WESTMINSTER COMMENTARIES
EDITED BY WALTER LOCK D.D.
LADY MARGARET PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS
MICAH OBADIAH
JOEL AND JONAH
THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS
MICAH OBADIAH
JOEL AND JONAH
WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
G. W. WADE D.D.
SENIOR TUTOR OF 8T DAVID'S COLLEGE, LAMPETBR,
CANON OF 8T ASAPH
METHUEN & CO. LTD.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
First published in 1925
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
DULCISSIMAE DILECTISSIMAE
PREFATORY NOTE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR
THE primary object of these Commentaries is to be exe-
getical, to interpret the meaning of each book of the
Bible in the light of modern knowledge to English readers.
The Editors will not deal, except subordinately, with questions
of textual criticism or philology ; but taking the English text
in the Revised Version as their basis, they will aim at com-
bining a hearty acceptance of critical principles with loyalty to
the Catholic Faith.
The series will be less elementary than the Cambridge Bible
for Schools, less critical than the International Critical Com-
mentary, less didactic than the Expositor's Bible ; and it is
hoped that it may be of use both to theological students and to
the clergy, as well as to the growing number of educated laymen
and laywomen who wish to read the Bible intelligently and
reverently.
Each commentary will therefore have
(i) An Introduction stating the bearing of modern criticism
and research upon the historical character of the book, and
drawing out the contribution which the book, as a whole, makes
to the body of religious truth.
(ii) A careful paraphrase of the text with notes on the
more difficult passages and, if need be, excursuses on any
points of special importance either for doctrine, or ecclesiastical
organization, or spiritual life.
But the books of the Bible are so varied in character that
considerable latitude is needed, as to the proportion which the
various parts should hold to each other. The General Editor
will therefore only endeavour to secure a general uniformity in
Tiii NOTE
scope and character: but the exact method adopted in each
case and the final responsibility for the statements made will
rest with the individual contributors.
By permission of the Delegates of the Oxford University
Press and of the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press
the Text used in this Series of Commentaries is the Revised
Version of the Holy Scriptures.
WALTER LOCK
PREFACE
THE existence of so many excellent books relating to the
Minor Prophets, collectively or singly, may be thought to
render the production of another work on the same subject super-
fluous. But a series of commentaries on the whole Bible, when once
started, calls for completion ; and this is perhaps sufficient justi-
fication for the present volume. Nevertheless its writer has not
been content merely to preserve what in previous commentators
appeared most worth preservation, but has endeavoured to sup-
plement it, wherever expansion or addition seemed desirable.
Possibly an apology is required for the sections in the Introduc-
tion dealing with Messianic Prophecy and Hebrew Versification.
But Christology is attracting renewed attention now, so that a
review of the Old Testament passages connected with it cannot
be deemed altogether untimely or out of place ; whilst the inclu-
sion of a slight sketch of the principles of Hebrew poetic rhythm
has its utility in a book which takes some account of the textual
criticism of such of the prophetic writings as are here included.
In the preparation of the volume the writer has consulted the
works of older scholars like Maurer, Caspari, Ewald, Pusey, Hen-
derson, and various contributors to the Speaker's Commentary ;
but he is mainly indebted to more recent critics, such as Marti,
Nowack, Sellin, Van Hoonacker, and Wellhausen on the Conti-
nent, and Bewer, Cheyne, Driver, Horton,Kirkpatrick, Lanchester,
G. Adam Smith, J. M. Powis Smith, and W. Robertson Smith in
this country or in America. Whilst, however, he has derived from
his predecessors much of his material, he has sought (as in a pre-
vious work) to exercise an independent judgment in drawing con-
clusions from the data that have been collected.
For great assistance in the preparation of the manuscript the
writer wishes to express his deep indebtedness to his wife. The
book has been read in MS. and in proof by Dr Lock, the General
Editor, and his meticulous care has caused the author, who fondly
imagined himself to be something of an adept in condensation, to
x PREFACE
feel that, after all, he is but a mere novice in the art. Dr Lock,
however, has done far more than recommend omissions ; he has
contributed a number of very valuable suggestions, for which the
warmest thanks are due. Help with the proofs has also been
received from the Rev. D. D. Bartlett, B.A., Lecturer in Theology
at Lampeter College. His scrutiny of them has resulted in the
discovery and removal of many oversights and blemishes which
had previously escaped detection, and his kindly service calls
for most grateful acknowledgment.
G.W.W.
CONTENTS
PAOH
INTRODUCTION TO MICAH xv
CHAPTER I. The Title and Contents xv
CHAPTER II. The Disputed Unity of the Book .... xxii
Chronological Table of the Prophecies in the Book
of Micah xxvi
CHAPTER III. The Conditions of Micah's Age and the Tenor of his
Teaching xxvi
INTRODUCTION TO OBADIAH xxxii
CHAPTER I. The Title, Contents, and Structure .... xxxii
CHAPTER II. The Passage Common to Obadiah and Jeremiah . xxxiv
CHAPTER III. The Date xxxviii
CHAPTER IV. Edom and the Edomites xliv
INTRODUCTION TO JOEL li
CHAPTER I. The Title and Contents li
CHAPTER II. The Interpretation of the Book .... liv
CHAPTER III. The Unity of the Book Ivi
CHAPTER IV. The Date of the Book Ixi
CHAPTER V. Joel and Eschatology Ixxii
Note on Locusts Ixxvi
INTRODUCTION TO JONAH Ixxviii
CHAPTER I. The Title, Contents, and Purpose .... Ixxviii
CHAPTER II. The Date Ixxxii
CHAPTER III. The Defective Unity of the Book .... Ixxxv
CHAPTER IV. The Character of the Narrative .... xci
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE SEPARATE INTRODUC-
TIONS c
CHAPTER I. The Theology of the Books of Micah, Obadiah, Joel,
and Jonah c
CHAPTER II. Messianic Prophecy cvii
CHAPTER III. Hebrew Versification cxxxiv
xii CONTENTS
PAGE
COMMENTARY ON MICAH 1
COMMENTARY ON OBADIAH 67
APPENDIX. The Oracle quoted in common by Obadiah and
Jeremiah 87
COMMENTARY ON JOEL 88
COMMENTARY ON JONAH 120
ADDITIONAL NOTE by the General Editor 142
APPENDIX I. The Psalm in ch. ii. rendered in the Rhythm of the
Original 143
APPENDIX II. Critical Analysis of Jonah 144
INDEX . 147
A LIST OF TRANSLATIONS, COMMENTARIES, AND
OTHER WORKS CONSULTED (WITH ABBREVIATIONS).
Aq. Aquila's Greek Translation of the Old Testament (in field's Hexaplorum
quae supersunt).
A.V. Authorized Version of the Bible, 1611.
Bewer. Bower's Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Obadiah, Joel, and
Jonah (I.C.C.), 1912.
C.B. Century Bible.
Camb.B. Cambridge Bible.
Caspari. C. P. Caspari's Der Prophet Obadja, 1842.
Cheyne. T. K. Cheyne's Micah, with Notes and Introduction (Camb.B.), 1882.
Driver. S. R. Driver's The Books of Joel and Amos (Camb.B.), 1897.
„ Gen. S. R. Driver's The Book of Genesis (WestC.).
„ LOT. S. R. Driver's Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa-
ment, 1891 and later editions.
E.B. Expositor's Bible.
Enc.Bib. Cheyne and Black's Encyclopaedia Biblica, 1899—1903.
Ewald. H. Ewald's The Prophets of the Old Testament (E.T.).
Expos. The Expositor.
Hastings, DB. J. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, 1898—1904.
Henderson. E. Henderson's The Book of the Twelve Prophets, 1858.
Horton. R. F. Horton's The Minor Propfots Hosea... Micah (C.B.).
I.C.C. International Critical Commentary.
JE. The Prophetic Document of the Pentateuch.
JTS. The Journal of Theological Studies.
Kirkpatrick. A. F. Kirkpatrick's The Doctrine of the Prophets, 2nd ed., 1897.
Lanchester. H. C. 0. Lanchester's Obadiah and Jonah (Camb.B.), 1918.
LXX. The Septuagint Translation of the Old Testament, ed. Swete, 1894.
Marti. D. K. Marti's Das Dodekapropheton, 1904.
Maurer. F. J. V. Maurer's Commentarius Grammaticus criticus in Vetus
Testamentum, vol. IL, 1838.
Nowack. W. Nowack's Die Kleinen Propheten, 1903.
Old Latin. The Old Latin Version (cited from JTS. vol. v. 247 f., 378 f., VL 67 f.).
P. The Priestly Document of the Pentateuch.
Pusey. E. B. Pusey's The Minor Prophets, 1860.
R.V. The Revised Version of the Bible, 1884.
Sayce, HCM. A. H. Sayce's The Higher Criticism and the Monuments, 1894.
Schrader, CO T. Schroder's The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O.T. (B.T.).
Sellin, 10 T. E. Sellin's Introduction to the O.T. (E.T.).
Smith, G. A. Sir George Adam Smith's The Book of the XII Prophets (E.B.).
„ HGHL., Sir G. A. Smith's Historical Geography of the Holy
Land.
Smith, J. M. P. J. M. Powis Smith's Critical and Historical Commentary on
Micah (I.C.C.), 1912.
xiv TRANSLATIONS, COMMENTARIES
Smith, W. R. W. Robertson Smith's The Prophets of Israel, 1895.
"Speaker's Bible" (The). The Holy Bible, with a Commentary etc., 1871— 6.
Sym. Syrnmachus's Greek Translation of the Old Testament (in Field).
Syr. The Syriac Translation of the O.T.
Th. Theodotion's Translation of the O.T. (in Field).
Van Hoonacker. A. Van Hoonacker's Les Douze Petits Prophetes.
Vulg. Biblia Sacra Vulgatee Editionis.
Wellhausen. J. Wellhausen's Die Kleine Propheten, 1898.
West.C. Westminster Commentaries, edited by W. Lock, D.D.
*** The use of Hebrew characters has been avoided, and Hebrew words and
phrases, when reference to the original has been found necessary, have been
transliterated. Readers who are unacquainted with Hebrew should observe
(1) that all Hebrew letters are consonants, the accompanying vowels being
originally transmitted by oral tradition only, and when eventually written down,
being marked merely by "points"; (2) that the difference between several of
the consonants is small, those which can be most easily mistaken for one another
being d and r, b and c, v and y, h and kh, b and m, g and n, n and c; (3) that the
same symbol served for s and sh; (4) that in the unpointed text doubled letters
were indistinguishable from single letters, and aspirated labials, gutturals and
dentals were indistinguishable from the corresponding unaspirated letters.
Knowledge of these facts will enable the plausibility of various emendations of
the Hebrew text to be more fairly estimated than might otherwise be the case.
In the present work for the sake of convenience no distinction in transliterating
has been made between the letters he and kheth (both alike being represented,
as in the English Bible, by h\ between samech and sin (the substitute for both
being s\ or between teth and tav (both appearing as i). The letters aleph and
ay in are indicated by (') and (') respectively.
INTRODUCTION TO MICAH.
CHAPTER I.
THE TITLE AND CONTENTS.
WITHIN the volume which is entitled The Book of the XII Prophets
the writings that are ascribed to Micah occupy in the Hebrew Scriptures
the sixth place, following after Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah;
but the internal evidence of several of these books makes it probable
that the order in which they are arranged departs widely from the true
historical succession of the prophets whose names they bear. In the
LXX. the order in two cases is different, Micah being placed third
(after Amos) and Joel being transposed to the fourth position, imme-
diately next to Micah. This rearrangement, though still failing to
correspond to the chronological order (so far as it is ascertainable), has
at least the advantage of putting Micah in his right place by bringing
his book into closer relation with those of Hosea and Amos. For that
Micah's activity fell within the same century as theirs appears not only
from the heading of his book (which may owe its origin to an editor,
p. 1) but from Jer. xxvi. 18, where it is expressly stated that the
prediction contained in Mic. iii. 12 was uttered in the reign of Hezekiah
(727 (or 720)— 692).
In the opening verse of the book Micah's prophetic career is repre-
sented as beginning in the reign of Jotham and extending through that
of Ahaz into that of Hezekiah. The limits thus implied cannot be
decided with any certainty, for calculations based on the duration of
the reigns of the rulers of Judah, as given in the books of Kings, lead
to results regarding the accession-years of the three sovereigns named
in Mic. i. 1 which are mutually inconsistent, according as the reckoning
is made backwards from (a) the capture of Samaria by Sargon in 722,
(b) the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib in 701, (c) the capture of
Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar in 587; and consequently some or all of
the figures upon which the calculations are based must be erroneous.
In the following tables, which give the Biblical figures, the years for the
duration of each king's reign are reduced by one, since the Hebrew
historians generally, though not quite uniformly, reckoned inclusively1,
1 See, for instance, 1 Kgs. xv. 25 and 28, xvi. 8 and 15.
XVI
INTRODUCTION
so that the year of a king's death and of his successor's accession was
by them comprised within the reign of each and, in the sum of the
years of two consecutive reigns, was counted twice over.
(«) (6) (c)
Jotham (15) 757 Jotham (15)
Ahaz (15) ... 742 Ahaz (15) ...
Hezekiah (28) 727 Hezekiah (28)
Fall of Samaria] -^o Sennacherib's \
in H.'s Qth year } ' " Invasion in H.'s(- 701
llth year )
744
Jotham (15)
750
729
Ahaz (15) ...
735
714
Hezekiah (28)
720
Manasseh (54)
692
701
Amon (1) ...
638
Josiah (30)
637
Jehoahaz (J)
607
Jehoiakim (10)
607
Jehoiachin (j)
597
Zedekiah (10)
597
Fall of Jerusalem
587
It will be seen from these tables (a) that if, according to 2 Kgs. xviii. 10,
the Fall of Samaria occurred in 722 in Hezekiah's 6th year, the invasion
of Judah by Sennacherib in 701 must have happened in his 27th year
and not (as stated in 2 Kgs. xviii. 13) in his 14th; (b) that if Sen-
nacherib's invasion took place in Hezekiah's 14th year, Samaria must
have fallen, not in that king's 6th year, but in the 8th year of his father
Ahaz; (c) that if Hezekiah came to the throne in 720 (the figure reached
by calculating from the Fall of Jerusalem in 587), the Fall of Samaria
must have occurred in Ahaz's 14th year, and Sennacherib's invasion in
Hezekiah's 20th year. In view of these inconsistencies, it is only possible
to form a more or less conjectural scheme of chronology for the reigns
of the sovereigns mentioned; and one which is perhaps as plausible as
any other is the following, which assigns to each king a length of reign
differing, indeed, from that given in 2 Kings, but at least consistent with
the dates fixed in the Assyrian inscriptions for certain events that hap-
pened within the reigns in question1: —
Jotham (3) 738
Ahaz (8) ... 735
Hezekiah (35) 727—692
The view that Ahaz was succeeded by Hezekiah in 727 may perhaps
derive some confirmation from an oracle addressed to the Philistines,
contained in Is. xiv. 28 — 32, which is assigned to the year of Ahaz's
1 The events referred to are (a) the payment of tribute by Ahaz to Tiglath-Pileser,
who died in 727 ; (b) the capture of Samaria in 722 by Sargon, who reigned from
723 to 705 ; (c) the invasion of Judah in 701 by Sennacherib, whose reign lasted
from 705 to 681. See Schrader, COT. i. pp. 249, 264, 286.
MICAH xvii
death; for it was in 727 that there occurred the death of the Assyrian
king Tiglath-Pileser, and it is very probable that Tiglath-Pileser is
the "rod" alluded to in v. 29 which had smitten Philistia, but was
then "broken." The scheme given above adopts the statement of 2 Kings
that Samaria was destroyed in Hezekiah's 6th year ; but from this it
follows that Sennacherib's invasion occurred in Hezekiah's 27th, so
that the statement in 2 Kings that it took place in his 14th year must
be rejected as an error. It has been suggested that the figure 14 has
been mistakenly deduced from the fact that Hezekiah's illness recorded
in 2 Kgs. xx is represented as following close upon Sennacherib's in-
vasion and occurring 15 years before the end of Hezekiah's reign, which
lasted 29 years1. Some of the discrepancies between the dates given or
implied by the historian of the books of Kings in connection with Heze-
kiah may be reduced, though not removed, by the supposition (lacking
explicit support in the O.T.) that during the latter part of his father's
reign he acted as regent for Ahaz, or was associated with him in the
government: if so, 727 may be the beginning of his joint reign with
Ahaz and 720 that of his rule as sole sovereign. If this supposition
commends itself, the last table must be amended thus : —
Jotham(3) ...... 738
Ahaz (15) ...... 735
Hezekiah sole king (28) 720—692
According to the scheme suggested above, Micah's prophetic activity
(if the statement in i. 1 be accepted) began before 735, and lasted at
least until after 722, for though some of the contents of ch. i. must date
from before the overthrow of Samaria in 722 (perhaps between 725
and 723), the use of Israel to denote Judah in ch. iii. proves that when
the oracles which this later chapter contains were delivered, the
Northern kingdom must have come to an end. It is, however, not easy
to feel much confidence in the assertion in i. 1 that the prophet began
his ministry in the reign of Jotham (738 — 735 ?), for the earliest of his
oracles seems to have in view the impending destruction of Samaria in
722. And inasmuch as there is no allusion in his writings to the Syro-
Israelite alliance against Judah at the beginning of Ahaz's reign (2 Kgs.
xvi. 5, Is. vii. 1 f.), or to the Assyrian invasion of the district of Galilee
in 734 (2 Kgs. xvi. 9), it seems unlikely that any of his surviving
1 See Van Hoonacker, Les Douze Petits PropJietes, p. 343.
xviii INTRODUCTION
prophecies dates from the reign of that king either (unless the Fall of
Samaria really occurred whilst Ahaz was still on the throne). The only
internal argument for assigning part of the book to the reign of Ahaz
must be based on the belief that the passage iv. 1 — 3, which appears
also in Is. ii. 2 — 4, was borrowed by Isaiah from Micah, and that since
Is. ii. 5 — 21 (22) belongs to the time of Ahaz, the preceding passage
common to both prophets must have been composed by Micah in that
king's reign at latest. But since it is far more probable that the passage
in question proceeds from neither prophet (p. 28), it follows that this
argument falls to the ground. The contents of ch. iii. are shewn by
Jer. xxvi. 18 to be contemporary with Hezekiah, and the utterances in
chs. i., ii. are so similar in tenor that they are not likely to be far re-
moved in point of time. Accordingly it may be affirmed without much
hesitation that the reign of Hezekiah is alone known for certain to
have included within it a considerable portion of Micah' s prophetic
ministry. As to how far into that reign his career lasted, it is impos-
sible to form any trustworthy conclusion.
