' mm. BH^H aB^S^^Bm^ammmmmmmmmm^a^^a^^S^^m YALE UNIVERSITY Xibrarg of the ©toinitg School GIFT OF Douglas qigdt Macintosh DWIGHT PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY DWIGHT PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION 1916-1942 '""'¦¦¦¦¦"¦¦"¦¦ ¦HWIWIWWWIi.WIWi !¦!¦! m WMWWHWIWB Gbe Stu&ent's ©U> Testament THE SERMONS, EPISTLES AND APOCALYPSES OF ISRAEL'S PROPHETS THE STUDENTS OLD TESTAMENT LOGICALLY AND CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED AND TRANSLATED BY CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D. WOOLSET PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN YALE OHIVERSITY ARRANGEMENT OP VOLUMES I. Narratives of the Beginnings of Hebrew History. (JTomi Ready.) Introduction. The Beginnings of Human History. Traditional Ancestors of the Hebrews. Deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt.. Life of the Hebrews In the Wilderness and East of the Jordan. Conquest and Settlement of Canaan. II. Historical and Biographical Narratives. (Now Beady.) Introduction, the United' Monarchy. History of Northern Israel. History of Judah. Re-establlshment of the Jewish Community in Palestine. The Maccabean Struggle. Life of the Jews of the Dispersion. III. Sermons, Epistles and Apocalypses of Israel's Prophets. ^,5??) Introduction. The Prophets of the Assyrian Period. Prophets of Judah's Decline. Prophets of the Babylonian Exile. Prophets of the Persian Period. Prophets of the Greek and Maccabean Periods. IV. Israel's Laws and Legal Precedents. {Now Beady.) Introduction. Constitutional Laws. Criminal Laws. Private Laws. Humanitarian Laws. Religious Laws. Ceremonial Laws. V. Songs, Psalms, and Prayers Introduction. Folk and National Songs. Songs of Love and Marriage. Songs of Lamentation. Imprecatory Psalms. Historical Psalms. Royal and Messianic Psalms. Psalms of Thanksgiving. Psalms of Praise and Adoration. Reflective Psalms. Penitential Psalms. Psalms of "Worship. Prayers. VI. Proverbs and Didactic Poems Introduction. Practical and Ethical Observations and Precepts. Religious Proverbs. Gnomic Essays. Numerical Enigmas. Dis cussions of the Problem of Evil. Discussions regarding the Value of Life and Its Wise Enjoyment. Poems describing Wisdom. B.C. 940' 920 900880 860840820800 780 T60740 720 700 680 660 640620 600 580 jmn. EGYPT JUDAH Shos CSni Qsoi ton I Tiki lot I Osor LOn.II enk.I half) inVasioi? " •— or- Beh .ADijan | (Abljain) lk II t.II Jehoi tiapliat boam — oso WAR B E EE ISRAEL AND JUDAH ALLIANCE Jet >ram Abazlahl 3tttr 851 im : :: DAMASCUS iiaii Shosli snk III L I ' S ,', J< isli Pe: iai 810 JOASH PAYS TRIBUTE TO HAZAEL Shos: enk IV ziah 82 ¦ Petu (Uz iah) Osor onTIT 751 Jqtli i m (Copi Zecbai Shall ^721 ASSYRIA M M - Mil CAPTjf Bocchori Shafako ¦703 •715 -&=A- S T -E< R CAPTt GREAT WB Tal: irko TT3TI ikahJ j? CAMPAIGN .AG _P Tanut Amnion 662 - ASSYRI lN RULE sseh. - ¦ 641 CAI Psan stikl Jo GRE 608' ¦ 594 Psamttik II ^gnjsr^ Zed kiah _An. les -CAPTIVITY (Hodhra) ¦569 BABYLONIAN Am ais_ E X HAPTIVITyM >T I K jaia — asu JSL. Ben-bi lad III Qi nl) Adad-i irari HI Shalm'f leser III *#) 3am II ¦773 Ashurllan III ¦755 Asburn|rari 745' W ^FINAJ ^CONQUEST 732« Tiglath ¦P. OP I HAMftfflA Tii-I 734 'ileser IIL — 7.27 "Shalnjj igsef TV /ITY OF ISRAEL 72 1 CAMPAIGN AGAINST ASHDOD 7 1 I Sa 3TERN CAMPAIGN OF 701 gon 70S AINST THE ARABIANS AND EGYPTIANS ABOUT 690 Sennajcherib .681 Esar adaon. = SV 6J2_ •TURE OF THEBES 660 Ashui >anipal VT REFORMATION OF JOSIAH 621 Ashu 626 etiliU BABYLONIA 626 S'insha 'lshkemjja|j0 BATTLE OF ^^^^^______^__ > CARCHEMISH 605-4 < < < ¦< «— >NQUC9T OF UUBAH BY NEBUCHADREZZAR ADOfcr^ eee- DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 686 597588 NEDUOHA IREZZAR flTON OF THE HEBREW EMPIRE TO THE BABYLONIAN EXILE £foe Student's ©lb Testament THE SERMONS, EPISTLES AND APOCALYPSES OF ISRAEL'S PROPHETS FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD TO THE END OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE BY CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D. Woolsey Professor of Biblical Literature in Yale University WITH MAPS AND CHRONOLOGICAL CHARTS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1910 Copyright, 1910, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Published March, 1910 PREFACE The prophets stand at the head of the different groups of teachers whose work and teachings are recorded in the Old Testament. Through their open minds and deep personal experiences came the eternal truths that are the foundations of Israel's faith. A clear understanding of their aims and methods and messages is the key that unlocks the mysteries of the older Scriptures. They also were the forerunners who prepared the way for the advent and work of the great Prophet-Teacher of Nazareth. Their spirit and principles are still a perennial source of inspiration and helpfulness to a growing group of men and women who are to-day grappling with the great political, civic, and social problems whose right solution is essential to the strength and efficiency of our modern civilization. For twenty or twenty- five centuries, therefore, the prophets have been a potent force in the life and thought of mankind; and their influence is to-day waxing rather than waning. To understand these sturdy heroes of thefaith it is essential to study them in their chronological order and in the light of the historical conditions amidst which each labored. The present volume aims to make this study possible and practicable. The voluminous additions of later editors and scribes have been relegated to a secondary place in order that the original teachings of each prophet may stand forth in clear relief. An effort has also been made to indicate, by the form in which they are printed, the highly poetic content and structure of the individual prophecies. Modern biblical scholarship has made vast and valuable contributions, not only to the interpretation, but also to the recovery of the original text of the prophetic writings. The many repetitions and inconsistencies in the tra ditional Hebrew text and the wide variations between the different versions of the prophetic books reveal the necessity of a sane and careful reconstruction. At the same time it is equally important to guard against doubtful conjec ture and the tendency to impose upon the prophets the canons employed in determining modern literary unity and form. My debt to the scholars who have worked in different departments of this vast field is too great to be acknowledged in minute detail. Chief among PREFACE those who have contributed to the rediscovery of the original book of Isaiah are Duhm, Cheyne, Marti, and Torrey. Every student of Jeremiah owes much to the epoch-making work of Duhm and Cornill. Toy's translation of Ezekiel is a masterpiece of careful scholarship and clear English. In the field of the minor prophets the commentaries of Nowack, Marti, and Harper are of conspicuous value. The list of the other pioneers to whom I am in debted is indicated either in the appendix or in the foot-notes. I owe a more personal debt to my colleague, Professor C. C. Torrey, for his suggest ive notes on Isaiah 40-50 and the book of Daniel, and to Miss Ruth D. Sherrill who has corrected the final proofs of the second half of this volume. No department , of the Old Testament presents more open and difficult problems, both literary and textual, than Hebrew prophecy. Where uncer tainty exists, the fact has been frankly stated and the more probable or plausible conclusion has been presented. In a vast number of cases the traditional reading or interpretation has been followed rather than the at tractive but far from established conjectures suggested by modern biblical scholarship. The conclusions embodied in the present volume are the re sults, not only of years of personal research, but of work with many gradu ate students in my Hebrew and biblical seminars whose frank and sane sug gestions and criticisms have been a constant source of inspiration. Madeira Islands, C. F. K. January, 1910. vi CONTENTS AND CLASSIFICATION GENERAL INTRODUCTION PAGE I. The Evolution of the Prophet 3 II. The Prophets in Israel's Early History 8 III. The Prophets of the Assyrian Period 13 IV. The Prophets of Judah's Decline 20 V. The Prophets of the Exile and Restoration 24 VI. The Prophets of Later Judaism 31 VII. The Historical Development of Israel's Messianic Ideals 39 VHI. The Literary Form of the Old Testament Prophecies. . 49 THE PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD I. The Sermons of Amos. § 1. The Superscription and Text of the Book § 2. The Judgment about to Overtake Israel's Guilty Neighbors § 3. The Judgment Awaiting Thrice Guilty Israel § 4. The Basis of the Proph et's Arraignment of Israel. § 5. The Guilt and Doom of Samaria § 6. Israel's Failure to Un derstand Jehovah's Judg ments.- § 7. Certain Destruction Awaiting Israel Unless She Seeks Jehovah Original Am. I3"8' 13"15, ol, 2c, a, b, d, 3 39-43. 4.4-7a, o, d, 8b, 12 Secondary1 Am. I1 i7b, 8a, is g8a-e, 9, 8f 63 19J2, 34'5.... 64 66 68 68 70 71 1 Minor additions of a word or short clause are not indicated in this Table of Contents. vii CONTENTS AND CLASSIFICATION § 8. A Solemn Warning to the Corrupt Judges § 9. Captivity Awaiting Cor rupt Israel § 10. Symbolic Picture of the Impending Judgment § 11. Amaziah's Accusation and Amos's Reply § 12. The Symbolic Picture of Israel's Approaching End § 13. The Portrayal of the Final Destruction of the Nation II. The Sermons of Hosea. § 14. The Superscription to Hosea's Sermons § 15. The Harlotry of Ho sea's Wife and Her Pun ishment § 16. Israel's Harlotry and Punishment 17. Later Predictions of Israel's Ultimate Restora tion 18. Jehovah's Charge against Israel 19. The Guilt of Priests and Princes 20. The Fatal Lack of True Repentance and Reform . . 21. Evidences of the Na tion's Degeneracy and Ap proaching Dissolution. . . . Original Am. 57' 10-17. gl8-21, 22b, u, 23- 27 gl , 3-7 , 8b , a , C-e, lib, C, 12-14 Secondary Am. 522a, 6Z 9-lla gl, 2, 4, 5, 6C, 7- 9, 3, 10, llb-d, gl-4, 7, 8a, b Hos. l2b-3-6-8' 9 o2b,c,4,5a,b 3I-4 o2a,d, e, 3, 5c-e, 6 10, 12, 11, 13-17, 18e-23 51-14. 515, 6l-10,llbj 71"7 |J|8-15 gla, b,.2, 3 lyld ~10-17 6a, b, 11a g5, 6, 8C PACK 72 73 7677 78 80 Hos. I1 81 l7, 35. • 2- ¦j^l-12 (13 15-21 136. . 460 CONTENTS AND CLASSIFICATION MESSIANIC AND ESCHATOLOGICAL PROPHECIES I. The Messianic King and Kingdom. S 218. The Promised Glories of Davidic Rule § 219. Promises to the House of David . § 220. The Faithful Shepherd § 221. Union of Judah and Israel under a Davidic Ruler § 222. The Restoration of the Hebrew State. § 223. The Davidic Prince § 224. The Second David § 225. The Prince of Peace § 226. The Ideal Ruler § 227. Zerubbabel, Jehovah's Signet-Ring. . § 228. The Attempted Crowning of Zerub babel II. The Divine Warrior, Judge, and King, and the Glories of His Rule. § 229. Zechariah's Predictions Regarding Israel's Future § 230. Jehovah Leading Back His Scattered People § 231. The Glories of the Restoration § 232. The Glorious Restoration of Jeho vah's People § 233. The Returning Exiles' Song of Thanksgiving § 234. Pictures of Israel's Ultimate Deliver ance and Glory § 235. Zion's Ultimate Vindication and Ex altation § 236. The Future Vindication and Exalta tion of Jerusalem § 237. The Glorious Destiny of Redeemed Zion Original PAGE Num. 345-9- "- 19 467 II Sam. 71016. 468 Ezek. 341118- 23-31 469 qiv21-28 470 Jer. SO^-Sl1 (30l-5a) 470 333"8 472 Mi. 52 <3)'4... 473 Is. 9(1)-2-7... 473 II1"10 474 Hag. 320"23 .. 476 Zech. 3610, 69" 15a 476 Zech. 83- 7- 8- 12, 13, 22 Arviv Mi. 312- 13 478 Am.99J5 478 Is. II11"16 479 13 480 Mi. 48-51- 5J5. 481 77"20 483 Zeph. 38- u-20 lt'10> 484 Is. 42 486 CONTENTS AND CLASSIFICATION § 238. The Peace and World-wide Renown of Zion § 239. The Glories of Israel's Future Re generation § 240. The Ideal State of the Future § 241. Jehovah's Judgment upon Israel's Foes § 242. The Deliverance and Future Blessed ness of Zion § 243. Jehovah's Judgment upon the Na tions § 244. The Golden Age when Jehovah Shall Have Restored His People § 245. Jehovah's Universal Judgment § 246. Jehovah's Care for His People Original PAGE Mi. a 1-4 (5) 6, 7 [Is. 31"4]. 486 Is. 3917"24, 30 18- 26 487 QO1"8, 15-20 489 302' -33 490 33. 491 34. 494 35. 496 34, 356-12- 1-5 497 36, 371-5'7 9-13 (6, 8) 501 APPENDIX Selected Bibliography and Detailed References 507 CHRONOLOGICAL CHARTS AND MAPS Hebrew and Contemporary Chronology from the Division of the Hebrew Empire to the Babylonian Exile .... Frontispiece Israel and Judah after the Division of the Hebrew Empire Opposite page 61 The Assyrian Empire Opposite page 107 Jewish and Contemporary Chronology from 597 to 165 b.c. Opposite page 291 The Jewish Community in Palestine during the Persian and Greek Periods Opposite page 321 The Jerusalem of Nehemiah Opposite page 409 oc a •* CC c oc cc a r-l w: W5 0 0* t- or GO ©1 o- GO 00 OC os o: OC 00 i> OJ i— 0000Q000000000CJO5OJ1-I ¦* CO IO CO OS • oo oo t- Tfi •* i> CO CO i — o- CO CT co b- 00 oc oo t> oi i- 1> 00 00 Oi OJ f-H n to ijioo B -* ©1 ©1 ©) 1— Ol Ol Ol ¦* I— 1 o ©J OJ o« -n OJ OJ OJ OJ OJ OJ "33 OJ OJ ©J ©J GO s H >-> «H EH M CO © a CO ^1 ' o 1 05C3 00co t~ 1 1 c3 eo CO M iH CO tH ¦ ft< « eo K ¦ K -* U! tfi J> oe er t ¦ ¦ r. M t~ 1- 01 Til i« CC 1 T-l IO 1 1 1 ' - , ' r^ffiosffOrtoieo-iUMscc T rH 1 01 05 V 0! 01 03 OJ 01 05 OJ 01 01 BMW co CC « M 05 CO K 05050505-^^^^^^^ iH J> 00 ii i-l a C CC O CO t- >0 t- ¦* -* CSO OC CO 00 >0 00C0-*COG0i>"3C00500OJ>C •O i> GO i— < CO t- O 0 a: GO OS os OS ir. 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N a OC OC t- H CO IT «0 i- i> oo **i •* «¦ fflHCoooHoiffiioou: «0 1— 00 OJ OS rH GO 0 cc cc CO H OD r 00 r- r- O OJ i> r- ¦^!«5>OJ>00i-l»OrHOJCOCOC ©J d- 00 CO 00 OS CO ft ¦* ¦* p — I— 1 ^ IT "^ 1-7 ^ i—l r-l -^ r- rHl-Hi— 1-^-^tGOi— IrHrHi— 1 H IT i-1 T "ejl r— 1 -^1 tJ< rH I 1 l „ | ... 1 . . . . 1 fr IT i — a- I- o CO CO ffliJ » i> t-HOOO ee cr i— c O OJ t- •* •^h t- t- r— i «a t— i CO GO d Ol 00 GO 00 OS . t*3 ¦* "( 3 r— i— i i — 1-1 rH <* t-< HHJ tf M HH 1— 1 1— i -^ r— *H-J-J . .a I 3a 1 i s c a 3 3 0 OS 1- H 55 W< i- s 5 ¦0 OC 2 er- 1 oo io 1 c eo¦?no c 1 o 1 i-i 2>; 1 V" a Js iH-eo Tt 1 r» c 01 01 -f OC eo ! "3c (J 1 BO aoe oi J> V 01 01 CO ¦^ w: «: cc J> "ff a- 1- 1- T- 1- 1- 1- T 1- 01 OJ 01 01 0) Ol 01 05 0. CO CO INDEX OF BIBLICAL PASSAGES Ezekiel Obadiah Zephaniah CHAPTER PAGE CHAPTER PAGE CHAPTER PAGE so1-44 . .251-254 1 399-401 Q8-20 484,485 3045-31 32 . 266-268 33-34 'ZS1-^* OQ20-26 270-276 298-301 301 1-4.. Jonah 419-422 1,3.. Haggai 323-326,476 391"16. . .297,298 3917"21. 301 Micah Zechariah 33 34-39 34.U-I6, 23-31 302, 303 305-315 469 l1^11 ol2, 13 139-142 478 1-8. 9-14 .326-336,476,477 453-464 31721-28 470 3 41"7 . . 143, 144 486, 487 Malachi Daniel 48-5152"4. . 481,482 473 1-3. 402-408 Hosea Amos 423-452 , 81-106 55"15 . . r.7-20 l1^20 482,483 I1'4. . 145-147 483,484 Nahum 155-161 Habakkuk 221 •J5-17 31"4. . .J5-20 223, 224 1-14. . 222 224, 225 l1^8. . ..63-80 Zephaniah Joel 99"15 . . . 478-479 ll1-^7. 165-169 1-3. . 409-416 EXPLANATION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS Text in roman type. Supplemental and editorial additions to an older section in smaller type. Superscriptions in small capitals. Poetical passages are distinguished by smaller type and broken lines. Explanatory clauses, found in the original, in ( ). English equivalents of the more significant Hebrew proper names in [ ]. Words implied by the context or supplied to restore the original narratives, where these have been abridged in the process of editorial fusion, in italics. Foot-notes, presenting the reasons for the analysis and classification of the mate rial, significant alternate readings, and explanatory material, in small roman type. Interpretative side-headings, giving a condensed summary of the accompanying text, on the margins in small roman type. Chapter numbers in arabic figures. Verse numbers in small figures placed above the line. Successive portions of a verse indicated by *¦ b or % placed after the verse number. Thus, Genesis II. 4 (second part of the verse) to IV. 6 (first half) inclusive is written 24b-46\ Complete stories or literary units (with their parallels, if any) are numbered with arabic numerals successively throughout the entire volume and are referred to as sections. Thus, § 2 refers to § 2, The Primitive Story of Man's Creation and Fall, pp. 53-56. AmRV = American Revised Version (1901). A V = Authorized Version (1611). Apocr. = Apocrypha or apoc ryphal. Aram. = Aramaic. Assyr. = Assyrian. Baby. = Babylonian. cf. = compare. e. g. = for example. f . = and following. Gk. - Greek B (Vatican) text of the O.T. General Abbreviations Gk.A = Alexandrian Gk. text of the O.T. Gk. N = Sinaitic Gk. text of the O.T. Heb. = Hebrew. i. e. = that is. Jos. = Josephus. Lat. = Latin (Vulgate) text of Jerome. Lit. = literally. Luc. = Lucian's Recension of the Greek O.T. N.T. = New Testament. Old L. = Old Latin Version of the O.T. Origen = Reading found in Origen's Hexapla. O.T. = Old Testament. Pent. = Pentateuch. RV = Revised yersion (1885). Sam. = Samaritan Version of the Pent. Sem. = Semitic. Syr. = Syriac Version of the O.T. Targ. = Targum. Vs. = verse. Abbreviations for the Old Testament and Apocryphal Books Gen. = Genesis. Is. = Isaiah. Ex. = Exodus. Jer. = Jeremiah. Lev. = Leviticus. Lam. = Lamentations, Num. = Numbers. Ezek. = Ezekiel. Dt. = Deuteronomy. Dan. = Daniel. Josh. = Joshua. Hos. = Hosea. Judg. = Judges. Am. = Amos. Sam. = Samuel. Ob. = Obadiah. Kgs. = Kings. Jonah = Jonah. Chr. = Chronicles. Mi. = Micah. Neh. = Ne he mi ah. Nah. = Nahum. Esth. = Esther. Hab. = Habakkuk. Ps. = Psalms. Zeph. = Zephaniah. Pr. = Proverbs. Hag. = Haggai. Zech. = Zechariah. Ecc. = Ecclesiastes. Sg. of Sgs. = Song of Songs. Mal. = Malachi. Esdr. = Esdras. Wisd. Sol. = Wisdom of Solo mon. B. Sir. = Ben Sira or Ecclesi- asticus. Bar. = Baruch. Sg. of Three = Song of the Three Children. Sus. = Susanna. Pryr. of Man. = Prayer of Man asses. Mac. = Maccabees. Enoch = Book of Enoch. Ps. of Sol. = Psalms of Solo mon. XXV GENERAL INTRODUCTION GENERAL INTRODUCTION THE EVOLUTION OF THE PROPHET The true prophet rises above his age and race like a towering mountain The peak piercing heaven itself and enveloped in the eternal mystery of divine rev- f0sJica?" elation. He rests, however, squarely on earth, for common human experi- basis of ences and needs are the basis of his work and teaching. In the light of com- ecy parative history and religion it is now possible to study his forerunners and to trace the different stages in his gradual evolution. The belief in the exist ence of supernatural beings who determine the destinies of man, and the desire to ascertain their will, were two of the earliest and most powerful motives in human history. According to the belief of primitive man, failure to act in accord with the divine will meant inevitable disaster. In the absence of modern scientific knowledge, every step of his life was beset by the haunting fear that some unexpected judgment might suddenly be meted out by an offended Deity. Ignorance was therefore fatal. On the other hand, to know and to do the will of the gods was the only sure way to success and happiness. With true intuition early man also firmly believed that the supreme power or powers in the universe were ready and able to reveal them selves to him. Hence the ancient world was ever seeking with passionate zeal for means and for men through whom the divine will could be definitely determined. This strong and universal craving is the psychological basis of true prophecy, as well as of all the kindred institutions that preceded it. In the earlier days, when man worshipped many spirits of earth and air Exter- and water, or later, when he conceived of the gods as superhuman beings, he JJfeans believed in various external methods of revelation. Many natural phe- °i^- nomena and especially the variable and more remarkable forms were in- ing the terpreted as the inarticulate voice of the spirits or gods. Thus the changing w'jime phases of the stars and clouds and the flight of birds were all noted with closest attention because they seemed to be messages from that realm above where popular belief fixed the abode of the immortals. Where totemistic cults survived, the actions of certain animals were supposed to have a divine import. The appearance of the entrails, and especially of the livers of beasts presented in sacrifice to the gods, was almost universally regarded as an index of the divine will. The belief that certain sacred trees at times gave audible expression to messages from the Deity was held even by the early Hebrews, as is illustrated by the story of the burning bush in Exodus and the 3 GENERAL INTRODUCTION references to* the famous diviner's oak near Shechem. Often a direct ap peal was made to the Deity by means of the sacred arrows, by lot, or through some other form of ordeal. The diviner's cup also figures frequently, as in the Joseph stories. Ancestor-worship and the mystery of sleep and death gave rise to the belief that the spirits of the dead sometimes returned to dis close the secrets of the gods, as is well illustrated in the story of Saul's visit to the medium of Endor ( I Sam. 28). The Nearly all these earlier and cruder popular methods of ascertaining the fore-est wiU of tlle beings wno ruled the destinies of man required skilled inter- mnnera prefers to make clear the meaning of the obscure signs. Hence there arose proph- a great host of augurs, soothsayers, astrologers, wizards, diviners, and nec- ets romancers;- some knaves and some doubtless faithful to their light. They and the priests, who usually interpreted the omens and took charge of the sacred lot and oracles, were the earliest forerunners of the prophets. They were thus regarded by the author of Deuteronomy 18, who states that Moses and his prophetic successors were commissioned to take the place of these representatives of the older cults. Reve- As men's conceptions of the gods became more exalted and spiritual, belief through m direct revelation through the human mind began to prevail. The mystery the of dreams profoundly impressed even the savage. These strange mental ofmen pictures were almost universally regarded as messages of the spirits or gods to man. The interpreter of dreams was therefore looked upon as a spokes man of the Deity. Especially among the early Semites, as among the modern Arabs, all abnormal psychic states were regarded as evidence of divine pos session. As with the whirling and howling dervishes to-day, artificial means were often used to induce a half-insane condition that the Deity might speak through the mind thus freed from the control of the individual will. Men or women who were subject to these attacks of ecstasy have always been venerated in the East. Similar phenomena are still common in the revival services of certain Christian sects, and especially among the negroes of America. In ancient Greece the Pythian priestess, under the influence of poisonous gases that exhaled from the earth, was thrown into an ecstatic state. Her frenzied, incoherent utterances were interpreted by the propheles (rpo^TTis), the one who spoke in behalf of the god. This title, transferred into English, has become the common and appropriate designation of the noblest interpreters and heralds of God's will to men. The The religious history of the different nations of antiquity clearly demon- phetic strates that the great prophets did not arise except amidst certain favorable ele- conditions. The ancient Babylonians, with their intense political, social, ancient and commercial life, had little time for contemplation and visions. Their Sma religion also became, at a comparatively early period, formal and cere monial. Law, not the spirit, ruled. The result was that they apparently had no great prophets. Hammurabi and his ancient code represent in many ways the high-water mark of Babylonian religion. Dreams were regarded as significant; but otherwise the crude, primitive, external methods of de termining the will of the gods through their diviners, augurs, and astrologers, the priestly inspectors of the sacrificial offerings, and the interpreters of the 4 THE EVOLUTION OF THE PROPHET flights of birds, of the movements of the stars, and of other signs, continued to hold undisputed sway. Nearly the same conditions obtained among the Egyptians. The priests j.n interpreted the oracles. Only the Pharaoh himself was supposed to consult E8ypt the gods. Popular interest was also fixed on the life beyond death rather than in the present and immediate future. There are, however, several striking exceptions to this prevailing low level of mechanical formalism. From the period of the remarkable twelfth dynasty (2000-1788 B.C.) comes a prediction delivered in the presence of a king by a prophet named Ipuwer. It first tells of the coming overthrow of existing political and social condi tions by foreign foes, and then proclaims the advent of a benign king who would deliver his land and people. Of him men would say, He is the shepherd of all the people; there is no evil in his heart. If his flocks go astray he will spend the day to search for them. The thought of men shall be aflame ; would that he might achieve their rescue I . . . Verily fie shall smite evil when he raises his arm against it* Similar Sibylline prophecies appeared at times in Egypt's later history, but there is no evidence that they made any deep im pression upon that ancient life and religion. More effective, although ephemeral, was the truly prophetic reformation instituted by Amenhotep IV. The fact that its influence passed away so quickly and completely only proves that the dominant forces in Egypt's religion were ceremonial rather than ethical and spiritual. The sources of information regarding the religion of the ancient Canaanites Among are still exceedingly meagre. The references in the Old Testament to the naan-a~ religious practices of the peoples which. the Hebrews found in the land indi- itesand cate that the various external methods of ascertaining the will of the gods nicians were in vogue in Palestine. The moral degeneracy, the wealth and luxury, and the prominence of sacrifice and ritual prevented the development of a spiritual religion among the Canaanites and Phcenicians. Hence there is no evidence or probability that any great prophets ever arose among them. The narrative of a certain Wenamon, sent to the court of Zakar-Baal, king of Byblos about 1100 B.C., in the years following the decline of Egyptian su premacy in Palestine, contains the earliest reference to Syrian prophecy. As the Egyptian emissary was being contemptuously sent away, one of the noble youths in attendance upon the king was seized with a divine frenzy, and in prophetic ecstasy demanded that Wenamon be summoned, honorably treated, and dismissed.f To this same class, doubtless, belonged the so- called prophets of Baal, who, in the famous contest between Jehovah and Baal on Mount Carmel, are represented as dancing about the altar, cutting them selves with swords and lances until they had worked themselves up into a delirium of frenzy (I Kgs. 18 28-29). Their character and role appears to be very similar to that of the modern dervish. The prophetic motif may also -be traced among the early Aryan races. j.n an. Zoroaster, the prophet of Iran, was the founder of a distinctly ethical and p™'a spiritual religion. The most complete, although not the closest parallels to and * Breasted, History of Egypt, 204-5. t Breasted, History of Egypt, 513. GENERAL INTRODUCTION prophecy in early Israel are found in ancient Greece. External methods of divination, such as speaking trees and omens, survived; but, side by side with these, the more spiritual forms of revelation were highly developed. Reference has already been made to the oracles in which the frenzied priestess and the prophetes figured. The Bacchantes corresponded to the dervishes of oriental religions. Dreams were regarded as messages of the gods. Both prophets and prophetesses were familiar characters in early Greek life. Corresponding to the great prophets of Israel's history were the immortal Greek poets and philosophers, whose writings dealt, as did those of the He brew statesmen and theologians, not only with vital questions of the day, but with the eternal problems of religion and ethics. The literary form and theology of the two groups of teachers were very different, but their aim, spirit, and fundamental messages were in the ultimate analysis very similar. The The direct forerunners of the Hebrew prophets are to be found, however, desert not among the ancient Babylonians or Canaanites, but, as might be antici- home pated, among the Arabian ancestors and neighbors of the Israelites. The proph- peculiar life of the desert favored the development of the prophet. Its mo- ecy notony and the long marches and watching by night fostered contemplation. The constant sense of mystery and danger tended to develop a strong belief in supernatural powers and an eager longing for assurances of their favor and protection. The susceptibility of the Arab to mental excitement and the prevailing belief that all abnormal psychic states were due to the influence of spirits or gods created an atmosphere favorable to prophecy. The keen re ligious intuitions, the fanatical zeal, and the highly developed poetic in stincts of the dwellers in or near the wilderness furnished the soil from which sprang prophets like Moses, Balaam, Elijah, Amos, and Mohammed. Kahins The kahin, like the corresponding Hebrew priests (fcohen), was originally the°ng *ne mmister of the sanctuary and guardian of the oracle. Often there was early found, however, among the Arabs a kahin who was believed to be pos sessed of a demon or spirit. When seeing visions he usually covered his head, and hence is often styled the man with the veil. These ancient kahins were consulted on a great variety of subjects in which there was doubt in the public mind. Sometimes it was to determine the outcome of a battle; often they were called upon to decide the innocence or guilt of one charged with a crime, such as adultery; and sometimes they even encouraged conspiritors to attack a ruler.* For their services they usually received a gift from those who consulted them. Form _ Their oracular utterances were given in poetic form, and consisted of from rnes-*" four to six short, rhyming sentences bound together into a paragraph or sages period. Their expressions were often obscure and admitted of a double in terpretation. Like the Hebrew prophets, they spoke not in their own name, but directly in the first person as the herald of the god. The names of many famous kahins, both male and female, who lived in the period preceding the advent of Mohammed, have been preserved and their influence upon their age and race was often far-reaching. Although Mohammed did not grant * Cf. Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen Heidenthums, 136. 6 THE EVOLUTION OF THE PROPHET that he was a mere kahin, he was, in fact, the noblest representative of that order. A few others appeared later, but the work of the great prophet of Islam, and the Koran, which recorded the laws and commands that he pro mulgated, rendered the ancient kahin unnecessary. As in later Judaism, the written law and the legal scribe in time took the place of the prophetic oracle and the divine herald. The most significant figures, therefore, in that ancient Semitic life that lies The back of the beginnings of Hebrew history were the kahins or seers, who were djjjjjf" believed to possess divine knowledge, revealed to them not through objective, prede- mechanical means or another's frenzied utterances, but directly from the of the Deity. They were often men of wide experience, keen insight, and probably P^p " genuine spiritual intuitions. In the long line of interpreters of divine truth they rank next to the great prophets. The difference between the self- deceived or deceiving diviners, augurs, astrologers, and necromancers of the primitive cults and the true prophets of Israel is as great as that between darkness and light; and yet the same innate, universal human needs, the same beliefs, and the same God, eager to reveal his truth to men, called forth each. They represent, together with the kahins or seers, the successive rounds in the ladder which, as in Jacob's dream, reached from earth to heaven. n THE PROPHETS IN ISRAEL'S EARLY HISTORY The In connection with the account of Saul's first meeting with Samuel is found *affe tne statement: He who is now called a prophet was previously called a ro'eh desil- (commonly translated a seer). This passage is usually interpreted as evi- rf the 3 dence that the functions of the ancient prophet were practically identical with proph- those Qf tne r5'g^; and that the difference was simply one of popular termi nology. It is significant, however, that in the early sections of the books of Samuel three distinct terms are used to describe Israel's early religious guides. Samuel is designated as the ro'eh, Gad is the royal hdzeh, and Nathan is the nabi or prophet. The care with which these terms are used suggests that originally there was a clear distinction between them. Charac- A recent writer has called attention to the fact that Samuel's distinctive funcand tit'6' r°'eh, is possibly equivalent to the Babylonian baru, a title of the divin- tions of ing priest.* His duty was, originally, to inspect the entrails and especially rSeh the liver of the sacrificial victim, and, in accordance with a definitely worked- out system, to answer, on the basis of what he saw, the questions which were put to him. It is significant that the older as well as the later biblical tra ditions connect Samuel closely with the sanctuaries and the sacrifices of ancient Israel. According to the oldest tradition in I Samuel 9, the people of Ramah were waiting for Samuel to come before they could begin their sacrificial meal. It is also evident from the statement of Saul's servant (I Sam. 98) that, like the divining priests of Babylonia, Samuel enjoyed the reputation of being able to settle questions not only of public but also of private interest, and that for this service he usually received some gift. Illustrations of Sam uel's divining power are also found in the first part of the tenth chapter of I Samuel. The term ro'eh comes from the Hebrew word meaning to see, or to look, and if it originally described the priestly diviner, who answered questions put to him by looking upon the sacrificial victims or by other ob jective signs, which the ancients regarded as revelations from the Deity, the reason is clear why it early fell into disuse among the Hebrews. Of the The Hebrew word hozeh comes from the verb meaning to gaze. In the of^seer Arabic it is used only of seeing a vision. The ancient kahin was also fre quently designated by a title derived from the same root as the Hebrew word hozeh. In light of these facts and of its usage elsewhere in the Old Testament, it would seem clear that the word is best translated into English by the word seer or gazer. It survived in later Hebrew literature as a practical synonym of the word nabi (prophet). Possibly in ancient times the hozeh or seer re- * Jastrow, Jour, of Bib. Lit., XXVIII, 42-56. 8 THE PROPHETS IN ISRAEL'S EARLY HISTORY ceived his divine message through objective means, as, for example, the flight of birds or the movements of the stars, but in later days he is conceived of as the man with a vision, the one who receives his message either through a dream or trance or his inner consciousness. In the days of David, Gad is de scribed as the king's hozeh or seer, while Nathan is called a nabi or prophet. It is also significant that both of these men figure in public rather than private life, and are the recognized authoritative advisers of the king. Unfortunately the derivation of the word nabi or prophet is uncertain. In Deriva- its later Hebrew usage it is practically equivalent to speaker or proclaimer. ^°°S6j The original word from which it was derived was probably connected either with the Hebrew word meaning to bubble forth, or with the Assyrian word nabu, to tear away, lead forcibly, and hence to be carried away by divine frenzy. In either case the word recalls the ecstatic, frenzied method in which the primitive prophets received and proclaimed their message. In its later Hebrew usage, however, this early implication of frenzied utter- Later ance had entirely disappeared; for the great prophets, like Isaiah and Jere- ^^.raw miah, speak calmly and logically, although with deep feeling and earnestness, tion of In an important passage in Numbers 126"8, in connection with the description prophet of Moses, is found a clear statement of the Hebrew belief regarding the method by which the true prophet received his message: If there be a prophet among you, In a vision do I make myself known to him, In a dream do I speak to him. Not so with my servant Moses; In all my house he is faithful. Mouth to mouth do I speak with him, Plainly and not in enigmas. The priestly author of Exodus 71 has also clearly illustrated the later Hebrew conception of the word prophet, for when Moses declared to Jehovah that he was not skilled in speaking, he received the answer: See, I have made thee as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet. The prophet, therefore, was simply the speaker for God to men, the one who proclaimed and interpreted the divine will in the light of the needs and conditions of his age. The other designations of the prophets, men of God, servants of Jehovah, Reai messengers of Jehovah, and watchmen, but confirm the same fundamental jjjjj!^ conception of the functions of the prophets. Having seen clearly, they felt a and divine compulsion to speak faithfully and truly; they were men both of insight the He- and of action. They were not without interest in the future, for in the future proph- they hoped to see the full realization of those noble ideals which they con- ets stantly held up before their contemporaries; but they were primarily men of their own day, seeing conditions as they were and seeking by every practical means to influence their fellow-countrymen to do the will of God. Their pri mary function was to proclaim principles, but the sphere of their activity was not limited to the setting forth of spiritual and ethical truths. Everything which concerned the life of the nation was recognized by them as of real religious import. Hence the great Hebrew prophets of the later days were 9 GENERAL INTRODUCTION not only theologians and ethical teachers, but also social reformers, statesmen, and men of affairs. By their own personal activity and influence, as well as by word of mouth, they sought to make their exalted ideals effective in the life of the nation. Reason Undoubtedly the most significant fact in Israel's history was the presence they and activity of the prophets. The record of their work and influence makes ets>ph tnat history unique and the Old Testament, which records it, a book of au- were so thority worthy of a place beside the New. Hence the question of why the nent"in prophet played such an important role in Israel's national life is of profound hlstor'3 interest to the student of religion. The fundamental reason is found in Israel's remarkable experiences as a nation. From the first it was confronted with a series of grave political, social, and religious crises which furnished the back ground and inspiration for the work of the great prophets. It is noteworthy that a prophet never appeared in Israel's history unless there was some great national, social, or moral need, and conversely, there was never a great crisis which did not call forth a prophet or prophetess. Char- Israel's national life opened with a supreme crisis in the land of Egypt, and an(j the father of the nation was Moses, its first great prophet. Later Jewish tra- Moses£ dition transformed Moses into a mere lawgiver and thereby obscured the real nature of his work. Early prophets, however, like Hosea, recognized and de clared that by a prophet Jehovah led his nation Israel from the land of Egypt. Back of the many traditions that have gathered about him, there was evidently a man who, with true prophetic insight, fully appreciated the needs of his people in Egypt, and the necessity for united action, for leadership, and, above all, for the protecting guidance of a strong Deity. In Moses' desert experi ence there came to him, through his Midianite kinsman, and even more di rectly, as the spirit of God touches that of man, a vision of Jehovah as a God of justice and power able and willing to deliver the oppressed. This vision of Jehovah's character and the needs of his people constituted Moses' call. The patriot and seer became the man of action and therefore a prophet. Nature The familiar events of early Hebrew history are the proofs of Moses' work °\^3 as a prophet. In the minds of his fellow-Hebrews their signal deliverance work0 from E&yP1 confirmed the truth of his message. Amidst the hardships and dangers of the wilderness their prophet-leader was also able to impress upon the minds of his people their obligations to the God who had delivered them, and through this sense of obligation to develop that national consciousness which kept the race intact amidst the disintegrating influences that came to it during the succeeding centuries. As counsellor and judge he taught his fol lowers the principles which became the foundations of Israel's later faith and institutions. There is, necessarily, much uncertainty about the real work of Moses; but it is clear that he was both a seer and a man of action, who towered high above his contemporaries and who stamped his own inspired convictions upon the consciousness of his race. Debo- The second great crisis in Israel's history came during the period of the settlement, when the Canaanites had formed a coalition under Sisera and were making a united effort to subjugate the Hebrews. The faith as well as the independence of Israel was at stake. At this crucial moment the 10 THE PROPHETS IN ISRAEL'S EARLY HISTORY prophtess Deborah rose to deliver the people. She not only appreciated the needs of the situation, but was able to appeal to that common faith and obligation to Jehovah which was the only force binding together the scat tered Hebrew clans at this pioneer period in their history. In her grasp of the situation and in her ability to act and to inspire action, Deborah showed herself a true successor of Moses and a forerunner of the great statesmen prophets like Isaiah. The third great crisis in Israel's history arose when the powerful Philistines The in the southwest of Palestine had succeeded in defeating the armies of Israel ^ne'13" and in establishing their rule over the Hebrews. Again the faith and very crisis life of the nation were in danger. The situation called for leadership and organization. Already the blended patriotism and popular devotion to Je hovah had begun to find vehement though crude' expression in the prophetic guilds. Their members, who were known as the sons of the prophets, now for the first time emerge into prominence >*n Israel's history. These groups of religious enthusiasts gathered about the ancient sanctuaries. Their zeal was expressed in music, in song, and frenzy. Their external kinship with the simi lar prophetic guilds among the Phcenicians was probably close; but in the light of later references it would appear that at this crisis they represented a definite protest against existing conditions, and they were probably active in their opposition to all that threatened the honor of Jehovah through the subjugation of his people. Probably in partial sympathy with them but superior to them stands Samu- Samuel, the so-called ro'eh of Ramah. In the light of the oldest sources it proPh_ appears that his reputation was but local, depending chiefly upon his ability to etic_ answer questions of personal interest which were referred to him. The great crisis, however, transformed the ro'eh into a nabi. With true prophetic insight, he appreciated Israel's need of a leader, and himself inspired the young Benjamite Saul with a commanding ambition to deliver his people and to become their king. Tradition, therefore, is right in recognizing in Samuel the great significant figure of this period and the real father of the Hebrew kingdom. The references to Gad and Nathan in the courts of David and Solomon chat- reveal the presence of other prophetic characters at this stirring period in *ff£e Israel's national development. They are, however, statesmen, royal coun- early sellors, and official seers, rather than great solitary figures, like Moses, Samuel, ets and Amos, who stood above rulers and people, acknowledging allegiance to but one Ruler, and freely and fearlessly proclaiming at some great crisis the mandates of that Divine King. It is also to be noted that at the next great crisis, the division of the Hebrew The empire, which destroyed its political strength but saved the rights of the ^on'of people from Solomon's despotic policy, the prophets encouraged and upheld the em- the action of the northern tribes. The same devotion to Jehovah and to the rights of the individual are re- The vealed in the popular stories which gather about the name of Elijah. Ahab, ,c"stne in his zeal to build up the material glory of the northern kingdom, had made j^P*-3* an alliance with the commercial Phcenicians, and that alliance involved tolera- 11 service GENERAL INTRODUCTION tion of the worship of the god of Tyre within the territory of Israel. It also brought in the person of Jezebel, the daughter of the Tyrian king Ethbaal (a former priest of Baal), a strong dominating spirit devoted to the extension of the worship of her national god. The adoption of Canaanitish institutions and religious ideas, together with the civilization of the land, had made easy the popular identification of Jehovah with the Baal of the land of Israel. The allurements of the debased Canaanitish cults were almost irresistible. The policy of Ahab, therefore, and the popular tendency of the day threatened to undermine that simple faith in Jehovah which the people had brought with them from the desert. Elijah's R was Elijah, the man from the desert, who alone fully appreciated this work danger and fearlessly appealed to the conscience of the king and people. Stal wart, clad in the rough mantle of the Arab, he was a striking figure in any age. Impetuous, uncompromising, and courageous in the presence of open danger, he was a worthy representative of the God of the early Hebrews. In his il luminating analysis of the consequences of the Tyrian alliance and in his ringing call to the nation to choose between Jehovah and Baal, Elijah made an impression upon the minds of the Israelites which they never forgot. He also stood as the champion of the rights of the people against Ahab's despotic policy revealed in the incident of Naboth's vineyard. Elijah himself did not live to see the overthrow of the Tyrian Baalism or the fall of the house of Ahab. Other men and measures were required to complete the work which he ini tiated; but under the direction of his disciple Elisha and the influence of aroused public opinion a great reform swept over Northern Israel during the next half-century. Achieve- The bloody reformation of Jehu reflected the fierce zeal of Elijah; but the ments disasters which followed in the wake of that revolution revealed the limita- Kmita- tions of the earlier prophets who conceived of Jehovah simply as Israel's na- the tional God. They appealed to the patriotism of their hearers rather than to proph- the higher ethical sense. They achieved their ends through diplomacy more ets than by the gradual education of the public conscience. They were instru mental in building a nation, rearing an empire, and making and unmaking dynasties, and in leading Israel safely through its early crises. They were worthy successors of the early seers; but for the further development of Is rael's faith a higher type of prophets was needed — prophets who could analyze still more deeply the sources of the nation's strength and weakness, who could present a nobler and more ethical conception of Jehovah, and who could guide their race through still greater crises to a serene trust in God. 12 Ill THE PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD The sixth great crisis in Israel's history came when the invincible armies of influ- Assyria began to move westward against the petty states along the eastern Ance of shores of the Mediterranean. Its advance was so gradual and halting that ian con- few statesmen in Palestine realized the magnitude of the peril. The appear- Jjpon ance of this world power in Palestine, however, inaugurated a new epoch in the ffjyf1'8 history of prophecy. As Assyria drew nearer, conquering in the name of its god Ashur nation after nation, the ancient Hebrew belief that Jehovah was invincible and that he would never give over his people as a prey to a heathen power was forever shattered. Instead there came into the minds of a few prophetic souls, who faced the facts fairly and appreciated the significance of Israel's peril, a vision of a God who ruled impartially and without rival over all nations. On the eve of the Assyrian period (750-630 b.c), however, a dangerous Poiiti- overconfidence filled the minds of the leaders of the two Hebrew kingdoms. |j?Jj |° ~d The Assyrian attacks had weakened the power of their old foes, the Arameans, reiig- and left both Northern and Southern Israel free during the middle of the condi- eighth century B.C., to develop their rich national resources The turn in the N°rth-n tide of battle also brought to them the spoils of victory. Commerce sprang up em is- with the neighboring nations. With foreign products came alien customs, fashions, and ideals. The Aramean wars and the conflicts between the two Hebrew kingdoms had rested most heavily upon the middle class in Israel, so that many of them were on the verge of poverty or else had fallen into debt, "with its inevitable consequence in the Semitic world — slavery. The result was that only the rich and those who stood close to the throne were in a posi tion to profit by the favorable turn in the national fortune. The rich grew richer, the powerful still more powerful. The masses by contrast became poorer and more dependent. The wealthy also sought homes in the cities or capital, where they vied with each other in their luxury and display, forgetful of their needy dependents who toiled for them on their great estates. Thus the two Hebrew kingdoms suddenly lost that great middle class, which had hitherto been the source of their strength and that democracy which had been the chief glory of the Hebrew commonwealth. The baneful effects of the close and prolonged contact with the degenerate Canaanitish civilization and cults also became sadly apparent, especially in the northern kingdom. The sanctity of the home was destroyed; immorality was prevalent in the high places and even under the shadow of the sanctuary. Dishonesty was prac tised in the public mart, and the corrupt leaders of the nation found refuge and a false confidence in the shadow of an elaborate ceremonial. 13 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Amos's The great pioneer prophet of this new era was born in the little town of herd"" Tekoa, twelve miles southeast of Jerusalem. His home was surrounded by train' the gray, rolling, limestone hills which extend down to the shores of the Dead Sea. Here the Judean shepherd Amos guarded the flocks of sheep and goats, ever watchful against the attacks of the wild animals which lurked near by, eager to spring upon the helpless animals placed in his charge. His life and environment made him rugged and strong of limb, a lover of nature, and a keen observer of life. His shepherd training gave him a high conception of the duty of those placed in a position of responsibility, especially toward the needy and dependent in their care. It also made him brave and fearless in repelling the attacks of those who prey upon the helpless. His The scene of Amos's youthful training lay midway between the settled civ- upon°k ilization of Canaan and the unchanging life of the desert. His occupation, life doubtless, took him to the great market-places of central Israel, where, with his keen insight, he was able to study the strength and weakness of both the northern and the southern kingdoms. Viewed from the point of view of the desert, the false confidence, the cruelty, the injustice and the vice which he found rampant, especially in the north, were revealed in their true character. On the other hand, Amos was in close touch with the faith of the desert and of Moses, with that religion which was intolerant of ritual and with that type of life which regarded rulers and centralized authority with suspicion. How Accustomed as he was to watch constantly for the approach of dangerous Jjjlg. foes, he saw from afar the approach of Assyria and the terrible consequences, sage when once this distant, lurking lion should fall upon the fair northern king- CEHI1G - to him dom. Experience had taught him that for every effect there was a corre sponding cause. As he sought for the reason why calamity was about to over take Israel, the significance of its corrupt life was fully revealed to him. The impending doom was no accident, but inevitable because of the nation's crimes. One of the dramatic visions with which he illustrated his message suggests the way in which the truth dawned upon him: Thus the Lord showed me, And behold the Lord was standing Beside a wall, with a plumb-line in his hand. And Jehovah said to me, What dost thou see, Amos ? And I answered, A plumb-line. Then the Lord said, Behold, I am setting a plumb-line In the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more. And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, - The sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, And I will rise up against the house of Jereboam with the sword. His As he meditated upon the situation its meaning crystallized into a certainty. phetic Having once seen the danger, his shepherd training and instincts did not al- cal1 low him to remain silent. It was thus that the prophetic call came to Amos. His own words are illuminating: 14 THE PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD Surely the Lord Jehovah doeth nothing, Unless he revealeth his purpose to his servant the prophet. The lion has roared; who does not hear ? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy ? Having received his call, Amos did not hesitate. With shepherd's staff in The de- hand, he proceeded to Bethel, the royal sanctuary of the north. There, ''J'his before the leaders of the nation assembled on a great feast-day, he tactfully but mes- unhesitatingly denounced their crimes and proclaimed those exalted principles sage which are the foundation of all true ethics and religion. Behind the calm, cold, irresistible logic with which he laid bare the rottenness and corruption of the northern kingdom was a heart burning with zeal to save this nation from the fate which threatened. In his note of certainty there is also revealed the conviction that his eyes had been opened to the truth by none other than God himself, and that he was directly commissioned by the Highest to interpret the divine will to the men of his day. Very different in character and call was Amos's contemporary, Hosea. He Hosea's was evidently a native of Northern Israel, and a citizen of one of its cities, if not *a rao" of the capital itself. He was of well-known family, and was intimately ac quainted with the policy of the court and with the ambitions and follies of the ruling classes. Unlike the rough shepherd who had been educated in the school of experience, Hosea was familiar with the growing literature of his race. He was of a poetic temperament, a man not of logic but of deep emotion. He spoke not as the stern critic but as the passionate lover of his land and people. In the opening chapters of his prophecy, Hosea throws back the veil and re- The veals those incidents in his domestic life which were important in his training as a™ g0ef" a prophet. Like Isaiah and Jeremiah, he interprets his early experience in his the light of his later knowledge. That later knowledge had revealed the true tic life character of Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, who had commanded his youth ful affections. As the years went on his awful suspicion that his wife was not faithful to the love which he bestowed so freely is reflected in the names which he gave to his children. " Unpitied" and " Not-my-people " suggested con demnation and rejection because of infidelity, and Hosea's interpretation of these names, as symbols of Jehovah's rejection of guilty Israel, confirm this implication. In these earliest oracles Hosea also shows himself to be a dis ciple of Amos. The note which he strikes is harsh and judicial. Only when, following the long-established Semitic custom, he had banished Thetri- his unfaithful wife from his home, did he realize the depth of his love for her. U?g*e In the words of the prophet the divine prompting came to him: Still go, love this woman, Who loves a paramour and is an adultress, As Jehovah loveth the Israelites, Although they turn to other gods. Then he tells us that he bought her back at the price of a slave and said to her: 15 Funda- GENERAL INTRODUCTION Many days shalt thou abide for me, Thou shalt not play the harlot And thou shalt not be any man's wife. Yet I, on my part, will be thine Thus by loving discipline he sought to lead his erring wife to a full apprecia tion of her guilt and through penitence and deep contrition prepare the way for that reconciliation for which he longed. As Hosea looked back upon his tragic experience he realized that, as has mental been nobly expressed by Dean Plumptre in his poem Gomer: whichP-Ieari_ex" Through all the mystery of my years, ence There runs a purpose which forbids of the wail htm ht Of passionate despair. I have not lived At random, as a soul whom God forsakes; But evermore his spirit led me on, Prompted each purpose, taught my lips to speak, Stirred up within me that deep love, and now Reveals the inner secret. Out of the depths of his own experiences Hosea caught clear glimpses of those eternal principles which are the foundations of his teaching, as well as of all practical religion. Because his love was so strong even for his unfaithful wife, he appreciated, as had no man before, the agony in the divine heart because of the sins of his people. Also he learned the supreme necessity of disciplining the sinner, when mere kindness fails to arouse contrition. With enlightened vision he realized that, in the presence of defiant wrong-doing, justice and pun ishment are the highest expressions of love. He also learned to appreciate God's readiness and yearning to forgive the truly penitent sinner. Thus in divine providence Hosea's own personal experience and the light which it shed upon the character and acts of his beloved nation made him a prophet and prepared his mind to grasp those eternal and universal principles which are the essence of his prophetic message. His Unceasingly, sometimes with broken sobs, he appealed not only to the rea- work son and the conscience, but also to the heart of his countrymen. His words prophet are the words of a patriot who was able to look beyond the issues of the mo ment and to see the consequences of the policies which were then so popular. For at least half a decade he labored unceasingly by warning, exhortation, and promise to save his nation from its evil tendencies and to prepare it to meet the Assyrian crisis. To a patriot-prophet like Hosea his ministry was one long martyrdom, for fidelity to truth compelled him to proclaim the certainty of that national tragedy which the failure of his countrymen to hear made inevi table. His voice was scarcely silenced before, in 734 B.C., the northern terri tory of Israel was overrun by Assyrian armies and made a part of the great empire. A little later, in 722 B.C., Samaria and the remaining territory of Israel suffered the same fate. That overwhelming catastrophe which Amos and Hosea had clearly foreseen then became a reality. 16 THE PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD While Hosea was still preaching his earnest sermons to the people of North- The em Israel, similar crises and problems came to the southern kingdom. The judah"1 long reign of Uzziah had brought to little Judah extension of territory, pros perity, and foreign commerce. Through the channels of trade heathen cus toms and ideas had penetrated even to Jerusalem itself. Luxury and greed had taken the place of the ancient simplicity. As Northern Israel rushed headlong to its ruin, the last barrier was removed which protected Judah from the Assyrian invader. Men of rare insight and wisdom and faith were needed to guide the nation through the dangers which threatened from within and without. At this critical moment the death of King Uzziah, in 740 b.c, left the direction of affairs in weak hands, so that Judah's destiny hung in the balance. It was at this time that a young Hebrew, a citizen of Jerusalem, went up to The worship at the temple. His later activity and utterances indicate that he was J2triot a man of rare energy and force, intimately acquainted with the court and Isaiah leaders of the nation. He was also a student of Israel's past and present his tory, and was inspired by a noble, unselfish purpose. For half a century he was active in the public life of Judah, so that on the memorable year when he went up to the temple at Jerusalem he was still probably but a youth, full of enthusiasm and noble ideals. The wonderful description which he has given of his call in the sixth chapter of his prophecy indicates that already he was meditating upon the alarming conditions in the nation, and was fully awake to the crying need for patriots able to think truly and to speak courageously and to act wisely in behalf of the state. In language which reminds us strongly of Jesus' illuminating description His of the great experience which marked the beginning of his ministry, Isaiah 1^™^° tells how he became a prophet. Amidst the suggestive symbolism of the temple he suddenly became aware of the presence and true character of him whom his countrymen worshipped blindly and from afar. Above the sanct uary, with its half heathen rites, Jehovah seemed to rise majestic, holy, sur rounded by seraphim, the heavenly beings who symbolized absolute purity. In the presence of this vision Isaiah's own impurity and the guilt of his nation were revealed in all their hideousness. But to Isaiah, who saw his guilt and openly confessed it, there quickly came a sense of divine forgiveness and cleans ing. With this clarified vision of Jehovah's character and the needs of his na tion also came the call to take up the arduous duties of a prophet, to be the spokesman of Jehovah, the champion of righteousness to an unappreciative but needy generation. It is clear that Isaiah's vision of Jehovah's majesty and holiness on the one its ef- side and the needs of his nation on the other represented primarily a heighten- *e^n ing of his powers of perception and volition, for there came to his lips the quick his life response, Here, Lord, send me. When Isaiah went forth from the temple, the teach- world was richer because a new prophet had entered upon his life-work. His lngs vision of Jehovah, majestic and holy, henceforth inspired his every sermon. In the earlier period of his activity he addressed himself to correcting those social evils and the heathen influences and the pride and false confidence of the people which, in his thought, stood in glaring contrast to Jehovah's 17 GENERAL INTRODUCTION majesty and holiness. In each of the great political crises which came to Judah during Isaiah's lifetime, he sought to instil in their minds such a strong faith in Jehovah's benign and overruling providence that they would escape the errors and feverish acts which threatened the fife of the state. His life- Isaiah is pre-eminently the statesman-prophet. No one else in Palestine work knew so well the political situation and could estimate with such unerring accuracy the strength of different parties and forces. Through the varying political crises he calmly and with that conviction which comes only from the grasp of eternal principles and an intimate touch with him who rules the uni verse, offered counsels which, though usually rejected, were shown by later events to have been supremely wise and true. He also, by act as well as by word, gave to the world a new and nobler definition of patriotism. He re fused to be governed by the dictates of party or public opinion, when these were manifestly wrong. He was hampered by no racial prejudices. He taught that righteousness alone exalts a nation, and that the ideal city or state can be attained only as each individual citizen gives unreservedly of his time, thought, and service to the commonweal. Micah's Isaiah's youthful contemporary Micah echoed the social teachings of the inland great statesman-prophet. In spirit and character he was much like Amos. preach- His home was among the western foot-hills of Judah, near the old Philistine ' ' town of Gath, and commanded a view over the western coast plain along which ran the great avenues of commerce, and over which the invading armies from the north approached Judah and Jerusalem. Although he appears to have been only a peasant farmer, his environment and occupation made him, like Amos, a watchman on the outlook for distant danger. The occasion of his sermons appears to have been the approach of the armies of Sen nacherib, just before the great crisis of 701 b.c. The approaching danger impelled him, as a patriot, to sound the note of alarm and to point out clearly those evils in the nation which meant weakness and destruction in the hour of peril. He was silent regarding the political issues of his day, and devoted himself to condemning the social wrongs which he found, rampant in Jeru salem. With a boldness and bluntness which is unsurpassed in the history of prophecy, he denounced to their face the heartless rulers of Judah. As he contrasted his own spirit with that of the false prophets, he also declared : I, on the contrary, am full, of power, And the sense of justice and strength, To make known to Jacob his crime, And to Israel his sin. Re- Micah appears to have been one of the few prophets of Judah who saw the suits of imme(Jiate fruits of his efforts. From one of the later narratives regarding work Jeremiah we learn that Hezekiah and his people were deeply impressed by the sermons of this blunt peasant-prophet and forthwith instituted a reform. It is also indicative of the effectiveness of his work that in the sermons of the prophets of the next generation the social evils which Micah so fiercely attacked receive less and less attention. 18 THE PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD Nahum, the last prophet to deal with the great problems which Assyria's Na- conquest brought to the small province of Judah, is little more than a voice £""'£. calling across the centuries. Of his life practically nothing is known, ecy Master of a powerful literary style, he sings a song of triumph over the ap proaching fall of the cruel world power which had brought pain and woe to the many peoples of southwestern Asia. The prophet himself was probably a native of Judah, and he reflects the spirit of his day and nation. He raised his voice because he saw in Assyria's fall the convincing evidence of the justice of Jehovah's world-wide rule. As one compares the five great prophets of the Assyrian period with those of Char- an earlier age, many obvious points of likeness appear. Their outlook, how- Ses6™" ever, was far broader and their contact with life much deeper. At last the the Hebrew prophets had left their mountain heights and thrown off the veil of ets of the ancient seer to grapple directly and practically with the vital problems of syriarf their age. They were not only men of their day, but men who lived among period men. The seers had become statesmen, social reformers, and ethical teach ers, as well as heralds of a broader and nobler conception of Jehovah. They rejected the false national optimism which blinded rulers and people, and in the presence of existing evils proclaimed a message which, perforce, was one of doom. And yet no one can study them carefully and fail to see that theT7 were the most intelligent and most unselfish patriots of their age. They not only saw facts as they were, but also, under the influence of the divine spirit working through their minds, grasped those eternal principles which must forever guide the life of nations, and with supreme courage and effectiveness proclaimed these truths to their own and all succeeding ages. 19 IV THE PROPHETS OF JUDAH'S DECLINE The The teaching of the prophets of the Assyrian period proved too austere and FaTre- exalted for the people of Judah. After the death of Isaiah the nation, under action the misguidance of the weak king Manasseh, went back to the old heathenism. tfe'nSt In their radical reaction from the high ideals that had been held up before phetic them, the Judahites also adopted to a great extent the religion of their con- teach- .querors, the Assyrians. The sun and moon and heavenly bodies, worshipped from the house-tops, and even under the shadow of Jehovah's temple, were none other than the deities of the ancient Babylonians. The true prophets of Jehovah were either silenced or else suffered martyrdom for their loyalty to Jehovah, and for fully half a century heathenism held sway in Judah. Zeph- The spirit and message of the great prophets of the Assyrian period could aniahj5 not, however, be quenched. Their teachings were treasured, as Isaiah had try and hoped, by a small group of their disciples. History is silent regarding their 'ence method of work, but its fruits can be clearly discerned. In many ways the most astonishing fact in this period of Judah's history is that Josiah, the son of Amon and the grandson of the reactionary Manasseh, developed into an ar dent disciple of the earlier prophets. The explanation is probably to be found in the influence and work of the prophet Zephaniah. It is exceedingly sug gestive that his ancestry is traced back through four generations to Hezekiah. The most satisfactory explanation of this fact is that Hezekiah is none other than the reformer king who reigned in the days of Isaiah and Micah. If this be true, Zephaniah was in a position to exercise a strong influence on the young king Josiah. His The sermons of Zephaniah reveal a man of strong, stern personality. He afitv™" ^as the burning zeal of a reformer and is intolerant of the many forms of heathenism which had crept into Judah during the reign of Manasseh. His spirit is the same as that which later characterized Josiah's iconoclastic refor mation. His intense loyalty to Jehovah recalls that of Elijah, and the refor mation which followed under the leadership of Josiah had much in common with the earlier reformation of Jehu. Jere- The noblest spirit of this tragic period, which witnessed the gradual decline JSfece- and ultimate destruction of the Judean state, was the prophet Jeremiah. He dents ;S; ;n Some ways, the best known and the least understood of all the Hebrew prophets. His varied experiences and his inner struggles are fully recorded in the remarkable collection of sermons and narratives which bears his name. His birthplace was the little town of Anathoth, north of Jerusalem, just over the Mount of Olives. Thither Solomon had banished Abiathar, the de scendant of the priestly house of Eli. Jeremiah appears to have been a scion 20 THE PROPHETS OF JUDAH'S DECLINE of this ancient family. In his noble ancestry and in his home training he later recognized a preparation which constituted an important element in his call. In comfortable circumstances, in the quiet of a little country town, and yet in closest touch with Judah's capital, Jeremiah grew up a sensitive, intro spective, and conscientious youth. From his later sermons it is evident that he was an ardent, spiritual disciple His of the earlier prophets, and especially of the great Hosea, in whom he recog- spV^" . nized a kindred spirit. Both were deeply religious and governed largely by ship their emotions. To both fell the tragic task of striving in vain to save their Hosea country from the consequences of its crime and folly and of singing the death dirge of their beloved nation. Both were uncompromising foes of every form of injustice and corruption; but each appreciated and voiced, as did no other men of their day, the yearning love of Jehovah for his people and his passion ate eagerness to save them if they would but let him. Jeremiah's call evidently came to him while he was still a youth. In the His opening chapter of his prophecy he tells us of the long struggle between his Ph°e"tio natural inclinations and the call to public duty. By nature he was quiet and call retiring. His constant references to the joys of home and the love of husband and wife, of children and parents, show how ardently he craved them. No man was more sensitive to criticism or longed more for public sympathy and approval. All the innate forces of his nature held him back from taking up a task which called for the sacrifice of almost everything that he held dearest, and yet, for a man with the inheritance and character of Jeremiah, it was still more impossible to ignore the divine call. During his period of struggle it would seem that every incident of his daily life voiced for him that call: the almond-tree, first to wake from the slumber of winter, spoke to him of the unceasing care with which Jehovah watched for the realization' of his gracious purpose in the life of his people. A caldron, filled with boiling liquid, suggested the northern foes which threatened each moment to sweep like a flood upon the land of Judah. From the frequent references in his earlier sermons to this northern foe, apparently a horde of dread Scythians, it is evident that their approach was that which led the prophet to make his final decision and to take up his prophetic mission. From the first Jeremiah realized that his work would be a thankless task. His For him it meant a life-long tragedy. He tells us that in devotion to his work Jjg™1.0 and as a symbol to his countrymen of the privations which would come with tion to the approaching exile he denied himself even the joys of married life. Yearn- task ing intensely for sympathy and friendship, but ever an object of popular hate and scorn and ridicule, through forty long years he persisted in his mission. At times bitter cries of distress burst from his lips, revealing one of the most human as well as one of the most heroic of the prophets. And yet his pa triotism to God and his country did not permit him to remain silent: If I say, I will not think of it nor speak any more in his name, Then there is in mine heart, as it were, a burning fire shut up in my bones. Through all the shifting fortunes of Judah's policy, as the infatuated leaders hurried the nation on to its final ruin, Jeremiah stood firm like a light-house, 21 GENERAL INTRODUCTION shedding a clear, divine light upon the seething waters. He himself was fully conscious of his task. At the time of his call the divine word had come to him: Therefore do thou gird up thy loins and arise, Speak to them all that I command thee, Do not be terrified before them, lest I terrify thee. For behold, I myself make thee this day a fortified city in their presence, And a brazen wall against the whole land, Against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the common people. And they shall fight against thee, but they will not overcome thee For I am with thee to deliver thee, saith Jehovah. Quality In reading Jeremiah's prophecies one sometimes gains the impression heroism that he was almost weak and dependent, but in the light of the conditions of his age and his own sensitive nature, it is clear that he is in many ways the noblest of all the heroes of the faith who arose in ancient Israel. His was the heroism of the commonplace, that divinest type of heroism which suffers untold agonies yet quietly persists and remains ever true to the God-given task, however distasteful it may be. His In the earlier days of his ministry Jeremiah joined hands with Zephaniah. during His early reform sermons are full of warnings and denunciations, and yet 'ae through them there breathes a divine love and tenderness which appeals even period more strongly to the heart than to the reason or to the sense of fear. The minis- work of Zephaniah and Jeremiah and the group of reformers who gathered try about them soon bore fruit in the reformation of Josiah. As is now generally recognized, the basis of that reformation was the remarkable law-book found in Deuteronomy (cf. Vol. IV, 31-5). It represents the united work of priests and prophets. In it the principles laid down by Hosea and Isaiah are formu lated in definite laws to guide the people. The formal acceptance and insti tution of this new code opens another chapter in the history of the Hebrew race. Henceforth the priest and the written law come more and more to the front, and take the place of the prophet with his direct appeal to the na tional and individual conscience. His es- While the new law-book was being promulgated, and during the remainder oTjo*6 °f the reign of Josiah, Jeremiah appears to have been quiet. The crisis hav- siah's ing passed, he was free to retire to the quiet of his home at Anathoth. From the references in his later sermons it is clear that Jeremiah longed for a deeper reformation which would sweep away not only the high places and the sym bols of the old heathen cults, but also the false ideas and motives in the minds of his fellow-countrymen. The The tragic death of Josiah soon brought to the throne his son Jehoiakim, period wno reversed the policy of his father and had little sympathy with the ideals of Jere- of the prophets. Egyptian and Babylonian conquerors again laid their hands activity upon Judah, and foolish counsellors brought to the state new perils. Judah's need called Jeremiah from his seclusion. Until after the final fall of Jeru salem in 586 b.c, he spoke continuously in public, dealing with questions relat- 22 THE PROPHETS OF JUDAH'S DECLINE ing to the political, moral, and religious welfare of Judah. Frequently he was attacked by the people; he was repeatedly thrown into prison; he was taunted as a traitor, and yet, until death overtook him as an exile in the land of Egypt — stoned, according to tradition, by the men of his own race — he toiled unceasingly to avert the final national calamity. Sometime during the reign of Jehoiakim, Habakkuk, a contemporary of Ha- Jeremiah, voiced that sorrow and doubt which filled the minds of the true j^" prophets as they witnessed the overthrow of Josiah's policy and saw, rapidly advancing, their new conquerors, the Chaldeans. Habakkuk's literary style is strong and vigorous. His faith triumphs over his doubts. His point of view, however, is nearer that of the people and lacks the depth and spirituality which characterize Jeremiah's messages. Judah, at first, accepted the rule of the Chaldeans without opposition; The but after three or four years it rebelled, although in the face of Jeremiah's p^od earnest warnings and protests. In a short time Jehoiakim died and Jerusa- of Jens- TTITH.n S lem fell. As a punishment for this rebellion, in 597 b.c. about ten thousand of activ- the leading citizens of Jerusalem were transported to Babylonia, and over the lty Jews who were left behind was placed the well-meaning but inefficient Zedekiah. His reign of eleven years marks the third period of Jeremiah's activity. Although the prophet enjoyed the confidence of the king, he was subjected to cruel persecution at the hands of the inexperienced nobles, who shaped Judah's policy during this period. Jeremiah was also bitterly op posed by the false prophets, who were especially active at this time, and who undermined Jeremiah's influence with the people by advocating the popular policy of rebellion against Nebuchadrezzar. The final capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. confirmed the The truth of Jeremiah's prophetic counsels. The last period of his life-work was and* devoted to the survivors of this great calamity. When the Jewish governor last Gedaliah was treacherously murdered, the prophet still advised them to re main in the land and trust to the justice and clemency of Nebuchadrezzar. His counsel, however, was rejected and he was carried away to spend his last years among the Jewish fugitives in Egypt. Jeremiah is, indeed, the commanding figure of this tragic period of Judah's signifi- decline. He alone was able, under divine guidance, to estimate the true sig- Qf Jere nificance of the forces at work in the life of his nation, to point out the dangers, miah's and the only way of escape. False prophets and strong popular opposition confronted him on every side. The authority of the prophet with the people was passing. Rejected and despised by his race, with heart breaking because of the calamities which he was forced to predict, for nearly half a century Jere miah suffered almost daily martyrdom. And yet by his devotion and fidelity he prepared his nation for the supreme crisis of the exile and thereby preserved its faith in Jehovah. It was but just that the later generations should crown him with the highest respect and veneration. In him Hebrew prophecy reached its greatest spiritual height, and at last, broke those national bonds which had hitherto prevented Israel's faith in Jehovah from becoming an universal world-religion. 23 THE PROPHETS OF THE EXILE AND RESTORATION The The fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and the changed conditions of the exile con'^ed called forth such a different type of religious leader that certain modern ditions scholars have asserted that Jeremiah was the last of the real prophets and exile that Ezekiel and those who followed were but shadowy reflections of their noble predecessors. The assertion, however, must be modified in the light of the fact that a fundamental characteristic of every true prophet is an adapta tion of his work and teaching to the peculiar needs of his age. No more sud den and sweeping transformation ever came to a nation than that through which the Israelites passed in the years immediately following 586 B.C. Their political and national life, which had been all-important in the days before the exile suddenly ceased, and for the next four centuries the race was bound hand and foot, powerless under the hands of their foreign masters. The result was that the insistent political problems and. crises which had commanded the attention of the prophets of the preceding period ceased to exist. Wealth and social distinctions also vanished, and with these the glaring social evils which had elicited the impassioned sermons of Amos and Micah. Under the deep shadow of the exile the survivors of the race for the first time fully appreciated and accepted the teachings of their earlier prophets. To a great extent heathenism lost its hold upon the Jews and the immoral cults of Canaan ceased to exercise their malign influence. Henceforth the written law, embodying the social and ethical teachings of the prophets, was re garded with ever-increasing reverence. Loss of In the light of these changed conditions it is obvious that there was little lience demand or field for a prophet. In its reverence for the authority of the past snofcen and f°r tlle written law tne new generation was beginning to lose faith in the wo°rdea spoken word. The later prophets also felt the lack of popular confidence and preferred to issue their messages anonymously. From the period of the exile on only four prophecies, those of Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Joel, bear the names of those who uttered them. Otherwise the many prophecies of this period are but voices crying in the wilderness. EZe- The great prophet of the exile and the moulder of later Judaism is Ezekiel. j£®jy Born in Jerusalem of priestly family, he grew up under the shadow of the temple and under the preaching of Jeremiah. Both of these powerful in fluences may be traced throughout all his work. His experiences and activity are recorded by his own pen with remarkable fulness and chronological ac curacy. He was one of the many priests carried into the exile at Babylonia in connection with the first captivity of 597 B.c. For five years he lived in the colony of Jewish exiles settled beside the great Kabaru Canal which ran be- train ing THE PROPHETS OF THE EXILE AND RESTORATION tween Babylon and Nippur. Communication between these exiles and their kinsmen who remained behind under the rule of King Zedekiah was close. Ezekiel was evidently well informed and keenly interested in conditions and problems in the distant homeland. The folly of the leaders of Judah in de fying the authority of Babylonia transformed the priest Ezekiel into a prophet, and constituted the theme of his preaching and activity recorded in the first twenty-five chapters of his prophecy. Ezekiel has given a detailed account of the call which came to him in 592 His B.C. Its elaborate imagery reflects his Babylonian environment, and its J,™06]^ highly developed symbolism his priestly birth and training. It is very similar Jeho- to Isaiah's call both in form and content. The God of Ezekiel's inspired vision was the God of supreme majesty and holiness. In the dark shadow of the exile, however, Isaiah's God, who was thought of as immanent and per sonally active in all the life of the nation, was conceived of as a transcendent God above and apart from his people. As was natural, Ezekiel also em phasized the ceremonial aspects of Jehovah's holiness, and sought by means of an elaborate ritual to purify the uncleanness of his people. A strong ethical note ran through all of Ezekiel's sermons; but he also gave signifi- a powerful impetus to that trend toward ceremonialism which characterized „f^ post-exilic Judaism. He it was who outlined that programme which, in later work days, became the guiding norm of Judaism. His personality is stamped, not only upon all that he wrote, but also on the generations which succeeded him. When the final destruction of Jerusalem had demonstrated the truth of his earlier counsels, his authority as a prophet was firmly established and his pre dictions satisfied the cravings of his age and race. With the eye of faith he saw a new race and a new religion rising out of the scattered remnants of the Hebrew nation, and he was able to impress this belief upon the minds of his discouraged and disconsolate countrymen. Ezekiel was pre-eminently the organizer who, in the supreme crisis of Judaism, adopting the great doctrines of his prophetic predecessors, developed a creed and a definite plan which met the new needs of the situation. His emphasis upon details and ritual was not only in accord with the spirit of his age, but also furnished a concrete pro gramme which could be understood and adopted by the masses who were groping in the darkness. The stern, conscientious, dramatic priest who .labored and wrote beside the Chebar well deserves the place accorded him by later generations in the goodly fellowship of the prophets. He and those who follow him simply compel us to broaden our narrow definition of the word prophet. At the beginning of the Babylonian exile the survivors of the earlier Judean Condi- kingdom were to be found in three centres. Thirty or forty thousand of the j^an"1 political and religious leaders of the nation were settled by themselves, a little during Judah, in the heart of Babylonia. Many Jews— possibly more than those exile who were carried captive to Babylon — had found temporary or permanent refuge on the borders of the friendly land of Egypt, ready to return to their homes when the Babylonians were through with their rigorous punishment of the Jewish rebels. The majority of the nation, the peasants and the inhabi tants of the villages outside of Jerusalem, remained in the land, cultivated the 25 GENERAL INTRODUCTION soil, and awaited the time when they should be freed from Babylonian bond age. From incidental references in Jeremiah and Haggai and Zechariah, it appears that they continued to offer sacrifices on the ruins of the great rock- hewn altar which had stood before the temple at Jerusalem. Here also, probably in keeping with the spirit of Deuteronomy, they observed the sad fasts which took the place of the ancient, joyous annual festivals. Delay The conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus the Persian evidently did not bring, as build-' later tradition suggests, a general return of the Jews from Babylon. The ing the policy of the Persian conqueror opened the way for the exiles to return and even gave them encouragement to rebuild their cities and sanctuaries; but it would seem that only a little handful of Jews from Babylon, certain priests and descendants of the old Hebrew reigning family, found their way back to the desolate hills of Judah. Otherwise the poor, struggling Judean commu nity included simply the peasants who had been left behind and the fugitives who had returned from Egypt. Eighteen years, apparently, elapsed after the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus before any attempt was made to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. Hag- The change in the spirit of prophecy, which first appeared in the character effect- and work of Ezekiel, was again forcibly illustrated. The two men who in- ive spired and directed the rebuilding of the temple were the prophets Haggai and m™ Zechariah. In originality and spirituality they are far inferior to the prophets of the pre-exilic period. In thought and sympathy they are, however, in close touch with the mass of the people. Haggai was a layman, energetic, blunt, direct in speech, and intensely practical in his counsel. By his homely rea soning and encouraging messages he stirred the lazy, faint-hearted, and dis couraged Judean community to effective action. The rebellions which, in 521 b.c, broke out in many parts of the Persian empire also kindled the hopes of the people and encouraged them to believe that the hour of their deliverance was at hand. Zecha- Haggai's contemporary and fellow-worker Zechariah was apparently of p|£'s priestly descent. He belonged to the priestly family of Iddo (Nell. 12*). His sonality point of view and interests are those of a man brought up in the atmosphere of the ceremonial law. His kinship with the other priest-prophet Ezekiel is close. Being a priest, it is exceedingly probable that he was born among the exiles in Babylonia. The breadth of his outlook and his keen interest in the great world movements further suggest that his early training was received in Babylon. Like Haggai, he was a man of great energy and took up the work of encouraging and directing the thought of the Judean community in the same spirit as his fellow-prophet. In a series of impressive visions he dealt practically with the problems that confronted the temple-builders. He was an able pastor who dispelled the popular doubts and inspired the people under his care to continued activity. Work The entire recorded work of these two prophets of the new temple was gli anSd limited to the two or three years between September 520 and 518 b.c At a Zecha- critical moment, however, in the life of Judaism they stood forth to make clear to their race its supreme duty in the light of changed conditions which had resulted from the destruction of their city and temple. Unjike many of the 26 THE PROPHETS OF THE EXILE AND RESTORATION pre-exilic prophets, they also lived to see the fruit of their labors in the re building of the temple and in the rebirth of hope in the minds of the Jews of Palestine. Even though the larger restoration for which they hoped did not come for more than a century, Haggai the layman and Zechariah the priest must be counted among the founders of Judaism. The prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah are of great value for the study of Ex- post-exilic prophecy, inasmuch as they can be definitely dated and shed clear Sonfof light upon the hopes of the Jews during the days, immediately following the hhn had followed, under the inspiration of the messages of the authors of Isaiah 40-55 and the book of Malachi, the hopes of the faithful rose again in nobler and more spiritual form. Possibly these hopes inspired the little group of Jews to face the discomforts and perils of the long desert journey to distant Susa that they might enlist the co-operation of their kinsmen, the royal cup bearer Nehemiah. In the remarkable prayer which stands at the beginning of his memoirs (Neh. 1) it is not difficult to recognize the influence of the thought of the great prophet of the restoration. In six verses he uses the term servant (in the sense of servant of Jehovah) eight times. His words in l10, Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand, are an echo of the familiar teachings of the II Isaiah. Nehemiah himself was one of the true servants of Jehovah. His work in part realized the divine promises proclaimed by the great prophet of the restoration. He it was who energetically and successfully attacked the social and moral evils in the Judean community, and as Jehovah's messenger prepared the way for a great spiritual revival (cf. Neh. 5, 13). The rebuild ing of the walls of Jerusalem and the repeopling of the city under the direction of Nehemiah led to that extension of Judah's territory and the general return of the exiles, which apparently took place somewhere during the first half of the fourth century b.c. (cf. Vol. II, § 165). 30 community VI THE PROPHETS OF LATER JUDAISM The period between 400 and 350 b.c furnishes the most probable back- joei's ground for the prophecy of Joel. The social evils which the earlier prophets Jf^t^ had denounced have already disappeared. The elders and the priests are the ruling classes in the community. The temple and its service occupy a central place, not merely in the life of Judah, but in the thought of the prophet. Like Ezekiel and Zechariah, Joel is an ardent champion of the ritual and is in full sympathy with the ceremonial trend of later Judaism. His attention is fixed entirely upon the problems of the Judean community. Its heathen neighbors the Edomites, the Phcenicians, and the Philistines are still a thorn in the flesh, and the great barrier in the way of the establishment of Jehovah's world wide kingdom. The immediate occasion of his prophecy was the invasion of a great swarm of locusts, which threatened to destroy all .vegetation, and thus to make impossible the continuation of the temple service. In the prophet's mind this calamity was an index that Jehovah's great day of judgment was at hand. In detail and with graphic imagery he pictures the different aspects of this era of vindication and exaltation, which he, in common with the ma jority of the prophets of his age, believed to be near at hand. To him the over throw of the wicked heathen nations who had long oppressed Jehovah's faith ful people seemed essential, not only for the realization of the destiny of the Jews, but also for the vindication of Jehovah's justice. In the light of history, Joel must be reckoned as one of the lesser prophets. The He marks the great transition from the earlier ethical prophets, who addressed "ype o{ themselves to the living problems of their day, to the new type of prophet, who prophet lived largely in the future and dreamed of some great, miraculous, divine in terposition to right the evils of the world, and to institute that righteous social order which the earlier prophets had sought to develop through the appeal to the consciences of their countrymen. The next half-century brought to the Jewish community in Palestine, not the Closing realization of the hopes which Joel had expressed in such vivid imagery, but a ^ ^e new series of disasters. In 368 b.c Artexerxes Ochus, the most cruel and Persian blood-thirsty, as well as one of the most energetic of the Persian rulers, came to the throne. Egypt, Phoenicia, and probably all of Palestine were soon in volved in a general uprising, which was for a time successful but was in the end put down with relentless cruelty and appalling loss of life. Thousands of the Phoenicians perished, many of the Jews appear to have been transported to the province of Hyrcania, south of the Caspian Sea, and the temple at Je rusalem was desecrated, if not temporarily destroyed. 31 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Effects A few years later Alexander the Great appeared on the northern horizon of exan- Judah in his victorious march to the conquest of the Persian empire, which der's was completed by 331 B.C. This change of rulers does not seem to have quests greatly affected the Judean community. In making Alexandria the great commercial seaport of the eastern Mediterranean, Alexander offered special inducements to the Jews, who settled there in great numbers. Again the tide of Jewish colonization set away from rather than toward Jerusalem, and the religious and intellectual life of the Jews of Alexandria became in many ways more important than that of the temple-city itself. The Disappointed in its hopes of a signal vindication and world-wide rulership, Jonah"* and suffering under the wrongs inflicted by their heathen neighbors and rulers, the hearts of the great majority of the Jews both in Palestine and in the lands of the dispersion were embittered. They forgot that they had been called to be Jehovah's witnesses before the Gentiles and that they were to conquer the world by the invincible weapons of love and service rather than by the sword. One great prophetic soul, however, like Jeremiah and the II Isaiah, stands apart and above his age and proclaims a message of profound spiritual significance. It is the author of the much misunderstood little book of Jonah. It is not a prophecy but a story regarding a prophet. At first glance its place among the distinctively prophetic books of the Old Testament seems anoma lous, but a more careful reading leads to the conclusion that it is more than a mere history, it is rather a story or parable intended, like the didactic stories and parables of the rabbis and of the Great Teacher of Nazareth, to convey certain profound and universal religious truths. Its Its hero is Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-heper, who nature xxVe- that for generations had filled their minds. Hence during the closing years hope of the Persian and the succeeding Greek period there were as many different currents of messianic hope as there were parties in Judaism. The psalmists who speak through Psalms 96-100 saw ever more clearly the outlines of the kingdom of God embracing all races and founded on the eternal principles of justice, mercy, and good- will toward men; but the patriots who rallied about Judas and the other Maccabean leaders apparently still clung to the old hope of a world-judgment, in which all those who did not pay homage to Jehovah at his sanctuary should be mercilessly cut off (Zech. 14). As the theological teachers of later Judaism developed still further Ezekiel's Belief conception of Jehovah as a transcendent God, far removed from contact with angelic earthly things, the intermediary angelic beings occupied an ever increasingly Mes- important place in their thought. The belief that Jehovah himself would come as a warrior to conquer and to judge their foes and to reign over them as king seemed inconsistent with their idea of the Deity. On the other hand, the old Davidic messianic hope did not satisfy. The result was that there sprang up a belief in an angelic Messiah, not a man, but one like a son of man, who should come on the clouds and gather together the martyrs who had died and the faithful still living and thus establish the kingdom of the righteous on the earth (cf. Introd. to § 212). In the book of Daniel this angelic Messiah is identified with Israel's guardian angel Michael. In the Similitudes of Enoch (Enoch 37-71) and IV Esdras the Son of Man is definitely identified with the Messiah. He is described as pre-existent, and the conception of his transcendent character and eternal rule is further developed. In these por traits one recognizes the influence of the ancient Semitic beliefs which in this later age occupied a large place in the thought of Judaism. These later hopes are, on the whole, more exalted and spiritual than the early kingly mes sianic ideals. They rise from the temporal and material and national to the contemplation of that which is eternal and universal; they also hold up to mankind the hope of individual immortality, and yet they are far removed from the simple, ethical ideals of the pre-exilic prophets and of the II Isaiah, who appealed to the wills and minds of men and who sought to realize in the life of their nation the principles of justice and mercy and of love to God and man. As the reverence for the written words grew, as it did rapidly in the later Later period, the Jewish teachers felt under compulsion to accept as authoritative 0?™heaI all the various types of messianic prophecy which they found included in Dav^dio their Scriptures. The task which they attempted was impossible of achieve ment. The result was inevitable and hopeless confusion. As a matter of fact different parties singled out different types of messianic prophecy to which to pin their faith. Under the grinding heel of Rome, the Zealots and many 47 GENERAL INTRODUCTION of the common people naturally reverted to the old nationalistic and kingly messianic hopes. They looked for a son of David who would free them from their oppressors and build up for the Jews a world-wide kingdom. Domi- The Pharisees and the Essenes apparently fixed their faith on the more of the transcendental, apocalyptic, and catastrophic type of messianic prophecy, apoca- an(j prayed ardently for the day when one like a son of man should appear type of on the clouds of heaven to inaugurate the reign of the saints. It would ope seem clear that the great majority of the nation had almost lost sight of the simple ethical ideals of the early prophets, and of the II Isaiah's matchless por trait of the suffering, yet victorious, servant of Jehovah. And yet in the light of history it was clear that the latter stood as Israel's noblest ideal, in com parison with which all else was but a misleading will-o'-the-wisp. Jesus' The older sources imbedded in the Gospels of the New Testament tell with tude rare simplicity and beauty of how Jesus of Nazareth, God's Anointed, grasped toward the eternal purpose and, as the Lover and Teacher of men, entered upon his messi- divine task of saving the few whom he was able to touch directly, and through hopes them all mankind. Accepting the teachings, the methods, and the aims of of his Israel's noblest prophets and sages, he devoted himself wholly and completely to saving those who were lost. The fanciful speculations and hopes which largely occupied the attention of the leaders of his race he put aside with the simple statement, The future no man knoweth. It was inevitable that later generations of Christians — the great majority of whom had been brought up at the feet of the rabbis — should associate with Jesus many of the \ ideals which seemed supremely vital to later Judaism. The actual Jesus of history, however, failed completely to satisfy the ideals of the Jewish leaders of his day. This failure confirms the testimony of the oldest Gospels that he himself rejected those ideals and went back to the simple eternal teachings of the true prophets. In realizing and more than realizing the lofty ideal of the suffering servant of Jehovah, in fulfilling — that is, bring ing to fuller and more complete expression — the noblest teachings of the earlier law and prophets, and in revealing through his own life the very character and will of God himself, he became not only Israel's true Messiah, but the universal Saviour of men. 48 VIII THE LITERARY FORM OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES It is a significant fact that all the writings of the pre-exilic and the majority Rea. of those of the exilic and the post-exilic prophets were originally uttered or so,ns written in poetic form. Three explanations of this fact may be suggested, the The first is that from earliest times the oracles of the seer and prophet were Pts°P expressed in the form of poetry. This tradition had undoubtedly been l^°^e firmly established long before the days of Amos. The second reason is more Jan- fundamental. Poetry alone was fitted to express that blending of exalted ^ge thought and strong emotion which constituted the prophet's message. P°etry Finally, the finished, attractive, poetic form in which the prophetic oracles were cast contributed greatly to their effectiveness in appealing to the intelli gence and feeling of the people whom the prophet wished to influence. The prophets were poets under the compulsion of the great truths that were struggling within them for utterance, but they were also poets by intention, as the careful development of their figures clearly indicates. The poetry of the prophets, like all Hebrew poetry, is characterized by two char- and sometimes three types of rhythm. The first is parallelism, or rhythm of ^f™" ideas — that is, the second line of each couplet repeats the same thought in He- similar or contrasting terms or else develops still further the idea presented in poetry: the first line. To the oriental ear repetition of thought was as pleasing as is f^m rhyme to the occidental. This rhythm of ideas, which the Hebrews shared with most other ancient oriental peoples, is an invaluable aid in interpreting the prophetic writings, for, if the meaning of one line is not clear, it is usually illuminated by the other member of the couplet. Hebrew like English poetry is also characterized by symmetry in the num- Regu- ber of beats or accented syllables in each succeeding line. The three-beat }^gas. measure was the one most commonly employed by the prophets. Poetry "re l>- 2l- 29, B. Sir. 26s. The meaning is that each nation has gone on sinning so far that the merited judgment can no longer be averted. In each case a typical sin is cited. In the original sermons only Israel's four most hated enemies appear to have been intro duced, Aram, Philistia, Ammon, and Mojib. The judgment upon Tyre is simply an echo of that upon PhiBstia. Edom concerned onlyTudah, and the crimes attributed to the Edomites had no historical basis before the Babylonian exile. The crimes of Judah are described in the language of the late prophetic school represented by Dt. Throughout the three-beat movement prevails, but in the four supplemental sections a distinctly different atrophic arrangement is found: the original sections having strophes of alternately 5 and 7 lines, while the later sections have but 2 lines in the second strophe. • l3 Probably a reference to the cruel treatment of the Israelites east of the Jordan by Hazael during the reign of Jehu and Jehoahaz. Cf. JI Kei. 812, IO32' 33, 13'. d V Fire is the symbol of war, as in Judg. 920, Dt.'42V32!2r Cf . also » • l4 Probably Ben-hadad III, the son of Hazael. Cf. II Kgs. IO3, 1325. ' l6 The bar which fastened the city gate stood for the defence of the city. * l6 The Gk. identifies this with the plain about Baalbek. h Is Many identifications have been suggested. The most probable are: (1) Ehden, on the northwestern slope of Lebanon, near the great cedars; (2) Jubb-'Adin, twenty-five miles northeast of Damascus; and _ (3) The Bit-Adini, of the Assyrian inscriptions. Cf. also Ezek. 2T23. It was an Ara- mean kingdom along the middle Euphrates. „ . ' 16 Q: 9' ^l11 Kes- 16"- Possibly the original home of the Arameans: according to Is. 22", near Elam. Cf. Arnan III, 8s. ¦ 1" Lit., a whole deportation, i. e., all the people of the same town or district. 64 THE JUDGMENT UPON ISRAEL'S FOES TAm. I7 'Therefore I will send fire on the wall of Gaza, And it shall devour her palaces. 8And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, And him who holds the sceptre from Askelon, And I will turn my hand against Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, Saith Jehovah. k 9Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; Because they have carried away captive all the people to Edom, And did not remember the brotherly covenant.1 "Therefore I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, And it shall devour her palaces. "Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And stifled his pity,m And cherished his wrath continually, And retained his anger forever." "Therefore I will send a fire into Teman, And it shall destroy the palaces of Bozrah." 13Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of the Ammonites, Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; Because they have ripped up the pregnant women of Gilead,p That they might enlarge their border. "Therefore I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah, And it shall destroy her palaces, With a war-cry in the day of battle, With a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. 15 And their king shall go into exile, He and his nobles together, Saith Jehovah. The judg mentthat awaits them Cumulativecrimesof the Phce niciansTheir punishmentCumu lative crimes of the Edom ites TheirpunishmentCumu lative crimes of the Am mon ites Thejudgment that awaitsthem 'Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; Because they have burned the bones of the king of Edom, 2cTo desecrate the dead on account of violence done to Moab." Cumulativecrimesof the Moab-ites k lfl So Gk. A scribe has added in .the Heb., Lord. 1 Is Cf. II Sam. 5", 1 Kgs. S1, 9>2. m l11 The fifth and seventh lines are possibly glosses, for they destroy the uniform strophic form of the section and are little more than repetitions of the fourth and sixth lines. n 1" The cruelty of the Edomites to the Jews at the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. is probably in the mind of the exilic editor who added this section. Cf . § 139. • l12 The chief cities of Edom. * l13 For references to similar barbarous practices, cf. II Kgs. 812, Hos. 10u, 1316, Is. 1316, Nah. 3">, Ps. 137»; Iliad, IV, 57. 58. q 22° Following the acute reconstruction suggested by Harper (Amos and Hosea, 38, 41). This clause restored to its natural position not only gives a consistent text, but is also 65 Am. 22] THE SERMONS OF AMOS The judgmentthatawaits them 2a,bTherefore I will send a fire into Moab, And it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth, ^With a war-cry, with the sound of trumpets, 3And I will cut off the rulerr from his3 midst, And all his nobles will I slay with him; Saith Jehovah. Cumu lativecrimesof the Judah-ites •Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, Yea, for four, I will not revoke it. Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, And have not kept his statutes, But their lies' have caused them to go astray, After which their fathers walked." Their punish ment The su perlative crimes of the Israel ites therefore I will send a fire on Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. § 3. The Judgment Awaiting Thrice Guilty Israel, Am. 26"1 Am. 2 ^hus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, Yea, for four, I will not revoke it; Because they sell the righteous for money, And the needyv for a pair of shoes. 'Who tramplew on the head of the poor, And turn aside the wayx of the humble. And a man and his father go into the same5, maid, And so profane my holy name;2 A *L-**r\ supported by the strophic symmetry thus obtained. The typical crime was evidently some act of impiety toward the dead which was condemned by all ancient people. r 23 Heb., judge, but, as in II Kgs. 155, it is used in the sense of ruler, since Moab, at thiB time, had no king but was subject to Israel. fl 23 Heb., her, but context requires the above. * 2* Probably an allusion to the idols. _ Cf. Is. 663. u 2* The language and point of view in this section are peculiar to the later prophetic school and especially to the editor of Kgs. The last two lines may well be still later additions. Cf. Jer. 2313- 32. § 3 Having proclaimed in his dramatic introduction the universal rule and justice of Je hovah and the truth that each nation is by him held responsible for its acts in proportion to its moral enlightenment, Amos in the same powerful terms pronounces Israel's doom. Her typical crimes are those of cruelty, not against hostile foes, but against innocent fellow-countrymen whose dependence should command the pity of the greedy, merciless rulers who are leading Israel on to her ruin. Israel's guilt is thrice heinous because of the special protection and in struction that Jehovah has given her. Hence her punishment will be more complete. The poetic structure of the section is significant. Throughout the arraignment, as in the preceding section, the three-beat movement prevails, but in the description of what Jehovah has done for Israel and of her infidelity the impressive four-beat measure is introduced. Again in the description of the punishment that is speedily to overtake the nation the quick three-beat measure is restored, as in the corresponding announcement of doom in the oracles regarding the foreign nations. ? 26 The reference is evidently to the sale of poor Hebrews as slaves because they are unable to meet their petty debts. Cf. II Kgs. 41, Mt. 1825, Ex. 236-8, and the later law of Dt. 16«-m Lev. 1916. w 27 Slightly correcting the Heb. in accordance with a suggestion found in the Gk. This consonant reading is supported by 84 and the Lat. and Targ. To this a scribe has added the explanatory gloss, to the dust of the^ earth. x 27 J. c, deprive them of their legal right. y 27 So Gk. The Heb. omits, but implies, same. ¦ 27 Probably resort to the same harlot or temple prostitute. Cf . Gen. 3821- 22( I Kgs. 142*. For the later law prohibiting the institution, cf . Dt. 2317. 66 THE JUDGMENT UPON GUILTY ISRAEL [Am. 2« 8And upon garments taken in pledge3 they stretch themselves beside every altar, And the wine of those who have been finedb they drink in the house of their God.0 what Jeho- 10And yet it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, done^ And led you forty years in the wilderness, Egypt And brought you hitherd to possess the land of the Amorites." the wil derness "And it was I who destroyed from before you the Amorite,* Con- Whose height was like that of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks ; oTca- Yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.8 naan Moreover I raised up some of your sons to be prophets and some of your in. youths to be Nazirites.h \tln% Is not this indeed so, O Israel ? It is of the oracle of Jehovah. proph- 12But ye made the Nazirites drink wine and upon the prophets ye laid a pro- Nazi- hibition.1 d^U>^l< jar>rYUM^*yJi^t ritea "Behold it is I who will make you groan-i in your places, Judg- As groans a wagon under its load of sheaves. await ing themIm- 14Then shall refuge fail the swift, And the strongest not avail himself of his strength, pp?si- Neither shall the warrior deliver himself, escap- KNor he who handles the bow stand, inglt Nor the swift of foot escape,k Even he who is mounted shall not save his life, 16But he who is stoutest of heart among warriors, Shall flee away naked1 in that day,m It is the oracle of Jehovah. a 2s The outer garments which kept the poor man warm at night. For the law for bidding the judges from holding these overnight, cf . Ex. 2326.Z»T. b 28 J. e., wine secured through unjust decisions. ° 28 The final clause, beside every altar, and in the houses of their God, destroys the metre and may be later explanatory glosses. d 210 So Syr. and the inflection of the Heb. and the requirements of the metre. The Heb. text lacks th© first part of the vs. 8 210 Restoring this vs. to its true chronological position before 9. £ 29 So certain manuscripts and the demands of the context. Heb., them. The Amorite is the general designation in Amos and the Ephramite prophetic narratives of the early Ca naanitish inhabitants of Palestine. 8 2> I. e., destroyed root and branch. Cf. Is. 5M, Hos. 918. h 2U Men separated, consecrated to God for life.as in the case of Samson and Samuel, or \ for a limited period in which they abstained from cutting their hair, from contact with the dead, J and from all products of the vine. Cf . Nu. 62-21. i 2U The above rendering satisfies the demand of the sense and metre. The Heb. adds, saying, ye shall not prophesy. i 213 The exact meaning of this verb is not known, for it occurs nowhere else in the O.T. The above rendering is based upon the meaning of the same root in the Arabic. Other possible translations are, / will stop you, or, / will press you. it 2" So Gk., Lat., and Targ. Heb., save. 1 216 /. c, stripped of his weapons. m 21* I. e„ the day of judgment, when foreign armies shall ravage Israel. This represents the beginning of the prophetic doctrine of the day of Jehovah, which is prominent in subse quent prophecies. 67 Am. 31] THE SERMONS OF AMOS Re sponsi bility proportionateto op portunity The laws of cause and ef fect Proph et pres ent to warn because Jehovah has spoken § 4. The Basis of the Prophet's Arraignment of Israel, Am. 31-8 Am. 3 xHear this word Which Jehovah hath spoken against you, O Israelites, Against the whole race that I brought up from the land of Egypt; 2 'You only have I known of all the races of earth, -, Therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities.' ) &**"} *I-,-j'/«-«t. 3Do two walk together unless they be agreed?" 4Does a lion roar in the forest, when there is no prey for him ? Does a young lion cry out in his den,° unless he has taken something? 5Does a bird fall to the earth,p if no baitq is set for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, without catching anything ? eCan a trumpet be blown in a city and the people not tremble ? Can calamity befall a city and Jehovah not have caused it ? 7Surely the Lord Jehovah doeth nothing, Unless he revealeth his purpose to his servants the prophets. ^he lion has roared; who does not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy? Sama ria's wickedness as tounding even to theheath en § 5. The Guilt and Doom of Samaria, Am. 39-43 Am. 3 "Proclaim over the palaces in Ashdod, And over the palaces in the land of Egypt, 'Gather upon the mountain1 of Samaria, And see the manifold tumults, And acts of oppression in its midst; 10For they know not how to do right, They are heaping up violence and oppression in their palaces," It is the oracle of Jehovah.* § 4 In this brief section the prophet pauses to state the reasons for his sweeping arraign ment. To_ the^ popular belief that Israel stood in a peculiarly intimate relation to Jehovah, Amos replies: ' It is because you have enjoyed special privileges, that your heinous crimes will surely be punished. If your ears are deaf to Jehovah's warnings, mine are not, and as a true prophet, impelled by the truth of his God-given message, I am here to raise the cry of alarm." The four-beat movement is employed throughout the section, except in the last two vss. a 33 Heb., they have made an appointment, or have met together; Gk., have become acquainted with each other. By some this vs. is joined to the preceding and interpreted as referring to the necessity of severing the covenant relation between Jehovah and Israel. By others it is con nected with the following vss. and interpreted as meaning that two men do not walk together by accident, but as the result of a previous appointment. Even so, Amos was not standing as Jehovah's herald in the northern sanctuary of Bethel as the result of mere chance but because God had given him a message which he must deliver. On the whole, the latter interpretation best satisfies the context. ° 34 The clause from his den may be a later gloss, for it is not required by the context and destroys the metrical symmetry of the vs p 25 So Gk. Heb., snare of the ground. q 25 Or, if there is no hunter. § 5 Having established the basis of his prediction, Amos reiterates in the form of a public arraignment, summoning the Philistines and Egyptians as witnesses, the charge against Israel, and proclaims in greater detail the overwhelming destruction that is to overtake her. The glaring crimes are those of the nobles and their dissolute wives, who defile the capital city of Samaria by their acts of injustice and debauchery. Even more clearly than before he ' 39 So Gk. Heb., mountains, but cf. 41, 61. » 310 In their palaces destroys the metrical structure and appears to be secondary and derived from 9. Possibly the entire vs. is an explanatory gloss. * 3l° The present Heb. awkwardly introduces It is the oracle of Jehovah into the middle of the vs. This is probably due to the mistake of a scribe or else the clause is a later addition. 68 THE DOOM OF SAMARIA [Am. 3u Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The 'An adversary shall surround" the land, penalty And he shall strip from thee thy strength, And thy palaces shall be plundered. Justv as a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion Two shin-bones or a piece of an ear,w So shall the Israelites be rescued — They who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, On the damaskx of a divan!' 13 'Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,' Xem- It is the oracle of Jehovah, the God of hosts, p^ 14 'That in the day when I visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, and I will also visit in judgment the altarsy of Bethel, ai°Vto And the horns of the altar shall be cut off, be de" stroy- And they shall fall to the ground. ed 15 And I will smite the winter house together with the summer house f And the houses of ivory shall perish, Yea, many houses3, shall be swept away,' It is the oracle of Jehovah.b Am. 4 'Hear this word, Guilt Ye kine of Bashan, who dwell in the mountain of Samaria, wives6 Who oppress the poor and crush the needy, of the Who say to your husbands, ' Bring that we may drink.' wivesof the nobles ^he Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness: Their ' Behold, days are coming upon you, ^ at When ye shall be taken away with hooks, even the last of you with fish- h? "j*3 hooks, con- 3And through the breaches shall ye go out, each woman straight before her, Jj™1" And ye shall be cast toward Harmon,'0 is Jehovah's oracle. announces that the agent of judgment is the foreign conqueror. The metre is unusually irregu lar, but the three-beat is predominatingly employed except in 4U3 where the more impressive four-beat measure appears. The whole consists of brief oracles, of approximately the same length, giving the strophic effect. The recent attempts by transpositions and elisions to restore absolute uniformity are not satisfactory, and do not improve the resulting text. » 3U Slightly correcting the Heb. T 312 The Heb. repeats, probably by mistake from Ila, Thus saith Jehovah ; but 12 is the immediate sequel of ». Cf. Ex. 2213. w 312 For the custom of bringing in the remaining pieces as evidence, cf . Ex. 2218. 1 3'2 The meaning of this word is very doubtful. Gk., in Damascus, but the address is to the rulers of Samaria. The reference may be to some imported Damascene material with which the divan was covered. This last clause is possibly a later scribal addition. As in 41 and 6l, Amos evidently here addresses contemptuously the luxurious ruling class. The peculiar con struction of the vs. is similar to that found in 10. y 3U The original probably read maccebah or pillar. « 315 Probably the lower and upper stories (or roof) of the same houses are intended. Cf. Judg. 320, Jer. 36M. Thus in an inscription recently discovered at Zinjirli, a contemporary king of Sham'al states that the palace of his fathers was for them a summer house and a winter house. a 316 /. e., of the common people. i> 3" This clause as elsewhere may be a later addition. « 43 The translation is doubtful because the place mentioned has not been identified. The versions established the presence of a proper name and this interpretation best satisfies the context. 69 Am. 44] THE SERMONS OF AMOS Futility of ceremonial Its sel fish mo tive § 6. Israel's Failure to Understand Jehovah's Judgments, Am. 44-13 Am. 4 4'Come to Bethel and transgress, At Gilgald increase your transgression; And bring in the morning your sacrifices, On the third day your tithes!6 5And burn some leavened bread as a thank-offering, And proclaim aloud the voluntary offerings, For you love to do so, O Israelites!' It is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. Fail ure to learnthe les sontaught by fam ine By drought By blight and in sect plagues By . ftesti- ence and de struc tive war 6'But it was also I who gave to you Cleanness of teeth* in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your palaces, Yet ye have not returned to me,' is the oracle of Jehovah. 7'I also it was who withheld from you the rain,g And I sent rain upon one city, While upon another I did not let it rain,h 8bYet ye did not return to me,' is the oracle of Jehovah. 9T smote you with blight and mildew, I laid waste your gardens and vineyards, Your fig and your olive trees the young locust devoured; Yet you did not return to me,' is the oracle of Jehovah. 10' I sent among you a pestilence by the way of Egypt,1 I slew' your youths with the sword,k taking captive your horses,1 § 6 In this address, the occasion of which was probably a religious festival at Bethel, Amos directly condemns Israel's ^ceremonial worship, not because it was evil in itself, but be cause the people were actuated simply by a selfish desire to purchase Jehovah's favor. Iron ically he tells them to go on with their round of sacrifices, for it gives them pleasure. Jeho vah's displeasure has been shown in unmistakable ways, but they nave so long shut their eyes to his warnings that even the time for repentance is all but past. The three-beat movement is used in 4' 5- and ia and four-beat in 6-12. This section originally appears to have consisted of nine strophes of four lines each — the third through the seventh ending with the same pathetic formula. Yet ye did not return io Tne, is the oracle of Jehovah. d 44 Evidently the reference is to the northern Gilgal, prominent in the Elisha stories and situated a little southwest of Shiloh. Cf. II, § 81, introd. note. 0 4* The current ceremonial usage. Probably the tithe was presented on the third day after the arrival at the sanctuary. 1 46 /. e„ gave you nothing to eat. The reference may be to the famines in the days of Ahab, I Kgs. 1712, and Jehoram, II Kgs. 438, but it is probably to a more recent event. e 47 The line, During the three months before the harvest, appears to be an explanatory note. Amos was interested simply in the general fact. The harvest was in May and June, and the rains in March and April were essential to the growth of the grain. h 4?b-8» a scribe has further expanded the original by adding the awkward, circumstan tial, explanatory clause, the prose form of which clearly proclaims its secondary origin: One field being rained upon, and another field, which was not rained upon, drying up; two or three cities staggering to one city to drink water without being satisfied. After removing this gloss to the margin the perfect parallelism of each succeeding stanza is revealed. Cf. for a similar addition 69. 10. 1 4'° Or, after the manner of 'Egypt. Egypt was the home of plagues and from that centre the plague referred to may have spread to Palestine. In 803, 765, and 759 B.C. pestilences in Western Asia are recorded. ' 49 Slightly correcting the Heb. k 410 Recalling: Israel's experiences during the Aramean wars. 1 410 Lit., with the captivity of your horses. This awkward clause is perhapB a gloss. 70 ISRAEL'S FAILURE TO UNDERSTAND [Am. 4" And I caused the stench of your camps to rise in your nostrils;" Yet ye did not return to me,' is the oracle of Jehovah. "T wrought a destruction among you,n As God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah," And ye were as a brand plucked from the burning; Yet ye did not return to me,' is the oracle of Jehovah. therefore thus will I do to thee, O Israel, Because I am about to do thisp to thee, Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.^ "For behold it is he who formeth the mountains. And createth the wind, And declareth to man what is his thought; He maketh dawn and darkness,' And treadeth upon the heights of the earth, Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name." By a great Doom im pending Jeho vah's om nipo tentrule §7. Certain Destruction Awaiting Israel Unless She Seeks Jehovah, Am. 51-6, ». 9 Am. 5 xHear the word which I take up against you, even a dirge, O house of Israel: 2< Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel! Hurled down upon her own soil she lies, with none to raise her!' 3For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: * The city that taketh the field with a thousand hath but a hundred left, And the one that taketh the field with a hundred hath but ten left.'* Over whelm ing disastef imminent m 410 Slightly correcting the Heb. n 4" Possibly a clause has been lost from this line. ° 411 Cf. Gen. 19. p 412 The nature of the punishment has been clearly stated in the preceding sections. q 412 Gk., prepare to call upon thy God. The Gk. translators evidently interpreted this as a call to repentance. To arouse the leaders of the nation to appreciate the heinousness of their crimes and the inevitable consequences, and thus to leadthem to avert the evil, was the ultimate aim of all of Amos's preachings; but to impress them with the imminence of the danger, he represents the doom as impending. r 413 So Gk. The current translation, maketh dawn darkness, is not supported by the Heb. or the parallelism. 8 4" This majestic little poem may be from Amos, but the sudden change of metre and the fact that it introduces certain universal conceptions of Jehovah which first found expres sion in Is. 40-50, Gen. 1, and other writings of the exilic and post-exilic period strongly suggest that it was added by a later editor. Its sequel is found in 58a-e- 9. Similar extracts are abruptly introduced in 58- fl- and 95- 6. The original motif of which they are the expansion may be found in 13. They impressively describe the omnipotent and universal rule of Jehovah, and emphasize the folly of man's rebellion and the certainty that the divine judgment will be carried out. § 7 The prophet next expresses his absolute conviction that Israel's fate is sealed by sing ing over her a funeral dirge like those sung by the wailing women over the dead. The metre consists of a three-beat followed by a two-beat line, echoing the first and suggesting a plaintive sigh. The two brief dirges of four lines each are followed by an impassioned call to seek Je hovah with the heart ana not by forms. This is in the quick two-beat movement. # Its logical connection with the preceding is clear; Israel's death knell has sounded, ceremonial worship has proved of no avail; God, the compassionate judge, alone can save and he will never fail the truly repentant. Vs. 10 is the immediate sequel of 7. Vss. 8- 9, like 418, are clearly later additions. Their connection with the context is very loose and uncertain. In the mind of the scribe who intro duced them they probably were associated with 6. * 58 The Heb. adds, to the house of Israel, but this is evidently due to the mistaken repeti tion of the same clause in the next line or may have been added by a scribe to make the sense very clear. 71 Am. 54] THE SERMONS OF AMOS The true source of de liverance Danger of not seeking Je hovahHis omnipo tence 4For thus saith Jehovah to the house of Israel: 'Seek me and live, 5But seek not Bethel, And Gilgal do not enter, To Beersheba go not over; For Gilgal shall taste the gall of exile,u And Bethel [House of God] shall go to perdition. 'v 6Seek Jehovah and live, Lest he cast fire on the house of Joseph,w And it devour and there be none to quench it for Bethel.x '"-"He it is who made the Pleades and Orion/ Who turneth deep gloom into morning, And darkeneth day again into night, Who calleth the waters of the sea, And poureth them out on the face of the earth, 9Who causeth destruction to burst over the strong, And bringeth devastation2 upon the fortress, "Jehovah is his name." Woe to the foes of justice Their punish ment Theirjudicialcrimes § 8. A Solemn Warning to the Corrupt Judges, Am. 57' 10-" Am. 5 7Alas,b for those who turn judgment0 to wormwood, And cast righteousness to the ground, 10Who hate him that reproves in the gate, And abhor one that speaks uprightly! "Therefore, because ye trample upon the weak, And take from him exactions of grain, Houses of hewn stone have ye built, But ye shall not dwell in them, Charming vineyards have ye planted, But ye shall not drink their wine. ^Surely I know how many are your transgressions, And how great are your sins! u 56 Following G. A. Smith, Bk. of the Twelve, I, 165, in order to bring out the intentional paranomasia, ha-gilgal galoh yigleh; lit., Gilgal shall surely go into exile. v 55 Or, become Bethaven (House of delusion) . These last two lines may be a later addition. " 5s Slightly correcting the Heb. The house of Joseph is a designation of Northern Israel. 1 56 Gk. and some Heb. mss., for Israel. This may be the earlier reading. The clause is probably a scribal addition. y 58 These stars, as in Job 99, 3831- ai, stand for the starry world. z 59 Following the Gk. in the restoration of the original Heb. • 58f The Targ. fills out this line, Let there be fear in the presence of him whose name is Jehovah. It probably belonged originally at the end of the poem. The expression, Jehovah is his name, is one of the many indications that this and the similar passages in 413 and 95-6 were originally independent doxologies, added here to emphasize Jehovah's omnipotence. § 8 In this section Amos turns upon the judges who parody justice, using their office to exact bribes and unjust fines. In their eyes a man who spoke the truth openly was supremely odious. The gate, so often referred to, was the open place near the city gate where the Hebrew judges held their primitive court and where the civic and social life of the town centred. The section consists of three strophes of four lines, followed alternately by three corresponding strophes of six lines, each introduced by therefore. The three-beat movement prevails. b 57 This line, like 18 and 61, probably began with the Heb. word, Alas, which was left out by some scribe because it contained the same letters as those which stood at the beginning of the following word. Restored, it makes clearly intelligible an otherwise very obscure passage. c 57 /. e., civil justice. 72 WARNING TO THE CORRUPT JUDGES [Am. 5* Ye persecutors of the righteous, takers of bribes! Yea, the needy in the gated they thrust aside. 13Therefore since "the prudent man at such a time keeps silent, It is surely an evil time. 14Seek good and not evil, That ye may live; That this Jehovah, God of hosts, May be with you, as ye have said. 15Hate evil and love good, And establish justice in the gate; Perhaps Jehovah will be gracious, The God of hosts, to a remnant of Joseph.6 16Therefore thus saith Jehovah the* God of hosts: ' In all squares there shall be wailing, And in every street they shall say, "Alas! Alas!" And they shall summon the husbandman to mourning, And to wailing those skilled in lamentation,g "Yea, in all vineyards there shall be wailing, When I pass through the midst of thee,' saith Jehovah. § 9. Captivity Awaiting Corrupt Israel, Am. 518-6" Am. 5 18Alas, for those who long for the day of Jehovah! What have you to do with the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light. 19It is as when one flees from a lion, And a bear falls upon him, Or goes into the house and leans his hand upon the wall, And a serpent bites him. 20Shall not Jehovah's day be darkness and not light, Yea, murky darkness without a ray of light in it? d 5lz /. e., refuse to give them justice before the tribunal. .513-16 The authenticity of these verses has been seriously questioned, chiefly because they are not closely connected either with the preceding or following context and- because the idea of a remnant, 15d, implies a familiarity with the exile. The exhortation in u. 1B, however, is not to seek Jehovah, as in 4> 6, with which these vss. are joined by some, but to seek what is right and to restore justice in the gate. The last expression binds them closely to the present context. There is also no evidence that remnant is used in its later technical sense. 1 516 So Gk., Syr. and seven Heb. mss. The accepted Heb. adds Lord, making an un precedented array of divine titles; God of hosts may also be secondary, for it destroys the metrical harmony. e 516 This line may be a later addition, for in the original the victims of the calamity lament, making unnecessary the services of the hired mourning women. If secondary, the symmetry of the strophe is maintained. § 9 Tne symmetry of this poem is remarkable. As Harper has pointed out (Amos and Hosea, 128) it consists of three triple strophes, with from six to nine three-beat lines in each strophe. In each triple strophe, the first contains a woe, the_ second a denunciation of some phase of wickedness, and the third an announcement of coming captivity. Each announce ment is more specific than, the preceding, until in the last, 6U, it requires little imagination to see the Assyrian armies sweeping from one end of Israel to the other. Its high ethical and social ideals, its scathing denunciation of mere formal worship, and its direct, fearless spirit make this section one of the classic passages of the O.T. h 518 Evidently Amos found the popular belief in the day of Jehovah, as a time when Je hovah would punish Israel's foes and make his people supreme, irrespective of their acts or deserts, already firmly established. He interprets it as a day of judgment upon guilty Israel 73 Adviceto the prudent Hope for the honestman Thecatastrophe aboutto over take all classes Horrors of the day of Je hovah Am. 521] THE SERMONS OF AMOS Jeho vah'srejection of cere monial ism withoutethicalright-eous- Ban- ish- ment of the na tion thattrusts in cere monial ismWoe to the ir respon sible rulersof Is rael 21I hate, I despise your feasts, And I will not smell the savor of your festivals, 22b, c^n(j wjj.n vour cereal-offerings1 I will not be pleased,' And the peace-offerings of your fatlings I will not regard with favor. ^Banish from me the noise of your songs,k For to the melody of your lyres I will not listen. MBut let justice roll on as a flood of waters, And righteousness like an unfailing stream.1 KWas it only sacrifices and cereal-offerings ye brought me In the wilderness during forty years, O house of Israel?™ 2aBut now ye shall lift up the shrine of your king, And the image of your God which you have made for yourselves,11 27And I will carry you away into exile beyond Damascus, Saith Jehovah the God of hosts.0 6 'Alas for those who are careless in Zion, And overconfident on the mountain of Samaria !p Men of mark of the first of the nations, To whom the house of Israel resort !q 2Pass over to Calneh and see/ And go from there to Hamath the great, Then go down to Gath of the Philistines — as well as upon her foes. Thus Amos introduces that new ethical conception of the day of Jehovah which later prophets like Zephaniah develop at length. While he retains the figure of a specific day, his practical interpretation of the method of judgment indicates that he ex pected it to be a gradual process and the method natural, i. e., through the instrumentality of Assyria. Cf. Introd., p. 43. Thus in the earliest oral prophecy appears the ever existing an tithesis between the popular expectation of a specific miraculous judgment day, projected into the future, and the saner doctrines of a slow development in the life of nations and individuals, gradually and naturally unfolding, as the inevitable results of obvious causes. Cf. R. H. Charles, A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, 80-137, and Hast., DB., I, 741-567. i 522 The clause, Though ye offer me burnt offerings, interupts the sequence of the thought and was probably added by a learned scribe who missed any reference to the burnt-offerings. i 5M The prophet here speaks on the basis of the popular belief that the Deity took delight in the savor of offering. Cf. Gen. 8M, Ex. 29", 30s8. k 5M Songs, the playing of musical instruments, and dancing were regular accompani ments of ancient festivals. Cf. 810 and Ex. 326. "-". They were reckoned with the offerings as gifts to Jehovah. The dominant note was that of joy and merry-making, very different from the deeper motives that find expression in the psalms of the second temple found in the Psalter. Cf. Vol. V in loco. 1 5a In a similar powerful passage, l10-1', Isaiah defines true religion and worship in the terms not of the ritual but of right doing and living. The figure is that of a full, constant flow, not of sacrifice andthe melody of song, but of just acts. ™ 5s I. c, sacrifices to win Jehovah's favor are useless, as is shown by the fact that he led and signally protected his people in the wilderness when they had nothing to offer him. n 526 This is one of the most difficult passages in the book and was evidently so regarded by later scribes, who modified the original text and added explanatory notes. The vs. appears to be parallel to the following, although M also recalls the carrying of the ark through the wilder ness and suggests the figure in ". Removing the unintelligible gloss, your images, the star of, and slightly restoring the Heb. words for shrine and image, which have been modified by a scribe who, like the translators of the Gk. and Syr. had in mind the Semitic star worship and who would furnish the names of the gods Adar and Saturn, a clear text remains. Amos does not here speak of idolatry, but, with an underlying note of irony, declares that the Israelites shall soon, with the symbols of their ceremonial worship, go forth into exile. Cf . 6U. " 5f A scribe, familiar with the later doxologies in 4s, 58, and 96, has added the awkward expression, his name. " 61 The irony is clear. Israel's proud unfounded claims to superiority are held up to ridicule. a 61 Syr., and spoil for themselves the house of Israel ; this may represent the original. » 62 This vs. breaks the close connection between l and s. That it was added by a later editor, familiar with Nah. 38, is demonstrated by the fact that certain of the cities mentioned were not destroyed until after the days of Amos. Furthermore, in ld, but one kingdom is men tioned, while in 2 the reference appears to be to both Israel and Judah. 74 CAPTIVITY FOR CORRUPT ISRAEL [Am. 62 Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is your8 territory larger than their territory? ^They who would postpone the day of calamity, And yet have instituted a rule of violence.* 4They who lie on ivory couches, And sprawl upon their divans, And eat lambs from the flock, And calves from out the stall; ^hey drawl to the sound of the lyre, Like David, they devise for themselves instruments of song.u ^hey drink bowlfuls of wine,v And anoint themselves with the finest of oil, But they do not grieve over the ruinw of Joseph. 7Therefore now they must go into exile at the head of the captives, And hushed shall be the revelry of the sprawlers', 8bIt is the oracle of Jehovah, the God of hosts.x ^Jehovah3*" hath sworn by himself: 8c"et I abhor the pride of Jacob, And his palaces I hate, Therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it,z ' cAnd one shall smite the great house into atoms,3. And the small house into fragments.'13 12Do horses run upon crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? That you turn justice into poison, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood? ^e who rejoice in that which is not,c Who say, ' Have we not by our own strength taken hornsd for our selves.' 11b Their selfishindulgence and de* bauch- ery Con questandexileawaitingthem andtheir sub jects Folly oftrusting in theirown strength 8 62 Correcting the pronominal suffixes as the context absolutely demands. * 63 Lit., draw near the seat of violence. The prophet here casts his though^ in the form of an epigrammatic proverb. The verb has been attracted through the influence of the pre ceding note from the prevailing third to the first person (Heb., ye). u 6s Or, possibly, compose all sorts of melodies, or emending the text, they consider them selves, like David, skilled in singing. Like David may be a later scribal insertion. v 66 Lit., from bowls of wine, %. e., are not satisfied with ordinary cups. w 66 Lit., breach, i. e., the moral and social ruin of the northern kingdom. x 68b This clause is not found in the Gk. Its only natural position is at the end of the strophe, for in its present position in the Heb. it destroys the harmony of the context. y 68 a So Gk- A scribe has added in the Heb., Lord. z qsb y5S# 9 -iu ( are jn prose, not poetry, and introduce a theme and figure distinct from those found in the preceding and following context. They may be rendered: 9And it shall come to pass, if there be ten men left in one home that they shall die. 1QAnd one's relative even the one to burn him, shall tak% him up to carry the bones from the house and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, Are there any more with you? And he shall say, None. And he shall say. Hush ! for one must not mention the name of Jehovah. lla For behold, Jehovah wiU command. . . . The picture is that of a plague, and although there is much that is obscure, the reader feels the horror of the situation. If the passage is from Amos, it clearly belongs in a different context. Its form and setting strongly suggest that it was added by a scribe. a giib, o /, e.( palace and hovel alike. b 6Ilc Lit., fissures. 0 6K Or, Who rejoice because of Lodebar, Who say, 'Have we not captured Karnaim by our might? If this be the right translation, the reference is to the recent capture of these east-Jordan towns by Jeroboam. The versions and the context and the Heb. favor the ordinary translation followed above. 75 Am. 64] THE SERMONS OF AMOS proachof the As syrian con queror 14Verily, I am now raising up against you, O house of Israel, a nation; And they shall oppress you, From the entrance of Hamathe Even to the brook of the Arabah, Is the oracle of Jehovah, the God of hosts.f Jeho vah's leni ency in averting the locustplague § 10. Symbolic Pictures of the Impending Judgment, Am. 71-9 Am. 7 xThus the Lordg Jehovah showed me, And behold, he was forming locusts, When the late spring grassh began to come up.1 2And when they were making an end' Of devouring the vegetation of the land, I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I pray. How can Jacob stand, for he is small? 3 Jehovah relented concerning this; It shall not be, said Jehovah. Inaverting the drought *Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me, And behold, he was giving command to execute judgment, By fire — the Lord Jehovah. And it devoured the great deep,k And had begun to devour the tilled land; * 613 The horn stands for strength. Cf. Dt. 3317, Jer. 4S25, Ps. 8917. The meaning is, Have we not by our own efforts attained this new power and prestige under Jeroboam II? The verse is unusually long and may be divided, or possibly may have received later supplements. 8 614 From Hamath in the extreme north to a stream flowing into either the northeastern or the southeastern end of the Dead Sea. t qu Transferring this line from its impossible position earlier in the vs. § 10 With the preceding section Amos's arraignment of Israel and of its guilty rulers reaches a climax. It would seem that he felt that he had accomplished all that he could by dire invective and warning. He could plainly see, however, that he had not reached the minds and much less the hearts of most of his hearers. Now by simple, concrete pictures, similar to the parables of the sages, he seeks to impress upon their minds the same fundamental truths that Jehovah is long suffering, but that ne is also just and cannot longer leave the wicked, unre pentant nation unpunished. The formula, for three transgressions, yea, for four is here vividly and forcibly illustrated. The locust plague, the drought and famine were familiar memories to his hearers. Cf . § 6. What Amos here presents is something objective, not merely a vision; but he saw beyond mere things and events to their deeper significance, and beheld the God back of all phenomena. In this he reveals incidentally the process by which he became a prophet. It is possible also that the results of all his keen observation ahd enlightenedthought were originally, as in Isaiah's inaugural vision (§ 40) gathered up and made real in a vision of Jehovah standing over Israel with a plumb-line, the symbol of strict justice, or else of Jehovah standing, ready to strike, above the altar and sanctuary which symbolized Israel's social and religious life (81-4). From 713 it is clear that these visions at least were presented at the sanctuary at Bethel. While they lack the parallelism of succeeding lines, they are characterized by an unmistakable poetic structure. There is a close parallelism in form and thought between the corresponding lines of these three pictures or visions, and each contains three stanzas of approximately nine lines in the three-beat measure. « 71 Here, as in z and frequently in the book, the word Lord may be secondary. It is often omitted in the Gk. and usually destroys the metre. h 71 The last growth which came up as a result of the late spring rains in March and April. 1 71 The line, And behold there were full-grown locusts after the kings mowings, is clearly a later gloss, intended to fix the exact time. The reference is probably to the levy of grass for the support of the royal animals. Cf. I Kgs. 185. The later Roman rulers of Palestine exacted a similar levy from the pasture lands in March and April. j 72 Dividing the consonants so as to secure a harmonious reading. k 7* /. e., so great was the drought that it dried up the great deep from which came the water in springs and rivers. Cf . Gen. 711, Dt. 3318, Ps. 24z, and the diagram, Vol. I, p. 52. 76 SYMBOLIC PICTURES [Am. 75 'Then I said, O Lord Jehovah cease, I pray, How can Jacob stand for he is small? "Jehovah1 relented concerning this; Neither shall this be, said Jehovah. 'Thus the Lordm showed me, inevit- And behold the Lord was standing fvde- Beside a wall,n with a plumb-line in his hand. ment to 8And Jehovah said to me, take" What dost thou see, Amos? gjj^j And I answered, A plumb-line,° Then the Lord said, Behold I am setting a plumb-line In the midst of my people Israel, I will not again pass by them any more. 9And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, The sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.p § 11. Amaziah's Accusation and Amos's Reply, Am. 71"-17 Am. 7 10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Ama- Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of m|g.3 Israel ; the land is not able to bear all his words.11 For thus has Amos said, sgse to ' Jeroboam shall die by the sword,q and Israel shall surely be led away captive king out of his land.' "Also Amaziah said to Amos,r O seer,8 go flee away to the land of Judah, com- and there eat bread and there prophesy; but you shall no longer prophesy m,and at Bethel ; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the royal residence. Amos 1 T The Heb. adds Lord, but cf. the parallel in 3. m 77 So Gk. and Lat. The Heb. omits Lord, evidently as a result of a scribal error. n 77 In the Heb., plumb-line hasbeen introduced twice in the sentence, probably by a mistake of a copyist. A correct text is followed above. o 78a-c if these lines be_ secondary, the third strophe originally had the regular nine lines. But cf. the similar expression 77. p 79 As in the preceding addresses, the predictions culminate in the declaration that Israel and the rulers shall be punished by the sword of the conqueror. § 11 The early editor of the book of Amos, who was probably one of his disciples, has introduced here the record of a crucial experience in the work of the prophet. Its unusual position in the midst of the direct addresses strongly supports the conclusion that from the first it stood in its present place, because it described events which immediately followed Amos's words in 67, u and 79, freely quoted by Amaziah in 12. This position is more natural than after 614 or 9', which has been advocated by certain scholars. The reply of Amos in 717 indicates that Amaziah's warning did not daunt him, so_ that there is no reason for doubting that the visions and further addresses in 8 and 9 were delivered subsequent to the incident here recorded. His ultimate banishment from Northern Israel may however, explain why he, first of all the prophets, resorted to writing as a means of preserving and further presenting his message. As in the addresses and visions, a certain symmetrical structure is discernible even in this passage, which has led certain recent writers to treat it as poetry. Cf. Harper, Amos and Hosea, 168. It lacks at many points, however, the essential element of parallelism, as well as metrical regularity, so that it is best classified as prose. q 7" Amaziah makes personal the prophet's general statement in 9 regarding the reigning family. » 712 There is no evidence whether Amaziah here speaks on his own or the king's authority. " 712 The old designation of a prophet. Cf. II Sam. 24" and many passages in Chrs. The term suggests that the visions are in the mind of Amaziah — further confirming the present position of the narrative — and also carried with it a note of mockery, 0 visionary. The priest also classifies Amos with the professional seera who received pay for their services. Cf. Am. 97- «. 77 Am. 714] THE SERMONS OF AMOS Amos's replyandvindication Thefate of Ama ziah and hia class 14Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, nor a son of a prophet ;* but I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores ; 15but Jeho vah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said to me, ' Go, prophesy against my people Israel.' 16Now therefore hear the word of Jehovah: 'Thou sayest, "Thou shalt not prophesy against Israel, nor preach against the house of Isaac' " "Therefore thus saith Jehovah : ' Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line ; and thou shalt die upon an unclean soil, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.'u Israel's ripe ness for judgment The evidencesof de cay § 12. The Symbolic Picture of Israel's Approaching End, Am. 8 Am. 8 JThus the Lord Jehovah showed me, And behold, a basket of summer fruit. ^hen he said, ' What dost thou see, Amos ? ' And I said, 'A basket of summer fruit.' And Jehovah said to me, 'The end has come to my people Israel, I will not again pass them by.' 4Hear this, you who trample upon the needy, And oppressv the poor of the earth, saying, 6'When shall the new moonw pass that we may sell grain, And the sabbath that we may openx the corn' — Making smaller the measure and enlarging the weight/ And perverting the false balances — z 6eAnd that we may sell the refuse of the corn!0, * 7" I. e., one who belonged to the prophetic guild. Cf. Introd., p. 11. Amos does not deny but rather in 15 acknowledges that he had become a prophet in response to the divine call. He does, however, repudiate the charge that he belonged originally to the order of professional prophets. » 717 Amos's prediction in form is personal, but in spirit it is general, for Amaziah is but one of the guilty ruling class, whose speedy captivity he has already proclaimed. His reitera tion of the very words with which Amaziah had charged him reveals his unflinching courage. § 12 Amos's experience at Bethel may have intensified his conviction that there was no hope for Israel. The next picture forcibly expresses that belief. The nation is symbolized by a basket of rich, tropical fruit, now attractive in appearance but dead ripe, and certain, in a brief time, to become a mass of loathsome putrefaction. The Heb. word for summer fruit, kdyic also suggests the similar word, klc, end. The picture anticipates in many ways Juvenal s descriptions of decadent Rome. In the practical application of the illustration Amos turns again with bitter invective and irony upon the rich corrupt rulers who by their crimes are hastening the end. Then m the powerful imagery of earthquake, eclipse, pestilence, and famine —want of religious truth, as well as want of food— he portrays the final collapse of the nation. .through it all, as in 51-3, one hears repeatedly the dirges of the wailing women. After the first strophe of seven lines, the alternating stanzas contain respectively seven and six lines Pos sibly six was originally the strophic unit. Throughout the three-beat movement is employed with remarkable regularity. T 84 So Gk., instead of the obscure Heb., for making the poor of the earth cease. " 85 The new moon was one of the most important primitive festivals Cf I Sam 205' ls and Vol. IV, § 216. * 85 /._ e., expose the corn for sale. y 8s Lit., to make small the ephah and to enlarge the weight, i. „., to cheat by giving small measure and by using too large weights. • 8s These two ironical lines appear to be interjected by the prophet, although they mav have been put in the mouth of the deceitful merchants. • 86° Two lines, Buying ihe poor for silver, Ana the needy for a pair of shoes / are alien to the thought of the context and were probably added by a scribe from 2". 78 ISRAEL'S APPROACHING END [Am. 87 'Jehovah hath sworn by the pride of Jacob, Conse- Never shall I forget all their deeds! SFthe*8 sFor this shall not the land tremble, crimes And all her inhabitants mourn? israef- Shall not the whole of it rise likeb the Nile, j^h. And sink Hke the Nile of Egypt? quake And it shall come to pass in that day, Eclipse It is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah, and._ 'That I will make the sun set at noon lenoe And darken the earth in broad day, 3And the singing-women of the palace shall wail,'c It is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. A multitude of carcasses! In every place they are cast! 10 And I will turn your festivals into mourning, Uni- And all your songs into dirges, uunen- I will bring upon all loins sackcloth,d - tation And upon every head baldness, I will make it like the mourning for an only son, And the end of it like a bitter day. uAnd I will send hunger in the land,6 Ab- Not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, ^ence But for hearing the word of Jehovah. vine 12Then shall they wander from sea to sea, tion From the north to the rising of the sun shall they run to and fro, To seek the word of Jehovah, but they shall not find it. "In that day shall faint De- The fairest maidens and the youths,1 tionCof "Who swear by the guiltg of Samaria, the And say, 'As liveth thy God, O Dan! of the And as liveth thy patron,h O Beersheba!' nation And they shall fall, no more to rise! ' h 88 So Gk. Cf. 95. The Heb. adds and heave, but it destroys the antithetic parallelism as well as the metre of the vs. Cf. Is. 2419- 2°. The figure is that of an earthquake, which is likened to the periodic rise and fall of the Nile. c 83 Following Harper in transferring this vs. from its unnatural setting to the position where it fits the context, and in omitting as a gloss, in ihe day. As in 69' l0, a scribe has added to this highly dramatic picture of slaughter the impressive word, Hush I d 810 J. e., symbols of mourning. 8 811 This line is the sequel of 10 and the opening line, 'Behold days are coming,' is the oracle of Jehovah, is clearly a later scribal addition. , Vss. "¦ la speak of a definite day, while the expression, Behold days are coming, is characteristic of a later age. Cf . 913. f 813 A scribe, who had u in mind, has added, for thirst. 8 814 Possibly the original read, asherah; the two Heb. words are similar. b 814 The present Heb. reads, way, and may refer to the pilgrimage to the old southern shrine, but a simple change of a letter gives the above harmonious reading. 79 Am. 91] THE SERMONS OF AMOS § 13. The Portrayal of the Final Destruction of the Nation, Am. 91( De struc tion of sanctuaryandpeople Am. 9 *I saw the Lord standing by the altar; And he said, 'Smite the capitals that the thresholds may shake, Yea, break them off upon the head of all of them, And the rest of them I will slay with the sword,1 Not one of them shall escape, Nor shall a refugee be delivered from among them. Abso lutely no es cape from Jeho vah 2If they dig through to Sheol, Thence will my hand take them; And if they climb up to heaven, Thence will I bring them down; 3And if they hide themselves on the top of CarmeU Thence will I search them out and take them. Retributionto over take all And if they hide out of my sight at the bottom of the sea, Thence will I command the sea-serpentk to bite them; 4And if they go into captivity before their enemies, Thence will I command the sword to slay them, And I will keep my eye on them, For evil and not for good.' Jeho vah'somnipotence 6And it is the Lord Jehovah of hosts, Who toucheth the earth and it melts, And all who dwell in it mourn, And all of it rises up like the Nile, And sinks like the Nile of Egypt.1 6He who buildeth his chambers in the heavens,™ And hath established his vault upon the earth; § 13 As Amos departs from the royal sanctuary at Bethel, he sees in imagination Jehovah standing over the altar and sanctuary, whose hypocritical ceremonial is so distasteful to him. He also seems to hear the divine command, probably addressed to the angelic attendants, to destroy the temple over the heads of the guilty worshippers. Then follows a powerful de scription of the impossibility of escape (cf . 211* 13-16) and of the completeness of tbe ruin about to overtake the sinful kingdom. Thus in their original form Amos's sermons ended with the same note of doom with which they began. In the presence of the injustice, hypocrisy, and de fiant attitude of Israel's leaders no other conclusion was possible. For him in the circum stances to have spoken peace and predicted prosperity would have been to be untrue to his mission and message and, like a false prophet, to nave lured Israel on to her approaching ruin. It remained for some later prophet, who lived amidst changed conditions, to give expression to Jehovah's love and care for his people, which constituted the real background of all of Amos's preaching. This section falls naturally into four stanzas of six lines each. The more solemn four-beat movement prevails, although in 'describing the flight and Jehovah's hot pursuit of the fugitives in 2- 3a> b, the prophet appropriately uses the more rapid three-beat measure. > 9l A radical reconstruction of the text suggested by Volz and accepted by Marti (Dode- kapropeten, 221) gives the following simple and consistent reading, And he (Jehovah) smote the capitals and the thresholds shook ; and he said, 'I will smite them all with the earthquake and will slay with the sword.' The present Heb., however, is clear and is strongly supported by the vss. j 93 With its wooded heights and its caves, over two thousand in number, furnishing many places of refuge. k 93 Cf . for other traces of the belief in the existence of the primeval sea-monster, Gen. l2i, Is. 271, 519- 10. 1 9fi Cf. the original of this figure in 88. m96 For the Heb. conception of the universe here reflected, cf. diagram, Vol. I, p. 52. 80 DESTRUCTION OF THE' NATION He that calleth for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth — Jehovah is his name." [Am. 9a 7'Are ye not as the Cushites to me,° O Israel ?' is the oracle of Jehovah. 'Did I not bring up Israel out of the land of Egypt, And the Philistinesp from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir? "Behold the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth, Except that. I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob,' It is the oracle of Jehovah.* Israel, like the hea then, to be de stroyedfor its crime n THE SERMONS OF HOSEA § 14. The Superscription to Hosea's Sermons, Hos. V The Word of Jehovah to Hosea the Son of Beeri In the Days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah AND In the Days of Jeroboam, Son of Joash, King of Israel. n 9 5, e The different idioms and literary style, and the lack of connection with the context leave little doubt that these beautiful vss. were added by an exilic or post-exilic poet, who was impressed by Jehovah's omnipotent rule, as he read the prophecies of Amos and caught the spirit, although he voices his exalted emotions in the language of Is. 40-55 and Job. He was probably the scribe who also added the similar doxologies in 413, 5s- 9. Together they constitute a majestic psalm, with the regular three-beat movement throughout. ° 97 J. e., Jehovah treats with equal favor and justice the black-skinned Ethiopians and his chosen people the Israelites. p 97 Their hated foes, the Philistines, have been led and guided alike by Jehovah. q 98 These two lines, which contradict Amos's words, were evidently added by a later scribe, who recognized that the prophet's prediction had not been literally fulfilled. They are out of harmony with the prevaihng metre and the last line is but a repetition of 7. The Sermons of Hosea: — Only a few years later, and possibly contemporaneously with Amos (cf. Introd., p. 15), Hosea began his work. The background of 1-3 appears from the allu sion in l4 to be the closing years of the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam II; while 4-14 consist of extracts from Hosea's sermons delivered during the period of anarchy and rapid national decline that followed the death of the great king. They are the utterances of a poet- patriot, whose heart was breaking as he saw his beloved nation rushing to its certain ruin through disregard of the universal laws of society and morality. Stern denunciation, bitter indignation, piteous entreaty, and heartbroken sbbs are all mingled together in his impassioned sermons. The style is so condensed and epigrammatic that, at certain points, it is obscure. Unfamiliar historical illusions also at times perplex the modern reader. The text has suf fered greatly in transmission. And yet throughout the book the great fundamental truths of all religion find constant and noble expression. Probably no prophecy is less studied and understood, and yet none rewards the careful reader more richly. § 14 This long superscription was evidently added by a later editor of the book. The original probably gave simply the name of the prophet and that of his father. The dating by the reigns of the kings of Judah is doubtless the work of a Judean editor. It makes Hosea an exact contemporary of Isaiah (cf . Is. I1) and dates his work broadly between 782 and 686 b.c, a period of nearly a century. The dating of the reign of Jeroboam II of Northern Israel, 781-740 b.c, is. on the other hand, too restricted; for the evidence is conclusive that the second part of Hosea's sermons, 4-14, were delivered after the death of Jeroboam II. The exact date of the prophet's work, therefore, must be determined from the references in his sermons. It prob ably began not long before 740 and was completed before 735 b.c. 81 Hos. l2b] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA 15. The Harlotry of Hosea's Wife and Her Punishment, Hos. I2-9, 22>\ s \ '».">, 3'-< Hosea's mar riage Birth and name of his sonJezreel Of Lo-ru- hamah THE BEGINNING OF JEHOVAH S REVELATION BY HOSEA Hos. l2bNow Jehovah said to Hosea: Go marry a wife with whorish instincts who will bear you children by her whoredoma, For the landb is continually going a- whoring from after Jehovah.0 3So he went and married Gomer, the daughter of Dibliam. And when she conceived and bore him a son, 4 Jehovah said : Call his name 'Jezreel,'d For yet a little while And I will avenge the blood shed at Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, And I will cause the kingdom of Israel to cease. 5And it shall come to pass in that day, That I will break the bowe of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. "And when she conceived again and bore a daughter, he said to him: Call her name 'Unpitied,'* For I will no longer Have pity on the house of Israel. That I should still spare them.8 § 15 As Hosea looked back upon his work and life he realized that his own tragic domestic experiences had opened his eyes to the appreciation of those supreme truths regarding Jeho vah's character and will which constituted nis message and made him a prophet. Cf . Introd., pp. 15, 16. This experience corresponds to the earlier visions of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Like these later prophets he also realized that a knowledge of the way in which God's revelation had come to him would help his disciples to understand himself and his teachings. His painful experiences with his unfaithful wife Gomer, not only opened his own eyes, but also vividly illustrated the inner significance of Jehovah's past and present relations with his chosen people Israel. Therefore, putting aside his natural feelings, Hosea, at the beginning of his prophecies, tells and at the same time interprets his own private experiences that he may forthwith, in 2, use it as an illustration of Jehovah's attitude and feeling toward Israel. It is probable that in the original version Hosea himself told of his experiences, using the first person as in 3. The editor who rewrote the story in the light of Hosea's tragic experience apparently added the awkward explanatory passage zb. If so the original read: Jehovah said to me. Go marry a wife. So I went and married Gomer. Chap. 3 completes the personal story begun in 1 . It is told in the barest outline because the details were probably known to most of his hearers. Only those elements which were essential to the illustration are presented, and yet, like Isaiah's initial vision, they reveal the vital doctrines which reappear throughout all his sermons. In the light of his own heart trag edy, it is possible fully to understand Hosea's passionate denunciation of sin and the tender, burning love that at the same time suffuses all his sermons. » l2 Lit., Go take a wife of whoredom and children of whoredoms, but the Heb. idiom is obscure and misleading unless it is interpreted as above. b l2 The land, as frequently in the O.T., stands for the inhabitants. « l2 These two lines, like the text in Am. I2 are an epitome of the sermons that follow. d l3 The name was a reminder of the murder of the sons of Ahab, by which act Jehu the founder of the reigning house came to the throne of Israel. Cf . II Kgs. 9, 10, Vol. II. § 93. • Is /. e., military strength. Cf. Gen. 49M. ' l6 Lit., She is not pitied or loved. 5 l6 The following verse. But on the house of Judah will I have pity, And I will deliver them by Jehovah their God, But I will not deliver by bow nor by sword. Nor by battle nor by horses nor by horsemen, interrupts the story of the prophet's private experiences. Furthermore, it not only concerns Judah, in which Hosea was not interested, but also refers to a later deliverance of Jerusalem. The expression, by Jehovah their God, is also one of the regular formulas of the post-exilic scribes. Cf., for .the later hope of a miraculous dehverance, Ezek. 39l-">, Joel 2s2, Zech. 14S-». 82 INFIDELITY OF HOSEA'S WIFE [Hos. Is 8Then she weaned Unpitied ; and when she conceived and bore a son, he Of Lo- said : ammi 9Call his name, ' Not-my-people,'h For ye indeed are not my people, And I indeed am not your God.1 Then Hosea said: / will pvt away Gomer, 2 2b* cFor she is not my wife,* And I will not be her husband; 4And on her children I will have no pity, Since they are children of whoredom, 5a» bFor their mother hath become a harlot, She who conceived them hath behaved shamefully. 3 *But Jehovah said to me : Stillk go, love1 [this] woman, Who loves a paramour and is an adulteress, As Jehovah loveth the Israelites, Although they turn to other gods, And love raisin-cakes.m Hosea'sdivorceof his unfaithful wife The di vinepromptings still to love her 3So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces11 of silver and eight bushels0 of Her barley and a measure1* of barley .q tion°ra" 3And I said to her: and. Many days shalt thou abide for me, pline Thou shall not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man's wife, Yet, I, on my part will be thine/ b l8 This name indicates the complete estrangement of Jehovah's people. * l9 Heb., not yours, but 2s3 and certain Gk. codices establish the reading given above. j 22b- ° Commentators have long recognized that vss. 2b- c- 4 are not consistent with their immediate context, which is complete and consistent without them. By many scholars they have been regarded as secondary glosses, but Bewer (in Am. Jour, of Sem. Langs, and Lit., XXII, 120-130) has called attention to the fact that 6a> b go naturally with 4 and not with the rest of the vs., and that these disconnected fragments furnish the data regarding Hosea's private history which are implied by 3. He would add l0, but the evidence is not conclusive, and in view of 3 it is more satisfactory to regard it as in its original context. The thought of this fragmentary section as restored is strikingly parallel to Jehovah's attitude toward Israel, proclaimed in 16> 9. The later promise in l10- u, 21 has taken the place of the original instruc tion, which may be restored from the context. k 31 From 3 it may be inferred that Gomer at last fled from her home to her paramour and finally fell into the position of a slave, from which Hosea bought her, prompted as he was by an impulse which, in the light of his life-experience, he recognized as of divine origin. That the woman is Gomer is further established by the close parallel drawn between Hosea's experi ence with his wife and that of Jehovah with faithless Israel. 1 31 His motive was akin to that of the love which Jehovah felt for the guilty Israelites. The thought here, as in 1, is very elliptical. The memory of Jehovah's relation to Israel is promi nent in the prophet's mind. * m 3l A very common article of food among the Hebrews (cf- 1 Sam. 2518, II Sam. 619), but probably here associated with Baal worship, since raisins were, like wine, a product of agri culture. n 32 Fifteen shekels, probably about ten dollars. ° 32 Heb., homer. p 32 Heb., lethech. Its exact value is unknown. According to the Mishna it was equal to half a homer, i. e., four bushels. Guided by the relative values in II Kgs. 718, twelve bushels of barley were equal to about fifteen shekels, so that the total price paid would be approxi mately thirty shekels (or twenty dollars), the price of a slave. Cf. Ex. 2132. q 32 Gk., wine. r 33 /. e., by stern discipline and restraint she shall learn to control her base passions. Most commentators insert a negative in the last sentence; but the present Heb. simply records the carrying out of the command in1. 83 Hos. 3*] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA Israel's similar experience 4For through many days The Israelites shall abide6 Without king and without prince, Without sacrifice and without pillar,* Without ephodu and without teraphim. BAfterward the Israelites shall return* and seek Jehovah their God and David their kingw and they shall come trembling* to Jehovah and his goodness* at the end of days. Jehovah'sappeal to the Israel ites to save their nationfrom apos tasy § 16. Israel's Harlotry and Punishment, Hos. 22», d. «, d. 5c-17, 18°. 23 . Hos. 2 2a' d' e- Strive with your mother, strive, That she put her acts of whoredom from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts, 3Lest I strip her naked, And set her as she was on the day of her birth, And make her like the wilderness, And let her become like a parched land, And let her die of thirst. 5c_eFor she hath said, 'I will go after my paramour Who gave me my bread and my water, My wool, my flax, my oil, and my drink.' 8 34 Here the prophet applies Gomer's experience to that of apostate Israel as in 2. They are to be deprived of the political and religious institutions which they prized so highly. The prediction corresponds to Amos's repeated announcements of approaching exile. * 34 Heb., maccebdh, the sacred pillar found beside all ancient Canaanite and Hebrew shrines. u 34 From Judg. S26- "¦ 171-3, 18»« l7-20, and I Sam. 219 it is clear that in ancient times the ephod was an image, like the teraphim or family gods. They were also both employed^ in determining the divine will. Hosea apparently makes no protest against these symbols. v 3* Like the appendix to Amos's sermons, this verse reflects a much later date and conditions. It voices the hopes of the restoration which are so prominent in the exilic and post-exilic prophecies. w 35 The second David, the messianic king. x 35 /- e., trembling because of joy or reverence in Jehovah's presence. y 34 Gk., Lat., and Syr., altar. § 16 In this section Hosea interprets Jehovah's relation to Israel in the light of his own private experience with Gomer. Corresponding to his marriage was the solemn covenant which first bound together Jehovah and Israel with mutual obligations to be loyal to each other. Jehovah, like the prophet, has been true and has spared no effort to win and hold the affection of his chosen people; but Israel, like Gomer, has been constantly unfaithful. The nation's apostasy was like Gomer's harlotry, and is so designated by the prophet. But Israel again, like Gomer, is foolish and obdurate, so that nothing remains for Jehovah but, by severe discipline, to endeavor to bring her to her senses and to arouse in her a true repentance. The nation as a whole is like Gomer, spoken of as mother, and the individual Israelites as children. The parallelism in language arid thought between this and the preceding section is exceedingly close. By recent commentators this chapter has been torn asunder and fully half of it attributed to another author. One basis of this analysis is the variation in metre. But while Hosea is one of the most poetic of all the prophets, his poetic feelings are too deep and overmastering to be closely held in leash by the dictates of an arbitrary metre. The prevailing metre through out this chapter is the three-beat measure, but, as elsewhere in his prophecy, the prophet frequently introduces longer and shorter lines. Therefore an analysis based purely on the metre is precarious and arbitrary. The main reasons urged against the unity and Hosean authorship of the chapter are the presence of certain minor inconsistencies. These appear, however, to be due in part to scribal additions. It is also dangerous to judge a prophet like Hosea by the definite, clear-cut canons of western logic. There is scarcely an idea in the entire chapter which does not find its roots in Hosea's teachings and most of the figures and ideas are suggested by the close parallelism of his own private experience. The figures are, also, the unmistakable products of Hosea's brilliant poetic imagination. Vss. 14fl- may possibly come from a_ later disciple, but if so, one would anticipate more defi nite references to the exile and restoration. Rather the allusions are drawn from Israel's past with which Hosea shows remarkable familiarity, and the hopes are those which are implied in 84 ISRAEL'S PUNISHMENT [Hos. 2° therefore I am going to hedge up her ways with thorns, Jeho- And build a wall about her, JfK* So that she cannot find her paths. pline of And she will pursue her paramours,2* to But will not overtake them, £re And she will seek and not find them.a the "But she herself did not know Ipoi"1 That it was I who gave her tasy The corn, the sweet wine, and the oil.b 'Therefore I will take back my corn in its time, And my sweet wine in its season, And I will withdraw my wool and my flax, Given to cover her nakedness; 10 And so I will uncover her shame," And none shall deliver her out of my hand. "And I will lay waste her vines and her fig-trees,d Of which she hath said, ' These are my rewards Which my lovers have given me.' And I will make them a thicket, And the wild beasts shall devour them. "And I will also cause all her mirth to cease,6 Her feasts, her new moon, and her sabbaths.' uAnd thus will I visit upon her the days of the Baalim,8 In which she made offerings'1 to them, And decked herself with ear-rings and jewels, And went after her paramours, And forgot me, is the oracle of Jehovah. Hosea's treatment of his faithless wife. Even the more material picture in 21-23 is the com plement of Hosea's picture of the land stripped of its fertility in punishment for its sins. Whether they be from Hosea's pen or not, the literary, ethical, and logical unity of these verses is so marked that it is almost a crime to separate them, and in view of the conflicting theories regard ing the analysis which now hold the field such a step is exceedingly precarious. B 25 /. e.. The Baalim, the local gods of Canaan. Baal was the God of agriculture and the agricultural civilization of Israel was closely connected with the native cults. a 27 The Hebrew adds the prose note, And will say, 'I will go and return to my first hus band, for it was better for me then than now I ' All recent commentators have recognized that these lines anticipate the repentance which comes naturally later in the passage. They are also inconsistent with the representation of 6- 7, for they assume that the unfaithful wife has deserted her husband, while in 6- 7 she is confined by her husband and not allowed to go away from his home. They were probably added by an editor who had in mind the restoration after the exile and who wished to emphasize the note of repentance. b 2B The awkward construction and the sudden change from the singular to the plural indicate that the lines, And that I multiplied silver for her, and gold which they used for Baal, were added by a scribe who was thinking of Israel's apostasy, possiblyin connection with the golden calves set up by Jeroboam I. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that Hosea himself speaks only of the Baalim, not Baal. ' 210 The clause, in the sight of the paramours, is apparently an addition. The prophet . gives no thought to the paramours. d 212 Cf . 31 for the same idea. ° 2" This vs. logically and in all probability originally followed I2, which describes the destruction of the natural products of the soil. Its immediate sequel is 13. 1 2" The Hebrew also adds, and all her festal assemblies, but this is a late priestly ex pression, is a repetition of ub, and destroys the metrical structure of the vs. e 213 J. e., punish for the feast days which she celebrated in honor of the Baalim. h 213 Lit., in pre-exilic Heb., caused the savor of sacrifice to rise. Cf. Vol. II, 174, note k. 85 Hos. THE SERMONS OF HOSEA Divine favorand recon cilia tion for pen itent Israel Theevi dences of di vineforgive nessand love "Therefore I am going to allure her, And bring her into the wilderness, And speak endearingly to her.1 15And I will give her from there her vineyards, And the valley of Achor5 as a door of hope, And there she shall respond as in the days of her youth, As in the days when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be in that day, is the oracle of Jehovah, She shall call to her husband, And shall call no more to the Baalim. "And I will remove the name of the Baalim from her mouth, And they shall no more be mentioned by their names. 18fAnd I will betroth her to me forever,! "Yea, I will betroth her1 to me in righteousness, And in judgment, and in kindness, and in mercy, 20Yea, I will betroth her to me in faithfulness and she shall know Jehovah.m 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, That I will speak,n — it is the oracle of Jehovah, — I will speak to the heavens, And they will speak to the earth. 22 And the earth will speak to the grain, And the new wine and the oil; And they shall speak to Jezreel,0 And I will sow her in the land. 2SAnd I will have pity upon the unpitied, And I will say to Not-my-people, ' Thou art my people,' And they will say, 'Thou art my God.'p ! 2" Cf. the same idiom in Gen. 343, where Shechem speaks endearingly (lit., to the heart) of Dinah, as he woos her. ' 21S Cf. Josh. 7M> M. The valley which in Israel's early history led from the scene of trouble and punishment to the uplands of Canaan. k 216 This verse has always proved the stumbling block of translators and commentators. In its present form in the Hebrew 16b, Thou shalt call me Ishi (my husband), and shalt call me no more Baali (my master), is not only inconsistent with its context, but also with Hosea's pre vailing use of the plural Baalim. It is also doubtful whether even such a bold prophet as Hosea would represent the nation as addressing Jehovah as my husband. Even if this were pos sible, the account of the re-establishment of the close covenant between Jehovah and Israel is first introduced in a subsequent paragraph. Although the Greek version is almost unin telligible, it has retained the plural Baalim and suggests the translation given above. While this rendering is only hypothetical, it is at least consistent with Hosea's thought and with the subsequent vs. By many le is regarded as simply a scribal gloss. '219' m Restoring the third person as demanded by the context and the usage of the chapter as a whole. Apparently in these vss. some later scribe misread the third person, feminine, sing, of the verb for the very similar second person sing., and changed the correspond ing pronouns in order to make the text consistent. His aim may also have been to make the style more vivid by introducing the direct address. m 220 Or, following a revised text, in the knowledge of Jehovah. » 2U Lit., answer, respond, but speak to or communicate with better expresses the meaning of the idiom. Jehovah's command to nature to withold her products, '-a, will be revoked. ° 2a Jezreel here stands for Israel. Possibly the two words were originally identical, and Jezreel, later identified with the town or plain of this name, is a local survival of the ancient form. Its meaning, God sows, was in the prophet's mind, as the next line indicates. p 2s3 Reversing the statements of Hos. in l6-9. 86 ISRAEL'S ULTIMATE RESTORATION [Hos. 2" § 17. Later Predictions of Israel's Ultimate Restoration, Hos. 2'8»-> 513 Heb., Judah. Cf. note ¦=. 90 GUILT OF PRIESTS AND PRINCES And Israel0 to the great king;d But he cannot heal you, Nor relieve you of your wound. t4For I myself will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Israel. I, even I, will rend and go my way, I will carry off and none shall rescue. [Hos. 51! § 20. The Fatal Lack of True Repentance and Reform, Hos. ox*-T Hos 5 16I will return to my place,6 Until they are confounded* and seek my presence. When they are in distress they will quickly seek me, 6 'Saying, ' Come let us return to Jehovah, For he hath torn and he will heal us, He hath smitten and he will bind us up, ^e will revive in a couple of days, On the third day he will raise us up again, That we may live in his presence. *Yea, let us know, let us eagerly seek8 to know Jehovah, As soon as we quickly seek" him, Then he will come to us as the winter rain, As the spring rain that waters the earth.' 