Division "BSSW Sectioa \^05' V.6 HOURS WITH THE BIBLE: OB, THE SCRIPTURES IN THE LIGHT OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE, ToViVl CUNNINGHAM GEIKIE, D.D., LL.D AN ENTIRELY NEW EDITION, REVISED THROUGHOUT AND LARGELY REWRITTEN. nXUSTBATED. VOL. VI. FROM THE EXILE TO MALACHI, COMPLETING THE OLD TESTAMENT. NEW YORK : JAMES POTT & COMPANY. 1905. Copyright, 1892, by JAMES POTT & CO. CONTENTS. CHAPTER FASL 1. A Voice from Chebar, against Judah . , , 1- 19 II. The Crisis as it appeared to Ezekiel ^ . . 20- 38 III. The Eve of the Siege of Jerusalem . , 89- 53 IV. The Investment of Jerusalem ... 54- 74 V. During the Siege ,,,..,- 75-102 VI. The Fall of Jerusalem . = .,,. 103-114 VII. The " Lamentations " of Jeremiah . , . 115-136 VIII. Edom and the Nations round . . . = 137-159 IX. The Murder of Gedaliah and the Siege of Tyre. 160-183 X. The Jewish Colonies in Egypt .... 184-206 XI. On the Chebar 207-227 XII. The Vision of the Future 228-255 XIII. At Babylon . ; 256-287 XIV. Comfort ye My People .,,... 288-309 XV. The Fifth Gospel ....... 310-366 XVI. Redemption drawing Nigh . , , , . 367-406 XVII. The Return 407-427 XVIII. Haggai and Zechariah .,.,.. 428-451 XIX. Queen Esther . 452-482 XX. Ezra and Nehemiah ...... 483-520 XXI. The Prophet Malachi 527-54? Index ..,,..... 543 HOURS WITH THE BIBLE, CHAPTER I. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. Nothing was more fatal to the religious life of the ex- iles in Chaldaea, or their brethren still left in Judah, than the confident air of some, calling themselves prophets, who held out hopes directly opposed to the warnings of men like Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The result had been a general discredit of the order. It had become a common saying that '^The days of trouble are long in coming; all proph- ecy is deceit. ^^ ^ Men who thus misled the community by audacious misrepresentations made in the name of God, needed to be openly assailed, and Ezekiel, therefore, de- termined thoroughly to expose them. Referring to the proverb so current, he informed his fellow-captives that Jehovah commanded him to address them thus, in His name : " XII. 23. I will '^ make this proverb cease, so that it will no longer be used in Israel. Say to them: The days (of visitation) and of the fulfilment of every prediction are at hand. 24. For there shall no more be lying vision, or (false) flattering divination, in the House of Israel. 25. But I, Jehovah, will speak, and what I speak will come forthwith to pass ; it will be no longer delayed. In your own days, 0 ' Ezek. xii. 22. « Ezek. xii. 23-28. VOL. VI.-l 2 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR^ AGAINST JUDAH. House of Disobedience, I will both speak and fulfil My word, says the Lord Jehovah ! " Another saying, current everywhere, was not less un- worthy. Men sneeringly insinuated that *'■ the visions which Ezekiel ' saw were for the long future ; his prophe- cies, for distant times/^ In contradiction to this, they were now told from Jehovah Himself, that none of His words, spoken through real prophets, would fail of present fulfilment. The make-believe prophets, who spoke *^ ac- cording to their own hearts," were next directly attacked. '" XIII. 3. Woe,^ cried Ezekiel, to the ridiculous mock-prophets, who follow (not Jehovah, but) their own heart, and announce that which they have not seen ! 4. 0 Israel, thy prophets, (thus degenerate, instead of building up the tottering state, have brought it nearer its fall), as foxes (undermine the ruins they infest).^ 5. Ye have not gone out before the gaps (of the vineyard wall,^ by night; to defend it, like faithful keepers, from wild beasts), nor have ye built it up and repaired it, before Israel; to help him to stand in the battle, in the day of Jehovah! " Instead of this, they had promised a happy future, in lying oracles: " XIII. 6. They say (they have) seen visions, but they were lies, and their divination, also, was lying, when they said, ' Jehovah saith,' though He had sent them no revelations, and (declared) that they might hope to fulfil their words. 7. Is it not true that you have (only) 1 Literally, "this one." ' Ezek. xiii. 3-7. 3 Wilton {Negeh, p. 138) thinks the jackal is intended : but the word Shual is from Shaal = " to go down into the depth," in allusion to the burrowing of the fox in the earth. < Hebrew, gadair. For meaning of jedar, see vol. iv. p. 230. The loose wall of dry stones ronnd the vineyard had been undermined by winter storms, for the prophet has changed his figure, but these men have not, like faithful keepers of the vineyard, Htood outside the gaps by night, to keep wild beasts from breaking in, nor have they filled them up and strengthened the weak and shaking jedar, to make the vineyard safe. There is also a double use of the figure, by which the repaired wall would serve aB a shelter and defence to Israel, on the day of battle, etc. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAiKST JUDAH. 3 seen a pretended vision, and that ye have uttered a lying divination, when ye said ' Jehovah saith it,' though I, Jehovah, have not spoken ? "8. Therefore,' thus says the Lord Jehovah: Because ye have spoken falsehood, and (pretended to) see lies; behold I am against you, says the Lord Jehovah. 9. And My hand will be on the prophets who see falsehood and divine lies. They shall not be the counsellors of My people, nor shall they be inscribed in the Book of the House of Israel, nor come into the land of Israel (at the Return) — that ye may know that I am the Lord Jehovah — 10. because they have led astray My people, saying 'All is well,' though all was not well. For (My people, in their foolish dream of security, behind the pro- tection of Egypt, are like) men that have built a wall, and lo, tliey (the prophets) have daubed it over with white plaster (of lies, and thus made it seem trustworthy). 11. Say to them who have daubed it over with whited plaster (of lies), that it will fall. For a deluge of rain is coming ; and ye hailstones, fall ye ; thou hurricane, break loose! 12. And, lo, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ' Where is that plaster (of lies) which you plastered over it ? ' 13. There- fore, thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will let loose a hurricane wind in My fury, and a rain, sweeping all before it, will come in My anger, and great hailstones in My destroying wrath! 14. And I will cast down the wall that you have plastered over, and throw it to the earth, laying bare its very foundation, and it will fall, and you will perish under it, and you will know that I am Jehovah! 15. I will let loose my fury on the wall and on them that plastered it over, and it will be said of you, ' The wall is no more, neither they who plastered it over ; 16. — the prophets of Israel, who prophesy visions of peace to her, though there is no peace,' saith the Lord Jehovah! " But lying prophets were not the only enemies with whom their faithful brethren had to contend. While these deceived the people as a whole, false prophetesses misled individuals, and snared souls by unholy arts, promising life and prosperity where God had denounced death. They, therefore, are next assailed. *' 17. Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters at thy people, who prophesy out of their own heart, (for gain, and with ' Bzek. xiii. 8-17. 4 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAIKST JUDAH. heathen spells). Prophesy thou against them, 18. and say,' Thus says the Lord Jehovah : Woe to the women that sew together magic orna- ments for every joint of the hand,'^ and make magic coverings for the heads of persons of every age, to snare their souls.'* Will you thus hunt down the souls of My people, to preserve your own souls alive ; 19. dishonouring ]\Ie before My people, for handfuls of barley and for bits of bread, (for your maintenance) ; slaying souls which should not die, and keeping yours alive which should not live ^ — by lying to (those of) My people who listen to your falsehoods ? "20. Therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah : Behold, I am against vour magic knots and bands, by which ye snare souls (as if they were prey to make fly into (your nets); and I will tear them from your arms, and will set the souls free — the souls that ye hunt as if they were prey to make fly into your nets.* 21. And I will tear off your magic mantles and head coverings, and deliver My people out of your hand, that they may no longer be in your hand to' be hunted down ; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah ! 22. Because ye have falsely made sad the heart of the righteous, though / have not made him sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not 1 Ezek. xiii. 18-22. 2 In verse 20 they are said to be on the arms. s De Wette and Evvald seem to have hit on the most reasonable explanation of this passage— Smend agreeing with them. De Wette fancies magic bands and fillets are meant. Evvald thinks the magic ornaments were mirrors (very probably small in size), which these female dabblers in the black arts carried, as he supposes, on their arms or in their hands, as other women carried their ordinary mirrors. Ewald, Die Propheteri, vol. ii. p. 261. Rosenmuller has anticipated this solution in his wonderful Scholia. Some, says he, think the words refer to the magic rites of these women— by which, through placing such ornaments or things (whatever they were) on the per- son of those consulting them, they wished to make them more fitted to receive their divinations. Theodorct supposes pillows are mentioned as a figure for smooth and seductive discourse ; soft ])illows inducing quiet and ease, and soft words, though false, pleasing and soothing in a similar way, while instilling every kind of perversion into the mind. * Smend has, " preserved the souls of others alive "—destroying the godly by the terror of their rites, and keeping alive the godless, their supporters. But this seems far-fetched. Dc Wette says, " preserving alive the souls who belong to you." Rabbi Dr. Arnheim says, "that you may preserve your own life." Rosenmiiller para- phrases the verse thus, " Shall I at all permit that you should destroy My people, by your laying on thom your lying oracles, predicting all misfortunes and evils to them, while you cheer your own kind by promising them every happiness ? The end will be different from what you think ; good fortune will not come to the ungodly, as you say, but every evil will light on you and those who listen to you." Ezechiel, in loc., vol. i. p. 355. * De Wette renders it, " to make them fly to you." A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 5 turn from liis wicked way, so as to save his life — ?3. therefore you shall no more have lying visions, nor speak any more false divinations, for I will deliver My people out of your hand ; and ye shall know I am Jehovah ! " If, however, it was imperative to denounce those who thus led the people astray, it was no less so to expose the sins of the people themselves, which made them an easy prey. Advice and consolation were sought from the true prophets, but there was still a hankering in the depth of the hearts of most, after their old corruptions, the high places and their idols ; many of them, indeed, as is seen from the Babylonian tablets, giving themselves up to the local idolatry, and identifying themselves with the Chal- daeans. Their homage to the prophet was thus only out- ward and worthless. But such hypocrisy was utterly hate- ful to Jehovah, and entailed on those guilty of it, Ilis severest indignation. To root it from the bosoms of the people. He threatened to visit them Avith the sternest pun- ishments. Thus alone could His ancient relation to Israel be restored. The enforcing these truths was now the task of Ezekiel, and an occasion soon presented itself. Taking advantage of a visit from some elders of the people, he thus addressed the community through them. He had been warned by the '' word of Jehovah," of their secret leaning to heathenism. '' Son of man," * it had said, *' these men cherish their loathsome gods' in their hearts, and set before their eyes (as the object of their worship) the images wliich are the stumbling block that causes their iniquity. Should I be inquired of at all by such as they? '^ He was therefore told to say to them : • Ezek. xiv. 1-5. > " Loathsome," literally. " lilth-i,'<>tl^."" and bo throughout. 6 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. " XIV. 4. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,' Every man of the house of Israel that clierishes his loathsome gods in his heart, and sets before his eyes the idols which are the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I, Jehovah, will answer him as he deserves, (with the punishment due) for his multitiide of loathsome gods; 5. that I may visit home the heart sins of the house of Israel,'^ because they are all alienated from Me through their loathsome gods. "6. Therefore, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Repent and turn back from your loathsome gods, and turn your faces from all idols, abominations as they are ! 7. For every one of the house of Israel, and of the foreigners sojourning in Israel, who separates himself from Me, and cherishes his loathsome gods in his heart, and sets up before his eyes the stumbling block which causes his iniquity, and yet comes to a prophet, to ask him to inquire of Me on his behalf, I, Jehovah, Myself will answer him. 8. And I will set My face against that man, and make him a sign and a proverb, and cut him off from the midst of My people ; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. "9. As to the prophet who lets himself be enticed, and then speaks a Word (for his own ends, as if from Me) ; I, Jehovah, who know the heart, will not hinder him that he should not be persuaded.' And I will stretch out My hand against him, and destroy him from the midst of My people Israel. 10. They will (each) bear the punishment of his iniquity ; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as that of him who has inquired of Me through him ; 11. that the house of Israel may no more go astray from Me, or pollute themselves any more by all the misdeeds (of such offenders), but be My people, and I their God, saith the Lord Jehovah ! " The affairs of Jerusalem seem to have been almost as well known among the exiles as in Judaea. In spite of all warnings, the Egyptian party was gradually forcing the weak Zedekiah into a league with the Pharaoh, which in- volved the breach of his solemn oath ''by God/' to be a true vassal of the Ohaldaean king. Such faithlessness, Eze- kiel felt, was certain to bring down the severest punish- ments on the land. Like all the ancient Hebrews, he ^ Ezek. xiv. 4-11. a Literally, "take them in their heart." ' Eichhorn. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAIXST JUDAH. 7 firmly believed in temporal rewards for godliness, and pen- alties for sin. It was, however, a difficulty with many, that he should have predicted the escape of some of the idolatrous people of Jerusalem, from the judgments im- pending on their fellows. He therefore shews them that, while the fear of God preserves alive the worthy, as seen in the cases of Noah, Daniel, and Job, the land that sins must suffer. Nor was the fact that some of the ungodly of Jeru- salem would be spared, any contradiction to this, for they were preserved only to vindicate God's righteousness, by letting the heathen see their vileness, and thus recognize the justice of the Divine judgments inflicted on their city. The Word of Jehovah, says he, came again to me, saying : " XIV. 13. Son of man, ' when a land sins against Me by gross unfaith- fulness, ^ and I stretcii out My hand against it, and break the staff of its bread, and send on it Famine, and cut off man and beast from it: 14. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel,^ and Job were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord Jehovah. 15. If I let Wild Beasts come into a land, and they bereave it (of its children), so that it become such a desert that no one can pass through it anymore, because of these beasts: IG. though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Jehovah, they would save neither sons nor daughters ; they (themselves), only, would be saved, but the land would be desolate. 17. Or, should I bring War on that land, and say, ' Sword, go through that land,' and should cut off man and beast from it : 18. though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they would save neither sons nor daughters; they, themselves, only would be saved ! 19. Or, if I send Pestilence into that land, and pour out My fury upon it in blood, cutting off from it man and beast : 20. were even Noah, Daniel, and Job in it, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save their own lives only, by their righteousness. » Ezek. xiv. 13-20. ^ Ewald thinks the breach of the oath by Zedekiah is referred to. 3 Daniel was at the time a captive in Babylonia. The inversion of names may rise from the fact of the case of Job seeming like a climax. See Ueb. xi. 32. 