Of the personal history of Micah nothing is recorded, or capable of
being inferred, beyond an allusion to his home (i. 1) and some more or
less plausible deductions about him drawn from the contents of his
prophecies. His name was apparently a shortened form of Micaiah
(Michayahu, Michayhu, Michdyah), another variation being Mica
(Michd'): the equivalents in the LXX. are Metxatas and Mt^a. The
appellation was not uncommon, a dozen other instances of it occurring
in the Hebrew O.T. and in the Apocrypha1. In one passage (2 Ch.
xiii. 2) it appears to be feminine, but here the name is probably an
error for Maacah (see 2 Ch. xi. 20). Its signification is "Who is like
Jehovah ? " (cf. Ex. xv. 1 1), so that it resembles in sense the name Michael,
"Who is like God?" Analogous formations are found in Assyrian,
e.g. Manna-M-du-rabu2. The abbreviation Micah or Mica is paralleled
by Abda for Abdiah. As has been seen, the prophet began his activity
later than his contemporary Isaiah (who received his prophetic call as
early as the end of Uzziah's reign). He was a native of, or a resident
in, Moresheth-gath, a small town or hamlet in the Lowland (con-
stituting the south and south-west of Judah), and usually identified
with the modern Beit-Jibrin. According to tradition the locality was
not only his birthplace but his place of burial also. His home was
1 See Jud. xvii., xviii., 1 Kgs. xxii., 2 Kgs. xxii. 12, 1 Ch. v. 5, viii. 34, xxiii. 20,
2 Ch. xvii. 7, xxxiv. 20, Neh. xii. 35, 41, Jer. xxxvi. 11, Judith vi. 15.
2 See Gray, Hebrew Proper Names, p. 157.
MICAH xix
thus in a rural district, and not, like that of Isaiah, in the capital. As
a dweller in the country and probably occupying a humble position (it
is noteworthy that his father's name is not mentioned1) he was not
likely to be in touch with state policy in the same degree as Isaiah ;
and there are no references in his book to any advice proffered by him
to the king and his council similar to that given by Isaiah, first to
Ahaz, and secondly to Hezekiah. Nevertheless he must have been
acquainted with the capital, to the inhabitants of which several of his
denunciations are expressly addressed (i. 5, iii. 9). His oracles had
in view solely the defective religious and moral conditions of the time ;
and though he asserted that the sins which he denounced would, if not
repented of, bring about the political subversion of the country, he did
not intimate the name of the power which was to be the agent of the
Divine judgment. It is true that in one prophecy included in his book
(v. 5, 6) there are allusions to Assyria and the Assyrian; but these
occur in a section which appears to be of later date than Micah's time
(p. 39). In another oracle (iv. 10) mention is made of Babylon as a
place whither the people for their offences were to be deported, and
Babylon in the last quarter of the 8th century was subject to Assyria ;
but there are reasons rendering it probable that this section, too, is
not by Micah (p. 35).
Micah's literary qualities must be judged by those parts of the book
which alone can be indisputably regarded as proceeding from him (see
pp. 1, 28). His style is forceful and impetuous, and is marked by the
frequent use of rhetorical questions and commands (i. 5, 11, 13, 16,
iii. 1); and like most Hebrew writers, he employs a number of vivid
figures of speech (ii. 3, iii. 2, 3, 10), and is fond of alliteration and
assonance. The last feature is especially noteworthy in a passage
(i. 10 — 15) where he plays upon the appellations of various localities
which he expected to be overrun by an enemy, and finds in their
names allusions to occurrences which are soon to happen in connection
with them.
The contents of the book fall into three divisions: i. — iii., iv. — v.,
vi. — vii. The first three chapters, with the exception of a very small
section in ch. ii. (w. 12, 13), consist of denunciations of iniquities
marking both branches of the Hebrew people, and announcements
of the fate destined to befall them by way of penalty; though the
1 This is the case with Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, but not with
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and some other prophets.
62
xx INTRODUCTION
prophet's attention is concentrated chiefly upon the many forms of
social wickedness abounding in his own country of Judah, and upon
the vengeance impending over the offenders in it. From ch. iv.
onwards the contents are very mixed, though chs. iv. and v. are
distinguished from chs. vi. and vii. by the fact that in the former
there predominate prophecies of future dignity and felicity in store for
the Jewish people after a period of humiliation and affliction, deliver-
ance from which is to be followed by external triumphs accompanied
by internal purification. In the final pair of chapters the prevailing
tone is more subdued, though the general sombreness of them is not
unrelieved. A remonstrance against a misapprehension of what God
desires from men is succeeded by a renewed denunciation of social
offences and an announcement of the retribution which will overtake
them; and this is followed by a confession of sin from the community
already enduring the penalty of its wickedness, but nevertheless con-
fident of eventually experiencing God's mercy. It will be seen from
this that the book as a whole lacks any systematic structure ; that its
contents comprise a number of sections of which many stand in no
logical or orderly relation to one another ; that various oracles included
within it must have been delivered on distinct occasions ; and that the
situations implied in several of them appear to be so widely sundered
in respect of time that the book must contain the utterances of several
prophets.
A clearer comprehension of the contents of the book and of the
problems to which they give rise will be gained through a somewhat
fuller analysis :—
I. (a) i. 2 — 16. A description of the descent of Jehovah in judgment,
and a declaration in general terms that the transgressions of Israel
and Judah occasioning it are concentrated in their respective capitals.
Samaria is to be punished with the demolition of its buildings and the
destruction of its idols; but retribution (seemingly through the same
agent) will extend to Jerusalem also, and distress and despair are to
befall numerous towns in the Lowland of Judah.
(b) ii. 1 — 11. A denunciation of the specific sin of Judah — the
deliberate and violent spoliation of the weak by the powerful; and an
announcement (received with incredulity by those addressed) of a corre-
sponding nemesis planned by Jehovah for the spoilers, whose lands will
be divided by foreign enemies and who will themselves be driven into
exile.
(c) ii. 12—13. A declaration of Jehovah's purpose to re-assemble
MICAH xxi
the remnant of His people, and to lead them forth from the place within
which they are confined.
(d) i\i. 1 — 12. A description, parallel to that of ii. 1 — 11, of the
devouring of the people by their rulers, who abuse their authority, and
whose appeals to Jehovah, when vengeance reaches them, will be un-
heeded; a warning to mercenary prophets that there will be withdrawn
, from them all prophetic faculty to which they lay claim; and a pre-
diction that the perversion of justice by corrupt judges and self-com-
placent priests will be avenged by the razing of Zion to the ground.
II. (e) iv. 1 — 5. An announcement of the future elevation of mount
Zion above all other heights; of the convergence thither of many
peoples to seek from thence knowledge about Jehovah; and of their
acceptance, in disputes, of His arbitration in lieu of war.
(/) iv. 6 — 8. A prediction of the re-assembling of dispersed Jews,
and the restoration to Zion of the dominion that had formerly been hers.
(g] iv. 9 — 10. A derisive address to the inhabitants of Zion (here
conceived as distressed and resourceless) who must evacuate their city
and experience deportation to Babylon, whence they will be eventually
rescued.
(h) iv. 11 — 13. A passage breathing a different spirit from the
preceding — Zion being represented as assaulted by many nations, but
receiving an assurance from Jehovah that He will enable her to destroy
them, and to consecrate their spoil to Him.
(i) v. 1 — 6. The standpoint again changing, an ironical command is
addressed to the populace of Jerusalem to raid as they had been wont
to do1, followed by an announcement that Jehovah's abandonment of
the city to siege and her king to humiliation will last only until the
emergence from Bethlehem of a Ruler, who, through Divine help, will
ensure his people's security from future invasion.
(j) v- ? — 9. A prophecy of the superiority which (through the power
of God) the remnant of Israel is to manifest over other peoples.
(k) v. 10 — 15. An announcement of Jehovah's purpose to remove
from among His people their military resources, their superstitious
devices, and their idolatrous emblems.
III. (/) vi. 1 — 8. A controversy between Jehovah and His people,
in which the former explains to the latter what His real requirements
from them are — namely, not costly sacrifices but the practice of justice,
mercy, and humility.
1 The reading and meaning are very doubtful.
xxii INTRODUCTION
(m) vi. 9 — vii. 6. A charge against the people of dishonesty, violence,
and deceit ; a prophecy of retribution inflicted through the ravage of the
land by invaders ; and a lament over the extinction of the good, and the
universal prevalence of bloodshed, treachery, corruption, and domestic
feuds.
(n) vii. 7 — 13. A humble confession, by the collective community
(the true Israel), unprotected and distressed, that its affliction has
been deserved by its offences; followed by an announcement from God
of an approaching day for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and
for the return of its members still in exile.
(0) vii. 14 — 20. An entreaty to God from the prophet to tend His
people and to enlarge their narrow boundaries; and an expression of
confidence that, through His mercy, relief will come.
The sections marked (a), (b), and (d) are together of a tenor that
creates no suspicion of their genuineness as utterances of Micah; and
in sections (&) and (m) there is nothing incompatible with his authorship,
though the conditions described were not peculiar to his age. But it is
otherwise with regard to the remaining sections. Several, to all appear-
ance, imply situations which were not realized until long after the 8th
century had closed, and the impression produced by such sections is
not adequately explained by the supposition that the book, whilst
proceeding from a single prophet living in the 8th century, contains
discourses delivered in a variety of circumstances falling within one
man's lifetime, and calling now for threatenings and now for conso-
lation. For though there are instances in prophetic literature of a
remarkable capacity of prevision on the part of the Hebrew prophets,
yet these sections of the book of Micah seem to presuppose conditions
belonging to an age later than that prophet's, and not to predict their
occurrence ; so that doubts about his authorship of them are inevitably
occasioned. An examination of such will be undertaken in the course
of the commentary, whilst some general considerations bearing on the
subject will occupy the next chapter.
CHAPTER II.
THE DISPUTED UNITY OF THE BOOK.
BEFORE an attempt can be made to describe in some detail the pur-
port of Micah's prophecies, it is necessary to determine whether all
portions of the book designated by his name are his ; and if not, what
parts can be reasonably regarded as proceeding from him, and what
MICAH xxiii
must, in all probability, be assigned to another or others. The review
of the contents just furnished shews that there is much diversity of
subject-matter; that, whilst some chapters denounce prevalent sins and
foretell retribution for such, certain others assume that chastisement has
already fallen, and that the chastened people need comfort and consola-
tion, so that these latter are full of encouraging promises of deliverance.
In considering whether the chapters, or sections of chapters, distinguished
in this way are of different origin from those arraigning the people for
numerous forms of crime, and foretelling their punishment, account
must be taken of the fact that the predictions of ill, since they were
designed as warnings, tended, so far as they produced an impression upon
their hearers' consciences, to bring about their own non-fulfilment. Such
predictions, though often absolute in form, were usually in essence con-
ditional ; and it was implied that the penalties announced in them could
be averted by the repentance of the offenders. That this happened in the
case of one of Micah's prophecies appears from Jer. xxvi. 17 — 19, where
it is expressly stated that Micah's declaration that Jerusalem would be
reduced to complete desolation caused the king (Hezekiah) to fear Jehovah
and entreat His favour; and that a change of disposition on the part of
sovereign and people led God to relent. It is therefore intelligible that
prophets, who at one time prophesied evil, should at another, when
signs of reformation became manifest, deliver oracles of quite a different
tone; or, since they believed their race to be Jehovah's chosen people,
should, even when affirming the certainty of Divine vengeance, yet hold
out hopes of ultimate mercy. Brief summaries of such diverse prophecies,
if they were copied on the same roll, or became otherwise united, would
inevitably, since the circumstances in which they were originally de-
livered were not preserved, appear mutually contradictory. In view of
this, it cannot immediately be inferred that a striking unlikeness in the
contents of two contiguous passages involves difference of authorship :
it is necessary to enquire whether the unlikeness can be sufficiently
accounted for by a changed situation within the limits of a single
prophet's ministry, or by an alteration in his attitude and outlook ; or
whether the matter and manner of the passages in question are so
different as to render this explanation inadequate.
The passages which most acutely raise the question whether they pro-
ceed from Micah are those in which announcements about the future
presume the existence of conditions very different from those of Micah's
time, without any explanation of the way in which these conditions have
been brought about. Thus in the case of the prophecy in iv. 1 — 5,
xxiv INTRODUCTION
which foretells that the Temple hill is to enjoy pre-eminence over all
other hills and to become the seat of religious instruction for the heathen
nations, it may be observed that it follows a prediction of doom for
Jerusalem and (necessarily) of death or captivity for its inhabitants
(iii. 12). But the sequel (in iv. 1 — 5) of this prediction of over-
whelming disaster does not announce first a return of Jewish captives
from exile and then their exaltation to a position of dignity among the
surrounding peoples, but presupposes that they are already re-established
in their own land. There is nothing in the earlier part of the book to
explain this change of situation, except the short section ii. 12 — 13,
which is isolated in its present context ; and even this, though it predicts
a re-assembling of a remnant of the people (seemingly from captivity),
says nothing about the impression produced, by the restoration of the
Jews, upon the heathen who witness it, or hear of it, leading them to seek
to learn about the God who had effected it. A second prophecy out of
harmony with its preceding context occurs in vii. 7 — 20. The previous
section vii. 1 — 6 deplores the disappearance of the righteous from the
land, and the prevalence of violence and strife, whilst intimating (v. 4b)
that a judgment from God is imminent. But the passage that follows
(vii. 7 — 20) consists partly of penitential utterances from a community
already experiencing grievous adversity, and partly of consolatory pre-
dictions from a prophet that the walls of Jerusalem are to be rebuilt, that
the limits checking the expansion of its people are to be removed, and
that there is to be a return of numbers that are still in exile. The passage
plainly takes for granted that the offending land has already endured
punishment through the dismantling of its capital and the deportation
of many of its citizens : it assumes that chastisement has induced peni-
tence; but that the city's walls are still in the condition to which foreign
conquerors had reduced them : what it predicts is the reconstruction of
the walls, and an augmentation of the community's territory and popula-
tion. If the section proceeds from Micah, it must be supposed that besides
foretelling his countrymen's exile, he foresaw both their rescue from it
and the circumstance that Jerusalem, after the return of its citizens to
their own soil, would long remain un walled, and the re-occupied land
would be circumscribed in area; but that he did not explicitly foretell
the occurrence of these conditions, leaving this to be inferred from a pre-
diction that in such conditions (the existence of which is presumed) a
change for the better would eventually take place. This is so violent an
assumption that it is preferable to conclude that the section really
originated with a prophet who lived some 70 or 80 years after the
MICAH xxv
Return, was acquainted with the small numbers and defenceless situation
of the repatriated exiles, and delivered the oracle contained in this
section in order to cheer them with the prospect of relief.
The high probability that at least two sections of the book are not the
authentic productions of Micah prepares us to entertain with less hesi-
tation doubts that prima facie may arise respecting the genuineness
of others also. Those which, next to iv. 1 — 5 and vii. 7 — 20, create
suspicion are ii. 12 — 13, the remainder of ch. iv., and large parts of
chs. v. and vi. The grounds for questioning their genuineness are not
quite so cogent as those which have been adduced in disproof of the
authenticity of iv. 1 — 5 and vii. 7 — 20, though they have considerable
weight, for the evidence is cumulative, and the reasons advanced for
denying to Micah other sections beside those just cited, if not very con-
clusive when taken by themselves, appear in a different light and
assume greater importance when once it is seen that the book contains
at least two passages of which the later origin is fairly patent.
If it appears probable that all or most of these sections did not
originate with Micah in the 8th century, various explanations suggest
themselves to account for their presence in a collection of his prophecies.
One is the possibility that more than one prophet whose utterances
have been preserved bore the name of Micah ; if so, then there would
inevitably be some risk of confusion, and oracles really emanating from
two or more persons would come to be ascribed to a single prophet.
Another is the circumstance that rolls of leather or papyrus were valu-
able enough to make it desirable that, if one were begun, it should be
filled ; so that any blank space in a roll only partially occupied by the
oracles of Micah would readily be utilized for recording some delivered
by other prophets, without any mark being appended to testify to their
separate origin. For in this connection it has to be remembered that
amongst the Hebrews little or no care was taken to preserve the names
of the authors of literary compositions. They had no sense of the value
of literary property or literary reputation, such as prevails amongst
ourselves. Almost all the historical works of the O.T. are of unknown
authorship. The poem of Job is anonymous ; Ecclesiastes is pseudony-
mous ; and among the prophetical writings a large part of the book of
Isaiah (including chs. xl. — Iv. and Ivi. — Ixvi.) and the last six chapters
of the book of Zechariah have been shewn by internal evidence to
proceed from writers of whose names we are absolutely ignorant.
Accordingly, the hypothesis, to which various facts point, that within the
book of Micah there have been included a number of isolated oracles
xxvi INTRODUCTION
delivered by some unknown writers living at different times is not an
extreme one, but is justified by parallels forthcoming from other
quarters.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE or THE PROPHECIES IN THE BOOK OF MICAH.
(«) ch. i. 8th cent, (second half, shortly before 722), Micah's.
8th cent (between 722 and 701), Micah's.
8th cent, (perhaps Micah's) or 7th cent.
7th cent, (second half).
7th cent, (end) or 6th cent, (beginning).
6th cent, (middle, 587—537).
6th cent, (second half, after 537).
5th cent, (first half).
CHAPTER III.
THE CONDITIONS OF MICAH'S AGE AND THE TENOR OF HIS TEACHING.
MICAH'S authorship of the opening oracles (i. — iii. , apart from ii. 1 2 — 13)
cannot be questioned; but though he was a prophet of Judah, these
utterances include a denunciation of Northern Israel and its capital
Samaria, as well as of Judah and its capital Jerusalem. It soon, how-
ever, becomes apparent that the prophet's thoughts were chiefly centred
upon the conditions and destiny of his own country; and that he
alluded to Samaria merely, or at least principally, because its impending
fate conveyed a warning to Jerusalem. Consequently it is upon the
internal situation of Judah that the contents of the first three chapters
really throw light and focus attention.
Independent evidence for the religious and social state of that country
is furnished by Micah's elder contemporary Isaiah. The prophetic
activity of Isaiah much exceeded in length (so far as can be judged)
that of Micah, for it extended (according to Is. i. 1, vi. 1) from the last
year of Uzziah, through the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz, into the middle,
at least, of the reign of Hezekiah; and the statements prefixed to
chs. i. and vi. are confirmed by the internal evidence of the book;
whereas it seems probable that Micah's ministry was confined to the
reign of Hezekiah (p. xviii). And the circumstance that some of the
MICAH xxvii
former prophet's utterances were delivered during the lifetime of Jotham
and Ahaz, both of whom in character were inferior to Ahaz's successor,
and that by the latter king much-needed reforms were instituted, may
suggest, at first sight, that the conditions subsisting in Judah under
Hezekiah cannot have been quite so bad as Micah describes. In point
of fact, however, though Hezekiah made an effort to put an end to
religious and moral disorder, yet there is enough evidence to shew that
the reformation effected was more tardy and superficial than might be
concluded from the representation of the historian in 2 Kgs. xviii. 4.
Various statements in the writings of Isaiah imply that much that was
corrupt continued to exist even as late as the Assyrian invasion of 701,
so that in using the testimony of Isaiah generally to substantiate the
assertions of his younger contemporary, there is no need to discriminate
very narrowly between statements applying to different reigns. All
alike shew that the sombre colours in which Micah depicted the condi-
tions of the country in his days were not darker in hue than the facts
justified ; and that no erroneous inferences will be deduced, if his account
of the superstitions, injustices and disorders rife under Hezekiah is
supported and illustrated by passages from Isaiah dating not only from
that king's reign but also from the reigns of his two immediate
predecessors.