4What can I make of you, O Ephraim! What can I make of you, O Israel!1 Since your love is like a morning cloud, Yea, like the dew which early goes away.i therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, Israel's fitful, super ficial repent ance The fa tal lack oftrueloveand a realknowl edge of God 0 5'3 Making a slight correction which restores the parallelism absolutely demanded by the context. The change of Israel to a somewhat similar verb probably resulted from the many changes of Israel to Judah which have been made in this chapter by a Judean scribe. The correction is also confirmed by the structure of the vs. The reference is probably to the tribute sent by Menahem in 738 B.C. to Tiglath-Pileser IV. d 5U Heb., Jarib, possibly an ironical reference to the King of Assyria and his reputation for fomenting local contentions to his own advantage. Probably the original simply read, the great king, a common title of all Assyrian kings. A change of one letter gives this reading, which is strongly supported by the parallelism here and in IO6. For the many different interpreta tions of the Heb., cf . Harper, Amos and Hosea, 277, 278. § 20 The brief, sententious, often epigrammatic utterances of Hosea were especially sub ject to corruption in the hands of scribes who did not fully understand them. This fact is well illustrated in the present section. The thought, however, is clear: Israel's conception of re- Eentance is entirely inadequate. The crimes of years cannot he atoned for by a few half- earted words. Above all, the conduct and life of the nation belies all professions of repentance. Crime is rampant on every side. The palace is filled with dissolute, unprincipled reprobates, who set up puppet kings and then plot to assassinate them. In all this God is completely forgotten. e 515 I. e., Jehovah's abode, in the early days conceived of as Mt. Sinai. ' 5" Following a slightly revised text. Rv\, acknowledge their offence. « 63 Lit., run after. The subsequent text suggests that this unusual verb was used ironi cally, implying that the Israelites thought that they could at once know Jehovah_by suddenly setting out in hot pursuit of him. h 63 Following the Gk. The Heb., his going forth is as sure as the gray morning, makes little sense in the context and is evidently based on a corrupt text. ' 64 Heb., Judah. i 6' Like the heavy dew of Palestine, which is, however, quickly dissipated by the hot Eastern sun. 91 Hos. C5] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA Israel'shideouscrimes I have slain themk by the words of my mouth. And my judgment is like the light that goes forth, 6For it is love that I delight in and not sacrifice, And knowledge of God and not burnt-offerings. 7But they after the manner of men1 have transgressed the covenant, There they have played me false. 8Gileadm is a city of evil-doers, Tracked with bloody footprints, 9And as bandits lie in wait for a man, So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem;11 Verily they commit deliberate crime. 10In Bethel0 I have seen a horrible thing,p There Ephraim plays the harlot; Israel is defiled. "Judah for thee also a harvest is set.Q Crimesthat preclude forgive ness When I would turn,r 7 'when I would heal Israel, Then Ephraim's guilt is revealed, And Samaria's crimes [are seen]:3 How they practise fraud and the thief enters in, While abroad bandits plunder. 2But they never think in their hearts, That all their wickedness I remember.* Now their deeds have encompassed them, They are ever before my face. The cor rup tion and con spira cies of thecourt 3In their wickedness they anoint kings," And in their falsehood princes, 4Since they are all of them adulterers/ 5By dayw they make our king sick, And the princes with fever from wine. He stretches forth his hand with dissolute fellows, k 6s I. e., by faithful warnings and sharp denunciations. ' 67 Correcting the Heb., thy judgments are like a light that goes forth, in accordance with the Gk., Syr., and Old Lat., which read, like Adam. The next line calls forth the name of a place. Possibly the original read, in Adam, a town near the confluence of the Jabbok with the Jordan. m 68 Probably the unidentified city east of the Jordan also mentioned in Judg. IO17. n 68 This vs. has suffered much corruption. The above reading is based on a simple re construction. ° 610 Heb., in the house of Israel. P6'° Cf. for the hideous rites in Bethel, 4U. q 6U This line has all the characteristics of a gloss added by some scribe who recognized that Judah was equally guilty. r 6" A scribe who lived in the shadow of the captivity has added, the captivity of my ¦ 7' Supplying, as demanded by the parallelism and poetic structure of the verae, are seen. '72 /. e., punish. u 73 Following a slight correction suggested by 8'°. y 7' Developing the figure of an oven in 6, a later scribe has added in 4b, following a slightly corrected text, They are like a glowing oven kindled by the baker, the kneader rests from kneading the dough until it is leavened. It reflects the oriental method of baking, but its connection and position in the original context is very doubtful. ¦ y 75 Or, making a slight correction, they. THE LACK OF TRUE REPENTANCE 6For like an oven their heart burns with treachery ,x All night theiry anger slumbers, In the morning it blazes into a flame of fire. 7AU of them glow like an oven, And they devour their rulers, All their kings have fallen. There is none among them who calls to me. [Hos. 66 § 21. Evidences of the Nation's Degeneracy and Approaching Dissolution, Hos. TS3 Hos. 1 Ephraim — he lets himself be mixed among the peoples, Ephraim — he has become a cake unturned.z 'Strangers8, have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; Also gray hairsb are sprinkled upon him, but he knows it not, 10And Israel's pride0 has testified to his face; Yet they do not return to Jehovah their God, And in all this they seek him not. "Ephraim is like a simple, silly dove: To Egypt they call, after Assyria they go, ^As often as they go away, I will spread over them my net, Like birds of the heavens I will bring them down; I will chastise them because of their wickedness;*1 13Woe to them, that they have- strayed from me ! Destruction to them, because they have been untrue to me. Although it was I who redeemed them, they spoke lies about me, "And they have never cried to me with their heart, But they are ever howling beside their altars for corn and new wine, They cut themselves,6 they rebelf against me, ^Although it was I who trained and strengthened their arms, Concerning me they plan only evil, 16they turn to Baal,8 They have become like a bow that swerves,11 *76 Following the Gk. The Heb. makes no sense. y 76 So Syr., Targ., and many Heb. manuscripts. § 21 Originally each strophe appears to have contained seven lines. Throughout the major part of this section the four-beat measure is employed. With the warning note in 7160 ff. the shorter three and two-beat movements appropriately reappear. The section graphi cally characterizes Israel's weak, vacillating policy in trying to secure foreign aid, unmindful of the true Deliverer. z 78 /. e., is dominated by foreign customs and ideas, so that it is lacking in natural char acter and strength. a 79 /. e.. foreign nations, Aram, Philistia, and Assyria. b 79 Signs of , premature old age. 0 7'° Cf . 55 and Am. 46- ". Their own arrogance and its consequences are evidence against them. d 712 Following a simple reconstruction suggested by the Gk. As their congregation has heard, is obviously a corruption. e 7'4 So Gk. and certain manuscripts. f 714 Making a slight correction of the text. e7'6 Gk. and Syr., they turn to nothing. Probably this and the corrupt Heb. are due to the late scribal tendency to substitute some opprobrious word for this hated name. h 7's I. e., incapable of hitting the true mark, Jehovah. The word may also mean re laxed. Cf., for the two possible meanings, Ps. IO4, 1202, 3. 93 Israel'ssad de generacy and stupid ity Its foolish,faithlessforeign policy Itstreach eryand re bellion Hos, 715] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA The pun ishment of their guilt Their princes shall fall by the sword, Because of the insolence of their tongues.1 In the land of Egypt, 8 Hhey will lick the dust,J For as an eagle I will swoop down upon my house. Because they have transgressed my covenant, And trespassed against my law.' To me they continually cry, 'My God, we Israel, know thee' 3Israel has spurned that which is good, Let the foe pursue him. Israel's men^madekingsandidols Its sui cidal foreign relations §22. Hos Jehovah's Repudiation of Israel's Rulers and Idols, Hos. 84-'4 8 'They themselves have made kings but without my consent, They have made princes but without my knowledge,"1 Out of their silver and gold, they have made idols to their de struction !n ¦ cMine anger is kindled against them, How long will they escape punishment? 5aThy calf, O Samaria,0 is distasteful,0 6For from Israel it is also; A workman made and it is not good;q Like splinters1, shall Samaria's calf become. 'For they sow the wind and reap a whirlwind; A shoot which has no stalk and yields 'no fruit!3 If it should yield, strangers would devour it. ' 716 The meaning of this line is very doubtful. The above reading is obtained by re garding the clause, this their scorn, as a gloss. j 8' Following a suggestion of the Gk. in restoring the corrupt Heb., which reads, to thy mouth with the trumpet. k8' Heb., House of Jehovah, but this is due to a common scribal error. Cf. 915. 1 8' The language and thought are those of the late prophetic school of editors, and these two lines manifestly interrupt the close sequence of thought in the stanza. § 22 Israel's government and religious cult are here pronounced entirely illegal. In the light of experience and in view of the character of the degenerates who in his day rapidly suc ceeded each other on the blood-stained throne of Israel, the kingship in the north was a sorry failure. Equally repulsive to a prophet, whose mind was filled with noble conceptions of Je hovah's power and love, were the loathsome religious practices of his countrymen. It is signifi cant that Hosea, the prophet of the north, here first suggests two principles that were destined in the later Ephramite and late prophetic or Deuteronomic schools, which interpreted his teachings into the concrete terms of law and life, to become very prominent. The one was that the institution of kingship was contrary to the will of Jehovah. Cf. I Sam. 7, 8, 12; Vol. II, §6, p. 13; the other that the northern cult and shrines were illegal. Cf . Dt. 12, I Kgs., 1333- 34 Vol. IV, p. 32. Later generations were so keenly interested in the themes here treated that they have supplemented the section at many points. It consisted of originally three strophes of eight lines. The three-beat movement prevails. m 84 Primarily Hosea doubtless had in mind the schism between the north and the south which arose at the death of Solomon. Cf. Vol. II, § 59. »84 So Gk., and Syr. This last clause is loosely connected with its context, and may be a gloss added by a scribe who had in mind the Samaritans. ° 85" This line is demanded here and is entirely inconsistent in its Heb. context. ¦> 86* Lit., stinks. Samaria is probably, like Ephraim, used as a designation of the north ern kingdom. The reference, then, is to the well-known calf of Bethel. q86 /. e., like the kings, a human not a divine creation. r88 Slightly correcting the Heb. The picture is that of the complete destruction of the wooden image made by man's hand. ¦8' Ajloubtful hne. The Heb. evidently contains a play on the similar words, shoot and fruit (cemUh and kemuh). 94 REPUDIATION OF ISRAEL'S RULERS [Hos. 8s 'Israel is devoured; already it is among* the nations, As a vessel in which there is no pleasure. 9For by themselves they have gone up to Assyria, As a wild-ass which goes apart by itself.* Ephraim gives love-gifts; "And if they give themselves among the nations, I must now scatter them,u That they may cease a little from anointing kings and princes.v uFor as many altars as Ephraim has erected,w Cor- They are to him altars for sinning, ^on" oi 12Were I to write for him ever so many instructipns,x thena- As those of a stranger would they be regarded. wor- X3They love sacrifice,y and so they offer sacrifices, p Flesh, and so they eat it, Although Jehovah is not pleased with them, Therefore he must now remember their guilt, And punish their sins. To Egypt must they return," 14For Israel forgot his Maker, And Judah built palaces, Judah also multiplied fenced cities; And so I will send fire upon her cities, And it shall devour her palaces." § 23. The Horrors of the Coming Exile, Hos. 9'-» Hos. 9 JRejoice not too loudly,0 O Israel, like the heathen, De- For thou hast played the harlot, being untrue to thy God,c Son of Thou hast loved a harlot's hire upon every threshing-floor.d people Threshing-floor and wine-vat shall not know them,6 And the new wine shall disown them. They shall not dwell in Jehovah's land, «89 So Gk., and probably Heb. u 8'° Following a revised text, Heb., / will now restore. v8'° Following the Gk. Cf. also 73. Heb., they shall involve themselves with tribute to the king of princes. This vs. may be secondary and exilic. w 8n Following the Gk. in omitting, to sin, which by mistake has been introduced twice in the Heb. *812 Heb., by myriads, or, myriads of my instruction (or law). y 8'3 Following a suggestion of the Gk. in restoring the obviously corrupt Heb. z 813 This last hne is probably secondary. The Gk. adds, from 93, And in Assyria they shall eat the unclean thing. » 814 The reference to Judah, the thought of the passage and the fa.ct that the section con cludes naturally with ", indicate that this vs. was added by a later prophet who had in mind the striking idioms of Amos's introduction and of Is. 40-66. § 23 The occasion of the prophecy was doubtless some harvest feast. The wild, heathen ish spirit of exultation and revelry, which characterized its celebration, are the background upon which the prophet projects the dark picture of coming exile. Then the rehgious insti tutions which they prized so dearly shall be impossible. b 91 Lit., to exultation; or Gk., do not exult. The clause may be an explanatory gloss. 0 9' Lit., away from thy God. d 91 The threshing-floors were probably also the ancient high places upon which Baal, the god of fertility, was worshipped. Cf. II Sam. 24. ° 92 So Gk. and the corrected Heb. text. 95 Hos. 93] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA But Ephraim shall return to Egypt, And in Assyria they shall eat what is unclean. Impos- They shall not pour out libations of wine to Jehovah, Sfritu^ Not prepare for him their sacrifices, alwor- Their* bread shall be like the bread of mourning; theVx11- All who eat it shall defile themselves, ile For their bread shall be only for their hunger, It shall not come into Jehovah's temple. 5What will ye do on the day of the festival?8 Or on the day of Jehovah's feast? Deso- 6For behold they will soon go to Assyria,11 oM°ie Egypt shall gather them, Memphis1 shall bury them, land Nettles shall take possession of their treasure of silver, Thorns shall come up in their tents.J mg Vindi- The days of visitation are come, of the The days of recompense are at hand, P"5-. The Israelites'11 shall know, teach- [Who say], 'The prophet, is a fool, The inspired man is raving mad,'1 It is because of the greatness of thy iniquity and the greatness of thy sin.m 8Ephraim acts the spy with my God, A prophet finds the snares of a fowler are in all his ways; In the house of his God they lay hostile plots,11 They commit crimes as in the days of Gibeah, [Jehovah] will remember their iniquity, He will visit with punishment their sin. f 94 So Gk. An obvious error has crept into the Heb. text. e 95 Cf. I Kgs. 82, 1232, Ezek. 4S25. It was a great harvest feast to which the people made annual pilgrimages. h 96 Heb., from destruction, i. e., from the conquering hand of Assyria. Probably the original read, to Assyria. Cf. 3. ' 96 Egypt was the place of refuge for many exiles in 722 and 586 b.c. Memphis was famous for its great cemeteries. i 96 A picture of the devastation that shall overtake the cities of Israel. k97 Heb., Israel; but the verb is in the plural, implying that the original read, children of Israel. 1 97 In the light of 8 these words appear to have been addressed by infatuated people to the true prophets Hke Hosea. m 97 Correcting what is probably a scribal error. Heb., hostility. n 98, 9 The possible reconstructions and interpretations of these vss. are legion. The above follows the Heb. and Gk. very closely, simply _ dividing the vss. a little differently. It is also consistent with the rest of the passage. The idea appears to be that Israel's hostile attitude toward Jehovah finds expression in secret, treacherous persecution of his prophets, so that, like the Gibeathites of old (Judgt. 18-20), the people disregarded the most sacred laws of piety and morality. Cf. 10. More radical reconstructions give the readings, There is hostility to the watch man in the house of his God ; the prophet finds the snare of the fowler in all his ways. Or (Harper, Amos and Hosea, 333), Enmity exists toward Ephraim' s watchman; the prophet [finds] the snares of the fowler in all his ways ; in the [very] house of his God they dig for him a deep pit. ISRAEL'S CORRUPT PRACTICES [Hos. 91( § 24. Israel's Corrupt Religious Practices and the Inevitable Judgment, Hos. 9'°-108 Hos. 9 10Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel;0 Like the first fruit on a fig-treep I saw your fathers; But as soon as they came to Baal-peor,q they consecrated themselves to Baal,r And became as abominable as the object of their love. "Ephraim — like a bird his glory flies away; There shall be no more birth, no more motherhood, no more conception. laDYea, if they do bear children, I will slay the darlings of their womb;3 "Even though they bring up their sons, I will bereave them until not a man is left. Verily, woe to them when I look away from them. 13Ephraim — as I have seen, his sons are destined to be a prey,* Yea, Ephraim himself must lead forth his sons to slaughter. 14Give them, O Jehovah — what wilt thou give ? Give themu a miscarrying womb and dry breasts !v 15 All their evil culminated in Gilgal,w yea, there I learned to hate them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them, for all their nobles are rebels. WaEphraim is blighted, their root withered,* 17bAndy they shall become wanderers among the nations. IO1 A luxuriant vine was Israel,2 He bore fruit3, lavishly; § 24 Israel's early promise is here contrasted with the present demoralization due to the defiling, destroying influence of the Canaanite cults to which the northerners had yielded so readily. In 910-" the four-beat movement prevails, but in the forceful picture of the ruin that will result the more energetic three-beat measure appears. While the theme throughout is the same, the course of thought frequently changes, forming short strophes of four lines each. 0 9'° /. e., the discovery brought unexpected joy and kindled fond hopes, i p 910 A scribe has added the gloss, in its first time, to make the statement still more ex plicit. q 9 10 The reference is to the tradition referred to in Num. 2328, 25'-5, Dt. 446, which states that when the Israelites first came into contact with the Baal cult of Canaan they yielded to its attractions. 1 9l° As in the names of Saul's sons, later scribes have here inserted the Heb. word shame for Baal. Cf. Vol. II, § 9, note." 9 916 The figure is that of a tree smitten by the sun's heat or by worms. The line may be secondary. '9'3 Following the superior readings of the Gk., Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion. The Heb. is badly corrupted. u 914 The Gk. omits give them, and it may be but a scribal repetition. v 914 By some this vs. is interpreted as the prophet's prayer that the sentence may be ameliorated. Its meaning, however, appears to be: make even more severe the sentence so well merited. Possibly the entire vs. is secondary. w 9's The allusion is evidently to the corrupt Baal rites practiced at the ancient sanctuary near Shiloh. Cf. 413, 12", Am. 44, 53. * Transferring >6b. to the position after " demanded by the context. A scribe has apparently added from " or S7, They shall bear no fruit. y 9"" The change of person, the language, and the comparative mildness of the charge indi cate that the line, My God will cast them away, for they do not hearken to him, is secondary. z 10' Carrying on the figure and thought of 9'0> Ifl: 1 10' The text and the meaning of the Heb. verb are doubtful. The above rendering is consistent with the context. 97 Israel'searly contamination The penalty of immo rality Childlessness Ban ish ment Per vertednatural gifts Destruc tion of the altars Hos. IO1] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA In proportion to the increase of his fruit he increased altars, In proportion to the beauty of his land he made beautiful the pillars. Their heart is false,0 Now must they be punished; He0 himself will break the neck of their altars, He will destroy their pillars. Overthrowof the king ^ea, soon they will be saying, 'We have no king,d For we have not revered Jehovah, And the king, what can he do for us?' Thedis credit ing of the calf of Sa- 4Speaking words, perjuring themselves, making agreements, And litigation" springs up like poppy in a plowed field.' 5For the calf8 of Beth-avenh The inhabitants1 of Samaria shall tremble, Yea, his people shall mourn for him, And his priestlings^ shall writhe for him, For his glory, because it has departed from him.k Its capture and de porta tion This also they will carry off to Assyria, As a present to the great king.1 Disgrace shall Ephraim bear. And Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.m Deportation of thekingDesolationof the localsanct uaries 7As for Samaria, her king is cut off, He is like a ship on the face of the waters." 8And the high places of Israel0 shall be destroyed, Thorns and thistles shall come upon their altars, And they shall say to the mountains, 'Cover us,' And to the hills, 'Fall upon us.' b 102 Lit., slippery, Gk., divided. ' IO2 I. e., Jehovah. d IO3 This vs., like the following, has no very clear connection with its context, which deals with the overthrow of the obnoxious Baal cult, and may be a later insertion. But cf. 713. 10 for the same idea. The meaning appears to be, we have no legitimate king. The im- poster who sits on the throne is useless to deliver us. Possibly king was a popular designation of the image worshipped at Samaria. Cf . also 7, where this interpretation well fits the context. • IO4 Lit., law. ' IO4 Probably this vs. is from a later scribe who was not satisfied to leave the rhetorical question in 3 unanswered. It suggests the results of the kingly misrule. The metre is awkward and the exact meaning of the original not clear. s 10s So Gk., Heb., calves. h 10s Doubtless Bethel is intended and possibly was in the original. 1 10s So Gk. Heb., inhabitant. i 10s Used only by the heathen priests. II Kgs. 23B, Zeph. I4. k 10s Possibly this last line is secondary. 1 10» Heb. King Jarib. Cf. 5'3 and § 19, note.1 _ m 106 Heb., counsel, but a very slight correction gives the above consistent reading. n 107 As in 3, the reference to the king is awkwardly introduced and in its Heb. context destroys the unity of the section. Vs. ', as well as 3- 4, maybe from a later hand. The idea is that Israel's king is tossed about helpless in the hands of foreign conquerors — a powerful figure in keeping with Hosea's graphic style. 0 108 A scribe has added in the Heb., Aven, sin. The corrected text is evidently original. 98 A NATION'S SOWING AND REEPING [Hos. 10° § 25. Whatsoever a Nation Soweth that Shall it also Reap, Hos. 1010-16 Hos. 10 °From the days of Gibeah is Israel's sin, There they took their stand. Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah? Against the dastardsp 10I will come, and chastize them,** And peoples shall be gathered against them, To chastize them for their double crimes/ Thepunishment of Israel'scrimes "Ephraim indeed was a trained8 heifer that loved to thresh, And I myself laid a yoke* upon his fair neck, I made Ephraim draw; he must plow; Jacobu must harrow for himself. 12Sow for yourselves righteousness, Heap the fruits of love; Break up your fallow ground; For it is time to seek Jehovah, To the end that the fruit of righteousness v may come to you.w MBut ye have plowed wickedness, iniquity have ye reaped; Ye have eaten the fruit of lies. The perver sion of its nat uralgifts Because thou hast trusted in chariots,* in the multitude of thy warriors, "Therefore the alarm of war shall sound in thy cities,y And all thy fortresses shall be ruined, The resulting na tionalruin anddisaster § 25 This short section from a slightly different point of view reviews Israel's dark record. It begins with the crime at Gibeah, already alluded to in 99. As noted there, the reference seems to be to the crime of the-Gibeathites and their defiance of law and order recorded in the earlier version in Judg. 19-21, Vol. I, § 132. Others would connect it with the establishment of the kingdom in the days of Saul, who for a time made his camp at Gibeah, I Sam. 132. This identification, however, does not satisfy all the implications of the context in Hos., nor is it clear that the prophet regarded the original establishment of the kingship as a crime. p 109 Lit., sons of iniquity. q 1010 So Gk., and a slightly revised Heb. text. Present Heb., In my desire and I will chastize them ; Syr., In my wrath. Many more radical reconstructions have been suggested but with this slight change the otherwise unintelligible vs. becomes clear. Just as at the beginning of Israel's history the Benjamites, defending their crime, resisted the rest of the tribes and so defied Jehovah. So now the whole nation, following the example of the Benjamites, is courting destruction. Possibly the original read, As in the days of Gibeah, war shall overtake the dastards. r iQLQ Following the Gk. and Syr. The text is doubtful and the exact meaning exceed ingly uncertain. By many the line is regarded as an interpolated allusion to the two sanctu aries of Dan and Bethel. If original, the reference is probably to the early sins of the nation, of which the atrocity at Gibeah was an example, and to the present crimes, or else the allusion, may be to the double crimes: one class, political, symbolized by the kingship; the other, re ligious, symbolized by the heathenish sanctuaries and their cults. B 1011 Possibly, trained, is secondary. fc 1011 Or, 7 spared. u 10u A scribe has added, as often in Hos., Judah. He probably desired to identify Jacob with Judah, but in the original only the northern kingdom was in the mind of the prophet. The thought of these two vss. apparently is that Israel was well equipped for the national problems that confronted it on entering Canaan. Toil was necessary, but fidelity would have been rewarded, as the labors of the patient oxen in the springtime are crowned by the abun dant harvest. v IO12 So Gk. Cf. fruit of lies in 13. Heb., until he come and rain righteousness. w io12 This deeply spiritual passage was probably added by a later prophet familiar with Jer. 43, for 13 is the immediate sequel of ll, and 12 introduces the new and different figure of the sower. The thought also is not consonant with that of the context and it contains several words and phrases found only in later writings. * 10la Slightly correcting the Heb. as demanded by the context. v 10u Again emending as required by the parallelism. Heb., people. 99 Hos. IO14] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA As Shalmanz laid in ruins Beth-arbel in the day of battle, The mother being dashed to pieces over her children. ^hus will P do to you, O house of Israel,b Because of the enormity of your wickedness, In the dawn0 shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off. Jeho vah's love and Is rael's infidelity His tender careandguidance of the race The punishmentthat Is rael de- 26. Jehovah's Fatherly Love and Care for His Faithless People, Hos. II1" Hos. 11 'When Israel was young, then I began to love him, And out of Egyptd I called his sons.6 ^he more If called them, The further they went away from me. They kept sacrificing to Baalim And making offerings to images. ^et it was Ig who taught Ephraim to walk, Taking them up in my arms;h But they did not know that I healed them;1 4With humane cords' I ever drew them, With bands of love. And I was to them as one who lifts up the yoke from off their jaws. And bending toward1 him, I gave him food to eat. 5He must return to the land of Egypt,m Or Assyria will be their king; For they have refused to return" to me. z 10M Shalman has been identified with the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, who made a campaign against Damascus in 773-2 B.C. and possibly invaded the east-Jordan country; and with Shalmaneser IV, who besieged Samaria in 722. Beth-arbel may be the Arbel west of the Sea of Galilee, I Mac. 92, or Arbel near Fella. If the reference is to Shalmaneser IV, the line is a later addition. The identifications, however, are so uncertain that a definite conclusion is » IO15 So Gk. Heb., he. i> 10ls So Gk. Bethel. 0 IO15 I. e., as suddenly as comes the break of day; or revising the text, in the storm. § 26 Here under the figure of a father teaching his son the first lessons of life the prophet presents Jehovah's love for Israel with supreme beauty and tenderness. To the oriental the relationship between father and son was even closer than that existing between husband and wife. Cf . 2. The obligation of the son to his father was also greater than that of a wife. It is, therefore, in this classic passage that Hosea's two antithetic themes — the infinite love of God and the sad contrast, Israel's base ingratitude — find most dramatic expression. The central ideas, the figure of the fatherhood of God, and the spirit of the entire section are most closely related to the gospel of the NT. It only remained for Jesus to apply them to God's relation to the in dividual as well as to the nation. d ll1 Or, from the time they were in Egypt. • ll1 So Gk. and Targ., supported by the following vs. The current translation, / called my son, does not do justice to the Heb. f ll2 Again following the superior Gk. text. e lis Following the Gk. h ll3 /. e'., when they were weary. 1 ll3 I. e., when they fell and were bruised. Theirs was the old popular mistake of at tributing their prosperity to the Baalim. i ll4 Lit., cords of a man, the figure in this vs. is that of a kind ox-driver who tenderly and effectively aids the struggling, weary animals in drawing their heavy load. k ll4 I. e., to relieve them when the strain was over. 1 ll4 So Gk. and slightly correcting the Heb. The text of this vs. is, however, uncertain. Marti (Dodekapropeten, 87), following a fundamentally revised text, finds here not the further portrayal of Jehovah's love, but the transition to righteous judgment which is developed in 5ff. ™ 11s Hosea regarded both Egypt and Assyria as the possible land of exile. Cf. 81S, 93-6, also ll11. The subsequent history demonstrated the truth of his predictions. a 11B Note the play on the word return. 100 JEHOVAH'S LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE [Hos. 11° therefore the swords shall whirl in their cities,0 And shall devour in theirp fortresses, 'For my people are bent in rebelling against me, And upon the Baalim they call with one accord.* 8How can I give thee up, O Ephraim! give thee over, O Israel!1, How am I to give thee up as Admah!s make thee like Zeboim! My heart asserts itself,* My sympathies are all aglow," 9I will not carry into effect the fierceness of my -anger, I will not turn to destroy Ephraim, For God am I, and not man, Holy in the midst of thee, therefore I will not consumed The prompt ings of the di vine heart of love "They will follow after Jehovah; Like a lion he will roar; When he shall roar, Sons from the west shall come hurriedly; "They shall come hurriedly like the birds from Egypt, And like doves from the land of Assyria. And he will bring them back to their houses. It is the oracle of Jehovah," The later picture of res tora tion § 27. Israel's Faithlessness from the First, Hos. H'2-12" Hos. 11 Ephraim has encompassed me with falsehood, And the house of Israel with deceit, But Judah is still known with God, And faithful with the Holy One.1 12 xEphraim herds the wind and hunts the sirocco, All day long they heap up falsehood and fraud,y And make a league with Assyria, Israel's treacherous,faithless record ° ll6 The next two words in the Heb. are probably a corrupt variant reading of the pre ceding. o ll6 Correcting the Heb. text. q ll7 This vs. is almost hopelessly corrupt. For the many different readings that have been suggested, cf . Harper, Amos and Hosea, 368. The above reading is perhaps as simple and satisfactory as any, and is in harmony with the context. * ll8 The great prophet of God's love here voices in language, both human and divine, the supreme love and regret and compassion that fill the heart of the Infinite Father as he regards his guilty, unrepentant children. The elegiac measure, with its alternating three and two beats, adds to the beauty and force of the passage. a ll8 These places correspond in Hos. (and Dt. 2S23) to Sodom and Gomorah in Am. and Is. as classic examples of divine judgment. ' ll8 Lit., turns upon me. u ll8 Lit., are made to boil. v ll9 Heb., enter into ihe city. But this corrupt text is probably due to a common scribal error. w 1110. u These two vss. assume the background of the Bab. exile and echo the hopes and promises of the exilic prophets. Cf. Jer. 5138, Is. 2713, and Am. I2. They represent the later concrete interpretation of the divine compassion which Hosea so nobly expresses in the pre ceding vss. , § 27 Originally this section appears to have contained three strophes of ten lines each, with the three-beat movement, occasionally passing into the elegy. It is a review of Israel's black record. Starting with the reference to Jacob, a later prophet has added a long supple ment. x ll12 The meaning of these last two lines is very doubtful. The above reading is based on a suggestion contained in the Gk. It is clearly a later addition. Another possible reading i», Judah is still wayward with God, and with the Holy One, who is faithful! y 121 So Gk. 101 Hos. 121] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA And carry oilz to Egypt. 2Jehovah hath a charge against Israel,3, To punish Jacob for his acts, According to his deeds will he requite him, 3aIn the womb he supplantedb his brother. The exampleof Ja cob,perfectedthroughdiscipline "And Jacob fled to the territory of Aram,0 And Israel served for a wife, Yea, for a wife he herded sheep. 3bIn a man's strength he contended with God,d *He contended® with the angel and prevailed, He wept and besought mercy of him. At Bethel Jehovah found him,f And there he spoke with him.s &And Jehovah is the God of hosts, Jehovah is his name, Thus thou shouldst by the help of thy God return.h 6Keep true love and justice, Wait on thy God without ceasing.1 Israel'sill- gottengainsno pro tection from exile 7Canaanite!j In his hand are false balances; he loves to defraud; 8For Ephraim says, 'Yes, I have become rich; I have secured wealth foi myself, 'k All his gains1 will not secure for him exemption for the guilt that he has in curred, °For I, Jehovah thy God, from the land of Egyptm Will make thee again dwell in tents,n as in the days of old.° Jeho vah's con stant guid- ance of his people 10Yet I spoke continually by the prophets, And it was I who multiplied visions, And spoke in parables through the prophets. * 121 Oil being the most valuable product of the land, Dt. 88, Ezek. 1619, was taken as a present to insure an alliance. a 122 Heb., Judah, but note that Israel is demanded in the next two verses. b 123a A play on the word Jacob, supplanter. c 1212 This vs. has no place in its context, for 13 is the immediate sequel of I0. It clearly belongs between 3a and 3b. d]23 Cf.. Gen. 32 2i~w. 0 123 This vs. contains a play on the word, Israel, El contends. f 124 Cf. Gen. 2816. The author of this vs. evidently had a different tradition in mind, which, like the late priestly version in Gen. 356- 7, placed the revelation at Bethel on Jacob's return from Aram. « 124 So Aquila, Syr., and Theod. Heb., us. h 125 This vs. is probably a very late addition. i \2n> 3b-6 In 3a the reference to Jacob as the deceitful supplanter is consistent with the preceding context, and is doubtless original. The later traditions illustrate the tendency to idealize the character of Jacob. Vss. 12> 3b-6 were clearly added by a later editor, familiar with them, for they present a very different portrait of the patriarch. The aim of the later editor was to encourage his fellow-exiles that, like Jacob, they would, if true, be brought back to Canaan . j 127 Lit., Canaan, a contemptuous designation of the tricky, trafficking Northern Israel ites, who, like their forefather Jacob, were ready to barter their integrity of character for ma terial gains. k 127 The metre is here elegiac. » 128 So Gk. ™ 129 cf. 13*. a 129 If this is intended as a promise of restoration, the vs. is secondary; if it is a threat that all their material civilization will soon some to an end, it is original. The latter appears to be the true interpretation. ° 12s Making a correction in the text. Heb., of the feast. 102 ISRAEL'S FAITHLESSNESS [Hos. 121S And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up from Egypt, And by a prophet he was guarded.p Ephraim has given bitter provocation Pun- His guilt of bloodshed his Lord" will leave upon1 him, ment And for his reproach he will repay him. of their In Gilead3 is iniquity, yea they have wrought vanity, quity In Gilgal they sacrifice to demons;* So their altars shall be as stone-heaps, Among the furrows of the field. § 28. Jehovah's Final and Complete Destruction of the Guilty Nation, Hos. 13 Hos. 13 'When Ephraim used to speak there was trembling;11 Early A prince was he in Israel. ityband But he incurred guilt through Baal and died. later 2a J il. • • ldola- And now they go on sinning; ¦ try of They make for themselves molten gods — raelitea From their silver, idols according to their own model ;v Smiths' work all of it! To such they speak !w Men who sacrificex kiss calves! 'Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud, Sud- Like the dew that early disappears, f^e Like the chaff which blows away from the threshing-floor, im- And like the smoke from the window. ing 4Yet it was I, Jehovah, thy God, Their Who brought thee up from the land of Egypt, fum*£ And a God beside me thou knowest not, pf Je- XT _ . . . hovah e JNor has there been any saviour except me. care p j213 The reference is to Moses. Cf. Dt. 1815, 3410, where he is also properly designated as a prophet. This vs. may be secondary, as the change of person suggests, but its logical posi tion is immediately after 10. Vss. n- 12, have for some reason been transferred f ronvtheir natural setting. Vs. u is the logical conclusion of the section. q 12u Transferring his Lord from the next line to make the meaning clear. r 12u Gk., pour upon. s 12" Correcting the corrupt Heb. text. 1 1211 Again making the necessary correction in the Heb. text. § 28 The same cycle of thought here reappears: Israel's early promise, Jehovah's tender care, the heinous crimes of the people that had undermined their character, the necessity of a sweeping judgment. The guilt of the nation is so enormous and the attitude of the people so defiant that Jehovah has no opportunity to reveal his fatherly love in blessings. The situation admits only of the severest discipline. Therefore the prophet of love proclaims in relentless terms the final, complete destruction of the nation. u 13l Slightly correcting the Heb. This line contains the description of Israel's former prestige. * 132 Restoring the Heb. with the aid of the Gk., Syr., Lat., and Targ. w 132 Or supplementing the present text, Say, ' O God.' 1 132 The Heb. of this Tine is very awkward, sacrificers of man. The reference can hardly be to human sacrifices, because this was not associated with calf-worship and was only later in troduced among the Hebrews. y 134 So Gk. and Syr. The Heb. omits, who brought. 103 Hos. 135] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA Jeho vah's ven geance 5It was I who shepherded2 thee in the wilderness, In the land of burning heat. 6As they fed, they were filled to the full, They were filled to the full so that their heart was lifted up; Therefore they forgot me! 7And so I will be to them like a lion, Like a leopard will I lay in waita by the way, 8I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of its young, And will tear open that which encloses their hearts, And there the lions of the forest shall devour them,b And the wild beasts shall tear them in pieces. None to de liver them 9In the time of destruction, O Israel, who will help thee?c 10Where is thy king now that he may deliver thee? And all thy princes that they may secure for thee justice ?d Those of whom thou hast said, 'Give me kings and princes/ UI give thee kings in my anger, And take them away in my wrath. Unfitted to meet the comingcrisisLeft by Jehovah to theirfate Theprey of foreign invaders 12Ephraim's iniquity is gathered up ; his sin is laid by in store.e 13The pangs of childbirth come upon him, but he is an unwise child ; For this is no time to stand in the mouth of the womb.f 14Shall I deliver them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death ? Come on with thy plagues,g O death! On with thy pestilence, O Sheol! Relenting11 is forever hid from mine eyes. 15Though he is flourishing in the midst of the reedgrass,1 There shall come an east wind, Jehovah's wind, * 135 Following a suggestion of the Gk. and Syr. in correcting a common error in the Heb. This correction is supported by6. a 137 A scribe has mistaken the Heb. verb for the similar word Assyria. b 138 Following the Gk. which is supported by the parallelism of the vs. Heb., And there I will devour them like a lion. c 139 Here also the Gk. and Syr. have a superior reading and aid in the true reconstruc tion of the Heb. d 1310 Making a necessary correction in the Heb. * 1312 /. e., it shall not be forgotten in the day of judgment. The metre suddenly and effectively changes to the five-beat measure used in lamentations for the dead. f 1313 The thought in this vs. is clear: Israel has reached a great crisis in its history which is comparable to the birth of a child; but the nation, weakened by its sins and unconscious of its opportunity and responsibility to co-operate with God in bringing about its new birth, stands inert. Like that of a still-born babe, its soul must go back to Sheol, the abode of the dead. s 13u Lit., Where are thy plagues; but this is a common form of command. The context leaves no doubt regarding^ the meaning t of this much-misinterpreted passage. h 13u /. c, the "revoking of his decision, for it was conditioned upon the character and at titude of the people. The English unfortunately has no equivalent for this word. Repent ance and repent are both misleading, for they imply regret for mistakes or wrong-doing on the part of God. Jon. 39> 10 well illustrate the meaning of this Heb. word. 1 1315 An Egyptian loan word. Cf. Gen. 412. The Heb. through an error joins the first letter of the next word to the end of this giving rise to the corrupt, impossible translations. 104 DESTRUCTION OF THE GUILTY NATION [Hos. 131!> Coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain shall dry up, And his spring shall be parched; While the f oe^ . shall strip the treasure, Consisting of all precious things. leSamaria shall bear her guilt ;k Guilty For she has rebelled against her God. riaAs0' They shall fall by the sword, fate Their children shall be dashed to pieces, And their women with child shall be ripped up. § 29. Later Words of Exhortation and Promise, Hos. 14>-» Hos. 14 Return, O Israel, to Jehovah thy God; Proph- For thou has stumbled through thine iniquity. horta*" ^ake words1 with thee, tion And return to Jehovah thy God. Say to him: Do thou wholly pardon iniquity and let us receive favor ;m Peo- And thus we will pay the fruitn of our lips; prayer 3eFor in thee the orphan finds mercy.0 f°rr_ don > 1315 Here the figure changes, possibly indicating a later addition. The spoiler is clearly Assyria, the east wind of the second line. k 13'6 Or, be laid waste. § 29 The ideas, the spiritual^ fervor, and the highly poetical figures and expressions of Hosea suffuse this wonderful section. It is a supremely appropriate conclusion to the book which presents most clearly and sublimely the necessity of deep, true penitence .for sin, the intimate relationship between the nation and Jehovah, the greatness of the divine love, and God's eagerness to pardon and restore; but, if it is from Hosea, it must come from the earlier Sart of his ministry or else, more probably, after the wave of Assyrian conquest had engulfed rorthern Israel, for the seemingly irrevocable doom pronounced in the preceding chapter and the record of Israel's closing years leave no place for it elsewhere. _ By many scholars it is now regarded as the addition of a later spiritual disciple of Hosea, possibly the same who added the kindred passages in IO12 and 134-'. The reasons for this conclusion are briefly: (1) That it de stroys the force of his previous warning and implies an entirely different historical background; (2) it assumes that the punishment has been inflicted; (3) its emphasis upon words and physical blessing is unlike Hosea who emphasized deeds and spiritual blessings: (4) the language and literary style is that of a later school. These reasons, however, are far from decisive, especially if the passage be assigned to the latest stage of Hosea's activity. The marks of later authorship are also at the best very indistinct. The poetic structure is carefully developed. The three-beat movement is regularly fol lowed and the whole consists of six short strophes. In these the prophet introduces' a balanced dialogue between penitent Israel and Jehovah, in which he sets forth with powerful dramatic force the spirit in which the nation should come and what would be the divine response. 1 142 I. e., words like the following, indicative of true repentance. m 142 Following the Gk. and Syr. in restoring the last two words. Heb., Do thou wholly remove iniquity and accept that which is good. A slight change gives the above harmonious reading. I. c, pardon our sins and make us again the recipients of thy gifts and favor. n 142 So Gk. The Heb. is corrupt. The meaning is, songs of thanksgiving and vows of obedience. o 1430 Transferring this line to the position where it alone finds its true setting and inter pretation. Otherwise it must be regarded as a later gloss. 105 Hos. 143] THE SERMONS OF HOSEA Pro fessionof faith 3a~d Assyria will not save us; We will not ride upon horses [to Egypt! ;p And we will no more say, 'Our God/ To the work of our hands. Jeho vah's sponse:fullpar don Superlative pros perity 4I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely,*1 Now that my anger is turned away from them, 5I will be as dew to Israel. He shall blossom as the lily, And he shall strike in his roots like Lebanon/ And his saplings shall spread out, 6And his beauty shall be like that of the olive tree.8 Recon cilia tion and re nown 7They shall return and dwell* in my shadow, And they shall live well-watered likeu a garden. And they shall sprout like the vine; Their renown shall be like that of the wine of Lebanon. Provisionfor every need 8Ephraim — what more has hev to do with idols! It is I [Jehovah] who respond to him and look after him, I am like an ever green cypress ;w From me is thy fruit found. The lesson of the prophecy Whoever is wise, let him discern these things. Prudent, let him perceive them; For Jehovah's ways are straight, And the righteous walk in them, But the wicked stumble in them.1 p 14M /. e., to make an alliance. Cf Is. 3016, 1 Kgs. IO28, Ezek. 1718. The horses in Israel appear to have been usually imported from Egypt and were always associated in the minds of the Hebrews with the land of the Nile. The parallelism strongly supports the above interpre tation. q 14* J. e., of my own free will. r 145 Like the luxuriant vegetation on Mt. Lebanon, of which the noble, sturdy cedars, able to defy all storms because their roots were struck deep in the rocks, were the most promi nent illustrations. ¦ 146 A scribe, who was reminded by the preceding reference to Lebanon, has added, And his odor like Lebanon. The sudden change in w-6 from the direct to the indirect discourse is perhaps also because they are later editorial additions. * 147 Following a, suggestion of the Gk. Heb., they will raise again, is entirely incongruous with the highly poetical context. u 147 The Gk. has preserved the original text of this vs. y 148 Following the Gk. Heb., to me. w 148 By many this line is put in the mouth of Israel, but there are no indications of the change of antecedent, and while the figure of Jehovah as a tree is without precedent, it is the simplest interpretation, i. e., Jehovah will ever give to his penitent people shade and protection. xThe very late book of Ecc. (12la- u) is the only other O.T. book which has a similar epilogue. The wisdom coloring indicates that it is from some later wise man who, like the au thors of Pr., divided humanity into two classes, the righteous and the wicked or deliberate transgressors. Cf. Pr. ll6, 15l*. He evidently felt that the importance of the truths presented in the book — and possibly its obscurities which required careful study — called for some such index hand, directing the attention of all to it. It has been mankind's loss that the suggestion has been so little heeded. 106 m EARLIER PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOZ Is. 21, ft-41, 5, 6, ^-lO4 § 30. Isaiah's Call and Commission, Is. 6 Is. 6 *It was in the year that King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord sitting upon a lofty and exalted throne; and the skirts of his robe filled the temple. 2Seraphim were standing attendant* before him. Each had six wings ; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his loinsb and with two he flew. 3And they kept calling to each other, saying : Holy, holy, holy,c is Jehovah of hosts, The whole earth is full of his glory. 4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the sound of their calling, and the temple was filling with smoke.d ^henlsaid: Woe to me! I am undone, For I myself am a man with unclean lips, And I am dwelling in the midst of a people of unclean lips, Yet mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts. ^hen one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coale in his hand that he had taken with tongs from off the altar. 7And with it he touched my mouth and said: See, this has touched thy lips, Therefore thine iniquity is gone and thy sin forgiven. § 30 As has been already noted, Isaiah's activity falls into four distinct periods (Introd.). The account of his call was probably written about 735 b.c, when his counsel has been rejected by king and people and he turned to his few faithful disciples as the sole guardians of the truth which he had proclaimed. It is a part of the instruction which he sealed among his dis ciples (816). The closing paragraphs reflect the sense of discouragement which he inevitably felt when his earnest warnings had been so openly spurned by his nation (§§_ 35, 37). Isaiah's object in telling of the supreme experience which marked the beginning of his active prophetic ministry was evidently to make clear to his faithful disciples the influences that determined his life-work. He sought thus to encourage them in the time of their despondency by giving them also a vision of Jehovah's majesty and of the inevitable obstacles that beset the path of the true prophet. The date of Isaiah's call was the memorable year about 740 B.C., when the startling news came of the death of the great King Uzziah who for nearly half a century had brought to Judah strength and increasing prestige. It was an occasion to make every true patriot pause and think. With wealth and power had come social and moral evils and a national spirit of pride and materialism. Assyrian war-clouds were also approaching from the north (cf. Introd., p. 13). Judah was on the eve of a period of great danger and distress, and the direction of affairs fell on weak shoulders. a 62 Cf. I Sam. 16«. b 62 Lit., feet, but this is evidently used here as in I Sam. 243 and elsewhere euphemisti cally for the private parts. _ c 63 The Hebrew means separate, unique. The context indicates that this uniqueness was, (1) in power, and therefore it might be translated, almighty ; and (2) in moral character, in strik ing contrast to that of the people, therefore, holy. d 64 The symbol of Jenovah's displeasure because of the impurity of his people. e 65 The reference seems-to-beHso a hot stone, such as was-heated and then used for cooking bread. Cf. I Kgs. 196. 107 The visionof Je hovah'struemajestyandholi ness Its ef fectupon Isaiah Hismoral cleans ing Is. 68] ISAIAH'S EARLIER PROPHECIES His re sponse to the divinecare 8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying : Whom shall I send, And who will go for us? And I said : Here am I; send me. The re ception of his message 9And he said: Go and say to this people: Keep on hearing, but have no comprehension; Keep on seeing, but have no perception.* 10Make fat the heart of this people, And their ears dull and besmear their eyes,g Lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, And their heart perceive, and their health be restored! Nature of his mes sage 11 And I said : How long, O Lord ? And he said : Until the cities are in ruins without an inhabitant, And the houses without a human occupant, and the land is lefth in utter desolation. 12And Jehovah have sent the men far away, and in the midst of the land the deserted territory be great.1 13 And should there still be a tenth in it, it must in turn be fuel for the flame, Like the terebinth and the oak of which after felling but a stump remains .i f 6° Clearly an ironical description of the attitude of the cynical, self-satisfied, morally dull hearers of Isaiah's words. e 610 These words voice the prophet's later experiences which were fresh in his mind when he wrote down the account of his call. h 611 Following the Gk. and Lat. 1 612 The seeming reference to the experiences of the exile and the introduction of Jehovah in the third person, although from the context he is evidently the speaker, suggest that possibly this verse was added by a later scribe. j 613 The last line, The holy seed is its stump, is lacking in Gk. It corresponds to the many brighter messianic appendices which later scribes have added elsewhere to the original predic tions of doom. Holy seed is a late term. Cf . Ezra 92. The metre is also entirely different from that employed in the rest of the verse. t The fact that it is not found in the Gk. confirms the other evidence that it is a very late addition. 108 JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD [Is. 51 § 31. Jehovah's Vineyard and its Evil Fruits, Is. 51-2* Is. 5 *Let me sing a song of my friend, A love song regarding his vineyard. A vineyard belongs to my friend on a hill that is fruitful. 2He digged it and cleared it of stones, and choice vines he planted. A towei^ he built in its midst and hewed out a wine-press. He looked to find grapes that were good, but wild1 grapes it yielded. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, ye people of Judah, Judge yourselves, I pray, between me and my vineyard.m ^What more could be done to my vineyard than that which I have done ? When I looked to find grapes that were good, why yielded it wild grapes ? 5And now let me tell you what I purpose to do to my vineyard. For I will remove its hedge that it be devoured, And I will break through its wall that it be down-trodden; cYea, I will make it a waste, not pruned nor weeded. Then shall it put forth thorns, and brambles;11 And to the clouds will I give command that they rain not upon it. 7For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the House of Israel, And the men of Judah — they are his cherished plantation. He looked for justice, but, behold! bloodshed; For redress, but, behold! a cry of distress.0 Pro logue The well- nur tured but un fruitfulvine yardAppeal for a deci sion De struc tion of thevineyard Jehovah's vine yard § 31 The close parallelism to the remarkable opening address of Amos suggests that it represents the first that the youthful Isaiah delivered before his countrymen. The occasion may have been some public assembly, one of the great feast days at which the people were en tertained by story and song. Like his predecessor, Amos, Isaiah reveals superlative tact and skill in gaining the hearing of his audience and in preparing a way for the effective presentation of his unpleasant message. He asked permission to sing a song on a theme of greatest interest to the people of Judah whose chief source of revenue were the fruitful vineyards which crowned the rocky hills about Jerusalem. In his opening words there was no suggestion of the applica tion of his story. The metre was the dramatic five-beat measure which was used by the He brew poets to express deep emotion, whether of sorrow or of joy. An attempt has been made in the translation to reproduce something of the wonderful lilt of the original. While his hearers are nodding assent to Isaiah's question comes the sudden application, and they and their nation stand condemned by the very laws which they followed in their occu pation as vineyard keepers. The connection between the first seven verses and the rest of the chapter is not close. Possibly the different woes represent extracts from various addresses delivered by Isaiah in his earlier days. Manyof them are but fragmentary and the text has notbeen well preserved, but they are placed in their logical position, for they represent the typical wild grapes which Jehovah's vineyard, Judah, was bearing. Isaiah's analysis of the crimes of the different classes in the nation is only equalled by that of Amos, the great social prophet of Northern Israel. Isaiah was doubtless influenced, espe cially in these opening years of his work, by his older contemporary, both in theme and method of presenting his message. Possibly not less than five and certainly not more than ten years intervened between the memorable occasion when the shepherd prophet stood up before the nobles of Bethel and when the youthful Isaiah sang his wonderful parable of the vineyard before the nobles and landholders of Jerusalem. k 52 /. e., for the watchman who would guard the vineyard against marauders. 1 52 J. e., sour, unpalatable, and useless. m 53 This verse marks the transition. Isaiah identifies himself with his friend Jehovah and passes from the third to the first person. n 56 A picture of utter desolation. ° 57 In the English translation an attempt has been made to bring out by assonance the corresponding play in the Heb. on the words for redress (cedakdh) and distress (ge'akah). The reference is clearly to the injusticeof the judges in the public tribunals, and the protest of their victims against the iniquitous decisions. 109 Is. 58] ISAIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS Its evil fruits: and monop oly 8Woe to those who join house to house, Who add field to field Until there is no space left, And ye dwell alone in the midst of the land. 9In mine ears Jehovah of hosts hath sworn,p Surely many houses shall become a desolation, Though great and fair, they shall be without inhabitants; l0For ten acresq of vineyard will yield but one bushel/ And ten bushels3 of seed but one bushel of grain.11 De bauchery and disregard of respon sibility uWoe to those who rise at dawnu To pursue strong drink, Who tarry late in the evening Until wine inflames them, ^And lyre, and harp and timbrel And flute and wine are at their banquets; But they regard not the work of Jehovah, And see not what his hands have made. 13Therefore my people go into captivity unprepared, And their men of wealth are famished,v And their noisy revellers are parched with thirst. 14Therefore Sheolw yawns greedily And to the widest extent opens its mouth; And Zion's nobles and her noisy revellers* shall go down into it, Together with her careless throng and all who rejoice within her.y 17And lambs graze as in a wilderness, And fatlingsz feed amid the ruins. Fool ish, im- pious< skepti cism 18Woe to those who draw guilt upon themselves with cords of folly ! And punishment as with a cart rope; p 59 The verb has been lost in the Heb., but with the aid of the Gk. it may be restored conjecturally. For a similar idiom cf . Am. 42, 68, 87. Others would supply from the analogy of Is. 221* the verb, revealed himself, but the conjunction which introduces the following line in the Heb. demands the verb of swearing. q 510 Lit., yokes. A yoke apparently represented the land which a team of cattle could plough in a day. r 510 Heb., bath, equivalent to the ephah. B 5*9 Heb., homer, a measure ten times as large as the bath or ephah. * 510 Lit., ephah. u 511 Lit., rise early; a characteristic Heb. idiom to express great zeal. v 513 Heb., lit., dead of hunger. Possibly the text should be slightly changed in accord ance with Dt. 32M so as to read, pinched with hunger. t The Heb. has the abstract terms, their honor or wealth and their multitude, but these terms evidently stand for the different classes in the community. w 5M /. e., Sheol, the abode of the dead, stands eagerly waiting to receive these guilty offenders. Sheol is here pictured as a great monster with open mouth. x 514 Again abstract words, are used in the Heb. to describe the different elements in the nation. The antecedent, Zion, which is clearly implied by the context, has been supplied. y 5U The vss. which follow 15> 16 read And mankind is bowed down, and man is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty ones are brought low, but Jehovah of hosts is high through judgment and the holy God shows himself holy through righteousness. These vss. are almost universally recog nized as a later scribal addition, based upon 29< ll. They have no connection with the preced ing and immediately following context and deal with the haughty rather than the careless, pleasure-loving crowd whom Isaiah was denouncing. The conclusion of the original woe is found in n. B 517 After fatlings a Hebrew scribe has added an explanatory word. In its present form it means, wolves; but the Gk. suggests that the original word was lambs or kids. no EVIL FRUITS OF JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD [Is. 510 19Who say: Let what he would do hasten, Let it come speedily that we may see it, Let the purpose of Israel's Holy One draw near, And come, that we may perceive it. 20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, Who put darkness for light and light for darkness, Who out bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter !a Vicious sophistry 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes! And prudent in their own conceit! KWoe to those who are heroic in drinking wine, And valiant in mixing strong drink! ^Who for a bribe vindicate the wicked, And strip the innocent man of his innocence. ^Therefore as a tongue of fire devours stubble, And as hay shrivels in a flame; So their root shall be as rottenness, And their blossom go up like dust, Because they have rejected the instruction of Jehovah of hosts, And despised the word of Israel's Holy One. »-dTherefore Jehovah's wrath is kindled against his people And his hand is stretched out against them. He smiteth them until the mountains tremble, And their corpses are as refuse in the midst of the street." Prideand egoismShameless in justice Sud den and com pletede struc tion imminent § 32. The Revelation that Isaiah, the Son of Amoz, Saw Concerning Judah and Israel, Is. 21. s-41 Is. 3 6Jehovah hath renounced his people, the house of Israel,*3 For they are full of divinationd from the East, And they practice magic like the Philistines. With foreigners they make compacts. a 520 The language is highly figurative and abrupt. The reference is evidently to the presumptuous, defiant sinners in the nation, who by their acts and attitude openly court Je hovah's judgment. This passage contains the first reference to arrogant scepticism in Heb. life. b ys25a-d appears to be a scribal appendix to the original Isaiah oracles which close with u. Vs.25 introduces new figures, The wrath of Jehovah directed against his people is a characteristic Deuteronomic motive. The figure of the outstretched arms is taken from the recurring refrain in 912, 17, 2i( io4, 5K °-£. The pictures of the earthquake and the corpses on the streets are favorite figures with later or post-exilic writers, e . g., Joel 416, Jer. 921, 164, Z533. The tenses also look backward rather than forward to the exile. § 32 This sermon, like that found in 51-24, probably represents one of Isaiah's earliest recorded addresses. It shows clearly why in the presence of Jehovah's holiness he cried out, "I am dwelling among a people with unclean hps." In the first chapter, 26-20, the pride and heathenism of the nation as a whole are denounced. t The contrast between Jehovah s peerless majesty and the vainglory of his nation is constantly in the prophet's mind. In the second gen eral division, 3l-&1, he points more definitely to existing evils and the incapacity and guilt of the 0 2° Following the Gk. and Lat. and supplying the subject. The Heb. reads, For thou hast renounced thy people, the house of Israel. d 26 Restoring a word evidently left out; the scribe overlooked it owing to its similarity to the preceding Heb. word. Ill Jehovah'satti tude towardprevailingcrimes Is. S7] ISAIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS 7Theire land is full of silver and gold, And endless are their treasures. Their land is full of horses, And countless are their chariots. 8And their land is full of idols; The work of their own hands they worship, That which their own fingers have made. Jeho vah'svindicationof his majesty 10Go in among the rocks,f And hide thyself in the dust From before the terror of Jehovah, And the splendor of his majesty, When he arises to inspire awe throughout the earth.g "Human pride shall be brought low, And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And in that day shall Jehovah alone be exalted. Jeho vah's judgmentday 12For a day of judgment hath Jehovah of hosts Upon all that is proud and haughty. And upon all that is lifted up and high,h 13Upon all the cedars of Lebanon, the haughty, And upon all the oaks of Bashan, the lifted up, 14And upon all the mountains, the proud, national leaders and of those who, like the rich women of Jerusalem, were squandering their wealth simply to satisfy their vanity. The original passages clearly come from the years 740'735 b.c. The references in 34 to youths ruling over the nation and to social anarchy point to the opening years of the reign of the weak Ahaz. The grim predictions of coming disaster were also perhaps suggested by the advance of Assyria. The superscription in 21 furnishes a fitting title to the section as a whole. Possibly the section represents extracts from three independent addresses, but all deal with certain aspects of the same theme and together make a closely knit unit. 22-4 is found again in Mi. 41-4. Vs.6 is apparently an abbreviation of Mi. 4s, suggesting that the passage in Is. was taken from.the shorter book. Its ideas and point of view are those of the Babylonian exile and Is. 40-55 rather than of the Isaiah who preached in the presence of conditions in Judah under the rule of Jotham and Ahaz. Like the appendix to the book of Am., it was probably added originally to Is. 1 to offset the grim prophecy which that chapter contains. In the same way 42-6 was evidently appended to the sermon in 26-4I. It contains allusions to the events of Manasseh's reign, but its language and ideas are those of the post-exilic period and especially of the days following the reforms of Nehemiah. The original form of the prophecy has been much obscured in transmission. Many lines of two-beats are found, but the prevailing measure is the ordinary three-beat line. e 27 Heb., his, and so throughout '• 8 referring to the collective in6. f 2». ", Vs.9 lacks the metrical structure of the rest of the chapter and is out of harmony with its context. Either it is*a marginal gloss Hke m, which has crept into the context, or else it is a shortened form of the refrain in n> 17. In its present form it reads, Mankind is bowed down, and man is brought low, and thou canst not forgive them. Its tone is not that of Isaiah, but of the later wisdom school. The antecedent of thou in the last line must be Jehovah, but Jehovah cannot be the one addressed in vs. 10. Possibly from the analogy in n> ll the vs. originally read, Mankind shall be bowed down And man shall be brought low And Jehovah alone shall be exalted. It, however, simply anticipates the characteristically Isaian putting of this thought in n. In any case the text is far more logical and complete without it. Vs.™ may have originally read the same as ,9, and the singular rather than the plural may be due to the influence of 9. e 210 So Gk. The Heb. has lost this line but has retained it in the corresponding refrain in 19. h 212 So Gk. The Heb. has, brought low, which is evidently due to a scribal error (dittog- raphy). 112 18 SINS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL [Is. 214 And upon all the hills, the lifted up, 15And upon every high to.wer, And upon every fortified wall, leAnd upon all the Tarshish-ships, And upon all costly vessels.1 "And human pride shall be bowed down, The And the haughtiness of men brought low, throw And in that day shall Jehovah alone be exalted, man"" And the idols — completely shall they pass away. pomp 19And men will go into the caverns of the rocks, vanity And into the holes in the ground,5 From before the terror of Jehovah, And from the splendor of his majesty, When he arises to inspire awe throughout the earth.1* 3 'For behold the Lord Jehovah of hosts is removing Na- From Jerusalem and Judah every stay and support,1 disso- ^he hero and the man skilled in war, lution The judge and the prophet, the diviner and elder,™ 'The commander of fifty and the man of eminence and the coun sellor, The one skilled in magical arts and the expert in charms. 4I will make youths their princes, Social And capricious men shall rule over them. fution 5And the people shall oppress one another, Each man his neighbor; They shall be insolent, the boy to his elder, And the contemptible to the honorable man. 6 When a man takes hold of another, [saying], Com- ' There is a mantle in your11 father's house,0 collapse Be a chief over us, °f the And let this heap of ruins be under your rule,' ment 1 216 Or, works of art. The exact meaning of the Heb. word is not known.. i 2" Heb., dust. k 219 A scribe has added the following repetitious prose note: 20 In that day men shall cast their idols of silver and gold which they have made io worship, to the moles and the bats, 2l that they may enter into the clefts of the rocks and into ihe crevices of the cliffs, because of the terror of Jeho vah and ihe splendor of his majesty when he arises to inspire awe throughout the earth. Although 21 is clearly modeled after the refrain in " new and entirely different synonyms are used from those employed by Isaiah in I0, I9. The Heb. also adds a further note, K O cease trusting in man in whose nostrils is a breath/ For at what is he to be valued/ This observation of a pious scribe was not found in the text followed by the Gk. translators and was clearly added by a scribe in the spirit of Jer. 17s, Job 7W, Ps. 1186. 9, 146 '¦ *. 1 31 All stay of bread and stay of water was clearly later added by a scribe who misunder stood the original. m 32 The metre here is not regular and the vs. is regarded by many as an interpolation. n 3a Changing his to your. # The error was very natural. 0 38 /. e., you are distinguished from the rest of us in this hour of our extreme poverty in that you possess a mantle which can be used as a symbol of authority. The language, of course, is Hyperbolical and is intended to emphasize the extremities to which the nation is reduced. 113 Is. 37] ISAIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS 'In that day he will cry out saying, 'I am not your physician, . For in my house there is no food nor mantle, You shall not make me the chief of the people.' Guiltof the peopleand its effect 8For Jerusalem tumbles in ruins and Judah falls, Because their words and deeds are against Jehovah To defy his majestic eyes. 9The appearance of their facesp testifies against them, And their sin they proclaim, like Sodom,1! without concealment. Woe to them! for they have wrought their own misfortune. Inefficiency of the present rulers Jehovah'schargeagainsttheeldersand princes 12My people — a boy is their leader, And women rule over them! My people — thy guides lead thee astray, And thy highways they have brought to ruin. 13Jehovah standeth forth to present his case, And he standeth up to judge his people. "Jehovah entereth into judgment With the elders of his people and their princes: 'You yourselves have devoured the vineyard, The spoils of the needy are in your houses. 15What do you mean by crushing my people, And by grinding the face of the needy?' Is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah of hosts. Judgmentawaiting the proud,vainwomenof Je rusalem 10 And Jehovah saith : Because Zion's daughters are haughty And walk with heads held high, and wanton glances,*1 Tripping along as they go and jingling with their ankles,8 "Therefore, the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, And Jehovah will expose their shame.* 24 And instead of perfume there shall be rottenness; And instead of a girdle, a rope ; instead of carefully arranged hair, bald ness; And instead of the beautiful garment, sackcloth; branding instead of beauty. p 39 Or, partial decisions, i. e., influenced by favoritism. q 39 Possibly this word was added by a scribe. r 316 Lit., with out-stretched necks and leering eyes. ¦ 316 I.e., taking short, mincing steps and making a tinkling noise with the rings on their ankles in order to attract attention. *317 A later editor, with more interest in detail than poetic o\ prophetic instinct, has added a long note describing the different articles of apparel worn by Hebrew women. It adds nothing tothe direct, powerful arraignment of Isaiah, but is of great archaeological interest. It opens with the formula frequently used by the later editors to introduce their supplements; 18 In that day Jehovah will put away the beauty of their anklets and the Utile suns and the crescents; "the pendants, the arm-chains, and the veils; 20 the head-dresses, the ankle-chains, the girdles, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 2l the signet rings, the nose rings; ^ the festal robes, the mantles, the shawls and the purses; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans and the large veils. 114 SINS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL [Is. S25 Thy men shall fall by the sword and thy warriors in battle. And her gates shall sigh and lament, and she shall sit on the ground despoiled.u 4 *And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day,v Saying, ' Our own bread will we eat, and our own garments will we wear. Only let us bear thy name; take thou away our disgrace!' § 33. Jehovah Successive Judgments upon Lawless Israel, Is Qa-lO4, 526-ao- 25c Is. 9 8A message the Lord sends against Jacob, The And it smites^ Israel, ^f^j" 9So that the entire people shall know it, nhed Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, of Who are so lifted upx with pride and haughtiness of heart that they foe? s say, 10 'Bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stone; Sycamores have been cut down, but we will set cedars in their place.' ^Therefore Jehovah hath stirredy up their oppressor,2 u 325,^ 26 These vss. interrupt the close connection between 2* and 4l and introduce the pict ure of a city whose defenders have been slain and which sits bewailing its fate. The change from the first to the third person in w is also unusual. By most commentators these vss. are regarded as secondary, although the evidence is not entirely decisive. v 4l Being unmarried and without children was the greatest disgrace which could befall an oriental woman. In this graphic passage Isaiah declares that the guilty land should be completely stripped of its defenders that the proud, wanton women to whom he spoke would be husbandless or else forced# to marry on the most humiliating terms. It furnishes the natural and fitting conclusion to Isaiah's bold denunciations of the pride and false ambition of the dif ferent classes in Judah. The very different picture which follows in chap. 4 reflects the hopes and conditions of a far later age and therefore can best be studied in conjunction with other similar messianic predictions. § 33 This section-is one of the few in which Isaiah refers to conditions in Northern Israel as well as in Judah. He uses the same designation, Ephraim, for the northern kingdom as did his contemporary Hosea. There is no reference to the alliance in 735 b c. between Northern Israel and Damascus against Judah. Instead, Aram is the foe of Northern Israel as well as of Judah. Cf. 912. The first stanza reveals that pride and self-confidence in tht face of impending calamity which characterize the Northern Israelites in the years immediately following the death of Jeroboam II. This section therefore comes from between the years 7*0 and 735 B.C., and probably not long after the beginning of Isaiah's ministry. The strophic structure is remarkably regular and a definite progress is discernible through out the entire section. The three-beat measure prevails, although some of the lines pass over into the longer four-beat measure. The awful refrain: For all this his anger is not turned away. And his hand is outstretched stih, marks the close of each strophe, which, with the exception of the last, contains exactly fourteen lines. The section as a whole is a powerful analysis and arraignment of the crimes of the two Hebrew kingdoms. In describing the guilt of the nation and the calamities which have already befallen it, the prophet employs his most powerful figures. In succession the nation has already experienced the loss of territory to the Arameans and the Philistines, tne decimating of its population, bloody civil strife and the cruel oppression of the weak by the strong. All these calamities are but the precursorsof that greater judgment which Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah each saw rapidly approaching — Assyria. In its present order, the poem in 98-104 is incomplete. By some mischance in the trans mission of the text its conclusion and climax have fallen from their original place and are now found at the end of chapter 5, where they are superfluous and ill fit their context. Restoring this stanza, which describes in most powerful imagery the coming judgment, the poem is complete. w 98 Heb., falls into; i. e., like a thunderbolt. * 98 Supplying two words which have evidently dropped out as the result of a common scribal error, and which are demanded by the context. y 9" Following the Gk. Heb., brought near. * 911 Resin has been inserted in the Heb. by a later scribe. 115 Is. 911] ISAIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS And spurred on their enemies against them,a 12Aram on the east and the Philistines on the west, To devour Israel greedily.b For all this his anger is not turned away, And his hand is outstretched still. De- ^Lut to him who smites them the people turn not, ticTof And Jehovah of hosts0 they do not seek. the 14S0 Jehovah hath cut off from Israel head and tail, aenderS Palm-branch and rush in one day;d l^se 15The elder and the prominent man — he is the head, The prophet who gives false oracles — he is the tail.6 ^Thus the guides of this people proved misleaders And those who were led by them were devoured.* 'Therefore the Lord spareth8 not their stalwart youths, And on their orphans and widows he hath no pity, For each of them is godless and an evil-doer, And every mouth speaks impious folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, And his hand is outstretched still. Cniel 18For unrighteousness burns like a fire Tn'of"' Which consumes thorns and briars; class And kindles in the thickets of the forest, ycasa And they roll up columns of smoke. 19By the furyh of Jehovah1 the land is consumed, And the people become food for the flames.J No one has pity on his fellows; 20They cut off slices on the right, yet are hungry, They devour on the left, yet are unsatisfied. Each devours his neighbor's flesh :k 21Manasseh Ephraim and Ephraim Manasseh; And both together are against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, And his hand is outstretched still. a 9U In the Heb., against them (lit., him, Israel) goes with the preceding line, but the poetic {>arallelism favors the above and the Heb. order is apparently due to the mistaken repetition of a etter. b912 Heb., with full mouth. 0 913 Gk. omits, of hosts, as in 19. Possibly this is secondary. «• 9U Symbols of the high and lowly. Cf . 19ls, Dt. 2S"- ". 0 915 This is perhaps an explanatory note added by the same scribe who had in mind 32. f 916 This vs. appears to be a later addition reflecting 312. The people naturally refers to Judah, while the original context concerns only Northern Israel. e 917 Emending as the parallelism of the vs. absolutely demands. Received Heb., rejoices. h 919 Making a slight correction in the otherwise impossible text. 1 919 So Gk. The Heb. adds, of hosts. The latter destroys the metrical structure. i 91B Or, are like canibals. This would be parallel to the following context. k 920 So Gk. and the corrected Heb. 116 hand of an in- JEHOVAH'S JUDGMENTS UPON ISRAEL [Is. IO1 10 *Woe to those who set up iniquitous decrees, Perver- And the scribes who devote themselves to writing oppression, Uwand ^o turn aside the dependent from securing justice, justice To despoil the afflicted of my people of their right, That widows may be their prey, And that they may spoil orphans! 3What, then, will you do in the day of punishment, And of the driving tempest which shall come from afar ? To whom will you flee for aid, And where will you leave your wealth ? *Only as they crouch under the captives,1 And fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, And his hand is outstretched still. 5 ^Therefore he will raise a signal to a distant nation, The And will hiss to it to come from the end of the earth. f°m~ And behold, quickly, swiftly it will come. judg- 27There will be none weary nor any who stumble;™ the The girdle of their loins is not loosened, And the thong of their sandals does not tear, vincible ffl,„ ° , , foreign Whose arrows are sharpened, foe And whose bows are all bent. The hoofs of their horses are counted as flint, And their wheels are counted as a whirlwind. 29Their roaring is like that of a lion, Like young lions they roar and growl; They seize their prey and escape, and none rescues it.n 25e,JFor all this his anger is not turned away, And his hand is outstretched still.0 1 10* The Heb. text is very uncertain. Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti radically reconstruct so as to read: Beltis is bowed down, Osiris is broken And under the strain they fall. Beltis (the female deity equivalent to Isis) and Osiris represent the gods of the Egyptians whose alliance and help the Israelites were seeking. Cf . 1710> ll. m 527 The Heb. adds, probably from Ps. 1214, he neither slumbers nor sleeps, but this does not fit the present context and must apply to Jehovah. a 529 With 29 and the refrain in 25e' f the remarkable series of stanzas in which Isaiah pictures the fate about to overtake the two Heb. kingdoms is complete. To this has been added, however, the following vs., And there shall be over it in that day a roaring like the roaring of the sea, And if one looks to the earth, behold, distressing^ darkness, And light has become darkness because of his distress. The above translation is in part based upon the Gk.; the last word in the Heb. is unintelligible and the entire vs. is exceedingly obscure. That it is a later addition is generally recognized. The figure is entirely different from Isaiah's vivid picture of the advancing conqueror. The exile appears to be in the mind of the scribe. The obscurities of text and meaning reflect a literary style far inferior to that of Isaiah. o 525e, f These lines are usually regarded as the conclusion of an incomplete stanza in M. They are, however, loosely connected with their context (cf . §31 note c) and furnish the refrain lacking at the close of 29. The transposition may well have been made when the entire pas sage, 5®-2', was separated from its original context. 117 IV ISAIAH'S COUNSELS IN THE CRISIS OF 735 B.C. Is. 7, 8, 171"", 28' -* § 34. The Approaching Overthrow of Damascus and Israel, Is. 171"14 Ruin Is.l71Soon shall Damascus cease to be a city, mascus And shall lie in ruins forever. 2Its cities shall be given up to flocks,3. And they shall lie down there with none to disturb. 3Ephraim shall lose her bulwark,b And Damascus her sovereignty; And the rest of Aram shall perish, Like the Israelites shall they be,0 Is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. Sweep- 4And in that day shall the glory of Jacob grow dim, disaster And the fatness of his flesh disappear; |°j;ael 5And it shall be as when a harvester gathers standing grain, And his arm reaps the ears. Yea, it shall be as when he gleans in the Valley of Rephaim,*1 6And the gleanings from it shall be left as at the beating of an olive tree: Two or three berries on the topmost branch, Four or five on the boughs of a fruit tree, — e It is the oracle of the God of Israel.1 Future 7In that day mankind shall look to its Maker conver- And its eyes shall turn to Israel's Holy One.e sion of kind § 34 As its superscription, Utterance concerning Damascus, indicates, this address of Isaiah owes its position among the foreign prophecies to its theme. Its contents clearly show that it comes from the period preceding^ the fall of Damascus in 732 B.C., and not long before that event. As is recorded in the introduction to chap. 7 (§ 35), the kings of Damascus and Northern Israel formed, about 735 B.C., a coalition of Palestinian states to resist the victorious advance of Assyria under Tiglath-Pileser IV. Judah under Ahaz refused to join with them, and to com- Eel her to do so they advanced against Jerusalem. Vss. |2-ub are usually assigned to a later age, ut no period in Hebrew history furnishes a better setting than this critical time, when these northern confederates were beginning to move toward Jerusalem. From 7'-84 we know that the certainty of their overthrow was the central theme of Isaiah's predictions at this crisis. His announcement of the speedy and complete destruction of these northern kingdoms was therefore intended to allay the fears of the king and people of Judah and to prevent unwise entangle ments. It was delivered about 735 B.C., probably a short time before the similar messages to Ahaz and the people recorded in 7 and 8. Together these chapters give a remarkably vivid picture of the activity of Isaiah in the great crisis of Judah's history. » 17l- z Reconstructing the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. Heb., The cities of Aroer are forsaken, but Damascus is clearly the subject here. b 173 So Gk., which has evidently preserved the original. * 173 /. e., both peoples shall share the same fate. d 17s The valley to the southwest of Jerusalem. These words are not found in the Gk. and may be secondary. • 176 The closing word contains a play on the word Ephraim. 1 17" The original may have read, Jehovah of hosts, as in 3 and elsewhere in Isaiah. b 17^. 8 These vss. introduce a different metre and entirely different theme, and destroy the close connection between 6 and 9. Several un-Isaian phrases are also found, and the theme is one which first became of primary interest to the post-Assyrian prophets. 118 OVERTHROW OF DAMASCUS AND ISRAEL [Is. 17s 8It shall not look to the altars, the work of its hands, And it shall not have regard for those things which its fingers have made.'1 8In that day shall thy cities be deserted1 The Like the ruinsJ of the Hivites and Amorites,k folly of "Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, tasy And hast not remembered the Rock which is thy defence.1 the ° Therefore, though thou plantest shoots for Adonis, popu- And settest out twigs from a strange god,m heathen "And in the same day when thou plantest thou fencest them in, And on the next day bringest thy shoots to blossom, The harvest shall vanish in the day of sickness and incurable pain.u ^Woe to the tumult of many peoples The Like the tumult of the seas when they are tumultuous, sudden And the uproar of mighty0 nations struc- tinn nf Is like the roaring of waters when they roar. these 13But when he rebukes them,p they flee far away, eninef And they are driven like chaff on the mountain before the wind, north- Like whirling dust before the whirlwind. powers 14 At eventide behold, terror! Before morning they are no more. This shall be the fate of our plunderers And the lot of those who despoil us. h 178 A scribe has added the explanatory gloss, the asheras and the sun-pillars. i 179 Following the Gk. The Heb. text is badly corrupted. j 179 Again following the Gk. in reconstructing the Heb. The Hivites were the village dwellers. Amorites is one of the general terms describing the early inhabitants of Palestine. k 179 A scribe has added the prose explanatory note, which they deserted before the Israel ites; and it has become a desolation. 1 1710 The language in these two lines is that of the later Deuteronomic school and they may therefore be later editorial additions. Cf. Dt. 612, 811- »• 18- 19, 32»8. m 1710 The text and allusions in these lines are obscure. The reference evidently is to the worship of Adonis, which was widely practised in southern Syria and Phcenicia. Northern Israel's alliance with Damascus had undoubtedly given a new emphasis to this worship among the people of Northern Israel. Gardens and certain kinds of plants were closely connected with this cult. Isaiah here evidently condemns ironically the zeal of the Northern Israelites in worshipping this foreign god and declares that in the coming hour of national distress it will be of no avail to deliver them from the sickness which will overtake them. n 17u The last part of this vs. hasbecome hopelessly corrupt so that even the Gk. trans lators failed completely to understand it. 0 1712 Following the Gk., which connects the adjective with nations, preserving the original metrical structure of the vs. p 1713 A scribe, by mistake, has repeated the last five words of the preceding verse at the beginning of ls. They possibly took the place of an original line of the Heb, which has been lost, for the transition is exceedingly abrupt, 119 Is. 71] ISAIAH'S COUNSELS IN 735 B.C. Attack of Aram andIsraeland its effectupon Ahaz Isaiah'sadvicenot to fearthenorthernfoes Their realweak- § 35. Isaiah's Message to Ahaz in the Crisis of 735 B.C., Is. 7 Is. 7*In the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin, king of Aram and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to take it. And when it was reported to the house of David that Aram had settled down? upon Ephraim, Ahaz's heart and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. 3The Jehovah said to Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, together with thy son Shear-jashub,r at the end of the conduit of the upper pool8 on the highway by the fuller's field, and say to him, 4' Take heed and keep calm ; fear not, neither be faint-hearted because of these two fag-ends* of smoking firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. 5For Aram has been planning evil against thee with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying, 6"Let us go up against Judah and terrify and overpower itu and appoint the son of Tabealv king in its midst." ' 7Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall not stand nor come to pass. 8For the head of Aram is Damascus, § 35 The date of the prophet's activity recorded in this chapter was about 735 B.C. The main facts are given in the introductory vss., which come from a later editor of the prophecies. Terror had evidently seized king and people at the prospect of the joint attack of Damascus and Northern Israel. That the attack was imminent is suggested by the fact that Ahaz was ap parently examining the defences of Jerusalem in the prospect of a siege. In the light of the later development it would seem that the king had already taken steps to conclude a foolish and treasonable alliance with the common foe, Assyria, although this fact was probably not known to Isaiah. He is well aware, however, of the selfish, cowardly character of Ahaz and has no patience with his mock humility. The refusal of Ahaz to ask a sign or to be convinced of the truth of Isaiah's advice simply to stand fast and trust Jehovah to deliver them evidently con vinced the prophet of the king's treasonable purpose. Possibly the chapter represents two different addresses, but the close-knit unity would suggest that it was all delivered on the same day. The traditional translation and interpreta tion of the account of the sign in 14 has been unfortunately influenced by the mistake of the Gk. translators in rendering the Heb. word, virgin, and by the use of this translation in Mt. I23. An exact translation removes many of the difficulties that have gathered about it. The young woman would seem from the form of the Heb. to be some definite person well known to the prophet and king, and therefore either the wife of Isaiah or Ahaz. Since the son soon after born to the prophet receives another name, it is more probable that the young woman was the queen. If the child to be born was the prince, who ultimately received the name Hezekiah, the implica tion of the narrative would be fully satisfied. The date was about 735 B.C., and Hezekiah came to the throne about 715 b.c. The only difficulty in accepting this identification is the statement of the later editor in II Kgs. 182 that Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king. If this difficulty be considered insuperable, it is possible to regard Isaiah's statement as general and applicable at this crisis to any young mother who should then bear a child. Cf. further note J.q 7s 7. c, they were so numerous that in joining their forces with those of Northern Israel they settled down like a great swarm of bees. r 73 The name of Isaiah's son, A Remnant shall Return, evidently like the names given to Hosea's sons, embodied and illustrated one of the prophet's earliest messages. It implied that foreign conquest would sweep over the land, but that a portion of the people would survive. It therefore embodies the same teaching as is found in the closing words of Isaiah*s call, which come from the same period. The meaning of this strange name was doubtless known to the king and people, and it was probably to impress this message upon the king that Isaiah took with him his little son. a 73 The site of the upper pool has not yet been absolutely identified. It may have been the pool to the north of the temple area, but more probably it was the pool in the lower Tyropcean Valley, just inside the ancient city walls and near the main street which led down through the city to a point where the Kidron and Hinnom valleys met. * 7i I. e., almost burnt out and therefore not to be feared even though they may blaze high for the moment. u 7fl Slightly revising the Heb. text. » 76 The form of the name suggests that the nominee of these northern powers was himself an Aramean. 120 ISAIAH'S MESSAGE TO AHAZ [Is. 78 And the headw of Damascus is Rezin,x 9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If ye will not hold fast, only Verily ye shall not stand fast. 3eYv-fe ranee 10And Jehovah spoke further to Ahaz, saying : "Ask thee a sign of Jehovah, Ahaz's thy God ; ask it either in the depth of Sheol or in the height above.y 12But Jo b«a Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I put Jehovah to the test. con" , 13Then Isaiah said, Hear now, O house of David : is it too small a thing for _,. you to weary men that ye must weary my God also ? 14Therefore the Lord sign of himself will give you a sign: Behold! a young woman2 will conceive and eariv bear a son and call his name Immanuel.8, ^Curds and honeyb will be his j^ow food when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before of the child shall know how to refuse the evil and choose the good, those two Israel', kings thou dreadest shall be forsaken. 17Jehovah will bring upon thee, and j"^an upon thy people and upon thy father's house days such as have not been since the day Ephraim separated from Judah.c 18And in that day Jehovah will hiss to the flies and the bees,d Com- 19And they will all come and settle down ness^of the de- w 78 /. e., these upstart kings of Northern Israel and Damascus determined the policy of +jon the kingdoms over which they played the tyrant. ' x 7 8 A scribe who probably had in mind Ashurbanipal's transfer of certain colonists to Samaria, alluded to in Ezra 48-10, has added the note, And within sixty-five years shall Ephraim be broken so that it shall be no longer a people. It disturbs the close connection of the context, is not in the literary style of Isaiah, and contradicts the statement of the prophet in 16 and 84 that the calamity will come quickly. y 7U Revising the Heb. text as the context requires. The meaning of this vs. evidently is, ask any sign whatsoever. Cf. II Kgs. 208-11. It is difficult to conceive what Isaiah would have done had Ahaz interpreted his words literally and asked as a sign eitner an earthquake or an eclipse. In the lignt of Isaiah's work and method as a whole, it seems probable that this expression was used figuratively and hyperbolically to impress upon the king the prophet's conviction that his message was true- The fact that the sign which follows has nothing of the supernatural tends to confirm this conclusion. 2 714 Lit., the young woman. The Gk. in translating this word virgin, is entirely unjustified, for the Heb. has a different and definite word to express the idea of virginity. The present Heb. word simply means a young woman of marriageable age, whether married or unmarried. The use of the definite article would imply that the prophet had in mind a definite young woman, either his own wife, or the king's, or some member of the court known to be pregnant. The entire emphasis in the sign is placed, however, not on the character of the mother or the child, or even his name, but on the fact that before he is able to distinguish between food that is palata ble and that which is not, the northern firebrands, which Anaz fears will be burnt out and their lands will be overrun by the Assyrian conqueror. Hence it is improbable that, as Gressmann urges (Ursprung der Isr.-jud. Eschatologie, 272-3), Isaiah here subscribes to a popular hope of a national Deliverer. a 7W I. e., God with us. This name forcibly voiced that faith which filled the heart of the prophet and which he was trying to impress upon his king and people. It is also in striking contrast to that fatal lack of faith which at the moment was influencing Ahaz to seek deliverance from the passing danger by throwing himself into the arms of the dreaded foe, Assyria. b 715 In the light of 21- n it is clear that curds and honey here symbolize the effects of con quest, for they are the food of the refugees who have been driven from their homes and in concealment subsist upon the meagre food which the wilderness affords. It also reveals Isaiah's well-founded suspicion of Ahaz's purpose and implies what is stated later, that not only Damas cus and Northern Israel, but also Judah, shall suffer from the blind, selfish policy of their rulers. c 717 To aid the reader in identifying the foe which will execute Jehovah's judgment a scribe has added the explanatory gloss, the king of Assyria. It has no syntactical connection with the context. d 718 The metrical structure, the parallelism, and Isaiah's teaching at this period all indi cate that the above represents the prophet's original oracle. The figure evidently refers, as in the succeeding parable, to the advance of Assyria. They will come at Jehovah's signal and 121 Is. 719] ISAIAH'S COUNSELS IN 735 B.C. Thepov-erty- strick-en rem nant ' Land a deso lation In the ravines between the heights and in the clefts of the rocks, And on all thorn-hedges and on all pastures. 20In that day the Lord will shave, With a razor that is hired beyond the River,8 The head and the hidden hair, And the beard also will it take away. 21 And in that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, J2And out of the abundance of milk which they shall produce, he shall live on curds; For curds and honey shall be the food of all who are left in the midst of the land. ^And in that day, wherever there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thou sand pieces of silver, That place shall be but thorns and briars. 24With arrows and with bow will men come thither, For all the land will become thorns and briars. 25 And, as for all the mountains which used to be hoed, None£ will go thither for fear of thorns and briars; And it shall be a place where cattle shall be sent and sheep shall trample. § 36. The Certainty of the Conquest of Damascus and Samaria by Assyria, Is. 81-1 The Is. 8 'Then Jehovah said to me, Take thee a large tablet and write upon tablet it m plaul characters :g SWIFT BOOTY, SPEEDY PREY 2And take for me, as trusty witnesses, Uriahh the priest and Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah. settle down like a swarm of flies or bees upon the three lands which are the objects of the divine wrath. The same figure has already been used by Isaiah in 2 in describing the advance of the Arameans. A later scribe, seeking to interpret the text and guided by the allusion to the Egyptians in 181, has added the awkward prose gloss, which are at the end of the streams of Egypt, after the word fly (collective for flies), and, which is in the land of Assyria, after bee (collective for bees). These explanatory glosses are exactly parallel to those in 8 and l7. 6 720 Again a scribe has added the note, with the king of Assyria, which aids the reader but cuts right across the sentence in which it has been inserted, and reveals at a glance its secondary character. The razor from beyond the River Euphrates is of course the Assyrian army. f 7M Heb., thou; but this is evidently a mistake for the third person with the indefinite or general antecedent. § 36 The acts recorded in this short historical section evidently followed soon after the address in 7. They represent an appeal to the people. Their aim is to allay the popular fear aroused by the approach of the northern powers. Among the great Semitic nations the inscribed monument or tablet had long been the recognized method of making a permanent record. The size of Isaiah's tablet and the clear letters with which he was to inscribe it indi cate that it was probably to be set up in the temple to be read by the people. In giving a name to his new-born son, which would arouse curiosity and impress his message upon the public mind, he was but following the example of Hosea. Cf. § 16. Thus, in the most definite terms, Isaiah declared that within two or three years Damascus and Samaria would fall a prey to Assyria. In the case of Damascus his prediction was literally true, for less than three years later, in 732 B.C., the city was conquered and plundered by Tiglath-Pileser IV. Samaria was also captured at the same time, but its ultimate overthrow did not come until 722 b.c. s 81 Lit., with the stylus of a man. h 82 Evidently Uriah, was the head of the Jerusalem priesthood again referred to in II Kgs. 161"-'2. 122 syna s irre- CONQUEST OF DAMASCUS AND SAMARIA [Is. 83 3And I went in unto the prophetess and she conceived and bore a son. Name And Jehovah said: Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz [Swift booty, igaiaa'£ speedy prey]; for before the boy knows how to cry, 'My father' and 'My son mother,5 they will carry off the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the king of Assyria. § 37. Judah's Fate because She Lost Faith in Jehovah, Is. 85-22 Is. 8 5Then Jehovah spoke yet further to me saying: As- 6Because this people have rejected the waters of Shiioah which flow softly, And are dismayed1 because of Rezin and the son of Remaliah, sistible 7Therefore the Lord is about to bring upon them the waters of the River,J yance the mighty and great. jeho-r And it shall rise above all its channels and overflow all its banks. Jjah's 8And it shall sweep onward into Judah, shall overflow and pass over it, tion reaching even to the neck, And its outstretching wings shall cover the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. 9Know ye peoplesk and be terror-stricken and give ear all ye distant lands. Gird yourselves, yet ye shall be terror-stricken; gird yourselves, yet ye shall be terror-stricken! t0Take counsel together, — but it shall come to nought; make a plan, but it shall not stand.1 uFor thus Jehovah saith to me, forcibly restraining mem and instructing The me not to walk in the way of this people : sufrT- 12 ¦ cient Call ye not conspiracy11 all that this people calls conspiracy. cause What they fear, do not fear nor be filled with dread. Judah's fear § 37 This seetion records the fact that Isaiah's appeal to the people of Judah fell on deaf ears. A doubly pathetic note runs through it; the sorrow of the patriot over the suicidal folly of his nation and the heart-break of the prophet rejected by his king and people. It contains mingled prediction, denunciation, pity, and personal reflection. Like the latter part of 7, it presents the inevitable consequences of Judah's rejection of Jehovah and the counsels of his prophet. To Have trusted in Jehovah's care — symbolized by the gently flowing waters that came from the pool of Siloam below the temple mount — would have saved Judah from the yoke of Assyria which Ahaz's hasty alliance brought upon the nation. Like the Euphrates at flood time, Isaiah predicts, Assyrian armies directed by Jehovah shall sweep on, overflowing and engulfing, into Judah. Vss. B' l0 resemble in language certain passages in later prophecies such as Ezek. 38 and Joel 3, but the virility of the style suggests Isaiah, and the reference may well be to the overthrow of the other nations which, like Damascus, Israel and Judah, stood in the way of the Assyrian flood. Vs. l6 reveals not only Isaiah's discouragement but his hope for the future. It was a hope destined to be fully realized, for the prophetic teaching committed to his faithful disciples was . * 88 The Heb., rejoice in Rezin, is ungrammatical and contrary to 71 and the historical situation. The correction of an obvious error in the text restores the original play on the Heb. words, reject and be dismayed (lit., melt). ' 87 The river is clearly the "Euphrates. A later scribe, to interpret the evident allusion, has added, even the king of Assyria and all his glory. It interrupts, however, the original struct ure of the prophecy. k 89 Following the Gk. and Lat., and a slightly corrected Heb. text. 1 810 Apparently a later scribe, who failed to recognize that Isaiah included. Judah, 8* among the nations wnich would be powerless before the Assyrian flood, added the words found in the Heb., for God is with us. The only other tenable .explanation of this phrase is to regard — as do many scholars — *i l0 as later additions, in the spirit of Ps. 178, 368, and as referring to Jehovah's protection of his people. m 8U Lit., by the hand. n gi2 The reference is evidently to the popular interpretation of the alliance between Rezin and Pekah. 123 Is. 813] ISAIAH'S COUNSELS IN 735 B.C. ^Jehovah of hosts, him regard as the conspirator,0 Let him be your fear and your dread ! i4For he will be a stumbling blockp and a stone to strike against, And a rock of stumbling to both the houses of Israel,** A trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15Many among them shall stumble and fall, And they shall be broken and snared and taken. Isaiah's disciplesthe one hopefor the future 16Binding up1 the testimony and sealing the instruction among my dis ciples, 17I will wait for Jehovah who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and in him will I trust. 18Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are signs and symbols in Israel from Jehovah of hosts who dwells in Mount Zion. The prophetic teach ing the true guide for the people 19But when they say to you, 'Consult the mediums And the wizards who chirp and mutter/8 [Say], * Should not a people rather consult its God; On behalf of the living should men consult the dead? 20To the instruction and the testimony!' Unless they speak thus, they shall have no daybreak.* The result of re jectingit 21But they shall pass through it hard pressed and famishing, And it shall come to pass that when they are famished, they will be en raged, And will curse their king and their God ; And whether they direct their gaze upward ^or look to the earth, Behold, only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, Into thick darkness shall they be driven away.u treasured until in the days of Manasseh and Josiah, it was made in part the basis of the new code and reformation promulgated in 621 b.c. For the contemporaries of Isaiah, who resorted in their terror to the ancient forms of divination, the crisis of 735-4 b.c. presented gloom and anguish. ° 813 Heb., regard him as holy. But a slight change gives the above reading. As in 7 and 14 he is the source of all your trouble. p 814 Heb., for a sanctuary. This is entirely out of accord with the context and is prob ably due to the error of a scribe who mistook it for the very similar Heb. word translated above. It is usually regarded as an addition, but the metrical structure and the parallelism both de mand it. q 8" Cf . Mt 21w, Lk. 234, Rom. 9s3, I Pet. 28, where the passage is interpreted as referring to the Messiah, but in the original context the reference is evidently to Jehovah. r 816 Lit., bind up, but the Heb. construction in n demands the first person. Possibly the prophet lays the command upon himself. The testimony and the instruction are obviously the prophet's teachings during this and preceding crises. s gis The vs. is variously interpreted. Apparently Isaiah here describes the attitude of the people in rejecting Jehovah and the counsel of his prophet and in resorting to the repre sentatives of the old heathenism. *820 /¦ e., true comfort in distress and hope for the future. The Heb., as frequently in this context and in the following verses, apparently employs the singular, referring to the members of the nation collectively. The singular should therefore be interpreted in English as a "plural. u 82i, 22 The reference here, as elsewhere in the chapter, is evidently to the period of distress and doubt through which Isaiah saw that the nation, having rejected the counsels of Jehovah and blindly led by its selfish king, Ahaz, was destined to pass. The language is general and at times vague and not in keeping with the vigorous style of Isaiah. The passage may be from a later editor. 124 IMMINENT FALL OF SAMARIA [Is. 281 § 38. The Imminent Fall of Samaria, Is. 281-" Is. 28 1Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, As- And the fading flower of their splendid adornment, ad-mS Which crowns the fertile valley of those overcome with wine! vance 2C, 1x1111 • i against bee, even now the Lord hath ready one mighty and strong, proud One like a storm of hail, a destructive tempest, maria One like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, One who casts down to the earth with violence. 3Trampled down shall be the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, Fate 4And the fading flower of their splendid adornment, fiifhe Which crowns the fertile valley. city And it shall be like an early fig before the harvest, Which as soon as one sees it — Yea, even before it is in his hand, he swallows it.v \ § 38 Isaiah regarded himself as more than the prophet of little Judah. From the fre quent references in his early prophecy it is evident that he watched with deepest concern the fall of the northern kingdom, and found in the overwhelming calamity which ultimately over took it the most striking illustration of the universal truths which he proclaimed. The present oracle is closely connected with the corresponding denunciation of the crimes of the rulers of Jerusalem, in the days immediately preceding the approach of Sennacherib in the year 701 b.c. Cf. § 41. This prophecy, however, comes from the days immediately preceding the siege and conquest of Samaria. It may therefore be dated with assurance about 725 b.c. The Assyrian armies are rapidly advancing and Samaria's ultimate fall is definitely assured. Samaria, with its fair gardens crowning the brow of the hill on which it stood, Isaiah likens to a chaplet of flowers on the brow of the drunken revellers. This intimate familiarity with the topography of Samaria suggests at least that Isaiah had at some time beheld the city with his own eyes. Vss. B* 6: 5In that day will Jehovah of hosts be a crown of beauty And a diadem of adornment to the remnant of his people, BAnd a spirit of judgment to him who sits on the judgment seat. And of might to those who turn back war from the gates. are clearly a much later appendix to this oracle. They are closely related to the similar ap pendix in 42-6, and are uttered from a very different age and point of view than the original oracle. For Isaiah to have asserted at this time that the people of Samaria or Jerusalem would be given divine strength to conquer and drive back the armies of Assyria would have been to contradict all his other utterances and to have destroyed the moral impression made by his earnest warning. f 284 The Heb. text of this line is obscure, but the above rendering evidently brings out the prophet's meaning. 125 ISAIAH'S SERMONS BETWEEN 711 AND 701 B.C. Is. 1, 20, 22, 287, 2916, 301"17, 31u, 329"14, 39 Isaiah'ssym bolicprophecy Its meaning: captivity the penalty of de fying As syria Heze-kiah'sattitude toward the Babylonian rebel § 39. The Coming Captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia, Is. 20 Is. 20 'In the year that the Tartan came to Ashdod sent by Sargon, king of Assyria, and attacked Ashdod and captured it,2 at that time Jehovah spoke through Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins and thy sandal from off thy foot.a And he did so, going naked and barefoot. 3And Jehovah said, Just as my servant Isaiah hath gone naked and bare foot three years as a sign and a warning to Egypt and Ethiopia, 4so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, youths and old men, naked and barefoot, with their bodies exposed,1" 5and they who look to Ethiopia and boast of Egypt shall be dismayed and put to shame. 6And the inhabitants of this coast-land shall say in that day, ' Behold, if such is the fate of those to whom we looked and0 to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria, how can we ourselves escape?' § 40. The Embassy of Merodach-baladan, Is. 39 Is. 39 'At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent eunuchs with a present to Hezekiah; for he had. heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 2And Hezekiah was glad because of them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious § 39 The middle years of Isaiah's life were largely devoted to the task of keeping his nation loyal to Assyria. In the earlier days he had opposed the Assyrian alliance; but when once the foreign yoke was on the neck of Judah, he realized and clearly taught that rebellion was suicidal. To the little states of Palestine the heavy tribute exacted by the Assyrian king was exceedingly odious. Every uprising in the great empire was watched with keenest expec tation. When, therefore, in 711 B.C. the Philistine town of Ashdod rose in rebellion against Sargon and endeavored to enlist the co-operation of the other states of southern Palestine, Judah was in great danger of becoming involved in the plot. The present section is apparently from the Isaiah history quoted elsewhere in the prophecy, and tells of the dramatic^ methods which Isaiah employed in order to impress his countrymen with the danger of rebelling. Throwing off his prophet's mantle, he went barefoot, clad only in his under tunic, the garb of a captive, summer and winter, for three years, to show them the fate that would overtake the people of Judah, if they were foolish enough to defy Assyria. In -this endeavor the prophet appears to have succeeded, although Sargon accuses Judah of having sent presents about this time, together with Edom, Moab and Philistia, in order to secure the help of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Ashdod and Gath were conquered by an army under the leadership of the Assyrian military _ commander or turtanu referred to by his Assyrian official title in the present section. The chief offenders in the Philistine cities were deported and peace was for the time being restored in Palestine. « 202 This vs. is loosely connected with the context and has the characteristics of a later editorial note. In the original history of Isaiah 8 probably followed1. t> 20' Lit., with buttock exposed. A scribe has added the awkward gloss, the shame of Egypt. Winckler's identification of the lands referred to in 8- 4 with an Arabian Mucri and Cash is very doubtful. Cf . 6. 0 208 Supplying the and required by the context. § 40 After an independent reign of ten years, Merodach-baladan, a scion of the reigning house of Babylonia, was driven from his throne by Sargon in 710 B.C. The death of Sargon encouraged Merodach-baladan to make another strong attempt to recover his throne and to shake off the rule of Assyria. To weaken his rival he sent emissaries among the other states subject to Assyria, urging them to rebellion. His attempt, however, in the end failed, for in the year 704 b.c. he was conquered and driven from his kingdom. The incident, therefore, 126 EMBASSY OF MERODACH-BALADAN [Is. 392 oil, and his armory and all that was found among his treasures; there was nothing in his palace nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 'Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What isa- did these men say ? and whence, pray, do they come to you ? And Heze- J^'f kiah said, They have come from a far country, from Babylon. 4And he said, dem- What have they seen in your palace ? And Hezekiah answered, They have of Hez- seen all 'that is in my palace; there is nothing among my treasures that I did lotion3 not show them. ^Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Jehovah, 630! d 301 Lit., • 302 Lit., They have 305 Or, following the marginal reading and making certain minor changes. all brought presents to a people. » 305 Slightly reconstructing the impossible Heb. j 30s Following the Gk. A scribe nas added in the Heb. the tautological phrase, nor for profit. k 306 A later scribe not understanding the unusual beginning has added the late word, Burden. 1 30fl Correcting the impossible Heb., from them. ™ 306 Cf . 1429. 131 Is. 29°] ISAIAH'S SERMONS ABOUT 703 B.C. To a people that can be of no avail, Wen Egypt,11 Whose help is only vanity and nothingness. Therefore I name that nation, 'The Quelled Monster.' Defi ant, ob durate attitude of the people 8Now go in, write it down and on a book inscribe it,p That it may serve for a future day as a witness^ forever, 9For it is a rebellious people, lying children, Children who will not heed Jehovah's instruction, 10Who say to the seers, See not! And to those who have visions, Give us no vision of what is right! Speak to us what is agreeable, give us false visions ! "Turn from the way, go aside from the path, Trouble us no more with Israel's Holy One! Its in evitableconsequences 12Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye reject this word, And trust in perversenessr and crookedness and rely thereon, 13Therefore this guilty act shall be to you Like a bulging breach in a high wall ready to tumble. Suddenly, in an instant will come its destruction, 14Yea, its destruction shall be as when one dashes an earthen vessel in pieces, Shattering it ruthlessly, so that not a potsherd is found among the broken pieces With which to take up fire from the hearth or to draw water from a cistern ! Judah'strue policy contrastedwith its fatal folly 15For thus the Lord Jehovah, Israel's Holy One saith, By sitting still and remaining quiet ye shall be delivered, In resting and trusting shall your strength consist.8 But ye refused, 18and said, Nay, On steeds will we speed; therefore ye shall speed in flight! And, On swift steeds will we ride. Therefore your pursuers shall be swift! 17Each thousand shall flee* at the war-cryu of one, From the war-cry of five ye shall flee, till ye are but a remnant, Like a pole on the top of a mountain and like a signal on a hill.v n 307 Probably an explanatory note. ° 307 Dividing the Heb. letters a little differently from the received text. p 308 A scribe has added, on a tablet with them. q 308 Following what was evidently the original vowel pointing. ' 3012 Slightly correcting the Heb. 3015 These closing vss. contain a forceful resumi of Isaiah's preceding teaching. The opening verb is usually rendered, by repenting, but the Heb. may be translated as above. * 3017 Supplying the verb from the context. It is possible that this line is a gloss based on Dt. 3230, Josh. 2310 and Lev. 268. It expresses in epigrammatic proverbial form the thought that one should put a thousand to flight. The same thought is repeated in the succeeding line. « 30" Lit., rebuke. r 3017 /. e., only one or two here and there shall remain like a lone signal on a high moun tain, for the rest of the nation will have fled before the foreign conquerors. 132 CONSEQUENCES OF THE EGYPTIAN ALLIANCE [Is. 31" § 44. The Inevitable Consequences of an Alliance with Egypt, Is. 311-1 Is. 31 'Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, Egypt Who rely on horses andw on chariots because they are many, iesfto And who trust in horsemen because they are numerous, ?hliwr But look not to Israel's Holy One nor consult Jehovah! brews 2But he too is wise and brings calamity and does not recall his words, their He will arise against the house of evil-doers and against the helper of trans- fate gressors, 3Yea, the Egyptians are men and not God and their horses are flesh, not spirit, Jehovah will stretch out his hand so that the helper will stumble, And the one helped will also fall, and they shall all go down together. 4For this hath Jehovah said to me, As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, When all the shepherds are summoned against him, But at their shouting is not terrified and at their noise not daunted, So will Jehovah of hosts come down to battle against the mount and hill of Zion. § 45. Warning to the Self-Confident Women of Jerusalem, Is. 329-» Is. 32 9Ye women who are at ease, rise up, hear my voice! The Ye self-confident daughters, give ear to my speech. of for? 10 Add some days to a year, and ye shall shudder, ye self-confident women,- eisn For the vintage shall fail and the ingathering shall not come. quest "Tremble, ye who are at ease, and shudder ye confident women, neat' Strip you, make you bare, and gird on sackcloth,x uand mourn 12For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine! uFor the land of my people which shall send up thorns and briars ! Yea, for all houses of mirth in the joyous city ! "Because the palace is forsaken, the populous city is deserted; Ophel and the watch-tower have become but cavesy forever, A joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks. § 44 In this brief oracle the prophet deals with the same theme as in the preceding sec tions. It is evidently an extract from one of the many sermons which he preached during the strenuous period when the question of Egyptian alliance either hung in the balance or was already decided. w 311 So Gk. The Heb. has a second verb, who trust, which a scribe seems to have trans formed from the third line, where it is required. This correction restores the sense as well as the metre of the vs. * 3211 Restoring the Heb. which is corrupt, for, although the section is addressed to the women, the traditional text reads, gird upon your loins. They (masculine) shall smite their breasts. y 3214 Or revising the Heb., a bare spot. § 45 This short oracle has no connection with its immediate setting. By many scholars it is regarded as simply a later imitation of Isaiah's spirited attack upon the women of Jerusalem recorded in chap. 3. It certainly lacks much of the fierce vigor of that earlier passage. The present section is embedded in what is clearly a post-exilic context and may come from some of the later imitators of Isaiah. If it is from Isaiah, it is difficult to determine its exact historical setting. Its general position, following Isaiah's sermons in connection with the crisis of 701 B.C., furnishes, on the whole, the most satisfactory background. It is possible that he again de nounced the wives of the nobles, as well as their husbands, because he realized that their over- confidence at this great crisis was one of the leading causes why the nation was rushing on to certain disaster. Instead of their false confidence, the prophet declares, they shall soon have abundant cause for terror and lamentation, as they shall see their city and land devastated and left desolate after the foreign invader has swept over it. 133 is. m1] ISAIAH'S SERMONS IN 701 B.C. Joyinappropriate in the hour of nation al afflic tion Futileattempts to de fendthe city againstits be siegers § 46. Jerusalem's Deep-Seated Guilt, Is. 22*-» Is. 22 'What2 aileth thee now that all thy people have gone up to the house-tops, ^hou that art full of uproar, tumultuous city, joyful town ? Thy slain are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. 3AU thy leaders have fled away together, they who bear the bowa are taken prisoners ; All thy strong defenders13 are taken prisoners together, they who have fled far away. 4Therefore I say, Look away from me; let me weep bitterly! Labor not to comfort me for the destruction of my people. 5For a day of tumult, of trampling and of confusion hath the. Lord, Jehovah of hosts, In the Valley of Vision a breaking down of the walls and a crying to the mountains. 6When Elam took up the quiverc and Kir uncovered the shield. 7And thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, And the horsemen set themselves in strong array against the gate, 8and the covering of Judah was taken away,d Then ye looked in that day to the armor in the House of the Forest,6 9And ye saw that the breaches in the city of David were many, And ye collected the waters of the lower pool, 10And ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem and broke down the houses to fortify the wall; nYe also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool,f But ye looked not to him who had done all this, nor regarded him who fashioned it.g § 46 The background of this address was evidently the hour of Judah's distress when As syrian hordes were overrunning its cities and had advanced -to the siege of Jerusalem. The wild, unnatural rejoicing which Isaiah condemned may have been occasioned by the hopes aroused by the advance of the Egyptian army, which, however, was quickly defeated by the Assyrians at Eltekah on the Philistine plain. In their extremity the people of Jerusalem welcomed even a temporary relief with frenzied rejoicing which only revealed the terrible reign .of terror through which they were passing. With his calmer, broader outlook, Isaiah realized that it was not the moment for such an outburst, but that instead lamentation and deep repentance were alone appropriate. The detailed allusions to the siege of Jerusalem in 9b -ua. may be later additions. The ref erence also to the Edomites and to the northern Arameans represented by their native city, Kir, would suggest that perhaps the entire section 6-lla, was from a later scribe who did not know that the Edomites at this time were also in rebellion against Assyria. The literary style and thought of the passage, however, strongly point to Isaiah as the author. 1 221 This address is introduced by the superscription, Oracle of the Valley of Vision. This was probably added by a later scribe on the basis of the reference in5 to the Valley of Vision. Possibly the Valley of .Vision is a confused reading for the Valley of Hinnom to the west and south of Jerusalem. a 223 Following the Gk. Heb., from a bow. b 223 Again reconstructing the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. 0 226 The Heb. adds the unintelligible clause, with the chariot of men, horsemen. This may well be a confused scribal note based on 217. d 228 Lit., And he took away the covering of Judah. It is not clear whether the antecedent is Jehovah or the enemy. Possibly the prophet intentionally left it indefinite. * 228 /. e., the royal armory mentioned in I Kgs. 72"*, IO16- 17. f 229 Probably a pool in the lower part of the Tyropcean Valley. e 22u Following certain Gk. texts the Heb. adds, from of old- but this is not in harmony with the metrical structure of the vs. nor in close connection with the context. 134 JERUSALEM'S DEEP-SEATED GUILT [Is. 2212 12And the Lord Jehovah of hosts called in that day Judah's To weeping and to mourning, to baldness and to girding with sackcloth ; don*r 13But behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and slaughtering sheep, able sin Eating flesh and drinking wine — Eating and drinking; for, 'To-morrow we die.' 14But Jehovah of hosts hath revealed himself to my inner vision, Never can this your iniquity be forgiven until ye die.n § 47. Infidelity and Punishment of Judah and Jerusalem, Is. 1 Is. 1 2Hear, O heavens, and give heed, O earth, for Jehovah speaketh: The Sons have I reared and placed on high, but they have proved false to me. andin- ^he ox knoweth its owner and the ass its master's crib, grati- But Israel has no knowledge, my people no insight ! jeho- 4Ah! sinful nation, people deep-laden with guilt, people Race of evil-doers, perverse children! They have forsaken Jehovah, They have spurned Israel's Holy One, they have become rebellious. 5On what place can ye still be smitten, since you still go on rebelling ? judah's The whole head is sick, and the whole heart diseased, condi-° 6From sole of foot to head* there are only wounds and bruises and fresh tion blows, h 22u A Heb. scribe .added, Saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts. This line is omitted in certain Gk. texts and in all probability was not original with Isaiah. | 47 The first chapter of Isaiah furnishes a fitting introduction to the book as a whole. It is introduced by the suggestive superscription. Vision of Isaiah, son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Ahaz, Jotham and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The first chapter was given this commanding position not because it represented the first sermons of Isaiah, but rather because it presents clearly and forcibly the key-note of all his prophetic addresses. It has been fittingly described as, "The Great Arraignment," for the notes of denunciation and warning are prominent. Recent scholars are inclined to find in it a series of extracts from addresses delivered on several different occasions. It falls naturally into four great divisions; (1) Vss. 2-17, which present the pitiable condition of Judah and Jerusalem and the crimes and false trust in ritual on the part of the rulers, which are the underlying causes of these disasters. (2) A brief section, 18-19, in which the prophet emphasizes the necessity of acts rather than of formal worship. (3) Vss. 2l-26, a denunciation and warning addressed to the leaders of the nation, which in vocabulary and theme recall the similar sermons in the years 704-1 b.c. (4) Vss. 27"31, which contain the same references to overwhelming judgment; but the crime chiefly emphasized is that of apostasy and a tendency to turn to the old Canaanitish cults. ^ Even though there is evidence that these different sections were originally different units, it is not entirely con clusive. The same note of denunciation and warning binds them all together; those addressed throughout are the corrupt leaders of the nation, and the historical background in sections 1 to 3, and possibly in 4, is the troublesome years which culminated in the invasion of Sen nacherib in 701 b.c. The picture in the opening verses is one of national disaster. The cities of Judah have been burnt and pillaged by a foreign invader and Jerusalem itself alone is left. With mad frenzy the rulers and people are resorting to the temple with offerings in order to supplicate Jehovah's help in their time of extremity. The situation is in accord with the description of Sennacherib's invasion in II Kgs. 1813 and especially with Sennacherib's own more detailed description of the event: Forty-six of the fortified towns of Hezekiah of Judah who had not sub mitted to my yoke, together with innumerable fortresses and small towns in their neighborhood, with assault and battering^ rams, and the approach of siege engines . . . I besieged and captured. I shut him up like a bird in a cage in ihe midst of Jerusalem, his royal city. _ . In the presence of these conditions Isaiah was at least assured> of a hearing, and he was not slow to improve the opportunity. With true prophetic insight, like his predecessors, Amos and Hosea, he defines religion as an attitude toward God and man which finds expression in faith and life and in deeds of justice and mercy. The forgiveness of their sins was not to, be accomplished by miracle but by submission to the divine will and by bringing forth fruits meet for repentance. 1 16 So Gk. The Heb. adds, probably from Ps. 384- 6, there is no sound part. 135 Is. I6] ISAIAH'S SERMONS IN 701 B.C. Which have not been pressed nor bound up nor softened with oil. 7Your land is a desolation, your cities are burned with fire, Your tilled land before your eyes — aliens are devouring it,' 8And the daughter of Zionk is left like a booth in a vineyard, Like a lodge in a field of cucumbers, like a watch-tower.1 'Unless Jehovah of hosts had left us a remnant,m We would have been just as Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah! Use- 10Hear Jehovah's message, ye chieftains of Sodom, oTtheSS Give heed to the instruction of your God, ye people of Gomorrah : forms13 "'What care I for the vast number of your sacrifices ?' saith Jehovah. of 'I am sated with burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, moniai And in the blood of bullocks and lambs and he-goats I take no pleasure. inasT 12When ye appear before me11 — who has required this of you ? To trample my courts, lsbring no more vain offerings. The sweet odor of the sacrifice is an abomination to me; New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies I cannot endure, Fast0 and a solemn meeting 14my soul hateth ; They are a burden to me; I am tired of bearing it. Justice 15When ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you. Also, though ye make many prayers, I will not hear. i-o vah Cease to do evil ; 17learn to do good ; Seek justice; relieve the oppressed;5 Vindicate the orphan ; plead for the widow.' Con. 18Come now, let us agree together, saith Jehovah trition Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall become white as snow;r obedi- Though they be as red as crimson, they shall become as wool ; ence isjf ye wiu;ngly yield and are obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land, only 19But if ye refuse and resist, ye shall be eaten by the sword; forgive- For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it! and mercy alone Your hands are stained with blood ; 16wash, that ye may be clean.p accent— ^ ^ able to Remove the evil of your deeds from before mine eyes. ness i l7 A scribe has added, and there is a desolation as a ruin made by aliens. Probably the last word once read, Sodom. k 18 A poetic designation of Jerusalem, which is left deserted like a fragile temporary hut once used for a season by the one appointed to guard a vineyard or a field of cucumbers. 1 l8 Or, besieged city. - Is So Gk., Syr., and Lat. The Heb. adds, nearly. = l12 One Heb. MS. and the original probably read, see my face. The idiom is a survival from the primitive period when the people laid their offerings before the image of the deity. ° l13 So Gk. In the Heb. a very similar word has been substituted meaning iniquity But cf. I Sam. 1523. The Heb. expands by adding the explanatory words, new moons and p ii6d. 17a xhis line may be secondary. q l17 Or, revising the text, chastize those who oppress. ' 11B Or, If your sins are as scarlet, will they become white as snow f If they are red as crimson, will they become as wool ? This is consistent with Isaiah's declaration in 22H, Never can your iniquity be forgiven until you die ; although the parallelism of the context rather favors the traditional rendering followed above. 136 nation INFIDELITY OF JERUSALEM [Is. I21 O how hath she become an harlot, the once faithful city ! Degen- Zions which was full of justice, where righteousness abode!* *{aoy 22Thy silver is changed to dross, thy wine is mixed with water," rulers 23Thy rulers are unrulyv and in league with thieves, people All of them love bribes and are running after fees, They do not vindicate the orphan, and the cause of the widow does not affect them.w ^Therefore this is the oracle of the Lord, Jehovah. of hosts :x The Ha! I will vent my displeasure on my foes and take vengeance on mine 0ugh enemies. punfi- 25 . . cation I will turn my hand against thee and burn away thy dross in the furnace,y of the And I will take away all thine alloy ,z 26I will make again thy rulers as at the first and thy counsellors as at the beginning; Afterwards thou shalt be called ' Citadel of Righteousness, Faithful City.' 27 Zion shall be set free through judgment and her converts' through righteousness. 28 But there shall be a common destruction of trangressors and of sinners, and the apostates' shall perish, 29 For yec shall be ashamed because of the terebinths in which ye have had pleasure, And ye shall blush for the gardens which ye have chosen. 30 For ye will be like a terebinth whose leaves are withered, And like a garden that hath no water; 1 And the strong man shall be as tow, and his work as a spark, 1 And they shall both burn together and none shall quench them. D l21 So Gk. Zion is lacking in the Heb. * l21 The Heb. adds, but now murders. This clause destroys the regular metrical structure of the vs. and introduces the theme developed in 16-17 rather than in the present context. u l22 /. e., the old simplicity and purity of the earlier days are gone. The Heb. text is uncertain. y 123 This rendering, suggested by Cheyne, brings out the assonance in the Heb. w l23 Lit., come to them. A revision of the Heb. text gives the possible reading, nor plead the widow's cause. x l24 The Heb. adds, the Hero of Israel; but this clause is introduced by the Gk. in the next line, indicating that it was originally a marginal gloss that has crept into the text. The title is characteristic of the post-exilic writers rather than the original Isaiah (cf. Is.4926, 6016) and destroys the metrical structure of the present passage. y 125 Transposing two Heb. letters. The present Heb. text reads, as lye; but lye was not used in the smelting process except for preliminary cleansing. * l25 Apparently the last clause of this vs. has been lost. & 127-31 Ot( those of her who return f VSS., captives. The language and ideas in these vss. strongly suggest that they are the additions of a later editor. Most of the O. T. references to the survival of the old Canaanitish cults practiced under the trees and in the gardens are found in post-exilic writings and especially in passages which appear to refer to the religious practices of the Samaritans (cf. Is. 574, 656, 6617); but it is evident that these evils existed throughout the pre-exilic period (cf. Jer. 227, Ezek. 613). Isaiah does not refer to these evils elsewhere in his writings. The evidence is, however, not absolutely conclusive, and it is possible that the present passage is from his hand. b l28 Lit., those who forsake Jehovah. If the passage is from Isaiah the original probably read, forsake me. c l29 Correcting the Heb. (which reads, they) as the context demands and as the Targ. and certain MSS. suggest. 137 Is. 2215] ISAIAH'S SERMONS ABOUT 701 B.C. The future degrada tionanddeportation ofShebna § 48. The Denunciation of Shebna and the Promises to Eliakim, Is. 2216"25 Is. 22 15Thus saithd Jehovah of hosts: Go into this prefect [and say] — Even to Shebna who is over the palace,6 tec. d^yn0 js newmg out a sepulchre on high,* And cutting for himself a habitation in the rock, tea. b< \yhat hast thou here and whom hast thou here, That thou hewest out for thyself a sepulchre here ? "Behold, Jehovah shall hurl thee far, O strong man, he will wrap thee up tightly;8 l8He will surely wind thee round and round, And tossh thee like a ball into a far reaching land. There thou shalt die, And thither shall go thy splendid chariots, Thou disgrace to the house of thy Lord ! "And I will thrust thee from thine office, And from thy station will I pull thee down.1 Elevation of Elia kim 20 And it shall be in that day that I will call my servant Even Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, And I will bind thy girdle about him, And I will give thy authority into his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. § 48 This section has proved the perplexity of commentators because it assumes facts of which there is no reference elsewhere in the biblical history. The name Shebna is an unusual one and probably is of foreign, possibly Syrian, origin; while Eliakim is a familiar Hebrew name. Both of these characters are mentioned in the historical narrative of Is. 363- n, as the messen gers sent by Hezekiah to receive the message from Sennacherib and later to solicit the advice of Isaiah the prophet (372). It is practically certain that the men referred to in each case are the same. In Is. 36 and 37, however, Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, is in charge of the palace while Shebna is spoken of as simply a scribe or a secretary. If this identification is correct it would appear that Eliakim had been advanced to the position of prefect, as Isaiah had predicted in 22,s-22. Although Shebna had not as yet been degraded and carried into exile by the Assy rians, as the prophet in his zeal had predicted. As will be shown later (§ 58), the incidents in chaps. 36 and 37 apparently belong to the closing years of Isaiah's life. While it is not impossible, as has been strongly urged by a recent writer (Prof. FuUerton in the American Journal of Theology, vol. IX, 621 ff.), that Isaiah's denunciation of Shebna came at the very close of his activity, it seems on the whole more probable that the date was somewhere about 701 B.C. It is possible that Shebna was the leader of the anti-Assyrian party, which had con tracted the Egyptian alliances and involved Judah in its disastrous rebellion against Sennacherib, and that Isaiah's denunciation of his ambitious designs was because he had proved a misleader of the people. The fact that Isaiah predicts that Shebna is to be carried away into captivity favors this conclusion. Vss. M' K completely reverse the promises held out to Eliakim in 192°-23. The language is also purposely contemptuous, The only satisfactory explanation of these vss. is that they represent the addition either of some later scribe who was hostile to the house of Eliakim or possibly by Isaiah himself because Eliakim had later misused his power. - d 22" Following the Gk., Syr. and several MSS. in omitting, the Lord. The passage is introduced by the title, Against Shebna prefect of the palace. ' 2215 Possibly this line which is loosely connected with its context was originally a super scription to this short prophecy, and read, Concerning Shebua who was over the palace. t 22l6»' d Evidently these two lines have slipped their mooring. Their original r. was evidently immediately after I5. k 2217 The meaning of this line is doubtful. h 2218 Supplying the verb demanded by the context. 1 22lfl So Gk. and Lat. Heb., thou shalt be pulled down. original position 138 summons to ment THE PROMISES TO ELIAKIM [Is. n22 22 And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, And he shall open and none shall shut, And he shall shut and none shall open. ^And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, And he shall be a seat of honor to his family.'' VI THE SERMONS OF MICAH § 49. The Superscription to Micah's Sermons, Mi. I1 The Message of Jehovah Which Came to Micah in the Days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah, Which He Beheld Concerning Samaria and Jerusalem § 50. Jehovah's Judgment upon Guilty Samaria and Judah, Mi. I2" Mi. 1 2Hear ye peoples all; The Give heed, O earth, and all its inhabitants* Forb Jehovah hath become a witness against you, iudg- The Lord from his holy temple!0 i 22s3 To this prediction regarding Eliakim a later hand has appended the scornful note, And the whole weight of his family shall hang upon him, and the offspring and the issue, every insignificant vessel, be they cups or be they pitchers / In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, the nail that is stuck into a firm place will give way. It shall be cut down and fall, and that which hangs upon it shall be utterly destroyed, for Jehovah hath spoken. § 49 Like all the superscriptions to each of the early prophetic books, this was evidently added by a later editor. It represents a period of over half a century. Hence the exact date of Micah's work must be determined from the historical allusions. From the references to the fall of Samaria in Is- 6 it is evident that none of the sermons contained in the book is earlier than about 725 b.c. The notes of alarm in the latter part of the first chapter suggest that an Assyrian army was on the eve of invading Judah from the west. A danger of this nature first threatened Judah in 711 B.C. and was actually reahzed in 701 b.c. It is probable, there fore, that Micah's prophetic activity lies between the years 710 B.C. and 700 b.c. This con clusion is confirmed by the statement in Jer. 26ia that Micah's preaching led to the reformation of Hezekiah which appears to have followed the catastrophe of 701 b.c. Micah's home was evidently among the western foothills of Judah in the vicinity of Gath, which had been destroyed by Hazael, the Aramean king. Moresheth was one of the outposts of western Judah, most exposed to the Assyrian attack. It was appropriate, therefore, that Micah the watchman on the western frontier should sound the alarm among the neighboring towns and carry his message of warning to Jerusalem and seek to correct, by his earnest pro tests, those national evils which threatened the life of Judah. § 50 The unity of this section has been questioned; but .the grounds are not decisive. The solemn paranomasias, suggested by the names of the different towns on the Palestine plain near Micah's home, are paralleled by many passages in the sermonsof his contemporaries, Amos and Hosea. It was one way in which the early prophets made their messages of warning dramatic and impressive. The section opens with a proclamation of judgment and concludes with the prophet's lamentation over the fate about to overtake Jerusalem and the western towns which lay in the path of the Assyrian conqueror. Vs. 8 introduces the lament which is concluded in 16. As an inevitable result of the epigrammatic, obscure style of the paranomasia, the text has suffered in transmission. Enough has been preserved, however, to reveal the deep feeling, the strong patriotism, and the burning zeal of the rustic prophet from Moresheth -gath. B l2 Heb., her fulness. b I2 A scribe has also here introduced Lord from the latter part of the vs. The metre is complete without it. 0 l2 /. e., heaven. Cf. a. In the later literature heaven takes the place of Sinai or Mt. Seir. Cf. Judg. 5*- 5. 139 Mi. I3] THE SERMONS OF MICAH Jeho- 3For behold, Jehovah is going forth from his place, advent He descendeth and treadeth upon the heights of the earth 4So that the mountains melt beneath, Like waxd in the presence of the fire, And the valleys break apart, Like water poured down a steep descent. Guilt of 5For the transgression of Jacob is all this, capitals J^nc' ^or tne sm °* txje nouse °f Judah?6 What was the transgression of Jacob ? Was it not Samaria ? What is the sinf of Judah ? Is it not Jerusalem ?g 'Therefore I have made Samaria a ruin that is tilled,11 And a place where a vineyard is planted,1 struc- I have poured down her stones into the valley, And I have laid bare her foundations.' Fate 7A11 her images are shattered, heathen ^n^ au ^er asherahs11 are burned with fire, sym- And all her idols I am laying in ruins, For from the hire of a harlot were they acquired,1 And to the hire of a harlot have they returned.111 The 8For this I will mourn and wail, proph- I will go barefoot and naked,11 lam- I will make lamentation like the jackals, enta- tion Samaria's de- And mourning like the ostriches.0 The "For the blow" that she has received is incurable, inva- Indeed, it has come even to Judah! sion of ' ' Judah It extends even to the gate ot my people!'' Warn- 10Tell it notr in Gath [Tell-town]! j^f In Giloh [Exult-to wn] exult not!3 lam- _ — , tinTvs d I4 Restoring what was clearly the original order of the verse. b is Heb., Israel; but the parallelism absolutely demands Judah. f l5 The Heb., high places, is clearly an error for the similar word sin as demandedJby the context and retained by the other vss. e l5 /. e.. Does not the guilt of the two nations centre in their capitals? h l6 Heb., heap of a field. i l6 Heb., plantings of a vineyard. i l6 For the prediction of a similar fate for Jerusalem, cf . 312. k V Heb., hires, but these would not be burned. The context and all the .parallels support the above. Cf. Is. 17'- «, 27". i 1' So Syr., Lat., and Targ. m l7 There is a strong possibility that this vs. is secondary. Cf. 514. In 2 and elsewhere in Mi. the sins condemned are social not religious. " is Cf. Is. 202- '. 0 l8 Heb., daughters of the desert. The arabs to-day call the ostrich the father of the desert. Cf. Job 30»'-». ¦> l9 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., wounds. q l9 The gate is the centre of the commercial and civil life of the nation. /. v., the capital, and a scribe has added, to Jerusalem. ' 1>» Modelled after II Sam. 1™. s l10 Restoring after the Gk. 140 JEHOVAH'S JUDGMENT UPON JUDAH [Mi. I10 In Bochim [Weep-to wnl weep!* In Beth-le-aphrah [House of Dust] roll in the dust!u uPass away, O inhabitants of Shaphirv [Fair-town] naked !w The inhabitantsx of Zaanany [March-town] shall not march forth. Beth-ezel [Nearby-house] shall be taken from its standing-place. 12Howz do the inhabitants of Maroth [Bitterness] wait and wail for good!3. For evil hath come down from Jehovah to the gatesb of Jerusalem. 13Harness the horse to the chariot,0 O inhabitants of Lachishd [Horse-town ],e For in thee are found the crimes of Israel: 14Therefore thou shalt give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath.f Beth-achzibg [House of Deception] is a deception to the kings of Israel, 15 Again* I will bring to you the conqueror,! O inhabitants of Mareshah,k The glory of Israel is perished forever!1 16Make thee bald and shave thee for thy darlings,m Make broad thy baldness like the vultures, for they go into captivity from thee. * l10 Again following the superior Gk. i ll° Cf. Jer. 2531, II Sam. 1319. v lu Shaphir is probably to be identified with Suaffer, about five miles southeast of Ashdod. w in Heb. adds shame, but the construction is impossible and the Gk. omits this scribal gloss. 1 lu The meaning of this vs. is exceedingly obscure. _ Heb., lit., inhabitress, is evidently as a collective noun representing the inhabitants of the city as a whole. y l11 Possibly identical with Zenan of Josh. 1537. * l12 FoUowing a suggestion of the Gk. and the demands of the context. A scribe has mistaken a Heb. letter so that the standard text reads, for. a l12 From this point on the prophet uses the five-beat lamentation metre. * l12 So Gk., Syr., and Targ. Heb., gate. • l13 J. e., for flight, not for defence. d l18 Probably to be identified in the light of modern excavations with Tell-el-Hesy, thirty-three miles southwest of Jerusalem, out on the Philistine plain. The meaning of the word is unknown but the above rendering suggests the assonance in the Heb. e I13 A scribe who had in mind the reference in Hos. 143 to Israel's crime in trusting in horses to save them, has added, That has been the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion. This note breaks the close connection of thought and is inconsistent with 5. f l14 I.e., Jerusalem's control over this outlying western town, the birthplace of Micah, shall cease. The parting gifts were, lit., the gifts given by the parents when a daughter left her home to become the wife of her newly married husband. Cf. I Kgs. 916. Moresheth sug gested the very similar Heb. word moreseth, betrothed. Cf. Dt. 2223. a l14 A city of southwestern Judah. Josh. 1544. _ h l14 J. e., disappoints them in the hour of invasion. 1 l15 Slightly correcting the corrupt Heb. i l15 Lit., possessor. The play is on hayybresh, possessor, and Mareshah, which suggested the Heb., betrothed or possessed by another. k l15 Cf . Josh. 1544 ; a town one mile south of Beth-jibrin. 1 l15 Heb., To Adullam shall come the glory of Israel ; but this makes no sense. The above consistent rendering is based on a transposition of certain letters, as suggested by Professor Cheyne (Jewish Quarterly Review, X, 577). m llfl Conclusion of the prophet's lamentation. Cf. Am. 810. 141 Jngs Mi. 21] THE SERMONS OF MICAH § 51. The Oppression of the Poor, Micah 21-11 Ka- Mi. 2 'Woe to those who devise mischief on their beds," olfu- Which in the light of morning they accomplish, for it is in their power to do dah's j^o ^hey covet fields and seize them, houses and they take them ; So they crush a strong man and his household, a man and his heritage. The 'Therefore, thus saith Jehovah : jjj^§[ Behold, I am planning evilp from which ye shall not withdraw your necks, await- Nor walk upright, for it is an evil time. them 4In that day they shall take up a taunt-song against you,^ And one shall sing this dirge :r 'My people's estate is being measured off with a rod and there is no one to restore it,8 Our captors are dividing our fields;' we are completely undone. 'u Their 6< Prophesy not,'v they urge, 'of such things one does not prophesy; toPthe The reproaches of him who speaketh will not overtake the house of Jacob. Pt™ph_ 7Is Jehovah impatient, or are such his doings ? warn- Are not hisw words favorable to his people Israel ?'x uYea, if a man walking in wine and falsehood were to deceive thee [saying], 'I will prophesy to thee of wine and strong drink,' Then he would be the prophet of this people !y § 51 In this and the following section the prophet analyzes the reasons for the over whelming calamity which he sees overtaking his nation. Unlike his contemporary, Isaiah, he says nothing about the political follies of the rulers. Like Amos, he saw in the legalized oppression of the poor by the rich and those in authority, and in the defiant attitude of the powerful oppressors, the reasons why Judah's doom was sealed. The text has suffered greatly, possibly because this part of an ancient manuscript had been injured or because the impassioned epigrammatic style of Micah was not understood by the scribes who copied it. The reconstruction, therefore, is often only conjectural. The five- beat measure prevails. n 21 A scribe has added, and work evil, but only the planning could be done on their beds. The clause also destroys the metre of the vs. ° 2l Lit., in the power of their hands. " 23 A scribe has added, against this race. It destroys the metre and weakens the prophet's direct address. q 2< Possibly the text is not complete for the taunt-song is not given, but only the lament of the afflicted people. ' 24 A scribe has rewritten the preceding letters with a slight variation so that the text reads, It is done. ' 2i Reconstructing the Heb. as suggested by the Gk. and the demands of the context and metre. ' 2* /. e., the foreign conquerors have sold or allotted the territory of Judah to others. u 2i A scribe who probably had in mind the later institution of the year of Jubilee, has added the prose note, And there shall be none to cast the line by lot in the congregation of Jehovah » 26 The same verb, prophesy, lit., drop words, i. e., speak earnestly and insistently is here used as in " and Am. 7'6, Ezek. 21!> '. The exact meaning of «. » is not assured. The accepted text is corrupt and makes no sense. The paragraph evidently reproduces the scornful words of the oppressors whom Micah was condemning. The above rendering is based upon what seems to be the most probable reconstruction of the corrupt text. » 2' So Gk. Heb., my. * 2\ Heb., to him who walketh uprightly ; but it is improbable that the corrupt rulers would make this claim for themselves and this reading may well be a corruption of the Heb. followed above. i 2" This vs. may be a scribal comment on '. In any case it logically belongs after « and has no connection with I0, which concludes the address. 142 THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR [Mi. 28 8But ye, ye stand up as a foe against those who are peaceful f Their Ye strip the mantle from those who pass by quietly ,a averse to conflict. pi^n. 'Women of my people ye drive out from their happy homes, of the From their young children1* ye take away my honor forever.0 help- 10Rise and begone, for this is no) place to rest, its in- Because of uncleanness which brings destruction,*1 even destruction in- ^£i evitable.6 conse quences § 52. The Crimes of Judah's Civil and Spiritual Leaders, Mi. 3 Mi. 3 'I also said: Proph- Hear now, O heads of Jacob, peal to" And ye judges of the house of Israel. the Is it not your duty to know what is the right? 2Haters of that which is good and lovers of evil!f ^hey devour the flesh of my people, Their And their hide they strip from off them, Sreecf3 And break in pieces and serve up their bones, As in a pot or as meat in the cooking-pan! 'Then they will cry out to Jehovah, Their But he will not pay heed to them, faith And he will hide his face from them at that time, Because they have committed such crimes. 6Therefore Jehovah saith to the prophets who lead my people astray, The Who when they have anything between their teeth declare peace, *Jea® But against one who puts nothing in their mouths, they proclaim senary a holy war! ets "Therefore, night shall overtake you so that you shall have no vision, And darkness8 so that there shall be no divination, And the sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day shall be dark6 over them. * 2s Dividing the Heb. letters as the context clearly demands. a 28 Again restoring what was evidently the original Heb. b 29 Or, following the analogy of l18, from their darlings. ° 29 /. c, by enslaving them. d 2l° Or, foUowing the Gk., ye shall be destroyed. . 210 The meaning of this word is uncertain. The vs., however, reveals clearly the process of thought in the mind of the prophet. At the close of the chapter an editor has inserted a post-exilic stanza describing the restoration of Jehovah's people. Cf. § 230. § 52 In severest terms Micah arraigns the rulers, judges, priests, and prophets of Judah and declares in plainest terms that the inevitable consequences of their acts is complete national ruin. The section is a close-knit unit with three general divisions. It is one of the memorable passages of the O.T., for Jer. 2618 states that these words of Micah made such a deep impres sion upon Hezekiah and his people that they heeded and instituted a reformation. 4 The nature of that reform may perhaps De best inferred from Micah's sermon than from the brief reference in II Kgs. 184, which attributes to Hezekiah simply ceremonial reforms that would by no means have satisfied Micah. ' 32 The second part of this vs., tearing their hide from upon them and their flesh from their bones, is apparently but a scribal variation of **¦ b. « 36 So Gk. Heb., it shall become dark. 143 Mi. S7] Fate of of seers anddiviners THE SERMONS OF MICAH 7The seers will be ashamed, And the diviners will turn pale, All of them shall cover the beard, For there is no answer from God. Micah's divineassurance 8But I, on the contrary11 am full of power,1 And the sense of justice and strength, To make known to Jacob his crime, And to Israel his sin. Theguilty betrayers of the publictrust 9Hear this ye heads of the house of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Ye who spurn justice, And make all that is straight crooked, 10Who build Zion with acts of bloodshed, And Jerusalem with crime. Theirblindconfidence "The heads render judgment for a bribe, And her priests give oracles for a reward, And her prophets divine for silver; Yet they lean uponJ Jehovah and think, Jehovah is indeed in our midst, Evil cannot overtake us.k Fate theybring upon the nation 12Therefore for your sakes Zion shall be plowed as a field,1 And Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins," And the temple mount a wooded11 height. h 38 The contrast is with the uncertain, slavish spirit of the mercenary false prophets. '3* The Heb. adds, by the spirit of Jehovah; but the awkwardness of the construction indicates that it was added by a scribe who desired to indicate, by word as well as implication, the source of the true prophet's power. ' 3U /. e., rely, trust in. k 311 The Heb. is in the form of a question which expresses firm conviction. 1 312 /. e., shall become a complete ruin. m 312 Correcting the Heb. by the aid of the quotation in Jer. 2618. 11 312 Heb., high places. 144 ISRAEL'S FALSE CONCEPTION [Mi. 61 § 53. Israel's False Conception of Jehovah's Character and Demands, Mi. 618 Mi. 6 1Hear ye now what Jehovah is saying: Arise, present the complaint0 before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy voice ! 2Hear, O mountains, Jehovah's complaint, % And give ear,p ye foundations of the earth. For Jehovah hath a complaint against his people, And he is entering into judgment with Israel, Jeho vah'scontro versy withhispeople 3 [Saying], My people, what have I done to thee, And wherein have I displeased thee ? Answer me! 4For I brought thee up from the land of Egypt And from the house of bondage I redeemed thee.** I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.1 5My people, what did Balak, king of Moab counsel ? And how did Balaam, the son of Beor, answer him ?s Remember now* from Shittim to Gilgal, That thou mayest know the righteous deeds of Jehovah. Their failure to ap preci ate his tender care 8With what shall I come before Jehovah, Bow myself before the God on high ?u Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, With calves a year old ? 7Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, With myriads of streams of oil ? Shall I give him my first-born for my guilt, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? The popular idea of how to win his fa vor § 53 Chap. 6, which follows the later messianic pictures in 4, 5 (that were intended to correct the dark prediction of Jerusalem's desolation in 3), apparently contains extracts from Micah's sermons. In the opening vss. his characteristic Hear ye is used. Cf. I2, 31- 9. The mountains and nature are also involved in Jehovah's controversy with his people (as in l4). The note is also one of condemnation rather than of promise (as in 4, 5). The reference in 3-fi to Jehovah's care and guidance of his people recalls Amos's opening address, 29- l0. Vss. l-5 and *-8 are usually treated as independent sections, but while the connection is not close, the firslj is only a torso without the second, and together they present a teaching characteristic of Micah and of the prophets of this period. If the later words and phrases (e. g., O man, in 8) be regarded as decisive evidence of later authorship, it must at least be acknowledged that the teaching thus nobly expressed is characteristic of the prophet of Moresheth -gath. The prophecy may well come from the disastrous days of 701 b.c, when the Assyrians had overrun Judah and pillaged Jerusalem and stirred in the hearts of the people that note of penitence which finds expression in 6< 7, and led to the reformation attributed by Jer. 2618 to the work of Micah. ° 61 Lit., a legal case or charge. p 62 The present Heb., usually translated, enduring, is ungrammatical and probably due to a scribal error, which when corrected gives the above harmonious reading. a64 Cf. Ex. 1520-21. r 64 The mention of Aaron and Miriam, as well as the very different and irregular metre of this passage, possibly indicate that this line is a later interpolation. 8 65 Cf. Nu. 22-24. * 6s Transferring the clause, remember now, from Bb to 5c, as the context and metre suggest. Possibly 6 is a later scribal addition or has been expanded, as its lines are longer than the metre requires. u 6a Lit., the God of the height. It is probably equivalent to the God of the heavens. 145 Thecontentof true religion Fraud and de ceit in Jerusa*lem Mi. 68] THE SERMONS OF MICAH "It hath been shown thee,v O man, what is good; And what Jehovah ever demands of thee : Only to do justice and love mercy, And to walk humblyw with thy God. § 54. Guilt and Punishment of Jerusalem, Mi. 69-18 Mi. 6 "Hark! Jehovah crieth to the cityP Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city:y "Can I forget the treasures2 of the house of the wicked, And the accursed scant measure? "Can I leave her unpunished21 because of evil balances, And the bag of false weights. "Whose riches are full of violence, And her inhabitants speak falsehood, And their tongue is deceit in their mouth? The consequences uBut I indeed, have begun to smite thee, To lay thee in ruins because of thy sins. 14Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied, Thou shalt put away but not save,b It shall be dark within thee, For whatever thou savest I will give to the sword. ^hou shalt sow but not reap, Thou shalt tread the olives, but never anoint thyself with oil, And make sweet wine, but thou shalt drink no wine! Judahas cor rupt and guilty as was Northern Is rael leFor thou hast followed0 the statutes of Omri, And all the deeds of the house of Ahab, And hast acted in accordd with their counsels, That I may give thee up to ruin, And her inhabitants to derision; Yea, the reproach of the nations6 shall ye bear! T 6s So Gk. Heb., he hath shown thee. w 6B Gk., Lat., and Syr., be ready to walk. Theodotion, be diligent. § 54 The date and authorship of this and the followingt section are not certain. The theme is one in which Micah "was especially interested. The attributing of the coming overthrow of the nation to the social crimes rampant in Jerusalem is also characteristic to him. Cf. I5. The same vigorous literary style andfearless spirit appear in these chapters as in Micah's open ing sermons. Vs. 13 may be an illusion to the early stages of Sennacherib's invasion. It is true that these same evils flourished in Jerusalem in later days, as the Ps. testify; but the position of these prophecies, their theme and spirit, all favor the conclusion that Micah was the author. 1 69 The line, And it is wisdom to fear thy name, is evidently a pious interjection from a later scribe who recalled Ps. 86u. Gk. has his name. Each refers to Jehovah. y 69 Following the Gk. in joining the first word of the text verse to 9 and in reconstructing the present impossible Heb. * 610 Omitting wicked, whch is probably due to scribal repetition. » 6U Lit., can I make her pure. The her probably refers to the unrighteous city or possibly to the implied crimes. Gk., can she be pure or guiltless. b 6" Following the Gk. Heb., and thy famine shall be in thy midst c 616 Following the Gk., Lat., and slightly correcting the clearly corrupt Heb. d 616 Heb., ye have walked in. » 616 Following the Gk. In the Heb. a scribe has written by mistake, my people. 146 THE DEGENERACY OF THE PEOPLE [Mi. 7» § 55. The Utter Degeneracy of the People, Mi. 71-8 7 'Woe, woe is me, for I have become The Like the gatherings of harvest/ like the gleanings of the vintage ; upright Not a cluster to eat, men Not a fig that anyone desires.8 ^he pious have perished from the land, Crime Of the upright among men there is none; p*™j All of them lie in wait to shed blood, They hunt one another with the net.h 'Their hands know well how to do evil,1 Official The officerJ demands a reward, tile" And the high official decides as he pleases, And they pervert justice. *The best of them are like a thorn thicket,k Con- Their most upright1 like a prickly hedge. "on"' The daym of their11 visitation has come,0 tention Now will be their confusion! ^rust not thy neighbor, None Rely not on a friend; trusted From the wife who lies in thy bosomp Guard the gates of thy mouth. 'For son insults father, Disre~f Daughter rises up against mother, the Daughter-in-law against mother-in-law, sacred A man's enemies are the people of his own household. obiiga- r r tions § 55 It is not entirely clear who is the speaker in l. If it is the Judean community, or the party of the pious within it, the passage is closely parallel to certain of the post-exilic Ps., and is one of the later appendices to the book of Micah.' If it is the prophet, it may possibly voice Micah's own bitter experience in the crisis of 701 B.C. (cf. *) or else in the reac tionary reign of Manasseh. In any case the picture is one of the blackest found in all Heb. literature. f 71 Gk., as one who gathers in the harvest. * 71 So Gk. Heb., my soul lusts for. h 72 Or, They hunt one another without cause. i 73 This vs. has suffered greatly in transmission. The corrected text, which has been followed, without much doubt represents the original. It also is in accord with the prevailing metrical structure of the section. 1 7a Heb., judge, but a scribe has evidently introduced it by mistake earlier in the vs. and made a slight change to harmonize it with its new context. * 71 Cf . Prov. 15>9 and II Sam. 23s> «. 1 74 Joining the consonants of the Heb. a little differently. m 74 Or, alas. • 7* Heb., thy, but the context demands the above reading. ° 7* Following a suggestion of the Gk. in restoring the unintelligible and clearly corrupt Heb. which reads, the day of thy sentinels, thy visitation comes. p 75 Note the climax: neighbor, friend, trusted wife. 147 VII As syriafor merly Jehovah's agent of judg ment ISAIAH'S LATER PROPHETIC ACTIVITY § 56. Jehovah's Overthrow of Proud Assyria, Is. IO5-16. 27-3' Is. 105Woe, Asshur, rod of mine anger, The staff in whose hand3, is mine indignation. 6Against an impious nation am I wont to sendb him, And against the people of my wrath I give him a charge. To take spoil and gather booty, And to tread them down like the mire in the streets. As syria'sbasedesigns againstJudah 7But he — not so doth he plan, And his heart — not so doth it purpose; For destruction is in his heart And to cut off nations not a few. 8For he saith, Are not my princes all of them kings ? 9Is not Calno's fate that of Carchemish ?c Is not Hamath's that of Arpad ? Is not Samaria's that of Damascus ? 10As mine hand hath found thesed kingdoms, § 56 The earlier part of Isaiah's activity furnishes no satisfactory background for this stirring section which has the characteristic literary vigor and fire of the great prophet. In the earlier days Jehovah's judgment was visited on guilty Judah. The false popular prophets were encouraging the people to believe that Jehovah would surely overthrow Assyria, but for Isaiah to have echoed their misleading predictions would have been to have destroyed the effect of all his early preaching. Possibly this sermon came from the period after 701 b.c. when Sennacherib had overrun and devastated Judah. But according to Isaiah's clear and repeated predictions, this judgment was well deserved by his countrymen and was a direct result of their foolish, faithless policy. In the light of the historical traditions considered in the following section it is evident that Isaiah's attitude toward the people of Judah and the Assyrians was fundamentally different at the time of Sennacherib's second invasion. The reason was obvious: it was because the demands of Sennacherib were unjust and the people of Judah were at last in the right. These closing years, therefore, of Isaiah's activity, when the Assyrians were advancing toward Jerusalem, furnish by far the most satisfactory setting for this prophecy. The graphic description in the closing vss. of the advance of the enemy illustrates an important prophetic pnnciple. The line of march through Central Samaria and the hills of Northern Judah was impracticable for an Assyrian army- in fact, it never seems to have been thus used. In every case the armies of Sennacherib advanced into Judah from the broad western coast plain. It is clear, therefore, that neither Isaiah nor his hearers anticipated that the advance would actually be from the north as portrayed. The description is figurative, well calculated to describe the seemingly invincible advance of the Assyrians, who were not turned back by rugged hills or narrow passes. Its aim was to describe concretely and in fitting imagery the certain overthrow of this proud, impious foe. fl 105 Lit., by their hands. Possibly this clause is secondary and the original simply read, He is the rod of mine indignation. b 106 The verb expresses not only repeated action in the present but also in the past, and may well have referred to the series of Assyrian invasions which had taken place during Isaiah's lifetime. c 109 Calno is probably to be identified with Kullani in Northern Syria which was con quered by Tiglath-Pileser in 738 b.c. Carchemish was the old Hittite capital on the Euphrates, which was conquered by Sargon, in 717 B.C. Arpad, in Northern Syria, fell into the hands of Tiglath-Pileser IV in 740 b.c. Hamath, on the river Orontes, was conquered in 720 b.c. by Sargon, while Damascus was conquered in 732 by Tiglath-Pileser IV. d 1010 Correcting the Heb., which reads, idol-kingdoms. 148 OVERTHROW OF PROUD ASSYRIA [Is. IO10 Though their images outnumbered those of Jerusalem and Sa maria,6 "Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, Do likewise to Jerusalem and her images ?f ubBy the strength of my hand have I done it, His And by my wisdom, for I have discerned it, fS0,3'" And I have removed the bounds of the peoples, pride And I have stolen their treasures, And like a mighty man I have brought down those who sit en throned ;g "And my hand hath seized, as on a nest, The riches of the peoples. And as one gathers eggs that are unguarded, I indeed have gathered up all the earth, And there was none that fluttered the wing, Or opened the mouth and chirped. 15Shall the ax vaunt itself over him who hews therewith ? But a Or shall the saw magnify itself over him who wields it ? JjJ"1 ln As if a rod could sway him who lifts it, hand of As if a staff could lift up him who is not wood. vah "His burden1* shall be removed from thy shoulder,1 And his yoke shall cease from thy neck.' He has gone up from Rimmon, The 28He has arrived at Aiath, ^apid He has passed through Migron, vf?he At Michmashk he stores his baggage; As- 29They have gone over the pass; aJ^ At Giba they halt for the night; Ramah is panic-stricken, Gibeah of Saul flees. . ifjio This vs. awkwardly interrupts the sequence of thought and may be secondary. f 1011 The immediate continuation of u is found in 13b. This close sequence of thought is interrupted by a prose note which has all the characteristics of the work of a later redactor, Morever when the Lord shall have performed all his work upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will punish the fruit of the stoutness of heart of the king of Assyria and the vainglory of his high looks, for he hath said . . . e 1013 The Gk. and Lat. suggest the reading, cities and their inhabitants, and this may represent the original. h 10" The preceding vss. 16-K are in the five-beat rather than in the characteristic three- beat of this passage and anticipate the climatic description of the overthrow of the Assyrians in ». ». They also introduce different themes. If they contain an Isaian nucleus, they at least represent a distinct address. Cf . § 57. In order to again resume the original address in 27b a scribe has inserted the familiar formula, and it shall be in that day. 1 IO27 Restoring the Heb. as the parallelism demands. i IO27 Heb., lit., and the yoke shall be destroyed by reason of oil: The present text gives no intelligible meaning but may be reconstructed as above with slight changes of the text. Rimmon is mentioned in Judg. 2045-47 and was situated east of Bethel. In the description which follows the different towns to the north of Jerusalem are mentioned as the enemy reaches them in turn in his irresistible advance. The metre is the short, insistent, two-beat alternating with the three-beat, and was well calculated to strike terror to the hearts of all those who heard. k 1028 The pass of Michmash, famous in the Saul narratives as the place where Jonathan vanquished the garrison of the Philistines. 149 Is. IO30] ISAIAH'S LATER SERMONS '"Shriek aloud, O people of Gallim,1 Harken, O Laishah, Answer her, Anathoth, "Madmenah flees, Gebim's inhabitants seek refuge in flight. Utterde struc tionbeforethe walls of Je rusalem ''This very day he will halt at Nob;m He shakes his fist against Mount Zion, Against the hill of Jerusalem. "Behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts," Is lopping the boughs with a crash,0 And the high of stature are being hewn down, The lofty are being brought low, MAnd the thickets of the forest are being cut down with an ax, And Lebanon with its mighty cedarsp is falling. Jeho vah'sultimatepurpose to destroy Assyria § 57. Later Echoes of Jehovah's Judgment upon Assyria, Is. 1424-27, IO"-28. Is. 14 MJehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have planned so shall it be, And as I have purposed so shall it stand, 25To break in pieces Asshur in my land, And on my mountains to tread him under foot, And his yoke shall be removed from off them,0- And his burden shall be removed from their shoulder. 26This is the purpose formed against the whole earth, And this is the hand stretched out over all the nations; l 1030 This vs. contains a play on the names of the two places mentioned. m IO32 Nob, just over the Mount of Olives and therefore within less than a mile of Jeru salem. n IO33 Recent scholars have questioned the Isaian authorship of ^ M on the ground that the picture is general and apocalyptic. The preceding picture is, however, incomplete without it and the imagery is strong and impressive and quite in keeping with Isaiah's other pictures of the overwhelming flood. As the Assyrians stand like mighty cedars about the walls of Jerusalem, Jehovah is represented as hewing them down, since their task is done and their pride and boasting have brought upon them merited judgment. The figure of the ax was one which Isaiah had already used in his description of Assyria as Jehovah's agent. ° 1033 Or, revising the text, with an ax. p 1034 Lit., by a mighty one. This would, of course, refer to Jehovah. But Jehovah has already been introduced in ^ and is the antecedent of 34. It is probable, therefore, as Cheyne has suggested, that the reference is to the mighty cedars of Lebanon which represent the Assyrian. §57 In 1424-27 and 1018M are found certain passages which contain references to As syria as the conquering world power and reflect Isaiah's confident assertions that this proud, impious nation would soon be completely overthrown by Jehovah. The theme and teachings are those of Isaiah in the closing years of his activity. Their present literary setting also con nects them with tnis period. It is probable that they contain some of Isaiah's original words, but the broadened outlook, which is not limited to Judah or Assyria, but includes all the world powers, and the figures and language on the whole point to the conclusion that in their present form these passages are from post-exilic, apocalyptic writers who were careful students of the writings of the original Isaiah, but who sought to adapt them to the broader outlook of the later day, identifying Asshur with the later Syrian empire which succeeded ultimately to the territory and prestige of the Assyrians. This later point of view is especially prominent in IO28-26. q 142a o, a Possibly these two lines are secondary and based on IO27. They break the close logical connection between Mb and ». 150 JEHOVAH'S JUDGMENT UPON ASSYRIA [Is. 142' 37For when Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, who can thwart it, And when his hand is stretched out, who can turn it back? 10 '"Therefore the Lord Jehovah of hosts will send among his fat ones Com- leanness, _ _ {*£* And under his glory shall be kindled a burning like the burning of fire, thatde- l7And the Light of Israel shall be the fire, and his Holy One the flame. tion And it will burn and devour his thorns and briars in a single day ; 18 And will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field both soul and body, And he shall be as when a sick man pines away; 19 And the remnant of his forest trees shall be so few that a child might write them down. MTherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts,r Conso- O my people, that dwell in Zion, be not afraid of Asshur, for'je- Though he smite you with a rod and lift up his staff against you as did hovah's Egypt of old. ^For yet a little while and my indignation will end and my anger will turn to his destruction. 26For Jehovah of hosts will stir up against him a scourge as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb, And his rod over the sea he will lift up as against Egypt of old. r 1024 This vs. is the logical sequel of 19. A long note has been inserted in vss. 2°-23 which reflects a still later point of view. The reference in 19 to the remnant of the Assyrians is made the occasion for the repetition of the familiar promises regarding the remnant of Israel. It is introduced by the phrase, in that day, often used by the later scribes. Its post-exilic origin is obvious. With slight revisions, the text may be translated as follows: 20 And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel and they who are escaped of the house of Jacob shall no more lean upon him who smote them, but lean in faithfulness on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. aA remnant shall return the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. ®For though my people Israel were as the sand of ihe sea, only a remnant of them shall return. 23A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For a complete and decreed destruction will Jehovah make in the midst of all the earth. 151 Is. 362] ISAIAH'S LATER SERMONS [Is. 3790 Sennache rib's arrogantznand that Jerusalem- be sur rendered § 58. Sennacherib's Demand and Isaiah's Prophetic Counsel, Is. 36, 37 Isaiah Stories Is. 37 obThen Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, ' Let not your God in whom you trust deceive you with the thought, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." uYou have already heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands in destroying them completely, and shall you be delivered? 12Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them — Gozan, Haran, Re- zeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar ? 13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah ?' 14And Heze kiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the temple of Jehovah and spread it out before Jehovah15 and said, leO Jehovah the God of Israel who Hezefciah History Is. 36 'Then the king of Assyria sent the commander-in-chief from La chish to Jerusalem with a great army to King Hezekiah. He came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the way to the fuller's fleld. 3And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was prefect of the palace, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the chancellor came out to him. 4And the high official said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, " What con fidence is this which you cherish?" 5You indeed think, "A simple word of the lips is counsel and strength for the war!" Now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? "Indeed you trust on the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt which, if a man lean on it, will go into his hand and pierce it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 'But if you say to me, "We trust in Jehovah our God," is not he the one § 58 The reasons for the analysis of this composite narrative have already been given in Vol. II, § 124. The reasons for concluding that they represent Isaiah's activity in connection with the later campaign of Sennacherib, about 690 B.C., have also been presented in Vol. II, pp. 501-2. Briefly recapitulated they are: (1) The difficulty of assigning these events to the critical years of 703-1. (2) The fact that Isaiah here asserts that Jerusalem shall surely be delivered, while in all his sermons which gather about the earlier crisis he had repeatedly de clared that the city and nation should suffer the inevitable consequences of their folly. Only in the additions of later editors is the inviolability of Jerusalem maintained. (3) The changed attitude of Hezekiah and the rulers of Jerusalem toward Isaiah. While in the earlier crisis they had refused to heed his advice, in the present narrative they turn to him as to an absolute au thority. (4) The absence in Isaiah's reply of any reference to the crimes and mistakes of Judah's rulers and the implication that they were at last living in accord with Jehovah's de mands as formulated by his prophet. (5) The independent references in the Assyrian in scriptions which point to a second, later campaign of Sennacherib, the aim of which was the conquest of Arabia and the invasion of Egypt. (6) The references in Herodotus to the great calamity, probably a pestilence, which overtook the Assyrian army on the borders of Egypt and which is referred to in the Hebrew narrative as a divine visitation. While the biblical traditions vary regarding details and reveal the influence of transmis sion, they mutually confirm the underlying facts presented by each of them, and record the great service and triumph of the prophet in his closing years. The basis of his definite predic tion was clearly the conviction that at last Hezekiah and the people were in the right, and that the demands of Sennacherib were unjust and therefore would not meet with Jehovah's approval and support. The prophet also doubtless appreciated the fact that Sennacherib was eager to advance to the conquest of Egypt and would be Very loath to wait as long as would be re quired to capture a strong fortress like Jerusalem. For a half-century after this event Judah continued to pay tribute to Assyria, but in saving Jeruaslem from being destroyed and looted Isaiah also gave to Judah another century of national life, which proved one of the most im portant periods in the religious history of the Israelitish race. Textual and other notes in connection with this section will be found in Vol. II under § 124. 152 Is. 361 SENNACHERIB'S DEMAND [Is. 371( Furtherthreatsof Sen- nache-rib's_official Hezekiah History whose high places and altars Heze kiah has taken away and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar?" 8Now therefore give pledges to my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to provide riders for them. 9How then can you repulse one of the least of my master's ser vants? And yet you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ! 10Have I now come up against this place to destroy it without Jehovah's ap proval? Jehovah it was who said to me, "Go up against this land and destroy it."' "Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the high official, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; but do not speak with us in the Jewish language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall. uBut the high official said to them, Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you ? Is it not rather to the men who sit on the wall, that they shall eat their own dung and drink their own water together with you ? 