/, 'OIL.
from 1 0e fei6mr£ of
(professor TEtffiam g^enrg (Breen
QSequeaf 0eo fig 0im fe 1 0e feifitar^ of
Qptincefon Cfleofogicaf ^eminarg
B£ 1 1 5 1
,H8l8
u3
BIBLICAL CRITICISM
ON
THE FIRST FOURTEEN
HISTORICAL BOOKS
OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT;
.1LSO
ON THE FIRST NINE
PROPHETICAL BOOKS.
/
BY
SAMUEL HORSLEY, L.L.D. F.R.S. F.A.S.
LATE LORD BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, ft BROWN, AND F. C. & J. RIV1NGTON.
1820.
/
; m
Printed by C. Stewart, Edinburgh.
CRITICAL NOTES
ON
JEREMIAH.
CHAP. II. Verse 9. " W herefore I will yet plead with you
and with your children's children will I plead."
This seems to be a denunciation of national visita- tions, with an intimation that the final judgment upon the nation would in mercy be suspended for many generations.
Verse 11. Read, with the LXX, CPU TW*t\ OnVPKfi. " Have the Gentiles changed their gods ?"
* The whole number of MSS. collated by Dr Kennicott for the various readings of Jeremiah was 198; namely, 71 throughout, 127 in particular places.
VOL. III. A
2 . JEREMIAH.
Verse 12. For ^nn, which has no meaning, read, with the Syriac and Archbishop Seeker, ^n? c trembled/
Verse 14. — " is he a home-born slave?" Dr Bla- ney well observes, that JVO "l^ is * filius familias,* as opposed to a slave. And so the expression was understood by Queen Elizabeth's translators, as ap- pears by the margin of Barker s Bible, which see.
Is Israel a slave ? No. Is he the son of the fami- ly ? Yes. Why then is he exposed to spoil ?
Verse 20. The Chetib TOJJK seems the true reading.
Verily of old time I broke thy yoke,
I burst thy bands asunder, (alluding to the various deliver- ances of the Jews in the era of the Judges) j Yet thou saidst, I will not obey. Verily upon every high hill, And under every green tree, Thou layest thyself along, playing the strumpet.
na? Jlj?V r»K. The text wants no correction. HK is the pronoun abridged for ViK. fij?¥ and fW are par- ticiples Benoni.
Verse 21. — "how them art thou turned," &c. Dr Blaney's translation seems to be right :
How do I find thee changed ? Depart, O vine of spurious growth.
JEREMIAH. s
Verses 23, 24. — " thou art a swift dromedary,' ' &c. There should be no full stop at the end of the 23d verse. n*TS in the 24th is the feminine of *8 ; it is only another name for the same animal, in ap- position with JTW. In the 24th verse, for 10B3, read, with the Masoretes, and many MSS. and Dr Blaney, Ml),
Thou art [or art like] a fleet dromedary doubling upon her
own track, A heifer dromedary in the extent [f. e. in the free space] oi'
the wilderness. In the appetite of her animal nature snuffing the wind of her
lust:* Who can turn her bade ; whosoever seeketh her Shall have no fatigue ; in her month they shall find her.
— " whoever seeketh her," i. e. whichever of the males seek her company.
— " in her month." — u in mense suo, i, e. quo mense solent sylvestres asinse maris appetitu i'er- vere." Bochart. — " Earn quicumque ambiunt non defatigabuntur, habent earn, vel suis in mensibus docilem. Describitur proclivitas ad idololatriam, per similitudinem meretricis, quse non repellit viros,
• See Parkhurst's Lexicon, ir.
A £
4 JEREMIAH.
ne turn quidem cum patitur suos menses." Houbi- gant ad locum. And in the same sense St Jerome took the passage.
Verse 25. u Withhold thy foot," &c. A proverbial expression for abstinence from acts of incontinence. See Houbigant.
Verse 31. — c< we are lords." — " we are our own masters." Blaney.
Verse S3. " Why trimmest thou" —
Why wilt thou place the pleasure of thy ways in seeking dal- liance ?
"With regard to this, I have taught [thee] that these ways of thine are mere calamity.
Verse 34. In this verse fWStf is in apposition with D"i, or rather C^M. See Dr Blaney.
— " by secret search ;" rather, with Dr Blaney, " in a digged hole." See also Houbigant ; — " in fossis."
— " but upon all these." — " but upon every oak" Dr Blaney. But " non licuit convertere, ' sub omnl quercu,9 obstat enim prsepositio <}J, et vellet oratio praepositionem Finn ut versu 20." Houbigant. Therefore, for fi^K, he reads V?JJ, and renders, — " sed ubique inundat, verbum pro verbo, nam super omnia ascenderunt sanguines."
1
JEREMIAH.
Verse 36. " Why gaddest thou ahout so much," &c. Why art thou so exceedingly dissolute To repeat thy ways ?
CHAP. III.
Verse 4. For ^nanp, read either n*np, or, with Dr Blaney, ''inpn, which is much better.
Verse 5. " Will he reserve his anger for ever ?
will he keep it to the end ?"
Shall displeasure be kept in view for ever ?
Or shall there be a marking of offences for evermore ?
Dr Blaney. See his note.
— « behold thou hast spoken." The Chetib WW is the better reading.
Behold I have spoken, but thou hast persisted incorrigibly in doing evil. — " I have spoken." — " God had by his pro- phets endeavoured to dissuade his people from go- ing on with their evil courses, but his arguments had no weight with them." Dr Blaney ; who how- ever adopts the other reading.
— " hast persisted incorrigibly." — " in tua ne- quitia te confirmasti." Houbigant. For the force of *?Wt in this and similar passages, see Dr Blaney's note. But observe, that, with him, we should re i7^n in the feminine form.
\ 3
6 JEREMIAH.
Verse 8. " And I saw"— For K1K1 the first per- son, which has no meaning, read HlHni in the third feminine. " And although she saw, that on account of all the adulteries which backsliding Israel had committed, I put her away, and gave her a bill of divorce, yet her treacherous sister," &c.
Verse 16. — " neither shall that be done any more." For Ity Wjn ***, read, with Houbigant,
They shall not miss it [l^ps*] neither shall they look about for it any more.
Verse 20. For iTtt3 p#9 read, with Houbigant,
— " her husband." ftjnD seems to be the feminine of JHB, in apposition with WK. " Surely as a bad woman breaketh faith" — See Houbigant and Dr Blaney.
Verse 23. — " the multitude of mountains." For \yotn3 read, with Houbigant, \^\
Verily the hills are a mere lie ; the mountains, vanity. That pEfi cannot stand here, see Houbigant's note.
Verse 24. " For shame"— " For that thing of shame," the idol which they had worshipped. Dr Blaney, prseclare.
JEREMIAH,
CHAP. IV.
Verse 7. — u shall be laid waste." For WWl, read, with Blaney, ilttnn, u shall be demolished. "
Verse 10. — " reacheth unto the soul." — " pe- netrateth to the very quick." Blaney.
1 1 The wind that scorcheth the craggy rocks of the wilderness Taketh its course against [•p*1] tne daughter of my people Not for winnowing or cleansing ;
12 A strong wind for a curse shall come at my bidding; Now will I even proceed judicially with them.
Compare Blaney, and see his notes. I differ from him materially only in two things, namely, that I take TH in verse 1 1 for a verb; and that in verse 12, for Tbm nSb, I would read thmfr kSd, resolving fHKDv into the prefix ' and the noun substantive fivKD, which (though I cannot find another instance of its use) is regularly formed from the verb M^K, to denote the instrument of the verb's action, the instrument of cursing. The passage of Ezekiel to which Dr Blaney refers, appears not to me to justify the construction by which Dr Blaney would expound this passage.
Verse 15. — " a voice declareth from Dan," &c. Hottbigaot proposes two conjectural emendations in
A 4
8 JEREMIAH.
this verse. In the first clause, between the words
TW and pO he would insert the noun substantive
"l#; in the second, for pK, he would read pKCJ.
Both are ingenious and plausible, particularly the last.
For a voice from Dan notifieth devastation,
And from the Mount of Ephraim declareth tumult.
Verse 19. "I am pained" — > For fi^nw, read, with Houbigant's MSS., nSnw. The verb is the Hophal of ^n, and the H is paragogic.
— a at my very heart." — " at the walls of my heart," i. e. the pericardium. Blaney. He observes a climax ; bowels, pericardium, heart itself.
For VIJJE&*, in this same verse, read nj?Bt#, with the Masora and our translators.
Verse 28. — " because" — For "O ^JJ, read % without ty. See Houbigant. — " verily."
Verse 31. — "that bewaileth herself;" rather, " that draweth her breath short." The passage is a most affecting picture of the last struggles of a wo- man expiring in labour. Blaney's wrord c sobbeth' is far short of the thing meant.
CHAP. V.
Verse 17. — " which thy sons and thy daughters should eat." For ^58% read, with Houbigant and
JEREMIAH. 9
Blaney, T3*\ — " they shall consume thy sons and thy daughters." Blaney.
Verse 22. For IgpWt and iVjfti, read tfJW1 and *W>. See Houbigant and Blaney. And for WPJP at the end of the verse, read irttViDjJ\
Verse 26. — " they lay wait as he that setteth snares." For *NB% read, with Dr Blaney, H1«\
Verse 31. — " and the priests bear rule by their means ;" literally, * and the priests go down ac- cording to their hands ;" i. e. the priests go which way their hands point ; L e. the priests are directed by them.
CHAP. VI.
Verse 2. See Dr Blaney's version and noteb.
Verse 11. For VUPD JTUTi HDH, read, with Houbi- gant, VW^Dft ^ran ; " I will fulfil mine anger." And for ymt read, also with Houbigant, "IDWK ; " I will pour out." Jehovah speaks, not the prophet.
Verse 15. For IttTWl, t3&#\, and C3WIJ©, read, with Blaney, IfcDJl (with the interrogative H), D^5n, and omps>.
Fierse 18. — " and know, O congregation, what is among them." For ^\ read, with Houbigant, UTPj
10 JEREMIAH.
" and know what is denounced against them/' fttp, testimonium $ pccgrvgtov, Symmachus.
Verses 27 — 30. Dr Blaney, in verse 27, joins the % which is unnecessarily prefixed to jnn, to the pre- ceding word "WM. For 'HD in verse 28, he reads ■UD- the word DWKD in verse 29, he, with the Ma- soretes, divides into two, OH gM&* and for *yn*, with the antient versions, he reads *fW. Upon these plausible and happy emendations he renders the passage thus :
I have appointed thee to make an assay among my people as
to the gold thereof, Thou shalt know, when thou shalt have proved their way.
28 They are all of them the dross of revolters, Passing with a fraudulent currency ; Brass and iron all of them, Instruments of adulteration are they*
29 The bellows are burnt by the fire, The lead is entirely spent,
The refiner hath melted in vain, For the bad are not separated.
30 Reprobate silver call ye them,
For Jehovah hath reprobated them*
JEREMIAH. 1 1
CHAP. VII.
Vei*ses 8 — 10. — " that cannot profit. 9. Will ye steal — know not. 10. And come — we are delivered to do" — Take away the full stop at the end of the Stli verse, and place a full stop at the end of the 9th.
" 8. Behold ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit 9. The thief, murtherer, and adulterer, and the false swearer, and burner of incense to Baal, and goer after other gods whom ye know not. 10. But ye come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, Deliver us, that we may practise all these abominations." The altera- tion of the stops is Houbigant's emendation ; the rendering of the latter clause of the 10th verse is Blaney's.
Verse 29. After AW one MS. has *BJp rw, and an- other 1EJJ. I think, with Dr Blaney, that this read- ing is commended by the parallelism which it pro- duces.
Verse 31. — "the high places;" rather, " the chapels, or altars."
12 JEREMIAH.
CHAP. VIII.
Verse 4. — " Shall they fall and not arise ? Shall he turn away and not return?" — ** Numquid qui cadit non resurget, et qui aversus est non reverte- tur?" Vulgate: and to the same effect the LXX, Houbigant, and Blaney. It should seem that the LXX and Vulgate found all the verbs in their copies in the singular. Certainly the verbs should be either all singular or all plural. I should prefer the plural form of the verbs.
"DIET* i*S ,Q1Bf) CPN Verse 6. ****** every one turned to his course," &c. Read, with Blaney,
on wnM s^n ^
Every one that turneth away is on full speed, or at the top of his speed.
Verse 8. — " Lo, certainly in vain made he" —
Lo, certainly for falsehood worketh The false pen of the scribe.
To this effect the Vulgate and LXX -9 but the public translation renders a very good sense. See notes in Barker's Bible.
JEREMIAH. 13
Verse 11. For WW, read, with Houbigant and Blimey, WW\
Fe;\ve 13. rt I will surely consume them." *pK DS^DK. I think, with Houbigant, that *pK is the future of the verb for rpNN. rpDN the noun, ■ pro- ventus messis.'
I would have gathered in their produce, saith Jehovah ; But there are neither grapes on the vine Nor figs upon the fig-tree.
These words are not a denunciation of a barrenness of the fruits of national prosperity, but a complaint of a barrenness of the fruits of national righteous- ness.
— " and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them." — " quae eis dederam, dis- sipaverunt." Houbigant.
Verse 14. — " let us be silent there ; for the Lord our God hath put us to silence." — " let us there sit in despair ; since the Lord our God hath brought us to despair." The LXX seem to express this sense, or something very like it. T\Ol9 which ex- presses inactivity in general, may well express the perfect inaction of a despairing state, and so the state itself.
U JEREMIAH.
CHAP. IX.
Verse 3. — " bow for lies; but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth."
Place the stop at OWp ; and for "lptP, read, with Houbigant, *tyV\
— " bow : for falsehood, and n6t for truth, they are valiant upon the earth."
Verse 6. This verse, as it stands, seems to have no meaning. For "inattf, the LXX seem to have read "pn 2£? in two words, the former of which they joined to the preceding verse, in which they have nothing to render the verb Mt4?!, If I were to amend the passage by conjecture, it should be thus ;
:W ah rrpn 5 &c. TTD Tin 6
It [i. e. their tongue] is perverse, and turneth not, [i. e, it
is invariably and incorrigibly perverse] : Fraud upon fraud, deceit upon deceit ! They refuse to know me, saith Jehovah.
Verse 7. — " for the daughter." For rfi 'BSD, read, with the LXX and Houbigant, rO njn DM*, c< Thus will I do on account of the wickedness of the daughter of my people."
JEREMIAH. 15
Verse 8. Excellently rendered by Dr Blaney :
Their tongue is the arrow of a murtherer,
In whose mouth the word is treachery ;
He will profess peace towards his companion,
But inwardly will he resolve to fall upon him by surprise.
Verse 10. — " will I take up"— For XV* in the first person, read, with the LXX and Houbigant, *&V in the second plural.
Verse 19. — " because our dwellings have cast us out;" rather, with Houbigant and Blaney, "because they have thrown down our dwellings."
Verse 21. Blaney joins the word *ttn, as a verb in the sense of destroying, to the preceding verse, and expunges the words riW OJO ro.
Verse 25. • — " I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised." It is strange that after this declaration, in the enumeration that follows of the nations to be punished, none are men- tioned but those which practised circumcision. The passage should certainly be rendered thus : u I will visit upon all which are circumcised in the foreskin." And to this effect it is rendered by the LXX, the Vulgate, and Castalio. The mention of the foreskin suggests a distinction between the external rite and the inward purity of which it was the type. Ac
6
16 JEREMIAH.
cordingly, after an enumeration of the nations to be visited, in the 26th verse it is added, " for all these nations [though they practise the external rite] are [in one way or another] uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised [in the worst sense they are uncircumcised] in the heart." Or perhaps, since this is the only instance in which ^to is constructed with 3, as it must be according to this rendering, the passage may be better rendered thus : " I will visit upon all that are circumcised, on account of uncircumcision ;M i. e. upon all that are circumcised externally on account of internal uncir- cumcision.
Dr Blaney remarks, that " ^D and nHf are used here as sr^iropj and a^oQvffna in the New Testament; the abstract for the concrete." Archbishop Seeker seems to have had the same notion. But the critic- ism is erroneous. The word ^tD as a noun is never used for irsyroptj. And though ITHp is literally dxgoQvartUy yet I cannot find a single instance in which the Hebrew word is used, like the Greek, for the circumcised race.
Verse 26. — " and all that are in the utmost cor- ners ;" or, according to the margin, " having the corners of their hair polled.,, Dr Blaney thinks the
JEREMIAH. 17
phrase HKs W¥p, ' cut off as to their quarter or coast,' has respect to the peninsular form of Arabia properly so called. For BWW*H which follows, he would read EMWl\ conceiving that the words •OHM COCJ VT « are not exegetic of the two former, which describe the inhabitants of the peninsula, but respect a distinct people, those Arabians that dwelt above in the great desert between Mesopotamia and Palestine.,, I am persuaded he is right. See chap. xxv, 23.
CHAP. X.
Verse 3. — " (the work of the hands of the work- man) with the axe ;" rather thus, " to be wroughi by the hands of the workman with the chissel."
Verse 4. For jW», read, with Blaney, ^p\
Verse 5. For *1IW\ read, with Houbigant and Blaney, ««*■
Verse 6. " Forasmuch as there is none like," &c; rather, " In no respect are they like unto thee, O Jehovah." pttD, * a nulla parte ;' c In nothing, In no respect.9
Verse 7. — " for to thee doth it appertain" — The verb finN") seems to be used impersonally here. u Surely unto thee shall be the coming ;" u e. the
vol. iti, w
18 JEREMIAH.
general coming, the universal resort. A prediction of the general conversion of mankind to the true re- ligion. At the end of the verse, for TE2 pKD, read, with Houbigant, "PM pK.
Verse 8. — " the stock is a doctrine of vanities." Well rendered by Dr Blaney :
The very wood itself being a rebuker of vanities. And to the same effect Castalio.
Verse 11. If this 11th verse is not wholly an in- terpolation, it is certainly out of its place. It should stand, if any where, between the 9th and 10th verses.
Verse 18. Very obscure; and little elucidated by Houbigant, Blaney, or any expositor.
Verse 20. — " my children are gone forth of me, and they are not" Read, with the LXX, V^ "» CMW 5 -_" my children and my flocks are not."
Verse 25. For VTOh Vl^K\ read, with Houbigant,
CHAR XL Verse 2. For tyW plural, read, with Houbigant,
Verse 4. For ^53 onw, read, with Blaney, *WiK.
Verse 13. — " to that shameful thing." — " ad
erubescendum, sive unde erubesces ; nos, tot posu*
JEREMIAH. 19
istis aras nefandas. Tamen suspicamur, verba in W^> parallelum esse verbo gM?, et notari aliquem Deum idololatrarum." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 15. — " lewdness with many." Dr Blaney adopts what he conceives to have been the reading of the LXX, CVO for PWm, which he says m clears up all difficulties in this passage, and affords a sense that speaks altogether for itself." Few, I believe, will be of his opinion. I suspect that some noun signifying the idolatrous practices of the Jews is lost after OWIf, perhaps V^l Suppose the in- terrogation to end at nnDTDii j then read
Ttftt? own
&c. "HttM
and the whole verse might be thus rendered :
" What has my beloved to do in my house when he has carried on her own intrigues ? Thy innu- merable whoredoms deprive thee of the holy flesh. When thy evil is, then thou rejoicest."
The idolatrous Jews are addressed under the cha- racter of a priest's wife, who having broken her mar- riage vow has forfeited her right to partake of the flesh of the victims, and vainly boasts of her prero- gative at the very time that she is committing the fact, which sets it aside. I owe to Houbigant this
B 2
20 JEREMIAH.
general notion of the passage, whose emendations however I cannot approve.
Verse 16. — " fair, and of goodly fruit." Read, with the Syriac and Houbigant, *VKH nsvt *ns rfc\
— " with a noise of a great tumult ;" rather, " with the sound of a mighty voice." — " Intelliguntur tonitrua, quae sacri codices habent ut Dei vocem. Ictae de ccelo arbores inflammantur et franguntur; quag duo notat similitudo hujus loci." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 19. — " like a lamb or an ox." «— " like a tame lamb," Houbigant, Blaney, &c.
— " Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof," a proverbial expression to signify generally the joint destruction of the cause and the effect. In this case the man is the tree ; his doctrine the fruit.
CHAP. XII.
The prophet, touched with a pious sense of grati- tude to God for the promised interposition of Provi- dence to deliver him from the men of Anathoth, takes the liberty however to express his admiration at the general prosperity of the wicked ; and deplor- ing the calamities of his country, which he considers as judgments drawn down by the crimes of hypo-
JEREMIAH. 21
crites, infidels, and apostates, he desires the speedy execution of discriminated vengeance upon them, as the means of general deliverance; verses 1 — 4. He is answered in the 5th verse that the goodly part of the Jews must make up their minds to the expecta- tion of greater national sufferings than they had yet endured, inasmuch as the Chaldeans, the execution- ers of the impending judgment, were more powerful and irresistible than any of the nations with which they had yet contended. In the sequel, God com- plains of his people's disloyalty, threatens that he will desert them, and expose them to the sword and famine ; that the bordering nations would be involv- ed in the punishments of the Jews, and in a future period be sharers with them in a pardon.
Verse 4. — " he shall not see our last end." For wnrw, read, with Houbigant and LXX, Urnmtf. " he regardeth not our ways."
Verse 5. " If thou hast run," &c. — " Si inquit te crebra vicinarum gentium capti vitas fatigavit, Moabitarum et Ammonitarum, Philistim et Idumae- orum, quid facies ad longam captivitatem, quae te Chaldaeam usque ductura est. Et comparat pedites equitibus, quia revera et juxta historian! omnis Per- sia, et universa Chaldaea, et regionum illarum exer-
B 3
22 JEREMIAH.
citus, gaudet equitatu. Istee autem gentes quas supra memoravi, propter difficultatem locorum, non tarn pugnee aptae sunt quam latrocinio." Hieron. ad locum.
— c* how canst thou contend with horses;" rather, " how wilt thou chafe thyself with horses/' Blaney. But the whole verse were better rendered thus :
Verily thou hast run with footmen, and they have weaned thee ;
How then wilt thou chafe thyself with horses ?
And in #, quiet land thou mightest be secure,
But what wilt thou do in the overswelling of the Jordan ?
Verse 6. " For even thy brethren," &c. — " In tantum, inquit, gravissimis Jordanis operieris flucti- bus, et equitum te de longe venientium multitudo vastabit, *ut fratres quoque tui Idumaei et domus patris tui, qui de Lot stirpe nati sunt, Moab et Amnion, etiam ipsi, tempore necessitatis et angustiae, dimicent contra te et insultent tibi." Hieron. ad locum,
— " have called a multitude after thee." — " cla- maverunt post te plena voce." Vulg. ■ — " illi te plena voce insectabuntur." Houbigant. — <c even these have pursued with loud outcries after thee." Blaney,
JEREMIAH.
Verse 8. u Mine heritage is unto me" — L e. be- haves towards me.
Verse 9. " Sic mihi est haereditas mea ut avis dis- color, in quam coeunt caetera? aves. Agite, convenite omnes bestiue agri, erumpite ut earn devoretis." Houbigant.
Verse 13. — " they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit." — " praedium habent, unde nihil ad ipsos redeunt." Houbigant. — " they have possessed, and shall not be benefited." Blaney.
CHAP. XIII.
Verse 9. — " pride," rather " glory."
Verse 16. — " dark mountains." ^UN "Hil, — « ad montes crepusculi, h. e. luci officientes et tenebras facientes." Cocceius. The expression iiafctt, Isaiah xiii, 1, signifies a high mountain.
Verse 17* — " for your pride j" rather, " for your obstinacy."
Verse 18. — " for your principalities," &c — " for he will cause the crown of your glory to fall (E0W)#R*1D) from your bolsters." — " e pulvinari vestro : in quo posita erant regum insignia." Hou- bigant ad locum.
Verse 19. For D^y, read, with Houbigant, T*9*
B 4
2* JEREMIAH.
Verse 22. — " and thy heels made bare." — " vim patientur plantae tuae. Similitudo ducta est ex mu- liere, quae ab adultero per vim supplantatur excussis talis." Houbigant ad locum.
CHAP. XIV.
Verse 2. — " and the gates thereof languish, they are black unto the ground." — " the gates lan- guish." If this expression has any meaning, it must be that there is little resort to the gates, little public business stirring. But how is the next clause to be understood? — " they are black unto the ground," Is it that the gates of the city were actually hung with black from top to bottom, as a token of the public distress ? Castalio's version seems to suggest this notion ; but was there any such practice among the people of antiquity ? Blaney thinks that the languishing and mourning of the gates is to be un- derstood of persons resorting to the gates.
Houbigant contends that the word ^ht* denotes the loss of natural strength, and is not applicable but to such things as have sense, or at least ve- getable life. Gates therefore, he says, cannot be the subject of the verb lW?P*. And the word rrnyp, which is the subject of tty&i must render some-
JEREMIAH. *g
thing very different from gates. He renders it ' hordea ejus,' understanding barley to be put here for corn in general. — " Its barley shrinks away, and turns black upon the ground." Y"^ — " upon the ground." I cannot find another instance in which the prefix ^ renders the preposition ' upon.' But one of Kennicott's best MSS. has Y"W2; and two others, for VHp, have trip.
I am inclined to think Houbigant's the true ren- dering of this passage ; though his remark upon the word /*DK, that it predicates that sort of decay of strength, which is only to be predicated of animals and vegetables and their component parts, is erro- neous. See Lam. ii, 8.
Verse 4. " Because the ground is chapt, for" — For WJP, read, with Houbigant, TOyn • " The pro- duce of the ground is scorched, because" —
Verse 7. — " do thou it for thy name's sake." — " do thou act with a regard to thine own name." Blancy.
Verse 18. — " yea both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not." Among various interpretations more or less natural, which the Hebrew words may admit, Dr Blaney's, I am persuaded, is the true one :
26 JEREMIAH.
u Yet both the prophet and also the priest Go trafficking about the land, and take no knowledge."
— " Go trafficking about the land" — They carry on their accustomed traffick of deceit and false di- vination.
UigiTTKrovvreg h iravovgyux, xai hokovvrsg rov "koyov rov ©gov. 2 Cor. iv, 2. — h wkme^ Thuaroig "hoyoig vpug Ifjbmgwffovrca. 2 Pet. ii, 3.
— " take no knowledge j" pay no regard to the miseries before their eyes, in which they are sharers* See Is. i, 3 ; lviii, 3.
CHAP. XV.
Verse 1. For TfoV9 read, with Houbigant, onSty, with the suffix.
Verse 5. " For who," &c. ; rather " Who/ omit- ting " For ;" for *0 is here purely interrogative.
Verse 7. — " in the gates of the land." — iC Simi- litudo ducitur ex homine, qui frumentum vanno ex- purgans, stat in porta areas, ut ejiciat e frumento paleas, ope venti paleas dissipantis, Deo denunciante se populum Judaicum extra ejus terrae limites ejec- turum." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 8. — " I have brought upon them noon- day." Read, with the Syriac and Houbigant,
JEREMIAH. 27
onixa mv "VfO Sjn onnSy ofT>Sp wo*. « i
will bring against them, against the mother and the youth, one that spoileth at noon-day." The mother is unquestionably Jerusalem, the mother-city. Is the youth, the young king Jehoiachin, who was but eighteen years old when he began to reign ? 2 Kings ^xxiv, 8.
— " I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city." For n^ty, read, with two MSS. of Kennicott's, omty. " I will cause tumult and consternation suddenly to fall upon them." See Parkhurst, iy, viii.
Verse 10. — " I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury ;" rather, " I have neither lent, nor have men lent to me." Usury is not included in the idea of TW). See Parkhurst mw, vi.
— " every one of them doth curse me." For ft73 ■0^p», read, with Houbigant and Blaney, DM^5
Verse 11. — M Verily it shall be well," &c; rather, " Is i]ot thy ministry for good? Have I not made the enemy thy suppliant in the season of evil and in the season of distress? See Parkhurst, nn^, i. ; and compare Houbigant and Barker's Bible.
28 JEREMIAH.
Verse 12. « Shall iron break," &c. Far JTW, read, with Houbigant, TJJN ; " I will raise up the iron, the iron from the north, and brass ;'* u e. men in armour of iron, from the mines upon the Euxine, far to the north of Palestine, and with weapons of brass.
The two following verses are very obscure. The prophet to be sure was involved in the general cala- mity when his country was plundered by Nebuchad- nezzar, but yet he was an instance of a righteous man allowed to suffer indiscriminately with the wicked. And though he was not absolutely without sin, for that no man ever was but the man Christ Jesus, yet had the Jews in general been nothing worse than he, the judgments of God would not have fallen on the nation. It seems therefore hard to conceive that his own sins drew upon him his share of a public calamity, which public calamity would never have taken place had every individual of the Jewish nation been as upright as Jeremiah. Nor does this seem consistent with the promise of special mercy given to the prophet in the 11th, and yet this is the purport of the 13th and 14th verses as they stand, and as they are rendered.
The difficulty I think would be removed, if we
JEREMIAH. 29
might change the suffix "I throughout the 13th verse into D5, the suffix of the second person plural. The 13th verse would still indeed be addressed to the prophet, but not to the prophet as an individual sin- ner, whose own crimes had drawn down the venge- ance of heaven, but as one member only of a guilty and suffering community. The second person plural would only point out his connection with the com- munity, but without any particular application of the accusation or the threatening to him. With this alteration in the 13th verse, the 13th and 14th might be thus rendered :
13. " Your substance and your treasures [O ye Jews] I will give for spoil, without ransom, and that for all your sins, in all your borders.
14. " And I will transport thy enemies [O pro- phet] into a land thou knowest not : for a fire kindled in mine anger shall burn against you [O ye Jews]."
The enemies of the prophet are his unbelieving impenitent countrymen, by whom he was perse- cuted.
Verse 15. — " take me not away in thy long suf- fering " i. e. expose me not to destruction by thy delay to execute judgment on my wicked persecu- tors.
30 JEREMIAH.
Verse 16. " Thy words were found, and I did eat them;" rather,
Thy promises are sufficient, and I feed upon them.
— M are sufficient" — This sense of the verb N¥£ in Kal is known and acknowledged. I confess I cannot find another instance of this use of it in Ni- phal. Houbigant takes it in another sense, which he fetches from the Syriac dialect : " Puri et liquidi sunt sermones tui 5" Syriaco verbi *W» significatu, defcecare.
Verse 18. — " wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail." For Wl, read, with Houbigant, **H ; " My life is to me as a delusion for, a delusive appearance] of waters that are not real." — " There is a splendor or vapour," says Chardin, " in the plains of the desert, formed by the repercussion of the rays of the Sun from the sand, that appears like a vast lake. Travellers of the de- sert afflicted by thirst, are drawn in by such appear- ances, but coming near find themselves mistaken ; it seems to draw back as they advance, or quite van- ishes. I have seen this in several places." Sir John Chardin in Harmer, quoted by Blaney.
Verse 19. — " If thou wilt return, then I will bring thee again and if thou take forth the pre-
JEREMIAH. gj
cious from the vile." Two proverbial expressions ; of which the former is well rendered by Blaney, the latter well rendered and explained by Houbigant.
" If thou wilt turn as I shall turn thee." Blaney.
" And if thou will bring forth the precious from the mean.0
Houbigant.
The former expresses prompt and punctual execu- tion of commands upon all occasions. The latter, Houbigant thus explains : — " Et si eduxeris preti- osum a vili ' figura eadem sermonis reperitur/ Jud. cap. xiv, v. 14, * de forti, vel de aspero, exiit duke/ Erat Jeremias despectui ac ludibrio viris principibus Jerusalem. Itaque de eo intelligendum "If, despec- tusj "ip autem de ejus vaticinationibus."
CHAP. XVI.
Verse 4. — "of grievous deaths;" rather, M of lin- gering deaths."
Verse 5. — " the house of mourning;" margin, " mourning feast." TtHQ n*0. fins is a loud noise or cry either of mirth or lamentation, nnt: n"0 might be well rendered in Greek olxov SoguZov. See Mark v, 38 -y and see Dr Blaney' s learned note.
Verse 6. — " neither shall men lament for them." Either for *H5D\ we should read "WW in the singular,
2
32 JEREMIAH.
or the two following verbs should be plural.55 Hou- bigant.
— w nor cut themselves." The verb H'Wft ex- presses every violence upon a man's own person, such as tearing the hair, beating the breasts, or scratching the cheeks, or cutting the flesh, which were in use in antient times, as expressions of de- sperate grief.
Verse 7. " Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning;" margin, " break [bread] for them." For OFw, read, with Houbigant, the LXX, the Vulgate, and one MSS. orfr ; « Neither shall they break bread for the mourner."
— " the cup of consolation." — " Moris autem est lugentibus ferre cibos, et praeparare convivium? quae Graeci iregihuTvu vocant, et a nostris vulgo ap- pellantur parentalia, eo quod parentibus justa cele- brentur." Hieron. ad locum. — " Sir John Chardin tells us, in one of his MSS, that the oriental Christ- ians still make banquets of the same kind, by a cus- tom derived from the Jews ; and that the provisions spoken of in this verse, were such as were wont to be sent to the house of the deceased, where healths were also drunk to the survivors of the family, wish- ing that the dead may have been the victim for the
JEREMIAH.
sins of the family." Blaney. See the whole of his learned note.
Verse 13. — " there shall ye serve other gods." — " Non passi sunt Chaldaei, nee Medi, Judseos Deum suum publice colere, ut liquet ex statua Na- buchodonosor, et ex historia Danielis, quern Medi accusarunt apud regem. Hacc erat servitus in reli- gione." i Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 1.5. — "driven them; and I will bring them again ;" rather, " driven them. For I will bring them again" —
Verse 18. " And first I will recompense their ini- quity and their sin double ;" rather, u And I will recompense their iniquity and their sin once and again." The words HipD tCSWrtk signify literally, says Dr Blaney, * the first time repeated.' The prophecy alludes to the two captivities of the Jews, the Babylonian and the Roman.
Verse 22. " Shall a man," &c. ; rather, " Shall man make gods for himself? But they are no gods." Namely, those made by men are no gods. The Vul- gate gives another sense to the passage: " Shall man make gods for himself, and men themselves are not gods ?" as if it would be no difficulty that a man should make gods for himself if men them-
vol. hi. c
3* JEREMIAH.
selves were gods. Whereas that God should make gads, is hardly less contrary to the principles of the Scripture Theology, than that a creature should make a god. Yet Dr Blaney follows the interpreta- tion of the Vulgate*
CHAP. XVII.
Verses 1 — 4. The omission of the first four verses of this chapter in the version of the LXX (an omis- sion as old as the time of St Jerome), and the great obscurity of the Hebrew text, as it now stands, are strong indications of corruption. Houbigant has at- tempted to reform the text by transpositions, but I think with little success. The corrections I would propose are these :
In verse 1, for EXah, I would read ?*?« To say that the sin of Judah " was wrritten upon the table of God's heart," is to say that he remembers it in anger, which is perfectly consistent with the general purport of the context. But to say that " it was written upon the table of their hearts," would signi- fy their penitent recollection of it, which is incon- sistent 'with the general tenor of the context,
2d, For CD^rvraft:, in the same verse, I would read, upon the authority of above 100 MSS, OWiTPJB.
2
JEREMIAH. S5
3d, The two first words of the third verse, upon the authority of the antient versions, I would join to the preceding sentence, and begin a new sentence with T*ft, But for the first word THTI, I would read, upon the authority of Kennicott's MS. 199,
vnn.
4///, For ^5, in verse 3, after "l^n, I would read, upon the authority of 19.5 MSS of Kennicott's, among which is the famous 1, ^\
5th, In the same verse, for THM? I would read, upon the authority of 54 MSS, T>mM5 which is only the same word more accurately spelt.
6th, In the same verse, for HKttro, I would read, upon the authority of MS 1, TnKLTD.
7th, In the same verse, for T^S:, I would read, upon the authority of 122 MSS, 1^33.
8th, In verse 4, for nnfiptfl; I would read r\ttl2V\ Dr Blaney adopts the same emendation, and joins the »1 expunged at the end of this word to the word following ; and in that changing the letter 3 into % he makes it TNT, for which he finds a sort of mean- ing.
9th, But as this change of 2 into 1 has no author- ity but what is indirectly drawn from the Hexaplar versions, join the H to the following word, and it
36 JEREMIAH.
becomes "pin. The word Wl occurs nowhere else, but it is the infinitive of the verb Sfii, regularly formed like 2W from 5Htf\ and may be taken here as a verbal noun.
10/A, For irVrnto, I would read, upon the author- ity of two MSS, inSfWl The B in this word is not a prefix, but formative of the noun, as in fTpro from "p^n. ffartil2 occurs as a noun substantive in Ezek. xlviii, 29. The conjunction 1 prefixed to the word TrV?rUD affords a presumption in confirmation of the former emendation, since it indicates that the preceding word must have been a noun substantive.
Of these ten emendations, the first only is purely conjectural 5 and with these alterations the whole passage will run thus :
y>W pKD hm ays reins mw naDn i othewj onvvraio onus *od 2
*lfrej S53 . ivutttrD &c. inSruBi isin nDDt^i 4
* The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, with a style of adamant ; Graven on the table of my heart, and upon the horns of their altars :
JEREMIAH. ,7
2 Insomuch that their sons shall remember their altars and their
idols, By the green tree, upon the high hills, the round heaps in the field.
3 Thy substance and all thy treasures I will give up for spoil,
thy high places, On account of thy sin, throughout thy whole border.
4 And thou shalt forfeit thy allotment and thy inheritance which
I gave thee, And I will make thee a slave to thine enemies in a land which
thou knowest not. For the fire which ye have kindled shall burn in my fury for
ever.
— " and upon the horns of their altars." Ahaz " sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, and he made him altars [for that idolatrous worship] in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made chapels to burn incense unto strange gods." 2 Chron. xxviii, 23-— 25, He shut up the doors of the House of the Lord (#. e\ of the Holy Place), 2 Chron. xxviii, 24. He removed the altar of burnt- offering from its proper place, and used it for the purposes of divination ; 2 Kings xvi, 14, 15. Manasseh also " worshipped all the host of heaven, and he built altars for all the hott of heaven, in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and lie set a
c .1
3S JEREMIAH.
graven image of an idol in the house of the Lord ; 2 Kings xxi, 3, 5, 7. In the latter part of his reign he repented, and put down the idolatrous worship which he had himself introduced ; 2 Chron. xxxiii, 13 — 17. But Anion, his son and successor, restor- ed it; 2 Kings xxi, 19-22; 2 Chron. xxxiii, 21-23. The altars erected by these idolatrous kings, and the altar of God itself used for superstitious, perhaps magical rites, and stained with the blood of abomin- able sacrifices, were monuments of the apostacy of the house of Judah ; and thus " the sin of Judah was written on the horns of their altars."
— " the round heaps in the field," round piles of wood, occasionally found in the field for the purpose of boiling a magical cauldron. Compare Ezek. xxiv, 5. The images of boiling pots in Ezekiel in the place cited, and in Jer. i, 13, seem to have been suggested by the frequency of some such practice.
■ — " thy high places." That is, thy fortresses, or castles built on eminences. See Blaney's note from Dr Durell.
Verse 6. — " like the heath." — " like a blasted tree/- Blanev.
Verse 8. — " by the river f '■ rather, " by the wa- ter-course."
JEREMIAH. 39
icrse 9. — "desperately wicked;" rather, "in- curable."
11 A *np hatching what it laid not, Is he that gettcth riches not by right.
Verse 13. — " and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth." For "mD1*, read, with many MSS. of the best note, VW ; and render with
Blaney,
" And shall be recorded in the earth for revolters."
Verse 16. — " I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee." Dr Blaney, I believe, has given the true sense ; " I have not been in haste to outrun thy guidance." The metaphor, as he ob- serves, is taken from sheepfeeding, where their shepherd leads them.
— " day, thou knowest : lips, was right before
thee." Rather, " day. Thou knowest lips; it
was full before thee."
Verse 18. — " double destruction." See note, chap, xvi, 18.
CHAP. XVIII.
Verse 4. — " of clay." For IcrO, read, with many MSS. noro.
Verse 14. For WW, two MSS of Kennicott's,
C 4
40 JEREMIAH.
and one of them is the famous No. I, give 1CNM\. Adopting this reading, and taking the verb in Hi- phil, I render the whole verse thus :
Shall snow forsake Lebanon for the rock of the field? [i. e. Shall the snow cease to fall upon Lebanon in order to fall upon a common rock ?] Shall strange waters cause the pools to be abandoned which are every where to be met with ?
— ** strange waters," OH1 O^E, i. e. waters dug for to a depth, and conveyed in pipes from a dis- tance. — " pools to be met with everywhere." & nf\i Q^p, fluenta passim obvenientia. The paral- lelism would be more exact, if therd were authority to prefix E to P^B j for then the verb l^1 might be taken as in Kal, and the whole rendered thus :
Shall snow forsake Lebanon for the rock of the field ? Shall pools which abound upon the surface be abandoned for strange waters ? Verse 15. — " and they have caused them to stumble." For oVWW, read, with Kennicott's 1, •frtiW ; " and they have stumbled in their ways, the antient paths," &c. But for ^'W, read, with many MSS. of the very best note, ^B.
Verse 21. — <c and let their men be put to death." The English expression put to death conveys the no- tion of a violent death ; but the Hebrew words, lite-
5
JEREMIAH. 4.1
rally, " iet their men be slain of death," convey pre- cisely the opposite meaning. For the word rWQ, as a noun, properly denotes, not the pestilence, as Dr Blaney imagines, but the natural means of death, by disease or decay ; or death brought about by such means, rather than by violence. And in this pass- age, the " slain of death" are they who were to die of natural deaths, as distinguished from those who should " be smitten of the sword in the field. " The force of the original is well expressed by Houbigant: — " mortalitate pereant." In the English language the passage cannot be better rendered than literally :
And let their husbands be slain of death, Their young men smitten of the sword in battle.
_« men young men." OWMK BTHTtt.
It is not easy to render the two distinct notions conveyed by these wrords, as opposed to each other, in the English language, without periphrasis. D^K I take to be the married men, past the middle life, and past the best age for military service : cmna, the flower of the unmarried youth, in the prime of their vigour.
Verse 23. — " deal thus with them j" better, " deal with them," without M thus."
12 JEREMIAH.
CHAP. XIX.
Verse 1. After fTin\ add *h*. 7 MSS.
Verse 4. VD1JJ. Many MSS. and among them 1. P>*pX Many MSS. and among them 1. —"the blood of innocents."
— " nor the kings of Judah, and have filled'* — For w'TO, I would read W^D. — H and [because] the kings of Judah have filled this place with the blood of innocents."
Verse 5. — " the high places ;" rather " chapels."
Verse 10. "inK. Many MSS. among them 1.
Verse 11. KmfiS. Many MSS. among them 1.
Verse 15. IWDj Many MSS.
■
CHAP. XX.
Verse 5. — " all the strength of this city — labours thereof — precious things thereof." I think that Dr Blaney has well expounded these three words, pn, MJW, and «"ttp\ pn the military strength of the city, her soldiers. >W*\ its industry, the industrious artisans and mechanics, fnp, its rank ; the honour- able and respectable members of the community, not included in the two former classes. See the whole of his note.
JEREMIAH. m
Verse 7. <c O Lord, thou hast deceived me," &c, See Dr Blaney's excellent note.
— " every one mocketh me." — u ridicule hath spent its whole force upon me." Blaney ; see his note.
Verse 8. " For since I spake," &c. Well render- ed by Dr Blaney : <c For as often as I speak, whe- ther I cry out against violence, or proclaimed de- vastation, verily the word of Jehovah," &c.
Verse 10. " For I heard," &c. ; rather, " For I . heard the angry muttering of many, of them that were the general dread." Compare Ps. xxxi, 13.
Verse 11. "*W; Many MSS. and good editions.
— " they shall be greatly ashamed," &c. ; rather, " they shall be greatly ashamed, because they pro- sper not \ an everlasting confusion ! It shall never be forgotten."
Verse 14. This and the four following verses Hou- bigant would introduce between the 6th and 7th. This transposition certainly makes a more orderly and connected arrangement of the whole matter.
Verse 17. For nnn, Dr Blaney would read vnVT. — <c so that my mother might have been my grave, even the womb of her that conceived me, for ever."
*4 JEREMIAH.
CHAP. XXII.
Verse 3. Read ^ W Sk. Many MSS, and an- tient versions, Houbigant, and Blaney.
Verse 4. Read Wjjn nipp. Houbigant. **33>Jft 27 MSS, Houbigant, and Blaney.
F<?rse 11. — " Shallum the son of Josiah." In 1 Chron. iii, 15, the sons of Josiah are mentioned in this order : — u the first-born Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the*fourth Shallum .'? Johanan could not be Jehoahaz, because, as Dr Bla- ney acutely remarks, Jehoahaz was younger than Jehoiakim, as appears from 2 Kings xxiii, 31, 36. It is equally certain that Zedekiah, who was but 21 when he began to reign, wTas but a boy of 10 years of age when Jehoiakim began to reign, was younger than either Jehoiakim or Jehoahaz. Hence it fol- lows indisputably, that of Josiah's four sons, Jehoi- akim was the second, Jehoahaz the third, and Zede- kiah the fourth. Dr Blaney therefore is right in his conjecture that the order of Josiah's sons is pervert- ed in the aforecited passage of the book of Chro- nicles, which should run thus : — " the first-born Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Shallum, the fourth Zedekiah," Shallum was probably the
JEREMIAH.
driginal name df Jehoahaz, and it was changed when he became king. See Dr Blaney's note.
Verse 15. — " because thou closest thyself in ce- dar." — <c because thou frettest thyself in cedar.,, Blaney ; see his note.
CHAP. XXIII.
Verse 9. " Mine heart within me is broken, be- cause of the prophets."
" Concerning the prophets, Mine heart is broken within me ; All my bones," &c. Blaney.
Verse 10. I suspect, with Houbigant, that the different branches of this verse are deranged, and that the whole should run thus :
njn onma wn
p vh omom
pah nSsK rhx \jejd ■&
yXnQ nno vjw
Verily thd land is filled with adulterers ;
And the bent-of-their-will is wickedness,
And their might without right :
Verily because of these things the land mourneth,
The pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Verse 14. For fi», read, with Houbigant, BHfc
m JEREMIAH.
Verse 17. — " unto them that despise me, the Lord hath said" — rather, « Saying unto those that make light of the word of Jehovah"—
Blaney.
But for niDK, read, with Houbigant, VlD*.
— " unto every one" — For ^5% read, with the antient versions and Blaney, ^V).
Verse 22. — " and had caused — then they should."
— " then would they have caused and would."
Blaney.
Verse 23. * How long shall this be in the heart." For 3Ss &ft vid ny, read, with Houbigant, vie Iff 1DJJS V}\ " How long shall there be among my people prophets," &c.
Verse 29. For rD, I am much inclined to read, with Dr Blaney, FD. " Is not the force of my word like fire," &c.
Verse 31 . — " that use their tongues." For Q^np^ read, with Houbigant, O^p^nn. — " that smooth their tongues."
Verse 32. — u and by their lightness ;" rather, <f and by their extravagancies."
Verse S3. — " What burthen." For KTO fiD nK, read, with the LXX, Vulgate, Houbigant, and Bla- ney, MDH or\K. _« Ye are the burthen."
JEREMIAH. 47
Verse 39. — " even I will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you." — " ego vos oneris instar ex- portabo, et meo de conspectu eripiam vos," &c. Houbigant. — " I will both take you up altogether, and I will cast you off." BJaney. See Dr Blaney' s note.
CHAP. XXV.
Verse 3. For Q'WK, read, with Houbigant, Bla- ney, and some MSS. D5W.
Verse 7. For ^DjjDn, read, with the Masora, many MSS. Houbigant, and Blaney, WflttO.
Verse 9. For ^\ read WH MSS. Houbigant, Blanev.
— " I will send and take — and will brinsr them" — rather, w I have sent, and taken — and have brought them" — for Nebuchadnezzar had made his first at- tack when this prophecy was delivered. But at the end of the verse, " and I will utterly destroy them," in the future, is right.
Verse 17. — " and made" — rather, with Houbi- gant, " that I might make."
Verse 23. — " and all that are in the utmost cor- ners;" rather, with Blaney, H and all that have their coast insulated." See chap, ix, 26.
48 JEREMIAH.
Dr Blaney thinks that the whole country, to which we give the general name of Arabia, is mentioned by the sacred writers under two great divisions, tony and tDIp, the West and the East; and that each of these had their subdivisions. rD^y compre- hended Arabia Petraea, and the parts along the Red Sea, bordering upon Egypt, the territories of the Cushites. O^p comprehended Arabia Felix and Arabia Deserta. The inhabitants of Arabia Felix are the people distinguished by the name rlKa-Wtfip ; and those of Arabia Deserta are described by the words "DIM O02ttn *nyn, " The mixed race in- habiting the desert." See his note.
Verse 25. — " Zimri," descendants of Zimram, one of Abraham's sons by Keturahj Zamareni, Plin. lib. vi, § 32. Blaney.
Verse 28. For VWH VW, read, with Houbigant,
Verse 34. For Divmisni, read either, with Hou- bigant, on'fifsnrn, *' and ye shall break yourselves j" or raW2ttsm, « and I will break you."
— " like a pleasant vessel." Dr Blaney's conjec- ture is very plausible, that fHBn is a corrupt reading for men ; " like a vessel of clay."
JEREMIAH. m
CHAP. XXVI.
This seems to have been the first prophecy de- livered by Jeremiah in the reign of Jehoiakim. It was certainly prior to that contained in chap. xxv.
Verse 6. flflKin, read, with many and the best MSS, nRtfl, The paragogic H is a mere barbarism.
— " like Shiloh." The proper name is written here fi^ttf, and in verse 9 *bW \ but the orthography of the word, in the best MSS, wherever it occurs, is
Verse 9. For rVOJ, read, with the best MSS, nNDJ.
Verse 19. " Thus might we procure great evil against our souls." — " But we are procuring great evil against ourselves."
CHAP. XXXV.'
Verse 14. W rw Oft). An antient MS of Ken- nicott's hath Qp«"l, the Hiphil of the verb. With this reading, Houbigant's correction of *^l in the singular, for the plural 'HSI, is unnecessary ; for the noun is the accusative after the Hiphil verb. See notes on Isaiah xxiii, 13.
VOL. III. D
JEREMIAH.
CHAP. XXXVI.
Verse 5. — " I am shut up." — cc nempe in loco ubi abdiderat se Jeremias, Joachim regem metuens, non in carcere. Nam versu 26, jubet rex ut Jere- mias comprehendatur, ' et abscondit eum Dominus;' id est, fecit ut qui abscondftus erat, non reperiretur.
Jeremias turn se abscondit, postquam mandatum
fecisset scribae suo Baruch, ut librum, quem dicta- verat, audiente populo, recitaret. Nam turn demum regis ira erat metuenda." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 23. — " three or four leaves." — " Non difficile est explicare, quales essent illae paginae. Nempe tales erant, quales adhuc sunt in membranis, quae vocantur ' Volumina Synagogse,' in quibus membranag consutae sunt, non una supra alteram, sed una membrana ex latere alterius ; quae leguntur volumine replicando, vel a dextera ad sinistram, vel a sinistra ad dextram, ita ut tot sint paginae, quot sunt membranae." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 25. " Nevertheless but" — rather, " Al- though yet' 9 —
Verse 32. — e< and there were added besides unto them many like words." DW omSy rpu Tijn fiD»"D B>2\ The verb iptt is used impersonally;
JEREMIAH. 31
" an addition was made:" and O'H&I is a nomina- tive case exegetic of the addition so expressed by the impersonal passive verb. — " And besides an addition was made unto them, many words like these.,,
CHAP. XLV.
Verse 4. — " even this whole land." Houbigant, upon the authority of the Chaldee, would read *>h h pHTl h} nitt j « for the whole earth is mine."
CHAP. XXIV.
Verse 1. — " the carpenters and smiths." — "the artificers and the armourers." Blaney.
CHAP. XXIX.
