PRINCETON, N. J. Shelf. Division . . riK^.-rrr?. «*). ( . Sec/ion . . .«. .fe . >5. i. ^ . Number Vj.,J?. HOUES WITH THE BIBLE THE SCRIPTURES IN THE LIGHT OF MODERN DISCOVERY AND KNOWLEDGE O^ohr. CUNNINGHAM GEIKIE, D.D. VICAR OF ST. MABT MAGDALEKE, BABNSTAPLZ, DETON VOL. VI. FROM THE EXILE TO MALACHI, COMPLETINa THE OLD TESTAMENT WITH ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK JAMES POTT & CO., PUBLISHERS 12 AsTOR Place 1884 HOURS WITH THE BIBLE; The Scriptures in the Light of Modern Discotfery and Knowledge. Vol. I, From Creation to the J*atriarchs. '* II. From Moses to the Jiulges. " III. From Samson to Solomon. " IV. From IteJioboatn to Hezehiah. <* V. From Manasseh to ZedeUiah. *' VI. Completing Old Testaments 12n-io, Cloth, with Illustrations. $1.50 each. Sold separately, and each complete and distinct in itself. PREFACE. With this volume the Old Testament series of these " Hours '' is complete. Thank God for the health that has enabled me to keep at this part of my task for five years past ! If I be spared, the New Testament series will follow in due course. Meanwhile, I would gratefully thank my brother clergy of every rank ; the ministers of all sections of the Church, and the reading public, for the kindly reception given to my books throughout the English- speaking world. The favourable recognition they have met in so many lands, as shown by the language of the public press, and by private letters from correspondents in all positions, has been most grateful to me. No attempt, so far as I am aware, has hitherto been made to incorporate the utterances *of the prophets with \ VI PEEPACE. the special incidents of contemporary history to which so many of them relate. Eichhorn, alone, has to some extent followed this course, but in his case, each discourse has been treated in a distinct and isolated chapter. The light thrown on writings often so difficult as they stand in our Bibles, by introducing them in their historical connection, must be evident. They become again, what they originally were — the pulpit literature of the day in which they were spoken, and, as such, at once reflect light on the sacred narrative and are illustrated by it. In the translations I have offered, great care has been taken to keep closely to the Hebrew text, but such ex- pansion has been made throughout as seemed necessary to explain allusions, connect the argument, or make clear the meaning. And now may the blessing of the All-loving One go forth with my book. Barnstaple, April 12th, 1884 CONTENTS. CHAP. FAQB I. A Voice from Chebar, against Judah • • • 1-20 II. The Crisis as it appeared to Ezekiel , , . 21-41 III. The Eve op the Siege of Jerusalem. . , . 42-56 IV. The Investment of Jerusalem 57-79 V. During the Siege 80-108 VI. The Fall of Jerusalem 109-118 VII. The " Lamentations " of Jeremiah .... 119-141 VIII. Edom and the Nations Round 142-166 IX. The Murder of Gedaliah, and the Siege of Tyre . 167-189 X. The Jewish Colonies in Egypt 190-208 XI. On the Chebar 209-229 XII. The Vision of the Future 230-258 XIII. At Babylon 259-287 XIV. Comfort Ye My People 288-309 XV. The Fifth Gospel 310-371 XVI. Redemption Drawing Nigh 372-403 XVII. The Return 404-420 XVIII. Hagoai and Zecharlah 421-444 XIX. Queen Esther 445-473 XX. Ezra and Nehemiah 474-515 XXI. The Prophet Malachi 616-630 Index . • • • • 531 Tl! ILLUSTRATIONS. pxeu Sandals ,',.,.. 11 Ancient Sepulchres in the Valley of Hinnom .... 78 Assyrian Funeral Urns for the Ashes of the Dead . , 81 Siege of a City by the Assyrian Army . . . . . 110 The Assyrian King Blinding a Manacled and Fettered Prisoner, WHO with the two others is further secured by a metal ring through the lip 114 Wailing Place at the Walls of the Temple, Jerusalem . . 124 Guest House 175 Modern Tyre 180 Assyrian Embroidered Robes 181 IsTAR, Astarte, or Ashtoreth 193 Syene (Assouan) during the Overflow of the Nile . . . 203 The God Amon 208 Judgment Scene from Egyptian " Book of Death " . . . 228 The Assyrian Tree of Life 254 Cuneiform Inscription — Warka 262 Ancient Hieratic, or Sacred Writing, Inscription — Warka . . 263 Interior of an Assyrian or Babylonian Palace .... 268 A Grove of Palms 272 A Player on the Egyptian Guitar, Assyria 282 Threshing Sledge 806 The Plane Tree 308 Children Carried on the Side 855 The Great King attended by his Courtiers and Genii . . . 388 The Great King Hunting the Lion 400 Darius Receiving Prisoners 402 Teraphim, or Household Gods . 418 The Seven-Branched Candlestick, and other Spoil from the Temple . , 441 Persian Noble 449 The Persian King.— Behistan . . . . . . . 450 Cupbearers at the Ancient Persian Court 489 Bowing the Head . ♦ , 506 Roll of a Book •••• 507 vui HOUES WITH THE BIBLE. CHAPTER I. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR^ AGAINST JUDAH. NOTHING was more fatal to the religious life of tlie exiles in Chaldea, or their brethren still left in efudah, than the confident air of members of the order of prophets, who held out hopes directly opposed to the warnings of men like Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The result had been a general disbelief in prophecy. It had become a common saying that " The days of trouble are long in coming ; all prophecy is deceit." ^ Men who thus misled the community by audacious misrepresentations made in the sacred name of God, needed to be openly assailed, and Ezekiel, therefore, determined thoroughly to expose them. Referriug to the proverb so current, he informed his fellow-captives that Jehovah commanded him to ad- dress them thus, in His name : — 23 I will 2 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 1 Ezek. xii. 22. 2 Ezek. xii. 23-28. VOL. VI. 22 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 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, O 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 pro- phecies, for distant tiraes.'^ In contradiction to this, they were now told from Jehovah Himself, that none of His words, spoken through His true prophets, would fail of present fulfilment. The pretended prophets who spoke '^according to their own hearts," were next directly attacked. 3 Woe^ — cried Ezekiel — to the impious ^ prophets, who follow not Jebovah, but their own fancy, and give out visions that they have not seen ! 4 Thy prophets, 0 Israel, these impious prophets, have not built up the tottering stare, but have brought it nearer its fall, as foxes, burrowing in rotten walls, undermine them daily ^ 5 Ye have not gone out before the gaps of the tottering jedar,^ to defend it; nor have ye tried to build it up and repair it, round Israel, or taken your stand in the van of the battle in the day of Jehovah ! 1 Lit., "this one." 2 Ezek. xiii. 1-5. ^ Folly and impiety were related ideas among the Hebrews; the word here primarily means " foolish." ■* 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. ^ Heb. gadair. For meaning of jedar, see vol. iv. p. 218. The loose wall of dry stones round 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, stood 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. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 3 Instead of this, they had promised a happy future, in lying oracles — 6 They have seen a mock vision ^ and spoken iahe predictions, when they said, "Jehovah saith," without His having sent them, and that they mi^^ht hope to fulfil their words. 7 Is it not true that you have pretended to see a mock vision, and spoken false divinations, saying, "Jehovah speaks," when I, Jehovah, have not spoken ? 8 Therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah; Because ye have spoken falsehood, and pretended to see lies; behold I atn againsn yon, says the Lord Jehovah. 9 And My hand will come on tho 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 aD 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 is not well. For if my people build a wall,^ behold, these prophets smooth it off with plaster ; if they have delusions, these men confirm them in them. 1 1 Say to these plasterers up of lies, that these lies will fall. For a deluge of rain is coming ; and ye hailstones, fall ye; thou hurricane, break loose ! 12 And, lo, when your wall has fallen, will they not say to you, " Where is that which you plastered over?" 13 Therefore, 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 hailstones in My destroying wrath ! 14 And I will cast down the wall that you have plastered up, 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 l^ 15 I will let loose my fury on the wall and on them that plastered it over,^ and it will be said of 1 Ezek. xiii. 6-16. 2 Tliar. is, dream of safety and protection as the result of plots, alliances, and the like. The expression is like our "castles in the air." ^ The wall is Jerusalem itself; the plaster is the illusory promising of the false prophets which faced the badly built wall, and seemed to give strength; the bad building is the moral corruption of the city. * With " white plaster " = lime. 4 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. yon, i6 "The wall is no more, neither they who plastered it over — the prophets of Israel, who prophesy visions of peace to her though there is no peace," saith the Lord Jehovah ! But false 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 of thy people who prophesy after their owti heart, for gain, and with heathen spells. Prophesy thou against them, 18 and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah; Woe to the women that sew together magic ornaments 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 sonls alive, 19 dishonouring Me before My people for a few handfuls of barley and for bits of bread, for your » Ezek. xiii. 17-19. 2 In verse 20 they are said to be on the arms. ^ De Wette and Ewald seem to have hit on the most reasonable explanation of this passage — Smend agreeing with them. De Wette fancies magic bauds and fillets are meant. Ewald 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 Propheten, vol. ii. p. 261. Rosenmiiller 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 person of those consulting them, they wished to make them more fitted to receive their divinations. Theodoret supposes pillows are mentioned as a figure for smooth and seductive discourse ; soft pillows inducing quiet and ease, and soft words, though false, pleasing and sooth- ing in a similar way, while instilling every kind of perversion into the mind. A VOICE PROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 5 maintenance; slayin*^ souls which should not die, and keeping others alive which should not live^ — by lying to those of My people who listen to your fulseliood? 20 Therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah ; ^ Behold, I am against your magic knots and bands, by which ye snare souls, as if they were quarry to strike down; and I will tear them from your arms, and will set the sonla free — the souls that ye hunt as if they were quarry to strike down.* 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 I have not made him sad, and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not turn from his wicked way, so as to save his life — 23 therefore you shall no more have lying visions, nor speak any more false divinations, 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. Their homage to the prophet was thus only outward and worthless. But such hypocrisy * Smend has, " preserved the souls of others alive " — destroying the godly by the terror of their rites, and keeping alive the godless, their supporters. Bat this seems far-fetched. De Wette says, "preserving alive the souls who belong to you." Rabbi Dr. Arnheim says, "that you may preserve your own life." E-osen- miiller paraphrases the verse thus, "Shall I at all permit that yon should destroy My people, by your laying on them yonr 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. 2 Ezek. xiii. 20-23. ' De Wette renders it, " to make them fly to you." 6 A VOICE FROM CHEBAE, AGAINST JUDAH. was utterly hateful to Jehovah, and entailed on those guilty of it, His severest indignation. To root it from the bosoms of the people. He threatened to visit them with the sternest punishments. Thus alone could His ancient relation to Israel be restored. The enforcing these truths was now the task of Ezekiel, and an occasion soon pre- sented itself. Taking advantage of a visit from some elders of the people, he thus addressed the community through them. The Divine Voice had warned him 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 which 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 : — 4 Thus saitli the Lord Jehovah, Every man of the House of Israel that cherishes his loathsome gods in his heart, and sets bot'ore 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 multitude 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. 8 And I will set My face against that man, 1 Ezek. xiv. 1-5. - •' Loathsome," lit., " filth-gods ' and so throughout. 3 Lit., " take them in their heart." '^ Ezek. xiv. 6-8. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 7 and make him a sign and a proverb, and cut him off from tlie mi(ist of ^[y people; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 9 As to the prophet who lets himself be peisuaded,' and 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. 2 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 punish- ment of his iniquity ; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as that of him who has inquired of Me through him ; 1 1 that the House of Israel may no more go astray from Me, or pollute themselves any more by all the misdeeds of such offenders, bub 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 Judea. In spite of all warnings, the Egyptian party was gradually forcing the weak Zedekiah into a league with the Pharaoh, which involved the breach of his solemn oath '^ by God," to be a true vassal of the Chaldean king. Such faithlessness, Ezekiel felt, was certain to bring down the severest punishments on the land. Like all the ancient Hebrews, he firmly believed in temporal rewards for godliness, and penalties for sin. It was, howev^er, a difficulty with many, that he should have predicted the escape of some of the idolatrous people of Jerusalem from the judgments impending on their fellows. He therefore shows 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 is the fact that some of the ungodly of Jerusalem would be spared, any contradiction to this, for they are preserved only to vindicate God's righteousness, by letting the heathen see their vileness, and thus recognise the justice of the Divine judgments inflicted on their city. The Word of Jehovah, says he, came again to me, saying : — 1 Ezek. xiv. 9-11. 2 Eichhorn. 8 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JDDAH. 13 Son of man,* when a land sins against Me by gross unfaith- fulness, ^ and I stretch 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 any more, because of these beasts ; 16 though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord Jehovah, they would save neither sons nor daughters ; they, them- selves, 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. 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 ! 22 And, behold, if a few should be spaied in it, and led away captives, both men and women, it will be that they may be brought among you,^that you may see their way and their doings, and be comforted concerning 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 1 Ezek. xiv. 12-20. 2 Evvald thinks the breach of the oath by Zedekiah is referred to. ^ 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 Heb. xi. 32. 4 Ezek. xiv. 21-23. » In Babylon, among the exiles. A VOICE PROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 9 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 : — 2 Son of man, - what better is the wood oE the vine than other kinds of wood? Or what is the vine-branch among the trees of the yaav ? ' 3 Can you take wood from ir, to make into aiiy thing ? 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 go )d 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 in- habitants of Jerusalem like the wood of the vine, 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 con- sume them, 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 unfaithfulness ! saith the Lord Jehovah. Ceaseless in 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 ^ Hos. X. 1, Isa. v. 1. Jer. ii. 21. 2 Ezek. XV. 1-8. =* See vol. iv. p. 358. * Is this an allusion to the calamities already endured by the Twelve Tribes ? 10 A VOICE PROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 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, how- ever, 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 shown to have been greater than that of the worst of her neigh- bours. The Word of Jehovah, he says, came to him, directing him to " cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,^' and this he does as follows. 3 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Jernsaleni ; * Thy origin and birth (as regards thy spiritual history) were of the land of the Canaanites; thy father was an Arnorite and thy mother a Hittite; (for when taken by David thou wast a heathen Jebusite city — Amorites and Hittites forming a hirge part of thy f)opu]ation). 4 In the day of thy birth thou wast not cared for ; ^ thou wast not washed with water, nor rubbed with salt,^ nor wrapped in swaddling clothes. 5 No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things for thee, or had compassion upon tliee ; 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. 1 Ezek. xvi. 1-5. 2 I paraphrase the clause of the original. * 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. Neil, p. 41 . A VOICE FROM CHEBAR^ AGAINST JUDAH. 11 6 Then ^ent I, Jehovah, by thee, ^ and saw thee lying' in thy blood, and said to thee — "All wretched^ as thou art, live; " yes, I said to thee, " All wretched as thou art, live." 7 Ten thousand- fold increise, like that of the shoots of the field, I gave thee, and thou didst multiply, and wax great, and thou earnest to have beaut}' 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 I saw thee, and loved thee, and made thee My spouse by solemn 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 bec;imest 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 san- dals of seal leather,^ and wound a girdle of the finest linen round thee, and hung on thee a silken veil,' to thy feet. Ill decked thee with ornaments ; I put brace- lets on thy wrists, and a gold chain round thy neck. 12 I hung a ring on thy nose, and earrings on thine ears, and set a fair coronet on thy brow. 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 Saxdals. * Sprawling. Henderson. 1 Ezek. xvi. 6-14. 3 Lit., "bloody." * Under Moses and Joshua, especially at Sinai. * Rath iii. 9. ^ Lit., *'Tahash leather." See vol. ii. pp. 110, 292. ' It is not quite certain that the Hebrews knew of silk in Ezekiel's day. But see Gesen., 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. 12 A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. finest bread, and honey, and oil; and thou wast indeed passing fair, and didst come to be a queen, ^ 14 and thy fame went forth among the nations, for thy beauty, which was perfect, through the splendour in which I had arrayed thee, saith the Lord Jehovah ! But, thougli tlius divinely favoured, Israel had been unfaithful to G-od. Following the example of Hosea, Ezekiel represents this by the figure of conjugal infi- delity. All alliances with heathen nations had been thus denounced by the earlier prophet, but the special guilt of Ezekiel's day was the idolatrous worship that had prevailed since the time of Manasseh, involving even human 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 ,2 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 impurity under them ; a thing that should never have happened.'' 17 Thou didst also take thy ornaments, of My gold and silver that I had given thee, and making them into images of men,* com- mittedst impurity with these. 18 And thou tookedst thy many- coloured robes and arrayed the idols in them, and didst seB My oil and incense before them. 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 sons 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 1 Lit., " kingdom." ^ Ezek. xvi. 15-19. 3 Thou didst coquette with every form of idolatry. "* Text apparently corrupt. Ewald translates the clause, " 0 shame and disgrace ! " * The idols were of human shape, for the most part. « Lev. xxi. 6. ^ Ezek. xvi. 20-25. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUPAH. 13 throngli the fire, for these idols ? 22 And, amidst all thy abomina- tions and lewdness, thou hast forgotten the days of thy yonth, when thou wast naked and bare, and lay, cast out, in thy detile- ment.* 23 But after thou hadst committed all these iniquities, Woe, woe, to thee ! sairh 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 tliy high places, and didst dishonour to thy beauty, and disgraced thyself before all, and multiplied thy idolatry. The introd action of Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylo- nian 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 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 Chaldea — the land of traders, and, even then, thou wast not satisfied. The prophet now breaks out into irony. Israel, he says, is different from others. They may act for reward ; she has been urged only by love of her sins. 30 How loving is thy heart ! ^ saith the Lord Jehovah, that thou doest all this, like a woman who is her own mistress, with none to check her! 31 that thou buildest the canopy for thy altars at every meeting of the roads, and raisest thy high place in every street, and yet wast non like a harlot, since thou hast not sought pay. 32 0 thou adulterous wife, who takest up with strangers instead of keeping to thy hu>band ! 33 A price is given to every harlot, but thou, instead, hast bestowed thy gitts on all thy lovers, » Lit., "blood." 2 lya. Ivii. 8. 3 Ezek. xvi. 26-29. •♦ Lit., " great of flesh." 5 Ezek. xvi. 30-34. 14 A VOICE FEOM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. and hafst 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 ; thoa 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. 36Thussaith 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 of thy children which 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 I will make thee cease from playing the harlot, and thou shalt give no more unholy hire. 42 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 ^ A thrust at their sending after foreign idolatries. 2 Ezek. xvi. 35-43. » Other nations. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 15 peeice, and be no more angry. 43 Because thou hast forgotten the days of thy youth, atid 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 oflfences 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 transcended 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 children : and thou art the true sister of thy sisters, who dis- honoured their husbands and their children ; ^ thy mother was a Hittite and thy father an Amorite.* 46 Thy elder sister is Samaria, with her daughters, the towns of her territory, 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 shown thyself still more 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 superabundance of the comforts of life, and the corrupting influence of undisturbed security, marked her and her daughters, and she did not help the poor and needy.* 50 They were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore I put them away, as thou hast seen. 51 Neither has Samaria.* committed half of thy sins. Thou hast 1 Ezek. xvi. 44-50. 2 The Canaaiiites and Samaria and Sodom alike turned from God and gave up their children as sacrifices to idols. 3 Jerusalem has shown itself to be in respect to religion a true child of the Canaanites. * Lit., " take hold of the hand of." * Ezek. xvi. 51-52. 16 A VOICE PROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. multiplied thy abominations above hers, and hast made her and her daughters appear rigjliteons, through the excess of abominations thou hast commir,ted. 52 Bear, then, thy shame, thou who hasb condemned thy sisters,' though thine own greater sins, which made thee an abomination, make them seem righteous in com- parison ! Blnsh, 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 sins, and find themselves restored through thy means. 55 Tiiy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, will return to their former position, and Samaria and her daughters will return to theirs, and thou and thy daughters will return to thieirs. 56 Yet thy sister Sodom's name was not heard in thy mouth in the day of thy pride, befoie thine own wickedness was made known, 57 (and thou didst despise her) as, at the time of the Syrian oppression, thou thyself wast the reproach of the daugh- ters of Syria, and of all the nations round, who despised thee on every side — the daughters of the Philistines doing so especially.^ ^ Eichhorn translates this difficult clause — " Bear thou the shame which thou thoughtest well deserved by thy sisters," and thinks it is an allusion to the carrying off the inhabitants of Sa- maria atid of the east of the Jordan by Tiglatli Pileser. 2 Ezek. xvi. 53-57. ^ This is Smend's idea of the meaning of this passage. Ewald refers it to the then present position of Judah. But thougli the A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 17 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. IJecanse thou hast despised the solemn oath taken by thee, breaking the covenant tliou hadst made with Me:'- I, now, hold My covenant made with thee as broken! But God will not cast off His people for ever. He will hereafter make a new, everlasting covenant witli them. Jerusalem shall once more be the head of the new theo- cracy, into which Sodom and Samaria will be received ; but this glorious restoration will be due solely to the sovereign favour of God, and thus, as bounty to the undeserving, will call forth humiliation at the remem- brance 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 everlast- ing 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 uo 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 ! 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 Zede- Syrian kingdom of Chaldea (as it might be called) was against it, the PhiHstines had long beeu crushed. Eichhorn thinks it alludes to the oppression of Assyria, which at the time held Philistia also. But Smend's idea seejns best. The Philistines were still very troublesome in the time of the distinctively Syrian war, before the fall of Samaria. 1 Ezek. xvi. 58, 59. 2 Ezek. xvi. 8. ^ Sodom and Samaria. ^ Ezek. xvi. 60-63. * Or, " though they be not of the covenant." VOL. VI. a 18 A VOICE PROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. kiah 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 Chaldea meant ruin, not only to himself, but to the kingdom. Nor was it treacherous only. To break an oath made by Jehovah was a high offence against the Divine Majesty, and must bring down bitter punishment. The prophet begins in figurative language, but lays it aside as he goes on. I The word of Jehovah ^ came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the Honse 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 laud,^ and planted it in a fruitful field,^ a shoot be- side abundant waters ; planted 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. 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. 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^i — Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Will it thrive? Shall Nebuchadnezzar not tear up its roots and strip off its fruit, 1 Ezek. xvii. 1-6. 2 Nebuchadnezzar. ^ Judah, Jehoiachin was the topmost bough or twig. * Its chief men who were made captives. ^ Chaldea. ^ Babylon. This refers to Jehoiachin's captivity. 7 Zedekiah. s ju^ah. ^ Ezek. xvii. 7, 8. '° Pharaoh Hophra. The Egyptian alliance is here referred to. " Ezek. xvii. 9, 10. A VOICE FROM CHEBAR, AGAINST JUDAH. 19 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 P lo 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 ? Another Word that came to Ezekiel on the same subject runs as follows : — 12 Say now to the House of Disobedience : - Know ye not what these things mean ? Say : Behold the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took away its king^ and its princes, and brought them, to himself, to Babylon. 13 He 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 bis treachery ? 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 and great multitudes of men, 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, as I live, I will surely repay ^ on his own head My oath that he has despised, and My covenant that he has broken. 20 And I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and reckon ^ with him there for his treachery that he has committed against Me. 21 And ^ The Chaldeans. For the east wind, or sirocco, see vol. v. p. 381. ' Ezek. xvii. 11-21. ^ Jehoiachin. ■* Zedekiah. * Lit., " lay." « Plead. 20 A VOICE FROM CHEBAE, AGAINST JUDAH. 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 Chaldea, as a sin against His own Majesty — the oath by Him having been dishonoured — He will, hereafter, restore the king- dom of David — under the long promised Messiah — 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 the final glory of His kingdom among men. 22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : ^ I will further take of the highest branch ^ of the cedar, and will plant it : from the highest of its young shoots I will pluck oft' 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. 1 Ezek. xvii. 22-24. 2 " Foliage," Mulilau und Volch. The royal house of David is meant— the Messiah so long expected being especially referred to. ^ Zion. "* The heathen nations. 5 The high tree is Zedekiah, and includes also Jehoiachin. The humble tree is the promised Messiah 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 na- tional 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 embodied 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 bitterly 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 ^ere specious arguments wanting to support this self-righteous commentary on * Psalm Ixxiii. ^ Lit., "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, Hioh, xv. 33. Prov. X. 26. In Hor., Od., III. vi. 1, the same sentiment is ex- pressed. 81 22 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEAEED TO EZEKIEL. the experience of the nation, in these, its last years. The godly Josiah 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 mis- fortune dated from his reign. The doctrine of hereditary punishment for ancestral guilt, had sprung from a mis- conception of some verses of Scripture, and was at once old and popular.* A wider study of the 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 afiected, should be challenged, and the great lesson enforced that men were,^n reality, responsible only for * Jer. xxxviii. - 2 Kings xxiii. 26; xxiv. 3. Jer. xv. 4; xxxii. 18. Lam. v. 7. 3 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. 9. Matt, xxvii. 25. John ix. 2. Jer. xviii. 19. ^ 2 Kings xiv. 6. Deut. xxiv. 16. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 23 their own sins. This Ezekiel did in the next fragment of his preaching that remains to us. I The word of Jehovah,^ came to me again, saying: 2 What do you mean by this proverb in the Land of Israel : '* The fiithers ate sour grapes and the teeth of the sons are set on edge " ? 3 As I hve, 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 will die ! 5 But if a man be just," and do what is lawful and right ; 6 if he have not eaten heathen 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 violent son, a shedder of blood; though he, the father, has done all that has been said, 1 1 yet if he, the son, has done none of all this, but has, instead, eaten idol-meats at the high places on the hills, defiled his neigh- bour'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, committed 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 1 Ezek. xviii. 1-4. 2 Ezek. xviii. 5-9. 3 Exod. xxii. 25. Deut. xxiv. 12. Amos ii. 8. '* 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 ff. See also Exod. xxii. 24.. Deut. xxiii. 20. Lev. XXV. 36. Prov. xxviii. 8. Ps. xv. 5. 7 Ezek. xviii. 10-13. ^ Ezek. xviii. 14-17. 24 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 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 worship, nor defiled his neighbour's wife, 16 nor oppressed any- one, nor kept back any pledge, nor spoiled any 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 interest, but has 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 hmi. 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 Je- hovah. 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. 1 Ezek. xviii. 18. 2 l^v. xix. 16. 3 Ezek. xviii. 19. < Ezek. xviii. 20. 5 Ezek. xviii. 21-23. ^ Ezek. xviii. 24. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 25 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 righteous- ness, and commits iniquity, and dies for it — then he dies for the ini- quity 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 preserve his soul alive. 28 Because he sees and turns away from all his transgressions that he has com- mitted, 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. Kepent, and turn from all your trans- gressions, 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, 0 House 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 inevitable 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 1 Ezek. xviii. 25-29. - Lit., "evenly poised." It may mean — "consistent at all times." 3 Ezek. xviii. 30-32. 26 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 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 captive — Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin, or Zede- kiah, one hardly knows which. 2 What was thy mother, O Judah ? — he sang ^ — A lioness which lay down among lions, and nourished her young amidst other young lions. 2 3 There, she brought up one of her whelps till he grew to his strength,^ and learned to catch prey, and became a man-eater. 4 Bat the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit,^ and they brought him with rings in his jaws ^ to the land of Egypt.^ 5 Then,-^ when she saw that her Hope was lost and gone, she took another of her young, and brought it up, and it, also, be- came 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 searched through their palaces,^ and 1 Ezek. xix. 1-4. 2 The kings of Judah were not behind the princes of other countries round. ^ Gen. xlix. 9, lit., "a young lion." The "young lion" is the animal in its first splendour of young vigour. "* A common way of taking lions. ^ Isa. xxxvii. 20. See vol. iv. p. 457. Wild beasts were led by rings in their nostrils or jaws, and captives whom it was specially wished to insult were treated in the same way. See vol. v. p. 90; also Ezek, xxxviii. 4, xxix. 4; 2 Kings, xix. 28 ; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11. ^ Jehoahaz is alluded to. He was carried off to Egypt by Necho, after his father Josiah's death at Megiddo. ? Ezek. xix. 5-7. ^ A crowned king. ' Arnheim. No other meaning of this clause seems tenable. THE CKISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 27 laid waste their cities; the land was desolate; its multitude flee- ing in terror at the noise of his roar.^ 8 Yet the nations,'- from many ^ countries, set themselves against hira 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 lofty stronghold, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.'^ Sucli was the fate of the kings ; that of the people was to be equally disastrous. Israel had been a powerful nation, ruling for a time from the Euphrates to the Medi- terranean, and boasting a line of kings, who, in Judah, had sat on the throne, in continuous descent from David, for nearly five hundred years. Its pride and sin, how- ever, 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 re- mained of its glory was fast waning; 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 wood of which had been so massive as to serve for kingly ^ This could hardly be applied, except by poetic license, to Jehoiachiu (Jeconiah), who reigned only three months. Zede- kiah 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 Chaldean 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 showed him no respect. 2 Ezek. xix. 8, 9. 3 Li^., " the." * Nothing is known of the place of imprisonment of either Jehoiachin or Zedekiah in Babylon. 28 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 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. lo Thy mother,^ O Judah, mightest thou further compare to a vine 2 planted by the waters. She was fruitful and had many branches by reason of the abundance of water ; 1 1 its boughs grew so thick they made sceptres for rulers, and its height rose tower- ing 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,'* in a dry and thirsty land, 14 and fire has gone from its branches, so rich in shoots, and has devoui'ed its fruit, so that it has no longer any lordly rod for a sceptre to rule. 1 Ezek. xix. 10-14. 2 This clause is variously translated; different emendations being given of the words, " in thy blood," which are apparently a corruption of the text. I adopt the rendering of De Wette. ^ *' 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 Mahomedan Mufti and Ulemas — the equivalent to our clergy — still 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, the ordinary signs of official dignity. Tamar de- manded this Matteh from Judah — knowing its special worth as an unmistakable means of identifying him, and even with this he parted for the time. Gen. xxxviii. 18. See Neil, pp. 160 ff. 4 Exiled. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 29 All this may well raise a song of lamentation, now and hereafter ! 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 tbeir custom from time to time, since the propbet did not appear in public, some of the elders of the Hebrew settlement on the Chebar came to him, '' to enquire of Jebovah '^ ; 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" prophet. 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 their 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, — 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 Mjself to them in the land of Egypt,^ when I lifted up My hand to them, swearing ^ Smend says B.C. 590. ^ Ezek. xiv. 1-11. 3 Ezek. XX. 1-4. '» Ezek. xx. 5-8. 6 Exod. iii. 8 ; iv. 31. Deut. iv. 34. 30 THE CEISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. by Myself, " I am Jehovah your God ; " ^—6 even in that day when I lifted up My hand thus to them, 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 Bgypt.^ 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 thera forth from the land of Egypt.^ lo I led them, therefore, forth from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilder- ness. 1 1 And there, at Sinai, T 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 against Me in the 1 Exod. XX. 2. 2 Exod. iii. 8-17. Deut. viii. 7, 9. Jer. xxxii. 22. ^ Ps. xlviiii. 2. Dan. viii. 9. Zech. vii. 14. "^ Lev, xvii. 7 ; xviii. 3. ^ Ezek. xx. 9-13. ^ Exod. xxxii. 12. Num. xiv. 16. Deut. ix. 28. ^ Lev. xviii. 5. Deut. xxx. 16. ^ Wellhausen {Gesch. Israel, vol. i. p. 117) would have us believe that the Sabbath was originally 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 (2 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 were legal on Sabbaths were then common, and that daily occupations were not forbidden. For does not the servant 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 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 31 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 My 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 dishonoured 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 laud which I had given them — a land flowing with milk and honey— the glory of all lands ! 16 I did this because they des- pised 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 I did not utterly destroy them, or make an end of them altogether 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 moons, her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts." In Amos the extortioners of Samaria long for the Sabbath to sell their grain (viii. 5). Are not these, we are asked, proofs that the Sabbath was anciently a day of rejoicing and worldly business? As if a modest joy 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 Deutero- nomy, that the labourer and his beast are to rest on the Sabbath, while it is not said (?) that the master should rest ! shows 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 Cap- tivity, is assumed as demonstrated. As if the lax practice could not naturally come in by degrees, and be uprooted only by a reaction ^uch as the exile produced ! Of course, however, while repudi- ating the insinuation that the ancient Jewish Sabbath was a mere boisterous holiday, I do not forget that the superstitious and painful slavery, which the Eabbis invented as its proper observ- ance, was then unknown. 1 Ezek. XX. 14^17. 2 Only that generation was to perish in the wilderness. 3 Ezek. XX. 18-21. 32 THE CEISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 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 indignation upon them, and let loose My anger against them in the wilderness. 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 wilderness once more, and solemnly swore that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the lands, ^ 24 because they had not obeyed My statutes, 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 ob- serve 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 firstborn sons to Moloch, that I might appal them at their own conduct, and that they might know that I am Jehovah ! ^ 1 Ezek. XX. 22-26. 