belia!. 
 
 6  Or.  Tlie  dispereer 
 or,  hammer. 
 
 7  Or,  the  pride  of 
 Jacob  astkepride 
 
 of  Israel. 
 
 I  will  make  thy  grave;   for  thou   art 
 vile. 
 
 <15'  Behold  upon  the  "  mountains  the 
 feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good  tidings, 
 that  publisheth  peace  !  0  Judah,  *  keep 
 thy  solemn  feasts,  perform  thy  vows : 
 for  5the  wicked  shall  no  more  pass 
 through  thee  ;  he  is  utterly  cut  off. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— W 6  He  that  dasheth 
 in  pieces  is  come  up  before  thy  face: 
 keep  the  munition,  watch  the  way,  make 
 thy  loins  strong,  fortify  thy  power 
 mightily.  '2)  *  For  the  Lord  hath  turned 
 away  7the  excellency  of  Jacob,  as  the 
 excellenc3r  of  Israel :   for  the  emptiers 
 
 "  angel  of  the  Lord  "  was  impending  j  but  on  this  point 
 we  have  no  information.  The  introduction  of  this 
 detail  adds  to  the  metaphor  a  certain  grini  humour. 
 Soaked  in  wine  though  the  enemy  be,  he  shall  surely 
 bum  like  driest  fuel  in  the  day  of  Jehovah's  fiery 
 wrath.  The  opening  clause  of  the  verse  is  beset  with 
 difficulties,  both  grammatical  and  lexical.  Kleinert 
 renders  "  For  in  thorns  they  shall  be  entangled,"  &c. ; 
 Ewald  and  Hitzig,  "  For  even  though  they  be  compact 
 as  a  wickerwork  of  thorns,"  &c. 
 
 (ii)  Come  out  of  thee.— Another  possible  render- 
 ing is,  He  has  retired  from  thee  [i.e.,  Jerusalem'],  who 
 irnagineth  .  .  .  We  prefer  the  rendering  of  the 
 Authorised  Version,  and  regard  the  verse  as  addressed 
 to  Nineveh.  The  reference  in  the  verses  following  is 
 sufficiently  plain  for  us  to  identify  this  enemy  of  God 
 with  Sennacherib.  (Comp.  the  language  used  by  his 
 envoy  Rabsliakeh  in  2  Kings  xviii.,  xix.) 
 
 (12)  Thus  saith  the  Lord.— Better,  Tims  saith 
 Jehovah,  Though  they  be  of  unimpaired  strength  and 
 ever  so  numerous,  yet  just  in  that  state  shall  they  be  cut 
 down,  and  he  [viz.,  the  evil  counsellor  of  verse  11]  shall 
 pass  away.  Though  I  have  afflicted  thee  [Jerusalem],  I 
 will  afflict  thee  no  more.  Destruction  comes  upon  the 
 Assyrian  army  iu  the  very  hour  of  prosperity,  while  un- 
 scathed and  complete  in  numbers  (2  Kings  xix.  32,  33). 
 Pass  away :  so  in  Ps.  xlviii.  (a  composition  generally 
 thought  to  refer  to  this  very  catastrophe),  "  For  lo,  the 
 kings  were  assembled:  they  passed  away  together." 
 
 (is)  Now  will  I  break.— Similarly  Isaiah,  "  I  will 
 break  the  Assyrian  in  my  land,  and  upon  my  mountain 
 tread  him  under  foot :  then  shall  his  yoke  depart  from 
 off  them,  and  his  burden  depart  from  off  their  shoulders  " 
 (Isa.  xiv.  25 ;  comp.  Jer.  xxx.  8). 
 
 («)  And  the  Lord  hath  given.— Sudden  changes 
 of  person  are  a  common  feature  in  Hebrew  poetry. 
 The  denunciation  of  the  Assyrian  here  passes  from 
 the  third  to  the  second  person.  Sennacherib  is  told 
 that  the  royal  line  of  Nineveh  is  to  be  suddenly 
 exterminated — a  prediction  accomplished  when  his 
 great-grandson  Saracus,  the  last  king  of  Nineveh, 
 destroyed  himself  in  despair.  He  is  also  told  that  the 
 Assyrian  idols  are  destined  to  destruction,  and  that 
 their  very  temple  is  to  witness  his  own  death ;  the 
 prophet's  expression  being,  I  will  make  it  thy  grave  : 
 for  thou  art  found  worthless  (lit.  "  light  in  the  balance  " 
 — comp.  Dan.  v.  27).  "  And  it  came  to  pass  as  he  was 
 worshipping  in  the  house  of  Nisroeh  his  god  that 
 Adrammelech  and  Sharczer  his  sous  smote  him  with  the 
 
 sword  "  (Isa.  xxxvii.  3-5).  The  allusion  to  Sennacherib's 
 death  in  the  temple  of  Nisroeh  appears  to  us  unassail- 
 able. That  it  was  admitted  in  the  earliest  times  is 
 shown  by  the  accentuation  and  the  translation  given  by 
 theTargum.  Keil's  explanation  that  the"Assyrian  power 
 personified  "  is  addressed,  and  that  "  I  am  preparing 
 thy  grave"  is  the  true  rendering,  simply  emasculates 
 this  vigorous  passage.  If,  as  is  probable,  Sennacherib's 
 death  had  already  occurred,  it  would  be  strange  indeed 
 that  Nahuin  should  make  no  mention  of  this  memorable 
 instance  of  Divine  retribution,  while  at  the  same  time 
 using  words  so  capable  of  bearing  the  allusion. 
 
 (15)  Behold  upon  the  mountains.— It  is  not 
 plain  why  this  verse  has  been  made  the  first  of  chap.  iii. 
 in  the  Hebrew.  It  is  evidently  the  finale  of  the  pro- 
 clamation against  the  Assyrian  invader,  and  rightly 
 stands  in  the  LXX.  as  the  last  verse  of  chap.  ii.  It 
 portrays  the  announcement  of  Sennacherib's  fate  to  the 
 towns  and  villages  of  Judah.  "  From  mountain-top  to 
 mountain-top  by  beacon  fires  they  spread  the  glad  tidings. 
 Suddenly  the  deliverance  comes,  sudden  its  announce- 
 ment. Behold,  Judah,  before  hindered  by  armies  from 
 going  up  to  Jerusalem,  its  cities  taken,  may  now  again 
 heep  the  feasts  there,  and  pay  the  vows  which  in  trouble 
 she  promised ;  for  the  wicked  one,  the  ungodly  Sen- 
 nacherib, is  utterly  cut  off;  he  shall  no  more  pass 
 through  thee  "  (Pusey).  The  opening  clause  necessarily 
 reminds  one  of  the  description  of  deliverance  in  Isa.  Iii.  7. 
 The  one  author  probably  borrows  the  language  of  the 
 other ;  but  which  passage  we  regard  as  the  original 
 must  depend  on  the  view  taken  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah. 
 
 II. 
 
 The  siege  and  sack  of  Nineveh  described.  From 
 the  destruction  of  Sennacherib's  host  in  699  B.C.,  and 
 his  death  in  the  temple  of  Nisroeh  in  680,  the  prophet 
 suddenly  passes  to  the  extermination  of  the  Assyrian 
 Empire,  cir.  625.  Here  then,  strictly  speaking,  is  the 
 beginning  of  Nahum's  "  vision,"  chap.  i.  9 — 15  being 
 limited  to  the  great  blow  sustained  by  Assyria  in  the 
 preceding  generation. 
 
 (i)  Keep  the  munition.— Better,  guard  the  for- 
 tress. These  four  sententious  directions  to  Nineveh 
 are,  of  course,  ironical,  like  Elijah's  instructions  to  the 
 priests  of  Baal  in  1  Kings  xviii.  27.  "  He  that  dasheth 
 in  pieces  "  may  perhaps  be  identified  with  Cyaxares. 
 
 (2)  Better,  For  Jehovah  restores  the  glory  of  Jacob, 
 so  that  it  is  as  the  glory  of  [ancient]  Israel,  though  the 
 
 516 
 
Thx  Armies 
 
 NAHUM, 
 
 have  emptied  them  out,  and  marred 
 their  vine  branches.  "  The  shield  of 
 liis  might]  men  is  made  red,  the  valiant 
 men  are  J  in  Bcarlet:  the  chariots  shall 
 te  with  'flaming  torches  in  the  day  of 
 bis  preparation,  and  the  fir  trees  shall 
 be  terribly  shaken.  ''  The  chariots 
 shall  rage  iii  thf  streets,  they  shall  just  le 
 
 3  ur.ftcru  torchtt. 
 :i  II<  -I...  their  thotc 
 Haute. 
 
 .iii' 
 o 
 
 one  sgainsl  another  in  the  broad  ways: 
 'thej  -hall  seem  like  torches,  they  shall 
 ran  like  the  lightning  .  Ee  shall  re- 
 count his  'worthies:  they  shall  stnmble 
 
 in  their  walk  ;  they  shall  make  haste  t.. 
 
 the  wall  there..)',  and  the  ■  defence   shall 
 
 be  prepared.    "The  gates  of  the  rivers 
 
 shall   lie  opened,  and  the  palace  shall  be 
 
 plunderers  plundered  Hum  and  mm-nd  th 
 shoots.  The  soared  nation  is  Jehovah's  vino,  destined 
 to  Rend  "ut  its  tendrils  all  over  the  earth.  Bui  Jehovah 
 has  allowed  its  hedge  to  he  broken  down.  "All  they 
 thai  go  by  do  pluck  her  .  .  ."  (Pa.  Ixxx,  1-.  13). 
 In  the  punishment  of  one  notoriously  oppressive  world- 
 power  the  prophet  Bees  a  pledge  that  the  branch  <.f 
 Jehovah  shall  be  again  "beautiful  and  glorious  "  ,  l~a. 
 iv.  2).  The  construction  in  the  fire!  part  of  the  verse 
 is  perplexing.  It  appears  best  t..  attach  •■!  Bpeeial 
 emphasis  to  the  names  "  Jacob  "  and  "  [srael  "  in  con- 
 nection with  their  original  signification.    "Ji b"is 
 
 the  birth-nami — the  nation  regarded  apart  from  its 
 religious  privileges,  th.-  homeless  exile,  the  down- 
 trodden "worm  "  [Isa.  xli.  14),  the  younger  son  among 
 nations.  But " Israel " is  the  chosen  of  God;  he  who 
 "had  power  over  the  angel  and  prevailed;"  tin'  "be- 
 •  I  son,  called  out  of  Egypt.''    The  name  given  by 
 
 Jehovah  is  henceforth  t..  have  its  lull  significai .as 
 
 in  tlie  days  ..t'  1. 1.1.  "Jacob,"  th..  name  which  is  so 
 often  used  alter  the  deportation  of  th.-  ten  tribes,  is 
 again  t..  be  indicated  as  "  Israel,"  the  favoured  people 
 oi  God,     Some  commentators  render,  "For  Jehovah 
 
 restores  alike  the  glory  of  Jacob  and  the  glory  of 
 [srael,"  Ac.   making   ".Jacob"'   the  designation   OS  the 
 
 southern,  "Israel"  that  of  the  northern  kingdom. 
 But  the  term  "Jacob"  nowhere  else  has  this  distinc- 
 tive force. 
 
 (3)  His  mighty  men.— That  is,  those  of  the  besieger 
 of  verse  l. 
 
 Made  red. — That  is,  with  blood;  not  with  reference 
 to  the  bright  red  Cupper,  which  was  the  material  of  the 
 
 shield,  for  the  word  usually  means  "dyed  red." 
 
 In  scarlet.—  Red  was  the  favourite  colour,  not  only 
 of  ill,-  DCedes,  from  whom  Xenophon  says  the  Persians 
 obtained  their  purple  tunics,  but  also  of  the  Baby- 
 lonians; compare  the  description  in  E/.ek.  xxiii.  II. 
 15,  and  Layard'a  Nineveh,  p.  347.    Beth  Medea  ami 
 
 Babylonians  were  engaged  in  the  present   siege.     The 
 
 rest  "f  the  verse  runs.  //>  iquipped]  with 
 
 flashing  steel  in  (he  day  of  his  /-  .  and  the 
 
 cypress  lances  are  brandished.    The  "flashing  steel" 
 
 may  refer  to  ornaments  of  this  material  attached  to 
 the  chariot,  or.   as    we   incline    to   think,  to   scythe--   or 
 
 sharp  instruments  fastened  to  the  wheels.    Some  form 
 
 of  this  weapon   may  well  have  been   in  use  long  before 
 
 tlie  present  date.    Xenophon  relate-;  thai  Cyrus  was 
 
 tin-  first  to  introduce  the  s.-vt  he-chariot .  (.'tcsias,  how- 
 ever, speaks  of  it  as  of  much  earlier  origin.  The  older 
 Hebrew     commentators     render     this     word     p'lddSth, 
 
 "  torches,''  as  in  the  Authorised  Version.  With  this  ren- 
 dering,  the  Bwiftly-moving  war-chariots  are  likened  to 
 
 flashing  torches,  as  they  arc  in  the  next  verse. 
 
 Verses  4  and  5  describe  the  state  of  the  city  while 
 
 sustaining  this  siege.  There  is  a  alight  contrast  between 
 
 this  portraiture  and  that  of  verse  :!,  which  has  been 
 made  the  most  of  by  Klcincrt.  "  Without.  God  arranges 
 His  hosts;  within  is  the  disorder  of  wild  terror:  with- 
 
 out, a  stead]    approach  against   the  city;    within    ■ 
 
 frantic   rushing   hither  and  thither:   without,  a   joyful 
 
 splendour;  within,  a  deadly  paleness,  lik.-  torch-light." 
 The  last  part  of  verse  t  U  thus  made  a  description  of 
 
 the  aspect    of  the  Ninevites,   not    their  chariot-.     This 
 
 appears  to  us  a  fanciful  interpretation.    In  its  behalf, 
 
 the    description    of   a    panic    in    Isa.    xiii.    8    has   be   'i 
 
 adduced  :  ■■  They  shall  be  amazed  on.-  at  another  :  their 
 face-  >hall  l.e  a-  flames."    But  ii  is  obviously  better  to 
 
 restrict   the  rcf.-rei throughout  to  the  chariots  of  tlie 
 
 besieged  city,  darting  hither  and  thither  in  wild  un- 
 disciplined attempts  to  resist  the  invader's  onset. 
 
 (6)  And  the  defence  shall  be  prepared.— 
 Better.  but  [there  Ihi  storming-shed  has  been  prepared. 
 Here  the  surprise  and  disorder  of  Nineveh  is  mors 
 
 plainly  portrayed.     The  Assyrian  king  bethinks  him  of 
 
 his  stoutest  warriors,  but  they  stumble  in  their  paths 
 
 in  nervous  perplexity'.      Men   hie   to  the   city   wall,   but 
 
 against  it  the  besiegers  have  already  erected  their 
 storming-shed  -a  proceeding  which  ought  to  have  been 
 prevented  by  the  discharge  of  stones  and  other  due 
 from  the  walls.  The  storming-shed  protected  the 
 battering-rams.  Of  tin-  representations  ,.|  these  pre- 
 served in  the  monuments  of  Nineveh,  Profess  irBawlin- 
 
 son  thus  writes:  "All  of  them  were  covered  with  a 
 framework,  which  was  of  osier  wood.   felt,  or  skins,  for 
 
 the  better  protection  of  those  who  worked  the  implement. 
 
 .  .  .  Some  appear  to  have  been  stationary,  others 
 provided  with  wheels.  .  .  .  Again,  sometimes  com- 
 bined with  the  rani  and  its  framework  was  a  movable 
 tower  containing  soldiers,  who  at  onoefought  the  enemy 
 on  a  level,  and  protected  the  engine  from  their  attacks  " 
 [Ancient  Monarchies,  i.  -170). 
 (6)  The  gates  of  the  rivers.— This  verse  is  one 
 
 of  great  importance.     The  account  of  QteeiaS,  preserved 
 
 by  Diodorua  Siculus,  tells  u-  thai  for  over  two  years  the 
 
 immense  thickness  of  the  walls  of   Nineveh    baffled    the 
 
 engineering  skill  of  the  besiegers;  but  that  "in  the 
 third   year    it    happened   that    by  reason  of  a  continual 
 
 discharge  of  great  storms,  the  Euphrat  being 
 
 swollen,  both  inundated  a  part  of  the  city  anil  overthrew 
 the  wall  to  the  extent  of  twenty  stadia."  The  king  saw 
 in  this  the  fulfilment  of  an  oracle,  which  had  declared 
 that    the   city   should  fall    when    "the    river   became   an 
 
 enemy  to  the  city."     Determined  not  to  fall  into  the 
 
 hands  of  his  foes,  he  shut  himself  up  With  all  his 
 treasures  in  the  royal  citadel,  which  he  then  set  on  fire. 
 We    believe    that    this    account,    though    inaccurate    in 
 
 detail,  may  be  regarded  as  based  on  s  substratum  of 
 
 historical  fact.  So  gigantic  were  the  fortifications  of 
 Nineveh,  that  of  those  on  the  east,  where  the  city  was 
 most  open  to  attack.  Mr.  I.ayar.l  writes  i  "  The  remains 
 Still  existing  .  .  .  almost  confirm  the  statement- 
 Diodorus  Siculus  that  the  walls  were  a  hundred  feet 
 high,  and  that  three  chariots  coidd  drive  upon  them 
 abreast"   [Nineveh   and  Babylon,  p.  660).     Against 
 
 ramparts  such  as  these  the  most  elaborate  testudo  of 
 ancient    times    may    well    have    been    comparatively 
 
 M7 
 
The  Capture  of  Nineveh. 
 
 NAHUM,   III. 
 
 Destruction  of  the  City. 
 
 1  dissolved.  (7)  And  3  Huzzab  shall  be 
 3  led  away  captive,  she  shall  be  brought 
 up,  and  her  maids  shall  lead  her  as  with 
 the  voice  of  doves,  tabering  upon  their 
 breasts.  (8)  But  Nineveh  is  *  of  old  like 
 a  pool  of  water :  yet  they  shall  flee  away. 
 Stand,  stand,  shall  they  cry  ;  but  none 
 shall  5look  back.  (W  Take  ye  the  spoil 
 of  silver,  take  the  spoil  of  gold :  6  for 
 there  is  none  end  of  the  store  and  glory 
 out  of  all  the 7 pleasant  furniture.  (10>She 
 is  empty,  and  void,  and  waste :  and  the 
 "heart  melteth,  and  the  knees  smite 
 together,  and  much  pain  is  in  all  loins, 
 and  the  faces  of  them  all  gather  black- 
 ness. 
 
 (ii)  Where  is  the  dwelling  of  the  lions, 
 and  the  feedingplace  of  the  yoimg  lions, 
 
 Or,  that  which 
 woe    established, 
 
 or,  tin  re   irus    a 
 stand  made. 
 
 3  Or,  discovered. 
 
 4  Or,  from  thedaya 
 that  she  liuth 
 been. 
 
 5  Or,  acmae  them 
 to  turn. 
 
 6  Or,  odi!  their  In. 
 
 finite  store,  tic. 
 
 7  Heli.,  vessels  of 
 desire. 
 
 a  Isa.  13.  7,  8. 
 
 8     Heb„    city    of 
 
 bloods. 
 
 b  Ezek.  21.9;  Hah. 
 
 2.  12. 
 
 where  the  lion,  even  the  old  lion,  walked, 
 and  the  lion's  whelp,  and  none  made 
 them  afraid  ?  (12)  The  Hon  did  tear  in 
 pieces  enough  for  his  whelps,  and 
 strangled  for  his  lionesses,  and  tilled  his 
 holes  with  prey,  and  his  dens  with  ravin. 
 <13)  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  saith  the 
 Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  will  burn  her 
 chariots  in  the  smoke,  and  the  sword 
 shall  devour  thy  young  lions  :  and  I  will 
 cut  off  thy  prey  from  the  earth,  and  the 
 voice  of  thy  messengers  shall  no  more 
 be  heard. 
 
 CHAPTEE  III.— wWoetothe84bloody 
 city  !  it  is  all  full  of  lies  and  robbery  ; 
 the  prey  departeth  not ;  (2)  the  noise 
 of  a  whip,  and  the  noise  of  the  rattling 
 
 powerless.  Oil  the  other  hand,  the  force  of  a  swollen 
 river  has  often  proved  suddenly  fatal  to  the  strongest 
 modern  masonry.  It  would  be  specially  destructive 
 where,  as  in  the  case  of  Nineveh,  the  walls  inun- 
 dated were  of  sun-dried  brick  or  "  clay-bat."  Thus 
 the  fate  of  the  city  may  well  have  been  precipitated 
 in  accordance  with  the  terse  prediction  of  this  verse. 
 The  "  gates  of  the  rivers"  (i.e.,  the  dams  which  fenced 
 the  Khausser,  which  ran  through  Nineveh,  and  the 
 Tigris,  which  was  outside  it)  are  forced  open  by  the 
 swelling  torrents,  and  lo,  the  fate  of  the  city  is  sealed ! 
 ramparts  against  which  the  battering-ram  might  have 
 plied  in  vain  are  sapped  at  the  very  foundation  ;  palace 
 walls  are  undermined,  and  literally  "  dissolve  ; "  the  be- 
 sieger hastens  to  avail  himself  of  the  disaster,  and  (in  the 
 single  word  of  verse  7)  it-is-decided.  It  is  unnecessary 
 to  identify  the  "  palace  "  which  thus  succumbs.  Neither 
 is  it  a  reasonable  objection  that  the  palaces  of  Khor- 
 sabad  and  Kouynnjik,  lying  near  the  Khausser,  bear 
 the  marks  of  fire,  not  water.  If  Nahum  must  have  in 
 mind  some  particular  palace,  it  may  be  fairly  argued 
 that  water  is  not  such  a  demonstrative  agency  as  the 
 sister  element;  and  that  nothing  would  so  effectively 
 conceal  the  damage  done  by  the  inundation  as  the  sub- 
 sequent conflagrations  effected  by  the  victorious  be- 
 sieger. The  verb  namvg,  "  dissolved."  we  thus  take 
 in  its  literal  signification  of  the  dissolution  of  a  solid 
 substance  by  the  action  of  water;  not  as  Dr.  Pnsey, 
 figuratively,  of  the  "  dissolution  of  the  empire  itself." 
 
 I7)  And  Huzzab  shall  be  led  away  captive 
 .  .  .  . — Better,  And  it  is  decided.  She  is  laid  bare. 
 She  is  removed  away.  And  her  maidens  moan,  as  with 
 the  cry  of  doves,  smiting  on  their  breasts. 
 
 It  is  decided,  or  established — e'est  un  fait  accompli. 
 The  Authorised  Version  apparently  follows  those  Rab- 
 binic commentators  who  treat  the  Hebrew  expression 
 hntstsab  as  the  name  of  an  Assyrian  queen,  or  as  a  sym- 
 bolical designation  of  Nineveh,  The  word  is  best  re- 
 garded as  a'verb-f  orm  cognate  to  the  expression  rendered 
 by  the  Authorised  Version  "  of  certainty,"  "  certain," 
 '•  true,"  in  Dan.  ii.  48,  iii.  24,  vii.  1(3.  Laid  bare,  the 
 common  figure  of  the  virgin  city  put  to  shame  by  capture 
 (comp.  Isa.  xlvii.  1 — 5).  The  "  maidens  "  who  "  moan 
 as  with  the  cry  of  doves  "  (comp.  Isa.  xxxviii.  14 ;  lix. 
 11 ;  Ezek.  vii.  16)  are  probably  Nineveh's  dependent 
 cities.     These  are  represented  as  standing  gazing  on 
 
 the  awful  catastrophe,  groaning  aloud  and  beating 
 the  breast  (comp.  Luke  xxiii.  48)  iu  a  horror  of 
 despair. 
 
 (8)  We  prefer  to  adopt  the  slight  change  of  reading 
 favoured  by  the  LXX.  (meymeyhd  for  mimcy  '<?)>  an£l 
 to  render.  And  Nineveh,  like  a  pool  of  water  are  her 
 waters,  and  they  [her  inhabitants]  are  fleeing  away. 
 The  waters  which  formerly  flowed  in  river-courses  and 
 dykes  are  now  one  vast  expanse  of  inundation.  A  panic 
 thereupon  seizes  the  inhabitants.  If  the  present  text 
 be  maintained,  the  rendering  of  the  Authorised  Version 
 will  stand.  We  may  then  suppose  the  heterogeneous 
 population  of  Nineveh  to  be  compared  to  "  countless 
 drops,  full,  untroubled,  with  no  ebb  or  flow,  fenced  in 
 from  the  days  that  she  hath  been,  yet  even  therefore 
 stagnant  and  corrupted ;  not  '  a  fountain  of  living 
 waters'"  (Pusey).  But  this  appears  to  its  a  far- 
 fetched comparison. 
 
 The  pregnant  terseness  of  the  last  part  of  the  verse 
 will  give  the  English  reader  a  good  idea  of  Nahum's 
 style  and  the  difficulties  therewith  connected. 
 
 (9)  And  glory. — Better,  there  is  abundance  of  all 
 precious  vessels. 
 
 (10)  And  the  faces  of  them  all  gather  black- 
 ness.— Better,  perhaps,  and  all  faces  withdraw  their 
 brightness.  (See  Note  on  Joel  ii.  6,  where  the  same  ex- 
 pression  occurs.) 
 
 (U—13)  T]le  figure  of  the  lion  appears  so  frequently 
 on  the  Assyrian  monuments  that  we  ma)r  perhaps  sup- 
 pose it  to  have  been  a  national  scutcheon.  The  meta- 
 phor of  the  ravening  beast  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
 Assyrian  records,  wherein  the  most  frequent  theme  is 
 the  levying  of  gold,  silver,  brass,  oxen,  &c,  from  tribu- 
 tary cities.  The  "  messengers  "  of  verse  13  are  royal 
 heralds  and  delegates,  subordinate  agents  in  this  busi- 
 ness of  extortion. 
 
 III. 
 
 The  catastrophe  enlarged  upon  in  respect  to  its  pro- 
 voking cause,  and  its  fearful  results. 
 
 (D  Woe  to  the  bloody  city! — Better,  0  bloody 
 city  I  She  is  altogether  deceit,  filled  with  crime  :  she 
 ceases  not  from  plunder. 
 
 <2>  The'  noise  of  .  .  .—Better,  Hark  to  the 
 whip,  and  hark  to  the  rattling  of  the  wheel,  and  the 
 
 51S 
 
'///•'  Altii  rabU  Ru\ 
 
 NAIII'M,    III. 
 
 of  At, 
 
 of  the  wheels,  and  of  the  pransing  horses, 
 and  of  i  he  jumping  chariot  3.  :|  rrh<- 
 horseman  lifteth  ap  both  'the  bright 
 Bword  and  the  glittering  Bpear:  and 
 there  is  a  multitude  of  slain,  and  a  great 
 number  of  carcases;  and  there  it  none 
 end  nf  tin  ir  corpses  ;  they  stumble  upon 
 
 tlu.'ir  corpses:  "hecause  of  the  multi- 
 tude of  the  whoredoms  of  the  well- 
 favoured  harlot,  the  mistress  of  wit  <h- 
 crafts,  thai  selleth  nations  through  her 
 whoredoms,  and  families  through  her 
 witchcrafts.  '5)  Behold,  I  wm  against 
 thee,  suith  the  Lord  of  hosts;  and  "I 
 
 will  discover  thy  skirts  upon  thy  face, 
 and  I  will  shew  the  nations  thy  naked- 
 ness,   and    the   kingdoms    thy   ahame. 
 
 'And  I  will  east  abominable  tilth  upon 
 thee,  and  make  thee  vile,  and  will  set 
 thee  as  a  gazingstock.  '"'  And  it  shall 
 come  tn  pass,  thai  all  they  that    look 
 
 tif/htning  of  tht 
 
 .  8;  Ezck 
 
 •j  Or,  nourUMHg. 
 
 :;  ll<  u,.Vo Amon. 
 
 I   ll*\>..  in  thy  hcli> 
 
 upon  thee  shall  flee  from  thee,  and  say, 
 Nineveh  is  laid  waste:  who  will  bemoan 
 
 herP   whence  shall  I  sick  comforters  for 
 
 theeP 
 
 (8>  Art  thou  better  than  "populous 
 No,  that  was  situate  among  the  rivers, 
 that  had  the  waters  round  about  it, 
 whose  rampart  wax  the  sea,  and  her  wall 
 was  from  the  sea?  W Ethiopia  and 
 Egypt  were  her  strength,  and  it  was  in- 
 finite; I'nt  and Lnhim were *thy helpers. 
 1(1  Yei  wot  she  carried  away,  sin-  went 
 into  captivity:  her  young  children  also 
 were  dashed  in  pieces  at  the  top  of  all 
 the  streets  :  and  they  cast  lots  for  her 
 honourahle  men,  and  all  her  great  men 
 were  bound  in  chains. 
 
 ('"Thou  also  shalt  be  ''drunken  :  thou 
 
 shall      be     hid,      thou      also     shalt      seek 
 
 strength  because  of  the  enemy.     il-  All 
 thy  strong  holds  shall  be  like  fig  trees 
 
 horse  galloping,  and  the  chariot  bounding.  The  entry 
 of  the  victorious  besiegers  is  hen  described. 
 
 (81  The  horseman  lifteth  up.— Better.  There  it 
 the  rearing  horseman  and  the  flaming  sword,  and  (he 
 glittering  lance,  tn>'t  a  multitude  of  mounded,  and  a 
 mass  of  eorpsi .-  .  .  . 
 
 M  •'•<  Because  of  the  multitude.  In  the  idolatry 
 and  superstition  of  Nineveh  the  prophet  finds  the  cause 
 of  hei  destruction.  Perversion  of  religious  instinct  is 
 frequently  denounced  under  the  same  figure  in  Scrip- 
 ture.    Here,  however,  a  more  literal  interpretation  is 
 
 possible,  since  there    is    reason    to   believe   the  religious 
 
 rites  of  Assyria  were  characterised,  like  those  of  Baby- 
 lon, by  gross  sensuality.  According  to  Herod,  i.  199, 
 the  Babylonian  worship  of  Beltis  or  Mylitta  was  eon. 
 
 nected    with    a    system    of    female    prostitution,   which 
 
 was  deemed   "most   shameful"  even  by  the  heathen 
 
 historian.      Compare  also  the    A] ryphal  Book   of 
 
 Baruch  \i.  13,  The  same  deity  was  worshipped  in 
 Assyria.      Professor   Rawlinson    writes:    "It    would 
 
 seem  to  follow  almost   as  a  matter  of  course  that   the 
 
 worship  of  the  same  identical  goddess  in  the  adjoining 
 country  included  a  similar  usage.  It  may  lie  to  this 
 practice  that  the  prophet  Nahum  alludes  when  he 
 denounces  Nineveh  as  a  'well-favoured  harlot,'  the 
 multitude  of  whose  harlotries  was  notorious"  (Five 
 Qreat  Monarchii  s,  ii.  H  ). 
 
 (7)  Shall  flee  from  thee.— As  in  the  ease  of  the 
 destruction  of  Koran,  men  flee  from  the  stricken  eitv  lest 
 
 they  share   her  punishment.      Nor  is  she  an  object    of 
 
 compassion  »  hose  cruel!  ies  have  been  as  extensive  as  her 
 
 empire.     Hers  is  the  fate  of  the  fallen  tyrant— left  to 
 
 vainly  proan. 
 
 With  pangs  onfall  before,  anpiti  id  and  alone  " 
 
 (S)  Populous  No.— Bettor.  No  Amon.  Thebes, 
 the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt, was  known  to  the  Hebrews 
 as  ••  No  Amon  '  [perhaps,  "house  of  the  god  Amon;" 
 
 similarly  the  Greeks  called  it  AiiimroAu).  Assyria  her- 
 self bad"  reduced  the  power  of  Thebes.  1 1  Sargon,  the 
 father  of  Bennacherib.  had  defeated  Shebah,  the  Egyp- 
 tian Tar-dan,  at  Rapikh,  eir.  B.C.  716,    .   Eear-haddon, 
 
 Sennacherib's  son.  had  routed  the  forces  of  Tirhakah. 
 
 subjugated  the  whole  of  the  Nile  ralley,  and  taken  the 
 
 city   where  Tirhakah   held   bis  court,  probably   Thebes, 
 
 oir. B.C. 670.  ■'•)  Asshur-bani-pal in vaded Egypt  in  tin- 
 year  of  his  accession,  B.C.  668,  and  reinstated  certain 
 
 rulers  of  his  father's  appointment,  whom   Tirhakah  had 
 
 driven  out.  In  n.e.  666,  another  revolt  brought  this  kin^ 
 again  into  Egypt.  On  this  occasion  Thebes  was  cer- 
 tainly sacked,  and  a  large  booty,  including  "  gold,  silver. 
 
 precious    stones,    dyed    garments,    Captives      male    and 
 
 female  .  tame  animals  brought  up  in  the  palace,  obelisks, 
 &e.,  was  carried  off,  and  conveyed  to  Nineveh  "    i 
 Great  Monarchies,  ii.  203).    The  present  passage  may 
 
 refer  either  to   this  event    or  to  Esar-haddon's  previous 
 
 captui f  Thebes.    The  fall  of  the  city  was  certainly  a 
 
 thing  of  the  past  when  Nahum  wrote.  The  allusion. 
 therefore,  helps  us  to  assign  the  date  of  the  uposition 
 
 see  introduction).  To  mere  human  reasoning  the  down- 
 fall of  Thebes  testified  to  the  power  of  Assyria,  its  con- 
 queror. But  to  the  inspired  vision  of  Nahum.  the  ruin 
 of  the  one  WOrld-pOWer  is  an  earnest  of  the  ruin  of  the 
 
 other.    Both  had  been  full  of  luxury  and  oppression, 
 
 both  were  hated  of  mankind  and  opposed  to  God.  If 
 No-Amon    has    fallen,    the   city  of  the    hundred    g 
 
 tbo  metropolis  of  the  Pharaohs,  the  conqueror  whose 
 
 countless    captives    reared    the    pyramids,   why  shall 
 
 Nineveh   stand?      If  Nineveh  is   protected  by  river 
 
 the  Tigris  and  the  Khausser — had  not  Thebes  a  ram- 
 part in  the  Nile,  that  "sea"  of  waters  iciimp.  Isa. 
 xix.  5  .  and  its  numerous  canals?      If  Nineveh  relies  on 
 
 subordinate  or  friendly  states — Mesopotamia.  Baby- 
 lonia, S_\ria — had  not  Thebes  all  the  resources  of 
 Africa  — Ethiopia  in  the  south,  the  Egypts  in  the 
 north,  her  Libyan  allies.  Put  and  the  Lubim.  in  the 
 north-west;-  Vet  what  was  the  fate  of  No  Anion? 
 Her  youth  carried  off  in  the  Blave-gangB  of  Assyria;  her 
 infants  dashed  to  pieces  at    the   street -corner    J  Kings 
 
 viii.  12),  as  unprofitable  to  the  captor;   her  senators 
 
 reserved     to     grace    a     triumph,     and    assigned    to    tbo 
 
 Assyrian  generals  by  l"t    Obad.  11  . 
 
 di,  12)  Thou  also  shalt  be  drunken.— Xine\.h 
 also  shall  he  drunken  with  the  cup  of  God's  wratl 
 Hab.  ii.  16  .  yea.  hid  from  recollection,  80  that  men  shall 
 ask.  "  Where  is  Nineveh?"    ^Conii>.  chap.  ii.  11.)    She, 
 
 519 
 
Nineveh  Spoiled. 
 
 "NAHUM,    III. 
 
 The  End  of  her  Greatness. 
 
 with  the  firstripe  figs  :  if  they  he  shaken, 
 they  shall  even  fall  into  the  mouth  of 
 the  eater.  <13)  Behold,  thy  people  in  the 
 midst  of  thee  are  women  :  the  gates  of 
 thy  land  shall  he  set  wide  open  unto  thine 
 enemies  :  the  fire  shall  devour  thy  bars. 
 (U)  Draw  thee  waters  for  the  siege, 
 fortify  thy  strong  holds  :  go  into  clay, 
 and  tread  the  morter,  make  strong 
 the  brickkiln.  <15>  There  shall  the  fire 
 devour  thee ;  the  sword  shall  cut  thee 
 off,  it  shall  eat  thee  up  like  the  canker- 
 worm  :  make  thyself  many  as  the  can- 
 kerworni,  make  thyself  many  as  the 
 locusts.  <16>  Thou  hast  multiplied  thy 
 merchants  above  the  stars  of  heaven  : 
 
 1     Or,     spreitfkth 
 hvnwi  If. 
 
 2  Or,  valiant  ones. 
 
 Ildi.,  irruikliiifj. 
 
 the  cankerworm  1  spoileth,  and  fleeth 
 away.  (17>  Thy  crowned  are  as  the 
 locusts,  and  thy  captains  as  the  great 
 grasshoppers,  which  camp  in  the  hedges 
 in  the  cold  day,  but  when  the  sun  ariseth 
 they  flee  away,  and  their  place  is  not 
 known  where  they  are.  (18)  Thy  shep- 
 herds slumber,  0  king  of  Assyria  :  thy 
 2 nobles  shall  dwell  in  the  dust:  thy 
 people  is  scattered  upon  the  mountains, 
 and  no  man  gathereth  them.  *19'  There 
 is  no  3healing  of  thy  bruise ;  thy  wound 
 is  grievous :  all  that  hear  the  bruit  of 
 thee  shall  clap  the  hands  over  thee  :  for 
 upon  whom  hath  not  thy  wickedness 
 passed  continually? 
 
 too,  shall  vainly  seek  a  fortress  (Authorised  Version, 
 "  strength  ")  to  give  her  shelter,  all  her  own  strong- 
 holds having  fallen  as  easily  as  the  ripe  fruit  from 
 the  fig-tree. 
 
 (13)  Thy  people  .  .  .  are  women,  not  in  their 
 notoriously  effeminate  and  luxurious  habits  (see  Layard, 
 p.  360),  but  with  reference  to  their  panic-stricken  con- 
 dition at  the  time  of  the  catastrophe.  They  are  fearful 
 as  women  (comp.  Jer.  1.  37,  li.  30),  because  they  find 
 avenues  laid  open  to  the  enemy,  and  the  remaining 
 defences  consuming  in  the  flames. 
 
 (li)  Draw  thee  waters.— In  this  desperate  plight 
 Nineveh  is  scoffingly  advised  to  protract  her  resistance. 
 The  outer  walls  are  brokeu  down ;  let  her  hold  out  in 
 the  citadel.  Nay,  let  her  begin  anew  her  preparations 
 for  defence.  Let  her  lay  in  water  and  provision,  and 
 build  new  buttresses  of  brick.  What  shall  it  avail  her  ? 
 In  the  midst  of  her  preparations,  fire  and  sword  shall 
 again  surprise  her.  The  account  of  this  last  struggle 
 for  existence  is  minute.  Nahum  goes  back  to  the 
 repair  of  the  brick-kiln,  just  as  Isaiah,  in  his  description 
 of  idol-worship,  goes  back  to  the  smith  working  with 
 the  tongs,  and  the  carpenter  measuring  with  his  rule 
 (Isa.  xliv.  12,  seq.).  In  both  cases  the  irony  gains  force 
 by  a  minute  and  elaborate  description  of  operations 
 destined  to  be  futile. 
 
 (15,  16)  The  diversion  of  metaphor  here  is  somewhat 
 repugnant  to  modern  taste.  The  sword,  like  the  locust, 
 shall  devour  Nineveh.  Yet  Nineveh  is  immediately 
 afterwards  compared  in  its  numbers,  destructive  in- 
 fluence, and  sudden  disappearance  to  the  locust.  It  is 
 a  transition  like  St.  Paul's  "  going  off  at  a  word."  The 
 comparison  of  the  locust  suggests  the  thought  that 
 Nineveh  herself  lias  been  a  locust-pest  to  the  world, 
 and  the  direction  of  the  metaphor  is  thereupon  sud- 
 denly changed.  A  paraphrase  will  best  bring  out  the 
 meaning.  (15)  "  Hostile  swords  devour  thee,  as  a  locust 
 swarm  devours.  Vainly  clusters  together  thy  dense 
 population,  itself  another  locust-swarm.  (16)  Yea,  as 
 the  stars  of  heaven  for  number  have  been  thy  mer- 
 
 chants, as  a  pest  of  locusts  which  plunders  one  day  and 
 is  gone  the  next." 
 
 (16)  Spoileth. — Better,  spreads  itself  out :  swarms 
 out  to  spoil. 
 
 (17)  Thy  crowned.— The  subordinate  kings  who  re- 
 present the  Assyrian  empire  in  her  tributary  provinces. 
 
 Captains. — Taphs'rim,  an  Assyrian  term  denoting 
 some  high  military  office.  The  sudden  disappearance 
 of  the  Assyrian  locust-pest  is  here  enlarged  upon.  A 
 sudden  outburst  of  sunshine  will  sometimes  induce  a 
 swarm  of  locusts  to  take  flight ;  cold,  on  the  other 
 hand,  makes  these  insects  settle,  and  soon  deprives 
 them  of  the  power  of  flying.  Dr.  Pusey  well  observes, 
 ' '  The  heathen  conqueror  rehearsed  liis  victory,  '  I  came, 
 
 1  saw,  conquered.'  The  prophet  goes  further,  as  the 
 issue  of  all  human  conquest,  '  I  disappeared.' "  The 
 insect  designations,  rendered  in  Authorised  Version, 
 '•  cankerworm."  "  locust,"  "  great  grasshopper,"  all 
 represent  varieties  of  the  locust  species. 
 
 (13)  Shepherds — i.e..  chief  officers,  as  in  Micah  v. 
 
 2  and  passim.  Their  sheep  are  "  scattered  upon  the 
 mountains  and  none  attempts  to  gather  them."  So 
 Micaiah  annouuees  to  Ahab,  *'  I  saw  all  Israel  scattered 
 upon  the  hills  as  sheep  that  have  not  a  shepherd  " 
 (1  Kings  xxii.  17). 
 
 Thy  nobles  shall  dwell. — Better,  thy  mighty 
 men  are  lying  still. 
 
 (19)  Clap  the  hands  over  thee.— All  that  hear 
 the  "  bruit "  or  report  of  the  fall  of  Nineveh  clap  their 
 hands  with  joy  (Ps.  xlvii.  1),  for  where  has  not  her 
 oppressive  rule  been  felt  ?  The  verse  is  addressed  to 
 the  king  (second  person  masculine)  as  the  representa- 
 tive of  the  empire,  perhaps  also  in  view  of  his  terrible 
 end.  The  cruelty  of  the  Ninevitc  regime  is  illustrated, 
 as  Kleinert  remarks,  in  the  sculptures,  "  by  the  rows 
 of  the  impaled,  the  prisoners  through  whose  lips  rings 
 were  fastened,  wdiose  eyes  were  put  out,  who  were 
 flayed  alive.  Consequently  it  would  be  a  joy  to  all 
 nations  to  hear  the  voice  of  the  messengers  of  the 
 tyrant  no  more  (chap.  ii.  14),  but  to  hear  that  of  the 
 messengers  of  his  destruction." 
 
 520 
 
HABAKKUK. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 HABAKKUK. 
 
 I.  Tho  Author. — Habakkuk's  own  words  lead  to 
 
 the   inferei thai  be  prophesied   shortly   before  tho 
 
 battle  of  Oarchemish,  B.C.  605,  and  therefore  in  the 
 reign  of  Jehoiakim  [v.  infra).  But  we  arc  told  nothing 
 concerning  his  tribe,  birthplace,  or  personal  history, 
 The  earliest  legend  bearing  on  these  points  is  in  the 
 apocryphal  book,  "Bel and  the  Dragon."  It  is  there 
 recorded  (verses  33  mo;.),  thnt  the  prophet  Habakkuk 
 was  commiBsioned  by  an  angel  to  Feed  Daniel  in  tho 
 < !>•  11  of  Lions,  and  that  for  this  purpose  he  was  miracu- 
 lously transported  from  Jucubs  to  Babylon.  The  story. 
 worthless  in  itself,  nevertheless  indirectly  confirms  the 
 theory  of  "date,"  which  we  have  accepted  below.  Its 
 existence  indicates  thai  the  Jewish  tradition  connected 
 Habakkuk's  ministry  with  the  period  of  Babylonish 
 captivity — with  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim,  rather  than  with 
 those  ai  Dfanasseh,  Anion,  or  Josiah,  Another  point 
 of  interest  in  the  legend  is  tin'  superscription  in  Coil. 
 Ohisianus  of  the  LXX.  (from  Origen's  l&traplar,  and 
 the  Syro  Hexaplar),  claiming  Habakkuk  himself  as  tho 
 
 author  of  "  Bel  and  the  Dragon."  This  superscription 
 runs,  '•From  the  prophecy  of  Habakkuk.  the  son  of 
 Joshua,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi."  The  ret'erenee  to  the 
 prophet's  tribe  has  attracted  special  attention,  in  view 
 of  the  prescription  in  chap.  iii.  19:  "To  the  chief 
 musician  upon  my  stringed  instruments."    It  has  been 
 
 inferred,  from   the  use  of  the  possessive   pronoun,  that 
 
 Habakkuk  was  capacitated  for  taking  a  Levite's  part  in 
 
 the  Temple  services.     This  inference,  however,  is  de\  I  id 
 
 of  substantial  basis.  It  is  possible  thai  the  term 
 n'fftnothay  is  a  dual  form,  not  the  plural  with  the  pos- 
 sessive nllix — a  "double-stringed  instrument,"  not  "  my 
 
 Stringed  instruments."  And  whatever  the  meaning  of 
 the  term.  Kill";  llezokiah   prescribes  the  same  liturgical 
 
 use  at   tl nd  of  Ids  psalm   in  Isa.  xxxviii.    1 1 1  < -1  > . 
 
 n'naggen  n'g(n6ihay,  Authorised  Version,"  Wo  will  sing 
 my  songs  to  the  stringed  instruments.'')   But  Hezekiah 
 
 was  not  a   Levite.    Why  must  Ilaliakkuk  have  been  oneP 
 
 In  faet.  the  passage  (chap,  iii.  19)  proves  nothing  what- 
 ever with  regard  to  the  prophet's  tribe.  The  super- 
 scription to  "  Bel  and  the  Dragon"  must  be  judged  on 
 its  own  merits;  and  it  merely  shows  that  a  Jewish 
 tradition  of  early  date  made  "Joshua"  the  name  of 
 Habakkuk's  father,  and  Levi  his  tribe. 
 
 Later  and  less  respectable  traditions  appear  in  the 
 Rabbinic  writings.    Such  is  the  legend  thai  llahakkuk 
 
 was  the  watchman  set  by  Isaiah  to  observe  the  de- 
 struction of  Babylon,  a  legend  based  on  a  combination 
 
 of  Isa.  \\i.  16  and  chap.  ii.  1.  Such,  too,  is  the  tradi- 
 tion repeated  by  Abarbanel,  that  the  prophet  was  that 
 
 son  of  a  Shunammite  woman  whom  Elisha  restored  to 
 life  ('J    Kings  iv.i.      Etymology   has   here,  as   in  other 
 
 eases,  become  the  parent  of  an  absurd  myth.  The 
 name  Habakkuk  is  connected  by  derivation  with  the 
 verb  chdbak,  "to  embrace."  In  -2  Kings  iv.  16  occur 
 the  words  " thou  shall  embrace  [chdbak)  a  son."  This 
 is  the  solo  foundation  of  the  tradition.     Iu  this  eon. 
 
 neetion  we  remark  that  there  is  no   reason   to  give  the 
 
 name  " Habakkuk "  any  symbolical  meaning  whatever. 
 It  was  probably  the  name  which  the  prophet  bore  from 
 
 childhood,  not  an  official  or  ministerial  designation. 
 
 II.  Occasion  of  Writing.— llahakkuk  is  sum- 
 moned   to  announce   Jehovah's   intention   of    punishing 
 
 the  iniquities  which  prevail  among  his  compatriots. 
 The  instruments  who  are  to  effect  this  Divine  chastise- 
 ment are  the  armies  of  Chaldsaa,  or  Babylonia  chap.  i.  6). 
 
 Their  invasion  shall  effect  a  catastrophe  of  strange  and 
 
 incredible  extent  '■  men  "shall  not  believe  it.  though  it 
 
 be  told  them  "  (chap.  i.  ">i.  The  prophet  warns  his  com. 
 patriots    that    this    chastisement    shall   come   "in   your 
 
 days" — i.i-.,  ere  the  present  generation  has  passed  away 
 chap.  i.  .".  .     Most  commentators  have  recognised  that 
 
 i  be  denunciation  is  to  be  explained  by  the  events  which 
 followed  the  great  battle  at  ( 'anheinish  on  tho  Eu- 
 phrates, b.c.  605.    This  battle  suddenly  brought  the 
 
 chosen  nation  under  the  heel  of  the  Babylonian  con- 
 queror, Nebuchadnezzar.  Jewish  sympathy  had  been 
 on  the  losing  sidi — that  of  the  Egyptian  Pharanh- 
 Neclio,  for  the  Jewish  king  Jehoiakim  was  the  nominee 
 of  Egypt,  and  Jeremiah  had  vainly  tried  to  detach  his 
 countrymen  from  the  cause  of  the  southern  empire.  It 
 was  only  natural  that  Nebuchadnezzar's  victory  was 
 followed  by  an  invasion  of  Judaa.  Jehoiakim  appa- 
 rently came  to  terms  with  the  conqueror,  and  was 
 suffered  to  retain  his  throne  as  a  tributary  of  Babylon. 
 Three  years  later  he  was  ill-advised  enough  to  renounce 
 
 this  allegiance.  Nebuchadnezzar  punished  his  insub- 
 ordinate dependent  by  the  agency  of  other  vassals,  the 
 Syrians,  )l« bites,  and  Ammonites.  Judah  WSS  ravaged, 
 and  a  period  of  great    misery  ensued.     Jehoiakim  fell, 
 
 perhaps  by  the  hands  of  his  own  subjects.    His  son 
 
 and  SUCCeS80r,   Jehoiachin,  seems  to  have  continued  his 
 
 unwise  policy  of  resistance.  Within  Fourteen  weeks  of 
 his  accession.  Nebuchadnezzar  himself  came  up  and 
 besieged  Jerusalem.  The  king  surrendered  himself 
 and  his  family,  and  his  deposition  immediately  followed. 
 Nebuchadnezzar  now  sacked  Jerusalem.  "  And  he  car- 
 ried out  thence  all  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the 
 Lord,  and  the  treasures  of  the  king's  house  .  .  .  and  lie 
 carried  away  all  Jerusalem,  and  all  the  prince-,  and  all 
 the  mighty  men  of  valour,  even  ten  thousand  captives, 
 and  all  the  craftsmen  and  smiths:  none  remained  savo 
 the  poorest  sort  of  the  people  of  the  land"  '_'  Kind's 
 xxiv.  13,  14).  It  is.  we  believe,  to  this  crowning  dis- 
 aster that  Habakkuk's  sentence  points — ••Behold  ye 
 ....  and  wonder  marvellously,  for  I  will  work  a  work 
 in  your  days  which  ye  will  not  believe,  though  il  be 
 told  you  "  (chap.  i.  5b 
 
 We  have  now  to  consider  how  far  the  prophetic  sen. 
 tence  is  separated  in  point  of  time  from  its  completion, 
 'l'lios,,  commentators  who  repudiate  or  minimise  the 
 preternatural    element    in    the   prophetic    Scriptures 
 
 have     insisted     that     Habakkuk's     composition     must 
 
HABAKKUK. 
 
 have  followed,  not  preceded,  the  battle  of  Carche- 
 mish.  Critics  of  the  opposite  school  have,  on  the  con- 
 trary, laboured  to  prove  that  Habakkuk  wrote  when 
 no  Chaldsean  invasion  was  expected,  placing1  the  ( 
 prophet's  date  even  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of  Ma- 
 nasseh  (B.C.  698 — 643).  In  this  behalf  it  is  argued  that 
 chap.  i.  5  implies  that  the  prophet's  readers  were  alto- 
 gether unacquainted  with  the  Chaldseans,  and  would  be 
 amazed  at  the  announcement  of  their  approach.  Thus 
 Dr.  Pusey  writes  : — "  In  that  he  speaks  of  that  invasion 
 as  a  thing  incredible  to  those  to  whom  he  was  speaking, 
 lie  must  have  prophesied  before  Babylon  became  inde- 
 pendent by  the  overthrow  of  Nineveh,  B.C.  625.  For 
 when  Babylon  had  displaced  Nineveh,  and  divided  the 
 Empire  of  the  East  with  Media  and  Egypt,  it  was  not  a 
 thing  incredible."  This  argument  is,  however,  of  no 
 real  value.  It  is  perfectly  allowable  to  interpret  chap, 
 i.  5  as  we  have  done  above,  by  the  sequel  of  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's invasion.  Such  a  catastrophe  as  overtook 
 Jerusalem  in  the  reign  of  Jehoiachin  may  well  have  ap- 
 peared incredible,  even  after  the  battle  of  Carchemish. 
 
 Cceteris  paribus,  the  phraseology  of  chap.  i.  6,  "  Lo, 
 I  raise  up  the  Chaldseans,"  would  lead  us  to  infer 
 that  the  great  battle  had  not  yet  been  fought,  nor  the 
 Chaldsean  king  installed  as  suzerain  of  Judaea.  And  this 
 inference  has  certainly  nothing  opposed  to  it  but  the 
 presumption  of  modern  critics  that  predictive  inspira- 
 tion has  no  place  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  that 
 the  utterances  of  the  prophets  are  mere  vaticinia  post 
 eventttm.  On  the  other  baud,  common  sense  suggests 
 that  the  detailed  account  of  Chaldaean  manners  and 
 morals  given  in  chap.  ii.  is  based  on  personal  experi- 
 ence. Both  writer  and  readers  would  seem  to  be 
 acquainted  with  the  Babylonians — their  wild  appear- 
 ance, their  vast  success,  their  overweening  ambition, 
 their  peculiar  vices.  (See  chap.  i.  7,  8;  ii.  5  seq.)  To 
 admit  such  an  acquaintance  as  this  is  not  necessarily 
 to  disparage  Habakkuk's  power  of  prediction.  No 
 experience  of  such  a  kind  could  have  justified  an  ex- 
 pectation of  the  astounding  catastrophe  foretold  in 
 chap.  i.  5  seq.  Before  Judaea  could  be  invaded  by  the 
 Babylonians,  Egypt,  the  suzerain  of  Jehoiakim,  had  to 
 be  defeated.  And  who  could  have  foreseen  the  actual 
 issue  of  the  battle  by  the  Euphrates  ?  As  Dr.  Pusey 
 argues,  human  foresight  would  rather  have  predicted 
 another  Egyptian  triumph  at  Carchemish.  The 
 balance  of  probability  certainly  inclined  on  the  side 
 of  those  "  prophets,  diviners,  dreamers,  enchanters, 
 and  sorcerers "  who  told  the  Jews,  "  Ye  shall  not 
 serve  the  king  of  Babylon"  (Jer.  xxvii.  9).  It  is  plain, 
 therefore,  that  we  may  place  Habakkuk's  date,  for  the 
 sake  of  chap,  ii.,  in  a  period  when  the  Babylonian 
 invasion  was  imminent,  and  the  character  of  the 
 eastern  empire  well  known  in  Judaea,  and  yet  in  no 
 way  impugn  his  predictive  powers,  or  his  Divine  lega- 
 tion. His  claim  to  be  a  "seer"  remains  unshaken, 
 albeit  he  only  sees  into  a  future  not  far  distant. 
 
 It  is  important  to  recognise  this  distinction,  be- 
 cause (apart  from  the  details  in  chap,  ii.)  the  internal 
 evidence  seems  to  point  to  no  earlier  reign  than 
 Jehoiakim 's — i.e.,  to  a  date  not  more  than  five  years 
 anterior  to  the  battle  of  Carchemish.  This  will  be 
 gathered  from  the  following  analysis : — 
 
 (a)  The  prophecy  can  hardly  have  been  uttered  more 
 "than  thirty  years  before  the  catastrophe  predicted,  for 
 chap.  i.  5  asserts  that  it  shall  occur  "  in  the  days  "  of  the 
 present  generation.  This  inference  precludes  our 
 assigning  the  prophecy  to  the  reign  of  Manasseh,  which 
 came  to  an  end  about  thirty-eight  years  before  the 
 battle  of  Carchemisli. 
 
 (6)  The  successors  of  Manasseh  were  Anion  (B.C. 
 643—641)  and  Josiah  (B.C.  641—610).  The  years  B.C. 
 643 — 623  (from  the  accession  of  Anion  to  Josiah's 
 Reformation)  may  be  regarded  as  forming  one  distinct 
 period,  a  period  of  fearful  religious  decadence.  To  such  an 
 extent  did  false  worship  spread  during  these  years,  that 
 the  female  devotees  of  the  asherdh  (Authorised  Version, 
 "grove")  set  up  their  obscene  rites  in  the  house  of 
 the  Lord  itself.  (See  2  Kings  xxiii.  4 — 7.)  Josiah,  in 
 B.C.  623,  had  to  purge  the  temple  of  the  a'sherdh,  and 
 of  vessels  made  for  Baal.  Even  by  those  who  retained 
 the  knowledge  of  God,  Moloch  was  often  put  on  an 
 equal  footing  with  Jehovah  (Zeph.  i.  5).  Now  had 
 Habakkuk  written  in  this  period,  surely  he  would,  like 
 Zephaniah,  have  included  this  fearful  prevalence  of 
 idolatry  among  the  national  sins  which  called  for  God's 
 chastisement  (chap.  i.  1 — 4).  At  any  rate,  lie  could 
 hardly  with  consistency  ignore  these  sins  at  home,  and 
 yet  denounce  Chaldsean  idol-worship  abroad  (chap.  ii. 
 18,  19).  Still  less  appropriate  would  be  an  appeal  to 
 Jehovah's  presence  "  in  His  holy  Temple  "  (chap.  ii.  20). 
 Nor  would  such  a  season  be  suitable  for  the  compo- 
 sition of  a  hymn  expressly  designed  for  public  liturgical 
 performance ;  see  chap.  iii.  1,  19. 
 
 (c)  Neither  can  we  find  a  suitable  place  for  Hab- 
 akkuk's ministry  in  the  latter  part  of  Josiah's  reign 
 (B.C.  623 — 610).  The  sweeping  reformation  of  tliis 
 king's  eighteenth  year  is  not  likely  to  have  left  behind 
 it  social  disorders  such  as  Habakkuk  complains  of  in 
 chapter  i.  A  king  who  could  put  away  "  workers  with 
 familiar  spirits,  and  wizards,  and  the  images  and  the 
 idols,  and  all  the  abominations  that  were  spied  in  the 
 land  of  Israel,"  would  surely  not  have  spared  the  class- 
 oppression  and  judicial  maladministration  described  in 
 chap.  i.  2 — 4.  Prophecies  there  certainly  were  at  this 
 time  of  a  Divine  chastisement  on  Jerusalem  for  the 
 sins  of  the  former  generation  (comp.  2  Kings  xxiii.  27 
 with  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  23  seq.).  But  we  know  of  no 
 denunciation  of  iniquities  still  existent.  Nor  is  there 
 any  reason  to  believe  that  the  disorders  of  the  pre- 
 ceding period  survived  Josiah's  Reformation. 
 
 ((?)  This  brings  us  to  610,  the  year  of  the  accession 
 of  Jehoahaz  and  Jehoiakim.  The  former  reigned  op- 
 pressively three  months,  and  was  deposed  by  Pharaoh- 
 Necho  in  favour  of  his  brother,  Eliakiui,  whose  name 
 was  changed  to  Jehoiakim.  Bad  as  both  these  kings 
 were,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  undone  Josiah's  work 
 of  ecclesiastical  reform.  The  worship  of  Jehovah 
 continued.  A  hymn  for  public  performance  in  the 
 Temple  would  not  now  be  an  anomaly  as  in  the  reign  of 
 Anion.  On  the  other  hand,  oppression  and  maladminis- 
 tration prevailed,  such  as  Habakkuk  deplores.  Jehoi- 
 akim's  "  eyes  and  heart  were  only  for  covet ousness,  and 
 for  to  shed  innocent  blood,  and  for  oppression  and 
 violence  to  do  it "  (Jer.  xxii.  17).  Under  such  a  ruler 
 the  state  of  society  would  necessarily  be  such  as  is  de- 
 picted in  chap.  i.  1 — 4.  The  minute  account  of  the 
 Chaldseans  (chap,  ii.)  is  also  suitable  enough  in  this 
 reign.  In  the  reign  of  Josiah,  the  Jews  were  probably 
 less  perfectly  acquainted  with  Babylonian  habits. 
 
 The  only  plausible  argument  against  this  theory  of 
 date  is  one  that  is  easily  disposed  of.  It  has  been 
 argued  from  a  comparison  of  chap.  ii.  20,  Zeph.  i.  7, 
 that  Habakkuk  is  quoted  by  Zephaniah,  and  the  latter 
 we  know  wrote  in  Josiah's  reign.  The  similarity  of 
 diction  in  these  two  passages  is  certainly  remarkable. 
 It  is  perhaps  sufficient  to  prove  that  one  prophet  quoted 
 the  other,  for  the  phrase  "  hush  at  the  presence  of " 
 (has  mipp'net/)  does  not  occur  elsewhere.  But  there 
 is  not  a  particle  of  proof  that  Habakkuk  did  not  borrow 
 
 524 
 
IIAIJAKKI'K. 
 
 the   phra  i    from   Zephaniah,   rather  than   Zephaniah 
 from  Hahakkuk.    The  former  explanation  is  quit 
 admissible  as  i  in-  latter,  all  bough  Zephaniah  i-.  as  a  nil.-, 
 
 v  dependent  on  earlier  sources  than  Babakknk.    A 
 
 close  resemblance  may  be  detected  also  between  Bab.  i. 
 8  ami  Jer,  iv.  LS.  Here,  however,  there  is  no  reason  to 
 think  thai  there  is  any  citation,  and  the  question  of 
 date  is  ool  affected.  We  conclude,  "ii  the  grounds 
 specified  above,  thai  Babakkuk's  propheci  dates  from 
 tin-  reign  of  Jehoiakim,  not   more  than  Ave  yeat 
 
 i    before   the    battle    of    Carchemish — how  much 
 nearer  thai  great  event  i(  is  impossible  to  say. 
 
 III.  Contents.— Tlii>  book  of  Babakknk  falls  into 
 four  main  divisions  (a)  chap,  i.  I  11;  (6)  chap.  i.  12 
 to  ii,  20;  '  chap.  Hi.  1—55;  (d)  chap.  iii.  [6 — 19. 
 The  contents  of  these  divisions  may  be  thus  analysed  : — 
 While  the  prophei  deplores  the  anarchy,  oppres- 
 sion, and  social  disorder  which  prevail  among  his 
 countrymen  (chap.  i.  1 — t),  Jehovah  announces  thai 
 the  Chaldeans  are  commissioned  to  execute  a  chastise- 
 menl  of  fearful  severity  (chap.  i.  5).  The  appearance, 
 character,  and  operations  of  i  las''  invaders  are  described 
 (chap.  i.  6     11 1. 
 
 (6)  Babakknk  expostulates  with  God.  The  sins  of 
 Ms  countrymen  are  surpassed  by  the  cruelty  and  god- 
 less arrogance  of  the  Chaldsaans.     Is  the  sacred  people 
 
 t"  l ^terminated  l>y  such  a  race  as  this:j  (chap.  i. 
 
 12 — 17).  After  patient  waiting,  he  receives  Jehovah's 
 answer.  The  judgment  is  yel  to  be  developed.  Final 
 triumph  is  noi  for  the  proud  godless  invader,  bui  for 
 him  who  waits  mi  Jehovah  in  faith  (chap.  ii.  1 — l). 
 The  sins  of  the  ChaldsBans  are  denounced  —  riz., 
 drunkenness,  greed,  cruelty,  insatiable  ambition,  and 
 degraded  idolatry.  Justice  demands  their  punishment. 
 Jehovah  is  in  His  holy  temple;  In  the  world  await 
 Bis  sentence  in  silence  (chap,  ii. 5    20), 
 
 in  a  i m  of  great  power  and  beauty  (chap.  iii. 
 
 1 — 15),  Babakkuk  describes  the  Divine  interposition. 
 I  I  shall  reveal  Himself  as  II,' did  in  the  time  of  1 1 1<  • 
 Exodus  and  the  Judges,  The  nations  shall  tremble 
 as  t In  v  see  the  works  <>f   Bis  creation — mountains, 
 
 rivers,  seas,  yea.   sim  and   moon   in   llieir   euiirses — all 
 
 acknowledging  His  awful  presence. 
 
 (d)  'The  prophei  reverts  to  the  earlier  revelation,  and 
 describes  Iii-  own  emotion  at  the  prosped  of  the  im- 
 pending  invasion.    Bui  in  the  midst  of  the  anticipated 
 
 Calamities— war,  devastation,  and  famine — he  will  cling 
 
 confidently  and  cheerfully  to  .Jehovah  the  all-powerful 
 (chap.  iii.  16—19). 
 
 IV.  Character  and  style.— The  historical  im- 
 portance  of  Babakkuk's  composition  will  be  gathered 
 from  what  lias  been  said  under  the  preceding  headings. 
 Nahiitn  concluded  the  Divine  sentences  against  Assj  na ; 
 llabakkuk  is  summoned  to  denounce  the  new  world- 
 
 power,  whose  metropolis  is  Babylon.  Of  predictive 
 power  we  had  a  remarkable  instance  in  Nanum:  the 
 same  gift  is  claimed  by  Habakknk,  and  illustrated 
 scarcely  less  strikingly.  For  the  christian,  however, 
 the  permanent  value  of  this  composition  lie*,  not 
 merely  in  this  obvious  stamp  of  inspiration,  hut  in  its 
 underlying  tot I  deep  persona]  faith.     It  is  this  that 
 
 has  made  certain    texts  of    Hahakkuk  so  familiar  to  OS, 
 
 The  passage,  chap.  ii.  t  is  memorable  as  pressed  into 
 
 serviee  iii  those  Pauline  Epistles  wliieh  were  written  tu 
 
 guard  the  infant  Church  against  Judaism.    Ii  received 
 a  new  and  somewhat  fatal  significance  during  the  re- 
 ligious  struggles  of  the  sixteenth  century.     But  for 
 sincere  disciple  of  Christ   it  still  retains  that  appro- 
 priate application   which  is  given   it   in  Heb.  .\.  '■'•'. 
 
 "  Vet  a  little  while,  and  He  that  is  t,,  come  will  come, 
 and  will  not  tarry.  The  just  shall  livo  by  faith" — 
 what  more  suggestive  motto  for  the  Church  oppressed 
 by  the  powers  of  this  world,  or  for  the  individual  be- 
 liever, beset  by  the  dark  hour  of  perplexity  and  doubt  P 
 Scarcely  less  familiar  is  that  grand  expression  of  confi- 
 dence, amid  troubles,  with  which  the  Hook  of  Hahakkuk 
 closes— chap.  iii.  17— 1'J.      Persevering,    patient    faith; 
 
 this  is  the   principle   which   characterises   the  whole 
 
 Composition  of  the  prophet  Hahakkuk,  and  which  still 
 endears  it  to  the  Christian.  For  him  its  value  lies 
 mainly  in  its  practical  teaching — 
 
 "  To  Irani  hum  sell  tO  I 
 
 i  to  a  lather's  will, 
 
 Ami  taste  before  Mini  lying  still, 
 KVn  in  affliction,  peai 
 
 With  respect  to  Habakkuk's  manner  of  writing,  it 
 
 may  he  said  that  he  shows  himself  master  of  two 
 stales,  very  different  in  appearance.  In  the  first  two 
 Chapters)  he  writes  tersely  OOi  BO  tersely  as  Nahiim — 
 more  so  than  Zephaniah.  This  part  of  the  hook  is  of 
 an  homiletic  character,  and  is  sententious,  rather  than 
 
 picturesque.     Much  of  it  is  in  a  dialogue  form.    The 
 
 prophei  complains  or  expostulates:  Jehovah  answering, 
 denounces  or  consoles.  Chapter  iii..  on  the  other  hand, 
 introduces  a  vision  of  Divine  interposition,  framed  as  a 
 lyrical    poem.      The  style  neeessirily  changes   with  the 
 
 subject,  Terseness  gives  iilac  to  florid  eloquence,  sen- 
 tentious denunciation  to  an  exuberance  of  ornate  descrip- 
 tion. Here  Hahakkuk  is  seen  at  his  best,  Be  is  not 
 strict  Ivan  original  poet,  for  much  of  the  diction  is  based 
 On  earlier  compositions.  To  Dent,  xxxii..  Judges  v.,  Ps. 
 Ixviii.  he  owes  the  same  kind  of  deht  that  Lucretius 
 owes  to  Euripides  and  Empedoclee.  The  result  of  the 
 adaptation  is  a  piece  almost  unrivalled  for  Bublimity 
 and  rigour.  This  transition,  from  rhetorical  prose  to 
 poetry,  might  he  illustrated  from  the  works  of  nume- 
 rous authors,  both  ancient  and  modern.  The  theories 
 that  Hahakkuk  wrote  chap.  iii.  at  a  later  period,  or  that 
 it  was  written  by  some  other  hand,  only  deserve  uotico 
 as  examples  of  hypercritical  eccentricity. 
 
 .1:2.-, 
 
HABAKKUK. 
 
 CHAPTER  1.— 0)  The  burden  which 
 Habakkuk  the  prophet  did  see. 
 
 i2'  0  Lord,  how  long  shall  I  cry,  and 
 thou  wilt  not  hear !  even  cry  out  unto 
 thee  of  violence,  and  thou  wilt  not  save  ! 
 (3)  Why  dost  thou  show  me  iniquity,  and 
 cause  me  to  behold  grievance  ?  for  spoil- 
 ing and  violence  are  before  me :  and 
 there  are  that  raise  up  strife  and  conten- 
 tion. <4>  Therefore  the  law  is  slacked, 
 and  judgment  doth  never  go  forth :  for 
 
 B.C. 
 cir.  t>2t>. 
 
 a  .lob  21.  7;  Jcr. 
 12. 1 
 
 l  Or,  u-rcstcd. 
 
 2  Hob.,  bieadtlis. 
 
 the  "wicked  doth  compass  about  the 
 righteous ;  therefore  l  wrong  judgment 
 proceedeth. 
 
 (5)  'Behold  ye  among  the  heathen,  and 
 regard,  and  wonder  marvellously  :  for  I 
 will  work  a  work  in  your  days,  which  ye 
 will  not  believe,  though  it  be  told  you. 
 <6<  For,  lo,  I  raise  up  the  Chaldeans,  that 
 bitter  and  hasty  nation,  which  shall 
 march  through  the  2  breadth  of  the  land, 
 to  possess  the   dwellingplaces  that  are 
 
 (1—4)  Habakkuk  complains  of  the  apparent  triumph 
 of  wickedness  among  his  countrymen. 
 
 (0  The  prophet. — This  title  (han-ndbi)  is  applied 
 only  to  Habakkuk,  Haggai,  and  Zeehariah.  In  the 
 later  historical  books  it  is  used  to  designate  the  mem- 
 bers of  those  prophetical  colleges  which  were  founded 
 by  Samuel,  and  kept  up,  at  all  events,  till  the  time  of 
 Elisha.  It  is  uncertain  whether  in  these  three  minor 
 prophets  it  has  a  similar  force,  or  merely,  as  in  the 
 Pentateuch,  indicates  a  chosen  minister  whom  God  in- 
 spires to  reveal  His  will.  On  the  term  burden,  or  sen- 
 tence, see  Isa.  xiii.  1. 
 
 (2)  Even  cry  out. — The  latter  half  of  the  verse  is 
 best  rendered  "Even  cry  unto  thee  '  Violence!'  and 
 thou  wUt  not  save."  The  single  word  "  violence  !  " 
 (chdmds)  occurs  elsewhere,  as  au  appeal  for  assistance, 
 used  as  we  use  the  cry  "  murder !  "  "  fire ! "  &c,  among 
 ourselves.     (See  Jer.  xx.  8,  Job  xix.  7.) 
 
 (3)  Why  dost  thou  shew  me  iniquity?  .  .  . 
 — Better,  Why  dost  thou  show  me  distress  and  look 
 upon  grievance ;  oppression  and  violence  are  before 
 me;  and  there  is  strife,  and  contention  exalts  itself." 
 The  question,  "  Why  dost  thou  .  .  .  look  upon  griev- 
 ance ?  "  is  illustrated  by  verse  13,  "  Thou  art  of  purer 
 eyes  than  to  behold  evil."  Grievance,  or  "  trouble 
 wilfully  caused."  Heb.  dmdl,  associated  again  with 
 dven,  a  term  of  similar  import,  in  Ps.  x.  7;  lv.  11. 
 
 (i)  The  law — the  Mosaic  turdh — which  ought  to  be 
 a  bond  of  security  and  social  welfare  is  "  slacked  "  or 
 "paralyzed ;"  and  is,  therefore,  unable  to  do  its  work. 
 "Judgment"  (mishpdt.  i.e.,  "  redress  of  evils  ")"  doth 
 never  go  forth,"  for  the  wicked  have  hemmed  the 
 righteous  in ;  and,  therefore,  there  are  no  judicial  sen- 
 tences, save  such  as  favour  the  wicked. 
 
 (5—11)  Jehovah's  answer  to  Habakkuk's  complaint. 
 These  disorders  are  to  be  punished  by  an  invasion 
 of  Chaldaeans.  The  appearance,  character,  and  opera- 
 tions of  these  invaders  are  described. 
 
 (5)  Among  the  heathen.— These  words  are  em- 
 phatic. They  imply — Jehovah  will  no  longer  manifest 
 Himself  among  His  chosen  people,  but  among  the 
 Gentiles.  Let  them  look  abroad,  and  they  shall  see 
 Him  using  the  Chaldseans  as  His  instrument  for  their 
 own  chastisement.  They  are  to  "  wonder,"  not  at  God's 
 choice  of  an  agent,  but  at  the  consequences  of  the  visita- 
 
 tion, which  resulted  in  the  sack  of  the  Temple,  and  the 
 deportation  of  10,000  captives ;  a  work  which  the  Jews 
 might  well  not  have  credited,  though  it  were  told  them. 
 The  words  "among  the  heathen"  (bag-gnyim)  were, 
 probably,  misread  by  the  LXX.  translators  bog' dim. 
 Hence  the  translation,  KaraippovriTai,  "  ye  despisers." 
 In  Acts  xiii.  41  St.  Paul  is  represented  as  citing  the 
 verse  in  its  LXX.  form,  as  a  warning  to  his  Jewish 
 hearers  at  Antioch.  This  citation,  of  course,  gives  no 
 authority  whatever  to  the  variant.  Nor  is  it  certain 
 that  St.  Paul  did  not  actually  quote  the  Hebrew  form 
 of  the  verse,  which  would  seem  more  appropriate  to  the 
 circumstances  than  the  other.  (Comp.  Acts  xiii.  42, 
 46  seq.).  That  St.  Luke  should  substitute  the  Greek 
 variant  is  intelligible  enough. 
 
 (6)  I  raise  up  the  Chaldeans— i.e.,  I  am  bring- 
 ing up  the  Chaldaeau  or  Babylonian  armies  into  Judaea. 
 The  phrase  implies  that  the  Chaldaeans  were  not  yet  in 
 Judaea,  but  there  is  no  occasion  to  find  an  allusion  to 
 the  recent  rise  of  the  Chaldsean  nation.  We  notice 
 this  point  because  an  ethnological  theory  (now  generally 
 abandoned)  has  regarded  the  Chaldaeans  of  the  pro- 
 phetic period  as  raised  to  national  existence  only  a 
 little  time  before  the  date  of  Habakkuk.  It  was 
 supposed  that  they  were  a  race  distinct  from  the 
 Chaldaeans  of  earlier  Scripture;  being,  in  fact,  an 
 association  of  northern  hordes  who  had  but  recently 
 penetrated  the  lower  Mesopotamian  valley.  Hal),  i.  6  and 
 Isa.  xxiii.  13  were  therefore  interpreted  as  illustrating 
 the  fact  that  these  new  nationalities  "were  on  a  sudden 
 '  raised  up,'  elevated  from  their  low  estate  of  Assyrian 
 colonists,  to  be  the  conquering  people  which  they  be- 
 came under  Nebuchadnezzar."  The  confutation  of 
 this  theory  may  be  found  in  Bawlinson's  Ancient 
 Monarchies,  i.  57,  59.  It  appears  that  Babylon  was 
 peopled  at  this  time,  not,  as  was  formerly  supposed, 
 with  hordes  of  Armenians,  Arabs,  Kurds,  and  SclaveB, 
 but  with  a  mixed  population,  in  which  the  old  Chal- 
 daean and  Assyrian  elements  preponderated.  The 
 Chaldaeans  of  the  seventh  century  B.C.  were,  in  fact, 
 as  legitimate  descendants  of  the  people  of  Nimrod's 
 empire  as  we  are  of  the  Saxons.  Certainly,  the 
 rapidity  with  which  Babylon  rose  from  the  position 
 of  an  Assyrian  colony  to  that  of  ruler  of  Asia  was 
 marvellous.  But,  the  work  which  is  to  make  the  Jews 
 wonder  is  not  God's  choice  of  an  agent,  but  that 
 agent's  proceeding;   not  the  elevation  of  one  Gentile 
 
 520 
 
Tin  Fearful  Vengeance 
 
 IIAJIAKKUK,    I. 
 
 of  the  f'/i"/(l<eans. 
 
 not    theirs.       (7)  Tliry    are    terrihle    and 
 
 dreadful:  'their  judgment  and  their 
 dignity    shall    | ii< x I    of    themselves. 
 
 ,S|  Their  In  uses  also  OK  swifter  than  tlw 
 
 leopards,  ami  an-  more  tierce  than  the 
 ■evening    wolves:    and    their    horsemen 
 
 shall  spread  themselves,  and  their  horse- 
 man shall  come  from  far;  they  shall  fly 
 as  the  eagle  thai  hasteth  to  eat.  WThey 
 shall  come  all  for  violence:  3 'their 
 Paces  shall  sup  up  as  the  east,  wind, 
 and  fchey  shall  gather  the  captivity  as 
 
 1    Or.   l. 
 
 ultnk  pi 
 ami  il" 
 
 harp. 
 a  /.■  |h.  li 
 
 or,     "" " 
 
 I     Il<  Ii  . 
 
 .  f     tli<  it 
 
 toward  tin 
 
 .    II.  I.  .  .".  I: 
 
 the   -and.       "'"And    they    shall    BCOff  at 
 
 the  kings,  and  the  princes  shall  i>e  a 
 scorn  unto  them  :  they  shall  deride 
 every  strong  hold;  for  they  shall  heap 
 dust,  and  take  it.  '"'Then  shall  Am 
 mind  change,  and  he  shall  pass  over,  and 
 offend,  iniji'ilinij  this  his  power  unto  his 
 god. 
 
 ^-l  Art  thou  not  from  everlasting,  O 
 Loiti)  my  ( Jod,  mine  Holy  ( (lie?  we  shall 
 not  die.  O  Lord,  thou  hast  ordained 
 them  for  judgment;    and,  O  'mighty 
 
 power  in  tin'  place  of  another,  Imt  the  attach  which 
 thai  new  power  is  to  nuke  upon  the  sacred  city. 
 
 Bittor  and  hasty. — Better,  fierce  and  vmpetuou  . 
 Tlio  association  of  these  two  epithets,  »"i,-  sod  tvhnh&r, 
 
 i-.  the  i ■•■  forcible,  because  of  their  similarity  in 
 
 sound.  With  respect  to  tin-  whole  passage  6—11, 
 Kleiner!  well  remarks,  "The  present  passage  is  the 
 loeue  claesicue  for  the  oharacteristica  of  this  warlike 
 
 I i>le,  just  .-is  [sa.  \.  -!•>  seq.  is  for  tho  characteristics 
 
 of  the  Assyrians." 
 
 (")  Thoir  judgmont  .  .  .— Their  •■  judgment  " 
 means  their  claim  to  adjudge  the  affairs  of  mankind, 
 It  proceeds  from  "themselves,"  :is  irresponsible, recog- 
 nising no  Sn|iretin •  BViug  as  tin-  source  of  justice. 
 
 Thoir  dignity,  in  like  manner,  proceeds  from 
 ■■  themselves,  because  Belf-sustained,  unsanctioned  by 
 the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords. 
 
 M  Aro  more  fierce.— Better,  are  sharper.  This 
 is  the  literal  meaning  of  the  verb.  The  ideas  intended 
 are  those  of  activity  and  ferocity,  both  prompted  by 
 hunger,    The  evening  wolf  coming  out  of  his  lair  to 
 
 find    Prey    is    elsewhere    an    illustration    of    ravenous 
 
 greediness,  (See  Zeph.  iii.  ">  and  Ps.  lix.  7).  In  Jer. 
 \.  6  God's  punishment  is  likened  to  "a  wolf  of  the 
 evening,"  "a  lion  out  of  the  forest."    Jer.  iv.  13  "his 
 
 chariots  shall  be  SB  a  whirlwind;   his  horses  are  swifter 
 
 than  eagles,"  is  similar  to  chap.  i.  >s.  Imt  it  is  not  neces- 
 sary to  regard  it  either  as  its  original  or  its  echo.     Both 
 
 passages  are  to  seme  extent  based  an  -  8am.  i.  'J.!. 
 
 (»)  Their  faces  shall  sup  up  as  the  east 
 wind. — Literally,  if  we  could  accept  this  interpreta- 
 tion, the  eagernesB  of  (heir  fates  i.<  eastward.  The 
 passage,  however,  is  beset  with  philological  diffi- 
 culties, If  the  word  kddtmdh  could  be  translated 
 "  east  wind."  the  invading  Chaldean  host  would  be 
 compared  to  ■  blast  from  the  east,  naming  over  the 
 land,  and  leaving  it  scercheil  and  blighted.  The  cap- 
 tives   ("captivity,"     Authorised     Version)     whom    the 
 
 invader  carries  oft  would  then  be  likened  to  the  cloud 
 
 of  dust.   sand.   Ac.   which   accompanies   this  withering 
 
 Mast.  This  gives  a  good  sense.  Unfortunately,  how- 
 ever,  according  to  all  analogy,  kddimdh  must  mean 
 
 either   "eastwards"  or  "forwards."      The   inoaniie 
 
 m'gammath  (used  here  only i  is  probably  either 
 •■  crowd  "  or  ■•  eager  desire."  'i\vo  plausible  renderings 
 are  thus  presented  for  our  choice — "There  is  a  crowd 
 
 of   their  faces  pressing  forwards;"   "Their  faces   turn 
 
 eagerly  forwards."    For  other  interpretations,  we  must 
 
 refer  the  EebrCW  student  to  the  critical  commentaries. 
 
 <l°)  Kings  and  princes  are  deposed  or  enthroned 
 at  the  invader's  pleasure.  Thus  Nebuchadnezzar  set 
 Jehoiakhn  as  a  tributary  sovereign  on  the  throne  of 
 
 Jerusalem,  and    three  years   later  deposed    his  son   and 
 
 successor  Jehoiachin,  and  made  Zedehiah  king. 
 
 For  they  shall  heap  dust,  and  take  it.— This 
 means  that  they  shall  besiege  and  carry  all  strongholds 
 by  means  of  the  mounds  of  earth  commonly  used  in 
 Sieges.  These  mounds  wore  employed  either  to  place 
 the  besieger  on  I  level  with  the  besieged,  and  so  facili- 
 tate the  operations  of  siege  engines,  or  to  form  an 
 
 inclined  plane,  up  which  the  besieger  might  march  his 
 men,  and  so  take  the  place  by  escalade.  We  find  t  hoy 
 were  used  by  the  Egyptians  (Ezek.  xvii.  17)  and  the 
 Assyrians  (2  Kings  m.  32),  as  well  as  by  tin'  Baby- 
 lonians (Jer.  vi.  6.  and  passim).  They  are  mentioned 
 as  employed  by  the  Spartan  king  Archidamua  in  the 
 celebrated  siege  of  Flateaa  iu  b.c.  429  (Thucydides, 
 lil>.  ii.).  In  the  present  passage  the  term  "dust"  is 
 used  to  indicate  these  mounds  of  earth,  as  expressing 
 the  contemptuous  ease  with  which  the  invader  effects 
 his  capture  of  strongholds. 
 
 (>')  Then  shall  his  mind  change  .... 
 — Better.  Tin  ii  In-  sweeps  ha  like  a  wind  and  jmsses. 
 1'iul  In-  is  guilty,  making  this  his  strength  his  god.  By 
 an  abrupt  transition  the  latter  half  of  the  verse  diverts 
 our  attention  from  the  human  view  of  the  worhl-con- 
 queror  to  his  appearance  in  God's  sight.  Men  only  see 
 an  irresistible  force  sweeping  over  the  face  of  the  earth 
 like  a  whirlwind ;  here  to-day.  and  to-morrow  nothing 
 but  devastation  and  ruin  to  testify  to  its  visit.  And 
 men  arc  dazzled  by  this  mighty  display  of  power.  But, 
 even  as  Daniel  at  Belshazzar's  feast,  Habakkuk  pro- 
 nounces the  oppressor's  doom  in  the  very  hour  of 
 triumph.  The  description  of  tho  irresistible  invader 
 drops  into  the  sudden  depths  of  anti-climax.  "  But  lie 
 is  (counted  guilty."  His  guilt  consists  just  in  what  men 
 deem  so  glorious,  in  his  self-reliant  irresponsible  pur- 
 suit of  grandeur.  The  brute  force  of  armaments  is  tho 
 supreme  deity  of  the  Chalchean.  His  sword  and  spear 
 are,  as  it  wire,  his  idols.  (Conip.  verso  lti.l  God,  in 
 whose  hands  his  breath  is.  and  whose  are  all  his  ways, 
 has  he  not  glorified  (Comp.  Dan.  v.  23.)  Therefore 
 that  God  shall  bring  on  him  ruin  and  ignominy,  and 
 the  very  nations  which  have  marvelled  at  his  prowess 
 shall  taunt  and  contemn  him  chap.  ii.  6).  Here,  then, 
 is  the  key-note  of  so  much  of  the  second  canto  chap, 
 i.  12  to  \i.jin.)  as  relates  to  the  downfall  of  the  invader. 
 
 (12-17)  Though  sore  perplexed.  Hahakkuk   feels  sure 
 lat  the  God  whom  this  swaggering 
 suited  will  at  last  vindicate  Hiuisel: 
 
 (12)  "We   shall    not    die— i.e..  God's  people    may 
 suffer,  but  shall  not  be  obliterated,  shall  not  be 
 over  unto  death."     The  rest  of  the  verse  runs  literally, 
 Jehovah,  for  judgment  hast  Thou  appointed  him.  ami 
 ()   Bock,  for  chastisement  hast  traded  him. 
 