8 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. "21. Now, says the Lord Jehovah; * How much more (will this be the case) when I send My four sore judgments on Jerusalem— the Sword, Famine, Wild Beasts, and Pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? 23. Yet, behold, a few shall be spared in it, and led away captives, both men and women, and they will be brought among you,' that you may see their way and their doings, and be comforted con- cerning the evil I have brought on Jerusalem, and all I have done against it. 23. For they will satisfy your minds (respecting Me), when you see their ways and their doings, and you will know that I have not done without cause, all that I have done in it, says the Lord Jehovah!" Another fragment of EzekiePs utterances in these years strikes keenly at the self-complacency of his brethren, and must have galled their pride. They boasted of being the noble vine planted in Canaan by God. Prophets had often compared them to one/ though they had spoken also of its having degenerated and grown rank and useless. But in the present case the worthlessness of the wood of the vine, so much softer and more crooked than many other kinds, is the only point brought forward. They might, indeed, be a vine, but, now that they bore no fruit, of what worth was their wood ? The Word of Jehovah, he says, came to him, saying : " XV. 2. Son of man, what better is the wood of the vine than other kinds of wood? Or what is the vine-branch among the trees of the yaar?* 3. Can you take wood from it, to make into anything? or do they take even a pin from it, to hang any vessel upon ? 4. See, it is given for food to the fire ! The flame has burnt off its two ends, and scorched the middle,^ Is it good for anything? 5. Even when it was whole, it was good for nothing; how much less will it be good for anything when the fire has burnt and scorched it ! "6. Therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will make the inhabi- • Ezek. xiv. 21-xv. 6. ^ In Babylon, among the exiles. 3 Hos. X. 1. Isa. V. 1. Jer. ii. 21. « See vol. iv. p. 3(59. fi Is this au allusion to the calamities already endured by the Twelve Tribes? A VOICE FROM ClIEBAR, AaAINST JUDAH. 9 tants of Jerusalem like the wood of the vino, which I have given, like that of the other trees of the yaar, as food for the fire. 7. I will set My face against them.* They came out of the fire, (when I brought them from Egypt,) and fire will now finally consume thera, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I set My face against them, 8. and make the land desolate, because they have committed unfaithful- ness! saith the Lord Jehovah.** Ceaseless iu his endeavours to rouse his fellow-country- men to a sense of their true position, as apostates, to a lamentable extent, from the religion of their fathers, and as morally degenerate and corrupt, Ezekiel tried every style of address in turn. An allegory, long and minute, was his next attempt to influence them for good. Jeru- salem is personified as a new-born female child, exposed at her birth, but graciously taken under His protection by Jehovah, and ultimately united with Him in a marriage contract, and tenderly cared for. Her conduct, however, is ungrateful and wicked in the extreme, so that, in the end. He has to threaten her with the severest punishment for her unfaithfulness, which is shewn to have been greater than that of the worst of her neighbours. The Word of Jehovah, he says, came to him, directing him to '* cause Jerusalem to know her abominations," and this he does as follows. "XVI. 3. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Jerusalem: Thy origin and birth were of the land of the Canaanites ; thy father was an Amor- ite'and thy mother a Hittite; (for when taken by David thou wast » Ezek. XV. 7-8 ; xvi. 3. 2 The Amorites, as we know them, from the paintings of the chief men of Kadesh- of-the-Amorites, at Karnak, were of a white complexion, with light red-brown ..air and eyes, or of a pinkish flesh colour, as in other paintings ; quite distinct from the red of the Egyptians, the brown of the Hittites, or the yellow of the Maghrabis. They (the Amoritee) were a race of fair people, allied to the populations of the ,/Egean, and were probably Aryan. Flinders Tetrie, iu Bab, and Orient. Hecord., ii.l36. 10 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. a Jebusite city — Amorites and Hittites forming a large part of thy population). 4. In the day of thy birth thou wast not cared for;* thou wast not washed with water, to cleanse thee, nor rubbed with salt,'^ nor wrapped in swaddling bands. 5. No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things for thee, or had compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out, and exposed on the open field, on the day of thy birth; so much wast thou loathed." This refers, by a change of allusion, to the wretched condition of Israel in Egypt. But Jehovah had pity upon the helpless outcast. "6. Then went I (Jehovah) by thee, and saw thee lying' in thy blood, and said to thee — ' All wretched * as thou art, live ; ' yes, 1 said to thee, ' All wretched as thou art, live. ' 7. Ten thousand-fold increase, like that of the shoots of the field, 1 gave thee, and thou didst multiply, and wax great, and thou camest to have beauty of cheeks, and thy bosom became womanly, and thy hair grew long, though once thou hadst been naked and bare. 8. And as I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, lo, thou wast at the age to love ; and I swore (fidelity) to you, and made thee ray spouse by covenant,* and took thee under my protection, throwing as it were My mantle over (thee, as sign that I did so),'saith the Lord Jehovah, and thou becamest Mine. 9. Then I washed thee with water, and cleansed thee from all the shame of the past, and anointed thee with oil. 10. I clothed thee with broidered work of many colours, and shod thee with sandals of seal leather,' and wound a girdle of the finest linen round thee, and hung on thee a silken veil," to thy feet. 11. I decked thee with orna- ments ; I put bracelets on thy wrists, and a gold chain round thy neck. » I paraphrase the clause of the original. Ezek. xvi. 4-11. 2 Infants were rubbed with salt, in the idea that it hardened the skin. To this day this is done to every new-born infant in Palestine, before it is wrapped round with swaddling clothes— that is, plain bands of calico about six inches wide, by three yards in length. • Sprawling. Henderson. « Literally, "bloody." • Under Moses and Joshna, especially at Sinai. • Ruth ui. 9. » Literally, " Tahash leather." See vol. ii. pp. 137, 327. " It is not quite certain that the Hebrews knew of silk in Ezekiel's day. But see Gesenius, Thesaurus, s. v. Meshi, Jerome calls it "a garment so fine as to seem equal to the finest hair." See also Movers, vol. ii. pp. 3, 363. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAIN^ST JUDAH. 11 12. I hung a ring on thy nose, and ear-rings on thine ears, and set a fair coronet on thy brow J 13. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of the finest linen, and silk, and many-coloured embroidery, and thou atest the finest bread, and honey, and oil ; and thou wast indeed passing fair, and didst come to be a queen, 2 14. and thy fame went forth among the nations, for thy beauty, which was per- fect, through the splen- dour in which I had ar- rayed thee, saith the Lord Jehovah ! " But, though thus divinely favoured, Is- rael had been un- faithful to God. Following the exam- ple of Hosea, Ezekiel represents this by the figure of con- jugal infidelity. All alliances with heathen nations had been thus denounced by the earlier prophet, but the special guilt of EzekieFs day was the idolatrous worship that had prevailed since the time of Manasseh, involving even hu- man sacrifice. Interrupted, in a measure, during Josiah's reign, it had broken out afresh after his death. ** 15. But thou didst trust to thy beauty, and thy fame seduced thee to lewdness, and thou gavest thyself up to uncleanness with every passer by, and becamest his ! " 16. Thou didst take thy robes and made many-coloured Asherah tents with them, and committedst im- purity under them; a thing that should never have happened.* Sandals. > Ezek. xvi. ia-16. 2 Literally, "kingdom." » Thou didst coquet with every form of idolatry. * Text apparently corrupt. Ewald translates the clause, " O shame and disgrace ! " In connection with " Asherah tents." it may be noted that Erech, the modern l?arka, was the city specially consecrated to the goddess of love, and from which her 13 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JITDAH. ** 17. Thou didst also take thy ornaments, of My gold and silver that I had given thee, and making them into images of men,* committedst impurity with these. 18. And thou tookedst thy many-coloured robes and arrayed the idols in them, and didst set My oil and incense before fchem. 19. Thou didst, further, set before them, for a sweet savour, My bread that I had given thee ; ^ fine flour, and oil, and honey with which I fed thee, saith the Lord Jehovah ! "20. Still worse, thou hast taken thy sous and thy daughters, whom thou hadst borne to Me, and didst offer them to thy idols, to be destroyed (in their honour). Were thy other sins so small 21. that thou shouldst also slay My sons, and give them up to pass through the fire, for these idols? 22. And, amidst all thy abominations and lewdness, thou hast forgotten the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and lay, cast out, in thy defilement.^ 23. But after thou hadst committed all these iniquities, "Woe, woe, to thee! saith the Lord Jehovah, 24. thou hast also built a canopy for an altar, and made a high place, in every street.'' 25. At every meeting of the roads thou didst build thy high places, and didst dishonour to thy beauty, and disgraced thyself before all, and multiplied thy idolatry." The introduction of Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian heathenism was notorious. "26. Thou hast also borrowed idolatry from the Egyptians, thy neighbours, foul in their heathenism,^ and hast increased thy sins, to provoke Me to anger. 27. And, behold, in consequence of this, I stretched out My hand against thee, and diminished thy allotted food- supply, and gave thee over to the will of thy enemies, the daughters of worship spread. Erech, we are told, in the story of the plague demon Nerra, was the seat of Anil and Istar, the city of the choirs of the festival girls and consecrated maidens of Istar, and, also, of the priest of the goddess and of the festival makers who had devoted their manhood, that men might adore the goddess ; carrying ewords, razors, stout dresses, and flint knives, and ministering to create reverence for the glory of Istar. Erech was not of Semitic foundation. Its Akkadian name was TJnuck, and, if this Unuck can be identified with the Enoch of Genesis, it was the city built by Cain, in commemoration of his first-born son, and must be regarded as having received its earliest culture from Eridu, since Enoch was the son of Jared, according to Genesis v. 18, and Jared, or Irad (Gen. iv. 18), is the same word as Eridu. Sayce. 1 The idols were of human shape, for the most part. Ezek. xvi. 17-27. 2 Lev. xxi.6. s laterally, -'blood." * Isa. Ivii. 7. 6 Literally, " great of flesh.*' A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 13 the Philistines, who (heathen as they are) blushed at thy sins. 28. Thou didst sin also with the Assyrians,' still craving more idols ; thou didst copy their heathenism also, and still thou wast not satisfied. 29. Thou didst therefore, further, increase thy idolatry by adopting that of Chaldaea — the land of traders, and, even then, thou wast not satisfied." The prophet now breaks out into irony. Israel, he says, is diJfferent from others. They may act for reward ; she has been urged only by love of her sins. "30. How weak is thy heart! saith the Lord Jehovah, that thou doest all this, like a vile woman who is her own mistress, with none to check her I 31. that thou bulkiest the canopy for thy altars at every meeting of the roads, and raisest thy high place in every street; and yet thou wast not like a harlot, since thou hast not sought pay! 33. O thou adulterous wife, who takest up with strangers, instead of keeping to thy husband! 33. A price is given to every harlot, but thou, instead, hast bestowed thy gifts on all thy lovers, and hast hired them to come to thee from all parts, to commit wickedness with thee.'^ 34. Thou hast been the opposite of other women in thy sins ; thou hast not been gone after, but thyself hast gone after thy lovers; thou hast given pay, not gotten it; thou art, indeed, different from others! " The husband, thus outraged beyond example, cannot, after all this, allow his faithless partner to escape the punishment she has deserved, but must insist, on many grounds, that the severest penalties be inflicted. Those with whom she had sinned are to be the instruments of her shameful and terrible sentence. She must be put to a disgraceful death, as the law demands. *'35. Wherefore, 0 harlot, hear the word of Jehovah. 36. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, because thy sin was poured out, and thy shame revealed, by thy idolatries with the religions thou lovedst, and with all thy abominable disgusting gods, and by the blood uf thy children » Ezek. xvi. 28-36. » A thrust at their sending after foreign idolatries. 14 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. whicli thou gavest to them ; 37. Behold, therefore,' I will gather all who have seduced thee from Me, thy God, and those whom thou hast sought to please, and all whom thou hast loved, with all, also, whom thou hast hated ; I will gather them round thee, and disclose thy sin to them, that they may see all thy guilt, 38. And I will judge thee as women are judged who break wedlock and shed blood, and I will shed thy blood, in My fury and jealousy. 39. I will give thee, also, into their hand, and they will throw down thy canopies, and break down thy high places ; they will strip thee of thy robes ; take away thy fine ornaments, and leave thee, once more, naked and bare, as I found thee! 40. They will, further, bring up a multitude against thee, and stone thee with stones, and hew thee in pieces with their swords. 41. And they will burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments in thee, before the eyes of many women,'* and 1 will make thee cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt give no more unholy hire. 43. Thus will I cool My fury on thee, and My jealousy, which thou hast excited, will turn from thee, fully avenged, and I will have peace, and be no more angry. 43. Because thou hast forgotten the days of thy youth, and stirred up My indignation by all thy doings, behold, I will let the punishment of thy conduct rest on thy head, saith the Lord Jehovah, Thou wilt not be able to increase thy offences by any new deed of shame." Jerusalem is, in fact, really a heathen city. Canaan may be called its father and mother ; Samaria and Sodom its sisters. In its desperate ungodliness it has even tran- scended these guiltiest of cities, and must think of this when it suffers a fate as terrible as theirs. *'44. Behold, every proverb-monger will repeat this saying against thee ; ' As is the mother, so is the daughter ! ' 45. Thou art the (true) daughter of thy mother, who dishonoured her husband and her chil- dren : and thou art the (true) sister of thy sisters, who dishonoured their husbands and their children; ' thy mother was a Hittite and thy father an Amorite.* 46. Thy elder sister is Samaria, with her daugh- * Ezek. xvi. 37-46. 2 other nations. 3 The Canaanices and Samaria and Sodom alike turned from God and gave up their children as sacrifices to idols. * Jerusalem has shewn itself to be in'respect to religion a true child of the CanMU' iteB. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDA.H. 15 ters (the villages round her), who dwell north from thee : thy younger sister, who lives south from thee, is Sodom and her daughters (the towns connected with her). 47. Yet thou hast not contented thyself with walking in their ways/ nor in copying their abominations; that was too little for thee to do : thou hast shewn thyself still moi'e corrupt than they, in all thy ways! 48. As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, SoDOM, thy sister, and her daughters, have not done as thou and thy daughters (the towns of Judah) have done! 49. Behold, the sin of thy sister Sodom was this — pride, through fulness of bread and undis- turbed security, marked her and her daughters, and she did not help the poor and needy.'^ 50. They were haughty, and committed abomi- nation before Me ; therefore I put them away, as thou hast seen. "51. Neither has Samaria committed half of thy sins. Thou hast multiplied thy abominations above hers, and hast made her and her daughters appear righteous, through the excess of abominations thou hast committed. 