2 L^y ^xvi. Deut. xxviii. ^ 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 firstborn (Exod. xiii. 11-13), " which the prophet speaks of as a defiling, because it was a short step from this to offering firstborn sons to Moloch (see ver. 31), and because this often happened" through a perver- sion of the Divine law, which imposed 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 Ezekiel, 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 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 33 27 Therefore,^ speak to the House of Israel, O 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 with idolatrous eyes on every high hill and ever}'- thickly leaved tree, and there oflfered their sacri- fices, and presented the bitter offence of their offerings : ^ and burnt their sweet smelling incense, and poured out their drink oflferings to their idols, 29 till men came to say, " What is the Bamah — the high place ? It is that to which the Baim — those going to commit 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 Jehovah : Are you polluted in the same way as your fathers ? Do you commit uncleanness 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 en- quired of by you, 0 House of Israel ? As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, I will not allow Myself to be enquired 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 worship 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 forth 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 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. . 1 Ezek. XX. 27-29. 2 Lit., " lifted up My hand." » Their " corban." ^ Baim, from the verb " to come," was taken in a bad sense, as implying " coming to commit fornication," and was used in this way as a verbal play on the word "Bamah," a high place. To go thither and to commit uncleanness were assumed as identical. 5 Ezek. XX. 30-38. VOL. VI. D 34 THE CKISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. the nations,^ between this Canaan and Babylon, and there will I hold judgment on you, face to face. 36 As I held judgment on your fathers in the wilderness between 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 covenant,^ 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 Jehovah; there, shall all the House of Israel serve Me, all of them in the holy land ; there, will I receive them ^ Where many peoples — Syrians, Arabs, and others, from all parts — pass and repass. 2 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 proposes, " into the purifying crucible." The Sept. reads, " I will bring you in by number," Smend conjectures that the words should run, " I bring you, when numbered, or by number, into the land." ^ Bosenmilller. Schroeder. 4 Ezek. XX. 39-44. ^ The text demands this emendation, which is supported by Ewald, Havernick, Keil, and Smend — that is, by men of all Shades of opinion. Arnheim renders the passage, " Go and serve every one his idols, since ye will not listen to Me ; only, dishonour not My holy Name any longer by your gifts and your idols!" So Noyes, and De Wette. The Sept. has, " put away each one his evil ways, and hereafter, if ye hearken to Me, then ye shall no more profane My holy Name by your gifts and your doings (ways)." THE CKISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 35 generously 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.^ 41 With a sweet odour of rest and delight 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 show 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 wilh 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 House 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 shows that the people still cherished a vain hope of shaking off the Chaldean vassalage. The addresses seem to have been delivered in the third and second year^ before the fall of the Holy City, when Babylon was already on the eve of marching against his rebellious countrymen. What none had believed when foretold by him, was now, at last, plainly close at hand. Roused to pitiless fury by the ingratitude of Zedekiah, his creature, and by his faithlessness, Nebuchadnezzar was preparing to burst from the north-east, where Ezekiel lived, like a destroying storm, on Judah, far to the south. Yet as a man, a Jew, a priest banished from his country and 1 Choicest = lit, "first of all you consecrate to me," "of all your holy things." 2 " Lifted up my hand." » That is in B.C. 691 and 690. 36 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. its temple, the calamity, though so long anticipated, well nigh overpowered the prophet as it approached. The march of the Chaldean army seemed before him, in its successive stages. He almost counted the hours till it should invest Jerusalem. Might there not be some repentance 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 ! And, so, his brethren might spare their laments 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 instru- ment Nebuchadnezzar, breaks out in it, and no one can quench it. 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 nob 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 afiected not to understand these 1 Ezek. XX. 45-49. The 21st chapter begins here in the Hebrew Bible. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL, 37 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. 2 Son of man,^ said the Inner Voice to him, set thy face toward 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 pre- sented 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, O Staff, the sceptre of my son Judah — this sword despises all such weak rods ! ■* 1 1 It has been whetted that it may 1 Ezek. xxi. 1-7. 2 -^q\^ into water. ^ Ezek. xxi. 8-13. ■* This passage is so corrupt that any rendering of it must be conjectural. Gesenius translates it, " It is sharpened against the prince of the tribe of my son (Judah) who despises all wood " — that is, all the lighter punishments of the past. Ewald, " No weak rod of my sou, the feeblest of wood." Wellhausen, " Not 38 THE CEISIS AS IT APPEAEED TO EZEKIEL. be grasped in 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 has it shown itself? As if it were a weak rod ? No ! verily not ! ^ 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 whither- soever thou art 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 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 staff of my son depiseth every rod." De Wette, substantially as in the text above. Eichhorn, "Ah thou (Zedekiah), who bearest the kingly staff, the sceptre of My people ; the sword laughs at every such bit of wood ! " ^ To smite 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. 2 Ewald. Eichhorn'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 ? " 3 Ezek. xxi. 14-17. 4 Eichliorn. 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. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 39 told that Nebucliadnezzar is_, already,, virtually, on the march, against Judah 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. But, contrary to this, the prophet announces that Jehovah will send the Chaldean king directly against Jerusalem. He is, therefore, pictured as standing at the parting of the roads to Ammon and the Holy City, uncertain which to enter, and consulting his oracle for direction. But Jehovah 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. i8 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 Babel may come; let both run out from one country, and hew thee a fingerpost"* 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 Jeru- salem, to see which will be drawn out first by one blindfolded ; ^ he consults his idols ; he looks at the liver of the sacrifices.'^ 1 Ezek. xvii. 2 Ezek. xxi. 18-23. 3 Li^., " make thee." 4 Lit., " cut a hand." ^ gee vol. iii. p. 251. ® This was a common form of divination among the heathen Arabs. Perceval, Essai sur Vhistoire des Arahes, 1847, vol. ii. p. 310. On divination by the liver, see Lenormant, La Divination, n.bS. 7 Smend. ^ Cic, De Div., i. 16 ; ii. 13. Diod., ii. 49. 40 THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 22 In his right hand — the fortunate one — is already 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 enclosing 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 prophecy ; they think they will have weeks upon weeks of respite ; ^ but Jehovah 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, appears ; because ye bring them to remembrance, you will be taken by His hand ! 25 And thou, wicked, falling '* prince of Israel, Zedekiah, whose day is come — the day of thy uttermost punishment ! 26 As to thee, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, " Take off his royal turban ! Off with his crown ! " This humbled and ruined kingdom is not the kingdom to come hereafter — that of the promised Messiah ! 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 Him will I give it ! In the troubled time of Jehoiakim's reign the Am- monites, in common with the Moabites and Edomites, had shown their hereditary hatred of Israel, by joining flying»columns of Nebuchadnezzar's troops in harassing and plundering Judah.^ Since then, they, like others, had felt the heavy pressure of the Chaldean yoke, and, in common with the different kingdoms of Palestine, had plotted a rebellion. Envoys from their king, as we have seen, had met ambassadors from Edom, Moab, Tyre, and Sid on, at Jerusalem, to form a league against Babylon ; 1 Schrader. Be Wette. 2 Ewald. 8mend. The Heb. for oath, Sheba, means also a week, and the form in the text is capable of both renderings. 3 Ezek. xxi. 24-27. * = doomed to be slain. ^ 2 Kings xxiv. 2. THE CRISIS AS IT APPEARED TO EZEKIEL. 41 Egypt having promised to aid them. Zedekiah had, doubtless, relied on this support, especially as Ammon had compromised itself deeply by its truculent bearing towards the Great King. But Ezekiel knew how worth- less this confidence would prove. Hastening to submit, on the first approach of the invader, Ammon and the other Palestine states of the south and east, would throw themselves into the contest as the allies of the Chaldeans and the exulting foes of Judah. For this they, too, would receive heavy punishment at the hand of God. Lying prophets in Ammon itself had predicted its safety when the storm should burst, and in anticipation of this it had already shown its insincerity. A short time before, the fawning ally of Judah, it now aSected to treat her with scorn. Under these circumstances, Ezekiel was com- missioned to denounce its king and people. 28 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the Ammonites,* 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 trustest 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 ^word back into its sheath ! In your own land, whence you sprang, 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 indignation,- 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 ! 1 Ezek. xxii. 28-32. " The wrath of God is conceived as breathing forth flames against His enemies. CHAPTER III. THE EVE OP THE SIEGE OP 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 disliked 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, so earnest, so self-sacri- ficing, so noble in their purity of life, so lofty in their realization of the true and eternal, so bravely faithful in their battle with sin, as the Hebrew prophets. They, in fact, 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 mitigation, they did so, however in- vidious, "vulgar,^^ *^^ censorious,^' unpopular, or perilous the duty. Fashionable preachers of the day there were THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OP JERUSALEM. 43 in abundance ; toning down the Word of God to suit their audiences ; astutely careful to let abuses lie undis- turbed, to flatter the great, to avoid whatever was dis- agreeable 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 nineteenth century realize the lesson of their 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. They had been piteously cheated and over-reached in the forced sales of their goods and property when hurried ofi*. This was now to be laid to the charge of the extortioners. The new lords of the city, moreover, had proved as lawless as their pre- decessors; anarchy reigned ; the streets were daugerous 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 men than those left behind. A stern indictment of such a state of things was demanded. I 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 show her all her abominations ! 3 Say to her, Thus says the Lord I Ezek. xxii. 1-5. 44 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. Jehovah : 0 city, in whose midst blood is poured out, drawing on the time of thy doom ; O 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 of restless confusion !" 6 Behold,^ the princes of Israel, thy aristocracy, have sought, every one, to shed blood in thee to his utmost. 7 Men have de- spised 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 by thine idolatry. Thou hast dishonoured My Sabbaths ; 9 men seeking to murder by spreading slanderous lies, are in thee. Thy people eat idol sacrifices on the mountains ; lewdness is committed in thee ; 10 men expose their father's shame,- and go near her who is legally unclean.^ 1 1 One commits abomination with his neigh- bour's 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 over- reached thy fellow-citizens, and wrung unjust gain from them by violence, and hast forgotten 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 I laugh at the folly of thy sin, knowing how near is thine end ! 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 heathen, and disperse thee through the lands, and destroy thy uncleanness 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 ! 1 Ezek. xxii. 6-12. 2 ^^^ ^^^^i q_i>^ . ^x. 11. 1 Cor. v. 1. * Lev. xii. 2 ; xviii. 19. " Ezek. xxii. 13-16. * This clause may be read, " thou shalt be polluted in thyself," or, "by thine own story." But this hardly suits the context and is not so striking. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 45 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 the mass of worthless alloy, and this the miseries of the siege, like the flames of a refiner's furnace, would effect ! 1 8 Son of man,^ said the secret Divine 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 ; the dross of silver. 19 Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Because ye have all become dross, throughout Judah, behold I will throw you into the midst of Jerusalem, as into a furnace, to purify you by the flames of the siege.^ 20 ^s they cast silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the furnace, to blow fire on it and smelt it ; so will I cast you into the furnace of war, and smelt you, in my anger and fury. 21 Yes ! I will gather you together into Jeru- salem, and blow on you with the flames of my wrath till ye be melted down in it. 22 As they smelt silver in the furnace, so shall ye be melted 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 de- struction. 24 Son of man,'* say ro Judah : 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 souls ; 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 diSerence between the holy and common ; they teach no distinction between clean and I Ezek. xxii. 17-22. 2 jga i. 22. ^ They would flee to Jerusalem at the approach of the Chal- deans. 4 Ezek. xxii. 23-31. 5 ^g^^. x'eiZ. See ver. 28. * The change of one letter gives this sense. 46 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 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 souls, to win gain ! 28 Her pro- phets deceive them with mock hopes,^ giving pretended visions and predicting lies to them, saying, " Thus says Jehovah," 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 prayer and holy life, to save the land, and turn Me back from destroying it ; but I found none ! I will, therefore, pour out My indignation upon them; 31 I will consume them in the flames of My wrath ; I will pour their doings on their own head, saith the Lord Jehovah ! Sucli a moral reformation as these utterances de- manded was hopeless, so long as idolatry — the source of all debasement — was cherished in Judah. 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 re- turned to the subject 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, showed the difference between the Ten Tribes and Judah, for it meant, " She hath her own tent," or temple, in allusion to the Northern Kingdom having framed a new religion, and repudiated, from the first, the pure faith of Jehovah. The name of the younger, Aholibah, "My tent, or temple, is in her,"*^ marked the special glory of Jerusalem. By a usage familiar in the prophets, the idolatry of the two is denounced as adultery; Jehovah being regarded as their husband. The division * Lit., " daub them with white plaster." THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 47 into two kingdoms is represented as practically dating from the Egyptian bondage, though historically so much later. In a former address Ezekiel had reminded his people of the idolatry of their forefathers in the distant past ; ^ he now recalls their recent history, in its relation to the heathenism of Assyria, Babylon and Egypt. To our Western ideas his sensuous imagery seems strange, but the Children of the Sun have in all asfes had modes of speech very different from those of the people of colder lands. I The word of Jehovah 2 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 AhoHbah, her sister, and I became their husband, and they bore sons and daughters : Aholah became Samaria, and AhoUbah, Jerusalem.'* 5 But Aholah'5— that is, Samaria— played the harlot, although she was now 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 riding on horses. 7 And she gave herself up to sin with them — with the chosen sons of Assyria ; and defiled herself with all the loathsome gods, after which she sighed. 8 Yet she did not give up 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, after * Ezek. xvi. - Ezek. xxiii. 1-4. 3 garah. * They were already fallen when Jehovah took them as His. 5 Ezek. xxiii. 5-10. ^ 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. ^ Sagans = Assyrian, Sakan. It means one "appointed" "com- missioned " from the king. Schrader, Keilinsclirift'en, p. 270. ^° Exod. iii. 13; xxiii. 4. Josh. xxiv. 14. Ezek. viii. 7-10; xvi. 26 ; XX. 4. 48 THE EVE OP THE SIEGE OP JERUSALEM. whom she sighed, lo 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 the Assyrians carried out My judgment upon her. Instead, however, of being warned by the example of the Northern Kingdom, Judah sinned still more than sbe. Not content with introducing Assyrian idolatry, she adopted that of the Babylonians also, and even, in the end, went after that of Egypt with more greediness than ever. Thus, tbe measure of ber sins was at last fuU. II But though her sister Aholibah^ — Jerusalem — saw this, she became even viler in her wickedness, and worse in her idolatries, than Aholah had been. 12 For she, too, sighed after 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; Aholibah — 14 Jerusalem — even increased her sins. For when she saw pictures of men on her house walls, ^ likenesses of Chaldeans 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 Chaldea — 16 when she saw these with her eyes, she forthwith fell in love with them, and sent messengers to them, to Chaldea."* 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 con- tented ev^en with them, and her mind was alienated from them. 18 She became shameless, in fact, and set on all kinds of 1 Lit., " a name." 2 Ezek. xxiii. 11-18. ^ 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 ac- quainted with strangers, at first. ^ She sent messengers to learn their religion and bring it back with them. THE EVE OP THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 49 idolatry. Then My mind, also, was alienated from her, as it had been from her sister, Samaria, 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 drove unchaste love with the idolatries of Egypt," idolatries rank as the flesh of he-asses; gods lustful as stallions. 21 Yes! thou soughtest again the sins of thy youth, committed when, of old, thou wentest after the idols 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 sons of Babylon and all the Chaldeans ; its supreme power, 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 cavaliers 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 different 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 they will cut off thy nose and thine ears ; '' the survivors of thy manhood will fall by their sword ; they will Ifearry off your young sons and your daughters, to sell as slaves, and what men are left of thee will perish in the conflagration of the city. 26 They will also strip off thy clothes, and plunder thee of thy fine array 1 Ezek. xxiii. 19-21. 2 lj^., " her (Egyptian) paramours.*' 3 Ezek. xxiii. 22-27. ^ Miililau und Volck. Gesenius. Keil. Hengstenherg. Pekod = "infliction of punishment." An allegorical name for Babel in Jer. 1. 21. Shoa = noble, Koa = prince. Lit., a " stallion or breeding camel," which must be of noble blood. * Councillors, Keil. * Smend. Miihlau und Yolck render it, "with weapons of attack." 7 This has always been and still is the practice in war, in the East. See Winer, art. Leihesstrafen. In Egypt, the nose of adul- terers was cut off. Biod. Sic, i. 78. VOL. VI. B 50 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. of ornaments. 27 Tims, if no other way, since thou refusest all warnings, I will root out thy idolatry from thee, and tby heathen- ism, brought from the land of Egypt, so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes to them, 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 gains, and leave thee naked and bare, and the shame of thy idolatry shall be exposed ; thy unfaithfulness and thy heathenism. 30 I will do this to thee because thou hast sought after the idols of the heathen, and because thou hast defiled thyself with these 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 pro- phet to dwell on the figure. 32 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah i^ Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup — the cup of misery, deep and wide, which holds 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 sor- row; with the cup 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 Jeho- vah : Behold thou hast forgotten Me, and cast Me behind thy back ; bear thou the punishment of thy unfaithfulness and idolatry ! The guilt and deserved fate of both kingdoms is 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. Their sin must be sorely punished ! 36 Jehovah said, farther, to me : ^ Son of man, step forth as 1 Ezek. xxiii. 28-31. 2 Ezek. xxiii. 32-35. 3 Ezek. xxiii. 36-39. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OP JERUSALEM. 51 accuser of Aholah ^ and Aholibah, and show tliem their abomin- ations— yj that they have committed spiritual adultery; that blood is on their hands ; for they have committed adultery with their loathsome gods, and have even given up their children, whom they bore to Me, as offerings to these idols, burning them I 38 Still more, they have done this : they have defiled My sanctuary, on that day when they offered up their children, and have pro- faned 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 ! 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 set out a table before them,'* and didst put on it My incense and My oil.^ 42 And the loud tumult of voices was hushed as they sat at it, and to the mixed crowd of these men were brought others, deep drinkers, 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 elder sister, long given to idolatry — " Will these people now commit adultery with your younger sister also, and she with them ? Will she also give herself up to idolatry ? " '^ 44 But they came to her also, as to a harlot ; thus they came to both Aholah and Aholibah, the unchaste women ! ^ Ezekiel here speaks against Samaria, nearly 150 years after its destruction. 2 Ezek. xxiii. 40-44. 3 In the East the eyelids are painted on the inner edges with Itolil, a dark powder (Heb. puk), a mixture of lead and zinc. This made the white of the eyes more striking, and seemed to increase their size. ■* The idol altar. * Which should have been offered to Me. ^ Masoretic note— Sobim = drinking men, or drunkards. Dent, xxi. 20. The men represent idols, which Jerusalem and Samaria adopted. Some of these, of wilderness tribes, may be called drunkards, from wine being offered them. ^ The text is apparently corrupt. But this seems the meaning 52 THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OP JERUSALEM. 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. 46 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah : I will bring a multitude against them, 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 idolatry ^ 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 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 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, moreover, had told them that their own chief men had, themselves, 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 caul- dron is now again seen on a fire, and, after being filled 1 Ezek. xxiii. 45-49. 2 All the honourable men of a village were summoned to try an adulteress, and condemn her to death by stoning, if guilty. 3 Lit, "lewdness." '' Lit., "women." * Smend has B.C. 587 for the fall of the city. Most say B.C. 688. * 2 Kings XXV. 1. Jer. lii. 4; xxxix. 1. Zech. viii. 19. 7 Ezek. xi. 3-7. » Ezek. xi. 7-11. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OP JEKUSALEM. 53 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 sufi'er 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. 2 Son of raan,^ 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 Disobe- dience, 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 be 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 wood under it ; let it boil well, that the bones in it may be thoroughly seethed. 6 Of a truth, 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 vengeance ; she did not let it run on the ground, that it might be hidden 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 ! 1 1 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 > Ezek. xxiv. 1-8. 2 Ezek. xxiv. 9-14. 54 THE EVE OP THE SIEGE OP JERUSALEM. more clean till I have poured out my wrath upon thee. 14 I, Jehovah, have spoken ib; it shall come to pass ; I will do it ; I will not go back from it ; ^ I will not spare or show pity. Accord- ing to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall 1 2 judge thee, saith the Lord Jehovah. Hitherto, Ezekiel,^ though forced to refrain from speaking 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. But whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and His faithful prophet 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 * Gesenius, " absolve " the guilty. ^ Sept., and all Versions. 8 Ezek. xxiv. 15-20. * Isa. Ixi. 3. Lev. xxi. 10. ^ 2 Sam. xv. 30. Isa. xx. 2. « Mic. iii 7. Lev. xiii. 45. Jer. viii. 21. Job ii. 12, 13. THE EVE OF THE SIEGE OP JERUSALEM. 55 in silence; or even to eat t"be food brought on sucli occasions by relations and friends.^ On the contrary, he was to put on his turban — the usual head dress of a priest ; - to wear his sandals, 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 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 ? 21 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,' answered the heart-broken man, Behold, I am about to profane My Sanctuary, your greatest 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 happened, ye shall do as I have done, now, in my great sorrow. You will not cover your lips' with your mantle, nor * 2 Sam. iii. 35. Dent. xxvi. 14. Hos. is. 4. Jer. xvi. 7. 2 Ezek. xliv. 18. Exod. xxxix. 28. 3 Ezek. xxiv. 21-24. * Mic. iii. 11. Jer. vii. 26. Ezek. xiv. 21. * Lit., "beard." 56 THE EVE OP THE SIEGE OP JEEUSALEM. 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 ye shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah ! The fall of Jerusalem had been the great event to which all Ezekie?s predictions had pointed_, and vsrould be a complete 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 slaughter of the storming would be the overthrow of those opposed to him, and would establish his prophetic authority. 25 Yerily, O 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 delight of their souls — when I take from them, also, their 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 Ezek. xxiv. 25-27. CHAPTER IV. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. WITH the twenty-fourtli chapter of Ezekiel our in- formation 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 Nebu- chadnezzar, drawn from many subject nations. It would seem, indeed, that contingents had been furnished, at least before the close of the siege, by Ammon, Moab, Edom and the Philistines, while the Phenicians, if they did not actively aid the Chaldeans, were bitterly hostile to Judah in feeling.^ So little had come of the projected league of all Palestine against Nebuchadnezzar. His ap- proach 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 increased 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 ^ Ezek. XXV. and xxvi. 57 58 THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 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 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 willing to engage them. Hophra 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 showed that, since the great disaster of Carchemish, the country had regained its military spirit. Yielding to his personal ambition and the counsels of his mercenaries, he resolved to re- turn 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 Chaldeans, all Palestine was ready to rise. In Jerusalem, especially, a strong party had forced Zedekiah into an Egyptian alliance. Trusting to Hophra, all the land was in revolt, a few months after his accession. But Nebuchadnezzar, 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, the Great King 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 1 Lenormant says in B.C. 589. Brugsch, in B.C. 591. 2 Ezek. xxi. 21. THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 59 between Egypt and southern Syria. One Chaldean army was sent, therefore, to ravage Phenicia and commence the blockade of Tyre, while Nebuchadnezzar himself turned, with the bulk of his troops, against Jerusalem. Not daring to oppose such a force in the open field, Zedekiah forthwith shut himself up in his capital, and the siege began. Judah had been spared twice before, but the Chaldean 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 people, though weakened by the exile of the leading spirits of the kingdom, should have proved so resolutely 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 vacil- lating Zedekiah, — breaking loose for a moment from his counsellors,- and imitating the example of Hezekiah, who consulted Isaiah, the great prophet of that day, in a time of similar peril,^ — deigned to send two of his oflficials, 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, ^ Ijenormant, Hist. Ancienne de V Orient, -p. 4<92. Masvero, p. bOO. ' Jer. xxi. 1, 2. ^ 2 Kings xix. 2. * 1 Cliron. 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; hi. 24. Another Pashur is mentioned in Jer. xx. 1. * Jer. xxxviii. 1, 4. 60 THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 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 anger of a despot and his court, through whom he had already suffered much. But Jere- miah 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, — 4 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,^ Behold, instead of turning back the weapons of war in the hands of the Chaldeans, I will turn back those in your own hands, with which you fight on the walls against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, who besiege you outside, and will cause you to assemble with them, for a last struggle, in the very heart of this city. 5 I, Myself, also will fight agaicst you, with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, with 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 famine, 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 1 Jer. xxi. 1, 2. See the parallel cases of Hezekiah and Josiah, 2 Kings xxii. 13. 2 Jer. xxi. 3-7. » Jer. xxi. 8-10. * Deut. xxx. 19. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 61 in this city shall die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence. But he that goes out and gives himself up to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live ; his soul shall be his share of the booty, to carry off. lo 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. Then followed a warning to the royal family. II And as to the House of the king of Judah,* hear the word of Jehovah : 12 O 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,^ O Jerusalem, inhabitress of the valley beneath the temple, and of the table-land rock •* beyond,^ saith Jehovah — who says to herself — " who shall come down from the neighbouring heights 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 everything round it.^ 1 Jer. xxi. 11, 12. 2 2 Sam. xv. 2-4 ^ jer. xxi. 13, 14. "* Lit., "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 yasliar, " even, level, plain," it naturally came to be used figuratively for equity, right, righteous, and uprightness (Mai. ii. 6 ; Isa. xi. 4; Ps. xlv. 7; Ixvii. 5; cxliii. 10), and thus the name was equivalent to "the rock of justice, righteousness, or equity " — a name in which the people prided themselves. * Zion and the rest of the city is beneath surrounding hills, and is called table-land, ^ The word used for " forest " is yaar (see vol. iv. p. 858). Por- tions of this are even now constantly set on fire by the charcoal burners, who thus often burn down a whole hillside. Neil, p. 206. 62 THE INVESTMENT OP JEEUSALEM. Then followed a final command to take a message to the king personally. I Thus saith Jehovah,^ Go down from this temple hill to the palace of the king of Judah, and speak this word there, 2 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 into this temple by these 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,^he fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood 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 the 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 : Thy lofty cedar palaces, crowning Mount Ziou — though fair and proud as the trees on the hills of Gilead, or on the top of Lebanon — will be made a desolation, like cities that are depopulated and deserted. 7 I will set apart destroyers against thee, every one with his weapon, and they will cut down thy 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 true Messianic king lighted up the future; and while he felt compelled sternly to denounce the rulers of his own and of past days, he 1 Jer. xxii. 1-5. 2 Jer. xxii. 6-9. The rest of the chapter is given at vol. iv. pp. 380-2. It is apparently of an earlier date than these verses. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 63 was too true a patriot, and too zealous for the final tri- umph of the kingdom of God, to keep back this cheering prospect. I Woe to the shepherds^ — cried he 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 shepherds that feed My people : Ye have scattered and driven away My flock, leading them into idolatry, and bringing exile upon them, and have not visited them for good, or cared for them. Behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings, saith Jehovah. 3 But I will gather the remnant 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 feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor be lost, saith Jehovah ! A singularly distinct prophecy of the Messiah follows. 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, 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 Jehovah, that they shall no more say, **By the life of Jehovah, who brought up the * Kings. Jer. xxiii. 1-4. 2 jer. xxiii. 5-8. ' Bishop Thirlwall proposes that this be read, " Jehovah is our Righteousness." from the analogy of Jehovah Shammah = Jeho- vah is there (Ezek. xlviii. 35. See ThirhvalVs Bemains, vol. iii. p. 471). It would then imply that in the times of the Messiah, Jehovah would be the righteousness of Jerusalem, bestowing righteousness and all its blessings on her people. Keil, De Wette, Naegelsbach, pronounce for the name as in the A. V. Ewald, Arnheim, Streane, Hitzig, for the other rendering. The Jews un- derstand the name as referring to the Messiah. Barclaifs Talmud, p. 38. To my own mind there is no doubt that the A.V. is right, since the Messiah, not Jehovah in His invisible personality, is the great theme of prophetic hope. 64 THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 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 false kings^ the false prophets had been the main cause of the ruin of the country. These, there- fore, 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, before Jehovah and His holy words. lo 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 ! 1 1 For both prophet and priest are unholy. Even in My own house, the temple, have I found their wickedness, saith Jehovah.^ I2 There- fore, 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 Jehovah. 13 I saw folly ^ among the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in the name of Baal, and led My people Israel astray. 14 But I have seen among the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing ; they commit adultery,'' and walk in lies, and strengthen the hands of evil doers, so that no one turns from his evil way ; all the people of Jerusalem are become to Me as Sodom, all its inhabitants like those of Gomorrah ! 1 Jar. xxiii. 9-14. 2 lj^., " are loose, or weak." * Course. ** Since prophets are mentioned along with priests as being in the temple, Dr. R. Smith assumes that " the official prophets were part of the establishment of the temple," and because Jeremiah was put in the stocks, he adds, " they were subject to priestly discipline." Yet not only prophets, but people frequented the temple, and punishments were not restricted to any class. An offender of any kind was exposed to the tender mercies of the temple police. See Bihle in the Jewish Church, p. 286. ^ Land and Booh, p. 78. * The word means " tasteless, unsalted," hence " irrational." ' Idolatry. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 65 15 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts ^ concerning the pro- phets : Behold, I will feed them with wormwood and give them poison-water to drink,- for, from the prophets of Jerusalem, pollution has gone out through the whole land. 16 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts : Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They deceive you ; they speak a vision of their own inventing ; ^ not out of the mouth of Jehovah. 17 They say continually to them that despise Me : " Jehovah has said, Ye shall have peace," and to every one who walks in the imagina- tion of his own heart they say : '* ISTo evil shall come upon you." 18 But who of them has stood in the counsel of Jehovah, to see and hear His Word ? Who of them has marked and heard My Word? 19 Behold a whirlwind of Jehovah,^ a storm of wrath, is gone forth, a rolling hurricane; it shall whirl round the head of the wicked. 20 The wrath of Jehovah will not turn back till He has carried out and performed the thoughts of His heart. At the end of the days ye will understand it perfectly. 2 1 I have not sent their prophets, yet they ran ; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied ! 22 But if they had stood in My counsel, they would make known to the people My words, and bring them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. The impossibility of false prophets escaping detection and punishment is evident. 23 Am I a God only over what is near at hand,^ saith Jehovah, and not, also, a God who sees and reigns afar off .P 24 Can any one hide himself in secret places, so that I shall not see him ? saith Jehovah. Do I nob fill heaven and earth .P says Jehovah. 25 I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy lies in My name, saying, " I have dreamed, I have dreamed." 26 How long will it be in the hearts of the prophets to prophesy lies, and to be prophets of falsehood of their own invention ? ^ 27 They think they will make My people forget My name, through their dream s,^ 1 Jer. xxiii. 15-18. 2 See vol. V. pp. 205, 208. See also Jer. chap. viii. 14. 3 Lit., "heart." ^ Jer. xxiii. 19-22. 5 Jer. xxiii. 23-29. e Heart. 7 There were true prophetic dreams, sent from Jehovah. VOL. VI. F 66 THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. which they tell each to the other, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. 28 Let the prophet who really has a dream from Me, tell it ; let him who has received a word from Me, speak it faith- fully. These dreams of the false prophets are as different from true revelations from Me as straw is from corn, saith Jehovah ! 29 Is not My word like a fire that consumes all such deceptions, and like a hammer that breaks in pieces all who utter them ? ' 30 Therefore, I am even now coming down^ in wrath upon the prophets, saith Jehovah, that steal My word one from the other. 31 Behold, I am even now coming down in wrath on the prophets, saith Jehovah, who use their tongues, and, without authority from Me, repeat the phrase of true prophets.^ 32 Thus saith Jehovah : Behold I am even now coming down in wrath on them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah, and repeat them, and lead astray My people by their lies and by their boasting of com- munications from Me. Yet I did not send or commission them, and they are no good whatever to this people, saith Jehovah. ;^^ And if this people, or one of these false prophets, or base priests, ask you : " What burden^ have you received from Jehovah Num. xii. 6. 1 Sam. xxviii. 6. 1 Kings iii. 5. Job iv. 13; vii. 14; xxxiii. 15. Joel ii. 28. The dreams meant here, are pre- tended dreams, published as sent from Jehovah or from idols, and interpreted by heathen methods. In this case the pretending dreamer and interpreter were to be stoned. Deut. xiii. 2-12. See Lenormant, La Divination, p. 147. ^ Eichhorn. " Let the prophet who has a dream tell it as a dream; and let him who has My word repeat it exactly. What has straw to do among corn ? says Jehovah. Does not My word burn like fire ? Does it not break in pieces the heart as the iron hammer does the rocks ? " 2 Jer. xxiii. 30-40. 