 "  Him,''  means,  of  course,  the  Chaldaean  invader,  whom 
 
 527 
 
The  Prophet  Complains 
 
 HABAKKUK,   II. 
 
 of  the  Ministers  of  Vengeance- 
 
 God,  thou  hast  1  established  them  for 
 correction.  <13)  Thou  art  of  purer  eyes 
 than  to  behold  evil,  and  canst  not  look 
 on  2iniquity :  wherefore  lookest  thou 
 upon  them  that  deal  treacherously,  and 
 boldest  thy  tongue  when  the  wicked  de- 
 voureth  the  man  that  is  more  righteous 
 than  be  ?  <u)  And  makest  men  as  the 
 fishes  of  the  sea,  as  the  Creeping  things, 
 that  have  no  ruler  over  them  ?  <15>  They 
 take  up  all  of  them  with  the  angle,  they 
 catch  them  in  their  net,  and  gather  them 
 in  their  ''drag:  therefore  they  rejoice 
 and  are  glad.  '16>  Therefore  they  sacri- 
 fice unto  their  net,  and  burn  incense 
 unto  their  drag ;  because  by  them  their 
 portion  is  fat,  and  their  meat  scplenteous. 
 
 1  Heb,  founded. 
 
 2  Or,  (nievance., 
 
 3  Or,  moving. 
 
 4  Or,Jtue  net. 
 
 5  Or,  dainty. 
 
 <s  Heb.,/«t. 
 
 a  Isa.  21.8. 
 
 7      Hcb.,     fenced 
 place. 
 
 9  Or,  when  I  am 
 argued  with. 
 
 0  Hcb..  upon  my 
 reproof,  or,  or. 
 Wing. 
 
 b  Heb.  10.  37. 
 
 <17>  Shall  they  therefore  empty  their  net, 
 and  not  spare  continually  to  slay  the 
 nations  ? 
 
 CHAPTEE  II.— (D  I  will  "stand  upon 
 my  watch,  and  set  me  upon  the  7  tower, 
 and  will  watch  to  see  what  he  will  say 
 8  unto  me,  and  what  I  shall  answer 
 90  when  I  am  reproved.  <2'  And  the  Lord 
 answered  me,  and  said,  Write  the  vision, 
 and  make  it  plain  upon  tables,  that  he 
 may  run  that  readeth  it.  ^  For  the 
 vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time,  but 
 at  the  end  it  shall  speak,  and  not  lie  : 
 though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it ;  because  it 
 will  *  surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry. 
 
 W  Behold,  his  soul  which  is  lifted  up 
 
 Habakkuk  regards  as  raised  up  only  to  be  God's  instru- 
 ment of  correction.  The  term  "  Bock  "  has  been  para- 
 phrased in  the  Authorised  Version.  Used  absolutely, 
 it  occurs  as  a  Divine  title  in  Dent,  xxxii.  4.  Generally 
 it  is  qualified  in  some  way,  as  "my  i-oek,"  "  our  rock," 
 "  rock  of  salvation,"  &e. 
 
 ■  <13)  The  prophet's  confidence  is  tempered,  however, 
 with  anxious  fear.  Why  does  not  God  show  plainly 
 that  He  authorises  this  visitation  ?  The  triumph  of  this 
 godless  invader  appears  to  impugn  God's  majesty. 
 
 U6)  The  prophet  has  already  stated  that  the  Chaldaean 
 deifies  his  own  military  prowess.  Of  this  statement  the 
 pi-esent  verse  is  an  expansion.  Weapons  of  war  may 
 have  been  literally  worshipped  by  the  Babylonians. 
 Similarly,  the  Sannatians  offered  yearly  sacrifices  to  a 
 sword,  as  the  emblem  of  their  god  of  war  (Clem.  Alex. 
 Protrept.  64).  The  Romans  also  sacrificed  to  their 
 eagles.  But  probably  the  language  is  metaphorical, 
 and  we  need  not  seek  a  closer  illustration  than  that  of 
 Dr.  Pusey, — "  So  the  Times  said  at  the  beginning  of 
 the  late  war,  '  The  French  almost  worshipped  the 
 mitrailleuse  as  a  goddess.'  '  They  idolised,  it  would 
 say,  their  invention,  as  if  it  could  do  what  God  alone 
 could.' " 
 
 (17)  Shall  they  therefore  empty  their  net 
 .  .  .  . — Literally,  Shall  he  therefore  empty  his  net  1 
 i.e.,  Shall  this  voracious  Chaldsean  plunderer  be 
 allowed  to  consume  his  prey,  and  east  in  his  emptied 
 net  again  and  again  ? 
 
 II. 
 
 Habakkuk's  doubts  are  solved  by  the  Divine  response. 
 Judgment  on  Babylon's  numerous  sins  is  indeed  pre- 
 paring :  meantime,  let  the  rierhteous  wait  on  God  in 
 faith. 
 
 (i)  The  Tower.— The  practice  of  ascending  a  high 
 place  to  secure  an  extensive  view  suggests  the  figure 
 here.  (See  2  Kings  ix.  17;  2  Sam.  xviii.  24.)  In  a  yet 
 bolder  metaphor  Isaiah  represents  himself  as  appoint- 
 ing a  watchman,  who  brings  reports  from  his  tower. 
 We  need  not  suppose  that  Habakkuk  literally  betook 
 himself  to  a  solitary  height  to  wait  for  a  revelation. 
 Balaam,  the  heathen  soothsayer,  did"  so  (Num.  xxiii.  3), 
 but  his  conduct  throws  no  light  on  the  customs  of 
 the  Jewish  prophets. 
 What  he  will  say  unto  me.— Better,  what  He 
 
 will  say  in  me,  and  what  answer  I  shall  make  to  my 
 complaint:  i.e.,  of  what  solution  of  the  perplexities  I  am 
 deploring,  Jehovah  shall  make  me  the  mouthpiece. 
 
 ?2)  On  tables.— Better,  on  the  tables.  The  definite 
 article  probably  indicates  certain  well-known  tables  on 
 which  the  prophets  were  wont  to  inscribe  their  utter- 
 ances for  public  edification.  These  tables  may  have 
 been  hung  up  in  the  Temple  (Calvin)  or  market-place 
 (Luther  and  Ewald). 
 
 That  he  may  run  that  readeth  it— i.e.,  tin- 
 propheey  is  to  be  inscribed  plainly  and  legibly,  so  that 
 the  reader  may  "  run  his  eye  "  quickly  through  it. 
 
 (3)  For  the  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed 
 time  .  .  . — Better,  For  the  vision  is  to  have  its 
 appointed  day,  and  it  pants  for  the  end,  and  it  shall 
 not  disappoint,  i.e.,  it  pants  for  the  day  of  com- 
 pletion, which  shall  do  it  justice.  It  longs  to  fulfil  its 
 destiny. 
 
 It  will  not  tarry.— This  translation  is  unfortunate. 
 The  prophet  has  just  said  that  it  will  tarry.  Neverthe- 
 less, he  adds,  men  are  to  wait  for  it,  because  "  it  will 
 surely  come,  and  shall  not  be  behindhand,"  sell,  on  its 
 appointed  day.  This  and  verse  4  are  welded  into  the 
 Apostle's  exhortation  in  Heb.  x.  37.  The  citation  is  not 
 from  the  Hebrew,  but  is  an  adaptation  of  the  equally 
 familiar    LXX.    variant,  on   epxi/j-evos  Si|ei  «ol  ou  /uJj 
 
 Xpovlay'  ear  inroaretKriTai  ouk  eiidone?  7}  tyvx"h  Moy  &*  aurcp. 
 
 (4)  Behold  his  soul  .  .  .  .—Better,  Behold 
 his  soul  within  him  is  puffed  up,  it  is  not  up/right.  The 
 soul  of  the  Chaldsean  invader  is  inflated  with  pride, 
 self-dependence  ousting  from  his  mind  all  thoughts  of 
 God.  It  is  therefore  unsound  and  distorted.  Habakkuk 
 leaves  the  inference  "and  therefore  it  shall  die  "  to  be 
 imagined,  and  hastens  to  the  antithesis,  "But  the 
 righteous  man  shall  live  by  his  faith."  The  word  live 
 is  emphatic.  The  reward  promised  to  patient  waiting 
 on  God  is  life — deliverance  from  destruction.  How  far 
 the  promise  extends,  and  whether  it  includes  that  aspi- 
 ration after  future  life  which  is  plainly  expressed  by 
 many  Hebrew  poets  and  prophets,  we  cannot  determine. 
 The  student  must  be  cautioned  against  such  renderings 
 as  "  he  that  is  righteous-by-faith  shall  live,"  or,  "  he 
 that  is  justified-by-faith  shall  live,"  which  have  been 
 suggested  by  the  Pauline  quotations  Rom.  i.  17,  Gal. 
 iii.  11.  If  the  adjective  could  be  taken  in  this  close 
 collocation  with  the  substantive,  "he  that  is  consistent 
 in-his-confidenee  shall  live  "  woidd  be  the  only  possible 
 
 528 
 
The  Prophet  it  Taught 
 
 IIAIJAKk'rK.    II 
 
 ili'ii  he  mutt  Wail  by  F<iiii,. 
 
 to  not  upright  in  him  :  but  the  "just  shall 
 live  by  bis  faith.  <s>  'Yea  also,  because 
 he  transgresseth  by  wine,  he  it  a  proud 
 man,  neither  keepetb  at  home,  who  en- 
 large th  liis  desire  as  hell,  and  in  as  death, 
 and  cannot  be  satisfied,  hut  <;athereth 
 unto  him  all  nations,  and   beapeth  unto 
 
 him  all  | (ilf  : 
 
 Shall  not  all  these  take  up  a  parable 
 against  him,  ami  a  taunting  proverb 
 against  him,  and  say, -Woe  to  him  that 
 increaseth  that  which  in  not  his!  how 
 long?  and  to  him  that  ladeth  himself 
 with  thick  clay  !  (7)  Shall  they  not  rise 
 up  suddenly  that  shall  bite  thee,  and 
 awake  that  shall  vex  thee,  and  thoiishalt 
 be  for  booties  unto  them?  |S»  Because 
 thou  hast  spoiled   main    nations,  all  the 
 
 i  ir ,  a 
 
 I     nr,    // 
 
 3  Or,  Uo,  if. 
 .1  l|.'li.,Muxb. 
 b  Jit.  Jl  13. 
 
 ■  '".it. 
 
 .  II-  b  ,  judmtt/thr 
 liuwl. 
 
 |.  <ir,  i""v,or,/n<- 
 
 :      ur.     wttnsu 
 
 '  I  u. 
 
 i  'j ;  Nab 
 S.  1. 
 
 8  II. ■!..,  M-»„f... 
 
 remnant  of  the  | pie  shall  .spoil  thee; 
 
 because  of  men's  "blood,  and  for  the 
 violence  of  the  land,  of  the  city,  and  of 
 all  that  dwell  therein. 
 
 i;'»  Woe  to  him  that  'coveteth  an  evil 
 covetousness  to  his  house,  that  he  may 
 set  his  nest  on  high,  that  be  may  be  de- 
 livered from  the  5power  of  evil!  (l0'Thou 
 hast  consulted  shame  to  thy  house  by 
 Catting  off  many  people,  and  hast  sinned 
 against  thy  soul.  ,u'  For  the  stone  shall 
 cry  out  of  the  wall,  and  the  'beam  out  of 
 the  timber  shall  "answer  it. 
 
 (^'Woe  to  him  that  buildeth  a  town 
 with  cSblood,  and  stablisheth  a  city  by 
 iniquity!  <13> Behold,  ie  it  not  of  the 
 Lord  of  hosts  that  the  people  shall 
 labour  in  the  very  fire,  and  the  people 
 
 tendering.  Thus  whatever  force  wo  assign  to  St.  Paul's 
 citation,  here,  at   least.   the  words  have  no  doctrinal 
 significance.    Their  ethical  importance  is.  however,  am- 
 ble,   (See  Introduction  iv.) 
 
 (5)  Yea,   also     .     .     .     .—Bolter,   Add.   too,    that 
 
 Irriicherousiawl  that  I  he  is  a  braggart  and  can- 
 not  be  quiet,  whose  appetiit  U  large  as  (that  of)  Hades. 
 Tlie  rest  of  the  verse  illustrates  this  last-named  cha- 
 racteristic restless,  rapacious  ambition,  Two  more 
 charges  are  thus  added  to  the  gravamen  of  verso  4. 
 Met  only  are  the  Chaldaxins  arrogant,  but  drunkards, 
 and   insatiably  covetous.     The  former  charge  is  ox- 
 
 PTOOOod  in  a  kind  of  proverb,  "(It  is  a  known  fact 
 that  i  wine  is  treacherous."  Perhaps  the  aphorisms  of 
 Prov.  xx.  1  are  in  Habakkuk's  mind  :  "  Wine  is  a 
 mocker,  strong  drink  is  noisy."  The  other  charge, 
 that  of  rapacity,  also  recalls  the  Book  of  Proverbs, 
 where  the  insatiable  appetite  of  death  and  Hades  is 
 twice  described.  (See  Prov.  xxvii.  30;  xxx.  16.)  The 
 charge  of  drunkenness  is  illustrated  in  Rawliusou, 
 Ancient  Monarchies,  vol.  ii.,  504 — 507. 
 
 (6—20)  xhe  destruction  of  the  Ohaldsans  has  hitherto 
 
 Im'cii  only  implied.  It  is  now  plainly  foretold  in  a 
 denunciatory  song,  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  invader's 
 victims.      In  this  sen":  there  are  live  str.. plies,  of  three 
 
 verses  each,  6— 8;  9—11;  12—14;  15—17;   18— 20. 
 
 (6—8)  Woe  on  the  reckless  rapacity  which  has  spared 
 neither  life  nor  property. 
 
 (6)  How  long?— i.e.,  how  long  shall  this  continual 
 annexation  be  b  ttnessed  'i 
 
 That  ladeth  himself  with  thick  clay.— Better. 
 That  accumutatei  to  Mmm  If  usury.  So  the  Targum, 
 The  rendering  "  thick  clay"  originates  in  a  false  ety- 
 mology of  the  word  abt&t,  which  the  student  will  find 
 in  li.ishi's  Commentary.  For  the  true  derivation  see 
 Fitrst's   Lexicon. 
 
 <"'  BitO. — This  verb  ndshae  also  means  "  to  oppress 
 with  usury."  and  this  is  its  force  here.  Thy  turn  shall 
 come,  and  men  shall  exact  usury  from  thee.  Similarly. 
 the  verb  translated  "vex"  is.  literally,  to  shake  vio- 
 lently, in  allusion  to  a  creditor's  forcible  seizure  of  his 
 debtor.  (Comp.  Matt,  xviii.  88.)  The  prediction  of  j 
 Habakkuk  in  these  verses  was  fulfilled  by  the  rise  of  I 
 173  51 
 
 the  Medo-Persian  power,  and  the  capture  of  Babylon 
 by  the  forces  of  Cyrus,  cir.  B.C.  538. 
 
 (8)  Violence  of. — Scil.,  violence  wreaked  on,  both 
 here  and  in  verse  17. 
 
 (9—u)  Woe  on  the  aggrandisement  of  the  new 
 dynasty  by  force  and  cunning. 
 
 IB)  Woe  to  him  that  coveteth  .  .  .—Better, 
 Woe  to  hini  who  accumulates  wicked  gain  for  his 
 house,  icho  sets  his  nest  on  high  to  save  himself  from 
 the  hand  of  evil — i.e.,  who  gathers  spoil  from  the 
 nations,  and  stows  it  away  in  an  impregnable  treasure- 
 house.  The  expression  sets  his  nest  on  high  finds 
 more  than  sufficient  illustration  in  the  exaggerated 
 accounts  of  Babylon  given  by  Herodotus  and  t'te-i.i- 
 The  former  gives  337*  feet,  the  latter  300  feet,  as  the 
 height  of  its  walls.  The  height  of  the  towers  was. 
 according  to  Ctesias,  420  feet.  There  were  250  of  these 
 towers,  irregularly  disposed,  to  guard  the  weaker  parts 
 of  the  wall.  The  space  included  by  these  colossal 
 outworks  was.  according  to  Herodotus,  about  2'Hl 
 square  miles. 
 
 The  language  of  this  verse  recalls  Jeremiah's  rebuke 
 of  Jehoiakim  (Jer.  xxii.  13  seq.).  There,  however,  the 
 sentence  is  on  individual  sin,  here  it  is  on  that  of  a 
 nation  personified. 
 
 (10)  And  hast  sinned  .  .  . — Literally,  and 
 sinning  in  thy  soul.  All  the  time  the  Babylonian 
 oppressor  was  plundering  these  peoples  he  was  in- 
 volving his  soul  in  guilt.     (Comp.  chap.  i.  11.) 
 
 Wl  The  stone  shaU  cry  out.— Every  stone  in 
 those  giant  walls  reared  by  the  enforced  labour  of  cap- 
 tives cries  aloud  to  accuse  the  Babylonian.  Every 
 spar  out  of  the  woodwork  attests  the  charge. 
 
 (12—Hi  Woe  on  the  extension  of  Babylon  by  oppres- 
 sion and  enforced  labour. 
 
 ffl  In  the  very  fire  .  .  .  for  very  vanity. 
 The  preposition  is  the  same  in  both  clauses,  and  means 
 "  for  an  equivalent  in."  The  sense  is  sufficiently  con- 
 reyed   if    we  render    "labour  only  for  the  fire    .    .    . 
 
 weary  themselves  all  for  nothing.  The  same  expres- 
 sions  occur  in  Jeremiah's  denunciation  of  Babvhm 
 (chap.  Ii.  58).  Both  prophets  predict  that  Jehovah  shall 
 render  all  this  compulsory  service  fruitless,  Jeremiah 
 adds  the  explanatory  clauses,  "  tho  broad  walls  of 
 9 
 
The  Wickedness  and  Cruelty 
 
 HABAKKUK,  III. 
 
 of  the  Invader. 
 
 shall  weary  themselves  1  for  very  vanity  ? 
 <")  For  the  earth  shall  be  filled  "3with  the 
 "knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  as 
 the  waters  cover  the  sea. 
 
 (is;  Woe  unto  him  that  giveth  his  neigh- 
 bour drink,  that  puttest  thy  bottle  to 
 him,  and  makest  him  drunken  also,  that 
 thou  mayest  look  on  their  nakedness ! 
 (16)  Thou  art  filled  3with  shame  for  glory: 
 h  drink  thou  also,  and  let  thy  foreskin  be 
 uncovered  :  the  cup  of  the  Lord's  right 
 hand  shall  be  turned  unto  thee,  and 
 shameful  spewing  shall  he  on  thy  glory. 
 '17)  Tor  the  violence  of  Lebanon  shall 
 cover  thee,  and  the  spoil  of  beasts,  which 
 made  them  afraid,  because  of  men's 
 blood,  and  for  the  violence  of  the  land, 
 of  the  city,  and  of  all  that  dwell  therein. 
 
 (18)"What  profiteth  the  graven  image 
 
 1  Or,  in  vain  T 
 
 2  Or,  by  lcnowina 
 
 the  olory  of  the 
 Lilltl). 
 
 3  Or.  more  with 
 shame  than  with 
 glory. 
 
 c  ,Tc?r.  10.  8,  14; 
 Zecb.  10.  2. 
 
 4  Hel).,  the  fash- 
 inmy  of  his 
 fashion. 
 
 5  Heh.,  be  silent  all 
 the  earth  before 
 him. 
 
 6  Or.  according  to 
 variable  songs, 
 or,  tiuies,  called 
 in  Hebrew,  Shi- 
 gwneth. 
 
 7  Hcb.,  thy  report, 
 or.  thy  hearing. 
 
 8  Or,  preserve  alirc. 
 
 that  the  maker  thereof  hath  graven  it ; 
 the  molten  image,  and  a  'teacher  of  lies, 
 that  '•'the  maker  of  his  work  trusteth 
 therein,  to  make  dumb  idols  ?  <19)  Woe 
 unto  him  that  saith  to  the  wood,  Awake ; 
 to  the  dumb  stone,  Arise,  it  shall  teach  ! 
 Behold,  it  is  laid  over  with  gold  and 
 silver,  and  tliere  is  no  breath  at  all  in  the 
 midst  of  it.  (2°)  But  ''the  Lord  is  in  his 
 holy  temple  :  5let  all  the  earth  keep 
 silence  before  him. 
 
 CHAPTEE  III.  —  W  A  prayer  of 
 Habakkuk  the  prophet  6upon  Shigionoth. 
 
 (2'0  Lord,  I  have  heard  7thy  speech, 
 and  was  afraid :  O  Lord,  8  revive  thy 
 work  in  the  midst  of  the  years,  in  the 
 midst  of  the  years  make  known;  in 
 wrath  remember  mercy. 
 
 Babylon  shall  be  utterly  broken,  and  her  high  gates 
 shall  be  burned  with  fire." 
 
 (ii)  With  the  knowledge. — Better,  as  concerns 
 the  knowledge.  See  the  same  promise  in  Isa.  xi.  9.  It 
 is  here  introduced  in  contrast  to  the  short-lived  glory  of 
 Babylon.  The  enslaved  nations  raised  the  Babylonian 
 palaces  only  for  the  fire  to  destroy  them.  But 
 Jehovah's  glory  shall  be  made  known  all  the  world 
 over,  and  shall  not  be  effaced. 
 
 (15—17)  Woe  on  the  cruel  invader  who  has  made  the 
 world  drink  of  the  cup  of  wrath. 
 
 (15,  16)  "Woe  unto  him. — It  is  possible  that  wanton 
 outrages  committed  by  the  debauched  Babylonian  sol- 
 diery in  the  hour  of  triumph  are  here  meant.  And 
 this  is  in  accordance  with  the  mention  of  drunkenness 
 as  their  special  sin  in  verse  5.  But  we  much  prefer  to 
 treat  the  language  as  figurative.  The  invader  has 
 made  his  neighbours  drink  the  cup  of  his  cruel  anger 
 till  they  have  reached  the  depths  of  shameful  degrada- 
 tion. He,  too,  shall  drink  "  of  the  cup  of  the  fierceness 
 of  the  wrath  of  Almighty  God "  (Rev.  xvi.  19 ;  see 
 also  Ps.  lxxvi,  8,  Jer.  xxv.  26,  Lam.  iv.  21) ;  and  then 
 foul  shame,  as  of  a  man  stupefied  with  drink,  shall  take 
 the  place  of  glory  and  dignity. 
 
 Puttest  thy  bottle. — It  is  possible  to  render, 
 pour  est  out  thy  ivrath,  and  this  makes  the  metaphor 
 less  obscure. 
 
 (i7)  For  the  violence  of  Lebanon  .  .  .  . — 
 Better,  For  the  violence  done  to  Lebanon  shall  over- 
 whelm thee,  and  the  destruction  of  the  beasts  which  it 
 frightened  away.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  a  refrain 
 taken  from  the  first  woe,  that  of  verse  8.  The  "  de- 
 struction of  beasts  "  points,  we  think,  to  a  raid  on  the 
 cattle  feeding  on  the  sides  of  Lebanon.  But  more 
 than  this  is  probably  included  in  the  phrase  the  vio. 
 lence  done  to  Lebanon.  Habakkuk  probably  foresees 
 how  the  invader  will  cut  down  the  cedar  forests  in 
 Lebanon  to  adorn  the  palaces  of  Babylon.  (Comp.  Isa. 
 xiv.  7,  8.)  All  these  outrages  shall  in  due  time  be 
 avenged  on  himself.  Some  commentators,  however, 
 explain  the  expression  as  a  bold  synecdoche,  Lebanon 
 representing  the  Holy  Land  (of  which  it  was  the 
 beauty),  or  even  the  Temple,  both  of  which  Nebu- 
 chadnezzar laid  waste. 
 
 (18—20)  Woe  on  him  who  neglects  Jehovah  to  worship 
 dumb  idols  of  his  own  making. 
 
 (18)  A  teacher  of  lies. — Not  the  false  prophet, 
 but  the  idol  itself,  as  pointing  out  false  ways  in  oppo- 
 sition to  God,  the  teacher  of  truth. 
 
 That  the  maker  .  .  . — Better,  that  he  who 
 frames  his  image  trusts  in  it,  so  as  to  make  dumb 
 idols.  Dumb  nothings  is,  perhaps,  the  literal  transla- 
 tion of  e'lilim  HVinim,  and  the  words  are  chosen  for 
 their  similarity  of  sound. 
 
 (20)  But  the  Lord.— And  while  all  this  false  wor- 
 ship prevails,  the  true  World-rider  abides,  and  His 
 presence  is  in  His  temple  at  Jerusalem.  To  Him  the 
 prophet's  eyes  are  now  turned.  He  ceases  his  denun- 
 ciations of  the  invader,  and  finds  solace  in  the  glorious 
 anticipations  of  the  lyrical  ode  (chap.  iii.  1 — 15)  which 
 follows. 
 
 in. 
 
 (1—15)  A  hymn  describing  a  future  self -manifestation 
 of  Jehovah  on  Israel's  behalf,  accompanied  by  the 
 signs  and  wonders  of  the  early  history.  It  is  im- 
 possible to  give  the  English  reader  an  idea  of  the 
 rhythmical  structure  of  this  beautiful  composition. 
 We  will  only  observe  that  it  is  independent  of  the 
 arrangement  in  verses,  and  that  the  poem  (except  in 
 verses  7,  8,  13,  fin.)  consists  of  lines  each  containing 
 exactly  three  words. 
 
 (i)  Upon  Shigionoth. — This  term  points,  not  to 
 the  contents  of  the  composition,  but  either  to  its 
 metrical  structure  or  its  musical  setting.  See  on  the 
 Inscription  of  Psalm  vii.  Inasmuch  as  this  ode  is 
 throughout  an  account  of  the  deliverance  anticipated 
 by  prayerful  faith,  it  is  called  not  a  Psalm,  mizmor, 
 but  a  Prayer,  t'philldh. 
 
 (2)  Thy  speech. — Better,  thy  report,  as  in  margin. 
 The  tone  is  that  of  Ps.  xliv.  1,  "  We  have  heard  with 
 our  ears  O  God !  our  fathers  have  told  us  .  .  ." 
 Jehovah's  doings  at  the  beginning  of  the  years  are  well 
 known ;  the  prophet  seeks  that  they  may  be  manifested 
 again,  now  in  the  midst  of  the  years.  The  petition 
 "  in  wrath  remember  mercy,"  is  explained  by  chap.  i. 
 5  et  seq.  It  implies — though  Thy  visitation  be  well  de- 
 served, yet  mercifully  limit  its  duration,  as  on  former 
 occasions. 
 
 539 
 
Tlte  Proplui  /''dares 
 
 HABAKKUK,   III. 
 
 the  Majesty  of  God. 
 
 '  :'  <  rod    came    from    'Teinan,    and     the 
 
 Holy  One  from  mount  Paran.  Selah. 
 His  glory  covered  the  heavens,  and  the 
 earth  was  EuL  of  his  praise.  (l)  And  his 
 brightness  was  as  the  Light  ;  he  had 
 'horns  coming  otri  of  his  hand  :  and  t  here 
 was  tin-  hiding  of  his  power.  (5»  Before 
 him  went  the  pestilence,  and  'burning 
 coals  went  forth  at  his  feet.  <6,He  stood, 
 and  measured  the  earth :  he  beheld,  ami 
 
 drove  asunder  the  nations;  and  the 
 everlasting  mountains  were  scattered, 
 the  perpetual  hills  did  bow:  his  ways 
 
 I  dr.  II,. 
 
 Or.  tin  1/ 
 
 I  title. 
 
 rt  I  Ir,  burning  di> 
 
 Or,  """' 
 
 (tun,  iir,  vanity. 
 
 were  fal 
 
 7   Or.    1% 
 
 are  everlasting.  <7' I  saw  tie'  tentfl  of 
 I  in  '  in  affliction :  and  the  curtains 
 of  the  land  of  .Midian  did  tremble. 
 ■"' Was  the  Lord  displeased  against  the 
 rivers  5*  wax  thine  anger  against  the 
 rivers?  was  thy  wrath  against  the  sea, 
 that  thou  didst  ride  upon  thine  horses 
 and  6thy  chariots  of  salvation?  ""  Thv 
 how  was  made  quite  naked,  according  to 
 the  oaths  of  the  tribes,  even  thy  word. 
 Selah.  7Thou  didst  cleave  the  earth 
 with  rivers.  <10>The  mountains  saw 
 thee,  and  they  trembled  :  the  overflow- 
 
 (3— is)  1 1 ,-ii Kikknk  describes  the  "Theophany"  or  self- 
 manifestation  of  Jehovah,  which  is  to  introduce  the 
 desired  deliverance.  The  Authorised  Version  has  un- 
 fortunately  rendered  all  the  verbs  in   tliis  section  in 
 
 the  past  tense,   thus  obscuring  the  sense  of  the  poem. 
 
 The;  all  refer  to  a  scene  really  future,  Imt  brought  by 
 the  grasp  of  faith  into  the  immediate  present.    In  the 
 
 Hebrew    some  of   these   verbs   are    ill  the  future  tense, 
 
 others  in  the  pasl  used  with  the  force  of  a  present,  the 
 
 "prophetic  perfect  "as  it  is  a etimes  termed.    Such 
 
 a  use  of  the  Hebrew  preterite  is  common  in  Biblical 
 
 poetry,   notably  in  the  Book  of  Psalms.     It   is  almost 
 
 impossible  to  reproduce  in  English  the  slight  distinc- 
 tion between  these  tenses.  While,  however,  his  eyes 
 an  thus  fixed  on  a  future  deliverance,  the  basis  of  all 
 Habakkuk's  anticipations  is  (bid's  doings  in  time  past  ; 
 ii hief  features  in  the  portraiture  are.  in  fact,  bor- 
 rowed from  the  Books  of  Exodus  and  Judges. 
 
 (;!>    God    came.-    Render    ••  Gad    shall    '-niiir  from 
 
 Toman,  and  the  Holy  0  in  j  i  o,,i  Mount  Paran.    s<lth. 
 
 His  glory  rovers   thv    hvavvns.  and  the    earth    is  full 
 
 •  ■I  II.  t  praise."  Jehovah  reveals  Himself  from  the 
 south:  i.e.,  from  Mount  Sinai,  as  in  Dent,  xxxii.. 
 Judges  v.,    Ps.  lxviii.      The  southern  country   is   here 
 
 designated  as  "Teman,"  i.e.,  Edom  to  tho  s.e..  and 
 "  Panei."  the  mountainous  region  to  the  s.w.,  between 
 
 Kil'un  and  Egypt. 
 
 (*)  And  his  brightness  was  as  the  light.  .  .  . 
 
 Better,  And  a  brightness  shall  (here  be,  tike  sun- 
 light,  and  rays  are  at  His  side;  and  there  [i.e.,  in  this 
 radiance    l.-tln  tabernacle  of  His  power. 
 
 (»)  Before  him  went  the  pestilence.    .    .    .— 
 Better,  Before  Him  shall  go  (he  plague,  and  h 
 pestilence  shall  go  forth    where   He  tele   II      fern. 
 
 Kleiner!    remarks    that    it    was    with    these   angels   of 
 
 death  that  Jehovah  revealed  Himself  in  the  south,  ami 
 destroyed  t  he  armies  of  Sennacherib  1 2  Slings  xix.  35 
 
 (8)  He  stood,  and  measured  the  earth  .  .  . 
 — Better,  His  has  taken  His  stand  and  measured  the 
 earth.  He  has  looked  and  made  the  heathen  tremble ; 
 and  thv  primeval  mountains  are  broken  up,  the  an- 
 v it  nt  hills  sink  down ;   His  goings  are  as  of  old;  i.e., 
 
 His  pr dings  are  the  same  as  of  old   time,  when   He 
 
 brought  up  Israel  from  Egypt,  (bid  measures  or 
 parcels  out  the  earth;  and  the  usurping  invader  is  put 
 to  confusion.  The  mountains  are  convulsed,  as  was 
 Sinai  of  old.    (Comp,  Judges  v.  .">.  Ps.  lxviii.  8.) 
 
 <7>  "I  saw."— Better.  /  sw.  Did  tremble.— 
 Better,  a,-,-  trembling.  Probably  the  imagery  is  still 
 borrowed  from  the  Exodus  story,  the  nations  instance  I 
 lioiug   the   borderers  ou  the  Rod  Sea  —  viz.,  Cushan 
 
 531 
 
 (Cush.  or  Ethiopia)  on  the  west,  and  Midian  on  the 
 east  side.  A  plausible  theory,  however,  as  old  as  the 
 Targuui.  connects  this  verse  with  later  episodes  in 
 Israel's  history.  "Cushan"  is  identified  with  that 
 Mcsopotamian  oppressor,  "  Cushan-rishathaim,"  whom 
 the  judge  Othniel  overcame.  (Judges  iii.  8 — In  . 
 And  "  Midian "  is  interpreted  by  Judges  vi..  which 
 records  how  Gideon  delivered  Israel  from  Midianitc 
 oppression.  Both  names  thus  become  typical  instances 
 of  tyranny  subdued  by  Jehovah's  intervention.  Wo 
 prefer  the  other  interpretation,  because  the  prophet  a 
 eye  is  still  fixed  apparently  on  the  earlier  history 
 verse  8,  et  sen.),  and  a  reference  here  to  the  time  of  the 
 Judges  would  mar  the  elimactic  symmetry  of  the  compo- 
 sition. "  Cushan,''  however,  is  never  used  elsewhere  for 
 ''Cush."  though  the  LXX.  understood  it  in  this  meaning. 
 ".Curtains  "  in  the  second  hemistich  is  merely  a  varia- 
 tion on  "  tents  "  in  the  first.     (Comp.  Song  of  Sol.  i.  5.) 
 
 (8)  Was  the  Lord  displeased?— Better.  Is  it 
 with  the  rivers  Jehovah  is  wrath/  Is  Tliine  anger 
 against  the  rivers  i  Is  Thy  wrath  against  the  sea  ? 
 — thai  Tliou  (thus)  ridest  upon  Tliy  horses,  that  Thy 
 chariots  (thus  appear) /or  deliverance  ? 
 
 Of  salvation.— Better,  for  salvation,  or  for  de- 
 liverance. The  allusion  is  obviously  to  Israel's  mira- 
 culous passago  through  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Jordan. 
 The  "  horses  "  and  "  chariots  "  which  are  here  the  svm- 
 bols  of  Divine  might,  come  in  the  more  fittingly  in 
 view  of  Exod.  xiv.  (see  verses  U  sea.),  where  Pliai- 
 pursued  with  "horses  and  chariots,"  only  to  find 
 Jehovah  Himself  arrayed  against  him. 
 
 (9)  Thy  bow  was  made  quite  naked.—  B 
 Tlnj  half  shall  be  bared,  even  the  chastisements  s\c 
 
 by  Thg  word.  Selah.  With  rivers  thaU  thou  cleave 
 Hi.  earth.  God's  chastisements,  which  are  compared  in 
 Ps.  xxi.  12  to  arrows  fitted  to  the  String,  are  lure  re- 
 presented as  a  bow  taken  out  of  the  case, and  so  "  made 
 naked."  or  "  bared."  The  word  mattvh,  "  rod."  "  stem" 
 (hence,  also,  "  tribe  "),  used  t.i  denote  an  instrument  of 
 chastisement  in  Micah  vi.  9.  Isa.xxx.  :f2.  here  apparently 
 means  the    jui n  ish  m,  ,it.   or  .  '.   of    heathen 
 
 iniquities,  which  God  has  sworn  i  see  Dent,  xxxii.  In.  41 1 
 to  execute.      On    the   term   Svlah    sec   Ps.   iii.    t  note. 
 
 Witii  riven  shaU  thou  deans  the  earth,  i.»-..  the  recks 
 
 shall  semi  forth  new  watercourses  at  Jehovah's  bidding, 
 so  that  "  rivers  run  in  the  dry  places."  (See  Exod. 
 xvii.  ti  |  Num.  xx.  11.) 
 
 (10—  lis)  xi\  the  verbs  in  these  verses  are  misrendered 
 as  regards  tense.     (See  note  on  3 — 15.) 
 
 (to)  The  mountains  saw  thee.— The  earthquake 
 
 at  Sinai  and  the  dividing  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  waters  of 
 
God's  Great  Power. 
 
 HABAKKUK,   III. 
 
 The  Prophet's  Unfailing  Trust. 
 
 ing  of  the  water  passed  by:  the  deep 
 uttered  bis  voice,  and  Hf  ted  up  bis  bands 
 on  high.  (11)  The  sun  and  moon  "  stood 
 still  in  their  habitation :  1  at  the  light 
 of  thine  *  arrows  they  went,  and  at  the 
 shining  of  thy  ghttering  spear.  (12)Thou 
 didst  march  through  the  land  in  indig- 
 nation, thou  didst  thresh  the  heathen  in 
 anger.  <13)  Thou  wentest  forth  for  the 
 salvation  of  thy  people,  even  for  salvation 
 with  thine  anointed ;  thou  woundedst  the 
 head  out  of  the  house  of  the  wicked,  2by 
 discovering  the  foundation  unto  the  neck. 
 Selah.  <14>Thou  didst  strike  through 
 with  his  staves  the  bead  of  his  villages : 
 they  3came  out  as  a  whirlwind  to  scatter 
 me :  their  rejoicing  was  as  to  devour  the 
 poor  secretly.  (15>  Thou  didst  walk 
 through  the  sea  with  thine  horses, 
 through  the  4heap  of  great  waters. 
 
 1  Or,  thine  mrowx 
 walked  in  th< 
 Ught,  &c. 
 
 2*    Heb.,    making 
 naked. 
 
 3  Hell.,  were  tem- 
 pestuous. 
 
 4  Or,  mud. 
 
 5  Or,  cut  tlicm  in 
 pieces. 
 
 c  2  Sara.  22. 34 ;  Ps. 
 18.33. 
 
 7  Heb.,  neginoth. 
 
 (16)  When  I  heard,  my  belly  trembled ; 
 my  lips  quivered  at  the  voice :  rottenness 
 entered  into  my  bones,  and  I  trembled 
 in  myself,  that  I  might  rest  in  the  day 
 of  trouble :  when  he  cometh  up  unto  the 
 people,  he  will  5  invade  them  with  his 
 troops. 
 
 <17>  Although"  the  fig  tree  shall  not 
 blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the 
 vines ;  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall 6  fail, 
 and  tbe  fields  shall  yield  no  meat ;  the 
 flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and 
 there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls : 
 (18)  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will 
 joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.  <19>  The 
 Lord  God  is  my  strength,  and  he  will 
 make  my  feet  like c  hinds'  feet,  and  he  will 
 make  me  to  walk  upon  mine  high  places. 
 
 To  the  chief  singer  on  my  7  stringed 
 instruments. 
 
 which  were  lifted  up  "  as  a  wall  on  the  right  hand  and 
 on  the  left "  of  Israel,  lie  at  the  basis  of  this  descrip- 
 tion. This  imagery,  however,  of  sweeping  floods  and 
 quaking  mountains  is  usual  in  poetical  accounts  of 
 Divine  interposition. 
 
 (ii)  The  sun  and  moon  stand  still  in  their 
 habitation — soil.,  where  they  were  at  the  beginning 
 of  the  judgment.  Here,  of  course,  Habakkuk  has  in 
 mind  Josh.  x.  12,  13.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  best 
 rendered,  at  the  light  of  Thine  arrows  which  go  abroad, 
 at  the  bright  glancing  of  Thy  spear.  Apparently,  the 
 conception  is  that  the  surpassing  brightness  of  the 
 theophany  shames  the  heavenly  bodies,  which  accord- 
 ingly cease  to  pursue  their  journey. 
 
 (!2)  Thou  didst  march.— Here  the  verbs  are  in 
 the  future,  and  are  to  be  rendered  accordingly. 
 
 (!3)  Thou  wentest. — Here  the  verbs,  though  past, 
 are  best  rendered  by  the  English  present. 
 
 Even  for  salvation  .  .  .—Better,  even  for  the 
 salvation  of  Thine  anointed — scil..  Thy  chosen  people, 
 as  also,  perhaps,  in  Ps.  cv.  15.  The  rendering  of  the 
 Authorised  Version  has  the  support  of  Aquila  and  the 
 Quinta.  It  is  a  possible  rendering,  but  few  impartial 
 Hebraists  will  deny  that  the  other  is  preferable.  In 
 the  last  half  of  the  verse  two  figures  are  blended — 
 those  of  a  house  and  a  human  body.  Literally,  it  runs. 
 Thou  crushest  the  head  of  the  house  of  the  wicked 
 (comp.  Ps.  ex.  6),  laying  bare  the  foundation  even  to 
 the  neck.  The  obvious  meaning  is  that  the  house  or  race 
 of  the  Chaldseans  is  to  be  destroyed,  "root  aud  branch." 
 (W)  Thou  dost  strike  through  with  his 
 staves  .  .  .—Better,  Tliou  dost  pierce  with  his  (scil., 
 thine  anointed  people's)  spears  the  head  of  his  (the 
 enemy's)  princes,  when  they  sweep  by  to  scatter  me 
 abroad,  when  they  exult  as  if  to  devour  the  afflicted 
 secretly.  The  first  clause  is  very  obscure.  Matteh 
 means  not  only  "  spear,"  but  also  "  rod,"  "  stem," 
 "  tribe "  (see  on  verse  9) ;  and  the  word  which  we 
 translate  "princes"  may  also,  perhaps, mean  "villages." 
 (See  on  Judg.  v.  7.)  It  is  also  uncertain  to  whom  the 
 possessive  pronouns  attached  to  these  substantives  refer. 
 In  the  last  clause  we  are  reminded  of  several  passages 
 in  the  Psalms,  notably,  x.  9 ;  xiv.  4 ;  xvii.  12. 
 
 (15)    Thou   didst   walk— Better,   Thou  walkest. 
 
 "  Heap  "  is  probably  the  correct  translation  of  chomer 
 here,  as  in  Exod.  viii.  10.  With  this  glance  at  the 
 miraculous  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  (see  verse  8)  this 
 prophetic  poem  comes  to  a  sudden  termination.  Tho 
 new  paragraph  begins  with  verse  16,  not,  as  is  in- 
 dicated in  the  Authorised  Version,  with  verse  17. 
 
 (16—19)  Habakkuk  now  reverts  abruptly  to  the  Divine 
 sentence  of  chapter  i.  5  et  seq.,  and  describes  with 
 what  emotion  he  meditates  on  the  coming  disasters, 
 and  on  his  own  inability  to  prevent  them.  His  anxiety 
 is,  however,  swept  aside  by  a  joyful  and  overpowering 
 confidence  in  God.  These  verses  are  a  kind  of  ap- 
 pendix to  the  preceding  poem. 
 
 (16)  That  I  might  rest  .  .  .—Better,  that  I 
 should  be  resting  quiet  in  the  day  of  trouble,  when  he 
 cometh  up  against  the  people  who  is  to  oppress  them. 
 
 (17)  Although. — Better,  For.  The  conjunction 
 connects  this  verse  with  what  precedes,  and  explains 
 Habakkuk's  affliction  more  fully.  With  the  sword  shall 
 come  famine,  invasion  as  usual  producing  desolation. 
 
 (18)  Yet — i.e.,  in  spite  of  all  the  afflictions  predicted 
 in  verse  17.  We  are  reminded  of  St.  Paul's  expression 
 of  confidence  in  Rom.  viii.  37. 
 
 (19)  The  Lord  God. — This  is  an  adaptation  from 
 Psalm  xviii.  33.  The  "  hinds'  feet "  indicate  the  strength 
 and  elasticity  of  the  prophet's  confidence ;  the  "  high 
 places"  are,  as  Kleinert  observes,  "the  heights  of  salva- 
 tion which  stand  at  the  end  of  the  way  of  tribulation, 
 and  which  only  the  righteous  man  can  climb  by  the 
 confidence  of  faith." 
 
 To  the  chief  singer— i.e.,  to  the  precentor,  or 
 presiding  singer.  The  rubric  may  be  interpreted  either 
 "  To  the  precentor.  (To  be  performed)  on  my  stringed 
 instruments,"  or,  "  To  him  who  presides  over  my 
 stringed  instruments."  The  fact  that  the  same  direction 
 occurs  with  the  words  in  the  same  order  in  six  Psalms 
 perhaps  favours  the  latter  rendering  in  all  cases.  The 
 preposition  al  would,  however,  in  this  case  be  appro., 
 priate  rather  than  6'.  On  tho  terms  used,  see  Ps.  iv.  1 
 It  lias  been  inferred  from  the  use  of  the  possessive  pro- 
 noun, "  my  stringed  instruments,"  that  Habakkuk  was 
 a  Levite,  and  therefore  himself  entitled  to  accompany 
 the  Temple  music.     But  see  Introduction,  §  i. 
 
 532 
 
ZEPHANIAH. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 ZEPHANIAH. 
 
 I.  The  Author. — Zephaniah  traces  his  pedigree 
 back  through  (our  generations  to  Eezekiah  (Authorised 
 Version  Bfikkiah),  Many  of  the  modern  commentators 
 have  followed  Jerome  and  Alien  Ezra  in  identifying 
 this  ancestor  with  the  king  of  Jndah  of  thai  name.  It 
 favours  tliis   new  thai  Zephaniah  traces  liis  pedigree 
 
 hack  ns  far  as  Hc/.ckiali  and  no  farther.     The  emphasis 
 
 thus  attached  to  the  name  argues  thai  it  was  thai  of  a 
 well-known   individual.      It  is   no  objection   that  his 
 
 royal  title  is  not  actually  mentioned,  .lust  in  the  same 
 v\.i\  Zechariah  names  as  his  grandfather  the  well- 
 known  I  ii(l<>.  without  the-  addition  "the  priest "  (Zeeli. 
 i.  1).  Neither  is  it  material  thai  between  Eezekiah 
 and  .Josinh  (in   wliose  reign   Zephaniah  prophesied), 
 
 there  are  only  two  kings  —  Manassch  and  Anion — to  set 
 
 off  against  Zephaniah's  three  ancestors.  The  fad  that 
 Uanasseh's  reign  was  unusually  long    extending  over 
 
 no  less  a  period  than  fifty-five  years — fully  accounts 
 for  the  disparity.  It  is  quite  possible  therefore  that 
 Zephaniah  iii  chap.  i.  1  lays  claim  to  descent  from  the' 
 royal  family  of  .ludah.  Of  the  prophet's  life  nothing 
 i-  known.  The  name  "Zephaniah  means  Jehovah 
 hides  or  protects  (from  root  tsaphan),  not  as  Jerome 
 explains  it,  watchman  of  Jehovah  (from  root  tsdphdh). 
 But  the  etymology  lias  no  bearing  on  the  present  com- 
 position, for  there  is  no  reason  to  regard  the 
 ministerial  title. 
 
 lie  name  as  a 
 
 II.  Occasion  of  writing.— According  to  chap.  i. 
 1.  Zephaniah  prophesied  in  the  reign  of  Joeiah.  This 
 reign  lasted  from  b.o.  641  to  b.c.  010.  For  the 
 purpose  of  our  present  investigation  it  may  conve- 
 niently be  divided  mto  three  periods.  i".i  That  preceding 
 the  abolition  of  idolatry,  'ill — 630.  (o.)  The  reformat  ion 
 
 period.  This  culminated,  in  I  iii  t — iJ.  in  a  restoration  of 
 the  Temple,  B  renewal  of  the  covenant,  anil  the  eelehra- 
 
 tiou  of  the  great  Passover,  fa.)  The  period  following 
 this  reformation.  Iii!  lil<t  To  which  of  these  three 
 periods  does  the  prophecy  of  Zephaniah  belong  P  Primd 
 net  we  feel  inclined  to  connect  it  with  the  first  period. 
 The  prophecy  was  provoked  by  the  general  prevalence 
 
 Of  idolatry  (chap.  1.  1 — 6),  oppression  and  corruption 
 (chap.  iii.  1 — 7),  It  is  only  natural  to  suppose  that  it 
 was  composed  before  Josiali   was  old  enough   to  begin 
 
 his  reformation:  i.e..  between  the  years  641—430. 
 The  arguments  alleged  in  favour  of  a  later  date  are 
 
 insufficient  to  invalidate  this  conclusion.  These  argu- 
 ments may  lie  tabulated  thus: — i  l.i  The  expression  "  I 
 will  cut  off  the  remnant  of  Baal "  (ohap.  i.  I    has  bean 
 
 treated  as  implying  that  some  steps  had  aheaih  been 
 taken  to  aholish  Baal-worship  :  i.e.,  that  Zephaniah 
 wrote  after  the  inauguration  of  Josiah's  reforms.  This 
 interpretation  is,  of  course,  possible.  But  it  certainly 
 is  not    absolutely    necessary,      i  See  note  on   chap.  i.  4.) 
 
 (2.)  The  guilt  of  the  "  king's  sons"  is  denounced  ohap, 
 L  8).     But  Jehoiakim,   the  eldest   sou  of  Josiah,  was 
 
 535 
 
 not  more  than  six  years  old  at  the  close  of  the  first 
 period,  and  only  twelve  at  the  close  of  the  second.  Tile 
 denunciation  is  therefore  supposed  to  prove  that 
 Zephaniah  wrote  aliout  the  middle  of  the  third  period, 
 when  the  characters  of  the  two  elder  princes,  Jehoiakim 
 and  Jehoahaz,  would  be  sufficiently  formed  to  indicato 
 their  irreligious  propensities.  This  argument  appears 
 at  first  sight  convincing.  But  its  force  disappears  en- 
 tirely when  we  recollect  that  this  expression  need  not 
 refer  to  Josiah's  sons  at  all.  Other  princes  of  the 
 blood  royal  may  be  meant,  sons  of  Anion  or  grandsons 
 of  Manasseh.  (See  chap.  i.  8,  note.)  (3.)  Phrases  from 
 the  law,  and  more  particularly  from  the  Book  of  Deu- 
 teronomy, are  of  frequent  occurrence  in   this  prophecy. 
 
 ( 'oinp.  chaps,  i.  13,  15,  17;  ii.  5,  7,  11;  iii.  :,.  lit,  20.) 
 It  is  argued  that   tl xplanati f  these  numerous 
 
 citations  lies  in  Hilkialfs  discovery  of  "  the  1 k  of  the 
 
 law  "  iii  liJI  or  623,  and  its  subsequent  public  recital. 
 (See  2  Kings  xxii.  8,  xxiii.  -J.)  But  this  inference  has 
 little  force  save  for  those  who  unwarrantably  connect 
 these  events  with  the  composition  of  the 'Book  of 
 Deuteronomy.  That  a  discovery  of  an  ancient  copy  of 
 the  law  caused  a  sensation  in  Jerusalem,  and  aided 
 Josiah's  work  of  religious  reform,  appears  to  us  sot'. 
 ficiently  natural.  It  need  not  commit  us  to  the  con- 
 clusions that  before  the  year  in  question  the  law  was 
 quite  forgotten  or  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  non- 
 existent.     Those   who   have  jumped  at   the   latter   < - 
 
 elusion  cannot  fairly  account  for  the  apparent  in- 
 debtedness of  earlier  prophets — e.g.,  Hosea  and  Amos 
 — to  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy. 
 
 That  Jerusalem  is  distinctly  represented  as  in  a  state 
 of  religious  and  moral  decadence  sufficiently  shows,  we 
 
 think,  that  the  book  of  Zephaniah  preceded  the  memor- 
 able year  of  iconoclasm  li.c.  630.  In  accordance  with 
 this  theory  of  date  is  the  prophet's  allusion  to  the 
 future  fate  of  Nineveh  in  chap.  ii.  I:',  1.",.  \\',.  do  not 
 claim  this  passage  as  an  original  prediction,  for  it  is 
 obviously  based  on  an  earlier  prophecy — that  of 
 Xahum.  But  we  infer  from  the  use  of  the  future 
 tens,,  that  what  Xahum  had  predicted  had  not  yet  b 
 fulfilled  :  i.e..  that  Zephaniah  w  rote,  at  all'  events, 
 before  the  capture  of  Nineveh  in  625.  The  allusion 
 harmonises  with  the  other  argument,  which  impels  08 
 to  place   Zephaniah's  composition   in   the  period  till — 
 
 630. 
 
 Zephaniah's  mission  was  one  of  mingled  reproof  and 
 consolation.      In  the  foreground  of  tic  prophetic  por- 
 traiture stands  the  Chaldean  invasion,  with  its  fearful 
 consequences — the  sack  of  Jerusalem  and  deportation  of 
 chosen  | pie.   This  disastrous  epoch  is  obviously 
 
 "the    day   of    wrath"   so   vividly   depleted   in   chap.  i. 
 
 Zephaniah,  however,  does  not  specify  the  nation  which 
 
 God  has  appointed  as  His  instrument  of  chastisement. 
 This  identification  is  reserved  for  Habakkuk.  writing 
 somewhat  later  (Hab.  i.  til.   Far  back  iu  the  perspective 
 
ZEPHANIAH. 
 
 of  the  picture  is  that  glorious  vision  of  extended  re- 
 ligious privileges,  which  is  elsewhere  connected  with 
 the  Messianic  Promise,  and  which  certainly  finds  its 
 historical  counterpart  only  in  the  advent  of  the  Saviour. 
 Between  the  foreground  and  this  bright  horizon  we 
 have  a  delineation  of  those  political  catastrophes  in 
 which  Jehovah  whelms  Israel's  enemies — the  overthrow 
 of  the  Philistine  strongholds  and  extinction  of  the 
 Philistine  race;  the  utter  desolation  of  the  lands  of 
 Moab  and  Ammon;  carnage  and  bloodshed  in  Ethiopia; 
 last,  because  most  important,  that  overthrow  of  Nineveh 
 which  had  been  already  foretold  by  Nahum,  and  which 
 in  point  of  time  preceded  the  Chaldean  invasion. 
 
 Against  Jerusalem,  therefore,  Zephaniah  invokes  a 
 "day  of  wrath,"  which  is  to  purge  her  of  her  idolatry 
 and  lawlessness.  To  the  remnant  of  faithful  wor- 
 shippers on  the  other  hand  he  promises  that  the  period 
 of  affliction  shall  pave  the  way  for  the  glorification  of 
 God's  people  and  the  extension  of  His  kingdom  to  the 
 Gentiles.  In  effecting  this  purpose,  God  shall  bring 
 low  the  powers  of  this  world  (chap.  iii.  8).  The  nations 
 which  have  afflicted  His  people  in  time  past  shall  be 
 effaced  (chap.  ii.  4 — 15).  Judah's  captivity  shall  be 
 turned,  Jerusalem  shall  become  the  honoured  source 
 of  religious  enlightenment  to  the  lands  which  once 
 put  her  to  shame  (chap.  iii.  19,  20). 
 
 An  extensive  vista  is  thus  opened  to  our  view.  Un- 
 like some  of  his  predecessors,  Zephaniah  does  not  fix 
 his  attention  on  one  historical  episode.  His  prophetic 
 gaze  l-anges  from  the  sack  of  Jerusalem,  not  fifty  years 
 after  the  date  of  his  composition,  to  the  extension  of 
 God's  kingdom,  effected  600  years  later.  Historically 
 there  is  no  connected  course  of  events  discernible. 
 Continuity  is  brought  into  the  prophecy  only  by  re- 
 garding Nebuchadnezzar's  invasion,  the  captivity  and 
 the  restoration,  and  the  fluctuating  fortunes  of  the  sur- 
 rounding nations  as  all  subsidiary  to  one  divine  purpose 
 — that  of  bringing  Israel  through  suffering  to  glory. 
 The  details  of  this  prophecy  are  thus  incapable  of  a 
 comprehensive  treatment.  Their  relation  to  the  actual 
 course  of  history  must  be  treated  of  iu  the  commentary 
 rather  than  in  the  general  introduction. 
 
 Those  who  have  taken  a  different  view  of  Zephaniah's 
 prophecy  have  usually  endeavoured  to  focus  the 
 prophet's  gaze  on  some  one  historical  episode  in  which 
 lie  the  germs  of  all  the  political  changes  foretold.  Two 
 such  episodes  have  found  special  favour.  (1.)  The 
 Scythian  invasion  of  Northern  Asia,  which  we  have 
 mentioned  in  our  Introduction  to  Nahum  (II.)  (2.)  The 
 upgrowth  of  the  Babylonian  empire.  We  close  this 
 section  with  an  examination  of  these  two  theories  of 
 "  occasion." 
 
 (1.)  The  Scythian  invasion  has  been  favoured  by  those 
 who  assume  that  the  prophets  had  no  inspired  power  of 
 prediction.  It  is  supposed  that  a  Scythian  incursion 
 into  Media  and  Assyria,  which  took  place  about  the  time 
 of  Zephaniah,  was  extended  southwards,  menacing  Jeru- 
 salem itself,  and  inflicting  desolation  on  the  nation- 
 alities mentioned  in  chap.  ii.  This  catastrophe  is  made 
 the  basis  of  Zephaniah's  composition,  which  thus  falls 
 from  the  level  of  prophecy  to  that  of  a  political 
 brochure.  The  entire  groundwork  of  this  theory  may  be 
 included  in  a  few  lines. 
 
 Herodotus  describes  (most  inaccurately)  an  irruption 
 of  the  Scythians  into  Media,  about  this  time.  He  says 
 that  they  established  an  empire  in  Upper  Asia,  to 
 which  he  ascribes  a  duration  of  twenty-eight  years  (!). 
 (see  Herod,  i.  103 — 106).  Herodotus  also  mentions  the 
 march  of  an  isolated  Scythian  force  in  the  direction  of 
 Egypt.     Psammetichus,  the  Egyptian  king,  arrested 
 
 this  incursion  "  in  Palestine- Syria  ...  by  gifts  and 
 entreaties."  The  only  mischief  recorded  is  the  plun- 
 dering of  a  temple  of  Venus  in  Ascalon  by  "  some 
 few  "  of  the  Scythians  "  who  were  left  behind  "  (Herod, 
 i.  105).  This  is  literally  the  only  record  of  any  Scythian 
 incursions  in  the  south.  How  far  this  innocuous  march 
 through  Philistia  illustrates  the  prophet's  account  of 
 a  depopulation  of  Jerusalem,  a  permanent  desolation  of 
 Philistia.  Moab,  and  Ammon,  and  a  destruction  of  the 
 Ethiopians,  we  leave  to  the  judgment  of  the  intelligent 
 student. 
 
 (2.)  The  theory  which  concentrates  the  prophet's 
 attention  exclusively  on  the  period  of  the  Chaldean 
 ascendancy  appears  at  first  sight  more  plausible.  The 
 overthrow  of  Nineveh,  the  execution  of  the  Divine 
 sentence  on  Jerusalem,  and  the  captivity  of  the  tribe  of 
 Judah  (chap.  ii.  13 — 15,  i.  7 — 18,  ii.  7),  may  all  be  asso- 
 ciated with  this  subject.  So,  too,  may  the  promises  of 
 Jerusalem's  glorification  (chap.  iii.  14,  et  seq.),  since  the 
 completion  of  the  punishment,  and  the  return  from 
 Babylon,  are  regarded  elsewhere  in  Scripture  as  a  kind 
 of  proem  to  the  reign  of  Messiah.  But  it  appears  impos- 
 sible to  refer  the  judgments  on  Philistia,  Moab,  and 
 Ammon  (chap.  ii.  4 — 9)  to  Chaldean  agencies.  There 
 is  no  evidence  that  Nebuchadnezzar's  invasion  brought 
 siege  and  destruction  to  the  four  Philistine  cities. 
 Moab  and  Ammon  actually  aided  Nebuchadnezzar  in 
 punishing  Jerusalem.  It  is  true  these  two  tribes  were 
 themselves  chastised  five  years  later  for  the  inurder  of 
 the  Chaldean  governor,  Gedaliah,  but  no  permanent 
 desolation  was  effected,  such  as  is  described  in  chap, 
 ii.  9.  Nor  is  it  certain  that  the  Ethiopians  suf- 
 fered at  the  hands  of  the  new  world  -  power.  This 
 theory,  therefore,  must  be  considered  as  untenable  as 
 the  other.  The  Chaldean  invasion  has  an  important 
 place  in  the  prophecy.  But  Zephaniah's  political  fore- 
 casts cannot  be  associated  exclusively  with  the  rise  and 
 progress  of  the  Chaldean  empire. 
 
 IU.  Division  of  Contents.— Only  one  distinct 
 break  occurs  in  this  composition — that  between  chap- 
 ters ii.  and  iii.  Transitions  of  a  less  marked  kind 
 divide  the  book  into  six  distinct  sections,  varying  con- 
 siderably in  length,  (a)  The  prophet's  exordium  an- 
 nounces a  far- searching  judgment  on  Judah  and  Jeru- 
 salem, and  sets  forth  the  reason  of  its  infliction — viz., 
 the  prevalence  of  idolatry  and  religious  apostacy  (chap.  L 
 1 — 6).  (o)  The  judgment  is  then  described  iu  reference 
 to  the  various  classes  on  whom  it  shall  light  (chap.  i. 
 7 — 13),  and  its  terribly  destructive  character  (chap.  i. 
 14 — 18).  (c)  The  exhortation  to  repent  in  time  (chap, 
 ii.  1 — 3).  (d)  As  an  encouragement  to  those  who  "  seek 
 the  Lord "  the  oppressive  nationalities  are  depicted  as 
 succumbing  on  all  sides  to  the  might  of  Jehovah,  whose 
 worship  is  established  in  all  the  coasts  of  the  heathen 
 (chap.  ii.  4 — 15).  (e)  Reverting  to  his  own  country,  the 
 prophet  denounces  Jerusalem  as  full  of  corruption,  and 
 as  hopelessly  obdurate  (chap.  iii.  1 — 7).  (/)  Prom  this 
 immediate  present  he  passes  again  to  the  final  issue : 
 God's  wrathful  visitations  shall  result  in  the  extension 
 of  His  kingdom  to  the  Gentiles  (chap.  iii.  8 — 10),  and 
 the  promotion  of  the  purified  remnant  of  Israel  to  a 
 position  of  great  honour  (chap.  iii.  10 — 20). 
 
 IV.  Character  and  Style. — The  theological  cha- 
 racter of  Zephaniah's  composition  is  somewhat  remark- 
 able. None  of  the  minor  prophets  takes  such  a  com- 
 prehensive view  of  the  Divine  administration  of  human 
 fortunes.  In  some  prophets  we  have  a  revelation  of 
 Jehovah's  retributive  judgments   on  heathen  powers; 
 
 536 
 
XKIMIAXIAII. 
 
 ill    others,    we   meet    With    the     ainn iiiiK-iiiK-nt     of    Qu 
 
 purifying  judgments  w  I  ■  ■  <  - 1 1  are  to  visit  the  sacred  nation, 
 Ben,  however,  I » ■ « t  it   these  Mi«—  are   combined  as 
 
 Jhases  in  one  orderly  dispensation.  A  wide  extension  of 
 ehovah's  kingdom  is  the  Bnal  issne  of  this  dispensation. 
 Tin'  nations  are  to  worship  the  one  trne  God,  and  Jem 
 NJilcin  is  tn  Ih'  honoured  ofaE  men  as  the  fountain-head 
 nf  religions  knowledge.  It  is  ■  result  which  is  predicted 
 in  other  prophetical  passages,  and  usually  it  is  asso- 
 ciated with  tin'  reign  cf  Uessiah.  Here,  however,  the 
 Mi-.si.inir  promise  is  not  once  mentioned.  Hut  for  this 
 notable  omission,  Zephaniah's  composition  might  be 
 regarded  as  a  very  epitome  of  all  prophetic  theology. 
 Next  to  this  comprehensiveness  ox  new,  the  most 
 striking  trait  in  the  boos  is  the  importance  attached  to 
 worship  as  .mii  indication  of  the  spiritual  condition. 
 The  crying  sin  of  Jerusalem  is  her  neglect  or  per- 
 version of  tin-  duty  of  worship  (chap.  i.  I — <i).  Tin-  result 
 nf  the  chastisement  of  the  Gentile  tribes  is  to  be  the 
 extension  nf  pure  worship  (chap.  ii.  11,  iii.  9),  so  that 
 from  the  remotest  lands  the  minchdh,  ><r  bloodless 
 sacrifice,  is  offered  to  Jehovah  (chap.  iii.  10).  The 
 restoration  of  [srael  is  represented  us  re-establishing 
 those  Baered  festivals  which  formed  so  important  a  part 
 of  the  national  worship  (chap.  iii.  18).  Other  noticeable 
 traits  are  tin-  representation  nf  Israel's  spiritual  as- 
 
 Oendancy,   by  the   figure  "f  an  extemleil    territory      see 
 
 chap.  ii.  7.  ;t ;  the  remarkable  deprecation  of  the  sin  of 
 spiritual  pride  i"  ohap.  iii.  11  ;  the  association  nf  afflic- 
 tion and  sanotification  in  chap,  iii  12;  the  conception  of 
 die  Ueutile.s  worshipping  Jehovah,  not  only  at  Jeru- 
 
 salem, but  also  at  homo — "  every  one  from  his  place" 
 chap,  ii.  1 1 1. 
 
 The  literary  sty],.  ,,f  Zejihaniah  is  apparently  dete- 
 riorated by  the  extensive  range  "f  his  theme.  It  lacks 
 tlm  precisian  anil  sententious  rigour  which  charac- 
 terise those  prophets  whose  attention  is  riveted   mi 
 
 issues  immediately  im]ieuiling.     The  whole  Composition 
 
 la  deficient,  we  feel,  as  regards  symmetry  ami  orderly 
 
 Sequence,  One  of  the  must  striking  sections  in  the  liook, 
 the  sentence  against   the  foreign   nat  ionalit  ies  i  chap.  ii. 
 
 ■1 — I'm.  seems  to  oome  in  half  parenthetically,  so  thai  we 
 
 are  reminded  nf  that  Pauline  trait  which  has  been  styled 
 "going  off  at  a  word."  Similarly,  at  chap,  iii.  8,  tin- 
 writer  passes,  without  regard  tn  continuity,  from  Jeru- 
 salem's iniquities   to  her  restoration    from   captivity. 
 
 This  lack  of  arrangement  extends  to  minor  details.  The 
 language  is  impassioned,  but  it  has  not  that  eloquence 
 which  is  imparted  by  sustained  rhythm.  It  is  diffuse, 
 lint  that  artistic  parallelism  which  in  the  higher  types 
 of  Hebrew  poetry  makes  diffuseness  and  even  tautology 
 
 palatable,  ia  altogether  absent.    The  diction  suggests  a 
 
 memory  laden  with  older  Scriptural  passages,  rather 
 than  any  creative  capacity.  The  works  on  which  the 
 pmphet  is  more  especially  dependent  are  the  Pentateuch, 
 and  the  prophecies  of  Micah  and  Isaiah.  Peculiarities 
 of  construction,  such  as  are  common  in  more  original 
 writers,  are  of  rare  occurrence  in  Zcphaniah  ;  tin  book 
 is  therefore  easy  to  read.  We  feel  that  it  is  semi- 
 historical,  rather  than  poetical.  Unlike  more  vigor  is 
 compositions,  such  as  Nalmm's  and  Habakkuk's,  it 
 loses  little  in  an  English  translation. 
 
 537 
 
ZEPHAXIAH. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.— (i)  The  word  of  the 
 Lord  which  came  unto  Zephaniah  the 
 son  of  Cushi,  the  son  of  Gedaliah,  the 
 son  of  Amariah,  the  son  of  Hizkiah,  in 
 the  days  of  Josiah  the  son  of  Amon, 
 king  of  Judah. 
 
 (2)  1  J  w{[\  utterly  consume  all  things 
 from  off  2the  land,  saith  the  Lokd. 
 ,3)  I  will  consume  man  and  beast ;  I  will 
 consume  the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and 
 the  fishes  of  the  sea,  and  the 3  stumbling- 
 blocks  with  the  wicked  ;  and  I  will  cut 
 off  man  from  off  the  land,  saith  the 
 Lord. 
 
 W  I  will  also  stretch  out  mine  hand 
 upon  Judah,  and  upon  all  the  inhabi- 
 
 E.O. 
 cir.  630. 
 
 [  Heb.,  Bij  taktno 
 
 away  I  will  tiuilw 
 
 an  end. 
 
 Hcb.,  the  face  of 
 
 the  laud. 
 
 i  Or,  to  the  Lord. 
 
 5  Heb.,   sonctified 
 or,  prepared. 
 
 tants  of  Jerusalem ;  and  I  will  cut  off 
 the  remnant  of  Baal  from  this  place, 
 and  the  name  of  the  Chemarims  with 
 the  priests ;  (5>  and  them  that  worship 
 the  host  of  heaven  upon  the  housetops  ; 
 and  them  that  worship  and  that  swear 
 4  by  the  Lord,  and  that  swear  by  Mal- 
 cham  ;  (6)  and  them  that  are  turned  back 
 from  the  Lord  ;  and  those  that  have 
 not  sought  the  Lord,  nor  enquired  for 
 him. 
 
 P)  Hold  thy  peace  at  the  presence  of 
 the  Lord  God  :  for  the  day  of  the  Lord 
 is  at  hand :  for  the  Lord  hath  pre- 
 pared a  sacrifice,  he  hath  5  bid  his 
 guests. 
 
 (1—6)  Judgment  ou  Judah  and  Jerusalem  is  impend- 
 ing on  accoimt  of  a  religious  apostacy  of  manifold 
 forms  and  degrees.     The  wide  range  of  this  judgment. 
 
 (1)  Hizkiah.— Or,  Hezekiah  ;  possibly  the  king  of 
 that  name  (see  Introd.  I.). 
 
 (2,  3)  in  this  extensive  denunciation  there  is  clearly  a 
 reminiscence  of  Gen.  vii.  23.  The  "  fishes  of  the  sea," 
 however,  are  substituted  for  the  "  creeping  things." 
 The  prophecy  in  Mauasseh's  reigu  (2  Kings  xxi.  13) 
 should  be  compared. 
 
 P)  The  stumblingblosks  with  the  wicked.— 
 
 i.e.,  the  enticements  to  sin  together  with  the  sinners. 
 The  word  macsheldh  is  used  in  Isa.  iii.  6  in  the  sense 
 of  "  a  ruin."  Here,  however,  such  a  signification 
 would  not  be  apposite.  It  is  exactly  the  travru  t»  aKcivSaXa 
 of  Matt.  xiii.  41,  a  passage  wherein  we  may  perhaps 
 see  a  reminiscence  of  the  text  before  us. 
 
 (*)  The  remnant  of  Baal.— i.e.,  Baal  worship  shall 
 be  completely  and  utterly  abolished.  Not  even  a  rem- 
 nant of  it  shall  be  left.  The  term  "  remnant "  need  not 
 imply,  as  Kleinert  argues,  that  a  large  part  of  the  Baal- 
 worship  had  been  already  overthrown,  by  Josiah's 
 reformation. 
 
 The  Chemarims.— In  2  Kings  xxiii.  5,  this  is  the 
 designation  of  the  "  idolatrous  priests  whom  the  kings 
 of  Judah  had  ordained  to  burn  incense  in  the  high 
 places."  The  term  is  used  again  in  Hos.  x.  5.  Even 
 the  very  name  of  these  intruders  is  to  be  abolished. 
 
 The  priests.— Are  probably  a  certain  section  of 
 the  Jewish  priesthood  who  had  winked  at  this  establish- 
 ment of  false  worship. 
 
 (5)  The  worship  "  on  the  housetops "  is  mentioned 
 elsewhere  as  the  cult  of  a  certain  class  of  apostates  (see 
 Jer.  xix.  13,  xxxii.  29)  who  ascended  roofs  and  other 
 high  places  to  adore  the  hosts  of  heaven.  We  find  it 
 mentioned  as  part  of  Josiah's  refonnatory  procedure 
 that  he  removed  "  the  altars  that  were  on  the  top  of 
 
 538 
 
 the  upper  chamber  of  Ahaz "  (2  Kings  xxiii.  12). 
 The  last  half  of  the  verse  should  be  rendered,  And  the 
 worshippers  who  swear  to  Jehovah,  and  who  swear 
 (also)  by  Malcham — i.e.,  those  who  divide  their  allegi- 
 ance between  the  true  God  and  the  false.  In  the  title 
 given  to  the  latter  we  may  perhaps  see  a  combination 
 of  "their  king"  (Hebrew,  malcdm)  and  the  name 
 Moloch,  or  Molech.  The  name  Malcham, however,  occurs 
 elsewhere  as  the  name  of  an  Ammonite  deity,  probably 
 identical  with  Moloch.  (See  Jer.  xlix.  1 — 3,  Notes.) 
 In  1  Kings  xi.  5.  moreover,  we, have  a  deity  "  Milcham," 
 who  is  identified  two  verses  later  with  Molech.  "the 
 abomination  of  the  children  of  Amnion."  The  allu- 
 sion to  the  adoration  of  the  "host  of  heaven  upon  the 
 housetops  "  gains  additional  force  if  this  deity  is  identical 
 with  the  planet  Saturn,  as  some  have  supposed.  (See 
 Gesenius,  sub  voce). 
 
 (6)  Schmieder  observes  that  the  enumeration  of 
 verses  4 — 6  extends  from  gross  external  to  refined 
 internal  apostasy.  "  The  Lord  will  destroy  (1)  the 
 idols  of  Baal;'  (2)  their  priests;  (3)  those  who  openly 
 worship  them  on  housetops;  (4)  the  secret  wor- 
 shippers; (5)  those  who,  without  worshipping  idols, 
 have  apostatised  in  their  hearts  ;  (6)  those  who  are  in- 
 different to  religion." 
 
 (7—13)  T}ie  judgment,  in  reference  to  its  objects. 
 
 (?)  Hold  thy  peace.  .  .  . — Literally,  Hush  at 
 the  presence  of  the  Lord  God.  This  pecidiar  phrase  is 
 repeated  in  Hab.  ii.  20. 
 
 A  sacrifice. — The  word  includes  the  idea  of  the 
 feast  in  which  it  was  customary  to  consume  the  remains 
 of  the  sacrifice.  (See  Ps.  xxii.  26,  29.)  Hence  the 
 clause  "  He  has  bid  his  guests ;  "  or,  more  literally.  He 
 has  consecrated  [set  apart  for  himself]  his  invited 
 ones.  (Comp.  Isa.  xiii.  3.)  God's  guests  are  here  those 
 foreign  nations  whom  He  has  selected  to  be  His  ministers 
 of  chastisement.  They  are  invited,  as  it  were,  to 
 banquet  upon  God's  apostate  people.  The  figure  is 
 probably  borrowed  from  Isa.  xxxiv.  6. 
 
The  Day  <>/ 
 
 ZHl'HAMAH,    I. 
 
 tli'-  Lord  at  Hand, 
 
 <8>  And  it  shall  come  to  pan  in  the  day 
 of  the  Lord's  sacrifice,  that  I  will 
 1  punish  the  princes,  and  the  king's 
 children,  and  all  such  as  are  clothed 
 with  strange  apparel.     :"  En  the  same 
 
 day  also  will  I  punish  all  those  that 
 leap  on    tin-   threshold,  which    till    their 
 
 masters'  houses  with  violence  and  deceit. 
 
 11(11  Ami  it  shall  OOme  to  pass  in  1  hat 
 day,  saith  the  Loi;i>,  that  tlicm  shall  Itr 
 the  noise  of  a.  cry  from  the  lish  gate, 
 and  an  bowline-  from  the  second,  and  a 
 great  crashing  from  the  hills.  <1U  Howl, 
 ye  inhabitants  of  Maktesh,  for  all  the 
 
 merchant  people  are  cut  down;  all  they 
 that  bear  silver  are  cut  off.  ''-'And  it 
 shall  come  to  pass  at  that  time,  that  1 
 will  search  .lerusaleiu  with  candles, 
 and  punish  the  men  that  arc  'settled 
 on  their  lees:  that  say  in  their  heart. 
 
 I  Hl'b.,1 
 
 I  ll   i 
 
 Drat.  ■*>.  30,  !» 
 Amum  .i-  a. 
 
 : :  Joel| 
 
 •-'.  1 1  ;  A 
 
 The  LOBD  will  not  do  fjood,  neither  will 
 he  do  evil.  W Therefore  their  goods 
 shall  become  a  booty,  and  their  houses 
 
 a  desolation:  they  shall  also  build  ho 
 hut      not    inhahit    them;   and   they   shall 
 plant   vineyards,  hut    not  drink  the  wine 
 thereof. 
 
 Ml  The  great  day  of  the  Loru  it  near, 
 it  is  near,  and  hasteth  greatly,  evt-ii  t In- 
 voice of  the  day  of  the  Loiil)  :  the 
 mighty  man  shall  cry  there  bitterly. 
 i'"  That  day  is  a  day  of  ''wrath,  a  day 
 of  trouble  and  distress,  a  da\  of  waste- 
 less and  desolation,  a  day  of  darkness 
 and  gloominess,  a  day  of  clouds  and 
 thick  darkness,  l"';  a  day  of  the  trumpet 
 and  alarm  against  the  fenced  cities. 
 and  against  the  high  towers.  Iir,.\ml 
 I  will  bring  distress  upon  men,  that 
 they  shall  walk  like  blind  men,  because 
 
 (8)  The  king's  children.— The  misfortunes  which 
 wen-  i .i  In-tall  Josiah's  children,  Jehoahaz  and  Jehoia- 
 kim  (see  2  Kings  xxiii.,  xxiv.),  are  perhaps  in  the  pro- 
 
 S bet's  eye.  Hut  it' we  are  correct  in  oar  view  of  the 
 ate  of  writ  in;,'  (see  Intruil.  II.  |  these  princes  must  have 
 been  as  yet  mere  children,  and  could  hardly  have  pro- 
 voked the  prophefs  curse  by  any  extraordinary  display 
 of  wickedness.  It  therefore  appears  better  to  suppose 
 that  the  bang's  brothels  or  uncles  are  meant.  ((Jump, 
 the  phrase  in  2  Kings  xi.  2;  -  Chron.  xxii.  11.) 
 Clothed  with  strange  apparel. —  Zephainab 
 those  who  have  imitated  the  luxurious  dress  of 
 foreign  nations:  e.g.,  perhaps  the  gorgeous  apparel  of 
 
 Assyria  and  [ialiylonia  i  K/.ek.  xxiii.  12 — 15).     This  de- 
 sin-  fur  strange  clothing  is  specially  aotioed  as  a  mark 
 
 of  apostasy,  I ause  the  national  dress,  with  its  bine 
 
 riband  at  the  fringe,  was  appointed  that  the  Jews  might 
 •  !."•!.  upon  it.  ana  remember  all  the  commandments  of 
 
 the  Lord,  and  do  them  "  |  Xnm.  xv.  38,  89). 
 
 ('•)  Their  masters'  houses. — Better,  flair  loraTa 
 meaning  the  temple  of  their  idol-deity.     Pro- 
 bably the  true  interpretation  of  this  obscure  verse  is 
 thai  the  idolaters  had  adopted  a  usage  prevalent  in  the 
 Philistine  temples  of  Dagon — that  of  leaping  ever  the 
 
 threshold  on  entering  the   idol's    temple.      (See  I    Sam. 
 v.    S  When    they    entered     it    they    tilled     it     with 
 
 "vinl. nee    and    deceit"    by    bringing    thither    offerings 
 
 acquired  by  fraud  and  oppression.  Another  interpre- 
 tation makes  tin-  verse  relate  exclusively  to  plund 
 ami  unjust  aeipiisitiim  of  g Is.  "  [leaping  the  thres- 
 hold" is  then  expounded  as  "s  sodden  rushing  into 
 bouses  tn  steal  the  property  of  strangers,"  and  the 
 i-.-  identified  as  "servants  of  the  king,  who 
 
 thought  they  cnld  beat  serve  their  master  bj   extorting 
 
 treasures  from  their  dependants  by  violence  and  fraud. 
 iKwal.l  .    It  dues  nut  seem  likely  that  such  malpractices 
 would  have  been  tolerated  among  the  retainers  of  the 
 pious  Joaiah ;  it  is  possible,  however,  tn  suppose  that  be 
 bad  aoj  yel  acquired  sufficient  authority  to  cheek  them. 
 
 (io)  The  fish  gate. -See  Note  on  2  Ohron.  xxxiii. 
 1 1 ;   Xeh.  iii.  X 
 
 The  second.— The  word  "  city"  is  to  In-  supplied. 
 The  new  or  lower  city  is  meant.  Tin-  same  expression 
 occurs  in  -  Kings  xxii.  14;  Xeh.  xi.  !'. 
 
 539 
 
 From  the  hills.— The  "  hills  "  are  pri  bably,  Mount 
 Zion  and  Mount  Moriah,  the  sites  of  the  old  Davidic 
 city  and  the  Temple.  Thus  all  parts  of  the  city  are  to 
 be  included  in  this  destruction. 
 
 tin  Maktesh.— Better. //ic  mortar,  a  term  indica- 
 ting probably  Borne  pari  of  the  city  lying  in  a  hollow: 
 
 perhaps  that  part  which  was  in  the  valley  of  Tyropoeon. 
 
 This  quarter  is  described   by  Josephus  as  "full  of 
 
 houses"  {B.J.  V.  iv.  §  It.  Hence  some  detect  in  the 
 name   "  mortar"  an   allusion    to   the  noisy   din   of   the 
 
 commerce  here  conducted.  The  nam,-  occurs  hen-  onlj . 
 Some  suppose  thai  it  is  a  term  coined  by  Zephaniah,  to 
 
 signify  how  everything  in  Jerusalem  should  lie  bruised 
 to  pieces  as  in  a  mortar. 
 
 Merchant  people.- Literally,  people  of  Canaan. 
 a  phrase  used  elsewhere  for  traders  and  merchant-,  and 
 
 therefore  oof  to  be  restricted  to  its  original  mgnifica. 
 tiuii  here. 
 
 All  they  that  bear  silver.— Literally.  aU  (hey 
 (hat  art  ih  silver.    Another  mode  of  designa- 
 
 ting this  commercial  class. 
 
 1 '-    The  men  that  are  settled  on  their  lees. 
 
 The  figure  is  taken  from   wine  which  has  become  harsh 
 
 from   being  allowed   to  stand   too  long  on   the  lees. 
 
 The  persons  intended  are   selfish  sybarites,  whi- 
 
 have  stagnated  in  undisturbed  prosperity,  and  whose 
 
 inexperieni (    affliction    has  led    them    to   deny    the 
 
 agency  of  God  in  the  world:   men  like  the  rich  fool   in 
 
 tEe  parable  of  Luke  xii.  16—20. 
 
 (18)   p;u-t  of  the  curse  on  apostasy  in  Pert,  xxviii.  is. 
 
 "  Thou  shalt   build  an  house,  and  thou  shalt  not  dwell 
 
 therein:  thou  shalt  plant  a  vineyard,  and  shalt  not 
 gather  the  grapes  thereof." 
 
 (14-18)  The  judgment,  in  reference  to  its  destructive 
 character. 
 
 tu>  Even  the  voice  of  the  day.— Better.  Hark 
 to  Ih-:  day  !    What  is  heard  is  the  cry  of  the  baffled 
 
 warrior.  unaUe  either  to  fight  or  tlee. 
 
 (is)  Clouds  and  thick  darkness.  -  As  when 
 Jehovah  revealed  Himself  on  If ount  Sinai:   see  Dent. 
 
 iv.  11. 
 
 (161  Alarm.— Better,  war  cry. 
 
 (ID  Walk  like  blind  men.— i.e..  groping 
 
Tlie  Chastisement 
 
 ZEPHANIAH,   II. 
 
 of  the  Philistines. 
 
 they  have  sinned  against  the  Lord  : 
 and  their  blood  shall  be  poured  out  as 
 dust,  and  their  flesh  as  the  dung. 
 (is)  "Neither  their  silver  nor  their  gold 
 shall  be  able  to  deliver  them  in  the  day 
 of  the  Lord's  wrath ;  but  the  whole 
 land  shall  be  "devoured  by  the  fire  of 
 his  jealousy  :  for  he  shall  make  even  a 
 speedy  riddance  of  all  them  that  dwell 
 in  the  land. 
 
 CHAPTEE  II.— 0)  Gather  yourselves 
 together,  yea,  gather  together,  0  nation 
 1  not  desired ;  <2>  before  the  decree  bring 
 forth,  before  the  day  pass  as  the  chaff, 
 before  the   fierce   anger  of   the   Lord 
 
 Prov.ll.4;Ezek 
 
 1  Or,  not  desirous. 
 
 come  upon  you,  before  the  day  of  the 
 Lord's  anger  come  upon  you.  <3)  Seek 
 ye  the  Lord,  all  ye  meek  of  the  earth, 
 which  have  wrought  his  judgment ;  seek 
 righteousness,  seek  meekness :  it  may 
 be  ye  shall  be  hid  in  the  day  of  the 
 Lord's  anger. 
 
 (i>  For  Gaza  shall  be  forsaken,  and 
 Ashkelon  a  desolation  :  they  shall  drive 
 out  Ashdod  at  the  noon  day,  and  Ekron 
 shall  be  rooted  up.  (5»  Woe  unto  the 
 inhabitants  of  the  sea  coast,  the  nation 
 of  the  Cherethites !  the  word  of  the 
 Lord  is  against  you;  0  Canaan,  the 
 land  of  the  Philistines,  I  will  even  de- 
 stroy thee,  that  there  shall  be  no  in- 
 
 in  fancied  insecurity.  The  metaphor  is  taken  from 
 Deut.  xxviii.  29.  Their  blood  shall  be  poured  out  as 
 recklessly  as  dust,  and  their  flesh  cast  aside  like  the 
 vilest  refuse.  Compare  the  sentence  on  Jehoiakim 
 (Jer.  xxii.  19) :  "  He  shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of 
 an  ass,"  &c. 
 
 (is)  He  shall  make  even  a  speedy  riddance. — 
 Literally,  He  shall  effect  a  destruction,  yea,  a  terrible 
 one.  Comp.  Isa.  x.  23,  from  which  passage  this 
 phraseology  is  probably  borrowed. 
 
 II. 
 
 <!— 3)  An  exhortation  to  seek  God  before  His  day  of 
 vengeance  is  revealed. 
 
 W  Gather  yourselves  together. — This  render- 
 ing has  little  to  recommend  it.  Two  translations  of 
 the  obscure  verb  here  used  are  possible :  Sift  your- 
 selves, yea  sift — i.e.,  winnow  out  the  sins  which  have 
 roused  Jehovah's  anger ;  or  Bend  yourselves,  yea  bend. 
 We  prefer  the  latter.  The  contumacious  nation  is 
 exhorted  to  bend  in  submission  to  Jehovah  before  His 
 judgment  is  revealed. 
 