The matter of this chapter has evidently suffered disarrangement more or less. The LXX introduce the 15th verse between the 20th and 21st, which is clearly its proper place. Houbigant makes a farther transposition, in which I am inclined to think he is right. He inserts the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th verses between the 9th and 10th. — " Nimirum ve- rus ordo est, ut post versus 8 et 9, in quibus horta- tur Jeremias captivos Judaeos, ne credent prophetis
d 2
52 JEREMIAH.
suis, qui Babylone vaticinantur ipsos brevi excus- suros jugum Chaldaeorum, subdat; non modo ipsos non brevi redituros, sed illos etiam qui Jerusalem manserunt perituros, opprobrio fore apud omnes gentes, utque adeo post versus 8 et 9, sequantur versus 16, 17, 18, et 19. Deinde ut post denuntia- tionem futurae captivitatis, veniant promissiones de reditu in patriam, de Deo quaerendo et inveniendo ; ut igitur post versum 19 sequantur versus 10, II, 12, 13, et 14. Denique ut versu 20, Jeremias con- vertat sermonem ad captivos Judaeos, quos alloqui- tur usque ad finem capitis, et ut memorans id quod dicunt, versus 15, Dominum suscitasse in Babylone prophetas, praenuntiet eorundem interitum prophe- tarum, utque adeo versum 14 excipiat versus 20, turn versus 15, deinde versus 21, et eos qui sequun- tur." Houbigant ad versus 10.
It is remarked by Dr Blaney, that this chapter evidently contains the substance of two letters writ- ten at two different times (compare verse 28 with verses 4 and 5), although the title at the beginning announces but one. The messengers, that carried Jeremiah's first letter, brought back the letters from Shemaiah mentioned in verse 25, and recited in verses 26, 27, 28. These letters from Shemaiah gave
JEREMIAH. 53
occasion to Jeremiah's second letter, which seems to begin at the 20th verse.
Verse 1 . — " unto the residue of the elders." This residue must be the residue of the elders of the first captivity, carried away in the third or fourth year of Jehoiakim. See Lowth on the place.
Verse 10. — " after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon.,, W B?&V IwSd ^S. literally, "at the edge of the completion of seventy years in Ba- bylon ;" i. e* precisely at the completion, &c.
Verse 13. Read, with 21 MSS, Houbigant, and Blaney, *Wm
Verse 14. Read, with 26 MSS, Houbigant, and Blaney, Pmr.
Verse 16. For KD5 ^K, read, with 16 MSS, ajid Blaney, *© ty.
Verse 30. u Then came the word of the Lord ;M rather, " Therefore hath the word of Jehovah come.' Blaney.
CHAP. XXX.
Verse 2. For "ut> S*, read, with many MSS, ISO Sy. Verse 7. For Wl, read, with two MSS, **i The antecedent is DV>n.
TVra 8. — « thy neck— thy bonds." Read, with
d 3
54 JEREMIAH.
the LXX, Houbigant, and Blaney, "TOW and WTDW, " his neck his bonds."
Verse 11. — " and will not leave thee altogether unpunished j" rather, with Queen Elizabeth's trans- lators, " and not utterly cut thee off."
Verse 12. For TOXPz Houbigant would read
row.
Verse 13. — " that thou mayest be bound up." For "TO*?, read, with the Syriac and Houbigant, Ttifh ; <c to help thee."
Verses 14, 15. — " iniquity : because thy sins were increased. 15. Why criest thou" — I would place a full stop at " iniquity," and place what follows at the beginning of the 15th verse. Thusj
— — iniquity. 15 Thy sins were numerous; Why criest thou, &c.
Since thy guilt was so great, what room is there for complaint ?
Verse 16. For TCW, read, with many of the best MSS, and Houbigant, 1W.
" Therefore" — rather " Nevertheless" —
Verse 17. — " because" — rather, with Blaney, " Although"—
Verses 20, 21. " Their children their congre-
JEREMIAH.
gation them. Their nobles of themselves
their governor of them." Rather, " His children
his congregation him. His great one his
ruler of him." For Dr Blaney well observes,
" that the pronouns in these two verses are of a dif- ferent number from those in the preceding, as re- hearsing different antecedents. The antecedents rehearsed by the pronouns in the 19th verse are the tents and dwelling-places of Jacob, the city and pa- lace mentioned in verse 1 8 j but the antecedent to the pronouns in the 20th and 21st verses is Jacob himself."
CHAP. XXXI.
Verse 1. Dr Blaney very properly joins the first verse of this chapter to the preceding.
Verse 2. — " found"— rather " hath found" — God's protection of the Israelites rescued from the Egyptian bondage, in their long journeys in the wil- derness, cannot be the thing intended here; for those Israelites were not " relics of the sword." The prophecy therefore alludes to some circumstances of the final restoration, which will not perhaps be clear- ly understood till the event takes place.
— " even Israel when I went to cause him to rest."
d i
5t> JEREMIAH.
Read, with many MSS. and some of the oldest edi- tions, "I "I 9 " Israel marching to his rest," or, to his settlement.
Verse 3. — " of old unto me." For t*9 read, with Houbigant and Castalio, It. — " Jehovah appeared unto him from afar," or, hath appeared unto him.
Verse 7. — " among the chief of the nations j" ra- ther, " for the chief," &c. I agree with Dr Blaney that the chief of the nations is a periphrasis for Jacob or Israel.
-*- " O Lord, save thy people." Read, with the LXX and Houbigant, ipy. — " Jehovah hath saved his people."
Verse 15. For WK, read, with Houbigant, DJW. 17. For ©W, read, with the LXX and Houbigant,
Verse 18. — ¥ turn thou me, and I shall be turned -= — after that I was turned ;" i. e. restore me, and I shall be restored- — after my revolt. See Houbigant's translation.
Verse 20. " Is Ephraim my dear son ? Is he a pleas- ant child ?" . — " Male quidam interpretes ' nonne ,' quasi affirmat Deus filium dilectum sibi esse Ephraim, cum contra Deus miretur sua viscera in eo commo- veri quasi benevolentia sua dignus esset." Houbigant ad locum.
JEREMIAH. 57
— " for since I spake against him," &c. ; rather, a Verily inasmuch as my word is in him, I will yet call him to remembrance ; upon this account my bowels are moved for him," &c.
— " my word is in him, or upon him." This phrase either denotes simply, that God's word was passed for Ephraim's restoration, which should therefore take place notwithstanding Ephraim' s ill desert; or it denotes some recollection, on the part of Ephraim, of God's promise, and some general reliance on it. And this seems the better exposition, since Ephraim is clearly introduced as a penitent.
Verse 21. For W, W, Wjbri, and 'Otf, many of the best and oldest MSS and editions have WW, VWj ttihn, and BIR. At this second WO sl comma should be placed j and for n?K at the end of the verse, I would read, with Houbigant, nty. Return, O virgin of Israel, return, Come up to thy own cities.
Verse 22. — " a woman shall compass a man." — " femina ambibit virum." — " Ita Castalio, verba ipsa exhibens, quern nos (says Houbigant) propterea sequimur, quia lux non affulget."
Verse 26. This verse seems to have no connec- tion with any thing that follows or precedes. There
58 JEREMIAH.
is not the least reason to suppose that any part of the preceding prophecy was delivered to the prophet in a dream.
Verse 32. — " although I was an husband unto them." See notes on Is. lxii, 4. The Greek lan- guage affording no image corresponding to the He- brew ^J?B, the LXX in this place were content to express the sense, without attempting to render the image, by the word i^s^<ra, which, by the ignorance of transcribers, not versed in the Hebrew language, passed into ripikrjffa, in the Alexandrine Septuagint, and in St Paul's citation of this prophecy in the Epistle to the Hebrews. In this conjecture I find I concur with Dr Blaney.
Verse 35. — "which divideth the sea;" rather, " which putteth the sea in motion."
Verse 38. Many of the best and oldest MSS and editions insert taws after B^.
CHAP. XXVII.
Verse 1. — " Jehoiakim" — read " Zedekiah." Verse 9. For CBSWBbty read, with Houbigant,
JEREMIAH. 59
CHAP. XXVIII.
Verse 1. Read, with Houbigant,
? ^enn cnro irwi http
" And it came to pass in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in that year, in the fifth month" —
Verse 2. For <y, the best MSS and editions have *V, 4. Again ^ for fy.
Perse 8. — " and of evil." For fijn^, read, with many MSS, and Houbigant, ajT^\ — " and of fa- mine."
Ferse 13. For TWCt the best MSS have row, or
— " thou shalt make." For fWjfl, read, with the LXX, *W0B\ — " I will make."
Verse 14. For ^ the best MSS have ^y, as above. And for WQjn, they have mtSf\
CHAP. XXI.
Perse 3. For pBKn, the best MSS have jrieKn. Perse 12. For an^Sye, the best MSS Of>StyD. Fer5e 13. — " O inhabitant of the valley and rock of the plain j" rather, " O thou inhabitant of the
60 JEREMIAH.
recess of the levelled rock." rDt£H YpByn is a phrase used by Jeremiah for retiring into places of difficult access. Hence pDJJft nw> may be applied to a per- son that has chosen such a habitation. Hence to the royal house of Judah, whose palace was on the sum- mit of a rock, deemed almost impregnable, levelled by art to receive the foundations of the buildings. Compare Dr Blaney.
Verse 14. — " in the forest thereof/' For inyo, read, with two MSS, fTTjr&, — " I will kindle a fire, burning and consuming all around it."
CHAP. XXXIV.
Verse 1. — " all the cities thereof." For Wp, read, with the LXX and MS 246, JTlW, _« all the cities of Judah."
Verse 8. — u after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them."
The covenant was not between the king and the people 5 but both king and people entered into cove- nant with God. They bound themselves by solemn rites of federation performed in the temple, to a re- newed observance of the Mosaical law, with respect to the year of release. See verses 15 and 18. This
6
JEREMIAH- ff]
i
passage therefore should be thus rendered: — "after that the king Zedekiali with all the people which were at Jerusalem had made a covenant."
— "to proclaim liberty unto them/' TrTl Drf? IHjfy I am persuaded these words are misplaced. As they stand, the pronoun D<1 has no antecedent. I would insert them between D^OTfl and WW? in the 9th verse, and the whole will run thus : — " had made a covenant, 9. Every one to let his bondman, and every one his bondwoman, an Hebrew, or an He- brewess, go free, to proclaim liberty unto them, not to exact service of them, every one of a Jew his brother."
Verse 10. " Now when all the princes heard
then they obeyed" — rather, * Now they heark- ened all the princes and all the people they heark- ened." To the same effect Dr Blaney.
Verse 11. For EW^jn, all the best MSS and many old editions have C31BOOT,
Verse 15. For Ot&n, the best MSS have «Tm
Verse 16. For the first "Otfn\ the best MSS have KMffll ; and for the second "OWN.
Verse 18. — " before me, when they cut the calf1 in twain ;" rather, " before the calf, which they had cut in twain." To the same effect Blaney.
Verse 22. For nsnn, the best MSS have WW
62 JEREMIAH-
CHAP. XXXVII.
Verse 4. For WTOi, many of the best MSS have
uteri.
Verse 12. — cc to separate himself thence in the midst of the people." For Bjtfl at the end of the verse, I would read 1Ej;n. The very next word be- gins with \ which might easily occasion the omis- sion of the suffix. — " to receive a portion there among his countrymen.5*
Verse 19. For Wfy many of the best MSS have
sum,
CHAP. XXXII.
Verse 4. For WJfl, the best MSS have W»jn.
Verse 10. For *yK\ MS 89 has *JHH
Ferse 12. For *tt Wj^, some of the best MSS have b tfipS\
F<?rse 23. For WWfli the best MSS TTWDl.
Ferse 30. For W ^ some of the best MSS have ■OS W ^. And for Btt£p, all the best OWJED.
Ferse 33. For 10^ in the first instance, read, with Houbigant, WHd.
Fera? 35. For WT, the best MSS have *«*».
Verse 37. For OVOtOT, many of the best MSS
5
JEREMIAH.
in the first instance have DfWW ; and in the se- cond DVOtenii. The first is the Hiphil of =W, the second of 3W*.
CHAP. XXXIII.
Verse 2. — " the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it." The pronouns have no antecedent. For the second WW, Houbigant would read, with the LXX, Wlttl. — " who made the Earth, who formed it, and keepeth it firm." Dr Blaney defends the text as it stands-, which he ex- pounds thus : u Thus saith Jehovah, who himself is about to do it," namely, " what he saith." Few I think will be satisfied with this exposition. Dr Bla- ney thinks a similarity is to be perceived between this passage and Isaiah xxxvii, 26, " where (he says) the antecedent of the pronoun fi is to be sought in the sense of the context. But in Isaiah the context, being searched, readily presents an antecedent for the pronoun, either in the subject matter of Senna- cherib's preceding boast, or in the u desolating of fruitful hillocks and fortified cities" mentioned in the latter part of the same sentence, in which the pronoun stands. But in this passage the sense of the context affords no antecedent for the pronoun.
64 JEREMIAH.
There is therefore no similarity between this passage and that of Isaiah,
Verse 3. — " and mighty things." For HViSDi, read, with the Chaldee, two MSS, the Bible Minch- ath Shai, Houbigant, and Blaney, nvwi, — « and hidden things," L e. things studiously concealed, mysteries.
Verses 4, 5. Something must be wrong at the end of the 4th verse, or the beginning of the 5th. Hou- bigant's conjecture seems at best precarious.
Verse 6. For T\\ read OfiS. Read OVUWI with all the best MSS.
Verse 7. For VOtPIT), read, with many of the best MSS, V»0rn5 and for PW3\ read DWJD1.
Verse 8. For ^0^, the best MSS have ^\
Verse 9. — " a name of joy." For pttfttf, read plW1?. — " for a name, for joy"—
— " fear and tremble." The verbs "ins and un denote the violent agitations of the body, by exces- sive passions of any kind, by joy and surprise, as well as by fear, anger, or grief.
— " unto it." For n?, read, with the antient ver- sions, and one MS, QH^ — « unto them."
Verse 11. For OWSD, many of the best MSS have
JEREMIAH. 61
Verse 13. For 1JJ, many of the best MSS have my,
F^r^e 1G. — " and this is the name," &c. — " and this is what he shall be called by her, Jehovah our righteousness." — " by her," i. e. by Jerusalem, or by the land of Judah.
Verse 20. For D01% read OV».
Verse 21. — " my ministers." — " that they shall not minister unto me." Blaney.
Verse 24. — c< thus they have despised my people," &C« I would read the latter part of this verse thus :
rttin )*sh my rono cnun ptnfi nay n*n. " And the Gentiles despise my people as though they were not still before me." God makes a double complaint, of the despair of the Israelites, and the insult of the Gentiles.
Verse 25. — " If my covenant be not with day and night." Houbigant's emendation, Ofl VWD, for QEV> WlD, seems plausible ; almost necessary. — " If I created not day and night."
CHAP. XXXVIII.
Verse 2. For SMPR, many of the best MSS have
Verse 3. " Thus saith"— For "iCK H5, read, with LXX and Houbigant, TOK JtD ■©. " For thus saith"— VOL. in, r
66 JEREMIAH.
Verse 4. For N5HD, three MSS and two old edi- tions have HSID.
Verse 6. *?»>#*>; Most of the best MSS.
Fierce 9. — H and he is like to die," &c. — " for he will die upon the spot for hunger, when there is no longer any bread in the city." Blaney. And would he not equally have died in any other spot, in that extremity of the scarcity ? — " Itaque inter- pretandum wnn non ibi, quasi in lacu, sed, ibi ubi eraty antequam in lacum mitteretur. rw non mori- etur9 sed mortuus esset." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 16. — *WK na rfHIW Most of the best MSS omit nK.
— " that made us this soul j" rather, " that hath procured us this respite." — " qui fecit ut nunc paulum respiremus." Houbigant. This conversation probably happened while, the main body of the Chal- dean army quitted the siege to meet the Egyptians, See Houbigant's note.
Verse 22. nVTDK, or HTWK. All the best MSS. T^n Many of the best MSS.
CHAP. XXXIX.
. Verse 4. For W\ some of the best MSS have
JEREMIAH. 67
Verse 5. VTrSjp\ Four MSS; three of them of the best note.
Verse 7. WStb. One MS.
CHAP. XL.
Verse 1. This 1st verse is certainly an interpola- tion, or else the prophecy is lost of which it was the title.
Verse 3. Tt*) nam. Many of the best MSS.
Verse 4. TH\ Many of the best MSS.
Verse 5. " Now while he was not yet gone back" — The Hebrew words seem unintelligible.
CHAP. XLI.
Verse 9. — u because of Gedaliah" — For TO *Tbl3, the LXX seem to have read 7HJ TO. Arch- bishop Seeker thinks this the true reading. Accord- ing to this reading, the translation should be thus : 11 Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, was that great pit which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel j it Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled with the slain."
Verse 10. — " carried away captive — carried them away captive." The Hebrew verb in both places is
E 2
68 JEREMIAH.
W>% not »"DW, and renders simply * carried away,* without any implication of captivity or compulsion. It is not true that the people mentioned in this verse were carried away captive by Ishmael. It appears clearly from verse 14, as is well observed by Houbi- gant, that they were not chained. For D3t^l in the second clause, some MSS have tMtCM, — " rose early in the morning."
Verse 14. — " cast about, and returned, and went" — — " faced about, and came back again." Blaney. But for tow, read 3#, or perhaps ^fcttl, for the rea- sons given in the preceding note.
Verse 16. — " whom he had recovered from Ish- mael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah." Johanan recovered none from Mizpah. His success was at Gibeon, verse 12. For SkjW» HKD tPW% I would read *WjW» D^fi ; — " whom Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had carried away from Mizpah."
CHAP. XLII.
Verse 6. The best MSS and editions have WUK.
Verse 12. — <c cause you to return \n rather, with Dr Blaney, " settle you." Observe that, for om? and *W\ the LXX read ESfnfcl and inEW; " I will have mercy upon you, and I will settle you."
JEHEMrAH. o*
Verse 17. For ^ WP\ read, with Houbigant,
Terse 20. The best MSS and old editions have
CHAP. XLIII.
Fera? 11. ip&. Many of the best MSS.
Fme 12. " And I will kindle"— For IWft; read, with the LXX, the Vulgate, and Houbigant, fWfl ; " And he shall kindle"--
CHAP. XLIV.
Verse 1. — " Migdol;" perhaps the Magdolus oJ Herodotus. See Dr Blaney's note.
Verse 4. — " unto you." For pdTO, read, with MS 614, Syriac, and Houbigant, OlT^Nj « unto them."
Verse 9. — " of their wives." For V*t2tt, read, with the LXX, Houbigant, and Blaney, I^W; " of his princes."
Verse 14. See Dr Blaney's note upon this verse.
Verse 17. "prto. Two MSS.
Ferse 19. — " without our men." The vows of women, by the Levitical law, were not binding without at least the tacit consent of the father or I husband. See Numb, xxx, 1 — 16.
70 JEREMIAH.
— •" to worship her ;" rather, " to bind her head with a fillet." See Houbigant. For *pni near the end of the verse, read, with some of the best MSS,
Verse 25. In this verse I am much inclined to Houbigant* s emendati on ,
ohkSd pwn atm cdmd fiwnn ds^
<*— " your wives have spoken with your mouths, and you by their hands have performed" —
— " your vows." OS'ODJ, three or four MSS ; " vour libations."
V
CHAP. XLVI.
Verse 5. — " turned away back ? and their mighty ones are beaten down," &c. The latter part of the verse answers the prophet's question, concerning the cause of the general rout and disorder of the army. f* Wherefore see I these dismayed, put to the rout? Because their mighty ones are beaten down, and flee amain, and face not about," &c.
Verse 8. "WO, Many of the best MSS. For ftTOK *V, read, with Houbigant and Blaney, ^JJfi "J^N.
Verse 9. After E^*nV>, omit *W3H, with Houbigant and Blaney.
Verse 10. " For"— rather " Truly," or * But."
JEREMIAH. 71
Verse 12. TO\ Most of the best MSS.
— " both together." Who are the two intended by the prophet ?
Verse 14. — " shall devour round about thee;" rather, with Blaney, " hath devoured those that are round about thee."
Verse 15. — " thy valiant men they them."
For the plural TTOK, all the best MSS have the singular TVOK ; read, therefore, " thy mighty one — lie — him." The prophet alludes to the late discom- fiture of Pharaoh Necho. He was eminently a mighty man. — " qui antea subjecerat omnem regi- onem ab ^Egypto usque ad Euphratem." Houbigant.
Verse 17. Inexplicable.
Verse 18. — " as Tabor among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea." — " Quantum supereminet Thabor caeteros montes, tam superiores erunt Chal- da?i iEgyptiis, ■ et sicut Carmelus ad mare,' ad cujus montis radices frustra insaniunt maris fluctus ; sic frustra aestuabunt yEgypti fluctus. Vide versu 8." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 20. — " destruction." Pp, * the gad-fly." KD KD. All the good MSS have ?» JO.
Verse 21. VIST1. All the good MSS.
Verse 22. M The voice thereof shall go forth like a
e 4
72 JEREMIAH.
serpent.'* For ffy read, with Houbigant, ^ ; " Her voice shall be a hissing like a serpent." — " notat vocem vulnerati serpentis." Houbigant. Compare the LXX.
■ — " with axes." I imagine some weapon like the 2ayag/s or Amazonian battle-axe is meant, which might be the arms of some remarkable part of Ne- buchadnezzar's army.
Verse 23. " They shall cut down" — rather " Cut ye down"—
— " though it cannot be searched." — " that it may not be found on searching." Blaney.
Verse 25. — " the multitude of No ;" rather, with Blaney, " Ammon of No," i. e. the idol of Thebes. < — " Amnion of No, the principal deity, and Pharaoh the principal man among the Egyptians, are marked out in the first place as the primary objects of divine visitation0" Blaney. See the whole of his learned note.
CHAP. XLVII.
Verse 5. " Askelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley : How long wilt thou cut thyself?" For OT&y, read, with the LXX and Houbigant, Wpty,
JEREMIAH. 73
See Joshua xi, 22); and for vnunn, read, with some MSS, vnunn.
Ashkelon is destroyed.
O remnant of the giants, how long will ye slash yourselves ?
Verse 7. For v^pw*n, read, with Houbigant, Bla- ney, and the antient versions, Bp&*n.
CHAP. XLVIII.
Verse 1. — " Misgab is confounded and dismay- ed ;M rather, with Blaney, u It is confounded, the liigh fortress, and broken down,"
Verse 2. " There shall be no more praise of Moab : in Heshbon they" — rather,
Moab shall no more have glorying in Heshbon :
They— See Blaney and Houbigant.
Verse 5. — " the enemies have heard a cry of de- struction/' *TB is the plural, D^V in regimine ; therefore *&V npyv *T* is " heralds of a cry of de- struction ;" i. e. heralds giving the alarm aloud. u Verily on the steep of Heronaim they have heard the heralds proclaiming approaching destruction." Compare Is. xiii, 8.
Verse 6. — " the heath ; rather, " a blasted tree," Blaney.
74 JEREMIAH.
Verse 7. "HIT*. Most of the best MSS.
Verse 12. — " wanderers that shall cause him to wander" — Blaney is right : " tilters that shall tilt him down" — The image of a cask is pursued. See Dr Blaney's note.
Verse 15. For TW, read, with six MSS, TBflP; and render, with Blaney,
The spoiler of Moab and her cities is come up,
And the choice of his young men are gone down to slay.
Verses 26, 27. In the 27th verse, for MK3flDJ D^:5, I would read, with Houbigant, nWfttt O^S, But between these two words I would place the *© which we find in the present text between iwn TH2T, The latter part of the 27th verse, with these emend- ations, will stand thus :
jHTtfnn ytrgn no •o And these two verses may be thus rendered :
26 Make ye him drunken ;
For Moab magnified himself, and clapped his hands
In his vomit against Jehovah ;
But he himself shall be made a derision.
27 Hath not Israel been a derision unto thee ?
Wast thou not found among them that made songs upon him > Verily for the redundance of thy words thou shalt speedily be removed.
JEREMIAH.
— " speedily be removed."- See Lowth upon the place, and Parkhurst's Lexicon, "lJ, XI.
30 I, saith Jehovah, know his fury,
That it exceeds the proportion of his strength, Nor is Iiis performance answerable.
Compare Is. xvi, 6.
Verse 31, For W>, read, with MS ISO, and Hqiu bigant, HJriK ; and in the following verse omit C* between iy and Tlp\ with MSS 72, 93, and Blaney ; and render thus,
For the men of Kir- Hares I will make a moaning. 32 With weeping I will weep for Jazer ; For thee [too] O vine of Sibmah, Thy luxuriant branches extended across the sea, They reached to Jazer. — " across the sea," i. c. the Asphaltite lake, in the south-west extremity of Moab's territory.
— " to Jazer," a city on the northern border. There was no sea of Jazer. See Dr Blaney's learned note.
Verse 33. Read, with the Syriac, the Chaldee, and Blaney, ll^n ivn *bm
The treader shall not tread,
The shouting shall be no shouting.
Verse 34. " From the cry/' &c. ; rather, " The cry of Heshbon [reaches] unto Elealeh."
76 JEREMIAH.
Verse 35. — "him that'offereth in the high places;" rather, " him that goeth up to the chapel."
Verse 45. — " and the crown of the head ;" rather, " and the capitol." See Blaney.
CHAP. XLIX.
Verse 1. — " their king;" rather, " Milcom," the proper name of the principal idol of the Ammonites. See 1 Kings xi, 5.
Verse 2. — " then shall Israel he heir unto them that were his heirs" — I cannot think that this re- lates to the successes of Judas Maccabaeus in his wars with the Ammonites. For, besides that the war here mentioned was Nebuchadnezzar's war (see ch. xxvii, 3), all the calamities threatened in this pro- phecy were certainly to take place before the restor- ation promised in verse 6, and mentioned as the ter- mination of those calamities. But inasmuch as the Ammonites were captivated by Nebuchadnezzar, and were in possession of their country again in the time of Judas Maccabaeus, their restoration from captivity must have taken place before the time of Judas Maccabaeus. His victories therefore were sub- sequent to that restoration, and consequently fall quite without the era of this prophecy, which ex-
JEREMIAH- 77
tends only from the captivation of the Ammonites by Nebuchadnezzar, to their restoration frond that captivity.
Verse 3. — " their king," as before, " Mileom." For VHTP at the end of the verse, the best MSS have
Verse 4. — " valleys, thy flowing valley." For SJ, which certainly has no meaning in this place, Hou- bigant would read *3 j — " valleys ? Thy valley is spoiled" — '
— " saying." In this place, Dr Blaney, upon the authority of two MSS, and three of the oldest edi- tions, inserts ftXPto mDKPl ; — « that saith in her heart." But instead of making this addition in the original, I would expunge the word " saying" in the translation. The prophecy unexpectedly takes the form of a dialogue. The prophet addressing himself to the nation of the Ammonites personified, puts the question,
Wherefore gloriest thou in valleys ?
Thy valley is pillaged, O refractory daughter,
Glorying in thy treasures.
The nation, in the person of the refractory daughter, replies by a question put with confidence to the pro-
:t :
?8 JEREMIAH.
Who can come unto me ? i. e. Who will be powerful enough to invade my country and execute thy threats ? The prophet an^ swers again,
Behold I will bring a terror upon thee,
Saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts.
Verse 5. — " right forth." — « Before it," I e. before the fear. Blaney.
Verse 7. — " is their wisdom vanished ?" — u Hath their wisdom overshot itself?" Blaney.
Verse 8. *p*epS% All the best MSS, and many old editions. W1fP. MS 4.
Verse 11. " Leave thy fatherless children," &c. Dr Blaney's emendations seem unnecessary. The passage as it stands urges the necessity of precipi- tate flight. " It is in vain to think about your wo- men and children, saith Jehovah to the Edomftes. No measures you can take for their security will be of the least avail. Shift for yourselves, and leave them for me. There is no hope for them but in my providential care of the helpless and the innocent."
Verse 12. For W> VHP, many good MSS have
■men nw.
Verse 15. MS 1, and three more, omit *0. Verses 15, 16. •*-" despised among men. Thy
JEREMIAH. IS
terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart." For
:emo "no •pS pi? inK Mwn ipuhm
I would read
ryot* hdiks no ■pS pi: inK mwi
Despised in the countries which dreaded thee. 16 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.
— " the countries which dreaded thee." AD1K IflOTfe, literally, ■ the lands of thy trembling.' Ob- serve, that rttSsn is nowhere else found as a noun.
Verse 16. — u in the clefts of the rock." — " with- in the incirclings of the rock." Blaney.
Verse 19. Nothing can be made of this verse as it stands. For fiJJWK (which I take to be a verb), I would read VljJWN, with the masculine instead of the feminine suffix $ or without either suffix, y^1K5 which is the reading of one MS. For ivtyo, I would read mJJ, which seems to have been the reading of the Vulgate. For ^ps**, I would read, with the LXX and Houbigant, Tp*j and for Wjn, with many of the best MSS and old editions, I would read Wyi\ With these emendations, the whol«° verse might be thus rendered :
SO JEREMIAH.
Behold, like a lion, from the. swelling of Jordan,
A mighty one shall come up against the fold.
Yes : I will rouse him and set him on upon her.
And who is the stout youth that shall have charge of her ?
For who is like me ? And who will give me the meeting ?
And who is that shepherd that can stand before me ?
Verse 20. For Wyv CD'OHD^ read, with Houbigant and Blaney, "H^D ianD^ • and for PiTtf, read, with many of the best MSS, B!W<
Surely the little ones of the flock shall be worried ; Their habitation shall be, made a ruin over them.
Verse 25. For thnn T»y rtsry ih -pa, Houbigant would read ViSnn *V>}? rDljjK V*. I would make a farther correction, ^nSnn Tyn SjjJK T*. « How shall I leave the city of my praise, the town of my
joy?"
Verse 26. " Therefore'5— rather " Surely"—
Verse 28. — " Kedar and the kingdoms of
Hazor." The two races of Arabs, sprung from dif- ferent stocks : Kedar, the descendants of Ishmael j Hazor, the descendants of Joktan. Gen. x, 26 — 30. See Dr Blaney's learned note.
— " kingdoms." It appears from Strabo, that Arabia Felix was divided into many petty sovereign- ties : lib. xvi, p. 768. *n3fn N^izzb therefore is in-
JEREMIAH. 81
judiciously rendered by Houbigant * ad regnum Asor" in the singular number.
Verse 30. — u a purpose against you." C&1??, all the best MSS and the oldest editions.
Verse 31. — " the wealthy nation," or, " nation that is at ease." — fact fa tyiv ctpdovictv rm kol^tmv aypoi pccct paQvfjijoi rovg fiioug ziciv ot ctvOgwwoi. Strabo, speaking of the Sabaeans, lib. xvi, p. 778.
— " which have neither gates nor bars." Strabo, however, describes the cities in Arabia Felix as adorned with magnificent temples and palaces, and the houses as highly ornamented and sumptuously furnished; p. 768, b. and 778, d. The want of gates and bars therefore is to be understood of the want of fortifications, and the neglect of the means of securing their private houses against robbers, not as describing the life of Scenites.
Verse 32. — " them that are in the utmost cor- ners." — " them that inhabit the insulated coast."
Verse 34. — " Elam." Elam and Persia were dis- tinct kingdoms, till they became united under the government of Cyrus. See Dr Blaney's learned note.
Verse 36. WITO, MS l, with all the best MSS, and the oldest editions. For W, eight MSS have
VOL. IT. F
32 JEREMIAH.
wy> •> but the greater number, and the best, K5\ i=fry9 many of the best MSS.
Verse 37. vn^, MS l, with many of the best MSS, and the oldest editions.
Verse 39. =WK, many of the best MSS. JVOtf, many of the best MSS.
CHAP. L.
Verse 4. For 1^ Wl "|V?n, Houbigant would read
w» ibV» tSh.
Ferse 6. Read, with the Masora, many good MSS, and Houbigant, »o:w.
F^rse 8. For W\ read, with many best MSS, W*.
Verse 11. Read, with many good MSS, and the Masora, nopn, vtyn, ifcNsn, and "foron.
— " because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls ;" rather, " because ye frisk about as the heifer at grass, and neigh like horses."
Verse 12. — " behold the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness •/' rather, with Blaney, " be- hold her the last of the nations, a wilderness," &c.
Verse 15. — " her foundations." — " her battle- ments." Blaney.
JEREMIAH. 8*
Verse 17. — M hath broken Ins bones." — " hath picked him to tlie bone." IJlaney.
Perse '21. — " Meratluiim — Pekod." I have not the least doubt that these two Hebrew words are the proper names of countries : whether the Mardi and Bactria, as Grotius imagined, may deserve inquiry. The whole verse I would render thus ;
Against the land of Merathaim.
Come up against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
O sword ; and make utter destruction after them, saith Jehovah,
And do according to all that I have commanded thee.
Verse 26. — " from the utmost border ;" rather, *' from every quarter/ '
— " her storehouses." — " her fattening stalls." Blaney.
Verse 29. " Call together the archers ;" rather, " Muster many," or, " Muster mighty ones."
Verse 35. »T^n, MS 1, and six more.
Verse 36. — " liars," impostors, or conjurors.
Verses 44, 45. See chap, xlix, 19, 20.
CHAP. LI.
Verse 1. — " and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me." Castalio and Houbigant take ^Op"^ for a proper name of the
f 2
SI JEREMIAH.
land of Chaldea. Not a proper name in common use, but invented by the prophet, as declarative of the moral character of the people, <c cor infestorum meorum," the very seat of irreligion. — »«* and against the inhabitants of Labcomi."
Verse 3. " Against brigandine." Most of the
best MSS, and three editions, omit the second TH\ I would read,
vwp mn tw rth*
At her let him aim, that aimeth the bow ; At her let him spring in his armour. ^}jn\ * saltu impetum faciat, insultet.' The redu- plicate "JJ in Hithpael is used for the leap or spring of the male upon the female. See Gen. xxxi, 10, 12; Judges xix, 25. Castalio renders this passage as if he had thought of the same emendation.
rvuov romo rrttm Dr Dureli.
Verse 8. — " are mad." — " stagger about." Verse 11. — "gather the shields j" rather, <c fill
the quivers." LXX, Vulgate, Castalio, Houbigant,
Blaney.
Verse 12. — " upon," rather " against, or, before,"
See Dr Blaney's note.
JEREMIAH. 35
Verse 13. — " and the measure of thy covetous- ness;" rather, M and the confirmation of thy ruin."
Verse 19. — " and Israel." For MP\ many good MSS have BW ^UnV*.
Verse 20. " Thou art," rather " Thou hast been/' And m will I break," and M will I destroy," should be " I have broken," and " I have destroyed," in every instance in which either phrase occurs to the end of the 23d verse. God speaks to the Babylo- nian empire : " Thou hast been a weapon in my hand to execute judgment upon the disobedient."
Verse 24. " And I will render" — rather, " But I will render" —
Verse 27. — " as the rough caterpillars." ICD, in the Arabic language, signifies what devours the grass, any thing of a brown colour, any thing of a long shape. See Castell. In any one of these senses it may be applied to the caterpillar or locust.
Verse 28. — "the kings of the Medes." For ^ho9 read, with the LXX and Blaney, 1^0 • " the king of Media."
Verse 31. — " at one end j" rather, " on every side."
Verse 32. — " the passages are stopped ;" rather, with Dr Blaney, " the passages are surprised."
f S
86 JEREMIAH.
— " the passages," the entrances into the city from the river side. See Dr Blaney's note \ or He- rodotus, lib* i, c. 191,
— " the reeds." For D^Nfi, Dr Blaney would read Q^Kn ; " the porches." His objection to the text as it stands is strong ; and his argument in sup- port of his emendation, learned and ingenious. See his note.
Verse 35. " The violence done to me and to my flesh" — " My wrongs and my mortal wounds" — ■
Verse 39. — " that they may rejoice ;" rather, u that they may be stupified."
Verse 43. Two MSS omit the second VW, and the omission improves the construction.
Verse 44. — " yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall." — " Videat lector an non legendum sit '3 potius, quam ^P^, ut intelligantur maenia templi Bel." Houbigant.
Verse 55. This 55th verse is to be taken in con- nection both with the 54th the next preceding, and the 56th the next following. I would place a full stop at fi#$P ; and for 1$T», I would read, with one MS, pDiTt. And then the whole may be thus rendered :
54> A sound of a cry from Babylon !
Of great destruction from the land of Chaldea !
JEREMIAH.
55 For Jehovah is spoiling Babylon,
And making destruction in her. A great sound ! And a roaring of their billows as of mighty waters! Their sound produceth a confused uproar,
56 For the spoiler is come, &c.
— * their billows," the billows of the Babylonians,
i. e. their confused tumultuous multitude.
— " for the Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite j" rather,
For a God of retribution is Jehovah,
He surely will requite. Archb. Seeker.
Verse 58, — " and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire." — u and the peoples shall have laboured for very vanity, and the nations mere- ly for the fire." — " atque ita laboraverint incassum populi, et nationes igni se defatigaverint." Castalio. And to the same effect the Vulgate and Houbigant.
Verse 59. — " a quiet prince." — " Seraiah car- ried a present." Blaney.
Verse 64. — " and they shall be weary." Not in the LXX.
CHAP. LII.
Verse 3. For t\X ty, read, with Houbigant, ^ 7P (see 2 Kings xxiv, 3), and place a full stop at W
f 4
88 JEREMIAH.
3. " Surely according to the commandment of Jehovah it came to pass (that is, all things fell out) upon Jerusalem and upon Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence.
4. " And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So it came to pass in the ninth year," &c.
— " upon Judah." All the best MSS read either
r&m®) or mvT©.
Verse 11. WB^ many of the best MSS.
Verse 1 5. — " certain of the poor of the people." The words Oyfi mb-ittl are not found at the begin- ning of this verse in MS 84<. They seem indeed to produce a sense of the whole inconsistent with what is said in the following verse, and were for that rea- son rejected by Castalio.
— " and the rest of the multitude." For pBKtt, Houbigant and Blaney, uppn the authority of the parallel text (2 Kings xxv, 11), and three MSS, would read pWID. But see Parkhurst's Lexicon, p», IV.
Verse 20. — " bulls that were under the bases." The bulls were not under any bases. The sea stood immediately upon the bulls. For JVLteBft nnn, read, with Houbigant, WUSpTW EM nnn $ " bulls that were under the sea, and the bases"—
JEREMIAH. S9
— " the brass of all these vessels was without weight." Dr Blaney reads ^D TWTCh > « the brass [that came] from all these vessels." See his note.
Verse 21. — <c a fillet — did compass it;" rather, " a line — measured it round." Blaney.
Verse 23. — " on a side." — " towards every wind." Blaney. See his ingenious note. But com- pare Parkhurst's Lexicon, Tt\ n.
Verse 26. W, many good MSS.
Verse 31. Wtt; or wht\ most of the best MSS and old editions.
Verse 32. CM^n, many of the best MSS and old editions.
Verse 33. W, MS 1, and all the best.
90
LAMENTATIONS
CHAR I.
Verse 3. " Judah is gone into captivity" — rather, " Judah is removed" — i. e. is migrated. See Dr Blaney's note.
Verse 7. — " and of her miseries." — " and of her abasement." Blaney. But for W, read, with Houbigant, W5.
— " her Sabbaths;" rather, "her captivation," from the root fW. For WD Wl, MS 4 has WD nb W. For tatret nmij Dr Blaney would read ami IICl; a very probable conjecture.
Verse 8. MW, many 0f the best MSS.
Ferse 10. rwf eight MSS.
Ferse 13. — " it prevaileth against them ;" rather, " and made it to sink in." See LXX, Houbigant, and Blaney.
LAMENTATIONS. 91
Verse 14. For VTO in the first line of this tristich, the LXX seem to have read ^TO. With this em< Dil- ation, the two first lijies may be thus rendered:
He hath been vigilantly observant of my transgressions; they
are twined about my hands, They are laid upon my neck : he maketh my strength to
stumble.
That is, by laying on this heavy load of the punish- ment of my transgressions he makes me to stumble, in my full strength.
The following line is very obscure. Dr Blanev, dwelling on the image of a person stumbling and falling forward, under a load upon his back, which exceeds his utmost strength, renders it thus :
Jehovah hath cast me upon my hands, I am unable to rise up.
This is certainly very good sense : yet it is hard to conceive that so familiar a phrase as "TO [*"0 should be used in so uncommon a sense. From the version of the LXX, it may be suspected that some word is- lost after *n%
Verse 15. — " hath called an assemblv against me." — " hath proclaimed a set time against me, for crushing my young men." >■ ixcikw W if/u xui- eov 7ov owrp-^ur LXX. — ff indixit diem contra me." Houbio-ant.
92 LAMENTATIONS.
— " hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press."
" Hath trodden the wine-vat, in the virgin daughter of Judah."
Blaney. That is, made a dreadful carnage in Jerusalem. See Dr Blaney's note.
Verse 20. — " at home there is as death." — " in- tus est imago mortis." Houbigant.
Verse 21. — " thou wilt bring the day." — " ad- duc diem." Houbigant. I cannot understand how nion can be either simply a future tense, or an im- perative mood. The LXX and the Vulgate both render it as a preterite indicative. I observe how- ever that MS 125 has a rasure after the word HJOfi : and another MS (181) of great note, for n*Oft, has finKD!"!; and connecting this with the following word, the reading of that MS will be tPV>fin*on : and the same is likely to have been the reading of MS 125 before the erasure was made in it. Hence I should conjecture that the true reading may have been
wm hk iron.
Bring the day that thou hast announced, and they shall be like me.
Or perhaps the text as it stands may be thus ex- pounded : " Thou hast brought the day which thou
LAMENTATIONS. N
hast announced, and they are become like we" That is, when thou shalt have brought the day which thou hast announced, then they shall be like me. If this be a just exposition of the text as it stands, this maxim may be raised from it, which deserves ex- amination ; ■ The preterite tense, when it is follow- ed by the future of another verb with 1 prefixed, has the force of the second future of the Latins.'
CHAP. II.
Verse 2. — " he hath polluted" — rather, " he hath sorely wounded" —
Vei%se 4. — " slew all that were pleasant to the eye." Dr Blaney, upon the authority of the Chal- dee and Bishop Lowth, between the words T3 tfp\ inserts "flM ^2; " dew every youth, all that were de- sirable to the eye."
Verse 6. " And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as it wTere of a garden." — " He hath also done violence to the garden of his own hedg- ing." Blaney. This interpretation deserves atten- tion.
— "he hath destroyed his places of the assembly;" rather, " he hath spoiled his stated least." For Y1J7D, I read, with 60 MSS and one edition, WO*
9* LAMENTATIONS.
— " the Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion ;" rather, with Dr Blaney, " Jehovah hath forgotten in Zion the solemn feast and the Sabbath.5'
Verse 11. " My liver'' — See Dr Blaney's note.
Verse 13. " What thing shall I take to witness for thee ?" For "PW SID, Houbigant would read TWK . " How shall I riddle thee ?" tc Quonam ego te ae- nigmate adumbrabo r" I very much doubt whether any such use of the verb Tin can be justified. But the received reading is certainly very obscure.
— " thy breach is great like the sea." — " ' The breach,' or wound, which Jerusalem had received, is, by an hyberbole, said to be a great deep, or wide, * like the sea,' which is as it were a breach in the Earth." Dr Blaney on the place. The hyper- bole is indeed so bold, as to give some colour of probability to Houbigant's conjectural emendation of the beginning of the verse.
Verses 16, 17. Houbigant accounts for the trans- position of these stanzas, and that of the correspond- ing stanzas in the two following chapters, in a man- ner very natural. They should be restored to the natural order. The sense is not at all improved by the inversion of it ^ which is an argument that it is
LAMENTATIONS.
an accidental derangement, not of the intention of the author.
Verse 18. " Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Sion, let tears run down" — This passage is unquestionably corrupt. If they cried unto the Lord, how is it that their exclama- tion is addressed to the wall ? And what sort of poetry is it, that introduces a distressed people ex- horting the wall of the town to weep without inter- mission day and night? Dr Blaney thinks he gets over all this difficulty by changing nDVi into ncn, upon the authority of four MSS, of which one, he observes, is pretty antient. Then he renders,
Their heart cried out, before Jehovah, with fervency, O
daughter of Sion, Let tears run down, &c
Whose heart cried out? The heart of those, savs Dr Blaney, who are said to have made the foregoing remarks concerning the distressed condition of Jeru- salem, namely, the passengers; verse 15. But be- sides the extravagance of this conceit, that an out- cry of pity is raised in this verse, from the \u;\ same persons who insult and deride in the preced- ing verses, neither the noun HCH, nor the verb an, from which the noun is derived, are ever us^d to
96 LAMENTATIONS.
denote the fervency of pious or virtuous affections. The noun riDn, or in regimine HEn, occurs 124 times in the Bible, exclusive of the passages in which it signifies either a father-in-law, or a wall, or a pitcher. In four of these passages, it signifies the inflamma- tory venom of a serpent;1 in one, the poison of poisoned arrows;2 in five, a hot intoxicating po- tion ;3 for although in three * of these five it is ren- dered anger or fury, yet it is properly the divine judgments represented under the image of an in- toxicating drink. In one, it signifies either impa- tience or anxiety ;5 and in one, the rage of a wild beast.6 In four, the Sun;7 in two, the heat of the Sun.8 In the remaining 106, it signifies the ex- treme heat of anger. The verb Dn or DOT is never applied to any moral heat; but that of anger, the worst passions, or intoxication.
1 Deut. xxxii, 24, 33. Ps. lviii, 5 ; cxl, 4.
2 Job vi, 4.
3 Is. Ii, 17, 22. Jer. xxv, 15. Hos. vii, 5. Habb. ii, 15* * Is. Ii, 17, 22. Jer. xxv, 15.
5 Ezek. iii, 14.
6 Dan. viii, 6.
7 Cant, vi, 10. Is. xxiv, 23; xxx, 26 bis.
8 Job xxx, 28. Ps. xix, 7.
LAMENTATIONS. 97
I observe that MS 244, which in age is very little inferior to Dr Blaney's pretty antient one, has M twice, which suggests to me this correction :
pw ro ran rvo ITST Sn odS pyv
Their heart cries unto Jehovah within the wall of the daughter
of Sion ; Pour down tears, &c.
In the preceding verses the prophet has described the taunts of enemies and strangers ; now he pro- ceeds to the situation and behaviour of the sufferers themselves. <c Their heart cries" Similar ex- pressions occur in Is. xv, 5 j Jer. xlviii, 36 ; Psalm lxxxiv, 2.
— " let not the apple of thine eyes cease." — " the daughter of thine eye stand still. " — u I here un- derstand the tear, not the pupil or apple of the eye, (says Dr Blaney). The tear may with great pro- priety and elegance be called the daughter of the eye, from which it issues." I believe he is right. See the whole of his note.
Verse 20. — " their fruit." Dr Blaney's emend- ation Oni "HD, for CHS), is very probable , " the fruit of the womb."
— u children of a span long." OViEJD *hy, " little
VOL. Ill, ^>
98 LAMENTATIONS.
ones dandled on the hands." Dr Blaney. See his note.
Verse 22. — " those that I have swaddled j" ra- ther, " dandled," or " fostered."
CHAP. III.
Verse 4. — *' hath he made old;" rather, with Blaney, " he hath brought to decay."
Verse 5. — " with gall and travail." Travail or fatigue is not well joined with gall. For MK7n\ Cas- talio therefore proposes i"tt}^ ; " with gall and worm- wood." See verse 19.
Verse 8. DHD, MS 1, and many of the best.
Verse 14. — " to all my people." — " to all the peoples." Bishop Lowth, who conceives that this third elegy is spoken by a chorus of Jews, took '•DJJ for an instance of the construct form used for the absolute.* But many good MSS read C*CJJ, and some few OiDJjn.
Verse 17. " And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace ;" rather, " And my soul was remov- ed far off from peace." Blaney.
Verse 18. — " perished from the Lord." — " pe-
* Praelect. xxxn, p. 301, not. 8.
LAMENTATIONS 99
fished, of Jehovah." — " Deo sic volente." Hon- bigant.
Verse 19. u Remembering mine and my misery, the wormwood and gall."
This line is well rendered by Dr Blaney :
" The remembrance of mine affliction and mine abasement is wormwood and gall."
Except in the change of the word misery into abase- ment, he has chosen the word c abasement' as exact- ly rendering the word WHO of the Masoretic text, to which he most injudiciously adheres, in prefer- ence to Castalio's emendation, *WD, which is evi- dently followed by our translators, and is necessary to the parallelism of the line. See Houbigant's note upon the passage.
Verse 20. Excellently rendered by Dr Blaney :
u My soul cannot but remember, and sinketh within me."
Verse 21. " This I recall" — namely, the religious maxim contained in the two first lines of the ensu- ing stanza.
Verses 22, 23. — u because his compassions fail not. 23. They are new," &c.
I agree with Dr Blaney that the word Wr\ or ra- ther V>cm, for such is the reading of 84 MSS, be- longs to the 23d verse. Read therefore,
c, 2
i 00 LAMENTATIONS.
: iSa 22
&c. BnpaS wn &vnr\ 23
22 It is of the mercies of Jehovah that we are not consumed,
verily they are inexhaustible !
23 New are his compassions every morning, &c.
Verse 26. — " It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait," &c. Rather, with Dr Blaney, " He is gracious, therefore let him wait with silent hope," &c.
" He," that is Jehovah is gracious ; <c therefore let him (the man) wait/' &c. It is some confirmation of this rendering that one MS repeats PJW after y®9 at the beginning of this line. For %7Wf\9 13 MSS have 7tV*\
Verse 27. " It is good for a man that he bear"— te He is gracious unto a man when he beareth" — Blaney.
ty, many of the best MSS.
Verses 28 — 30. " He sitteth and keepeth
because he hath borne — 29. He putteth — 30. He giveth he is filled" —
28. " Let him sit — -and keep when it is laid —
29. Let him put — 30. Let him give let him be
filled" — To this effect Castalio, who in this is fol- lowed by Dr Blaney.
Verses 31 — S3. The reason of the advice given in
LAMENTATIONS. 101
the preceding stanza. In verse 32, most of the besl MSS have VHDn.
Verses 34 — 36. Houbigant imagines that the word U^N has been lost out of the first line of this triplet, immediately after the first word N211?- and this lost word he makes the common subject of the verbs US"!, MB!, my, and the antecedent of the suffixed pronoun YW\ The conjecture would be highly pro- bable, were it not that the second line furnishes the common subject of these verbs, and the antecedent of the pronouns in the noun "O^ which has been mistaken, by all interpreters, either for a genitive after the noun OSWD, or for an accusative after the verb mun. But the true order of construction I take to be
&c. ifhsn nnn yntf vv»dk ba -Da kyfr
I take the whole stanza as an interrogation, and I render the whole thus :
34? When the powerful man crusheth under his feet all the pri- soners of the earth,
35 When he turneth aside judgment before the face of the most High,
~36 When he subverteth a man in his cause ; doth not Jehovah see?
Thus taken, this stanza seems best to connect with
g 3
102 LAMENTATIONS.
what precedes and what follows. In stanzas & and * the prophet recommends resignation to the Divine Will under affliction. In stanza 5, he enforces this advice by the consideration of the certainty of final mercy. In this stanza, **, he enters upon the diffi- cult question, of the success of the wicked even in their oppression of the righteous. And in stanza B, he teaches that all this is subject to the controul of Providence \ that nothing either good or bad hap- pens to any man but by his appointment ; and that the demerit of the very best ought to silence all complaint. Think ye, says the prophet (stanza *?), that when the poor is oppressed by power, or de- frauded of his right by influence, such things hap- pen through the inattention of Providence to human affairs and human actions ? Far otherwise. Nothing good or bad happens without God. If the wicked prosper even in their schemes of persecution, it is because God makes even the wickedness of man the instrument of his righteous judgment. And since every man is guilty with respect to God, no one, however he may be wronged by his neighbour, hath a right to complain of a dispensation, by virtue of which, whoever suffers, suffers only for his faults; especially when, the whole will terminate in favour
LAMENTATIONS. 103
of those who bear the present discipline with resig- nation.