3 It is striking to notice how the bitter divisions of the day united the most opposite parties against the old national faith. The aristocracy found themselves supported in their heathen and Egyptian bias by the bulk of the priests and even of the prophets, who as an order were the natural antagonists of the moribund priesthood. * The Hebrew word is Massa. For its meaning, see vol. v. p. 429, also Neil, p. 25. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 67 to-day? " say to them: "What burden have I received to-day? " This: "I will cast you off (as an intolerable burden)," says Jehovah ! ^ 34 And the prophet, the priest, and the people who talk lightly of "The burden of Jehovah," I will punish that man and his house. 35 Ye shall speak thus, each, to liis neighbour, and each to his brother: "What has Jehovah answered? and what has Jehovah said ? " 36 But ye shall no more use the phrase, "Burden of Jehovah," for it shall itself be a burden of guilt to every man who uses it, for ye misuse and pervert the words of the living God, Jehovah of Hosts, our God, of which this phrase is one. 37 You shall say also to the prophet, "What has Jehovah answered thee? and what has Jehovah said?" 38 But if you speak of "The burden of Jehovah," thus saith Jehovah: Because you use this phrase, "The burden of Jehovah," in ridicule of His true prophets, and I have sent to you, saying, "You shall not say, ' The burden of Jehovah,' " 39 I, even I, will take you up as My burden, and cast both you and the city which I gave to you and your fathers, far from My sight, 40 and bring everlasting shame on you, and perpetual undying contempt. The message sent to the king closes v^^ith a parabolic vision, like that seen by the prophet Amos.- The date at which it was first spoken is stated to have been some time after Nebuchadnezzar had carried off King Jehoia- chin and the chief men of the nation, with the carpenters, smiths and other artisans of Jerusalem, as prisoners, to Babylon. The population left in the city fancied they had been spared as better than those so heavily punished ; but Jeremiah tells them that the very reverse was the fact. He saw in spirit, two baskets of figs set before the temple ; ^ one specially good, like the delicate June fruit which anticipated the harvest in August ; ^ the other ^ Or, "Ye are the burden, saith Jehovah." This reading is obtained from another division of the words in the Hebrew, with' out any change of letters. - Amos viii. 1-3. ^ jer. xxiv. 1-3. * Isa. xxviii. 4. Hos. ix. 10. Mic. vii. 1. Nah. iii. 12. 68 THE INVESTMENT OP JEEUSALEM. SO bad as to be uneatable ^ — and he recognised in tlie two a striking picture of the true condition of the kingdom. On the one side, the young king, full of promise, had been led off into captivity with the noblest, bravest, and most useful men of the city. The hope of the future rested on these. On the other hand, there was the weak vassal-king Zedekiah, with the feeble and cor- rupt remnant of the population left behind ; untaught by the terrible lesson of the fall of their brethren, and unteachable. Some of the choicest spirits of the nation were now on the banks of the Chebar — such as Daniel, his three companions, and the prophet Ezekiel — and they would kindle a better life in their fellow-captives. But in Jerusalem there was no such prospect of spiritual revival. The word of Jehovah, that accompanied the vision, ran as follows : — 5 Thus saith Jehovah, ^ the God of Israel : As one looks with pleasure on good fruit, and guards and preserves it, so will I look for their good upon the captives of Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set My eye on them for their good, and will bring them back again to this land, and I will build them up and not destroy them ; I will plant them and not pluok them up. 7 And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am Jehovah; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. 8 And ^ as men throw away bad, uneatable figs, verily, so, says Jehovah, will I treat Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem, and those that remain in this land, and also those dwelling in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them an object of shuddering pity, and give them up to calamity in all kingdoms of the earth ; and will make them a contempt, a ^ The bad figs may have been those of the sycamore, which contain a bitter juice, or they may have been decayed or rotten, Tristram, Nat. Hist, of Bible, p. 399. 2 Jer. xxiv. 4-7. ^ Jer. xxiv. 8-10. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 69 byword, a mockery and the butt of cursing, in all places whither I drive them. lo And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence upon them, till they are wholly consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers. The moral corruption and social anarcby of Jerusalem must have been extreme, to call forth such denunciations from one of its own citizens ; a man not censorious or cynical, but full of tender loyalty to his fellow-country- men. But amidst all this evil there were still some of *' the poor " and " meek '* of the land, who clung to the religion of their fathers, and yearned for the revival of faith in Jehovah and obedience to His law. With them, among the remnant in Judah, lay the future of the Church of God. They were the true Israel, and, as such, Jehovah was mindful of His covenant with their fathers. To sustain them amidst the gloom, around and before them, an assurance of the certain realization of the Divine promises was only what might be expected from the gracious God whom they so faithfully served. Jeremiah, as the centre of this feeble evangelical brotherhood, felt his warmest sympathies drawn out towards them, and gladly turned aside from his terrible condemnations, to announce the future salvation prepared by God for His true people, after they had been purified by exile. The whole chosen race, so far as it returned to its allegiance to Jehovah, would, one day, be restored. They would come back to their own land, and a new spiritual covenant, written, not on tables of stone, but on their hearts, would be made with them, and they would forget their past misery. Jeremiah was, therefore, commanded to write in a book " all the words " which Jehovah thus condescended to communicate for the comfort of His hidden ones ; " For, lo,'' ^ He said, " the days come that ^ Jer. XXX. 1-3. 70 THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. I will bring back again the captivity of My people Israel, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers_, and they shall possess it."" The consolation thus graciously vouchsafed, is thrown, in its introductory sentences, into a dramatic form,^ for greater effect. A future generation is pictured as hearing, from afar, the bitter cry of the exiles, amidst the judgments on the heathen around them, and Jehovah is introduced as ministering words of cheer to them, by a promise of their future deliverance. 5 {The people) We hear the ory of terror and dismay, and, as yet, there is no deHverance ! (The prophet) 6 Ask and see. A man cannot bear a child ; why then such wails, like those of a woman in trouble? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in her pain, and all faces turned pale? 7 {Exiles) Alas, for that day of Jehovah, often predicted! The day of His judgments, is great ; it is a time of distress to Jacob. {Jehovah) But he shall be saved from it. The great theme of the discourse — the deliverance from exile — now begins. 8 In that day, ^ says Jehovah, I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon from off thy neck, 0 Israel, and burst asunder thy bonds, and aliens shall no longer make thee their servant. 9 But Israel shall be the servant of Jehovah, his God, and of David, his king, whom I will raise up to him.^ 10 Therefore, fear thou not, ^ 0 My servant Jacob, saith Jehovah, and be not dismayed, 0 Israel ; for, lo, I will save thee from the 1 Jer. XXX. 4-7. ^ Jer. xxx. 8, 9. ^ The Messiah is spoken of as David in other passages. See Ezek. xxxiv. 23 ; xxxvii. 24. Hos. iii. 5. From this, and similar passages, the Kabbis invented a doctrine of a double Messiah — temporal and spiritual. Buxtorff, Lex., p. 1273. Oehler, in nerzog,Yo\. ix. p. 440. But see Hengstenberg's ChristoL. 2te Auf., p. 471. * Jer. xxx. 10-14. THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 71 far distant land of thy exile, and thy children from the land of captivity, and Jacob shall return, and rest in peace, no one dis- turbiniT him. 1 1 For I am with thee, says Jehovah, to save thee ; for I shall make an utter end of the nations among which I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee ; yet I will chastise thee according to justice, for I cannot leave thee un- punished. 12 For, thus saith Jehovah, thy wound is past healing ; the blow that has struck thee is desperate. 13 No one cares for thy state; thou hast no medicines for thy so^'e, to press it to- getlier or bind it, or any plaster. 14 All thy lovers, with whom thou sinnedst, have forgotten thee; they do not ask after thee; for I have struck thee down with the blow of an enemy, with bitter chastisement, for the multitude of thy transgressions — for thy sins were many. Judah and Jerusalem are now specially addressed. 15 Why criest thou out for thy sufferings?' Because thy punishment is terrible ? I have done these things to thee for the multitude of thy transgressions, for thy sins were matiy. 16 But, because I have pity upon thee, therefore all that devour thee shall themselves be devoured; all thy oppressors, every one of them, shall go into captivity; they that plundered thee shall themselves be spoiled, and all who have robbed thee will I give as a prey to robbers. 17 And I will lay a healing plaster on thy wound, and heal thee of the blows thou hast received, saith Jehovah, because they call thee an " Outcast," — " Zion, whom no man asks after." Jerusalem shall be in favour with God, and shall prosper. 18 Thus saith Jehovah,^ Behold, I will turn again the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and have mercy on his dwelling-places, and Jerusalem shall be rebuilt on its own hill,^ and the palace be 1 Jer. XXX. 15-17. 2 Jer. xxx. 18-22. * The word in the Heb. for "hill" is Ttl. It olteu forms part of the name of a city, us in Telassar, Tliela>sar (ii Kings xix. 12; Isa. xxxvii. 12), Tel Haresha = Tel Harsa, and Tel Melah (Ezra ii. 59 ; Neh. vii. 61), Tel Abib (Ezek. iii. 15). Most eastern cities were built on eminences, to protect them from inundation and against the foe. 72 THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. inhabited by a king in royal state.^ 19 And out of the tents of Jacob and the chambers of the city shall rise thanksgiving, and the voice of them that rejoice, and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished, and I will bring them to honour, and they shall no longer be lightly regarded. 20 Their sons shall flourish as in times of old, and their community ^ be firmly established, and I will punish all that would oppress them. 21 And their king will come forth from their own race, their ruler from the midst of themselves ; they will no more serve the foreigner : and I will bring him near and allow him freely to approach Me, even in the Holy of Holies, to plead for you — a boldness of access permitted to no one else.^ For who is he who would risk his life by ap- proaching Me? 22 Thus will you be My people, and I will be your God. The wicked, however, will be consumed in the flames of God's wrath. 23 Behold there comes a tempest from Jehovah,^ a bursting forth of wrath ; a sweeping hurricane will whirl round the heads of the wicked. 24 The fierce indignation of Jehovah will not turn aside till he has finished and carried out the thought of His heart. At the end of days ye will understand this ! This storm of wrath against the enemies of Israel will at once prove God to be the God of His people, and will bring about the deliverance and reassembling of all its twelve tribes as one nation. 1 At the same time, says Jehovah,^ will I be the God of all the twelve tribes of Israel, and they shall be My people. 2 Thus saith Jehovah, The remnant of the nation which lias escaped from the sword has found grace in the wilderness. Israel is now coming * Lit., " after its manner." 2 Congregation. ^ A promise of the greatness and glory of the Messiah. Not even David had such a privilege. None but the high priest, and he only once a year, could enter the Holy of Holies; but the Messiah, being the very Son of God, and Himself Divine, had freedom of approach to the Father at all times. * Jer. XXX. 23, 24. ^ Jar. xxxi. 1-6. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 73 to its rest !^ 3 It now says in its penitence, " Jehovah appeared from afar— from Zion— unto me." Let Me therefore tell its sons, I have indeed loved thee, Israel, with an everlasting love, there- fore have I continued My lovingkindness to thee. 4 I will, farther build thee up again, and thou sbalt remain prosperous," 0 Virgin of Israel. Thou shalt again ornament thy timbrels,^ and go forth in the dances of them that make merry. 5 Thou shalt yet plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria, and they that plant them shall gather their fruit. 6 For the day is coming when the watchmen on the mountains of Ephraim shall announce the new moons that proclaim the approach of the great yearly feasts, and shall call out—" Up ! let us go up to Mount Zion, to Jehovah, our God! " 7 For thus saith Jehovah i^ Sing for gladness about Jacob ! Sing songs of jubilee about her that was the chief of the nations !^ Sing aloud, and cry to God, " Jehovah, save Thy people ! the remnant of Israel ! " 8 [Then will come His gracious answer] : Behold, I bring them from the land of the North, and gather them from the farthest sides of the earth — the blind and the lame, as well as the strong; the woman with child, and she that is about to bring forth, together. A great community are they as they return ! 9 They will come with weeping and with suppli- cations, as I lead them. I will guide them to streams of water, by a smooth path, on which they will not stumble, for I will be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim shall be my firstborn. 10 Hear the word of Jehovah,^ O ye nations, and tell it to the farthest coasts and islands, and say : " He that scattered Israel will gather him, and will guard him as a shepherd doth his flock." II For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob,^ and ransomed him from the ^ Ewald refers this to the favour shown Israel after its escape from Egypt. Others think it is spoken of the remnant of the tribes who have survived the Assyrian captivity. But Babylon, or Assyria, was a wilderness to the fancy of the Jew, compared with his own land. The explanations of the last clause are nume- rous. I have given what seems to me the best translation. = Heb., " built." ^ Heb., toph ; Arab., duff, or diff; our tambourine. See "tim- brel " and " tabret," in Concordance. 4 Jer. xxxi. 7-9. 6 Amos vi. 1. Ezek. xix. 5. 6 Jer. xxxi. 10-14. 7 The Ten Tribes. 74 THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. hand that was stronger than he, 12 and they will come and sing on the height of Zion, and stream to the blessings of Jehovah, which He shall give them in the fatherland — to the wheat, and to the wine, and to the oil, and to the young sheep and oxen ; and their soul shall be as a garden rich in waters, and they shall not droop or pine away any more. 13 Then shall the virgin enjoy herself in the dance;* young men and old will rejoice together; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and comfort them, and make them glad, after their sorrow. 14 And I will satiate " the priests with fatness,^ and My people will be satisfied with My bounty, saith Jehovah. An exquisite passage now comes, in which the long dead Rachel, the mother of Joseph, and thus the an- cestress of the great tribe of Ephraim, the representative of the Ten Tribes^ is seen risen from the grave and lamenting their loss, at Ramah, the lofty hill on the boundary between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, whence she could look afar over the now desolate home of her northern children. But Jehovah Himself comforts her as she weeps. Let Israel repent of his sins, and he will surely return. 1 5 Thus saith Jehovah : '' A voice is heard in Ramah,' loud cries of sorrow and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps over her children and refuses to be comforted, because they are not. But Jehovah appears to console and cheer her. 16 Refrain thy voice from weeping '^ and thine eyes from tears, ^ The maidens danced by themselves. 2 Lit., " water or refresh." * The number of the finest beasts offered as sacrifices will be very numerous, so that the share of the priests and their families — the wave breast and heave shoulder (Lev. vii. 31-34) — will more than supply them. ^ Jer. xxxi. 15. ^ Now Er Ram, five English miles N. of Jerusalem. It is on the top of a detached hill commanding a wide view to the north. 6 Jer. xxxi. 16-17. THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 75 says the All-merciful; for thou shalt still have a reward of thy motherly sorrow and care— thou guide of the youth of Joseph — thou who gavest thy life to give Benjamin his — thou who didst so yearn for children — thy sons shall come back again from the land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for thy future, saith Jehovah; thy sons shall return to their own borders ! Repentance is needed on the part of Israel^ to secure its deliverance from captivity ; but this is not wanting. 18 I have assuredly heard Ephraim lamenting his sins :^ " Thou hast chastised me," said he. " I received correction like an ox unbroken ; turn me, that I may turn, for Thou, Jehovah, art my God. 19 For after I had turned away from Thee I repented ; and after I came to my right mind I smote on my thigh, for grief at my sin ; I blush and am ashamed that I should bear such reproach for the guilt of my youth." At this confession of sin by Ephraim^ the old love of Jehovah for him rekindles. 20 Is Ephraim, then,^ a dear son to me ? Is he a son I de- lighted to caress ? For, often as I spoke against him, I still thought of him fondly. Therefore, my heart sighs for him; I will surely have mercy on him, saith Jehovah. Preparations for his safe return across the wilderness, from Assyria to Palestine^ are therefore to be made. 21 Set up stones to mark the way;^ raise heaps of stones to point it out : turn thy thoughts to the road thou hast to take : the same road by which thou wast led into captivity : return, 0 Virgin of Israel, return to these thy towns ! 22 How long wilt thou hesitate to take the right way, 0 backsliding daughter ? For Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth ; it is the part of a man — the stronger — to protect and care for the woman ; but thou, the woman — the bride of Jehovah — wilt be allowed to pro- tect Me, by protecting My temple, My worship, and My honour,'* I Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. " Jer. xxxi. 20. 3 jer. xxxi. 21, 22. * See on this explanation, Keil, Jeremiah, pp. 331-2. A great variety of opinions may be read in Rosenmiiller, Scholia, ad loc. "To compass " = to cherish and protect. 76 THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. Judah^ also, shall be restored from captivity. 23 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,^ the God of Israel : They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah, and in its towns, when I bring back their captivity : ** Jehovah bless thee, 0 habitation of righteousness ; thou holy mount ! " ^ 24 And therein will all Judah dwell, with all the population of its towns ; some as hus- bandmen, some going forth with flocks. 25 For I will refresh the weary soul, and satisfy him that languishes. The prophet had seen and heard all this while in a sleep-like trance/ but the joy it gave him broke the spell, and he now awakes and sees things around, as one restored to his normal state. No wonder that he adds, "My sleep was sweet unto me.^' But, ere long, his thoughts fell back to the same train, and the happy future of Judah and Israel, as a nation once more united, rose in vision before him. 27 Behold, the days come ^ (said the heavenly Voice), when I will sow the House of Israel, and the House of Judah, as if they were a fruitful field, with the seed of man and with the seed of cattle. 28 And as I have been wakeful over them, to pluck up and root out, to destroy, and consume, and harm, so will I be wakeful over them to build and to plant, saith Jehovah. There will, then, be no longer the disposition to blame the sins of the fathers and overlook their own, as the cause of all they have suffered in exile. 29 In those days they will no longer say, as ye do constantly now, " The fathers ate sour grapes and the teeth of the sons are set on edge." ^ 30 But every one shall die only for his own sins ; every man who eats sour grapes, his teeth, only, shall be set on edge. A community thus realizing the responsibility of its piembers for their spiritual condition and acts, would ^ Jer. xxxi. 23-25. 2 tj^^ ^^^^ ^j Judah. 8 Jer. xxxi. 26. « Jer. xxxi. 27-30. * Ezek. xviii. 2. See page 21. THE INVESTMENT OP JERUSALEM. 77 necessarily be actuated by a higher motive than the mere wish to honour God by outward service. Grateful for His restoring them to their own land, obedience to Him would be a willing homage of love. A New Covenant, written, not like the former, on tables of stone, but on the "fleshy tables of the heart,^' would, therefore, be made with them by Jehovah. 31 Behold, the days come,^ saith Jehovah, when I shall make a new Covenant with the House of Israel, and with the House of Judah ; 32 not like the Covenant I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand, to lead them out from the land of Egypt, which. My Covenant, they have broken, though I had become their husband,- saifcli Jehovah. 33 But this is the Covenant ^ that I will make with the House of Israel, after those days, saith Jehovah ; I will put ^ my law^ in their inmost parts, and write it on their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 And they will no longer need to teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, "Know Jehovah"; for they shall all know Me, from the least to the greatest, saith Jehovah ; and I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.^ The covenant made at Sinai, written on stone, had been instituted amidst every circumstance of awe, and hence, fear, rather than love, had been associated with its observance. But the New Covenant of the Messianic times, written on the heart, would rest on love; and holy love is, like the soul, immortal. The moral nature » Jer. xxxi. 31, 32. 2 The word in the Heb. means to become their " Lord," or "husband." It is used in the same sense in Gen. xx. 3; Dent, xxi. 13, xxii. 22, xxiv. 1; Isa. Ixii. 4, 5, liv. 1, 5; Jer. iii. 14; Mai. ii. 11. In 1 Chron. iv. 22, and Isa. xxvi. 13, it is rendered "to have dominion over." 3 Jer. xxxi. 33, 34. « Lit., " give." ^ Torah. ^ Gratitude for sin forgiven will lead them to seek to know Jehovah, and will keep them faithful to Him. 78 THE INVESTMENT OE JEEUSALEM. would, in fact, be renewed, as of old the world had been from chaos, and the laws of the new spiritual creation woutd prove as permanent and unchanging as those of the material universe. 35 Thus saith Jehovah, ^ who appointed the sun for light by day ; the ordinance of the moon and stars for light by night ; who throws the sea into a commotion so that its waves roar ; Jehovah of Hosts is His name: 36 If these ordinances fail from before Me, Ancient Sepulchees is the Valley of Hinnom. saith Jehovah, so also will the seed of Israel cease to be a nation, before Me, for ever! 37 Thus saith Jehovah: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth beneath be searched out, I will also reject all the seed of Israel, notwith- standing all that they have done, saith Jehovah. Jerusalem would be rebuilt and flourish in those days. 1 Jer. xxxi. 35-37. THE INVESTMENT OF JERUSALEM. 79 38 Behold the days come, ^ saith Jehovah, that the city Jerusalem will be rebuilt for Jehovah, from the Tower of Hananeel " to the gate of the corner. ^ 39 And the measuring line will go still farther, straight forward, over the hill Gareb,"* and bend towards Goath.5 40 And the whole of Benhinnom, the valley of corpses ^ and ashes," defiled now as the scene of the horrors of Moloch worship,^ and all the space east to the Valley of Kidron, to the corner where the Horse Gate is, at the south-east angle of the wall, will be holy to Jehovah, and shall no more be rooted up or destroyed for ever ! » Jer. xxxi. 38-40. 2 At the north-east of the city wall. Neh. iii. 1. Zech. xiv. 10. ^ At the north-west corner of the town ; north or north-west of the present Jaffa Gate. 2 Kings xiv. 13. 2 Chron. xxvi. 9. Zech. xiv. 10. ^ Gareb = the place of the lepers. An unknown height on the west of the city. ^ An unknown spot on the south-west of the city. The re- stored Jerusalem would include spaces lying outside the old city. It is called in the Talmud " The heifer's pool." ^ Carcases of criminals and of animals were thrown out in the Valley of Hinnora. 7 Part of the valley was set apart for the mingled ashes and fat of the sacrifices, to consume which an " unquenchable fire " was kept always burning. ® 2 Kings xxiii. 10. CHAPTEE V. DUEING THE SIEGE. JEREMIAH was fortunate enougli to preserve his liberty for some time after the siege had begun, but it was in danger from day to day. Nebuchadnezzar's army, including, besides Chaldeans, contingents from every land subject to him/ had full possession of the country outside the gates of Jerusalem, and were besieg- ing not only Jerusalem, but also, at the same time, Lachish and Azekah, fortified towns belonging to Judah, on the Philistine plain. ^ The stubborn tenacity of the capital, however, remained unbroken, and its hope that Egypt would send a force to relieve it was unshaken. Amidst such excitement, to run counter to the popular feeling was dangerous in the extreme, and would have been made an excuse for silence by ordinary men. But Jeremiah knew that resistance was vain, and lost no opportunity of proclaiming this, even to the king in person. Zedekiah had already consulted him, as we have seen, as to the future ; but this did not content the prophet. Seizing opportunities of meeting him, either by penetrating to his chambers in the palace, or when he came abroad, Jeremiah sought, again and again, to warn him of the madness of further resistance. * Jer. xxxiv. 1. ' Jer. xxxiv. 1, 7. DURING THE SIEGE. 81 " Thus saith Jehovali/' said he, on one occasion when he had made his way into the royal presence.^ 2 Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Baby- lon, that he may burn it with fire. 3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand ; and thine eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon and thy mouth will speak with his mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon." 4 Yet, hear the word of Jehovah, 0 Zedekiah, thou king of Judah. Thus says Jehovah respecting thee. Thou shalt not die by the sword. 5 Thou shalt die in peace, and they will burn spices at thy burial,^ as they did at the burial of thy fathers, and they will raise over thee the usual lament, "Ah, lord!" — for I have spoken the word, says Jehovah. One of the forms of op- pression a- gainst which Jeremiah and other prophets constantly de- claimed, was the retention of free-born Hebrews of both sexes, in slavery, contrary to the law. It was illegal to hold any one as a household slave for more than six years, though field slaves, under special circumstances, might be kept as such till the year of Jubilee.* Both classes, however, were to be treated as kindly as if they were hired servants.^ But the rich men of Jerusalem ignored these provisions of the law, 1 Jer. xxxiv. 2-7. 2 Jer. lii. 11 ; xxxii. 4. Ezek. xii. 13. ^ It was usual with other nations to burn aromatic perfumes at the burial or burning of great persons. Pliny, Hist. Nat, xii. 18. The Assyrians seem to have in some cases burned the bodies of the dead, but the Hebrews buried them. * Exod. xxi. 2. Dent. xv. 12, * Jer. xxv. 39-55. VOL. VI. Q AsSTBIAir FUXEBAL TTbNS 70B THE ASHBS OF THE DSAD. From Gosse's Assyria. 82 DUEING THE SIEGE. aud held numbers of household servants in perpetual slavery. The imminent danger of the city now, how- ever, for the moment, roused the conscience of the king in favour of these helpless victims. Jeremiah's words had sunk into his heart, and he resolved to take one step, at least, in the right direction, by setting all the Hebrew slaves in Jerusalem free, apparently without regard to the length of time they had served. The need of all possible help in the defence may, perhaps, have been, in part, a consideration, and also, the prudent wish to avert disaffection among the oppressed, when hearty union was so imperative. Amidst the terrors of the siege, therefore, a great assembly of the citizens was held in the temple,^ and acquiescence in a decree of emancipation wrung from all slaveholders ; their formal assent to this reform being solemnly confirmed by a covenant ratified by the usual sacrifices.^ The decree of enfranchisement was then published, and, even amidst the perils of the hour, the great act of justice spread a momentary gladness through all bosoms.^ But reforms carried in a paroxysm of excitement are apt to be short lived. News reached the Chaldeans, very soon after, that an Egyptian army, destined for the relief of Jerusalem, had invaded the south of Palestine,* thus creating a danger to the besiegers which forced them to abandon the investment of the city for a time, and march against the new foe. To lead a large force down the steep and narrow defiles, from the table land to the coast plains, was no easy matter, and secured for the capital a respite of at least two or three months. Hopes forthwith ran high among the citizens, that the disappearance of their assailants was final ; the victory of Pharaoh Hophra * Jer. xxxiv. 15. " Jer. xxxiv. 18. 3 Jer. xxxiv. 8-10. * Jer. xxxvii. 5. DURING THE SIEGE. 83 being confidently assumed. But he was soon driven back to Egypt ; if, indeed, as some accounts say, he did not retire at once without fighting, on the approach of the Chaldeans. The interval of fancied security was ruinous to Jeru- salem. The slaves so lately set at liberty were once more seized, and deprived of their brief freedom.^ Vio- lence reigned as cruelly as in the worst days of the past. The wildest agitation prevailed. Even a semblance of order could only be maintained by the clubs and spears of the retainers of the slave-holding lords. Jerusalem was rent by the bitterest of all feuds, the struggle of a despairing proletariat for its personal liberty. Amidst this fierce uproar and commotion, the voice of Jeremiah, fearless, as always, in defence of the rights of the poor against the injustice of the rich and privileged classes, was heard denouncing the oppressor, and sympathizing with the downtrodden. 13 Thus saith Jehovah,^ the God of Israel, — cried the noble tribune of the people, — I made a Covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the House of Slaves, saying: 14 At the end of seven years,^ ye shall set free, every man. bis brother Hebrew, who has sold himself to thee ; he shall !?erve thee six years, and then thou shalt let him go free. But your fathers hearkened not to Me, neither inclined their ear. 15 Ye, however, changing this recently, did what was right in My sight; proclaiming liberty, ^ Jer. xxxiv. 11. . * Jer. xxxiv. 12-16. 3 At the end of six years. The first and last dates were both reckoned by the Hebrews. Thus the Jubilee was, strictly speaking, the 49th year, nob the 50th. So also Circumcision, which was said to be on the eighth day, was, by our way of reck- oning, on the seventh; and our Lord's Kesurrectiou, which by the Jewish counting was to take place on the third day, was by ours to be on the second. 84 DURING THE SIEGE. every man, to his neiglabour ; and made a Covenant to this effect before Me, in the House which is called by My name. i6 But ye have now changed again, and have polluted My name, and have taken back every one his man slave and every one his woman slave, whom he had set free of his own will, and have forced them once more into bondage. 17 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah,^ since ye have not hearkened to Me, by keeping true to your proclamation of liberty to your brothers and neighbours ; behold, I now proclaim liberty to you, saith Jehovah; liberty to the sword, the pestilence, and the famine, to ravage you ; and I give you up to be a shuddering to all the kingdoms of the earth ! 18 And I will make the men who have broken my Covenant given of old, and have not kept this present one which they but as yesterday swore before Me, like the calf which they cut in two, and between the pieces of which they passed," when these Covenants were made. 19 The princes of Judah and of Jerusalem, the courtiers and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the pieces of the calf, 20 I will give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and their dead bodies shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. 21 And Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of the array of the king of Babylon, which has for the time withdrawn from Jerusalem. 22 Behold, I will command, saith Jehovah, and bring them back to this city, to fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the towns of Judah a desolation, without an inhabitant ! The relief enjoyed by the temporary retirement of the Chaldeans from the siege, however misleading to others as to the final issue of the struggle^ did not for a moment change the fixed convictions of Jeremiah. Divinely illuminated, he knew that Egypt would be defeated and ultimately crushed by Nebuchadnezzar, and this he sought to get his fellow-citizens to believe, that they might save at least their lives and the town, by timely submission to the Chaldeans. 1 Jer. xxxiv. 17-22. ^ Gen. xv. 10. DURING THE SIEGE. 85 The word of Jehovah^ he announced, had come to him, 14 Declare ye in Egypt, publish it in Migdol,^ make it known in Noph and Tahpanhes ! - Say : Stand forth and prepare thyself, for the sword has devoured the nations round about you. 15 Why is thy Mighty One overthrown ? ^ He could not stand, for Jehovah has cast him down. 16 He causes many to fall; yea, one falls on the other; the bands of the mercenary troops say : " Up ! let us return to our own people, to the land of our birth, from the exterminating sword." 17 They call Pharaoh,'' the king of Egypt, 1 Jer. xlvi. 13-19. 2 Migdol, or Magdolon (a military " watch tower "), was twelve miles from Pelusium, or Avaris, the north-east frontier town of Egypt. It lay S.W. from Avaris on the only road. Tahpanhes (see vol. V. p. 146), lay eight or ten miles fiirther to the S.E., on the same road. Noph, contracted from Menoph, is Memphis, the ancient capital of Lower Egypt. Its ruins lie south of the present Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. See vol. ii. pp. 13-16. See also Brugsch's Map. 3 The adjective translated in the A. V. "valiant" is plural, but the verb and the pronouns in the clause are singular. It has hence been thought that the adjective, also, should be singular; the only change needed to make it so being the omission of the letter Yod, the smallest in the Hebrew alphabet, which may have been inserted by a copyist to suit the plural verb, etc. The Septuagint, treating it as singular, refers it to the sacred ox Khaph— Apis or Hapi — the supreme god of Memphis, translating the phrase, "Why has Apis, thy chosen one, fled? " But other towns besides Memphis are named, and Apis was worshipped in Memphis alone. He was indeed "The Mighty One" of that city; jnst as Jehovah was " The Mighty One of Israel." The plural of the adjective, it may be added, is used of strong oxen, but the singular never stands for an ox. On the whole, the singular seems likely to be correct, and may be applied either to the king of Egypt or to the god Apis, as is thought best by the reader. Ewald translates the passage " Thy Ox is carried off." * The Sept., Syriac and Yulgate, by the change of the vowel in the Hebrew, read " the name of " for " these." 86 DURING THE SIEGE. " a ruined man " ; for he has let his season of grace pass away ! i8 As I live, says the King, whose name is Jehovah of Hosts: Verily, as a Tabor among the mountains and a Carmel on the Sea, will the invading destroyer come.^ 19 Make ready thy packing, in preparation for being carried off captive, ye citizens of Egypt; for Noph shall be waste and desolate, without an inhabitant. 20 EgypL^ is like a wondrously fair heifer, but a deadly gadfly* comes out of the north to destroy her ! 2 1 Her foreign hired troops also, in her midst, men like fatted bullocks, even they turn their backs and flee together, and will not face the foe ; for the day of their destruction has come on them ; the time of their punish- ment. 22 The voice of Egypt, bowed and humbled to the dust, ia like the rustle of a serpent gliding off in alarm through the fallen leaves of a wood ; for her enemies march against her in strength, and come with axes against her, like men that hew down trees; 23 and they will hew down her forest,^ saith Jehovah, for their number is countless, they are more than the locusts, they are innumerable. 24 The daughter of Egypt is put to shame, she is given into the hand of the people of the North. 25 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I will visit Amon, the god of No — that is, Thebes ^ — and Pharaoh, and Egypt ; its gods and its kings ; the Pharaoh and those who trust in him ; 26 and I will give them into the hand of their deadly foe, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Yet, afterwards, it will flourish ^ as in the days of old, saith Jehovah. 27 But fear not thou, 0 my servant Jacob,^ and be not dismayed 0 Israel ! For, behold, I will deliver thee from the far-off land, ^ His awful might will rise high over that of all around him, as Tabor and Carmel above the landscape at their feet. Tabor is 1,805 feet above the sea level, 1,350 feet above the plain below. Carmel sinks into the Mediterranean in a steep cliff more than 500 feet in height. Bohinson. 2 Lit., " daughter." ^ jer. slvi. 20-26. * Miililait- und Volch. Gesenius, Sup2J. to Thes., p. 111. Ewald translates it " a monster." Graf and others, as in the text. 5 Jer. xxi. 14. Isa. x. 18, 33. ^ See vol. ii. p. 14 7 Lit. " be inhabited." « Jer. xlvi. 27, 28. DURING THE SIEGE. 87 and thy seed from the land of its captivity, and Jacob shall return, and be at rest and secure, no one disturbing him. 28 Fear not thou, 0 Jacob, My servant, says Jehovah; for I am with thee; for 1 will make an utter end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make an utter end of thee, but only chasten thee according to right, and not leave thee unpunished. Intercourse between Jerusalem and the exiles on the Chebar was still swift and constant in these years, and false hopes of the triumph of Egypt, cherished among them as much as in Palestine, needed no less to be discouraged. Hence, on the twelfth day of Tebet,^ nearly our January, in the year 588, Ezekiel addressed his fellow- captives in words very similar to those of Jeremiah in the far-off capital. I The word of Jehovah has come to me^ (cried he), saying: 2 Set thy face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak, and say : Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I come against thee, 0 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, thou great crocodile, lying in the midst of the canals of the Nile, who hast said, " My Nile stream is my own ; I made it what it is for myself, by canals, dams, sluices, and reservoirs." 4 But I will put a ring in thy jaws, and will make the fish of thy streams — that is, the people of thy laud — cleave to thy scales, and I will drag thee up out of the midst of thy canals, and all the fish in them will stick to thy scales, 5 And I will throw thee out into the desert, thee and all the fish of thy canals ; thou wilt fall on the open ground; thou shalt not be lifted up nor buried; for I give thee for meat to the beasts of the earth and the fowls of heaven. 6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, because they are a staff of brittle reed to the House of Israel. 7 When its sons take hold of thee with the hand thou snappest across, and tearesb off their whole shoulder ; when they lean on thee thou breakest so that their whole body shakes. 8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I bring on * Lit., in the 10th moon ; the 12th day of the moon. 2 Ezek. xxix. 1-12 88 DUPJNG THE SIEGE. thee, 0 Egypt, the sword, and destroy from thee man and beast. 9 And the land of Egypt will be made waste and desert, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. Because Pharaoh has said, " The Nile stream is mine, and I have made it," lo behold, for this, I am against thee, and against thy canals, and. I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desert, from Migdol on the farthest north-east, to Syene on the farthest south, that is, to the borders of Ethiopia. No foot of man or of cattle will pass through it, nor vp^ill it be inhabited for forty years. 1 1 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation above all desolate lands, and her towns will be a desolation above all desolate towns for forty years ; and I will scatter the Egyp- tians among the nations, and disperse them through the lands. 13 Yet,^ thus says the Lord Jehovah : At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered. 14 And I will bring back the captives of Egypt, and will restore them to the land of Pathros," the land of their birth, and there they shall be a weak kingdom. 15 It will be the weakest of kingdoms, nor will it exalt itself any more above the nations ; for I will make them weak, that they may no more rule over the nations. 