 O  nation  not  desired.— Better,  0  nation  that 
 art  not  abashed — scil.  by  God's  threats :  the  shameless 
 defiant  nation;  so  the  LXX.,  eOvos  a.irat$evT6i'. 
 
 (2)  Before  the  decree  taring  forth.— i.e.,  before 
 God's  decree  or  ordinance,  against  which  they  have 
 offended,  brings  forth  the  curse  foretold  in  chap.  i. 
 There  is  no  occasion  to  identify  the  "  decree  "  with  the 
 Book  of  the  Law  brought  to  light  at  the  time  of  Josiah's 
 Reformation  (see  Introd.  II.). 
 
 Before  the  day  pass  as  the  chaff.— Better,  per- 
 haps, parenthetically,  for  the  day  is  passing  by  like 
 ■chaff.  The  time  for  repentance  is  speeding  by  like  chaff 
 whirled  before  the  wind. 
 
 (3)  "Wrought  his  judgment.— Or.  rather,  executed 
 His  sentence — acted  in  compliance  with  His  revealed 
 will  by  refraining  from  the  sins  above  specified. 
 
 (■*— 15)  Jehovah's  chastisement  of  foreign  powers. 
 These  Divine  visitations  are  introduced  somewhat 
 abruptly.  The  connection  is  perhaps  that  they  are 
 intended  to  lead  God's  people  to  repent,  and  put  their 
 faith  in  Him  who  orders  the  destinies  of  all  mankind. 
 Also,  as  being  inflicted  on  hostile  peoples,  they  are  in 
 Israel's  favour,  and  ought  therefore  to  elicit  gratitude. 
 But  more  especially  are  they  all  steps  towards  the 
 •establishment  of  Jehovah's  supremacy,  and  the  inclusion 
 of  the  Gentiles  in  His  kingdom  upon  earth.     (Comp. 
 
 chaps,  ii.  11.  iii.  9,  et  seq.)  This  part  of  the  Divine 
 sentence  is  presented  in  three  strophes  of  four  verses 
 each — viz.,  the  chastisement  of  Philistia  (verses  4 — 7); 
 of  Moab  and  Amnion  (verses  8 — 11) ;  of  Ethiopia  and 
 Assyria  (verses  12 — 15). 
 
 (4—7)  The  sentence  against  the  great  Philistine 
 strongholds. 
 
 <*)  In  the  words  "  Gaza  (Azzdh)  shall  be  forsaken 
 {(izab)"  and  "  Ekron  shall  be  rooted  up  (dkar) "  there 
 is  a  paronomasia,  or  play  on  the  words,  similar  to  that 
 in  Micah  i.  10,  et  seq. 
 
 At  the  noon  day. — i.e.,  this  city  shall  be  so  weak 
 and  defenceless  that  there  will  be  no  need  to  surprise  it 
 at  night:  it  shall  be  "spoiled  at  noon  day"  (Jer.  xv.  8). 
 
 It  is  noticeable  that  it  is  these  f  our  of  the  five  Philis- 
 tine cities  which  are  denounced  by  Amos  (chap.  i.  6 — 8) 
 and  Jeremiah  (chap.  xxv.  20).  See  also  Zech.  ix.  5.  Gaza 
 was  captured  by  Alexander  the  Great  in  B.C.  332,  after 
 a  two  months'  siege,  and  re-peopled.  It  was  destroyed 
 by  Antiochus  in  B.C.  198,  for  its  fidelity  to  the  cause  of 
 Ptolemy.  It  was  razed  to  the  ground  by  Alexander 
 Jannseus,  but  was  rebuilt,  and  appears  to  have  been  a 
 place  of  importance  in  the  time  of  Antipatcr.  It  was 
 assigned  by  the  Romans  to  the  kingdom  of  Herod,  and 
 after  his  death  to  the  province  of  Syria.  The  modern 
 Gaza  is  described  as  "  a  place  of  very  considerable  size, 
 larger  than  Jerusalem."  Of  the  ancient  Ashkelon  little 
 is  known,  but  the  town  in  Liter  times  rose  to  a  position 
 of  considerable  importance.  Antipater  is  said  to  have 
 conciliated  both  "  the  Gazites  and  Ascalonites  by  many 
 and  large  presents  "  (Jos.,  Ant.  XIV.  i.  §  3.  Its  in- 
 habitants joined  with  those  of  Gaza  in  the  perpetration 
 of  some  horrible  atrocities  in  a.d.  361.  The  Ascalonites 
 are  described  as  the  "hostes  immauissimi "  of  the 
 Crusaders.  Ashdod,  the  Greek  Azotns,  was  destroyed 
 by  the  Maccabees,  and  not  restored  till  the  Roman 
 conquest,  when  Gabinius  rebuilt  it,  B.C.  55.  It  was 
 allotted  to  Salome  after  Herod's  death.  Ekron  is 
 scarcely  mentioned  in  post-Biblical  history.  The  pro- 
 phecy appears  only  to  indicate  broadly  that  the  Philis- 
 tines as  a  nation  should  be  obliterated,  and  the  remnant 
 of  Judah  be  exalted.  This  effacement  of  the  Philis- 
 tine race  had  probably  occurred  before  the  Christian 
 era.  The  last  mention  of  the  Philistines  as  a  nation  is 
 in  1  Mace.  iii.  5. 
 
 (5)  The  Cherethites.— Perhaps  Cretans.  See  on 
 1  Sam.  xxx.  14;  Ezek.  xxv.  16,  where  the  same  term  is 
 applied  to  the  Philistines. 
 
 540 
 
Ami  i if 
 
 ZK1M1AXIAII,    TT. 
 
 Oilier  Xii' 
 
 habitant.  (,;)  And  tin-  sea  coast  shall  In- 
 dwellings and  cottages  for  shepherds, 
 and     folds     for    flocks.      (7)  And     the 
 
 coast    shall    In-    fur    tin-   remnant   of   the 
 house   of  .Judali;    they  shall  feed    there 
 Dpon  :    in   the   houses  of  Ashkelon  shall 
 
 they   lie    down    ill    t  In-  even  Ulg  :    'tor  the 
 
 Lobd  their  God  shall  visit   them,  and 
 
 turn  away  their  captivity.  '"'I  have 
 heard  the  reproach  of  Moah,  and  the 
 revilings  of  the  children  of  Amnion, 
 whereby  they  have  reproached  my  people, 
 and  magnified  themselves  against  their 
 border.    W  Therefore  as  I  live,  saith 
 
 the  LoED  of  hosts,  the  ({oil  of  Israel, 
 Surely  Moah  shall  be  as  Sodom,  and  the 
 children  of  Amnion  as  (ioniorrah,  .  n  n 
 the  breeding  of  nettles,  and  salt  pits, 
 and  a  perpetual  desolation:  the  residue 
 
 l  Or,  i'/irn.  &c. 
 
 2  H<  1'.,  make  letni. 
 
 I  Or, 
 
 of  my  people  shall  spoil  them,  and  the 
 remnant  of  ms  people  shall  possess 
 them.  »o) This  shaL  they  have  tor  their 
 pride,  because  they  have  reproached 
 ami  magnified  themselves  against  the 
 people  oi  tli"  Loan  of  hosts. 
 (1"  The  Loi;n    will   be   terrible   unto 
 
 them:  for  he  will  tarnish  all  the  gods 
 of    the    earth;     and    mm    shall    worship 
 
 him,  every  one  from  his  place,  even  all 
 
 the  isles  of  the  heathen.  "-<  Ye  Ethio- 
 pians also,  ye  shall  I"  slain  by  my  sword. 
 ■'■'  \  nil  he  will  stretch  out  his  hand 
 against  the  north,  and  destroy  Assyria; 
 and  will  make  Nineveh  a  desolation, 
 and  dry  like  a  wilderness.  "Il  And 
 flocks  shall  lie  down  in  the  midst  of 
 her,  all  the  beasts  of  the  nations:  both 
 the  :;" cormorant  and  the  bittern    shall 
 
 Canaan  originally  means  "  low-lying  ground."  It 
 here  indicates  the  low  maritime  plain  inhabited  by  the 
 Philistines. 
 
 (6)  Dwellings  and  cottages  for  shepherds. 
 Better,  places  for  shepherdtf  pastwrea.     In  e'rSth  (best 
 taken  as  plural  of  cor,  "a  pasture")  there  is  a  paro- 
 nomasia "ii  o'retMm  of  verse  5.    The  term  "  sea  coast 
 
 i  lit.  rally,  line  Of  the  sea)  here,  as  in  verse  5,  desig- 
 nates  maritime   Philistia.     This   tract    of  country  is 
 
 represented  as  ravaged  and  depopulated,  so  as  to  be 
 serviceable   only    as  a   mere    sheep-walk.     Afterwards 
 
 [verse  7  the  restored  exiles  of  Judah  make  it  their 
 pasture-ground.   That  this  predominance  of  the  Jewish 
 
 over  the  Philistine  race  actually  took  place  is  manifest. 
 The  .illusion  to  the  captivity  of  Jndah  and  its  termina- 
 tion is  remarkable,    "  Who  save  He  in  whose  hand  are 
 
 human  wills  could  now  foresee  that  Jndah  should,  like 
 
 the  ten  tribes,  rebel,  lie  carried  captive,  and  yet,  though 
 
 like  and    worse    than    Israel    in    its    sin,   should,  unlike 
 
 Israel,  be  restored  "  I  Pusey).    In  the  opening  words  of 
 
 verse  7  there  is  perhaps  another  paronomasia,    for 
 
 chebel   ("sea   coast"  in   verse   6),  may  also   mean  "an 
 
 apportioned  inheritance;  "and  the  words  here  maybe 
 
 rendered,  'and  it   shall   be  for  an  inheritance  for  the 
 
 remnant  of  the  house  of  Jndah." 
 
 •~)  Visit  them.— For  their  relief,  not  their  punish- 
 ment. This  is  plain  from  the  context;  but  sucli  a  uso 
 of  the  verb  is  rare. 
 
 (8— 11)  The  sentence  against  Moab  and  Amnion,  the 
 descendants  of  Lot  anil  the  enemies  of  foul's  people, 
 even  in  the  post -exilic  period,  COmp.  Neheru.  ii.  19, 
 iv.  1,  3,  7.) 
 
 (s)  Reproach.— i.e..  abusive  speech,  or   offensive 
 
 design  expressed  in  words.      Balak's  appeal  to  Balaam. 
 
 " Come,  ourae  me  this  people,"  at  once  suggests  itself. 
 
 We  may  instance  also  the  conspiracy  described  iu  Ps. 
 lxxxiii.   as   illustrating   this   combination  of  Moab  and 
 
 Amman  for  hostile  purposes. 
 (»>  The  breeding  of  nettles.— Better,  .m  Mu  <•//- 
 
 f  nettles.  The  propriety  of  illustrating  the  fate 
 of  Moab  and  Amnion  by  that  of  t lie  cities  of  the  plain 
 is  the  greater  in  that  Lot.  the  ancestor  of  those 
 nationalities,  was  an  inhabitant  of  Sodom,  and  narrowly 
 
 escaped  sharing  its  destruction.      Ravages  iu  Moah 
 
 anil  Amnion  were  effected    by  Xclmi-hadnczzar  in    B.C. 
 
 582,  probably  in  revenge  for  tin'  murder  of  Gedaliah, 
 the  ruler  of  his  appointment  ( Jos.,  Ant.  X.  ix.  §7).    But 
 
 tin'  allusion  here  is  to  some  later  and  more  permanent 
 
 work   of   destruction.     The   national  existent f  both 
 
 Moab  and  Amnion  appears  to  have  ceased  long  before 
 the  Christian  era.  Josephus'  assertion  {Ant.  L  N 
 that  iu  his  own  time  the  Mcmbites  were  "  a  very  great 
 nation."  is  simply  unintelligible.  The  extraordinary 
 number  of  ruined  towns  in  Moab  lias  been  noticed  l.y 
 every  modern  explorer. 
 
 (11)  Famish.— Literally  as  in  margin  "  make  lean  :" 
 to  "  cause  to  disappear." 
 
 Every  one  from  his  place.— It  is  difficult  to 
 
 accept  Keil's  theory  of  a  pregnant  construction,  "each 
 one  coming  from  his  place:"  aeiL  to  Jerusalem.  This 
 passage,  therefore,  is  one  of  the  very  few  which  for.  nil 
 that  the  worship  of  Jehovah  shall  find  centres  outside 
 the  Holy  Land.  Tho  usual  prediction,  on  the  other 
 hand,  represents  the  converted  nations  as  "flowing' 
 to  Jerusalem. 
 
 Isles.— Better,  sea  coasts. 
 
 (IS)  Ethiopia  is  to  suffer  by  the  sword  in  the  execu- 
 tion of  God's  purpose  of  magnifying  His  people.  The 
 Conjunction  OI  Ethiopia  and  Assyria  is  probably  sug- 
 gested by  the  earlier  passage  in  Xahum  iii.  8.  et  seq. 
 In  addition  to  its  earlier  vicissitudes  at  the  hands  of 
 As-yiian  invaders,  Ethiopia  perhaps  suffered  as  au  ally 
 of  Egypt  after  the  battle  of  Carcheinish.  It  was  pro- 
 bably invaded  by  Xebiiehadne/.zar ;  see  on  Ezek.  xxx. 
 4.  With  the  Median  ascendancy  came  a  fresh  series 
 of  calamities.     Cambysee,  the   successor  of  Cyrus,   re- 
 
 dueed  the  country  to  a  condition  of  vassalage,  B.C.  ■>-■'>■. 
 and  in  the  time  of  Xerxes  the  Ethiopians  had  to  furnish 
 
 a  contingent  against  the  Greeks. 
 
 (13—15)  The  sentence  against  Assyria  in  the  north. 
 This  was  fulfilled  as  early  as  n.c.  tij,5.  when  Nineveh 
 was  taken  and  destroyed  by  the  Medes  and  Babylonians. 
 
 It  will  be  remembered  that  this   catastrophe   is  the 
 
 theme    of     N'ahuin's     prophecy.      Its    effects    are    here 
 
 described  in  language  similar  to  thai  of  Xahum  iii.. 
 
 which  Zephaniah  doubtless  has  in  mind. 
 
 (in  Both  the  cormorant. 
 
 .—Better,  Both 
 
 '.il 
 
The  Wickedness 
 
 ZEPHANIAH,   111. 
 
 of  Jerusalem. 
 
 lodge  in  the  : upper  lintels  of  it ;  their 
 voice  shall  sing  in  the  windows ;  deso- 
 lation shall  be  in  the  thresholds  :  -for  he 
 shall  uncover  the  cedar  work.  <15'  This 
 is  the  rejoicing  city  that  dwelt  care- 
 lessly, that  said  in  her  heart,  "I  am, 
 and  there  is  none  beside  me :  how  is  she 
 become  a  desolation,  a  place  for  beasts 
 to  lie  down  in !  every  one  that  passeth 
 by  her  shall  hiss,  and  wag  his  hand. 
 
 CHAPTER  III.— (D  Woe  to  34her 
 that  is  filthy  and  polluted,  to  the  oppress- 
 ing city  !  <2>  She  obeyed  not  the  voice ; 
 she  received  not 5  correction ;  she  trusted 
 not  in  the  Lord  ;  she  drew  not  near  to 
 her  God.  <3>6Her  princes  within  her 
 are  roaring  lions;  her  judges  are  evening 
 wolves ;  they  gnaw  not  the  bones  till 
 the  morrow.  <4)  Her  c  prophets  are  light 
 and  treacherous  persons :  her  priests 
 have  polluted  the  sanctuary,  they  have 
 done  u  violence  to  the  law. 
 
 (5>  The  just  Lord  is  in  the  midst 
 thereof;  he  will  not  do  iniquity :  6  every 
 
 1    Or.    ftnojU,    Or, 
 chapiters- 
 
 2  Or.  when  '"  //""' 
 tmcovsred. 
 
 3  Or,  gluttonous. 
 
 i  Hi-b.,  craw, 
 
 5  Or,  instruction. 
 
 b  Ezek.22.27;Mlr. 
 3.  11. 
 
 e  .lor.  23. 11  ;  Eos 
 
 G  Ht'b.,  morning  by 
 morning. 
 
 8  Hrt>„  lip. 
 
 morning  doth  he  bring  his  judgment  to 
 light,  he  faileth  not ;  but  the  unjust 
 knoweth  no  shame.  (6)  I  have  cut  off 
 the  nations :  their 7  towers  are  desolate ; 
 I  made  their  streets  waste,  that  none 
 passeth  by:  their  cities  are  destroyed, 
 so  that  there  is  no  man,  that  there  is 
 none  inhabitant. 
 
 W  I  said,  Surely  thou  wilt  fear  me, 
 thou  wilt  receive  instruction ;  so  their 
 dwelling  should  not  be  cut  off,  how- 
 soever I  punished  them  :  but  they 
 rose  early,  and  corrupted  all  their 
 doings.  (8)  Therefore  wait  ye  upon  me, 
 saith  the  Lord,  until  the  day  that  I 
 rise  up  to  the  prey :  for  my  determina- 
 tion is  to  gather  the  nations,  that  I 
 may  assemble  the  kingdoms,  to  pour 
 upon  them  mine  indignation,  even  all 
 my  fierce  anger :  for  all  the  earth 
 shall  be  devoured  with  the  fire  of  my 
 '  jealousjr. 
 
 (9>  For  then  will  I  turn  to  the  people 
 a  pure  8  language,  that  they  may  all 
 call   upon  the   name  of  the  Lord,  to 
 
 the  pelican  and  the  hedgehog  shall  lodge  on  her  pillar- 
 capitals,  these  lying  strewn  upon  the  ground. 
 
 Their  voice. — Better,  The  voice  [of  the  bird]  shall 
 sing  in  the  windows.  "  In  the  midst  of  the  desolation, 
 the  muteness  of  the  hedgehog,  and  the  pensive  loneli- 
 ness of  the  solitary  pelican,  the  musing  spectator  is 
 startled  by  the  glad  strain  of  some  song  bird,  uncon- 
 scious that  it  is  sitting  in  the  windows  of  those  at  whose 
 name  the  world  grew  pale  "  (Pusey).  This  description 
 of  desolation  extends  even  to  the  cedar  panelling  of  the 
 roofless  walls,  which  is  to  be  laid  open  to  wind  and 
 rain. 
 
 (15)  The  earlier  part  of  this  verse  is  doubtless  based 
 on  Isa.  xlvii.  8,  "  Hear  now  this,  thou  that  art  given  to 
 pleasures,  that  dwellest  carelessly,  that  sayest  in  thine 
 heart,  I  am  and  none  else  beside  me."  (See  also 
 Isa.  xxiii.  7.  and  compare  the  language  in  Rev.  xviii.  7.) 
 The  remainder  of  the  verse  reminds  us  of  Jer.  1.  23; 
 Nahum  iii.  19. 
 
 III. 
 
 (1—4)  The  prophet  denounces  the  corruption  and 
 moral  obduracy  which  characterise  all  classes  in  Jeru- 
 salem. This  denunciation  comes  in  with  startling  ab- 
 ruptness. The  prophet  does  not  even  name  the  object 
 of  his  reproof.  The  literal  rendering  is,  Woe,  rebellious 
 and  polluted,  thou  oppressive  city  ! 
 
 (2)  Obeyed  not  the  voice.— Better,  hearkened  not 
 to  the  voice — i.e..  of  Jehovah,  when  He  addresses  her,  as 
 in  chap.  ii.  1 — 3.  She  trusts  not  in  Jehovah,  but  in 
 her  own  wealth  (chap.  i.  12) ;  she  draws  not  nigh  to  her 
 God,  but  to  Baal  and  Moloch  (chap.  i.  4 — 6). 
 
 (3)  Till  the  morrow.— Better,  on  the  morrow. 
 The  meaning  is  just  the  opposite  to  that  given  in  the 
 Authorised  Version.  They  are  so  greedy  that  they 
 devour  their  prey  instantly,  leaving  no  portion  of  it  for 
 the  morrow. 
 
 (.*)  Light  and  treacherous  persons. — Better, 
 braggarts  and  men  of  treachery. 
 
 (5—7)  In  contradistinction  to  this  universal  corruption, 
 Jehovah  daily  exemplifies  the  law  of  righteousness,  yet 
 sinners  are  not  moved  to  repentance  (verse  5).  He  sets 
 forth  the  great  judgments  He  has  executed  on  other 
 sinful  nations,  but  the  warning  is  not  heeded  (verses 
 6,7). 
 
 (6)  The  nations. — Those  that  were  destroyed  by 
 the  agency  of  Israel  on  invading  the  Promised  Land  ; 
 those  also  which  were  cut  off  by  the  Assyrians  and  the 
 other  great  powers  whom  God  used  as  His  instruments 
 (Isa,  xxxvii.  26). 
 
 (?)  I  said,  Surely  thou  wilt  fear  me  .  .  . — 
 Better,  /  said,  Wouldest  thou  only  fear  me  ?  wouldest 
 thou  receive  correction?  then  should  her  dioelling- 
 place  not  be  destroyed,  according  to  all  that  I  have 
 appointed  for  them ;  but  they  only  speeded  their  in- 
 famous doings.  Our  Saviour's  lamentation  over  Jeru- 
 salem in  Matt,  xxiii.  37  naturally  suggests  itself. 
 
 All  that  I  have  appointed — i.e.,  in  the  way  of 
 punishment. 
 
 (8-10)  This  is  an  enlargement  of  the  consolation  ad- 
 dressed to  the  "  meek  of  the  earth  "  in  chap.  ii.  3,  and  of 
 the  prediction  of  chap.  ii.  11.  The  great  day  of  the 
 Lord,  which  shall  overthrow  all  that  opposes  itself  to 
 His  sovereignty,  shall  also  introduce  an  extension  of  re- 
 ligious knowledge  to  the  nations. 
 
 (9)  To  the  people.— Better,  To  the  peoples,  or 
 nations. 
 
 A  pure  language. — The  discord  of  Babel  shall,  as 
 it  were,  give  place  to  unity  of  language,  when  the  wor- 
 ship of  "  gods  many  "  shall  yield  to  the  pure  service 
 of  Jehovah,  whom  men  shall  "  with  one  mind  and  one 
 mouth  glorify." 
 
 542 
 
The  Purification 
 
 ZKPIIANIAII,    III. 
 
 uaalom. 
 
 serve  him  with  one  '  consent.  '""  From 
 beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia  my  anp- 
 pkante,  even  the  daughter  of  my  dis- 
 persed, hIiji.II  bring  mine  offering. 
 
 W  In  that  day  shalt  thou  not  be 
 ashamed  for  all  thy  tloin^s,  wherein 
 thou  hast  transgressed  against  me:  for 
 ■then   I   will    hike  away  out.   of  the  midst 
 
 of  thee  them  that  rejoice  in  thy  pride, 
 and  thou  shalt  no  more  be  haughty 
 2  because  of  my  holy  mountain.  "-''I 
 will  also  leave  in  the  midst  of  thee  an 
 afflicted  and  poor  people,  and  they  shall 
 trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  >1:i>The 
 remnant  of  Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity, 
 nor  speak  lies  ;  neither  shall  a  deceitful 
 tongue  be  found  in  their  mouth:  for 
 they  shall  teed  and  lie  down,  and  none 
 .shall  make  them  afraid. 
 
 <"'  Sing,  < )  "daughter  of  Zion  ;  shout, 
 O  Israel;  be  glad  and  rejoice  with  all 
 the  heart,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem. 
 •'■"The  Lord  hath  taken  away  thy 
 judgments,    he    hath    cast    out    thine 
 
 i  ii.  i. , 
 
 i  n. 
 
 ii.  &  M.  I 
 
 I  HO...  he  Kill  be 
 
 :>  Bob,,  (J 
 
 o  lii'ii.,  ;  will  M 
 
 :    II.  i..   0/  tha, 
 
 enemy:  the  king  of  Israel,  even  the 
 Lord,  u  in  the  midst  of  thee:  thou 
 shalt  not  see  evil  any  more.  (";)  In  that 
 day  it  shall  be  said  to  Jerusalem,  Fear 
 thou  not  :  mill,  to  /ion.  Lei  not  thine 
 hands  be  "slack.  <17»The  Lord  thy  i  iod 
 in  the  midst  of  thee  ,'.s  mighty;  he  will 
 save,  he  will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy; 
 lhe  will  rest  in  his  love,  he  will  joy  over 
 thee  with  singing.  ""'  1  will  gather 
 them  tluit  are  sorrowful  for  the  solemn 
 assembly,  who  are  of  thee,  to  whom  •the 
 reproach  of  it  was  a  burden.  (1;''  Heboid, 
 at  that  time  I  will  undo  all  that  afflict 
 thee:  and  I  will  save  her  that  '■  halteth, 
 and  gather  her  that  was  driven  out; 
 and  °I  will  get  them  praise  and  fame  in 
 every  land  "where  they  have  been  put  to 
 shame.  m  At  that  time  will  I  bring 
 you  again,  even  in  the  time  that  I 
 gather  you  :  for  I  will  make  you  a  name 
 and  a  praise  among  all  people  of  the 
 earth,  when  I  turn  back  your  captivity 
 before  your  eyes,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 i '"i  The  daughter  of  my  dispersed. —i.e.. 
 dropping  the  Hebrew  idiom,  "my  dispersed  people." 
 Km  ii  from  the  southern  limit  of  the  known  world  shall 
 the  new   Church   draw  adherents.     The    "dispersed 
 
 people  "  are  not  .Jewish  exiles,  hut  the  ( rent  Ho  I  ribos  of 
 
 the  dispersion  (of  Gen.  xi.  8)  which  have  been  hitherto 
 alienated   from  their  Creator  by  ignorance  and  vice. 
 
 .Similarly.  Caiaphas  prophesies  thai  Christ  should  not 
 only  die  for  the  Jewish  nation,  lint  that  "  He  should 
 gather  together  in  one"  the  children  of  God  that 
 "were  scattered  abroad  "'  (John  xi.  61,  52). 
 
 Bring  mine  offering.— The  minehdh  or  blood- 
 less  oblation.  The  phrase  here  merely  represents 
 homage  rendered  to  Jehovah  as  paramount.  So  in 
 Mai.  i.  11  it  is  foretold  that  "in  everyplace  incense 
 
 shall  be  offered  unto  my  name,  and  a  pure  171  mch&h ." 
 In    [sa.    Kvi.   'JO.   on    the   other  hand,  the   Gentiles  are 
 
 represented  as  bringing  the  dispersed  .lews  hack  to 
 Jerusalem   "as  a  h  to  Jehovah."      De  Wette 
 
 and  others  (wrongly,  as  we  believe),  give  this  passage 
 the  same  force,  rendering,  "  From  beyond  the  rivers  of 
 Ethiopia  shall  men  bring  my  suppliants,  even  my  dis- 
 persed people,  as  my  offering." 
 
 (>i  18)  Jerusalem  shall  then  have  no  occasion  to  blush 
 for  obdurate  iniquity  (verse  5  ,  for  she  shall  be  inhabited 
 
 by  S  remnant  who  have  learnt  meekness  and  righteous- 
 ness in  the  school  of  adversity. 
 
 (U)  No  more  be  haughty  .  .  .  His  very  pri- 
 vileges— the  adoption  and  lhe  Sheeliinah,  and  the.  cove- 
 nants, and   the  giving  of  the  law,   and   the  Temple 
 
 service — had  hitherto  Keen  used  by  the  Jew  as  a  pre- 
 text   for   obduracy.      "  We    have    Abraham    for    our 
 
 father."  "  The  temple  of  the  Lord  are  these    "  BUch  was 
 
 their  response  to  the  preaching  of  repentance.     The 
 
 reinstated  nation  shall  be  purged  of  this  spiritual 
 pride. 
 
 (1-)  Afflicted. — "Hi.  a  condition  which  is  likely  to 
 make  them  also  "  meek."  d/n&p,  instead  of  "  haughty." 
 
 (14—2111  The  blessedness  of  Jerusalem  when  she  has 
 been  thus  brought  through  suffering  to  glory. 
 
 (»)  Taken  away  thy  judgments.—*'. <-..  removed 
 wdiat  He  had  "appointed  concerning  them"  (verse  7) 
 in  the  way  of  punishments. 
 
 The  king  of  Israel.-  The  recognition  of  Jehovah 
 
 as  Icing  is  elsewhere  a  prominent    feature    in    the  jior- 
 
 i  rail ure  of  the  extended  dispensation.    Thus  we  have, 
 
 "Say  among  the  heathen  that  Jehovah  is  bang**  (Ps. 
 xcvi.  10).  ••Jehovah  is  king"  f  Pss.  xciii.  1.  xcvii.  1, 
 xcix.  1 1.  "The  kingdom  shall  be  Jehovah's  "  vObad. 
 verse  -I 
 
 Compare  Tsa.  xxxv.  :>.  l.lxii.  11,  el  seq. 
 0")  He    will  rest   .  .   .—Better,    He    will    keep 
 ...    in   His  love;   He  irill  exult  over  thee  with  a 
 ghoul  of  joy.     Unnttcralile  yearnings  and  outbursts  of 
 
 jubilant  affection  are  both  the  expressions  of  sexual  love. 
 
 By  a  hold  anthropomorphism,  both  are  attributed  to  the 
 Heavenly  Bridegroom,    as  He   gazes   on  "a   glorious 
 
 Church    .   .    .    holy,  ami  without  blemish." 
 
 The  festival  of  the  accomplishment  of  salvation 
 is  represented  under  the  figure  of  the  joy.. us  Feast  of 
 Tabernacles,  as  in  Zech.  \iv.  16.  None  shall  be  im- 
 peded  from  attending  on  this  joyous  occasion,  for  the 
 
 oppressors  shall  be  overthrown  (verses  L9,  20  . 
 
 To  whom  the  reproach  of  it  was  a  bu/den. 
 — Or.  on  whom  reproach  was  a  burden — i.e..  on  whom 
 
 their  exile,  and  consequent  inability  to  attend  at  Jeru- 
 salem, had  brought  derision.  On  the  construction,  the 
 Hebrew  Student  may  consult  Hitlig  or  Kleinert. 
 
 (18)  I  will  undo.— Better.  /  wiU  deal  with,  as  in 
 E/.ek.  xxiii.  25.  The  clauses  following  are  based  on 
 Biioah  iv.  6  ]   Dent.  xxvi.  19. 
 
 <-•»>  See  Dent  xxx.  S,eteeq. 
 
 543 
 
IIAGGAI. 
 
 174 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Til 
 
 HAGGAI. 
 
 I.  The  Author.—  Haggai  is  in  point  of  time  the 
 Brat  of  the  prophets  of  the  Poet-Captivity  period.  Of 
 his  tribe  and  parentage  nothing  is  recorded  in  Scripture. 
 It  is  not  even  known  whether  he  was  born  before  or 
 during  the  exile,  nor  whether  liis  birth  took  place  in 
 Judaaa  or  in  Babylon.  Kwald  infers  from  the  com- 
 parison  adduced  in  chap.  ii.  8  that  the  prophet. 
 liml  himself  seen  the  first  Temple.  In  this  ease  lie 
 must  have  been  advanced  in  yean  at  the  time  of  his 
 delivering  these  prophecies.  The  passage,  however, 
 does  not  at  all  necessitate  this  inference.    On  the  other 
 
 hand,  a  Worthless  Patristic  tradition  records  that 
 Haggai  was  horn  at  Babylon,  and  delivered  his  pro- 
 phecies io  youth,  that  lie  survived  the  completion  of  the 
 Temple  (B.C.  516),  and  was  interred  with  honour  close 
 to  the  burial-place  of  the  priests.  (See  Pseudo-Doro- 
 thi'us.  iii  Chron,  Paeeh.,  ft]  •  /.)  The  Jewish  legend 
 makes  Haggai  a  member  of  the  Great  Synagogue  of 
 
 one  hundred  and  twenty  elders  established  by  Ezra.  To 
 this  is  attached  an  alisnrd  account  of  his  surviving  till 
 the  visit  of  Alexander  the  Great  to  Jerusalem. 
 
 All  that  we  certainly  know  of  the  personal  history 
 of  the  prophet  is  gat  lured  from  chaps,  i.  1,  ii.  1,10, 
 20,  compared  with  Ezra  v.  1,  vi.  14.  (See  below,  on 
 Occasion  of  Writing.)  Tho  LXX.  prefixes  the  names 
 of  Haggai  and  Zeehariah  to  Pss.  exxxviii.,  exlvi. — 
 exlviii.  j  the  Peshito  Syriao  to  Pss.  exxvi.,  exxviL, 
 exlvi. — exlviii.  Ps.  exlvi.  is  tho  first  of  a  group  of 
 Psalms  known  among  the  Jews  as  the  "  five  Halle- 
 lujahs,"  and    probably    composed   for   the  services    of 
 
 the  second  Temple.     Psendo-Bpiphanras  n rds  that 
 
 Haggai  was  tho  first  to  chant  tho  Hallelujah  in  this 
 Temple.  This  he  apparently  regards  as  t  he  explanation 
 of  the  LXX.  inscription,  since  be  adds  the  oomment, 
 
 "  Wherefore  we  say  Hallelujah,  which    is  the    hymn   of 
 
 Saggai  and  Zeehariah  "  [de  i'itis  I'roph.).    The  name 
 
 Haggai  is  certainly  connected  with  the  substantive 
 Chig,  "a  feast."  It  is  uncertain  whether  it  means 
 '  M  \  feasts  "  or  "feasts  of  Jehovah;"  or  is  to  be  re- 
 garded as  an  adjectival  form,  "  festive." 
 
 II.  The  Occasion  of  Writing.— Haggai  began  to 
 prophesy  in  the  second  year  of  Darius  Etystaspis,  we., 
 in  B.C.  590.    temp.  chap.  i.  I  and  Ezra  v.  l.j  The  object 
 
 of  his  mission  was  to  rouse  the  restored  exiles  from  a 
 
 condition  of  religions  torpor,  and  induce  them  to  com- 
 plete the  restoration  of  the  Temple.     To  understand  the 
 
 circumstances  under  which  Haggai  began  this  work 
 we   must    east  a  glance   backward   at    the  history  of  the 
 
 preceding  fifteen  years.    The  Carom-able  edict 
 
 BrSt  year  of  Cyrus  (8.0.  536)  had  brought  up  to  Judiea 
 a  congregation  of  some  12. olio  freemen,  besides  7,837 
 male  and  female  slaves.  In  the  seventh  month  of  this 
 year  these  restored  exiles  had  set  up  SOD  altar  to  .lehoxah. 
 and  had  observed  the  Feast  of  TalicriKicles  according  to 
 the  ancient  ordinance.  The  next  year  witnessed  the 
 foundation  of  the  second  House.     We  read  that  the  joy 
 
 ■J47 
 
 appropriate  to  this  occasion  was  damped  by  the  regrets 
 of  the  aged  men  who  had  seen  the  Temple  of  Solomon 
 in  its  magnificence  (Ezra  iii.  L2).  This  form  of  dis- 
 couragement is  found  Operating  again,  after  Haggai 
 had  persuaded  his  countrymen  to  resume  the  work  of 
 liuilding.  (See chap,  ii.  3.)  A  more  direct  obstacle  to  the 
 business  of  restoration  was  the  antagonistic  attitude  of 
 the  .Samaritans.     The   semi-idolatrous   character  of  the 
 
 Samaritan  religion  had  indu I  Zcruhhabcl  and  Joshua 
 
 to  decline  the  CO-operation  of  their  brethren  of  tho 
 north.  Irritated  at  this  slight,  Rehum  and  .Shinishai 
 incited  the  heterogeneous  tribes  who  had  settled  in 
 Samaria,  and  "weakened  the  hands  of  the  people  of 
 Judah,  and  troubled  them  iu  building."  In  order  to 
 obtain  legal  sanction  for  their  proceedings,  these  adver- 
 saries secured  the  assistance  of  certain  counsellors  at 
 the  Persian  court.  This  was  in  the  reign  of  "  Ahasue- 
 rus"  (Cambyses).  the  successor  of  Cyrus.  Their  in- 
 trigue, however,  did  not  come  to  a  head  till  the  accession 
 of  "  Artaxerxes  "(the  usurper  Pscudo-Smerdis,  B.C.  .522 
 or  521).  In  reply  to  a  Samaritan  petition  alleging  that 
 Jerusalem  had  always  been  "  B  rebellious  city,  and  hurt- 
 ful unto  kings  and  provinces,"  Artaxerxes  issued  an 
 edict  forbidding  the  rebuilding  of  the  city.  The  pro- 
 hibition made  no  mention  of  the  Temple.  It  was  easy, 
 however,  for  Rehum  and  Shinishai  to  extend  its  scope, 
 and  stop  the  "work  of  the  house  of  God"  "by  force 
 and  power"  (Ezra  iv.  2">.  21i. 
 
 It  docs  not  appear  that  the  Jews  themselves  cared  to 
 have  it  otherwise.  The  usurper's  reign  lasted  less  than 
 a  year,  and  the  accession  of  Darius  By staspis (B.C.  521  I 
 might  well  have  been  regarded  as  an  opportunity  for 
 obtaining  an  abrogation  of  the  adverse  decree.  But 
 the  duties  of  religion  were  now  regarded  with  indiffer- 
 ence. The  wealthy  citizens  availed  themselves  of  the 
 change  of  dynasty  t ninienee  building  private  man- 
 sions not  void  of  pretension  to  magnificence  (chap.  i. 
 I.  9  .  But  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Most  High  lay 
 neglected  The  work  had  progressed  but  slowly  during 
 tin'  thirteen  years  preceding  the  accession  of  Artaxerxes. 
 For  at  least  a  year  and  a  half  it  was  entirely  suspended. 
 It  was  at  the  close  of  this  period  that  Haggai  and 
 Zeehariah  came  forward  and  "  prophesied  unto  the  Jews 
 that  were  in  .Judah  and  Jerusalem  in  tho  name  of  tho 
 Hod  of  Israel  "  (Ezra  v.  1).  The  mission  of  both  pro- 
 phots    dates   from   the   middle  of   the  year   B.C.  520, the 
 
 nil  year  of  Darius.  Haggai's  earliest  ttttorai 
 occurred  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  months  of  that  year 
 (chap  i. — ii.  '■'  .  Zeehariah  next  takes  up  the  strain 
 with  an  exhortation  to  repentance,  dating  from  the 
 eighth  month  i  Zcch.  i.  1 — til.  Haggai  delivers  bis 
 final  address  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  the  ninth 
 mouth.  Exactly  two  months  later  begins  Zechariah's 
 series  of  visions  (Zech.  i.  7 
 
 Haggai's  tirst  utterance  was  exclusively  one  of  rebuki , 
 its  theme  being  his  countrymen's  neglect  of  the  Lord's 
 house.     The  effects  of  this  utterance  appear  to  have 
 
HAGGAI. 
 
 manifested  themselves  almost  immediately.  Zerubba- 
 bel  the  governor  and  Joshua  the  high  priest,  "  with  all 
 the  remnant  of  the  people,"  turned  a  willing  ear  to  his 
 exhortation,  and  the  prophet  was  able  to  change  the 
 accents  of  reproof  for  those  of  comforting  assurance 
 (chap.  i.  13).  Before  the  end  of  the  month  which  wit- 
 nessed the  opening  of  Haggai's  mission,  the  work  of 
 building  had  been  resumed.  The  prophet  was  now  able 
 to  extend  his  consolatory  assurances,  the  prompt  obedi- 
 ence of  his  hearers  being  rewarded  by  a  twofold 
 promise  : — (a)  the  curse  that  had  hitherto  rested  on  all 
 agricultural  pursuits  was  to  be  removed ;  henceforth 
 the  labours  of  their  hands  should  be  blessed  (chap.  ii. 
 15 — 19);  (6)  the  Temple  they  were  rearing  was  to  be 
 connected  with  a  great  diffusion  of  religious  knowledge. 
 The  old  paths  of  this  world's  course  were  to  be  broken 
 up ;  earthly  powers  were  to  be  brought  low  ;  the  Gen- 
 tiles were  to  glorify  Jehovah  with  worship  and  precious 
 offerings ;  the  royal  line  of  Judah,  now  represented  by 
 Zerabbabel,  was  to  be  exhibited  as  the  object  of  Jeho- 
 vah's choice  (chap.  ii.  6 — 9.  21 — 23). 
 
 The  Christian  reader  hardly  needs  to  be  informed 
 when  and  how  this  latter  promise  was  realised.  Its 
 connection  with  the  New  Dispensation  is  obvious  and 
 undeniable.  The  Saviour  derived  His  man's  nature 
 from  the  royal  line  of  David,  and  Zerubbabel's  name  is 
 accordingly  included  in  the  pedigrees  handed  down  by 
 St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke.  The  effect  of  His  Dispen- 
 sation has  been  indeed  a  "  shaking  of  nations,"  a  sub- 
 jugation of  the  "  kingdoms  of  the  heathen."  To  the 
 Jewish  system  and  its  Temple,  His  Advent  imparted  a 
 glory  hitherto  unknown.  It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  the 
 very  presence  in  the  Temple  of  "  God  manifest  in  the 
 flesh  "  sufficiently  illustrates  the  promise  of  chap.  ii.  9 : 
 '•  There  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  was  as  a  child  offered 
 to  God ;  there  He  sat  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors ;  there 
 He  taught  and  revealed  things  hidden  from  the  founda- 
 tion of  the  world."  Such  a  presence  was  indeed  a  glory 
 greater  than  that  of  the  Shechinah. 
 
 To  press  the  details  of  Haggai's  prediction  more 
 closely  than  this  appears  impossible,  and  unnecessary. 
 The  transference  of  the  glory  of  the  Temple  to  the 
 Messianic  Church  does  not  come  under  treatment.  Nor 
 can  it  be  supposed  that  the  second  Temple  was  re- 
 garded by  the  prophet  as  in  any  way  a  type  or  a 
 material  counterpart  of  the  Messianic  Church.  The 
 commentators  have  forced  ideas  of  this  kind  into  chap, 
 ii.  9,  but  they  are  quite  foreign  to  the  prophet's 
 subject.  The  Hebrew  term  for  the  "  House  "  of  God 
 does  not  admit  of  that  variety  of  meaning  which  belongs 
 to  the  Greek  dKK\-n?ia.  It  must  be  interpreted  strictly 
 of  the  material  building,  and  the  idea  of  an  ecclesiastical 
 organisation  mus.t  be  carefully  excluded.  Misinterpre- 
 tations of  another  kind  may  be  noticed  in  connection 
 with  the  passages  chap.  ii.  6,  21,  22.  Excess  of  literal- 
 ism has  introduced  in  these  passages  actual  phenomena 
 of  nature  such  as  Christ  declared  should  precede  the 
 completion  of  His  Dispensation;  or,  finding  the  inter- 
 pretation in  prse-Christian  times,  the  commentators 
 instance  actual  revolutions,  and  overturnings  of  particu- 
 lar dynasties,  those  of  Persia,  Syria,  and  Greece.  But 
 the  verses  in  question  really  admit  only  of  an  ethical  in- 
 terpretation. They  are  to  be  expounded  in  accordance 
 with  the  language  of  Old  Testament  prophecy  elsewhere. 
 The  details  are  such  as  belong  to  the  Hebrew  idea  of 
 the  Theophany  of  Messiauic  times,  and  therefore  recur 
 repeatedly  in  the  Prophets  and  Psalms.  It  may  be 
 doubted  whether  they  had  any  literal  force  in  the  concep- 
 tion of  the  poets.  Certainly  their  historical  counterpart 
 must  be  found  in  the  moral,  not  in  the  material  sphere. 
 
 548 
 
 The  "  House,"  finally,  though  the  material  Temple,  is 
 not  necessarily  the  Temple  of  Zerabbabel.  The  sub- 
 stantial identity  of  God's  Holy  Place  in  all  periods  is 
 assumed.  The  present  building  is  represented  as  iden- 
 tical with  Solomon's  as  well  as  with  the  Temple  which 
 is  to  be  filled  with  glory.  Thus  the  question  whether 
 Herod's  was  not  a  third  Temple  rather  than  a  develop- 
 ment of  the  second,  need  not  come  into  consideration. 
 In  this  connection  we  notice  that  the  right  rendering 
 in  chap.  ii.  9  is  "  the  latter  glory  of  this  house,"  &c, 
 not  "  the  glory  of  this  latter  house." 
 
 We  have  pointed  out  the  leading  features  in  this 
 portraiture  of  Messianic  times.  It  is  proper  to  observe 
 that,  like  many  other  Old  Testament  prophecies,  it 
 appears  defective  if  subjected  to  minute  analysis.  We 
 feel  that  the  Temple  fills  in  the  prophetic  delineation  a 
 far  larger  space  than  in  the  historical  fact.  It  seems 
 as  if  Haggai  conceived  of  the  religious  influences  of  the 
 Messianic  age  as  all  radiating  from  a  material  Temple. 
 Yet  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  passed  away  shortly  after 
 the  Saviour's  Advent,  and  had  neither  successor  nor 
 counterpart  in  the  New  Dispensation.  It  is  an  incon- 
 sistency which  admits  of  large  illustration,  the  conver- 
 sion of  the  Gentiles  being  represented  repeatedly  by 
 the  prophets  as  if  an  accession  to  Judaism.  The  nations 
 "  flow  to  the  mountain  of  the  House  of  the  Lord " 
 (Micah  iv.  1,  2 ;  Isa.  ii.  2) ;  they  receive  a  new  birth  at 
 Jerusalem  (Ps.  lxxxvii.) ;  they  even  go  up  to  Jerusalem 
 to  keep  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (Zech.  xiv.  16).  Such 
 are  the  figures  under  which  the  extension  of  God's 
 kingdom  is  almost  always  (see  Zeph.  iii.  10,  note) 
 represented.  Instead  of  "  beginning  from  Jerusalem  " 
 (Luke  xxiv.  47)  it  leads  men  to  Jerusalem.  Instead  of 
 a  Christian  dispensation  superseding  a  Jewish,  the  Jews 
 invite  the  Gentiles  into  their  own  body.  It  is  possible 
 that,  in  some  cases,  the  full  significance  of  such  pro- 
 phetic language  is  yet  to  be  revealed  to  the  Church  of 
 Christ  by  the  course  of  history.  In  Haggai's  case, 
 however,  we  believe  we  need  not  look  beyond  the  event 
 of  the  Saviour's  first  Advent.  Obscurity  will  appear 
 natural  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  facts  which  have 
 been  revealed  to  us  in  material  historical  shape  were 
 only  presented  to  the  vision  of  the  Hebrew  prophet 
 "  as  in  a  glass  darkly." 
 
 III.  Division  of  Contents.— The  Book  of  Haggai 
 presents  five  distinct  utterances,  all  included  within  the 
 brief  period  of  four  months  : — (a)  In  the  first,  Haggai 
 rebukes  his  compatriots  for  their  neglect  of  God's 
 House.  Their  religious  apathy  is  treated  as  the  cause 
 of  the  prevalent  dearth  (chap.  i.  1 — 11).  (6)  Rulers 
 and  people  showing  signs  of  repentance,  the  prophet 
 utters  a  comforting  assurance — "  I  am  with  you,  saith 
 the  Lokd."  The  work  of  building  is  now  actively  re- 
 sumed (chap.  i.  12 — 15).  (c)  In  view  of  a  tendency  to 
 contrast  the  humble  proportions  of  the  new  building 
 with  the  grandeur  of  Solomon's  Temple,  Haggai 
 promises  that  Jehovah's  House  shall  hereafter  have  a 
 glory  to  which  the  whole  universe  shall  bear  witness 
 (chap.  ii.  1 — 9).  (d)  Haggai's  fourth  address  reverts 
 to  the  prevalent  dearth,  and  shows  that  the  labours  of 
 men's  hands  have  hitherto  been  cursed,  because  defiled 
 by  the  sin  of  religious  apathy.  Though  no  signs  of 
 better  times  are  'visible,  the  prophet  is  empowered  to 
 utter  the  assurance,  "  From  this  day  will  I  bless  "  (chap, 
 ii.  10 — -19).  (e)  The  prophet's  final  utterance  attaches 
 the  promise  of  chap.  ii.  1 — 9  to  the  line  of  Zerubbabel. 
 When  the  powers  of  this  world  are  overthrown,  this 
 line  shall  be  selected  by  Jehovah  for  special  honour 
 (chap.  ii.  20—23). 
 
HAGGAI. 
 
 IV.  Character  and  Style.— In  tho  propheq   at 
 
 Zcph.-iniah    I  In-    extension    of    Jehovah's    kingdom     Was 
 
 treated  as  the  climax  to  which  all  political  changes 
 and  catastrophes  should  tend.  Haggai,  with  theaamc 
 bright  hope  before  him,  treats  it  almost  exclusively  in 
 its  relation  to  the  restored  Temple.  Between  the  two 
 prophets  there  intervenes  tho  whole  period  of  <  ihalda-an 
 ascendency.  The  final  warnings  of  Habakknh  and 
 Jeremiah  the  battle  of  <  larchemish — NTebochadnessar'a 
 i 1 1 \  :i^i< >n  the  sack  of  Jerusalem — the  exile— the  restora- 
 tion these  an- tin-  steps  which  had  lis  upward  from  the 
 level  of  the  prophet  of  tho  Judgment  to  that  of  the  pro- 
 phet of  the  Temple's  glories.  The  "day  of  wrath  "is  past. 
 In  fulfilment,  of  Zephnniah's  prediction  the  captivity 
 of  Jiiilnh  has  been  tuned;  and  in  the  midst  of  Jerusa- 
 lem there  survives  ,-i  ] pie  "  afflicted  and  ])Oor  "  (Zepll. 
 
 ii.  7.  iii.  12).      It    is   natural    that   the   first  prophecy  of 
 
 the  new  period  should  bear  on  internal  reform,  and  that 
 
 the  restoration  of  the  national  religion  should  oeeupy 
 the  plane  hitherto  filled  by  great  political  crises. 
 
 The  character  of  the  composition  necessarily  changes 
 With    the   change   of    theme.      Haggai's   discourses    are 
 
 concentrated  primarily  on  one  particular  phase  of  re- 
 ligious duty.  They  embrace  details  of  a  commonplace 
 character,  and  of  short-lived  interest.  High  aspiration 
 is  not  wanting,  hut  it  is  almost  exclusively  associated 
 with  a  theme  which,  at  first  sight,  appears  prosaic.     In 
 
 Haggai's  utterances,  in  tact,  the  functions  of  a  reformer 
 
 and   practical   homilist  are  combined  with  those  of  the 
 
 prophet.  Thoy  necessarily  lie  open  to  the  charge  of 
 being  deficient  in  poetical  ability.  It  must  be  admitted, 
 moreover,  that  the  style  of  the  preacher  is  not  such  as 
 recommends  itself  to  a  critical  Baste.  Repetitions  im- 
 pair the  vigour,  anomalous  constructions  the  smoothness 
 
 of  his  discourses.     His  frequent  use  of  interrogation 
 
 and  answer  robs  them  of  all  rhythmical  beauty.  He 
 is  wont,  as  lias  been  said,  to  "  utter  the  main  thought 
 with  concise  and  nervous  brevity,"  but  it  is  only  after  "a 
 largo  and  verbose  introduction."  Figures  and  trope, 
 are  altogether  wanting,  except  in  the  predictions  of 
 chap.  ii.  6,  7,  22.  He  is  the  most  matter-of-fact  of  all 
 the  prophets.  These  defects  are  the  more  OOnspicUOUS 
 in  that  his  utterauces  are  linked  together  by  historical 
 passages  of  the  plainest  prose.  This  composite  character 
 may  nevertheless  serve  to  explain  the  literary  deficien- 
 cies of  the  book.  We  have  here,  it  must  be  remem- 
 bered, not  a  continuous  out  burst  of  prophetic  inspiration, 
 but  five  inspired  utterances  welded  into  one  historical 
 book..  Wo  do  not  know  that  this  book  proceeded  from 
 tho  pen  of  Haggai.     On  the  contrary,  it  is  at  least  as 
 
 Srobable  that  this  framework  in  which  the  prophet's 
 iseourscs  have  been  preserved  is  the  work  of  some 
 contemporary  chronicler.  In  this  case  it  would  1)6 
 natural  that  something  of  the  eloquence  and   impres- 
 
 siveness  of  the  preacher  should  be  lost  in  the  annalist's 
 reproduction.  It  is  even  possible  to  suppose  that  the 
 discourses  of  Haggai,  as   they  now   stand,  are  only  a 
 
 restttm  or  summary  of  what  the  prophet  actually  uttered. 
 
 649 
 
HAGGAI. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.— d'ln  the  second  year 
 of  Darius  the  king,  in  the  sixth  month, 
 in  the  first  day  of  the  month,  came 
 the  word  of  the  Lord  Jby  Haggai  the 
 prophet  unto  Zerubbabel  the  son  of 
 Shealtiel,  3  governor  of  Judah,  and  to 
 Joshua  the  son  of  Josedech,  the  high 
 priest,  saying, 
 
 <"2)  Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 saying,  This  people  say,  The  time  is  not 
 come,  the  time  that  the  Lord's  house 
 should  be  built. 
 
 <3>  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  by 
 Haggai  the  prophet,  saying, 
 
 B.C. 
 
 dr.  520. 
 
 1  Hcb..  by  thehanil 
 of  Haggai, 
 
 3  Hcb.,  Set  your 
 heart  on  your 
 ways. 
 
 a    Deut.    28.    38; 
 Mic.  6. 14,  15. 
 
 4  Heb..    pierced 
 
 through . 
 
 <*)  Is  it  time  for  you,  0  ye,  to  dwell  in 
 your  cieled  houses,  and  this  house  lie 
 waste?  (5)  Now  therefore  thus  saith 
 the  Lord  of  hosts ;  3  Consider  your 
 ways.  <6)  Te  have  "  sown  much,  and 
 bring  in  little  ;  ye  eat,  but  ye  have  not 
 enough  ;  ye  drink,  but  ye  are  not  filled 
 with  drink ;  ye  clothe  you,  but  there  is 
 none  warm ;  and  he  that  earneth  wages 
 earneth  wages  to  put  it  into  a  bag  4with 
 holes.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts; 
 Consider  your  ways.  (8)  Go  up  to  the 
 mountain,  and  bring  wood,  and  build 
 the  house  ;  and  I  will  take  pleasure  in 
 
 (l-ll)  The  First  Utterance— The  neglect  of  God's 
 House  denounced,  and  declared  to  be  the  cause  of  the 
 prevalent  dearth. 
 
 (1)  Darius  the  king.— Sell.,  Darius  I.,  son  of 
 Hystaspes,  who  became  king  of  Persia  in  B.C.  521. 
 The  fact  that  there  were  still  men  living  who  had 
 seen  the  First  Temple  (ii.  3),  which  fell  in  B.C.  586, 
 sufficiently  disproves  the  absurd  theory  that  Darius 
 Nothus  is  meant,  who  did  not  accede  to  the  throne 
 until  B.C.  423-4.  Prophecy  is  now  dated  by  the  years 
 of  a  foreign  ruler,  for  Zerubbabel,  though  a  lineal 
 descendant  of  David,  was  only  a  pecluih,  or  viceroy  of 
 Persian  appointment,  not  a  king  in  his  own  right. 
 
 The  sixth  month. —  That  named  EliU,  corre- 
 sponding nearly  with  our  September. 
 
 In  the  first  day — i.e.,  on  the  festival  of  the  new 
 moon,  a  holy  day  which  had  always  been  marked  not  only 
 by  suspension  of  labour,  but  by  special  services  in  the 
 Temple  (Ezek.  xlvi.  3 ;  Isa.  lxvi.  23).  It  was  thus  an 
 appropriate  occasion  for  Haggai  to  commence  a  series 
 of  exhortations  so  intimately  connected  with  the  Temple. 
 Besides,  it  appears  to  have  been  an  ancient  custom 
 that  the  people  should  resort  to  the  prophets  for  re- 
 ligious instruction  on  new  moons  and  Sabbaths.  (See 
 2  Kings  iv.  23.) 
 
 Came  the  word  .  .  . — Literally,  there  was  a 
 word  of  the  Lord  by  the  hand  of  Haggai,  &c.  This  ex- 
 pression, which  occurs  repeatedly  in  this  book,  indicates 
 that  Jehovah  was  the  direct  source  of  these  announce- 
 ments, and  Haggai  only  their  vehicle. 
 
 The  prophet.— See  Hab.  i.  1,  Note. 
 
 Son  of  Shealtiel.— Strictly  speaking,  Zerubbabel 
 was  the  son  of  Pedaiah,  who  contracted  a  Levirate 
 marriage  with  the  widow  of  his  brother  Shealtiel.  (See 
 Notes  on  1  Chron.  iii.  17 ;  Jer.  xxii.  30;  Luke  iii.  27.) 
 
 Governor. — Satrap,  or  viceroy,  a  term  applied  in 
 the  Old  Testament  to  the  provincial  prefects  of  the 
 Assyrian  and  Babylonian  and  Persian  empires.  (See 
 Note  on  1  Kings  x.  15.)  Joshua,  the  high  priest,  is 
 a  prominent  character  in  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah. 
 
 550 
 
 Haggai  addresses  Zerubbabel  as  the  civil,  Joshua  as 
 the  ecclesiastical  head  of  the  restored  exiles. 
 
 (2)  The  time  is  not  come. — Better  (unless  we 
 alter  the  received  text),  It  is  not  yet  time  to  come — i.e., 
 it  is  not  yet  time  to  assemble  and  commence  prepara- 
 tions for  building.  It  is  not  stated  on  what  grounds 
 the  people  based  this  assumption  ;  but  probably  they 
 palliated  their  indifference  to  religion  by  a  pretended 
 dread  of  Persian  hostility.  Darius,  however,  unlike 
 his  predecessor  Artaxerxes,  gave  the  enemies  of  the 
 Jews  no  countenance  when  a  report  was  actually  made 
 to  him  on  the  subject.    (See  Ezra  v.  and  vi.) 
 
 (*)  Is  it  time  for  you  .  .  . — Literally,  Is  it 
 time  for  you  to  dwell  in  your  houses,  and  those  ceiled? 
 — i.e.,  probably  with  cedar  and  other  costly  woods.  A 
 crushing  retort.  If  the  adverse  decree  of  Artaxerxes, 
 which  disallowed  the  building  of  Jerusalem  (Ezra  iv. 
 21),  had  not  hindered  them  from  erecting  magnificent 
 residences  for  themselves,  how  could  it  reasonably 
 excuse  an  utter  neglect  of  God's  House  p 
 
 (5)  Consider  your  ways. — A  common  expression 
 in  this  prophet.  The  results  of  their  conduct  are  set 
 forth  in  verse  6  :  they  are  left  to  infer  from  those 
 what  its  nature  has  been. 
 
 (6)  Ye  have  sown  much  .  .  . — Literally,  Ye 
 have  been  sowing  much  and  bringing  in  little;  eating, 
 and  it  was  not  to  satisfaction;  drinking,  and  it  was 
 not  to  fulness;  clothing  yourselves,  and  it  was  not 
 for  any  one's  being  warm.  &c.  This  description  of 
 course  merely  implies  that,  notwithstanding  all  their 
 labours,  there  was  not  much  to  eat,  drink,  or  put 
 on.  Compare  the  use  of  the  phrase  "  ye  shall  eat  and 
 not  be  satisfied,"  in  Lev.  xxvi.  26. 
 
 To  put  it  into  a  bag  with  holes. — The  last  clause 
 expresses  in  a  bold  metaphor  the  general  prevalence  of 
 poverty.  Scarcity  necessitated  high  prices,  so  that 
 money  "  ran  away  "  as  fast  as  it  was  earned. 
 
 (8)  The  mountain. — No  one  mountain  is  thought 
 of.  The  term  implies  the  high  lands  generally,  as 
 growing  the  most  suitable  timber  for  building 
 purposes. 
 
7'/ic  Neglect  of  God's  House. 
 
 HAGGAI,  II. 
 
 .1   Message  to  Zerubbabel. 
 
 it,  and  I  will  bo  glorified,  saith  the 
 Loud.  (y>  Ye  looked  for  much,  ami,  lo, 
 it  came  to  little;  and  when  ye  brought 
 it  home,  I  diil  'blow  upon  it.  Why? 
 saith  the  Loud  of  hosts.  Because  of 
 mine  boose  that  w  waste,  and  ye  run 
 
 ever]  man  until  his  own  house.  (10,There- 
 Eore  "the  beaven  over  you  is  stayed  from 
 dew,  and  the  earth  is  stayed  from  her 
 
 fruit.  '"'  And  I  called  for  a  drought 
 Upon  the  land,  and  iijiull  the  mountains, 
 and  upon  the  corn,  and  upon  the  new 
 wine,  and  upon  the  oil,  mid  upon  that 
 which  the  ground  bringeth  forth,  and 
 upon  men,  and  upon  cattle,  and  upon 
 all  the  labour  of  the  hands. 
 
 •'-'Then  Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Sheal- 
 ticl,  and  Joshua  the  son  of  Josedech, 
 the  high  priest,  with  all  the  remnant  of 
 the  people,  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Lord 
 their  God,  and  the  words  of  Haggai  the 
 prophet,  as  the  Lord  their  God  had 
 sent  him,  and  the  people  did  fear  before 
 the  Lokd. 
 
 (1;1J  Then  spake  Haggai  the  Lord's 
 messenger  in  the  Lord's  message  unto 
 the  people,  saying,  I  am  with  you,  saith 
 the  Lord. 
 
 (U'    And    the    Lord    stirred    up  the 
 
 1  Or,  blow  if  av  111/ 
 
 i  iitut.  a.  a 
 
 Hfb.,  by  the  hand 
 
 spirit  of  Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Sheal- 
 tiel,  governor  of  Jndah,  and  the  spirit 
 of  Joshua  the  son  of  Josedech,  the 
 high  priest,  and  the  spirit  of  all  the 
 remnant  of  the  people;  and  they  came 
 and  did  work  in  the  house  of  the  Lord 
 of  hosts,  their  God,  <15>  in  the  four  and 
 twentieth  day  of  the  sixth  month,  in  the 
 second  year  of  Darius  the  king. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— <'>In  the  seventh 
 month,  in  the  one  and  twentieth  Jay  of 
 the  month,  came  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 2by  the  prophet  Haggai, saying,  <2>  Speak- 
 now  to  Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Shealtiel, 
 governor  of  Judah,  and  to  Joshua  the 
 son  of  Josedech,  the  high  priest,  and  to 
 the  residue  of  the  people,  saying, 
 
 (3)  Who  is  left  among  you  that  saw 
 this  house  in  her  first  glory  ?  and  how 
 do  ye  see  it  now  ?  is  it  not  in  your  eyes 
 in  comparison  of  it  as  nothing  ?  <4>  Yet 
 now  be  strong,  0  Zerubbabel,  saith  the 
 Lord  ;  and  be  strong,  O  Joshua,  son  of 
 Josedech,  the  high  priest ;  and  be  strong, 
 all  ye  people  of  the  land,  saith  the 
 Lord,  and  work  :  for  I  am  with  you, 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  <5>  according  to 
 the  word  that  I  covenanted  with  you 
 
 l9.>  Ye.  looked  for  much. — Literally,  There  has 
 \«  •  a  'i  turning  about  for  much. 
 
 I  did  blow  upon  it— scil,  for  the  purpose  of 
 dispersing  it.  Even  the  little  tlmt  was  brought  into 
 the  punier  was  decim.it eil  hy  God's  continued  disfavour. 
 
 (loj  Over  you.— Better,  on  your  account. — Scil., 
 because  of  tho  neglect  of  God's  House,  mentioned  in 
 verse  !>. 
 
 ("»  And  I  called  for  a  drought  upon.— Better, 
 Ami  T  invoked  a  desolation  upon.  Similarly  in 
 -  Kings  viii.  !.  Elliaha  announces  to  tho  Shunammito, 
 
 "  The  Lord  hath  called  a  famine,  and  it  shall  also  come 
 
 ii[jun  the  land  seven  years." 
 
 (12—15)  The  Second  Utterance. — The  people  turn  a 
 willing  ear  to  Baggai's  exhortation,  ana  the  prophet 
 is  QCffl  ahaiged  to  inform  them  of  the  return  of  God's 
 favour,    in  the  gracious  utterance,  "I   am   with   you, 
 
 saitli  the  Lord." 
 
 ••'-i  With  all  the  remnant  of.— Tho  word  may 
 
 mean  either  "  the  remnant  "  restored  from  Babylon,  or 
 merely  "the  remainder"  of  tho  people.  Similarly 
 in  verse  14,  ii.  -. 
 
 (M)  In  the  Lord's  message.— Or,  on  the  Lord's 
 mission. 
 
 U*)  It  must  he  supposed  that  the  intervening  three 
 weeks  had  been  spent  in  collecting  timlier  in  the  upland 
 region,  as  was  ordered  in  verse  S,  and  resuming  the 
 •■  work  of  the  house  of  God." 
 
 II. 
 
 d-9)  The  Third  Utterance.— This  utterance  treats 
 of  tho  glory  which,  in  a  later  time,  is   to  attach  itself 
 
 to  tho  sacred  spot  wheroon  the  returned  exiles  arc 
 labouring.  It  was  intended  more  especially  as  a 
 message  of  consolation  to  those  who  remembered 
 Solomon's  magnificent  structuro,  and  who  now  gazed 
 sadly  on  the  humblo  proportions  of  its  successor. 
 
 (')  In  the  one  and  twentieth  day.— Here. 
 again,  tho  day  selected  is  significant.  The  twenty-first 
 day  of  tho  seventh  mouth  (Tisri)  was  the  seventh  and 
 last  day  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  This  was  the 
 festival  of  harvest  thanksgiving,  and  its  occurrence  had 
 always  been  marked  hy  observances  of  a  peculiarly 
 joyous  character.  Moreover,  the  sacrifices  on  this 
 occasion  were  very  numerous — the  number  prescribed 
 by  tho  Talmud  for  tho  first  day  exceeding  that  of  any 
 other  day  in  the  year.  Thus  the  scanty  harvest  and 
 the  small  beginnings  of  the  Lord's  House  would  both 
 bo  brought  into  prominence.  It  would  bo  but  natural 
 if  feelings  of  despondency  were  excited  among  those 
 who  wore  old  enough  to  remember  the  Temple  of 
 Solomon,  with  its  costly  accessories  and  elaborate 
 ceremonial,  and  the  festive  rites  wherewith  tho  "  joy 
 in  harvest  "  had  expressed  itself  in  a  more  prosperous 
 time.  There  is  no  ground,  however,  for  supposing  that 
 tho  prophet  was  himself  one  of  these  aged  persons. 
 
 (->    The  residue.— See  chap.  i.  1J,  Note. 
 
 (3)  Is  it  not  .  .  . — Better,  u  not  such  a  (Temple) 
 OS  thii  like  nothing  in  your  eyes  ? 
 
 (*>  According  to  the  word.— Better,  with  the 
 word.  The  clause  is  connected  with  the  closing  words 
 of  verse  4.  Jehovah  is  present  with  them,  and  so 
 is  His  Promise  made  by  solemn  covenant  in  the  days 
 of  old. 
 
 551 
 
The  Coming  of  tlie 
 
 HAGGAI,  II. 
 
 Desire  of  all  Nations. 
 
 when  ye  came  out  of  Egypt,  so  my 
 spirit  remaineth  among  you:  fear  ye 
 not. 
 
 (6)  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ; 
 "Yet  once,  it  is  a  little  while,  and  I  will 
 shake  the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and 
 the  sea,  and  the  dry  land ;  <7>  and  I  will 
 shake  all  nations,  and  the  desire  of  all 
 nations  shall  come  :  and  I  will  fill  this 
 house  with  glory,  saith  the  Loed  of 
 hosts.     <8>  The   silver  is  mine,  and  the 
 
 gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts. 
 <9'  The  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall 
 be  greater  than  of  the  former,  saith  the 
 Loed  of  hosts  :  and  in  this  place  will  I 
 give  peace,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts. 
 
 <10)  In  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of 
 the  ninth  month,  in  the  second  year  of 
 Darius,  came  the  word  of  the  Loed  by 
 Haggai  the  prophet,  saying,  (11)  Thus 
 saith  the  Loed  of  hosts ;  Ask  now  the 
 priests  concerning  the  law,  saying,  <]2>  If 
 
 So  my  spirit. — Better,  and  my  spirit.  Besides  such 
 promises  of  God's  abiding  favour  as  Exod.  xxix.  45,  46, 
 they  have  among  them  the  abiding  presence  of  His  Holy 
 Spirit.  Having  these,  let  them  not  be  afraid.  The 
 evidence  of  the  Divine  Presence  was  the  mission  of 
 inspired  prophets,  such  as  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  and 
 the  Targum  and  the  Rabbis  are  perhaps  right  in 
 referring  the  words  "  and  my  spirit "  exclusively  to 
 the  "  spirit  of  prophecy."  It  may  be  noticed  that  the 
 later  Jews  held  that  the  Holy  Spirit  left  the  Church 
 after  the  deaths  of  Zechariah  and  Malachi. 
 
 (8)  Yet  once,  it  is  a  little  while. — The  con- 
 struction is  very  difficult.  The  best  rendering  appears 
 to  be,  Yet  one  season  more  (supplying  eth  before 
 achath),  it  is  but  a  little  while,  and,  &c.  The  meaning 
 of  these  clauses  is  then  that  given  by  Keil — viz., 
 "  that  the  period  between  the  present  and  the  predicted 
 great  change  of  the  world  will  be  but  one  period — i.e.. 
 one  uniform  epoch — and  that  this  epoch  will  be  a  brief 
 one."  The  LXX.  (followed  in  Heb.  xii.  27)  omits 
 the  words  "  it  is  a  little  while "  altogether,  and  so  is 
 enabled  to  render  "  I  will  yet  shake  once  "  (i.e.,  one  single 
 time,  and  one  only),  a  rendering  which,  if  we  retain 
 those  words,  is  apparently  impossible.  The  fact  is,  the 
 original  passage  here,  as  in  other  cases,  must  be  treated 
 without  deference  to  its  meaning  when  interwoven  in 
 New  Testament  argument.  There  is  yet  to  be  an 
 interval  of  time,  of  limited  duration,  and  then  shall 
 come  a  new  era,  when  the  glory  of  God's  presence  shall 
 be  manifested  more  fully  and  extensively.  Notwith- 
 standing its  intimate  connection  with  the  Jewish 
 Temple  (verses  7,  9),  this  new  dispensation  may  well 
 be  regarded  as  that  of  the  Messiah,  for  Malachi  in  like 
 manner  connects  His  self -manifestation  with  the  Tem- 
 ple. (Comp.  Mai.  iii.  1,  and  see  our  Introduction,  §  2.) 
 Without  pretending  to  find  a  fulfilment  of  all  details, 
 we  may  regard  the  prophet's  anticipations  as  sufficiently 
 realised  when  the  Saviour's  Advent  introduced  a  dis- 
 pensation which  surpassed  in  glory  (see  2  Cor.  iii. 
 7 — 11)  that  of  Moses,  and  which  extended  its  promises 
 to  the  Gentiles.  When  Haggai  speaks  here  and  in 
 verse  22  of  commotions  of  nature  ushering  in  this 
 new  revelation,  he  speaks  according  to  the  usage  of 
 the  Hebrew  poets,  by  whom  Divine  interposition  is 
 frequently  depicted  iu  colouring  borrowed  from  the 
 incidents  of  the  Exodus  period.  (See  Hab.  iii. ;  Ps. 
 xviii.  7 — 15,  xciii.,  xcvii.)  If  the  words  are  to  be 
 pressed,  their  fulfilment  at  Christ's  coming  must  be 
 searched  for  rather  in  the  moral  than  the  physical 
 sphere,  in  changes  effected  in  the  human  heart  (comp. 
 Luke  iii.  5)  rather  than  on  the  face  of  nature. 
 
 (?)  And  the  desire  of  all  nations  shall  come. 
 — Better,  and  the  precious  things  of  all  the  nations  shall 
 come — scil.,  shall  be  brought  as  offerings.  (Comp. 
 Zeph.  iii.  10 ;  Zech.  xiv.  16.)   So  apparently  the  LXX., 
 
 ^|€t  to  €K\enTa  ttclvtuv  7wv  iftvwv.  The  rendering  of  the 
 Authorised  Version,  which  is  based  ou  Jerome's  et 
 venit  desideratus  cunctis  gentibus,  is  grammatically 
 impossible  with  the  present  text,  for  the  verb  "  come  " 
 is  plural,  not  singular.  Its  retention  in  some  of  the 
 modern  commentaries  is  mainly  attributable  to  a  natural 
 unwillingness  to  give  up  a  direct  Messianic  prophecy. 
 Apart,  however,  from  the  grammatical  difficulty,  it  must 
 be  remarked  that  the  Messiah  was  not  longed  for  by 
 all  nations,  and  that,  if  He  had  been  there  would 
 be  no  point  in  mentioning  the  fact  in  the  present 
 connection.  On  the  other  hand,  the  prediction  of 
 Gentile  offerings  to  the  Temple  is  most  appropriate. 
 It  is  the  answer  to  those  who  sorrowed  when  they  con- 
 trasted the  mean  appearance  of  this  present  house  with 
 the  glories  of  that  built  by  Solomon  (verse  3).  It  also 
 explains  the  otherwise  meaningless  utterance  in  verse 
 8.  Another  possible  rendering  is  that  adopted  by 
 Fiirst,  and  (at  one  time)  by  Ewald,  "  And  the  pick  of 
 the  nations  shall  come,"  scil.,  with  offerings  to  the 
 Temple.  The  significance  of  the  utterance  is  the  same 
 with  either  translation — scil.,  that  by  agencies  not  spe- 
 cified the  Gentile  world  is  to  be  converted  and  induced 
 to  offer  worship  and  homage  to  Jehovah. 
 
 (8)  Silver  .  .  .  gold. — It  is  unnatural  to  sup- 
 pose that  this  is  said  in  the  sense  of  Ps.  1.  10,  as 
 implying  "  I  have  no  need  of  silver  or  gold."  Cleai'ly 
 what  is  meant  is  that  the  treasures  of  earth  are  at 
 God's  disposal,  and  that  He  will  incite  the  Gentiles  to 
 offer  their  silver  and  gold  in  His  Temple.  A  rigid 
 application  of  this  prediction  is  impossible.  (See  Intro- 
 duction, §  2.) 
 
 (9)  The  glory  .  .  . — Better,  The  latter  glory  of 
 this  house  shall  be  greater  than  the  former.  The 
 new  sanctuary  is  regarded  as  identical  with  that  reared 
 by  Solomon.  It  shall  have  a  claim  to  celebrity  un- 
 rivalled even  in  the  palmiest  days  of  olden  time,  when 
 Jehovah  shall  turn  the  attention  of  all  nations  to  His 
 sacred  place,  as  predicted  in  verses  6  and  7. 
 
 Between  this  third  utterance  and  the  fourth  (verses 
 10 — 19)  intervenes  Zechariah's  exhortation  to  repent- 
 ance (Zech.  i.  2 — 6)  uttered  in  the  eighth  month. 
 
 (10-19)  The  Fourth  Utterance.  —  The  recent  season 
 of  scarcity  is  again  accounted  for  and  immediate 
 blessings  are  announced.  This  address  dates  about 
 two  months  later  than  its  predecessor  —  viz.,  from 
 the  ninth  month — scil.,  Chisleu (November — December), 
 when  the  early  rain  would  be  looked  for  to  water  the 
 newly-sown  crops.  At  such  a  time,  especially  after  the 
 scarcity  of  the  preceding  season,  there  would  naturally 
 be  great  anxiety  about  agricultural  prospects. 
 
 (12)  Holy  flesh. — The  flesh  of  the  sacrifice  hallowed 
 the  person  who  touched  it  (Lev.  vi.  27),  but  this  sancti- 
 
 652 
 
The  People  Declared  I'ndean. 
 
 EAGGAI,  II. 
 
 A  Cull  in  /,'■  1/ 
 
 one  Iii'ii.r  holy  flesh  in  the  skirt  of  liis 
 garment,  and  with  his  sk irt  do  touch 
 broad,  or  pottage,  or  wine,  or  oil,  or 
 
 any  meat,  shall  it  be  holy?  And  the 
 priests  answered  ami  sai<l,  No.  (1:i)  Then 
 Mii.l  Eaggai,  II'  one  that  is  unclean  by  a 
 dead  body  touch  any  of  these,  shall  it 
 be  unclean P  And  the  priests  answered 
 and  said.  It  shall  he  unelean. 
 
 ("'Then  answered  Haggai,  and  said, 
 So  is  this  people,  and  BO  U  this  na- 
 tion before  me,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and 
 so  in  every  work  of  their  hands  ;  and 
 that  which  they  oft'er  there  is  unclean. 
 <15)  And  now,  L  pray  yon,  consider  from 
 this  day  and  upward,  iVum  before  a 
 stone  was  laid  upon  a  stone  in  the 
 temple  of  the  Lord:  ""'since  those  ilui/s 
 
 were,  when  one  came  to  an  heap  of 
 twenty  measures,  there  were  but  ten: 
 when  one  came  to  the  pressfat  for  to 
 draw  out  fifty  vessels  out  of  the  press, 
 there  were  but  t  wenty.  (l7)  I  smote  you 
 •with  blasting  and  with  mildew  and 
 with  bail  in  all  the  labours  of  your 
 hands;  yet  ye  turned  not  to  me,  saith 
 the  Lobs,    p^ Consider  now  from  this 
 
 day  and  upward,  from  the  tour  and 
 twentieth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  even 
 from  the  day  that  the  foundation  of 
 the  Lord's  temple  was  laid,  consider  it. 
 <I9>  Is  the  seed  yet  in  the  barn  ?  yea,  as 
 yet  the  vine,  and  the  fig  tree,  and  the 
 pomegranate,  and  the  olive  tree,  hath 
 not  brought  forth  :  from  this  day  will  I 
 bless  you. 
 
 fication  was  not  conveyed  to  anything  he  might  after- 
 wards touch.  On  the  other  hand  (verse  13),  he  who 
 was  defiled  by  such  a  pollution  as  contact  with  a  dead 
 body,  conveyed  defilement  even  to  the  tabernacle.  (See 
 Num.  xix.  18;  "  Whosoever* toucheth  the  dead  body  of 
 any  man  thai  is  dead,  and  pnrifieth  not  himself ,  defileth 
 tin-  tabernacle  of  the  Lord.")  Even  so,  according  in 
 Haggai,  (ln>  guilt  of  impiety  incurred  by  the  Jews 
 in  neglecting  the  Temple  had  tainted  the  labour  of 
 their  bands,  and  caused  famine.  And  what  merit 
 they  might  claim  fur  restoring  the  altar-worship  and 
 keeping  the  prescribed  feasts  (Ezra  in.  2 — 6) was  not 
 conveyed  farther,  it  was  cancelled  by  their  neglect  of 
 an  equally  important  duty.  This  latter  point,  however, 
 is  mil  brought  cut,  but  is  left  to  lie  supplied  by  the 
 prophet  s  hearers. 
 
 (rj)  Unclean. — The  defilement  incurred  by  con- 
 tact with  a  dead  lincly  was  one  of  the  deepest.  (Sec 
 Num.  xix.  11 — l(i.)  On  the  force  of  the  term  tmi 
 nepliesli,  compare  the  passages  Lev.  xxi.  11,  xxii.  4; 
 Num.  vi.  ti. 
 
 i11'  That  which  they  offer  there  —  i.e.,  prob- 
 ably, "on  yon  altar,"  but  the  expression  is  singular. 
 Iu  Ezra  iii.  3  we  read,  "Anil  they  set  the  altar  upon 
 his  liases  ....  and  they  offered  burnt  offerings 
 thereon  unto  the  Lord,  even  burnt  offerings  morning 
 and  evening.'1 
 
 (is)  From  this  day  and  upward— i.e..  backward. 
 
 Before  a  stone  was  laid    .    .    .—Alluding  to 
 
 the   recent    resumption  of  building,   not  to   the  laying 
 
 of  the  foundations  fifteen  years  previously. 
 
 (16)  Since  those  days  were.—  Better,  from  the 
 time  when  thin:/*  were  *<>.  or,  sines  nuih  things  were — 
 i.e..  throughout  that   whole  period  of  neglect  up  to 
 
 tin-   date  when    they  resumed    the   work   of  restoration. 
 
 Throughout  that  period  the  harvests  had  grievously  die- 
 appointed  expectation.    A  heap  of  sheaves  which  ought 
 
 to  have  contained  "  twenty  " — the  measure  is  not  speci- 
 
 iied    yielded  only  "ten;      and  a  quantity  of  grapes 
 
 which  should  have  yielded  fifty  DOOTCMS,  only  produced 
 twenty.     The  word  poordh  elsewhere  means  a  "  wine 
 
 press;"  here,  apparently,  it   is  the  bucket  or  \es^,l 
 
 which  was  used  to  draw  up  the  wine.  The  last  clause 
 of  the  verse  must  therefore  lie  rendered  "  When  one 
 came  to  the  pressfat  to  draw  out  fifty pooralis. there  were 
 Imt  twenty." 
 
 563 
 
 <i")  I  smote  you  with  blasting  and  with  mil- 
 dew .  .  . — This  is  a  reminiscence  of  Amos  iv.  it.  "  I 
 
 have  smitten  you  with  blasting  and  mildew  .  .  .  yet 
 have  not  ye  returned  unto  me.  saith  the  Lord."  "  Blast- 
 ing" and  "  mildew  "  are  two  diseases  on  corn  enumerated 
 
 by  Moses  (Dent,  xxviii.  22)  among  the  curses  on  disobe- 
 dience.   The  "hail"  is  added  by  Haggai,  perhaps  as 
 
 particularly  destructive  to  the  vines.       tin  the  peculiar 
 
 phrase, dyn  ethcem  Stay,  which  here  takes  the  place 
 of  the  13  shabtem  dcUiy  of  Amos,  seo  Ewald,  Grammar, 
 §  262  o. 
 
 (K)  Even  from  the  day. — Better,  even  tn  the 
 day.  The  rendering  of  the  Authorised  Version  makes 
 the  passage  quite  unintelligible,  for  in  no  sense  can  the 
 twenty. fourth  (lav  of  the  ninth  month  coincide  witli  the 
 day  "that  the  foundation  of  the  Lord's  Temple  was 
 laid."  The  Temple  had  been  founded  fifteen  years 
 before,  in  the  second  month  of  the  second  year  of 
 Cyrus  (Ezra  iii.  10).  The  work  of  building  had  been 
 carried  on  intermittently   till    within   two  years  of  the 
 
 present  time.  It  had  then  been  entirely  suspended, 
 and  had  only  been  actively  taken  in  hand  after  Hagirai's 
 
 address  in  the  sixth  month  of  this  year.  The  force  of 
 the  passage  is  sufficiently  plain  if  we  render  as  above. 
 "  In  order  to  make  the  blessings  to  1«-  announced  in 
 verse  L9  appear  in  Strang  contrast  to  {he  distress  pic- 
 tured in  verses  16.  17,  the  prophet  repeats  the  injunc- 
 tion of  verse  l-">.  but  with  a  larger  range  of  retrospect 
 The  whole  period  back  to  the  time  when  the  foundation 
 of  the  Temple  was  laid  in  the  reign  of  Cyrus  was 
 more  or  less  one  of  distress  mi  account  of  the  unfaithful. 
 ness  of  the  people;  for  between  that  time  and  the 
 present  all  the  efforts  that  had  been  made  to  complete 
 the  work  wero  spasmodic  and  feeble"  (McCurdy). 
 The  rendering  "even  to  the  day"  is  quite  allowable, 
 though  the  construction  is  certainly  rare. 
 0*1  Is  the  seed  yet  in  the  barn  ?— i.e..  There  is 
 
 no  grain  as  yet  in  the  barn,  the  harvest  having  been 
 blighted  in  the  last  season.  The  term  rendered  in  the 
 Authorised  Version  "  seed  "  docs  not  imply  grain  for 
 sowing,  but  grain  for  provision.  The  fruit  harvest  was 
 as  defective  as  that  of  cereals,  having  been  cot  off  by 
 the  hail.  (See  verse  17.1  The  prospect  was  thus  one  of 
 deepest  gloom.  But  human  helplessness  is  God's  op- 
 portunity. He  pledgee  His  word  even  at  this  crisis 
 by  the  mouth  of  Haggai,  "  From  this  day  I  will  bless." 
 
Another  Message 
 
 HAGGAI,   II. 
 
 to  Zerubbabd. 
 
 <20'  And  again  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 came  unto  Haggai  in  the  four  and 
 twentieth  day  of  the  month,  saying, 
 <21)  Speak  to  Zerubbahel,  governor  of 
 Judah,  saying, 
 
 I  will  shake  the  heavens  and  the 
 earth ;  t22'  and  I  will  overthrow  the 
 throne  of  kingdoms,  and  I  will  destroy 
 the  strength  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
 heathen;    and    I    will    overthrow    the 
 
 chariots,  and  those  that  ride  in  them  ; 
 and  the  horses  and  their  riders  shall 
 come  down,  every  one  by  the  sword 
 of  his  brother.  (23)  In  that  day,  saith 
 the  Loed  of  hosts,  will  I  take  thee, 
 0  Zerubbabel,  my  servant,  the  son  of 
 Shealtiel,  saith  the  Loed,  and  will 
 make  thee  as  a  signet :  for  T  have 
 chosen  thee,  saith  the  Loed  of 
 hosts. 
 
 (20—23)  27le  Fifth  Utterance. — The  promise  of  verses 
 6 — 9  is  enlarged.  The  heathen  powers  shall  be  con- 
 sumed one  of  another,  but  the  line  of  Zerubbabel  shall 
 stand  secure,  and  be  a  witness  to  Jehovah's  faithfulness. 
 Here,  as  in  verses  6 — 9,  the  only  satisfactory  interpreta- 
 tion is  that  Haggai  was  charged  with  a  prediction — 
 purposely  vague  and  indistinct  in  character — of  the  ex- 
 tension of  God's  kingdom  by  the  Christian  dispensation. 
 '*  Zerubbabel,"  the  descendant  of  David,  includes  in 
 himself  Him  who  was  according  to  the  flesh  his  lineal 
 descendant.  Just  in  the  same  way  in  older  prophecy 
 "  David "  is  himself  identified  with  that  Messiah  in 
 whom  the  glories  of  the  Davidic  house  were  to  culminate. 
 (See  Ps.  lxxxix.  19,  and  comp.  Jennings  and  Lowe,  Com- 
 mentary, Introd.  to  Ps.  lxxxix.)  It  appears  as  unne- 
 cessary to  find  a  literal  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  of 
 
 the  overthrow  of  the  world-powers,  "  every  one  by  the 
 sword  of  his  brother,"  as  of  the  utterance  (repeated 
 from  verse  6),  "  I  will  shake  the  heavens  and  the  earth." 
 It  is  true  that  the  empires  of  Babylon,  Persia,  Syria, 
 and  Greece  each  in  its  turn  declined  and  passed  away. 
 But  in  the  Roman  Empire  the  world-power  was  as 
 strongly  represented  as  ever,  when  Christ  came  on 
 earth.  It  was  to  succumb  later  on  to  moral,  not  to  ma- 
 terial force.  Nothing,  in  fact,  can  be  extracted  from 
 these  passages  beyond  a  dim  presage  of  the  heathen 
 kingdoms  being  pervaded  by  the  moral  influence  of  the 
 Christian  Church. 
 