52. Bear, then, thy shame, thou who hast condemned thy sisters, 3 though thine own greater sins, which made thee an abomi- nation, make them seem righteous in comparison! Blush, and bear thy shame, because, by thy greater sins, thou hast made thy sisters (with all their guilt), appear righteous ! " Since, thus, Samaria and Sodom were comparatively less guilty than Jerusalem, there is still hope even for them — that is, for the heathen, of whom they are made the representatives. Jerusalem will be restored, but her return to favour will follow that of the nations she has been wont to despise. In this also she must be utterly humbled. " 53. And I will bring back again their banished ones to their homes — the banished ones of Sodom and her daughters, and the banished ones of Samaria and her daughters — and then I will bring back again thy banished ones also, in the midst of them — 54. that thou mayest bear thine own disgrace, and be ashamed for all that thou hast done, by the consolation thou givest them (when they see thee also punished for thy » Ezek. xvi. 47-54. " Literally, " take hold of the hand of." 3 Eichhorn translates this difficult clause—" Bear thou the shame which thou thoujrhtest well deserved by thy sisters," and thinks it is an allusion to the carrying off the inhabitants of Samaria and of the east of the Jordan by Tiglath Pileser. 16 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. sins, and find themselves restored through thy means). 55, Thy sis- ters,' Sodom and her daughters, will return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters will return to theirs, and thou and thy daughters will return to theirs. 56. Yet thy sister Sodom's name was not heard in thy moutli in the day of thy pride, 57. before thine own wickedness was made known (and thou didst despise her), as, at the time of the (Syrian) oppression, thou thyself wast the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the nations round, who despised thee on every side — the daughters of the Philistines (doing so es- pecially),'' " 58. But (now) thou must bear (the punishment of) thy lewdness and (of) thine abominations, saith Jehovah! 59. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will do with thee as thou hast done (to Me). Because thou hast despised the (solemn) oath (taken by thee), breaking the covenant (thou hadst made with Me : a I, now, hold My covenant made with thes as broken) ! " But Grod will not cast off His people for ever. He will hereafter make a new, everlasting covenant with them. Jerusalem shall once more be the head of the new theoc- racy, into which Sodom and Samaria will be received ; but this glorious restoration will be due solely to the sov- ereign favour of God, and thus, as bounty to the unde- serving, will call forth humiliation at the remembrance of the guilty past. " 60. Yet I will (hereafter) remember My (old) covenant with thee, in the days of thy youth, and I will establish with thee an everlasting covenant. 61. Then wilt thou think of thy (former) ways and be ashamed, when thou takest to thee thy sisters — the elder and the younger, ■• whom I will give thee for daughters, though (thou hast no ^ Ezek. xvi. 55-61. 2 This is Smend's idea of the meaning of this passage. Ewald refers it to the then present position of Judah. But though the Syrian kingdom of Chaldtea (as it might be called) was against it, the Philistines had long been crushed. Eichhorn thinks it alludes to the oppression of Assyria, which at the time held Philistia also. But Smend's idea seems best. The Philistines wen; still very troublesome in the time of the distinctively Syrian war, before the fall of Samaria. ' Ezek. xvi. 8. * Sodom and Samaria. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 17 claim to them) by thy covenant.' 62. And I will establish My covenant with thee,' and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; 63. that thou mayest ponder, and be humiliated, and never more open thy mouth, because of thy shame, when I forgive thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah I " Another utterance of Ezekiel, of this time, returns to the special and crowning sin, which was bringing down the last calamities on Judah — the faithlessness of Zedekiah to his treaty with Nebuchadnezzar. His threatened revolt was clearly self-destruction. He might enjoy a quiet, though inglorious reign, by keeping his oath. To rise against Chaldaea meant ruin, not only to himself, but to the kingdom. Nor was it treacherous only. To break an oath made ''by Elohim/^ his God, was a high offence against the Divine Majesty, and must bring down bitter punishment, and shocked even the Chaldaean king. The prophet begins in figurative language, but lays it aside as he goes on. "XVTI. 1. The word of Jehovah came to me, saying: 2. Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, 3. and say: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The great eagle' with huge wings of vast spread, full of feathers of different colours, came to Lebanon, and took off the topmost branch of a cedar.* 4. He plucked away the highest of its twigs,* and took it to the Land of Traders," and set it in the city of business men.^ 5. He took also a vine of the plants of the land,* and set it in a fruitful field;" a shoot beside abundant waters, planting it near them, like a willow. 6. And it sprouted and became a trailing vine of low growth, and its branches twined themselves towards the eagle, and its roots were under him. So it became a vine-stock, and gave off runners, and shot forth tendrils. > " Or, though they be not of the covenant." ' Ezek. xvi. 62-xvii. 6. 3 Nebuchadnezzar. * Judah. Jehoiachin was the topmoet bough or twig. * Its chief men who were made captives. • Chaldaea. T Babylon. This refers to Jehoiachin'e captivity. •> Zedekiah. • Jadab. VOL. VI.-2 18 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. "7. And there was another great eagle/ with huge wings and many- feathers, ^ and, behold, the vine began to bend its roots and shoot out its branches towards him, from the beds on which it was planted, that he might water it and the ground in which it was planted. 8. It was set in good soil, beside abundant waters, to shoot out runners, and bear fruit, and become a goodly vine. "9. Say thou— Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Will it thrive? Shall he (Nebuchadnezzar) not tear up its roots and strip off its fruit, so that it will wither ; all its shooting leaves drying up, so that no great power or strong army will be needed to pluck it up from the very root ? 10. Look there! this newly-set plant — will it thrive? Will it not, if the scorching east wind' touch it, wither up wholly? ' ' Will it not wither away in the beds in which it grows ? " Auotlier Word that came to Ezekiel on the same subject runs as follows : *'13. Say now to the House of Disobedience : Know ye not what these things mean ? Say : Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jeru- salem and took away its king * and its princes, and brought them, to himself, to Babylon. 13. Pie further took a man of the king's blood,* and made a covenant with him, and took an oath of him. He carried away, also, the mighty of the land, 14. that it might be weakened, and not rebel, but keep its covenant and stand. 15. But the man revolted, sending ambassadors to Egypt, to ask that it might give him cavalry and a strong army. Shall he prosper (in his treach- ery) ? Will he escape that acts thus ? Shall he break his covenant and yet escape ? 16. As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, he shall certainly die (a prisoner) in the midst of Babylon, where the king lives who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke. 17. And Pharaoh will do nothing for him in the war, and will send no great army, or mighty host to fight for him, (as he has promised), when the mounts are thrown up and battering rams are raised against Jerusalem, to slay many ! 18. Zedekiah has despised his oath, and broken his bond, when, lo, he had given his hand (for it), and having done all this, he shall not escape ! 19. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, » Ezek. xvii. 7-19. 2 Pharaoh Hophra. The Egyptian alliance is here referred to. 3 The C'haldaeans. For the east wind, or sirocco, see vol. v. p. 348. * Jehoiachin. ^ Zedekiah. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 19 as I live, I will surely repay ' oti liis own licad My oatli tliiit he has de- spised, and My covenant (hat he has broken. 20. And I will spread My net over him, and lie shall be taken in My snare, and 1 will bring him to Babylon, and reckon - with him there for his treachery that he has committed against Me. 21. And all his chosen ones, and all his forces, shall fall by the sword, and those who escape shall be scattered to every wind, and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken." But though God will thus bring on Zedekiah and Judah the punishment of their revolt against Chaldsea^ as a sin against His own Majesty — the oath by Him having been dishonoured — He will, hereafter, restore the kingdom of David, and all men will see that, though He seemed to have stood aloof, and to have left Israel without His care. He has, through all the incidents of its bitter experience, been guiding the course of things so as to bring about its final prosperity. " 22. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : I will further take of the high- est branch ^ of the cedar, and will plant it : from the highest of its young shoots I will pluck off a tender one, and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.* 23. In the lofty mountain of Israel will I plant it, and it will send forth boughs and bear fruit, and be a noble cedar, and all birds of every kind will dwell under it ; in the shadow of its branches will they dwell. 24. And all the trees of the field ^ shall know that it was I, Jehovah, who have brought low the high tree and exalted the humble one,® and have made the withered tree to flourish again. I, Jehovah, have spoken and will do it. " ' Literally, "lay." 2 piead. Ezek. xvii. 20-24. 3 '• Foliage," Muhlau und Volck. The royal house of David is meant— the Messiah 80 long expected being especially referred to. * Zion. ^ The heathen nations. 8 The high tree is Zedekiah, and includes also Jehoiachin. The humble tree is the now crushed, but then, once more exalted, Judah. CHAPTER II. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. The great question of the Divine relations to man^s conduct in this life had long been the subject of agitating discussion and reflection, since social and national trouble had darkened the life of Judah. Asaph had recorded his perplexities regarding it in his famous psalm/ and others had followed in the same strain. The Book of Job em- bodied the difficulties that clouded pious minds, and gave the true solution, but to the mass of men the problem was still dark and anxious. Among the multitude, alike in Judah and on the Chebar, the ways of Providence were bit- terly arraigned as unjust. The present generation, they maintained, though not so guilty as others before it, were punished, while their fathers had escaped. " The fathers, '' they said, in a sententious way, ^^ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'^^ Nor were specious arguments wanting to support this self-righteous commen- tary on the experience of the nation, in these, its last 1 Psalm Ixxiii. Ewald assigns it to the Persian time ; Olshausen, to the Macca- bean days. Cheyne assigns it to the close of the Persian, or the beginning of the Greek period. There are twelve psalms Inscribed as composed by Asaph, but it is certain that some of them, at least, are later than the time of David's Asaph. They may bear the name from having been composed by later members of the famous clan bearing his name. It was famous even after the Return. 2 Literally, "blunted, dulled.'" Unripe grapes are still much eaten in Syria, with the result that a sensation of discomfort in the teeth always follows for a short time. Delitzsch, Hiob, xv. 33. Prov. x. 26. lu Hor., Od., III. vi. 1, the same sentiment ia expressed. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 21 years. The godly Josiali had died in his early prime, and Zedekiah, who was sinking amidst the ruin of his country, had characteristics that drew forth the sympathy of even such men as Jeremiah.' The prophets, moreover, often spoke of the Divine judgments impending, as the results of the conduct of Manasseh,'* and the threats of other parts of Scripture to visit the punishment of sin on the third and fourth generation, seemed to be exactly fulfilled on Josiah and his sons — the grandson and great-grandsons of the wicked king/ Nor was this confined to individuals. The people at large appeared as if doomed to suffer for the sins of their ancestors. Josiah^'s Reformation, it might be said, had brought no blessing, since public misfortune dated from his reign. The doctrine of hereditary punish- ment for ancestral guilt, had sprang from a misconception of some verses of Scripture, and was at once old and popu- lar." A wider study of tho sacred books would, indeed, have led to juster views, ^ but men were too wretched to think calmly ; too bitter to weigh their words. Like us all, they were glad to blame others rather than themselves, and to take the air of being treated unjustly. It was of great moment, for the vindication of the eternal justice of God, that such thoughts, whether honest or affected, should be challenged, and the great lesson en- forced that men were, in reality, responsible only for their own sins. This Ezekiel did in tlie next fragment of his preaching that remains to us. • Jer. xxxviii. 2 2 Kings xxiii. 26 ; xxiv. 3. Jer. xv. 4 ; xxxii. 18. Lam. v. 7. s Exod. XX. 5 ; xxxiv. 7. Lev. xxvi. 39. Num. xiv. 18-33. Deut. v. 9. Isa. xiv. 21 ; Ixv. 7. Jer. ii. 9. •• Gen. ix. 25. 2 Sam. xxi. Ps. cix. 14. Job xxi. 19. Matt, xxvii. 25. John ix. 2. Jer. xviii. 19. 6 2 Kings xiv. 6. Deut. xxiv. IS. 22 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. " XVIII. 1. The word of Jehovah ' came to me again, saying : 2. What do you mean by this proverb in the Land of Israel : ' The fathers ate sour grapes and the teeth of the sons are set on edge ' ? 3. Asl live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not use this proverb any more in Israel. 4. For all souls are Mine ; as the soul of the father, so that of the son, is Mine. The soul that sins, it v^ill die ! " 5. But if a man be just, and do what is lawful and right; 6. if he have not eaten (heathsn sacrifices on the high places) on the hills, nor lifted up his eyes (in worship) to the loathsome gods of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbour's wife, nor approached an unclean woman, 7. nor oppressed any one ; if he have returned to the (poor) debtor the pledge (given by him) ; ^ if he has taken goods from no one by fraud and injustice, ^ if he has given his bread to the hungry, and covered the naked with clothing ; 8. if he has not lent on usury," or taken interest ; ^ if he has kept back his hand from iniquity, and has given honest judgment between man and man (in their disputes) ; 9. if he has walked in My laws and kept My commands, acting truly in all things — he is just; he will surely live, saith the Lord Jehovah! " 10. If, however, such a man beget a son who turns a robber, or a shedder of blood, or does any one of the sins I have named, 11. and does none of the duties I have recited, but has, instead, eaten (idol- meats at the high places) on the hills, defiled his neighbour's wife, 12. oppressed the poor and needy, taken away men's goods by fraud or injustice, lifted up his eyes (in worship) to the loathsome gods, com- mitted abomination, 13. lent money on usury, and taken interest ; shall he, then, live ? He shall not live ! He has committed all these abominations. To death with him ! His blood lies on himself! " 14. But if this ungodly son beget a son who sees all his father's sins which he has done ; (sees them), and keeps from doing them ; 15, if he has not eaten (idol-meats at the high places) on the hills, nor lifted up his eyes to the loathsome idols of the house of Israel (in wor- ship), nor defiled his neighbour's wife, 16. nor oppressed any one, nor kept back any pledge, nor spoiled any one of his goods by fraud or injustice, but has given his bread to the hungry, covered the naked with clothing, 17. kept back his hand from iniquity, taken no usury or 1 Ezek. xviii. 1-17. 2 Exod. xxii. 25. Deut. xxiv. 12. Amos ii. 8. 3 Lev. vi. 4. * Advances to men on their crops, etc., are meant * This was forbidden, at least between Israelites. Ezek. xviii. 18. Neh. v. 7, 10, fE. See also Exod. xxii. 25. Deut. xxiii. 20. Lev. xxv. 36. Prov. xxviii. 8. Ps. xv. 5. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 23 interest, but kept My commands and walked in My laws; he shall not die for his father's sin. He shall surely live ! " 18. His father, however,' because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother (Hebrew) by fraud and injustice, and did what was not good among his fellow tribesmen, ^ behold, he shall die for his iniquity. *' 19. But do ye still say, ' Why does not the son bear a share of the father's sin ? ' (I answer,) If the son has done only what is lawful and right, and has kept all My laws, and obeyed them, he shall surely live! " 20. The soul that sins, it shall die. But a son shall not bear any part of his father's sin, nor shall the father bear any part of the son's sin. The righteousness of the righteous shall rest on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall rest upon him. "21. But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all My laws, and do what is lawful and right — he shall surely live. He shall not die. 22. All his transgressions that he has committed shall not be remembered against him. He shall live, for the righteousness he has done. 23. Have I any pleasure (do you think) in the death of the wicked ? saith the Lord Jehovah. Would I not much rather that he turn from his ways and live ? " 24. When (on the other hand) the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, doing according to all that the wicked does — shall he live ? (No !) All his righteousness that he has done shall not be remembered. For his unfaithfulness that he has committed, and for his sin that he has sinned, for them — he shall die. *' 25. Nevertheless ye say : ^ The way of the Lord is not right.* Hear, now, O house of Israel, is not My way right ? Are not your ways wrong ? 26. If the righteous turn away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies for it — then he dies for the iniquity that he has committed. 27. But if the wicked turn away from the wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall i)i-eserve his soul alive. 28. Because he sees and turns away from all his transgressions that he has commitLed, he shall surely live — he shall not die. 29. Yet the house of Israel says : * The way of the Lord is not right.' 0 house of Israel, are not My ways right ? Are not your ways wrong ? "30. Therefore, I will judge you, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Repent, and turn from all your transgres- 1 Ezek. xviii. 18-30. 2 Lev. xix. 16. 3 The name of (Jod translated in the text " the Lord Jehovah," is, in the Hebrew, " Adonai .leliovah/' * Literally, " evenly poised." It may mean, " consistent at all times." 24 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEAIiEl) TO EZEKIEL. sions, that your sin may not cause your punishment. 31. Cast away from you all your transgressions,' in which you have sinned, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit ! For why will ye die, O liouse of Israel ? 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, saith the Lord Jehovah. Therefore, turn ye — and live ! " In these anxious, agitated years, when the exiles in Babylonia, like watchers by the death-bed of the State, could think or speak of little else but the land they had left for ever — its old glories, its present sorrows — their poets doubtless sang the bright memories of the one, and the touching story of the others, in many a lyric and lament. Ezekiel, a true patriot, like all the prophets, unburdened his heart in a lament over the two kings of his race then captive — the one in Egypt, the other in Babylon — and over the city which, like every Jew, he loved with a passionate tenderness. He had spoken of the inevi- table ruin of his fatherland through its sins, and the fate of the country brought up in his mind that of its princes — the living dead — whose glory had faded, whose eyes should never again behold Jerusalem, whose palace had been exchanged for a prison ! In a touching elegy, he compares Judah, the mother of kings, to a lioness lying down amidst others of its kind — the kingdoms round it. Her successive generations of young and brave princes are lions' whelps, coming on in due time to full growth, as crowned kings. Two, in particular, arrest his thoughts — each in his turn snared by the hunters and carried off cap- tive— Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah, one hardly knows which. "XIX. 2. What was thy mother (0 Judah)? — he sang — a lioness which lay down among lions, and nourished her young amidst other » Ezek. xviii. 81-32 ; xix. 1-2. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 25 young lion?:.' 8. And she brought up one of her whelps (till) he became a young lion,^ and learned to catch- prey, and became a man- eater. 4. But the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, ^ and tliey brought him with rings in his jaws * to the land of Egypt.* '•5. Then, when she saw that he was banished from her, and that lier Hope was lost and gone, she took another of her young (and brought him up), and he, also, became a young lion. 6. And he went to and fro among the lions, and was himself a young lion, and learned to catch prey, and became a man-eater. 7. He brought evil to the palaces (of neighbouring kings), and laid waste their cities; the land was desolate; its multitude (fleeing in terror) at the noise of his roar." "8. Yet the nations, from many^ countries, set themselves against him round about, and spread their net over him and took him in their pit. 9. Then they put him in a cage, with rings in his jaws, and brought him to the king of Babylon ; they brought him into a dungeon, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.'"* Such was the fate of the kings ; that of the people was to he equaHy disastrous. Israel had been a powerful nation, ruling for a time from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and boasting a line of kings, who, in Judah, had sat on the throne, in continuous descent from David, for nearly five * The kings of Judah were not behind the princes of other countries round. 2 Gen. xiix. 9. The " young lion" is the animal in its young vigour. Ezek. xix. 3-9. ^ A common way of taking lions. * Isa. xxxvii. 29. Wild beasts were led by rings in their nostrils or jaws, and cap- tives whom it was specially wished to insult were treated in the same way. See vol. V. p. 87 ; also Isa. xxxvii. 29. Ezek. xxxviii. 4 ; xxix. 4. 2 Kings xix. 28. 2 Chron. xxxiii.ll. 6 Jehoahaz is alluded to. He was carried off to Egypt by Necho, after his father Josiah'a death at Megiddo. « This could hardly be applied, except by poetic license, to Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), who reigned only three months. Zedekiah may have been engaged in wars ; his predecessors had no opportunity for them. If, however, the language be taken as that of poetry, the lament would suit Jehoiachin better than Zedekiah, for the former was appointed king by his countrymen ; the latter was a Chaldsean nominee. Ezekiel, moreover, seems to have regarded Jehoiachin as the legitimate king on this account. Ezek. xvii. 1. Besides, he bitterly denounced the breach of oath by Zedekiah, and on this ground shewed him no respect. "> Literally, " the." " Nothing is known of the place of imprisonment of either Jehoiachin or Zedekiah in Babylon. 26 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. hundred 3^ears. Its pride and sin, however, had brought terrible punishment. Ten tribes, out of twelve, had been exiles in a distant land for nearly a hundred and fifty years, and Judah itself had seen the flower of its people carried off to Babylonia. What remained of its glory was fast wan- ing ; the now feeble State was tottering to its final ruin. These ideas the prophet embodies in his former image of the fatherland as a once lordly vine, the Avood of which had been so massive as to serve for kingly sceptres. In its pride it had shot out its branches far and near, but the burning sirocco had been let loose on it ; its stout branches had withered and been broken off, and fire had consumed it. " XIX. 10. Thy mother * [i) Tudah) mightest thou further compare to a vine ^ planted in (the time oi) thy rest, in a garden land, by the waters. She was fruitful and had many branches by reason of the abundance of water; 11. its boughs grew so thick they made sceptres for rulers, and its height rose towering amidst the clouds ; so glorious did it seem in its loftiness, in the multitude of its branches ! ^ " 12. But (the wrath of God, like a tempest from heaven,) rooted it up, and cast it to the ground, and the (burning) sirocco from the desert dried up its fruit; its strong branches were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them. 13. And now it is planted in the wilderness,* 1 Ezek. xix. 10-18. 2 This clause is variously translated ; different emendations being given of the words, " in thj-^ blood,'' which are apparently a corruption of the text. I adopt the renderings of De Wette, Keil, and Ewald, conjointly. s " It was seen far and near from its height and the multitude of its branches.'"— Smend. The ancient sceptre (Shabet) and the staff (Matteh), used as a sign of rank by heads of tribes, clans, and encampments, by judges and others, was a simple rod, in its natural state— the leaves and twigs only removed. The Arab Sheiks and the Mohammedan Mufti and Ulemas— the equivalent to our clergy- stil' carry such a rude staff, as high as themselves, never appearing in public without it. When office is hereditary, as in the case of Sheiks, the staff passes from father to son till it is worn quite thin where the hand has grasped it. It was this ancestral chieftain's staff on which Jacob leaned in worship (Gen. xlvii. 31) ; and the rods of Moses and Aaron were, in the same way, tlie ordinary signs of official dignity. Tamar demanded tliis Matteli from Judah— knowing its special worth as an unmistakable means of identi- fying him, and even with this he parted for the time. Gen. xxxviii. 18. ♦ Eiiled. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 27 in a dry and thirsty land, 14. and fire has gone from its branches (so rich in shoots)/ and has devoured its fruit, so that it has no longer any lordly rod for a sceptre to rule. "All this may well raise a song of lamentation, now and for ever!" A long discourse, delivered by Ezekiel in August, B.C. 592,^" the fourth year before the destruction of Jerusalem, and the seventh of the captivity of King Jeconiah, has fortunately been preserved. As was their custom from time to time, since the prophet did not appear in public, some of the elders of the Hebrew settlement on the Chebar came to him, '^ to enquire of Jehovah ; " sitting down, in Eastern fashion, on the mats on the floor of the room, while he rested on the divan or sofa-like ledge that ran along its side. He had previously told them,' that God would have no relations with insincere worshippers, outwardly paying Him homage while in heart idolaters, and he repeated this now.* As long as they were still heathen in spirit, they could expect no communications from Jehovah, through His j^rophet. The opportunity to bring their sins, and those of the people at large, once more under notice was, nevertheless, too favourable to be lost. The impulse " to judge them,^^ by rehearsing anew the sins laid to their charge, and proclaiming afresh the certain result, was irresistible. How best to rouse tlieir conscience must have been a matter of anxious thought ; perhaps if he recalled to their minds the sins of their fore- fathers and its terrible punishment, the vivid parallel to their own case might arrest them. Addressing them, therefore, he thus began, speaking in the name of God: > Ezek. xix. 14. ^ Sim-iHl says b.c. 590. » Ezek. xiv. 1-11. * Ezek. xx. 1-4. 28 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. "XX. 5. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah:' In the day that I chose Israel, and lifted up My hand (in an oath) to the seed of the house of Jacob (that I would be their God), and revealed Myself to them in the land of Egypt, 2 when I lifted up My hand to them, swearing by Myself, ' I am Jehovah your God ;''—'>. even in that day, when I lifted up My hand thus to thera, promising that I would lead them forth from Egypt,* to a land I had looked out for them — a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands ^ — 7. I said to them — 'Cast ye away, every man, the abominable gods to which he looks, and do not defile yourselves with the loathsome gods of Egypt.® I am Jehovah, your God.' 8. But they were disobedient, and would not hearken to Me ; they did not, every man, cast away the abominable gods to which they looked, nor did they forsake the loathsome gods of Egypt. For this, therefore, I threatened to pour out My wrath on them, and to let loose My anger against them, in the land of Egypt. *' 9. Yet I acted for (the honour of) My own name, so that it should not be dishonoured before the heathen, in whose midst they were, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to them, as about to bring tliem forth from the land of Egypt.^ 10. I led them, therefore, forth from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. 11. And (at Sinai) I gave them My laws, and made known to them My statutes, by which, if a man do them, he shall live." 12. I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that it was I, Jehovah, who sanctify them (by these holy seasons ; bringing them thus into special communion with Myself).' 13. But the house of Israel rebelled 1 Ezek. XX. 5-13. ^ Exod. iii. 8 ; iv. 31. Deut, iv. 34. 3 Exod. XX. 2. 4 Exod. iii. 8-17. Deut. viii. 7, 9. Jer. xxxii. 23. ^ Ps. xlviii. 2. Dan, viii. 9. Zech. vii. 14. ^ Lev. xvii. 7 ; xviii. 3. 7 Exod. xxxii. 12. Num. xiv. 16. Deut. ix. 28. 8 Lev. xviii. 5. Deut. xxx, 16. " Wellliausen {Gesch. Israel, vol. i. p. 117) would have us believe that the Sabbath was originallj^ a day of festivity, and only gradually darkened into gloom under priestly influence during the exile. The agony of the Shunammite widow at the death of her son (3 Kings iv. 22\ leading her to order her ass for an instant journey TO the prophet, is taken as a proof that journeys longer than legal on Sabbaths were then common, and that daily occupations were not forbidden. Fordoes not the ser- vant answer that it is neither new moon nor Sabbath? In Hos. ii. 11 it is said, "I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts." In Amos the extortioners of Samaria long for the Sab- bath to sell their grain (viii. 5). Are not these, we are asked, proofs that the Sab- bath was anciently a day of rejoicing and worldly business ? As if a modest joy THE CRISIS AS IT APPEAKED TO EZEKIEL. 29 against Me in the wilderness ; they did not follow My laws, and they despised My statutes, by which a man shall live, if he do them ; and they grossly dishonoured INIy Sabbaths, so that I said I would pour out My indignation upon them in the wilderness, to destroy them. " 14. But I acted for the honour ' of My name, so that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I had brought them forth from Egypt. 15. Yet I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness (in solemn asseveration), that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them — a land flowing with milk and honey — the glory of all lands! 16. because they despised My statutes and did not walk in My laws, and dishonoured My Sabbaths, for their hearts went after their loathsome gods. 17. But My eye spared them, so that 1 did not utterly destroy them, or make an end of them (alto- gether) in the wilderness." ' ' 18. But (though the fathers were condemned to die in the wilder- ness) I said to their sons, ' Walk ye not in the laws of your fathers, nor observe their statutes, nor defile yourselves with their loathsome gods. 19. I am Jehovah, your God; walk in My laws, and keep My statutes, and do them ; 20. and hallow My Sabbaths, that they may be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I, Jehovah, am your God.' 21. Yet these sons (like their fathers) rebelled against Me, and did not walk in My laws, or keep My statutes, to do them, by which, if a man keep them, he shall live, and they dishonoured My Sabbaths. Then I told them that I would pour out My indigna- tion upon them, and let loose My anger against them in the wilder- ness. " 22. Nevertheless, I held back My hand, and acted for the honour of My name, that it should not be dishonoured in the sight of the heathen, before whom I had brought them forth (from Egypt). 23. But I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderne.='s (once more, and were incompatible with the right observance of the Sabbath, or the worldliness of extortioners an illustration of its proper use ! That it is said, moreover, in Exodus and Deuteronomy that the labourer and his beast are to rest on the Sabbath, while It is not said (?) that the master should ret^t ! shews that the idea of the day as one of universal rest must be later! It is on such arguments as these that the origin of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers— or nearly the whole of them— during the Captiv- ity, is assumed as demonstrated. As if the lax i)ractice could not naturally come in by degrees, and be uprooted only by a reattion such as the exile produced ! Of course, however, while repudiatinti: the insinuation that the ancient Jewish Sabbath was a mere boisterous holiday, I do not forget that the superstitious and painful slavery, which the Rabbis invented as its proper observance, was then unknown. » Ezek. XX. 14-23. a Only that geueratiuu wad to periuh in the wilderness. 