35. " When he turneth aside judgment before the face of the most High." — " ' Invertere jus hominis in conspectu supremi,' in judicio : nam Deus adest ill judicantibus." Castalio. When judgment is per- verted, tlie whole iniquity of the business, the per- jury of the suborned witness, the art of the dis- honest pleader, the wilful injustice of the corrupted judge, however it may escape the observation of .man, is open to the inspection of the Most High.
The crime is committed in the sight of God, openly with respect to him, however concealed from the sight of man.
36. For WW here, as in most other places, many of the best MSS have PHH\ But perhaps for nm *6 mm, it were better to read mm rim tfa.
Verse 43. " Thou hast covered with anger" — rather, " Thou hast covered thyself in thine anger." The same thing is said in plainer terms in the fol- lowing line. I think there is somewhat of allusion to the pillar of the Shechinah in the wilderness, which was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, the objects of God's anger, at the same time that it was light to his peculiar people. See Exod. xiv, 20,
g 4
104 LAMENTATIONS.
Verses 46 — 51. The J* and 5> stanzas may be re* stored to their proper places without any detriment to the sense,
Verses 56, 57. In these two last lines of the p stanza, I would follow what seems to have been the reading of the LXX, which differs indeed from the received reading only in the division of the lines and the order of the words :
jvijw1? ijw ahyr\ bx r\ytv ^Vip 56 j kth Sk mo* imp** ovo wmS rayp 57
56 Thou hast heard my voice ; stop not thine ear against my
cry.
57 Thou hast [heretofore] drawn near to my deliverance in the
day when I called upon thee ; thou hast said, Fear not.
Tirvn?. — s}g r9JV fioqfeiuv pov. LXX. They render the masculine ITH by fioTjkia in other places. See Is. xxxi, 3; Esth. iv, 14.
Verse 62. — " and their device \" rather, " and their muttering." Blaney.
Verse 65. — '< sorrow of heart -," rather, u infatu- ation of heart ;" from the Arabic sense of the root p. See Houbigant, and Castelli Lex. I am inclined to think that the word properly denotes that worst sort of madness which is the effect of demoniacal possession,
LAMENTATIONS. io5
CHAP. IV.
Verse 1. fW>, MS 1, with many others of the best.
Verse 3. D^y *?, very many of the best MSS ami editions.
Verse 6. — " and no hands stayed on her ;" rather, " were fatigued upon her." To the same effect Cas- talio, Houbigant, and Blaney.
Verse 7. u Her Nazarites" — IW*tt, Blaney ren- ders " her nobles." See his notes ; and compare Nahum iii, 17. But in this place I should take the word in its stricter meaning, as denoting persons under the vow of separation. It is probable that their abstemious diet would heighten the healthy bloom and clearness of their complexion.
Verse 8. — " blacker than a coal." Blaney right; — " duskier than the dawn."
Verse 9. — - "are better;" rather, "more fortun- ate." — " hunger," rather " famine." — " for those," &c. y inasmuch as those being stabbed, run out (effluunt, vulnere vitam profundunt) before the fruits of the field." That is, says Dr Blaney, they pass away at one stroke, before the means of subsist- ence fail.
106 LAMENTATIONS.
Verse 10. — " the pitiful women ;" rather, with Dr Blaney, " the tender-hearted women."
Verses 14, 15. These two verses are certainly some- what obscure. For W in verse 15, Kennicott's MS 17 has 12*0; and the following CD J, three MSS have B5U1. Adopting both these emendations, I translate the two verses thus :
14? They wander blind in the streets, they are polluted with blood;
And for those who cannot endure [such doings] they daub it on their garments.
15 Depart! Proclaim against them uncleanness. Depart, de- part, touch not ! Verily they are rejected, and are even vagabonds. Declare unto the nations, that they shall stir themselves up no more.
" They wander blind" — namely, these false pro- phets, and wicked priests.
— " with blood;" the blood of their murthers.
— " And for those who cannot endure [such do- ings] they daub it on their garments." They offer insult and studied affront to the true servants of God, who reprove them.
— " that they shall stir themselves up no more." That they [the Jews] shall not be in a condition to stir themselves up in rebellion again against Nebu- chadnezzar.
LAMENTATIONS. 107
Verses 16, 17. The V and B stanzas cannot in this instance be restored to their natural order, without injury to the connection of the discourse.
Verse 16. * The anger of the Lord" — DrBlaney, I think, is right :
" The countenance of Jehovah, their portion, will no more look upon tlie'm."
Verse 22. — " he will visit/' &c. Rather,
Thy iniquity is visited, O daughter of Edom. Fly thy country [nbi, nigra] because of thy sins.
CHAP. V.
Verse 1. — " consider" — rather, with Blaney, u look down" —
For DWJ, MS 1, with many others of the best, has
Verse 3. p*, MS 1, with many of the best.
Verse 5. WW*, many good MSS.
" Our necks are under persecution." Dr Blaney, I believe, has given the exact sense of the original, though I conceive he has not expressed the image:
" With the yoke of our necks we are continually burthened."
The verb *p*\ in the Arabic language, is used of one who rides behind another upon the same horse,
108 LAMENTATIONS.
sticking close to the man before. See Castelli Lex, It is used too of the horse who carries such a rider. With the yoke of our necks we are ridden.
The image, would be not the same, but somewhat akin in English, and more intelligible, were the pass- age thus expressed :
With the yoke upon our necks we are constantly saddled.
Verse 6. Read, with the Vulgate and Houbigant, BWRfck and W^.
Verse 7. P^^, MS 1, with many of the best.
Verse 9. WWi», many of the best MSS.
— " because of the sword of the wilderness ;" i. e. the Arabian freebooters. Dr Blaney. See his note. — " propter deserti aestus arentes." Houbigant.
Verse 10. Wy, many good MSS.
Verse 13. " They took the young men to grind j" rather, " The young men carried the mill."
Verses 17, 18. — "are dim. Because of the moun- tain of Zion," rather, " are dim, Because of the mountain of Zion $"
Verse 19. WK1, LXX, Vulgate, two MSS, and Bible Minchath Shai.
109
BARUCH.
CHAP. I.
Verse 2. — " what time as the Chaldeans took Je- rusalem, and burnt it with fire."
These English words seem to describe the time when the Chaldeans were in the very act of demo- lishing Jerusalem. But this was not a season either for the reading of this book in an assembly of the captives at Babylon, or for sending a collection of money for religious purposes to Jerusalem. Huetius and Houbigant think that the Greek words describe the fifth year after the Chaldeans had taken and burnt Jerusalem ; and certainly they may be so un- derstood. This fifth year Houbigant understands of the fifth from Jechoniah's captivity. But in the fifth of Jechoniah's captivity, Zedekiah was upon the throne of Judah, and at peace with Nebuchadnezzar. And it might rather have been expected, that Ba- ruch, his subject and messenger (if the story of this book in connection with this date is to be at all re- garded), should have reckoned by the years of his
110 BARUCH.
reign, than by those of his predecessor's captivity. But besides, Jerusalem was not burnt by the Chal- deans when they took it in the reign of Jechoniah. Houbigant gets over this difficulty very lamely. It remains therefore, that the fifth year from Zedekiah's captivity is the only time that can be understood by this description, of which time Huetius accordingly understood it. But this date again it is impossible to reconcile with the mention of the altar and temple, as standing in the 10th and 14th verses.
Verses 8, 9. Were other difficulties removed, it would not be an objection of itself sufficient to set aside the authority of this book, that we read not in any of the historical books of silver vessels made for the uses of the temple by Zedekiah, nor are able to explain upon what occasion such vessels should be restored in the fifth year after his captivity.
CHAP. II.
Verse 4. — " and desolation," xoci aZarov. — " { et ad stuporem,' ex Hebraico verbo iTDfcP, quod signi- ficat ' ad vastationem/ et * ad stuporem.' Houb.
Verse 6. — " open shame, as [appeareth] this day." —7\ afoyjuvy} tuv irgoaotiitcdv a$ q qf/jZgct avrrj. ntn D1*0. — " Venit solecismus Graecus ex ipso interprete, qui verbum de verbo transtulit.,, Houbigant.
BARUCH. ill
Verse 23. — " desolate of inhabitants." — tig «£«• tov airo houtovvruv. ETOHKPD. The prefix D renders either olko or aveu. In this place dvzu, see Houbigant. — " desolate without inhabitants."
Verse 29. No such words to be found in the books of Moses.
CHAP. III.
Verse 10. — " thou art waxen old in a strange country." The fifth year from Zedekiah's captivity was the twenty-fourth with those captives who had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar in his first expedition against Jerusalem in the reign of Jehoi- akim. Such of those first captives as were in the prime of life when they were taken, were now lite- rally waxing old.
Verse 33. — " with fear" — rgopcu, — " with trem- bling ;"«an elegant allusion to the tremulous vibra- tory motion of the matter of light, in which the form of the thing consists.
Verse 37. " Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men." Divine Knowledge is personified in this discourse. In the preceding verse, the pronoun rehearsing knowledge should have been feminine : " hath given her," not * hath given
U2 BARUCH.
it." And again, the feminine pronoun rehearsing knowledge should have been the subject of the verbs in this : " Afterward she wTas seen upon earth, and conversed with men." This most eloquent writer speaks of Divine Knowledge as entirely a stranger upon earth, before the Mosaic revelation. But is this the language of an inspired writer ? Was there no conversation of Divine Knowledge with men in the patriarchal ages ? In the days of Abraham, and in the earlier days of Noah, Seth, and of Adam him- self? The difficulty will not be less, if, with Houbi- gant, we understand God to be the subject of the verbs in this 37th verse, and suppose that the author alludes either to God's manifestations of himself to Moses and the prophets in particular, or to the people at large in miracles, or to his residence in the temple at Jerusalem. Was there no appearance of God upon earth, no conversation of God with men in the patriarchal ages? But that 'knowledge' is the true subject of the verbs in this 37th verse, ap- pears indisputably from the 1st verse of the follow- ing chapter, which explains how Knowledge was seen upon earth, the means of her conversation with men, under the Jewish dispensation.
113
ezekiel:
CHAP. I.
Upon the first three verses, see Houbigant.
Verse 4. " And I looked, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud" —
For l*» r\^yot read, with Houbigant, W»l nyo, that the verb may be in Hiphil. * And I was look- ing [namely, at the opened heavens, verse 1, which ought to be the 3d], and behold, a vehement wind brought [or drove on] a great cloud" —
— " and a fire infolding itself." A fire taking hold of itself, or a fire catching itself, which the words nnp^riD &X literally render, can be nothing but a
* The whole number of MSS collated by Dr Kennicott for the various readings of Eaekiel was 191 ; namely, 69 throughout, 122 in particular places.
VOL. III. ti
11* EZEKIEL.
fire lighting of itself, breaking out of its own accord, without the application of external fire to the sub- stance in which it appears. So the phrase should be rendered in another place ; viz, Exod. ix, 24. What the prophet sees here, is first a great cloud, driven along by a vehement wind, which cloud, soon after it comes in sight, bursts into a bright flame. The spontaneous ascension of the fire is described by the phrase of its " catching itself."
— " out of the midst ;" rather " in the midst." — " as the colour of amber." — " like the glitter- ing of Chashmal." I would retain the Hebrew word ^Bl^n, which is the name of a compound of gold and copper, for which the English language has no name. The Greeks call it fcezrgov, and in the East Indies it is now called Suassa. See Parkhurst's Lexicon.
<— * like the glittering," pp. I take py to de- note that quick twinkling or coruscation which ever accompanies an extreme intensity of light, without regard to colour. It is so called, because it re- sembles the incessant motion of the living eye. And for the same reason, in the English language, the word * twinkling' is common both to the eye and to light. We say * the twinkling of an eye/ and the ' twinkling of a star.'
EZEKIEL. 115
— il out of the midst of a fire j" rather, c< in the midst of a fire."
Verse 8. Place a stop in the original after the first ■PnStid, At the beginning of the verse, read, with the best MSS, "HYl, " And they had the hands of a man under their wings: on their four sides they four had both their faces and their wings."
Verse 11. — " were stretched upwards." — " were expanded."
Verse 17. — " they returned not j" rather, " they turned not on either side."
Verse 18. " As for their rings," &c.
I am much in doubt about the sense of this verse. I think, or rather guess, that fPSM and HJM are names of different parts of a wheel j that the plural JTraj must be the name of something of which every wheel has many, and the singular i"D3 the name of something which is single in every wheel. And as i"DJ by its etymology naturally signifies the felloe, I guess that the plural ^ here denotes the spokes, though in some other places 2J signifies the nave in which the spokes are inserted. For H1W, I would read, with the LXX, Houbigant, and Bishop New- combe, PUHN\ " And they had spokes and a felloe ; and I beheld them and their felloes."
h 2
116 EZEKIEL.
Verse 23. — " their wings strait/' rather F Strait- ened ;w that is, stretched out.
Verse 27. — " amber.5' See verse 4.
— " as the appearance of fire round about within it." See chap, viii, 2, and the Vatican LXX, and Archbishop Seeker in Bishop Newcombe.
CHAP. II.
Verse 3. — " to a rebellious nation." For D^S, read, with Houbigant, ^ ; " a nation of rebels."
Verse 7. For *HB "O, MS 1, and many others, with the LXX, read H6 ntt •£.
CHAP. III.
Verse 3. *h&**S 30 MSS (some of great note), and 6 editions.
Verse 6. — " surely had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened." Or, " If I had sent thee, &c. surely they would," &c. Margin. But $h OK can never render either " Surely had I," or " If— surely." Perhaps the true reading may have been iS ok. « Verily, if I had," &c. In MS 96, vh is upon an erasure. St Jerome's paraphrase seems td indicate that his reading was W OK, and that he took V? in the sense of * utinam,' although that read-
EZEKIEL. U7
ing be not very explicitly rendered in his translation, which however is not inconsistent with it. — " Si ad diversas te mitterem nationes, tatnen auctoritas et potentia mea omnem difficultatem vinceret. At- que utinam tempus instaret quo ad omnes missurus sum nationes, quo et linguarum daturus sum gratias, ut praedicent apostoli mei, et totum mundum a di- versitate linguarum una fide meo subdant jugo. Fa- cilius illi audirent, qui profundi sunt altique sermo- nis et nihil habent de levitate Judaica, sed gravi et solido ingrediuntur pede, et cum ignotae sint linguae, notae fidei sunt." Hieron. ad locum.
Verses 8, 9. " Behold, I make thy face hard in propoition to their faces, and thy forehead hard in proportion to their foreheads ;" i. e. the more obsti- nate they are, the more resolute I will make thee.
" As adamant is harder than stone, so have I made thy forehead." See Vulgate and Houbigant. flCJJ1? signifies * in proportion to.*
Verse 14. — " in the heat of my spirit;" rather, " in the anxiety of my spirit." The prophet was alarmed at the prospect of the difficulty of his office, and seems to have undertaken it with great reluc- tance ; which had been the case with Isaiah and Je- remiah, and even with Moses.
H 3
118 EZEKIEL,
Verse 15. OWD, two MSS.
Verse 18. *mth9 three MSS ; many others Wtf?.
Verse 20. ^npiSD, MS 1, with two others. Pro- bably the true reading WWfWD, — " because thou hast not given him warning ;" rather, " although thou hast not given him warning." The want of warning shall be no excuse for him, though it shall be imputed as a crime to you.
— nran, ii MSS, and several editions. wnptf, 7 MSS, and Luther's printed Bible. Bishop New- combe represents the varieties of these two words in a manner that might lead his readers to conclude that they are the same in the same MSS, which is not the case. MS 1, with seven others, has WpHV, MS 30, between these two words, inserts ^. I have no doubt that the true reading has been V? fiJtDfn *rtrfi]Hir. — « and his righteous works which he hath done shall not be remembered unto him."
Verse 21. The second p"H¥ in this verse, I think, with Houbigant, is misplaced. I would place it, not with him after Nttn, but after iWH.
For W, seven MSS have fin For ffPTO, MS 96 has fpfl*.
— " because he is warned ;" rather, " because he hath taken warning."
EZEKIEL. il$
Verses 22, 23. — " the plain," rather « the valley." Verse 25. — " they shall put bands upon thee, and they shall bind thee ;" rather, " bands shall be put upon thee, and thou shalt be bound," Bishop New- combe,
CHAP. IV.
Verse 3. — " an iron pan j" rather, " a plate of iron." Bishop Newcombe.
Verses 5, 6. — * three hundred and ninety days — forty days."
It is not agreed among interpreters whether the days that the prophet lay upon his side were typical of the years of the impenitence of the people, or of the years of their punishment. The learned Vitringa understood the days of the years of impenitence, and he counts the 390 years from the fourth year of Re- hoboam, to Zedekiah's captivity. See Vitringa in Is. i, 2.
St Jerome understands the prophet's days of years of punishment. And counting the 390 years from Tiglath Pileser's conquest of the land of Napthali, or rather from the beginning of Pekah king of Israel, in whose reign that conquest happened, he makes the end of them fall upon the last year of Artaxcrxe<?
H 4
120 EZEKIEL.
Mnemon, whom he makes the Ahasuerus of queen Esther : and the decrees of Ahasuerus in favour of the Jews he considers as the complete restoration of the liberty of the people. And certainly it is the only restoration which the ten tribes have yet re- ceived. Afterwards he corrects this computation, carrying back the beginning of his reckoning to Fhul's invasion in the reign of Menahem, which makes the reckoning end twelve years earlier in the reign of Artaxerxes Mnemon. Perhaps the begin- ning of the 390 years may be carried still farther back. If the years of punishment are to be reckoned from the first decline of the fortunes of the kingdom of Israel, this we are told took place towards the close of Jehu's reign, 2 Kings x, 32. His son and successor Jehoahaz began his reign in the year of the Julian period 3851. The 390th year counted from this epoch is the year of the Julian period 4240, which was the 12th year of Xerxes, and the 42d from the rebuilding of the temple. And it might be the year of Ahasuerus's decrees in favour of his Jewish subjects, if Xerxes was the Ahasuerus of queen Esther.
The 40 years of Judah's punishment, St Jerome reckons from the first of Jechoniah to the first of
EZEKIEL. 121
Cyrus ; by which however he must mean the year when Cyrus was made commander of the allied army of the Medes and Persians. But from Jechoniah's captivity to the beginning of Cyrus's reign, properly so called, the interval was 60 years.
I observe, that if we reckon 40 years from Nebu- chadnezzar's first expedition against Jerusalem in the third or fourth of Jehoiakim, the reckoning will end with the year of the Julian period 4148, the middle year of Nebuchadnezzar's madness. Whether the fortunes of the captives of the house of Judah at Babylon took any remarkable turn for the better at that time, is a matter that may deserve consider- ation.
Bishop Newcombe, although he translated the word py by * punishment of iniquity,' yet in his notes expounds the prophet's day of years of impe- nitence y for he reckons the 390 years from the first of Jeroboam. His reckoning of the 40 years is in my judgment inadmissible ; for he makes it up of several parcels, taken at different times, with long intervals between ; whereas the prophet's 40 days certainly express an uninterrupted period of 40 years. To represent different periods making in the sum 40 years of crime, with intervals of innocence, the
122 EZEKIEL.
prophet should have been ordered to lie so many days, then to rise, then to lie down again.
Verse 9. E>Wi, six MSS. nntt, MS 1, and many others.
Ver. 15. — " therewith," rather " thereon." Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 17. " That they may" — " Inasmuch as they shall"—
CHAP. V.
Verse 2. — " when the days of the siege are ful- filled j" rather, "while the days of the siege are fulfilling;" u e. while they are in their course. — " dum dies obsidionis dura-bunt. " Houbigant. The pestilence and famine, of which the fire is the image (see verse 12), raged in Jerusalem during the siege, not after the end of it.
— <c and thou shah; take a third part, and smite,"
&c. From the version of the LXX, and St Jerome, it should seem their copies, for H5n rW^Wl nK TXp^\
had simply i"Dn rW>78fi1\ which is by much the
better reading. — " and a third part thou shall
smite."
iTWOD, MS 1, with many others, here and in
verses 5 and 6.
EZEKIEL. 123
Verse 6. " And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness,'* &c. " And she hath changed my judgments, so that she is become wicked more than the nations, and my statutes more than the coun- tries," &c; i.e. she hath changed my judgments and my statutes, so that she is become more wicked than the nations and the countries, &c. In the same manner the Vulgate : — " Et contempsit judicia mea ut plus esset impia quam gentes."
Verse 7. " Because ye multiplied" — For OM3H, which has certainly no meaning, Houbigant would read QDDon j " Inasmuch as ye do more wrong- fully"—
Q^ns^ao, MS 1, with many others, here and again towards the end of the verse.
— " neither have done according to the judg- ments," &cv Several good MSS omit the negative N? ; " but have done" —
Verse 12. "pnMD,. MS 1, with 31 others, and 3 editions. So again in verses 14 and 15, MS 1, with many others.
Verse 15. " So it shall be"— " So thou shalt be"— LXX, Vulgate, Houbigant, Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 16. — " upon them the evil arrows of fa-
124 EZEKIEL.
mine." Something I am persuaded is wrong here, but Houbigant's emendation is not satisfactory.
Verse 17. " So will I send" — rather, " For I will send"—
CHAP. VL
Verse 3, 6. — " your high places," — " your cha* pels." — u high places," — " chapels."
«lJEX#n, MS 1, with many others of the best.
Verse 8. For rwfD, read, with Houbigant, JWl1?.
Verse 9. — " because I am broken with their" — ■ rather, with Bishop Newcombe, " when I have brok- en their" — One MS of Kennicott's, but of no great age, has Wte#l\
Verse 12. — "and is besieged;" rather, with Bishop Newcombe, " and is preserved."
Verse 13. — " sweet savour," — H a savour of ap- peasement."
Verse 14. " So will I"— rather, " For I will"—
CHAP. VII.
Verse 4. — " in the midst of thee." Houbigant's emendation, TprD for 1WD, is highly plausible. See verse 9.
Verse 5. — " an evil, an only evil." Many MSS
EZEKIEL. 125
confirm the reading of the Chaldee ^ntf for nnK, which is adopted by Houbigant and Bishop New- combe ; — * Lo, evil cometh after evil."
Verse 6. — " it watcheth for thee," or, " it awak- eth against thee." I am of Houbigant's opinion, that the watching, or the waking of an end, conveys no meaning in the Hebrew or any other language ; therefore, with the Chaldee, I would expunge rpfi ; — " an end cometh ; the end cometh against thee ; lo, it cometh,"
Verse 7. " The morning" — More properly, I think, " The dawn.** The time when birds are flut- tering upon the wing.
Verse 9. — " that are in the midst of thee." See verse 4.
10 Behold the day, behold it cometh!
The dawn is gone forth ! the branch hath blossomed ! Pride hath budded ! violence is grown up !
1 1 The impious shall be laid low.*
Not by their means, not by means of their multitude, or any
stir of their's, And there shall be no lamentation for them.
In this manner I think these two verses may be ren-
* run nwob. The verb mm is understood. The impious shall be underneath. See Deut. xxviii, If?.
126 EZEKIEL.
dered. The former describes national wickedness at its height ; the latter announces a sudden punish- ment. Of which, the elect people of God, the de- positaries of revelation, might be expected to be the instruments ; but so far from it, they will themselves be the first objects of vengeance.
Verse 13. This verse seems unintelligible as it stands. If the latter part of it might be thus cor- rected,
:Yprrv> *S orv>nV
the whole might be thus rendered :
For the seller shall not return to that which is sold,
Within the space of his own life.*
For the vision was to all the multitude,
[But] they would not turn every man from his iniquity,
They Would not lay hold upon their life.
Verse 1 6. — " they that escape of them ;" rather, with Bishop Newcombe, " they that are to escape of them."
— " like doves of the valleys." For WiUfi, read, wTith Houbigant, ni*»Jft 5 " like moaning doves."
* Literally, " So long as his life is among the living." Observe that, in this line, for onm, I read mm ; whereas in the last line of the verse, for inm, I read unm; that is, I make tanm and mm change places.
EZEKIEL. 127
— " all of them moaning, every one for his iniquity." * Death consumcth them, each for his iniquity."
Bishop Newcombe and Houbigant.
Verse 17. — u shall be weak as water j" rather, with Bishop Newcombe, " shall run down with water."
Verse 20. — " his ornament." Read, with the Vulgate, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, 0^ft " their ornaments."
— " he set it in majesty." Read, with the Vulgate, LXX, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, VtiWj u they turned it to pride."
Verse 23. — " bloody crimes ;" rather, with Bishop Newcombe, " bloody judgment."
Verse 25. " Destruction cometh" — Read, with Michaelis, W3H 19p; « He who is to come, hurrieth."
Verse 27. — " shall be troubled," — " shall be palsied."
CHAP. VIII.
Verse 2. . — <c as the appearance of fire." For C*N, read, with the LXX and Archbishop Seeker, tf>* -> — " as the appearance of a man." KPK appears to have been the original reading of one MS of note.
Verse 3. — " where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy."
J28 EZEKIEL.
— " where Samel was seated provoking to jealousy, which had taken possession." " Samel," the name of the idol ; " taken possession," namely, of God's house. See Parkhurst's Lexicon, ^ED. For ^D St&flB, MS96has WHD W^.
Verse 5. — M this image of jealousy/* — " this Samel provoking to jealousy."
Verse 16. OWntPB, MS 1, with seven, perhaps eight, others.
To form a clear conception of the different parts of the sacred precincts to which the prophet was carried in this vision, it is necessary to observe, that the Temple properly so called, r. e. the roofed build- ing, consisting of the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, is denoted in this vision by the word *W1 \ in the English translation, the Temple. Verse 16.
n*»3, the House, denotes the roofed building, with the surrounding area in which it stood, (verse 14); which area, as distinct from the roofed building, is, in chap, xli, where the word f^Q is appropriated to the building, called ("HUH; but in this vision WlWl jBSD, (See chap, ix, 3, and the version of the LXX.)
"W, a gate, is an entrance intothe open courts, either the court of the Levites, or JVOH jrOD.
EZEKIEL. 129
The entrance into the roofed building at the east end is O^NH5 the porch ; verse 1G.
The prophet is first carried (verse 3) to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north, i. e. to the door of that gate in the northern wall of se- paration between the outer court and the court of the Levites, which led directly to the altar of burnt- offerings, and is therefore called (verse 5) the altar- gate. He was first carried to the outer door of this inner gate.
Thence he is carried, verse 7, to the door of the court ; i. e. to the other door of the same gate, which opened into the inner court.
Thence he is carried, verse 14, to the door of the gate of Jehovah's house, which was towards the north ; u e. to a gate in the northern wall, leading from the north-west end of the outer court, into the separate place, or area in which the Temple stood.
Thence he is carried, verse 16, into the inner court, the court of the Levites.
CHAP. IX.
Verse 1. — " Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near;" rather, with Bishop New- combe, " Draw near ye that have charge over the
VOL, III. i
130 EZEKIEL*
City." — " Accipitur mips) ut Latine custodia, vel, statio militum, pro ipsis militibus qui sunt in statio- ne, vel custodia." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 2. — u a slaughter-weapon." — c< his battle- axe." See the LXX.
Verse 3. — " was gone up from — to the threshold;" rather, u was raised up over — at the threshold," or, " in the open court." See the LXX. The original, I think, describes not a removal of Jehovah from his throne supported by the cherubim, to another place, but it describes the cherubic throne or car as sta- tioned in the open court contiguous to the Temple, and Jehovah, at that station, rising up in his throne, but not quitting it, to give his orders.
Verse 4. Y^K, many good MSS.
Verse 5. 'K, and EWJJ, many good MSS.
Verse 8. OTVOi"0, MS 1, with some others of the best note. 1*©*% MS 1, with the margin of 210. and two others ; also three of De Rossi's*
CHAP. X.
Verse 2. — " fill thine hand ;" rather, " fill the scoop of thine hands." CtfSn, I think, expresses the scoop, formed by the hollows of both hands turn- ed upwards, and laid close together.
i./i:kii:l. ui
— ." over the city." — " A beautiful prophecy that Jerusalem should be burnt by the Babylonians/' says Bishop Newcombe. But was the man in the linen robe, in the habit of a priest, a type of the Ba- bylonians ? If he was not, what was done by him could be no type of what was to be done by them. St Jerome with his usual penetration observes, that this scattering of the coals over the city might as well be for purification as for punishment. A live coal from the altar of burnt-offering purified the lips of Isaiah. See Is. vi, G, 7. The fire upon the altar was indeed the type of the Holy Spirit, which puri- fies the appetite, invigorates the heart, and enlight- ens the mind. The fire about the throne of God it- self might hardly be of a grosser sort. This scatter- ing the coals, therefore, by the man in the priestly garb is an enigmatical declaration, that Jerusalem, after the execution of judgment, should be purified, and so restored to favour.
Verse 3. Read, with Houbigant, W3D.
Verse 4. " And the glory of Jehovah was raised high above the cherubim, over the open court of the house" — See chap, ix, 3.
— " the court," u e. the inner court."
Verses 12—16. The text seems in great disorder
t 2
132 EZEKIEL.
in these five verses. In the 12th verse, the suffixed pronouns can rehearse nothing but the wheels, which from the first mention of them, verse 9, have been the principal subject of discourse. And in the first chapter, where the same apparition is described, the wheels only are said to have eyes. I agree therefore with Houbigant, that the repetition of the word Q'OSW is a corruption. But I would expunge it in the middle of the verse (where it immediately fol- lows a word not much unlike itself), not at the end ; but at the end, for OiTOinK, I would read &3BWrk>9 for which the reading of MS 4 gives some authority: and it is well remarked by Houbigant, that through- out the whole vision, chap, i, these wheels are never called wheels of the cherubim, as if they were a part or appendage of the bodies of the living creatures. For orD^, I would read, with MS 1, and thirty-two others, of which five are antient, and two editions, OITGJX Thus corrected, the 12th verse will be very intelligible. At the beginning of the 13th verse, I would omit ED^3W7 as a corrupt repetition of the last word of the preceding. In this short 1 3th verse the wheels are still the subject of discourse, without any mention of the cherubim. But in the 14th verse we read that " every one had four faces.' ' " Every
EZEKIEL.
one," if we attend only to the order and connection of the discourse, must be expounded of every one of the wheels ; but by the description of the faces which follows, it must be expounded of every one of the four cherubim. This confusion will disappear, and much perspicuity and order accrue to the whole dis- course, by a transposition of the verses ; namely, by inserting the 15th between the 13th and 14th.
12. " And the whole surface of them, and their naves, and their axles, and their felloes (so I under- stand DiTOO in this place), were full of eyes all round : [thus it was] with the four of them, with the wheels.
13. " It was cried unto them in my hearing, Roll.
15. " Thereupon the cherubim were lifted up. This is the living thing which I had seen by the river Chebar.
14. "And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of an ox ; and the second face was the face of a man ; and the third, the face of a lion ; and the fourth, the face of an eagle.
16. u And when the cherubim went," &c. Verse 14. — " of an ox." — " Maxime adducor
ut credam scriptum 2T0n vel 3Wl, pro ^p3H per. mutatis per imprudentiam Uteris 5 et p, similis soni,
i 3
134 EZEKIKL.
et duabus Uteris 3 et ^ trajectis. Est quiderrl 315 Syriace et Chaldaice, * arare/ sed non ' bos.' " Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 18. — " departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim;" rather, " departed from the open court of the house, and continued above the cherubim." T1k? prophet hav- ing mentioned the departure of the cherubim, verse } 5, takes particular notice that the glory of Jehovah went along with them, constantly keeping its place above them.
Verse 19. For ¥S read, with the LXX, Hou- bigant, Bishop Newcombe, and Mr Dimock, VTOJP\
Verse 22. " And for the likeness of their faces, ihe faces were the very same of which I saw the ap- parition, at the river Chebar: and for themselves thev went every one strait forward."
CHAP. XL
Verse 3. — ft It is not near j let us build houses ; this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh." In like manner Castalio : — " non prope est ; constru- antur domus ; haec olla est, nos autem caro." The construction is nothing singular, and the sense is certain. It is strange that Houbigant should tamper
EZEKIEL. 135
with so clear a text, or that Bishop Newcombe should depart from the public translation. ^P3, ' in pro- pinquo.' n^D5 the infinitive for the imperative : nothing more frequent in such hortatory sentences.
Verse 7. KWK, many good MSS (some antient), LXX, Vulgate, Houbigant, Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 15. T»riK 2nd0 omitted in MSS 201, 25tf, in three of De Rossi's originally, and by the LXX.
— " the men of thy kindred." — 0/ ai^gs? rr,g */#■ (Aochwjtcic vov. LXX. For "in^JO, therefore they read yv9U, This reading is followed by Houbigant and Bishop Newcombe ; and some vestiges of it remain in nine MSS of Kennicott's (among which is No. 1.) which read either TnSuu or inSuu ; _" thy fellow- captives." Bishop Newcombe.
— " wholly." For ^^5, read, with Houbigant and Bishop Newcombe $h>i « all of them." If 1JV?U be the true reading, the sense of the passage is more perspicuously rendered in Houbigant's version than in anv other. But the construction of the original is harsh and unnatural, hardly indeed conformable to the rules of grammar. I greatly prefer the com- mon reading, and conceive the true sense of the passage to be well expressed in Castalio's transla- tion, altered only in one clause to adjust it to the
136 EZEKIEL.
reading 0*?S, instead of n^, which Castalio followed. " 14. At Jova me alloquens, 15. Homo, inquit, sunt fratres, sunt fratres tui, tuae consanguinitatis homi- nes, et domus Israelitica universi, quibus dicunt Hie- rosolymitani, discedite a Jova, nobis haec terra pos- sidenda est. 16. ltaque dicite," &c.
The persons thus insulted by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, namely, those of Jechoniah's captivity, were of Ezekiel's kindred. Therefore it became him to be indignant at their wrongs, and anxious about their fortunes, and chearfully to charge himself with the message of comfort. They were all of the house of Israel, and perhaps they were the most conscien- tious of the Israelites. Therefore they were objects of the Divine mercy.
Verse 16. — " as a little sanctuary/* — <c as a sanctuary for a short time." Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 17. Houbigant thinks all the pronouns in this verse should be of the second person, as they are indeed in the version of the LXX. I agree with him. And for DTVfifSJ, I would read, with the LXX,
s — W from the people." — " from the peoples." Verse 19. — M within you." oaipD, many MSS, LXX, Vulgate, Houbigant, Bishop Newcombe.
EZEKIEL. j 37
Verse 21. The sense very perspicuous. The con- struction very perplexed, and not at all cleared up by Houbigant's or Bishop Newcombe's emendations.
CHAP. XII.
Verses 3, 4. — " stuff for removing." — " baggage of one removing," or, of an emigrant, fi^ is the participle Benoni, used for a noun signifying the per- son, and as such it is rendered in the 4th verse in the Vulgate ; — " vasa transmigrants."
Verse 4. — u as they that go forth into captivity;" rather, as one removing into a new country," or, " like an emigrant ;" literally, " according to the goings forth of an emigrant." — " sicut egreditur migrans." Vulgate. The expression of going forth into captivity is quite improper here. For M^ is not captivity, but simply emigration, or change of coun- try. And the emigration here intended was an at- tempt to escape captivity.
Verse 5. — " and carry out thereby ;" rather, M and be carried on thereby." The verb is in the Hophal form. To the same effect the LXX and Vulgate. — zoct fosZekzvari ot ccvtqu. LXX. — " et egredieris per eum." Vulg. — u perque illud egre- dieris." Houbigant ; who has this remark : " Quan-
1 3b EZEKIEL.
quam nos c egredieris,' LatinaB linguae servientes, ta- men nKXVi passivae est vocis, * egredi factus eris,' in Hophal, quomodo et sequente versu, ubi legen- dum **2ttn non »m"
Verse 6. — " shalt thou bear [it] upon [thy] shoulders, [and] carry [it] forth ;" rather, " shalt thou be borne upon shoulders, thou shalt be carried forth." — " in humeris portaberis, in caligine effe- reris." Vulg. — It upm kvcckyityOwri xui KDt^p^zvog llzkzvffY}. LXX. And St Jerome, though he takes the verb N*#ri in this place, and VWCM in verse 7, as active, takes $&*> as passive in verse 12.
Verse 7. — " my stuff by day, as stuff for captivi- ty ;" rather, " my baggage by day, as the baggage of an emigrant.5*
— " I brought it forth and I bare it upon my
shoulder." — " I was brought forth-*— I was borne upon shoulders." See the LXX, Vulgate, and Hou- bigant.
Verse 12. " And the prince thereby." " And
the prince which is among them shall be borne upon shoulders in the dusk, and be carried out through the wall [which] they shall dig through, to make an outlet in it." £j awn1?, literally, \ to make to go out at it.*
EZEKIEL. 139
— "that lie see not the ground with his eyes." Read, with the 1 AX and Houbigant, flfe HOT* ku : n*9 ™ WE ^ WW — " that lie may not be
seen by the eye, and that he himself see not the ground." The intention of covering the king's face was that he might not be known ; the omen, thai he should lose his eyes.
Verse 2:). — " and the effect of every vision." — " and every vision is a reality."
Verse 25. — " and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass." — " that which I shall speak is reality, and shall come to pass/' See Archbishop Seeker in Bishop Newcombe.
— " it shall no more be prolonged, for in yoiu days, O rebellious house" — It is difficult to account for the feminine form of the verb "Won, either here or in verse 28, which must be attributed to it, if it be taken ibr the third person. Houbigant takes it, rightly as I conceive, for the second person. And in verse 28, Bishop Newcombe seemed inclined to follow him. But in verse 25, he thinks the con- struction may be explained by a certain possibility, which few, I believe, will admit ; for by such possi- bilities all solecisms might be defended. But if the verb in either place be the second person, who is the
1
140 EZEKIEL.
person addressed? This, neither Houbigant nor Bishop Newcombe hath explained. I say *HEn JTO in this verse explicitly, and understood in verse 28. — U Set it not at a distance any more, O rebellious house, for in your own days, I will speak the word, and will perform it." — " Set it not at a distance," i. e. in your imagination.
Verse 28. — "' There shall none of my words — be done." — " Set not any of my words at a distance any more ; that which I speak is reality, and shall be done."
CHAP. XIII.
Verse 3. — <c and have seen nothing." — " and >ee things that are not." Houbigant.
Verse 6. Wp% Vulgate.
Verse 7. — " whereas ye say." OHOK, four MSS of Dr Kennicott's, one of the 12th, the three others of the 13th century; — " saying."
Verse 10. ^nii, MS 1.
— " and one built up a wall." — 6C and one," KVfl. The pronoun Kin evidently rehearses *V>y. So it was understood by the LXX and Vulgate, and so it is expounded by St Jerome : — " ipse aedificabat pari- etem, plerique ad populum referunt Israel." In
EZERIEL. 141
English, for the sake of perspicuity, it were best rendered by a repetition of the noun : — " and the people built a wall, and they [f. e. the prophets] daubed it with untempered mortar." The wall which the people built denotes foreign alliances, and other means of defence suggested by human policy, con- trary to the advice of God by his true prophets; these schemes the rulers of the people devised, and the false prophets approved, and fed them with hopes of success. — " ipse aedificabat parietem ad popu- lum referunt Israel, qui vanum sibi vel yEgyptiorum vel pads promittebat auxilium." Hieron. ad locum. — " and ye, O great hailstones, vshall fall." The noun ^2K is clearly masculine, and cannot be re- hearsed by the feminine pronoun FWlKj nor connect- ed with the feminine verb n^sn. Neither the LXX nor the Vulgate took HJHK for the feminine pronoun plural, but for the future of the verb [n.3. Their versions seem to have been formed upon readings differing from each other, and both very different from the present text. For ^3N ninm, the copies of the Vulgate seem to have given ^-DNn jnni for the verb fi^Sin, the adverb fityPD1?, and for JTpn, >*pan. — " and I will send huge hailstones from oh hijjjh, and the rending blast of a whirlwind."
142 EZEKIEL.
The copies of the LXX seem to have agreed with those of the Vulgate in the reading ^Kfi ]r\X\ but they retained the verb rtfSsn- but then between Prf?9n and the preceding word EPOaStf, they had two words, appearing neither in the modern nor the Vulgate text, the one a plural feminine noun, ren- dered by the LXX ivdwpovg ccvrav, in St Jerome's translation from the LXX, " juncturas eorum ;" the other a preposition governing that noun. The femi- nine pronoun plural understood rehearsing that noun they took for the subject of the verb H^sn. The reading of their copies was this :
rtfSsrn omrrroro Sk btcmSk wan jhlA
jjjpOT rvHjjD frrn
— " and I will send great hailstones against their joints p. e. against the joints of their wall], and they shall fall, and the blast of a whirlwind, and it [the wall] shall be rent."
Verse 15. — " and will unto you;" or, " and it shall be said unto you."
Verse 18. — " Wo to the women who sew together cushions for all arm-pits, and who make the fine veils upon the head of every woman standing up, for the catching of souls. Shall ye catch the souls of my people, and shall ye save your own alive ?
EZEKIEL. US
19. " Verily ye profane me among my people, for handfuls of barley, and morsels of bread, in de- nouncing death to souls which ye shall not kill, and in promising life to souls which ye shall not save alive, by your lying to my people, hearers of lies.
20. " Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah ; 1 am against your cushions wherewith ye catch souls there in the flower gardens, and I will tear them from your arms, and will set at liberty the soul< which ye catch, the souls in the flower gardens.
21. " And I will tear your fine veils," &c.
— " cushions and fine veils." The prophetesses are represented in two attitudes, reclining on sofas and supported with cushions under the arms, and sending attired in the finest veils. Both attitudes are symbolical of a condition of tranquillity and prosperity.
— " cushions." — " pulvillos consuebant, et suh- jiciebant axillis, ut hac typica actione mentirentiu sum mam tranquillitatem." Junius apud Poole.
— " fine veils." mnsocn, veils of a substance so fine and limber as tp cling to the person. By assum- ing this dress, they signified that the ladies of Jude;, would continue to enjoy the elegance* of higW fife,
H* EZEKIEL.
and would not be reduced to the condition threat- ened by the true prophets. See Isaiah, chap, iii#
— " flower gardens." — " Ut eos abducatis in hortos vestros (floralia) floribus consitos et in lucos vestros ubi sunt lupararia ad perditionem animarum constituta." Junius apud Poole. But for the whole interpretation of this very obscure passage, see Mr Parkhurst's Lexicon, nD5, HSD, and nnS).
CHAP. XIV*
Verse 1. W#& or 1*C>\ three MSS of Kennicott's, three of De Rossi's, and the edition Minchath Shai in the notes.
Verse 3. For EmK Email, read, with Houbigant, Bishop Newcombe, and Mr Dimock, umK cmnn.
— " shall I be inquired of at all by them ;" rather, " can I be in earnest sought of them ?" — " Carpi- tur senum istorum simulata sedulitas, qui ad Ezechi- elem ibant, quanquam ibant etiam ad falsos prophe- tas, ut infra videbitur." Houbigant ad locum.
Verse 4. Omit fp, with two of Dr Kennicott's MSS.
Verse 7. — " to inquire of him concerning me;" rather, " to inquire of me concerning himself."
Verse 16. nt^fcft, MS 1, with many others.
Verse 21. " For thus saith the Lord God, How
6
EZEKIEL. H5
much more" — This " how much more" quite dis- torts the sense. u Truly thus saith the Lord Jeho- vah, But I have sent (or I send) and beast; (22.)
yet behold" — — ct Enimvero sic dicit Dominus
Jova, atqui quum quatuor mala supplicia in Hie-
rosolymam immiserim — (22.) tarn en supersunt in oa" — Castalio. Castalio well explains the general purport of the whole passage in this note : — " Cae- terarum quidem nationum sontes omnes punio, solis parcens insontibus, at in Israelitas sum clementior, id quod inde licet intelligi, quod quam sint omnes Israelitae nocentes, et ideo omnes interficiendi, si summo jure uti velim : tamen evadent nonnulli, mea videlicet dementia conservati : qui quum ad vos pervenerint, capietis inde consolationem, et intelli- getis, quod Hierosolymam ita adfecerim me merito fecisse : quod autem nonnullos reliquos fecerim, fe- cisse misericorditer, quum eorum scelera adversio- nem mererentur Sodomitana? similem. Vide Amos ix, et Abdiam." Nearly to the same effect St Je- rome and Houbigant.
CHAP. XV.
Verse 2. " Son of man," &c. •c Son of man, what can be done with the wood of vol. Ill, K
146 EZEKIEL.
the vine more than with the wood of any other twig which hath been among the trees of the forest ? " The whole worth of the vine is in its fruit: the wood is fit for no purpose.
Verse 4. — "is burnt ;" rather, " is scorched;" touched and damaged by the fire, but not consumed.
Verse 7. — *' they shall go out from [one] fire, and [another] fire shall devour them." For UWMB, a word unquestionably corrupt, read, with Houbi- gant, ttftfon ; — " shall they come out of the fire ? Surely the fire shall devour them." See Houbigant's most judicious note.
CHAP. XVI.
Verse 4. — " to supple thee." See the root VW in Parkhurst's Lexicon.
Verse 5. — " to the loathing of thy person ;" ra- ther, " in the loathsomeness of thy person ;" i. e. in thy natural filth*
Verse 6. — " polluted in thine own blood;*' rather, " sprawling in thy blood." The word nDD'OTO, as Bishop Newcombe well observes, literally renders " kicking thyself."
Verses 6, 7. — " live. 7. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field." Read, with the
EZEKIEL. 1 1 :
LXX and Houbigant, i fiWH "n, or rather ttm "n . — " live and thrive. Like the herbage of the field I made thee,'' &c.
— " and thou art come to excellent ornaments
whereas thou wast naked and bare."
Our translators, aware as it should seem of the great difficulty of uniting the condition of excellent ornaments, or of a person highly adorned, with that of a person stark naked, have put the verbs in all the clauses but the last in the present-perfect, but in the last clause they have put the verb substantive, which in the original is understood, in the preter- imperfect ; so that, in the English translation, this verse seems to interrupt the regular narration of God's successive acts of kindness by an anticipated mention of the ultimate effect ; and in the 8th verse the story is resumed. But the verb substantive, which in the last clause fTHy any HM1 is understood, that clause being connected with the preceding by the conjunction copulative, must be understood in the same tense in which the verbs of the preceding clauses are expressed. So that whatever tense that may be, the coming to excellent ornaments, and the being naked and bare, must be contemporaneous circumstances in the condition of the female who is
k 2
148 EZEKIEL.
the subject of this discourse. And from the whole contexture of the discourse, it is evident that the time throughout this verse is the preterite-imperfect. It is most certain that our English translation gives the literal rendering of the Hebrew words O^ny iny* HB»\ But it is equally certain that as many of the antients as followed this reading, un- derstood the phrase as descriptive of the season of female puberty. — u pervenisti ad mundum mulie- brem, tempus pubertatis ostendit," says St Jerome. The verb W3H leads to this sense, which, as Houbi- gant justly remarks5 is not used of the adventitious ornaments of dress. Yet how does the phrase ex- press the season of puberty? Is the phrase ©I'HJJ "Hp, 6 exquisite ornaments,* a chaste expression for the natural symptoms of puberty in different parts cf the person ? I rather think the phrase may be thus ex- pounded : " Thou attainedst unto [the season of J exquisite ornament ;" that season of the maturity of natural beauty when exquisite ornaments are well bestowed upon the female person. To this effect Castalio : — " et eo pervenisti ut mundo comenda fores." The whole verse may be thus rendered: <c As the herbage of the field I made thee, and thou didst thrive and grow. And thou didst attain unto
EZEKTEL. H9
[the season of] exquisite ornaments, thy breasts took their fashion, and thy hair grew. But thou wast naked and bare."
Verse 11. — " a chain ;" za^a, LXX, a solitaire. See Stephen's Gr. Thesaurus, and St Jerome upon the place.
Verse 13. nS^K, MS 1, with eleven others.
Verse 15. — a because of thy renown;" rather, " against thy reputation ;" i. e, to thy infamy, to the blasting of thy good name. See Houbigant.
— " his it was.'* — " it," L e. thy beauty.
Verse 16. — " the like things shall not come, nei- ther shall it be so." MW kSi nuo l6. _« Haec verba qui convertere volunt, divinant," says Houbi- gant, very justly. Read, with him, WH ^ fTDN vh *? " thou wouldst not be mine." See his note.
Verse 19. Tinroi, the edition Minchath Shai in the notes.
— " for a sweet savour : and thus it was, saith the Lord God. 20. Moreover," &c.
— " for an odour of appeasement. 20. And it came to pass, saith the Lord Jehovah, that thou didst moreover take," &c.
Verse 20. m^, MS 1, with 41 others, and man} editions.
K 3
150 EZEKIEL.
20, 21. — " is this of thy whoredom a small mat- ter, that thou hast slain" — Houbigant thinks that for *>ttn#m at the beginning of the 21st verse, we should read ^nt^n *0. He says that "O is always the particle which follows ttyDft.
Verse 22. Mpn, MS 1, with 16 others, and Lu- ther's Bible,
— " and wast polluted in thy blood;" rather, " and wast sprawling in thy blood." But for r\DD*Oro, the LXX seem to have read nDD3nt2l, and for nni at the end of the verse, rOTi • — " and sprawling in thy blood didst live, or wast bidden to live." See verse 6.
Verse 24. — " an eminent place ;" rather, with the margin, " a brothel-house." ?}j * fornicem eel- lam fornicatam.'
— <c an high place." JTO1, k^a, LXX. — " Ta- bula, vel program ma quod exponitur oculis praeter- euntium, seu quo praetereuntium oculis exposito ali- quid significatur et declaratur." Steph, in Thesauro. This is what in English we call a sign. The Hebrew word imports only somewhat high, or hung up on high. The adulteress turns a common prostitute. She builds herself a house for the reception of any who would visit her, and she hangs up a sign in the street before the door to invite passengers. St Je-
EZEKIEL. in
rome in this verse renders the word HE"! by " prosti- bulum ;" but in the next, he renders the same word with the suffix (iron) « signum prostitutions tuae," with this remark, " hoc antem ponitur, sive excel- sius fit, ut volentibus fornicare procul appareat for- nicationis locus." At Rome the common prostitutes wrote their names over the door of their stews. — " titulum mentita Lyciscae." Juv.
Verse 25. — " thy high place;" rather, " thy sign." See the preceding verse.
— " and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred." — " and hast made thy beauty an abomination."
Verse 27. — " have stretched out — have diminish- ed ;" rather, with Bishop Newcombe, " stretched out — diminished."
— c< thine ordinary food." — " thine appointed portion." Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 29. — " in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea." — " in a land of traffic in Chaldea." See Houbigant. Verse 30. " How weak is thine heart" — rather, with Houbigant, " How shall I circumcise thy heart" — Verse 31. — "thine eminent place;" rather, " thy high place;" " thy brothel-house;" "thy sign." Four MSS omit the * in THU3S, and one omits both
K 4
152 EZEKIEL.
the * and \ rWp, MS 1, with 14 others, and some editions. tW\ MS 1, with 22 others.
— " in that thou scornest hire ;" or, " to make a mock at gifts." — " fastidio augens pretium." Vulg. — c< Nee imitata es callidas meretrices quae solent difficultati augere iibidinis pretium, et ex hoc magis amatoris ad insaniam provocare." Hieron. ad locum. But for D7p7, it should seem that the copies of the LXX had tDpSS ; « to collect gifts." The sense is good, and in effect the same according to any one of these interpretations.
Verse 32. " But as a wife," &c. 33. " They give gifts," &c. Rather thus,
32. " The adulterous wife in the place of her hus- band admitteth strangers. 33. To every prostitute they give a fee; but thou givest fees on thy part [thy fees] to thy lovers ; and thou hirest them to come unto thee from every side for thy wanton pleasures."
The elegant climax contained in these two verses has escaped all interpreters. The married wanton yields to the solicitations of her admirers, and admits them to her husband's bed. The prostitute sells her favours. But the lewd female of this allegory sur-
EZEKIEL. ] |i
passes the infamy of the adulterous wife and the common whore. She waits not to be courted like the more reserved adulteress. She expects no pay like the prostitute. She invites all promiscuously to the enjoyment of her person, and she pays the in- famous fee which the prostitute receives.