13Then the high official stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language and spoke, saying, Hear the message of the great king, the king of Assyria : "Thus saith the king, ' Let not Hezekiah deceive you for he will not be able to deliver you. ^Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in Jehovah, saying, "Jehovah will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the power of the king of Assyria."' "Hearken not to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, ' Make your peace with me and come over to me ; thus shall each one of you eat from Isaiah Stories dwellest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, over all the kingdoms of the earth. "In cline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see and hear the words of Sen nacherib, which he has sent to defy the living God. 18It is true, O Je hovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 19and have cast their gods into the fire ; for they were no gods, but the works of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have de stroyed them. 20But now, O Jeho vah our God, save thou us, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone. 21Then said Isaiah the son of jeho- Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, ™^.3 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of aaee Israel, ' What thou hast asked of ceming me regarding Sennacherib king Assyrla of Assyria, I have heard.'8 22This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: 'Thee she despises, at thee is laughing — the virgin, daugh ter of Zion! Behind thee she is wagging her head — the daughter of Jeru salem! 23Whom hast thou reviled and blas phemed? Against whom raised thy voice? Yea, and lifted up thine eyes on high? Against Israel's Holy One! MBy thy minions hast thou reviled the Lord; And hast said, "With my many chariots, I, even I, ascended the mountain heights, the ravines of Leb anon; And I have cut down its tallest cedars, its choice cypresses. 8 3721 Restoring by the aid of the parallel in II Kgs. 153 Is. 3616] ISAIAH'S LATER SERMONS [Is. 372 Hezekiah History his own vine and his own fig-tree and drink the waters of his own cistern, "until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land full of grain and new wine, a land full of bread and vineyards. 18But hearken not to Hezekiah, when he misleads you, say ing, "Jehovah will deliver us." Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the power of the king of Assyria? "Where are the gods of Ha math and Arpad ? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of the land of Samaria that they have delivered Samaria out of my power? 20Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my power, that Jeho vah should deliver Jerusalem out of my power ? ' Isaiah Stories And I press into its farthest halt ing-place, into its densest thickets. 25I, even I, dig wells [in the desert], And drink strange waters, And with the soles of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of Egypt." 26Hast thou not heard, I prepared it long ago, In the days of old I formed it; now I have brought it to pass; Hence thy task is to turn fortified cities into ruined heaps, "And their inhabitants, helpless, are terrified and put to shame, They are like the wild plants, the tender grass, and the blades on the roofs and the uplands, Before me is thy rising up 28and thy lying down, thy going out and thy coming in, I know thine raging against me 29and thy arrogance has come to my ears. Therefore I will put my ring through thy nose, and my bridle between thy lips, And will make thee return by the way in which thou hast come. assurance of deliverance Heze- ^Then they were silent and answered him not Sis1-8 a word; f°r the king's command was, Answer sage to him not. 22But Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the and the prefect of the palace, and Shebna, the scribe, and et™ph Joah the son of Asaph, the chancellor, came to Hezekiah with torn clothes and told him the words of the high official. 37 'And as soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and cov ered himself with sackcloth and went into the temple of Jehovah. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was prefect of the palace, and Shebna the scribe and the eldest of the priests, covered with sack cloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3And they said to him, Thus saith Hezekiah, 'This is a day of trouble and of discipline and of contumely ; for the children are come to birth and there is no strength to her who is in travail. 4It may be Jehovah thy God will hear all the words of the high official, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and will 154 30And this shall be your sign : you shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same, but in the third year you can sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruit. 31And the rem nant that escapes of the house of Judah shall again take root down ward and bear fruit up ward. 32For out of Je rusalem shall go forth a remnant and from Mount Zion a band who shall escape ; the zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall Thedivineassurancethat Jerusalemwould- be de liveredand As syria over thrown Is. 374] ISAIAH'S PROPHETIC COUNSEL [Is. 37s5 The over throw of Sen nache rib Hezekiah History rebuke the words which Jehovah your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.' 5And when the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, "Isaiah said to them, The following answer shall you take to your master, 'Thus saith Jehovah, "Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7Behold I will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear tidings and shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land." ' 8So the high offi cial returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9aBut that one had heard regarding Tirhakah king of Ethio pia, Behold, he has come out to fight against you. . . . 37Then Sennacherib king of Assyria went away and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. 38 And once while he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, his sons, Adram- melek and Sharezer, smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place. Isiah Stories accomplish this.' there fore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, 'He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow therein; neither shall be come be fore it with shield nor cast up a mound against it. MBy the same way that he came shall he return, but he shall not come into this city,' saith Jehovah. ^'For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.'* 36Now that night the Messenger of Jehovah went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, a hundred and eighty thousand. And when people arose early the next morning, there were only dead bodies. vni THE PROPHECY OF NAHUM § 59. Jehovah's Just Rule, Nah. I2"' Nah.l2*'^**) A jealous God is Jehovah,a Vengeful is Jehovah and full of wrath.b 30,d(D) In storm and tempest is his path, And cloud is the dust of his feet. 4-9, 3b, 2c, d, 10, 12, 13, 15 t 3731-35 The post-exilic point of view is clearly reflected in these vss. § 59 The original prophecy of Nahum dealt with but one theme — the approaching down fall of Nineveh. A later editor, desiring for didactic purposes to emphasize Jehovah's part in the overthrow of the ancient empire, has prefixed, as a fitting introduction, a powerful little psalm describing Jehovah's just rule and especially his zeal in taking vengeance upon his foes. The psalm is closely parallel in thought to many of the psalms of the Psalter. Like several of » l2" So Gk. The Heb. repeats avenging. The metre, however, supports the reading given above. b Vs- Vs. 2c- which begins with the Heb. letter n, has been displaced. 155 Nah. I4] THE PROPHECY OF NAHUM 4 (J) He rebuketh the sea and drieth it up, And parcheth all the streams. (1) Bashan0 and Carmel are languishing, And the bloom of Lebanon is withered. 6 (n) Thed mountains tremble before him And the hills dissolve, (1) And the earth heaves before him The habitable world and all that dwell therein. 8 (T) Before his indignation who can stand, Or who abide in the heat of his anger? (n) His wrath pours forth like fire, And rocks are shattered by him. 7 (ti) Good is Jehovah to those who hope in him," A place of refuge in the day of troubled ('•) Jehovah8 knoweth those whose trust in him, 8In the midst of the overwhelming flood he rescueth them.11 (D) An end he maketh of those who rise up against him,1 And driveth his enemies with darkness. 9(7) He doth not take vengeance^ a second timek upon his adversary, He maketh a complete destruction. (Q) What think ye of Jehovah ?' the psalms and the first three chapters of the book of Lam. it is an acrostic; that is, each suc ceeding verse originally began with a succeeding letter of the Heb. alphabet. Each vs. con tained two lines. It would appear from the present state of the text that the editor who quoted the psalm was either ignorant of the acrostic order or else had before him a disarranged text, or more probable still quoted from memory, for several of the verses are not in the regular alphabetical order. Many attempts have been made to restore the order of the closing verses but without success. Apparently the editor either quoted very freely or more probably sub stituted the divine promises to Judah, found in l13- 15 and 22, with the aim of making Nahum's original prophecy of Nineveh's overthrow applicable to Judah. The point of view of this later editor is clearly the post-exilic period; in thought he was closely related to the author of Is. 40-66. At last Judah's punishment is complete and Je hovah will no longer afflict his people, but rather he will release them from captivity and re store them to the land of Palestine, where they may again celebrate their religious' rites and develop into a prosperous nation. The date of this editor is probably the age of Nehemiah, somewhere about the middle of the Persian period. The introductory psalm, like the kindred psalms of the Psalter, probably comes from the troublesome days of the Judean community during the earler part of the Persian period. It forms a fitting introduction to the original prophecy of Nahum, whose theme is the vindication of Jehovah's righteousness and the overthrow of guilty Nineveh, which represents the Assyrian empire. c l4 The Heb. has simply a repetition of the verb at the end of the vs., but the Gk. has a different verb, and the structure of the poem calls for a verb beginning with the Heb. letter d. Following the analogy of Jer. 3112- 25' of Is. 38u' the original may be restored with the consistent meaning given above. a 1* So. Gk. The Heb. omits the article. ° 1' Following the Gk. ' V Cf. Jer. 16", Ps. 3739. e Supplying Jehovah. Arnold (3f., ATW, 1901, p. 260) reads 7 as one stanza and intro duces 3 here; Jehovah is long-suffering, But doth not fail to punish. h l8 Supplying the verb implied and demanded by the context. ' l8 Following the Gk. The Heb. must be slightly corrected to make any sense. i pb This vs. has been greatly disarranged. The initial clause is found at the end and the second immediately before it, while the first part of the first stanza is at the beginning of the vs. k l»i> Following a suggestion of the Gk. and a slightly revised Heb. text. I. e., a second act of vengeance is unnecessary. Cf. I Sam. 312, 268, II Sam. 2010. I 1»> The second member of 9° appears, with the next couplet, to have been transferred to the beginning of the chapter, where they are plainly out of place. Restored to the setting de manded by the alphabetical order, they fit their context completely. 156 JEHOVAH'S JUST RULE [Nah. l"b 2c* dJehovah doth not fail to punish.m 20 (1) Vengeful is Jehovah toward his adversaries, And watchful is he of his enemies: 12 (D) Thorns, tangled and drenched,11 They are consumed like dry stubble. 12For thus saith Jehovah : Assur- The days of my contention are at an end, past and gone. that Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more,0 shall be 13 And now I will break his yoke from off thee and will burst thy bonds, deliv- 15Behold on the mountains the feet of the messenger of good news,p who an- from nounces peace! *heeign Celebrate the feasts, O Judah, pay the vows, yoke For the wicked one will never again pass through thee,** He is destroyed, cut off! 2 2For Jehovah restoreth the vine1" Jacob as the viner Israel, Since the devastators have devastated them and destroyed their shoots. § 60. The Oracle Concerning Nineveh, V, ". ", 2>, 3", 3Ilfl The8 Vision op Nahum the Eukoshite Nah. 1 uCame he* not forth from thee Who planned evil against Jehovah, Who counselled villany ? 14Thus hath Jehovah given command concerning thee : m 12b Vs. to, which reads, Jehovah is long-suffering and great in might, does not fit the con text or the metrical or alphabetical structure of the poem. It is generally regarded as a later gloss intended to mitigate the severity of 2b. n I10 In both the Heb. and Gk. the text is badly confused. No satisfactory reconstruc tion has been suggested. The above is based upon the Heb. text after a case of dittography has been corrected. ° l12 Reconstructing the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and the parallel in Is. 6020. p 1» Cf. Is. 527. q 1« Cf. Joel 3". r 22 Restoring the Heb. in accord with 2b, which reads, lit., vine-shoots. § 60 Of the two superscriptions which are found in the opening vs. the second, The vision of Nahum the Elkoshite, was evidently the original; while the first, The Oracle (or Burden) con cerning Nineveh, contains the late Heb. word burden and was evidently added by a late editor — not improbably the one who appended the introductory psalm to the prophecy. Regarding the prophet Nahum and his date tradition furnishes no authentic information. His point of view is clearly that of Judah, Cf. I11. Elkosh, his native town, was probably one of the otherwise unknown little villages of Judah. The date of his activity is also uncertain. The reference, 312- 13« to the fall of Thebes indicates that it must have been after the power of that great Egyptian capital was finally broken by Ashurbanipal about 660 b.c. On tne other hand it clearly precedes the conquest of Nineveh by the combined forces of the Medeans and Chaldeans in 607-6 b.c. Herodotus states that Cyaxares, the Mede, first besieged Nineveh in 625 b.c. It is unfortunate that this statement is not confirmed by any of the contemporary writers, for it furnishes the most satisfactory date for Nahum's prediction. The death, in 626 b.c, of the great Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who had ruled southwestern Asia and Egypt with a strong hand, was in itself an event well calculated to inspire hope in the minds of the Judeans. Possibly he is the Assyrian king referred to in l11. It was also about this time that the Assyrian rule of Palestine was relaxed and that the great empire began to fall into decay, although the external evidences of Nineveh's downfall did not become clearly apparent until a decade later. The prophecy, therefore, may be dated with assurance somewhere between 626 and 610 b.c, with the strong probability in favor of the earlier date. It forms a fitting and Jeho vah'scondemna tion of As syria 1 11 A later editor has added book of before the older superscription. 4 111 Making a slight correction in the last word of 10 and joining it with ". 157 Nah. I14] THE PROPHECY OF NAHUM Thy name shall no longer be remembered;11 From the house of thy God will I cut off idol and molten image, I will make thy grave a stench/ The battle alarm xHe that breaketh in pieces has come up against thee. Keep careful watch! Guard the way! Gird up the loins! Gather all thy strength !w The ap proach ing foe ^he shield of his heroes is colored red. The warriors are clad in scarlet. The steelx of the chariots gleams like flre,y In the day of preparation the horses2 are prancing.1 4On the streets the chariots rattle; They go galloping across the squares. The attack The down fall of Nineveh Their appearance is like torches, Like lightnings they dart to and fro. 5He mustersb his nobles, They succeed0 in their onset, They rush to the wall, They set upd the covering.® ^he water-gatesf are opened, And the palace goes down in ruins. 7The queeng is uncovered, she is carried off, Eowerful conclusion to the noble prophecies which come from the Assyrian period of Judah's istory. At last the enlightened eye of the prophet discerns the signs of the coming overthrow of the great power which had brought untold woe to the people of Judah, and which for over a century had powerfully influenced the development of Judah's political, social, and religious life. For fully a half -century the great empire had been ruled by a small group of officials, and owed its strength not to the patriotism of the Assyrian people themselves, nor to any lofty ideals or ambition, but to the personal ability and energy of the ruling king, the thoroughness of his mili tary organization, and to the hired mercenaries who fought under his banners. The personal am bitions of individual kings had led its armies over miles of burning desert, through broad rivers, and over snow-clad mountain passes in the lust for conquest and spoil, until Assyria had indeed, as the prophet declares, filled its capital Nineveh with the plunder of countless peoples, and reared its palaces and battlements by the forced labor of its captives. Nahum voices, in lan guage of surpassing literary beauty and vigor, the universal cry of exultation which burst from the lips of a great family of nations, when at last the news came that Nineveh was falling. u lu Heb., There shall no more of thy name be sown. An extremely probable emendation of the text gives the above rendering which also reproduces the idea of the present Heb. v lu Again correcting certain obvious scribal errors. w 2l Lit., strengthen thy power exceedingly. x 23 The meaning of this word is very doubtful. y 23 Making a slight correction. _ Heb., with fire. z 23 Correcting an obvious error in the Heb. by the aid of the Gk. a 23 Or, held back. b 25 Heb., he remembers. The antecedent as in 3 is probably the invader. 0 25 Transferring one Heb. letter. The present Heb. reads, they stumble, which does not fit the context. d25 So Gk. Heb., is set up. 0 25 Probably the protecting covering under which the battering-rams were brought up against the walls. f 26 /. e., the gates that opened from the Tigris, surrounding the walls with water. When opened the outer defences were down. e 27 The Heb. is untranslatable and is in all probability a corruption for the word quern demanded by the context. 158 ORACLE CONCERNING NINEVEH [Nah. 27 And her maids moan like doves, They are beating upon their breasts.11 8But Nineveh is like a pool of water, Her waters1 are flowing away. 'Stand, stand' [one cries], but not one turns back. 'Loot the silver, loot the gold; Plun- For there is no end to the store, the city The wealth of all precious things.' 10She is empty and desolate and waste; And the heart faints,k the knees smite together,1 Anguish is in all the loins, And the faces of all are flushed. "Where is the den of the lions, Nih6th The lairm of the young lions, den of Where the lion was wont to withdraw,11 Syrian The whelps also, with none to startle them ? Uons ^he lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps, And strangled for his mates, He filled his caves with prey, And his lairs with plunder. 13Behold, I am against thee, is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, To be And I will burn thy dwelling0 in smoke; by°Je- The sword shall devour thy young lions; hovah Yea, I will cut off thy prey from the earth, The voice of thy messengersp shall be heard no more. 3 'Woe to the bloody city,0- Be- Full of lies and plunder! of its There is no limit to the spoil, ™^ ^he noiser of the whip and of rattling wheels! The prancing horses and bounding chariots, 3The horseman charging with flashing sword and glittering spear! Many are the slain and the dead are in heaps,3 h 27 Lit., hearts, in grief. 1 28 Again correcting a scribal error i 29 Or, fine furniture k 210 I. e., in terror. 1 2'° Following the Gk. in interpreting the Heb. m 2n Slightly correcting the text. n 211 Correcting the corrupt Heb. with the aid of certain early texts. ° 213 Heb., chariots. Gk. and Syr., thy many or multitude. Both readings are probably corruptions for the corresponding Heb. word dwelling demanded by the context. p 213 Gk. your works shall be heard of no longer ; but the Heb. reading is preferable, the reference being to the many embassies sent out by Assyria to extend the influence and prestige of the empire. q 3l Lit., city of acts of bloodshed. T 32 Or, Hark, the whip I Hark, the noise of rattling wheels! a 33 Lit., and the mass of slain, and a great heap of dead bodies. 159 Nah. 33] THE PROPHECY OF NAHUM And there* are corpses without number! They stumble over the bodies! 4It is because of the many crimes of the harlot," The alluring mistress of magic, She who hath soldv nations through her harlotries, And peoples™ through her black art. Dis- 5Behold, I am against thee, is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts ; fnThe Yea, I will uncover thy skirts before thy face, aiuhef ^or I w'u sh°w t^e nations thy nakedness, nations And the kingdoms thy disgrace. eAnd I will cast loathsome filth upon thee, And make thee vile, and set thee up as a gazing stock. 'And all who look upon thee shall flee from thee,x And say, ' Nineveh is wasted ; who will bewail her ? Whence shall I seek comforty for thee ?'z Far 8Are you better than No-ammon [Thebes],a invin- Which lay in the midst of the streams, clble With waters around about her, Whose bulwark was the sea, Whose wall was the waters ? 9Herb strength was Ethiopia and Egypt, And Put,0 with countless people, The Libians also were herd support. Ripe 10But she also was carried away, she went into captivity ;° *°^_ Her little ones also were dashed to pieces at the head of every street ; quest They cast lots for her honored men, while all her great ones were bound in fetters. uSo too, thou shalt become drunken, thou shalt be overcome/ Thou also shalt seek a refuge from before thine enemy. 12 All thy fortresses shall be like fig trees, thy people8 like the first-ripe fruit ; If they are shaken they drop into the mouth of the eater. 6 3a Heb., their, but the context clearly indicates that the original reading was as above. " 3* /. e., Nineveh, thus designated because through her intrigues she had drawn the na tions of Southwestern Asia under her influence and tyrannical sway. v 34 Or, intoxicates, revising the text. w 34 Lit., families. * 37 The metre in this vs., as frequently in this prophecy, suggests the five-beat measure of the dirge. y 37 So Gk. Heb., comforters. * 3' Gk„ her. • 38 Thebes, the strong capital of Upper Egypt, repeatedly conquered by the Assyrians, but finally completely subjugated about 660 B.C. It was surrounded by the waters of the Nile which thus constituted a natural and effective defence. b 3» So Gk., Syr., and Targ. Heb., strength. c 39 The land of Put was probably situated along the southern shores of the Red Sea. A 39 Again following the Gk. andSyr. Heb., thy. B 310 Here the five-beat lamentation metre is introduced and continues throughout the re mainder of the prophecy. 1 311 Lit., thou shalt be hid, i. e., overcome with terror. b 312 Slightly correcting the text as the metre and context require. 160 Thefutility of re sistance ORACLE CONCERNING NINEVEH [Nah. 3™ See, thy people11 are women ; fire has consumed thy defences,1 The gates of thy land are wide open to thine enemies. "Draw thy water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses ; Go to the clay pits and tread the clay ; take up the brick moulds.' 15There the fire will consume thee, the sword will cut thee down ; It will devour thee, though thou increase thyself like the devouring worm or a swarm of locusts.k "Make thy merchants more than the stars of heaven,1 "Thy watchmen111 as the locusts and thy scribes" as the grasshoppers, Which swarm in the hedges on a cold day, But when the sun shines they fly away and their place is unknown. 18Woe to thee,° thy shepherds slumber,p thy nobles are sleeping, Fatal Thy people are scattered on the mountains and there is no one to assemble ness re- them, vealed ¦ "There is no healing for thy hurt, thy wound is fatal.0- All who hear the news about thee clap their hands over thee, For upon whom hath thy wickedness not fallen continually ?r h 313 The Heb. adds, in your midst; but this is not supported by the metre and weakens the line which expresses forcibly the thought that all the men have been slain and only helpless women remain. 1 313 Transferring the clause, the fire hath consumed your defences (lit., bars), from the end of the vs. in accordance with the demands of the sense and metre. ' 3U I. e., prepare bricks to build high the walls. k 315 The meaning of this vs. is obscure. The clause, as a devouring worm, has evidently been repeated through a scribal error. The two classes of insects here referred to are appar ently (1) the larvae of the locust and (2) the locust when it has developed wings and is able to fly in great swarms. 1 316 The Heb. adds, introducing another figure, the devouring worm will consume it and fly away. It would seem, however, to be an addition by a later scribe who failed to appreciate Nahum's figure in which the locusts and devouring worms simply mean great numbers. m 317 This^ word is commonly translated princes, but the meaning is doubtful and the above translation, based on a close analogy to the Assyrian word meaning watchmen, gives on the whole a more probable rendering. n 317 The current translation, marshalls, is exceedingly doubtful. The Heb. has prob ably taken over here the Assyrian word for scribe. ° 3la Restoring the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. p 318 A scribe has here added, 0 king of Assyria, and changed the pronominal suffixes from the feminine to the masculine. It is evident, however, that in the original context Nine veh was the one addressed throughout the entire prophecy. 1 3>9 Gk., swollen. ' 3" This last line lacks the vigor of the preceding and may possibly be a later addition. 161 THE PROPHETS OF JUDAH'S DECLINE ZEPHANIAH, JEREMIAH, HABAKKUK, AND EZEKIEL THE PROPHETS OF JUDAH'S DECLINE I ZEPHANIAH'S REFORM SERMONS § 61. Superscription, Zeph. I1 The Word of Jehovah, Which Came to Zephaniah The Son of Ctjshi, the Son of Gedaliah, The Son of Amariah, the Son of Hezekiah, In the Days of Josiah the Son of Amon King of Judah. § 62. Jehovah's Day of Judgment upon Judah, Zeph. I7* 2-6« S18 Zeph. 1 7Bow before the Lord Jehovah, for near is the day of Jehovah, The For Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath sanctified his guests.3, jeho°* . van § 61 The sermons of Zeph. are of deep interest because he himself was, in all probability, as the superscription implies, a great-great-grandson of the reforming king, Hezekiah, and because he was apparently the first to raise the standard of reform after the long reactionary reign of Manasseh. The prevailing apostasy, which is the background of his powerful de nunciations, was clearly the fruit of that earlier reaction against the teachings of Isaiah and Micah and the reformation of Hezekiah. That reaction had brought back many of the old Canaanite cults and superstitions which had been placed under the ban and only cherished in secret by the people. It also opened wide the door for the introduction of foreign religions, and especially that attractive type of Baby, worship which was introduced by the Assyr. con querors and which, during the reign of Manasseh, became widely prevalent in the land of Judah. The worship on the house-tops, to which Zeph. refers, was clearly the Baby, worship of the heavenly bodies. It is more than possible that Zeph. was the companion of the young Josiah and the one who influenced the king to abandon the policy of his father and grandfather and to follow the guid ance of the disciples of Isaiah and Micah. The prophet reiterates, in the light of the changed conditions, the principles nobly set forth by the great Isaiah. Judah is evidently threatened by some great danger. From the contemporary sermons of Jer. and from the reference in Herodotus, it would appear that this foe was none other than the dread Scythians, of whom a detachment about 626 b.c. swept down the great highway along the_ Eastern Mediterranean, pitilessly pillaging and slaying the peoples whose territory^ lay in their course. While Judah was not in the direct line of the invaders, fears of this terrible, mysterious foe doubtless filled the minds of Zeph.'s hearers. The ominous note of doom, with scarcely a rift of hope, re veals the spirit and earnestness of Zeph. The famous mediaeval hymn, Dies Iroi, which is based upon the Latin version of the first chapter, reproduces with marvellous fidelity the notes of alarm and warning which characterize the prophecy as a whole. The prophet's aim was to arrest the attention of his hearers and to arouse them that they might institute a funda mental reform. The great reformation under Josiah was clearly one of the fruits of Zeph.'s preaching. The prophecy naturally falls into four divisions: the first chapter has suffered greatly in transmission, but in its restored form clearly represents Zeph.'s interpretation of the day of Jehovah. The second section, chap. 213* 12-15, traces the effect of Jehovah's judgment upon Judah's heathen neighbors. The third section, chap. 31*7, deals in detail with the sins of the leaders of Jerusalem. The remainder of the book, chaps. 24-», 38-20, consists of later supplements from the point of view of the exile. a l7 This vs. interrupts the words of Jehovah in 2-18, and at the same time furnishes the natural introduction to the oracle as a whole. The guests of Jehovah are the apostates men tioned in the following vss. 165 Zeph. I2] ZEPHANIAH'S SERMONS Jeho- 2I will completely take away everything from off the face of the earth, is the judg- oracle of Jehovah. IToq 3]c wiU take awayb man and beast> the birds of tne neavens and tlie fish of afithe the sea;0 63 I will cause the wicked to stumble, and I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth.d Upon 4And I will stretch out my hand over Judah and all the inhabitants of Je- the , J apos- rusalem, tatra Ariel I will cut off from this place the surviving Baalism6 and the name of dah the heathen priestlings,' 5And those who worship on the housetops the host of heaven,g And those worshippers11 of Jehovah who also pay homage to Milcom,1 6And those who turn back from following Jehovah, And those who do not seek Jehovah nor strive to find him.J Upon 8Andk I will punish the officers and the royal princes,1 faith- And all those who clothe themselves in foreign apparel;11 less rulers mer chants 9Andn I will punish all who leap over the threshold,0 Who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit. Upon 10Hark!p a cry from the Fish Gate,0- and a wailing from the New Quarter, rfeh And a great din from the hills, "and a wailing from the inhabitants of the seif^ Maktesh,r fied For all the merchants8 are destroyed, all those laden with money are cut off, b l3 Apparently through a scribal error the Heb. repeats, / will take away. 0 l3 Heb., stumbling-blocks with the wicked, but the sense and parallelism call for the slight emendation foUowed above. d l3 The Heb. adds, destroying the metre and interrupting the passage, the oracle of Jehovah. e l4 Lit., remnant of Baal. Gk., name of Baal, but the latter is probably due to Hos. 216. 1 l4 The metre and awkward, repetitious construction suggest that the added words, with the priests, is the work of a scribe. The original reference was probably simply to the priests of Baal. e 16 A reference to the Assy, star worship which was introduced in the days of Manasseh. b l5 A scribe has added by mistake from the last of the vs., who swear to. ' l5 So certain Gk. codices and Luc. Milcom was the god of the Ammonites. Cf. I Kgs. lie. 33? n Kgs. 2313, Jer. 73°- 31. j l6 Possibly this vs. is secondary, as it lacks the metrical structure and the fiery reform seal of the preceding vss. k 18 A scribe who recognized that 7 interrupted the words of Jehovah has sought to recon cile it to its context by adding the awkward gloss, And it shall come to pass in the day of Je hovah's sacrifice. 1 l8 Gk., household of the Icing. m l8 J. c, adopt foreign customs. n l9 From its context this line would appear to refer simply to the deliberate disregard of established laws of law and order. It may possibly refer to a heathen custom adopted by the official class in Jerusalem. Cf. I Sam. 5s, Is. ". ° l9 The Heb. adds the awkward gloss, in that day. p 1*° A scribe has added, destroying the metre and the force of the original, and it shall come to pass in that day, is the oracle of Jehovah. q l10 The Fish Gate was at the northern end of the Tyropcean Valley. Cf . Neh. 33, 1239, and west of the temple area, and led into the New Quarter. Cf. II Kgs. 2214, Neh. ll39. The attack of a foe coming from the north would therefore first affect the city at this point. r lu Lit., mortar; possibly the low depression of the central Tyropcean Valley, between the temple and the western hill. 8 l11 Lit., sons of Canaan. The Canaanites were the traders of ancient Israel. In the central Tyropcean Valley they probably plied their trade. 166 JUDGMENT UPON JUDAH [Zeph. ll: And* I will search Jerusalem with a lamp" and I will punish those who are at ease,v Who are thickened upon their lees,w who are saying to themselves, Jehovah brings neither prosperity nor calamity. ^heir wealth shall become a prey and their houses a desolation.* Near is the day of Jehovah! near and rapidly approaching! Near is the bitter day of Jehovah,y and strong men will then cry out ; 15That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, iea day of the trumpet and battle-cry, Against the fortified cities and against the high battlements. "And I will bring distress upon men and they shall walk as the blind,2 And their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as dung.a 18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them, For in the dayb of the wrath of Jehovah and in the fire of his jealousy the whole earth shall be devoured, For he will make an end, yea, a speedy0 end of all the inhabitants of the earth.d Natureof Je hovah'sjudgmentday § 63. Jehovah's Imminent Judgment upon the Nations, Zeph. 21-8- 12ls Zeph. 2 'Be ashamed within yourselves,"* yea, be ashamed/ 2Before ye become as the drifting chaff,8 Before the day of Jehovah comes upon you, * l12 A scribe has again added, and it shall come to pass at that time. u l12 So Gk. Heb., lamps. » 1" Correcting the Heb. by the aid of the analogy in Am. 61, Is. 3729, Jer. 48", and the parallelism. w l12 /. e., confirmed in their false convictions because they had been so long disturbed. x l13 Cf . the proverbial expression, They shall build houses but not inhabit and plant vine yards but not drink ihe wine thereof (cf . Am. 5n, Mi. 616, Dt. 28s0' as), lacks the metre of the con text and ill accords with the next line, which states'that the day of judgment is near, and it must be regarded as secondary. y in Correcting the text as the context requires. The traditional text has no meaning. ¦ ln The added clause, because they have sinned against Jehovah, is clearly a didactic gloss which destroys the close parallelism of the vs. a l17 So Gk. The meaning of the Heb. word is unknown. >> l18 Following the Gk. and Syr. 0 l18 Slightly correcting the Heb. d l18 The prediction of the destruction of all the inhabitants of the earth is aside from- Zeph.'s purpose, which was to condemn the guilty Judahites. It is also a characteristic idea of the later apocalyptic writers. The same reasoning applies to the preceding line, so that it is probable that these lines are both secondary. Cf . 38, Ezek. 7'9, Jer. 13n. § 63 By many scholars J-3 are connected with the preceding chap. The latter, however, is complete as it stands. Vss. x-3 mark the transition to the other nations which will share the common judgment with Judah. They are the Philistines and Ethiopians on the west and the Assyrians on the east, who were in the line of advance of the two Scythian hordes. The section in 8_11, which includes the Mqabitesand Ammonites, appears to be a later addition from an exilic editor, for (1) I2 is the immediate sequel of 7a; (2) these peoples were not in the line of the march of the Scythians; (3) there is no reason why Zeph. should men tion them; (4) the reference seems to be to the events of the early exile; vss. 8- 10 refer to the acts of these heathen peoples when Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C.; (5) the five- beat lamentation metre, which prevails throughout the rest of the section, is lacking here. Vss. 8"u are probably from the same exilic writer who appended the psalm at the end of the prophecy, 38-20. Cf. § 236. 6 21 The meaning of these verbs is in this case not entirely certain nor clear. They may mean assemble yourselves. The idea of assembling the people in view of a great national danger is prominent in Jer. 36 and in Joel. ' 22 Following the Gk. The Heb. is evidently corrupt and untranslatable. « 22 Again following the Gk. 167 Humblefaithin Je hovahalone will deliver Zeph; a2] ZEPHANIAH'S SERMONS Before the day of Jehovah's wrath comes upon you. 3Seek Jehovah all ye meek of the earth, ye who execute his law ; Seek righteousness, seek meekness; perhaps ye may be hidden in the day of Jehovah's wrath.h The- 4For Gaza shall be forsaken ; Ashkelon a desolation j1 Sent Ashdod — by noon shall they rout herJ and Ekron be torn up! on the 5Woe to the dwellers by the seashore; people of the Cherethites !k Phiis- The word of Jehovah is against thee/ O Canaan,111 land of the Philistines! anS8 I will destroy thee so that thou shalt be without inhabitant,11 6And thou shalt become0 shepherds' cots and folds for flocks. 7In the house of Ashkelon will they lie down at evening, by the sea will they feed.p tines andEthio pians Proud 12Ye, also, O Ethiopians, slain by hisq sword are ye ! veh£ 13And F will stretch out my hand against the north and destroy Assyria ; fate And I will make Nineveh a desolation, dry as the wilderness, 14And herds will lie down in her, amidst every beast of the earth,a Both pelican and porcupine shall lodge in its capitals, The owl* shall hoot in the window; the raven11 on the doorstep, for the city is destroyed/ 15This is the exultant city which sat secure, She who said to herself, I am and there is none else! How has she become a desolation! A lair of beasts! Every passerby hisses at her, shakes his hand.w h 22cd. 3 xhe defective metre in these lines, the lack of close connection with the con text, and the hortatory tone strongly suggest that they are secondary. 1 24 The measure throughout is elegiac: a long line of three beats and a rising cadence followed by a short line of two beats and a falling cadence. As in Mi. I10-14, there is also a play on the proper names. i 24 Evidently a figure for sudden capture. C4 Jer. 158. k 25 Cf. I Sam. 3014, Ezek. 2516. It is a designation of the Philistines. 1 2s Heb., you, but the plural is probably due to a scribal error. m 25 Canaan may be a scribal addition. In the Egyptian inscriptions it is used, however, as a designation of all Palestine. Canaan was also a synonym for merchant and may well have been applied to the commercial Philistines. n 25 The last line is lacking, while 6a is overcrowded. The secondary passage 6b was prob ably based on the reference to the seashore now found in 6a. ' 2° So Gk. The Heb. introduces, probably from the next line, the explanatory word p 27 Restoring what appears to have been the original structure of the vs. 7a>°: And the coast shall belong io the remnant of the house of Judah, For Jehovah their God will visit them and turn their captivity, is clearly a later note from a post-exilic editor. q 212 Heb., my, but the context demands his. r 213 Correcting the Heb. (which has the third person) as the context requires. B 214 So Gk. Heb., nation. * 2U Correcting the Heb. text, which has, voice. u 214 Following a suggestion of the Gk. T 214 Heb. adds a doubtful clause which may be translated, for he hath laid bare the cedar work, or correcting the text, for the city is destroyed. These unintelligible words may be simply a confused scribal repetition of the opening words of the next line. w 215 This vs. has many parallels in later prophecies (cf. Is. 237, 478, Jer. 5023, 5141, 198) and is by many regarded as secondary. The evidence, however, is not decisive and the metre and thought accord well with the context. 168 JERUSALEM'S CORRUPTION [Zeph. 31 § 64. Jerusalem's Deep-seated Corruption, Zeph. 3'-' Zeph. 3 xWoe to the rebellious and unclean city of oppression, ^he hath not obeyed the voice, she hath not accepted instruction, In Jehovah she hath not trusted, to her God she hath not drawn near/ Guilt of Jeru salem 3Her rulers in her midst are roaring lions, Of her Her judges are evening wolves, who leave nothing overy until the morning, ^n|ra 4Her prophets are braggarts, faithless men, Her priests profane what is holy and do violence to the law. 5Jehovah is righteous in her midst, he doeth no wrong, Morning by morning he establisheth his decree,21 Light is not lacking,3, an oversight is unknown. 6I have cut off nations, their turrets are destroyed; I have laid waste their broad streets, so that none passes over them. Desolate are their cities without a man, without inhabitant. 7I said, ' Surely she will fear me, she will accept instruction, Nothing shall vanish from her eyesb that I have impressed0 upon her' ; But the more zealously have they made all their deeds corrupt. teachers Jeho vah's faithful in struc tion by preceptand ex ample Jerusalem'sfailure to learn II THE EARLIER SERMONS OF JEREMIAH § 65. The Superscription to Jeremiah's Sermons, Jer. I1-3 *The Words* of Jeremiah the Son of Hilkiah, One of the Priests Who Were at Anathoth in the Land of Benjamin, ^o Whom the Word of Jehovah Came in the . Days of Josiah the Son of Amon King of Judah, in the Thirteenth Year of His Reign. § 64 This section is, by many scholars, regarded as a later addition to the book. The chief reason urged is the presence of four or five late Hebrew words or usages, but this evi dence is far from conclusive, for they may have crept in through transmission. The moral tone of the passage is that of Zeph.; the crimes are those of pre-exilic Jerusalem and es pecially during the days preceding the reformation of Josiah. Its statements are also closely {>arallel to those of Jer. during the same period and are in marked contrast to those of the ater passage which follows. In the absence of any convincing evidence to the contrary, there is every reason for regarding Zeph. as the author. * 32 Cf. the close parallel to Jer. 728. y 33 So Gk. and one possible meaning of the Heb. verb. The figure is also in accord with well-known habits of the wolves who consume all their prey. * 36 I. e., makes clear the law that should prevail in the land. a 35 Correcting the corrupt Heb. by the aid of the context. b 37 So Gk. The Heb. has corrupted the original into, her dwelling. 0 37 Lit., visit — i. e., commanded and enforced by discipline. § 65 Like the other superscriptions to the prophetic books, this was evidently added by an editor. The familiarity with details suggests that it was Baruch. Vss. *• 2 may have been the original superscription to a small collection of Jer's. sermons, delivered about 626 b.c, and 3 a subsequent addition intended to include the'later collections; at least the last clause must be regarded as a later detailed note, based on II Kgs. 258t. The complete superscription, how ever, antedates the time when the narrative sections in 40-52 were added, for the events therein recorded are subsequent to the fifth month, when the people of Jerusalem were carried into captivity. a l1 This may be interpreted, history, as in Kgs., but more probably it refers to the spoken addresses rather than the historical narrative in the book. 169 Jer. I4] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS 3It Also Came in the Days of Jehoiakim the Son of Josiah King of Judah Until the End of the Eleventh Year of Zedekiah the Son of Josiah King of Judah, Until Jerusalem Went Into Exile in the Fifth Month. The call to divine Jere miah'shesita tion The divineassurance The di vine com mission § 66. Jeremiah's Call, Jer. l«-» Jer, 1 4Now this word of Jehovah came to meb: 5Before I formed thee in thy mother's womb, I knew0 thee, And before thou earnest forth from the womb, I consecrated thee. To be a prophet to the nations I have appointed thee.d cBut I said: Alas, O Lord Jehovah! Behold, I do not know how to speak;6 For I am only a youth.f 7Then Jehovah said to me : Do not say, * I am only a youth' ; For to all to whom I shall sendg thee, thou shalt go, And whatever I command thee, thou shalt speak. 8Be not afraid of them, For I am with thee to deliver thee.h thereupon Jehovah stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and Jehovah said to me: Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth, 10See, I have set thee this day over the nations and kingdoms,1 To tear up, to break down and to destroy^ — to build and to plant. § 66 The correspondence between^ the call of Jer., as here recorded, and that of Isaiah § 32, is very close. The needs of their day and their recognition that some one must warn their nation, are the essential elements in each. In the case of Jer. the immediate cause ap pears to have been the advance of the dread Scythians, the foe from the north (cf . 13- 14) to which he refers frequently in his earliest sermons. .This chap, concretely and vividly suggests that inner struggle between the sense of duty and inclination which was going on in the mind of the youthful Jer. The responsibility resulting from his priestly inheritance and youthful training, the consciousness of Jehovah's power and the imminence of the danger that threatened, con quered his natural shrinking from publicity and his feeling of immaturity. Probably this chap., like the account of Isaiah's call, was written after years of experience had demonstrated the real nature of his task. It is prevailingly prose, but the longer speeches have a marked poetic structure. In the first part the three-beat metre is employed; but the longer passage which begins in u was originally cast in the five-beat measure. *> l4 Gk., to him. This may be original, but the analogy of "• 13 favors the Heb, c l5 /. e., in the sense of an intimate acquaintance. Cf. Am. 31. d l6 This line, with its reference to the foreign nations, may be secondary, for the mission and message of the Jeremiah of history was to his own countrymen. Cf. 18. Both Amos and Isaiah, however, uttered prophecies concerning foreign nations. Cf. also Jer. 288, 362, 2515- 16. a l8 /. e., to proclaim Jehovah's message clearly and effectively. f I6 The Heb. word was applied to any one from infancy to a marriageable or older age. Cf. Gen. 34", II Sam. 186- 12. It simply emphasized youth in contrast to maturity. e l7 So Gk. supported by 8. A common error has crept into the Heb. so that it reads, on whatsoever errand. h l9 A later scribe has added the favorite formula, It is the oracle of Jehovah, although it does not fit naturally in the context. * l10 Gk., nations and kingdoms. i l10 So Gk. The Heb. adds, pull down. 170 JEREMIAH'S CALL [Jer. l" "This word of Jehovah also came to me : Whatk dost thou see ? And I A sym- answered, A branch1 of an almond tree. 12Then Jehovah said to me, Thou divine hast seen well ; for I am ever watching over™ my words to perform them.n Son*0" 13 Again the word of Jehovah came to me : What dost thou see ? And I 0f the answered," A caldron brewing hot and it faces from the north.p "Then ad- Jehovah said to me, from6 From the north disaster is brewingi forr all the inhabitants of the land. J^e 15For behold, I will summon all the kingdoms from the north, And they shall come and set up each his throne before the gates of Jeru salem, And around about all its walls and against the cities of Judah.8 16 And I will pass judgment upon them because of all their wickedness, In that they have forsaken me and offered sacrifices to other gods, And have worshipped the works of their own hands.* cour- 17Therefore do thou gird up thy loins and arise, En Speak to them' all that I command thee, Do not be terrified before them, lest I terrify11 thee in their presence.7 ™eg4 18But behold, I myself make thee this day a fortified city,w brave And a brazen wall* against the kings of Judah, its princes,y and the com- face the of bit ter op- mon people. 19 And they shall fight against thee, but they will not overcome thee, posi-J For I am with thee to deliver thee, saith Jehovah. k l11 So Gk. The Heb. adds, Jeremiah. 1 1" So Gk. The Heb. adds, / see. m l12 There is here a play on the Heb. shaked, almond tree, and shoked, I am watching. As in winter, when all other trees are asleep, the almond tree appears to be ever wakeful, so .'Jehovah at all times is watching over his prophets. " l12 So Gk. supported by 10. Heb., my word to perform it. ° l13 So Gk. The Heb., as in ", repeats the I see. PI13 Lit., its face is from the face toward the north. q l14 So Gk. Heb., shall be opened. The Gk. is strongly supported by the fact that the same verb, to heat hot with a flame, is used as in 1S, thus carrying on the figure which is that, as in a huge caldron, disaster is brewing in the north and will soon be poured out upon the people of Judah. The reference is apparently to the Scythians, whose dread advent called forth the earliest sermons of Zeph. and Jer. * 1" Lit., upon. . ... H l16 Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah; but this is incongruous with the context and the metrical structure of the verse. ' 1" The late prophetic terms suggest that possibly this vs. has been expanded by an editor who regarded the pre-exilic history from the same point of view as the editor of Kgs. » l17 Another of the striking plays on the same word. v l17 The Gk. omits, in their presence. w l18 So Gk. The Heb. adds, an iron pillar, after city, but this introduces an incongruous figure. 1 l18 So Gk. Heb. adds, anticipating that which follows, the whole land. y l18 So Gk. and Lat. Heb. adds, priests. 171 Jer. 22] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS § 67. Appeal to the Nation to Turn from its Heathenism and Faithfully Serve Jehovah, Jer. 22-35 19-44 Tnno. Jer. 2 ^hus saith Jehovah:2 cency j remember* the devotion of thy youth, the love of thy bridal time; dah's How thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in the land that was not earlier :T„ days sown. .... 'Israel was Jehovah's holy possession, the first fruit of his increase, All who devoured him had to. pay the penalty, calamity always overtook them. The 4Hear the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, and all the family of the house fa4 of Israel: 5Whatb did your fathers find in me that was wrong, that they went far from me, And followed vanity" so that they have become vain,6 and did not say, 'Where is Jehovah, he who brought us up from the land of Egypt, He who led us through the wilderness through a land of steppes and ra vines/1 Through a land of drought and gloom, through which no one passes and where no man dwells. 7And I brought you into a fertile6 land to eat of its fruit and its good things ; But when ye entered, ye defiled my land and made my heritage an abom ination.' 8Since the priests did not ask, ' Where is Jehovah ? 'g § 67 In 22~44 is found probably the earliest recorded sermon of Jer. As in most of his early addresses, the original order has been interrupted by later insertions or popular reports of the grophet's words. The antithesis tothe picture of Israel's early promise, 2> 3- is found in 15- 16. oth stanzas share Jer.'s characteristic 3 + 2-beat measure, which runs through the sermon with remarkable regularity. The passage 4-" opens abruptly with a fresh introduction and interrupts the sequence of the thought and is addressed to the individual members of the na tion, not to the nation collectively as is the rest of the sermon. The literary style and ideas are also different, suggesting that possibly this was not their original setting or else that they are not from Jer. It as also equally obvious that the prose passages, 36-12a- "-18. and probably also 12bt 13t which are introduced by a new superscription were later inserted from another discourse. Israel in this passage refers not to" the entire race, as in the original sermon, but to Northern Israel, which is directly addressed as in 31, with which this section is evidently re lated. Cf. note, § 70. Removing this addition, the original sermon remains in its pristine strength and beauty. Many of the prominent figures and ideas are drawn from Hosea, e. g., Israel, as the faithless wife running after her paramours and the designation of the heathen cults as whoredom. Jehovah's great love and eagerness to pardon, if the nation will only re pent, are the 'dominant chords. z 22 The Heb. recension has a much longer superscription, And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 'Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying,' etc. This, however, is repetitious and cumbersome and was probably added by a later scribe to connect it with the preceding chapter, the idiom of which it employs. a 22 So Gk., O. Lat., and Arab^ Heb. adds, for thee or concerning thee. b 25 Possibly the preceding vs. is a later addition. If it is original, however, the words, thus saith Jehovah, with which 5 opens are unnecessary and probably from a later scribe. 0 25 /. e., have followed heathen gods. Cf. s- u. d 2s Gk., desolate. e 27 Heb., the land of Carmel, but the omission of land in the Gk. is supported by the metre. Carmel, covered with its fruitful fields, was a favorite illustration of superlative fer tility. Cf. Am., I2. f 27 By their heathen religious practices, as the next vs. clearly indicates. e 2a Developing Hosea's charge, 46. 172 APPEAL TO THE NATION [Jer. 2s And those who devote themselves to the lawh knew me not, and the shep herds1 of the people transgressed against me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after gods that help not,J "Therefore I must still bring a chargek against you,1 against your children's Jeho- children must I bring a charge. dread- 10For pass over to the islands of the Kittitesm and see, f"' cnarsre Send to the Kedarenes and take careful note and see if anything like this against has ever happened : people nHath a nation changed its gods11 although these are no-gods ? Yet my people have changed their glory0 for that which helps not. 12Be astonished,13 O heavens, because of this; yea, shudder and be trans fixed0* with horror,1" 13For my people have committed two crimes, is the oracle of Jehovah, They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, And they have hewed out for themselves broken8 cisterns that can hold no water! 14Is Israel a servant,* or is he a home-born slave ? Appal- Why hath he become an object of plunder, 15chis cities burnt up ?u conse- i5a,b,dQver njm tne young lions have kept roaring, have raised their cry, SFthdr And have made the land a waste, without inhabitant. apos: 16The people also of Memphis and Tahpanhesv have broken the crown of theym thy head. Dast 17Hast thou not brought this upon thee, because thou hast forsaken me ?w 18 And now what occasion hadst thou to go to Egypt to drink the waters of Sihor ?x h 28 /. e., the scribes and priestly interpreters of the law, whose duty it was to see that it was executed. 1 28 The rulers. Cf. 231-4. ' 28 Heb., things that profit not. The reference as in Is. 305 is to the heathen gods. k 29 As in Hos. 4l. Lit., bring a suit as in the courts. 1 29 So Gk. The Heb. again adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. m 210 Lit., the inhabitants of Cyprus, but they here stand for the western coast peoples of the Mediterranean, as the Kedarenes, the Arabian tribes between Palestine and Babylonia, represent the eastern races. n 2U Gk., Have nations changed their godst The Gk. is certainly right in preserving the personal pronoun that has been lost in the Heb. ° 211 I. e., Jehovah and his religion. p 212 Gk., The heavens are astonished and shudder. Possibly this is the original reading. q 212 Lit., be exceedingly astonishea. r 212 Here both Heb. and Gk. add, it is the oracle of Jehovah, but this was probably dis placed from 13a. B 213 So Gk., O. Lat. and Vulg. Heb., to hew out. The Heb. also repeats cisterns, but this is not supported by the metre. The contrast is between the living spiritual life that comes from Jehovah as its fountain source and the abominable heathen cults that are likened to stagnant water stored in cisterns which do not hold it. t 2^ Lit., to be freed after six years of service. Cf. Ex. 212- 3. Dt. 1512- 13. The climax is represented by the home-born slave, who always belonged to his master. u 218 This clause is demanded here by the sense and metre and is out of place in its setting in the Heb. v 216 Or, shorn — i.e., enslaved. Memphis and Tahpanhes (Gk.t Daphne, near Pelusium) ¦were two important cities of Northern Egypt and the asylum of Jewish refugees, Jer. 44. Pos sibly this line is secondary. v 217 A scribe has by mistake in the Heb. introduced the opening words of 18 also at the end of 17. The Gk. does not have this error and also reads, me, instead of the fuller form, Jehovah thy God, of the Heb. In both instances the Gk. is supported by. the context, 19, and metre. x 218 The Egyptian, Si-hur, probably the eastern branch of the Nile delta, therefore the one nearest Palestine. It represented the strength and fertility of Egypt. 173 Jer. 218] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS And what occasion hadst thou to go to Assyria, to drink the water of the Euphrates ?y 19Thine own apostasy2 shall discipline thee, thy wickedness shall reprove thee. Know and see that it is bitter* for thee to have forsaken me,b And thou hast no awe for me ? is the oracle of Jehovah thy God.0 De- 20For from of old thou hast broken thy yoke, thou hast burst thy bonds, byTdoi- And thou hast said, ' I will not serve thee,d but I will go upon every height,' atry Yea, under every green tree thou hast stretched6 thyself as a harlot. Un- 21Yet I had planted thee as a noble vine, altogether from good seed ; mining But, alas, how thou hast turned intof the degenerate shoots of a wild vineE effects 22For though thou wash thyself with lye and use much soap, dah's Thy guilt has left its stain before me,g is the oracle of Jehovah.*1 sistent ^How canst thou say, 'I am not defiled, after the Baalim I have not gone.'1 guilt Observe thy course^ in the valley ,k know what thou hast done. Thou art a swift young camel rushing here and there in her course, 24 A young cow, accustomed to the wilderness, in the heat of her passion •} She snuff eth up the wind in her desire; who can bring her back ? All who seek her need not weary themselves, in her month they can find her. ^Save thy foot from being unshod and thy throat from thirst, But thou saidst, 'It is hopeless, no, for I love strangers, after them I will go.'m Its re- 26As a thief is ashamed when he is caught, so shall the house of Israel be witS^ ashamed — out They, their kings, their nobles, their priests and their prophets — n con trition „,„ f„_t>. 'o 27Who say to a tree, 'Thou art my father,' and to a stone, 'Thou hast brought me forth,' y 218 Heb., the River, but this the regular O. T. designation of the Euphrates. * 219 So Gk., supported by the context. Heb., misfortune. B 219 So Gk. and O. Lat., supported by the metre. Heb. adds, evil and. t> 219 Following again the suggestion of the Gk. which appears to have retained the orig inal side by side with a conflate reading. Heb., Jehovah thy God. ° 219 So Gk. The Heb. scribes, as frequently elsewhere, have changed this reading, which accords with the metre and usage of the section, so that it reads, it is the oracle of the Lord* Jehovah of hosts. d 22° So Gk. • 220 Again the Gk. has retained the verb required by the context. f 221 Slightly correcting the Heb. text. « 2s2 Gk., thou wilt be stained with crimes. h 2M So Gk. The Heb. adds, Lord, but this is not supported by the metre. i 223 Possibly / have not gone was added by a scribe. j 223 Lit., way, but here, as frequently in the framework of the book of Kgs., it is equiva lent to conduct or acts. k 223 Gk., place where many men are burned, as in 192- e, referring to the Valley of Hinnom where children were sacrificed. 1 -2M Judah is here likened to a she-camel or cow driven by animal passion. m 2a The last clause was perhaps added by a scribe, for it destroys the metre and adds- nothing. n 2a This interjected line was possibly added by a scribe, from H8, for the sins are only those of the common people. Chap. 5 recounts the sins of the city. ° 227 An ironical reference to the ancient popular belief that spirits dwelt in trees and stones. Among the common peasants these old cults and superstitions appear to have sur vived- 174 APPEAL TO THE NATION For they have turned to me theirp back, but not their faces, Yet in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.' !8But where are thy gods which thou hast made for thyself ? Let them arise, if they can save thee in thy time of trouble, For thy gods are as many as thy cities, O Judah. [Jer. 22; MWhy do ye contend against me ? Ye are all godless.i Yea, ye have all transgressed against me, is the oracle of Jehovah. 30In vain I smote your children,1, they received no correction, A sword3 destroyed your prophets, like a destroying lion, Yet ye have not feared, 31nor heeded the word of Jehovah.* Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness ? Why do my people say, 'We will be our own master, we will come no more to thee?' Failure tolistentoJehovah's teaching ^Can a maiden forget her ornaments, or a bride her girdle ? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number. ^How well thou has directed thy way to seek love!u Therefore thou hast inclined thy ways to evil.v Incredible in fidelity "Also on thy handsw is found the blood of innocentx persons/ I have found it not upon house-breakersz but upon all these ! ^Yet thou sayest, 'I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me.' Behold, I will condemn thee because thou sayest, 'I have not sinned.' Shamelessly guilty 36Why dost thou make so light of changing thy policy ?a Foreign Through Egypt shalt thou be disgraced as thou wast through Assyria. am_ 37Also from there shalt thou go forth with thy hands upon thy head, and For Jehovah hath rejected those in whom thou trustest and thou shalt conse- have no success with them. quences p 227 So Gk^ The Heb. has lost the possessive pronouns. q 229 Following the Gk., which has retained the balanced parallelism of the original. Because of the similarity of two words a Heb. scribe omitted a part of the vs. ' 230 J. e., the individual members of the nation. Cf. Mt. 1227. b 28o So Gk. The Heb. has, your sword, but the context speaks of a certain definite judgment from Jehovah, and if the reference was to the slaughter of the prophets in the days of Manasseh, it would have read not your, but my prophets. t 231 The Gk. has preserved at the end of 30 and at the beginning of 31 the above reading, which is in perfect keeping with the context, indeed is demanded by it. Restoring the original Heb. of the Gk.t it is possible to see how, either owing to a scribal error or an imperfect text, the present corruption of the Heb. arose. Its current translation, O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah, reveals how impossible it is. a 2s3 I.e., illicit love in connection with the heathen rites. v 2M Lit., taught or accustomed to make thy ways evil. w So Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. Heb., skirts. * 2M So Gk., supported by the metre. Heb. adds poor. y 2M Heb., souls. ¦ 2^ The meaning is not altogether certain. It appears to be that not only is the criminal class stained with acts of bloodshed, but also the leaders of the nation whom the prophet in dicates with a gesture. » 2s6 Heb., way. The incidents alluded to are unknown. They may belong to the reign of Manasseh. b 237 I. e., as one disappointed and disgraced. Cf. II Sam. 1319. 175 Jer. 31] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS to ra tion to Jehovah's favor unprec edented Un speakable crimes 3 Ifc a man put away his wife and she go from him, And she become another man's wife, can she return to himd again ? Would not such a womane be completely polluted ? Yet thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, and wouldst return to me!f 2Lift up thine eyes to the bare heights and see; where hast thou not been lain with ? By the ways thou hast sat for them, like an Arabg in the wilderness, And thou hast polluted the land with thine acts of whoredom and thy crimes, 3And through thy many lovers thou hast ensnared thyself.*1 Utterlack of true penitence Frus tration of Je hovah's pur pose Yet thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to blush. 4Dost thou not even now call me father,1 the friend of thy youth ? 5< Should he then retain his anger forever or keep it to the end ? ' Behold, thus thou speakest and yet thou has committed crimes and had thy way J "But I had thought, ' How I will make thee like sons,k And will give thee a pleasant land, a noble1 inheritance!' I also had thought, 'You will call me, "Father," and will not turn away from me.' 20But verily as a woman is faithless to her paramour,m so ye have been faith less to me, O house of Israel, is the oracle of Jehovah.11 Israel's better conscience 21 A voice is heard in the bare heights, the mournful cries of supplication of the Israelites,0 Because they have perverted their way, have forgotten Jehovah their God.p 0 31 So Gk. The Heb. has the word saying. Possibly this is a remnant of an original formula: And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying. Vss. 1*6, however, carry on the thought of the preceding chapter. Cf. 12b- 3. d 31 So Gk. I. e., to the first husband. The law of Dt. 24l-» forbids it and probably formulates the customary law of Jer.'s day. 8 3l So Gk. and Lat. Heb., such a land. The latter is clearly due to a scribe who had in mind the application and possibly the law of Dt. 244. f 3l A scribe has added, destroying the metre, is the oracle of Jehovah. s 32 The Arabs are here evidently regarded as robbers, as in Job 245"12, 302-s. Israelis likened to a sacred prostitute waiting by the highways for victims. Cf. Gen. 3614. h 33 Following the obviously superior reading of the Gk. and O. Lat. The Heb. has a widely variant reading, so that the rain drops are withheld and the latter rain came not. This was evidently added by a scribe who had in mind II Sam. I21, I Kgs. 17, and Am. 47- 8. • 34 The Heb. adds, my father, but this is inconsistent with the prevailing figure and the metre. • 35 Heb., been able. For 6-18, which are clearly a later addition, cf. § 70. k 319 /. e., give to the wife an equal position and inheritance with the sons. Cf. Job 4215 and Num. 27 for the late usage. In the earlier times the daughters appear to have had no right of inheritance. ° 319 Restoring the text as suggested by the simpler Syr. and as demanded by the metri cal structure and the style of Jer. A scribe has expanded it so that it reads, the noblest in heritance of the nations. m 320 Heb., friend. Gk., turns to her friend. n 320 The last clause may be a later addition, as frequently. 0 321 Possibly Israelites is a scribal explanatory gloss. p 321 With marvellous force and delicacy the prophet here voices the better sense, the aroused conscience of the nation. Jehovah's encouraging response is found in 22a, and in s^-25 the nation is represented as speaking the words that Jer. longed to hear, the words that alone would bring deliverance and healing. Cf. Hos. 14. 176 APPEAL TO THE NATION [Jer. S* 22Return, O apostate sons, and I will heal your apostasy.'' ' Behold we come to thee, for thou art Jehovah our God. ^Surely but a delusion are the hills, the tumult on the mountain,1 Only in Jehovah our God is Israel's salvation. MBut Baal3 has devoured from our youth the fruits of our fathers' labor. Their flocks, their herds, their sons and their daughters. ^We would lie down in our shame and let confusion cover us, For we and our fathers have sinned against our God* from our youth even to this day, And we have not heeded the voice of Jehovah, our God.'u Jeho vah's re sponseThenation'sconfes sion of guilt 4 xIf thou wilt return, O Israel, thou mayest returnv to me,w jeho- And if thou wilt put away thy vileness,x thou shalt not be banished from ™n to my presence, full 2And thou shalt swear by the life of Jehovah,y in truth, in justice, and in com- righteousness, Pgfte And in him shall the nations bless themselves, and in him shall they glory.z form 3For thus saith Jehovah, to the men of Judah and Jerusalem : Break up the fallow ground and do not sow among thorns. 4Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah," and take away the foreskins of your heart,b Lest thy wrath go forth like a fire and burn, And there be no quenching it because of the wickedness of your deeds. § 68. The Judgment Approaching from the North, Jer. 45-630 Jer. 4 'Declare ye in Judah and announce in Jerusalem, and say : "Blow ye the trumpet in the land, cry aloud, And say, 'Assemble and let us go into the fortified cities,' q S22 Here the prophet introduces a treble play on the Heb. word, turn; Turn, O sons, that have turned [away] and I will heal your turning [away]. r 3® So Gk., Syr., and Lat. _ The meaning is. At last we realize that all the ancient cults practised on the hilltops with noisy orgies and carousels were but empty forms. Cf. I Sam. 9". »2, Is. 22>s, 287' 8, Am. 511- K- . 8 3M Heb., shame, but this is the regular late scribal substitute for Baal which they were averse to repeating. Cf . Ishboselh for Ishbaal and many similar changes. Vol. II, § 22, note *. « 32s So Gk. The Heb. adds, Jehovah. u S25 This vs. has evidently been worked over by a later editor. It probably preserves, however, an original utterance of Jer. y 41 Again the prophet introduces his favorite play on the word turn. w 4l The Heb. adds, is the oracle of Jehovah, but this is awkwardly injected into the origi nal text. x 41 Following a suggestion of the Gk. y 42 An indication of complete allegiance. * 42 Cf . Gen. 221B, 264. This thought that the heathen nations shall glory in an alliance with Israel is possibly from the later editor. It interrupts the speech of Jehovah which is concluded in 3b- 4. a 44 Here, as in Josh. 59, ordinary circumcision seems to be regarded simply as a hygienic measure orelse as a mark of the older Canaanite civilization. The meaning of the vs. is, thor oughly purify your hearts and consecrate yourselves to Jehovah. b 44 The Heb. adds, men of Judah and Jerusalem, but it seems to be a later addition from 3b. § 68 This section contains the longest of Jer.'s discourses. It best illustrates the beauty and strength of his literary style. Warning, invective, exhortation, and tender entreaty are blended with rare effectiveness. Its wealth of strong and powerful ngures are equalled only by those of Hos. and Isaiah. Occasionally the poetic metre changes according to the theme, but 177 The foe fromthenorth 13, Jer. 4*1 JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS 6Lift up a signal toward Zion, flee, stay not! For calamity0 is coming from the north and a great destruction! fierce8, ?^ ^on ^as £one UP fr<>m his thicket, yea, a destroyer of nations, lion He has departed, he has gone forth from his place to lay waste the earth.d 8For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail, For the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned away from us. Effect 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, is the oracle of Jehovah, Deooie That the ^mg and his Princes sha^ *ose neart>e of Ju- An<* tne Priests sha11 °e appalled and the prophets amazed. dah "Then they shall say,' 'Alas, O Lord Jehovah! Surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem Saying, "Ye shall have peace." "Whereas the sword taketh* life.h Like a "At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem. whirl- -A- not wind, from the bare heights in the wilderness, comes toward my wind people, Not to winnow and not to cleanse — ua strong,1 powerful windk See, like thunder clouds, it mounts up and like the whirlwind its chariots, Its horses are swifter than eagles; woe to us! for we are ruined!1 15For hark ! someone is bringing news from Dan and announcing evil from Mount Ephraim.m for the most part the five-beat measure impresses by its fervid, measured lilt, as powerfully as the words themselves, the prophet's earnest message. The prophecy, as a whole, has also been remarkably well preserved. Apparently its strength and literary unity have protected it against scribal errors. The prophet's aim is to arouse the people from their heathenism and abominable practices to a sense of their respon sibility to Jehovah. This sermon is the immediate sequel of the preceding, and probably comes from the year 626 b.c. The occasion is the advance of the Scythians, who are evidently the foe from the north, repeatedly referred to in these chapters. Apparently this sermon was not committed to writing until about 604 b.c, when Jer. made the first collection of his prophecies. Then the Chaldeans were beginning to advance from the north, and the words of this earlier prophecy are equally applicable to this later situa tion and the new foe. It would also seem that in recording the earlier prophecies Jer. was influ enced, as was natural, by this later situation. At many points one may recognize the influence of the problems, peculiar to the reign of Jehoikim, upon the form of the later sermon. As a whole, however, it reveals the powerful appeal that Jer. made to his nation — an appeal which bore fruit in the great reformation of 621 b.c. Cf . vol. IV, up. 31-35. The present text has two introductions. The first is inconsistent with the fact that in 6 Jerusalem is the place to which the people are urged to flee. It is clearly from the later hands who added the specific references to Judah and Jerusalem in 3- 4. c 46 The Heb. adds /, but the prophet, not Jehovah, is speaking. Cf. 8. d 47 Probably the Gk. has retained the original, earth, and a scribe has added, so that cities shall be left desolate without inhabitants. e 49 Heb., the heart of the king and the heart of the princes shall perish. f 410 So Gk. and a slightly corrected text. Heb., I said. b 410 Heb., reacheth unto the life. h 49-iift The change of the metre from Jer.'s regular five beats to four, occasionally passing into prose, the introductory formula which is characteristic of later scribes, the specific references to Jerusalem and the lack of connection with the preceding and subsequent context strongly suggest that this passage is a later explanatory gloss. Vs. llB seems to be intended to gather up and continue the interrupted original. 1 412 Heb., full, i. e., a destructive tempest, not a beneficent wind. - 412 So Gk. The Heb. has been corrupted as the result of dittography so that it adds, from these. k 412 The clause, Now I also will utter judgments against them, interrupts the dramatic description of the advent of the northern foes, who advance like storm clouds, and was evi dently added, probably from a marginal gloss, by a scribe who had in mind l16. 1 4.13 Vs. u, if original, finds its natural setting after 18. Cf. note p. m 415 From distant Dan at the foot of Mt. Hermon and then from nearer Ephraim come the reports of the advance of the resistless northern invaders. 178 JUDGMENT APPROACHING [Jer. 410 18Make it known among the nations: 'There they are!'n Announce in Je- Their rusalem, p?oach 'Robber bands0 are coming from a far distant land,' Yea, they are raising their cry against the cities of Judah, "Lying in wait in the field, they are against her on every side, Because she hath rebelled against me, is the oracle of Jehovah. 18Thy conduct and thy acts have procured these things for thee; Aiibe- This is the cause of thy calamity, verily it is bitter, for it toucheth thy heart, {jf jsee_ "Cleanse thy heart, O Jerusalem, from wickedness, that thou mayest be re delivered, guilt How long shall thine evil thoughts stay within thee ?p "My anguish, my anguish! I am pained to the very depths of my heart.i The My heart is in a tumult within me, I cannot keep silent, et'"13 For Ir have heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. anguish 20Destruction succeeds8 destruction, for the whole land is laid waste, Suddenly are my tents destroyed, in an instant my curtains.* 21How long must I see the signal, hear the sound of the trumpet! 22For my people are senseless, they know me not, They are foolish children, and they have no understanding; They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do right." MI look at the earthv and behold, it is chaos,w at the heavens and their light The . uni- 1S gone! veraal MI look at the mountains and behold, they are quaking, and all the hills sway ^°la" to and fro! ^1 look and behold, there is no man, and all the birds of the heavens have fled, 26I look at the fruitful land* and behold it is a wilderness, " 416 Following the Gk. which amplifies the curt Heb. so that it reads. Behold, they have come! These appear to be the breathless words of the messengers who come to announce the advance of the foe. ° 416 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., watchers of the field, i. e. guardians of the vineyards. But a slight emendation gives the above rendering, which is in harmony with the context. p 414 This vs. evidently has no place after 13, for it introduces a new motif and separates is and 16 which stand in closest relation to each other. Like "¦ 1S, and possibly "•, it may be fromalater prophetic editorwho, in his zeal to make the practical spiritual application of Jer.'s sermon, failed to appreciate its aim, which was solemn warning in the face of a great danger. He again addresses Jerusalem rather than the nation to whom Jeremiah was speaking. _ The charge also is very general; evil thoughts are nowhere referred to by Jer. in this connection. q 419 Heb., lit., my vitals, my vitals/ I am in pain; 0 the walls of my heart! The line is expressive of the prophet's excitement and agony at the prospect of the awful fate threatening his beloved nation. r 413 Heb., my soul. Possibly this word is secondary. ¦ 42» Slightly correcting the Heb., which reads, is proclaimed. t 420 The prophet here speaks in behalf of the nation, using a figure drawn from its early nomadic life. » 412 This vs. may be from the same prophetic editor who added the preceding didactic passages. It assumes a different point of view from that of the preceding vss. and antici pates 5a. y 4a The prophet here dramatically contrasts the preceding peace and prosperity as he looked forth from his home at Anathoth with the vision of disorder and chaos introduced by the appearance of the Scythians. " 4a So Gk. In the Heb. a scribe has expanded to read, waste and devastate, after Gen.l2. 1 425 Following the order of the Gk. 179 Jee. ^ JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS And all the cities are destroyed before Jehovah, before his fierce wrath.y 27For thus saith Jehovah, the whole land shall be desolate;2 28Because of this the land shall mourn, and the heavens above be black, For I have spoken and repent not,a I have purposed and I will not turn back from it.b 29From the noise of the horsemen and bowmen the whole landc is fleeing, They enter the thickets and cavesd and climb up on the rocks ; Every city is abandoned and no man dwells therein. Ju- 30And thou art a ruined woman,e what wilt thou do ? pftiable Though thou clothe thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thyself with *ate ornaments of gold, Though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint,* in vain dost thou beautify thyself ; Thy paramours despise thee, they seek thy life. 31For I have heard a cry as of a woman in travail, shrieking8 as of one bring ing forth her first child. Hark! the daughter of Zion gasps, she spreads out her hands;1* ' O woe is me, for my life is given up as a prey to murderers ! ' Cor- 5 'Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and know, yjn" And seek in its open spaces, if ye can find a man, ^ery- If there is any who does right and seeks after the truth I1 2And though they say, 'As Jehovah liveth,' surely they swear to a falsehood. 30 Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth ? Thou smitest them, but they are not pained,' they refuse to receive cor rection. High 4Then I thought, 'Surely these are the common people,k they are without J™ understanding, alike For they know not the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God, therefore I will go to the nobles and speak to them, y 4M Possibly this line is an explanatory gloss. * 427 A scribe has added, to mitigate the harshness of the sentence. But I will not make a ' 428 Following the superior order of the Gk. b 427, 28 The different point of view and theme suggest that possibly these vss. are later additions. 0 429 So Gk. In the Heb. for land, referring to the inhabitants as frequently, city has been substituted. The error is common because of the similarity of the Heb. words. d 429 TheGk. adds, they enter into the caves. It has probably preserved words lost in the Heb. " 430 Joining the last word of w to !0 and making a slight correction. ' 430 /. e!., painting black lines about the eyes with stibium in order to make them look larger. « 43i So Gk. h 431 The Heb. contains a suggestion of a prayer for help which it is impossible to repro duce in Eng. 1 5l A scribe has added in the Heb., And I will pardon her, which the Gk. expands by adding, saith Jehovah. Like many similar additions, it assumes that Jehovah is speaking di rectly and also disregards the context. i 53 The Heb. adds, thou hast consumed them, but this is too strong a verb for the context and is not supported by the metre. It is probably a scribal variation of the initial verb. k 54 Lit., the dependent, the uneducated laboring classes. 180 JUDGMENT APPROACHING [Jer. 55 For they know the way of Jehovah and the law1 of their God. But these have all broken the yoke and burst the bonds.™ 'Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evening,11 Their A leopard shall destroy them, lying in wait against their cities. ment Every one who goeth out from them shall be torn in pieces, For many are their transgressions, numerous are their acts of apostasy. 7How then can I pardon thee?0 Judah's Thy children have forsaken me and swornp by those who are no gods ; pre-4 Though I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and made them- eludes i n i i i pardon selves at homeH at harlots nouses. 8Well-fedr horses, they are inflamed with lust. Each neighs after his neigh bor's wife. 9Shall I not visit these with punishment ? is the oracle of Jehovah, And shall I not myself3 be avenged on such a nation as this ? 10Go ye up against her outposts and destroy ;' The Take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's.u COn. uFor they have dealt very treacherously with me, is the oracle of Jehovah. nation ^hey have denied Jehovah and said, It is not he ;v Evil shall not come upon us, neither shall we see sword nor famine. I3aBut the prophets shall become wind, having no word in them.w "Theref ore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts : Because theyx speak this word, 13bthus shall it be done to them: l4bBehold I will make my words in thy mouth fire, And this people wood, and it shall devour them. ^See, I am bringing a nation upon you from afar,y The It is a mighty nation; it is an ancient nation; fnvad^ A nation whose language thou knowest not, nor canst thou understand what ers they say. 1 5s Heb., judgment. As in Ex. 21lff-, it refers collectively to the regulations laid down especially for the guidance of the civil and humanitarian life of the people. ¦» 5B Cf . 220. n 56 Cf . 47- le for the same figures in descriptiop of the ravenous foe approaching. ° o7 This line is metrically incomplete. Possibly the phrase, saith Jehovah, has been lost. p 57 The Heb. contains a play on the words shaba, to swear, and saba, io be sated. The original may have read, they sated themselves. q 57 Gk., sojourned. The Heb. is ordinarily translated, gathered in bands. ' 5* This adjective is lacking in the Gk. and is not supported by the metre. B 59 Heb., my soul. This vs. recurs as a refrain in 29 and 98. It may be secondary here. ' 510 As in 427 and 518 the words, but not make a complete end, are probably secondary. u 510 A scribe has added, to make the antecedent of the verb explicit, the house of Israel and the house of Judah. v 512 Gk., These things are not so. w 513 So. Gk. In the Heb. a scribe has added, Thus shall it be done to them, but this has no parallel and adds nothing to the thought of the vs. On the other hand, it finds its true setting after 14a, from which place it has probably been transferred through a scribal error. Possibly the scribe originally omitted it because he thought this clause beginning with Thus was a repetition of 14a. x 5Wfl Changing the ye of the Heb. to they, as demanded by the context. y 5lB The Heb. adds the secondary clause, O house of Israel, is the oracle of Jehovah. Cf . 10. 181 Jer. 516] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS 16Their quiver is an open sepulchre f they are all mighty warriors ; "And they shall eat upa thy harvest,b thy bread, thy flocks and thy herds. They shall eat up thy vines and thine olives0 and thy fig-trees, They shall beat downd thy fortified cities in which thou trusted.6 Just retribution 19And it shall be thus, when they shall say, ' Why is it That Jehovah our God hath done all these things to us V Thou shalt say to them, As ye have forsaken me, And served alien gods in your land, So shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.' Not a sparkof true repent ance 21Hear this now, O people, foolish and without understanding, Who have eyes and see not, and ears but hear not : 22Will ye not fear meg or tremble at my presence ?h 23But this people have a stubborn and defiant heart,1 ^For they do not say in their heart, ' Let us fear Jehovah our God. Who gives the rain, both the early rain and the later rain in its season,* Who reserves for us the weeks appointed for harvest. ^Our crimes have destroyed this order and our sins have taken from us that which is good.'k Onlyinjustice and corruption flFor among my people are found wicked men. They set snares, with traps they catch men. ¦ 516 Gk. omits the first part of this vs. Its meaning, however, is clear: the dread Scythians by their destructive warfare bring death to all whom they attack. a 5U Following the superior Gk. and Arab. b 517 A scribe, having in mind 3M, has added the incongruous clause, They shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters. Heb. also repeats the verb. 0 517 So Gk. Heb. has lost, and thine olives. d 517 Or, revising the Heb., take possession of. « 517 A scribe has apparently added, by the sword. Its position at the end of the sen tence and the fact that it destroys the metre of the vs. support the conclusion that it is a scribal expansion. To this has been added vs. 18, which is obviously a later supplement like 316. It reads: But even in those days, is Jehovah's oracle, I will not make a full end. f 519 The metrical structure of this vs. is irregular. Its thought and loose connection with the context suggest that it may be from a later editor or else was added by Jeremiah when he dictated his earlier prophecies to Baruch in the reign of Jehoiakim. Many of the vss. in the latter part of this chap, fit best the later point of view. Vs. 20 certainly belongs to this class. It reads. Declare this in the house of Jacob, And announce it in Judah, saying. e 5K Heb. adds, It is the oracle of Jehovah; but this interrupts the thought and destroys the metrical structure of the line. h 522 The four following three-beat lines, like the very similar refrains in Am. 413, 58, 9s- 6 (Cf . §§ 6, 7, 13), interrupt Jeremiah's direct discourse and are uttered from the point of view of the author of Is. 40-55 and the post-exilic Pss. They read: / who have placed the sand as a bound for the sea. As an everlasting barrier over which it cannot pass; Though it toss itself it cannot prevail, And though its waves roar they cannot pass over it. Vs. 23 is also the immediate sequel to 22a, completing the parallelism of the vs. 1 53 A scribe has added the comment They have turned and gone. It breaks, however, the close poetic parallelism of the vs. - 5M By many this and the next two lines are regarded as secondary, but the evidence is not conclusive. k 5M Lit., turned away these things, i. e., the regular succession of the harvests. Cf. chap. 14, § 81, for the same idea. 1 526 The Heb. text is clearly corrupt. The reconstruction of this difficult vs. is made with the aid of the Gk. and O. Lat. 182 JUDGMENT APPROACHING [Jer. 527 27 As a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit, Therefore they have become great and rich, 28they have grown fat. They plan wicked things and succeed;"1 they violate justice; The cause of the fatherless and the rights of the needy11 they do not defend. 29Shall I not punish such as these ? is Jehovah's oracle, Or on such a nation as this shall not I be avenged ? S0Frightful and horrible things have taken place in the land. Even 31The prophets prophesy falsely, spirit- And the priests teach0 according to their directions,p guides And my people love to have it so; jnis- But what will ye do at the endq thereof ? 61Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of themidst of Jerusalem, Jerasa- And blow1 the trumpet and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem; hour of For evil looks forth from the north and great destruction. jJ°om ^he comely and pampered one, the daughter of Zion! her height shall be hand destroyed f sShepherds shall come to her with their flocks ; They shall pitch their tents round about her, they shall feed* each in his place." 4' Preparev war against her ; arise, and let us go up at noon. Prepa- Woe to us ! for the day declines, for the shadowsw are lengthening. of the Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her foundations !'x foe 'For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said: Jeho- Hew down trees and cast up a mound against Jerusalem. agents This is the f aithlessy city ; there is only oppression in her midst. mint*8" 7As a fountain keepeth fresh its waters, so she keepeth fresh her wickedness ; upon Acts of violence and oppression are heard in her; guilty city m 528 Following a reconstruction suggested by Brown (Bk. of Jer., 69). These words, distributed through the Heb., are not found in the Gk. The remaining text (so Gk.) is con sistent in thought and metre. n 528 Or Gk., widow. ° 531 Revising the Heb. as the context and the parallel in Mi. 311 and Mal. 26- 7 suggests. The primary duty of the pre-exilic priests was to teach. » 531 Lit., at their hands, i. e., as the prophets direct. q 531 /. e., Jehovah's judgment instead of the fulfilment of your false hopes. r 6l The Heb. adds, in Tekoa. Tekoa was in the south and the enemy is advancing from the north. The word is probably due to dittography, since it is practically identical with the following word. 8 62 Gk., thy height shall be destroyed; Heb., I have likened. The text in both versions has evidently suffered in transmission, but with the aid of both and the indications of the metre it can be tentatively restored. Others read, Is it a refreshing pasture — the height of the daughter of Zion f 4 63 Like shepherds, the Scythians shall devastate all the surrounding country, and then they shall advance against Jerusalem. u 63 Or, each according to his might. y 64 Heb., consecrate. The prophet graphically assumes the point of view of the invaders. v 64 Heb., shadows of evening; Gk., shadows of day. The simple shadows best satisfies the metre. The idea is, the time for a mid-day attack is past but let us now wait until the return of another day. * 65 So Gk. Heb., palaces. v 66 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., to be visited, but this is evidently due to a scribal error. 183 Jer. 61] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS Utterdegeneracy of the people Before me continually are woundsz and blows. 8Receive instruction, O Jerusalem, lest I be alienated from thee; Lest I make thee a desolation, an uninhabited land. 9Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : Glean thoroughly ,a as a vine, the remnant of Israel, Put forth again your hand as a grape-gatherer toward the young vines. 10To whom shall I speak and testify that they may hear ? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken ; Behold, the word of Jehovah has become to them a reproach, they have no pleasure in it. "Therefore I am full of the wrath of Jehovah; I am weary of restraining myself. I must pour it out upon the children15 in the street and upon the assembly of young men, For both the husband and the wife shall be taken, the aged and him that is advanced in years. "And their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields0 to robbers ;d 13For from the least even to the greatest of them, each greedily robs, And from the prophet even to the priest each deals deceitfully. Of priest andprophet "They have also healed the hurt of my people as though it were slight, Saying, Peace,8 peace, when there is no peace. 15Were they ashamed when they had committed an abominable act ? Nay, they were not at all ashamed nor did they know enough to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall,* At the time that I visit them they shall fall down, saith Jehovah. Deaf to Jeho vah's warning 16Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways, And see, and ask for my paths, the paths of the past,6 And see11 where is the good way and walk therein, Thus ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, ' We will not go.' 17 And I set watchmen over them1 with the command, ' Hark for the sound of the trumpet.' But they said, 'We will not hearken.' * 67 Heb., lit., sickness. a 69 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb., Let them glean. h 611 Righteous indignation has so taken possession of the prophet that he can hardly restrain himself from pouring it out upon even the innocent infants on the street. ° 612 Restoring the text as, the context suggests and the parallel in 810 supports. Heb., fields and wives together. d 612 The line, For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah, is evidently an addition for it is not from the point of view of the rest of the passage, where the prophet is the speaker. Its thought also makes an anti-climax. Furthermore it is not found in 81-12, where these vss. are repeated. • 6" Lit., It is well. t Qiin.d These lines are in an irregular metre and anticipate the judgment pronounced in 16ff, so that possibly they are secondary. They are repeated, however, in 816. s 616 Reconstructing with the aid of the Gk. The reference is evidently to the past experi ences of the nation and the lessons that these taught. h 616 So Gk. The Heb. has lost, and see. * 617 So the demands of the context. A scribe, influenced by 16, has written you for them. 184 JUDGMENT APPROACHING [Jer. 611 18Therefore hear, ye nations, and the shepherds of their flocks.' Thein- 10Behold,k I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their apostasy,1 ^J]^18 Because they have not heeded my words, and my instruction — even that quences they have rejected. 20Why then does incense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.m 21Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people; And the fathers and the sons both shall stumble against them ; The neighbor and his fellow shall perish. 22Thus saith Jehovah : Behold a people is coming from the north land, The And a great nation is arousing itself from the uttermost parts of the earth. f^a,nc" 23They lay hold on bow and spear ; they are cruel and merciless ; agents Their din is like the roaring of the sea, and they ride upon horses; judg- Everyone is arrayed against thee, as a man for battle, O daughter of Zion.n ment MWe have heard the report of it ; our hands become feeble ; Anguish takes hold of us, pangs as of a woman in travail. ffiGo not forth into the field, nor walk by the highway, For there is the sword of the enemy, terror on every side. 2eO my people,0 gird thee with sackcloth, and sprinkle thyself with ashes ; Take up mourning as for an only son, bitter lamentation; For the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.p Effect upon the people of Judah 27I have made thee a testerq of metalr among my people that thou mayest know and test their way, 28For they are all refractory, going about with slanders ; They are all of them brass and iron;8 they are thoroughly corrupt. 29The bellows blow fiercely, only the lead is consumed* by the fire ; In vain does the smelter go on smelting, for the base elements are not taken away; 30Refuse silver they shall be called," because Jehovah hath rejected them. Tested, theyare found worth- J 618 Following the Gk. which is clearly superior to the corrupt and meaningless Heb. The shepherds are, of course, the leaders of the nations. k 619 The Heb. adds, Hear, O earth. Possibly this is to be retained as original and both is and 20_ regarded as secondary. The metre is irregular, the ideas may well be later, and their connection with the context is not clear. 1 6lB So Gk. A Heb. scribe has evidently mistaken the original for the similar word, thoughts. m 620 This line and the next verse have certain phrases and ideas suggestive of a later hand. n 6a This vs. is repeated with slight textual errors in 5041-43. ° 626 Heb., Daughter of my people. p 626 This last line is perhaps secondary. q 627 Interpreting the Heb. consistently with the demands of the context. The meaning is that the prophet is appointed to be the one to determine the moral quality of his people. ' 627 Omitting a word in the Heb. which is probably due to dittography. The text of the vs. is uncertain., 8 628 /. e., are of base metal. t 629 Following the marginal reading of the Heb. " 630 Heb., they shall call them. 185 Jer. ll1] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS Commandto em pha size the im por tance of the law To preach throughout Judah §69. Later Tradition Regarding Jeremiah's Part in the Deuteronomic Reformation, Jer. ll1-8 Jer. 11, 'This word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah: 2bSpeak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; aaand say thou to them, 'Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel : 2»"Hear ye the words of this covenant: 3bCursed be the man who heareth not the words of this covenant, v 'which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace," saying, Obey my voice, and do1 all which I commanded you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God; 5that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey/ as at this day." ' Then I answered, and said, Amen, O Jehovah. 6Jehovah also said to me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ' Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them. 7For I solemnly adjured your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, saying, "Obey my voice." 8Yet they obeyed not, but walked in the stubborn ness of their evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this evil covenant,. which I commanded them to do,1 but they did them not.' §70. Call to the Scattered Remnants of Northern Israel, Jer. 3616 The Jer. 3 eJehovah said to me in the days of Josiah the king. Hast thou tasyof seen what apostate Israel hath done? She hath gone upon every high Israel mountain, and under every leafy tree, and hath played the harlot. 7And Judah I said, 'After she hath done all these things, she will return to me.' But she § 69 Jer.'s relations to the Deuteronomic reformation is one of the problems of this period. The present section purports to solve it beyond doubt. It makes the prophet a zealous cham pion of the terms of the covenant contained in Josiah's law-book. It is evidently later tra dition's answer to this fundamental question. That the section is not from the lips of Jer. is shown by the literary style which is far inferior to that of the great prophet and by the pecu liar phrases and idioms, most of which are taken from the book of Dt. itself. The emphasis on keeping the written law is very different from Jer.'s teachings. In 310 he declares very defi nitely, in speaking of the reformation of Josiah, that Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only feignedly. In 88 he also denounces those who declare, we are wise and the law of Jehovah is with us, but behold^ the deceptive pen of the scribes hath rendered it deceptive. From such a clear statement as this it is evident that Jer. was by no means satisfied with the work of those who endeavored to present the whole duty of the nation and individual in the form of written laws. The Deuteronomic law embodied many of the principles which Jer. and his predecessors had enunciated. Its humane and philanthropic laws marked a great advance over preceding legislation. Jer. was also in hearty accord with its endeavors to counteract the|iea_.then influences of the reactionary reign of Manasseh. But in simply emphasizing the formal and ritualistic side of religion, the reformers fell far short of the prophet's demand. The inevitable reaction which followed the iconoclastic reforms of Josiah brought back the old evils and left the heart of the nation to which Jer. sought to appeal practically untouched. v ll3 Cf. the formula of cursing in Dt. 2728. » ll1 Cf. for this figure, Dt. 42°. x ll4 So Gk. The Heb. adds the awkward phrase, them according to. y 11s Cf. for the same formula, Dt. 2726. ¦ 117. s The Gk. omits these vss. except the last sentence. It is possible that the fuller Heb. text is due to the late scribe who expanded it elsewhere, for the Gk. is complete in structure. § 70 It has long been recognized by scholars that these vss. interrupt the close sequence between 2 and l9. With the exception of 12b' », which may possibly be a part of the original discourse, they lack the regular five-beat measure which characterizes the impassioned reform sermon found in 22-44. Their theme, also, is fundamentally different. The reform sermon is addressed to Judah, which is also designated by the title Israel; hut in 8-'« Israel is the title of the northern kingdom which is here contrasted with Judah. The promises in this section are closely parallel to those found in 312-22. It is evident that they have been inserted in their present context by a later hand. The question remains whether they are wholly or only in part from Jer. By some modern scholars their Jeremian authorship is wholly denied. There is a strong probability, however, that the main ideas contained in this section are from the great prophet of Anathoth. His keen interest in Northern Israel is, per haps, due to the fact that his birthplace was in the territory of Benjamin. He was also prob ably a descendant of the house of Eli, whose traditions were bound up with those of the north. Jer., of all the O. T. prophets, alludes to the destruction of the famous sanctuary of Shiloh! Moreover, he was a spiritual disciple of Hos. whose interests were closely bound up with those of the northern kingdom. In an undisputed passage, 712, he includes both Israel and Judah in his denunciations. The narrative of Kgs. clearly implies that Josiah had extended his career of influence over Northern Israel, at least as far as the plain of Esdralon. This was possible because 186 CALL TO SCATTERED REMNANTS [Jer. 37 did not return and her faithless sister Judah saw it. 8And although she sawa that, because apostate Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce,b yet faithless Judah, her sister, feared not; but she also went and played the harlot. "And because of the ill-fame of her whoredoms,0 she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.d "Notwithstanding all this her treacherous sister did not return to me with all her heart but only feignedly.8 "Then Jehovah said to me, Apostate Israel hath shown herself more Prom- righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go and proclaim these words toward f08|f, the north, and thou shalt say: ' Return, O apostate* Israel, to me,8 is the oracle of Jehovah. I will not continue to look in anger upon you,h for I am merciful,1 AndJ I will not retain my anger forever ; only acknowledge thy guilt, For against Jehovah thy God hast thou transgressed ; And thou hast strayed hither and thither in quest of strangersk under every leafy tree; But thou hast not heeded my voice, is the oracle of Jehovah.' ve- ness to North ern Israel if the people repent "Return, O apostate children, is the oracle of Jehovah, for it is I who am your husband, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 13 And I will give you shepherds after mine own heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16And it shall come to pass when you shall be numerous and fruitful in the land in those days, is the oracle of Jehovah, they shall say no more, ' The ark of the covenant1 of Jehovah,' neither shall it come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made again. "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all Assyr. rule was at last being relaxed. This conclusion alone explains why Josiah fought his last fatal battle with the Egyptian king, Necho, on the plain of Megiddo, in the central part of Northern Israel. The account in Jer. 414- & of the pilgrims who came from Northern Israel to worship even at the ruined altar at Jerusalem points back to the days of Josiah, when the old bond between the north and the south was in part, at least, re-established. The latter part of Josiah's reign, therefore, when his rule had been established in the north, furnishes the most satisfactory background for the predictions found in this and the following sections. In Ezek. 1653- 3610, and 3716, the priest-prophet of the exile expresses a similar conviction that Northern Israel was more guilty than Judah. As Cornell has noted, Ezek. asserts this conviction as an already established dogma, and this doctrine probably goes back to the present passage from the utterances of Jer. In 8 Jer. states clearly the reason for this conclusion; it is because Judah had persisted in her gross apostasy, even though she had before her the terrible consequences of Northern Israel's similar crimes. In l4-18 the point of view is that of Jerusalem and the post-exilic period, and the hopes are those which were held before the scattered exiles by the later prophets, so that the passage, as a whole, is clearly a later addition to Jer.'s original prophecy. a 38 So Syr. and one MS. Heb., I saw. b 38 Cf. Dt. 24i. c 39 So Gk. Heb., and it came to pass through ihe lightness of her whoredoms. d 39 The reference is to the heathen cults and to the worship of sacred stones and trees. Cf. 27. • 310 So Gk. The Heb. adds, is the oracle of Jehovah. f 312 The original Heb. contains a striking paranomasia, shubah mashubih, which it is difficult to reproduce in English: turn thou who hast turned (away). 1 312 So Gk. The Heb. has lost the to me. h 312 Heb. cause my countenance to fall toward you. Cf. Gen. 45, when Cain's countenance fell. 1 312 So Gk. In the Heb. a later scribe has added, it is ihe oracle of Jehovah. i 3'2 So Gk. The Heb. has lost the and. k 313 Heb., thou hast scattered thy ways for strangers, but the English has not adopted this idiom. 1 316 The ark disappears early from Israelitish history. It certainly did not survive the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., if it was then still in existence. In II Mac. 24-7 there ia a very late tradition that it was hidden on Mt. Nebo. 187 Restora tionundernative rulersJeho vah's rule overaUmankind Jer. 317] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS the nations shall be gathered together to it,m and they shall no longer walk after the stub bornness of their evil heart. 18In those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel," and they shall come together out of the land of the north" to the land that I gave as an inheritance to their fathers. Jehovah's care for Israel in the past §71. Pardon and Restoration of the Northern Israelites, Jer. 312-30 Jer. 31 ^hus saith Jehovah: Grace1" found in the wilderness a people who had escaped from the sword, When Israel11 went to seek a place of rest/ 3Jehovah appeared from afar to him.8 Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with love have I drawn thee. Restora tion of the ancientjoys 4I will* again build thee up and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel; Again shalt thou be adorned with the tambourines and shalt go forth in the merry dances. 5Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria : The planters shall plant and shall enjoy its fruit," 6For there shall be a day that the watchman upon the hills of Ephraim shall cry, 'Arise and let us make a pilgrimage to Zion to Jehovah our God.'T Gather ing and restora tion of the scat tered exiles 'For thus saith Jehovah to Jacob," Rejoice and exult on the top of the mountains,1 Publish ye, praise ye and say: 'O Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.' 'Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child'' and her that travaileth with child together; m 317 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb. the explanatory gloss, io the name of Je hovah, to Jerusalem. 11 318 J. c, to lead them back. The house of Judah clearly refers to the exiles in Baby lonia and possibly also to the Jews in Galilee. ° 318 The Gk. adds, and from other places. § 71 The reasons for classifying the original prophecies of this section as Jer. and for assigning them to the latter part of the reign of Josiah, 620-609 B.C., have already been given in the preceding section. The metre is also the five-beat measure which is prevailingly, if not always, used by Jer. Vss. 716°, however, are in the very different three-beat measure, break the close connection between 6 and l6b, and in thought and form have all the character istics of the later post-exilic period. They must therefore be regarded as expansions of Jer.'s preceding predictions. The sympathetic picture of the deep-seated sorrow of the Northern Israelites and the promises of divine favor and restoration reflect the spirit of Hos. and the warm heart of Jer. These sections are of peculiar significance because they reveal the breadth and depth of Jer.'s interests. » 312 The meaning of this vs. is not absolutely certain. The grace is apparently Jehovah's favor shown to his people at the exodus and later. q 312 Possibly a scribe has added this to make the meaning clear. r 3f2 The reference is to the exodus and the quest for a home in Canaan. ¦ 313 So Gk., him, i. e„ the nation. Heb., to me. The reference would appear to be to the revelation at Sinai. ' 314 With the change of tense comes the application to Israel's present condition. u 316 Supplying the object demanded by the context and the structure of the vss. v 31s This vs. may be a later addition, for it places an emphasis on worshipping Jehovah at Jerusalem that was contrary to Jer.'s teaching elsewhere. It may, however, reflect the usage in Jer.'s day. Cf. 44"7. w 317 Following the superior order of the Gk. 1 317 Heb., peoples, but this is in all probability a scribal error for mountains, as in Is 42". Cf. 71. y 318 Gk. omits, the woman with child. 188 PARDON AND RESTORATION [Jer. 318 A great company shall they return hither; 'They shall go forth' with weeping; And with comforting words" will I lead them, I will bring them to streams of water, In a level way in which they shall not stumble: For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim — he is my first-born. l°Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, And declare it in the isles most distant. And say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him. And keep him as a shepherd his flock, "For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob, And redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he. 12Then they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Joy of And shall rejoiceb over the goodness of Jehovah, the re- Over the grain and over the new wine and over the oil, stored And over the young of the flock and of the herd; people And their soul shall be as a watered garden; And they shall not sorrow any more at all. "Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young and the old men shall be joyful0 together; For I will turn their mourning into joy, And will, comfort them, and fill them with joy instead of sorrow. "And I will satiate the souls of the priests with fatness, And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness.d "Thus saith Jehovah:" A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Present Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted1 because fonfhe they are no more. exiles "Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears;8 Jeho- For thy work shall be rewarded,11 and they shall come again from the a?sur- land of the enemy. an«es_ 17And there is hope for thy latter end,1 and thy children shall returaJ give- 18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus : and 'Thou hast chastened me and I was chastised; I wask as a calf untaught. love Let me return and I will return, since thou are Jehovah my God. 19For having been instructed, I repent,1 I smite upon my breast;™ I am ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I bear the reproach of my youth.' 20Is not Ephraim my dear son ? Is he not a darling child, * 319 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb., They shall come in. a 319 So Gk. Heb., supplications. b 3112 The usual meaning of the verb is, flow over. « 3113 So Gk. The Heb. has lost the verb. d 31u So Gk. The Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. 8 3V5 This clause was apparently added by a scribe to connect the later addition with the original passage which continues 6. 1 3115 So Syr. The Heb. repeats, for her children, twice. The Gk. but once. Evidently the Heb. form is due to a scribal error or else to dittography. Rachel, like Jacob, represents the Heb. race. g 311B An editor has added, to make the antecedent clear, Thus saith Jehovah. b 3116 Again omitting with the Gk., it is the oracle of Jehovah. \ 3117 Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. > 3117 So Gk. Heb. adds, to their own border. This clause, however, destroys the metre. k 3118 g0 Gk, supported by the-metre. Heb. omits, / was. i 3119 The Heb. is apparently over-full as a result of a scribal repetition. The sense and metre support the above rendering. °> 3118 Lit., thigh. 189 Jer. 3120] JEREMIAH'S EARLIER SERMONS So that as often as I speak ofn him, I must remember him.° Therefore my heart yearneth for him ; I must be merciful to him.p Sum- 21Set thee up waymarks, make thee guide posts; mom Yix thy attention on the highway, even by the way by which thou wentest, turn Return, O virgin Israel, return again to these, thy cities. 22How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter ? For Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth : a woman shall encom pass a man.i Bless- 23Thus saith Jehovah,r Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of the °f Judah and in its cities, when I bring back again its3 captivity : restoration Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, thou holy mountain, "And those who dwell in the cities of Judah and in all its land' and the hus bandmen and they who go about with flocks !'u Re- 27Behold, the days are coming, is the oracle of Jehovah, of favor That I will sowv Israel and Judah with the seed of man and the seed of Israel beast. and 28And as once I watched over them to pluck up and to afflict,w Judah So will I be watchful over them to build and to plant.x Indi- 29In those days they will no more say : respon- The fathers have eaten unripe grapes and the children's teeth are set on sibility edge,y 30But every one shall die for his own iniquity; Every man who eats the unripe grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. n 3120 Or, against, or, to. ° 3120 So Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. Heb. adds, still. p 3120 Heb. adds, still, the oracle of Jehovah. q 3122 The meaning of this vs. is not certain and it may be secondary. Many explana tions have been offered. Brown (Bk. of Jer., 173) translates, a woman goes about like a man. The more recent German commentaries, following the parallel in Lev. 133-6, Zech. 1410, would translate, shall be changed into a man. The Jewish commentaries translated the standard text go about in the sense of go after, but this destroys the meaning of the Heb. verb, even though it is not far from the meaning of the passage. The idea seems to be, the nation which is addressed as a woman shall lose her retiring nature and instead of turning away from Jehovah shall af fectionately seek him. It is important to note that the new creation is Jehovah's and is a blessing, not a bane. r 3123 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb., of hosts, the God of Israel. • 3123 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb., their. * 3124 Following the consistent Gk. The Heb. is corrupt. " 3124 A scribe or scribes have added, ®- 2B: Fof I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished. i6Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet to me. These vss. have no logical connection with the context, but probably are the exclama tion of some reader who was impressed with the glorious promises, but in the light of the grim reality regarded them as but a dream. v 3127 So Gk. Heb. adds, the house of. y 3128 So Gk. Heb. adds, to tear out and tear down and destroy. This verse is a quota tion from Jer. 1'°-". * 3128 All the texts have at the end, it is the oracle of Jehovah, but this destroys the met rical structure of the ™. and is probably a later addition. y 3129 For the same proverb, cf. Ezek. 182, § 119. 190 Ill JEREMIAH'S ACTIVITY DURING THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM Jer. § 72. Lament over the Fate of Jehoahaz, Jer. 22">-i2 22 10Weep not for him who is dead,a nor wail for him; Weep rather for him who is gone, for he shall not return, And never again shall he see the land of his birth. Jeho-ahaz'sexile uFor thus saith Jehovah, concerning Shallum [Jehoahaz], the son of No Josiah,b who was king instead of Josiah his father, who went forth from this J}£P£ place : He shall not return thither again, 12butc in the place whither they have turning led him away captive he shall die, and this land shall not see him again. §73. The Plot Against Jeremiah, Jer. 119-12« Jer. 11 9And Jehovah said to me, A conspiracy is found among the men Fatal of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10They have turned back **^?^f tod the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to heed my words. And the they are going after foreign gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the (n»-u) house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. Jeremiah's Activity during the Reign of Jehoiakim. — The latter part of the reign of Jo siah appears to have been one of the few glorious epochs in Heb. pre-exilic history. The king and his able advisers were devoted to enforcing the principles proclaimed by the great ethical prophets of the Assyrian period. Prosperity, extension of territory, and the withdrawal of Assyria all tended to inspire popular confidence in Josiah's policy. These influences, however, produced a false over-confidence in the mind of the king. In Egypt a Libyan dynasty had arisen which developed a strong military policy. When the weakness of Assyria became apparent, Necho, the son of the founder of the new dynasty, aspired to the conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean coastlands, once held by the kings of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty. For realizing his ambitions he trusted almost entirely to the Greek mercenaries, which he had enlisted in large numbers. Before this large and well-organized army Josiah fell a victim in the memorable battle of 608 b.c. His fall marked a reversal of the policies which he had so strenuously espoused. The prophetic party endeavored to save the situation by placing on the throne Shallum, one of Josiah's sons, who assumed on his accession the kingly name Jehoahaz. His reign, however, continued only three months. Then he was summoned before Necho, in Northern Syria, and put in chains. His deposition marked the overthrow of the_ prophetic party. The popular resentment of Josiah's sweeping reformation expressed itself in a heathen reaction almost as sweeping as that under Manasseh. Jehoiakim also imitated the policy of his great-grandfather, Manasseh, rather than that of his father, Josiah. He was selfish and unprincipled and resented the interference of preachers of righteousness like Jer. The evils and crises which charac terize the comparatively brief reign of Jehoiakim (608-597) called forth the greater number of Jeremiah's sermons. In the face of bitter opposition and constant danger of death, he con tinually held up before king and people the true ideals of life and religion, and thereby kept alive, in the hearts of the few disciples who heeded his words, the faith of his race. a 2210 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and Syr. b 2211 Again following the Gk. and Syr. and omitting the scribal addition, king of Judah. o 2212 Following eleven Heb. MSS. and the vss. in correcting the Heb., as the context demands. § 73 The date of the original prophecies contained in this section is clearly to be found in the early part of the reign of Jehoiakim. They reflect the heathen reaction which characterized the opening years of that reign. The section contains fragments of Jer's. original ser mons, interspersed with narrative material, which shows the influence of editorial revision. In 9-14 the influence of this Deuteronomic revision is clearly apparent in both idea and literary form. Vss. 15- 16 contain an original fragment from Jer. Vs. 17 is a later prose explanatory note. The rest of the section reveals Jer's. feelings when bitterly and unjustly attacked by his fellow-townsmen of Anathoth. In the outlying villages of Judah the old heathen spirit pre vailed more than in Jerusalem itself. Jer. was attacked because he was the exponent of the a llio so Syr. and Targ. The Heb. form is evidently due to a scribal error. 191 Jer. ll11] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM ""Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, Behold I am bringing upon theme evil which they shall not be able to escape ; and if they cry to me I will not listen to them. 12Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry to the gods, to which they burn sacrifice; but they will not save them at all in their time of trouble. 13For thou hast as many gods as thou hast cities, O Judah, and ye have set up as many altarsf as there are streets in Jerusalem, in order to offer sacrifice to Baal. "Therefore pray not for this people, nor offer a petition for them, for I cannot listen to them when they cry to me in their timeg of trouble. Sacri- 15What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath committed evil insuf- actS ? ficient Will vows an(J holy flesh save thee from misfortune ?l liver 16A leafy olive tree, beautiful in form,' wast thouk called, But with the sound of a great roaring its leaves are set on fire and its branches destroyed.1 "For Jehovah of hosts, who planted thee, has pronounced evil against thee, because of the evil of the house of Israel™ and of the house of Judah, which they have done of their own accord to vex me by burning incense to Baal. At- 18Jehovah gave me knowledge of it so that I knew it, then I beheld11 their of'tne deeds. men of 19But I was as a trustful lamb, which they led to the slaughter.0 thoth Against me they devised devices ;p 'Let us destroy the tree with its sap; jere- And let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may no miah more be remembered.' 20But Jehovah,q thou righteous judge, who testest the heart and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance on them, for to thee have I revealed my cause. iconoclastic Jehovah religion and because his demands were contrary to the dominant spirit of the day. His teachings were also regarded as treasonable by the court. Therefore the people of Anathoth, influenced by the popular reaction, apparently regarded Jer's. teaching as hostile to their interests. Hence their strenuous endeavor to put a stop to his public speaking. Jer's. words reflect the inner tragedy of his life. Conscious that he was sacrificing all that was dearest for the sake of his nation, he found himself hated by his nearest friends and fellow-townsmen. Thus in concrete form there came to him the most difficult of human prob lems, the question of why the righteous are allowed to suffer while the wicked prosper. It is a question which involves not only the fate of the individual but the justice of God himself. It is the same problem that is developed in greater detail by the author of the book of Job, whose debt to Jer. is shown not only by the close similarity in thought but also in language. The problem is met simply by an appeal to Jer's. faith and noble sense of responsibility which left no permanent place for doubt. . ll11 Gk., upon them, upon this people. Possibly upon this people is original. 1 ll13 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb., altars to the shameful thing. ' 11" So certain Heb. MSS. and VSS. h ll16 This vs. in the Heb. is very corrupt. The Gk., which has evidently preserved the original and is supported by the Syr. and other VSS., has been followed. 1 ll15 The Heb. adds, then thou mightest exult. This is either secondary or else the second part of a fuller vs. preserved by the Gk., which reads, or canst thou escape by these, then thou mightest exult. The Gk. reading, however, is apparently only an attempt to restore a hope lessly corrupt text. ' ll'6 So Gk. Through a mistake in repetition, a scribe has added in the Heb., fruit, but this does not make sense. k ll16 The Heb. adds, Jehovah, but Jehovah himself is the speaker in this context. 1 llIfi The Gk. and Lat. apparently read, burnt up — a free translation of the Heb. m ll17 Lit., to themselves. " ll18 So Gk. and Lat. Heb., thou causest me to see. The Gk., Lat., and Syr. have the preceding verbs in the second person instead of the third. ° 11" So O. Lat. Heb. adds, and I did not know that. p lllfl Slightly correcting the Heb. as the context requires. q Ii™ So Gk. Heb. adds, of hosts. 192 PLOT AGAINST JEREMIAH [Jer. ll21 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek Their thy life, saying, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah that thou die ^™%h~ not by our hand: Beholdr I will visit them in punishment, the young men shall die by the sword, ^heir sons and their daughters shall perish by famine, And there shall be no remnant left to them. For I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visi tation. 12 'Thou art more righteous, O Jehovah, than that I should contend The with thee, F/°b0-£ Yet would I reason the cause with thee : why Why do the wicked enjoy good fortune ? Why are they at ease who deal wicked very treacherously? p™s" ^hou thyself didst plant them, yea, they have taken root, they grow and bear fruit; Thou art ever present on their lips,8 but far from their hearts. sBut thou, Jehovah knowest me* and triest my heart before thee; Pull them away like sheep for slaughter, prepare" them for the day when they shall be slain. 4How long must the land mourn and all the vegetation wither ? Even the beasts and birds have disappeared because of the wickedness of its inhabitants; For they have said, God doth not see our ways.v 5If thou hast run with the footman, and they have wearied thee, jeho- Then how canst thou contend with horses ? vahs answer: And if in a land of peace thou hast fled,w A ser- What wilt thou do in the junglex of the Jordan ? 0f God 6For even thy brothers, and the house of thy father, Even they have dealt treacherously with thee; be Even they have cried aloud after thee; ed" Believe them not, though they speak friendly words. r ll22 So Gk. The Heb. adds, therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts. This is probably the result of a scribal repetition of 2U. B 122 I. e., Jehovah's name is on their lips but his will does not govern the mainspring of their action. * 123 So Gk. The Heb. adds, thou seest me and. » 123 Lit., consecrate. This line may well be a later addition for it is not consistent with the milder teaching of 5- 6. y 124 So Gk. An inversion of two letters gives the Heb., he shall not see our latter end. By many scholars this vs. is regarded as secondary. w 125 Making a slight correction, which is strongly supported by the context. * 125 J. e., in the luxuriant growth of the lower Jordan valley, where are the lairs of the wild beasts. Cf. 49">, Zech. ll3. 193 must never Jer. 181] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM The potter mould ing the clay Jeho vah's dealingwith a nation de pendent uponits at titude Ju dah'sdefiant attitude § 74. The Lesson from the Potter, Jer. 18 Jer. 18 *This word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah; 2Arise and go down to the potter's house and there I will cause thee to hear what I have to say. 3So I went down to the potter's house and he was just then working upon his wheels/ 4And if the vessel which he was making21 was spoiled in his hand3, he made it again into another vessel as seemed right to himb to make it. 5Then this word of Jehovah came to me: 'O house of Israel,0 can not I do to you as this potter. Behold as the clay in the potter's hand so are ye in my hand.d 7Whenever I speak concerning a nation or a kingdom to pluck upe and to destroy it, 8if that nation turn from its evil/ then I will repent of the evil which I thought to do it. 9Whenever I speak concerning a nation or a kingdom to build it or to plant, 10if it do evil in my sight by not heeding my voice then I will repent of the good which I said I would do to it. uNow therefore say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem :g ' Behold I am framing evil against you and devising a plan against you ; turn, I pray you, everyone from his evil way, and mend your ways and your deeds.' 12But they say, ' It is useless for we will follow our own devices and we will act each according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.' Thepre vailingheathen ism 13Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations who hath heard such things : The virgin Israel hath done an exceedingly horrible thing. 14Doth the white snow leave the rock of Sirion ?h Or can the waters of the cold, flowing mountain streams1 be dried up ? 15TJhat my people have forgotten me; they offer sacrifice to nothingness, And they stumble^ in their ways, in the old tracks, § 74 Vss. 1_4 record an important incident in the life of the prophet. His adaptation of the figure of the potter is unique and differs fundamentally from the prevailing use of the figure elsewhere in the O.T., e. g., Is. 29", 459, 64*, B. Sir. 33". Jehovah is pictured not as the arbi trary moulder of human destiny but as the one who earnestly strives, as far as is in his power, to adapt the human material to his divine ends. It is only human depravity that thwarts his divine purpose. The vss. which follow stand in close connection with the introductory figure. It is not certain, however, that they all come from the same period or that they are all from Jer. Original Jeremian utterances are undoubtedly embodied in these passages. Many of them are practically identical with those found in the preceding section. It is probable that they come from the same general period, the early days of Jehoiakim's reign when the prevailing crimes of the people called forth Jer's. bitter denunciations and aroused in turn the active hostility of the people. y 183 These were the two round stones used by the ancient potters, the upper one sup ported the clay while the lower one was turned by the feet. Cf. B. Sir. 3829. x 184 So Gk., O. Lat. and Syr. Heb. adds, as clay. a 18* So Gk., O. Lat., and Vulg. Heb., by the hand of the potter. b 184 So O. Lat., Aquila, and Vulg. Heb., in the eyes of the potter. c 185 So Gk. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. d 185 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. repeats the phrase, O house of Israel. e 187 So Gk., O. Lat., and Origen's Syr. Heb. adds, to pull down. f 188 So Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. Heb. adds, which I have spoken against it. This para graph contains one of the clearest statements in the O.T. of the conditional element underlying all prophecies. s 1811 So O. Lat. and Origen's Gk. Heb. adds, saying. Thus saith Jehovah. h 18t4 Following a slightly restored text. Sirion was the ancient designation of Mount Hermon. Heb., the snow of Lebanon from the rock of the field, but this text is evidently corrupt. 1 1814 Again restoring the text as the context demands. Heb., strange waters, but this is evidently a corruption. A more radical reconstruction, proposed by Comill in his commen tary on Jer., p. 325, gives the reading, waters of the western sea, i. e., the Mediterranean. The prophet's thought is that the course of nature remains unchanged ; Jehovah's people alone are i igiB Probably here the Gk, Syr., and Lat. have preserved the original reading. 194 LESSON FROM THE POTTER [Jer. 18" To walk in by-paths, in a way not built, HTo make their land an object of horror, a perpetual hissing ; Everyone that passes by it is filled with horror and shakes his head. 17I will scatter them; like a hot east windk I will scatter them before their enemies ;l I will look upon them with the back and not with the face,m in the day of their calamity. Its conse quences 18And they said, Come, let us devise a plan against Jeremiah, For teaching will not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and not give heed to his words.11 19Listen to me, O Jehovah, and hearken to my contention.0 20Should evil be repaid for good ? for they have digged a pit to take my life. Remember how I stood before thee to speak well in their behalf, To turn away thy fury from them. Jeremiah's per sonal 21Thereforep deliver their children to famine, and they themselves over to the power of the sword, and let their wives become childless and widows, let their men be slain by death, and their young men smitten by the sword in battle. 22Let a bitter cry be heard from their "houses, when thou bringest a hostile band suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and have hidden traps for my feet. ^Yet thou, Jehovah, knowest all their counsel against me, to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from thy sight, but make them stumble before thee;i deal thou with them in the time of thine anger. § 75. Jeremiah's Temple Discourse, Jer. 7"-83 Jer. 7 xThe word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, 2Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house and proclaim this message : ' Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah. ^hus saith Jehovah the God of Israel : "Amend your ways and your deeds and I will let you dwell in this place; 4trust not in lying words, k 1817 /. e., the hot sirocco. 1 1817 So Gk. andTarg. Heb., before the enemy. m ll17 I. e., will not regard them with favor or pity. n igis The thought is, what difference does it make whether there is one prophet more or less. Israel has many teachers, each with his peculiar form of teaching. That passage is es pecially significant for it brings into contrast the three distinct classes of Israel's teachers. ° 1819 So Gk., Syr., and Targ. Heb., to the voice of mine enemies. p 1321-23 There are many indications that these vss. are the later additions of a scribe rather than the original words of Jer. In the first place they lack the regular metrical structure which apparently characterized all of the prophet's utterances. Furthermore, their vindictive spirit is far removed from that of Jer., who loved hist fellow-countrymen with a passionate fervor. They are much more akin to certain of the imprecatory Psalms of the Psalter, from which they may well have been quoted. q 1823 Heb., may they stumble before thee. §75 This is one of t the most important discourses of Jer., for in it he deals squarely with the issue of the religion of ceremonialism versus the religion of true service. The popular parallel account of the same sermon in Jer. 26 states that it was delivered at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. The death of Josiah and the overthrow of the Jehovah party had led the people to turn with new zeal and blind trust to the formal services of the temple. Some had revived the heathen cults at the ancient sancturies in the valley of Ben-hinnom, to the southwest of Jerusalem. The religion of formalism was almost wholly in the ascen dancy, and enjoyed the protection and probably the support of the_ court. Jer. struck at the very root of this false faith by declaring that the time was soon coming when the venerated temple of Jehovah itself should be cast down in ruins, and Jerusalem should be desecrated by the scattered bones of its nobles, priests, and prophets. The passage 71-8 is apparently a distinct literary unit dealing with the temple and the pre vailing cults. Possibly 16-20 is secondary, for it has no close connection with the context and 195 Aery for vengeance Repent anceandjustacts the onlyguaranteeof di vineprotection Jer. 74] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM thinking, This is the temple of Jehovah/ 5For if ye really amend your ways and your deeds, if ye faithfully execute justice between a man and his neigh bor, 6if ye oppress not the resident alien, the fatherless and the widow, "and shed not innocent blood in this place and do not go after other gods to your hurt; 7then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that 1 gave to your fathers, forever and ever. Crimes 8But now ye are trusting in lying words that cannot profit. 9Will ye steal, neonfe murder and commit adultery, swear falsely and offer sacrifice to Baal,s and go after other gods whom ye have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house which is called after my name and say, We are free to do all these abominations ? uIs this my house, which is called by my name, in your eyes a den of robbers ? Behold I, indeed, have seen it,"' is the oracle of Jehovah. Temple 12"Then go now to my sanctuary which is in Shiloh, where I caused my j°_be name to dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my strayed people Israel. 13And now because ye have done all these deeds, and, although the I spoke to you insistently, ye have not heeded, and although I called you, ™* ye have not answered, "therefore I will do to the house, which ye call by my at name, in which ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh ; 15and I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out your kinsmen, even the entire race of Ephraim.'" Inter- 16But thou shalt not pray for these people, nor lift up a prayer of supplica- useless *'on ^ or them, nor make intercession with me ; for I can not hear thee. 17Seest thou not what they are doing in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ? 18The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out libations to other gods in order to vex me. 19Do they really vex me ? is the oracle of Jehovah. Is it not rather themselves ? that their own faces may be put to shame. 20Therefore thus saith Jehovah:11 'Behold mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place over man and beast, the trees of the field, and the fruit of the ground ; and it shall burn without being quenched.' De- 21Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Add your burnt- ™™^ offerings to your sacrifices, and eat flesh !v 22For I said nothing to your obedi- fathers, nor laid any command upon them in the day that I brought them out of not ' the land of Egypt in regard to burnt-offerings or sacrifices. 23But this thing I I*"1" commanded them, " Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye just as I command you, that it may be well with introduces a motif — the worship of the Syrian goddess, the Queen of Heaven — not referred to elsewhere before 4415. The later passage, however, contains a reference to the practices preva- lentin an earlier period, so that the evidence that even this passage is secondary is not con clusive. Even though much of the material of this section is in prose and shows the effect, of long_ oral transmission, there is good reason to believe that, as a whole, it represents Jer's. original temple discourse. 1 7* I. e., the people and many of the false prophets regarded the temple of Jehovah as a guarantee of the prosperity of their nation. 9 79 Cf. the prophetic decalogue of Dt. 5. * 711 J. e., your crimes of theft, murder, etc. u 720 Following Gk. and Syr. and omitting Lord which has been added in Heb. T 721 /. e., eat not only the flesh of the ordinary offerings but also that of the burnt-offer ings which was wholly consecrated to Jehovah. The words are uttered in sarcasm. 196 JEREMIAH'S TEMPLE DISCOURSE [Jer. T23 you." MBut they hearkened not, nor gave heed,w but walked according to the counsels of their evil heart,x so that they have gone backward and not forward. ^Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day. And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them daily and persistently;7 20yet they have not hearkened to me, nor have given heed, but have made their neck stiff; doing worse than their fathers.' 27 And thou shalt speak this word to them :2 28 1 This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their La- God, ment over Nor received correction ; truth hath perished8, from their mouth. the corrupt nation 29Cut off their hair, cast it away, and raise on the bare heights the cry of lam entation,1" For Jehovah hath rejected and cast off the generation of his wrath; 30For the people of Judah have done evil in mine eyes,' is Jehovah's oracle. ' They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.c 31They have built the high place,*1 of Topheth, which is in the valley of Ben- hinnom, In order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire,6 which I never com manded them, nor had it entered my mind. 32Therefore behold the days are coming,' is the oracle of Jehovah, Terri- 'When one shall no longer say, "The high place of Topheth" nor "The Jj^!8 Valley of Ben-hinnom" togi* But "The Valley of Slaughter"'; for they shall bury in Topheth until there is no place left. 33Then shall the dead bodies of this people be food, For the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away. w 7M Heb., inclined the ear. x 7U So Gk., Heb., in counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart. y 7s Heb., daily raising up and sending. Possibly daily is simply due to a scribal error. i 727, 28 go Gb.t -which has preserved the simpler and original text. The editor who added1- 2 has expanded the text by adding 13b so that it reads, And thou shalt speak all these words to them, but they will not hearken to thee; thou shalt call to them, but they will not answer thee. And thou shalt say to them. ¦ 728 So Gk. The Heb. adds, and is cut off. b 729 xhe address is to the nation Judah and is a call to bitter lamentation because the generation is the object of Jehovah's righteous wrath. o 730 This vs. in language and thought is closely connected with the late prophetic pas sage in II Kgs. 215' 1. Cf. also Ezek. 8 d 731 So Gk. Heb., high places, but there appears to have been but one in the valley of Ben-hinnom, to the southwest of Jerusalem. High place must be equivalent to small sanctu ary. 9 731 The horrors of the Assyr. period influenced the people in their extremity to resort to human sacrifice to win the favor of God. Cf . Mic. 66' '', and for an earlier example, II Sam. 21i-w. 197 Jer. 7m] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM ^hen will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah and the streets of Je rusalem the sound of mirth and of rejoicing/ The voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the whole land shall become a waste.' Neither 8 'At that time, is the oracle of Jehovah, they shall bring out the bones dead of the kings of Judah, and of his nobles, and of the priests, and of the prophets, hving and of tne inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.8 2And they shall shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which theape they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have ment walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped — they shall not be gathered nor buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. 3And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, in all the places11 whither I have driven them, is the oracle of Jehovah. § 76. Later Tradition Regarding the Temple Discourse, Jer. 261-19 Jere- Jer. 26 'In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim- the son of Josiah, predic- king of Judah, this word came from Jehovah, saying, ^hus saith Jehovah : tion of ' Stand in the court of Jehovah's house, and speak to all the people of Judah, struc- who come to worship in Jehovah's house, all the words that I command you thTcity to speak to them. Do not take away a word. 3Perhaps they will hearken and . and turn each from his wicked way, that I may relent of the evil which I temple purpose to do to them because of the wickedness of their deeds. And thou shalt say to them, "Thus saith Jehovah: If ye will not listen to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, 5to hearken to the words of my ser vants the prophets, whom I send to you, sending them constantly although you do not heed, 6then will I make this temple like Shiloh, and will make this city an object of execration to all the nations of the earth."' 7And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the temple of Jehovah. Popu- 8And then when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that Jehovah had com- move- manded him to speak to all the people, the priests and prophets and all the ment people took hold of him, saying, You must die. 9Why have you prophesied him to in the name of Jehovah, saying, 'This temple shall be like Shiloh, and this death ' 7M For the same threat, cf. 16», 2S". e 81 /. 6., the judgment shall affect all classes in the nation. Even the dead shall not be exempt. This and the two following vss. probably represent a later lengthening of Jer.'s original prophecy. h 83 So Gk. The Heb. repeats, that remain. § 76 This section represents the more popular version of Jer.'s temple sermon found in 71-83. The theme and part of the subject-matter are identical. This version, however, has preserved less of the original discourse. Its original poetic structure is almost completely obscured. Instead fuller details are given of the effect of the address upon Jer.'s hearers. The section records one of the great crises in his life. It is also significant because the citation from Mi. 312 is one of the very few detailed quotations of earlier writers to be found in the pre-exilic prophets. Cf. § 52. This parallel version is also very instructive for it suggests the zeal with which later generations sought to recall all of the possible facts regarding the work of Jer. It also illustrates characteristic differences between the primary and secondary sections of the book, and throws light upon the question why it contains so much that is secondary. For detailed textual notes, cf. Vol. II, § 131. 198 FATE OF URIAH [Jer. 25° city shall be desolate, without habitation ?' And all the people were gathered about Jeremiah in the temple of Jehovah. 10And when the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from His ra the king's palace to the temple of Jehovah ; and they sat at the entrance of !p?n8e the new gate of the temple of Jehovah. "Then the priests and the prophets public spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is guilty of a Sign. capital offence, for he has prophesied against this city as you have heard ment with your own ears, ^hen Jeremiah addressed the princes and all the people, saying, It was Jehovah who sent me to prophesy against this temple, and against this city all the words that you have heard. 13Now therefore reform your ways and your acts, and obey the voice of Jehovah your God; and Jehovah will repent of the evil that he has pronounced against you. "But as for me, see, I am in your hand; do with me as appears to you to be good and right. 15Only be assured that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and upon its in habitants, for assuredly Jehovah hath sent me to you to speak all these things in your ears. 16Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, Cita. This man is not guilty of a capital offense, for he has spoken to us in the name t}011 of of Jehovah our God. "Thereupon certain of the elders of the land arose prece- and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, 18Micah the Morashite ^J,. prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the !!she,d people of Judah, saying, ' Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : ' prophetMicah "Zion shall be plowed as a field, And Jerusalem shall become stone-heaps, And the temple-mount wooded heights."' "Did Hezekiah and all Judah indeed put him to death ? Did they not fear Jehovah and appease Jehovah, so that Jehovah repented of the evil which he had pronounced against them ? But we are on the point of doing great injury to ourselves. § 77. Fate of Uriah, Jer. 2620"21 Jer. 26 20Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Fate of Jehovah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath- jearim ; and he prophesied Unah against this city and against this land in the same terms as did Jeremiah.21 And when Jehoiakim the king and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death ; but when Uriah heard it he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt. 22And Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt. ^And they brought Uriah from Egypt, and took him to Jehoiakim the king, and he slew him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the com mon people. MBut the influence of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was in favor of Jeremiah that they should not give him into the hands of the people to put him to death. § 77. Cf., for detailed notes, Vol. II, 1131. 199 Jer. 84] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM Judah's persistent re bellion Treach ery of thepriestlyscribes § 78. The Fate Awaiting Guilty Judah, Jer. 84-9* Jer. 8 ^hus saith Jehovah:1 Do men fall, and not rise up again ? Doth one turn away and not return ? 5Why then hath this people* turned away,k and ever remained away ? They hold fast to their1 deceit, they refuse to return. eI hearkened and heard, but they speak what is not true; No manm repenteth of his wickedness, saying, 'What have I done?' Each turneth hither and thither in his course, as a horse that rusheth head long in battle. 7Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; And the turtle-dove, the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming ; But my people know not the law established by Jehovah. 8How can you say, * We are wise, and the law of Jehovah11 is with us ' ? But, behold, the deceptive pen of the scribes0 hath rendered itp deceptive. 9The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken ! They reject the word of Jehovah, and what wisdom have they ?<* 13Can one glean anything from them ?r is the oracle of Jehovah, For there are no grapes on the vine, Nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf is faded!8 Complaintsof the people Ut Why are we waiting still ? assemble, And let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us perish there ;* § 78 The contents of this section are closely connected in theme and date with the temple discourse in § 75. There is the same sense of deep-seated national guilt and an impending judgment, only the agents of destruction seem nearer at hand. Possibly the section should be dated as late as 604 B.C., when the Chaldeans were already on the horizon. In l4-17 Jeremiah possibly introduces certain Scythian songs, first used in the early reform sermons which gather about the year 626 b.c. The whole, however, fits the stormy days immediately preceding the conquest of Palestine by the Chaldeans. The section, as a whole, is filled with Jeremiah's char acteristic notes of denunciation, warning, and personal lamentation. It is the lamentation of a patriot-prophet, who is suffering in imagination all the woes which later overtook his nation. » 8* So Gk. The Heb. has an expanded introduction, And thou shalt say to them, lThus saith Jehovah'i 85 So Gk. After people a scribe has added in the Heb. the explanatory word Jerusalem. k 85 Lit., Perpetually turned away, i. e., never repenting after apostasy. Cf. for the same thought, 52- 3, 728. ' 85 So Gk. Heb. omits the possessive pronoun. m 86 Following the Gk. Heb. has a slight scribal error. The same figure is found in 223. n 88 The words of Jehovah are not supported by the metrical structure of the vs. and may be a later addition. 0 88 /. e., the men of books, the editors and interpreters, as well as the copyists, the precursors of the later scribes. p 88 In this exceedingly significant passage Jeremiah appears to condemn those who in the name of Moses exalt the law, which they have freely revised, above the authority of the prophetic word. The law was in all probability that which is now found in Dt. and possibly also portions of the Holiness Code of Lev. Cf . Vol. IV, Introd. pp. 31-42. q 89 Here a scribe has introduced in the Heb. vss. I2-15 from chap. 6. In the Gk. a later scribe has reproduced simply 10a of the Heb. Clearly 13 was originally the immediate sequel of9. r 813 Following the Gk., which appears to have preserved the original text. An alternate reading would be, Can I glean their gleanings or / will gather. The current Eng. translations are unwarranted. The idea of the original seems to have been that the teachings of the scribes is utterly barren . H 813 The Heb. has at the close a line not found inthe Gk. and not in accord with the structure and thought of the vs. It is clearly a later addition . Its meaning is obscure. Proba bly it may be translated, I will give them those who come over there. 4 814 Cf . the same words in 45. They are reckless words of the people in the time of their distress. 200 FATE AWAITING GUILTY JUDAH [Jee. 814 For Jehovah our God hath caused us to perish, And given us poisonous11 water to drink, because we have sinned against him.v We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay ! "The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan ;w At the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; For hex has come, and devoured the land,y the city and those who dwell in it.' "For, behold, I will send against you serpents, adders,2 jeho- Which cannot be charmed ; and they shall bite you, is theoracle of Jehovah.3, ™hssponse 18My sorrowb is beyond healing! my heart is faint within me. Jer- "Behold the cry of the daughter of my people sounds from a land that is sorrow8 broad and wide : for his Is not Jehovah in Zion ? is not her King in her ? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, with foreign vanities ? 20The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we have not been saved! 21Because of the destruction of my people0 am I destroyed; I mourn; fright hath possession of me. 22Is there no balmd in Gilead ? is there no physician there ? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people ? 9 'Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night for the slain of my people! § 79. The Inevitable Result of Moral Corruption, Jer. 9222, IO1725 Jer. 9 2Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wandering men ; Deep That I might leave my people and go from them! era™" For they are all adulterers, an assembly of deceivers. of th« J J people » 811 Or, gall. y 814 So Gk. Heb., Jehovah. » 816 Cf. 415. * 816 So Gk. The Heb. has, they. y 816 A scribe has apparently added, destroying the poetic and literary vigor of the pas sage, and all that is in it. * 817 Probably legendary monsters. a 817 This last clause aids in making clear the change of speaker in this vs., but it is not found in the Gk and is probably not original. b 818 Here the prophet speaks bemoaning the fate of his people. c 821 Lit., daughter of my people. So in ^ and 91. d 8s2 Lit., resin of the mastic-tree. § 79 The position of this section in the book of Jeremiah suggests that the sermon which it contains was written during the earlier part of the reign of Jehoiakim. Its picture of coming national disaster is much more detailed, suggesting that the Chaldeans were already advancing toward Judah. Vs. IO22 is either a quotation from the earlier Scythian songs or else a direct reference to the approaching Chaldeans. It was probably, therefore, one of the many stirring sermons which Jeremiah appears to have delivered between the critical years 605 and 601 B.C. Vss. 923-1016 have no connection with their context^ but are written in the spirit of the TI Is., and from the point of view of the exilic or post-exilic period. They also lack the regu lar metrical structure of the rest of the section. Vss. 1017-24 are the immediate sequel of 9M. Removing the later supplemental passage the original sermon is revealed. 201 Jee. 93] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM 3 And they bend their tongue, as though it were their bow,e Falsehood and not truth prevail in the land/ For they proceed from evil to evil, and me they know not,8 4Let each man keep watch on his neighbor, and trust noh brother ; For every brother will supplant, as did Jacob,1 and every neighbor will go about slandering; 5And each deceives his neighbor, and does not speak the truth. They have accustomed their tongue to speak lies : they commit iniquity ,Jk Oppression follows oppression, deceit, deceit, but they refuse to know me.1 Necessi ty of a sweep ingjudgment 'Therefore thus saith Jehovah,™ Behold, I will refine them, And I will test them, for how else should I do, because of the wickedness11 of my people? 8Their tongue is a deadly arrow ; deceit is the word in their mouth ; Each speaketh to his neighbor, 'All is well,' but in his heart he plotteth against him. 9Shall I not visit them with punishment for these things, is the oracle of Jehovah ; Shall not I myself be avenged on such a nation as this ?° 10Over the mountains I must take up a weeping and a wailingp And over the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, Because they are burned up, with no man thereon,"1 neither is heard the lowing of cattle; Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled, they are gone. 11 And I will make Jerusalem a heap of. ruins, a dwelling-place of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. Reasonsfor the calam ity 12What man is so wise that he may understand this ? And to whom hath the mouth of Jehovah spoken so that he may declare it ? Why is the land ruined and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through ? 13Becauser they have forsaken my law which I set before them, And have not obeyed my voice, nor walked in accord with it, e 93 This first line is defective and may be a scribal addition originally connected with «. f 93 Following the Gk., which has clearly preserved the better text. s 93 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb., it is the oracle of Jehovah, to identify the h 9< So Gk. The Heb. adds, any. 1 9* Evidently, as in Hos. 124, the figure contains an allusion to the classic example of deception in Gen. 27. 1 9s So Gk. The Heb. text is evidently corrupt, combining the last word of 6 with the first of 6. k 95 Again following the Gk., which has clearly retained the original. 1 9s So Gk. Again a scribe has added in the Heb., it is the oracle of Jehovah. Jehovah in the original is introduced in 7, although in his original sermons Jeremiah so completely identi fied himself and Jehovah that it is usually unnecessary to introduce him as the speaker. m 97 So Gk. The Heb. adds, as frequently, of hosts. n 97 Following the Gk., which has apparently added, wickedness, to bring out the meaning of the original. ° 99 This vs. is almost a verbatim repetition of 59. p 910 Gk. and O. Lat. omit, and a wailing. q 910 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, passing through. * 913 A scribe has added, to make the meaning clear, and Jehovah saith, but this destroys the metre of the vs. 202 RESULT OF MORAL CORRUPTION [Jer. 9" But have walked after the stubbornness of their own evil8 heart.* 15Therefore thus saith Jehovah," the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed themv with wormwood, and give them poisonous water to drink. leI will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known ; And I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.w "Summon the mourning womeny that they may come; The And send for the wise women 18that they may quickly raisez for us their lo™nt voices in wailing ; the That our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids flow with water. nation 19For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How are we ruined! We are greatly confounded,* because they have cast down our dwellings ! 20Hear, O women, and let your ears receive my words ;b And teach your daughters wailing, and each her neighbor a dirge ; 21For death0 is come up into our windows, it has entered into our palaces ; Cutting off the children from the streets, the young men from the open spaces. 22The deadd bodies of men fall as dung upon the open field, And as the handful after the harvester, with none to gather them.' 10 "Gather6 up thy bundle from the ground, O thou that art in a state Jeho i. • vah's of siege; con. 18For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of this dem" land,1 And will distress them that they may pay the penalty.8 s 9» So Gk. Heb. omits, evil. 1 9U Apparently a scribe added, and after the Baalim which their fathers taught them. u 915 So Gk. Heb. adds, of hosts. y 915 So Gk. In the Heb. a scribe has added the explanatory gloss, even. w gu-16 The immediate continuation of 10 is 17br The intervening vss. may be an editorial addition. Vs. n describes the exact nature of the judgment. It, as well as 16, seems to reflect the bitter experiences of the Babylonian exile. Vs. l2 is in the language of the epilogue to Hos. 149, while l3> I4 abound in the characteristic formulas of Dt. Vss. 15- 16 also resemble later sections of Jer., e. g., 442, 7- ll. x 917 Heb. prefixes, thus saith Jehovah of hosts. Consider ye. Gk. omits all but the first clause. The line is probably due to scribal expansion. y 917 /. e., the nired mourners, probably also in the minds of the common people, skilled in keeping away evil spirits from the dead. z 918 Heb., that they may come and hasten. Gk., come. But the come is probably but a repetition from 17». • 919 A later scribe, thinking of the exile, has inserted the meaningless and inconsistent clause, for we have forsaken the land. •> 920 Heb., the word of Jehovah, but this was easily mistaken for my words, and this in turn led the Hebrew scribe to change my mouth to the word of his mouth. 0 921 This and the following vs. contain the touching lament that Jeremiah dramatically puts into the mouth of the wailing women. This and kindred passages doubtless did much to establish in the minds of later generations the tradition that he was the author of the book of Lam. Its metre is the same as that which characterizes Jeremiah. d 9s2 So Gk. The Heb. adds the unusual and unnecessary introductory formula, Speak, it is the oracle of Jehovah. ... ,. . . ,»„„,; , . • IO17 These vss. appear to be the immediate continuation of 9B. The address is to the nation Judah. The text is very difficult and doubtful. « IO18 So Gk. The Heb. reads, at this time. s IO18 Following a restored Heb. text suggested by Luc. and Aquila. Heb., that they may find. 203 The prophet's la ment in behalfof the nation Jer 1219] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM 19Woel1 is me because of my hurt! my wound is painful; But I said, Truly, this is my grief, and I must bear it. 20My tent is spoiled, and all my cords are broken, My children have gone forth from me and they are not j1 There is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. 21For the shepherds are stupid, and have not inquired of Jehovah; Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered-^ 22Hark! a rumor, behold, it comes! even a great din from the land of the north, To make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals. Prayer for mercy MI know, O Jehovah, that not to man belongs his way ; It is not for man to walk and to direct his steps. ^Correct us, O Jehovah, but with judgment, and not in thine anger, lest thou make us few in numbers.* Jeho vah'scommand The buried waist- cloth § 80. The Corrupt, Rejected Nation, Jer. 13l" Jer. 13 *Thus Jehovah said to me, Go and buy thee a linen waist-cloth, and put it upon thy loins "but do not put it in water. 2So I bought the waist- cloth as Jehovah commanded and put it upon my loins. 3Then the word of Jehovah came to me a second time, 4Take the waist- cloth1 which is upon thy loins, and, arise, go to Perath, and bury it there in a crevice of the rock. 5So I went and buried it at Perath, as Jehovah com manded me. 6And it came to pass after many days Jehovah said to me, Arise, Go to Perath, and take thence the waist-cloth which I commanded thee to bury there. 7Then I went to Perath, and digged, and took the waist-cloth from the place where I had buried it ; and behold, the waist-cloth was ruined, it was good for nothing. h io19 This and the following vss. contain the lament of the patriotic prophet in behalf of the nation. The Gk. puts it in the second person. Cf. 419-24. i 1020 This awkward clause, and they are not, may also be secondary. i iQ2i Xhis vs. is perhaps a later explanatory gloss. k 1023,24 By many scholars these verses are regarded as later additions. They have, however, the same characteristic five-beat measure and their thought and point of view are those of the great prophet of divine love. To this original prophecy a post-exilic scribe has added the words found in Ps. 79B- 7. In its prayer for vengeance upon Israel's foes and in its picture of the Judean community it clearly reflects the post-exilic point of view from which it was written. § 80 The integrity of this section has been much discussed. Duhm, in his commentary, rejects it as unworthy of the great prophet. It apparently belongs to the secondary or traditional narrative material. There is no valid reason, however, for rejecting it as not historical. Ito dialogue form and graphic symbolism are veryt similar to Jeremiah's account of his call to be a prophet. It is an established fact that Jeremiah, like Isaiah and Ezekiel, used acted illustra tions to impress his teachings upon his hearers. The proverb of the wine-jar is closely connected in thought and teaching with the preceding symbol of the waist-cloth. The perplexing question is, Where was the waist-cloth hidden? The later and the majority of commentators regard the Heb. as referring to the river Euphrates. The original, however, lacks the article, which is found in the Heb. designation of the Euphrates. The difficulty of interpreting the symbol literally, if the term be interpreted Euphrates, because of the long journey involved, has been recognized by all commentators. _ At the same time, if not inter preted literally the symbol has little meaning. These difficulties all disappear if the Heb. word Perath be literally transcribed, for it is probably equivalent to the town Parah, mentioned in Josh. 1823, a small village three miles northeast of Jeremiah's home at Anathoth. It is in the midst of a secluded, rocky valley, well watered by a plentiful spring, from which a stream runs eastward to the Wady Kelt and the Jordan Valley. The place is still known as the Wady Fara. It was probably a familiar haunt of Jeremiah and its rocky crevices furnished a suitable setting for the symbolic action here described. 1 134 So Gk. Heb. adds, which I had bought. 204 THE CORRUPT, REJECTED NATION [Jek. 13s And this word of Jehovah came to me, 9Thus saith Jehovah, ' Even so will AppH- I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evilm °f^° people who refuse to heed my words,11 and follow other gods to serve them j>ym- and to bow down to them, shall be like this waist-cloth which is of no use at action all. Por as the waist-cloth clings to the loins of a man, so have I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cleave to me, is the oracle of Jehovah, to be my people, to be for me a cause of renown, and praise, and glory, but they have not hearkened. 12 And thou shalt say to this people,0 " Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, De- Every jar must be filled with wine," and if they say to thee, " Do we not knowp ti'on°of that every jar must be filled with wine?" 13Then thou shalt say to them, jjjj®. " Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I am about to fill all*1 the inhabitants of this land, the kings/ who sit upon the throne of David, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness, "and I will dash them one against the other, even the fathers and their sons together, is Jehovah's oracle; I will neither pity nor spare nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.'" § 81. Judah's Guilt Too Great for Intercession, Jer. 141-159 Jer. 14 'The cry of Jerusalem rises up, Judah mourns.8 Effects And its gates languish, they sit clad in black upon the ground. great6 3And their nobles send their servants for water; drought They come to the cisterns and find no water; They return with their vessels empty ; they are confounded,* 4And the tillers of the ground are terrified, for no rain has come" The plowmen are filled with confusion, they cover their heads. 5Yea, the hind also in the field calves, and forsakes her young, because there is no grass.v 6And the wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air ;w Their eyes lose their lustre, because there is no herbage. m 1310 Reconstructing the impossible Heb. text. n 1310 So Gk. Heb. adds, who walk after the stubbornness of their heart. ° 1312 So Gk. and Arab. Heb., speak to them this word. P 1312 The Heb. omits this clause which is superfluous and may be secondary. 1 1313 Gk. omits, all. r 1313 The original may have read princess. § 81 Because of the nature of the subject-matter in this section its exact date cannot be determined. It is certain, however, that it comes from' the reactionary reign of Jehoiakim and probably before 604 B.C., when Jeremiah was silenced by Jehoiakim. It consists of blended dialogue, prayer, and monologue. Some passages are in poetry and others are in prose. Through out it bears the mark of the personaUty and point of view of the stern prophet of ethical right eousness, who recognized that there could be no divine forgiveness without a fundamental repentance, which bore fruit in deeds as well as words. The immediate occasion of the prophecy was evidently a severe drought; but in developing the theme either Jeremiah or his later redactor has introduced two passages, 1412-18 an(j 152-^ in which the agents of divine judgment are not drought but the sword, hunger, and pestilence. Vss. 1418 blends these two motifs with the result that the section, as a whole, is logically complete It bears the general superscription: The word of Jehovah to Jeremiah with reference to the drought. ¦ 142 The first clause has been inserted in the Heb. at the end of the vs. The metre and parallelism support the above restoration. t 143 Not found in the Gk., and possibly added by a scribe, as were the words, they cover ihe head which are taken from 4. " 144 Following the suggestion of the Gk., which apparently has the original text. The Heb. is clearly corrupt and makes no sense. y 14s This last clause is probably secondary. w 146 So Gk. Heb. adds, as jackals. 205 Jer. 147] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM Con- 'Though our iniquities testify against us, act for thy name's sake, O Jehovah ; and°n For our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. petition sq tj10U fyjpg Qf Israel; its saviour in the time of trouble, divine Why shouldst thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a traveller who turns aside to stay but a night? 'Why wilt thou be as a man affrighted, as a man who cannot save ?x Yet thou, O Jehovah, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.y Jeho- 10Thus saith Jehovah to this people, Even so they love to wander! refusal They have not held back their feet, therefore Jehovah doth not accept to hear them • or to mem , .... pardon Now will he remember their iniquity and punish their sins. "And Jehovah said to me,2 Pray not for this people for their good. 12When they fast, I will not hear their cry ; And when they offer a burnt-offering and a cereal-offering, I will not accept them ; But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. Special 13Then said I, Alas, Lord Jehovah, the prophets are ever saying to them, ment Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you upon peace and trutha in this place.b "Then Jehovah said to me, The prophets false prophesy lies in my name; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, eS"P " nor have I spoken to them ; they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their own heart. 15Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, Although I myself sent them not, yet they are ever saying, ' Sword and famine shall not be in this land.' By sword and famine shall these people be consumed. 16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Je rusalem because of the sword and the famine ; and they shall have no one to bury them— ^themselves, their wives, their sons, nor their daughters — for I will pour their wickedness upon them. Magni- 17And thou shalt say this word to them: the ca- ' Mine eyes run down with tears night and day, lamity ^nd they cease not, because great is the destruction; For the virgin daughter is broken with a very painful wound. 18If I go forth into the field, there are the ones slain with the sword! x 149 The Heb. adds, mighty man, but is not supported by the Gk. or by the metre and has the ring of a later age. y 14' These vss. and the following recall the fickle, superficial prayer of the people in Hos. 5"-6<. z 1411 Possibly a later defining gloss. ¦ 1413 Restoring the text according to 338 and Gk., which, however, reverses the order of these two words. •> 14" Gk., in the land. 206 JUDAH'S GUILT TOO GREAT [Jer. 1418 And if I go into the city, there are the ravages of famine! For both the prophet and the priest wander about0 in the land, and have no knowledge.'"1 "Hast thou utterly rejected Judah ? hath thy soul loathed Zion ? Further Why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us ? tension We look for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, but behold, and M dismay! j?o?Fe- We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness and the iniquity of our ^°™!l's „ , ^ j mercy tathers; For we have sinned against thee! 21Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake; Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory ; Remember, break not thy covenant with us. ^Are there any among the false gods6 of the nations that can cause rain ? Or can the heavens give showers ? Art thou not he, O Jehovah our God ? Therefore we will wait for thee; for thou hast made all these things. 15 'Then Jehovah said to me, Though Moses and Samuelf stood before me, Jeho- yet my soul would not be inclined toward them.g Cast this people forth out ^ly: of my sight, go forth. 2And when they say to thee, 'Whither shall we go con-. forth?' then thou shalt tell them, 'Thus saith Jehovah: "Such as are for and death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are fneilt- for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity."' able 3And I will appoint over them four kinds,h is the oracle of Jehovah : the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens to devour1 and the beasts of the earth to destroy.^ 4And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Heze kiah, king of Judah, for allk that he did in Jerusalem. ^ho1 will have pity for thee, O Jerusalem ? or who will show sympathy for His la thee? meat > over Or who will turn aside to ask of thy welfare ?m his >n: "Thou hast rejected me, is the oracle of Jehovah,11 thou art gone backward ; ble Therefore I have stretched out my hand,0 and destroyed thee ; I am weary people with relenting. 0 1418 /. e., go about as mendicants. The verb is ordinarily used to describe the itinerant journeys of the pack peddlers. d 1418 This last clause is ordinarily regarded as secondary, being suggested by Hos. 46. It is not supported by the metre and has no connection with the context which pictures the rav ages of the foreign conqueror. © 1422 Lit., vanities, a designation characteristic of the later writers. ' 15l Both Moses and Samuel were famous for their efficiency in prayer. Cf. Ex. 17 and I Sam. 7. g 151 Following the superior Gk. h 153 /. e., four kinds (lit., families) of destroyers. * 153 In the Heb. this stands next to the last word in the vs. i 15s Cf. Ezek. 14". k 154 Following the Gk. in retaining all. 1 15s So Gk. The Heb. adds, for. ¦» 155 The figure is the one expanded by Jesus into the parable of the Good Samaritan. n 156 Probably a later addition intended to identify the speaker. 0 156 So Gk. The Heb. destroys the regular verse structure by adding, against thee. 207 Jer. 157] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM 7And I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land ; I have bereaved them of children, I have destroyed my people, because of their evil deeds.p ^heir widows are more numerous than the sand of the seas ; I have brought upon*! the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday, I have caused anguish and terrors to fall upon her suddenly. 9She that hath borne seven pines away, she breathes out her life ; Her sun goes down while it is yet day, she is put to shame and confounded ; And the rest of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies.1" § 82. The Prophet's Dialogue with Jehovah, Jer. 1510"21 The Jer. 15 10Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man in con- S?ph" tention8 with all the world! wail I have not lent, neither hath man lent to me ; yet each of them curses me. Jeho- n Jehovah said, Verily I will strengthen thee for good ; vah'sassur Verily, I will cause the enemy to make supplication to thee in the time of anoes ev;i an(j affliction.* ^Can one break iron ? is not a casing of brass11 thy strength ?v Prayer ^O Jehovah, thou knowest ; remember me, and look after me, * en_ And avenge me of my persecutors, do not continue to restrain thy wrath ;w seance Know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach, 16from those who despise thy words. x p 157 Again following the superior Gk. Heb., they turned not from their ways. q 158 So Gk. The Heb. adds an awkward and unnecessary upon them. T 159 So Gk. In the Heb. a scribe has added, to make clear who is speaking, it is the oracle of Jehovah. § 82 This section is closely' connected in point of time with the preceding. It records Jeremiah's Gethsemane and is closely connected in theme with § § 73, 87. It reveals the fact that Jeremiah's inner struggles and temptations didt not cease with his call and consent to be a prophet. More than any other passage, perhaps, it throws light upon the psychology of the prophets, for here we may study a true prophet in the making. It is not a weak complainer who here speaks out of the depth of his heart's experience, but a strong man keenly alive to the tragic nature of his own life. He longs for the joy of the festal assembly, for the happiness of domestic life, for the affection and approval of friends, and for that popularity which his patriotic services fully merited. But all these are denied him. Like the hero of the book of Job, he stands stripped of all that man ordinarily regards as the supreme blessings of life. This pitiable lot, however, is not the result of calamity or an inscrutable fate, but of his own deliberate choice. Although the pain and sense of loss were none the less keen, Jeremiah turned his back upon all these that he might enjoy the sense of divine approval and of doing faithfully the task intrusted to him as the prophet of the Highest. This sense of divine approval was the star which guided him through the valley of the shadow of death through which he was walking, His very isolation and loneliness bound him closer to God, and developed that sense of oneness with the divine purpose which is the inspiration of every true prophet and saviour of men. 8 1510 Heb., A man of strife, is probably a scribal variation of the following clause. 1 1511 This vs. is very doubtful. The Gk. has a widely different reading. u 1512 Another very doubtful vs. The Gk. gives an intelligible reading for the second part and is followed above. T 1512 The two vss,, I3- 14, which follow, have by mistake been inserted here. They are but a scribal repetition of 173- 4 and have no connection with the context. w 1515 Reconstructing with the aid of the Gk. The Heb. has an additional verb, take me ¦not away, which must be due to a scribal error. x 1516 Again following superior text of the Gk. 208 DIALOGUE WITH JEHOVAH [Jer. 1516 Make an end of themy and it shall be to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart, That I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of them who make merry, nor rejoiced; Bereft I sat alone because of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with indignation. °n^oy Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed ? Peace Wilt thou indeed be to me as a deceitful brook, as waters that can not be trusted ?z "Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Jeho. If thou return, then will I bring thee again, that thou mayest stand before vea;^sr. me ; ated And if thou take forth the noble from the vile,3 thou shalt be as my mouth ;b 20 And I will make thee toward this people a fortified, brazen wall ; And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; For I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee ;° 21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. assurances § 83. The Fate Awaiting the People of Judah, Jer. 16 Jer. 16 'This word of Jehovah came also to me :d 'Thou shalt not take thee jere- a wife, neither shalt thou have sons and daughters in this place. 3For thus ™jf_h a saith Jehovah concerning the sons, and daughters who are born in this place, bacy a and concerning their mothers who bore them and concerning their fathers who of the begot them in this land :e 4< They shall die of pestilence ; they shall not be la- ^££5 mented, neither shall they be buried ; they shall be as dung upon the face of "'y the ground ; and they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine ; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.'y 1516 Following the Gk., and also omitting the gloss, thy words, which does not accord with the metrical, syntactical, and logical structure of the verse. 2 1518 Cf. Job 615-a0, where the same figure is developed at length. B 1519 /. e., utter simply noble words. This line throws much light upon Jeremiah's own estimate of the authority of his words. Deep down in his heart he realized that his complaints were inspired not by God but by his own baser impulses and that in yielding to them he was weakening the authority with which he spoke. b 1519 A scribe has apparently added, playing on the word return. They shall return to thee, but thou shalt hot return to them; the immediate equal of 19c is 20a. " 15a0 So Gk. The Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. § 83 This section throws further light on Jeremiah's feelings and experiences as recorded in the preceding section. The Gk. omits the superscription of 161 and more closely blends the two sections. They evidently both come from the same trying period of Jeremiah's life. Oc casionally the original poetic structure has been retained, but for the most part it has been lost, although a certain poetic parallelism of thought may be traced, indicating that we are here probably in part dependent upon the exigencies of oral tradition or the memory of Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe. d 161 Omitted in Gk. and Syr. of Origen. It is supported, however, by 3. B 163 Possibly this vs. is due to scribal expansion. 209 Jer. 165] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM To re frainfromallpublic mourn ing 5Forf thus saith Jehovah : Enter not into the house of grief,8 neither go to lament,h For I have taken away my peace from this people,1 "Both great and small shall die; they shall not be buried.i Neither shall men lament for them nor cut themselves Nor make themselves bald for them, nor bemoan them,k, 'Neither shall men break bread for those who mourn to comfort them1 on account of the dead ; Neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.™ From allsociallife 8Go not into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink ; 9For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. Sins uAnd when thou makest known to this people all these words," and they shall say to beyond thee, ' Why hath Jehovah pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? pardon or wnat is our sin that we have committed against Jehovah our God? ' "Then thou shalt say to them, ' Because your fathers forsook me, is the oracle of Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law. "But ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye are walking each after the stubborness of his heart, so that ye hearken not to me; "There fore, I will cast you forth out of this land into the land that neither ye nor your fathers have known; and there ye shall serve other gods day and night; for I will show you no favor.'" The divinejudgment 16Behold, I will send for many fishers, is the oracle of Jehovah, to fish for them ; and then I will send for many hunters to hunt them from every moun tain, and from every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks. "For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from me, neither is their iniquity concealed from mine eyes. "And If will doubly recompense their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled mine inheritance with their abominations. Q ' 16s Gk. omits, for. e 165 Or as in Am. 67, revelry. h 16s Cf- 8 Here Jeremiah's characteristic metre reappears in a song of lamentation. A scribe, however, has added, destroying the structure of the verse, nor bemoan them. This has probably been introduced from the end of 6, where it is required and finds its natural setting. i 165 So Gk. The Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah, even love and compassion. What Jeremiah originally meant by Jehovah's peace was clearly the continued prosperity of the people. i 166 This line is lacking in the Gk. and Syr. of Origen. The Heb. possibly preserves the original. At least it supplies the missing thought, although the clause, in this peace, which is found in the Heb., is clearly secondary. k 166 Restoring the last clause of this line from its unnatural position in B. 1 167 Following the Gk., which retains the pi. throughout the vs. m 167 Try to divert their attention from their grief. The Heb. has the sing. n 1610-13 These vss. seem to be from a later prophet's hand. The original sequel of 9 is probably 1B- 17. Vs. 13 implies clearly the point of view after the exile. o iQ\i, is These vss. are taken practically verbatim from 237- 8, where they fit the context far better. p 1618 So Gk. Through a. scribal error (probably dittography), first has been added in the Heb. q 161B This vs. gives a priestly (cf. Lev. 2629' 30) but not a prophetic reason for the exile. The prophetic judgment is pronounced in 21. 