Since reasons have already been given for concluding that two
sections of the book of Micah are not the work of that prophet, and
since arguments will be furnished later for thinking that various others
are likewise not among his genuine productions, it is important, in
considering his strictures upon the contemporary situation in Judah,
and in summarizing his announcements about its people's future, to
draw testimony only from those portions of the book of which his
authorship is undisputed. These are confined to chs. i. — iii. (except
ii. 12 — 13); but since a few passages in the rest of the book are not
inconsistent with the conditions implied in the first three chapters and
may come from Micah these will also be taken into account.
Isaiah's indictment of his countrymen included charges of idolatrous
and superstitious practices (i. 29, ii. 8, 20, xxx. 22), of oppression,
violence, and bloodshed (i. 15, 17, iii. 14, 15, v. 7, 8, xxx. 12, xxxiii.
15), of widespread intemperance (v. 11, 12, 22, xxviii. 7), of insubordi-
nation to authority (iii. 5), of venality among the classes most re-
sponsible for upholding morality, order, and justice (i. 23, v. 23), and
of arrogant reliance upon material resources and political intrigues
(xviii., xx., xxii. 9 — 11, xxx. 1 — 3, xxxi. 1). As Isaiah was a states-
xxviii INTRODUCTION
man, he included in his censures not only social crimes and delin-
quencies, but also various features of the foreign policy of his country;
and he attributed many of the evils, of which he complained in his
early utterances, to the character of the reigning king and his court.
Micah's outlook was far less comprehensive. As he belonged perhaps
to the yeoman class, and, at any rate, was a resident in a small pro-
vincial town (though not unacquainted with the capital), his obser-
vations and reflections were confined to the ills from which the poorer
and weaker ranks of the population were suffering at the hands of
their social superiors (see especially iii. 1 — 3): questions of foreign
alliances and entanglements were beyond his range, and he did not
seek to influence the external relations of the state. But apart from
this difference distinguishing the two prophets, there is a singular
agreement between them as regards alike the worship of idols, the
wrongs inflicted upon the poor by the opulent, the dishonesty of the
judicial authorities, enabling evil-doers to escape human justice, and
the self-delusion (based on the belief that Jehovah and Israel were
indissolubly united) that led them to deem themselves safe from Divine
justice also. In the minds of the prophets as a body, from the earliest
to the latest, religion and social morality were solidly bound together.
Thus Micah denounced, just as Isaiah did, the seizure of houses and
lands by the rich and powerful, who in this way gratified their pride
and covetousness where they were able to do so. Robbery by violence
was committed on the highways, peaceful travellers being stripped
even of the garments they wore1. Women and children were evicted
from their homes and driven to seek refuge outside their own country,
which was Jehovah's land. The upper classes lived on the lower, either
through oppressive exactions of money and produce, through the con-
scription of their labour, or through the unrelieved pressure of economic
conditions; so that they are represented by the prophet as plucking
the skin from the flesh and the flesh from the bone. By such as did
not resort to open violence, dishonest gains were acquired through the
use of false weights and measures, and by fraudulent representations
(vi. 10, 11). And the exploitation of one class by another was accom-
panied by distrust, disunion, and strife amongst the members of the
same household, where the authority of the elders over the younger
was defied, and the loyalty expected from servants towards their
masters was replaced by open hostility (vii. 5 — 6). Nor was redress, or
1 The passage (ii. 8) is possibly corrupt.
MICAH xxix
even a hearing, for their grievances obtainable from those — the magis-
trates, priests, and prophets — who were expressly commissioned by God
to afford justice to the wronged, for their decisions about the com-
plaints made to them were determined not by equity but by self-
interest; judgment was wrested and the oracles of God perverted in
favour of such as paid them best. All apprehension of Divine resentment
for such conduct was removed by the reflection that no ill could befall
those who had Jehovah and His Temple in their midst (cf. Jer. vii. 4) ;
and the only prophets popularly deemed to be His spokesmen were
persons whose utterances encouraged the magnates to indulge their
vices.
Some of the causes that produced among the higher ranks of Judah,
during the times of Ahaz and Hezekiah, a pride in luxury, a love of
display, and a passion for the expansion of estates, which could only
be gratified through the unscrupulous exercise of power and influence,
are traceable without much difficulty. One was the return of prosperity
to the Southern kingdom in the reign of Uzziah. In particular, there
had probably been a renewal of maritime trade through the re-acquisi-
tion of Elath, the seaport on the gulf of Akaba (2 Kgs. xiv. 22) 1.
Though it was lost again under Ahaz (2 Kgs. xvi. 6, mg.), it must,
during the period of its retention, have fostered considerably the de-
velopment of commerce with the East; and the resultant introduction
into the country of unfamiliar products from Arabia and elsewhere was
calculated to create among the classes who profited by the promotion
of such traffic a materialistic spirit and self-indulgent habits. More-
over Uzziah is also credited by the author of Chronicles with successes
obtained over the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Meunim (or
Minseans), and with the receiving of tribute from the Ammonites ; so
that if these representations have any truth behind them, an attitude
of self-confidence was likely to be engendered in Judsean statesmen.
A second cause also tending to bring about the conditions of which
Micah and his contemporary Isaiah complained may be discovered in
the closer relations which Judah was now entering upon with the
empires that lay to the N.E. and S.W. of it. Hitherto the nations
with which the two Hebrew kingdoms had been most nearly associated,
either in peace or war, were the Moabites, the Edomites, and the
Syrians (Arameans) of Damascus. But the danger with which the last-
1 It must have been lost when Edom threw off the control of Judah in the reign
of Jehoram (2 Kgs. viii. 20, 22).
xxx INTRODUCTION
named people, in alliance with Northern Israel, threatened Judah in
the time of Ahaz, had led the Judsean king to seek help from Assyria
(2 Kgs. xvi. 7); and envoys sent to Nineveh must have brought back
reports of its greatness and splendour calculated to stir the imagi-
nations of the chief citizens of Jerusalem. And rather later, from a
different quarter, Egypt, which was the chief antagonist of Assyria, no
doubt exerted similar influence, for, having motives of her own for
desiring to detach Judah from the side of her rival, she both despatched
to Hezekiah, and received from him, embassies (see Is. xviii., xxx. 1 — 6,
xxxi. 1 — 3), which must likewise have contributed to stimulate tastes
and aspirations that rapidly corrupted the simplicity of life that had
previously prevailed. The propensities thus fostered were accompanied
by a lowered sense of social duty and a decay of considerateness
towards the poor and needy; so that injuries of the worst kind were
perpetrated upon them without interference or relief from the officials
who should have been the protectors of the defenceless.
It is reasonable to conjecture that the intense and concentrated
indignation of Micah was fanned by scenes he had actually witnessed
in country places. So far as can be judged from his utterances, he was
a man of impressionable character and strong emotions, whose in-
dignation was easily roused by the sight of hardship and wrong. Isaiah,
too, no doubt, uttered his denunciations of contemporary iniquities from
fulness of knowledge ; but as he was a dweller in Jerusalem, his feelings
of resentment could hardly have been as acute as those of a native of
Moresheth-gath, who had personally seen the cruelty committed on
the helpless peasantry by the avaricious and tyrannical. In affirming
that chastisement awaited such offences, Micah refrained from speci-
fying the agency by which it was to be inflicted : at least in those
prophecies which can be confidently attributed to him, there is no
express mention of Assyria, the mighty empire on the Tigris that
menaced the independence of the small Palestinian states, as is the
case with Isaiah (see x. 5£, 24 f., xiv. 24 — 27). Nevertheless his de-
claration that the fatal blow impending over Samaria threatened Jeru-
salem also could only point to Assyria as God's instrument for the
chastisement of Judah. The prospect of the speedy overthrow of the
Northern kingdom, having (as it seemed) its certain sequel in the
invasion of his own land, filled him with the profoundest distress (i. 8,
9). His anticipations of retribution for both countries were definite
and precise. The sites of the offending capitals of Israel and Judah
were to become unoccupied ground; the buildings of the two cities
MICAH xxxi
were to be demolished, and reduced to scattered heaps of stones;
whilst the summit of Zion upon which the Temple of Jehovah stood
was to be made as bare as the top of a forest-clad hill, where ground
had been cleared for a "high place." The objects of false worship, the
numerous idols of wood and stone, were to be destroyed; the classes
that had driven others from their homes in order to augment their
own possessions would themselves be carried into exile in foreign lands ;
and in the time of their distress Jehovah would be as deaf to their
appeals to Him as they had been callous to the appeals of their
victims. The law of equivalent retaliation would be imposed upon
them: the evictions which they had enforced would be avenged by
their own deportation. If some of the predictions of the book fore-
telling in the end a brighter future for the nation are really Micah's,
the realization of such was only looked for after the moral evils of the
state had been purged out by a chastisement of the most drastic kind.
The activity of the Hebrew prophets often paved the road to
organized reforms set on foot by secular or religious administrators,
who could embody in statutes 'and institutions the principles affirmed
in prophetic oracles. Jeremiah's utterances promoted the religious re-
formation carried out by Josiah ; and the teaching of Ezekiel laid the
ground-plan of the system of law and ritual embodied in the Priestly
code of the Pentateuch. In the same way it is reasonable to suppose
that in an earlier age Micah and Isaiah were potent influences in
leading Hezekiah to undertake in the course of his reign the abolition
of some of the worst of contemporary corruptions prevailing amongst
his subjects, which is briefly recorded by the historian of the books of
Kings (2 Kgs. xviii. 4).
INTRODUCTION TO OBADIAH.
CHAPTER I.
THE TITLE, CONTENTS, AND STRUCTURE.
THE book of Obadiah (unlike the books of Hosea, Amos, Micah, and
some others of the Minor Prophets) has no superscription, explaining
when it was composed. It stands in the Hebrew Bible fourth in the
order of the Twelve, being next to Amos and followed by Jonah, though
in the LXX. it occupies the fifth place between Joel and Jonah (the book
of Micah following immediately upon Amos); and its position in the
Hebrew Canon has been appealed to as evidence of its date, it being
supposed that the Minor Prophets have been arranged in approximately
chronological order, and that consequently Obadiah in point of time
cannot be far removed from Amos. But since both Joel, which precedes
Obadiah in the Canon, and Jonah, which succeeds it, are probably later
than Haggai (520B.C.), standing tenth among the Twelve (pp. Ixxii,
Ixxxv), any such inference is precarious. The circumstance that Obadiah
in the Hebrew is put next to Amos is perhaps due to the fact that it
relates to the doom of Edom, the occupation of which country by Israel
is predicted in the concluding section of Amos (ix. 12). The book pre-
sumably derives its title from the name of the writer (if it is a unity)
or of one of the writers (if it is composite). The name Obadiah (which
migbt be merely a description, "servant of Jehovah") occurs as a
designation of at least twelve individuals mentioned in the O.T.1,
though of only three are any particulars given. Of these the most
notable was the steward of Ahab's household (1 Kgs. xviii.), who pre-
served the lives of a hundred prophets of Jehovah, when they were
persecuted by Jezebel ; but there is nothing to connect the book with
him or any of the other Obadiahs elsewhere mentioned. Even the form
of the name which serves as its title is not quite certain. The Heb.
text of Ob. 1 has 'Obhadhyak; and this is the way in which the name
is written everywhere in the Heb. except in 1 Kgs. xviii., 1 Ch. xxvii.
19, and 2 Ch. xxxiv. 12, where it is pointed 'Obhadhyahu*. But whilst
1 1 Kgs. xviii. 3f., 1 Ch. iii. 21, vii. 3, viii. 38 ( = ix. 44), ix. 16, xii. 9, xxvii. 19,
2 Ch. xvii. 7, xxxiv. 12, Ez. viii. 9, Neh. x. 5 (6), xii. 25.
2 Similar variations are found in connection with the names Amaziah, Elijah,
Hezekiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.
OBADIAH xxxiii
in Ob. 1 the Vatican codex of the LXX. has 'O/3&Yov (cf. 1 Ch. iii. 21),
the Alexandrine codex has 'AySStov, as also in 1 Kgs. xviii. 3 f.,
1 Ch. xxvii. 19; and since in other cases the LXX. generally represents
the name by 'A/28ia? or 'A/38ia, it is possible that the title of the book
should be written Abdiah1 (cf. Abdiel, 1 Ch. v. 15, and the Arabic
Abdullah) instead of Obadiah.
The theme of the book is the pride and self-confidence of Edom, the
malice shewn by it towards the Jewish people (in spite of ties of blood)
on the occasion of a great calamity sustained by the latter, the deserved
retribution it has already undergone at the hands of its own allies (ir*
accordance with an earlier prophecy which is quoted in whole or in
part), and the prospective vengeance which is to overtake it from those
whom it has wronged, when the expatriated Jews, restored to their
former possessions, will enlarge their territory at the cost of the Edom-
ites and other heathen neighbours. The fact that the book is thus
almost wholly concentrated upon a single subject, and its limited
extent (it is the shortest of all in the O.T.), create the expectation
that the questions presented by it will be confined to discovering what
the occasion was on which the Edomites exhibited the malice com-
plained of, and whether the book was written prior to it or after it. But
its simplicity is illusory, and the problems to which it gives rise are both
more numerous and more involved than at first sight appears. Thus : —
(1) The circumstance that a portion of Ob. (w. 1 — 5) is almost
identical with a passage in Jer. (xlix. 14 — 16, 9) makes it necessary
to determine the relation between them, and to settle whether the
writer of Obadiah has borrowed from the author of Jeremiah or the
reverse, or whether both are indebted to an earlier oracle.
(2) The fact that there is a sudden transition in v. 15 from the topic
of a judgment upon Edom alone to that of a judgment upon all the
heathen renders it questionable whether such an abrupt change of
subject-matter is compatible with unity of authorship.
(3) The variation in the use of the tenses (themselves susceptible
of more than one meaning) makes it uncertain whether the book is
consistently a prophecy, or, if not, to what extent it is partly a prophecy
of the future and partly a description of the past.
The small compass of Obadiah naturally creates an antecedent pre-
sumption that it is the production of a single mind. But in view of the fact
that so many of the prophetical writings are composite, the possibility
1 In 1 Kgs. iv. 6, Neh. xi. 17 Abda stands for Abdiah (as Mica does for Micaiah).
xxxiv INTRODUCTION
that the book contains the work of more than one writer cannot be
disregarded. The assumption that it is a unity may involve putting an
unnatural interpretation upon certain passages in it, in order to bring
them into harmony with the rest ; and if the hypothesis of a composite
origin affords the best solution of the questions which its contents
occasion, its small size becomes a negligible consideration. Some of the
problems which arise especially in connection with the concluding portion
of the book are rendered all the harder by the state of the text, which
in one or two places appears to be too corrupt to be interpreted or cor-
rected with any confidence.
The sharp transition at w. 15a, 16 f. from the subject of Edom singly
to that of the nations at large (the 2nd pers. sing, giving place to the
2nd pers. plur., and the predicted retribution embracing other peoples
beside the Edomites) divides the book into two distinct parts. Of these
the first describes an overthrow of Edom which is either impending in
the near future or is in process of happening; whilst the second is a
prediction of calamities yet to come upon the oppressors of Israel,
including, but not confined to, the Edomites. But within the first
fifteen verses are a certain number (w. 1 — 5) which occur also in
Jer. xlix. ; and if, as will appear presently, these verses are probably
derived by both prophets from an earlier source, there are three sections of
the book, of which the origin and date require independent investigation.
CHAPTER II.
THE PASSAGE COMMON TO OBADIAH AND JEREMIAH.
THE relations subsisting between several verses of Ob. and Jer. xlix.
create a problem of some difficulty and no little interest.
The opening verses of Ob. (1 — 5) so closely resemble Jer. xlix. 14 — 16,
and 9, not only in substance but in actual phraseology, that it is im-
possible to suppose that the two passages are independent. Either, then,
(i) Ob. has borrowed from Jer., or (ii) Jer. has borrowed from Ob., or, if
neither of these alternatives proves admissible, then (iii) both are in-
debted to an earlier oracle.
(i) The prophecy against Edom in Jer. xlix., in which the verses
common to both Jer. and Ob. are included, is not dated1; but since v. 12
1 Within the group of chapters xlvi. — xlix. the prophecy against Egypt (xlvi. )
was delivered in 604 B.C.; but this alone is precisely dated, and the occasion of some
of the remaining predictions comprised in these chapters is disputed (see Driver, Jer.
pp. 270, 271, note; Binns, Jer. pp. 318, 319 (West.C.)).
OBADIAH xxxv
of that chapter seems to imply that the cup of suffering had not yet been
drunk by Jehovah's people, it is probable that the prophecy was uttered
before the Fall of Jerusalem in 587 ; and since Ob. was almost certainly
written after that date (p. xliii), the possibility of borrowing on the part
of the latter is manifest. Nevertheless against the conclusion that Jer.
is the original source of the verses that appear in both there are two
considerations of much weight.
(a) In Ob. the consecutiveness of the verses is less interrupted, and
the sequence of thought is better observed, than in Jer. In Ob. these
verses constitute a well-organized whole. The only break in the con-
nection is a parenthetic exclamation, whilst the opening verse is an
appropriate introduction to the verses which follow. On the other hand,
the verse which so aptly begins the prophecy in Ob. is in Jer. preceded
at some distance by a verse which in Ob. is the last of the five; whilst
of the verses which in Jer. are peculiar to that book and come between
this verse and the rest that are common to the two prophets, some
relate to a distinct subject. There is thus a presumption that, if one of
the two prophets has borrowed from the other, it is not the author of Ob.
who is the borrower, since in his pages the verses in question are more
coherent than in the other work which contains them.
A comparison of the two passages in Ob. and Jer., arranged in parallel
columns, and rendered literally, will shew clearly both the divergence in the
order of the verses and the resemblance in matter and wording.
Ob. Jer.
1 A communication have we (LXX. 14 A communication have I heard
I) heard from Jehovah, and a messen- from Jehovah, and a messenger is
ger has been sent among the nations, being sent among the nations, 'Gather
'Rise ye, and let us rise against her yourselves, and go against her, and
to war.' rise to war.'
2 "Lo, I make thee small among 15 "For, lo, I make thee small
the nations: thou art despised greatly, among the nations, despised among
men.
3 The pride of thine heart hath 16 Thy terribleness hath deceived
deceived thee1, dweller in the clefts thee1, the pride of thine heart, dweller
of (the) rock, the height of his abode ; in the clefts of the rock, holder of the
saying in his heart, 'Who will bring height of the hill :
me down to the earth?'
4 If thou makest on high as a though thou makest on high as a
vulture, and if thy nest is set (LXX. vulture thy nest,
if thou settest thy nest) among the
stars,
1 There is a slight difference in the Hebrew here.
01
xxxvi INTRODUCTION
Ob, Jer.
from thence will I bring thee down," from thence will I bring thee down,"
is the utterance of Jehovah. is the utterance of Jehovah.
5 If thieves came to thee, if ma- 9 If vintagers come to thee,
rauders of the night
(How art thou brought to naught!),
would they not steal (only) till satisfied ? they will not leave gleanings ;
if vintagers came to thee, if thieves by night,
would they not leave gleanings ? they will destroy till satisfied.
(b) In the verses common to both writers there are none of the turns
of speech to which Jeremiah is partial, whereas these are found in the
immediate context in which the verses in question appear in his book.