 (23)  Signet. — On  the  figure  of  the  signet-ring  ap- 
 plied to  one  on  whom  confidence  and  affection  are 
 bestowed,  see  Song  of  Solomon  viii.  6 ;  Jer.  xxii.  24. 
 
 554 
 
ZECHARIAH. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 10 
 
 ZHCIIARIAII. 
 
 CHAPTERS   I.-VIII. 
 
 1.  Tho  Prophet.  —  Hi-  describes  himself  as  "  Zeeha- 
 riah. the  son  oi  Berechiah,  the  son  of  [ddo,"  which  can 
 only  1 1 it-ii ■  i — iliXX.,  Jerome!  ■- 1 •  i •  1  Oyri]  are  in  error) 
 thai  he  was  the  grandson  of  the  latter.  But  in  Ezra  v.  I. 
 vi.  Ik  he  is  oalled  "the son  of  [ddo."  Similarly,  Laban, 
 tho  <iruiiilsiiit  ut'  Nahor.  is  called  his  sua  i  (Jen.  x\ix.  5)  ; 
 
 and  Jehu  is  in  2  Kings  ix.  II'  called  "tli<'  son  of 
 Jehoshaphat,  the  sun  of  iVimshi."  while  in  verse  -<>  he 
 is  styled  simply  "the  son  of  NimshL"  The  supposition, 
 therefore,  i  hal  the  words  "  sun  of  Bereehiah  "  i  Zech.  i.  1 ) 
 are  an  interpolation  borrowed  from  Isa.  viii.  2,  where 
 
 "Zeehariah,  the  son  of  Jobcrechiah."  is  mentioned,  is 
 superfluous.  The  conjecture,  too.  that  the  Honk  of 
 Zeehariah  is  made  ap  of  the  writings  of  three  distinct 
 
 prophets — Zeehariah    son    of    Iddo,    Zeehariah     son    of 
 
 Jeberechiah,  and  Uriah,  fellow-witness  of  the  latter  I  ha. 
 viii.  2) — though  ingenious, is  but  baaed  on  the  erroneous 
 
 idea  thai  Zech.  ix. — xiv.  cannot  be  of  post-exilian 
 authorship.      In   E/.ra  v.   1.  2,  Zeehariah   is  mentioned 
 
 as  prophesying,  in  conjunction  with  Haggai,  during  the 
 
 time  of  Jeshua,  the  son  of  Josodecli  (the  high  priest). 
 A  certain  Iddo  is  reckoned  as  among  the  heads  of 
 priests  (and  Levites)  who  came  up  with  Zerubbabel 
 (Nell.  xii.  1 — I) ;  and  again,  a.  Zeehariah  is  spoken  of  as 
 the  lineal  representative  of  Iddo.  and  one  of  the  heads 
 Of  the  priestly  houses  in  the  days  of  Joiakiin.  the 
 successor  of  Jeshua  (Noli.  xii.  12 — 16).  It  may  be 
 not  unreasonably  assumed  that  this  is  Zeehariah  the 
 Prophet,  and  that  this  [ddo  is  his  grandfather.  From 
 these  materials  we  may  fairly  deduce  thai  I  1  I  Zeehariah 
 Was  a  young  man  when  he  entered  upon  his  office  ;  ("J  I 
 that  his  father  died  early,  and  was,  perhaps,  never  head 
 of  Ids  house,  which  would  account  for  his  being  passed 
 over  by  Ezra;  (8)  that  Zeehariah.  like  Jeremiah  and 
 E/.ekiol,  was  a  priest  as  well  as  a  prophet.  The  lirst  of 
 these  deductions  is  sufficient  (,.  dispose  of  the  fables  of 
 Kpiphanius,  DoTotheUS,  and  llesyehius  (see  Kohler. 
 WmU  itiuui ;  Wright.  Introduction),  that  Zeehariah 
 was  an  old  man  at  the  time  of  the  return  from  the  cap. 
 tivity.  and  that  he  had  already  foretold  to  Shealtiel  the 
 birth  of  Zerubbabel,  ami  to  Cyrus  his  victory  over 
 Cnesus,  &c.  The  second  of  these  fables  is  also  contra- 
 dicted by  the  fact  that  Zerubbabel  was  not  the  actual 
 son  of  Shealtiel.  but  of  his  brother  Podaiah  (1  Chron. 
 hi.  I'd).  Shealtiel  seems  to  have  died  without  male 
 issue,  and  Pedaiah  to  have  taken  his  deceased  brother's 
 wife  in  accordance  with  Dent.  xxv.  5 — 10.  Zerubbabel. 
 or  Sneahbanar,  seems  to  have  been  the  son  of  this 
 Levirate  marriage. 
 
 Tho  name   Zeehariah    is   compounded    of   the    stem 
 taehdr,  "  to  remember."  and    Tdh,  the  first  half  of  the 
 
 Holy  Name  (see  Notes  on  Exod.  xv.  2.  xvii.  16;  Ps. 
 
 lxviii.i.  and  probably  means  "Yah  remembers."  Some. 
 however,  take  it  as  meaning  "who  remembers  Yah." 
 (Coinp.  Mnj<r/»«oj  and  TW0«os.)     Jerome  explains  it  as 
 
 MviifiT)  Kvpiov,  memoria  Domini ;  Hcsychius  as  Mr^pq 
 "ItyiiTTOK,  "  Memory  of  the  Highest,"  or  Nii«jt))s  \tivTos, 
 
 " Idon-oonqneror; "   Mares  as  "hero  of  Yah."     Tho 
 
 last  two  are  impossible.  The  name  has  probably  no 
 reference   whatever  to  (he  contents  of  I  lie  prophi -i-ies. 
 
 II.  Occasion  of  the  Prophecies. — The  genuine- 
 ness of  chaps.  L— Tin.  has  never  been  ealled  in  ques- 
 tion,  and   they  are  undoubtedly  to   be   referred   to  the 
 
 time  of  the  re-building  of  the  Temple  see  Introduction 
 to  Haggai).     The  date  and  authorship  of  chaps,  iv — 
 
 xiv.  must  be  discussed  separately. 
 
 III.  Contents    of    Chapters     i.— viii.— These 
 
 chapters  consist  of  three  distinct  prophetic  utterances: 
 viz..  (1)  chap.  i.  1—6;  (2)  chaps,  i.  7 — vi.  15;  (8)  chaps, 
 vii.  and  viii. 
 
 (1)  Chap.  i.  1 — 6. — A  declaration  of  the  prophet's 
 mission,  and  an  earnest  exhortation  to  the  people  to 
 turn  unto  the  Lord,  that  He  might  turn  unto  them,  to- 
 gether with  a  warning  not  to  fall  into  that  error  of 
 neglect  of  God's  word  which  had  proved  so  fatal  to 
 their  fathers. 
 
 (2)  Chap.  i.  7 — vi.  15. — A  series  of  seven  visions,  with 
 two  appendices,  chaps,  ii.  6 — 13,  vi.  !• — 15.  Some  com- 
 mentators have  maintained  that  these  visions  were  not. 
 even    subjectively,  seen    by   the  prophet;   but    that   he 
 
 deliberately  sets  forth  his  experience  under  the  simili- 
 tude of  dreams,  as  Bunyan  does  in  the  Pilgrim's 
 Proqress.  But  it  seems  to  BB,  from  the  prophet's 
 words,    to    be    imperative    to    regard    these    visions   as 
 
 subjectively,  though  perhaps  not  objectively,  visible  to 
 him.  just  as  one  would  naturally  so  regard  the  visions 
 of  Amos  (chaps,  vii. — ix.). 
 
 First  Vision  (chap.  i.  7 — 17). —  The  Inn  ng  the 
 
 myrtles.  This  vision  was  intended  to  convey  to 
 the  prophet  the  truth  that,  though  as  yet  there 
 may  be  little  sign  of  God's  "overthrowing  the 
 kingdoms"  (Haggai  ii.  22i.  yet  He,  with  His  all- 
 watchful  eye.  was  scanning  the  horizon,  and  pre- 
 paring to  fulfil  His  word. 
 
 Second  Vision  (chap.  i.  18 — 21). — The  four  horses  and 
 {•nit-  VDorhnu  n  indicate  that  God  would  continue  to 
 remove  the  hostility  of  the  Persians,  even  as  He 
 had  already  broken  the  power  of  the  Assyrians, 
 Egyptians,  and  Babylonians. 
 
 Third  Vision  (chap.  ii.  1 — 5). — The  man  with  th 
 
 suri}i;/  line.  The  enlargement  and  perfect  security 
 of  the  people  of  God.  An  appendix  (chap.  ii. 
 61 — 13)  prophetic  of  the  ingathering  of  the  nations 
 in  the  days  of  Branch,  the  Messiah. 
 
 Fourth  Vision  (chap,  iii.) — Joshua,  the  high  priest,  ar- 
 raigned before  the  angel  of  the  Lord.  The  for- 
 giveness of  the  sins  of  the  priesthood,  and  of  the 
 .people,  whose  representative  he  was. 
 
ZECHAEIAH. 
 
 Fifth  Vision  (chap.  iv.). — The  candlestick  with  the  two 
 olive-trees.  The  diffusion  of  God's  grace  by 
 means  of  His  two  channels — the  priesthood  and 
 civil  power.  It  contains  a  promise  (verse  9)  that 
 Zerabbabel's  hands  should  finish  the  building  of 
 the  Temple. 
 
 Sixth  Vision  (chap.  v.  1 — 11.) — The  flying  roll,  and 
 the  ivoman  in  the  ephah,  denoting  the  curse  on 
 sinners,  and  the  banishment  of  sin. 
 
 Seventh  Vision  (chap.  vi.  1 — 8). — The  four  chariots. 
 God's  judgments  on  the  nations.  An  appendix 
 (chap.  vi.  9 — 15),  the  crowning  of  Joshua,  which 
 foreshadows  the  two-fold  office  of  Branch,  as  king 
 and  priest.     A  probable  lacuna  in  the  text. 
 
 (3)  Chaps,  vii.,  viii. — The  inqniry  concerning  the 
 fasts.  The  prophet's  rebuke  of  the  people  for  their 
 formalism.  The  answer  to  their  inquiry,  in  the  form  of 
 a  promise  that  their  fasts  should  be  turned  into  feasts. 
 
 CHAPTERS  IX.— XIV. 
 
 Mede  (who  died  in  1638)  was  the  first  to  doubt  the 
 genuineness  of  this  second  part  of  the  book.  He 
 was  led  to  do  so  on  observing  that  in  Matt,  xxvii.  9, 
 a  passage,  which  is  certainly  a  quotation  from  Zech.  xi. 
 12, 13,  is  ascribed  to  Jeremiah.  On  further  investigation, 
 he  conceived  that  he  found  internal  evidence  in  support 
 of  his  theory  :  that  these  chapters  were  of  an  earlier 
 date  than  the  age  of  Zechariah.  Since  that  time  the 
 question  has  been  continually  discussed  by  scholars 
 of  many  nations,  with  such  inconsistent  results  that 
 chapters  ix. — xiv.  have  been  ascribed  to  various  times, 
 ranging  between  772  B.C.  (Hitzig)  and  330  (Bottcher). 
 
 We  need  not  here  attach  any  weight  to  the  supposed 
 external  authority  of  St.  Matthew  in  the  matter.  (See  the 
 New  Testament  Commentary,  in  loc.)  But  the  question 
 of  internal  evidence — first,  with  regard  to  style,  secondly, 
 with  respect  to  historical  standpoint — demands  careful 
 investigation.  At  the  same  time  the  reader  will  do 
 well  to  hear  in  mind  Pusey's  weighty  remark  :  "  It  is 
 obvious  that  there  must  be  some  mistake  either  in 
 the  tests  applied ,  or  in  their  application,  which  admits 
 of  a  variation  of  at  least  450  years." 
 
 Seeing  that  the  preponderance  of  authority  appeared 
 to  be  subversive  of  the  view  that  the  latter  chapters 
 were  of  as  late  a  date  as  the  age  of  Zechariah,  we 
 came  to  the  special  study  of  the  subject  with  a  certain 
 inclination  to  accept  the  hypothesis  that  this  portion  is 
 of  pre-exilian  origin.  But  we  have  since  felt  compelled 
 to  abandon  this  theory.  We  now  proceed  to  put  before 
 the  reader  the  process  of  reasoning  which  has  led  us  to 
 our  present  conclusions.  We  shall  print  the  arguments 
 of  the  impugners  of  the  integrity  of  the  book  in  italics, 
 and  give  our  answer  to  each  objection. 
 
 I.  Arguments  against  the  genuineness  of 
 chaps,  ix.— xiv.:  (A)  from  style,  (B)  from 
 the  historical  standpoint. 
 
 A.  Difference  of  style  between  Zech. i—  viii. 
 and  ix. — xiv. 
 
 .   ^.eon-  i-  7 — vi.  8  consists  almost  entirely  of  visions, 
 while  in  chaps,  ix. — xiv.  there  are  none. 
 
 Ans.  When  the  prophet  saw  visions,  he  related  them; 
 when  he  did  not  see  any.  he  could  not  do  so.  There  is  no 
 reason  in  the  nature  of  things  why  God  should  not  at  one 
 time  reveal  His  will  to  a  prophet  in  visions,  and  at  another 
 by  other  means.  Thus,  as  a  fact,  Amos  has  only 
 visions  in  the  second  part,  and  none  in  the  first ;  and  so, 
 too,  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel  related  visions  when  they  saw 
 
 them,  but  at  other  times  they  delivered  their  oracles  in 
 a  different  manner.  Moreover,  chaps,  vii.  and  viii.  do  not 
 consist  of  visions,  and  the  genuineness  of  these  chapters 
 has  not  been  called  in  question. 
 
 2.  The  angel-interpreter  and  Satan  disappear  from 
 chaps,  ix. — xiv. 
 
 Ans.  And  so  they  do  from  chaps,  vii.  and  viii., 
 simply  because  they  were  actors,  the  one  in  the  whole 
 series  of  visions,  and  the  other  in  one  portion  of  it. 
 
 3.  The  seven  eyes,  as  a  symbol  of  God's  Providence, 
 disappear  from  chaps,  ix. — xiv. 
 
 Ans.  True ;  but  a  writer  is  not  compelled  to  use  con- 
 tinually a  certain  symbol,  because  he  happens  to  have 
 done  so  on  a  former  occasion.  Moreover,  a  very  similar 
 expression,  "  for  now  have  I  seen  it  with  mine  eyes,"  is 
 actually  used  in  chap.  ix.  8.    (Comp.  chap.  ix.  5.) 
 
 4.  Exact  dates  are  given  many  times  in  the  former 
 chapters,  but  none  in  the  latter. 
 
 Ans.  Similarly,  we  find  dates  prefixed  to  other 
 visions,  such  as  Isa.  vi.  1;  Ezek.  i.  1- — 3,  viii.  1,  2,  xl.  1,  2; 
 and  dates  are  frequently  found  in  the  prophets,  where 
 answers  are  recorded  as  given  by  Divine  command  to 
 inquiries  addressed  to  them. 
 
 5.  In  chaps,  i. — viii.  introductory  formulas  constantly 
 occur,  which  are  not  found  in  the  concluding  six 
 chapters. 
 
 Ans.  So,  too,  Hosea  uses  introductory  formulas  in  the 
 first  five  chapters  of  his  book,  which  are  wanting  in 
 the  last  nine  chapters ;  and  yet  no  doubt  is  entertained 
 of  the  integrity  of  that  book. 
 
 6  a.  The  style  of  chaps,  i. — viii.  is  utterly  different  to 
 that  of  chaps,  ix. — xiv. 
 
 Ans.  So  is  that  of  Hos.  i. — iii.  different  to  that  of 
 chaps,  iv. — xiv ;  and  the  style  of  Ezek.  iv.,  v.  is  totally 
 different  to  that  of  chaps,  vi.,  vii.,  or  of  chaps,  xxvii., 
 xx  viii. 
 
 /3.  The  style  of  the  first  eight  chapters  is  prosaic, 
 feeble,  poor,  while  that  of  the  remaining  six  is  poetic, 
 weighty,  concise,  glowing  (Rosenmiiller). 
 
 Bottcher,  on  the  other  hand,  says  :  "  In  comparison 
 with  the  lifeless  language  of  these  chapters  (ix. — xiv.), 
 as  to  which  we  cannot  at  all  understand  how  any  can 
 have  removed  them  into  so  early  pre-exile  times,  tlie 
 Psalms  attributed  to  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  are 
 amazingly  fresh. " 
 
 Ans.  When  critics  so  disagree  as  to  the  respective 
 merits  of  the  styles  of  the  two  sections,  it  seems  hardly 
 worth  while  to  consider  the  argument.  We  will  merely 
 remark  that  neither  sweeping  statement  is  correct. 
 When  the  prophet  is  describing  a  vision,  or  giving  an 
 answer  to  questions  propounded,  he  naturally  writes  in 
 the  language  best  suited  to  his  purpose,  viz.,  prose.  But 
 when  he  comes  to  speak  of  the  distant  future,  he  natur- 
 ally rises  to  a  loftier  style  of  diction ;  and  this  is  the 
 case  even  in  the  earlier  chapters,  when  occasion  re- 
 quires: e.g.,  chaps,  ii.  10—17,  vi.  12,  13.  (See  further, 
 under  The  Integrity  of  the  lohole  Booh,  7.)  Further,  the 
 argument  from  style  must  be,  indeed,  very  strong  to 
 enable  us  to  affirm  that  this  chapter  is  by  one  author, 
 and  that  by  another.  And  even  when  the  evidence 
 appears  most  forcible  to  the  propounder  of  the  theory, 
 facts  may  come  to  light  which  will  prove  it  to  be  \itterly 
 fallacious.  Thus  an  acnte  German  has  found  reasons 
 why  the  Laws  of  Plato  should  not  be  Plato's,  and  yet 
 Jowett  (Translations  of  Plato's  Dialogues,  vol.  iv.  1)  has 
 shown  them  to  be  undoubtedly  genuine  by  four  sets  of 
 facts :  (1)  from  twenty  citations  of  them  by  Aristotle, 
 who  must  have  been  intimate  with  Plato  for  some 
 seventeen  years  ;  (2)  by  the  allusion  of  Isocrates,  writing 
 two  or  three  years  after  the  composition  of  the  Laws  ; 
 
 55S 
 
ZKCIIAIMAII. 
 
 i;5)  l>y  the  reference*  of  the  comic  poet  Alexis,  a  younger 
 
 i temporary  of  l*lnt<> ;  |  V)  by  the  unanimous  \"« ( 
 
 later  antiquity . 
 
 B.  The  Historical  Standpoint. — Those  who 
 impugn  the  integrity  of  the  Booh  of  Zeehariah  on 
 historical  grounds    may  be  divided  into  two  aliases, 
 
 1 1   Those  who  ascribe  chaps,  ix. — xiv.  t is  author, 
 
 .- 1 1 1 <  1  (2)  those  who  attribute  chape,  ix. — xi.  to  one  author, 
 and  chaps,  xii. — xiv.  to  another;  or  who  imagine  thai  they 
 
 discover  the  traces  ol tin- lifferent  pens  in  chaps. ix. — 
 
 \iv.     We  will  discuss  the  integrity  of  chaps,  ix.— xiv, 
 
 t'i  i  it  ln-i-  on,    At  present  we  will tent  ourselves  with 
 
 disposing  of  the  difference  with  regard  to  historical 
 standpoint  which  has  been  urged  in  the  two  sections 
 
 i. — tin.     and     ix. — xiv.     ytncrally.       Th<'     particular 
 
 passages  in  which  such  a  difference  has  been  urged  we 
 
 shall  discuss  in  our  Notes  on  those  passages,  \i/..,  ix. 
 1—8,  ix.  9—17,  x.  J.  x.  3—12,  xi.  1— 3,xi.  14,  xii.  1—9, 
 xii.  11.  xiv.  .'>.  xiv.  1 — 21. 
 
 1  a.   In  chaps,  ix.      xiv.   the  historical  slat 
 entirely  changed.      Tn  chape,  i. — viii.  the  prophet  it 
 continually  mentioning  the  rebuilding  of  tin    Temple, 
 and  the  re-inhabiting  of  Jerusalem;  out  in  chaps  ix. — 
 xiv.  he  is  occupied  with  quite  differeni  matters. 
 
 Ans.  This  is  (rue.  for  the  latter  chapters  were  (we 
 have  good    reason    for    Supposing]    written    many    years 
 
 after  the  former,  when  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple 
 was  a  fail  accompli,  and  when  those  abuses  of  tho 
 Temple-service,  which  so  vexed  the  righteous  spirit  of 
 
 Malaehi.  had  not  yet  crept  in.  It  would  not,  we  sup- 
 pose, be  imagined  strange  if  a  Parisian,  writing  in  1871, 
 spoke  much  of  the  siege  of  Paris,  while,  when  writing 
 
 in  1881,  he  said  nothing  whatever  about  that  event, 
 Imt  was  engrossed  with  the  affairs  of  Tunis,  and  tho 
 possibility  of  eventual  collision  with  other  Powers. 
 The  case  of  Zeehariah  is  still  stronger,  for  not  ton,  but 
 probably  some  forty  years,  intervened  between  the 
 delivery  of  the  prophecies  of  chaps,  i. —  viii.,  and  those 
 of  eliaps.  ix. — xiv. 
 
 $.  In  the,  former  chapters  he  mentions  his  contem- 
 poraries, suck  an  Joshua  and  Zerubbabcl,  but  not  so 
 in  the  latter  portion, 
 
 Ans.  In  the  former  chapters  ho  was  chiefly  occupied 
 in  contemporary  events  j  in  the  latter  ho  speaks  of  a  more 
 distant   future,  which  none  of  his  contemporaries  would 
 
 live  to  sec.  This  difference  of  subject-matter  accounts, 
 also,  for  tin-  occurrence  of  such  expressions  as  "in  that 
 
 day."  "the  people  round  about."  in  the  latter  chapters, 
 which  aro  not  found  in  the  former. 
 
 J.  ('hap.  ix.  1 — 8  is  so  likcto  Amos  i.  and  ii.  1 — 6,&e., 
 that  it  teems  impossible  that  two  prophecies  to  similar 
 
 shiailil  liacc  bc-n  uttered  at  periods  to  wide  apart. 
 
 There  is  this  much  of  resemblance  between  the 
 two  passages:  viz.,  that  in  both  Damascus,  Tyre,  (hi/.i, 
 Ashdod.  Ashkeloii.andEkron  are  threatened.  But  here 
 the  similarity  CeasM,  and  tho  great  dissimilarity  be- 
 comes   apparent,     (o)   In   Amos.   Kdom.    Amnion,   and 
 
 Moab  are  included,  but  not  so  in  Zeehariah,   And  this 
 
 is  most  natural,  for,  while  in  the  time  of  Uz/.iab  these 
 were  still  powerful  nations,  on  the  return  from  the 
 eapth  ity  they  were  so  weak,  that  when  in  the  time  of 
 N'ehenii.'ih  ■•  Sanballat  and  Tohiah.  and  tho  Arabians 
 and  tin'  Ammonites  and  the  Ashdoditee"  all  conspire 
 to  hinder  the  Jews  tram  rebuilding  the  Wall  of  Jeru- 
 salem, it  was  found  sufficient  to  repel  them  that  half  of 
 
 the  retained  exiles  should  stand  to  arms,  while  the 
 other    half   went    on    with    the  work    of    building.       (0) 
 
 Amos  expressly  states  thai  Aram-Damascus  should  be 
 carried  away  to  Kir.  while  there  is  no  such  intimation 
 
 in  /.ecli.  ix.  (?)  Tho  style  of  tho  two  passages  is  not 
 similar.  That  of  Amot  L  0  6  i  of  a  marked  charac- 
 ter, but  we  lind  no  echo  of   that  style  in  Zeeh.  ix.  1 — 8. 
 
 (5)  In  Amos  ii.  i — 6,  Judah  and  Isra,-]  an-  threatened 
 
 equally   with  the  other  nations,  and   looked  on   equally 
 
 with  the  other  people  then-  mentioned  as  separate 
 governments,    But  in   Zeeh.  ix.  8  God's  ■house"  is 
 
 promised   special   protect  ion  (see    further  in  OUT  Not 
 and  in  verse  13  "Judah"  and  "Ephraim"  are  used  as 
 parallel   terms. 
 
 Thus  we  see  that  the  arguments  ill  favour  of  the  pre- 
 
 exilian  authorship  of  these  chapters,  whether  urged  on 
 
 the  scire  of  styl -of    historical  reference,  fall    to   the 
 
 ground.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is.  we  will  show, 
 strong  internal  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  Opposite 
 opinion. 
 
 II.  Internal  Evidence  in  Favour  of  the 
 Post-exilian  Origin  of  chaps,  ix.— xiv.  —  1.  The 
 
 writer  of  chaps,  ix.  -    xiv.    shows  such  a  familiarity  with 
 
 the  writings  of  the  later  prophets  as  appears  to  some 
 reconcilable  only  with  the  supposition  that   he  wrote  at 
 
 a  date  posterior  to  them:   (.,/..   the   Deutero-IsaiahJ 
 
 ( 'otnparc 
 
 Zeeh.  ix.  13(a)  with  Isa.  xlii.  7.  Zeeh.  xii.   2  willi  IBS  Ii.  22.  23. 
 
 xlix.  It,  Ixi.  1.  xiii   9     ,,           xlviii.  10. 
 
 —  ix.  12(6)  with  Isa.  Ixi.  7.  —     —    16     ..          Ix.  6-9, 
 
 —  x.  10     „    -xlix.  19, 20.  lxvi.  23. 
 xi.  15,  16         hill.  ■     —    17     „     —  lx.  12. 
 
 —  xii.  1  with  Isa.  Ii.  13. 
 
 '/.ephaniah     Compare  Zcch.  i.x. .",,  G  with  Zcph.  ii.  1, 5. 
 miah,    I  omjiare 
 Zecfa   ix.  12  with  Jer.  x\  i.  IS.  Zcch.xi.Owith  Jcr.xxvi.29-33. 
 
 xi.  3       „      —    xxv.  31-36.  xiii.  9  ,.      —     XXX.  22, 
 
 — „     —    xii. /i,  xlix.   (Comp.  also  with  these  Zcch. 
 
 19. 1.  II.  viii.  s.  and  lies.  ii.  23.) 
 
 (The  only  passages  in  which    Zeeh.  xiv. 7  v.  ith  .Icr.  xx\ 
 "Tho    pride    of    Jordan''     —     —  10    „   Jer.xxxi.3S-U 
 occurs.)  —     —  20,21   „  —    xxxi  10. 
 
 Zcch.  xi.  5  with  Jer.  ii.  3,  1.  7. 
 
 Obadtah.    Compare 
 Zeeh.  xii.  6  with  Obad.  vcr.  18.      Zcch.  xiv.  9with  Obad.  vcr.  9. 
 
 /   i  kiel.    Compare 
 
 Zcch.ix.2    I  with  Kzck.  xxviii.  Zcch   xiii.  8, 9  with  Kzck.  v.  2. 
 
 1—23.  12.  xi.  20. 
 
 —  x.  2  withEzek.  xxxiv.  5, 8.  —       xiv.  2  (xii. 2    0),  xxxviii. 
 
 —  x.3     „       —     xxxiv.    12,  11—18. 
 
 17,20.22,31.       —     xiv.  I  with  Kzck.  xxxviii. 
 
 —  xi.       „       —     xxxiv.  19. 20. 
 especially  vers.  t.  .'>.  til  with  vers.      —             8    „        -      xlvii   1. 
 
 3.  I,  aii'l  vcr  9  with  vcr .16.  —  —  13  ,,  —  xxxviii. 
 Zeeh.  xi  7.  11  with  Kzek  xxxvii.  21. 
 
 16    22.  —      -    II    ..  xxxix.10. 
 
 —  xii.  10       „       —  xxxix.29.  —  21    .,         -    xliv.  9. 
 
 —  xiii.  1,  2    .,  xxxv  i. 
 
 25,  xxxvii.  23. 
 Ilauuai.    Compare 
 
 Zeeh.  xiv.  13  with  Hasrgai  ii.  21.  22. 
 
 Similarly  Zeehariah.  in  eliaps.  i. — viii.,  exhibits  the 
 same  familiarity  with  the  later  prophetic  books  which 
 We  have  shown  to  be  ■  characteristic  of  chaps,  ix. — xiv. 
 Compare,  for  example: 
 
 Chap.  It  6 with  Isa.  xlviii  20.  or  with  Isa.  lii.  11  anil  .Icr.  Ii  6,  9. 
 
 Chap.  ii.9.  U, and  chap,  iv.  8,  with  K/.ek.  vi.  7.  10,  xxxix.10,  4c. 
 
 Chaps   iii.  8,  vi.  12,  with  .Icr.  xxiii.  5,  xxxiii.  15  (Isa.  iv.  2). 
 
 Chap.  vi.  15  with  Jer.  xvii  21. 
 
 Chap,  x  ii   :,     la  with  Isa.  I\  iii.  I    7 
 
 Chap.  vii.  9  with  Kzck.  xviii  s  and  Jer.  xii.  5-7,  xxii.  3. 
 
 Chap  \ii.  12      ,.       Kzck.  Xi.  19. 
 
 Chap.  vii.  13     .,      .Icr.  xi.  11. 
 
 Chap. vii. II     .,       ,ler.  xvi.  13.  &c. 
 
 Chap.  viii. 3     ,,      Jer.  xxxi.  23.     - 
 
 Chap,  viii.  I    '..      I  a,  l\\   20 
 
 Chap.  viii. 6     ,.       Jer  xxxii.  17.  27. 
 
 Chap.  viii.  7     ..      Isa.  xliii.  6. 
 
 Chap,  xiii-  S     ..       Isa.  xlviii.  1. 
 
 559 
 
 Introduction  to  Isaiah.  Should  the  so-eallcl  1 1 
 chaps.  \t.  end) he  eventually  shown  tobebr  thi 
 author  as  Isa.  i.  — xxxix..  our  argument  would  nut  be  injured. 
 si  in  ■<■  the  references  to  the  other  prophets  mentioned  after- 
 wards are  In  themselves  sufficient.  Further,  must  critics  who 
 regard  Zeeh.  ix— xiv  as  ;.>v -exilian,  consider  Isa.  xL— end  as 
 contemporaneous  with  the  later  prophets. 
 
ZECHAKIAH. 
 
 This  argument  seemed  so  convincing  to  De  Wette  that, 
 after  having  in  the  first  three  editions  of  his  Introduc- 
 tion declared  for  two  authors,  he  felt  compelled  to 
 change  his  mind,  and  in  his  fourth  edition  admitted  the 
 post-exilian  origin  of  chaps,  ix. — xiv.,  and  even  the 
 possibility  of  their  having  been  written  by  Zechariah. 
 We  are  not,  however,  prepared  to  regard  this  argument 
 as  conclusive.  We  own  the  difficulty  that  there  is  in 
 computing  the  exact  weight  due  to  the  argument  de- 
 rived from  the  consideration  of  parallel  passages,  and 
 concur  with  Cheyne's  pertinent  remarks  on  the  subject 
 (The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  vol.  ii.,  p.  210) :  "  The  argu- 
 ment from  parallel  passages  is  sometimes  much  overrated. 
 How  prone  we  are  to  fancy  an  imitation  where  there  is 
 none,  has  been  strikingly  shown  by  Mnnro's  parallel 
 between  the  plays  of  Shakspeare  and  Seneca  (Journal  of 
 Philology,  vol.  vi.,  Camb.  1876,  pp.  70 — 72) ;  and  even 
 when  an  imitation  on  one  side  or  the  other  must  be 
 supposed,  how  difficult  it  is  to  choose  between  the 
 alternatives !  A  recent  revolution  of  opinion  among 
 patristic  students  may  be  a  warning  to  us  not  to  be  too 
 premature  in  deciding  such  questions.  It  has  been  the 
 custom  to  argue  from  the  occurrence  of  almost  identi- 
 cal sentences  in  the  Octavius  of  Minucius  Felix  and 
 the  Apologeticum  of  Tertullian,  that  Minucius  must 
 have  written  later  than  the  beginning  of  the  third 
 century,  on  the  ground  that  a  brilliant  genius  like 
 Tertullian's  cannot  have  been  such  a  servile  imitator  as 
 the  hypothesis  of  the  priority  of  Minucius  would  imply. 
 But  Adolf  Ebert  seems  to  have  definitely  proved  that 
 Tertullian  not  only  made  use  of  Minucius,  but  did  not 
 even  understand  his  author  rightly." 
 
 2.  In  no  way  can  they  be  so  consistently  interpreted 
 as  by  supposing  them  to  have  been  written  after  the 
 captivity  (as  will  be  seen  in  our  Notes).  This  is  espe- 
 cially the  case  with  regard  to  the  mention  of  the  "  sons 
 of  Greece "  (chap.  ix.  13),  which  can  refer  to  no  event 
 of  which  we  have  cognizance  before  the  time  of  Alex- 
 ander or  of  the  Maccabees ;  and  with  regard  to  the  pro- 
 phecies contained  in  chaps,  xii. — xiv.,  they  would  be 
 simply  untrue  if  uttered  in  reference  to  the  destruction 
 of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  last  six  chapters 
 are,  equally  with  the  first  eight,  of  post-exilian  origin. 
 
 We  come  next  to  the  question  of — 
 
 III.  The  Integrity  of  chapters  ix. — xiv. — 
 The  theory,  which  Bunsen  has  called  one  of  the 
 triumphs  of  modern  criticism,  that  chaps,  ix. — xi.  and 
 chaps,  xii. — xiv.  are  the  work  of  two  different  prophets  : 
 viz.,  chaps,  ix. — xi.  that  of  a  contemporary  of  Isaiah, 
 perhaps  Zechariah  son  of  Jeberechiah  (Isa.  viii.  2).  and 
 chaps,  xii. — xiv.,  possibly  that  of  Urijah  son  of  She- 
 maiah  (Jer.  xxvi.  20 — 23),  falls  to  the  ground  with  the 
 establishment  of  the  post-exilian  origin  of  the  whole 
 section.  Archbishop  Newcome,  who  originated  this 
 theoiy,  concluded  that  chaps,  ix. — xi.  were  written  much 
 earlier  than  the  time  of  Jeremiah,  and  before  the 
 captivity  of  the  tribes  ;  but  was  not  so  positive  as  his 
 followers  with  regard  to  the  pre-exilian  authorship  of 
 chaps,  xii. — xiv.,  though  he  thinks  the  mention  of  idols 
 (xiii.  2)  to  be  in  favour  of  that  supposition.  We  must 
 therefore  discuss  a  little  more  fully  what  have  been 
 termed  the  grounds  for  separating  chaps,  xii. —  xiv. 
 from  chaps,  ix. — xi. 
 
 (1)  Chap,  xi.i  has  a  distinct  introductory  formula. 
 But  since  this  formula  is  the  same  as  that  of  chap. 
 ix.  1,  and  that  a  formula  which  recurs  only  in  Mai.  i.  1, 
 this  argument  tends  rather  in  the  other  direction. 
 
 (2)  The  former  chapters  speak  of  Israel  and  Judah, 
 
 but  the  latter  do  not  mention  "Israel."  On  the  con- 
 trary, chap.  xii.  1  states  that  the  whole  of  the  following 
 prophecy  is  concerning  "  Israel." 
 
 (3)  In  the  former,  Syrians,  Phoenicians,  Philistines, 
 and  Greeks  are  mentioned,  but  Assyrians  and  Egyptians 
 described  as  the  most  powerful.  These  chapters  belong 
 therefore  to  early  times.  We  have  shown  in  our  Notes 
 that  the  manner  in  which  the  Greeks  are  here  described 
 as  enemies  of  Israel  fixes  the  date  of  these  chapters  to 
 the  post-exilian  period.  Egypt  and  Assyria  are  spoken 
 of  (x.  10)  as  the  nations  who  had  carried  off  the  people, 
 and  whence  they  were  to  be  brought  back,  while  in  ver. 
 11  the  stereotyped  language  of  former  prophets  is  evi- 
 dently used  in  a  figurative  sense. 
 
 (4)  The  anticipations  of  the  two  prophets  are  differ- 
 ent. The  first  trembles  for  Ephraim,  but  for  Judah  he 
 has  no  fear.  On  the  contrary,  Ephraim  and  Judah  are 
 included  equally  in  the  promised  protection. 
 
 (5)  Tlie  second  prophet  does  not  mention  the  northern 
 kingdom,  but  is  full  of  alarm  for  Judah,  and  sees  the 
 enemy  laying  siege  to  Jerusalem.  "  Ephraim  "  does 
 not  denote  "  the  northern  kingdom  "  in  chaps,  ix. — xi. 
 (see  Notes).  If  Jerusalem  was  to  be  besieged  at  any 
 time  after  its  rebuilding,  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
 same  prophet  who  spoke  before  in  general  terms  of 
 wars,  should  not  afterwards  speak  more  particularly  of 
 a  siege.  In  prophesying  concerning  a  siege  of  Jerusa- 
 lem it  is  only  natural  that  Judah,  in  which  tribe  it 
 partly  stood,  should  be  especially  mentioned.  More- 
 over, as  we  remarked  above,  the  section  is  expressly 
 addressed  to  all  "  Israel." 
 
 (6)  Difference  of  style  :  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  " 
 does  not  occur  in  chaps,  ix. — xi. ;  "in  that  day,"  which 
 occurs  so  often  in  chaps,  xii. — xiv.,  occurs  only  once  in 
 chaps,  ix. — xi.,  and  "  saith  the  Lord "  occurs  only 
 twice  in  chaps,  ix. — xi.  There  are  also  favourite  ex- 
 pressions in  chaps,  xii. — xiv.,  such  as  "  all  peoples," 
 "  all  nations  round  about,"  "  family  of  Egypt,"  &c.  This 
 is  true,  but  chaps,  xii. — xiv.  are  admitted  by  all  to 
 be  a  separate  section,  delivered  probably  on  a  different 
 occasion  to  the  former  section,  and  pointing  on  the 
 whole  to  a  much  further  distant  future.  These  facts 
 are  quite  sufficient  to  account  for  such  very  slight 
 differences  of  style. 
 
 IV.  The   Integrity   of  the    whole   Book.  — 
 
 We  now  proceed  to  adduce  some  arguments  to  prove 
 that  there  is  sufficient  correspondence  between  chaps,  i. 
 — viii.  and  ix. — xiv.  to  justify  us,  in  default  of  any 
 positive  evidence  to  the  contrary,  in  regai-ding  the 
 whole  book  as  the  work  of  one  prophet. 
 
 1.  Both  portions  exhibit,  as  we  have  shown,  an  ex- 
 tensive acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  the  later 
 prophets. 
 
 2.  They  both  exhibit  also  an  extensive  acquaintance 
 with  the  earlier  books :  thus,  in  chap.  i.  4 — 6,  chap, 
 vii.  12,  reference  is  made  to  "  the  former  prophets " 
 generally  : — 
 
 Chap.  ii.  12  (E.V.  8)  recalls  the  thought,  though  not  the  phrase- 
 
 ologv,  of  Ps.  xvii.  8. 
 Chaps,  iii.  8,  vi.  12,  allude  to  Isa.  iv.  2,  as  well  as  to  Jer.  xxiii.  5, 
 
 and  xxxiii.  15. 
 Chap.  iii.  10  is  from  Mic.  iv.  4. 
 Chap.  vi.  13  evidently  refers  to  Ps.  ex.  4. 
 Chap.  viii.  8  recalls  Hos.  ii.  21  (E  V.  19). 
 Chap.  viii.  20—22  in  substance  may  be  compared  with  Mic. 
 
 iv.  1,  2,  Isa.  ii.  2,  3. 
 
 And  in  the  second  part : — 
 Chap.  ix.  1—8  bears  some  resemblance  to  Amos  i.  3,  ii.  6. 
 Chap.  ix.  10  (first  half)  is  borrowed  from  Mic.  v.  10,  and  (second 
 
 half)  from  Ps.  lxxii.  8. 
 Chap.  xiii.  2  is  a  quotation  from  Hos.  ii.  17  or  Mic.  v.  12,  13 
 
 (comp.  Isa.  ii.  18,  20);  and  ver.  9,  from  Hos.  ii.  20  (E.V.  23). 
 
 560 
 
ZKCIIAIMAII 
 
 < p.  also  ohap.  ix.  16  with  Esa,  xi.  12. 
 
 ( lhap.  x.  IS  with  Mw.  iv .  •. 
 
 Chap.  t.  I"    i-'  with  1.11.  \i.  I.'.,  dv.lft,!  ■2i-:1,  xxx.  31,  &c. 
 ( thap.  dl.  8  h  iilt  Joel  Iv,  10. 
 Chap     H    n>     ..    Joel  iii.  i.  •-' 
 Chap.  xiv.  :i      ..    bo.  xxxiv.  l    I, 
 
 Chap    xlv.6,7    ..     AjnM  v    IS,  2U.  Joel  Iv.  (K.V.  iii.)  15,  Isa. 
 xxx.  L'li. 
 
 Chap.  riv.  8     „     Isa.  xtB,  ii.  8,  Ida  iv.'-' 
 
 ■  u  .  II  Anuis  i\.   13     l.i. 
 
 Chap,  xiv .  i'ii  tea.  xxni.  18. 
 
 Ohap   xiv. .'I  I    i»iv.      xxxv.8.  Joel  lv.(K.V.  ili.)17,  fee. 
 
 But  we  oannol  lay  much  stress  on  this  argument, 
 
 since  prophets,  belonging  as  they  iliil  in  most  oases  in 
 a  school,  with  in  .'ill  probability  acquainted  with  the 
 works  of  their  predecessors. 
 
 :;,  In  both  portiona  the  whole  people  are  similarly 
 styleil  " the  house  ol  Israel,  and  the  house  of  Jndah 
 (ohap.  viii.  18);  <>r,  "house  of  Jndah,  and  house  of 
 Joseph"  (chap.  x.  6);  or  "Jndah,  Israel,  and  Jerusa- 
 lem (ohap.  i.  I9)j  or  "Jndah  and  EJphraini "  (ohap. 
 i\.  LS  ;  or  "Jndah  and  Israel "  chap.  xi.  11).  Ami  in 
 hotli  ]>< >r t n in ^  (see  the  above  reference),  as  was  done  by 
 Jer.  (chaps,  xxiii.  6,  I.  20)  and  E!zek.(chap,  xxxvii.  L6 — 
 
 19),  a  future  is  promised  to  tile  ri'-uniteil    Israel  Jndah. 
 
 I,  [n  both  parte (chaps,  ii.  9, 11,  ami  xi.  11)  we  have  the 
 prototype  of  our  Loras  saying  (John  xiv.  J.!')  :  "And 
 now  I  have  told  you  before  it  come  to  pass,  that  when 
 it  is  come  to  pass  ye  ought  believe"  (John  xiii.  lit, 
 xvi.  Ii.  In  both  (chaps,  viii  10,  xi.  6)  internal  dis- 
 cord is  directly  attributed  to  God's  Providence.     In 
 
 both   (chaps,  viii.  U.   x.    1 )  the  prophet  promises  God's 
 
 gifts  of  the  produce  of  the  earth.    In  both  (chaps,  ii. 
 
 ltt.  ix.  9)  lie  bids  Jerusalem  hurst  out  tor  joy.  The 
 only  king  of  Israel  mentioned  in  either  portion  is  the 
 Messiah  (chaps,  vi.  12.  18,  ix    9  . 
 
 5.  Both  portions  are  written  in  pure  Hebrew,  free 
 from  AraiiLiisms.  Both  (chaps,  vii.  11.  ix.  8)  contain 
 the  expression  "  passes  to  and  fro,"  in  the  sense  of  "all 
 inhabitants,"  which  elsewhere  occurs  only  in  Ezek. 
 xxxv.  7.  (But  we  must  he  careful  not  to  lay  too  much 
 stress  on  this  latter  argument,  since,  if  more  Biblical 
 Hebrew  were  extant,  the  expression  would  probably 
 occur  often.) 
 
 Ii.  In  both  parts  alike  may  he  observed  the  habit  of 
 dwelling  on  the  same  thought  or  word — e.g.,  in  chaps. 
 ii.  11.  15,  vi  In.  vi.  1^.  l.i.  viii.  1.  5,  viii.  23,  xi.  7, 
 xiv.  In.  11,  xiv.  1.  xiv.  5.  In  both  the  whole  and  its  parts 
 are.  for  emphasis,  mentioned  together — e.g.,  in  chaps, 
 v.  I.  x.  1.  ami  x.  11,  wo  have  "every  family  apart," 
 and  then  in  verses  I-.  1".  the  specification.  And  as  an 
 outcome  of  this  fulness  of  diction  wo  find,  in  each, 
 instances  of  one  fundamental  idea  expanded  into  the 
 unusual  number  of  five  parallel  clauses.  ,  .q.  \ — 
 
 Ohap,  vi.  IS— 
 
 "  And  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord;  " 
 
 "  And  //.    shall  hear  Majesty  ;  " 
 "  Ami   //.    shall  sit  and  rule  upon  His  throne  J  *' 
 "  And  shall'lie  a  priest  upon  His  throne  ;  " 
 "  Ami  a  counsel   of  peace  shall  be  between  these 
 twain." 
 Chap.  ix.  5 — 
 
 •'  aahkelon  shall  see  it.  and  shall  fear:  " 
 
 "Ga/a.  and  shall  tremble  exceedingly;  " 
 
 "  And  Kkrou.  ami  disappointed  is  her  expectation;" 
 
 "  Ami  perished  is  a  king  from  Gasa  .  " 
 
 "And  Aahkelon  shall  no!  be  inhabited." 
 
 Chap.  ix.  7 — 
 
 "  And  I  will  take  away  his  blood  from  his  month;" 
 
 ■■  And  his  abominations  from  between  his  teeth;" 
 
 "  And  he  too  shall  be  left  to  our  t  bid  ,  " 
 "  And  he  shall  be  as  a  governor  in  Judah  :  " 
 "And  Ekron  as  a  Jcbusito." 
 175 
 
 7.  So  far  from  looking  upon  the  difference  between 
 the    contents    of    the    first    eight    and    of   the    1;. 
 
 chapters  as  a  sign  of  difference  of  authorship,  wc  son 
 
 sider  that  the  high-flown  poetic  language  and  imagery 
 and  deep  prophetic  insight  of  the  latter  chapters  are 
 just  BUch  as  might  have  In  en  expected,  in  his  later 
 years,  from  one  who,  in  his  youth,  saw  and  relate']  tie' 
 mysterious  series  of  visions  Contained  ill  the  former 
 portion.  For,  as  with  other  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  so  with 
 the  gift  of  prophecy:  Wc  may  well  suppose  that  Qod 
 L'ives  to  a  man  in  accordance  with  that  which  he  hath, 
 ami  not  according  to  that  vvhieh  he  hath  not.  U 'In  D, 
 therefore,  the  seer,  who  even  in  his  youth  was  found 
 worthy  of  such  mysterious  revelations,  hail  spent  many 
 
 years  in  communion  with  God,  and  meditation  on  the 
 
 promises  revealed  by  "the  former  prophets" — the  deep 
 things  of  God  it  seems  only  in  accordance  with  our 
 experience  of  the  workings  of  Divino  Providence  that 
 he  should,  in  after  life,  become  the  recipient  of  the 
 stupendous  revelations  contained  in  tho  concluding 
 chapters. 
 
 Thus  the  internal  evidence  of  the  two  portions  has 
 been  shown  to  be  on  the  whole  iu  favour  of  the 
 integrity  of  the  Book  of  Zechariah.  It  remains  only 
 Instate    that    there  is  i  ■  /  evidence  (except  that 
 
 which  originally  led  to  a  doubt  on  the  subject  i  to  the 
 contrary.  (1)  In  the  Jewish  Canon  Zechariah  is  the 
 eleventh  in  tho  book  called  "  the  twelve."  The  books 
 of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  have  usually  in  MSS.*  no 
 headings;  but  after  each  of  the  prophets,  whether 
 major  or  minor,  three  linos  are  usually,  according  to 
 rule.t  left  empty,  and  then  the  next  prophet  is  written. 
 Thus  between  Haggai  and  Zechariah  three  lines  ought 
 to  be  left,  just  as  between  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel.  But 
 between  Zcch.  viii.  and  ix.J  there  is  but  an  "  open  sec- 
 tion" (pdrdshdh  p'thuchdli),  like  that  between  chaps. 
 vii.  and  viii.,  denoting  merely  that  the  matter  which 
 follows  is  not  so  closely  connected  with  what  precedes, 
 as  would  have  been  denoted  by  there  being  only  a 
 "  closed  section  "  (pdrdshdh  s'tltumdh)  left  between  : 
 as,  for  instance,  between  Zech.  ix.  8,  9.  Thus  the  very 
 manner  iu  which  the  book  is  written,  when  the  laws  on 
 the  subject  are  observed,  points— from  a  negative,  if 
 not  from  a  positive,  point  of  view — to  thero  being  no 
 doubt  in  tho  opinion  of  tho  Synagogue  as  to  its  in- 
 tegrity. (2)  Neither  in  Rabbinical  or  Patristic  writ- 
 ing-, nor  iu  tho  ancient  versions,  is  thero  any  traco 
 known  to  us  of  a  doubt  having,  in  early  times,  been 
 entertained  on  the  subject.  On  the  contrary,  chap. 
 xi.  1  is  distinctly  ascribed  to  "  Zechariah  son  of  Iddo  " 
 I  Talmud  Babli,  Yoma  39").  While,  on  the  other  baud, 
 Rabbi  Akivah,  in  a  remarkable  pieceof  exegesis  (Talmud 
 Babli,  Maecoth  'J41'),  identities  Zechariah  the  son  of 
 Jeberechiah  with  the  author  of  Zcch.  viii.  4,  although 
 he  is  perfectly  awaro  that  Zechariah  prophesied  during 
 the  time  of  the  Second  Temple.  Atthesame  time  it  must 
 be  observed  that  tho  so-called  "external  evidence  of  tho 
 Jewish  Canon  "  has,  by  previous  writers,  been  much 
 too  strongly  stated ;  for  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
 
 •  In  the  Cambridge  MS.  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cm- 
 ■  1  Add.  465.  a  scribe  of  the  latter  half  of  the  four- 
 teenth century  has  supplied  running  titles  to  the  various  books, 
 according  to  tho  Jewish  divisions.  At  the  end  of  this  MS. 
 there  is.  fur  the  purpose,  as  is  expressly  stated,  of  read; 
 etiic  in  controversy  with  Christians,  a  table  of  tho  Christian 
 divi-ions  of  tho  books,  in  a  hand  not  later  than  the  carlv  pari 
 of  the  fourteenth  century  :  and  a  later  scribe  still  has  adopted 
 the  ordinary  Christian  divisions,  and  added  them  to  the  M^. 
 throughout. 
 
 t  Tilr  and  Shutchnn  "Aruc,  Torch  DPah.  §  283. 
 
 t  These  remarks  will  apply  equally  to  the  case  of  Isa.  xxxix. 
 and  xl. 
 
ZECHABIAH. 
 
 the  fact  that  a  passage  occurs  in  a  book  ascribed  to  a 
 certain  prophet  is  not  looked  on  by  the  Jews  as  absolute 
 proof  that  it  was  pronouuccd  by  him  (Talmud  Babli.Ba&a 
 Bathra  14b  I.   Thus  Rabbi  Simon,  of  the  third  and  f  ourth 
 centuries  (Vayyikrd  Babbah,  xv.  2),  ascribes  Isa.  viii. 
 19,  20,  to  Beeri  (father  of  Amos),  and  says  these  verses 
 were  not  written  in  a  separate  book,  because  there  was 
 not  enough  to  constitute  one.   Again,  in  Maccoth  24b  the 
 verse  Mic.  iii.  12  is  ascribed,  without  remark,  to  Urijah 
 the  priest,  the  co-witness  with  Zechariah  son  of  Jebere- 
 chiali  (Isa.  viii.  2).     Whatever  people  may  think  of  the 
 critical  value  of  these  rabbinical  statements,  they  are 
 most  significant  as  pointing  to  an  acknowledged  tradi- 
 tion of  the  Synagogue  with  regard  to  the  manner  of 
 putting  together  the  canonical  books.     If,  therefore,  it 
 should  be  thought  that  Zech.  xi.  1 — 3,  and  xiii.  7 — 9 
 have  no  apparent   connection  with  the  context  in  the 
 places  in  which  they  stand,  it  would  be  quite  admis- 
 sible to  suppose  them  to  be  fragments,  say  of  Ezekiel 
 and  Jeremiah  respectively,  which  had  not  been  included 
 in  those  books,  and   which   were   now  inserted  in  the 
 prophecies  of  Zechariah  to  prevent  their  becoming  lost. 
 With  regard  to  the  Minor  Prophets  in  particular.  Rabbi 
 Shelomoh  Yitzchaki  (or  Bashi,  the  great  Jewish  tradi- 
 tionalist of  the  eleventh  century)  says,  in  his  commen- 
 tary on  Talmud  Babli,  Baba  Bathra  15* :    "  As  for  the 
 Twelve,  since  their  prophecies  were  short,  the  prophets 
 did  not  themselves  write  each  his  own  book.    But,  when 
 Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi  came,  and  said  that  the 
 spirit  of  prophecy  was  on  the  point  of  ceasing  (for  they 
 were  the  last  of  the  prophets),  they  arose  and  wrote 
 down  their  own  prophecies,  and  combined   therewith 
 short  prophecies,  and  made  them  into  one  large  book,  in 
 order  that  they  should  not  be  lost  on  account  of  their 
 brevity."     By  which  he  means  that  they  took  the  nine 
 other  "  Minor  Prophets,"  as  we  call  them,  and  combined 
 them  with  their  own  prophecies  into  one  book.     His 
 words  leave  room  also  for  the  theory  which  we  have  pro- 
 pounded above,  that  small  fragments   of   prophecies, 
 whicli   had  not  yet   been   embodied  in  the   prophetic 
 writings,   may   have    been    included   in    the    "  Minor 
 Prophets."     Such   is   the  tradition.      It   need  not   be 
 taken  as  implying  that  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi 
 were  actual  contemporaries  (indeed  it  appears  probable 
 — see  Introduction  to  Malachi — that  Malachi  prophesied 
 some  fifty  years  after  the  time  of  Zechariah's  latest  pro- 
 ductions), but  merely   that   the  prophets  of  the  post- 
 exilian  period   formed   their   own  prophecies  and   the 
 smaller  works  of  earlier  prophets  into  one  book.     This 
 tradition  is  in  itself  probable,  and  in  so  far  as  concerns 
 the   late   redaction  of  even  the   older   books   of  "  the 
 Twelve,"  is  corroborated  by  the  following  minute  piece 
 of  internal  evidence.     The  Massoreth  tells  us  that  with 
 the  exception  of  the  passage  Song  of  Songs  iv.  4  (on 
 the  date  of  which  see  Introduction),  the  name  David  is 
 written  fully  (i.e.,  with  a  yod  between  the  v  and  the  d) 
 only   in   three   passages    of    Kings,   one   of    Ezekiel, 
 and  throughout   the   Minor  Prophets  (viz.,  in  Hosea, 
 Amos,    and    Zechariah,    in    which    only    it    occurs). 
 Thus  the  spelling  of  the  name  David,  even  in  the  early 
 
 books,  Hosea  and  Amos,  agrees  with  the  tradition  that 
 they  were  edited,  so  to  speak,  at  a  late  date. 
 
 The  voice  of  antiquity  is  thus  unanimous  in  accepting 
 the  last  six  chapters,  without  question,  as  the  work  of 
 Zechariah,  the  contemporary  of  Haggai,  equally  with 
 the  first  eight. 
 
 In  conclusion :  seeing  that  exterual  evidence  has 
 nothing  to  say  against  the  integrity  of  the  book,  and 
 that  internal  evidence  (from  style  and  contents)  is 
 rather  in  favour  of  it  than  otherwise,  we  conclude  that 
 the  whole  book  called  "  Zechariah "  is  probably  by 
 Zechariah,  grandson  of  Iddo. 
 
 V.  Probable  Date  of  Zechariah  ix.— xiv.— 
 Prophets,  we  hold,  are  by  Divine  inspiration  enabled 
 to  foretell  events.  Therefore  it  is  not  necessary  to 
 suppose  that  these  chapters  were  written  after  the 
 events  to  which  we  suppose  them  to  refer.  But,  on 
 the  other  hand,  prophets  (except  with  regard  to  the 
 Messianic  times,  which  were  ever  present  in  anticipa- 
 tion) cannot  be  supposed  to  speak  of  things  which  are 
 not  more  or  less  pointed  to  by  "  the  signs  of  the  times  " 
 (Matt.  xvi.  3).  If  they  did  so,  they  could  not  expect  to 
 command  an  audience ;  for  why  should  people  be  ex- 
 pected to  listen  to  what  could  have  no  interest  for 
 them  ?  Accordingly,  in  fixing  the  date  of  these  pro- 
 phecies, we  have  two  guides  :  it  must  not  be  so  late  that 
 Zechariah  could  not  be  still  alive,  nor  so  early  that  the 
 Jews  could  have  as  yet  had  no  occasion  to  fear  the 
 Greeks.  Supposing  Zechariah  to  have  been  about 
 twenty-one  years  of  age  in  the  second  year  of  Darius 
 (520),  he  would  have  been  little  over  fifty  soon  after 
 the  battle  of  Marathon  (490),  nor  much  over  sixty  when 
 the  Persians  sustained  their  great  naval  defeat  at 
 Salamis  (480).  It  will  be  easily  perceived  how,  on 
 hearing  of  the  victories  of  the  Greeks  over  their  Persian 
 protectors,  the  Jews  would  begin  to  tremble  lest  the 
 Greeks,  confounding  them  with  the  Phoenicians — whose 
 fleets  had  been  requisitioned  by  the  Persians  for  the 
 subjugation  of  the  rebellious  Ionians — should  wreak 
 their  vengeance  on  the  Holy  Land  as  well  as  the  sea- 
 board. At  this  time,  then — about  489  or  479  B.C. — it 
 seems  to  us  probable  that  Zechariah  was  commissioned 
 to  encourage  his  nation  with  promises  of  God's  con- 
 tinued protection,  and  with  hopes  for  the  time  to  come. 
 
 VI.  Contents  of  Zechariah  ix.  —  xiv.  — 
 ix.,  x.  Doom  of  adjacent  nations.     The  struggles,  but 
 
 eventual  triumph  and  security,  of  Israel.    The 
 
 coming  of  the  King  (chap.  ix.  9,  sqq.). 
 xi.  [xiii.  7 — 9  (?)].  The  storm  threatens  the  shepherds. 
 
 Rejection  of  the  Good  Shepherd.     Doom  of 
 
 the  foolish  shepherd. 
 xii.  1 — 9.  Struggles  of  Israel  with  the  nations, 
 xiii.  1 — 4.  Zeal  against  prophets  in  general, 
 xii.  10 — 14.  Mourning  over  Him  whom  they  pierced, 
 xiii.  5,  6.  General  disclaiming  of  prophetic  powers, 
 [xiii.  7—9  (?)]. 
 xiv.  "  The  last  things,"  as  seen  in  the  light  of  the  old 
 
 dispensation. 
 
 6G2 
 
ZECHARIAH. 
 
 CHAPTER  I.— W  In  the  eighth 
 month,  in  the  second  year  of  Darius, 
 came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto 
 Zechariah,  the  son  of  Berechiah,  the 
 son  of  [ddo  the  prophet,  saying, 
 
 <->  The  Lord  hath  !»•. 11  'sore  dis- 
 pleased with  yum-  fathers.  <3)  There- 
 fore say  thou  onto  them,  Thus  saith  the 
 IiOBS  of  hosts  ;  Turn  ye  unto  me,  saith 
 the  Loud  of  hosts,  and  I  will  turn  unto 
 you,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  (4)  Be  ye 
 not  as  your  fathers,  unto  whom  the 
 former  prophets  have  cried,  saying,  Thus 
 
 B.C. 
 
 I    Hub.,  with   <K» 
 yletuiurf.. 
 
 It  Ina.  31.  «:   Jrr. 
 ■I.    15    t 
 
 EZ.    18.   SO;  IIl.il. 
 II    1. 
 
 2  or,  oiKrtuke. 
 c  Lain.  I.  18. 
 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  'Turn  ye  now 
 from  your  evil  ways,  and  from  your  evil 
 doings:  but  they  did  not  hear,  nor 
 hearken  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
 I5' Your  fathers,  where  cure  theyp  and 
 the  prophets,  do  they  live  for  everP 
 (0>  But  my  words  and  my  statutes,  which 
 I  commanded  my  servants  the  prophets, 
 did  they  not  2takehold  of  your  fathers? 
 and  they  returned  and  said,  'Like  as  the 
 Lord  of  hosts  thought  to  do  unto  us, 
 according  to  our  ways,  and  according 
 to  our  doings,  so  hath  he  dealt  with  us. 
 
 0— «)  Ou  the  four-and-twontieth  day  of  the  sixth 
 month  <>f  the  second  year  (H.c.  5-0)  of  Darius  Hys- 
 taspis,  the  re-building  of  the  Temple  had  been  resumed 
 i  Haggai  i.  L5)j  and  in  the  seventh  month,  on  tlie  tweat]  - 
 first  of  thai  month,  the  prophet  Haggiu  had  foretold 
 "the  latter  glory  of  this  house  shall  he  greater  than 
 
 its  former"  [Haggai   ii.  9);   anil  now,  but  a  few  weeks 
 
 later,  Zechariah  receives  his  mission.  He  is  coni- 
 manded  to  exhort  the  people  to  avoid  such  punishments 
 as  fell  on  their  fathers,  and  to  make  themselves  worthy 
 of  the  glory  which  should  be  revealed,  by  turning  unto 
 the  Lord  with  sincere  repentance. 
 
 (1)  The  prophet  is  (in  spite  of  the  accents),  no 
 doubt,  to  be  referred  to  Zechariah.  (See  further  in  my 
 llchrcw  Siiideni  Commentary.)    LXX.,  »f>bi  Zax<v>/ai> 
 
 rby  tov  Bapa\('ou  vibv  *A55ui  ritv  itpo<pi\Ti)v,    in  whieh    vfbp 
 
 appears  to  be  a  corruption  of  v'av,  caused  by  the  common 
 Greek  collocation  rt»  tou  .  .  .  vlbv. 
 
 W  Your  fathers.— This  verse  contains  the  word 
 of  the  Lard  addressed  directly  to  and  through  the 
 prophet,  who  is  included  among  these  addressed  in  the 
 pronoun  "  yow  fathers."  It  gives  the  ground  on  which 
 the  exhortation  to  repentance  is  founded. 
 
 (■!)  Unto  thorn--- i.e.  to  the  prophet's  contempo- 
 raries, whose  tat  hers  are  spoken  of  in  the  preceding  verse. 
 
 Turn  ye  .  .  .  and  I  will  turn.— These  words 
 
 need  not  imply  any  special  backsliding  on  the  part  of 
 the  people  since  the  commencement  01  the  re-buihling 
 of  the  Temple,  when  the  Lord  had  declared  that  He 
 was  "  with  them*'  (Haggai  i.  13,  ii.t)  ;  but.  rather,  that 
 the  more  sincerely  they  turned  unto  Him,  the  more 
 gloriously  would  His  merciful  intentions  be  revealed 
 to  them,  and  fulfilled  in  them.  Still,  it  nay  b 
 from  Haggai  ii.  14- — 17,  how  great  need  they  had  of 
 repentance.  "  Zechariah  comes  forth  like  John  the, 
 Baptist,  and  begins  his  preaehing  with  a  call  to  re- 
 pentance,  and  warns  the  people  by  the  history  of  their 
 fathers  that  no  spiritual  privileges  will  profit  them 
 without  holiness,  but  rather  will  aggravate  their  guilt, 
 and  increase  their  condemnation  if  they  disobey  God  " 
 
 (Wordsworth).  Observe  iu  this  and  the  next  verso 
 the  emphatic  threefold  "saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
 
 (*)  The  former  prophets— viz.,  those  who  pro- 
 phesied when  .Jerusalem  was  inhabited  and  in  pros- 
 perity (chap.  vii.  7),  before  the  captivity.  LXX.,  ol 
 ■npo(prjTai  ifLirfoaitv,  [to  whom]  the  prophets  before  [en- 
 joined], which  is  inaccurate.  Oi  tpotpriTcu  ol  ((nrpotrStv, 
 "the  prophets  of  former  times,"  would  have  been 
 correct. 
 
 (5)  Fathers  .  .  .  prophets.— To  show  the  evil 
 result  of  the  obstinate  disobedience  of  their  fathers, 
 the  prophet  asks,  "Your  fathers,  where  are  they  P  " — 
 i.e.,  they  are  perished  through  their  iniquity.  To  this 
 the  people  answer,  "But  the  prophets,  do  they  live 
 [or  did  they  go  ou  living]  for  ever?" — i.e.,  the  pro- 
 phets, who  did  not  sin,  they  are  dead  too;  so  what  is 
 your  argument  worth  't 
 
 t<>)  My  words. — True,  says  the  prophet,  both  your 
 fathers  and  the  former  prophets  are  dead ;  "  but  "  for  all 
 that,  the  words  of  the  prophets  were  actually  fulfilled 
 in  your  fathers,  as  they  themselves  confessed.  This  is 
 the  interpretation  of  these  verses  given  by  Rfiv  (second 
 to  third  century  a.d.)  in  Talmud  Babli,  Synhedrin, 
 105a.  Another  view  of  the  passage  is  that  it  is  equiva- 
 lent to  "The  light  of  prophecy  is  dying  out;  while 
 ye  have  the  light,  walk  as  children  of  the  1  i lt  1  i t . " "     But 
 
 such  an  interpretation  destroys  the  prophet's  argument 
 
 My  statutes. — Better,  mu  decrees,  as  in  Zeph. 
 ii.  '_'.  LXX.  introduce  "receive  ye."  after  "my  de- 
 crees." After  ■•  I  command,"  they  introduce  "by  my 
 spirit."  probably  from  chap.  vii.  12. 
 
 Tako  hold  of. — Better,  as  marg.,  overtake.  LXX., 
 ot    nartKaBooav  may  be  a  corruption  of  ol/  KaTtXa&utrav. 
 
 (Comp.  Lam.  i.  12.) 
 
 Returned. — Better,  turned:  i.e..  repented.  Tho 
 same  word  is  used  in  verse  Ii.  LXX.,  wrongly,  koI 
 a-7rcKpt&Ti(Tai',  "  answered." 
 
 Like  as  the  Lord  of  hosts  thought  to  do 
 .  .  . — So  Jeremiah  confessed  in  Lam.  ii.  17.  Zechariah 
 had  no  doubt  those  words  of  Jeremiah  in  his  mind  at 
 the  time. 
 
 563 
 
The  Lord's  Message 
 
 ZECHARIAH,   I. 
 
 to  Zeclbariak. 
 
 <7)  Upon  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of 
 the  eleventh  month,  which  is  the  month 
 Sebat,  in  the  second  year  of  Darius, 
 came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto 
 Zechariah,  the  son  of  Berechiah,  the 
 son  of  Iddo  the  prophet,  saying, 
 
 l  Or,  bay. 
 
 W I  saw  by  night,  and  behold  a  man 
 riding  upon  a  red  horse,  and  he  stood 
 among  the  myrtle  trees  that  were  in  the 
 bottom ;  and  behind  him  were  there  red 
 horses,  Speckled,  and  white.  (9)  Then 
 said  I,  0  my  lord,  what  are  these  ?  Aud 
 
 A  Series  op  Seven  Visions. 
 
 Chaps,  i.  7 — vi.  15.  Between  the  commencement  of 
 Zechariah's  prophetic  labours  and  the  incidents  recorded 
 in  Zech.  i.  7 — vi.  15,  the  Prophet  Haggai  received  the 
 revelation  contained  in  Haggai  ii.  10—23.  On  the 
 four-and-twentieth  day  of  the  eleventh  month,  just 
 five  months  after  the  re-building  of  the  Temple  was 
 resumed,  Zechariah  sees  a  succession  of  seven  visions  iu 
 one  night,  followed  by  a  symbolic  action  (chap.  vi.  9 — 15). 
 
 (?)  Sebat. — The  eleventh  month.  The  names  of  the 
 months,  which  occur  in  Zechariah,  Esther,  and  Nehe- 
 miah,  are  of  Assyrio-Babylonian  origin;  they  are  in 
 use  among  the  Jews  to  this  day. 
 
 Came  the  word  of  the  Lord  .  .  .  saying.— 
 This  expression  is  fitly  used  here  of  the  nocturnal 
 visions,  because  the  substance  of  them  was  a  Divine 
 revelation,  and  because  the  means  by  which  the  signifi- 
 cation of  them  was  conveyed  to  the  prophet  was  that 
 of  the  angel's  speaking  to  him  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
 
 First  Vision. — The  Horseman   among  the 
 Myrtles. 
 
 <8)  I  saw. — Not  in  a  dream,  but  apparently,  from 
 chap.  iv.  1,  awake,  in  an  ecstatic  vision. 
 
 By  night. — Better,  on  this  night.  LXX.,  tV  viici-a. 
 It  was  during  the  night  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  Sebat 
 that  the  prophet  saw  this  series  of  visions.  The  expression 
 does  not  mean  that  in  his  vision  it  appeared  to  be  night. 
 
 Bed  horse,  and  .  .  .  the  bottom.— Better,  bay 
 horse,  and  he  was  standing  among  the  myrtles  that 
 were  in  a  certain  hollow.  The  construction  of  the 
 Hebrew  shows  beyond  controversy  that  "the  man  that 
 stood  among  the  myrtles"  and  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord" 
 (verse  11)  are  identical.  On  the  appellation,  "the  angel 
 of  the  Lord,"  see  Note  on  Gen.  xvi.  7.  Angels,  when 
 they  assume  the  human  form,  are  often  called  "  men  " 
 — e.g.,  in  Gen.  xviii.  2.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that 
 "  horses  "  means  horses  with  riders.  Commentators  en- 
 deavour to  attach  special  significance  to  the  expression, 
 "  the  myrtles  which  were  in  the  hollow."  Some  see  in 
 "  the  myrtles  "  a  symbol  of  the  pious  ;  others  of  the  theo- 
 cracy, or  of  the  land  of  Judah,  and  take  "  the  hollow  " 
 as  a  figurative  representation  of  Babylon,  or  of  the 
 deep  degradation  into  which  the  land  and  people  of 
 God  had  fallen  at  that  time.  Similarly  with  respect  to 
 the  colour  of  the  horses :  some  suppose  that  the  colours 
 either  denote  the  lands  and  nations  to  which  the  riders 
 had  been  sent,  or  the  three  imperial  kingdoms,  Baby- 
 lonian, Medo-Persian,  and  Grseco-Macedonian  (Kliefoth), 
 or  as  connected  with  the  various  missions  which  the  rider 
 had  to  perform.  The  following  are  specimens  of  such 
 interpretation— (1)  that  of  Keil :  The  riders  on  red  horses 
 are  to  cause  war  and  bloodshed;  those  on  pale-grey 
 (s'ruqqtm)  to  cause  hunger,  famine,  and  pestilence; 
 those  on  white  go  to  conquest.  But  this  explanation 
 takes  no  account  of  the  single  horseman  on  the  red 
 (bay)  horse.  Moreover  victory  implies  bloodshed,  as 
 much  as  does  war,  so  that  there  is  no  practical  distinc- 
 tion made  between  the  red  and  the  white  horses.  (2) 
 Ewald  deprives  "  the  man  standing  among  the  myrtles" 
 of  his  horse,  then  he  renders  the  colours  of  the  horses 
 
 561 
 
 bright-red,  brown,  grey,  and  supplies  dark-red,  from 
 his  interpretation  of  chap.  vi.  3.  Having  thus  ar- 
 ranged the  colours  to  his  fancy,  he  compares  this  vision 
 with  that  of  the  chariots  in  chap,  vi.,  and  sees  in  the 
 colours  the  mission  of  the  riders  to  the  four  quarters  of 
 heaven.  The  red  denotes  the  east;  the  brown  (the  black 
 of  chap,  vi.)  the  north  ;  the  grey,  the  west;  the  dark- 
 red,  the  south.  (3)  Vitringa  interprets  the  three 
 colours  as  follows  :  red,  times  of  war ;  varicoloured, 
 times  of  varying  distress  and  prosperity ;  white,  times 
 of  complete  prosperity,  which  were  sent  on  the  Jewish 
 people.  (4)  That  of  Kliefoth,  mentioned  above.  (5) 
 Rabbi  Mosheh  Alshekh,  the  cabbalist,  interprets  red 
 of  the  company  of  Gabriel  which  inclines  to  Strict 
 Justice ;  s'ruqqim  of  that  of  Raphael  (who  is  the  angel 
 of  healing  after  smiting,  that  is  Justice  tempered  with 
 Mercy) ;  white  of  that  of  Michael  who  inclines  to 
 Free  Grace.  But  all  these  suppositions  are  purely 
 conjectural,  utterly  unsuitable,  and  perfectly  unneces- 
 sary. In  a  vision  or  a  parable  we  must  not  expect  to 
 find  something  in  the  interpretation  to  correspond  with 
 each  detail  of  the  figurative  representation :  the  setting 
 must  not  be  confounded  with  the  gem.  So,  in  this 
 case,  we  are  of  opinion  that  the  fact  that  the  horsemen 
 were  standing  among  the  myrtles  in  a  certain  hollow  is 
 mentioned  merely  as  a  natural  incident;  for  where 
 would  a  body  of  scouts  so  naturally  come  to  a  halt, 
 especially  in  the  East,  where  shade  and  herbage  are 
 scarce,  and  where  travellers  always  strive  to  escape  as 
 much  as  possible  the  observation  of  hostile  tribes,  as 
 under  the  cool  and  protecting  shadow  of  a  grove  of 
 myrtles  growing  in  a  hollow  place  ?  LXX.,  for  "  among 
 the  myrtles  which  were  in  a  certain  hollow,"  avaixiaoi' 
 Twv  bptoiv  twv  KaTauKitov,  misreading  seemingly  the  word 
 for  "myrtles,"  and  taking  the  woi'd  for  "hollow"  as 
 from  a  similar  root  meaning  "  to  be  shady." 
 Red. — Better,  bay.  (Conip.  chap.  vi.  2.) 
 Speckled,  or,  starling  grey,  is,  perhaps,  the  mean- 
 ing of  the  Hebrew  word  seruqqvm,  which  occurs  only 
 once  again — viz.,  in  Isa.  xvi.  8,  and  there  in  the  sense  of 
 vine-tendrils ;  nothing  certain  is  known  of  it  as  an 
 adjective  of  colour.  The  meanings  given  by  the 
 Authorised  Version  and  ourself  are  merely  conjectural, 
 and  derived  (unsatisfactorily )'from  a  comparison  of  this 
 passage  with  verse  3  and  Rev.  vi.  3.  We  are  almost 
 inclined  to  suggest  that  the  word  is  a  corruption  of 
 shechorim,  "black"  (see  chap.  vi.).  The  colours  seem 
 to  be  mentioned  as  those  most  commonly  found  among 
 horses,  in  order  to  give  a  more  realistic  form  to  the 
 vision,  or  perhaps,  rather,  because  the  prophet  actually 
 so  saw  them.  The  writer  of  Revelation  has  (Rev.  vi.) 
 adopted  the  colours  mentioned  in  Zech.  vi.,  and  himself 
 given  to  them  a  special  significance  in  his  own  writings. 
 But  to  interpret  Zechariah  in  this  case  by  the  light 
 of  the  Book  of  Revelation,  as  some  commentators  have 
 done,  would  be  most  uncritical.  The  colours  in  LXX.  of 
 this  chapter  are  -n-vppoi,  tyapol  na\  ttoikIkoi,  \euKol.  In 
 chap.  vi.  they  are  Trvppol,  /j.4\aves,  \evicot,  TrouciKot  tyapoi. 
 In  Rev.  vi.  the  colours  are  \cvk6s,  -nvppos,  fj.4\as,  x^wP°s- 
 (9)  O  my  lord. — This  is  'addressed  to  "  the  angel 
 that  talked  with  me,"  or,  perhaps,  in  me,  according  as 
 
Tin;  A  inji  I  inl-rr,  ,!■  I 
 
 XKCIIAIMAII,    I. 
 
 for  tfie  Cities  of  Judah. 
 
 the  iMij^d  thai  talked  witli  mt>  s;i ti  1  onto 
 me,  I  will  shew  thee  what  these  h,-. 
 ""  \nd  the  i  ii  :t  1 1  that  stood  among  the 
 myrtle  trees  answered  and  said,  Theee 
 ore  they  Whom  the  Loud  hath  sent  to 
 walk  to  anil  fro  through  the  earth. 
 '"'  Ami  they  answered  t  he  n.n^el  ol"  tlie 
 Lobd  that  stood  among  the  myrtle  trees, 
 and  said,  We  have  walked  In  and  I'ro 
 through  the  earl  h,  and,  behold,  all  the 
 earth  Bitteth  still,  and  is  at  rest. 
 
 (1-)  Then  the  angel  of  the  Lokd 
 answered  and  said,  0  Lokd  of  hosts, 
 how  long  wilt  thou  not  have  mercy  on 
 Jerusalem  and  on  the  cities  of  Judah, 
 against  which  thou  hast  had  indigna- 
 tion these  threescore  and  ten  years? 
 ";   And    the   Lokd    answered   the   angel 
 
 l  Uch..  good. 
 
 that   talked   with  me  with  good  words 
 iiml  comfortable  words. 
 
 ""So  the  angel  that  communed  with 
 me  said  unto  me,  Cry  thou,  taj  ing,  Thus 
 saith  the  Lokd  of  hosts;  1  am  "jealous 
 for  Jerusalem  and  for  Zion  with  a  great 
 jealousy.  ' '  And  I  am  very  sore  dis- 
 pleased with  the  heathen  that  are  at 
 ease :  for  1  was  but  a  little  displeased, 
 and  they  helped  forward  the  affliction. 
 (is)  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lokd  ;  I  am 
 returned  to  Jerusalem  with  mercies: 
 my  house  shall  be  built  in  it,  saith  the 
 Lord  of  hosts,  and  a  line  shall  be 
 stretched  forth  upon  Jerusalem.  <17>  Cry 
 yet,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
 hosts ;  My  cities  through  '  prosperity 
 shall  yet   be   spread  abroad ;    and   the 
 
 \vc  regard  li i tn  as  discharging  tlio  offico  of  tho  Virgil 
 (if  Dante,  or  the  Daimou  of  Socrates  (Imt,  see  Lavves' 
 History  of  Philosophy).  LXX.,  o  \a\tiv  iv  ipol.  This 
 is  the  angol-intorpreter.  whoso  office  it  was  to  interpret 
 the  visions  (chaps,  i.  IS,  ii.  3,  iv.  1,  4,  ">.  v.  5 — 10,  vi. 
 4),  ami  who  is  ol'lcn  referred  to  simply  as  "  he." 
 
 I  will  show  thee.— viz.,  by  ihe  word  of  "the 
 man  who  stood  i nig  tho  myrtles." 
 
 0")  Answerod.  The  question  which  Zeehariah  had 
 put  to  the  angel-interpreter. 
 
 The  earth    i.e.,  the  world,  "all  the  earth  "  (verse 
 
 111,   not   merely  "  the   laud  of   Israel."  as  is  often   tho 
 
 meaning  of  the  word  \e.ij.,  chap.  xiii.  8). 
 
 (li)  And.  they  answered  need  not  necessarily 
 imply  that  any  question  had  been  askod.  Like  tho  New 
 Testament  o.ir(Kpi9rio-av,  it  often  implies  merely  "  began 
 to  speak." 
 
 Tho  angel  of  the  Lord. — That  is,  the  man  riding 
 iijion  ii  hill/  hone,  (See  Note  ou  verse  8.)  Just  two 
 months  before  this,  Ifaggai  had  prophesied  (chap.  ii. 
 20 — 23)  that  God  would  shake  the  heavens  and  tho 
 earth,  and  overthrow  Ihe  throne  of  kingdoms,  Ac.  Tho 
 horsemen  had  been  sent  forth  to  act,  as  it  were,  as 
 scouts,  ami  to  bring  hack  an  account  of  tho  state  of 
 the  world,  that  at  the  intercession  of  the  angel  of  the 
 Lord  comforting  words  might  bo  announced  to  Zeeha- 
 riah, and  by  him  to  the  people.  They  reported  the  world 
 to  lie  still,  and  at  rest:  i.e.,  dwelling  in  self -confident 
 security.  The  overthrow  of  the  kingdoms  foretold  by 
 BJBggai  had  not  yet  liegun,  and  so,  although  the  build- 
 ing of  the  Temple  was.  by  the  decree  of  Darius  (Ezra 
 v.  and  \i  ,  being  carried  on..Iuilah  was  still  iusecuro  as 
 long  as  the  heathen  nations  flourished. 
 
 tS)  Consequently,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  intercedes 
 for  Jerusalem  and  the  cities  of  Judah. 
 
 These  threescore  and  ten  years.— This  is  an 
 
 old  English  expression.  The  Hebrew  has  one  word — 
 seventy — which  is  often  used  as  a  round  number. 
 Prom    the    taking    of    Jerusalem    by    Nebuchadnezzar 
 
 (B.C.  606 — G)    to  the  date  of  the   deci of  Cyrus    for 
 
 the  return  of  the  Jews  (B.C.  538)  is  sixty-eight    years. 
 
 These  are  the  seventj  years  of  captivity  foretold  by 
 
 Jeremiah  (chaps,  xxv.  Il.xxix.  10k  But  eighteen  years 
 had  now  elapsed  since  that  decree  of  Cyrus.  Conse- 
 quently the  angelic  intercessor,  in  saying  "how  long 
 .  .  .  these  seventy  years."  can  hardly  have  referred  to 
 
 666 
 
 the  seventy  years  spoken  of  by  Jeremiah,  since  the 
 actual  number  of  years  was  now  eighty-eight.  There- 
 fore  it.  is  most  probable  that  the  reference  is  to  the 
 period  of  sixty-eight  years  between  the  second  taking 
 of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  when  Zedckiah  was 
 removed  in  chains  to  Babylon  (B.C.  588),  and  the  year 
 of  this  prophecy  ih.c.  ">l!<i  . 
 
 (18)  Angel.— The  Lord  docs  not  reply  directly  to  the 
 intercessor,  but  addresses  the  angel-interpreter,  who  at 
 once,  in  the  words  of  verses  14—17,  delivers  the  mes- 
 sage of  comfort  to  the  prophet. 
 
 (H)  That  communed  with  me.— The  Hebrew 
 words  are  the  same  as  those  rendered  elsewhere,  "that 
 spake  with  inc." 
 
 I  am  jealous.— Tho  verb  is  in  the  perfect,  like  "1 
 am  returned"  (verse  16),  and  denotes  that  the  Lord  had 
 nl r,  in hj  shown  His  jealous  love  for  Israel  in  bringing 
 them  out  of  captivity,  and  that  He  would  continue  to 
 do  so  in  completing  the  restoration  of  .Jerusalem.  "  The 
 hour  of  darkest  desolation  to  tho  Church,  and  of 
 haughtiest  triumph  to  her  enemies,  is  often  the  very 
 hour  when  God  begins  His  work  of  judgment  on  the 
 one.  and  returning  mercy  on  the  other  "  (Moore). 
 
 (15)  But  a  little.— (Comp.  2  Kings,  xx  18.)  Or, 
 for  a  tittle  while.     (Comp.  Job  xxiv.  24.) 
 
 Helped  forward  the  affliction.— Better,  lulped 
 
 for  ivil — i.e..  they  not  only  acted  as  God's  instruments 
 to  chastise  Israel,  but  even  wished  to  annihilate  them. 
 (Comp.  Isa.  xlvii.  ti:  "I  was  wroth  with  my  people 
 .  .  .  thou  [Babylon]  didst  shew  them  no  mercy") 
 LXX.,  for  "that  are  at  ease,"  to  <ruK€»iTi8«V<i>a,  "  which 
 combine  to  set  upon  [Israel]."  and  for  "  helped," 
 avy(wt0<mo  "  combined  to  set  upon." 
 
 (16)  A  line.— To  measure,  and  mark  out  its  confines. 
 (Comp.  chap.  ii.  1.  2.) 
 
 (17)  Be  spread  abroad — i.e.,  be  filled  to  over- 
 flowing ;  LXX.  inserts  "  And  the  angel  that  spake  in 
 me  said  to  me."  (Comp.  chap.  ii.  4.)  Tho  same  verb 
 and  conjugation  is  used  in  chap.  xiii.  7  of  "being 
 scattered."  in  a  bad  sense,  and  such  is  the  ordinary  use 
 of  the  verb.  But  in  another  conjugation  this  verb  is  used 
 in  Gen.  x.  Is  of  "  being  spread,"  not  in  a  bad  sense. 
 
 "Then  let  the  world  forbear  their  rage. 
 The  Church  renounce  tier  fear  : 
 brae]  must  live  through  every  age, 
 And  be  the  Almighty's  care." 
 
The  Four  Horns  and 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,  II. 
 
 the  Four  Smiths: 
 
 Lord  shall  yet  comfort  Zion,  and  shall 
 yet  choose  Jerusalem. 
 
 (is)  Then  lifted  I  up  mine  eyes,  and 
 saw,  and  behold  four  horns.  (19)  And  I 
 said  unto  the  angel  that  talked  with 
 me,  What  be  these  ?  And  he  answered 
 me,  These  are  the  horns  which  have 
 scattered  Judah,  Israel,  and  Jerusalem. 
 
 (20)  Ariel  the  Lord  shewed  me  four 
 carpenters.  (21)  Then  said  I,  What  come 
 these  to  do?  And  he  spake,  saying, 
 These  are  the  horns  which  have  scattered 
 Judah,  so  that  no  man  did  lift  up  his 
 head  :  but  these  are  come  to  fray  them, 
 to  cast  out  the  horns  of  the  Gentiles, 
 
 which  lifted  up  their  horn  over  the  land 
 of  Judah  to  scatter  it. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.— d)  I  lifted  up  mine 
 eyes  again,  and  looked,  and  behold  a 
 man  with  a  measuring  line  in  his  hand. 
 <2>  Then  said  I,  Whither  goest  thou  ? 
 And  he  said  unto  me,  To  measure  Jeru- 
 salem, to  see  what  is  the  breadth  there- 
 of, and  what  is  the  length  thereof. 
 