210 JUDAH'S SIN [Jer. 16" *gO Jehovah, my strength, and ray stronghold, and ray refuge in the day of affliction, to thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our fathers inherited nought but lies, even vanity and things wherein there is no profit. 20Shall a man make for himself gods, although they are no gods?r 21Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know my hand this once; and I will cause them to know my might; and they shall know that my name is Jehovah.3 § 84. Judah's Deep-seated Sin, Jer. 171-18 Jer. 17 lrThe sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, With the point of a diamond, it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, And upon the horns of their* altars,u 2upon every green tree, Upon the high hills, 3upon the mountains in the field. Coming re pent ance of the nations Venge ance upon Jeho vah's people Evidence of Ju dah's sins Thy wealth and all thy treasures I will give as a spoil, As wages for thy sinsv throughout all thy borders. 4And thou shalt loosenw thy hand from thy heritage that I gave thee; And I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not; For ye have kindled a fire in mine anger which shall burn forever. Exile the penalty ¦Cursed* is the man who trusteth in man, And maketh flesh his arm.y And whose heart departeth from Jehovah. 6For he is like the naked tamerisk in the desert, And doth not see when good cometh, And he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, A salt land and not inhabited. Fateof those who do nottrust Jehovah 'Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah,11 8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, That spreadeth out its roots, Of thosewhotrust him r i6l9> 20 These vss. appear to be a pious ejaculation from the scribe who added 18. They interrupt the unity of the context, since Jehovah is the speaker, 16> 21, and not the one addressed. fl 1621 Following the superior Gk. order. § 84 This section lacks the close unity of the preceding, with which, however, it is related in theme and date. Vss. lmi are not found in the Gk. They are probably omitted because the translator noted that they had already in part been introduced in 15I3> u. As has been already noted, § 82, note v, they are evidently not original in 15. Hence there is every reason to believe that the Heb. should here be followed, at least as restored through the brilliant work of Duhm. Vss. 6_13 contain a reflective psalm, written in the three-beat measure. There is no close con nection between this psalm and the preceding and foUowing passages. It is on the whole prob able that they are from a later hand, but they incorporate, in didactic form, several of Jeremiah's characteristic teachings. If not composed by him, the psalm is therefore Jeremian in essence and belongs in the book which bears his name. The personal elegy in u-19 is the logical continuation of l~*. It is in the five-beat measure, and, with the possible exception of the last vs., undoubtedly comes from the lips of Jeremiah. The concluding vss. of the chapter, 19-27, which voice the later Jewish interpretation of the sabbath institution, are almost universally recognized as a subsequent addition to the book. * 172 Heb., your. u 172 A scribe thinking of the survivals of this ancient heathenism in his day, has added, whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherahs. v 173 Correcting by analogy^ with Dt. 152. w 173, 4 Following the superior reading of the parallel in 1513, the first line 6f 4 is not found in the parallel, 15", and may be secondary- * 175 So Gk. Heb. adds, thus saith Jehovah. y 17B /. e., strength and defence. * 177 In the present Heb., this line is repeated in slightly different and more awkward form, and whose Jehovah is. 211 Jer. 17s] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM And doth not fear when heat cometh, But its leaf is green ; And in the year of drought it hath no care, Nor ceaseth from yielding fruit. Jeho vah tests and rewards menVanityof riches •The heart is deceitful above all things, And it is exceedingly corrupt ; who can know it ? 10I, Jehovah, search the mind, I am he who tests the heart, Even to give every man according to his deeds. According to the fruit of his doings. "As the partridge which sitteth on eggs which she has not laid. So is he that getteth riches, and not by right ; In the midst of his days they shall leave him, And at his end shall be a fool.b Jer emiah's prayerfor helpand vindi cation "Heal me, O Jehovah and I shall be healed ; Save me and I shall be saved ; for thou art my praise. 15Behold, they are constantly saying to me, Where is the word of Jehovah ? Let it come now! leAs for me, I have not made haste on account of calamity0 to call upon dthee ; Ne'ither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest! That which came out of my lips was before thy face. 17Be not a terror to me, thou who art my refuge in the day of evil ! "Let them be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame ; Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed ; Bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction!6 Command to keep the law of the Sab bath Prom ises and warn ings condi tionedon its observ ance '•Thus Jehovah said to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20and say to them, ' Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhab itants of Jerusalem, who enter in by these gates : '" Thus saith Jehovah : Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusa lem ; neither carry forth a burden out from your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work; but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. ' " 3But they neither listened nor gave heed, but were more stiffnecked than their fathers' in not hearing nor receiving instruction. 4If ye give faithful heed to me, is Jehovah's oracle, in bringing in no burden through the gates of the city on the sabbath, but hallow the sabbath day and do no work in it, Bthen there shalt enter by the gates of this city kings, » sitting upon the throne of David, riding on chariots and on horses — they, together with their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhab itants of Jerusalem ; and this city shall continue to be inhabited forever. 6And they shall come from the cities of Judah, from the places about Jerusalem, from Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill-country, and from the South Country bringing burnt-offerings and sacrifices and cereal-offerings and incense, and bringing thank-offerings to the house of Jehovah. 'But if ye will not hearken to me in hallowing the sabbath, and in not bearing a burden, and in not entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched. b 1712 xhe following vss. are_ clearly secondary, as the prose form and the post-exilic point of view indicate: 12, A glorious throne set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. 13, O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be put to shame. The apostles in the land shall be put to shame. Vs. 13 is composite, being made up of lines from 14s, Is. 12». >«, and Jer. 213. 0 1716 So Sym. and Aquila. d 1716 Lit., after thee. The text and interpretation of this line are not certain. e 1718 This last vs. may well be a later addition. f 1723 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. omits, than their fathers. e 1725 Heb. adds, and princes; but the princes are introduced later in the vs., and they would not sit on thrones. JUDGMENT UPON JUDAH. [Jer. 191 § 85. The Overwhelming Judgment upon Judah, Jer. 19 Jer. 19 xThenh Jehovah said to me,1 Go and buy a bottle made of clay,^ Sym- and takek certain of the elders of the people and of the priests, 2and go out to of'th™ the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance to the gate of the pots- broken herds, and proclaim there all1 these words which I shall tell thee. 3And thou bottle shalt say to them,m Hear the words of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah" and in habitants of Jerusalem, who enter into these gates.0 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold I am about to bring calamity upon this place, so that the ears of everyone that heareth of it shall tingle, ^because they have forsaken me and treated this place as foreign, and burnt sacrifices to other gods, whom they knew not — they, or their fathers, or the kings of Judah — and have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.' 10 And thou shalt break the bottle in the sight of the men who are with thee, "and thou shalt say to them, ' Thus saith Jehovah,p " Even so will I break this people and this city; as one breaks an earthen vessel so that it cannot be made whole again,0- so I will do to this place and to its inhabi tants," is the oracle of Jehovah.' "Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to Reiter- prophesy, and he stood in the court of the temple of Jehovah and said to all J^e™ the people, "Thus saith Jehovah : ' Behold I will bring upon your city and predic- upon all its villages all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they doom have defiantly refused to hear my words.' § 85 This section records another of the dramatic methods whereby Jeremiah impressed his unwelcome message upon the consciences of his fellow-countrymen. It is very similar to the object lesson of § 80. The present version has evidently been expanded by a later editor. After 4 he has introduced in 5-7 an almost verbal quotation from 731-33. To this he has added in 8 a free quotation from 1816, and in 9 the following, based upon Dt. 2863-55, Lev. 2629, Ezek. 510, Lam. 220, 410, and I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they shall eat each ihe flesh of his neighbor, in the siege and in the straits, into which their enemies and they who seek their life, shall bring them. This passage is not only shot through with different thoughts and figures from those used by Jeremiah, but also introduces an entirely different figure from that of the earthen bottle, which was broken into fragments, significant of the divine judgment about to overtake Judah. Also in ub- 12, the same editor has developed the references to Topheth in 6-7, which were based upon his quotation from 731-33. Removing these accretions, the original narrative, in its unity, remains. h 19i So Gk. Heb., thus. » 191 So ten Heb. MSS., the Gk., and Syr. Heb. omits, to me. i 191 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., potter's earthen bottle. It was their common earthen water- jar, commonly used in Palestine in ancient times as at present. k 191 So Gk. Heb. omits, take. 1 192 So four Heb. MSS. and Gk. The accepted Heb. text omits, all. m 193 So Gk. Heb. omits, to them. n 193 Gk. adds, and men of Judah. 1 193 So Gk. and the parallel in 1720. * 19" So Gk. Heb. adds, of hosts. q 19n The Heb. scribe who added 5-7 has also added here, and they shall bury in Topheth, because there is no place left to bury. Thus will I do to this place, is ihe oracle of Jehovah, and to its inhabitants, even to make this place like Topheth, and ihe houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be like the houses of Topheth, uncleaned, even all the house upon whose roofs they have offered sacrifices to all the hosts of heaven, and have poured out libations to other gods. This awkward prose gloss is but a duplicate of Jeremiah's prediction in u. It has no connection with the preceding symbolic action, and is clearly secondary. 213 Jer. 201] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM Jere miah in the stocks The fateawaitingPash hur and all the peopleof Judah § 86. Jeremiah's Public Imprisonment, Jer. 201-6 Jer. 20 'Now when Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the temple of Jehovah, heard Jeremiahr prophesying these things, 2he smote him and put him in the stocks, which were in the upper gate of Benjamin, in the temple of Jehovah. 3But on the following day Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, Jehovah hath not called thy name Pashhur but Magor" [Terror], 4for thus saith Jehovah: 'Behold I am about to make thee a terror to thyself and to all thy friends ; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemy before your very eyes. But thee and all Judah will I give into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them into captivity* and slay them with the sword. "Moreover I will give all the riches of this city and all its possessions" and all the treasures of the kingv of Judahw into the handsx of their enemies,y and they shall carry them away to Babylon ; 6and thouz and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity, and thou shalt die at Baby lon and be buried there, together with all thy friends to whom thou hast prophesied falsely. Theproph et's bit ter lot § 87. Jeremiah's Complaint, Jer. 207ls Jer. 20 7Thou hast beguiled me, O Jehovah, and I let myself be beguiled; for thou art stronger than I and hast prevailed. I have become a laughing stock all the day, every one mocketh me ; 8For as often as I speak I am an object of laughter, for I cry, Violence and Spoil! § 86 The incident here recorded is closely connected with the prophecy found in the pre ceding section. Jeremiah's words had been directed against the practices o£ the religious as well as the civil leaders of the nation. As a rule the person of the prophet was inviolable In this instance, however, the head of the temple priesthood sought to bring Jeremiah into disre pute by subjecting him to a public indignity. The prophet was evidently keenly sensitive to the insult, but he was not silenced. Instead, like Amos in a very similar situation, he directed against the representative of the official priesthood a prophecy which applied equally well to the ruling class in Judah. The concreteness of the prophecy only added to its effectiveness. r 201 So Gk. Heb adds, the prophet. The Pashhur of the present narrative is not to be confused with the father of Gedaliah, who bore the same name. Both Pashhur and Immer are familiar names in the later priestly lists. H 203 So the Gk. of Origen. Heb. adds, on every side. • 204 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb., in Babylon. Heb. adds, all its precious things. Heb., kings. Heb. adds, / will give. Heb., hand. Heb. adds, they shall rob and take away. Heb. adds, Pashhur. § 87 The position of these words suggests that they were uttered immediately after Jere miah's public imprisonment, and there is no sufficient reason for questioning this implication. The injustice of which he was the victim culminated in this act. Even more intolerable than the attack of a mob was the deliberate indignity which was heaped upon him by the religious leaders of the nation when he was put in the stocks and exposed to the jeers of the people. His only offence was faithfully and efficiently doing his duty as Jehovah's prophet. His fidelity had brought him only reproach and derision. Attacked by foes, deserted by friends, and without human sympathy, he was indeed a pitiable object. The present passage reveals the prophet's humanity. He was not an abnormal being, but felt strongly all those ambitions and passions which bind together suffering humanity. It would seem that he felt a certain relief in voicing his woes in the elegies which are scattered through his prophecies. Their boldness and frankness astonish us, but at the same time they afford a clear vision of the mighty struggle which was going on in the heart of this man of sorrows — a struggle which resulted victoricusly for himself and the human race. » 205 So Gk. v 205 So Gk. » 205 go Gk. * 205 So Gk. y 205 So Gk. * 206 So Gk. 214 JEREMIAH'S COMPLAINT [Jer. 35s For the word of Jehovah hath become to me a cause of reproach and de rision all the day; And if I say, I will not think of it nor speak any more in his name, Then there is in mine heart, as it were, a burning fire shut up in my bones. And I am weary of enduring, I cannot longer bear it;a For I hear defaming of many, terror on every side. Let us rise up against him, [say] all my familiar friends who watch for my stumbling,b Perhaps he will be beguiled, and we will prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him. uBut Jehovah is with0 me as a terrible hero ; jeho- Therefore my persecutors shall stumble and not prevail; Joleh'3 They shall be greatly put to shame because they have not done wisely; hope of They shall have everlasting confusiond which shall never be forgotten. cation "But Jehovah,e thou righteous tester, who seest the innermost depths1 of the heart, Let me see thy vengeance upon them, for to thee have I committed my cause."5 "Cursed be the day in which I was born, Regret Let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed. ^ he ^Cursed be the man who brought joyful tidings to my father saying, ever A man child is born to thee, making him very glad. I6Let that man be as the cities which Jehovah pitilessly overthrew ; Let him hear a cry of pain in the morning and a war-cry at noontime,h "Because he did not let me die in1 the womb, so that my mother should have been my grave and her womb ever great. 18Why came I forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow, That my days should he consumed with shame ? § 88. The First and Second Collections of Jeremiah's Sermons, Jer. 36 Jer. 36 'Now in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Com- Judah, the following message came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, ^ake a book- ""re? roll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to thee regarding Jerusalem corf! nis and Judah and all the nations, since the day I spoke to thee, from the time of proph- ecies * 209 So Gk. and Lat. Heb. omits, to bear it. b 20>° Translating the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. 0 20" Slightly correcting the Heb. d 20u Gk. and O. Lat., their confusion. • 2012 Following the Gk. and the parallel verse in ll20 in omitting, of hosts. 1 2012 Lit., the reins and heart. e 20u> 12 These verses lack the regular metre of the rest of the section and are only loosely connected with the context so they may possibly be secondary. A pious scribe has added the following psalm: Sing to Jehovah Praise ye Jehovah, For he delivereth the life of the needy From the hand of evil doers. ' 2016 So Gk. and Syr. ' 2017 So Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. § 88 Cf. for critical notes, Vol. II, § 133. 215 Jek. 363] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM Josiah, even to this day. 3Perhaps the house of Judah will give heed to all the evil which I purpose to do to them, so that they will turn each from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. His 4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote at mand the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken to Baruch *"m> uPon a rou °f a b°°k. 5And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am to read prevented, I cannot go to the temple of Jehovah, therefore you go and read before in the roll, which you have written at my dictation, the words of Jehovah in the , the hearing of the people in Jehovah's house upon the fast-day. And also you shall read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who have come from their cities. 'Perhaps they will present their supplication before Je hovah and will turn each from his evil course, for great is the anger and the wrath that Jehovah has pronounced against this people. 8And Baruch the son of Neriah did just as Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading out of the books the word of Jehovah in the temple of Jehovah. The 9Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in read-0 the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from mg the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before Jehovah. "Then Baruch read in the hearing of all the people out of the book the words of Jere miah in the temple of Jehovah in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Sha phan, the chancellor in the upper court at the entry of the new gate of Je hovah's house. The "And when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all before^ the words of Jehovah out of the book, 12he went down into the royal palace to the no- the chancellor's chamber, and there were sitting all the princes, Elishama the the chancellor, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elanthan the son of Achbor, palace Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13Then Micaiah made known all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. "Then all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the roll from which you have read in the hearing of all the people, and come here. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came to them. ^Then they said to him. Sit down now and read it in our hearing. So Baruch read it in their hearing. 16But when they had heard all the words, they turned in alarm to one another, and said to Baruch, We must surely tell the king of all these words. "And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, ' How did you write all these words ? Then Baruch answered them, Jeremiah dictated all these words to me and I wrote them with ink in the book. 19Then the princes said to Baruch, Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and let no man know where you are. The 20But they went in to the king in his apartment, after they had laid up the con- S ro^ 'n t^ie chamber of Elishama the chancellor, and they told all these words tempt in the hearing of the king. 21Then the king sent Jehudi to bring the roll, and proph- he brought it out of the chamber of Elishama the chancellor. And Jehudi |°'|s read it in the hearing of the king and of all the princes who stood beside the the king. 22Now the king was sitting in the winter house with a heated brazier " ' burning before him. ^And when Jehudi had read three or four double 216 FIRST AND SECOND COLLECTIONS OF SERMONS [Jer. 4523 columns, the king cut it with a paperknife, and threw it into the fire that was on the brazier, until the entire roll was consumed in the fire that was on the brazier. MBut they were not alarmed nor tore their garments — neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. ^Moreover, although Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah besought the king not to burn the roll, he would not hear them. 20Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Jehovah kept them con cealed. "Then after the king had burned the roll, that is, all the words which Baruch The wrote at the dictation of Jeremiah, the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah °^_ as follows, 28Take again another roll and write in it all the words that were in mand the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. 29 And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah thou shalt say, ' Thus saith Je- proph- hovah, " Thou hast burned this roll saying : Why hast thou thus written there- jje- of in : The king of Babylon shall assuredly come and destroy this land and shall struc- remove from there man and beast?" 30Therefore thus saith Jehovah con cerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, "He shall have none left to sit upon the throne of David and his dead body shall be exposed to the heat by day and to the frost by night. slAnd I will visit upon him and his descendants and his servants their iniquity, and I will bring upon them and the inhabitants of Je rusalem and the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but which they heeded not."' ^hen Jeremiah took another roll and gave it to Baruch the scribe the son The of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the "^j™ book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And there were also added to them many other similar words. § 89. Exultation Over Necho's Defeat at Carchemish, Jer. 46112 Jer. 46 iThe word of Jehovah which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Super- army of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, which was by the River Euphrates, in Carchemish, scnp- which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son tion of Josiah, king of Judah: § 89 The occasion of this prophecy is the most significant event in the history of this period: the overthrow of the Egyptian king Necho by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadrezzar. The decisive battle was fought in 605 B.C. at Carchemish beside the Euphrates. The result was the complete overthrow of the Egyptian rule in Asia. This overthrow meant that Jehoiakim lost his chief foreign support. The true prophets welcomed with enthusiasm the prospect of any change, for the Egyptian rule had proved onerous and had brought to Judah a period of religious reaction and moral decline. In the present section Jeremiah sings a taunt song in commemoration of the overthrow of the Egyptian power. Again Jehovah was beginning to assert himself in behalf of his faithful followers. The poem is in Jeremiah's characteristic five- beat measure and is full of local color. The long introductory superscription is from a later editor; but there is every reason for regarding his testimony as authentic and for regarding the poem as a whole as the work of Jeremiah. In the remainder of the oracle regarding Egypt, beginning with the new superscription in «, an entirely new point of view is reflected. Egypt, instead of assuming the aggressive, is about to be conquered and carried into exile. The date would seem to be about 568 B.C., when it would seem that Nebuchadrezzar was actually taking measures to invade Egypt. This part o"f the prophecy, therefore, is a later appendix to the original Jeremian oracle. The date and authorship of the remaining foreign prophecies regarding Phcenicia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Elam, and Babylon, found in chaps. 46-51, are much dis puted. Their position suggests that they are all a later appendix to the work of Jeremiah, and this position is maintained by many scholars. Many passages certainly reflect events of the post-exilic period. References elsewhere in his prophecies, however, indicate that Jeremiah 217 Jer. 463] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM Sum monsto battle 3Set in linei the buckler and shield and draw near to battle! 4Harness the horses and mount, ye riders,k and take your stand with your helmets! Polish1 the lances, put on the coats of mail! Flight 5Whym are they terrified and turning backward ?n Egypt's They flee in wud n'gnt and look not back ; terror on every side !° war- ("The swift cannot flee away nor the mighty warrior escape! Northward beside the River Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen! Egypt'svain boastsof con quest 7Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the streams? sAndp he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy^ its inhabi tants ! 9Go up ye horses and rage ye chariots, let the mighty warriors go forth : Cush and Put, armed with shields, and the Ludim who bendr the bow ! Jeho vah'sjudgmenton Egypt 10But that day is Jehovah's8 day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself on his adversaries ; And the sword shall devour to satiety and shall drink its fill of their blood, For Jehovah hath a sacrifice in the north-land, beside the River Euphrates. Egypt's overthrowfinal "Go up to Gilead and take balm,* O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain hast thou employed many medicines; there is no healing for thee; 12Nations have heard thy wail,u and the earth is full of thy outcry, For hero hath stumbledv against hero, they are fallen both of them together! himself did not limit his vision to Judah, Egypt, and Babylon. It is probable, therefore, that a nucleus in these prophecies comes from him, but that these original utterances have been expanded until they are really products of a later period. While they possess a certain literary and historical value, they are unimportant compared with parts of the book and have been omitted in the present volume. The editor of the Gk. vs. of the book of Jeremiah introduces the foreign prophecies im mediately after 2513, where they logically belong. A later editor has added to the superscrip tion which introduces the oracle regarding Egypt the phrase concerning the nations ; concerning Egypt in order to adapt it as a title to the foreign prophecies which follow. Removing these additions which interrupt the context, the original superscription remains. i 463 Gk. and Syr., lift up. k 464 Possibly this word is secondary. 1 464 Gk., take up. Possibly this is original. m 466 So Gk. Heb. adds the awkward expression, I have seen, which interrupts the con text and destroys the metrical symmetry of the vs. n 465 Heb. adds the phrase, their mighty men are broken up, but this is not in keeping with the metrical form of the vs., and is either secondary or else a fragment of a lost line. ° 465 Again a scribe has apparently inserted the incongruous phrase, it is the oracle of Jehovah. " 46s Through a scribal error the greater part of 7 has been repeated with variations at the beginning of 8. Only part of the repetition is found in the Gk. The second half of 8 is ob viously the original sequel of 7. q 468 So Gk. A soribe has added in the Heb. the incongruous words, a city and. ' 469 Removing the word handle, which is but a scribal duplicate of the word bend. ¦ 4610 So Syr. Heb., to the Lord Jehovah of hosts. Gk. omits, of hosts. The same phrase occurs in the last line of the vs. Here the Gk., which has been followed, has simply Jehovah. The fuller Heb. form entirely destroys the metrical form of the vs. and is a result of the scribal tendency to expand found in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. ' 4611 As in 8M, the balsam of Gilead is referred to because of its far-famed curative quali ties. In Gen. 43u Israel sends, among other gifts, balsam as a present to the Egyptians. « 4612 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. y 4612 Again following the superior Gk. text. 218 CONQUEST OF JUDAH [Jer. 2510] § 90. The Conquest of Judah by Nebuchadrezzar, Jer. 25l-», 1B"2 Jer. 25 1The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of jer- Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah (the same ^a?hs was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon) ,w 2which Jeremiah sTa^ef° the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Je rusalem : 3From the thirteenth year of Josiah, son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day, now twenty-three years,x I have spoken to you faithfully and earnestly and have said,y 5t Turn each from his evil way and from your evil deeds, that ye may dwell in the land which Jehovah hath given to you and your fathers, from of old and even from evermore.'2 7But ye have not heeded.3, therefore Jehovahb saith, * Because ye have not heeded my, words 9I am The about to send and take a race0 from the northd and bring them against this judg1-6 land and its inhabitants, and all the peoplee round about; and I will utterly g1^ destroy* them and make them an object of horror and hissing and a per- Chal- petual reproach,g 10and I will cause to disappear from their midst the sound of § 90 The Jeremian authorship of this section has been seriously questioned. There is much in the chapter which clearly comes from the exilic or post-exilic period. The Heb. and Gk. vss. also differ widely, indicating that this twenty-fifth chapter has been subjected to a much later revision. The question, however, is not whether all the chapter is from Jeremiah, but - whether or not there is a Jeremian nucleus. The evidence, on the whole, points, to the con clusion that there is, and that here we have Jeremiah's interpretation of the advent of the Chaldeans as that event affected the fortunes of Judah and of the other nations along the east ern Mediterranean. While the prophet hailed the overthrow of the Egyptians, he saw clearly that the new conquerors would prove agents of judgment upon his own people and their im mediate neighbors. They, like Assyria (cf. Nah. 3U), should be obliged to drink the intoxicat ing cup of Jehovah's wrath at the hand of the Chaldean conquerors. The Gk, translators of the O.T., in introducing the oracles regarding the foreign nations now found in the Heb. Bible, 45-51, immediately after 2513, showed their appreciation of the fact that these oracles were closely connected with the present chapter. In their original form, however, the first thirteen vss. of chap. 25 do not properly introduce foreign oracles, but rather foretell the doom awaiting Judah at the hands of the Chaldeans. The latter part of the chapter, with its vivid picture of the cup of Jehovah's fury which the nations must drink, furnish, as Cornhill has clearly shown (Jeremia, 286-9), a fitting introduction to the foreign oracles. Of this second part of the chapter, I5_M evidently contain the original Jeremian nucleus. They deal not with some distant fate but present in general terms the immediate effect of Chaldean con quest. Like the opening vss. of the chapter, their contents are in perfect harmony with the superscription, which dates the prophecy in 605 b.c, the memorable year when Nebuchadrezzar overthrew Necho and established his title to southwestern Asia. As has already been said, note § 89, it seems exceedingly probable that we have in vss. 15-M nearly all that Jeremiah had to say regarding foreign nations. The remainder of this chapter certainly represents the work of later hands. The same is apparently true of the oracles in 46-51. Inasmuch as Jeremiah had spoken in his original utterances of the fate awaiting these foreign nations, it was natural that later spiritual disciples of the prophet should feel justified, ejther in expanding, in the light of later history, this earlier nucleus or else in adding to the collection of Jeremiah's sermons later anonymous oracles regarding these nations. Logically they belong immediately after chap. 25, but probably their position in the Heb. VS. of the O.T,, as appendices to the book of , Jeremiah, is the more original. w 25l This explanatory clause is lacking in the Gk. and O. Lat. x 253 So Gk. Heb. adds the words, Jehovah spoke to me and. y 253 So Gk. Heb. adds, which he did not hear. This clause and the following vs., which reads, and Jehovah sent to you all his servants the prophets, early and late, but ye did not hear, interrupts the close connection between 3 and 5 and is a later scribal expansion based on l™* K. * 25B Vs. 7 is the immediate and logical sequel of 6. Vs. 6, like 4, has all the characteristics of a scribal note, a part of the expansion of the original text which characterizes this chapter. It reads, and do not follow after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and vex me not with the work of your hands and I will do you no hurt. The last clause is clearly based on 76b. a 257 So Gk. and O. Lat. A scribe has added in the Heb., is the oracle of Jehovah, that ye might vex me with the work of your hands to your own hurt. *» 25s So Gk. Heb. adds, of hosts. c 259 So Gk. Heb., all the families of the north. d 259 So Gk. Heb. adds, is the oracle of Jehovah, namely the king of Babylon, Nebuchad~ rezzar, my servant. „ , , , e 259 So Gk. and Lat. Heb., these people. E 259 Gk. and Syr., / will lay them waste. Heb., lit., I will devote them. e. 25B So Gk. Heb., reproaches. 219 Jer. 2510] REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the sound of the hand-mills and the light of the lamp. uAnd the whole land shall become an object of terror,*1 and they shall serve among the nations1 seventy^ years. 'k 15For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel to me : Take the cup of the wine of this fury from my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad because of the sword which I am sending among you. 17So I took the cup from Je hovah's hand, and caused to drink ail the nations to whom Jehovah had sent me : 18namely, Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, both its kings and its princes,111 19Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his servants and princes, and all his people, 20and all the foreign peoples,11 and all the kings of the land of Uz,° and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Askelon, Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,p 2lEdom, and Moab, and the Ammonites, 22and all the kings of Tyre and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coast-lands which are across the sea,q ^Dedan, and Tema, and Buz,r and all those who have the corners of their hair shorn,8 ^and all the kings of the Arabians* who live across the desert. h 2511 So Gk. Heb. adds, this to a waste. Possibly the first part of this vs. is entirely secondary. * 2511 So Gk. The editor who revised the Heb. has prefixed these to nations and added the king of Babylon. i 25u The number 70 seems to be original. It recurs again in 2910, which comes from a later period in Jeremiah's work. It is equivalent to a round number and means more than a generation. It corresponds with Ezekiel's estimate of forty years for the same period. It is in harmony with Jeremiah's advice to the exiles in 29 to build houses and rear families for the exile was to endure for a considerable period. That Jeremiah firmly believed in the future restoration of his people is shown by his later symbolic acts. k 25u Vss. 12-14, which follow, are purely editorial additions, intending to connect the fate of Judah with those of foreign nations. Part of 12 and all of u are lacking in the Gk. Vs. 13 assumes that the book of Jeremiah is in its final form. Vss. 12> 13 read in the Heb., when the seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans ; and I will make it desolate forever; and I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. 1 2516 Possibly this last clause is secondary. m 2518 A later scribe has expanded this vs. by adding, to make them a waste, a fright, and a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day. The latter part of this scribal gloss is lacking in the Gk. n 2520 The reference is probably to the mixed foreign population settled in Egypt. 0 25" An Aramean tribe somewhere to the northeast of Edom. Cf. Gen. IO23, 2221, 3d28, Lam. 4", Job 1*. p 2520 Ashdod had for many years been besieged by the Egyptians. The reference evi dently is to those that survived. q 25s2 I. e., the Phoenician colonies along the shores of the Mediterranean. r 2S23 Three important tribes of Northern Arabia. Cf. Is. 2114, Gen. 107, 22". e 2523 xhe members of many of these Arabian tribes were distinguished by a peculiar cutting of the hair, which appears to have constituted the tribal mark. t 2524 Through a scribal repetition, the Heb. text is corrupt. The Gk. has preserved the more original reading. JUSTICE OF JEHOVAH'S RULE [Hab. I2 IV THE SERMONS OF HABAKKUK § 91. The Justice of Jehovah's Rule, Hab. I1-4. 12a. 13. 2H Hab. 1. 2How long, O Jehovah, have I cried out and thou hearest not! The 3I cry to thee, Violence, but thou helpest not. ferm m Why dost thou make me look upon wickedness and behold trouble ? Judah Destruction and violence are before mine eyes,a and strife andb contention. The Prophecy of Habakkuk. — The prophecy of Habakkuk presents one of the most difficult problems in the O.T. , for it bears the simple superscription, The burden which Habakkuk saw, and contains little decisive evidence as to when it was delivered. The result is that a great variety of dates have been assigned to this little book. A recent writer, Betteridge, Am. Jour, of Theol., Oct., 1903, VII, 644-61, assigns the whole book to the year 701 b.c. G. A. Smith, in his Bk. of the Twelve Prophs., finds in 12-24 an appeal from either an Assyrian or Egyptian tyrant, from whose power the Chaldeans will deliver Jehovah's people. Peiser, in his monograph on Habakkuk, maintains that the book is a unit and that it was written by a Hebrew prince about the year 609 b.c. Peake regards l6*11 as a misplaced, pre-exilic prophecy and assigns the rest of chaps. 1, 2 to the exile. Marti, in his Dodekapropheten, argues strongly that the original prophecy is to be found in lB-"« 12b- «-". Vss. I2-4- 12ft- 13, 21-4 he regards as a psalm coming from either the fifth or second century b.c. The woes of 25-19 he dates from 540 b.c, when the Chaldean empire was nearing its fall. Duhm, in his commentary on the book, regards the foe in l5-11 as the Kittim, or Greeks, and urges that the description does not fit the Chaldeans. He finds himself obliged, however, to make many arbitrary changes in order to adjust the text to his theory. Happel would date theprophecy in the age of.Antiochus IV about 170 B.C. These differences of opinion suggest the difficulties of the problem and tend to shake confidence in the widely divergent positions maintained by the various scholars. The decisive points in the problem are the references to the Chaldeans in the first chapter and the problemof why the righteous are oppressed by the wicked. The violence and wicked ness referred to in the opening vss. seem to be within as well as without the community to which the prophet spoke. Justice is perverted by those in authority, as in § 81, Jeremiah's complaint. The problem is one that involves the justice of Jehovah's rule. The Chaldeans were also just beginning to appear on the scene. They are the agents of Jehovah's judgment upon the guilty oppressors of the righteous both within and without the community. Their motive, however, is the mere lust of conquest and their victories introduce a new problem, even though they overthrow the present oppressors. In the light of the preceding sections, it is evident that the situation is precisely similar to that described by Jeremiah; and Habakkuk's teachings are closely parallel to those of Jeremiah in the same period. The rule of Jehoiakim, under Egyptian supremacy, represented injustice and violence to the true followers of the prophets. Habakkuk, as well as Jeremiah, recognized tnat the fate of the faithful seemed, for the moment at least, to implicate the very justice of Jehovah himself. At the same time, after the great victory at Carchemish, the advancing Chaldeans were recognized as Jehovah's agents, commissioned to overthrow the existing regime of violence and oppression. Hence there is good reason for dating the original sections of Habakkuk in 605-4 B.C. Budde and Marti ave contributed materially to the solution of the problem of Habakkuk by distinguishing between l2-4- 12a- I3, 21-4, which deals with the question of Jehovah's justice, and l5-u< 12b- ,4-17, which interprets the significance of the advent of the Chaldeans. Separating the two groups of passages, the logical unity of each and their relation to each other becomes clear. With this rearrangement the reasons which have been urged against Habakkuk as their author dis appear, and the year 605 b.c. furnishes by far their most satisfactory background. The authorship and date of the woes in 25-20 are by no means so certain. It is evident that this passage has been supplemented by many later scribal glosses. When these have been re- § 91 In this passage Habakkuk shatters the false hopes of Jehoiakim and his supporters, who trusted that, with the overthrow of Assyria and Egypt, they would be free from foreign interference. For more than a century the Chaldeans had lived in obscurity in the swamps of lower Babylonia. Suddenly, under the leadership of Nabopolasser, they united with the Medes in the conquest and overthrow of Nineveh and, as a result of their great victory over Necho, entered, within two or three years, into the possession of the western empire. The description is probably based on rumor rather than actual knowledge. # Many of the ngures were appar ently drawn from the well-known characteristics of the Assyrians to whose position and prestige the Chaldeans had succeeded. a l3 Omitting there is, which is superfluous and destroys the metre of the vs. b l3 Slightly revising the Heb. as the context requires. %%\ Hab. I4] SERMONS OF HABAKKUK Reign of law- 4Therefore law is relaxed,0 And justice is never rendered ;d For the wicked encompass the righteous, So that justice is perverted. Jeho vah's strange silence ^Art thou not of old, O Jehovah, my God, my Holy One, 13With eyes too pure to behold evil ? And thou canst not gaze upon trouble. Why dost thou gaze upon those who deal treacherously ? Art silent when the wicked swallows him that is more righteous than he? The prophet'swaiting at titude Theanswer: timewillprovethat theright eousalonesurvive 2 *Upon my watch tower will I stand,6 And take my place at my station, And I will watch to see what he will say to me; And what he will answer to my plea. ^hen Jehovah answered me and said : Write down the vision and make it plain upon tablets, That he may run who reads it.f 3For the vision is still for times yet to be appointed; Yea, it hastens to fulfilment and shall not fail; Though it linger, wait for it ; For it shall surely come, it will not tarry ,g 4Behold the wicked — his soul fainteth within him,11 But the righteous — he liveth by his faithfulness. moved there remains a stirring prophecy in the spirit and literary form characteristic of the f>re-exilic prophets. The arrogance and cruelty of the Chaldeans, which are denounced in the atter part of 1, are here made the object of severe denunciation. It is possible that they come from Habakkuk himself, but they are on the whole related most closely to the denunciations of Babylon and the Chaldeans, which come from the middle and latter part of the Babylonian exile. Logically, however, they belong with the description of the Chaldeans found in the first chapter, and hence have been introduced in their present context. With a few exceptions students of the book of Habakkuk are agreed that the third chapter is a post-exilic psalm describing in majestic terms the advent of Jehovah to deliver his people and professing an undying faith in Jehovah. Its present position in the book of Habakkuk is probably due to the fact that in its closing vss. the same problem of the suffering of the righteous is presented as in the first chapter of the book. Its logical and permanent place, however, is with the psalms of the Psalter, with which it is closely related. c I4 Possibly the text is corrupt as the Gk. has a different rendering. The general mean ing, however, is clear. d I4 Lit., goes forth perverted. e 21 /, e., upon the prophetic watch-tower, studying human history, seeking, from the course of events, to learn the divine purpose. 1 22 I. e., make it so plain that one may read it at a glance. 8 23 A full demonstration of the principle which the prophet would proclaim belongs to the future, and yet events are transpiring so rapidly the time will not be long. The implied situation accords well with the epoch-making years, 605—4 B.C. h 24 This verse contains the principle which the prophet was commanded clearly to set forth. The first line of this vs. in the standard text makes little sense. It is ordinarily trans lated, behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him. This reading leaves the antecedent entirely indefinite and furnishes no antithesis to the righteous in the second member of the couplet. The text is evidently corrupt. Many conjectural reconstructions have been suggested. The Targ. supplies the antithesis required by the context in that it reads, behold, the wicked. This is also supported by the Syr. A simple reconstruction of the Heb. of the remainder of the line gives the above reading. The Gk. rendering is, my soul is not pleased with him. Either rendering supplies the demands of the context, although the former carries out the parallelism ADVENT OF CHALDEANS [Hab. I5 § 92. Significance of the Advent of the Chaldeans, Heb. l»-«, lzl" "¦», 2™> Hab. 1 Look around ye that deal treacherously, look well, The Shudder and be shocked. S"s For I am about to do a work in your days — ?re J£-, v i_ n ,ii- • i • • , ¦ hovah s i e snail not believe it when it is told. agents "For behold I am about to raise up the Chaldeans, S^ A nation grim and quick of action ; Who go through the whole breadth of the earth To possess dwelling places not their own. 7Awful and terrible are they, From them judgment1 goeth forth. ^heir horses are swifter than leopards, And their riders quicker than the wolves of evening.' From afar they come swooping down, Like the eagle which hastens to devour. 9Theyk all come to do violence, The direction of their faces is straight ahead, And they gather up captives like sand. 10 At kings they scoff, And princes are sport to them. They laugh at every fortress, And heap up dust and take it.1 "Then their spirit changes, and they pass by, And they make their strength their god. Their BbO Jehovah111 thou has appointed them for judgment, And thou, O Rock, hast established them for correction; -hf8'^" 14For they11 make men like fish of the sea, vance Like worms which have no ruler. ^hey0 gather up all in their net, And catch them in their drag-net ;p more perfectly. The thought is that wickedness and righteousness carry in themselves their own reward, the wicked man has in himself the seeds of decay, while the righteous man having in himself the consciousness of doing right, and because of the faith in God which causes that consciousness, lives, and lives abundantly. The wicked man has no such supporting conscious ness but is the prey of fear and the effects of his misdeeds. 1 l7 Amending the text as the context and demands of metre require. ' l8 Eliminating a verb which is apparently due to repetition of three of the consonants of the following word. The same word is again repeated at the beginning of the following line but is not found in the Gk. k l9 Translating the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. The verbs in this and the fol lowing vs. are in the singular, although thepronominal suffix referring to the subject of the pre ceding and foUowing verbs is plural. Evidently a collective subject is implied as in the woes of 2"°. 1 l10 The reference is evidently to the capture of cities by casting up earthworks around them. Cf. II Sam. 20". m jr2b a. marginal gloss, we shall not die, has been introduced at the beginning of this line. It is entirely out of connection with the preceding and following vss. and is apparently only the remark of some early reader of the text. » 1" Restoring the original verb, which has clearly been attracted by the verbs in Is. • l16 Omitting, he taketh up with the angle, a parallel phrase, explanatory of the original text. p l15 The concluding line of this vs., therefore they rejoice and are glad, is probably also a marginal gloss, although it may possibly have formed a part of the original text. Hab. I16] SERMONS OF HABAKKUK "Therefore they sacrifice to their net, And burn offerings to their drag-net; For by them is their portion fat, And their food is rich. 17Shall they forever bare their sword,q And continually slay peoples without mercy ? Well- 2 5Woer to the proud and treacherous, m|™*fd The arrogant one, who never has enough," the Who makes his desire as wide as Sheol, con- He is like death, unsatisfied,* queror por ^e jjatn gathered to himself all the nations, And brought together to himself all peoples. 6Shall not these, all of them, take up a proverb against him, Rejoic- And a taunt-song against him, and say, his vie- Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own,u tlms And loads himself with a burden of guilt ? 7Shall not thy creditors rise up, And thy troublers awake, And thou be a spoil for them ?v sBecause thou hast spoiled many nations, All the survivors of the people shall spoil thee, For the shedding of men's blood and the violence on the earth, On cities and all their inhabitants! Results 9Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,w cruel To build his nest on high, rapac- rpQ gave jjjmsej{ from the grasp of calamity! 10Thou hast planned shame for thy house, Thou hast cutx off many peoples, And thou hast sinned against thyself.y "For the stone shall cry out from the wall, And the cross-beam from the timber shall answer it. Punish- "^Woe to him who builds a city by shedding blood, PeljJ. And establishes a town in iniquity, bloody auests q *17 Following an amended text. The standard Heb. reads, shall he therefore empty his net. This is not consistent with the second member of the couplet. This vs., as a whole, may be secondary. r 2s Following Wellhausen, in reconstructing the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. 8 25 Again following a restored Heb. text., suggested by the Syr. « 2» Cf. Pr. 27M, 30'6. u 2s A later scribe has apparently added the introduction, how long. y 27 /. c, his day of requital shall come at the hands of those he has wronged. w 29 House probably stands here for a nation or dynasty. » 2i» So Gk. y 2lQ Possibly the Heb. should read, and forfeited thine own life. Even the stones and beams which the Chaldeans shall build into their houses, as the fruit of their robbery, shall bear testimony to the guilt and cruelty of the conqueror. ADVENT OF CHALDEANS [Hab. 213 Soz that the nations toil for smoke, And the peoples wear themselves out for nought!3 15Woe to him who gives his neighbor to drink, From the cup of his wrathb till he be drunken, That he may gaze on his0 nakedness ! "Drink thou also and stagger.d The cup of Jehovah's right hand cometh round to thee, Thou art sated with shame — not with glory,6 "For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, And the destruction of the beasts shall terrify thee,f For the shedding of men's blood on the earth.8 »Woeh to him who saith to a block, awake I Woe to To a dumb stone, arisel1 all Behold, it is set with gold and silver, idola- But there is no breath at all within it. tors 2»Jehovah is in his holy temple, Let all the earth be silent before him!' » 213 A scribe has apparently added, lo, is it not from Jehovah of hosts? In ita present context, this would surely be contrary to the teaching of the prophet. It may well represent a marginal gloss which has crept into the text. a 213 A scribe, who had in mind Is. ll9, has here added, for the earth shallbe filled with the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. The verae lacks the metrical form which characterizes the rest of the prophecy, and introduces a thought entirely alien to the passage. b 215 Correcting the corrupt Heb. as the context demands. c 215 So Gk. Also slightly correcting the Heb. after the analogy of Nah. 35. d 216 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and parallel passages. Through an error of the copyist two Heb. letters have been transposed • 2'6 The Heb. of the last line is badly corrupt. Apparently a scribe, by mistake, quoted it in its original form at the beginning of the vs. Restoring it to its logical position the mean ing of the vb. is clear. * 2" Following the vss. in slightly correcting the Heb. e 2" Possibly these two lines are simply repeated from Sc- d. h 2" A scribe, commenting on this vs., added in the margin the following vs., which later was incorporated in the text before rather than after 19: of what use is a graven image when an artist has graven it, or a molten image and a false oracle in which the one who molded it has put his trust, making dumb idols f The contents as well as the prose form of this vs. leave no doubt as to its secondary character. , 1 219 The unintelligible words, he shall teach, are added at this point. They probably represent the scornful interjection of some later scribe, which has been incorporated in the text. i 2i9-2o These closing vss. are probably later additions to the original woes. They reflect post-exilic ideas and point of view. Cf. Is. 461-4, Ps. 135". Vs. !° is composed of Ps. 11< and Zeph. V. 225 JEREMIAH'S SERMONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE FIRST CAPTIVITY § 93. The Guilt and Fate of Jehoiakim, Jer. 22"-^ Jehoia- Jer. 22 13Woe to hima who buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and selfish ms chambers by injustice ; cruel Who causeth his neighbor to labor without wages, and giveth him not his pay ; "Who saith, I will build meb a vast palace with spacious chambers ; Provided with deep-cut windows,0 ceiled with cedar and painted with ver milion. ¦ 15Dost thou call thyself king because thou excellest in cedar ? Thy father — did he not eat and drink and execute law and justice ?d 16He judged the cause of the poor and needy ; then it was well. Was not this to know me ? saith Jehovah. 17But thine eyes and heart are bent only on thy dishonest gain, And on the shedding of innocent blood and on oppression and violence!6 Jehoia- 18Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, ££' king of Judah :f They shall not lament over him, ' O my brother ' or ' O my sister ' ! Jeremiah's Sermons in Connection with the First Captivity. — According to II Kgs. 241 Jehoiakim submitted without opposition to Nebuchadrezzar, and for three years Judah enjoyed peace. But in 601 B.C. he rebelled and thereby inaugurated a period of disaster culminating in the first captivity of 597 B.C. The primary cause of this foolish behavior was probably the unstable character of Jehoiakim himself. The Egyptians, who rightly feared the power of Nebuchadrezzar, undoubtedly had incited him to the act. The false prophets, of whom at this time there were many in Judah, aroused false hopes in the minds of the people. Jehoiakim seems at this time to have stood alone in defying the power of the mighty Chaldean king. The rebellion was so insignificant that Nebuchadrezzar at first contented himself with sending against Jehoiakim bands of the Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites. These were apparently supplemented by the local Chaldean soldiery. Cf. II Kgs. 241' 2, Vol. II, § 138. For three or four years the territory of Judah appears to have been overrun with these hostile bands. But Jerusalem with its strong walls stood out against them, until in 597 Nebuchadrezzar sent an army to complete the capture of the city. During these disastrous years Jeremiah's message was naturally one of lamentation over the calamities which were overtaking his nation and the follies and crimes which had brought upon it these disasters. § 93 The picture of Jehoiakim given in this section is evidently faithful in every detail. In his policy he aligned himself with Solomon and Ahab without possessing the ability of either. In his blind regard for his own selfish interests he entirely ignored those of his subjects. In the face of national disaster and heavy taxation to meet the demands of grasping foreign conquerors, he went on building for himself an elaborate palace. The social principles underlying this powerful passage are of universal application. In vss. 20-a the prophet turns from the king to address the nation, to condemn it for its crimes, and to commiserate it for the pitiable fate that was about to overtake it as a result of the follies of its leaders. The note of coming disaster and the unrestrained freedom with which Jeremiah denounces Jehoiakim imply that this prophecy comes from near the end of his reign, probably between 601 and 597 b.c. * 2213 The Gk. supplies the article required by the context. b 22" Gk., thou hast built for thyself. This may represent the original « 22" This line is especially difficult. The Gk., which has, in general, been followed grobably preserves the original. Heb., cutteth him out his windows. The rest of the line in the ^eb., as it stands, is untranslatable. d 2215 So Gk. A scribe has introduced by mistake, at the end of this vs., a clause found at the end of 1Sa. The king referred to in these vss. is, of course, Josiah, whose just rule became the ideal of later prophets and psalmists. • 22" Following the slightly superior reading of the Gk. ' 2218 The Gk. adds, woe over this man. 226 JEREMIAH'S LAMENT [sJer. ll19 They shall not bewail8 for him, 'O lord,' or 'O his glory!' He shall be buried as an ass is buried, drawn out and cast forth !h Go up to Lebanon1 and cry out, and in Bashan let thy voice resound; Judah And cry out from Mount Abarim, for all which thou lovest' are broken in ™™~ed pieces. to be- 21I spoke to thee in thy prosperity* but thou saidst, I will not hear; hef This has been thy way from thy youth, thou1 hast not hearkened to my ^ne voice. All thy shepherds the wind shall shepherd, and those whom thou Iovest shall go into captivity; Then™ thou shall be put to shame and confounded because of all thy wickedness.11 ^Thou who dwellest on Lebanon, thou who nesteth among the cedars, How wilt thou groan0 when pangs come upon thee,p as of a woman in travail ? § 94. Jehovah's Lament Over His Sinful People, Jer. 127"12 Jer. 12 7I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my heritage, jeho- I have given over my dearly beloved into the hands of his enemies. va!}ls 8Mine heritage hath become to me as a heritage in the forest ; people, She hath raised her voice against me, therefore do I hate her. Pt|y 0f 9Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey,Q so that the birds of prey jh^r gather around against her ? Go assemble all the beasts of prey, bring themr to devour! 10Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled down mine inheritance under foot, They have made my beautiful portion a desolate wilderness! uThey have made3 it a desolation, to my sorrow it mourneth desolate ; The whole land is desolate, for no man taketh it to heart. "Upon all the bare heights of the wilderness spoilers have come ; From* one end of the land to the other no flesh hath peace. g 2218 So Gk. The Heb. repeats the verb of the preceding line. h 2219 A scribe, to make the preceding statement explicit, has added the unmetrical line, beyond the gates of Jerusalem. > 2220 Judah, which is here addressed collectively, is dramatically commanded to go forth to the commanding heights on the north and east and there bewail her fate. Bashan was the east-Jordan territory northeast of Judah and the mountains of Abarim are the peaks of Northern Moab, among which was the famous Mt. Nebo. Cf. Num. 27'2, 33", Dt. 32", 34L 2. i 2220 These were Judah's allies which had lured her on to rebellion and disaster. k 2221 Slightly correcting the Heb. 1 2221 So Gk. Heb. adds, that. " 2222 So Syr. and Lat. Heb. adds, verily. » 22s2 Gk., thy lovers. ° 22" So Gk., Syr., and Lat. The Heb. text is slightly corrupt. ¦> 22s So Gk. Heb. adds, pain, but this is unnecessary and destroys the metrical sym metry of the vs. . , , § 94 This touching elegy over the fate of Judah was evidently written when the marauding bands of the Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites were overrunning the land. The shepherds are rulers like Jehoiakim. Saddest of all, Jehovah, instead of protecting his people, was com pelled to bring upon them the judgment which they so richly deserved. q 129 Slightly correcting the Heb., as the context demands. r 129 So Gk. and parallel passage in Is. 5s9. B 1211 So Targ. and Lat. The Heb. text is corrupt. t i2i2 The clause at the beginning pf this line, for the sword of Jehovah devours, destroys the metre and has no close connection with its context. It is probably secondary. 227 Jer. 1315] JEREMIAH'S SERMONS § 95. The Fallen Nation, Jer. 131617- "^ Jer. Jer. 13 15Hear ye and give ear, be not proud for Jehovah hath spoken! emiah's "Give glory to Jehovah your God, before it groweth dark, strance Before your feet stumble upon the mountains enveloped in twilight; And while ye wait for light ye turn it into blackness and dense darkness." "But if ye will not hear it,v I must weep in secret because of your pride.w And mine eyes must shed torrents of tears because Jehovah's flock is taken captive. Agents 2«Lif t Up thine eyes and behold them who come from the north ! vine' Where is the flock that is given thee, thy beautiful sheep ? ment 21What wilt thou say when they shall set over thee as headx at hand Those whom thou hast taught to be thy friends ? Will not pains take hold of thee as a woman in child-birth ? 22 And if you say in thine heart, Why are these things come upon me ? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered and thou sufferest violence. Innate ^Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the panther his stripes ? guilt of Then may ye also do good, who have learned evil. nation ^Therefore I will scatter thee as stubble borne away by a desert wind. to be MThis is thy lot, the portion measured out to thee, is Jehovah's oracle. vealed Because thou hast forgotten me and trusted in falsehood, 2eTherefore I have stripped off thy skirts before thy face, that thy shame might be revealed, "Thine adulteries and thy neighings and the lewdness of thy whoredom/ On the hills andz in the fields I have seen thy detestable deeds. Woe to thee, Jerusalem! How long will it be before thou becomest clean ? § 96. Lesson from Rechabites, Jer. 35 Com- Jer. 35 This word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim regard- king of Judah: 2Go to the house of the Rechabites and bring them into the ing the temple, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. jzLecna— , , § 95 This is another of Jeremiah's exquisite but pathetic lamentations over Judah's coming fate. One readily detects the prophet's sobs and heart-break as he pictures the calamity which for him is already a reality. Vss. 18- 19 come from the same general period, but evidently refer to the young king Jehoiachin and the queen-mother and represent a later stage in the siege of Jerusalem. The present elegy, like the preceding, evidently comes from the last days of Jehoiakim's reign, when the hostile hosts were closing about the city. u 1316 The figure is a powerful one, that of the brief period before the gathering storm when, instead of a rift in the clouds, the clouds settle down with their ominous darkness. v 1317 This first clause may be secondary. w 1317 So Gk. and the requirements of the context. The Heb. adds, weep bitterly. 1 1321 xhe reference, of course, is to the Chaldeans. The sense and the metre favor the transfer of this word to the position in the sentence given above. Another possible rendering of the Heb. would be, Why dost thou say that he (Jehovah) has been appointing friends over thee, while thou thyself have taught them to rule over thee. y 1327 Following the superior order and construction of the Gk. * 13" So Gk. Heb., on the hills in the field. § 96 The incident here recorded also belongs to the last days of the siege of Jerusalem. The invading bands of the Arameans and Chaldeans had driven the wandering Eechabites to seek refuge in Jerusalem. In their life and tribal organization they had kept alive the nomadic traditions of Israel's earlier faith. The father or founder of this peculiar sect was Jonadab, a contemporary of Jehu, mentioned in II Kgs. IO15-17- K. They represented an extreme reaction irom the agricultural type of Canaanitish civilization which flourished especially in Northern LESSON FROM RECHABITES [Jer. 35s 'Then I took Jazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and Testing his kinsman and his son and all the Rechabites 4and brought them into the Recha- temple of Jehovah into the chamber of the sons of Johanan the son of Hana- bites nias the son of Gedaliah the man of God, which is by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold; 5and I set before them bowls of wine and cups and said: 'Drink wine.' Their "But they answered : ' We drink no wine.' For Jonadab our father com- reply manded us : ' Ye shall never drink wine, neither ye nor your sons ; 'neither shall ye build a house nor sow seed, nor possess a vineyard ; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live long in the land wherein you dwell as aliens.' 10And we have obediently done just as Jonadab our forefather com manded us. uBut when Nebuchadrezzar came up against the land, we said : ' Come let us go to Jerusalem from before the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Arameans.' So we dwell there. Appii- ^hen this word of Jehovah came to me : 13Thus saith Jehovah, ' Go and say °f yj° to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem : " Will ye not learn lesson instruction as to how one should heed my words ? leFor, while the sons of Judah Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the command of their forefather, this people hath not hearkened to me."' "Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, ' Behold I am about to bring upon Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them.' Prom- 18Therefore thus saith Jehovah : ' Because the descendants of Jonadab the the ° son of Rechab have been obedient and have done as their father commanded S?gga" them, "the descendants of Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to serve me as long as the earth stands.' § 97. Fate of Jehoiachin and the Queen-mother, Jer. 131810, 2224-30 Lament Jer. 13 l8Saya to the king and to the queen-mother, Sit ye down low, coming For from your headb hath fallen your fair crown. tivlty 19The cities of the South Country are shut up, and there is none to open ; All Judah is carried away into exile, with a complete captivity. Israel. The culture of the vine and the wine made from its grapes were characteristic of that civilization. Hence Jonadab's injunction was that his tribesman should retain their nomadic manner of life and customs and have nothing to do with the civilization of Canaan. In his eagerness to make a deep impression upon his countrymen, Jeremiah recognized in the habits and fidelity of this nomadic tribe a dramatic illustration. The present section de scribes how effectively he employed it. The Gk. text varies widely from the Heb. The Heb. is at many points verbose and obscure, while the Gk. is briefer, clear-cut, and lucid at every point. The variations are evidently due to a deliberate expansion of the original text (which the Gk. has preserved) by the scribe or group of scribes who have given us the present Heb. text. In the translation adopted above the Gk. text has accordingly been followed throughout. § 97 King Jehoiakim died before the final capture of Jerusalem. He left his throne to his eighteen-year-old son Coniah, who assumed on his accession the royal name of Jehoiachin. Owing to the extreme youth of the king his authority seems to have been shared by the queen - mother, the wife of Jehoiakim. His short reign of three months ended in exile in Babylon. With him went the queen-mother, the royal officials, the chief men of the land, the warriors and craftsmen, in all about ten thousand men. The words of Jeremiah found in the present section were probably uttered on the eve of the fall of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. With true insight he saw that the degenerate house of Jehoiakim had proved so incapable that it had forever forfeited its right to the throne of Judah. » 1318 So Gk. and O. Lat. * 13ts Slightly correcting the Heb., with the aid of the Gk., Syr., and Lat. 229 Jer. 22m] JEREMIAH'S SERMONS Jeremiah'sprediction of Jehoia- chin's fate 22 MAs I live, saith Jehovah, though Coniah [Jehoiachin] the son of Je hoiakim were the signet-ring upon my right hand, I would pluck him0 thence, Kand I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life,d whom, thou dreadest, into the hands of the Chaldeans,6 2eand I will hurl thee forth and thy mother who bore thee into af land where yeg were not born, and there ye shall die. 27But to the land for which they longh they shall not return. 28Is Coniah1 despised as a broken vessel and thrown forth into a land which he knoweth not? 290 land, land,' hear the word of Jehovah! S0Writek down this man as childless!1 For nonem of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah. Visionof the two baskets of figs Jeho vah's ques tion Char acterand future of the exiles § 98. Character of the Exiles and of those Left in Judah, Jer. 24 Jer. 24 * After Nebuchadrezzar had carried Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes" and craftsmen and the joiners and the rich men0 of Jerusalem into exile to Babylon, Jehovah showed me two baskets of figs.p 2Oneq basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten they were so bad. 3Then Jehovah said to me, What seest thou Jeremiah, and I answered Figs, the good figs are very good and the bad very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten. ^Thereupon this word of Jehovah came to me : 'Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel : ' Like these good figs, so will I regard for good the exiles of Judah whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans; 6and I will watch over their welfare and will bring them back to this land, so that I will build them up and not pull them down, I will plant them and not pluck them up, 7and I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah ;r and they shall be my people and I will be their God, when they return to me with their whole heart. ' 2221 Slightly correcting the Heb., which reads, thee. d 22^ So Gk. Heb. adds, into the hand of those. • 22s5 So Gk. Heb. adds, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon. ' 22» So Gk. Heb., another. * 22^ go Gk. The Heb. is corrupt. h 222' Following the briefer Gk. text. i 222» Again following the briefer text of the Gk. and O. Lat. The Heb. is badly corrupt. ' 2229 So Gk. Heb. repeats the word land three times. k 22!0 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds the cumbersome gloss, Thus saith Jehovah. 1 223° So two Heb. MSS. and Gk. A Heb. scribe by mistake has repeated in corrupt form the opening words of the next sentence. ¦» 22» So Gk. Heb. adds, a man. § 98 In his usual graphic way Jeremiah pictures the contrast between the Jews who were carried into exile in 597 and those who were left behind. Nebuchadrezzar had taken good care to transfer to Babylon the most intelligent and gifted of the people of Judah, including the leaders in the professional, intellectual, and religious classes. The advisers who rallied about Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadrezzar placed on the throne, were necessarily drawn from the poorer classes. Although Jeremiah's contemporary, Ezekiel, was keenly alive to the faults of the exiles among whom he lived, he also recognized the inferior character and greater vices of those who were left in Judah. Cf., e. g., Ezek. 11. Subsequent history con firmed the judgment of these prophets. One admires, however, Jeremiah's courage more than his tact in comparing his fellow-countrymen, among whom he must live, to a basket of worthless ngs, which, when decayed, are among the most loathsome of sights. " 24' So Gk. and the Syr. of Origen. Heb., princes of Judah. ° 241 So Gk. Heb. omits, and the rich. ? 24} J\. is d'fn™1' to see why a basket of worthless figs should be standing before the temple of Jehovah. It is probable, however, that the clause, found in the Heb., standing before the temple of Jehovah, was added by a later editor who wished to make still clearer the identifica tion of the baskets of figs with Jehovah's chosen people. 1 ,242 So Gk. and Syr. and the demands of the context. Through the mistaken writing of one letter the Heb. reads, one. * 24? This phrase, more characteristic of Ezekiel than Jeremiah, may have been added bv a later scribe. * 230 JEREMIAH'S LETTER [Jer. 298 ^ut as for the bad figs which are so bad that they cannot be eaten,8 saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes and the Temnant of Jerusalem that is left in this land and those who dwell in the land of Egypt ; 9and I will make them an object of consternation* to all the king doms of the earth, and they shall be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all placesu whither I shall drive them ; 10and I will send the sword, famine and pestilence among them until they are completely consumed out of the land which I gave to them.v OfZede kiah and his sub jects § 99. Jeremiah's Letter to the Babylonian Exiles, Jer. 29 Jer. 29 *Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah of Jerusalem sent to the elders of the exiles,™ 3by the hand of Eleasah, the son of Shaphan and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah. whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Babylon: 4Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel to the exiles whom I have carried into exile from Jerusalem : 5< Build houses and dwell in them and plant gardens and eat the fruit of them. ^Take wives and let your sons take wives and give your daughters to husbands, and multiply and be not diminished; and seek the welfare of the land whither I have carried you into exile, and pray to Je hovah for it; for in its prosperity rests your own prosperity.' 8For thus saith Jehovah, ' Let not the prophets who are in your midst nor your diviners deceive you; neither heed their dreams which they dream. sFor they prophesy falsely in my name; but I have not sent them.' 10For thus saith Jehovah, 'As soon as seventy years be accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfil my promises to you, by bringing you back to this place. nFor I cherish for you thoughts of peace and not of evil, that I may give you a future and a hope. 12Pray to me and I will hear you ; 13seek me and ye shall find me ; if ye seek me with all your heart, I will reveal myself to you.' 8 248 So Gk., Syr., and Lat. The phrase which follows, thus saith Jehovah, is superfluous and may also be a scribal addition. * 249 So Gk. The Heb. adds, for a misfortune. « 249 Gk., place. v 2410 So Gk. Heb. adds, and to their fathers. § 99 The Jews deported to Babylon by Nebuchadrezzar in 597 were not scattered through out the emoire, but settled in a colony by themselves in certain villages along the Kabaru canal, mentioned in certain recently discovered contract tablets coming from the early Persian period. This canal ran through a rich alluvial territory lying between Babylon and the ancient city of Nippur. Here in fields far more productive than those of Judah the exiles were free to continue their old agricultural life. Except in the punishment of capital offences, they appear to have been allowed to live according to their own laws. The importance of this little Judah in the heart of distant Babylon, in the eyes of Jeremiah, explains why he sought to guide them, even as Ezekiel, living in Babylon, devoted his attention largely to the Jews left behind in Judah. During the period between the first and second cap tivity, communication between the Jews in Palestine and Babylonia was evidently very close. The present letter of Jeremiah in setting, aim, and character is akin to the epistle which Paul wrote to the churches which he could not visit. It illustrates the close similarity between the so- called prophecies of the O.T. and the epistles of the New. Aside from differences in theme and date, the only fundamental distinction between the two is that the prophets ordinarily spoke in person to their hearers, while the apostles were, to a great extent, obliged to depend upon the written letter. The divergencies between the Heb. and Gk. versions of Jeremiah's letter are very wide. Here again the Gk. has preserved a far briefer and better version which, with the exception of a few words, undoubtedly represents the original. The variations in the Heb. are readily recog nized as explanatory or hortatory glosses with the characteristic form and ideas of the later scribes. These glosses are so unimportant that they may be ignored. In the translation given above, the Gk. text has been adopted as the basis. w 291 The Gk. text has here been supplemented, although not so fully as the Heb., by a further description of the different classes which had been carried into exile. This scribal note is based on 24», II Kgs. 2412. 231 The super scrip tion Settledown in Babylon Heed not false prophetsProm ise of finalrestora tion Jer 2915] JEREMIAH'S SERMONS Fateof the immoralproph ets She-maiah'soppo sition Judgmentawaiting him 15Because ye have said, Jehovah hath raised us up prophets in Babylon, 21thus saith Jehovah concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah,x Behold I will deliver them into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall slay them before your eyes. 22And from them men shall take up the curse for all the exiles of Judah in Babylon: 'Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire' ; 23for they have wrought impious folly in Israel, and have com mitted adultery with their neighbor's wives and have spoken in my name that which I did not command them, and I am the witness, is the oracle of Jehovah. 24 And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite thou shalt also speak,y because this one wrote in his name to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying, Je hovah hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiadah the priest, that thou shouldst be overseer in Jehovah's house over every man who is mad and pre- tendeth that he is a prophet, that thou shouldst put him in the stocks and in the neck-rings. "Now therefore why hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who pretends to you that he is a prophet, inasmuch as he has written to us this very month to Babylon, as follows : 28' The matter2 is prolonged, build houses and dwell in them and plant gardens and eat the fruit from them.' 29 And Zephaniah read this letter to Jeremiah. 30Then this word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah : 31Send to the exiles saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because She maiah hath prophesied to you, although I have not sent him, and hath caused you to trust in a lie, ^therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold I will visit in judgment Shemaiah and his descendants, and he shall have no one among you who shall see the good fortune which I am about to bring to you ; he shall see it not, for he hath spoken rebellion against Jehovah." 'a Jere miah'sexhortationto the king § 100. Jeremiah's Advice and Warning to Zedekiah, Jer. 2218 Jer. 22 iThus saith Jehovah [to Jeremiah], Gob down to the palace of the king of Judah and speak there this message: z'Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who art sitting upon the throne of David, thou and thy servants0 and thy people who enter in by these gates I 3Thus saith Jehovah, "Execute justice and righteousness and deliver him who is robbed from x 2921 The Gk. has not preserved the names of these two false prophets. y 2919 Heb., as follows; but the message is first given in 30-32. z 2928 J. e., the duration of the exile. a 2932 xhis last clause seems to be original although it is not preserved in the Gk. § 100 This short section is the introduction to the oracles regarding the different kings of Judah found in the remainder of the chapter. Vss. 6- 7 contain an original prophecy of Jeremiah. Vss. l-5 are probably based upon an original Jeremian utterance, but they, like the corresponding material in 8- 9, have been worked over in the spirit of the Deuteronomic editors. It is difficult to determine the date of the original utterances. The freedom with which Jeremiah speaks suggests that it was the reign of Zedekiah, who was ever ready to listen to the words of Jeremiah even though he was slow to act upon them. The brief oracle in 231- 2 is the conclusion of the prophecies concerning Judah's kings. It undoubtedly comes from the earlier part of the reign of Zedekiah, but it relates not so much to the deeds of that unfortunate ruler as of those of his immediate predecessors. It is in fact a summary of 22. To this severe arraignment of Israel's rulers later prophets have appended in 3- 4_ a promise that the scattered exiles shall be restored, and in 6-8 a promise that a scion should arise from the house of David who should restore and unite Judah and Israel. These verses are practically a duplicate of 3316. '• and 16"' 16. Vss. '. 8 are also lacking in the Gk. While original here, they represent a very late addition and voice the post-exilic hope of a general restoration of the Jewish exiles. b 221 Gk. go out, go down. 0 222 Gk., thy house. Possibly this is original. 232 WARNING OF ZEDEKIAH [Jer. 223 the hand of his oppressor, and do no wrong nor violence to the resident alien, the orphan and the widow nor shed innocent blood in this place. 'For, if he faithfully follow this command, then there shall enter into the gates of this palace kings who shall sit on the throne of David and ride in chariotsd and on horses. 6But if he will not give heed" to these words, I swear by myself," saith Jehovah, "that this palace shall become a desolation." ' ^hus saith Jehovah concerning the palace of the king of Judah : La- Thou art Gilead to me, even the top of Lebanon : [J^j.* Yet verily I will make thee a wilderness, like cities uninhabited! tfetha'1 'And I will bring in destroyers againstf thee, each with his weapon ; palace And they will cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. 'And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say, each to the other: Why Cause hath Jehovah done thus to this great city? 9And they shall answer: Because they forsook the of the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshipped other gods and served them. famitv 23 JWoe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock entrusted to Con- their care!* ft" therefore, thus saith Jehovah,11 concerning those who take care of my the people :x Ye have scattered my flock^ and ye have not concerned* yourself about them; Behold I will concern myself about you, about the evil of your deeds. § 101. Crimes of the False Prophets, Jer. 239-40 Jer. 33 9Mine heartm within me is broken, all my bones relax; judg- I am become like a drunken man, as a man overcome by wine; men.t . . " coming Because of Jehovah and because of his glorious majesty.11 upon 10For the whole land is full of adulterers,0 faith- . less d 224 Heb. adds the awkward phrase, he and his servants and his people. Gk., they and an(j their servants and their people. The awkwardness of the clause, the variation in the VSS., the proph- lack of connection in the context, all suggest that it is a later gloss. Pti- « 225 Qk., do. ™ f 227 So Gk. and the Syr. of Origen. Heb., / will consecrate it. Possibly the Heb. is original. « 23l So Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. Lit., of your shepherding. Heb., of my pasture. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah, but this would seem to be a scribal expansion which destroys the sym metry of the verse. h 232 So Gk. Heb. adds, God of Israel. 1 232 The Heb. repeats shepherds, but this is omitted in two manuscripts and the Gk. i 232 The Heb. adds, and ye have driven them away, but this would seem to be only'a scribal variation of the preceding. k 232 Lit., ye have not visited them. 1 232 So Gk. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. § 101 This prophecy regarding the false prophets of Jehovah is closely connected with the preceding prophecies regarding the kings of Judah, and probably comes from the same period, * the earlier part of the reign of Zedekiah, not long after the first captivity. It was the misleading counsel of these mercenary or self -deceived prophets that earlier encouraged the people of Judah to rebel against Nebuchadrezzar and that now threatened to bring another catastrophe upon the nation. They had prophesied with the same formulas and seemingly with the same authority m 239 This section is appropriately introduced in the Heb. by the superscription, concerning the prophets. n 239 Heb., from before Jehovah and his holy words. The Gk. has been followed in the translation. o 2310 This line is lacking in the Gk. and may well be secondary; in fact, the entire vs. may be late. Some scribe has added the incongruous sentence, for because of the curse the land mourn- eth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. These words interrupt the thought and are plainly secondary. 233 mes Jee. 2310j JEREMIAH'S SERMONS And their course is evil and their might is not right, "For both prophet and priest are shamefully corrupt. Even in my temple have I foundp their wickedness, is the oracle of Jehovah. therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places. Into darkness shall they be thrust along and fall therein; For I will bring evil upon them, even the time of their visitation."1 Proph- 13In the prophets of Samaria I saw that which was sickening, eta of ^hey prophesied by Baal, and led my people Israel astray. salem "But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing : a°ane They commit adultery, they walk in falsehood and strengthen the hands of thoTe evil-doers/ of Sa- They are all of them like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah. mana therefore, thus saith Jehovah3 concerning the prophets : Behold I will feed them with wormwood and make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem hath prof aneness gone forth into all the land. Their '"Hearken* not to the words of the prophets," they fill you with vain hopes ; 11 They speak the vision of their own heart,v not out of the mouth of Jehovah. "They sayw to those who despise* the word of Jehovah : ' Ye shall have peace.' And iF any one walk according to the stubbornness of his own heart:2 'No evil shall come upon you.' 18For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah and seen ;a Who hath perceived his wordb and heard it ?° as the true prophets. Until disaster gave the lie to their predictions, they undoubtedly stood high in public favor as loyal patriots, while Jeremiah was branded as a pessimist and a traitor. As the event proved, they were the worst foes to Judah, for they undermined the popular con fidence in the prophet and gave a pseudo-divine authority to the follies of the people and their rulers. Jeremiah, in emphasizing the importance of a prophet's acts in determining his author ity, established a new and important criterion for judging a prophet. His arraignment of the errors and crimes of his false colleagues is one of the strongest passages in aU his prophecies. The section, however, has been revised at certain points. In the concluding paragraph, 3°-40( if there is an original nucleus it has been fundamentally recast and supplemented by later hands. It lacks the poetic form and beauty of the preceding and is devoted to the consideration of petty details rather than to the general principles, which ever commanded Jeremiah's attention. It may therefore with good grounds be regarded as a later supplement. p 23u Gk. and Syr. of Origen, / have seen. q 2312 So Gk. Heb. adds, is ihe oracle of Jehovah. 1 2314 Heb. adds, so that they do not turn each from his evil. 8 2315 So Gk. Heb. adds, of hosts. The Gk. also omits the phrase, concerning the prophets. * 2316 In its present form this vs. lacks the poetic form of the preceding passages. This is apparently due to scribal revision. The clause, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, which standsat the beginning is entirely superfluous and probably secondary. Eliminating this and following a suggestion of the Gk. the original may be restored as above. u 2316 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, who prophesy to you. y 2316 Following the superior Gk. rendering. ¦w 2317 Following the VSS. in omitting the word saying found in the Heb. 1 2317 Following the superior reading of the Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. y 23" So Gk., O. Lat., and Vulg. * 2317 So Glc. A. O. Lat., and Arab. Heb. adds, they say. a 2318 Following the superior reading of the Gk., Syr., and Lat. b 2318 Rearranging this line as the sense demands and the variations in the readings suggest. c 2318 A later editor has here introduced, in vss. 19- 20, a quotation from 3023- 24. They interrupt the connection and are clearly secondary. 234 CRIMES OF FALSE PROPHETS [Jer. 2321 aI have not sent the prophets, yet they ran ! I have not spoken to them, yet they have prophesied ! 22If they had really stood in my council and heeded my words, Then would they have turned back my people from their evil deeds.*5 Their. repudi ationby Je hovah 23 Am not I a God near bye and not a God far off ? "Can a man hide himself in secret places and I not see him ?£ Do not I fill both heaven and earth ? ffiI have heard what the prophets say, They who prophesy falsely in my name, saying : ' I have dreamed, I have dreamed ' ; 26How long shall there be a message in the heart of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, And prophesy the deceit of their own heart, "thinking that they can make my people forget my law,8 By their dreams which they recount each to his neighbor, Just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal ? Theirfolly in thinkingtheycan es cape v Jeho vah 28The prophet, who has a dream, let him recount. hish dream ; And he with whom is my word let him speak my word faithfully. What hath the straw to do with the wheat P1 is the oracle of Jehovah. 29Is not my word^ like a fire,k like a hammer which breaks in pieces the rocks ? Their realduty '"Therefore Behold,' I am against the prophets,™ is the oracle of Jehovah, who steal my words each from the other. "Behold, I am against the prophets, who use their tongues and say, ' An oracle.' 32Behold, I am against the prophets who prophesy0 lying dreams and recount them and lead ray people astray by their lives and by their reckless boasting; yet I sent them not nor commanded them, neither are they of any profit to this people. 33 And when this people, or a prophet, or a priest shall ask thee, 'What is Jehovah's bur den?'" thou shalt say to them, 'Ye' yourselves are the burden, and I will cast you off,' is the oracle of Jehovah. ''And as for the prophet, and the-priest, and the people who shall say, 'Jehovah's burden ' ; I will visit in judgment that man and his household. KThus shall ye d 2S22 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, from their evil deeds and. . 2S23 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. f 23M So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. A scribe has again added the same words at the end of the second line. e 2327 So Gk. Heb., forget my name. h 232» So Gk. Heb. omits his. ' 232s I. e., let them not mix the wheat and the chaff, the false and the true. The prophet should proclaim only the truth. i 2329 Following the Syr., O. Lat., Vulg., and Arab, in omitting the so found in the Heb. k 2329 So Gk. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. 1 2330 Vss. 3°-31 are not found in Gk. and may be a very late addition to the present context. m 2331 The words, it is the oracle of Jehovah, have been added in this and the two following vss. They are not found in the Gk., however, and are probably due to very late scribes. ¦ 23» So Gk. and Lat. o 23s3 The play is upon the double meaning of the word massa, which comes from the root, i or taken up, and means either a burden, that which is borne on the lips, or in its secondary, more technical sense, an oracle. The term appears to have been derisively applied to Jeremiah's prophecies because, in view of their constant note of doom and denunciation, they were regarded by their foes, not only as a divine oracle but as a burden. The reply is that not Jehovah's words but the people themselves are a burden. The term, however, was no longer to be em ployed by the true prophets because its use had been perverted. p 2S33 So Gk., O. Lat., and Vulg., and the correct division of the Heb. radicals. 235 Jehovah'sopposi tion to falseproph ets Com mand nolonger to speak of "Je hovah's bur den" Jer. 23s5 JEREMIAH'S SERMONS say, each toQ his neighbor and each to his brother, 'What hath Jehovah answered and what hath Jehovah spoken? 3«But ye shall mention no more Jehovah's burden, for every man's word is his burden,1" and what hath Jehovah our God spoken?8 Penalty for disobedience "Therefore thus saith Jehovah our God,' because ye say this word, Jehovah's burden, and I have sent to you saying, Ye shall not say, Jehovah's burden; "therefore, behold, I am here, and I will surely take you up" and cast you off from the city which I gave you and your fathers, out of my sight;' "and I will lay upon you an everlasting reproach and a per petual disgrace which shall not be forgotten. The warning to the re bellious kings of Pal estine § 102 The Babylonian Yoke Upon the Necks of the Nations, Jer. 27 Jer. 37 iln the fourth year [593 b.c] of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month, this word came from Jehovah to Jeremiah:* ''Thus Jehovah saith to me: 'Make thongs* and a yoke and put them on thy neck, 3and send to the kings of Edom, of Moab, of the Ammonites, of Tyre and of Sidon, by the mes sengers who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah, 4and let them give this command to their masters: "Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to your masters : 5I have made the earthy by my great power and by mine outstretched arm, and I give it to whom it seemeth right to me. I now have given the earth to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon my servant and the beasts of the field to serve him; 7and the people and the kingdom which will not put their neck in the yoke of the king of Babylon will I punish by sword and famine, until I have given them2 into his hand, is Jehovah's oracle. 9But ye, hearken ye not to your prophets nor to your diviners nor to your dreamers nor to your soothsayers and sorcerers, who say : Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon! 10For they prophesy a lie to you, in order to re- q 23^ Correcting the Heb. text by the aid of certain MSS. r 23s8 So Gk. Heb. adds, and ye pervert the words of the living God, of Jehovah of hosts, our God. fl 23" So Gk. Heb. adds, repeating the thought of ss, thus shalt thou say to the prophet. What hath Jehovah answered thee? ' 2338 So Gk. The words, our God, are not found in the Heb. " 2339 So Gk., Syr., and Lat. The Heb. has, through an error, failed to preserve the play on the Heb. word meaning, take up or lift up. y 2339 Gk. omits, out of my sight. The phrase may well be secondary. § 102 Chaps. 27 and 28, together with chap. 29, constitute a little book within the larger bookof Jeremiah. They have certain literary peculiarities which are shared with no other pass ages in the book of Jeremiah. Thus, for example, Jeremiah and Hananiah are spoken of repeat edly as the prophet. The Heb. spelling of the name Jehovah and of the reigning king of Baby lon are also different from that commonly followed. These peculiarities are in part confined to the Heb. version. The Gk. text of 27 is much shorter and clearer than the Heb. This shorter Gk. version has been followed in the translation given above. This original version may well come from the pen of Jeremiah's scribe, Baruch. The first person, which is used throughout, would suggest that Jeremiah himself dictated its contents to Baruch. The detailed and circumstantial character of the narrative still further establishes its historical value. It is a vivid and dramatic scene from Jeremiah's daily experience. Again at a critical moment in the history of Judah the prophet resorted to an object lesson to impress his teachings. Evidently the kings of the neighboring nations had just sent emissaries to Zedekiah in order to persuade him to rebel against Nebuchadrezzar. Judah's false prophets joined in urging the king and people to raise the standard of revolt. Again Jeremiah appears to have stood alone. With all his powers of word and act he endeavored to dissuade them from this foolish course. y> 27' This verse is lacking in the Gk. The original prophecy probably began with *, pre serving the first person throughout. The accepted Heb. text reads, at the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, but clearly this is simply due to the mistake of a scribe who repeated the super scription of 26. From 3' 12 and from 28' it is perfectly obvious that the events here described took place in the fifth month of the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah. 1 272 Lit., bars, i. e., the pieces which constituted the yoke. The thongs bound the yoke together about the neck. y 276 So Gk. Heb. adds, the men and animals which are upon the face of the earth. This well illustrates the type of additional glosses which distinguish the Heb. version from the Gk. which has been followed. • 27s Slightly revising the text as the context requires. 236 THE BABYLONIAN YOKE [Jer. 27xo move you far from your land. "But that people which shall bring its neck into the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him I will leave in their own land, and they shall till it and dwell therein."' 12 And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same words and said : Bring To your neck into his yoke and serve the king of Babylon; "for these prophets kf^' prophesy a lie to you, 15for I have not sent them, is Jehovah's oracle, and they prophesy in my name falsely, that they might drive you out and that ye might perish, together with the prophets who have prophesied falsely to you. 16 And to the priests and the whole people I said: Thus saith Jehovah: Fur- ' Listen not to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you saying : " Behold *aptiv- the vessels of Jehovah's house shall shortly be brought back from Babylon." »'y. not For they prophesy a lie to you. 18But if they be prophets, and if Jehovah's medi- word be really with them, then let them make intercession with me. 19For j^te thus saith Jehovah: "The other vessels 20which the king of Babylon did not restora- take with him to Babylon, when he carried away into captivity from Jerusalem Jeconiah king of Judah, shall be brought to Babylon," is Jehovah's oracle.' § 103. Hananiah's Opposition, Jer. 28 Jer. 28 'Then Hananiah, the son of Azzur, the prophet of Gibeon, said to Han-_ me in the temple in the presence of the priests and all the people, ^hus saith p°edic- Jehovah : ' I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon, 'within two years I tion of restora- will bring back to this place the vessels of Jehovah's house, and Jeconiah tion and the Jewish exiles; for I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.' ^Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the Jere- people who were standing in the temple : 6Amen! Even so may Jehovah do. reply3 May he fulfil the words that you have prophesied and bring back the vessels of the temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place! 7Only hear, I pray, the word that I speak in your ears and in the ears of all the people : 8' The prophets of old, who were before me and before you, prophesied of war against many countries and great kingdoms. 9If a prophet prophesied a peace, then, when the word came to pass, it was known whether Jehovah had truly sent this prophet.' "Thereupon Hananiah, in the presence of all the people, took the yoke from Han Jeremiah's neck and broke it ; uand Hananiah said in the presence of all the people : Even so will I break the yoke of the king of Babylon from off the necks bo'io of all people. Then Jeremiah went his way. ^Now the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah after Hananiah had broken The the yoke from off his neck, saying, uGo and say to Hananiah : "'Thus saith y££e Jehovah, " Thou hast broken the yoke of wood, but I will makea in its stead °f , aniah's sym- lon § 103 The present section reveals the strenuousness of the struggle between the national istic party in Judah and the true prophets. Jeremiah's opponent, Hananiah, was evidently not lacking either in wit or in devotion to nis cause. It was a clear case of a self -deceived enthusiast. The first person, which appeared in the preceding section, disappears, and we have here a narra tive from some one of Jeremiah's biographers, presumably Baruch. The detailed prediction concerning Hananiah may be in part due to the work of the historian, who was evidently ac quainted with the fact. Again the somewhat shorter and superior Gk. text has been followed. » 28" Heb. and Gk.. thou hast made, but the context requires the reading, / will make. 237 Jer. 2814] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS one of iron. I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these peoples, that they may serve the king of Babylon."' Han- 15Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah : Jehovah hath not sent thee ; but thou fateh'S ma^est tnis people to trust in lies. 16Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold I will send thee away from the face of the earth. This very year shalt thou die. 17And he died in the seventh month. VI EZEKIEL'S SERMONS BEFORE THE FINAL DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM § 104. Ezekiel's Vision, Ezek. 1 Date Ezek. 1 1In the thirtieth year,a in the fifth day of the fourth month, as I SFace was among tne captives by the River Chebar,b the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God9c 3and the hand of Jehovah was on med there. Ezekiel's Sermons before the Final Destruction of Jerusalem. — As has already been noted, Introd., pp. 24, 25, Ezekiel was one of Jerusalem's priests carried captive to Babylon in 597 b.c. His call to take up the work of a prophet did not come, however, until 592, when he had been five years in Babylon. His writings have been carefully edited, Cf. Introd., p. 56. The text of Ezekiel's sermons has suffered from minor scribal errors, but there are com paratively few supplemental passages. This was probably due to Ezekiel's precise and repeti tious style, and the fact that the contents of his prophecies did not appeal as strongly as did the impassioned utterances of Isaiah and Jeremiah to the interests and zeal of the later annotators. As a whole, Ezekiel's prophecies present comparatively few critical problems. They lack, however, the poetic form and the literary vigor of many of the prophets who preceded and fol lowed him. The influence of his priestly training and point of view is discernible at every point. Elaborate symbolism and allegory begin to take the place of the direct address. m His sermons come from the study rather than the public forum and reflect the leisure and spirit of i meditation which distinguished the exile from tne strenuous years preceding. These prophecies record, however, the work of a man who was dealing with great and vital problems and who, in his characteristic way, made a profound impression upon his own and especially succeeding generations. § 104 This section, like Is. 6 and Jer. 1, is a general introduction to the prophet's work as a whole and was doubtless written with that aim. It reveals at every point the results of deliberate and careful elaboration. Back of it doubtless lies a deep spiritual experience in the soul of the prophet which marked the beginning of his prophetic ministry. In the light of the historical situation it is possible to ascertain what were some of the external influences which prepared the mind of the prophet for the call which then came to him. As a youth he had listened to the impassioned words of Jeremiah. Ezekiel's experience in the exile confirmed the truth of Jere miah's teachings and made it clear that the great need of the hour was not for form and ritual, but for men to interpret honestly and forcibly the significance of the situation and to shape the faith and hopes of tneir countrymen, and to deliver them from the bondage of the errors which were widely prevalent. It is probable that Ezekiel's sense of personal responsibility and consciousness of a divine call culminated on the definite day which he has indicated at the beginning of his prophecy. a ll The meaning of the thirtieth year is uncertain. Ezekiel's method of reckoning would suggest some event in Chaldean history, possibly the founding of the new Babylonian empire, about 626 B.C. b l1 The river Chebar was, in all probability, the Kabaru Canal, mentioned in some recently discovered inscriptions, coming from the early Persian period. It appears to have been one of the great highways connecting Babylon with the ancient city of Nippur. c l1 In this chapter, as elsewhere, Ezekiel speaks in the first person, but a later scribe, en deavoring to define more exactly the date of Ezikiel's vision, has added the following chron- logical note, in the fifth day of the month, that is, in the fifth year of the captivity of king Jehoachin, the word of Jehovah came to the priest Ezekiel the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the River Chebar. d l3 Following the Gk., Syr., and certain Heb. MSS. Present Heb., attracted by the pre ceding scribal note, reads, to him. 238 EZEKIEL'S VISION [Ezek. I4 4And I looked and behold, a storm wind came from the north, a mighty cloud, surrounded by brightness and shot through with fire,e and out of its midst gleamed something like shining1 metal.g. 5And out of its midst appeared the forms of four living creatures. And this was their appearance : they had the form of a man, 6each had four faces and four wings ; 7their legs were straight11 and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. They shone like polished1 bronze. 8And the hands' of a man were under their wings, on the four sides, and the wings of the four touched each other, and their facesk did not turn as they went ; each went straight forward. 10And this was the form of their faces : all four had in front1 the face of a man ; on the right, the face of a lion ; on the left the face of a bull ; and behind,1 the face of an eagle. uTheir wingsm were separated above, the one from the other; each wing of the pair was joined to its neighbor, while one pair of wings covered the upper part of the body. 12Each went straight forward; whither the spirit impelled him to go, he went, and they turned not as tLey went. 13And in the midst11 of the living creatures was an appearance like glowing coals of fire, like torches,0 and it was moving up and down among the living creatures, and the fire was gleaming, and from the fire went forth lightning. 14And as the living creatures moved to and fro, there was an ap pearance like lightning.p 15And I beheld the living creatures, and lo, a wheels was on the ground In recounting that experience, however, he has evidently sought to impress upon his readers, in concrete, symbolic form, his fundamental conceptions of the character of Jehovah. There is so much of this conscious elaboration in the first chapter of Ezekiel that it is difficult to believe that all the detailed symbolism was a part of the initial vision. It is rather the product of Ezekiel's characteristic methods of teaching. Its prototype is Isaiah's initial vision; but this has been freely modified under the influence of the changed political situation and Ezekiel's contact with the highly developed, symbolic religion of Babylonia. Jehovah is no longer represented as sitting enthroned in his temple at Jerusalem, but on a celestial throne, guarded by four creatures which correspond to the four quarters of the heavens. Hence he is able to come and dwell among the distant exiles, even as of old he had dwelt at Sinai and Jerusalem. The four animals also apparently symbolize different attributes: the eagle, swiftness of flight; the lion, royal majesty; the bull, natural strength; the human figure, knowledge and intelligence. The eyes on the swiftly revolving wheels also suggest divine omniscience; and the splendor of the throne, Jehovah's majesty and omnipotence. The effort thus to teach theology in objective form is exceedingly bold, and no one but a priest-prophet like Ezekiel would have thought of attempt ing it. The result is, necessarily, somewhat artificial and open to criticism, and yet there is little doubt that Ezekiel made, in this way, a deep impression upon his contemporaries, who could learn from picture and symbol what they could never grasp in abstract form. e l4 Following the Gk. and transposing these clauses, which are thus brought into their syntactical and logical order. f l4 The'exact meaning of this word is uncertain. « l4 The Heb. adds what is apparently a scribal gloss, from the midst of the fire. h l7 Following the superior reading of the Gk. and Syr. | l7 Again following the superior reading of the Gk., Syr., and Arab. i l8 The Heb. is clearly corrupt, but certain MSS. nave preserved the original, which is to be followed. k l9 Transferring, and their faces, from this verse, where it is inconsistent, to verse.9, where these words are demanded. The present order is clearly due to a scribal error. 1 l10 Supplying the phrase, in front in the first part of the vs. and, behind, in the latter part, as demanded by the context. The Heb. text is evidently corrupt. Ezekiel's thought was clearly influenced by his familiarity with the colossi or genii, with the bodies and faces of men, or birds, or beasts, which adorned the Babylonian temples. m l11 A scribe has introduced, in the Heb., and their faces, but this phrase is inconsistent with the context, which deals simply with wings. The meaning of this obscure verse seems to be, that the upper pair of wings was distinct from the lower, which covered the body of the living creature. 11 l13 Correcting the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk., Lat. and Arab. ° l13 Possibly this clause is secondary. p l14 Possibly this verse is secondary. q l16 Possibly, with the Syr., this should be read, wheels. The meaning, however, of the verse is clear. Jehovah'sthroneand the four creatures sup portingandguard ing it The wheels whichaccompaniedthecreat ures Ezek. I15] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS beside each of the four living creatures. 16The appearance1 of the wheels was like topaz, — the four had the same form and their construction was as though one wheel were within another. 17They went in whatever direction their four sides faced, ands they did not turn as they went. 18And their felloes — they were high and dreadful* — were full of eyes, on all sides. 19And when the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them; and when the living creatures rose up from the earth, the wheels rose up; ^whither soever the spirit impelled them to go they went;u and the wheels rose up beside them, for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. 21When those moved, these moved, and when those stood still, these stood still, and when those rose up from the earth, the wheels rose up beside them, for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. The 22Andv on the heads of the creatures was a firmament, in appearance like firma- crystal, stretched out above their heads.w ^Under the firmament their wings above were stretchedx out straight, each touching the other, and two covering their wings upper body.y MAnd I heard the sounds of the wings as the sound of many of the waters, like the voice of the Almighty,2 the sound of a tumult, like the sound of jan a multitude ; and when they stood still, they folded their wings. 26Above the firmament, which was over their heads, was something that jeho- resembled sapphire, in the form of a throne, and on the form of the throne was a seated f°rma which resembled a man. 27And I saw something like shining metal, upon which resembled fire, surrounded by brightness. From what seemed his throne loins, above and below, I saw what looked like fire, surrounded by bright ness, 28like the bow which appears in a cloud, on a rainy day; such was the brightness round about. It was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah. The And when I saw, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.15 divine r l16 The Heb. adds, and their construction, but this is omitted in the Gk. as is also, and their appearance, which a scribe has added before and their construction, in the same verse. These glosses well illustrate the tendency of the later scribes to expand the text. ¦ l17 Adding and as do the vss. and certain MSS. * l18 Possibly this clause is secondary. " l20 A scribe has added in the Heb. the repetitious phrase, there was the spirit to go. v jm The verse is introduced by the awkward phrase, and the form. w l22 The Syr. omits this sentence. * l23 Adding, with the Gk., Lat., and Arab., the participle, which is demanded by the context. y V3 Restoring the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk., Lat., Arab., and the context * l24 Possibly the phrase, as the voice of the Almighty, is secondary. » l26 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. b 128 The acCount of Ezekiel's call and commission immediately follows this elaborate introduction. creatures voice 240 THE PROPHET'S COMMISSION [Ezek. 21 § 105. The Prophet's Commission, Ezek. 21-311 Ezek. 2 xThen [Jehovah] said to me, Son of man stand up on thy feet that I may speak with thee. 2And the spirit entered into me, as he spoke to me,c and made me stand upon my feet ; and I heard him who spoke to me. 3And he said to me, Son of man, I am about to send thee to the rebellious house of Israel ;d who have rebelled against me,6 both they and their fathers, even to this day. 4Itf is I who send thee to them that thou shouldst say to them: 'Thus saithg Jehovah.' 5Whethern they will hear or refuse to hear — for they are a rebellious house — they shall learn that a prophet is among them. 6And thou son of man, fear them not nor be dismayed at their words, though briars and thorns are about thee1 and thou dwellest amongi scorpions. Be not afraid of their words nor be dismayed at their looks; for they are a re bellious house.k 7But do thou speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear ; for they are a rebellious house. 8But thou son of man, hear what I say to thee. Be not rebellious like this rebellious house. Open thy mouth and eat what I give thee. 9Then I looked and there was stretched out to me a hand in which there was a roll of a book. 10And he unrolled it before me and it was written within and without ; and in it were written lamentations and mourning and woe. 3 *And he said to me, Son of man,1 eat this roll and go speak to the house of Israel. 2So I opened my mouth and he made me eat the roll. 3And he said to me, Son of man, eat and be filled withm this roll which I give thee. Then I ate it and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. 4And he said to me, Son of man, up, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. 5For thou art not sent to a people of strange speech,11 6nor to many peoples0 whose words thou couldst not understand. Verily, if I sent § 105 This section introduces us to the actual call of the prophet. As with the great prophets who preceded him, it came to him with such definite direct form that he reports it as a direct dialogue between him and Jehovah. He is addressed here, as usual throughout his prophecies, as the son of man. The term is used only by Jehovah and never by the prophet him self. It emphasizes his humanity, and humility in the presence of the Deity. It is equivalent to our expression, finite man, and serves to bring out, by contrast, Jehovah's omnipotence. This peculiar usage of the phrase was apparently introduced by Ezekiel and was followed by the authors of Is. 5112, Ps. 8*, Job. 256. This section well illustratesthe personal characteristics of Ezekiel; his high moral sense, his sternness, and that deep feeling of responsibility for his race as a whole which is still more fully expressed in the next section. His figure of eating the roll containing the divine message is characteristic of the literary age in which he lived and of the emphasis which he and his contemporaries placed upon the written word. c 2s Gk. omits this clause. d 23 So Gk. and Ezekiel's usage elsewhere. E. g., 6 and 31. His phrase is perhaps modelled after the Babylonian, e. g., House of Omri. e 23 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, to the nations that are rebellious. 1 2* Following the Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, and the children are bold and unyielding. * 24 So Gk. Heb. adds, the Lord. So also in 311 and frequently. The longer form probably represents a scribal expansion. * h 25 Again following the Gk. Heb. adds, and they. 1 26 Following the Gk. Heb., with thee. i 2fi So Gk., O. Lat., Syr., and Targ. k 27 So Gk., Syr., and Targ.t and the refrain elsewhere. The Heb. has lost the word, house. 1 3l So Gk., which omits, what thou findest to eat. Gk. is supported by 2, while the Heb. has the characteristics of an expanded text. m 33 Heb. idiom, cause thy stomach to eat. n 35 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, of hard language. A scribe has also added, to the house of Israel. ° 36 So Syr. Heb. adds, repeating the preceding clause in the expanded form, of strange speech and of a hard language. 241 Com mandto stand up Togo andspeak to re bellious Israel To find true joyin re ceiving andpro claiming Je hovah'smes- To de liver thatmes sage courageously in the face of oppo sition Ezek. Z7] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS thee to them, they would hear thee ! 'But the house of Israel will not be will ing to hear thee, for they are not willing to hear me ; for all the house of Israel are bold and unyielding.p 8Behold I make thee as bold and unyielding as they.i "As adamant/ harder than flint, have I made thy face.3 Be not afraid of them neither be dismayed at them. For they are a rebellious house. 10He also said to me, Son of man, all of my words that I shall speak to thee receive in thy mind and hear with thine ears, "and go to the captives, the people of thy race, and speak to them and say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah' whether they hear or refuse to heed. § 106. Ezekiel's Appointment as a Watchman, 312M Mission Ezek. 3 "^Then the spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me the sound of t0'iese great rustling,* as the Glory of Jehovah rose11 from its place; and "the sound at Tel- of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and the sound of the wheels, beside them, even the sound of a greatv rustling. "So the spirit lifted me up and took me away and I wentw in great excitement,x for the hand of Je hovah was strong upon me. 15Then I came to the captives at Tel-abib who dwelt by the canal Chebar/ and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days. Nature At the endz of seven days this word of Jehovah came to me : 17Son of man, extent ^ make thee a watchman to the house of Israel. When thou hearest a word of his from my mouth, thou shalt warn them from me. 18When I say to the wicked, sfbility 'Thou shalt surely die,' then if thou speak not to the wicked to warn hima from his wicked way, so as to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 19But if thou warn a wicked man and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity. But thou hast saved thyself. 20Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does wrong, and I lay a stumbling- block before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning he shall die in his sin, forb the righteous deeds which he hath done shall not be remembered ; but his blood will I require at thy hand. 21But if thou warn0 the righteous man not to sin and he doth not sin, the righteous man shall surely hve, because he took warning; and thou hast saved thyself. p 37 Heb. idiom, of a hard forehead and a stiff heart. q 38 Lit., thy face hard against their face, ana thy forehead hard against their forehead. r 39 Or, diamond. • 3' Lit., forehead. 1 312 Or. rumbling as of an earthquake. u 312 Slightly correcting an obviously corrupt text. Cf. IO4. v 312 The Gk. omits, great. Possibly this last clause is secondary. w 314 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., probably by mistake, bitterly, but this is not supported by the context. 1 3l4 Lit., in the heat of my spirit. y 315 So Syr. In the Heb. an awkward repetition is found, and to where they were dwelling. • 3'6 So Syr. a 318 Following the Syr. The Heb. is verbose and repetitious. * 3M So Gk. and O. Lat. c 321 So Gk., Syr., and O. Lat. Heb. also repeats, righteous. 242 PERIOD OF SILENCE [Ezek. 322 § 107. The Prophet's Period of Silence, Ezek. 322"27 Ezek. 3 22And the hand of Jehovah was upon med and he said to me, The Arise, go forth into the valley and there I will speak with thee. ^Then I ^?Yon arose and went forth into the valley ; and lo, there the Glory of Jehovah was of Je- standing, like the Glory that I saw by the River Chebar. And I fell on my face. MAnd the spirit entered me and set me on my feet. And he spoke with me Com- and said to me, Enter in, shut thyself up within thy house. ^And as for thee, {£and O son of man, P will put bonds upon thee and bind thee therewith, and thou cease shalt not go forth among them. 26And I will cause thy tongue to cleave to the eaymg roof of thy mouth/ and thou shall be dumb, and thou shalt not be a reprover J°ma to them, for they are a rebellious house. 27But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth and thou shalt say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah.' Let him hear and let him forbear to hear who will, for they are a rebellious house. § 108. Symbolic Representations of the Fate Awaiting Jerusalem, Ezek. 4x-517 Ezek. 4 *Do thou also, son of man, take a tile, and set it before thee, and p0r- portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem; 2and lay siege against it, and build a *™^ siege wall against it, and throw up a mound against it ; pitch camps also against siege of it, and plant battering rams about it. 3And take thou an iron plate, and set it salem § 107 This section constitutes the general introduction to the succeeding group of proph ecies regarding the coming destruction of Jerusalem. For the next six years, until the news came of Jerusalem's fall, Ezekiel does not.appear to have spoken in public, but rather to have sent out his prophecies in the form of written tracts, or else to have taught in private those who, like the elders (8l)> (14l). (20l), visited him in his own house. His silence was apparently due to the fact that he appreciated the unwillingness and incapacity of the people at this time to receive his message. Not until the final destruction of Jerusalem confirmed the truth of his words were the majority ready to listen to his prophetic counsels. d S22 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb., there. e S25 Heb., they, but the context indicates that the original read as above. ' S26 Lit., palate. § 108 The question has often been raised whether the symbolic actions here described were really imaginary or allegorical, or whether they were actually carried out as object lessons before the eyes of the people. In the western world of to-day such action would be regarded as mere sensationalism. Ezekiel, however, was an oriental and a priest, taught from his youth to represent truth in a symbolic form. He also lived among a people who, like children, were keenly appreciative of this method of teaching. From his other prophecies it is clear that he constantly employed objective symbols. Dramatic action was the most striking characteristic of Ezekiel's methods of teaching. With him it was not sensationalism, for it was perfectly natural and spontaneous. It is also difficult to see what these symbolic acts would have meant if they had been pre sented simply as allegories or imaginary signs. Their strangeness and the difficulty of carrying them out, which has often been urged against their literal interpretation, only made them the more impressive. Even though their teachings were intended ultimately for the Jews in Pales tine, Ezekiel would have accomplished his end by impressing them upon the minds of his fellow- exiles, for they were in close communication with their kinsmen in Judah. It is also difficult to see how the prophet could stand up before his people and declare that he had received definite commands to perform certain acts and then fail to carry out these commands. Ezekiel ever figures as a prophet who stood ready to follow implicitly, at whatever cost, the divine direction. It takes little imagination to picture him in the presence of his people, with one of the soft clay tablets on which the Babylonians not only inscribed their writing, but drew maps of their cities and lands and portrayed their warlike and other achievements, and on this sketching the siege of Jerusalem and at the same time interpreting to the wondering Jews the meaning of his pictorial sermon. It was more difficult to carry out the second symbol, and yet there is every reason to believe that the prophet found a method by which to make this symbol objective and impressive. The last symbol was equally strange, but its strangeness was a part of Ezekiel's method as a teacher. He realized, as did the other prophets, that to teach he must first attract the attention of those to be taught, and that to make a deep and lasting impression he must 243 Ezek. 43] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS for a wall of iron between thee and the city : and set thy face toward it and so it shall be in a state of siege, and thou shalt lay a siege against it ; and this is a sign to the house of Israel. Sign 4And do thou lie upon thy left side, and bearg the iniquity of the house of th!' Israel. According11 to the number of days thou liest on it thou shalt bear throw their miqmties- 5I assign thee for the years of their iniquity a fixed number of Jeru- of days, one hundred and ninety1 days. Thus thou shalt bear the iniquity of was'to the house of Israel. 6And when thou hast completed these, thou shalt lie on last a ^ thy right side.J and bear the guilt of the house of Judah forty days, a day for a tion yeark I assign1 thee. 7And thou shalt turn thy face and thy bared arm toward the siege of Jerusalem, and prophesy against her. 8See, I put bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn from one side to the other until thou hast finished the days of thy siege. Sym- 9Do thou also take for thyself wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, the ° and millet and spelt, and put them in a vessel, and make bread for thyself coming 0f them. Thou shalt eat of it the number of the days that thou liest on and thy side [one hundred and ninety days]. 10Thou shalt eat thy food™ by afpol" weight, twenty shekels a day; at fixed intervals shalt thou eat it. 12Thou lution shalt eat it in the form of barley cakes, and bake11 it in their presence on human dung. uThou shalt drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; thou shalt drink it at fixed intervals. 13And Jehovah said, Thus shall the Israelites eat their food unclean among the nations, whither I shall drive them. "And I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah, from my youth until now I have never been defiled, nor have I eaten what died of itself, or was torn by beasts, nor hath abominable flesh entered my mouth. 15Then he said to me, See, I allow thee to use cow's dung instead of human dung ; on it thou mayest prepare thy food. 16He also said to me, Son of man, I am about to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and in terror, and drink water by measure and in dismay, "that, lacking bread and water, each man may be filled with dismay and waste away because of his iniquity. Of the 5 *And do thou, son of man, take a short sword and use it as° a barber's terelm- razor, and pass it over thy head and beard. Then take the balances and di- pend- vj(je the hair.p 2A third part burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are complete ; and take a third part and smite with the sword round about the city ;q and a third part scatter to the wind.r 3But take a few depart widely from the ordinary types of expression. This was especially necessary because the truth that he was trying to impart was not only unacceptable to his hearers but also com paratively commonplace. In plain words his message was simply that if Zedekiah and his followers rebelled against Nebuchadrezzar they would pay the penalty through conquest and exile. The present section, therefore, well illustrates the fact that Ezekiel's originality was not in his message but in the manner in which he delivered it. k 44 Correcting the corrupt Heb. by aid of the parallel context. h 4« So Gk. 1 45 So Gk and also in vs. 9. Heb., three hundred. i 46 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, again. k 46 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. repeats this clause by mistake. 1 4« So Gk., Syr., and Lat. » 4>» So Gk. Heb. adds, which. ¦> 4« So Gk. and Lat. 0 51 So Syr. and Lat. Heb. omits, as. p 51 Heb., them. The reference is to the hair cut off by the sword. q 52 Heb., it. The antecedent, the city, has been supplied in the translation. r 52 The Heb. adds, and I will pursue them with the sword, but this anticipates the applica tion found in the latter part of the chapter. 244 REPRESENTATIONS OF JERUSALEM'S FATE [Ezek. 54 of them and wrap them up in thy skirts; *and of these again take some and burn them in the fire.s 5Then thou shalt say to all the house of Israel, ' Thus saith Jehovah :' Jeru- " This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst" of the nations and countries ^fJJi 8 round about her. "But she hath rebelled against mine ordinances more but wickedly than the nations ; and against my statutes more than the countries de- round about her. For they rejected mine ordinances and have not walked in H™ my statutes." 'Therefore thus saith Jehovah :v " Because ye have been more rebellious" than the nations round about you, in that ye have not walked in my statutes nor kept my ordinances ; but havex done according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about you," therefore thus saith the Lord Je hovah, " behold I also am against thee and will execute judgment against thee in the sight of the nations. 9And I will do in thee that which I have not done and the like of which I will not do again, because of all thine abominations. "There fore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgment on thee, and I will scatter the whole remnant of thee to every wind. "Therefore, as I live," is the oracle of Jehovah,y "because2 thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all my detestable things and with all thine abominations, I will also drive thee away. And mine eye shall not spare and I also will defile thee. 12A third part of these shall die by the pestilence and perish with famine in the midst of thee, and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee, and a third part I will scatter to every wind and pursue with the sword. ^hus will mine anger be vented, and I will appease my fury on them,a and Calam- theyb shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken in mine indignation, when I ^wait- have vented mine anger on them. I4And I will make thee a desolation0 ing the among the nations which are about thee, in the eyes of every passer by. 15 And thou shalt bed an object of scorn and derision, of instruction and dis may to the nations6 which are round about thee, when I execute judgments upon thee in anger and fury and in my wrathful' rebukes, I, Jehovah, have promised. 16When I send against you8 mine evil arrows,11 which shall destroy you,1 I will send famine upon you and break your staff of lifeJ 17And I will 8 54 Heb. adds, from them shaU go forth a fire, again anticipating the later application. The Gk., which supplies the necessary verb, has been followed. « 5s So Gk. Heb. adds. Lord. u o5 The Hebrews, like most ancient peoples, regarded their chief city as the centre of the world. v 57 So Gk. w 57 Slightly revising the Heb. * 57 A scribe has added by mistake, in the Heb., not, which clearly obscures the prophet's meaning. y 511 So Gk. * 5U So Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. The Heb. is evidently corrupt. a 513 So Gk. Heb. adds, probably as the result of dittography, and be content. b 513 Gk., thou shalt know. 0 514 So Gk. Heb. adds, an object of reproach. * S15 So the VSS. Heb., it shall be. e 515 The Gk. has here a shorter version, which is perhaps original, for the Heb. shows signs of scribal expansion. ' 515 So Gk. and Syr. g 516 Slightly correcting the Heb., as the context demands. h 516 Famine has here been added by a scribe familiar with the subsequent context. 1 516 So Gk. In the Heb. this clause has been repeated with slight variation. j 518 Lit., staff of bread. 245 EZEKIEL'S SERMONS send upon you famine and evil beasts, and theyk shall bereave you, and pesti lence and bloodshed1 shall pass through you, and I will bring a sword upon you; I, Jehovah, have said it.' »» 5 ancein exile § 109. The Judgment upon Guilty Judah, Ezek. 6 Con- Ezek. 6 xThis word of Jehovah also came to me : 2Son of man, set thy ^jf* face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, and say, devas- 'O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah: "Thus saith the Lord Je hovah to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys : Behold, I am about to bring the sword against you and I will destroy your high places, 4and your altars shall be shattered, and your sun pillars broken in pieces, and I will cause your slain to fall before your idols, 5andm I will scatter your bones about your altars. 6In all your dwelling places cities shall be laid waste, and the high places desolate, so that your altars shall be waste11 and desolate,0 ' and your idols shall be broken in pieces, and your sun pillars hewn down ;p 7and the slain shall fall in your midst, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Re. 8And when there shall be among the nations some of you who have escaped pent- the sword, when ye are dispersed in the lands; 9then ye who have escaped will remember me among the nations whither ye are carried captive. I will crush the hearts of those who have adulterously turned from me, and the eyes which have adulterously turned after their idols, and they shall loathe themselves for the wicked things which they have done, for all their abomination. 10And they shall know that I, Jehovah, have not vainly said that I would do them this evil." * Punish- "Thus saith Jehovah, Clap thy hands and stamp thy feet and say, ' Woe, ment of woeq because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel/ because deep- with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence shall they fall. 12He who is corrup- far off shall die by pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, s and tlon he who is besieged shall die by famine ; thus, I will vent my fury upon them. 13And they* shall know that I am Jehovah, when their slain lie in the midst of their idols on every high hill, on every mountain top, and under every green tree, and under every leaf-clad terebinth, where they have offered sweet savor to all their idols. "And I will stretch out my hand against them to make the land waste and desolate from the wilderness to Riblah,u in all their dwelling places; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.' k 517 Gk., I will bereave. ' 5" Lit., blood. § 109 The preceding section dealt with the sins of Jerusalem, but the present deals with those of Judah as a whole, and especially of the outlying towns. Ezekiel, like the authors of Dt., completely condemned the worship at the local shrines, and denounced in detail the corrupt practices which flourished at the local high places. The stern, rigorous spirit of the prophet is well illustrated in the present passage. m 6s So Gk. A scribe has expanded the Heb. text by adding the repetitious, incongruous gloss, and I will put the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols. This and the following verses through " contain so many repetitions that it is possible that they are the work of a later scribe who wished to heighten still further Ezekiel's picture of doom. n 66 So Syr., Lat., Targ., and Sym. Gk. omits. 0 66 So Gk. Heb adds another verb, which is probably due to dittography. p 66 So Gk. The Heb. adds, and your work shall be blotted out. q 6U So Gk., Arab., and Aquila, which repeat the exclamation. ' 611 So Gk. Heb. adds, which. 8 612 So Gk. Heb. adds, and the remnant. * 613 So Syr. Heb., ye shall know. u 6U Correcting a common error in the Heb. 246 JERUSALEM'S GUILT AND PUNISHMENT [Ezek. 81 § 110. Jerusalem's Guilt and Punishment, Ezek. 81-!!12 Ezek. 8 *In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of Jehovahv fell upon me. ^hen I beheld and there was a form like that of a man ;w f romx that which appeared to be his loins downward, fire ; and from his loins upward, like something shining, as the gleam of glowing metal. 3And he stretched forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair ; and the spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the entrance of the northern gate way of the inner court, where stood the image of jealousy, which provokes his jealousy .y 4And there was the glory of the God of Israel, like that which I saw in the plain. ^hen said he to me, O man, lift up thine eyes toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes toward the north, and there at the north of the gate of the altar was that image which provokes jealousy.15 6And he said to me, O man, seest thoua what they are doing ?b the great abominations which they0 are doing here, so that P must go far off from my sanctuary ? yet thou shalt see still greater abominations. 7And he brought me to the door of the court; and I saw, and there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, O man, dig now in the wall ; and when I had digged into the wall, there was a door.e 9And he said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they are practicing here. 10So I went in and saw ; and behold, every form of reptile, and all the idols of the house of Israel were portrayed on the wall round about. uAnd seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel withf Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, were stand- Ezekiel carried in a vision to Je rusalem The abom inableimage Secret heathen prac tices § 110 This section is important because it reveals the significant place Ezekiel occupied among the exiles. The presence of the elders, who represented the Balbylonian exiles, in the prophet's home is probably to be explained by the fact that they were wont to consult him upon important questions. The supreme question ever in their minds was the future of Judah and Jerusalem. As the prophet meditated upon the problem, a vivid vision of the heathen cults which were practised in Jerusalem rose before him. This vision was probably based in part upon his own memories of conditions in Jerusalem, and in Dart upon the reports which had been brought to him from time to time. He reviews in detail the different types of heathenism which had survived in the days of Manasseh and Jehoiakim. By the north gate he saw in his vision what was probably an asherah or sacred pole, a remnant of the old Canaanite religion. In another quarter of the temple he beheld some of the elders practising certain rites of a mystery cult probably derived from Egypt. Elsewhere the women were weeping for Tammuz, a Baby lonian god whose worship had come in through Assyrian influence. He appears to have been the god of the spring vegetation which perished about the first of July. Hence the Babylonian month of June-July was^ called Tammuz. The rite seems to have consisted in pouring out libations and of lamentations uttered by the mourning women. It was undoubtedly related to the corresponding Greek worship^ of Adonis. Moreover, Ezekiel saw others worshipping the sun, probably under Babylonian influence. With these abominations, practised openly in the very temple of Jehovah, Ezekiel could find no justification or hope of divine deliverance. Hence he could see only doom awaiting the guilty city. v 81 So Gk. Heb. adds, Lord, as elsewhere. w 82 So Gk. Heb., fire. x 82 So Gk. and revised Heb. y 83 This last clause is omitted in Gk. and Syr., and was possibly added in the He"b. by a scribe who had in mind 6. *¦ 85 So Gk. Heb. adds, at the entrance. a 86 So Gk. and Syr. and the demands of the context b 86 So marginal reading of the Heb. c 86 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb., the house of Israel. d 86 Slightly correcting the Heb. as the context requires. o g7b This sentence is not found in the Gk. and may be secondary. f 811 So Gk. Heb. adds, standing. 247 Ezek. 8u] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS ing before them, each with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense was ascending. 12Then said he to me, Son of man, dost thou see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in secret,8 each in his cham ber? for they think, 'Jehovah doth not see us; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.' 13He also said to me, Thou shalt see still greater abominations which they do. Tam- "Then he brought me to the door of the north gate of Jehovah's house; ™z_ and behold, there sat women1 weeping for Tammuz. 15Then said he to ship me, Seest thou, O man ? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these. Sun 16And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah's house; and behold, SSp at the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and with their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping1 the sun, in' the east. "Then he said to me, Seest thou, O man ? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to practice the abominations which they commit here ? but they must fill the land with violence and turn again to provoke me to anger ? and now they are sending a stench to myk nostrils. 18Therefore will I also act in wrath ; I will show no compassion, neither will I have pity.1 The 9 'Then he cried loudly in my ears, saying, Draw near, ye who have execvT- charge over the city,m each with his weapon of destruction in his hand. tioners thereupon, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, that faces moned northward, each with his weapon of slaughter in his hand ; and in the midst of them a man clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn at his side. And they went in, and stood before the bronze altar. Preser- 3Now the Glory of the God of Israel had ascended" from the cherubim0 on ofthe which it rested, to the threshold of the temple, and he called to the man clothed faithful in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side, 4and said to him, Go through the cityp and put a mark upon the foreheads of the men, who sigh and lament over the abominations that are done in its midst. Slaujrh- 5And to the others he said in my hearing, Go through the city after him, j|g°£ and smite; show no compassion neither have pity; 6slay utterly old men, guilty young men, and virgins, little children and women ; but touch no man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. 7And he said to them, Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain : go forth and slay in the city.q 8And while they were smiting,1 1 fell upon my face and cried out, Ah, Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all that remains of Israel when thou pourest out thy wrath upon Jerusalem ? k 812 Gk. omits, in secret, lit., in darkness. 11 8lf So Gk. Heb., the women. ' 8>6 So fourteen Heb. MSS. i 8» So Gk. k 817 So the Jewish interpreters. 1 81B So Gk. The Heb. adds, and though they cry loudly in my ears I will not hear them. m 9l Restoring with the aid of the Gk. - 9s So Gk., Syr., and Arab. • 93 So Gk. Heb., cherub. p 94 A scribe has apparently added in the Heb., through Jerusalem. q 97 Restoring, with the aid of the Syr. and Gk., what seems to have been the original. 1 9s So Gk. Heb. adds, and I was left by myself. wheelssym- JERUSALEM'S GUILT AND PUNISHMENT [Ezek. 99 9Then he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel is exceedingly great, Their and the land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice,3 for they think that *"'_' Jehovah hath forsaken the land so that Jehovah doth not see. "And as for eludes me also, I will show no compassion, neither will I have pity, but I will bring the consequences of their acts upon their own head. "And behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported, I have done as thou hast commanded me. 10 ^hen* he said to the man clothed in Iinen,u Go in between the whirling Com- wheels, whichv are under the cherubim, and fill both thy hands with coals of ^an fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And in my J™™ sight he went in. 3Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the city temple, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4And the glory of Jehovah ascended from the cherubimw to the threshold of the temple; and the temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah. 5And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaketh. And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7And hex stretched forth his handy to the fire that was between the cherubim3 and took some and went out. 8And there appeared on the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their The wings. 9And I looked,3, and behold, four wheels beside each cherubim ; and the appearance of the wheels was like that of a topaz. 10And as for their ap- bols pearance, the four had the same form, as if a wheel had been within a wheel, divine When they went, they went in whatever direction the four sides faced ; they f^'ana turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked, they fol lowed it, not turning as they went. Andb the felloes'3 and spokes of the four wheels were full of eyes round about. 13As for the wheels,*1 in my hearing they were called, the whirling wheels. e 15And the cherubim mounted up; these are the living creatures that I saw by the River Chebar. 16And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim spread their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not leave their side. "When they stood still, these stood still ; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them ; for the spirit of the living creatures was in them. • 9« So Gk. * 102 The first vs. of this chapter is but a repetition of l26. It also breaks the connection between 9U and IO2 and is evidently an addition by later scribes. u IO2 So Gk. Heb. repeats, and said. y IO2 So Gk., Lat., and Arab. Heb. omits the relative. " 10< So Gk. Heb., cherub. * 107 So Gk. Heb., the cherub, but this is not in harmony with the command of 6. y 107 So Gk. Heb. adds, from between the cherubim. * 107 The scribe who made, the cherub, the subject of this sentence has added, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen. a 109-17 These vss. are little more than a repetition of the corresponding vss. in the account of Ezekiel's vision, l1&-al, and may have been inserted by a later scribe. The repetition, how ever, is in keeping with Ezekiel's method and literary style. b 1012 So Gk. Heb. adds, and their entire body. c 1012 Restoring the vs. as the context requires. d io13 This vs. may be secondary. 0 1013 A scribe has apparently added the following, based on l10, And every one had four faces; the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 249 insight Ezek. IO18] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS The livingcreat ures the cherubim The con spira tors at Jerusalem Inevi table conse quences of their folly 18 And the Glory of Jehovah went forth from over the threshold of the temple/ and stood over the cherubim. "And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight as when they went forth, the wheels being beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah's house ; and over them was the Glory of the God of Israel. 2 These areg living creatures that I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar; and I knew they were cherubim. 21Each one had four faces and four wings ; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the River Chebar — h as for them,1 they went every one straight forward. 11 'Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the house of Jehovah ;J and there, at the door of the gate, were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Bena- iah, princes of the people. 2And he said to me, O man, these are the men who are devising iniquity, and counselling evil in this city, who are saying, ' Have not the houses recently been rebuilt ? this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh.' 4Theref ore prophesy against them ; prophesy, O man. 5And the spirit of Jehovah fell upon me, and he said to me, Say, Thus saith Jehovah : ' So ye say, O house of Israel ; for I know the things that come into your mind. eYe have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled its streets with the slain. 'Therefore thus saith Jehovah :k "Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron ; but you will I bring out of the midst of it. 8Ye fear the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you," saith Jehovah. 9" And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments upon you. 10Ye shall fall by the sword ; I will judge you on the border of Israel ; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. "This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel; 12and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither have ye executed my decisions, but have acted according to the decisions of the nations that are round about you.'" Eze kiel's prayer Jehovah'sassur ance that the exiles shall be broughtback § 111. Promise of Restoration to the Faithful Exiles, Ezek. ll1325 Ezek. 11 13Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! wilt thou make an end of the remnant of Israel ? 14Thereupon this word of Jehovah came to me, 15Son of man, thy kinsmen1 ( 1018 Gk. simply, from the temple. * 10M Lit., this is. h IO22 So Gk. Heb. adds, their appearances^ 1 IO22 So Gk. and Targ. i ll1 So Gk. and Lat. The Heb. adds, tautologically, which faces the east. k ll7 So Gk. So also in «. § 111 This short section is the immediate sequel of preceding and presents the brighter contrast to the doom which awaited the guilty people of Judah. Ezekiel, like Jeremiah firmly believed in the ultimate restoration of his exiled people. Here he suggests the ultimate basis of his hope; it was because he believed that the discipline of the exile would under divine influence transform the heart of the scattered people so they would be willing to do the divine will and therefore worthy of the blessings which Jehovah was eager to confer upon them 1 ll15 So five Heb. MSS., Gk., O. Lat., and Arab. 250 PROMISE OF RESTORATION [Ezek. ll15 thy fellow-exiles,m and all the house of Israel, all of them, of whom the in habitants of Jerusalem say : ' You are far from Jehovah ; to us this land is given as a possession.' 16Therefore say, 'Thus saith Jehovah:11 "True I have re moved them far off among the nations, and scattered them over the lands, yet will I be their sanctuary for a little while in the countries whither they have gone."' "Therefore say, Thus saith Jehovah: 'I will gather them from the peoples, and assemble them from the countries where they have been scat tered, and I will give them the land of Israel. "And they shall go thither, and shall take away all its detestable and abominable things. "And I will give them another heart, and I will put a new spirit into them ; and I will take the stony heart out of their breast and give them a heart of flesh, 20that they may follow my statutes, and keep mine ordinances and do them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21But as for those who are de voted to their detestable things and their abominations, I will visit the conse quences of their deeds upon their own heads," ' is Jehovah's oracle.0 22Then the cherubim spread their wings and the wheels were beside them Jeho- and the Glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23The Glory of Jehovah depart- ascended from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain on the east of ure the city. "And the spirit lifted me up and brought me to the land of the Jeru- Chaldeans to the captives, in a vision by the spirit of God. And the vision salem which I saw departed from me. KAnd I told the captives all the words that Jehovah had shown me. § 112. Jehovah's Past Dealings with His People, Ezek. 20144 Ezek. 20 'Now in the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, jeho- certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and sat before me. vahj* * prom- vThen this word of Jehovah came to me : Son of man, speak to the elders of ises and Israel, and say to them, 'Thus saith Jehovahp: " Have ye come to consult me ? mands As I live, saith Jehovah," I will not be consulted by you." ' *Wilt thou judge j°rael.g them, son of man, wilt thou judge them ? Cause them to know the abomina- early tion of their fathers ; 5and say to them, ' Thus saith Jehovah : " In the day when " ory I chose Israel, and swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them, in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Jehovah, your God ; 6in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had giveni them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands. 7And I said to them, Cast ye away every man m ll15 So Gk. and the corrected Heb. ° ll16 So Gk. o 1121 Possibly this vs. is secondary. § 112 Ezekiel's object is to show that the tendency toward and the practice of idolatry among his fellow-countrymen are but the inheritance from the past and. to point out the evil consequences of these crimes. In his view of the past he isstrongly influenced by the book of Dt. He also judges the acts of the ancient. Israelites according to the statutes and ordinances of Dt. and assumes the early existence of laws which were first formulated in the later prophetic period. In this respect also Ezekiel is the forerunner of later Judaism. His estimates of the sins of his forefathers is much more severe than that of earlier prophets, like Hosea. Cf . Hos. 215. In general, he follows a distinct tradition and at many points interprets the early events from his own peculiar point of view. ¦> 202 So Gk. Heb. adds, Lord, as also in *• «• ">• «. "• 3». «»¦ «. 1 20° So Gk. and Syr. Heb., searched out. 251 wilder ness Ezek. 207] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS the abominations of his eyes/ and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Jehovah your God.'" Sins of 8But they rebelled against me, and would not hear me; they did not cast People awav the abominations of their eyes, nor forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I fvekr"d said I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish mine anger against byje- them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9But I acted for my name's sake,8 hovah lest it should be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I had made myself known to them, in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. In the "So I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. "And I gave them my statutes, and showed them mine ordi nances, which if a man do he shall live thereby. "Moreover I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them,* that they might know that it is I, Jehovah, who sanctifieth them. 13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man keep he shall live thereby ; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness to consume them. "But I acted for my name's sake, lest it should be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. 15Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands; "because they had rejected mine ordinances, and walked not in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. "Nevertheless mine eye spared them, and I destroyed them not, neither did I completely destroy them in the wilderness. Per- "And I said to the children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of ?doie-nt vour fathers, nor observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their atrJ idols. "I am Jehovah your God ; walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordi- rebel- nances, and do them ; 20and keep my sabbaths ; and they shall be a sign be- Uon tween me and you, that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God. 21But the children rebelled against me; they walked not in my statutes, neither kept mine ordinances to do them, which if a man do he shall live thereby; they profaned my sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish mine anger against them in the wilderness. 22Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and acted for my name's sake, lest it should be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth. ^Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the na tions, and disperse them through the countries, "because they had not exe cuted mine ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my sabbaths, and because their eyes were turned toward the idols of their fathers.11 25Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances wherein they should not live ; 26and I defiled them by their own gifts, through r 207 /. e., idols and the corrupt practices connected with their worship. a 20u /: e., so as to maintain his reputation. t 2012 Ezekiel held the conception of the sabbath peculiar to later Judaism. For the history of the sabbath, cf. Vol. iv, § § 210, 217. u 2023' M Cf. Dt. 5-11, the later conception of the early history. 252 JEHOVAH'S PAST DEALINGS [Ezek. 2020 causing all their first-born to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, so that they might know that I am Jehovah. "Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ypbr- 'Thus saith Jehovah: "In this also have your fathers blasphemed me, com- sh'P, mitting a trespass against me. 28For when I had brought them into the land, high which I swore to give to them, and whenever they saw any high hill, or leafy Pfaces tree, they offered there their sacrifice, and therev they presented their sweet Canaan savor, and they poured out there their libations. 29Then I said to them,w What meaneth the high place to which ye go ? So it has been called a high place to this day."' 30Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus saith Jehovah : " Do ye defile Rejec- yourselves after the manner of your fathers,x play the harlot after their abomi- I^11 °f nations, 31and defile yourselves with all your idols by offering your gifts, by bellious making your sons to pass through the fire, even to this day ? and shall I be peop e consulted by you, O house of Israel ? As I live," saith Jehovah, " I will not be consulted by you ; 32and that which cometh into your mind shall not be, in that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone."' 331 As I live,' saith Jehovah, 'surely with a mighty hand and with an out- Jeho- stretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you ; 34and I Judge0 will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the lands th? wherein you are scattered, with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out ; ^and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. 36Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you,'y saith Jehovah. 37'And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you by tale f 38and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who transgress against me ; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.' 39As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith Jehovah : 'Go, let every man serve Resto- his idols ! But afterwards ye shall surely hear me ; no more profane my holy and°n name with your gifts and with your idols ; 40but on my holy mountain,' saith r??°n- Jehovah, 'there shall all the house of Israel, all of them serve me ;a there will tion for I accept them and there will I require your offerings and the chief of your faithful obligations with all your consecrated things. 41Your sweet savors will I accept,*3 exiles when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered and through you my holiness will be made evident in the sight of the nations. ^And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to ? 2028 So Gk. Heb. has a conflate reading. w 2029 Possibly this vs. is secondary. * 2030 J. e., thus show their infidelity to Jehovah. y 2035 I. e., bring charges against. ' 2037 So Gk., supported by the context. Heb., into the bond of the covenant, is obscure. The idea of the original evidently was that the restored exiles were to be sifted by being brought under the rod as a shepherd separates certain of his flock from the others. a 2040 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, in the land. b 20" Heb., in sweet savor will I accept you. 253 Ezek. 2042] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS give to your fathers. 43And there ye shall remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have defiled yourselves ; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evil deeds that ye have committed. "And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have dealt with you for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel,' saith Jehovah. § 113. The Certain Exile of King and People, Ezek. 121"20 Com- Ezek. 12 *And this word of Jehovah came to me, 2Son of man, thou art torep- dwelling in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see, but they see resent no). . ears t0 hear, but they hear not ; for they are a rebellious house. 3And do flight thou, O son of man, prepare by day in their presence goods for removal ;c and tivesgl remove from thy place to another place in their presence. Perhaps they may perceive although they are a rebellious house. 4Bring out thy goods by day in their presence as though for removal, and do thou go forth in the evening in their presence, as one who goes forth into exile. 5In their presence dig through the walld and go out8 through it. 6In their presence take up thy goods1 upon thy back. Go forth8 in the dark, covering thy face, so that thou wilt not see the land ; for I have appointed thee as a sign to the house of Israel. The 7Then I did as I was commanded. I brought out my goods by day, as tJomJ though they were goods for removal, and in the evening I dug through the act wallh and before their eyes I went forth in the dark, bearing them on my back. Appli- 8And this word of Jehovah came to me in the morning, 9Son of man, hath to the not the rebellious house of Israel said to thee : 'What art thou doing' ? "Say Zede-£ t0 them: 'Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: "This burden concerns the prince in kiah Jerusalem and all the house of Israel, who are in her midst." "Say: ' I am a fltHl his people sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile ahd captivity ^and the prince who is in their midst shall bear a burden on1 his back. He shall go forth' in the dark. He shall dig through the wall and go out through it with covered face, so that he shall not see the land; 13and I will cast my net over him and he shall be taken in my snare ; and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans ; and he shall not see it,k and there shall he die "And all who are about him, his supporters, and all his troops, § 113 The event recorded in this section must evidently be dated about 588 B.C., when the news came that Zedekiah and his followers were yielding to the solicitations of the neignboring Beoples and were on the point of rebelling or had already rebelled against Nebuchadrezzar. f. Introd., § 102. Ezekiel's method of declaring that this act would result only in disaster was most impressive. There is little doubt that the object lesson here described was carried out in minute detail. Nothing could have aroused the curiosity of the people to a higher pitch than the prophet's strange procedure. When the minds of his hearers had been thus prepared, Ezekial proclaimed his message with rare effectiveness. c 123 So Gk. Heb. adds, and go forth as an exile. d 125 Probably the wall of soft clay which encircled the towns of southern Babylonia. • 12* go the vss. f 126 Supplying the object implied by the context. b 12= So Gk., Syr., and Targ. h 127 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, by hand. i 12'2 So Gk. ' 1212 So Gk., Syr., Targ., and Lat. Heb. introduces, and, before the verb. k 1212 So Syr. Heb. adds, with his eyes. 254 EXILE OF KING AND PEOPLE [Ezek. 1214 will I scatter to every wind, and pursue them with the sword. 16And they shall learn that I am Jehovah when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries. "And I will save a few of them from the sword, from famine and from pestilence, that they may recount all their abominations among the nations whither they shall go, and that they may know that I, indeed, am Jehovah.' "Then this word of Jehovah came to me: "Son of man, Eat thy bread with Sym- quaking and drink thy water with trembling and apprehension. And say to con. the people of this land: "'Thus saith Jehovah concerning the inhabitants of ^^*T Jerusalem in the land of Israel: " They shall eat their bread with apprehension and drink their water with dismay; that the land may be shorn of all that is therein because of the violence of all its inhabitants, 20and that the inhabited cities may be laid waste and the land become a desolation. Thus shall ye learn that I am Jehovah." ' § 114. Condemnation of the False Prophets, Ezek. 122I-1323 Ezek. 12 21This word of Jehovah came to me, 22Son of man, what is this Refutal proverb which ye have in the land of Israel : ' The days go by and every vision p0pUfar faileth.' therefore say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah:1 "I will make this scepti- CIS 111 proverb cease, and they shall no longer use it as a proverb in Israel." But say to them: "The days are at hand and the fulfilment of every vision. MFor there shall be no longer any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ^For I, Jehovah, will speak a word, and that word which I shall speak shall be performed and it shall be no longer delayed. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a word and perform it," is the oracle of Jehovah.' 28This word of Jehovah also came to me, 27Son of man, behold the house of Israel are saying: 'The vision which he utters is for many days to come, and he prophesies for times that are far off.' 28Therefore say to them : ' Thus saith Jehovah : " None of my words shall be longer delayed, for I speak a word and it shall be performed," is the oracle of Jehovah.' 13 'Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me, 2Son of man, prophesy rjnder- against™ the prophets of Israel. Prophesy and say to them :n ' Hear the word j™^"8 of Jehovah : 3" Thus saith Jehovah : Woe to the foolish prophets who prophesy ence according to their own mind0 and to what they have not seen. 4Like jackals popular on the ruins are thy prophets, O Israel. 5Ye have not gone up into the P™ph" breaches, nor built up a wall for the house of Israel, that ye may stand up in battle in the day of Jehovah. 'They see false visions and divinep lies, saying, The oracle of Jehovah, when Jehovah hath not sent them. And they await § 114 Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, during the same period, turned with strong invective upon the false prophets and condemned them because they were encouraging the people in the fatal rebel lion against Babylon. Cf. § 101. He recognized that they were archtraitors to the nation as well as to the God in whose name they spoke. In the same way he condemned the women of Judah, who trusted and encouraged their husbands to trust in heathen amulets and incantations to save them from Babylon. 1 1223 So Gk. Heb adds, Lord, as frequently throughout the section. m 132 Revising the Heb. as the context requires and the vss. indicate. n 132 So Gk. Heb., to those who prophesy of themselves. ° 13' This phrase is omitted by the Gk. and O. Lat. o 136 Correcting the Heb. according to the Gk., Targ., and Lat. 255 Ezek. 136] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS the fulfilment of their words. 7Do ye not see a false vision and utter lying divinations ?q Jeho- ^Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Because ye speak falsely and see lies, there- judg- f°re behold I am against you, is Jehovah's oracle. 9My hand shall be against ment the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They shall them not be in the council of my people, nor inscribed in register of the house of Israel. And to the land of Israel they shall not come, that ye may know that I am Jehovah. "Inasmuch as they have led my people astray by saying, Peace, when there was no peace; and if some one build a wall, they daub it over with whitewash; say to those who daub with whitewash/ There shall be an overwhelming rain; and hailstones shall fall3 and a tempestuous wind shall rend it. 12And behold, when the wall is fallen, shall it not then be said to you, Where is the daubing with which ye daubed it? "Therefore thus saith Jehovah, I will let loose a tempestuous wind in my wrath ; and in mine anger there shall be an overwhelming rain, and in fury hailstones shall fall. "Thus will I tear down the wall which ye have daubed with whitewash and cast it to the earth, and its foundations shall be laid bare, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst of it ; that ye may know that I am Jehovah. ^Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon those who daub it with whitewash. And it shall be said* to you, Where" is the wall ? where are those who daub it ? "the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and see visions of peace for her when there is no peace," is the oracle of Jehovah.' A sim- 17And do thou, O son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy judg- people who prophesy out of their own hearts, and do thou prophesy against ment them, "and say, 'Thus saith Jehovah: "Woe to the women who sew bandsv upon . -1 the on all wrists,w and prepare long veils for the heads of persons of every height, women tQ jjUnt lives. Ye hunt souls from among my people, and keep alive souls for prac- yourselves. "And ye profane me among my people, for handfuls of barley divina- and bits of bread — to put to death thosex who should not die, and to keep alive those who should not live, by lying to my people who listen to your lies." 20Therefore, thus saith Jehovah, "Behold, I am against your bands, where- tion withy you hunt lives/ and I will tear them from your arms, and set free those whom ye hunt. 21And I will tear off your long veils and deliver my people out of your hand and they shall no longer be as prey in your hand and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 22Because ye make sorrowful3, the heart of q 137 So Gk. Heb. adds, what is probably secondary, and say what is the oracle of Jehovah, though I have not spoken. r 1311 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, and it shall fall. 8 13u Revising the corrupt Heb. as suggested by Targ. and Syr. fc 1315 So Syr. and Targ., and the parallel in 12. Heb., / will say. u 1315 So Syr. and parallel in 12. Heb. text is corrupt. y 131' The reference is evidently to certain forms ofamulets which are supposed to exert a benign or malign influence. Here, as elsewhere in the O.T., it is the women who practise divination and keep alive the old Heb. rites. w 1313 The Syr. and Targ. read simply, hands. 1 1319 Lit., souls. y 132° Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Syr. and Targ. » 132° So Gk. and Syr. The Heb. adds, as birds. The same phrase, which is found at the end of the verse, is also probably secondary. » 1322 Correcting the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the VSS. 256 CONDEMNATION OF FALSE PROPHETS [Ezek. 1322 the righteous with lies, when I have not made him sorrowful, and strengthen the hands of the wicked, so that he doth not turn from his evil way to save his life, ^therefore ye shall no longer see idle visions and practice divinations, but I will deliver my people from your hands, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.'" § 115. Judah Sinful Beyond All Pardon, Ezek. 14 Ezek. 14 'Now when certain of the elders of Israel cameb and sat before Jeho- me, 2this word of Jehovah came to me : 3Son of man, these men have taken refusal their idols to their hearts and have set before themselves their iniquity as a *°nbe stumbling block. Shall I let myself be consulted by them ? 4Therefore suited speak with them and say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah: "Any man of the id'oia- house of Israel who shall take his idols to his heart and put in his way his tors iniquity as a stumbling block and betakes himself to a prophet, I, Jehovah, will myself answer him according to the multitude of his idols, 5that I may lay hold of the hearts of Israel, because they have turned away from me for all their idols." ' "Therefore say to the house of Israel : ' Thus saith0 Jehovah : " Turn ye, turn ye away from your idols and from all your abominations turn away your face. 7For any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens who dwell in Israel who shall abandon thee and take his idols to his heart and set his iniquity as a stumbling block before him and shall go to a prophet, that the prophet may consultd me for him; I, Jehovah, will myself answer him; 8and I will set my face against that man and I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from among my people, that ye may know that I am Jehovah. 9When a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, Jehovah, have deceived Punish- that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him out of an of the midst of my people Israel. "And they shall bear their inquity; as am^t" the iniquity of him who consults, so shall be the iniquity of him who pro- prophet phesies, uthat the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me nor again be defiled with all their transgressions ; but they shall be my people and I shall be their God, is the oracle of Jehovah." ' ^his word of Jehovah also came to me : "Son of man, if the land sin against a me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it and destroy its JJid not de livered § 115 Again the elders of the people turned to Ezekiel for an oracle regarding the rebels by a in distant Judah. Realizing that the men who stood before him, as well as those whom they *ew, represented, were given to idolatry, Ezekiel made his message to them one of warning arid good condemnation. His underlying thought is that the fate of a nation depends upon the character citizens of its people. If thejnajority are corrupt, a few righteous men, even though they be as holy as Noah, Daniel, and Job, the heroes of ancient Heb. story, cannot deliver it. Evidently the popu lar tradition regarding Daniel, to which reference is here made, is not the later one found in the opening chapters of the'book of Daniel, for Ezekiel was writing before the final fall of Jerusalem. The hero to whbm the prophet refers is associated with Noah and Job. The nature of the tradi- ¦ tion must be inferred from the present context. It is probable, however, that it is the prototype of the stories in later form and setting found in the book of Daniel. Cf. §§ 203-8. The Job in the mind of Ezekiel is obviously not the Job of the great rjoem found in Job 3-42, but rather is the blameless hero of the original prose story preserved in the prologue and epilogue of the book of Job. Cf . Vol. VI in loco. b 141 Correcting the corrupt Heb. by aid of six Heb. MSS. c 146 So Gk. Heb. adds, Lord, as often throughout the section. d 147 Their crime is not consulting Jehovah and his prophet, but their preceding acts of idolatry. Jehovah's answer is one of judgment. 257 Ezek. 1413] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS staff of life and send famine upon it, 14if these three men were in its midst, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they would by their righteousness, save onlye them selves, saith Jehovah. 15If I send evil beasts throughout the land and they depopulate it so that it become waste and no one pass through it because of the beasts — "though these three men were in it, as I live, is the oracle of Je hovah, they would not deliver either sons or daughters ; they alone would be saved, and the land would be waste. 17Or if I send a sword into that land, and say, ' Sword, pass through the land," and I cut off from it man and beast — "though these three men were in it, as I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, they would not deliver either sons or daughters, but they alone would be saved. "Or if I send pestilence into that land and pour out my fury upon it in blood so as to cut off from it man and beast — 20though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, they would not save either son or daughter. They by their righteousness would save only themselves. Espe- 21Thus saith Jehovah, how much more when I send my four evil judgments : traeof sword, famine, evil beasts and pestilence upon Jerusalem to destroy from her Jeru- man and beast. 22And should1 there be left survivors in her, sons and daugh ters, who should escape and come forth to you, then, when ye see their con duct and their deeds, ye will be comforted for the evil which I have brought on Jerusalem, for all that I have brought on her; they will comfort you when ye see their conduct and their deeds, for ye will learn that it is not without cause that I did all that I have done to her, is the oracle of Jehovah. § 116, Jerusalem the Worthless Vine, Ezek. 15 A vine Ezek. 15 'This word of Jehovah came to me : 2Son of man, of what use is on?y the wood of the vine in comparison with all the branches6 which are on the as fuel trees of the forest ? 3Doth one takeh from it wood to make anything ? Or doth one take from it even a peg on which to hang any kind of vessel ? 4Behold, it is put into the fire to be consumed ; the fire consumes its two ends and its middle is burned up. Is it then fit for anything ? 5Even when it is whole it is used for nothing; much less can it be used when fire hath consumed it, and it is burned up ! So "Therefore,1 thus saith Jehovah : Just as the wood of the vine of all the treesJ fsith °f tne f°rest is given up to the fire to be consumed, so I give up the inhabi- ™iy tants of Jerusalem to be destroyed. 7And I will set my face against them. fuel They have come forth from the fire, and fire shall consume them and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I set my face against them, 8and make the land desolate because they have been faithless, is the oracle of Jehovah. • 14" Supplying the, only, implied by the context and found in the parallel passages. < 1422 So Lat. and Sym. Heb., behold. § 116 Ezekiel here develops Jeremiah's figure in Jer. 2M. He likens the people of Judah to a wild vine whose wood was good for nothing but for fuel. In 7 he refers to the judgment that has already overtaken tnem, and predicts a still more drastic judgment. « 152 The Gk. omits this word and reads, of all the wood which is among the trees of the "; 153 Following the Gk. and Targ. * 156 Gk. adds, say. I 15e So Lat. The all is found only in the Gk. and Syr. 258 JERUSALEM'S SHAMEFUL RECORD [Ezek. 161 § 117. Jerusalem's Shameful Moral Record, Ezek. 16 Ezek. 16 'Again this word of Jehovah came to me: Oman, make known to jeru- Jerusalem : ' Thine origin and thy nativity are from the land of the Canaanite : base"'8 thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother was a Hittite. 4And as for thy one"1 nativity, in the day when thou wast born thy cord was not cut, thou wast not washed in water to cleanse thee; thou wast not at all salted or swaddled. 5No eye pitied thee, to do any of these things out of compassion for thee ; but thou wast cast forth into the open field, in contempt for thy person, on that day when thou wast born. 6And when I passed by thee, and saw thee weltering in thy blood, I said to Adop- thee, as thou wast thus weltering in thy blood, " Live f- 7become great1 as the j|ho-y growth of the field."m And thou didst become great and grown up and didst vaQ "> attain the age of marriage ;n thy breast was formed and thy hair was grown ; but thou wast naked and bare. ^hen I passed by thee and saw thee, and behold, thou hadst come to the Wed- time of marriage ;° so I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness {Jim %°t and pledged myself to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,' is the Sinai oracle of Jehovah, 'and thou becamest mine. ^hen I bathed thee with water ; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood En- from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. "I clothed thee also with embroid- w°tLe ered work, and gave thee shoes of Egyptian leather,p and girded thee with fine 'J1® linen, and covered thee with silk. And I decked thee with ornaments, and of put bracelets upon thy hands, and put a chain about thy neck. 12And I put anaan a ring in thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head. "Thus thou wert adorned with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work ; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou didst become exceedingly beautiful.i 14And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, because of the splendor with which I endued thee,' is the oracle of Jehovah. u' But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and playedst the harlot by virtue of Faith- thy renown, and didst lavish thy harlotries' on every one who passed by.r jeeho-° "And thou didst take thy garments, and madest thee gaily adorned high ™ jl places, and didst play the harlot in them.8 17Thou didst also take thy fair bent on jewels of gold and of silver, which I had given thee, and madest thee images at?y § 117 Ezekiel here takes up again a familiar theme. One of the great problems with which he was constantly struggling was the vindication of Jehovah's justice in destroying his people and sacred temple. That justification he found in abundant measure in the past crimes of the city and people. With a double purpose he held up the shameful record of trie past before his contemporaries: (1) to vindicate Jehovah's justice in their minds, and (2) to warn them against committing similar crimes again. k 166 So Gk. and Syr. In the Heb. the last clause is repeated by mistake. 1 167 So Gk. and Syr. m 167 So Syr. Heb. adds, / have given thee. n 167 Correcting by the analogy with 8. » 168 Lit., love. P isio xhe exact derivation of the word is not known. Sealskin is the ordinary rendering, but the Heb. probably simply reproduces an Egyptian term. q 1613 So Gk. In the Heb. a scribe, thirdcing of the historical facts, has added, and thou didst prosper to royal estate. Vs. u is the immediate sequel of the preceding. ' 16ls So Gk. and Syr. The Heb. adds the parallel in 8. • 16'" So Syr. The Heb. adds, thou shalt not enter in neither shall it be; but this is probably a secondary gloss. 259 Ezek. 1617] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS of men, and didst play the harlot with them. "And thou didst take thy em broidered garments, and didst cover them, and didst set mine oil and mine incense before them. "My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them as a sweet savor; and thus it was,' is the oracle of Jehovah. 20' Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me, and these hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were thy acts of harlotry so small a thing, 21that thou must needs slay my children, and deliver them up, by causing them to pass through the fire for these ? 22And in all thine abomi nations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast weltering in thy blood. Eagerly 23And it is come to pass after all thy wickedness (woe, woe to thee!'* is the tag the oracle of Jehovah), M'that thou hast built thee a vaulted place, and hast relig- made thee a high place in every street. 25Thou hast built thy high place at rites of every street corner, and hast made thy beauty an abomination, and hast nations offered thyself1 to every one who passed by, and multiplied thine acts of har lotry. 26Thou didst play the harlot with thy neighbors, the people of Egypt — sensual,v multiplying thine acts of harlotry, to provoke me to anger! 27Be- hold, therefore, I stretched out my hand over thee, and diminished thy por tion, and delivered thee to the will of those who hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of thy lewd conduct. 28Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied. 29Thou hast moreover extended thy whoredom to the land of traffic, Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied with this. Shame- 30What shall I do with thy heart ' is the oracle of Jehovah, ' seeing that thou well as didst all these things — the deed of an impudent harlot! 