Verse 34. — " whereas none followeth thee to com- mit whoredoms." Excellently rendered by Bishop Newcombe : u and after thy manner none commit* teth fornication." inrD, two MSS, the LXX, and Vulgate.
Verse 36. u Thus saith the Lord Jehovah ; Inas- much as thy brass (jL e. money) hath been lavished, and in thy wantonness thy nakedness discovered be- fore thy lovers, and before the idols, thy abomina- tions, just like the blood of thy children which thou gavest unto them." " Thou hast been equally lavish of thy treasure, thy embraces, and thy children's blood." *Wa MS 1, with many others of the best, Minchath Shai, and several editions.
Verse 39. — " thine eminent place." — "thy high places" " thy brothel-house ;" u thy sign."
Verse 40. — " and thrust thee through with their swords." — u and shall cleave thee asunder with their swords." Bishop Newcombe.
15-1 EZEKIEL.
Verse 43. r\*til9 MS l, with many others, nipy, MS 1, with many others.
Verse 47. fVW, MS 1, with many others.
— " as if that were a very little thing." For Bp, read, with Houbigant, ^Dp ; « that thou despisest as a little thing."
Ferse 50. — " as I saw good." For Win, one MS gives r^JH, which was the reading of the Vul- gate and St Jerome's LXX. It is followed by Hou- bigant and Bishop Newcombe ; " as thou hast seen.'1
Verse 51. fWjJ, MS 1, with many others.
Verse 52. <c Thou also bear thy shame, inasmuch as thou art distinguished beyond thy sisters. By thy sins, in which thou hast been more abominable than they; they are innocent in comparison of thee. Blush therefore thou, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast made thy sisters appear innocent."
Verse 53. For VD&n, read «S» ; and for rvfcpl at the beginning of the final clause of the verse, read W3tP\ Then render, with Houbigant,
" I have led their captives captive, the captives of Sodom and her children, and the captives of Sa- maria and her children ; and I will lead out to them thy captives captive." See Judges v, 12, and Psalm xviii, 18.
EZEKIEL.
Verse 54. — " in that thou art a comfort unto them," — " and at the same time be a comfort un- to them." Houbigant.
Verse 56. " For thy sister," &c. ; rather, with Houbigant, " And thy sister Sodom shall no more be a tale in thy mouth, as in the day of thy pride,
51. " Before thy wickedness was exposed, as [it was] in the season when thou becamest a reproach of," &c.
Verse 58. OnKfcN, MS 96. " Thou hast born"— rather, " Thou bearest them" —
Verse 59. WtPjH, MS 1, with many others.
CHAP. XVII.
Verse 3. — " A great eagle colours;" rather,
" The great eagle, with the great wings, and the long pinions, full of the variegated plumage" — " The great eagle," the Assyrian, x.ur s'ioyjv, as the greatest potentate of that time ; whereas, in verse 7, the Egyptian, a prince of far inferior strength is Sru nnK ngN, « A certain great eagle," &c. This emphatic distinction escaped not the LXX.
Verse 3. — 6 uiTog 6 (J^yag, 6 ^iyut.o'ZTiovyog, 6 iLUKopg t-/j Iktugw but in verse 7, dtTog irtgog ^iyug xvj piyu.-
156 EZEKIEL.
y^Krievyog. The distinction is not preserved in the versions either of Houbigant or Bishop Newcombe.
— <c the highest branch," rather * the topmost shoot."
Verse 5. — " in a fruitful field, he placed it," &c. rather thus, " in a field. (Hp JH<) The seed which he took (OW »>» ty) by the side of plentiful wa- ters (fiSSSS) an object of great care QW) he set it."
nS)2hS2fc, " an object of great care." — iir&k&roptvov ira%sv avro. LXX. iTT&ktnoibivov, observandum 7 " to be looked after."
Verse 6. — " whose branches turned towards him, and the roots thereof were under him." The suf- fixes in the words WY^n and V>£ncft can rehearse nothing but the vine, and should therefore be femi- nine ; rvnv^-l and WMENGft But in the copies of the LXX, the suffixes in the words VOK and Win were also feminine, »l^K and HVinn, and this I take to be the true reading. — " while its dangling twigs turn- ed towards itself, and its roots were underneath it." This is a good description of a vine which, though flourishing in its own spot, abounded only in limber branches, not shooting aloft or extending horizon- tally, but hanging down and bending their points inwards towards the main stem, and extended its
EZEKIEL. i;,T
roots to no distance. And such a vine is an exact emblem of a tributary monarchy, like that of Judah in the time of Zedekiah. Queen Elizabeth's trans- lators took the passage in this sense.
Verse 7. — " did bend her roots towards him ;" perhaps " sent out the long fibres of her roots to- wards him," from the Arabic sense of pi, to spin, to draw out into long threads. PPnv^-n^ one MS, and the LXX.
— " that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation." The word XV iu the plural is twice used in the Song of Solomon for flower-beds ; but whether it most properly signify a long narrow bor- der, or broad beds, appears not from the context. But in whichever way it be understood there, I can- not see what can be meant by the bed or the border of the plantation of a single vine. As little can I perceive what should be meant by the furrows of a single vine's plantation. If the ideal meaning of the root be, to extend or stretch out far, as Mr Park- hurst thinks, the noun may denote any thing stretch- ing far in a straight line, a long narrow border in a flower-garden, or a long canal, or trench for water. Or from the Ethiopic sense of the root, scatw^ire, the noun may signify a spring of water. Either
158 EZEKIEL.
sense, that of trenches or springs, equally suit this place. Queen Elizabeth's translators adopted the former ; Houbigant takes the latter. In the next word nytt£2? the final fl must be a pronominal suffix ; for the noun by itself is the masculine, JJ&» ; nor can I find that it ever occurs in the feminine form. But I imagine that ft is either an erroneous reading for the masculine \ or a Chaldaism ; for in the Chaldee dialect fi serves for the masculine and feminine in* differently. In chap, xxxi, 4, this same word JlJJBtt occurs. There H is unquestionably the pronominal suffix, and unquestionably rehearses a masculine an- tecedent ; and in this place the Vulgate plainly ren- ders the suffix as rehearsing the eagle. I would render the clause therefore thus : — " that it might water itself from the trenches of his plantation." — " water itself/' «"i™K. The plural oniN is used for the reciprocal pronoun by Ezekiel in chap, xxxiv, 2. See Masclef's Gram. Heb. cap. 25, n. 7.
Verse 9. nbtfnn, three MSS of Kennicott's, one of De Rossi's, and two more originally, Houbigant, Bishop Newcombe.
— " even without great power," &c. The sense of the original I take to be the very reverse, in con- formity with the truth of the fact. " But it is not
EZEKIEL.
for a mighty arm ami many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof '." The version of the Vulgate renders this meaning, as that of the LXX clearly would, if for rov before Ix-cravou we read to. But the change of tov into to is unnecessary ; for it is the way of the translator of Ezekiel to render the ^ pre- fixed to an infinitive by the article in the genitive. See chap, xx, 8, tov \xyyu and tov gvvtQ.igou. The kingdom of Judali was to be reduced very low, but never totally destroyed. — " to pluck it up," HK&mS, three MSS, and two editions. fl*#D is the infinitive from N£*c, and NfcflD is for HitfD, ■ to draw out,' extrahere.
Verse 10. — "being planted, shall it prosper?" rather, "well rooted as it is, shall it prosper?" Parkhurst observes, that ^W is more than JW. It imports that the plant is well planted, and has taken root.
— " in the furrows where it grew ;" rather, " be- side the trenches where it flourished."
Verse 17. — " make for him in the war by casting up mounds, and building forts j" rather, " act with him in the war, when mounds are cast up, and bat- tering engines raised." Pharaoh withdrew his army as soon as the Assyrians formed the siege.
5
160 EZEKIEL.
Verse 22. " I "— " I myself," Bishop Lowth.
— " of the highest branch." — <fi from the topmost shoot."
— " and will set it." For ^nni, which has no meaning, read p^\ See Houbigant on the place, and Bishop Lowth on Is. ii, 2.
" Even a tender cion from the top of his cions I will pluck off.'*
Bishop Lowth.
— " and will plant it ;" rather, with Bishop Lowth, " and I myself will plant it."
— " upon a high mountain and eminent." — " upon a high and hanging mountain."
Verse 23. — " bring forth boughs ;" rather, with Bishop Lowth, " exalt its branch," in opposition to the vine of Nebuchadnezzar's planting, whose limber dangling twigs turned inwards towards itself, verse 6.
CHAP. XVIII.
Verse 7. — " to the debtor his pledge ;J* read, with Houbigant, 2&W1 n^Dn, " the debtor s pledge.
Verse 9. — " to deal truly." For TOK, the LXX had an», « to do them."
Verse 10. — " a robber," rather, " a profligate." VH9, one that breaks through all the laws of God
6
EZEKIEL. 161
and man, all the rules of religion and moral:! v. xoipop, LXX ; " perditum," Gastalio.
Verses 10, 11. — " and that doeth the like to any one of these things, and that doeth not any of those duties. " This passage in the original is confused and obscure. The version of the LXX seems to have been formed upon another reading which bore no resemblance to the present text : — aon %-oiovptu d[/jUgTr][jburQc, (ll) w rrj obau tou vrccrgog avrov tov Oixgcmv
Verse 18. " His father, because he cruelly op- pressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did what is not good among his people, therefore behold he died in his iniquity. " So Castalio : — " is sua culpa mortuus est."
Verse 19. " Yet say ye, why, &c. when," &c. ;
rather thus, " But do ye say, wherefore is it that the son is not taken off in the iniquity of the father? Because the son hath done [or, Truly the son hath done] what is lawful and right, hath kept all my statutes, and done them. Surely he shall live." To the same effect Castalio : — " Quod si quasritis, cur non luat patris culpam filius: fecit jus aequumque filius, omnia decreta mea conservavit atque obivit. Dignus est qui vivat." And after Castalio, Houbi-
VOL. III. L
16^ EZEKIEL.
gant : — u An vero dicitis, quare Alius non tollitur propter iniquitatem patris ? Nempe Alius judicium sectatur," &c.
It is the object of this chapter to vindicate the ways of providence, and the declarations of God's word against the cavils and misrepresentations of the irreligious. Such persons complain of it as a prin- ciple of injustice in God's government, that the sons are punished for the sins of the fathers ; which prin- ciple they conceive to be avowed in the word of God, and verified in the history of mankind, and particu- larly in the fortunes of the Jewish people. The pro- phet, on the part of God, first disavows the principle. He affirms that the plan of God's government is such, that none, whose own conduct should be strictly un- blameable, should suffer for another's faults, and that none who should be perversely and incorrigibly wick- ed, should escape unpunished. In the 19th verse, the irreligious cavillers are supposed to object to this plan of government, though it seemed in itself to be the very thing they demanded, as inconsistent with the declarations of revelation. " Are we not told in the second commandment that God visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children ? Have we not been told by you, and your predecessors in
EZEKIEL. lus
the prophetical office, that the calamities we now suffer are punishments inflicted for the crimes of Manasseh and our earlier kings ? How is what you now tell us, that reward and punishment shall follow personal desert, as indeed they ought to do, to be reconciled with the former language of prophecy, or with the language of the decalogue itself?" The prophet replies that there is no contradiction. The visitation of the sins of the fathers upon the child- ren, threatened in the second command, respect im- pious generations only of them that hate Jehovah, as the mercy promised to the posterity of the righte- ous, is promised to pious generations only, of them that love Jehovah and keep his commandments. The prophetical comminations of vengeance on the later generations of the Jews for the sins of their forefathers, are to be understood in the same man- ner as respecting the generation on which they were to light as itself impious. That generation was im- pious. There was no truth therefore in the complaint that they suffered unjustly for their fathers' sins. Nor is there any thing in the general maxims of the de- calogue, or in the particular denunciations of the Jewish prophets, inconsistent with what Ezekiel af-
l 2
164 EZEKIEL.
firms, that God's government is administered by the strictest rules of distributive justice.
It is to be remembered, that this cannot be main- tained without a respect to the winding up of God's government at the final judgment ; and this seems to be the true import of this discourse, to admonish the faithful that God's government will vindicate it- self in the end, and all mercy and all punishment will be found to be appropriated to the personal cha- racter of those who shall share the one or undergo the other. By the personal character, I speak only of the characters of men as compared with each other, not of any merit of personal character inde- pendent of the atonement and merits of Christ.
Verse 23. niM, MS 1, with some others.
Verse 24. — " iniquity, and doeth according *
live?" rather, " iniquity, according to all the abo- minations which the wicked man doeth, shall he do it, and live ?" Archbishop Seeker.
Verse 26. " When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in it ; it is for his iniquity that he hath done, that he dieth." To the same effect Castalio : " Quum Justus, omissa justitia sua, nequiter agit, ob eaque moritur; is ob commissam a se culpam moritur."
EZEKIEL. l*fl
CHAP. XIX.
Verse 4. <c The nations also hoard of him" — Hou- bigant would read Vty ypWP* ; " and the nations convened their forces against him;" — u promulga- tione convocarunt.,,
Verse 5. — " that she had waited, and her hope was lost" — For Pl^inJ, the LXX seem to have found in their copies K^PO. " Now when she saw that he was driven away, and her hope lost" —
Verse 7. " And he knew their desolate palaces" — The word Htlfi . tt, by its etymology, may signify groat houses or castles, with vaulted rooms and arched gates, without connecting the idea of desolation. See Parkhurst's Lexicon, CD^K, iv. and v. — " he knew their palaces;" i. e, says Mr Parkhurst, " he took notice of their palaces," in order to plunder them. }H\ iv. But I am persuaded that, for y"P% we should read Wfl$ "And he desolated their castles" — See the Chaldee in this place, and com- pare Zeph. iii, 6.
Bishop Newcombe says that, for WOD*W, 1G MSS and two editions have WtfDIN. Now the fact is, thai 16 MSS and two editions give the word TVttDTH without the 1 between the - and the r\ but not on
166 EZEKIEL.
MS or one edition gives the word with a ^ in the place of the '. Nor is the change of the letter which Grotius and Houbigant would make at all necessary.
Verse 8. — " from the provinces." See 2 Kings xxiv, 2.
Verse 9. — " holds/' rather " a cage."
Verse 10. — " like a vine in thy blood." For *P"D, read, with the LXX, Cappellus, Pradus, and Bishop Newcombe, !P*t3 ; " like a vine, like a pomegranate."
Verse 11. In this verse, for VMDlp, ^\>\ and WV7*f the true reading surely must be MnElp, mm, and W\yh\ But for 3-0 VOJ3, I would read WW fiSJD. " And high was raised [finBlp] her upright stem \py for Ftyf] towering among the intwined branches (or, among the clouds), [mm] and she was conspi- cuous for height and for the number of her dangling twigs."
Verse 12. — "her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered, the tire consumed them ;" ra- ther, with Houbigant, " her fruits ; they were brok- en off, and withered ; her strongest rod fire consum- ed it."
Verse 14. " And fire is broken out in her rod ; her straight shoots and her fruits it hath consumed, so that," &c.
EZEKIEL. 167
CHAP. XX.
Verse 4. For OTtoni"!, in both places, read, with MS 1, and many others, and the best editions, and with Houbigant, B3OTn, the Hithpael imperative. " Take upon thee to judge them, son of man, take upon thee to judge them." Sustine personam judicis.
Verses 5, 6, 7. — u when I chose Israel, and lift- ed up — and made — Egypt, when I lifted up — God, In the day that I lifted up — lands : Then said I" — rather, " when I chose Israel, I lifted up — and I made — Egypt. And I lifted up — God. In that day I lifted up — lands. And I said" —
Verse 13. OJTiK, MS i? and many of the best.
Verse 17. OH*, MS 1, and many of the best.
Verse 30. — " are ye polluted — and commit ye" — rather, " truly ye are polluted — and ye commit" —
Verse 31. fUM DW, six MSS, and another in the margin.
Verse 34. — " from the people." ■ — " from the peoples." QTflflW, MS 1, and many others.
Verse 35. — " the wilderness of the people." — " the wilderness of the peoples." — " The desert between Judea and Babylon, through which ye shall pass into captivity," says Bishop \ewcombe. But Houbigant.
I Y
166 EZEKIEL.
with more penetration, " Nondum scitur quodnam sit desertum populorum, quia praenuntiat propheta ultimam statum Judaeorum."
Verse 38. **©», or V®&\ several good MSS and editions.
Verse 39. For Vtap, read, with the LXX, Houbi- gant, three MSS of Kennicott's, of w7hich two are antient, and two of De Rossi's, of which one is an- tient, V13y. " As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Begone, carry away every one his idols, and hereafter if ye will not hearken unto me, yet pollute not," &c.
Verse 40. — " all of them in the land." rwa rf?3. V?2 is found in some MSS. Bishop Newcombe says that either this reading, or Q '2, would be satisfac- tory. I say, with Houbigant, " Rem non expedies nisi legis HHfl ^D, < from the whole earth/ quam sententiam flagitat series orationis." The interpret- ation of the Chaldee would suggest HKh 7^D. But that the natural Israel, finally restored to its proper land, not the mystical Israel in all parts of the earth, is the subject of these promises, appears evidently from the close of verse 41.
CHAP. XXI.
The difficulties of this chapter are to me insuperable.
KZEKIKL. L6i
CHAP. XXII.
Verse 2. — " wilt thou judges wilt thou judge" — rather, M take upoii thee to judge, take upon thee to judge" — See xx, 4.
Verse 4. TE"0, four MSS; two of them antieni. For NOn\ tlie true reading probably is worn. Tlie MSS give tOt\ VKXt\ *KU\\ and ^om. For -iy, read, with the LXX, Vulgate, two MSS of De Ros- si's, the margin of one of Kennicott's, the notes of Minchath Shai, and Houbigant, ny. With these two emendations, ci and art come even to thy years," will be, u and hast brought on the crisis of thy yeart."
Verse 6. — " every one were in thee in their power to shed blood ;" rather, " every one in their families were for shedding of blood." — " "flW?, per suas quisque iamilias, quasi dicat elegisse principes suam quemque familiam in qua sanguinem i'undat, etprin- cipem nullum esse qui non sit reus fusi sanguinis." Houbigant ad locum. To the same effect the LXX.
Verse 10. H^ Uy. These two words should
certainly be either both plural or both singular. Xo MS gives the plural ifw ; but MS 1, with two others, gives the singular FtfJJ.
Verse 13. VCl, MSS 1 and 4, with two others. And the plural verb TO, requires a plural subject.
170 EZEKIEL.
Verse 15. — " thy filthiness," rather " thy defile- ment." Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 16. " And thou shalt take thine inheritance in thy self" — or, " And thou shalt be profaned in thyself"— For rfrrv\ read, with the LXX, the Vulgate, and one MS, Vi^TlJl in the first person ; " And I will take possesion of thee" — or, " And I will take an inheritance in thee" — To this effect the LXX, zoci KkYioovofiriGco <rs* or, according to the Vatican, xai zkijoovopwu b <ror and the Vulgate, Ci Et possidebo te." Aquila, Theodotion, and Symma- chus, though they understood the passage in a dif- ferent sense, as they are represented by St Jerome, all render the verb in the first person. Aquila and Theodotion : " Et contaminabo te." Symmachus : " Et vulnerabo te, sive confodiam." St Jerome ju- diciously remarks upon these versions, " Sin autem interpretationem Symmachi vel Theodotionis sequi-
mur,- ad malam partem cuncta referenda sunt :
quanquam illud huic sensui contrarium sit, quod su- pra dicitur, ' Et deficere faciam immunditiam tuam a te.' Defectio enim immunditiae restitutio puritatis~ est." As I understand the passage, and as it was understood by the LXX and St Jerome, the senti- ment seems to be the same, which is delivered more
EZEKIEL. 171
at large in chap, xx, 32 — 38. For the construction, ■p viViJ, see instances of it in Numb, xviii, 20, Judges xi, 2, Ps. lxxxii, 8.
Verse IS. " Sou of man, the house of Israel is be- come unto me as dross, all of them : copper, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the crucible, the silver [itself], are become dross."
— " in the midst of the crucible." These words in this place have a particular emphasis. Lead, thrown into the crucible with gold or silver, carries off all the baser metals mingled in the ore, by caus- ing them either to go off with its own fumes in eva- poration, or to retire with its own calcined particles to the sides of the vessel in the shape of scoriae, or to run with it in fusion through the pores of the cupel. Thus the pure gold or silver remains by it- elf in the middle of the vessel. But this silver of the house of Israel is so impure, that all the ba- metals, with the flux itself, occupy the very middle of the test, and the silver itself is dross. Verse 20. Read, with Houbigant, riiDp. Verse 25. " There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring lion" — " Non quadrat conjuratio in leoncm rapientein pnedas," <ays Houbigant. For *C*p therefore, lie, with the
172 EZEKIEL.
LXX, would read *\W. For the next word nw:u, I would read also with the L%X and Cappellus, FWtM. " Whose princes in the midst of her are like a roar- ing lion" —
— " they have taken the treasure and precious things ;" rather, " they seize upon the stout and the valuable." The image of the lion is pursued, seizing for his meal the choice of the flock.
CHAP. XXIII.
Verse 3. For ^JJE MW, read, with Houbigant, *»!Dyt:n OtP ; — M and there they bruised the teats of their virginity." The plural OVTH signifies amor- ous pleasures. So verse 17; EWi 2DV12, the bed of amorous sports. The plural &™ signifies the condition of untouched virginity. See Lev. xxi, 13. Therefore EFTtfO "Hi are amorous pleasures in the first instance with a virgin untouched before. And EDV7WD yrt tivy is a phrase which signifies to de- flower a virgin, not by force, but with her own con- sent. And so the LXX understood it here. — "and there they deflowered their virginity." — " they deflowered," i. c, men deflowered, on violoient.
Verses 5, 6. — " on the Assyrians her neighbours, which were clothed in blue" — rather, " on the As- syrians, gallants clothed in blue" —
KZEKIEL. 173
Verse S. — " and they bruised the breasts of bei virginity. " See verse :$.
Verse 1.5. — " exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads." — " dyed ribbands streaming on their heads."
Verse 20. — " upon their paramours." 01*0*91. — " super concubitum eorum." Vulg. u For she passionately desired their embraces."
Verse 21. — " in bruising thy teats by the Egyp- tians, for the paps of thy youth." For EPDtDD, read, with the LXX, the Vulgate, and one MS of Kenni- cott's, P*Ptf? ; and for p^, read, with the LXX, Vulgate, and Bishop Newcombe, TJJW. — M when thy amorous sports were played in Egypt, when the breasts of thy youth were pressed."
Verse 27. — " and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt." Expunge " brought."
Verses 29, 30. — " shall leave thee naked and bare, and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be dis- covered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.
30. u I will do these things unto thee" — Place the full stop at 1WW in verse 29. For inpty read inur, or TJW. Expunge the stop at "pnum ; and for WJJ, the first word of verse 30 (as the verses now stand), read ^JJ, with three MSS of Kennicott's, the margin of a fourth, and the notes of Muichath Shai;
174 EZEKIEL.
or, which would be still better, for I"mK iWJJ, which is the reading of Minister's second quarto Bible, read Wl WJJ. The whole may then be thus ren- dered :
29. — " shall leave thee naked and bare, and de- tected in the infamy of debaucheries.
SO. " Thy profligacy and thy debaucheries havQ brought these things upon thee" —
To this effect the Vulgate.
Verse 34. — " and thou shalt break the sherds thereof." — " and thou shalt lick the very frag- ments of it dry." This I take to be the sense of the original. O^U is properly to pick a bone quite bare; applied therefore to a vessel containing a liquid, it must signify to lick it dry. — " tergere lingua sic- citatem usque."
Verse 36. — " wilt thou judge — -yea" — rather,
" take upon thee to judge and" — See chap, xxii,
2, and xx, 4.
Verse 42. " And a voice sort." Thus far this
verse is to me in the original unintelligible.
Verse 43. finy, MS 1, with many others. By plac- ing a stop at BMRJ, I would divide the whole verse into two interrogative clauses. " Then I said are there adulterers for this battered harlot? At this
EZEKIEL. I7|
season will even she commit her whoredoms ?" Or, affirmatively, " Then I said, there are adulterers even for this battered harlot ; at this season even she will play the wanton. Accordingly they went in unto her," &c. The masculine form of the verb JW, and the reading which is found in some good MSS, W, make some abjection perhaps to this interpreta- tion. But I see no better.
Verses 46, 47. — " I will bring up — and will give — shall stone" — rather, imperatively, " Bring up — and give — and let the company stone" — So the LXX, Vulgate, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe.
CHAP. XXIV.
Verse 3. — " Set on a pot," or, caldron. But ^D is not simply the name of the vessel, but of the vessel and its contents taken together. For in verse 6, the pieces of flesh in the vessel are as much mentioned as parts of the pot, as the brass in verse 11.
Verse 4. — " shoulder, fill it with the choice bones;" rather, <c shoulder, the choice joints entire. " N1^ I take, with Houbigant, not for a verb, but a noun -y either an adjective, in apposition with "N"ODf or a substantive preceding irOD in the order of con- struction. And the literal rendering of the words.,
176 EZEKIEL.
kSd tzmty ^n^D, is either « of the choice of the bones full," or, " the fullness of the choice of the bones." The first I prefer. — " bones full," i. e. full of all the flesh that belongs to them, no part of it being cut away. See Houbigant.
Verse 5. " Take the choice of the flock ;" rather, " taken from the choice of the flock." These words should make the end of the last verse.
■ — " and burn also the bones." This sense of burn- ing has been assigned to the verb TH5 I suppose up- on the authority of the LXX. But it has no such meaning. The marginal interpretation is right: *' heap," or " form into round heaps." — " corn- pone quoque strues." Vulg. — " pile" is Bishop Newcombe's word, and it is well chosen. But as the bones of an animal are a bad fuel for boiling a pot, and as it appears that the bones were not to be burnt under the pot, but cast into it, and seethed in it, and to be burnt in it and with it at last, when all the liquor being boiled away, the dry vessel was left exposed to the rage of the fire, verse 11. I am per- suaded that for ES^Spn the true reading in this place is pitfjtfr. _« pile the billets underneath it"—
Verse 6. — " whose scum." log, LXX ; i. e. ver- degris, the poisonous scum composed of the coarse
2
EZEKIEL. 177
oil which rises out of boiling meat and the rtltft of the vessel. The English word " BCUQ1M hardly ex- presses this.
— " bring it out piece by piece, let no lot fall up- on it." Neither the LXX nor the Vulgate take the word ^33 as an imperative, though the verb HitWh in the former clause is taken for an imperative by the Vulgate. I am persuaded that both these verbs are indicatives, and as such they are rendered by the LXX. For a command to draw the meat out of the pot piece by piece, to be thrown away as unfit for use, seems quite inconsistent with the command giv- en afterwards (verse 10) to destroy the flesh by con- tinuing the boiling. For few critical readers will be satisfied, I believe, with Bishop Newcombe's expe- dient, to reconcile this apparent contradiction. M The caldron is supposed " he says, upon verse 10, u to be filled with other flesh." Not relishing this supposition, I would translate the passage under con- sideration, " Wo to the bloody city," says God by the prophet, " the pot whose poisonous scum is in it, and its poisonous scum cannot be got out of it [will not go out] ; upon every one of its pieces [its pieces, i. e. the pot's pieces, see verse 3] it p, c. the scum] comes out [j, e. appears on the surface], no
VOL. III. M
178 EZEKIEL,
lot has fallen upon it," u e. there is no difference between one piece and another ; all are equally in- fected with the verdegris of this filthy caldron ad- hering to all the joints.
Verse 10. — C( and spice it well"— To what pur- pose ? For it was not to be eaten. np*% as a noun, may sometimes signify spice. But its proper sense, as a verb, is to prepare aromatic ointments or per- fumes. And because such substances are for the most part reduced to the form of an extract, hence the verb in Hiphil signifies ' to boil to that consist- ence,' and thence * to boil away.' — " Bullire, fer- vere facere, decoquere, tyuv, dpe-^eiv." Cocceius. And hence the noun finp*iD denotes a ropy broth, thickened by excessive boiling. The passage there- fore should be thus rendered ; — " stew down the flesh, and boil away the broth, and let the bones be scorched." — " coquatur etiam atque etiam donee ossa adurantur." Cocceius. So the LXX under- stood the phrase. But the Alexandrine LXX gives the clauses in another order : — onus ihurlafy 6 Zppoc, xoct l%ruxy} roc xgeoc, %,cci roc bcrcc 6V{b<p%vyYiaavrcu. The Va- tican omits the last about the bones, and agrees with the Hebrew text in placing the clause about the flesh first of the other two.
KZEKIEL. 119
Verse 12. M The labour is in vain. It [the scum] will not come out of her. Much is her poisonous scum. Her poisonous scum stinketh." Compare Houbigant.
" The labour is in vain." Literally, CJOHn La- bours nN^n [are] weariness, or fatigue ; u e. the la- bour is mere weariness, and nothing else. So the Vulgate took the phrase : — " Multo labore suda- turn est, et non exivit de ea nimia rubigo ejus."
Verse 13. Cl In thy filthiness is lewdness." inKCM •TO'. These words to me are unintelligible. Houbi- gant thinks it might remove the difficulty to read ViDJ, and connect these words with what follows. " In thy uncleanness I thought that I would have purged thee ; but thou art not purged," &c. But the construction }P "'JTO? I take to be unexampled and inadmissible.
Verse 17. — " of men;" rather, " of mourners." u Here BJ^K is used in its strict sense," says Bishop Newcombe, u with a reference to its root cvgrotaviL"
CHAP. XXV.
Verse 4. — " to the men of the east," i. e. to the Arabians. Nebuchadnezzar probably destroyed the fortifications of their towns, especially on their iron-
M 2
ISO EZEKIEL.
tier, which left the country open to the incursions of the wandering hordes in the adjacent desert. That these wandering Arabs are meant is confirmed by the mention that follows of milk, camels, and flocks."
— <c their palaces j" rather, " their castles," or perhaps " their camps." The word literally signifies c rows, or ranges.' Hence perhaps, ' tents placed in rows, or in regular order.' The word in this place certainly denotes some temporary mansion, and is ill rendered either by palaces or castles.
Verse 9. — " from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers." The prefix B in YHJJ is upon a rasure in MS 1. I would expunge this prefix, and for the preceding word OHJjnB, I would read BHpil&; and I would render, " by dismantling cities upon his frontier." — " by dismantling." OHJjrD, I take for the infinitive (with 3 prefixed) of the Hiphil verb onyfi, « to strip/ or * make naked,' more especially ' to strip of armour.'
In the remainder of this verse, the names of the cities, Bethjeshimoth, &c. are in apposition with the substantive " glory," which is their general de- scription ; and that substantive is the object of the verb transitive " give " in the following verse.
EZEKIEL. 181
— u frontier. The glory of the land, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim, to the men of the east I will give it in possession, together with the Am- monite*" To the same effect Houbigant ; who ex- punges the ^ in fwntt in verse 10, which correction I adopt.
Verse 12. — " Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance" — rather, with the LXX, " Because of what Edom did in tak- ing revenge upon the house of Judali" —
— " and hath greatly offended"— »0* W**t Read EDfcW, for BBWK, with many MSS. I am much inclined to think the LXX have given the true sense of this phrase; — koli ipvwiKoixwoDt. — " and he bore malice" —
Verse 13. — " desolate from Teman, and they oi Dedan shall fall by the sword ;" rather, " desolate ; from Teman even unto Dedan, they shajl fall by the sword."
Verse 15. — u Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge" — rather, " Because of what the Phi- listim did in taking revenge" —
Verse 16. For row, Houbigant would read rD^ND. But perhaps the words O^J? nD^K n>rnrc^ may be literally rendered ' perditionem usque veteris odii,'
M 3
18*2 EZEKIEL.
- the destruction of an inveterate hatred,' i. e. such destruction as an inveterate hatred would wish.
— " the Cherethim," the descendants of the Cre- tans. Vide Vitringa in Is. xiv, 29—32, vol. i, p.
448—450.
CHAP. XXVI.
Verse 2. — " she is broken that was the gates of the people, she is turned unto me, I shall be reple- nished, now she is laid waste."
For ninSi, read, with Houbigant and Bishop New- combe, rron, « mercatrix.' — " she is broken, the factress of the peoples ; my turn is come ; I shall be replenished ; she is laid waste."
Verse 10. — " as men enter into a city, wherein is made a breach ;M rather, '• as men enter into a city, at its breach."
Verse 11. — " and thy strong garrisons" — For rvowi in the plural, five MSS give rom\ the singular feminine in regimine, which seems to be right, for this noun is the only subject to be found for the fe- minine and singular verb TVi. — " and the pillar of thy strength shall fall to the ground." — " the pillar of thy strength" may be either some symboli- cal pillar of idolatrous worship on which the Tyrian
EZEKIEL. [$$
people placed a superstitious reliance, like that in the temple of the Sun at Emesa, (see Mr Parkhurst under the word ^M>); or it may be a figurative pression for national strength, like the " stantcm columnam" of the Latin poet. I incline to the first sense, though the LXX seem to have understood the phrase in the latter : — zoci rrjv viroaTaffiv rrjg ir/jjog <rov Itt i rqv yrjv zctTaZet. LXX. For Tin, they seem to have read Tl\ The Vulgate, on the contrary, read rumn : — " et statuae tuae nobiles in terrain corruent." For as neither of these varieties of the verb appear in MSS now extant, for this, as well as other reasons, the emendation of the noun by expunction of the 1 is preferable.
Verse 17. — " that was inhabited by sea-faring men;" rather, " that hast of long time been inhabit- ed." — " quae habitaris a diebus, hoc est, a longo tempore." Houbigant.
— u which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it." For rTOJW at the end of this verse, read, with Houbigant, HttDVl -y — " arida? sive terra* in opposi- tione cum mari quod antecedit." — M which spread their terror over all the earth."
Verse 18. " Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall." For pWlj or pm\ or Otm% whidi are
M 4
lb* EZEKIEL.
the preferable, but still very exceptionable, readings of many MSS, the Vulgate certainly read D^H; and for E^\ one antient MS has DW. " Now shall the ships tremble in the day of thy fall."
Verse 19. " For thus saith the Lord God"
ffirY* W nDK J"0 •>*. If these words were omitted, what follows to the end of this verse, would connect well with the preceding verse ; whereas it connects very ill with what follows.
Verse 20. " When I shall bring thee down" — rather, (C For I will bring thee down — and will set thee" —
— " and I shall set glory in the land of the living." For pp Wp% read, with the LXX, Houbigant, Arch- bishop Seeker, and Dimock, *0¥Wfi; — " nor esta- blish thyself in the land of the living."
Verse 21. — " a terror;" rather, " an utter ruin,** or, " a mere nothing."
CHAP. XXVII.
Verse 2. — " at the entry of the sea," or, " by the haven." O1 rWDD. — " Ita nominator portus et ora maritima." Houbigant. See Isaiah xxiii, 1, notes.
Verse 5. — " ship-boards." OVin1?. It is difficult to account for the dual form of this noun. The Vul- gate read E^ nirV?, « sea-boards/ which is somewhat
EZEKIEL.
confirmed by five MSS of Kennicott's; and Luther's Bible has ovnrf?. Four other MSS of Kennicott' liave BWW^
— " of Senir," f. c. Ilermon. See Deut. iii, 9 j l Chron. v, 23.
Verse 6. — M the company of the Ashurim have made thy benches of ivory." For DYtigW ro, read, in one word, tSFWWPk, — " thy benches they have made of ivory [inlaid] in box" — Bishop Newcombe and others.
Verse 7. — " thy sail ;" rather, I think, " thy streamer."
— " blue and purple." |ttmn nS^n. By the fre- quent mention of these two together, if jem* be properly the amethystine purple, I should suppose that fi^n may be the chonchyliat dye, a dusky blue, according to Pliny, resembling the colour of a troubled sea.
— " that which covered thee," U e. thy awning.
Verse 8. — " thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots ;" rather, " thy wise men, O Tyrus, were at thy command, as thy navigator-." Navigation was a science in such request at Tyre, that it was the professed occupation <>i her men of learning. — " were at thy command:" this is the force of W "P, here, and in the next verse
1:86 EZEKIEL.
Verse 9. —"were in thee, thy cankers." — "were at thy command, as thy calkers."
— " were in thee to occupy thy merchandise." — " were at thy command to fill thy market." Sny*? "pnjft25 literally, ' to mingle thy market,5 j. e. to fill thy market with various commodities. 31JJD often denotes a commercial intercourse of different coun- tries ; but in this chapter it is repeatedly used for a market.
Verse 10. — " were in thine army thy men of war." — " were thy warriors, for thine army."
Verse 12. " Tarshish was thy mart for abundance of all kind of wealth; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they furnished thy warehouses.
13. " Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, were thy deal- ers 'f with the persons of men, and vessels of copper, they furnished thy market.
14. " From the house of Togarmah, with horses, horsemen, and mules, they furnished thy repositories.
15. " The men of Dedan were thy carriers; many isles were marts for thy wealth ; they brought thee in return thy price, horns, ivory, and ebony.
16. "Syria was thy mart, for thy various works; with emeralds, purple and broidery, and cotton, and coral, and brilliants, they furnished thy warehouses.',
EZEKIEL. 187
—"thy warehouses," TOfOljO. Three MSS of Kennicott's omit the prefixed 2.
17. u Judah and the land of Israel they were thy dealers ; with wheat of Minith, and Panag, and ho- ney, and oil, and balm, they stocked thy market.
18. " Damascus was thy mart, for thy various works, for the abundance of all kind of wealth [which they bought], with wine of Chelbon, and the whitest wool.
19. " And Dan and Javan of Uzal put into thy warehouses wrought iron, cassia, and the reed.
20. " In thy market was Dedan thy dealer, in magnificent cloths for chariots.
21. " Arabia and all the princes of Kedar they were chapmen of thy wealth ; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these they traded with thee.
22. " The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy dealers ; with every article of spicery, and every precious stone, and gold, they furnished thy warehouses.
23. " Harah, and Canneh, and Eden, the mer- chants of Sheba, Assur-Chalmud, were thy dealers.
24. " These were dealers with thee in large robes 5 in bales of blue cloth (see verse 7) and embroidery ; in chests of sumptuous apparel bound with cords.
m EZEKIEL.
and cedars ; in these things they were dealers with thee," or, " in these things was thy trade."
16. — " The Syrians," says Michaelis, quoted by Bishop Newcombe, " could buy purple from Tyre, but sell none to Tyre." But this seems a hasty as- sertion. The shell-fish that yielded the purple dye abounded in different parts of the world : not only on the coast of Phoenicia, but on the Gaetulian and Laconian coasts. And why not on the coast of Sy- ria ? The Melibcean purple mentioned by Virgil is supposed by Isaac Vossius (on Mela) to have been manufactured in the island of Melibcea at the mouth of the Orontes. And it is very possible that the Ty- rians might buy up the purple of other manufactories for the supply of their own market ; for they were the brokers of all the world. It appears indeed from verse 7, that they bought the purple of the isles of Elisha, that is, of the coasts of the Peloponnesus, for their own use.
22. " The merchants of Sheba," &c. The word *W signifies either a merchant who sells the goods of his own country at a foreign market, or one who buys the goods of one foreign market to sell at an- other. These merchants of Sheba and Raamah I take to be persons of other countries, who bought up the
KZEKIEL.
commodities of Sheba and Raamah, and sold them again at Tyre. This I think appears from the next verse, by which it appears that the inhabitants of Haran, Canneh, and Eden, were the merchants of Sheba.
Verse 25. " The ships of Tarshish did sing of the* in thy market' '— For TOTHtP, six MSS of Kenni- cott's, and three old editions, have "prn&\ " The ships of Tarshish were thy servants for thy commerce" —
Verse 27. — " and in all thy company" —
— " and in all," ^3\ The 3 is omitted in eight MSS and six printed editions, besides Minchath Shai.
Verse 30. — " against thee," rather " for thee." Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 31. For Nrnp, many of the best MSS and printed editions have nmp.
Verse 33. " By exporting thy wares beyond sea'' —
Verse S4. " In the time when thou shalt be brok- en by the seas — shall fall." " Now thou art broken in the seas, thy merchandise [is sunk] in the deep waters, and all thy company in the midst of thee i- fallen." See Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 36. — " thou shalt be a terror" — rather, " thou shalt be brought to nothing"—
*90 EZEKIEL,
CHAP. XXVIII.
Verse 2. — " I sit in the seat of God" — rather^ " I sit like a God" — literally, " I sit the sitting of God."
Verse 8. MWi for J"inr»D\ The ft paragogic, and the n formative of the second person omitted, as is usual with the verbs Lamed n. See Masclef 's Gram. cap. xii, § 2, and cap. xviii, § 3.
Verse 12. " Thou sealest up the sum, full," &c. -^2u avofftyguyiGpa, 6(JboicoffBc^» LXX. — '* Tu signa- culum similitudinis, plenus," &c. — " Tu es omnibus numeris absolutum specimen." Castalio. — " Thou art like a signet of curious engraving." Bishop New- combe, referring in his notes to Jer. xxii, 24, and Haggai ii, 23. I would render the passage thus: " Thou art the seal of exact likeness, full," &c. The word omn signifies either the engraved seal itself, or the wax or clay with the impression of the seal upon it. The substantive seal is used in English with the same ambiguity. It must be observed however that the sense of the Hebrew word is still more exten- sive ; it signifies any engraved gem, whether a seal properly so called, or no. Thus in Jer. xxii, 24, and Haggai ii, 23, it signifies, no seal, but a gem en-
EZEKIEL. 191
graved with the name of a favourite, to be worn upon the finger, or near the heart. See Parkhurst's Lexi- con, DHH. In this place the allusion, as appears from the following verse, is to the similitude of God in which Adam was created. So the antient kings of Tyre, for their power, wealth, and external grandeur, were images of God, like the engraved resemblance on a seal, or the impression of the seal. It is need- less to mention that for rVOSn, I read, with the an- tients and Houbigant, rM3r\
Verse 13. — " carbuncle and gold; the workman- ship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee, in the day that thou was created."
— " thy tabrets and thy pipes," T©p*U- —TOT.
I am persuaded that Grotius has given the true in- terpretation of these two words, both signifying pearls of different sorts. Hie first CD*>Dn, that large sort which were known to the Romans by the very same name ■ tympana/ descriptive of their shape, for they were round on the one side and flat on the other. Vide Plin. =,,3p, pearls of a much smaller size and perfectly round, perforated in order to be strung in rows. Still the construction is em- barrassed, as the text now stands. But for rON^D, the LXX, Syriac, and Arabic, seem to have had
192 EZEKIEL.
ntf^D, or rfiK^D, and to have read, without any stop or pause between the words, SPin and HKtd. The word HK7D those antient interpreters render as a verb, but I take it to be a noun $ and placing a colon at the word fifOi, " and carbuncle :" I render what follows thus,
And gold was the socketting [i. e. setting] of thy unions, And thy pearl-beads [that are] upon thee, were ready for thee in the day thou wast created.
Verse 14. " Thou art the anointed cherub, that covereth, and I have set thee so." For Tnrtf^ read, with the LXX, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, Y>nnJ, without the prefixed \ " I have made thee the anointed overshadowing cherub." Or if for WD we read, with the Vulgate and one MS, WD, " I have made thee the tall overshadowing cherub." — " Alluditur ad cherubim templi Salomonis, qui erant vastae molis et propitiatorium tegebant alis suis." Houbigant ad locum* Houbigant proposes no emendation of the word WD, which itself, he says, in the Chaldee dialect renders * magnus, exi- mius.' But I find no authority for this assertion.
Verse 15. " Thou wast perfect in thy ways" — z. e. the prosperous course of thy fortunes was un- interrupted.
1
EZEKIEL.
Verse 16. " By the multitude of thy merchund tliey have filled the midst of thee with violence/1 ^ is unquestionably a corrupted word. Three MSS, of which two are antient, have Wtd. The LXX, Syriac, and Arabic, have nK^D. Houbigant would read $n2. — Atto wfk&Og rr\g IftiroPiug gov fcrXfffBS [or i7r}.rl0r,voig~] rot 7a[Mia gov dvopiug. LXX. — <c In mul- titudine negotiationis tuae repleta sunt interiora tua iniquitate." Vulg. And to the same effect Houbigant. But I cannot find a single instance in which the noun Tfi, either in the singular or plural, is used for ' the inward parts,' as denoting c the moral dispositions of the mind in general.' Nor can I find that it ever signifies a storehouse or repository. It sometimes denotes c deceit.' I imagine that the true reading has been one or the other of these two, either Dcm "On ntf^D, " In the variety of thy commerce thou art filled with deceit and injustice ;" or, which I should much prefer, DEn 15VQ tihto, " By the va- riety of thy commerce injustice is brought to the height in the midst of thee."
Verse 17. — " thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness ;*' rather, " thy wisdom shall perish together with thy beauty." To this effect Houbigant.
VOL. III. N
194 EZEKIEL.
Verse 10. — " thou shalt be a terror;" rather, " thou shalt be reduced to nothing.5'
Verse 23. — " shall be judged" — For *lh&\ read, with the LXX, Vulgate, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Houbigant, Bishop Newcombe, and one antient MS, ^\ " shall fall."
CHAP. XXIX.
Verse 3. — " My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself." These words seem to allude to the artificial works, the lake of Mceris, and the canals, which the kings of Egypt had made to regu- late the overflowing of the river, or to open commu- nications between the different parts of the country.
Verse 7. " When they took hold of thee by thy hand" — For 1332, MS 1, with many of the best, give *p2 ; " when they took hold of thee with the hand"—
— it to be at a stand." For rHDjjm, read, with Houbigant, Archbishop Seeker, and Bishop New- combe, mjttsm, « to totter."
Verse 10. — " from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia f- or, " from Migdol unto Syene, even unto the border of Ethiopia." Mr Lowth2 Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe,
EZEKIEL.
Verse 18. — " yet he had no wage8j nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it." That he had no wages, in the strict meaning of these words, is more than is said in the original* — " and he got not wages, for himself and for his army from Tyre according to (k e. in proportion to) the service which he served against it;" U e. lie was not adequately paid, by the spoil of Tyre for the toil of the siege. The notion that some have enter- tained that the town surrendered upon terms, seems inconsistent with what is said in chap, xxvi, 7 — 12.
Verse 20. " I have given him," &c.
« pntys] his due pay [TO "Dp n*W] for which he served, [^ Tir\3] I have appointed him [namely] the land of Egypt, [+> W W*] because of that which they had done against me." In the former part of the verse I follow Houbigant, in the latter Bishop Newcombe. If it be said, that Bishop Newcombe's interpretation makes 1t2W equivalent to ^UW ty, I answer, that in any interpretation of this clause, ty before "USW must be understood.
CHAP. XXX.
Verse 3. — " the time of the heathen." njJ, ' a
n 2
196 EZEKIEL.
critical time, a season of extreme danger.* Compare Is. ix, 1, and Ps. ix, 10, and x, 1.
Verse 4. — " And the sword shall come Ethio- pia ;" rather, " For the sword is going against Egypt, and great consternation shall be in Cush" —
— " and they shall take away her multitude ;" ra- ther, " and they shall seize her riches" —
Verse 7. For IBCW and VHjn, read fiDtW and myi.
Verse 9. — " shall messengers go forth from me in ships, to make the careless Ethiopians afraid" —
— « in ships," O^S. << Up the Nile to Ethiopia," says Bishop Newcombe, " it being a more secure way of communicating intelligence in a time of ge- neral commotion." But I rather agree with Houbi- gant, that if by Cush we understand the proper ter- ritory of the Cushites in Arabia Petrea, for God's messengers to that country was not by water ; if we understand by Cush, what the words never meant, Ethiopia to the south of Egypt, the navigation thi- ther up the Nile was against the stream, which was not the way to send a message with dispatch. I am persuaded therefore, that either the word CM is corrupt, or that c in ships ' is not its meaning. For D^S, I would read O^ja : " In that day messen-
EZEKIEL. iftj
gers shall go from me to the Siim (the Ictbyophagi, Bochart Phal. lib. iv, cap. 29) to alarm the careless dish." The proper territory of Cush was in Arabia
Petrea, on the eastern side of the head of the Ara- bian Gulf. But the Cushites se€m to have spread themselves to the western coast, where they were the neighbours of the Icthyophagi, if not intermix! with them. Hence a message sent to the Icthyo- phagi would soon spread the alarm among the secure Cushites. Compare Lowth upon the passage.
Verse 10. — " I will make the multitude of Egypt to cease" — rather, " I will make the bustle of Egypt to cease" — — " the bustle," i. e. the bustle of trade, commerce, and pleasure.
Verse 15. — "the multitude of No;" rather, " Ammon-No."
Verse 18. — " the yokes," rather " the sceptres."
Verse 20. — " in the eleventh year in the first month" — It appears from Jer. xxxvii, 5, that when the Chaldean army had formed the siege of Jerusa- lem, the Egyptians marched to the relief of the town with so considerable a force, that the Chaldeans were obliged to raise the siege for a time, in order to meet the Egyptians' battle. It is certain that in this en- gagement the Chaldeans were victorious, because
198 EZEK1EL.
they soon returned to the siege, and met with no more interruption from the Egyptians. It is probable therefore that the Egyptians were defeated with great slaughter, and that this is the blow mentioned in the sequel as a breaking of the king of Egypt's arm. This prophecy was probably delivered soon after that defeat of the Egyptians.
Verse 21. — " to be healed ;" or, " to apply medi- cines." Bishop Newcombe.
— " to put a roller." For E?iV\ read, with the Syriac, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, OltP Kb. — " a bandage shall not be put upon it." Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 22. — " the strong, and that which was broken." No emendation is necessary. God tells the prophet, verse 21, that he has already broken Pharaoh's arm, alluding to some great blow the Egyp- tians had already received. In this verse, God says further that this blow has been but the prelude to the approaching ruin of the Egyptian empire. That he is about to break cc both Pharaoh's arms," in the dual number, not only that which had been once fractured already, but the other, which as yet was sound. — " brachium sanum ut et vulneratum." Houbigant. .
EZEKIEL.
CHAP. XXXI.
Verse 3. — " the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon." Meibomius understands the word "WN in this place as an epithet in apposition with the word HN, ex- pressing a particular species of the tree. I cannol but wonder that this conceit should meet with the approbation of so great a master in sacred criticism as Bishop Lowth. Nothing can be more natural than that the prophet should warn the Egyptian monarch by the example of the Assyrian empire, which had been destroyed, not above 24 years before the de- livery of this prophecy, by the very same prince who within 20 years more was to conquer Egypt. The Assyrian empire is exhibited under the image of a majestic cedar of prodigious growth.
Niniveh destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar a. p. j. 4102
This prophecy delivered by Ezekiel, - - 4126
Egypt subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, - - 414.0
— " with fair branches, and with a shadowing
shroud, and of an high stature, and his top was
among the thick boughs ;" rather, " fair in shoots,
and thick in an overshadowing top, and tall in stem,
md his topmost shoot was among the clouds."
n 4
200 EZEKIEL,
— " thick in an overshadowing top," *^B tiftR, — " nemorosus frondibus," Vulg. -^-vvzvog b ry axsTri, LXX Alex, This I am satisfied is the true sense. But observe, that to preserve the usual similarity of construction in the different clauses of this passage, the word ^B is not to be understood as the noun s* with the preposition B prefixed, but as a noun sub- stantive, without any prefix, the accusative after the participle CHPI ; for thus, in the clause preceding, J^y is the acusative after the participle HD^ and in the clause immediately following, MDlp is the accusa- tive after the participle *m. And these accusatives express the parts of the tree, which are severally subjects concerning which the participles FID* and H33 predicate. So the accusative ^'B must express a part of the tree which may be the subject of the predication of the participle ttHH. $ow ^fB being a noun, from the Hiphil participle of the root «?, na- turally signifies ' the instrument of shade,' or that part of the tree which casts the shade, namely, its top : I render it therefore ' an overshadowing top/ And of this overshadowing top, the participle ttHH predicates that it is thick, or thick-intwined. For the verb EHH in the Chaldee dialect renders, accord- ing to Castellus, ' implicatus, intricatus, condensatus
EZEKIEL. 9#l
est, more sylva\" Whence by the way I am per- suaded that CHn as a noun in Hebrew may signify ' a wood,' or c thicket/ notwithstanding that Mr Parkhurst doubts this use of it. That learned orien- talist would render the phrase WO BTITI in this place * stilL with shade/ But besides that this exposition destroys much of the elegance of the passage, by making this clause differ in construction from the next preceding and the next following, the tranquil- lity of the shelter afforded by the tree is a circum- stance so ill-suited to the subject, that it was rather to be kept out of sight. Mr Julius Bate renders C^n in this passage ■ artificially or beautifully form- ed.' But I cannot think that a Hebrew poet would express the wild beauty of nature, in the vegetable kingdom, in words properly descriptive of the study of art.