 (3)  And,  behold,  the  angel  that  talked 
 with  me  went  forth,  and  another  angel 
 went  out  to  meet  him,  (4)  and  said  unto 
 him,  Run,  speak  to  this  young  man, 
 saying,  Jerusalem  shall  be  inhabited  as 
 
 Second    Vision. — The    Four    Horns  and    the 
 Four  Smiths  (Verses  18 — 21). 
 
 (is)  Horns.— The  horn  is  a  symbol  of  power  and 
 hostility.  The  "four  horns  "  denote  the  heathen  nations 
 which  had  oppressed  them. 
 
 (19)  Scattered. — This  word  need  not  necessarily 
 refer  to  dispersing  into  captivity,  but  may  simply  mean 
 " endeavoirred  to  destroy  the  national  unity,"  or  "dis- 
 integrated." Compare  the  Roman  motto,  "  Divide  et 
 impera," 
 
 Judah,  Israel,  and  Jerusalem.— The  expression 
 "  Israel  and  Jerusalem  "  is  a  closer  definition  of  Judah, 
 as  in  Mai.  ii.  11.  (For  undoubted  instances  of  the 
 name  Israel  being  used  in  reference  to  Judah  after  the 
 separation  of  the  kingdoms,  see  2  Chron.  xii.  1.,  xv.  17, 
 seqq.) 
 
 (20)  Carpenters. — Better,  workmen,  for  the  Hebrew 
 word  does  not  mean  "  carpenters,"  unless  followed  by 
 the  word  meaning  "  wood." 
 
 (21)  Many  commentators  suppose  that  this  vision 
 refers  to  the  future  as  well  as  the  past,  and  that  in  it 
 the  objects  are  combined  together  so  as  to  form  one 
 complete  picture,  without  any  regard  to  the  time  of 
 their  appearing  in  historical  reality.  And  so  they  take 
 the  "  four  horns  "  to  symbolise  the  four  empires — the 
 Assyrian,  the  Babylonian,  the  Medo-Persian,  and  the 
 Graeco-Macedonian.  But  such  is  not  the  case,  as  is 
 clearly  shown  by  this  verse.  It  is  true  that  the  word 
 "  scattered  "  might,  if  standing  alone,  be  taken  as  dis- 
 charging the  duties  of  historic  and,  at  the  same  time,  of 
 prophetic  perfect.  But  since  in  the  dependent  clause 
 we  have, "  so  that  no  man  did  lift  up  his  head  " — in  the 
 perf ect— the  word  "  have  scattered  "  can  refer  only  to 
 the  actual  past.  We  must,  therefore,  reject  all  refer- 
 ence to  the  four  monarchies  which  we  have  enumerated, 
 because  the  Greeco-Maeedonian  had  not  yet  come  into 
 existence.  If,  then,  the  "four  horns"  do  symbolise 
 four  monarcliies,  they  can  only  be  the  Assyrian,  Egyp- 
 tian, Babylonian,  and  Medo-Persian.  Some  commen- 
 tators have  gone  so  far  as  to  identify  the  four  work- 
 men with  Nebuchadnezzar,  Cyrus,  Cambyses,  and 
 Alexander  the  Great.  (Comp.  and  contrast  Hag.  ii. 
 22.)  But  it  seems  more  probable  that  here  (as  in  verse 
 8)  we  must  not  draw  too  close  a  comparison  between 
 the  symbol  and  the  thing  symbolised,  and  should  under- 
 stand the  "  four  workmen  "  as  merely  figuring  the  de- 
 struction of  these  nations  for  the  good  of  the  Jewish 
 nation,  without  the  manner  of  its  accomplishment  being 
 accurately  defined.     We  may  remark,  in  passing,  that 
 
 566 
 
 some  commentators  do  not  take  the  vision  as  referring 
 to  four  distinct  nations,  but  suppose  the  number  four 
 to  be  used  in  reference  to  all  the  powers  hostile  to 
 Judah,  from  whatever  quarter  they  may  have  come. 
 The  vision,  a  natural  consequent  of  the  preceding,  is 
 one  of  comfort,  its  object  being  to  assure  the  people 
 that  as  the  former  nations  which  had  been  hostile  to 
 Israel  and  Judah  had  been  destroyed,  so  the  present 
 Medo-Persian  monarchy,  which  also  had  at.  times  op- 
 pressed them,  should  have  the  horn  of  its  hostility 
 utterly  cast  out,  and  should  protect  them  and  encour- 
 age the  re-building  of  Jerusalem. 
 
 II. 
 Third  Vision.— The  Man  with  the  Measuring 
 Line. 
 (1—5)  This  vision  is  a  prophetic  realisation  of  the  ful- 
 filment of  the  promise  (chap.  i.  16) :  "  A  line  shall  be 
 stretched  forth  upon  Jerusalem." 
 
 (i)  A  man  does  not  seem  to  mean  "  an  angel,"  as 
 in  chap.  i.  8,  for  he  has  no  message  to  deliver  or  mis- 
 sion to  perform  ;  but  he  is  to  be  considered  rather  as  a 
 mere  figure  in  the  vision,  performing  an  action  for 
 which,  indeed,  he  is  implicitly  rebuked. 
 
 (2)  What  is  .  .  . — Since  there  is  no  verb  "  is  "  or 
 "  will  be "  expressed  in  the  original,  it  has  been  dis- 
 puted whether  the  reference  is  to  the  actual  or  to  the 
 future  condition  of  Jerusalem.  But,  we  have  little 
 hesitation  in  saying  that  the  whole  vision  is  prophetic 
 of  the  state  of  Jerusalem  from  its  restoration  to  the 
 time  when  God's  protection  should  be  eventually  re- 
 moved from  it.  To  this  latter  event,  however,  no  refer- 
 ence is  as  yet.  made. 
 
 (3)  Went  forth. — Literally,  goes  forth,  from  the 
 prophet's  side,  in  the  direction  of  the  man  who  went  to 
 measure.     LXX.,  eio-r^im. 
 
 Went  out. — Literally,  comes  forth  :  viz.,  from  the 
 invisible — i.e.,  appears,  reveals  himself.  The  same  word 
 in  Hebrew  means  to  come  and  to  go  forth,  according  to 
 circumstances.    (Comp.  chap.  v.  5,  6.) 
 
 (i)  And  said  unto  him.— Some  commentators 
 suppose  that  it  is  the  angel-interpreter  who  here  speaks ; 
 but  if  this  were  the  case,  an  "  other  angel  "  would  be  a 
 superfluous  figure  in  the  vision,  for  the  angel-inter- 
 preter might  have  addressed  "this  young  man  "  directly. 
 Accordingly,  we  agree  with  the  Authorised  Version  in 
 taking  this  "  other  angel  "  as  Ihe  speaker. 
 
 This  young  man  is  by  some  supposed  to  be 
 Zechariah  :  but  it  gives  a  much  more  definite  turn 
 to  the  meaning  of  the  vision  to  understand  the  ex- 
 
The  Redemption 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,  II. 
 
 of  Zion. 
 
 towns 'without  walls  fur  tlic  multitude 
 of  men  ami  cat  lie  therein  :  (5'for  I,  saith 
 tin-  Loud,  will  be  unto  ber  a  wall  of  fire 
 round  about,  and  will  be  tbe  glory  in 
 the  midst  of  her. 
 
 ""  I lu,   ln>,  came  forth,  and  flee  from 
 
 the  land  of  the  north,  saith  the    Icm:i>  : 
 
 for  I  have  spread  yon  alirnad  ;us  the  four 
 
 winds    of  the    heaven,   saith    the    LoKD. 
 
 liver  thyself,  0  Zion,  that  dwellest 
 
 .1  Ivue.r.  10;  I'll 
 
 t>  In.  15.8  4  M.  I. 
 
 with  the  daughter  of  Babylon.  (h)  For 
 thus  saith  the  Loin  of  hosts;  After  the 
 fjlory  hath  he  sent  me  unto  the  nations 
 which  spoiled  you:  forhethat'toucheth 
 
 you  toucheth  the  apple  of  his  eye. 
 I"' For,  behold,  I  will  shake  mine  hand 
 upon  them,  and  they  shall  be  a  spoil  to 
 their  servants  :  and  ye  shall  know  that 
 the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me. 
 
 (io)  »Sing  and  rejoice,  O  daughter  of 
 
 Sression  as  referring  to  "  the  man  with  tho  measuring 
 Be." 
 
 Towns  without  walls— i.e.,  unfortified  towns. 
 A  similar  expression  in  the  Hebrew  is  contrasted  with 
 "fortified  rites"  in  I  Sam.  vi.  \x.  Tho  "other 
 angel,"  fort  lie  instruction  of  Zeohariah,  directs  the  angel- 
 interpreter  to  inform  tin-  man  who  was  measuring  that 
 tlirie  could  In'  mi  object  in  taking  an  exact  measure  of 
 Jerusalem,  since  "  fox  the  multitude  of  men  and  cattlo  " 
 
 it  would  BOOn  exceed    its  original    limits.      It    would  he 
 
 an  unnecessary  forcing  of  the  words  to  suppose  with 
 some  i unentaton  that  the  measurer  is  calleda"  young 
 
 man"  on  account  of  his  simplicity  and  ignorance.  That 
 
 this  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  the  grandeur  and  extent 
 of  Jerusalem  out]  be  seen  by  a  reference  to  the  descrip- 
 tions of  it.  after  its  restoration,  by  Aristeas  (Ed. 
 Schmidt),  lloeataus.  ,\c.  Joseplms  \lltll,  Jud.  v.  •!•, 
 '.'2i  Bays  that  in  the  time  of  Herod  Agrippa  Jerusalem 
 had,  "by  reason  of  the  multitude"  of  its  inhabitants, 
 
 gradually  "  extended  beyond  its  original  limits,"  so 
 that  another  hill  had  to  he  taken  in,  which  was  fortified, 
 
 ami  called  "  Bezefhsk." 
 
 (•'>)  A  wall  of  fire.— This  verso  is  not  intended  to 
 discountenance  the  building  of  walls  to  Jerusalem,  a 
 
 thing  which  was  actually  done  under  Nehemiah  (n.c. 
 ■t  |:">).  but  is  simply  a  solemn  promise  of  God's  protection. 
 Many  indeed  were  the  troubles  which   fell  on  the  city 
 
 in  the  times  which  intervened  between  the  days  of 
 
 Zechariah  and  those  of  our  Lord;  but  still,  abundant 
 proof  was  given  that  God  had  not  forgotten  His  pro- 
 mise to  shield  it.  Such  troubles,  as  at  other  periods  of 
 the  history  of  the  .lews,  were  but  chastisements,  and 
 even  thus,-  not  in  proportion  to  their  transgressions. 
 (For  the  figurative  use  of  the  expression  "  wall,"  see  1 
 Sam.  x\v.  I" 
 
 (o-i3»  This  address  to  Zion  may  be  taken  as  the 
 words  of  the  prophet  himself,  or  of  the  angel  who  had 
 been  speaking  before.  Ill  any  case,  it  was  intended  to 
 imunicated  to  the  people  by  the  prophet,  whoso 
 mind  had  been  prepared  by  tho  foregoing  vision  for  the 
 reception  of  such  a  revelation. 
 
 (8)  Tho  land  of  the  north— i.e.,  Babylonia,  as  in 
 Jcr.  i.  It.  vi.  J'-',  x.  22. 
 
 For  I  have  spread  you  abroad.— This  conju- 
 gation  of  this  verb  occurs   nine  times  in  all  in  the 
 
 Hebrew  Scriptures.  Seven  times  it  is  used  of  "  stretching 
 forth  the  hands;"  onco  (Ps.  lxviii.  1">)  it  means  "to 
 scatter."  If  we  assign  to  it  this  latter  meaning  here, 
 the  tense  must  be  taken  as  the  actual  past,  and  the  re- 
 ference must  Ik' to  the  dispersions  which  had  already 
 taken  place.  "The  Book  of  Esther  fL  1.  iii.  8. 
 1- — It,  viii.  "> — 9)  shows  that,  sixty  years  after  this,  the 
 .lews  were  dispersed  over  the  one  hundred  and  twenty, 
 seven  provinces  of  the  Persian  empire,  from  Iudia  (the 
 Punjaub)  to  Ethiopia,  whether  they  were  purposely 
 placed  by  tho  policy  of  the   conquerors   in   detached 
 
 groups,  as  the  ten  tribes  wero  in  the  cities  of  the 
 t£ede»  (2  Kings  xvii.  6),  or  whether,  when  more  trusted, 
 they  migrated  of  their  own  accord.  "God,  in  calling 
 them  to  return,  reminded  them  of  the  greatness  of 
 their  dispersion.  He  had  dispersed  them  abroad  as 
 tho  four  winds  of  heaven  ;  He,  the  same,  recalled  them  " 
 (Puscy).  Or,  if  we  take  the  verb  in  a  go.nl  sense,  the 
 tense  must  be  regarded  as  the  prophetic   perfect,  mean. 
 
 ing.  "  for  it  is  my  fixed  intention  to  spread  yon  abroad." 
 According  to  this  interpretation  they  are  encouraged  to 
 (Ice  from  Babylon  by  being  warned  of  the  judgments 
 which  were  to  come  upon  her  i  verses  X,  !•),  and  because 
 (bul  was  determined  so  to  bless  them,  that  they  .should 
 Spread  out  to  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 
 
 As  the  four  winds  of  tho  heaven.— The  ren- 
 dering of  some,  "for  I  will  scatter  you  to  the  four 
 winds."  as  referring  to  a  new  dispersion  of  Israel,  which 
 loomed  darkly  in  the  future,  rests  on  a  linguistic 
 error.  LXX.  deliberately  paraphrases,  i<c  run  Tfaoapuv 
 avinwv  tov  ovpavov  <rwd£v  6/xas,  "front  the  four  winds  of 
 heaven  I  will  gather  you." 
 
 I")  Daughter  of  Babylon  means  inhabitants  of 
 Babylon,  as  (verso  10)  "  daughter  of  Zion "  means 
 inhabitants  of  Zion.  (With  the  wholo  passage  com]). 
 Isa.  xlviii.  20 ;  Jcr.  li.  6,  9,  45.)  LXX.  for  "  O  Zion," 
 fit  2.iaw — comp.  a  somewhat  similar  mistake  in  E/.ck. 
 xxi.  15  (verse  10,  LXX.). 
 
 (8)  After  the  glory — i.e.,  in  search  of  glory — viz.,  to 
 display  God's  glory  upon  the  heathen  in  judgment  and 
 mercy,  by  first  breaking  their  power  (verse  9),  and 
 afterwards  attaching  them  to  His  service  (verse  11). 
 (Comp.  chap.  xiv. :  when  the  prophet  gives  the  substance 
 of  the  Lord's  words,  as  in  this  verse  and  verse  9,  the 
 first  person  singular  refers  to  the  prophet;  but  when. 
 as  in  verse  i'.  he  gives  the  actual  words  of  God,  "  I  " 
 means,  of  course,  the  Lord  Himself,  i 
 
 (9)  The  troubles  which  overtook  Babylon  shortly 
 after  this  time  are  sufficiently  borne  witness  to  by  the 
 inscription  executed  by  Darius  in  tho  fifth  year  of  his 
 reign  |  Sir  W.  RAwlinson)  on  the  great  rock  of  Behistun, 
 near  the  western  frontier  of  Media.  Thereon  are  re- 
 corded two  great  insurrections  in  Babylonia,  and  that 
 Babylon  itself  w:us  twice  taken,  once  by  Darius  in  per- 
 son, and  again  by  his  general,  Intaphres  (.Records  of 
 the  Past,\o\.  I.,  pp.  118—125).  On  the  latter  occasion, 
 "says  Darius  the  king.  I  made  a  decree  that  Arakha 
 and  his  principal  followers  should  bo  put  to  death  in 
 Babylon?' 
 
 (10—13)  Tho  prophecy  contained  in  these  verses  is 
 admitted  by  most  Jewish  as  well  as  Christian  com- 
 mentators to  be  of  a  Messianic  character  ;  but  opinion 
 is  not  so  unanimous  with  regard  to  tho  nature  of  its 
 fulfilment.  Now,  in  considering  such  passages  as  this, 
 we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  prophets  were  but  men 
 —  inspired  men,  it  is  true—  but  still,  men  with  the  un- 
 
 .V57 
 
The  Promise  of 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,    III. 
 
 God's  Presence. 
 
 Zion:  for,  lo,  I  come,  and  I  "will  dwell 
 in  the  midst  of  thee,  saith  the  Lord. 
 (u)  And  many  nations  shall  be  joined  to 
 the  Loed  in  that  day,  and  shall  be  my 
 people  :  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of 
 thee,  and  thou  shalt  know  that  the 
 Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  thee. 
 (^And  the  Lord  shall  inherit  Judah 
 
 a  Lev.  26.  12 ;  Ez. 
 
 37.  27  ;  2  Cor.  6. 
 
 1  Hcl)..  the  habita- 
 tion of  his  Itoli- 
 
 2  That  is,  an  ad- 
 versary. 
 
 his  portion  in  the  holy  land,  and  shall 
 choose  Jerusalem  again.  (13>  Be  silent, 
 0  all  flesh,  before  the  Lord  :  for  he  is 
 raised  up  out  of l  his  holy  habitation. 
 
 CHAPTER  III.— <D  And  he  shewed 
 me  Joshua  the  high  priest  standing  be- 
 fore the  angel  of  the  Lord,  and  s  Satan 
 
 restrained  use  of  their  natural  faculties  preserved  to 
 them.  When  they  received  a  prophetic  inspiration, 
 some  grand  idea  of  God's  purpose  was  impressed  on 
 their  minds,  while  they  were  left  to  work  out  the  details 
 according  to  the  bent  of  their  human  imaginations,  and 
 in  accordance,  more  or  less,  with  the  views  current  in 
 their  times.  If  we  adopt  this  reasonable  view  of  the 
 nature  of  prophecy,  we  shall  not  be  surprised  to  find 
 that  in  the  fulfilment,  while  all  that  is  essential  to  the 
 grand  idea  of  God's  purpose,  as  revealed  to  and  by  the 
 prophet,  actually  comes  to  pass,  the  historical  details 
 which  surround  its  accomplishment  are  not  often  such 
 as  the  prophet  himself  seems  to  have  expected.  (See 
 Notes  on  verses  11,  12,  chap.  xiv.  16 — 19.)  Even  the 
 Apostles  themselves  were — at  any  rate,  for  a  time — in 
 error  with  regard  to  the  time  and  manner  of  Christ's 
 second  advent.  Upon  the  supposition,  then,  that 
 Zechariah  had  no  certain  knowledge  of  the  time,  and 
 was  in  error  with  regard  to  the  actual  manner,  of  the 
 fulfilment  of  God's  purpose,  of  the  essential  points  of 
 which  he  had,  however,  a  grand  and  faithful  prophetic 
 perception,  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  interpreting 
 this  passage,  and  others  like  it,  of  the  coming  of  Christ 
 in  the  flesh,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Christian 
 Church. 
 
 (io)  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee.— These 
 words  (comp.  chap.  viii.  3)  were,  no  doubt,  meant  by 
 the  prophet  to  refer,  in  the  first  place,  to  God's  in- 
 dwelling in  the  second  Temple  (see  Note  on  Hag.  ii. 
 9),  although  the  visible  manifestation  of  His  presence 
 (the  Shelcinah)  was  not  again  given.  This  prophecy 
 received  a  glorious  fulfilment,  little  dreamt  of  by  the 
 prophet,  in  the  great  event  chronicled  in  John  i.  14. 
 
 (U)  Many  nations.— Comp.chap.  viii.  20— 22.  This 
 prophecy,  which  is  clothed  in  Old  Testament  imagery, 
 was  spiritually  fulfilled  by  the  gathering-in  of  the 
 Gentiles  to  the  Church  of  Christ. 
 
 And  ....  shall  be  joined.— LXX.,  xa\ 
 Ka-ra<b<:iZovTtu,  "  and  shall  flee  for  refuge,"  as  in  Jer.  1.  5 
 (chap,  xxvii.  5,  LXX.). 
 
 My  people.— Heb.,  to  me  for  a  people.  LXX., 
 avTcp  els  \a6v,  "  to  Him,  for  a  people."  Instead  of  "  And 
 I  will  dwell,"  LXX.,  no!  Ka.Tuaia\vwo-ovo-iv,  "  and  they 
 shall  dwell." 
 
 And  thou  .  .  .  unto  thee.— The  pronouns 
 are  in  the  feminine,  and  refer  to  the  "  daughter  of 
 Zion  "  (verse  10). 
 
 Sent  me.— The  person  changes  (comp.  verse  8). 
 These  words  seem  to  imply  an  expectation  of  a  near 
 fulfilment  of  the  prophecy,  such  as  would  prove  to  the 
 people  the  truth  of  the  prophet's  (or  angel's)  mission. 
 (Comp.  chaps,  iv.  9,  vi.  15.)  But  when  the  promise 
 was  fulfilled  in  Christ,  it  was  just  "the  city"  that 
 failed  to  perceive  its  fulfilment  (Luke  xix.  44). 
 
 (12)  The  holy  land.— This  is  the  only  passage  in 
 which  this  term  is  used.  This  promise  has  not  been 
 literally  fulfilled,  for,  so  far  from  God's  then  inheriting 
 "  Judah  or  the    Holy  Land,"  and  choosing   "  again 
 
 Jerusalem,"  the  coming  of  Christ  was  but  the  begin- 
 ning of  the  rejection  of  His  people,  and  the  destruction 
 of  Jerusalem.  But  such  discrepancies  between  promise 
 and  fulfilment  (see  Note  on  verses  10 — 13)  do  not  cast 
 any  suspicion  on  the  prophet's  trustworthiness,  or  in  the 
 least  invalidate  our  Christian  interpretation  of  the  pas- 
 sage ;  they  simply  afford  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that 
 the  prophets,  as  well  as  others,  saw  only  "  through  a 
 mirror  in  enigma"  (1  Cor.  xiii.  12),  and  that  the  truth 
 was  never  revealed  to  any  one  prophet  in  its  entirety, 
 but  to  all  the  prophets  "in  many  portions,  and  in 
 diverse  manners  "  (Heb.  i.).  We  may  believe,  on  the 
 authority  of  St.  Paul,  that  God  hath  not  cast  off  His 
 own  people,  and  that  a  time  will  come  when  all  Israel 
 sliflill  Vifi  sivpfl 
 
 (13)  Be  silent.— Better,  Hush  !  (Comp.  Hab.  ii.  20.) 
 Raised. — Better,  roused.  The  figure  is  that  of  a 
 lion  roused  up  from  its  lair.  (Comp.  the  still  bolder 
 metaphor  of  Ps.  lxxviii.  65.)  LXX.  misread  the  word 
 for  "  habitation,"  which  they  render  correctly  elsewhere, 
 and  give  i*  vubtxiov  aylav  aiiTov,  "  from  His  holy  clouds." 
 
 III. 
 
 Fourth  "Vision. — Joshua  before  the  Angel 
 op  the  Lord. 
 
 (1—7)  The  accusation  against  Joshua  was  not  that  of 
 neglecting  the  building  of  the  Temple  (for  the  re-build- 
 ing had  been  resumed  five  months  before),  nor  was  it 
 that  he  had  allowed  his  sons  to  marry  foreign  wives 
 (for  that  took  place  some  sixty  years  later),  but,  l-ather, 
 as  high  priest  he  was  the  representative  of  the  priestly 
 nation,  and  so  was  looked  on  as  laden,  not  only  with 
 his  own,  but  also  with  the  sins  of  the  whole  people 
 Moreover,  the  priesthood  itself  had  fallen  under  the 
 severest  condemnation.  "  Her  priests  have  violated  my 
 law,  and  have  profaned  my  holy  things  "  (Ezek.  xxii.  26). 
 
 (1)  And  he. — Probably,  the  angel-interpreter. 
 
 Joshua. —  The  various  forms  of  this  name,  that  of 
 the  Saviour  of  the  world,  are  well  worth  noticing. 
 The  oldest  form  of  the  word  is  that  used  here, 
 Y'hoshua',  which  was  contracted  into  Yoshua'  (Mish- 
 nah,  passim),  also  into  Yeshua'  (Ezra  ii.  2),  and  then 
 into  Yeshu.  This  last  was  represented  in  Greek  by 
 Itjoou,  and  with  the  nominative  ending  s  became  'I170-0D5. 
 In  the  Talmudim  the  name  takes  also  the  forms  Isd 
 and  Tsi,  and  in  Arabic  'Isd. 
 
 Standing  before. — There  is  a  great  variety  of 
 opinion  among  commentators  with  respect  to  the  capa- 
 city in  which  Joshua  is  represented  as  standing  before 
 the  angel  of  the  Lord.  Theodoret,  among  early  ex- 
 positors, and  Hengstenberg,  among  moderns,  maintain 
 that  Joshua  is  seen  in  the  sanctuary  engaged  in  the 
 work  of  his  priestly  office  before  the  angel  of  the  Lord. 
 Against  this  view  may  be  urged  that,  however  high 
 may  be  the  dignity  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  it  is  hardly 
 in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  to 
 represent  the  high  priest  as  ministering  before  him,  as 
 if  before  God.     Observe,  too,  how  in  chap.  i.  12, 13,  the 
 
 568 
 
Joshua  before  thr, 
 
 ZECJIAIilAII,    III. 
 
 A  ngel  of  the  I.nnl. 
 
 standing  at  his  i-i ^-1 1 i  hand  'to  resist 
 him.  P)  And  the  Loud  said  unto  Satan, 
 "The  Lord  rebuke  (her,  I  I  Satan;  even 
 tin'  Lord  that  hath  chosen  Jerusalem 
 rebuke  thee :  is  not  this  a  brand  plucked 
 out  of  the  BreP 
 
 <3)  Now  Joshua  was  clothed  with  filtliy 
 garments,  and  stood  before  the  angel. 
 11  Ami  he  answered  and  spake  unto 
 those  that  stood  before  him,  saying, 
 Take  away  the  filthy  garments  from 
 him.  And  unto  him  he  said,  Behold,  I 
 have  caused  thine  iniquity  to  pass  from 
 
 llil.,,  to  be   An 
 
 2  Or,  ordinance. 
 
 thee,  and  I  will  clothe  thee  with  change 
 of  raiment.  <5'  And  I  said,  Let  them  set 
 a  fair  mitre  upon  his  head.  Bo  tlov  Bet 
 a  fair  mitre  upon  his  head,  and  clothed 
 him  with  garments.  And  the  angel  of 
 the  Lord  stood  by. 
 
 \nd  the  angel  of  the  Lord  pro- 
 tested unto  Joshua,  saying, (7)  Thuss;iith 
 the  Lord  of  hosts  ; 
 
 If  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  ways,  and  it 
 thou  wilt  keep  my  -  charge,  then  thou 
 shalt  also  judge  my  house,  and  shalt 
 also  keep  my  courts,  and  I  will  give  I  bee 
 
 personality  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord  is  distinct  from 
 that  of  the  Lord  fl™— If  Ewald  imagine!  that  at 
 Que  time  the  high  priest  was  actually  accused,  or  was 
 dreading  an  accusation,  at  the  Persian  court,  and  that 
 
 B  defamation  and  persecution  of  tins  kind  may  1)0  dis- 
 cerned as  underlying  this  vision.  But  there  is  no  his- 
 torical trai f  any  such  personal  accusation,  nor  could 
 
 Joshua  be  looked  upon  as  the  people's  representative 
 before  the  Persian   Court,  since  Zerubbabel  was  their 
 
 oitril  representative.  Koehler  regards. Joshua  as  stand- 
 ing before  the  judgment-scat  of  the  angel,  while  Satan 
 stands  at  his  right  hand  ( Ps.  cix.  I>)  to  accuse  him. 
 But,  while    this  interpretation  is  in   the  main  correct,  it 
 
 must  be  remembered  that  no  formal  judicial  process  is 
 
 described  in  the  vision,  nor  is  there  any  mention  of  a 
 judgment-seat.  Wright's  explanation  seems  to  us  the 
 liest  :  "  The  high  priest  was  probably  seen  in  the 
 vision,  busied  about  .some  part  of  his  priestly  duties. 
 While  thus  engaged,  lie  discovered  that  he  was  actually 
 standing  as  a  criminal  before  the  angel. and  while  the 
 great  Adversary  accused  him,  the  truth  of  that  accu- 
 sation was  but  too  clearly  Seen  by  the  tilt  by  garments 
 with  winch  he  then  perceived  that  bo  was  attired." 
 
 Satan.  Literally,  Ike  mlvrrstirij.  who  is.  not  San- 
 ltallat  and  his  companion  (Qiinehi).  but  o  Sia0o\os,  the 
 adversary  of  mankind.  A  belief  in  a  personal  devil 
 was  current  among  the  dews  from,  at  any  rate,  the 
 time  of  the  composition  of  the  Book  of  Job  to  Tal- 
 mudio  times.  (See  Job  L,  ii. ;  1  Chrou.  xxi.  1 ;  Talmud 
 Babli,  Baba  Bathra,  266,  &c) 
 
 At  his  right  hand. — The  position  of  the  adver- 
 sity, or  complainant,  as  represented  in  the  original  pas. 
 sage  I  I's.  ei\.  6). 
 
 W  The  Lord  rebuke  thee.— See  Note  on  Judo  10. 
 Satan  is  justly  rebuked;  "  for  who  shall  lay  anything  to 
 the  charge  of  God's  ohoeenP" 
 
 The  fire.  Of  penal  suffering  in  tho  captivity  in 
 Babylon.  (Comp.  Amos  iv.  II.)  As  with  the  guilt. 
 so   with  the  pardon  and   promise:   in  both,  Joshua   was 
 
 the  representative  of  the  people. 
 
 Filthy  garments.    Such  as  would  render  him 
 
 unlit  to  appear  before  (but  as  priest.  They  are  a  sym- 
 bol of  the  guilt  and  defilement  of  sin.    (Isa.  lxiv.  5.) 
 
 And  stood  before.    See  Note  on  verse  1. 
 
 (*)  Those  that  stood  before  him  is  an  ex- 
 pression meaning  courtiers  and  counsellors  (1  Kings 
 \iii.  6—8);  and  here,  probably,  means  angels  of  inferior 
 grade  to  the  "angel  of  the  Lord." 
 
 Thine  iniquity  »..-..  of  thee,  and  of  the  people 
 whose  representative  thou  art. 
 
 And  I  will  clothe  thee. — Better,  and  T clothe 
 thee.     The    tense   is    "the  aorist  of  immediate  past." 
 
 (Comp.  Gr.  ^Jf^Tji',  "  I  welcome.")  LXX.  change  the 
 mood  and  person,  and  render  nai  Wiiaan  clvtIv  Tro&rlpr), 
 "and  clothe  ye  him  with  a  long  garment." 
 
 Change  of  raiment.  The  word  means  simply 
 different  garments  to  tho  filthy  ones  in  which  he  was 
 clothed  before:  clean  ones,  in  fact.  (See  next  verse.) 
 The  figure  seems  to  be  borrowed  from  Isa.  lxi.  Ill: 
 "He  hath  clothed  me  with  garments  of  -alvation.  He 
 hath  clothed  mo  with  a  robe  of  righteousness, "  That 
 it  does  not  mean  "festal  garments"  is  shown  by  the 
 ordinary  word  for  "garments"  being  used  in  verse  .".. 
 
 (5)  Fair— i.e.,  clean.  (Comp.  the  words  of  the 
 Rubric,  "  a  fair  white  linen  cloth.")  The  prophet  seems 
 to  have  felt  const  rained  to  make  the  request  contained 
 in  this  verse  from  an  idea  that  the  changing  of  Joshua's 
 raiment  might  be  only  a  sign  of  the  removal  of  the 
 high  priest's  own  guilt. 
 
 Mitre,  or  turban,  it  was  upon  which  was  fastened 
 the  golden  plate  inscribed  with  "Holiness  to  tin- 
 Lord "  (comp.  chap.  xiv.  20),  by  virtue  of  which  the 
 shortcomings  of  tho  sanctuary  were  atoned  (Exod. 
 xxviii.  38).  That  tho  prophet  was  justified  in  making 
 the  request  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it  was  granted, 
 and  that  even  before  the  "  garments"  were  put  on. 
 
 Stood  by.— Better,  fesjn  standing   where  he  was). 
 
 (6— 10)  The  angel  of  the  Lord  now  proclaims  to  Joshua 
 a  fourfold  promise  :  (1)  the  confirmation  of  his  official 
 authority,  and  tho  elevation  of  his  own  spiritual  nature ; 
 (2)  the  mission  of  the  Saviour;  (3)  God's  providential 
 care  for  the  House,  which  was  being  rebuilt  ;  (4)  the 
 peace  and  prosperity  of  the  nation. 
 
 l~)  Walk  in  my  ways  refers  to  personal  holiness. 
 
 Keep  my  charge. — To  the  due  discharge  of  his 
 official  duties. 
 
 Then  thou.— The  word  "thou"  is  emphatic,  and 
 helps  to  mark  the  apodosis. 
 
 My  house.  —  On  this  passage  Wright  remarks: 
 •'  The  words  '  my  house'  seem  to  have  been  chosen  to 
 correspond  with 'my  courts'  in  the  parallel  clause 
 Though  the  two  ideas  are  closely  -related,  they  are  not 
 identical  in  meaning.  The  expression  'my  house  '  i- 
 probablv  to  be  understood  in  a  metaphorical  sense  for 
 my  people  [comp.  Num.  xii.  7;  Hosea  viii.  1.  ix.  15, 
 okoj  e«o0:  Hob.  iii.  t>  :  1  Tim.  iii.  IS  .  because  the  word 
 judge  takes  an  accusative  after  it  of  the  person, and 
 not  of  the  thing,  with  the  exception  of  an  accusative 
 of  cognate  meaning,  as  'to  judge  judgment'  (Jer. 
 v  28,  xxx.  13,  xxi.  I-'  .  The  word  '  house '  may  possibly 
 have  been  chosen  in  preference  to  that  of  'people' 
 to  avoid  giving  offence,  as  the  people  were  then 
 under  Persian  rule  (Schegff).  If  the  word  'house' 
 be   understood    metaphorically,    the   sense  is    that  tho 
 
 S69 
 
The  Promise  of 
 
 ZECHARIAH,   III. 
 
 the  Branch. 
 
 'places  to  walk  among  these  that  stand 
 by.  (8)Hear  now,  O  Joshua  the  high 
 priest,  thou,  and  thy  fellows  that  sit 
 before  thee:  for  they  are  2men  wondered 
 at :  for,  behold,  I  will  bring  forth  my 
 servant  the  "BEANCH.     <9>  For  behold 
 
 I  Heb.,  walks. 
 
 •2   Heb.,  men  of 
 wonder. 
 
 a  lea.  U.  1;  Jer. 
 23.  6  &  33. 15  ;  ell. 
 (J.     12;     Luki-    1. 
 
 the  stone  that  I  have  laid  before  Joshua ; 
 upon  one  stone  shall  be  seven  eyes : 
 behold,  I  will  engrave  the  graving  there- 
 of, saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I 
 will  remove  the  iniquity  of  that  land  in 
 one  day. 
 
 high  priest  was  to  direct  the  people  in  all  things  re- 
 specting the  law  of  God,  and  especially  to  judge  those 
 who  ministered  in  the  sanctuary  (Hitzig,  Pressel,  &c). 
 Others  think  that  the  Temple  then  in  course  of  con- 
 struction is  referred  to  (Hengstenberg,  Keil,  Kliefoth, 
 Pusey).  In  the  latter  case  the  meaning  is  not  very 
 different,  namely,  that  the  high  priest  was  to  rule  and 
 direct  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  and  Holy  of  holies, 
 and  to  keep  away  every  kind  of  idolatry  and  ungod- 
 liness from  its  outer  courts  (Hengstenberg)."  Thus 
 Joshua  is  confirmed  in  his  office  of  high  priest,  which 
 had  been  called  in  question  by  the  accusation  of  Satan 
 (has-Sdtdn). 
 
 Places  to  walk — i.e.,  as  in  margin,  "  walks," 
 meaning  paths.  LXX.,  avasTpe<ponivovs  iv  ;ueVw,  "  living 
 among  "  vocalising  the  word  differently.  Ewald  under- 
 stands the  word  as  meaning  "  leaders, '  but  if  that  were 
 its  signification  it  would  be  followed  by  "from  among," 
 instead  of  "  among." 
 
 Among  these  that  stand  by.— The  angels  of  the 
 heavenly  court.  Etymologically,  assistants;  but  in 
 legal  phraseology,  assessors.  The  whole  scene  is  drawn 
 on  the  model  of  an  Oriental  Darbar.  He  is  promised 
 free  spiritual  access  to  God  among  the  holy  angels. 
 Observe  the  introverted  parallelism  of  this  verse — 
 "  wilt  walk,"  "  wilt  keep  ;  "  theu  "  shalt  keep,"  "  places 
 to  walk."  "A  gratuitous  justification  furnishes  no 
 excuse  for  inaction  and  sin,  but  leads  to  more  entire 
 obedience  .  .  .  Fidelity  in  God's  service  shall  be 
 gloriously  rewarded."     (Moore.) 
 
 (8)  For  they — ie.,thou  and  they.  For  this  change 
 of  person,  comp.  Zeph.  ii.  12,  which  runs  literally, 
 "  Also  ye  Cushim  slain  by  my  sword  (are)  they." 
 
 Wondered  at. — Literally,  as  in  margin,  of  sign — 
 i.e.,  men  to  whom  signs  are  given,  and  for  whom 
 miracles  are  wrought;  or,  according  to  others,  persons 
 accustomed  to  interpret  the  enigmatical  sayings  of 
 prophets.      LXX.,  &v5pes  TeparoaKdnoi. 
 
 For,  behold.— Better,  simply,  Behold.  (Comp. 
 8ti  of  New  Testament.) 
 
 I  will  bring. — Literally,  I  (am)  bringing,  a  some- 
 what indefinite  tense,  the  exact  meaning  of  which  can 
 be  decided  only  by  the  context.  (Comp.  Haggai  ii.  6.) 
 Thus  in  Isa.  vii.  14  the  context  (verse  16)  shows  that 
 what  the  prophet  looked  on  as  a  fulfilment  could  not  be 
 far  off ;  in  Ezek.  xxiv.  17  this  tense  is  shown  by  the  next 
 verse  to  be  the  imminent  future ;  while  in  Zech.  xii.  2 
 a  similar  form  of  construction  seems  to  refer  to  a  distant 
 future. 
 
 My  servant.  .  .  .—Better,  my  servant  Branch, 
 after  Ezek.  xxxiy.  23  :  "  my  servant  David." 
 
 Branch. — Hebrew,  Tsemach ;  occurs  in  Isa.  iv.  2, 
 "  Branch  of  the  Lord."  (Comp.  the  expressions  in 
 Isa.  xi.  1,  liii.  2.)  These  passages  (especially  Isa.  iv.  2) 
 Jeremiah  had,  doubtless,  in  mind  when  he  uttered  the 
 prophecies  of  chaps,  xxiii.  5,  xxxiii.  15,  in  which  he 
 speaks  of  "  A  righteous  Branch "  and  a  "  Branch  of 
 Righteousness,"  as  springing  from  the  house  of  David, 
 to  be  a  Saviour  to  deliver  Israel  from  the  captivity.  (See 
 the  whole  context  in  both  places,  especially  chaps,  xxiii. 
 7,  8,  xxxiii.  12 — 14.)     From  these  passages  Zechariah 
 
 adopts  "  Branch  "  as  tho  proper  name  of  the  Saviour. 
 He  may  have  expected  that  this  promised  Saviour 
 would  be  found  in  Sheshbatstsar  (i.e.,  Zerubbabel),  "  the 
 Prince  of  Judah "  (Ezra  i.  8),  who  should  build  the 
 House  (Haggai  ii.  23;  Zech.  iv.  9).  In  Haggai  ii.  23, 
 Zerubbabel  is  expressly  called  "  my  servant ;  "  but  the 
 expression  is  also  a  recognised  title  of  the  Messiah  in 
 the  passage  of  Ezekiel  referred  to  above,  and  in  Isa. 
 liii.  12 — "  a  righteous  one — my  servant " — and  elsewhere. 
 (This  last  passage  is,  probably,  the  foundation  of  the 
 expression  in  Acts  iv.  27,  tov  ayiov  ircuSa  aou  'Irjtrovy.) 
 A  glimpse  of  Messianic  times  is  here,  indeed,  revealed 
 to  the  prophet,  but  the  clearness  of  his  view  is  obscured 
 by  the  medium  through  which  he  views  them.  (See 
 Notes  on  chaps,  ii.  10 — 13,  vi.  11  — 15.)  From 
 "  Branch,"  LXX.,  ayamXr/v,  "  day-spring ; "  Syriac, 
 "  sunrise,"  since  Tsemcho  in  Syriac  denotes  "  shining 
 of  the  sun."  (Comp.  LXX.  of  Isa.  iv.  2,  «Vi\<£^\|/ei  & 
 ®i6s.) 
 
 (9)  The  stone. — If  this  were  the  meaning  of  the 
 original,  the  words  "  upon  one  stone "'  ought  to  have 
 been  upon  that  stone.  But  "the  stone"  means  the 
 stones,  the  singular  noun  being  used  as  a  noun  of 
 multitude,  as  it  is  in  Gen.  xi.  3 ;  Exod.  xxxix.  10.  The 
 stones  are  the  material  stones  with  which  the  House 
 was  to  be  built ;  the  laying  them  before  Joshua  is  used 
 as  figuring  the  whole  command  to  build  the  House. 
 
 Upon  one  stone. — Better,  upon  one  particular  stone 
 (for  this  use  of  the  numeral  "  one,"  comp.  Note  on 
 chap.  xiv.  7),  i.e.,  either  tho  foundation-stone  laid  in 
 the  time  of  Cyrus,  or  the  stone  on  which  the  Ark  had 
 formerly  stood  (Jewish  tradition), or  the  head-stone,  or 
 chief  corner-stone ;  or,  possibly,  upon  each  stone  (for 
 this  construction  comp.  Ezek.  i.  6,  x.  14,  and  my  Sebrew 
 Student's  Commentary  on  Zechariah,  p.  37) — viz.,  upon 
 the  whole  scheme  and  process  of  re-building. 
 
 Seven  eyes.— Ewald  supposes  the  "seven  eyes"  to 
 have  been  engraved  on  the  stone,  and  thinks  that  they 
 represent  the  "  seven  spirits  "  (Rev.  i.  4).  But  it  seems 
 more  probable  that  they  represent  the  all-embracing,  and 
 here  special,  providence  of  God  (chap.  iv.  10).  The  ex- 
 pression "  to  put  the  eyes  upon  "  is  used  in  Jer.  xxxix.  12, 
 xL  4,  in  the  sense  "  to  protect,"  "take  care  of."  The 
 completion  of  this  material  budding  was  an  important 
 era  in  the  train  of  events,  which,  under  Divine  pro- 
 vidence, was  preparing  the  way  for  the  coming  of  the 
 Messiah.  (See  a  further  development  of  the  meaning 
 of  "building"  in  chap.  vi.  12.  13.) 
 
 Engrave  the  graving  thereof.— As  the  graving 
 of  the  figures,  &c,  puts  the  finishing  touch  to  precious 
 stones  (Exod.  xxviii.  36).  so  the  expression  is  here  used 
 to  denote  putting  the  final  stroke  to  the  work  of  re- 
 building. It  is  impossible  to  take  "  And  I  will  remove," 
 &e.,  as  the  sentence  engraved  on  the  stone,  as  many 
 have  done  ;  for  such  an  inscription  could  not  possibly 
 commence  with  vdv  conversive  and  the  perfect.  Job 
 xix.  25,  "  Yet  I  know,  my  Vindicator  liveth,"  is  in  no 
 sense  a  parallel  case  (see  Delitzsch  in  loc).  LXX., 
 iSob  4yui  dpvaaw  $6$poy,  "  lo !  I  am  digging  a  trench," 
 misreading  the  word  "  graving." 
 
 In  one  day. — The  day  when  the  Temple  should  be 
 
 570 
 
The  Virion  of 
 
 ZECIIAUIAII,     IV 
 
 the  Golden  Candlestick. 
 
 (10>  In  that  day,  saith  the  Loku  of 
 hosts,  shall  ye  call  every  man  his  neigh- 
 bour under  the  vine   and   under  the  tig 
 
 ti 
 
 CHAPTER  IV.—  (»  And  the  angel 
 
 that    talked   with    me   came  again,  and 
 
 waked  me,  as  a  man  that  i.s  wakened 
 out  ill'  liis  sleep,  (2)  and  said  unto  me, 
 What  seest  thou  ?  And  I  said,  I  have 
 looked,  and  behold  a  candlestick  all  of 
 gold,  '  with  a  howl  upon  the  top  of  it, 
 and  his  seven  lamps  thereon,  and2seven 
 pipes  to  the  seven  lamps,  which  are 
 upon  the  top  thereof  :  (:l)  and  two  olive 
 
 I  !■  I.  . 
 h/ul. 
 
 1  Or,  x'-rrn  nrrcral 
 l>  yx    (.1    the 
 latiipt,  4c. 
 
 trees  by  it,  one  upon  the  right  fide  of 
 the  bowl,  and    tin-  other  upon  the  left 
 
 aide  f  hereof. 
 
 1  Si  I  answered  and  spake  to  the 
 angel  that  talked  with  me,  saying,  What 
 <i/-.'  these,  my  lordV  '''Then  the  angel 
 that  talked  with  me  answered  and  said 
 unto  me,  Knowest  thou  not  what  these 
 be?  And  I  said,  No,  my  lord.  "Then 
 he  answered  and  spake  unto  me,  saying. 
 This    U    the    word    of    the    Loi:n    unto 
 
 Zerubbabel,  saying,  Not  by  'might,  nor 
 
 by  power,  but  by  my  spirit,  saith  the 
 Loud  of  hosts.  (7)  Who  art  tlmu,  O 
 great    mountain  P     before    Zerubbabel 
 
 completed  nml  consecrated.  Tho  successful  completion 
 of  this  great  work  would  lie  a  sign  anil  seal  of  the  for- 
 giveness of  the  past  "  iniquity  of  the  land."  "  In  ouo 
 day ''  oaunot  refer  to  "  the  day  of  <  rolgotha"  |  Bengsten- 
 berg),  for  how  eonld  verse  In  be  ji|»|»li«-<  1  to  that  day? 
 Bow  could  ohape.  \ii.  10,  tag-,  and  in.  '.<,  In,  be  possibly 
 referred  to  the  siimn  ovent ?  For  "ami  I  will  remove, 
 LXX..  ««1  if>T)Aaf7jffoi,  confounding  the  verb,  whieh 
 means  "  to  remove,"  with  a  somewhat  similar  verb, 
 meaning  "  to  grope  after." 
 
 (i°)  The  wording  of  this  verse  is  a  reminiscence  of 
 1  Kings  Lv.  25,  Miiah  iv.  t,  &e.  It  is  an  announcement 
 of  the  approaching  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  Jere- 
 miah xxxiii.  lii :  "  Iii  those  days  shall  Juilah  bo  saved, 
 mid  Jerusalem  shall  dwell  safely  :  and  this  is  tho  name 
 wherewith  she  (Jerusalem)  shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our 
 righteousness."  (Comp.  "  Jehovah,  my  standard,"  as  the 
 name  of  an  altar,  in  Exod.  xvii.  15.)  Such  prophecies 
 were  partially  fulfilled  in  the  restoration  of  the  Jews 
 after  the  captivity;  but  perhaps  their  complete  ful- 
 filment is  tn  be  expected  in  the  future,  when  "all 
 Israel  shall  lie  saved  "  (Rom.  xi.  26). 
 
 IV. 
 
 Fourth  Vision. — The  Golden  Candlestick. 
 
 (')  Came  again,  and  waked. — Better,  possibly. 
 again  ioake<l  me,  the  Construction  being  similar  to  that 
 of  chap.  v.  1.  But  it  is  not  impossible  that  tho  angel 
 had  gone  forth,  as  before  (chap.  ii.  8),  to  receive  some 
 fresh  instruction  from  a  higher  angel,  or  from  God,  and 
 that  new  he  came  hack  again.    From  this  verse  it  would 
 
 appear  thai  between  some  of  the  visions  the  prophet 
 
 fell  into  S  state  of  lethargy,  and  that  the  angel  roused 
 him;  OX  it  may  be  that  all  the  visions  are  seen  in  a 
 dream,  and  that   he  mil y  seemed  in  his  dream  to  lie  woke 
 
 up.    (8ee  Note  on  chap,  i.  8.) 
 
 ('-)  This  visionary  candlestick  differed  in  four  points 
 from  the  original  of  the  Tabernacle  and  Solomon's 
 Temple — viz..  in  having  "  a  bowl."  "  pipes,"  and  "  olive 
 trees  "  eaeh  side  of  it.  and  "  two  golden  spouts." 
 
 With  a  bowl  upon  tho  top  of  it.— This  is 
 better  than  the  marg.,  her  bowl  i.e.,  its  howl — because 
 this  was  one  (a)  of  the  points  of  difference  between  the 
 visionary  candlestick  and  its  original.  But  the  "  seven 
 lamps,"  on  the  other  hand,  were  in  agreement  with  Un- 
 original; therefore  the  prophet  says.  "  and  his  seven." 
 i.e..  its  seven  lamps,  vi/..  the  seven  lamps  proper  to  it. 
 So,  again,  when  he  comes  to  the  next  point  of  dilTereiiee. 
 (6)  the  pipes,  lie  does  not  say  "  his  pipes,"  nor  does  he 
 I  verso  3)  say  (c)  "  his  two  olive-trees." 
 
 Seven  pipes.— Better,  seren  pipes  apiece.  There 
 were,  then,  forty-nine  pi]>cs,   but  as  the  candlestick   is 
 
 only  visionary,  We  need  not  trouble  ourselves  about  the 
 difficulties  OX  its  construction.  The  number  seven  in 
 the    original    candlestick   was,   perhaps,  mystical,  in 
 
 which  ease  the  forty-nine  pi|ies  in  the  vision  would  be 
 so  too.    At  any  rate,  it  would  seem  that  a  groat  Dumber 
 
 of  pipes  is  mentioned  to  indicate  the  unlimited  nature 
 of  the  supply  of  oil  !  "  My  strength  is  sufficient  for 
 thee."  The  distributive  use  of  the  numerals  in  this 
 passage  has  been  much  disputed,  but  we  have,  we  think, 
 satisfactorily  established  it  in  our  Hebrew  Students 
 Commentary,  in  loc.  The  only  other  admissible  inter- 
 pretation is  that  of  Koehler — viz..  that  the  Dumber  is 
 "  seven  and  seven,"  not  "  fourteen."  because  one  group 
 of  seven  lamps  was  for  Supplying  the  lamps  from  tin- 
 reservoir,  and  the  other  group  of  seven  to  conneet  the 
 seven  lamps.  The  English  version  follows  LXX., 
 Byriac,  and  Vulg.,  in  omitting  the  first  word  "  seven." 
 Hitzig  cancels  the  numeral  before  "  its  lamps,"  and 
 renders  "and  its  lamps  upon  it  were  seven,  and  then- 
 were  seven  pipes  to  the  lamps,"  &e.  But  all  such 
 emendations  are  arbitrary  and  unnecessary.  Prcsscl 
 thinks   that    "seven"    is    repeated    on    account   of    its 
 
 importance,  as  corresponding  to  "the  seven  eyes  of 
 
 the  Lord;"  he  renders  "  seven  was  the  Dumber  of  its 
 lamps  above  the  same     seven— and  seven  tho  uuml"  | 
 of  its  pipes." 
 (')  These  does  not   refer  merely  to  the  olive-trees, 
 
 though  in  verses  11  and  1".  they  are  shown  to  lie  the 
 Salient  point  in  the  vision,  but  to  everything  described 
 in  verses  2  and  3. 
 
 W)  This  .  .  .  word.— The  vision  is  called  "the 
 word,"  as  being  a  symbolical  prophecy.  (Comp.  chap. 
 i.  7.)    As  the  golden  candlestick  was  placed  in  the  holy 
 
 Elaco  of  tho  Tabernacle  land  the  Temple  I  "  before  the 
 lORD.asan  everlasting  statute  for  their  generations 
 on  behalf  of  the  children  of  Israel  "  (Exod.  xxvii.  21  I, 
 so  did  the  congregation  on  whose  lu-half  or  as  a 
 Symbol  of  which  was  the  candle-tick,  require  a  sanc- 
 tuary in  whieh  to  let  their  light  shine  before  tin-  Lord, 
 and  from    which   it  might   shine  In-fore  men.     'I  his 
 
 sanctuary  Zerubbabel  had  founded,  and  his  hands  were 
 
 to  complete  ver-e  !») ;  but  not  by  any  merit  or  strength 
 of  his  own  or  of  Israel,  but  simply  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
 Lord  of  Hosts,  which  would  revive  "the  dry  bones"  of 
 the  houso  of  Israel,  "  that  they  should  live,  and  be  placed 
 in  their  own  laud"  i  Ezek.  xxwii.  11  —  1  t 
 
 (7)  O  great  mountain  ?—  This  is  figurative  of 
 the  colossal  difficulties  put  in  the  way  of  the  completion 
 
 ■'.71 
 
Ths  Day  of  Small  Things. 
 
 ZECHARIAH,  V. 
 
 The  Two  Olive-trees. 
 
 thou  shall  become  a  plain  :  and  he  shall 
 bring  forth  the  headstone  thereof  with 
 shoutings,  crying,  Grace,  grace  unto  it. 
 
 W  Moreover  the  word  of  the  Lord 
 came  unto  me,  saying, 
 
 <9)  The  hands  of  Zerubbabel  have  laid 
 the  foundation  of  this  house  ;  his  hands 
 shall  also  finish  it ;  and  thou  shalt  know- 
 that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me 
 unto  you.  (10)  For  who  hath  despised 
 the  day  of  small  things  ?  l  for  they  shall 
 rejoice,  and  shall  see  the  3 plummet  in 
 the  hand  of  Zerubbabel  with  those  seven ; 
 "they  are  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  which 
 run  to  and  fro  through  the  whole  earth. 
 
 1  Or,  tilth  the  seven 
 eyes  of  the  Luiti 
 shall  rejoice. 
 
 2    He!).,   stone    of 
 
 8    Heu.,   by    the 
 hand. 
 
 4  Or,  empty  out  of 
 themselves    Oil 
 into  the  gold. 
 
 Heb.,  the  gold. 
 
 6  Heb.,  sons  of  nil 
 
 (ii)  Then  answered  I,  and  said  unio 
 him,  What  are  these  two  olive  trees 
 upon  the  right  side  of  the  candlestick 
 and  upon  the  left  side  thereof  ?  (12>  And 
 I  answered  again,  and  said  unto  him, 
 What  be  these  two  olive  branches  which 
 Hhrough  the  two  golden  pipes  4einpty 
 5 the  golden  oil  out  of  themselves? 
 <13>  And  he  answered  me  and  said, 
 Knowest  thou  not  what  these  be  ?  And 
 I  said,  No,  my  lord.  (U)  Then  said  he, 
 These  are  the  two  6  anointed  ones,  that 
 stand  by  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth. 
 
 CHAPTEE  V.— d)  Then  I  turned,  and 
 
 of  the  building-  of  the  Temple  by  the  neighbouring 
 powers.     (Conip.  Matt.  xxi.  21.) 
 
 Thou  shalt  become  a  plain. —  This  certainly 
 gives  the  true  meaning  of  the  original,  which,  however, 
 is  singularly  graphic,  and  consists  of  but  one  word — 
 literally,  to  a  plain :  i.e.,  thou  shalt  become.  LXX. 
 mistake  the  word  for  an  Aramaic  infinitive,  and  render 
 toD  KaTopdutrai,  "  that  thou  shouldest  bring  it  to  a  success- 
 ful issue.''  In  the  preceding  vision,  Joshua,  as  the 
 high  priest — in  this,  Zerubbabel,  as  the  Prince  of  Judah 
 — is  the  representative  of  the  nation ;  in  verse  li  the 
 two  are  referred  to  simultaneously. 
 
 Grace,  grace  unto  it  —  i.e.,  unto  the  head  stone 
 which,  as  being  the  crowning  stone  of  the  building,  is 
 used  to  represent  the  whole  Temple.  The  words  are  a 
 prayer,  which  takes  the  form  of  a  shout  of  triumph  (like 
 Hosanna  !),  and  mean,  May  God's  grace  or  favour  rest 
 on  the  house  for  ever ! 
 
 (8)  Me. — The  word  of  the  Lord  now  comes  directly 
 to  the  prophet,  as,  possibly,  in  chap.  ii.  6 — 13. 
 
 (9)  Thou  .  .  .  unto  you. — Such  a  change  in 
 number  is  common  in  Hebrew,  especially  when  address- 
 ing a  nation,  which  at  one  time  is  looked  on  as  a  cor- 
 porate unity,  at  another  as  a  collection  of  individuals. 
 Or  "  thou  "  may  have  been  addressed  to  Zerubbabel, 
 and  "  you  "  to  the  people,  when  the  prophet  delivered 
 his  oracle  to  them. 
 
 (10)  por  who  hath  .  .  small  things  ? — i.e., 
 Surely  no  one,  who  intended  to  do  great  things,  ever 
 despised  the  day  of  small  things.  The  interrogative 
 sentence  is  practically  a  prohibition  :  "  Let  none  despise 
 the  day  of  small  things." 
 
 For  they  shall  rejoice  .  .  .  whole  earth. 
 — Better,  Then  these  seven  shall  with  joy  behold  the 
 plummet  line  in  the  hand  of  Zerubbabel ;  the  eyes  of  the 
 Lord — they  sweep  through  the  whole  earth — i.e.,  if  ye 
 despise  not  this  day  of  small  things,  when  ye  see  but  the 
 foundation  of  the  Temple  laid,  the  providential  care  of 
 the  Lord  (comp.  chap.  iii.  9)  shall  rejoice  to  see  Zerub- 
 babel taking  the  last  perpendicular  of  the  completed 
 work ;  but  if  ye  doubt  the  possibility  of  this,  know 
 that  God's  providence  extends  over  the  whole  earth,  and 
 that,  therefore,  He  can  make  all  things  and  all  nations 
 work  together  for  the  good  of  His  chosen,  Israel. 
 
 (ii)  Then  answered  I  .  .  .—The  prophet  is 
 not  yet  quite  satisfied  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  vision ; 
 he  desires  to  know  why  there  are  two  olive-trees.  For 
 as  yet  only  Zerubbabel  has  been  mentioned,  and  he 
 could  hardly  be  represented  by  two  olive-trees. 
 
 (12)  Olive  branches.—  Better,  bunches  of  olives. 
 
 Two  important  points  in  the  vision  are  here  incidentally 
 introduced  for  the  first  time  :  viz.,  the  bunch  of  fruits 
 on  each  olive-tree,  and  the  "  two  golden  pipes,"  or 
 rather,  spouts. 
 
 Which  through  .  .  .  themselves. — Better, 
 Which  are  resting  in  the  two  golden  spouts,  which  pour 
 out  from  themselves  the  gold[en  oil].  The  meaning 
 appears  to  be  that  on  each  side  of  the  golden  bowl  at 
 the  top  of  the  candlestick  was  a  golden  spout  turned 
 upwards,  into  which  the  two  clusters  of  olives  poured 
 their  oil  spontaneously,  and  from  which  the  oil  flowed 
 into  the  bowl,  and  thence  through  the  forty-nine  pipes 
 to  the  seven  lamps.  "  The  gold "  stands  for  pure 
 bright  oil.  Though  the  word  which  we  render  "resting 
 in  "  (LXX.,  iv  t<hs  xepo-l,  "  in  the  hands  ")  might  mean 
 "through" — i.e.,  "by  means  of — the  rendering  of 
 the  English  version  is  inadmissible,  because  the 
 definite  article  (equivalent  here  to  the  relative)  is  pre- 
 fixed to  the  participle,  "  empty,"  or  "  pour  out."  LXX., 
 
 Taly  ^m\i6vTuv  koX  <rtrava.'y6vT03v  ras  eVapi/arp/Sas  tos  xpi/tras, 
 "  which  pour  into,  and  lead  up  into  the  golden  funnels," 
 taking  the  words  "  from  themselves  "  as  an  active 
 participle,  and  understanding  "  the  gold  "  as  "  golden 
 funnels,"  and  not  "  golden  oil,"  as  we  do. 
 
 (14)  Two  anointed  ones.— Literally,  as  margin, 
 two  sons  of  oil :  viz.,  Joshua,  the  high  priest,  and 
 Zerubbabel,  the  Prince  of  Judah,  "  who  stand  by  the 
 Lord  of  the  whole  earth  "  as  His  appointed  instru- 
 ments, and  through  whom  He  causes  His  Spirit  to  flow 
 to  His  congregation.  Thus,  a,s  by  the  preceding  vision 
 it  was  signified  that  the  religious  head  of  the  nation 
 was  accepted  by  God  and  purified,  so  in  this  vision  the 
 civil  head  receives  the  assurance  of  God's  assistance  in 
 his  work.  The  anointed  priest  and  the  anointed  prince 
 are  mentioned  together  in  the  last  verse  to  show  that  it 
 is  by  their  joint  efforts  that  the  prosperity  of  the 
 nation  is  to  be  brought  about.  It  shows  too  that  "  in 
 religious  development,  outward  or  inward,  the  efficient 
 cause  always  lies  behind  what  is  seen.  God  uses 
 human  instruments,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  operates  inde- 
 pendently of  them,  but  when  they  effect  their  aim,  the 
 power  comes  from  above"  (Chambers). 
 
 V. 
 
 Sixth  Vision. — The  Flying  Scroll,  the  Woman 
 in  the  ephah,  and  the  two  women  with 
 Storks'  Wings. 
 
 This  is  to  be  regarded  as  essentially  one  vision  ia 
 three  dissolving  views  (verses  1 — i,  5 — 8,  9 — 11). 
 
 572 
 
Tht   Flying  Roll 
 
 ZKCIIAKIAII,    V. 
 
 The  Woman  and  tin  Ephah. 
 
 lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  Looked,  and  be- 
 hold a  flying  roll.  |J|  And  he  said 
 onto  me,  What  seed  fchonP  And  I 
 answered,  I  see  a  flying  roll ;  the  length 
 
 thereof  W  twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth 
 thereof  ten  cubits.  (3)  Then  said  he 
 until  me,  This  is  the  corse  that  goeth 
 forth  over  the  hoe  of  the  whole  earth  : 
 for  'every  one  that  stealeth  shall  be  cut 
 
 (itr'ns  mi  ibis  side  according  to  it ;  and 
 every  one  that  sweareth  shall  be  cut  oft' 
 as  on  that  side  according  to  it.  "»  I  will 
 bring  it  forth,  saith  the  Lo&D  of  hosts, 
 and  it  shall  enter  into  the  house  of  the 
 thief,  and  into  the  house  of  him  that 
 sweareth  falsely  by  my  name:  and  it 
 shall  remain  in  the  midst  of  his  bouse, 
 ami  shall  consume  it  with  the  timber 
 thereof  and  the  stones  thereof. 
 
 1  Or,  M  I 
 tin.  pcopli    I  ioi 
 
 an  a ii'iih. 
 
 Or,   iccwM// 
 
 <r>)  Then  the  angel  that  talked  with  me 
 u.-nt  forth,  and  said  unto  me,  Lift  up 
 now  thine  eves,  and  see  what  it  this 
 that,  goeth   forth.       "    And   I   .-aid,  What 
 
 /.sity     Ami   be  said,  This  u  an  ephah 
 that   goeth  forth.     Ee   said   mon  i 
 This  is  their  resemblance  through  ail 
 the  earth.     7  And,   behold,  there  was 
 
 lifted  1 1 ] >  a  'talent  of  lead  :  and  this  is  a 
 woman  that  sit  t  it  li  in  the  midst  of  the 
 ephah.  fK|  And  he  said.  This  it  wicked- 
 ness. And  he  cast  it  into  the  midst  of 
 the   ephah;   and    he   east    the   weigh!  of 
 
 lead  upuii  the  mouth  thereof. 
 
 WTben  lifted  I  up  mine  eyes,  and 
 looked,  ami,  behold,  there  came  nut  two 
 women, and  the  wind  was  in  their  wh 
 
 for  they  had  wings  like  the  wings  of  a 
 stork:    and   tiny    lifted    up   the  ephah 
 
 (')  Then  I  turned    .    .    .    eyes.— Bettor,  And 
 
 I  lll/llill    lifted    11)1    mil   elje.1.        It'oill]!.    cllllj).    IV.    1.1 
 
 Flying  roll. — A  aero]]  floating  in  the  air.    The 
 
 fnrin   .if  the   vision   seems  to  lie  suggested  liy  E/.ok.  ii. 
 
 0.  10.    liXX..  omitting  the  final  ah  of  the  word  for 
 
 "  scroll,"  render  Sptwamv,  "  sickle." 
 M  He. — Tlie  angel-interpreter.     (Comp.  verse  5.) 
 The  length    .    .    .    and  the  breadth    .    .    . 
 
 — These  were  the  dimensions  of  the  holy  plaoe  of  the 
 
 Mosaic-  Tabernacle,  also  of  the  porch  of  Solomon's 
 Temple.  If.  then,  we  arc  to  consider  t ho  measure- 
 ment of  (ho  scroll  as  symbolical,  wo  may  regard 
 it  as  indicating  that  the  measure  of  the  sanctuary  is 
 the  measure  OX  sin:  that  is,  the  sinner  must  not.  say. 
 "  I  am  not  worse  than  my  neighbour,"  but  should 
 measure  his  conduct  by  the  standard:  "Become  ye 
 holy,  for   1   am  holy  "  (Lov.  xi.  44;  comp.  Matt.  v.  48). 
 
 (:'s)  The  whole  earth.— Better,  the  whole  land: 
 viz..  of  Israel. 
 
 For  every  one  ...  on  this  side  .  .  . 
 on  that  side  according  to  it — i.e.,  according  to 
 the  curse  written  on  tliis  side  and  on  that  side  of  the 
 scroll.  But.  the  Hebrew  will  hardly  bear  this  inter- 
 pretation.    Coehler  proposes  to  render,  instead  of  "on 
 
 Qua  side"  and  "on  that  side,"  "  from  hence  "  in  both 
 cases  viz.,  from  the  land.  (Comp.  Exod.  xi.  1).  Bnt 
 the  contrast,  which  is  evidently  implied  hero,  precludes 
 this  interpretation.  We  prefer  to  render,  Fur  every 
 one  that  sleiileth.  mi  the  one  hand,  shall,  in  accordance 
 thereieitli.  he  certainly  destroyed;  and  every  on*  thai 
 mr,  n ,-, Hi  [  falsely],  oh  the  other  hand,  shall,  in  accord- 
 therewith,  lie  certainly  destroyed.      Thieves  are 
 
 mentioned  as  a  specimen  of  sinners  against  tin-  second 
 table  of  the  Decalogue  :  viz.,  as  false  to  man  ;  and  false 
 swearers    as   sinners  against   the  first  table :    viz.,   as 
 
 false  to  God. 
 
 (*'   It. — The  curse,  as  borne  on  the  scroll. 
 
 Bring  forth. — As  it  were,  from  His  treasure-house, 
 where   all    pre-ordained    events    are    stored    up    (Dent. 
 
 xxxii.  ::i,  85). 
 
 And  shall  consume  it.  In  Herodotus  (Book 
 vi.  86)  there  is  an  interesting  parallel  to  this  verse.  A 
 Milesian  had  deposited  with  Clan. -us  a  sum  of  money  on 
 trust.  When  the  sons  of  the  depositor  came  to  claim 
 it,  Glaucus  consulted  the  oracle  of  Delphi  whether  he 
 
 673 
 
 might    perjure    himself    and     keep    the    money.       The 
 
 priestess  told  him  that  it  was  best  for  tin-  present  to  do 
 as  he  desired,  for  that  death  was  tin-  common  lot  of  the 
 honest  and  the  dishonest.  "  Yet,"  added  she,  "  Oath 
 hath  a  son,  nameless,  handleas,  footless,  but  swift  he 
 
 pursues,  until  he  seize  and  destroy  the  whole  race  ami 
 house." 
 
 (r>)  Angel  .  .  .  went  forth.— The  first  scene 
 of  the  vision  disappears,  and  with  it,  apparently,  the 
 angel-interpreter,  who  now  "  went  forth,"  i  > ..  appeared 
 again  (see  Note  on  chap.  ii.  3);  so,  too,  "that 
 forth"  means,  that  emerges  from  the  region  of  the 
 invisible  into  that  of  tin-  visible. 
 
 (''•)  What  is  it?— i.e..  Mlmt  does  it  symbolise? 
 For,  of  course-,  he  could  see  that  it  was  an  ephah. 
 
 This  is  an  ephah  ...  all  the  earth.— 
 Better,  This,  the  ephah  that  cometh  forth,  this,  con- 
 tinued he,  is  their  resemblance  throughout  the  whole 
 lands:  i.e..  this  is  a  symbol  of  the  sinners  mentioned 
 above.  (For  "  resemblance  "  the  LXX..  by  the  change 
 of  one  letter,  read  iniquity.)  The  nature  of  the  com- 
 parison is  seen  by  some  to  be  as  follows.  As  in  an 
 ephah  the  separate  grains  are  all  collected  together,  so 
 
 will  the  individual  sinners  over  the  whole  length  and 
 breadth  of  the  land  be  brought  into  one  confused  heap. 
 
 (Comp.  Matt.  xiii.  :in. i     It  is  not  mentioned  till  later 
 
 that  they  are  to  be  carried  away. 
 
 (7.8)  Talent.-  Better,  due.  The  construction  of 
 these  verses  is  rather  difficult.  They  should  betaken 
 as  the  words  of  the  angel-interpreter,  and  be  rendered  : 
 And  behold  I  i.e..  and  you  may  see)  a  leaden  dis< 
 l'ift,,l  up,  and  this  which  you  now  sec  on  the  removal 
 of  the  disc]  is  a  woman  rimu  M  the  ephah  ;  this,  con- 
 rhedness.      Observe    the-   climax:   first, 
 
 representatives  of  the  two  classes  of  sinners  are  spoken 
 
 of;  then  they  are  heaped  into  an  undistinguishable 
 mass,  and  afterwards  they  are  spoken  of  as  one  woman, 
 who  impersonates  wickedness. 
 
 Cast  it.— Better,  her,  the  woman. 
 
 (9>  Behold  .  .  . — Here  commences  the  third 
 scene  of  the  vision.  We  need  not  enter  into  the  minute 
 details  of  the  verse.  :is  they  are.  probably,  introduced 
 merely  to  L'ivc  greater  distinctness  to  the  picture. 
 (Comp.  Note  on  chap.  i.  8.)  The  wings  of  the  v. 
 seem,    however,   to  be  represented   as   filled  with  the 
 
The  Vision  of 
 
 ZECHARIAH,   Vf. 
 
 the  Four  Cluar'wls. 
 
 between  the  earth  and  the  heaven. 
 do;  Then  said  I  to  the  angel  that  talked 
 with  me,  Whither  do  these  bear  the 
 ephah  ?  <n)  And  he  said  unto  me,  To 
 build  it  an  house  in  the  land  of  Shinar  : 
 and  it  shall  be  established,  and  set 
 there  upon  her  own  base. 
 
 CHAPTER  VI.— « And  I  turned, 
 and  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  looked, 
 and,  behold,  there  came  four  chariots 
 out  from  between  two  mountains  ;  and 
 the  mountains  were  mountains  of  brass. 
 (2'  In  the  first  chariot  were  red  horses  ; 
 and  in  the  second  chariot  black  horses ; 
 (3>  and  in  the  third  chariot  white  horses  ; 
 and  in  the  fourth  chariot  grisled  and 
 1  bay  horses.     (4>  Then  I  answered  and 
 
 1  Or,  strong. 
 
 2  Or,  winds. 
 
 said  unto  the  angel  that  talked  with 
 me,  What  are  these,  my  lord? 
 
 (5)  And  the  angel  answered  and  said 
 unto  me,  These  are  the  four  "  spirits  of 
 the  heavens,  which  go  forth  from  stand- 
 ing before  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth. 
 (6)  ijhe  black  horses  which  are  therein 
 go  forth  into  the  north  country;  and 
 the  white  go  forth  after  them ;  and  the 
 grisled  go  forth  toward  the  south 
 country.  '7)And  the  bay  went  forth, 
 and  sought  to  go  that  they  might  walk 
 to  and  fro  through  the  earth  :  and  he 
 said,  Get  you  hence,  walk  to  and  fro 
 through  the  earth.  So  they  walked  to 
 and  fro  through  the  earth. 
 
 <8>  Then  cried  he  upon  me,  and  spake 
 unto  me,  saying,  Behold,  these  that  go 
 
 wind  to  enable  them  to  carry  their  burden  with  greater 
 ease  and  velocity  through  the  air.  The  prophet, 
 perhaps,  borrowed  his  imagery  from  some  of  the 
 grotesque  figures  he  had  seen  in  Babylon. 
 
 (ii)  Land  of  Shinar.— Where  mankind  had  first 
 organised  a  rebellion  against  God  (Gen.  xii.  2) ;  it  was 
 also  the  land  of  the  Captivity  of  the  Jews  (Babylonia). 
 
 This  vision  is  a  circumstantial  symbolisation  of  the 
 promise  given  in  chap.  iii.  9 :  "  I  will  remove  the  iniquity 
 of  the  land  in  one  day."  While  it  is  a  promise  of  the 
 remission  of  the  punishment  of  their  iniquity  (for  in 
 Hebrew,  "  iniquity "  often  means  punishment),  it 
 serves  also  as  an  exhortation  to  the  returned  exiles  to 
 leave  in  Babylon  the  iniquity  which  had  been  the  cause 
 of  their  being  transported  thither. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Seventh  Vision. — The  Four  Chariots. 
 
 (i)  And  I  turned  .  .  .  eyes.— Better,  And 
 again  I  lifted  up  my  eyes  (chaps,  iv.  1,  v.  1,  viii.  3). 
 
 There  came.— Better,  coming  forth.  The  proto- 
 types of  these  two  mountains  were,  no  doubt,  the 
 Mount  of  Olives  (chap.  xiv.  4)  and  Mount  Zion,  between 
 which  lies  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  where  the  Lord 
 judges  (such  is  the  meaning  of  the  name)  the  nations 
 (Joel  iii.  2,  sqq.).  But  the  mountains  themselves 
 were  visionary,  and  are  represented  as  of  brass,  to 
 denote,  according  to  some,  the  immovable  firmness  of 
 the  place  where  the  Lord  dwells,  and  where  He  has 
 founded  His  kingdom. 
 
 (2)  Red.— Better,  bay,  as  in  chap.  i.  8.  "  Red  "  is 
 applicable  to  cows,  but  "  bay  "  to  horses. 
 
 (3)  For  grisled  and  bay,  read  only  the  first  word, 
 grey,  as  in  chap.  i.  8.  It  is  necessary  (with  the  Syriac 
 Version)  to  make  this  conjectural  emendation,  because 
 (as  the  Hebrew  text  now  stands),  in  this  verse  the 
 "grisled  and  bay  horses"  are  spoken  of  as  identical, 
 while  in  verses  6,  7  they  are  distinguished  from  one 
 another ;  and,  moreover,  the  "  red  horses "  are  not 
 mentioned  again.     LXX.,  ttoik'lKoi  tfiapol. 
 
 <5)  Spirits. — Better,  winds. 
 
 "Which  go  forth.— Better,  going  forth.  "  Winds," 
 out  of  which  He  makes  His  messages  (Ps.  civ.  4),  are 
 most  appropriately  used  here,  as  symbolical  of  the 
 working  of  God's  Spirit.     (Comp.  Jer.  xlix.  36 ;   Dan. 
 
 574 
 
 vii.   21 ;  John  iii.  8.)     Here   the  words  of  the  angel- 
 interpreter  pass  imperceptibly  into  the  prophet's  own 
 description  of  the  scene. 
 From    standing    is    correct;    but    LXX.    have 
 
 ■napaVTrji/ai,  "  to  stand  by." 
 
 (6)  The  black  .  .  .  therein  go.— Better,  that  in 
 which  are  the  black  horses  went;  literally,  [were]  going. 
 It  would  seem  that  two  chariots  go  into  the  "  north 
 country,"  because  there  were  there  two  powers  to  be 
 overcome  :  viz.,  the  remnant  of  the  old  Asshur- Baby- 
 lonian and  the  Medo- Persian. 
 
 The  south.'.eountry  is  Egypt.  After  the  battle 
 of  Marathon  (B.C.  490),  Egypt  revolted  from  Darius, 
 but  it  was  re-conquered  by  Xerxes  (b.c.485).  From  that 
 time  onward  it  was  continually  in  a  state  of  revolt,  till 
 finally  it  was  subdued  to  the  Persian  power  by  Ochos 
 (B.C.  340).  It  was  afterwards  wrested  from  the  hands 
 of  Persia  by  Alexander  (B.C.  332). 
 
 (?)  Bay. — Better,  powerful;  but  in  the  Hebrew 
 the  word  which  the  English  Version  renders  "  red " 
 must  be  substituted  here,  and  rendered  bay.  Then  the 
 destinations  of  all  the  four  coloured  horses — bay,  black, 
 ivhite,  and  grey — will  be  accounted  for. 
 
 Get  you  hence. — Simply,  Go  ye. 
 
 (8)  Cried  he  upon  me,  means  summoned  me. 
 (Comp.  "Who  calls  on  Hamlet?"  —  Shakespeare, 
 Hamlet,  act  v.,  scenes  2,  3.) 
 
 Have  quieted  my  spirit.— "Spirit"  being  used, 
 as  in  Judge  viii.  3,  in  the  sense  of  "  wrath."  (For  the 
 phrase  "  to  quiet  wrath,"  comp.  Ezek.  v.  12,  xvi.  42,  xxiv. 
 13.  This  is  better  than  the  interpretation,  Have  made 
 my  spirit  to  rest,i.e.,  caused  my  spirit  of  judgment  (Isa. 
 iv.  4)  to  fall  upon.  (Comp.  lvi.  1.)  Many  commentators 
 have,  without  any  warrant,  drawn  their  interpretation  of 
 the  colours  of  the  horses  in  this  vision  from  the  Book 
 of  Revelation.  According  to  them,  "  red  "  means  war, 
 "black"  famine,  "white"  victory,  "grisled"  various 
 chastisements.  They  identify  the  "  grisled  "  with  the 
 "  bay "  of  the  English  Version,  or  rather  power- 
 ful ones  (as  they  render  the  word  in  verses  3,  7), 
 and  say  that  the  last  mission  was  not  received  by  the 
 so-called  "  red  horses,"  but  by  the  ''  powerful 
 ones  "  (English  Version,  "  bay,')  as  the  "  grisled " 
 are  also  called  in  verse  3,  to  indicate  that  the 
 manifold  judgments  symbolised  by  the  grisled  horses 
 will  pass  over  the  whole  earth  in  all  their  force.    But 
 
The  Crowns 
 
 ZKCIIAIHAH,    VI. 
 
 ofJotkua. 
 
 toward  the  north  country  have  quieted 
 my  Bpirii  in  the  north  country. 
 
 <9>  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
 me,  Baying,  (1")  Take  of  them  of  the  eapti- 
 viiv,  even  of  Heldoi,  of  Tobijah,  and  of 
 Jedaiah,  which  are  come  from  Babylon, 
 
 and  conic  thou  the  same  day,  and  <jo 
 into  the  house  of  Josiah  the  son  of 
 Zephaniah;  (U)  then  take  silver  and 
 gold,   and    make   crowns,    and   set  them 
 
 I    Or.  branch    up 
 from  i  n 
 
 upon  the  head  of  Joshua  the  son  of 
 Josedcch,  the  higdl  priest;  ""'and  -jii.ik 
 unto  him,  Baying,  Tims  speaketh  the 
 Lord  of  hosts,  sayin_r. 
 
 Behold  the  man  whose  name  is  The 
 "BRANCH;  and  he  shall  '^row  up  mit 
 of  his  place,  and  he  shall  build  the 
 temple  of  the  Lord:  <1:"  even  he  shall 
 build  the  temple  of  the  Loan  ;  and  he 
 shall  bear  the  glory,  and  shall  sit  and 
 
 ii  i-  better  to  consider  that  the  horses  are  represented 
 ss  of  different  colonrs  merely  in  order  to  give  greater 
 distinctness  to  the  vision.    (Oomp.  chaps,  i.  8,  v.  9.) 
 
 For  the  < imentators  fail  lo  discover  any  ethical  or 
 
 historical  reason  for  famine  and  victory  being  ('spe- 
 cially sent  to  the  north,  and  various  chastisements  to 
 the  Booth,  or  why  (according  to  the  unamended  Hebrew 
 text)  the  "  red    (English  Version),  i.e.,  "  bay  horses," 
 
 should  nut  have  been  sent  out  at  all.    A irding  to  the 
 
 amended  text,  "  the  buy  horses  "  seek,  and  obtain,  per- 
 mission to  go  through  all  the  earth,  signifying  possibly 
 
 that  Israel's  Protector  won  hi  defend  I  lis  people,  not  only 
 against  their  ancient  enemies,  but  also  against  any  who 
 should  rise  up  against  them  from  any  quarter  whatever. 
 The  (litlienlty  with  the  colours  of  the  horses  is  supposed 
 
 by  Hitzig  to  have  arisen  from  the  carelessness  of  the 
 writer;  but  we  agree  rather  with  Maurer,  who  attri- 
 butes it  to  a  blunder  of  an  early  copyist. 
 
 'I'm:  Symbolical  Crowning  op  Joshua. 
 
 (10)  Of  them  of  the-  captivity.— Even  those  who 
 had  returned  from  the  Captivity  were  so  called  (E/.ra 
 iv.  l,vi.  19).    These  were  probably, however,  Jews  who 
 
 intended  to  remain  in  the  land  of  their  exile,  but  who 
 were  Come  on  a  visit  to  Jerusalem,  bringing  offerings 
 of  silver  and  gold,  to  show  their  sympathy  with  their 
 brethren  who  were  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  re- 
 building of  the  Temple. 
 
 Ileldai  is  called  "  rlelom  "  in  verse  It, and  Josiah 
 seems  to  lie  called  "  Hon."  It  is  very  common  for  a 
 person  to  he  called  by  several  different  names  in  the 
 Hililo  ;  thus  llohab,  Jethro,  Keuel.  \-e..  are  some  of  t  he 
 names  of  Moses'  father-in-law.  hXX,  interpret  'lie 
 proper  names  as  follows  : — Ilrhlai  as  "  rulers."   Tobijah 
 
 as  their  useful  men,"  Jedaiah  as  "those  who  under- 
 stood them." 
 
 Tho  same  day.—  Literally,  on    that  day:  viz.,  on 
 
 the  same  day  on  which  thou  takest,  ,\e. 
 
 (")  Thon  tako.    Better,  yea  /.//.-.  :  via.,  from  the 
 
 three  mentioned  above. 
 
 Crowns.  Better,  a  composite  crown,  since  tho  word 
 is  construed  with  a  tiiiauhr  rath  in  verse  It.  and 
 thongh  plural  in  form  it  seems  to  he  used  of  a  single 
 crown  or  fillet  in  Job  xxxi.  36.    Zeehariah  is  commanded 
 
 to  go  to  the  hons, ■  ,.f  Joeiah  son  of  Zephaniah,  who 
 
 was  entertaining  certain  Jews,  who  seem  to  have  come 
 from  Babylon  with   gifts   and   offerings   for  the    House 
 
 of  the  Lord.    From  these  men  he  was  to  take  gold  and 
 
 silver,  and  to  cause  to  he  made  I  hereof  a  composite 
 diadem,  with  which  ho  was  to  crown  Joshua  the  high- 
 priest.      We  cannot,  of  course,  venture   with    F.tvald    to 
 
 insert  the  words  "and  upon  the  head  of  Zernbbabel" 
 
 after  the  words '•  upon  the  head  of  Joshua":  and  to 
 insert  the  name  "  Joshua  "  in  the  clause  "and  will  he 
 a  priest  upon  his  throne."  Even  if  such  an  arbitrary 
 alteration  of  the  text  were  admissible,  it  would  be  most 
 
 inappropriate.    No  crown  was  placed  on  Zernbbabel, 
 
 for  such  an  act    would  have  been  a  seeming  restoration 
 
 of  the  kingdom,  when  it  was  not  to  he  restored.     I  tod 
 
 had  foretold  that  none  of  the  race  of  .lehoiakim  should 
 prosper,  "sitting  on  the  throne  of  David,  and  rul m i ^r 
 any  more  in  .ludah"  (Jer.  xxii.  JUl.  Moreover,  the 
 in-own  had  been  definitely  taken  away  in  the  time  of 
 Zeilekiah,  "until  he  come  whoso  right  is  "  i  K/.ek.  xxi. 
 27    [321):    via.,   the   "king  who  should  reign    in   right  - 
 
 eousness"  (Is.  xxxii.  I),  "and  prosper,"  a  Branch  of 
 righteousness  I  Jer.  xxiii.  5). 
 But  there  was  placed  upon  the  head  of  Joshua, 
 
 the  high  priest,  this  "  royal  "  (2  Sam.  xii.  30)  crown 
 —  for  the  high  priest  did  not  properly  wear  a  crown,  and 
 
 this  word  is  never  used  for  "mitre" — that  in  Ins  person 
 
 might  be  symbolised  the  twofold  olli f   the  Blessiah, 
 
 who,  like  Melehi/.eilek,  was  to  be  a  priest  and  king  IV 
 CX.).  That  the  high  priests  during  a  succeeding  period 
 were  practically  the  rulersof  the  nation  is  not  sufficient 
 to  account  for  the  terms  of  this  prophecy,  especially 
 for  the  emphatic  personalty  of  the  royal  priest  men- 
 tioned in   the  next  verses. 
 
 (i-)  The  man. — Better,  a  man,  as  in  Isa.  xxxii.  2. 
 
 Branch.— See  Note  on  chap.  iii.  8. 
 
 Shall  build.  —This  verb  is  often  used  in  a  figura- 
 tive sense  :  e.g.,  of  a  family  (Gen.  xvi.  2).  Since  Zernb- 
 babel is  not  even  mentioned  in  this  passage,  Zechariah's 
 bearers  could  not  possibly  have  thought  that  this  sym- 
 bolical action  was  merely  a  repetition  of  the  promise  of 
 chap.  iv.  It,  but  must  have  perceived  that  the  building 
 of  the  Temple  here  spoken  of  referred  to  something  of 
 a  higher  nature  than  the  material  building  then  in 
 progress. 
 