16 And Egypt will no longer be the trust of the House of Israel, bringing their sin in remembrance before God by their thus turning away from Him to look to them. And they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah. Three months later/ when the siege of Jerusalem was near the end of its fifteenth month,* perhaps after the receipt, from Palestine, of news that Pharaoh^ s attempted relief had been defeated, Ezekiel once more addressed the exiles on the engrossing subject of the prospects of future help to Judah from the Nile. The word of Jehovah, he tells us, came to him saying, — 21 Son of man! I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of 1 Ezek. xxix. 13-16. 2 Egypt. Petores = South-country, Upper Egypt ; the Thebais of the Greeks and Romans. 3 Ezek. XXX. 20-26. * See date in Ezek. xxiv. 1, 2; comp. with that in Ezek. xxx. 20. DURING THE SIEGE. 89 Egypt, and, lo, ib has not yet been set,^ so that salves might be applied to it, or a bandage wrapped round it, to make it strong to hold the sword again. 22 Therefore, thus says the Lord Jeho- vah: Behold, I will come to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and break both his arms — the strong one and that which has already been broken— and will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and dis- perse them through the countries.^ 24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put My sword into his hand, and will break the arms of Pharaoh, so that he shall groan before him like a deadly wounded man. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I give My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, that he may stretch it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. The excitement in Babylonia as tlie siege of Jerusalem drew near its termination^ must have been intense, and the increasing certainty that it would result in the utter destruction of the Jewish State,, as the prophets had foretold, must have intensified the public feeling against Egypt, as the temptress that had led it to its ruin. It is not, therefore, matter of surprise that Ezekiel turned again to the subject,^ in the very last days of the Holy City, and denounced the Pharaoh afresh. Most of this utterance, however, has already been given,* and need not be repeated. The glory of Assyria had been like that of the grandest cedar of Lebanon, exciting the envy of all the trees, even of Eden. Yet it had fallen. Egypt, therefore, which had no such lordliness of which to boast, could not hope to escape God^s judgments. The Pharaoh ^ Lit., " bound." - This was done to the vast crowds of prisoners taken by Nebuchadnezzar. 3 Ezek. xxxi. 1-18. * See vol. v. p. 332, 90 DURING THE SIEGE. iilso would be cast down to tlie trees of Eden — the great ones of Assyria — in the Underworld ; he would lie in the midst of the uncircumcised — that is, the godless heathen — who had been slain with the sword. This, adds Ezekiel, is the fate of Pharaoh and all his multitude : so says the Lord Jehovah. The raising of the siege, as has been said, had filled the citizens with new hopes of ultimate deliverance, for men cling to their cherished dreams in the face of every improbability. All classes trusted that the storm had passed over, and that the predictions of Jeremiah would remain unf alfilled. Even religious feeling, in a dull and imperfect way, was revived. Jehovah, the national God, must be consulted. His prophet must be asked to inter- cede with Him for the city. He would perhaps hear so faithful a servant. Two dignitaries therefore, Jehucal or Jucal,^ apparently one of the princes of Judah, but a bitter enemy of Jeremiah, even to the length of wishing to kill him," and Zephaniah, the Sagan or second priest, who, as commandant of the temple, had been appealed to from Babylon to punish the prophet,^ and had once be- fore been sent to him by Zedekiah,^ waited on the seer, as a new deputation from the palace, to ask him, in the name of the king, to pray for his fellow-citizens. But, as might have been anticipated, the mission was a failure. Intercession with God was not to be bought either by threats or cajoling. Humble repentance on the part of the king and his people alone could secure it, and this was wanting. Incorruptible amidst a degenerate community, the prophet answered the king's messengers as the spokesman of a higher than their master. * Jer. xxxviii. 1. ^ Jer. xxxviii. 4. » Jer. xxix. 25, 26. * Jer. xxi. 1. DURING THE SIEGE. 91 7 Thus saith Jeliovab^ the God of Israel (said he to thern): Speak thus to the kiug of Jiidah, that sent you to enquire of Me. Be- hold, the army of Pharaoh which has marched to relieve you, shall return to Egypt, their own land. 8 And the Chaldeans will come back, and fight against this city and take it, and burn it with fire. 9 Thus saith Jehovah : ^ Do not deceive yourselves, thinking that the Chaldeans are finally gone, for they will not go. lo For if ye should smite the whole army of the Chaldeans which fights against you, and only some wounded men remained of them, even these would stand up, every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. With this dismal message, the courtiers were forced to be contented, but it roused to the uttermost their hostihty to the prophet, and speedily led to active mea- sures against him. Availing himself of the temporary withdrawal of the besieging army,^ he had resolved to go out to his native village, Anathoth, about four miles to the north,* apparently to secure his share of the tithes and produce of the Levitical glebe of the village, due to him as one of its priests ; the distribution being made, it would seem, in pubHc, at stated times.^ Knowing that the Chaldeans would return, it was imperative that he should obtain the means of subsistence, to take back into the city, so soon to be beleaguered afresh.^ A pretext » Jer. xxxvii. 6-8. 2 jgr. xxxvii. 9-11. 3 jgr. xxxvii. 11-15. * Did. of the Bible. ^ " In the midst of the people," A.V. ^ This is the best explanation of this verse (Jer. xxxvii. 12). Some think he went to claim a portion of land, but this seems a matter not likely to trouble him at such a time. The words translated " to separate himself," lit. mean " to take his por- tion." Hitzig thinks it was a Sabbath year, during which nothing had been sown, and that Jeremiah went out to claim his strip of ground by seeing that the boundary stones were right, before the soil was broken up for a new crop. The prophet's answer is lit., " It is a lie ! I am not deserting," etc. 92 DURING THE SIEGE. for violence towards one so unpopular was eagerly wished, and this supplied it. No sooner, therefore, did he reach the gate on the north of the city, known as that of Benjamin or Ephraim,^ from leading to the ter- ritory of these tribes, than the officer in charge of it arrested him, as intending to desert to the Chaldeans — though these were now away on their march against Pharaoh Hophra. In vain did Jeremiah repudiate this accusation with Oriental bluntness, though it was ridicu- lous on its very face : he was led off at once to the princes or privy council. These, unfortunately, were no longer the same as had befriended him so warmly under Jehoiakim.^ Thei/ had probably been carried off to Babylon with Jeconiah.^ From the present officials, whom he had compared to rotten figs,* he could expect no favour. Glad to see their enemy caught at last, they broke out into a storm of rage when he appeared, and summarily ordered him to receive forty strokes save one, of the stick,^ a terrible punishment, and then to be thrust into an underground dungeon in the house of one of their number, Jonathan the scribe, perhaps their secretary. How long the prophet lay in this " house of the pit,^' or underground '^ vault,^' ^ is not known. It is probable that the house with which it was connected stood in the temple precincts, or near the palace on its south side. If so, one of the countless hidden arches, by which the ^ Jer. xxxviii. 7. Zech. xiv. 10. 2 Kings xiv. 13. Neh. viii. 16. 2 Jer. xxvi. 16 ; xxxvi. 19. * Jer. xxiv. 1 ; xxix. 2. * Jer. xxiv. ^ The text says " smote him." Forty stripes were the legal maximum of a public scourging (Deut. xxv. 3). But only thirty- nine were given, for fear of exceeding the lawful number. 6 Jer. xxxvii. 16-21. DURING THE SIEGE. 93 surface was raised to a level along the rough sides of Mount Moriah, may have been his prison; for the whole of the plateau of both temple and palace is honeycombed with a series of vaults and cisterns, one of the former extending 150 feet from north to south. ^ But wherever the dungeon was, the sufferings of the prophet were intense from cold or neglect, or both ; so in- tense, indeed, that he felt himself sinking under them.- It must have been with no common delight therefore that, at last, he received an order brought to him from the king, to come secretly to the palace, and cheer the monarch's despair, if he possibly could, by some words of comfort from Jehovah. Virtually powerless in the hands of his court, the phantom ruler dared not consult him openly. Weak and irresolute, he could not brave its anger by acting, even in so small a matter, as became his office. Most men, after such an imprison- ment, would have been glad to give as favourable an answer as they could. But no personal consideration weighed with the prophet. Brought face to face, in some private chamber, with the man who held his life or death in his hands, he calmly told him : " There is a word from Jehovah, for He has said. Thou, Zedekiah, shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Baby- lon.^' Then, seizing the opportunity of being in the presence, he went on, " In what have I sinned against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that thoQ shouldst put me in prison ? Where are thy prophets who told thee that the king of Babylon would not come against thee, or against this land? Bring them hither that they may justify their lying predictions? Therefore since I, not they, have pro- ' ^ Captain Warren. Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 17. * Jer. xxxvii. 20. 94 DURING THE SIEGE. phesied truly, hear me, my lord king, and let ray en- treaty before thee, I pray thee, be granted ; and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there/' Coming at such a time, when the awful dignity of his office surrounded the petitioner, this request could not be refused. Orders were, therefore, issued to transfer him from the dungeon he so much feared, to the court of the guard at the palace, and to give him a piece of bread each day, from the Baker's Street,^ as long as any was left in the city. Fear of the nobles, and perhaps of the people, might prevent his being set free, but his detention should henceforth be at least less painful than hitherto. The comparative liberty of the prophet brought him, however, into fresh danger.^ Chained, it may be, to the wall of the court, he had free intercourse with the soldiers and people,^ and as nothing would induce him to keep silent as to the issue of the siege, his words spread far and near. That their enemy should thus be more influential than ever, infuriated the nobles of the council.^ It was reported to some of them, among others to Jucal, who had recently visited the prophet from the king, and Pashur,^ the son of Malchiah, who had been ^ The bread was made in round pieces, about eight inches across, and an inch thick, and three of these were required for a meal (Luke xi. 5). One was, therefore, barely enough to support life (1 Sam. ii. 36). Public bakers are mentioned in Hosea vii. 4, 6. As with other trades in the East, bakers lived in one street in Jerusalem. We read of the *' Tower of the Ovens," Neh. iii. 11 ; xii. 38 (furnaces A.V.). 2 Jer. xxxviii. 1-3. s Jqj.^ xxxviii. 1, 32 ; viii. 12. * Jer. xxxviii. 1. ^ Jucal and Pashur were confidential officers of the king. Jer. xxi. 1 ; xxxvii. 3. Of Shephatiah we know nothing. Gedaliah was perhaps a son of that Pashur who put Jeremiah in the stocks. Jer. xx. 1, 2. DURING THE SIEGE. 95 one of the first deputation to him from Zedekiah/ that he had said, " Tlius saith Jehovah, He who remains in this town will die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; but he that goes out to the Chaldeans shall live ; he will have his life for his share of the spoil, and shall not die. Thus saith Jehovah, This town shall, assuredly, be given into the hand of the army of the king of BabyloD, and will be taken by them/' The resolution of the council was speedily formed.^ Going to the king, they demanded that the prophet should be put to death, since his words were dispiriting the fighting men left in the town, and the people at large. He was a traitor, they maintained, seeking the hurt of the city. Zedekiah might have reminded them that no blame could attach to the prophet, since he only repeated words put in his mouth by God Himself ; words which he was bound to deliver. But to play the man was beyond him. Cowed by their bearing, he at once gave way, telling them that Jeremiah was in their hands, since they ruled, not he. Thus authorized, they ordered their victim to be seized forthwith and put into the underground rain-cistern of Malchiah, a member of the royal family, in the court of the guard, where he then was. Tying cords round him, therefore, he was let down, through the funnel-shaped mouth,^ into this hideous dungeon. Fortunately, there was no water in it ; but the bottom was covered with deep mud, into which the prophet sank. It was clear that his life was to be taken, with every aggravation of previous misery ; for the cold and wet must soon have killed him, had not help been at hand. Among the officials * of the palace was a eunuch from the * Jer. xxi. 1. • Jer. xxxviii. 5, 6. » See vol. i. p. 449; vol. iii. p. 303. * Jer. xxxviii. 7-13. 96 DURING THE SIEGE. heart of Africa/ apparently the keeper of the royal harem, whose title only — Ebed Melech, ''the king's slave/' — has been preserved. News of the prophet's treatment having reached him, he hurried to Zedekiah, who, at the moment, was engaged on some public duty in the vacant space inside the North or Benjamin Gate, and told him what had happened, boldly denouncing it, and adding that the sufferer would die of hunger in the cistern, since there was now no more bread in the town. " Take thirty men with you,'' replied the king, with unwonted decision, '' to guard you in the task, and get him out of the cistern before he die.'' As quickly as possible the kindly eunuch was at the mouth of the loathsome prison, to cheer the prophet by announcing his deliverance. Ropes passed down, with rags to put under the armpits, to prevent the strain from chafing them, soon did the rest, and Jeremiah once more saw the light and took his old place in the court of the guard. The spasmodic vigour of Zedekiah in this incident was touching. The want of moral courage alone, had, apparently, brought him into all his trouble. Baulked and overridden by the Egyptian party, he had wanted strength of mind to turn against them and free himself. He had sub- mitted to break his oath to Nebuchadnezzar, and make an alliance with Egypt, against his own convictions, and he could not act decisively even now, though his life was in the balance. Jeremiah saw his position exactly. A mere puppet in the hands of his council, he had only to flee to the Chaldean camp, and tell the truth, and it would be recognised, to his personal acquittal. The guilt of the revolt would at once be shifted to the right shoulders, those of the imperious Egyptian faction, who now in effect reigned. Zedekiah, unlike them, respected Jeremiah * Negro eunuchs are still very common in the East. DURING THE SIEGE. 97 as a true prophet, and was not without reverence towards Jehovah. But he had no force of character. Eager to consult the prophet, he had not courage to act on his advice when given. A proof of this was soon shown. ^ With a town now reduced to famine and even cannibal- ism,2 and decimated by the plague ; the houses full of the sick and wounded ; bloody fights between contending parties, as to surrendering or holding out, crowding the streets with fresh horrors ; the roar of the siege night and day filling the air ; Zedekiah was fain once more to seek the prophet as one whom he held to be in special relations to Jehovah. But he could only venture to see him privately.^ A covered passage leading from the palace to the temple* afforded the opportunity, and thither, where no one could witness the interview, the pro- phet was brought. Stout-hearted in words, Zedekiah, now while no one saw or heard, would have nothing hidden from him. Jeremiah might speak out fearlessly the whole truth. But the terrors of the recent past, and his knowledge of the king^s fickleness and effeminacy, had made him also cautious. " If I tell you all that God has said, will you not kill me ? '^ replied he. " And is it not the case, that even if I do counsel you, you will not hear me ? '' But Zedekiah, in mortal anxiety, was ready to give any assurances. He swore, " by the life of Jehovah, who created our life in us,'' that he would neither him- self kill him, nor deliver him up to the men who sought his life. Thus assured. Jeremiah repeated what he had so often said, that if Zedekiah gave himself up to the Chaldeans, he would save his life, and that of his house, and Jerusalem would not be burned ; while, if he did not, 1 Jer. xxxviii. 14-19. ^ Lam. iv. 10. ^ j^j. xxxvii. 17. ^ The " third entry" (Jer. xxxviii. 14) seems to have been such a passage. VOL. VI. H 98 DURING THE SIEGE. the city would be destroyed and he himself would fall into the hands of the enemy. He took care, however, not to say that the '' princes " who had stirred up the revolt would in any case escape. But the " I will and I will not " of moral weakness held the doomed man like a spell. ^ He was afraid, he said, that the Chaldeans would hand him over to the Jewish deserters in their camp, and that these would maltreat him. ''They will not deliver you up to them,^' replied Jeremiah. " Obey, I beseech you, the voice of Jehovah, which I speak to you, and it will be well with you, and your soul will live. But if you refuse to go out of Jerusalem and give yourself up to the Chaldeans — this is the word that Jehovah has revealed to me. Behold, all the women of the harem that are left in your palace — wives, concubines, and attendants — shall be brought out as prisoners to the generals ^ of the king of Babylon, and they will mock your weakness, singing — " ' Your friends, 0 king Zedekiah,— the court party— have led you astray And have made a puppet of you : ^ Your feet sank in the slough into which they had led you, And now, instead of helping you, they draw back, And leave you to get out as you best can.' " Thus * they will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans, and you, yourself, will not escape out of their hands ; you will be captured by the king of Babylon, and your refusal to obey God's voice will cause this city to be burned with fire.'' The fate of the weakling hung in the balance,^ but his irresolution and cowardice weighed down the scale 1 Jer. xxxviii. 19-22. 2 Princes. ^ Overpowered you. * Jer. xxxviii. 23. ^ Jer. xxxviii. 24-28. DUEING THE SIEGE. y^ against him. Fear of the tyrannical oligarchy un- manned him. They must on no account know that he had spoken to the prophet ; nothing that had been said between the two must be repeated. He had, moreover, the meanness to draw back from his oath, so far as to say that it would be kept only if perfect secrecy were main- tained, and he even stooped to ask Jeremiah to equivo- cate. Should the princes, hearing of the interview, threaten him with death if he did not tell what had passed at it, he was to answer, that he had asked not to be sent back to the prison in Jonathan's house. No doubt this favour had been requested, else Jeremiah would not have said so, yet it was by no means the whole truth. But Jeremiah felt himself free to act on the king's recommendation. He was not bound to tell his mortal enemies everything, and he did not do so. When, therefore, they came, he had the adroitness to put them off with this answer, and was left without further annoyance, a prisoner in the court of the guard, till the city was taken. While these events were passing, the Chaldean army had returned and recommenced the siege ; Pharaoh. Hophra having been driven back.^ But though the prophet knew that the city must fall, he abated nothing of his calm assurance that it would hereafter rise from its ashes, and that Judah would once more flourish. He felt that his race was the chosen people of God, and that the promise of the Messiah implied such a restora- tion. The expected golden age might, indeed, be long delayed, but Jehovah had promised it, and that was enough. An opportunity for showing this confidence, so well- fitted to cheer true followers of the ancient religion, * Jer. xxxii. 1-5 100 DUEING THE SIEGE. strangely offered itself while the immediate prospects of the State were sinking to the lowest. A cousin of Jeremiah, Hanameel/ son of Shallum, the prophet's uncle, a priest like himself, had a plot of ground in the neighbourhood of Anathoth,^ which he wished to sell. Jewish law, however, prohibited free sale, and required that ground in the market should be offered to the next of kin, that it might still remain in the family.^ The lands strictly belonging to the tribe of Levi could not be sold, as they were held in common,* but Hananeel may have inherited this piece through his mother,^ and having no children,^ may thus have been free to dispose of it, like Barnabas the Levite, in later times.''' Jeremiah being the next heir, and as such holding also the right of redemption in the Jubilee year,^ had the ground from any cause been sold to a third party, Hanameel naturally came to him, to offer him the option of purchase. We do not know why he wished to sell, but the darkness of the times was reason enough. His proposal was at once recognised by the prophet as in accordance with a Divine pre-intimation received before- hand, and a bargain was forthwith struck. The price was small according to our notions — only seventeen shekels^ — about two guineas — but the peculiarities of 1 Jer. xxxii. 6-15. 2 It must have been within 2,000 cubits of the village. Num. XXXV. 6. 3 Lev. XXV. 24, 25 ; Enth iv. 6. Keil, Bih. Archceol, p. 208. 4 Lev. XXV. 34. See Grotii, Annot. on Jos., 24, 33. 5 Num. xxvi. 8. ^ This is implied. 7 Acts iv. 37. « Lev. xxv. 23-28. 3 In the margin the Heb. is correctly translated " seven shekels and ten pieces of silver," a form of expression which has led to the idea that the seven shekels were golden. This, however, is a DURING THE SIEGE. 101 the Jewish land laws, and possibly the pressure of the times, may have affected its value. Two copies of a deed were duly written, and witnesses having been called, the money was weighed out in the scales, as is still the custom in the East. One deed having been left ^ open for reference, and the other carefully sealed up, both were handed to Baruch, the constant friend of the prophet, before Hanameel and the witnesses who had signed the documents, and of all the Jews who sat as prisoners in the court of the guard, with the request that they should be put into an earthen vessel for pre- servation, for " houses and lands and vineyards shall one day be again bought in the land.'^ Jehovah had said it. The whole transaction was striking, at such a time. We extol the patriotism of the Roman, who bought at its full price the land on which HannibaFs camp was pitched, outside the gates of Rome,^ but it was even nobler, in the son of a feeble race like the Jews, to buy a field at the moment in the hands of a mighty power like Babylon, knowing, as he did, that before the purchase could be of value, his people must expiate their sins by captivity for two generations in a far distant land. That he should have acted thus derives an additional moral grandeur, as an act of passive obedience to Divine command, in the face of overwhelming perplexity as to the possible realization of the hopes it implied. Jeremiah knew that Jerusalem would hereafter rise from its ashes, mere conjecture. We do not know the size of the piece of ground, which may have been very small, and it is to be re- membered that the purchase was, in reality, only that of its crops, till the next year of Jubilee, which may have been not far off. Besides, silver was very much more valuable then than now, Araunah's floor was bought for 50 shekels. 2 Sam. xxiv. 24. ^ Liv., xxvi. 11. Florus, ii. 6. 102 BUEING THE SIEGE. and Judah again be peopled, because God had said it ; but to reconcile this with the further knowledge that the city, and even the temple, would, within a short time, be burned to the ground, and the population of the whole land be carried off to Babylon, was beyond his powers. Under such circumstances he betook himself, as godly men have done in all ages, to Him who alone could make darkness light. Prayer, to him, as to us, was the natural language of the earthly child to his Heavenly Father. When, therefore, he had delivered to Baruch the two title-deeds, he sought relief to his soul in its difficulties by asking light from God.^ Bowing low, it may be before all, in the court of the guard, fettered as he was, he breathed out to Jehovah the deep cry of his heart ; speaking, we may fancy, like Hannah, in his soul only; the lips moving, but no audible words escaping them. 17 O Thou, Lord Jehovah I^ Behold, Thou hast made heaven and earth by Thy great power and Thine outstretched arm ; nothing is too hard for Thee! 18 Thou showest loving kindness to thousands, and payest back the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them : ^ 19 Thou great and mighty God, Jehovah of Hosts is Thy name. Great in counsel, and mighty in deeds ; whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways and accord- ing to the fruit of his doings ! 20 Thou didst signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and doest them even to this day, both in Israel and to men at large, and hast made Thyself, even now, a name ! 21 And Thou leddest forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, and a strong hand, and a stretched out arm, and with great terror to their enemies ; 22 and 1 Jar. xxxii. 7-16. 2 jer. xxxii. 17-25. 3 The language is borrowed from the custom of pouring grain or the like into the lifted up fold of the outer garment, which is made, as it were, into a bag for the time. Euth iii. 15. Prov. xvii. 23. Num. xi. 12. Isa. xl. 11 ; Ixv. 6, 7. Luke vi. 38. DURING THE SIEGE. 103 gavost them this land, which Thou hadst sworn to their fathers to give them — a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 And they came in, and took possession of it ; but they obeyed not Thy voice, neither walked in Thy law : ^ they have done nothing of all that Thou commandest them to do — therefore Thou hast let all this evil come upon them. 24 Behold ! the mounds ^ of the enemy reach to the town, to take it ; the city is given, by sword, famine, and pestilence, into the hands of the Chaldeans who besiege it, and what Thou hast .said is come to pass : Thou, Thyself, seest it ! 25 Yet Thou hast said, to me, O Lord Jehovah, Buy the field for money, and take witnesses to the purchase — though the city is already, as it were, given into the hands of the Chaldeans. A prayer so lowly and fervent had favour with God. The still small voice of the Almighty presently answered it in the soul of the prophet. 27 Behold, I am Jehovah,^ the God of all flesh : is there any- thing impossible to Me ? 28 Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, Behold I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 29 The Chaldeans who fight against it shall come in, and set fire to it, and burn it, and with it the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger. 30 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth as a people. For the sons of Israel, as a whole, have done nothing but 1 Torah. * The first step in a siege was probably to advance the battering ram. If the castle was built, as in the plains of Assyria and Babylonia, on an artificial eminence, an inclined plane reaching to the top of the height was formed of earth, stones, or trees, and the besiegers were thus able to bring their engines to the foot of the walls, and also to escalade the walls, the top of which might otherwise have been beyond the reach of their ladders. Layard's Nineveh, vol. ii. pp. 36-7. See Isa. xxxvii. 33 ; 2 Kings xix. 32. The Egyptians followed the same plan. Ezek. xvii. 17. 3 Jer. xxxii. 26-35. 104 DUEING THE SIEGE. provoke Me with the work of their hands,^ saith Jehovah. 31 This city, Jerusalem, also, has been to Me a provocation ^ of My anger and of My fury, from the day that they built it^ to this day — demanding that I should put it away from before My face 32 on account of all the evil of the sons of Israel and of the sons of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger ; they, their kings, their princes,'* their priests, and their prophets ; the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 They turned their back to Me and not their face, and though I earnestly and un- weariedly taught them through My true prophets, they would not listen, to receive instruction. 34 Instead of that, they set up their abominable idols in the House which is called by My name, to defile it, 35 and built high places to Baal in the Valley of Benhinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Moloch — which I neither commanded them to do nor ever had it in my mind to permit their doing ; causing Judah, as it did, to sin. 36 Now, therefore, ^ thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, con- cerning this city, of which you rightly say that *' it will be de- livered into the hand of the king of Babylon, by sword, famine, and pestilence," 37 Behold ! I will, hereafter, gather them from all lands whither I have driven them, in My anger and in My fury and in My fierce wratli. And I will bring them back to this place, and cause them to dwell securely in it, s^ and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 39 And 1 will give them one heart and one way, so that they shall fear Me for ever, ^ for their own good and that of their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not draw back from them, or from doing them good ; and I will put My ■fear in their hearts, so that they may not again turn away from Me as in the past. And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly ^ plant them in this land, with My whole heart, and with My whole soul. 42 For thus saith Jehovah : ^ As I have brought all this great 1 Their idols. Chap. x. 3, 9. Deut. iv. 28. 2 Kings xix. 18. 2 A burden on My auger, demanding indignation being shown. 3 2 Sam. V. 6, 7. * Leading men. 5 Jer. xxxii. 36^1. « Deut. iv. 10; vi. 24. 7 Heb„ in truth. ^ Jer. xxxii. 42-44. DWRINQ THE SIEGE. 105 evil on this people, so will I bring to them all the good that I have promised them. 43 And the open country shall be bought in this land, respecting which ye say, " It is desolate, without man or beast ; it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans." 44 Men will once more buy fields * for money, and sign deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses to the purchase — here, in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, and in the towns in the hills, and in those of the Shephelah, and in the towns of the Negeb. For I will put an end to their captivity, and restore them to their own country, saith Jehovah. But the " Hearer of Prayer '^ was not content even ■with this fall answer to His servant's petition. Not long afterwards, amidst the terrible progress of the siege, when many houses near the walls had been pulled down for materials of defence, and the prophet was still a prisoner in the court of the guard, " the Word ^' came to him a second time. 2 Thus saith Jehovah,^ who does what He hath purposed; Jeho- vah who determines what He wills, and carries it out ; Jehovah is His name ! 3 Call upon Me and I will answer thee, and make known to thee great and secret things ^ which thou dost not know ! 4 For thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, Jerusalem, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down for material with which to strengthen the town wall against the battering-rams,"* and to build up new defences against the swords of the storming columns : 5 The citizens will advance to fight with the Chaldeans ; but they will only fill the houses with the bodies of men, whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid My face from this city. But still God has not finally cast off His people. 6 Behold,^ I will lay on the wounds of the people a bandage and ^ Lit., " the field," i.e. land over the country. 2 Jar. xxxiii. 1-5. 3 l^^^ <« unapproachable," < Lit., •' mounts." « Jer. xxxiii. 6-9. 106 DUEING THE SIEGE. healing salve, and will cure them, and I will pour down * on them a fulness of peace and truth. 7 And I will bring back the captives of Judah and Israel, and will build up the state, as of old. 8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity that they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their sins that they have com- mitted, and in which they have fallen away from Me. 9 And Jerusalem shall, again, be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to it; and they shall fear and tremble ^ with awe, at all the goodness and all the prosperity that I prepare for it. 10 Thus saith Jehovah,' There shall again be heard in this place, of which you say, " It is desolate, without man and without beast"— in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are about to be left desolate, without men and without in- habitants, and without beast, 1 1 the sounds of joy and gladness ; the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride,** and the words of singing:— " Give thanks unto Jehovah of Hosts ; for Jehovah is good. For His mercy endureth for ever ! " the chant of them that bring the thankoffering into the House of Jehovah ! For I will bring back the captives, and restore things as in your happiest times, saith Jehovah. 12 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, ^ Again, in this place which is about to be desolate, without man and without beast, and in all the towns of Judah, shall be a gathering place of shepherds, lead- ing their sheep to rest. 13 In the hill towns, in the towns of the Shephelah, and in those of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin » " Roll down." 2 « A fearful joy." 3 Jar. xxxiii. 10-11. * A sound of music, shrill and sharp, announces the approach of a nuptial procession. In front, march the players on fifes and tambourines, and next two lines of women and girls, in the middle of whom is the bride, walking between two elder women. Four men hold over her head a dais of pink gauze, and a woman waves before her a large feather fan. She is entirely covered with a veil, and has on her head a red cloth, surmounted with a coronet of gold. The whole party utter cries of joy. Bovet's Egypt, etc., p. 43. 5 jer. xxxiii. 12-14. DURING THE SIEGE. 107 and in the parts round Jerusalem, and in the town of Judah, the sheep will again pass under the rod ^ of him that counts thera, saith Jehovah. 14 Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the House of Israel and the House of Judah ! In those days of the Messiah the kingly and priestly offices will be restored. 15 In those days"^ and at that time, saith Jehovah, I will cause a Branch ^ of Righteousness to grow up from David,^ and He will execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely ; and for this men will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. 17 For thus saith Jehovah :'" David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the House of Israel. 18 Nor shall the priests, the Levites, ever want a man before Me, to ofler burnt offerings, to kindle the fire on the altar for flour offerings, and to burn sacrifices to Me, for ever. This covenant with David, and with the priests, would be as sure as the order of nature. 20 Thus saith Jehovah : ^ If ye can break My covenant with the day and with the night, so that there shall be no longer day or night in its season, 21 then may, also. My covenant with David My servant be broken, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne ; and My covenant with the Levites, the priests, My ministers ! 22 As the hosts of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and of the Levites, who minister to me. The glorious assurance thus given respecting the throne and the altar, is next extended to the people as a whole. » Lit., " hands." s jer. xxxiii. 15,16. ^ Lit., " a shoot, or sucker." ^ Of David's race, from his root or stock. Verses 15 and 16 are the same as Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. 5 Jer. xxxiii. 17, 18. « Jer. xxxiii. 19-22. 108 DUEING THE SIEGE. 24 Have you not seen what the people say ^ — " The two families, Judah and Israel, whom Jehovah chose, He has cast oflP." With, such words they dishonour My people, declaring that it is no longer a nation in their eyes. 25 Thus saith Jehovah, If I have not estab- lished My covenant with day and night, or ordained the ordi- nances of heaven and earth, 26 then will I also cast off the seed of Jacob, and of David My servant, and take no more rulers from his seed, to be over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ! Bub I will cause the captives to return and will have mercy upon them ! Thus darkly, in a Jewish dress, which alone, for cen- turies to come, could in any measure be intelligible to those who would ponder his words, did Jeremiah foretell the spiritual reign of the Messiah. Veiled in the imagery of the existing economy, their supreme significance must have been as mysterious to the prophet as to others. He had been directed to say, at former times, that the king and the priest would both perish from Israel,^ and yet the Divine Voice now announces, through him, that both will endure for ever. To passages like this, above all, St. Peter must have referred when he spoke of the earnest search and inquiry of the holy men of old, as to the full meaning of the oracles which they uttered through the Spirit of God. 1 Jer. xxxiii. 23-26. 2 Jer. xxii. 30; xxx. 21; iii. 16; xxxi. 33. Note to p. 101. — " It would seem from Jer. xxxii. 10, 11, that clay came to be used in Judah as a writing material, as at Nineveh and Babylon— the inner clay record of a contract being covered with an outer coating — on which was inscribed an abstract of its contents, together with the names of the witnesses. Jeremiah's deed of purchase, moreover, was preserved in a jar, like the numerous clay deeds of the Egibi banking-firm, which existed at Babylon from the age of Nebuchadnezzar to that of Xerxes. These jars served the purpose of our modern safes." — Sayce's Fresh Lights, etc., p. 105. CHAPTER YI. THE FALL OP JERUSALEM. The siege of Jerusalem had begun on the 10th of the month Kislew, nearly our December, in the year B.C. 591, but had been interrupted for two or three months by the departure of the Chaldeans, to repel the advance of Pharaoh Hophra. This effected, the struggle had re- commenced with more fury than ever. But the Jews, like all Orientals, were stubborn in their resistance behind the walls of a fortress, and held out bravely against the tremendous superiority of their assailants. Nothing could subdue their courage. They had trusted in Hophra relieving them, but fought none the less man- fully when they found their expectations deceived. Jeremiah, a prisoner in the court of the guard, in vain counselled surrender, as the only means of preserving the city, or the lives and liberties of its citizens. He was assailed by charges of treachery, and by threats for damping the spirits of the population. That a place, in all probability, of not more than 20,000^ inhabitants should have kept at bay the whole strength of Nebu- chadnezzar for nearly eighteen months, shows a noble defence, even admitting the natural strength of the posi- * This is the estimate of Thenius, B. d. Konige, p. 466. 109 110 THE FALL OP JERUSALEM. tion. Two thousand citizens of the best families, it is to be remembered, and a thousand skilled mechanics, with seven thousand of the bravest fighting men, had been carried off to Babylon ten years before.^ But the fall of the city was only a question of time. The besiegers had invested it on every side, so that no provisions could enter, and they had possession of the whole country, far and near. Lachish and Azekah, in the Maritime Plain, had succumbed, and 3,023 persons of both sexes had been seized and led off to Babylon.^ The thud Siege op a City by the Assykian Aemy. On the left, soldiers in mail are throwing down the wall with crowbars. On an upper tower are women ; one apparently wailing, the other encouraging the defenders. On the right is a battering ram with a tower over it, from which the Assyrians in armour shoot from the level of the top of the wall. The garrison are throwing over stones, etc., on soldiers who are guiding the ram. Archers kneel on the ground at the side of the battering ram. The general and his attendant, drawn in large size, are on the right; the attendant holding a shield before his master. of the battering rams shook the walls day and night: archers made the defence increasingly hard, by con- stant showers of arrows from high wooden forts ; cata- pults of all sizes hurled stones into the town with a force as deadly as that of modern bullets, and darts tipped ^ 2 Kings xxiv. 14-16. ' Jer. lii. 28, for seventh year read seventeenth. THE PALL OP JERUSALEM. Ill with fire kindled the roofs of houses ; mines were dug under the walls, and attempts at escalade by ladders were renewed at every favourable opportunity. But the besieged were not behind in their resources of defence. Houses were demolished, that new walls might be built of their materials, inside each spot weakened by the battering rams.^ The ramparts were vigorously defended by archers and slingers, equal in bravery to those of the Chaldeans. The rams were caught, when possible, by doubled chains or ropes, to weaken their blows, or, if it might be, to capsize them. Lighted torches and firebrands were thrown on their roofs, and on those of the catapults, to set them on fire. The gates of the town were zealously defended against the efforts of the enemy to burst them open, or to burn them.2 Nothing, however, could prevent the final cata- strophe. Famine within the walls aided the besiegers without, and it was speedily followed, as is always the case, with an outbreak of pestilence. Food was well nigh gone. There had long been no bread. ^ Mothers were, at last, driven to murder and eat their children.