4 The waters nourished it ; the deep reared it, Leading its streams around [every] plantation, And sending its water-pipes to all the trees of the field.
S1JJBD, • a plantation ;' j. c. any or every plantation.
— " its water-pipes/' PPntyn. These water-pipes of the deep can be nothing but the narrow passages in the earth, through which the waters of the abvss are raised to the surface of the globe for the forma-
202 EZEKIEL.
tion of springs and rivers ; what Hutchinson and his followers understand by the " windows of heaven" in Moses's account of the deluge. Such passages cer- tainly exist, although in my judgment they are not what Moses meant to express by that name. 5 Thus his stem grew tall above all the trees of the field. And his waving boughs increased in thickness, and his young
twigs in length, &c.
Verse 7. — " all great nations." For ^5, read, with the Vulgate, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, ^Hp, " an assembly of great nations."
Verse 10. For flBlp nrDJ, I would read HK l"DJ VMDIp, or perhaps VUWJD fjw.
Inasmuch as he was tall in stem [or proud of his height], And sent up his topmost shoot among the very clouds, &c.
Verse 11. For /ft, read, with many of the best MSS, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, ^ft ; also for M0JJ and IpBFto, read, with MS 1, and many others, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, WJJ and iJTtf-O. And with 1JJBH5 let this verse end, and with the fol- lowing word begin the next.
1 1 Therefore I delivered him into the hand of a mighty one of the nations ; He shall surely deal with him according to his wickedness.
EZEKIEL. 205
12 1 have driven him out, and strangers, the violent of the na- tions, shall cut him down.
To the same effect nearly Houbigant.
Verse 14. — " among the thick boughs j" rather, " among the clouds."
— " neither their trees stand up in their height,
all that drink water \* rather,
Nor any that drink water rest themselves against them for their height.
— " Nec ad earn dum excelsa est applicent sese qua> cunque aquam ebibunt.,, Houbigant.
— " that drink water," a poetical periphrasis for trees, says Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 15. WTO, MS 1, with many others. "mpm,
many MSS. With these emendations, punctuate
thus :
rnrv ^nx -inx ro
^nbiKn nbNW irvn ova
oinn nx vbjr ^rvna
o*m ons ufcw mroina i^m
mvn *xjrV3i paab vbr vtpati
nsbi* v'*?r Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day when he went down to the grave, I caused <
mourning : I closed the deep over him,
20i EZEKIEL.
And I restrained its streams, and the great waters were im- prisoned ;
And I caused Lebanon, and all the trees of the field, to grieve for him ;
For him there was a droopingc
— " its streams," the rivers which have their ori- gin from the abyss.
— " the great waters were imprisoned." They were locked up in the central caverns, and not suf- fered to rise through the crannies of the solid mass for the usual supply of springs.
Verse 16. — " shall be comforted." — " were comforted." This was their comfort, that although they went down to the grave, the Assyrian went down with them.
Ver. 17. — " and they that were his arm." Bishop Newcombe, " his seed." TJTtt. I agree with Hou- bigant that this noun must be a corruption of some verb ; perhaps WVi, (though Houbigant proposes 1JW)» — " and all they among the nations who dwelt under his shade, were thrown into confusion."
Verse 18. " To whom art thou thus like" — " To whom art thou so exactly like" —
— " this is Pharaoh." Mutato nomine de te ta- bula narratur.
I ZEKIEL.
CHAP. XXXII.
Verse 2. — " and thou earnest forth with thy li- vers," &c. — " when thou thrustest thyself up in the rivers, then thou troublest the waters with thy feet, and makest foul their streams." — " when thou
thrustest thyself up." rum. The verb expresses the sudden force with which the monster thrust his head above the waters. See Parkhurst's Lexicon, and Bishop Newcombe's note.
Verse 3. — " and they shall bring thee up." The Vulgate and LXX give the verb in the first person singular. But perhaps no alteration is necessary. See the Syriac.
Verse 5. — cc and nil the vallies with thy height." VWl, — " projectu tuo, u e. projecto tuo cadavcre." — <c with thy outcast carcase." So R. Salamo, Cap- pellus, and Moerlius, quoted by Bishop Newcombe, who nevertheless retains the public translation.
Verse 6. For "P"IE TH*^ read, with Houbigant, !jnSK 1Q1D, with a comma between the two words* And I will soak the earth with thy blood, Thy gore shall be upon the mountains.
Verse 9. — " when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations j" rather, " when \ shall carry
206 EZEKIEL.
the ruins of thee among nations." V&W. Houbi- gant, upon the authority, as he persuades himself, of the LXX, would read "WOP. But the Greek word ulytfjoCkuGiav expresses the thing meant by the Hebrew TO#, though not under the same image. The He- brew word describes the Egyptians carried forcibly into captivity, or scattered by a voluntary flight into distant regions, after the conquest of their country, under the image of the disjointed fragments of a de- molished building. The English word ruins in the plural gives the very same idea.
Verse 14. " Then I will make their waters deep;" rather, " Then I will cause their waters to subside ;" i. e. the swoln troubled waters of the rivers shall re* sume their natural state, and run between their banks clear and smooth as oil. Compare the Vulgate and LXX ; and see the root PfV in Mr Parkhurst, and Mr Julius Bate.
Verse 16. — " lamentation." See Lowth, Praelect. xxiii. " This is the lamentation," i. e. this is the subject of the lamentation ; for there is nothing of lamentation in the strain.
Verses 18 — 21. The translation of the LXX sug- gests certain transpositions and other easy emenda- tions of these four verses, which greatly add to the
2
EZEKIEL. 207
perspicuity and heighten the elegance of the p
age,
MASORETIC TEXT.
otasn pen hv nm dik p is
omx p*u msm nniN lm-nm : *ni *nv n* nvnnn y-ix bx - Q^ip r»K nnawm mi hpjra *»n 19
nana nn ibs> mn >bbn -|ini 20
biN^y "]inn o^-naa %bK ib mr 21
AMENDED TEXT.
a^xn pan br nna cdtn p 18 awnx can a nwaai nnix mnm jrtlb *w nx n^nnn ^in bx nana amb ibs** ain »V>n -jins 19 : nanan bai nnix iau»a isdw iiv nnry nx 20 : 2in tobn a^irn biNu; Tin 73 ttwa* -pbx roto 2) |9'Via? nx maivn* on nara ^7373
18 Son of' man, wail over the multitude of Egypt,
For mighty nations have cast down her and her daughter Unto the nether parts of the earth, among them that go down to the pit.
20S EZEKIEL.
19 Amidst the slain by the sword they shall fall ; to the sword
she is destined. Drag her away and all her multitude.
20 With her helpers they shall go down ; they shall lie down Uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
21 And mighty ones from the midst of hell shall speak to thee ; Than whom art thou more lovely? Comedown; and lay
thee down with the uncircumcised.
Of the above emendations some are supported by the authority of MSS ; namely, DWK, nvinn, fiiTDfi.
Verse 22. For V>rrop WO^D, I would read, as in verse 24, ?im» nW3D.
There is Assyria and all her company, around her sepulchre.
Verse 23. For UnJ n#K, I would read WW "Wit; and for HWl, towards the end of the verse, with one MS, the LXX, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe,
Assyria has made her graves in the sides of the pit,
And her company is around her own grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who spread their terror over the land of the living. Verse 25. For WO'OD, read mMD, as above. — " with all her multitude around her grave." All that follows of this verse is a repetition, with some very immaterial variations, of the latter part of the preceding. The LXX omit the whole of this verse,
EZEKIEL. 209
except the two first words, which they join to the preceding verse.
Verse 26. nrrop rtCyOD, as before.
Verse 27. " And they shall not lie" — rather, " But they are not laid down" — The Scythian in- vaders of Asia, in the time of Cyaxares, who are the persons here meant, were not slain in battle, but their chiefs were massacred by Cyaxares and his nobles at a banquet. To this the prophet alludes. The omission of the negative ** • , proposed by Cap- pellus, and adopted by Houbigant and Bishop New- combe, is very injudicious.
— " that are fallen of the uncircumciscd.,, For pvrjpD, read, with the LXX, Houbigant, Dathius, and Bishop Newcombe, D <tyt* ; — " the apostates of old." See Gen. vi, 4.
— " : and they have laid" — read " , and have laid" — The subjects of this proposition are the mighty, the apostates of old time, who went down into hell with their accoutrements of war, not those of whom it is denied that they are laid down with these mighty ones. The pronoun ' which,' therefore rehearsing these mighty ones, the Apostates of old, is the nominative to the verb ■ have laid,' and the vol. in. o
210 EZEKIEL.
conjunction copulative renders the use of another pronoun unnecessary.
— <c but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror" — I know not what it is to lay a man's iniquities, upon the bones of his dead body rotting in the grave. I am inclined to think, with Houbigant, that the word DnUj? is a corruption of some word parallel to orvOTl in the preceding line. The true word may have been E3n\3,JD. — " and their shields are lying upon their skeletons, for they were the terror" — Houbigant would read cn^y, which he renders by ' their bows.' But I cannot find that either the Arabic *WJJ, or the Hebrew ^n, ever signifies ' a bow.'
— " the terror of the mighty in the land of the living." I am not quite satisfied about the construc- tion of this clause. To carry the sense which the translations put upon it, the verb substantive being understood, the pronoun rehearsing the persons in- tended, as the subject of that verb, I apprehend should be expressed. Thus, hpft Ovtdj rfotfl * CD^n pNS. But even with this emendation, how were the persons meant the terror of the O'H'CM ? They are described as themselves the OHW in the former part of the verse. I am much inclined to
EZFKTFJ,. 211
read D*1 fHO om^a mnn *; « For their might had been a terror in the land of the living." The Syriac translation is to the same effect, and gives some support to the conjecture.
Verse 31. For DHW, MS 1, with many others, has ontf ; but the received reading seems the best. DniK is the common object of the verbs rwv* and anj.
Them shall Pharaoh see,
And [he] shall aftbrd [them] comfort for all the multitude
slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his army, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Verse 32. wnn, MS 1, with many others, and the Masora, Vulgate, and Houbigant. TOM, some MSS, the Vulgate, LXX, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Bishop Newcombe.
CHAR XXXIII.
Verse 12. — "neither shall the righteous," &c. There cannot be a doubt that for p"TC\ the true reading must be p'Hxn npl*\ — " and as for the righteousness of the righteous, he shall not be able to live for it, in the day that he sinneth." Compare Houbigant.
Verse 19. For Vipltf, in the second place, read,
O 2
212 EZEKIEL.
with several MSS, Houbigant, and Bishop New- combe, rwpy.
; Verse 14. n*»Pi, MS 1, with many others, Houbi- gant, and Bishop Newcombe ; and so again in v. 16.
Verse 16. Wtfpn, several MSS, Masora, and Hou- bigant. But the true reading would be WVUW3.
Verse 18, For pro, read, with Houbigant, "D.
Verse 22. — " until he came" — rather, " against he came" —
Verse 25. — " Ye eat with the blood" " Con- trary to the law, Deut. xii, 16," says Bishop New- combe. But rather, " Ye eat over the blood," or (C hard by the blood," contrary to the law, Levit. xix, 26. The law of abstinence from blood in food, to which Deut. xii, 16, refers, is always delivered in these terms, iStfn *h erm ; or l^an «S ai bfa. Whereas the law, Levit. xix, 26, is in these terms, nnn ty V?5Kn K^ and is one of the laws against sorcery and necromancy. It forbids the practice of eating over or near the blood, of animals sacrificed in the celebration of magical rites, particularly the rites of evocation. This is clearly proved by Dr Spencer, De Leg. Hebr. lib. ii, c. 11. This text charges the Israelites with the breach of that prohi- bition, as appears both by the context^ and by the
EZEKIEL. flj
correspondence between the terms of the prophet's
accusation and the terms of that prohibitory law. It is strange that any one attending- to the terms of the accusation should not recollect the law, Levit. xix, 26, with Dr Spencer's incontrovertible exposition of it, or recollecting the law and the comment of its expounder, and attending to the other heads of the prophet's complaint against his countrymen, should imagine that this charge could refer to any thing but a violation of particular necromantic law.
Verse 26. " Ye stand upon your sword ;" u e. ye stand leaning upon your drawn swords. The posture of necromancers, waiting the event of their rite-, with their swords drawn to keep the infernal spectres at a distance.
A-vruo \yco %i$o$ oju kovaffupzvog rrotocc (juqoov 'H^v, ovd siaov vzxvwv a^zv^vaL x,oLortvcc Ai^aroc accov l[x,iv iroiv Tuozaiao nude Qui.
Ulysses in Necromania. HujzO. \ya (/jZv avivQiv s#' cciubUTi fyaaycthv i(r/jvv.
Ibid. ' A\l uLKO'/jxtco fiobgov, d'XHr/j d~ (potcyuvov o;y, AlfbUTog ()$ool TTico, zui rot vr^ionu zittw.
Teiresias ad Ulyssem, ibid See more to the same purpose in Dr Spencer.
SM EZEKIEL.
Verse 27. — * the wastes/' rather " the ruins ;" and so above in verse 24 : for the ruins of demolish- ed towns are meant.
Verse 31. — " for with their mouth they shew much love." The margin, " they make loves, or jests." But OOJJJ cannot signify either * loves * or 4 jests/ It may signify ' lovers' or ' admirers,' for the root ?4jl signifies in the Hebrew language * to be deeply in love f in the Arabic, ' to be struck with admiration.' — " although with their mouths they counterfeit lovers, or admirers," i. e. although in words they affect the extravagance of admiration " [of the prophet's discourses], their heart is going after their gain."
Verse 32. — " lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song" — a paronomasia on the word n^Ap, which in the former verse signifies lovers, in this place a musical instrument composed of a system of pipes. — " lo, thou art unto them as a song for the pipes."
CHAP. XXXIV.
Verse 2. — " against the shepherds." God's flock is the congregation of the faithful considered in its relation to God, and as separated from the wicked
EZEKIEL. 915
world. The shepherds of this flock therefore are not secular princes, but ecclesiastical rulers; the pro- phets and priests under the law, bishops and presby- ters under the gospel.
— " say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds" — The natural rendering of the He- brew words is this: — " say unto them, unto the prophets, thus saith the Lord Jehovah" — But for ESflfTw, Houbi^ant and Bishop Newcombe would read D^jnH, u O ye shepherds," upon the authority indeed of the Syriac, but without any necessity.
Verse 11. — " Behold, I, even I will" — rather, " Behold, here am I : I will" — The expression here, and again in verse 20, describes the intimate communion'between the holy church, and Christ its head, under the image of a personal presence of Je- hovah among his people, in the character and office of a shepherd of the flock.
Verse 12. DHnK? " Arabismus, pro DnN\" Hou- bigant.
Verse 13. — " from the people,'' rather "from the peoples." =PnK*om, or »»n*am, several MSS.
Verse 16. — " but I will destroy"— For 11)011, read, with the LXX, Vulgate, Arabic, Syriac, Hou- higant, Dathius, and Bishop Newcombe, TD0* |
n -
216 EZEKIEL,
— " and I will take good care of," or, " and I wiH needfully look to" — See Buxtorf's objections to this emendation answered in Houbigant's note upon the passage.
Verse 17. — " the rams and the he-goats." These represent the refractory ones of the flock, who elat- ed with an opinion of their own sufficiency, despise the authority of their ecclesiastical rulers and teachers; and both in opinion and modes of worship, iC go a- whoring after their own inventions," form separate congregations, and take upon themselves to be teach- ers of the word, and dispensers of the sacraments. Such irregularities prevailed in some degree undei* the law, as well as in later times.
Verse 18. — <c the deep waters," rather " waters from the shallows." See the root V^V in Mr Park- hurst, and Mr Julius Bate.
Verse 20. — " Behold, I, even I will" — rather as above, verse 1 1 j — " Behold, here am I : I will" —
Verse 23. — " one shepherd j" rather, " a single shepherd," in opposition both to many shepherds at one time, and a succession of shepherds in different times.
Verse 25. ED'Hjj'O, the Masora and Houbigant.
Verse 26. " And I will set them, and the places
EZEKIEL. 217
round about my hill a blessing." For WON, read, with Houbigant, Vintt -y " And I will lead them, and around my hill shall be blessing."
Verse 29. — " a plant of renown. " For D^, the copies of the LXX certainly gave tSrW ; — " a plant- ation of peace." Houbigant, Dathius, and Bishop Newcombe, follow this reading.
CHAP. XXXV.
Verse 3. — " most desolate ;" rather, " a desola- tion and an astonishment." Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 5. — " the time the time ;" rather, " the
critical season the critical season."
Verse 6. — " I will prepare thee unto blood \' ra- ther, " I have destined thee to blood." Houbigant. Or, " in blood will I deal with thee." Cappellus, and Bishop Newcombe.
— u sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee." The words, I think, might be- thus rendered : — " surely thou shalt loath blood, and still blood shall pursue thee."
Verse 7. — " most desolate." For tta&B\ read, with seven of Kennicott's MSS, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, uDtffil ; — " a desolation and an astonishment."
218 EZEKIEL.
Verse 9. — a shall not return ;" rather, " shall not be inhabited." LXX, Vulgate, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Houbigant, Dathius, and Bishop Newcombe. rt*H#t, MS 1, with 25 others. 4 others, frtf&ahna which is the best reading.
Verse 10. — " whereas the Lord was there." For n^Jl CD{#, Houbigant would read nftBtP ; — " for Je- hovah hath made it desolate." The conjecture is plausible.
Verse 11. For is»5 Ytqtyft I would read IWtPjP "P*0, which evidently was the reading of the LXX, Syriac, and Arabic. For T»n*Opt> rWpy, MS 1, with many others, gives inKJJl^D rWjJ. Observe that the order of construction is this,"in*WD CD rwy f«Wt.
Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah,
I in return will deal with thee according to thine anger and thy envy
With which thou dealest with them from motives of hatred,
And will be known unto them in that I judge thee.
Verse 12. — " and all Idumaea, even all of it;" rather, " and all Edom shall be consumed." Hou- bigant.
CHAP. XXXVI.
Verse 2. — " even the antient high places." The verb nron is singular. Therefore HIM, which is its
EZfcKIEL.
nominative, cannot be a plural, though taken for such by all the antient interpreters. But the singu- lar rncD is masculine, and the verb MTflfl is feminine. The one or the other must be corrupt. I would ei- ther for mcD, read TOD (the construct form of H^fl before C^TV), or, for tWt\ I would read W\ or perhaps HWj — m even the consecrated-place of antient time ;" or, M even the antient bilL" The sense is either way the same, for the antient hill is the mountain on which the Temple stood.
Verse 3. fljW |JJ\ five MSS, and two more ori- ginally. — " because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side;" literally, " because, even because you are made desolate, and swallowed up on every side." The verbs IWfff and *\XV are passive. Houbigant.
— ? the residue of the heathen;" i, e. those that remained in the neighbouring countries, after the desolation of the Babylonian conquest. Judira ii described as so totally depopulated as to be expos* d to the incursions of the neighbouring heathen na- tions, themselves reduced.
— * and ye are taken up in the lips of the talkc is
people." \tir>9 as a verb, sometimes .signifies to
accuse, or to slander. Hence, as a substantive, it
2
220 EZEKIEL.
may signify accusation, abuse, slander3 and the ob- ject, of abuse and slander, a person become a bye- word. For r©W therefore, I would read HDitf (the noun in the absolute instead of the construct state) *7 and I would render thus,
And ye are uppermost in every one's mouth, [literally, upon
the lip], A bye-word and reproach of the people ; [or rather, of the
peoples] .
The LXX, Syriac, and Arabic, seem to have found -&&$ in the plural.
Verse 5. l"^, MS 1, with 6 others, and two old editions, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe.
— " into their possession ;" rather, " to themselves for a possession."
— " to cast it out for a prey ;" rather, " inasmuch as it is a thing thrown away for a prey." HUHJD, " res projecta et derelicta."
Verse 11, W* ITO, seven MSS. — " and they shall be fruitful, and multiply."
Verse 14. ^Wn, 12 MSS (of which two are an- tient), and the Complutens, and older editions, with which the Masora also agrees.
Verse 15. — " the people." — " the peoples."
^, two MSS, two more in the margin, Maso-
ezekieL
ra, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombc ; — M neither shalt thou make thy nation childless."
Vefse 20. W2*\t some MSS, Houbigant, Datbius, and Bishop Newcombc.
Verse 23. QTWpS, MS 1, with 154 others, and the best editions.
Verse 33. — " I will also cause you to dwell in the cities j" rather, * I will also cause the cities to be inhabited.*
37 Thus saitli the Lord Jehovah, This yet [shall be],
I will be sought of the house of Israel to be their beoefao tor, &c.
— " to be their benefactor." t=>nS rrcj;^ < to do for them,' i. e. to exert my power on their behalf, to protect them, and provide for them.
CHAP. XXXVII.
Verse 1. — " and carried me out in the spirit ot the Lord." mm nro um(mfl mm is not the geni- tive after HYl, but the nominative of the masculine verb KW\ See the LXX, Syriac, and Bishop New- combe. — 4< and Jehovah brought me forth in the spirit."
Verse 16. VHDn in both places, many M^s
o22 EZEKIEL,
Verse 19. Orh»9 many MSS and editions. VHSh, many MSS. OWpjn, many MSS and editions.
* in mine hand." One antient MS gives "His •
another of inferior note, WO ; Vulgate, " in manu ejus \*9- rp (or b rr\) %-g/g/ 'lovda, LXX, Arabic.
Verse 23. — u out of all their dwelling places." Read, with the LXX, Houbigant, and Bishop New- €ombe, OWnSlttfD. See the varieties of the MSS, and compare Jer. ii, 19, and iii, 22. — " from all their backslidings."
Verse 26. — u and I will place them" — For D^nntt, read, with Houbigant, OWlttj — " and I will conduct them" —
CHAP. XXXVIII.
Verses 2, 4. — " the chief prince of Meshec and Tubal ;** rather, " the prince of Rhos, Meshech, and Tubal." Houbigant and Bishop Newcombe.
Verse 4. " And I will turn thee back ;" rather, " And I will mislead thee ;'" or more paraphrastical- ly, " I will infatuate thy counsels." God says he will mislead Gog, as he often by the measures of his providence misleads the wicked to their ruin. The expedition of Gog against the people of God, which terminated fatally to himself, is chiefly described in
EZEKIEL.
the following chapter, as one of those measures of providence by which wicked nations are made \\w instruments of vengeance on themselves.
— " hooks," rather <c curbs."
— " clothed with all sorts of armour ;" rather, " clad in complete armour." -u cataphractos," Hou- bigant.
Verse 5* — " and Libya with them." For ontf, I would read intf, " and Libya are with thee."
Verse 8. — " thou shalt be visited ;" or, M thou shalt be mustered."
— "into the land people;" literally, "into
the land of restorations from devastation, of gather- ings out of many peoples."
— " but it is brought forth out of the nation-." For IWn, MS ], with three others, has Wtt\$ distinct- ly rehearsing ^K1£^; " but he is brought forth out of the peoples." But this reading requires the masculine form of the verb, NSfifi, not WtitVl.
Verse 9. " Thou shalt ascend, &c. land."
And thou shalt come up like a storm, thou shalt come like a cloud ; To cover the land thou shalt be, Thou, &c.
Verse 11. — " safely, all of them dwelling ;" ra- ther, "securely: all of them are dwelling," &C
22* EZEKIEL.
Ve7xse 13. — "the young lions;" rather, "the villages." The LXX, Syriac, Houbigant, and Bi- shop Newcombe.
Verse 14. — " shalt thou not know it." For jni% the LXX unquestionably read ^JJH ; and this read- ing is in some degree confirmed by MS 112, which gives JHH. Houbigant, Dathius, and Bishop New- combe, judiciously adopt it. — " shalt thou not rise up."
Verse 16. — " as a cloud to cover the land, it shall be in the latter days y rather, "as a cloud; to cover the land thou shalt be in the latter days." See verse 9.
Verse 17. — " Art thou he j" rather, "Verily thou art he."
— " of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets." Not by name, but under the general description of the enemy, strangers, the violent, whose city should be destroyed. See Isaiah, chap, xxiv, and the sequel.
Verse 20. — " the steep places :" rather, " the terraces."
CHAP. XXXIX.
Verse 2. " And I will turn thee back ;M rather, f ■ And I will mislead thee,'1 as before, chap, xxxviii, 2.
EZEKIEL.
Gog was not to be turned back; his whole force
was to be cut to pieces upon the mountains ot Is- rael. See verse 4. Many of the best MSS give the verb exactly in the same form, as in the preceding chapter, verse 2, WttMPl
— " and leave but the sixth part of thee." T**W\ xcti xaOodrf/tffuaz. LXX. But the Vulgate, " et edu- cam te," as if he read here, as in chap, xxxviii, 2, TVUttVTl, " and I will bring thee forth."
Verse 4. PW 0*Dp. Twenty-five MSS, with the Syriac. — " the many peoples that are witli thee."
Verse 9. — " set on fire and burn the weapons,
both the shields and the bucklers and they shall
burn them with fire" — rather, " set tire to, and make a crackling blaze with the armour, with the shields and with the bucklers, with the bows and with the arrows, and with the handstaves and with the spears; and they shall burn them with lire seven years." Bishop Newcombe very justly obsen es, that *1JD, with 3 prefixed to the following noun, some- times renders * set fire to.' Sec Isaiah xliii, 2. For pel and iW\ we certainly should read |JM and WJD1 ; accordingly, one MS gives \XBD\ But as pfi is the first word, in an enumeration of the parti-
vol. in. p
226 EZEKIEL.
culars contained under the general word p#J, the prefixed 1 were better absent.
Verse 11. — " and it shall stop the noses of the passengers ;" rather, " and that valley shall stop the passengers." " Frsenum injiciet transeuntibus." See Cocceius and Parkhurst. Travellers, when they arrive at that valley, shall be stopped by the ob- struction of the carcases, and the intolerable stench.
Verse 13. — " and it shall be to them a renown, the day that I shall be glorified ;" rather, <c and the day in which I shall be glorified shall be memorable among them."
Verse 14. The passage seems to mention two sets of persons appointed for the business of removing the nuisance. The first called CHpJJ, who wTere to travel over the country to observe wThere the nui- sance prevailed, and superintend the interment. Another called CHSpE, who were to inter the bo- dies under the directions of the former set. The first might be called inspectors. This verse might be thus divided :
tzwin njw fftpo rr™1? p»n «os hy onnwnK
TTpm. « And they select men whose constant busi- ness it shall be, inspectors of the land $ inspectors with
EZEKIEL.
grave-diggers: The bodies that remain upon the surface of the land, in order to cleanse it; to tlu- end of seven months they shall explore. " The search for the dead was to be continued to the very end of seven months, that the land might be per- fectly purified.
Verse 15. — " the passengers the buriers."
11 the inspectors the grave-diggers." — " a man's
bone f rather, u a man's skeleton."
Verse 16. " And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah ;" rather, " And there also shall the city of Hamonah be" — i. e. according to the Chal- dee paraphrast, " Ibi quoque occisi projicientur ex- celsae civitatis cujus turma? multae sunt." Hamona, it should seem, is some city of the enemy sacked by the Israelites after the overthrow of Gog; but what city this may be I know not.
Verse 20. — " and chariots;" rather, u and their riders." Bishop Newcombe, with LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, Cappellus, Houbigant, and Dathius.
Verses 26, 27. " After that they have borne," &c. rather, M And they shall forget * their shame, and
* So Houbigant and Bishop Newcombe.
P 2
228 EZEKIEL.
all their trespasses, whereby they have trespassed against me, while they dwell in security in their own land, and none maketh them afraid :
27. " When I bring them back from the peoples. For I will gather them out of the enemies' lands, and I will be sanctified by means of them (or by their example, i. e. by the instance of my provi- dence exhibited in their various fortunes) in the sight of many nations/'
CHAP. XLIII.
Verse 3. — " even according to the vision that I saw, when I came" — MS 1, with three others, omits W*n nttfK mnWj, and for WM, two MS, with the Vulgate, give WM. Read, therefore, from the beginning of the verse, thus : "»t£W nm&5 ilinBPn WM W1H — " And the appearance was accord- ing to the appearance that I saw when he came" — See chap, viii, ix, and x. See also St Jerome on this passage.
CHAP. XLIV.
Verse 5. — " and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary;" ra- ther, " and take good notice at the entry of the
KZERIEL.
house of all that come forth from the sanctuary." See Houbigant.
Verse 7. — u and they have broken'1 — TW\ LXX, Arabic, Syriac, Vulgate, Houbigant, ami Bi« shop Newcombe. — Ct ami ve have l>r< )kL4n.**
Verse 8. — M but ye have set keepers of my cliarge in my sanctuary for yourselves. " The words in the original are very obscure. The sense they will best bear is this : — " but ye have appointed [persons] for attendants upon my rites in my sanctuary alter vour own pleasure." If this be the sense of the words the people are charged with appointing priests of the temple of their own choice, in prejudice of the privi- leges of Aaron's family ; and this seems very con- sistent with the seventh verse. But when did thi< abuse prevail ?
Houbigant would insert the word **HWl after f&0f\\ and place "HOU^ between VTpBD and txh; and his version is this: " et eos qui ministrant in Banc- tuario meo facitis ministros vestros." The Syriac version is to the same effect. In this sense of the passage (which Bishop Newcombe adopts), the ac- cusation seems to be, that the people employed the priests of the temple in the performance of their own idolatrous rhc<.
p 3
230 EZEKIEL.
Verses 10 — 16. The priesthood limited to the line of Zadok. The rest of Aaron's family degraded for apostacy.
Verse 23. QVTfl. MS 1, with many others.
Verses 27, 28. — " his sin-offering, saith the Lord God. And it shall be unto them for an inheritance their possession." Read,
nw wk oKJ—onmK—rr^nj onS iww xh t v\kdjx
— " his sin-offering. They shall have no inheri- tance their possession, saith the Lord Jehovah."
CHAP. XLV.
Verse 5. — " for themselves for a possession for twenty chambers." — " avroig rig Karacyjrnv irohug rou xaroiwv." LXX. I would read, D^ TWXh— nD^ orf? — « for a possession, for cities for them to dwell in."
Verses 7, 8. For Wf> fwh : iTO^p, "read l-TtWJ
7. " And for the prince on this side and on that of the sacred precincts and the territory of the city, in front of the sacred precincts and the territory of the city, on the western edge westward, and on the eastern edge eastward, and in length corresponding with each of the portions, from the western border
EZEKIEL. SSI
to the inland eastern border, 8. Shall be to him for a possession," &c.
The description of the prince's portion is very ob- scure, both here and in chap, xlviii. But it seems to me, that his territory was a narrow slip round all the four sides of the square area of 25,000 cubits. Whe- ther it made a part of that area, or was an addition to it, seems doubtful. But I incline to the latter o- pinion.
Verse 13. For onw», read, with LXX, Vulgate, and Bishop Newcombe, rPTO\
Verse 14. " Concerning," &c. This verse is very obscure. Houbigant's translation renders the He- brew words, as they now stand, very exactly. But then it implies that the cor contained ten homers, or between seven and eight hundred gallons. * Hoc autem de oleo erit statutum munus ; pro batho olei, decima pars bathi ; pro coro decern bathi, sive cho- mer; nam decern bathi sunt chomer." Houbigant. The Chaldee and the Syriac, make the proportion of the offering one part only in 100. I have sometimes suspected that the four words nDH nwyD |Wfl rOft, have crept into the text from marginal notes, and these being expunged, the rest of the verse might run thus: 151 TBp OVO VfWp Wl |Q p?Wl fTC
-ipjm nan n^t>p.
p 4
232 EZEKIEL.
" And the rule of the oil [is this] : Out of the cor, which is ten baths, a gomer ; for the gomer is the tenth part of the bath." See Exod. xvi, 36.
CHAP. XLVI.
Verse 6. — OWi. MS 1, with many others. A* gain, Oman. Many MSS.
Verse 9. At the end of the verse, $P\ many MSS, And in like manner at the end of verse 10.
Verse 17. For W3 tnSro, read with Houbigant and Archbishop Seeker, TOS rfrrtf. — « but the in- heritance of his sons shall be their own $" u e. it shall continue their own after the jubilee.
Verse 22. — " courts joined" — rather, <c smoky courts," unless the true reading be, as Houbigant conjectures, mJBp, — « small courts j" which I think very probable.
Ferse 23. — " row rows." ■ — " a story ■
stories."
CHAP. XLVIL
Verse 2. In this verse I would omit the third TV*.
Verse 4. — " and brought me through." Some MSS add Did, " through the waters."
Verse 10. For OWl, several MSS have HWl. For WD^ W, read, with Bishop Newcombe, T&v&A W.
EZEKIEL. 233
Verse 11. WMV3. MS 1, and many others. N1?, MS 1, and many others.
Verse 12. WTI, many MSS.
Verse 13. For PU, read with some MSS IT*.
Ferft? 1 7. — M and the north northward." — " and Ziphron northward." Bishop Newcombe.
Verses 17, 18, 19. For nxi, read with some MSS, Houbigant, and Bishop Newcombe, HUT,
CHAP. XLVIII.
Verse 1. — <c for these are his sides, east and west."
D^H D^Hp nKU lfa W>, I would read as in the fol- lowing verses, HDVWs ijn Wlp nNSB, " from the west side to the east side."
Verse 11. OVtrrpsn. LXX, Syriac, and Bishop Newcombe.
P^rse 16. The third itf£n omitted in MS 1, and many others.
Verse 19. VH3y\ MS 1, with many others.
Verse 22. For "MM "pnD, read with Houbigant and Bishop Newcombe, "1VD "in*.
234
HOSE A.
Hosea began to prophesy so early as in the days of the great-grandson of Jehu, Jeroboam, the second of that name king of Israel ; and he continued in the prophetic office in the successive reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Since he prophesied not before the days of Uzziah king of Judah, it must have been in the latter part of Jero- boam's reign, that the word of the Lord first came to him. For Jeroboam reigned in Israel 41 years in all ;t and the accession of Uzziah king of Judah was in the 27th year of Jeroboam4 We must look there-
* The following translation, with the critical and explanatory notes, was first published in 1801. t 2 Kings, xiv, 23. X 2 Kings, xv, 1.
HOSEA. 235
fore for the commencement of Hosea's ministry within the last fourteen years of Jeroboam; and it cannot reasonably be supposed to have been earlier than a year or two before that monarch's death. For the interval from Jeroboam's death to the commencement of the reign of Hezekiah in Ju- dah, upon the most probable supputation of the cor- responding reigns in the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, seems to have been no less than 68 years.* If we increase the interval by the last year only of Jeroboam's reign, and the first of Hezekiah's, (in the days of both which kings he prophesied), we shall make a space of no less than TO years for the whole duration of Hosea's ministry. And since he was of age to choose a wife for himselfi and to marry when he first entered upon it, he must have lived to ex- treme old age. He must have attained his 100th year at least, if he saw the accomplishment of the judgment he had been employed to denounce against the kingdom of Israel. But it is probable that he
* Archbishop Usher makes it no more than 57 or 58. But I am persuaded the death of* Jeroboam was seven years earlier, and the accession of Hezekiah three years later, than according to Archbishop Usher's dates.
236 HOSEA.
was removed before that event took place: for iri all his prophecies the kingdom of Samaria is men- tioned as sentenced indeed to excision, but as yet subsisting, at the time when they were delivered.
Inasmuch as he reckons the time of his ministry by the succession of the kings of Judah, the learned have been induced to believe that he himself be- longed to that kingdom. However that may be, for we have no direct information of history upon the subject, it appears, that whether from the mere im- pulse of the Divine Spirit, or from family connec- tions and attachments, he took a particular interest in the fortunes of the sister kingdom. For he de- scribes, with much more exactness than any other prophet, the distinct destinies of the two great branches of the chosen people, the different judg- ments impending on them, and the different manner of their final restoration ; and he is particularly pa- thetic in the exhortations he addresses to the ten tribes. It is a great mistake however, into which the most learned expositors have fallen, and it has been the occasion of much misinterpretation, to suppose that " his prophecies are almost wholly against the kingdom of Israel;" or that the captivity of the ten tribes is the immediate and principal subject, the
IIOSEA. J, 7
destiny of the two tribes being only occasionally in- troduced. Hosea's principal subject is that, which is the principal subject indeed of all the prophets, the guilt of the Jewish nation in general, their dis- obedient refractory spirit, the heavy judgments that awaited them, their final conversion to God, their re-establishment in the land of promise, and their restoration to God's favour, and to a condition of the greatest national prosperity, and of high pre- eminence among the nations of the earth, under the immediate protection of the Messiah, in the latter ages of the world. He confines himself more closely to this single subject than any other prophet. He seems indeed of all the prophets, if I may so express my conception of his peculiar character, to have been the most of a Jew. Comparatively, he seems to care but little about other people. He wanders not, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, into the col- lateral history of the surrounding heathen nations. He meddles not, like Daniel, with the revolutions of the great empires of the world. His own country seems to engross his whole attention ; her privileges, her crimes, her punishment, her pardon. He pre- dicts indeed, in the strongest and the clearest terms, the ingrafting of the Gentiles into the church of
238 HOSEA.
God. But he mentions it only generally ; he enters not, like Isaiah, into a minute detail of the progress of the business. Nor does he describe, in any detail, the previous contest with the apostate faction in the latter ages. He makes no explicit mention of the share which the converted Gentiles are to have in the re-establishment of the natural Israel in their antient seats ; subjects which make so striking a part of the prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, Zachariah, Haggai, and occasionally of the other prophets. He alludes to the calling of our Lord from Egypt ; to the resurrection on the third day ; he touches, but only in general terms, upon the final overthrow of the Antichristian army in Palestine, by the imme- diate interposition of Jehovah ; and he celebrates, in the loftiest strains of triumph and exultation, the Saviour's final victory over death and hell. But yet of all the prophets he certainly enters the least into the detail of the mysteries of redemption. We have nothing in him descriptive of the events of the in- terval between the two advents of our Lord ; no- thing diffuse and circumstantial upon the great and interesting mysteries of the incarnation and the atonement. His country and his kindred is the sub- ject next his heart : their crimes excite his indigna-
ROSEA. 239
tion ; their sufferings interest his pity ; their future exaltation is the object on which his imagination fixes with delight. It is a remarkable dispensation of Providence, that clear notices, though in general terms, of the universal redemption, should be found in a writer so strongly possessed with national par- tialities. This Judaism, if I may so call it, seems to mark the particular character of Hosea as a prophet. Not that the ten tribes are exclusively his subject : his country is indeed his particular and constant subject; but his country generally, in both its branches, not in either taken by itself.
That this is the true view of his prophecies, ap- pears from the extraordinary manner of the opening of his ministry. As an expositor of his prophecy, I might decline any discussion of the question about his marriage, whether it was a real transaction, or passed in vision only. I have indeed no doubt that it was a real occurrence in the prophet's life, and the beginning of his prophetical career. I have no doubt that he was really commanded to form tlio connection ; and that the commandment, in tho sense in which it was given, was really obeyed. But this is in truth a question of little importance to the interpretation of the prophecy, for the act was equal-
240 HOSEA.
ly emblematical, whether it was real or visionary only; and the signification of the emblem, whether the act were done in reality or in vision, will be the same. The act, if merely visionary, will admit the same variety of circumstances in vi- sion, as the real act would admit in reality. The same questions will arise, what those circumstances were. And the import of each circumstance at- tending the act will be the same, though not of the same public notoriety. The readiest and surest way therefore of interpreting the prophecy will be to consider the emblematical act as really perform- ed. The emblem was interpreted by the Holy Spi- rit, when he gave the command. The incontinent wife, by the declaration of the Spirit, and by the general analogy of the prophetic imagery, was an emblem of the Jewish nation, polluted with spiritual fornication, u e. with idolatry; but of the nation generally, in both its branches, for in both its branches it was equally polluted. If there was any difference between Judah and Ephraim, it was not in the de- gree of the pollution. For in different periods of her history Judah had defiled herself with idolatry, in a degree that Ephraim could not easily surpass. "But it was, indeed, an aggravation of Ephraim's
HOSEA.
guilt, that it was the very foundation of her polity. Her very existence, as a distinct kingdom, was founded on the idolatry of the calves, which was in- stituted by Jeroboam for preventing the return of the ten tribes to their allegiance to the house of David. These calves of Jeroboam's, by the way, seem to have been mutilated imitations of the che- rubic emblems. Thus they were very significant symbols of a religion founded on misbelief, and upon the self-conceit of natural reason, discarding revela- tion, and, by its own boasted powers, forming erro- neous notions of the Godhead *. This corrupt wor- ship, as an essential part of their civil constitution,
* The cherubim of the temple, and the calves of Dan and Bethel, were both hieroglyphical 6gures. The one, of God's in- stitution ; the other, of man's, in direct contravention of the se- cond commandment. The cherub was a compound figure ; the calf, single. Jeroboam therefore and his subjects were Unitarians. And when his descendants added to the idolatry of the calves, the worship of Baal, they became Materialists. For the most antient Pagan idolatry was neither more nor less, than an allegorised Ma- terialism. The deification of dead men was the corruption of later periods of idolatry, when idolaters had forgotten the meaning of their original symbols, and their original rites. It was not there fore without reason, that the antient fathers considered the nation of the ten tribes as a general type of heresy.
VOL. Ill, q
242 HOSE A.
the ten tribes superadded to the guilt of a total de- fection from their allegiance to the house of David : the type of the true David, from whom final apostacy will be everlasting destruction. The two tribes, on the contrary, remained loyally attached to David's family ; and the idolatry into which, from time to time, they fell, was rather the lapse of individuals, than the premeditated policy of the nation. Except in the reigns of one or two of their very worst kings, the public religion was the worship of the true God, according to the rites of his own appointment, by a priesthood of his own institution. And this was the reason that the kingdom of Judah, though severely punished, was however treated with longer forbear- ance \ and, when the dreadful judgment came, in some respects, with more lenity. But as to the de- gree of idolatry prevailing in either kingdom, esti- mated by the instances of it in the practice of indi- viduals, it was equally gross. Accordingly, spiritual fornication is perpetually laid to the charge of the whole people, without distinction, by the prophets 5 and in the nature of the thing, as well as by the de- claration of the Spirit, the prophet's incontinent wife is the general emblem of the whole Jewish na- tion. Whatever is said of this woman is to be ap- plied to the whole nation, unless the application be
HOSEA.
limited, by the express mention of a part by name. And, upon this principle, we shall find that the whole discourse is general, from the end of the first chap- ter to the 14th verse of the fourth inclusive. In the 15th verse of the fourth chapter, the two kingdoms are distinguished. Thenceforward they are some- times interchangeably, sometimes jointly, addressed: but the part which is common to both, with that which is peculiar to Judah, makes at least as large a portion of the whole remainder of the book, as what is peculiar to the kingdom of Israel.
The woman being the emblem of the whole Jewish race, the several descriptions, or parts of the nation, are represented by the children, which she bore in the prophet's house. But here two other questions arise, upon which expositors have been much divid- ed. 1*/, What is the character intended of the wo- man ? What are the fornications by which she is characterised ? Are they acts of incontinence in the literal sense of the word, or something figuratively so called ? And, 2dly, This guilt of literal or figu- rative incontinence, was it previous to the woman's marriage with the prophet, or contracted alter it ?
The Hebrew phrase, " a wife of fornications," taken literally, certainly describes a prostitute, and
244 HOSEA.
" children of fornications" are the offspring of a pro- miscuous commerce. Some, however, have thought that a wife of fornications may signify nothing worse " than a wife taken from among the Israelites, who were remarkable for spiritual fornication, or idola- try." And that " children of fornications" may signify children born of such a mother, in such a country, and likely to grow up in the habit of ido- latry themselves, by the force of ill example. God, contemplating with indignation the frequent disloy- alty of that chosen nation, to which he was as it were a husband, which owed him the fidelity of a wife, says to the prophet, " Go join thyself in mar- riage to one of those who have committed forni- cation against me, and raise up children who will themselves swerve to idolatry*." But the words thus interpreted contain a description only of public manners, without immediate application to the cha- racter of any individual, and the command to the prophet will be nothing more than to take a wife.
But the words may be more literally taken, and yet the impropriety, as it should seem, of a disho- nourable alliance formed by God's express com-
* See Archbishop Newcombe on Hosea, i, 2.
HOSE A. Ui
Biarid, as some have thought, avoided. Idolatry, by the principles on which it was founded, and by the licence and obscenity of its public rites, had a natural tendency to corrupt the morals of the sex ; and it appears, by the sacred history, that the pre- valence of it among the Israelites was actually fol- lowed with this dreadful effect. It may be sup- posed that, in the depraved state of public manners, the prophet was afraid to form the nuptial connec- tion, and purposed to devote himself to a single life : and that he is commanded by God to take his chance : upon this principle ; that no dishonour, that might be put upon him by a lascivious wife, was to be compared with the affront daily put upon God by the idolatries of the chosen people. u Go take thyself a wife among these wantons. Haply she may play thee false, and make thee father of a spurious brood. Am not I the husband of a wife of fornications ? My people daily go a whoring af- ter the idols of the heathen. Shall I, the God of Israel, bear this indignity, and shalt thou, a mortal man, proudly defy the calls of nature \ fearing the disgrace of thy family, and the contamination of its blood, by a woman's frailty ?" But this interpre- tation differs from the former, only in the species of
Q 3
216 HOSEA.
guilt imputed to the Israelites collectively \ and the command to the prophet is still nothing more than to venture upon a wife, ill-qualified as the women of his times in general were for the duties of the mar- ried state. And the injunction seems to be given for no other purpose, than to introduce a severe animadversion upon the Israelites, as infinitely more guilty with respect to God, than any adultress among women with respect to her husband.
But it is evident, that " a wife of fornications" describes the sort of woman, with whom the prophet is required to form the matrimonial connection. It expresses some quality in the woman, common per- haps to many women, but actually belonging to the prophet's wife in her individual character. And this quality was no other than gross incontinence in the literal meaning of the word : carnal, not spiritual fornication. The prophet's wife was, by the express declaration of the Spirit, to be the type or emblem of the Jewish nation, considered as the wife of God. The sin of the Jewish nation was idolatry, and the scriptural type of idolatry is carnal fornication ; the woman therefore to typify the nation, must be guilty of the typical crime ; and the only question that re- mains is, whether this stain upon her character was
HCXSEA.
previous to her connection with the prophet, or con- tracted afterwards ?
I should much iucline to the opinion of Diodati, that the expression, " a wife of whoredoms," may be understood of a woman that was innocent at the time of her marriage, and proved false to the nuptial vow afterwards, could I agree to what is alleged in favour of that interpretation, by Dr Wells and by Lowth the father, that it makes the parallel more exact between God and his backsliding people, the prophet and his lascivious wife, than the contrary supposition of the woman's previous impurity -7 espe- cially if, with Dr Wells, we make the further sup- position, that the prophet had previous warning of his wife's irregularities. " Forasmuch as in like manner," says Dr Wells, " God took Israel to be his peculiar people, though he also knew aforehand, that they would often prove false to him, and fall into spiritual whoredom or idolatry." It seems to me, on the contrary, that the prophet's marriage will be a more accurate type of the peculiar connec- tion, which God vouchsafed to form between him- self and the Israelites, upon the admission of the woman's previous incontinence. God's marriage with Israel was the institution of the Mosaic cove-
Q 4
MB HOSEA.
nant at the time of the Exodus * ; but it is most certain, that the Israelites were previously tainted, in a very great degree, with the idolatry of Egypt t ; and they are repeatedly taxed with this by the pro- phets, under the image of the incontinence of a young unmarried woman t. To make the parallel therefore exact in every circumstance between the prophet and his wife, God and Israel, the woman should have been addicted to pleasure before her marriage. The prophet, not ignorant of her numer- ous criminal intrigues, and of the general levity of her character, should nevertheless offer her marri- age, upon condition that she should renounce her follies, and attach herself with fidelity to him as her husband : she should accept the unexpected offer, and make the fairest promises §. The prophet should complete the marriage-contract ||, and take the re- formed harlot, with a numerous bastard offspring, to his own house. There she should bear children to the prophet (as the antient Jewish church, amidst all her corruptions, bore many true sons of God) ;
* Jer. ii, 2. f Levit. xvii, 7. xviii, 3. Josh, xxiv, 14.
% See Ezek. xxiii. § Exod. xix, 8. xxiv, 3 — 7. Josh, xxiv, 2\ , II Deut. vii, 6. xxvi, 17—19.
HOSEA.
but in a little she should relapse to her former courses, and incur her husband's displeasure ; who yet should neither put her to death, according to the rigour of the law, nor finally and totally divorce her. Accordingly I am persuaded the phrases DOW n^'N and E9UW *hS are to be taken literally, " a wife of prostitution," and " children of promiscuous com- merce :" so taken, and only so taken, they produce the admirable parallel we have described. The pro- phet is commanded to take home a harlot for his wife, and receive her bastard brood. After the mar- riage, she bears children in the prophet's house ; but she is not constant to his bed. She, who at first was a fornicatress, becomes an adultress (chap, iii.) y yet her husband is not permitted to discard her. He re- moves her for a time from his bed ; debars her of all her intercourse with her lovers, but plainly bids her not despair of being re admitted, after many days of mortification, upon her complete reformation, and the return of her affections to him, to the full rank and all the privileges of a prophet's lawful blameless wife. If any one imagines, that the marriage of a prophet with a harlot is something so contrary to moral purity, as in no ease whatever to be justified, let him recollect the case of Salmon the Just, as he
250 HOSEA.
is styled in the Targum upon Ruth, and Rahab the harlot. If that instanc e will not remove his scruples, he is at liberty to adopt the opinion, which I indeed reject, but many learned expositors have approved, that the whole was a transaction in vision only, or in trance. I reject it, conceiving that whatever was unfit to be really commanded, or really done, was not very fit to be presented, as commanded or as done, to the imagination of a prophet in his holy trance. Since this therefore was fit to be imagined, which is the least that can be granted, it was fit (in my judgment) under all the circumstances of the case, to be done. The greatness of the occasion, the importance of the end, as I conceive, justified the command in this extraordinary instance. The command, if it was given, surely sanctified the ac- tion : and, upon these grounds, till I can meet with some other exposition, which may render this typi- cal wedding equally significant of the thing to be typified by it in all its circumstances, I am content to take the fact plainly, as it is related, according to the natural import of the words of the narration ; especially as this way of taking it will lead to the true meaning of the emblematical act, even if it was commanded and done only in vision. In taking it
MOSEA.
as a reality, I have with me the authority, not cer- tainly of the majority, but of some of the most learn- ed and cautious expositors : which I mention, not so much to sustain the truth of the opinion, as to protect myself ', in the avowal of it, from injurious imputations. " Ha?c sententia," says the learned Mercer, " magis nobis placet, ut reveni uxorem scortum duxerit, et ex ea liberos dubios procrcaret. Nam quod objicitur, honestas esse oportere docto- rum nuptias, sane non poterant non honestae esse jubente Domino ; qui id ita volebat ad significandos Israelitarum mores. Denique aliorum interpreta- tiones tarn improbabiles videntur, ut earum nulla sit, cui majorem quam huic assensum praebere queam. Hebraei enim scholiasts haec omnia visione facta fuisse arbitrantur, cum nulla omnino visionis mentio fiat." To the same purpose Mr Lively : " Quod objicitur contra legem Divinam et bonos more9 hoc fieri, si doctor ecclesise meretricem ducat, turn ve- rum est, si libidine sua id fecerit injussu Dei ; quo- rum neutrum in Osea fuisse omnes intelligebant.', And the learned Grotius : u Maimonides ha2c vult contigisse lv ottccgioc tantum. Sed et sensus loci, et alia loca similia magis id credi exigunt, signo aliquo,
in hominum oculos occurrente, expressas eas res quau
5
252 HOSEA.
inter Deum et Hebraeum populum agebantur. Uxo- rem ducere, quae meretrix fuerit, non erat illicitum nisi sacerdotibus. Videri quidem id poterat sub- turpe, sed quicquid jubet Deus, idem jubendo ho- nestum facit." The learned Houbigant adopts the same opinion ; which, among the antients, was stre- nuously maintained by St Cyril of Alexandria, and by Theodoret, and entertained by St Basil. And with these celebrated and judicious expositors, I scruple not to declare, that I agree- Admitting, however, in my own private judgment, the reality of the action, I would not be understood to admit, I do most explicitly and positively deny, as absurd and impious, the extravagant conclusion, which some have drawn from the mention of " the children of promiscuous commerce," that the prophet was, ei- ther in vision or reality, commanded, or permitted, to cohabit wTith the woman, not as a wife in lawful wedlock, but as a harlot ; and himself to beget an illegitimate race. Such a conversation of the pro- phet with the harlot would have been no type of the spiritual marriage between God and the chosen people : it would have been highly sinful ; what no occasion, or pretended end, could justify ; what God therefore never could command j for, I admit the
HOSEA.
distinction of the learned Drusius, " Scortum aliquis ducere potest sine peccato ; scortari non item." The children of promiscuous commerce are the offspring of the woman in her dissolute life* previous to her connection with the prophet.