Thus within the ten verses included in Jeremiah's prophecy against Edom
(xlix. 7 — 22) that have no equivalent in Ob. 1 — 5, the following contain features
which are met with elsewhere in Jer. : —
v. 8, flee.. .turn back', the same verbs are conjoined in xlvi. 5, 21, xlix. 24:
the time that I shall visit (or the time of visitation); see vi. 15, x. 15, xlvi.
21, 1. 27, 31, cf. also xlviii. 44:
v. 13, accumulated synonyms expressive of conditions provoking contempt
and scorn; see xxiv. 9, xxv. 9, 11, 18, xxix. 18, xlii. 18:
v. 17, be astonished... hiss; see xviii. 16, xix. 8, 1. 13:
v. 18, the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah; see 1. 40:
no man shall dwell therein; see xlix. 33, 1. 40, li 43:
v. 19, the pride of Jordan; see xii. 5, 1. 44 :
v. 20, to purpose purposes (or its equivalent); see xi. 19, xviii. 11, 18, xxix.
11, xlix. 30, L 45:
the little ones of the flock; see 1. 45:
v. 22, fly as the eagle and spread out his wings ; see xlviii. 40.
This circumstance is even more decisive against the view that the
verses in Ob. have been borrowed from Jer. than the one noticed under (a) ;
for it is extremely improbable that a writer, in drawing upon another's
work, should have selected from a single chapter just those verses which
contain none of the original author's favourite expressions. If borrowing
has occurred between the two writers, the fact that the verses in dispute
do not exhibit any of Jeremiah's phrases amid a context which has
several is only consistent with the supposition that they have been
derived by Jeremiah from Obadiah.
(ii) It is, however, almost equally clear that Ob. is not the original
source of the verses in question. This conclusion is suggested, to begin
with, by the fact that only these five verses recur in Jer., although the
subject-matter of them (the sin of Edom and its retribution) is further
pursued by Obadiah ; and the remainder of his book would have afforded
material for additional borrowing if he had been previously drawn upon.
OBADIAH xxxvii
But it is decisively confirmed by an investigation of the metre in which
the verses common to the two writers are composed. The passage Jer.
xlix. 14 — 16, 9 consists of almost perfect elegiac (or Kinati) lines (see
p. cxlii). So slight are the departures from this rhythm that it is reason-
able to infer that the original passage was constructed according to this
metrical scheme, and that any irregularities discernible in the existing
text are due to some slight corruption. In the corresponding passage in
Ob. the same metrical system can be detected here and there (see v. 5H) ;
but in various places it is disorganized, partly by the absence of words
needed to complete the metre, partly by the presence of words that are
metrically superfluous, and are not required by the sense. Comparison
between the two parallel sections affords means of reconstructing with
much plausibility the original passage; and from such reconstruction it
becomes tolerably clear that the version in Ob., though preserving more
closely than the version of Jer. the probable order of the verses as they
were at first arranged (p. xxxv), reproduces less accurately than Jer. the
authentic form of the separate verses, and that consequently Ob. cannot
be the source from which Jeremiah has borrowed.
(iii) There remains, then, the alternative that the writers have drawn
upon a third source, namely an oracle by an earlier prophet. Of the use
of portions of earlier prophecies by later writers there are several
probable examples in the O.T. Apart from short quotations (such as
Num. xxi. 28, 29, included in Jer. xlviii. 45, 46), instances of the in-
corporation of comparatively long passages are furnished by the identity
of Is. ii. 2 — 4 with Mic. iv. 1 — 3, and the identity of Is. xv. 2 — 6 and
xvi. 6 — 11 with Jer. xlviii. 29 — 34, 36, and in each of these cases the
passage common to the two writers named has almost certainly been de-
rived by both of them from a prior author1. A reason for the use by
Obadiah of the work of a preceding prophet may be readily suggested.
He witnessed, as he believed, the fulfilment of the earlier prediction, and
quoted it in connection with his own description of the event which
confirmed its truth.
1 In the N.T. an instance of the use of an earlier work by two later writers is
furnished by the appropriation of Mk. in whole or in part by both Mt. and Lk.,
though they have handled it with great freedom.
xxxviii INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER III.
THE DATE.
THE book of Obadiah having been provisionally analysed into the
three sections (I) w. 1—5; (II) wo. 6—14, 15b; (III) w. 15a, 16—21,
of which (I) has been shewn to be derived in all probability by the
author of (II) from an earlier writer, it remains to consider more at
length the justification of this analysis, and the date to which the
several sections can most plausibly be assigned.
(I) In w. 1 — 5, an oracle from Jehovah announces, at a time when
a confederacy is being organized against Edom, that it is the Divine
purpose to humiliate that nation ; that its pride in its security among
inaccessible rocks is ill-grounded ; and that its spoliation and destruc-
tion will be complete. The tenses vary between perfects and futures;
but future tenses are predominant ; and the general impression produced
by the passage is that it is not a description of events that have already
happened but a prophecy relating to the future. Owing to the vagueness
of the language, there is no positive indication of the time when it was
written ; but there is some negative evidence which seems to exclude a
post-exilic date. The self-confident attitude attributed to Edom suggests
that the country was at the time unmolested and prosperous ; and the
fact that a Hebrew prophet was prompted to predict for it disaster seems
most naturally explained by assuming that some success had recently
been gained by the Edomites to the prejudice of its neighbour, but the
prophecy does not breathe the feeling of bitter resentment marking the
rest of the verses down to v. 15, and evoked by the conduct of the
Edomites on the occasion of the overthrow of Jerusalem in 587. The
situation implied would correspond to the condition produced through
the Edomites' re-acquisition of their independence in the reign of
Jehoram (2 Kgs. viii. 20 — 22)1; or by their recovery, in the reign of
Ahaz, of the harbour of Elath, which had so far remained in Jewish
hands, but was then restored to Edom by Rezin of Syria (2 Kgs. xvi. 6,
marg.), on which occasion, according to 2 Ch. xxviii. 17, the Edomites
entered Judah and carried off some of its inhabitants as prisoners.
Consequently, though the precise date of the prophecy must be a
matter of conjecture, it may be regarded with some confidence as
pre-exilic.
1 Some have thought that the Edomites may have participated in the raid made
by the Philistines and the Arabians related in 2 Ch. xxi. 16, 17.
OBADIAH
XXXIX
(II) The section comprised in w. 6 — 15 (or, in strictness, 6 — 14,
15b, for 15a belongs to the succeeding section) must have been composed
at a date subsequent to the later of two events : — (1) the forcible entry
made into Jerusalem by an unnamed foreign people on an occasion when
the Edomites had exulted at the capture of the city and taken part in
the accompanying rapine and slaughter (w. 11 — 14); (2) the ravage of
Edom at a later period by an inroad of tribes previously friendly, in
which the Jews (as represented by the writer) saw a meet recompense
for the wrong previously perpetrated by the Edomites on themselves.
The first of these two events is generally identified with the capture of
Jerusalem by the Babylonians, when the Edomites exhibited the utmost
delight at the calamity sustained by their kinsmen, and in consequence
created in the Jews feelings of the most intense indignation. Jerusalem,
indeed, is recorded in the O.T. to have been entered by an enemy no
less than five times1; but the only occasions on which Edomites
are known to have participated in, or rejoiced at, the assault were the
last two — the siege and capture of the city by the Babylonians, first in
597 and again in 587, as related in 2 Kgs. xxiv., xxv. Both times the
capital was plundered, and numbers of the citizens deported ; but
manifestly it is the second of these occasions, rather than the first, that
suits the language of Obadiah best. The account in 2 Kings, indeed, does
not enumerate Edomites in connection with the overthrow of the Jewish
capital; but their presence and the malicious satisfaction which they
expressed are attested by Ps. cxxxvii. 7, Ezek. xxxv. 5 (cf. xxv. 12,
Lam. iv. 21, 22). The magnitude of the disaster, and the bitter resent-
ment felt by the Jews to wards the Edomites for the malevolence which they
then displayed, answer sufficiently closely to the description in Obadiah
(especially the expressions in w. 12, 13) for this event to be accepted
as the one which the writer had in mind when he discerned in the
Edomites' conduct towards his countrymen an explanation of their own
subsequent misfortune.
But though there is a general agreement that this section of Obadiah
has in view the events of 587, it has not been universally admitted
that it was written after them. Caspari, for instance, holds that it is a
prediction of the fall of Jerusalem (the past tenses in w. 11, 16 being
explained as prophetic perfects). He is led to this conclusion partly by
the position of Obadiah in the Canon after Joel and Amos (see p. xxxii),
1 See (a) 1 Kgs. xiv. 25, 26, 2 Ch. xii. 2—9; (6) 2 Ch. xxi. 16, 17; (c) 2 Egg. xiv.
8—14, 2 Ch. xxv. 17—24; (d) 2 Kgs. xxiv. 10—16; (e) 2 Kgs. xxv. 1—21.
xl INTRODUCTION
by the supposed use of Obadiah by Jeremiah (see p. xxxv), and by the
absence of any indebtedness to confessedly post-exilic writings like
Is. xxxiv. and 3 Is. Ixiii. But he lays most stress on the two facts
(a) that warnings to the Edomites (such as those contained in w.
12 — 14) to refrain from a certain line of conduct are unintelligible if
the deeds against which they are cautioned had already been committed
by them ; and (b) that the denunciation of the Edomites alone for their
crime against Judah is irreconcilable with the supposition that the
passage was written after the Fall of Jerusalem, it being inconceivable
that the writer could then have ignored the Babylonians, the chief per-
petrators of his country's ruin, or confined his attention to those who took
only a subordinate part in the tragedy. In connection with the latter
of these two contentions, it is argued that, if the writer lived before
587, the features manifested by the prophecy are natural enough; for
whereas prophetic foresight might not enable him long beforehand to
specify the destined chastisers of his country except by the vague
description of "strangers," he could easily anticipate the attitude of
the Edomites on the occasion, owing to the hostility which they had
displayed towards the Jews previously (cf. Am. i. 11). With regard to
the argument based on the imperatives in w. 12 — 14, though the use
of them may be admitted to be remarkable, it can be fairly accounted
for by the writer's imaginative power : he transports himself into the
past, envisages the scene of the city's capture, and dramatically
addresses the Edomites as though he saw them in the act of doing what
he knew they actually had done. In respect of the omission of all men-
tion of the Babylonians, the argument is of still less weight. Even in a
writing composed shortly after 587 there would be nothing surprising if,
in a denunciation of Edom for participating with foreigners in despoiling
a kindred people, the foreigners in question should not be alluded to
by name, for the guilt of the accomplices was independent of that of
the principals in the crime, and it could occupy the writer's thoughts
to the exclusion of anything else (cf. Ezek. xxv. 12 — 14, xxxv., Lam. iv.).
But the circumstance becomes perfectly natural if (as is probable for
reasons given below) the composition of this section of Ob. was separ-
ated from the events of 587 by a considerable interval, during which
the Babylonian empire had perished, whereas the Edomites had still
a country.
The occasion of the Edomites' display of malice towards the Jews is
easier to determine than the later occasion which brought a nemesis
upon them for their misconduct and upon which the writer looks back
OBADIAH xli
with satisfaction (v. 7). A conquest of Edom shortly after 587 by the
Babylonians with whom the Edomites had co-operated previously would
satisfy Obadiah's language in v. 7, and cannot be dismissed as impossible.
Not long before 587 Edom was seemingly leagued with Moab, Ammon,
Tyre, and Zidon (see Jer. xxvii. 3, 6) ; and since, according to Josephus
(Ant. x. 9, § 7), Moab and Ammon were subdued by the Babylonian
Nebuchadrezzar when he invaded Egypt in 582, five years after his
subjugation of Judah, Edom may have undergone the same fate. The
absence, however, of any explicit historic evidence that Nebuchadrezzar
invaded and spoiled Edom on the occasion alluded to renders this
explanation very doubtful. Much more may be said in favour of the
view which identifies the calamity suffered by Edom with some phase
in the dispossession of its people by the Nabatseans, who were in occu-
pation of Edom in 312 B.C. (see Diod. Sic. xix. 94). The Nabatseans are
described as Arabs by Josephus (Ant. i. 12, §4, xin. 1, §2, cf. Strabo,
xvi. 2, § 34, 4, §§ 2, 21); and the terms applied in Ob. 7 to the assailants
of Edom would probably be as appropriate to them as to the Baby-
lonians. Their establishment at Petra, the Edomite capital, at the date
mentioned is likely to have involved the expulsion of large numbers of
the native inhabitants. At the time when the book of Malachi was
composed (circ. 450B.C.) Edom had already undergone desolation (see
Mai. i. 3, 4) ; and though the devastators of the country are not named,
it is probable that they were the Arabian people just referred to. If
this identification is correct, it is clear that the Edomites had already
suffered from the inroads of the Nabataeans by the middle of the 5th
century. And the condition which raids would produce seems adequate
to explain the language in which the calamity experienced by the
Edomites is described by Obadiah. If his words are not unduly pressed,
and allowance is made for rhetoric, his description is scarcely too dark
for the state of a land ravaged by marauders, even though it had not
permanently passed into their hands. How early the Nabataeans had
begun to raid Edom cannot be ascertained ; but there are indications
that the Edomites were pushing northwards into Judah shortly after
587 (see Ezek. xxxv. 10, xxxvi. 5). This movement may have been due to
hostile pressure already driving some of the inhabitants of Edom to
seek a new abode. Knowledge of the cause that forced the Edomites
to leave their own country could not fail to become disseminated among
the neighbouring peoples; and to a Jewish prophet their expulsion from
their homes would seem a fit requital for the injury which no long
while before they had inflicted on their neighbours. There thus seems
xlii INTRODUCTION
to be no serious difficulty in the way of assigning the heart of the book
to the interval between 587 and the date of Malachi (the middle of the
5th century), though it is quite possible that it may have been com-
posed during the half-century following Malachi.
(Ill) The final section (w. 15% 16 — 21) predicts renewed calamity
for Edom. But the passage differs in tenor from what has gone before.
In the previous part of the book Edom alone is in mind, but here the
punishment of the Edomites is viewed as an episode in a Divine visi-
tation upon the nations at large, who are all represented as destined
to drain the cup of Jehovah's vengeance. And this change of outlook,
coupled with the circumstance that the 2nd pers. sing, is here replaced
by the 2nd pers. plural, suggests the work of another author. This
conclusion is confirmed by a difference in style. The vigorous and
varied diction of the anterior portion of the book gives place to a
much less impressive phraseology ; the tone is less animated and the
figures of speech are trite. The spirit in which the author writes is
less that of a Prophet than of an Apocalyptist. The situation, too,
in which the section was written differs to some extent from that
implied previously. When it was composed, the Edomites were ap-
parently settled in the Negeb (or South) of Judah and were a source
of annoyance to their Jewish neighbours. But there is no expectation
of punishment impending over the Edomite wrongdoers from any
contemporary power : the writer looks for retribution to fall upon them
in a general judgment which will come on the whole heathen world
from Jehovah, and after which the exiles of both branches of Israel
will regain their former possessions, and consume, like a fire, their
injurious neighbours. Any precise determination of the date is un-
fortunately precluded by the absence of all references to contemporary
conditions admitting of definite identification. The one supplied by
the mention of Sepharad as a locality where there was a body of Jewish
exiles is useless, since the place intended is extremely doubtful. The
view that the writer has in mind a settlement of Jews in Lydia and
Phrygia established by Antiochus the Great (224 — 187), as related by
Josephus (Ant. xn. 3, § 4), and that the section consequently was
written at a comparatively late date in the Greek period is difficult
to reconcile with the inclusion of the book among the Twelve Minor
Prophets, for allusion is made to these in Ecclus. xlix. 10, so that the
collection must have been completed before 180 B.C. and the separate
books in it written still earlier. And a further fact opposed to this late
origin is the circumstance that Ob. is probably quoted in Joel, for in
OBADIAH xliii
Joel ii. 32 (Heb. iii. 5) the words "In mount Zion and in Jerusalem there
shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said" seem to be a citation
of the prediction in Ob. 17, "In mount Zion there shall be those that
escape." If really so, then a date in the latter half of the Persian
period, perhaps between 450 and 400 B.C., will be the latest to which
this part of the book can with any plausibility be attributed. The
writer appears to include himself among, or at least to be in contact
with, a body of Israelites referred to in v. 20 (this host or fortress),
though who they are is quite obscure.
Little or no light is thrown upon the date of Ob. by the language
in which it is written; and though there is some difference of style
between the various parts of it, there are virtually no indications, in
the words or forms used in them, that they were composed at widely
separated periods. There are, indeed, certain words that occur only
here, or are very rare, or are used here in a sense not found elsewhere.
Such are (rocky) clefts (haghdvim), hidden treasures (matsponim), snare
(mdzor), slaughter (ketel), disaster (noc/ier), crossway (perek), swallow
down (lu'). But a7ra£ Aeyo/zeva are met with in most books of the O.T. ;
and of the rare words enumerated above ketel is the only one that is at
all suggestive of a late period in the Hebrew language.
It will be convenient to summarize here the conclusions reached in
regard to the probable dates of the several divisions of the book.
I. Verses 1 — 5, eighth century?
II. „ 6 — 14, 15b, middle of the fifth century.
III. „ 15a, 16—21, last half of the fifth century.
As the book comprises sections seemingly proceeding from three
distinct writers separated in point of time, it is uncertain to which of
them the name Obadiah properly belongs. If it is worth while to hazard
a conjecture, it is perhaps most likely that the book is called after the
prophet who composed the portion of it comprised in w. 6 — 14, 15b and
who incorporated the prophecy (w. 1 — 5) of a predecessor; and to whose
own work there was afterwards appended an oracle delivered at a sub-
sequent date, perhaps by a Judsean prophet resident somewhere within
the former territory of the Ten Tribes, if not in the actual neighbourhood
of Samaria (see p. 85).
xliv INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER IV.
EDOM AND THE EDOMITES.
THE region to which the name Edom was especially applied was the
mountain-ridge, red in colour, called Seir, on the east side of the
Arabah, i.e. the deep gorge that extends from the southern extremity of
the Dead Sea to the gulf of Akaba (see Gen. xxxii. 3, xxxvi. 8). But
at the time of the Exodus and the Wanderings of Israel the Edomites
also occupied the plateau on the west side of the Arabah, as far as
Kadesh (which is described as being on the border of Edom (Num.
xx. 16, JE)). Hence Edom stood in the way of any approach from the
Sinai tic peninsula to wards the country east of the Jordan ; and accordingly
the Israelites collectively, or at least some of the tribes, had to compass
the Edomite territory. On the north Edom was contiguous to Moab,
being separated from it probably by the Wddy-el-Ahsa, which is usually,
though not with certainty, identified with the torrent Zered (Dt. ii. 13).
On the south it extended to the northern end of the gulf of Akaba,
where Elath served as a port. In length it did not exceed 100 miles; in
breadth its limits are less easily defined, but its greatest extent from east
to west probably fell considerably short of 50 miles, and it doubtless
varied at different periods. Its physical features are diversified.