31in that thou didst faith- build thy vaulted place at every corner, and make thy raised place in every street ? But thou hast not been as a harlot in that thou scornest hire. 32An adulterous wife receives strangers instead of her husband !w ^To all harlots gifts are given ; but thou gavest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and didst bribe them that they might come unto thee on every side for thy harlotries. MAnd thou wast different from other women in thy acts of harlotry, in that none solicited thee to play the harlot, and in that thou gavest hire, although no hire was given thee; thus wert thou different.' Con- ^Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah. 3eThus saith Jehovah: andS* ' Because thy adultery was lavishedx and thy nakedness uncovered through th'lede- ^ harl°tr'es with thy lovers ; and because of all thy abominable idols,y and served the blood of thy children, that thou hast given to them; "therefore, I will taevit- gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all those whom able thou hast loved, with all those whom thou hast hated; I will even gather them * 1623 Gk. omits this interjected clause. u 1625 Heb., opened thy feet. y 1623 Lit., great of flesh. Cf. 232. " 1632 This vs. interrupts the close connection of thought between " and 33 and may be a marginal note that has crept into the text. x 1636 Slightly correcting the text. y 1636 Possibly the clause is secondary. 260 JERUSALEM'S SHAMEFUL RECORD [Ezek. 16s7 against thee on every side, and will disclose thy nakedness to them, that they may see all thy nakedness. 38And I will judge thee, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring upon thee the blood judgment of wrath and jealousy. 39I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy vaulted place, and break down thy high places; and they shall strip thee of thy clothes, and take thy fair jewels; and they shall leave thee naked and bare. 40They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. 41And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and so execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women ; and I will stop thy har lotry, and thou shalt also give no more hire. So will I vent my wrath upon thee, until my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. 43Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast roused me to rage in all these things ; therefore, behold,2 I also will requite thee,'a is the oracle of Jehovah; 'and thou shalt not commit this lewdness with all thine abominations. ^Behold, every one who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, judah's saying, "As is the mother, so is the daughter." 45Thou art the daughter of wc™|3 thy mother, who scorned her husband and her children; and thou art the than sister of thy sisters who scorned their husbands and their children: your Sodom mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. 46And thine elder sister n^adri|a" is Samaria, with her daughters, who dwell to the north of thee; and thy younger sister, who dwelt to the south of thee, was Sodom and her daughters. 47Yet thou hast not walked in their ways, nor done according to their abomi nations — thatb would have been a small thing — but thou wast more corrupt in all thy ways than these. 48As I live,' is the oracle of Jehovah, ' Sodom, thy sister, with her daughters hath not done as thou, with thy daughters, hast done. 49Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom : pride, fulness of bread, and careless ease was in her and her daughters, neither did she reach out the hand to help the poor and needy. 50And they were haughty, and committed abominations before me ; therefore I took them away as soon as I observed it. 51Neither hath Samaria committed half thy sins ; but thou hast committed more abominations than they, and hast justified thy sisters by all thine abominations which thou hast done. 52Thou also, bear thine own shame, in that by thy sins thou hast pleaded for thy sisters, in that thou hast acted more abominably than they; they are more righteous than thou; therefore, be thou also confounded, and bear thy shame in that thou hast justified thy sisters. 63 And I will restore again their fortunes,0 the fortunes of Sodom and her Resto- daughters, and thy fortunes together with theirs; ^that thou mayest bear after" thine own shame, and mayest be ashamed because of all thou hast done in punish? consoling them. 55And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate; and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their ¦ 16" So Gk. and Syr. a 1643 Lit., give thy way upon thy (so Gk. and Syr.) head. b 16*7 Gk. and Syr. omit. The translation is based on a restored text. 0 1663 Lit., captivity. 261 nant Ezek. 1655] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS former estate ; and thou and thy daughter shall return to thy former estate. 6eFor thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thee in the day of thy pride, "be fore thy nakednessd was uncovered, as now6 thou art like her, an object of scorn to the daughters of Edom,f and of all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines round about, who scorn thee. 58Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations,' is the oracle of Jehovah. Re- 59For thus saith Jehovah : I will also deal with thee as thou hast done, in ofthe tnat tx^ou has despised the oath by breaking the covenant. ""Nevertheless cove- I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with thee. elThen shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, the elder and the younger; when I give them to thee as daughters, though not because of thy covenant. 62And I will re-establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah ; 63that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never again open thy mouth, because of thy shame, when I have forgiven thee all that thou hast done, saith Jehovah. § 118. Zedekiah's Breach of Faith, Ezek. 17 Nebu- Ezek. 17 ^his word of Jehovah came to me, 20 man, propound a riddle, rezzar's and sPeak a parable to the house of Israel, 3and say, ' Thus saith Jehovah : " A depor- great eagleg with great wings and long pinions, with full plumage and of dif- of Je- ferent colors, came to Lebanon, and took away the top of the cedar; 4he chin cropped off the topmost of its young twigs, and carried it to the land of and ap- traffic; he set it in the city of merchants. 5He took also some of the seed of ment of the land, and planted it in fruitful soil ; he planted11 it beside abundant waters ; kiah he set '*¦ as a S1'P th^ ft might sprout 6and become a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches would turn toward him, and its roots be under him ; that it might become a vine, and produce branches, and send forth boughs. Zede- 7There was also another great eagle with wide wings and many feathers; fatal3 and, behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and toward him sent forth alliance its branches, from the bed in which it was planted, that he might water it. Egypt 8It was planted in a good soil by abundant waters, that it might bring forth branches, and bear fruit and become a noble vine."' 9Say thou, 'Thus saith Jehovah: "Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit; so that all its sprouting leaves shall wither P1 Will he not come with a d 16s7 Restoring what was apparently the original text. " 1657 Slightly revising the text as demanded by the context and supported by the Gk. 1 1657 Correcting a slight error in the Heb., which reads, Aram. § 118. The date of this chapter is 588 b.c, when Zedekiah joined in the rebellion against Nebuchadrezzar. In an elaborate allegory, Ezekiel describes the fate of Jehoiachin and the princes deported with him in 597 B.C., likening them to the topmost branches of a cedar, carried away by the eagle, Nebuchadrezzar. Now, Zedekiah, who was established on his throne by Nebuchadrezzar, has entered into alliance with a rival eagle, Egypt, so that the first great eagle will again come and tear Zedekiah up by the roots and carry him away to the land of Babylon. In this connection Ezekiel expresses the hope that Jehovah would yet take a branch from the lofty cedar, which symbolized Jehoiachin, or the Davidic royal house, and plant him again on Israel's mountain, so that again all people might dwell under the shadow of his branches. Cf. for further development of this messianic motif, §§ 218-27. e 173 For the same figure of an eagle_ cf. Hos. 8i, Hab. I8, Jer. 413 4840. h 175 The exact meaning of the Heb. is in doubt. The above is only a conjectural trans lation, supported by the context and suggested by Toy (Ezek., p. 26). i 178 Heb. adds, ii will wither; but this is not found in Gk. 262 ZEDEKIAH'S BREACH OF FAITH Ezek. 17a strongi arm and much people to pluck it upk from its roots. "Behold, when planted, shall it prosper ? Shall it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it ? wither in the bed where it is growing ?" ' "Then this word of Jehovah came to me, 12' Say now to the rebellious house: First "Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of jt^tlv" Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and princes, and brought them to him to Babylon. "And he took one of the royal family, and made a covenant with him ; he Zede- also imposed an oath upon him, and took away the mighty of the land; ^DgJ3 "that it might be a submissive kingdom, that it might not lift itself up, but lion that by keeping his covenant it might serve him.1 "But he rebelled against Nebu- him, sending ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and a ^ar large army.m Shall he prosper ? shall he escape who doeth such things ? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape ?" ' "As I live, saith Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwelleth who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Baby lon he shall die. "Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. "For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he hath pledged himself, and yet hath done all these things ; he shall not escape. "Therefore thus saith Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath hath he de- His spised, and my covenant hath he broken, I will even bring it upon his own {^Qt" head. 20And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there, for he hath been faithless to me. 21And all his choice men11 in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they who remain shall be scattered toward every wind ; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it. 22Thus saith Jehovah: I will also take a portion of the lofty head of the Jeho- cedar, and will set it out; from the topmost of its tender twigs I will pluck off pu5pose a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain : in the moun- to re tain of the height of Israel will I plant it ; and it shall bring forth boughs, and the bear fruit, and become a goodly cedar ; and under it shall dwell all birds of jcking- every feather ; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell. ^And all the dom trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish ; I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it. i 179 Supplying the verb implied by the context. k 179 Gk., Syr., Targ., and Lat. imply that the original read, to cut it off. 1 17" So Syr., Lat., Targ., and a slightly revised text. m 17Ifi Heb., much people. a 1721 So Syr., Targ., and certain codices and supported by the parable in 237. Heb., fugitives. Ezek. 181] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS The truelaw of moral re sponsi bility Re ward of individualvirtue Penalty forindividual sins Moralguiltnot transferred to an other § 119. The Methods of Divine Judgment, Ezek. 18 Ezek. 18 'This word of Jehovah came to me: 2What do ye mean by using this proverb in the land of Israel : " The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge ?" 3As I live, is the oracle of Jehovah, never again shall ye use this proverb in Israel. "Behold all souls are mine — the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine. The person who sins, he alone0 shall die. 5But if a man be righteous, doing justice and what is right, 6if he eat not upon the mountains5 nor lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defile his neighbor's wife, nor approach a woman in her impurity, 'and wrong no one, restore to the debtor his pledge, take nought by robbery, give his bread to the hungry and clothe the naked, 8lend not at interest, nor take any increase, keep his hand away from iniquity, execute true judgment between man and man, 9follow my statutes, keep my commandments to do them,q he is right eous ; he shall live, is the oracle of Jehovah. "But if ye beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, who doesr none of these things, "but eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor's wife, "wrongs the poor and needy, robs, restores not the pledge to the debtor, lifts up his eyes to idols, commits abomination, "lends on interest, and takes in crease, shall he live ? He shall not live. He hath done all these abominations. He shall die. His blood shall be upon him. 14 And behold, if ye beget a son who sees all the things that his father has done, and fearss and does not do likewise, "does not eat upon the mountains, nor lifts up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, "oppresses no one, exacts no pledge, takes nothing by rob bery, gives bread to the hungry and clothes to the naked, 17keeps his hand from iniquity,* takes no interest or increase, keeps my ordinances and follows § 119 The logical connection of this chapter with those which precede and follow is not entirely clear. The dogma of individual responsibility is developed at length in 33, and it is possible that this section also belongs in the period of doubt following 586 B.C. Their thought and language, however, are so closely parallel that it is difficult to see what motives could have induced Ezekiel to deliver in the same period two sermons so nearly identical. The central teaching of this section is first developed at the beginning of Ezekiel's ministry in chap. 316-21. His own experience and that of his fellow-exiles brought the problem which this doctrine seeks to solve prominently to the front. The majority of the exiles felt themselves under the shadow of the divine displeasure. Our fathers have sinned and we bear ihe consequences, was the prevalent belief. The old theology had taught that each individual suffered for the guilt of the nation as a whole. In early times all_ members of a family and sometimes of a city were indis criminately punished for a heinous crime committed by one of their number. The developing moral sense of the race had gradually modified this false dogma. In Dt. 24" the ancient custom of putting to death the families of a criminal is at last definitely set aside. As the exile, with its changed conditions, loomed clearly before the eyes of Ezekiel and Jeremiah they both rejected this dogma and declared, as Ezekiel does, in the present passage, that a man is simply respon sible for the consequences of his own acts. Ezekiel also goes further and asserts that it is not a man's past acts but his present attitude and deeds that determine his innocence or guilt in the eyes of God. Ezekiel's ideas of righteousness are a blending of the ethical and ceremonial, the prophetic and the priestly standards which were characteristic of Ezekiel and his age. ° 184 Supplying the word, alone, implied by the context. J> 186 So Gk. Possibly this phrase here and elsewhere in the passage should be translated in keeping with the analogy in 33K, eat no meat with the blood. This act was definitely forbidden by the priestly law. Cf . Vol. IV, § 173. Ezekiel, however, was equally strenuous in his condem nation of worship at any shrine other than Jerusalem, so that there is no compelling reason for departing from the Heb. text. 1 18" So Gk. Heb., iruth. * 18'° Through a scribal error, brother, has here been inserted in the Heb. « 18" Slightly correcting the Heb. with the aid of the VSS. ' 1817 So Gk. Heb., poor. 264 METHODS OF DIVINE JUDGMENT [Ezek. 1817 my statutes — he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall live. His father, because he practiced oppression, committed robbery ,u and did what was not good among myv people, died for his iniquity. "But ye say, Why should not the son bear the iniquity of his father ? If the son execute justice and righteousness, keep all my statutes to do them, he shall surely live. 20The person who sins shall die. A son shall not bear his father's iniquity, and a father shall not bear his son's iniquity. The righteousness of the righteous shall be to his credit, and the wickedness of the wicked to his discredit. 21If the wicked turn from all his sins which he has committed, and keep all For- my statutes, and execute justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he „e^"for shall not die. 22None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be the . held against him. Because of the righteousness which he has done he tent shall live. ^Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked ? is Jehovah's 6mner oracle. If he turn from his ways shall he not live ? MBut if the righteous turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and Punish- practice all the abominations which the wicked do,w none of the righteous for'the deeds which he has done shall be remembered. For the treason which he saint has committed, and for the sin of which he has been guilty, he shall die. sins 25 Yet ye say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Hear, O house of Israel, is not my way right ? Is it not your way that is not right ? 20When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does iniquity, for the iniquity he has done he shall die.x "But if a wicked man turn from the wickedness which he has done and do Call to justice and righteousness, he shall save his life. 28He fears and turns from vidual all the transgressions which he has committed, he shall surely live and not repent- die. 29Yet the house of Israel say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Is not and my wayy right, O house of Israel ? Is it not your ways that are not right ? Paroon 30Therefore, O house of Israel, I judge each of you according to his ways, is the oracle of Jehovah. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, that they may not be a stumbling block of iniquity to you. 31Put away from you all the transgressions which you commit against me, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will ye die, O house of Israel ? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, is the oracle of Jehovah. Therefore repent and live.2 a 1818 Heb. adds, brother. y 1818 So Gk. Heb., his. w 1824 So Gk., Syr., and Arab. The Heb. is expanded by the addition of, he shall do and live. x 1826 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds the awkward phrase, for them. y 182S So four Heb. MSS., Gk., O. Lat., and Arab., and the parallel passage in *. Heb.', ways. " 1832 These last words are lacking in Gk. of Origen and are probably later additions. 265 Ezek. 2045] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS § 120. Jehovah's Vengeance upon Jerusalem and Ammon, Ezek. 2015-213a Fire Ezek. 20 45Now this word of Jehovah came to me : 4eSon of man, turn thy to °on- face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy sume against the forest of the field of the south ; 47and say to the forest of the south: 'Hear the word of Jehovah: "Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be burned thereby. 48And all mankind shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched."' 49Then I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! they say of me, ' Is he not speaking riddles ?' Jeho- 21 ^his word of Jehovah also came to me: 2Son of man, turn thy face aveifg- toward Jerusalem, and preach against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against ing the land of Israel, 3and say to the land of Israel, ' Thus saith Jehovah : ' ' Behold, I am against thee, and will draw my sword from its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 4Because I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore my sword goeth forth from its sheath against all mankind from south to north ; 5and all mankind shall know that I, Jehovah, have drawn my sword from its sheath ; it shall not again be sheathed. Proph- 6Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with heartbreaking3' and with bitterness, sigh before their eyes. 7And when they say to thee, Why sighest thou ? thou shalt answer, Because of the tidings, for it cometh ; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water; behold it cometh, and it shall be,b saith Jehovah.'" The 8And this word of Jehovah came to me : 9Son of man, prophesy, and say, songo "^hus sa;tjj jenovaJi: "Say:c et'sgrief sword A sword, a sword, sharpened andd polished. "It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; It is polished as lightninge flashes forth.f "And it is giveng to a slayer to be grasped in the hand! The sword it is sharpened, yea, it is polished! To give it into the hand of the slayer! "Shriek and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel ; They are delivered over to the sword together with my people ; Smite therefore upon thy thigh. § 120 The background of this prophecy was the rebellion of the Palestinian states against Nebuchadrezzar. In this rebellion Ammon and Judah were allies. In the form of a dramatic sword-song Ezekiel announces the judgment which will surely overtake these rebelling nations. Unfortunately the text has suffered in transmission, but with the aid of the different VSS. the poetic form and vigor of the original may be largely restored. It reveals the fierce zeal and earnestness of the prophet, in whose mind the end of Judah had already come. a 216 Heb. idiom, breaking of loins. b 217 Gk. omits this clause. 0 219 Here the prophecy passes into the poetic form. d 21' So Gk., Syr., and Targ. Heb. adds, also. » 21i° Based on a revised text. The Heb. is corrupt. ( 21i° The text of the rest of the vs. is hopelessly corrupt. It was probably a scribal gloss. * 21" Slightly revising the Heb. as the context requires. 266 had- rezzar's JEHOVAH'S VENGEANCE [Ezek. 211 "For there is a trial, is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah.11 "Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy, And smite thy hands together; And let the sword be doubled the third time.1 It is the sword of those mortally wounded! It is the great sword of those mortally wounded ! 15Fill them with terror^ that their hearts may melt, That the fallen mayk be many at their gates ; They are given over1 to the slaughter of the sword ;m Ah! it is made as lightning, it is sharpened for slaughter! "Gather thee together, to the right," to the left, Whithersoever thine edge is appointed. l7I will also smite my hands together, And I will cause my wrath to rest; I, Jehovah, have spoken it."' 18This word of Jehovah also came to me : "Son of man, mark out for thy- Nebu self two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come ; let the two come forth from the same land ; and mark out a sign-post, mark it out at the deci head of the road to [each] city. 20Thou shalt mark out a way for the sword to attack come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah,0 and to Jerusalem in its jalem midst.p 21For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination ; he shaketh the arrows to and fro, he consulteth the teraphim, he looketh at the liver. 22In his right hand is the lot for Jerusalem,"! rams, to open the mouth with a cry,r to lift up the voice with a shout, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts. 23To them it appears as a false divination;3 but he bringeth iniquity to remembrance, that they may be captured. ^Therefore thus saith Jehovah : Because ye have made your iniquity to be judah's remembered, in that your transgressions are revealed, and in all your doings £°te'ted your sins appear because ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. ffiAnd thou who art mortally wounded, thou wicked one, the prince of Over- Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the final judgment for guilt, 26thus ofthe saith Jehovah : ' Remove the mitre, and take off the crown ! This shall be no klns more the same! Exalt the low, and abase the high! 27In ruin, ruin, ruin will I lay it low. This also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.' h 2113 Again the text is corrupt and has no meaning. The corruption is evidently due to a scribal note similar to that in i°. i 21u The meaning of this vs. is not clear. The text may be corrupt. i 2116 Restoring the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. k 2115 So Gk. and Syr. 1 21[6 So Gk. ¦" 2115 Again following the Gk., which alone has meaning. n 2116 With Gk. and Lat., omitting, put. o 2120 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified. p 212» So Gk. q 2122 Heb. adds, to set battering rams, but cf . rest of vs. ' 2122 So Gk. b 2123 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, who have sworn solemn oaths. 267 Ezek. 2128] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS Theswordto fall also uponthe Am monites 28 And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus saith Jehovah concern ing the Ammonites, and concerning their reviling; and say thou: "A sword, a sword is drawn to slay, polished to flash forth lightning ;* 29in false visions, in lying divination it was told thee that thou wouldst lay itu upon the neck of those mortally wounded, the wicked, whose day is come in the time of the final judgment for guilt. 30Return it to its sheath. In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy birth, will I judge thee. 31And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee ; I will blow upon thee the fire of my wrath ; and I will deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, skilful in destroying. 32Thou shalt be fuel for the fire ; thy blood shalt be in the midst of the land, thou shalt not be remembered; for I, Jehovah, have spoken it." ' j 121. The Nation's Doom, Ezek. 7 Judah's judg ment day is at hand Ezek. 7 'Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me : 20 thou son of man, thus saith Jehovah to the land of Israel, 'An end is come ! Say,T The end is comew on the four quarters of the land! 3Now is the end upon thee, and I will vent mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy deeds ; and I requite thee for all thine abominations. 4And I will have no compassion on thee, neither will I pity;x but I will requite thee for thy deeds, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 5Thus saith Jehovah; Calamity fol- lowsy calamity! Behold it cometh! "An end is come; the end is come! it awaketh against thee! behold, it is come. 7The doom is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land! The time is come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting.2 8Now will I shortly pour out my wrath upon thee, and accomplish mine anger against thee, and will judge thee according to thy deeds; and I will requite thee all thine abominations. 9And I will not have compassion on thee, neither will I pity; I will bring upon thee according to thy ways ; and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee ; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, do smite. b 2128 Again the text is corrupt. Restoring as in n. " 2129 Slightly revising the text. The meaning is not entirely certain. The reference seems to be to the fact that the Ammonites, like the people of Judah, were misled by the false prophets into entertaining vain hopes of victory over their foes. § 121 This chapter has no logical connection with those which immediately precede and follow it. The end of Judah is not distant but near. Chaldean armies are already in the land. Its points of contact with 21 are close. There is the same note of terror, of impending doom and of divine judgment. It comes in all probability from the year 588 B.C. Unfortunately the text of this chapter is, like that of 21, somewhat corrupt. Vss. '-' are clearly an expanded duplicate of 2-4. The Gk. translators evidently recognized this and attempted to improve the text by arranging it in the order }¦ 2- 6o' 7-9> 3- 4. 6f • i°ff. The simplest solution of the problem is to recog nize thejpresence of duplicates. It is difficult, however, to say what is the origin of these dupu- n from two early recensions of Ezekiel's prophecies. Contrarj cates. Possibly^ they were taken J to Ezekiel's ordinary style, there is a strong poetic note running through the entire chapter. In this respect, also, it resembles 21;' but is difficult to distinguish, on the basis of th< Contrary chapter. the present y 72 Restoring, say, which has been retained in the Gk. y 72 Following the Lat. and Targ., which are supported by the parallel version in 8 in inserting, come. x 74 Heb., lit., mine eye shall not spare thee. y 7s So Targ., lit., calamity after calamity. The Heb. is unintelligible, and the Gk. does not reproduce the vs. * 77 So Gk. and Syr. The Heb. adds, mountains. THE NATION'S DOOM [Ezek. 710 "Behold, the day ! behold, it has come ! thy doom hath gone forth ; the sin No hath blossomed, pride hath budded. "The support of the wicked shall be Jfty for taken away without tumult or haste.a 12The time is come, the day draweth life or DroDsr™ near, let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn ; for wrath is upon all her ty multitude. "For the seller shall not return to that which is sold,b nor will the buyer retain what this morning he bought.0 14They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready ; but none goeth No de- to the battle ; for my wrath is upon all her pomp. "The sword is without, and ence the pestilence and the famine within; he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city — famine shall devour him. "But those of them who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each because of his iniquity. 17A11 hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. "They shall also gird them selves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them ; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. "They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an un- All clean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the w spoil day of the wrath of Jehovah ; they shall not satisfy their appetite, neither fill t0 *e their stomachs; because these have been the occasion of their iniquity.0- querors 20Its ornamental beauty they have made an object of pride, and from it they have made the images of their abominations and detestable things. There fore I will make it to them as an unclean thing, 21and I will give it into the hands of strangers as a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my jewel ; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it. 23Make a complete destruction,® for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. ^Therefore I will bring the worst of the heathen nations, and they shall take possession of their houses ; I will also make the pride of their strength to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned. 25 Anguish cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. No 26Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; and oj8,06 they shall seek a vision of the prophet ; but the law shall perish from the priest, comfort and counsel from the elders. 27And the prince1 shall clothe himself with dis- Jeho- may, and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble ; I will do to them va after their way,E and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. text, a clear poetic structure. In several vss., as, for example, 2b-", the five-beat measure, ex pressive of deep emotion and usually that of sorrow, may be traced, but in the succeeding vss. this partially disappears. Either the prophet did not possess the skill or the desire to express his thought in pure poetic form, or else, as seems more probable, the text has suffered too much corruption to be satisfactorily restored. Ezekiel here takes up Amos's, picture of the day of Jehovah and develops it at length. It is the eschatological note, tne doctrine regarding the last things, which became the favorite theme of later Jewish writers. a 7U So Gk. The Heb. has suffered from many scribal errors and repetitions, so that it is entirely unintelligible. b 7i3 So practically the Gk. The Heb. text is exceedingly corrupt, abounding in repeti tions and supplemented by the glosses, themselves corrupt, though he is yet alive, and, for wrath is upon all her multitude, are reproduced from 12. c 713 Restoring the Heb. in the light of the parallelism. d 719 Lit., cause of stumbling. " 723 Slightly correcting the Heb., which reads, the chain. ' T® So Gk. Heb. adds, the king shall languish. ' 7" So VSS. Ezek. 22l] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS § 122. The Charge Against Jerusalem, Ezek. 22 Blood- Ezek. 22 'Now this word of Jehovah came to me : Son of man, wilt thou andd judgeh the bloody city, and show her all her abominations, 3and say, ' Thus j$°J," saith Jehovah, "O city that sheddest blood in thy1 midst that thy time may come ; and makest idols for thyself that thou mayest be defiled ; *i or the blood which thou hast shed thou art guilty and because of the idols which thou hast made thou art defiled, and thou hast brought on thy day of judgment and thy time of reckoning.k Therefore I give thee up to the scorn of the nations and to the mockery of all lands, ^hose which are near and those which are far from thee shall mock thee, thou infamous one, abounding in tumults! Cruel- eBehold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, have been in {£eo£ thee to shed blood. 7In thee they have despised father and mother; in the rulers midst of thee they oppressively deal with the resident alien ; in thee they wrong the fatherless and the widow. Social 8Thou despisest my holy things, and profanest my sabbaths. 9In thee are crimes man wno slander to shed blood; and in thee they eat upon the mountains; in the midst of thee they commit lewdness ? "In thee they uncover their father's nakedness;1 in thee they humble her who is unclean in her time of impurity. uAnd one committeth abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another lewdly defileth his daughter-in-law ; and another in thee marrieth his sister, his father's daughter. In thee they take bribes to shed blood ; thou takest interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me," is the oracle of Jehovah.m Jeho- "" Behold, therefore, I smite my hands11 together because of the extortions right- thou hast practiced, and the blood which is in thy midst. 14Will thy heart be eous in- firm, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with0 thee ? I, tion1 Jehovah, have spoken it, and will do it. "And I will scatter thee among the nations, and disperse thee through the countries, and consume out of thee thy filthiness. "And thou shalt be put to shamep in the sight of the nations ; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah." ' The 17And this word of Jehovah came to me : "Son of man, the house of Israel of his hath become dross to me ; all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in wrath ^g jjjijgj. 0f the furnace ; they are the dross of silver. "Therefore, thus saith Jehovah : ' Because ye are all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20As silver and brass and iron and lead and tin are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it to melt it, § 122 From the nation, as a whole, Ezekiel turns, in this section, to the crimes of the capital city. The theme and ideals here set forth have already been presented in 16-20. In unsparing terms he charges the city with the most heinous crimes known to the Heb. law. Undoubtedly there was a great basis of fact for Ezekiel's charges, and yet one cannot fail to recognize, in the form in which he presents them, the oriental hyperbole which is still more strikingly illustrated in the next section. h 22i g0 Gk., Syr., and four Heb. MSS. Heb. repeats, judge. ' 223 Heb., her. So throughout the vs. i 22* So the VSS. Heb., thy days. k 22« So the VSS. The Heb. is corrupt. 1 22i° I.e., take their father's wives as their own. » 2212 So Gk. Heb. adds, Lord. So also in 19. n 22t3 So Syr. /. e., in approval. ° 22" So Gk. p 22lfl Correcting the Heb., which reads, thou shall be profaned. 270 CHARGE AGAINST JERUSALEM [Ezek. 2221 Total depravity so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you therein and melt you. 21Yea, I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and there ye shall be melted in the midst. 22As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted therein ; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have poured out my wrath upon you.' ^And this word of Jehovah came to me, ^Son of man, say to her, 'Thou art a land without rainq or shower in the day of indignation, whose princes1, in her midst are like a roaring lion that tears the prey ; they devour men ; they o£ a11 take treasure and precious things ; they make many widows in her midst. ^Her priests do violence to my law, and profane my holy things ; they make no distinction between the holy and the common, neither do they teach men to discern between the unclean and the clean ; and they hide their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 27Her princes in her midst are like wolves who tear the prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28And her prophets daub for them whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, "Thus saith Jehovah," when Je hovah hath not spoken. 29The people of the land practice oppression and robbery; yea, they wrong the poor and needy, and oppress the resident alien wrongfully. 30And I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the breach before men, in behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none. 31Therefore I pour out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I bring the consequences of their own deeds upon their heads,' is the oracle of Jehovah. § 123. Faithless Samaria and Jerusalem, Ezek. 23 Ezek. 23 'This word of Jehovah came to me : ^here were two women, daughters of one mother, ^hey played the harlot in Egypt in their youth,3 there their breasts were pressed, and their virgin bosoms handled. 4Their names were Oholah,* the elder, and Oholibah, her sister. They became mine and bore sons and daughters, and as for their names, Oholah was Samaria, and Oholibah was Jerusalem.1* 5And Oholah played the harlot, disloyal to me,v and she lusted after her lovers, afterw the Assyrians, warriors,31 6clad in purple, prefects, and governors, attractive youths — all of them, horsemen riding on horses ; 7and she bestowed her harlotries upon them — choice men of Assyria, all of them, and after them she lusted,y with all their idols she defiled herself. 8And she did not abandon q 22M Correcting the Heb., as the context demands. r 22K So Gk. Heb., there is a conspiracy of the prophets. § 123 Here Ezekiel develops in sickening detail the strong figure with which Hosea characterized the apostasy and infidelity of Northern Israel. Cf. § 17. The prophet clearly points out that Judah was more guilty than Northern Israel because she had before her the example of her sister state. Even as in the ease of Northern Israel, Judah's judgment should come at the hand of the foreign nation with which she had played fast and loose. ¦ 233 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. is corrupt. ' 234 Lit., tent, or, abiding place- A designation of Northern Israel suggested by the fact that Jehovah dwelt in her midst. The corresponding name of Judah means, my tent is in her, referring to the fact that Jehovah's special dwelling-place was in the temple at Jerusalem. u 234 Possibly this clause is secondary. y 233 So Gk., Syr., and Targ. Heb. is defective. » 235 Slightly correcting the Heb. x 235 Revising Heb. in harmony with the parallel in 23. y 237 So Gk. and Syr. 271 Thetwosisters mana s alliances with Assyria andEgypt Ezek. 238] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS her harlotries from the days when she was in Egypt ; in her youth they have lain with her, and they have handled her virgin bosom, and lavished their harlotry upon her. "Therefore I gave her up into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. "They uncovered her nakedness, they took her sons and her daughters, and her they slew with the sword, so that she became an example to women, and punishment2 was inflicted upon her. Judah's uHer sister, Oholibah, saw, yet she carried her lust and her adulteries astrous beyond those of her sister; "after the Assyrians51 she lusted, prefects, war- alli- riors, clad in purple,b horsemen riding on horses, attractive youths, all of them. "And I saw that she was defiling herself; they both followed the same way. "But she carried her harlotries further ; and when she saw men pictured on walls, figures of Chaldeans, pictured in vermilion, "their loins girded with sashes, their heads adorned with turbans, in appearance all of them like captains, portraits of Babylonians, whose native land was Chaldea, "she lusted after them, as she looked upon them, and sent messengers to them into Chaldea. 17Then the Chaldeans went in to her, into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their harlotry, so that she was unclean because of them, and she loathed them. "Thus she0 revealed her harlotries, and her nakedness was seen, and I loathed her, as I had loathed her sister. "But she increased her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she com mitted harlotry in the land of Egypt, 20and she lusted after her paramours, whose lust was like that of asses and stallions. 21And thou soughtest the lewdness of thy youth, whend thy bosom was handled in Egypt, and thy youthful breasts were pressed. Her 22Therefore, Oholibah, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold I am about to stir up tence thy lovers against thee, those whom thou loathest, and I will bring them against thee on every side, ^Babylonians,*3 all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa,f all the Assyrians with them,8 attractive youths, prefects and governers, all of them, captains and warriors, all of them riding on horses. ^They shall come against thee with a multitude11 of chariots and wagons1 and with a host of peoples, with shields, buckler, and helmet, will they array themselves round about thee. And I will lay judgment before them, and by their sentence they shall condemn thee. ^And I will pour out my jealous indignation upon thee, and they shall deal with thee in fury; they shall cut off thy nose and thine ears, and the rest of thee shall fall by the sword ; they shall carry off thy sons and thy daughters, and the rest of thee shall be con sumed with fire. 26They shall strip thee of thy garments, and take away thy beautiful jewels. 27So I will remove thy lewdness from thee, and thy harlot- 1 23'.° Slightly correcting the Heb. a 23i2 This vs. may be secondary. It is little more than a repetition of 5' e. In any case the initial word must be corrected in accordance with the Gk. b 2312 Correcting the Heb. by the parallel in 6. c 2318 So Targ. Heb., and thou shalt reveal. d 232[ So Gk. A., Syr., and Lat., and the parallel passages. Heb. is corrupt. e 9323 This vs. may well be a later addition. ' 2323 Provinces on the eastern part of the Babylonian empire. g 2S23 Correcting the Heb. according to the parallel and 2529. & 23s4 Correcting the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the context. 1 2321 Lit., wheel. 272 FAITHLESS SAMARIA AND JERUSALEM [Ezek. 23" ries from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt not lift up thine eyes to them nor remember Egypt any more. 28For thus saith Jehovah, Behold I am about to give thee into the hands of to those whom thou hatest, into the hands of those whom thou loathest, 29and ^ ™|fup they shall deal with thee in hatred, and take away all the fruit of thy labor, of Sa- and leave thee bare and naked, and the shame of thine adulteries shall be laid bare, 30for thy lewdness' and thy harlotries have done this to thee, in that thou hast played the harlot with the nations by defiling thyselfk with their idols. 31In the way of thy sister hast thou gone, and I will give her cup into thy hands. 32Thus saith Jehovah: Thy sister's cup shalt thou drink, it is deep and large; Thou shalt be an object of scorn and derision! it holds™ much! 33Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and affliction — a cup of terror and desolation ! The cup of thy sister Samaria, Mthou shalt drink it and drain it, Thou shalt break it into fragments,11 thou shalt tear thy breasts,0 For I myself have spoken, is the oracle of Jehovah. Becausei* thou hast forgotten me and cast me aside, Therefore thou also shalt bear thy lewdness and thy harlotries. 36 And Jehovah said to me : Son of man, wilt thou judge Oholah and Oholi- shame- bah ? Then show them their abominations, 37for they have committed {jjjj. adultery and blood is on their hands; also with their idols have they com- atry mitted adultery, and their own sons, whom they bore to me, they have turned apos- over to them to be devoured by fire.q 38This also they have done to me : they tasy have profaned my sanctuaries1, and defiled my sabbaths, 39for when they sacri ficed their sons to their idols they entered my sanctuary on the same day to pollute it. Behold, thus they have done, within my house. 40And moreover3 they sent for men who came from afar, to whom the messengers were sent ;* and behold, they came, for whom thou didst bathe11 and paint thine eyes, and deck thyself with ornaments, 41and didst sit on the beautiful divan, with table spread before it, and upon it thou didst put mine incense and mine oil, 42and there was the sound of a joyful melody. They [also sent] vfor men of the common type, drunkards, brought in from the wilderness, and they put i 2330 Dividing the vs. as the context requires, and reading the following verb as a plural rather than a singular. k 233° So Gk., Targ., and Syr. i 23s2 /. e., conquest and exile at the hand of foreign power. m 23s2 Slightly correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Lat. and Sym. n 23M The text is here probably corrupt. Possibly it should be reconstructed to read, and drain its dregs. o 23s4 The Gk. omits this phrase. Possibly it is secondary. p 23s5 Following the Syr. in omitting the unnecessary, therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah. q 2337 Lit., cause to pass through. The Gk. and Syr. supply the, with fire, at the end of the vs. r 2338 A scribe has, by mistake, introduced in the Heb., on ihe same day. • 234° So Gk., A., and Syr. * 2340 Gk. and Syr., they sent messengers. Heb., a messenger was sent. u 2343 The sudden transition to the second person is abrupt. Possibly, in the original, the third person was continued in this and the following vss. Kraetzmar, Das Buch. Ezechiel, p. 193, suggests that vss. 40a and 40b through 42a are duplicates. y 2342 Supplying, they sent, from 40. 273 The sweepingjudgment Ezek. 23u] EZEKIEL'S SERMONS bracelets upon their hands and splendid crowns upon their heads.w Men wentx in unto themy as one goes in to a harlot; so they went in unto Oholah and Oholibah, to commit lewdness,2 45but righteous men shall pronounce upon them the judgment of adulteresses, for they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands! 46Thusa saith Jehovah : Bring up a host against them, and give them over to violence and plunder, 47let them be stoned with stones,b and0 cut downd with swords, let their sons and their daughters, and their houses be burned with fire. 48Thus will I cause lewdness to cease in the land, and all women shall be instructed, and will not imitate your lewdness. 49I will requite you for your lewdness. Ye shall bear the sins of your idols, and ye shall know8 that I am the Lord Jehovah. Para ble of the caldron § 124. Reception of the News that Jerusalem was Besieged, Ezek. 24 Ezek. 24 * Again in the tenth month of the ninth year, in the tenth day of the month, this word of Jehovah came to me: 2Son of man, write down the name1 of this day ; on this very day the king of Babylon began to lay siege to Jerusalem. 3And speak a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus saith Jehovah,8 ' Set on the caldron, set it on, also pour water into it, 4Put the pieces11 into it, every good piece,1 thigh and shoulder; Fill it with choice bones, 5take of J the best of the flock ; w 2342 The following vs. is hopelessly corrupt. « 2344 Following the VSS. and one Heb. MS. y 23" Heb., to her. * 2344 So Gk. Heb., a woman of lewdness. • 2346 So Gk. b 2347 A reference to the well-known Heb. custom of putting adulterers to death by public stoning. 8 2347 Deleting the incongruous word, assembly. d 23" Slightly correcting the Heb. « 2349 So Syr. and the demands of the context. § 124 This prophecy is definitely dated in January, 588 B.C. At last the news had come that the army of Nebuchadrezzar had invested Jerusalem. What Ezekiel had long foreseen was now soon to be realized. Patriot though he was, he could not pray for deliverance, for Judah's guilt was too palpable. All he could do was to sing a song of divine vengeance. He had already used the figure of the caldron in ll1-13, but now he makes a different and even more dramatic use of it. In the presence of the overwhelming calamity, even the death of his beloved wife-seemed comparatively unimportant. In keeping with the tremendous moral earnestness and zeal of the man, he employed this event, as Hosea had the birth of his children, as an aid in driving home to the consciousness of his people the great truth which he was endeavoring to teach. Through all the tragic years intervening between the first and second captivity Ezekiel asserted his divinely given convictions unflinchingly and with powerful effectiveness. In the moment of dis aster there was no faltering. With Jeremiah he realized that his nation must pass through the dark valley of the shadow of death, and that the deeper the impressions which that experience made, the more fundamental would be the transformation in the character of the nation and the more certain and significant would be the ultimate restoration. It was this profound insight into the meaning of the movements of his day, the understanding of the soul of his race, and the clear appreciation of the greater divine purpose that was gradually unfolding that establish Ezekiel's title to a place among the great propnets of Israel. 1 242 So Syr. and Lat. Heb. is corrupt. * 243 So Gk. Heb. adds, the Lord. So also in «. ». "¦ ». M. h 244 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., its pieces. » 244 Syr. omits, yielding a better metre but not as good sense, i 245 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. omits, of. 274 RECEPTION OF NEWS OF SIEGE [Ezek. 245 Also kindle* wood1 under it, make it boil vigorously. Also let the bones seethe within it.' eFor thus saith Jehovah : ' Woe to the bloody city, that caldron full of rust,m Jeru- f rom which the rust is not yet gone ! 7For her11 blood is still in her midst. On |g'eem the naked rock she hath placed it; she hath not poured it out on the ground, rusty that the dust might cover it. ^o stir up fury, to execute vengeance, I have put her blood upon the naked rock, that it may not be covered.' 9Therefore thus saith Jehovah, 'Woe to the bloody city! I myself will pile high the wood.0 "Heap up the wood, kindle the fire, cook the flesh, brew the broth, and let the bones be burned. ebTake out its pieces,p piece by piece, for them no lot is cast. "Then let it stand empty upon the coals, that it may be heated, that its copper may glow, that the impurity within it may be melted out, its rust cleansed away; yetq its great rust is not removed from it by fire! "Its rustr is thy impurity because of lewdness, because I have sought to The cleanse thee and thou wouldst not become clean from thine uncleanness. ™* ls Thou shalt be cleansed no more, until I satisfy my fury upon thee, "I, Jehovah, purity have spoken. It comes,8 and I will do it ! I will not turn back nor pity nor repent,* according to thy ways and thy deeds will Iu judge thee,' is the oracle of Jehovah. "This word of Jehovah came to me : "Son of man, behold, I am about to Eze- take from thee the desire of thine eyes in an instant,v yet thou shalt not Jrloum- mourn nor weep nor shed tears. "Sigh in silence, mourn notw for the dead, ins a put on thy turban, thy sandals on thy feet, do not cover thy beard, nor of the eat the bread of mourning.x "So I spoke to the people in the morning and await- in the evening my wife died, and on the morrow I did as I was commanded, ">g the "and the people said to me, Will you not tell us why you do so ? 20And I said to them, this word of Jehovah came to me : 21' Say to the house of Israel, " Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, and the joy of your souls. And your sons and your daughters, whom you have left, shall fall by the sword. 22Ye shall do as I have done, ye shall not cover your beard nor eat the bread of mourning ;y ^your turbans shall be upon your heads and your sandals upon your feet, ye shall not weep, but ye shall pine away because of your iniquities. And ye shall starez in confusion at one another. ^Ezekiel shall be a sign to k 245 Restoring the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and Syr. 1 24s Leaving out one letter in the Heb. gives a consistent rendering. ¦" 246 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. n 247 I. e., blood which Jerusalem has shed. • 241" Gk. omits this phrase. p 246b Following Toy in restoring this half-verse to its logical position. q 2412 Through a scribal error the preceding phrase has been repeated in corrupt form. r 2412 This rendering is derived by slightly revising the Heb. and by joining the last word in n to the first word in 13. The entire clause may be secondary; in any case it was intended to connect the allegory with its practical application. ¦ 24" Possibly the clause, it comes, is secondary. * 2414 Gk. omits, / wUl not repent. » 24" So the VSS. Heb., they shall judge thee. y 2416 Interpreting by the aid of the vss. w 24n Restoring the original order of the Heb. * 24" So Targ. and Lat. y 24K Correcting the Heb. as in I7. ¦ 24s3 Revising the Heb. The accepted text reads, ye shall comfort. 275 Ezek. S424! JEREMIAH'S WORK Hispublic vindi cation you, just as he does shall ye do when it comes. Then ye shall know that I am Jehovah. 25And thou, son of man, on the daya that I take from them their strength, their proud joy, and delight of their eyes, the joy of their souls, their sons and their daughters, 26on that day shall one who has escaped come to thee to in form thee.b 27On that day shall thy mouth be opened to the fugitive ;c and thou shalt speak and be no longer silent, and thou shalt be a sign to them that they may know that I am Jehovah. VII JEREMIAH'S WORK IN CONNECTION WITH THE FALL OF JERUSALEM Zedekiah'sinquiryof Jere miah. Dec lara tion thatthe city will surely fall § 125. Jeremiah's Reply to Zedekiah's Inquiry, Jer. 21110- 1314 Jer. 21 ^he word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah when King Zedekiah sent him to Pashhur the son of Malchiah and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, to say : 2Inquire of Jehovah for us, for the king of Baby lon is making war against us. Perhaps Jehovah will deal according to all his wondrous works and that one will withdraw from us. 3Then Jeremiah said to them : Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah king of Judah :a 4< Thus saith Jehovah : " Behold, the weapons of war with which ye are fight ing13 the Chaldeans who are besieging you without the walls, will I turn backc a 2425 The Heb. makes this a question, but the above reading is probably original. b 2426 Lit., to cause ears lo hear. c 2427 So Gk. The Heb. is slightly corrupt. Jeremiah's Work in Connection with the Fall of Jerusalem — The final siege of Jeru- alem appears to have lasted a year or more. Lachish and Azekah, two small cities on the western borders of Judah. also held out for a long time against the Chaldean invaders. The besieged were lured on by hopes of help from Egypt and driven to desperation by the knowledge that they could expect no pity from the conquerors. In this final rebellion Judah did not stand alone, but was apparently influenced to rebel by the neighboring states of Edom, Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Sidon. Cf . § 120. Of these states Tyre alone offered serious opposition to the Chaldeans, and was not conquered for many years. From Riblah, on the upper Orontes, Nebuchadrezzar directed the campaign and at the same time kept in close touch with the rest of his empire. The people of Judah hoped vainly for some divine interposition, but Jeremiah never ques tioned for a moment the outcome of the conflict. His words, therefore, during the tragic year preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., were simply those of warning and denuncia tion, but in the presence of the great calamity, they lost something of their earlier harshness, even though Jeremiah himself was a victim of the hatred of the leaders. As the final catastrophe drew near, the prophet turned his attention from present evils to the future of his nation and people. After the fall of Jerusalem he sought to arouse the faith and confidence of the remnant that were left behind in Judah. Thus the saddest chapter in Judah's history marked a turning point in Jeremiah's thought and teaching; for the destruction of Jerusalem was but the culmina tion which he had lon^ foreseen and from the lessons which that disaster taught he hoped to see new and better fruits in the life of his people. § 125 The incident and words here recorded are clearly historical, although they belong to the secondary or narrative type of prophecy which is so common in the book of Jeremiah. Vss. lMZ are very loosely connected with their context and are in reality but a free paraphrase of 222- 3. In 13 the original structure of the poet's utterance has been preserved. The first line of u is not found, however, in the Gk. and the second line may be but an echo of 1727, so that the evidence would favor the conclusion that this vs. is a late addition. a 213 So Gk. The Heb. omits, king of Judah, but it appears to have been original. Cf.7. b 214 The words, God of Israel, in your hands, and, king of Babylon, are not found in the Gk. The latter is clearly an addition in the Heb., as in 7. c 214 So many of the Gk. texts supported by Origen's Hex. The Heb. adds that awkward and obscure phrase, and I will gather them. 276 REPLY TO ZEDEKIAH [Jer. 215 into the midst of this city. 5And I myself will fight against you with an out stretched hand and a strong arm,d in anger and in great wrath. "And I will smite all the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast, with a great pesti lence so thate they shall die. 7And afterwards, saith Jehovah, I will give Zedekiah the king of Judah and his servants and the people thatf are left in this city from the pestilence and the sword and famine, into the hand8 of the enemy and of those who seek their life, and they shall smite them with the edge of the sword, neither sparing them nor showing compassion." 'h And to this people shalt thou say : Thus saith Jehovah : ' Behold I set before Only you the way of life and of death ; 9whoever remains in this town shall die by the sword and by pestilence; but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chal deans, who are besieging you, shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, 10for I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good ;* it shall be given into the hands of the king of Babylon and he shall burn it with fire. hopeis sub mis sion 13Behold I am against thee, O inhabitress of the valley, rock of the plaint jeho- Ye who say, "Who can come down against us, who can enter into our lairs, Jjmself "I will visit you in punishment according to the fruit of your deeds, is jjon- Jehovah's oracle, And I will kindle a fire in her forest and it shall devour all that is round about her,1 § 126. The Promise to Zedekiah, Jer. 341-7 Jer. 34 ^he word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, while Nebucha- pre- drezzar king of Babylon .and all his army and all the world that was subject to him were diction fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah :m Thus saith Jehovah, 'Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, 2"Thus saith Jehovah: Behold this city shall surely be given into the power of the king of Babylon that he may capture and burn it with fire. 3And thou that Zede kiah's life will bespared j d 21s For this late prophetic expression, cf. Dt. 4M. ° 216 So Gk. The conjunction nas been lost in the Heb. f 21' So Gk. The Heb. adds by mistake, and. e 217 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb., into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. Cf. «. h 217 Again following the more consistent and forcible Gk. The scribe who made the addition in the first part of the vs. has also made, he, referring to Nebuchadrezzar, the subject throughout the vs., and also added, nor have pity. ' 2110 So Gk. The Heb. adds, as frequently, is the oracle of Jehovah. ' 21i3 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. k 2113 So the vss. Heb., in our habitations. i 21" Possibly the Heb. should be amended so as to read, branches, as in Is. 10M. § 126 In this section Jeremiah's advice to king and people in the hour of siege is clearly formulated. Resistance is suicidal, the only hope is in submission. For Zedekiah Jeremiah felt both personal regard and pity. The king's intentions were evidently good and he had a great respect for Jeremiah's counsel, but he was a weak man and apparently almost helpless in the hands of his headstrong nobles. Against his better judgment he was forced to rebel and to maintain his hopeless resistance against Nebuchadrezzar. It is difficult to determine how far the details of Jeremiah's prediction against Zedekiah are due to the later historian, either Baruch or some other disciple — who has given us the present narrative. The fact that the "> 341 The literary style and the spelling, Nebuchadnezzar (in the Heb.), and the fact that ¦ical situation is found in 7 (§ 127) indicate that this note i3 the fuller statement of the historical secondary. 277 Jeh. 343] JEREMIAH'S WORK shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken and delivered into his hand, and thine eyes shall behold his eyes and thou shalt go to Babylon." ' 4Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah: 'Thus saith Je hovah: 5 " Peacefully shalt thou die and like the funeral pyres for thy fathers, the kings before thee, so shall they make a funeral pyre for thee ; and they shall lament for thee, saying: Alas, 6 Lord! for I have spoken the word," saith Jehovah.' "Then Jeremiah spoke all these words to Zedekiah king at Jeru salem, 7while the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem11 and Lachish and Azekah, for these remained among the cities of Judah as fortified cities. Re-en slave ment of the lib erated Hebrew slaves The divine judg mentawait ing the faith less rul ers of Judah § 127. Denunciation of the Perfidy of the People, Jer. 348"22 Jer. 34 8T}ie word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with the people, to proclaim a general libera tion, 9that each should let his male and female slaves go free in case they were Hebrews or Bebrewesses; that none out of Judah should be a slave. 10But all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant, that each should let his male and female slaves go free, brought them again into sub jection as male and female slaves. "Therefore the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, 13Thus saith Jehovah: ' I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, ""At the end of six years thou shalt set free the Hebrew brother, who has been sold to thee and has served thee six years, and thou shalt let him go free," but they neither hearkened to me nor inclined their ear. 15And ye had now turned and done that which is pleasing to me, in proclaiming freedom each to his neighbor, and ye made a covenant before me in the temple which is called by my name. 16But ye have changed your mind and profaned my name, and made each his male and female slaves, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, return, to be male and female slaves again.' "Therefore thus saith Jehovah, 'Ye have not hearkened to me, to proclaim freedom, each to his neighbor — now I pro claim to you a freedom, to become the prey of the sword, the pestilence, and the famine ; and I will make you an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18And I will deliver over the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before the calf which they cut in two and passed between its parts, 19the princes of prediction says nothing about the fate of Zedekiah's sons and the fact that his eyes were later put out and he was condemned to imprisonment favor the conclusion that we have here the prophet's original words. The prediction was evidently based on the recognition of Zedekiah's good intentions and of the justice with which the Chaldeans treated individual malefactors. Here again the slightly shorter and superior Gk. text has in general been followed. The additions in the Heb. are unimportant. n 347 A scribe has added in the Gk., as well as the Heb., and against the cities of Judah, but this is contrary to the statement in the latter part of the vs., that only three cities were still able to resist the Chaldean army. § 127 Again the slightly briefer Gk. text, which is superior to the Heb., has been followed. The incident here recorded turns upon the ancient law regarding the release of slaves, found in Ex. 21, Dt. 15. The Heb. text in " reads, at the end of seven years, but the Gk. makes the period, six years, which accords with the Heb. law. The perfidy of the Hebrews confirmed Jeremiah's estimate of the Jews who were left behind in Palestine, and justifies his sweeping condemnation. The detailed reasons why the leaders of the people indulged in the false confidence that they had been permanently delivered from the Chaldeans are given in the next section. 278 DENUNCIATION OF PERFIDY [Jer. 3420 Judah, and the eunuchs, and the priests, and the people — 20I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth. 21And I will give Zede kiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, the forces of the king of Babylon who have gone away from you. 22Behold, I will command,' saith Jehovah, 'and cause them to return to this city, and they shall besiege it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah an uninhabited desolation.' § 128. The Declaration that Nebuchadrezzer Would Surely Return, Jer. 371"10 Jer. 37 ISo Zedekiah the son of Josiah became king in the place of Zede- Coniah0 the son of Jehoiakim, in that Nebuchadrezzar made him king so that T$e " he ruled over Judah; but neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land hearkened to the words of Jehovah, which he spoke through Jeremiah. 3And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah. Zede- the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Jehovah for request us. 4Now in that time Jeremiah went in and out of the city, for they had not put him in prison. 5And Pharaoh's army had come forth from Egypt, and the Chaldeans had received a report regarding them, and had abandoned the siege of Jerusalem. "Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Jere-_ 7'Thus shalt thou say to the king of Judah, who sent to me to inquire of me: "r'edic- " Behold, Pharaoh's army, which has come out to help you, shall return to j °r"ff Egypt, ^hen the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against the city and saiem's shall take it and burn it with fire." ' 9Thus saith Jehovah, ' Do not deceive atrUc- yourselves with the idea that the Chaldeans will depart from you; for they tlon shall not depart. 10For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chal deans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men, yet would these rise up each in his tent, and burn this city with fire.' § 129. Jeremiah's Confinement during the Final Siege, Jer. 3711-21, 38, 39lsls Jer. 37 uNow when the army of the Chaldeans had abandoned the siege jere_ of Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, "Jeremiah went forth from Jeru- mjah. salem to go into the land of Benjamin to receive his inheritancep there among accused the people. 13And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the tempt- guard was there, Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he jps *° laid hold on Jeremiah, saying, You are going over to the Chaldeans. 14Then Jeremiah said, It is false ; I am not going over to the Chaldeans. He, how ever, paid no heed to Jeremiah but brought him to the princes. 15And the princes were angry with Jeremiah and smote him and put him in the house of Jonathan the chancellor, for they had made that the prison. § 128 The superior Gk. text has been followed. ° 37l So Heb. Gk., in the place of Jehoiakim. § 129 Here, as in the preceding historical sections, the Gk. text has been followed, except when attention is called to the fact in the notes. ¦> 37i! Cf . § 130. Translating the peculiar Heb. idiom with the aid of the VSS. 279 Jer. 3716] JEREMIAH'S WORK His 16And thus Jeremiah came into the house of the cistern and into the cells ; secret an(j jje remained there many days. "Then Zedekiah sent and summoned view him ; and the king questioned him secretly and said, Is there any word from theh Jehovah ? And Jeremiah said, There is. You shall be delivered into the hand king of the king of Babylon. "Moreover Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, What crime have I committed against you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison ? 19Where now are your prophets, who prophesied to you, saying, ' The king of Babylon shall not come against this land ? ' 20And now, O my lord the king; let my petition be presented before you, that you will not let me be taken back to the house of Jonathan the chancellor, lest I die there. In the 2IThen the king gave command and they committed Jeremiah to the court thert° of the guard, and they gave him daily a loaf of bread from the bakers' street, euard until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. The 38 *But when Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of of1 the6 ' Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah and Pashhur the son of Malchijah,q nobles heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying, ''Thus saith Jehovah, ' He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine ; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live and his life shall be to him as booty, and he shall live ' ; also, ^hus saith Jehovah, ' This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he shall take it,' 4they said to the king, Let this man be put to death, since he weakens the hands of the soldiers who remain in this city and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them; for this man seeks not the welfare of this people but the hurt. Jere- 5Then Zedekiah the king said, See, he is in your hands, for the king was ™at not able to do anything against them. ^Thereupon they cast Jeremiah into into a the cistern of Malchijah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard, and to die let him down with cords. And in the cistern there was no water, but mire, and Jeremiah wasr in the mire. His 7Now when Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch,8 who was in the royal rescue pajace heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern, while the king was melech s'ttmg m tne Gate °* Benjamin, 8Ebed-melech went out to him and said to the king, 9My lord the king, these men have done wrong in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the cistern ; and he must soon die in the place where he is, because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city*- 10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, saying, Take from here three men with you and draw up Jeremiah" from the cistern before he dies. "So Ebed-melech took the men with himv and went into the royal palace below the treasury and took from there rags and worn- q 38i s0 Heb., which has preserved the name of Pashhur, which has apparently been lost in the Gk. r 386 Gk. omits, Jeremiah. Heb., sank. • 38' So Heb. Gk. omits. The statement that Ebed-melech was a eunuch is probably historical. ' 38" So Heb. The Gk. reads simply, you have done wrong in that you allow this man to die of hunger. « 38'° Gk., him. r 38u Gk. omits, with him; lit., by his hand.280 miah.'s reiter- JEREMIAH'S CONFINEMENT [Jer. 3811 out garments, and let them down by cords to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12And Ebed-melech said to Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out garments below your armpits under the cords.w And Jeremiah did so. 13Then they drew him up with the cords and took him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. 14Then the king sent and took Jeremiahx to him into the third entry which The leads into the temple of Jehovah. And the king said to Jeremiah, I should £j°j[£ like to ask you something, conceal nothing from me. 15Then Jeremiah said ries and to the king, If I declare it to you, will you promise not to put me to death ? ance of And if I give you counsel, you will not hearken to me. leThen the king f[°^ec' swore to Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah liveth, who has given us this life, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men. "Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, ' If thou wilt give jere thyself up to the princes of the king of Babylon, then thy life shall be pre served and this city shall not be burned with fire, and thou shalt live, together ated with thy household. 18But if thou wilt not give thyself up, then this city shall ration be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, who will burn it with fire, and thou *„aren. shalt not escape from their hand/ 19Then the king said to Jeremiah, I am der afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me would into their hand and they mock me. 20But Jeremiah said, They shall not de- save liver you. Obey the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak to you ; so it shall be well with you. 21But if you refuse to give yourself up, this is the revelation that Jehovah has showed me : 22Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's palace shall be brought forth to the princes of the king of Babylon, singing : They have betrayed thee; they have overcome thee, thy familiar friends! They have caused thy feet to sink in the mire ; they turn back ! 23They shall also bring out your sons to the Chaldeans. You yourself shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon; and this city shall be burned.2 "Then the king said to Jeremiah,3, Let no man know of these words, or you Se- may die ? ^But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and come to regard- you, and say to you, ' Declare to us what you have said to the king — hide it ing tne not from us, otherwise we will put you to death— also what the king said view to you,' 26then say to them, ' I presented my petition before the king, that he would not make me return to Jonathan's house, to die there.' "Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and inquired of him ; and he told them these words just as the king had commanded him. So they ceased questioning him, for the word of Jehovahb was not reported. 28But Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured. w 3812 Gk., and he said, Lay this under the cords. * 18" Gk., him. r 3818 Gk. omits, from their hand. • 38!! Jeremiah's original speech probably ended.with B, and 2S seems to be a later expan sion based on subsequent events. » 38« Gk., him. b 38« The Heb. has simply word or matter. 281 The reward promisedEbed-melech Jer. 3915] JEREMIAH'S WORK 39 15Now this word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah0 in the court of the guard: 16Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Cushite, ' Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: " Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil and not for good. 17But I will deliver thee in that day, and I will not let thee falld into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. 18For I will surely save thee and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be as booty to thee, because thou hast put thy trust in me," saith Jehovah.' The occa sion Invitation to buy family lands Significanceof the pur chase § 130. Symbolic Prediction of a National Restoration, Jer. 32 Jer, 32 ^his word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the tenth year [587 b.c] of Zedekiah the king, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, 2when the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem and Jeremiah was shut up in the guard-house, which was by the royal palace where Zedekiah the king had shut him up: Why dost thou prophesy and say, 'Thus saith Jehovah: "Behold, I will give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon so that he shall conquer it. 4And Zedekiah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him, mouth to mouth, and look upon him, eye to eye. 6And he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he remain." ' 6And this word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah:6 Behold Hanamel, the son of Shallum thine uncle is coming to thee to say : 'Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for thou, as the nearest relative, hast the right of buying it.' 8And Hanamel, mine uncle's son, came to me into the guard court and said : Buy my field that is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin ; for the right of in heritance is thine and the redemption is thine.f Then I knew that it was Jehovah's word. 9And I bought the field of Hanamel, mine uncle's son, and weighed out to him seventeen shekelsg of silver. c 3915 Heb., while he was shut up. d 3917 Heb., thou shalt not be given. § 130 This passage is significant because it expresses, by means of a striking object lesson, Jeremiah's belief in the future restoration of his people. Vss. 2-5 contain an historical introduc tion based on chaps. 37, 38. It was probably added by a later editor of the chapter. The narrative in 6-15 is one of the most authentic in the book of Jeremiah. It is circumstantial and in harmony with the facts stated elsewhere in the book. According to 3712 Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to receive there his portion in the midst of the people. The occasion was a brief intermission in the final siege of Jerusalem when the Chaldeans had temporarily withdrawn. This final siege was evidently the background of the present incident. Jeremiah had already proclaimed repeatedly the certain conquest and overthrow of the city. Events were now rapidly leading to that consummation. It was natural that in these circum stances the prophet should begin to think of the future. Already he had declared that the exile was to be only temporary. Now he proclaimed in terms, which every one could understand, that the fields of Judah were yet again to be tilledt and to possess a marketable value. The prayer and the promises contained in the remainder of the chapter represent a more detailed statement of the great fact set forth in the preceding vss. Many noble thoughts are expressed in this second part of the chapter and many of Jeremiah's ideas reappear, but the style and contents of the section, as a whole, mark it as the work of a later disciple. Its style is not only prosaic, but verbose and loosely connected, in striking contrast to the words that come directly from the lips of the great poet-prophet. It is also shot through with words and phrases from Dt. and the Deuteronomic school of writers. _ It adds little to the statements found in the passages attributed by common consent to Jeremiah. Rather it is of the nature of a hortatory sermon based on texts drawn from the prophet's writings. Again the Gk. has preserved a slightly shorter and, in almost every case, superior text. This has been followed in the translation given above. The additions in the Heb. are not of sufficient importance to require special comment, since they are readily discovered by comparing the standard Eng. translations, which are based on the Heb. text, with the present rendering. 0 326 The Gk., Syr., and Arab, have here evidently preserved the original, as given above. The editor who added the historical introduction, 2-B, has, in the Heb., expanded this vs. so as to read, this word of Jehovah was to me. * 328 cf.( for Heb. laws of inheritance, Vol. IV §§. 30-32. e 329 The price paid was between eleven and twelve dollars, although the purchasing value of this sum represented a much larger amount, measured by modern standards. In any case, the lot was probably small and the purchasing price, in view of the circumstances, exceedingly low. 282 PREDICTION OF NATIONAL RESTORATION [Jer. 2310 And I signed the deed and sealed it and took witnesses, weighed out the money to him in the balances. "Then I took the sealed purchase deed 12and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who had signed the purchase deed, and in the presence of the Jews in the guard court. 13And I gave this charge to Baruch in their presence; 14Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : 'Take this purchase deed and put it in an earthen vessel,11 that it may remain for years to come.' 15For thus saith Jehovah : 'Houses and fields and vine yards shall yet again be bought in this land.' 16Now after I had given the purchase deed to Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed this prayer to Jehovah : "Ah, Jehovah 1 thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and thine outstretched arm, there is nothing too difficult for thee,18 who showest kind ness to thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them,' the great, the mighty God, "great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men, who givest to each one according to his con duct; 20who didst do signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,' even to this day both in Israel and among mankind, and madest thee a name as at this time.k 21And thou didst bring forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with portents, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm,i Kand gavest them this land which thou didst swear to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23And they came in and took possession of it, but they harkened not to thy voice, nor walked according to thy law; they did not do all which thou hadst commanded them, and so thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them. MSee the siege-mounds have come already to the city to take it, and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans, who are fighting against it, to the sword, famine, and pestilence. As thou hast said, so has it come to pass, thou thyself seest it. ^And thou hast said, Buy the field for money. And I wrote the purchase deed and sealed it and took for myself witnesses,™ when the city was already given over into the hands of the Chaldeans. MThen this word of Jehovah came to me : "Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh, is there anything too difficult for me? 28Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Verily this city will be given" into the hands of the0 king of Babylon and he shall conquer it, and the Chaldeans who fight against this city will come and set this city on fire, and burn the houses, on the roofs of which they offered sacrifice to Baal ; and poured out libations to other gods. 30For the Israelites and the Judahites from their youth have been doing only that which is evil in my sight ; for this city hath provoked mine anger and my fury from the day when I built it until now, so that I must remove it from my presence, 32on account of all the wickedness of the Israelites and Judahites which they have done to vex me — they, their kings, their princes, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. KAnd they have turned to me the back and not the face, and though I taught them faithfulness, yet they no more harkened to receive correction; 3ibut they have set up their detestable things in the temple which bears my name to defile it. 35And they have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, to consecratep their sons and then- daughters to their king.i which I commanded them not, neither did it come into my mind that they should do this abomination, nor cause Judah to sin. 38 And now thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning the city of which thou sayest, It has been given into the hand of the king of Babylon, to the sword, famine, and pestilence; "Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries whither I have driven them in mine anger and fury and great wrath, and I will bring them back to this place and will cause them to dwell in safety, 38and they shall be to me a people and I shall be to them a God. 39And h 3214 The present passage contains the clearest statement found in the O. T. of the Heb. customs of making and recording a sale of property. The care with which the deed of sale was guarded recalls the ancient law of Hammurabi, which enacted that any one losing his copy of the written contract should forfeit the rights therein recorded. i 32IS Cf . Dt. 5<">. '"». i 3220 Cf . Dt. 622, Neh. 910. k 3220 /. e., remembered even to this day. 1 3221 So Gk. Heb. adds, with great terror. Syr. and Targ., appearance. Possibly the latter is the original reading. ¦>> S225 Heb., take witnesses, but the Gk., which passes from the direct address to Jeremiah's act, is probably the original. n 3228 So Gk. Heb., / am about to give. o 3228 So Gk. Heb. adds, Chaldeans and into ihe hand of Nebuchadrezzar. p S238 Lit., to cause to pass over. From the analogy in 73' it would appear that the reference is to human sacrifice. q 32M So Gk. Heb., to Molech. 283 The prophet'sprayer Jeho vah's review of the causesof Ju dah's coming over throw His promisesof na tional restoration Jer. 23™] JEREMIAH'S WORK I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me at all times and that it may go well with them and their children after them. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn back from them, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that may not turn away from me; 41and I will rejoice over' them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with my whole heart and soul. 42For thus saith Jehovah, Just as I have brought upon this people all of this great misfortune, so will I now bring upon them all the good which I have promised them, and fields shall again be bought in the land of which thou sayest, 'It is desolate, without man or beast; it is given over to the hands of the Chaldeans.' ¦"Men shall buy fields for money, and write deeds, and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, of the hill-country, of the lowland, and of the South Country, for I will bring back their captivity. Jeho vah's strong assur ance Resto ration and glory for Je rusalem Repop- ulationof Judah § 131. The Later Popular Version of Jeremiah's Prediction, Jer. 33 Jer. 33 iNow this word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was yet shut up in the guard-house. 2Thus saith Jehovah, who hath created the earth" and formed it, that it might stand fast, Jehovah is his name: 3'Call upon me and I will answer thee and I will declare to thee great and hidden things' which thou knowest not.' 'For thus saith Jehovah" concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the king of Judah, which shall be torn down for mounds and for the barricade 5when they begin to fight with the Chaldeans, and which are to be filled with the dead bodies of men," whom I have smitten in mine anger and fury, and from whom I have hidden my face, be cause of" all their wickedness, 6'Behold, I will make new flesh to grow on her, and healing so that I will heal her,1 and I will reveal to them treasures' of peace and stability. 'And I will bring back the captivity of Judah and Israel, and I will build them again as before; 8and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity2 whereby they have sinned against me, and I will cleanse thema from all their iniquities wherewith they have sinned against me andb trans gressed against me. 9And she shall be a joy and a praise and glory to all the nations of the earth when they shall hear all the good which I am doing;0 and they shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I will procure for her.'d '"Thus saith Jehovah, 'Yet again shall it be heard in this place of which you say, "It is waste, without man or beast," even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, which are desolate, without man" or beast, "the cry of joy and gladness,' the voice of the bridegroom and the bride, the voice of those who say, "Give thanks to Jehovah of hosts, for Jehovah is good, for his mercy endureth forever," ancU who bring sacrifices'1 of thanksgiving to Jehovah's house; for I will bring back the captivity of the land as at first,' saith Jehovah. r 3241 So Heb. Gk., I will visit them. The latter idiom is on the whole the more common and may represent the original, although the Heb. is the stronger. § 131 This passage, like the latter part of chap. 33, presents fundamental variations from Jeremiah's ordinary thought and form of expression. It is a composite of the thoughts and teachings of Jeremiah, e. g., Jer. IO12, 32"- «, of the II Isaiah, e. g., 4518, 48s, 6521, of certain of Ezekiel's teachings, e. g., Ezek. S625, of the liturgical invocation found in many post-exilic Pss., e. g., 1061, 1071, 1361-3, and of free quotations from other late Jewish writings. The nucleus of the promises found in this section is from Jeremiah, but the passage in its present form can not be dated earlier than the Gk period, somewhere between 300 and 200 B.C. The remainder of the chapter, vss. '<-x, is not found in the Gk. text. It is clearly a late addition to the Heb. text. Its promise of the permanence of the Davidic and the Levitical priesthood reflects the thought of exilic or post-exilic period. Cf. § 223. B 332 So Glc. The Heb. is evidently corrupt. * 333 So Gk. Heb., cut off. " 334 So Gk. Heb. adds, God of Israel. y 334- 6 The above rendering is based upon a slightly revised Gk. text. A more funda mental revision of the text, suggested by Cornill (Jer., p. 368) gives the rendering, which should be torn down, against which the Chaldeans are coming, with mounds and weapons, to fight against it, and to fill with the bodies of those, etc. In favor of the latter translation is the fact that mounds were thrown up rather by invaders than by defenders. y 33s So Gk. Heb., from this city. 1 336 So Gk. Heb., them. y 336 Correcting an obvious error in the Heb. " 338 So Gk. Heb., their iniquities. a 338 So Heb. Gk. and Arab., / will not remember it. '» 33s So Gk. and Lat. • 339 So Gk. Heb. adds, them. d 339 So Heb., which gives the clearer meaning. The vss. read, to them. " 33"> So Gk. Heb. adds the incongruous phrase, and without inhabitants. ' 33" Cf., for the opposite picture, Jer. 7M, 16», 25l°. « 33" So Gk., Syr., and Lat. h 3311 So Gk. and the implications of the context. 284 LATER POPULAR VERSION [Jer. 3312 "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Yet again shall there be in this place which is waste, with- Re- out man or beast, and in all these cities, a pasture for shepherds, who will cause their flocks newed to lie down. l3In the cities of the hill-country and of the lowland and of the South Country, prob and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of penty Judah, shall the flocks again pass by him who counts them,'1 saith Jehovah. § 132. Jeremiah's Vision of the Future, Jer. 3131-40 Jer. 31 31Behold, the days are coming, is Jehovah's oracle, The That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israeli new_ 32Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, sonal In the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of nant~ EgyP1' tween God 1 3313 Lit., sheep shall pass by the hands of him who counts. I. e., the sheep shall again be ant* counted as they are brought back from the pasture, which is a graphic way of declaring that the ea9f1 former pastoral prosperity shall be restored. '"h i § 132 In recent years the Jeremian authorship of this passage has been stoutly contested. viaual It has been urged that it has few if any points of contact with Jeremiah's other teachings and that it reflects the interest and point of view of the post-exilic rather than the pre-exilic period. No one can seriously urge that 35-40 are from Jeremiah. The prose style, the wide variations between the Heb. and Gk. text, the phrases and ideas peculiar to the II Isaiah and the post- exilic writers, the assertion of Israel's nationalistic hope, rather than the spiritual and ethical ideas that Jeremiah emphasized, and the concluding prediction that Jerusalem itself should be rebuilt on a larger scale, all suggest the work of a later disciple of Jeremiah, who was inter preting the hopes of the great prophet in a more material and concrete term. Very different is the classic passage in 3l-M. It proclaims that the day'is coming when instead of the old covenant at Sinai between Jehovah and his people, whose terms were formu lated in definite laws, which were taught and interpreted to the people by their religious teachers, a new covenant or bond should be established, closer, more spiritual, and individual. Not in the hearts of a chosen few, but in the mind of every one, Jehovah would implant the knowledge of his divine character and will and the way in which these demands should be met by the indi vidual, so that the work of the earlier teachers should be unnecessary. Each man should have that knowledge of Jehovah which is the essence of religion. Nothing is said of detailed forms and ceremonies. The earlier kindergarten methods are no longer necessary, for the nation and individual are to become the disciples of the divine Teacher, and truth is to be imparted directly to all who seek it. A careful student of the earlier prophecies of Jeremiah recognizes in this culminating pas sage, the blending of his characteristic teachings. He, it was, who declared that the temple should be destroyed, that the ark should pass away, and that truth and love and service alone should abide. He was the first to declare that Josiah's reformation, based on the book of the covenant, was in a sense a failure. By observation and by the personal experiences of his long ministry, Jeremiah had been led to the conviction that a relationship more fundamental than that of a formal covenant between a nation and its God was required. The whole trend of his teaching pointed to that deeper, more personal relationship which is set forth in the present pas sage. His parting message, in the name of Jehovah, to the first group of exiles had been, 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 shall return to me with their whole heart, 247. This vs. contains in essence the pregnant ideas developed in the present passage, which has been truly designated as "Jeremiah's spiritual testament to the race." Hosea's characteristic phrase, to know Jehovah, Hos. 41, 66, was fre quently used by Jeremiah to embody one of his most fundamental teachings, 28, 422, 93- 5- 2A. In his teaching this knowledge describes not only intimate personal acquaintance with Jehovah and his purpose, but also the doing of that will in thought and word and deed. Without this intimate practical knowledge formal religion was but hypocrisy, and with it Jehovah's forgive ness and approval were assured. In Jeremiah's thought the difference between the old and the new covenant was apparently_ not so much a difference of terms, for he conceived of the old covenant as ethical and practical, butin the methodin which it was to be made practically effective, and in that personal and spiritual relationship which it should establish between the divine Father and his children. In making the distinction between the old and new covenant, Jeremiah gave to religion the two terms which, through the Lat. translation, have become the designation of the two collec tions of writings, known as the Old and New Testaments. The titles are also appropriate, for the Old Testament records the origin and terms of the ancient covenant or basis of agreement between Jehovah and. his nation, Israel, while the New describes the origin, terms and practical application of the newer and more personal covenant or basis of relationship between God and every indi vidual who accepts these requirements and lives in accordance with their demands. At the moment, also, when the old national life was dissolving and the old covenant had been set aside through the persistent infidelity of the people, and through Jehovah's signal judgment upon the nation, Jeremiah held up beforethe doubting, despondent, scattered exiles the possibility and certainty of a new and more glorious covenant. With Jeremiah also the religion of the Hebrews began to burst its national bonds and to become a universal wo rid- religion. i 3131 Following the analogy of M and the requirements of the metre. 285 Jeh. 3133] JEREMIAH'S WORK My covenant which they themselves broke and I was displeased with them; ^But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, is the oracle of Jehovah, I will1 put my teaching in their breast and on their heart will I write it ; And I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people. "And they shall not teach any more every man his neighbor, And every man his brother, saying, ' Know Jehovah,' For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest ; For I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sins no more.ra Israel'sperpetuity Rebuild ing of Jerusalem 35 Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day and the11 moon and the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea, so that its waves roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name: 3sIf these ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, then the race of Israel also' shall cease from being a nation before me forever. "Thus saith Jehovah:" If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off ¦> the race of Israel for all that they have done, is the oracle of Jehovah. "Behold, the days are coming, is the oracle of Jehovah, when the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of HananelQ to the corner gate. r 39 And the measuring line shall go out8 straight onward to the hill Gareb,' and shall turn about to Goah. "And the whole valley," and all the fields' to the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to Jehovah; it shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more forever. Flight, cap ture,and fi nal fate of Zed ekiah § 133. Jeremiah's Liberation, Jer. 39» 40' Jer. 39 iln the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah [S86 b.c] in the tenth month, Neb uchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. 2In the eleventh year of Zedekiah on the ninth day of the fourth month, a breach was made in the city. 3Tb.en all the princes of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate :w Nebushazban the chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal-sharezer the chief of the magicians, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. 4 And when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the warriors saw them, they fled k 3132 Following the Gk. Heb. adds, it is the oracle of Jehovah. 1 3133 Following the superior reading of twenty-four Heb. MSS. Traditional Heb.,/ have put. m 3134 So Gk. and O. Lat. A scribe has inserted in the Heb., it is the oracle of Jehovah. n 3135 So Gk. Heb. adds, the ordinances of. o 3^37 This vs. stands in the Gk. immediately after 34. " 313' go Gk. Heb. adds, are. q 3138 Directly north of the temple. Cf., Neh. 33. r 3^38 The corner gate was apparently on the northwest. ¦ 3139 So Gk. 4 3139 This probably marks the western boundary. The places referred to are mentioned nowhere else. » 31" So Gk. A scribe has added, in the Heb., the dead bodies and ashes. y 31" This apparently refers, not to the valley of Ben-hinnom, but to the eastern slope of Zion or the western hill, including the upper Tyropceon valley. § 133 The original nucleus of this section is found in 3- ". Vss. 391 2 are a rather cumber some introductory note from some editor and 394-13 was taken from II Kgs. 254-'2. It is im portant because it gives the historical setting of the remainder of the passage. It is not found in the Gk. and was evidently added by a later reviser of the Heb. text. Jeremiah's consistent and strenuous opposition to rebellion against the Chaldeans doubtless became known to the conquerors. The Chaldeans, like the ancient Babylonians, maintained very high standards of justice and sought to deal with each personal offender according to his personal record. The liberation was therefore not only an act of justice measured by their own standards but was as potent in its effect on the action of possible future rebels as was the severe punishment of the guilty offenders. The short paragraph, 401-6, is apparently a later form of the same tradition, for it bears the mark of popular transmission. Here the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah comes not, as ordinarily, to the prophet's inner consciousness but is put in the mouth of the Chaldean commander of the guard, who is thus made to preach like a Heb. prophet. w 39s The repetitious form of the Heb. text indicates that it is here corrupt. The revision followed above is based on the parallel passage in 13. 286 JEREMIAH'S LIBERATION [Jer. 394 and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the king's garden, through the gate between the two walls, and went out toward the Arabah. 6But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Then they took and brought him up to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he passed judgment upon him. 6And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes; also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. 'Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him in chains, to carry him to Babylon. uNow Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had given the following command concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the commander of the body-guard: 12Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do to him as he shall direct you. 13So Nebuzaradan the com mander of the body-guard, and Nebushazban the chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal-sharezer the chief of the magicians, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon 14sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and gave him into the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home ; so he dwelt among the people. 40 xThe word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah after Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him» in chains among the captives of Judah* who were carried away to Babylon. 2And the commander of the guard took himB and said to him, Jehovah, your God pronounced evil upon this place; 3and Jehovah hatha done just as he said, for you have sinned against Jehovah and have not obeyed his voice. b 4Now behold, I loose you this day from the chains which are upon your hand. If it seem good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look out for you. But if not0 do not come; 5but go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the landd of Judah, and dwell with him among the people or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the commander of the body-guard gave him provisions and a present, and sent him away. 6Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land. Special provi sions made for Jer emiah Set freeand allowed to re turn to Geda liah § 134. Jeremiah's Advice to the Remnant in Judah, Jer. 407> 8a, 411-3, 42x-437 Jer. 40 7When all the commanders of the forces that were in the fields, Gath- together with their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah l£eS °f the son of Ahikam governor in the land and had committed to him men, l°caj women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, such as were not carried away captive to Babylon, 8they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, . . . x 40l So Gk. Heb. adds, and he was bound. y 40l So Gk. Heb., all of the captivity of Jerusalem and Judah. ¦ 402 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. is corrupt and reads, to Jeremiah. a 403 So Gk. Heb. adds, let it come. b 403 So Gk. Heb., then this thing will come to you. c 404 So Gk. Heb. adds a long repetitious gloss. d 405 So Gk. Heb., in the cities of Judah. § 134 This section records the last tragic chapter in the history of the Judean kingdom. Nebuchadrezzar showed excellent judgment in attempting to maintain a local government in Judah under a native prince, even though the capital at Jerusalem was in ruins and a large part of the population deported. His object was to preserve the natural resources of Judah, and to maintain the strength of this western outpost of his empire. He was also aware of its strategic importance as a base for the invasion of Egypt, which he, probably even at this time, contem plated. In setting aside the worthless house of David, and in appointing Gedaliah, the grand son of Josiah's faithful counsellor, Shaphan, Nebuchadrezzar acted wisely, although in the end it was apparently the murderous jealousy of a scion of the royal house which resulted in the overthrow of Gedaliah and his little kingdom. The seat of government was at Mizpah, a few miles north of Jerusalem. The survivors and the returning exiles quickly rallied about Gedaliah. Under his wise and benign rule and the protecting arm of Babylon, there was great promise of a new period of peace and prosperity; but Gedaliah's faith in men cost him his life, and the glad hope which had filled the minds of his followers was suddenly changed to dismay and terror. Under Gedaliah's rule Jeremiah evidently entered into that heritage of popular confidence and honor which he had earned through the long years of discouragement, public disgrace, and bitter persecution. In the crisis resulting from the death of Gedaliah, the people turned to Jeremiah, as Jehovah's representative, for counsel. It is impossible to determine why the prophet, at this crisis, delayed for ten days before giving an answer. In any case it would seem that the proper course of action was not clear in his own mind, for the delay only tended to in crease the impatjence and excitement of the people, so that, when the final decision was given, they were not in a state to appreciate his wisdom nor to act in accord with his advice. If 287 Ish mael' s treach erous murder of Ged aliah and his men The request of the people The divinecom mand to re main in theland Jer. 411] JEREMIAH'S WORK 41 'But afterwards in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal line, with ten men, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah; and there they were eating together in Mizpah. ^hen Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him rose up and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword and thus slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. 3Ishmael also slew all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there. . . . 42 'Then all the commanders of the forces and Johanan the son of Kareah and Azariah the son of Maaseiah,6 and all the people small and great came near, 2and said to Jeremiah the prophet, Permit us to bring our petition before you that you may supplicate Jehovah your God for us, even forf this remnant, for we are left but a few out of many — you yourself see us here — 3that Jehovah your God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do. 4Then Jeremiah6 said to them, I have heard you ; behold I will pray to Jehovah ourh God according to your words, and whatever Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it to you ; I will keep noth ing back from you. 5Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not according to all the word with which Jehovah1 shall send^ to us. 6Whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send you, that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God. 7And after ten days the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah. 8And he called together Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him and all the people small and great,9and said to them, Thus saith Jehovah :k 10' If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up ; for I am sorry for the evil that I have done io you. uBe not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; fear not, is the oracle of Jehovah, for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you and let you return1 to your own land.' 13But if ye say, ' We will not dwell in this land' ; so that ye obey not the voice of Jehovah,111 "thinking, ' No ; but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war nor hear the sound of the trumpet nor be hungry, and there will we remain'; 15then hear the word of Jehovah:11 Thus saith Jehovah,0 'If Jeremiah was dependent simply on a supernatural revelation, it is difficult to see why this, in divine justice, was withheld. The simpler and more natural explanation is that he was taking time for consideration and awaiting further data and possibly certain developments to guide him in giving authoritative counsel. Here, as elsewhere, the Gk. has a somewhat shorter text, which may well be the original, but at a number oft points the fuller Heb. text is more satisfactory. Inasmuch as this materiai has been already given in Vol. II, §§ 140, 141, the unimportant passages have here been omitted. 8 421 So Gk. Heb. text is corrupt. ' 42^ go Gk. Heb. adds, all. * 42' So Gk. Heb. adds, the prophet. b 424 So Gk. and the demands of the context. Heb., your. < 42s So Gk. Heb. adds, your God. > 42s So Gk. Heb. adds, your. k 42s So Glc. Heb. adds, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before him. 1 4212 So the superior reading of the Gk. » 42" So Gk. Heb. adds, your God. " 4215 So Gk. Heb. adds, O remnant of Judah. ° 4216 So Gk. Heb. adds, of hosts, the God of Israel. 288 JEREMIAH'S ADVICE TO REMNANT [Jer. 4215 ye have indeed determined to enter into Egypt and go to reside there, 16then shall the sword, which ye fear, overtake you there in the land of Egypt ; and the famine, of which ye are afraid, press hard upon you there in Egypt, so that ye shall die there. "Thus all the proudp men who have determined to go into Egypt to reside there, shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pesti lence, and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.' For thus saith Jehovah.i 'As mine anger and my wrath have been poured Certain out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured out upon ^nt you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; and ye shall be an object of execration, HP™. of astonishment, of cursing, and of reproach, and ye shall never see this place obe- again.' 19 Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, ' Go ye peophs not into Egypt.' Know certainly that I have testified to you this day. 20For you have deceived yourselves, for you sent me, r saying, ' Pray for us to Jehovah our God, and just as Jehovah our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it.' 21And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which he hath sent me to you. ^Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the place whither you desire to go to sojourn. 43 'But when Jeremiah had ceased speaking to the people all the words De- of Jehovah their God, with which Jehovah their God had sent him to them, of all"^ even all these words, 2Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of the . Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, You speak falsely ; to Jehovah our God hath not sent you to say, ' Ye shall not go into Egypt to so- Egypt journ there.' 3But it is Baruch the son of Neriah who stirs you up against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captives to Babylon. 4So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of Jehovah, to dwell in the land of Judah. 5But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations whither they had been driven to sojourn in the land of Judah, ethe men, the women, the children, the king's daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the commander of the body-guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah, 7and they came into the land of Egypt ; for they did not obey the voice of Jehovah ; and they came to Tahpanhes. " 42" Adding the word suggested by the revised Gk. text and the parallel in 432. q 42™ So Gk. 1 4220 So Gk. Heb. adds, to Jehovah your God. Ba ru ch's com plaint Jer. 451] JEREMIAH'S WORK 135. The Message to Baruch, Jer. 45 Jer. 45 iThe words which the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah when he wrote these words in a book from the mouth of Jeremiah : ^hus saith Jehovah,8 O Baruch: 3'Thou hast said: " Woe to me, now, that Jehovah hath added sorrow to my pain, I am weary with my groaning so that I find no rest."' Jehovah'swarn ing and promise ^hus* saith Jehovah : ' Behold, that which I have built will I overthrow, And that which I have planted will I pluck up.u 5And seekest thou great things for thyself ? Seek them not, For, behold I am about to bring misfortune upon all flesh, is Jehovah's oracle. But thy life will I give to thee as a prey,v wherever thou mayest go.' § 135 This short section presents many problems. The first vs. closes with the apparently conclusive statement, In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah. If this date were certain it would fix the date of this prophecy in the year 605 B.C., when Baruch made the first and second copies of Jeremiah's sermons, (cf. § 88); but nothing is known about the situa tion in that year which would justify the allusions which the prophet makes in the present oracle. The reference in 5 is very clearly to the exile, which is not far distant but immediately imminent. The reference to Baruch in the preceding section makes it clear that he remained close to Jeremiah even after the first and second captivities had carried many of the Jews into exile. For Jeremiah and Baruch alike the final catastrophe came when they were dragged away into enforced exile into Egypt, not by the Chaldeans or Egyptians, but by their own countrymen. That Baruch himself was strenuously opposed to the flight into Egypt is shown by the words of the people in 433. Possibly he aspired to an important position in the little Judean state, and this may be the meaning of Jeremiah's statement in 5. In any case the situation explains Baruch's words of lamentation in 3. Studied therefore in the light of the events following 586, this unique personal prophecy is full of interest and significance. It also suggests that not only the collection of Jeremiah's earlier sermons but also many of the later sermons as well as the vivid historical narratives in the book of Jeremiah may come from the hand of Baruch. What Boswell was to Johnson, Baruch was to his master Jeremiah. He would seem to have been more than a mere scribe. The fugitive references reveal a man of courage and initiative, of ambition and deep feeling, a devoted friend, who remained true to Jeremiah through all his periods of unpopularity, and was favored with one of the latest messages that came from the lips of the great prophet. Later generations paid tribute to Baruch by ascribing to him the so-called " Apocalypse of Baruch," which is a prophecy cast in apocalyptic form. It is tradition's characteristic way of declaring that Baruch as well as Jeremiah was a prophet. In the light of these facts, it would seem clear that the chronological note in lb was added by a later scribe, who was influenced by the reference to Baruch's activity as Jeremiah's scribe, in order to connect the prophecy with the record of Baruch's work in 605 b.c. * 452 So Gk. Heb. adds, God of Israel. t 454 This vs. begins, Thus shalt thou say to him, but this would seem to be either a scribal addition or a mistaken repetition of the following sentence. u 454 So Gk. Heb. adds the awkward clause, even all the earth is it. v 456 So Gk. Heb., upon all the places. 290 GREECE EGYPT THE JEWISH COMMUNfTY BABYLONIA PERSIA ESISLATION OF SOLON 'Medio! T»»| l.tlioj , „ ~ [in Ilk U flEI kiah i.i n«»T Hophr a Evil- 660 EXPULSION OF FOREIGNERS 540 520 McrodaehUSixlgHssar Nabonldu Cy A CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY CAMBYBES 625 C BABYLONIAN EMPIRE BY CVRUfl 830 FROPHETS gssJ edict of cyrus concerning temple CBmbylsel „ T VZERUBBABEL GOVERNOR OF JUDAH GomatgBj *' gfa 500 Bit INVASION OF EUROPE BY DARIUS BlO OEMOCRACY AT ATHENS IQNIANS REVOLT 5 3D) BEGINNING OF TEMPLE BUILDING 516 COMPLETION OF TEMPLE 480 460 440 AGAINST DARIUS 494 SUPPRESSION OF REVOLT . 490 BATTLE OF MARATHON ¦190 RATTLES OF THERMOPYLAE ¦ AND 8ALAMI8 479 BATTLE OF PLATAEA 470 PERSIANS EXPELLED FROM EUROPE 460 GREEKS AID EGYPTIANS 447 BATTLE OF CHAERQNEA 446 PERICLES RULES ATHENS 4451 WALLS OF JE8&S^E"M0REBU?lMir2US """^ —4- NEHEMIAH GOVERNOR 432 1 NEHEMIAH'S SECOND VISIT TO JERUSALEM 420 400 Sferxes IL 408 BATTLE OF AEGOSPOTAMI . 410 (ABOUT) EGYPT REVOLTS 404 END OF PELOPONNESIAN WAlt " *" 380 399 DEATH OF SOCRATES S87 PEACE OF ANTALCIOAS <7(r) THE GREAT ASSEMBLY INSTITUTION OF THE PRIESTLY LAW 61. ILDI .G OT THE SftMARlTAr taxerxes II. 360 MACEDONIA IP TnchoaE INVASION OF SYRIA -*-*- 3 DEFEAT OF OCHUS 340 I^UULbl UI- tbi. L O M DEFEAT OF PERSIAN ARMIES ArtaXe B "III 347 (ABOUT) JEWS JOIN SYRIAN REBELLION S .T.P.. 846 THIRD DEPORTATION OF JEWS. DESECRATION (Oc rxes III. hus) 320 300 CONQUCBT OF EGYPT ANO L__ iv. I ftp; F «MVTOXKU., OF THE TEMPLE 26 Many1 Jews I-Soter «»R'EDT° ALEXANDER 932 AND Arties 1 55nWttl. in-Sl** PTOLEMY MASTER OF JUDAH g V 551 1 liii WARS BETWEEN ALEXANDER'S. GENERALSBATTLE OF IPSUS Ptolemy ANTIGONUS MASTER OF JUDAH PIA P A 297 INVASION OF DEMETRIUS ScleU 280 aSO ASSASSINATION OF SELEUCU3 273 DEATH OF PYRBHUS Ptulero y IL 260 Philadelphia SSOfABOUTjTRANSLA- TION OF : . . Antiochus I. c n *Hfe 281 THE ACHAEAN. LEAGu£ 240 Ptolemy III. Euergetem 220 Seleucua II. Scleuciis III. _- Cprwuniis Ptolemy IV.Phllopator 200 BIB ANTIOCHUS III. CONQUERS PALESTINE Antiochus III. S 2T7 BATTLE OF RAPHIA Ptolemy V. Epiphanes 180 Ptolemy TLi tSS FINAL CONQUEST OF A D PALESTINE BY SELEUCIDS conquered Wolemy Seleu cub IY.Phllopntor VILFMloineter M L E A N U £-£L C O I 170 TEMPLE PLUNDERED ' R Et6B PERSECUTION OF JEWS AntlocllUS 5 O t.167-6 VICTORIES OF JUDAS F 166 REDEDICATION OF TEMPLE r~' ' KV.Epiphanea JKWli^H Aj>TD CONTEMPORARY CHRONOLOGY FKOM 597 TO 165 B.C. THE PROPHETS OF THE EXILE JEREMIAH, EZEKIEL, AND THE AUTHOR OF ISAIAH 13, 14 THE PROPHETS OF THE EXILE JEREMIAH'S SERMONS TO THE EXILES IN EGYPT § 136. Nebuchadrezzar's Conquest of Egypt, Jer. 438"13 Jer. 43 ^hen the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes Pre- saying, 9Take great stones in -thy hand, and bury them secretly3, in the brick- ^ctlon covered place before the door of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes in the sight Egypt's of the men of Judah; 10and say to them, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the fall God of Israel, " Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and heb will set his throne upon these stones that you0 have buried, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. nAnd he shall come and shall smite the land of Egypt ; such as are for death shall be given to death and such as are for captivity shall be given to captivity, and such as are for the sword shall be given to the sword. And hed will kindle a fire in the Jeremiah's Sermons to the exiles in Egypt. — The Chaldean conquest of Judah left the Jews who survived in three great centres, Palestine, Egypt, and Babylonia. There are strong indications that after the fall of Gedaliah's kingdom more Jews were to be found in Egypt than in any other centre. The land of the Nile was the one friendly asylum in all the world where the members of the afflicted race could live without persecution. Egypt was only two or three days' journey from Jerusalem and therefore easily accesible. Since the days of the fall of the northern kingdom many of the Hebrews had found a home in this land of peace and prosperity, so that the attraction was doubly strong. Undoubtedly before the final fall of Jerusalem many political refugees had fled thither, and the followers of Gedaliah turned without question to Egypt as the one place to escape from the power of the Chaldeans. A majority of the later group of refugees had found a home at Tahpanhes, the Greek Daphne, situated to the south of Lake Menzaleh, on the great caravan route which led from Southwestern Asia through the Isthmus of Suez to the Nile Delta. Recent excavations and the historical records indicate that this frontier city was built by Psamtik I, the father of Necho, and was largely colonized by foreigners. An Egyptian garrison consisting largely of Greek and Carian mercenaries was stationed here throughout this period. Here and at the neighboring fortress of Migdol many of the Jews seem for a time to have settled, waiting a favorable opportunity to return to their homes in Judah. § 136 In the light of recent discoveries there is every reason for believing that this account of Jeremiah's symbolic action is substantially historical, even though it comes from the hand of a later historian rather than from Jeremiah himself. The scene was apparently a large raised platform or terrace, made of dried brick, which stood before a royal building probably used by the Pharaoh when he visited the place. It corresponded to the mastaba, which stood before most private as well as public buildings in Egypt. It was the common gathering-place and therefore sufficiently public for the prophet's purpose. Adopting the translation given above, Jeremiah's action is entirely intelligible. It was an effective declaration of his conviction that, in fleeing to Egypt, his countrymen were not escaping the arm of the Chaldeans. His further acquaintance with Egy_pt had apparently only confirmed him in his previous impression of its inherent weakness and in the belief that it would be helpless against the strong arm of Nebuchadrezzar. Tahpanhes also lay in the direct line of advance of an Asiatic conquerer who, in the event of a capture of the city, would make his head-quarters at the royal building and hold court on the great platform which stood before it. a 439 Following Aquila, Sym., Theod., and the Lat., which give a clear meaning in keeping with the context. The Heb. text is evidently corrupt and is not supported by any of the VSS. *> 431° So Gk. and Syr. Heb., I will place. « 4310 So Gk. Heb., I have buried. d 4312 So Gk., Syr., and Lat. Heb., J will kindle. 293 Jee. 4312] JEREMIAH'S SERMONS temples of the gods of Egypt, and will burn them and carry them away. And he shall wrap himself in the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his mantle, and shall go forth from there in peace. 13He shall also break the obelisks of Heliopolis6 and the temples of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire." ' § 137. Apostasy and Punishment of the Jews in Egypt, Jer. 44 Failure Jer. 44 'The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who Jewseto dwelt in the land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis,* and JearP in upper Egypt, saying, ^Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Ye sons have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the the™ cities of Judah ; and there they are this day a desolation, and no man dwelleth past ;n them, 'because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger in that they went to offer sacrifices6 to other gods, that they knew not.h 4However, I constantly sent to them1 all my servants the prophets, saying, "O, do not this abominable thing that I hate." 5But they neither hearkened nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to offer no sacrifice to other gods. 6And so my wrath and mine anger was poured forth • 4313 So Gk. Heb., which are in the land of Egypt. § 137 The numbers and importance of the Jews in Egypt have been revealed by the recent discoveries on the island of Elephantine, in the upper Nile, near the modern Assuan. These records consist of a series of legal documents, written in Aramaic on papyrus, which record im portant contracts between the Jews resident on the island of Elephantine and their Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, Phoenician, and Greek neighbors. The familiar names of Zadok, Isaiah, Hosea, Zechariah, Shallum, and Uriah appear in these documents. They are supplemented by a letter, written in Aramaic, in November, 408 B.C., by the Jewish colonists at Elephantine to the Persian governor of Judah. From these records it appears that at this ancient site, which is probably to be identified with the Syene of Ezekiel and the II Isaiah, there was a strong Jewish colony dating from the beginning of the Babylonian exile. Here they enjoyed great privileges, held property, and entered into business competition with natives and foreigners. Ordinarily they married within their race, but one or two cases of intermarriage are recorded. One Jewess, who married a foreigner, is on record as having sworn by the Egyptian goddess Saty. indicating that there was a good basis for Jeremiah's severe arraignment of the Jews of Egypt. Before the close of the Babylonian exile the Jews of Elephantine reared a temple to their God Yahu (Jehovah) on the King's street, one of the main thoroughfares of the city. The Aramaic letter indicates that when the Persians conquered Egypt this temple was left uninjured even though the Egyptian temples were destroyed. The teriple of Yahu was built of hewn stone, with pillars of stone in front, with seven great gates also built of hewn stone, having doors with bronze hinges. Its roof was wholly of cedar, probably brought from distant Leb anon. Here the devout Jews offered to their God cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and frank incense. It is also significant that in the Aramaic letter Yahu is spoken of as the God of Heaven. These discoveries indicate that while the ceremonial custom of the Jews of Egypt did not meet the demands of the Deuteronomic law, many of the exiles at least remained true to the God of their fathers, and endeavored to adapt their religious life to the new conditions among which they found themselves. Among the peasants who carried Jeremiah away with them, against his will, to Egypt, undoubtedly many heathen rites were still practised. Their attitude toward him was also contemptuous, giving ample grounds for the prophet's words of denuncia tion. It would seem probable, however, that his original utterances have been supplemented in 20.23, 27-28a by some later editor, for these vss. are very loosely connected with the context and even contradict, at one or two points, the teachings of the section as a whole. In the light of the recent discoveries it would seem probable that Jeremiah's teachings were later more favor ably received by the Jews of Egypt, and it is possible that in his closing years the aged prophet enjoyed the appreciation and affection of his fellow-countrymen, rather than the martyrdom at their hands, as a very late Jewish tradition states. The Gk. has a rather widely variant and shorter text. In many cases this undoubtedly represents the original, but elsewhere it appears that the Gk. translators have deliberately abbreviated a longer original. The variations are comparatively unimportant. For additional notes, cf. Vol. II, § 141. ' 441 This word is not found in the Gk. and may be secondary. e 443 So Gk. Heb. adds, to serve, but without a conjunction. h 443 So Gk. Heb. adds the awkward phrase, they, you, and your fathers. i 444 Correcting the Heb., which reads, to you. Fate PUNISHMENT OF JEWS IN EGYPT [Jer. 44° and was kindled against the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and they were wasted and desolate, as is now the case.' Therefore now thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do ye commit a great crime against yourselves to cut off from you man and woman, infant and sucking child, out of the midst of Judah so that ye leave none remaining, 8in that ye provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, offering sacrifice to other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye have gone to reside, that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be an object of cursing and a reproach among all the nations of the earth ? "Have ye forgotten the crimes of your fathers, and the crimes of the kings of Judah, and the crimes of their princesj which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ? "They are not humbled even to this day, neither have they feared nor walked in my law nor in my statutes that I set before you andk before your fathers.' "Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I set my face against you for evil to cut off "the remnant of Judah1 who have de- anwaj£ termined to go to the land of Egypt to reside there, they shall all be con- refu- sumed in the land of Egypt, and they shall fall by the sword and by famine; Ifjypt they shall die, small and great, and they shall be an object of execration, of astonishment, of cursing, and of reproach. 13For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, "so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to reside there, shall escape or be left to return to the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return ;m for none shall re turn except fugitives. 15Then all the men who knew that their wives offered sacrifices to other Their gods and all the women who stood by, a great assembly11 answered Jeremiah, de.ter- saying, 16In regard to the demand that you have made upon us in the name tion to of Jehovah, we will not hearken to you. "But we will rather fulfil every f„ their word that is gone forth from our mouth, to offer sacrifices to the queen of h,?a~ heaven and to pour out libations to her, as we have done, along with our prac- fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets tlce3 of Jerusalem ; for then we had plenty of food and were well and experienced no misfortune. 18But since we ceased offering sacrifices to the queen of heaven, and pouring out libations to her, we have wanted all things and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19And when we offered sacrifices to the queen of heaven, and poured out libations to her, did we make cakes0 and pour out libations to her without the approval of our husbands ? Z0Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, even calam- to all the people who had given him that answer, saying, 21Did not Jehovah ty™ oi remember the savor of the sacrifices that you burned in the streets of Jerusa- past in _____ pun- ' 449 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, your crimes and the crimes of your princes. lsn" k 4410 The Gk. deletes the phrase, before you and. "Jtu* ¦ 1 4412 Possibly the Gk, which omits the first part of this vs., has the original. ?\ their °> 44" So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, to rest. idolatry a 4415 The Heb. adds, and all the people who dwelt in ihe land of Egypt, in Pathros, but ap parently it is the addition of a later scribe, for those to whom Jeremiah directly spoke were thV members of the Tahpanhes colony. 0 4419 So Gk. and Syr. The Heb. has what was probably originally a scribal witticism, - to do her good. 295 The Jer. 4421] JEREMIAH'S SERMONS lem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, and did it not come to his mind ? And so Jehovah could no longer endure, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you have committed ; therefore your land has become a desolation and an object of astonishment, and of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is to-day. 23Because you have offered sacrifices and because you have sinned against Jehovah and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies ; therefore this calamity has overtaken you, as is now the case. ^Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the judg- word of Jehovah, all Jews who were in the land of Egypt : 25' Thus saith Je- ^p™-. hovah of hosts, the God of Israel: " You and your wives have spoken with your the de- mouths, and with your hands have carried out this resolution : We will surely people perform our vows that we have vowed, to offer sacrifices to the queen of heaven and to pour out libations to her. Confirm them and perform your vows!"' 26Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, all ye Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, 'I have sworn by my great name,' saith Jehovah, 'that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any Jew in all the land of Egypt, in the oath, "As the Lord Jehovah liveth." 27Behold, I will watch over them for evil and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there is an end of them. 28 And some who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number, and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to reside there shall know whose word shall be con firmed, mine or theirs.' Hoph- 29'And this shall be the sign to you,' saith Jehovah, 'that I will punish you ra's in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely be confirmed be! ° against you for evil.' 30Thus saith Jehovah, 'Behold, I will give Pharaoh- Elgn 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 chadrezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.' 296 vah ii ezekiel's messages of encouragement to his scat tered countrymen § 138. The Overthrow and Restoration of Egypt, Ezek. 29 Ezek. 29 *In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, this Egypt, word of Jehovah came to me : 2Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh, like a ™ . croco- king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt, anda say: dile, to * Thus saith Jehovah : drawn forth by "Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, Jeho- The great monsterb that lieth in the midst of his river, And hath said, The river is mine0 and I made it.d 4And I will put hooks in thy jaws, And I will cause the fish of thy river to stick to thy scales ; And I will draw thee up out of the midst of thy river, with all the fish of thy river. e 5And I will cast thee forth into the wilderness, together with all the fish of thy river ; Thou shalt fall upon the open field, thou shalt not be gathered up nor buried ;f Ezekiel's Message of Encouragement to his Scattered Countrymen. — Even before the final news of the destruction of Jerusalem was brought to Ezekiel, he abandoned to a certain extent his earlier note of warning and bitter denunciation and began_ to look forward to the spiritual regeneration and final restoration of his people. The real transition, therefore, between his earlier and later sermons is at the twenty-fifth chapter in which he begins to proclaim that overthrow of Israel's foes which he deemed essential for the triumphant restoration of his people. In point of date the majority of the foreign prophecies found in 25-32 belong a little before the final destruction of Jerusalem, but in spirit and theme they are far more closely connected with those which follow. This is evidently the significance of their present position, which is due either to Ezekiel or some intelligent editor. Ezekiel proved himself the great prophet of the exile. His prophecies lack the spirituality and universality of Jeremiah and the II Isaiah, but they are closely in touch with the point of view of those to whom he. spoke, and by their concreteness and graphic symbolism they evidently made a profound impression upon his contemporaries. Ezekiel spoke not only to the exiles in Babylon but also to all the scattered members of his race. He felt himself called to be the watchman for his race, and the spiritual welfare of every discouraged tempted fellow-exile rested upon his own prophetic heart. § 138 This prophecy was written seven months before the final destruction of Jerusalem in 686 b.c. In Ezekiel's eyes Egypt's guilt consisted in her boastful claims and in her having led Judah into rebellion against Nebuchadrezzar. Egypt had indeed proved, through all her history, a staff of reed to the house of Israel. As a careful student of history, Ezekiel, like Jeremiah, was well aware of the weakness of this boastful world-power, and better even than his contemporary in Egypt he knew the strength of Nebuchadrezzar. In 30 he declares clearly that Nebuchadrezzar is to be Jehovah's weapon of judgment to destroy the Egyptian Pharaoh CHophra), whom he likens in 31 to a mighty cedar of Lebanon. In 32 the prophet still furthel amplifies the same theme and pictures the overthrow of Pharaoh, and his descent to Sheot and the accompanying desolation that is to come to the land of the Nile. These foreign prophe cies, however, nave been omitted in the text because they add little to Ezekiel's message to hii race. * 293 So Gk. Heb. adds, speak. b 293 So certain MSS. Egypt is here likened to one of the huge crocodiles found in the Nile. 0 293 So Syr. and Lat. Heb., my rivers. The river, of course, is the Nile. The plural of the Heb. probably refers to the many streams of the delta. d 293 So Syr. and demands of the context. Heb. is corrupt. ° 29* Heb. adds, probably from the first part of the vs., which stick to thy scales, but Gk and Arab, omit this and also, with all thefish of thy river. f 295 So certain MSS. and Targ. Heb., gathered. 297 Ezek. 295] EZEKIEL'S MESSAGES OF ENCOURAGEMENT I have given thee as food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens. 6And all of the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am Jehovah, Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; 'When they took hold of thee by the hand, thou didst break, and didst tear the whole hand ;g And when they leaned upon thee, thou didst break, and makeh all their loins shake." Land 8Therefore thus saith Jehovah : " Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, deso- and wm cut off from thee man and beast. 9And the land of Egypt shall be a fortv°r desolation and a waste ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. Because years thou1 hast said, The river is mine and I made it;' '"therefore behold, I am against thee, and against thy river,k and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste1 andm desolation, from Migdol to Syene" even to the border of Ethiopia. uNo foot of man shall pass through it, no foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited for forty years. 12And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among the countries that are desolate ; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation for forty years ; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them among the lands." To be 13Thus° saith Jehovah : "At the end of forty years5 I will gather the Egyp- stored tians from the peoples whither they were scattered; "and I will restore the but not fortunes of Egypt, and will cause them to return to the land of Pathros,q into former the land of their birth ; and there they shall be a weak kingdom. 15It shall be Btreng ^ weakest 0f tjje kingdoms, ; neither shall it any more lift itself above the nations; and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the na tions. leAnd it shall be no more the reliance of the house of Israel, suggesting iniquity1, when they turn to it for help ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. § 139. The Judgment against Israel's Malignant Foes, Ezek. 251-2614, 2820-26 Am- Ezek. 25 'This word of Jehovah came to me again, 2Son of man, turn thy ™e°con°- face toward the Ammonites, and prophesy against them, 3and say to the quered Ammonites: 'Hear the word of Jehovah: "Thus saith Jehovah, Because thou and de- tatoA g 297 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., all their shoulder. miea h 29? Slightly correcting the Heb. ' 29s So Gk., Syr., and Lat. Heb., he saith. ' 29s So Syr. and Lat. k 29'° So Syr. ' 29'° So Gk., Syr. and Targ. ¦» 29'° So Gk. Heb. omits, and. » 29'° Slightly revising the Heb. Migdol was in the extreme northeast, while Syene was the modern Assuan in the south, both sites of early Jewish colonies. ° 2913 So Gk. of Origen and Syr. p 29[3 A round number. q 2913 Upper Egypt. T 2916 Lit., a remembrance of iniquity, i. e., as in the past. § 139 This group of foreign prophecies dates, for the most part, before the final destruction of Jerusalem. _ They are grouped together because they deal with the same general theme. The point of view of the prophetis distinctly nationalistic; the crimes with which these nations are charged are either participation in Judah's overthrow or else malicious joy over the down fall of their ancient rival. Incidentally Ezekiel gives, in these sections, clear insight into the woes which came to those who survived the final catastrophe of 586 b.c. His ultimate motive however, was to encourage the survivors of that disaster, for he and they regarded a signal JUDGMENT AGAINST MALIGNANT FOES [Ezek. 253 saidst, Aha, over my sanctuary when it was defiled, and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and over the house of Judah when it went into captivity, therefore I am about to give thee to the sons of the East3 as a pos session. They shall pitch their tents in thee, and set up in thee their dwell ings ; they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk ; 5and I will make Rabbah' a pasture for camels, and the cities" of the Ammonites a grazing place for flocks, that ye may know that I am Jehovah." T'hus saith Jehovah, " Because thou didst clap thy hands and stamp thy For feet, and didst rejoicev maliciously over the land of Israel; 'therefore I will w0r°°g stretchw out my hand against thee, and make thee the spoil* of the nations, *° and I will cut thee off from the peoples and cause thee to perish out of the lands; I will destroy thee that thou mayest know that I am Jehovah." ' 8 ' Thus saith Jehovah, Because Moab saith :y ' Behold the house of Judah Moab has become like all the nations,' "therefore behold, I will lay open the flank of H^ Moab, from the cities2 of its borders to the glory of the land, Beth-jeshimoth, quered Baal-meon,a and Kiriathaim, 10and I will give it,b together with the Am monites,0 to the sons of the East as a possession, that Rabbathd-ammon may be no more remembered among the nations. "And on Moab will I execute judgment, that they may know that I am Jehovah. 12Thus saith Jehovah, Because Edom hath acted revengefully toward the Edom house of Judah, and hath incurred great guilt by taking bittere revenge, g* 4j!e , "therefore thus saith Jehovah, ' I will stretch out my hand against Edom and Judah I will cut off from it man and beast, and make it desolate ; from Teman to£ Dedan they shall fall by the sword. "And I will execute my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel and they shall do to Edom according to my anger and my fury, and she shall know my vengeance,' is the oracle of Jehovah. 15Thus saith Jehovah, Because the Philistines acted revengefully, and took De- __ struc- judgment upon these heathen foes as necessary to the vindication of Jehovah's justice and the Ju^1 preparation for the establishment of Jehovah's new and more glorious kingdom with Jerusalem phji.-o. as its centre. Cf., for further discussion of Ezekiel's messianic hopes, Introd., p. 44. tines In the latter part of 26 Ezekiel further describes the overthrow of Tyre. Chap. 27 is devoted to an elaborate description of the commerce of Tyre, which is of great value and interest to the student of ancient history and archaeology. In 28 he proclaims the overthrow of the king of Tyre, even as that of Pharaoh of Egypt, 31, 32. This extreme elaboration of the prophecies regarding Egypt and Tyre is probably due to the relatively large importance of these two states in the broader world which lay within Ezekiel's horizon. Detailed descriptions of the fate of Tyre have been omitted because they do not contribute materially to Ezekiel's teaching as a whole. The culmination of the prediction regarding Judah's foes is found in 2824-26, in which the prophet predicts a glorious restoration of the scattered Jews after the punishment of their malicious neighbors is Complete. 3 254 The designation of the Arab tribes living east of Palestine. Cf . Judg. 63. * 255 The famous capital of the Ammonites. u 25s Slightly correcting the Heb. as the context requires. ' 256 So Gk. and Syr. The Heb. adds, in all thy spite. This, was probably from the hand of a scribe who had in mind 1B. y 25' So Gk. 1 25' Slightly correcting the Heb. y 258 So Gk. The Heb. adds, and Seir, but Seir was the home of the Edomites and the present paragraph is dealing with the Moabites. * 259 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. is corrupted by a scribal repetition. a 25° These are important cities east of the Jordan in the territory of Eastern Moab. b 2510 So Gk. and Syr., omitting the connective of the Heb. ° 2510 Possibly this clause was secondary, as it is not relevant. d 2510 Following a felicitous suggestion of the Syr. Heb., sons of Ammon, is impossible, since the verb is in the feminine singular. • 25>2 So Gk. E 2513 Reading as the context demands. 299 Ezek. 251G] EZEKIEL'S ENCOURAGEMENT revenge in a spirit of spite to destroy in perpetual hate, 16therefore thus saith Jehovah, ' Behold, I will stretch out my hands against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites,8 and destroy the rest of the sea-coast, 17and exe cute great vengeance upon them,h that they may know that I am Jehovah, when I execute my vengeance upon them.' Tyre's 26 'In the eleventh year, the first day of the first1 month, this word of Je- nessSh hovah came to me : 2Son of man, because Tyre hath said concerning Jerusalem : 'Aha, the gate of the nations is broken, It is open to me ; I shall be full!' she is laid waste!' Her 3Therefore thus saith Jehovah : ment11" 'Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and I will bring against thee Many nations, as the sea brings up its waves, *And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, And I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock ; 5She shall be a place in which to spread nets in the midst of the sea, For I have spoken, is the oracle of Jehovah. "Her daughters1 which are on the mainland shall be slain by the sword, And they shall know that I am Jehovah.' Nebu- 7P°r thus saith Jehovah : ' Behold, I am about to bring against Tyre Nebu- chad- chadrezzar, king of Babylon, the king of kings,m from the north with horses to be and chariots and horsemen and a host ofn many peoples, ^hy daughters vah°s on the mainland he will slay with the sword, and he will build a tower against agent thee, and raise up a mound against thee, and raise up shields0 against thee; struc- 9and he will direct the shock of his battering rams against thy walls, and hew tlon down thy towers with his axes. 10Because of the vast number of his horses, their dust shall cover thee; at the sound of horsemen, and wheels, and char iots thy walls shall shake, when he enters thy gates as one enters the city that is taken by storm. "With the hoofs of horses he will trample all thy streets, he will slay thy people with the sword and thy strong pillars shalL go downp to the ground. 12They will despoil thee of thy riches and take thy mer chandise as booty, break down thy walls, and tear down thy pleasant houses ; and thy stones and thy timber and thy dust they will castq in the midst of the waters. 13And I will still the sound of thy songs, the music of {hy harps shall be heard no more. 14I will make thee a bare rock ; thou shalt be e 2516 Cherethites is an old designation of the Philistines, and occurs in the name of David's Philistine body-guard. h 2517 Following the Gk. in omitting, with furious rebukes. » 26L So Gk. A. The Heb. has lost the number of the month. ' 262 Syr., laid waste. Tyre's rejoicing was because the power of her eastern neighbors was broken, leaving the way open for unrestricted commerce. k 265 Heb. adds, and it shall be a spoil to the nations, but this clause at this point is out of harmony with the logical and metrical structure of the passage and is probably the addition of some later scribe. 1 266 /. c, her outlying villages. m 267 A title used by some of the Assyrian kings and later very commonly by the kings of Persia. n 267 Correcting the Heb. by the aid of the Gk. 0 268 A protection against the shafts of the besieged probably made by holding together the shields of the advancing warriors. p 26u So Gk. Heb., thou shalt go down. q 2S12 Following the superior Gk. reading. Heb., they shall put. 300 JUDGMENT AGAINST MALIGNANT FOES [Ezek. 26* a place in which to spread nets; thou shalt never again be rebuilt, for I, Jehovah, have spoken,' is the oracle of Jehovah. 28 20This word of Jehovah came to me, 21Son of man, set thy face against sidon'. Sidon, and prophesy against her 22and say, ' Thus saith Jehovah, "Behold, I yjjj£_. am against thee, O Sidon, and I will show forth my glory in thy midst, and thour shalt know that I am Jehovah, when I execute judgment upon thee,r and show forth my sanctity within thee.r 23And into theer I will send pesti lence, and into thy streets blood, and the slain shall fall in thyr midst, by the sword round about within thee, and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah. MOf all the malignant neighbors3 of the house of Israel, none shall any longer be to them an irritating briar or a piercing thorn, and they shall know that I am Jehovah.'" ^Thus saith Jehovah, 'When I gathered* the house of Israel from the Res_ peoples among which they are scattered, and show forth my sanctity through f.0™" . them in the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in the land which I gave Jeho- to their father Jacob ; 26and they shall dwell therein securely, and build their people houses and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell securely, when I execute judgment upon all their neighbors, who treat them despitefully, and they shal1 know that I am Jehovah their God. § 140. Nebuchadrezzar's Conquest of Egypt, Ezek. 291721 Ezek. 29 17In the twenty-seventh year on the first day of the first month, this word of Jehovah came to me, 18Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a longu service against Tyre ; every head was made bald and every shoulder was galled; yet neither he nor his army had any wages from Tyre for the services that he had rendered against her. "Therefore thus saith Jehovah : 'Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebu chadrezzar king of Babylon ; and he shall carry off her multitude,v and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages of his army. 20I have given him the land of Egypt as his pay for the service which he rendered™ me,' saith Jehovah. 21Tn that day I will cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give thee freedom of speech" among them; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.' r 2822 Following the Gk. here and in the next vs. in reading, thou and thy, rather than they and her of the Heb. 8 28s4 So Gk. and the demands of the context. * 282s Gk., and I will gather. § 140 Although this prophecy comes from the year 570 B.C., and is one of Ezekiel's latest, it logically belongs in its present setting, because of its close connection with the preceding section. In 586 B.C. Ezekiel had distinctly declared, 26'-18, that Nebuchadrezzar would speed ily conquer and destroy Tyre and its dependent cities on the mainland. As a matter of fact, Tyre successfully resisted Nebuchadrezzar's attack from 585 to 572 B.C. Ezekiel's frankness is demonstrated in the present section, in which he admits that his prediction was not realized. He reasserts, however, his earlier declaration that Egypt should fall into the hands of the Chaldeans. The prophecy is very significant, for it is the plainest possible evidence that the prophets themselves did not anticipate that even their most definite predictions would neces sarily be realized, and more important still, that they were not greatly surprised when the fulfil ment failed to come. u 2918 Lit., great. y 2919 The Gk. omits, he shall carry off her multitude. This may be secondary. * 2920 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, because they wrought for me. 1 2921 Lit., opening of mouth; Cf ., S322. 301 Tyre to fall at last beforeNebu-chad- Honor for Je hovah's peopleand prophet ~\ Ezek. 331] EZEKIEL'S ENCOURAGEMENT § 141. The New Epoch in Ezekiel's Work, Ezek. 33 Duties Ezek. 33 'This word of Jehovah came to me, 2Son of man, speak to the and re- sons Qf jj-y people, and say to them, 'When I bring the sword upon a land, bilities and the people of the land take one of their number and make him their watch- watchman; if, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, he blow the man trumpet and warn the people; ''then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and does not take warning and the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him ; whereas if he had taken warning he would have saved his life. 6But if the watchman, when he sees the sword coming, blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, and the sword come and take one of them; he is taken away on account of his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. Of a 7As for thee, son of man, I have set thee as a watchman to the house of phetic Israel ; therefore when thou hearest the word at my mouth, give them warn- watch- mg from me_ 8When I say to the wicked,y "Thou shalt surely die," and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way ; hez shall die for his in iquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. "Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way ; he shall die for his iniquity, but thou hast saved thyself.' For- 10And thou, son of man, say to the house of Israel: 'Thus ye say:a "Our ness "for transgressions and our sins are upon us, and through them we pine away; the._ how can we live ?" ' "Say to them, 'As I live, saith Jehovah, I have no pleas- tent ure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; for why will ye die, O house of Israel ?' Guilt "And thou, son of man, say to the sons of thy people, 'The righteousness and_ of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: and as for ish- the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turn- deter- eth from his wickedness; neither shall he that is righteous be able to live mined thereby in the day that he sinneth. "When I say to the righteous, "Thoub present shalt surely live," and he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, tude none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered ; but for his iniquity that he acta hath committed, he shall die. "Again, when I say to the wicked, "Thou shalt surely die;" if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right, 15and restores the pledge,0 gives again that which he had taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity ; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16None of his sins that he hath committed shall be remem bered against him ; he hath done that which is lawful and right ; he shall surely § 141 As has always been noted, the news of the final fall of Jerusalem marked a great turning point in Ezekiel's work and thought. Instead of being the predictor of disaster and the strenuous opponent of popular policies, he became henceforth the prophet of hope and of national restoration, and a comforter of the discouraged and oppressed. At last the people had learned by bitter experience that there was a prophet among them. The present section records the significant psychological experience through which the prophet passed. In a sense, a new prophetic call came to him. It was to guide his race through the dark valley through which they were passing into that nobler future which he firmly believed lay beyond. y 338 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, O wicked man. Cf. 318. * 33s So Gk. Heb. adds, the wicked man. " 33'» So Gk. •> 3313 So Gk. A, O. Lat., Syr. of Origen, and Arab. Cf. ». c 3315 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, the wicked. 302 NEW EPOCH IN EZEKIEL'S WORK [Ezek. 33" live. 17Yet the sons of thy people say, "The way of the Lord is not right ;" but it is their way that is not right. 18When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20Yet ye say, "The way of the Lord is not right." O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his acts.' 21In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the fifth day of the tenth month, one Effect who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is smitten. °ewse0f 22Now the hand of Jehovah had been upon me in the evening, before the one Je,ru- , S£Llfi__Q £_ who had escaped, came ; and he had opened my mouth, in expectation of his fall coming to me in the morning; and my mouth was open and I was no more dumb. ^his word of Jehovah came to me : ^he inhabitants of thed ruins in the Com- land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was but one man,6 and he received the nessot whole land as a possession, while we are many, the land is given to us as a Judah's possession.'* ^Therefore say to them, 'Thus saith Jehovah: "Ye eat with struc- the blood,g and worship idols, and commit acts of bloodshed;11 shall ye tl0n possess the land ? 26Ye depend upon your swords, ye1 commit abomination and ye defile one another's wives, shall ye possess the land ?" ' 27Thus saith Jehovah, 'As I live, those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and those who are in the open fields shall be given to the wild beasts to devour,k and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pesti lence; 28and I will make the land waste and desolate, and the pride of its might shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with no one passing through them ; 29an i they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I make the land desolate and waste, for all the abominations which they have done 30As for thee, son of man, the sons of thy people talk about thee beside the The walls, and at the doors of their houses, and say1 one to another, "Come, hear! event8 what is the word that cometh forth from Jehovah ?" 31They come in to thee *°ndi_ as people come, and sit before thee,m and hear thy words, and do them not. cate Falsehoods11 are in their mouths,0 and their hearts are set on their own gain. fief's 32Behold, thou art to them as a love song, of beautiful tone and excellently Rredic- played ; they hear thy words,- but do them not. 33But when it comes to pass — behold, it comes ! they will know that there was a prophet among them.' <¦ 33M So Gk. Heb. adds, these. e 33M Lit., Abraham was one, and possessed the land. 1 33^ Syr. reads, shall we not possess it. * 332s J. e., eat flesh with the blood, which was contrary to the law. h 332s Lit., ye have shed blood. ¦ S326 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of certain MSS. and the context. i 3327 So Gk. k 3327 So Gk., Syr., and Lat. Heb., to eat it. 1 33M So Gk. The Heb. has been corrupted by a scribal repetition. » 3331 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds by mistake, my people. » 3331 So Gk. and Syr. and the demands of the context. A scribe has, in the Heb., by mistake copied a word from the following line. . • 3331 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, they themselves are doing. 303 Ezek. 191! EZEKIEL'S ENCOURAGEMENT Fate of Jehoahaz Mightof Je hoia chin His capture and banishment Judah'sformerstrength.andglory § 142. Lament over Judah's Rulers, Ezek. 19 Ezek. 19 ^o thoup utter a lament over the prince** of Israel 2and say : How like1" a lioness was thy mother among the lions! She crouched among the young lions, she reared her whelps, 3And one of her whelps she brought up, he became a young lion, He learned to seize prey, and men he devoured. 4Against him tiie nations raised a cry,3 in their pit he was taken ; They led him away with hooks1 to the land of Egypt. 5When she saw that she but waited,u her hope perished, And she took another of her whelps, she made him a young lion, 6He went about among the lions, he became a young lion, He learned to seize prey, men he devoured. 7He ravagedv theirw palaces, and their cities he wasted; Dismayed was the land and all that was within it, at the sound of his roaring. ^he nations gathered together*1 against him, from the provinces round about, About him they spread their net, in their pit he was taken, 9They ledy him away with hooks to the king of Babylon, They brought him into strongholds, in a cage they confined him,2 That his voice no more should be heard on the mountains of Israel. 10Thy mother was like a vine in a vineyard, planted by waters,3. She was fruitful and full of branches, because of the many waters. § 142 This section contains one of the most carefully worked out poems to be found in Ezekiel's prophecies. It is a lament over Judah's three kings, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and Zede kiah, who were carried into captivity, the one into Egypt and the other two into Babylon. In contrast to Jehoiakim,' who is not mentioned, because he was not carried into captivity, these three kings represent the better type of Judah's rulers. The mention of the fate of Zedekiah indicates that the elegy was not written until after the fall of Jerusalem. It was probably uttered, however, after the news came of Jerusalem's fall. Because of its reference to Jehoahaz and Zedekiah, it was probably placed by Ezekiel or an editor of his prophecies in its present position in the first part of his book, but it belongs, logically and chronologically, after 33. Restored to this position it presents a logical contrast to Judah's false rulers in 34. The mother in 2 is probably the nation, who is spoken of as a lioness among the lions, which would represent the neighboring nations. By some commentators, however, she is identified with Hamutal, the wife of Josiah, II Kgs. 24l8t>who was the mother of the three kings here mentioned and who exerted a powerful influence in the last eventful quarter century of Judah's existence. p 191 The Gk. adds, son of man. q 19l So Gk. Heb., princes. r 192 Adding one letter, as in the parallel passage in 10. The nation was the mother of the kings who were in succession placed on the throne of Judah. 8 194 Lit., cause lo be heard against him. The reference, of course, is to the Egyptians. * 194 Possibly to complete the metre the phrase, in his jaws, or, in his nose, should be added, after the analogy of 294, 38*. u 19s The Heb. text here, is doubtful. The above rendering follows the Heb. A slight change gives the reading, acted foolishly. The general meaning, however, is clear from the context. v 197 The Heb. reading, and he knew, is impossible. The Gk. suggests the error and gives the reading, lit., he pastured. w 197 Slightly revising the Heb. * 198 So Syr., Targ., and Lat. Possibly the Heb. is to be retained and translated, cried out against him. y 199 Gk. omits, and this is in harmony with the metrical demands of the vs., although it is implied by the sense. x 19B The Heb. in this vs. is greatly confused. The phrase, in a cage they placed him, is evidently out of its logical order at the beginning of the vs. Transferred to the latter part of the vs. it completes the otherwise incomplete line and gives a clear reading. fl 1910 Following two Heb. MSS. in restoring the text. 304 LAMENT OVER JUDAH'S RULERS [Ezek. 1911 And she had a mighty branch,13 which became a ruling sceptre,0 And its stature rose up into the midstd of the clouds ; And it appeared in its full stature amidst the mass of its boughs. 12But in wrath was the vine6 plucked up, cast down to the ground, Over- And the east wind withered its fruit in its beauty ,f throw And its mighty branch was withered,g fire consumed it, Judah 13And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dryh land. de? "Fire hath gone forth from its branch, hath consumed its1 boughs, Son of Now it has no mighty branch, no royal sceptre. Zede- This is a lament and has become a lament 1 ilal1 § 143. Israel's Traitorous Rulers and the Future Restoration, Ezek. 34 Ezek. 34 'This word of Jehovah also came to me: 2Son of man, prophesy Greed against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say toi the shepherds, 'Thus ^eltv saith the Lord Jehovah : "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only fed them- of selves. Should not shepherds feed the flock ? 3Ye have eaten the milkk and ruiera s clothed yourselves with the wool, ye have killed the fatlings, but my flock1 ye have not fed. 4The weak ye have not strengthened, the sick ye have not healed, the crippled ye have not bound up, ye have not brought back that which was driven away, ye have not sought that which was lost, and the strong™ ye have ruled11 harshly.5 So my flock has been scattered because there was no shepherd, and has become food for all the wild beasts of the field.0 My flock hath wandered on all the mountains and on every high hill, and they were scattered0 over all the face of the earth with none who searched and sought for them.'" 'Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah, As I live, is the oracle Their of the Lord Jehovah, inasmuch as my flock has become the prey and food of {f^L, all the beasts of the field, because there was no one to shepherd them, for my Jeho- shepherds cared not for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and my flock they did not feed, 'therefore, O shepherds,i 10thus saith the Lord b 19" Following a revised Heb. text. c 19" So Gk. and the demands of the context. d 19" So Gk. e 1912 The subject of this verb is clearly, vine, and the present defective metrical structure of the vs. suggests that it was found in the original. £ 1912 Revising the Heb., which is here very corrupt. e 19" So Gk. The Heb. has a pi. verb. h 1913 So Gk. A scribe has added in the Heb., and thirsty, but this destroys the regular metre of the hne. 1 19" So Gk. Heb. adds, fruit. % 143 Ezekiel here develops Jeremiah's figure, 231' 2, of the greedy shepherds, who prey upon the flock, and pictures the restoration of his people by Jehovah, the Good Shepherd. It would seem that, from this figure, the author of Ps. 23 derived the suggestion which he has developed with such skill and beauty. In this connection Ezekiel also introduces his promise of a Davidic prince who should act as Jehovah's servant in shepherding his flock. The passage is one of the most important in the O. T. in tracing the developments of Israel's messianic hopes. Cf. Introd., 44, 45. 342 So Gk. Heb. adds, to them. k 34s Slightly correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and Lat. Heb., fat. 1 34s So Gk., O. Lat., and Vulg. Heb., the flock. m 34* So Gk. The Heb. text is corrupt. " 34* Again correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. • 34s So Syr. p 346 So Gk. Heb. adds, my flock. q 349 So Gk. Heb. adds here, the word of Jehovah, but this is apparently only a scribal expansion. 305 Ezek. 3410] EZEKIEL'S ENCOURAGEMENT Jehovah : 'Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hands, and I will cause them to cease fromr tending my flock;8 no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves, for I will rescue my flock from their mouths, that it may no longer be food for them.' Jeho- uFor thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 'Behold, I myself, will seek for my h?m- flock and search them out, 12as a shepherd searches for his flock on the day self when his sheep are scattered,* so will I search for my flock, and deliver them shep- from all the places whither they have been scattered in the day of cloud and his darkness. 13And I will take them from among the peoples, and will gather tered them from the lands, and bring them into their own habitable land, and feed flock them onu the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all the habitable parts of the land. 14With good pasture will I feed them, and on the high mountains of Israel shall be their pasture. There they shall lie down in a good habitation, and feed on rich pasturage in the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my flock, and I will lead them to pasture,' is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 16' The lost I will seek, what is driven away I will bring back, the crippled I will bind up, the sick I will restore to strength, over the fatv and the strong I will watch,w I will be a righteous shepherd to them. And 17As for you,x my flock,' thus saith the Lord Jehovah : ' I will judge between liver tne sheep and the ramsy and the he-goats. 18Is it not enough for you to feed on 'j°m the good pasture, that ye must trample with your feet the rest of the pasture ? who And to drink of clear water, that ye must foul the rest with your feet, 19so that upon my flock must eat what ye have trampled down and drink what ye have them fouled with your feet ? ' 20Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah :z ' Behold I myself will judge between the fata sheep and the lean sheep 21because ye push with side and shoulder, and thrust with your horns, all the feeble sheep, until ye scatter them abroad. 22And I will deliver my flock and they shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep. Ap- 23And I will set up over them one shepherd, he shall feed them, namely, my me'nt servant, David. And he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. David- MAnd L Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince ic ruler among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken.0 ^And I will make with them a cov enant of peace, and will put away wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests. Plenty 2eAnd I will give them showers of rainc in its season, and I will send the and pros- i 3410 syr. an Black Sea, designated on the inscriptions of Asshurbanipal, by the name Gumur. Hence the wild barbarian host which Ezekiel here pictures represent in his thought the entire heathen world, and their overthrow marks the establishment of Jehovah's authority over the whole world to its uttermost bounds. p 382 The words, land of Magog, which are found in the Heb., appear to be due simply to a corruption and repetition of the preceding word, and in 3 and 39l Gog is spoken of as the king, not of the land of Magog, but of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal. q 384 This rendering does not altogether fit the context. The Syr., J will gather thee, sug gests a possible restoration of the Heb. text; but cf . 392. 312 JEHOVAH'S ULTIMATE VICTORY [Ezek. 38* thine army, horses, and horsemen, clad in complete1 armor, a mighty host with shield and buckler, all of them armed with swords,8 5Paras, Cush, and Put with them, all with buckler and helmet, 6Gomer and all its hordes, the house of Togarmah, from the extreme* north, and all his hordes, many peoples with thee. 7Be prepared, yea, hold thyself ready, thou and all thy host assembled with thee, and be a reserve for meu, 8after many days thou wilt be mustered forth, afterv many years thou shalt come against" the land that has been restored from desolation, to a people* gathered from many nations, against the mountains of Israel which were a continual desolation; but she has been brought out from the nations/ and all of them are dwelling in safety. 9Thou shalt go up like a storm, like a cloud shalt thou cover the land,2 thou and all thy host, and the many peoples with thee." ' 10Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : " On that day plansa will come into thy Their mind and thou wilt form an evil design,11 and say, I will go up into a land of S^eTy villages, I will go to those who are friendly, who dwell in security, all of them, in dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates — ^to take spoil, to carry off prey, to turn thy hand against the wastes that have been repeopled, against the people gathered from the nations, having acquiredb possessions and prop erty, dwelling at the centre of the earth. 13Sheba and Dedan and their mer chants,0 Tarsish and all her traders will say to thee, Art thou come to get spoil ? Hast thou gathered thy host to carry off spoil, to take silver and gold, to seize possessions and property, to gather much plunder ? " ' "Therefore prophesy, O son of man, and say to Gog, 'Thus saith Jehovah: jeho- " Wilt thou not at that time, when my people Israel are dwelling in security, J^ve bestir thy self ,d 15and come from thy place, from the extreme north, thou and many peoples with thee, all riding on horses, a mighty host, a vast army ? 16And wilt thou not come up after many days against my people Israel like a cloud to cover the land ? Yea, I will bring thee up against my land, that the nations may know what I am, when through thee I show myself to be holy in their sight." 'e "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 'Art thou not he of whom I declared in Over- former days, through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those days 0fr°W prophesied through the years* that I would bring thee against them ?g 18And 'hese on that day, the day when Gog cometh against the land of Israel,' is the oracle then of the Lord Jehovah, 'then will my fury be thoroughly aroused,11 19yea> in my theVuf- filment r 384 So Gk. and Lat., which have evidently retained the original. proph- 8 384 Lit., take hold of swords. ppv ' 38° So Gk. and the parallel in >6. y u 387 So Gk. supported by the subsequent context. Heb., to them. y 38s So Gk. and Syr. w 38s Slightly correcting the Heb. with the aid of the context. 1 38s Supplying the antecedent implied by the form of the participle. y 388 This clause is not found in the Syr. and may be secondary. » 389 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, thou shalt be. a 38l° Lit., things, or words. » 3812 So Gk., Syr., and Targ. 0 3813 Slightly restoring the Heb., which reads merchants of Tarsish. . These nations were the great traders of antiquity and therefore especially rich in plunder. * 38u So Gk. Heb., thou shalt know. • 3818 So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds, O Gog. 1 3817 Syr., During these years. « 38" /. e., the Hebrews. h 3818 Lit., my fury shall go up in my nostrils. 313 cated Ezek. 3819] EZEKIEL'S ENCOURAGEMENT jealousy, the heat of my wrath I declare : Verily on that day there shall be a great earthquake upon the land of Israel; 20all the fishes of the sea and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the fields, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all men, who are on the face of the earth, shall tremble at my presence. And the mountains shall be torn apart and the cliffs shall topple over, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21And I will summon every terror against him,' is the oracle of Jehovah; 'every man's sword shall be against his brother.1 22And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment against him; and I will rain upon him and upon his hordes and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing flood, and hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23And I will show my greatness and sanctity in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am Jehovah.' By the 39 JAnd thou, Son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, 'Thus saith plete- Jehovah: "Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshach and ness of Tubal ; 2and I will turn thee about and lead thee forth, and will cause thee to disas- come up from the extreme north, and I will bring thee against the mountains Jeho- °f Israel; 'And I will smite thy bow from thy left hand, and will cause the v^h arrows to fall from thy right hand. 4Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of vindi- Israel — thou, and all thy hordes, and the peoples that are with thee. I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5Thou shalt fall upon the open field; for I have spoken it," saith Jehovah. e"And I will send a fire on Gog.J and on those who dwell securely in the coast-lands ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. 7And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more; and the nations shall know that I, Jehovah, am holy in Israel. Extent 'Behold, it cometh, and it shall be done," is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah; de- "this is the day of which I have spoken. 9And they who dwell in the cities tion° °f Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons, and burn them, both the bucklers and the shields, the bows and arrows, the pikes and spears, and they shall use them as firewood seven years, 10so that they shall take no wood out of the forests ; for they shall use the weapons as firewood ; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and prey upon those who preyed upon them, is the oracle of Jehovah. Burial "And in that day I will give to Gog a renownedk place as a grave in Israel, host16 tne vaUey of Abarim1 on the east of the sea; and there shall they bury Gog and his multitude ; and they shall call it the valley of Hamon-Gog.m 12And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. 18Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them ; and it shall bring to them renown in the day when I show forth my glory," is the oracle of Je- 1 3R21 So Gk. Heb., a sword on all my mountains. ' 396 So Gk. Heb., Magog. k 3911 So Gk. and Lat. Heb., place there, but the difference is simply oneof vocalization The place was to be rendered memorable by the burial there of the heathen host. 1 3911 Slightly revising the Heb., which reads, of the passers through. Abarim was the name of the Moabite highland east of the northern endof the Dead Sea. Cf Nu 27'2 Dt 32" Jer. 22™. ' » 39" 2". e., multitude of Gog. A scribe, possibly trying to explain the name of the valley has added, and it shall slop those who pass through. The Gk., they shall build up the mouth of the valley round about, may perhaps preserve an original reading. 314 JEHOVAH'S ULTIMATE VICTORY [Ezek. 3914 hovah. 14"And they shall set apart men who shall be continually employed in passing through the land, and in bringing11 those who remain on the face of the land in order to cleanse it," is the oracle of Jehovah. "After the end of seven months they shall search. 15And they who pass through the land shall pass through, and when anyone sees a man's bone, he shall set up a sign by it until the buriers bury it in the valley of Hamon-Gog. 16And Hamonah shall also be the name of a city.0 Thus they shall cleanse the land." ' 17And thou, son of man, speak to birds of every sort and to every beast of The the field, 'Thus saith Jehovah:" "Assemble, and come; gather from every f^fttly side to my sacrifice, that I am about to sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. 18Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, of goats, and of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrificial feast which I have prepared for you. 20And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and riders, with mighty men and all men of war," is the oracle of Jehovah. 21"Thus I will establish my glory among the nations; and all the nations Effect shall see the judgment which I execute, and the hand which I lay upon them, signal3 22So the house of Israel shall know that I am their God, from that day and for- demon- ward. ^And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity tion for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them ; so I gave them into the hands of their adversaries and they all fell by the sword; ^according to their uncleanness, and according to their transgres sions I punished them, and hid my face from them." ' therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah ; ' Now I will bring back the cap- Reye- tivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel ; and I will be ,3 j™ jealous for my holy name. 26And they shall forgetq their shame and all their hP™hs infidelity which they showed toward me, when they dwell securely in their land, acter with none to make them afraid, 27when I bring them back from the peoples, gra_ and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, and through them show CIOUS my sanctity in the sight of manyr nations. 28And they shall know that I am pose Jehovah their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the na tions, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; 29neither will I hide my face any longer from them; for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel,' is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. n 39u So Gk. and Syr. Heb. adds the meaningless gloss, those who pass through. ° 3916 This sentence is probably secondary. It may be a late scribe's attempt to identify Scytholopis. " 3917 So Syr. and the demands of the context. A scribe by mistake has inserted this clause in Heb. after, son of man. q 39s6 Slightly correcting the Heb. to conform to the context. Traditional Heb. text, bear. * 3927 Gk. omits, many. 315 Ill SONGS OVER BABYLON'S APPROACHING FALL Rally ing tne hosts againstBabylon § 148. Prediction of Babylon's F?U, Is. 13 Is. 13 2Upon a treeless mountain lift up a signal,3, raise a cry to them,b Wave the hand that they may enter the princely gates.0 3I myself have given command to my consecrated ones, to execute my wrath,d I have also summoned my heroes, my proudly exultant** ones. 4Hark, a tumult on the mountains, as of a mighty multitude! Hark, an uproar of kingdoms, of gathered nations! It is Jehovah of hosts mustering the martial hosts. Effect oftheir ad vance 5They are coming from a distant land, from the end of heaven, Jehovah and his instruments of wrath, to destroy the whole earth. 6Wail, for Jehovah's day is at hand ; as destruction from the Almighty De stroyer* it comes. 'Therefore all hands hang down helpless,6 Therefore every human heart doth melt, 8and men are dismayed. § 148 The half-century represented by the Babylonian exile was marked by but one event deemed worthy of record — the liberation of Jehoiachin from prison by Evil-merodach on his accession to the throne of Babylon in 561 b.c. For most of the surviving members of the Jewish race, the Babylonian period was one of mingled discouragement and hope. While Chaldeans continued to rule, there was little prospect of the restoration which Ezek. had proclaimed. Inasmuch as Babylon was the great bar in the way of Israel's hopes, the Jews in the homeland, as well as the exiles, viewed with satisfaction and thanksgiving the weakness of the empire during its closing years. Its last king, Nabonidus, was more successful as an antiquarian than as a ruler. He was more interested in excavating ancient temples than in maintaining the integrity of his empire. Meantime Cyrus the Persian had overthrown the older Medean con querors and was rapidly building up in the north a great empire, which promised soon to absorb that of the Chaldeans. As ever the Heb. prophets watched the political horizon with the closest scrutiny, and were quick to interpret the divine purpose unfolding in human history. Babylon's downfall meant to the Jews the opening of a new door of opportunity. Ezek. had regarded the Baby lonians as Jehovah's agents of judgment and nowhere predicted their overthrow, although that was essential for the realization of the hopes he carried. The present prophecy and that which follows clearly come from a later period in the exile, when the injustice of Babylon's treatment of captive peoples had become more glaringly apparent. Its author also, like Ezek., has noth ing to say about the guilt of the Jews, but, like Nahum, sees in the overthrow of Judah's op pressors the signal evidence of Jehovah's rulership of the world. In their literary form Is. 13, 14 are anions the strongest products of the Heb. prophets. Each, in its original form, was written in the impassioned five-beat measure, and apparently in strophes of seven lines each. The name of the author is unknown. They have many literary points of contact with II Is., but the thought is much more nationalistic and less spiritual. Also in Is. 47, which deals with the same theme, Babylon's downfall is not regarded as something yet to take place but is already an accomplished fact. The date of these prophecies therefore may be fixed as not long before Babylon's fall in 538 b.c. To the superscription, An oracle on Babylon, a later scribe has added the words, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. In 18 the text has in part been lost, but otherwise the prophecy in 13 is remarkably well preserved. a 132 /. e., so that^the signal could be seen. b 132 J. e., to Jehovah's agents of judgment, the Medes and Persians under Cyrus. c 132 Lit., the gates of the princes. I. e., the lordly Babylonians. d 133 Transferring, for metrical and logical reasons, the clause, to execute my wrath, from the second to the first line. ° 133 I- e., exulting in their pride and strength. f 13° The Heb. contains a play on words, shod mishshadai. s 137 This line is short, and apparently a word has been lost at the end, as also in the following line. 316 PREDICTIONS OF BABYLON'S FALL [Is. 138 Pains and throes seize them ; like a woman in travail they writhe ; Astounded they gaze at each other; their faces glow like flames. Behold, Jehovahh cometh, pitiless, with fury and burning anger, Jeho- To make the earth a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereon. advent 10For the heavens1 and its Orions cease to shed their beams, The sun is darkened at his rising, and the moon gives no brilliant light. UI will punish the earth for its wickedness, and the wicked for their iniquity, I will still the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the presumption of tyrants. 12I will make mortals rarer than gold, and men than the fine gold of Ophir. 13Therefore I will make heaven tremble, and the earth shall shake in its His place, day of judg- Because of the fury of Jehovah of hosts, and in the day of his burning anger, ment "And then like a hunted gazelle, or a sheep with none to fold them, They will turn each to his own people, and flee each to his own land ; 15Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword, 16 And their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes.j Their houses shall be plundered, and their wives shall be ravished. "Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, Hor- Who consider not silver, and take no pleasure in gold, Baby- 18[They lay hold on] bow [and spear, they are cruel], l°n's ¦ [They break in pieces all] the young men, [and the maidens] shall be dashed quest in pieces.k On children they will look with no pity, they have no compassion on the fruit of the womb, 19And Babylon, the most beautiful of kingdoms, the proud glory1 of the Chaldeans shall be, As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20It shall be uninhabited forever, and tenantless age after age ; Effects No nomad shall pitch there his tent, nor shepherds let their flocks lie down °^ *at there, quest 21But wild catsm shall lie down here, and their houses shall be full of jackals;11 h 13' Heb., day of Jehovah, probably taken from e by a scribe. > 1310 Heb., stars of heaven, Dut Orion was one of the heavenly constellations, so that the original probably read as above. ' 13'6 This line lacks a word to make the metre complete. k 1318 Only fragments of this vs. are preserved, and these fragments do not cohere, for a masculine noun stands in conjunction which is in a feminine form. The standard Heb. text reads simply, and bows, youths, they (feminine) shall be ravished. The above conjectural re construction, based on Jer. 50", SI20-24, was suggested by Duhm and Marti. 1 13" Lit., beauty of pride. , m 13s1 The identification of the animals mentioned in this vs. is doubtful. A derivation of the first suggests that it means desert-dwellers. The above reading is based upon the meaning of the word in the Arab. " 1321 Sometimes translated, hyenas. 