30 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. solemnly swore) that I would scatter therL among the heathen, and disperse them through the lands, ^ 24. because they had not obeyed My statutes, 2 but had despised My laws, and dishonoured My Sabbaths, and their hearts had gone after the loathsome gods of their fathers. 25. And (since they would not observe My good laws), I (afterwards, when they had entered Canaan) gave them laws that were not good (as Mine are), and statutes by which they should not live — (statutes leading to death, not to life, as Mine do — 26, that is, I left them to follow the heathenism of Canaan), and polluted them in their own offerings, by giving them up to sacrifice their first-born sons to Moloch, that I might appal them at their own conduct, and that they might know that I am Jehovah ! ^ "27. Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, 0 son of man, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Your fathers still further sinned against Me by acting treacherously towards Me. 28. For, when I had brought them into the land which I had sworn to give them,* they looked on every high hill and every thickly leaved t~&e, and there offered their sacrifices, and presented the bitter offence of their offerings : ^ and burnt their sweet-smelling incense, and poured out their drink offerings (to their idols) 29. till men came to say, ' What is the Bamah — the high place — to which ye go up ? ' (But it was the spot to which those bent on uncleanness betake themselves), and thus its name is Bamah (in this sense) to this day.^ "30. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jeho- vah: Are you polluted in the same way as your fathers? Do you > Lev. xxvi. Deut. xxviii. 2 Ezek. xx. 24-30. 3 Smend actually ventures to quote this verse as proving that Jehovah instituted human sacrifices ! Ewald very justly refers the hard laws to the claim by Jehovah of all the first-born (Exod. xiii. 11-13), " which the prophet speaks of as a defiling, be- cause it was a short step from this to offering first-born sons to Moloch (see ver. 31). and because this often happened " through a perversion of the Divine law, which im- posed only a slight redemption money on the parents, in lieu of the claim on their child. See Lev. xviii. 21 ; Deut. xviii. 10. Compare, for language similar to that of Ezjkiel, Rom. i. 24 ; Acts vii. 42 ; 2 Thess, ii. 11. Jerome says, " God gave them, when dispersed among the nations, laws that were not good— that is, He gave them up to their own thoughts and desires, that they should do what was not for their good," ad loc. As to the relation of God to human sacrifices, see Jer. vii. 31 ; xxxii. 35, and other passages. ■* Literally, " lifted up My t and." ^ Their " corban." *" Balm, " those going up," from the verb "to come," w^as taken in a bad sense, as implying " coming to coj imit fornication," and was used in thisM'ay as a verbal play on the word " Bamah,' a high place. To go thither and to commit uncleannesi t^ere assumed as identical. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 31 commit iincleanncss with your abominable idols? 31. Do you defile yourselves to this day with all your loathsome gods,' presenting them your offerings, and making your sons pass through the fire to them — and shall I (allow Myself to) be inquired of by you, 0 house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, I will not (allow Myself to) be in- quired of by you. 32. And what you think in your minds, ' that you will be like the heathen— like the people of other countries — and wor-" ship wood and stone,' shall not come to pass. 33. As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will be King over you, yes, with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and with an outpouring of fierce indignation ; 34. and I will lead you fortli from among the peoples, and gather you from the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with an outpouring of fierce indignation, 35. and will bring you into the wilderness of the nations '■^ (between Canaan and Babylon), and there will I hold judgment on you, face to face. 36. As T held judgment on your fathers in the wilderness (be- tween Canaan and Egypt), so I will hold judgment on you, saith the Lord Jehovah! 37. (And I will there carefully separate the good from the bad, as a shepherd, standing at the gate of the fold), lets his sheep pass out under his staff (one by one, to count their number and see their state) ; and I will bring you under the yoke of My (new) cove- nant,^ 38. and I will separate from among you the rebellious, and those who sin against Me. And I will bring those from the land of their sojourning, where they are exiles,* but these shall not enter into the land of Israel ; that ye may know that I am Jehovah ! " But God will not cast off His people for ever ! "39. As for you, O house of Israel; thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go, serve every one, his loathsome gods; yet, hereafter, ye will surely hearken to Me, and not pollute My holy name any more with your (idolatrous) offerings, and with your loathsome gods;* 40. for on My holy mountain (Zion); on the lofty mountain of Israel, saith the Lord 1 Ezek. XX. 31-40. 2 Wliere many peoples— Syrians, Arabs, and others, from all parts— pass and re- pass. 3 This, which is the literal rendering as the text stands, does not appear to some a suitable sense. Various emendations have therefore been proposed. Hitzig pro- poses, "into the purifying crucible." The Septuagint reads, "I will bring you in by number." Smimd conjectures that the words should run, " I bring you, when numbered, or by number, into the land." < Rosenmuller. Schroedc". * The text demands this emendation, which is supported by Ewald, Hiiveruick, Keil, and ' *• *^— that is, by men of all shades of opinion. Arnheim renders the 33 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. Jehovah; there, t!;li;ill all the house of Israel servo Me, all of them in the (holy) land; there, will I receive tiiem (when they approach Me in worship), and there will I (Myself) call for their heave offerings, and your choicest gifts, of all you consecrate to Me J 41. With your sweet odour (of worthy offerings) will I accept you,^ when I lead you forth from the nations, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will shew myself holy (in My dealings towards you), in the eyes of the heathen. 42. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land which I swore ^ to give to your fathers. 43. And then ye shall remember your ways, and all your doings, by which ye have defiled yourselves, and ye will loathe yourselves in your own eyes, for all your sins that ye have committed. 44. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I deal with you (in mercy, and) for My name's sake ; not according to your corrupt doings, 0 hoiise of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah ! " But it was of no avail that Ezekiel preached thus on the Chebar, or Jeremiah in Jerusalem. The Egyptian party had gained the upper hand, alike in Babylonia and in Judah, and Zedekiah was being steadily pushed to open revolt. Another series of appeals of the banished prophet to his fellow-exiles has come down to us, and shews that the people still cherished a vain hope of shaking off the Chaldsean vassalage. The addresses seem to have been de- livered in the third and second year * before the fall of the Holy City, when Babylon was already on the eve of march- ing against his rebellious countrymen. What none had believed when foretold by him, was now, at last, plainly close at hand. Eoused to pitiless fury by the ingratitude and faithlessness of Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar was pre- passage, " Go and serve every one his idols, since ye will not listen to Me ; only, dis- honour not My holy name any longer by your gifts* and your idols I " So Noyes, and De Wette. The Septuagint has, " put away each one his evil ways, and here- after, if ye hearken to Me, then ye shall no more profane My holy name by your gifts and j'our doings (ways)." > Choicest=literally, " first of all you consecrate to me," " of all your holy things." ' Ezek. XX. 41-44. • "Lifted up My hand." « That is, in b.c. 591 and 590. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 33 paring to burst from the north-east, where Ezekiel lived, like a destroying storm, on Judah, far to the south. Yet as a Jew and a priest, banished from his country and its temple, the calamity, though so long anticipated, well- nigh overjiowered the prophet as it approached. The march of the Chaldaean army seemed before him, in its successive stages. He almost counted the hours till it should invest Jerusalem. Might there not be some repent- ance even yet — if not in the doomed city, at least among the exiles ? Alas, it was hopeless. A great blow in his own household was to bring the sad truth home to him, and teach him that he was henceforth to be silent till the inevitable judgment had fallen. His wife, whom he dearly loved, died suddenly at this time, and her death was used as a Divine sign. He was not to weep for the dead ! She was gone I And, so, his brethren might spare their la- ments for their country; nothing could save it ! In the first of these new utterances the prophet pictures Judah, with its towns and villages, as a forest in the south — for it lay in that direction from the Chebar. Fire, kindled by God Himself, through His instrument Nebu- chadnezzar, breaks out iif it, and no one can quench it. " XX, 45. The word of Jehovah came to me; * 46. Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and speak southwards, against the forests of the open country, 47. and say to the southern forest: Hear the word of Jehovah ! Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Behold, I kindle a fire in thee, and it will devour every green tree in thee, and every dry. Its flaming fire shall not be quenched, and every face, from south to north, will be lighted up by it. 48. And all flesh shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it, and that no one can quench it ! " Eagerly clinging to their wild hope for their country, the exiled community affected not to understand these ' £zek. XX. 45-48. Tlie ;21st chapter begins here in Uic Hebrew Bible. VOL. VI.--3 34 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. metaphors and parables, so natural to Ezekiel, but they had no cause of such a complaint in a discourse delivered to them a little later. "XXI. 2. Son of man' (said the Inner Voice to him), set thy face towards Jerusalem, and pour out thy words towards the holy places, and preach against the land of Israel, 3. and say to it: Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I come against thee and unsheathe My sword, and destroy from out of thee both the righteous and the wicked! 4. Therefore, because I have resolved to destroy both the righteous and the wicked (from out of thee), My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh, from south to north (of the land) ; 5. that all flesh may know that (it is I), Jehovah, (who) have drawn My sword out of its scabbard, (and that) I will not sheathe it again. 6. Sigh, therefore, thou son of man, as if thy loins were breaking; sigh bitterly before their eyes! 7. And when they say to thee, ' Why sighest thou?' say, 'For the report that has come to my 'ears!' For every heart shall melt, and all hands fall down, and every spirit despair, and all knees shake.* Behold, (what has been foretold) is come, and is being carried out! says the Lord Jehovah." The same terrible warning was soon after repeated in a different form. The destruction so imminent had been pictured as a great conflagration ; it was now presented as a grand carnival of the sword ! ^^The word of Jehovah^' again came to the prophet, saying : "9. Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus says Jehovah: Say, A Sword, a Sword is sharpened and whetted; 10. sharpened to make a sore slaughter ; whetted that it may flash (like the lightning) ! Woe to thee, 0 Staff, the sceptre of My son Judah — this sword despises all such weak rods! ' 11. It has been whetted that it may be grasped in ' Szek. xxi. 1-11. 2 Melt into water. 3 This passage is so corrupt that anj' rendering of it must be conjectural. Gesenius translates it, " It is sharpened jigainst the prince of the tribe of my son (Judah) wha despises all wood"— that is, all the lighter punisiiments of the past. Ewald, "No weak rod of my son, the feeblest of wood." Wellhausen, '* Not weak as the rod ; not the most contemptible of all wood." Arnheim, "A glittering terror ; a scourge that makes men howl ; sparing no tree." Noyes, "Or shall we make mirth ? The THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 35 the hand! Yes! it is sharpened and whetted, to give it to the hand of the slayer! 12. Cry and howl, O son of man ! ' for it is about to descend on My people; on all the princes of Israel! They are reserved for the sword, along with My people! Smite therefore on thy thigh (in sign of great sorrow! '^ 13. For the sword has been proved, and what ha? it shewn itself? As if it were a weak rod? No! verily not,' saith the Lord God ! "14. Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite your hands together (in despair) ; the sword doubles, aye, trebles its fury ; it slays the multitude; it slays the great; it searches into the inmost chamber.* 15. That their hearts may despair, and that many may fall, I have set the flashing sword before all her gates ! Ah ! how it glitters like lightning; how it is whetted for the slaughter! 16, Up (Sword)! smite eagerly on the right! turn swiftly to the right! turn swiftly to the left! Turn whithersoever thou ai-t appointed! 17. I (Jehovah) will smite My hands together (against them, in fierce indignation), and let loose My wrath ! I, Jehovah, have said it. " Hitherto Ezekiel had spoken in figures, but the time had come to speak plainly. His countrymen are to be told that Nebuchadnezzar is, already, virtually, on the march against Judali and Ammon, which have both thrown off their allegiance. It was a question, to which he would first turn ; the people of Jerusalem hoping that he would march against Ammon before attacking their own city, and thus give them full time to prepare, and to summon to their aid ^ the Egyptian army on which they depended. staff of my pon despiseth every rod." Do W^ette, substantially as in the text above. Eichhorn, '-Ah thou (Zedekiah), who beares^t the kingly staff, the sceptre of My people ; the ?\vord laugha at every such bit of wood ! " 1 Ezek. xxi. 12-17. 2 To piiiite on the thigh is often used as a token of great trouble of mind. See Jer. xxxi. 19. Iliad, xii. 162 ; xv. 397. Plutarch also tells us, that when Fabius saw his men flee, he gave a great groan and smote on his thigh. 8 Ewald. Eichhom's rendering of this passage, which is so corrupt in its text as to defy translators, is, " The proof is made : how ? should not the sword mock at the mere rod ? ' ' * Eichhorn. De Wette is virtually the same. Only a guess at the meaning can be made in this, as in the other instances of defective text I have noted. * Ezek. xvii. 3G THE CmSLS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. But, contrary to this, the prophet announces that Jehovah will send the Chaldajan king directly against Jerusalem. He is, therefore, })ictured as standing at the parting of the roads to Amnion and the Holy City, uncertain which to enter, and consulting his oracle for direction. But Je- hovah gives the answer. Even this warning, however, may fall on deaf ears ; if so, the heavier will the fearful vengeance of the Almighty burst on the perjured Zedekiah and on his princes. "XXI. 18. The word of Jehovah came to me again, saying:* 19. Son of man ! Fix ^ on two roads by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come; let both run out from one country, and hew thee a finger-post ^ (such as stands) at the head of the way to a city. 20. Let it point, in one direction, so that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites,* and in the other, that it may come to Judah and the strong- walled Jerusalem ! 21. For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the roads, at the head of the two ways, to use divination, (as to which he should take). He shakes (in a quiver) the two arrows, ^ (marked Ammon and Jerusalem, to see which will be drawn out first, by one blindfolded) ; ^ he enquires of the teraphim ; he looks at the liver (of the sacrifices). ^ "22. (And, now,) in his right hand (the fortunate one) he holds the arrow marked ' Jerusalem ' (which has been drawn by him from the quiver). He orders forward the battering rams, to open a breach (by breaking down the wall) ; ® he commands that the loud battle-cry be given; that the battering rams be set up at the gates; that an (enclos- ing) mound be raised ; that a tower be built, (to sweep the top of the wall). 