* The richest citizens wandered about searching for scraps in the dunghills. Effeminate nobles, whose fairness and personal beauty had been their pride, were reduced to black-faced ghosts by hunger. To make matters worse, feuds broke out in the city. Some were for surrender, others for holding out to the last, and every street be- came a battle field. ^ Yet, amidst the roar of war, the wail of mourners, * Jer. xxxiii. 4. 2 For this description of a Chaldean siege, see Layard's Nineveh, vol. ii. pp. 367 ff. 3 Jer. xxxvii. 21; xxxviii. 9; lii. 6. Ezek. v. 10. * Baruch ii. 3. Lam. iv. 10. * Lam. iv. 12-15. 112 THE PALL OP JERUSALEM. the shrieks of the wounded and the despairing, and the tumult of intestine strife, Jeremiah never lost his self- possession, though forced to sit helpless in the midst of so much danger and privation. His deliverance from the cistern prison, in which, according to Josephus, the mire had reached up to his neck,^ had put him under lasting obligation to the black eunuch who had rescued him. He was, moreover, now free to move about in the court of the guard, to which Ebed-melech frequently came, in passing out of the palace, and he repaid his kindness by cheering words, telling him that God would preserve him amidst all the dangers around, as a return for the favour shown to His servant. i6 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel (said he), Be- hold I will bring My words upon this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be accomplished in that day, before thee. 17 But I will save thee, in that day, saith Jehovah ; and thou sbalt not be given into the hand of the men whom thou fearest. 18 For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for booty to thee, because thou hast trusted in Me, saith Jehovah.2 At last came the end. The siege had lasted within a day or two of eighteen months,^ but a practicable breach now invited the stormers. Waiting for the cover of darkness, the Chaldean force detached for this service moved out of their camp towards midnight, on the ninth of the month Tammuz, nearly our July, and, after a fierce struggle, Jerusalem was in their hands. Marching in by the Middle Gate of the inner wall, dividing Mount Ziou from the Lower City, their generals took up their quarters near it,* as a point from which both the Upper and Lower 1 Jos., A7it., X. vii. 4. - Jer. xxxix. 15-18. ^ Jer. lii. 4. Comp. with Jer. xxxix. 1 ; lii. 6. * Jer. xxxix. 3. THE FALL OP JERUSALEM. 1]3 City could be most easily controlled. The names and titles of some of them still survive, the latter, by their high rank, implying a large force to have been engaged, and thus showing the desperateness of the defence. Fore- most, amidst a brilliant cavalcade, rode Nergal Sharezer — " Nergal, protect the king ! '' the name of a former monarch of Babylon — Samgar-Nebo, '^ May Nebo be pro- pitious^'— Sarsechim, one of the two chief eunuchs/ — a second Nergal Sharezer, the chief of the royal magi, or " deeply learned " — Nebuzaradan, " Nebo, grant me children,^' the commander of the personal guard^ of Nebuchadnezzar ; and Nebushartan, " Nebo, deliver me ! '^ the second chief of the eunuchs.^ The shout of the conquerors was the signal to Zede- kiah that all was lost. Only flight could save him. The breach had been made in the north wall, where alone close access to the fortifications was possible, and the Hill of Zion, on which the palace stood, was not yet in the hands of the Chaldeans. The south gate, close to the royal gardens, was still available. It lay at the south- east corner of the city, between the inner wall and that which ran across from the Tyropoean valley to Ophel, joining that spot to Mount Zion, and was known as the Horse Gate.* If Zedekiah, and the fugitives who might escape with him, — many of them deeply compromised in the revolt, — could reach Gilead, they might be safe. They therefore made for the Arabah,^ south of the Dead Sea, striking across the wild stretches of the wilderness of Judah, to the south-east. But flight in that direction * Rabsaris means this also. 2 The guard that stood before Nebuchadnezzar. Jer. lii. 10. » For the meaning of the names, see Schrader, Eeilinschriften, pp. 273-276. * Keil. Neh. iii. 28. Jer. lii. 7. » Jer. lii. 7. Deut. i. 1. VOL VI. I 114 THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. proving impossible in the darkness, they turned towards the plain of the Jordan, north of their intended route. Meanwhile, the alarm was given, that the king and a strong band of men had broken through the Chaldean outposts, on the south-east of Jerusalem, and instant pursuit was ordered. The steep pass of the Kidron forth- with swarmed with troops pushing down towards Jericho, with only too fatal haste. Before the panic-stricken The Asstbian King blinding a Manacled and Fettebed Peisonee, who with the two othees is fubthee secuebd by a metal eing theough the lip. « fugitives could cross the Jordan, they were overtaken, and the mere approach of the enemy was enough. Zedekiah was instantly deserted, and, with a number of his chief men, fell into the hands of the pursuers.^ His daughters, who may not have been with him, were, however, fortu^ > Jer. xxxix. 5 ; lii. 8. THE FALL OP JERUSALEM. 1J& nate enough to escape, but only to fall into the hands of one Ishmael, a member of the royal family, soon to prove an arch traitor. Thrown into chains at once, the captive king was led back to Jerusalem, and sent on, thence, to Eiblah, ten days journey to the north — for it stood about thirty- five miles north of Baalbek. There, Nebuchadnezzar awaited him. Brought before the Great King, with the other captives, he was met with a storm of only too well-deserved reproach for his broken oath, and soon found that he could expect no mercy. All the princes taken with him were at once ordered to be slain. Then, with a refinement of cruelty, his own sons were put to death before him — the last sight he was ever to behold ; for a spear, thrust into his eyes, most probably by Nebu- chadnezzar himself, presently blinded him for ever. But this was only the beginning of his humiliation. Chained hand and foot, with a ring through his lips as if he were a wild beast, he was put into a cage, and carried off to Babylon, to lie in a dungeon till death put an end to his sufierings.^ How long he survived is unknown, but he was apparently dead when Jehoiachin, his predecessor, was freed by Evil Merodach, the successor of Nebu- chadnezzar, twenty-six years from this time.- Three kings of Judah were now captives in the hands of their enemies — Jehoahaz in Egypt, and two others in Babylon. The sins of the nation had been heavily punished ; but it was to be purified by these trials, and fitted for the great work still before it, in preparing the way for the true spiritual kingdom of God. Such multiplied calamities sank into the heart of the race. Future generations forgot the weakness of Zedekiah, as they forgot the faults of his royal companions in misery, and thought of him 1 Ezek. xix. 9. « Jer. lii. 31. 116 THE PALL OF JERUSALEM. only as gentle and righteous.^ A fast is still held on the 10th day of the 5th month to bewail his fall. The Temple and the Upper Town held out, after the Lower City had fallen, and detained the Chaldeans for another month. Not till then did the townspeople yield, when utterly overpowered. The Temple was defended to the very last, the bravest of the warriors left perishing vainly in its courts. All classes, indeed, fought with desperation. Young men and women, veterans past their prime, and not a few who were stooping with years, fell with their faces to the hated foe.^ The storming of a town, or indeed any of the wild and infamous scenes of war, have in all ages been the same. " The gates of mercy, then, are all shut up, And the flesh'd soldier, rough and hard of heart, Ranges, in liberty of bloody hand, With conscience wide as hell." ^ But, at last, all resistance was crushed, and Jerusalem lay at the mercy of Nebuchadnezzar. The defence had, however, been too resolute, the re- bellion too troublesome, to leave any hope of pity. Such a focus of revolt must be ruthlessly destroyed. The town was given up, therefore, to plunder, and then burnt ; the mansions of the rich and the lowly dwellings of the poor, sharing the same fate.* The walls, moreover, were levelled with the ground.^ Nebuzaradan had been left in command, and he had no mercy. The last month's defence had infuriated him. The worst calamity that could overtake a nation in antiquity was inflicted on the con- quered ; their temple was burnt to the ground, and the remnant of the garrison, and of the inhabitants of both * Jos., Anty X. vii. 5. ^2 Ohron. xxxvi. 17. ^ Henry V. * Jer. xxxix. 8 ; lii. 10. * Jer. lii. 14. THE PALL OF JERUSALEM. 117 sexes, carried off to the Chaldean camp to await their doom. Everything worth taking had been brought out of the sanctuary before it was set on fire ; the metal work of all kinds, which was of too great an amount to weigh, and the sacred utensils remaining since Solomon's time, forming the special booty.^ The poorer classes, in town and country, were spared, in a measure, the fate of the more prosperous ; only the strength of the population, apparently, being carried off. Hence, besides those who had escaped beyond the reach of the enemy, and waited their departure to return, a large proportion of the peasantry remained, to keep the land from reverting to desolation. The immediate appointment of a Jewish governor over them, show their numbers to have been considerable. The Great King, while determined to crush all rebellion, had no desire to turn one of his provinces into a wilderness.^ The campaign over, Nebuchadnezzar set up his throne of judgment. Marched to Riblah, the final crowd of prisoners were brought before him. Among these were Seraiah, the high priest, grandfather or great-grand- father of Ezra ; ^ Zephaniah his deputy,^ whom we have more than once met in the story of Jeremiah's life ; * the keepers of the temple gates, who were dignified priests,^ next in rank to Zephaniah ; the commandant of the garrison, who had held out for a month after the fall of the Lower Town ; seven, of the confidential advisers of Zedekiah, members of the oligarchy who had forced him to his ruin ; the chief scribe of the local militia, from which * 2 Kings xxvr. 13-17. Jer. Hi. 17-23. 3 2 Kings XXV. 12. Jer. xxxix. 10 ; lii. 16. 3 Ezra vii. 1. 1 Chron. v. 40. Eivald, vol. iii. p. 807. Jer. lii. 24. * Jer. xxi. 1 ; xxix. 25 ; xxxvii. 3. * Jer. xxxviii. 14. 118 THE FALL OP JERUSALEM. all fighting men were drawn — an officer like our adjutant- general ; and, with them, sixty survivors of the gallant band which had fought to the last.^ All these were at once put to death. The rest were added to the long train of earlier captives, and marched off to Babylon. At the beginning of the siege, as has been said, 3,023 persons had been seized and led away to the Euphrates ; during its progress 832 had been added to the number; but how many were taken at the fall of the city is not told. All its sufferings, however, had not finally crushed the spirit of the nation ; for it was found expedient, four years later, to carry off 745 prisoners, in addition to all deported before.^ In the midst of these overwhelming disasters, Jeremiah remained not only unharmed, but protected. He had, long before, prophesied the ultimate downfall of Babylon, but this was not known. His services, in counselling surrender to the Chaldeans, on the contrary, must have been in all mouths. Orders were therefore issued by the Great King, himself, to see that he was cared for. Set free from the court of the guard, he was given into the care of Gedaliah, a prominent member of the Chaldean party in Jerusalem, who had been left in the country to govern it, for Nebuchadnezzar. Under his protection the prophet retired to Anathoth, and lived quietly among the remnant of the inhabitants.^ » 2 Kings XXV. 18-21. Jer. Hi. 24-27. 2 Jer. lii. 28-30. The Temple was burned in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Kings xxv. 8. The seventeenth and eighteenth years must therefore have been the first and second of the siege. 3 Jer. xxxix. 11-14. CHAPTER VII. THE survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem, left in Judah after the banishment of their fellow- country- men to the Euphrates, seemed, for the time, overwhelmed by the calamities that had befallen their nation. The Temple they had thought invulnerable was burnt to the ground ; Jerusalem, in which they had gloried as " the joy of the whole earth ^' was a waste of blackened ruins. The town gates seemed to have sunk into the ground ; ^ the roads to Zion, once thronged with pilgrims, lay un- travelled ; no concourse gathered outside the walls, for gossip or business ; even the walls themselves were thrown down, and jackals haunted the Holy Hill ! ^ That such crushing disaster should have found varied expression in the verses of contemporary poets was in keeping with the genius of the race. For ages past every great event in their national history, whether glorious or sorrowful, had been commemorated in lyrics handed down from generation to generation. The defeat of Pharaoh, the triumph over Sisera, the death of Saul and Jonathan, the overthrow of the Northern kingdom, and the destruction of the army of Sennacherib, had been * Lam. ii. 9. ^ Lara. ii. 8; i. 4 ; v. 18. 119 120 THE "lamentations" op jeremtah. sung in poems known to every Hebrew child. So, now, was it to be with the crowning catastrophe of the fall of Jerusalem, carrying with it, as it did, the temporary ex- tinction of the Jewish State. The seventy-ninth Psalm ^ seems to preserve to us such an outburst of religious and patriotic emotion ; a wail, one might say, from the bleeding bosom of the nation ! Elohim ! the heathen have thrust themselves into Thy in- heritance; They have defiled Thy holy temple ! They have laid Jerusalem in ruins ! They have given the corpses of Thy servants as food to the birds of heaven ; The flesh of Tliy Hasidim ^ to the wild beasts of the earth ! They have poured out their blood like water round Jerusalem, and no one buried them ! "We have become a reproach among our neighbours, A scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, Jehovah (wilt Thou be angry)? Wilt Thou keep wratli for ever? Pour out Thy wrath on the heathen, who do not know Thee ; On the kingdoms that do not call upon Thy name ! For they have devoured Jacob : they have laid waste his pastures. Oh remember not against us the sins of our forefathers ; Let Thy tender mercies speedily come to us, for we are brought very low ! Help us, 0 God of our salvation, for the honour of Thy name ! Save us and forgive ^ our sins, for Thy name's sake. Why should the heathen say, " Where is their god ? " ^ Delitzsch assigns Pss. Ixxiv. and Ixxix. to the time of Antiochus, 2 Mace. viii. 1-4 (c. B.C. 167). Moll thinks Ps. Ixxix. refers to the destruction of the Temple, B.C. 588. So also does Dr. Kay. The fact is, the dates of the Psalms in many cases are conjectural. - = afterwards, to *' Zealots." ^ Lit., " cover " — then " forgive " — "accept an expiation for," etc. THE "lamentations^' OF JEREMIAH. 121 May the revenge of the blood of Thy servants, which has been shed, Be made known among the heathen, before our eyes ! Let the groans of those lying in chains come before Thee; According to the greatness of Thy might ^ preserve Thou those appointed to die ; ^ And render back to our neighbours, sevenfold, into their bosom,^ Their reproach, with which they have reproached Thee, O Lord ! So we. Thy people, and the flock of Thy pasture Will thank Thee for ever, and will speak forth Thy praise to all generations ! The eigbty-third Psalm may also be a remembrance of this sad time.* It specially dwells on the hostility shown to Judah by the neighbouring peoples, who should have helped her in her straits. Instead of doing this, they had joined the enemy against her. Elohim ! give Thyself no rest : be not silent : be not still, 0 El ! For, lo, thine enemies rage loudly; they that hate Thee carry their heads high ! They have planned crafty schemes against Thy people ; They have consulted together against those who are under Thy protection : They say, " Up ! let us destroy them from among the nations, That the name of Israel be no more remembered " ! For with one heart have they consulted together; they have made a league against Thee. The tents of Edom and of the Ishmaelites ; of Moab and the Hagarenes ; ^ ^ Lit., •' arm." 2 lj^., «' sons of death." ^ Vol. v. p. 380. * It has been assigned by different critics to the J\[accabean age, that of Nehemiah, that of Jehoshaphat, and that of Nebuchad- nezzar. It appears to suit the last period as well as any other, though the mention of Amalek, unless introduced by the license of poetry, seems to iiint at an earlier date. * These races were all more or less tent dwellers, living in the regions south and east of Judah. 122 THE "lamentations'' of JEREMIAH. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre : Geshur,^ also, has joined itself to them: it has lent its arm to the sons of Lot. Do to them as Thou didst to Midian ; As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the torrent-stream Kishon;* They were destroyed at Endor,^ they lay like filth on the ground, Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb ; "* All their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,* Who said, in their day, " Let ns take possession of the pastures of Elohim ! " « My God, make them like whirling dust; like stubble before the wind ! As fire burns the yaar, as flame kindles the mountain forests So chase them with Thy storm ; overwhelm them with Thy tempest ! Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Thy face, O Jehovah ; Let them be confounded and overwhelmed for ever; Let them be put to shame ^ and perish, that they may know That Thou — whose name is Jehovah ; that Thou, alone, Art the Highest over all the earth ! It is, however, in the short series of elegiac poems, known in our English Bible as " The Lamentations of Jeremiah," that we realize the intensity of the sufferings which Jerusalem had to endure before its fall, and the bitterness and sorrow with which its citizens lamented its fate. In the Hebrew text no author of these com- positions is named, but a very old tradition ascribes them to Jeremiah. Already in the Septuagint translation, made from one to two centuries before Christ, the state- » Lagarde. The Hebrew has Assyria, but a very small change is required for the emendation in the text. 2 Judges V. 21. 3 Near Tabor. Judges v. 19. ^ Judges vii. 25. 5 Judges viii. 5. ^ Pastures or " homesteads " of Elobim. 7 Lit., *' grow red." THE "lamentations" OF JEREMIAH. 123 ment is prefixed to the Book, that " It came to pass, after Israel was taken captive, and Jerusalem made desolate, Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented this Lamentation over Jerusalem," and to this the Vulgate^ adds, "in bitterness of heart, sighing and crying." The Arabic version quotes the words of the Septuagint, and the Targum begins with the statement that " Jeremiah the prophet and great priest " was the author. It is only in recent times that critics have questioned the uniform belief of the Jewish and early Christian Church, and ascribed the Lamentations to some other author.^ Nothing tbat is urged, however, need shake our con- fidence in these touching laments being the production of the great prophet. The grotto in which he is said to have written them is still shown in the face of a rocky hill, on the western side of the city. But whether this tradition be correct or not, they show, in every verse, the signs of fresh and irrepressible sorrow, as if the scene still lay beneath the eyes of the poet^ and the events commemorated were still agitating the heart. Nor is it any valid objection that the form of the diff'erent poems of which the book consists appears artificial. The first, second, third, and fourth chapters are written in verses, ^ Fourth century after Christ. 2 Ewald supposes Lamentations was written by Barucb, or some other of Jeremiah's di-sciples, and Bunsen follows him, as he does generally. Xaegelsbach thinks that Jeremiah was not the author. Thenius fancies that different poets wrote different chapters. This, Eeuss opposes, ascribing the Book to some un- known composer. But the grounds of this scepticism as to Jeremiah's authorship seem slight when closely examined. Nor is it a matter of any serious moment who was the inspired author. The Book dates from immediately after the siege of Jerusalem, whoever wrote it. The question is curious, but of no real practical weight 124 THE '^LAMENTATIONS OF JEEEMJAH. each of which commences with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the third chapter consisting of verses of three lines, each beginning with the same letter, while the order of two of the letters is reversed in the second, third and fourth.^ The fifth, though not alpha- betical, is composed in twenty-two verses, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. But no one ever thought of challenging the authorship of a hymn, because the Wailing Placb at the Walls o» the Temple, Jekttsal'em; versification was peculiar. As a help to memory, the alphabetical structure may have been of great use ; or it may have been chosen as best suited for a theme de- serving, above all others, to be enshrined in a measure apparently esteemed in the writer's day. The " Lamentations" are still read yearly by the Jews, to commemorate the burning of the Temple. Every » The letters Pe and Ayin (s and y.) THE "lamentations" OF JEREMIAH. 125 Friday, Israelites, old and young, of both sexes, gather at the wailing place in Jerusalem, where a few of the old stones of the Temple still remain in the wall, and recite these sad verses and suitable Psaluis, amidst tears, as they fervently kiss the stones. On the ninth of the month Ab, nearly our July, this dirge, composed about six hundred years before Christ, is read aloud in every synagogue over the world. The first poem describes the miseries of Jerusalem and Judah during and after the siege. I ah, how she sits there, lonely,^ the town once so rich in people ; 2 How is she become like a widow, who was great among the nations ! The queen of the lands ^ around — how has she become a poor slave ! Bitterly weeps she by night — tears hang on her cheeks, None has she to comfort her of all those who loved her; All her friends have betrayed her and turned to be her foes. 3 Gone into exile is Judah — worn down by sorrow and slavery,** Finding no rest where she now sits among the heathen. All her pursuers came up with her, (the hunted bind), when her way closed in before her.^ 4 Desolate, the roads to Zion mourn ; no throngs now come to her feasts ; All her gates are desolate ; her priests sigh ; Her maidens are led away,^ and she herself is in bitterness ; ' Emptied of her inhabitants. ^ Lam. i. ^ Lit. '' provinces," perhaps in allusion to the other provinces of Babylon, or to the former empire of Israel. ^ Her long sufferings at the hands of Assyria, Egypt, and Chaldea. ^ Lit. " between the straits," or narrows, from which escape was impossible. ^ Sept. by a slight change of the Hebrew. The rendering " afflicted," in the A. V., from the Heb., if right, may refer to 126 THE " LAMENTATIONS " OF JEREMIAH. 5 Her ^ foes have become her masters: her enemies enjoy quiet prosperity, For Jehovah has sunk her in trouble for her many trans- gressions. Her tender children are led away captive by the oppressor. 6 Vanished from the Daughter of Zion is all her glory ; Her princes are come to be like deer that find no pasture,^ So that they fled, no longer swiftly strong, before their pursuers. 7 Zion ^ thinks sadly of the days of her misery and forced wanderings, Of all her pleasant things that she had in the old days, Before her people fell into the hand of the adversary, and she had no helper. The oppressors saw her, and mocked at her calamities.^ 8 Heinously has Jerusalem sinned ; therefore has she become an abhorrence. All who once honoured, despise her, for they have seen her shame ; She, herself, also sighs, and turns away her face.* 9 Tainted and foul are her skirts, for she had not thought of the sure end of her sins,^ Therefore she sank thus wondrously, and has no one to comfort her: " See, 0 Jehovah," cries she, " my sorrow ; how proudly the foe deals with me." 10 yea, he stretched out his hand over all her ancient treasures. She has seen the heathen enter her sanctuary ; ^ Them, whom Thou hast commanded never to come into the congregation. 1 1 Craving for bread, all her people wearily sigh ; their no longer having a share in the religious festivities. Exod. XV. 20. Jud. xxi. 19-21. Ps. Ixviii. 25. 1 Soft H. 2 A reference perhaps to the flight of Zedekiah and others. 3 Heb., Jerusalem. ** Not, at her " Sabbaths." * Lit., *' turns backwards." ^ Deut. xxxii. 29. 7 The Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, as part of the besieging army, had entered even the Holy of Holies for plunder. Deut. xxiii. 3, 4. Ps. Ixxix. 127 They gave their dearest things away for food, to keep them alive.* " See, Jehovah, and behold, how I, Jerusalem, am despised! '* 12 Little, s^eems it to you, all ye passers by the way ? Behold and see. Is any sorrow like that inflicted on me. Me, whom Jehovah has troubled in the day of His fiery wrath ? 13 My bones hath He filled with fire from on high ; it glows through them.2 He has spread a net for my feet; he has driven me^ into it (like a hunted deer), He has made me desolate, and sick at heart all the day. 14 Now is the yoke of my sins bound on me by His hand; Twisted into strong bonds, they are come on my neck ; He has bowed down my strengtli; Jehovah has given me into their hands, before whom I cannot resist. 15 Slighted* by Jehovah have been all my mighty men in my midst; A solemn feast was proclaimed against me — to crush my young braves; Jehovah has trodden, as in a wine press, the virgin daughter of Judah. 16 At ^ these things my eyes weep — my eyes, running with tears, For they who should comfort me, they who should quicken me to life again, are far from me. My children are destroj ed, for the foe has prevailed ! 17 Pleading hands are stretched out by Zion, yet has she no comforter. * Lit., '* to bring back their life." ' Ewald, by an emendation. * Lit., " turned me back into it when I was trying to escape." * Thus, Gesenius and De Wette. "Surrendered," "given up," Keil and Ewald. * A for Ayin in the Heb. alphabet. We have no letter exactly similar. 128 TH Jehovah has commanded that those round Jacob * should be his foes ; Jerusalem has become a loathing among them. i8 "Truly 2 Jehovah is only righteous, for I have rebelled against His word; Hear, therefore, all ye nations, and behold my sorrow. My maidens and my young men are gone into captivity. 19 Coldly did my lovers betray me when I called to them ; My priests and my elders perished of hunger in the city, Seeking for food to bring back their life. 20 Rise and behold, O Jehovah, how deep is my grief; my souP glows within me. My heart beats quick* in my bosom, for I have greatly rebelled ; The sword makes me childless without; within, there is death. 21 Sighing* aloud * I have no comforter,' my trouble is heard ; All my foes have learned of my sorrow; they are glad Thou hast caused it ; But Thou bringest on the day Thou hast foretold, when they will be as I am. 22 To Thy throne rise all their wickedness ! Do to them what they have done to me, for all my trans- gressions ; For many are my sighs and my heart is faint." A lament over the Divine judgments on the city, and the desolation of Judab, and a touching supplication on their behalf, succeed. I Ah ! ^ how has Jehovah covered the Daughter of Zion with His anger, like a cloud ! He has cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to the earth, And has not remembered His footstool in the day of His wrath ! 1 The nations round Judah. ^ The T should be Ts. 3 Lit., " my inner parts." * Lit., " turns," " is greatly moved.' « Should be Sh. ^ Lam. ii. THE "lamentations'^ OP JEREMIAH. 129 2 (Blasted and) destroyed are all the homesteads of Jacob by Jehovah, nor has He piiied them ; He has thrown down, in His wrath, the strongholds of the Daughter of Judah ; He has cast them to the ground; He has dishonoured the kingdom and its princes. 3 Grimly fierce, He has cut off every horn ^ of Israel ; He has drawn back His right hand from the face of the enemy. And burned up Jacob, like flaming fire that consumes all round it, 4 Drawn has He His bow, like an enemy; standing (to aim) with his right hand, like a foe ; And has slain all that was pleasant to the eye; He has poured out His fury like fire in the tent of the Daughter of Zion. 5 He, Jehovah, has become like a foe : He has destroyed Israel ; Destroyed all her castles; broken down all her strongholds, And heaped up groans and sighs on the Daughter of Judah. 6 Violently has He destroyed His Temple,^ (in its sacred grove) as if it had been a common garden ; He has destroyed the place of His Feasts. Jehovah has caused feasts ^ and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. And rejected in His fierce anger both king and priest. 7 (Zealous against us), Jehovah has cast aside His altar; He has profaned His sanctuary ; He has given the walls of her castles into the hand of the foe. They raised a wild noise in the House of Jehovah, as if it had been one of our festivals ! 8 (He), Jehovah, had purposed to level the wall of the Daughter of Zion : He stretched out the measuring line : He did not hold back His hand from destroying. He made rampart and wall to lament — sunk in ruins together. 9 (Torn down or burnt), her gates have, (as it weie), sunk into the ground ; He has destroyed and broken her bars. ^ Every means of defence. - Lit., " Tent," or " covert." * " Appointed seasons." VOL. VI. K Her king and her princes are among the heathen ; the Law is no more. Even her prophets obtain no longer a vision from Jehovah. 10 In silence, the elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground ; They have cast dust on their heads; they are girded with sackcloth; The virgins of Jerusalem have suiik their heads to the earth. 11 Closed by much weeping, my eyes fail ; my whole body glows ; My liver is poured on the earth, at the destruction of the Daughter of my people, For the children and sucklings perish for hun ger in the streets of the city : 12 Lying in the streets of the city, dying, like the mortally wounded. They cry to their mothers " Where is the corn and wine? "^ Their souls breathing themselves out, meanwhile, on their mother's bosom. 13 (Maiden) daughter of Jerusalem ! what (message of comfort) shall I give thee ? to what shall I liken thee ? What shall I compare to thee, for thy consolation, O virgin daughter of Zion ? Thy trouble- is great as a sea; who can heal thee? 14 Nothing but lies and deceit^ have thy false prophets spoken to thee ; They have not laid open thy sin, to prevent thy being led into captivity ; They prophesied to thee only false *• burdens," deceitful and ruinous. 15 Still, as men pass by, all clap their hands together at thee in scorn ; They hiss, and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jeru- salem. ^ These two represent food and drink generally. 2 Lit., " breach, or " wound." 3 Lit., "whitewash," "plaster," "pretence." " Is this the city," say they, *' that men call ' The Perfection of Beauty,' * The Joy of the whole earth ? ' " 16 (Pleased' at thy fall) thine enemies open their mouths -wide at thee ; Hissing (in contempt) and gnashing their teeth (in rage) they say, *' We have destroyed her ! This is the day for which we hoped — now we have found and seen it ! " 17 All that Jehovah had determined has He done ; He has fulfilled His word, ordered in days of old— He has destroyed without pity; He has let the foe rejoice over thee ; he has raised the horn of thine oppressors. 18 Their" heart cried in sorrow to Jehovah! Let thy tears flow down day and night like a stream,^ 0 wall of the Daughter of Zion ! Give thyself no rest;* let not the apple of thine eye cease weeping ! 19 Cry out in the night, rising up; in the beginning of the watches " Pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord; Lift up thy hands to Him, for the life of thy children, That perish for hunger at every corner of the streets. 20 Regard, 0 Jehovah, and behold, to whom hast Thou thus done ! Shall women eat the fruit of their womb — the babes of their nursing ? Shall the priest and the prophet lie slain in the sanctuary of the Lord ? 21 Shall the boy and the grey-haired man lie dead on the ground in the streets ? * In the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th chapters the Hebrew letter Pe comes before Ayin. 2 T should be Ts. ' A mountain rain- torrent. * In prayer. Lit., "grow not cold." 5 In the beginning of each watch. In Jeremiah's time there were three night watches of four hours each. Exod. xiv. 24. Ps. Ixiii. 6. 132 THE " liAMENTATIONS " OP JEREMIAH. My virgins and ray young men have fallen by the sword; Slain by Thee in the day of Thy wrath, slain without pity ! Thou callest my terrors round me, like the crowds on the day of a feast ; None of my children escaped or could flee, in the day of the wrath of Jehovah ; Those I had nursed and brought up has my foe destroyed. Now follows a touching poem on the sufferings and the consolation of the godly .^ It is written in verses of three lines, each verse beginning in all its lines with the same letter; and the successive verses following the Hebrew alphabet in regular order — perhaps to impress the poem more easily on the memory. It is put in the mouth of an imaginary singer — a survivor of the siege. 1 Alas ! I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath ! 2 Alas! He has guided and led me through darkness— not through light! 3 Against Me has He turned, again and again, His hand, all the day long ; 4 Bruised ^ has He my flesh and my skin ; He has broken my bones ; 5 Built up, round about me, poison and travail, 6 Brought me into darkness, Hke the long dead ! 7 Girded me round has He, with a wall, that I cannot get out, He has made my chain heavy. 8 Gives no ear to my prayer when I cry and call. 9 Girded round my paths with a wall of squared stones ; He breaks up my paths. 10 Dread is He to me as a bear, or a lion hidden in secret. 11 Dumb with terror has He made me; driving me from my ways, and letting the wild beasts tear me in pieces. 12 Drawing His bow. He has set me as a mark for the arrow. 13 He has let the sons of His quiver ^ pierce into my loins.'* 1 Lam. iii. 1-21. 2 Lit., " rubbed away." 3 i.e. arrows. * Lit., " kidneys." OF JEEEMTAH. 133 14 Held in derision am I by all my people : their scoff all the day. 15 He has filled me with bitterness and made me drink wormwood. 16 With gravel stones has he broken my teeth ; He has strewn me with ashes. 17 Withheld has He, my soul, from peace: I have forgotten prosperity. 18 Withered for ever, said I, is my strength, and my hope from Jehovah. 19 Set^ before Thee my affliction and my misery ; the wormwood and the poison ; 20 Set before my soul are they; it is bowed down within me ; 21 Seeing therefore I thus keep them before me, I will hope (for God's mercy). Now follow words of contrition and hope. 22 Wholly" of Jehovah's mercy is it that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 (His mercies) are new every morning ; great is Thy faithful- ness. 24 He, Jehovah, is my portion, says my soul : therefore will I hope in Him. 25 To those who cling to Him, Jehovah is good : to the soul that seeks Him ; 26 To work patiently for the salvation of Jehovah is good; 27 To bear the yoke (of trouble) in his youth is good for a man. 28 If Jehovah bow him with sorrows, let him sit alone in silence; 29 If, perchance, there be hope, let him kiss the dust meekly; 30 If even it bring reproach, let him give his cheek to the smiter. 31 Cast off the Lord may, but not for ever ! 32 Cause grief He may, but He also pities, in the multitude of His mercies. 33 Contraiy to His heart is it to afflict or to grieve the children of men. ' Here and in the next two lines the first letter should be Z. Set before" is used as = " remember." 2 Wh should be H. 134 THE '^ LAMENTATIONS '^ OF JEEEMIAH. 34 Lord ! to tread in pieces under one's feet all the prisoners of the earth — 35 Lord ! to turn aside the right of a man in his dispute before the face of the Most High — 36 Lord ! to defraud a man in his cause — is not pleasing to Theel^ Having uttered these words of submission and hope, the prophet breaks out afresh into expressions of suffer- ing; his grief being still irrepressible, notwithstanding his trust in the justice and goodness of God. All things are in His hands. Evil as well as good is by His ap- pointment : the former coming on man for his sin ; the latter, as the gift of heavenly bounty. But amidst all the trials of his country, the Throne of Grace is ever open ; to that let the mourners humbly repair ! Nor let them complain if they receive chastening from the Lord; the just punishment of their offences! 37 Man never was, who could speak, and it came to pass, if the Lord had not commanded ; 38 Mast not evil as well as good proceed out of the mouth of the Most High? 39 Man, left alive, must not sigh, but reform; for why sigh over deserved punishment of one's sins? 40 No, let us, rather, prove and search our ways, and turn to Jehovah ! 41 Not only our hands, but our hearts, also, be lifted up to God in the heavens ! 42 Not one of us but has sinned or rebelled, and Thou hast not pardoned. 43 Sore offended. Thou hast put on wrath, like a garment, and punished us; slaying us without pity. 44 Supplication cannot pass through to Thee, for Thou hast hid Thyself in a thick cloud. 1 I have changed the person in this verse from the third to the second, to meet the exigencies of the alphabetical structure. 135 45 Sordid offscourings and refuse hast Thou made us, in the midst of the nations. 46 (Proudly) have all our enemies opened their mouths at us, 47 Panic alarm, and the pit of destruction,* have we round us; devastation and ruin. 48 Pouring down from my eyes, flow streams of tears, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49 Always, without intermission; tears trickle down without ceasing; 50 Always, till Jehovah look down and behold us, from heaven. 51 At the thought of all the daughters of my city my eye troubles my heart. The prophet here interrupts the narrative of the sorrows of his people, by recalling his own sufferings at their hands. 52 Terribly 2 have my enemies hunted me without cause, like a bird 53 They tried to cut off my life in a pit^ and put a stone on its mouth. ■* 54 The waters flowed over my head, so that I thought, " I am lost." 55 Calling on Thy name, 0 Jehovah, I cried out of the depth' of the cistern ; 56 •* Close not thine ear to my voice, to my sighing, to my cry." 57 Come near, didst Thou, in the day when I called, and saidst, ** Fear thou not." 58 (Righteous) Lord, Thou didst defend my life;^ Thou didst save it ! * In which wild animals are taken. 2 T should in this and the two following lines be Ts. 3 The same word as that for the pit or cistern in which Jere- miah was confined. ■* A reference, apparently, to the putting the heavy stone lid, over the cistern in which Jeremiah was imprisoned. Jer. xxxviii. 6. * Lit, " lowest depths." 6 Lit., " plead the suit for my Hfe." 136 THE '^LAMENTATIONS^' OP JEREMIAH. 59 Begarded hast Thou, O Jehovah, my wrongful treatmeiifc — judge Thou my cause! 60 Revenge taken on me by them, Thou sawest it all ; and all that they plotted agamsfc me ! 61 Shame cast on me by them, Thou didst hear, 0 Jehovah; all that they plotted against me ! 62 Sayings of those that rose up against me, and their murmured schemes for my hurt, all the day. 63 See, at their sitting down together and their rising up, I am their scoff! 64 Take vengeance on them, 0 Jehovah, according to the works of their hands ; 65 Their heart, do thou blind it* — let Thy curse rest upon them; 66 Turn on them and destroy them, in wrath, from under the heavens of Jehovah ! These three laments not having calmed the emotion of the prophet at the remembrance of the awful sufferings of his people, he adds a fourth, in which the miseries endured in the siege are painted in the most touching detail. Comparing the citizens to fine gold and to the stones of the sanctuary,^ he bewails their fate under the figure of the dimming of the one and the throwing down of the other. 1 Ah ! how is the gold grown dull !^ the finest gold changed ! How are the holy stones thrown down, at every corner of the streets."* 2 Burghers of Zion, the noblest; men to be weighed against finest gold, Ah ! how they are treated as if they were common earthenware pitchers, the work of a potter's hands ! 3 (Gaunt) she- wolves^ offer the breast to their young and suckle them ; 1 Lit.. " cover " hence " blind." 2 2ech. ix. 16. * Lam. iv. "* Lam. ii. 19. 5 See note on the word " tannin," vol. v. p. 45. It means really any fierce beast, or monster; here, nearly all understand "the she- wolf " to be intended. THE "lamentations'' OF JEREMIAH. 137 But the daughter of my people has grown lieartless as the ostrich in the wilderness, (which forsakes its young when alarmed by the hunter).^ 4 Dried up by thirst, the tongue of the suckling cleaves to the roof of its mouth; The young children ask bread ; no one breaks it to them. 5 Hollow-cheeked, those wont to eat dainties wander in the streets, Those brought up wearing scarlet, are glad to make dunghills their couch. 6 "Worse is the punishment of the sin of the daughter of my people, than that of the sin of Sodom : It was destroyed in a moment ; the hands of the foe did not rest on her (as on us). 7 Zion's princes shone white as snow ; they were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals ; their form was lovely as that of a well-cut sapphire. 