317 Is. 1321] SONGS OVER BABYLON'S FALL Ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, 22Howling beasts shall cry to each other in its castles, and wolves in its revelling halls ; Its time is near at hand, its day shall not be extended. § 149. Exultation over Babylon's Downfall, Is. 141"21 Uni- Is. 14 4How still the oppressor hath become, stilled too the insolent raging!0 peace' 5Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of tyrants, and That smote peoples in fury, with stroke unceasing, ing ' That trampled down the nations in anger, unchecked was his trampling !p Baby- 7j^u tne earth was at rest and quiet, they break out into triumphant songs, Ion's 8Even the pine trees rejoice over thee, and Lebanon's cedars [saying], Now that thou art at rest, no woodman comes up against us. Baby- 9Sheol beneath is stirred on thy account, to greet thy coming, recep- Arousing for thee the shades, all the leaders'! of the earth, tion Making rise from their thrones all the kings of the nations, Sheol 10A11 of them make answer, and say to thee: Thou too art powerless like us, to our level hast thou been brought! "Thy majesty is brought down to Sheol, the melody of thy harps ; Beneath thee corruption is spread, and thy covering1, is worms. Con- 12How art thou fallen from heaven, radiant one,6 son of the dawn! ^h How* art thou struck down to the ground, prostrate upon corpses!11 earlier 13And thou hast said in thy heart, I will scale the heavens, tions Above the stars of God I will exalt my throne, § 149 This chapter is closely connected with the preceding, both in theme, literary form, and date. _ It is practically certain that both chapters come from the same author. The first proclaims, in the form of a prediction, the fall of Babylon, while the second announces the same fact in the graphic form of a song of triumph over the fallen city. This was a common motif, especially with the prophets of this period. It seems clear, however, that Babylon's downfall is still future rather than past. The author also follows Ezek. (Cf . Ezek. 32) in picturing the life of the dying kingdom in Sheol, the abode of the shades. Language and literary figures are exceedingly graphic and original. The prophecy is the product of genius as well as of careful, artistic elaboration. Its dominant thought is, of course, that Jehovah, in overthrowing their Chaldean masters, was preparing the way for the triumphant restoration of his people. To the powerful ancient poem a later editor has added a prologue embodying this thought: For Jehovah will have compassion upon Jacob, and will yet again choose Israel, and establish them upon their own land; and resident aliens will join them, and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel shall enter into possession of them, in Jehovah's land, as male and female servants, and they will become the captives of their captives, and they shall rule over their taskmasters. And then Jehovah, having given thee rest from thy painful service and from thy unrest, and from thy hard slavery, wherein thou wast made to serve, thou wilt take up this taunt-song over the king of Babylon, and say : This prologue was probably added in the post-exilic period, for it reflects the ideas of the Is. II. and the hope that was cherished during the early half of the Persian period. ° 14< Following the Gk., Syr., and Targ. in correcting the Heb. text, which is untranslatable. i> 146 Following the Targ. in correcting a slight error in the Heb. ¦ ", and therefore must be regarded as due to a scribal error. c l8 Gk., mountains. Cf. 61. d la I. e., from 586 B.C., the date of the destruction of Jerusalem, to 519 B.C., about seventy years. • l15 Helped to evil. For the same idea, cf . Is. 10s15, Hab. I". >«¦• «. 1 l16 Lit., / am turning to Jerusalem with mercies. ' l16 I. e., its desolate ruins shall again be purchased and filled with inhabitants. § 156 This vision develops the earlier promise that Jehovah would destroy the heathen nations, l15. The four horns represent the four hostile peoples at the four quarters of the heavens which have attacked or still threaten Judah. The smiths represent the nations, or agencies, that are to destroy Israel's foes on every side. h 1" The Heb. adds, Israel and Jerusalem; but in the light of the context and the parallel in !0 it is clear that these words are a scribal addition. They are lacking in certain Gk. codices. 327 Zech. I20] ZECHARIAH'S SERMONS AND VISIONS Their 20Then Jehovah showed me four smiths. 21And I said, What are these Psedde- coming to do ? And he said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so struc- that none lifted up his head; but these are come to terrify1 them, to strike down the horns of the nations,J which lifted up their horn against the land of Judahk to scatter it. § 157. Promise that Jerusalem Shall be Gloriously Restored, Zech. 2 Jerusa- Zech. 2 xThen I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and there was a man with tobe a measuring line in his hand. 2Then I said, Where are you going ? And he ¦opu- said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and length. d 3Thereupon the angel who talked with me stood still,1 and another angel went guard- out to meet him, 4and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, ed 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multi tude of men and cattle in her midst. 5For I,' saith Jehovah, ' will be a wall of fire round about her, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.' lousari' Sum- 6Ho, ho,m flee from the land of the north,11 is Jehovah's oracle. to°°he -^or ^ nave spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens,0 is Jehovah's exiles oracle. turn 7Ho, escape to Zion,p ye who dwell in Babylon.** 8For thus saith Jehovah of hosts1" to the nations which plundered you : He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine3 eye. 9For, behold, I am about to shake my hand over them,* And they shall be a spoil to those who served them ; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me.u * l21 Gk., sharpen. Possibly the original read, destroy them. i l21 Gk., four horns. Possibly the original text was simply, These are come to cast down the four horns. k l21 Gk., Jehovah's land. This may be the original reading. § 157 This section develops the promise in the 6rst vision that Jehovah would bless his city and people, l16- 17. It is therefore the complement of the preceding vision. Zech. com forts the people because the population of their city is so small and because it is protected by no encircling walls. Jehovah will himself protect it, and its population shall yet be so great that it shall spread, as does modern Jerusalem, far beyond its ancient walls. In conclusion, the prophet breaks out into a song of exultation over the coming restoration. The theme and style strongly suggest II Is., and for this reason it has by many modern critics been regarded as a later interpolation, modelled after the writings of the II Is. As has been shown (Introd., pp. 27-29), II Is. probably followed rather than preceded Zech. The poem is also the culmination of Zechariah's predictions. Its thought is closely identical with the pre dictions of Hag. and Zech. which come from this period. Its literary style is also that of Zech., so that there is every reason for regarding it as the precursor of those immortal songs in II Is. 1 2a So Gk. Heb., went forth, probably a scribal repetition of the following verb. m 26 The analogy with Is. 55l is very close, but the present passage is probably the older. 11 26 I. e., from Babylon. ° 26 Or, correcting the text as suggested by the Gk. and context, / will gather you from the four winds of heaven. p 27 Following the Gk. Heb., 0 Zion, escape. q 27 Through a scribal repetition, the Heb. reads, daughter of Babylon. r, 28 What appears to be an awkward gloss, after honor hath he sent me, has here been inserted. s 28 Heb., his. The apple (or pupil) of the eye was that which each man guarded most carefully. Cf. Dt. 32»°, Pr. 72, Ps. 178. t 29 For the same idea, cf. Is. 4922- 23. u 29 Possibly this last clause and its duplicate in llb are secondary. It also destroys the metrical harmony of the line. JERUSALEM GLORIOUSLY RESTORED [Zech. 210 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, Jeho- And I will dwell in the midst of thee, is Jehovah's oracle. ^tum And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that day, t° And shall be hisv people, and hew will dwell in the midst of thee, among And thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to thee. people And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, And he shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.* 13Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah ; For he hath waked up out of his holy habitation. § 158. Purification of the Priesthood and Nation, Zech. 3. Zech. 3 'Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the The angel of Jehovah and the adversary standing at his right hand to accuse him. j^0tgd 2And the angely of Jehovah said to the adversary, Jehovah rebuke thee, O priest- adversary ; yea, Jehovah, who hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not and this a brand plucked out of the fire ? 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy natlon garments and was standing before the angel. 4And [the angel] answered and spoke to those who stood before him,z Their 2saying, Take the filthy garments from off him, and clothe him with robes of gecra-" state ; 5set a clean turban upon his head.a So they setb a clean turban upon tioa his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah was standing by. 6And the angel of Jehovah testified to Joshua, saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah of Prom- hosts : ' If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then J,sfean thou also shalt rule" my house and shalt also keep my courts and I will give ?.sthal^~ thee a place of accessd among these that stand by. 8Hear now, O Joshua the king _ _ d king- ? 211 So Gk. Heb., my. dom w 211 Following the context and a suggestion of the Gk. in correcting the, /, of the Heb. x 212 Completing the line by the aid of the exact parallel in l17. This correction is also demanded by the metre. § 158 This and the following vision deal with certain problems which arose in connection with the restored temple of Israel. According to the thought of many of Zech.'s contemporaries, the priesthood and sanctuary had been denied by the heathen during the exile. This belief is symbolized by the filthy garments worn by Joshua, who represents the temple ritual. The adversary, or Satan, figures in the same r61e as in the prologue to the book of Job. He is not conceived of as the malign enemy of mankind as in later Jewish theology, but as the regularly accredited prosecuting attorney in Jehovah's court. His duty is to call attention to the sins of mankind. There is possibly a suggestion of his later character in his zeal in pointing out the uncleanness of the high priest and in Jehovah's rebuke. The divine command to take off the filthy garments symbolized the purification of the temple and its service andthe formal rein statement of the priesthood. The obscure oracle which follows was evidently directed to Zerub babel. The designation. Branch, here used in describing Zerubbabel as a descendant of the royal Davidic house, was eminently appropriate. The term was probably original with Zech. and was later used to describe the coming Davidic king by the prophet who added the sup plementary passages in Jer. 235, 3315. Zech. here gives command tointrust to Joshua, the priest, the precious stone which was apparently to be set in the royal diadem. This crown the prophet later, in 69-15, commands to be made and also intrusted to the same priestly official that it might be ready for the head of Zerubbabel when the moment should come to proclaim him king. The prophecy closes with a picture of the peace and prosperity which all should enjoy under the rule of their own Davidic king. y 32 Angel has fallen out of the Heb. * 34 /. e., to the attendants at the divine tribunal. a 34 So Gk. and the demands of the context. In the Heb. the marginal note, And to him he said, See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, was introduced into the text and led to a change in the person and number of the following verb. b 3B Again following the Gk. Heb., and I said, let them set. c 37 Lit., judge. d 37 I. e., Joshua should have access at all times to Jehovah's presence. 329 Zech. 38] ZECHARIAH'S SERMONS AND VISIONS high priest, thou and thy associates who sit before me;e for they are men who are a sign;' for behold, I am about to bring forth my servant the Branch. °For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven facets :8 behold, I will engrave it,'h saith Jehovah of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10In that day,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'ye shall each invite his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.' § 159. The Supporters of the Temple Service, Zech. 4. Jeho- Zech. 4 'Then the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, pres- as a man wn0 's wakened out of his sleep. 2And he said to me, What seest ence thou ? And I said, I see there a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the midst top of it, and its seven lamps1 upon it; there are seven pipes to each of the people lamps, which are upon the top of it, 3and two olive trees by it, one on the right side' of the bowl, and the other on its left side. 4And I spoke and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord ? 5Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Knowest thou not what these are ? And I said, No, my lord. eThen he answered and spoke to me, saying, The eyes of Jehovah, which rove to and fro through the whole earth. The "Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the leaders right s'de of the candlestick and upon its left side ?k 13And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. 14Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. Zerub- 6bThis is the word of Jehovah regarding1 Zerubbabel, Not by might, nor by tocom- power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts, 7willm I make the great plete mountain before Zerubbabel a plain ; and he shall bring forth the top stones temple with shoutings of, 'Grace, grace, to it.' 8Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple ; his hands shall also finish it; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath • 38 Slightly correcting the text. f 38 /. e., an assurance of a brighter era. s 3» Lit., eyes. h 39 Lit., engrave its engraving. Perhaps the original added, Zerubbabel. The passages predicting his accession have been obscured by a later scribe. § 159 This vision deals with the question of how the newly established temple service was to be supported. The golden candlestick with its seven lamps symbolized the temple service which represented Jehovah's presence in the midst of his people. The two olive trees stood for Zerubbabel, the civil head of the community, and Joshua, the high priest, who by their wealth and by their service supported the temple ritual. The independent oracle in 6b-10 has evidently been introduced out of its original context. It comes more naturally at the end of the section. It is a definite promise that Zerubbabel, who had been active in laying the foundation of the restored temple, should live to complete the building of the sacred structure. > 42 Solomon's temple was provided with a candlestick with ten lamps, I Kgs. 749. The late priestly law of Ex. 2531-40 follows the post-exilic fashion and specifies that there shall be seven lamps. Cf. also I Mac. V, 419- 6° and the seven-branched candlesticks pictured on the Arch of Titus. * 4a Slightly correcting the Heb. to conform with u. k 4" The answer to the question in " is found in 13. In 12 a scribal amplification of the question in u has been added, And I answered the second lime, and said to him. What are these two olive-branches, which are the two golden spouts, that empty the golden oil out of themselves f 1 48b Heb., to; but the context demands a slight change. m 47 Restoring to the Heb., which is ungrammatical, elliptical, and obviously corrupt, the end of 6. 330 SUPPORTERS OF TEMPLE SERVICE [Zech. 49 sent me to you.n 10For who hath despised the day of small things ? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.0 § 160. The Flying Roll, Zech. 51"4 Zech. 5 'Then again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and there was a flying Curse roll. And he said to me, What seest thou ? And I answered, I see a flying roll; its length is twenty cubits, and its breadth ten cubits.p 3Then he said to me, This is the curse that goes over the whole land ; for every thief and every one who swears falsely,^ has, for a long time, remained unpunished.1" 4I will cause it to go forth, is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name ; and it shall abide in the midst of his house and shall consume it with its timber and its stones. of sin to rest only on the sinner § 161. The Woman in an Ephah, Zech. 55U Zech. 5 ^hen the angel who talked with me went forth, and said to me, Re- Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this ephahs that goeth forth. 6And ™oval I said, What is it ? And he said, This ephah that goeth forth,* is their in- g"ilt iquityu in all the land. 7And behold, a round leaden coverv was lifted up,w temp- and there was a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. 8And he said, This tafclon is Wickedness. And he cast her down into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the round leaden cover upon its mouth. 9Then lifted I up mine eyes and saw, and there came forth two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork ; and they lifted up the ephah between them. 10Then I said to the angel who talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? uand he said to me, To build her a house in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared,x they shall cause her to resty in her own place. n 49 Possibly this clause is secondary. 0 410 Suggesting that the temple was complete. § 160 The belief that a curse, as well as a blessing, was a potent factor in the life of the one upon whom it was pronounced was widely held in antiquity. The Heb. sages simply modified this popular belief by declaring that the curse uttered without cause came back upon the head of the one who uttered it. A curse written out was thought to be doubly effective because more permanent. In the prophet's symbolism the roll represents the divine curse upon the Judean community because of its moral crimes, just as Joshua's filthy garments represented its ceremonial uncleanness. Zech. here teaches Ezek.'s doctrine of individual responsibility; not all the community, but the individual offenders, shall suffer the penalty for their crimes. p 52 About 30 x 15 feet, suggesting the greatness of the crime. q 53 Heb. reads, simply ^wears, but from 4 and the usage of the idiom elsewhere the text must be restored as above. Possibly, by my name, should be added, as in 4. r 53 Translating the verb as in Joel 321. R. V., cut off. § 161 In this section the prophet is still dealing with the problem of the moral guilt of the community. He employs figures, however, which frequently reappear in the later folk-lore, as, for example, the conception of a jinn or evil spirit shut up in a flask or bowl. The woman in the ephah or large measure represents the sin of the community which is carried away to the land of Shinar (Babylonia), Israel's oppressor, the symbol in later Jewish thought of guilt and corruption. Cf. Is. llu, Dan. I2. a 55 Supplying, ephah, required by the context. * 56 Omitting, and he said this, which is due to a scribal error. u 56 Slightly correcting the Heb. according to the Gk., as the context demands. Tradi tional Heb. text makes no sense. T 57 Or, weight; the Heb. word, however, means something round, and the context indi cates that is was the cover of the ephah. w 57 Following the Gk. Heb., this. x 511 Possibly the clause, and when it is prepared, is secondary. y 5U So Gk. and a revised Heb. text. 331 Zech. 61] ZECHARIAH'S SERMONS AND VISIONS § 162. The War-Chariots of Jehovah, Zech. 61"8 jeho- Zech. 6 * Again I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and four chariots came vah's out from between two mountains ; and the mountains were mountains of brass. otent 2On the first chariot were red horses ; and on the second chariot black horses ; over and on the third chariot white horses; and on the fourth chariot dappledz earth6 norses- 4Then I spoke and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord ? 5And the angel answered and said to me, These go forth toa the four winds of heaven, after standing before the Lord of all the earth. 6Theb black horses are going forth toward the north country ; and the white went forth toward the land of the east ; and the dappled went forth toward the south country. 7Andc the red went forth, and sought to god that they might walk to and fro through the earth. And hee said, Go forth, walk to and fro through the earth. 8Then he cried, and said to me, Behold, they that go toward the north country will quietf my spiritg in the north country. § 163. Preparations for the Crowning of Zerubbabel, Zech. 69_1S Making Zech. 6 9Now this word of Jehovah came to me : 10Take of them of the thecrown captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah of Jedaiah and of Josiah the son of Zephaniah who have come from Babylon, "yea, take of them silver and gold § 162 The meaning of this vision is reasonably clear. The four chariots, with the horses of four different colors, represent Jehovah's messengers which come from the four quarters of the heavens. The four colors, perhaps, correspond to the colors of the four planets, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, which were conceived of by the ancient Semites as presiding over the different quarters of the heavens. The culmination of the prophecy is in 8, where the promise is given that the divine messengers will execute Jehovah's judgments and so assuage his wrath in the north, which represents the Persian empire. Thus, in vague but unmistakable terms, Zech. voiced that hope of the speedy downfall of Persia which was the basis of the prediction of a Davidic king on the throne of Judah, found in the next section. * 63 Through a scribal error the word, strong, has also been added, although the different pairs of horses are simply distinguished by their colors. Cf - 6- 7. B 65 Supplying a letter that has been lost but is implied by the context. b 66 Heb. adds, on which; but this appears to be a later note added by a scribe who had in mind the chariots. c 67 Heb., strong. This is due to the error of a scribe who had in mind the earlier error in 3. The analogy in 2 calls for the above correction. d 67 Possibly, toward the west, has dropped out. • 67 /. e., God. ' 68 Following the Gk. and the demands of the context. 6 68 /. e., anger, as in Is. 254, 3028. § 163 The vague hopes voiced by Hag. in 2M and by Zech. in 38-10, that Zerubbabel would become king of the restored Judean community, are here expressed in very definite form. It is probable that the words here recorded were uttered several days, if not months, after the visions found in the preceding sections. Their immediate occasion was the arrival of a deputa tion from Babylon, bringing gifts from the Jews in the East. Possibly conditions in the Persian empire again promised deliverance. The original text has obviously been fundamentally revised by a later scribe, who knew that the hopes here expressed regarding Zerubbabel were not realized, and that the high priest hood was ultimately vested with the authority held by the pre-exilic kings. At the end of 13, however, the present Heb. text speaks of two men rather than one. In the light of the preceding references, 38, 49, it is clear that the Branch referred to in 12 is none other than Zerubbabel. Restoring the text with the aid of these indications and of the superior reading of the Gk., the thought in the mind of the prophet is clear. He gave command that the crown be made and E laced in the care of the high priest, until the opportune moment should arrive when Zerub- abel could be crowned. Biblical history is silentt regarding events in the Judean community in the years imme diately following the completion of the second temple. Whether or not the Jews attempted to make Zerubbabel king with disastrous results is not known. The ultimate victories of Darius probably anticipated such a consummation. His policy of reconstruction included the setting aside of native princes and the appointment of Persian governors. In this process of recon struction the descendants of the house of David were probably quietly set aside and so disap pear from the pages of Heb. history. 332 CROWNING ZERUBBABEL [Zech. 6u in order to make a crown and set it on the head of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. 12Thou shalt also say to them : ' Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : "Behold, the Predic- man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place ; and J;1™,3 he shall build the temple of Jehovah ; 13and he shall bear the glory and shall cerning sit and rule upon his throne ; and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak shall be a glory of priest upon his right, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both, babel'a 14 And the crown shall be to Heldai and Tobijah and Jedaiah, and Josiah the rule son of Zephaniah, as a memorial inthe temple of Jehovah. 15And they who are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God.'" § 164. Jehovah's Real Demands, Zech. 7 Zech. 7 'In the fourth year King Darius,h on the fourth day of the ninth month,1 2the city of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men, to entreat the favor of Jehovah, 3and to speak to the priests of the house of Je hovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, shouldk I weep in the fifth month,1 separating myself, as I have done these many years ? 4Then this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me : 5Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, ' When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month,m even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to me ? 6And when ye eat and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves ? 'Should ye not hear these words which Jehovah cried by the former proph ets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the South Country, and the lowland were inhabited ? 9Exe- § 164 In the addresses found in this and the following sects, Zech. abandons the symbolic type of prophecy and speaks plainly and directly to the people. The date was 518 b.c. The occasion was the visit of a deputation either from Bethel, the site of the ancient sanctuary, a few miles north of Jerusalem, or, as many modern interpreters hold, from some official who spoke in behalf of the people to inquire whether or not they should continue, now that the temple was wholly or in part rebuilt, to wail and fast over the destruction of Jerusalem and the murder of Gedaliah. The prophet's reply indicates that he was more of a prophet than a priest: eating and fasting have no intrinsic merit in themselves; the past experience of your race, as well as the plain teachings of your prophets, have taught you clearly that Jehovah supremely desires not ceremonial forms but deeds of justice and mercy. h 71 In 4, 69, 818 the first person is used in the superscriptions. A scribe who had before him the corrupt Heb. text of 2 probably added the words, the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah. 1 71 A scribe has added the name of the month. i 72 Possibly the original read, Bethel-sharezer, or, Belsharezer (cf. Dan. 51) with Regem- melech and his men; but the verbs are in the singular here and in 3, and strongly support the ac cepted reading. Since the days of Josiah the people of Bethel appear to have worshipped at Jerusalem, just as the Samaritans, in the days of Nehemiah, desired but were refused the same privilege. In 813 Zech. addresses the remnant of the house of Israel, as well as of the house of Judah; and Jer. and Ezek. had pictured the future restoration as a union of the peoples both of the north and of the south. The only strong objection to the traditional reading is that the name of a town is not used thus collectively. Jerusalem, however, is frequently used in the collective sense. _ 73 The question is asked in the name of the community and the answer is given to the people of the land. r 73 The fast day in the fifth month was in memory of the destruction of the temple on the seventh day of the fifth month, 586 B.C. (II Kgs. 25s. 9). ra 75 The fast in the seventh month was in memory of the murder of Gedaliah. Cf . Jer. 41, § 134. 333 Jehovahasksnot for formal worship Only for deedsofjustice and mercy lem Zech. 79] ZECHARIAH'S SERMONS AND VISIONS cute11 true judgment,0 and show kindness and pity each to his brother ; "and oppress not the widow nor the fatherless, the resident alien nor the poor ; and let none of you devise evil against your brother in his heart. "But they re fused to heed, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. 12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamantp lest they should hear the teaching, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. 13And it came to pass, that, as Iq cried and they would not hear, so they cried and I did not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts. 14So I scat tered them by a whirlwind among the nations which they did not know. Thus the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed to or fro ; for they made the pleasant land a desolation. § 165. Promises that the Scattered Exiles Will Return and Jehovah's Rule be Widely Acknowledged, Zech,. 8 Glories Zech. 8 'Now this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me : stored 2Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Jerusa- ' I cherish for Zion a great jealousy, And I am jealous for her with great indignation.' 3Thus saith Jehovah, ' I have returned to Zion, And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; And Jerusalem shall be called, "The City of Truth"; And the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, "The Holy Mountain."' 4Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Old men and old women shall again sit in the broad places of Jeru salem, Each man with his staff in his hand because of old age.1 5And the streets3 of the city shall be full of boys, And of girls playing in its broad places.' n 79 A later scribe has here introduced a new and incongruous superscription which reads: And this word of Jehovah came to Zechariah, 9a, Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying. ° 79 This and the following vss. are based on Am., Hos., and Is. p 712 Lit., diamond. Cf. Ezek. ll18. i 713 Heb., he cried. The form is due to the attraction of the preceding verb, but the subsequent context shows that it should be interpreted as above. § 165 This section is closely connected with the preceding and in all probability they were parts of one single address, for the latter completes the prophet's answer to the question about the fasts, ls- 13, and contains a brighter counterpart to the dark picture of the past in 7. Its theme, however, is distinct. With the exception of one or two short glosses, the chapter is, without doubt, all from the pen of Zech. For this reason it is one of the most important chapters in the O.T. in determining the development of Israel's messianic hopes and in dating the II Is. with which it has many points of close contact. The date is probably December, 518 b.c. Zerubbabel and the hopes of a Davidic king have evidently vanished. The simplest and most natural explanation was that the victories of Darius had established the Persian rule in Palestine and quenched the patriotic aspirations which had for a time blazed up so fiercely in the minds of the Jews. Instead, Zech.'s conception of the_ future restoration and mission of his race has greatly broadened and deepened. The belief in the general return of the exiles is even stronger and the promise of universal prosperity is more definite than before; but the disappointment of his earlier hopes has spiritualized and universalized his message and the missionary motif, which is developedinto marvellous effective ness by the II Is., now occupies the central place. The moment was almost ripe for the noblest interpretation of Israel's destiny that ever came from the inspired soul of an O.T. prophet. 1 84 Heb., because of multitude of days. a 86 Lit., broad places. The same word is repeated at the end of the vs. Jeho- EXILES' RETURN AND JEHOVAH'S RULE [Zech. 86 T'hus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because it seemeth impossible to* the remnant of this people,u himself Is it also impossible for me ? saith Jehovah of hosts. to 7Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : |f3ther I am about to rescue my people, people From the land of the east and the land of the west,v 8And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people in truth and righteousness,w And I will in turn be their God. "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : Let your hands be strong, ye who hear in And these days the words of the prophets.x 10For before these days there was no them hire for man, nor any hire for beasts, neither was there any peace to him who parity went out or came in, because of the foe; for I set each against his neighbor, and "But now I will not be to the remnant of the people as in former days, saith Jehovah of hosts. ^For I will scatter prosperityy broadcast ; the vine shall bear its fruit and the ground shall yield its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew, and I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. 13And it shall come to pass that, as ye were accursed among the na tions, O house of Judah and house of Israel,2 so will I save you and ye shall be a blessing.0. Fear not, but let your hands be strong. For thus saith Je hovah of hosts : As I thought to do evil to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I relented not, 15so again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear ye not. 18These are the things that ye shall do ; Speak ye every man the truth with if they his neighbor; render peaceful decisions in your gates ; "and let none of you right devise evil in his heart against his neighbor; and love no false oath; for all these are things0 I hate, saith Jehovah. And this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me, 19Thus saith Jehovah of Fasts hosts : ' The fast of the fourth month,d and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of come the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be for the house of Judah joy and fea3ts gladness, and cheerful feasts ; therefore love truth and peace.' 20Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Peoples, and the inhabitants of many Jeho- cities shall come; 21and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ^e uni- — versally * 86 Lit., is marvellous in ihe eyes of. wor- u 88 A scribe has apparently added, from 10, in those days. The clause is inconsistent with shipped the present context. y 8' Cf. Mal. 1", Is. 59", Ps. 50'. The superior Gk. text has been followed. w 88 Transposing these words from the end of the vs. as the metre and sense require. 1 89 A later scribe has added the awkward note, whoever in the day that the foundation of the temple of Jehovah of hosts was laid, even ihe temple, that it might be built. y Sa So Gk. Heb., seed of peace. 1 813 Possibly, O house of Judah and house of Israel, is a later addition. It is found, how ever, in all the important VSS. a 813 J. e., so prosperous that all nations shall ask for themselves a like orosperity. Cf. Gen. 482°, Jer. 2922. * 816 A scribe has apparently repeated, by mistake, the word, truth, from the first part of the vs. ¦ 8" So Gk. Heb. adds, that. d 819 The fast of the fourth month was held on the ninth day in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem (Jer. 392), the fast of the seventh month recalled the murder of Gedaliah (II Kgs. 25s5, Jer. 411-3) and the fast of the tenth the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by 335 Zech. 821] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE ' Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of hosts; I will go also.' 22Yea, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat- the favor of Jehovah. ^Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : In those days ten men shall take hold out of all the languages of the nations, they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, ' We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you/ III THE DESTINY OF THE CHOSEN PEOPLE § 166. Proclamation of the Speedy Restoration of Jehovah's People, Is. 401-11 Pro- Is. 40 1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, th|ue' 2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and declare to her, mers" . That her hard service is accomplished, her guilta is expiated, com- That she hath received from Jehovah's hand double for all her sins. fortPrepa- 3j^ vo^ce is proclaiming : In the wilderness prepare the way of Jehovah, rations Make straight in the desert a highway for our God ! resto- 4Let every mountain and hill sink down,b and every valley be lifted up, ration And the crooked be made straight and the rough ridges a plain, 5And the glory of Jehovah will be revealed, The Destiny of the Chosen People. — As has already been indicated in the Introd., pp. 27-29, on the whole the most satisfactory setting of these chapters is found in the seventy years following the rebuilding of the temple. Here the hopes and promises expressed by Zech. §§ 157, 165, are expanded into a series of majestic poems intended to inspire both faith and action. The tolerant policy of the Persians and the rebuilding of the temple had prepared the way for that general return of the exiles which had not yet been realized in the times of Hag. and Zech., but for which they ardently hoped. The one great deterrent force which prevented a general return of the exiles was the lack of faith and the spirit of patriotic self-sacrifice within their hearts. The primary aim of the great prophet of the restoration was clearly by argument, by historical illustration, and by impassioned appeal to kindle the faith and patriotism of his fellow-countrymen and to stir them to action. Inasmuch as these different sections apparently represent repeated appeals issued at differ ent times, the same arguments and illustrations are frequently repeated and expanded. One theme, however, binds together all these different fragments. It is the destiny of Jehovah's chosen people. In broad outlines the prophet traces this destiny in the leading forth of Abraham in the great deliverances of Israel's early history, inits victories over neighboring nations, and the training of the nation in its present hour of humiliation. On this background he traces the greater and nobler destiny of which the earlier experiences were but the suggestion. Long years of preparation have been for a definite purpose. Sometimes he pictures Israel, that is, the true Israel, responsive to the divine call, as an agent of judgment upon the wicked nations; sometimes as the saviour of waiting peoples, perfecting its service through suffering and shame. The dominant thought is that Israel, by virtue of its training, is called to represent Jehovah before the world. The realization of the destiny which still awaits his people is the ultimate basis of the prophet's conviction that there will yet be a wide-spread and glorious restoration of his scattered and down-trodden countrymen. § 166 In his opening words the prophet strikes a characteristic note in the teaching of Zech. and especially in 7, 8. The divine message contained in the present chapter is addressed primarily to Jerusalem. At last her guilt is expiated (cf. the same teaching in Zech. §§ 155-8), and Jehovah is about to return, bringing with him, as a shepherd, the scattered exiles. The figure is that of Ezek. Cf. § 143. In strong, poetic language the prophet seeks to dispel the fears aroused by the dangers and hardships of the desert journey which is necessary before the exiles could return to Jerusalem. All things are possible because Jehovah is again reconciled to his people and will remove all obstacles that might deter their return. * 402 Or, punishment; lit., guilt is accepted. b 494 Transposing the two clauses 4a as the metre demands and the parallelism favors. 336 PROCLAMATION OF RESTORATION [Is. 405 And all flesh shall see it together, For the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.0 6A voice is saying, Proclaim! and Id said, What shall I proclaim ? Jeho- All flesh is grass and all its beauty like a flower of the field. alone 'Grass withers, flower fades, when Jehovah's breath blows upon it," Lad"1* Grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our Godf endureth forever. eternal To a high mountain, get thee up, Zion's herald of good news ;g Com- Lift up mightily thy voice, Jerusalem's herald of good news, toari- Lift up fearlessly, say to the cities of Judah : Behold your God! the nce good 10Behold,h Jehovah cometh in might, and his arm is maintaining his rule;1 jeho- Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense is before him, dehver- 11 As a shepherd he will tend his flock, with his arm he will gather it, ance The lambs in his bosomJ he will bear, the ewe-mothers he will lead. people § 167. Restoration Certain because of Jehovah's Character, Is. 4012-10, -416' \ 402"'31 Is. 40 12Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters, Jeho vah's ineom- And ruled off the heavens with a span, Or enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,k parable a i • i i i ¦ i supen- And weighed the mountains in scales, ority And the hills in a balance ? nature man 13Who hath determined the spirit of Jehovah, To And as his counsellor advised him ? 14With whom hath he consulted for enlightenment, And to be instructed in the right,1 And to be shown the way of discernment ? c 405 This is perhaps a later addition in the spirit of Gen. 1, for it is in a very different metre from that which prevails throughout the prophecy and has no close connection with the context. d 406 So Gk. and Lat. and the demands of the context. Heb., he said. ° 40? The Heb. adds the explanatory note, Surely the people are grass. The entire vs. is lacking in the Gk. ' 408 Gk. and Lat., Jehovah. s 409 Or, Zion, herald of good news . . . Jerusalem, etc. h 4010 Heb. adds. Lord, but thd metrical structure of the vs. suggests that it is a later gloss. 1 4010 /. e., overthrowing foes and preparing the way for the deliverance of his people. j 40u Omitting, and, before, in his bosom. § 167 The thought of this section is closely connected with that of the preceding. Jeho vah's omnipotence and incomparable superiority to all things in the universe and to the gods of the heathen nations who had, and who still oppress the Jews, was the supreme evidence that he was able to lead back his people to the realization of the glorious destiny which the prophet declared awaited them. This is one of the sublimest passages in the O.T. Exalted description, irony, dramatic question are all employed with superlative effectiveness. The three-beat measure prevails, with an occasional four-beat line when an earnest question is asked, and an occasional two-beat line at the end of a stanza. k 40>2 Lit., in a third, probably a standard measure containing one-third of an ephah or bushel. 1 40u So Gk. The Heb. adds, and teach him knowledge, repeating the preceding verb. 337 To the nations To hea then gods To the uni verse To the rulersof the earth 41 Is. 4015] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE 15Lo the nations ! as a drop from a bucket,m And as dust on a balance are they reckoned. Lo the isles !n as a mote he uplifteth, 16 And Lebanon is not enough for fuel, And its wild beasts for a burnt-offering." 17A11 the nations are as nothing before him, They are reckoned by him as void and nothingness. 18To whom then will ye liken God, And what likeness place beside him ? 19An image! a craftsman cast it, And a smelter overlays it with gold.p 8Each one helps the other/1 And says to his fellow, Be courageous! 7So the craftsman encourages the smelter, The smoother with the hammer him who smites the anvil, Saying of the plating, r It is good; And he fastens it securely with nails.8 40 20He who is too poor to do this* Chooses a tree that is not decayed, Seeks for himself a skilled craftsman, To set up an image that shall not totter." 21Do ye not know ? Do ye not hear ? Hath it not been told you from the beginning ? Have ye not been aware from the foundingv of the earth ? 22It is he who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, And its inhabitants are as locusts ; Who stretcheth out the. heavens as a thin veil,w And spreadeth them out like a habitable tent.x ^It is he who bringeth princes to naught, The rulersy of the earth he maketh as waste. m 4015 /. e., as a drop hanging ready to fall from the bottom of a swinging bucket. n 4016 /. e., the peoples inhabiting the islands and coast lands. ° 4016 I.e., the wood on thickly wooded Mount Lebanon and all the wild animals that roam over its rocky heights do not furnish victims and fuel enough for a fitting offering to Jehovah. p 4019 So Gk. The Heb. adds.and chains of silver a goldsmith. q 416- 7 These vss. have no logical connection with their context. Restored to what was probably their original position, as above their meaning is clear and the sequence of thought is complete 1 417 The Heb. word usually interpreted, soldering, means, lit., that which cleaves. The reference evidently is to the thin layer of gold which is first beaten out smooth on the anvil and then shaped to the wooden image and fastened on with nails. 8 417 The Heb. adds, that itmay not totter; but this anticipates 4020 and was probably added as an explanatory gloss by a scribe after 416- 7 had been accidentally transposed to their present place in the book of Is. * 4020 Lit., He that is too poor for an oblation. The Gk. omits it, but adds at the end of 19, He prepares him a likeness. u 4020 This vs. apparently refers to the pedestal to which the image was fastened. y 4021 Lit., foundations, i. e., the laying of the foundations. » 4022 So Gk. The Heb. has apparently a slightly corrupted text. * 4(F Lit., to dwell in. y 4023 Lit. ; judges, but the oriental judge was primarily a civil officer and, as in the book of Judg., it is his political rather than judicial functions that the author clearly has in mind. 338 RESTORATION CERTAIN [Is. 4024 Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely hath the stock taken root in the earth, But he bloweth upon them and they wither, And a whirlwind carries them away like stubble. ^o whom then will ye liken me. To th_ That I should equal him ? saith the Holy One. stara Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who hath created these?2 He who bringeth forth their host by number, And calleth each by his name; Of the many mighty and strong,a Not one is missing. 27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: Jeho. My way is hid from Jehovah ™h;s And my right is unnoticed by my God ? to save 28Hast thou not known ? Hast thou not heard ? peoPie An everlasting God is Jehovah. The creator of the ends of the earth. He fainteth not, neither is he weary, His wisdom is unfathomable, 29He giveth vigor to the fainting, And upon the powerless he lavisheth strength. 30Young men may faint and grow weary, And the strongest youths may stumble, 31But they who trust in Jehovah renew their vigor, They mount on pinions like eagles,b They run but are never weary, They walk but never faint.0 • 4026 i\ e., the stars. a 4028 Or with Duhm revising the text to read, For fear of him who is of great might and strong power. The translation given above best conforms to the requirements of the context. b 4031 Lit., griffon-vulture. c 4031 The last two lines may be later additions, since they change the strong figure of the first part of the vs. They, however, establish the nexus between the ideal and the real and make the application of the glorious truth practical. 339 Is. 411] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE § 168. Proofs and Assurances of Jehovah's Power and Purpose to Deliver His People, Is. 41 Jeho- Is. 41 ^Listen to me in silence, ye coastlands,d leader- Let the peoples come near ; then let them speak ;e hhgP of Together let us approach the tribunal. people 2Who raised up that one from the east in the „,, L . f , , past Whose steps victory1 ever attended, Giving up peoples before him, And letting him trample6 down kings ? His sword made them as dust,11 And his bow like driven stubble; 3He pursued them, passing on in safety, Not treading the path with his feet.1 4Who hath wrought and accomplished this ? He who called the generations from the beginning^ I, Jehovah, who am the first, And with those who come after I am the same.k § 168 The doubts of the despairing exiles regarding Jehovah's power and desire to deliver them are dealt with in this section. Vss. M contain one of the crux passages in the II Is. Commentators in the past, almost without exception, have identified the one therein described with Cyrus. This identification was clearly prompted by the occurrence of the name Cyrus in the traditional text of 45' . A closer study of the chapter, however, and of those which follow, reveals the difficulties in this identification. As Professor Torrey has shown (.in an unpublished work), in the closely parallel passage in 9 of the same chapter, the one whom Jehovah brought from the ends of the earth is none other than his chosen people. According to 1S it is his people Israel whom Jehovah is about to make an instrument of judgment, to thresh mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. Even as Israel, under the leadership of David, conquered their foes and trampled down kings, so, in the new era that was dawning, Jehovah would again make them a conquering power. Israel, not Cyrus, was the one whom Jehovah had called from the beginning, 4. In the closely parallel passage in ffi the identification with Israel is even more unmistakable. The one whom Jehovah hath raised up from the north, and who has called on the divine name from the rising sun, must, as in 9, be Abraham and his descendants, for in the light of Gen. 4a the1 idiom, he hath called upon my name, was applied only to open and avowed worshippers of Jehovah. This certainly could not be asserted of Cyrus. Recognizing this fact, modern com mentators have been forced to change the reading of the text, although without any textual support, in order to connect the portrait with Cyrus. In this passage the militant functions of Jehovah's servant Israel are asserted. This review of Israel's task illustrates Jehovah's omnipo tent rulership, and is evidence of his ability to prepare the way for the restoration of his people. In terms of tenderest endearment and encouragement the prophet in Jehovah's name also recalls his divine leadership of his people in the past and assures them of his care and protection in the present crisis. In conclusion ne challenges the gods of the heathen nations whom the d 411 The Heb. adds, probably by mistake, from the preceding vs., 4031, they shall renew vigor. It is not supported by the context and the various emendations suggested are only conjectures and not satisfactory. 0 411 I.e., appeal to facts for the decision. f 412 Lit., righteousness, i. e., victory, the divine confirmation of the rightness of the cause of the conqueror. e 412 Or, following the Gk., terrifieth kings. The verbs in this vs. indicate repeated action in past time. h 412 The current translations are unjustified by the Heb. The above rendering is based on a slight correction of the text and is supported by the context. » 413 /. e., so rapid was his pursuit and conquests that he seemed to fly rather than walk. i 414 The one who not only inaugurated but has directed the course of human history from the first. k 414 As has already been noted, 6- 7 have through a scribal error been transferred from the preceding section. In the process of displacement 6 has apparently been introduced in this context, although, as Duhm, Cheyne, and others recognize, s is the logical and probably the original sequel of 4. Restoring the text of 5 by the aid of the Gk,, it reads, The coastlands saw it and were afraid, The ends of the earth trembled, They approached and came together. 340 PROOFS AND ASSURANCES [Is. 418 8And thou Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen, Offspring of Abraham, my friend,1 'Thou, whom I brought1" from the ends11 of the earth, And called from its most distant parts; To whom I said, Thou art my servant, I have chosen and have not rejected thee. 10Fear not, for I, indeed, am with thee, Be not terrified, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; Yea, I will uphold thee with my righteous hand.0 Jehovah's assurance of help in the presentandfuture "Behold, all who are enraged at thee will be ashamed and confounded,p They shall become as nothing and perish, the men who strive with thee, 12Thou wilt seek them and not find them, the men who contend with thee, They shall become as nought and nothingness, the men who war on thee, 13For I, Jehovah, thy God, hold fast thy right hand. It is I who say to thee, Fear not, I myself will help thee ! "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, thou insignificant wormq Israel, It is I who hold thee, is Jehovah's oracle, thy redeemer is the Holy Oner of Israel. No hea then foes shallharmhispeople I5Behold I make of thee a threshing-sledge, Yea, a new sledges furnished wi,th teeth. Thou shalt thresh mountains and crush them, And thou shalt make the hills like chaff. 16Thou shalt winnow them and the wind shall carry them away, And the tempest shall scatter them, But thou shalt exult in Jehovah, In Israel's Holy One shalt thou glory. Israel again to be come aninstrumentof judg ment 17The afflicted* who seek water but there is none, Their tongue is parched with thirst — u Afflict ed to be relieved exiles fear to produce proofs that they are able to do any deeds comparable to those which he has performed in the past and present. The section is a powerful blending of argument, con solation, and promise. The three-beat measure prevails but passes over at times to the five- beat line. The different themes are treated in stanzas of approximately eight lines each. 1 41s Not merely, the one who loved me, but also, the object of my love. In II Chr. 20' and Koran Sur. 41M Abraham is thus called the friend of God. » 41» Lit., take fast hold of. n 419 Lit., corners. ° 41x0 Lit., right hand of my righteousness, i. e., that demonstrates Israel's right by a signal deliverance. .,_._.. p 4111 ygs, u-16 refer to the malignant heathen foes of the Jews in Palestine as well as Baby lonia. q 4114 Correcting the Heb. as suggested by the Gk. and demanded by the context. r 41" Gk. omits, Holy One. " 4116 A scribe has added the explanatory gloss, a pointed instrument. * 4117 A scribe, recalling the familiar idiom, has added, and the needy ; but this adds nothing to the thought and destroys the regular metre and parallelism and the play on the Heb. on the similar root for the words, needy and answer. n 4117 Again the point of view and atmosphere is that of the Pss., which voice the mis fortunes of the party of the people in the Judean community during the first half of the Persian period. 341 the future Is. 41"] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE I, Jehovah will answer them, I, Israel's God will not forsake them. 18I will open rivers on the bare hills, And fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the arid land gushing springs. Pros- 19I will set in the barren wilderness the cedar, p^j^ The acacia, the myrtle and the oleaster; hovah's I will put in the desert the pine, to"?-6 The plane tree and the cypress together, ygal 20In order that men may see and know, power And consider and perceive at once, That Jehovah's hand hath done this, That the Holy One of Israel hath brought it to pass.v Hea- 21Bring forward your champion,w saith Jehovah, the one God, gocS Produce your idols,x saith Jacob's King, help- 22Let them draw neary and announce to us what is to happen ; foretell How former events were made known,21 declare, that we may reflect upon them; Or else declare to us the future events, that we may know their issue ;a "Announce things to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods; Yea, do something, be it good or bad, that we may both stare and have something to see. ^Behold, ye are noughtb and your work is nothingness.0 jeho- ffiI have roused up one from the north and he is come, JjJn-. From the rising sun one who calls upon my name,d knows He shall trample"5 the princes like mire, he And as a potter treads the clay. events 26Who announced this from the beginning that we might know, And from aforetime that we might say, Right ? None was there who announced it, none who declared it, Yea, none was there who heard your words. v 4120 Lit., be wise together, i. e., have the knowledge which comes from knowledge. " 4121 Reading with Torrey, champion, instead of the usual translation, suit, which does not satisfy the context. * 4121 Following the Lat. in correcting the Heb. text. Possibly the Heb. word which does not occur elsewhere, may mean in the light of the Arab, parallels, proofs; but the context calls for active spokesmen. Cf. 23. y 4122 So Gk., Syr., Lat., and Targ. Heb., bring near. * 4122 Lit., the former events what they were. • 4122 Transposing the opening clause of this vs. to the end as the context demands. •> 4124 Slightly correcting the Heb. 0 4121 A scribe having in mind his Jewish readers has added the note, an abomination is he who choose you. d 4126 Heb., he calls upon my name; in the light of Gen. 4M this idiom can refer only to an open and avowed worshipper of Jehovah, i. e., Israel, or Jehovah's ideal servant. • 4125 This vs. has evidently further suffered in transmission, for the idiom demands the verb given above instead of the Heb., he shall come. 342 PROOFS AND ASSURANCES [Is. 4127 27I, the first one, announced it to Zion, And to Jerusalem I gave the joyful message/ 28But when I looked there was no one, And among these [idols] there was none to give counsel, That I might ask them and they might give answer. 29Behold, they are all but vanity! Completely worthless are their deeds ; Wind and emptiness their molten images!2 Silence of the hea then gods i 169. Contrast between Jehovah's Ideal and Real Servant Israel, Is. 42x-437 Is. 43 behold,*1 my servant whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom I take delight ; I have put my spirit upon him, That he may set forth law1 to the nations. 2He will not cry aloud nor roar,3 Nor let his voice be heard in the street. 3A crushed reed he will not break, And a dimly burning wick he will not quench. Faithfully will he set forth law ; 4He will not lose vigor nor be crushed, Until he establish law in the earth, And for his teaching the coastlandsk are waiting. Type of servantJehovah desiresHismethod His worli; 1 4127 Correcting the corrupt Heb. by the aid of the Gk., Lat., and context. Another possible reading would be, one who brings good news. e 4129 Sligntly correcting the Heb. text. § 169 In three-beat stanzas of four lines each the prophet suddenly introduces the full portrait of the type of servant whom Jehovah desires to represent him before the nations. The present and subsequent context indicates that the prophet hoped that his race, Israel, would ,prove that faithful servant and perform the great service which its early training, the needs of the situation, and Jehovah's purpose demanded. The use of the collective singular is character istic of the prophet. The behold of the Heb. is like an index finger calling attention to the noble figure that is here vividly portrayed. The term servant of Jehovah largely takes the place of the designation Messiah which, was associated with Israel's kings and the house of David. The majority of Judah's later kings had proved unworthy representatives of Jehovah. It is evidently to avoid that misleading suggestion and effectively to present his new and more exalted ideal of service that the prophet adopts the term servant of Jehovah hitherto applied only to such worthy kings as David and the great prophets and spiritual heroes of Israel's history. The Heb. word means, literally, slave, but it is the Heb. slave, best represented in our western civilization by the trusted household servant, faithful and devoted to the interests of the master and in turn cherished and entrusted with full authority by the head of the household. It was also assumed by the loyal subjects or ministers of earthly kings, and was a most felicitous designation of the one who was to perform a great and difficult service for Israel's divine Kin^. The servant, as here portrayed, is above all a teacher. In 504* 5 his training as a disciple is clearly pictured. His task is to proclaim and interpret Jehovah's law, which embodies the fundamental principles of Israel's faith to all mankind. His method is not that of a prophet preaching aloud in public, depending largely upon denunciation and warning, but the quiet method of the teacher who is considerate of the limitations of those whom he would teach and skilful and patient in adapting his message to the capacities of his pupils. _ In the remainder of the section, in stanzas of four, six, or eight lines, the prophet proclaims Jehovah's might and his purpose to lead forth his blind and craven people. Their lack of confi dence and courage is thus brought into strong contrast to what Jehovah would accomplish through them if they but prove responsive to the call to service. 11 421 Gk. adds, Jacob and Israel in the next line. The additions are significant because they reveal the interpretation of early commentators. * 421 Not merely the law, but the demands and promises of the Jehovah religion. Th© Heb. word means, lit., judgment or a judicial decision. J 422 So Targ. and a slightly revised Heb. text. Trad. Heb. text, lift up. k 424 /. e., the distant lands on the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. 343 Is. 425] ,' DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE His 5Thus saith the one God, Jehovah, com- jje who spread out the heavens and stretched them forth, from Who created1 the earth and its products, vah° Who giveth breath to the people upon it, And spirit to those who walk upon it : "I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, I have taken thee by the hand and kept thee, I have made thee a pledge to the people,"1 a light to the nations, 7To open eyes that are blind, To bring captives out from confinement, From the prison-house dwellers in darkness.11 jeho- 8I am Jehovah, that is my name, Yah'B Mine honor I will not give to another, claims Nor my praise to idols. 9The first things — see, they have come, And new things I am about to announce ;° Before they spring forth I declare them. A11 10Sing to Jehovah a new song, peoples And his praises from the ends of the earth; in Those who go down to the sea and all that are on it, Pn™s" The coastlands and their inhabitants. him uLet the wilderness and its towns rejoice,p Villages which Kedarq inhabits. Let the dwellers in Sela exult, From the top of the mountains let them shout. ^Let them render glory to Jehovah, And declare his praises in the coast-lands. r For he 13 Jehovah goeth forth as a hero, to the As a warrior he stirreth up zeal,8 pion He shouteth and uttereth the battle-cry, erf the Against his foes he showeth himself a hero. pressed 14I have long kept silent, vah's I have been still and restrained myself ; battle- song 1 425 Transposing the verbs in the first two lines as the context and the parallel in 4022 require. m 426 Gk., peoples, but the reference is probably to the re-establishment of a covenant between Jehovah and his own people. n 427 In the light of the parallel in 16 it would seem that the Heb. is to be interpreted as above and that Jehovah, not his servant, is the subject in this vs. ° 42a I, e., not only the deliverance and restoration of Jehovah's people, but the redemption of all nations. Cf . *¦ >°-12. p 42" So Gk., Lat., and Targ. Heb., lift up. q 4211 Kedar was the Heb. designation of the north Arabian tribes. They and the dwellers in Sela represent the peoples living east of Palestine, in contrast to those of the coast-lands to the west. r 4212 This vs. repeats the thought of IO- b and may be a later gloss. - 4213 Or, rage. 344 IDEAL AND REAL SERVANT ISRAEL [Is. 4214 Like a woman in travail will I groan, I will both pant and gasp. 15I will lay waste mountains and hills, And all their herbage will I wither, I will turn rivers into islands, And marshes will I dry up. leI will lead the blind on the way,* By a path they know not will I guide them, I will make darkness light, And the rough land level before them.u These things will I do ;v 17Butw they will be filled with shame Who put their trust in a graven image, Who say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. Blind- 18Ye who are deaf hear, n|hso_o£ And ye blind look up that ye may see, vah's 19Who is blind but my servants, people And deaf as their rulers ? 20Much have yex seen, without observing it, Though your ears were open, ye did not hear. Conse- 21 Jehovah was pleased for his righteousness' sake of'their To make his teaching great and glorious, Mind set it is a people spoiled and plundered, "' :,; They are all snared in holes,y And hidden in prison houses, They have become a spoil, with none to rescue, An object of plunder, with none to say, Restore. Israel's ^Who among you will give ear to this,2 fties"1 Will attend and hear for time to come ? due to "Who gave up Jacob to plunderers,3, v|h°s . judgments t 4216 A copyist has also introduced in the first part of the vs. the phrase, which they know not, found in its proper place later. u 4216 Transposing the clause, before them, to the fourth line as the _ense and metre of the vs. demand. v 4216 Following the Gk. in translating the verb as referring to the future rather than +hu past. The Heb. adds what is apparently a gloss, And will not leave undone. w 4217 The Heb. text appears to be corrupt and opens with the disconnected words, They draw back. _¦ 42_) Following the Gk. and Targ., which have retained the plural form of the verb, as demanded by the context. The scribal error in ls, which gave the reading, servant of Jehovah, led to the corresponding error in £0. y 42P Slightly correcting the Heb., as the context lequires. » 42M I. e., Jehovah's direction and care for his people. a 42M Following the marginal reading of the Heo. 345 Is. 4-2u] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE And Israel to those who spoiled him,b 25 And poured out upon him the heat of his anger, And his violence like a flame,0 So that it scorched him round about, but he knew it not, And it burned him, but he laid it not to heart ? By je- 43 'And now thus saith Jehovah, Israel1 **e wn0 "crated tnee> O Jacob, and formed thee,d will be Fear not, O Israel, for I redeem thee, tected I call thee by name, thou art mine. 2When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee, Ihrough8 the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; When thou goest through the fire, thou shalt not be scorched, Neither shall the flame burn thee. Ran- 3For I, Jehovah am thy God. somed j^ jsraei's j£0iy One, am thy deliverer; I give Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Sebaf for thee. 4Because thou art precious in mine eyes, Art honored and I love thee, I will give lands8 in thy stead, And peoples for the sake of thy life. And 5Fear not for I am with thee, stored From the east I will bring thine offspring, And from the west I will gather thee; 6I will say to the north, Give up ! And to the south, Withhold not! Bring my sons from afar, And my daughters from the ends of the earth, 7Every one who is called by my name, Whom for my glory I have created and formed.11 b 4224b The direct continuation of the question in ^a is in 25. A later scribe, with a different vocabulary and style, has introduced with a didactic purpose the prose gloss, Was it not Jehovah, he against whom we sinned and in whose ways they would not walk and to whose instruction they did not heedf c 42M Restoring the corrupt Heb. with Klostermann and Cheyne. Trad. Heb., might of war. d 431 Following the superior text of the Gk., Lat., and Targ. e 432 So Gk. Heb., in the rivers. 1 433 Josephus and later commentators have identified this place with Meroe, about one hundred miles north of Khartoum, but there is no evidence to support the hypothesis. The reference is probably to some Semitic people, like the Ethiopians, living west of the Red Sea. b 434 Slightly rev sing the text, which reads, a man. Gk., men. h 437 Heb. adds, and made. 346 ISRAEL. A WITNESS [la. 43^ § 170. Israel Jehovah's Witness before the Heathen, Is. 438-445 Is. 43 8Bring forth a people1 that is blind but hath eyes, Exor- Deaf and yet hath ears; dium °Gather together, J all ye nations, And let the peoples assemble. Who among them can announce this,k And declare to us the former predictions, Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, Let them hear and say, It is the truth! 10Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, Israel's And my servants,™ whom I have chosen, preme That ye11 may acknowledge and believe me, task And that ye may perceive that I am ever the same,0 Before me no God was formed, Nor shall there be after me, UI, even I, am Jehovah, And beside me there is no deliverer. ^It was I who announced and brought deliverance, jeho- And I declared, and there was no strange god among you, irrev- Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, ocable I am God, 13yea, from henceforth the same; And there is none who can snatch from my hand, When I work, who can reverse it ? "Thus saith Jehovah, Re- Your redeemer, Israel's Holy One, ?£*$£ overthrow § 170 In this section the prophet brings out clearly one of his fundamental teachings, _f namely, that the supreme task of Jehovah's people is to be his witnesses to all the world. They gaDV- alone, through experience and the inspired minds of their prophets, have grasped the great truth iQn that one supreme God rules the universe, and that Jehovah is that God. All their past history had been to them the revelation of Jehovah's character and power. The overthrow of Babylon and the signal judgment upon their former oppressors, the Chaldeans, u, is the latest and in many ways the most significant proof of Jehovah's omnipotent rulership. The coming restora tion of his people and the world-wide acknowledgment of his rule are to be the culminating acts in his revelation of himself to humanity. The moment is ripe for the great denouement. The only source of doubt as to its immediate realization is found in the character and attitude of Jehovah's own people. They are apathetic in their worship, 43ffi-M, and their past record has been one of infidelity and failure to rise to the great opportunities which Jehovah has offered them, 4325-28. Hence all the strength of the prophet's marvelous logic and exhortation are enlisted in the effort to arouse Jehovah's servant Israel to the great task which lies before him. Cf . for the same idea 424- 6. The passage is also significant because in 4310 and elsewhere the prophet identifies Jehovah's servant with his witnesses, the survivors of the chosen people to whom the prophet addressed his message. From 4314 it is also clear that Babylon had already fallen and that therefore these prophecies must be dated not before, but after, 536 B.C. i 43s Slightly correcting the Heb. A more fundamental revision would give the reading, Ho, ye people. The passage appears to picture a great judgment scene. i 43' So Targ. and Syr. k 439 /. e., the predictions given in the preceding section. 1 439 Slightly correcting the Heb. with the aid of the context. Heb. lit., the first things. m 4310 Heb., servant. n 4310 Possibly the original read, they, referring to the heathen. ° 4310 Lit., that I am that one. Cf. 41*. 347 Is. 4314] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And have brought them all down as fugitives.1" Even the Chaldeans with their piercing cries of lamentation,"! 15It is I, Jehovah, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King. In the deliv erancefromEgypt 16Thus saith Jehovah, He who openeth a way in the sea, And a path in the mighty waters, 17Who maketh an endr of chariot and horse, A host both strong and mighty;8 They lie down, they cannot rise, They are quenched, extinguished like a wick! In the new de liveranceawait ing his people l8Remember not former events, Consider not the things of old ! 19See, I am about to do a new thing, Already it springs forth ; do ye not know it ? Yea, I will establish a road in the wilderness, Streams in the barren desert. All naturesub servientto Je hovah'spurpose 20The beasts of the field will honor me, The jackals and the ostriches, For I give water in the wilderness, Streams in the barren desert, To provide drink for my people, my chosen. 21The people which I have formed for myself, They will recount my praise.* Israel alonefaith- 22But thou, O Jacob, hast not called upon me, Noru hast thou wearied thyself about me, O Israel ; 23Thou hast not brought me the sheep of thy burnt-offerings, Nor honored me with thy sacrifices. With offerings I have not burdened thee, Nor with incense wearied thee. ^Thou broughtest me no sweet cane with thy money, Nor with the fat of thy sacrifices sated me. p 4314 So Gk. The text and meaning are doubtful. q 43u Again the meaning ofthe Heb. is not certain. The current translation, with the ships of their rejoicing, is unintelligible. The Gk. reads, The Chaldeans are bound with neck- chains. A fundamental revision of the text gives the reading, / will turn their rejoicing into lamentations. The above translation is based on a very slight revision of the current Heb. text. Possibly this last line is an explanatory scribal gloss. r 43" Lit., causeth to go forth. A reference to the overthrow of the Egyptian army at the exodus. ¦ 4317 Lit., war-host and strong ones together. t 4320-21 By many recent interpreters, 2-c< i< 21, because of their loose connection with the context, are regarded as secondary. The evidence, however, is not conclusive. » 43s2 Following the Gk. and Lat. 348 ISRAEL. A WITNESS [Is. 4325 Rather thou hast only burdened me with thy sins, And wearied me with thine iniquities. But it is I alonev who blot out thy transgressions,™ Israel's And I do not remember thy sins. f^X Kemind me, let us plead together, result Do thou set forth the matter that thou mayest be justified : sinsas "Thy first fatherx sinned, And thy mediatorsy rebelled against me. 28Thy rulers profaned my sanctuary," And I gave up Jacob to the ban,a And Israel to revilings ! 44 'But now hear, O Jacob my servant, jeho- And Israel whom I have chosen ; ^ 'Thus saith Jehovah, thy maker, ready Even he who formed thee from the womb, who helpeth thee : store ' Fear not, my servant Jacob, And thou, Jeshurun,b whom I have chosen; 3For I will pour water upon the thirsty land And streams upon the dry ground,0 I will pour out my spirit upon thy posterity, Eager And my blessing upon thy descendants, honor 4So that they shall spring up as grass in the midst of waters/1 his As willows by water-courses. before 5One shall say, "I am Jehovah's," a11 men And another shall call himself,6 "Jacob," And another will inscribe on his hand, "Jehovah's," And receive the surname,* " Israel." ' v 4325, 26 Possibly these vss. are secondary, as ^ carries on immediately the thought of M. w 43s5 Amending in accordance with the requirements of the sense and metre. Heb. adds, or mine own sake. * 43" Not Adam, nor Abraham, the friend of God, but Jacob, the immediate traditional ancestor of the twelve tribes. Cf. Hos. 123- 4. y 43» I. e., the false and misleading prophets. Cf . Jer. 2311-18. ¦ 43ra Following the Gk. and Syr. a 43s8 /. e., placed under the ban. Cf . Josh. 6s4, 71. The reference is to Israel's experiences after the fall of Jerusalem. b 442 This designation, meaning, the righteous or pious, is found elsewhere only in Dt. 3215 and 335> 26. It was probably coined by the prophet as the opposite of Jacob (the tricky). Cf. 43®>, Hos. 123. 4. 0 44a I. e., a poetic picture of Israel and its scattered people. d 444 Following the Gk. and a corrected Heb. text. • 445 Following the Syr., which reads literally, will name himself by. 1 445 Following the Targ. Lit., is belitled by the name. 349 Is. 446] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE Jeho vahthe one su preme ruler in the uni verse § 171. Jehovah's Incomparable Superiority to the Heathen Gods, Is. 446"! Is. 44 "Thus saithg the King of Israel, Even his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts : I am the first and I am the last, And beside me there is no God. 'And who like meh could proclaim, Could declare it and set it in order before me. Announcing the future long ago,1 And declaring to me the things which are to come ? 8Be not terror-stricken nor afraid; Did I not long ago declare to you,' And announce it, and ye are my witnesses, Is there a god beside me ? Yea, there is no Rock beside me.k Shame awaits all wor ship pers ofidols "Makers of idols are all of them as nothing, Those things in which they delight1 are utterly worthless! Their witnesses !m they see not, Neither do they know enough to be ashamed. 10Who has ever fashioned a god, Or cast an image to no profit? "Behold, all its worshippers11 shall be put to shame, And the artificers — they are but men ;° Let them all assemblep and stand forth — They shall be both terror-stricken and ashamed! Inanity of wor shipping man- madegods ''The smith*1 prepares it on the coals, With hammers he fashions it, He forges it with his strong arm, He becomes hungry also and has no strength, He drinks no water and is faint. § 171 In this section a theme, already touched upon in § 167, is now developed in detail; it is the obvious and convincing evidence of Jehovah's omnipotence and omniscience contrasted with the inanimate gods of wood in which Israel's heathen foes put their trust. Vss. 9-20 have been regarded as later additions by many critics because of the obscurities in style and the ab sence of the ordinary regular metrical structure. The terse style, the biting sarcasm, and the unusual terms required by the nature of the subject-matter have given rise to scribal errors in transmission that largely explain these obscurities and metrical irregularities. When the text is restored and the obviously late gloss in 20 removed, there remain five stanzas, each containing nine or ten lines, in the powerful style of the great prophet-poet of the restoration. The section concludes with an appeal to Israel, and a closing doxology. b 446 So Gk. The Heb. adds, Jehovah. h 447 Gk. adds, Let him stand forth and. * 447 Correcting the corrupt Heb. by the aid of the context. i 448 So Gk. Heb., thee. k 448 The Heb. text is unintelligible and is due to certain obvious scribal errors which, when corrected, give the above reading. 1 449 I. e., their idols. m 449 7. e., those who worship the idols, corresponding to Jehovah's witnesses, the Israelites. 11 4411 Lit., fellows or those bound to him. Possibly the Heb. should be translated, charmers. & 4411 Or fundamentally revising the text, will be confounded. p 44u So Gk. The Heb. omits, and. So also in the next line. q 4412 The Heb. has a gloss, ax, apparently intended to explain the preceding word. S50 JEHOVAH'S SUPERIORITY [Is. 4413 13The carpenter stretches out a line, Traces it in outline with a stylus, Shapes it with scraping tools and a compass, r And makes it like a human figure, Like the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house! MOne cuts down8 cedar trees for his use, Idols And chooses a cypress or oak, mere He lets it grow up among the trees of the forest, that Or plants a pine, and the rain makes it grow. hTthe 15So it becomes fuel for man, fire And he takes* some therefrom and warms himself, He also sets it ablaze and bakes bread, Yea, he makes a god and worships it ! Makes an image and bows before it ! 16Half of it he burns in the fire, Of the And upon its coalsu he roastsv flesh! nmteriai He eats the roast and is satisfied! with He warms himself and says, Aha! the I am warm and see the glow. shia- 17The rest of it he makes into a god, per He bows down to his image and worships it, his And prays to it and says : Deliver me, for thou art my god! meal ness of those 18They have no knowledge nor discernment, Biind- For their eyes are besmearedw past seeing, And their minds past comprehending. who "And he takes it not to heart, ship Nor is there any knowledge or sense to say : ldo s Half of it I have burned in the fire, I have also baked bread upon the coals, I have roasted flesh and have eaten; And of the rest of it shall I make an abomination, To a block of wood shall I bow down ?x 21Remember these things, O Jacob, Jeho. Yea, Israel, for thou art my servant ; yah's * lnti- ¦ mate r 4413 Translating the Heb. word (which occurs only here) by the aid of the context, relation Through a scribal error the verb, traces it in outline, has been repeated. to his » 44" Correcting the corrupt Heb. by the aid of the Gk. and Lat. people * 4415 Some Gk. MSS., one kindles. u 4416 So Gk., Syr., and the parallel passage in 19. v 4416 Transposing the verbs to their logical place in accord with the order in the parallel passage in 19. w 4418 Heb., he hath shut; the text is plainly corrupt. x 4419 a later scribe, commenting on this pitiable picture, has added the sententious criticism, One who feeds on ashes / A deluded heart has caused him io sin and he cannot save his life, nor say : Is not there falsehood in my right hand. 351 Is. 4421] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE I have formed thee ; thou art my servant, Israel, thou wilt not renounce me.y l2I have blotted out as a mist thy transgressions, And as a cloud thy sins ; Return to me, for I have redeemed thee. Song of thanksgiving 23Cry aloud, O heavens, for Jehovah hath accomplished it, Shout, O ye depths of the earth! Break forth, O mountains, into cries of exultation, O forest and all the trees therein, For Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, And glorified himself in Israel! Jehovah's omnip otent rule in the uni verse Is. § 172. Jehovah's Promises to His Servant Israel, Is. 4424-4525 44 ^Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, Even he who formed thee from the womb ; I am Jehovah, maker of all things, Who stretcheth forth the heavens — I alone, Who spreadeth out the earth — who beside me ?z ^Who bringeth to nought the omens of the impostors, And maketh sport of the diviners, y 4421 Correcting the corrupt Heb. § 172 In this section the prophet reasserts Jehovah's promises to Israel, the servant nation, and recounts what ^e has done for his people in the past. It is parallel in many ways to 41, § 168. The two chapters interpret each other. When 4428 and the word Cyrus, found in the traditional Heb. text of 451, is deleted, no one would suspect that this section contained a refer ence to any other than Jehovah's servant Israel. Professor Torrey, of Yale, in a work yet to be published (cf. also Cobb, Jour. Bib. Lit., XXVII, 48-64), has shown that 4428, whieh reads, Who saith to Cyrus, My servant, and all my purposes will he realize, was in all probability added by a scribe in the third or second century b.c, who had been reading the opening chapters of Ezra. The same scribe probably inserted Cyrus in 45lb. This insertion is entirely out of harmony with the regular metrical structure of the vs. The term, Jehovah's anointed, is always applied in the O.T. either to an Israelitish king or Messiah or else to the messianic nation. Furthermore the phrase, whose hand I hold, on the lips of Jehovah is used by the prophet only in referring to Jehovah's servant Israel. Cf . 419- 10- 13- 426. There is little doubt, in the light of these cumulative facts, that the word Cyrus, which has so largely influenced the interpretation of Is. 40-66, was added by a later scribe, even as the word Assyrian was inserted in the prophecies of Is. 7". 1B>_ 2°, 87. In the light of the parallel passages it is clear who was Jehovah's anointed, whose hand he held. Closely parallel to 45lc' d- e is the promise in u, which is universally recognized as ad dressed to Jehovah's servant Israel. The same is true of the thought in 2- 3. Cf. also u. In 4 the idea is further developed that because of all that Jehovah has done for his people in the past he will still care for them in the future. From their earliest history, even before they were con scious of his guidance, he was preparing them for their destiny. At first glance I3 would seem to be a reference to Cyrus, but it is imbedded in the midst of a passage which describes Jehovah's dealings with Israel, and there is not the slightest indica tion in this vs. of a change of antecedent. Furthermore the thought of this vs. is closely parallel to 49s, which describes the work of Jehovah's servant as being, to raise up the land, to reapportion the desolate heritages, saying to those that are bound, Go forth, to thosein darkness, Show yourselves. Cf, also 412- 25. The parallelism is so close that it leaves little doubt that in 13 the prophet is describing one of the many tasks of the ideal servant, a task which Nehemiah, with his full consciousness of being a servant of Jehovah (cf. Neh. 1), in a measure performed. In this section the prophet gathers up and reiterates many of his teachings presented in preceding chapters. _ Occasionally in exultation he breaks out into glowing doxologies, as in 458. The joy and adoration expressed in the three-beat measure in the first part of the section pass into a message of comfort and invitation to the scattered exiles and even to distant heathen nations. The poem closes with a sublime picture of the day when all peoples shall acknowledge and revere Jehovah. ¦ 44^ So Gk., Lat., and many MSS. The vocalization of the Heb. is defective 352 PROMISES TO ISRAEL [Is. 4425 Who turneth backward the wise, And maketh their knowledge folly. 2eWho establisheth the word of his servants,8, in the And perfecteth the counsel of his messengers.b {j?6 of Who saith to Jerusalem, ' Be inhabited,' people And of the cities of Judah, ' Let them be built,' And her ruins will I raise up. 37Who saith to the deep, 'Be dry! And thy streams will I dry up.'0 45 'Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed,"1 His To him whose right hand I hold, prom- To subdue nations before him, of vio- And that I may ungird the loins of kings, his* To open doors. before him, ld°mt" And that gates may not be closed : 2I myself will go before thee, Mountains6 will I make level, Doors of bronze will I break in pieces, And bars of iron will I sunder. 3And I will give thee the treasures1 of darkness, of And the hoards in secret places, riches That thou mayest know that it is I, Jehovah, noble He who called thee by name, I, the God of Israel. senrice 4For the sake of Jacob my servant, And of Israel my chosen, I called to thee by thy name, I gave thee a surname,8 though thou knewest me not. 5I am Jehovah and there is none other,11 Beside me there is no God. I girded thee while yet thou knewest me not, Jeho_ 'That men might know from the east, vah's And also from the west that there is none beside me. acter re- " vealed a 4426 So Gk. A., and Targ. and the demands of the context. Under the influence of the by his common phrase the Heb. has servant. acts b 44M I. e., that of the prophets who stand in contrast to the false religious teachers of Babylonia. 0 44" A later scribe who recalled the rebuilding of the temple in the years following the conquests of Cyrus, and especially the decree of Darius regarding the rebuilding of the temple, has added, saying to Jerusalem, Be built, and of the temple, Let its foundations be laid. The first part is but a repetition of »° and the whole is out of its natural setting. * 45l Or, Messiah, i. e., one called and. commissioned by Jehovah to do a special work. 0 452 So Gk. The meaning of the Heb. word is unknown. Possibly in the light of 13 it originally read, ways. 1 453 /. e., treasures hoarded up in dark vaults. « 4S4 Cf. 44s for the same verb. The meaning would be, gave thee, a new title descriptive of the new and more intimate r61e. Possibly the Gk. should be followed, / delight in thee. h 457 Gk. omits, author, lit., creator. It destroys the regular metre and may be due to a scribal error. God's ways Is. 45°] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE I am Jehovah, and there is none other. 'Maker of light and creator of darkness, Bringer of good fortune and author of evil, I, Jehovah, perform all this. The 8Shower ye heavens from above and let thy clouds rain righteousness ; salva°S ^et t'ie eartn °Pen >ts womb1 and salvation blossom forth,' tion And let righteousness spring up at once; I, Jehovah, have created it. Folly 9Woe to him who strives with his Maker, ques- ^ potsherd among the potsherds of earth! turning Saith clay to its Maker, What canst thou do ? Or his handwork, Thou hast no hands !k 10Woe to him who saith to a father, What begettest thou ? And to a woman, What bringest thou forth r "Thus saith Jehovah, Israel's Holy One and Maker: Of the things to come will ye question"1 me!" Concerning the work of my hands will ye command me ! His 12It was I who made the earth, Jjjk ltt And mankind upon it I created, world It was my hands0 that stretched out the heavens, the ™ And upon all their host I laid commands. ofhis5' 13I> it was wno ra'sed him up in righteousness, people And make level all his ways; He it is who will build my city, And my exiled ones will be set free, Not for price and not for reward, Saith Jehovah of hosts.p Nations 14Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,q The labor of Egypt hom-y Arid1 the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, age to Shall pass before thee and be thine ;r they shall go after thee in chains,8 and And to thee will they bow down, to thee will they pray : Israel's < gure]v q0(j ;s w;th thee anci there is none other God at all ; 15Truly God hideth himself with thee,* the God of Israel is a deliverer!' 1 458 Supplying the object implied in the Heb. j 458 Heb., and let them bring forth salvation. - 459 Correcting the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and Lat. 1 4510 This vs. introduces a new figure and breaks the close connection between 9 and n. It may be simply a later scribal amplification. m 4SU Restoring the text as the context demands. The Heb. has an imperative form of the verb in this line. n 4511 A scribe with 10 in mind has added, concerning my children. • 4512 Heb., / — my hands. p 4513 It is possible that these last two lines are later additions as they are not altogether consistent with the thought of A33- * and the vss. which follow in the present context. q 45H So Gk. Heb. omits, of hosts. r 45u The exact meaning of this passage is not certain. Possibly the text is corrupt. In general the thought appears to be parallel to that of 433- 4. 11 4514 The Heb. repeats the verb, shall pass before thee. * 4515 Slightly revising the Heb. text as the context requires and certain Latin MSS. read. 354 PROMISES TO ISRAEL [Is. 4516 Ashamed, yea confounded are all who rose upu against him;T They have gone off in confusion, the makers of idols. "But Israel hath received from Jehovah an everlasting deliverance; Ye shall not be put to shame nor confounded to all eternity. 18For thus saith Jehovahw— he is the one God ; His The former and maker of the earth — he established it, prom- ¦_ . ises Not as a waste did he create it, to be inhabited he formed it. clear I am Jehovah and there is none else, no God beside me,x sure 19Not in secret have I spoken,y in the land of darkness, Nor have I said to the descendants of Jacob, ' Seek me in chaos,'2 I, Jehovah speak the truth anda announce what is right. 20 Assemble and come; draw near together, ye of the nations who have He j , alone escaped! de- Senseless are they who bear about their wooden idols,D livers And pray to a God that cannot deliver. 21 Announce ye and produce your idols ;° let them also take counsel together. Who hath declared this of old and announced it long ago ? Is it not I, Jehovah, and there is none else, no God beside me ? A God who is righteous and delivereth, there is none except me! 22Turn to me and be delivered, all ye ends of the earth! De- For I am God and there is none other, 23by myself have I sworn, kver- Truth hath gone forth from my mouth, a word which will not be recalled, for all That to me every knee shall bow,d every tongue shall swear. ac-° 24 And it shall be said : ' Only through Jehovah are victories and might,6 edging To him shall theyf come and be put to shame, all who were incensed against his , . rule him; ^In Jehovah shall triumph and boast all the descendants of Jacob. " 4516 So Gk. y 4516 Again correcting what appears to be a slight error in the Heb. y 4518 Omitting the phrase, the creator of the heavens, which destroys the logical and metrical unity of the line. * 4518 Apparently the last two words of this line have been lost. They may be restored from the otherwise parallel line 21c. y 4519 Omitting, in a place, which is probably due to a scribal error. z 4519 I. e., given no indefinite promises. » 4519 So Gk. The Heb. omits the and. b 45M A reference to the Babylonian custom of carrying the gods in a sacrificial procession, especially at the great New Year's feast. 0 4521 Supplying the object demanded and implied by the context. d 45^ /. e., in worship. Cf . I Kgs. 1918; also Phil. 2'°. "-, Rom. 14". • 45M Gk., saying; Heb., he said to me. Cheyne suggests a revision of the text which gives the reading, Only through Jehovah hath Jacob victories and strength. t 45M Following several MSS. in reading the verb as a plural. 355 Is. 461] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE Impo tence of the heathengods § 173. Contrast between the Heathen Gods and Israel, Is. 46 Is. 46 ^el is bowed down, Nebog stoops! Their idols are consigned to the beasts and cattle, They are lifted11 up as a burden for tired animals!1 ^hey stoop, and are bowed down together! They are unable to rescue the burden^ But themselves are gone into captivity! Jehovah'somnipotent care for his people 3Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been carried as a burden from birth, Who have been borne from the mother's womb ; 4Even to old age I am the same, Until ye are gray-haired I will support you. It is I who have borne the burdenk and will still carry it ; It is I who bear and I will deliver. Con trast betweentheliving Godandmereidols ^o whom will ye liken me and make me equal ? To whom compare me that I may be similar ? 8They who freely give gold from a purse, And weigh out silver with the balance Hire a goldsmith that he may make a god of it, Then they fall down and worship it. 7They lift it up on the shoulder they bear it, And they rest it upon its base, And it stands, not moving from its place. Verily if a man cries to it, it answers not, Nor does it deliver man from his distress. Jehovahalone rules su premeinhumanhistory 8Remember this and consider;1 Lay it to heart ye evil-doers ! 9Remember the former things of old. For I am God and there is none other, § 173 This brief section develops the themes already suggested in 4017-26, 4121"24, 438-13, and 446-23, xhe aim is to emphasize the weakness and helplessness of the gods of the heathen, especially as represented by the deities of Babylon. Their images are fallen and have become but prey for the conquerors. These inert gods of stone must be borne about, as in the sacred processions, or as spoil on the backs of their captive subjects. Jehovah in contrast has borne his people in the past and now will deliver them in their time of need. As in 4314, Babylon has already fallen and the fate of its gods is made the basis of the comparison. k 46l The Mercury and Jupiter of the Babylonian pantheon. Bel is evidently the prophet's designation of Marduk the chief god of Babylon, and Nebo is the god of learning worshipped at Borsippa, the western suburb of Babylon. The text of these opening lines ispossibly corrupt and the metre is irregular. b 46l Omitting the explanatory word, burden, and correcting the corrupt Heb. » 46l Lit., for the tired; but this word is used collectively. j 462 /. e., the idols borne away on the backs of beasts of burden to grace the temples of the conquerors. k 46* Correcting the Heb. so as to carry on the figure. 1 46a Slightly revising the uncertain Heb. Another possible reconstruction gives the reading, own yourselves guilty. Possibly this vs. is a hortatory note similar to the index fingers recurring throughout the prophetic books. 356 HEATHEN GODS AND ISRAEL [Is. 469 Divine and there is none other like me. 10Who hath announced the outcome from the first, And aforetime those things which had not yet taken place, Who hath said, My counsel shall stand, And all my pleasure will I accomplish ? uWho hath called from the east a bird of prey,™ From a distant land the man of my counsel ?n Verily I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass ; I have planned, and I will indeed accomplish it. ^Hearken to me, ye down-hearted,0 who are far from the hope of salvation: There- 13I have brought near my salvation, it is not far off, and my deliverance shall let his not tarry; '^e For I will establish deliverance in Zion, my glory for Israel. hlm § 174. Triumph Song over Babylon's Downfall, Is. 47 Is. 47 1Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin Babylon! Baby- Throneless sit on the ground, O daughter of the Chaldeans ! J0^! of For thou shalt no longer be called, The Tender and The Dainty! con- ^ake the mill-stones and grind meal,p put back the veil,q and Lift up the skirt, bare the leg, wade through streams ! fiave- ^hy nakedness shall be uncovered and thy shame shall be seen.r ment Vengeance8 will I take, nor will I be entreated, saith* 4our Redeemer; Jehovah of hosts is his name, Israel's Holy One. 5Sit silent and shroudedu with darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans! pUn- For never again shall they call thee, Mistress of Kingdoms. for its 6I was wroth with my people, I profaned my heritage, cruelty I gave them into thy power ,v but thou didst show them no mercy ; hovah's On the aged thou madest press thy heavy yoke, people 'And thou saidst, I shall exist forever, a queen for all time ; Thou didst not lay these things to heart, nor think of their issue. m 4611 I. c, the Israelite race viewed in its conquering aspect as best illustrated in the days of David. Cf. 45l- 2. The prevailing identification with Cyrus is not impossible, for the general theme is Babylon's overthrow, which the prophet regards as an already accomplished fact. n 46tl Heb., his counsel, i. e., the one to realize the divine purpose, the nation with a unique destiny represented in its earliest days by Abraham. ° 4612 So Gk. and the demands of the context. Heb., courageous. _ Cf .Ps. 766. § 174 Babylon here stands, as frequently in late Jewish and Christian literature, as a .type of the proud, arrogant world powers that have oppressed Israel. There_ is no note of hatred against the heathen; the prophet simply proclaims the fact that their guilt and pride have at last called down Jehovah's wrath and that the day of their overthrow is near at hand. p 472 This was the work of the humblest slaves. q 472 J. e., put off the garb of the noble woman. r 473 This line is not altogether consistent with the context and may be secondary. B 473 Correcting the Heb. by the aid of the Gk. and the context. * 473 So Gk. A. Through a common scribal error the Heb. reads, man. u 47s Lit., enter into. y 476 The reference to the fortunes of the exiles in Bab. suggests that the poet was writing long after the event. 357 Is. 478] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE Disas ter im pending The cause: falsepride Andtrust inmagic and falseguides 8Now hear this, O voluptuous one, who dwellest self-confident, Thou who sayest in thy heart, I am and there is none other, I shall not sit in widowhood, nor know the loss of children. 'Therefore these two shall have overtaken thee in a moment, at one blow; Bereavement and widowhood to the full;w they have come upon thee, Despite thy many spells and the great might of thine incantations ; "Though thou wast secure in thy wickedness and saidst, None seeth me! Thy wisdom and thy knowledge311 — these have led thee astray, So that thou saidst in thy heart, I am and there is none other! "Therefore calamity shall come upon thee which thou shalt not know how to avert,y And disaster shall fall upon thee, thou canst not appease it, And ruin shall come upon thee suddenly without thy knowing. 12Pray, persist in thy incantations and in thy many enchantments,2 Perhaps thou mayest succeed, perhaps thou wilt inspire terror ! 13Thou hast wearied thyself with thy many counsels; let them stand forth! Yea, let them deliver thee, the mappers of the heavens and the star-gazers,a They who make known each month whatb shall befall thee! "Behold, they have become like stubble, the fire consumes them, They cannot save their own life from the power of the flame, There is not a coal to give warmth nor a fire to set before !c 15Such have they become to thee, about whom thou didst weary thyself1 from thy youth; They fall in confusion before him; there is none to help thee! Exor dium: addressto Je hovah's people § 175. Recapitulation of the Preceding Arguments, Is. 48 Is. 48 *Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And sprang from the loinse of Judah, y 479 Gk. A., and Syr., suddenly. In the traditional Heb. text some of the verbs are in the past and others in the future tense. Those in the future are the result of a mistaken vocalization. The reading of the original was probably as above. x 4710 These words are of course used in irony. y 47u Slightly correcting the Heb. text with the aid of the Targ. * 4712 A scribe has introduced from l5 the note, about whom thou didst trouble thyself from thy youth. It is out of harmony with the metre and context. * 4313 I- e., the Baby, astrologers who claimed that they could predict the future from the movements of the stars. b 4313 Heb., from which. c 43u By many scholars this vs., which is loosely connected with the context, is regarded as secondary, but it appears rather to be an example of the grim humor of the poet. The fires of Gehenna are not useful for warmth! d 4315 A scribe has inserted, traffickers. § 175 This passage is significant because it contains a recapitulation of the different argu ments in the preceding chapters and is the conclusion of 40-48. The evidence of Jehovah's power to deliver his people, based on the fact that through his earlier prophets he had announced significant events of the past century, is again strongly emphasized. Jehovah's marvellous leadership of his people is also recorded. The only thing which has deterred them from ac complishing still greater marvels in the past and the present has been their lack of faith and responsiveness to his divine commands. Cf ., e. g., I8- 19. It is evident here, as throughout these stirring chapters, that the prophet is not merely dealing with a great problem, but is also en deavoring, with all his remarkable powers, to arouse his contemporaries to noble action. " 48l Correcting the Heb. in the light of the parallel in Gen. IS4 and other similar passages. 358 RECAPITULATION OF ARGUMENTS [Is, 481 Who swear by the name of Jehovah, And invoke the God of Israel — Not in truth nor by right — 2For after the holy city they call themselves, And put their reliance in Israel's God, Whose name is Jehovah of Hosts. 'The former things I announced of long ago, Earlie* From my mouth they came forth and I delivered them ; Sons0 Suddenly I wrought and they came to pass ; and 4For I knew that thou wast stubborn, fuMi- And thy neck an iron band, ment And thy forehead brass.* 5Yea, I announced it to thee long ago, Before it came to pass I declared it to thee, Lest thou shouldst say, My idolg wrought them, My molten and graven image11 commanded them. "Thou didst hear, behold all this,1 The And wilt thou' not proclaim1* it ? revela- New things I am about to declare to thee, tion Yea, hidden things which thou hast not known. to be 7Now, not long ago, were they created, 6Iven Heretofore thou didst not hear them, Lest thou shouldst' say, Behold I knew them. 8Thou, indeed, hast neither heard nor known, Nor was thine ear open1 long ago, For I knew how treacherous thou art, That from birth thou wast called, Transgressor! 9For my name's sake I restrain mine anger, Not And for my praise I bridle it,m so as not cut thee off. Served 10Behold I have refined thee but not as silver,11 but be- I have tried thee in the furnace of affliction. Jeho- uFor my name's sake0 I will do it, ^fj_ Jt For how should my namep be profaned ? And my glory I will not give to another. i 48* Possibly this vs. is secondary. * 485 Heb., my pain; a scribal substitute for the similar Heb. word, idol. h 485 This reference to idolatry is paralleled by many others in the writings of the prophets. ' 48s The text here is very doubtful; but the VSS. afford no aid. ' 486 Restoring the corrupt text by the aid of the parallel passage in a. k 486 Again correcting the Heb. as the context demands. 1 48s Gk., nor have I opened. m 489 Restoring the impossible Heb. text as the context and parallelism demand. ? 4310 The text is uncertain. • 48" So Gk. Heb. is corrupt. p 48u The subject is evidently Jehovah's name, which in the Heb. has fallen out of the preceding line. 359 Is. 4812] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE Jehovah's rule in the uni verse Jehovah'sfaithfulservant tocarry out the divinepurpose IfIsrael would only be faithfulto Je hovah's leader- "Hearken to me, O Jacob, And Israel whom I have called: It is I, even I, who am the first, I also am the last, 13It was my hand that founded the earth, And my right hand spread out the heavens, When I to themq do call, They stand forth together. "Assemble all of your and hear, Which one of them5 foretold these things ?* That one whom Jehovah loveth,u He will execute his pleasure and his might. MI myself have spoken, yea, I have called him, I have brought him and made his way prosperous.T 16Draw ye near to me and hear ye this, From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time that it happened I announcedw it.x "Thus saith Jehovah, Thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, 'I am Jehovah thy God, Who teachest thee to succeed, 'Who leadeth thee in the way thou shouldst go. 18If thou hadst but heeded my commands! Then thy peace would have been like a river, and thy salvation like the waves of the sea. 19Thine offspring would have been as many as the sand, and thy descendantsy as the dust; Then neither be cut off nor destroyed would thy" name be before me! The secondexodus 20Go forth, fly with a shout of joy;a Declare, make this known, q 4813 The reference is to the heavenly host which respond to Jehovah's commands. Cf. Ps. 58'. 2, 82'-*, 1032°. », 104''. ' 48u In the new stanza the nations are evidently addressed, as so often in the writings of the prophet. ¦ 48" /. e., the gods of the heathen nations. Cf . 4122. M, 447, 4521. 1 4814 /. e., the facts that follow. » 4814 This passage is unintelligible in its present Heb. form. With emendations it might read, Jehovah loveth him; he will do his pleasure on Babylon and his might on the Chaldeans; but Babylon and the Chaldeans are obvious insertions, and when they are removed a regular metre and what was probably the original text remains. As the variations in the versions in dicate, the first part of the vs. has suffered in transmission. The above reading is based on the demands of the context, which requires an answer to the preceding question. The subsequent context" and the parallel passages indicate that the reference is to the nation Israel, and es pecially the faithful within the nation, 431-13, 441-8. y 4815 Following the Gk. and Syr., which have preserved the original text. w 4816 Restoring the corrupt Heb. x 4gie The line, And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me and his spirit, if original, was clearly introduced here through a scribal error. y 48" Through a scribal repetition the Heb. adds, of thy loins. The last word in this line has also been corrupted to read, as its grains; but Gk., dust of the earth. • 49" So Gk. • 4820 Heb., Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; but as Professor Torrey has shown, the words, Babylon and Chaldeans are without reasonable doubt insertions of a later scribe who had especially the Babylonian exiles in mind. When they are removed the regular metre and logical parallelism of the vs. are revealed. 360 RECAPITULATION OF ARGUMENTS [Is. 48* Carry it forth to the ends of the earth, Proclaim: Jehovah redeemeth his servant Jacob! 21They thirsted not in the deserts through which he led them. Water he made to flow from the rock for them, He cleft the rock so that the water gushed out.b § 176. Establishment of Jehovah's Kingdom and Restoration of His People, Is. 49x-503 Is. 49 hearken to me, ye coastlands, And listen, ye distant peoples : Jehovah hath called me from the womb, From my mother's lap made mention of my name.0 2He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of his hand he hid me, He made me a polished arrow, In his quiver he concealed me, 3And he said to me, Thou art my servant, Israel, in whom I will glorify myself. Call andprepa ration of Je hovah'strueservant 4But I said, I have labored in vain, I spent my strength for nothing and vanity, Nevertheless my right is with Jehovah, And my recompense with my God Hisconfidence in Je hovah 5And now, thus saith Jehovah,d (He who formed from birth to be his servant, To bring Jacob back to him, And that Israel might be gatherede to him ;f His worldwidemission b 4321 The vs.. There is no peace, saith Jehovah, for the godless, is a later editorial epilogue in the spirit of the wisdom school. Cf. Hos. 146. It is entirely disconnected with the context. § 176 Chap. 49 introduces the second general division of II Is. Many of the same themes are developed as in the first part. The promises of a general restoration of Jehovah's people are presented with still greater fervor and splendor of thought and diction; but side by side with these assurances of what Jehovah intends to do for his people the prophet defines still further the responsibilities of the servant nation . This he accomplishes by means of the dramatic portraits of the character of the ideal servant, who is required to perform Jehovah's saving work for his race and humanity. In this section the servant himself speaks, telling of his training and of the world-wide task which Jehovah had intrusted*to him. Again the prophet brings this portrait of the ideal servant into close connection with the statements concerning the personal responsibility of his countrymen. The great question is thus again brought to the front: Jehovah is ready to do his part in fullest measure; will the survivors of the chosen race do theirs? This section contains many decisive indications that it was written after the close of the Babylonian exile. Jerusalem is already reoccupied, but its population is small and it is the prey of its hostile rulers, 4914-19. Zech.'s promises, § 157, that its population should be too great for its present bounds is reiterated, 4919* zo. In his picture of the servant of Jehovah, 492, and in his declaration, 49s> a, that Israel's oppressors should be destroyed, the prophet develops the more martial aspect of that coming deliverance which he had already suggested in § 168. c 491 /. e., in giving me the title, servant of Jehovah, he has indicated my true character and mission. d 49s Lit., he said, i. e., to himself. e 495 Or, reversing the text, / will gather. ' 495 Following the Targ. and several early versions and MSS. Heb., not. 361 Is. 49s] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE For I was honored8 in the sight of Jehovah, And my God became my strength) ; 6.., leads the attack against me. ' 5010 Here .the prophet applies the ideal of the servant to his contemporaries. The Gk. ¦and Syr., in preserving the imperative (supported by 10c), bring out the full force of the prophet's teaching. s 5011 The reference is to the party of the proud and godless in the Judean community who were opposed to the afflicted and righteous. fc 50u I. e., Gehenna, as in 4314, 66M. 365 Assur anceof ulti matevindication Lessonof en- cour-age-mentandwarningthustaught Is. 511] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE The pastanearnestof the future Jehovah'snew revelation to all nations § 178. Encouragement for the Faithful in Israel, Is. 51-18 Is. 51 'Hearken to me ye who pursue righteousness,1 who seek Jehovah! Consider the rock whence ye were hewn,J and the pitk whence ye were quarried. 2Consider Abraham, your father and Sarah who bore you ! For he was only one when I called him and blessed1 him, and increased him. 3So Jehovah hath comforted Zion, comforted all her ruins, And he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Joy and gladness shall be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of songs. 4Hearken to me, O my people, Yea, give ear to me, O my nation,"1 For from me teaching shall go forth, And my law suddenly" as a light to the peoples, 5My triumph0 is near, my salvation will go forth, Mine arms shall rule the peoples, For me the coastlands wait.p His salva tion atoneassured Let the faithfulwaitand trust 6Lift up your eyes to the heavens. And look at the earth beneath; For the heavens shall vanish like smoke, And the earth wear out like a garment, And its inhabitants will die like gnats .q But my deliverance will be for ever, And my triumph will not fail.1 7Hearken to me ye who know what is right, Ye people in whose heart is my teaching. Fear not the insults of mere men, § 178 Again this section presents clear evidence, e. g., in 3, that Jerusalem was already repopulated, Dut the general return of the exiles was still in the future. The points of contact with Zech., both in thought and diction, are many. The prophet here voices more clearly than before the belief which he shares in common with the post-exilic writers, that Jehovah would suddenly rise and inaugurate a new epoch in the history of the world. The language of *-8 is akin to that of the later apocalypses. The prophet's aim is to encourage and to assuage the fears of the people in whose heart is Jehovah's instruction. Unhesitatingly the poet-prophet refers to the ancient Heb. tradition of Jehovah's contest with Rahab, the great dragon, the personified Chaos, the Tiamat of Babylonian mythology, and of the victory which resulted in the creation of the world. Even so again Jehovah will rise to overthrow the forces of evil and intro duce a regime of peace and justice. Here, a3 elsewhere, the prophet reveals his familiarity with the early Judean group of traditions rather than with the late priestly. 1 SI1 /. e., vindication or redress. In this vs. and in 56B it clearly has the meaning of triumph. ' SI1 7. e., consider the humble and small beginnings of this great nation. k 5V- A scribe has added the explanatory gloss, cistern. 1 512 Following the Gk., Lat., and Targ, and the parallelisms of the vs. a SI4 Cf. 42', where the servant is Jehovah's agent to teach his law to the nations. n 514 Gk. connects this word with the next vs. 0 516 Lit., righteousness, i. e., redress, triumph. " 516 The Heb. adds, and for my arms they wait. This is evidently a confused scribal repeti tion of the line before the last. In the Gk. this scribal addition is identical with 6c. q 516 Restoring two letters omitted by the mistake of a scribe because they were similar to the initial letters of the next word. This last line may be secondary. ' 51s Restoring the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and Lat. 366 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE FAITHFUL Is. 517 Nor be frightened by their revilings ! 8For the moth shall consume them as a garment, And the worm will devour them as wool, But my triumph will last forever, And my deliverance will be through all the ages. "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah! Appeal Awake as in the days of old, the times long past! hovah Was it not thou who didst cut Rahab8 in pieces, didst pierce* through the again j w. to de- dragon ? liver as 10Was it not thou who didst dry up the sea, the waters of the great deep ?u crea?6 Who didst make the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over ? tion "And Jehovah's redeemed one will return to Jehovah, and will come to Zion with exultation, 11 And with everlasting joy upon their heads, and labor and sighing shall flee away.v "I, I am he who eomforteth thee.w Of whom art thou afraid ? Assur- Of frail mortal man or of a son of the earth-born who is destroyed as grass ? a£°£ 13 And didst thou forget Jehovah thy Maker, who stretched out the heaven he will and founded the earth ? deliver And dost thou tremble continually all the day for the fury of the oppressor ? When he maketh ready to destroy, where is the fury of the oppressor ?x 14In delivering thee [ Jehovah] will not stand still nor tarry .y aI, Jehovah am thy God; Israel's He who stirs up the sea that its billows roar, toris" Jehovah of hosts is his name. £?!&£!," 16I have put my words in thy mouth, ' In the shadow of my hand have I hid thee, Stretching out the heavens, founding the earth, And saying to Zion, Thou art my peopled 8 519 A reference to the conflict between the creating God and the monster representing chaos in the old Semitic tradition of the creation. Cf . Vol. I, 368. ' 519 Or, revising the Heb., dishonor. u 5110 Probably a reference to the deliverance at the exodus from Egypt (cf following lines), although the prophet may still have had in mind the work of creation. y 51u Possibly the original position of this vs. was in 3510 and not in the present context. y 5112 So Gk. and Sym. The Heb. has, you as the result of a wrong division of the letters. 1 5113 The text and interpretation are very doubtful. Possibly this line is a gloss. The oppressor is probably the proud persecutors of the righteous. Cf . 7. y 5114 Again the text is evidently corrupt. The Gk., which possibly gives the original read ing, has been followed. Heb., lit., soon shall the crouching one be freed, he shall not die to the pit, nor shall his bread fail. ¦ 5116 So Syr. Heb., to plant. mighty 367 Is. 5117] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE Jeru salem's cup of woe § 179. Message of Encouragement to Zion the Holy City, Is. 5117-5212 Is. 51 "Rouse thee! Rouse thee! stand up, O Jerusalem, Who hast drunk at Jehovah's hand the cupa of his wrath! The bowl of reeling thou hast drunken, hast drained ! 18There is none to guide theeb of all the sons whom thou hast borne, And none to take thee by the hand of all the sons whom thou hast reared. 19These two things have befallen thee — who can condole with thee ? Desolation and destruction, famine and the sword — who can comfort thee ? 20Thy sons lay fainting,0 like an antelope in a net, They were rilled with the wrath of Jehovah, of the rebuke of thy God. Assur- rance of re lieffrompresentwoes 21Therefore hear this, thou afflicted one and drunken, but not with wine, 22Thus saith Jehovah thy Godd who pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, from thy hand I have taken the cup of reeling ; Thou shalt not drink it again— the bowl6 of my wrath, 23 And I put it in the hand of those who oppressed thee and of those who afflicted thee,£ Who have said to thee, 'Bow down that we may pass over! Yea, thou madest thy back as the ground,8 even a street for those who pass by! Sum monstoarisein new strength andpros perity 52 'Awake, awake! put on thy strength, O Zion! Put on thy splendid garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city ! For never again shall enter thee the uncircumcised and unclean. 2Shake off the dust, stand up, O captive Jerusalem, Loose the bands from thy neck, O captiveh daughter of Zion. 'For thus saith Jehovah, Ye were sold for nought, § 179 The thought of this section is closely parallel to that of § 166. The poet here em ploys Jer.'s figure of the cup of divine wrath instead of that of forced military service, as in § 166. -The period of shame and ignominy for Jehovah's people is nearly over and the day of vindication is near at hand. The presence of this thought perhaps explains why this section has been introduced between §§ 178 and 180, which describes the shame and suffering of the faithful servant of Jehovah. In 525 the prophet for the first time pauses to denounce at length the boastful rulers of the Judean community who prey upon rather than protect the people and revile rather than revere Jehovah. They stand in striking contrast to the faithful few whose experiences and character probably suggested in part to the prophet his marvellous picture of the suffering servant of Jehovah. These scornful, corrupt rulers are among the many who fail to appreciate and who despise the patient yet fruitful services of the faithful few. For further description of these rulers, cf. §§ 186, 188. a 5117 A scribe has added after goblet the more familiar Heb. word, cup. It is not found in the Gk. and some Lat. text. b SI18 So Gk. The Heb. has, her, and the third person throughout the vs., in striking variation from the preceding and following vss., which have the second person. Otherwise the vs. is secondary. ' 5120 A scribe familiar with Lam. 219, 41 has added the clause, at all the corners of the streets; but this destroys the metre of the vs. d SI22 Following the Gk. and the demands of the context. " 5122 Again a scribe has added, cup. The clauses in this line are transposed for metrical reasons. ' 5123 Completing the line with the aid of the superior Gk. text. e 5123 Cf. Josh. IO24, Judg. 87. h 522 Slightly revising the Heb. 368 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ZION [Is. 523 And without money shall ye be redeemed.1 But now what do I here, is the oracle of Jehovah, For my people is taken for nought ? Those who rule over them are boast ful,! And continually all the day long my name is reviled. 8Therefore my people shall know my name, in that day, That it is I who have promised, behold it is I, 'How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news,k Deliv- Of him who announces peace, brings good news, announces deliverance; e^ance Who says to Zion, Thy God is king!* hand 8Hark!m thy watchmen! They cry aloud; together they shout in exulta tion, For they see eye to eye11 Jehovah restoring0 Zion. 'Break forth together into exultation, ye ruins of Jerusalem, For Jehovah hath comforted his people, hath redeemed Jerusalem! 10 Jehovah hath bared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, Let au And all the ends of the earth shall see the deliverance of our God. th?.exiles n A way, away! Go out thence I Touch nothing unclean! return Go out from the midst of her ; purify yourselves, ye who bear the vessels of Jehovah. 12But ye shall not go out hurriedly, nor shall ye depart in flight ;p For Jehovah goeth before you, and your rearguard is the God of Israel. * 523 At this point a scribal note has been introduced. It is prose and has its own peculiar vocabulary and style. Its teaching that the Assyr. conquests and the Baby, exile were without cause is contrary to the teaching of the earlier prophets and the author of Is. 40-66. Cf . 4322-28. The passage may be rendered, For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, To Egypt my people went down at the first to sojourn there, and Assyria oppressed them without cause. Possibly 3- 6« 6 are also secondary, for their metre is irregular and their logical connection with the context is very loose. Vs. 7 is the natural sequel of 3. i 525 Omitting the phrase, saith Jehovah, which evidently had no place in the original. k 527 Certain scholars would reverse the text to read, Behold hastening over the mountains are the feet, etc. 1 527 Possibly a word or two like, Thy Redeemer is come, has fallen out of the line. m 528 Or, All thy watchmen. n 529 I. e., near at hand, visible to the human eye. ° 529 Or, returning to Zion; but the context supports the translation given above. p 5211 The new exodus shall be in contrast to the former one from Egypt. Cf. Ex. 12u, Dt. 163. 369 Is. 5213] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE Testimonyof Je hovahto the work of his ser vant Of his con-tem-pora- ries: he seemed un promising ; 180. The Significance of the Suffering of Jehovah's Servant, Is. 5213-5312 Is. 52 13Behold, my servant shall prosper, <* He shall be raised1" up and highly exalted. 14aEven as many were appalled at him,8 15So shall many nations tremble,* Kings will close their mouths11 before him, When what has not been told them they see, And what they have not heard they perceive. 53 1Who believed what has been reported to us, And to whom was Jehovah's mightv revealed ? 2For he grew up before usw as a young shoot, And as a root out of dry ground. § ISO In this, in many ways, most memorable passage of the O.T. the prophet analyzes with marvellous skill and depth of insight the meaning and value of suffering voluntarily borne. The suffering servant here pictured has been variously identified. Sellin, a recent German writer (in Serubbabel), has identified him with Zerubbabel, whom he assumed was actually crowned king, as implied in Zech. 6, and later put to death as a rebel by the Persians. In his later works Sellin identifies the suffering servant with Jehoiachin. Bertholet finds in 521-11 a Eortrait of the martyr Eleazar mentioned in II Mac. 618-31. These individual interpretations, owever, ignore the collective usage of the term, servant of Jehovah, which prevails elsewhere in the prophecy. The theory also involves the tearing out of the "servant" passages from the present context, where they evidently belong, and^ the attributing them to another author. The resurrection of the servant, as described in 5310, is conceivable at this stage in the develop ment of Israel's faith, if it refers to a party or nation, but not if to an individual. At least all the indications point to the conclusion that the only doctrine of the resurrection prevalent at this period in Jewish thought was national. Cf . Ezek. 37, § 146. Furthermore the earliest and only biblical interpreter of this passage, the author of Dan. 123, unquestionably believed that the reference was not to an individual but to a class in the community, when he declared that they who turn to righteousness (cf. Is. 53u, My righteous servant shall make many righteous) shall shine as the stars forever and ever. The seemingly individual portrait of the servant is paralleled by the descriptions of Jehovah's servant Israel, which recur throughout the prophecy. The tendency to describe and address classes within the nation collectively and as an individual is characteristic of the writers of the period, as is illustrated in many of the Pss. of the Psalter. Cf Vol. V, in loco. It is^ probable that the prophet left the exact content of the term servant of Jehovah, as he used it in this context, purposely indefinite. He was picturing the type of servant which the Jehovah required at this crisis in human history. He doubtless hoped that the majority of the nation had reached this ideal. In his inner consciousness he must have known that the numbers would be few who would respond to this call for supreme self-sacrifice, and that they would be enlisted from the ranks of the poor and the pious in the Judean community. Cf . § 178. To them, therefore, his message^ was primarily directed, and his ultimate aim was to make clear the divine significance of their pain and disgrace and suffering, if voluntarily borne for others. He pictures the suffering servant in strongest colors. Like the hero of the book of Job, the servant is represented as being stripped of health, or possessions, and of reputation. He is the victim of the most loathsome diseases, of men's injustice, and of the derision of his contempora ries. Misunderstanding and jeers and ignominy follow him even to the grave. In this respect the servant's experiences are a composite of those of the pious in the post-exilic Judean com- q 5218 The Heb. word means to deal wisely and then to prosper, i. c, to attain prosperity through wise action. The parallelism demands the secondary meaning. A slight change m the Heb. gives the reading Israel, so that the opening line, as in 493, would begin, Behold, Israelmy servant will be exalted. r 5213 Following the Gk. versions, which are supported by the demands of the metre. The Heb. has an additional verb, be lifted up, which is apparently but an expansion of, be exalted. ¦ 52l* Following the Gk. and the demands of the context. A scribe, misled by the fact that the introductory word was the same, has by mistake inserted here two lines which clearly originally followed 532. Restoring them to their natural context, I5, the sequel of "a is brought into its true relation. In the transfer, however, the line parallel to 14a and completing the first stanza has apparently been lost. t 521s Following the Gk. and the implications of the Heb., which has, however, a singular rather than a plural verb. Another possible reading is, do homage; but the context demands a stronger verb. u 5216 J. e., be silent in deference to him. ? 531 Lit., arm, the symbol of power exerted. w 532 Slightly revising the Heb., which reads, him. 370 52 14b, c SIGNIFICANCE OF SUFFERING SERVANT [Is. 532 He had no formx that we should regard him, Nor appearance that we should delight in him. His appearance was more disfigured than any man's, And his form than any human being's. Unat trac tive 53 3He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of suffering and acquainted with sickness; Like one for whom men hide their face, He was despised so that we esteemed him not.y Afflict ed with 4Surely our sickness he himself bore, And our sufferings — he carried them, Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, Smitten of God and afflicted. Strick en with a di vinejudgment 5But he was wounded for our transgressions,2 Crushed because of our iniquities ; The chastisement for our wellbeing was upon him, And through his stripes healing came to us. But it was all for our well-being 6A11 of us like sheep, had gone astray, We had turned each to his own way ; While Jehovah made to light upon him The guilt of us all. Uponhim rested ourguilt 7Yeta when afflicted he opened not his mouth ; Like a lamb led to the slaughter, And like a sheep dumb before her shearers, So he opened not his mouth. munity. And yet, as the prophet points out, Jehovah's servant is the one supreme hero and conqueror. Despised by his own contemporaries, both Jew and Gentile, he should ultimately be the object of their gratitude and homage, for at last they shall see that his patient suffering was in their behalf and that by his suffering he has indeed become the saviour of men. The problem with which the prophet was dealing was superlatively insistent in his day and among the scattered members of nis race. The long-established interpretation of suffering and calamity was that it betokened guilt on the part of the sufferers and was the result of divine judgment. This _ universally accepted dogma but increased the woes of the pious and the revilings of their impious foes. With divinely inspired insight the great prophet of the restora tion not only denied the universal application of this dogma but also declared the inestimable value of voluntary suffering in the spiritual economy of the universe. While sin and its conse quences are present in the world, the innocent suffer for the errors and crimes of the ignorant and the wicked; but their suffering, if voluntarily borne, is an invincible power in dispelling ignorance and in turning the sinner from an attitude of defiance to one of penitence. Human life abounds in illustrations of the great principle that is here for the first time clearly enunciated. Judah's history during this period proved the truth of the prophet's words. The persecuted, despised, faithful few in the Judeancommunity preserved and transmitted to succeeding genera tions Israel's priceless religious heritage. Nehemiah, inspired by the same idea of service, with superb self-sacrifice, in the face of bitter opposition from the leaders of his nation, prepared the way for that larger restoration which the author of these pages proclaims will surely come. For the broad messianic significance of this passage, cf. Introd., Chap. V., pp. 46, 47. 1 532 The metre and parallelism indicate that, and majesty is a later expansion of the text. It is accordingly omitted. y 533 cf. Job 17", 1919, 30'°. ¦ 53s Or, pointing the Heb. differently, dishonored. ¦ 537 Following the united testimony of the Gk. texts. The Heb. adds at the beginning of the vs., He was treated harshly; but this is not supported by the metre or parallelism. Proph et'stestimony:He was submissive 371 Is. 538] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE Unap pre ciated Victim of in justice 8By an oppressive judgment was he taken away, Yet who of his generation considered That he had been cut off from the land of the living ; For ourb transgressions had been stricken to death ?c 9And his grave was maded with the wicked, And among evil-doerse his burial mound,f Although he had done no violence, Neither was deceit in his mouth. Yetrealizing Je hovah's pur pose 10Yet Jehovah was pleased to crush him;g Through giving himself*1 as an offering for guilt, He shall see posterity and length of days,1 And the pleasure of Jehovah will be realized in his hands ;• "Out of his own suffering he shall see light. He shall be satisfied with his knowledge. Jehovah's con cluding testimony My righteous servant shall make many righteous, And himself will bear the burden of their iniquities. therefore I will give him a portion1 among the great, And with the strong shall he divide spoil, Because he poured out his life-blood, And was numbered with transgressors,111 And himself bore the sins of many, And interposed for transgressors. The coming periodofhonorandexpan sion § 181. Jerusalem's Coming Joy and Glory, Is. 54 Is. 54 *Cry out for joy, O thou barren, who has not borne, saith Jehovah,11 Br«ak into cries of joy, cry aloud, thou who hast not travailed ! For the children of the desolate are more than the children of the married.0 b 538 Heb., of my people. But a slight correction in the Heb. gives the above reading, which is parallel to the thought of the preceding vss. c 538 So Gk., and a revised Heb. text, supported by the parallelism, as for example in G, He was wounded for our transgressions. <• 539 Pointing the Heb. 0 539 Adding a lost letter and dividing the Heb. letters differently. This reading is sup ported by the parallelism. Heb., rich. f 539 Slightly correcting the Heb. b 5310 Following a suggestion of the Gk. and Lat. The last word in the line may be trans lated, with pain. It is, however, in all probability a later addition. fa 5310 Following the Lat. Heb., thou. i 5310 So Gk. Heb., and he would prolong his days; i. e., enjoy long life. i 5310 The meaning of this vs. is not clear and many emendations have been suggested. It seems to refer to the necessity of the servant's suffering and the reward if it were complete and voluntary. These ideas have already been expressed elsewhere. k 53u Following the Gk. in restoring this word which has been lost from the Heb. 1 5312 Gk., he shall receive a portion. m 5312 The words, and was numbered with transgressors, lacks the regular metrical form and is possibly but an echo of 9. § 181 This section continues the thought of §§ 177, 179. It is a declaration to Zion that the hour of vindication and restoration is near at hand. It is assured because Jehovah has promised it. In the glorious restoration the woes of the present shall be completely forgotten. n 541 Transforming the clause, saith Jehovah, as the metrical structure of the vs. requires. 0 541 /. e., the population of restored Jerusalem shall exceed those of the ancient city. 372 COMING JOY AND GLORY [Is. 542 2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and stretch out" thy curtains,q Spare not,* lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes ; For on the right and on the left thou wilt spread forth r thy offspring, It will possess nations and people desolate cities. *Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, thou shalt not be confounded;8 The Thou wilt not blush, for thou wilt forget the shame of thy youth, SFpun- And the reproach of thy widowhood thou wilt no more remember.* >sh- _ 'For as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit Jehovah calleth thee, over And a wife of one's youth — can she be rejected ? saith thy God. 'For a little moment I forsook thee, but in greatu compassion will I gather thee. 8In a burstv of wrath I hid my face for an instant from thee, But with everlasting kindness I have compassion on thee, saith thy Re deemer. 9Forw as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more pass over the earth,* So I sware that I will not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee. "Though mountains should depart and hills should be shaken, Yet from thee my kindness shall not depart nor will my covenant of peace be shaken, Saith Jehovah, who hath compassion on thee, uO thou afflicted one, tempest- tossed and unconsoled!" Behold, I am about to lay thy bases in emeralds/ The And I will lay thy f oundationsz in sapphires and 12make thy pinnacles rubies,a period13 And thy gates shall be carbuncles and all thy battlements jewels.b of re_ "And all thy builders0 shall be men taught of Jehovah, and great will be thy struc- children's prosperity. -^J 14In righteousness thou wilt be established, far from oppression, for thou wilt peace have nought to fear, And far from destruction for it shall not come nigh thee. leBehold I am he who created the workman who blows on the fire of coals, And produces a weapon for his work,e a destroyer to destroy. ¦> 542 So Gk., Lat., and Syr. q 542 So Gk. Heb. adds, of thy habitation. r 543 Slightly correcting the Heb. as the parallelism demands. 8 54* Superfluous, for, has been inserted in the Heb. fc 544 A scribe has added here, For thy husband is thy maker, Jehovah of hosts is his name, thy Redeemer is Israel's Holy One, God of the whole earth is he called. Vs. 6 is the immediate sequel of 4. u 547 Possibly, great, is secondary. v 548 Correcting a slight error in the Heb. " 549 Removing a repetitious gloss that has crept into the Heb. 1 549 A reference to the promise in Gen. 821. y 5411 Correcting the Heb. as the parallelism demands. " 54" So Targ. and a slightly corrected Heb. text. a 5412 Or, jasper. b 5412 Lit., pleasant stones. 0 5413 Slightly correcting the Heb. d 5414 Vs. 15 reads, Behold he who stirs up strife but not from me, Who stirs up strife against these shall fall. It is generally recognized as secondary. . e 5416 Omitting the words, it is I- who create, repeated from the preceding line. 373 Is. 5417J DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE 17No weapon formed against thee shall prosper, Every tongue that contends with thee thou shalt prove to be wfong.f Call to share in Jehovah's feast of spiritualblessings § 182. General Invitation to Share in Jehovah's Coming Blessings, Is. 55 Is. 55 *Ho, every one who thirsteth come ye to the waters,8 And he who hath no money, come! Buy and eat,h without money, Wine and milk without price. 2Why spend money for what is not bread,1 And your earnings for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken to me that ye may eat what is good, And delight yourselves in fatness. Other nationsto be attracted to Israel'sGod 3IncIine your ear and come to me, Hear that your soul may live,J I will make with you an everlasting covenant,k The sure promises of kindness toward David. 4Just as I made him as a witness to the peoples,1 A prince and a commander to the nations, 5So thou wilt call a nation which thou knowest not,n And they who know thee not shall run to thee,n Because of Jehovah thy God, And Israel's Holy One, for he hath honored thee. leho- \rah's gra cious pur pose eSeek ye Jehovah while he may be found Call upon him while he is near;0 7And he will have compassion, will abundantly pardon, [ S417 A scribe has added the postscript: This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness (or portion) from me, is Jehovah's oracle. § 182 From Zion the prophet here turns to address the widely scattered exiles, and to urge them tc return to participate in the prosperity and spiritual blessings which Jehovah was about to confer upon Jerusalem. Vss. 3-5 are especially significant, for they indicate that, in the prophet's mind, the experiences of the preceding half-century, which culminated in the overthrow of Zerubbabel, about 518 B.C., had demonstrated the invalidity of the material hopes which for centuries had gathered about the Davidic royal house. These hopes and promises he now deliberately transfers to the restored nation. Instead of the ancient hopes of conquest with the sword, he proclaims the quiet conquest of the truth, so that not under compulsion, but of their own free choice, nations should come and acknowledge the rule of Israel's divine King. b S5l Possibly, to the waters, is secondary, for in ld, wine and milk, constitute the drink provided. h 551 Following Origen's Hexapla in omitting, come and buy, which are probably simply due to a scribal repetition of the preceding words. 1 552 Gk. omits, for what is not bread. ' 553 The first two lines may be simply a gloss based on 2o; at the same time they make an impressive introduction to what follows. k 553 The prophet evidently has in mind the promises to the house of David, found in II Sam. 78->f. 1 554 Restoring the Heb. by the aid of the different VSS. m 555 A scribe has added the repetitious interpretative gloss, a nation. » 556 Cf. Is. 22-5 for the same thought. In the future the heathen shall pay homage to Jerusalem and Israel's God, not compelled by the sword, as in the days of David, but attracted by Jehovah's character^ o 556 The unconditioned promise to the nation is restricted by a clause in 7a which intro duces a note foreign to the context, Let the ungodly forsake his way and the wicked man his thoughts and let him turn to Jehovah and to our God. The prophet always addresses himself to the nation but not to the individual as in this scribal addition. 374 JEHOVAH'S COMING BLESSINGS [Is. 558 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, And your ways are not my ways, is Jehovah's oracle, 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth,p So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts. 10For as the rain cometh down" from heaven, And returneth not thither, Except it hath watered the earth, And made it bring forth and sprout, And given seed to the sower and bread to the eater, uSo will be my word that goeth forth from my mouth, It will not return to me void, Except it hath accomplished what I please, And it hath prospered in the thing for which I sent it. v "For with joy shall ye go out, And in peace shall ye be led forth; The mountains shall break forth before you into jubilation, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,r Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree ; And it shall be a memorial3 to Jehovah, An everlasting sign which shall not be cut off. It is sure of accom plishment All the uni verse to rejoice overthe res toration § 183. The Glories of Restored Jerusalem, Is. 60 Is. 60 ^rise, shine for thy light is come! And the glory of Jehovah hath risen upon thee. 2For behold the darkness covereth the earth, And deep darkness the peoples. But upon thee Jehovah shineth, Jeho vah's glorydawn ing on Jerusalem p 559 Correcting the Heb. by the aid of the VSS. q 55l° A scribe has added, snow; but this destroys the metre, and is clearly secondary. The following verb also indicates that originally there was but one subject. 1 5513 Or, nettle. The word occurs nowhere else. 8 5513 Lit., name. § 183 This chapter has the same exuberant literary style, the same general theme, and the same ideas that characterize Is. 40-55. Cf. e. g., 4914-21, 521, 541-*7. There is every reason for regarding them as the work of the same great prophet-poet, and it must be confessed that the reasons that have led many modern scholars to attribute them to different authors are sub jective rather than real. They are based on what has been shown to be the false assump tion that 40-55 were written during the Baby, exile rather than in Palestine during the days following the rebuilding of the temple. Even on the basis of this assumption not a few scholars have been impelled by the facts to attribute 60-62 to the same author as 40-55, but in doing so they have made the mistake of dating them all during the Baby, period. As a matter of fact this chapter, as the preceding, assumes that Jerusalem is already repopulated, and that its temple service has already been instituted. Cf . 7. From 10, however, it is clear that Nehemiah had not yet returned to rebuild the walls, but that this is felt to be one of the crying needs of the Judean community. The community to which the prophet spoke had the sense of being forsaken, of being hated, and of being the prey of its neighbors. Back of the glorious picture one can readily discern the sordidness of the life, the poverty, the discouragements of the Jews of Palestine to whom the prophet primarily spoke. The wide contrast between the reality and the predicted glory again recalls the prophecies of Hag. and Zech. It is probable that this chapter was written somewhat later than 54, 55, with which it is most closely connected in theme and thought. 375 Is. 602] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE And to thee his glory appeareth. 3And nations shall walk in thy light, And kings in the brightness of thy rising. Return 4Lift up thine eyes round about and see, of *he They all gather together and come to thee.* Thy sons come from afar, And thy daughters are carried at the side." ^hen shalt thou see and be radiant,v And thy heart will tremble and throb ; For the abundance of the sea will be turned to thee, The wealth of the nations shall come to thee. Tribute 6A multitude of camels shall cover thee, o£ the The young camels of Midian and Ephah, madic All those of Sheba shall come, Gold and incense shall they bear, And Jehovah's praises shall they proclaim. 7AU Kedar's flocks will gather to thee, Nebaioth's rams will seek thee; With acceptancew will they mount mine altar, And mine house of prayer shall be made beauteous,* Of the 8Who are these that fly like a cloud, ^|"st And like doves to the windows of their cotes ? peoples 9Verily for me the ships gather,y With the vessels of Tarshish in the van, To bring thy sons from afar,2 Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of Jehovah thy God, To Israel's Holy One, for he hath beautified thee. Hom_ I0And strangers shall build thy walls, age of And to thee their kings shall minister, rich For I smote thee in my wrath, natl0ns But in my favor I have had compassion on thee. "Thy gates shall stand opena continually, They shall not be closed day or night, t 60* These two lines are identical with 4918. u 604 /. e., carried tenderly and safely as a nurse or oriental mother carries a child. Cf. also 4922. Y 60s Slightly correcting the Heb. y 607 Following the VSS. and certain of the Heb. MSS. in transposing two Heb. words as the context requires. 1 607 Following the superior reading of the Gk. and O. Lat. Heb., and the house of my beauty will I beautify. y 609 Slightly correcting the Heb., as the context demands. Heb., for me the coastlands wait, but this thought has no connection with that which immediately precedes and follows. ¦ 60fl /. e., present as gifts to Jehovah. » 60u So Gk., O. Lat., and Vulg. Heb., they shall open. 376 GLORIES OF RESTORED JERUSALEM [Is. 60" That the riches of the nations may come in to thee, With their kings leading13 the way.c 13The glory of Lebanon shall come to thee, Of Pine, plane tree, and cypress together, former' To make glorious the place of my sanctuary, con- That I may make honorable my footstool. There shall come to thee bowing low — 14The sons of those who afflicted and despised thee;d And they shall call thee, City of Jehovah, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15Instead of thy being forsaken, Honor And hated with none passing through thee, vFndi- I will make thee an object of pride forever, cation A joy for all generations. 16Thou shalt suck the milk of nations, Yea, royal breasts'2 shalt thou suck; Thus shalt thou know that I am Jehovah thy Deliverer, And that thy Redeemer is the mighty one of Jacob. "Instead of brass I will bring in gold, Wealth Instead of iron I will bring in silver, pgaCe And instead of timbers, brass, And instead of stones, iron.f And I will make thy government, peace, And thy magistrates, righteousness. 18No more shall violence be heard in thy land, Nor desolation or destruction within thy borders; But thou shalt call thy walls, Deliverance, And thy gates, Renown. 19No more shall the sun be thy light,8 Con- Nor the moon shed its bright beams upon thee; pros-' But Jehovah shall be thy everlasting light, peril y ¦ sense b 6011 Slightly correcting the Heb. as the context requires. _ of Je- c 60u The Heb. adds the following vs., which is in prose, and interrupts the close connection hovah s in thought between n and 13, for the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish, and pres- the nation shall be utterly laid waste. It is without reasonable doubt a gloss based on Zech. ence 1416-19, d 6014 The Gk. of Origen omits the latter part of this vs. The clause found in the Heb., to the soles of the feet shall they bow down, is probably a scribal paraphrase of the thought of the preceding verb. It also destroys the metrical structure of the stanza. The above reconstruc tion appears to represent the original. 6 6016 Slightly changing the vowel-pointing of the Heb., which in the original text reads, riches. £ 6017 By many these last two lines are regarded as secondary, because they are slightly inconsistent with 13, and destroy the strophic structure of the vs. The evidence, however, is not conclusive. e 60'9 Gk. and O. Lat. add, by day and by night. Heb., by day. These phrases are without much doubt due to the tendency of the later scribes to expand the text. The metre and thought are complete without them. .377 Is. 6019] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE And thy God shall be thine adornment. 20Thy sun shall never more set, And thy moon shall not wane ; But Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light, And thy days of mourning shall be ended. In_ MThy people shall all be righteous, crease Forever shall they possess the land, ritory The scion of Jehovah's planting,11 nUnl- The work of his hands for his adornment. bere 22The smallest shall become a clan, And the least a powerful nation, I, Jehovah, [have spoken].1 In its due season I will bring it quickly to pass.i § 184. Jehovah's Promise of Salvation to Zion, Is. 61, 62 Divine Is. 61 'The spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me, J*?kof Because Jehovah hath anointed me,k vah's He hath sent me to bring good tidings to the afflicted, et°P " To bind up the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And release1 to those bound, ^o proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor,m And the day of vengeance of our God, ^o11 comfort all who mourn, To give them a head-dress instead of ashes,0 Oil of joy instead of a garment of mourning," A song of praise instead of a crushed"! spirit. & 6021 Heb., his planting. Targ., Syr., and Lat., my planting. The metre and sense indicate that the original read as above. Cf also 613. ¦ 60H Supplying the verb, have spoken. Evidently a word has fallen out of the text. If not a verb, it was probably a title of Jehovah, as, e. g„ Israel's Holy One. i 6022 Lit., / will hasten it, e. g., the realization of the promises already given. § 184 In his characteristic glowing, energetic style the prophet here pictures the glories awaiting Zion. In 611-4 and 62°. 7 it would seem tha_t the prophet himself speaks. The spirit is that of the preceding servant passages, and this has led Cheyne and other recent writers to attribute them to the servant of Jehovah; but it is, onthe whole, more simple and natural to regard them as the prophet's own words. 611-4 describe with marvellous accuracy the aims which the great poet-prophet of the restoration set before himself. They might well stand as a Ereface to his entire prophecy. To bring the message of comfort to the scattered and broken- earted exiles of his. race, to announce to them that the hour of Jehovah's deliverance was at hand, to turn their mourning into rejoicing, and to inspire them to come back and rebuild the desolate ruins were precisely the ends which he was striving to attain by each of his prophecies. As has already been noted, §§ 178, 180, Introds., from his own experiences and those of his fellow-exiles, he rose to an appreciation of the character of the type of servant who was demanded to perform Jehovah's work for humanity. In the light of this fact, the similarity between this and the servant passages is fully explained. k 61l I. c, appointed me to a special task. ^ 61l Following superior reading of certain Heb. MSS. "> 612 Cf . Jer. 34s, Ezek. 4617. n 613 A scribe has added at the beginning of the vs. the awkward explanatory clause, to provide for the mourners of Zion. ° 613 The Heb. here contains an intentional play on the words, pe'er and 'efer. Marti reproduces it aptly by the words, Putz slatt Schmutz. The meaning is that instead of ashes, the sign of mourning, they shall again assume the garb of ordinary life. p 613 Transposing the two Heb. words as the context demands. 1 613 Lit., dimmed, as in 42'. 378 PROMISE OF SALVATION TO ZION [Is. 613 eousness, The re. ^And they shall be called terebinths'- of righti Jehovah's planting with which he glorifies himself. build- . t. o o inti of They shall build up the ancient ruins, the They shall rear again the desolations of former generations. ruins" And they shall renew the wasted cities, The desolations of past ages.s 5And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,* Aliens shall be your ploughmen and vineyard keepers. eBut as for you — ye shall be called Jehovah's priests,u Glory ^Ministers of our God shall ye be named ; °f Jej\ „^ The riches of the nations shall ye eat, priest- And with their glory shall ye adorn yourselves.v 'Because their shame was in double measure, And insult and ridiculew was their lot, Therefore in their land they shall possess double, Everlasting joy shall be theirs. 8For I, Jehovah, love justice, I hate unjust* robbery, With fidelity will I give them their recompense, And will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the nations, Their And their offspring in the midst of the peoples ; honor All who see them will recognize them the' As a race whom Jehovah hath blessed;y "For as the earth puts forth its sprouts, And as a garden grows what is sown therein, So the Lord Jehovah shaU cause victory2 to spring up, And renown before all nations. N i10I will rejoice heartily in Jehovah, Their i My soul shall exult in my God. *°ne«_ \ For he hath clothed me in the garments of salvation, ulta- < In the mantle of righteousness hath he arrayed me; I am like a bridegroom who prepares3, his head-dress, ^ Like a bride who adorns herself with her jewels. r 613 Like the sturdy green oaks of Palestine. Cf . Jer. 178 for the same figure. 8 614 Lit., generation and generation. ' 616 Cf. for the same idea, 4Sa-^. u 616 I. e., Israel shall become a priestly nation. y 616 Revising the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. w 617 Following Klostermann in reconstructing the Heb. by the analogy of 506. Others would reconstruct so as to read, they shall possess insult as their lot. 1 618 Following the Gk., Targ., Syr., and certain of the Heb. MSS. y 619 Vs. 10 interprets the close connection between 9 and n and is evidently an utterance in the mouth of the people. Its logical position is after n; 1 .6111 Lit., righteousness, but it is the righteousness vindicated by victory and is practically equivalent to the English word, victory. a 6110 Correcting the corrupt Heb., and transferring this vs. to its logical position after11. 379 Is. 621] DESTINY OF CHOSEN PEOPLE The ' 62> 'For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, proph- i For Jerusalem's sake I will not be still, over I Till her vindication15 go forth like a bright beam, len?sa \ And her deliverance like a burning torch. vindi_ ' 2Nations shall see thy vindication,0 cation k . And all kings thy glory; And thou shalt be called by a new name, \ Which Jehovah's mouth shall determine ; 1 3And thou shalt be a beautiful crown in Jehovah's hand, • Even a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Resto- *No longer shalt thou be called, Forsaken, and thy land, Desolate, ration gut tnou w;it De called, My Delight, and thy land,d Married. For Jehovahe delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married; 5For as a youth marries a virgin, so thy Builder shall marry thee. And with the joy of a bridegroom over a bride thy God will rejoice over thee. Divine ' 'Over thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, pro" i Through all the day and night they are never silent. tection i 1 Ye who are Jehovah's remembrancers take no rest, 1 'Neither give him rest until he establish, \ And until he make Jerusalem an object of renown in the earth. Secur- 8By his right hand Jehovah hath sworn, and by his strong arm, ity Verily I will no more give thy corn as food to thy foes, Nor shall strangers drink thy new wine, for which thou hast toiled ; 9But they who have gathered the grain shall eat it, and praise Jehovah, And they who have gathered in new wine shall drink it within my holy courts. A uni- '"Pass through, pass through the gates! prepare a way for the people! versal Cast up, cast up the highway ! Free it from stones ! lama- Lift on high a banner over the peoples ! "Behold Jehovah hath proclaimed to the ends of the earth. tion M Say to the daughters of Zion : Behold thy deliverance cometh ! sage to Behold his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 12And men shall call them, The Holy People, The Redeemed of Jehovah; And thou shalt be called, Sought Out, The City Unforsaken. b 62l /. e., her righteousness shall be brilliantly and clearly revealed. c 622 By many commentators these two lines are regarded as secondary since they antici pate the thought of 4. The evidence, however, is not conclusive. d 624 Through a scribal error, thou shalt no longer be called, has here been repeated from the preceding line. « 624 Shghtly correcting the Heb. as the context and the analogy of 541 demand. ' 626 Probably the protecting angels who were believed to watch over each nation. Cf Dan. IO13. 380 IV MESSAGES OF DENUNCIATION, EXHORTATION, AND PROMISE TO THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY (Is. 56-59, 63-66). § 185. Rights of Proselytes and Eunuchs in Jehovah's Temple, Is. 5618 # Is. 56 xThus saith Jehovah, Guard justice and practice righteousness; * For my deliverance is near at hand, and my righteousness is soon to be re- c vealed. 3Happy the man who practices, the mortal who holds fast to it, Keeping the sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeping his hand from evil. Exhor tationto per severe in right doing 3Let not the foreigner who hath joined himself* to Jehovah say, ' Jehovah will surely separate15 me from his people.' And let not the eunuch say, 'Behold I am a dry tree.' 4For thus saith Jehovah to the eunuchs, 'Those who keep my sabbaths. Messages of Denunciation, Exhortation, and Promise. — The theory that chaps. 56-66 of Is. were written by a III Is. rather than by the II Is. has been widely accepted by recent interpreters of the book of Is. Professor Cheyne and others go further and find here the con tributions of many different writers. AU are agreed that they come from about the middle of the Persian period, when the temple and its service had been re-established. The conditions which they reflect are very similar to those presented in the book of Mal. and correspond, for the most part, to what Nehemiah found when he arrived in Palestine. The rulers and even the high-priestly family had married with the princes and princesses of the surrounding nations. The temple service was by them largely neglected or even despised. Through exactions and unjust decisions they had acquired possession of the property and in many cases the person of the common people. Cf . Neh. 5. The walls of Jerusalem had not yet been rebuilt (cf ., e. g., 5812); and, as in Mal. 3, the hope is strong that Jehovah will come as a righteous judge to put down the wicked and vindicate the faithful few who were loyal to him in the face of poverty and persecution. The situation, therefore, was very similar to that reflected in Is. 40-55. The only difference is that the darker aspects are more fully presented. This fact, as well as the relative position, suggests that chaps. 56-66 were written somewhat later than the preceding and that they reflect the darkest hour just before Neh. came to institute a new regime in the Judean community and to prepare the way for the more general restoration which followed. Again the same brilliant literary style, the same undaunted faith, and the same superlative optimism that characterized chaps. 40-55 reappear. The differences are simply the differences in theme, as the prophet turns from the contemplation of Israel's past and the portrayal of its glorious future to the consideration of the grim facts in the Judean community. They are facts, however, which he had already alluded to in his preceding sermons. At certain points one may detect notes of discouragement which are in contrast to the notes of enthusiasm of the early utterances. It is possible that, as a result of the long years of waiting, the prophet had lost something of his earlier literary vigor and skill, but the theory that these chapters are the work of a later imitator or imitators disregards some of the most fundamental principles of literary criticism, and is the fruit of the false assumption that Is. 40-55 comes from the Baby lonian period. The literary unity of these chapters is not close. They_ apparently are a series of tracts sent out from time to time, and represent a considerable period of the prophet's activity. As has already been noted, §§ 183-184, chaps. 60-62 belong with the earlier group of prophecies which dealt broadly with the destinies of the chosen people. Furthermore, chap. 63 is the logical sequel of chap. 59, so that with this transposition the unity of the II Is. is more complete. Any further rearrangement, however, is precarious. Although there are sudden transitions, the existing order of chapters is, on the whole, the most satisfactory. § 185 In this section there appears for the first time a trace of the great controversy which raged in the post-exilic Judean community as to whether foreigners should be admitted to the privileges of the temple service. Neh. and Ezra answered the question emphatically in the negative; but, as might be expected, the prophet, who interprets Israel's destiny as world s' 563 Possibly the words, who hath joined himself to Jehovah, are secondary, for they are not consistent with the regular metrical structure of the vs. b 563 /. e.,"keep apart, not sharing the religious institutions of the Jewish community. 381 Full rights in Je hovah's temple to eu nuch Is. 564] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY And choose that in which I delight, and hold fast to my covenant, 5I will give them in my house and walls a monument,0 And a name better than sons and daughters, An everlasting name will I give them which cannot be cut off. To all 6And the foreigners who join themselves to Jehovah to minister to him,d forei^o ^n<* to xOVe tlle name °f Jehovah, to be his servants, keep Every one who keeps the sabbath so as not to pollute it and faithfully v|h°s abides by my covenant, C0Inds 7Them will I bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer ; Their burnt-offerings and sacrifices will be accepted upon my altar; For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples, 8It is the oracle of Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, T will gather still others to him in addition to those already gathered.' § 186. Condemnation of the Greedy, Selfish Rulers and the Heathen Practices of the Jewish Community, Is. 56"-5713 The Is. 56 0O all ye wild beasts of the field come to devour," all ye wild beasts and"0 of the forest! thTrul- 10My£ watchmen are all blind, they know not how to give heed,s era They are all dumb dogs which cannot bark, Dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. "And the dogs are greedy, they know not how to be satisfied,11 They1 all turn to their own way, each for his own profit^ [saying], 12Come, I will get wine, and we will drink our fill of strong drink, And to-morrow shall be as to-day, an exceedingly great day! ¦wide, arrayed himself with those who threw open wide the door, not only to the Jews of the dispersion, who, like Neh., had been made eunuchs in connection with their public service, but to all foreigners who wished to join Jehovah's people. The section is but a detailed expansion of the thought already expressed in 445 and elsewhere in the preceding chapters. It was natural that the broad conception of Israel's mission and that of the temple should find an echo in the heart of the great prophet of Nazareth. Cf. Matt. 2113, Luke 19*6. c 565 /. e., a memorial tablet, commemorating their deeds. d 566 The foreigners who, as proselytes, lived in accordance with the command of the Jewish law. § 186 This section introduces us to the darker background of the prophet's preaching. Recognizing that the selfish, greedy rulers of the people, who made close alliances with their heathen neighbors and shared with them their heathen practices, were the greatest obstacle in the way of the realization of the divine promises of restoration, the prophet here turns upon them with strong invective. Already in 525 § 179, he had referred to these same rulers and their baneful influence upon the community. They are the same type of men against whom the author of the prophecy of Mal. utters his denunciations. The religious practices which he condemned are evidently the survivals of the ancient Canaanite cults which Jer. and Ezek. had denounced and which still survived among the people of the land long after the Babylonian exile. Cf. § 192. • 569 An echo of Jer. 129b. f 569 Correcting as the context suggests. Heb., his. s 569 So many Gk. texts. The Heb. is incomplete. >> 56" Cf. for similar pictures, Mal. I12, Neh. 57-12. ' 56" In the Heb. the missing clause, they know not how to give heed, has here been intro duced. A scribe has also added, these are the shepherds; but it is out of harmony with the figure used in the preceding lines. i 56" So Gk. Through a scribal error another word has been added in *he Heb. 382 CONDEMNATION OF RULERS [Is. 57l 57 The righteous perishes and no man lays it to heart, The up- And men of piety are taken away, but none perceives right That because of the prevailing wickedness the righteous is taken, 2entering victims into peace.k They rest on their beds [coffins], who walked uprightly. But ye, — draw near, ye sons of a sorceress,1 The ma- Offspring of an adulteress and of a harlot! 4of whom do ye make sport? lignant At whom do ye make faces™ and put out a long tongue ?n the Are ye not apostate children, offspring of falsehood ? %$&' Ye who inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree, Their Who slay the children in the valleys, and at° the clefts of the rocks, heathen 6The smooth stones of the valley ,p they — they are thy portion. rites To them also thou hast poured out libations, thou hast offered an oblation ;Q 7In a high and lofty mountain17 didst thou set thy bed, Thither also thou wentest up to offer sacrifices. 8Behind the door and post didst thou set thy symbol,3 Licen- For because of it* thou hast uncovered and gone up, and enlarged thy bed, pfjjjf_ Thou didst buy for thyself" such as thou lovedst for intercourse, * joes in And thou didst practice much harlotry with them,v thou didst gaze upon homes the phallus.w 'Thou didst anoint thyself with oil for Melek,x and didst use many perfumes, Wor- And thou didst send thy messengers afar, even deep down to Sheol, thePgod 10Though thou didst weary thyself with thy many journeys, thou didst not say, °f the It is vain ; world Quickening of thy strength^ thou didst gain, therefore thou didst not desist.21 uOf whom wast thou so afraid and in terror that thou wast false, Their And didst not remember me nor lay it to heart ? "ire- Was I not silent and did I not overlook3, and yet thou didst not fear me ? atti tude t 571 I. e., enters the grave. 1 573 Cf. the law of Ex. 2218, which commands that a sorceress be put to death. No charge was more insulting than to question the fidelity of a man's mother. Cf . I Sam. 2030. => 574 Of. Neh. 4i-», Ps. 3S21. n 574 Lit., make broad the mouth and make long the tongue. ° 575 So Gk., Heb., under. This vs. may be secondary. p 576 /. e., the old, unhewn altars,, cf. Ex. 2025, instead of Jehovah and his temple. The Heb. word may also be translated, deceivers, referring to certain heathen gods. q 57s The Heb. adds, can I be offended by such as those? But this is but a scribal error, repeating the preceding clause. r 577 J. e., thy sanctuary. 9 578 Probably some phallic symbol or household god. * 578 Slightly correcting the Heb., which reads, me. u 57s Correcting the obviously corrupt Heb. y 57s Restoring the part of the line which has been preserved in the Gk. y 578 The worship of the human organs of generation was one of the characteristic elements. 1 579 So Syr. and Lat. Melek was probably the God of the lower world, worshipped in the lower Kidron valley south of Jerusalem. Cf . the following line. Later scribes gave to the word the consonants of the Heb. word, shame, so that it is usually transcribed, Molech or Moloch. y S710 Lit., life of thy hand. ' 5710 Revising the uncertain Heb., which reads, thou wast not sick. * 5711 Following the Gk., Lat., Aquila, and Symnachus. The Heb. is corrupt. Is. 5712] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY Jehovah's coming judgment 12I will expose thy righteousness and thy deeds !b 13 And when thou criest, thy abominations0 will not avail nor deliver thee, Yea, a wind will lift them all up, a breath will carry them off, But he who trusts in me shall inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. Jeho vah the cham pion of thehumble § 187. Jehovah's Promise of Help to the Faithful, Is. 5714"21 Is. 57 14Oned is saying, Cast ye up, cast up, clear the way, Take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people, 15For thus saith the High and Lofty One who abides forever,13 On high, as the Holy One, do I abide and with him who is contrite and humble in spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble andf the heart of the contrite. Merci ful tow ardhischildren I6For I will not contend forever, nor always be wroth, For the spiritg before me would fail, even those whom I have made. "Because of his guilt I was wroth for a moment*1 and smote him, hiding my face, And when I was wroth,1 he went on turning aside in his own way.J Readyto give peace 18His ways have I seen and I will heal him, and will give him rest ;k I will requite him with comfort, and 19I will make the lips of those who mourn for him blossom with speech.1 Peace, peace to those who are far off and those who are near,™ saith Je hovah.11 20But the wicked are like the uptossed0 sea, which cannot rest,p 21There is no peace, saith my God,q for the wicked! , And I will say. It It is not in harmony k 5712 Ironical. c 5713 Correcting the Heb. The reference is to the heathen gods. § 187 This section is the counterpart of the preceding. From the denunciation of the greedy apostates who ruled the Judean community, the prophet turns with a message of comfort to those who are humble and contrite in spirit. In the light of the conditions in Palestine, the prophet's work necessarily had this twofold aspect, although, as he plainly declares, not only in 611-3 but throughout all of his writings, his primary aim was to comfort and arouse his people as a whole to unselfish action. d 57M The Heb. has at the beginning of the vs., And he said; Lat appears to be a scribal addition. * 5715 The clause, whose name is holy, appears to be a later addition. with the metre or context. 1 5715 The Heb. repeats the verb. e 5716 /. e., the spirit of man. h 57" Following the Gk. | 5717 So Gk. and a better division of the Heb. words. ' 57n Lit., in the way of his heart. k 5718 Or, / will lead him. 1 5718 I. e., those who are dumb with sorrow shall break forth in joyful thanksgiving. m 5719 I. e., the Jews of Pal. and of the dispersion. ¦> 5719 The Heb. adds from I8, 1 will heal him. ° 5720 Slightly correcting the Heb. p 5720 So Gk. The Heb. adds the gloss, And whose waters toss up mire and dirt. It intro duces a different figure. q 5721 Or with many MSS., Jehovah. 384 FALSE AND TRUE WORSHIP [Is. 581 § 188. False and True Worship, Is. 58 58 'Cry with full throat, be not silent! Exor_ Like a trumpet lift up thy voice, diun. Make known to my people their transgression, And to the house of Jacob their sin. 2Me indeed they consult1 daily, Israel's And to know my ways is their delight. worship • " mere As a nation that hath done righteousness, forms, And hath not forsaken the law of its God! °°d^er_ They ask me regarding righteous judgments, vice To draw near to God is their delight. 3' Why have we fasted and thou seest not, Mortified ourselves and thou dost not notice?' Behold, on your fast day ye follow your own pleasure,3 And ye exact all money lent on pledge. 4Behold ye fast for strife and contention, And to smite the poor* with the fist. Your fasting to-day is not suchu As to make your voice heard on high. 5Can such be the fast which I choose, Jeh0. A day when a man mortifies himself ? ™h de~ To droop one's head like a bulrush, mercy, And to lie down in sack-cloth and ashes ? rificea°" Wilt thou call this a fast, And a day acceptable to Jehovah ? 6Is not this the fast that I choose : To loose the fetters of injustice, To untie the bands of violence,v To set free those who are crushed, To tear apart every yoke. § 188 From 5812 it is evident that this section was written before the rebuilding of the walls by Nehemiah. It clearly represents, however, a later stage in the prophet's ministry. Disappointment and a more definite acquaintance with the Judean community has led him to modify the earlier unconditioned promises of salvation and restoration, and to express the conditions — of course, from the first implied — upon which these promises were based. While the crimes which he found rampant in the Judean community continued to be committed by its leaders, it was futile to expect that Jehovah, by a miracle, would deliver his people. It is this ethical element that rounds out and completes the message of this great prophet of the restoration. r 582 Possibly these verbs should be read in the past instead of the present tense, express ing what was true in Israel's past history. fl 583 Lit., ye find delight. Possibly the meaning is, ye find time for your own pleasure. fc 584 So Gk., O. Lat., and the demands of the context. A scribe has added by mistake in the Heb., a letter which gives the inconsistent meaning, the transgressor. u 584 TheGk. makes these two lines read as a question, whyt do ye fast for me, as to-day? It is possible that the Gk. here represents the original, for the Heb. is unusual and the parallelism imperfect. v 58s Following a suggestion of Cheyne and reading, violence, instead of the word, yoke, which is found in the Heb., probably as the result of the error of a scribe who introduced it from the following couplet. 385 Is. 581 MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY 7Is it not to share thy breadw with the hungry, And to bring the wanderersx to thy home ?y When thou seest the naked, to cover him, And not hide thvself from thine own flesh ?z Thefruits of mer cy ^hen shall thy light break forth as the dawn, Thy restoration quickly spring forth, And thy righteousness shall go before thee, The glory of Jehovah shall be thy reward ;a 9Then when thou callest Jehovah will answer, When thou criest out he will say, Here am I. Re wards of faith ful ser vice If from thy midst thou remove the yoke, The finger of scorn,b and mischievous speech 10 And bestow thy bread0 upon the hungry, And satisfy the soul that is afflicted; Then shall thy light shine forth in darkness, And thy gloom shall be as noonday, "Jehovah will lead thee continually, And will satisfy thy soul in parched lands, And thy strength will he renew,d Thou shalt be like a watered garden, As a fountaine whose waters fail not.f 12Thy sonsg shall rebuild the ancient ruins, Thou shalt rear again the foundations'1 of olden days; And men shall call thee, Repairer of Ruins, Restorer of Ruined Places for Inhabitating. Of faith fully observing the sabbath 13If thou turnest back thy foot from the sabbath,' Fromi doing thy pleasure on my holy day, And callest the sabbath a delight, The holy dayk of Jehovah honorable, y 587 Lit., to divide thy bread for ihe hungry. Cf . Neh. 517. r 587 Slightly correcting the Heb. and omitting from the Heb., the poor, which destroys the metre and was probably simply a scribal equivalent for the more unusual word which follows y 58' Heb., house. a 587 I. e., members of the Jewish race. a 588 Cf . the parallel expression in 5212. b 58B Lit., sending out a finger. ' 5810 So Gk., O. Lat., Syr., and eleven of the Heb. MSS. Heb., thy soul. d 58" Slightly correcting the Heb. to conform to the demands of the context and accord ing to the parallelism of 4031. The word in the traditional Heb. text is not found eleswhere in the O.T., and was probably simply due to a scribal corruption. • 58" Deleting two unnecessary words which have crept into the text and destroy the metre. f 58" Lit., deceive not. s 5812 Slightly correcting the Heb., which has the unusual phrase, those of thee. h 5812 Again slightly correcting the Heb., which reads, paths, but this has no meaning in the present context. i 58", 14 These two vss. are so loosely connected with the preceding that the reader is at once led to the conclusion that they represent a later appendix. They also voice in strongest terms the late Jewish conception of the sabbath. Cf. Neh. 914, 1315-18, Ex. 1623. Possibly the pas sage is from the II Is., and may be an expansion of the thought implied in 566; but the evidence on the whole favors the conclusion that this appendix was added Toy a later hand and that the original ended with 12. i 58'3 So Gk. The Heb. is slightly defective. k 5813 The phrase ordinarily means, to the holy one of Jehovah. 386 FALSE AND TRUE WORSHIP [Is. 5813 And dost honor it by not doing thine own way,' By not following thy pleasure, nor speaking idly," "Then shalt thou take thy delight in Jehovah, I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, I will let thee enjoy the inheritance of Jacob thy father, For the mouth of Jehovah hath declared it. § 189. Crimes of the Judean Community, Is. 59 Is. 59 xBehold Jehovah's hand is not too short to deliver, Nor his ear too dull to hear; 2But your iniquities have become a barrier Between you and your God,n And your sins have hidden his face from you.° 3For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity, Your lips speak lies, Your tongue utters perverseness. Crimes preclude forgive- 4None sues in righteousness,11 And none pleads a case in honesty. They trust in pretence and speak falsehood ; Conceive trouble and bring forth mischief. ^hey hatch viper's eggs, And weave spiders' webs. He who eats their eggs shall die, And if one is crushed it breaks out into an adder. H^heir webs serve not for clothing, Nor can one cover himself with what they make. Their works are works of mischief, And deeds of violence are in their hand. Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood. Horrible natureand conse quences of these 1 5813 Lit.,thy ways. m 5813 Cf., for the same expression, Hos. IO4, Is. 36s. § 189 One finds here a cycle of thought which seems to have characterized the latter part of the work of II Is. He begins with a powerful and detailed denunciation of the crimes of the leaders of the nation, and then, in behalf of the people, voices the prayer of confession and con trition, which was necessary before they could receive the promised salvation. In conclusion the prophet introduces a characteristic reference to Jehovah's advent in order to deliver and restore his people. Because of the crimes of the community Jehovah is here portrayed in a more judicial aspect, recompensing according to their deserts his adversaries both within and without Judah. The thought of the chapter is a perfect unit and in harmony with the prophet's message, as a whole, as it was interpreted in the light of the conditions in Palestine not long before the advent of Neh. Its points of contact with the prophecy of Mal. are many and close. Cf. §§ 195, 197. By several modern interpreters, 6-8 are regarded as later insertions because they do not apply to the community as a whole. The same, however, is true of the opening vss. Vss. 68 are the natural continuation of 4, which introduced the more impersonal third person rather than the second. These vss. have all of the literary characteristics of the II Is. and the reasons for regarding them as secondary are far from convincing. The section, as a whole, reveals the bitter disappointment of the prophet because none, or but few, were found in the Judean community to respond to the call of noble, unselfish service. His hope of an • ultimate restoration, however, is undimmed. n 592 Possibly this line is secondary. ° 592 Heb. adds, to deliver, but this destroys the metre of the vs. and is probably an ex planatory gloss or else a mistaken repetition of the last word in 1. p 594 The reference is to the cases which were brought before the public tribunal. 387 Is. 597] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY Their thoughts are thoughts of mischief, Desolation and ruin are in their ways.q 8They know not the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks. They have made their paths crooked for themselves, Whoever treads thereon knows no peace. Effect "Therefore right is far from us, HP°n And redress has not overtaken us. com- We wait for the light — but behold, darkness ; 11 '" ' For bright beams — but we walk in gloom, 10Like blind men we grope along the wall, Yea, like men without sight we grope along. We stumble at noonday as in twilight ; Among those who are strong r we are like the dead. uWe all groan like bears, And mourn sadly like doves ; We look for justice but there is none, For deliverance, but it is far from us. An ap- 12For our transgressions are many before thee, ate con- ^nd our sms test>fy against us. ression For our transgressions are ever with us, lips of And our iniquities — we know them. people 13Transgression and unfaithfulness to Jehovah, And drawing back from following our God, Speaking perverseness3 and rebellion,* Uttering from the heart words of falsehood. "Justice has been driven back, And righteousness stands afar off, 15Truth stumbles in the public place, And uprightness cannot enter; So that truth is lacking, And insight has departed from the rulers." Jehovah Jehovah hath seen it and is displeased,v ."a8'*! ^n(^ ^e "s anSry Decause there is no justice, as a 16He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was none to interpose ; ehampionand re deemhis peo- 9 597 Lit., in their highways. pie ' 5910 This reading is only conjectural as the Heb. is evidently corrupt. It is based, how ever, on a slight reconstruction of the text and is supported by the parallelism. fl 5913 Following the Targ. in transposing two letters. * 5913 Probably as a result of dittography, the Heb. word meaning, they conceive, has been added to the Heb. It destroys the metre of the vs. and has no analogy with the context. » 5915 Following the Gk. in reconstructing the corrupt Heb. text. The Heb. word trans lated, rulers, means, literally, shepherds. Another reconstruction gives the reading, from the city, or, from the market-place. y 5916 Following Marti in restoring what was probably the original verb. Traditional Heb., in his eyes. 388 CRIMES OF JUDEAN COMMUNITY [Is. 5910 So his own arm delivered him. And his righteousness upheld him. 17He put on righteousness as armor, And on his head the helmet of deliverance. He put on the garments of vengeance,w And clad himself with jealousy as with a mantle. 18According to deserts will he recompense341 Wrath to his adversaries, disgrace7 to his foes.z 19They shall see the name of Jehovah from the west, And his glory from the rising sun — For the adversary8, comes as a river,*5 Whom the breath of Jehovah puts to flight — 20And so as a Redeemer he shall shortly come to Zion, To turn away rebellion from Jacob.0 § 190. The Day of Jehovah's Vengeance, Is. 631-6 Is. 63 1Who is this who is coming from Edom, Proph- In blood-stained garments from Bozrah ?d ?tth ° So glorious in his apparel, divine Marching6 in the fulness of his strength. war rior It is I, who am gloriousf in redressing wrong, Jeho- And mighty to deliver. ^Jo re dress w 5917 Through a scribal repetition the word, clothing, is found in the Heb., but not in the wrong3 Gk. and Lat. x 5918 Slightly correcting the ungrammatical Heb. text. y 5918 FoUowing the Gk. in reconstructing the Heb., which here repeats the word, recom pense. 8 5919 Heb. adds, to the coast-lands he will repay recompense. The phrase, however, is not found in the Gk. and is clearly a scribal gloss. a 5919 Following the superior reading of the Heb. MSS. rather than the traditional Heb. b 5919 The figure of speech here employed is evidently drawn from the ancient Heb. tradi tion of Jehovah's conflict with the great dragon, which represented Chaos. c 5920 So Gk. The Heb. adds, is the oracle of Jehovah. A scribe has also added, at the end of this section, the prose note, 2land as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah, My spirit which is upon thee and my words which I have put into thy mouth shall not depart from thy mouth, nor from the mouth of thy descendants, nor from the mouth of their descendants, saith the Lord Jehovah, from now and forever. Its thought, as well as its Hterary form, reveal its secondary character. § 190 This section is closely connected in thought with the preceding, especially with 5916-20, The foe here, however, is outside, not inside Judah. The Edomites, who were at this time the most merciless and insistent foes of the Judean community, represent here, as in much of the literature of the period, the hostile, heathen world which stood in the way of the restora tion of Jehovah's people and the realization of their hopes. This powerful picture of Jehovah as a warrior trampling down his impious foes is by no means alien to the thought of II Is. It is bui; the expansion of the figure already presented in 4213, Jehovah goeth forth as a hero. As a warrior he stirreth up his rage, He shouteth and uttereth the battle-cry Against his foes he showeth himself a hero. d 631 An emendation of the text gives the reading in the first lineinstead of, from Edom, all red and in the second line, redder in garments than a vintager. This would relieve the pas sage of its local application and make it simply a picture of Jehovah as a conquering warrior. The textual changes required are radical, however, and the concrete references add rather than detract from the vigor of the poem. e 631 Following the superior reading of Sym. and Lat. £ 631 Revising the Heb. text with the aid of the preceding context. Heb., / am the one who speaks. 389 Is. 632] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY Prophet: Why art thoublood stainedJeho vah: I have been ex ecuting vengeance upontheguiltypeoples 2Why is there red on thine apparel,g And thy garments like him who treads in the wine-press ? 