 ('•'■>  Even  he  .  .  .  and  he. — The  pronoun  is  most 
 
 emphatic  in  both  cases.  It  implies  that  "He"  shall  be 
 the  true  builder.  "He"  the  true  ruler. 
 
 And  he  shall  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne.— 
 
 This  is  the  only  natural  translation  of  the  words.  The 
 word  "priest"  cannot  be  here  taken  as  "  prince  "  as  in 
 J  Sam.  viii.  8),  for  the  expression  "high  priest"  (verse 
 11)  sufficiently  limits  its  meaning.  Nor  can  "throne" 
 mean  merely  "seat  "  (8S  in  1  Sam.  iv.  13),  because  the 
 '  dignity  of  "  Branch  "  must  have  been  generally 
 recognised   from   Jer.  xxiii.  5,   &c.      LXX.,  <cot  to-mi 
 
 itpeus  $k  hi^iwv  ui/Tov,  Kcd  0ovKh  tipTjfiKij  iffrai  ava  fiffroy 
 au<poT<pu,v.  "  And  there  shall  be  a  priest  at  his  right 
 band,   and   a  peaceful   council  shall    be   between    litem 
 
 twain." 
 
 Counsol  of  peace — {.*.,  a  counsel  productive  of 
 
 peace.  •■  Peace"  denotes  the  perfection  of  all  highest 
 blessings,  temporal  and  spiritual. 
 
 Shall  be  between  them  both.  —  The  inter- 
 pretations of  this  verse  are  various — we  will  note  the 
 chief  of  them.  Hitzig  holds  that  the  Messiah  and  an 
 ideal  priest  are  referred  to  in  the  clause  "counsel  of 
 peace  shall  be  between   them  both."     But  we  cannot 
 
 576 
 
The  Reward  of  Obedience. 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,   VII. 
 
 The  Observante  of  Fasts. 
 
 rule  upon  his  throne ;  and  he  shall  be  a 
 priest  upon  his  throne  :  and  the  counsel 
 of  peace  shall  be  between  them  both. 
 
 <14)  And  the  crowns  shall  be  to  Helem, 
 and  to  Tobijah,  and  to  Jedaiah,  and  to 
 Hen  the  son  of  Zephaniah,  for  a  me- 
 morial in  the  temple  of  the  Lord. 
 <15>  And  they  that  are  far  off  shall  come 
 and  build  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord, 
 and  ye  shall  know  that  the  Lord  of 
 hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  you.  And  this 
 shall  come  to  pass,  if  ye  will  diligently 
 obey  the  voice  of  the  Lord  your  God. 
 
 1  Heb.,  to  ivtreat 
 Vie  /tice  of  the 
 Lord. 
 
 CHAPTEE  VII.  —  P)  And  it  came  to 
 pass  in  the  fourth  year  of  king  Darius, 
 that  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
 Zechariah  in  the  fourth  day  of  the  ninth 
 month,  even  in  Chisleu ;  (2)  when  they 
 had  sent  unto  the  house  of  God  Sherezer 
 and  Regem-melech,  and  their  men,  Ho 
 pray  before  the  Lord,  (3)  and  to  speak 
 unto  the  priests  which  were  in  the  house 
 of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  to  the  pro- 
 phets, saying,  Should  I  weep  in  the  fifth 
 month,  separating  myself,  as  I  have  done 
 these  so  many  years  ? 
 
 see  how  the  thought  of  some  ideal  priest  and  king,  who 
 would  coincide  in  some  unity  of  purpose,  could  have  oc- 
 curred to  the  minds  of  the  prophet's  hearers.  There 
 would  be,  moreover,  no  special  reason  for  speaking  of 
 unity  as  existing  between  a  king  and  a  priest ;  for,  as  a 
 matter  of  history,  the  priests  and  kings  were  seldom  at 
 variance,  though  the  prophets  and  kings  were  fre- 
 quently so.  fiosenmuller  considers  that  the  offices  of 
 priest  and  king  are  alluded  to.  But  a  "  counsel  of 
 peace  "  could  not  be  spoken  of  as  existing  between  two 
 abstracts.  Keil  takes  the  words  as  referring  to  the  two 
 characters  of  ruler  and  priest  combined  in  the  person  of 
 the  Messiah.  But  in  this  case  the  clause  would  bo 
 superfluous.  Why  should  there  not  be  unity  between 
 two  such  characters  combined  in  one  such  person  ? 
 Koehler  thinks  that  the  reference  is  to  the  two  offices 
 of  the  Messiah,  and  that  the  prophecy  speaks  of  a  plan 
 devised  by  the  Messiah  in  His  double  character,  whereby 
 peace  and  salvation  should  be  secured  to  His  people. 
 But  this  is  in  accord  with  the  modes  of  thought  of  neither 
 Old  nor  New  Testament.  Such  au  idea  would  have 
 been  incomprehensible  to  the  prophet's  hearers  ;  and 
 in  the  New  Testament  any  such  unity  of  design  for  the 
 salvation  of  mankind  is  spoken  of  as  existing  between 
 the  Father  and  the  Messiah  (not  between  two  of  the 
 offices  of  the  latter),  e.g.,  John  vi.  38,  x.  15 — 18,  iii.  16, 
 17;  Col.  i.  19,  20).  The  expression  "between  them  both" 
 can  only  mean  between  two  persons,  not  between  the  two 
 abstract  ideas  of  royalty  and  priesthood.  Nor  can  it  mean 
 between  the  king  and  the  priest,  for  only  one  person  is 
 mentioned,  who  is  himself  a  priest  on  a  royal  throne. 
 The  only  two  persons  mentioned  are  "  Branch"  (the 
 Prince  of  Peace :  Isa.  ix.  6)  and  the  Lord  Hiinself.  It 
 can,  then,  only  mean  between  them.  We  must  admit  that 
 the  passage  would  have  been  easier  of  interpretation 
 had  it  run,  "between  him  and  the  Lord."  But  when 
 we,  in  the  light  of  later  revelation,  consider  the  Divine 
 nature  of  "Branch,"  we  can  understand  the  fitness  of 
 the  expression  "  between  them  both,"  though  to  the 
 prophet's  original  hearers  it  must  have  sounded  enig- 
 matical. 
 
 (!■*)  The  crowns.— Better,  the  crown.  (See  Note 
 on  verse  11.)     The  verb  is  in  the  singular. 
 
 For  a  memorial— viz.,  of  their  piety. 
 
 (15)  And  they  that  are  far  off.— Hardly  the 
 Jews  of  the  Dispersion  only,  but  non-  Jews  also.  (Comp. 
 Haggai  ii.  7 ;  Zech.  ii.  11.) 
 
 And  build  in — i.e.,  work  at  building,  as  in  Ps. 
 cxxviii.  1.  With  regard  to  the  fulfilment,  see  Notes  on 
 the  passages  cited. 
 
 And  this  shall  come  to  pass.— Better,  And  it 
 sluill  come  to  f'ass,   if  our   God.     This  must  not   be 
 
 looked  on  as  an  abrupt  aposiopesis,  for  the  hearers 
 could  never  have  filled  up  the  gap  for  themselves.  Nor 
 is  the  rendering  of  the  English  Version  (although 
 it  has  the  support  of  Rashi  and  Kimchi)  admissible. 
 It  only  remains,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  the  re- 
 mainder of  the  passage  has  been  lost,  though  there 
 is  no  tradition  to  that  effect,  as  is  the  case  in  several 
 instances. 
 
 VII. 
 
 The   Inquiry  concerning  the  Continued  Ob- 
 servance op  the  Fasts. 
 
 (1)  Fourth  year  .  .  .  This  was  in  B.C.  518,  the 
 second  year  after  the  commencement  of  the  re-building 
 of  the  Temple,  and  about  two  years  before  its  completion. 
 
 (2)  When  they  had  sent  .  .  .  before  the 
 Lord. — Better,  Then  [the  people  of]  Bethel  [such  as] 
 Sherezer  and  Regemmelech,  and  his  men,  sent  to  entreat 
 the  Lord.  "  Bethel "  stands  for  the  inhabitants  of 
 Bethel,  many  of  the  former  inhabitants  of  which  had  re- 
 turned (Ezra  ii.  28);  similarly  "  Jerusalem  "  often  means 
 "the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem."  The  verb  "  then  there 
 sent "  seems  to  denote  an  event  subsequent  to  the  re- 
 velation spoken  of  in  verse  1.  (Comp.  1  Kings  xiv.  5, 
 where  the  prophet  Ahijah  receives  warning  of  the 
 coming  of  the  wife  of  Jeroboam.  Though  the  literal 
 meaning  of  "  Bethel  "  is  house  of  God,  no  instance  can 
 be  adduced  of  the  words  being  used  to  denote  the 
 Temple  (as  it  is  taken  by  the  English  Version).  Some 
 (with  LXX.)  translate  "  to  Bethel ;  "  but  this  rendering 
 is  unsuitable,  for  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  "  the 
 priests  belonging  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  "  dwelt  spe- 
 cially at  Bethel.  Others,  again,  render  the  words, 
 "  when  Bethel  sent  Sherezer,  and  Regem-melech,  and 
 their  people."  Sherezer,  or  rather  Sarezer,  is  mentioned 
 as  a  name  of  one  of  the  sons  of  Sennacherib,  Isa.  xxxvii. 
 38,  and  Nergal-Sarezer  occurs  Jer.  xxxix.  3.  The 
 name  is  Assyrian,  [Nirgal]-sar-usur,  "May  [Nergal] 
 protect  the  king  "  (Schrader). 
 
 (3)  In. — Better,  belonging  to.   LXX.,  wrongly,  iv  r$ 
 
 In  the  fifth  month— On  the  tenth  of  the  fifth 
 month  (Ab),  Nebuzar-adan  burnt  the  Temple  and  Jeru- 
 salem with  fire  (Jer.  Iii.  12,  13),  but  in  2  Kings  xxv. 
 8 — 10,  the  seventh  day  of  the  fifth  month  is  given  as 
 the  date  ;  perhaps  it  was  in  flames  for  three  days.  Now 
 that  the  re-building  was  well  in  progress,  they  naturally 
 desired  to  know  whether  the  fast  which  had  been  kept 
 in  commemoration  of  the  past  calamity  should  be  still 
 held. 
 
 Separating  myself — viz.,  from  meat  and  drink. 
 I  LXX.,  for  "shall  I  weep,  separating  myself?"  give 
 
 576 
 
Hypocrisy  Si  fmkt  d. 
 
 ZKCHAltlAH,    VII. 
 
 T>~ue  Pit  ty  Enjoined. 
 
 "  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Loud 
 of  hosts  nut"  inc.  Baying,  (5>  Speak  onto 
 
 all  the  i pie  of  tin'  hind,  mid  tu  tlir 
 
 priests,    >n \  iiiLT,   When    ye  "fasted    ami 
 
 mourned  in  the  fifth  ami  seventh  month, 
 
 even  those  seventy  years,  did  ye  at  all 
 t'.ist  unto  me,  even  to  me  P  ""  Ami  when 
 ye  did  eat,  and  when  ye  did  drink,  'did 
 not  ye  eat  for  yourselves,  and  drink  for 
 yourselves?  ,7'  J  Should  ye  not  hear  the 
 words  which  the  I.okii  hath  cried  ;i  hy 
 the  former  prophets,  when  Jerusalem 
 was  inhabited  and  in  prosperity,  and 
 the  cities  thereof  round  about  her, 
 when  men  inhabited  the  south  and  the 
 plain  r1 
 
 i8)  And  the  word  of  the  Loud  came 
 onto  Zechariah,  Baying,  '-''Thus  speaketh 
 the  I, o i;i>  of  hosts,  saying, 
 
 4 Execute  true  judgment,  and  shew 
 mercy  and  compassions  every  man  to 
 his   brother:  (10)  and   *  oppress   not   the 
 
 l     nr.    I.i-    ii»t    l/t 
 thty  that,  4c. 
 
 '.'  Hr.  Ar. 
 
 'litn. 
 
 :;  II-  l>,  '<j/  tin  lutwt 
 ul.  do. 
 
 i     il.  i. 
 fiutammt   c/ 
 Inn. 
 
 '.  Ex.  r.  '.'I  :    lU 
 I.a;  .i 
 
 •    H'N,  tliry  ptivf 
 ii     Ixirkilulmj 
 
 a   ii.i,,  matt 
 
 /ir.nj/. 
 
 of- 
 
 c  I'mv.  1 
 
 i.  is;  Jer.  n.  n 
 
 8  llrli,.  landof  dt 
 wire. 
 
 widow,  nor  the  fatherless,  the  stranger, 
 nor  the   poor;    and    lei    none   of    you 
 imagine  evil  sgainai  his  brother  in  your 
 heart.     '"'  .But  the)  refused  to  heai 
 and    '  pulled   away   the    shoulder,   and 
 
 "stopped  tlnir  ear.-,,  that  they  should 
 not  hear.  (12)  Yea,  they  made  their 
 hearts  as  an  adamant  stone,  lest  they 
 Should  hear  the  law,  and  the  winds 
 which  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  in 
 his  spirit  "by  the  former  prophets: 
 therefore  came  a  great  wrath  from  the 
 Liikh  of  hosts.  (^Therefore  it  is  come 
 to  pass,  that  as  he  cried,  and  they  would 
 not  hear;  so  c they  cried,  and  I  would 
 not  hear,  saith  the  Lokd  of  hosts  : 
 (14>  but  I  scattered  them  with  a  whirl- 
 wind among  all  the  nations  whom  they 
 knew  not.  Thus  the  land  was  desolate 
 after  them,  that  no  man  passed  through 
 nor  returned  :  for  they  laid  the  B  pleasant 
 land  desolate. 
 
 ciV(Ai{Au0(i>  !>St  .  .  .  t&  ayta(rp.a,  reading  the  same  con- 
 sonant s,  hut  different  vowels  (see  my  Student's  Com- 
 mi  iilnni  .  I  tonsequently,  iustead  of  •'  as  I  haw  done," 
 I,  X  X     gi\e  Kad6ri  tiro'niofv. 
 
 vii.  4  —  viii.  23.  The  prophet's  answer  is  contained  in 
 four  sections  (elutps.  vii.  4 — 7.  8 — 14,  viii.  1 — 17.18 
 — 'J.'!],  each  of  which  is  introduced  by  the  words.  "  The 
 word  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  came,"  &c.,  as  a  testimony 
 that  he  spake  not  of  himself. 
 
 ' '  71  The  people  (as  iu  Isa.  lviii.  3 — 8)  are  rebuked 
 for  the  hypocritical,  or  merely  formal,  nature  of  their 
 lasts.  The  prophet  does  not,  even  Farther  on,  give  any 
 direct  answer  to  their  inquiry.  He  seems  to  have 
 wished  to  show  them  thai  fasting  or  not  fasting  was  a 
 matter    of   only  secondary  consideration.     Their   fasts 
 
 ware  undertakes  on  account  of  their  sufferings;  their 
 
 Bufferings  were  caused  by  their  sins.  So.  then,  their 
 sins  were  the  origin  of  their  fasts.  Let  them  remove 
 sin  from  their  midst,  then  fasting  would  be  un- 
 necessary. "All  stated  fasts  tend  to  degenerate  into 
 superstition,  unless  there  is  a  strong  counteracting 
 agency.  The  original  reference  to  God  is  losi  in  the 
 men'  outward  act.  .  .  .  Selfishness  is  the  bane  of  all 
 true  piety,  as  godliness  is  its  essence  "  (Mooro). 
 
 (*)  All  the  people.— The  question,  though  asked 
 but  by  a  few,  was  of  interest  to  all  the  people;  or  the 
 
 people  "f  Bethel  may  have  been  the  representatives  of 
 all  the  people;  at  all  events  the  reply  is  given  to  the 
 whole  nation  (chap.  vii.  5).  Though  the  mission  came 
 in  the  ninth  month,  no  question  was  asked  about  the 
 fast  of  the  !•  ntli  month,  but  only  about  that  of  the  fifth 
 month.  The  reason  of  this  appears  to  be.  that  the  fast 
 in  Ah  being   in    connection  With  their  mourning  for  the 
 
 destruction  of  the  Temple,  it  was  natural  that,  now  the 
 rebuilding  of  it  had  progressed  so  far.  they  should 
 inquire  whether  that  particular  fast  should  be  kept. 
 The  prophet,  in  his  first  reply,  mentions  also  the  fast  of 
 the  3rd  of  the  seventh  month  {Ti.sliri).  which  was  kept 
 iu  memory  of  the  assassination  of  Gedaliah,  which  took 
 
 176  577 
 
 place  soon  after  the  destruct ion  of  the  Temple.  The 
 seventy  years  to  which  he  refers  are  those  between  the 
 seventh  month  B.C.  587  (the  date  of  the  assassination 
 of  Gedaliah)  and  the  ninth  month  B.C.  518  (the  date  of 
 the  Bethel  mission). 
 
 (?)  Should  ye  not  hear  the  words  which  .  .  . 
 — Better,  are  not  these  the  very  words  which  . 
 Haggai  ii.  5,  and  Zech.  viii.  17,  afford  exactly  parallel 
 Constructions.  There  is  no  need  to  supply  any  verb, 
 such  as  "  should  ye  not  hear  P  "  "  should  ye  not  do  P  "  or 
 "  do  ye  not  know  ?  "     LXX..  rightly,  oi>x  "trot  oi  A<£yoi ; 
 
 The  south.— District    belonging   to   Judah   (Josh. 
 
 xv.  21). 
 And  the  plain. - 
 
 verse  33). 
 
 -To    the   west   of  Judah   (Ibid., 
 
 (8—14)  The  prophet  implies  that  true  fasting  is  to 
 loose  the  bands  ot  wickedness  and  leave  off  oppression. 
 But  Israel  had  adopted  quite  the  opposite  course,  and 
 therefore  God,  in  accordance  with  Dent.  iv.  27.  had 
 scattered  them  among  the  nations. 
 
 (io)  And  let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  against 
 his  brother  in  your  heart.— Better,  and  ima 
 not  evil  against-one  anafht  rheevrt.   The  LXX.. 
 
 (ical    Kanlav    iKaffTOS    rov    afc\ipov   avrov   fit]   fiyijatKaKfiru), 
 and  Auth.   Version   are    here   grammatically  incorrect. 
 the  pronoun  being  not  here  (as  it   is  in  chap.  viii.  17 
 the  nominative  but  objective  ease,  as  is  shown  by  the 
 collocation. 
 
 (ii)  Pulled  away  the  shoulder.— Better,  offered 
 a  stubborn  shoulder  (Neh.  ix.  29  .  as  an  ox  that  refuses 
 to  receive  the  yoke. 
 
 i'-i  Adamant  stone  means  a  very  hard  stone; 
 "  diamond  "  is  the  modern  form  of  the  word.  "  Ada- 
 mant." adh&mae,  meaning  in  Greek  unconquerable, 
 was  originally  applied  to  '"steel"  (//..-■'.■./.  LXX. 
 explain  the  metaphor,  "made  the  heart  disobedient." 
 
 (is)  Therefore   it    is    come   to    pass.— LXX., 
 
 wrongly,  xai  tarai,  the  consequence  of  which  mistake  is 
 that  the  following  verbs  are  also  put  incorrectly  in  the 
 
The  Restoration 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,   VIII. 
 
 of  Jerusalem. 
 
 CHAPTER  VIII.— W  Again  the  word 
 of  the  Lord  of  hosts  came  to  me,  saying, 
 B)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  °  I  was 
 jealous  for  Zion  with  great  jealousy,  and 
 I  was  jealous  for  her  with  great  fury. 
 
 <3>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  I  am  re- 
 turned unto  Zion,  and  will  dwell  in  the 
 midst  of  Jerusalem :  and  Jerusalem 
 shall  be  called  a  city  of  truth  ;  and  the 
 mountain  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  the  holy 
 mountain. 
 
 W  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ; 
 There  shall  yet  old  men  and  old  women 
 dwell  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and 
 every  man  with  his  staff  in  his  hand 
 1  for  very  age.  (5)  And  the  streets  of 
 the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and  girls 
 playing  in  the  streets  thereof. 
 
 (fi)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  If 
 it  be  2  marvellous  in  the  eyes  of  the 
 remnant  of  this  people  hi  these  days, 
 should  it  also  be  marvellous  in  mine 
 eyes  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 
 Heb.,  for  multi- 
 tude of  days. 
 
 Or,   hard,   or, 
 difficult. 
 
 Heb.,  the  coun- 
 try of  the  going 
 down  of  the  sun. 
 
 Or.  the  hire  of 
 man  became  no- 
 thing, &c. 
 
 6  Hag.  1.  6. 
 
 <7>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  Be- 
 hold, I  will  save  my  people  from  the 
 east  country,  and  from  3  the  west  coun- 
 try ;  (8)  and  I  will  bring  them,  and  they 
 shall  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem  : 
 and  they  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will 
 be  their  God,  in  truth  and  in  righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 <9>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  Let 
 your  hands  be  strong,  ye  that  hear  in 
 these  days  these  words  by  the  mouth  of 
 the  prophets,  which  were  in  the  day  that 
 the  foundation  of  the  house  of  the  Lord 
 of  hosts  was  laid,  that  the  temple  might 
 be  built.  (10>  For  before  these  days 
 4  there  was  no  b  hire  for  man,  nor  any 
 hire  for  beast ;  neither  was  there  any 
 peace  to  him  that  went  out  or  came  in 
 because  of  the  affliction :  for  I  set  all 
 men  every  one  against  his  neighbour. 
 I11'  But  now  I  will  not  be  unto  the 
 residue  of  this  people  as  in  the  former 
 days,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.     (12)  For 
 
 future.  (For  the  phraseology  comp.  Micah  ill.  4 ;  Jer. 
 xi.  11,  xiv.  12.) 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The  third  section  of  the  prophet's  answer  is  divided 
 into  seven  separate  sayings  (verses  2 ;  3 ;  4,  5 ;  6 ;  7,  8 ; 
 9 — 13  ;  14 — 17),  and  the  fourth  into  three  (verses  19, 
 20  —  22,  and  23),  each  of  which  commences  with 
 "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  :  "  as  much  as  to  say, 
 Do  not  imagine  that  these  are  merely  the  words  of  man; 
 they  are  an  express  revelation  from  God. 
 
 (*)  I  was. — Better,  I  am  in  both  cases.  Here  God 
 declares  His  determination  to  give  expression  to  His 
 burning  love  for  Zion. 
 
 (3)  Comp.  chap.  ii.  10—13. 
 
 Of  truth — i.e. ,  where  truth  and  fidelity  towards  God 
 have  their  home  (comp.  Isa.  i.  21),  "  the  faithful  city." 
 (For  the  other  two  titles,  see  Isa.  ii.  2,  3;  Jer.  xxxi.  23.) 
 Zion  shall  return  to  her  former  condition  of  faithful- 
 ness, and  consequent  favour  with  God.  (Comp. 
 verse  8.) 
 
 (4—5)  Tliis  promise  may  well  be  regarded  as  having 
 been  fulfilled  to  the  letter  in  the  days  of  Simon  the 
 Maccabee  (1  Mace.  xiv.  4 — 15),  when  "the  ancient  men 
 sat  in  all  the  streets  .  .  .  and  the  young  men  put  on 
 glorious  and  warlike  apparel,"  and  "  every  man  sat 
 under  his  vine  and  his  fig-tree,  and  there  was  none  to 
 fray  them." 
 
 <6)  If  it  be  marvellous  in  the  eyes  of  the 
 remnant  of  this  people  in  these  days.— Better, 
 
 though  it  was  marvellous  in  the  eyes  of  the  remnant 
 of  this  people  in  those  days,  was  it,  therefore  [or  will 
 it,  therefore,  be]  marvellous  in  mine  eyes  ?  (Comp. 
 "  With  men  this  is  impossible ;  but  with  God  all  things 
 are  possible  " — Matt.  xix.  26.) 
 
 (")  From  the  east  .  .  .  and  from  the 
 west. — There  were  Jews  in  exile  in  the  west  as  well  as 
 in  the  east  (Joel  iii.  6)  ;  and,  indeed,  a  very  general  dis- 
 persion may  be  almost  implied  from  Isa.  xliii.  5 — 6. 
 
 (8)  See  Notes  on  chap.  x.  8 — 12. 
 
 (9)  Prophets. — It  would  almost  seem  that  there 
 were  other  prophets  who  spoke  at  the  time  besides 
 Haggai  and  Zechariah. 
 
 That  the  temple  might  be  built.— These 
 words  seem  to  be  used  in  reference  to  the  resumption  of 
 the  building  (Haggai  i.  15),  when  the  people  set  them- 
 selves to  work  with  a  will,  as  contrasted  with  the  first 
 laying  of  the  foundation  in  the  second  year  of 
 Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  B.C.  537  (Ezra  iii.  10,  com- 
 pared with  chap.  i.  1),  which  could  hardly  be  said  to 
 have  been  done  '■  that  the  temple  might  be  built," 
 since  the  work  of  building  was  then  suspended  for 
 about  sixteen  years.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
 that  LXX.  read  a  different  preposition  before  the  infini- 
 tive "to be  built,"  since  the  Hebrew  preposition  "  to," 
 or  rather  "  with  reference  to,"  often  denotes  "  with 
 reference  to  the  time  when,"  i.e.,  "  from  the  time  that." 
 (Comp.  chap.  i.  1.) 
 
 (io)  Before  .  .  .  there  was  no  hire  for  man, 
 or  cattle,  because  the  land  was  so  unproductive  (Haggai 
 i.  6,9—11,  i.  16,  17);  but  "from  the  day  that^the 
 foundation  of  the  Lord's  temple  was  laid  .  .  .  from  this 
 day  will  I  bless  you "  (Haggai  ii.  18,  19).     LXX., 
 
 h  fitrrdbs  .   .   .   ovk  earcu  els  8vf]cnv,  "  the   hire    .   .    .  would 
 
 not  be  profitable,"  reading  the  Hebrew  verb,  "  was  not," 
 as  an  Aramaic  future,  "will  not  be  profitable." 
 
 The  affliction. — Better,  the  enemy.  Not  only 
 were  they  oppressed  by  their  neighbouring  adversaries, 
 but  also  during  the  time  previous  to  their  energetic 
 resumption  of  the  work  of  re-building,  there  took  place 
 the  expedition  of  Cambyses  against  Egypt,  when  the 
 march  of  the  Persian  hosts  southwards  through  Pales- 
 tine must  have  caused  much  distress  to  the  Jews  in 
 their  narrow  circumstances. 
 
 (12)  For  the  seed  .  .  .  prosperous.— Comp.  the 
 Syriae,  "  for  the  seed  shall  be  peace."  Better,  us  in 
 margin,  For  the  seed  of  peace — viz.,  "  the  vine,"  which 
 is  so  called  because  it  can  flourish  only  in  times  of 
 peace  :   so  that  to  sit  under  the  vine  and  under  the  fig- 
 
 578 
 
Truth  and  Justice  Required. 
 
 Z  VA  '  1 1  A  I ,'  I  A  1 1 ,    VI I  f.    The  Lord  to  be  Sought  in  Jerusalem. 
 
 flu-  seed  ehaU  be  'prosperous;  the  vine 
 shall  rive  her  fruit,  and  the  ground 
 shall  give  iher  increase,  ami  the  heavens 
 shall  give  their  dew  ;  and  1  will  cause 
 the  remnant  of  this  people  to  possess  all 
 these  thimge.  (1:1>  And  it  shall  come  to 
 pass,  Unit  as  ye  were  a  curse  among  the 
 lieat  lien,  ()  house  of  .Judah,  and  house 
 of  Israel ;  so  will  I  save  you,  and  ye 
 shall  be  a  blessing:  tear  not,  but  let 
 yOOX  hands  he  strong. 
 
 P*)  For  thus  saith  the  Loud  of  hosts; 
 As  I  thought  to  punish  you,  when  your 
 fathers  provoked  me  to  wrath,  saith  the 
 Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  repented  not  : 
 <15)  so  again  have  I  thought  in  these 
 days  to  do  well  unto  Jerusalem 
 and  to  the  house  of  Judah:  fear  ye 
 not. 
 
 d«)  These  are  the  things  that  ye  shall 
 do  ;  "  Speak  ye  every  man  the  truth  to 
 his  neighbour;  2 execute  the  judgment 
 of  truth  and  peace  in  your  gates  :  (17)and 
 let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  in  your 
 hearts  against  his  neighbour  ;  and  love 
 DO  false  oath  :  for  all  these  are  things 
 that  I  hate,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 Bob*  tfptaet. 
 
 ■:  M.  h..;>t</(/f  truth, 
 'tint  tin  judgment 
 
 Or.    lotflMI, 
 
 -.'  t,,if  ■ 
 
 it  In.  :.  S;  Hie.  4. 
 
 I  Or,  conltnutiU'j. 
 
 Hi  ll.,  Qttiifj 
 
 i  n,-l>.,  tt>  intrfttt 
 tlif  /life  of  thr 
 Loud. 
 
 P8)  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  of  hosts 
 came  unto  me,  saying, 
 
 <19>  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  The 
 fast  of  the  fourth  ■mmith,  and  the  fast  of 
 the  fifth,  and  the  fast  of  the  seventh. 
 and  the  fast  of  the  tenth,  shall  be  to  the 
 house  of  Judah  joy  and  gladness,  and 
 cheerful 3 feasts ;  therefore  love  the  trut  h 
 and  peace. 
 
 '-'Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts:  II 
 ehoU  yet  came  to  pass,  that  there  shall 
 come  people,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
 many  cities  :  (21)  and  the  inhabitants  of 
 one  citij  shall  go  to  another,  Baying, 
 '  Let  us  go  "speedily ,"to  pray  before  the 
 Lord,  and  to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  I 
 will  go  also.  <— >  Yea,  many  people  and 
 strong  nations  shall  come  to  seek  the 
 Lord  of  hosts  in  Jerusalem,  and  to  pray 
 before  the  Lord. 
 
 (23)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  In 
 those  days  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  ten 
 men  shall  take  hold  out  of  all  languages 
 of  the  nations,  even  shall  take  hold  of 
 the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying. 
 We  will  go  with  you  :  for  we  have  heard 
 that  God  is  with  you. 
 
 brae  is  a  common  figure  to  denote  the  enjoyment  of 
 peace  and  prosperity.    For  the  word  "seed"  applied 
 
 to  the  vine,  oomp.  der.  ii.  21. 
 
 Comp.  1  Mnee.  xiv.  8:  "  Then  did  they  till  their 
 ground  in  peace,  and  the  earth  gave  her  increase,  and 
 the  trees  of  the  field  their  fruit" 
 
 (18)  Comp.  Isa.  xlvi.  9  with  Jer.  xxiv.  9.  The  con- 
 tents of  this  verse  is  the  converse  of  that  of  Josh. 
 xxiii.  15. 
 
 (H-17)  As  the  Captivity  had  hern  brought  about  by 
 l  out's  decree,  so,  COO,  the  Restoration.  The  people, 
 therefore,  need  not  fear,  if  only  they  do  that  which  is 
 righteous  in  His  sight. 
 
 (16)  Judgment  of  truth  and  peace — i.e.,  in 
 accordance  with  the  true  tarts  of  the  case,  and  such 
 
 judgment  SB    would    tend    to    peace   between    man    and 
 
 man.    iComp.  chap.  vii.  9 ;  and  contrast  Mai.  ii.  8,  9.) 
 
 (is    B)  This   fourth  section   gives   at    last  all  that  the 
 
 prophet  deigns  to  answer  concerning  the  (as)  of  the  tiftli 
 month  (chap.  vii.  3),  and  also  concerning  t he  other  fasts. 
 On  the  9th  or  17th  of  ••  the  fourth  "  month  i  IbmmiM) 
 Jerusalem  was  taken  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  in  the  eleventh 
 year  of  Zedekiah  (Jer.  xxxix.  2.  Hi.  6,  7).  On  the 
 tenth  of  "the  tenth"  month  [Tebeth]  siege  was  laid  to 
 
 Jerusalem    by    cV'buchadnezaar,   in    the    ninth    year  of 
 
 Zedekiah  (2  Kings  xxv.  1  ]  Jer.  lii.  4).  As,  on  aocounf 
 
 •  ■f  their  sins,  their  feasts  had  been  changed  into  fasts, 
 and  their  days  of  rejoicing  into  mourning  (Amos 
 viii.  L0)i  so  now  the  prophet  promises  that    if  only  they 
 
 will  keep  the  required  conditions  their  Easts  should  be 
 transformed  into  feasts,    No  express  command  is  given 
 
 with  respect  tO  the  abolition  of  the  fasts;  but  :ie- 
 QOrding  CO  Jewish  tradition  |  T.  Ii.  Both  Jlttsltslitiinili. 
 18  6),  when  the  nation  was  in  peace  and  prosperity 
 the  fasts  were  held  in  abeyance;  when  it  was  in  troubh 
 
 again  the  fasts  were  resumed.  Since  the  destruction 
 of  the  Temple  by  Titus,  the  Jews  have  kept  the  fol- 
 lowing fasts:  the  seventeenth  of  Tammuz,  the  ninth  of 
 Ab,  the  third  of  Tishri,  and  the  tenth  of  Tebeth,  on 
 account  of  various  calamities  which  took  place  on  those 
 days. 
 
 (i9)  "The  fast  of  the  fourth  [month]."— 
 LXX.,  after  the  analogy  of  Geu.  i.  81,  renders  "the 
 fourth  fast,"  and  so  also  with  the  others. 
 
 (20—2!)  The  language  of  the  promises  contained  in 
 these  verses  is  evidently  borrowed  from  Micafa  iv.  J; 
 Isa.  ii.  2,  3.  (Comp.  Isa.  xlv.  11 — 17.)  According  to  the 
 figurative  language  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  nations 
 are  represented  as  coming  up  to  Jerusalem  with  the 
 object,  doubtless,  of  keeping  there  the  festivals.  (Comp. 
 chaps,  ii.  10 — 13,  xiv.  lti — lit.)  But  we  must  not  look 
 for  a  literal  fulfilment  of  such  prophecies.  The  one 
 before  us  seems  to  lie  virtually  fulfilled,  in  the  fact 
 that  through  Jesus  Christ  (who  was  a  Jew  according  to 
 the  flesh)  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  has  been 
 spread  among  most  nations  of  the  world.  Still,  in 
 view  of  Rom.  xi..  we  are  not  without  warrant  in  looking 
 forward  to  a  more  glorious  and  perfect  fulfilnieut  of 
 such  prophecies  as  this  ill  the  unknown  future. 
 
 TO  And  the  inhabitants  of  one  city  shall  go 
 
 to  another. —  LXX.,Kai  <Tvvt\evo~ovTai  KaroiKoiTes  TrtvTt 
 triKets  (t!  niay  triKif.  "and  the  inhabitants  of  five  cities 
 shall  oome  together  to  one  city,'' borrowing  the  word 
 "five"  possibly  from  Isa.  xix.  IS.  "  In  that  day  there 
 shall  be  five  cities    ....    one  shall  be  called   .    .    . 
 
 <-':i  Ten. — This  number  is  used  indefinitely, 
 press  a  large  number  icomp.  Gen.  xvxi.  7);  the  number 
 "  aeven  "  is  osed  in  a  like  sense  in  Isa.  iv.  1. 
 
 579 
 
Tyre  Denounced. 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,   IX. 
 
 Philistia  Threatened- 
 
 CHAPTER  IX.—  m  The  burden  of 
 the  word  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of 
 Hadraeh,  and  Damascus  shall  be  the  rest 
 thereof:  when  the  eyes  of  man,  as  of  all 
 the  tribes  of  Israel,  shall  be  toward  the 
 Lord.  (2>  And  H amath  also  shall  border 
 thereby ;  Tjtus,  and  Zidon,  though  it 
 be  very  "wise.  (3)  And  Tyrus  did  build 
 herself  a  strong  hold,  and  heaped  up 
 silver  as  the  dust,  and  fine  gold  as  the 
 mire  of  the  streets.  (4)  Behold,  the  Lord 
 will  cast  her  out,  and  he  will  smite  her 
 
 B.C. 
 Cir.  487. 
 
 a  Ezek.  28  3,  Sec. 
 
 1  Heb.,  bloods. 
 
 power  in  the  sea ;  and  she  shall  be  de- 
 voured with  fire.  (5)  Ashkelon  shall  see 
 it,  and  fear ;  Gaza  also  shall  see  it,  and 
 be  very  sorrowful,  and  Ekron ;  for  her 
 expectation  shall  be  ashamed ;  and  the 
 king  shall  perish  from  Gaza,  and  Ash- 
 kelon shall  not  be  inhabited.  (6)  And  a 
 bastard  shall  dwell  in  Ashdod,  and  I  will 
 cut  off  the  pride  of  the  Philistines. 
 <7>  And  I  will  take  away  his  x  blood  out 
 of  his  mouth,  and  his  abominations 
 from  between  his  teeth :    but  he  that 
 
 IX. 
 
 On  the  date  and  genuineness  of  ehaps.  ix. — xiv., 
 see  Introduction.  It  has  been  urged  as  an  argument 
 for  the  earlier  date  of  Zech.  ix.  1 — 8,  that  this  oracle 
 speaks  of  several  cities  and  kingdoms  as  independent, 
 which  had  lost  their  independence  before  the  period 
 of  the  return  from  exile.  Tims  Damascus  lost  its 
 independence  when  Tiglath-pileser  overthrew  Syria  in 
 the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Ahaz,  and  Hamath  was 
 subdued  to  the  Assyrians  in  the  time  of  Mezekiah. 
 But  since  the  reference  to  Tyre  and  Sidon  is  admitted 
 by  the  objectors  to  afford  no  clear  indication  of  the 
 early  date  of  the  prophecy,  we  may  reply  simply 
 that  Jeremiah  prophesied  against  Damascus  and 
 Hamath  even  after  Nebuchadnezzar  had  overrun  their 
 territories  (Jer.  xlix.  23 — 37),  and  Jeremiah  (xxv.  20) 
 and  Ezekiel  (xxv.  15 — 17)  denounced  judgments  on  the 
 Philistines,  so  that  it  is  not  strange  that  a  post-exilian 
 prophet  should  speak  in  general  terms  of  the  disasters 
 which  would  overtake  these  nations  when  the  Medo- 
 Persian  empire  should  be  overthrown  by  the  Greeks. 
 Moreover,  in  our  note  on  verse  2,  we  point  out 
 that  the  prophecies  contained  in  chaps,  ix.  and  x. 
 received  an  accurate  fulfilment  in  the  invasion  of 
 Palestine  by  Alexander  the  Great  (B.C.  333).  As 
 early  as  B.C.  499,  when  Sardis  was  burnt  by  the 
 Ionians,  an  eventual  struggle  between  "  the  sons  of 
 Greece "  and  "  the  sons  of  Zion "  must  have  been 
 foreseen.  But  these  prophecies  may  have  been  de- 
 livered, even  by  Zechariah  himself,  at  a  still  later  date 
 than  this.     (See  Introduction.) 
 
 (!)  In  the  land.— Better,  on  the  land. 
 
 Hadraeh. — Until  lately  this  word  has  been  an 
 insuperable  difficulty  to  commentators,  but  now  it  is 
 known,  from  various  Assyrian  inscriptions,  that 
 Hadraeh  (Ha-ta-ri-ka)  was  the  name  of  a  town  or 
 district  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Damascus  and  Hamath. 
 (Records  of  the  Past,  Vol.  V.) 
 
 The  rest[ing  place]  thereof.— viz.,  of  the  prophecy : 
 i.e.,  the  judgments  of  God  should  begin  at  that  city. 
 LXX.,  6vaia  ai/Tov,  "  his  sacrifice,"  reading  different 
 vowels. 
 
 When  the  eyes  .  .  .  the  Lord.— Various 
 renderings  of  these  words  have  been  proposed,  but  the 
 best  is,  for  to  the  Lord  [will]  the  eye  of  man  [be 
 directed],  and  [that  of]  all  the  tribes  of  Israel :  i.e., 
 when  God's  judgments  are  fulfilled  against  these  dis- 
 tricts, the  eyes  of  all  will  be  turned  towards  Him  in 
 wonder.  LXX.,  Sto-n  Kvptos  ecpopa  iivBpuirous,  leal  Trdcras 
 <pv\as  toD  'IcrpajjA,  taking  "  to  "  as  possessive,  and  "  man  " 
 as  the  objective  genitive,  "  For  to  the  Lord  is  an  eye 
 on  man." 
 
 Instead  of  Adam,  "man,"  some  propose  to  read 
 Aram,  "  Syria,"  the  letters  d  and  r  being  easily  inter- 
 changed in  the  Asshurith  (square  Hebrew),  and  many 
 other  Oriental  characters. 
 
 (2)  And  Hamath  .  .  .  thereby.— Better. 
 And  even  upon  Hamath,  [which]  borders  on  it :  viz.,  on 
 Damascus. 
 
 Thus  far  concerning  Syria  ;  now  he  speaks  of 
 Phoenicia.  The  terms  of  the  denunciation  of  Syria 
 are  so  general,  that  if  they  stood  alone  we  should  be  at 
 a  loss  to  fix  the  era  of  their  fulfilment.  But  the  case 
 is  different  with  Tyre  (verses  2 — i)  ;  for,  though  Tyre 
 was  besieged  by  Shalmanezer,  and  perhaps  even  taken 
 by  Nebuchadnezzar,  it  was  certainly  never  "  devoured 
 with  fire  "  until  (B.C.  333)  Alexander, "  having  slain  all 
 save  those  who  fled  to  the  temples,  ordered  the  houses 
 to  beset  on  fire"  (Q.  Curtius).  At  the  same  time, 
 though  he  attacked  Phoenicia  with  the  main  body 
 of  his  army,  he  sent  a  detachment  under  Parmenio  to 
 operate  against  Syria.  To  this  date,  then,  we  consider 
 this  prophecy  to  refer.  (On  the  mention  of  these 
 nations  in  particular,  and  the  argument  founded  on  the 
 supposed  similarity  of  Zech.  i.  1 — 8,  and  Amos  i. — ii.  6, 
 see  Introduction,  B.  2.) 
 
 (5)  See  it,  and  fear. — Well  might  Philistia  fear 
 and  tremble  on  hearing  of  the  destruction  of  Tyre. 
 Ashkelon  and  Ekron,  it  is  true,  are  not  mentioned  in 
 connection  with  this  march  of  Alexander,  but  they  must 
 necessarily  have  been  occupied  by  his  troops.  But 
 Gaza  was  certainly  taken,  after  a  siege  of  five  months  ; 
 and  special  mention  is  made  by  Hegesias  (a  contempo- 
 rary of  Alexander)  of  the  "  king  "  of  Gaza  being  brought 
 alive  to  Alexander  after  the  capture  of  that  city. 
 
 Not  be  inhabited. — Or,  not  remain. 
 
 (6)  A  bastard. — i.e.,  a  mixed  race.  It  was  a  special 
 point  in  Alexander's  policy  to  break  up  nationalities, 
 and  to  fuse  different  peoples. 
 
 C)  Blood  .  .  .  abominations.— viz.,  their 
 idolatrous  sacrifices. 
 
 Jebusite. — Some  take  this  word  to  mean  Jerusalem 
 (comp.  Josh.  xv.  8,  and  especially  xviii.  28).  Others 
 suppose  it  to  be  a  designation  of  the  remnant  of  the 
 Canaanitish  tribes,  who  were,  like  the  Gibeonites, 
 retained  for  servile  duties  about  the  Temple.  But 
 since  the  "  Jebusite "  seems  to  be  parallel  with  the 
 word  alluph,  "  governor  "  or  "  prince,"  rather  than 
 contrasted  with  it,  it  seems  more  probable  that  it 
 refers  to  the  Jebusite  people,  who  "dwelt  with  the 
 children  of  Judah  in  Jerusalem,"  as  equals,  and  not  as  a 
 conquered  race  (Josh.  xv.  63).  But  for  the  fact  that  the 
 place  Eleph  is  distinctly  mentioned  (ibid.)  as  being  in 
 Benjamin,  not  Judah,  one  would  be  inclined  to  read  the 
 word  alluph  (which  occurs  in  the  singular  in  this  passage 
 only  without  the  u  distinctly  written)  as  Eleph,  and  to 
 580 
 
A  Promiee  of  Hotter 
 
 XirilAKIAII,    IX. 
 
 Things  to  Jerusalem. 
 
 ri'iiiiiiiirtli,  I'vcii  he,  slttill  l>r  for  our  (<<>d, 
 and  lie  shall  be  as  a  governor  in  Jinliili, 
 and  Ekron  as  a  .Irbusite.  (H)  And  1  will 
 encamp  ,.b<>ut  mine  bouse  because  of 
 the  army,  because  of  him  thai  jiasseth 
 by,  and  because  of  him  that  retnrnetb  : 
 and  no  oppressor  shall  pass  through 
 them  any  more:  for  now  have  I  seen 
 with  mine  eyes. 
 
 Ill      Ml  j  Ustt 
 John   U. 
 
 1  Or,  Mvinu  him- 
 
 Klf. 
 
 <9>  "Rejoice    greatly,   O  daughter  of 
 Zion;  sliMiit.  ()  daughter  of  Jerusalem: 
 
 bidiold,  thy  h'iiiLf  <■<  'im-t  h  unto  thi-e  :    he 
 
 is  just,  and  'having  Balvation;  lowly, 
 and  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  coli 
 the  foal  of  an  ass.  (10>  And  I  will  cut  off 
 the  chariot  from  Ephraim,  and  the  horse 
 from  Jerusalem,  and  the  battle  bow  sh;ill 
 be  cut  off :  and  he  shall  speak  peace  unto 
 
 understand  Jehuei  as  mnming  Jerusalem,  Perhaps 
 EUph  w.ms  mi  tin'  borders  of  Benjamin  and  Judah,  and 
 bo  may  have  sometimes  been  spoken  of  aa  belonging  to 
 .Iml.'ili.  Nothing  is  known  of  any  great  conversion  of 
 Philistines  to  Judaism  at  this  time;  nay,  indeed,  in 
 lain  times  we  still  hear  of  them  as  hostile  to 
 the  Jews  (1  Maee.  iii.  11,  x.  83);  but  after  this 
 last  reference  they  disappear  from  history  as  a 
 ite  nation,  probably  because  they  were  no 
 longer  distinguishable  from  the  Jews  or  the  Greek 
 settlers  of  those  regions. 
 
 1-1  Amid  all  these  dangers,  Israel  is  promised,  under 
 Divino  protection,  a  certain  immunity. 
 
 Because  of  the  army.— This  is  tlio  meaning  of 
 tho  word  as  pointed  in  the  Hebrew  text,  but  some, 
 altering  the  vocalisation,  would  render  it  "as  a 
 garrison  ;  "  and  othere,  as  LXX.,  "  a  oolnmn." 
 
 Him  that  passoth  .  .  .  returneth.— Puscy 
 refers  these  words  directly  to  "  Alexander,  who  passed 
 l>tj  with  his  army  on  the  way  to  Egypt,  and  returned, 
 having  founded  Alexandria,"  but  this  appears  to  us  to  be 
 too  special  an  application  of  an  expression  which  occurs 
 ina  general  sense  in  chap.  vii.  14;  Exod.  xxxii.  27; 
 H/.ok.  xxxv.  7.  The  promise,  however.  Was  undoubtedly 
 fulfilled  when  Alexander  entered  Jerusalem,  prostrated 
 himself  before  the  high  priest,  and  treated  tho  Jews 
 with  peculiar  favour. 
 
 Oppressor.-  The  same  word  that  is  used  in  chap. 
 X.  4.     (Comp.  Isa.  iii.  12,  Ix.  17.) 
 
 Have  I  seen. — Compare  Exod.  iii.  7.  In  the  esti- 
 mation of  the  man  of  little  faith,  God  ouly  sees  when 
 He  actively  interferes. 
 
 (9—17)  The  advent  of  the  king.  It  has  been  urged  as 
 an  objection  against  the  poet-exilic  authorship  of  this 
 passage  that  "Ephraim"  and  "Jerusalem"  are  men- 
 tioned, as  though  Israel  were  still  separated  from 
 Judah.  But.  on  the  contrary,  Ephraim  and  Jerusalem 
 are  here  strictly   parallel   terms,  as  are  also  "Judah" 
 
 and  •■  Ephraim  "  i  \  bt.  13),  where  both  are  represented  as 
 
 equally  Opposed  to  the  sons  of  Javan.      The  nation  was 
 
 now  one  i  Ivok.  xxw  ii.  22)  and  known  by  the  names  of 
 ••  Israel  "  ixii.  1  ;  Mai.  i.  I.  ">),  "all  the  tribes  of  Israel" 
 (ix.  lb  also  tho  "bouse  of  Judah"  ix.  :!.  til.  "house  of 
 Joseph  "  and  "  Ephraiiu  "  (\.  (i.  J),      For.  now  that   the 
 
 "dead  bones  of  the  whole  house  of  Israel"  were  revived 
 I  Seek,  xxxvii,  lit.  and  "  my  servant  David  "  was  about 
 to  be  "King  over  them"  (ver.  24),  the  prophecy  of 
 Kzekiel    (ver.     ll>— 22)    was    fultilled.    and    the    stives 
 
 [tribes,  shibhte)  at  Joseph  and  of  Judah  had  become 
 
 <'iie  in  (Jod's  hand.      Hence  the  interchangeable  terms. 
 
 This  passage  is  now  generally  admit  ted  to  be  Messianic. 
 
 Hut  the  prophecy  was  not  to  be  immediately  fultilled. 
 The  nation  had  yet  severe  Bufferings  to  endure  and 
 triumphs  to  achieve,  viz.  in  those  struggles  with  the 
 sous  of  Qreeoe"  which  render  the  Maccaliean  period 
 (B.C.  lb'7 — 130)  one  of  the  most  noble  pages  in  Jewish 
 
 history.  Those  who  still  remained  in  the  land  of  their 
 exile  are  exhorted  to  come  forth  (comp.  ii.  7  13i, 
 Confident  in  the  help  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  who  would 
 wield  the  reunited  Judah  and  Ephraim  fcomp  I  -a.  xi.  13i 
 as  His  weapons  of  war  (comp.  Jcr.  Ii.  20);  He  Himself 
 will  appear  as  their  champion,  with  the  rolling  of  the 
 thunder  as  His  war-trumpet,  the  forked  lightning  as 
 His  arrows,  "  the  wild  storm  blowing  from  the  southern 
 desert,  the  resistless  fury  of  His  might."  And  then, 
 when  they  had  fought  the  good  fight,  and  not  before, 
 <  k>d  promises  "  the  thick  His  people  "  the  blessings  of 
 peace  (\er.  Ill,  17). 
 
 (»)  Having  salvation.-- Better,  saved.  (Comp. 
 the  whole  tenor  of  Ps.  ii.  and  Eph.  i.  19 — 23;  also 
 Acts  ii.  23,  24 ;  Phil.  ii.  8 ;  Heb.  v.  9.) 
 
 Lowly.-  Better,  afflicted.  (Comp.  Isa.  liii.  4.) 
 Of  an  ass.  Literally,  of  she  asses.  (For  this  use 
 of  plural  comp.  Gen.  xxxvii.  81;  Judges  xiv.  ,r>. ) 
 Riding  on  an  ass  did  not  in  later,  as  in  earlier  times 
 (Judges  v.  !».  ic.l.  denote  high  rank,  neither  can  it  be 
 proved  that  it  is  here  intended  to  symbolise  either 
 peace  or  humility.  But  it  iloes  indicate  an  absence  of 
 pomp  and  worldly  display.  This  prophecy  was  literally 
 fultilled  by  our  Lord's  entry  into  Jerusalem  on  Palm 
 Sunday  (Matt.  xii.  15 — 20).  We  have  no  hesitation  in 
 saying  that  He  deliberately,  in  view  of  this  prophecy, 
 performed  that  act.  not  merely  in  order  to  fulfil  tho 
 prophecy,  but  rather  as  a  symbolical  act.  by  which  He 
 
 intended  to  correct  the  false  notions  concerning  the 
 mission  of  the  Messiah  entertained  by  His  friends,  as 
 well  as  by  His  enemies.  But  our  Lord's  consciousness 
 that  He  was  fulfilling  prophecy,  or  even  His  deliberate 
 intention  of  doing  so,  does  not  detract  from  the  value 
 of  the  act  as  a  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy.  For,  though 
 it  is  true  that  any  Jew  might  have  fultilled  that  part  of 
 the  prophecy  which  consists  in   riding  into  the  city  on 
 
 an  ass,  who  would  have  done  so  amid  the  acclamations  of 
 
 the  multitude,  and  so  have  been  acknowledged  as   the 
 
 expected  king,  except  One,  who,  by  the  whole  of  His 
 
 previous  life,  had  already  won  the  hearts  of  the 
 multitude — though  that  "  many. headed  monster  thing" 
 did  change  its  cry  on  the  following  Friday?  Any  one 
 could  have  riddeu  in  on  an  ass.  hut  could  any  o?ie  have 
 founded  an  almost  universal  religion  P 
 
 The  wording  of  this  verse  is  borrowed  from  Mieah 
 v.  9 — 13  rather  than  from  Mieah  iv.  3  ;  Isa.  ii.  4.  and 
 seems  to  indicate  that  when  their  King  should  come, 
 the  nation  would  be  enjoying  a  certain  political  inde- 
 pendence, but  that  their  military  power  woldd  have 
 come  to  an  end. 
 
 (io)  Speak  peace. — Not  only  to  His  own  people 
 Isa.  Iii.  7).  but  also  to  the  heathen  by  setting  Up  His 
 spiritual  kingdom  among  them.  lOomp.  chap  vi.  13.) 
 With  the  latter  part  of  this  verse  comp.  Ps.  lxxii.  8. 
 
 The  river.— Namely,  the  Euphrates  (Mieah  vii.  12; 
 Isa.  vii.  20). 
 
 581 
 
God's  Promises  of 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,  X. 
 
 Victory  and  Defence. 
 
 the  heathen  :  and  his  dominion  shall  be 
 "  from  sea  even  to  sea,  and  from  the 
 river  even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
 
 <u>  As  for  thee  also,  1bj  the  blood  of 
 thy  covenant  I  have  sent  forth  thy 
 ''prisoners  out  of  the  pit  wherein  is  no 
 water.  I12'  Turn  you  to  the  strong  hold, 
 ye  prisoners  of  hope  :  even  to  day  do  I 
 declare  that  I  will  render  double  unto 
 thee ;  <13>  when  I  have  bent  Judah  for 
 me,  filled  the  bow  with  Ephraim,  and 
 raised  up  thy  sons,  0  Zion,  against  thy 
 sons,  0  Greece,  and  made  thee  as  the 
 sword  of  a  mighty  man.  <u>  And  the 
 Loed  shall  be  seen  over  them,  and  his 
 arrow  shall  go  forth  as  the  lightning : 
 and  the  Lord  God  shall  blow  the 
 trumpet,  and  shall  go  with  whirlwinds 
 of  the  south.  <15>  The  Loed  of  hosts 
 shall  defend  them ;  and  they  shall  de- 
 
 ]   Or,  whose  cove- 
 nant is  by  blood. 
 
 2    Or,  svjidae   the 
 stones    0/    the 
 sting. 
 
 3  Or.  shall  Jill  both 
 the  boivts.  &c. 
 
 4  Or,   grow,  or, 
 speak. 
 
 Or,  liglitnmns. 
 
 c  Jer.  10.  8 ;   Hab 
 2. 18. 
 
 6  Heb.,  teraphims 
 
 vour,  and  3 subdue  with  sling  stones ; 
 and  they  shall  drink,  and  make  a  noise 
 as  through  wine ;  and  they  3  shall  be 
 filled  like  bowls,  and  as  the  corners  of 
 the  altar.  (16)  And  the  Loed  their  God 
 shall  save  them  in  that  day  as  the  flock 
 of  his  people :  for  they  sliall  be  as  the 
 stones  of  a  crown,  lifted  up  as  an  ensign 
 upon  his  land.  <17)  For  how  great  is  his 
 goodness,  and  how  great  is  his  beauty  ! 
 corn  shall  make  the  young  men  *  cheer- 
 ful, and  new  wine  the  maids. 
 
 CHAPTEE  X.— ("Ask  ye  of  the 
 Loed  rain  in  the  time  of  the  latter  rain ; 
 so  the  Loed  shall  make  5  bright  clouds, 
 and  give  them  showers  of  rain,  to  every 
 one  grass  in  the  field.  <2>  For  the 
 c6  idols  have  spoken  vanity,  and  the  di- 
 viners  have   seen  a  lie,  and  have  told 
 
 (11)  Thee— i.e.,  Zion. 
 
 By  the  blood  of  thy  covenant.— Comp.  Exod. 
 xxiv.  3—8. 
 
 By  means  in  consideration  of. 
 The  pit.— i.e.,  Babylon. 
 
 (12)  Strong  hold. — Better,  steepness  of  their  own 
 land.  Those  who  still  remained  in  Babylon  are  ex- 
 horted to  come  forth.  Somewhat  similarly,  in  Zech. 
 viii.  8  (which  is  on  all  sides  admitted  to  be  written  after 
 the  return  from  the  captivity)  we  read :  "  And  I  will 
 bring  them,  and  they  shall  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Jeru- 
 salem; and  they  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be 
 their  God,  in  truth  and  in  righteousness."  They  are 
 "  prisoners  of  hope,"  being  prisoners  still  in  Babylon, 
 and  "  of  hope,"  because,  if  they  chose  to  accept  them, 
 they  are  the  subjects  of  glorious  hopes  and  promises. 
 
 Double. — Recompense  for  all  these  sufferings 
 (Isa.  lxi.  7). 
 
 (13)  When. — Better,  for ;  and  read  the  verbs  in  the 
 future,  the  tense  used  being  the  "  prophetic  perfect." 
 These  verses  are  prophetic  of  the  military  prowess  of 
 Israel,  through  the  aid  of  the  Lord  God,  and  were 
 signally  fulfilled  in  the  triumphs  of  the  Maccabees  over 
 the  Grecian  rulers  of  Syria  (b.c.  167  —  130),  even 
 though  the  prophet  may  not  have  had  any  distinct 
 notion  of  such  distant  events. 
 
 With  Ephraim.  —  As  though  with  an  arrow. 
 (Ephraim,  see  Note  on  verse  10,  and  on  xii.  1.) 
 
 (i*)  Shall  be  seen  over  them.— Perhaps  better, 
 on  their  behalf  shall  He  manifest  Himself. 
 
 Of  the  south. — Whence  the  most  violent  storms 
 frequently  came  from  over  the  desert.  (Comp.  Ps. 
 xxi.  1.) 
 
 (15)  Subdue  with  sling  stones.— Better,  trample 
 on  sling  stones  in  their  valorous  onslaught  on  the 
 enemy.  For  the  figures  "  devour  "  and  "  drink,"  comp. 
 Num.  xxiii.  24 ;  Micah  v.  8 ;  Ezek.  xiv.  20,  xxxix.  16, 17. 
 
 Be  filled. — With  the  blood  of  their  enemies,  like  the 
 bowls  in  which  the  priests  caught  the  blood  of  the 
 victims,  and  then  sprinkled  it  on  the  corners  of  the 
 altar. 
 
 (16)  Flock.— Observe  hero  the  first  introduction  of 
 the  word  and  idea  of  "  flock,"  which  plays  such  a 
 prominent  part  in  the  next  three  (four  P)  chapters. 
 
 (17)  Goodness. — Better,  goodliness  (Hos.  x.  11). 
 His  means  Israel's.     (Comp.  Num.  xxiv.  5.) 
 Make    .    .    .    cheerful. — Better,   make  to   grow 
 numerously.     For  the  idea,  comp.  Ps.  lxxii.  16,  and 
 see  also  chap.  viii.  5 ;  and  for  the  fulfilment,  the  refer- 
 ence there  to  Maccabees. 
 
 X. 
 
 This  chapter  is  immediately  connected  with  what 
 precedes.  The  people  are  now  directed  to  pray  for  that 
 rain  which  alone  could  produce  the  fertility  touched  on 
 in  the  concluding  verses  of  chap.  ix.  It  is  probable, 
 since  the  prophet  mentions  only  the  latter  rain,  that  he 
 was  prophesying  between  the  time  of  the  former  rains 
 (Marcheshvan  and  Cislev),  and  of  the  latter  rains 
 (Nisan). 
 
 (i>  Bright  clouds.— Better,  lightnings,  which  pre- 
 cede the  longed-for  rain.  (Comp.  Jer.  x.  13 ;  Ps.  cxxxv.7.) 
 
 Grass.     .     .     .—Comp.  Deut.  xi.  15. 
 
 (2)  Idols. — Better,  as  in  margin,  teraphim.  (See  on 
 Judges  xvii.  5.)  Against  the  post-exilian  origin  of  this 
 passage,  and  of  xiii.  2,  it  has  been  objected  that  idols 
 and  false  prophets  harmonise  only  with  a  time 
 prior  to  the  exile.  It  is  true  that  after  the  captivity 
 idolatry  was  not  the  sin  to  which  the  people  were 
 especially  inclined,  as  they  were  in  former  times.  Still, 
 even  if  the  prophet  was  not  speaking  of  sins  of  tho  past, 
 rather  than  those  of  his  own  day.  it  must  be  remembered 
 that  the  marriage  with  heathen  women,  which  is  so  often 
 spoken  of  after  the  captivity,  must  have  been,  as  was 
 the  case  with  Solomon,  a  continual  source  of  danger  in 
 that  respect.  Moreover,  idolatry,  soothsaying,  &c.  were 
 actually  practised  up  to  the  time  of  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem  by  Titus.  Thus  we  read  of  false  prophets 
 who  opposed  Nehemiah  (Neh  vi.  10 — 14),  and  of 
 "sorcerers  "  in  Mai.  iii.  5,  and  so,  too,  of  false  prophets 
 in  Acts  v.  36,  37,  xiii.  6,  &c,  and  at  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem  (Josephus,  Bel.  Jud.  vi.  5,  §§  2, 3).  And  in 
 the  wars  of  the  Maccabees  we  read  (2  Mace.  xii.  40), 
 "under  the  coats  of  every  one  that  was  slain  they 
 found  things  consecrated  to  the  idols  of  the  Jannites, 
 which  is  forbidden  the  Jews  by  their  law." 
 
 And  have  told  false  dreams.— Better,  and 
 dreams  tell  that  which  is  vain.     The  prophet  had, 
 
 582 
 
Ood  is  to  be  Sought, 
 
 ZECHABIAH,   X 
 
 and  not  I 
 
 false  dreams;  they  comfort  in  rain: 
 therefore  they  went  their  way  as  a  Bock, 
 they  'wire  troubled,  because  there  was 
 
 DO  shepherd. 
 
 M  Lm -  anger  was  kindled  against  the 
 shepherds,  and  I  'punished  the  goats: 
 
 I . >r  till'    Ldkd  of  hosts  hath  visited    his 
 
 flock  the  house  of  Judah,  and  hath  made 
 them  as  his  goodly  borse  in  the  battle. 
 1,1  Out  of  him  came  forth  the  corner, 
 out  of  him  the  nail,  out  of  him  the  battle 
 bow,  out  of  him  every  oppressor  to- 
 gether. 
 
 (5)  And  they  shall  be  as  mighty  men, 
 which  tread  down  their  enemies  in  the 
 mire  of  the  streets  in  the  battle :  and 
 they  shall  fight,  because   the  Lord  is 
 
 I     Or,    nnavered 
 thai.  4c. 
 
 n<  h. 
 
 .1    Or,   thry    nhall 
 makt  thr  ruins 
 on    htrntea   a- 
 Khameti. 
 
 with  them,  and  the  riders  on  hi 
 shall  he  confounded.  ,6)  And  I  will 
 strengthen  the  house  of  Judah,  and  I 
 will  save  the  house  of  Joseph,  and  I 
 will  bring  them  again  to  place  them  ; 
 Eor  I  have  mercy  upon  them:  and  they 
 
 shall  he  as  though  I  had  not  east  them 
 off:  for  I  "/"  the  I, oini  their  God,  and 
 will  bear  them.  (7)  And  tin  ty  of  Ephraim 
 shall  be  like  a  mighty  man,  and  their 
 heart  shall  rejoice  as  through  wine : 
 yea,  their  children  shall  see  it,  and  be 
 glad ;  their  heart  shall  rejoice  in  the 
 Lord. 
 
 (8>  I  will  hiss  for  them,  and  gather 
 them  ;  for  I  have  redeemed  them :  and 
 they   shall   increase  as   they  have   in- 
 
 donbtlcss,  in  mind  the  words  of  Jor.  xiv.  22  :  "Are 
 than  iiny  among  tho  vanities  of  tin-  Gentiles  that  enn 
 0MU6  tainP  or  can  tho  hoavons  give  showers:1  Art 
 not  thou  He.  O  Lord  our  God?  therefore,  we  wait 
 upon  thee;  tor  thou  hast  made  all  these  thingB."    Ze- 
 
 nhnriati  refers  hero  chiefly  to  those  sins  which   had   ill 
 
 farmer  times  erased  their  captivity.  But  such  pas- 
 sages as  Ezra,  ix. ;  Neh.  xiii.  23,  vi.  10,  12,  14,  show 
 that  even  after  tho  restoration  the  people  were  in 
 danger  of  m««g  into  idolatry,  and  of  being  deceived 
 bj  false  prophets.  (Corup.  also  Zoch.  xiii.  2,  aud  Note 
 on   Mai.  iii.  5.) 
 
 Went  their  way.— Better,  migrated — viz.,  into 
 captivity. 
 
 Troubled.— Or,  humbled. 
 
 No  shepherd. — i.e..  none  to  guide  and  lead  them 
 aright.  This  is  the  interpretation  which  the  context: 
 seems  to  require,  ud  is  in  accordance  with  the  use  of 
 the  expression  in  Ezek.  xxxiv.  5,  8,  as  it  is  also  our 
 Lord's  application  of  the  idea  (Matt.  ix.  36;  Markvi 
 :;i  ;  but  some  take  "shepherd  "here  to  mean  native 
 kiiu/.  The  paraphrase  of  the  LXX.,  "  because  they 
 had  no  healer"  (meaning  probably  "  because  tho  True 
 Shepherd  of  Israel  had  ceased  to  guide  and  protect 
 them"  l  might  possibly  be  defended. 
 
 (8)  Was  kindled.— Better,  is  kindled.  (Comp. 
 Note  on  ehap,  viii.  2.) 
 
 Shepherds.— This  term  is  used  of  native  rulers  and 
 guides  (Jer.  ii.  8,  xvii.  16,  xxiii.  1 — 4;  Ezek.  xxxiv.  2, 
 Jo.),  aud  also  of  foreign  rulers  and  oppressors  (Jer. 
 ri.  ::.  t.  or.  34—88,  rax  19  . 
 
 I  punished.    Better.  /  is  Uvunish, 
 
 The  [he]  goats  are.  probably,  to  be  identified 
 with  "the  shepherds"  (as  seems  to  be  the  case  in 
 Ezek.  xxxiv.),  and  both  to  be  referred  to  foreign  rulers 
 and  leaders,   since  the  latter  pari  of  the  verso  seems  to 
 
 denote  thai  the  whole  people  see  ranee  6,  7.  and  comp. 
 chap.  ix.  13)  is  to  be  enraged  from  a  timid  flock  iuto  a 
 nation  of  warriors. 
 
 (*)  Out  of  him.— Literally,  from  him.  It  is 
 much  disputed  whether  "  him "  means  the  Lord 
 of  Hosts  arJudah.  It  appears  to  us  best  to  take  it 
 as  referring  to  "Judah" — i.e.,  to  the  whole  Jewish 
 nation. 
 
 Came  forth.— Better,  shall  proceed.  (Comp.  Jer. 
 xxx.  19,21.) 
 
 Corner,  or  corner-stone,   denotes  a   chieftain,   on 
 
 583 
 
 whom  the  whole  national  fabric  is  put  together  (1  Sam. 
 xiv.  38;  18a.  xix.  13). 
 
 Nail. — Also  a  chieftain,  as  him  on  which  everything 
 hangs,  or  depends  (Isa.  xxii.  23) ;  or  the  figure  may  bo 
 takeu  from  the  tent-peg  which  holds  firm  the  ropes 
 which  support  the  tent. 
 
 Oppressor. — Either  in  the  sense  of  ruler,  as  being 
 one  who  keeps  people  to  their  work,  or  else  it  means 
 oppressor  of  the  heathen,  and  is  so  used  in  contrast 
 with  the  heathen  "  oppressor "  of  chap.  ix.  8. 
 
 Together,  or  altogether,  is  added  by  way  of  em- 
 phasis. The  meaning  of  the  passage  is  that  when  the 
 Lord  of  Hosts  visits  His  nock,  He  will  cause  to 
 arise  from  them  such  rulers  aud  leaders  as  may  be 
 necessary  to  enable  them  to  successfully  resist  their 
 enemies. 
 
 (5—7)  The  preceding  idea  is  now  further  dwelt  on, 
 and  Ephraim  not  merely  implicitly,  but  explicitly  (as  in 
 chap.  ix.  13 — 16)  included  in  the  promise  as  one  with 
 Judah  (Ezek.  xxxvii.  16,  IV,  22).  For  a  fulfilment 
 of  the  promises  contained  in  this  passage,  see 
 1  Mace.  iii.  39,  iv,  7,  31,  vi.  30,  35,  ix.  4,  11,  x.  73,  77, 
 xv.  13,  A.c. 
 
 The  Further  Kedemption  of  Israel  (verses 
 B— 12). 
 
 (8)  A  yet  further  redemption  of  Israel  was  to  take 
 placo  before  the  consummation  of  these  victorious 
 promises.  Some  critics  have  considered  this  passage 
 as  conclusive  against  the  assumption  of  a  post- 
 exilic  origin  of  these  latter  chapters.  But  chap. 
 viii.  8  speaks  in  similar  terms :  "  And  I  will  bring 
 them,  and  they  shall  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Jeru- 
 salem ; "  and  yet  the  genuineness  of  that  passage  has 
 never  been  called  in  question.  The  fact  is  that  the 
 restoration  under  Zerubbabel  was  most  incomplete ; 
 only  some  18,360  returned  from  exile  under  him. 
 There  was  a  further  return  of  exiles  under  Ezra,  iu 
 458  B.C.,  some  twenty  years  posterior  to  the  probable 
 date  of  the  prophecies  contained  in  these  last  chapters, 
 and  numbers,  no  doubt,  returned  at  various  other 
 times. 
 
 I  have  redeemed.— The  decree  had  gone  forth, 
 and  had  been  already,  in  part,  executed. 
 
 As  they  have"  increased.— viz.,  in  times  past 
 {e.g.,  Exod.  i.  8).  Jeremiah  communicates  a  similar 
 promise  (chap.  xxx.  19,  20 
 
Assyria  and  Egypt  Doomed. 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,  XI. 
 
 An  Invasion  from  the  North. 
 
 creased.  (9>  And  I  will  sow  them  among 
 the  people :  and  they  shall  remember 
 me  in  far  countries  ;  and  they  shall  live 
 with  their  children,  and  turn  again. 
 (io)  J  wiU  bring  them  again  also  out  of 
 the  land  of  Egypt,  and  gather  them  out 
 of  Assyria  ;  and  I  will  bring  them  into 
 the  land  of  Gilead  and  Lebanon ;  and 
 place  shall  not  be  found  for  them. 
 (u)  And  he  shall  pass  through  the  sea 
 with  affliction,  and  shall  smite  the  waves 
 in  the  sea,  and  all  the  deeps  of  the  river 
 shall  dry  up  :  and  the  pride  of  Assyria 
 shall  be  brought  down,  and  the  sceptre 
 of  Egypt  shall  depart  away.  <12'  And  I 
 will  strengthen  them  in  the  Lord  ;  and 
 
 1  Or,  gallants. 
 
 Or,  the  de/encid 
 forest. 
 
 they  shall  walk  up  and   down  in  his 
 name,  saith  the  Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER  XL— d)  Open  thy  doors, 
 0  Lebanon,  that  the  fire  may  devour 
 thy  cedars.  (2)  Howl,  fir  tree  ;  for  the 
 cedar  is  fallen ;  because  the  x  mighty 
 are  spoiled  :  howl,  0  ye  oaks  of  Bashan ; 
 for2 the  forest  of  the  vintage  is  come 
 down.  <3>  There  is  a  voice  of  the  howling 
 of  the  shepherds ;  for  their  glory  is 
 spoiled :  a  voice  of  the  roaring  of 
 young  lions;  for  the  pride  of  Jordan 
 is  spoiled. 
 
 (4)  Thus  saith  the  Lord  my  God ;  Feed 
 the   flock   of   the   slaughter ;    '5)  whose 
 
 (9)  Sow  is  never  used  in  a  bad  sense,  i.e.,  "  to 
 scatter,"  but  rather  means  to  spread  and  multiply 
 (Hos.  ii.  25;  Jer.  xxxi.  27).  There  is,  therefore,  no 
 word  here  of  a  new  dispersion  of  the  people,  but 
 rather  of  an   increasing   and  in-gathering. 
 
 Shall  live  with.— Comp.  Ezek.  xxxvii.  14. — i.e., 
 survive  with.  They  will  "turn  again,"  because  they 
 "remember"  God  in  the  land  of  their  captivity,  and 
 feel  a  yearning  for  the  place  where  He  hath  set  His 
 name  again. 
 
 (io,  ll)  These  verses  are  evidently  worded  after  the 
 analogy  of  Isa.  xi.  11 — 16.  Compare  especially  the 
 mention  of  Egypt  and  Assyria,  the  reference  to  the 
 dividing  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  the  unity  of  Ephraim  and 
 Judah,  as  spoken  of  by  Isaiah  (verse  13),  and  by  our 
 prophet  in  the  foregoing  passage. 
 
 Egypt  is,  no  doubt,  mentioned  here  as  the  typical 
 oppressor  of  Israel  (Hos.  viii.  13,  ix.  3),  as  the  exodus 
 is  the  typical  deliverance  (Isa.  xi.  16). 
 
 Assyria  may  be  mentioned  (and  not  Babylon  or 
 Persia),  because  it  was  thither  that  the  ten  tribes 
 (Ephraim)  were  carried  away ;  or  "  out  of  Egypt  and 
 Assyria"  may  be  looked  upon  as  a  stereotyped  ex- 
 pression for  deliverance;  or,  again,  "Assyria"  may 
 actually  denote  Persia,  as  iu  post-captivity  times  the 
 king  of  Persia  in  Babylon  is  often  called  the  king  of 
 Assyria  (e.g.,  Ezra  vi.  22;  2  Kings  xxiii.  29;  Judith 
 i.  7,  ii.  1;  Herod,  i.  178 — 188).  The  second  interpreta- 
 tion seems  to  us  the  best,  in  view  of  the  figurative  re- 
 ference to  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  in  verse  11. 
 
 Gilead  and  Lebanon  represent  the  old  terri- 
 tory of  the  ten  tribes  on  the  other  side  and  on  this  side 
 of  Jordan. 
 
 (ii)  He— That  is,  God. 
 
 The  sea  with  affliction.— Better,  the  sea  [where 
 is]  affliction,  or  straitness;  unless,  with  Ewald,  we 
 read  "  sea  of  affliction."  On  the  construction  in  the 
 Hebrew,  see  my  Student's  Commentary,  pp.  95,  44. 
 
 XI. 
 
 (1—3)  Here,  as  in  chap.  ix.  1 — 8,  we  have  intimation 
 of  an  invasion  of  the  land  of  Israel  from  the  north, 
 only,  whereas  in  the  former  case  Philistia,  as  well  as 
 Syria  and  Phoenicia,  was  to  be  the  sufferer,  here  it  is 
 "  the  pride  of  Jordan  that  is  to  be  spoiled."     Some 
 
 584 
 
 have  considered  the  first  three  verses  of  this  chapter  to 
 be  a  distinct  prophecy  by  themselves.  To  this  suppo- 
 sition no  valid  objection  can  be  made.  But  the  terms 
 of  the  prophecy  are  so  vague  that  it  is  impossible 
 to  decide  with  any  degree  of  satisfaction  to  what 
 particular  invasion  it  refers.  It  might  be  descriptive 
 of  any  invasion  which  took  place  from  the  north, 
 whether  Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Greek,  or  Roman. 
 Others  take  these  verses  as  introductory  to  the  pro- 
 phecy that  follows,  and  consider  them  to  be  descriptive 
 either  of  a  storm  breaking  over  the  country  (comp. 
 Ps.  xxix.  and,  with  some,  Isa.  ii.  10 — 22)  from  the 
 north,  or  else  of  some  terrible  visitation  which  would 
 come  upon  the  laud,  similar  to  the  invasions  which  had 
 taken  place  in  the  days  of  old.  In  any  case,  these 
 verses  have  so  little  necessary  connection  with  what 
 follows,  that  it  will  make  little  difference  to  our  inter- 
 pretation of  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  which  of  the 
 above  theories  we  adopt.  (Compare  for  similar  ex- 
 pressions, Isa.  xxxvii.  24,  xiv.  8 ;  Jer.  xxv.  34 — 36.) 
 
 (4-17)  The  great  difficulty  of  this  passage,  which  is 
 metaphorical  and  symbolical  throughout,  consists  in  the 
 fact  that  hardly  any  clue  to  the  interpretation  is  given 
 to  us.  Thus  commentators  are  quite  unable  to  agree 
 as  to  whether  the  shepherds  spoken  of  are  heathen  or 
 native  rulers.  And  on  this  point  the  whole  nature  of 
 the  interpretation  turns.  Guided  by  the  language  of 
 verses  6  and  10,  we  conclude  that  the  shepherds  represent 
 foreign  oppressors.  Our  prophet  seems  to  have  had 
 Ezek.  xxxvii.  16 — 22  in  his  mind  when  he,  probably 
 in  a  vision,  performed  the  symbolical  acts  of  the  two 
 shepherds ;  but  he  had  also  Ezek.  xxxiv.  in  view.  In 
 feeding  the  flock,  he  actually,  though,  no  doubt,  uncon- 
 sciously, represents  not  only  God,  who  Himself  would 
 feed  the  flock  (Ezek.  xxxiv.  11,  12,  15, 16),  but  also  that 
 ideal  shepherd,  "  my  servant  David."  whom  He  would 
 set  up  as  "one  shepherd  over  them"  (Ezek.  xxxiv. 
 23,  24).  At  the  same  time,  he  retains  his  old  imagery 
 of  chap.  x.  3,  and  speaks  of  the  foreign  oppressors  as 
 shepherds.  The  prophet's  historical  starting-point 
 seems  to  be  the  same  here  as  in  chaps,  ix.  and  x., 
 though  his  goal  is  more  distant. 
 
 (■*)  Of  the  slaughter — i.e.,  which  is  being  slaugh- 
 tered.    (Comp.  verse  5.) 
 
 <5)  And  hold  .  .  .  not  guilty.— Comp.  Jer.  1.  7. 
 Own  is  a  gloss  of  the  English  version. 
 
Beauty  and  /lands. 
 
 ZKCIIAUIAH,    XI. 
 
 Beauty  Cut  Asunder. 
 
 possessors  slay  them,  and  hold  them- 
 selves not  guilty:  and  they  t lint  sell 
 them  Bay,  Blessed  be  the  Loed;  for  I 
 urn  rich:  and  their  own  .shepherds  pity 
 them  not.  (0) For  I  will  no  more  pitj 
 the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  Baith  the 
 
 Loitn  :  hut.  In,  I  will  'deliver  the  men 
 every    ■    into    his    neighbour's    bind. 
 
 and  into  the  band  of  his  king  :  and  thej 
 
 shall  smite  the  land,  and  out  <>1'  their 
 hand  I   will  m«t  deliver  th>  m. 
 
 <7'Antl  I  will  feed  the  thick  of  slaughter, 
 !i  vt  n  you,  ()  poor  of  the  Hock.  And  1 
 took     until    me   two    staves;    the   one     1 
 
 called  Beauty,  and  the  other  I  called 
 'Bands;  and'  1  fed  the  flock.     «  Three 
 
 shepherds  also  I  cut  off  in  one  month  ; 
 
 2    Or,     i.rtly    the 
 
 3  Or.  tltiiilert. 
 
 I       Ilili.       ITU* 
 
 tlrato  > 
 
 tlirtn. 
 
 ,  ii.  i.  ,  ./  Ml  /w 
 
 I,        It.KjIt- 
 
 bour. 
 
 rt  Or,   thr  poor  of 
 ■  ■■'i  knew. 
 
 :    u.  i  .   //  h  be 
 
 n    your 
 
 ft  Matt.  M.  15. 
 
 And  my  soul  'Inthed  them,  and  their 
 sou]  also  abhorred  me.  <9)  Tben  said  1, 
 I  will  mil  feed  you s  'thai  that  dieth, 
 let  it  die;  and  that  that  is  to  be  cut  oft', 
 let  it  be  cutoff;  and  let  the  rest  eat 
 every  one  the  flesh  of  another.  '"  and 
 I  tool  my  staff,  i  ven   Beauty,  and  cut  it 
 
 asunder,  that  I  might  break  my  cove- 
 nant  which   I   had  made  with   all   the 
 
 people.      '"'  And  it  wa  ii   ill   that 
 
 day  :  and  ''so  the  poor  of  the  flock  that 
 waited  upon  me  knew  that  it  was  the 
 word  of  the  Lord. 
 
 <12)  And  I  said  unto  them,  "If  ye  think 
 good,  <rivc  me  my  price  j  and  if  not,  for- 
 bear. So  they  'weighed  for  my  price 
 thirty    /ilcces  of    silver.       (1;'  And    the 
 
 («)  Of  the  land- Bettor,  of  the  world. 
 
 The-  mon.     Hitler,  mm/kind,     God   would  punish 
 
 the  nations  for  their  eruelt]  to  His  ] pie  (comp.  chap. 
 
 i-  1".  .     He   would  cause  the  world  to  be  smitten  or 
 
 broken  op  with  wars  unit  civil  tumults. 
 
 (?)  Will  feed.-  Correctly,  fed  The  prophet,  acting 
 
 as  (I. ni's  representative  perforins  a  symbolical  action. 
 figuring  thereby  God's  treatment  of  His  people. 
 
 Beauty.-- (jr.  rather,  favour. 
 
 Bands.  Or.  as  in  margin,  binders.  The  first  staff 
 denotes  the  return  of  Gods  favour  to  His   people;   the 
 
 second  I ip.   Bzek  xxxvii.  16—  221  the  binding  to. 
 
 gether  of  Judah  and  Ephraimin  "brotherhood,"  which 
 
 latter  took  place,  for  the  first  time  since  the  separation, 
 OH  the  return  from  Babylon.  When  He  took  His  flock 
 into  favour  once  more,  "  He  mail"  with  them  a  covenant 
 of  peace  .  .  .  SO  that  they  should  no  more  be  a  prey  to 
 the  heathen."     (See  Ezek.  xxxiv.  25—28.) 
 
 (8>  The  effect  of  the  prophet's  {i.e..  God's)  feeding 
 the  tloek  is  that  He  "out  off  three  shepherds  in  one 
 month."  As  in  F./ekie]  and  Daniel  !  Ezek.  iv.  4 — 6; 
 Dan.  i\.  2  f — 17,  Ac.  i,  the  Space  of  time  mentioned  hero 
 seems  to  he  symbolical;  anil  taking  a  day  for  a  year. 
 one  month  will  moan  alioiit  thirty  years.  .Sonic  take  "  one 
 month  "  to  mean  "  a   short    time."     This   interpretation 
 
 will  also  agree  with  our  \  iew  of  the  case.    Some,  again, 
 
 take  each  day  to  represent  seven  years— so  that  thirty 
 days  would  lie  two  hundred  and  ten  years— and  explain 
 
 the  three  she]. herds  as  the  Babylonian,  Medo-Peraian, 
 
 and  Macedonian  Empires,  which  lasted  two  hundred  and 
 
 fifteen  years,  from  the  e.ipiivity  to  Babylon  up  to  the 
 
 death  of  Alexander  the  (ireat.      But  DO  instance  can  be 
 
 cited  in  which  a  prophetic  day  is  equivalent  to  seven 
 
 years.    "The  three  shepherds  "  may  he.  then  (according 
 
 to  the  view  which  we  have  adopted  with  regard  to  the 
 
 expression  "  one  month  "'.  the  Syro-Grecian  kind's    lt.e. 
 
 172 — 1-tH — Antiochna  Epiphanes  (who  died  miserably 
 in  Persia  .  Antiochus  Bnpator  put  to  death  by  Deme- 
 trius [.),  and  Demetrius  I  overthrown  by  Alexander 
 Balus  .  As  specimens  of  attempts  to  find  for  the 
 passage  an  historical  reference,  taking  tho  expression 
 
 "one  month"  literally,  the  following  may  be  cited: 
 Cyril   considers  that   kings,    priests,   and    prophets  are 
 
 meant;  and  Pnsey,  "priests,  judges,  ami  lawyers," 
 who.  having  "  delivered  to  the  cross  the  Saviour,  were 
 
 all  taken  away  in  one  month.  Nisan,  A.n.  :>:!."  But 
 the  rejection  of  the  good  shepherd   is  spoken  of  by  the 
 
 585 
 
 prophet  as  posterior  to  thocutting  off  of  the  shepherds. 
 Btaurer  would  interpret  the  three  shepherds  of  Zecha- 
 riah  (son  of  Jeroboam  II. i,  his  murderer,  Shallum, who 
 reigned  but  a  month,  and  of  a  third  unknown 
 
 whose  downfall  speedily  took  place.  But  Shallum  was 
 certainly  murdered  by  Menahem  fl  Kintfs  xv.  10—  1  t  . 
 and  there  is  no  room  for  a  third  unknown  usurper. 
 Hitzig  would  avoid  the  difficulty  by  rendering  "  I  re. 
 moved  the  three  shepherds  which  were  in  one  month  " 
 !  in  support  of  which  construction  he  refers,  and  rightly, 
 to  such  passages  as  Exod.  xxxiv.  :il  ;  Isa.  xxiii.  1  7  ;  Ezek. 
 xxvi.    l'o  .  and   takes    them  to  be  the  kings  Zechariah. 
 
 Shallum,  and  Menahem,  who  in  about  the  space  of  one 
 
 month  sat  upon  the  throne  of  Israel.  But  the  difficulty 
 is  really  not  so  obviated.  Shallum  reigned  actually  "a 
 month  of  days  "  (2  Kings  xv.  1:1  .  and  the  events  re- 
 ferred to  occupied  much  Longer. 
 