23. To the people (in Jerusalem) all this seems a false proph- ecy ; they think they will have weeks upon weeks of respite ; ® but Jeho- 1 Ezek. xxi. 18-23. » Literally, " make thee." s Literally, "cut a hand." * See vol. iii. p. 382. 5 This was a common form of divination among the heathen Arabs. Perceval, Essai S2ir ridstoii-e des Arabes, 1847, vol. ii. p. 310. On divination by the liver, see Lenormant, La Divination, n. 58. * Smend. 7 Cic, De Div., i. 16 ; ii. 13. Diod., ii. 49. « Schrader. De Wette. 9 Ewald. Smend. The Hebrew for oath, Sheba, means also a week, and the form in the text is capable of both renderings. Some render this clause, " who have sworn oaths to them " (to the Chaldaeans) ; others, " who have received solemn oaths (from God).'* THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 37 vnli will call their iniquity to remembrance, that they may "be taken ! "24. Therefore, • thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye bring your iniquity to remembrance, so that your transgressions come to the light, and your sins, in all your conduct, appear; because ye bring them to remembrance, you will be taken by Ilis hand ! 25. And thou, wicked, falling ' i)rince of Israel (Zedekiah), whose day is come — the day of thy uttermost punishment! 20. (As to thee^) thus saith the Lord Jehovah, "Take olT his royal turban! Off with his crown!' This (humbled and ruined) kingdom is not the kingdom (to come here- after)—that of the promised future! The low shall be exalted and the high abased! 27. I will bring (the city to) ruins, to ruins, to ruins; what has been shall be no more, till He come whose right it is; to Ilim will T give it! " In the troubled time of Jehoiakim's reign the Ammon- ites, in common with the Moabites and Edomites, had shewn their hereditary hatred of Israel, by joining flying columns of Nebuchadnezzar's troops in harassing and plun- dering Judah.^ Since tlieu, they, like others, had felt the heavy pressure of the Chald?ean yoke, and, in common with the different kingdoms of Palestine, had plotted a rebellion. Envoys from their king, as we have seen, had met ambas- sadors from Edom, Moab, Tyre, and Sidon, at Jerusalem, to form a league against Babylon ; Egypt having promised to aid them. Zedekiah had, doubtless, relied on this sup- port, especially as Amnion had compromised itself deeply by its truculent bearing towards the Great King. But Ezekiel knew how worthless this confidence would prove. Hastening to submit, on the first approach of the invader, Ammon and the otlier Palestine states of the south and east, would throw themselves into the contest as the allies of the Chald^eans and the exulting foes of Judah. For this tliey, too, would receive heavy })uuishment at the hand * Bzek. xxi. 24-27. ' = doomed to be slain. ' 2 Kings xxiv. 2. 38 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. of God. Lying prophets in Amnion itself had predicted its safety when the storm should burst, and in anticipation of this it had already shewn its insincerity. A short time before, the fawning ally of Judah, it now affected to treat her with scorn. Under these circumstances, Ezekiel was commissioned to denounce its king and people. " XXI. 28. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the Ammon- ites,' and concerning the scorn (they pour on Judah) : Say thou, the sword, the sword, is drawn for the slaughter: it is whetted to the uttermost, to flash destruction! 29. Thou trustcst to deceitful visions (of thy prophets), and lettest lies be declared to thee, that the sword will descend only on the neck of Israel, (as doomed to fall) for its wickedness — (Israel,) whose day (thou sayest) approaches, when its sin shall receive final punishment! 30. Put thy sword back into its sheath! In your own land, whence you si)rang, the land of your birth, I will judge you. 31. And I will pour out My wrath on you ; I will blow on you the fire of My indiguation,^ and give you into the hand of wild men, skilled in destroying. 32. You shall become food for fire : your blood shall be poured out on the earth. You will be no more remembered, for I, Jehovah, have said it ! " » Ezek. xxi. 28-32. 2 The wratU of God is conceived as breathing forth flames agai st His eneiaies. CHAPTER III. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. The guilt which was about to bring down the ruin of the Jewish State had been, as we have seen, the constant theme of Jeremiah and Ezekiel for many years ; but the hope of future reformation so entirely depended on its being kept before the public mind, with all its terrible results, that no repetition seemed too frequent. It was, in fact, by this unwearied presentation of the truth, to the minds of their contemporaries, however much they dis- liked it, that these great preachers ultimately awakened the national conscience, and led to that amazing reaction from the idolatry of the past, of which Judaism, in its later development, became the embodiment. Never in the history of nations, so far as appears, has a sacred order anywhere risen, more earnest, self-sacrificing, noble in their purity of life, lofty in their realization of the true and eternal, or bravely faithful in their battle with sin, than the Hebrew prophets. They really believed what they said, and spoke accordingly. No fear of the great, or of the multitude, could silence them. Appointed to proclaim the whole truth, without circumlocution or miti- gation, they did so, however invidious, '^ vulgar, '^ ''^cen- sorious,'' unpopular, or perilous the duty. Self-seeking, worldly-minded members of the order abounded, as they do in all ages among the public ministers of religion ; 40 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. men who toned down the Word of God to suit their audiences; astutely careful to let abuses lie undisturbed, to flatter the great, to avoid whatever was disagreeable to their patrons, and, like keen and crafty men of the world, to make sure of as much of this life as they could, lest they should by any chance come short in the other. The fidelity of the true prophets was ill calculated to promote their worldly interests, but their names live for evermore; their self-sacrifice was the regeneration of their race, and they remain for all ages the ideal of true preachers. Does our century realize and repeat the lesson of tlieir example? In the enumeration of the sins of his contemporaries, Ezekiel had laid especial stress on their idolatry ; but the general corruption of the times had not escaped his lash. One sin, however, among many, had not been denounced as yet with the same fulness as others. The treatment of their banished brethren, by those who remained in Palestine, had been shameful. Victims of the same mean and sordid lust for gain that still marks the Jew, they had been piteously cheated and over-reached, in the forced sales of their goods and property, when hurried oif. This was now to be laid to the charge of the extortioners. The new lords of the city, moreover, had proved as vile as their predecessors ; anarchy reigned ; the streets were dangerous from the number of murders, and society was dissolving into its elements. The men who had been banished for their sins had, in fact, been better than those left behind. A stern indictment of such a state of things was demanded. *' XXII. 1. The word of Jehovah — he tells us — came to him, saying: 2. Son of man,' if you judge the bloody city (Jerusalem), do it so as to shew her all her abominations ! 3. Say to her, Thus says the Lord i Ezek. xxii. 1-3. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 41 Jehovah : 0 city, in whose midst blood is poured out, drawing on thee the time of thy doom ; (0 city,) defiled by the loathsome gods she makes for herself: 4. Thou art guilty through the blood thou hast shed,^ and art defiled by the loathsome gods thou hast made (for thyself); thou hast brought near the days (of thy punishment), and hastened the years (of thy retribution)! Because of thy sins I will make thee the contempt of the heathen ; the mockery of all lands ! 5. The near and the far off will alike deride thee, and call thee * thou city of a stained name, and full of commotion ! ' "6. Behold, the princes of Israel (thy aristocracy) have sought, every one, to shed blood in thee to his utmost. 7. Men have despised father and mother in thee ; the stranger has been treated unjustly in thy midst ; the fatherless and the widow have been oppressed in thee. 8. Thou hast despised My holy things. Thou hast dishonoured My Sabbaths; 9. men seeking to murder by spreading lies, are in thee. Thy people eat (idol sacrifices at the high places) on the hills; lewdness is committed in thee; 10. men expose their fathers' shame,^ and go near her who is legally unclean.' 11. One commits abomination with his neighbours wife ; another basely defiles his daughter-in-law: another humbles his sister, his father's daughter ! 12. Men shed blood in thee for hire; thou takest usury and increase; thou hast greedily over-reached thy fellow-citizens by extortion, and hast for- gotten Me, says the Lord Jehovah ! " 13. Behold, for this, I clap my hands together (in indignation at thee), when I think of the dishonest gains thou hast made, and of the blood that has flowed in thy midst. 14. Will thy heart bear up, or thy hands keep their strength, in the days when I deal with thee ! I, Jehovah, speak, and will act ! 15. I will scatter thee among the lieathen, and disperse thee through the lands, and destroy thy unclean- ness out of thee, 16. and punish thee so that I shall seem dishonoured in the sight of the heathen (in bringing such suffering on thee),* and (thus) thou shalt know that I am Jehovah ! " Such was the wicked city ; but its day of reckoning was at hand. Its fine gold had become dim, its silver, dross ; what pure ore there was must be separated from » Ezek. X3di. 4-16. » Lev. xviii. 6-17 ; xx. 11. 1 Cor. v. 1. 3 Lev. xii. 2 ; xviii. 10. * This clause may be read, " thou shalt be polluted in thyself," or, " by thine owu Btory." But this hardly suits thecoutext and is not so striking. 42 THE EVE OF THE. SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. the mass of worthless alloy, and this, the miseries of the siege, like the flames of a refiner^s furnace, would effect ! "XXII. 18. Son of man,' said the secret Voice, the house of Israel has become dross to Me.'' They are all of them brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the smelting furnace; they are the dross (left behind, in the smelting) of silver. 19. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jeho- vah : Because ye have all become dross, behold I will throw you into the midst of Jerusalem (as into a furnace, to purify you by the flames of the siege).' 20. As they cast silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the furnace, to blow fire on it and melt it ; so will I cast you (into the furnace of war), and leave you there, and melt you, in My anger and fury. 21. Yes ! I will gather you together (into Jerusalem), and blow on you the flames of My wrath, till ye be melted down in (the city). 22. As they melt silver in the furnace, so shall ye be molted down in the midst (of Jerusalem), and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out My fury upon you ! " All ranks in Judah were hopelessly corrupt ; prophets, priests, nobles, and people. Even the king did nothing to save the state. It only remained to leave it to destruc- tion. "24. Son of man, say to Judali: Thou art barren and unfruitful, like a land which has no rain or moisture, in the day of wrath ! 25. Her princes * in her midst are like * a roaring lion greedy for prey ; they devour men's lives; seize property and goods; and multiply the widows in her midst ! 26. Her priests violate My law and profane My holy things ; they make no difference between the holy and com- mon; they teach no distinction between clean and unclean, and hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them ! 27. Her chief men are like greedy wolves, eager to shed blood, to destroy men's lives, to make sinful gain ! 28. Her prophets coat over (their false hopes and bad lives) with the white plaster ® of pretended 1 Ezek. xxii. 18-28. s Isa. i. 23. 5* They would flee to Jerusalem at the approach of the Chaldseans. 4 Septuagint. Keil. See ver. 28. * The change of ouc letter gives this sense. * Literally, " daub them with white plaster." THE EVE OF THE S-IEGE OF JERUSALEM. 43 visions, and lying revelations, saying, 'Thus says Joliovah,' though He has not spoken! 29. The people of the land practise violence,* and commit robbery, oppress the poor and helpless, and do illegal wrong to the stranger ! 30. I sought, therefore, for one among them all that would fill in the gaps in the wall (and keep out My wrath), and that would stand in the breach before Me (by a holy life), to save the land, and turn Me back from destroying it ; but I found none ! 31. I will, therefore, pour out My indignation upon them ; I will consume them in the flames of My wrath ; I will pour their doings on their own head, saith the Lord Jehovah ! " Such a moral reformation as these utterances demanded was hopeless, so long as idolatry — the source of all debase- ment— was cherished in Jndah. To restore the sincere worship of Jehovah was imperative, if a purer and better state of things were to be attained. Now, therefore, once more, at the eleventh hour, Ezekiel returned to the sub- ject in a vivid allegory, in which Samaria and Jerusalem, the representatives of Israel and Judah, are delineated under the figure of two sisters, whose career had been shameful. The name of Aholah, the elder, shewed the difference between the Ten Tribes and Judah, for it meant, ^' She hatli her own tent," or temple, in allusion to the Nortliei'ii Kingdom having framed a new religion, and repudiated, from the first, the jmre faith of Jehovah. The name of the younger, Aholibah, ^^My tent, or temple, is in her," marked the special glory of Jerusalem. l)y a usage familiar in the prophets, the idolatry of the two, and alliances sought by them with foreign nations, are denounced as adultery ; Jehovah being regarded as their husband. The division into two kingdoms is represented as practically dating from the Egyptian bondage, though historically so much later. In a former address Ezekiel « Ezek. xxii. 29-31. 44 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. had reminded his peo^ole of the idohitiy of their fore= fathers in the distant past ; ^ he now recalls their recent history, in its relation to the heathenism of Assyria, Baby- lon, and Egypt, and also to their political coqnetting with these nations. To our Western ideas his sensuous imagery seems strange, but the Children of the Sun have, in all ages, had modes of speech very different from those of the people of colder lands. "XXIII. 1. The word of Jehovah ' went forth to me again, saying: 2. Son of man, there were two women, the daughter of one mother,^ 3. and they committed sin in Egypt; behaving shamefully even in their youth. 4. Their names were Aholah, the elder, and Aholibah, her sister, and I became their husband, and they bore sons and daugh- ters: Aholah became Samaria, and Aholibah, Jerusalem.* "5. But Aholah — (that is, Samaria) — played the harlot, although she was Mine, and she sighed ^ after her lovers ; (above all, after) the warrior Assyrians," 6. clothed in blue (or violet) purple — pashas^ and rulers,® all of them handsome men, in their early prime, cavaliers rid- ing on horses. 7. And she gave herself up to sin with them — with the chosen sons of Assyria and with all on whom she doted ; and de- filed herself with all their loathsome gods. 8. Yet she did not give i:p her idolatries brought from Egypt," for in her youth she had yielded to them. 9. For this reason I delivered her into the hand of those she loved, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted, 10. and they dealt shamefully with her, took her sons and her daughters (into captivity), and slew her, (herself), with the sword, and thus she became a warning '° to women, for they had carried out My judgment upon her." » Ezek, xvi. « Ezek. xxiii. 1-10. s Sarah. 4 They were already fallen when Jehovah took them as His. 6 Loved inordinately, looked amorously towards, made eyes to. « The Hebrew word for " neighbours " is almost identical with that for " war," and this in the plural seems to give the best sense. ' Prefects of divisions of Satrapies. ■8 Sagansi= Assyrian, Sakan. It means one "appointed," " commissioned " from the king. Schrader, Keilinschriften, p. 270. 9 Exod. xxiii. 13. Josh, xxiii. 