3A wine-trough have I trodden alone,h And of the peoples no man was with me, So I trod them in my wrath, I trampled them down in my fury, Their life-blood besprinkled my garments, And all my apparel I defiled, 4For a day of vengeance was in my heart, And the year of my redemption1 had come. 5I looked but there was no helper, I was astonished, but there was no upholder; Therefore mine arm helped me, And my fury upheld me, 6I trod down the peoples in mine anger, And crushed^ them in my fury, And spilt their life-blood on the ground. Jeho vah'sacts of deliver ance in thepast § 191. Prayer to Jehovah to Deliver His People as of Old, Is. 637-64n Is. 63 7Jehovah's loving acts will I recount, Jehovah's acts of renown, According to all which he hath wrought for us, Jehovah who is greatk in goodness. Hath wrought for us,1 according to his compassion, and his great loving- kindness. 8For he said, Surely they are all my people, sons who will not prove false ; So he became their deliverer 9from all their distress.111 k 632 Correcting the Heb. which is corrupted through the mistaken repetition of a letter. *» 633 The vert>s of this vs. in the Heb. are incorrectly pointed so as to read in the future rather than in the past tense. 1 634 /. e., the great day of deliverance like the great year of jubilee. Cf. Lev. 2528-M. j 636 Following the superior reading of certain Heb. MSS. § 191 The unity of this section is obvious. It consists of a review of Jehovah's past deliv erances of his people and a prayer that he will again forgive and save them. The background is a period of deepest gloom. The exuberant hopes which usually characterize the writings of II Is. are lacking. The passage is closely parallel in thought and language to many of the Pss. which come from the first part of the Persian period. It is possible that one of them has here found a place in the book of Is. This conclusion, however, is not a necessity if it be admitted that such a highly emotional prophet as the II Is. had, like Jer., his moments of discouragement. Cer tainly in the life of the Judean community of this period, there was abundant occasion for a prayer such as is found in this section. The preceding prophecies which deal with the sins of the community show that the prophet was not blind to actual conditions. The prose structure, the different spirit, and the historical background reflected indicate that 6410-12 are a later addi tion from the hand of some scribe who lived either during the latter part of the Persian period or during the Maccabean struggle. Overlooking 6318, he recognized the general adaptability of the prayer contained in»this section to his own age, and made the adaptation complete by adding a brief appendix. Although the text of this passage has suffered more in transmission than almost any other passage in the O.T., the forceful, original style of the great poet-prophet may still be recognized. k 637 So Gk. and O. Lat. The Heb. introduces an awkward conjunction. The words, to the house of Israel, found at the end of the line, appear to be also an explanatory addition, for they are out of harmony with the metre and thought of the passage. 1 637 So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. lacks, for us. m 639 Joining this clause with the last part of the preceding vs. with which it belongs. 390 PRAYER TO JEHOVAH [Is. 63" It was not a messenger" nor an angel but his own presence that delivered Rebel- them; thepeo- In his love and mercy he himself redeemed them; ple- He also took them up, and carried them all the days of old. l0But they, they rebelled and pained his holy spirit ; So he changed himself into their enemy, he fought himself against them. "Then [Israel] recalled the days of old, [the years of past ages] :° Memo- Where is he who broughtp us up from the sea, the Shepherd of his flock ? Jjf| of Where is he who did put within if his holy spirit, days of He who caused to go up at Moses' right hand his glorious arm, who cleft the sea before them ?r Who cleft the waters before him, to make for himself an everlasting3 name ? 13aWho was it that made them go through the deeps, as a horse in the wilder ness,* "Like the cattle that go down into the valley 13bwithout stumbling ? May thy spirit, O Jehovah, lead us,u Prayer As thou didst lead thy people, hovah's To make for thyself a glorious name. uedtm" "Look down from heaven and behold, leader- From thy holy and beauteous abode ; Where are thy jealousy and might,v The stirring of thy pity and compassion ? Let them not be restrained toward us, 16for thou art our Father,w For Abraham knoweth us not,x And Israel doth not recognize us; Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is thy name. ship " 63' Following the superior reading of the Gk. and O. Lat. The Heb. is hopelessly cor rupt. The idea is that not by the mediation of angelic messengers, but in person, Jehovah delivered his people in the crises of their early history. o 63u The words, Moses and his people, have here crept in as an explanatory gloss upon the words, shepherd and his flock, in the following line. Following a suggestion of Cheyne, based on Dt. 327, it has been conjecturally restored as above. p 6311 So Gk., O. Lat., and Syr. q 63" /. e., of the flock, the people of Israel. r 63'2 The reference is, of course, to the deliverance from the Red Sea. ¦ 6312 Possibly .the word, everlasting, is secondary, since it is not required by the metrical structure of the vs. ' 6313' M The text of these VSS. is exceedingly corrupt. The above translation follows the traditional text, with the exception of transposing, for metrical reasons, the last clause of 13 to the end of the first line of w. u 63u The reconstruction of this line was based on suggestions found in the VSS. Heb., the spirit of Jehovah giveth them rest. It is not clear, however, whether the transition from the retrospect to the prayer comes here or at the beginning of I6. v 6315 Following the superior reading of the VSS. y 6315' I6 Possibly this hne is secondary, for it anticipates the thought of 16d and may have been inserted by a scribe who had in mind 6411. * 6316 It would seem from this allusion that a type of ancestor-worship had sprung up in Palestine, and that here the prophet, in the name of the community, refuses to put trust in this heathen cult, and turns to Jehovah who, in the past or present, has proved himself able to de liver his people. 391 Is. 6317] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY To re- 17Why, O Jehovah, dost thou make us wander from our ways ?|f ert. Dost harden our hearts so that we do not fear thee ? Turn, for the sake of thy servants, For the sakey of the tribes of thine inheritance! 18Why do the ungodly despise thy sanctuary,2 Our adversaries despise thy holy abode ? 19We are like those over whom for a long time thou hast not ruled, Over whom thy name has not been called. By a 64 'O, that thou wouldst cleave the heavens, wouldst come down, signal That the mountains might quake before thee, ance to 2As fire kindles the brushwood, aUPpeo- As water which the fire makes boil, ples To make known thy name to thine adversaries, So that nations may tremble before thee! 3While thou doest terrible things for which we hoped not,a 4And of which men from of old have not heard! Eye hath not seen, nor ear heardb The deeds and heroic acts °which thou wilt do For those that wait for thee d 50, that thou wouldst meet those who act righteously,0 Who remember thy ways!f Confes- But behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned ; g°jjtof At our breach of faith, for we are guilty. eWe have all become as one defiled, All our righteous deeds like a polluted garment, We are all withered like leaves, And our iniquities carry us away like the wind. 'There is none that calls upon thy name, Who bestirs himself to lay hold on thee ; For thou hast hidden thy face from us, And hast delivered8 us into the power of our guilt. Prayer£?£for- s^n(j noW; q jenovan; Thou art our Father, We are the clay and thou the potter, y 6317 So Gk., O. Lat., and the demands of the metre. Heb. omits, for the sake of. « 63ls Fundamentally reconstructing the corrupt Heb. text, which reads, for a little while they possessed thy holy people. The reconstruction is that of Buhl and consists of the regrouping of the Heb. letters so as to conform to the demands of the parallelism. The foes referred to in this vs. appear to be the impious leaders of the community and those with whom they had made alliance in Samaria and among the neighboring heathen nations. a 643 In the Heb. a scribe has repeated from x, thou wouldest come down, before thee the mountains might quake. b 644 Cf . the quotation in I Cor. 29. ° 644 Fundamentally reconstructing the corrupt Heb. with aid of the Gk. d 644 Reconstructing with the aid of the VSS. Heb., for him who waiteth for him. • 64s Following a reconstruction of the corrupt Heb. suggested by Wellhausen and Cheyne and supported by the parallelism. f 646 Slightly correcting the Heb. which makes no sense. b 647 Following the Gk., O. Lat., and Targ. 392 give- FATE OF WICKED AND FAITHFUL [Is. 64? And all of us are the work of thy hands. Be not exceedingly wroth, O Jehovah, And do not remember iniquity forever ; Ah, but do look hither,11 we are all thy people. 10Thy holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation, "Our holy and beautiful house where our fathers did praise thee has been burned with fire. and all in which we delighted has become a ruin. l2Wilt thou in the presence of these things restrain thyself, O Jehovah? Wilt thou be silent and afflict us exceedingly? § 192. Contrasted Fate of the Wicked an Faithful in the Community, Is. 65, 66 Is. 65 1I was to be inquired of by those who asked me not,1 To be found of those who sought me not ; I said, Here am I, Here am I, To a people who did not call upon^ my name, 2I have spread out my hands all the day long, To a stubborn and rebelliousk people, Who follow a way that is not good, After their own thoughts. 3It is a people who vex me to my face, Continually1 sacrificing in the gardens, And burning sacrifices111 on the bricks ;n 4Who sit in the graves,0 And spend the night in secret places, Who eat the flesh of swine,p For de liveranceand res toration Rejec tion of Jehovah'sgra cious offers Persist ent . idolatry of the people k 649 Gk. and O. Lat. add, for. § 192 In this long closing section the prophet turns, with alternating warning and promise, to the two classes in the Judean community to which his preceding messages had been directed. The one class are the half-heathen party which keep up the pretence of worshipping Jehovah but at the same time, in secret, commit dastardly crimes and participate in the heathen rites: the worship in groves and in gardens, and who sacrifice forbidden animals. The other class are JehovaVs faithful servants, who have been loyal to him. They are the true Israel, about whom the promises in this section centre. For the one class Jehovah's advent will mean judg ment, for the other class restoration and vindication. As his theme changes the prophet uses in turn his customary three and five-beat measures. m In conclusion the prophet reiterates his familiar promise that there will be a general restoration and that Jerusalem will be raised to a position of commanding importance, and that the heathen nations will join in bringing back Jehovah's people. The eschatological motifs which were developed in the first part of the II Is., and especially in chaps. 54, 55, reappear. Unfortunately the Heb. text is exceedingly corrupt, but it has not concealed the virile literary style the powerful invective, and the superlative hope fulness which characterizes the 11.1s. The closing vss., 66^' M, are clearly a later prosaic addition to ttie prophecy from some scribe who wrote and thought in the spirit of later Judaism. 1 651 So Gk., O. Lat. and Syr. and certain Heb. MSS. The idea is that Jehovah stood ready to respond, but none sought him, for they turned instead to the heathen gods mentioned later in the chapter. i 651 So the VSS. k 652 So the Gk. and O. Lat. Heb. omits, and rebellious. ¦ l 65s -Reading the'Heb. word, continually, with the second line of the vs. This gives a vs. logically as well as metrically balanced. m 653 Or, burn incense. The reference is evidently to the ancient Semitiq cults, which were practiced in the sacred groves. The exact nature of these rites is unknown. n 653 Or, with Marti, reconstructing the Heb. so that this line reads, who burn sacrifices under white poplars. It is not clear from the Heb. word whether the offerings consisted of ani mals or incense. ° 654 Probably in the tombs of their ancestors, that they might receive revelations from them. p 654 In the light of recent discoveries it is clear that the flesh, of swine was forbidden the Hebrews because these animals were once worshipped as sacred by the primitive people of Palestine. The reference here is probably to a survival of the ancient cult. 393 Is. 654] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY And in whose vessels is the brothq of unclean meats, BWho say, Keep by thyself, Come not near me, else I will sanctify thee!r Jeho- These are a smoke in my nostrils, JJf-ced A fire that burns continually. to pun- 6Behold, it is recorded before me : I will not be still until I have requited8 'Their* sins and the sins of their fathers, All together, saith Jehovah, Of them who have burnt sacrifices upon the mountains. And upon the hills have dishonored me. I will first measure out their recompense, And then requite it into their bosom. Preset- sThus saith Jehovah: Jfhfe1 As when the new wine is found in the cluster, faithful And they say, 'Destroy it not, vants For there is a blessing in it, So will I do for the sake of my servants, In order not to destroy the whole. 9And I will bring forth from Jacob a posterity, And from Judah inheritors of my mountains ; And my chosen ones shall possess the land, And my servants shall dwell there. 10Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, And the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds, For my people who have sought me.u Fate of uBut as for you who forsake Jehovah, the Who forget my holy mountain, anos—tates Who prepare a table for Fortune,v And who pour out mixed wine for Destiny; UI destine you for the sword, And all of you shall bow down to the slaughter. Because when I called you did not answer, When I spoke you did not heed ; But ye did that which was evil in my sight, And choose that in which I had no pleasure. q 654 Following a marginal reading of the Heb. ' 65s Slightly revising the punctuation of the Heb. word. The meaning is, lest thou be rendered taboo by participating in the ancient rites. Cf. Smith, Bel. of Semites, 357-68. 8 656 Heb. adds, 7 will requite into their bosom, but this has evidently been transferred from the end of 7, where it is required to complete the parallelism and where only the words into their bosom, have been preserved in the Heb. text. * 657 So the almost unanimous testimony of the VSS. Heb., your sins. u 6510 Possibly this line is secondary. y 65" The preparing of a sacrificial table, set with food, was a characteristic Semitic rite The name Gad, the God of Fortune, appears in many Semitic proper names, while at Gaza there was a temple to the God of Fortune. 394 FATE OF WICKED AND FAITHFUL [Is. 6513 "Theref ore thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Con- Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; f^jf* Behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty ; tween Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be put to shame ; of the "Behold, my servants shall loudly exult, from gladness of heart, andhful But ye shall cry out for anguish of heart and breaking of spirit," apos- 15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones,x But, behold, my servants shall be called by another name.y tates l6He who asks a blessing for himself in the land shall bless himself by the God The of truth, frans- And he who swears in the land shall swear by the God of truth, tion1*" Because the former troubles are forgotten, and hidden from mine eyes. "For, behold, I am about to create a new heaven and a new earth, And the former things shall not be remembered nor come to mind, 18But they shall rejoice2 and exult eternally in what I am about to create ; For behold, I am about to create Jerusalem as an exultation, and her people a joy. 19 And I will exult in Jerusalem, and rejoice in my people ; No more shall there be heard in her the voice of weeping nor the sound of crying. 20No more shall there be from thence an infant of but a few days,a Nor an old man who does not live out his days; But the youngest shall die a hundred years oldb. ^They shall build houses and dwell in them, Peren- They shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them; n|^ce 22They shall not build and another inhabit, and They shall not plant and another eat ; perity For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, * And the work of their hands shall my chosen ones enjoy to the end.0 ^hey shall not labor in vain nor bear children that they may perish, For a race blessed by Jehovah are they, and their offspring with them.d ^And before they call, I, indeed, will answer; While they are yet speaking I will hear. " 65u Heb. adds, ye shall lament, but the metre and the sense of the context strongly sug gest that this was a scribal gloss. » 6515 The absence of the formula of cursing has apparently led a later scribe to add a marginal note, and let the Lord Jehovah slay thee, which has crept into the text. The scribe failed, however, to grasp the exact meaning of the context. For the usual formula of swearing, cf. Jer. 29M. y *6516 Following the superior reading of the Gk. and O. Lat. Heb., to his servants he will ' 6518 Reading the verbs as futures, as suggested by the VSS. and the demands of the context. , ¦ 6520 Lit., infant of days. I. e., a child which dies in its infancy. b 6520 A later scribe, desiring to modify this statement, has added, but he who sins, being a hundred years old, shall be accursed. 0 6S22 Lit., wear out. d gs_5 The meaning is that either their descendants shall share the blessing with them or that their descendants of the second or third generation shall remain with them. 395 • Is. 6525] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together in harmony,6 And the lion shall eat straw like the ox ;£ And they shall not harm nor destroy In all my holy mountain, saith Jehovah. A sub missive spirit aloneessen tial to true worship 66 'Thus saith Jehovah: Heaven is my throne,8 And the earth is my footstool ; What manner of house is it that ye would build for me ? At what manner of place is my habitation ? 2A11 these my hand hath made, And all these are mine,h is Jehovah's oracle. But for these do I have regard, for the afflicted, And him who is broken in spirit, and who trembles at my word. Half-beathen rites in cur Je hovah'sjudg ment sHe who slaughters an ox is also a man-slayer, He who sacrifices a sheep also strangles a dog ; He who brings up an offering also sheds swine's blood He who offers incense as a memorial also blesses an idol. As these have chosen their ways, And take pleasure in their abominations ; 4So will I choose wanton outrages for them, And will bring on them what they dread ; Because when I called none answered. When I spake they did not heed ; But they did what was evil in my sight, And chose that in which I had no delight. Comfort for the faithful 5Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye who tremble at his word ; Your brethren who hate you have said : — They who loathed you for my name's sake — ' Let Jehovah show forth his glory That we too may look on your joy !' But they shall be filled with shame. eHark, an uproar from the city! hark, from the temple! Hark, it is Jehovah giving full recompense to his foes! Sudden rebirth of the nation 7She also1 before she had travailed brought forth [a son] ; Before her pangs came upon her she was delivered of a male child. 8Who has ever heard of such a thing ? Who has ever seen the like ? Can the people* of a land be brought forth in one day ? 6 65M Lit., as one. ' 6S25 The Heb. adds what is probably a gloss added by a scribe who had in mind Gen. 3", but the serpent, dust shall be its food. It is closely akin to the gloss in 2°. s 66l The metre of this and the following lines is irregular, varying from three to five-beat. h 662 The Gk. and Syr., which have been followed, have clearly preserved the original reading. i 667 Part of this line has evidently been lost. The antecedent is, Zion, or, the nation. The parallelism also indicates that, son, must be supplied as the object of the verb at the end of the line. i 66B The metre and context imply that, people, has fallen out of the Heb. 396 FATE OF WICKED AND FAITHFUL [Is. 668 Can a nation be born all at once ? For no sooner was Zion in travail than she brought forth her sons. 'Should I bring to birth and not bring forth, saith Jehovah ? Or should I, who bring forth, hold it back ? saithk Jehovah. l0Rejoice over Jerusalem and exult over her, all ye who love her, Be supremely joyful with her all ye that have mourned over her ; "That ye may suck and be satisfied from the breast of her consolations, That ye may drink deeply and take delight from her rich bosom.1 Rejoic ing over restored Jerusalem ^For thus saith Jehovah, Behold I am about to direct toward her Peace like an overflowing111 stream, And like a torrent the wealth of the nations, And your children11 shall be carried on the side, And on the knees shall they be fondled. lsAs one whom his mother doth comfort, So I indeed will comfort you.° 14When you see it your heart shall be joyful, And your bones shall flourish like grass ; Jehovah's kindnessp to his servants shall be made known, And his indignation^ toward his foes. Jehovah'spromise to restore andvindicate his true ser vants wFor behold, Jehovah will come like a fire, And his chariots shall be like a whirlwind ; To pay back his wrath in hot indignation ; And his rebuke in flames of fire ; 16For by fire Jehovah will execute judgment,1. And by his sword, upon all flesh, And those slain by Jehovah shall be many.8 17a"dThey who consecrate and purify themselves for the gardens* Following the example of one in their midst,u Who eat swine's flesh, And the swarming creatures,v and mice. k 66' Following the superior reading of certain of the Heb. MSS. The thought is that what Jehovah has begun he surely will carry to completion. 1 66" Lit., breast, or, udder, following the Arab, derivation. The common rendering, abundance, probably represents a secondary meaning. m 6612 With Duhm, transferring this adjective to restore the metrical structure of the vs. » 66x2 Following the Gk. Heb. text is corrupt. o 6613 The Heb. adds, and shall ye be comforted in Jerusalem, but this is probably secondary. In the light of the subsequent context it would appear that Jehovah was the active agent in restoring his people and that the preceding clause represents the original. p 6614 Following recent commentators in reading, kindness, instead of, hand, which fur nishes the natural contrast suggested by the second member of the couplet. q 66M Heb., and he shall be indignant. ' 6616 Gk. adds, all the earth. • 6616 Possibly this line is secondary. t 6617 I. e., to the gardens where the heathen cults were practiced. u 6617 Apparently in imitation of the example of some one already initiated into the mys teries of the cult. y 6617 Correcting one Heb. letter so as to give a harmonious reading. 397 To pun ish the guilty Is. 66l8a] MESSAGES TO JUDEAN COMMUNITY 18aTheir works and their thoughtsw 17eShalI together come to an end, is Jehovah's oracle. To makeknownhisgloryamong all na tions 18bFor behold,x the time has come For gathering all nations and tongues, And they shall come and see my glory. 19And I will perform a sign among them, And I will send forth from them those who have escaped, Toy the most distant coastlands, Which have not heard my name nor seen my glory ; And they shall make known my glory among the nations. To gath er and re-es tablishhispeopleat Je rusalem 20And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations1 As an offering to Jehovah,3, to my holy mountain, To Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, Even as the Israelites bring the offering In a clean vessel to Jehovah's house. 21 And also some of them will I take For Levitical priests, saith Jehovah. ^For even as the new heavens And the new earth which I am about to make, Shall continue before me, is Jehovah's oracle, So shall your posterity and name continue. T° 23 And it shall come to pass from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all th°Y 1- ^es^ snal* come t0 worship before me, saith Jehovah? MAnd they shall go forth and look ly of^e- uPon tne carcasses of the men who have rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die bellion nor can their fire be quenched ;b and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh. w 66isa "With Duhm and other recent commentators, transferring this line to its logical position. x 6618 "With Cheyne amending and dividing the Heb. letters differently so as to restore the obviously corrupt Heb. y 6619 Some scribe has added in this connection a list of the distant nations. Revising, with the aid of the Gk., the list reads, the nations, Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan. Cf. Ezek. 38, 39l. The last name is the Heb. designation for the Greeks. ¦ 6620 The thought is that the foreign nations will bring the scattered exiles as an offering to Jehovah, and from these Jehovah will take certain ones, presumably of the exiled priestly families, to minister before him at his sanctuary. a 6620 Possibly the same scribe who added the detailed supplemental gloss in 19 has here added a list of the animals upon which the exiles shall be brought back. It reads, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries. b 66w The reference is evidently to the place at the south of Jerusalem in the Valley of Benhinnom, the Gehenna of theGk., where the refuse of the city was thrown out to be con sumed by worms or slowly burning fire. Cf . Enoch 272, 3. 398 Ob. THE PROPHECY OF OBADIAH § 193. Obadiah' s Vision concerning Edom, Obadiah 1 *A report have we heard from Jehovah, A messenger has been sent among the nations; Up, and let us rise against her in battle !a 2Behold, I have made thee small among the nations, Thou art despised among men !b ^hy proud heart0 hath misled thee, Thou who dwellest in the clefts of the rock, Thou who buildestd on high thy dwelling, who saith to thyself, Who shall bring me down to earth ? ^Though thou buildest high as the eagle, Though between the stars thou sete thy nest From there will I bring thee down, is Jehovah's oracle. Upris ing of Edom's Humblingthe proud nation § 193 The prophecy of Obadiah is introduced by the composite superscription: The Vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom. This superscription furnishes no information regarding the prophet or his date. In answering these questions we are entirely dependent upon internal evidence. Repeated references to the hostility and inhumanity of the Edomites in connection with the final destruction of Jerusalem indicate that it must be dated later than 586 b.c, but from 7 it is evident that a great calamity has overtaken Edom itself. The Edomites have already been betrayed by their own allies and expelled from their territory. The situation is the same as that described in the beginning of the book of Malachi, § 194. There is little doubt that the allusion is to the expulsion of the Edomites from their territory by the Nabateans, which took place sometime between 600 and 400 b.c. By the close of the Persian period, if not much earlier, they had settled in Southern Judah. The prominence of the Edomites in the writings of the II Is"., the exultation over their overthrow recorded in Mal. 1, and the absence of any reference to the Jewish towns in Southern Judah in Nehemiah's memoirs, indicate beyond reasonable doubt that by the first half of the fifth century b.c. the catastrophe here referred to had already overtaken the Edomites and that they had been driven northward into Judah .by kindred Arab tribes. The date of this prophecy, there fore, is to be found sometime between 500 and 450 b.c. The unity of the book has been seriously questioned. Vss. 1_7c' 10- 14- 15 constitute a closely knit unit and deal simply with Edom. These vss. are undoubtedly from Obadiah, who was clearly one of the minor prophets of the period, in close sympathy with the feelings of the Judean community. The remainder of the prophecy in its original form presents the other side of the picture of Edom's overthrow and voices the hopes which, in less concrete form, were repeatedly expressed by Ihe II Is. The references to the house of Joseph and to the Northern Israelites reveal nothing of the bitter feud which sprang up between Samaritan and Jew in the period inaugurated by Nehemiah. The second half of theprophecy, therefore, must be dated before 445 B.C., and hence comes from the same period. Esau also figures in these closing vss. as in the opening. Cf . 18> 19' 2l. Hence, although the logical connection is not very close, all the indications -point to the conclusion that the latter part as well as the first part of the prophecy is from Obadiah. The prophecy lacks the broad outlook of the II Is. It voices the nationalistic hopes which filled the minds of the Judean community during the days preceding the advent of Nehemiah. The Edomites represented the hostile heathen foes whose overthrow seemed absolutely neces sary, not only for the establishment of Jehovah's kingdom, but also for the vindication of his justice. a l1 Jer. 4914-16 is but a variant of Ob. l-*. The indications are that the author of the late prophecy in Jer. 49 quoted from Ob. b l2 Following the superior reading of the parallel passage in Jer. 491B. Heb., thou ex- 11 Lit., pride of thy heart. <* l3 Following the superior reading of the Gk., Syr., and Lat. e 1* Slightly correcting the defective Heb. 399 Ob. I5] PROPHECY OF OBADIAH Be trayed and expelled allies Thereasonwhy 5If thieves had come to thee by night Would they not have stolen only as much as they needed ?f If grape-gatherers had come to thee Would they not have left some gleanings ?8 7But to the very border they have driven thee, All thy allies have betrayed thee, Thy avowed friends11 have overpowered thee,1 They have set a trap for thee.J "Because of the outraging of thy brother Jacob Shame doth cover thee and thou art cut off forever. nIn the day when thou didst stand aloof, In the day when strangers carried away his wealth, And aliens entered into his gates, And over Jerusalem they cast lots, Thou also wert as one of them. Cmel ^hou shouldst not have gloated in the day of thy brother, in the day of his £eyaat" misfortune. tlie „ Thou shouldst not have exulted over the land of Judah in the day of hisk time of . Jerusa- destruction * over- Thou shouldst not have laughed loudly1 in his distress."1 throw 13Thou shouldst not have entered in at the gate of my people in the day of his11 disaster, Thou shouldst not have gloated, yea, thou, upon his calamity, in the day of his disaster, Nor stretched out thine hand0 after his wealth in the day of his disaster,1* 14Nor stood at the parting of the ways to cut off his fugitives, Nor shouldst thou have intercepted his escaped ones in the day of distress. ' l5 Restoring with the aid of the parallel in Jer. 499. e l5 What appears to be a marginal gloss has been included at this point in the text. It reads, How searched out is Esau, how rifled his treasures. The line is in the five-beat measure and interrupts the close sequence of thought between 6 and 7. h l7 Lit., men of thy peace. Through a mistaken repetition a scribe has added in the Heb., of thy bread, but this is lacking in the Gk. 1 l7 The meaning of this Heb. word is uncertain. Changing one letter, Marti reads, they have taken up their abode in thy stead, which would be a reference to the occupation of Southern Judah by the Edomites. j l7 The direct address to Edom which is continued in 10 is interrupted by a long scribal note which assumes, contrary to the context, that Edom's judgment lies in the future rather than in the present and past. The text is confused and lacks the clear poetic structure which characterizes the original prophecy. It reads, there is no understanding in him. Shall it not be, in that day, is Jehovah's oracle, that I will destroy the wise men from Edom, and understanding from Mount Esau ? And thy mighty men, 0 Teman, shall be dismayed, so that every man shall be cut off from out Esau, by slaughter. "The secondary character of this passage is evident. k 112 Heb., their destruction. 1 l12 Lit., make broad thy mouth. The verbs in this vs., and in ia- ", are in the im perative, but from 15b it would seem clear that, as in u, the reference is to Edom's action in the East, and especially at the time of Jerusalem's fall in 586 b.c, and that therefore the verbs should e translated as above. m l12 This vs. is so closely parallel to I3 that it is regarded by many as simply a variant. Repetition, however, in almost the same terms, is so characteristic of this prophet that it is precarious to argue from this basis that a passage is secondary. D l13 Heb., their disaster. ° l13 Correcting the corrupt Heb. as the context demands. p l13 The Gk. suggests that possibly the original read, his destruction. 400 VISION CONCERNING EDOM [Ob. I11 15Verily near is Jehovah's day upon all the nations ; As thou hast done so shall it be done to thee;q Thy deed shall come back upon thine own head. wVerily as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, So all the nations shall drink continually;1. They shall drink and reel3 and be as though they had not been. Jeho vah's judgment at hand X7But on Mount Zion there shall be a refuge,* And those of the house of Jacob shall again enter into their pos sessions; 18For the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, But the house of Esau shall become stubble, They shall kindle and devour them; And there shall not one escape of the house of Esau, For Jehovah hath spoken. Israel to destroyEdom "They shall possess the South Country11 and the western lowland, Again And they shall possess the territory of Ephraim and Gilead. sessthe 20The remnant of Israelv shall possessw the land of the Canaanites land of even to Zarephath,x fathers And the captives of Jerusalemy shall possess the cities of the south. ^Saviours2* shall come up on Mount Zion to judge Mount Esau, And the dominion shall belong to Jehovah. q lis By many scholars this line is transposed to the end of this vs. and joined to 16fl. r l16 Many Heb. MSS. read, around about. 8 l16 Changing one letter in the Heb. so as to give the above harmonious reading. * l17 The first line of lihis vs. is taken from Joel 2s2. To this, in the Heb., has been added the clause, and it shall be holy. The latter clause is probably from a scribe who had in mind Joel 317, for it destroys the metre and poetic parallelism of the vs. u l19 The text of this and the two following vss. has been greatly expanded by explanatory glosses. Following, South Country, is the phrase, Mount Esau, and following, Shephelah, the western lowland, which lay between the western headlands of Judah and the territory of Philistia, is the word, Philistines. Following, Ephraim, is the descriptive clause, the territory of Samaria, and Benjamin. y l20 Distinction is apparently made here between the exiles who came back and settled the territory of Northern Israel and those who came back to Jerusalem and Judah. The Heb. adds, that host. , v l20 Correcting the obviously corrupt Heb., which simply has, which, but the radicals of this Heb. word are the same as those of tne verb suggested by the parallelism. x l20 Zarephath, is probably the, Zareptah, of Luke 4^, a Phoenician city between Tyre and Sidon. y 120 The Heb. adds, which are in Sepharad. Later Jews identified this with Hispania, the Roman designation of Spain, whence Sephardim, the name commonly given to the Spanish Jews. This identification, however, is improbable. Sepharad is probably either to be identified with the Persian province in Asia Minor, mentioned repeatedlyby Darius in his inscriptions, or with a country of somewhat similar name in southwestern Media, mentioned in the inscriptions of Sargon. In any case the metricaUand grammatical structure of the vs. suggests that this is another of the many supplemental glosses. » l21 Evidently there are no longer kings in Judah, but its leaders correspond to the de liverers or judges of the earlier period. 401 VI Jeho vah's judg mentupon Israel's hated foes THE BOOK OF MALACHI § 194. Jehovah's Love for Jacob, Mal. I25 Mal. 1 2I have loved you, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us ? Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? It is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts; ™ Yet I loved Jacob ; 3but Esau I hated, And I made his mountains a desolation, And transformedb his heritage into a wilderness. *Whereas Edom saith, We are cast down, But we will return and build the waste places; Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down ; , Men shall call them, The border land of wickedness, The people against whom Jehovah hath indignation." The Book of Malachi. — As has already been noted, Introd., pp. 29, 30, the book of Mal., like most of the post-exilic writings, is anonymous. When it was written the restored temple had long been standing and the moral tone of the Judean community was exceedingly low. The . priests had lost that zeal for the temple service which characterized the temple builders to whom Hag. and Zech. spoke. It was a period of discouragement when scepticism and despair were beginning to find open expression. Ihe priests and ruling classes were selfish and regardless of their responsibilities. The author of the book of Mal. felt strongly the need for a strenuous reformer who would arouse the moral and spiritual sense of the community. The conditions thus reflected are very similar to those which Nehemiah found wheq he visited Jerusalem about 445 b.c. In many ways Nehemiah's reform work, especially in eliminating the social evils and in improving the temple worship, was the fulfilment of the prophet's hope that Jehovah would speedily send his messenger to prepare the way for a better and nobler era. The presence of the evils which Nehemiah endeavored to correct and the absence of any references to that great restorer of Judaism favor the conclusion that the book of Mal. was written not long before 445 B.C. The book of Mal. deals directly and practically with the problems of the Judean commu nity. Its style is a blending of prose and poetry. It suggests the discussions of the later rabbis. The questions and objections of the prophet's readers are first formulated and then answered by arguments, exhortations, and promises. With the exception of the closing verses, the prophecy is a closely knit literary unit. The brief introductory section aims to inspire confidence and gratitude for Jehovah's special care over his people. The second and main section of the book consists of denunciations of existing evils and the concluding section describes the divine judg ment which Jehovah will visit upon the guilty and the ultimate glorious vindication of the faithful. The book is of great value for comparative study, for it presents in definite form many of the insistent problems which called forth not a few of the psalms found in the opening sections of the Psalter. It also formulates in words which might almost have been taken from the mouth of Job the problems which are treated in the great wisdom book which bears his name. § 194 From the beginning of the Baby, exile until the descendants of the ancient Edomites were conquered by the Jews in the Maccabean period these hereditary foes were the thorn in the flesh of the Judean community. Driven from their homes by the Nabatheans, they had seized southern Judah. Cf. § 193, Introd. From this vantage-ground they almost constantly harried the unprotected Jewish peasants and colonists who lived amidst the ruins of Jerusalem and in the neighboring villages. Through all this period they stood, as in the present passage as a type of godless, merciless heathendom, the foe of Jehovah as well as of his chosen people' Their overthrow was therefore regarded by the prophet and his contemporaries as the most striking possible evidence of Jehovah's justice as well as of his considerate love toward the Jewish race. a l2 Adding, of hosts, as the metre and the usage of prophecy, as in 2 for ex suggest b Is The Heb. is clearly corrupt. The Gk. has a different reading. The error was ap parently originally due to the transposition of certain letters. Restoring them the above read ing, which is in complete harmony with the parallel line, is secured. ° 1* The Heb. adds, forever; but this is not in harmony with the context or the metre of the vs. and is probably from a later hand. 402 JEHOVAH'S LOVE FOR JACOB [Mal. l5 5And your eyes shall see, And ye shall say, Jehovah is magnified Beyond the border of Israel. § 195. Infidelity and Ingratitude of the Priests, Mal. l8-29 Mal. 1 6A son honoreth his father ,d and a servant feareth his master; Their If then I am a father, where is mine honor ? tation ~ And if I am a master, where is the one who fears me ?e of ""¦ Saith Jehovah to you, O ye priests, who despise my name. offer- But ye say, ' Wherein have we despised thy name ?' lnes 7Ye offer upon mine altar bread that is polluted And ye say, ' Wherein have we polluted it ?£ In that ye say, 'The table of Jehovah is contemptible.' 8And that when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, ' It is no harm!' And that when ye offer the lame and the sick 'It is no harm!' Present it now to thy governor ; will he be pleased with it ?s Or will he receive thee favorably ? saith Jehovah of hosts. 9And now entreat the favor of God with such an offering, that he may be gracious to us,n Would I receive any of you favorably ? saith Jehovah of hosts. 10O that there were those among you who would shut the doors,1 Offer- That ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain ! • thlhea- I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, then more Neither will I accept an offering at your hand. accept- uFor from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is sacred among the q0| ° nations ; And in every place they offer to my name a pure offering ;J For my name is great among the nations, saith Jehovah of hosts. 12 But ye profane it, in that ye say, His ' The table of Jehovah is polluted, and its foodk is contemptible.' people 3Ye say also, 'Behold what a weariness is it!' and ye have scorned1 me;m despisehis service § 195 The thought that Jehovah is worshipped, even though blindly, by the heathen as well as the Jews, is rare even in the teachings of the prophets. It recognizes the fact that the attitude and spirit, not the creed, determine the quality of worship. The neglect of the priests was supremely reprehensible because of the spirit which it revealed. The ideal of the priest hood held up in 25-7 is without parallel in the O.T. It shows how broad and spiritual was the influence of the faithful priests, and it explains why from their ranks there frequently arose prophets like Ezek. and Zech. d l5 Cf. the sixth command, Ex. 2012. » l6 Gk. text and the following parallel support the above reading. ' 1' So Gk. Heb., thee. s l8 So Gk. Heb., thee. h l9 This vs. has evidently been expanded and in its present Heb. form makes little sense. A text based on the close parallelism in 8 has been followed here. 1 l10 These words are ironical. i lu Or, A fine offering is offered. A scribe has added a variant text to make clear the meaning of the Heb. k l12 Through a scribal error the clause, its fruit, has been added in the Heb. 1 l13 So the marginal reading of the Heb. Lit., snuffed at me. m l13 The clause, saith Jehovah of hosts, has again been added 403 Mal. I13] BOOK OF MALACHI And ye have brought the blind,11 the lame and the sick.0 Should I accept this at your hand ? saith Jehovah of hosts.p "But cursed be the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, And vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing ; For I am a great King, and my name is feared among the nations, Penalty 2 *And now, O ye priests, this command is for you. ifriests 2k ye wm not near' anc* ix> ye wu^ not ia,y ii to neart> neglect To give glory to my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, t^k Then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings;0- 3Behold, I will cut off r your arm, And will spread offal upon your faces, even the offal8 of your feasts,* And ye shall know that I have sent this command to you, That my covenant with Levi may be preserved, saith Jehovah of hosts." it The 5My covenant with him was to givev life and peace ; idea1 And I gave them to him that he might revere me ;w fidelity And he revered me, and stood in awe of my name. earlier 6The true instruction311 was in his mouth, priests And unrighteousness was not found in his lips; He walked with me in peace and uprightness, And turned many away from iniquity. 'For the prjest's lips should keep knowledge, And men should seek the law at his mouth; For he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts. Degen- 8But ye are turned aside out of the way ; |n£d°y Ye have caused many to stumble in the law ; shame Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, later Saith Jehovah of hosts. pnests 'Therefore have I also made you contemptible, And base before all the people, According as ye have not kept my ways, And have had no respect for me? in imparting the law. n l13 Following a corrected text. ° l13 The clause in the Heb., and ye have brought ihe offering, is probably but a scribal addition. p l13 Following the Gk. in adding, hosts. q 22 A scribe in the Heb. has added, Yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay • it to heart. The Gk. has further expanded the gloss. r 23 FoUowing a suggestion of the Gk. and the parallelism in I Sam. 231v The arm repre sents the strength of the priestly class. B 23 This last clause may be an explanatory gloss. t 23 The Heb. adds, and ye shall be taken away with it, but this is probably a gloss from Am. 42. u 24 Slightly revising the Heb. as the context requires. v 25 Interpreting as the context suggests. w 25 Slightly correcting the Heb. y- 28 Lit., the torah or teaching of righteousness. y 29 Making a slight correction in the Heb. 404 CONDEMNATION OF DIVORCE [Mal. 210 § 196. Condemnation of Divorce, Mal. 21018 Mal. 2 "Have we not all one father ? Hath not one God created us ? Why do we deal faithlessly with one another, Profaning the covenant of our fathers ?z 13And this ye do also:a Ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears,b So that he regardeth not the offering any more, Neither receiveth it acceptably from your hand. "Yet ye say, Why ? Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, Against whom thou hast dealt faithlessly," Though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. Divorce con trary to the spirit of Israel's religion 15Therefore give heed to your spirit, And let none deal faithlessly with the wife of his youth, leFor I hated putting away, Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,6 And him who covers his garment with violence,* Saith Jehovah of hosts : Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not faithlessly. Hateful to Je hovah § 197. Jehovah's Coming Judgment, Mal. 217-36 Mal. 2 17Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. Yet ye say, How have we wearied him ? In that ye say, Everyone that doeth evil Is good in the sight of Jehovah, § 196 Semitic custom, and even the Heb. laws, made divorce comparatively easy. Cf. Vol. IV, § 11. In the corrupt Jewish community this evil had evidently become a glaringone. These words of the prophet contain no reference to the later policy of Nehemiah and Ezra, which demanded that foreign wives should be put away. z 2i° The immediate sequel of 10 is 13. A later scribe who sympathized with Nehemiah and Ezra in the rigorous measures to correct the evil of intermarriage with foreigners has added the gloss: Judah hath dealt faithlessly, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah which he loveth, and hath married the daughter of a foreign god. Jehovah will cut off the man who doeth this, root and branch, out of the tents of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering to Jehovah of hosts. The impossible reading of the Heb. in 12 is probably a corruption of the phrase, root and branch, oi.41. a 213 Possibly this word was added after n- 12 were interpolated. b 213 An explanatory gloss, with weeping and sighing, has been added in the Heb. 0 2" The meaning of this passage is very doubtful. The above follows a plausible recon struction of Wellhausen. Cf. Gen. 63. This idiom is explained by "* and Gen. 2M. d 216 Following a corrected text. o 216 Possibly the clause is a later addition. f 216 Evidently violence to the marriage relation is in the mind of the prophet. § 197 From the apathetic and forgetful priests the prophet now turns to the scornful, sceptical class in the community which has already been fully described by the II Is. Cf . §§ 186, 189, 192. It is the class which, in the Psalms of the period, stands opposed to the pious. It included the rulers who lost no opportunity to oppress their dependents and whose base acts called forth the righteous indignation of Nehemiah. Cf . Neh. 5. In this section, as in the II Is., § 189, the prophet predicts that Jehovah himself will come in judgment to punish his unworthy servants, and to purify the Judean community that it may be wortny of the promises proclaimed by the prophets of the period. 405 Doubt of Jeho vah's justice Mal. 217] BOOK OF MALACHI The advent of Jeho vah to purifyhis peo ple And he delighteth in them ; Or where is the God of justice ? 'Behold, I am about to send my messenger, And he shall prepare the way before me :g And the Lord, whom ye seek, Will suddenly come to his temple ;h 2But who can endure the day of his coming ? And who shall stand when he appeareth ? For he is like a refiner's fire, And like fullers' lyes; 3And he will sit as a refiner and purifier,1 And he will purify the sons of Levi, And refine them as gold and silver; And they shall offerJ offerings in righteousness. *Then shall the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Jehovah, As in the days of old, and as in former years. Those whomJeho vahwillcondemn 5And I will come near to you to judgment ; And I will be a swift witness Against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, And against thee who sware to that which is false, And against those who oppress the hireling, the widow, and the fatherless, Who turn aside the resident alien from his right,1 and fear not me, Saith Jehovah of hosts. 6For I, Jehovah, change not ; But ye have not ceased to be sons of Jacob.m Robbing Jeho vah § 198. Penalty for Withholding the Tithe, Mal. 37-12 Mal. 3 7From the days of thy fathers ye have turned aside from my statutes, and ye have not kept them. Turn to me and I will turn to you, saith Jehovah. - 3' Cf. Is. 403. h 3l The Heb. adds, and the messenger of the covenant whom ye desire, behold he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts ; but this appears to be a later prose note intended to adjust the prediction in the first part of the vs. to the later Jewish belief that Jehovah revealed himself in the life of his people only through his messengers. In 6- 6 it is Jehovah, not his messenger, who does the work of reformation. 1 33 Of silver, has been added, anticipating the next lines. i 33 The Heb. adds, to Jehovah, but this was probably taken from ' and added to make the meaning perfectly clear. It is not supported by the metre. k 36 A scribe has added, in his wages. ' 3s So Gk. and Dt. 2417, Ex. 222°, Am. 512. m 39 /. e., from your sins, as exemplified by the deceitful acts of Jacob. The text is proba bly corrupt. § 198 The law of Dt. 1422-29 required that the tithes be brought to the temple and there be presented to Jehovah, and shared with the needy in the community. Cf. IV, § 190. Also that the tithes of the third year be set aside for the Levites and the poor. Nehemiah found it neces sary to institute definite regulations to insure a fixed income from this source for the Levites. The prophet here returns to the theme which he had already developed in § 195. He is empha- 406 PENALTY FOR WITHHOLDING TITHE [Mal. 3' But ye say, Wherein shall we turn ? 8Will a man robn God ? Yet ye robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee ? °Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye rob me. In tithes and gifts. 10Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, That there may be provision in mine house ; and test me thereby," H I will not open to you the windows of heaven, And pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough. "I will rebuke for your sakes the devourerp and he shall not destroy0- the fruit of the ground, Neither shall the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field,1 n And all nations shall call you happy,8 For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts. Rewards that willcome fromfaithfulservice § 199. Future Reward of the Godless and Faithful, Mal. 3"-4« Mal. 3 13Your words are hard upon me, saith Jehovah. Ye say, What have we said against thee? "Ye have said, It is useless to serve God, And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, And that we have walked in funeral garb before him ?* 15Even now we call the proud happy, Yea, those who work iniquity thrive,u Yea, they tempt God and escape. Theory of scepti cism sizing, however, not the responsibility of the priests, but of the common people. Like Ezek. and Zech., he was deeply interested in the ceremonial side of religion. In this respect he was a forerunner of the later Jewish teachers who taught that, if Jehovah could be rightly worshipped for one day, the messianic era would dawn. a 38 Gk., circumvent. The fact that this Heb. text comes from the same root as Jacob in 8 favors this reading. ° 310 Heb. adds, saith Jehovah of hosts, but this clause interrupts the logical and metrical unity of the vs. p 3U /. e., the locust. q 3U Heb. repeats, for your sakes. T 3U Again the Heb. adds, destroying the metrical structure and parallelism of the vs., saith Jehovah of hosts. B 312 Possibly the two concluding words of this line have been lost. | 199 The prophet here again addresses the same class as in § 197. They are the pious, some of whom are evidently beginning to be discouraged because they see no relief from their misfortunes. Their words in the beginning of the section present the great problem which is developed in detail in the book of Job. It always has been and is to-day the supreme problem of life, but perhaps never in the history of Israel was it more insistent than dunng the Persian period, when the proud, arrogant, prosperous class stood in sharp contrastto the poor, afflicted, pious citizens in the Judean community. The doctrine of individual immortality, with its possibilities for righting the wrongs of this life, had evidently not yet dawned upon the prophet and his generation. Retribution must come in this life. Hence, in common with the propnets of his age, the author of this prophecy proclaimed that Jehovah would keep a careful record of the deeds of the faithful, and that he would quickly come to punish the wicked and vindicate.his faithful servants. It is possible that the closing vss. represent a later postscript from the hand of the same ¦pfrophet, but the indications, on the whole, point to the conclusion that they were added by another prophet. The Gk. order, which has been followed above, differs from the Heb. Vs. 4* is a postscript not only to the book of Mal. but to the prophetic books as a whole. It is written from the point of view of later Jewish legalism. Thus the closing words of O.T. prophecy are an exhortation, in the language of Dt., to keep the law of Moses. Vss. 6- 6 have no close points of contact with the preceding, and contain several significant variations, in style and thought, ' 314 Reading according to the demands of the metre. u 315 Lit., were built up. 407 Heb., before Jehovah of hosts. Mal. 316] BOOK OF MALACHI Vindication of the faithful 16Suchv things those who feared Jehovah spoke to one another, And Jehovah gave heed, and heard, And a book of remembrancew was written before him, Regarding those who feared Jehovah, And those who keep in mind his name ; 17And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, In the day that I make up mine especial treasure:3 And I will spare them, As a man spares his son who serves him. 18Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, Between him who serves God and him who serves him not. The comingday of judg ment and vindi cation The comingre former 4 1For behold the day is coming that shall burn like a furnace, And all the proud and those who work iniquity shall be stubble, And the day that is coming shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, So that there shall be left themy neither root nor branch. 2But to you who fear my name there shall arise The sun of righteousness with healing in his wings, And ye shall go forth and leap like calves out of the stall. z 3And ye shall tread down the wicked, For they shall be as ashes under the solesa of your feet, In the day in which I begin tp execute, saith Jehovah of hosts. EBehoId I am about to send to you Elijah the prophet, Before the coming of the day of Jehovah, the great and terrible, 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons and the heart of the sons to the fathers,b Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse, c ^Remember the law of Moses my servant which I commanded him In.Horeb for all Israel, statutes and judgments. from the rest of the book of Mal. As in 41 and elsewhere the author of Mal. speaks simply of, the day, but the term used in 5 is, the day of Jehovah. Vss. 5. ' seem to be a late comment upon 31. In 31, however, there was no suggestion that the messenger was to be a prophet. Later Judaism interpreted this memorable passage literally and looked for an actual return of Elijah. The thought of the original writer appears to have been rather that Jehovah will again send a prophet with the high sense of justice, with the consuming zeal, and with the courage and boldness which characterized the great Elijah. He was to stand up in the presence of corrupt rulers to declare to the nation Jehovah's demands and to lead the people back to the older ideals, and thus to deliver them from the overwhelming judgment which they justly deserved. In his boldness in condemning the sins of high and low, in his zeal for righteousness, John the Baptist realized in fullest measure the spirit of this ancient prophecy, and by Jesus and theChristian world was recognized as the forerunner of a new era. Matt. llw 1710. u John l21- ^ y 3>B So Gk. Heb., then. y 316 For parallel usage, cf. Esth. 6l, Ezek. 139, Is. 43. x 317 Cf. Ex. 195. The word means, a peculiar possession, something highly prized by the possessor. A slight change in the Heb. gives the still more harmonious reading, o people which I will make an treasured possession. y 41 Following the Gk. Heb., it shall leave them. * 42 As calves gambol when liberated from the stall. a 43 Gk. omits, soles of. b 46 /. e., bring into harmony. * 46 Lit., smite the land with a ban. 408 COMING DAY OF JEHOVAH [Joel l2 VII JOEL'S PROPHECY CONCERNING THE COMING DAY OF JEHOVAH § 200. The Locust Plague and the Coming Day of Jehovah, Joel l2-217 Joel 1 2Heara this, ye old men,b Appaii- And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, tureof" Hath this been in your days, ,tne ca_ Or in the days of your fathers ? Recount it to their children, Let your children tell it to their children, And their children to the generation that follows. *That which the shearer0 hath left, the swarmer hath eaten, its ex- That which the swarmer hath left, the devourer hath eaten, tent And that which the devourer hath left, the destroyer hath eaten. Joel's Prophecy Concerning the Coming Day of Jehovah. — The unity of the book of Joel nas recently been questioned, but on insufficient grounds. It deals with but one theme: the coming day of Jehovah. The immediate occasion was one of the dread locust plagues which occasionally bring destruction and famine to the land of Palestine. Recent writers have vividly described the appalling nature of this calamity. In great swarms which obscure the sky these ravenous insects sweep over large areas, destroying all vegetation, and leaving the land as barren as a desert. To the mind of Joel, however, this threatened calamity, like drought and famine and other natural^ disasters, suggested the approach of Jehovah's great judgment day, which, in the popular belief of his race, was to be characterized by great catastrophes and the overthrow of the iniquitous world-powers which seemed to stand as a denial of the univer sality and justice of Jehovah's rule. The popular belief is one which may be traced back to the days of Amos, and even earlier (cf . Introd., p. 43), but it did not assume a central place in the minds of the prophets until the exile — at least the characteristic form of the belief that is found in the book of Joel. As has already been shown (cf . Introd., p. 31), the only altogether satisfactory background for the book is the first half of the fourth century b.c, after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the reforms instituted by Nehemiah and Ezra, and before 346, when the Judean community suffered a series of overwhelming calamities inflicted by the cruel Ochus. Cf. Introd.. p. 31. It was a period when comparative peace prevailed in Palestine, although the memories of past invasions and wrongs are still fresh in the mind of the prophet. Cf ., e. g., 317. There is no allusion to a king, but instead the priests and the elders are the chief officials in the state. The experiences of the Baby, exile are painful memories of the past, 32. The Greeks appear simply as slave-traders, 36. Most significant of all is the prominence which the prophet gives to the temple and its service. He says nothing about the social and political problems of the community, but his chief concern is that the regular sacrifices be maintained without interruption. The influence of the great priestly reformation, which took place about 400 B.C., is clearly apparent. Equally significant is the dependence of the prophet upon earlier books. There are fully twenty quota tions, either of vss. or phrases from the O.T. writings. These include at least twelve books. Cf ., e. g., 316 and Am. I2; 318 and Am. 913; 319 and Ob. 10. In 2M Jer.'s and Ezek.'s characteristic phrase, the foe from the north, is used and in 318 one recognizes traces of Ezek.'s picture of the fertilizing stream issuing from the temple. Cf . Ezek. 47. Joel's teaching regarding the day of Jehovah also represents a further development of Ezek.'s apocalyptic and eschatological ideas. The aim of the prophet was to keep alive the faith of the people, to inspire them to meet loyally the demands of the law, and to vindicate Jehovah's justice. The prophecy shows the a l2 The prophecy is introduced by the superscription, The Word of Jehovah, which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. b I2 It is interesting to note that the prophet addresses the elders as the heads of the community. 0 V The prophet here uses four different synonyms to describe the locusts. These four designations, apparently, do not represent locusts in different stages of development, for the same swarm would never return upon its course, but different swarms of locusts, the idea being that the land would be completely devastated. The exact meaning of the different terms is not clear. The word translated, swarmer, is the ordinary word for locust and comes from the Heb. word meaning, many. The, devourer, may have been the technical designation of the locust in its wingless, larva stage. 409 Joel l5] JOEL'S PROPHECY The com plete devas tation 5Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, And wail, all ye drinkers of wine ; The new wine is cut off from your mouth. 6For a nation has come up on my land, Powerful, and numberless; His teeth are the teeth of a lion,d And his jaw-teeth are like those of a lioness. 7He hath, laid my vine waste, And barked my fig-tree ; He hath peeled and cast it away,8 Bleached are its branches. Songsof lam- menta tion ve the bar renfields andneglected rit ual Call to a public fast 8Wailf as a bride, clad in sack-cloth, for the husband of her youth. 9Cut off are the cereal — and drink-offerings from the house of Jehovah; In mourning are the priests, who minister at Jehovah's altar.8 10The fields are blasted, the land is in mourning, For blasted is the corn, the new wine fails11 and the oil is dried up. "Be abashed, O ye husbandmen ; wail, O vine-dressers, For the wheat and the barley ; for the harvest is lost from the fields. ^The vine fails to bear fruit, and the fig-tree is drooping; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple; all the trees of the field are dried up. Yea, joy fails from the sons of men. 13Gird yourselves, and beat the breasts, O priests ; wail, ye ministers of the altar ; Come, lie all night in sack-cloth, ye ministers of God ;' For cereal-offering and drink-offering are cut off from the house of your God. "Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, Gather' all the inhabitants of the land into the house of Jehovah your God, Cry to Jehovah, 15Alas for the day! Near at hand is the day of Jehovah, And as destruction trom the Almighty Destroyer it comes.k effect of conscious elaboration from beginning to end and the literary ngures are varied and de veloped in great detail, although one recognizes throughout the echo of earlier prophecies, § 200. In this section the prophet impressively rallies the evidence of the approach of Je hovah's day of judgment, and summons the people to fasting and solemn assembly that they may influence Jehovah speedily to deliver them from the calamities which threaten. d l6 Following the superior reading suggested by the Gk. and Sym. Heb., the jaw-teeth of a lioness are his. This and the following VSS. vividly describe the effects of the inroads of the locusts upon the vegetation. ° l7 /. e., stripped it and left only the parts that could not be eaten. f Is An Aramaic word is here used. The one addressed is the community. The lamenta tion is over the cessation of the temple ritual, owing to the lack of proper objects for sacrifice. K l9 Following the superior reading of many of the Gk. MSS. Heb. omits, altar. Cf. also 13. h l10 Lit., is ashamed . . . languishelh. 1 la So Gk. and O. Lat. Heb., my God. ' l'4 A scribe, who had in mind 2, has added the Heb., elders, but fails to supply the con junction, and. It was the inhabitants of the land, however, and not the elders who were gath ered. k l'6 Quoted verbatim from Is. 13B. 410 COMING DAY OF JEHOVAH [Joel l11 Is not food cut off from before us, Famine Gladness and joy from the house of our God ? pends "The grains1 shrivel under their hoes,m The store-houses are desolate, the barns broken down, For the corn is withered — what shall we put in them ? 18How the herds of cattle are filled with perplexity,11 for they have no pasture! Yea, the flocks of sheep are forlorn." 19To thee, Jehovah, do I cry, Also For fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, suming And flame hath scorched all the trees of the field. . drought 20The wild beasts also look up to thee longingly, For the water-courses are dried up, And fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. 2 'Blow a horn in Zion, Jeho- Sound an alarm in my holy mountain, Judi- Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, hand*' For the day of Jehovah comes, 2For near is the day of darkness and gloom, The day of cloud and thick darkness ! Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains, Ad- A people great and powerful; of his Its like has not been from of old, dread Neither shall be any more after it, Even to the years of coming ages. 3Before them the fire devours, And behind them a flame burns; Like the garden of Eden is the land before them, And after them it is a desolate desert, Yea, nothing escapes them. *Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, And like horsemen they run. 5Like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they leap, Like the crackle of flames devouring stubble, Like a mighty people preparing for battle. 6Peoples are in anguish before them, All faces glow with excitement.p 1 l17 Restoring the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. ¦» l17 Or, clods. n l18 So Gk. supported by the context. Heb., how do the beasts groan. o l18 Following a superior reading of the Gk. Cf. Hos. 141. Heb., are made desolate. v 26 The meaning of the Heb. idiom is not entirely clear. It means, gather redness, or, beauty, and appears to be a reference to the glow of excitement kindled by the approach of the devastating host. 411 Joel &] JOEL'S PROPHECY Their attack 7Like mighty men they run, Like warriors they mount up a wall, They march each by himself,"1 They break not their ranks,1 8None jostles the other, They march each in his path, They fall upon the weapons without breaking. 'They scour the city, they run on the wall, They climb up into the houses, Like a thief they enter the windows. Effectuponnatureandman kind 10Earth trembles before them, Heaven quakes, The sun and moon become dark, And the stars withdraw their shining ; 11 And Jehovah uttereth his voice before his army, For his host is exceedingly great, Yea, mighty is he who performs his word, For great is the day of Jehovah, It is very terrible, who can abide it ? True re pentancethe one hope uBut now this is the oracle of Jehovah: Turn ye to me with all your heart, And with fasting and weeping and mourning. ^Rend your hearts and not your garments, And turn to Jehovah your God ; For he indeed is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger and plenteous in love, And relenteth of the evil. "Who knows but he will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind him, A cereal and drink-offering for Jehovah your God ?s Call to a gener al as semblyandunitedsuppli cation 15Blow a horn in Zion, Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, "Gather the people, make holy the congregation, Assemble the old men, Gather the children, and the infants at the breast, Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber, And the bride from her bridal tent.* "Between the porch and the altar, q 27 Lit., in his way. 1 27 Lit., entangle their highways. The meaning is that each moves straight ahead without crossing the track of the one next to him. i 8 2U This line is loosely connected with its context. It is probably in apposition to the word, blessing, and means that Jehovah will deliver his people from the great pest, so that the fields will again bear fruit and each man can bring an offenng to Jehovah's temple. * 216 Lit., her pavilion. 412 COMING DAY OF JEHOVAH [Joel 2lr Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah weep aloud, Let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, And make not thine heritage an object of reproach, For the heathen to mock them.u Why should it be said among the nations, Where is their God ? 19 And Jehovah answered and said to his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, § 201. The Prosperity, Spiritual Blessings, and Vindication Awaiting Jehovah's People, Joel 218-321 Joel. 2 16Then Jehovah became jealous for his land, and took pity upon jeho- his people, vah's sponse to the peti- And ye shall be satisfied therewith; hiTpeo- I will not make you again an object of reproach among the nations, p^ 20I will remove far from you the northern foe,v And I will drive him into a land barren and desolate, His van to the eastern sea, And his rear to the western sea, And a stenchw from him shall arise.* ^Fear not, O land, exult, And rejoice for Jehovah hath done great things. 22Fear not, O beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness are putting forth new grass, For the trees bear their fruit, Fig-tree and vine yield their strength. ^Be glad, then, ye sons of Zion, And rejoice in Jehovah your God, For he hath given you the early rainy in just measure, u 217 Lit., make proverbs out of them. The Heb. may also be rendered, that the heathen shall rule over them, but the rendering that is given above is strongly supported by the context. § 201 This section contains Jehovah's answer to the united petitions of his people. It presents the completest picture found in the O.T. of the current conception of the day of Jeho vah. For the heathen foes who oppressed the Jews it means the hour of judgment and annihila tion, but for the people of Judah and Jerusalem it means deliverance and prosperity, and a restora tion of all the scattered exiles. Above all it represents the inauguration of a new era in human history, when not a favored few, but all members of a community, young and olc], f reedmen and slave, shall enjoy the prophetic gift and individually feel the influence of Jehovah's presence and his divine spirit speaking through their individual consciousness. The latter teaching was Joel's great contribution to the faith of his race. The actual course of the world's history unfolded very differently from what he had anticipated, but surely though slowly mankind has entered into the spiritual heritage which he proclaimed should be the possession of whoever should call upon the name of Jehovah. In tracing the unfolding of Israel's belief regarding the future, this prophecy of Joel is of the greatest value, for it undoubtedly faithfully represents the hopes of the Jews during the Persian period. v 220 From the context it would seem clear that the northern foe was the invading army of locusts. Possibly they are so designated under the influence of Jer. 1", Ezek. 386- 15, 392. Possibly it was because the locusts, as usual in Palestine, came from the northern Lebanons. w 220 A scribe has here inserted, from Is. 343 or Am. 410, the synonymous phrase, His stench shall rise. x 2Z0 By mistake, a scribe has also introduced at the end of this vs. three words from the end of 2I. The defective metrical structure of the vs. suggests that they take the place of one or two words, which have bpen lost as a result of a scribal error. y 223 The Syr., O. Lat., and Arab, texts support the Gk. in reading, food, but the parallelism of the context, on the whole, supports the Heb., which has been followed above. 413 His prom ises that the fields shallagainbe fruitful Joel223J JOEL'S PROPHECY And poured down upon you the winter rain, And sent the latter rain as before.2 ^The threshing floors shall be full of grain, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. Re- ^1 will make restoration to you for the years which the swarmer hath newed paten pros- eaten, perity The devourer, the destroyer, and the shearer, and the _, _. , , . , T " . sense of My great army which I sent among you, ilh?s" 2eAnd ye shall eat your food and be satisfied, pres- And praise the name of Jehovah your God, Who hath dealt so wonderfully by you, 27And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, That I am Jehovah your God and none else, And my people shall never more be abashed." Univer- 28And it shall come to pass afterwards, ?al sp>"> That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, bless- And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, lngs Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions, 29And even upon thy male and female slaves, In those days, I will pour out my spirit. Evi- 30And I will show signs in heaven and earth: ofjeho- Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. van'? 31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood cominfr judg- Before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. ment Deliv. 32But whoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah shall be saved, f ran9e For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, for his -r i i i i ¦ i faithful Even as Jehovah hath said, And among the fugitives those whom Jehovah calleth. ones Assem- 3 *For behold, in those days and in that time, bly of When I bring back again the captivity of Judahb and Jerusalem, an na— - ____ _____ tions 2I will also gather all the nations and bring them down into the Valley of Je- forjudgment judg- hoshaphat « 2s3 Following a large number of Heb. MSS. which have preserved the original verb. The Heb. is clearly corrupt. a 2CT Through a mistake of dittography, the last line of 27 has been introduced at the end of 26. This breaks the logical unity of the context. b 3l Or, restore the prosperity of Judah: 0 32 The Valley of Jehoshaphat, or, the Valley of Judgment, as the Heb. word may be trans lated, must have been near Jerusalem. By modern Jewish and Moslem tradition it is identified with the Kidron "Valley immediately north of Jerusalem. The presence of thousands of graves along the sides of this valley to-day testify to literalistic interpretation of this prophecy, and to the zeal of the faithful Jew and Moslem to be among the first at the final day of judgment. 414 PROSPERITY AWAITING JEHOVAH'S PEOPLE [Joel 32 And there I will enter into judgment with them for my people and my heri tage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations, and divided my land. 3And they have cast lots for my people, They have given a boy for the pay of a harlot, And a girl have they sold for wine, and drunk it. 4Moreover, what are ye to me, Tyre and Sidon and all the districts'1 of speeial Philistia ? Sent of Were ye repaying any deed of mine, or were ye doing aught to me ? Phceni- Quickly will I return your deed upon your heads, Phills- Ye who have taken my silver and my gold, tia And ye have brought my goodly jewels6 into your palaces. eYe have sold the sons of Judah and of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, That ye might remove them far from their own borders. Behold, I am about to stir them up from the place to which ye have sold them, And I will recompense your deed upon your own head. 8I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the men of Judah, And they shall sell them to the Sabeans,f to a nation far off, for Jehovah hath spoken. 'Proclaim this among the nations, sanctify war, TZaiiy Arouse the warriors, let all the fighting men muster and go up. 2f, h^ s" 10Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into lances ;g then- Let the weak say, I, indeed, am strong. "Bestir yourselves11 and come, all ye nations round about, Thither gather yourselves together, let the weak become the warrior,1 ^Let the nations be aroused and come up to the Valley of Jehoshapha't, jeho- For there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations. harvest 13Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; Come, get you down, for the press is full, The vats overflow, for great is their wickedness. "Noisy multitudes, noisy multitudes in the valley of decision $ For near is Jehovah's day in the valley of decision! ^Sun and moon have turned dark, Two- And the stars withdrawn their shining. . P^'ctsof Jehovah's d 34 Lit., the circuits. The plural feminine of the Heb. word, Galilee. day 6 34 Lit., my desirable things. ' 38 The Sabeans were an important commercial people living in Arabia Felix. They are often mentioned in the O.T. Cf. Jer. 62°, Ezek. 27M. a Ps. 72">. The Gk. has the variant reading, into captivity. It is clearly due, however, to a mistaken reading of the original Heb. s 310 This is a familiar figure used to describe universal peace. Cf. Is. 21, Mi. 43. h 3" Restoring the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the parallel in 12. Possibly the original read, hasten. ' 311 Following what appears to be the superior reading of the Gk. The Heb., thither cause thy warriors to come down, is abrupt and contrary to the diction of the prophet. 1 314 The Heb. may also be rendered, a sharp threshing instrument, but the current trans lation better suits the context. 415 Joel 3le] PROSPERITY AWAITING JEHOVAH'S PEOPLE 1 "Whenever Jehovah roars from Zion And utters his voice from Jerusalem, Heaven and earth quake; But Jehovah is a refuge to his people, And a fortress to the people of Israel. "And ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, I who dwelleth in Zion, And Jerusalem shall be holy, And strangers shall not pass through her any more. . F . 18And it shall come to pass in that day, pros- That the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and y The hills shall flow with milk, ™&- An ^ channels of Judah shall flow with water, cation of his A fountain shall spring from the house of Judah, And shall water the Valley of Shittim.k 19Egypt shall become a desolation, Because of the violence done to the men of Judah, Because they shed innocent blood in their land. 20Judah shall remain inhabited forever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,1 As surely as Jehovah dwelleth in Zion.m k 318 The Valley of Shittim, or, Wady of the Acacias, here mentioned, has not yet been identified. It was evidently near Jerusalem and may have been a designation of the lower Kidron valley. The figure is parallel to that of Ezek. 471-12, and he evidently had in mind the same deep watercourse which runs from Jerusalem to the Jordan valley, a little north of the Dead Sea. 1 321 Following the superior reading of the Gk. Heb., I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed.^ m 321 Lit., and Jehovah dwelling in Zion, but the form of the sentence indicates that the present rendering represents the prophet's meaning. 416 PROPHETS OF THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN PERIOD (ALL ANONYMOUS) PROPHETS OF THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN PERIOD THE MESSAGE OF THE BOOK OF JONAH § 202. The Story of Jonah Jonah 1 1Now this word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai : Jonah's 2Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it ; for their wicked- com-6 ness has come up before me. 3But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish3, from mission the presence of Jehovah. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship refusal going to Tarshish ; so he paid the fare and embarked to go with them to ° ac Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. 4But Jehovah sentb a furious wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty Discov- tempest,0 so that the ship threatenedd to break in pieces. 5Then the sailors fjf ° guilt The Message of the Book of Jonah. — The book of Jonah stands almost unique among the later prophetic books. The only close analogy is the first half of the book of Dan. It is clearly a product of the workshop of Israel's later teachers who, like the earlier, used story and parable to teach ethical and spiritual truths. The presence of Aramaic words and expressions point to a comparatively late date. The literary ^kinship of the book is with Chronicles and Esther and other writings which come from the Gk: period. Furthermore, in 39, the author apparently quotes from Joel 214 and, in 42, from Joel 213. The universalism of the book is also a protest against the Jewish particularism which characterized Judaism in the late post-exilic period. Its astonishing breadth of outlook also suggests that broadening of vision which came to certain of the Jews as a result of the conquest of Alexander and contact with Gk. culture. Possibly its author was a Jew of the dispersion. His use of the Egyptian name of the gourd, which for a time shaded Jonah's head, would suggest that his home was Egypt and possibly Alexandria. There, perhaps, through personal observation and experience he had learned to appreciate the virtues and needs of the heathen, and had also become familiar with the mythic elements which he has woven into the story. In any case he is the forerunner of the later Jewish missionary movement which centred in Alexandria, and which, in the centuries immediately before and following the beginning of the Christian era, led many Gentiles to accept the teachings of Moses and the prophets. The book may be dated with considerable assurance, in the light of this varied evidence, somewhere about 300 b.c. Although the book was largely overlooked and forgotten by contemporaries, it was, in many ways, the most significant product of later prophecy. The psalm, also, is generally recognized as a later addition. It is written from the point of view of the Jewish community rather than from that of an individual. It commemorates, like many of the psalms of the Psalter, the deliverance of Israel from a great crisis. It contrasts the loyalty of the faithful with the infidelity of certain apostate Jews who had been attracted by the worship of certain heathen gods. The poetic figures which describe the great crisis are drawn from the experiences of sailors on the sea. _ It was doubtless on the basis of this slight point of contact that the psalm was introduced in its present place in the book of Jonah. The inconsistency of the prophet's uttering a prayer of thanksgiving before he was delivered from the body of the great fish has long been recognized. Without this psalm the prose narrative is complete and its unity has never been successfully questioned. Unfortunately the incident of Jonah's being swallowed by the great fish has largely ob scured the real meaning and message of the book. Many have been found, on the one hand, » l3 The old Phoenician colony in southern Spain. It represented the most distant point in the then known world. b l4 Lit., hurled a great wind. 0 I4 Heb. repeats, on the sea. d l4 Lit., thought to. 419 Jonah l5] MESSAGE OF THE BOOK OF JONAH were afraid and cried, each to his own god ; and they cast into the sea the wares that were in the ship, in order to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship ; and he lay fast asleep. 6And the captain of the shipe came and said to him : What are you doing asleep ? Call on your God, perhaps that God will think on us that we perish not. 7And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose sake this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. Dis- 8Then they said to him, Tell us,f what is your occupation, and whence do of his you come ? what is your country and of what people are you ? 9And he said identity to them, I am a Hebrew, and a worshipped of Jehovah, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land. 10Then the men were exceedingly to defend the historicity of the story as a whole, while others, because of the grotesque character of the miracle, have rejected it as unworthy of credence or careful consideration. The question is primarily one of literary classification. It is practically impossible, in the face of the sur prisingly large and grotesque miraculous elements, to maintain that it is exact history. In real life storms do not arise simply to punish the disobedient prophet, the lot does not always determine the guilty offender, gourds do not spring up in a day, nor do great sea-monsters ap- r^ pear at the opportune moment to rescue a man from drowning. These are rather the char acteristic elements of oriental story and may be traced in the familiar Gk. story of Hercules rescuing Hesione, the daughter of the Trojan king, from a sea-monster, which had held her in his stomach three days. An old Egyptian tale, coming from about 2500 B.C., tells of an Egyp tian who was shipwrecked and, after floating three days, was swallowed by a great serpent and thus carried to the land. An Indian tradition tells of a certain Mitta-Vindaka, the son of a merchant of Benares, who had gone to sea contrary to the commands of his mother. While on the sea the ship was seized by an unknown power and was not allowed to proceed until the I offender, Mitta-Vindaka was three times selected by lot and then cast overboard. *¦— ^ The lack of detail in the biblical story also reveals its true character. The name of the Assyr. king is not given and the story stops when its moral has been pointed. Nineveh is also conceived of as a vast city whose proportions have evidently grown in popular tradition. The story is either a midrash, that is, a story intended to convey some religious or moral teaching, or else it is an allegory or parable. The two types of Hterature, however, are not entirely antithetic. The primary aim of the story is clearly to teach that the heathen are not beyond the pale of Jehovah's love and care, but rather that his love knows no bounds of place or race. As has already been shown (cf . Introd., pp. 32, 33), it* also rebukes the narrow individualism of the Jews, which led them to hope simply for the destruction of the heathen rather than to put forth untiring efforts to lead them to do and to know the will of Jehovah. The details of the story also are equally suggestive. _ Not only do the heathen sailors, with their high sense of justice and piety, and the Assyrians, who quickly respond with deepest repentance to the warnings of the prophet, represent the better side of the Gentile world; but Jonah himself is an unmistakable type of Israel. Certain modern scholars, like Professor Cheyne, would go farther and trace a close analogy at every step. In the divine command to preach to the Ninevites they find a reflection of Jehovah's commission to his prophet-nation to represent him before all peoples. In the strange fate which overtook the prophet they find reflected the experiences of the Baby, exile. The author of Jer. 51 M- M- 45 has certainly suggested the figure which reap pears in developed form in the present story. In speaking in the name of Israel he declares: Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, hath devoured and crushed me . . he hath swallowed me up, like a dragon filling his belly from my delights, he hath cast me out. To this Jehovah replies: I will punish Baal in Babylon and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has followed . . . my people go ye out of the midst of her. The analogy with the present story, however, is not absolutely complete, for the great monster is Jehovah's agent of deliverance rather than of punishment. The subsequent portrait of Jonah obeying the divine command under compulsion, yet longing for the destruction of the heathen and daring to upbraid Jehovah because that destruction was delayed, and complaining because of his own misfortunes, is remarkably true to the prevailing Jewish type of the Gk. period. It would seem clear, therefore, that the prophet's aim was to hold up before his contem poraries the nature of their own narrowness and meanness, and in so doing he has introduced many allegorical elements into his story. Incidentally he has also illustrated the great truth that all prophecy is conditional, for there is no more absolute prophecy in all the O.T. than that uttered by Jonah. The main aim, however, of the unknown prophet-author was positive rather than negative. In his wonderful picture of God's love for all mankind, and of the divine readiness to pardon and to save even the ignorant heathen, if they but repent according to their light, he has anticipated the teaching of the parable of the prodigal son, and laid the foundation for some of the broadest faith and the noblest missionary activity of the present generation. e l6 Lit., master of the ropes. f l8 So Gk. and many Heb. MSS. The traditional Heb. text adds the explanatory gloss from 7, for whose sake this evil has come upon us. « l9 Lit., / fear. 420 STORY OF JONAH [Jonah l10 afraid, and said to him, What is this you have done ? For they knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, for he had told them.h "Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be cour- calm for us ? for the sea grew more and more stormy. BAnd he said to them, jpe °f Take me up and throw me into the sea ; so shall the sea be calm for you, for and the I know that for my sake this great storm has overtaken you. 13But the men sai 0IS rowed hard1 to get back to the land ; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. "Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, conver- we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, neither bring innocent ?j°nhof_ blood upon us, for thou art Jehovah; thou hast done as it pleaseth thee, then 15So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea ; and the sea ceased from sal ora its raging. 16Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows. "Then Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the jODah's belly of this fish three days and three nights. deiiver- 2 'Then Jonah prayed to Jehovah his God, out of the belly of the fish, and said : *I cried out of my distress, to Jehovah and he answered me; Out of the midst' of Sheol I cried aloud, and thou heardest my voice. His 3For thou hadst cast me'' into the heart of the seas, and the great flood rolled about me; prayer All thy breakers and thy waves passed over me. thanks- *Then I said, I am driven out from before thine eyes; giving How1 shall I ever again look towards thy holy temple? 5The waters surrounded me, even to the quenching of my life,™ the great deep engulfed me, The sea weeds were wrapped about my head. eI went down to the roots" of the mountains; The earth with its bars was behind me forever; Yet thou hast brought up my life from destruction, O Jehovah my God. 'When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah ; And my prayer came in to thee, into thy holy temple. ^They who regard vain gods° forsake their own mercy, " 9But I will sacrifice to thee with loud thanksgiving,1! I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is Jehovah's. 10And Jehovah spoke to the fish, and it threw up Jonah upon the dry land. His de- 3 'And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the second time, saying, liver" 2Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach to it what I shall tell thee. „. 3So Jonah rose and went to Nineveh, as Jehovah said. Now Nineveh was mes- a great city before God,r of three days' journey.3 4And Jonah began by th?6 to going through the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Forty* days N.ine~ more and Nineveh shall be overthrown. h l10 The clause, for he had told them, may be secondary for it is not in harmony with the preceding. ' l13 Lit., dug. i 7? Lit., belly. k 23 Heb. adds., into the depth; but this is probably a variant of, in ihe heart of the seas. ' 24 So Theod. Heb., yet. m 2s Lit., until soul, or, life. The idea seems to be until the last vital spark was almost extinguished. " 2s With Marti fundamentally reconstructing the apparently corrupt Heb., on the basis of the analogy in Ezek. 2620, / descend into the underworld, to the people of old. ° 28 Lit., lying vanities, a common synonym in the O.T. for heathen gods. p 28 J. e., Jehovah the source of their true blessings. q 29 Lit., with the sound of thanksgiving. 1 33 Even according to the divine standard. fl 33 /. e , in diameter, requiring three days for one to pass through it. Cf . the next line. ' 31 Gk., three days, but this is probably an error due to the occurrence of three in 3. 421 Jonah 25] MESSAGE OF THE BOOK OF JONAH Their 5And the people of Nineveh believed God ; and they proclaimed a fast, and repent- pUt on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. eAnd when word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, and took off his robe, and dressed in sackcloth, and sat in the dust. 7And he made procla mation and published in Nineveh : By the decree of the king and his nobles :u Man, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them neither eat nor drink water; 8But let them clothe themselves with sackcloth, both man and beast,v and let them cry mightily to God, and turn each from his evil way, and from the act of violence which they have in hand. 9Who knows but that God may relent, and turn from his fierce anger, that we perish not ? Their And God saw their works, how they turned from their evil way ; and God pardon relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and did it not. Jonah's 4 'But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. 2And he prayed to because J^ovah, and said, Ah now, Jehovah, was not this what I said when I was yet of God's in mine own country ? Therefore I hastened to fleew to Tarshish ; for I knew totiie that thou art a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in heathen iOVe, and relenting of evil. 'Therefore, O Jehovah, take now, I beseech thee, my life from me ; for it is better for me to die than to live.x 4And Je hovah said, Doest thou well to be angry ?y ^hen Jonahz went out of the city, and sat down before the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it,a until he might see what would become of the city. His 6And Jehovah God prepared a gourd,b and made it to come up over Jonah, neS*" that, it might be a shade over his head.c So Jonah was rejoiced exceedingly and in- over the gourd. 7But as the dawn appeared the next day God prepared a ance worm and it injured the gourd, so that it withered. 8And when the sun arose, trasted ^0<^ PrePare0" a sultry east wind. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, with so that he was faint, and begged for himself that he might die saying, It is inanite better for me to die than to live. 9And God said to Jonah, Is it well for thee to be angry about the gourd ? And he said, It is well for me to be angry, even to death! 10And Jehovah said, Thou carest for a gourd, for which thou hast not troubled thyself, nor hast thou brought it up ; a thing that came in a nightd and has perished in a night; "Shall I, .indeed, not care for the great city, Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty thousand human beings who know not their right hand from their left ; besides much cattle ? u 37 This is the formal introduction to the royal decree. v 38 Possibly this clause is secondary. y 42 Lit., / was beforehand in fleeing. 1 43 Cf. the similar words of Elijah, I Kgs. 19*. y 4* Gk., Art thou very angry? Possibly this is the correct rendering of the Heb. The striking contrast between Jehovah's character, as truly portrayed in Jonah's own words, 2> and the prophet's spirit is a part of the gentle irony of the story. ¦ 4B Certain recent interpreters of this book would transpose this vs. to a position immedi ately after 34, urging that its contents precede, in point of time, the events recorded in 35-44. Absolute logical unity, however, is not to be expected in an oriental story and the description of the gourd in 46 requires 5 as its background. • 46 Heb. adds, in its shade, but this is not well supported by the Gek. and is probably taken from the next vs. b 46 The Heb. word is taken from the Egyptian. The plant was the Ricinus or Palma Christi, which has large leaves and grows to a great size. 0 46 Heb. adds the explanatory gloss, to deliver him from his evil. d 410 Lit., son of a night. love II THE POPULAR STORIES ABOUT DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW- EXILES § 203. Rewards of Loyalty to the Ceremonial Law, Dan. 1 Dan. 1 1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebu- The chadnezzara. king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2And the captivi- Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of ty the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god. 3 And the king commanded Ashpenaz, the chiefc of his eunuchs to bring in Educa- certain of the Israelites and also some of the descendants of the royal line, c^-ta?n and of the nobles, 4youths in whom there was no blemish, but who were of Jewish attractive appearance, learned in all wisdom, intelligent, understanding tives knowledge, and possessing the ability to serve in the king's palace, and that he should teach them the Hterature and language of the Chaldeans. 5And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties,*1 and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be educated three years, and at the end of that time they should serve the king. 6Now among these there were of the children of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7And the chiefe of the eunuchs gave names to them. To Daniel he gave the name, The Popular Stories about Daniel and His Fellow-Exiles. — The reasons for regarding these chapters as distinct from 7-12, and for dating them between the years 245 and 225 have already been presented in the Introd., pp. 33-5. The literary character and aims of this story are closely related to the Joseph narratives in Gen., and especially to the later Jewish writings, such as Esth., Tobit, and Judith. _ It is also probable that the nucleus of these stories was handed down from still earlier traditions. In this connection the references to Dan. in Ezek. 14u- 20. 283 are exceedingly significant and suggestive. In these passages, which come from the days immediately preceding the fall of Jerusalem — therefore at the very beginning of the period which is assigned to Dan. in the book which bears his name — he is alluded to as a character already known to Ezek.'s readers because of his reputation for great piety. He is also associated with Job and Noah, whom tradition assigned to the primitive age preceding the birth of the Heb. nation. Dan's reputation for superlative piety in both these groups of tradition strongly suggests that there is a connection between the two. His reputation was apparently such that it appealed to the popular mind and lent itself readily to the purposes of the religious story-teller and teacher. The names of Dan's other friends are all found in the writings of the Chronicler, which comes from the Gk. period, Ezra 82, Neh. 84, IO2- 23. § 203 The question of adherence to the rigorous demands of the ceremonial law, and especially of those sections which related to food, was ever an insistent one among the Jews, both of Palestine and of the dispersion. Already a party was coming to the front in Judaism which advocated the repudiation of the stricter demands of the law and the adoption of Gk. costumes, customs, and methods of living. The allurements of the fascinating and, in many ways, corrupt civilization which Alexander brought to the oriental world were felt strongly by the young. To them this story brought its clear teaching. Its brilliant setting also tended to counteract the effect of the dazzling splendor of the Gk. culture and of the voluptuous, alluring court life at Damascus and Antioch. a l1 The late Jewish spelling of the name of the great Babylonian king. The form, Nebu chadrezzar, usually employed in Jer. and Ezek. is the more correct. b l2 Shinar was the ancient Heb. designation of the land of Babylon. Cf. Gen. 1010, ll2, and was probably purposely employed in this story because of its archaic flavor. Heb. adds the phrase, house of his god, but, in light of the subsequent context, this is clearly secondary. ° l3 A Persian word meaning lit., the first. d 1B Another Persian word meaning, lit., portion, or, rations. In Syr. the corresponding word means, dainties. The latter expresses the meaning of the context. B l7 Here and in the subsequent VSS. the Aram, equivalent of the Heb. word, used in a, is employed. He is evidently the same official as in 3. 423 Dan. I7] DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW-EXILES Dan iel's re quest Resultof the test Superior wis domand knowl edge of Danieland his friends Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah, Shadrach, and to Mishael, Meshach, and to Azariah, Abednego.£ 8But Daniel felt under obligation8 not to defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he made a request of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9And God made Daniel an object of kindness and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs. 10And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, I fear lesth my lord the king, who has appointed your food and your drink, should see your faces worse looking than the youths who are of your own age, and lest ye make my head a forfeit1 to the king. "Then Daniel said to the overseer' whom the chief of the eunuchs had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah : 12Test now your servants ten days ; and let them give us vegetablesk to eat and water to drink. 13Then let our appearance be compared by you with the appearance of the youths who eat of the king's dainties ; and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. wSo he hearkened to them in this matter, and tested them ten days; 15 And at the end of ten days their appearance was better, and they were fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate of the king's dainties. 16So the overseer took away their dainties, and the wine that they should drink, and gave them vegetables. 17Now as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and learning in all literature, and wisdom; and Daniel understood all visions and dreams. 18 And at the end of the days which the king had fixed for bringing them in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19And the king spoke with them; and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. 20And in every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm. 21And Daniel continued even to the first year of King Cyrus. f l7 Possibly the original read, Abednebo, which would mean, servant of the god Nebo. s l8 Lit., laid it to heart. The idiom occurs in Is. 571, ll and apparently means that he felt it to be a matter of conscientious scruples. h l10 An Aramaic construction transcribed with the corresponding Heb. words. i V° The word is not found in early Heb. It means, to render guilty. The idiom might be translated, bring guilt upon my head. j lu Or, steward. _ The exact meaning of the word is not known. The context implies that the original read simply, to the chief of the eunuchs who had been appointed over Daniel, etc. k 11- Vegetable food in general with which there would be no danger of ceremonial de filement. 1 l18 I. e., to attend the king. 424 DANIEL'S INTERPRETATION OF DREAM [Dan. 2l § 204. Daniel's Interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream, Dan. 2 Dan. 2 *And in the second111 year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebu- Nebu chadnezzar dreamed a dream ; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep went nezzar's from him. ^hen the king gave command to call the magicians and the en- Jire1a"? chanters and the sorcerers and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams, demand So they came in and stood before the king. 3And the king said to them, I have dreamed a dream and my spirit is troubled to know the dream. 4Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic :n O king live forever, tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. 5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The word from me is sure : if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, ye shall be cut limb from limb and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honors; therefore show me the dream and its interpretation. 7They answered the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation. 8The king answered and said, I know of a surety that you would gain time,0 for you see that the word from me is sure, namely, that if you do not make known the dream to me, one fate is for you — and you planned to speak lying and corrupt words before me, till the time be changedp — there fore tell me the dream and I shall know that you can show me its interpreta tion. 10The Chaldeans answered before the king and said, There is no man on the earth who can show the king's matter, inasmuch as no king, however great and powerful he was, has asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or Chaldean. 11What the king asks is too difficulty and there is no other who § 204 As has already been noted in the Introd., p. 33, the book of Dan. reflects the late popular traditional conception of the course of earlier history. In these traditions Babylon was overthrown, not by Cyrus the Persian, but by Darius the Median, and an independent Median kingdom was supposed to have intervened between the Baby, and Persian. This belief is re flected in the present section. In the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, the head of fine gold, of course, represents the Baby, power, the breast and arms of silver the Median king dom, the body and thighs of brass the Persian rule, which extended over the then known world. The fourth, represented by the legs of iron, was Alexander's kingdom, which broke in pieces all the preceding kingdoms, while the feet and toes, part of clay and part of iron, represented the Ptolemaic and Seleucidean kingdoms, which arose after the dissolution of Alexander's empire. The one, Egypt, is represented by iron, because in the days when the writer lived, Ptolemy Euergetes had succeeded in founding an empire, which resembled, only in a lesser degree, the empire of Alexander. Syria, on the other hand, is represented by miry clay because, at that time, under the rule of the weak successors of Antiochus II, it was threatened with immediate dissolution. It is important to note that the author believed that in the days of Ptolemy Euergetes and his Syrian rival, Jehovah's everlasting kingdom was to be set up, and like Alexander's lightning-like conquests, it would break in pieces and destroy allthese other kingdoms. The story, as a whole, was calculate.!, not only to keep alive the hope of the Jews that Jehovah's rule would soon be visibly established on earth, but it also illustrated the superiority of Jewish wisdom, which came through divine revelation, to all which the heathen world could bring forth. It also inspired the belief that the God, who could reveal, could also realize. Professor Torrey's explanation of the Aram, section in the heart of the book (chaps. 2-7) is, on the whole, the most satisfactory of the many thus far suggested. It is that the original author of 7-12 deliberately translated 1 from Aram, into Heb. and then employed Aram, in 7, in order, by this bond, to bind more closely together the different parts of the book. This theory, in the case of 1 at least, is strongly confirmed by the unparalleled number of peculiar Aram, idioms which have been retained, even in the Heb. m 21 In l3- s> IS it is implied that Dan. had already lived several years under the rule of Neb. Possibly the original read, twelfth. n 24 From this point on through 7 the language used is Aramaic. ° 23 Lit., buying time. p 29 Following the division of the vs. suggested by Torrey. q 2U Lit.,' rare. 425 giving Dan. 2"] DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW-EXILES can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and gave command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. Dan- 13So the decree went forth, and the wise men were to be slain ; and Daniel quest" and his companions were sought, that they might be slain. "Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; 15he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so harsh on the part of the king ? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16And Daniel went in and asked the king that he would grant him time, and the interpreta tion would be shown to the king. Revela- "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, ticm of M;snaei; an(j Azariah, his companions, 18in order that they might ask mercy dream from the God of heaven on account of this secret/ that Daniel and his com panions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night ; and Daniel blessed the God of heaven. His 20Daniel spoke and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; prayer jor w;s(jom an(j might are his. 21And he it is who changeth the times and the thanks- seasons; he removeth kings and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them who have understanding. 22He revealeth the deep and secret things ; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of wisdom and might, who hast now made known to me what we desired of thee, for thou hast made known to us the king's matter. Daniel ^Therefore Daniel went3 in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to J£g destroy the wise men of Babylon, and spoke thus to him: Destroy not the king wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will show to the king the interpretation. ^Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said to him : I have found a man of the children of the captivity of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation. 26The king an swered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation ? 27Daniel answered before the king and said: The secret which the king has demanded can neither wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers show to the king ; 28but there is a God in heaven who revealeth secrets, and he hath made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed are these:4 29As for thee,u O king, upon thy bed thy thoughts arose as to what should come to pass here after, and he that revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass. 30But as for me, this secret was not revealed to me by virtue of any wisdom that I have more than any living being, but to the end that the inter- r 218 Or, mystery. I . e., the nature of the king's dream. 8 2s4 As a result of a scribal error, the Aram, has two verbs expressing the idea of went. One is lacking in the Gk. and the other in Theod., and the original clearly had but one. ' 22» Cf. Gen. 41^. u 229 Possibly the, as for thee, is secondary, but cf . the corresponding phrase in 30. DANIEL'S INTERPRETATION OF DREAM [Dan. 230 pretation may be made known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your heart. 31You, O king, had a vision, and behold, an image — that image was very Re- great,v and its brightness was pre-eminent— standing before you ; and its ap- ing the pearance was terrible. 32This was the image: its head was of fine gold, its ^^.f^ breast and its arms of silver, its body and its thighs of brass, ^its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay, ^'hou didst look until a stone was cut out, but not by hands, which smote the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces all together,w and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36This is the dream and we will tell its interpretation before the king : Its in- 370 king, you are king of kings, to whom God hath given the kingdom, the tation power, the might, and the glory; 38and in all the habitable world he hath given into your hand the sons of men,1 the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and hath made you to rule over them all; you are the head of gold. 39And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you ; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall rule over the whole earth. 40And a fourth shall be as strong as iron,y since iron breaks in pieces and shatters all things ; and hke iron which crushes, so shall it break in pieces and crush all things. 41 And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but there shall be in it some of the strength of the iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miryz clay. ^And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. 43And whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves by marriage alliances ;a but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mingle with clay. ^And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty be left to another people ; but it shall break in pieces and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever, ^inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain but not with hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God hath made known to the king what shall be here after, and the dream is certain, and its interpretation sure. 4eThen King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel, Daniel's and gave command that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors to him. rewar<1 47The king answered Daniel and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, v 231 Deleting a word which has crept in because of a scribal error. Cf. Torrey, in Trans. of Conn. Acad, of Arts and Sciences, XV. y 2s5 Cf., for the corresponding Heb. idiom, Is. 65s5. The shock represents the complete overthrow of the heathen powers. 1 2s8 Following the superior rendering suggested by Torrey. The current rendering, wheresoever the children of men dwell, fails to reproduce the thought of the author. y 240 J. e., an iron implement. ¦ 241 I. e., clay that crumbles readily. a 2** Lit., by the seed of men. As already noted, it is a reference to marriages between the Ptolemies and Seleucida; and more specifically to the marriage of Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, to Antiochus II Theos in 248 B.C. 427 Dan. 247] DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW-EXILES and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you have been able to reveal this great secret. 48Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many gifts, and made him rule over the whole province of Babylon, and become perfect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49And at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the administra tion of the province of Babylon ; but Daniel was in the king's court.b §205. Deliverance of Daniel's Faithful Friends, Dan. 3 Nebu- Dan. 3 'Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, the height of chad- which Was sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits ; he set it up in the plain of zar's Dura, in the province of Babylon, ^hen Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to ima_re and gather together the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counsellors, [^j the treasurers, the judges,0 the sheriffs,*1 and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image, which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ^hen the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counsellors, the treasurers, the judges, the sheriffs and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up ;e and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages : 5'As soon as ye hear the sound of the horn, flute, lute, harp,f psaltery, bag-pipe,g and all kinds of music, ye shall fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar has set up ; 6And whoever does not fall down and worship shall at once be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery fur nace. 'Therefore at the same time, when all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, lute, harp, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages fell down, and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.' Action therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused11 the °,fl Dan~ Jews. 9They spoke1 and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live for- friends ever! I0O king, you have made a decree, that every man who shall hear the sound of the horn, flute, lute, and bag-pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image ; "And whoever does not fall down and b 219 Lit., gate of the king. Cf. The Sublime Porte, the official designation of the ruler of Turkey. § 205 This story had its message for the Jews living in the midst of the heathen world, but especially for those who were inclined to give up the religion of their fathers for the allurements of heathenism. It taught that death was preferable to apostasy, and that Jehovah was able and would deliver all who were loyal to him. It has been suggested that the idea of punishment by burning came to the author from Jer. 2922, which states that the king of Babylon burnt in the fire a certain false prophet among the Jewish exiles by the name of Ahab. Dan. does not figure in the story, probably because of the high favor which he enjoyed with the king. The teaching is all the stronger because the heroes are not prophets but ordinary laymen. c 32 Possibly this word is simply a scribal variation of the following, which it resembles. Cf. ". d 32 The meaning of this word is uncertain. 0 33 Possibly the phrase, that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, which is found in i, and (Aram text) the latter part of 3 is here due to a scribal error. f 35 A triangular musical instrument. Its exact form is not known. k 35 Many of these instruments are of Gk. origin and bear Gk. names. h 3s Lit., ate their pieces. 1 39 Lit., answered, but no question has been asked. The Aram, usage here is similar to the Heb. The verb is equivalent to our colloquial, spoke up and said. DELIVERANCE OF DANIEL'S FRIENDS [Dan. 3u worship, shall be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. 12There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the administration of the prov ince of Babylon — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — these men, O king, have not regarded you; they serve not your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up. 13Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury gave command to bring Shadrach, Their Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. to£wor- 14Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said to them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, ?h'P the and Abednego, that you do not serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up ? 15Now if you are ready at the same time that you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lute, harp, psaltery, and bag-pipe, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image which I have made, well; but if you do not worship, you shall at once be cast into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace; and where is there a god that shall deliver you out of my hands? leAnd Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar, O king,J we have no need to answer thee in this matter. 17If it be so,k our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace ; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up. 19Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the appearance of his counte- Thrown nance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; he spoke gj^y* ° and gave command to heat the furnace seven times hotter than it was wont to furnace be heated. 20And he commanded certain strong men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in order to cast them into the burning, fiery furnace. 21Then these men were bound in their mantles,1 and their hats,™ and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. 22Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of fire slew those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ^And these three men, Shad rach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burn ing, fiery furnace. 24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste ; he Their spoke and said to his counsellors, Did we not cast three men bound into the ance61" midst of the fire ? They answered, and said to the king, True, O king. ^He f J°m answered and said, Lo, I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the power fire, and they have no hurt ; and the appearance of the fourth is like to a son of flames the gods.n 26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning, fiery furnace; he spoke and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ser vants of the Most High God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abeclnego came forth out of the midst of the fire. 27And the i 316 Transposing two words, king, and, Nebuchadnezzar, according to the analogy of 9 and the current usage. - 317 I. e., if the king puts them into the fiery furnace. 1 321 From 27, as well as from its usage in later Heb., it is clear that these were the outer garments, or mantles. m 321 xhe meaning of this word is not certain. » 3K The usual biblical designation of a heavenly messenger. Cf. Gen. 6', Job l6. Cf. ». 429 The king'sproc lama tionregard ing the God of Israel Dan. 327] DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW-EXILES satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, over whose bodies fire had no power, and the hair of whose head was not singed, and whose mantles were not changed, and on whom the smell of fire had not come. 28Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants- who trusted in him, and have altered the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. 29Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation and language, which speak anything0 against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their house shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other god who is able to deliver as this one. 30Then the king promoted1* Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Nebu-chad-nez- zar's praiseof Is rael's God Failure of the wise men to interpret the king'sdream § 206. Nebuchadnezzar's Edict concerning His Remarkable Experience, Dan. 4 Dan. 4 Nebuchadnezzar the king to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth : May your peace be great. 2It hath seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God hath wrought toward me. 3How great are his signs ! and how mighty are his wonders ! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. 4I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and prosperous in my palace.*1 5I saw a dream that made me afraid ; and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chal- ° 32 Following the superior marginal reading of the Aram. p 330 Lit., made prosper. § 206 The divergencies between the portrait of Nebuchadnezzar in this story and the actual king of history had long been recognized. Instead of being tyrannical and godless, he was an exceedingly pious and conscientious king. There is no evidence in the contemporary records that the strange seven-year-long tragedy recorded in the story came to him, and the silence is almost incredible, if there were an underlying historical basis for the story. Like the other stories in the book of Dan., it is apparently not strict history, but teaching in narrative form. Ina fragment from the historian Abydenus, preserved by Eusebius, there are certain distant Soints of contact with the present tradition. The passage reads, "Megasthenes relates that ebuchadrezzar became mightier than Herakles and made war upon Libya and Iberia; having conquered those countries he transported some of their inhabitants to the eastern shore of the Sea. Afterward, as the Chaldean story goes, when he had ascended the roof of his palace, he was inspired by some god or other and cried aloud, ' O men of Babylon, I announce to you the future calamity, which neither Bel my ancestor, nor our queen Beltis can persuade the Fates- to avert. There shall come a Persian, a mule, who shall have your own gods as his allies, and he shall make you slaves. Moreover he who shall help to bring this about shall be the son of & Median woman, the boast of the Assyrians. Would that, before his countrymen perish, some whirlpool or flood might seize him and destroy him utterly! or else would that he might betake himself to some other place, and might be driven through the desert, where is no city nor track of men, where wild beasts seek their food, and birds fly hither, and thither, would that among- rocks and mountain clefts he might wander alone! And as for me, may I, before he imagines this, meet with some happier end!' When he had thus prophesied, he suddenly vanished." It must be admitted that the points of contact between this tradition and the present story of Dan. are not many. It is chiefly significant as showing the type of traditions that were current at this period and the material which was accessible to the author of the Dan. stories. The author himself was probably conscious that the story was not exact history. This fact, how- ever.was comparatively unimportant to him, for his object was not historical, but didactic And in the opening vss., 2- 3, he plainly declares his purpose. q 44 Gk. and Theod., on my throne. 430 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S EDICT [Dan. 47 deans, and the astrologers came in, and I told the dream before them ; but they did not make known to me its interpretation. 8But at last there came before me Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar,1, Details according to the name of my God, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods ; and king's I told the dream before him : "O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, because dream I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and no secret troubles you, tell me3 the secret visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpreta tion. "Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and behold,* a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. uThe tree grew and was strong, and its height reached to heaven, and it could be seenu to the end of the earth. "Its leaves were fair, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all ; the beasts of the field found shadow under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it. 13I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher,v even a holy one, came down from heaven. "He cried aloud, and said, 'Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. 15But leave the stump of its rootsw in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass ;x he shall be fedy with the grass of the field, and wet with the dew of heaven, and his portion shall be with the beasts. 16His heart shall be changed so that it shall not be that of a man, and a beast's heart shall be given to him, and seven times shall pass over him. 17The sentencez is by the decree of the watchers, and the affair by the word of the holy ones, that the living may know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the humblest of men.' 18This dream I, King Nebuchad nezzar, have seen; and you, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, in asmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for the spirit of the holy gods is in you. 10Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was dumfounded for a mo- Daniel's ment, and his thoughts troubled him. The king answered and said, Belte- p"**^.- shazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation trouble you. Belteshazzar tion of answered and said, My lord, the dream be to those who hate you, and its in terpretation to your adversaries ! 20The tree which you saw, which grew and was strong, whose height reached to heaven, and the sight of it to all the earth, r 4fl The name really means in the Bab., protect his life, but the Aram, narrator thought that the first part of the word contained the name of the Bab. god, Bel. ¦ 49 Following Theod. in inserting the verb that has dropped out of the Aram. * 410 The description of the great tree is cast in semi-poetic form. u 411 Lit., the sight of it. I. e., it could be seen from all parts of the earth, so great were its dimensions. v 413 This ia the first definite appearance in Heb. literature of the angelic watchers who figure in the book of Enoch and later writings. » 415 The tree is not to be completely destroyed. * 416 The band of iron and brass probably represents the necessity under which Neb., whom the tree symbolized, was to submit to the divine sentence. Possibly the verb, bound, has also been lost from the text. y 416 Supplying the verb required by the context and the parallels in «• 32. Through another scribal error, with the grass of the earth, has been repeated at the end of the vs. It is lacking in the parallel in a. In this vs. the author passes suddenly from the figure to its symbolic ap plication. • 417 Lit., word or thing. 431 Dan. 421] DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW-EXILES 21whose leaves were fair, and whose fruit much, and in which was food for all; under which the birds of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the birds of the heavens had their habitations, 22is you, O king — you who are great and strong; and your greatness has grown, and reaches to heaven, and your do minion to the end of the earth. ^And whereas the king saw a watcher, even a holy one, coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew down the tree and de stroy it.a ^This is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: ^You shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you ; until you know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomever he will. 26And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be secure to you as soon as you recognize that the heavensb do rule. "Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteous works, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if perhaps there may be a continuation of your prosperity. Fulfil- All this came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar: 29At the end of twelve oTthe months he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon. 30The king spoke and dream said, Is not this great Babylon which I have built for a residence, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty ? 31While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came down from heaven : O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken : ' The kingdom hath passed away from thee, 32and thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen ; and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou knowest that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whom he will.' ^The same hour the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar; and he was driven from men, and ate grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws. The MAnd at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, reefy- and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and ery and honored him who liveth forever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, restora- ... «k tion and his kingdom from generation to generation ; and all the inhabitants of the earth are considered as nothing ; and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand, or say to him, What doest thou ? 36At that same time my reason returned to me, and for the sake of my royal honor, my majesty and my kingly appearance0 were restored to me. Then my counsellors and my nobles sought eagerly for me ; and I was established in my kingdom, and still greater power was added to me. 37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase. » 4_3 The remainder of this vs. is lacking in the Gk. and is clearly the work of a later scribe, since it anticipated the interpretation which follows in 26. It was simply copied from 16- le. b 426 This is the first case of the use of heavens as a synonym for God. It is very common in this sense in the Mishna and the N.T. 0 4s* Lit., excellent greatness. 432 BELSHAZZAR'S PUNISHMENT § 207. Belshazzar*s Punishment, Dan. 5 [Dan. 51 Dan. 5 belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine before the thousand. 2Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, gave command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple, which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them. ^hen they brought the golden vessels which were taken from the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem ; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. 4They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand came forth, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plasterd of the wall of the king's palace ; and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote. ^hen the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, and the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote against each other. 7The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon : Whoever shall read this writing and show me its interpretation shall be clothed in purple and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the thirde ruler in the kingdom, ^hen all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing nor make known to the king the interpretation. 9Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed, and his nobles were thrown into confusion. 10Now the queen, because of the words of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet house, and the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever; let not your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance be changed. 11There is a man in your kindgom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him ; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father made him the chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers; ^for an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding, the interpreting of dreams and explaining of riddles and the solving of difficul- Bel- shaz- zar'simpious feast Writing on the wall Failure of the wisemen of Babylon to interpret it Queen's testimonyto Dan iel's wis dom. § 207 The present story is closely related to the preceding. Its object is to illustrate Jehovah's judgment on the proud and wicked heathen. Again the story differs widely from the testimony of contemporary records. Belshazzar, which is probably the traditional Aram. rendering of the Baby, name, Belsharuzur, was not the son of Nebuchadnezzar, but of the usurper, Nabonidus, the fourth and last Baby, ruler after Nebuchadnezzar. The contemporary evidence indicates clearly that, instead of being a rich and powerful king like Nebuchadnezzar, he never actually ascended the throne of Babylon. He is mentioned frequently in the inscrip tions which come from the first twelve years of Nabonidus's reign. Inasmuch as his father was inefficient and more interested in archseology than state-craft, it is probable that to Belsharuzur fell large responsibilities, so that he figured in popular tradition as actually the last king of Babylon. The contemporary inscriptions of Cyrus state that Babylon was delivered up by its inhabitants to the Persian army under Gubaru. The popular tradition, however, that the city wa* taken by Cyrus during the night, while the inhabitants were all feasting, is found in Herodo tus (I, 191) and Xenophon (Cyrop. VII, 51*-81). Herodotus (I, 188) also shared the belief that Nabonidus was the son of Nebuchadnezzar. The Belshazzar of the story is not, as has often been asserted, a type of Antiochus Epiph anes, for the heathen king pays high homage to Dan. and his crimes are not those of tyranny and persecution, but simply that of using in his feast the vessels from Jehovah's temple. The story is rather an illustration of Jehovah's superiority and power over all heathen kings. d 55 Lit., chalk. e 57 The exact meaning of this phrase is not clear. The ordinary interpretation is: third in authority, possibly after the king and the queen-mother. It may mean, every third day, or, year, but this is doubtful. 433 Dan. 512] DANIEL AND HIS FELLOW-EXILES ties1 were found in this same Daniel, whose name the kingB changed to Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation. King's 13Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to isesnto Daniel, Are you that Daniel, of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom Daniel the king my father brought from Judah ? 14I have heard concerning you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that insight and understanding and ex traordinary wisdom are found in you. 15And now the wise men, the enchant ers, have been brought in before me, that they should read to me this writing and make known to me its interpretation ; but they are unable to show the in terpretation of the thing. 16But I have heard concerning you, that you can give interpretations and solve difficulties; now if you can read the writing, and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Daniel's 17Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Keep your gifts, and elation giye your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king shaz-' an<^ ma^e known to him the interpretation. lsO, thou king, the Most High zar's God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom and might and glory and andim- majesty. 19And because of the might that he gave him, all the peoples, na- piety tions, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive ; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. 20But when his heart became lifted up and his spirit became arrogant, he was deposed from his kingly throne and his glory was taken from him, 21and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like that of the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses ; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that the Most High God ruleth over the kingdom of men, and that he setteth up over it whomsoever he will. 22But you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, ^but have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and the vessels of his house have been brought before you, and you, and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have drunk wine from them ; and you have praised the gods of silver, of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know ; and you have not glorified the God in whose hand is your breath, and to whom belongeth all your ways. Then the palm of the hand was sent forth before him, and this writing was inscribed. ^And this was the writing that was inscribed : Mene,11 Tekel, Peres' Inter- 2eThis is the interpretation of the thing : Mene : God hath numbered your tkfnrf kingdom, and brought it to an end. 27Tekel: you are weighed in the the f 5a Lit., knots. Some would interpret the word as, spells, but this is not supported by the context. e 5,! So Theod. A scribe, in the Aram., has repeated the words, the king your father. h 525 The united testimony of the Gk. and Lat. and of the subsequent context leaves no doubt that the repetition of the first word in the writing on the wall is not original but simply due to a later scribe. ' ' 5s5 The reliable testimony of Theod. and the Lat., as well as 2», indicate that the third word id the original text was not Uphaksin but Peres. As Torrey has also shown (Trans, of 434 writing BELSHAZZAR'S PUNISHMENT [Dan. 52r balances, and found wanting. 28Peres : your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.^ 29Then Belshazzar gave command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and Dan- put a chain of gold about his neck and made proclamation concerning him, ^Jj6" that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 30In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. 31And Darius the Over- Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. of Bel shaz zar him § 208. Daniel's Deliverance from the Lion's Den, Dan.6 Dan. 6 1It pleased Cyrus to set over the kingdom a hundredk and twenty Dan- satraps, who should be throughout the whole kingdom ; 2and over them three ffji chief officials,1 of whom Daniel was one, that these satraps might give official honors reports to them, and that the king should suffer no loss.m 3And this Daniel Cyrus was distinguished above the chief officials and the satraps, because an excel lent spirit was in him ; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. 4Then the chief officials and the satraps sought to find occasion against piots of Daniel on the side of his administration; but they could find no occasion ^fover^ or fault, inasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault throw found in him. ^hen said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him in connection with the law of his God. "Then these chief officials and satraps came tumultuously11 to the king, and said to him, King Darius, live forever. 7A11 the chief officials of the kingdom the counsellors and the satraps, the judges and the governors have consulted together to have the king0 establish a statute, and to make a strong interdict, that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of you, O king, shall be cast into a den of lions. 8Now, O king, establish the interdict and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law Conn. Acad, of Arts and Sciences, XV), this reading is confirmed by the summary appended to the old Gk. text, and more significant still by Josephus, who usually reproduces the traditional Aram, reading. In the light of all this varied and cumulative evidence there can be no doubt that the inscription originally read as above. Professor Torrey has also proved that the current translations are untenable. Furthermore it is evident that they were not intended to be clearly intelligible, for if so, learned men present would have at once given the interpretation, and there would have been no need for Daniel's services. The three words are from three common Aram, roots meaning to number, to weigh, and, to divide, and the words themselves are all formed in the same way by adding the vowels used in forming the most common Aram, nouns from the verb stems. Thus the words, while not in use in the current language, were in their root mean ing suggestive, and at the same time presented obscurities that only a Daniel could interpret, as he does in the following vss. i S28 The root not only meant, divide, but its sound also suggested the word Persia. § 208 This story closely resembles those in chaps. 1 and 3, and emphasizes the importance of strict obedience to the ceremonial law and Jehovah's protection of those who trust him. The same teaching is found in Ps. 9110-13. The possibility of misapplying the teaching here presented is well illustrated in Matt. 45-7. The lesson of courageous loyalty to the faith of their ancestors was one, however, which was much needed by the Jews of this period, and, in the form in which it is presented, has taken a powerful hold upon the Christian as well as the Jewish world. - 61 Possibly the 100 is a later addition, since there were but twenty satrapies in the Per sian empire under Darius Hystaspes, the real organizer of the empire. Cf., however, the 127 satrapies mentioned in Esth. I1. So also the Gk. and Syr. give the number in 61 as 127. Possibly this is original although Theod. and the Lat. follow the Aram. 1 62 The word is apparently of Persian origin, and means, head, chief. ¦» &> Lit., no injury. , n 66 Lit., make a tumult, i. e., came tumultuously, either because of their zeal to force the king's hand. . ° 67 Current versions simply, to establish a royal statute, but only the king could assume this authority. 435 Dan. 69] DANIEL'S VISIONS of the Medes and Persians, which is unalterable. 9Therefore King Darius signed the writing and the interdict.p His dis- 10And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his ofgthe house ; (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem) and royal ne knelt upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks be- dict fore his God, for he had formerly been wont to do so. "Then these men assembled together and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. ^hen they came near and spoke before the king about the royal interdict : Have you not signed an interdict, that every man who shall make petition to any man or god within thirty days, save to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions ? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which is unalterable. 13Then they answered and said before the king, That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regards you not, O king, nor the interdict that you have signed, but prays three times a day. The _ "The king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased, and set his vain heart on delivering Daniel, and he labored until the going down of the sun to to°res- rescue him. 15Then these men came tumultuouslyi to the king, and said to cue him the king, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establishes may be changed. Daniel 16Then the king gave command, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into into the the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said to Daniel, Your God, whom hons°£ you serve continually, will deliver you. 17And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his nobles, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. r 18Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither did he have concubines8 brought before him, and his sleep fled from him. His de- 19Then the king rose at dawn, as soon as it was light, and went in haste to ance the den of lions. 20And when he came near to the den to Daniel, he cried with an agonized voice ; the king spoke and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant cf the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions ? 21Then Daniel said to the king, O king live forever. 22My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me, since before him innocency was found in me ; and also before you, O king, have I done no harm. 23Then was the king exceedingly glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God. Fate of MAnd the king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused hia foes Daniel ; and they were cast into the den of lions, together with their children, and tb,eir wives, and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they reached the bottom of the den. i> 69 Cf. Esth. I". q 616 Theod. omits the words, came tumultuously and. This doubtless represents a very old and possibly an original reading. r 6" I. e., that no one might prevent the carrying out of the decree by rescuing Daniel ¦ 61S The meaning of this word is not known. The above is based on the analogy of the Arab. The rabbis translated it, musical instruments; Theod., food. 436 DANIEL'S DELIVERANCE FROM LIONS [Dan. 625 ^Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that Darius'! dwell in all the earth : May your peace be great ! 26I make a decree that in all Ttf '^°e^ the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; P, it would seem clear that in the prophet's mind these Deasts were representative angels or, more properly speaking, because of their malign character, demons. In this respect they clearly correspond to Michael, the angelic prince, which, in the thought of the prophet and later Judaism, stood as the guardian of Israel, and who fights against, e. g., the angels who repre sent the kingdoms of Persia and Greece. Cf. 10l3> "• 20. From these references one may draw the inference that it was Michael who fought against and slew, according to u, the beast which represented Antiochus Epiphanes. An appreciation of these peculiar characteristics in the prophet's thought and teaching are necessary to the understanding of 13, the most significant and difficult passage in the book. It immediately follows the description of the slaying of the great dragon, which represented An tiochus, and the dethronement and banishment, for a time, of the angels, or demons, which represented the four preceding world powers. Then in his vision the prophet saw, coming on the clouds of heaven into the presence of the divine Ruler of the universe, one like a son of man. To him was given the dominion and glory and sovereignty which in the parallel passages, is, 22, 27i was given to the saints of the Most High. In the light of this context it would seem clear that the one who thus comes, not from the sea, as did the angels or demons which repre sented the heathen world powers, but from the heavens, was, in the thought of the prophet, Michael, the champion and representative of the people of Israel. Cf ., for a detailed presentation of this interpretation, Schmidt, Jour, of Bib. Lit., 1900, I, 21-8, and Grill, Untersuchungen uber die Entstehung des vierten Evangeliums, 1900, I, 50-7. Furthermore, in the corresponding apocryphal writings of Rev. 127-a, Michael is the one who overcomes the great dragon which, in the thought of the author of that book, was identified with Rome. In a still more signfi- cant passage, because the analogy is closer, Rev. 14", the writer saw a white cloud, and on the cloud one sitting like to a son of man, having on his head a golden crown and in his hand. a sharp sickle. From the context in which this passage stands, it is clear that the one here described as like to a son of man was an angel. The expression, like to a son of man, also clearly implies that the prophet was describing, not a human, but an angelic being, for if he were a man the comparison would have no meaning. Hence the use of the term, son of man. as a messianic title, as in the Similitudes of Enoch, chaps. 37-70, and II Esd., 133, was not justified, if it rep resented an interpretation of the present passage in Daniel. In fact, the term, son of man, in many of the Aram, dialects of the period, is simply a poetic equivalent of the term, man. Ezekiel, who employs it frequently, does it simply to emphasize his humanity in contrast to the angelic beings who appeared to him in his visions. Its use as a messianic title by later Jewish writers does not appear to have been universal. The author of Daniel also uses the phrase, like a man frequently, but always in describing angels. Cf. 81S, 921, 1016- 18. In light of the parallels in 718- M- 27, it is clear that the promise found in l*> li is that the universal rule of Jehovah's faithful people will speedily be established. In this broad sense therefore, it is distinctly messianic. d 71 The great sea represents the habitable world. Cf. 17. 0 74 The lion with the eagle's wings represents the Baby, empire. f 74 I. e., of superior intelligence, probably because of the reputation Nebuchadnezzar enjoyed in late Jewish tradition. e 75 Gk. omits. Possibly this is secondary. Cf. 6- 7. h 75 The Median empire. • 75 Certain Aram. MSS. read, it raised one side. The meaning, in any case is obscure Possibly it is simply a realistic description of a bear's awkward posture, or possibly it symbolizes" the partial nature of the Median kingdom. j 75 Probably symbolizing its ravenous nature. Cf. Is. 1317, Jer. 51". " k 76 The Persian empire with its four great kings known to later Jewish' tradition 1 77 The Graeco-Macedonian world power. m 77 These represent ten kings. 438 HEATHEN KINGDOM AND KINGDOM OF GOD [Dan. 7s horn came up amongst them,n before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.0 9I waited until thrones were set up, and an aged onep took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and his hair like spotless wool, his throne was fiery flames, its wheels burning fire.i 10A fiery stream issued and came forthr before him ; thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set3 and the books were opened. "I looked at that time because of the sound of the great words which the horn spoke — I looked even until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and given to be fuel for the fire.* 12Also the rule of the rest of the beasts was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a fixed time and season. 13I saw in the night-visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like to a,_snn ofrmaji." and he came even to the Aged One, and was brought near before him.v 14And there was given him dominion and glory, and sov ereignty, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his sov ereignty one which shall not be destroyed. 15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved by reason of this, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18But the saints of the Most High shall receive the sovereignty, and possess the sovereignty for ever, even'for ever and ever. 19Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass ; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet ; 20and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three horns fellw — it that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and it appeared to be greater than the rest.x 21I looked, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, 22until the Aged One came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the fixed time came that the saints possessed the sovereignty. ^Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms ; and shall devour the whole n 78 The detailed description is of Antiochus Epiphanes, who at first possessed but little power and seized the throne by treachery. Cf. n, IF1. The horn in Semitic symbolism repre sents strength. The three kings torn up by the roots were probably the three kings, Seleucus IV, Heliodorus, and Demetrius I. ° 78 I. e., the reference is to the blasphemous words of Antiochus. Cf. ll36. " 79 Lit., one ancient of days. Cf. Gen. 241. The reference is to Jehovah, who rules for all time. q 7! Cf. Ezek. 1. i 710 Theod. omits, came forth. 8 710 /. e., the divine court convened. 1 711 Aram., to the burning of fire. u 713 Or simply, man. v 713 For the interpretation of this vs., cf . introd. to the section. Following the superior interpretation suggested by Torrey. w 7M Correcting what is clearly a scribal error. The VSS. also omit the and of the Aram, x 720 Lit., its appearance was greater than the rest. The ce lestialcourt Overthrow of the beasts Alex ander's empireand the rule of Antio chus Epiphanes Dan. 723] DANIEL'S VISIONS earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. MAnd as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise ; and another shall arise after them ; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put down three kings. ^And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall con^ tinually harassy the saints of the Most High ; and he shall think to change the fixed times and the law ; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.z 26But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his kingdom, to consume and to destroy finally.3, 27And the sovereignty, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall surely be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his sov ereignty is an everlasting sovereignty, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. ' Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me much, and my brightness of countenance was changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart. § 210. The Victories of Alexander and the Wicked Rule of Antiochus, Dan. 8 The Dan. 8 *In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision came to ofThe me> Daniel, after that which appeared to me previously. 2And I saw in a Medo- vision — and when I saw, I was in the Shushan, the royal palace,b which is in empire the province of Elam — and I saw in a vision,0 and I was by the River Ulai.d ^hen I lifted up mine eyes and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns,e and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4I saw the ram pushing west ward and northward and southward, and no beasts could stand before him, and none could deliver out of his hand, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself. Of 5And as I was observing, behold, a he-goat came from the west over the face der?11" °f tne whole earth, without touching the ground ;£ and the goat had a con- con_ spicuous horn between his eyes. eAnd he came to the ram that had two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran upon him in the fury of his power. 'And I saw him come close to the ram, and he was angered against him, and smote the ram, and broke his two horns ; and the ram had no strength to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled upon him, and none could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8And the he-goat mag- y 7M Lit., wear out, or, afflict. B 7K The reference, of course, is to the earlier stages of Antiochus's persecutions and his seeming success in suppressing the temple worship and the carrying out of the Jewish laws. Cf. I Mac. 1"' '2. A time is probably to be reckoned as a year, so that the period indicated is three years and a half, approximately the period of active persecution preceding the Maccabean uprising. ft 7M /. e., forever. § 210 This section is closely parallel to the preceding and presents many difficulties to the translator but few to the interpreter. The little horn of 9-14 is, as in 7M, Antiochus Epiphanes. The description of this tyrant and his persecutions of the Jews is here given in greater detail. This is supplemented by the interpretation which follows. The interpretation of the detailed historical references will be found in connection with the notes on each vs. b 82 Lit., castle, or, citadel. Cf. Esth. 315. c 82 Theod. omits this second, and I saw in a vision. d 82 The Eulaeus, on which, according to Pliny and Arrius, Susa was situated. • 83 The ram evidently symbolizes both the Median and Persian empires which were closely connected. The higher horn, which came up last, apparently represented Persia. ' 85 Suggesting the rapidity of Alexander's conquests. 440 ALEXANDER AND ANTIOCHUS [Dan. 88 nified himself exceedingly; and when he had become strong, the great horn was broken. And in its place there came up four other8 horns toward the four winds of heaven .h 9And out of one of them came another1 little horn, wnich grew exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east,J and toward the glorious land. 10And it grew great, even to the host of heaven ; and some of the host, and of the stars it cast down to the ground and trampled upon them.1 11Yea, it magnified itself even to the prince of the host,m and took away from him the daily sacrifice,11 and cast down0 the place of his sanctuary, 12andp it set up the sacrilegious things over the daily sacrifice, and cast down truth to the ground, and did it and prospered. 13Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to the one who spoke, For how long shall the vision be that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away1" and the appalling sacrilege8 set up and the sanctuary and the host* trampled under foot ? 14And he said to him,u For two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings.v Then shall the sanctuary be justified.w ^And it came to pass when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it ; and behold, there stood before me one who had the appear ance of a man.x 10And I heard a human voice between the banks ofy the Ulai, which called and said, Gabriel,z cause this man to understand the vision. 17So he came near where I stood ; and when he came I was affrighted and fell upon my face, but he said to me, Understand, O son of man,a for the vision Of An tiochus and hia cruelpersecutions Duration of his tem ple des ecra tion Inter pretation of the vi sion b 88 So Gk. Heb., conspicuous. h 88 The reference is to the division of Alexander's empire after the battle of Ipsus in 301 b.c. The four horns represented Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. 1 89 Correcting the Heb. as the context requires. i 89 The south refers to Egypt, the east to Persia. Cf. I Mac. 1«-19, 331- 37- 61-4. k 89 J. e., Judah and the temple. Cf. also ll". «. «, Ezek. 20s. 1 810 The reference is to the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus. m 8U /. e., claimed that he was equal to Jehovah himself. Cf . 25, prince of heaven. n 8U Heb. marginal reading, by it the daily sacrifice (lit., the continual) was taken away, i. e.t the daily temple service in behalf' of the nation. 0 8U Slightly changing the vowel pointing to conform to the context. Heb., was cast down. p 8n So Theod. anct Gk. Heb. has, through a scribal error, the unintelligible words, and a host, probably repeated from u. The text of the rest of the vs. is corrupt, but it is clear that the little horn is the subject throughout. Two or three corrections of the Heb. give the above rendering, which is supported by Ia. q 812 Or, transgression, or, iniquity. It is the equivalent of, the appalling desolation. Cf. 9s7, ll31, and 12u. In the light of I Mac. I54 (where,the latter term is used) it was the heathen altar and service, including the offering of swine, which was set up by Antiochus on the site of the altar of burnt-offering in the temple where the daily sacrifice had been presented to Jehovah. r 813 Following the suggestion of the Gk. in reconstructing the corrupt Heb. 8 813 Or, iniquity of desolation, clearly a reference to the altar and heathen service of Antiochus. Cf. preceding note and I Mac. I47- «• H- 69. ¦ 813 This must refer to the heavenly host, as in 10. Hence the phrase means, everything holy and divine. « 814 So Gk., Theod., and Syr. Heb., to me. v 8li I. e., 1,150 days. According to T*, 127, the persecution was to last three and a half years. As a matter of fact, it lasted, according to I Mac, somewhere between 1,100 and 1,190 days, according to the calendar then in use, so that the above datum is probably historical. w 814 By the restoration of the service. x 815 The Heb. word, geber, is unusual in this connection and is evidently intended to point to, Gabriel (man of God), in the next vs. y 81S Supplying the implied, the banks of. t * 816 Gabriel is frequently mentioned in extra-canonical Jewish lit. Cf. Enoch 91, 207, 403-7.9, 546^ 718, 9,13. Cf# a]ao Lis. l19- M. He again appears in 921 to explain Jeremiah's prophecy of the seventy years. According to Enoch 40 he stood at the head of the heavenly powers. In Daniel, for the first time in O.T. writings, the names of angels are given. " 817 Ezekiel's characteristic phrase. 441 Dan. 817] DANIEL'S VISIONS belongeth to the time of the end.b 18Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground ; but he touched me, and set me upright in my place. 19And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the time of wrath,0 for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end. 20The ram which thou sawest, with the two horns, represents the kings of Media and Persia. 21And the he-goatd is the king of Greece, and the great horn between his eyes is the first king. 22And as for that which was broken so that four stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arisee out of his nation, but not with his power. ^And in the later days of their rule, when the transgressorsf have come to the full, a king defiant* and skilled in dissimula tion shall stand up. MAnd his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power ;h and he shall utter1 monstrous things, and shall achieve, and shall destroy the mighty ones.J ^And his cleverness shall be directed against the saints ; he shall succeed through deceit, and devise great things,k and he shall destroy many unawares ¦} he shall also stand up against the prince of princes ; but he shall be destroyed, but not by the hand of man.m 2eAnd the vision of the evenings and mornings11 which has been told is true ; but hide the vision for it belongeth to many days to come. 27And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days ; then I rose up and did the king's business and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it. § 211. Meaning of Jeremiah's Seventy Years, Dan. 9 Jere- Dan. 9 'In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus," of the Median predic- race, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, 2in the first year of tion his reign, I, Daniel, perceived by the books the number of years concerning b 817 The final great crisis of the world's history, which the author expected would come soon after the cessation of the persecution of Antiochus. The term was probably taken from Am. 8' or Ezek. 72. c 819 /. e., the closing days of heathen rule. d 821 A scribe has added in the Heb. the Aram, synonym of he-goat. ° S22 So Gk. and Theod. The reference is to Alexander's empire, and the four nations included Macedonia and Greece, under Cassander; Thrace and Bithynia, under Lysimachus; Syria, Babylonia, and the East, under Seleucus; and Egypt, under Ptolemy. f 8M Gk., Theod., and Syr., sins. The difference is simply one of vowel punctuation, but the Heb. is probably the original, and the reference is to the apostate Jews as well as the heathen persecutors. e 8M Lit., hard of face. h 8M But not by his own power, may well be a later scribal addition, for it is not found in Theod. and the sense is complete without it. 1 8s4 Reconstructing the Heb. with the aid of the parallel in ll36. Traditional text, destroy wonderfully. i 8M Following the superior reading of the Gk. and giving the last words of this vs. to K. k 8M Heb. idiom, cause craft to prosper in his land, and he shall do great things in his mind. 1 8M When they suspect nothing. m 8M Lit., without hand. 11 8M 7. e., concerning the daily sacrifice. § 211 The question of how long the persecutions of Antiochus would continue was a burning one in the days in which the second half of the book of Daniel was written. The prevailing con ception of Jehovah's rulership of the world encouraged the devout in Israel to believe that somewhere or in some way God would answer the question. The author of this chapter evidently thought that he had found the answer to the question. In Jeremiah's prediction (Jer. 259' n- 12, 29'°) the desolation of Jerusalem was to last but seventy years. The author of Dan . 9 recognized, in common with all later Jewish writers except the author of the opening chapters of Ezra, that the exile and desolation of the holy city had not yet ceased. Hence he was driven to the con clusion that the seventy must have represented, not simple years, but weeks of years, that is, 490 years. This period he divided into three parts. The first period of seven weeks of years, ° 91 I. <.., Xerxes. Cf . Ezra 4'. In reality Darius was the father, not the son, of Xerxes. 442 JEREMIAH'S MEANING [Dan. 92 which the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet,p that they should be completed while Jerusalem stood in ruinsq — even seventy years. 3And I turned1, my face to the Lord God, to apply myself to prayer" and pan- supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. *And I prayed to Jeho- 'confes- vah my God, and made confession, and said,* Oh, Lord, the great and the s!on. of terrible God, who keepeth the covenant and showeth mercy to those who serve behalf him and keep his commands," 5we have sinned and have dealt perversely, nation and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from thy precepts and from thy ordinances ; 'neither have we listened to thy servants the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people, of the land. 70 Lord, righteousness belongeth to thee, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel who are near, and those who are afar off, in the lands whither thou hast driven them, because of their crimes which they have committed against thee. sO Lord, to us belongeth con fusion of face, to our kings,v to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee, ^o the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness,w for we have rebelled against him, '"neither have we obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his teachings which he set before us by his servants the prophets. "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law and have turned so as not to obey thy voice. Therefore the curse hath been poured out upon us, and the oath which is written in the law of Mosesx the servant of God ; for we have sinned against him. uAnd he hath confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulersy who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great, misfortune; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done to Jerusalem. 13As it is written in the law of Moses,z all this evil has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor or 49 years, represented the days of the Baby, exile, from the fall of Jerusalem in 586 to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus in 538 B.C. The second period, 62 weeks of years, that is, 434 years, evidently extended from the conquest of Babylon to the murder of the high priest Onias III in 171 B.C. The actual number of years was 366 or 367, but the variation was, in all proba bility, due to the author's ignorance regarding the chronology of the period. It is significant that the historian Demetrius, who lived about 200 B.C., in estimating the period from the fall of Samaria to his own day, makes practically the same error, indicating that the author of Daniel probably here followed the chronology current in his day. The last period of one week, that is, seven years, was divided about equally in two parts by the desecration of the temple and the beginning of Antiochus's active persecution, which fell in 168 b.c. His conclusion, therefore, is that a time and times and half a time, that is, three and one-half years, still remain before the overthrow of the heathen powers and the establishment of Jehovah's kingdom. As a 'matter of fact, the first book of Mac. states that the period between the beginning of the active persecu tion in 168 and the -(.dedication of the temple in 165 was exactly three years and ten days. About a half year later came the news of the death of Antiochus. To the faithful readers of the book of Daniel this must have seemed a marvellous confirmation of the truth of the prophet's teaching, even though the death of Antiochus failed to inaugurate the temporal rule of the saints of the Most High, as the prophet had ardently hoped and plainly taught. " 9X Cf. Jer. 2512, 29">, Lev. 2618> «• ». 2*. a 92 The Heb. is exceedingly awkward, but the idiom may be translated as above. ' 93 Lit., set. B 93 Lit., seek prayer. « 9* For close parallels, cf. Jer. 32«-2s, I Kgs. 8, Neh. 1, 9, and Bar. l'S-3". By some the entire prayer, *-20, is regarded as a later addition, since 21 is a natural sequence of 3 and _-20 has little connection with I-3. " 9* Based on Dt. 79. y 98 Kings, as in 6, applies to the past, not to the present. y 99 Heb., compassing forgiveness, i. e., acts of compassion and forgiveness. * 9'i Cf . Lev. 2618 a, Dt. 292». r 912 Lit., judges. ' 913 Cf. Dt. 2815b, 31'. 443 Dan. 913] DANIEL'S VISIONS of Jehovah our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and discern thy faithfulness. "Therefore Jehovah hath watched over the evil and brought it upon us, for Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, and we have not obeyed his voice. Peti- 15And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought thy people forth out of the tion for . . . forgive- land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gained renown as at this day, we andres- have sinned and we have done wickedly. leO Lord, according to all thy tora- righteousness, let thine anger and thy wrath, I pray thee, be turned away from thy city, Jerusalem, thy holy mountain ; because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people have become an object of reproach to all who are round about us. 17Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, and show favor to thy sanctuary, which is desolate, for the sake of thy servants, O Lord. lsO my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desola tions, and the city which bears thy name; for we do not present our sup plications before thee because of our righteousness, but because of thy great compassion. 190 Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hearken and per form ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God, because thy city and thy people are called by thy name. God's 20And while I was speaking, and praying, ahd confessing, my sin and the sponse sm °f my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah to his my Gorj for jjjg ^y mountain of my God,a 21yea, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel,b whom I had seen earlier in the vision, being made to fly swiftly,0 approached me about the time of the evening offering. 22And he came,d and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give thee wisdom and insight. MAt the beginning of thy supplications the command went forth, and I have come to tell thee ;e for thou art greatly be loved ;f therefore heed the word, and understand the vision. Mean- ^Seventy weeks8 have been decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy thl°ev- c'ty> to make an endh of the sacrilege,1 and to complete^ the sin, and to make years atonement fork iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,1 and to seal up vision and prophecy,111 and to anoint the most holy.n ^Know there fore and discern, that from the going forth of the command to repeople0 and • 92° Theod. omits, of my God. i> 921 Cf. 818. e 921 The meaning of this Heb. phrase has been variously interpreted. The above is supported by Theod., Syr., and Lat. Meinhold would apply the phrase to Daniel and trans late, when I was exhausted. d 922 So Gk. and Syr., supported by context. • 923 Following the VSS. in adding, thee. f 923 Lit., an object of affection. b 9M J. e., weeks of years. h 9s4 Following the superior reading of 40 Heb. MSS. 1 9M_ I. e., the desecration of the temple by Antiochus. Cf. 812> t3- 23. Possibly Israel's earlier crimes are also in the prophet's mind. i 9M So marginal reading of the Heb., supported by the Gk. and Theod. This clause is evidently parallel in thought to the preceding. The sin is not that of the people but the cere monial pollution of the people and city. k g2* Or, cancel, pardon. 1 9W A period in which the pollution and desecration of the present will never be repeated The word is apparently used here in its later ceremonial sense. m 921 Lit., prophet. I. e., to confirm the words of prophecy by fulfilment " 9M The desecrated altar and temple. Cf . Ex. 29", 3026' 2S. ° 9a The rebuilding under Nehemiah came before the repeopling of Jerusalem. Cf .Neh. 7*. 444 JEREMIAH'S MEANING [Dan. tf* rebuild Jerusalem to the anointed one,p the prince, shall be seven weeks; sixty-two weeks shall it be rebuilt, with broad places and streets.^ And at the endr of times 26(even after the sixty-two weeks)s an anointed one shall be cut off* without judicial trial;11 and the city and the sanctuary shall be de stroyed together, and his end shall come with a floodv and even to the end there shall be war, a sentence of desolations.w 27And the covenant shall be annulled for manyx for one week ; and in the midst of the week the sacrifice and the offering shall cease,y and in its place2 shall be an appallinga abomina- tionb and that until the ruin determined upon, is poured out upon the ap palling thing. § 212. Meaning and Goal of Human History, Dan. 10-12 Dan. 10 *In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a thing was revealed The to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the word is true, and oft?ie means great distress.0 And he gave heed to the words, and understood the an£elic p 9s5 In !6 this term, clearly refers to the high priest. So also ll22. It is also so tiseu. in Lev. 43> 6- 16, 615, while the word translated, prince, is in the Gk. period (cf. B. Sir. 45M), the regular designation of the high priest, who was the civil as well as the religious head of the Jewish community. The one referred to is therefore Joshua, who was high priest in 520-516 b.c, when the temple was rebuilt. From 586 b.c. to 516 b.c. was a period of seventy years but the prophet, following the tradition in Ezra, apparently thought that the city was repeopled at the beginning of the Persian period in 538 B.C., which would give approximately forty-nine years. q 9K Following Syr., in reading, streets, lit., street, instead of the doubtful traditional ren dering, moat. r 9s Following the Gk. and Syr. Heb., in strait of times. B 9M This clause may be simply an explanatory gloss. t 926 The reference must be to the death of the high priest Onias III, who was murdered at the instigation of his rival, Menelaus, in 171 b.c. Cf. II Mac. 31- 2, 44- 35-37, 1512. u 9M So Theod. Lit., without having any judgment. The statement applies well to Onias III. The traditional Heb. makes no sense. Another reconstruction gives the equally harmonious rendering, without guilt. v 9M Reconstructing the Heb. with the aid of the Gk., Theod., and Syr. Trad. Heb. may possibly be rendered, the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood. The prince, in that case, would be Antiochus; but according to the superior reconstruction suggested by Bevan (Dan., 158-61) and adopted above, the prince, as in tne preceding vss., would be a high priest, probably Jason, the brother of Onias III, who, according to II Mac. 57-10, perished miserably. w 925 The text is very doubtful. x 927 Probably a reference to the apostate Jews who joined with Antiochus in desecrating the temple and in persecuting their kinsmen. y 927 Reconstructing as the context suggests. Heb., he shall cause to cease. a 927 Gk. and Theod., on the sanctuary. Heb., on a wing, is clearly corrupt. The simple reconstruction followed above accords with the context. a 927 Again slightly revising the Heb. The reference is clearly to the appalling sacrilege of 8»2. b 927 Cf, gi3t XXs1, 12u. The reference is, of course, to the altar of Antiochus and indirectly to the king himself, who instigated the persecution. § 212 In this culminating section of the book of Daniel the same themes are treated as in the three preceding chapters, but the symbolism almost entirely disappears, and instead Daniel simply reports what he is told by the angel Gabriel. It purports to be a prediction of the course of history in the century following the period of the exile, during which Daniel was supposed to have lived. The errors regarding the nistory of the earlier period and the wonderfully exact description of events in the latter part of the period, which culminated in the days of Antiochus, leave no doubt that it is an interpretation written largely in the light of the events themselves and intended to furnish an impressive background for the actual predictions which begin with ll40. The wide divergence between these predictions and the course of history during the im mediately foUowing years makes it possible to date these chapters with great assurance in the year 168 b.c. It was the darkest hour before the dawn. Antiochus had all but succeeded in his purpose to put an end to the worship of Jehovah and to banish or destroy all who were loyal to their inherited laws and customs. Already Judas and his followers had raised the standard messen ger 0 101 Lit., military service, i. e., a long period of painful service. Cf. Is. 402 and Job 71. 445 Dan. IO1] DANIEL'S VISIONS vision. 2In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks. 3I ate no pleasant bread, neither did any flesh or wine enter my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were past. 4And in the twenty- fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river,d 5I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and there was a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of Ophir ;e 6his body also was like the chrysolith,f and his face like lightning, and his eyes like flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like polished brass, and the sound of his words like the sound of a mul titude.6 7And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision ; for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling seized them, and they fled to hide themselves. 8So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me, for my fresh appearance was changed11 to pallor.1 9Yet when I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep with my face^ toward the ground. Effect 10And behold, a hand touched me, which set me trembling upon my knees Daniel and upon the palms of my hands. uAnd he said to me, O Daniel, thou man greatly beloved, give heed to the words that I speak to thee, and stand upright, for to thee have I now been sent. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling. 12Then he said to me, Fear not Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thy heart to gain insight,k and to humble thyself before thy God, thy words were heard; and I have come because of thy words. 13But of rebellion, but the movement had revealed nothing of its coming strength. Cf. ll34. Although the language is purposely obscure, the great majority of historic references can be identified. The original obscurity of the language and teaching evidently proved a great stumbling-block to later scribes and copyists, with the result that these chapters present more difficult textual problems than any others in the O.T. The crimes and achievements of Antiochus are presented at length. In the mind of the author and his age he was the personification of all that was worst in heathenism. As in 7U, certain elements, drawn from the ancient myth of Jehovah's contest with the dragon, the spirit of chaos are added to this portrait. Possibly the fact that Antiochus claimed for himself divine honors influenced the prophet to picture him in truly demoniacal colors. In later Jewish writings many of the elements in this portrait are transferred to Satan, the head of the hierarchy of demons, which opposed the divine hierarchy, at the head of which, in Jewish thought, stood Jehovah, with Gabriel, Daniel's informant, as his viceroy. By far the most significant teaching found in these chapters is that of individual immorality. Now, for the first time in the O.T., it finds clear and definite expression. Not all, but those who had proved faithful to their God and their law in the days of the great crisis, were to rise again from the dust to participate in the divine kingdom, which the prophet anticipated was to be speedily established, 122- 3. It was but the beginning of that belief in individual immorality which became one of the fundamental doctrines of Phariseeism and Christianity. Judaism had been strangely slow in accepting this doctrine, which Egyptian and Persian and Greek prophets and philosophers had taught long before, but in the presence of devoted martyrs, who had voluntarily faced death through devotion to their religion, the Jewish teachers had been led to open their eyes to this greater truth. Hitherto the immortality of the family and tribe and nation had satisfied their sense of divine justice and their hopes for the future. The historical development of the Jewish belief in individual immortality is still enveloped in much obscurity. The germ, however, of that belief, which is found in the book of Daniel, developed rapidly, so that by the first century b.c. it was held not only by the Pharisees but by the great majority of the Jewish race. d IO4 A scribe has added, that is ihe Hiddekel (the Tigris). In Gen. 1518 the great river is the Euphrates. The scribe who added the gloss appears to have thought that Babylon was on the Tigris. e IO5 So five Heb. MSS. Trad. Heb., Uphaz. This is otherwise unknown. f IO8 Lit., Tarshish-stone, so called because found in Tarshish Lin Spain. According to Pliny it was transparent and with a splendor like that of gold. s 10° Or, tumult, a loud, inarticulate sound. h IO8 /. e., the pallor of death. Heb., my beauty was turned in me to corruption. Cf. the parallel idiom, 728. 1 10s In Heb. a scribe has added, probably from 16, the tautological phrase, and I retained no strength. i 109 So Theod. Heb. adds, on my face. k 1012 /. e., regarding the destiny of his race. 446 MEANING OF HUMAN HISTORY [Dan. IO13 the prince of the kingdom of Persia1 withstood me twenty-one days ; but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me ; and I left him there with the prince of the kings of Persia.1" 14Now I have come to make thee under stand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days. 15And when he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground, and was dumb. 10And then one in the likeness of the sons of men11 touched my lips ; then I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said to him who stood before me, O my Lord, because of the vision my pangs0 have come upon me, and I retain no strength, l7for how can this the servant of my Lord talk with thisp my Lord ? For as for me, henceforth9 there remains no strength in me, nor is there breath left in me. 18Then another in appearance like a man touched me, and strengthened me. Mes- 19And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not ; peace be to thee ; be strong, |ncour- yea, be bold.r And when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, Let age- my Lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. 20Then he said, Knowest thou why I have come to thee ? and now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia, and when I go forth, then the prince of Greece shall come ; 21and none who helpeth me against these, except that Michael, your prince, 11 'standeth as my helper and defence. 10 21aBut now I will tell thee what is written in the book of truth :s 11 2Be- Over- hold, three more kings shall stand up for Persia ; and the fourth* shall be far Df p^._ richer than they all; and when he has grown strong through his riches, he ^?by shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. 3Then a warrior king shall stand ander up, who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. 