8 (Hideous now !), their faces blacker than darkness with famine ; they are not recognised in the streets ; Their skin cleaves to their bones ; it is dried up like wood. 9 Those slain with the sword are better ofE than their neigh- bours, that perish of hunger! For these die, gnawed through by famine, for want of the fruits of ihe field. 10 Infants, and these their own, have been boiled by mothers, till then full of pity. Such babes were their food, in the downfall of the daughter of my people. Jerusalem has been utterly destroyed. 1 1 Carried out to the uttermost by Jehovah is His fury ; He has poured forth His burning wrath. And kindled a fire in Zion that has devoured even its founda- tions. » Tristram, p. 238. 138 THE ^'^ LAMENTATIONS " OP JEREMIAH. 12 Little would the kings of the earth, or the inhabitants of the world ^ have thought, That the foe and the oppressor would enter into the gates of Jerusalem ! ^ The sins of the prophets and priests were the great cause of the fall of the city. A strong faction, led by members of these orders, confident in the speedy return of their brethren from exile, had raised fierce tumults during the siege, to prevent surrender; many citizens perishing in the contests thus excited. 13 Mainly for the sins of her prophets and for the iniquities of her priests, Who shed the blood of the just in her midst, ^ (has this cata- strophe come on her) 14 Numbers of them wandered blindly through the streets, soiled with blood, So that no one could touch their clothing. 15 *' Stand back !" men cried out to them, " ye unciean ! " "stand back! stand back ! Touch us not!"* Yet they strove,* and roamed about, saying "The exiles will not sojourn long among the heathen." 1 An Oriental hyperbole for "any one." 2 The Jews thought their capital impregnable, in spite of its having been repeatedly spoiled by enemies. Perhaps the defeat of Sennacherib led to this fancy ; but the belief that Jehovah would defend it as " His seat," the locality of His Temple, was undoubtedly the main ground of confidence in its security. 2 Jer. vi. 13 ; xxiii. 11 ; xxvi. 8 ; etc. ^ They were warned off like lepers. Lev. xiii. 45. They should have raised the cry, but not doing so, the people raised it. This verse shows that the law of the leper, in Leviticus, was then well known. 5 The Hebrew word used here may be derived from a verb meaning " to strive," as well as from one meaning " to flee away," and the sense seems much better. THE ^'lamentations'' OF JEREMIAH. 139 i6 (Proud ones), the glance of Jehovah scattered them: He no longer paid respect to them : and so The citizens regarded not the faces of priests, and had no reverence for the Elders. 17 As for us, (the besieged), our eyes pined away, looking in vain for help, (from Egypt or elsewhere). Our weary watching has all been for a nation that could not help ns ! 18 The foe, from their siege works, kept their eyes on our very footsteps, so that we could not walk in the streets ; Our end is near, our days are completed ; yea, our end is come! 19 Keener in their swiftness than the eagles of heaven were our pursuers ; They hunted after us on the mountains : they lurked for us in the desert. 20 (Royal Zedekiah), the breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of Jehovah, was caught in their pits, ^ Of whom we said, "Under his shadow shall we live among the nations." The treacherous part taken in this time of Jrouble by Edom, a nation related to Judah, had sunk into the heart of the Hebrews. 21 Sing and be glad, O daughter of Edom, inhabitress of the land of Uz ! But the cup will come to thee, also ! Thou, too, shalt b« drunk with the shame of ruin : thou, too, shalt expose thyself to contempt ! 22 Tliy punishment" is over, 0 daughter of Zion : Jehovah will no more carry thee away into captivity : But He will hereafter visit thee for thy iniquity,^ O daughter of Edom : He will lay bare thy sins ! * As before, a figure from the pits in which wild be;»sts were taken. 2 Lit., " thy iniquity," the cause being put for the penalty. 3 Same word in Heb. as is translated " punishment " in the line above. 140 THE "lamentations'^ of JEREMIAH. The last poem in this series is an earnest prayer to God not to forsake His people for ever. The agonies of the siege, and of the storming of Jerusalem, had been already painted in vivid colours^ but they had so burnt themselves into the memory of the prophet, that he cannot refrain from reciting them once more. This done, however, he lifts his voice to Jehovah, the one sure Help and Saviour, and closes his lament by leaving the fate of his nation to the infinite pity of its Heavenly King. The artificial structure of the vervses, beginning with suc- cessive letters, is now discontinued, but their number is the same as that of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. 1 Remember, Jehovali/ what lias happened to us; behold, and see our reproach! 2 Our inheritance is made over to foreigners, our houses to aliens. 3 Orphans are we, without a father; our mothers are as widows. 4 We drank our water only for money ; we got our fuel only for payment. 5 We were pursued, with the hand of tbe foe on onr necks : we were worn out and had no rest. 6 We gave ourselves up^ to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians, for enough to eat. 7 Our fathers sinned and are not : we bear the punishment of their sins. 8 Slaves — the court eunuchs of Egypt and Chaldea — have ruled us : no one delivers us out of their hands. 9 "We reap our grain ^ at the risk of our lives, from the sword of the Arabs of the desert. 10 Our skin burns like an oven with the feverish blast of famine. 11 Tlie women of Zion were dishonoured: tlie maidens in the towns of Judah. * liam. V. ^ Lit., " gave the hand," as a sign of submission. * Lit., " sret our bread." THE "lamentations^' OP JEREMIAEI. 141 12 Princes were hung up by the hand (on the cross) : the faces of the Elders received no respect. 13 They took our strong young men to grind their mills; our lads staggered under loads of fuel. 14 Elders no longer gathered at the gate: young men gave up their songs. 15 The joy of our hearts has ceased : our dancing is turned into lamentation. 16 The crown of our head — our honour— has fallen off: woe to us that we sinned ! 17 For this, our heart is faint: for this, our eyes grow dark — 18 For Mount Zion, because it lies waste: the foxes run over it. Then follows an earnest prajer. 19 Thou, Jehovah, reignest for ever: Thy throne, from genera- tion to generation. 20 Why wilt Thou forget us for ever ? why wilt Thou forsake us so long? 21 Lead us back to Thee, O Jehovah, that we may truly return to Thee : renew our days as of old ! 22 Thou wilt not surely wholly forget us? Thou wilt not be angry with us beyond measure ? Thus wailed the genius of Hebrew poetry over the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem ! Other cities and countries have had their minstrels to lament their public sorrows, but the national elegies of the Jew alone have spread among all races of the earth and remain fresh after twenty-five centuries. Nor are they even yet without deep and practical interest, recording, as they do, the catastrophe that awaits any community, however highly favoured, which forgets that public and private righteousness, alone, secures permanent prosperity. CHAPTER yill. EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. THE psalms and laments in which Judah sighed over its national ruin became sacred among all the widely-dispersed race, from their first appearance, and at once deepened the grief over the fall of their country, and made it abiding. But with tearful regret were mingled other feelings. The " delightsome land " had ceased to be theirs ; in part, as we have seen, through the treachery of the communities round it, many of whom were kindred in blood to the sufferers.^ Edom had even sent troops to assist the Chaldeans in the siege, and these had shown a bitter and remorseless hostility, greater than that of the army they aided. The fiercest mutual hatred had, indeed, for centuries, thrust apart the brother races of Jacob and Esau. The refusal of a passage through Mount Seir to the Hebrews, under Moses, in their march from Egypt, nine hundred years before, had entailed the long sufierings of the wilderness life, and had never been forgotten. Fierce war had raged between the two peoples since the time of David's temporary conquest of Edom. Under Joram, Amaziah, and Uzziah, in succession, it had been virtually 1 Ezek. XXV. 3, 8, 12, 15; xxvi. 2. 142 EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 143 a Jewish province, till the reign of the weak Ahaz.^ Tho destruction of Jerusalem, however, had at last given the Edomites a chance of revenge, and they had indulged it to the uttermost. More cruel than the Chaldees, they had demanded that the city be razed to its foundations.^ After the final assault, they had eagerly helped to plunder it, and had openly rejoiced when the citizens were carried off into slavery, boasting loudly of their share in the catastrophe.^ Still worse ; they had cut off the retreat of such as had escaped massacre at the storming, and were making their way to the friendly shelter of Egypt. To destroy these, they had beset the southern roads, killing or taking prisoner as many fugitives as possible ; the captives being afterwards handed over as slaves to the Chaldeans.^ Nor had the depopulation of Jerusalem and Judah contented them. They had taken possession of a large part of the Hebrew territory.^ No wonder that, henceforth, an inextinguishable hatred, deepening with each generation, filled every Jewish bosom at the very name of Edom.^ A striking illustration of this deadly abhorrence of the race survives in the short prophecy of Obadiah, the briefest of all the books of the Old Testament. We know nothing of the personal history of the writer, and even the period at which the oracle that bears his name was first uttered, has been disputed. As in the case of Joel, some have fancied him the earliest of the prophets ; others, the latest; a lesson enforcing diffidence in historical criticism. That there are various coincidences 1 2 Sam. viii. 14. 2 Kings viii. 20. 2 Kings xvi. 6. 2 Chron. xxviii. 17. 2 Ps. cxxxvii. 7. Jer. xxxv. 11. Lara. iv. 21. Jer. xhx. 3 Obad. 11-13. " Obad. 14. « Ezek. xxxvi. 5. * Geikie's Life and Words of Christ, vol. i. p. 246. 144 EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. with Joel may be seen in any reference Bible, and there are passages more or less parallel with others in Jeremiah.^ But we know how frequently one prophet borrowed from another, sometimes indeed from one whose age and name are unknown/ and it is in Obadiah's case a question which was the borrower. The omission of the name of the Chaldeans, or the exile to Babylon, proves nothing in so short a composition, nor can much stress be laid on the position of the book after Amos, in the Hebrew Bible, since Canticles stands next after Job, and Joel, which the new critics allege to be very late, is put before Amos. The balance of probability seems strongly in favour of the prophecy having been uttered by one who had seen the destruction of Jerusalem, and the conduct of Edom which it denounces.^ Obadiah may have been one of those carried off to Babylon, or possibly he may have been a fugitive in Egypt or in Phenicia ; in any case, he seems have been a later contemporary of Jeremiah. Apart from the malignity shown by the Edomites, at the final crisis of the Hebrew state, there were special grudges between the two races on subordinate grounds. The people of Mount Seir, always vaunting and truculent, stirred the jealousy of their brother-race. They boasted, not without reason, of the wisdom of their great men,* * See a reference Bible. ^ See Isa. chaps, xv. and xvi. ^ Obadiah has been supposed by different critics to have lived before Joel, or under Joash, Jehoram, Uzziah or Pekah ; some even assigning him so late a date as B.C. 312. That widely separate centuries should thus have been honoured, shows the utter uncertainty oi the subject. But the concurrence of such men as De Wette, Bleek, Rosenmiiller and Ewald, in thinking the oracle refers to the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, is ample vindication for assuming that it does so. * Obad. 8. EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. 145 and had all the iasolence of wealth, secured by the posi- tion of their territory in the route of commerce from north to south. The apparent strength of their position, moreover, in a region of lofty and tangled mountains, increased their haughtiness ; for their capital, Selah or Petra, lay in a ravine, approachable only by difficult and easily defended mountain passes and narrow gorges. Their wisdom, prosperity, haughtiness, and fancied security, however, were doomed to a terrible eclipse. Josephus tells us^ that Nebuchadnezzar, some time after the destruction of Jerusalem, turned his arms against Moab, Ammon, Southern Syria and Edom, and utterly crushed them for the time, though Edom, at least, sur- vived, as a vassal territory, under the Jews and Romans, till after the fall of Jerusalem. Then, at last, the curse of Obadiah and other prophets was fulfilled. The prophecy opens with an outburst of rejoicing from the remnant of the Hebrews, at the news that vengeance was about to overtake the race they so fiercely hated. I "We heard a rumour from Jeliovah,- a messenger was sent among the nations, to say — " Up, let us rise against Edom in war ! " 2 " Behold," says Jehovab, " I will make thee small (0 Edom) among the nations ; thou shalt be utterly despised. 3 The pride of thy heart has deceived thee, thou who hast thy dwelling in the clefcs of the rocks ; thy seat on the mountain heights; ^ who sayest in thy heart, " Who shall cast me down to * Jos., Ant, X. ix. 7. ^ Obadiah. 3 The Edomites inhabited the range of Seir — " the rough " hills on the east side of the Arabah, or depression south of the Dead Sea. It stretches south, towards the Red Sea, in a succession of wild granite, porphyry, and sandstone masses, seamed with count- less intricate valleys, not even yet explored. Rising steeply on the west, it sinks gradually into the desert on the east. Full of caves, the hills were originally inhabited by the Horites, or cave men, but that race was driven out by the Edomites (Deut. ii. VOL. VI. L 146 EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. the ground." 4 If thou wert to soar as high as the eagle, and to set thy nest among the very stars, I wilt hurl thee down from thence, says Jehovah ! Nothing could resist a foe whom Jehovah had appointed as His instrument. Ordinary raids of plundering tribes might be beaten off, with only a partial loss, but the attack of the terrible Chaldean would bring utter ruin. 5 If a thieving horde ^cnme upon thee, or night-plunderers (attracted by thy wealth), ^ they would carry off only as much as satisfied them ; ^ but now, alas, how utterly art thou destroyed! If grape-gatherers came on thee, would they not leave some gleanings ? 6 But, now, how is Esau searched through in every part! How are his most secret chambers ransacked! Chaldea would plunder it utterly, nor would it have a friend or ally to help it in its distress. 7 When thy fugitives flee from the invader, to neighbouring friendly states, all these tliy allies'* will drive them back again, within their own borders ; tiie communities at peace with thee^ will betray thee, turning against thee and overcoming thee ; thy 12, 22). Petra, or Selah, the capital, consisted mainly of dwellings hewn out of the sandstone of the defile in which it lay ; the many rich colours of the rock giving the whole place great beauty. Its ruins, if the word may be used, show splendid temples, and a great amphitheatre cut out of the living rock ; but these are of a comparatively late period. See vol. iv. pp. 173, 408. 1 Obad. 5. 2 Diocl, xix. 94, 95. 3 Eichhorn translates these lines : " If thieves or midnight robbers came on thee, how quietly miglitest thou have awaited them; would they have stolen more than they could carry off?" Jer. xlix. 9, from which the verse is taken, runs thus in the A.Y. " If grape-gatherers come to thee, would they not have some gleaning grapes ? If thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough." * " Men of thy league." * '* Men of thy peace." EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 147 mercenaries ^ will spread a snare for thy feet, but thou wilt not mark it. - The boasted wisdom and martial spirit of Edom were to pass away. 8 Shall it not be in that day ' says Jehovah, that I will destroy (the wisdom of) " the wise" ■* out of Edom, and understanding from the mount.ain of Esau? 9 And thy mighty men, 0 Teraan, shall be dismayed (by the want of counsel), that every man may be cut off from the mount of Esau by the sword. ^ Their hostility to Jacob — the Hebrew people — has deserved no happier fate. 10 For thy wicked dealing towards thy brother Jacob,^ shame will cover thee, and thou shalt be destroyed for ever. 1 1 In the day when thou stoodest over against us, while aliens carried away his substance, and the barbarian pressed through his gates and cast the lot on Jerusalem, (to share its plunder and prisoners), thou wast like one of them. 12 Thou shouldst not have feasted'^ thine eyes on the (evil) day of thy brother, the day of his calamity; neither shouldst thou have rejoiced over the sons of Judah, in the day of their destruction; neither shouldst thou have opened thy mouth bitterly in the day of their distress. 13 Thou shouldst not have pressed through the gate of My people in the day of their trouble, nor have feasted thine eyes on their misery in the day of their calamity, nor have laid thy hand on their sub- stance in the day of their affection. 14 Neither shouldst thou have stood at the crossroads to kill those that had escaped (from the Chaldean), nor have given up the fugitives to their foe, in the hour of their anguish. ^ The Heb. has only "thy bread," but "men of" seems to be understood from the preceding clause. By men eating the bread of Edom, only mercenaries can be meant. The passage is very obscure. 2 Lit, " there is no noticing of it." ^ Obad. 8. * Eliphaz, the chief disputant with Job, was a Temanite. Job ii. 11. Gen. xxxvi. 15, 34. * Lit., "by slaughter." 6 Obad. 10. 7 Lit., " do not." 148 EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 15 For tlie day of Jehovali is near for all nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you ; your work will be paid back on your own head ! 16 For as you, sons of Judah, have drunk ^ the cup of My wrath, on My holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink it henceforth ; they shall drink and swallow it down, and be as if they had never been. Like all the other prophets, Obadiah sees light even in tlie darkest sky. His people may have been crushed for the time, but they are the heirs of the immortal kingdom of God, and that will, one day, once more, be gloriously established on Zion. 17 But on Movmt Zion^ shall be a place of escape, and it shall he a sanctuary, and the House of Jacob will (once more) enter into their possessions. 18 And the House of Jacob will be a fire and the House of Joseph a flame, and the House of Esau will be stubble (before them), and they shall set it on fire and consume it : Jehovah has spoken. The Hebrews — both Jacob and Joseph — will be vic- torious on all sides. 19 And they of the south country — the Negeb — will take possession of the mountains of Esau, and they of the Shephelah — the hill slopes over the maritime plain— will take the land of the Philistines; and they will take the Ephraim country^ and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin will get possession of Gilead, (beyond the Jordan). 20 And the captives of their host of the sons of Israel (who will then have returned), will take the land of the Canaanites, as far as Sarepta, ■* and the captives of Jerusalem who are at ^ Kleinert and Keil render this passage: "For as you (Edo- mites), have held your carousings on My holy mountain," etc. But this seems hardly so good as the sense given in the text. 2 Obad. 17-21. * Hill country, Sept. ^ Zarephath = Sarepta — the present Surafend, between Tyre and Sidon, on the coast. 1 Kings xvii. 9. EDOM AND THE NATIONS KOUND. 149 Sepliarad,' will take possession of the cities of the south country.^ 21 And deliverers will rise up on Mount Zion, to judge ihe mountain of Esau, ^ and the kingdom will be Jehovah's. Thus spoke Obadiah, repeating in effect, the curse denounced against Idumea by Amos'* and Isaiah/ about 200 and 150 years, respectively, before the Chaldean destruction of Jerusalem. But the indignation in Judah excited by the cruel desertion of the nations pledged to support her in her final struggle, and especially by the base malignity of Edom, stirred the hearts of his brother prophets no less strongly. Jeremiah and Ezekiel, widely apart as they were, felt alike towards the betrayers of their people, and launched equally terrible utterances against them. It is impossible in all cases to fix the exact dates of these prophecies, but those of Jeremiah at least, from his age, ^ must have been spoken very soon after his countrymen had been carried ofi" to Babylon. The doom of Edom, pronounced by him in tbe name of Jehovah, was terrible. ^ Sephnrad. Graetz would read Arad : ay)lace on the Plienician coast. Keil thinks of Sparta : others, suppose Sardis meant, since it is called Se{)liarad (C P a R a D) in old Persian inscrip- tions. But Schrader very justly hesitates to accept this, on various grounds, and looks rather to Babylonia, where the locality may one day be identified. Keilinschriften, p. 2S5. 2 The :Negeb. ' The overthrow of Edom by the Chaldeans is implied in Jer. xlix. 7 ; Ezek. xxxv., comp. Jer. xxv. 9, 21, and Mai. i. 3. John Hyrcaniis finally crushed the Edomites and compelled them to submit to circumcision, B.C. 129, Jos,, Ant., XIII. i.\'. 1 ; Alex.mder Jannaeus subdued the last of their clans (Jos., Ant., XIII. xv. 4.) and Rome finally de.-troyed the nation. Jos., Bell. Jud., IV. ix. 7. ^ Amos i. 11. Vol. iv. p. 196. 5 Isa. xxxiv. 1-17. Vol. iv. p. 405. • Jeremiah was between 60 and 70 at the taking of Jerusalem. 150 EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 7 Concerning Edom — it began — thus saith Jehovah of Hosts : * Is there no longer wisdom in Teman ? ^ Has sound counsel perished from the understanding ones? Has their wisdom vanished ? 8 Flee ! turn ! seek the deep caves of your hills for dwellings, (or the depths of the desert), ye inhabitants of Dedan,^ for I am about to bring on Esau his destruction : the time of his visitation! 9 If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleanings ? if a thieving horde, by night, they would take only what they could carry ofT.* 10 But I will strip Esau bare ; I will lay open his secret places, so that he shall not be able to hide himself. His seed shall be spoiled, and his brethren, tlie related tribes, his neighbours, will perish.^ 11 (Thy men having all been destroyed), leave thy fatherless children (0 Edom); I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Mel 12 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, those to whom it belonged not to drink the cup (of My wrath — My own people) must drink it, and shalt thou go unpunished ? Thou shalt not go unpunished, but drink it thou shalt! 13 For I have sworn by Myself, says Jehovah, that Bozrali ^ shall become a horror, a contempt, a desolation, and a curse, and all its towns shall be perpetual wastes. ^ The destruction of Edom being a righteous judgment from Jehovah, the prophet goes on to speak of the com- mand to the Chaldeans to invade it as coming from above, 14 I have heard a rumour which is from Jehovah;^ a messenger has been sent to the nations, saying, " Assemble and come against it; arise to war!" 15 For, lo, I will make thee small among the nations, (0 Edom !), and despised among men. 16 The fear of thee, ^ and the pride of thy heart, have deceived thee, O thou 1 Jer. xlix. 7-13. The resemblances to Obadiah are to be noted. 2 See vol. V. p. 361. ^ yoj. i. p. 243. ^ What was enough, to them. * Lit., "are gone," or " he is gone." ^ Vol. iv. p. 406. ? Dry places, or deserts. » Jer. xlix. 14-22. ' Lit., " thy terribleness." EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 151 who dvvellest in clefts of the rocks, ^ and sittest fast on the heights of the hills.^ Though thou buildest thy nest high as the eagle, I will drag thee down from thence, saith Jehovah, 17 and Edom shall be a fear-inspiring desolation ! Every one who passes by it will be dismayed,^ and will hiss, (in scorn and mockery), at all the strokes it has borne. 18 As Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbour towns, were destroyed utterly, saith Jehovah, so no man will dwell in Edom any more : no man will sojourn in it. The ascent of the Edomite hills by the invader is now described. 19 Behold! he will come up (against thy hill cities), as a lion comes up from the thickets of the bed of the Jordan, against the flocks on the rock pastures of the Negeb,"* and I will make Edom run forthwith (like a scattered flock) from her rocks, and I will appoint over it him who is chosen (by Me). For who is My equal, and who will challenge My doings? And who is the shepherd (or leader of men) who will stand before Me ? 20 Therefore, hear the decree of Jehovah, that He has made against Edom, and His purposes that He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman.^ Yerily, they shall drive them before them — weak ones of tlie flock as they are ! Verily their pasture itself will be dismayed at them.* 21 The earth trembles at the noise of their downfall ; a cry will rise, the sound of which will be heard even to the Red Sea." 22 Behold, the invader will mount up, and fly, and spread out his wings like an eagle, over Bozrah, and the * See p. 145. The word for " rock " is Selah— a name of Petra. ' Both Selah or Petra, and Bozrah, are at a great elevation above the sea level. 3 The noun and the verb in these sentences are the same- dismayed may therefore be read " filled with terror, or fear." * Wilton's Negeb, p. 43. * Wilton shows, from Josh. xv. 1, that Teman must have been the northern part of the range of Seir, next Judah. The Negeb, p. 123. * This passage is repeated in chap. 1. 45. ^ Lit, " The weedy sea." Edom extended to the Red Sea in the days of her glory. 1 Kings ix. 26. 152 EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. heart of the mighty men, in that day, will be like the heart of a woman in her trouble ! Not less sternly did the curse against Edom sound from the banks of the Chebar. Ezekiel proclaims it in few but terrible words. 12 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,^ Because Edom has taken revenge on Judah, and made herself greatly guilty by doing so : J3 Thetefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will stretch out My hand against Edom, and root out man and beast fjom it, and make it a desert ; from Teman (in the north) to Dedan (in the :south), they shall fall by the sword. 14 I will carry out My revenge on Edom, by the hand of My people Israel.^ It will fare with Edom accoiding to My anger and My fierce wrath, and they shall know My revenge ! saith the Lord Jehovah. Edom, however, did not stand alone as the object of the denunciations of the prophets ; all the peoples who had betrayed Judah and vented their hatred against her, were alike condemned.^ Calamities terrible as those of Jerusalem were to come upon all its neighbours in turn. The doom of the Philistines pronounced by Jeremiah opens with a figure suggested by the great river Eu- phrates, on which Babylon stood. The awful power of the Chaldeans is compared to an overwhelming flood, coming from the North. 2 Thus saiih Jehovah:* Behold, waters rise from the north* and swell to a flood, overflowing the river banks, and will de- luge the open countiy and all in it, the town and its inhabitants; 1 Ezek. XXV. 12-14. 2 gee p. 148. 3 Though not expressly stated, it is in itself probable that the Philistines had taken advantage of the sore straits of Judah to gratify their haired of her. Ezek. xvi. 27-57. Amos i. 6. Isa. ix. 11 ; xi. 14. Zeph. ii. 5. Obad. 19. Joel iv. 4. Zech. ix. 5. 4 jer. xlvii. 1-7. * In Isa, xlvi. 8 the same figure is nsed of the Assyrian army. EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 153 and the men will lament aloud ; all the people of the land will shriek in terror. 3 At the loud beating of the hoofs of his war- horses, at the bounding of his chariots, at the rattling of their wheels, the fathers, (in their flight), will not look back to their children, (to save them); so terror-stricken will they be ^ 4 be- cause of tlie day which then comes to destroy all the Philistines, and cut otf from Tyre and Sidon every one left to help them.^ For Jehovah will destroy the Philistines — the remnant of the people who came from Caphtor. 5 Baldness (the sign of mourn- ing)^ has come on Gaza; Askelon is destroyed, and the rest of the Philistine plain.'* How long (0 Philistia) wilt thou cut thy- self (for sorrow !)^ 6 0 thou sword of Jeliovah, how long wilt thou not cease? ^ Lit., " the powerless of their hands will be such." ' The Philistines hired themselves out as mercenaries. ^ Jer. xvi. 6. •* Tlie word is Aiinek — a long broad sweep, like the Plain of Esdiaelon or the Gbor of the Jordan. The Sept. has '' the remnant of the Anakim." Num. xiii. 33. Deut. ii. 10. 1 Sam. xvii. 4. 1 Chron. xx. 5-8. For '* the Philistine " in the text, the Hebrew has " their." In vol. i. pp. 247, 355, Caphtor is identified with the island of Crete. Later Egyptian researches have, however, proved that the word means " the greater Phenicia," which, in Egyptian is expressed by the words *' Keft ui*." From an early period the whole coast of the Delta had been settled by Phenicians, and was hence called by the Egyptians Keft-ur ; the Caphtor of the Bible. The Philistines are however often spoken of as Cretans. Ezek. XNV. 16. Though Phenicians, they may have come to the Delta from Crete, from which the name Crethi, apparently^ ap- plied to them, may be taken. 1 Sara. viii. 18 ; xv. 18 ; xx. 7, 23. 1 Kings xxxviii. 44. 1 Chron. xviii. 17. Eber's JEgijpten und die B Musis, p. 131. Sayce's Fresh Light from Anct. Monuments, pp. 47, 87. * The " remnant " of Philistia, for it is only a remnant, Psam- metichus having sorely weakened them by his long siege of Ashdod {Herod., ii. 157), sit in deep grief, like women who pull out their hair, and, in agonizing despair, cut themselves, as was their custom in such cases. Jer. xvi. 6; xlviii. 37. 154 EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. Back to thy scabbard ! Rest ! Be still ! 7 Bat how can it rest, since Jehovah has given it a mission against Askelon and the sea coast (of Philistia) ? There has He given it its charge ! Far away, in Babylonia, Ezekiel repeated a similar malediction. 15 Thus says the Lord Jehovah,^ because the Philistines acted revengefully, and wreaked that revenge with foul contempfc,^ to destroy Judab, in their long-standing enmity ; 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will stretch out My hand over the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cretans,^ and destroy the remnant of them that is on the sea-coast. 17 And I will take a great revenge on them with fierce chastisements, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I bring my revenge upon them. Moab, among other kingdoms, was the object of fierce denunciations. Isaiah had prophesied its doom long before, perhaps in the words of a still older seer.* Jere- miah, as Balaam, Amos, and others, had done, from the time of Moses, now lifted up his voice proclaiming its approaching destruction. But since the reign of Mesa and the death of Ahab, with a brief interval during the reign of Jeroboam II., the doomed land had enjoyed independence, and instead of paying tribute to the He- brews had harried their borders remorselessly.^ Jeremiah now, however, sees it at last utterly destroyed. I Eespecting Moab ; ^ thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel ; Woe to Nebo ^ for it is laid waste : Kiriathaim, " the 1 Ezek. XXV. 15-17. 2 The word comes from a root, meaning " to stink." 3 Lit. Cherethim, or Crethi. 1 Sam. xxx. 14. Zeph. ii. 5. ■* Isa. chaps, xv. and xvi. 5 2 Kings xiii. 20. ^ Jer. xlviii. 1-8. " Nebo. The highest peak of the Abarim range near the north end of the Dead Sea, but also the name of a town in Moab, or rather in the territory of Keuben (Num. xxxii. 38), held, in the EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. 155 double town " ^ is put to shame, is taken : Misgab, " the citadel on the height," is put to shame and broken down.- 2 The boasting of Moab is gone ! In Heslibon tliey ^ plot evil against the land : " Come, let us cut it ofiP from being a nation " ! Thou, also, Madmenah,"* wilt be brought to silence; the sword will pursue thee. 3 Hark ! a cry from Horonaim,* " spoiling and huge de- struction " ! 4 Moab is broken to pieces; the towns, her little ones, cause their cry to be heard to Zoar.^ They go up the ascent of Luhith with weeping; in the descent of Horonaim the wail is heard over the ruin that has come on them. 5 Flee, save your lives, like him who escapes, naked, to the wilderness. 6 Because thou trustedst in thy strongholds and in thy treasures, thou shall be taken (in war) and Cheraosh,^ thy god, shall wander forth into captivity ; his priests and his princes with him ! 7 And the spoiler shall come up upon every town, not one shall prophet's day, by Moab. It was taken by Mesa about B.C. 895. The word is derived by Hitzig from the Sanscrit, and rendered by him, " the cloudy heaven ; " and hence there was a god Nebo, after whom the town of the name was called. Sayce, however, derives Nebo from Nabi, " a prophet," as if in remembrance of one of the order in ancient times. * Kirjathaim, the modern Kureiyat. The latter, like Nebo, lay on the east edge of the upland plateau, and the two thus stand for the tableland generally. 2 Misgab = the height, the citadel. De Saulcy writing of the neighbourhood of Kureiyat, speaks of extensive ancient ruins, and a circular enclosure, constructed with very large stones, and crowning the summit of a high clifif. Vol. i. pp. 546-555. 3 The invading Chaldeans. ^ A district of Moab famous for its rich soil. Hitzig, 2Qd ed., translates " Madmen " as in Isa. xxv. 10, " dunghill " ; and makes the clause apply to Heshbon — " yea, to dungheaps wilt thou be brought." The corpses of the slain will lie rotting on the face of the earth. * Lit., " the two caves," a town of Moab. « Sept. Ewald. Graf. ' The national god of Moab. This being the only god anywhere mentioned in connection with Moab, the nation would seem to have been practically monotheists. 156 EDOM AND THE NATIONS EGUND. escape ; the lowland ' shall be ruined and the table land ^ be laid waste, as Jehovah has spoken. 9 Give Moab wings ^ that it may fly off and get away, (like a bird scared from its nest), for her cities shall be made an un- inhabited desolation. lo Cursed be he who does the work of Jehovah slackly ; cursed be he who holds back his sword from blood. 1 1 Moab has remained from his youth undisturbed ; he has lain still, (in his country, like wine) on its lees ; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel— that is, he has not gone away into captivity (but has enjoyed prosperity), and hence his taste has remained in him, and his fragrance is not changed.^ Therefore behold days come, says Jehovah, that will send to liim those who will turn him on his side (as they do wine jars), and pour him out, emptying his wine jars, and shattering his flagons. 13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the children of Israel were ashamed of Bethel,^ their confidence. 14 (Wben it will then happen with you as with the weak and unwarlike) how will you be able to say (any longer), " We are mighty men and strong for war"? 15 Moab is wasted; his cities have gone up in smoke and flame,' and his chosen young men are led like sheep to the slaughter-block, says the King, whose name is Jehovah of Hosts. 16 The destruction of Moab ^ is near at hand, his calamity hastens fast. 17 All ye, his neighbours, bewail him, and all ye who know his name say, " How is the sceptre of might broken, the rod of power." 18 Come down from thy glory, thou daughter, ^ Aimek — the broad sweeps of valley between hills, including perhaps the Ghor of the Jordan. See p. 153. 2 The Mishor== upland downs, without rock or stones. 3 Jer. xlviii. 9-15. ■* To remain on its lees improved wine; to be emptied from vessel to vessel made it tasteless and without fragrance. Its taste and smell were benefited and preserved if it were not poured off its lees. » Moab remained the same in its feelings to other nations — liarsh and bitter. 6 The calf gods of Bethel. . 7 Or "the spoiler has gone up to his cities." 8 Jer. xlviii. 16-25. EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. 157 inhabitress of (well-watered) Dibon,^ and sit thirsty on the ground, (captives, waiting to be led away), for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee ; he shall destroy thy strongholds. 19 Stand out in the road, 0 inhabitant ^ of Aroer, and look; ask him that is fleeing, and him that has escaped, " What has happened?" 20 Moab is put to shame ; yea, it is overthrown ; howl and cry; tell it iti Arnon that Moab is laid waste! 21 The judgment (of God) has come on the uplands ;3 on Holon and Jahazah and Mephiiath, 22 and Dibon,and Nebo, andBeth-diblathaim, 23 and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamnl, and Beth-meon, 24 and Kerioth, and Bozrah,^ and on all the towns of the land of Moab, far and near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is shattered, says Jehovah ! The enemy to whom it is committed to carry out tlie judgments of God is now invoked. He is to hand to Moab the cup of the Divine wrath, and make it drunken, till it reels and falls, the derision of those around.^ Its pride against Jehovah, in despising Israel, and the vio- ^ "Ye inhabitants of Dibon." For a notice of the towns men- tioned in this prophecy, see vol. iv. pp. 97-103. 2 Feminine in the Heb. for all the populations. 3 Lit., " the land of the Mishor." As in verse 8. See vol. ii. p. 374. '* Of these towns, Dibon lay three miles north of the Arnon ; Aroer on the north bank of the Arnon, so that it was on the boundary between the Hebrew territory and that of Moab, but at this time Moab held a large part of the land formerly enjoyed by the tribes beyond Jordan. Holon is mentioned only here, Jahazah seems to have lain to the east of the country, on the edge of the wilderness, and Mephaath was near it. Beth- diblathaim was perhaps north of Dibon. Beth-gamul is only mentioned here, and its position is unknown. Beth-meon was apparently near Heshbou. Kerioth is a synonym of Ar, or Kir, the old capital of Moab. The plural form Kerioth may imply that it included two or more contiguous towns. Bozrah is not identified. The word means " sheepfolds," a fitting name for small communities on 'these upland pastures. ^ See a similar figure, chap. xxv. 15. 158 EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. lence done to the people of God, by seiziag on their in- heritance beyond Jordan, and cheering on the Chaldeans in their attack on Jerusalem, have brought on the offender this fierce indignation. 26 Make ye him drunken,' for he has acted haughtily against Jehovah; (make him drunken) till he fall into- his own vomit, and himself become a derision as he made Israel. 27 Was not Israel a derision to thee, and, yet, was such a fate deserved — as if he had been found among thieves ? (Thou conldsb not have treated him with more contempt had he been so), for as often as thou speakest of him thou tossest thy head (in scorn). ^ 28 Abandon your towns and make your home in the clefts of the rock, ye inhabitants of Moab, and be like the doves which build their nest at the mouth of the hill caves.^ 29 We (of Judah) have heard of the pride of Moab, for he is insolent exceedingly — his haughtiness, his arrogance, his lofty airs, and the supercilious- ness of his heart (are known to us). 30 Even I (also) know his insolence, says Jehovah, and the hollowness of his boasting; ^ the lies that he has uttered. 31 Therefore, (at the thought of the judgment coming on him for these), I shriek in sorrow for Moab, I cry aloud for all its land. There shall be moaning for the men of Kir-heres.^ 32 O Vine of Sebmah, I will weep for thee more than Jazer will (over the wreck of its homes and vine- 1 Jer. xlviii. 26-35. ^ Lit., '' splash into," so as to sound like the beating of the hands. 3 Matt, xxvii. 39. 4 Keil translates this phrase, " over the yawning abyss," fol- lowing Hitzig. But the word for " abyss " is from a root, " to bore through," " to pierce," and thus suits a cave better than a precipice. In verses 43, 44, it occurs three times, and is rendered in each, "pit" — apparently a concealed cistern or grain pit. But in the text it must mean a cave, since doves breed in such recesses, not in pits. « Or, "babbling." ^ Tlie chief stronghold of Moab. The Kirhareseth and Kir- haresh of Isa. xvi. 7, 11, also called Kir of Moab and Kirkhu; see the Moabite Stone. Now Kerak. EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. 159 yards); thy shoots reached over the sea, tliey reached even to the water of Jazer.^ Tlie spoiler ■will fall on thy fruit harvest and on thy vintage. ;^^ Joy and gladness are taken from the Carmel-like field, so richly frnitful, and from the (whole) land of Moab, and I will cause the wine to fail from the wine-vats; no one will tread them with joyful cry ; their shouting will be no shouting for gladness, (but the cry of war). 34 The cry of Heshbon is heard at Elealeh, (two miles off); its voice sounds even to Jahaz ; ^ the cry of Zoar reaches to Horonaim and the third Eglath,^ for even the waters of Nimrim ■* shall be made a waste. 35 And I will destroy from Moab, says Jehovah, him that goeth up to a high-place and burns incense to his gods. Another outburst of lameut over tlie ruin of Moab follows. 36 For this, my heart wails ® like mourning flutes, for Moab; my heart wails like mourning flutes, forthemen of Kir-hares; for the abundance they had saved is perished. 