Though Seir consists in the main of bare cliffs, which rise to an average
elevation of 2000 ft., these are cut by glens and ravines capable of pro-
ducing abundant vegetation; and the name itself ("hairy") is probably
due to the brushwood covering it. "The country (writes Professor
Palmer) is extremely fertile, and presents a favourable contrast to the
sterile region on the opposite side of the Arabah. Goodly streams flow
through the valleys, which are filled with trees and flowers ; while on the
uplands to the east, rich pasture lands and cornfields may everywhere
be seen. With a peaceful and industrious population it might become
one of the wealthiest, as it is certainly one of the most picturesque,
countries in the world1." Hence it is possible that the ambiguous
language of Isaac's Blessing upon Esau in Gen. xxvii. 39 — 40, which is
generally regarded as descriptive of Edom, is to be understood in a sense
as favourable as that of v. 28; and there still exist many traces of
former cultivation. On the other hand, at the present day the con-
dition of the country exhibits the inevitable result of insecurity and
1 Quoted in Harper, The Bible and Modern Discoveries, p. 343.
OBADIAH xlv
neglect. " The gifts of nature are lavished in vain, and what little corn
the half-savage Fellahin can produce serves scarcely any other purpose
than to excite the cupidity of the Bedawin." In ancient times the
principal towns were Sela (or Petra) and Bozrah (the modern Busairah),
whilst others that are mentioned are Dinhabah and Avith.
The people that inhabited the country before the occupation of it by
the Edomites were the Horites (Gen. xiv. 6, Dt. ii. 12). The name is
generally taken to mean " cave-dwellers," from kor, " a hole," though
Sayce1 connects it with the root hdvar, "to be white," and supposes that
it designated a white race in contrast to the "red "-skinned Edomites
who succeeded them. The cliffs, which are a conspicuous feature of
mount Seir, abound in caves ; and the Horites were presumably an
aboriginal race that had in these their dwellings. They were subse-
quently dispossessed or absorbed by the Edomites, whom Hebrew
traditions represent as descended from Esau, a brother of their own
eponymous ancestor Israel or Jacob, the father of the brothers being
Isaac, the son of Abraham. It is not necessary to consider here whether
any historic personalities lie behind these names; but it is generally
agreed that the relationship represented as subsisting between the
patriarchs that figure in early Hebrew tradition reflects current beliefs
respecting the ties of kinship, near or remote, uniting the tribes or
peoples reputed to have sprung from them. On this principle the
Israelites were more closely connected with the Edomites than with the
Moabites and Ammonites, for whereas the two latter peoples are depicted
as sprung from Lot, Abraham's nephew, Israel and Edom are both
described as descended from Abraham's son Isaac. Of Isaac's children,
Esau, the traditional progenitor of the Edomites, is represented as the
elder, a circumstance probably embodying the conviction that the
Edomites were firmly established in their historic home in mount Seir
before the Israelites were settled in Canaan. The belief implied in the
traditions preserved in the book of Genesis that Edom was more nearly
related to Israel than either Moab or Ammon finds confirmation in the
fact that, although all three nations were generally hostile to the
Israelites, yet it was Edom which by its conduct on the occasion of the
Fall of Jerusalem evoked the bitterest resentment. The view that the
tradition, by describing Esau as the elder brother, meant to imply that
the Edomites were the older nation, is borne out by the notices of their
early history. They were in possession of mount Seir and the adjoining
1 See HCM. p. 204.
xlvi INTRODUCTION
district on the west of the Arabah when the Israelites were yet in a
nomadic stage of civilization; and they were in the enjoyment of a
settled form of government before their kinsmen attained to such.
They appear to have been ruled first by tribal or clan chiefs (termed in
the R. V. dukes, from the Vulg. duces\ and subsequently by kings. These
kings can scarcely have reigned by hereditary right, since, in the list of
them given in Gen. xxxvi. (if this is trustworthy), none is represented
as the son of his predecessor ; and it is possible that the monarchy was
elective. But in view of the fact that a succession of chiefs both pre-
ceded and followed the kings, it seems more likely that the rule of a
single sovereign was dependent upon the ability of some particular chief
to become paramount over the rest. The beginnings of monarchy in
Edom seem to have occurred when Israel was still wandering in the
desert, if importance can be attached to the circumstance that in the
"Song of Miriam," on the occasion of the Exodus, allusion is made to
the " chiefs " of Edom, whereas when the Israelites were preparing to
enter Canaan, it was to a king that application was made for leave to
traverse the Edomite territory. But though Edom reached a settled con-
dition before Israel, the ancient blessing of Isaac, predicting that Esau
should live by his sword, probably reflects the warlike and predatory
habits of the people, who depended largely for their support upon the
chase and upon plunder.
As regards the language of Edom the only evidence is that supplied
by the few names of persons and places that have been preserved.
These confirm the inference, drawn from the traditional relationship
subsisting between Edom and Israel, that it resembled Hebrew, since
most of the names admit of being interpreted from Hebrew roots.
Of the religion of Edom little is known. Among the names of
Edomite gods mentioned in inscriptions or deduced from other sources
are Hadad (not definitely known as an Edomite deity, but inferred to
have been such from the royal names Hadad and Benhadad (cf.
Benaiah}), Kaush (occurring in certain seemingly theophoric names
like Kaush-malak, Kaush-gabr) and Koze (Jos. Ant. xv. 7, § 9). From
the proper name Obed-edom, it may be concluded with some plausi-
bility that Edom was also the appellation of a deity, who was pre-
sumably worshipped by the Edomites; but there appears to be no
independent evidence to corroborate the conclusion. The occurrence of
various animal names amongst the Edomites in Gen. xxxvi., such as
Aiah (vulture), Achbor (mouse), and Zibeon (hyaena), suggests that
there once prevailed in Edom a totemistic stage of culture, in which
OBADIAH xlvii
families and clans were believed to be akin to certain animals after
which they were called (see p. 120).
As has been already said, the occupation of mount Seir by the
Edomites barred the way of Israel when the latter, either in whole or
in part, attempted to enter Canaan from the east. The sources of the
Pentateuch give conflicting accounts of the relations between the two
peoples on the occasion. According to the principal narrative, the
Israelites asked for leave to cross Edom, but being refused, avoided
any violation of it by making a devour to the south, traversing its
western border as far as the head of the gulf of Akaba, and then turning
northward along its eastern frontier (Num. xx. 14 — 21, xxi. 4, JE).
But there are other passages which imply no such circuit, but repre-
sent the Israelites as crossing the intervening country from mount Hor
(probably Jebel Madurah, N. W. of Ain Kadis) to the borders of Moab (see
Num. xxxiii. 37 f., P, cf. xxi. 4a, 10, 11, P), though there is nothing
to decide whether they are conceived as having done this by permis-
sion of the Edomites or whether they pursued a route which at the
time was outside the Edomite territory. During the conquest of
Canaan and the period of the Judges nothing is recorded of the re-
lations between the two peoples. But there are not lacking indications
that there was some intermingling between them. Othniel, one of the
earliest Judges, is described as a son of Kenaz, and the latter is repre-
sented as a grandson of Esau. The Kenizzites were settled in Judah,
the Chronicler appearing to reckon Kenaz among the descendants of
Judah (1 Ch. iv. 13, 15); and as there is reason to think that Judah
entered Canaan not from the east but from the south, it is probable
that there was some intermixture between Israelite and Edomite clans
during the wanderings of the former in the wilderness. After kingly
government was established in Israel and the people began to increase
in strength and to extend their borders, it was inevitable that grounds
of quarrel should arise between them and their neighbours. The Medi-
terranean seaboard was closed by the Philistines (p. 82) ; and if the
Israelites were to possess a port, it was on the Red Sea littoral that
they had to find it. Hence a protracted struggle, marked by varying
fortune, ensued between the two nations. Saul is recorded to have
been successful over Edom (1 Sam. xiv. 47); and the country was sub-
jugated by his successor David (2 Sam. viii. 13, mg., 1 Ch. xviii. 11, 12).
A great victory was obtained in the Valley of Salt (presumably the
plain immediately to the south of the Dead Sea) and the country was
garrisoned. But the success of Joab, David's general, cannot have
xlviii INTRODUCTION
been as great as is represented in 1 Kgs. xi. 15, 16, where he is
alleged to have exterminated the Edomite male population; for the
Edomites even in the next reign seem to have given much trouble to
the conquerors. Hadad, of the Edomite royal house, who had married
an Egyptian princess, after having taken refuge in Egypt during the
invasion of his country in David's reign, returned when Solomon
ascended the Israelite throne, and (according to 1 Kgs. xi. 25, LXX.)
became king of Edom. But Solomon (who included Edomite women
in his harem) was able to retain Ezion-geber, a port on the gulf of
Akaba, and was then in a position to take part in the profitable trade
to Ophir (variously considered to have been situated on the east coast
of Africa, in S.E. Arabia (cf. Gen. x. 29), in India, or even in the
Malay peninsula) ; and it seems probable that Hadad's restoration to
the throne of Edom did not secure for the country complete independ-
ence. After the disruption of the Hebrew kingdom, Judah succeeded
in maintaining suzerainty over Edom for some period. According to
1 Kgs. xxii. 47 there was no king in Edom during the reign of Jeho-
shaphat (who, like Solomon, made use of Ezion-geber) and the land
was governed by a deputy. In the reign of Jehoram, however, Edom
seems once more to have had a native ruler, for an Edomite king took
part in the war conducted by Ahab of Israel and Jehoram against
Moab (2 Kgs. iii. 9); but he was probably at the time a vassal. Later
in Jehoram's reign the Edomites recovered their independence (2 Kgs.
viii. 20 — 22), but they seem to have been unable to eject the Judasans
from Elath, a port a little to the south of Ezion-geber ; and it was not
until the reign of Ahaz that it was regained for them by Rezin of
Syria (2 Kgs. xvi. 6b mg.). According to the Chronicler (2 Ch. xxviii. 17),
the Edomites took advantage of the attack of Rezin upon Ahaz to
invade the southern borders of Judah and carry away captives. The
struggle for national freedom which this history implies was doubtless
marked by much savagery, and the prophet Amos denounces Edom
for its relentlessness (Am. i. 11). The Edomites not only pursued their
own wars mercilessly, but bought captive Judaean slaves from the
neighbouring Philistines (Am. i. 6). Their conflict with Judah did
not cease with the acquisition of their independence in the reign of
Jehoram, for the Judaean king Amaziah, about fifty years later,
attempted to reconquer the country, inflicted a severe defeat upon its
people, and captured Sela, which he called Joktheel. Elath, as has been
said, still remained in Judsean hands and must have been accessible
from Judah by a secure road, if it was to be of any value; so that
OBADIAH xlix
possibly the part of Edom which had effectually thrown off Judsean
authority was small. But with the loss of Elath in the reign of Ahaz
Judaean sovereignty over Edom seems to have come to an end; and
even Hezekiah, though he was stronger than his father, is not recorded
to have attempted the re- subjugation of the country. In point of fact
all the small Palestinian states were now menaced by Assyria ; and the
names of Edomite kings appear with those of others in the cuneiform
inscriptions who paid tribute to Assyrian rulers. Kaush-malak was
tributary to Tiglath-Pileser III (744—727), Malik-ram to Sennacherib
(705—681), and Kaush-gabr to Esarhaddon (681—668) and Asshur-
banipal (668—626).
It might have been expected that a common danger would have
lessened the animosity prevailing between two nearly-allied peoples;
but such was not the case when the Babylonians, having aided in the
destruction of the Assyrian empire in 612, attacked Judah early in
the following century. Although the menace from Babylon led for a
moment to an attempt on the part of Edom and others of the states
bordering on Judah to form a coalition with the latter for combined
defence (Jer. xxvii. 3), nothing was effected; and when in 587 Nebu-
chadrezzar, the king of Babylon, took Jerusalem, the Edomites not
only manifested the utmost satisfaction at the overthrow of their
neighbours, but, according to the statements of Judaean writers, behaved
with great barbarity to the unhappy Jews, sharing both in the plunder
of the city and in the slaughter of its citizens. Their conduct on this
occasion made an abiding impression on the surviving Jewish people ;
predictions of calamity for Edom and the Edomites are frequent in
post-exilic prophecies (3 Is. Ixiii. 1 — 6, Joel iii. 19, Mai. i. 4); and even
the author of Ecclus., writing about 180 B.C., displays his hatred for
them, if the Heb. of 1. 26 (see mg.) preserves a correct reading. And
not only did the Edomites exult over the Fall of Jerusalem, but they
occupied part of the territory of Judah, settling in the Negeb (or
South) and taking possession of Hebron, which remained in their hands
(whether continuously or not, does not appear) until the time of
the Maccabees. Their inroad into the south of Judah, however, was
probably due to disasters of their own. The Nabatseans (see p. xli)
are related by Diodorus Siculus (xix. 98) to have been in occupation of
Petra in 312 B.C. ; and this seizure of their capital must have resulted
in the withdrawal of numbers of Edomites from their own country into
neighbouring lands; amongst which Judah, now thinly populated,
would offer many advantages as a place of refuge. Here they remained
w. d
1 INTRODUCTION
until the rise of the Maccabees and the renewal of a warlike spirit
among the Jews, when they were expelled from the places which they
had seized. Judas Maccabeus inflicted a severe defeat upon them at
Akrabattine (in the neighbourhood of the ascent of Akrabbim, south
of the Dead Sea) and likewise attacked them successfully at Hebron
(1 Mace. v. 3, 65). John Hyrcanus in 128 B.C. drove them from Adora
and Mareshah (Jos. Ant. xm. 9, § 1, B. J. I. 2, § 6), and so completely
subjugated them that he was able to impose upon them acceptance of
the Jewish Law and the rite of circumcision. Edom thus became
amalgamated with Judah; and it was by a family of Edomite origin
that the Jews were eventually ruled. This was the house of Herod,
which first became prominent under Antipater, who was made governor
of Edom (called in Greek Idumcea) by Alexander Jannseus (104 — 78).
His son, likewise named Antipater, was appointed procurator of Judaea
by Julius Csesar, and was the father of Herod the Great. The latter
was made king of Judsea by the Roman senate; and after Actium
(39 B.C.) received from Octavianus an extension of his dominions by
the inclusion of Trachonitis. One of his sons, Herod Antipas, became,
under his father's will, tetrarch of Galilee and Persea, and married a
daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petrcea (the title by which the
kingdom of Edom was known to the Romans). The country was de-
vastated by Simon of Gerasa shortly before the siege of Jerusalem by
Titus (Jos. Ant. xvi. 8, § 5 ; 14, § 4 ; xvm. 2, § 1 ; B. J. iv. 9, § 7). Its
independence came to an end in 105A.D., when the Roman emperor
Trajan reduced it to a province, its capital Petra being re-named
Hadriana (after Hadrian, the general who captured it, and who became
Trajan's successor).
INTRODUCTION TO JOEL.
CHAPTER I.
THE TITLE AND CONTENTS.
THE book of Joel affords little information respecting its author.
The name is not rare1, and is usually interpreted to mean "Jehovah is
God," being related to Elijah ("My God is Jehovah") as Joab ("Je-
hovah is father") is to Abijah. But though the name must have had
for Jews the significance stated, it is questionable whether this was its
original meaning, since the occurrence of it in certain Phoenician inscrip-
tions throws some doubt on its connection with Jehovah2. Nothing is
known concerning the prophet; and the only information obtainable
about the period in Hebrew history which witnessed his prophetic
activity has to be inferred from the internal evidence of the book.
Even the precise form of his father's name is uncertain, since the Hebrew
gives it as Pethuel, whereas the Versions have Bethuel* or Bathuel
(see p. 88). He is said by Epiphauius to have belonged to the tribe
of Reuben ; but he must in any case have been a resident at Jerusalem,
and was identified with its interests (ii. 1, 15, 23, iii. 1, 16, 17, 20),
since he not only repeatedly refers to that city, but also speaks of the
offerings made in the Temple, and of the ministrations of the priests
there. Where the term Israel occurs in the book (as in ii. 27, iii. 2, 16),
it clearly refers to Judah.
The occasion of the prophecy which the book contains was the
appearance in the land of extensive flights of locusts, accompanied by
extreme drought, the two together involving an unprecedented destruc-
tion of vegetation, and consequent scarcity and distress for both man
and beast. Through the ravages of the locusts the harvest, the vintage,
and the other products of the soil were consumed; the supply of food
for the support of life, and of cereal and wine offerings for the service
of religion, was cut off ; and the devastation of the crops, the trees, and
the herbage caused by successive swarms of the insects for several years
1 It is the appellation of at least a dozen different persons in the O.T.: see
(1) 1 Sam. viii. 2 (1 Ch. vi. 33), (2) 1 Ch. iv. 35, (3) 1 Ch. v. 4, (4) 1 Ch. v. 12,
(5) 1 Ch. vii. 3, (6) 1 Ch. xi. 38, (7) 1 Ch. xxvii. 20, (8) Ezra x. 43, (9) Neh. xi. 9,
(10) 1 Ch. vi. 36, but see mg., (11) 1 Ch. xv. 7, 11, (12) 2 Ch. xxix. 12.
2 See Oxford Heb. Lex. p. 222: cf. Gray, Heb. Proper Names, p. 153.
8 Cf. Gen. xxii. 23.
lii INTRODUCTION
(ii. 25) had been augmented by a deficiency of the usual rain. This
calamitous situation drew from the prophet counsel for the people's
need. Interpreting the visitation as a prelude to, or perhaps as a phase
of, Jehovah's Judgment Day, he urged his countrymen to seek, by sincere
repentance and every token of contrition, to prevail upon their God to
save them from the worst, and so preserve His worshippers from becoming
the scorn of the heathen (ii. 17, mg.).
The book falls into three parts. The first section (i. 2 — ii. 17) consists
of a description of the sufferings of the country and of the resistless
advance of the locusts, followed by the appeal of the prophet to both
priests and people to make supplication to Jehovah to spare them.
This first section is separated from the next by a brief narrative (ii. 18,
19a), which is followed by a second address from the prophet (ii. 19b — 27).
Between ii. 17 and the succeeding verse an interval of time must be
supposed to have elapsed, during which Jehovah's acceptance of His
people's prayer has been manifested by a turn for the better in their
position. He has already sent rain : and in the second section (ii. 19b — 27)
the prophet conveys God's promise that the locusts will be removed,
and comforts the afflicted community with the prospect of such ample
upplies of corn and other fruits of the earth as will make good what
the insects had devoured. Upon this second section, which is limited
to assurances of physical blessings, there ensues a third (ii. 28 — iii. 21
(Heb. iii. 1 — iv. 21)) containing predictions that at some later date
Jehovah's material bounty will be followed by the gift of His Spirit, in
virtue of which all classes of the people will become prophets. This will
be a sign, amongst others, of the imminence of the judgment, from
which those who shall invoke His name (i.e. the Jews) are to be saved
in Jerusalem, but which will be executed upon the heathen. After the
recall of those Jews who are still in exile, all nations will be brought
together and be judged by God in the vicinity of Jerusalem for their
treatment of Judah and its population. The Phoenicians and Philistines,
in particular, because they have sold Jewish captives as slaves, will them-
selves be enslaved. The nations in general, assembled in the valley of
Jehoshaphat, will there be trampled by Jehovah's hosts like grapes in a
winepress. Such an issue will confirm the faith of the Jews in their
God and in the future inviolability of their country. The fertility of its
most barren localities will be ensured; Egypt and Edom are to be
doomed to desolation for violence committed on the Jews ; and Zion
will become Jehovah's dwelling-place. With this section the book
closes.