After the marriage, the prophet's wife bore three children. These children represent, as I have ob- served, certain distinct parts or descriptions of the Jewish nation, of the whole of which the mother was the emblem. Of these three children the eldest and the youngest were sons : the intermediate child was a daughter. The eldest, I think, was the pro- phet's son ; but the two last were both bastards. In this I have the concurrence of Dr Wells ; acutely remarking, " that whereas it is said, verse 3, that the prophet's wife ■ conceived and bare a son to him} it is said of the other two children only, ' that she conceived again and bare a daughter,' verse G ; and 1 she conceived and bare a son,' verse 8 ; implying that the children she then bare, not being born, like the first, to the prophet, were not begotten by him." These things being premised, the names imposed upon the children by God's direction sufficiently de- clare what particular parts of the Jewish nation were severally represented by them. The name of the
254 HOSEA.
eldest son was ™jnv> Jezrael, compounded of the nouns JHJ (seed) and ^ (God) ; the initial * being merely formative of the proper name, as in innumer- able instances. (3pP from ^y, Smp* from m& and Sk, !WY» from an and JT*i W$> from j?K and IT>, Sec.) The import therefore of the name is * seed of God ;' and the persons represented by the prophet's proper son, to whom the name is given, were all those true servants of God, scattered among all the twelve tribes of Israel, who, in the times of the na- tion's greatest depravity, worshipped the everlasting God, in the hope of the Redeemer to come. These were a holy seed ; the genuine sons of God ; begot- ten of him to a lively hope, and the early seed of that church, which shall at last embrace all the fami- lies of the earth. These are Jezrael, typified by the prophet's own son and rightful heir, as the children of God, and heirs of the promises.
This is St Jerome's interpretation of the word Jez- rael as a mystical proper name ; and, for the plain and obvious connection of the typical signification with the etymology and literal meaning, it is much to be preferred to another; which, however, has been received with approbation by many, I believe indeed by the majority, of later expositors. Con
nosh\
ceiving that the word JTW, as a verb, signifies * to scatter,' they render the word ' Jezrael' * the disper- sion,' or the c dispersed of God ;' and they expound it as predictive of the dispersion of the Jewish na- tion : and this interpretation has been in so much credit as to find its way into the marginal notes of the English Geneva Bible. And perhaps it is not altogether irreconcileable with etymology, for the word JH1 is indeed both a noun and a verb. The nouia is the root ; and as the noun signifies ' seed,' the verb signifies c to sow seed ;' and when applied to such seeds as are sown by scattering them, virtu- ally indeed signifies to scatter them. Thus it ac- quires the sense of scattering abroad, as seed is scat- tered, and figuratively may signify the dispersion. But in truth, this interpretation of the word, how- ever consistent it may be with etymological prin- ciples, is clearly set aside by the manifest application of it, in the 22d verse of the second chapter, in »St Jerome's sense of seed ; which in that passage is so evident, and indeed so necessary, that it is admitted there by the most learned of those who would im- pose the other sense upon it in the first chapter. They conceive the word susceptible of two contrary typical senses, corresponding respectively to the two
<256 HOSE A.
contrary senses which they ascribe to the root ; namely, that of sowing for a crop, and that of scat- tering for destruction.* The necessity of imposing contrary senses upon one and the same image, in a system of prophetic images, in different parts of the same prophecy, seems a sufficient confutation of the scheme of interpretation, which creates it. The sense which forces itself upon the understanding of the reader in one clear unequivocal passage, being equally apposite, though not of equal necessity, in every other passage where the type is mentioned, ought in all reason to be taken every where as the single signification of the type ; even in preference to any other, which may not be irreconcileable, and may even be applicable, in some texts where the type is introduced. And for this reason, a third in- terpretation of this mystical word, which is adopted
* Thus the learned Diodati, upon chap, ii, 22: — " ad Izreel," c. al mio popolo, il quale, Hos. i, 4-, ie era stato nominate Izreel in senso di minaccia e di maladittione : ma qui e cangiato in senso di gratia e di promessa : percioche Izreel puo anche significare, colui ch' Iddio semina, o seminera." And to the same effect Rivetus : — <e Mutatur hie significatio nominis ut pro dispersione a Deo fac- ta non amplius accipiatur, sed pro seminatione Dei, pro legitime semine."
HOSEA. 257
by two learned commentators of our own, Mr Lowth and Dr Wells, must be rejected. The noun JH* has indeed two senses. It signifies * an arm* as well as 1 seed.' Hence these expositors conceive, that Jez- rael may signify cither ' a seed of God' or ■ the arm of God ;' and they take it in the first sense in chap. ii, 22, and in the second in chap. i. But since the first is the only sense in which it can be taken con- sistently with the context in chap, ii, and is apt and applicable, wherever the word occurs, it is better to adhere to this one sense, than to introduce uncer- tainty and confusion, by multiplying the significa- tions of a single image without necessity. Not to mention that the godly are often described in scrip- ture under the image of God's children, whereas they are not ' his arm ' more than any other part of the creation ; being indeed the especial objects of his providence, but in common only with all his creatures, an instrument of his power. Rejecting therefore all other interpretations of this word, we may safely abide by St Jerome's, as plain and simple, agreeable to etymology, conformable to the usual imagery of holy writ, applicable in all the passages where this mystical name is used, and indisputably confirmed by the harmony and coherence of the
VOL. III. R
25b HOSEA.
prophetic text with itself. And according to this interpretation, the prophet's eldest son, under the name of Jezrael, typifies the true children of God among the natural Israel.
All of the Jewish people that were not Jezrael, those who were not Israel, though they were of Is- rael, are typified by the two bastard children. The first of these, the daughter, was called Lo-ruhamah. The sex of the child is the emblem of weakness.* Her name, Lo-ruhamah, is a compound of the nega- tive particle N*7, and Mem the participle Benoni feminine in Puhal of the verb DH1, which signifies either to be tenderly affected with love or pity, or to be the object of such tender affection, u e. either actively to love, or pity, or passively to be beloved, or to be pitied. The name Lo-ruhamah therefore is * unbeloved,' or ' unpitied,5 or, as it is paraphrased in the margin of our English Bible, in conformity with all the antient versions, ' not-having-obtained- mercy \' or as it is rendered by the LXX and St Peter, ovk tikefipsvq, (1 Pet. ii, 10); by St Paul, ovk
* " Nequaquam jam Jezrael, id est, c semen Dei,' nee mascu- lini sexus fiHus nascitur, sed filia ; id est foemina, fragilis sexus, et quae victorum pateat contumeliae." Hieron, ad locum.
1I0SEA.
jywnyMH*, (Rom. ix, 2.7). It is remarkable thai, of the two senses which the word Dm equally bears of pity or love, St Peter in this place should take tl one, St Paul the other ; but this, as Dr Pococke ob- serves, " makes no difference in the matter, inas- much as God's mercy and love go inseparably to- gether. " However, the sense of mercy or pity in his judgment seems more agreeable to what follows. In which however I differ from him, for the word in its primary meaning more specifically relates to the natural affection, the orogyr), of a parent for a child ; and when it signifies pity or mercy, it is such sort and degree of pity as arises from parental tender- ness : so that if a choice is to be made between the two renderings, I prefer St Paul's, ■ not beloved ;' which is the more to be attended to, because it seems to have been his own, as all the antient ver- sions give the other. And St Paul's rendering is in this instance to be preferred to St Peter's, because St Paul expressly cites; St Peter only alludes. Tln> daughter, Lo-ruhamah, typifies the people of the ten tribes in the enfeebled state of their declining mo- narchy, torn by intestine commotions and perpetual revolutions, harrassed by powerful invaders, impo- verished bv their tvrannical exactions, and con-
R 2
260 HOSEA.
demned by the just sentence of God to utter exci- sion as a distinct kingdom, without hope of restora- tion : for so the type is explained by the Holy Spirit himself.
The last child is a son, and the name given him is Lo-ammi. To determine what is represented by this child (since in the application of this type the sacred text is not so explicit as in the former), we must take into consideration the time of its birth. The daughter Lo-ruhamah was weaned before the woman conceived this son. " A child, when it is weaned," says St Jerome, " leaves the mother ; is not nourish- ed with the parent's milk; is sustained with extrane- ous aliments." This aptly represents the condition of the ten tribes expelled from their own country, dispersed in foreign lands, no longer nourished with the spiritual food of divine truth by the ministry of the prophets, and destitute of any better guide than natural reason and heathen philosophy. The deport- ation of the ten tribes, by which they were reduced to this miserable condition, and deprived of what remained to them, in their worst state of wilful cor- ruption, of the spiritual privileges of the chosen race, was, in St Jerome's notion of the prophecy, the weaning of Lo-ruhamah. The child conceived after
HOSEA.
Lo-ruhamah was thus weaned must typify the people of the kingdom of Judali in the subsequent periodi of their history ; or rather this child typifies the whole nation of the children of Israel, reduced, in its external form, by the captivity of the ten tribes, to that single kingdom. The sex represents a con- siderable degree of national strength and vigour re- maining in this branch of the Jewish people, very different from the exhausted state of the other king- dom previous to its fall. Nor have the two tribes ever suffered so total an excision. The ten were absolutely lost in the world soon after their captivity. They have been nowhere to be found for many ages, and know not where to find themselves ; though wc are assured they will be found again of God, in the day when he shall make up his jewels. But the people of Judah have never ceased totally to be. In captivity at Babylon they lived a separate race, re- spected by their conquerors. From that captivity they returned. They became an opulent and power- ful state, formidable at times to the rival powers of Syria and Egypt, and held in no small consideration by the Roman people, and the first emperors of Piome. And even in their present state of ruin and degradation, without territory, and without a polity
262 HOSEA.
of their own, such is the masculine strength of: suf- fering with which they are endued, they are still ex- tant in the world as a separate race, but not as God's people, otherwise than as they are reserved for signal mercy ; God grant it may be in no very distant pe- riod ! But at present they are Lo-ammi. K4? (not) W (my people). And so they have actually been more than seventeen centuries and a half; and to this condition they were condemned, when this pro- phecy was delivered.
That these are typified by the child Lo-ammi ap- pears from the application of that name, in the 10th verse, to the children of Israel generally ; whence it seems to follow that the degenerate people of Judah were implicated in the threatenings contained in the former part of the chapter. But in those threaten- ings they cannot be implicated, unless they are typi- fied in some one or more of the typical children. But they are not typified in Jezrael ; for the Jezrael is no object of wrath or threatening : not in Lo- ruhamah ; for Lo-ruhamah typifies the kingdom of the ten tribes exclusively : of necessity, therefore, in Lo-ammi.
The same conclusion may be drawn from the use of the second person plural in the explanation of the
HOSE A. 26*
name Lo-ainmi in the 9th verse. " Call his name Lo-ammi ; for ye are not my people" — It is evi- dent that the pronoun of the second person plural, ye, is compellative of the persons typified by the child to which the name is given. The command to name every one of the children is addressed to the prophet, by the verb imperative in the singular number. " Call his name Jezrael * " — " Call her name Lo-ruhamah t " — " Call his name Lo-am- mi t" — But in explaining the name Lo-ruhamah, the persons typified are mentioned in the third per- son, — " for I will no more have mercy upon" — not yon, but " the house of Israel. II M Whereas in explaining the name Lo-ammi, the persons typified are not mentioned in the third person, but addressed in the second, — " for ye are not my people." The reason of which I think must be this : since the prophet is the person, and the only person, to whom, as actually present, God speaks j the persons of whom this is declared, M ye are not my people," must be that branch of the Jewish nation to which the prophet himself belonged. Hence, if there be
* Verse 4. |
f Verse 6. |
\ Verse 9. |
|| Verse 6. |
R \ |
264 HOSEA.
any truth in the received opinion, that the prophet Hosea was of the kingdom of Judah, the men of that kingdom must be the persons typically repre- sented by Lo-ammi. " Call his name Lo-ammi ; for ye, O men of Judah, are not my people." This I consider as a strong corroboration, though by itself it would not amount to proof of what I conceive to be indisputably proved by the argument from the 10th verse, that the child Lo-ammi represents the Jewish nation existing in the single kingdom of Ju- dah after the captivity of the ten tribes. Or, to put the argument in a stronger shape, independent of any previous assumption about the prophet's country; since God, speaking to the prophet, speaks of the persons typified by Lo-ruhamah in the third person, and addresses those typified by Lo-ammi in the se- cond, the prophet did not belong to any branch of the nation collectively typified by Lo-ruhamah : Lo- ammi typified some branch of the nation to which he did belong. Lo-ruhamah typified the kingdom of Israel. To that kingdom therefore the prophet did not belong. He belonged therefore of necessity to the kingdom of Judah. Lo-ammi therefore typifies this kingdom.
The objection which has been brought against this
ROSEA.
interpretation of the woman's last child, from St Pe- ter's application of the latter part of the 10th verse to the converted Jews of the Asiatic dispersion, has little weight with me ; though it appears that it was deemed insurmountable by so great a man as Dr Po- cocke. The destruction of Jerusalem, and the dis- persion of the nation by the Romans, had not taken place, it is observed, when St Peter made the appli- cation of the terms of Lo-ammi, and Lo-ruhamah, Ammi and Ruhamah, to these converts ; the former in their state of unbelief, the latter in their convert- ed state. The Jews therefore of Judah and Benja- min had not yet lost the character of God's people ; yet the prophecy, in the apostle's judgment, was al- ready fulfilled, as appears by his citation of it, both in the comminatory and the promissory part. The Jews therefore of Judah and Benjamin, whom the threatened punishment had not yet overtaken, were not the Lo-ammi of the prophet ; but this child was only another type of the ten tribes in their outcast state. It would be difficult, I apprehend, to prove what this argument tacitly assumes ; that u the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, (ialatia, C'ap- padocia, and Bithynia," to whom St Peter writes, were descendants of the captivity of the ten tribes.
266 HOSEA.
rather than of those families of Judah and Benjamin, which never returned from the Babylonian captivity; which were very numerous. Besides, St Peter's ap- plication of the prophecy is no argument that he thought it any farther then fulfilled, than in the in- dividuals to whom he applies itj or otherwise in them, than in a spiritual sense. There have been in all times, in one part or another of the Jew- ish nation, those among them, who, in a spiritual sense, were Ammi and Ruhamah ; the same who have at different times composed the Jezrael, which at no time has totally failed. Such were the con- verts of the Jews in the Apostolic age. And of this class is every Jew, in every period of the world, when he is brought to look, with the eye of faith, upon him whom they pierced. The apostle's appli- cation of these terms to the converts of his own times, affords no argument that he thought the pro- phecy had already received its accomplishment, as it respects the national condition of the whole, or either branch of the natural Israel.
From this view of the wife of fornications and her three children, the general subject of the prophecy appears, by the manner of its opening, to be the fortunes of the whole Jewish nation in its two great
HOSEA.
branches ; not the particular concerns (and least oi all the particular temporal concerns) of either branch exclusively. And to this grand opening the whoh sequel of the prophecy corresponds. In setting forth the vices of the people, the picture is chiefly taken, as might naturally be expected, from the manners of the prophet's own times : in part of which the cor- ruption, in either kingdom, was at the greaU height: after the death of Jeroboam, in the king, dom of Israel ; in the reign of Ahaz, in the king- dom of Judah. And there is occasionally much al- lusion, sometimes predictive allusion, to the princi- pal events of the prophet's times. And mucli more to the events in the kingdom of Israel, than to those in Judah. Perhaps, because the danger being more immediately imminent in the former kingdom, the state of things in that was more alarming, and the occurrences, for that reason, more interesting. Still the history of his own times in detail, in either king- dom, is not the prophet's subject. It furnishes simi- lies and allusions, but it makes no considerable part, indeed it makes no part at all, of the action (if 1 may so call it) of the poem. The action lies in events beyond the prophet's times ; the commence- ment indeed within them j but the termination, in
268 HOSEA.
times yet future ; and, although we may hope the contrary, for aught we know with certainty, remote. The deposition of Jehu's family, by the murther of Zedekiah, the son and successor of Jeroboam, was the commencement ; the termination will be the restoration of the whole Jewish nation under one head, in the latter days, in the great day of Jezrael ; and the intermediate parts of the action are the judgments, which were to fall, and accordingly have fallen, upon the two distinct kingdoms of Israel and Judah, typified by Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi.
A prejudice, which for a long time possessed the minds of Christians, against the literal sense of the prophecies relating to the future exaltation of the Jewish nation, gave occasion to a false scheme of interpretation; which, assuming it as a principle, that prophecy, under the old dispensation, looked forward to nothing beyond the abrogation of the Mosaic ritual and the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans, either wrested every thing to the history antecedent to that epoch, and, generally, as near as possible to the prophet's times (as if it were not the gift and business of a prophet to see far before him), or, by figurative interpretations, for the most part forced and unnatural, applied, what could not be so
HOSE A. 269
wrested, to the christian church : and rarely to the christian church on earth, but to the condition of the glorified saints in heaven. This method of ex- position, while it prevailed generally, and it is not yet sufficiently exploded, wrapt the writings of all the prophets in tenfold obscurity, and those of Hosea more than the rest. Because, what with all the prophets was the principal, with him is the single subject. It might have been expected, that when once the principle was understood to be false, a bet- ter system of interpretation would have been imme- diately adopted. But this has only partially taken place. Expositions of many passages upon the er- roneous scheme had obtained a general currency in the world, and were supported by the authority of great names. Amongst ourselves, it has long been the persuasion of our best biblical scholars and ablest divines, that the restoration of the Jews is a prin- cipal article of the prophecy, being indeed a prin- cipal branch of the great scheme of general redemp- tion. Notwithstanding this, we have followed ex- positors, who had a contrary prejudice, with too much deference to their authority; and, discarding their principle, have, in too many instances, sitten down content with the interpretations they have
270 HOSEA.
given us. Dr Wells, himself an assertor of the li- teral sense of many texts relating to the final resto- ration of the Jewish nation, was nevertheless so wedded to the notion, that the particular accom- plishment of Hosea's prophecies was to be looked for in the minute detail of the history of the king- dom of Israel, in the prophet's own times, or the times next to them ; that he conceived it necessary to the interpretation of them, to ascertain to what particular reigns the particular parts belong ; rightly considering the entire book, as a collection of pro- phecies delivered at different periods of Hosea's long ministry. These periods he has endeavoured to distinguish, with much learning and critical abi- lity, though not perhaps with entire success. But when this is done, he is under the necessity of sup- plying circumstances in the history by mere conjec- ture, in order to make the event and the prediction correspond. That is, in truth, he is forced to in- vent history, before he can find the completion of the prophecy in the times in which he seeks it. As when to bend a particular text, in itself not difficult of exposition as a general moral image, to his parti- cular system, he is obliged to imagine, without a shadow of authority from sacred history, that the
l
HOSEA.
lather of Pekah, the last king of Israel but one, was by trade a baker !
He divides the whole book into five sections, each containing, as he supposes, the prophecies of a par- ticular period ; and all together giving the prophe- cies, in the order of time in which he conceives they were delivered. His first section comprehends the three first chapters of the book ; and contains the prophecies delivered in the reign of Jeroboam II. His second section ends with the third verse of chapter vi ; and contains the prophecies delivered in the interval between the death of Jeroboam and the death of Pekahiah. His third section ends with the tenth verse of chapter vii ; and contains the pro- phecies delivered during the reign of Pekah. His fourth section ends with the eighth verse of chap- ter xiii ; and contains the prophecies delivered dur- ing the reign of Hoshea. His fifth section compre- hends the remainder of the book ; " containing," according to the title which he gives it, u a pro- phecy of the restoration of Israel (together with those of Judah, under the common name of Jews), after the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity ; a* also, and chiefly, the restoration of all the said tribes, or Jews, into their own country, after theii
272 HOSEA.
captivity, and long dispersion by the Romans, viz. on the general conversion of all the Jews to Christi- anity, at the approach, or commencement, of the happy and triumphant state of the church, which shall yet be on earth." — Certainly this last section is composed of dreadful comminations and glorious promises wonderfully intermixed. But the promises have no clear reference to any restoration, previous to the final restoration of the whole race from their present dispersed state. In the preceding sections, the prophecies correspond so imperfectly with the times, to which they are severally referred, that the truth seems to be, as it is stated by Bishop Lowth, " modicum habemus volumen, vaticinationes Ho- seae, ut videtur praecipuas continens, easque omnes inter se sine ullis temporum notis, aut argumenti distinctione, connexas.,, — In so much, that it must be a vain attempt to distinguish, what the author has left without mark of distinction. I agree not, however, in the consequence drawn by that illus- trious critic, that the want of these distinctions is the cause of the obscurity we find in Hosea's writ- ings : — " ita minime mirum est, si Hoseam perle- gentes nonnunquam videamur in sparsa quaedam si- byllae folia incidere." The argument or subject is
2
HOSEA.
one from the beginning of the book to the end ; and obscurity cannot arise from the want of distinction in that respect, in which the thing is incapable of distinction : and the subject of these prophecies beins what it is, the chronology of the several dis- tinct effusions can be of no consequence to the inter- pretation. The obscurity therefore arises from sonic other causes.
It arises solely from the style ; tmd the obscurity of the style cannot be imputed to the great antiquity of the composition (in which I again reluctantly dis- agree with that learned writer, whose abilities I re- vere, and whose memory I cherish with affection and regard), nor to any thing peculiar to the lan- guage of the author's age. In the Hebrew language, as in the Greek, the earliest writers extant are be- yond comparison the most perspicuous ; Homer, Hesiod, and Herodotus, among the Greeks ; Moses and Samuel among the Hebrews. Nor in all the poetical parts of holy wrrit is there any thing to sur- pass in simplicity of language those noble monu- ments of the earliest inspired song, which are pre* served in the Pentateuch; the last words of Jacob, the song of Moses, his last words, the song of Mi* riam, and the effusions of Balaam. Whatever ob. vol. ur. a
27* HOSEA.
scurity we find in these most antient compositions, arises not from any archaisms of the style, or from any thing of studied and affected singularity in the texture of it, but from the subject matter, and from the profound mysticism which sometimes prevails in the prophetic imagery. If the book of Job be of an earlier age than any of these (except perhaps the last words of Jacob), still its obscurities are not from archaisms, but from dialectic idioms of the author's country. Then, for the age of Hosea, it was the age of Isaiah and Micah ; writers in a highly adorned but flowing easy style. Whatever obscurity there- fore we find in the writings of Hosea, must be con- fessed to be his own, not arising from any peculiar idioms of antiquity, or of his own age.
He delights in a style, which always becomes ob- scure, when the language of the writer ceases to be a living language. He is commatic, to use St Je- rome's word, more than any other of the prophets. He writes in short, detached, disjointed sentences ; not wrought up into periods, in which the connec- tion of one clause with another, and the dialectic relations, are made manifest to the reader by an arti- ficial collocation ; and by those connexive particles .which make one discourse of parts, which otherwise
HOSEA.
appear as a string of independent propositions, which it is left to the reader's discernment to unite. His transitions from reproof to persuasion, from threat- ening to promise, from terror to hope, and the con- trary, are rapid and unexpected. His similies are brief, accumulated, and often introduced without the particle of similitude. Yet these are not the vices, but the perfections of the holy prophet's st\ le : for to these circumstances it owes that eageniL— and fiery animation, which are the characteristic ex- cellence of his writings, and are so peculiarly suited to his subject.
Besides this general character of Hosea's style, I shall mention in this place two particulars, which are almost peculiar to this prophet -> Which I think can create little difficulty, when the reader is previ- ously apprized of them, and taught to refer them, wherever they occur, to the principle on which they really depend ; and yet, for want of being well con- sidered, they have much perplexed interpreters, and have been the occasion of much unwarrantable tam- pering with the text in the way of conjectural emend- ation.
The first is a certain inconstancy, if I may so call it, in the person of the pronoun, or of the verb ; |
c q
276 HOSEA.
frequent sudden change from the second person to the third, or the contrary, in speaking, when the people collectively are the principal object of speech. Unaccountable as this has seemed to many exposi- tors, it arises naturally, I apprehend, from the gene- ral plan of composition in these prophecies ; which are all conceived in the shape of a discourse, held in public between Jehovah and the prophet, upon the subject of the guilt, the punishment, and the final pardon of the people. Even in those prophecies, which open with a call upon the children of Israel, or upon the priests in particular and the house of the king, to give ear, still the prophet is the person with whom Jehovah principally talks. To him he sets forth the crimes of the people ; to him he de- nounces the impending judgments ; and to him he opens his merciful intention of restoring the convert- ed race of Israel to his favour in the latter days. But in these discourses Jehovah often turns, in the fire of indignation, from the prophet directly upon the people themselves ; addressing them in the se- cond person, of whom he had been speaking in the third, (as in chap, iv, 4, 5). Sometimes the same turn of the discourse is made, in the tenderness of love, or exuberance of pity, (chap, ii, 18, 19, &c,
HOSEA. 277
xi, 7, 8). Sometimes, on the contrary, Jehovah, speaking to the people, turns suddenly away from them, ill contempt as it were of their unworthiness, to his friend and confident, if we may so venture to speak, the prophet, (chap, viii, 5). The instances of these changes of the speech are innumerable ; and sometimes so sudden, that the same sentence, which begins in the third person, shall end in the second ; or, beginning in the second, it shall end in the third. But this is so far from an obscurity, when it is traced to its true principle, that, by removing it, the whole animation of the discourse would be extinguished. I have in most places retained this peculiarity in my translation, and, I flatter myself, without obscurity. In some few instances indeed, but in very few, I have been compelled, for the sake of perspicuity, to abandon it.
The second circumstance in Hosea's style, which has much embarrassed his interpreters, is his fre- quent use of the nominative absolute. By the nomi- native absolute I mean a noun substantive, a proper name or an appellative, in the nominative case, placed at the beginning of a sentence, without any grammatical connection with any other word ; and serving only to announce, by its name, the principal
s 3
278 HOSEA.
subject of the proposition, which is immediately to follow, and to awaken attention to it. See chap, ix, 8 and 11. The difficulty is considerably increas- ed, when the nominative is not expressly mentioned, in what immediately follows, as the subject of the discourse, though it is really what is uppermost in the speaker's mind. See chap, xiv, 8. This nomi- native absolute occurs in the Psalms, and in most of the prophets. It is a figure of vehement impassioned speech ; and it is frequent in Hosea, because his style, above all the other prophets, is vehement and impassioned. The noun so used is easily distinguish- ed, in our language, by a note of admiration placed after it. And it is the want of that mark that has made this figure a cause of obscurity in the original Hebrew text.
The obscurities* arising from what is called an anomaly either of the number, when a collective noun, singular in form and plural in sense ; or a noun, plural in form and singular in sense, is con- nected indifferently with singular or plural verbs, pronouns, and adjectives; or, an anomaly of the gender, when a noun, rendering what has naturally no sex, is connected almost indifferently with mas- culine and feminine, and with both in the same sen-
HOSEA.
tence; and that other anomaly of the gender, when one and the same word, taken as the name of a people, may he masculine, and as the name of the country which the people inhahit, feminine ; and that too in the same sentence : these are not pecu- liar to Hosea, and are too inconsiderable to deserve more, than the bare mention that they are frequent. An obscurity arising from an indistinctness in the reference of the pronoun of the third person, will appear to the English reader to prevail remark- ably in Hosea. But this is not to be imputed to the prophet, nor indeed to any of the sacred writ- ers ; in all of whom it is found in the English Bible, but is introduced, often indeed unavoid- ably, by translation ; and it arises from a circum- stance, in which the idiom of our language dif- fers from the Hebrew, and from all the antient Ian- guages. The English language admits, in some par- ticular cases only, a subintellection of the pronoun as the nominative case to the verb j which, in the antient languages, is oftener understood than ex- pressed. And this often lays the English translator under an inevitable necessity of introducing the pro- noun of the third person as the nominative case, when it is also the accusative after the verb > and,
s 4
2S0 HOSEA.
before and after the verb, necessarily rehearses dif- ferent persons.
— " and they bare children to them." Gen. vi, 4* " They," the daughters of men, bear " to them ;" — to them, the sons of God. Here, indeed, the am- biguity is introduced in the English by a mis-tran- slation. The verb n7\ signifies either " to bear" or " to beget." And the nominative case of the masculine verb *n^, in the original, is " the sons of God." And the proper rendering would be thus : — "the sons of God came in unto the daugh- ters of men, and begat to themselves children." And this is the rendering of the Alexandrine LXX, and the old version of Tyndal, and of the Bishop's Bible : —si<rt7roozvovro ol viol rov §bov vrgog rcig Swyaregaz tcuv olv^oj'Troov zal lyivvwauv kavroig. LXX, — " the chyldreu of God had lyen with the daughters of men, and had begotten them chyldren." Tyndal. Again, — -" in the likeness of God made he him." Gen. v, 1. He, God, made him man. Here again the translation has introduced the ambiguity ; which is not in the original, and was avoided in the old translation of Tyndal, by a better arrangement of the words, — " when God created man, and made hym after the similitude of God." The ambiguity,
HOSEA. 281
however, in the English language, is often unavoid- able ; as in Hosea, chap, xii, 4, 5 : — " He had wept, and made supplication unto him. At Bethel he found him, and there he spake with us \" i.e. He [Jacob] had wept, and made supplication unto him [the Angel]. At Bethel he [Jacob] found him [the Angel], and there he [the Angel] spake with us. The insertion of the nominative He, in the English translation, is unavoidable ; and produces the ambiguity, which is not in the original.
The causes of Hosea* s obscurity, or reputed ob- scurity, to speak with more justice of his writings, I take to be those, which I have enumerated. The general commatism of his style ; his frequent and sudden transitions ; the brevity and accumulation of his similes, and those two remarkable circumstances, his inconstancy in the person of the verb, and the use of the nominative absolute.
But Archbishop Newcombe maintains, that the t; greatest difficulties arise from the corrupt read- ings, which deform the printed text." Much as I have been indebted, in the prosecution of this work, to the previous labours of that learned prelate, a- gainst this opinion I must openly and earnestly pro- test. It is an erroneous opinion, pregnant with the
2
282 HOSEA.
most mischievous consequences ; and the more dan- gerous, as having received the sanction of his great authority. That the sacred text has undergone cor- ruptions, is indisputable. The thing is evident from the varieties of the MSS, the antient versions, and the oldest printed editions : for, among different readings, one only can be right ; and it is probable, I go farther, I say that it is almost certain, that the worse reading has sometimes found its way into the printed text. That the corruptions are greater in Hosea, than in other parts of the Old Testament, I see no reason to suppose. That the corruptions in any part are so numerous, or in such degree, as to be a principal cause of obscurity, or, indeed, to be a cause of obscurity at all, with the utmost confi- dence, I deny. And, be the corruptions what they may, I must protest against the ill-advised measure, as to me it seems, however countenanced by great examples, of attempting to remove any obscurity supposed to arise from them, by what is called con- jectural emendation. Considering the matter only as a problem in the doctrine of chances, the odds are always infinitely against conjecture. For one instance in which conjecture may restore the origi- nal reading, in one thousand, or more, it will only
HOSEA. 283
leave corruption worse corrupted. It is the infirmi- ty of the human mind, to revolt from one extreme of folly to the contrary. It is therefore little to be wondered, that, when the learned first emancipated their minds from an implicit belief, which had so long obtained, in the immaculate integrity of the printed text, an unwarrantable license of conjectu- ral alteration should succeed to that despicable su- perstition. Upon this principle, great allowance is to be made, first for Cappellus, after him for Hare and Houbigant, and for others since, men of learn- ing and piety, by whose labours the church of God has been greatly edified ; if, in clearing away diffi- culties by altering the reading, they have sometimes proceeded with less scruple in the business, than the very serious nature of it should have raised in their minds. But their example is to be followed with the greatest fear and caution. I must observe, how- ever, that, under the name of conjecture, I con- demn not altogether alterations, which, without the authority of a single MS, are suggested by the an- tient versions, especially by the Vulgate, Syriac, or Septuagint. The consent indeed of those versions, in one reading, wherever it is found, I esteem a con-
284 HOSEA.
siderable, though not always an indisputable autho- rity for an emendation.
What authority may, consistently with the rules of sober criticism, be allowed to the antient versions in general, or to any one of them in particular, for the establishment of various readings ; are questions of great moment, which well deserve a deep consi- deration. Perhaps the error of late years has been to set this sort of authority much too high. " Lee- tiones versionum, quae superstitum codicum habent praesidium (says De Rossi with great judgment) multi faciendae sunt, censendseque generatim ex ex- emplari depromptse, quod interpres habebat ob ocu- los. Contra, quae MSS fide destituuntur, dubiae sunt, infirmaeque per se auctoritatis ; quum dubii simus, num. ex archetypo codice eas hauserit inter- pres, an vero arbitrio indulserit ; ipsumque codi- cum silentium posterius videtur arguere, nisi gravis conjectura critica aliter suadeat, historiaeque analo- gia ac Veritas. Caute itaque colligendae veterum interpretum lectiones — cautius vero praeferendae." With respect to the Greek version of the LXX in particular, it may reasonably be made a doubt, whe- ther the MSS, from which it was made, were they now extant, would be entitled to the same degree of
ROSEA. 8*5
credit as our modern Hebrew text, notwithstanding their comparatively high antiquity* There is cer* tainly much reason to believe, that, alter the de- struction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, per- haps from a somewhat earlier period, the Hebrew text was in a much worse state of corruption, in the copies which were in private hands, than it has ever been since the revision of the sacred books by Ezra. These inaccurate copies would be multiplied during the whole period of the captivity, and widely scat- tered in Assyria, Persia, and Egypt ; in short, through all the regions of the dispersion. The text, as re- vised by Ezra, was certainly of much higher credit, than any of these copies, notwithstanding their greater antiquity. His edition succeeded, as it were, to the prerogatives of an autograph (the autographs of the inspired writers themselves being totally lost), and was henceforward to be considered as the only source of authentic texts : insomuch, that the com- parative merit of any text now extant will depend upon the probable degree of its approximation to, or distance from, the Esdrine edition. Now, if the translation of the LXX was made from some of those old MSS, which the dispersed Jews had carried into Egypt, or from any other of those unauthenticated
286 HOSEA.
copies ; which is the prevailing tradition among the Jews, and is veiy probable ; at least it cannot be confuted : it will be likely, that the faultiest MS, now extant, differs less from the genuine Esdrine text, than those more antient, which the version of the LXX represents. But much as this considera- tion lowers the credit of the LXX, separately, for any various reading, it adds great weight to the con- sent of the LXX with later versions, and greater still to the consent of the old versions with MSS of the Hebrew, which still survive. And as it is cer- tainly possible, that a true reading may have been preserved in one solitary MS ; it will follow, that a true reading may be preserved in one version : for the MS, which contained the true reading at the time when the version was made, may have perished since ; so that no evidence of the reading shall now remain, but the version. I admit, therefore, that, in some cases, which, however, will be very rare, the authority of any antient version (but more especially that of the Syriac) may confirm a various reading, supported by other circumstances, even without the consent of any one Hebrew MS now extant. Pro- vided only, that the emendation be not made with- out a reasonable certainty, after due consideration,
IIOSEA. <2S7
that tlic sense of the version, which suggests the al- teration of the reading, is not to be derived from the text as it stands : the reverse of which I take to be the case in many instances of various readings, which have been proposed upon the imagined au- thority of some one or more of the antient versions. But a difference between any of the antient and oui modern version, is no indication of different read- ings in the MSS used by the different translators ; unless the text, as it now stands, be clearly inca- pable of the sense given in the antient version : in which case the conclusion of a variety in the read- ing of the original, or of a corruption in the version, is inevitable. It must be observed, however, that this authority of the antient versions is to be consi- dered both ways. The agreement of any of them, in the sense of any passage, with the modern, being a more certain evidence of the agreement of the MSS, from which that antient translation was made, with the text as it now stands ; than the disagree- ment in sense, when it is not to be reconciled with the present text, is an evidence of a various reading of the text in the older MSS. I say, a more certain evidence; because, from the disagreement of am antient version with the present text, the utmost.
28S H0SEA.
we can conclude, is the alternative. Either the au« thor of that antient version had a different reading of the Hebrew, or the text of the version itself is corrupted \ or, perhaps, the antient interpreter has mistaken the sense of the original. But the con* jectural emendation, which I chiefly dread and re- probate, is that which rests solely, on what the cri- tics call the * exigence of the place.' For a sup- posed exigence of the place, in the text of an in- spired writer, when it consists merely in the diffi- culty of the passage as we read it, may be nothing more, than the imperfect apprehension of the unin- spired critic. With respect to the division indeed of sentences and words, an entire freedom of con- jecture may be allowed ; in taking words, or letters, which, as the text is printed, terminate one sen- tence, or one word, as the beginning of the next : or the contrary* Because these divisions, in the antient languages, are not from the author, but have been supplied by scribes and editors of a late age : and his critical judgment must be weak indeed, who, in such matters, is not qualified to revise and reverse the decisions of the wise men of Tiberias. Numerals may sometimes be corrected by conjee* lure 5 to make dates agree one with another, or a
HOSEA.
>um total agree with the articles of which it is com- posed. But this is not to be clone without the greatest circumspection, ami upon the evidence of calculations formed upon historical data, of which we are certain. A transposition of words may some- times be allowed ; and all liberties may be taken with the points. Beyond this conjecture is not to be trusted, lest it make only a farther corruption of what it pretends to correct. At the utmost, a con- jectural reading should be offered only in a note (and that but rarely), and the textual translation should never be made to conform to it. It is much safer to say, " This passage it is beyond my ability to explain ;" than to say, " The holy prophet never wrote what I cannot understand ; I understand not the words, as they are read — I understand the words thus altered ; therefore, the words thus altered are what the holy prophet wrote."
I must observe, that the great similarity between some of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, in par- ticular between 3 and 2 ; 1 and t ; fi and n j J and J ; 1 and *; % J, and J; which is often alleged in defence of conjectural emendation; though it might be an argument of some weight, in justification of the ex^ ercise of that sort of criticism, in the time of Capel-
VOL. III. T
290 HOSEA.
his, Hare, or even Houbigant, who all lived before any great number of Hebrew MSS had been col- lated ; is now, by the immortal labours of Kennicott and De Rossi, completely turned the other wTay. For, if the text has been corrupted, by the error of a scribe confounding similar letters ; it might be ex- pected, that, in some of the multitude of copies from the MS in which the error was first committed, the true reading would regain its place, by the same contingency of error, by which it lost it. If a tran- scriber in the tenth century writes a *i for a 1, and his MS is copied by various transcribers in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries ; sure the odds are great, that some of these blunder back a- gain, and restore the \ And if a conjecturer of the present day, proposing to change a *1 into a % cannot find a 1, in the place of the "l, in any one of the numerous MSS that have been collated ; he ought to give up his conjecture, whatever difficulty he may find in the text as it stands : for the unifor- mity of the MSS, where the chance of error is equal either way, is hard to be otherwise accounted for, than by the truth of the reading. I have already admitted, that in some cases, though but rarely, the antient versions may establish a reading without a
HOSEA.
single MS. But a reading that has no support ther from version or MSS, now that MSS hav€ been diligently collated, ought to be rejected as indubi- tably false : unless the case falls within the limits of allowable conjecture, specified above. The work of Dr Kennicott is certainly one of the greatest, and most important, that have been undertaken, and ac- complished, since the revival of letters. But its principal use and importance is this -7 that it shuts the door for ever against conjecture, except under the restrictions which have been mentioned.
I annex a list of passages in which, in my trans- lation, I follow the printed Hebrew text in prefer- ence to Archbishop Newcombe's emendations ; whe- ther his own, or those of others which he lias a- dopted.
T 2
292
HOSEA.
READING OF |
REJECTED |
||
PRINTED TEXT. |
EMENDATION. |
AUTHOR. |
|
CHAP. I. |
|||
9. |
tD^b mx |
&3>nbK |
Houbigant, upon mere con- jecture. |
CHAP. II. |
|||
9. |
niD5b |
mM» |
Houbigant, from LXX. |
CHAP. IV. |
|||
4. |
1»3M |
w> |
Archbishop Newcombe, from |
LXX. |
|||
^^na |
na^»5 |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of a single |
|
MS. The Syriac, accord- ing to the Latin interpret- ation of it in the Polyglott, may seem to favour this reading. But the Latin is wrong. The true rendering of the Syriac is this : " Et populus tuus tanquam cum sacerdote rixans." The La- tin preposition cum is virtu- ally included in the Hith- pael form of the participle j^Alc. See chap, iv, note (c). |
|||
18. |
Sm |
omitted |
Houbigant, with consent of Seeker, Syriac, LXX, and three MSS. See chap, iv, note (p). |
CHAP. V. |
|||
3. |
n^rn |
nam |
Houbigant, upon the authority of all the antient versions. |
7. |
tnri |
hvnn |
Houbigant, upon the supposed authority of the LXX. See chap, v, note (d). |
CHAP. VI. |
|||
3. |
rm* |
niv |
Archbishop Seeker, upon the authority of the Syriac and |
Chaldee. |
HOSEA.
CHAP. VI
s
CHAP. VII
1
READING OF PRINTED TEXT.
REJECTED EMENDATION.
TIN "pttSTD
6.
H.
*NS*l3
ouibb
crux
i-niaiv
AUTHOR.
-nND ^usw)3 Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of the Syriac and Chaklee. See chap, vi, note (f).
16
Vtf Hh
CH. VIII.
5, 6.b*nu^D O :^p3
6.
Kim
^N*m
canibi
DnSK
^mam
b>yv N^
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the single authority of the printed Bible of Brescia 14-91.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of the Com plutensian Bible and some MSS. See ch. vii, note (d).
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of one MS, and the version of the LXX.
Michaelis. The authority of one MS, and one edition only is alleged, and the ver- sion of the LXX. Another edition, and six or seven other MSS, might have been produced from De Rossi But there is no sufficient reason to disturb the print ed text.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon mere conjecture.
win
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of the LXX.
Houbigant, alleging the Syriac. But if an alteration were to be made upon the authority of the Syriac, it would be to omit the whole word Nim One MS only of Kennicott's omits the i, and originally one other of De Rossi's.
29*
HOSEA.
CHAP. IX.
13.
CHAP. X.
5.
10.
11.
12.
READING OF PRINTED TEXT.
14.
rnaa
ihw
*niNa
tai'Dta
*rmy
nan]
REJECTED EMENDATION.
niNaa
tbw
^DNi
taiDina or
*rm#rr
13173
nm
AUTHOR.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of the Vulgate and the supposed authority of the Chaldee.
Calmet,upon mere conjecture, without any authority, and without any exigentia loci.
Houbigant, upon mere con- jecture, without authority, and without necessity.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the supposed authority of LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon mere conjecture, without any authority, and much for the worse.
Houbigant, upon mere con- jecture.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon mere conjecture.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the supposed authority of LXX.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of LXX.
Grotius. See ch. x, note (s).
Grotius, with some counte- nance perhaps from Vulg and the Alex. LXX. See ch. x, note (s).
HOSEA.
READING OF TRINTED TEXT.
CH. X.
15.
osni'i nyi ^sn.tD^nn *as»
CH. xi.
2.
3.
bNrvi
REJECTED EMENDATION.
bmw* no
Wlp
vnynt
I
*»n»3
»mp3
^nmta or
D'inD
VSIN
AUTHOR.
ib bmx or
Houbigant, upon the authority of LXX. See ch. x, note (s).
Arclibisliop Ncwcombe ; thus expunging from the text a frequent and most empha tic Hebraism, confirmed by Vulg. Syr. and LXX, ex- cept indeed the reading of the Aldine MS and text be admitted.
Houbigant, upon the supposed authority of LXX and Syr.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the alleged authority of the versions, the latter prophets of Soncinum, and one MS of Kennicott's originally \ Abn Walid and R. Tan chum ; to which may be added, for the omission of the suffix i, three MSS of De Rossi's originally. But the introduction of the pre fix l is entirely his own, without any authority at all. I should think by mis; take ; the learned Primate having overlooked the pre- position by.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority oft he versions, and one MS of Kennicott'> originally.
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the supposed authority ol the LXX.
296
HOSEA.
READING OF PRINTED TEXT. |
REJECTED EMENDATION. |
AUTHOR. |
|
CHAP. XI. 5. |
*6 |
omitted |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of LXX. |
12. |
•n |
nv |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of Vulg. and perhaps Syr. |
• • • |
IBM) |
]»K« |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of Vulg. |
CHAP. XII. 4% |
roa |
n^i |
Houbigant, upon mere con- jecture. |
••• |
W»3> |
1»# |
Houbigant, upon the supposed authority of Syr. |
8. |
•>y^> |
vjw or irs5> |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of LXX. |
... |
•Y |
•jb |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of LXX. |
9. |
inserted |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the supposed authority of LXX and Syr. |
|
CH. XIII. |
inserted |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of two MSS, with the supposed authori- ty of the versions. |
|
6. |
on^iw |
on^im |
Houbigant, upon mere conjec- ture, and to the great detri- ment of the meaning. |
: a |
•jnnu; |
*pnn;y |
Houbigant, upon the supposed authority of the Syr. |
« • • |
*a |
*» |
Houbigant, upon the supposed authority of Syr. and LXX. |
HOSEA.
READING OF PRINTED TEXT. |
REJECTED EMENDATION. |
AUTHOR. |
|
< II. XIII. 13. |
njr |
nnr |
Houbigant. Archbishop New- combe cites the Syr. and Aid. LXX. |
11, |
sns |
n^x "J |
Houbigant, upon the supposed authority of the versions, and the supposed authority of St Paul. See ch. xiii, |
• t • |
TTK |
m« J |
note (o). |
CH. XIV. |
|||
2. |
wnsv ons |
wnsw» ns |
Le Clerc, upon mere conjec- |
or |
ture. |
||
wnsiv ns |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of LXX and Syr. See ch. xiv, note (c). |
||
6. |
pjaba |
rmbs |
Archbishop Newcombe, upon the authority of Chald. |
8. |
»b |
ib |
Archbishop Seeker, upon the authority of LXX. |
In addition to these fifty-one instances *, in which I reject the proposed alteration of particular pas-
* It may strike the learned reader, if he takes the trouble to compare the foregoing table, with another which he will find at the end of this book, that in two, but in two only, of the fifty- one passages in which I reject Archbishop Newcombe's emenda- tions, namely, in chap, vi, 3. and viii, 5. I have ventured to make emendations of my own. But these emendations of mine he will- find to be confirmed by a great consent of the oldest printed edi- tions and best MSS.
<298 HOSEA.
sages, as unnecessary in every one, and, in many, much for the worse ; the metrical arrangement, at- tempted by the learned Primate, may be considered as one vast conjectural emendation, affecting the whole text of the prophet, in the form, though not in the substance, which I have not ventured to adopt. The style of Hosea is indeed poetical in the very highest degree. In maxim solemn, sententi- ous, brief: in persuasion, pathetic; in reproof, se- vere ; in its allusions, always beautiful and striking, often sublime: rich in its images; bold in hyper- bole ; artificial, though perspicuous, in its allegory : possessing, in short, according to the variety of the matter, all the characters by which poetry, in any language, is distinguished from prose. And there cannot be a doubt, that the composition was origi- nally in the metrical form. But as the division of the hemistichs is not preserved in the MSS, nor in any of the versions ; I consider the metrical form as lost. And as the greatest adepts, in the mysteries of the Masoretic punctuation, have never discover- ed in this book (or, as far as I know, in any of the prophets) those peculiarities of accentuation, which are remarkable in the books confessedly retaining the metrical form ; I suspect that it was lost early,
1
HOSEA. 399
not only in Hosea, but in all the prophets (Isaiah perhaps excepted) ; and the attempt to restore it is too much, in my judgment, for modern criticism ; especially as the parallelism (the only circumstance the modern critic has to guide him in the construc- tion of the distichs), is, in many parts of the book, if not indeed in the greater part of it, exceedingly imperfect, interrupted and obscure : an effect per- haps of the commatism of the style. If in certain passages the parallelism is entire, manifest, and strik- ing (as in some it certainly is, in so much that some of Bishop Lowth's choicest examples, of this great principle of Hebrew verse, are taken from this pro- phet), I trust that my translation is so close, as in those parts to display the structure of the original, though the hemistichal division is not exhibited to the eye in the printed page : and that, notwithstand- ing this defect, if a defect it be, as much of the ver- sification, if it may be so called, is preserved, as is with certainty discernible to the Biblical scholar in the Hebrew text, in its present state.
With respect to my translation, I desire that it may be distinctly understood, that I give it not, as one that ought to supersede the use of the Public Translation in the service of the church. Had my
300 HOSEA.
intention been to give an amended translation for public use ; I should have conducted my work upon a very different plan, and observed rules in the exe- cution of it, to which I have not confined myself. This work is intended for the edification of the Christian reader in his closet. The translation is such as, with the notes, may form a perpetual com- ment on the text of the holy prophet. For a trans- lation, accompanied with notes, I take to be the best perpetual comment upon any text in a dead lan- guage. My great object therefore in translating has been to find such words and phrases as might con- vey neither more nor less than the exact sense of the original, (I speak here of the exact sense of the words, not of the application of the prophecy). For this purpose I have been obliged in some few in- stances to be paraphrastic. But this has only been, when a single word in the Hebrew expresses more than can be rendered by any single word in the English, according to the established usage of the language. A translator who in such cases will con- fine himself to give word for word, attempts in truth what cannot be done, and will give either a very obscure or a very defective translation -> that is, he will leave something untranslated. The necessity
HOSEA.
of paraphrastic translation will particularly occur wherever the sense of the original turns upon ;♦ paronomasia ; a figure frequent in all the prophets, but in the use of which Hosea, beyond any other of them, delights. With the same view of presenting the sense of my author in language perspicuous to the English reader, for Hebrew phrases I have some- times judged it expedient to put equivalent phrases of our own tongue (where such could be found) rather than to render the Hebrew word for word. But these liberties I have never used, without ap- prising the learned reader of it in my critical notes, and assigning the reason. And sometimes, in the case of phrases, I have given the English reader a literal translation of the Hebrew phrase in the ex- planatory notes. In some instances, but in very few, I have changed words, and forms of expression, in frequent use in our Public Translation, for others, equivalent in sense, of a more modern phraseologv ; ever keeping my great point in view, to be perspicu- ous to the generality of readers. The dignity re- sulting from Archaisms is not to be too readily giv en up. But perspicuity is a consideration to which every thing must be sacrificed. And if the phrase* ology of the Bible were not changed from time to
302 HOSEA.
time, to keep pace in some degree with the gradual changes of common speech, it would become un- intelligible to the common people. With respect to them at this day, the Holy Bible, translated into the English of Chaucer's age, would be a translation out of one dead language into another. Not to say that Archaisms, too long retained, instead of raising the style, become in the end mean, and even ludicrous. The book of Psalms would be of little use to the vulgar, if it were translated into the vulgar tongue, after the manner of this specimen : " Why gnastes the gens, and the peple thoughte ydil thingis ?" * Though the text were accompanied with this lumin- ous comment : " The prophete, snybband hem that
tourmentid Crist, saies, 'whit the gens thoo were
the knyttes of Rome that crucified Crist. — " gnasU ed" " as bestes with oute resoun. — and tlie peple, thoo were the Jews, thoughte mynte thoughtes" &c. And the tragical story of John the Baptist, so ad- mirably related in all its circumstances by the Evan- gelist, would not be heard with gravity in any con- gregation at this day, were the narrative to proceed in this language : u When the dough tyr of that He-
* Ps. ii, i.