27 For every head is bald and every beard shaven (in mourning) ; slashes are cut on all arms in grief,^ and sackcloth is on the loins. 38 Loud shrieks rise from all the house-roofs ' of Moab and in her public places, for I have broken Moab in pieces, says Jehovah, like a vessel in which one has no pleasure. * Sebmah was, according to St. Jerome, only 600 paces from Heshbon. Jazer was 15 miles north of it. "The sea" is the Dead Sea. The fame of the vines of Jazer was widely spread. 2 Much farther off, to the south-west. 3 This is Ewald, Graf, and Keil's reading, on the assumption that there were three towns of that name. ^ " This is a rich verdant spot at the south-east end of the Dead Sea. It still bears the Arab name of Nimeirah, and here, too, we found traces of the leopard." — Dr. Tristram. " Nahr Nim- rim *' means " the stream of the leopards." 5 Jer. xlviii. 36-38. ^ " It was a custom among the ancients, and is still common among the Jews, that they cut their arms, etc., in their grief." Jerome, on Jer. xvi. 6. ' They were flat. 1(30 EDOM AND THE NATIONS KOUND. There will be no escape from the destruction ! 39 They shall shriek aloud, ^ ** Oh ! how is our land rained ! How has Moab turned her back with shame ! " Thus will Moab be a mockery and a dismay to all his neighbours. 40 For thus says Jehovah, Behold the enemy shall swoop down like an eagle, and spread out his wings over Moab. 41 Kerioth ^ is taken; the strongholds are captured, and the hearts of the mighty men of ]\[oab are become, in that day, like the heart of a woman in her trouble. 42 And Moab will be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Jehovah. 43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, says Jehovah. 44 He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare, for I shall bring on him, even on Moab, the year of his visitation, says Jehovah. 45 The fugitives stand, worn out, under the shadow of (the walls of) Heshbon, ^ but fire shall break out of Heshbon, and flame from the midst of Sihon, and will consume the border of Moab and the crown of the head of its haughty sons."* 46 Woe to thee, 0 Moab ! The people of Chemosh are lost ! for thy sons will be led away captives, and thy daughters to captivity. 47 Yet I will turn again the captivity of Moab in the end of days, says Jehovah. * Ezekiel, on the banks of the Chebar, was equally stern in his denunciation of the doomed land. 8 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, ^ Because Moab, like Seir, says, " Behold the House of Judah is as the same as all other peoples," 9 therefore, lo, I will open to the inroads of the Sons of the East — I Jer. xlviii. 39-47. 2 gee verse 24 ^ A neighbouring city of the Ammonites. * Lit., " sons of tumult," perhaps = warriors. 5 This prophecy is more or less adapted from other prophecies. Compare this 48th chap, of Jeremiah with Isa. xv. and xvi. ; Amos ii. 1-3 ; Zeph. ii. 8-10, and the words of Balaam, Num. xxiv. 17. « Ezek. XXV. 8-11. EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 161 the Arabs ' — the border of Moab, from the cities on the one end of it, to the last of his cities on the other — the glory of the land — Beth-jeshiinoih, Baal-meon- and Kiriathaiin,^ lo with the country of the Ammonites, and will give it to the invaders for a possession, that the Ammonites may no longer be remembered among the nations, ii And I will execute judgments on Moab, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. In this terrible list of judgments on the enemies of Israel, . Ammon was included by both Ezekiel and Jeremiah. The people of God were not to suffer alone. The Divine vengeance would light even more heavily on the heathen, far and near. The word of the Lord^ Ezekiel tells us, came again to him, saying : — 2 Son of man, ■* turn thy face against the sons of Ammon and prophecy against them, 3 and say to the sons of Ammon, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because thou saidst "Aha" against My Temple when it was desecrated, and against the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and against the House of Judah when it went into exile— 4 behold, 1 will, therefore, give thee to the sons of the East— the Arabs — for a possession, that they may set up their tent villages in thee, and make their encamp- ments in thee ; and they will eat thy produce and drink thy milk. 5 And I will make Kabbah — thy capital — a browsing place for camels — and the (home of) the sons of Ammon for a gathering place of herds, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 6 For thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because thou didst clap thy hands, and stamp (for joy) with thy feet, and rejoice with the deadliest contempt, at (the calamities of) the land of Israel, 7 behold, I will therefore stretch oat My hand over thee, and deliver thee * " Sons of the East," the same as our later word " Saracens." The Arabs would overrun and occupy both Ammon and Moab, as has been the case for ages. 2 These towns were in the territory of Reaben, but in EzekiePs day were held by Moab. ^ Sir G. Grove thinks Kiriatham, not Kiriathaim, was tlie original form. < Ezek. xxv. 1-7. VOL. VI. M 162 EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. for a spoil to the peoples, and root thee out from among them, and destroy thee from among the nations, and thou shalt know- that I am Jehovah ! The territory of Ammon lay to the north of Moab, to which its people were closely allied by blood. The tribe of Gad had long before received their country as its inheritance, after the defeat of Sihon their king ; but the deportation of the eastern Tribes by Tiglath-Pileser/ had enabled them to re-occupy the district, from which, indeed, they had probably never been wholly expelled. Less settled than Moab, the Ammonites had only one city of any size, their capital, Kabbah ; the region being generally pastoral. Hereditary enemies of Israel,^ they would not long have cause for rejoicing at his fall. Like Ezekiel, Jeremiah proclaimed their coming doom. I Concerning the B'nai Ammon,' thus says Jehovah : Has Israel no sons left ? Has he no heirs ? Why, then, has Milcom, (the god of the Ammonites), taken the territory of Gad as an inheritance, (instead of Jehovah ?) and why do his people dwell in its towns? 2 Because of this, the days come when I shall cause Eabbah of the B'nai Ammon to hear the shout of battle, and it will be made heaps of ruins, and the small towns round it — its daughters — will be burned with fire, and then shall Israel dis- possess them that took possession of his territory, says Jehovah. 3 Lament aloud, 0 Heshbon, for Ai,"* near thee, is (already) laid waste ! Shriek, ye daughters of Rabbah— inhabitants of the little towns near her — gird yourselves with sackcloth ; lament, and run hither and thither, behind the rude stone walls of thy 1 2 Kings XV. 29. See vol. iv. p. 233. 2 Judges X. 7 ; xi. 12-32. 1 Sam. xi. 2 Sam. x. and xi. ; xii. 26. 2 Chron. xx. Amos i. 13-15. 2 Kings xiv. 25. 2 Chron. xxvi. 8. 2 Kings xv. 29. 1 Chron. v. 26. 3 Jer. xlix. 1-6. 4 Not the Ai on the west of the Jordan. Graf suggests " Ar " (Num. xxi. 15). EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 163 jedars} for Milcora (your god) shall go into captivity, and -with him his priests and his princes. 4 Why gloriest thou in the glens (of thy land), the wealth ^ of thy (chief) valley, (below Rabbah), 0 rebellious daughter, who trustedst in (the lasting possession of) thy treasures, saying, "Who will come to me" (to attack me) ? 5 Behold I will cause terror to come on thee from all sides, says the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, and ye shall be driven out, every man straight before him, no one stopping to rally or gather the fugitives. 6 Yet, hereafter, I will turn back the captivity of the B'nai Ammon, says Jehovah.* Damascus, now an inconsiderable state, under we know not what rule, had brought on itself tlie same doom as its neioflibours, for the same cause. Its fate is thus foretold by Jeremiah.* 23 Hamath ^ is put to shame and Arpad,^ for they have heard evil tidings, they are in despair. ^ There is sorrow even on the sea (coast) ; (like the sea) men cannot rest. 24 Damascus has lost heart and turns to flee, trembling has seized her, anguish and woe like that of a woman in her trouble. 25 Oh ! how sad, that the famous, the delightsome city should not be abandoned (by its people) before her fall ! 26 Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets, and all her fighting men will be cut off in that ^ See vol. iv. p. 218. It is translated in the A.V. — "sheep- folds," " folds," " sheepcotes," " hedges," " wall," and included the dry stone walls used for all inclosures alike. - With Ewald and Graf, I take the participle as a substantive. The Sept has Anakim for Amakim (valleys), and is probably right. A remnant of the old gigantic race may have previously held them. 3 The Eabbis held that the Ammonites returned when some of their race in later times became proselytes to Judaism. Barclay's Talmud. ' Jer. xlix. 23-27. » Yol. iii. p. 213; vol. iv. p. 207. Hamath was at one time under the Hittites, as shown by Hittite inscriptions found there. ^ A city 15 miles north of Aleppo, now Ervad. ^ Lit., '* they melt away." 164 EDOM AND THE NATIONS BOUND. day, says Jehovah of Hosts. 27 And I will kindle fire on the wall of Damascus, that will consume the palaces of Benhadad.* The various Arab races, settled and nomadic, in the wide regions between Palestine and the Euphrates, are next arraigned and given over to the visitation of God. ^ The denunciation is directed against " Kedar ^ and the kingdoms of Hazor/' that is, the Arab villages under different sheiks, *' which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote/' How long the prophecy had been uttered before its fulfilment, we have no means of know- ing. 28 Up, (0 Chaldeans), march against Kedar, and spoil the sons of the East ! 29 They, (the Ciialdeans), shall take their tents and their sheep ; they shall carry off their tent-cloths,^ and all their household utensils, and their camels, and shall raise the war shout against them. Fear shall be on every side ! 30 Flee ! begone as far as you may ! bury yourselves in the depth of the desert, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith Jehovah. For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has formed a purpose ^ Amos i. 4, 14. Ben-Hadad = the son of Hadad, the chief god of Damascus ; sometimes called Hadad Rimmon, and as such representing Baal, the sun- god — with Rimnion, the god of the air. 2 Jer. xlx. 28-33. ^ Kedar is used here as a general name for all the nomadic tribes of Arabs; Hazor for those dwelling in fixed encampments or villages. The settled Arabs are still called Hadarije, in con- trast to Wabarije or tent Arabs ; and Hadar = Hazor is the fixed dwelling, in distinction fro'm '" Bedii," the open desert. Keil, Jeremia, p. 490. Delitzsch, Jes. xlii. 11. The "men" or " sous of the East " are the Arabs as a whole, (afterwards) known as the Nabateans or Kedarenes. ^ The thick, felt-like, rainproof coverings of goat's hair or camel's hair, which Paul employed himself in making. Herzog, vol. V. p. 514 ; vol. vi. p. 148. The two under layers of coverings of the tabernacle are described by the word used here. Herzog, vol. XV. p. 98. EDOM AND THE NATIONS ROUND. 165 against you, and planned hostile action. 31 Up, 0 Chaldeans, inarch against a people living quietly, in (fancied) security, saith the Lord ; who have neither gates nor bars (to oppose you), but dwell alone. 32 Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their herds and flocks a spoil. And I will scatter to all the winds the race tha^ wear tlieir hair shaven at the temples, ^ and I will bring destruction on them from all sides, saith Jehovah. 33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals, a waste for ever. No one shall live there, no one even sojourn in it. The last in this list of doomed communities is Elam, the mountainous reo^ion on the west of the lower Tiofris.^ The fulfilment of the prophecy, nevertheless, was to be remote ; for to Elam, under its king Cyrus, and to Media, was hereafter given the commission to overthrow Baby- lon.^ Under the Persian empire, however, its indepen- dence was lost, and it became the seat of the Persian capital, Susa or Shushan. It was in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, * that Jeremiah was moved, we do not know on what occasion, to foretell the destiny of this country, which seemed to the Jews almost beyond the limits of the habitable world. The prediction runs as follows : — 35 Thus says Jehovah of Hosts : ^ Behold, I break the bow of Elam,^ its national weapon, 36 and will bring on it the four winds ' See vol. V. p. 210. - See vol. i. p. 256 ; vol. v. p. 69. ^ Isa. xxi. 2. * Jer. xlix. 34 The prophecies in chaps, xlvi. to xlix. and xxxiii., had been uttered about seven years before. Jer. xlvi. 2. 5 Jer. xlix. 34-39. ^ The national weapon, see vol. iv. p. 4-10. Sayce thinks that the conquest of Elam referred to was that effected byTeiopes, a chief of the royal clan of the Persians, who appears to have taken pos- session of Elam dui-ing the troublous time that followed the fall of Assyria. The result of this was to make Cyrus an Elamite in education and religion. Sayce, Fresh Light, p. 180. 166 EDOM AND THE NATIONS EOUND. from the four ends of heaven, and will scatter its people to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which the dispersed of Elam shall nob come. 37 And I will make Elam dismaj'ed before her enemies, and before those that seek her life, and will bring evil on them, the glow of My anger, says Jehovah, and send the sword after them till I have consumed them. 38 And I will set up My throne in Elam, and destroy out of it kings and princes, says Jehovah. 39 Yet in the end of days I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Jehovah. CHAPTER IX. THE MURDER OP GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. THE state of things in Judali, after the Chaldean army retired, taking with it long files of captives to Babylon, was gloomy in the extreme. Jerusalem and the Temple lay in ruins, the towns and villages had been burned, and most of the surviving population had fled for the time. The land was not, however, finally abandoned ; for there still remained inhabitants enough, when the fugitives came back from their hiding places, to form a considerable community, and over these the authority of Babylon must be upheld, to prevent Egypt from taking possession of the country. Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, took measures for the organization of a govern- ment in its bounds.^ Among the steady advocates of quiet submission to the Chaldeans, a Jewish noble — Gedaliah, "he whom Jehovah has made great '^ — had borne a foremost part. As a recognition of this he was now appointed governor of the land. He was the grandson of Shaphan, the secre- tary of king Josiah, and son of Ahikam who had been * The subsequent narrative rests mainly on Jeremiah, chaps, xl., xli., xlii. and xliii. 167 168 THE MURDER OP GEDALIAH^ AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. sent by that king to the prophetess Huldah, to inquire about the newly-found Book of the Law, and to whom, in the days of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah owed his life.^ Ge- daHah had been no less faithful to the best traditions of the past, or to Jeremiah, their greatest living repre- sentative. The opinions of the statesman and the prophet were identical, alike in religion and politics, and thus drew them together. To both, the perjury of Zedekiah in his rebellion against Babylon, was the cause of the misery that had overwhelmed the nation; and both might be implicitly trusted to be loyal to Nebu- chadnezzar. The state of parties in Jerusalem had been intimately known to the Chaldeans, and hence the storming of the city, which had overthrown the State, was the signal for Jeremiah recovering his freedom. In return for his firm support of Chaldea, orders were issued to the general in command at Jerusalem, to take him under his protection and show him every favour. He was at once, therefore, removed from confinement in the court of the watch, and commended to the good offices of Gedaliah, though free to go where he liked. Led first to Ramah, the Chaldean headquarters, about five miles north of Jeru- salem, and so far on the way to Babylon, the manacles hitherto on his wrists were there struck off*, and he was invited to choose whether he would go with honour to Babylon, or remain behind in his ruined native country. Knowing, however, that if he went to the East he should never see Judah again, he preferred to remain amidst scenes which, even in their desolation, were so near his heart. Gedaliah had taken up his abode at Mizpeh, a little south of Kamah, and to him the prophet turned, receiving, from the Chaldean general, when he left him, THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. 169 besides other substantial proofs of regard, a supply of provisions, necessary for his support till the next harvest. A better day seemed now dawning. The restless Egyptian party was in exile, and Gedaliah had every quality his position seemed to demand. All the popula- tion not carried off were committed to his charge, and the feeble remnant of the nation might hope slowly to regain a modest prosperity by his aid, under the shadow of the Great King. The news of this new settlement of affairs soon spread. An amnesty, which promised the best results, had been proclaimed to all who gathered round Gedaliah. ' Numbers of men throughout the country had formed themselves into armed bands, to harass the Chaldeans during the siege, but had been forced to flee to the fastnesses of the distant hills — to Edom, Moab, and Ammon — after the city was taken. Further resistance was hopeless. Their leaders, therefore, gladly sent in their submission and that of their followers, to the new governor, himself a Jew, in answer to his overtures of protection and oblivion of the past, if they proved henceforth loyal subjects of Nebuchadnezzar. They might settle where they liked in the half-depopulated country, taking possession of the abandoned orchards, vineyards, and fields. A great many, attracted by such offers, flocked in from all sides. Among other leaders of these rude bands, however, was one destined to ruin the fair hopes of the community. Ishmael — ominous name — a connection of the old Hebrew royal family, possibly even a descendant of Elishama, the son of David,^ but perhaps a son of Zedekiali or one of the later kings — was still the head of a company which, after the siege, had taken refuge in Ammon. Women from that district were fouad in the royal harem » Jer. xli. 1. 2 Kinjrs xxv. 25. 2 Sam. v. 16. 170 THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. at Jerusalem/ and thus Ishmael, on Ms motlier's side, may have been connected with the Ammonite court. Jealous of the elevation of Gedaliah^ and familiarised by the war with deeds of blood, Ishmael was a ready tool for any crime glossed by ambition or a show of patriotism, and ere long agreed with Baaltes, the king of Ammon, to assist in carrying out a dark plot against Gedaliah. To kill him probably seemed to the Ammonite the surest way of bringing final ruin on the hated Jews, who, if allowed to recover themselves, might once more claim the territory beyond the Jordan. That he had consented to take office under the Chaldean, was, perhaps, the pretext by which Ishmael hushed his scruples. A plot was accordingly arranged, by which Ishmael should go to Mizpeh and feign submission to the new governor, with a view to his murder ; and unfortunately the frank and open nature of the intended victim made it only too easily successful. Gedaliah^s house seems to have stood by itself, shut off by a high wall, with a courtyard enclosing the deep well, or reservoir, dug three hundred and fifty years before, by Asa, to supply water to his stronghold raised at Mizpeh against Baasha.^ Hither Ishmael and some of his men repaired, after various leaders with their bands had already done so, and, like them, he doubtless took an oath of allegiance to the Great King, pledging himself to be his loyal subject. Free access to the governor was naturally granted to chiefs who had thus given in their adhesion to the new state of things; but this confidence, though justified by the conduct of all but 1 2 Kings xi. 1. 2 1 Kings XV. 16-22. 2 Chron. xvi. 1-6. The stones had been brought from Earn ah, and the fortress was designed to bar the road to Jerusalem. THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 171 Islimael, gave him a fatal opportunity of carrying out his treason. Hoping to win other leaders to join him, he broached the subject to them^ but they determined to thwart the black design if possible. Two brothers, Johanan and Jonathan, both prominent chieftains, with Seraiah, at the head of a band from Netophah, a little north of Bethlehem ; and Jaazaniah, from Maachah, in the far north, near the springs of the Jordan,^ waited on the threatened man and warned him of his danger. But Ishmael had played his part too well, and had lulled his victim to a false security. '^ It was impossible such a man could be false ; they slandered him." A secret interview obtained by Johanan was as unsuccessful. Knowing the ruin Gedaliah^s death would bring, he offered to kill the conspirator secretly, but permission was refused. Ishmael arrived about a month after the fall of the city, to pay homage to Gedaliah, but had subsequently left again for Ammon.- He reappeared, however, thirty days later, on the third^ of Tisri* — nearly our October — with ten " princes " or '' dignitaries," ^ — perhaps officers of the disbanded Jewish army — each, probably, attended by his followers. New adherents so high in rank seemed a great acquisition, and were naturally welcomed by the governor in a feast made on their account ; but it was a fatal act of courtesy. The unsuspecting victim was liberal, as Josephus tells us, with his wine, and all went merrily, till, at a given signal, he and every one in the mansion were struck down by Ishmael and his confederates ; the massacre being carried out with such swift secrecy that no alarm was given outside, and no » Conder's Handbooh, p. 254. * Jos., Ant, IX. x. 3. * So says tradition. * Jer. xli. 1. Zech. vii. 5. » Kabbai. 172 THE MURDER OP GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. one escaped to tell the tale. The grey-haired Jeremiah, often a guest at Gedaliah's table, was fortunately absent. So complete had been the preparations, that a guard of honour of Chaldean soldiers, on duty round the house, were surprised and cut down to a man, and the residence made a ghastly scene of death, without the townspeople, outside, having the least suspicion of any treason, till two days after all was over. But the crimes of Ishmael were, as yet, only half finished. The houses of Mizpeh, built on a hill- side, stood high above the country around; that of Gedaliah rising clear of the others, perhaps on the highest terrace, so that it overlooked the road from Shechem and Samaria to Jerusalem. Watching from this vantage ground, Ishmael, on the second day, saw a band of travellers approaching. As, whatever their errand or destination, it would be incumbent on them to wait on the governor and pay him their respects, it seemed imperative to make away with them, lest the massacre should be discovered. The traitor, therefore, hurried out at the head of his band to meet them. They proved to be eighty pilgrims from Shechem, Shiloh,^ and Samaria, on the way to the ruins of the Temple at Jeru- salem, which were still sacred to them ; God-fearing descendants of the Ten Tribes, living among the heathen settled in their land by Esarhaddon.^ They wished to show their unshaken faith and devotion, by presenting unbloody offerings, such as did not need a priest, on the loved spot where the altar of Jehovah had stood.^ The destruction of the nation and of the sanctuary had overwhelmed them with grief; their beards were shaven, their clothes rent, their flesh cut, in heathen fashion,* ^ Salem. Sept and Ch'af. 2 2 Kings xvii. 24. ^ 2 Chron. xxx. 11 ; xxxiv. 9. * The modern Dervishes sometimes, under religious excitement, THE MURDER OP GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 1 7o and they were weepinc^ aloud as they went.^ Approach- ing with hollow sympathy, Ishmael invited them to pay the wonted visit to the governor, and thus drew them into his power. Once inside the courtyard ^ of the residence, the gates were closed behind them, and seventy out of the eighty were forthwith massacred ; ten, only, ransoming their lives by the promise of a heavy payment in wheat, barley, oil and honey, which, they told him, they had stored in pits unknown except to them- selves. The seventy corpses were then thrown into Asa's well in the courtyard, which offered a ready-made grave, as the bodies of our countrymen and country- women were to be tumbled into the well of Cawnpore twenty-four centuries later.^ Blind hatred or jealousy of Gedaliah had urged on the author of this hideous tragedy, which made any mercy from the Chaldeans impossible for him and his associates. He and they had wreaked a furious and mad vengeance on Gedaliah and all connected with him, as the penalty, at the hand of Jewish irreconcilables, for having had any peaceful relations with Babylon. It only remained to secure a safe retreat to Baaltes, across the Jordan. But the town could not be allowed to escape a visitation. Descending to it, therefore, Ishmael and his men seized cut their cheeks and brows, arms and breasts, stripping them- selves to the waist to do so. Jeremiah speaks of the practice more than once. Thus in chap. xvi. 6, we read of men " cutting themselves," and in chap, xlviii. 37, " on all hands are gashes.' In every case this wounding one's self is intended as a sign of grief, either in contrition or for some great affliction. ' Sept 2 Not city. The word for courtyard, and that for city, are very much alike in Hebrew. ^ Jehu appears to have acted in the same way with the forty- two relatives of Ahaziah. 2 Kings ix. 14. 174 THE MUEDEE OP GEDALIAH^ AND THE SIEGE OF TYEE. all the inhabitants they could — including the daughters of Zedekiahj who had been sent by Nebuchadnezzar to Mizpeh, as a place of safety — and carried them off, with the other prisoners, to Ammon. Reports of the murder of Gedaliah and his household had, however, at last spread abroad, or it may be that only the news of the carrying off so many citizens from Mizpeh had become known. More or less of the terrible story very soon reached Johanan and the chiefs associated with him, who had vainly tried to put Gedaliah on his guard. Starting at once with their bands in pursuit, they overtook the prisoners and their captors at the great tank or pool of Gibeon, ^ about two miles north of Mizpeh, ^ for such a company could move only slowly. The sight of the pursuers was life to their victims. Aiding the attack of Johanan by rushing off from their guards, they were soon in safety, and Ishmael had to flee, leaving two of the ten leaders of his band slain on the field, and doubtless many of his men. It was useless to return to Mizpeh, which in all pro- bability had been burnt. Those rescued comprised men, women, children, and some of the eunuchs of Zedekiah^s harem, and could not be left unprotected. Johanan and his companions did not live at Mizpeh,^ and its very name was now, for the time, a horror. Besides, the Chaldean troops still in Palestine and Syria would inevitably sweep down at once in wild fury on the scene of such an au- ^ Its remains are still to be seen, showing that it was about 120 feet long by 100 broad. Rohinson. 2 Josephus says, that Ishmael went south, by Hebron. Thom- son says, that there is a " considerable pond " in the plain below the village, in the wet season. Land and Book, p. 669. This may be " the sea " alluded to in Josh- 2cviii, 14, as the north-west corner of Benjamin. 8 Jer, xl. 13. THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. 175 dacious and terrible crime, and might confound the inno- cent with the guilty in their revenge. It was therefore determined, as a first step, to retire southwards, with the view of fleeing to Egypt, if necessary. A large khan, built by Chimham, the follower or son of Barzillai, the friend of David, stood near Bethlehem, and was the starting point for travellers to Egypt. Accommodation could be found in it, and leisure gained for consulting as to the next steps to bo taken. Thither, therefore, they hurried. GcEST House. From a sketch made by Lieut. Conder, E.E. See also vol. v. p. 206. Among the fugitives was the prophet Jeremiah and his faithful attendant Baruch. In such an emergency it was natural to turn for counsel to one so venerable. If, said they, he would favour them by asking directions from God for their guidance, they would faithfully act on them. Their request met with immediate compliance, but it was ten days before he felfc able to give them any answer. When at last it came, moreover, it was not 176 THE MURDER OP QEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. such as they had hoped to receive, and they had not faith enough in the prophet to act boldly on it. Safety, he told them, lay in their remaining in Judea; disaster would follow their flight to l%ypt. It had been a mis- take even to think of it; nor had they been sincere in their request that he should inquire for counsel from God, as their resolution had been already formed. It was useless for him to warn them to remain in the country. Overcome by terror, and already determined on a particular course, they were immovable. Jeremiah, they said, had been prompted by Barucli to speak as he had done, that the Chaldeans might seize them and carry them off as slaves to Babylon. Orders were there- fore given to make for Egypt, and thither the last fragment of the Jewish commonwealth accordingly went, carry- ing Jeremiah with them. Sixteen miles from Pelusium, the frontier Egyptian town, lay Tahpanhes, or Daphne, ^ where there was a garrison, under Psammetichus I., for defence against the Arabs and Syrians. There they settled for the time. Jeremiah still, however, adhered to his gloomy fore- bodings, after his arrival in this new home. Taking '^ great stones,^^ he buried them in sight of his country- men beneath the mortar with which a pavement of bricks, from a kiln near at hand, was being laid down before the local palace of the Pharaoh, following the act by announc- ing :— lo Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,^ the God of Israel, Behold I shall send and fetch Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, My servant, and set up his throne over these stones that I have buried, and he will spread out his carpet of state over them. * The present Tel Defenneh. Ebers, in Biehm, p. 1605. 2 Jer. xliii. 8-13. THE MUEDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OF TYKE. J 77 II And he will come and smite the land of Egypt — those for death to deatli; those for captivity to captivity; those for the sword to the sword. 12 And I will kindle tire in the houses of the Egyptian gods, and he shall burn the temples and carry off the gods captive, and he shall wrap the land of Egypt round him as a shepherd wraps round him his mantle,^ and he shall march away in peace, (no one molesting him). 13 And he will break the obelisks^ of Bethshemesh, the house of the sun,^ in the land of Egypt, and he will burn the houses of the gods of the Egyptians with fire. The fulfilment of this prediction^ as we shall see, followed in due time. The flight of Gedaliah's community to Egypt ex- tinguished the last remaining spark of life in the Jewish State. The work of the ten centuries since Joshua crossed the Jordan had been undone. Every Hebrew looked back with boundless pride to the empire of David ; but the sceptre had now fallen from the hands of his descendants^ after they had held it for five hundred years, and his people had no longer a country. The Ten Tribes had been in exile for more than a century, though Assyria, which carried them off, had been overthrown. A great • " The shepherd boy, twelve or fourteen years old, had bare legs and feet, a grey smockfrock, with a loose sash round his waist, and the woollen coverlet in ivhich he wraps himself hy night, thrown over his shoulder like a scarf." Bovet, Egijpt, vol. ii. p. 24S. Neil explains the figure differently : " The shepherd wears over his shirt of unbleached calico, in wet or cold weather, a thick, warm, sleeveless, sack-like outer garment of camel's hair, invariable as to material, shape, and colour — brown, with perpendicular stripes. Nebuchadnezzar will array himself with the land of Egypt — that is, seize its spoils — as easily as a shepherd puts on this loose simple garment." — Falestine Explored, p. 254. This illustrates vividly the dress of John the Baptist and of the prophets : it was that of a poor peasant. 2 Matzaiboth = sacred pillars. * Heliopolis or On. See vol. ii. p. 17. VOL. VI. W 178 THE MUEDEE OF GEDALIAH^ AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. part of Judah and Benjamin had fallen in battle, or siege, or by the other miseries of war ; part had been led off in chains to Chaldea, and a remnant had made Egypt their home. Henceforth, there seemed little human hope that they would ever again take root in the land given by God to their fathers. The murder of Gedaliah had broken the continuity of their national life, and violently closed their history for the time. Slowly realized, the greatness of this disaster impressed itself deeply on the people at large. A public fast was appointed on the anniversary of Gedaliah's death, and has ever since been observed. The consciousness that all the nations around rejoiced at their ruin, deepened the bitterness of humilia- tion. As in all ages since, the Jew had made himself universally hated. Ammon, Moab, Bdom, Damascus, the Philistines, the very Arabs of the desert, both settled and nomadic, and the haughty Phenicians of the north, clapped their hands at the downfall of Jerusalem. It needed all the consolation of knowing, from the prophets, that these nations would suffer in their turn, to make the situation endurable. Egypt, however, received the exiles kindly. Jewish colonies had already settled in it,^ and were being constantly strengthened by immigrants from many parts, for, already, members of the " dispersion '' were found in all countries, east and west. Palestine itself contributed many, besides those who fled with Johanan and his companions. Troubles soon followed GedaliaVs death ; leaders rising who sought to shake off the Chal- dean yoke ; for the bulk of the humbler classes of the nation still remained in the land, the better classes and the artizans, mainly, having suffered deportation. Six years after the fall of Jerusalem, local insurrections led to Nebuchadnezzar sweeping off seven hundred and forty- ^ Jer. xxiv. 8. THE MUKDER OF GEDALTAH,, AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 179 five more captives to Babylon — doubtless all picked men — and many others, we may be sure, had to flee to their brethren in Egypt.^ By these successive reductions of the population, Judah was, at last, left almost a desert. *' The holy cities were a wilderness : Jerusalem a desola- tion." 2 The land could now enjoy her sabbaths.^ To make matters worse, in the south, the Edomites seized a part of the country, extending their borders to the sea-coast, with or without permission from the Chaldeans. The disturbances in Judah after the murder of Geda- liah may have been connected with the presence of the Chaldeans in Phenicia, Nebuchadnezzar having begun the siege of Tyre in B.C. 586;'^ two years after the fall of Jerusalem. This great military enterprise had been the subject of a series of discourses by Ezekiel, delivered to the exiles on the Chebar, shortly before it was undertaken, when the triumph of the arms of Babylon over the Jews had left its armies free to turn to the long-threatened capital of Phenicia. The word of Jehovah, the prophet tells us, came to him, saying : — 2 Son of raan,^ because Tyre says respecting Jerusalem, " Ha! the gate of the nations is broken in pieces ; ^ the stream of people and of trade is turned to me ; I will be filled, (now that) she is laid waste." 3 Therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold I come against thee, 0 Tyre,^ and will cause many people to flood 1 Jer. lii. 30. - Isa. Ixiv. 10. 3 Lev. xxvi. 34, 43. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21. •» 586-573, Riehm. = Ezek. xxvi. 1 6. ^ Men from all parts entered the gates of Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. Or it may mean, the trade that passed through them from many parts. 7 Insular Tyre is meant. Not the old city on the mainland The channel between the two was 1,200 paces broad, and nofc very deep. 180 THE MURDER OF GEDALTAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. up against thee, as the sea brings up its waters, wave upon wave. 4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers. I will also scrape away her very dust and make her a naked rock. 5 She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, says the Lord Jehovah, and she will be a spoil to the nations. 6 And towns and villages, her " daughters," subject to her on the mainland, shall be slain by the sword, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. 7 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah;^ Behold I will bring against Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the North ; the king of kings, with horses and chariots and horsemen, and a MODEEN TtEE. great host and much people. 8 He will slay thy daughters in the open country by the sword,^ and he will raise besieging towers against thee, and cast up a mount against thee,"^ 9 and raise a tortoise ^ against thee. And the blow of his battering 1 Ezek. xxvi. 7-14. ^ The smaller towns on the mainland. 3 Vol. iv. p. 335. * A structure covered with hides, or made of linked shields, under protection of which the besiegers sought to undermine or dig t,ht ough the wall. Bielim, p. 436. Or, it may mean a cover of shields linked together, beneath which the besiegers approached the walls. Hdverniclc. Ewald. Hitzig. Keil. THE MURDER OP GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 181 ram will he direct against thy walls, and break down thy towers with his crowbars. lo The dust raised by his horse will cover thee, by reason of their number ; thy walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wheels, and the chariots, when he enters thy gates as they enter into a breached and conquered city. II He will stamp with his horses' hoofs in all thy streets, he will slay thy people with the sword, and cast down thy grand Baal-pillars to the ground. 12 And they will plunder thy wealth, and carry off thy merchandise, and break down thy walls, and destroy thy lordly mansions, and cast thy stones and thy timber, and the rubbish of thy houses, into the midst of the sea.^ 13 Thus will I hush the voice of thy songs, and the murmur of thy harps will be heard no more. 14 And I will make thy site a bare rock; thou wilt be a place for the spreading of nets, and wilt never be rebuilt ; for I, Jehovah, have spoken, says the Lord Jehovah ! The news of tbe destruction of Tyre will shock all the princes of maritime lands, far and near, and all the Tyrian colonies on the mainland of Africa and Europe, and in the islands of the Medi- terranean. 15 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to Tyre : Verily, at the report of thy fall the coast ^ssyeiax Ehbhoidebed -..■■, ,11 , 1 • • ROBBS. lands will tremble — when tbe dymg groan in thee, when slaughter is in thy midst ! 16 And all the princes of the sea will come down from tiieir thrones, and lay aside their robes, and put off their embroidered garments, and clothing ^ Nebuchadnezzar tried to make a mole to the island city across the arm of the sea between it and the mainland. He was not however successful in this, but Alexander the Great, who after- wards carried out the same idea, found the water shallow where the Chaldean king had thrown the wreck of the city into the waves. Arrian, Anah., ii. 18. 2 Ezek. xxvi. 15-18. 182 THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. themselves with fear will sit (in lamentation) on the earth, and will tremble unceasingly and be appalled respecting thee. 17 And they will raise a song of lament for thee, and say to thee, " How hast thou perished, who wast frequented by all the sea people, the renowned city which was mighty in the sea, thou and thy citizens, who caused the fear of her to rest on all the sea nations. 18 How shall the coast lands tremble in the day of thy all ; the islands of the sea be dismayed at thy destruction ! " Tyre, swallowed up by the waves of the sea, will sink into the kingdoms of the dead, and vanish for ever from the earth. 19 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah,^ when I make thee a desolation, like the cities that are not inhabited ; when I bring the deep over thee, and many waters cover thee, 20 I shall hurl thee down to them who have descended to the grave, to the people of old time, and make thee dwell in the under world, in the eternal desolations, with the dead who have gone down to the grave, that thou mayest be no more inhabited ; and I will create a new glorious power in thy place, in the land of the living.^ 21 I will give thee up to utter destruction, and thou shalt cease to be ; though men seek for thee thou shalt never be found more, says the Lord Jehovah. A second oracle paints the glory of the great city under the figure of a ship of its own magnificent merchant navy, which floated on every sea, as that of Britain does in our own age. All the earth had contributed towards the construc- tion and outfit of the splendid vessel. Its rowers and crew were the most skilful and the bravest, but to the dismay of all men, when it sailed out on the high seas, it was wrecked by a tempest from the east. This striking figure is varied by the introduction of a description of Tyre itself, its trade and wealth; but as much of the I Ezek. xxvi. 19-21. 2 Israel ? THE MUKDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. 