 Them. — The  sheep,  not  the  shepherds.  In  spite 
 of  what  He  did  for  them,  they  abhorred  Hiin. 
 Though,  at  lirst  sight,  it  would  seem  more  natural 
 to  refer  the  pronoun  to  "the  shepherds,"  we  are 
 precluded    from    so    doing    by    the    consideration    that 
 
 the  fact  that  God  loathed  the  shepherds,  and  they  ab- 
 horred Him  shepherds  whom  He  had  cut  off  for  the 
 good  of  His  flock — would  be  no  reason  for  His  refusing 
 any  more  to  feed  the  tloek  (verse9);  when-as  the  Dock's 
 disregard   of  all    His   loving-kindness   towards  them 
 
 would  afford  good  cause  for  His  so  doing. 
 
 (»)  Comp.  Jer.  xv.  1,  'J  ;    Isa.  ix.  20. 
 
 (10)  The  people  rejected  Him  ;  therefore  He  broke  His 
 staff  "  Favour."  and  so  annulled  the  covenant  He  had 
 made  with  the  nations  in  behalf  of  His  people.  This 
 was  fulfilled  at  the  close  of  the  glorious  Maceabean 
 period,  when  the  nation  became  corrupted,  and  as  a 
 Consequence  Was  harassed  by  the  nations  on  every  side. 
 This  verse  is  the  converse  of  Ezek.  xxxiv.  2-r> — 28. 
 
 People.-   Better,  i.  p.  xii.  Ii. 
 
 My   price. — The    shepherd  demands  a  requital 
 for  his  toil,  as  a  test  of  the  gratitude  of  the  sheep. 
 
 And  if  not,  forbear.— Comp.  Ezek.  iii.  _'7.  4c 
 God  does  not  force  our  will,  which  is  free.  He  places 
 life  and  death  before  us:  by  His  grace  alone  we  can 
 choose  Him.  hut  we  MM  refuse  His  grace  and  Himself. 
 
 Thirty  pieces  of  silver. — The  price  set  on  a 
 foreign  slave    Bxod.  \\i.  32  . 
 
 '      'Iliis   rerse   proves,  if  proof  be  needed,  that   the 
 prophet,  in  his  action,  represents  the  Lord. 
 
The  Thirty  Pieces  of  Silver. 
 
 ZECHAEIAH,   XII. 
 
 The  Word  of  the  Lord. 
 
 Lord  said  unto  me,  Cast  it  unto  the 
 "  potter  :  a  goodly  price  that  I  was  prised 
 at  of  them.  And  I  took  the  thirty 
 pieces  of  silver,  and  cast  them  to  the 
 potter  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  (14)  Then 
 I  cut  asunder  mine  other  staff,  even 
 1  Bands,  that  I  might  break  the  brother- 
 hood between  Judah  and  Israel. 
 
 <15>  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Take 
 unto  thee  yet  the  instruments  of  a 
 foolish  shepherd.  (16)  For,  lo,  I  will 
 raise  up  a  shepherd  in  the  land,  which 
 shall  not  visit  those  that  be  3cut  off, 
 neither  shall  seek  the  young  one,  nor 
 heal  that  that  is  broken,  nor  3feed  that 
 
 I  Or,  Binders. 
 
 l>  Jor.  23. 1 ;  Ezek. 
 3J.  2;  Jobn  II'. 
 12. 
 
 that  standeth  still :  but  he  shall  eat  the 
 flesh  of  the  fat,  and  tear  their  claws  in 
 pieces.  <17'4Woe  to  the  idol  shepherd 
 that  leaveth  the  flock !  the  sword  shall 
 be  upon  his  arm,  and  upon  his  right 
 eye :  his  arm  shall  be  clean  dried  up, 
 and  his  right  eye  shall  be  utterly  dark- 
 ened. 
 
 CHAPTEE  XII.— ("The  burden  of 
 the  word  of  the  Lord  for  Israel,  saith 
 the  Lord,  which  stretcheth  forth  the 
 heavens,  and  layeth  the  foundation  of 
 the  earth,  and  formeth  the  spirit  of  man 
 within  him. 
 
 Potter. — The  price  was  so  contemptible  that  it  is 
 flung  to  the  meanest  of  craftsmen.  It  seems  pro- 
 bable that  "  to  the  potter  with  it ! "  was  a  proverbial 
 expression,  used  of  throwing  away  anything  that  was 
 utterly  worthless.  The  LXX.,  by  the  change  of  one 
 letter,  read  for  "  potter,"  the  "  treasury." 
 
 A  goodly  price  ...  of  them.— Better,  0, 
 the  magnificence  of  the  price  that  I  was  apprised  at  of 
 them  !  That  is  to  say,  "  What  a  price  ! "  ironically. 
 The  prophet — in  imagination,  no  doubt — goes  into  the 
 Temple,  and  there  before  God  and  Israel,  in  the  place 
 where  the  covenant  had  been  so  often  ratified  by  sacri- 
 fice, he  meets  "  a  potter "  (the  article  is  indefinite), 
 and  there  flings  to  him  the  "  goodly  price,"  and  so  pro- 
 nounces the  divorce  between  God  and  the  congregation 
 of  Israel.  The  prophet,  in  his  symbolical  act,  repre- 
 sented God  (Ezek.  xxxiv.  5),  but  at  the  same  time  he 
 might  well  (or  must)  have  represented  God's  vice-gerent, 
 "  my  servant  David,"  or,  in  other  words,  the  Messiah. 
 (See  Notes  on  chaps,  iii.  8,  vi.  12,  13.)  Thus,  though 
 this  prophecy  received,  no  doubt,  numerous  fulfilments 
 in  the  oft-recurring  ingratitude  of  Israel,  yet  we  can 
 well,  with  St.  Matthew,  see  its  most  remarkable  and 
 complete  fulfilment  in  Him  who  was  in  every  sense 
 "  the  Good  Shepherd,"  and  in  whose  rejection  the  in- 
 gratitude of  the  chosen  nation  culminated.  The  cita- 
 tion in  the  New  Testament  is  a  free  paraphrase  of 
 the  original,  made,  probably,  from  memory,  and  agrees 
 in  all  the  main  points  with  the  original.  The  introduction 
 of  the  word  "  field"  (Matt,  xxvii.  10)  was  made,  probably 
 inadvertently,  by  an  unconscious  act  of  a  mind  which 
 wished  to  find  an  excellent  parallel  between  the 
 prophecy  and  its  fulfilment  ;  but  the  price,  thirty 
 pieces  of  silver,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  mere 
 coincidence.  May  not  the  "chief  priests"  have  viciously 
 proposed  to  Judas  this  price  of  a  slave  (the  same  that 
 Hosea  paid  for  the  adulterous  woman,  half  in  money, 
 and  half  in  kind,  chap.  ii.  1,  2)  ?  and  may  not  the 
 wretched  Judas  have  maliciously  accepted  this  very 
 sum  from  the  same  motives  which  the  prophet  sup- 
 poses to  have  actuated  the  people  to  whom  he  prophe- 
 sies ?  Such  a  fulfilment  would  be  a  fulfilment  indeed ; 
 while  a  mere  chance  coincidence  between  the  sum  men- 
 tioned in  one  case  and  that  mentioned  in  another, 
 apart  from  any  agreement  in  the  latter  with  the  spirit 
 of  the  former,  would,  in  our  estimation,  amount  to  no 
 fulfilment  at  all. 
 
 (w)  That  I  might  break  the  brotherhood.— 
 This  was  the  result  of  their  rejection  of  the  Good 
 Shepherd,  and  of  their  consequent  rejection  by  Him. 
 
 686 
 
 It  began  with  the  civil  discords  which  followed  the 
 victorious  days  of  the  Maccabees,  and  reached  its  worst 
 in  the  horrible  scenes  which  took  place  during  the  siege 
 of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans. 
 
 (is)  Instruments  of  a  foolish  shepherd — It  is 
 needless  to  inquire  in  what  respects,  if  any,  these 
 instruments  differed  from  those  of  a  wise  shepherd. 
 The  words  merely  imply  that  the  prophet,  having  repre- 
 sented the  one  character,  should  now  personate  the  other. 
 
 Foolish  is  almost  equivalent  to  "  wicked  "  in  Bible 
 language,  whether  this  word  be  used,  or  that  of  Ps. 
 liii.  2. 
 
 (16)  The  young  one.— Better,  the  scattered.  The 
 foolish  shepherd  we  understand  to  mean  all  the  mis- 
 rulers  of  Israel  from  the  time  of  the  decline  of  the 
 glories  of  the  Maccabean  period  to  the  day  when  they 
 themselves  declared  "  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar." 
 With  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  comp.  Dan.  vii.  7,  19, 
 23,  and  contrast  it  with  Ezek.  xxxiv.  16. 
 
 (17)  Idol  shepherd. — Better,  useless  shepherd. 
 Though  the  wicked  useless  shepherd  is  allowed  for  a 
 time  to  ill-treat  and  neglect  the  flock,  in  the  end  the 
 judgment  of  God  will  fall  upon  him.  (Comp.  Dan.  vii. 
 26 ;  and  for  the  date  of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  see 
 Introduction  to  that  book.)  Ewald  has  maintained 
 that  the  passage  chap.  xiii.  7 — 9  is  out  of  place  where 
 it  now  stands,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  transferred  to 
 the  end  of  this  chapter.  There  is  apparently  some 
 truth  in  this  supposition.  In  particular,  the  expression 
 "Awake,  O  sword,  against  my  shepherd"  (chap.  xiii.  7) 
 seems  to  follow  naturally  alter  chap.  xi.  17.  The  ex- 
 pression "  my  fellow  "  (chap.  xiii.  7)  would  certainly 
 be  rather  a  strong  one  to  be  used  of  a  "  foolish  shep- 
 herd ;  "  but  still,  all  shepherds  of  the  people,  whether 
 good  or  bad,  are  looked  upon  as  God's  ministers  and 
 representatives,  so  that  we  cannot  regard  the  use  of 
 this  expression  as  fatal  to  Ewald's  theory.  The  reader 
 is  recommended  to  turn  to  chap.  xiii.  7 — 9  (and  Notes), 
 and  to  read  that  passage  in  close  connection  with  chap, 
 xi.  15 — 17,  and  to  judge  for  himself. 
 
 XII. 
 (1—9)  The  opening  of  this  chapter  is  similar  to  that 
 of  chap,  ix.,  and  marks  the  beginning  of  the  second  half 
 of  these  latter  prophecies.  This  prophecy,  as  far  as 
 verse  9,  seems  to  recur  to  the  same  events  as  were  fore- 
 told in  chaps,  ix.,  x. ;  viz.,  the  successful  contests  of  the 
 Maccabean  period. 
 
 d)  Israel.— Comp.   Mai.    i.   5,   &c,  and   "all  the 
 
The  /•/"  mv i  qfJenuak  m 
 
 XL* 'I  I. Mil  AH,   XII. 
 
 in  //■  Punished. 
 
 <2>  Behold,    I  will    make  Jerusalem  a 
 
 cup  of  'trembling  unto  all  tlie  people 
 roundabout,  -when  they  .shall  be  ID  the 
 Biege  both  against  Judah  and  against 
 Jerusalem, 
 
 <:t>  And  in  that  day  will  I  make  Jeru- 
 salem a  burdensome  stone  for  all  people  : 
 all  that  burden  themselves  with  it  shall 
 be  eut  in  pieces,  though  all  the  people 
 of  the  earth  be  gathered  together 
 against  it. 
 
 W  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will 
 smite  every  horse  with  astonishment, 
 and  his  rider  with  madness:  and  I  will 
 Open  mine  eyes  upon  the  house  of  Judah, 
 and  will  smite  every  horse  of  the  people 
 with  blindness.  <5' And  the  governors 
 of  Judah  shall  say  in  their  heart,  3The 
 inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  shall  be  my 
 strength  in  the  Lokd  of  hosts  their 
 God. 
 
 (6>  In  that  day  will  I  make  the  go- 
 vernors of  Judah  like  an  hearth  of  lire 
 
 I  Or,  linn 
 
 I     '  u ,     mill     ii/,.. 
 '     Jiuliift 
 -h'lllb-    I 
 nllilll    it    HI    mint 
 
 .1  I 
 1 1  III. 
 
 B    Or,    T I ■■ 
 
 (0       "' 
 
 Mi.l  I, -nil   inlinfii 
 
 Conlfli  4c 
 
 1  Or,  abject. 
 
 i  Hi  <•  .fulten. 
 
 among  the  wood,  and  like  a  torch  of  fire 
 in   a    sheaf;  and   they    -hull   devour  all 
 
 the  people  round  aoont,  on  the  right 
 
 hand  and  on  the  left:  and  Jerusalem 
 shall  be  inhabited  again  in  her  own 
 place,  even  in  Jerusalem.     <7)  The  Lo&n 
 
 also  shall  save  the  tents  of  Judah  first, 
 t  hat  the  glory  of  the  house  of  David  and 
 the  ^tory  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
 salem do  not  magnify  tli-insili->s  ;i gainst 
 Judah. 
 
 '8>  In  that  day  shall  the  Loud  defend 
 the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem;  and  he 
 that  is  46feeble  among  them  at  that  day 
 shall  be  as  David;  and  the  house  of 
 David  shall  be  as  God,  as  the  angel  of 
 the  Loud  before  them.  (9)  And  it  shall 
 come  to  pass  in  that  day,  thai  I  will 
 seek  to  destroy  all  the  nations  that  come 
 against  Jerusalem. 
 
 (10)  And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house 
 of  David,  and  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
 Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of   grace  and  of 
 
 trilies  df  Israel  "  (Zceh.  ix.  1).  Elsewhere,  in  Zech.  ix. 
 — xi.  (except  in  chap.  xi.  Ii).  tho  terms  used  are 
 Ephralm  (chaps,  ix.  10,  13,  x.  7)  and  Joseph  (chap.  x. 
 
 lo,  as  well  as  Judah  (chaps,  ix.  8,  13,  X.  3,  6;  comp. 
 Kzok.  \xxvii.  15 — 28).  These  and  similar  terms  wire 
 interchangeable  after  the  captivity,  and  refer,  with  a 
 few  except  inns,  to  the  nation  of  the  Jews  in  general. 
 With  this  verse  com  p.  Isa.  xlii.  5;  Amos  IV.  13. 
 
 (-)  The  first  part  of  this  verse  seems  to  imply  that 
 all  who  should  attack  Jerusalem  would  do  so  to  their 
 injury.  The  second  part  should  perhaps  be  translated, 
 Ami  also  (in  /■  Jmluli  nhall  he  (the  trembling,  or  reeling) 
 
 i'«  flu-  siriji-  iii/u!  nsf  Jerusalem:  i.e.,  Judah  sin  mid  suffer 
 as  well  as  Jerusalem,  (hough,  as  is  promised  before  and 
 after,  they  should  both  cume  out  victorious.  This 
 rendering  seems,  on  the  whole,  the  best.  The  rendering 
 of  the  B.v.  cannot  be  supported  ;   while  that  of  tho  mar- 
 
 gin  requires  too  much  to  be  supplied.  Some  would  refer 
 back  to  the  opening  words  of  the  chapter,  and  render: 
 
 "  and  also  concerning  Judah  lis  this  burden  of  the  word 
 of  the  Lord)."  The  explanation  of  Ewald,  "  And  also 
 upon  Judah  shall  it  be  [incumbent to  be  occupied]  in 
 t lie  siege  against  Jerusalem."  is  grammatically  correct, 
 as  he  shows  from  the  expressiou  (1  Chron.  ix.83)  ••upon 
 them  I  it  was  incumbent  to  be  OOCUpied]  in  the  work." 
 And,  if  we  could  understand  by  it  that  Judah  was  to 
 be  eo.operating  n-ith  not  agamtt)  Jerusalem  in  the 
 siege  (sea  verse  ,'ii,  this  translation  would  have  much  to 
 recommend  it. 
 ('>  A  burdensome  stone.— In  lifting  which  the 
 
 builders  might  lacerate  themselves  :  meaning  that  those 
 who  should  endeavour  to  build  Jerusalem  into  the 
 fabric  of  their  own  dominion  should  injure  themselves 
 in  the  attempt,  But  some  a-  Jerome)  suppose  the 
 figure  to  be  borrowed  from  some  such  athletic  sport 
 as  "lifting  the  weight:"  while  others  take  the  ex- 
 pression in  I  more  general  sense,  as  referring  merely 
 to  a  weight  which  is  too  heavy  to  he  borne. 
 
 W  Horse  —  viz.,  of  tho  enemy.  (Comp.  Dent, 
 xxviii.  28  with  chap.  xxx.  7.) 
 
 587 
 
 Open  mine  eyes.— Comp.  1  Kings  viii.  29. 
 
 (*)  For  shall  be,  read  are.  Tho  strength  of  the 
 fortress  of  Jerusalem  should  be  the  saving  of  Judah, 
 but  that  strength  would  depend  on  the  protection  of 
 "  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  their  God." 
 
 (*)  Comp.  Obad..  verso  18. 
 
 People. — Better,  nations.     (Comp.  chap.  xi.  10.) 
 
 (')  First. — There  is  another  reading,  supported  by 
 the  LXX.  and  a  few  MSS.,  as  in  former  times.  This 
 variant  does  not  materially  alter  the  sense,  for  in  any 
 case  the  deliverance  of  Judah  is  made  to  take  preced- 
 ence (in  importance,  if  not  in  time)  of  that  of  Jeru- 
 salem. "  Judah  "  seems  here  to  denote  the  rest  of  the 
 people,  in  Contradistinction  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
 salem and  the  princes  of  the  house  of  David.  The 
 Maccabees  were  deliverers  raised  up  from  the  peoph — 
 viz..  Levi  i  see  .Mace.  ii.  1 ) — not  from  the  royal  house. 
 
 (8)  In  that  day  an  almost  supernatural  power  will 
 be  given  to  Jerusalem  through  Cod's  favour,  so  that 
 the  weakest  (comp.  Ps.  ev.  37)  inhabitant  will  be  a 
 hero  like  David  (see  1  Sam.  viii.  18),  and  the  house  of 
 David  will  be  "as  God,"  or  rather,  as  «ij«  /-natural 
 beings,  even  "as  the  angel  of  the  Lord  before  them." 
 (Comp.  Exod.  xxiii.  20,  et  seq.;  Josh.  v.  13,  et  sea.)  The 
 first  part  of  this  promise  was  signally  fulfilled  in  the 
 fact  that  then;/../  Mattathias  was  the  initiator  of  that 
 glorious  strugglo  for  liberty,  which  was  afterwards 
 carried  on  by  hlfl  Bona  (the  Maccabees). 
 
 (•)  Seek.— This  word  is  only  twice  used  of  God. 
 here  and  in  Exod.  i v.  J  t.  where  "  He  BOUghl  to  slay 
 Moses":  i.e.,  He  expressed  Hi-  determination  to  do  so, 
 but  for  certain  reasons  did  not  carry  it  out.  So  in 
 this  case  He  would  have  utterly  destroyed  tho  nations: 
 that  is,  have  given  the  Jews  complete  victory  over 
 them,  but  for  Israel's  sin.  (Comp.  the  case  of  the 
 Canaanitcs.  Josh  xxiii.  5,  1-.  13.) 
 
 (10— H)  These  are  verses  of  almost  unprecedented 
 difficulty.  If  the  words  •and  they  shall  look  on  me 
 whom    they  pierced  "  stood  alone,  they  might  possibly 
 
A  Day  of  Mourning. 
 
 ZECHAKIAH,   XIII. 
 
 A  Fountain  for  Sin. 
 
 supplications :  and  they  shall  "look  upon 
 me  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they 
 shall  mourn  for  him,  as  one  niourneth 
 for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitter- 
 ness for  him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness 
 for  his  firstborn. 
 
 (U>  In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  great 
 *niourning  in  Jerusalem,  cas  the  mourn- 
 ing of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of 
 Megiddon.  <12>  And  the  land  shall 
 mourn,  l every  family  apart;  the  family 
 of  the  house  of  David  apart,  and  their 
 wives  apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of 
 Nathan  apart,  and  their  wives  apart ; 
 (13)  the  family  of  the  house  of  Levi  apart, 
 and  their  wives   apart;  the  family  of 
 
 a  John  19. 
 Rev.  l.  7. 
 
 c  2  Cbr.  35.  Si. 
 
 1   Hob.,   families, 
 families. 
 
 Heb.,  separation 
 for  luicleamtess. 
 
 Shimei  apart,  and  their  wives  apart; 
 (U)  all  the  families  that  remain,  every 
 family  apart,  and  their  wives  apart. 
 
 CHAPTER  Xin.— (D  In  that  day 
 there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the 
 house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants 
 of  Jerusalem  for  sin  and  for  3unclean- 
 ness. 
 
 <2)And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
 day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  I  will 
 ''cut  oft'  the  names  of  the  idols  out  of 
 the  land,  and  they  shall  no  more  be 
 remembered :  and  also  I  will  cause  the 
 prophets  and  the  unclean  spirit  to  pass 
 out  of  the  land.     (3)  And  it  shall  come 
 
 be  taken  in  a  figm-ative  sense,  as  denoting  that  they 
 shall  look  to  the  Lord  whom  they  had  so  grievously 
 contemned  (see  Notes  on  John  xix.  37).  Such  is  the 
 view  of  the  passage  taken  by  Calvin,  Rosenmuller, 
 Gesenius,  &c,  and  apparently  by  the  LXX. ;  but  this 
 figurative  sense  of  the  word  cannot  be  supported  by 
 usage ;  it  always  means  "  to  thrust  through "  (see 
 my  Hebrew  Student's  Commentary  on  Zechariah, 
 pp.  Ill,  112).  Moreover,  the  words  which  follow, 
 "  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him,"  can  only  mean, 
 according  to  the  said  interpretation,  that  they  shall 
 mourn  over  the  slain  Jehovah — a  notion  grotesque, 
 if  not  blasphemous.  We  might,  indeed,  get  somewhat 
 over  this  difficulty  by  rendering  the  words  and  they 
 shall  mourn  over  it — viz.,  the  matter;  but  such  an  ex- 
 planation would  be  forced,  and  greatly  destroy  the 
 effect  of  the  following  words,  "as  for  his  only  son  and 
 for  his  firstborn."  Neither  can  we,  reading  on  Sim 
 for  "on  me,"  understand  the  words  "and  they  shall 
 look  on  him  whom  they  pierced  "  as  referring  to  some 
 unknown  martyr,  or  to  the  Messiah  directly,  since 
 such  a  reference  would  be  so  abrupt  as  to  have  pre- 
 sented no  meaning  to  the  prophet's  original  hearers. 
 We  are  compelled,  therefore,  to  propound  a  theory, 
 which  we  believe  to  be  new,  and  which  will  obviate 
 most  of  the  difficulties  of  the  passage.  We  consider 
 these  verses  to  be  misplaced,  and  propose  to  place  them 
 after  chap.  xiii.  3,  and  will  comment  further  on  them  there- 
 
 (11)  Hadadrimmon,  says  Jerome,  "is  a  city  near 
 Jezreel,  now  called  Maximianopolis,  in  the  field  of 
 Mageddou,  where  the  good  king  Josiah  was  (mortally) 
 wouuded  in  battle  with  Pharaoh-uecho."  (Comp.  2 
 Chron.  xxxv.  22 — 25).  Assyriologists  seem  to  be  of 
 opinion  that  the  name  should  be  pronounced  Hadar- 
 Ramman. 
 
 It  has  been  urged  as  an  objection  to  the  post-exilic 
 origin  of  this  prophecy  that  the  expression  "  as  the 
 mourning  of  Hadad-rimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megid- 
 don "  is  a  note  of  time,  which  should  fix  the  date  of  this 
 'prophecy  to  a  time  shortly  after  the  death  of  Josiah. 
 We  reply  that  this  mourning  over  Josiah  was  a  typical 
 instance,  and  became"  an  ordinance  for  Israel"  (2  Chron. 
 xxxv.  25),  and  so  was  naturally  cited  with  reference  to  a 
 similar  occasion.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  a  place  in 
 the  tribe  of  Issachar  was,  in  the  prophet's  time, 
 known  by  an  Assyrian  name  seems  to  us  a  proof,  in 
 itself  almost  conclusive,  that  the  date  of  this  pro- 
 phecy is  post-exilian. 
 
 (!-)  Nathan. — Not  the  prophet,  but  the  son  of 
 David  (2  Sam.  v.  14). 
 
 (IS)  Shimei. — Not  the  Benjamite  tribe  (2  Sam.  xvi. 
 5),  but  of  the  family  of  Gershou,  son  of  Levi  (Num.  iii. 
 17).  Thus,  of  the  two  tribes,  he  mentions  one  leading 
 family  and  one  subordinate  branch,  and  then  (verse  1) 
 embraces  all  together,  and  mentions  even  "  their  wives 
 apart,"  to  show  how  general,  and  yet  particular,  the 
 mourning  should  be. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 (1— 3)  Some  critics  consider  that  chaps,  xii.,  xiii.  1 — 6, 
 and  xiv.  were  composed  in  the  time  of  Jehoiakim  (cir. 
 600),  or  that  chap.  xiv.  was  written  a  little  later,  lohen 
 the  confidence  of  victory  expressed  in  the  earlier  chapters 
 was  considerably  lessened  on  account  of  the  more 
 threatening  position  of  political  affairs.  To  this  we 
 can  only  reply  that,  if  so,  the  prophet  was  a  false 
 prophet,  and  proclaimed  "Peace,  peace,  when  there  was 
 no  peace ;  "  and  we,  at  least,  are  not  inclined  to 
 undertake  the  responsibility  of  making  such  a  state- 
 ment concerning  the  author  of  these  chapters.  We 
 suggest  that  these  verses  should  be  placed  between 
 chap.  xii.  9  and  10. 
 
 (i)  The  meaning  of  this  verse  seems  to  be  that  the 
 people  would  keep  the  law  with  more  heartfelt  earnest- 
 ness, and  consequently  acceptably.  There  seems  to  be 
 a  reference  to  Num.  viii.  7,  xix.  9,  et  seq. 
 
 (2)  Unclean  spirit.  —This  is  the  only  passage  in 
 the  Old  Testament  in  which  we  find  the  expression 
 "  unclean  spirit,"  which  is  of  such  frequent  occurrence 
 in  the  New.     (See  on  chap.  x.  2.) 
 
 (3)  The  reaction  from  superstition  would  be  scep- 
 ticism. The  people  would  no  longer  believe  in  pro- 
 phecy at  all,  and  the  very  parents  of  a  prophet  would 
 slay  him  as  an  impostor,  even  though  not  legally  con- 
 victed of  falsehood  (Dent,  xviii.  19 — 22). 
 
 But  God  would  have  pity  of  their  "zeal  not  ac- 
 cording to  knowledge,"  and  "  pour  out  .  .  .  the 
 Spirit  ...  so  that  they  should  look  on  Him  whom 
 they  pierced,"  &c.  The  word  "  pierced  "  is  the  same 
 as  is  better  rendered  in  chap.  xiii.  3  by  "  thrust 
 through."  The  Hebrew  has  "  shall  look  upon  me,"  but 
 by  the  addition  of  the  small  letter,  it  would  mean 
 "  upon  him."  which  suits  better  the  succeeding  clauses, 
 and  has  the  support  of  Aquila,  Theodotion,  and 
 Symmachus,  and  is  defended  by  Kennicott,  Ewald, 
 Geiger,  Bunsen,   &c.  (aud  is  so  quoted  in  John  xix. 
 
 5S8 
 
Lying  Prophets 
 
 ZHCHAUIAII,    XIII 
 
 to  be  Confounded. 
 
 to  pass,  that  when  any  shall  yei  pro- 
 phesy, then  liis  father  ami  his  mother 
 
 thai    bfigal   him  shall  say  unto  him.  Thou 
 
 shall  r j •  > i  live;  for  thou  speakest  lies  in 
 
 t  \\r   1 1 ; i  iiit-  of   the    I  j< »k I >  :   ami    his  f'nl  her 
 
 and  his  mother  thai  begal  him  shall 
 (hrust  him  through  wheuheprophesieth. 
 
 ("    A  nil   it    shall   come  to  pass  in  that 
 
 day,  tlml  the  prophets  shall  be  ashamed 
 every  one  of  his  vision,  when  he  hath 
 prophesied;  neither  shall  they  wear  ls 
 roujrh  irarniL'iit  toilrcrivt':  ' ■'• '  I > * 1 1  In ■  shall 
 sa_\,  I  am  no  prophet,  I  am  an  husband- 
 
 "/  Ifttr. 
 
 i    Mult.   ■>■. 
 Mark  14.17. 
 
 man;  forman  baughl  me  to  keep  cattle 
 
 I'm. m  my  youth.   ""  Anil  <>«<•  shall  sa  \  unto 
 
 him,  What  are  these  (rounds  in  thine 
 hands?  Then  he  shall  answer,  Tliose  with 
 which  I  was  wounded  in  the  house  of  my 
 friends. 
 
 171  Awake,  0  swnnl,  against  my  shep- 
 herd, and  against  the  man  that  is  my 
 fellow,  saith  the  li<u:i>  of  hosts :  "smit.- 
 the  Bhepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be 
 scattered:  and  I  will  turn  mine  hand 
 upon  the  little  ones.  (8)  And  it  shall 
 come  to  pass,  that  in  all  the  land,  saith 
 
 :;7  .  \\'.'.  accordingly,  adopt  this  rendering.  If  our 
 conjecture  concerning  the  original  position  of  chap. 
 xii    In  in  tli.'  text  be  correct,  the  whole  passage  will 
 
 run  lis  follow*  (ohap.  X.  iii.  1):   "  In  tliut  day  shall  be  a 
 
 fountain  opened,  for  the  bouse  of  David  and  for  the 
 inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for  [removal  of]  sin  ami  of 
 ancleanness.    (2) And  it  shall  In-  inthatdaj  ('ids the 
 
 utteraiu !'  Jehovah  of  Hosts)  1  will  nit  off  the  names 
 
 of  tin'  i.l. .Is  from  the  land,  and  they  shall  not  be  re- 
 membered any  more;  and  the  [false]  prophets  and  the 
 
 niH'Iran  spirit  will   I  Cause  to  pass  away  from  tin-  land. 
 
 <:ii  And  it  shall  In',  when  a  man  shall'  prophesy, then 
 the]  shall  say  to  him,  his  father  and  his  mother,  they 
 thai  bare  him.  "Thou  slialt  not  live,  because  thou  hast 
 spoken  lies  in  the  nam..  of  Jehovah;"  and  they  thai! 
 thrust  him  through,  his  father  and  his  mother,  they 
 that  bare  him.  on  account  of  his  prophesying.  (Chap, 
 xii.  In.  'I'h. 'ii  will  I  pom-  out  up..n  the  house  of  David, 
 and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of 
 grace  and  supplication,  and  they  shall  look  on  him, 
 COM  him  whom  they  lhni.it  (hroutjh,  and  they  shall 
 mourn  0V6T  him.  as  the  mourning  for  an  only  son.  and 
 
 they  shall   make  bitter  mourning  over  him.  as  one 
 
 inounirth   bitterly  for  a  tirsthom.      In  that  day    .    .     . 
 
 Ii     ...    and  their  wives  apart.'' 
 When  scepticism  should  have  reached  such  a  pitch 
 
 that  parents  would  without  hesitation  slay  their  sou 
 if  lie  should  pretend  to  prophetic  powers,  then  God 
 would  smite  the  people  with  prickings  of  the  heart, 
 and  they  would  look  on  such  a  case  with  the  utmost 
 remorse,   and    make  great    lamentation  for  the  victim. 
 
 As  with  chap.  \i.  [S  sc  Notes),  so  this  prophecy 
 must  not  lie  regarded  as  being  fulfilled  in  one  single 
 
 event  only.  Hut.  certainly,  in  the  ease  of  Christ  it 
 received   its   most    signal   fulfilment.      There  was  One, 
 
 professing   more   than   prophetic  powers,  rejected  by 
 
 His  people,  and  especially  l.y  His  own  relet iws — 
 slain,  thrust   through,  and  then  deeply  lamented  (Luke 
 
 is;  Acts  ii. :;;—  Ut. 
 
 (*)  Now  he  reverts  to  those  who  are  really  false 
 prophets, 
 
 (5)  Taught  .  .  .  cattle.  Better,  acq  aired,  or 
 bought  me.  Ho  protends  to  he  a  purchased  slave, 
 kept  hard  at  work,  and  therefore  as  having  no  time  for 
 professing  inspiration.  His  meaning  is  very  different 
 from  that  of  Amos.  \  ii.  14. 
 
 (8)   In. — Better,   between — Ls.,  on  the  hands  anil  up 
 
 the  arms.    His  interrogator  accuses  him  of  having  cut 
 
 himself  in  idolatrous  worship  .1  Bangs  xviii.  28).  The 
 meaning  of  the  latter  part  of  the  Terse  depends  on  the 
 interpretation  pot  on  "  my  friends,"  or  "my  lovers." 
 Some  suppose  theso  to  be  his  false-  gods,  and  that  he 
 
 confesses  with  shame  that  he  had  so  cut  himself  in 
 idolatrous  worship;  hut  t  he  passive  verb  is  against  this 
 explanation.  Others,  hitter,  suppose  him  to  reply 
 that  they  are  the  stripes  he  has  received  in  loving 
 chastisement  in  the  house  of  his  parents  or  relatives. 
 In   any  case,  he    is  anxious   to  disavow  any  pretcneo  to 
 
 prophecy. — Throughout  these  passages  "  that  day  "ex- 
 tends over  a  considerable  period,  the  limits  of  which 
 
 are  hidden  even  from  the  prophet  himself. 
 
 (7— !i)  It   has  heen  objected  that   "  271  /  the 
 
 'house  of  David'  (chaps,  xii.  7.  xiii.  1  .  is   mOOtl 
 with  the  supposition  of  (he  authorship  of  Zeehariah." 
 
 The  answer  is  obvious,  viz.,  that  the  If  use  of  David 
 had    not    ceased  with   the  captivity;   ..n    the   contrary. 
 
 Zerubbabel    was    its    representatrt \    the    return. 
 
 There  is,  too  (not  to  mention  cases  more  generally 
 known),  a    family   living    to    this    day  at    Aleppo,   the 
 
 members  of   which,  on  account   of   its  claim   to  be 
 
 descended  from  the  "house  of  David."  are.  in  ac- 
 cordance with  Gen.  xlix.  10,  always  allowed  to  take 
 precedence  of  all  others  in  exercising  the  functions  of 
 
 ibixjijanhn.  "  judges";  the  famous  Al.arhanel  also  laid 
 claim  to  he  a  descendant  of  David.  Moreover,  the 
 thought    expressed   by  the   prophet  in  chap.  xii.  7.  that 
 
 the  glory  ox  the  house  of  David,  and  that  of  the  inha- 
 bitants of  Jerusalem,  should  not  magnify  itself  over 
 Juilah.  is  one  which  could  never  have  entered  into  the 
 conceptions  of  a  prophet  writing  before  the  exile. 
 
 (7)  My  shepherd.  I'ldess  wo  are  to  consider  that 
 these  verses  ought  to  he  transferred  to  the  end  of 
 chap,  \i-  see  Notes  there,  we  must  take  this  expression 
 as  a  title  of  honour. 
 
 Fellow. — This   word,   except   here.  urs  only  in 
 
 Leviticus.  It  means  either  neighbour,  fellow-,  or.  ac- 
 cording to  others,  neighbourly  relationship,  fellowship. 
 Perhaps  the  "foolish  shepherd"  (chap.  xi.  15)  culd 
 hardly  he  called  l.y  the  Lord  "the  mail  of  my  fellowship." 
 If  so.  this  argument  is  conclusive  for  the  retention  of 
 this  passage  in  its  present  position.  Other  arguments 
 in  the  same  direction  arc  that  the  mention  of  the  "  third 
 pari  "  (verse  s)  is  very  similar  to  the  mention  of  "  half 
 of  the  city"  i  chap.  xiv.  2),  and  that  the  use  of  / 
 in  the  sense  of  "the  land"  (verse  B)  is  parallel  with 
 chap.  xiv.  :>.  rather  than  with  chap.  xi.  ii  ;  but  it  must 
 ii..t  I..-  forgotten  that,  as  far  as  the  word  itself  ; 
 cerued,  it  may  in  all  these  passages  mean  "  the  land." 
 or  in  all  "the  earth."  It  is  only  possible  to  decide 
 on  its  meaning  according  to  one's  own  view  of  the  con- 
 text. 
 
 Wicked   men  are    tho  Lord's  sword  (Ps.  xvii.  13) ; 
 
 589 
 
A  Remnant  to  be  Saved. 
 
 ZECHAKIAH,   XIV. 
 
 The  Way  of  the  Lord. 
 
 the  Lord,  two  parts  therein  shall  be  cut 
 off  and  die  ;  hut  the  third  shall  be  left 
 therein.  <9>  And  I  will  bring  the  third 
 part  through  the  fire,  and  will  "refine 
 them  as  silver  is  refined,  and  will  try 
 them  as  gold  is  tried :  they  shall  call 
 
 on  my  name,  and  I  will  hear  them :  I 
 will  say,  It  is  my  people  :  and  they  shall 
 say,  The  Lokd  is  my  God. 
 
 CHAPTER  XTV.— <"  Behold,  the  day 
 of  the  Lord  cometh,  and  thy  spoil  shall 
 
 through  them  was  to  be  executed  His  determinate 
 counsel  (Acts  ii.  23).  The  smiting  of  the  shepherd 
 was  on  account  of  the  sin  of  the  flock.  The  shepherd, 
 then,  must  be  understood  to  be  He  whom  they  are  be- 
 fore represented  as  having  insulted  and  rejected  (chap, 
 xi.  12).  Part  of  this  verse  is  quoted  by  our  Lord 
 (Matt.  xxvi.  31). 
 
 I  will  turn  mine  hand — viz.,  in  merciful  chas- 
 tisement.    (Comp.  Isa.  i.  25.) 
 
 The  little  ones. — The  word  occurs  only  here  in 
 this  form.  It  means  perhaps  the  humble  and  patient, 
 and  so  denotes  those  who  are  called  afterwards  "  the 
 third  part "  (verse  9). 
 
 (8)  The  land.— viz.,  of  Israel.   (Comp.  chap.  xiv.  9.) 
 
 (9)  The  third  part. — Amidst  all  the  calamities 
 which  should  overtake  the  land,  a  remnant  should  be 
 saved  and  purified.  In  the  light  of  the  Gospel  we  may 
 (if  we  retain  them  in  their  present  context)  understand 
 these  words  as  fulfilled  in  those  who  embraced  Chris- 
 tianity ;  but  the  prophet,  from  the  Old  Testament 
 stand-point,  speaks  vaguely,  and  after  the  analogy  of 
 the  past  captivity  (Isa.  vi.  13). 
 
 XIV. 
 The  Day  of  the  Lord. 
 
 The  eleventh  book  of  the  minor  prophets  is  acknow- 
 ledged on  all  sides  to  be  the  most  difficult  of  all  the 
 prophets.  Jews  (Talmudists,  cabbalists,  and  literalists) 
 and  Christians  (fathers,  orthodox  divines,  and  ration- 
 alists) are  all  loud  in  their  complaints  with  regard  to 
 the  difficulties  of  interpreting  this  book.  But,  difficult 
 as  are  all  the  preceding  chapters,  this  chapter  surpasses 
 them  all  in  obscurity.  It  is  a  chapter  which  seems  to 
 defy  all  historical  explanation.  We  show  in  our  Notes 
 that  the  mention  of  "  the  earthquake  in  the  days  of 
 Hezekiah,  king  of  Jndah,"  gives  no  secure  trace  of  the 
 date  of  the  delivery  of  this  prophecy;  and  before  proceed- 
 ing, we  may  observe  that  Ewald's  idea,  that  verse  14 
 indicates  that  Judah  is  to  take  up  arms  against  Jeru- 
 salem, is  entirely  erroneous.  We  may  also  dismiss  as 
 hardly  worthy  of  notice  literal  interpretations  of  verses 
 4,  8,  16,  &c.  But  even  when  we  have  dismissed  these 
 preliminary  difficulties,  which  come  upon  us  from 
 without,  we  have  done  but  little  to  clear  the  way  for  a 
 lucid  interpretation  of  this  chapter.  (1)  H  we  suppose 
 the  writer  to  have  prophesied  before  the  captivity  of 
 Judah,  we  are  met  by  the  following  difficulties.  Other 
 prophets,  who  uttered  their  oracles  before  the  taking  of 
 Jerasalern  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  always — while,  with 
 our  prophet,  they  foretold  the  salvation  of  a  part  of 
 the  nation  (see  verse  2) — spoke  clearly  of  a  deportation 
 of  the  people,  and  a  subsequent  return,  but  of  neither 
 of  these  does  our  prophet  say  anything.  He  says 
 nothing  of  deportation,  and  verses  10  and  11  are  the 
 only  ones  that  could,  even  by  an  immense  stretch  of 
 imagination,  be  interpreted  to  refer  to  a  return  from 
 captivity.  Nor,  again,  can  verses  8,  9  bo  fairly  inter- 
 preted of  the  state  of  things  at  any  period  of  Jewish 
 history,  either  before  the  captivity  or  after  the  return. 
 Witness  the  whole  of  the  prophecy  of  Malachi 
 to    the   contrary.      (2)    If   we,    on    the  other  hand, 
 
 suppose  the   prophet   to  be   speaking   of  some  catas- 
 trophes  which   were   to  take  place   after  the  return 
 from  the  captivity,  to  what  historical  events  could  he 
 have   referred  ?     An  extract  from  Josephus,  given  in 
 our  Note  on  verse  2,  shows  that  if  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem  by  Titus  was  the  subject  of  his  prophecy, 
 he  was  woefully  deceived  in  his  anticipations.     But  we 
 cannot,  from  a  priori  considerations,  suppose  that  he 
 did  literally  refer  to  so  distant  an  event.     For  though 
 we  hold  that  a  prophet  might  foretell  distant  events, 
 when  there  were  already  indications  on  the   political 
 horizon  of  coming  storms — so  that  Zechariah,  in  his 
 latter  days,  might  well  have  foretold  the  victories  of 
 the  Maccabees  over  the  Greeks — and  though  a  prophet 
 might,  through  being  imbued  with  the  traditions  of  his 
 order,   foretell,  hundreds   of  years   before   the  event, 
 circumstances  in  conuection  with  the  advent   of  the 
 Messiah,  we  cannot  imagine  that  a  prophet  could,  when 
 the  Greeks  were  only  just  becoming  of  importance  in 
 the  East,  foresee,  aud  in  any  way  consciously  foretell, 
 the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans.     Com- 
 pelled, then,  by  the  lack  of  any  historical  fulfilment, 
 and  guided  by  the  highly  figurative  language  of  the 
 whole  chapter,  we  decide  to  interpret  it  entirely  in  a 
 figurative  and  Messianic  sense.    The  prophet,  amid  the 
 corruptions   of  his   age,  perceives  that   it  is  only  by 
 passing  through    the   furnace   of    affliction    that   his 
 nation   can    become    sufficiently    purified    to    be    fit 
 recipients  of  the  spiritual  blessings  which  the  whole 
 prophetic  school,  in  one  stream  of  unbroken  continuity, 
 had  foretold  should  be  the  portion  of  Israel  in  the  days 
 of  the   Messiah.     He  foresaw  the  glorious  Messianic 
 "  day  " — he  rejoiced  to  see  that  day ;  "  he  saw  it,  and  was 
 glad."     But   what   he    sees,   he    sees    from  the    Old 
 Testament  point  of  view.     The  greatest  affliction  that 
 had  as  yet  visited  the  nation  was  the  destruction  of 
 Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  (comp.  Josephus.  Bel. 
 Jud.  x),   and  accordingly,  after  the   analogy  of  this 
 catastrophe,  the    prophet  draws  the  picture    of    the 
 troubles  which    should    precede    the    advent   of    the 
 Messiah.     It   is  true  that  there  is  here  no  definite 
 reference  to  the    Messiah,  the  spirit  in  which  this 
 chapter  is  conceived  being  that  of  the  Psalms  of  the 
 Theophany    (xcvi. — xcix.).     God  is    here,    as    there, 
 to  appear  in  person  to  fight  the  battles  of  His  people. 
 But  none  the  less,  on  that    account,  are  those  Psalms 
 and   this   prophecy  Messianic.      The  two  ideas,  viz., 
 that  of  the  reign  of   God  Himself,  and  that  of  the 
 reign  of  His  anointed,  run  in  parallel,  and  sometimes 
 even  in  converging  lines,  but  they  never  actually  meet 
 in  the   Old  Testament.     It  remained  for  the  Gospel 
 revelation   to   show    how   the   reign   of  Jehovah   and 
 that  of  the  ideal  David  were  to  be  combined  in  one 
 Person.     The  prophet,  in   this  chapter,  by   faith  and 
 inspiration,  foresees,  with  no   degree   of  uncertainty, 
 that  the  day  will  come  when  Jehovah  shall  be  One, 
 and  His  name  One  ;  but  the  manner  was  not  revealed 
 until  "  these  last  days  "  to  the  Christian  Church,  while 
 the  complete  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy,  and  the  full 
 consummation  of  that  day,  will  not  take  place  until 
 (1  Cor  xv.  28)  God  shall  be  all  in  all,  and  (Rev.  xi. 
 590 
 
Jerusalem  to 
 
 zi;ciiai:i.\ii,  xiv. 
 
 be  D'  struif  d. 
 
 he  divided  in  tin-  midst.  <»f  thee.  <-'  For 
 I  will  pather  all  nations  apainst  Jeru- 
 salem (n  battle;  and  the  eity  shall  be 
 taken,  and  the  houses  rifled,  and  the 
 wuiii.'ii  ravished;  and  half  of  the  city 
 shall  go  forth  into  captivity,  and  t he 
 residue  of  the  people  shall  not  be  cut 
 <ilt  from  the  city.  |:1'  Then  shall  the 
 Lobd  po  forth,  and  fipht  apainst  those 
 natiiiiis,  as  when  he  i'oiipht  in  the  day 
 of  I  tattle.  <l)And  his  feet  shall  stand 
 in  that  day  upon  the  mount  of  Olives, 
 which  is  before  Jerusalem  on  the  east, 
 and  the  mount  of  Olives  shall  cleave  in 
 
 tmlMt 
 
 I  '  tr,  "  if  ' 
 
 I h     tllf     l.lltr)/ 
 
 ../  Uu  'I. 
 
 Mtjjtir.itnL 
 
 :;    Hi  li  .  I'lrfioll*. 
 
 the  midst  thereof  towanl  the  east  and 
 toward  the  West,  Hud  there  ahull  he  ;i 
 very    great     valley;     and     half    of     the 
 
 mountain  shall  remove  toward  the  north, 
 
 and  half  of  it  towanl  the  south.  W  And 
 ye  shall  flee  t<>  the  valley  of  'the  moun- 
 tains ;  '' for  the  valley  of  the  mountains 
 shall  reach  unto  A/.al:  yea,  ye  shall 
 flee,  like  as  ye  fled  from  before  the 
 'earthquake  in  the  days  of  Uzziah  king 
 
 of  Judah:  and  the  Loud  my  God  shall 
 come,  and  all  the  saints  with  thee. 
 
 W  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that 
 day,  that  the  lipht  shall  not  be  3  clear, 
 
 15)  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  have  become  the 
 kingdom  of  the  Lord  and  of  His  Christ. 
 
 (')  The  day  of  the  Lord  cometh.— Better.  A 
 day  cometh  fur  the  Lord — viz.,  on  which  Ho  will  signally 
 manifest  His  glory.  (Comp.  Ps.  ii.  12,  &e.)  The 
 second  half  of  the  verse  gives  with,  as  it  were,  one 
 stroke  of  the  pen  the  must  \ivitl  description  of  the 
 first  feature  of  this  "day,"  viz.,  judgment  upon  Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 i-i  This  verse  is  but  a  further  description  of  the 
 event  depicted  in  the  second  half  of  the  preceding  verse. 
 
 And  the  residue  of  the  people  shall  not  be 
 cut  off  from  the  city.-  This  was  the  case  (with  re- 
 gard  to  Judah)  in  the  Chahkuan  conquest  (-  Kings 
 xxv.  22).  Whether  or  no  this  can  lie  interpreted  of 
 the  taking  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  we  leave  OUT  nailers 
 to  decide,  after  placing  before  them  the  following 
 words  of  Joseph us  {Bel.  Jud.  vi.  9,  §  2)  : — "And  now, 
 since  his  soldiers  wero  already  quite  tired  of  killing 
 men,  yet  there  appeared  to  be  a  vast  multitude  still  re- 
 maining alive.  Cesar  gave  orders  that  they  should  kill 
 none  but  those  that  were  in  arms  and  opposed  them, 
 but  should  take  the  rest  alive.  But.  together  with 
 those  whom  they  had  orders  to  slay,  they  slew  the  aged 
 and    the  infirm;    but  for  those  that  were  fan  their 
 
 flourishing  age.  and  who  might    be  useful  to  them,  they 
 
 drove  them  together  into  the  Temple,  and  shut  them  up 
 
 within  the  widls  of  the  court  of  the  women,  over  which 
 Ciesar  set  one  of  his  frecdmeii,  as  also  Pronto,  one  of 
 his  friends,  which  last  was  to  determine  every  one's 
 fate  according  to  his  merits.  So  this  Pronto  slew  all 
 those  that  had  been  seditious  and  robbers,  who  wero 
 impeached  one  by  another;  Lot  of  the  young  men  he 
 chose  out  the  tallest  and  must  beautiful,  and  reserved 
 them  for  the  triumph  ;  and  as  for  the  rest  of  the  mul- 
 titude thai  wort  above  seventeen  years  old,  he  put  them 
 in  bonds,  unit  sent  Hi,  in  to  the  Egyptian  mines.  Titus 
 also  sent  B  great  number  into  the  provinces,  as  a  present 
 to  them,  that  they  might  be  destroyed  upon  their 
 theatres  by  the  sword  and  by  wild  beasts;  tint  those 
 find  were  under  seventeen  years  of  age  teere  sold  for 
 llavee."  We  simply  ask,  what  room  is  there  for  a 
 remnant  ? 
 
 (*)  Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth.— In  the  hour 
 
 of  Israel's    tlirest    need    the    Lord  will    appear  as   their 
 champion,    as     of     old.       (Coinp.     Josh.    x.    If — 12. 
 xxiii.  :!  ;  Judg.  iv.   15;  1  Sam.  vii.  10;  and  especially 
 2  Chron.  xx.  15.) 
 <•*>  And  his  feet     .     .     .—The  language  is.  of 
 
 course,  figurative. 
 
 Shall  cleave.— Earthquake  is  commonly  re], re. 
 seated  as  an  accompaniment  of  the  Lord's  appearing 
 (Exml.  xix.  18;  lsa.  xxix.  6;  Ezek.  xxxviii.  [9,  -"  . 
 The  Mount  of  Olives  shall  be  cleft  eastward  to  west- 
 ward. Mini  its  tm)  halves  will  be  removed  northward  and 
 southward  respectively,  so  that  a  valley  will  be  formed 
 between  them. 
 
 <*)  And  ye  shall  flee  to.— The  Hebrew  will  not 
 bear  the  rendering  of  Luther,  "and  ye  shall  flee 
 before."  The  Oriental  Jews,  Targ.,  LX5f..  Ae.,  by  a 
 different  vocalisation,  read,  "And  the  valley  of  my 
 mountains  shall  be  stopped;"  but  this  reading  is  in- 
 appropriate. "My  mountains,"  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
 which  is  divided  in  twain  by  the  advent  of  the  Lord, 
 he  calls  "my  mountains"  (Marg.  I.  It  seems  that 
 they  would  flee  thither  for  fear  of  being  over- 
 whelmed in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  "for  the 
 valley  of  the  mountains"  will  afford  a  ready  place  of 
 refuge,  for  it  "shall  reach  unto  Azal."  Some  suppose 
 Azal  to  be  a  place  near  Jerusalem  (some  placing 
 it  to  the  west  of  the  Temple-Mount,  others  to  the 
 east  of  the  Mount  of  Olives',  but  others  take  the  word 
 as  a  preposition,  and  rentier  it  "  very  nigh."  In  any 
 case,  they  flee  to  the  valley  because  of  its  convenient 
 proximity. 
 
 The  earthquake    in    the    days  of   Uzziah 
 
 is  not  mentioned  in  the  sacred  history,  but  it  was  Bll 
 event  that  left  such  an  impression  on  the  popidar  mind 
 that  it  became  an  era  from  which  to  date  (Amos  i.  1). 
 "Similarly  in  Crete  recent  events  are  dated  by  such  eras 
 as  in  the  year  before  the  great  earthquake."  (Blakeshv's 
 Herodotus  i  J'i:>.)  Thus  the  mention  of  this  earth- 
 quake does  not  "fix  the  d<di  of  the  prophecy  to  the 
 days  of  Uzziah,"  as  some  commentators  have  affirmed. 
 The  second  person,  "ye  tied."  need  not  be  taken 
 as  referring  directly  to  the  persons  addressed;  but 
 considering   tho  fact  of  the  continuity  of  the  national 
 
 existence,  may  be  anderstood  as  denoting  the  same 
 nation  at  an  earlier  period,  as  in  Josh.  xxiv.  5.  More- 
 over, if  we  eared  to  dwell  on  the  fact  of  the  addition 
 of  the  words  "king  of  .ludah"  to  the  name  of 
 Uzziah,  it  might  be  taken  to  imply  that  the  prophecy 
 was  delivered  bo  long  after  the  tune  of  Ussiab  that  it 
 was  necessary  for  the  prophet  to  remind  his  hearers 
 
 who  this  Uzziah  was. 
 
 Saints.— Better,  omit  Is.  (Comp.  Dent,  xxxiii.  2; 
 Ps.  lxxxix.  5  [i. 
 
 With  thee.— The  change  into  the  second    i 
 denotes  the  prophet's  own  joyful  waiting  for  his  God's 
 advent.    Some  versions  and  MSS.  read  "with  him" 
 
 (6)  That  the  light  shall  not  be    clear,  nor 
 
 591 
 
Jehovah's  Ultimate  Triumph. 
 
 ZECHARIAH,    XIV.     The  Plague  to  come  upon  Jerusalem. 
 
 nor  Mark:  (7)  but  2it  shall  be  "one  day 
 which  shall  be  known  to  the  Lord,  not 
 day,  nor  night :  but  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
 that  at  b  evening  time  it  shall  be  light. 
 (8>  And  it  shall  be  in  that  day,  thatMving 
 ' waters  shall  go  out  from  Jerusalem; 
 half  of  them  toward  the  3  former  sea, 
 and  half  of  them  toward  the  hinder  sea : 
 in  summer  and  in  winter  shall  it  be. 
 <9)  And  the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all 
 the  earth :  in  that  day  shall  there  be 
 one  Lord,  and  his  name  one.  (10)  All 
 the  land  shall  be  *  turned  as  a  plain  from 
 Geba  to  Rimmon  south  of  Jerusalem  : 
 and  it  shall  be  lifted  up,  and  6  inhabited 
 in  her  place,  from  Benjamin's  gate  unto 
 the  place  of  the  first  gate,  unto  the 
 corner  gate,  and  from,  the  tower  of 
 Hananeel  unto  the  king's  winepresses. 
 
 i  Hcb.,  thickness. 
 
 Or,  the  day  shall 
 be  one. 
 
 Ibh.  60.19; 
 21. 23. 
 
 Ezek.  47. 1 ;  Joel 
 3. 18 ;  Rev.  22. 1. 
 
 3  Or,  eastern. 
 
 4  Or,  compassed. 
 
 5  Or,  shall  abide. 
 
 Or,  shall  abide. 
 
 Or,  thou  also,  O 
 Juduh,  Shalt. 
 
 8  Or,  against. 
 
 <in  And  men  shall  dwell  in  it,  and  there 
 shall  be  no  more  utter  destruction ; 
 but  Jerusalem  6  shall  be  safely  in- 
 habited. 
 
 <12)  And  this  shall  be  the  plague  where- 
 with the  Lord  will  smite  all  the  people 
 that  have  fought  against  Jerusalem ; 
 Their  flesh  shall  consume  away  while 
 they  stand  upon  their  feet,  and  their 
 eyes  shall  consume  away  in  their  holes, 
 and  their  tongue  shall  consume  away  in 
 their  mouth.  <13)  And  it  shall  come  to 
 pass  in  that  day,  that  a  great  tumult 
 from  the  Lord  shall  be  among  them ; 
 I  and  they  shall  lay  hold  every  one  on  the 
 hand  of  his  neighbour,  and  his  hand 
 shall  rise  up  against  the  hand  of  his 
 neighbour.  '14)  And  7Judah  also  shall 
 fight  8at  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  wealth  of 
 
 dark. — Better,  there  shall  not  be  light ;  the  glorious 
 ones  (i.e.,  the  heavenly  bodies)  shall  fail  (literally,  be- 
 come  coagulated). 
 
 (7)  One  day. — i.e.,  an  extraordinary,  unique  day. 
 (Comp.  Ezek.  vii.  5.)  "  An  evil,  an  only  (literally,  one) 
 evil,  behold,  is  come."     (Also  Jer.  xxx.  7.) 
 
 Not  day,  nor  night. — But  a  kind  of  murky 
 gloom,  such  as  accompanies  a  sand-storm  in  the  deserts 
 of  the  East- 
 It  shall  be. — Better,  there  shall  be.  As  the  darkest 
 hour  precedes  the  dawn,  so  the  climax  of  man's  direst 
 need  is  the  precursor  of  the  day-spring  of  God's  saving 
 power.  And  so  now,  when  "at  evening  time"  they  shall 
 be  expecting  the  gross  darkness  of  night  to  set  in,  sud- 
 denly they  shall  be  flooded  with  the  light  of  God's 
 salvation.  This  second  half  of  verse  7  is  to  verses  6 
 and  7a  what  verse  3  is  to  verses  1  and  2.  In  each  case 
 the  brightness  of  the  Theophany  dispels  the  darkness 
 of  despair. 
 
 (8)  Living  waters.  —  The  symbol  of  Divine 
 knowledge  and  spiritual  vitality  (Joel  iii.  18 ; 
 Ezek.  xlvii.). 
 
 Former. — Or  front,  i.e.,  eastern  (marg.) — meaning 
 the  Dead  Sea. 
 
 Hinder. — i.e.,  western,  meaning  the  Mediterranean. 
 These  boundaries  denote  the  whole  of  the  Holy  Land. 
 
 In  summer  and  in  winter.— The  stream  shall  be 
 perennial,  not  drying  up  in  summer,  as  the  Eastern 
 wadis  do. 
 
 (9)  All  the  earth. — In  accordance  with  the  con. 
 text,  we  can  only  understand  this  in  the  sense  of  "  all 
 the  land"  (chap.  xiii.  8).  But  though  this  is  un- 
 doubtedly the  meaning  of  the  prophet,  there  is  no 
 reason  why  his  words  may  not  have  a  wider  application 
 than  he  himself  ever  contemplated. 
 
 Shall  there  be  one  Lord.— Better,  Jehovah 
 shall  be  One  :  i.e.,  "  God  shall  be  all  in  all." 
 
 And  his  name  one. — i.e.,  and  He  alone  shall  be 
 worshipped  as  God. 
 
 (io)  The  land  .  .  .  from  Geba  to  Rimmon 
 south  of  Jerusalem. — i.e.,  Judah,  from  north  to 
 south,  as  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  8  it  is  said,  "  from  Geba 
 to  Beersheba."  Geba,  modern  "  Jeba,"  is  about  three 
 hours  north  of  Jerusalem.  Rimmon,  south  of  Jeru- 
 salem, not   Rimmon   in  Galilee,  which  was   north  of 
 
 Nazareth  (Josh.  xix.  13),  nor  the  rock  of  Rimmon, 
 north  of  Jerusalem  (Judges  xx.  45),  but  Rimmon, 
 modern  Umm  er  Bummanin,  four  hours  to  north  of 
 Beersheba. 
 
 Shall  be  turned  as  a  plain. — Better,  as  the 
 plain,  called  in  Hebrew  the  Hd  Ardbdh,  and  now  in 
 Arabic  Al  Ghor.  It  extends  with  some  interruptions 
 from  the  slopes  of  Hennon  to  the  Elamitic  ,gulf  of  the 
 Red  Sea, 
 
 And  it. — viz.,  Jerusalem.  The  idea  of  the  lifting 
 up  of  Jerusalem  is  suggested  by  its  geographical 
 position,  situated,  as  it  is,  in  a  nest  of  mountains  (Ps. 
 exxv.  2).  The  language  is,  of  course,  figurative,  and 
 denotes  the  religious  prominence  of  Jerusalem.  The 
 very  name  of  Jerusalem  at  the  present  time,  Al  Kuds, 
 "  the  holy  place,"  is  so  far  a  testimony  to  the  truth  of 
 the  prophecy,  in  that  the  nations,  by  adopting  this 
 appellation  (Jerusalem  ha  Kedoshah)  from  the  Jews, 
 acknowledge  the  holy  city  to  have  been  the  fountain- 
 head  of  religious  knowledge. 
 
 In  her  place. — Comp.  chap.  xii.  6. 
 
 Benjamin's  gate  was  doubtless  in  the  northern 
 wall. 
 
 The  place  of  the  first  gate  was,  perhaps, 
 at  the  north-eastern  corner,  and  "  the  corner  gate  "  at 
 the  north-western  corner  (2  Kings  xiv.  13;  Jer.  xxxi.  38). 
 Thus  this  description  denotes  the  whole  breadth  of  the 
 city,  from  east  to  west. 
 
 The  tower  of  Hananeel  (Jer.  xxxi.  38;  Neh. 
 iii.  1,  xii.  39)  was  at  the  north  corner  of  the  city ;  and 
 "  the  king's  wine-presses,"  no  doubt,  in  the  king's 
 gardens,  at  the  south  end  of  the  city  (Neh.  iii.  15) ; 
 thus  these  latter  are  the  northern  and  southern  boun- 
 daries. 
 
 (ii)  Utter  destruction. — Better,  ban.  (Comp. 
 Mai.  iv.  6 ;  Rev.  xxii.  3.) 
 
 (12,  13)  In  the  description  of  the  plague,  and  con- 
 fusion, and  rout  with  which  the  hostile  nations  are  to 
 be  smitten,  the  prophet  had  in  mind  several  historical 
 events :  e.g.,  Exod.  ix.  14  ;  Ps.  xxxvii.  36 ;  1  Sam.  v.  9, 
 xiv.  20  ;  Isa.  xxii.  5. 
 
 (1*)  Judah. — Then,  taking  courage  from  the  panic 
 which  had  struck  their  adversaries,  the  whole  people 
 of  Judah — not  merely  those  who  had  escaped  out  of  the 
 city,  but  also  those  outside  the  walls — fight  once  more 
 
 592 
 
Judgment  to  be  Remedial. 
 
 ZECHARIAH,  XIV. 
 
 Holiness  unlo  tlie  Lord 
 
 all  tin'  heathen  round  about  shall  he 
 gathered  together,  gold,  and  silver,  and 
 
 apparel,  in  o;reat  abundance.  <l5)  And 
 BO  shall  be  the  plague  of  the  horse,  of 
 the  mule,  uf  the  camel,  and  of  the  ass, 
 and  of  all  the  beasts  that  shall  be  in 
 these  tents,  as  this  plague. 
 
 "',1  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that 
 every  one  that  is  left  of  all  the  nations 
 which  came  against  Jerusalem  shall 
 even  go  up  from  year  to  year  to  wor- 
 ship the  King,  the  Loud  of  hosts,  and 
 to  keep  the  feast  of  tabemaolefl.  <17'And 
 it  shall  be,  thai  whoso  will  not  come  up 
 
 of  ifll  the    families  of   tl arth    unto 
 
 Jerusalem  to  worship  the  King,  the 
 Lord  of  hosts,  even  upon  them  shall  be 
 no  rain.  (18)  And  if  the  family  of  Egypt 
 go  not  up,  and  come  not,  'that   hare  no 
 
 <i  Im  BB.  B !  J"-' 
 :;  i  .  II.  v.-.'i  I) 
 ,t  -.=.  IS. 
 
 rain;  there  shall  be  the  plague,  where- 
 with the  Loud  will  smite  the  heathen 
 that  come  not  up  to  keep  the  fiaei  of 
 tabernacles.  (1!l»  This  shall  be  the 
 'punishment  of  Egypt,  and  the  punish- 
 ment of  all  nations  that  come  not  up  to 
 keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 
 
 f20'  In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon 
 the  3  bells  of  the  horses,  HOLIK 1 3SS 
 UNTO  THE  LORD;  and  the  pots  in 
 the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls 
 before  the  altar.  <21>  Yea,  every  pot  in 
 Jerusalem  and  in  Judah  shall  be  holi- 
 ness unto  the  Lord  of  hosts :  and  all 
 they  that  sacrifice  shall  come  and  take 
 of  them,  and  seethe  therein :  and  in 
 that  day  there  shall  be  no  more  the 
 u<  lanaanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of 
 hosts. 
 
 "at  Jerusalem,"  orin  its  very sti ts,"  against  the  terror- 
 driven,  plague-stricken,  God-confouudcd  foe"  (  Wright**. 
 
 And  the  WOalth.  .  .  .  Oriental  armies  always 
 inatvli  witli  quantities  of  gold,  silver,  and  other  valu- 
 ables. lOomp.  2  Ohron.  ZZ.  'Jo;  and  for  an  instance  in 
 India,  year  01  the  Hejra  tMit,  see  Al  Badaoni's  Reign  of 
 Akbar,  Transl.  pp.  9,  10.) 
 
 US)  The  war-horse  (see  Noto  on  eliap.  ix.  9)  and 
 beasts  of  burden  (see  Note  on  chap.  ix.  9)  aro  to  be  in- 
 olnded  in  t.l i ■  ■  destruction,  even  as  wero  the  cattle,  of 
 Aeliau  (Josh.  vii.  _' I  ■  ). 
 
 08)  Go  up  ...  to  worship.— The  judgment'  on 
 the  nation  is  to  be  remedial    The  result  of  it  is  to  be  that. 
 
 they  will  earnestly  embrace  the  worship  of  the  one  only 
 true  God.  "The  Feast of  Tabernacles"  (lasting  from  the 
 loth  to  the  22nd  of  Tishri)  is  called  par  excellence  "  The 
 Feast."  The  chief  object  in  its  observance  is.  from  a 
 material  point  of  view,  the  thanksgiving  for  the  in- 
 gathering of  the  harvest  and  vintage.  On  the  Jlst  (called 
 Hoxhti'mt  liahha)  the  Jews  always  pray  that  the  coming 
 nay  not  lie  one  of  drought.     It  is  most  appropriate. 
 
 then,  that  the  prophet  should  represent  the  nations  of 
 
 the  earth  as  joining  the  .lews  in  Keeping  their  festival, 
 which  is  that  on  which  the  Lord  is  especially  praised 
 
 SB  the  beneficent  God  of  nature.  This  prophecy  is,  ,.f 
 course,  not  to  be  taken  literally.      The  prophet  is  merely 
 
 foretelling  in  Old  Testament  language  the  future  in- 
 gathering of  the  nations.  Our  Lord  refers  to  the 
 gathering  of  people  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  a 
 harvesting  John  i*   36 
 
 (i?)  No  rain.  Though  the  worship  of  tho  Lord  is 
 to  become  universal,  apostacy  is  not  regarded  as  im- 
 possible. The  punishment  for  such  deflexion  is  spoken 
 of  in  such  figurative  language  as  suits  the  symbolic 
 description  of  the  nations'  conversion. 
 
 (Ml  That  have  no  rain.— This  is  an  impossible 
 
 rendering  of  the  original.  We  must  read  these  words 
 in  connection  with  those  which  follow,  and  either  take 
 
 the  clause  as  interrogative,  and  render,  then  vill  nut 
 (nonne/)  the  plague  fall  vpon  them  wherewith,  &c.," 
 or  we  must,  with  LXX.  and  six  Hebrew  MSS., 
 omit  the  negative,  and  render,  then  skull  full  mi  them 
 the  plague  when  with,  See.  Lauge  (quoted  by  Wright) 
 has  observed  rightly  that  if  the  family  of  Egypt 
 were  to  be  punished  by  tho  deficiency  of  water,  the 
 Abyssinians.  even  though  they  attended  the  feast 
 at  Jenisalem.  would  have  to  suffer  at  the  same  time, 
 as  Egypt,  can  only  suffer  from  scarcity  of  water  in 
 connection  with  all  the  lands  in  the  south  of  that 
 country.  Tho  fact,  then,  that  the  withholding  of 
 rain  is  described  as  the  particular  punishment  of  tho 
 nations  that  will  not  go  np  to  the  feast  is  sufficient 
 proof  that  the  prophecy  is  not  to  be  taken  in  its 
 literal  sense. 
 
 (19—21)  We  cannot  see.  as  many  commentators  affirm, 
 that  these  concluding  verses  clearly  indicate  a  passing 
 away  of  everything  that  is  distinctly  Levitical.  They 
 only  stato  that,  in  that  day  there  will  lie  a  general 
 elevation  of  everything  in  sanctity.  Even  "  the  bells 
 upon  the  horses "  will,  like  the  plate  of  gold  on  tho 
 mitre  of  the  high  priest,  have  inscribed  on  them 
 "Holiness  to  the  Lord"  (Exod.  xxviii.  36,  &o.). 
 
 Tho  pots  of  the  sanctuary  in  which  the  "peat tl'cr- 
 
 ings "  were  cooked  will  be  raised  to  the  grade  of 
 s.in.tity  of  the  bowls  in  which  the  blood  was  caught; 
 and  ordinary  pots  will  be  raised  to  the  grade  of  sanc- 
 tuary pots.  Neither  can  wo  see  in  this  passage  a 
 promise  of  tho  restoration  of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  for  the 
 whole  chapter  is  composed  in  most  unmistakably 
 figurative  language. 
 
 (*0  Canaanite,  in  reference  to  the  early  days  of 
 Israel's  existence,  denotes  alien,  unhelii  rer.  Tho 
 Word  implies  just  what  "  Jew."  would  in  the  present 
 day  to  an  illiberal  German  or  Russian,  or  Cajir.  or 
 Fiatuji  (Frank)  to  an  orthodox  Moslem. 
 
 177 
 
 693 
 
MALACIII. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 MALACIII. 
 
 I.  The  Prophet  and  his  Name.— Absolutely 
 nothing  is  known  historically  of  tho  life  of  the  prophet 
 Malaehi,  Josephns,  though  he  speaks  of  Haggai  and 
 Zechariah,  docs  not  mention  Malaehi.  By  some  the 
 word  Malaehi,  which  might  be  taken  to  mean  "my 
 messenger,"  has  been  regarded  as  the  prophet's  official 
 title,  not  as  his  personal  name.  Thus,  the  Chaldec 
 paraphrase*  (the  Tarmtm)  takes  the  word  as  a  mero 
 appellative,  aiel  identities  the  prophet  with  Ezra  thr 
 Scribe;  but,  as  Kimchi  well  remarks,  Ezra  is  nowhere 
 called  a  "  prophet,"  hut  "  the  scribe."  Again.  Talmudie 
 testimony  is  uncertain  on  the  (piestion.  Thus,  in 
 Talmud  Babli,  MegUlah,  15a:  after  other  suggestions 
 an  old  traditiim  is  adduced  to  the  effoct  that  "Rabbi 
 Ychoshua  lien  Korcha  (first  and  second  century  after 
 Christ)  says.  Malaehi  is  tho  samo  as  Ezra;  but  tho 
 (other)  sages  say,  Malaehi  was  his  namo."  Haggai. 
 Zechariah,  and  Malaehi  are  also  mentioned  in  the 
 Talmud  together  (without  any  doubt  being  expressed 
 as  to  Malaehi  being  a  personal  name)  as  the  last  of  tho 
 prophets  (>.■/..  Talmud  Babli,  Syvlicdrin,  11a),  and  as 
 members  of  the  Groat  Synagogue — i.e.,  tho  School  of 
 Sages,  which  existed  from  the  time  of  Ezra  to  that  of 
 Simon  t  lie  Just  'I'lic  testimony  of  the  LXX.  is  equally 
 uncertain,  for  while  in  Mai.  i.  1  the  word  is  translated 
 •'his  angel"  i  either  by  way  of  paraphrase  or  reading 
 Maiacho,  not  Malaehi),  we  find,  on  tho  other  hand,  the 
 prophet  in  the  title  ,if  the  book  called  MaAax'as.  just  SS 
 Xa.li.iry  i  Zechariah)  is  called  Zaxaptar.  The  passage  in 
 the  Apocrypha  (2  Esdr.  i.  39,40),  "Unto  whom  I  will  give 
 for  leader-;  Abraham,  Isaac.  Jacob,  Oseas,  Amos,  and 
 Mieheas,  .1 . . •■ !.  \lnlias.  anil  Jonas.  Nahum  and  Abacoe, 
 Soponias,  AggeUS,  Znchary.  and  Malaehy,  which  is  called 
 
 alsoanangelox the  Lord,"  is  also  equivocal.  Several  of  the 
 
 fathers  speak  of  his  name  as  merely  official,  an  opinion 
 upheld    by    Vitringa  and    many    modem    critics,    while 
 
 Pseudo-  Dorothens,    Ehnphanhu,  and  others  (Kohler 
 
 Vol  pp,  I".  I  1  '.  state  that  he  was  a  I, onto  of  Zclmlun. 
 and  born  at  Soph  i.     'I'liu-  tradition  helps  us 
 
 but  little,  and  we  are.  accordingly,  reduced  to  a  priori 
 arguments  to  decide  whether  Mulnrhi  was  a  personal 
 name  or  DO. 
 
 (1)  Jerome's  argument  is  worthy  of  notice:  he 
 says  most  reason  ably  that  "if  names  are  to  be 
 interpreted,  and  history  framed  from  them  .... 
 then  Hoses,  who  is  called  Saviour,  and  Joel,  whose 
 name  means  '  Lord  God,"  and  other  prophets,  will  not 
 be  men.  but  rather  angels.  ,.r  the  Lord  and  Saviour, 
 according  to  the   meaning  of  their  name."     (2)  While 
 
 •  I  have  shown  (Fmomi-nt  of  P.iachim.  p.  6fi.  Note  Ilh.  1) 
 that  the  Tun;uinin  of  the  prophets  were  in  existence  in  sub- 
 stantially the  same  form  in  which  wc  now  havo  them  in  the 
 time  of  Kab-Yoscph  (270-333  A.D.I. 
 
 697 
 
 it  is  true  that  Malaehi  might  be  a  mere  official  title, 
 meaning  awjelic,  or  my  messenger,  it  is  equally  true  that 
 personal  names  in  i  (for  iyyah,  yahu,  yah.  or  i'el, 
 meaning  "of  Yah"  and  "of  God")  are  of  by  no 
 means  unfrequent  occurrence  in  the  Bible.  Thus 
 in  2  Kings  xviii.  2  we  find  Abi  for  Abiyyah  (2  Chron. 
 xxix.  1),  Palti  (1  Sam.  xxv.  44)  for  PdtUl  (8  Sam. 
 iii.  15),  Zabdi  (Josh.  vii.  1)  compared  with  Zebadyah 
 (Ezr.  viii.  8),  Zabadyahu  (1  Chron.  xxvi.  2),  and 
 Zabdiel  (Neb.  xi.  14),  besides  Gamri,  Zirhri.  and  many 
 other.  (3)  The  use  of  the  word  Malaehi  in  the  sense 
 of  "my  messenger"  (Mai.  iii.  1)  is  no  argument 
 against  Malaehi  being  the  prophet's  personal  name; 
 on  the  contrary,  his  application  there  of  the  word 
 Malach  ( "angel")  to  tho  Messiah's  forerunner,  and  in 
 chap.  ii.  8  to  tho  priesthood — a  word  which  elsewhere, 
 except  in  Hag.  i.  IS,  Is.  xlii.  19,  is  never  used  of  any 
 but  a  supernatural  l>eing — may  be  taken  as  showing 
 that  tho  prophet  was  fond  of  making  nse  of  a 
 word  which  oarried  with  it  a  covert  reference  to 
 his  own  name.  (4)  That  no  one  else  in  tho  Old 
 Testament  is  called  Malaehi  is  no  valid  objection,  for 
 neither  is  there  more  than  one  person  called  At. us 
 (Amos  in  Isa.  i.  1  is  quite  a  different  name).  Jonah. 
 Habakkuk,  &e.  (5)  Nor  is  there  any  force  in  the 
 argument  that  the  name  stands  alone  in  verse  1 
 without  any  further  personal  definition,  for  that  is 
 also  the  ease  with  Obadiah.  (ti)  If  Malaehi  lie  a  mere 
 official  title,  the  case  is  an  unique  One,  tor  in  every  other 
 instance  the  prophets  have  gmn  their  real  names  (if 
 any)  in  the  heading  of  their  books.  i7i  The  case  of 
 tho  names  Agar  (Prov.  xxx.  1>  and  Lemuel  (Prov. 
 xxxi.  1)  is  not  parallel,  fur  even  if  it  were  proved  that 
 these  latter  are  not  historical  names,  no  conclusion 
 bearing  upon  a  prophetic  writing  could  lie  drawn  from 
 a  collection  of  proverbs.  "A  collection  of  proverbs  is 
 a  poetical  work,  whose  ethical  or  religious  truth  is  not 
 dependent  upon  the  person  of  the  poet.  The  prophet, 
 on  the  contrary,  has  to  guarantee  |  to  his  contemporaries 
 the  divinity  of  his  mission,  and  the  truth  of  his  pro. 
 pliccv  by  Ids  own  name  or  his  own  personality." — 
 (2m.)  We  conclude,  therefore,  in  default  of  any 
 positive  evidence  to  the  contrary,  that  it  is  only 
 reasonable    t..    suppose    that     Mulnchi    is    the    personal 
 
 !  the  prophet,  and  that  it  i-  an  apt psied  form 
 
 of  Malaohiyyah.  Malachyahn,  Malachyah.  or  of  Mala- 
 chi'el,  meaning  "  Messenger  of  Yah,"  or  "  of  God." 
 
 II.  Date  of  the  Prophecy.— All  are  agreed  that 
 
 Malaehi  prophesied  after  the  captivity,  and  there  is  not 
 much  difficulty  in  determining  from  internal  evidence 
 the  probable  period  of  his  labours.  We  find  that  be 
 makes  no  reference  to  the  re-building  of  the  Temple  or 
 of  Jerusalem.      The  Temple  seems  to  have  been  for 
 
MALACHI. 
 
 some  time  completed,  and  its  services  so  long  restored, 
 that  the  zeal  of  both  priests  and  people  had  cooled  down, 
 and  given  place  to  the  most  profane  slovenliness  in  the 
 Temple  service,  and  a  mere  formal  observance  (chap.  iii. 
 14),  or  rather  a  deceitful  evasion  of  the  Law  (chap.  i.  14). 
 The  priests  admitted  to  the  Temple  sacrifices  what  they 
 >hould  have  rejected  (chap.  i.  7 — 12),  and  demonstrated 
 by  their  whole  conduct  that  they  looked  on  their  duties 
 as  a  wearisome  burden  (chap.  i.  13).  They  had  ceased 
 to  give  the  people  true  instruction  in  the  Law  (chap.  ii. 
 8),  and  showed  partiality  in  their  administration  of 
 justice  (chap.  ii.  9).  The  people  had  intermarried  freely 
 with  the  heathen,  and  heartlessly  divorced  their  Israeli- 
 tish  wives,  so  that  the  altar  of  the  Lord  was  covered 
 with  tears  and  weeping  and  crying  out  (chap.  ii.  11 — 16). 
 They  neglected  to  pay  the  tithes  and  other  dues,  and  as 
 a  punishment  were  visited  with  dearth  and  famine 
 ("chap.  iii.  8 — 12).  They  had  begun  to  cherish  the  most 
 sceptical  views,  and  openly  to  scoff  at  the  notion  of  God's 
 exercising  a  beneficent  providence  over  them  (chaps, 
 ii.  17,  iii.  15),  though  there  was  still  a  remnant  among 
 them  of  those  who  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thought 
 upon  His  name  (chap.  iii.  16). 
 
 Now,  the  state  of  the  country  soon  after  Ezra  came 
 up  from  Babylon  (458 — 457  B.C.)  seems  to  agree  in  some 
 respects  with  the  description  of  it  which  we  have  drawn 
 from  the  materials  contained  in  the  prophecies  of  Malachi. 
 Thus  we  read  that  when  Nehemiah  came  up  a  few  years 
 later  the  people  were  put  to  such  straits  through  famine 
 that  they  came  to  him  with  the  complaint,  "  We  have 
 mortgaged  our  lands,  vineyards,  and  houses,  that  we 
 might  buy  corn  because  of  the  dearth  "  (Ezra  v.  3).  More- 
 over, Ezra  on  his  arrival  fouiM  that  both  the  people  and 
 the  priests  had  "  not  separated  themselves  from  the  peo- 
 ple of  the  lands,  for  they  had  taken  of  their  daughters  for 
 themselves,  and  for  their  sons  "  (chap.  ix.  1,  2).  In  the 
 space  of  less  than  three  months  he  compelled  every  one 
 of  those  who  had  contracted  such  marriages  to  divorce 
 his  heathen  wife,  and  send  her  back  to  her  own  people, 
 and  so  "  they  made  an  end  of  all  the  men  that  had  taken 
 strange  wives  by  the  first  day  of  the  first  month"  (chap. 
 x.  17*).  On  the  other  hand,  of  his  having  to  reform 
 any  abuses  in  connection  with  the  Temple  service  we 
 hear  nothing.  It  should  also  be  mentioned  that  in 
 Ezra's  time,  or,  at  all  events,  immediately  after  his 
 arrival,  as  well  as  in  the  time  of  Darius  (Ezra  vi.  9, 10), 
 all  things  that  were  necessary  for  the  Temple  services 
 were  provided  out  of  the  royal  revenues  (Ezra  vii.),  so 
 that  the  rebukes  of  the  prophet  with  regard  to  the 
 niggardly  manner  in  which  the  people  presented  the 
 offerings  would  be  out  of  place,  if  the  prophecy  had 
 reference  to  this  period.  Nor  would  the  vivid  picture 
 which  the  prophet  draws  of  the  state  of  the  "  desolate 
 places  "  of  Edom  (chap.  i.  3 — 5),  have  been  of  much 
 comfort  to  Israel,  if  at  the  time  of  his  speaking  their 
 own  "  city,  the  place  of  their  fathers'  sepulchres,  was 
 still  lying  waste,  and  the  gates  thereof  consumed  with 
 fire,"  as  was  the  case  at  this  time  (Neh.  i.  3,  ii.  3).  We 
 must,  accordingly,  look  for  some  later  events  as  the 
 occasion  of  the  prophet's  ministry. 
 
 In  445-4  B.C.  Nehemiah  obtained  leave  from  Artax- 
 erxes  Longimanus  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  (Neh.  ii.  6),  and 
 in  433-2  he  returned  to  the  Persian  Court.  During  this 
 period  of  twelve  years  he  acted  as  governor  in  the  land 
 of  Judah  (chap.  v.  14).  In  the  almost  incredibly  short 
 space  of  fifty-two  days  lie  rebuilt  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
 
 *  There  are  two  remarkable  instances  of  coincidence  of  ex- 
 pression between  Ezra  and  Malachi :  viz.,  Ezra  ix.  4,  Mai.  iii. 
 16 ;  and  Ezra  ix.  14, 15,  Mai.  iii.  6. 
 
 in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  neighbouring  peoples 
 (chap.  vi.  15).  He  worked  most  important  reforms,  con- 
 demning usury  and  slavery  (chap.  v.  1 — 14);  proclaimed 
 a  fast,  and  made  the  people  confess  their  sins,  and  enter 
 into  a  covenant  to  keep  the  ordinances  of  the  Law,  and 
 abstain  from  heathen  marriages ;  to  observe  the  Sabbath, 
 and  keep  the  Sabbatical  year;  to  contribute  every  man 
 the  third  of  a  shekel  for  the  services  of  the  Temple,  and 
 to  pay  the  legal  tithes  and  offerings  (chap.  x.  29 — 39). 
 But  when  he  went  back  to  Persia  all  the  abuses  which  he 
 had  abolished,  quickly  crept  in  again,  so  that  on  his 
 return,  which  was  before  the  death  of  Artaxerxes 
 (424  B.C.),  he  had  to  go  over  the  old  ground  again. 
 The  Jews  had  married  wives  of  Ashdod,  of  Amnion, 
 and  of  Moab,  and  their  children  spake  half  in  the 
 speech  of  Ashdod,  and  could  not  speak  in  the  Jew's 
 language  (Neh.  xiii.  23,  24 ;  comp.  Mai.  iii.  10 — 16). 
 The  portions  of  the  Levites  had  not  been  given  them 
 (Neh.  xiii.  10 ;  comp.  Mai.  iii.  6—10). 
 
 Now,  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  Malachi  prophesied 
 during  Nehemiah's  temporary  absence,  and  that  his 
 words  had  so  little  effect  that  when  Nehemiah  returned 
 he  found  things  as  bad  as  ever.  Nor  could  he  have 
 prophesied  prior  to  or  during  Nehemiah's  firsts  reform, 
 or  he  would  not  in  all  probability  have  been  utterly 
 silent  with  regard  to  the  re-building  of  Jerusalem  and 
 its  walls.  It  only  remains,  therefore,  that  we  should 
 regard  him  as  Nehemiah's  coadjutor  in  his  second  re- 
 formation. He  was,  in  fact,  to  Nehemiah  what  Haggai 
 and  Zechariah  were  to  Zerubbabel,  Jeremiah  to  Josiah, 
 and  Isaiah  to  Hezekiah — the  prophet  of  God,  co-opera- 
 ting with  the  civil  authority  in  bringing  about  the  moral 
 reformation  of  the  people.  He  prophesied,  therefore, 
 in  all  probability  some  time  between  430  and  425  B.C.,* 
 namely,  during  the  first  part  of  the  first  Peloponnesian 
 War,  and  was  a  contemporary  of  the  great  Greek  tragic 
 poets  Sophocles  (496-405)  and  Euripides  (480-406),  and 
 of  the  historians  Herodotus  (484-424),  and  Thucydides 
 (471-396). 
 
 III.  Contents. — The  prophecy  is  one  of  continual 
 rebuke  from  beginning  to  end.  In  the  form  in  which 
 we  have  it,  it  is  certainly  to  be  looked  on  as  one 
 single  address.  Probably  it  is  but  a  systematically 
 arranged  epitome  of  the  various  oral  addresses  of 
 the  prophet. 
 
 It  may  be  divided  into  six  sections,  all  more  or  less 
 intimately  connected  with  one  another. 
 Chap.  i.  1 — 5.  God's  love  for  Israel.    Israel's  ingrati- 
 tude. 
 Chaps,  i.  6 — ii.  9.  Rebuke  of  the  priests.     Prophecy  of 
 the  spiritual  worship  of  God  among  the  heathen. 
 Decree  against  the  priests. 
 Chap.  ii.  10 — 16.  Rebuke  of  the  people  for  marrying 
 heathen  women,  and  divorcing  their  Israelitish  wives. 
 