4And when he has become strong,11 his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be di vided to the four winds of heaven, but it shall not belong to his posterity, nor shall it be as great as his dominion/ which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be overthrown and shall belong to others besides these. 5And the king of the southw shall be strong, but one of his princesx shall be Alliance stronger than he, and shall rule; his dominion shall be great. 6Andattheend t^een the ' 10>3 The guardian angel of the Persian empire. Cf ., for the same belief, Is. 2421, Ps. 82, ^'"l.8" B. Sir. 1717. Michael is the guardian angel of the Jews. ancj g„_ m IO13 So Gk. and Theod. Heb., / remained there with the kings of Persia, but this, in the igu-jdae context, makes no sense. n IO16 Cf . the older parallel in Is. 67. Theod. and Lat. read, son of man. ° IO16 /. e., as of a woman in travail. p IO17 The, this, added with, servant, and with. Lord, probably was intended to emphasize the differences in station between the two. They are, however, omitted by Gk. and Theod. q IO17 Or following a suggestion of the Gk., because of terror. Syr. omits. r IO19 So Gk., Theod., and four Heb. MSS. Heb. simply repeats, be strong. B IO21--!2 The wide variations in the Gk. and Theod., as well as the lack of logical unity, show that the trad. Heb. text is corrupt. 102,a and ll1" are practically duplicates and ll2"- is in the logical position. 1021b is the immediate sequel of 20. The superscription in the Heb., ll"1, and as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, has all the characteristics of a scribal addition, for it interrupts Michael's words to Dan. The rest of the vs. has been reconstructed with the aid of the VSS. * ll2 The four kings which were probably in the mind of the author, Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes, are mentioned in the O.T. The fourth, however, from the description, must be Xerxes, who in his mind was placed after Artaxerxes just as Cyrus was thought to have followed Darius. u 1 14 So the parallel passage 88. Heb., he shall stand up. The reference is to Alexander the Great. v ll4 /. e., none of the kingdoms that resulted from the division of Alexander's empire were to be as large or powerful as this one. "11s Ptolemy Soter. x us Seleucus Nicator, who was once in the army of Ptolemy, and later became king of Syria and the East. 447 Dan. 11°] DANIEL'S VISIONS Inva sion of Ptolemy Eu ergetes His vic tory over Anti ochus theGreat at Raphia Con quests and reign of Anti ochus the Great of some years they shall make an alliance with one another, and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agree ment,7 but that support2 shall not retain strength, neither shall his supports stand; but she shall be given up, and they who brought her, and hea who begat her, and hea who supported her. 7But in those timesb a shoot out of her rootsc shall arise in hisd place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortresse of the king of the north, and shall act against themf and prevail, 8and also shall carry away their gods, together with their molten images and their costly things of silver and gold, captive into Egypt; and he shall refraing some years from the king of the north. 9Then another11 shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but he shall return to his own land. 10 And his son1 shall war, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, and he shall come onward ,J and overflow, and pass through, and shall return and war, even to his fortress.^ nAnd the king of the south shall be enraged, and shall come forth and fight with him. even with the king of the north, and that one shall raise a great multitude,1 but the multitude shall be delivered into hism hands. 12And the multitude shall be carried away, and his heart shall be exalted ; and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but he shall not show himself strong. 13And the king of the north shall return, and shall raise a multitude greater than the former; and he shall come after a period of several years, with a great army and with much equipment.11 14And in those times many shall stand up against the king of the south,0 also the sons of the violent among thy peoplep y ll6 The reference here is to the marriage of Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus to Antiochus Theos. The marriage was disastrous to all concerned. Antiochus was poisoned by his former wife after Berenice had been put away. She and her son and adherents w°re also murdered in 247 b.c. and Ptolemy II died about the same time. These events are ah alluded to in 6. z 11° Lit., ihe arm. This translation is supported by the parallel in II Chr. 1320. It means that neither the alliance, sealed by the marriage of Ptolemy's daughter, Berenice, nor his Syrian allies will prove effectual. Current translation, but she shall retain ihe strength of her arm. a ll6 Probably Berenice's father and husband. b ll7 With Theod., transferring the last clause of 6 to 7. c ll7 Following the superior Gk. text. d ll7 Ptolemy Euergetes III, a brother of Berenice, who avenged her death by invading Syria, conquering a large part of Syria, and by nearly driving Seleucus from his kingdom. 0 ll7 Seleucia, the port of Antioch. f ll7 Or, bring an army against them. s ll8 I. e., not attack. h ll9 Two years later Seleucus Callinicus invaded Ptolemy's territory but was signally defeated. 1 ll10 So marginal reading of Heb. Heb., his sons; but one of the two was early murdered. Callinicus's son, Antiochus III (the Great), conquered Syria from Ptolemy Philopater, the son of Euergetes, as far as Gaza. ' ll10 Or, come against him, i. e., Ptolemy. k llio The campaign was begun in 319 and the decisive battle at Raphia was not fought until 317 b.c. The reference is probably to Antiochus's entering either Gaza or Raphia. 1 ll11 A general but accurate description of the battle of Raphia. Ptolemy and Antiochus both raised armies of about 70,000 men. Antiochus, however, was defeated with, the loss of 15,000 of his troops. He was forced to retire to Antioch, leaving Ptolemy master of Palestine and Ccele-Syria. Ptolemy did not follow up his victory, but concluded a weak treaty and re turned to his dissolute life. m 1 1" /. e., Ptolemy's. The antecedents in "> *2 are not entirely certain, but in the light of the facts Ptolemy must be the antecedent in 12. n ll13 In 205 b.c. Ptolemy Philopater died, leaving a child of four years to succeed him. Antiochus joined with Philip, King of Macedon, in an attack upon Egypt. e ni4 The reference is probably to insurrections within Egyptian territory. p ll14 Apparently a party of Jews who favored Antiochus, who are condemned, however, in the light of the later atrocities perpetrated by Syria. 448 MEANING OF HUMAN HISTORY [Dan. ll14 shall lift themselves up to establish the vision, but they shall be overthrown. 15So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well- fortified city; and the forces of the south shall not stand,q nor his chosen men, and there shall be no strength to stand. 10But he who shall come against him, shall do as he wills, and none shall withstand him ; and he shall stand in the glorious land,r and in his hand shall be destruction.8 17And he shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, but he shall make an agreement with him ; and he shall perform them;' and he shall give him the daughter of women, to ruin it ;u but it shall not avail nor shall he attain it. 18After this he shall turn his face to the coast-lands, and he shall take many; but a consuF shall put an end to the insults offered by him ; and shall repay his insults sevenfold. 19Then he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall and shall no longer be found.w 20Then one shall stand up in his place who shall cause an exactor to pass Rise through the glory of the kingdom ;x but within a few days he shall be broken, reign of but not in anger nor in battle.y 21And in his place there shall stand up a con- ^nti- temptible personz upon whom they had not conferred the royal honor ; but he Epiph- shall come unexpectedly, and shall obtain the kingdom by intrigues. 22And anes forces3, shall be utterly13 overwhelmed before him and shall be broken, and also a prince of the covenant." ^And after they make a league with him he shall act deceitfully;*1 for he shall rise and become strong, with a small nation. MHe shall come unperceived, even into the fattest parts of a province ; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers ; he shall scatter among them6 prey and spoil and riches, and he shall devise plans against the strongholds, even for a time. ^And he shall arouse his might q 1 115 Scopas was sent with an Egyptian army to recover Palestine. Antiochus, however, defeated him at Paneion, and the Egyptian general retreated with a large army to Sidon. There he was besieged and captured by Antiochus, who then completed the conquest of Palestine with the exception of Gaza. ' ll16 i\ e., Judah. Cf. 89. a ll16 Or, with all of it in his hand, i. e., completing the conquest. ' 11" So Gk., Theod., Syr., Lat., and Arab. The reference is to Antiochus's plans to conquer all Egypt. This plan was altered, however, and a treaty was made in accord with which Cleopatra, the daughter of Antiochus, was betrothed and later, in 193, married to Ptolemy. The object of Antiochus was to gain the support and ultimately possession of Egypt without incurring the hostility of Rome. u ll17 /. e., Egypt. Cleopatra bore an excellent reputation and enjoyed a happy life in Egypt, so that the possible rendering, to ruin her, is precluded. The reference is probably to Antiochus's sinister aim in making the alliance. v ll18 Following Bevan in reconstructing the Heb., with the aid of a suggestion found in the Gk. Cf . Ps. 7912. The consul was Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who in 190 B.C., at the great battle of Magnesia, defeated Antiochus's army of 80,000 men and frustrated the realization of his ambi tions in the north and west. Cf . Livy, XXXVII, 39-45, 55. Antiochus was also obliged to pay 1,000 talents annually to Rome for nine years. w ll19 The collapse of Antiochus's empire was sudden and complete. The king himself was killed while attempting to rob the temple of Bel at Elymais. * ll20 /. e., Judah. The king is Seleucus Philopator (187-175) and the exactor is Helio- dorus, who, according to II Mac. 3, made an unsuccessful attempt to rob the temple at Jerusalem. y ll20 I. e., not by insurrection or by violence. z ll21 Seleucus was murdered, by Heliodorus .and his younger brother Antiochus, who assumed the name Epiphanes and improved the opportunity, with the aid of the king of Per- gamum, to secure the Syrian throne. a ll22 Lit., arms. Probably the failures of Heliodorus and other claimants to the throne. b ll22 Pointing the Heb. differently from the trad. text. 0 ll22 Probably the Jewish high priest Onias III, who was deposed by Antiochus in 175 B.C. d ll23 All who ally themselves with him shall be deceived. 8 1 124 /. e., his followers and the objects of his favor. The reference is to his well-known generosity and to his love of giving prodigal gifts. Cf. Polyb., XXVI, 109> 10, Livy, XLI, 20. 449 Dan. ll25] DANIEL'S VISIONS His per secu tions of the' Jews The re sistance of the Jewishpatriots Insaneprideandcrueltyof An tiochus and his courage against the king of the south with a great army ; and the king of the southf shall make war with an exceedingly great army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him. 26And those who eat his dainties shall ruin him, and his army shall be swept away as a flood,g and many shall fall down slain. 27And as for these kings, their hearts shall be bent on mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table ;h but it shall not prosper, for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 28Then shall he return to his land with great riches, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant ; and he shall do his pleasure,1 and return to his own land. 29At the time appointed he shall return, and enter into the south; but it shall not be in the latter time as in the former; 30for ships of Kittim* shall come against him; therefore he shall be cowed, and shall return, and vent his rage on the holy covenant, and shall do his pleasure. And he shall return and fix his attention on those who forsake the holy covenant.k 31And forces sent by him shall prevail, and they shall profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and shall take away the daily offering1 and set up the appalling abomination.111 32And he shall pervert by specious promises, those who bring guilt upon the covenant ;n but the people who know their God shall be valiant and do ex ploits.0 33 And they who are wise among the people shall give understanding to many ;p yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil many days. ^Now when they are falling, they shall be helped with a little help;*! but many shall join themselves to them with false protestations. 35And some of those who are wise shall fall, in order to refine them and cleanse them and make them white/ until the time of the end, for it is yet for the time appointed. 36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god,s and shall speak marvellous things against the God of ' ll25 Ptolemy Philopator, who was betrayed through the treachery of his followers, at whose instigation he had made the attempt to reconquer Syria. Cf . Poly., XXVII, 12. ell26 EspeciaUy at the disastrous battle of Pelusium. h ll27 The reference to the alliance made after the battle between Antiochus and Ptolemy Philometer nominally against the latter's younger brother. i n28 The reference is to his entering and robbing the temple at Jerusalem. Cf. I Mac. 120-24, n Mac. 5»-». j ll30 Kittim originally designated Cyprus, but in later Jewish writings it described the western sea-coast peoples. Cf . I Mac. I1, 85. C. Popellius Laenas, representing Rome, 168 b.c, peremptorily ordered Antiochus to leave Egypt. k ipo /, e-) the Jewish apostates. 1 ll31 Under Apollonius. Tney came under the ^uise of peace, but when in possession of the city instituted a systematic and merciless persecution. Cf. I Mac. 1M- M- 37, II Mac. 5W. m ll31 Or, of desolation. Noeldeke would revise so as to read, Baal of heaven, referring to the Olympian Zeus, to whom the altar was dedicated and of whom a statue was erected near by. Cf . I Mac. I64, II Mac. 62. But cf . Dan. 813, 12u, and the note on the former passage. " ll32 Cf. I Mac. 2'8. o H32 Those who choose persecution or martyrdom in preference to apostasy. Cf . I Mac. j82t 63t which descrioes those who were strong. p ll33 The stout-hearted patriots who counsel resistance. Not the teachers, as sometimes understood. The wise shall influence many to be true to their religion, even though they shall be the prey of bitter persecution. q XXM The Maccabean leaders. Cf. I Mac. 2«-« 3U- "• ^-K. This movement did not seem significant to the author of Daniel because he expected the deliverance to come through immedi ate divine intervention. r ll35 The martyrdom of certain of the loyal champions of the law would chasten and purify the nation. Cf. Is. 53. n 1136 The well-known characteristics of the half -insane Antiochus Epiphanes are here developed at length. Among other things he claimed to be divine and demanded the worship of his subjects. 450 MEANING OF HUMAN HISTORY [Dan. ll30 , gods; and he shall prosper until [God's] wrath be exhausted ; for that which is decreed shall be done. "Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers; nor the desire of women,* nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above all. 38But in his place shall he honor a god of fortresses ; and a godu whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly things. 39And he shall procure for the strong fortresses the people of a foreign god.v Whomsoever he regards with favor he shall raise to great honor, and he shall make them to rule over many, and he shall divide the land for a price.w 40 And at the time of the end the king of the south shall contend with him ;x His and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with char- f^1 iots, with horsemen, and with many ships ; and he shall enter into the coun tries, and he shall overflow them and pass through. 41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many thousands shall fall ; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the remnanty of the Ammonites. 42He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43And he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt ; and the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow in his train.2 ^But rumors8, out of the east and north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and to utterly exterminateb many. 45And he shall plant his palace between the Mediterranean" and the glorious holy mountain ; so he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 12 *And at that time Michael shall stand up,d the great prince who stands Uiti- for the children of my people; and there shall be a time of affliction such as reSur- there never was since there was a nation,e even to that time ; and at that time j,!0^"" thy people shall be delivered, every one who shall be found written in the loyal book.f 2And manyg of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, 0ts " some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3And they who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they t H37 Probably the allusion is to the mourning for Adonis (Thammuz) in which the women took the chief part. Cf. Ezek. 814 and note. u H38 Probably the Olympian Zeus, to whom Antiochus gave the central place in his pantheon, instead of the gods peculiar to Syria. v ll39 J. e., he shall place garrisons of foreigners in the fortresses of Judah. The transla tion is based on a slight emendation of the Heb. y ll39 /. e., he shall confiscate land and sell to the highest bidder. _ 1140 With this introduction begin the predictions regarding the future from the prophet's point of view. The descriptions at once become more general. They describe another victori ous invasion of Egypt, by Antiochus's armies. These, the prophet predicts, will pass through Judah and again smite the Jews. Egypt and Ethiopia shall fall before him and he shall come back laden with wealth. The testimony of the early historians presents a very different course of events. Egypt continued under Rome's protection, and Antiochus, overwhelmed with debt, set out on a plundering expedition into the Far East, where he died in the Persian city of Taba. in 164 B.C. The prophet's picture of the future appears to have been suggested by Isaiah's description of Sennacherib's overthrow in Is. 1028-32. y ll41 So Syr. Heb., first, is probably due to a scribal error. B ll43 Lit., at his steps. • 1 144 Possibly the rumors were to be the result of the uprising of the Jews, as Antiochus's overthrow was expected in Palestine, near Jerusalem, 45. b ll44 Lit., to place under the ban, or, devote to destruction. 0 ll45 Lit., seas. d 121 There is a marked poetic parallelism and metre in the first part of the chapter, as in many parts of Daniel, but it is so irregular that it is best printed as prose. • 12' Cf. Jer. 30'. ' 12< I. _., the book of life. Cf . 713, Ps. 6923. ' 122 i\ e., not all but many shall enjoy blessed individual immortality. 451 Dan. 123] DANIEL'S VISIONS who turn many to righteousness11 as the stars forever and ever. 4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, to the time of the end ;l many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased-^ Dura- ^hen I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others were standing, the one on tion of tne brink 0f the river on this side, and the other on the brink of the river on period the other side. 6And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the secu-r waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these marvels ? 7And tlon I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, and he lifted up his right and his left handk to heaven, and swore by him who liveth forever: It shall be for a time, times, and a half;1 and when the power of the shatterer111 of the holy people shall come to an end all these things shall be finished. 8And I heard but I understood not. Then I said, O my lord, what shall be the end of these things? 9And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many shall cleanse themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined,11 but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but they who are wise shall understand. uAnd from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the appalling abomination set up shall be twelve hundred and ninety days.0 12Blessed is he who waiteth and cometh to the thousand, three hundred and thirty-five days. 13But go thou to the end, that thou mayest take thy rest and stand up to receive thy lot at the end of the days.p h 123 /. e., the patriotic counsellors and martyrs described in ll33- M. The two classes are evidently identical. i 124 The same command as in S26. i 12* The meaning of this famous passage is not certain. The interpretation, diligently explore the book, is open to question, for the Heb. text nowhere else has this meaning. Possibly the second clause snould be read, following a suggestion of the Gk., and calamities shall be increased; i. e., a period of disturbance and calamity shall ensue. k 127 To make the oath impressive. 1 127 I. e., three and a half years, as in 7ffi. That period probably began with Apollonius's pollution of the temple and continued to the overthrow of Antiochus, or, if written later than 166, to the dedication of the temple in 165 b".c. m 127 So Gk. The shatterer is, of course, Antiochus, as in parallel passages. Cf . T25. The Heb. conveys the same idea, but the construction is unusual, when they have (or, he has) made an end of shattering. n 1210 /. e., by enduring suffering and persecution. Cf. ll35. ° 1211 Allowing for an intercalary month, the 1,290 days simply represent the three and one-half years of 7. The extension of the time from 1,150 days in 814 to 1,290 perhaps indicates that the last vision was issued at a later period. Both are apparently based on the interpretation of Jeremiah's seventy years in 9. The 1,335 days has never been satisfactorily explained. If the close of the 1,290 days was intended to mark the death of Antiochus, it is possible that the writer anticipates that at least forty-five days more would pass before the full glories of the messianic era were to be realized. Vs. I3 is the most natural sequel of 10, and it is perhaps the simplest explanation of the difficulties to regard u- 12 as successive glosses added by later scribes, who, in the light of the event, sought to complete the period between the desecration of the temple and its rededication. In this connection it is important to note that the testimony of I and II Mac. differ by a year. p 1213 The meaning of this vs. is not entirely clear. The end must be the final consum mation predicted in this book. The promise is, apparently, that, although Daniel must die, he will, with the wise, rise to participate in the glories of the messianic kingdom. 452 IV THE OVERTHROW OF THE HEATHEN AND THE ESTABLISH MENT OF JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM § 213. The Conquest of Israel's Foes, Zech. 9 Zech. 9 'Jehovah3, is in the land of Hadrach,b And Damascus is his resting-place, For the cities of Aramc belong to Jehovah, 2And also Hamath which borders on it, The Overthrow of the Heathen and the Establishment of Jehovah's Kingdom. — The posi tion of chaps. 9-14 as the appendix to the post-exilic book of Zechariah suggests that they come from a comparatively late date. Although the hterary unity of these chapters has often been questioned, the evidence confirming that unity is exceedingly strong. From beginning to end they are characterized by the same literary style, the same belligerent attitude toward Israel's heathen foes, and the same hopes regarding the future of the race and of the world. Aside from the secondary superscription at the beginning of 12, there are no strong indications of the presence of different authors. As has already been noted in the General Introd., pp. 36, 37, practically all the evidence points decisively to the Maccabean period as the date when these chapters were written. The foes, for example, in 10, are those of the Judean community in the days of Judas Maccabeus. The Greeks are no longer distant slave-traders, as in the book of Joel, but the chief foes which confront the chosen people. Assyria, as in other late O.T. writings, represents the Syrian king dom, with its capital at Antioch. In this connection Herodotus's statement concerning Syria, This people whom the Greeks coll Syrians, are called Assyrians by ihe barbarians (VII, 63), is significant. The usage probably rose because the original seat of the Syrian kingdom was in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, which had been the centre of the ancient Assyrian empire. Only later was the capital of the Syrian empire transferred to Antioch. The frequent antithesis in these chapters between Assyria and Egypt indicates that the author had in mind the rival kingdoms of the Ptolemies and the Seleueidae. It is-also significant that no Israelite kings are mentioned, but the native rulers whom the prophet denounces are clearly the high priests, whose names we know and whose traitorous apostasy precipitated the great crisis of 168-165 B.C. Cf. introductions to different sections. The eschatological hopes are also those of the book of Daniel, transformed through the experiences which came to the Jews as a result of the victories of Judas. Interpreted in the light of their setting, which is probably the year 160 or 159 B.C., these chapters become valuable historical documents, for they reveal the spirit which actuated the pious patri ots, the men of action as well as faith, who supported the Maccabean leaders in their long, hard struggle for religious and political freedom. At the- same time it must be admitted_ that in religious and ethical value they are among the least important of all the O.T. prophecies. § 213 By some modern scholars the first part of this chapter, 1-"\ has been attributed to the beginning of the Gk. period. It is difficult, however, to see how the comparatively peaceful conquest of Palestine by Alexander should have given rise to the hopes here expressed. As a matter of fact, the Jews do not have seemed to have been greatly affected by their change of masters in 332 B.C. Also the victories of Alexander gave no promise that an exactor should never again pass through their midst. It is significant that the Heb. word for exactor in 8 is the peculiar expression used in Dan. 10 to describe exactors and persecutors sent out by Antiochus Epiphanes. Certainly the king promised in 9 was not Alexander. On the other hand, nothing is said of his Davidic origin. Rather the portrait is suggested by the peasant leaders, like Judas » Zech. 91 In the traditional Heb. text this new division of the book of Zechariah bears the superscription, the burden of the Lord Jehovah upon Hadrach and the land of Damascus, but this leaves the remainder of the vs. without an antecedent. The personal pronoun, his, in the following phrase, his resting-place, suggests that in the original text Jehovah was the subject of the first sentence. The original superscription probably read simply, a burden, but a later scribe, not understanding it, added the word, of, thereby producing the resulting confusion. Eliminating this unnecessary word, the text reads as above. . ¦_- , »> 91 Hadrach, the Hatarika of the Assyrian inscriptions, was the leading state in Northern Syria during the earlier part of the eighth century B.C., as is shown by the recently discovered Aramaic inscriptions, which come from one of its leading kings, Zakar by name. Ite territory lay north of the Lebanons and was always closely associated with Hamath, which in ancient times had marked the northern bounds of David's kingdom. c 9l Emending the Heb. text, which reads, to Jehovah is the eye of man, a reading which is entirely inconsistent with the context. The Heb. also adds, and all ihe tribes of Israel, but this i3 clearly a scribal gloss, for the fem. pronominal suffix in the first line of 2 indicates that its original antecedent was the name of some country, like Aram, in the neighborhood of Hamath. 453 Jeho vah to enterinto pos sessionof the northern lands Zech. 92] JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM SUPREME Tyre and Sidon, for they are very wise.d 3And Tyre built for herself a fortress, And heaped up silver as dust, And gold like the dirt of the streets. 4Behold the Lord shall dispossess her, And cast down her rampart into the sea, And she shall be consumed in fire. Toover throwthePhilistines 5Ashkelon shall see and hear, And Gaza writhe in anguish, Ekron, also for her hope shall be put to shame, And the king shall perish from Gaza, And Ashkelon shall remain uninhabited. eA mixed racee shall dwell in Ashdod, And I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7I will take their blood from their mouth,? And their abominations from between their teeth ; They also shall be a remnant for our God, And like a clang in Judah, And Ekron shall be as the Jebusites. To guardhispeoplefromexact- 8But I will encamp as a guard11 about my house, So that none shall pass through or return, And no exactor shall pass through them again; For now do I regard with mine eyes. Their kinglydeliverer to come and set up in Pal estine a worldwidekingdom 9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy king will come to thee ; and his brothers, who made small pretensions but achieved great results. The word translated, humble, is also the word constantly used in Psalms and contemporary literature to describe the party of the pious. The word also means, afflicted, for genuine piety, in these troublesome times, meant certain persecution and usually poverty. It is also to be noted that while this promised king is to bring ultimate peace to his people and to all mankind, that peace is to be won by the sword, and the description of his rule is modelled after that of David's empire. Cf., for further discussion, Introd., pp. 36, 37. The promises which are expressed in the remainder of this chapter are, from beginning to end, an echo of the martial spirit and the courageous exploits which characterized in a unique way the early days of the Maccabean struggle. Vss. 13-17 may be taken as a description of certain great battles of that age, when Judas, with a handful of followers, went out and defeated, in the strength of Jehovah, the large, trained armies of Antiochus. They introduce a new note in post-exilic prophecy and reveal that blending of faith and courage and energy and action which made the untrained peasants of Judah an almost in vincible fighting force. In the light of this setting the promises of the opening vss. must have seemed very near realization. In fact, the campaigns of Judas, especially into the lands lying along the Mediterranean, had already prepared the way for the hoped-for consummation. While by most interpreters this chapteris divided into two or three distinct sections, interpreted in the light of this historic setting, its unity is clear. d 92 So Gk. The Heb. has a sing, rather than a pi. verb. e 96 The reference is probably to the mixed race which was to take possession of the city after it fell a victim to Jehovah's just wrath. For the peculiar term, cf . Dt. 232. f 97 /. e., will cleanse them from the ceremonial defilement which came from eating unclean food or meat from which the blood had not been properly removed. Cf . I Sam. 1432- ^, Ezek. 33M. This cleansing was to be a preliminary to admitting them within the circle of Jehovah's people. s 97 Slightly correcting the Heb. as the context demands. h 98 Correcting an error of one letter, which has crept into the Heb. text. 454 CONQUEST OF ISRAEL'S FOES [Zech. 99 Vindicated and victorious is he, Humble,1 and riding upon an ass. Upon the foal of an ass.J 10He shall cut offk chariots from Ephraim, And horses from Jerusalem; The battle-bow shall also be cut off, And he shall speak peace to the nations ; His rule shall be from sea to sea,1 From the riverm to the ends of the earth. uAnd thou,n too— ^because of thy blood covenant, I have set free thy prisoners from the pit.0 12To thee, O Zion shall the prisoners of hope return ;p Also this day he declares/* Double will I restore to thee. 13For I have bent Judah to me, As a bow which I have filled with Ephraim ;r I will urge thy sonss against the sons of Greece,* And I will make thee like the sword of a hero. 14Thenu Jehovah shall be seen above them, And his shaft shall go forth like lightning ; Jehovah shall blow a blast upon a trumpet, And travel on the whirlwinds of the south.v 15 Jehovah of hosts shall defend them; And they shall devourw and tread down the slingstones, They shall drink their bloodx like wine, They shall be filled with it like the crevicesy of an altar. Exilesto re turn in largenumbers Jehovah to use his peopleas in stru ments for the overthrowof their foes 1 99 Or, pious. The distinctive designation of the faithful but sorely afflicted party, which resisted the demands of Antiochus, and finally in Judas found a leader who led them to victory. j 99 Lit., she-ass. k 910 So Gk. and the parallel in the succeeding line. Heb., I will cut off. 1 910 /. e., from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea. m 910 Probably from the River of Egypt on the southwestern border of Palestine. Possibly it may be the Euphrates. n 9n Zion is evidently here addressed and promised that her exiled sons shall be restored. 0 911 The Heb. adds, with no water in it. p 912 Probably the original should read, to thee, O Zion, shall return, for the fern, pro nominal suffix at the end of the word calls for some such antecedent. Heb., Return to the stronghold. The prisoners of hope are those who still entertain hopes of restoration. q 912 The text here is extremely doubtful and the Gk. differs widely, but offers no valid solution of the difficulty. Possibly the entire line is simply a marginal gloss. r 913 Ephraim would seem to be here a technical designation of the distant exiles who returned. The deliverance of Jehovah's persecuted people is to come, not through a miracle, but through their own warlike activity, acting as Jehovah's agents. 8 913 The text adds, 0 Zion. This was probably added by a scribe to make the meaning clear. * 918 So Gk. and Syr. Heb.t against thy sons, O Javan., but the metre of the vs. strongly supports the Gk. reading. u 914 Heb. adds, Lord, but the order is awkward and this word destroys the metrical sym metry of the line. v qu The figure is taken from Is. 21!. w 915 The Gk. suggests the variant reading, prevail, or, overcome them, and this reading may be original. The meaning of the rest of the line is obscure. Possibly the original read, the sons of Greece, instead of, slingstones, which would refer to the Syrian foes, as in 13. * 915 Following the superior reading of certain Gk. MSS. y 915 Lit., corners. I. e., the places where the blood of the_ sacrifices ran down. The Heb. adds, as a sacrificial bowl, but this is probably a scribal addition introduced as a synonym of the peculiar phrase which follows. 455 Zech. 916] JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM SUPREME 16 And Jehovah their Godz shall give them victory in that day. Like sheep he shall feed thema in his land. 17Yea, how goodb and how beautiful shall it be ! Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the maidens! Jehovah to rescue his Fieople rom theirfalseleaders § 214. Victory and Restoration for Jehovah's Betrayed but Loyal People, Zech. 10 Zech. 10 *Ask from Jehovah rain,c From Jehovah who formeth the lightnings, And the winter rain he giveth to them, For every one herbage in the field. 2But the teraphim speak vanity, And the divinersd see lies, And idle dreams they relate, In vain they offer comfort; Therefore the people wandere like sheep, They suffer because there is no shepherd .f 3My wrath is hot against the shepherds, And upon the he-goatsg will I bring punishment; For Jehovah will visit his flock,h And make them his splendid war-steeds. He it is who strength ens ruler and war rior 4From him come the cornerstone and the stay,1 From him the battle-bow, ¦ 916 It is possible, on metrical grounds, that either, their God, or, in that day, is secondary. a 916 The text of the rest of this vs. is evidently corrupt and is unintelligible. The words may be literally translated, like a flock of sheep his people, for stones of a diadem, shimmering over his land. A restored Heb. text has been used above. b 917 Slightly revising the Heb. to conform to the demands of the context. Possibly the original of this line simply read, corn and new wine shall flourish. § 214 This chapter, like the preceding, is filled with the echoes of war and battles. In imagination the prophet sees the coming downfall of the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria. Like the Maccabean leaders themselves, he was inspired by the memory of Jehovah's great deliver ances of his people in the past. Like Judas Maccabeus (cf. I Mac. 48- 9), he refers to Jehovah delivering his people from Pharaoh at the crossing of the Red Sea, and declares that the same God is able again to interpose in behalf of those who trust him 10. The victories already at tained lead him to believe that the scattered exiles of the race will speedily be restored — a consummation for which Judas and his brothers earnestly hoped and worked, and which was realized in large measure in the east Jordan and Galilean conquests of Judas and the benign policy of Simon. Cf . I Mac. 147. Again in 5 we have a portrait drawn from one of the great Mac cabean victories. One of the chief aims of the chapter, however, is suggested in the opening vss. It was to make clear to the apostates, as well as to the faithful, the folly and uselessness of putting their trust in heathen institutions instead of in Jehovah, who rules alike over nature and the affairs of men. These opening vss., therefore, are not distinct, as usually interpreted, but closely connected in thought with those which follow. In the latter part of 2 and tne first part of 8 the prophet introduces that note of denunciation of the shepherds of the people, their hereditary high-priestly rulers, which is developed at length in the next section. c 10l The Heb. adds the prosaic gloss, at the time of the latter rain. It destroys the poetic structure of the vs. and is probably secondary. d IO2 For a contemporary reference to a survival of the ancient popular heathenism, cf. Mac. X2i0-i6. The aim of the passage is evidently to warn the common people against the seductions of these ancient heathen cults. « 102 Or, Gk., flee about. 1 102 These last two lines are by many regarded as secondary. They may be intended, however, to express the idea that the shepherds, who rule over them, are worse than none at all. e 103 /. e., the leaders of the nation. The same phrase is used in Is. 149. h 103 Heb. adds, of Jehovah, and after, his flock, the explanatory gloss, house of Judah, PosBibly the word, war, lit., in war, at the end of the line is also secondary. 1 104 Lit., peg, or, tent-pin, that upon which the stability of the text depended. 456 VICTORY AND RESTORATION [Zech. IO4 From him goeth forth every ruler. ^ogethei-J they shall trample on warriors,k As on the dirt of the streets in battle, And fight, for Jehovah is with them, So that the riders on horses shall be put to shame. 8I will make strong the house of Judah, He will And I will bring deliverance to the house of Joseph, hi_t0re Yea, I will bring them back, for I have compassion upon them, scat- And they shall be as if I had not driven them away ; people For I am Jehovah their God and will answer them.1 7The Ephraimites shall be like warriors, And their hearts shall rejoice as with wine, Yea, they shall see their children and rejoice, Their hearts shall exult in Jehovah. 8I will whistle™ for them, and gather them, From And they shall be as many as they once were, lands'1' 8And I will sow them among the peoples, win be But in distant lands they shall remember me, them' And they will bring up their children and come back.11 10I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, And from Assyria will I gather them ; Into the land of Gilead and Lebanon0 will I bring them, Though these will not be found sufficient for them.p uAnd when they pass through0- the sea of distress,1 He will smite the sea of breakers, And all the deeps of the Nile shall be dried up ; The pride of Assyria3 also shall be brought low, And the sceptre of Egypt turned aside.* ' IO4 Joining the last word of this vs. to the beginning of the next. k IO5 Through a scribal error the initial letters of this word and the Heb. word translated, trc the dirt, have been interchanged. 1 IO6 Vs. 7 is the logical sequel of w, and this line may be the addition of a later editor. m IO8 I. e., clearly summon. The same phrase is used in Is. 5M, 7lft. a IO9 By some this line is regarded as secondary. ° IO10 /. e., they shall be settled in the outlying districts of Palestine. Possibly Lebanon is secondary, since it is not supported by the metre. Gilead is part of the territory conquered by Judas Maccabeus. p IO10 Lit., there shall not be found for them. q 10" Reading the verb as a pi. in accordance with the Gk. and the requirements of the context. 1 10u Many scholars reconstruct so as to read, through ihe sea of Egypt. In any case the figure is drawn from the tradition of the deliverance of the Hebrews at the Red Sea. a 10u Assyria evidently here represents Syria, as frequently in the later O.T. writings. ' 1011 The chapter concludes with a vs. the awkwardess of which reveals its secondary character, and I will strengthen them in Jehovah, and in his name shall they walk, is the oracle of Jehovah. 457 Doom song over Israel's false leaders Jehovah's sym bolic con demna tion of the greedyrulers Zech. ll1] JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM SUPREME § 215. Fate of Judah's Traitorous Rulers and the Ultimate Deliverance, Zech. 11, 137-9 Zech. 11 1Open thy doors, O Lebanon, That the fire may devour thy cedars. 2Wail, O pine-tree, for the cedar is fallen ;u Wail, O oaks of Bashan, For the inaccessiblev forest has fallen. sHark, the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed ; Hark, the roaring of young lions ! For blasted is the jungle of the Jordan.w 4Thus Jehovah said to me,x shepherd the fiock of slaughter,y 5whose pos sessor slaughter them, and hold themselves not guilty! and they who sell § 215 It is evident that the shepherds referred to in the opening vss. of this section are the same hereditary high-priestly rulers denounced in 2> 3 of the preceding section. It is the term used in a similar connection, Jer. 23, and was probably suggested by the earlier prophecy. They are the young lions who prey upon the people. The section opens, therefore, appropriately with an ironical lamentation suggestive of their coming downfall. In the prose passage which follows, the prophet, by the use of peculiar symbolism, recalls the crimes of the apostate high priests and pronounces upon them the divine judgments which > their crimes deserve. The method is, in many ways, akin to that used in Dan., and especially in 11. The fiock of slaughter is clearly the Judean community, which was the victim of the greed and treachery of such high priestly rulers as the Tobiadae. In view of their mercenary relations to the Syrian court, these high priests, who had purchased their office by money later extorted frQm the people, are iron ically addressed as possessors of the fiock and as sheep-merchants. One month evidently stands for a short duration of time. The three shepherds set aside in one month are, without much doubt, Lysimachus, Jason, and Menelaus, who were each in turn deposed within a period of^ three or four years. Cf . II Mac. 4A2, 510, 133-8. The high priest alluded to in l2> 13 was possibly Onias III, but more probably Onias IV, who finally in disgust left Judah and spent the remainder of his life in Egypt. The description in 15-17 might apply to Menelaus, but it fits the character of Alcimus much more perfectly. He it was who shamelessly preyed upon the people and persecuted the faithful Jews and proved himself simply a tool of the Syrian rulers. He incurred the especial hostility of the Jews by tearing down in the year 160 the wall in the inner court of the sanctuary, thereby throwing the court open to Gentiles as well as Jews. According to I Mac. 955, the curse in 17 was realized, for it states that, just as they were beginning to pull down the wall of the inner court, Alcimus was stricken, and his works were hindered, and his mouth was stopped, and he was seized with a palsy, so that he could no more speak anything or give orders concerning his house. It has long been recognized by interpreters of this book that the brief section, 137-9, has no connection with its immediate context, but is closely connected in theme and style with 11. Apparently it continues the divine judgment upon the wicked high priest of ll15-17. He is to be punished because of his faithlessness as a shepherd and his flock is to be scattered. A faithful remnant, however, which survives, will ultimately be blessed by Jehovah's favor. By some this reference is associated with the death of Judas and the disastrous period which immediately followed. The peculiar Heb. idiom, however, interpreted, the man who stands near to me, lit., companion, or, associate, is used only in the O.T. of priests, e. g., Zech. 38. The section, as a,whole, is a protest against the crimes of the civil and religious leaders of the com munity, whose selfish disregard of their responsibility was one of the causes of the series of calamities which overtook the Judean community. u ll2 Through a scribal error there has been added in the Heb. from 3b, because their glorious ones are despoiled. v IP Ut., fortified. w ll3 Lit., the pride of the Jordan. It was the dense tropical thicket which bordered the lower banks of the river, and in ancient times was undoubtedly the home of the lions. To day it remains practically uninhabited, except by wild animals. Cf. Jer. 12s, 4919. 1 ll4 So a slightly reconstructed text supported by the parallels in 13> 15. Heb., my God. y ll4 /. e., the nation. The figure is taken from Jer. 123. ¦ ll5 This passage explains the preceding term. The possessors were the tyrants, like Antiochus and their abettors, high priests like Jason and Menelaus, who shamelessly persecuted the helpless people. s The prophet, with his keen irony, justly describes the greed of these false shepherds, who hesitated at no sacrilege. The vs. which follows interrupts the sequence of thought and is generally recognized as secondary. It reads, for I will not spare any longer the inhabitants of ,the land, is Jehovah's oracle, but lo, I am about to give mankind over, each into the hand of his shepherd, and into the hand of his king, and they shall destroy the land, and I will not deliver it from their hand. 458 VICTORY AND RESTORATION [Zech. ll5 them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich ! and their shepherds have no com passion upon them. 7So I shepherded the flock of slaughter for the sheep- merchants.a And I took to me two staves ; one I called Grace, and the other I called Union.b So I shepherded the sheep. 8And I set aside0 three of the shepherds in one month; for I was indignant against them, and they also were displeased at me. 9And I said, I will not shepherd you ; what is dead, let it die ; what is set aside, let it be set aside ; and let those who are left de vour one another's flesh. 10And I took my staff, Grace, and broke it,d so as to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. e uIn that day it was broken, and the sheep-merchantsf who watched me Their knew that it was Jehovah's word. 12And I said to them, If it is good in your tempt sight, give me my wage; and if not, do not do so. So they weighed out my £>r J|", wage, thirty pieces of silver.8 13And Jehovah said to me, Cast it into the rep™- * treasury11 — the precious wage that at which I was valued' by them ! So I took If"^' the thirty pieces of silver and cast them into the house of Jehovah, into the treasury. "Then I broke my second staff so as to dissolve the brotherhood between Ap- Judah and Jerusalem.) 15And Jehovah said to me, Take again the imple- meat ments of a worthless shepherd. 16For behold, I am about to appoint a shep- °f a herd over the land ; those who are thrust down he will not visit; those who more are scattered11 he will not seek out, the wounded he will not heal, the sick he ateatl" will not make whole ;* but the flesh of the fat he will devour and even their ruler hoofs he will tear. curseupon 17Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock ! The The sword be upon his arm and his right eye ; May his arm completely wither, him And his right eye be blinded.m 13 7Awake, O sword against my shepherd, And against the man who stands near to me ;n a ll7 Following the Gk. in reconstructing the corrupt Heb. b ll7 Lit., bands. Grace evidently symbolized Jehovah's favor to his people, and Union the bond binding together to the different classes in the community. Grace and union were, therefore, the two essentials for the welfare of the community. 0 11s The fundamental meaning of the verb is, lo hide, to conceal, io disown, and hence, in its present context, depose. As has already been noted in the introductory note, the reference is to the deposition of three different high-priestly rulers, whose infamous character has already been described in the preceding VSS. d nio xhe breaking of the staves symbolized the removal of Jehovah's favor and the destruction of the harmonious relations between classes, because of the guilt of the rulers. e nio Possibly the foreign nations are introduced because of the alliances made by the high priests Jason and Menelaus with the neighboring Idumeans, Ammonites, and Philistines. Cf. II Mac. 5l-». f ll11 Again correcting the corrupt Heb., as in ', by the aid of the Gk. b Hi2 The price of a slave. Cf. Ex. 2132. h ll13 So Gk. Heb., potter. Cf . Matt. 273"10, where the variant readings seem to have been known to the author of the Gospel. * ll13 Or, thou art valued. i llu So certain Gk. MSS. and Luc. Heb., Israel. The Heb. reading is awkward and was probably introduced through the mistake of a scribe, who had in mind the phrase so common in the earlier writings. k H« Restoring the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the context and the analogy of Ezek. 344. 1 ll16 Conjecturally restoring the context. m ll17 As has been noted above, this vs. probably contains a description of the fate of the wicked high priest Alcimus. n 137 An editor has introduced the phrase, the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, at this point, to indicate that here a new section begins. 459 Zech. 137] JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM SUPREME Test ing the people in the furnace of affliction I will smite0 the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered, And I will turn my hand against the little ones. 8And it shall come to pass in all the land, is Jehovah's oracle. That two-thirds in it shall be cut off ;p But a third shall be left in it. 9And I will bring the third into the fire, And melt it as one melts silver, And test it as one tests gold. Then he shall call upon my name, And I myself will answer him ; And I shall say, He is my people, And he shall say, Jehovah my God,q Jerusa lem a cause of dis aster to all its foes §216. Jerusalem's Deliverance from Heathen Attack, Zech. 121-136 Zech. 12 2Behold,r I am about to make Jerusalem A bowl of reeling for all the surrounding peoples, And there shall be a siege of Jerusalem.8 3And it shall come to pass in that day that I will make Jerusalem A stone to be lifted up* by all the peoples — All who lift it up shall surely wound themselves ! And all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. Strongin Je hovah'sstrength 4In that day, is Jehovah's oracle,u I will smite Every horse with panic, and his rider with madness ; ° 137 So certain Gk. MSS. and the parallel in Matt. 2631. The Heb. imperative, smite, is probably due to the attraction of the imperative in the first line. p 13s This figure is drawn from Is. 613, Ezek. 513, The Heb. adds, and they shall perish, but it appears, for poetical reasons, that this is simply a scribal duplicate. q 139 For the original, cf. Hos. 223. § 216 This section hasmany peculiarities which can be explained only by the events of the Maccabean period. The distinction between Judah and Jerusalem is new in post-exilic litera ture. It is the chieftains of Judah, not of Jerusalem, who are represented as securing victory after victory, while the hereditary leaders of the state are inactive. This portrait fits exactly the period when Jerusalem was in the control of the Syrians, and Judas, the peasant leader, was winning the series of victories which brought, not only deliverance to Jerusalem, but also relig ious and, in the end, political freedom for his people. The only satisfactory explanation of the deep repentance and the bitter lamentation of the different classes in Jerusalem over the one whom they have pierced is that it was because of the murder of the high priest Onias III. Cf. Mac. 4M- te. The latter vs. voices the deep indignation and displeasure which not only the Jews but other nations felt because of this unjust murder. As has already been noted, it was regarded by the author of Dan. i?26, ll22 as one of the most significant events of the age. The denunciation of the frenzied false prophets which still survive is also a characteristic of this later age, when the written law was beginning to take the place of the spoken word. It is also in keeping with the aim of the author in this section, which clearly is to close the breach between Judah and Jerusalem and to arouse popular devotion to Jehovah and the temple service. r 12l This chapter begins with a new superscription, oracle of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. To this a still later editor has added another longer superscription based on Amos 413, 58- 9, 95'6. It reads, Oracle of Jehovah who stretcheth forth the heavens and foundeth the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. a 122 This vs. is evidently corrupt and its reconstruction presents many difficulties. The above reading follows Gk. A. _ Heb. adds, and also upon Judah, but this is probably from the hand of a scribe who was familiar with the antithesis between Judah and Jerusalem which runs through the rest of the chapter. 1 123 J. e., a heavy stone, such as was used in the Gk. gymnasia. It was apparently a stone which was lifted up as a test of strength. The idea evidently is that Jerusalem shall prove so firmly established that all the nations who seek to capture her shall be severely strained in the attempt, u 12* Possibly the phrase, is Jehovah's oracle, is secondary. 460 DELIVERANCE FROM HEATHEN ATTACK [Zech. 124 But over the house of Judah I will open my eyes,v Though I smite every horse belonging to the peoples with blindness. 5And the chieftainsw of Judah shall say in their heart, The strength ofx the inhabitants is in the Jehovah of hosts their God. 8In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah Giori- Like a pan of fire in the woods, and like a torch among sheaves, vioto- So that thy people shall devour right and left all the surrounding peoples,y Tie3°h' But Jerusalem shall abide on its own site.z chief - 7And Jehovah will first give victory to the tents of Judah,8, tains So that the glory of the house of David,b and of the inhabitants of Jerusa lem be not exalted above Judah. 8In that day Jehovah shall protect the inhabitants0 of Jerusalem, Revival And he that is feeble among them shall in that day be like David,d jerusa- And the house of David like God,8 like the angel of Jehovah before them. lemites 9And in that day I shall seek to destroy all the nations who have come up against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour out upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jeru- Uni- i versa. Salem lamen- The spirit of petition1 and supplication, and they will look upon himg whom tation they have pierced; the And they will lament for him as one laments for an only son, dered They will bitterly grieve for him as one grieves for the first-born. leader uIn that day lamentation shall be as great in Jerusalem, As the lamentation for Hadadrimmonh in the Valley of Megiddo. y 124 /. e., Jehovah will watch over the house of Judah and give them victory as they go out to battle. y 125 The text of this vs. is very doubtful. Possibly the word, translated, chieftain, with a different vowel punctuation, should be read, tribes. So also in e. * 125 Reconstructing the Heb. text. y 126 The most satisfactory explanation of this vs. is that it is a reference to the marvellous victories of Judas and his followers, who were enlisted for the most part from the country districts of Judah and who at last succeeded in recovering Jerusalem and in restoring its temple service. c 126 A scribe has added, in the Heb., in Jerusalem. It is not found in many Gk. MSS. a 127 By some scholars 1- 8 are regarded as secondary, for the third person is here intro duced instead of the first, as in the preceding and following vss. _ Whether they are from the original author or from a later editor, they evidently refer to the victories which were won, not by the hereditary heads of the Judean community, but by the peasants who rallied about Judas and to the fact that these great victories were won while the city of Jerusalem was still in the hands of the Syrians. b 127 This phrase, here, as in 12, is evidently a conventional designation of the ruling class in the Judean community and does not necessarily mean Davidic descent. Cf. Ps. 122s. 0 12s So Gk. and the demands of the context. d 128 I. e., in that day he who has fallen shall accomplish as great deeds as David, the warrior king. 6 128 /. e., the ruling class shall rise to its high responsibility and its record shall be very different from that found in the preceding section. ' 12'° Lit., favor. I. e., a strong petition for divine favor. b 1210 Revising the corrupt Heb. m accordance with the reading of certain Gk. MSS. and the quotation in John 1937. As has been already noted in the introduction, the martyr, in the mind of the prophet, was probably the murdered high priest Onias III. *> 1211 The allusion is clearly not to the lamentations over the death of Josiah, for these were held in Jerusalem, but to certain well-known religious rites celebrated at this time on the plain of Megiddo. Hadadrimmon contains the name of the Syrian god Rimmon, and its equivalent Hadad, which appears in the Assyr. inscriptions as Adad. Possibly the heathen rite was akin to the mourning for Thammuz mentioned by Ezek. 8U and again in Dan. ll37. 461 Zech. 1212] JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM SUPREME 12And the land shall mourn, each family by itself: The family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves. And the family of the house of Nathan1 by itself, and their wives by them selves, 13And the family of the house of Eli by itself, and their wives by themselves, The family of the ShimeitesJ by itself, and their wives by themselves, 14And all the families who are left, each by itself, and their wives by them selves. Moralcleans ing for thenation 13 1In that day a fountaink shall be opened for the house of David, And for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. 2And it shall be in that day, is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols1 from the land and they shall be remem bered no more. Also the prophets and the unclean spirit"1 will I banish from the land. Decline and disap pearanceof the prophet 3And it shall come to pass, if any man prophesy any more, His father and his mother who begat him, shall say to him, Thou shalt not live, for thou speakest falsehood in the name of Jehovah ; And his father and his mother who begat him shall thrust him through when he is seized by the prophetic frenzy. 4And it shall be in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed, each of his vision,11 And shall not wear the hairy mantle0 in order to deceive ; 5And he shall say, I am not a prophet,p A tiller of the ground am I, for the ground is my possession*3 from my youth. 6And they shall say to him, What are these scars1- on thy hands ? And he shall say, The scars which I received in the house of my lovers.3 i 1212 The reference in this and the following vs. is to the different classes in the Judean community. Since Nathan, in II Sam. 514, I Chr. 35, 144, is the name of the son of David, these possibly represented a second ruling class in Judah, but inferior to those designated by the title, house of David. j 1213 In Num. 318 Shimei is mentioned as one of the grandsons of Levi. It is probable, therefore, that this title designated an inferior class of temple servants. fc 131 This figure of a fountain, open for cleansing, is again introduced in 148, and was probably drawn from Ezek, 471-12. 1 132 The references in the books of I and II Mac. and Is. 279 and Ps. 16 indicate that idol atry continued to be an ever-present temptation to the Jews even to the close of O.T. history. m 132 This statement in the mouth of a prophet is astonishing, but the context indicates that the author had in mind the degenerate types of prophesying under the influence of ecstasy and the mercenary ends which had been the bane of true prophecy throughout all its history. Nehemiah found this corrupt type in the Judean community at the beginning of the Persian period, Neh. 67-14. From I Mac. 446, 927 it appears that the belief was widely held that the day of prophecy was not past, but that no great prophets were then living who could speak with authority. It is probably because of this popular belief that the author of the visions in the latter part of the book of Daniel issued them in the name of the prophet famous in earlier history. It also suggests that the prophecies of II Zechariah, evidently published anonymously and per haps by the author himself, were attached to the first Zechariah in order to secure for them popular acceptance. n 134 A scribe has apparently added, from the end of the preceding vs., the clause, when he prophesies. ° 13* /. e., the characteristic garb of a prophet. Cf. I Kgs. I8. p 135 These are the words used by Amos in his reply to Amaziah, in Am. 714. q 135 Slightly correcting the Heb. as the context requires. r 13a These were the peculiar marks which distinguished the members of the prophetic class. Cf. I Kgs. 182B. ". ¦ 136 Cf. Hos. 27. 462 secu rity EXALTATION OF JEHOVAH [Zech. 141 § 217. The Judgment upon the Heathen and the Exaltation of Jehovah, Zech. 14 Zech. 14 'Behold a day is coming for • Jehovah, when thy spoil shall be jeho- divided in thy midst. 2And all the nations shall gather* to Jerusalem, to fight ^Jte against it, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women the ravished ; And half of the city shall go into captivity, and the rest of the people Ure and shall be cut off in the city, ^hen Jehovah shall go forth and fight against j|rusa! these nations, as once he fought in the day of battle. 4And on that day his lem feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, (which is opposite Jerusalem, on the east) ;u and the Mount of Olives shall be split into halves, from east to west, by an exceedingly great valley; and half of the mount shall slide northwards and half southwards. 5And the valley of Hinnomv shall be closed to Azel,w and ye shall flee as ye fled from before the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah ;x but Jehovah thyy God will come, and all the holy ones with him.z 6And in that day, there shall be no heata nor cold nor frost, 7but it shall be jeho- constant day — it is known to Jehovahb — with neither day nor night; and also ™;^ of at evening time there shall be light. 8And on that day living waters shall go light forth from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea0 and half of them to the perfect western sea;d in summer and winter shall it be. 9And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth ; in that day shall Jehovah be one, and his name one. 10The land shall be changed to plain,"3 from Geba{ to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem ; and it shall be high and inhabited as it stands,8 from the Benjamin Gate," § 217 There are certain traces of poetic parallelism in this closing section, but a large part of it is simply prose. To bring it within the bounds of a definite metrical scheme it is necessary to resort to unjustifiable violence in emending the text. It is much more satisfactory, as in the case of most of the O.T. apocalypses, to print it as simply prose. It is one of the most concrete of all the apocalypses, and surpasses Joel in its vivid and bloody picture of the fate of the heathen. It breathes the militant, blood-thirsty spirit of the Maccabean age and emphasizes the destructive more than the redemptive side of the coming rule of Jehovah. The emphasis upon ceremonialism and the necessity of absolute conformity to the details of the ritual as con ditions of admission to the kingdom stamp it as one of the latest products of Jewish thought found in the O.T. It undoubtedly voices truly the hopes of the pious who rallied about the standard of Judas. t 142 Heb., I will gather, but this is contrary to the parallels in *- 3, which do not make Jehovah the speaker. Either this vs. is secondary, as many scholars hold, or else_ this verb must be reconstructed so as to conform to the context. That this vs. is original is strongly confirmed by the phrase, against those nations, in 3, which points back to 2. Furthermore, the conception of the period of deepest gloom before the dawn is characteristic of the eschatological teachings of the period. Cf., e. g., Dan. 11. u 144 This clause explaining the position of the Mount of Olives, which is here for the first time mentioned in the O.T., may be secondary. v 14s The first part of this vs. is obviously corrupt. The above rendering is in accordance with the Gk., Syr., Targ., and certain Heb. MSS. Hinnom is a conjectural reading for the corrupt Heb. y 14s Asel is mentioned only in Mi. lu and its identification is unknown. 1 14s The entire sentence, ye shall flee . . ¦ king of Judah, is regarded by many as second ary. It certainly does not stand in close connection with its context. y 14s Heb., my God. ' 145 So Gk. and Syr. Heb., with thee. » 146 Reconstructing the corrupt Heb. on the basis of the Gk., Syr., and Sym. and the paral- lei in Is 4 b 147 This interjected clause may be secondary. The thought of the vs. is, that in the future time there shall be one unending day. c 14" I. e., the Dead Sea. d 148 I. e., the Mediterranean. » 14"> /. e., like the level lower Jordan valley. ' 1410 On the northern borders of Judah. Cf . I Kgs. IS22. Rimmon was on the southern border (cf. Josh. 1532, 19'), probably near Beersheba. g 1410 Lit., in its place. h 1410 From Jer. 3713 it would appear that the Benjamin Gate was on the north side of the city. 463 Zech. 1410] JEHOVAH'S KINGDOM SUPREME up to the place of the first gate, and from the Tower of Hananel,1 to the Comer Gate,J and as far as the king's winepresses. "And there shall be no more curse,k but Jerusalem shall abide in security. Awful ^And this is the plague1 with which Jehovah shall smite all the peoples, who j^g^j array themselves against Jerusalem : he will make their flesh to waste away upon while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall waste away in their foes' e sockets, and their tongues shall waste away in their mouth.m 15Even so shall be the plague upon the horses, mules, camels, and asses, and upon all the beasts, which are in all those camps — just like this plague. Penal- leAnd all that shall be left of all the nations which come up against Jerusa- lack°of *em s^au come UP from year to year to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, loyalty and to keep the feast of tabernacles.1* 17And whoever of all the races of the hovah earth, will not come up to Jerusalem, to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. 18And if the race of Egypt does not go up nor enter in, upon them also shall come the plague, with which Jehovah shall smite the nations.0 19This shall be the punishment for the sin of Egypt and the punishment for the sin of all nations, which do not come up to keep the feast of the tabernacles. Every- 20On that day there shall be inscribed upon the bellsp of the horses, Holt sacred TO Jehovah : and the pots in the house of Jehovah shall be as the sacri- to Je- ficial bowls before the altars ; 21yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to Jehovah of hosts, and all who sacrifice shall come and take of them and cook in them. And there shall be no more traffickers in the house of Je hovah of hosts in that day.q i x4l° From Neh. 3l it appears that the Tower of Hananel was near the Sheep Gate on the north of the temple, while the king's winepresses were probably to the south of the temple. j 1410 Restoring the corrupt Heb. by the aid of the parallel passage in Jer. 3138. The Corner Gate was on the northwestern side of the city. k 1411 Lit., ban, that is, devoted to destruction. A scribe has added at the beginning of the either from the preceding or the latter part of the present vs., the words, and they shall 1 1412 Or, stroke, with which Jehovah shall smile. m 1412 ySi 15 js the closely connected sequel of 12. From some unknown source a later editor has inserted two vss., which have more in common with the preceding section than with the present. They give a very different picture regarding Jerusalem's future than the rest of the chapter. They read, and in that day there shall be a great confusion from Jehovah among them, and every man shall grasp the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall be lifted against the hand of his neighbor. Judah, also, shall fight against Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, silver, and garments, in great abundance. n I416 The feast of tabernacles or booths was, in many ways, the most important festival in later Jewish life. In II Mac. I9, IO6- 7 the Palestinian Jews enjoined the Jews of Egypt to be faithful in attending this great feast. The fact that it is singled out, as in the present passage, is indicative of the high esteem in which it was regarded by the author and his generation. o 1418 Probably as a result of a scribal repetition from the next vs., the clause, who do not go up to keep the feast of tabernacles, is also found in the Heb. at the end of this vs. p 1420 Or, metallic disks, which jingled as the horses moved about. q 142' The clause, in that day, is possibly secondary, 464 MESSIANIC AND ESCHATOLOGICAL PROPHECIES (NEARLY ALL ANONYMOUS) MESSIANIC AND ESCHATOLOGICAL PROPHECIES THE DAVIDIC MESSIANIC KING AND KINGDOM § 218. The Promised Glories of David's Rule, Num. 2459. "-19 Num.i 24 5How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob, I Thy dwelling places, O Israel! 6Like valleys are they spread out, Like gardens by the river-side, Like lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted, Like cedars beside the waters. 'Water shall flow from his buckets, His seed shall be in abundant waters, His king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. 18God who brought him forth out of Egypt, Is for him like the strength of the wild-ox. Israel's prosperityand strength Invin cible might The Davidic Messiamc King and Kingdom. — The historic setting of these prophecies has already been considered in chap. VI of the general introduction. They represent Israel's patriotic hopes during the five centuries following the establishment of the united Heb. king dom. They all centre about the Davidic reigning house, and reflect the profound impression which the signal achievements of David arid his age made upon the minds of succeeding genera tions. With only two or three exceptions they are anonymous, and they represent the popular point of view. Most of these predictions were never fulfilled in the material sense in which they were doubtless understood by their original readers. The ever-present consciousness of a nobler de3tiny awaiting them is one of the most significant facts in the history of the Israelites. With the eye of faith, the Heb. prophets saw the distant fore-gleams of the risingsun. It is not strange that these earlier prophets interpreted that coming event in keeping with the pre vailing hopes of their day. The important fact is that they were absolutely convinced that the future held for their race something far better than the past had ever broughtforth. These Erophecies are the concrete form in which they expressed their absolute convictions that their istory was moving on toward a supremely noble consummation. In reality the ultimate event was far different than they anticipated. Disaster, humiliation, and suffering came to them instead of glory and world-wide rule, but to the faithful souls, who never lost confidence in Jehovah's purpose, even the shadow of the valley of death brought a greater blessing than the most patriotic prophet of the earlier day had ever pictured. . Thejr joy was the joy of becoming loyal devoted subjects, not of a Davidic king, but of the Divine King. The spoils of the victory which they shared were not the loot of conquered cities, but the peace and joy and trust which are reflected in the Psalms of the Psalter. In the end they conquered their heathen foes not with the sword under the guidance of another warrior like David, but with their exalted ideals of iustice and of service and their divinely inspired conceptions of the Divine Father. 5 218 For detailed notes, cf. Vol. I, § 98. These songs were probably sung in the court of David to commemorate his victories and to describe the strength of the empire which he had founded ' They are exceedingly significant because they, and the corresponding passages in Gen 49 are the oldest records of Israel's early national hopes and aspirations. 467 Num. 248] MESSIANIC KING AND KINGDOM He shall devour the nations, his adversaries, And shall break their bones in pieces, And shatter his oppressors; 9He crouches, he lies down like a lion, And like a lioness, who shall stir him up ? \ Blessed is every one who blesses thee, I And cursed is every one who curses thee. Rise of 17I see him, but not now ; que°ring I behold him, but not near, king- l A star comes forth out of Jacob, /I A sceptre arises out of Israel, j And shatters the temples of Moab, 'And the skull of all the sons of Seth. 18 And Edom shall become a possession, Seir, his enemies, shall also become a possession, While Israel doeth valiantly. "Jacob shall subdue his enemies, And shall destroy the remnant from the city. § 219. Promises to the House of David, II Sam. 71018 Peace II Sam. 7 10I will appoint a place for my people Israel, stabil- I wm plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, ity And that they may be moved no more, And the wicked shall no more afflict them as formerly, From the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give thee rest from all thine enemies, And make thee great, and build thee a house. Strong andpermanentruleunderdivineprotection "And when thy days are complete, And thou liest down with thy fathers, I will raise up thy descendants after thee, Who shall come forth from thy body ; And I will establish their kingdom. > 13He shall build a home for my name, And I will establish his royal throne forever. 14I will be to him a father, And he shall be to me a son, When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men, And with the stripes of the sons of Adam. 15My kindness will I not withdraw from him, § 219 For detailed notes and setting, cf. Vol. II, § 29. This passage voices the popular hopes regarding the Judean royal house. Its language and that of its setting strongly suggests that it was not written until a short time before the exile; its hortatory note is that of the Deuteronomic school. Because of its setting and connection with David, the passage made a profound impression upon later psalm writers. Cf. especially Pss. 72, 89. 468 PROMISES TO DAVID'S HOUSE [II Sam. 715 As I withdraw it from him who was before thee. leThy house and kingdom shall always stand firm before me ; Thy throne shall be established forever. § 220. The Faithful Shepherd, Ezek. 34u-">. 2331 Ezek. 34 "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Behold, I myself ,n will seek fori, jeho- my flock and search them out, 12as a shepherd searches for his flock on the! vah to day when his, sheep are scattered, so will I search for my flock, and deliver! and them from all the places whither they have been scattered in the day of cloud I yf^e and darkness. 13And I will take them from among the peoples, and will Hortnis gather them from the land, and bring them into their own habitable land, and lered feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the habitable People parts of the land. 14With good pasture will I feed them, and on the high mountains of Israel shall be their pasture ; there they shall lie down in a good habitation, and feed on rich pasturage in the mountains of Israel. 15I myself \ will be the shepherd of my flock, and I will lead them to pasture, is the oracle I of the Lord Jehovah. 16The lost I will seek, what is driven away I will bring | back, the crippled I will bind up, the sick I will restore to strength, over the fat I and over the strong I will watch, I will be a righteous shepherd to them. I 23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, and he shall feed them, namely.llTo my servant David. And he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.fl P^c_.e 24 And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince! them ^a among them. I, Jehovah, have spoken. ' ruler ^And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will put away wild-T0 beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness, and f^em sleep in the forests. ^And I will give them showers of rain in its season, and I peace, will send the dashing rain in its time : rains of blessing shall they be. "And perity, the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall give its increase, p"e„ty and they shall be secure in their habitable land, and know that I am Jehovah, when I break the frame of their yoke, and deliver them from the hands of those who have made them slaves. 28They shall no longer be afraid of the nations, the beasts of the field shall not devour them, and they shall dwell securely with none to make them afraid. 29And I shall provide for them a successful planting, so that they shall no longer be consumed by hunger in the land, and shall never again receive the reproach of the nations. 30And they shall know that I, Jehovah, am their God, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 31My flock are ye, the flock that I tend, and I am your God, is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. I 220 Cf ., for notes, § 143. 469 Ezek. 3721] MESSIANIC KING AND KINGDOM § 221. Union of Judah and Israel under a Davidic Ruler, Ezek. 372128 Resto- Ezek. 37 21Say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, ' Behold, I am of*-?!1 about to take the Israelites from among the nations whither they are gone and th?. gather them from all sides, and bring them into their own land. 22And I will and ; — make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and there under'*- shall be one king over them all; and they shall be no longer two nations, on,e neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any longer; ^nor shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their apostasies wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. A de- h MAnd my servant David shall be king over them ; and they all shall have anTof Mone shepherd; and they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my David statutes, and do them. ^And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob, wherein their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons, forever; and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 'Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them ; and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish them, and multiply them, and set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. 27My dwelling place also shall be with them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.' to rule over them Re storedtempleevi dence of Je hovah's pres ence § 222. The Restoration of the Hebrew State, Jer. SO'-Sl1 Israel's Jer. 30 5bWe have heard a cry of terror, fear without peace; Bloon-* 6Ask now, and see whether a man doth travail with child. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins,a And all faces turn pale, lose their color ?b § 221 Cf,. for notes, § 146. § 222 There is a wide difference of opinion among scholars regarding the authorship of this section. It is probable that in 12-16 there is an original Jeremian fragment. Its teaching that there will be a restoration of Jehovah's people is also one of Jeremiah's characteristic doctrines. Cf . §§ 130, 131. The form in which this teaching is clothed, however, bears the mark of later authorship. Its promises of material glory and splendor are very different from the spiritual hopes which Jeremiah himself entertained for his people. Cf ., e. g., § 132. The background of the sections, as a whole, is the period of the exile, when the Jews are the prey of their foreign conquerors. Jerusalem is in ruins and the house of David has ceased to reign . The association of Jehovah and David in ° is characteristic of Ezekiel. Cf . Ezek. 3423- M, S723- m. The section, as a whole, cannot be dated earlier than the exile. The prediction is introduced by a treble superscription. Vss. '-3 were clearly intended to introduce the_ little collection of predictions regarding the future to be found in 30-33. Vs. 4 applies especially to the contents of 31. The original superscription to this prophecy is pre served in the Gk. and reads, simply, Thus saith Jehovah. In their present form these three superscriptions read as follows: lThe word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 2Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, 'Write thee oil the words that I have spoken to thee in a book. 3For lo, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will turn back the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,' saith Jehovah, 'and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. AAnd these are the words that Jehovah spoke concerning Israel and Judah. 6Thus saith Jehovah. » 308 So Gk. A later scribe has added in the Heb., destroying the metre and using a word in its late Heb. sense, the explanatory note, As a woman in travail. b 30* Completing the vs., as Cornill suggests, from the analogy of Joel 28, Nah. 210. 470 RESTORATION OF HEBREW STATE [Jer. 307 7Alas! for this day is great, so that none is like it; It is a time of trouble for Jacob ; but he will be saved out of it. And it shall come to pass in that day,0 is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, Deliv- That I will breakd the yoke from off their neck and will burst their bonds ; e ™ce And they shall no longer serve strangers ; °but they shall serve Jehovah their the God, fr?r-e° And David their king, whom I will raise up for them.6 eignere 12Thusf saith Jehovah, Thy hurt is incurable, and thy wound grievous; Present 13Thereg is no healing for the festering sore, for thee there is no bandage. and"88 14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee ; they seek thee not ; the For I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with pitiless chas tisement.11 15Why criest thou over thy hurt, that thy pain is incurable ? Because thine iniquity is great and thy sins many, I have done these things to thee. "But I will restore health to thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds ;J Future Because they have called thee an outcast [saying], ' She is our quarry, '' and1"8 "Therefore all that devour thee shall be devoured; • Yindi" And all thine adversaries shall at the same time devour their own flesh ;k And they who despoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give as a prey. cation Resto- 18Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compas- ration sion on his dwelling places; pros- And the city shall be builded upon its own hill, and the palace shall be in- Penty habited after its own manner. "And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry; And I will multiply them and they shall not be few ; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 20Their children shall also be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me; And I will punish all that oppress them. • 308 This vs. is taken from Is. IO2', 1425. d 30s So Gk. Heb. has, Us, but is not supported by the context. c 309 Vss. 10' " are not found in the Gk. but both in the Heb. and Gk. of 46"> 2», where they clearly belong. * 30ia So Gk. The Heb. adds, for. s 3013 A scribe, departing from the figure, has also added an explanatory gloss, io plead thy cause. h 30u By the mistake of a scribe the second line of 16 has been introduced also at the end of this vs. * 3017 Omitting, it is the oracle of Jehovah, which appears to be a later addition. This vs. clearly belongs before rather than after 16. ' 30" Restoring the obscure Heb. in accordance with a suggestion found in the Gk. The concluding clause, after whom none seeketh, appears to be a gloss intended to explain the corrupt Heb. text. . k 3016 Following the Gk. in restoring the Heb. 471 Under native ruler Jer. 3021] MESSIANIC KING AND KINGDOM 21Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to me ; For who is he that risks1 his life to approach to me ? Is the oracle of Je hovah. 31 'At that time, is the oracle of Jehovah, I will be the God Of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Gathering the scatteredpeople Peaceand justice under therule of a Da vidicking § 223. The Davidic Prince, Jer. 233S Jer. 23 3I indeed will gather the remnant of my flock From all the lands whither I have driven them, And I will restore them again to their pasture, that they may be fruitful and multiply. 4I will establish shepherds over them, who shall shepherd them ; And they shall not fear any more nor be terrified,111 is Jehovah's oracle. 5Behold,n the days are coming, is Jehovah's oracle When I will raise up for David a righteous branch," And he shall reign as king and deal wisely ; He shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah shall be delivered, And Israel shall dwell safely; And this is the name by which he shall be called, Jehovah our Righteous- 1 3021 So Gk. The Heb. adds a vs. addressed to the people inthe plural_ instead of the usual singular, and ye shall be my people and I will be your God. It is not consistent with the prevailing metre and is in all probability secondary. To this a later editor has also added 23- w, taking them from 2319. 2°. § 223 This section, with its bright promises, follows Jeremiah's bitter and just denuncia tion of the false shepherds, the rulers of the house of David, who had betrayed their nation in the hour of peril. Cf. § 122. It presents a very different picture from that of Jeremiah. It is evidently a message of hope akin to the many which the post-exilic prophets appended to the sterner denunciations which came from the pre-exilic prophets. It assumes the conditions of the exile and uses the language of the post-exilic writers. The connection between the three paragraphs is very loose and it is possible that each represents the work of an independent author. By some recent interpreters vss. s- 6 are attrib uted to Jeremiah. This conclusion is not entirely untenable but it is not probable. Its introduc tory formula is suggestive of a later writer. Its position between two paragraphs, which are gener- £-!y regarded as secondary, is also suggestive. There is no evidence elsewhere in his writings that he "himself anticipated that the ultimate deliverance and regeneration of his people was to come through a scion of the degenerate house of Judah. His interests were fixed, not on the material but on the spiritual future of Israel. Although the figure differs the thought is closely akin to similar appendices found in Isaiah and Micah, which voice the popular hope expressed by Ezekiel. The concluding vss., '• 8, are placed in the Gk. after ". They are also found, in slightly variant form, in 1614-16, where they are clearly secondary and have no logical connection with their context. Although the connection here is not close, their most natural position is the present context. m 234 So Gk. Heb. adds, and there shall be none lacking. " 23B Vss. '¦ 6 are repeated in the very late supplement to the Heb. text found in 3316' ls. ° 23s This figure describes one who should spring up like a sprout' from the line of David. Like the similar expression in Is. ll1, it suggests that there had been a break in the regular line of succession. The peculiar phrase occurs in Zech. 38, which comes from the same general period. p 236 The Gk. and Lat. read, the Lord Josedek. 472 THE DAVIDIC PRINCE [Jer. 237 'Therefore, behold, the days are coming, is Jehovah's oracle, The When it shall no longer be said,q ' As Jehovah liveth, exodus Who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt' ; 8But, ' As Jehovah liveth, Who hath brought upr the seed of Israel from the north country,' And from the land whither I have driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land. § 224. The Second David, Mi. 52-* Mi. 5 2And thou Beth-ephratha (Bethlehem),3 The Thou that art smallest among the tribes of Judah, mighty ruler Out of thee there shall come forth to me again One who shall rule over Israel, rj-v.... i.vA d.t.».y> from8 Whose origin is from of old, from everlasting. Ktae 4And he shall stand and feed* in the strength of Jehovah, hem In the exalted name of Jehovah his God ; And they shall atjide, for now he shall be great, I Even to the ends of the earth. § 225. The Prince of Peace, Is. 9'-7 Re- • Is. 9 ^he people11 who have been walking in darkness see a great light, joicing Those who dwell in the land of deepest gloom, upon them a light shines. period of q 237 So Syr. and the parallel in 16u. Heb., they shall say. r 238 Following the superior reading of the parallel passage in 161B. Heb. adds, who hath brought in, and after, seed, the word, house. The passage has evidently been expanded by a later scribe. § 224 In later Christian thought this was one of the most significant of the O.T. prophecies. It is difficult, however, to find here s definite' prediction' thai, the MBSBlHU -wWrtdTie^born in Bethlehem, even were such a detailed predictionin keeping with the spirit and method of O.T. prophecy. The prophet simply*expresses"the conviction that from the long lineage of the house of David, which sprang from the comparatively insignificant village of Bethlehem, shall again come forth, in the hour of the nation's" dire need, a deliverer and ruler who, in Jehovah's strength, will bring peace and security to his people and build up an empire the bounds of which shall surpass that of nis illusftrious forefather David. The prophecy therefore voices, in dramatic form, the hopes and predictions contained in the preceding sections and developed in still greater detail in those which immediately follow (§§ 223,^224). A scribe, who had in mind the allusion to the nation, like a woman in travail, in 49-10, has added in 3 a prose note, which breaks the close connection between 2 and 4 and is clearly second ary, Therefore he wiU give them up until the time that she who travaileth, hath brought forth. Then the rest of his kindred shall return to the Israelites. ' S2 Following the superior reading of the Gk. in reconstructing the Heb. Bethlehem was evidently added by a later scribe, in order to identify Beth-ephratha. In the light of I Sam. 1712, Gen. 487, and the Gk. note in connection with Josh. 1569, which states that Ephratha is Bethlehem, there can be little doubt of the identification. * 5> I. e., the flock. § 225 There is nothing in this passage which might not have come from the days of Is. or even earlier. The popular hopes here expressed were probably in the minds of the people even at an earlier period, but many difficulties arise, if it is assigned to Is. The entire emphasis of the prophet's teaching was ethical and social. Practical experience with rulers like Ahaz had led him to largely despair of the descendants of David. As Is. plainly states in 816-18, his hope u 92 The first vs. of this chapter lacks entirely the poetic structure which characterizes the rest of the passage. Its form and contents indicate that it is an explanatory gloss added by an editor to connect the messianic passage which follows with the historical situation described in 7, 8. In his mind the period of gloom and foreign conquest was Tiglath-Pileser's conquest of the northern territory of Israel. Cf. II Kgs. 1529 and §§ 35-37. The Heb. text is somewhat uncertain, but it may be rendered, But there shall be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former lime he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and Napthali, but in the latter time he brought honor to the way of the sea, ihe east Jordan land and ihe territory of the heathen. 473 after a period of gloom Is. 93] MESSIANIC KING AND KINGDOM Deliverancefrom foreign con querors 3Thou multipliest the exultation,v thou makest great the rejoicing, They rejoice before thee as men rejoice at harvest time, As men are wont to exult when they divide spoil. 4For the burdensome yoke and the crossbar on his shoulder, The rod ofw his taskmaster, thou breakest as in the day of Midian.x 5For every boot of the warrior with noisy tread, And every7 war-cloak drenched in the blood of the slain Will be completely burned up as fuel for the flame. Rise of a di vinely giftedprinceto es tablisha just, worldwide rule 6For a child is born, to us a son is given, And dominion shall rest upon his shoulder ;z .And his name will be .Wonderful Counsellor,3, ^TGSMi $fe?o,b Ever-*w^ful Father,0 Prince of Peace.* 7To the increase of his dominion and to the peace there shall be no end, On the throne of David and throughout his kingdom, To establish and uphold it by justice and righteousness Henceforth and forever. The jealousy6 of Jehovah will accomplish this. The di vinelygifted scion of the Davidichouse §226. The Ideal Ruler, Is. ll1-10 lis. 11 'A sprout* shall spring from the stock of Jesse, I And a shoot from his roots shall bear fruit. ) 2The spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, (>> ' I W'U shake the heavens and the earth ; 22and I will overthrow the foes throne of kingdoms ; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations ; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them ; and the horses and their riders shall come down, each by the sword of his brother.' Zerub- ^In that day, is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, I will take thee, O Zerub- impor- babel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, is Jehovah's oracle, and I will make j^te thee as a seal-ring, for I have chosen thee, is the oracle of Jehovah of Hosts. § 228. The Attempted Crowning of Zerubbabel, Zech. 36"10, 69-15" Prom- Zech. 3 ^he angel of Jehovah testified to Joshua, saying, 7Thus saith Je- a crown hovah of hosts: 'If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my Zerub- charge, thou also shalt rule my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I babel w;n g[ve thee a place of access among these that stand by. 8Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy associates who sit before me ; for they are men who are a sign; for, behold, I am about to bring forth my servant the Branch. 9For, lo, the stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven facets ; behold, I will engrave it,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10In that day,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'shall ye invite every man his neighbor, under the vine and under the fig-tree.' Prcpar- 6 9And this word of Jehovah came to me, 10Take of them of the captivity, crown even of Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, who have come from Babylon, uyea, take of them silver and gold in order to make a crown and set it on the head of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. Assur- 12And say to them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, ' Behold, the man whose name that is the Branch ; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build a temple should °* Jehovah, 13band he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his reigu as throne ; and Joshua the son of Jehozadak shall be a priest upon his right, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. "And the crown shall be to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Joshua the son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. ^And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah ; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Je hovah your God.' § 227 For notes, cf. 8 153. § 228 For notes, cf. §§ 158, 163. 476 PREDICTIONS OF ISRAEL'S FUTURE !"Zech. 83 II THE DIVINE WARRIOR, JUDGE, AND KING AND THE GLORIES OF HIS RULE § 229. Zechariah's Predictions Regarding Israel's Future, Zech. 83 7, 8, 12, 13, 22 Zech. 8 ^hus saith Jehovah ; I have returned to Zion, And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem ; Jerusalem shall be called, The City of Truth ; The Mountain of Jehovah of Hosts, The Holy Mountain. 7Thus saith Jehovah of hosts : I am about to rescue my people, From the land of the east and the land of the west, 8I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be my people in truth and righteousness, And I will in turn be their God. Jeho vah to return and dwell amonghis re storedpeople The Divine Warrior, Judge, and King and the Glories of His Rule.— The following sections contain ideas which are already found in germ in earlier writings, and especially in Ezekiel. A conception of Jehovah as the Divine King is implied in Is. 6, and probably was as old as the days of the united kingdom, for the theological conceptions of every age and race are largely cast in thought moulds suggested by the prevailing type of political organization. Ezekiel in 34 and elsewhere had proclaimed that Jehovah, like a shepherd, would lead back his people. Ezekiel also, in 38, 39, had announced that there would be a great world-judgment, in which the heathen should be assembled and then suddenly destroyed. This conception was not orig inal with him, but, as has been noted already (Introd., p. 43), was a firmly fixed popular belief in the days of Amos. While there is little doubt that most of the ideals developedin the fol lowing sections were thus current in the popular mind, the real question is, when were they so far adopted by the prophets as to find a place in their writings? That they were rejected by the great prophets of the exilic period has been already rioted (pp. 43, 44). In the post-exilic period, however, not only did a new type of prophet arise, but conditions were also funda mentally different. In connection with the rebuilding of the second temple (520-516 B.C.), the old popular kingly messianic hope which centred about Zerubbabel had reached its climax and had met with bitter and overwhelming disappointment. The temple, however, had been built and therefore the people felt that their claims upon Jehovah's favor were stronger than ever before. On the other hand, the poor and pious in the community were suffering supreme injustice at the hands both of their arrogant, sceptical rulers and their heathen neighbors. It was also an age when the faithful studied as never before the past records of their nation. The great deliverances from Egypt and from their foes in Palestine were ever fresh in their memory. The logic of the situation seemed to them incontrovertible. If ever there was a moment in their history when Jehovah should arise and perform signal miracles in their behalf, it was at this great crisis. In the earlier prophecies, as, for example, Ezekiel, they always found prophetic authority for this belief. When prophets like Haggai and Zechariah declared that Jehovah was indeed about to perform miracles in behalf of his people, it was most natural that lesser prophets should take up and carry on the refrain. Hence, for general considerations, as well as in the light of detailed internal evidence, it is exceedingly probable that the majority, if not all, of the prophecies included in this group come from the two centuries following the rebuilding of the temple. Many of them reveal the potent influence of the thought of the II Isaiah. It is not impossible that the majorityof the supplemental passages in Is. 29-35 were actually written by him, for they abound in his characteristic expressions and ideas. Judging from the book of Joel and later O.T. literature, it seems probable that the idea of a great world- judgment, at which the heathen nations should be destroyed, came to the front more and more during the latter half of the Persian period. Undoubtedly the merciless persecutions of Ar taxerxes Ochus and others, about 346 B.C., did much to intensify this feeling. The nobler and more spiritual side of Israel's messianic hopes is, of course, to be found in the writings of the II Isaiah, and these, together with the genial missionary spirit which breathes through the book of Jonah, should be studied as the noblest exponents of Israel's hopes. Since the exact chronological order of these prophecies cannot be determined, the method adopted in this general division has been in part logical, so that prophecies dealing with kindred themes may be studied together. § 229 For the notes and historic section of this prophecy, cf. § 165. 477 Zech. 812] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING To give peace andprosperity 12For I will scatter prosperity broadcast ; The vine shall bear its fruit, and the ground shall yield its increase, And the heavens shall give their dew, And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these things. uIt shall come to pass that as ye were accursed among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, So will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hand be strong. To be wor shipped by manynations Gathering the exiles Mi 22And many peoples and strong nations shall come To seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, And to entreat the favor of Jehovah of Hosts. § 230. Jehovah Leading Back His Scattered People, Mi. 2". « 2 12I will surely assemble all Jacob,a I will surely gather the remnant of Israel, I will put them together as sheep in aiold,b As a flock in the midst of a pasture ; Andc they shall resound with the din of men. Their trium phant return ^he Breakerd hath gone up before them ; They have broken forth and passed by the gate, And through it have they gone forth ; Their King hath passed on before them, Even Jehovah at their head. Preser- vation- of the faithful and de struc tion of theguilty § 231. The Glories of the Restoration, Am. 99-15 Am. 9 9For behold I am about to give command, And I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, Just as one shakes grain in a sieve ; § 230 This brief section is evidently one of the later appendices added to the stern prophecy of Micah and was intended to adjust the pre-exilic prophecy to the conditions and hopes of a post- exilic period. The exile is not in the future but in the past. It voices the hopes of a general return which was strong in the days following the rebuilding of the temple. It develops the theme and the figure of Jehovah, as a shepherd, gathering his sheep, which was first developed in Ezek. 3411-16. It also introduces the conception of Jehovah as King over his people. a 212 So Gk. Heb., 0 Jacob, all of thee. b 212 Correcting the mistaken vowel -pointing of the Heb. as the context suggests. 0 212 Dividing the Heb. letters and restoring the original reading. d 213 Jehovah, of course, is one who goes ahead to break the path for the flock. § 231 In 9 may possibly be preserved a few of the closing words of Amos, but the vs. as a whole, and those which follow, are intended to present that other side of Amos's conception of Israel's future which only the following centuries made clear. Many expressions and ideas foreign to Amos are found. Among the more significant is the representation that the Israelites would be scattered among all the nations. Amos always declared that they would be carried captive to Assyria. He also predicted consistently that not only the sinners but the entire nation would be destroyed. Special favor for Judah and the whole picture of material restora tion and prosperity, without any reference to the moral reformation of the nation, are out of harmony with Amos's message, which was from beginning to end social and ethical. This section, therefore, is now almost universally recognized as a post-exilic appendix intended to adapt the book as a whole to the changed point of view and the very different needs of the later Jewish community. It consists of four strophes of approximately six lines. 478 GLORIES OF THE RESTORATION But not a kernel shall fall to the ground. By the sword shall die all the sinners of my people, Who say, Disaster shall not touch or befall us. "In that time I will raise up the hut of David that is fallen,6 I will wall up its breaches and raise up its ruins, And I will rebuild it as in the days of old, In order that they may possess the remnant of Edom,f And all the nations which were called by my name,g It is the oracle of Jehovah, who will do this. [Am. 9° Resto ration of the Davidioking dom Behold the days are coming, is the oracle of Jehovah, When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,11 And the treader of grapes him who soweth seed ;' The mountains also shall drop sweet wine, And all the hills shall melt.i The abound ing pros perity "And I will lead back the captivity of my peoplek Israel, And they shall rebuild waste cities and inhabit them, And they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, And they shall make gardens and eat their fruit, 15 And I will plant them upon their own soil, And they shall never again be torn away from their land, Which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God. Restoration and permanent re es tab- lish- ment of the exiles § 232. The Glorious Restoration of Jehovah's People, Is. ll"-10 Is. 11 "And it shall come to pass in that day, That the Lord will again put forth his hand To recover1 the remnant of his people, Those which remain in Assyria and Egypt, Those of Pathrosm and Ethiopia and Elam, And those from Shinar and Hamath and the sea countries. uAnd he will lift up a signal to the nations, And will gather the outcasts of Israel, And he will collect the dispersed women of Judah From the four quarters of the earth. Gather ing the exiles from every quarter • 9" /. e., restore the ancient glories of David's empire. 1 912 Evidently the Edom of post-exilic times, already dispossessed by Nabatheans. Cf . Ps. 60B-i2, Mal. I*. ". s 912 All the nations subjugated by David. h 9i3 I.e., plowing and the trading of the vintage shall follow each other in quick succession. ' 913 Before the vintage is gathered it will be time to sow again. ' 9t3 A reference to the productive, vine-clad hills of Judah. k 91* Or, turn the fortune of my people. § 232 The exile clearly lies back of this passage. The author lives in the experiences of Israel's past and in his hopes for the complete and glorious restoration of his people. It reveals at every point the influence of the II Is. and of the hopes which he voiced in the days following the rebuilding of the second temple. 1 ll11 Lit., io purchase. m llu /. e., upper Egypt. 479 Is. ll13] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING Union 13And Ephraim's jealousy shall depart, 9£ , And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. and Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, in eon- And Judah shall not be hostile to Ephraim,11 tr^eir °E "But they shall swoop down upon the shoulder of the Philistine on the neigh- west ; Together they shall despoil the sons of the East. Edom and Moab shall be within their grasp, And the sons of Ammon shall be their subjects. The 15 Jehovah will dry up° the tongue of the Egyptian Sea, exodus He will shake his hand over the River,p And divide it at a stroke into seven streams, And make men pass over dry shod, 16 And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, They who remain from Assyria, Even as there was for Israel At the time when it came up from the land of Egypt. § 233. The Returning Exiles' Song of Thanksgiving, Is. 12 Faith Is. 12 ^hou shalt say in that day, IjotS. I thank thee, O Jehovah, though thou hast been wroth with me, Thine anger hath turnedq away and thou hast comforted me. 2Behold, God is my help, I will trust and not be fearful ; Jahr is my strength and my song, And he is become my help. Thanks- 3With joy shall ye draw water for'hus From the founts of deliverance. deed of 4And ye shall say in that day, erance Give thanks to Jehovah, call upon his name, Make known his deeds among the peoples, Declare that his name is exalted. 5Make melody to Jehovah, for he hath done majestically ; Let this be known through all the earth. 6Shout with a loud cry, O inhabitants8 of Zion; For great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel. » ll13 Many scholars regard these two lines as secondary but the evidence is not decisive ° ll15 Restoring the Heb. with the aid of the Gk., Targ., and Syr. p 11IB The Heb. adds, with his scorching wind, but this is probably a gloss. TheRiver is of course, the Euphrates. ' ' § 233 This passage is in reality a psalm rather than a prophecy. It is made up of phrases and passages drawn from post-exilic literature, and especially from the song of Moses in Dt 32 and the Psalter. It is clearly one of the latest additions to the book of Is. and is intended as a song of triumph on the lips of the returning exiles. It probably comes, at the earliest, from the latter part of the Persian period. q 121 Reading the verbs in this line in the past tense. ' 122 The shorter name of Jehovah. A scribe has added in the Heb., Jehovah, in order to make the identification clear. ¦ 12" Lit., inhabitress, i. e., the inhabitants of Jerusalem spoken of collectively. 480 ULTIMATE DELIVERANCE AND GLORY [Mi. 48 § 234. Pictures of Israel's Ultimate Deliverance and Glory, Mi. 48-5l. b-u Mi. 4 8But thou tower of the flock,* hill of the daughter of Zion, Jeho_ To thee will come11 the former rule. vah "Therefore why dost thou now cry aloud, hast thou no king ?v with Or hath thy counsellor perished, that throes have seized thee, like a woman pesopie in travail?" 10Writhe and bring forth,x O daughter of Zion, as one in travail ; For now thou shalt go forth from the city, and abide in the open field,y And thou shalt come to Babylon ; there thou shalt be rescued f There Jehovah will redeem thee from the hands of thy foes. Out of exilewill he leadthem "And now many nations gather against thee, And Who say, Let her be defiled, that our eyes may gaze upon Zion. *her~ uBut they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, their Nor do they understand his plan, for he hath gathered them as sheaves for ma,g y the threshing floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion ; For I will make thine horns iron, And thy hoofs will I make brass, That thou mayest beat in pieces many peoples, And devote3, to Jehovah their spoil, And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth. His people the instrument of punish ment § 234 This passage presents many difficult problems. The literary unity is not close and it is exceedingly probable that it contains several independent literary units. The same general situation, however, is implied throughout. Jerusalem has been humiliated, the people have been scattered into distant exile. It is also evident that Jerusalem has been, in part, rebuilt and is being constantly. menaced by hostile heathen peoples. The prophecies well fit the conditions and hopes of the Judean community in the days__4_o_wrnj-the-reD_ulding-ef' the _ . second temple. The conception of the chosen people and of Jehovah's threshing instrument, 4'a, is orJe-of the characteristic teachings of the II Is., e. g., Is. 4116. Also that Jehovah's plans are known only to himself, 4013> w. The doctrine of a general destruction of the heathen is also peculiar to this later period. The warlike martial spirit and the confident belief that Israel should ultimately conquer all its heathen foes point possibly to the Maccabean age. The reference to Assyria in _£• 6 is also best explained in this period, for it was the usual Heb. designa tion of the Syrian kingdom. It may, however, be simply a designation of the great world- power, which came, as did the ancient conqueror, to subdue with seemingly irresistible might. The latter part of the Persian and the early part of the Gk. periods brought crises to the Judean community which satisfied the situation implied in this section. The references to the putting away of idolatry and heathen cults in 510-'4 also accord with a post-exilic rather than a pre- v exilic date. The section, as a whole, voices the strongly national and individualistic hopes which filled the minds of the Jews, who lived under the shadow of the second temple. * 48 The reference clearly is to Jerusalem. Even though it has suffered disaster and humili ation, it shall be yet again the place of refuge, to which shall be led the scattered remnants of the nation Israel. The passage recalls the dramatic terms with which Is. frequently addressed - 4- The Heb. adds another synonym of this verb, and also at the end of the vs., dominion of the daughter of Jerusalem. These are probably scribal additions and also contribute nothing to the meaning of the vs. . y 49 The reference is clearly to Jehovah, the Divine King, who was ever present to deliver y 49 The clause, as one in travail, may be due to scribal repetition from the next vs. * 410 Possibly the original read, sigh. The Heb. is corrupt. y 41" Probably a reference to the experiences of the exile. . 410 Possibly this line is secondary, being a concrete illustration of the preceding line. » 413 Following the reading of the VSS. Heb., I will devote. 481 Present humiliation Mi. 51] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING 'Now cut thyself in bitter grief ;b They0 have set a wall around thee, They smite with the rod on the cheek,d The ruler of Israel. The way of deliverance ^his shall be our peace,*3 When Assyria shall come into our land, And when he shall tread upon our soil :f Then will we raise up against himg seven shepherds, And eight princes among men. "They shall shepherd Assyria with a sword, And the land of Nimrodh with her own bared blades; They1 shall deliver us from Assyria, when he comes into our land, And treads within our borders. The in vincible rem nantamong the nations 'And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,) In the midst of many peoples like dew from Jehovah, Like showers upon the grass, Which wait for no man, Nor tarry for the children of men. 8And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, It shall be in the midst of many peoples, Like a lion among the beasts of the forest, Like a young lion among the sheep-folds, Who, when he passes through, treads down, He tears, and none may deliver. 9Let thy hand triumphk over thine adversaries, And let all thine enemies be cut off. Purificationof the nation 10 And it shall be in that day, is Jehovah's oracle, That I will cut off thy horses from thy midst, and destroy thy chariots, "I will cut off the cities in thy land, and tear down thy fortresses, MI will cut off thine enchantments from thy hand, and thou shalt have no soothsayers ; 13 And I will cut off thine images and thy pillars from thy midst, And thou shalt not worship any more the work of thy hands ; b Si Slightly emending the text, which otherwise is unintelligible. c 51 So Syr., Targ., and Lat. Heb., lit., he hath put. Is. 32 1Behold, a king shall reign righteously, And princesk rule justly. 2Each shall be like a hiding-place from the wind, Like a covert from the rain storm, Like water courses in a parched land, Like the shadow of a high rock in a weary land. Just rulers ^he eyes of those who see shall not be closed, And the ears of those who hear shall hearken. 4The mind of the rash shall discern with judgment, The tongues of stammerers shall speak quickly and distinctly;1 Men to be open, to tne truth 5No more shall the fool be called noble, Nor the knave be spoken of as princely. 6For the fool speaks folly, i 3026 So Gk. of Origen. -Heb. adds the explanatory ndte, as the light of seven days. § 240 The emphasis on the ethical character of the rulers reflects the influence of Isaiah's noble teaching. It is clear that the author of this section was at least a spiritual disciple of the great prophet. The style and thought,",however, nowhere arises to Isaiah's standards. The section also lacks the concreteness and definiteness which characterized his utterances. Instead, the picture is a general one of the time when those ideals, which feaiah labored to inculcate, were to be realized. The references to the fool and the- knave also suggest the influence of the late wisdom school. It is possible that e- 1 are a later addition by some sage. ¦ The same ethical idealism appears in i6-20, and in general, theme the two passages belong together. It is, of course, impossible to fix a definite date, but it is not probable that they are older than the latter part of the Persian period. More probably, they come from the earlier part of the Gk. period, when contact with the courts of Alexandria had revealed the knavery and folly of many of the rulers of the day. The ideal is a nobler one than that which character izes many of these later prophecies, but the consummation is conceived of as the work of Jehovah, and it lacks the powerful ethical appeal which characterized the writings of the pre-exilic k 321 Heb., to princes, but this form must be due to a scribal error. ' 321 Lit., make haste to speak distinct. The last word may be a scribal gloss,, since it is not' necessary for the metre. _ - 489 Foolsto be estimatedat their real value Is. 326] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING And his mind contemplates™ mischief, To practice impiety, And to utter error against Jehovah, To leave the hungry unsatisfied, And refuse drink to the thirsty. Also 7And the knave — his knaveries11 are evil; a"dVes Such a one plans villainies noble To ruin the humble with false words, Even when the plea of the poor is right. 8But the noble man plans noble things ; And to noble things shall he attain. The ^he wilderness" shall become a fertile garden,p justice* And a fertile garden shall be considered a forest. "Justice shall dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness shall dwell in the fertile garden. "The fruit of righteousness shall be peace, And the product of justice"1 confidence. 18My people shall dwell in the habitation of peace, Sure dwellings and quiet resting-places. 20Happy are ye who sow beside all waters, Who speed the feet of the ox and the ass.r § 241. Jehovah's Judgment upon Israel's Foes, Is. 3027-33 Jeho- Is. 30 27Behold, the name of Jehovah comes from afar advent With burning anger, and with thick rising clouds ; for With lips full of rage, and a tongue like a devouring fire ; ment 28His breath is like an overflowing torrent which reaches even to the neck, To sift nations with the sieve of destruction ; And a bridle which leads astray is on the jaws of the people. » 321 So Gk., O. Lat., and Tare., supported by the context. Heb., shall do. n 327 Lit., his instruments. This word was undoubtedly chosen in order to produce a play on a similar sound in the Heb. word, knave, (kelaw, kelaw.) o 321- xhe first line, which may be translated, untiit there be poured out upon us a spirit from the height, i. c, from heaven, is either an editorial line, intended to connect the present passage with that which immediately precedes or else it is a fragment from a couplet which has otherwise been lost. ¦> 3215 Lit., Carmel, the synonym for fertility. q 32" Heb., righteousness, but this is simply a synonym of the corresponding word in the parallel couplet. r 3220 At the close of this vs. there, has been introduced a couplet, evidently taken from some other source, which has no connection with the context. It reads: And it shall hail when the forest comes down; And in lowliness shall the city be brought low. 5 241 This remarkable passage has the vigorous style but not the ideas of Isaiah. It pic'tures with powerful realism the great funeral pvre that awaits Israel's foes, here symbolized by Assyria, as often in late Jewish writings. Its picture of the final destruction of the heathen nations is similar to those found in Joel, Dan., and Zech. 14. It is also parallel to Is. 34 and the II Isaiah's picture of Jehovah's invincible warlike might in 63'-". It breathes the spirit of the Maccabean age, but it may come from the middle of the Persian period. 490 JUDGMENT UPON ISRAEL'S FOES [Is. 302' A song shall ye have on your lips as on a night when a feast is celebrated ;8 Joy of And ye shall have gladness of heart like him who sets forth with a flute people To go to the Mount of Jehovah, to the Rock' of Israel 30 And Jehovah will make his majestic voice heard, And the descent of his arm to be seen, In furious anger and the flame of devouring fire, Cloudburst, and storm, and hailstones. 31For Assyria at Jehovah's voice shall be stricken" with terror, ^Whenever the appointed stroke falls, Which Jehovah will cause to fall upon him, It shall be to the sound of timbrels and lutes ; In battles with brandished armv he shall contend with them. ''For already a burning placew is prepared; It had been made ready, deep and wide; Its pile is blazing wood* in abundance ; Jehovah's breath, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it. Final stroke to fall uponIsrael's foes § 242. The Deliverance and Future Blessedness of Zion, Is. 33 Is. 33 'Woe, thou spoiler, but thyself not spoiled, Thou robber,y whom none has robbed, When thou hast ceased to despoil, thou shalt be despoiled ; When thou hast made an endz of robbing, thou shalt be robbed. 2 Jehovah, be gracious to us, for we wait for thee ; Be thou our* arm of strength every morning, Yea, our deliverance in time of stress. 8 3029 Lit., ihe song shall be to you, as on a night when a feast is sanctified. * 3029 Jehovah is addressed, as a Rock frequently in the Pss., e. g., 313, 713, 89M — chiefly in late Jewish literature. u 3031 Heb. adds, when he smites with a rod, but this is probably secondary, for it anticipates the thought expressed in the next line. v 3032 Lit., by battles of swinging. In the light of 30 it would seem that the reference was to the swinging of Jehovah's arm of judgment, although it may refer to the wave offerings. w 3033 The figure is apparently drawn from the sacrificial pyres anciently reared to the south of Jerusalem. With tnis thought in mind a scribe has* it would seem, added in the Heb., also to the king, or, to Melek or Milk, a god once worshipped there with human sacrifices. * 3033 Lit., fire and wood. 5 242 The majestic diction and the strong figures in this section suggest Isaiah's vigorous literary style. Many of his characteristic phrases are here found. His conception of Jehovah as the supreme king is also central. It is not impossible that some of these vss. were penned by Isaiah in the closing years of his ministry, and that Sennacherib is the spoiler addressed in the opening vs. ,._-...,, . There is much, however, which points to a later date. The spirit of the poem is eschatolog ical and lacks the concreteness of Isaiah's original utterances. The picture of exalted and trans formed Jerusalem is characteristic of the later literature. It would seem that the author had before him the cruel, destructive invasion of Artaxerxes Ochus of the later Persian period, or possibly the atrocities of Antiochus Epiphanes, in the earlier part of the second century b.c. Or it may be that he had in mind the historic memory of Sennacherib's invasion, and in imagina tion projected himself backward into the days of Isaiah. In any case, he proved himself a worthy spiritual disciple of the earlier prophet. Like many, of the Psalms the poem begins with a prayer uttered from the point of view of the oppressed community and concludes with a glorious picture of triumph and vindication. y 33i So with certain MSS. omitting the, and, of the Heb. " 33' Revising the Heb. as the context requires. » 332 So Targ., Syr., Lat., and certain Heb. MSS. Heb., their arm. 491 Overthrowof the in vader Jehovah the deliverer of hispeople Is. 33s] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING 3At the sound of tumult peoples flee, At thine uplifting nations are scattered, 4 And theirb booty is gathered as locusts gather, Like the swarming0 of grasshoppers the [spoilers] swarm upon it. The 5Exalted is Jehovah, for he dwelleth on high ; of Zion1 He hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness, 8Withd abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; The fear of Jehovah is its treasure. Rav- 'Behold, the valiant ones6 cry without, mal.g-£ The messengers of peace weep bitterly. nant ^he highways lie desolate, Men have ceased to pass along the roads ; He has violated£ the covenant, despised cities,8 Of men he makes no account. 9The earth mourns, it languishes; Lebanon is shamed, it moulders ; Sharon has become like the Arabah; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves. Jeho_ 10Now I will arise, saith Jehovah, vah's Now will I exalt, now will I uplift myself. uYe conceive hay, ye bring forth stubble, Your own breath is a fire that shall devour you. ^Nations shall be as if burned to lime, Like thorns cut off, which are set on fire. 2fiect 13Those afar off hear11 what I have done, "Pon And those near by recognize my mighty power. foes "The sinners in Zion are filled with terror, Shuddering has seized the impious, Who [of us, they say], can abide with devouring fire ? Who can abide with everlasting burning ? Con_ ^He who walks in righteousness, and speaks uprightness, trasted He who rejects that which is gained through oppression,1 the : Si?.*" b 33' Heb- your booty. eous « 334 Lit., like the gathering of locusts. d 336 This line is the immediate sequel of the last line in the preceding vs., but the Heb. prefixes to this vs. the line, and there shall be stability in thy times. ° 337 The Heb. is corrupt. The original probably read, ariels, referring to the valiant defenders of Jerusalem. Cf. 291. f 338 Possibly this last couplet, is secondary, for the next two lines appear to voice the occasions for the weeping described in 7. e 338 Possibly the Heb. should be revised so as to read, proofs, i. e., of the covenant. h 3313 Following the Gk. and O. Lat., instead of the Heb., which has the imperative form of the verb. » 331B Possibly the last four lines of this vs. are a later scribal expansion after the analogy of Ps. 15, 24. 492 FUTURE BLESSEDNESS OF ZION [Is. S315 Who keeps his hand from taking a bribed Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, And who shuts his eyes sq as not to countenance evil. 16He shall dwell in lofty heights, The fastnesses of tjie rock shall be his stronghold, His bread is provided, his waters are assured. 17The king in his beauty shall thine eyes behold ; Present They shall look upon a far-stretching land. ™ 18Thy mind shall muse on the terror of the past : *° be Where is he that counted, where is he that weighed ? past Where is he who counted the towers ? m,fsmo" "Thou shalt no more see the insolent people, The people of obscure, unintelligible speech, Who speak a barbarous meaningless tongue. 20Thinek eyes shalt see Jerusalem, Strength A quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed curity Whose pegs are never drawn out, salem"1" And of its cords, none of them breaks. 21But there we have a ' Glorious One, Jehovah,1 Instead of broad encircling streams ;m In it no fleet of oars can go, Neither can stately ship- pass by it. 22For Jehovah is our Judge! Jeh°- Jehovah is our Commander! give Jehovah is our King! e^nce He it is who will deliver us. and ^hen11 shall the blind0 divide booty in abundance; to his The lame shall seize on prey. people MAnd no inhabitant shall say, I am sick ;p The people who dwell therein have had their iniquities forgiven. i 3315 Lit., shakes his hand free from holding bribes. k 3320 The Heb. prefixes to this vs.. Behold, Zion the city of our festal assembly. This line, however, represents a different point of view and interrupts the sequence of thought. It is probably the exclamation of a later scribe, which has been introduced into the text. 1 332i By most modern interpreters this line is regarded as corrupt. It has been variously reconstructed so as to read, there have we the river of Jehovah (Cheyne), or, there shall we have a mighty river (Ball), or, for a glorious name shall be ours rHaupt). Each of these interpreters find here an allusion to the river of Paradise, but this is excedingly abrupt, after the figure of a tent securely fastened in the preceding vs. The above translation is based on the Heb., as it stands, and voices the truth, which is to be anticipated in the present, con text, namely, that since Jehovah is in the midst of his city there is no need for moats, which would only expose it to the attacks of hostile fleets. This rendering is also in harmony with the meaning in the following vs. - ...,,, " 3321 A scribe has added in the Heb., stream, a duplicate of the word, rivers. _ 3323 The following words have been prefixed to the vs., thy tacklings hang loose, they do not hold fast the fool of their mast, they have not spread out the sail. It is obvious that these words have no connection with the context. Either it has been introduced here from some other context, or else part of the original Heb. text has been lost. o S323 Reconstructing the Heb. as the context suggests. p 33M Possibly the original verb read, / have not sinned. 493 Is. 341] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING § 243. Jehovah's Judgment upon the Nations, Is. 34 Siaugh- Is. 34 *Draw near, ye nations, to hear, ^o£ And give heed, ye peoples, peoples Let the earth and its inhabitants'! hear; The habitable world, and its offspring. 2For Jehovah hath indignation against all nations, And wrath against all their host; He hath laid a ban upon them, given them up to slaughter. sAnd their slain shall be cast forth And their carcasses — a stench from them shall rise. Effect Mountains shall melt with their blood. Sature 4And a11 the hxxxsI sha11 dissolve. The heavens shall roll up like a scroll; And all their host shall fade away, As the leaves fade away from the vine, And as that which fades from the fig-tree. jeho- 5For drunk with his fury,s Xahsf Is Jehovah's sword in the heavens; judg- Behold, it descends upon Edom, ™nt And for judgment upon the people who are under his ban.* Edom "Jehovah hath a sword gorged with blood, It is made greasy with fat, With the blood of lambs and he-goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams ; For Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah,u And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 'Wild oxen shall be struck down with them, And bullocks together with steers ; Their land shall be drunk with blood, And their dust made greasy with fat. § 243 Chaps. 34 and 35 are counterparts, the one of the other, and their thought is closely interwoven. They are written from the same point of view and in the same style, so that there is little doubt that they are f rom the same author. They also have many points of contact with the preceding secondary sections in Isaiah, e. g., 3033, 319, 323- 4, 33M. They are also clearly dependent upon Is. 13, 14. Their contents as well as their points of contact indicate that they are post-exilic, and in style and thought they are so closely related to such passages as 4213, 631 (cf . § 190) that it is exceedingly probable that they are from the pen of the II Isaiah, or, if not, from some one who closely imitated his literary style and was in full sympathy with his teachings and points of view. In 34 Edom stands clearly as a type of Israel's hostile heathen foes, whose overthrow was necessary before Jehovah's people could be fully re-established in their land and the golden age inaugurated. q 341 Lit., its fullness. 1 344 Joining this line to the preceding vs. and reading, hills, instead of, host of heaven, which was probably introduced by the mistake of a scribe, who had in mind the word, host, later in the vs., or who wished to explain the meaning of this word. " 346 Following the suggestions of Duhm and Cheyne in restoring the defective text. The trad. Heb. reads, for my sword shall be drunken in the heavens, which, of course, makes no sense. * 345 Heb.. my ban, i. e., the people condemned to destruction. <• 34° The chief city of Edom. Cf. Is. 63'. 494 JEHOVAH'S JUDGMENT [Is. 348 For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, Desola- A year of reprisal for Zion's feud. J£>en of 'Edom's streams shall be turned into pitch, ^nd °* And its dust into brimstone; Its land shall become pitch, Burningv 10night and day, It shall not be quenched forever, Its smoke shall arise for generations to come; It shall lie waste to the end of time, With none passing through it. "The pelican and the bittern shall take possession of it, The owl and the raven shall dwell in it, And Jehovahw will stretch out upon it The measuring line of chaosx and the plummet of desolation.* Satyrs shall dwell in it,y Its nobles shall cease to be, There shall be no kingdom there to proclaim, And all its princes shall be no more. 13 !Its palaces shall grow up to thorns, Ruins Nettles and thistles shall be in its fortresses ; pilaces It shall become a haunt of wolves, A court for ostriches. "Wildcats shall join with the howling beasts,2 And satyr there shall meet with satyr ;a Only the night-monsterb reposes there, And finds for herself a place of rest. ^here the arrow-snake nests and lays, Broods over and hatches her eggs ;° There only the vultures gather, None is without its mate. "Search it out in the book of Jehovah;6 Jeho- Not one of these is missing ; ISot*0 the v 349 Joining the last word of this sentence with the following vs., as the metre and sense Edom demand. , to his w 34U Supplying the, Jehovah, required by the metrical structure of the vs. people x 3411 The Heb. words, thohu, and, bohu, are onomatopoetic and are taken from the opening vss. of Genesis and suggest a return to the primeval state of chaos. y 3412 Following the Gk. in restoring the first line and the first half of the second line of this vs. » 3414 The meanings of the nouns in this vs. are doubtful. a 34" Lit., to its mate. b 34" Lit., lilith, a female night demon, or spirit, which in later Jewish popular belief was supposed to carry away infants and attack people in their sleep. Its prototype in nature was perhaps the vampire. 0 3415 Reversing the order of the verbs as the logic demands, and reading, its eggs, instead of, in its shadow. ... d 3415 Transferring the verb from the next vs., where it has been introduced,, together with the preceding noun, entirely out of connection with its context. The present disorder of the Heb. text is evidently due to the error of a copyist. 0 3416 A scribe has added, and read, but this destroys the metre of the vs., is unnecessary, and probably secondary. 495 Is. 3416] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING For the mouth of Jehovahf — it hath commanded ; And his breath — it hath gathered them. 17He it is who hath cast the lot for them, And his hand hath apportioned it to them by line; Forever shall they possess it, Generation after generation shall they dwell in it. The desert to burst into bloom Jeho vah to strengthen and deliverhispeople All physical in firmitiesandlimita tionsto be re moved A high way prepared through the wildernessfor the purifiedpeople ) 244. The Golden Age when Jehovah shall have Restored His People, Is. 35 Is. 35 1Let the wilderness and the parched land rejoice ;g Let the pasture land exult and burst forth, 2Like the narcissus let ith burst into bloom. Let it exult with great exultation and shouting. The glory of Lebanon is given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon ; These shall see the glory of Jehovah, The majesty of our God. Strengthen the hands which are relaxed, And the tottering knees make firm ; 4Say to those whose hearts beat fast, Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God [cometh, He will surely1] avenge his [people]. A retribution from God is coming; He himself will come to dehver you. ^Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; "Then shall the lame leap as a hart, And the tongue of the dumb shout with joy. For waters break out in the wilderness, And torrents in the pasture land. 'The parched ground becomes a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water; In the haunt of jackals [and wild-cats' Shall be a] resting place [for your flocks and herds, And the] court [for ostriches f 34f6 Following five Heb. MSS. in inserting, Jehovah. § 244 For the general introduction to this section, cf. preceding section. Nowhere in the O.T., or in any hterature, is there a more beautiful description of that ideal state for which all men long. s 351 Slightly correcting the Heb. h 352 /. e\, the wilderness, the parched land, and the pasture land. 1 35* This vs. has evidently suffered through errors in transcription. The above rendering is based upon an exceeding probable restoration byBickell. The Heb. text, in its present form, is unintelligible. i 357 This vs. has evidently suffered very much as 4. Again the reconstruction of Bickell has been followed. It is largely based on the parallel passage in 34. 496 GOLDEN AGE Is given up] to reeds and rushes. And there a pure highway shall arise ;k It shall be called, The holy way ; The unclean shall not pass over it,1 And no fool shall wander there by mistake.111 9No lion shall be there, Nor shall any ravenous beast go up there, But the redeemed shall walk thereon,11 And Jehovah's ransomed ones shall return. 10They shall come to Zion with cries of joy, With rejoicing unceasing upon their heads; Gladness and joy shall overtake them, Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. [Is. 357 The re deemedto re turnwith joy to Zion § 245. Jehovah's Universal Judgment, 24, 256-12' 1! Is. 34 behold, Jehovah is about to make the earth deserted and desolate,0 He turneth it upside down and scattereth its inhabitants. 'The same fate shall overtake the people and the priest,p theservant and his master, the maid and her mistress, the buyer and the seller, the lender and the borrower, the debtor and the creditor, ^he earth shall be utterly deserted, and com pletely despoiled,0- for this is the sentence which Jehovah hath pronounced. k 35s Heb. adds, and way. It is omitted in the Syr. and some Heb. MSS. The superior reading of the Gk. has been followed. 1 358 Heb. adds the awkward and irrelevant line, And it shall be for those going on a pil grimage. It apparently represents a marginal comment, added by some scribe. m 35! Translating the verb as the parallelism of the vs. requires. " 359 Heb. adds, none shall be found, but this destroys the metre and poetic beauty of the vs. and is probably simply a scribal addition. § 245 TThe peculiar style and ideas of 24-27 preclude beyond all shadow of doubt their Isaian authorship. They stand in the book of Isaiah as a preface to the 28-35, which deal chiefly with the deliverance of Jerusalem. It is not entirely clear whether they were written primarily for the position which they now occupy, or whether they were written independently and placed here because they seemed to a later editor to be appropriate. The latter is probably the true explanation. From internal evidence it is clear that these chapters are not earlier than the Gk. or Maccabean period. The reference in 24", to the punishment of the host of the heavenly height, is an idea which otherwise is not found earlier than the book of Enoch, 1813-16; infact, the entire section is shot through with the apocalyptic and eschatological ideas of later Judaism. The language is vague and symbolic. The heathen are to be gathered together for final judgment and the wicked for destruction. Jehovah's people are to be hidden for a period, 2620, and then at the sound of the trumpet, 2713, all the dispersed are to be gathered. Jehovah is to be enthroned on Mount Zion, and even the righteous dead are to rise from the dust and be brought back to life under the invigorating influence of the heavenly dew. The atmosphere of these chapters is therefore that of the second half of the books of Daniel and Zecharian and of still later Jewish writings. The historical allusions are so vague that it is impossible to determine the date of these chapters with certainty, and, for the same reason, their exact dating is not important. The earliest probable date is at the beginning of the Gk. period, soon after the merciless persecutions of Artaxerxes Ochus. If this date be correct, the event which stirred the imagination of the author or authors of this passage was the victorious march of Alexander and the rapid overthrow of kingdoms and empires, which resulted from his widely extended conquests. Duhm and Marti would assign them to a later date, between 135-106 b.c, during the reign of John Hyrcanus, and would find in 26 an allusion to the destruction of Samaria by, that Maccabean ruler. It is not impossible that these chapters, even at this late date, have been inserted in the book of Isaiah, but, as has already been said, the internal evidence is not sufficient to make any dating abso lutely assured. The evidence, as a whole, however, points to a very late date, and the best o 241 The above translation aims to bring out the assonance of the two Heb. verbs. p 242 Lit., as people, as priest, etc. q 243 Again endeavoring to bring out the assonance of the Heb. 497 Commonfateawaiting all Is. 244] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING Effectofmen'sguilt 4The earth mourns, it fades away, The world fails, it fades away, High heaven, like the earth, fails. r ^The earth has been defiled bys its inhabitants ; For they have transgressed laws, violated a statute, Broken the everlasting covenant! "Therefore a curse consumes the earth, And those who dwell upon it pay the penalty of guilt, Therefore the inhabitants of the earth burn, But a very few men are left. The passingof all joy and mirth 'The new wine fails, the vine fades, All the glad of heart do sigh, 'The joy of timbrels ceases, The noise of those who rejoice ends, The joy of the harp ceases. 'They no more drink wine with song, Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. "Shattered is the City of Chaos ; Every house is closed so that it cannot be entered. "There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine, All gladness has passed away,* Joy is banished from the earth. ^Desolation is left in the city, And the gate is battered into ruins. MFor thus shall it be in the midst of the earth, Among the peoples as at the beating of the olive tree, As the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is over, Distant MYonder some lift up their voice, they cry aloud ; noi-or68 Because of Jehovah's majesty they shout from the sea. "Therefore in the lands of the east give honor to Jehovah, Jeho vah explanations of the various allusions contained in these chapters is that the author or authors had in mind the afflictions through which the Jews passed during the early part of the Maccabean period, and the subsequent victories under the Maccabean leaders. The unity of these chapters is not clear. 256-8, with its reference in 6- 7 to, this mountain, is evidently the immediate sequel to 2423. It is not so certain, however, that 2620- 2l and 271- 12, 13 are, as is urged by Duhm and Cheyne, the original sequels to 241-23 and 256-8. It is true that they also refer to the coming judgment, but they are a message of comfort to the Jews rather than an announcement of the destruction of the heathen. It seems, on the whole, that these chapters have been supplemented by several later songs, but they fall, according to their contents, into two large divisions; 24, 25 contain pictures of the last judgment, while 26, 27 contain messages of encouragement to Jehovah's people. The song in 251-5 has no connection with the context in which it stands and was clearly placed there by a later hand. Its theme, however, is exultation over Jehovah's overthrow of a certain heathen city or of foreign peoples in general, and its theme may well have been sug- fested by the contents of 24, 25. In any case, its most natural position is at the end, rather than etween these chapters. ' 244 Correcting an obvious error in the Heb., which reads, the height of the people of ihe earth. B 24B Lit., under. * 24" Transposing the Heb. letters. The traditional Heb. form is not found outside this context and is probably corrupt. 498 Present woe GOLDEN AGE [Is. 2415 ^In the coast-lands of the sea is the name of Jehovah, Israel's God. From the borders of the earthu we have heard songs of praise, honor to the righteous. But I say, I pine, I pine! woe is me! Robbers rob! yea, Robbery! Robbers rob! "Panic, pitfall,v and plot are upon thee, O inhabitant of earth! terror Whoever flees from the noise of the panic shall fall into the pit, And whoever escapes from the pit shall be taken in the plot; For lattices from high heaven are opened, Up- And the foundations of the earth quake. heavais l9The breaking earth breaks, nature The cracking earth cracks, The shaking earth shakes, 20The reeling earth reels like a drunkard, And it rocks to and fro like a hammock; Its transgression rests heavily upon it ; It falls and never again will rise. And it shall come to pass in that day, That Jehovah will punish the host of the heavenly height," ™ent Punish- And the kings of the earth upon the earth. rebels 22They shall be gathered together as prisoners into a pit, heaven And they shall be shut up in dungeons, and on And after many days they shall be punished. ^hen shall the moon be confounded and the sun put to shame,x Because Jehovah of hosts is king in Mount Zion and Jerusalem, And before his elders there shall be glory. 35 6And Jehovah of hosts will make Vindi- On this mountain for all the peoples of Je? A feast of fat things, a feast of old wine,y hovah's Of fat kine full of marrow, of old. wine well refined. by the 7And on this mountain he will destroy tion™ " The surface of the veil that veils all peoples, the And the covering that covers all nations. 8He hath destroyed death forever, And the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from all faces ; The reproach of his people 'will he remove from all the earth, For Jehovah hath spoken.2 11 24i6 So Gk. Heb., from the wing of the earth. . y 2417 Lit., snare, or, trap. The above translation attempts to bring out the assonance of the Heb. words, which is marked throughout this passage. y 2421 Lit., host of high heaven on high. Evidently a reference to the angelic beings in contrast to the earthly king,. , 1 2423 The metre of this passage is exceedingly irregular. y 256 Lit., of wine on the lees. ' 25a The connection of this line with the rest of the context is so loose that it may be secondary. 499 The signal deliv- Jeho-vah'sinvinciblepower Is. 259} GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING 9 And it shall be said in that day, Behold, our God,a for he will deliver us, This is Jehovah, for whom we have waited ; Let us exult and rejoice in his deliverance. 10For the hand of Jehovah will rest upon this mountain, But Moab0 shall be trodden down in its place, As a straw heap is trodden down in the water of the dung pit. 11 And though he spread out his hands therein, As a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim, His pride shall be brought low, together with his artifices.0 1 Jehovah, thou art my God, I exalt thee, I will praise thy name, Thou hast wrought marvelous deeds, Counsels of old — established sure! ^hou hast reduced a citadeld to a mound, To ruin a fortified city ; A proud6 palace is a city no more, Nor shall it ever again be rebuilt. therefore a strong people honor thee,f -Fierce nations shall fear thee ; 4For thou hast been a stronghold to the helpless, A stronghold to the needy in his distress, A refuge from storm, a shadow from heat, When the blast of the fierce ones Is as a rainstorm6 in winter, 5as heat in a parched land. The insolence of the proud ones'1 thou layest low,1 The song of the fierce one thou' stillest. a 259 A scribe has repeated the words, this is the one for whom we wait, from the .latter part of the vs. The original place of this clause is not entirely clear. b 25'° Possibly the original read, enemy. If not, it is possible that Moab here stands as a type of Israel's traditional foes, although it is not improbable that the author had in mind a specific event. o 2511 The Heb. adds, and thy steep fortified walls, he brings down, lays low, levels with ihe ground, even with the dust. This prose note is clearly a scribal duplicate of 265. d 252 Correcting the Heb., which reads, from the city. " 252 Heb., of strangers, but a slight change gives the above harmonious reading. f 253 Heb. adds, city, bu£ the pi. verb indicates that the present text is corrupt. Either some words have been lost or else, as seems more probable, city, has been added by a scribe, who had in mind some specific city. Without this addition the text is complete. . « 254 Correcting the Heb. according to the demands of the parallelism. Heb., wall. By many this vs. is radically reconstructed, but the result is far from satisfactory. The traditional Heb. text on the whole gives the best rendering. h 2d5 Reading with the Gk., proud ones, instead of the Heb., strangers. Cf. note e. 1 255 Through a scribal repetition of the words beginning the vs., the Heb. adds, heat by the shade of a cloud, but this makes no sense and is clearly secondary i 255 Heb., he. 500 JEHOVAH'S CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE [Is. 26' § 246. Jehovah's Care for His People, Is. 26, 27 Is. 26 *In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: Protec- _A. strong city is ours ; deliverance he appoints for walls and bulwarks. th0nsefor Open ye the gates that there may enter a righteous nation that keepest faith, who6 A steadfast mind thou keepest in peace,k for it trusts in thee. h™* Trust ye in Jehovah forever, for1 Jehovah is the Rock of Ages. For he hath cast down those who dwelt on high, the lofty city, Laying it low™ to the earth, bringing it even to the dust. The feetn of the afflicted trample it, the steps of the helpless. 'The path for the righteous is straight,0 the road of the righteous thou makest Guid- level. ance *Yea, in the paths of thy judgments, O Jehovah, have we waited for thee ; right-8 Thy name and thy memorial have been the desire of our soul. eous "With my soul have I desired thee ;p yea, with my spirit within me I seek thee earnestly; When0- thy judgments are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Though mercy be shown to the wicked, he will not learn righteousness even Retri- in the land of rectitude; ^tS. He goeth on doing mischief and will not see Jehovah's majesty. wicked "Thyr hand was lifted up, yet they saw it not; let them see it and be put to shame ; Let thy jealousy for thy people,8 yea, the fire intended for thine enemies, devour them, O Jehovah. ¦ I 246 This section, like the preceding, abounds in obscurities and difficult problems. It evidently comes, however, from the same general period and circle of thought. Chap. 26 may also be from the same, author ; but the lyrical element is much more prominent. It is indeed a psalm, and its aim is to encourage the Jews in the crisis through which they were pass ing. It has much in common with many of the later psalms of the Psalter. In the originality of its thought and diction it is one of the striking passages of the O.T. Notwithstanding the many cases of assonance and alliteration which characterize this, in common with the preceding section, it is full of noble spiritual ideals, although at times Israel'-; narrower nationalistic ideals find expression. It is also unique because, like the closing chapter of Daniel, it voices Israel's new-born faith in the personal immortality of the righteous. As in the book of Daniel, it is apparently a belief in a bodily resurrection, which will enable the pious, who have passed away, to return to earth from the land of the shades and participate in the glories of Jehovah's mes sianic kingdom. The unity of 27 is far less obvious. Vss. 2-5 contain a song, apparently based on Isaiah's song of the vineyard in 51-7. 276-11 is the most difficult passage in these chapters. It is -an exhortation rather than a prediction. The heathen practices of the Judean community are here condemned, very much as in Micah 510-13, and its guilt is the prophet's explanation of the calamity which either had already or then threatened to overtake Jerusalem. The passage would therefore seem to be either an earlier or a later prophecy which has been injected into the present context. k 2d3 A scribe, through an error, has repeated the word, peace. 1 26* Through a scribal repetition the Heb. adds, in Jah: m 265 Again a scribe has repeated the verb by mistake. » 265 Through another error of dittography the word, foot, has been repeated. o 267 Through a similar error, upright, or, straight, has been repeated. p 269 The Heb. adds, by night. Possibly this is original and the words in the latter part of the vs., translated, within me, should be reconstructed so as to read, in the morning. It is more probable, however, that, by night, was added by a scribe who mistook the- translation of the later clause. q 269 Heb. has an unintelligible gloss, which the Gk. translated, as light. t 2611 Through a scribal error, Jehovah, has been repeated from the end of the pre ceding vs. » 26" Lit., jealousy of people, yea fire of thy foes. 501 Is. 2612] GLORIOUS RULE OF DIVINE KING "Oh, do thou ordain peace for us, for, indeed, thou hast wrought for us all our work. O Jehovah,* 13our God, lords other than thyself have had dominion over us: Only of thee [do we make our boast ],u thy name do we praise. 14The dead shall not live again ;v the shades shall not rise ; To that end thou didst punish and destroy them, and make to perish all memory of them. Present 15Thou hast increased the nation,w glorified thyself, and hast extended all the distress borders of the land. fol- 16Inx distress we3" sought after thee, we cried outz in anguish, when thy dis- lowed ... by cipline was upon us. don™ 17j^s a pregnant woman who draws near her time,a cries out in pain ; cation S0 have we been crying0 out before thee, O Jehovah. 18We were pregnant, we were in travail, yet we brought nothing forth," We brought not deliverance to the land, nor were the inhabitants of the world born. "Thy dead shall arise; they who dwell in the dust shall awaked and shout for joy.e jeho- For dew of lights is thy dew, and the earth shall bring the shades to life. vah's 20Come, my people, enter into thy chambers and shut thy doors behind thee ; fudg- Hide thyself for a little time, until the indignation pass over. ment _ipor ^hold, Jehovah is coming forth from his place handat ^° Pumsn tne inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; Then the earth shall disclose its deeds of bloodshed, And it shall no more cover its slain. 27 *In that day Jehovah will punish with his sword — his hard and great and strong sword — The Leviathan, the fleeing serpent,' and the Leviathan, the coiled serpent, And he will slay the monster, which is in the sea. ' 2612 Joining the first word of this line with the end of the preceding vs., as the metre requires. u 2613 Slightly reconstructing the corrupt Heb. and with Cheyne and Duhm supplying the Heb. word required to make the sense complete. v 2614 The reference is apparently to those of Israel's foes, who had died. Otherwise this vs. would be a direct contradiction of l9. w 26L& Through a scribal error the Heb. adds, O Jehovah, thou hast increased the nation. * 2616 The line opens with, 0 Jehovah, but inasmuch as the line is already over-full, it is probable that this is a later addition. y 26i6 Following certain Gk. MSS., which are supported by the demands of the context. Heb., they sought. ' 26'6 Reconstructing, with Cheyne, the corrupt Heb. » 26" The Heb. adds, is in travail, but this is probably due to a scribe, who had the next vs. in mind. b 2617 Lit., so we have been. 0 2618 Lit., we have, as it were, brought forth wind. A 2619 The Heb. reads, thy dead shall live, my dead body shall rise, but this is probably due to a scribal expansion of the text. The Gk., which apparently has the original reading, has been followed. • 26i' So Gk., Aquila, Sym., and Theod. The Heb. verbs are in the imperative. ' 27i The fleeting serpent may symbolize Assyria, that is, as in later Jewish writings, the Syrian kingdom, with its capital at Antioch, and the coiled serpent the kingdom of the Ptolemies in Egypt. Cf. li. The monster which is in the sea, in that case, would be Greece, or possibly Rome. The identifications, however, are uncertain because the date of the prophecy is unknown. 502 JEHOVAH'S CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE [Is. 272 And it shall be said6 in that day : A pleasing11 vineyard! sing of it, Prom- 3I, Jehovah, am the one who guards it! lse Sf Each moment I water it, lest harm should befall it; care , Night and day I guard it, "no wrath have I. people Would that before me might appear briars1 and thorns ; For war would I march against them, all of them would I burn. Or else let them cling to my stronghold, let them make peace) with me.k 7Hath he smitten it, as he hath smitten its smiter ? Past Or was it slain as its slayers1 have been slain ?m a?__ent Therefore by this means may Jacob's guilt be expiated, afflic- And this is the desired fruit of removing his sins, their °r That he should make all her altar-stones like crushed chalk-stones, Sitter. That the asheras and the sun-pillars stand erect no more. 10For the fortified city is solitary, A habitation bereft11 of its people, and forsaken like the wilderness ; There calves feed, they he down, and consume its branches. "When its twigs are dry, they are broken off, Women come and set them ablaze ; For it is not a people with discernment ; Therefore its Maker hath no pity 'upon it, And he who formed it shall show it no favor. "And it shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah will beat off its fruit Resto- From the flood of the River0 to the Brook of Egypt ; £f X And ye shall be gleaned, one by one, ye children of Israel. th.<* 13 And on that day a blast of a great trumpet shall be blown ; scat- And those who have been lost in the land of Assyria1" shall come, *xifes And those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt ; And they shall worship Jehovah in the holy mountain, in Jerusalem. s 2T2 Supplying the verb. The Heb. simply reads, in that day. h 272 Following the Gk. in correcting the Heb., which reads, a vineyard of wine. * 274 Heb., briar thorn. Certain of the Heb. MSS., the Syr., and Lat. have the required conjunction and read the nouns as plurals. j 275 Through the mistake of a scribe the words, and make peace with me, have been re peated. ' k 27s To connect 5 and 7 a scribe has apparently added the vs., in days to come, Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill .the surface of the world with fruit. 1 27' Restoring the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and Syr. m 277 Vs. 8 is probably a marginal gloss. It reads, By frightening her away, by driving her forth, thou dost (Heb., he does) contend with them; he hath removed her with his rough blast, in the day of the east wind. The vs. makes no sense in its present setting. " 2710 Lit., sent away. ° 27B /. e., the Euphrates. p 2713 The common designation, in later Jewish literature, of the Syrian kingdom. 503 APPENDIX APPENDIX SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DETAILED REFERENCES Histories of Israel, cf. Vol. II, 485-6 GENERAL INTRODUCTIONS TO THE PROPHETIC BOOKS Batten, The Hebrew Prophet, 1905. Bennett, The Post-exilic Prophets, 1907. Bennett and Adeney, A Biblical Introduction, 1899. Cheyne and Volz, Prophetic Literature, in Encyclopedia Biblica, 1902. Cornill, The Prophets oj Israel, 1898. " Introduction to the Canonical Books of the Old Testament, 1907. Davidson, Prophecy and the Prophets, in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, 1901. Old Testament Prophecy, 1904. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament™ 1901. Duhm, Die Gottgeweihten in der alien Religion, 1905. Von Franch, Die Prophetie in der Zeit vor Amos, 1905. Gray, Growth of Prophetic Literature, in New World, March, 1899. Harper, The Prophetic Element in the Old Testament, 1904. " Introduction to Commentary on Amos and Hosea, 1.905. Kent, The Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah, 1909. Kittel, Die Berufsbegabung der altestamentlichen Propheten, 1897. " Profetie und Weissagung, 1899. Kleinert, Die Propheten Israels in socialer Beziehung, 1905. Kohler, Der Propfietismus der Hebraer und die Mantik der Griechen in ihren gegenseitigen Verhaltniss, 1861. Konig, Der alter e Propfietismus, 1907. Kraetzschmar, Prophet und Seher in alien Israel, 1901. Kuenen, Prophets and Prophecy in Israel, 1877. Lotz, Geschichte und Offenbahrung in das alien Testament, 1891. McFadyen, Introduction to the Old Testament, 1905. Michele, Israels Propheten als Trager der Offenbahrung, 1898. Oehler, Das Verhaltniss der altestamentlichen Prophetie zur heidenischen Mantik, 1861. Orelli, Old Testament Prophecy, 1885. Schwartzkoff, Die Prophetische Offenbahrung, 1896. Smith, W. R., Prophets of Israel,2 1895. Wellhausen, Rente arabischen Heidenthums, 1897. Wiinche, Die Schonheii der Bibel, I, 1900. 507 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY INTRODUCTIONS TO SPECIAL PROPHETIC BOOKS Isaiah Cheyne, Introduction to the Book of Isaiah, 1895. Driver, Isaiah, his Life and Times, 1887. Gates, Fulfilment of Prediction in Isaiah 40-48, in Am. Jour, of Theol., Ill (1899), pp. 67-83. Giesbrecht, Beitrage zur Jesaikritik, 1890. Konig, The Exiles' Book of Consolation, 1899. Meinhold, Die Jesaja Erzdhlungen, 1898. Roy, Israel und die Welt in Jesaija 40-55, 1903. Jeremiah Cheyne, Jeremiah, his Life and Times, 1888. Davidson, Jeremiah, in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, 1902. Erbt, Jeremia und seine Zeit, 1900. Lazarus, Der Prophet Jeremias, 1894. Schmidt, The Book of Jeremiah, in the Encyclopaedia Biblica, 1902. Streane, The Double Text of Jeremiah, 1896. Ezekiel Bertholet, Die Verfassungsentwurf des Hesekiel, 1896. Gautier, La mission du prophete Ezekiel, 1891. Skinner, Ezekiel, in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, 1902. Toy, The Book of Ezekiel, in Encyclopaedia Biblica, 1902. COMMENTARIES AND TRANSLATIONS Isaiah Box, The Book of Isaiah, 1908. Cheyne, The Prophecies of Isaiah, I, II, 1886. " A Critical Edition of the Hebrew Text of Isaiah, in S. B. O. T., 1899. " A New English Translation of Isaiah, 1898. Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 1892. Dillman, Der Prophet Jesaja erklart, 1898. Duhm, Das Buch Jesaia, 1900. Ewald, Commentary on the Prophets of the Old Testament, 1875-81. Klostermann, Deuterojesaja, Hebraisch und Deutsch, mit Anmerfcungen, 1893. Marti, Das Buch Jesaja, 1900. 508 COMMENTARIES AND TRANSLATIONS Mitchell, Isaiah, 1897. Orelli, The Prophecies of Isaiah, 1889. Skinner, Isaiah, I, II, in Cambridge Bible Series. Smith, George Adam, The Book of Isaiah, I, II, 1899. Staerk, Die Dichtung Jesaias, 1907. Jeremiah Ball, The Prophecies of Jeremiah, 1890. Bennett, The Book of Jeremiah, Chapters XXI-LII, 1895. Brown, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, 1906. Cheyne, Jeremiah. Cornill, Das Buch Jeremia erklart, 1905. Driver, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, 1906. Duhm, Das Buch Jeremia, 1901. Giesebrecht, Das Buch Jeremia,2 1907. Jeremias Metrik am Texte dargestellt, 1905. Orelli, The Prophecies of Jeremiah, 1889. Workman, The Text of Jeremiah, 1889. Ezekiel Bertholet, Das Buch Hesefdel, 1897. Cornill, Der Prophet Ezechiel, 1882. " Das Buch des Propheten Ezechiel, 1896. Davidson, Ezekiel, 1893. Gautier, La mission du prophete Ezekiel, 1891. Jahn, Das Buch Ezechiel auf Grand der Septuaginta hergestellt, ubersetzt und kritisch erklart, 1905. Kraetzschmar, Das Buch Ezechiel, 1900. Mtiller, Ezechiel-Studien, 1895. Orelli, Das Buch Ezechiel, 1896. Sanders and Kent, Messages of the Later Prophets, 1901. Skinner, The Book of Ezekiel, 1895. Smend, Der Prophet Ezekiel, 1880. Redpath, The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 1907. Daniel Behrmann, Das Buch Daniel, 1894. Bevan, A Short Commentary on the Book of Daniel, 1892. Driver, The Book of Daniel, with Introduction and Notes, 1900. Farrar, The Book of Daniel, 1895. Jahn, Das Buch Daniel nach der Septuaginta hergestellt, ubersetzt und kritisch erklart, 1904. Marti, Das Buch Daniel, 1901. Meinhold, Daniel ausgelegt, 1889. Prince, A Critical Commentary on the Book of Daniel, 1899. Wright, Daniel and his Critics, 1906. 509 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets Driver, The Minor Prophets, 1906. Hitzig, Die zwolf kleinen Propheten erkldit, 1881. Horton, The Minor Prophets, 1904. Marti, Dodekapropheton erklart, 1904. Nowack, Die kleinen Propheten, 1903. Orelli, The Twelve Minor Prophets, 1893. Sanders and Kent, Messages of the Earlier Prophets, 1900. Smith, George Adam, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Commonly Called the Minor, I, II, 1896-98. Wellhausen, Die kleine Propheten ubersetzt und erklart, 1898. Hosea, Joel, Amos Baumann, Der Aufbau der Amosreden, 1903. Cheyne, Hosea, with Notes and Introduction, 1884. Driver, The Books of Joel and Amos, with Introduction and Notes, 1901. Elhorst, De Prophetie van Amos, 1900. Harper, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Amos and Hosea, 1905. Lohr, Untersuchungen zum Buch Amos, 1901. Meinhold und Leitzmann, Der Prophet Amos hebrdisch und griechisch heraugeben, 1906. Mitchell, Amos, an Essay in Exegesis, 1900. Seesemann, Israel und Juda bei Amos und Hosea, nebst einem Exkurs uber Hosea 1-3. Sievers, Amos metrisch bearbeitet, 1907. Simson, Der Prophet Hosea erklart und ubersetzt, 1851. Valeton, Amos and Hosea, 1898. Wiinsche, Der Prophet Hosea ubersetzt und erklart mit Benutzung der Targumim und der judischen Ausleger Raschi Aben Ezra, und Kimchi, 1898, 1868. Obadiah and Jonah Bachmann, Der Prophet Obadja, 1892. Perowne, Obadiah and Jonah, with Notes and Introduction, 1883. Peters, Die Prophetie Obadjah's untersucht und erklart, 1892. Schmitt, Jona Eine Untersuchung zur vergleichenden Religionsgeschichte, 1907. Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk Cheyne, Micah, 1882. Davidson, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, 1896. Delitzsch, Der Prophet Habakkuk ausgelegt, 1843. Duhm, Das Buch Habakuk, 1906. Elhorst, De Prophetie van Micha, 1891. Happel, Das Buch des Propheten Nahum, 1902. 510 MESSIANIC PROPHECY Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi Andre, Le prophete Aggee, 1895. Kohler, Die nachexilischen Propheten erklart, 1860. Kuiper, Zacharja IX-XIV, eine exegetisch-critische Studie, 1894. Perowne, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, 1886. Rubinkam, The Second Part of the Book of Zechariah, 1892. Wright, Zechariah and His Prophecies, 1879. RELIGION OF THE PROPHETS Addis, Hebrew Religion to the Establishment of Judaism under Ezra, 1907. Barton, A Sketch of Semitic Origins, Social and Religious, 1902. Baelthgen, Beitrage zur semitische Religionsgeschichte, 1888. Baudissin, Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, 1878. Budde, Religion of Israel to the Exile, 1899. Davidson, Theology of the Old Testament, 1904. Duhm, Theologie der Propheten, 1878. Kautzsch, Religion of Israel, in Extra Vol. Hastings' D.B. Kirkpatrick, Doctrine of the Prophets, 1901. Marti, The Religion of the Old Testament, 1907. Mitchell, The Theology of Jeremiah, in JBL., XX, 56-76. Montefiore, Religion of the Ancient Hebrews, 1892. Ottley, Religion of Israel, 1905. Schultz, Old Testament Theology, I, II, 1892. Smend, Lehrbuch der alttestamentlichen Religionsgeschichte, 1893. Smith, W. R., Religion of the Semites, 1894. Stade, Biblische Theologie des A.T., 1905. Toy, The Pre-Prophetic Religion of Israel, in the New World, 1896, pp. 125 ff. MESSIANIC PROPHECY Adeney, The Hebrew Utopia, 1879. Baldensperger, Die messianisch-apokalyptischen Hofferung des Judenthums, 1903. Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, 1886. Bruce, Apologetics, Bk. II, Chaps, iii and vi. Bousset, Die jiidisch apokalyptik, 1903. Charles, Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish and Christian, 1899. Delitzsch, Messianic Prophecies in Historical Succession, 1891. Goodspeed, Israel's Messianic Hope, 1900 (Valuable bibliography of earlier books on the subject, pp. 289-299). Gressman, Der Ursprung des Israelitisch-judischen eschatologie, 1905. Hackmann, Die Zukunftserwartung des Jesaia, 1893. Hiihn, Die Messianischen Weissagungen, 1899. 511 DETAILED REFERENCES Lohr, Der Missiongedanke im A.T., 1896. Matthews, Messianic Prophecy in the New Testament, 1903. Orelli, The Old Testament Prophecy of the Consummation of God's Kingdom, 1889. Osterley, Evolution of the Messianic Idea, 1908. Riehm, Messianic Prophecy, 1900. Stanton, The Jewish and Christian Messiah, 1886. Volz, Die Vorexilische Jahwe Prophetie und der Messias, 1897. " Judische Eschatologie von Daniel bis Akiba, 1903. Woods, The Hope of Israel, 1896. THE MESSIANIC HOPE IN OTHER RELIGIONS Breasted, History of Egypt, 1905, pp. 204-5. Daly, The Mexican Messiah, 1889. Dollinger, The Gentile and the Jew, Vol. II, pp. 288-9. Dyer, The Gods in Greece, pp. 138, 139. Ellinwood, Oriental Religions and Christianity, Lect. VIII, pp. 279 ff . Pinches, The Messianic Idea among the Early Babylonians and Assyrians, 1888. Jackson, The Ancient Persian Doctrine of the Future Life, in Bib. World, VIII, pp. 156 ff. Rhys, Hibbert Lectures, 1881, Lect. IV. (Messianic Ideas in Buddhism). Taylor, Ancient Ideals; A Study of Intellectual and Spiritual Growth from Early Times to the Establishment of Christianity. DETAILED REFERENCES The following detailed references have been prepared especially to meet the needs of college and Bible classes and private readers. They do not aim to give a complete bibliography, but rather to call attention to the more important books and sections dealing with a given topic. Naturally, greater prominence is given to works written in English, but significant chapters or articles in French or German sources are also referred to and are dis tinguished by printing the names of the authors in italics, and at the end of each section. To economize space the standard works are represented simply by the names of their authors, followed by abbreviations or the initial letters of the chief words in the titles. Whenever there is any doubt regarding the meaning of the abbreviations, they can be readily identified by referring to the Selected Bibliography (pp. 507-512), where each book will be found classified alphabetically according to the name of its author. In the classifica tion of the references the order of the main divisions of this volume has been followed so that they can be used, in connection with the text, as guides in further systematic, comprehensive study. 512 PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN PERIOD General Introduction to the Prophets The Evolution of the Prophet: Hastings DB IV* 107-8; Jastrow, Journ. of Bib. Lit. XXVIII, 42-56; Harper, Am. and Hos. lxxiv-c; Cornill, Prophs. of Israel 3-15; Wellhausen, Reste arab. Heidenthums 130-47. The Prophets in Israel's Early History: Hastings DB IV, 108-16, extra Vol. 672-9; Encyc. Bib. Ill, 3853-64; Davidson, OT. Proph. 30-158; Smith Bk. of the Twelve 1, 11-30; Harper, Am. and Hos. xxxii-lxxiv; CorniU, Prophs. of Israel 16-36; Kraetzschmar, Proph. und Seher in alten Israel. The Prophets of the Assyrian Period: Hastings, extra Vol. DB 679-95, 697-700; Encyc. Bib. 3864-73; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve I, 31-58; Cornill, Prophs. of Israel 37-70. The Prophet's of Judah's Decline : Hastings DB, extra Vol. 700-1 ; Encyc. Bib. Ill, 3873-9; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 3-32; CorniU, Prophs. of Israel 71-107. The Prophets of the Exile and Restoration : Hastings DB, extra Vol. 701-8; Encyc. Bib. Ill, 3880-2; Smith, Bk. of Twelve II, 187-97; Cornill, Prophs. of Israel 108-163. The Prophets of Later Judaism: Hastings DB, extra Vol. 708-15; Smith, Bk. of Twelve, 439-46; CorniU, Prophs. of Israel 164-179. The Historical Development of Israel's Messianic Ideals: Hast ings DB III, 352-5, IV, 121-7; extra Vol. 296-307, 695-7; Encyc. Bib. Ill, 3057-64; Davidson, O.T. Proph. 309-467; Matthews, The Messianic Hope in the N.T. 1-10; Osterley, Evol. of the Mess. Idea; Volz, Die vorexil. Jew. Prophetie und der Messias; Gressman, Ursprung der Israelitisch-jud. Eschatohgie 8-300. The Literary Form of Old Testament Prophecy: Davidson, O.T. Proph. 159-209; Harper, Am. and Hos. clviii-clxxiii; Gardiner, Bib. asEng. Lit. 208-81; Wtinche, Schbnheit der Bibel I, 60-82. The Prophets of the Assyrian Period The Sermons of Amos: Driver, Joel and Am. 93-124; Hastings DB I, 85-7; Encyc. Bib. I, 147-58; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 188-92; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve I, 61-207; Harper, Am. and Hos. c-cxl; Marti, Dodekaproph. 144-53. The Sermons of Hosea: Hastings DB II, 419-25; Encyc. Bib. II, 2119-26; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 178-82; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve I, 211-354; Harper, Am. and Hos. cxl.-clvu; Marti, Dodekaproph. 1-11. History of the Book of Isaiah: Hastings DB II, 486-8; Encyc. Bib. II, 2189-2207; Box, Is. 1-6; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 107-39; Marti, Jesaja, XIII-XIX. Earlier Prophecies of Isaiah the Son of Amoz: Hastings DB II, 485-6; Encyc. Bib. II, 2180-1; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 107-17; Smith, Is. I, 4-90; Marti, Jesaja, XIX-XX. 513 DETAILED REFERENCES Isaiah's Counsels in the Crisis of 735 B.C.: Encyc. Bib. n, 2181-3; Smith, Is. I, 91-130; Box, Is. 46-54. Isaiah's Sermons between 711 and 701 B.C. : McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 124-6; Smith, Is. I, 196-270; Box, Is. 126-42. The Sermons of Micah: Hastings DB III, 359-60; Encyc. Bib. Ill, 3067- 74; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 200-5; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve I, 357-438; Marti, Dodekaproph. 258-63. Isaiah's Later Prophetic Activity: St.O.T. n, § 124; Smith, Jeru salem, II, 165-73; Cornill, Introd. to the Canon. Bks. of the O.T., 282-3; Budge, Hist, of Egypt VI, 141-9; Box, Is. 160-8. The Prophecy of Nahum: Arnold, Composition of Nah. l'-23 in Zeitschrift. fur alttest. Wissenschaft, 1901, 225-65; Hastings DB III, 473-7; Encyc. Bib. Ill, 3259-64; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 206-9; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 77-112; Marti, Dodekaproph. 303-7. The Prophets of Judah's Decline Zephaniah's Reform Sermons : Hastings DB IV, 974-7; Encyc. Bib. IV, 5402-8; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 216-8; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 35-74; Marti, Dodekaproph. 357-60. History of the Book of Jeremiah: Brown, Bk. of Jer. XIX-XXXVI; Hastings DB II, 571-8; Encyc. Bib. II, 2372-94; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 158-61; Duhm, Jer. IX-XXII; Cornill, Jer. XXXVUI-LI. The Earlier Sermons of Jeremiah: Brown, Bk. of Jer. XI-XIII, XVH-XIX; Hastings DB II, 569-70; Encyc. Bib. II, 2366-72; CorniU, Jer. 1X-XXVIII. Jeremiah's Activity during the Reign of Jehoiakim: Brown, Bk. of Jer. XIII-XIV; Cornill, Jer. XXVIII-XXXIII. The Sermons of Habakkuk: Hastings DB II, 269-2; Encyc. Bib. II, 1921-8; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 210-5; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 115- 147; Marti, Dodekaproph. 326-31. Jeremiah's Sermons in Connection with the First Captivity: Brown, Bk. of Jer. XIV-XVI; CorniU, Jer. XXIII-XXXV. Ezekiel's Sermons before the Final Destruction of Jerusalem: Hastings DB I, 815-7; Encyc. Bib. II, 1457-63; Toy, Ezek. 90-3; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 162-5. Jeremiah's Work in Connection with the Fall of Jerusalem: Kraetzschamar, Ezek. III-XIV; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 148-52; Cornill, Jer. XXXV-XXXVII. The Prophets of the Exile Jeremiah's Sermons to the Exiles in Egypt: Brown, Bk. of Jer 209-18; Cornill, Jer. XXXVIII-XXXIX. Ezekiel's Messages of Encouragement to his Scattered Countrymen: Hastings DB I, 817-8; Encyc. Bib. II, 1463-71. 514 PROPHETS OF THE PERSIAN PERIOD Songs over Babylon's Fall; Isaiah lS'-W23: McFadyen, O.T. In trod. 117-8; Marti, Jesaja, 117-27. Prophets of the Persian Period The Addresses of Haggai to the Temple Builders: Hastings DB II, 279-81; Encyc. Bib. II, 1935-6; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve, 225-52; Marti, Dodekaproph. 378-81. Zechariah's Sermons and Visions: Hastings DB IV, 967-8; Encyc. Bib. IV, 5390-3; McFadyen O.T. Introd. 222-6; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 255-328; Marti, Dodekaproph. 391-5. Date of Isaiah 40-56: Hastings DB 11,493-5; Cobb in Journ. of Bib. Lit. XXVH, 48-84; Encyc. Bib. II, 2203-8; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 132-9. The Destiny of the Chosen People; Is. 40-55, 60-62: Hastings DB II, 495-7; Smith, Is. II, 71-406; Gressmann, Ursprung der Israel.-jud. Eschatologie, 301-28. Messages of Denunciation, Exhortation, and Promise to the Judean Community; Is. 56-59, 63-66: Smith, Is. II, 406-67. The Prophecy of Obadiah: Hastings DB III, 577-80; Encyc. Bib. Ill, 3154-62; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 193-5; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 163-84; Marti, Dodekaproph. 228-31. The Book of Malachi: Hastings DB III, 218-22; McFadyen, O.T. In trod. 234-7; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 331-72; Marti, Dodekaproph. 456-60. Joel's Prophecy concerning the Coming Day of Jehovah: Driver, Joel and Am. 9-34; Hastings DB II, 672-6; Encyc. Bib. II, 2492-7; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 183-7; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 375-436; Marti, Dodekaproph. 109-14. Prophets of the Greek and Maccabean Period The Message of the Book of Jonah: Hastings DB II, 744-53; Encyc. Bib. II, 2565-71; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 196-9; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 493-541; Marti, Dodekaproph. 241-48. The Popular Stories about Daniel and his Fellow-Exiles; Dan. 1-6: Torrey in Conn. Acad, of Arts and Sciences XV; Hastings DB I, 551-4; Encyc. Bib. I, 1002-12; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 316-8; Marti, Dan. VII-XXI. Visions of the Overthrow of Antiochus and the Establishment of the Kingdom of God; Dan. 7-12: Torrey in DB I, 555-7; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 318-31. Overthrow of the Heathen and Establishment of Jehovah's King dom; Zech. 9-14:Bevan, Bk. of Dan. 11-42; Gressmann, Ursprung der Israel.-jud. Eschatologie, 334-65; Rubikam, Second Part of Zech.; Hast ings DB IV, 968-70; Encyc. Bib. 5393-5; McFadyen, O.T. Introd. 226-33; Smith, Bk. of the Twelve II, 449-90; Marti, Dodekaproph. 396-8. 515 DETAILED REFERENCES Messianic and Eschatological Prophecies The Messianic King and Kingdom: Cf. for Eng. references under Hist. Devel. of Israel's Mess. Ideals in General Introd.; Volz, Die vorexil. Jahwe Prophetie und der Messias, 2-93; Gressmann, Ursprung der Israel.- jud. Eschatologie, 250-300. The Divine Warrior, Judge, and King and the Glories of his Rule : Matthews, The Messianic Hope of the N.T. 1-54; Gressmann, Ursprung der Israel.-jud., Eschatologie, 12-158. 516 The Student's Old Testament Logically and Chronologically Arranged and Translated BY CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D, WOOLSEY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN YALE UNIVERSITY Announcement The five essen- Vj«v HE Old Testament is a library containing tiais for old Tes- \£2J the writings of Israel's inspired teachers, 'To a systemat- wno liTred at periods far removed from each other, ic classification of wrote from widely different points of view, and its contents. expressed their thoughts in the language and liter ary forms peculiar to the primitive Semitic East. Their modern readers, however, live in the very different western world. The result is that, while the combination of early songs, primitive traditions, ethnological tables, tribal stories, genealogical lists, prophetic exhortations, laws, judicial precedents, and historical narratives found, for example, in such a book as Exodus, seems perfectly natural to the intuitive Oriental, it is a fertile source of confusion to the logical Occidental. The obvious solution of the difficulty is to be found in systematic classification. This work was begun by the Greek translators of the Old Testament, to whom is chiefly due the approximately logical arrangement of the books in the English Bible. The confusion may be still fur ther eliminated by grouping together those writings which have the same general theme, aim, and literary form, and then by re arranging them within each group in the approximate order in which they were written. Where there are different versions of the same m* ^ewntotio'n narrative or where two or more have been com- of its oriel nal bined together— as is often the case in the first B0Urces- twelve books of the Old Testament— it is impor tant that the originally distinct yersions be printed -side by side, THE STUDENT'S OLD TESTAMENT as in a harmony, that they may be studied compaiatively and as independent literary units. The third essential is a clear,, vivid, dignified art translation**" translation, which will represent not merely the words but also the ideas, the spirit, and the beauty of the original, and which will put the reader, unac quainted with Hebrew, in possession of the latest contributions of philology, exegesis, and theology. The fourth is a clear literary analysis, which will ary analysis *'" make it possible readily to trace the logical thought of a story, law, sermpn, or poem, and to note the relation of the different parts to each other and to the whole. (S) iiiuminatine Finally concise, lucid notes are demanded, which introductions and will at once present the historical background oo -noes. an(j ^g critical, geographical, and archaeological data required to illuminate the obscurities of the text, without distracting attention from its beauty and thought. Aims and plan These five absolute essentials the Students' Old of the student's Testament aims to supply in the fullest measure and in the most direct and usable form. The gen eral plan is unique in its simplicity and economy of space. By combining a lucid, scholarly translation, a logical and chrono logical classification, and a critical and a literary analysis of the text with brief introductions and notes at the foot of the page, the reader is at once placed in command of the practical results of modern biblical research, many of which are otherwise found only in cumbersome technical works, intelligible only to the specialist. The sane, careful scholarship and the reverent Its origin. x constructive spirit of the author are 'already known to a wide circle of Bible students through his History of the Hebrew People and his volumes in the Messages of the Bible. The present extensive work is the result of years of preparation, in which he has also been able to profit by the generous sugges tions and criticisms of a large, number of biblical scholars and THE STUDENT'S OLD TESTAMENT practical teachers. The whole has been prepared to meet not theoretical but practical needs and has been tested at each point in university and Bible classes. The work embodies the positive conclusions of and method. Vl'W tne many hundreds of earnest critical scholars, who have during the past two centuries been grappling with the intricate problems of the Old Testament. For the first time in its history the various versions of its more im portant stories and historical records are printed throughout in parallel columns so that they can be readily studied in approxi mately their original form. In the introductions and foot-notes the biblical data upon which these results are based are cogently presented so that the ordinary Bible reader can readily under stand and estimate their significance. Where the positions are established the fact is indicated, and where there is still uncer tainty this is also frankly stated. When at times the author's conclusions differ from those of the majority of scholars the reasons for the departure are fully outlined. To the ordinary conservative biblical student, s pra a who rejects or views with alarm the critical posi tions of modern Old Testament teachers, an op portunity is offered, for the first time, of ascertaining just what those positions are and the chief reasons therefor. To many it will be a genuine relief to find that the foundations of Christian faith, instead of being destroyed, are simply being laid on a deeper and broader historical basis, and that the newer methods of interpretation are supremely helpful in gaining a true knowl edge of the eternal messages of the Bible. To the rapidly increas ing body of progressive Bible readers, who accept the principles and in general appreciate the practical value of critical biblical research, this clear, definite presentation of its more important fruits cannot fail to be most welcome. It furnishes to the his torian the data for the easy reconstruction of biblical history, to the literary student the basis for a new understanding and appreciation of the wonderful literature of the Old Testament, and to the pastor, the Sunday-s,chool teacher, the parent, and the individual reader positive religious facts and teachings, the THE STUDENT'S OLD TESTAMENT want of which is being strongly felt in this age, when destructive conclusions are much in evidence. Above all the Student's Old Testament presents those foundations — laid bare through the untiring labors of generations of Christian scholars and by the faithful application of scientific method — upon which Old Testa ment interpretation and doctrine promise in the future to rest. No effort or expense has been spared to make this work a com plete manual for class-room study, for reading, and for reference. Each volume is complete in itself, embodying all the cognate Old Testament and apocryphal literature in its given field. A detailed table of contents, index, page-headings, and cross-references facil itate its use by primary as well as advanced readers. Each volume is also fully equipped with thoroughly modern topographical and historical maps, which are introduced in con nection with the literature of each period. Comparative chrono logical charts make it possible to trace readily the growth and approximate dates of the Old Testament and apocryphal w rit- ings in connection -with the events and movements which deter mined their form and which in turn they record. Tables of weights and measures and carefully selected and detailed bibli ographies, introduced in connection with each epoch, supply both elementary and advanced students with a complete equipment for intelligent reading and fruitful study. Terms of Subscription SINGLE VOLUMES. 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