183 chapter ^ has already been quoted elsewhere/ only the prophetic picture of the shipwreck needs be given here. 25 Tarshish-ships ^ were thy caravans ^ ; they carried thy mer- chandise (0 Tyre), and thus thou wasb made exceeding rich and glorious in the midst of the sea. (Bat) thy rowers have brought thee out on the high sea,^ and the east wind has broken thee up in the midst of the ocean. 26 Thy richps, thy merchandise, thy goods for exchange, thy sailors, thy steersmen, thy ship-carpenters, the traders who sell and buy thy cargo,^ and all the fighting men in thee, even all the multitude on board, have sunk in the waters, in the day of thy shipwreck. 28 The coasts tremble at the wild cries of thy steersmen, 29 and all that ply the oar, all sailors, all steersmen of sea-going ships, (thinking no one safe, since thou hast perished), leave their ships and get to the firm ground, 30 and wail aloud for thee, (in their terror and sorrow), and weep bitterly, and throw dust on their heads, and strew them- selves with ashes, 31 and shave themselves bald for thee, and gird themselves with sackcloth, and weep over thee in sadness of heart, with bitter wailing, 32 and in their sorrow ^ raise a song of lament for thee—" O what city was like Tyre, like her that is made silent in the midst of the waters ! " ^^ When thy wares were borne from sea to sea, thou didst supply the wants of many peoples ; thou enrichedst the kings of the earth with the wealth of thy exports and thy wares ; 34 but now thou art re- duced to ruins and buried in the midst of the waves ; thy goods and all thy people in thee have sunk into the depths of the waters ! 35 All the inhabitants of distant coasts will be thunder- struck at thy calamity, their kings will tremble exceedingly, their countenances will fall. 36 The traders of other lands will mock 8 at thee, because thou hast perished suddenly,^ and hast vanished for ever. 1 Ezek. xxvii. 1-24. 2 yol. iii. p. 351-2. ^ Great merchantmen, like our old " Indiaraen," or more modern " clippers." * Ezek. xxvii. 25. 5 pg ]xxvii. 19. ^ = Our supercargo, who manages all the commercial aff'airs of a trading voyage. ^ " Thy sons " = colonies, EichJiorn. The words are very nearly alike. » Lit. " hiss." 9 Ps. Ixxiii. 19. 184 THE MUEDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYEE. In another discourse anticipating the victory of Ne- buchadnezzar, Ezekiel, as the siege advanced, dwells again on the approaching catastrophe, the very idea of which was as terrible in the ancient world as that of London being razed to the ground would be in our day. Ithobaal 11} was now reigning in Tyre, and is addressed by the prophet as personifying his subjects. The pride and haughtiness of his dynasty made him a fit mark for stern denunciation ; for, like many lines of ancient kiugs^ it claimed descent from the gods, if, indeed, each monarch did not arrogate personal divinity.^ But ruler and people will perish together. The word of Jehovah, says Ezekiel, came again to me, as follows : — 2 Son of man,3 say to the king of Tyre— tlins says the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart is lifted up with pride, and thou hasD said, "I am a god, and I sit throned as one, in the midst of the seas," though thou art a man and not God, and because thou thinkest thy wisdom divine, 3 and boastest that thou art wiser than Daniel,"* so that no secret can hide itself from thee : 4 and that thou hast gained thy power by thine own wisdom and understanding, and by them gathered gold and silver unto thy treasuries; 5 that it is by thy supreme skill in trading, moreover, that thy might has grown so great, and because thine heart is lifted up at thy riches : 6 Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because thou thinkest thy understanding like that of a god, 7 I will bring the barbari- ans ^ upon thee, tlie fiercest of the nations, and they will draw their swords aginst thy sun-like wisdom, and profane thy divine lustre, 8 and hurl thee down to the grave, and thou shalt die like a common man, slain in the midst of the waters. 9 Wilt thou say " I am a god," before him who slays thee, though thou ^ Jos,, c. Ap., i. 21. ^ Ezek. xxviii. 2. 3 Ezek. xxviii. 2-10. * The new critics evade this allusion to Daniel by saying ifc refers to some unknown worthy of a former age ! * Lit., " stranger, foreigner." THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 185 art a man and no god to him who takes thy life? lo Thou shalb die the death of the uncircumcised, by the hand of barbarians,* for I have spoken, says the Lord Jehovah. Ere long the prophet sees him lying slain, and raises the death lament over him. The strophes are keenly sarcastic in their tone, recounting the lofty pretensions of the king, and describing him as a radiant cherub, covered with gold and precious stones, and set on the mount of God in Eden, but falling into sin, and driven from Paradise to find a miserable end. 12 Son of man 2— said the voice in his breast— raise a death song on the king of Tyre and say to him : Thus says the Lord Jehovah, O thou seal and keystone of the Tyrian States, closing up its perfect arch ; full of wisdom and perfect in beauty ! 13 Thou didst dwell in Eden, the garden of God, and wast decked with all kinds of precious stones, the sardine, topaz, diamond, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, beryl, and with the gorgeous golden robes made by thy workmen for the day of thy coronation ! ^ 14 I set thee as a broad- winged cherub on the holy mount of God; thou walkedst within the stones of fire, (which * The Phenicians were apparently circumcised,* and in this lies the sting of the prophet's words. They imply that he would have no lament raised for him, and that his corpse would be left unwashed, undressed with grave-clothes, and perhaps unburied — the deepest indignity to any one, far less to a king, in ancient times. 2 Ezek. xxviii. 11-19. ^ This passage is very dark. Keil translates it "the service of thy tabrets and of thy wives was with thee ; on the day when thou wast created (king) were they ready." The drums or tabrets are held to be an allusion to the state and glory of his accession; the wives, to his inheriting the harem of his predecessor. I have followed the rendering of Eichhorn mainly. The Sept. reads, "With gold thou hast filled thy treasures and store-houses." •Movers in Ersch und Gruher, vol. iii. pp. 24, 431. Herod., ii. 104. 186 THE MURDER OF GEDALTAH^ AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. guarded the sacred spot., around, with a flaming wall).* 15 From the day of thy elevation ^ thou wast blameless in thy ways till guilt was found in thee.^ 16 Through the greatness of thy com- merce thy soul ■* was filled with evil, and thus thou sinnedst. Therefore I will cast thee out of the mount of God, and will destroy thee,^ 0 guardian cherub, from within the walls of flaming stones. 17 Thy heart lifted itself up proudly, because of thy prosperity.^ Thou hast spoiled thy wisdom through thy glory corrupting thee; I will hurl thee to the dust, I will make thee a sight before kings. 18 Through the multitude of thy sins, in thine unrighteous trading, thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries; ^ therefore I will cause fire to burst out of thy midst, and it will devour thee, and reduce thee to ashes on the earth, before all who see thee. 19 All that know thee among the nations shall be horrified at thee ; thou shalt be a terror to them and shalt cease for ever. * " I set thee beside the cherub on the holy mount of God, thou wast in the midst of the fiaming stones." — Sept. This seems to be a poetical introduction of the Eastern mythi- cal conception of ''the mount of the assembly (of the gods)," Isaiah xiv. 13, the Olympos of the Accadians, by whom it was called " The Mountain of the East." Its peak was the pivot on which the sky rested, and hence it was known, also, as "The Mount of the World." It lay far away to the north-east, and was the supposed entrance to the lower world. 2 Lit., " creation." * The whole passage is an imaginative parallel of the Prince of Tyre with Adam. Eden, the cherubs, the creation- in innocence, and the Fall, all indeed that is recorded in the opening of Genesis, were thus familiar in the days of Ezekiel, a fact to ponder in connection with the new criticism. 4 Treasuries. — Sept. Lit., " inner parts." ^ The covering cherub has driven thee, etc, — Sept. ^ Lit., " beauty." ? The Tyrian State is conceived as the Paradise on the Mount of God, to which the prince was the protecting cherub. Its sanctuaries he had defiled by the sins of his great mercantile city. THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OF TYRE. 187 SidoD, wliicli was closely related to Tyre, could not expect to escape the storm of war wliicli had burst on the great city. An oracle, therefore, announces its fate also. 21 Sonof man^ — said the Divine Voice — set thy face against Sidon and prophecy against it, 22, saying. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Behold I atn coming against thee, O Sidon: and -will glorify Myself on thee, that men may know that I am Jehovah, when I execute judgments on her, and have shown My holiness in her. 23 I will send pestilence into her and blood into her streets, and the slain shall fall in her by the sword, which shall press in on her from every side, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. The prophet closes the long roll of denunciations of the heathen nations round Israel, by an assurance of God's favour to His ancient people, to cheer them in their humiliation and exile. 24 There shall thus be no more a thorn to prick thee, or a spear to pierce thee, of all (the nations) round thee, that despised thee, but they shall know that I am the Lord Jehovah. A promise to the exiles, that God would bring them back again to their own land, after the destruction of the enemies, who now trampled over them, concludes this oracle. 25 Thus says the Lord Jehovah : When I gather the House of Israel from ouc of all the nations among whom they are now scattered, and shall have shown Myself holy in them, in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob. 26 There they will dwell in safety, and build houses, and plant vineyards, and live in peace, when I have executed judgments on all that despise them round about ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God. The siege of Tyre, by Nebuchadnezzar, had begun very soon after the fall of Jerusalem. Unfortunately our in- 1 Ezek. xxviii. 20-26. 188 THE MURDER OF GEDALTAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE, formation respecting it, tbougli it lasted thirteen years, from B.C. 586 to B.C. 573, is very scanty. It is thrice mentioned by Josephus,^ but he does not speak of the result. The silence of the Syrian historians on this point, is, however, a striking proof that it must have ended ingloriously for their city. If the defence had been suc- cessful, it would assuredly have been loudly proclaimed. But though Nebuchadnezzar took the city, it appears, from a passage in Ezekiel," that he did not give it up to pillage, and thus gravely disappointed his soldiery, who had counted on sacking it, as a compensation for the toils and danger^ of the prolonged siege. Possibly a treaty may have been made, securing its being spared the horrors of storming and plunder, in consideration of such humiliating conditions of heavy tribute as were familiar to the Plienicians in similar conjunctures. Egypt, in- deed, is said by Ezekiel* to be given to the Chaldean monarch as a reward for having done against Tyre what Providence had designed. But if Jerome be right, it is not necessary to suppose any compromise. " Nebuchad- nezzar,^' he tells us,^ '^ when he besieged Tyre, and could not bring up his rams, towers, and tortoises, because it was surrounded by the sea., ordered the vast multitude of his army to carry stones and materials for a mole, and having filled up the narrow interval of sea (between it and the mainland), made a continuous path to the island. The Tyrians seeing this now completed, and perceiving that the foundation of the walls were being shaken by the blows of the battering rams, carried off in ships, to various islands, whatever was valuable in the shape of gold, silver or goods, so that when the city fell, Nebu- » Jos., Ant, X. ix. 1. a Ap., I 19, 21. 8 Ezek. xxix. 17-20. ^ Movers, p. 448. "• Ezek. xxix. 20. * Hier. in Ezek. ad loc. THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, AND THE SIEGE OP TYRE. 189 chadnezzar should find no reward for his labours/^ There is evidence, moreover, that Tyre was henceforth ruled by princes strictly tributary to Babylon, some of them being even sent from the Chaldean capital.^ But though Tyre was thus taken, as Ezekiel had pre- dicted, his prophecy that it would be razed to the ground till its site became a bare rock, on which men would spread their nets, proved to refer to a later period. Nor is it wonderful that this should be so, since the time of the fulfilment of their prophecies is expressly said to have been withheld from the seers divinely inspired to utter them.2 ^ Fragment of Menander, quoted by Josephus, C. Ap., i. 21. 2 1 Peter i. 11. For the ultimate fall of Tyre, see vol. iv. p. 340. The dam, built by Alexander the Great, has been increased by the sand thrown up by the sea, to a broad isthmus. On this stands the Tyre of the present day, a place of from 3,000 to 4,000 inhabit- ants, which does not deserve the name of a town. The houses are mostly mud huts, and the streets crooked and filthy passages. The rubbish of the old city covers the ground for nearly two miles outside the present town gate. The harbour is so sanded up and filled with the wreck of the ancient city, that only small boats can enter. Part of Tyre is under the sea; much of it beneath the ground. For many feet deep, the soil is a mass of building stones, shafts of pillars and fragments of marble, etc. Thus has Tyre become " a heap of ruins" — a bare rock in the sea on which to spread nets, for the sheds and shelters now raised on part of its ancient site, offer no contradiction to the terrible decree that it should never be rebuilt. Eob., PaZ., vol. iii. p. 670. V. de Velde, vol. i. p. 145. ^^^ CHAPTER X. THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. WHILE Nebuchadnezzar was detained year after year in Phenicia, the immigration of Jews to Egypt steadily increased, till colonies were formed not only at Tahpanhes, but at Migdol, twelve miles from Pelusium, at Noph or Memphis in the Delta, and in the land of Pathros, which was the name for Upper Egypt generally, and especially for a quarter of Thebes and the country round it.^ Exile from their country had not im- proved them. Instead of seeking Jehovah, they went back to the idolatries of their fathers, refusing to listen to Jeremiah, though recognised as a true prophet. Taking advantage, therefore, of a great gathering of his people at an idolatrous festival in Upper Egypt ; the aged seer once more warned them of the ruinous conse- quences of such a course. 2 Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, ^ the God of Israel— cried he — ye have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah ; behold they are desolate to-day, without an inhabitant, 3 because of their wickedness which they did, to provoke me to anger by going (to idols), to burn incense (before 1 Pathros, in Biehm. See Jer. xliv. 1. 3 Jer. xliv. 2-14. 190 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. 191 them), and serving other gods which neither they nor their fat liers knew. 4 I sent you all my servants, the prophets, sent them eagerly and constantly, and caused them to say to you : " Oh, do not this abomination, which I hate." 5 But they would not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their wickedness, and not burn incense to other gods. 6 Then my indignation and my fierce wrath poured itself forth, and flamed throughout the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and they were turned into desola- tion and loneliness, as they now are. 7 And now, says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel : Why do ye commit so great wrong against j'ourselves, (in the face of such warnings), by acting iu a way that must end in cutting off man and woman, child and suck- ling, from Judah, leaving you no survivors to preserve your name ? 8 Why do ye stir me to wrath by your conduct in burning incense to strange gods in the land of Egypt, to which ye have come for a time— to draw down on yourselves destruction, and cause your- selves to be made a curse ^ and a contempt to all the nations of the earth ? 9 Have ye (already) forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and of the kings of Judah and their wives,- and your own wicked- ness and that of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ? 10 Yet they are not penitent^ (for all this), even now, and have neither feared my law and my statutes that I set before you and your fathers, nor walked in them. 11 Therefore says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel : Behold I set my face against you for evil, to cut o(I all Judah. 12 And will sweep away the remnant of it who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, to live there for a time. They will be destroyed and fall in Egypt ; they will perish, small and great, by the sword and by famine, and will become a curse, an astonishment, an execration, and a scorn. 13 For I will punish them that dwell in Egypt as I punished Jerusalem, by sword, famine and pestilence. 14 Very few of the remnant of Judah who have gone into Egypt, to dwell there awhile, shall ^ Men would imprecate a similar fate to theirs, on those to- wards whom they wished evil. ' Heb., ''his wives " = the wives of each. The Seyt. has "his princes," which is adopted by Ewald and Eichhorn. 3 Lit., " bruised.'' 192 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. escape or survive, to go back to the land of Judah, whither their souls yearn to return; only a handful of fugitives will do so. But Jeremiah's appeals and threats were equally vain. Among the great multitude he addressed, no voice was lifted in favour of a return to Jehovah. In the idolatrous festival they had gathered to observe, the women took a leading part, contrary to the custom, which forbade their sex mingling in public with men ; and so far from con- fessing guilt, they were ready to defend their conduct.* i6 "With respect 2 to what you have told us in the name of Jehovah," said their representative, ** we shall not listen to you. 17 We sliall do what we please, burning incense to the queen of heaven,^ and pouring out drink-offerings'* to her, as we have done in the past, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem ; for then we had plenty of food and were prosperous, and saw no trouble. 18 But since Josiah's days, when we lefD off burning incense to the queen of heaven, and pouring out drink-offerings to her, we have been in want of everything, and have been destroyed by sword and famine. ^ The words (Jer. xliv. 15) "All the people that dwell in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah," illustrates the similar expression in the Pentateucli, that all the people assembled before Moses and weie addressed by him. The meaning in both cases is, that a great number, who in a manner represented the whole, were present. 2 Jer. xliv. 15-19. 3 The moon, or the planet Venus. Jer. vii. 17, 18 ; see vol. v. pp. 32, 36. The goddess Astarte, was the personification of the moon (Baudisson, in IIerzog,2te Aufg., vol. x. p. 216); or per- haps, Yenus, as the star that leads the moon to her husband, the sun (Bauclisson in Herzog, 2te Aufg., vol. i. p. 721). In either case, the moon was " the queen of heaven." But it is a question whether Astarte, whom the Jewesses so devoutly worshipped, was the moon or Venus. The supposition that she represented the latter, has led Venus to be supposed "the queen of heaven," by some. ^ Drink-offerings of wine. THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. 193 19 Moreover, wlien we women burn iticense to the queen of lieaven, and pour out drink-ofTerings to liei-, we do so with the full knowledge of our husbands,' both as to our making cakes in her image, ^ and pouring out offerings to her." To this Jeremiali promptly replied, that though the national misfortunes were thus ascribed to the prohibi- tion by Josiah, of moon-worship and other idolatries, they were rather the result of the re-introduction of these superstitrions, with their inevitably attendant moral corruption. 2 1 How ? ^ Has Jehovah then forgotten your often repeated offering of incense, burned in the towns of Judah, by you, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes? Have they not rather sunk into His heart, 22 so that Jehovah could no longer bear you, because of the evil of your doings and the abominations ye committed, and is it not on their account that your land is now desolate and a curs^e, and without an inhabitant ? 23 Yes ! it is just because you have burned in- cense and sinned against Je- hovah, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in His laws, statutes and testimonies, that the evil ye now endure has come upon you. * Num. XXX. 6, 7. 2 A Phenician sacrificial tariff, found lately in Cyprus, mentions as one item of the temple accounts, " For two bakers who baked the cakes ft)r the (holy) queen (of heaven)." 3 Jer. xliv. 20-23. VOL. VI. O IsTAB, AsTABTE ; or Ashtoreth, For another figure of the goddess, vol. V. p. 31. 194 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. But; their past and present sufferings were not all they would suffer for tbeir apostasy from Jehovah. Still worse was to follow. 24 Hear the word of Jehovah,* all Judah, who are in the land of Egypt. 25 Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel : Ye and your wives, (before me), have carried out with your hands (now bearing sacred cakes for the moon goddess) the words of your lip<, when ye said, " We shall assuredly pay the vows we have made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink offerings to her." Perform your vows by all means; fail not to do so ! 26 But hear the word of Jehovah to all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says Jehovah: Verily it shall no more be uttered by any man of Judah in all Egypt, saying, " As the Lord Jehovah lives;" 27 for, behold I will watch over them to do them evil, not good, so that all the men of Judah that are in Egypt shall perish by the sword and famine, till they are all gone. 28 For they that escape the sword and return out of Egypt to Judah will be very few, and all the remnant of Judah that have come to Egypt, to sojourn in it for a time, shall know whose word shall stand, Mine or theirs. 29 And that ye may know that My word spoken against you to your hurt shall be carried out, let this serve as a sign to you, says Jehovah : 30 Behold I will give Pharaoh- Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies * and into the hand of those who seek His life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebu- chadnezzar, king of Babylon, his mortal foe. The ruin of the Egyptian king under whom the fugitive Jews had taken refuge^ became from this time a frequent subject with the two pmphet- exiles, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, in the valley of the Nile and on the banks of the Chebar. Tyre had been besieged by Nebuchadnezzar only as a step towards the conquest of Egypt, now the great ally 1 Jer. xliv. 24-30, 2 He was murdered by Amasis, as will be seen hereafter. THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. 195 of the Phenicians against Babylon as, in former times, against Assyria. Till the great trading city was humbled, it would have been perilous to invade the valley of the Nile ; but the determination of the Great King to follow up the submission of Tyre by marching against Pharaoh, was not concealed. The question of supremacy in Western Asia must be finally settled. As to the issue, it could hardly be doubtful, for the legions of Egypt could not hope to resist the terrible hosts of Chaldea, under a king who was the greatest general of the age. It would not excite surprise, therefore, when Jeremiah, always the opponent of the Pharaoh, and loyal to Babylon, made the announcement, as the siege of Tyre drew near its end, that the Chaldean would come and smite the land of the Nile.i While the inevitable overthrow of the kingdom of the Pharaohs, by Nebuchadnezzar, was thus proclaimed in Jerusalem and in Egypt itself, Ezekiel sounded its doom from the banks of the Chebar. Already, before the fall of the Holy City, he had foreseen and repeatedly announced the conquest of the Nile Valley as the certain issue of that monarches campaigns in Syria.- Tyre on the mainland had yielded to the Chaldean arms almost at the same time as the capital of Judah,^ and the island city of Tyre, which afterwards made so long a defence, alone resisted his arms in Syria. The Great King had awaited at Riblah the fall of Jerusalem, before beginning this final effort, little dreaming it would task his resources as it did."* Yet the issue could not be doubted by the 1 Jer. xlvi. 13. 2 Ezek. xxix. 1-16; xxx. 20-25; xxxi. 1-18. ' Riietschi in Herzog, 2te Auf., Art. Nebucadnezar. Jer. xxvii. 61, 59. Ezek. xxxii. 30. ■* Fall of Jerusalem, b.c. 586 ; siege of Tyre, B.C. 585-572. — Riietschi. 196 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. kingdoms which had fallen, one after the other, before the great conqueror. The thirteen years of the siege were partly utilized to chastise the refractory peoples of Palestine — Aramon, Moab, Edom, the Philistines, and Damascus, with the Arabs round ^ — thus fulfilling the predictions of the prophets against these nations; but their subjugation, and that of insular Tyre, were only steps towards the ultimate conquest of Egypt, the ancient rival for the dominion of Western Asia. The siege had hardly commenced before Ezekiel destroyed the last hopes of the Egyptian faction in Babylonia, by renewing his warning, that Pharaoh, so far from being able to help Judah, was doomed. 2 Son of man 2 — said the Divine Voice to him about the beginninf^ of B.C. 534) ^ — raise a lamentation'* for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and say to him; Thou wast like a young lion among the nations; thou wasb like a great crocodile in the waters (of thy land) ; thou dashedst through thy streams,^ and troubledst the waters with thy feet and tossedst np^ their floods^ 3 Thus says the Lord Jehovah : I will spread oub My neb over thee by the help of many nations, and they shall draw thee out (of thy waters) in My net.^ 4 And I will cast thee down on th e land; I will sling thee out on the face of the open ground, a nd make all the birds of heaven light and stay on thee, (to devour thee), and I will fill the wild ^ Ezek. XXV. Jos., Ant., X. ix. 7. 2 Ezek. xxxii. 1-16. 3 Twelfth month of the twelfth year of the Captivity. Smend says, March, B.C. 584. ** As over the dead. 5 By a very slight emendation, Ewald renders this clause, "thou tossedst up (spray) through thy nostrils." See Job xli. 20. But does the crocodile cast spray oub of its nostrils? Yet, in a poetical way the figure may refer to the water dashed up before him in his onward rush. ^ Lit., " didsb bread." ^ Same word as " streams." ^ The bwo words for "neb " are different, bub their distinctive features are nob known. The last word comes from a root " to enclose." THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. 197 beasts of tlie whole eiu'th with thee. 5 And I will strew thy flesh on tlie mountains round, and fill the valleys with thy foul carcase. 6 I will also soak the land it) which thou swimmest, even to the mountains, with the gushing out of thy blood; the torrent-beds^ will be filled with it. 7 And when I quench thy light, I will darken the heaven and its stars; I will veil the sun with clouds and the moon will not give her light. 8 All the shining lights in heaven will I make black over thee, and pour darkness over thy land, says the Lord Jehovah. 9 I will trouble the heart of many peoples when I publish thy destruction among the nations, in lands which thou hast not known. 10 I will paralyse many peoples with fear through thy fate; their kings will shake with terror at it, when I brandish My sword before their eyes; and they will tremble continually, each for his own life, in the day of thy fall. 11 For thus says the Lord Jehovah; The sword of the king of Babylon will smite thee. 12 By the swords of mighty men — the fiercest of the nations, all of them — will I overthrow thy multitude ; and they •will lay waste all that lifts itself up proudly in Egypt, and all its multitude will be destroyed. 13 And I will destroy all its cattle from beside its matiy waters,- so that no foot of man nor hoof of beast shall trouble these waters more. 14 After that I will make them settle and grow clear,^ and their canals flow like oil, says the Lord Jehovah. 15 Then, when I have made the land of Egypt a desolation, and it is stripped of its abundance, when I have smitten all that dwell in it, they will know that I am Jehovah. 16 This is the lamentation that they will raise ; the daughters of the nations shall chant it ; they will sing this dirge for Egypt, and for all her multitude, says the Lord Jehovah. A fortnight later* Ezekiel returned to a subject so engrossing. He sees the teeming population of the Nile * The Aphikim, lit., " swift rushes of water." In Egypt they could only refer to the canals. - Canals, etc. 3 The Nile fertilizes Egypt by its black mud, whence it is called " The black." Ezekiel poetically sees it become a clear flowing stream in the Messianic times. * On the 15th, doubtless of the twelfth month, though the copyist has omitted to give the number. 198 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. Valley overwhelmed by Nebucliadnezzar. The conquest of any power or kingdom in those days was its virtual extinction ; like its sons slain in battle, the State itself might be said to have gone down to the grave. Egypt, therefore, crushed by the Chaldean, is seen in Sheol ; a companion, now, of the shades of mighty empires that had passed away before her. Their presence is her only miserable consolation. 17 The word of Jehovah^— says the prophet— came to me thus: 18 Son of man! lift up a wailing for the multitude of Egypt, and cast her down, like the daughters - of (other) famous nations (before her), into the underworld, to them that have already descended to the grave! 19 Art thou any fairer than others ? Get thee down, and lie (dishonoured) among the un- circumcised.3 20 The Egyptians shall fall among those slain by the sword ! It is already given (to liim who shall use it !) Draw down Egypt and all her multitudes (to the shades oP tlie grave, ye powers of the underworld) ! 21 The mighty heroes (already in Sheol), say from its depths, o£ Pharaoh and his supporters, (now with themselves) : " They have come down hither, there they lie, the uncircumcised, slain with the sword"?"* The great kingdoms of the past, visited for their sins, like Pharaoh himself, are already in the underworld, and greet him when he enters it, to lie down in the grave among them, with all his host. 22 Asshur is there in Sheol, with all its host; its king, sur- rounded by the graves of his people, all of them slain, pierced by the sword. 23 Their graves are made in the depths of Sheol, 1 Ezek. xxxii. 17-32- 2 Population. 3 '* Uncircumcised " was the lowest word of contempt in the mouth of a Jew. ^ And hence without honourable burial. " Uncircumcised " is used as equivalent to " vile," " degraded," " unclean," because not purified by funeral rites. THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. " 199 those of his host round that of the Great King; all slain, pierced by the sword that caused terror in the land of the living. 24 Elam is there and her whole multitude, round the grave of its king; all slain, pierced by the sword, gone down, uncircum- cised, to the underworld : they who spread terror in the land of the living, now bear the shame of death with those already lying in the grave. 25 They set Elam a bier in the midst of the graves of her hosts, all of them round about her, all of them uncircum- cised, slain in battle ; for though they spread terror in the land of tlie living, they now lie humbled among those already in the grave. Elam is laid in the midst of the slain ! 26 Meshech and Tubal ^ the fierce Scythian tribes, with all their multitude, are there ; their graves round about that of their chief; all of them uncircumcisred, slain in battle — they who spread terror in the laud of the living ! 27 They lie not with the heroes of the uncircumcised, gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, their swords laid under their heads, ^ but their iniquities have come on their very bones, because they were a terror to the valiant in the land of the living. 28 Thou, also, (0 Egypt,) shalt lie shattered among the un- circumcised, with them that are slain by the sword ! 29 Edom lies there, her kings, and all her princes, mighty as they were, laid among them, slain by the sword, with the uncir- cumcised and those gone down to the pit ! 30 There lie the princes of the North of Syria and Phenicia — all of them, and all the Sidonians, gone down to the shades of the slain; terror-inspiring once, brought to shame now ! They lie, un- circumcised, among those slain with the sword, bearing a common shame with the rest of the dead ! 31 All these will Pharaoh see (when he goes down, like them, to Sheol),and take better comfort to himself (at the sight of them), for the slaughter of all his host, (now gathered around him, there once more, as pale ghosts), for Pharaoh and all his army will be 1 Yol. i. p. 230-233; vol. v. pp. 164 ff. Sayce says the Scythians came from the steppes of Southern Russia. Others think of the regions behind Caucasus. Fresh Light, p. 155. ' Burial of the weapons of war with the dead was common in antiquity, as it is now in some uncivilized countries. Virgil, ^n., 6, 233. Arrian, i. 6. Diod. Sic, xviii. 26. 200 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. slain in battle, says the Lord Jehovah. 32 I put the terror of him into the hearts of men in the land of the living, but, (for all that) he will be stretched out among the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword; Pharaoh and all his host, says the Lord Jehovah. Thus saDg tlie propliet in tlie year B.C. 584, nineteen months after the fall of Jerusalem. The years that followed saw the Chaldean forces straining every nerve to conquer insular Tyro. Nebuchadnezzar triumphed after his thirteen years' siege ; but, as we have seen, the city, though taken, was spared. ^ The cup of its iniquity was not yet full, and its utter overthrow was delayed to a later age. But the fate of Egypt was sealed by the submission of Tyre. Now tributary to the Great King, and no longer a source of danger in his rear, he was free to march to the Nile. Thither, therefore, his victorious legions advanced, in the fighting season of the year B.C.- 572 or 571, immediately after the siege of the Phenician capital was ended. Fourteen or fifteen years had passed since Ezekiel's former predictions, that Pharaoh would be defeated, but though his dirge and that of his host had been sung on the Chebar so long before, the ^ It is satisfactory to nolo that Winer, Bealw., vol. ii. p. 638 and Hitzig, Jes., p. 273, Ezech., p. 227, speak of Nebuchadnezzar as having taken insular Tyre. Some of the new critics take for granted, from Ezek. xxix. 18, that the siege had failed ; but if it had, the Chaldean king could nob have marched on to the con- quest of Egypt, It must have been successful, though the city was spared the horrors of a sack. No cuneiform record of the campaigns of Nebuchadnezzar against Judah and Tyre has yet been discovered; but a curious inscription, carved by his orders on the rocks of the Dog River, about eight miles north of Beirut, came to light about two years ago. Unfortunately, it is much worn, and the best preserved passage speaks only of the famous wines of Lebanon and Helbon. TflE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. 201 prophet's faith in the ultimate result had never been shaken.^ AVhen Tyre at last fell, he returned to the subject. On the first day of the seven and twentieth year of Jehoiachin's captivity/ and of his own, the word of Jehovah, he tells us, came to him saying : — 1 8 Son of man,* Kebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has made his army go through bard service against Tjre ; every head is bald and every shoulder rubbed bare (with pushing the war machines and such like toil), and neither he nor his host has had any return from the city, for their toil in besieging it. 19 Therefore, thus says the Lord Jehovah : Behold, I give over the land of Egypt to him (as a recompense), and he will carry off its wealth and seize its spoils and plunder its booty, and this will be the reward of bis army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his service against Tyre, because his host were working for Me, says the Lord Jehovah. 21 In that day I will make a horn shoot forth to the House of Israel, and I will open thy mouth in their midst,^ and they will know that I am Jehovah. Egypt had filled a great place in the foreign relations of the whole reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Just before his accession, while Crown Prince, he had fought the great battle of Carchemish, which expelled Pharaoh Necho from Western Asia. In 587, he had been disturbed during the siege of Jerusalem, by the attempt of Pharaoh Necho to relieve that city ; and during the siege of Tyre, Egypt had apparently aided the Phenicians. A burning thirst for revenge was thus kept alive in the bosom of the Great King, and this fact w^as doubtless known widely. ^ The date of the prophecies in Ezek. xxix. 17-21 and xxx. 1-19, must have been about B.C. 571, seventeen years after the fall of Jerusalem. 2 B.C. 598 - 27 = 571. ^ Ezek. xxix. 17-21. * A Messianic time will follow, in which the prophet, justified by the fulfilment of his prediction, will be able to speak more freely than in the hostile past. 202 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT, Alike on tlie Nile and on tlie Chebar, the threats of the Babylonian conqueror must have been constantly dis- cussed in the colonies of Hebrew exiles, so long zealous partisans or opponents of Egypt. It was natural, there- fore, that the prophet-preachers of the day should often recur to the subject. Hence, perhaps the latest utterance of Ezekiel which we possess, reverts to it once more. In the thirtieth chapter of his Book, he tells us that the word of the Lord came again to him, apparently soon after the prediction last quoted, foretelling the excitement that would be felt, even in Ethiopia, on the news of the downfall of Egypt and its allies. 2 Son of man* — said the Divine Voice — prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Wail aloud ! " Alas for this evil day ! " 3 For tbe day is near, the day o£ Jehovah, a day of dark clouds! the time (of the judgment) of the heathen ! 4 The sword will come on Egypt, and trembling on Eihiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and the enemy carries otf its wealth, and its very foundations are destroyed. 5 The contingent of Ethiopians, the men of Phut,- the men of Lad, and all the mixed tribes of desert allies, the Lybiaus^ (fighting in their ranks), and all the vassal peoples* shall fall by the sword. All the allies of Egypt will be destroyed, and the country laid desolate. 6 Thus says Jehovah : All the supports of Egypt will fall,^ and its proud might will sink. From Migdol on the borders of Palestine, to Syene, far south, on the cataracts of the Nile, they shall fall by the sword, says the Lord Jehovah. 7 Egypt will 1 Ezek. XXX. 1-19. 2 Sayce thinks Phut was the Egyptian Punt, on the Somali coast. Fresh Light, p. 47. ^ Ewald has " Nubians." * Lit., " sons of the covenant." * The idols, princes, strong cities, and warriors. See vers. 13, 15, 17. THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. 203 be desolate in the midsfc of desolate lands, and her cities waste in the midst of waste cities. 8 And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I kindle a conflagration in Egypt, and all her supporters^ are destroyed. 9 On that day, messengers sent off by Me, will start in swifc Nile boats, to alarm the Ethiopians dwelling in fancied security, and terror will seize them when the day of Egypt arrives, for, lo, it comes ! Nebuchadnezzar has been chosen by God to carry out the Divine purposes, and the ruin he will inflict will be terrible. Stene (Assouan) Dueing the Overflow of the Nile. TO Thus says the Lord Jehovah : I will make an end of the hum of men in Egypt, by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. II He and his people witli him — the fiercest of the nations— will be brought to destroy this land; they will draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12 And I will dry up the Nile canals, and give the land into the hand of a rapa- cious soldiery ,2 and lay it and all that is in it waste, by the hand of barbarians ; I, Jehovah, have spoken ! A fuller rehearsal of the sorrows that will befall the doomed land follows. 13 Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will destroy the blocks of wood they call gods, and root out the worthless idols from Mem- » Lit., " helpers." * This is the meaning of " selling" it to " the wicked.'* 204 THE JEWISH COLONIES IN EGYPT. phis,^ and (Tor the time) there will be no more a prince of the land of Ep^ypr, and I will spread fear throughout its borders. 14 And I will make Pathros — that is, Upper Egypt — desolate, and will kindle a conflagration in Zoan-Tanis— in Lower Egypt — and will execute My judgments in No-Amon— or Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt. 15 And I will pour My fury on Pelusium — or Sin, the frontier fortress of the land, (on its north-east border), and I will cut off the multitude of Thebes. 16 And I will kindle a con- flagration in Egypt; Pelusium will tremble greatly, and Thebes be captured, and Memphis stormed in the daytime. 17 The young men of On " or Bethaven- — the hea