7. Josh. xxiv. 14. Ezek. viii. 7-10 ; xvl. 26 ; xx. 4 >» Literally, " a name." THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 4^ Instead, however, of being warned by the example of the Northern Kingdom, Judah sinned still more than she. Not content with seeking an alliance with Assyria and introducing its idolatry, she acted similarly with the Baby- lonians also, and even, in the end, went after Egypt with more greediness than ever. Thus, the measure of her sins was at last full. "11. But though her sister Aholibah^ — (Jerusalem)— saw this, she became even viler in her wickedness, and worse in idolatries, than Aholah had been. 12. For she, too, doted upon the warrior Assyrians, pashas and rulers, gorgeously '^ arrayed cavaliers riding on horses, all of them handsome men, in their early prime. 13. Then I saw that she, also, was defiled ; that both sisters took one way ; and that Aholibah — 14. Jerusalem — even increased her sins. For when she saw pictures of men on her house walls, ^ likenesses of Chaldteans, painted with vermilion, 15. with splendid girdles round their waists, and many-coloured turbans on their heads, the ends hanging down behind — all like lords to look at— the pictures of the sons of Babylon, whose birthplace is Chakhea — 16. when she saw these with her eyes, she forthwith fell in love with them, and sent messengers to them, to Chaldgea.* 17. And the sons of Babylon came to her, and' they defiled her with their idolatry, and she was polluted by them. But ere long she (was not contented even with them, and her mind) Avas alienated from them. 18. She became shameless (in fact), and set on all kinds of idolatry. Then My mind, also, was alienated from her, as it had been from her sister, Samaria. 1 Ezek. xxiii. 11-18. a The "gorgeous array" of the princes and high dignitaries of the Euphrates may be judged from the robes of the kings and nobles in the illustrations in these volumes. We have, also, a description of a royal robe, woven or embroidered by the wonderful skill of the ladies of the royal harem, or of the royal workmen. It is in an inscription, on a black basalt tablet of King Marduk-nadin-akhi, and tells how his royal robe was bordered with gold fringe, and covered with exquisite de- signs, and precious stones, set in the web of the tissue ; how the tiara was adorned with feathers and wide-open daisies, and how the broad lozenge-shaped stitches of hio sandals were countless. 3 An allusion to the introduction of paintings on the walls of the mansions of Jerusalem, in imitation of the custom in Babylon. Eastern women, shut up in their harems, could only thus be acquainted with strangers, at first. * She sent messengers to learn their religion and bi'iug it back with them, and also sought au alliance with them. 46 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. *' 19. Yet she still multiplied her sins/ bethinking herself of the days of her youth, when she had played the harlot against Me in Egypt. 20. And she made eyes to their (Egyptian) paramours, who are rank as he asses, lustful as stallions. 31. Yes! thou soughtest again the lewdness of thy youth, when, of old, thou wentest after the impurity of Egypt. "22. Therefore, Jerusalem, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will stir up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is (now) alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side, 23. the Babylonians and all the Chalda3ans; its king, its nobles and princes,* and all the Assyrians with them ; all handsome young men, pashas and rulers, lords, and men of name,^ all of them riding on horses. 24. They shall come against thee — (not now, as lovers, but) with (the tumult of) war chariots and clashing wheels,* and with an army of differ- ent nations, who will press against thee on every side (in full armour), with the large shield (covering the whole body), the small target (on the arm), and the helmet. And I will commit matters to them, and they will judge thee by their (pitiless) laws (of war). 25. And I will let my jealousy come on thee, and they will deal cruelly with thee ; for tliey will cut off thy nose and thine ears; * the survivors (of thy manhood) will fall by their sword ; they will carry off your young sons and your daugh- ters (to sell as slaves), and what men are left of thee will perish in the conflagration (of the city). 2G. They will also strip off thy clothes, and plunder thee of thy fine jewels. 27. Thus (if no other way), I will root out (thy love of foreign alliances) from thee, and thy heathenism, brought from the land of Egypt, so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes to their (enticements, or) idols, or think on Egypt any more. **28. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I will give thee into the hand of those whom thou (once lovedst, but now) hatest : into the hand of them from whom thy mind is (now) alienated. 29. And they will treat thee with hatred — and take away all thy substance, and leave thee naked and bare, and the shame of thy conduct shall be exposed ; thy unfaithfulness and thy heathenism. 30. I will do this to thee, » Ezek. xxiii. 19-30. 2 Muhlau und Volck. Gesenius. Keil. Hengstenberg. Pekod =" infliction of punishment." An allegorical name for Babel in Jer. 1. 21. Shoa = noble, Koa = prince. Literally, a " stallion or breeding camel," which must be of noble blood. 3 Councillors, Keil. * Smend. Miihlau und Volck render it, " with weapons of attack." 6 This has always been and still is the practice in war, in the East. See Winer, art. "Leibesstrafen." In Egypt, the nose of adulterers was cut off. Diod. Sic, i. 78, THE EVE OF TKE SIEGE OF JERUSALE:M. 4? because thou hast sought after the heathen, and because tliou hast defiled thyself with their loathsome gods. 31. Thou hast gone in the steps of thy sister (Samaria); '• therefore I will give thee her cup into thy hand!" The mention of the cup of God^s wrath leads the prophet to dwell on the figure. "32. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup, (the cup of misery,) deep and wide, which liolds much, and will make thee be laughed to scorn and had in derision. 33. For thou shalt be filled with (the) drunkenness (of grief) and sorrow ; with the cu]) of desolation and ruin; with the cup thy sister Samaria has drunk. 34. Thou wilt drink it up and drain it to the dregs ; craunching up its very pieces (as a wild beast does the bones of its prey), and tearing thy bosom ; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah. 35. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten Me, and cast Me behind thy back; bear thou the punishment of thy unfaithful- ness and idolatry ! " The guilt and deserved fate of both kingdoms are now recapitulated with still greater minuteness. They have served idols ; given their children to Moloch ; profaned even the temple by heathenism, and gone to distant lands for new gods and alliances hateful to Jehovah. Their sin must be sorely punished ! "36. Jehovah said, further, to me: Son of man, be thou accuser of Aholah ' and Aholibah, and shew them their abominations — 37. that they have committed adultery; that blood is on their hands; for they have committed adultery with their loathsome gods, and have even given their children, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them, burning them! 38. Still more, they have done this: they have defiled My sanctuary, on that day (when they offered up their children), and have profaned My Sabbaths. 39. For when they had slain their children, as offerings to their loathsome gods, on the same day they entered My temple (polluted as they were), and (thus) profaned it; lo, they practised idolatry even in the midst of My house! » Ezek. xxiii. 31-39. a Ezekiel here speaks against Samaria, nearly 150 years after its destruction. 48 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JEEUSALEM. "'' 40. Yes, thou sentest for men ' to come from distant lands, de- spatching a messenger to them, and, lo, when they came, thou bathedst thyself for them, paintedst thine eyes,'' and arrayed thyself with thy jewels. 41. And thou satest thyself upon a grand couch, and setst out a table before them,^ and didst put on it My incense and My oil.'* 42. And they (the sisters) made merry with them, and played on instruments and sang, to them and to the mixed crowd of deep drink- ers, from the wilderness,^ and they put bracelets on the arms of the two sisters, and magnificent coronets on their heads. 43. Then said I to her that was worn out with adulteries — (Aholah, the eldest sister, long given to idolatry) — ' Will these people now commit adultery with your younger sister also, and she with them ? ' ° 44. But they came to her also, as to a harlot ; thus they came to both Aliolah and Aholibah, the unchaste women ! "45. But righteous men shall judge them, as adulteresses and women that shed blood are judged,^ because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands. 4G. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah : I will bring a multitude against tliem, and give them up to ill-treatment and plunder. 47. And its host will stone them with stones, and hew them in pieces with swords; they will kill their sons and daughters, and burn their houses with fire. 48. Thus will I make lewdness cease out of the land, that all nations * may learn not to do after their sin. 49. And they shall pay back on you your iniquity, and ye shall bear the sins of your loathsome gods, and shall know that I am Jehovah Adonai." The long-suffering patience of God was now, at length, exhausted, and no more appeals or warnings from Him disturbed the doomed capital. But the voice of the ^ Ezek. a:siii. 40-49. 5 In the East the eyelids are painted on the inner edges with kohl, a dark powder (Hebrew pflk), a mixture of lead and zinc. This made the white of the eyes more striking, and seemed to increase their size. 3 The idol altar. * Which should have been offered to Me. 5 Masoretic note— Sobim = drinking men, or drunkards. Deut. xxi. 20. The men represent idols, which Jerusalem and Samaria adopted. Some of these, of wilder- ness tribes, may be called drunkards, from wine being offered them. I give the Septuagint reading. « The text is apparently corrupt. But this seems the meaning. ' All the honourable men of a village were summoned to try an adulteress, and condemn her to death by stoning if guilty. ^ Literally, " women. ' THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 49 prophet was to be heard once more, though only to pro- nounce final sentence on his brethren, in the name of God. The day chosen for this word was ominous ; the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah, about the tenth of December, B.C. 591 ;' the very day on which the army of Nebuchadnezzar sat down before Jerusalem to besiege it.* The form of a parable, so frequent with Ezekiel, is used. The citizens had done their best to prepare for a hard siege, but they felt that, at best, they were like flesh in a cauldron, to be sodden by the fires of war. ^ Ezekiel, more- over, had told them that their own chief men had, them- selves, made the city a flesh-pot, by the innocent blood shed by them in it, and that these guilty ones would on that account be given to the foe.* A cauldron is now again seen on the fire, and, after being filled with the best pieces of flesh, is made to boil fiercely. But it is found to be foul with rust, and is ordered to be emptied. The population will indeed suffer intensely, but they will not all perish in their city ; they will be led forth to captivity. The metaphor is in some degree mixed, as a double sense was intended. The boiling was to remove the rust ; that is, the siege was to reform the people ; but failing to do so, banishment must follow. **XXIV. 2. Son of man* (said Jehovah), write down the exact date of this day, for the king of Babylon has on this very day begun the siege of Jerusalem. 3. And utter a parable to the House of Dis- obedience, and say to them : Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Set on the cauldron, set it on, and pour water into it. 4. Put the pieces to l)e cooked into it, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder ; fill it up with the best bones. 5, Take only the best sheep, and lay a pile of 1 Smend has b.c. 587 for the fall of the city. Most say b.c. 588. » 2 Kings XXV. 1. Jer. lii. 4 ; xxxix. 1. Zech. viii. 19. 3 Ezek. xi. 3-7. ■» Ezek. xi. 7-11. * Ezek. xxiv. 1-5. VOL. VI.-4 50 THE EYE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. wood under it; let it boil well, that the bones in it may be thoroughly seethed. "6. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: ^ Woe to the city of blood! to the cauldron full inside with rust ; the old rust of which is not cleansed out of it ! Take out piece by piece ; let no lot be cast (to take one and leave another) ! 7. For blood was shed by her, in her midst. She let it flow on the naked rock (where it lies uncovered, calling for ven- geance) ; she did not let it run on the ground, that it might be hidden (from the eyes of God) by the dust.'' 8. To rouse fury and kindle revenge, I have let the blood shed in her be thus poured out on the naked rock, that it might not be covered ! "9. Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the city of blood! I will make the pile of faggots under thee great. 10. Heap on wood, fan up the fire; make ready the flesh, boil well the broth, let the bones be burnt! 11. Then set the empty cauldron on the coals, that its brass may be hot and glowing, that its filthiness may be melted in it, that the rust may be consumed. 12. With weary toil has Jehovah laboured, but in vain; its thick rust has not been cleansed from it; let the fire burn the rust! 13. Because of thy filthy lewdness; because, though I would have made thee clean, thou wouldst not be made so, thou shalt be no more clean till I have poured out my wrath upon thee. 14. I, Jehovah, have spoken it; it shall come to pass; I will do it; I will not go back from it; ' I will not spare or shew pity. Accord- ing to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall I * judge thee, saith Jehovah Adonai." Hitherto, Ezekiel, though forced to refrain from speak- ing in public, by the hostility of his fellow-captives, had had the unspeakable consolation of a happy home. His wife, the desire of his eyes, made sunshine to him under his humble roof, if there were clouds and darkness outside. 1 Ezek. xxiv. 6-20. 2 The Bedouin are still careful to cover even a few drops of blood, from any one, with dust. This is in harmony with Oriental feeling, expressed frequently in the Scriptures. See Num. xxxv. 33 ; Lev. xvii. 13. If hidden from sight, blood seen by God or man would not bring down punishment on him who shed it, if it was from homicide or wilful injury, and would prevent the horrors of blood revenge. There is much interesting information on this subject in NeiTs Pictured Palestine, an excel- lent collection of Bible illustrations, gathered during long residence in the Holy Land. 3 Gesenius, " absolve " the guilty. * Septuagint, and all versions. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 51 But whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and his faithful propliet was no exception to the universal rule. The same day on which he uttered these last words over the guilty and doomed Jerusalem, the very day on which its siege, afar off, began, was memorable to him on a sadder ground. His address having closed, and his audience having left his chamber, the little heaven of his private life, hitherto so unclouded, was in a moment darkened. An intimation, communicated we know not how, that his wife was to die suddenly, chilled his soul. The light of his life was not to wane by a slow setting, but to go down at midday, leaving him without his one comforter and friend ! Nor was even this all. He was told that to make this terrible sorrow a lesson to the community around, no customary sounds of loud wailing were to rise from his dwelling; he was not, like others, to mourn for the loved one by uncovering the head and strewing ashes on it ; ' or to go barefooted ; ' or to put on black sackcloth, or to cover his face to the mouth, as others did,' as a sign that he wished to be left in silence ; or even to eat the food brought on such occasions by rela- tions and friends.* On the contrary, he was to put on his turban — the usual head-dress of a priest ; * to wear his san- dals, and his ordinary dress ; to refrain from covering his lips with his robe ; to eat every-day food and not that of mourners ; to bear himself, in short, as if the calamity were too overpowering to be expressed by the common symbols of grief. He had spoken in the morning to the people who had come to him, and then all had been well in his lowly » Isa. Ixi. 3. Lev. xxi. 10. * 2 Sara. xv. 30. Isa. xx. 2. 8 Mic. iii. 7. Lev. xiii. 45. Jer. viii. 21. Job ii. 12, 13. * 2 Sam. iii. 35. Dent. xxvi. 14. Hoe. ix. 4. Jer. xvi. 7. 6 Ezek. xliv. 18. Exod. xxxix. 28. 