JOEL liii
Though there is a break after ii. 17 which implies the lapse of
an interval, the most important division of the book occurs at ii. 27,
where there is a change of subject-matter, so that the book falls into
two main halves, each with an interest of its own. The first half,
i. 2 — ii. 27, is concerned solely with the disasters occasioned by the
locusts, with Jehovah's promise to remove the plague, and with His
assurance of renewed fertility for the land, and material blessings for
its people. But in ii. 28 — iii. 21 the subject is exclusively a universal
judgment, resulting in the deliverance and felicity of the Jews and the
punishment of the heathen who have maltreated them. But though the
two halves are thus contrasted in respect of their subject-matter, there
is no real severance between them. The spiritual endowment of the
Jews pre-announced in ii. 28 — 29 is the counterpart of the material
plenty foretold in ii. 19—27 (note afterward, v. 28). And all through
the section relating to the locust-plague (i. 2 — ii. 17) the locusts are
represented as forerunners of the Judgment Day, and their devastation
of the land of Israel is described as accompanied by all the terrifying
portents in nature that are destined to attend the predicted annihila-
tion of the heathen (cf. ii. lb, 2, 10, 11 with ii. 31, iii. 15, 16). Such
portents in the account of the locusts cannot be satisfactorily explained
as due to features noticeable in connection with the actual movements
of these insects, for though they constitute a very serious plague, they
are not an unusual one in Palestine (cf. Dt. xxviii. 38, 1 Kgs. viii. 37,
Am. iv. 9). There are, indeed, present in the prophet's narrative traits
which, though startling, doubtless reflect a real experience of a locust-
plague (e.g. ii. 3, 5, 6). Travellers relate that flights of locusts are
sometimes so extensive that they even obscure the sky. But the shaking
of earth and heaven, the pealing of thunder, and the withdrawal of the
light of the sun, moon, and stars cannot be thus explained. And the fact
that the same features figure both in a description of a destructive swarm
of locusts and in a prediction of a comprehensive judgment executed
upon the assembled heathen nations, thus bringing into relation with
one another two events which to modern minds are incommensurate,
has occasioned a very serious difficulty in the interpretation of the book,
of which a solution has been sought in various ways.
liv INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II.
THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BOOK.
OF the two subjects with which the book is concerned, a disastrous
plague of locusts in Palestine, and a Divine judgment upon the whole
heathen world, the first is represented as actually being experienced
when the work opens, and is looked back upon as past, as the book
proceeds, whilst the second is still in the future, and its occurrence
only predicted; yet the two are described in such similar language,
that they appear to be successive stages of one process, the first as well
as the second realizing the terrors of the day of Jehovah. From the
terms used in ii. 1, 2, indeed, the locusts might be taken to be mere
precursors of the Day of Jehovah, with its accompaniment of gloom and
darkness, thunder and earthquake; but in ii. 10, 11 the same portentous
signs in nature attend the locusts as are manifest when the heathen are
gathered for their doom in the Valley of Decision (iii. 15, 16, cf. ii. 31).
The fact that two events seemingly so different in character and im-
portance are thus co-ordinated and treated as though they were on the
same plane has been accounted for in different ways.
Formerly attempts were made to lessen the unnaturalness of painting
in the same colours a destructive locust-plague and the final judgment
upon the heathen, by interpreting the locusts allegorically. The suc-
cessive swarms of locusts were explained as denoting successive invasions
of heathen enemies; and since four distinct names are used for the
locusts, they were taken to represent either assaults upon Palestine by
four different nations1, or four assaults at different times by the same
nation2. Support for this view that the locusts are figures for hostile
hosts was obtained from (a) the circumstance that the locusts are
actually described as a nation and a people (i. 6, ii. 2) ; (b) the fact
that they are termed Jehovah's army and camp (ii. 11, 25); (c) the
charge preferred against them of overweening conduct, with its implica-
tion of moral accountability (ii. 20, end) ; (d) the epithet the northerner
(ii. 20) applied to them, for whereas locusts rarely come to Palestine
from a northerly direction (since the chief breeding-ground of the
1 In the margin of Codex Marchalianus (6th century) of the LXX. there is a note
to ii. 25 explaining the four names for locusts there given as standing for Alytiimot,
Ea.pv\6viot,'A.<T<rijp<.oi,"E\\'r]V€s,*PutJ(.aioi,ibe Assyrians and Babylonians being perhaps
reckoned together.
3 Hilgenfeld took the four swarms to represent Persian invasions (1) under
Cambyses, 525 ; (2) under Xerxes, 484 ; (3) and (4) under Artaxerxes I, 460—458
(see Van Hoonacker, Les Dome Petits Prophetes, p. 133).
JOEL Iv
swarms that devastate Western Asia is Arabia, whence they are carried
to Palestine by southerly winds), it was from the north that the expected
advance of the nations hostile to Israel was looked for (Jer. i. 14, Ezek.
xxxviii. 6, 15, xxxix. 2); (e) a possible translation of ii. 17 as given in
the R.V. text, which interprets it as a prayer that the nations may not
rule over Jehovah's people ; (/) the magnitude of the terror and destruc-
tion caused by them, exceeding the results produced by real locusts ;
(g) the connection of the scourge with the day of Jehovah, which else-
where is often associated with the invasion of Israel by hostile forces.
But such an allegorical explanation is totally inconsistent with the
natural significance of the writer's language. That the locusts are
meant to be understood as real locusts and not as human invaders
appears from the facts (a) that they are compared to an invading army,
and therefore must be really distinct from such ; (b) that the damage
which they inflict is wrought solely through the destruction of vege-
tation; (c) that the comparison of their entry into the city to that of
a thief, though suitable for a swarm of locusts penetrating into houses
through the windows, is inappropriate for a victorious host; (d) that
the manner of their destruction (ii. 20) is one which is not uncommon
in the case of locusts (cf. Ex. x. 19), but is unnatural in the case of
soldiers; (e) that the calamity occasioned by them is repaired by the
revival of vegetation and the renewal of bountiful harvests; (./ ) that
the Hebrew of ii. 17 admits of a different rendering (see mg.). The
writer, indeed, depicting them poetically, invests them with certain
human qualities, and even (if the last clause of ii. 20 is genuine, see
p. 105) ascribes to them human responsibility. But human qualities are
often attributed to the lower creatures by Hebrew writers (as well as
by others), see Job xxxix. 7, 22, xl. 23; and it cannot seriously be
doubted that Joel has in his mind not men but insects, which, though
personified and likened to warriors, are meant to be understood literally.
And though there is an element of hyperbole in his language, yet much
of it is extraordinarily true to experience. Accordingly, the violence
that is felt to be done to the plain sense of the book by the allegorical
interpretation has led to another view, which maintains that whilst the
locusts are intended to signify insects, they signify not ordinary but
supernatural locusts, agents designed to take part in the execution of
the Divine judgment in the Day of Jehovah (cf. Rev. ix. 3 — 11). But
this explanation is a desperate expedient, and can only be justified if
failure attends all other methods of rendering intelligible the relation
of the locusts to the great and terrible Day.
Ivi INTRODUCTION
More recently it has been sought to cut the knot by a process of
critical analysis. One solution dissects the book into two different
works occupied with distinct subjects, each part being the production
of a separate author. A second solution is found in the hypothesis
that the book consists of two originally disconnected parts of a single
work, both proceeding, in the main, from the author whose name the
book bears, but differing in subject-matter; and that the first has been
assimilated to the second by a number of interpolations designed to
interpret the locust-plague, which it describes, in the light of the com-
prehensive judgment predicted in the latter half of the book. Instances
of such supposed interpolations are i. 15, ii. lb, 2a, 6, 10, 11 (cf. iii.
14 — 16). These verses or parts of verses contain parallels with other
books ; and this fact has also been held to favour the view that they
are insertions.
The question whether the features of the work really require either
its partition, or the less disruptive hypothesis of extensive interpolation,
is considered in the next chapter. The parallels between Joel and other
O.T. writings, with the inferences to be drawn from them with regard
to priority, are reserved for discussion in ch. iv. in connection with the
date. If it can be shewn that the priority probably rests not with Joel
but with the other writings that are compared with it, it need not
follow that the passages in Joel have been introduced by an editor;
they may reflect the influence of the earlier compositions upon the
author himself. There is, however, in the book one group of verses,
viz. iii. 4 — 8 (Heb. iv. 4 — 8), the authenticity of which is suspected
for reasons of a special nature ; and the arguments against its genuine-
ness have considerable weight (see p. Ix).
CHAPTER III.
THE UNITY OF THE BOOK.
THE disparity in importance between the subjects of the two halves
of the book, and the occurrence in i. 2 — ii. 27 (where the main interest
is the scarcity caused by the locusts) of expressions which appear
appropriate only to the catastrophe that is to overtake the heathen
nations as predicted in ii. 28 — iii. 21, have led (as has been seen) to
the denial of its unity (i. 2 — ii. 27 being the original work by a pre-exilic
author and ii. 28 — iii. 21 being a supplement by a post-exilic writer1),
1 See Driver, LOT.6 p. 311, note.
JOEL Mi
or to a theory of interpolations. Consideration, however, of the place
which dearth occupies amongst Divine judgments in the O.T., and of
the way in which the term the day of Jehovah is employed in the pro-
phetic writings, will shew that the two sections of the book are not as
irreconcilable as is represented. The similarity in the treatment of the
subject-matter of the two parts becomes intelligible if the conditions of
Eastern life at the time are adequately appreciated, and if the writer's
language is not interpreted in too prosaic and literal a fashion.
In a country and in an age in which external trade cannot have been
highly developed, and in which facilities for the transport of commodities
from abroad must have been meagre, any occurrence which diminished
or destroyed the harvest was bound to wear a serious aspect. Amongst
a people to whom anything unusual presented itself as a direct interven-
tion of the Deity, a succession of locust swarms, occasioning complete
failure of the crops, must have inevitably appeared to be a Divine
judgment upon the nation for its offences. And the light in which such
a chastisement was regarded, and the gravity of the affliction which it
involved, can be judged not only by the prominence given to instances
of dearth in the historical books (Gen. xli. 54, 2 Kgs. iv. 38, Neh. v. 3),
but also from the inclusion of it in the list of Jehovah's four sore
judgments in Ezek. xiv. 12 — 23. From all of these — sword, famine, wild
beasts, and pestilence — the land of Judah was liable to suffer during the
period prior to the Exile. But from that event onwards Judah for many
centuries enjoyed no national independence, being incorporated within
the dominions of a great empire, first Babylon, and afterwards Persia,
under whose rule, though it was humiliated, it was practically free from
hostile ravage. Accordingly the sword was no longer to be feared in
the same degree as during the pre-exilic age ; and by the diminution,
if not the elimination, of this source of danger, with its attendant evils
of carnage and rapine, the calamities of famine and pestilence to which
the country continued to be exposed, would become proportionately more
impressive. And it is noteworthy that in the prophetic writings of the
Persian period, like Haggai and Malachi, it is dearth which is represented
as the penalty that punishes the Jews for their offences (Hag. i. 6 f.,
Mai. ii. 3). And if, as will be seen, Joel is not earlier than the Persian
period, it is to be expected that the destruction of the harvest and
vintage by an exceptionally severe visitation of locusts would inspire
intense alarm, as indicating a terrible outbreak of Divine wrath against
the people.
It was such a manifestation of Divine resentment that the day of
Iviii INTRODUCTION
Jehovah was conceived by the prophets to usher in. In their expecta-
tion the Day was some decisive event bringing to a close the contemporary
age which was so distressful to the pious among their countrymen, and
introducing another age fraught with felicity for such as were deemed
worthy to survive the impending crisis. But whilst the expression con-
veyed the idea of a conclusive judgment, settling, as it were, the long-
standing account which Jehovah had with the sinful both within and
outside Israel, its significance was not limited to a single experience.
If the people, by opportune repentance, averted for a while the punishment
that had threatened them, a relapse into sin might revive forebodings
that had passed into the background. Moreover, a calamity that had
already overtaken the nation for earlier transgressions could then be
regarded by the conscience-stricken as a mere instalment of a retribution
which in its full severity was still to come. And it is from this point
of view that the references to the day of Jehovah in Joel i. 2 — ii. 27 are
to be understood. The acute distress caused by the plague of locusts
was a symptom of the Divine anger, and a premonition of worse disasters
yet in store. But the intensity of Jehovah's indignation was not, in fact,
experienced. In consequence of the response to the prophet's summons
to repentance, the destruction that menaced the people was removed ;
the fruits of the earth were once more granted to them ; and the signs
of the Day's approach, which had worn such a threatening aspect to
Israel, disappeared. It was then predicted that these tokens would be
succeeded by others, heralding the annihilation of Israel's enemies.
For Jehovah's chastisement of His people did not terminate His relations
with them. He remained their God ; and now that they had amended
their ways, their wrongs required to be redressed. The Day would
therefore reach its consummation in vengeance upon the heathen who
had so long exercised domination over them. The circumstance that
the conception of the Day has a place in each of the two halves of the
book is explained by its having two aspects ; and the fact that in the
second half it is regarded as finally to be realized in a future overthrow of
all the heathen nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat is not inconsistent
with an earlier phase being thought of as exemplified in the impoverish-
ment of Israel through swarms of locusts. The view which considers the
account of the plague of locusts and the prediction of the universal
judgment upon the nations to proceed from the same author, but seeks
to remove from the former all reference to the Day of Jehovah, does so
because of the celestial portents represented as accompanying the locust
swarms. In an imaginative picture of the destruction, by Jehovah
JOEL lix
in Person, of the heathen hosts, disturbances and convulsions of nature,
the darkening of the luminaries, the quaking of the earth, and the
trembling of the heavens, are deemed to be features which are not
inappropriate; but their presence in even a poetic description of so
ordinary an occurrence as a plague of locusts (though of abnormal
proportions) is, it is contended, out of place. But this contention ignores
the evidence for hyperbolical diction, inspired by religious emotion,
which is supplied by Hebrew literature in general. Other prophets, in
their representation of events as familiar as a locust-plague, or at least,
of events not greatly transcending common experiences, afford ample
parallels to the phrases used in Joel. The event, for instance, which is
anticipated in Amos v. 20 is an invasion of the land by Assyria, and
the deportation of its people to another country (v. 27); but the lan-
guage used in connection with it suggests, if it is interpreted literally,
an accompanying obscuration of the sky — "Shall not the day of Jehovah
be darkness and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it1?"
(v. 20, cf. Joel ii. 1, 2.) The writer of the prophecy contained in
Is. xiii. 1 — xiv. 23 has in view the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes;
but he leads up to his account of the massacre of its inhabitants, in
which neither age nor sex will be spared (probably no unprecedented
feature in the sack of a hostile capital), by declaring "The stars of heaven
and the constellations thereof shall not give their light : the sun shall
be darkened in his going forth and the moon shall not cause her light
to shine... I (Jehovah) will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth
shall be shaken out of her place" (xiii. 10, 13). And, again, it is
generally thought that the occasion which evoked Zephaniah's prophecy
was the irruption into Asia of hordes of Scythians1, but though the
prophet anticipates a judgment for Judah through the instrumentality
of such human agents, he describes it as "a day of darkness and
gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (i. 15). There is thus
in the language of Joel nothing that is seriously out of keeping with
the habits of thought and modes of expression common amongst the
prophetic writers generally. The celestial manifestations which are
represented as attending certain disasters of no uncommon nature,
though it may be of uncommon magnitude, are obviously figures of
speech which were never meant by their authors to be interpreted with
prosaic literalness.
Metaphors derived from gloom and darkness to express calamitous
1 See Driver, Minor Prophets, n. p. 106 (C.B.).
Ix INTRODUCTION
and terrifying conditions are, indeed, so instinctive that the use of them
by the prophets in connection with evils brought about by physical
causes or human agents does not need to be enlarged upon. But it is
not unlikely that the metaphors in question may also have had their
source in eclipses, which, in an age ignorant of their origin, were calcu-
lated to be very alarming. The association, indeed, of the trembling of
earth and heaven with darkness, in some of the passages just cited, may
point to a further source from which the latter metaphor may come.
The idea of a convulsion of the physical world is clearly drawn from
the experience of an earthquake ; and the memory of one which occurred
in the reign of Uzziah of Judah was long preserved (Am. i. 1, 2 Zech.
xiv. 5). And the clouds of dust raised by falling buildings, filling the
atmosphere and discolouring the light of the sun, would add an addi-
tional element of horror; so that into mental pictures conjured up by
the thought of an earthquake the obscuration of the luminaries might
naturally enter. The purpose of these and similar figures cf speech was to
create in the mind of the hearer or reader conceptions of fear and agony,
independently of any particular occasion. This is apparent from the
analogous introduction of allusions to storm and hurricane into descrip-
tions of martial conflict, as in Am. i. 14, 15 "I will kindle a fire in...
Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day
of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind : and their (the
Ammonites') king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together."
It is plain from such an example that there is nothing singular in the
reference to the shaking of the earth and the darkening of the sky in
Joel even in connection with the plague of locusts. The presence of
these features in the prophet's description is designed merely to heighten
the impression which he wishes to produce of the terrible nature of the
calamity. The writer does not mean that the devastation caused by
the locusts was actually accompanied by earthquake or eclipse, but that
it was of a magnitude calculated to inspire alarm comparable to that
arising from the latter causes, the expressions employed by him being
customary, almost stereotyped, symbols of fearful conditions.
The only passage for the rejection of which as an insertion plausible
reasons can be urged is iii. 4—8 (Heb. iv. 4—8). The passage is a
denunciation of injuries committed upon the Jews by the people of
Tyre, Zidon, and Philistia, and an assurance that such injuries will be
avenged. The grounds for questioning its authenticity are as follows.
(a) The passage is written in prose, whereas the context on either side
is in verse, (b) It is a digression, interrupting the connection between
JOEL Ixi
the subject-matter of iii. 3 and of iii. 9 f. In these groups of verses the
subject is the prediction of vengeance against all the nations ; and the
singling out, in the intervening section, of Phoenicians and Philistines
for special denunciation disturbs the current of thought very awkwardly.
(c) The statement that these people had sold Jews as slaves (v. 6) repeats
a charge already directed in general terms against the nations at large
(v. 3). (d) The retribution which is to overtake them differs from that
which awaits the collective heathen nations. These are to be extermin-
ated by Jehovah and His celestial hosts; whereas the two peoples who
are the subjects of consideration in w. 4 — 8 are to be sold into slavery,
thereby undergoing the same experience which they had inflicted on
others. The date of the interpolation need not be much later than that
of the rest of the book : a suggestion as to the occasion which produced
it is offered on p. 1 14.
CHAPTER IV.
THE DATE or* THE BOOK.
