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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. 


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bbllDI .nolo  VJ 

Biblical  criticism  on  the  first  fourteen 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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