HOSEA. 303
j odias was in-comyn, and had tombylde and plcsidc to Harowde, and also to the sittande at mete, the kvnge says to the wench," &c. There is a limit therefore to the love of Archaisms, beyond which it should not be indulged. But there is a limit also to innovation, which I hope I have not passed.
The notes, which accompany my translation, are of two kinds, explanatory and critical. The first are intended to open the sense of the text, and point out the application of the prophecy, to the English reader. The latter are disquisitions upon various points of antient learning, many of them purely phi- lological, to ascertain the true sense of the text, to justify my translation of it, or the application of it that I teach the unlearned reader to make, to the satisfaction of the learned reader. The explanatory notes accompany the text, being given at the bot- tom of the page; and the reference to these is bv small figures. The critical notes are placed at the end by themselves ; and the reference to these is by the capitals of the Roman alphabet. It often hap- pens that I have occasion to give an explanatory and a critical note upon the same passage. In this case, that the text might not be too much crowded with marks of reference j I have often made the re-
30* HOSEA*
ference to the critical note at the end of the explan- atory. It has sometimes happened that an explan- atory note has unavoidably run to too great a length to be placed with convenience at the bottom of the page \ in this case it is put at the end, among the critical ; and the unlearned reader is referred to it in this manner : " For an explanation of this, or, for a further explanation of this, see note (a) :" where- as in the case of reference at the end of an explan- atory note to one of the critical, in which the mere English reader is less interested, the reference is simply " see note (a)." I would observe however, that in the critical notes, with the exception of such as are purely philological, the unlearned reader will find much that may afford him both amusement and instruction. And many even of the philological may be of use to those who have a general acquaintance with antient literature, though but a superficial knowledge of the oriental languages.
Although no pains have been spared to ascertain the true sense of the original in the obscurest pass- ages, by consulting the ablest commentators and grammarians, and translations, antient and modern, in all the languages I understand ; and by an analy- sis, which to many may seem in some instances too
HOSEA. 305
strict, of words and phrases of various and doubtful meaning, I cannot have the vanity to suppose thai the critical reader will not discover many blemishes and imperfections. Some corrections which have occurred to myself, in the progress of the work through the press, I have given in a short Appendix.*
ADVERTISEMENT TO SECOND EDITION.
Upon repeated perusals of my translation of Hosea, and of my notes, I find little in either which I see reason to alter ; nothing indeed with respect to the sense of a single text. In the translation, I have in this second edition, in some few places, changed expressions, which seemed to fall rather short in strength or dignity, for others of more force, or more elevated ; some, which seemed harsh, for others more elegant ; and some, which, by too close an adherence to the original, I feared might be ob- scure to the English reader, for others more con- formed to the idiom of our language, but represent- ing the sense with equal fidelity. By this greater freedom of translation I have, in some passages, re-
* See Appendix, No. I. VOL. in. U
30(5 HOSEA.
moved the obscurity arising from an ambiguous re* ference of the pronoun of the third person, when it would rehearse both the subject and the object of the same verb. Instead of one of the pronouns I have sometimes put the noun itself, which it would rehearse;* or I have omitted the pronoun, either before or after the verb, when the person or thing to be rehearsed by it is evident, notwithstanding the omission.t Sometimes I have put a plural, instead of a singular pronoun, to rehearse a collective, t But these liberties have never been taken without the greatest caution ; and in instances, in which the sense is too clear and certain to be affected by them. In two passages I have rendered an active verb go- verning the pronoun of the third person as its ob- ject, by the verb passive, having the same pronoun for its subject. || And this may always be done, without a possibility of affecting the sense, when the subject of the active verb is the indefinite pronoun of the third person plural understood, corresponding to the French on. The indefinite plural understood I have sometimes expressed by the indefinite singu-
F
* Chap, viii, 10 j xii, 4. f Chap, x, 6; xii, 4.
J Chap, xi, 5, j| Chap, xr, 2 — 7.
HOSEA. 307
Jar " one.99* Some additions arc made to the notes, both the critical and the explanatory. These are given in a third number, added to the appendix ; where the learned reader will find the reasons as- signed of all material alterations, which have been made in the translation, beyond those now specified as respecting the pronoun, and the few which were proposed in the appendix of the first edition, which are adopted. The grounds and reasons of these were stated in Appendix, No. I, which is given again with- out alteration.
With respect to emendations of the printed He- brew text, I have neither revoked any, that I pro- posed in my former edition, nor added to the num- ber ; except by an alteration of the stops in one passage ; adhering immoveably to the principle laid down in my former preface, that the stops and vowel-points, and little else, are fair objects of con- jectural criticism. They are fair objects of conjec- ture, because they are no part of the sacred text, but a supplement, added by critics, of abilities as contemptible as their industry was great, and of so late an age, that the Hebrew language was as much
* Chap, xi, 4.
U 2
308 HOSEA*
dead to them, as it is at this day to us. So far how- ever, and no farther, entitled to attention, as they may be supposed to have preserved in their cypher some relics of expositions handed down to them, by tradition, from abler interpreters of earlier ages. For this I take to be the true notion of the pointed Hebrew text; that it is the sacred text, accompanied with a perpetual philological comment, exhibited in cypher or short-hand, founded upon what the in- ventors of the cypher recollected and understood of a traditional exposition, corrupted and disfigured in many places by their own bad judgment and bad taste.
:30!>
HOSEA.
CHAP. I.
1 The word of Jehovah which was [spoken] unto Hosea (a), son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel.
2 The beginning of the word of Jehovah by (a) Hosea was in this manner (b). Jehovah said unto (a) Hosea ; Go, take to thee a wife of pro- stitution, and children of promiscuous com- merce : for the land is perpetually playing the wanton (c), forsaking Jehovah.
:3 So he went and took Gomcr, daughter of Di-
blaim, and she conceived and bare him a son.
Vnd Jehovah said unto him, Call his name Jez-
D 3
310 HOSEA.
rael \_a seed of God1'] ; for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezrael2 upon the house of Jehu, and I will abolish the kingdom of 5 the house of Israel. And this shall be in that very day,3 when I break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezrael.4
1 See Preface.
2 — " blood of Jezrael." Hebrew, " bloods of Jezrael ;" i. e. blood of the holy seed, the faithful servants of God, shed by the idolatrous princes of Jehu's family in persecution, and the blood of children shed in their horrible rites upon the altars of their idols. For further explanation of this see (d).
5 <k And this shall be in that very day, when I break" — This entire abolition of the kingdom of the ten tribes shall take effect, at the time when I break, &c. See (e).
* — « when I break the bow of Israel," &c. St Jerome says, the Israelites were overthrown by the Assyrians in a pitched battle in the plain of Jezrael. But of any such battle we have no men- tion in history, sacred or profane. But Tiglath-pileser took several of the principal cities in that plain, in the reign of Pekah. And afterwards, in the reign of Hoshea, Samaria was taken by Shal- manazer after a siege of three years ; and this put an end to the kingdom of the ten tribes. 2 Kings, xv, 29, and xvii, o, 6. And the taking of these cities successively, and, at last, of the capital itself, was " a breaking of the bow of Israel," a demolition of the whole military strength of the kingdom, " in the valley of Jez-
HOSEA. ftil
C And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said unto him, Call her name Lo- ruhamaii 5 [ATo£ beloved'] : for I will no more cherish with tenderness0 the house of Israel, in- somuch as to be perpetually forgiving them (f).
7 But the house of Judah with tenderness I will cherish ; and I will save them by Jehovah their
rael," where all those cities were situated. For the breaking of a bow was a natural image for the overthrow of military strength in general, at a time when the bow and arrow was one of the principal weapons.
Although the valley of Jezrael is here to be understood literally of the tract of country so named, yet perhaps there is an indirect allusion to the mystical import of the name. This being the finest spot of the whole land of promise; the name, the vale of Jezrael, describes it as the property of the holy seed, by whom it is at last to be possessed. So that, in the very terras of the denunciation against the kingdom of Israel, an oblique promise is contained of the restoration of the converted Israelites. The Israel which pos- sessed it, in the time of this prophecy, were not the rightful own- ers of the soil. It ifl part of the domain of the Jezrael, for whom it is reserved.
5 — « not beloved," a disowned, neglected child, having no part in the affections of the reputed father.
0 — " cherish with tenderness," or, <« cherish with a parent V tenderness ;" for this is the full fovce of the original word.
I i
312 HOSEA.
God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by armour,* by horses nor by horse-
men.7
* See Appendix, No. III.
7 These expressions are too magnificent to be understood of* any thing but the final rescue of the Jews from the power of Anti- christ in the latter ages, by the incarnate God destroying the ene- my with the brightness of his coming ; of which the destruction of Sennacherib's army in the days of Hezekiah, might be a type, but it was nothing more. It may seem perhaps, that the prophecy points at some deliverance peculiar to the house of Judah, in which the ten tribes will have no share ; such as the overthrow of Sennacherib actually was ; whereas the destruction of Antichrist will be an universal blessing. But, in the different treatment of the house of Judah and the house of Israel, we see the prophecy hitherto remarkably verified. After the excision of the kingdom of the ten tribes, Judah, though occasionally visited with severe judgments, continued however to be cherished with God's love, till they rejected our Lord. Then Judah became Lo-ammi ; but still continues to be visibly an object of God's love, preserved as a distinct race for gracious purposes of mercy. Perhaps in the last ages the converts of the house of Judah will be the principal ob- jects of Antichrist's malice. Their deliverance may be first wrought, and through them the blessing may be extended to their brethren of the ten tribes, and ultimately to the whole world. This order of things the subsequent prophecy seems to point out.
HOSEA.
8 And she weaned Lo-ruhamah ; and she con-
9 ceived, and bare a son. And [God] said, Call his name Lo-ammi [Not a people of mine], for ye are no people of mine, and I will not be yours.
10 Nevertheless the number" of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which can- not be measured, and cannot be counted ; and it shall be, that, in the place9 where it was said unto them, " No people of mine are ye," [there] it shall be said unto them, " Children of the liv-
1 1 ing God." And the children of Judah shall be
0 — " the number of the children of Israel." I think this is to be understood of the mystical Israel ; their numbers, consisting of myriads of converts, both of the natural Israel, and their adopted brethren of the Gentiles, shall be immeasurably great.
9 " And it shall be that in the place," &c. That is at Jerusa- lem, or at least in Judea, where this prophecy was delivered, and where the execution of the sentence took place. There, in that very place, they, to whom it was said, w Ye are no people of mine," shall be called " children of the living God." This must relate to the natural Israel of the house of JudaJi ; for to them it was sail!, " Ye are no people of mine." And since they are to be acknow- ledged again as the children of the living God, in the same place where this sentence was pronounced and executed, the prophecy clearly promises their restoration to their own land. See note (<.).
3U HOSE A.
collected,10 and the children of Israel shall be united, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and come up from the earth.11 For great shall be the day of Jezrael.12^
CHAP. IL
I Speak t^o (a) your brethren, O Ammi [O my people"], and to your sisters, O Ruhamah [O
1 ° u And the children of Judah shall be collected," &c. When converts of the house of Judah shall have obtained a re-settlement in the Holy Land, then a general conversion shall take place of the race of Judah, and the race of the ten tribes. They shall unite in one confession, and in one polity, under one king, Christ the Saviour.
1 * — " and come up from the earth ;" z. e. from all parts of the earth to Jerusalem. Jerusalem being situated on an eminence/ and in the heart of a mountainous region, which rose greatly above the general level of the country to a great distance on all sides; the sacred writers always speak of persons going to Jerusalem, as going up.
1 2 — 1< great shall be the day of Jezrael." Great and happy shall be the day, when the holy seed of both branches of the na- tural Israel shall be publicly acknowledged of their God ; united under one head, their king Messiah ; and restored to the posses* sion of the promised land, and to a situation of high pre-eminence among the kingdoms of the earth. See note (h).
IIOSEA. 315
2 darling daughter'].1 Argue with your mother; Argue, that she is no wife of mine, and [that] I am not her hushand. But let her remove her paramours from her presence, and her adulterers
S from her embraces.2 Lest I strip her even of her under garments ; and set her up to public view, naked as the day when she was born (b) ; and make her like the waste wilderness,3 and reduce her to the condition of a parched land, and kill her with thirst: and cherish not her
1 Although the Israelites in the days of Hosea were in general corrupt, and addicted to idolatry, yet there were among them, in the worst times, some who had not bowed the knee to Baal. These were always Ammi and Ruhamah ; God's own people, and a dar- ling daughter. God commissions these faithful £ew to admonish the inhabitants of the land in general, of the dreadful judgment* that would be brought upon them by the gross idolatry of the Jew- ish church and nation.
2 Hebrew, " from between her breasts." See Cant, i, 13.
3 Hebrew, " and lay her waste like a wilderness." It ma\ seem harsh to say of a woman, that she shall be laid waste like * wilderness, and reduced to the condition of a parched land. Bat it is to be observed, that the allegorical style makes an intercom- munity of attributes between the type and the thing typified. So that when a woman is the image of a country, or of a church ; that may be said of the woman, which, in unfigured speech, might be
316 HOSEA.
children with kindness, for they are children of promiscuous commerce.
5 For their mother hath played the wanton ; she that conceived them hath caused shame (c). For she saith, I will go after my lovers ; givers of my bread and my water, of my wool and my flax, of
6 my oil and my liquors.* Therefore, behold I hedge * up her ways (d) with thorns, and I fence her in with a stone fence (e), that she
7 shall not find her outlets (f). Though she run after her lovers,5 she shall not overtake them ; though she seek them, she shall not find them. Then she will say, I will go and return to my first husband ; for it was better with me then,
8 than now. But she would not know that I gave her the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and sil-
said of the country, or the church, which she represents. The country might literally be made a waste wilderness, by unfruitful seasons, by the devastations of war, or of noxious vermin : a church is made a wilderness and a parched land, when the living waters of the Spirit are withheld.
4 Milk, honey, wine, &c.
5 — " her lovers ;" i. e. her idols, which, in her distress, she will supplicate in vain.
* See Appendix, No. III.
HOSEA. 317
ver I supplied to her in abundance, and gold, 4) with which they provided for Baal. Therefore I take away again my corn in its proper time, and my wine in its season, and I carry off" my wool and my flax [which were] to cover her
10 nakedness. 6 And this moment I will discover her shame (g) in the sight of her lovers, and
11 none shall deliver her out of my hand. And I will cause all her merriment to cease, her festi- vals, her new moon, and her sabbaths, and all
12 her public assemblies. And I will lay waste her vineyards and her fig-tree orchats (h), of which she saith, these are my pay (i), with which my lovers requite me ; but I will make them a fo- rest, and the beasts of the field shall devour
13 them. Thus I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim, when she burnt incense to them, and decked herself with her nasal gem, and with her
r' I think this 9th verse speaks of calamities already begun, and tlie 10th describes the progress and increase of them. It appears from all the prophets, and particularly from Amos and Joel, that the beginning of judgment upon the refractory rebellious people, was in unfruitful seasons, and noxious vermin, producing a failure of the crops, dearth, murrain of the cattle, famine, and pestilerv- tial diseases.
31$ HOSEA.
necklace, and went after her lovers, but Me she forgat, saith Jehovah. 14 Nevertheless, behold I will sooth her ; and though I make her travel the wilderness, I will speak kindly to her.7 For thence8 I have ap-
7 — « soothe her and — speak kindly to her." Speak what shall touch her heart, in her outcast state in the wilderness of the gentile world, by the proffers of mercy in the gospel. « For the doctrine of the gospel," says Luther upon this place, " is the true soothing speech, with which the minds of men are taken. For it terrifies not the sou), like the law, with severe denunciations of pu- nishment ; but although it reproves sin, it declares that God is ready to pardon sinners for the sake of his Son ; and holds forth the sacrifice of the Son of God, that the souls of sinners may be assured, that satisfaction has been made by that to God."
8 — « thence." The English word " thence" renders either u from that place," or " from that time," or " in consequence of those things." And the original word is used in all these various senses. No one of these senses would be inapplicable in this place : |3ut the last, or the first as figurative of the last, seems the most significant. God declares, that through the wilderness lies th<| road to a rich fruitful country ; i. e. that the calamities of the dis- persion, together with the soothing intimations of the gospel, by bringing the Jewish race to a right mind, will be the means of re- instating them in that wealth and prosperity, which God has or- dained for them in their own land.
2
iiosea.
pointed her vineyards for her, and the vale of tri-
J5 bulation 9 for a door of hope. And there she
shall sing as in the days of her youth, even as in
the day when she came up out of the land of
16 Egypt. lu And it shall be in that day, saith Je-
9 — " tribulation/' or consternation. Hebrew, Achor, allud- ing to the vale near Jericho, where the Israelites, first setting foot within the Holy Land, were thrown into trouble and consternation by the daring theft of Achan. In memory of which, and of the tragical scene exhibited in that spot in the execution of the sacri- legious peculator and his whole family, the place was called the Vale of Achor, Josh. vii. And this vale of Achor, though a scene of trouble and distress, was a door of hope to the Israelites under Joshua ; for there, immediately after the execution of Achan, God said to Joshua, " Fear not, neither be thou dismayed" (chap, viii, 1.); and promised to support him against Ai, her king and her people. And from this time Joshua drove on his conquests with uninterrupted success. In like manner the tribulations of the Jews, in their present dispersion, shall open to them the door of hope. <l And there" — I. e. in the wilderness, and in the vale of tribulation, under those circumstances of present difficulty mixed with cheering hope.
10 See Exod. xv. This perpetual allusion to the Exodus, to the circumstances of the march through the wilderness, and the first entrance into the Holy Land, plainly points the prophecy to a similar deliverance, by the immediate power of God, under that Leader, of whom Moses was the type.
320 HOSEA.
hovah, thou shalt call me Husband,11 and no 17 more shalt thou call me Lord. For I will take the names of those Lords out of her mouth, that by their name they be no more remembered.12 13 And I will make a covenant for them in that day, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the heavens, and with the creeping
11 Ishi, my husband, is an appellation of love; Baali, my lord, of subjection and fear. " God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Tim. i, 7. See Jer. xxiii, 27. See Note (k), and Appendix, No. III.
12 It is vain to look for a purity of religious worship, answer- able to this prophecy, among the Jews returned from the Baby- lonish captivity. This part of the prophecy, with all the rest, will receive its accomplishment in the converted race in the latter days. It is said, indeed, that, after the return from Babylon, the Jews scrupulously avoided idolatry, and have continued untainted with it to this day. But generally as this is asserted by all commenta- tors, one after another, it is not true. Among the restored Jews, there was indeed no public idolatry, patronised by the govern- ment, as there had been in times before the captivity, particularly in the reign of Ahaz. But from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes to the last moments of the Jewish polity, there was a numerous and powerful faction, which in every thing affected the Greek manners j and this hellenising party were idolaters to a man. The Jews of the present times, as far as we are acquainted with
2
HOSEA.
things of the ground; and bow, and BWOrd, and armour (l), will I break from off' the earth, and I will make them lie down in their beds in secu-
19 rity. And 1 will betroth thee to myself for ever. To myself, I say, I will betroth thee with jus- tice,15 and with righteousness,13 and with exu- berant kindness,13 and with tender love.13
20 With faithfulness to myself, I say, I will betroth '21 thee;13 and thou shalt know the Jehovah. And
it shall be in that day, I will perform my part (n), saith Jehovah ; I will perform my part upon the heavens ; and they shall perform their part
them, seem indeed to be free from the charge of idolatry, pro- perly so called. But of the present state of the ten tribes we have no certain knowledge ; without which we cannot take upon us ei- ther to accuse, or to acquit them.
— " a covenant." This covenant with the beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven, and the reptiles of the earth, is the final eon- version of the most ignorant and vicious of the heathen to the true faith. The effect of which must be, that they will all live in peace and friendship with the re-established nation of the Jews.
13 — " justice, — righteousness, — exuberant kindness. — tender love, — faithfulness." These words all have reference to what Christ did and gave for the espousal of the church, his bride. See Nvfc (m), and Appendix, No. III.
vol. m. x
322 HOSEA.
22 upon the earth ; and the earth shall perform her part upon the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; and they shall perform their part for the Jezrael
23 [the seed of God']. And I will sow her [as a seed], for my own self, in the earth ;14 and with tenderness I will cherish her, that had been Lo- ruhamah [the not-beloved] ; and I will say to Lo-ammi [to the 7io-people-of-mine~\ Ammi [rny own people] art thou; and he shall say, My God.
CHAP. III.
1 And Jehovah said unto me again, " Go, love the woman 1 addicted to wickedness (a), and an
1 4 The myriads of the natural Israel, converted by the preach- ing of the apostles, were the first seed of the universal church. And there is reason to believe that the restoration of the convert- ed Jews will be the occasion and means of a prodigious influx of new converts from the Gentiles in the latter ages. Rom. xi, 12 and 15. Thus the Jezrael of the natural Israel from the first have been, and to the last will prove, a seed sown of God for himself in the earth. See note (o).
1 " the woman;" i. e. Gomer the prophet's wife, discarded
for her incontinence after her marriage. In chap, i, 3, before her marriage, she was only a fornicatress; but, for her irregularities
HOSEA.
adulteress; after the manner of Jehovah's love for the children of Israel,'2 although they look to other gods, and are addicted to goblets of \vine.:
afterwards, she is now branded with the name of an adulter See note (b), and App. No. II.
- n children of Israel." M Children of Israel," and " house
of Israel,'" ore two distinct expressions to be differently understood. " The house of Israel," and sometimes n Israel " by itself, is B particular appellation of the ten tribes, as a distinct kingdom from Judah. But " the children of Israel" is a general appellation for the whole race of the Israelites, comprehending both kingdoms. Indeed it was the only general appellation before the captivity of the ten tribes ; afterwards, the kingdom of Judah only remaining, " Jews" came into common use as the name of the whole race, which before had been the appropriate Dame of the kingdom of Judah. It occurs for the first time in the sixteenth chapter of the Second Book of Kings, in the history of Ahaz. It is true, we read in Hosea of " the children of Judah and the children of Is- rael;'' chap, i, 11. But this is only an honourable mention of Judah as the principal tribe, not as a distinct kingdom. And the true exposition of the expression is, " the children of Judah, and all the rest of the children of Israel." We find Judah thus parti- cularly mentioned, as a principal part of the people, before the kingdoms were separated. See 2 Sam. xxiv, 1, and 1 Kings, iv. SO and 25. And yet at that time Israel was the general Dame. 1 King.?, iv, ]. -
324 HOSEA.
2 So I owned her (b) as my own by fifteen pieces
3 of silver, and a homer and a half of barley. And I said unto her, " Many days shalt thou tarry for me ; thou shalt not play the wanton, and thou shalt not have to do with a husband, neither will I with thee." 3
4 For many days shall the children of Israel tarry, without king, and without ruler,4, and without sacrifice,5 and without statue, and with- out ephod, and teraphim.6 Afterward shall the
3 The condition of the woman restrained from licentious courses, owned as a wife, but without restitution of conjugal rites, admir- ably represents the present state of the Jews, manifestly owned as a peculiar people, withheld from idolatry, but as yet without access to God through the Saviour.
4 — <( without king and without ruler ;" without a monarch, and without any government of their own.
5 — " without sacrifice ;" deprived of the means of offering the typical sacrifices of the law, and having as yet no share in the true sacrifice of Christ.
6 — « without statue, ephod, and teraphim." After much con- sideration of the passage, and of much that has been written upon it by expositors ; I rest in the opinion strenuously maintained by the learned Pocock, in which he agrees with many that went be- fore him, and has the concurrence of many that came after,
HOSE A.
children of Israel return, and ^eek the Jehovah their God, and the David their king, and adore (d) Jehovah, and his goodness, in the latter clays.
Lather, Calvin, Vatablus, Drusius, Livelye, Houbigant, and Arch- bishop Newcombe, with many others of inferior note ; I rest, I say, after much consideration, in the opinion, that Statue, Ephod, and Teraphim, are mentioned as principal implements of idolatrous rites. And the sum of this 4th verse is this; that, for many ages, the Jews would not be their own masters ; would be deprived of the exercise of their own religion, in its most essential parts j not embracing the Christian, they would have no share in the true ser- vice; and yet would be restrained from idolatry, to which their forefathers had been so prone.
It is to be observed, that this 1th verse is the exposition of the type of the prophet's dealing with his wife. If the restriction of the Jews from idolatry is not mentioned, we have nothing in the exposition answering to that article of the typical contract with the woman, " Thou shalt not play the wanton. " And certainly the restriction from idolatry is not mentioned in this 4th verse at all, if it be not represented by tarrying without statue, without ephod, and teraphim. See note (c).
X 3
326 HOSEA,
CHAP. IV.
1 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Is* rael ; 1 for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land; because there is no truth, nor piety, nor knowledge of God in the
2 land. Cursing and falsehood, and murther and theft, and adultery, know no restraint,* and
3 blood follows close upon blood.2 Therefore the land shall mourn, and every one dwelling there- in shall pine away, even to the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heavens; yea, the fish of the sea also shall be taken away.
4 By no means (b) let any one expostulate, nor let any one reprove f for thy people4 are exact-
1 See the foregoing chapter, note 2. The prophecy is still ge- neral, respecting both branches of the Jewish people.
* — « know no restraint." Hebrew, " are burst out." See note (a).
2 Murther upon murther.
3 — " Let no one expostulate or reprove ;" for all expostula- tion and reproof will be lost upon this people, such is their stub- bornness and obstinacy.
4 — « thy people ;" i. e. thy countrymen, O prophet.
HOSt \ VJ7
]y like those who will contend with the priest 5 Therefore thou1, shalt lull in the day.9 and the
5 — u contend with the priest." To contend with the priest, the authorized interpreter of the law, and the typical intercessor between God and the people, was the highest species of coritun and disobedience, and by the law was a capital offence. Sec Deut. xvii, 12. God tells the prophet, that contumacy and penreiteneftj even in this degree, were become the general character of the people. That the national obstinacy, and contempt of the remon- strances and reproofs of the prophets, were such as might be com- pared with the stubbornness of an individual; who, at the peril of his life, would arraign and disobey the judicial decisions of God's priests. See note (c).
6 — " thou." The last sentence was addressed to the prophet; u thy people, O prophet." This is to the people themselves " thou, O stubborn people." This sudden conversion of the speech of the principal speaker, from one to another of the diti'er- ent persons of the scene, is so frequent in the prophets, that it can create no difficulty. See Preface, p. 275.
7 — « in the day;" not for want of light to see thy way, but in the full day-light of divine instruction, thou shalt fall. Even at the rising of that light, which is for the lighting of every man that cometh into the world. In this day-time, when our Lord himself visited them, the .lews made their last false step, and fell.
m HOSEA.
prophet also shall fall with thee in the night,8 and I will cut off thy mother.9 6 My people are brought to nothing for lack of knowledge.10 Because thou11 hast scornfully
8 __« in the night." In the night of ignorance, which shall close thy day, the prophet shall fall with thee ; that is, the order of prophets among thee shall cease.
9 — « thy mother ;'•' i. e. thy mother-city, the metropolis. So Cappellus, Houbigant, and Archbishop Newcombe. But Jerusa- lem is intended, not Samaria. For Samaria was the metropolis of the kingdom of the ten tribes, not of the whole nation, the child- ren of Israel in general. See note (d).
io — cc knowledge;" i. e. consideration, attention. Because they would not use the means of knowledge which they had. But this lack of knowledge in the people was, in great measure, owing to the want of that constant instruction, which they ought to have received from the priests. The lack of knowledge therefore is a general inattention of the people to their religious duty, arising from a want of the admonitions of their constituted teachers. The mention, therefore, of th;s lack of knowledge occasions a sudden transition from general ihreatenings to particular denunciations against the priesthood. See note (e).
1 1 — « because thou," &c. These denunciations are addressed to the high priest for the time being, as the representative of the whole order..
HOSEA,
rejected knowledge, I therefore will scomiullv reject thee, that thou be no priest to me. In as much as thou halt forgotten the law of thy
7 God, thy children also will 1 forget In propor- tion as they were magnified,19 they have sinned against me. Their glory I will change into in-
8 famy. Every one of them, while they eat the sin-offerings of my people, sets his own heart
p upon the crime.13 [Or, every one of them lilts up his soul to the crime], (g) Therefore it shall be like people like priest, and I will vial upon each his ways, and his own perverse manners to either
10 I will requite. And they shall eat, and not be satisfied; wanton, and not procreate: because they have forsaken the Jehovah, to devote them-
11 selves (h) to dalliance and wine, and the in-
18 —"magnified." The priesthood among the Jews was, by
God's appointment, a situation of the highest rank and authority. The complaint is, that, in proportion as they were raised ID dig- nify and power above the rest of the people, they surpassed the rest in impiety. Sec (r).
i3 __« t],c BM-ofleringa," &c. That is, while they exercise the sacred functions of the priesthood, and claim it> highest priviK their own hearts arc set upon the prevailing idolatry.
330 HOSEA.
toxicating juice, which take possession of the heart. * .
12 My people consult their wood I1 * Let their staff therefore give them answers (i). For a spirit of lasciviousness hath driven them astray, and they play the wanton, [breaking loose] from
13 subjection to their God. Upon the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and upon the hills they burn incense, under the oak15 and the poplar, and the acorn-tree, because the shade thereof is good. Since thus it is (k)5 let your daughters play the wanton, and your daughters-in-law com-
14 mit adultery. I will not visit upon your daugh- ters, when they play the wanton ; nor upon your daughters-in-law, when they commit adultery. Because themselves separate themselves16 with
* See Appendix, No. III.
i * — « consult their wood ;" i. e. the images of their idols, made of wood. — " consult," as oracles, to foretell what is to come to pass, or to advise what measures should be taken.
15 « the oak;" i.e. the evergreen oak, or ilex. — U the
acorn-tree," the common oak,
1 6 — « separate themselves with harlots ;" i. e. they go aside, retire with the women, who prostituted their persons in the pre- cincts of the idolatrous temples. — « themselves j" with respect to the change of person, see note 6.
HOSEA.
harlots, and sacrifice with the women sit apart to prostitution.1'' Therefore the people, which will not understand, shall fall.18 15 19 If thou play the wanton, () Israel, Km not Judah become guilty. And come ye not unto Gilgal,*5 neither go ve up to Bethaven, and
17 — " set apart to prostitution ;" or, — u consecrated to prosti- tution." The people are charged with partaking in those rites of the idolatrous worship, in which prostitution made a stated part of the religious festivity. The expressions clearly allude to the prac- tice mentioned by Baruch, vi, [?>. and minutely described by He- rodotus, Book i, ch. 199.
18 Here the chapter ought to end.
1 9 Here a transition is made, with great elegance and anima- tion, from the general subject of the whole people, in both \t* branches, to the kingdom of the ten tribes in particular. u What- ever the obstinacy of the house of Israel may be in her corrup- tions, at least let Judah keep herself pure. Let her not join in the idolatrous worship at Gilgal or Bethaven, or mix idolatry with the profession of the true religion. A^> for Israel, I give her up to a reprobate mind." Then the discourse pastes naturally into the de- tail and amplification of Israel's guilt.
20 Gilgal, in this period of the Jewish history, appears from Hosea and Amos to have been a scene of the grossest idolatry M Come ye not"— i. c. Ye, O men of Judah. See not
m HOSEA,
16 swear not "Jehovah £y£th,'V*' Truly Israel
17 is rebellious, like an unruly heifer (l). Now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a large
18 place. 22 A companion (n) of idols is Ephraim. — Leave him to himself. Their strong drink is vapid.23 Given up to lasciviousness, greedy of
2 1 — « swear not," &c. i. e. swear not the solemn oath of the living God in an idolatrous temple.
22 — " in a large place," i. e. in an uninclosed place, a wide common. They shall no longer be fed with care in the rich inclo- sures of God's cultivated farm ; but be turned out to browse the scanty herbage of the waste. That is, they shall be driven into exile among the heathen, freed from what they thought the re- straints, and of consequence deprived of all the blessings and be- nefits of religion. This dreadful menace is delivered in the form of severe derision : a figure much used by the prophets, especially by Hosea. Sheep love to feed at large. The sheep of Ephraim shall presently have room enough. They shall be scattered over the whole surface of the vast Assyrian empire, where they will be at liberty to turn very heathen. See (m). It is remarkable, however, that it is said that, even in this state, Jehovah will feed them. They are still, in their utmost humiliation, an object of his care.
$3 « vapid." Sour, turned. The allusion is to libations
made with wine grown dead, or turning sour. The image repre- sents the want of all spirit of piety in their acts of worship, and the unacceptableness of such worship in the sight of God. Which is
HOSEA.
gifts, *4 (O shame !) (q) arc her great in n. The 10 wind binds her up ill its whlgs,w and tlicv shai1 be brought to shame because of their sacrifices.
CHAP. V.
I Hear ye tin's, () ye priests, and hearken yc, O house of Israel, and house of the kins uive car, for upon you [proceeds] the sentence ; be- cause ye have been a snare upon Mizpah, a net
alleged as a reason for the determination, expressed in the preced- ing clause, to give Ephraim up to his own ways. " Leave him to himself," says God to his prophet, " his pretended devotions are all false and hypocritical, I desire none of them." See (o).
24 Hebrew, They love, Give ye. See Prov. xxx, 15. See (r).
25 An admirable image of the condition of a people torn by a conqueror from their native land, scattered in exile to the four quarters of the world, and living thenceforward without any settled residence of their own, liable to be moved about at the will of ar- bitrary masters, like a thing tied to the wings of the wind, obliged to go with the wind which e\er way it set, but never Buffered for a moment to lie still. The image is striking now; but must have been more striking, when a bird with expanded (rings, or a huge pair of wings without head or body, u.i- the hieroglyphic of the clement of the air, or rather of the general mundane atmosphere, one of the most irresistible of physical agents. — * binds," of
II is binding," the present tense, to denote instant futurity,
33* HOSEA.
2 spread upon Tabor; and the prickers1 have made a deep slaughter. Therefore will I bring chastisement2 upon them all.
3 I have known Ephraim, and Israel hath not been concealed3 from me. At this very mo-
1 — " prickers," scouts on horseback, attendants on the chase, whose business it was to scour the country all around, and drive the wild beasts into the toils. The priests and rulers are accused as the seducers of the people to apostacy and idolatry ; not merely by their own ill example, but with premeditated design ; under the image of hunters deliberately spreading their nets and snares upon the mountains. And their agents and emissaries, in this nefarious project, are represented under the image of the prickers in this destructive chase. The toils and nets are whatever, in the exter- nal form of idolatry, was calculated to captivate the minds of men ; magnificent temples, stately altars, images richly adorned, the gaie- ty of festivals, the pomp, and in many instances, even the horror of the public rites. All which was supported by the government at a vast expense. The deep slaughter, which the prickers made, is the killing of the souls of men. See (a).
2 — « will I bring chastisement upon" — Hebrew, — <e will I be chastisement, or a chastiser, unto" —
3 — a have known — hath not been concealed," i. e. " have al- ways known — hath at no time been concealed." In like manner, at the end of the next verse, — " have not known," is equivalent to — " have never known."
2
1IOSEA.
ment * thou playest the wanton, O Ephraim;
4 Israel is polluted. Their perverse habits (1;) Will not permit them to return unto their God ; for a spirit of wantonness is within them/ and
5 the Jehovah they have not known. Therefore the excellency of Israel' shall answer0 to his face, and Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their
6 iniquity ; with them also shall Judah fall. With their flocks and their herds they will go to seek the Jehovah, but they shall not rind him ;7 he
* See Appendix, No. III.
4 — « within them, — deep in their minds."
5 — fi the excellency of Israel," i.e. God. The original word, which the Public Translation renders " pride," is the same which in Amos viii, 7. is rendered " excellency." And there the " ex- cellency of Jacob" certainly signifies the God of Jacob. See (c).
6 — "answer." God is considered here, as in many pari the prophet?, as condescending to a litigation with his people; and the answer here is an answer in the cause argued. The answer on the part of God will be so clear and convincing, that the people of Israel will stand condemned by their own judgment. The answer will prove the justice of God's dealing with them, and their guilt, even to their own conviction.
7 See 2 Chron. xxix, 31— 33. \xx, IS— 15, 22—24 ttxi, 2— 10. 2 Kings, xxiii, 21, 22. and 86, '-'7. 2 Chron I, 7—9. 18. Also, 2 Chron. xxxiv, 20 — 2S. The prophecy looks for*
336 HOSEA.
7 hath disengaged himself8 from them. To Jeho- vah they have been false. Verily they have be- gotten a race of aliens.9 Now shall a month devour them with their portions.10
8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, the trumpet in
ward to the times of Hezekiah and Josiah ; declaring, that the attempts of those pious kings, to restore the true worship, will fail of any durable effect, and will not avail to reverse the doom pronounced upon the guilty people.
8 — « disengaged himself." Hebrew, " loosened himself."
9 — « a race of aliens." Hebrew, " children strangers," i. e. children trained from their earliest infancy in the habits and principles of idolatry, and growing up aliens with respect to God {for all are not Israel that are of Israel), alienated from Jehovah in their affections ; and in their way of thinking, in their sentiments and practices, mere heathen.
10 " Now shall a month devour them with their portions." A very short time shall complete their destruction. — (< with their portions," i. e. their allotments. They shall be totally dispossessed of their country ; and the boundaries of the separate allotments of the several tribes shall be confounded and obliterated, and new partitions of the land into districts shall be made, from time to time, at the pleasure of its successive masters. The captivity of the ten tribes was completed soon after Hezekiah's attempted re* formation, and the kingdom of Judah not long survived Josiah's. To these things I think " the month" alludes. See note (d).
HOSEA.
Kama; sound an aland at Bethaven. [Ixx 9 behind thee, O Benjamin!11 Ephraim shall be given up to desolation, in the day of [working] conviction in the tribes of Israel. * I have de- clared what shall surely be.
10 The rulers (e) of Judah have been as those that remove the landmarks. l* Upon them, like a flood, I will pour out my fury.
11 Ephraim is hard pressed, ruined in judg- ment;15- because he is self-willed, walking after a commandment. 2 *
1 * " Look behind thee, O Benjamin." This presents the image of an enemy in close pursuit, ready to fall upon the rear of Beu- jamin.
* See Appendix, No. III.
1 - That is, they have confounded the distinctions of right and wrong. " They have turned upside down all political order, and all manner of religion." English Geneva.
13 — « jiar(] pressed, ruined in judgment." That is, he has no defence to set up against the accusation brought against him j he lias nothing to say for himself.
14 — # self-willed, walking after a commandment." That is, although he has a commandment to walk after, namely, the divine law, yet lie will take his own way j and this he does, notwithstand- ing that he pretends to acknowledge the authority of ihe com-
VOT.. MT. Y
338 HOSEA.
12 Therefore am I as a moth in the garment15 to Ephraim, and as a worm in the flesh15 to the
13 house of Judah (g). When Ephraim perceives his holes,16 and Judah his corrupted force (i) ; then Ephraim will betake him to the Assyrian, and 17 send to the king, who takes up all quarrels.18 But he shall not be able to re-
mandment. The ten tribes pretended to be worshippers of Jeho- vah ; but they worshipped him in the calves at Dan and Bethel; and they appointed a priesthood of their own, in prejudice of the prerogative of the sons of Levi. But see note (f).
15 — u a moth in the garment — a worm in the flesh." From small and unperceived beginnings, working a slow, but certain and complete destruction.
is — (t holes" eaten by the moth. See (h).
1 7 I leave a space here, to shew that something is wanting to be the nominative case of the verb " send." Perhaps " Judah," which, however, is not supplied either by MSS or versions. But certainly something must have been said about what Judah would do, when he perceived his sore.
is — <i Uie king, who takes up all quarrels." This describes some powerful monarch, who took upon him to interfere in all quarrels between inferior powers ; to arbitrate between them, and compel them to make up their differences, upon such terms as he thought proper to dictate : whose alliance was of course anxiously courted by weaker states. Such was the Assyrian monarch, in the
HOSEA.
pair the damage for you,18 nor shall he raal
14 cure of (i.) your corrupted sore. For, I will be as a lion unto Ephraim; and as a young lion to the house of Jiulah, I. I will seize the prey, and be gone ; 1 will carry offs and none shall
15 rescue. I will be gone, I will return unto my place;40 till what time they acknowledge their guilt, and seek my face. When distress is upon them, they will rise early to seek me.*1
CHAP. VI.
l Come,1 and let us return unto Jehovah. For he hath torn, but he will make us whole ; he
times to which the prophecy relates. His friendship was purchased by Menahem, king of Israel. 2 Kings, xv, 19, 20; and in a later period solicited by Ahaz, xvi, 5 — 9. See (k).
ir) See 2 Chron. xxviii, 19—21.
— " unto my place.'' The image of the lion is pursued, mak- ing off to his lair with the prey. The sense is, that Jehovah will withdraw the tokens of his presence from the Jewish temple. The three first verses of the next chapter should be joined to this.
- I — "rise early to seek me." Dr Wheeler. Compare Jer. xxxv, 14, 15.
1 " Come" — The prophet speaks in his own | .» i on to the rnd of the third verse. He takes occasion, from the intimation of
3iO HOSEA.
hath inflicted the wound, but he will apply the 2 bandage. He will bring us to life after two days ; the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his presence,2 and attain to know- ledge.
final pardon to the penitent, given in the conclusion of God's awful denunciation of judgment, to address his countrymen in words of mild pathetic persuasion.
2 — « live in his presence." Jehovah, who had departed, will return, and again exhibit the signs of his presence among his chosen people. So the Jews, converted and restored, will live in his presence, and attain to the true knowledge of God, which they never had before. The two days and the third day seem to denote three distinct periods of the Jewish people. The first day is the captivity of the ten tribes by the Assyrians, and of the two under the Babylonians, considered as one judgment upon the nation ; be- ginning with the captivity of the ten, and completed in that of the two. The second day is the whole period of the present con- dition of the Jews, beginning with the dispersion of the nation by the Romans. The third day is the period yet to come, beginning with their restoration at the second advent. R. Tanchum, as he is quoted by Dr Pocock, was not far, I think, from the true mean- ing of the place. " The prophet," he says, " points out two times— and those are the first captivity, and a second. After which shall follow a third [time] ; redemption : after which shall be no depression or servitude." And this I take to be the sense of the prophecy, in immediate application to the Jews. Never-
HOSEA. 11
I Our object of pursuit will be the knowledge of
the Jehovah. His coming forth is fixed as the morning;3 and he shall come upon Ufl as the pouring shower, (b) as the harvest rain, [as] the rain of seed-time [upon] the earth.4 4 What3 shall I do for thee, O Ephraim ? What shall I do for thee, 0 Judah ? Since your pie-
theless, wlio ever is well acquainted with the allegorical style of prophecy, when he recollects, that our Lord's sufferings were in- stead of the sufferings and death of sinners ; that we are baptized into his death ; and, by baptism into his death, are buried with him ; and that he, rising on the third day, raised us to the hope of life and immortality 5 will easily perceive no very obscure, though but an oblique, allusion to our Lord's resurrection on the third day ; since every believer may speak of our Lord's death and resurrection, as a common death and resurrection of all believer-. See Appendix, No. III.
3 — " fixed,'' &c. His appearance is fixed and certain, at it- proper season, as the return of the morning. See (a).
4 The images here describe the Jehovah, who is to come forth, as coming in the office of an universal benefactor; the giver of the most general and useful benefits, and as coming forth at a tixed season, and at a season when his appearance will be expected. See note (c).
5 Here Jehovah takes up the discourse again in his own per- son.
$m HOSEA,
ty (d) is as the cloud of the morning ; as the dew,
5 which goeth off early. It is for this that I have be- laboured [them] by the prophets (e), killed them by the words of my mouth :G and the precepts given thee (f) were as the onward-going light.7
6 For I desired charity (g), not sacrifice ; and know-
7 ledge of God, more than burnt offerings.8 But they, like Adam,9 have transgressed the cove-
6 — " killed them," frightened them to death with terrible threatenings.
7 — " as the onward-going light." Hebrew, — -" as light which goeth forth," i. e. as light, of which it is the nature and property to go forth — to propagate itself infinitely, and in all directions. A most expressive image of the clearness of the practical lessons of the prophets.
8 This is the general rule, comprehending the sum of the prac- tical precepts of the prophets.
9 et like Adam." As Adam transgressed a plain command,
so the Israelites trangressed the plainest and the easiest precepti. As Adam's crime was not to be excused by any necessity or want, so the Israelites, secure under the protection of Jehovah had they continued faithful to him, had no excuse in seeking other aids. Adam revolted from God to Satan, so the Israelites forsook God to worship devils. Adam broke that one command on which the justification of himself and his posterity depended, so the Israelites broke the one precept of charity.
HOSEA. 14 I
nant; even in these circumstances10 they have s dealt treacherously against me. Gilead11 is a
city of workers of iniquity, marked with foot* 9 steps of blood. And, like banditti lying in wait for the passenger, a company of priests, upon the highway, murther unto Sichem,11 Verilj they have wrought lewdness in the house of I -
10 rael (l). There have I seen a horrible thin
11 Fornications in Ephraim! Israel polluted! More-
io — « even in these circumstances." With all the advant, of the prophetic teaching, in spite of all admonition and all want- ing. See (n).
11 If Gilead be put here for Kamoth (iilead (and I know not what other city can be meant, see (i),) it vras a city of rei Deut. iv, 43 ; and such also was Sichem, Josh, xx, 7. Both there- fore inhabited by priests and Levites. By describing the fin these two cities as polluted with blood, and the high-road to the other as beset with knots of priests, tike robbers, intent on blood, and murthering on the whole length of the way, up to the wry walls of the town ; the prophet means to represent the pries! seducers of the people to that idolatry, which proved the ruin of the nation. Insomuch that, like a man who should be murthered in a place of religious retreat, or upon his way to it ; the people, under the influence of such guides, met their destruction in the quarter where, by God's appointment, they prere to leek tl ty. See (k).
V t
SU HOSEA.
over, O Judah, harvest- work12 is appointed for thee, when I bring back the captivity of my people.
1 2 — a harvest-work." Harvest- work is cut out for Judah at the season of bringing back the captivity. The tribe of Judah is, in some extraordinary way, to be an instrument of the general re- storation of the Jewish people. Observe that the vintage is always an image of the season of judgment ; but the harvest, of the in- gathering of the objects of God's final mercy. I am not aware that a single unexceptionable instance is to be found in which the harvest is a type of judgment. In Rev. xiv, 15, 16, *' the sickle is thrust into the ripe harvest, and the earth is reaped ;" i. e. the elect are gathered -from the four winds of heaven. The wheat of God is gathered into his barn, (Mat. xiii, 30.) After this reaping of the earth, the sickle is applied to the clusters of the vine, and they are cast into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. Rev. xiV) is — 20. This is judgment. In Joel, iii, 13, the ripe harvest is the harvest of the vine, i. e. the grapes fit for gathering, as ap- pears by the context. See (m). In Jer. li, 33, the act of thresh- ing the corn upon the floor, not the harvest, is the image of judg- ment. It is true, the burning of the tares in our Saviour's parable, Mat. xiii, is a work of judgment, and of the time of harvest, previ- ous to the binding of the sheaves. But it is an accidental adjunct of the business, not the harvest itself. I believe the harvest is never primarily, and in itself, an image of vengeance.
HOSEA.
chap. vir.
I When (a) I would have healed1 Israel, then the iniquity of Kphraini Bhewed it sell' openly/ and the wicked doings of Samaria; for they car- ried on (u) delusion.' Therefore a thief is coin-
1 — " healed," or " restored." The particular time alluded to is, I think, the reign of the second Jeroboam, when t lie kingdom of Israel seemed to be recovering from the loss of strength and territory it had sustained, in the preceding reigns, by the en- croachments of the Syrians; for Jeroboam " restored the coast of Israel, from the entering of Ilamath unto the sea of the plain." 2 Kings, xiv, 25. The successes vouchsafed to this warlike prince against his enemies, were signs of God's gracious inclination to pardon the people, and restore the kingdom to its former pro>per- ity. " For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel that it was bitter — And the Lord said that he would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash." 2 Kings, xiv, 26, 27. But these merciful pur- poses of God were put aside by the wickedness of the kir^ and the people. For this same Jeroboam " did that which was evil i-; the sight of the Lord, he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." Verse 21-.
2 — "shewed itself openly;" literally, " was uncovered," or
II was bare;'' i. e. was open, avowed, and undisguised.
3 ~« delusion ;" literally, " they wrought falsehood, " or
346 HOSEA.
2 ing; banditti sally forth in the streets.* And let them not say unto their heart (d) that I have remembered all their wicked doings :5 even still their perverse habits cling around them, they
3 are before my face. By their evil doings they pleasure the king, and by their perfidies6 the
4 rulers. All of them are adulterers ; like an oven over-heated for the baker, the stoker (f) desists,
lie." The lie, falsehood, or delusion, was every thing that was se- ductive in the external rites of the false religions.
4 The thief, Pul ; whose peace Menahem bought, with contri- butions levied upon the people. The banditti, the armies of Tig- lath-pileser, over-running Gilead, Galilee, and Napthali. 2 Kings, xv, 19, 20, 29, and 1 Chron. v, 26.
5 Let them not console themselves with the imagination that in these judgments, to be executed by Pul and Tiglath-pileser, they have suffered punishment in full proportion to their guilt, and have nothing further to dread. They continue unreclaimed. Their evil habits surround them ; they are observed and noticed by me, and will bring down further vengeance. Observe that even the first of these judgments was yet to come, when this prophecy was deliver- ed. But it is usual with all the prophets, looking forward to futur- ity with full assurance of faith, to speak of it in the present, or even in the past time. See (c).
6 « their perfidies'' towards God, in deserting his service for
idolatry. See (e).
HOSE \.
after the kneading of the dough, until the fer-
.r> mentation of it he complete (a).7 In the da) ' of our king (i), the rulers were fevered with wine;9 lie stretched out his hand to (k) scoru-
6 ers.lu Truly, in the inmost part of it, their heart is like an oven (l), while the) lie in wait ; all the night their baker sleepeth ; in the morn*
7 ing it11 burnetii like a blazing fire.1- They are all hot as an oven, and have consumed their
7 For the exposition of this text see (n).
0 — " the day of our king," the king's birth-day, or perhaps the anniversary of his aecession.
9 — s< fevered with wine," Hebrew, " were sick with heat from wine."
io — << he stretched out his hand to scomer*.'' Those who in their cups made a jest of the true religion, and derided the de- nunciations of God's prophets, ho distinguished with the most familiar marks of his royal favour ; in thi> way carrying on the plot of delusion.
11 — " it," i. e. the oven.
,fl As an oven conceals the lighted lire all the night, while the baker takes his rest, and in the morning vomits forth it.> blazing ilame ; s.o all manner of concupiscence is brooding mischief in their hearts, while the ruling faculties of reason and conscience arc lulled asleep, and their wicked designs wait only for a fair occasion to break forth.