 *  Two  objections  might  be  made  to  this  conclusion — (1) 
 There  is  no  mention  of  any  dearth  at  this  time,  such  as  is  im- 
 plied in  Mai.  iii.  10, 11.  To  this  we  answer  that  since  the  whole 
 history  of  this  period  is  contained  in  twenty-five  verses  (Neh. 
 xiii.  7 — 31),  written  in  the  prolix  style  of  Nehemiah.  which  does 
 not  admit  of  the  compression  of  many  facts  into  a  small  space, 
 we  cannot  be  surprised  at  the  omission  of  any  mention  of  such 
 scarcity.  (2)  It  is  said  that  Malachi  and  Nehemiah  could  not  be 
 contemporaries,  beca,use  whereas  Malachi  upbraids  the  people 
 with  ottering  to  God  such  poor  things  as  they  would  not  dare 
 to  offer  to  their  governor  (chap.  i.  8),  Nehemiah,  when 
 governor,  "  required  not  the  portion  of  the  governor  "  (Neh.  v. 
 18), — i.e.,  the  allowance  granted  him  by  the  Persian  Government 
 as  an  impost  on  the  people.  To  this  it  may  be  replied  (a), 
 Malachi  speaks  of  free-will  offerings,  not  imposts  ;  (&)  Nehemiah 
 says  he  did  not  require  (demand),  not  that  he  would  not  accept 
 under  any  circumstances ;  (c)  there  ie  no  evidence  that  he  was 
 governor  on  his  return. 
 
 598 
 
MALACHI. 
 
 Chaps,  ii-  17— iii., 1.     Rebuke  of  sceptics,  and  prophecy 
 
 of  the  sadden  aoming  of  the  Lord  to  His  Temple, 
 Chap,  iii.  6  - 1-.  Elebuka  of  the  people  for  withholding 
 
 i  ithee  .■  1 1 1  •  I  offerings. 
 Ohaps.  iii.  13    Lv.  6.   Etebukeof  (annaliato  and  sceptics. 
 
 (The  different  destiny  of  the  righteous  sad  ox  the 
 
 tricked.    The  rising  of  tin.  Sun  of  Etijrhteousness. 
 
 Bxhortation  to  remember  the  Lot  ofMoeee.    The 
 
 coming  of  Elijah. 
 
 IV.  Style  of  Diction.— Mnlaehi  writos  in  ttii' 
 purest  style  of  the  Renaissance.  Prom  the  very  nature 
 df  his  utterances  high-flown  poetic  imagery  is,  fur  the 
 most   past,  excluded;  but    when   for  the   moment  he 
 
 removes  his  gaSC  from  I  lie  dark  present  to  look  bark 
 on  the  glorious  past,  or  to  foretel  the  events  of  the 
 still  more  glorious  future,  he  rises  to  a  high  standard 
 of  poetic  diet  ion.  (See  chaps,  ii.  5,  <>.  iii.  1 — .r>.  iv.  1 — b.) 
 His  method  of  administering  the  most  scathing  rebuke 
 
 by  means  of  pre/erring  em  aeematton  (to  which  he 
 shows  the  deepest   insight  into  the  inmost  thoughts 
 
 of  tlie  n.-itioii),  linn  supposing  "a  objection  mi  their 
 
 part    (which    exhibits    in    the    most    tailing    manlier  tho 
 
 moral  degradation  of  the  people,  mid  their  indifference 
 t<i  their  spiritual  condition  ,  and  lastly,  by  confuting 
 Hi.,,-  objection  in  trenchant  terms,  is  urtistie,  and  at 
 the  same  time  forcible  t"  a  degree  Bee  chape,  i. 
 •J—:.,  ii.  11  fl6f  17.  iii,  7— l:S.i  We  cannot,  with 
 i  Lowth,  perceive  lure  any  decadence  in  the  power  of  the 
 spirit  of  prophecy.  Prophecy  did  not  cease  !»•' 
 its   power  was   exhausted,   but    because    it-   mi-sion 
 
 was  now  fulfilled  until  the  time  of  its  fullilmeiit 
 should  draw  near.  We  will  conclude  with  the  words 
 of    Nagelsbach,    which   others   before    US    have   thought 
 
 worthy  of  citation:  "Malachi  is  like  a  late  evening 
 which  doses  u  long  day,  but  he  is  at  the  same  time 
 
 the  morning  twilight,  which  bears  in  iis  womb  a 
 glorious  day." 
 
MALACHI. 
 
 CHAPTEE  I.— d)  The  burden  of  the 
 word  of  the  Lokd  to  Israel  lbj  Malachi. 
 
 *2>  I  have  loved  you,  saith  the  Lord. 
 Yet  ye  say,  Wherein  hast  thou  loved 
 us?  Was  not  Esau  Jacob's  brother? 
 saith  the  Lokd:  yet  I  "loved  Jacob, 
 <3>  and  I  hated  Esau,  and  laid  his  moun- 
 tains and  his  heritage  waste  for  the 
 dragons  of  the  wilderness.  (4)  Whereas 
 Edom  saith,  We  are  impoverished,  but 
 
 B.C. 
 
 Cir.  397. 
 
 1    Hob.,  by    the 
 hand  of  Malachi 
 
 2  Or,  upon. 
 
 3  Hcb.,  from  upon. 
 
 we  will  return  and  ouild  the  desolate 
 places ;  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
 They  shall  build,  but  I  will  throw  down; 
 and  they  shall  call  them,  The  border  of 
 wickedness,  and,  The  people  against 
 whom  the  Lord  hath  indignation 
 for  ever.  <5)  And  your  eyes  shall 
 see,  and  ye  shall  say,  The  Lord 
 will  be  magnified  23from  the  border 
 of  Israel. 
 
 1 — 5.  These  verses  are  introductory  to  the  whole 
 prophecy.  God  had  shown  His  love  to  Israel;  Israel 
 ought  to  have  made  a  proper  return,  but,  on  the  con- 
 trary, Israel  had  abused  God's  loving -kindness. 
 
 (i)  The  burden. — See  Notes  on  Isa.  xiii.  1;  Jer. 
 xxiii.  33 — 40;  Zech.  ix.  1,  xii.  1. 
 
 Malachi. — See  Introduction. 
 
 (2)  I  have  loved — i.e.,  shown  abundant  proof  of 
 my  love.  The  prophet  goes  on  to  show  how  God  has 
 shown  so  great  proofs  of  His  love. 
 
 "Was  not  Esau  Jacob's  brother  ?— And  would 
 not  one  suppose  from  that  fact  they  would  have  similar 
 privileges  r1     But  not  so. 
 
 I  loved  Jacob,  (3)  and  I  hated  Esau  .  .  .— 
 The  ethical  reason  for  God's  love  of  Jacob  and  hatred 
 of  Esau  is  not  touched  upon  here,  nor  is  it  necessary 
 to  the  argument.  It  is  God's  love  for  Israel  that  the 
 prophet  wishes  to  dwell  on,  and  ho  mentions  the  hatred 
 towards  Esau  merely  for  the  sake  of  a  strong  contrast. 
 The  nations,  Israel  and  Edom,  are  here  referred  to,  not 
 the  individuals,  Jacob  and  Esau.  This  passage  receives 
 a  graphic  illustration  from  the  words  of  Ps.  cxxxvii.  7, 
 composed  after  the  return  from  the  captivity :  "  Re- 
 member, 0  Lord,  the  children  of  Edom  in  the  day  of 
 Jerusalem ;  who  said,  Raze  it,  raze  it,  even  to  the 
 foundation  thereof."  (On  St.  Paul's  application  of  the 
 words  of  Malachi,  see  Notes  on  Bom.  ix.  13.) 
 
 Laid  his  mountains  .  .  .  waste  .  .  .—It  is  a 
 somewhat  disputed  point  to  what  historical  fact  this 
 refers.  But,  on  the  whole,  we  may  reasonably  infer 
 from  Jer.  xlix.  7,  17 — 21,  compared  with  Jer.  xxv.  9,  21, 
 that  the  subjugation  of  the  Edomites  by  Nebuchad- 
 nezzar is  here  referred  to. 
 
 Dragons. — ~Better,jacTcals.  The  LXX.  and  Gesenius 
 render  the  word  "habitations,"  by  comparison  with  a 
 similarly  sounding  Arabic  word. 
 
 (*)  Whereas  .  .  .  saith.— Better,  If  Edom  say. 
 
 We  are  impoverished.— Better,  we  are  broken  to 
 pieces.  Edom's  ineffectual  attempts  to  restore  itself 
 will  be  looked  on  as  proofs  of  God's  wrath  against  the 
 nation  on  account  of  its  wickedness,  and  will  acquire 
 
 for  it  the  titles  "  border  of  wickedness,"  "  the  people 
 against  whom  the  Lord  hath  indignation  for  ever." 
 "  Border  "  means  "  confines,"  "  territory ;  "  Latin, 
 fines. 
 
 Keith,  Evidence  of  Prophecy,  pp.  309,  310,  in  refer- 
 ence to  the  literal  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy,  writes 
 as  follows: — "In  recording  the  invasion  of  Demetrius, 
 about  three  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  into 
 the  land  of  Edom,  Diodorus  describes  the  country  as  a 
 desert,  and  the  inhabitants  as  living  without  houses ; 
 nor  does  he  mention  any  city  in  that  region  but  Petra 
 alone.  Yet  the  names  of  some  of  the  cities  of  Arabia 
 Petrsea,  enumerated  by  Josephus,  as  existing  at  the 
 time  when  the  Romans  invaded  Palestine — the  names 
 of  eighteen  cities  of  Palestina  Tertia,  of  which  Petra 
 was  the  capital,  and  the  metropolitan  see,  in  the  times 
 of  the  Lower  Empire — and  the  towns  laid  down  in 
 D'Anville's  map,  together  with  the  subsisting  ruins  of 
 towns  in  Edom,  specified  by  Burckhardt,  and  also  by 
 Laborde,  give  proof  that  Edom,  after  having  been 
 impoverished,  did  return,  and  build  the  desolate 
 places,  even  as  'the  ruined  towns  and  places,'  still 
 visible  and  named,  show  that  though  the  desolate  places 
 were  built  again  according  to  the  prophecy,  they  have, 
 as  likewise  foretold,  been  thrown  down,  and  are 
 '  ruined  places '  lying  in  utter  desolation." 
 
 (5)  And  your  eyes  shall  see. — Comp.  such  ex- 
 pressions as  Pss.  xxxvii.  34,  lii.  6,  xci.  8.  As  with  the 
 individual,  so  with  a  nation :  to  stand  in  safety  and  be  a 
 witness  to  the  destruction  of  the  enemy  is  looked  on  as 
 a  sign  of  God's  favour. 
 
 The  Lord  will  be  magnified  .  .  .  Israel.— 
 Some  render,  let  the  Lord  be  magnified,  as  in  Pss.  xxxv. 
 27,  xl.  16 ;  others,  the  Lord  is  great :  i.e.,  has  exerted 
 His  greatness.  The  latter  seems  the  more  appropriate 
 rendering  here. 
 
 From  the  border. — Some  say,  beyond  the  border. 
 This  translation  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  usage  of 
 the  expression,  which  means  simply  "  over  "  or  "  above." 
 (Comp.  Jer.  iv.  6.)  The  meaning  seems  to  bo  this : 
 The  Lord,  whose  protecting  presence  hovers  specially 
 over  the  border  of  Israel,  is  now  great,  in  that  He  has 
 
 600 
 
The  Irreliffiousneas 
 
 MALAU11I,    I. 
 
 of  Israel. 
 
 <6>  A  son  hononreth  hit  father,  and  a 
 servant  his  master:  if  then  I  be  a 
 father,  where  is  mine  honour?  and  if  I 
 be  b  master,  where  it  my  fear  P  saith  the 
 
 Lord  of  hosts  unto  you,  O  priests,  that 
 despise  my  name.  And  ye  say,  Where- 
 in have  we  despised  thy  name  ?  (7)  '  Ye 
 offer  polluted  bread  upon  mine  altar; 
 and  ye  say.  Wherein  have  we  polluted 
 
 I  Or,    Bring  unto. 
 Ac. 
 
 I!.  I... 
 
 i  II.  b.,Ma  latt  of 
 
 thee  ?  In  that  ye  say,  The  table  of  the 
 Loku  its  contemptible.  (8)  And  if  ye 
 offer  the  blind  2  for  sacrifice,  in  it  not 
 evil  y  and  if  ye  offer  the  lame  and  sick, 
 is  it  not  evil  P  offer  it  now  unto  thy 
 governor;  will  lie  be  pleased  with  thee, 
 or  accept  thy  person?  saith  the  LoBD 
 of  hosts.  (9)  And  now,  I  pray  you,  be- 
 seech 3God  that  he  will  be  gracious  unto 
 
 restored  Israel,  but  bath  destroyed  the  nationality  of 
 (he  wicked  descendants  of  the  godless  Esau.  "Border 
 of  Israel  "  is  purposely  used  in  contrast  to  "  border  of 
 wickedness." 
 
 Ohaps.  i.  (>.  ii.  9. — The  priesthood  rebuked.  A  close 
 oonneetion  subsists  between  the  different  parts  of  this 
 section  ;  it  ought  therefore  to  be  read  as  one  continuous 
 paragraph.  The  Bnb-divisious of  it  are  chaps,  i.  6' — 14, 
 ii.  1—9. 
 
 (6— it)  Tho  prophet's  rebuke  for  the  dishonouring  of 
 ( tod's  name  is  addressed  to  the  priests  as  the  responsible 
 as,  but  applies  to  the  whole  nation. 
 
 •'■>  A  father.— God  is  distinctly  called  the  Father 
 of  Israel  in  Dent,  xxxii.  Ii.  IS.  (Comp.  Exod.  iv.  22 : 
 ■■  My  -,1. n.  my  firstborn, is  Israel.") 
 
 A  master.— Coni]>.  [sa.  i.  3. 
 
 Mine  honour — i.e..  the  nsjirrt  due  to  me. 
 
 My  fear— -i.e.  your  dread  of  me.  Feu  is  two- 
 (old  .  sen  ile,  whereby  punishment  not  (suit,  is  dreaded  ; 
 filial,  whereby  fault  is  feared.  The  fear  and  love 
 required  by  Cod  of  bis  children,  are  thai  reverence 
 which  loveth  to  serve  Him,  and  that  lore  which 
 dreadeth  to  offend  Him. 
 
 (7)  Ye  offer.— Literally,  offering. 
 
 Bread. — This  is  not  the  shewbread,  which  was  not 
 offered  upon  the  altar.  The  word  rendered " bread " 
 means  in  Arabic  "  flesh;"  in  Hebrew,"  fond  generally." 
 't'liis  word  is  applied  (Lev.  in.  11, 16)  to  the  fat  portions 
 of  the  peace  offerings,  which  were  burned,  and  is  there 
 translated  "food."  (See  references  there.)  In  Lei 
 wi.  ii.  8,  17.  21,  22,  xxii.  25,  it  is  used  of  the  sacrifices 
 generally,  buf  is  there  inconsistently  translated"  bread." 
 
 Polluted. — The  Hebrew  word  does  not  occur  in  this 
 sense    in   the    Pentateuch,  but  wo  have  it    in    Dan.  i.  8 
 
 in  the  reflexive  conjugation:  "to  allow  himself  to  be 
 defiled  "  with  food,  and  in  the  active  ("  polluted  thee") 
 
 in    this    verse.      The    context    shows    that    the    Words 
 "polluted    bread"    means  "food    untit    to    be   offered." 
 "  Polluted  me  "  is  the  same  as  "profaned  (  my  name 
 (verse  li'i;  for  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  "  God"  and 
 
 •' Cod's  name"  are  often  equivalent  expressions 
 iComp.  chap,   ii.   5).     Ki'il   takes  the   words,  which    he 
 
 wrongly  translates,  "ye  (hat  offer  polluted  bread,"  as 
 parallel  to  the  words  "despisera  of  my  name,"  and  to  a 
 certain  degree  explanatory  of  them;  while  he   finds 
 
 the  actual  answer  to  the  questions,  "  Wherein  have  we 
 despised  r  "  "  Wherein  have  we  polluted  ?"  is  given  in 
 the    words,  "  In    that    ye    say,"   ,Ve.     He    renders    the 
 
 passage  thus  ■ — 
 
 Saith  tlu>  Lord  of  hosts  unto  you. 
 "  Ye  priests,  who  despise  my  name  !  " 
 And    yet     say.   "  Wherein    have    we    despised    thy 
 name  ? " 
 
 "  Te  who  offer  ou  mino  altar  polluted  food." 
 
 And  yet  say.  "  Wherein  have  Ife  polluted  thee!'  " 
 
 (Ans.)  [Ye  have  despised  my  name  and  polluted 
 me],  in  that  ye  say,  "  The  table  of  the  Lord  is  con- 
 temptible." 
 
 The  error  of  this  rendering  consists  in  supposing 
 that  "offering  polluted  food,"  which  is anathrons,  can 
 
 be    parallel    to    "  Ye    priests    who    despise    my   name," 
 
 which  is  defined  by  tne  definite  article.  In  truth,  tin' 
 English  Version  is  perfectly  correct.  We  will  repeal 
 it  with  only  the  slightest  possible  verbal  alterations. 
 and  with  such  parenthetical  explanations  as  are  required 
 to  make  it  quite  intelligible  i — Saith  the  Lord  of  host, 
 
 unto  yon,  "  ( t  priests,  that  ill  sjiise  my  name  !  " 
 
 [This  is  the  commencement  of  a  prophetic  rebuke  to 
 the  priests;  but  t  In- v.  in  accordance  with  the  prophet's 
 
 graphic  style  of  writing,  are  supposed  to  catch  him  op 
 
 at  the  first  clause  of  his  utterance.] 
 
 "But  "  [dospisers  uf  God's  mime  !]  say  ye,  "  wherein 
 have  we  demised  thy  name?" 
 
 (Aim.)  "  Offering  as  ye  do]  polluted  food  upon  mine 
 altar." 
 
 "  But,"  say  ye,  "  wherein  have  we  polluted  thee  P  " 
 
 (Ans.  |  "  When,  now.  ye  offer  the  blind  for  sacrifice, 
 is  it  not  evil  ?  "  &C. 
 
 Say — i.e.,  show  by  your  conduct  that  such  is  your 
 feeling.  "This  was  their  inward  thought  .  .  .  he  puts 
 theso  thoughts  into  abrupt,  bold,  hard  words,  which 
 might  starile  them  for  their  bidsousnesB,  as  if  he  would 
 Bay,  this  is  what  your  acts  mean.  He  exhibits  the 
 worm  and  the  decay  which  lay  under  the  whited  ex- 
 terior."— Pusey. 
 
 Table— i.e.'  altar,  as  in  Ezok.  xli.  ±2:  "The  altar 
 .  .  .  this  is  the  table  that  is  before  tho  Lord."  vComp. 
 dix.  16.) 
 
 (8)  If.— Better,  when. 
 
 Blind  .  .  .  lame  .  .  .  sick.— This  was  contrary  to 
 Lev.  wii.  22,  &C.  And  now.  to  show  them  the  heinous 
 nature  of  their  offence  against  the  majesty  of  God,  the 
 
 prophet  asks  theso  whether  they  could  offer  such  un- 
 sound  animals  to   their  civil  ruler  with   any  chance  of 
 
 acceptance, 
 
 Governor. — The  word  in  the  Hebrew  is  probably  of 
 foreign  origin,  but  it  occurs  as  early  a-s  to  refer  to  the 
 governors  of  Jndah  in  the  time  of  Solomon  [1  Kings 
 
 X.  15).  On  the  date  of  the  book  of  Kings  see  Intro- 
 duction to  thai  book. 
 
 (9)  This  verse  is  severely  ironical  The  wot  1  "  I  lod  " 
 is  expressly  used,  rather  than  "  the  Lord." as  ■  contrast 
 
 to    the    human    "governor"    mentioned     above.       The 
 
 meaning  is:  "  You  know  you  dare  not  treat  thus  eon- 
 
 temptuouslv  your  human  governor,  what  hope  then  is 
 
 there  of  such  disrespectful  conduct  finding  favour  with 
 
 Qod — the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  P  " 
 
 That  he  will  be  gracious.  Those  words  refer, 
 perhaps,  to  ths  wording  of  the  Bacerdotal  benediction 
 Num.  ri.24  . 
 
 Unto  us.— The  prophet   includes  himself  with  the 
 
 601 
 
The  Profanity 
 
 MALACHI,   I. 
 
 of  the  People. 
 
 us :  this  katli  been  l  by  your  means : 
 will  he  regard  your  persons  ?  saith  the 
 Lord  of  hosts. 
 
 (io)  'Who  is  there  even  among  you  that 
 would  shut  the  doors  for  nought  ?  neither 
 do  ye  kindle  fire  on  mine  altar  for 
 nought.  I  have  no  pleasure  in  you, 
 saith  the  Loed  of  hosts,  neither  will  I 
 accept  an  "offering  at  your  hand.  (ll>  For 
 
 I  Hrlt.,/rom  yon/ 
 liuiuL 
 
 a  Isa.  1.11 :  .Ter.  B. 
 aj;  Amos  5.  81. 
 
 from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the 
 going  down  of  the  same  my  name  shall  be 
 great  among  the  Gentiles  ;  and  in  every 
 place  incense  shall  be  offered  unto  my 
 name,  and  a  pure  offering :  for  my  name 
 shall  be  great  among  the  heathen,  saith 
 the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 
 <12)  But  ye  have  profaned  it,  in  that 
 ye  say,  The  table  of  the  Lord  is  pol- 
 
 people,  as  Moses  did  (Exod.  xxxiv.  9) :  "  And  pardon  our 
 iniquity  and  oar  sin  ;  "  and  as,  in  fact,  God  Himself  in- 
 cluded Moses  (Exod.  xvi.  28) :  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
 Moses,  How  long  refuse  ye  to  keep  my  commandments  ?  " 
 
 This  hath  been  by  your  means.—  Better,  by 
 your  means  hath  this  been.  "  By  your  means  "  is  em- 
 phatic by  position.  The  meaning  is  :  "  By  means  of  you 
 (priests),  who  ought  to  have  directed  the  people  aright, 
 has  this  disgraceful  conduct  been  occasioned."  Or, 
 perhaps,  in  view  of  ver.  8,  and  the  wording  of  ver.  10, 
 we  should  render  the  words  thus:  "From  your  hands 
 is  this  [despicable  offering]  ! "  Tliis  being  used  con- 
 temptuously like  Lat.  istud.  In  either  case  the 
 clause  is  parenthetical,  so  that  "  will  he  i-egard  "  must 
 l)e  taken  in  close  connection  with  the  preceding, 
 "  beseech  God  that  he  will  be  gracious  unto  us." 
 
 Will  he  regard  your  persons? — Better,  will 
 he,  on  your  account,  show  favour  to  any  one  ?  That 
 is,  can  ye  be  deemed  worthy  intercessors,  when  these 
 are  the  actions  ye  perform  ?  The  question  is,  of  course, 
 a  practical  negation.     (Comp.  Zech.  iv.  10.) 
 
 (10)  flie  prophet  is  now  supposed  by  many  commenta- 
 tors to  say  that  the  Temple  might  as  well  be  closed, 
 as  far  as  concerns  any  pleasure  the  Lord  takes  iu  their 
 offerings. 
 
 Who  is  there  even  among  you  .  .  .  doors  .  .  . 
 altar  for  nought.— Those  that  take  the  above-men- 
 tioned view  of  the  passage  would  render,  0  that  there 
 were  one  among  even  you  who  would  shut  the  doors, 
 that  ye  might  not  light  mine  altar  to  no  purpose.  "  To 
 uo  purpose,"  like  Sapedv  (Gal.  ii.  21).  The  rebuke  con- 
 tained in  this  verso  is,  according  to  this  interpretation, 
 very  similar  to  that  of  Isa.  i.  11 — 15.  But  the  word 
 "  eveu,"  which  can  only  refer  to  "you"(Keil  thinks 
 differently),  seems  to  us  almost  fatal  to  this  interpreta- 
 tion. For  we  could  only  explain  its  use  in  the  forced 
 seuse  of :  "  Would  that  some  one,  among  even  you  (who 
 ought  to  be  the  promoters  of  God's  service),  would 
 (since  His  service  has  now  become  a  mockery)  shut, 
 &c."  "We  are  therefore  inclined  to  retain  the  simple 
 rendering  of  our  venerable  English  Version.  In  that 
 case,  "  even  among  you  "  (perhaps  better,  among  even 
 you)  would  mean  :  "  even  among  you  whose  duty  it  is, 
 and  chief  pleasure  it  ought  to  be,  to  minister  unto  Me." 
 which,  in  that  context,  so  far  from  being  forced,  would 
 be  most  natural. 
 
 For  nought. — Comp.  the  attitude  of  the  priests  in 
 1  Sam.  ii.  13 — 16. 
 
 (U)  This  verse  contains  no  verb,  and.  as  far  as  the 
 rules  of  grammar  are  concerned,  its  participles  may  be 
 rendered  either  by  presents  or  futures.  If  we  take  the 
 words  as  referring  to  the  present,  we  are  met  by  the 
 insurmountable  difficulty  that  in  no  sense,  at  the  time 
 of  Malachi,  could  the  Lord's  Name  be  said  to  be  great 
 over  all  the  earth,  or  pure  sacrifices  to  be  offered  to 
 Him  in  every  place.  Nor  can  we,  with  many  com- 
 mentators, suppose  that  heathen  rites  are  here  referred 
 
 to  as  being  offered  iguorautly,  through  idols,  to  the 
 one  true  God.     (Comp.  Pope's  universal  prayer : — 
 
 "  Father  of  all,  in  every  age, 
 In  every  clime  adored, 
 By  saint,  by  savage,  and  by  sage, 
 Jehovah,  Jove,  or  Lord  !") 
 
 For  there  is  no  hint  given  of  any  such  meaning  being 
 intended ;  and,  moreover,  such  a  sentiment  would  be 
 quite  foreign  to  the  Old  Testament,  which  always  re- 
 presents heathen  rites  as  being  au  utter  abomination, 
 and  always  speaks  of  the  adhesion  of  the  Gentiles  to 
 the  worship  of  the  true  God  as  a  thing  of  the  future. 
 We  are  compelled,  therefore,  to  take  the  words  as  a 
 prophetic  announcement  of  the  future  rejection  of 
 Israel  and  calling  of  the  Gentiles. 
 
 In  every  place. — In  contradistinction  to  the  one 
 place  (Deut.  xii.  5 — 7).  (Comp.  our  Lord's  words  to 
 the  woman  of  Samaria:  John  iv.  21 — 24'.) 
 
 Incense  shall  be  offered  .  .  . — This  is  a  possi- 
 ble rendering  of  the  words;  but  this  Hebrew  word 
 is  not  elsewhere  used  for  "  incense,"  and  may  more 
 naturally  be  rendered  shall  be  burnt,  as  the  passive 
 participle  of  the  verb  used  in  Lev.  i.  9.  Dr.  Pusey's 
 footnote  on  this  passage  is  well  worth  reading,  as, 
 indeed,  his  footnotes  usually  are.  We  prefer,  there- 
 fore, to  take  the  words  thus  :  "  an  oblation  shall  be 
 burnt  to  my  name,  even  a  pure  offering."  In  any  case, 
 unless  we  are  to  expect  some  future  establishment  of  a 
 universal  offering  of  material  sacrifices,  we  must  under- 
 stand both  expressions  in  a  spiritual  sense,  which  is, 
 in  truth,  the  only  reasonable  way  of  interpreting  such 
 passages.  (See  Notes  on  Zech.  ii.  6 — 13,  iii.  8 — 10, 
 vi.  9 — 15,  and  especially  xiv.  16 — 21.)  If,  therefore, 
 any  Christians  would  claim  this  verse  as  a  sup- 
 port for  their  custom  of  offering  inceuse  in  churches, 
 they  must  conform  also  with  Zech.  xiv.  16 — 21,  and 
 go  up  every  year  to  Jerusalem  to  keep  the  Feast  of 
 Tabernacles.  The  word  "  offering,"  as  iu  the  preceding 
 verse  (comp.  1  Sam.  ii.  17  ;  Isa.  i.  13),  denotes  sacrificial 
 gifts  in  general,  not  the  flour  offerings  as  distinguished 
 from  the  flesh  offerings.  The  word  "  pure "  is  em- 
 phatic, not  as  signifying  the  bloodless  sacrifice  of  the 
 Mass  (Council  of  Trent),  as  distinguished  from  the 
 bloody  sacrifices,  but  as  the  converse  of  "  polluted  " 
 (verse  7).  The  above  remarks  we  have  made  in  no 
 controversial  spirit,  but  simply  in  the  interests  of  truth; 
 and  lest  any  should  suppose  us  to  iinply  that  the  above 
 interpretation  was  originated  by  the  Council  of  Trent, 
 we  refer  the  reader  to  Dr.  Pusey's  Commentary,  in 
 which  he  shows,  by  quotations  from  SS.  Justin, 
 Irenajns,  Hippolytus,  Cyprian,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem, 
 Chrysostom,  and  Augustine,  as  also  from  Tertulliau, 
 Eusebius.  and  Theodoret,  that  it  is  quod  semper,  quod 
 ab  omnibus,  quod  ubique.  Those,  therefore,  who 
 prefer  so-called  authority  to  the  results  of  calm 
 criticism  are  bound  to  disagree  with  us. 
 
 (12)  But  ye  have. — Better,  but  ye  profane  it — viz., 
 
 602 
 
Jm/ii  r/eet  Sacrifices. 
 
 MALACHI,  II. 
 
 '//,    Prit  Hi  R  huked. 
 
 luted;  and  the  fruit  thereof,  mm  his 
 meat,  u  contemptible.  ":|  re  Baidtilso, 
 Behold,  what  a  weariness  is  it '!  'and  ye 
 have   snuffed  at    it,  gaith  tin1  Lobd  of 
 
 lmsls;   ami   ye    bronchi     that    which    WOS 
 
 torn,  and  I  li"  lame,  and  the  siok  ;  thus 
 ye  brought  an  offering:  should  I  accept 
 
 this  of  your  handy  Baitfa  Hi''  Lord. 
 '"'  But  cursed  be  the  deceiver,  'which 
 hath  in  his  flock  a  male,  and  roweth, 
 and  sacrificetb  onto  the  Lordacorrn.pl 
 
 thing  :  for  I  am  a  groat  King,  sail.li  < fi< ■ 
 LoRd  i'f  hosts,  and  my  name  ..<  dreadful 
 among  the  heathen. 
 
 ■ 
 
 It    HUM  J/. 
 
 JtoCK  iS, 
 
 .1  .  I),  it. 
 
 1 
 
 i  hi.  scatter. 
 
 kali  Cafa 
 
 yuuaway  to  it. 
 
 CHAPTER  II.—")  And  now,  O  ye 
 priests,  this  commandment  it  for  yon. 
 '-''"lfyr  will  nut  hear,  and  if  ye  will  uot 
 lay  it  to  heart,  to  give  glory  onto  my 
 name,  Baitfa  the  Lobd  oi  hosts,  I  will 
 even  Bend  a  curse  upon  you,  and  I  will 
 curse  your  blessings :  yea,]  have  cursed 
 them  already,  because  ye  do  oof  lay  it 
 to  heart.     ' ;'   Behold,    I    will   'corrupt 
 
 your  b 1,  and  *  spread  dung  upon  your 
 
 .  i  r,  n   fhr  dung  of   your  Bolemn 
 
 feasts;  and  bone  shall  take  you  away 
 with  it.  w  And  ye  shall  know  that  I 
 have  sent  this  commandment  onto  you, 
 
 "my   name"  (verse  11).       The   word   "it"    is   said   by 
 
 Jewish  tradition  to  be  an  euphemism  for  "  me."    The 
 
 present  contemptuous  conduct  of  God's  priests  is  eon- 
 ETSsted  with  the  prophesied  reverence  of  heathen 
 nations. 
 
 Fruit  .  .  .  meat,  denote  the  same  as  "broad"  of 
 verse   7.     They   show   that  they  think   it    contemptible 
 
 l>_v  not  taking  the  trouble  to  offer  such  things  as  are 
 prescribed  by  the  Law. 
 
 (18)  Said.— Better,  say. 
 
 And  ye  have  snuffed  at  it.— Better,  and  ye  puff 
 
 at  it — that    is,  treat    it   with   contempt,    "pooh-J hit," 
 
 as  wo  say.  The  sor\  lee  of  the  Temple,  which  they  onghl 
 to  have  regarded  as  their  highest  privilege  and  pleasure, 
 they  look  mi  as  burdensome  and  contemptible.  For 
 •■  brought,"  read  bring. 
 
 Torn.- The  word  Qdsul  elsewhere  means  "  stolen " 
 (Dent  xrviii.  31  ,.or  "robbed  " — i.e.,  "spoiled  "  (Deut. 
 xwiii.  29).  It  is  perhaps  not  impossible  that  it  may  here 
 be  a  later  word  lor  brephdh,  "torn"  (oomp,  the  eogn. 
 
 A r.i I ii<-  nj:iil .  "  galled  on  the  back  "),  but  it  is  not  bo  used 
 in  post-Biblical  Jewish  writings.  On  the  contrary, 
 Rabbinic    tradition     uses     our     word     when     oxpros-iy 
 
 mentioning  thai  which  is  stolen  as  unfit  to  he  offered  as 
 
 a  burnt  offering — e.g.,  the  Sifra,     Vayyxkrra,  Perck  ti, 
 
 hta  •">,  cd.  Weis  7b).  commenting  on  the  words 
 
 of  Lev.  i.  10,  says  !   "  '  From  the  flock,    and  'from  the 
 
 .1 p,'  and  'from  the  goats:1  These  words  are  limi- 
 tations—  viz..  to  exclude  the  sick  (oomp.  also  Mai.  i.  8), 
 and  the  aged,  and  that  which  has  been  dedicated  in 
 thought    to  an  idol,  and   that    which    is  defiled  with  its 
 
 own  tilth;  'its  offering'  [English  Version,  his  offering, 
 
 OOmp.    Note    on    '/cell.  |V.  'J',    to    exclude    tint!    vllicll    is 
 
 atoli  »."  (See  also  Talmud  Babli,  Boba  Kamma  666.)  The 
 English  Version  has  the  same  in  view  in  its  rendering  of 
 
 N, i.  |\i    8,  where  it  has  the  authority  of  Talmud  Babli, 
 
 Sukkah  30a,  and  of  Jerome  and  Luther.     Perhaps  the 
 
 reason   »h\    people   were    inclined   to  offer  a   stolen 
 
 animal  may  ho,  thai  it  might  very  likely  have  a  mark  on 
 it,  which  would  render  it  impossible  for  tho  thief  to 
 offer  it  for  sale,  and  so  realise  money  on  it.  for  fear 
 .■f  detection;   so  then  he  makes  a  virtue  of  a  necessity, 
 
 and  brings  as  an  offering  to  God  thai  which  he  could 
 
 not  otherwise  dispose  of. 
 
 (Ml  Some  consider  that  two  eases  are  mentioned  in 
 this  verse.      (1)  One  who  acts  deceitfully    by  offering  a 
 
 female  as  a  burnt  offering,  which   is  contrary  to  the 
 
 Law.  while  there  is   in   his   (lock  a  male);     (2     and   one 
 who  makes  a  MHO  (to  offer  a  sacrifice ofpt 
 for   which    either   a    male   or   a    female    was    allowable, 
 provided  it  were  without  a  blemish  :    Lev.  xxii.  'J3),  and 
 
 then  offers  an  animal  that  has  a  blemish.  Bui  it  is 
 better  to  understand  but  one  case  to  he  mentioned — 
 \i/ ..  that  of  a  man  who  VOWS,  and  while  ho  has  a  male 
 in  his  (lock  offers  a  female  with  a  blemish.  A  female 
 without  blemish  would  be  admissible  as  a  vow  oji 
 but  a  male  without  I ibmisli  would  be  tin'  most  valuable, 
 because  it  could  lie  offered   as  a  burnt  offering,  wherOBS 
 
 a   female  could  not;   while  a   female  with  a  blemish 
 
 would  be  the  very  worst,  and  actually  illegal.  A  man 
 is  not  bound  to  make  a  vow.  but  if  he  make  one  his 
 offering   should    be  id'  the   very  best,    just    as  he  would 
 
 not    dare  to  offer  to  a  king  or  to  his  ruler    terse  6) 
 
 anything  but    the   best      How  cursed,  then,  must    he  be 
 
 wdio,  while  he  possesses  tin-  best,  deliberately  makes  a 
 
 vow  to  God,  and  then  offers  Him  the  very  wont. 
 
 II. 
 
 (l— :i)    The  decree  against  the  priests. 
 
 OJ  Commandment.— Better,  decree.    (Oomp.  the 
 
 use  of   the  verb  from  which    this   substantive  is  derived 
 i.  Ii;  Pss.  vii.  6.  xlii.  8.) 
 (-)  Hear  .  .  .  lay  to  hoart  -viz..  the  warning  of 
 chap,  i.  6 — 13. 
 
 Your  blessings.— Some  take  this  as  meaning  the 
 priests'  tithes,  atonement  money,  and  their  portions  of 
 the  sacrifices,  in  accordance  with  a  common  usage  of 
 the  word  in  the  sense  of   "gift" — e.g..  Gen.   xxxiii.   11. 
 
 Others   refer  the  words  to  the   morning  which    the 
 priests  pronounce  on  the  people  (Num.  vi.  'j:l — ■!' |. 
 
 <3)  I  will  corrupt  your  seed.-  Better.  J  will 
 destroy  for  ijou  the  seed — viz.,  of  the  crops.  It  most 
 Ik-    remembered    that    because   the   people  neglected   to 
 
 pay  the  tithes,  the  Levites  were  obliged  to  go  and  till 
 the  fields  i  Xeii.  xiii.  10).    The  LXX.  for  "  seed  "  reads 
 
 "  corn." 
 
 Dung  of  your  solemn  feasts.— Or  rather, 
 festival  sacrifices.  (Comp.  Exod.  xxiii.  IS;   l's.  exviii. 
 27.)     The  dung  of    the   sacrificial   animals   was  to   he 
 carried  to  an  unclean  place  outside  the  camp,  and  burnt 
 
 there.    The  priests,  because  they  had  profaned  God's 
 
 Name    by   offering   unfit   animals  in    sacrifice,  were   to 
 
 be  treated  in  the  most  ignominious  manner. 
 And  one  shall  take  you  away  with  it— i.e.. 
 
 according  to  a   Hebrew    idiom,  on,/  ;/.   shall  1"   ■  ■■ 
 
 away  to  it  (comp.  Iaa.  viii.  ■!■  ; — ye  shall  be  | 
 like  'it. 
 (')  Commandment.  —  Or    rather,    decree,    as  in 
 
 \er~e    1  . 
 
 That  my  covenant  might  be.— Better,  t^  be  my 
 
 603 
 
The  Priests'  Evil  Ways. 
 
 MALACHI,   IT. 
 
 The  Sins  of  the  Nation. 
 
 that  my  covenant  might  be  with  Levi, 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  (5)  My  cove- 
 nant was  with  him  of  life  and  peace ; 
 and  I  gave  them  to  him  for  the  fear 
 wherewith  he  feared  me,  and  was  afraid 
 before  my  name.  (6)  The  law  of  truth 
 was  in  his  mouth,  and  iniquity  was  not 
 found  in  his  hps  :  he  walked  with  me  in 
 peace  and  equity,  and  did  turn  many 
 away  from  iniquity.  (7)  For  the  priest's 
 lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and  they 
 should  seek  the  law  at  his  mouth  :  for 
 he  is  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  of 
 hosts.  (8)  But  ye  are  departed  out  of  the 
 way ;  ye  have  caused  many  to  l  stumble 
 at  the  law  ;  ye  have  corrupted  the  cove- 
 nant of  Levi,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 
 1  Or,  fall   in   the 
 law. 
 
 1  Or,  lifted  up  the 
 face  against. 
 
 3   Heb.,    accepted 
 faces. 
 
 a  Epta.  i.  6. 
 
 i  Or,  ought  to  love. 
 
 5   Or,   him   that 
 icaketh,  arid  him 
 that  anawereth. 
 
 (9)  Therefore  have  I  also  made  you  con- 
 temptible and  base  before  all  the  people, 
 according  as  ye  have  not  kept  my  ways, 
 but 23  have  been  partial  in  the  law. 
 
 (io)  "Have  we  not  all  one  father?  hath 
 not  one  God  created  us  ?  why  do  we 
 deal  treacherously  every  man  against 
 his  brother,  by  profaning  the  covenant 
 of  our  fathers?  (11)  Judah  hath  dealt 
 treacherously,  and  an  abomination  is 
 committed  in  Israel  and  in  Jerusalem ; 
 for  Judah  hath  profaned  the  holiness  of 
 the  Lord  which  he  4  loved,  and  hath 
 married  the  daughter  of  a  strange  god. 
 (12)  The  Lord  will  cut  off  the  man  that 
 doeth  this,  5the  master  and  the  scholar, 
 out  of  the  tabernacles   of  Jacob,   and 
 
 covenant — i.e.,  so  that  this  new  decree,  vrhieh  I  have 
 been  compelled  to  make  against  the  house  of  Levi, 
 may  be  my  covenant  with  him  instead  of  the  old  one, 
 of  which  the  prophet  goes  on  to  speak. 
 
 Levi  denotes  throughout  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and 
 especially  the  priests,  the  sons  of  Aaron.  (See  Note 
 on  chap.  iii.  3.) 
 
 <5)  Of  life  and  peace.— Better,  life  and  peace — 
 i.e.,  by  it  life  and  peace  were  guaranteed  to  him. 
 
 Life  in  its  highest  sense. 
 
 Peace  as  the  sum  total  of  blessing:  the  "fruit  of 
 the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace."  (Gal.  v.  22  ;  comp.  Note 
 on  Zech.  vi.  13.) 
 
 Them — viz.,  life  and  peace. 
 
 For  the  fear  .  .  .  me. — Better,  As  fear — (i.e.,  as 
 a  motive  for  the  fear  of  God),  and  he  did  fear  me.  Or, 
 perhaps,  a  still  better  interpretation  is  that  which  repre- 
 sents God  and  Levi  as  each  having  performed  his  part 
 of  the  covenant — God  in  bestowing  "life  and  peace," 
 Levi  in  rendering  "  fear."  According  to  this  view,  the 
 words  should  be  translated,  My  covenant  was  with  him 
 — viz.,  life  and  peace — and  I  gave  them  to  him  ;  fear, 
 and  he  feared  me,  and  trembled  before  My  Name. 
 
 (8)  The  law  of  truth— i.e.,  right  instruction  in 
 the  Law,  and  judgment  in  accordance  with  the  Law.  the 
 reverse  of  which  is  "  iniquity."  or  rather,  perversion. 
 
 Walked  with  me — i.e.,  had  their  conversation  in 
 heaven.  (Phil.  iii.  20;  comp.  Zech.  iii.  7;  and  Gen. 
 v.  24,  of  Enoch.) 
 
 In  peace. — See  on  the  preceding  verse. 
 
 Equity— i.e.,  integrity  of  life. 
 
 And  did  turn  ....  iniquity.— Of  this,  says 
 Pusey,  "  What  a  history  of  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God 
 and  of  the  conversion  of  sinners  in  those  of  whom  the 
 world  knows  nothing,  of  whose  working,  but  for  the 
 three  words  in  the  closing  book  of  the  Old  Testament, 
 we  should  have  known  nothing." 
 
 C)  Comp.  Dcut.  xxxiii.  10. 
 
 Keep. — Not  as  in  a  repository,  but  rather,  observe 
 (Zech.  iii.  7) — i.e.,  speak  in  accordance  with  the  know- 
 ledge of  God.  as  revealed  in  the  Law. 
 
 Messenger. — Literally,  angel.  (See  Note  on  chap, 
 iii.  1.) 
 
 (8)  But  ye. — Priests  of  the  present  day  have  done 
 in  every  respect  the  reverse. 
 
 Caused  many  to  stumble  at  the  law.— Or 
 rather,  in  the  Law ;  and  ye  have  given  them  false  in- 
 
 604 
 
 struction  in  the  Law,  and  allowed  those  things  which 
 were  forbidden,  and  so  ye  have  corrupted  the  covenant 
 of  the  (tribe  of)  Levi  -.  ye  have  turned  the  Law,  which 
 ought  to  have  been  a  light  to  their  feet  and  a  lamp 
 to  their  path,  into  a  stumbling-block. 
 
 (9)  Therefore.— I  am  no  longer  bound  by  the 
 covenant  I  made  with  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and,  instead  of 
 "  life  and  peace,"  I  give  you  contempt,  &c. 
 
 In  the  law — i.e.,  in  the  administration  of  justice. 
 The  authority  of  the  priests,  Levites,  and  of  the  judges 
 of  the  day,  in  all  matters  ceremonial  and  civil,  is  ex- 
 pressly inculcated  by  Dent.  xvii.  8 — 13.  It  was  in 
 accordance  with  this  passage  that  our  Lord  said  (Matt. 
 xxiii.  2)  :  "  The  scribes  and  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses' 
 seat ;  all,  therefore,  whatsoever  they  bid  you  observe, 
 that  observe  and  do,"  &c. 
 
 (10—17)  The  prophet  now  rebukes  the  two  great  sins 
 of  the  nation  at  this  time:  (1)  marriage  with  idola- 
 tresses; (2)  divorce  of  the  first  (lsraelitish)  wife.  He 
 introduces  this  rebuke  by  a  general  statement,  similar 
 to  that  of  chap.  i.  2. 
 
 (1°)  One  father — i.e.,  not  Adam.  Abraham,  or  Jacob 
 (as  various  commentators  have  held),  but  God  Himself 
 (chap.  i.  6 ;  Deut.  xxxii.  6, 18),  who  is  the  spiritual  Father 
 of  the  nation,  and  in  whom  they  are  all  brothers  and 
 sisters ;  so  that  when  an  Israelite  married  a  heathen 
 woman,  or  divoi-ced  an  lsraelitish  wife,  it  was  an  offence 
 against  God,  a  "  profaning  the  covenant  of  the  fathers," 
 and  a  violation  of  the  fraternal  relation.  Moreover, 
 "one  God  created"  them  for  His  glory  (Isa.  xliii.  7), 
 for  the  special  purpose  of  being  a  witness  to  His  unity. 
 The  admission  of  idolatresses  into  their  families  would 
 be  fatal  to  this  object. 
 
 (li)  For  the  same  collocation  of  "  Judah,  Israel,  and 
 Jerusalem."  comp.  Zech.  i.  19. 
 
 The  holiness  of  the  Lord. — That  is,  their  own 
 "holy  nation"  (Deut.  vii.  6,  xiv.  2;  comp.  Jer.  ii.  3). 
 
 Daughter  of  a  strange  god— i.e.,  one  who  wor- 
 ships a  strange  god,  and  such  they  were  forbidden  to 
 marry  (Exod.  xxiv.  16;  Deut.  vii.  3;  comp.  1  Kings 
 xi.  2). 
 
 (12)  The  man. — Better,  to  the  man. 
 
 The  master  and  the  scholar.— This  is  the  Tal- 
 mudic  interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  expression,  which 
 occurs  only  in  this  passage,  but  it  is  unsuitable  (besides- 
 
The  Infuli/i/i/ 
 
 MALACHI,   II. 
 
 of  the  People  Rebuked. 
 
 H.I., 
 
 a  ued  of 
 
 him  thai    oflerstb  an  offering  unto  the  I '  or. ««"«»■ 
 TjOkd  of  hosts.     W)  And  this  have  ye  ] 
 
 done  again,  covering  the  altar  of  the 
 Lobd  with  tears,  with  weeping,  and 
 with  crying  out,  insomuch  mat  he  re- 
 gardeth  not  the  offering  any  more,  or 
 receiveth  it  with  good  will  at  your 
 band. 
 
 ,U)Yetye  say,  Wherefore?  Because 
 the  Lord  hath  been  witness  hetween 
 thee  and  the  wife  of  thy  youth,  against 
 
 ■  or,  unfaithfully. 
 
 I  or.  if  h 
 
 5   II,  Iv,    to  put 
 away. 
 
 whom  thou  hast  dealt  treacherously : 
 yet  in  slie  thy  companion,  and  the  wife 
 of  thy  covenant.  (li)  Ami  did  not  he 
 make  one  ?  Yet  had  he  the  '  residue  of 
 the  spirit.  And  wherefore  one  ?  That 
 he  might  seek  2  a  godly  seed.  There- 
 fore take  heed  to  your  spirit,  and  let 
 none  deal  3  treacherously  against  the 
 wife  of  his  youth.  (1"'  For  the  LoBD, 
 the  God  of  Israel,  saith  'that  he  hatith 
 ^putting  away  :  for  one  eovereth  violence 
 
 being  philologically  precarious),  for  the  passage  refers 
 
 In  the  whole  nation  rather  than  to  those  who  were  their 
 
 appointed  scholars  and  teachers.  It  is  better  to  render 
 it,  ■■  watchman  and  answerer:  i.e..  the  watchman  who 
 cried  in  the  city,  "  Who  comes  there  P"  and  him  who 
 answers,  "  Friend,"  which  is  an  exhaustive  expression 
 for  all  living  persons,  and  so,  in  this  context,  "all  pus- 
 terity."  This  is  the  interpretation  of  Qesenius,  who 
 quotes  in  support  of  it  an  Arabic  expression  from  tho 
 In e  of  Timiir-lang  (Timur  the  lame,  Tamerhu 
 "When  he  left  the  city,  there  was  not  a  crier  or  on 
 anewerer  in  jt  —i.e.,  there  was  not  a  person  left  alive 
 •■  Neither  root  nor  branch  "  is  another  exhaustive  term 
 
 iisnl  by  onr  prophet  (chap,  iv,  l!>).  The  Qhaldee  para- 
 phrase gives  the  sense  of  the  words  in  "sou  and 
 son's  sun." 
 
 And  him  that  offereth  an  offering   .    .    .— 
 
 Some,  refer  this  to  the  ease  in,  which  the  offender 
 is  ii  priest  (\eh.  xiii.  2s'i;  others  nnderstand  it  as 
 "  any  one  who  might  offer  a  saeriliee  for  him  in 
 expiation  «f  his  sin."  But  since  the  highest  privi- 
 lege of  the  .lew  was  to  bring  offerings  to  the  Sanc- 
 tuary, tin'  words  may  lie  merely  a  repetition  of  tho 
 former  expression  in  different  terms,  and  moan  "a 
 descendant  enjoying  religious  privileges."  Tlio  inter- 
 marriage with  heathens  referred  to  here  is  that  men- 
 tioned in  Noli.  xiii.  23 — 28,  not  the  earlier  ease  recorded 
 in  Ezra  ix..  x. 
 
 (IS)  The  prophet  now  rebukes  the  people  for  their 
 frivolous  divorces  of  their  first  wives,  which  was  a 
 natural  result  of  their  marriage  with  heathen  women. 
 
 And  this  .   .  .  again. — Or  perhaps,  And  this  a 
 
 second  thing  ye  do—  viz.,  infidelity  to  the  wife  of  their 
 youth  (verse  1  la.  But  the  rendering  of  the  English 
 Version  is.  in  accordance  with  the  Hebrew  aceentua- 
 lion.  That  rendering  is  not  improbably  the  right  one. 
 It  would  mean:  "And  this  you  do  again  (Nell,  xiii.). 
 even  after  Ezra  lias  reformed  the  abuse,  and  you  have 
 solemnly  undertaken  not  to  act  so  again  "  (  Xeh.  ix.  101. 
 
 Covering  tho  altar  .  .  .  with  tears  .  .  .  and 
 With  crying  out— i.e..  with  the  plaints  of  the 
 lsraelitish  women  who  were  divorced  against  their  will. 
 
 Insomuch  that. — Or  rather.  SO  that. 
 
 ('*>  Again  with  supercilious  surprise  t ln-y  ask, 
 ■•  Wherefore  P  " 
 
 Witness.— Comp.  Gen.  xxxi.  -19,  50  :  "  Tho  Lord 
 watch  between  me  and  tine,  when  we  aro  absent  one 
 from  another.     If  thou  shall  afflict  my  daughters,  or 
 
 if  thou  shalt  fake  other  wives  beside  my  daughters, 
 no  man  is  with  us;  seo,  God  is  witness  betwixt  me 
 and  thee."  If  people  would  seriously  consider  the 
 meaning  of  this  verse  of  Ooncsis,  they  would  not  be 
 so  fond  of  putting  Mizpah  on  their  rings,  for  it 
 denotes  a  strong  suspicion  as  to  the  fidelity  of  the 
 other  party. 
 
 (15,  18)  These  are  two  very  difficult  verses,  which 
 should  perhaps,  be   rendered  as  follows: — 
 
 Ebr  did  He  not  make  |  man  and  his  wife,  Gen.  ii.  24] 
 one !  and  has  he  the  husband   any  supt  riority  ofep 
 
 [that  he  should  divorce  at  will  ':  Ke/  what  ia  this 
 [pair  which    is    become]   one  ?     [Answer.]  It  seeketh  a 
 
 i/nillii  ..,,./.  Therefore  take  heed  to  yoweelvee  lite- 
 rally, your  spirit],  and  with  respect  to  the  wife  of 
 thy  youth — Let  nune  be  faithless, 
 
 (16)  For  [I]  hate  divorce  [of  the  first  wife],  saith  the 
 God  of  Israel,  and  he  [the  divorcer  of  bis  first  wife] 
 covers  his  garment  with  injury,  saith  the  Loud  of  Hosts  ; 
 there/lire  take  ye  heed  l'<  your  sjiirit,  and  do  not  be 
 faithless.  According  to  our  interpretation,  the  whole 
 of   these    two    verses    must     be    taken   as    the    words  of 
 
 the  prophet.  Any  superiority. — We  take  Heb.  sh'dr, 
 "  remnant  "  in  the  sense  of  yithron,  "  superabundance," 
 ••  superiority."  Any  superiority  of  spirit — i.e.,  any  such 
 essential  superiority  as  to  justify  him  in  treating  his 
 wife  as  a  more  slave,  and  divorcing  her  against  her 
 will.  This  passage  coincides  more  nearly  with  the 
 spirit  of  Matt.  xix.  3  sei/q.  than  with  that  of  Dent, 
 xxiv.  1 — I.  To  yonrsi  lees,  or  la  ijonr  spirit.  The  ex- 
 pressions are  equivalent,  i  Comp.  Jcr.  xvii.  21;  Dent, 
 iv.  15;  Josh,  xxiii.  11.)  Let  none  be  .  .  . — Observe 
 the  change  of  |>erson,  so  common  in  Hebrew.  (Comp. 
 Isa.  i.  29.)  His  garment. — Some  take  this  to  be  an 
 Oriental  expression  for  "  his  wife."'  (Comp.  Al  Koran, 
 ii.:— "Wives  are  your  attire,  and  you  are  theirs") 
 Or  garment  may  be  taken  as  the  external  symbol  of  the 
 inner  slate  of  the  man.  (Comp.  Zech.  iii.  i  ;  Is.  Ixiv.  5; 
 Prov.  xxx.  9,  Aid  Injury. — Heb..  chdmde.  This  word  is 
 especially  used  of  ill-treatment  of  a  wife.  iC'omp.  I  tan. 
 xvi.  5. 1  Ceil  takes  t  he  first  verse  as  follows  :  NO  1 
 who  had  ever  a  remnant  of  reason  [or  a  sense  of  right 
 and  wrong  has  done  [ec,  what  ye  are  doing.  MS.,  faith- 
 lessly   putting  away   the   wife   of    his  youth.     To   this 
 
 the  people  are  supposed   to  object.]    But  what  did 
 
 the  one  [Abraham  j  da  '  [To  this  the  prophet  answers] 
 He  iea<  seeking  a  seed  of  God  [viz.,  the  child  of 
 promise:  i.e.,  ho  dismissed  Hagar,  because  Qod  pro- 
 mised to  give  him  the  desired  posterity,  not  in  Ishmael 
 through  the  maid  Hagar.  but  through  Sarah  in  Isaac, 
 so  that  in  doing  this  he  was  simply  acting  in  obedience 
 to  the  word  of  Cod  (Gen.  x\i.  12. i  Others  vary  the 
 translation  slightly,  and  render.  And  has  no  one  done 
 this  who  has  a  remnant  of  Spirit  in  himt     [This  being 
 
 supposed  to  be  tl b.jection  on  the  part  of  the  people. 
 
 To  this  the  prophet  answers.]  Wherefore  did  he  so 
 act  '  II'  n-as  seeking  a  godly  seed,  sfoore  takes  the 
 verse  quite  differently,  and  refers  it  to  the  saying  of 
 verso  10.  His  words  are.  "The  prophet  at  the  outset 
 had  argued  the  return  of  the  Jewish  jMsiple  .  .  .  there. 
 fore  these  marriages  that  violated  their  oneness  were 
 
 603 
 
The  Advent  of 
 
 MALACHI,   III. 
 
 the  Lord  Foretold. 
 
 •with  his  garment,  saith  the  Lord  of 
 hosts  :  therefore  take  heed  to  your  spirit, 
 that  ye  deal  not  treacherously. 
 
 <17>  Ye  have  wearied  the  Lord  with 
 your  words.  Yet  ye  say,  Wherein  have 
 we  wearied  him  ?  When  ye  say,  Every 
 one  that  doeth  evil  is  good  in  the  sight 
 of  the  Lord,  and  he  delighteth  in 
 them ;  or,  Where  is  the  God  of  judg- 
 ment ? 
 
 CHAPTER  m.— d)  Behold,  «I  will 
 send  my  messenger,  and  he  shall  pre- 
 pare the  way  before  me  :  and  the  Lord, 
 whom  ye  seek,  shall  suddenly  come  to 
 his  temple,  even  the  messenger  of  the 
 covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in  :  behold, 
 
 .  Matt.  11.  10; 
 Murk  1,  X;  Luki- 
 I.  70  &  7.  27. 
 
 1  Or.  ancient. 
 
 he  shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 M  But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  his 
 coming  ?  and  who  shall  stand  when  he 
 appeareth  ?  for  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire, 
 and  like  fullers'  sope :  (3)  and  he  shall 
 sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver : 
 and  he  shall  purify  the  sons  of  Levi, 
 and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver,  that 
 they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an  offer- 
 ing in  righteousness.  <4)  Then  shall  the 
 offering  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  be 
 pleasant  unto  the  Lord,  as  in  the  days 
 of  old,  and  as  in  1foi-mer  years.  (5)  And 
 I  will  come  near  to  you  to  judgment ; 
 and  I  will  be  a  swift  witness  against 
 the  sorcerers,  and  against  the  adulterers, 
 and  against  false  swearers,  and  against 
 
 wrong  .  .  .  He  asks  again  .  .  .  Did  not  [  God]  make 
 [us]  one  ?  Did  He  not  separate  us  from  other  nations 
 into  an  isolated  unity  ?  Yet  this  was  not  done  because 
 the  blessing  was  too  narrow  to  be  spread  over-  other 
 nations  .  .  .  for  the  residue  of  the  spirit  was*  with 
 Sim.  There  remained  an  inexhaustible  fulness-  of 
 spiritual  blessing  that  might  be  given  to  other  nations. 
 Why  [then  did  He  choose]  but  one  f  Se  was  seeking 
 a  seed  of  God  [a  nation  which  .He  should  train  up 
 to  be  the  repository  of  His  covenant,  the  stock  of 
 His  Messiah]."  Many  other  interpretations  have  been 
 proposed,  but  these  are  the  only  ones  which  are  at 
 all  admissible. 
 
 Rebuke  op  Infidelity.    The  Advent  op  the 
 
 Lord  Foretold  (chaps,  ii.  17 — iii.  24). 
 (17)  A  new  section  of  the  prophecy  begins  with  this 
 verse.  The  prophet  now  directs  his  reproofs  against 
 the  people  for  their  discontent  and  their  want  of 
 faith  in  the  promises  of  God,  because  the  expected 
 manifestation  of  God's  glory  did  not  take  place  imme- 
 diately. Because  the  doers  of  evil  seem  to  flourish, 
 the  people  say  that  God  takes  delight  in  them,  "  or  " 
 i.e.,  if  this  be  not  the  case,  "  Where  is  the  God  of 
 judgment  ? "  that  He  does  not  interpose  to  punish 
 them.     (Comp.  Ps.  lxxiii.,  &c.) 
 
 III. 
 
 (D  I  will  send.— Or,  I  send.  It  is  the  participle 
 used  as  the  prophetic  present.  (Comp.  Note  on  chap, 
 i.  11.) 
 
 My  messenger. — Heb.,  Malaehi,  my  angel,  or  my 
 messenger,  with  a  play  on  the  name  of  the  prophet. 
 In  chap.  ii.  7,  he  calls  the  priest  the  angel  or  messenger 
 of  the  LoKD.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  is 
 influenced  in  his  choice  of  the  term  by  his  own  per- 
 sonal name  (see  Introd.).  This  "  messenger,"  by  the 
 distinct  reference  to  Isa.  xl.  3,  contained  in  the  words, 
 '"  and  he  shall  prepare,"  &c,  is  evidently  the  same  as 
 he  whom  [the  deutero-]  Isaiah  prophetically  heard  cry- 
 ing, "  In  the  wilderness,  prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
 Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our 
 God."  Moreover,  from  the  nature  of  his  mission,  he 
 is  proved  to  bo  identical  with  the  "  Elijah  "  of  chap.  iv. 
 3.  These  words  had  their  first,  if  not  their  perfect 
 fulfilment  in  John  the  Baptist  (Matt.  xvii.  12). 
 
 The  Lord— This  word  "  Lord"  occurs  eight  times 
 
 with  the  definite  article,  but  always,  except  here,  with 
 the  name  of  God  following  it:  viz.,  Exod.  xxiii.  17, 
 followed  by  "  Jehovah ;  "  Exod.  xxxiv.  23,  by  "Jehovah, 
 the  God  of  Israel ;  "  in  Isa.  i.  24,  iii.  1,  x.  ■  3,  xix.  4,  by 
 "  Jehovah  Zebaoth ; "  and  in  Isa.  x.  lb',  by  "  the  Lord 
 of  Zebaoth."  And  here,  as  elsewhere,  it  must  mean 
 God  Himself,  because  He  is  said  to  come  "  to  his 
 temple,"  and  because  He  is  said  to  be  He  "  whom 
 ye  seek  : "  i.e.,  "  the  God  of  judgment  "  (chap.  ii.  17). 
 
 Even — i.e.,  "namely,"  for  so  the  Hebrew  conjunc- 
 tion "and"  is  frequently  used:  e.g.,  Exod.  xxv.  12; 
 1  Sam.  xxviii.  3. 
 
 The  messenger  (or  angel)  of  the  covenant.— 
 This  expression  occurs  only  in  this  passage.  Identified 
 as  He  is  here  with  "  the  Lord,"  He  can  be  no  other 
 than  the  Son  of  God,  who  was  manifested  in  the  flesh 
 as  the  Messiah.  In  the  word  "  covenant "  there  is, 
 perhaps,  some  reference  to  the  "  new  covenant  "  ( Jer. 
 xxxi.  31),  but  the  meaning  of  the  word  must  not  bo 
 limited  to  this. 
 
 Delight  in.— Rather,  desire. 
 
 (2)  Thi3  coming  of  the  Lord  to  His  temple  acts  as 
 a  crucial  test  (comp.  Luke  ii.  35);  the  people  ought, 
 therefore,  seriously  to  have  considered  how  far  they 
 were  prepared  for  that  advent  before  they  desired 
 it  so  eagerly  and  impatiently. 
 
 (3)  Sons  of  Levi. — Meaning  especially  the  priests, 
 the  sons  of  Aaron,  son  of  Amram,  son  of  Kohath,  son 
 of  Levi  (Exod.  vi.  16 — 20);  for  judgment  must  begin 
 at  the  house  of  God.  (Comp.  Jer.  xxv.  29 ;  Ezek.  ix.  6 ; 
 1  Pet.  iv.  17.) 
 
 In  righteousness  refers  rather  to  the  moral  cha- 
 racter of  the  offerer  than  to  the  nature  of  the  sacri- 
 fices, as  being  such  as  were  prescribed  by  the  Law. 
 This  and  the  following  verse  do  not,  of  course,  imply 
 that  there  are  to  be  material  sacrifices  in  Messianic 
 times.  The  prophet  speaks  in  such  language  as  was 
 suitable  to  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  (See  Note  on 
 chap.  i.  11.) 
 
 (+)  Days  of  old  .  .  .  former  years.— Perhaps,  if 
 we  must  define  the  period,  from  the  time  of  Moses 
 to  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Solomon.  But  we 
 cannot  be  certain  on  this  point.  It  seems  to  be  one 
 of  the  characteristics  of  Midachi  to  be  somewhat  of 
 a  laudator  temporis  acti.     (Comp.  chap.  ii.  5 — 7.) 
 
 (5)  All  these  crimes  were  explicitly  forbidden  by 
 the  Law.  Sorcery  (Exod.  xxii.  18),  adultery  (Exod.  xx. 
 606 
 
An.  Exhortation  to  Repentance. 
 
 MALACHF,    III. 
 
 Tlv  Reavltt  "/  fit  fan 
 
 those  that  'oppress  the  hireling  in  hia 
 wages,   the    widow,  and    the   fatherless, 
 
 and  that  turn  aside  the  stranger  from 
 
 hit  right,  and  fear  not  me,  sailli  the 
 Loan  of  hosts.  ("'For  I  am  the  Lokd, 
 I  change  not;  therefore  ye  sons  of 
 Jacob  are  nut  consumed. 
 
 '■  Even  from  the  days  of  your  fathers 
 ye  are  gone  away  from  mine  ordinances, 
 and  have  not  Kept  them.  "Return  unto 
 me,  and  I  will  return  unto  you,  sailli 
 the  Lo i,- 1)  of  hosts.  But  ve  said,  Where- 
 in shall  we  return  P  M  Will  a  man  rob 
 ( lod  P  Yet  ye  have  robbed  me.  But  ye 
 say,  Wherein  have  we  robbed  thee?  In 
 tithes  and  offerings.  ,:'>  Ye  are  cursed 
 with  a  curse:  for  ye  have  robbed  me, 
 ri', a  this  whole  nation.  *'"'  Bring  ye  all 
 the  tithes  into  the  storehouse,  that 
 there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house,  and 
 prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord 
 
 I  Or,  defmwl. 
 
 :j  H<t> . 
 
 l  11.1.  .  hit   obttr 
 tatttm. 
 
 li.  !■....  black. 
 
 of  hosts,  if    I    will   not  open  you  the 
 '  windows  of  heaven,  and    pour  you  on! 
 
 a  blessing,  that  there  slmll  not  be  room 
 enoujjh  to  receive  it.  '"And  I  will  re- 
 bulce  the  devourer  for  your  Bakes,  and 
 he  shall  not  ;  d>  -t  COJ  I  06  fruits  of  your 
 ground;  neither  shall  your  vine 
 her  fruit  before  the  time  in  the  field, 
 saith  the  Loan  of  hosts.  "-'Ami  all 
 nations  shall  call  you  bleSBed:  for  ye 
 shall    be   a   delightsome   land,  saith    tie 
 
 Loan  of  hosts. 
 
 ";  Your  words  have  been  '  stout 
 against  me,  saith  the  Lord.  Yet  ye 
 Bay,  What  have  we  spoken  so  much 
 against  thee?  <U)Ye  have  said.  It  is 
 vain  to  serve  God  :  and  what  profit  it  it 
 that  we  have  kept  'his  ordinance,  and 
 that  we  have  walked  ''mournfully  before 
 the  Lord  of  hosts?  ,1,r'1  And  now  we 
 call  the  proud  happy ;  yea,   they  that 
 
 It;  Lev.  \x.  10;  Dent,  xxii.  22),  false-swearing  (Lev. 
 xi\.  12),  defrauding,  or  withholding  of  (rages  Lei 
 \i\.  13;  Dent.  xxi\.  It,  16),  oppressing  the  widow 
 and  orphan  (Exod.  xxii.  '22 — 24),  doing  injustice  to  a 
 stranger  [Dent.  xxiv.  17,  xxvii.  1!*).  (Comp.  alsu  Zech. 
 vii. '.».  10,  \iii.  16,  17.) 
 
 (•)  For  I  am  the  Lord,  I  change  not.— Better, 
 For  I  Jehovah  change  «"/.  Because  it  is  the  Eternal's 
 unchangeable  will  that  the  sous  of  Jacob,  His  ohosen 
 lie. .pie.  should  not  perish  as  a  nation.  Ho  will  purify 
 (hem  by  the  eradication  of  the  wicked  among  them,  that 
 the  remnant  (the  superior  part;  see  Note  on  chap.  ii.  15) 
 may  return  to  these  allegiance.  iComp.  Rom.  xi.) 
 ESwald  renders  the  words:  Fur  I.  the  Lord,  have  not 
 I  but  ye  sons  of  Jacob,  have  ye  not  altered? 
 But    the    last    verb  does  not  mean    "to   alter;"    and. 
 
 moreover,  the  former  translation  is  exactly  in  accord- 
 ance with  the  wording  of  the  prayer  in  Ezra  ix.  14,  15. 
 (")  Even  from  .  .  .  fathers.— Throughout  the 
 whole  Course  of  their  history  they  had  been  a  stiff- 
 necked  people  (Exod.  xxxii.  It.  fte.);  and  now-,  when 
 exhorted  to  repent,  they  ask  in  feigned  innmviia': — 
 
 Wherein  shall  we  return  ?  .  .  .  Return  unto 
 me  .  .  .  unto  you.— Comp.  Zech.  i.  :i. 
 
 i-'  Robbod  mo. — Because  the  tithes  are  said  to  he 
 offered  to  Jehovah,  and  then  He  gives  them  to  the 
 Levites  in  place  of  an  inheritance   Num.  xriii.  24). 
 
 In  tithos  and  offerings.— See  .Notes  on  Ehtod 
 xxiii.lt";  Lev.  xxvfa'.  SO  -33;  Num.  xviii.  12,  21— 24; 
 Dent,  xviii.  t;  Lev.  iii.  1—17,  vii.  11— 21,  28— 36. 
 
 (f>  Oomp.  chaps,  ii.  :!.  and  iii.  11. 
 
 (to)  The  emphasis  is  on  the  word  "all." 
 Storehouse. — From  the  time  of  Heaekiah  2  Chron. 
 
 xxxi.  1  1  i  there  were  at  the  Sanctuary  special  storehouses 
 built    for  this  purpose;   SO,  too,    in    the  second  Temple 
 
 iXch.  x.  :K  39,  xii.  44.  xiii.  12,  13). 
 
 Moat-- i.e..  food  for  the  priests  and  Levites. 
 
 Open  you  .  .  . — According  to  the  promise  of  Dent. 
 xi.  13    15,  Sue.     For  a  practical  commentary  on  Qua 
 
 verse,  see  2  Chron.  xxxi    10.      "  And   A/ariah.  the  chief 
 
 priest  of  the  house  of  Zadok,  answered  Eeaakiah  and 
 said.  Sinco  the  people  began  to  tu-ing  the  offerings 
 into  the  houso  of  tho  Lord,  we  have  had  enough 
 
 and  have  left   plenty;  for  the  Lord  hath  bleeeed  A,'.- 
 people  j  and  thai  which  is  left  ia  this  great  store.  " 
 
 That.— Better,  until. 
 
 There  shall  not  be  room  enough  .  .  .— This 
 
 rendering   gives   the    correct    meaning    of    the    words. 
 ( Compare  an  expression  of  similar  import  inZech   x.  LO 
 We    cannot    agree    with    the    rendering   of    GtaseniUB, 
 "until  my  abundance  be  exhausted,"  as  equivalent   to 
 "  for  ever." 
 
 (H)  For  your  sakes. — The  same  word  as  in  chap. 
 ii.  "> :  here  in  B  good  sense,  there  in  a  bad. 
 
 The  devourer — i.e.,  the  locust,  fte. 
 
 Rebuke. — Better,  corrupt.  The  same  word  is  used 
 as  in  chap.  ii.  3,  but  in  a  different  construction.  With 
 this  verse  comp.  Hag.  i.  6—  1 1 
 
 (>2>  Comp.  Zech.  vii.  14.  viii.  13—23;  also  Isa.  lxii.  4: 
 Dan.  xi.  16. 
 
 (13)  your  words    .    .    .    against  me.— Better. 
 
 your   words   ]>nt   "   a  HttraM  on    RM  :    viz.,   to   prove 
 myself  to  you  to  be  "the  God  of  judgment." 
 Spoken. — Or  rather,  conversed  together.    (Comp. 
 
 verse    16.)      They    seem    to   have    been    in    the  habit   of 
 
 conversing  together,  and  comparing  the  promises  d 
 
 Cod  towards  them  with  the  then  state  of  affairs.     God 
 
 had  promised  that  they  should  be  a  proverb  among  the 
 
 nations  for  ble-socln."  .  hut.  -ax  they,  Seeing  that  tilings 
 are  as  they  are,  "we  [feel  more  inclined  to  call  the 
 proud  happy  [or  blessed]."  (See  further  in  Note  ou 
 15, 
 (1*1  Mournfully — i.e..  with  all  outward  signs  of 
 fasting.  (Oomp.  Matt.  \i.  16.)  The  fasting  referred 
 to  is  not  that  ox  the  Day  of  Atonement,  but  of  volun- 
 tary fasts.  We  see  here,  in  already  a  somewhat  de- 
 veloped  form,    that    disposition    to   attribute    merit    DO 
 
 observances  of  outward   forms  of  religion  for  their 
 
 Own    sake,    without    regard    to    the    secret    attitude   of 
 
 the  heart.'  which  reaehed  audi  a   pitch    anions    the 
 
 majority    of    the   .Tews   in   the   time   of  our  Lord,  ami 
 especially  among  the  Thar 
 
 1 15)  And   now    means    and    so,    consequently.     In 
 this    verse    the   prophet   gives   the   words   of  the  mnr- 
 nuirers.       See  Note  on  verse   13.)     The  statem. 
 verse    13   show   that    they   were   of   a  very  different 
 
 607 
 
The  Lord's  Jewels. 
 
 MALACHI,   IV. 
 
 A  Day  of  Judgment. 
 
 work  wickedness  l  are  set  up ;  yea,  they 
 that ■  tempt  God  are  even  delivered. 
 
 <16)Then  they  that  feared  the  Lord 
 spake  often  one  to  another :  and  the 
 Lord  hearkened,  and  heard  it,  and  a 
 book  of  remembrance  was  written  before 
 him  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord,  and 
 that  thought  upon  his  name.  (17)  And 
 they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of 
 hosts,  in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my 
 2 jewels;  and  I  will  spare  them,  as  a 
 man  spareth  his  own  son  that  serveth 
 him.  (18)  Then  shall  ye  return,  and  dis- 
 cern between  the  righteous  and  the 
 wicked,  between  him  that  serveth  God 
 and  him  that  serveth  him  not. 
 
 CHAPTER  IV.— ("For,  behold,  the 
 
 Or,  special  trea- 
 sure. 
 
 b  Luke  1.  78. 
 
 day  cometh,  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven; 
 and  all  the  proud,  yea,  and  all  that  do 
 wickedly,  shall  be  stubble  :  and  the  day 
 that  cometh  shall  burn  them  up,  saith 
 the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  it  shall  leave 
 them  neither  root  nor  branch.  (2)  But 
 unto  you  that  fear  my  name  shall  the 
 '  Sun  of  righteousness  arise  with  healing 
 in  his  wings  ;  and  ye  shall  go  forth,  and 
 grow  up  as  calves  of  the  stall.  (3>  And 
 ye  shall  tread  down  the  wicked ;  for 
 they  shall  be  ashes  under  the  soles  of 
 your  feet  in  the  day  that  I  shall  do  this, 
 saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 
 
 W  Remember  ye  the  flaw  of  Moses  my 
 servant,  which  I  commanded  unto  him 
 in  Horeb  for  all  Israel,  with  the  statutes 
 and  judgments. 
 
 character  from  such  faithful  servants  of  Jehovah  as 
 were  at  times  sorely  tempted  against  their  will  to 
 waver  in  their  faith.  We  may  observe  hei-e  the  seeds 
 of  sceptical  Sadduceism.  as  in  verse  14  of  hypocritical 
 Phariseism.  (Comp.  Pss.  xxxvii.,  lxxiii.,  and  the  Books 
 of  Job  and  Eeel.) 
 
 Proud  .  .  .  they  that  work  wickedness — i.e., 
 the  heathen,  who  do  not  profess  to  serve  Jehovah. 
 (Comp.  Isa.  xiii.  11.) 
 
 Proud  is  a  common  Biblical  expression  for  pre- 
 sumptuous sinners ;  the  same  word  is  also  used  for 
 presumptuous  sins  (Ps.  xix.  13). 
 
 Tempt. — The  same  word  is  used  which  in  verse  10 
 is  translated  "  prove."  The  difference  in  the  two  cases 
 consists  in  the  different  nature  of  the  actions.  In  verse 
 10  the  Jews  are  exhorted  to  obey  the  Law  faithfully, 
 and  prove  whether  God  would  not  (i.e.,  experience  that 
 God  certainly  would)  perform  His  part  in  the  covenant. 
 In  verse  15  the  heathen,  by  their  pride  and  wicked- 
 ness, tempt  God  to  judgment. 
 
 (16)  Then. — As  a  consequence  of  the  unbelieving 
 conversation  of  the  wicked.  What  "  they  that  feared 
 the  Lord  "  said  is  not  recorded ;  but  it  is  implied,  by 
 His  approval  of  them,  that  they  sti'engthened  one 
 another  in  their  faith  and  reliance  on  the  goodness  and 
 faithfulness  of  the  Lord,  in  spite  of  the  present  appear- 
 ance of  things.  As  the  godless  in  Israel  conversed 
 together,  so  did  the  godly ;  but  the  converse  of  the  one 
 was  the  very  reverse  of  the  converse  of  the  other.  In 
 Ezra  ix.  4  we  read  of  such  a  consultation  among  those 
 "  that  trembled  at  the  word  of  the  God  of  Israel." 
 (Comp.  the  expression  in  chap.  ii.  5.) 
 
 Book  of  remembrance.— In  which  men's  actions 
 are  said  figuratively  to  be  recorded  (Ps.  lvi.  8;  Dan. 
 vii.  10,  &c).  Compare  the  custom  of  the  Persian  kings 
 (Esther  vi.  1). 
 
 For  them — i.e.,  for  their  future  reward. 
 
 Thought  upon— i.e.,  valued,  esteemed. 
 
 I1?)  And  they  shall  be  .  .  .  my  jewels. — Better. 
 And  they  shall  be  to  me,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  a 
 special  possession,  on  the  day  that  I  am  about  to  make. 
 "  Special  possession  "  (Exod.  xix.  5). 
 
 Day  .  .  .  make. — The  same  expression  occurs  in 
 chap.  iv.  3.     (Comp.  Ps.  cxviii.  24.) 
 
 <!■>)  Then  shall  ye  .  .  .  between.— Better,  Then 
 shall  ye  again  perceive  the   difference   between.     For 
 
 the  construction,  comp.  Zech.  iv.  1.  As  in  former 
 cases  God  had  made  this  difference  manifest,  so  He 
 would  again.  Compare,  for  instance,  the  difference 
 between  the  case  of  the  Egyptians  and  of  the  Israelites 
 in  the  matter  of  the  miraculous  darkness  (Exod. 
 x.  23). 
 
 rv. 
 
 (!)  The  day  already  foretold  in  chap.  iii.  2  shall  be  as 
 a  fire  burning  fiercely  as  a  furnace,  and  "  the  wicked  " — 
 not  only  the  heathen,  but  the  murmurers  themselves, 
 so  far  from  being  accounted  happy  (chap.  iii.  15) — shall 
 be  as  "  stubble."  (Comp.  Isa.  v.  24;  Zeph.  i.18;  Obad. 
 18,  &c.) 
 
 (2)  As  the  rising  sun  diffuses  light  and  heat,  so  that 
 all  that  is  healthy  in  nature  revives  and  lifts  up  its 
 head,  while  plants  that  have  no  depth  of  root  are 
 scorched  up  and  wither  away,  so  the  advent  of  the 
 reign  of  righteousness,  which  will  reward  the  good  and 
 the  wicked,  each  according  to  his  deserts,  will  dissipate 
 all  darkness  of  doubt,  and  heal  all  the  wounds  which 
 the  apparent  injustice  of  the  conduct  of  affairs  has  in- 
 flicted on  the  hearts  of  the  righteous. 
 
 Wings. — Figurative  for  rays.  The  fathers  and  early 
 commentators  have  understood  Christ  by  the  Sun  of 
 Righteousness,  and  they  are  so  far  right  that  it  is  the 
 period  of  His  advent  that  is  referred  to ;  but  there  can 
 be  no  personal  reference  to  Him  in  the  expression,  since 
 "  sun  "  is  feminine  in  Hebrew ;  and  the  literal  rendering 
 of  the  word  translated  "in  his  wings"  is  "in  her 
 wings." 
 
 Grow  up. — Better,  prance,  or  sport. 
 
 (3)  Tread  down. — Comp.  Isa.  xxvi.  5,  6. 
 
 That  I  shall  do  this. — Better,  which  I  am  about 
 to  make.     (Comp.  chap.  iii.  17.) 
 
 CONCLUDING   ADMONITION. 
 
 (4—6)  As  the  prophetical  books  began  (Josh.  i.  2,  8) 
 with  "  Moses  my  servant  is  dead  .  .  .  this  book  of  the 
 Law  shall  not  be  removed  from  thy  mouth,  &c,"  so 
 they  close  with  the  admonition,  "  Remember  ye  the 
 Lata  of  Moses  my  servant."  (Comp.  Dent.  iv.  1,  viii. 
 14.)  The  path  of  duty  is  the  path  of  safety  and  of 
 light.  (Comp.  John  vii.  17.)  "Mysteries  belong  to 
 the  Lord  our  God,  but  those  things  which  are  revealed 
 are  for  us  and  for  our  children  for  ever,  in  order  to 
 
 608 
 
T/te  Promise  of  Elijah. 
 
 MALACHI,   IV. 
 
 .1  Happy  ■ 
 
 (*)  Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah 
 the  prophet  before  the  coming  of 
 the  great  ami  dreadful  'lay  of  1 1 1 » - 
 Lobs  :    '"'  ami  hi'  shall  i  urn  tin'  heart 
 
 1     II: 
 M  uk  v.  II  ;  l.uk.- 
 
 of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and  the 
 heart  of  the  children  to  their  fat 1 
 Lest   I  come  and  smite  the  earth  with 
 b  curse. 
 
 perform  .-ill  the  words  of  this  Law"  Dent.  xxix.  29 1 
 coinp.  also  Eccles.  \ii.  13).    The  best  preparation  for 
 
 the  n ption  of  the  Not  Covenant,  when  Qod  would 
 
 ■•  put  Sis  law  in  their  inward  parts  and  write  it  on  their 
 heart  "  (Jer.  xxxi,  32),  must  needs  be  the  hearty  observ- 
 ance of  the  spirit  of  the  ( >ld. 
 
 (5)  Elijah.— There  is  no  more  reason  to  appose  that 
 this  refers  actually  to  "  Elijah  "  the  prophet,  and  that 
 In'  is  tu  appear  upon  earth,  than  to  imagine  from  ECoa 
 iii.  5;  Ezek,  wn.  _'.:,  xxxvii.  _l;  Jer,  \\x.  '.>  -.  that 
 David  himself  is  in  come  again  in  the  Qeah.  When 
 John  the  Baptist  answered  theqnestion  of  the  deputies 
 nf  the  Sanhedrim,  "  Art  thou  Euias?  "  by  "  I  am  not," 
 In'  simply  gave  s  negative  reply  tn  their  Question, 
 which  was  formulated  on  their  misapprehension.  On 
 the  other  hand,  that  John  the  Baptist  is  the  "  messen- 
 ger" <>f  chap.  iii.  1  and  the  "  Elijah"  of  tliis  verse  is 
 
 shown  conclusively    as  far  as  Christians  are  coi rned) 
 
 by  Luke  i.  16,  17  before  his  birth,  by  Matt.  iii.  I—  \-. 
 Mark  i.  - — s,  Luke  iii.  2  L8,  at  the  commencement  of 
 his  ministry .  Moreover,  our  Lord  Himself  assured  the 
 ale  thai  John  was  this  ••  messenger  "  and  "  Elijah  " 
 Matt.  \i.  1",  M</. ;  Luke  vii.  J  7,  sag.),  and  Bis  disciples 
 that  In'  had  appeared,  and  not  been  recognised  [Matt. 
 xvii.  11.  m./.:  M.n-k  i\.  L,  sag.).  Filially,  it  is s  signifi- 
 cant  fact  tiiat   these  two  neatest  of  Old  Testament 
 
 prophets,  Mo  ea  ami  Bliss,  who  an-  mentioned  together 
 in  this  last  prophetic  exhortation,  an-  tin-  two  who 
 appeared  with  Christ  on  tin-  Mount  of  Transfigura- 
 tion, when  all  that  which  is  contained  in  tin-  Luw 
 ami  tin'  prophets  was  aliout  to  be  fulfilled. 
 
 '  And  ho  shall  turn  ...  to  their  fathers. 
 — This  does  u"t  refer  to  tin-  settlement  of  family  dis- 
 putes, Such  as  might  have  arisen  from  marriage  with 
 foreign  wives.  "The  fathers  are  rather  the  anoe  I 
 of  the  [sraelitish  nation,  the  patriarchs,  and  generally 
 tin'  fathers    .    .    .    The   bobb,  or  children, 
 
 arc  tho  degenerate  descendants  of  Malachi's  own  timo 
 and  the  succeeding  ages."  -A"><7.  "The  hearts  of  the 
 godly  fathers  and  ungodly  sons  are  estranged  from 
 one  another.  The  bond  of  union — viz.,  tho  common 
 love    of    (loil— is    wanting.      The    fathers    are   ashamed 
 
 of  their  children,  and  the  children  of  their  fathers." — 
 Hmgsteriberg.  (Comp.  particularly  Isa.  xxiv  is  Jl, 
 and  the  paraphrastic  citation  of  MaL  ;\ .  •!  in  Luke  i.  17.) 
 Curse-  Better,  6an.  (Oomp.Zeen.xiv.lL]  As  with 
 the  conclusion  of  [saiah,  Lamentations,  and  Ecelesiastes, 
 so  here  the  Jew  read  in  the  synagogue  the  last  verse 
 init  one  over  again  after  the  last  verse,  to  avoid  con- 
 cluding with  words  of  ill  omen,  thus:   "  Behold  I   - 
 
 you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  coming  of  the  great 
 and  dreadful  day  of  JEHOVAH." 
 
 178 
 
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