OF the time when the book was written there is given in the opening
verse no indication, such as occurs in Isaiah and Jeremiah among the
Major prophets, and Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, and
Zechariah among the Minor. Nor is there any reference to the writer in
the historical books, for though the name Joel occurs in them not in-
frequently (see p. li), there is nothing to identify the prophet with
any of the individuals elsewhere mentioned. The circumstance that the
prophecy is placed in the Canon between Hosea and Amos, which were
both written in the 8th century, has been held to favour an early date ;
but the forward position amongst the Twelve occupied by certain pro-
phetic works which for cogent reasons have come to be regarded as of
relatively late origin (e.g. the book of Jonah) deprives the consideration
of any importance. Moreover the arrangement by which Joel is followed
by Amos can be explained by certain features in the two books ; for Joel
ends with the announcement of a comprehensive judgment upon all
heathen nations, specific mention being made of Tyre, Zidon, Philistia,
Egypt, and Edom; whilst Amos begins with a series of predictions
against a number of heathen powers including Tyre, Philistia, and
Edom ; and moreover the phrase " Jehovah shall roar from Zion, and utter
his voice from Jerusalem " occurs near the conclusion of Joel (iii. 16),
and forms the opening of Amos. Consequently the date of the book has
to be determined indirectly from internal evidence. This consists of
Ixii INTRODUCTION
(i) the historical allusions found in the work, and the social and religious
condition of the people which is implied ; (ii) the parallels offered to its
more distinctive ideas by other prophecies of more or less certain date ;
(iii) the literary relations between it and other writings, as either quoting
or quoted ; (iv) the style and diction.
(i) The occurrence which evoked the prophet's utterances was (as has
been seen) a calamitous plague of locusts, productive of extreme dearth,
an incident too common in the East to afford any clue. The places
and peoples named in the course of the book are Tyre and Zidon,
Philistia, the Greeks, the Sabeans, Egypt, and Edom ; but the allusions
are vague, nor are the references to contemporary internal conditions
very illuminating. The relevant criteria may be conveniently divided
into positive and negative.
(1) POSITIVE.
(a) The population of Judah is represented as scattered among the
nations, who have parted among them its lands. One phrase, indeed, as
commonly rendered, refers to the "captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,"
which Jehovah purposes "to bring again" (iii. 1); but as the expression
is of somewhat doubtful significance, it cannot by itself be deemed
decisively to imply the Exile or to predict the Return. But that the
country had been occupied by invaders and its inhabitants (wholly
or in part) had been despoiled and enslaved is clearly stated (iii.
2,3).
(b) Tyre, Zidon, and Philistia are described as having taken away
Jehovah's silver and gold (an expression which may mean the spoliation
of the country in general or of the Temple in particular), and as having
sold Jewish slaves to the Greeks (iii. 4 — 6).
(c) Egypt and Edom are threatened with desolation because they
have done violence to the people of Judah and have shed innocent
blood in their land.
(d) Mention is made of a locality called the valley of Jehoshaphat,
recalling the king of that name who reigned circ. 876 — 851.
(e) The due maintenance of the Temple worship is a matter of deep
concern, with which the prophet appears to sympathize (i. 9, 16); and
the prospect of the suspension of the meal offering and the drink
offering through the ravages of the locusts occasions great distress.
(/) In the national appeal to Jehovah for deliverance from the
plague, the priests are described as taking the leading place.
(g) To render the appeal more effectual the prophet exhorts the
people to hold a public fast.
JOEL Ixiii
(2) NEGATIVE.
(a) The kingdom of Northern Israel (the Ten Tribes) is not mentioned.
The name Israel, indeed, occurs in the book (ii. 27, iii. 16), but the
context makes it plain that the word is only a title for Judah (cf.
p. 107).
(b) There is no allusion to the Syrians, the Moabites, the Ammonites,
the Assyrians, the Babylonians, or the Persians.
(c) There is an absence of references to any special national vices.
That the people are sinful, and that the locusts are viewed as a judg-
ment for their sins, is implied by the exhortation to repentance ; but
neither idolatry, nor social injustice, nor gross sensuality is specified as
having provoked Jehovah's anger.
(d) No mention is made of a contemporary king or of princes, the
only officials alluded to (besides the priests) being perhaps elders
(i. 14 mg., ii. 15 mg., though see p. 88).
Of the positive criteria here enumerated all, with one exception,
can be shewn to be indecisive. The Phoenicians, who constituted the
population of Tyre and Zidon, are nowhere recorded in the O.T. to
have actually invaded Judsean territory (which their situation did not
render easy), though in Jud. x. 12 the Zidonians are reckoned among
the nations who had oppressed Israel before the time of Jephthah;
so that the reference to them is most naturally interpreted to mean
not that they had themselves participated in the robbery and en-
slavement of Judah, but that they had bought valuables and slaves
from some unnamed despoilers and enslavers of the Jews, and dis-
posed of them to more remote purchasers. The Phoenicians were known
to the Hebrews as active traders as early as the reign of Solomon;
and they were doubtless at all times ready to engage in the slave
traffic. Tyre was expressly denounced in the 8th century by Amos
(i. 9, 10), apparently for selling slaves (though not necessarily Jewish
slaves) to Edom ; and in the 6th cent, was described by Ezekiel (xxvii. 13)
as purchasing "the persons of men and vessels of brass" in exchange
for its own wares. Prophecies against both Tyre and Zidon also occur
in Is. xxiii.1, Jer. xxv. 222, 2 Zech. ix. 2— 4s. The Philistines, on the
other hand, were close neighbours of Judah, and a constant source of
injury and annoyance from the time of the Judges onwards; and their
successful raids were sure to have resulted in the enslaving of captives.
1 Perhaps between 597 and 587 B.C.
2 Between 626 and 586 B.C.
3 Probably later than 333 B.C.
Ixiv INTRODUCTION
Their wars with Judah in the reigns of Saul and David before the Dis-
ruption, and in those of Jehoram and Ahaz after it, during the 9th
and 8th centuries, are related in the books of Samuel and Kings. The
people of Gaza, one of their cities, were denounced by Amos in the
8th cent, for carrying away captives from Jewish border towns and
delivering them up (doubtless as slaves) to Edom, in the same manner
as the Tyrians ; the inhabitants of Ashdod took part in the hostility of
Sanballat against Jerusalem in the time (5th century) of Nehemiah
(Neh. iv. 7) ; and Philistines participated in attacks upon Judah as late
as the 2nd century (1 Mace. iii. 41). Oracles against them were uttered
by Isaiah (xiv. 28 — 32), Jeremiah (xlvii.), Zephaniah (ii. 4 — 5), Ezekiel
(xxv. 15 — 17), Deutero-Zechariah (ix. 5 — 7), and the author of Is. xi.
11 — 14. Even the reference to the Greeks (Javan, the lonians) cannot
be regarded as pointing conclusively to a particular period, though it
suggests a late rather than an early date. They are not named, indeed,
in the O.T., before the time of Ezekiel (xxvii. 13, 19); but the early
intercourse between Judah and Phoenicia makes it quite possible that
the Jews were acquainted with the name of the Ionian Greeks long
before the date when it is first found in their Scriptures. The Sabeans
(Heb. Shebhaim, a people of S. Arabia), mentioned as a distant nation
to whom Phoenicians and Philistines in retaliation are to be sold into
slavery, were known to the Hebrews in the time of Solomon; and
allusions to them or to their country occur in Jer. vi. 20, Ezek. xxvii. 22,
xxxviii. 13, 3 Is. Ix. 6, Job i. 15, vi. 19. Egypt came into relation with
Judah both at an early and at a late period. The memory of the
oppression in Egypt was never erased from Jewish minds (cf. Mic. vi. 4,
Ps. cv., cvi., cxiv.), and the Egyptians had invaded Judah both in the
reign of Rehoboam (about the close of the 10th century) and in the time
of Josiah (at the end of the 7th). Utterances against Egypt appear
in Is. xxx., xxxi., Jer. xlvi., Ezek. xxix. — xxxi., and Is. xix. Edom,
like Philistia, was continually hostile to Judah, and for some period was
subject to it. The Edomites were conquered by David, revolted in the
reign of Jehoram (851 — 843), carried away captives in the reign of Ahaz
(according to 2 Ch. xxviii. 17), and earned the unrelenting hatred
of the Jews by their malicious satisfaction on the occasion of the Fall
of Jerusalem in 587 (p. xxxix). They are denounced in Am. i. 11, 12,
Jer. xlix. 7 — 22, Ezek. xxv. 12 — 14, xxxv., Ob. 8 — 14, Is. xxxiv. 5, Ixiii.
1 f., Mai. i. 2 — 4, Ps. cxxxvii. 7. Mention of the Valley of Jehoshaphai,
even if it was originally named after that king, only proves that the
book was written later than his reign, which has never been questioned ;
JOEL Ixv
whilst it is probable that in reality the name has only a symbolic
sense. In regard to the reference to the Temple and its worship, there
is nothing to determine whether the temple in the prophet's thoughts
is the first or the second. And if his attitude towards ritual obser-
vances contrasts with that of the First Isaiah (8th century), it likewise
contrasts with that of the Third Isaiah (5th century). Public fasting, too,
was a religious practice amongst the Hebrews in both early and late times
(1 Sam. vii. 6, 1 Kgs. xxi. 9, Neh. ix. 1). Nor were meal offerings and
drink offerings exclusively of late institution; for they are mentioned
together in the account of the sacrifices of Ahaz whose reign fell within
the 8th century (see 2 Kgs. xvi. 13).
The negative evidence is equally ambiguous. Inferences from silence
are generally precarious, and in regard to the kingdom of Northern
Israel, to Syria, to Moab, and to Ammon the writer of the book may
have had, from the immediate circumstances of his time, no occasion
to mention them. The case is rather different with his silence respecting
Assyria and Babylon. Each of these two states during its period of
supremacy in Western Asia so completely dominated the political
situation that it represented for contemporary Hebrew prophets the
hostile world-power of the age ; and it is difficult to suppose that Joel
could fail to refer to one or the other if either was, at the time that
he wrote, prominent. But his silence is compatible with one of two
alternatives; he may have written before the rise of Assyria (circ. 850)
or after the fall of Babylon in 538. On the other hand, omission of all
reference to Persia is not inconsistent with the hypothesis that the
book was written during the period of Persian predominance, since the
Persians, from the seventh decade of the 6th century (when they re-
placed the Babylonians as Israel's lords) to about the middle of the
4th century, usually treated the Jews with leniency. The circumstance
that the prophet, though exhorting his countrymen to repent and
turn to their God, does not charge them with specific sins is note-
worthy; but if it is an exception to the general practice of the pro-
phets, it does not point to one age more than to another. But his
silence respecting any individual ruler of the country, in connection
with the appeal to Jehovah, really seems to exclude as a possible date
for the book every period in pre-exilic times save one. The only
occasion before the Exile when the absence of all reference to the king
is intelligible is the comparatively short interval in the 9th century
when the de jure ruler of Judah was a minor.
This occurred in the reign of Joash, the son of Ahaziah, who was
w. *
Ixvi INTRODUCTION
7 years old at his accession (2 Kgs. xi. 21); and it is to this date
(a few years following 836) that the book has been assigned by many
scholars, who thus regard it as the earliest of the prophetical writings.
If this view is correct, the prominence given to the priests and the
absence of all mention of the sovereign is fairly accounted for, since
the chief authority during the minority of Joash rested with the high
priest Jehoiada. On the same assumption some other features of the
book likewise receive an explanation. Prior to the reign of Joash there
had taken place in the reign of Rehoboam the invasion of Judah by
the Egyptian Shishak (1 Kgs. xiv. 25, 26), which can be regarded as
occasioning the prediction of Egypt's desolation and the promise that
foreigners should pass through the land no more (iii. 17). Moreover,
although before the time of Joash Assyria had so far become a danger
to the Northern kingdom that Jehu paid tribute to it in 842, yet it
had not begun to menace Judah; and though the Syrians spoiled
Judah and Jerusalem in the reign of Joash himself, this was seemingly
after he had taken the control of the kingdom into his own hands, and
the event would thus befall later than the origin of the book, if this
was composed shortly after his accession. The revolt of Edom from
Judah in the reign of Jehoram (2 Kgs. viii. 20 — 22), in the course of
which, no doubt, many Jews were killed, would account for the re-
tribution declared to be in store for the Edomites. Moreover in the
reign of Jehoram (according to 2 Ch. xxi. 16, 17) Philistines and
Arabians had raided Judah, despoiled the royal possessions, and carried
away as prisoners the king's wives and sons; and it is natural to
assume that many of these captives were sold as slaves.
But whilst this view satisfies many of the conditions of the problem,
there is one feature in the book which is sufficient to negative the
hypothesis of a pre-exilic date. This is the representation (iii. 2) that
Jehovah's people had been scattered amongst the nations, and that His
land had been parted by lot. Such a statement cannot be adequately
explained by any event except the overthrow of Judah by the Baby-
lonians in 587, the destruction of its independence, the occupation of
its territory, and the dispersal of its people. The language is not satis-
fied by the sale of slaves, following upon a raid, and plainly implies
more than a temporary inroad, like that made by the Philistines and
Arabians. And confirmation of this is supplied by the real significance
of the ambiguous words when I shall bring again the captivity (or turn
the fortune) of Judah and Jerusalem (iii. 1). Though the words can
be used of recovery from disaster other than expatriation (see Ezek.
JOEL Ixvii
xvi. 53, Job xlii. 10), they are employed only of restoration from great
disaster ; and, in relation to Israel, customarily mean restoration from
exile (see Jer. xxix. 14, xxx. 3, 18, xxxii. 44, xxxiii. 7, 11, Am. ix. 14,
Dt. xxx. 3). And whilst the remaining features of the book are com-
patible with a pre-exilic date, some are quite as intelligible, and others
are more natural, on the assumption that the book was composed after
the Exile. Silence respecting Northern Israel and Damascus, and the
empires of Assyria and Babylon, with the omission of all mention of a
king or princes of Judah, is most simply explained by the hypothesis
that the four kingdoms or empires just enumerated, together with
Judah, had, as independent nationalities, all come to an end. Although
allusion is made to particular heathen peoples (iii. 4, 19) as destined
objects of Jehovah's vengeance, the general tone of the book suggests
that the writer's countrymen regarded as their foes the heathen world
at large, an attitude most intelligible after they had experienced a
long term of uninterrupted subordination to successive heathen powers.
The animosity displayed against Edom is most fully accounted for by
the delight manifested by the Edornites on the occasion of the Fall of
Jerusalem in 587. The Egyptians, under Pharaoh Necho, had killed
one Jewish king in battle and dethroned another (2 Kgs. xxiii. 29, 33)
shortly before the close of the 7th century. The allusion to the Greeks,
though it is admittedly possible that they were known by name to the
Hebrews in pre-exilic times, is paralleled within the O.T. only in exilic
and post-exilic writings (see on iii. 6). The gathering of the Jewish
people by the sound of a trumpet blown in Zion (ii. 1, 15) suggests
the small post-exilic community, rather than the larger pre-exilic
kingdom (contrast Jer. iv. 5). The importance of the priests (ii. 16, 17)1
is also more in keeping with a post-exilic than with a pre-exilic date.
The prominence given to the Temple offerings and the distress
occasioned by the cessation of them through the locusts are consistent
with the care displayed about them in the age of Nehemiah (see Neh.
x. 32, 33). And the absence, in the prophet's exhortation to repent-
ance (ii. 13), of any sense of disloyalty on the people's part to Jehovah
in the immediate past through idolatry, and the omission of any
warning against that particular sin (such as appears not only in the
prophetical writings of the 8th century, but even in Deuteronomy, a
book of probably 7th century date) are more in accordance with an
age when the inclination to idol worship had been more or less eradi-
1 Of. Is. xxiv. 2, a passage probably not earlier than the 4th century.
Ixviii INTRODUCTION
cated from the people than with one in which it was constantly ex-
hibited.
(ii) The resemblance between certain peculiar conceptions that are
common to Joel and some other prophets raises questions of priority,
though such are difficult to settle with much confidence. The con-
ceptions referred to are those relating to (a) Jehovah's gathering of
all nations to the vicinity of Jerusalem to fight, and His destruction
of them there; and (b) the issuing from the Temple of a fountain
which is designed to water an unfertile valley in the neighbourhood,
and (by implication) to render it fruitful. Parallels to the first occur
in Ezek. chs. xxxviii., xxxix., and 2 Zech. xii. 1 — 9, xiv. 1 — 7 (cf. also
3 Is. Ixvi. 18); and to the second in Ezek. xlvii. 1 — 12 and 2 Zech. xiv. 8.
The date of the concluding chs. of 2 Zech. (xii. — xiv.) is debated; but
there is much plausibility in the view that they were composed in the
4th century1; and certainly Ezekiel did not write earlier than the
beginning of the 6th century, after the first deportation of Jews to
Babylonia. The nations whose hosts Ezekiel represents as destined to
be gathered against Judah after it has been restored from exile are
arrayed under Gog, of the land of Magog, and include the Persians and
a number of distant peoples dwelling in Western Asia and Northern
Africa. The similar passage in Joel does not specify any particular
peoples, but describes all nations as brought down into the valley of
Jehoshaphat. It seems most likely that Ezekiel is the more original of
the two parallel passages, and that in Joel, the more detailed represen-
tation of the other prophet has been compressed and generalized. If
so, this determines the posteriority of Joel to Ezekiel. The same con-
clusion is favoured by a comparison of their respective predictions of
the stream of water that is to issue from the Temple. The purpose
which the stream is to serve is in Ezekiel clearly explained; the water is
to flow into the Dead Sea and to heal its saltness, whilst upon the banks
are to grow all manner of useful and health-giving fruit-trees. In Joel
the stream is doubtless meant to promote a similar end, but its purpose
is expressed obscurely and enigmatically. Hence the author of the latter
book is likely to have written for readers who were familiar with the
idea and would understand his meaning in spite of the obscurity of his
words. The chronological relation which is thus established between
the two prophets confirms for Joel the post-exilic date probable on other
grounds.
1 See Driver, Minor Prophets, n. p. 230 f. (C.B.).
JOEL
Ixix
(iii) The parallels in phraseology and expression which subsist between
Joel and other O.T. writings are extremely numerous. If those which
may be regarded as mere coincidences are left out of account, there still
remain enough to shew that "either Joel was greatly influenced by
earlier writers, or, himself living early, his prophecy was remarkably
influential over a large number of other writers1." The following are the
most striking parallels :
Joel i. 15, For near is the day of
Jehovah, and as destruction from the
Destroyer (Shaddai) shall it come.
Joel ii. 2, A day of darkness and
gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness.
Joel ii. 6, All faces gather colour.
Joel ii. 27, And ye shall know that
I am in the midst of Israel, and that
I am Jehovah your God, and there is
none else.
Joel ii. 28, I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh.
Joel ii. 31, Before the great and
terrible day of Jehovah come.
Joel ii. 32, For in mount Zion and
in Jerusalem shall be they that escape,
as Jehovah hath said.
Joel iii. 2, And I will plead with
them ('immdm) there.
Joel iii. 3, And for ('el) my people
they cast lots.
Joel iii. 10, Beat your mattocks (or
coulters) into swords and yourpruning-
hooks into lances.
Joel iii. 16, And Jehovah shall roar
from Zion and utter his voice from
Jerusalem.
Joel iii. 18, The mountains shall
Is. xiii. 6, For near is the day of
Jehovah, and as destruction from the
Destroyer (Shaddai) shall it come.
Zeph. i. 15, A day of darkness and
gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness.
Nah. ii. 10 (11), The faces of all of
them gather colour.
Ezek. xxxvi. 11, And ye shall know
that I am Jehovah.
Ezek. xxxix. 28, And they shall know
that I am Jehovah their God.