53 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. home; but the evening fell on the pale face of his dead wife. Yet Ezekiel, strong-minded, and nobly acquiescent in the good pleasure of Jehovah, even when it demanded most at his hands, appeared next morning, as he had been directed, without any display of the emblems of sorrow. No cries of lament rose from his desolated home ; he sought no seclusion. Sympathizers, flocking to condole with him, and to pay the wonted rites to the dead, were confounded. What did he mean ? He was a prophet ; his action was no doubt designed. How could he thus shock public feeling ? "XXIV. 21. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,' answered the heart- broken man, Behold, I am about to profane My Sanctuary, your great- est pride and the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul ; ^ and your sons and your daughters, whom you have left (behind you in Judah), will fall by the sword. 22. But (when all this shall have hap- pened) ye shall do as I have done (now, in my great sorrow). You will not cover your lips ^ with your mantle, nor eat the bread of mourning. 23. Your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet, as at other times ; you will make no loud lamentation nor weep, but you will be overpowered (by such a penalty) for your sins, and shall moan to each other (in speechless grief). 24. Thus, Ezekiel is a sign to you (in his present action). You (yourselves) will do, in that day, as he is doing now, and when this happens you shall know that I. am the Lord Jehovah ! " The fall of Jerusalem had been the great event to which all Ezekiel's predictions had pointed, and would be a com- plete vindication of his high commission as a true prophet. His opponents would be silenced, and no further hindrance on their part, to his free speech, would be possible. The news brought by one who had escaped from the final » Ezek. xxiv. 21-24. 2 Mic. iii. 11. Jer. vii. 14. 3 Literally, "beard." THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 53 slaughter of the storming would be the overthrow of those opposed to him, and would establish his prophetic au- thority. "25. Verily, 0 son of man,' on that day when I take from them (the temple, which was) their confidence, their supreme boast, the desire of their eyes and the delif^lit of their souls — (when I take from them, also,) the- ' sons and their daughters ; 26. in that day will one that has escaped, come to thee, to tell the (awful) tidings in thine ears. 27. Then, in that day, thy mouth (so long sealed) will be opened like that of the fugitive, and thou shalt speak (as a prophet to the people), and no more (be forced to) keep silence, and thou wilt be (seen to have been) a sign to them ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah 1 " . xxiv. 25-27. CHAPTER IV. THE IN^VESTMENT OF JEKUSALEM. "With the twenty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel our informa- tion respecting the Hebrew captives on the Chebar ceases for a time, and we have to return to Jerusalem, now closely invested by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, drawn from many subject nations. It would seem, indeed, that con- tingents had been furnished, at least before the close of the siege, by Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines, while the Phoenicians, if they did not actively aid the Ohaldae- ans, were bitterly hostile to Judah in feeling.' So little had come of the projected league of all Palestine against Nebuchadnezzar. His approach had dissolved it, and let loose all the deep-seated hatred towards the Hebrews, which had for a time been dissembled. The investment of Jerusalem began in the early months of the ninth year of Zedekiah — about December, B.C. 591. As in similar cases, the population had been greatly in- creased by fugitives from the country round ; but large supplies of provisions had been laid in, and the citizens trusted that Pharaoh Hophra, who had just ascended the throne of Egypt,' would speedily raise the siege by an army sent to their relief. The new Pharaoh was, indeed, a man from whom much might be hoped. Fond of war and impatient of a quiet i Ezek. XXV. and xxvi. ^ Lenormant says in B.C. 589. Brugsch, in b.c. 581. TnE IN^VESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 55 life, he was a great patron of the mercenary Greek soldiers who, under captains of their own race, hired themselves, like the free lances of the Middle Ages, to any prince will- ing to engage them. Ilophra made Egypt more than ever their richest harvest-ground, and their bands formed the strength of his army. His father^s successful campaign against Nubia shewed that, since the great disaster of Car- chemish, the country had regained its military spirit. Yielding to his personal ambition and the counsels of his mercenaries, he resolved to return to the policy of Necho II., and once more attempt the conquest of Syria, now held by the Babylonians. The times seemed propitious. Wearied, as we have seen, of the vassalage to the Chal- daeans, all Palestine was ready to rise. In Jerusalem, espe- cially, a strong party had forced Zedekiah into an Egyp- tian alliance. Trusting to Hophra, all the land was in revolt, a few months after his accession. But Nebuchad- nezzar, with the swift decision that marked him, hastened from the Euphrates, by forced marches, on the first report of the rebellion ; uncertain which of the petty kingdoms to attack first. To use the language of Ezekiel, he stopped his chariot at the point where the two roads, to Ammon and Jerusalem, branched off, and only decided on taking the latter after consulting his oracles.* Jerusalem was the soul of the coalition against him. Its territory united the confederates of the coast to those of the east of Jordan and of the desert, and formed a link between Egypt and southern Syria. One Chaldaean army was sent, therefore, to ravage Phoenicia and commence the blockade of Tyre, while Neb- uchadnezzar himself turned, with the bulk of his troops, against Jerusalem. Not daring to oppose such a force in i Ezek. xxi. 21. 56 THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. the open field, Zedekiah forthwith shut himself up in his capital, and the siege began. Judah had been spared twice before, but the Ohaldsean was now resolved to destroy it. That its king, whom he had raised to the throne, should have perjured himself, after having sworn by his own God, and that his jDeople, though weakened by the exile of the leading spirits of the kingdom, should have proved so reso- lutely troublesome, determined Nebuchadnezzar to use the harshest measures. He therefore desolated the country at his leisure, delivering his captives to the cruel mercies of the Philistines and Edomites, and appeared, at last, on the north plateau of Jerusalem, only after he had laid waste the whole land with fire and sword.' Under these circumstances, the credit of Jeremiah as a true prophet necessarily increased, till even the vacillating Zedekiah, — breaking loose for a moment from his counsel- lors,'' and imitating the example of Hezekiah, who con- sulted Isaiah, the great prophet of that day, in a time of similar peril,' — deigned to send two of his officials, Pashur and Zephaniah, priests of high rank,'' but of the Egyptian faction, and thus opposed to Jeremiah in politics,* humbly '' to enquire of Jehovah, ^^ through him, respecting the future.* The envoys found the seer in the temple ; but his answer to them was dispiriting in the extreme. The king should hear the truth, however painful. Shut up in the city, without the possibility of escape, how few men would have taken their lives in their hands, by braving the i Lenormant, Hist. Ancierme de P Orient, p. 492. Maspero, p. 500. a Jer. xxi. 1, 2. 3 2 Kings xix. 2, < 1 Chron. xxiv. 9. Malchiah, the father of this Pashur, was head of the fifth course ; Zephaniah was the deputy high priest. He is often mentioned, and was at last slain by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. See Jer. xxix. 25 ; xxxvii. 3 ; lii. 34. Another Pashur is mentioned in Jer. xx. 1. ^ jgr xxxviii. 1, 4. " Jer. xxi. 1, 2. See the parallel cases of Hezekiah and Josiah, 2 Kings xxii. 13. THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 57 anger of a despot and his court, through whom he had already suffered much. But Jeremiah knew no fear when he had to speak for God. To the question whether the king of Babylon would be driven away from Jerusalem by a miracle, like that by which the city had been saved from Sennacherib, in the reign of Hezekiah, he forthwith replied : ♦'XXI. 4. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,' Behold (instead of turning back the weapons of war in the hands of the Chaldeans), 1 will turn back those in your own hands, with which you fight (from the walls) against the king of Babylon and the Chaldaeans, who besiege you outside, and will bring them in (for a last struggle), to the very heart of this city. 5. I, Myself, also will fight against you, with an out- stretched hand and a strong arm, in anger, and fury, and fierce wrath. 6. And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, man and beast ; they shall die by a sore pestilence. 7. And afterwards, says Jehovah, I will deliver Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants (the court), and the people left in this city from the pestilence, the sword, and the fam- ine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and of them that seek their life, and he will slay them with the edge of the sword : he shall not spare them, nor have pity or mercy." He then proceeded to point out to the citizens the only means of safety. **8. As to the people, say to them, Thus saith Jehovah, See, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ^ 9. He that stays in this city shall die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. But he that goes out and gives himself up to tTie Chaldasans, that besiege you, he shall live; his life, but nothing more, will be granted him. 10. For I have set My face against' this city, for evil and not for good, says Jehovah; it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire." Tlien followed a warning to the royal family. 1 Jer. xxi. 4-10. « Deut. xxx. 19. 58 THE IN^VESTMEKT OF JERUSALEM. "11. And as to the house of the king of Judah,' hear the word of Jehovah: 12. 0 house of David (king and royal family together), thus saith Jehovah, Do your duty (as your forefathers did,'^ by sitting in the gate of the city) every morning, to do justice (as the judges of the people), and to snatch the man that is being plundered from the hand of his oppressor; that My fury may not burst out against you like fire, and burn unquenchably, because of the evil of your doings! " Jerusalem, as a whole, has roused the anger of God. "13. Behold, I am against thee, 0 Jerusalem, inhabitress of the val- ley (beneath the temple), and of the (table-land) rock' (beyond),* saith Jehovah — who says to herself — ' who shall come down against us ? Who shall enter our (secure) retreats?' 14. But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith Jehovah ; and I will kindle a fire in the forest-(like dwellings) of your city, and it will devour every- thing round it."* Then followed a final command to take a message to the king personally. "XXII. 1. Thus saith Jehovah, Go down to the palace of the king of Judah, and speak this word there, 3. and say. Hear the word of Jehovah, 0 king of Judah, that sittest on the throne of David — thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter by these (temple?) gates: 3. Thus saith Jehovah, Execute justice and righteousness (as supreme judge of the state), and snatch the man that is being plundered, from the hand of the oppressor; and do not (yourself) oppress, or do violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood » Jer. XX. 11-14 ; xxii. 1-3. 20 sam. xv. 2-4. 3 Literally, "the rock of the Mishor." Mishor is the name for the smooth upland downs of Moab (Deut. iii. 10 ; Josh. xiii. 17 ; xx. 8 ; Jer. xlviii. 8, 21). Derived from the root yashar, " even, level, plain," it naturally came to be used figuratively for equity, right, righteous, and uprightness (Mai. ii. G ; Isa. xi. 4 ; Ps. xlv. 7 ; Ixvii. 4 ; cxliii. 10), and thus the name was equivalent to "• the rock of justice, righteousness, or equity "—a name on which the people prided themselves, * On all sides except the north, Jerusalem is surrounded by valleys, and the valley between Zion and Moriah, as well as other parts of the city, made it, still more, an "inhabitress of the valley," while the table-land to the north, connecting the city with the country beyond, was, probably, more or less covered with houses. s The word used for " forest " is yaar, or " scrub." Portions of this are even now constantly set on fire by the charcoal burners, who thus often burn down a whole hill-side. THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 59 in this place! 4. For if you really act thus,' kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, shall pass through the gates of this palace — they and their servants and their people. 5. But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself, says Jehovah, that this house, the temple, shall become a desolation! "6. For thus saith Jehovah, to the house of the king of Judah: Thou (Jerusalem) art to Me as the (rich) Gilead and as the head of Lebanon ; yet, surely, I will make thee desolate, like cities that are deserted. 7. I will set apart destroyers against thee, every one with his weapon, and they will cut down tliy best cedars, and throw them on the fire. 8. And many peoples will pass by this city, and say each to the other, ' Why has Jehovah done thus to this great city ? ' 9. And they will answer, ' Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, their God, and worshipped and served foreign gods ! ' " •^ The sins of the kings had been too surely one of the causes of the ruin of his country to permit Jeremiah to spare the throne in his preaching. Yet the glorious anticipation of the advent of a great king lighted up the future ; and while he felt compelled sternly to denounce the rulers of his own and of past days, he was too true a patriot, and too zealous for the final triumph of the king- dom of God, to keep back this cheering prospect. "XXIII. 1. Woe to the shepherds '—he cried about this time— who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture ! saith Jehovah. 2. Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, respecting the shep- herds that feed My people : Ye have scattered and driven away My flock, and have not given heed to them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah. 3. But I will gather the rem- nant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and bring them back again to their pastures, and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4. And I will set up shepherds over them who shall ' Jer. xxii. 4:-9. The rest of the chapter is given at vol. v. pp. 339, 348, 349. It is apparently of an earlier date than these verses. 2 There never were cedars in Jerusalem, but the prophet is thinking of Lebanon, of which he has just spoken, and transfers its glory, in imagination, to the doomed city. Gilead was the ideal of pastoral wealth, Lebanon of majesty, with its cedars and its snowy crest. 3 Kings. Jer. xxiii. 1-4. 60 THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor be lost, saith Jehovah! 5. Behold the days come,* saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, who will rule as King, and act wisely, and execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6. In his days Judah shall be saved (from her enemies), and Israel dwell in security, and this is the name by which he shall be called — 'Jehovah our Righteousness.' ^ 7. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jeho- vah, that they shall no more say, ' By the life of Jehovah, who brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt,' 8. but ' By the life of Jehovah, who brought up, and led, the seed of the house of Israel, from the land of the North, and from all lands whither I have driven them,' and they shall dwell in their own land." Next to the bad kings, the bad prophets had been the main cause of the ruin of the country. These, therefore, Jeremiah fitly passes on to denounce. "9. My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake' (for terror); I am like one drunk, like a man overpowered by wine, because of Jeho- vah and His holy words. 10. For the land is full of adulterers; yea, the land withers under a curse; the pastures of the wilderness dry up, for the conduct * of the people is evil ; they are strong, not to do right, but to do wrong! 11. For both prophet and priest are unholy. Even in My own house, (the temple), have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah. 12. Therefore, their way will be slippery to them in the darkness '' that is coming ; they shall be driven on and fall in it. For I will bring evil upon them, the year of their punishment, says * Jer. xxiii. 5 12. ' Bishop Thirlwall proposes that this be read, " Jehovah f,