348 HOSEA.
judges; all their kings are fallen;15 not one among them hath called unto me.
8 Ephraim! He hath mixed himself with the peoples \1% Ephraim is a cake not turned!15
9 Foreigners have devoured his strength,16 and he perceiveth not ; grey hairs also are sprinkled up-
10 on him,17 and he perceiveth not. And the ex-
i s — <c au their kings are fallen." The prophecy looks forward to the fall of the six last kings in perpetual succession, Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, Hoshea.
i 4 — « mixed himself with the peoples." By his alliances with the heathen, and by imitation of their manners, he is himself be- come one of them. He has thrown off all the distinctions, and forfeited the privileges, of the chosen race. See Appendix, No. III.
i5 « a cake not turned." One thing on one side, another
on the other. Burnt to a coal at bottom ; raw dough at the top. An apt image of a character that is all inconsistencies. Such were the ten tribes of the prophet's day ; worshippers of Jehovah in profession, but adopting all the idolatries of the neighbouring na- tions, in addition to their own semi-idolatry of the calves.
i 6 « Foreigners," &c. His alliances with the Assyrians at one time, with the Syrians at another, at last with the Egyptians, have weakened his strength.
3 7 — " grey-hairs," the symptoms of decay.
iiosea. m
cellency of Israel answereth to his face;* bur they return not to Jehovah their God, nor seek
1 1 him for all this. For Ephraim is like a silly dove without sense. They call upon Egypt ; they be-
12 take them to Assyria.1'5 Whithersoever the) betake them, I will spread over them my net; as the fowls of the heaven I will bring them down ; I will chastise them, as they hear it declared in their congregations.19
* See verse 5.
13 — u betake them to Assyria." Hebrew, " they go to As- syria*" This going to Assyria cannot relate to the captiviu of the ten tribes, of which Dr Wells understands it. It is some voluntary going to Assyria which is imputed to them as a crime. Indeed, from this passage and many others, it appears that Dr Wells's third and fourth sections were delivered before the time, to which Dr Wells refers them. Those of the third, and part of the fourth, not later than the reign of Menahem, and all of them before the reign of Hoshea: though the predictions contain- ed io them extend to the very last period of the kingdom of the ten tribes, and even far beyond it.
19 — "hear it declared in their congregations." They heard their punishments declared in the prophetical denunciations in the books of Moses, which were read in their ^vnauogues ever} v bath-day.
350 HOSEA.
13 Woe unto them, for they have wandered away from me. Destruction awaits them, for they have rebelled against me. And I would have redeemed them, but they spoke lies against me.
14 And they cried not unto me in their heart, al- though they howled upon their beds, and put themselves in a stir about corn and wine (m).
1 5 They turned against me (n) ; then I chastised. I strengthened their arms; then they imagined
16 mischief20 against me. They fall back into no- thingness of condition.21 They are become like
so — a imagined mischief against me." Formed their plots for the introduction of idolatry, proceeding even to persecution of the prophets and the true worship.
2 1 The situation of the Israelites, as the chosen people of God, was a high degree ; a rank of distinction and pre-eminence among the nations of the earth. By their voluntary defection to idola- try, they debased themselves from this exaltation, and returned to the ordinary level of the heathen ; so far above which the mercy of God had raised them. As if a man, ennobled by the favour of his sovereign, should renounce his honours, and of his own choice mix himself with the lowest dregs of the people. Thus volunta- rily descending from their nobility of condition, the Israelites re- turned to " Not-High." For so the Hebrew literally sounds. See (o).
HOSEA.
a deceitful bow. Their rulers shall fall by the sword, for the petulance of their tongues. This shall bring derision upon them in the land of
Egypt-
CHAP. VIII.
1 The cornet at thy mouth, [be it] like the eagle over the house of Jliiovaii ;* in as much as they have transgressed my covenant, and rebelled a-
2 gainst my law. [Yet] they cry unto me, O my
3 God, we acknowledge thee (b). Israel ! He hath cast off, hath Israel, what is good ; the ene-
4 my shall pursue him. They have set up kings of themselves, (c) but not for me. They have appointed rulers, whom I knew not.2 Their
1 Let the sound of the cornet in thy mouth be shrill and terri- fying, as the ominous scream of the eagle hovering over the roof of the temple. See (a) and Appendix, No. III.
— M house of Jehovah.*' The house of Jehovah is the temple at Jerusalem. The first four verses therefore of this chapter seem to concern the whole people, and to predict the final dispersion of the people by the Romans. At the fifth verse, the prophecy re- turns to the kingdom of the ten tribes.
2 The only kings of the Israelites, of God's appointment, were
those of the line of David in Judah, and of Jeroboam and Jehu in
<>
352 HOSEAe
silver and their gold they have wrought for them- selves into idols,3 that they may be cut off.
5 Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off.* My anger burns against them. How long will they
6 bear antipathy (d) to pure religion (e) ? For from Israel came5 even this (f) : the workman made it, and it is no God. Verily, the calf of
the kingdom of the ten tribes. But these kings and princes, made without any divine direction, are, I think, rather to be understood of those, who reigned in Judaea after the death of John Hyrcanus, with the usurped title of king, being not of the royal family of Da- vid ; and of the high priests irregularly constituted, in violation of the right of primogeniture in Aaron's family, than of the usurpers after Zechariah in the kingdom of Israel. See Appendix, No. I.
3 Of the idolatry of the Jews, after the return from the Baby- lonian captivity, See Chap, ii, Note 12.
4 Here God himself, who is the speaker, turns short upon Sa- maria, or the ten tribes, and, in a tone of dreadful indignation, upbraids their corrupt worship, by taking to himself the title of Samaria's Calf. I, whom you have so dishonoured, by setting up that contemptible idol, as an adequate symbol of my glory; I, who have so long borne with this corrupt worship, now expressly dis- own you.
5 This thing, vile and abominable as it is, was his own inven- tion ; not a thing that he had learnt or borrowed from any other nation.
HOSEA.
7 Samaria shall be reduced to atoms (g). Verily* a wind shall scatter him' abroad, a whirlwind shall cut him down (n) : there shall be no stem belonging to him : the ear shall yield no meal ; what perchance it may yield, strangers shall
8 swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up : They
6 — « hini)M viz. Israel. The first line of this 7th verse pre- dicts generally the dispersion of the ten tribes, and the demolition of their monarchy by the force of the Assyrian, represented under the image of a scattering wind and destroying whirlwind. The following clauses describe the progressive steps of the calamity, in an inverted order. " There shall be no stem belonging to him.' Nothing standing erect and visible in the field ; that is, the nation shall be ultimately so utterly extinguished, that it shall not be to be found upon the surface of the earth. But before this utter ruin takes place, it shall be impoverished, and reduced to great weak- ness. Tor " the ear," upon the stem yet standing, shall be an ear of empty husks, « yielding no meal." The nation shall not thrive in wealth or power. " And what perchance it may yield, strangers bhall consume." Before the extreme decay, represented by the barren year, takes place ; its occasional temporary successes, in its last struggles, will all be for the enrichment and aggrandisement «f foreign allies, at last the conquerors of the country.
7 — t* swallowed up." Under this image, the Hebrew lan- guage, the Greek, and our own, describe any Slid ■!. D destruction so complete, as to leave no visible vestige of the thing rem
vol. in.
354 HOSEA.
are now among the Gentiles like a vessel in
9 which no man delighteth.8 For they are gone
up of their own accord (i) to Assyria.9 A wild
ass all alone for himself10 is Ephraim. They
10 have given bounties to lovers.11 Notwithstand-
8 A utensil for the lowest purposes.
9 — " to Assyria.'* This is not yet the going into captivity. The captivity, though near at hand, is yet to come. This going up is past. It is a voluntary going up, and a crime. The capti- vity is the punishment.
i o — <e an alone for himself." The pronoun " for himself," after " alone," is highly emphatical. It expresses the selfishness, which belongs to an animal savage in such degree, as not only not to be tamed for the service of man, but frequently not disposed to herd with its own kind : without attachment to the female, except in the moment of desire ; governed entirely by the oestrum of its own lusts. " Though wild asses be often found in the desert in whole herds, yet it is usual for some one of them to break away, and separate himself from his company, and run alone at random by himself: and one so doing is here spoken of." Pocock upon the place.
1 1 — " bounties to lovers." The prophecy alludes not exclu- sively to the bargain with Pul, but to the general profusion of the government in forming foreign alliances ; in which the latter kings both of Israel and Judah were equally culpable ; as appears by the history of the collateral reigns of Ahaz and Pekah. — " to lovers." Every forbidden alliance with idolaters was a part of the spiritual
H0S1
mg that they may give the bounties ampng the gentiles, forthwith will I embody the men (k) ;
and ere long they shall sorrow, on account of the burthen, the king unci (l) the rulers
11 In as much as Kphrahu hath multiplied al- tars,13 altars are (counted) sin unto him(M).
12 I will write upon him Sin's.11, The masters (n)
13 of -my law are accounted as it were an alien race.1' The sacrificers of my proper oftei ings(o)
incontinence of the nation. — " given bounties to." The Hebrew word might be more literally rendered * gifted/ or ' endowed.' But to preserve any thing of the spirit of the original, it is neces- sary to use a word here capable of being applied to military boun- ties in the next verse. In the next verse, God says, that whatever bounties the Israelites might offer, in order to raise armies of fo- reign auxiliaries; he would embody those armies; he would pretf the men, paid by their money, into his own service against them.
12 Ere long the king and the rulers will lament the impolitic expence incurred in gifts and presents to their faithless allies, and the burthen of taxes for that purpose laid upon the people.
is — « multiplied altars;" in contempt of the one altar at Je- rusalem.
14 " I will write upon him Sin's." An allusion to the custom of narking a slave with the owner's name. See note (m).
15 — << tne masters of my law.'* Those, who pretend to be ex- pounders of my law, shall be disowned as aliens.
/ 'J
356 HOSEA.
sacrifice flesh, and eat. Jehovah accepteth them not. Forthwith will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. They shall return 14 into Egypt.16 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples ; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities : but I will send a fire upon his cities, which shall devour the stately buildings thereof.
CHAP. IX.1
1 Rejoice not, O Israel, like the peoples,2 with joyous exultation (a) ; for thou hast played the
i6 « To return into Egypt," or " to go to Assyria," seem to be used as proverbial expressions, capable, according to the ap- plication, of the one Or the other of two different meanings. Either to be reduced to an abject oppressed condition, like that of the Egyptian servitude ; which is the sense here : or to fall into the grossest idolatries, such as were practised in Egypt and Assyria ; which is the sense below, chap, ix, 3. See Dr Blaney on Zecha- riah, v, 11.
1 The prophecy delivered in this and the next following chapter seems to regard the kingdom of Israel principally.
2 It should seem that this prophecy was delivered at a time when the situation of public affairs was promising ; perhaps after some signal success, which had given occasion to public rejoicings-
HOSEA.
wanton, not cleaving to thy God: thou hast set thy heart upon the fee of prostitution (b). Upon
2 all floors is corn.3 The floor and the vat shall not feed them,3 and the must (c) shall deceive
3 their (d) expectations. They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah, for Ephraim is returning;
— " like the peoples." Those national successes, which might be just cause of rejoicing to other people, are none to thee • tor thou liest under the heavy sentence of God's wrath, for thy dis- loyalty to him ; and all thy bright prospects will vanish, and termi- nate in thy destruction. The Gentiles were not guilty in an equal degree with the Israelites; for, although they sinned, it was not against the light of revelation, in contempt of the warnings of in- spired prophets, or in breach of any express covenant.
3 What the fee of prostitution was, on which they had set their hearts, appears by chap, ii, 12; namely, abundance of the fruits of the earth ; which they ascribed to the heavenly bodies, and other physical agents, which they worshipped. The prophet here tells them, they might think they had obtained their fee. For then- crops were indeed abundant ; nevertheless they would not be the better for the plenty of their land. This might be brought to pass by the just judgment of God in various ways; either the corn not yielding a nutritious meal, nor the grape a generous juice : or the stomach failing in its office, to extract nutriment from good bread, and wholesome drink ; or the enemy driving them from their land, .vhich thenceforward should produce its abundance for Strang
Z 3
358 HOSEA.
into Egypt, and they eat unclean things in As-
4 syria.4. Let them not make libations of wine to Jehovah,5 for their sacrifices are not pleasant to him (e): they are to them as the meat of mourn- ers,6 of which all that eat are polluted: their food forsooth be it to themselves (g) ; let it not come into the house of Jehovah.
5 What will ye do for the season of solemn as-
6 sembly, and for the festival of Jehovah ? Behold all 7 are gone ! Total devastation ! Egypt shall gather them; Memphis shall bury them.8 Their
* — « returning into Egypt, and they eat unclean things in As- syrians ;" u e. they are degenerating in their manners into mere idolaters of the very worst sort.
5 Compare Jer. vi, 20, and Is. i, II, 13.
o — <« meat of mourners," L e. the viands set out at funeral feasts ; which feasts were in use among the Jews as well as the Gentiles ; and, for any thing that appears, were not forbidden by the law, except to the priests, who were to take no part in the ceremonies of interments, except of their nearest relations. But such viands were unclean, and brought a temporary uncleanness upon all who partook of them. See note (f).
7 — « All," i. e. all the people of the land. See Appendix, No. III.
3 Probably many of the inhabitants of the kingdom of Samaria
HOSEA.
valuables of silver! The nettle shall disp them, and the tliistle, in their dwellings (h).
7 The days of visitation arc come ! Tlie days of retribution are come! Israel shall know it. Stu- pid is the prophet (1) 1 The man of the spirit is gone mad!9 In proportion to (k) the greatness of thine iniquity, great also is the vengeance!
S The watchman of Ephraim is with his God (l). The prophet ! the snare of the fowler is over all his ways.10 Vengeance against the house-
fled into Egypt before the Assyrian captivity, and remained there to their death.
9 " Stupid gone mad." Stupid, if he himself discerneth
not the signs of the times. Gone mad, if, aware of the impending judgment, he flatters the people with delusive hopes •, and, by that conduct, makes himself an instrument in bringing on that public ruin, in which he himself must be involved. For a fuller explana- tion of this passage see note (i).
io — 1< hi6 ways," either the ways which the prophet himself pursues, and then the prophet is threatened with judicial decep- tion ; or the prophet's ways may be the ways he recommends to the people ; and then they are warned against his prevarications. The former, I think, is the better exposition.
The watchman is here evidently a title, by which some faithful prophet is distinguished from the temporisers and seducers. But
Z 4
360 HOSEA.
9 hold11 of my God (m) ! They have gone deep in corruption, as in the days of Gibeah.12 He will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins. 10 As grapes in the wilderness13 I found (o) Israel ; as the first ripe upon the fig-tree, in the beginning of her season, I beheld your fathers.
who in particular is this watchman, thus honourably distinguished, and how is he f* with his God?" I think the allusion is to Elijah and kis miraculous translation. " Elijah, that faithful watchman, that resolute opposer of idolatry in the reign of Ahab and Jezabel, is now with his God, receiving the reward of his fidelity in the enjoyment of the beatific vision. But the prevaricating prophets, which now are, are the victims of judicial delusion." See (n).
* * — " the household of my God," the priests and prophets.
* 2 See Judges xix.
13 — " in the wilderness." The wilderness is rightly connect- ed with grapes, and is not to be connected with Israel. Here is no sort of allusion to the wilderness, through which the Israelites were led to the promised land, as some of the Jewish expositors have most absurdly imagined ; in which God found not Israel, but led him into it. The " waste howling wilderness," in which God is said to have found Israel, in Deut. xxxii, 10, is the wilderness of idolatry ; and the image there expresses the weak state of the Israelites, when they lived intermixed with idolaters, as stranger? m Canaan, an$ afterwards as slaves in Egypt,
TTOSEA. 961
They of their own will (p) went to Baal Poor, and consecrated themselves to that obscenity (q); and as [my] love of them so were their abomiru
11 ations.1* Ephraim (r) ! like a bird shall their glory fly away ; there shall be no birth, no gesta-
12 tion, no conception.15 If so be they bring np their children, still will I make them childless, till not a man is left. Verily wo still awaits them, even when I turn away (s) from them.ie
13 Ephraim, to all appearance (t), was planted on a rock (v) in a quiet habitation. But Ephraim is upon the point of bringing out his children to the murtherer.
14 Give them, O Jehovah : What wouldst thou give ? Give them an abortive womb and dried-
— ■ * 3 • * - i ■ . . . .j
** The love, gratuiteus; the abominations without inducement, but from mere depravity. The love, the tenderest ; the abomina- tions, enormous.
15 Baal Peor was the power presiding over procreation; mak- ing the women fruitful, and giving them guick and easy labour. See note (0). Sterility therefore is threatened, with peculiar pro- priety, as the judgment for the worship of that idol.
16 _<< turn away from them," i.e. when I give them totally up; no longer attending to their conduct, or visiting their sins; when I have done with thero.
362 HOSEA.
up breasts ; all their wickedness * 7 in Gil- gal (w). 15 Truly there I hated them.18 For the evil of their perverse practices (x), I will drive them
1 7 Requite them all their idolatries committed in Gilgal. At the beginning of the verse the prophet addresses Jehovah. Jeho- vah interrupts him, " What wouldst thou give ?" i. e. what wouldst thou ask me to give them ? The prophet resumes, and goes on to the end of the verse. Then Jehovah speaks again to the end of the 16th verse. The spirit of the prophet's prayer I take to be, that God would in mercy rather visit the sinful people with judg- ments immediately from himself, than give them up to the sword of the enemy. " Let us fall into the hands of the Lord," said David, " for his mercy is great, and not into the hands of man."
is — it tnere i hated them." The first great offence of the Israelites, after their entrance into the Holy Land, was committed while they were encamped in Gilgal ; namely, the sacrilegious pe- culation of Achan. (Josh, vii.) And to this, I think, with Dr Wells, these words allude. There, says God, of old was my quar- rel with them.
Gilgal was the place where the armies of Israel, upon their en- tering Canaan, first encamped; where Joshua set up the twelve stones, taken by God's command out of the midst of Jordan, in memorial of the miraculous passage through the river. There' the first passover was kept, and the fruits of the promised land first enjoyed. There the captain of the host of Jehovah appeared to
1
HOSEA.
out of my house, I will love them no more ;
ifi ill their rulers are revolters. Ephraim is blight- ed (y) ; their root is dried up : they shall pro- duce no fruit:18 even if they bring forth, yet will I slay the goodliest of their offspring.
17 My God will cast them away, because the\ have not hearkened unto him; and they shall become wanderers among the heathen.
CHAP. X.
1 Israel was a yielding (a) vine ; his fruit ' was answerable to his vigour (b). According to the
Joshua. There the rite of circumcision, which had been omitted during the 40 years of the wandering of the people in the wilder- ness, was renewed. And, in the days of the prophet Samuel, Gil- gal appears to have been an approved place of worship and burnt offering. But in later times, it appears from Hosea and his con- temporary Amos, that it became a place of great resort for idola- trous purposes. And these are the wickednesses in Gilgal, of which the prophet here speaks.
1 ° Or thus, " Ephraim is smitten at the root ; he is dried up, that he can bear no fruit." See note (y).
1 The fruit here meant is not the fruit of good works, but the fruit of national prosperity; increasing population, abundant crops, numerous flocks and herds, public opulence, military strength.
S6i HOSEA.
increase of his fruit, he increased in altars ; like
the beauty of his land, he made the beauty of
2 his images.2 Their heart is divided :3 forthwith
i
shall they undergo their punishment. [God] himself (c) shall break down their altars, and 8 deface their images. This very moment shall they say, We have no king, because we feared not the Jehovah ; and a king, what could he do for us !
4 Negotiate (d); swear false oaths; ratify a treaty :4 nevertheless judgment shall sprout up, like hemlock (e) over the ridges of the field.
5 The inhabitants (f) of Samaria shall be in con- sternation (g) for the great calf (h) of Bethaven. Verily there shall be mourning over it, of its
2 His idolatrous altars were as numerous, as his national pro- sperity was great ; and the exquisite workmanship of his images was as remarkable, as the natural beauty of his country.
3 — « divided" between God and their idols.
4 Negotiate alliances with one power and another; make a treaty with the Assyrian; bind yourselves to it with an oath. Break your Oath, and make a new alliance with the Egyptian. In spite of all measures of crooked policy, all acquisitions of foreign aid and support, judgment is springing up.
HOSEA. 3*1
people and of its priests, who exulted (i) over its
6 glory ;J because it is stripped off from it, and with itself (k) also shall be carried into Assyria a present to the king (l) who takes up all quar- rels.6 Ephraim shall be overtaken in sound sleep7 (m), and Israel shall be disgraced by his own po-
7 litics.8 Samaria is destroyed. Her king is like a bubble (n) upon the surface of the waters.0
S The chapels also of Aven, that sin of Israel, shall be demolished. The bramble and the thistle shall overgrow their altars ; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us j and to the hills, Fall upon us.
5 — « its glory/' the riches of its temple. * See verse 13.
7 — <s in sound sleep." In a dream of security, when nothing will be less in his thoughts than danger.
8 The politics of treaties of alliance mentioned in verse 4. An impolitic alliance with the king of Egypt was the immediate occa- sion of Shalmanezer's rupture with Hoshea, which ended in the captivity of the ten tribes.
9 — " like a bubble," kc. which no sooner swells than it hursts.
m HOSEA.
9 More than in the days of Gibeah is the sin of
Israel. 1 ° There they stood. 1 l It overtook them
not (o) at Gibeah, the war against the children
10 of iniquity.12 It is in my desire, and I will
I ° The sin of Israel now exceeds the sins of those sinful times, when every one did what was right in his own eyes ; and it seemed right in the eyes of the whole tribe of Benjamin to protect the outrage of the Sodomites of Gibeah. See Judges xix.
I I " There" — i. e. upon that occasion, the quarrel with the tribe of Benjamin, on account of the outrage of the men of Gibeah. — " they stood ;" they, the Israelites, " stood," set themselves in array for the attack.
1 2 God gave the Israelites success in that righteous war. It may seem however strange, that it should be said, that the " war overtook them not," as if they had not suffered by it ; when they were unsuccessful in the two first assaults, and were repulsed by the Benjaminites with a slaughter amounting, in the two days, to 40,000 men. Judges xx, 21 and 25. But besides that the confe- derated tribes were ultimately successful ; this loss, in proportion to their whole embattled force, which consisted of 400,000 men (ver. 2.), was nothing in comparison with that of the tribe of Ben- jamin, which was all but cut off. For of their force, which was 26,700, no more than 1600 survived the business of the third day, in which the town of Gibeah was taken and destroyed. And of this remnant all seem to have been cut off afterwards, except the 600 men that fortified themselves upon the rock Rimmon ; so that of the whole tribe not one forty-fourth part was left.
HOSEA. 367
chastise them ;1J and the peoples shall be gar thered together against* them, when they are tethered down to their two furrows (p).
11 Yet Ephraim is a trained heifer ; J delighted in treading out [grain] (q). Therefore J myself for good have crossed her neck.1* I will make Ephraim carry me (r) ; Judah shall plow, Jacob shall harrow * for himself.15
13 "It is in my desire," Sec. Then I protected and gave them success. But now it is my desire, that they should suffer due pu- nishment, and I will bring punishment upon them.
— " when they are tethered down to their two furrows;" or, " when they are tied to their two faults." That is, when they are reduced to a situation of such difficulty and danger, as to have no hope of deliverance by any measures of human policy, in which alone they place their confidence, but by choosing one or other oi two alliances, the Egyptian or the Assyrian ; in the forming of ei- ther of which they are criminal, having been repeatedly warned against all foreign alliances.
14 This and the following clause give the image of a husband- man mounting his bullock, to direct it over the corn.
* See Appendix, No. III.
1 5 The three first clauses of this verse express what had been done, for the instruction of Ephraim, by the Mosaic institution. The two last predict the final conversion of the Ephraimites, with the rest of the people, and their restoration to a condition of na«
S68 HOSEA,
J 2 Sow to yourselves for righteousness, [that ye may] reap according to mercy.16 Break up your fallows ; x 7 for it is time to seek the Jehovah, until he come, and rain down righteousness1^
13 upon you. Ye have plowed-in wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity: ye have eaten deceitful fruit,19 because thou hast trusted in thy own way,20 in the multitude of thy mighty men.
___— „ i ■» i ■ 4 —
tional splendour and prosperity* Notwithstanding the judgments that are to fall upon Ephraim, she was long under the training of my holy law; and the effect of that early discipline shall not be ultimately lost. I will in the end bring Ephraim to obedience ;• Judah shall be diligent, in the works I prepare for her ; and the whole race of Jacob shall take part in the same labours of the spi- ritual field, with profit and advantage to themselves.
1 c i. e. Sow such seed as may produce righteousness, i, e. your justification, in God's sight, that so ye may reap according to his exuberant mercy. (See Appendix, No. III.) The prophet speaks in this 12th verse. In the following, Jehovah takes up the dis- course again.
1 7 Compare Jer. iv, 8.
i8 The imputed righteousness of Christ.
19 — « deceitful fruit," fair to the eye, but without flavour, and affording no nourishment.
20 __« thy own way," the measures of thy own policy.
HOSEA.
14 Therefore a tumult shall arise among thy peoples, and all thy fortresses shall be demolished) * as Sbalman demolished Betharbal (s) ; in the day of battle the mother was dashed ill pieces upon
15 the children. Thus shall Bethel do to you, be- cause of your wickedness, your passing wicked- ness."'1 As the morning (t) is brought to no- thing (v), to nothing shall the king of Israel be brought.23
CHAP. XI.1 1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
* See Appendix, No. IIT.
22 Hebrew, " The wickedness of your wickedness." The ido- latries practised in Bethel shall bring down similar vengeance upon you.
23 The sudden and total destruction of the monarchy of the ten tribes is compared to the sudden and total extinction of the beauties of the dawn in the sky, by the instantaneous diffusion of the solar light ; by which the ruddy streaks in the east, the glow of orange-coloured light upon the horizon, are at once obliterated, absorbed, and lost in the colourless light of day. The change is sudden even in these climates. It must be more sudden in the tropical; and in all, it is one of the most complete that nature pre- sents.
1 The Israel of this eleventh chapter is the whole people, com« VOL, m. A A
370 HOSEA.
2 and out of Egypt called (a) my son.2 No sooner they were called, than they were gone from my presence, they (c) ! They sacrificed to Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images :3
3 although I was a go-nurse (e) to Ephraim, tak- ing them(F) over the shoulders.4 But they would not know, that I preserved their health (f2)
posed of the two branches, Judah and the ten tribes. But " the house of Israel" is the kingdom of the ten tribes, as distinct from the other branch.
2 — « my son." Although the son, here immediately meant, is the natural Israel, called out of Egypt by Moses and Aaron ; there can be no doubt, that an allusion was intended by the Holy Spi- rit to the call of the infant Christ out of the same country. In reference to this event, the passage might be thus paraphrased : " God in such sort set his affection upon the Israelites, in the in- fancy of their nation, that, so early as from their first settlement in Egypt, the arrangement was declared of the descent of the Messiah from Judah, and of the calling of that Son from Egypt.'* See Gen. xlix, 10. Num. xxiii, 22. xxiv, 8. and Deut. xxxiii, 7. See note (b).
3 — " graven images." For an explanation of this common ex- pression, see note (d).
4 — " a go-nurse," &c. When a young child is first taught to go, the nurse places herself behind its back ; and putting her hands forward, over its shoulders, brings them under its arm-pits ; and, supporting the child in this manner, paces slowly after it, taking-
1 EOSEA.
4 amid the grievous plagues (o) of men. J I drew diem with tlie bands of love, and I was unto them as one raising the yoke" upon their cheeks, and I spread provender7 before him.
5 They shall not return into the land of Egypt ;G but the Assyrian, he shall be their king : because
6 they have refused to return [to me] (h). And the sword shall weary itself in his cities, and con- sume his diviners,9 and devour because of their
step for step with the child. The allusion in the text is to that sort of nurse, who performs this office.
5 — " grievous plagues of men." The plagues of Egypt, which touched not the Israelites.
6 — " the yoke ;" the heavy yoke of the Egyptian bondage. The expression of raising the yoke refers, as is well observed by Archbishop New combe, and before him by Bishop Lowtli on Isaiah, i, 3. to the custom of raising the yoke forward, to cool the neck of the labouring beast.
7 — " provender." The manna in the wilderness. Castalio, and the margin of the Bishop's Bible.
8 — " not return into Egypt." They were desirous of making their escape thither, and many families perhaps effected it. See ix, 6. But here it is threatened, that the nation in a body shall not be permitted so to escape.
9 — « diviners." The stupid prophet, and the man of the spirit gone mad, mentioned ix, 7. See note (i).
A A 2
372 HOSEA.
7 counsels ; and my people shall hang in anxious suspense till my returning.10 For they were called to a high degree. x 1 All of one mind (k), they would not (l) be exalted.
8 How shall I give thee up, O Ephraim ? Aban- don thee, O Israel ? How shall I make thee as Admah, place thee in the condition of Zeboini ? My heart is turned upon me, my bowels (m)
9 yearn all together. I will not execute the fury of mine anger; I will not return12 to make de- struction of Ephraim. For God I am, and not man ; the Holy One in the midst qf thee, al- io though I am no frequenter of cities.13 After
10 The Israelites are not threatened with utter destruction, but a near approach to it. Till the season shall come for God's turn- ing to them again, they shall remain in a state of doubtful anxious expectation of relief, or of worse distress.
1 1 — " a high degree j" the opposite of " nothingness of con- dition," mentioned chap, vii, 16. See the notes on that place.
12 — " return." When I come a second time, it will not be to destroy. An indirect promise of coming again, not for judg- ment, but for mercy.
13 — " the Holy One," &c. Dwelling with thee, but in a pe- culiar and extraordinary manner, not after the manner of men, I am no frequenter of cities in general. See note (n),
HOSKA. 373
Jehovah they shall walk.1 1 Like a lion he shall roar; verily he himself (°) shall roar; and chil- li drenJJ shall hurry (r) from the west. They shall hurry like the sparrow (q) from Egypt,
i fc — « after Jehovah." Time will yet come, when they shall be converted.
1 5 — cC children." It is remarkable, that the expression is neither " their children," nor " my children," but simply " children." The first would limit the discourse to the natural Israel exclusively ; the second would be nearly of the same effect, as it would express such as were already children, at the time of the roaring. But the word f children,' put nakedly, without either of these epithets, expresses those, who were neither of the natural Israel, nor children, that is worshippers, of the true God, at the time of the * roaring;' but were roused by that sound, and then became children, i.e. the a- dopted children, by natural extraction gentiles. This and the next verse contain indeed a wonderful prophecy of the promulga- tion and progress of the gospel, and the restoration of the race of Israel. The first clause of this 10th verse states generally, that they shall be brought to repentance. In what follows, the circum- stances and progress of the business are described. First, Jeho- vah shall roar : the roaring is unquestionably the sound of the gospel. Jehovah himself shall roar: the sound shall begin to be uttered by the voice of the incarnate God himself. The first ef- fect shall be, that children shall come fluttering from the west ; a new race of children : converts of the gentiles ; chiefly from the
A A 3
374 HOSEA.
and like the dove from Assyria: and I will settle them in their own houses, saith Jeho- 12 vah (r). Ephraim hath compassed me about with treachery, and the house of Israel with de- ceit. But Judah shall yet obtain dominion16 with God, and shall be established17 with the Holy Ones.
western quarters of the world, or what the scriptures call the west ; for no part I think of Asia Minor, Syria, or Palestine, is reckoned a part of the east in the language of the Old Testament. After- wards the natural Israel shall hurry from all the regions of their dispersion, and be settled in their own dwellings.
It is to be observed, that the roaring is mentioned twice. It will be most consistent with the style of the prophets, to take this as two roarings ; and to refer the hurrying of the children from the west, to the first ; the hurrying from Egypt and Assyria, to the second. The times of the two roarings are the first and se- cond advent. The first brought children from the west ; the re- newed preaching of the gospel, at the second, will bring home the Jews. And perhaps this second sounding of the gospel may be, more remarkably even than the first, a roaring of Jehovah in per- son. See Appendix, No. III.
i g — « obtain dominion." A promissory allusion to a final re- storation of the Jewish monarchy.
17 — "established." The word may signify either the con- stancy of Judah's fidelity to the " Holy Ones ;' or the firmness
HOSEA. 975
CHAP. XII.1
1 Ephraim feedeth on wind,8 and followeth af- ter the east wind." Every day he nmltiplieth falsehood and destruction.* Eor a while they make a covenant with the Assyrian, at the same
2 time oil is carried into Egypt. Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah ; and is about to visit upon Jacob according to his ways ; accord- ing to his perverse practices, he will recompense
3 unto him. In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his adult vigour (a) he had
of the support, which lie shall receive from them. " The Holy Ones," the Holy Trinity. By the use of* this plural word, the pro- phecy clearly points to the conversion of the Jewish people to the Christian faith. See note (s).
1 The prophet speaks to the end of the 6th verse ; then God.
1 — " feedeth on wind ;'' pursues measures, from which he reaps ho advantage : his forbidden and impolitic alliances.
' — " east wind." The females of some animals, mares in par- ticular, are supposed to conceive heat, by snuffing the dry east wind. So the Israelites, by their foreign alliances, were inflamed with the love of idolatry.
4 — u destruction;" I. c. multiplying his falsehood he multiplier the causes of his own destruction. See Appendix, No. III.
A A *
376 HOSEA.
4 power with God. Even matched with the angel (b) he had power, and was endued with strength (c). He. had wept (d), and made sup- plication. At Bethel he found the angel, who
5 spake with us there \5 even Jehovah God of
6 hosts, Jehovah in his memorial.6 Thou7 there-
5 — " spake with us ;" that is God, spake with us in the loins of Jacob. The things spoken certainly concerned Jacob's poste- rity, as much, or more than himself. See note (e). Observe, that the taking of his brother by the heel is not mentioned in dis- paragement of the Patriarch. On the contrary, the whole of these two verses is a commemoration of God's kindness for the ancestor of the Israelites, on which the prophet founds an animated exhor- tation to them, to turn to that God, from whom they might expect so much favour. This favour of God for Jacob displayed itself, when he was less than an infant ; for, before he was born, he took his brother by the heel ; and, in his adult vigour, he was endued with such strength, as to prevail against the angel.
6 _ _« his memorial f i, e. God's memorial. His appropriate, perpetual, incommunicable name, expressing his essence. See note (f).
7 Thou therefore, O Israel, encouraged by the memory of God's love for thy progenitor, and by the example, which thou hast in him, of the efficacy of weeping and supplication, turn to thy God in penitence and prayer, and in the works of righteousness ; and ever, under all circumstances, and at all times, look out for his mercy and aid, and weary not with expectation of his coming.
1JOSEA.
lore turn unto thy God; keep to charity and
justice (g), and ever look out for thy God.
7 ° Canaan the trafficker (n) ! The cheating ba- lances in his hand ! He has set his heart upon
8 over-reaching ( i ). Nevertheless Ephraim shall say,0 Although I became rich, I acquired to my- self [only] sorrow ; all my labours procured not
9 for me, what may expiate iniquity (k). But I, Je- hovah, am thy God from [thy first deliverance from] the land of Egypt. I will yet again make thee dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn
10 assembly. I have spoken [coming] upon the pro- phets (l), I have also multiplied vision ; and by the ministry of the prophets I have shewn simili- tudes.10
8 God says to the prophet, instead of turning to me, and keep- ing to works of charity and justice, he is a mere heathen huckster. Thou hast miscalled him " Jacob." He is Canaan. Not Jacob, the godly, the heir of the promise. Canaan the cheat, the son of the curse.
9 Nevertheless, the time will come, when Ephraim will repent and say, &c. What follows is the penitent confession of the E- phraimitcs, in the latter days, wrought upon at last by God's judg- ment and mercies.
1 ■' Compelling the prophets to perform symbolical actions j as,
378 HOSEA.
1 1 Was there idolatry in Gilead ? Surely in Gil- gal they are become vanity. They sacrifice bul- locks , their altars also are as heaps upon the
12 ridges of the field.11 But Jacob12 fled into the field of Syria, and Israel became a servant for a
13 wife, and for a wife he kept wTatch (m). There- fore by a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he tended (n).
14 Ephraim has given bitterest provocation. There- fore his murthers shall be upon him : he shall be
in the case of Isaiah, going- naked; Jeremiah, binding himself; Ezekiel, lying on one side ; not mourning for his wife ; Hosea's marriage ; and many other instances,
11 The tribes settled about Gilead, beyond Jordan, were al- ready captivated by Tiglath-pileser. God, by the prophet, de- clares, that the idolatry still practised in Gilgal was equally abo- minable, and would bring down similar judgments upon the remain- ing tribes, on the west of Jordan.
1 - So opposite to thine was the conduct of thy father Jacob, that he fled into Syria, to avoid an alliance with any of the idol- atrous families of Canaan ; and, in firm reliance on God's promises,, submitted to the greatest hardships. And in reward of his faith, God did such great things for his posterity, bringing them out of the land of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness like sheep, by the hand of his servant Moses.
HOSE A. S79
forsaken: and his master13 shall requite unto him all his blasphemies.
CHAP. XIII.
1 When Epbraim spake, there was dread : he was exalted in Israel. But he offended in Baal,
2 and died.1 And now they repeat [their] sin: and (a) in their great wisdom2 they have made to themselves molten images (b) of their silver ; idols, the workmanship of artificers. Their finish- ing is (c), that they say, Let the sacrifices of
3 men kiss the calves." 3 Therefore they shall be
13 — u his master;" that is, his conqueror, who shall hold him in servitude, and be the instrument of God's just vengeance.
1 The former part of the verse describes the consequence and pre-eminence of Ephraim, in his own country, and among the neighbouring nations ; the latter part, his diminution and loss of consequence by his idolatry.
- Spoken ironically.
8 This verse briefly describes the progress of idolatry among the ten tribes, from the time of the introduction of the worship of the Tynan Baal in the reign of Ahab, which may be reckoned its commencement. From this time they were daily multiplying their idols, and adopting all the abominations of the heathen rites. The earlier worship of Jeroboam's calves was the lea^t part of their
.'380 HOSEA.
as the cloud of the morning, and as the dew which passeth away early ;4 as chaff driven by the whirlwind from the threshing floor, and as 4 smoke from the chimney. Yet I Jehovah am thy God from [thy first deliverance from] the
guilt ; for it was not properly idolatry ; it was a schismatical wor- ship of the true God, under disallowed emblems, and by a usurp- ing priesthood. But at length superstition made such a progress among them, that human sacrifices were made an essential rite in the worship of the calves. And this was the finishing stroke, the last stage of their impiety ; that they said, " Let the sacrificers of men kiss the calves." Let them consider themselves as the most acceptable worshippers, who approach the image with human blood. — " kiss the calves ;" i, e. worship the calves. Among the antient idolaters, to kiss the idol was an act of the most solemn adoration. Thus we read in holy writ of " all the knees which have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." Tully mentions a brazen statue of Hercules at Agrigen- tum, in which the workmanship of the mouth was sensibly worn by the frequent kisses of the worshippers. And in allusion to this rite, the holy psalmist, calling upon the apostate faction to avert the wrath of the incarnate God, by full acknowledgment of his Divinity, bids them " kiss the Son :" i. e. worshin him. See more about human sacrifices note (d). 4 Compare vi; 4,
HOSE A. S»1
land of Egypt ; and thou shalt know no God but
me,5 for saviour there is none beside me. 5 I sustained thee (e) in the wilderness. In the
land of parching thirst (r), as in their own pas- G tures : and they were fed to the full (g). 1 ed
to the full, and their heart was lifted high : for
7 that very reason0 they forgat me. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion : as a leopard by the
8 way-side (h) I will lie upon the watch (i), I will meet them as the bereaved bear, and I will rend the caul of their heart: like a lioness I will de- vour them upon the spot (k). The wild beast7 shall tear them limb from limb (m).
9 It is thy destruction (n), O Israel, that upon
5 — " thou shalt know no God but me;" that is, thou shalt not experience the power and protection of any other. Those thou callest thy gods will be able to do nothing for thee.
6 — " for that very reason." My kindness itself was the occa- sion of their ingratitude; for, in the pride of heart, which the mi- raculous supply of their wants for so long a time produced in them, they forgot their benefactor.
7 God, in a paroxysm, as it were, of indignation, calls himself the wild beast. See note (l).
382 HOSEA.
10 me [alone it lies] to help thee.8 Where (o) is thy king ? Where now is he ? 9 to save thee for- sooth (p) in all thy cities. And thy judges (q) ?
11 Inasmuch as thou saidst, Give me a king and rulers, I gave thee a king in mine anger,10 and I take him away in my fury.
8 Powerful as my protection would have been, O Israel, hadst thou placed thy reliance and hope upon me exclusively ; thou hast broken the covenant, thou hast sought to other succour, thou hast formed alliances with the heathen, and even courted the protection of their gods. I therefore, in my wrath, withdraw from thee my special aid ; and, since forsaken of me, thou hast no other helper, thy ruin must ensue. Thus thy great privilege, to have God alone for thy defence, becomes the occasion of thy destruction. What follows is angry expostulation, in broken sentences.
9 " Where is thy king ?" &c. This vehement redoubled inter- rogation seems to suppose a denial on the part of the Israelites of the helpless ruined state asserted in the former verse as the con- sequence of God's withdrawing his protection. Do you deny this ? Do you pretend that you have still means of defence, hope of de- liverance ? You rely upon the policy or prowess of your monarch. Where is he, this wise and mighty king ? Tell me in what quar- ter? Your judges, your provincial rulers, where are they? Let me see what deliverance this king and these rulers can effect.
io « J gave thee a king in mine anger." It is not to be
concluded from this expression, that God dislikes the monarchical
2
IIOSEA.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is fagotted up;11
13 his sin is hoarded.11 The pangs of a travailing woman are coming upon him; He is of the
thoughtless race (r), for it is the critical mo- tnent, when he ought not to stand still : the children are12 in the aperture (s).
, , . 1 — »
form of government. If this were the place for the discussion, it were easy to shew, that the monarchical is the form most approv- ed in holy writ ; as it was also among the heathen tiie favourite government of the heroic ages. But the original form of govern- ment in Israel was a monarchy ; in which God himself was the monarch, and the priests, prophets, and judges, were his ministers. When the Israelites therefore desired to have a king, they forgot, that they had a king already; the Lord of all the Earth con- descending to be in a peculiar manner their immediate sovereign. Their petition for a king was in contempt of that sovereignty of God ; and this was the circumstance by which they incurred God's displeasure in that petition. I would observe that the seven verses of this chapter, from the 5th to the 11th inclusively, form a sec- tion which regards the whole race of Israel in general. At the 12th verse the prophecy turns again on Ephraim in particular.
1 > — " fagotted up hoarded," in God's remembrance.
1 - — " the aperture ;" Hebrew, " the breach." They are ac- tually passing through the opening of the parts distended by the throes of labour. It is the very moment, when the pains must ter- minate in the delivery, or the death of the woman. A proverbial
- 384 HOSEA.
14 (t) From the power of Hell15 I will redeem them. From Death I will reclaim them.14
expression for a crisis of extreme danger and doubtful catastrophe. See Is. xxxvii, 3. At such a moment as this, thoughtless Ephraim is supine and unconcerned.
* 13 _<f Hell." Not the place where the damned are to suffer their torment ; but the invisible place, where the departed souls of the deceased remain, till the appointed time shall come for the re-union of soul and body. This is the only hell of the Old Tes- tament 5 though, by an abuse of the word, the place of torment is the first notion it presents to the English reader. But the English word hell properly imports no more than the invisible or hidden place, from the Saxon w helan," to cover over.
In the New Testament we find the word hell in our English Bibles in twenty-one passages in all. In nine of these it signifies the place of torment; namely, in these, Mat. v, 22, 29, 30; x, 28; xviii, 9; xxiii, 15, 33; Mark ix, 4-7; Luke xii, 5. In the other twelve, simply the region of departed spirits. And in this same sense it is used in the apostle's creed. " He descended into hell." Of this place we know little, except that to those who die in the Lord, it is a place of comfort and rest. Not a Jacobinical paradise of eternal sleep and senselessness ; but a place of happy rest and tranquil hope. In the prophetic imagery it is often mentioned, as a dark cave deep in the bowels of the earth. Sometimes it is per- sonified, as in this passage.
1 * As my property, by the right of an owner,
2
HOSKA. 385
Death ! I will be thy l5 pestilence (v). Hell ! I will be thy15 burning plague (w) 15 (x) No repentance is discoverable to my eye!16 Nay in truth he is run wild among sa-
15 — tt pestilence," the putrid plague -fever. — "burning plague," the solstitial inflammation, which seizes and kills in an instant. See note (w).
16 The frequent and sudden transitions from threatening to promise, from indignation to pathetic persuasion, and the contrary, produce much obscurity in the latter part of this prophet ; which however disappears, when breaks are made in the proper places. In the 13th verse, the peril of Ephraim's situation, arising from his own hardened thoughtlessness, is described in the most striking images. In the 14th, God the Saviour comforts him with the promise of the final deliverance and salvation. In these words, u No repentance is discoverable to my eye," the Saviour com- plains, that these terrors and these hopes are all ineffectual. That he perceives no signs of repentance wrought by them. The He- brew sounds literally, " Repentance is hidden from mine e)es." The total defect of the thing is most strongly expressed in the as- sertion, that nothing of it is to be discerned by the all-searching eye of the Divine Saviour. Tins complaint of universal impeni- tence introduces new threatening, with which the chapter end, — " run wild among savage beasts." Broken loose from the re- sHainta of God's holy law. given up to his depraved appetites, and
VOL, in, B B
386 HOSEA.
vage beasts (y). The east wind (z) shall come. Jehovah is raising up the blast (z) from the wilderness ; and he shall dry up his fountain, and lay dry his spring (aa) shall He.17 He shall plunder the storehouse of all goodly vessels.18 16 Samaria is found guilty, that she hath rebelled against her God. By the sword they shall fall ; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women shall be ripped up.
CHAP. XIV.1
1 Return, O Israel,2 unto Jehovah thy God,
turned mere heathen. For the heathen are the savage beasts. This is an exaggeration of the complaint of Ephraim's impenitence. He is become such perfect heathen, in his present manners, that his case seems desperate. See Appendix, No. III.
i7 — « He." Either Jehovah, or the conqueror represented under the image of the wind.
1 8 — « au goodly vessels." Every article of ornamental furni- ture, of costly materials and exquisite workmanship.
1 In this xivth chapter, the prophet is the speaker to the end ©f verse 8. Then to the end of verse 6, God the Saviour. In verse 7, the prophet ; verse 8, the Saviour ; verse 9, the prophet.
2 — .« Israel." The whole family of Israel, in both its branches. is addressed.
HOSEA. 387
2 for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity, (a) Take with you words,3 and return unto Jehovah. Say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and ac- cept the good.* So will we render thee bul-
3 locks (c), our own lips.5 The Assyrian shall not save us; we will mount no cavalry, and no more we will say, " Our Gods are ye," to the work of our own hands : in as much as with thee the fatherless obtaineth fond pro- tection.
3 " Take with you words," i. e. a set form of supplication.
* " Take away all iniquity" — i. e. Take entirely away the sin- ful principle within us. Take away the carnal heart of the old Adam. " Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." And then, when we are thus begotten again unto holiness by thy Spirit, " accept the good :" accept, as good, what, so regenerate, we shall be enabled to perform. See note (b).
5 — " bullocks, our own lips." Lips are here put for praises and thanksgivings uttered by the lips. This kind of metonymy, which puts the cause or instrument for the effect, is very frequent with the sacred writers. By calling vocal devotions bullocks, the phraseology shews, that this form of supplication is prepared lor those times, when animal sacrifices will be abolished, and praye* and thanksgiving will be the only offering
B B 'J
3SS HOSEA.
4 I will restore their conversion.6 I will love them gratuitously;7 for mine anger is departed
5 from me (d). I will be as the dew unto Israel ; he shall blossom as the lily, and strike his roots
6 — " their conversion," i. e. their converted race. I take conversion as a collective noun, for converts ; like captivity, for the captives; and dispersion, for the dispersed. The converted nation God promises to restore to his favour, and to a situation of prosperity and splendour.
7 — « gratuitously." Are good works then nothing ? you will say. " Is there no place at all for them in the doctrine of repent- ance ? I answer, that hitherto the discourse hath been about re- mission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are entire- ly gratuitous, and not of our merit, but simply of the inexhaustible goodness and compassion of God. Therefore, when we speak of the remission of sins, it is right to be silent about our own works ; which, because they are done without the Holy Spirit, although with regard to civil society they may not be bad, yet cannot be called good, and ought not ; because of the unclean heart, from which the)' proceed. But when through faith we have received remission of sins, and, together with that the gift of the Holy Ghost ; forthwith from the heart, as from a pure fountain, come forth works also good, and well-pleasing to God. For, although by reason of the remains of original sin, the obedience even of the saints is not perfectly pure, yet on account of faith in Christ it is
HOSEA. 389
like [the forest-trees of] Lebanon.0 His suckers shall spread farther and farther (e) ; and he shall be like the olive-tree, for his beauty, and a smell [shall be] in him like [the smell of] Leba- non.9 7 They shall return (f). Sitting under his sha- dow,10 they shall abound in corn (g). They shall germinate like the vine, [and] be famous (h) as the wine of Lebanon.11
pleasing and acceptable to God." Luther, in his commentary upon this chapter.
8 Lebanon is put by metonymy in the Hebrew for the forests growing on it.
9 — « the smell of Lebanon." The mountain is celebrated by travellers for the fragrance of the greens that clothe its sides. Maundrell found the great rupture, " which runs at least seven hours travel directly up from the sea, and is on both sides exceed- ing steep and high, clothed with fragrant greens from top to bot- tom." Compare Cant, iv, 11.
io __« h^ shadow," i. c. the shadow of Jehovah.
1 i — u as the wine of Lebanon." The Phoenician wines in ge- neral were esteemed by the antients ; especially those of Tripoli?, Tyre, and Berytus, places at the foot of Lebanon, or very near it : awl the wines of that country still are excellent. " Le vin du
390 HOSEA.
8 Ephraim (i) ! What have I to do any more with idols?12 I have answered him. And I will make him flourish (k), like a green fir-tree. From me thy fruit is supplied.
9 Who is wise ? for he will consider these things ; intelligent ? for he shall comprehend (l) them. For straight and even (m) are the ways of Jeho-
Mont Liban, dont le Prophete Osee a fait deja l'eloge, est encore excellent." Niebuhr, Voyage. Tom. II. p. 366.
12 " Ephraim — idols." An exultation of Jehovah over idols. Ephraim ! Even he is returned to me. I have no more contest to carry on with idols. They are completely overthrown. My sole Godhead is confessed.
1 3 The ways of Jehovah are the ways which Jehovah himself takes, in his moral government of the world ; and the ways of god- liness, which he prescribes to man. These taken together are fl the ways of Jehovah." They are straight, because they go straight forward, without deviation, to the end j the happiness of man, and the glory of God.
i4 — te sna]i the justified proceed." In the ways of God, as they have been described, " the justified," those who by faith in Christ have obtained remission of their sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, " shall proceed ;" they will be making daily and hourly approaches to the journey's end. They shall be enabled to
6
HOSEA.
vah,15 and in them shall the justified (n) (o) pro- ceed,14 but revolters (p) shall stumble.1
advance continually in the understanding of the ways of provi- dence, and of the way laid out by Jehovah for them.
15 —"revolters shall stumble." To the incorrigible enemies of God, the very scheme of mercy itself will be a cause of error, confusion, and ruin. " As God's ways are plain to the holy, so are they a stumbling-block to the workers of iniquity." Eccles. xxxix, 24. %
END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.
^^^■■^■■■■B
. :...
bbllDI .nolo VJ
Biblical criticism on the first fourteen
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library
1 1012 00038 3804
■ ■•■
.
' • ■ * I
■ ' I
- ■
■
-
■
• - ■
.