2 Is. xlv. 5, 1 am Jehovah and there
is none else.
Ezek. xxxix. 29, When I have poured
out my spirit upon the house of Israel.
Mai. iv. 5, Before the great and ter-
rible day of Jehovah come.
Ob. 17, And in mount Zion shall be
they that escape.
Ezek. xxxviii. 22, And I will plead
with him ('itto\ i.e. with Gog (p. Ixviii).
Ob. 11, And upon ('a/) Jerusalem
they cast lots2.
Mic. iv. 3 ( = Is. ii. 4), They shall
beat their swords into mattocks (or
coulters) andtheir spears into pruning -
hooks3.
Am. i. 2, Jehovah shall roar from
Zion and utter his voice from Jeru-
salem.
Am. ix. 13, And the mountains shall
1 See G. B. Gray, Critical Int. to the O.T. p. 209, and Expositor, Sept. 1893,
p. 208 f.; Driver, Joel and Amos, pp. 19—22 (Camb.B.).
2 Cp. also Nah. iii. 10.
3 A similar inversion of a phrase occurring in other prophetic writings is found
in Joel ii. 3 compared with Ezek. xxxvi. 35, 2 Is. Ii. 3.
Ixx INTRODUCTION
drop sweet wine, and the hills shall cause sweet wine to drop, and all hills
run with milk. shall be dissolved.
Joel iii. 19, For the violence done Ob. 10, For the violence done (by
(by Edom) to the children of Judah. Edom) to thy brother Jacob.
Further instances where there is identity or close resemblance be-
tween Joel and other O.T. books are cited in the commentary. The
above are selected because they are parallels between Joel and a number
of prophetic oracles all of which except Amos probably originated
not earlier than the second half of the 7th century and several after
587. It is clearly more likely that the author of Joel lived late enough
to be familiar with, and to draw upon, the writings enumerated above
than that he lived before their authors, who all made use of his small
book. An examination in detail of some of the parallel passages con-
firms the conclusion that Joel is the borrower. Thus in Joel ii. 32, if
placed by the side of Ob. 17, the writer seems expressly to refer the
words he uses to another by attaching to the passage common to him-
self and Obadiah the addition aas Jehovah hath said." And similarly
Joel iii. 10 is more likely to be modelled on Mic. iv. 3 (=Is. ii. 4) than
the reverse ; as Van Hoonacker remarks, though the transformation of
weapons of war into implements of labour is an appropriate charac-
terization of a reign of peace, the converse idea would only be natural
to a people lacking arms (cf. 1 Sam. xiii. 20 — 22). And this conclusion
becomes the more convincing from the fact that in certain cases the
phrases common to both hirn and other writers are almost frequent
enough in the latter to be styled characteristic. Thus, for example,
Ye shall know that I am Jehovah recurs constantly in Ezekiel, whilst
/ am Jehovah and there is none else occurs three times in 2 Isaiah. It
is manifestly improbable in the extreme that each of these two writers
should have derived a favourite expression from one and the same
work. Hence an examination of Joel and other prophetic writers in
respect of the phraseology which they employ in common corroborates
the inference already reached that the former did not live before the
Exile ; and if he has borrowed from Malachi, whose prophecy belongs
to the age of Ezra and Nehemiah, he cannot have been earlier than the
middle of the 5th century.
(iv) There is little, it is true, in Joel's style to suggest that he is
not a writer belonging to the best period : his syntax is distinctive of
good Hebrew. But in his vocabulary he shews affinity with writings
composed comparatively late in Hebrew literary history; and some of
the words he uses are rare in Hebrew but common in Aramaic.
JOEL Ixxi
The following is a list of words occurring in Joel but found else-
where in the O.T. only in writings not earlier than Jeremiah, or in
passages of uncertain but probably late date. The importance of these
varies, since the absence of some from early books may be due to the
fact that the subject-matter of such books afforded no occasion for
their use ; but on the whole, the list confirms the assignment of Joel
to a post-exilic date. The English equivalents are those that are given
in the R.V. : — jaw teeth (methall'oth, i. 61) ; the LORD'S ministers (meshd-
rethe Yehovah, i. 9, ii. 17); apple tree (tappuah, i. 12); groan ('dnah,
i. 18); be perplexed (buck, i. 182); weapon (shelah, ii. 83); hinder part
(soph, ii. 20 4); spring up (ddsha, ii. 22 6); spear (rdmah, iii. 106);
sickle (maggdl, iii. 13).
The following occur in Heb. only in Joel : — barked, literally a splinter
(ketsdphah, i. 7); lament (}dlah, i. 8); seed (perudhah, i. 17); rot ('dbhash
i. 17); clod (meghrdphah, i. 17); barn (mamgkurah, i. 17); break or
entangle ('dbhat, ii. 7); ill savour (tsahdnah, ii. 20); haste ((ush, iii. 11).
Joel, like late writers in general, uses the pronoun 'am instead of
'dnochl; and in disjunctive questions (i. 2) follows late and not early
practice. He has the combinations generation and generation (ii. 2,
iii. 20) and all flesh (ii. 28), which occur first in Deut., but are only
frequent in exilic and post-exilic writings ; and he employs the sons of
the Greeks (iii. 6), where the Greeks or the sons of Greece might be ex-
pected, his usage being paralleled only in Chron. He likewise inverts
(ii. 13) after the fashion of post-exilic writers the order of the epithets
full of compassion and gracious, occurring in Ex. xxxiv. 6.
The circumstance that Joel uses a number of late words and phrases
and yet writes for the most part in the manner of the best Hebrew
authors finds a satisfactory explanation in the assumption that he was
very familiar with the earlier literature of his country. He absorbed
sufficient of its spirit to enable him to write in the smooth and flowing
style of the best of his predecessors, whilst the linguistic usage of his
own age here and there coloured his diction. It is observable that
even in expressions and phrases which appear to be borrowed from, or
at least influenced by, earlier models, words employed in the parallel
passages are sometimes replaced by others that are characteristic of a
1 Elsewhere only in Job and Prov. (xxx. 14).
2 Elsewhere only in Ex. xiv. 3 (P) and Esth. iii. 15.
3 See note on ii. 8.
4 Elsewhere only in Ch. and Eccles. and the Aramaic of Daniel.
5 Elsewhere only in Gen. i. 11 (P), in a causative form.
6 See note on iii. 10.
Ixxii INTRODUCTION
late period (see notes, pp. 100, 115). This would occur all the more
naturally if his reproductions of earlier writers were due not so much
to direct quotation as to the impressions left upon his mind by con-
stant reading1.
The conclusion to which the preceding lines of investigation point is
that the book of Joel cannot have been written before the Exile ; and
as its writer plainly lived in Jerusalem, it follows that his work must
have been composed after the Return. Since it is implied that the
(second) Temple was in existence, the book must be later than Haggai
and Zechariah (circ. 520) ; and since it also seems to be implied that
the city was walled, it is probably later than the erection of the
fortifications of Nehemiah (circ. 444). On the other hand, there is no
suggestion in it of suffering caused by the rigour of an oppressive
power; so that it is scarcely likely to have been written during or
after the reign of Artaxerxes Ochus (358 — 337), who was the first
Persian king to ill-treat his Jewish subjects. On the whole, the date
of it (apart from iii. 4 — 8) may be conjecturally fixed at about 400 B.c.2.
If the section iii. 4 — 8 is really an insertion (see p. Ix), it must be
later than its context. Nothing is known from other O.T. sources of
any action by Phosnicians or Philistines in connection with the Fall of
Jerusalem in 587 to justify the charge here brought against them. It
has been suggested that these two peoples may have taken advantage
of the punishment inflicted on the Jews by Artaxerxes Ochus to make
purchases of treasure and slaves. Whatever may have been the occasion
which caused the writer's complaint against them, a fulfilment of his
prediction about them may be seen in the capture of Tyre and Gaza
and the enslavement of their populations by Alexander in 322, unless,
indeed, this prophecy is a reflection of those events.
CHAPTER V.
JOEL AND ESCHATOLOGY.
THE conclusion just reached that Joel was composed after the Return
of the Jews from exile obtains additional corroboration from the fact
that a relatively late origin accounts best for a certain element in it which
would otherwise be difficult to explain. This element is the element of
Apocalyptic. Apocalyptic prophecy is linked to the prophecy current in
1 See G. B. Gray, Expositor, I.e., p. 223 f.
3 "The book as a whole is later than Malachi," Sellin, IOT. p. 164.
JOEL Ixxiii
the ages of Assyrian and Babylonian supremacy by the common idea
of an approaching day of Jehovah, for though the actual phrase is not
always employed, the thought of a Divine judgment is never far from
the minds of most of the prophetic writers, both early and late. But
there is a significant difference in the emphasis which is placed by the
late writers upon the two sides which a Divine judgment, as explained
by their predecessors, presented. The term the day of Jehovah, which
had been prevalent in Israel before the time of Amos to describe the
desired intervention of Jehovah in the perennial struggle between Israel
and its foes, was taken up by that prophet and declared to involve
a crisis which would be determined by ethical principles. When it came,
it would set on foot a process of discrimination between the righteous
and the unrighteous which would begin with Israel itself. The elimina-
tion from the latter of all the corrupt and corrupting elements in it
would, indeed, be followed by the removal, or the destruction, of the
foreign agencies employed in the work of purification ; but the principal
stress was laid upon the chastisement merited by the sins of the people
and not upon the eventual blessings which were in store for a humbled
and repentant remnant. When the prophets saw the religious and moral
evils that were rife among their countrymen, it was natural that, in
order to awaken them to a sense of their guilt and to bring about their
amendment, they should insist more upon the threatening, than upon
the cheering, aspect of the Day of Jehovah. With their successors after
the Exile it was largely the reverse. The capture of Jerusalem, the
overthrow of the Jewish state, and the deportation of the flower of its
people by a nation which was devoted to idolatry, inevitably had the
effect of altering, in the minds of Hebrew contemporary thinkers, the
balance of national deserts and fortune. The return of a section of the
exiles to their former homes did not redress the balance. Judah and
Jerusalem still remained under alien rule, and the material conditions of
the people failed to correspond to the prospects that had been held out by
Deutero-Isaiah and other prophets of the exilic period, and were, indeed,
the more depressing by the force of contrast. Accordingly, the post-
exilic writers were led to emphasize less the retribution deserved by their
countrymen for their repeated offences than the retribution merited by
the heathen for their prolonged supremacy over God's own people.
The external situation of Israel in the post-exilic age would not have
exerted upon the spiritual leaders of the nation the particular influence
it did apart from the fact that monotheism had by this time acquired
a firm hold over the people at large. That Jehovah alone controlled the
Ixxiv INTRODUCTION
forces of nature and the fortunes of men had been a doctrine urged by the
prophets ever since the 8th century. But it was only after a considerable
interval that this monotheistic belief came to prevail generally. So far as
can be judged, it was the experience of the Exile that alone detached the
bulk of the people finally from idolatry : at any rate, a section that did
not undergo that experience but remained on the soil of Palestine con-
tinued to be addicted to it1. With those, however, who had shared the
Exile in Babylon, and who preserved its memories, monotheism became
a settled religious conviction. The elaboration of the sacrificial system
by Ezekiel and the codification of the Law by Ezra and other scribes
must have deepened, even for many who were fully alive to the moral
deficiencies of the nation, their consciousness of the religious gulf
separating Israel from the rest of the world. But the belief that they
alone of all the peoples of the earth worshipped the one true God became,
in the circumstances in which they were placed, a source of painful per-
plexity. As the recollection of their past apostasies faded, their mono-
theistic faith rendered their continued subordination to Gentile powers
the more unintelligible and intolerable. Hence refuge was sought in the
consideration that God was bound in the end to avenge His people,
and that the overthrow of the heathen world would be all the more
complete in proportion to its long postponement. Apocalyptic prophecy
was thus the product of a particular age and situation; and the presence
of Apocalyptic features in a prophetical writing is almost incompre-
hensible apart from an exilic or post-exilic date.
The fact that Apocalyptic prophecy resulted from the reaction of the
Hebrew mind, not to some temporary calamity, but to a protracted
period of national humiliation, affected the form which it assumed. The
hopes which at the Return had attached to Zerubbabel had come to
nothing (cf. p. cxxiii) ; and there was no longer anything to encourage
the expectation that there would emerge from the nation a great leader
destined to right all wrong (although, as appears from the Psalms of
Solomon, the expectation survived in certain circles until the 1st
century B.C. (p. cxxvi)). Whatever anticipations were entertained of a
retrieval of the national fortunes tended to be independent of contem-
porary circumstances, and to be moulded exclusively by theological
considerations. They did not reproduce in an idealized shape past
history and experience, but represented what the imagination deemed
to be most appropriate to the power and majesty of the Almighty. In
i See 3 Is. Ivii.
JOEL Ixxv
consequence, the descriptions of the future which was to make amends
for the unhappy present were more than ordinarily out of touch with
mundane reality. Instead of the overthrow of some single oppressive
power to whom retribution might seem due either for actual aggression,
or, if the power in question could be viewed as commissioned by Jehovah
to chastise Israel, for exceeding His mandate, there was predicted the
extermination of the whole, or the greater portion, of the Gentile world.
The heathen were depicted as moved by Jehovah to muster against
Israel, and to court the destruction designed for them. Sometimes
Israel was represented as taking part in the slaughter of them ; but more
commonly their annihilation was thought of as effected by Jehovah
alone, or by Him in company with His celestial armies. In the details
of the descriptions alike of the catastrophe in store for the heathen and
of the subsequent felicity of Israel the exuberance of Hebrew rhetoric
reached its climax, and the imagery became weird and bizarre in an
unusual degree.
The time when the hoped-for redress would be realized was left vague
and undefined, though in this respect Apocalyptic prophecy did not
depart from the usage of Hebrew prophecy in general. The expression
in the latter days (literally, in the sequel of days, see Mic. iv. 1), which
was sometimes employed to denote the period when the depressing
conditions of the present were to be replaced by happier circumstances,
is apt to suggest associations which do not properly belong to it. It
marks relative finality only, introducing a phase of the future which is
.final only in the sense that the speaker's thoughts at the time do not
extend beyond it. It is, in fact, little more than an equivalent for
aftenvards (see Hos. iii. 5 and cf. Jer. xlviii. 47 with xlix. 6); and it
is this latter term which is used by Joel in connection with the out-
pouring of the Spirit, which is the prelude to the Apocalyptic scene
with which his book ends. His closing prophecies are consequently
eschatological only in a relative sense. There is nothing to suggest that
either the Prophets or the Apocalyptists of the O.T. expected that what
they announced was far distant in point of time ; the date at which
their prophecies were to be fulfilled was left undefined, and their
ruling tendency was greatly to foreshorten the interval separating that
fulfilment (so far as it occurred) from their own age. And there is
equally little reason to suppose that the conditions to which they looked
forward were regarded by them as fixed and absolute. The future which
the Hebrew prophets were wont to describe was a constantly shifting
future, as each successive generation of them found the anticipations of
Ixxvi INTRODUCTION
their predecessors to be only imperfectly realized ; and they cannot have
credited their own representations about the consummation that was
yet in store for God's people with any greater quality of finality than
marked those of earlier days, however much their language seems to us
to convey that impression. What was really permanent and unvarying
was their religious faith, to which they gave concrete embodiment
through the transient creations of their imagination.
NOTE ON LOCUSTS.
According to the classification of insects by reference to their wings or their
lack of wings, locusts belong to the order Orthoptera, in which the wings
are four in number, the anterior pair being small and straight and the posterior
large, and, when at rest, folded under the others. This order embraces two
divisions, Cursoria and Saltatoria; and the latter division comprises three
families, the Gryllidae (represented by crickets), the Locustidae (exemplified
by grasshoppers), and the Acridiidae, which include the various kinds of true
locusts. Only those species are usually accounted true locusts which are both
migratory and destructive. Of these there are several varieties, but here it is
unnecessary to mention any except those that are most common in Palestine.
These are the Oedipoda migratoria (or Pachytylus migratorius) and the
Acridium peregrinum. The first of these is grey or green in colour, and varies
in length from l£ to 2 inches. The second is yellow or reddish, and is rather
larger than the first-named. Both of these varieties ravage Asia, but only the
Oedipoda migratoria extends its devastations to Europe, being very destructive
in S. Russia. The extent of their migrations, their numbers, and their voracity
make them one of the greatest of scourges to the lands which they infest.
Of the distance that their flights may cover, a thousand miles is said to be a
moderate calculation. The size to which their swarms can attain may be
estimated from the accounts of observers, modern as well as ancient, when
they describe their approach as sometimes darkening the sky, compare the
rustling of their wings to the sound of many waters, or of wind-tossed trees,
and state that they often advance in clouds (if in the air) or in columns (if on
the ground) that stretch for several miles. Their voracity is not confined to
any one of the three stages of development through which they pass (the larva,
the pupa, and the perfect insect) but is equally conspicuous in all of these.
The destruction which they cause is such that, when a large swarm settles in
any neighbourhood, all vegetation quickly disappears; and not only is the
foliage of the trees (like the herbage of the fields) devoured, but even the very
bark is attacked. The distress resulting to the population of the districts
affected is very serious, owing to the ruin of the crops, and preventive measures
appear to be attended with but indifferent success.
In the Hebrew of the O.T. there are nine names for locusts or insects similar
to them. These are (1) \irbeh, (2) sol'dm, (3) hargol, (4) haghdbh, (5) gazdm,
(6) yelek, (7) hasil, (8) gobh, (9) tselatsal. It is not likely that all these denote
JOEL Ixxvii
different varieties, or, indeed, that they all denote true locusts. The only passage
in which kinds are expressly distinguished is Lev. xi. 22, where the first four
of those enumerated above are mentioned; but since they are given as species
of leaping insects, some of them may be crickets or grasshoppers. The name
in commonest use is 'arbeh (see Ex. x. 4, Dt. xxviii. 38, Prov. xxx. 27, Nah. iii. 15,
etc.), and this is included in the list of four names occurring in Joel i. 4 (where
it is represented in the LXX. by aKpi'y). Joel manifestly describes true locusts,
for he dwells upon their numbers, their onward movements, and their destruc-
tiveness; and inasmuch as Acridium peregrinum is the locust most frequent
in Palestine, it is the one for which 'arbeh seems the most appropriate term *.
It cannot, however, be assumed that all or any of the names in Joel are meant
to designate distinct species ; and even if they are so meant, it is quite impossible
to identify them with any confidence. It has been suggested that Jidsil is
Oedipoda migratoria ; but there are really no data for attaching to it this
name rather than one of the others.
Etymologically it is usually taken to mean "the multitudinous."
INTRODUCTION TO JONAH.
CHAPTER I.
THE TITLE, CONTENTS, AND PURPOSE.
THE book of Jonah, though included among the prophetical writings
(being the fifth according to the Heb., the sixth according to the LXX.,
of the Minor Prophets) is, in form, an historical narrative, relating an
episode in the life of the prophet whose name it bears. There is nothing
in the contents to suggest that the prophet was the writer of it, and
much to negative such a conclusion1. Probably, then, like Joshua,
Ruth, and Esther, it derives its title from the character who is the
subject of it, and of whom mention is made in 2 Kgs. xiv. 25. Jonah,
the son of Amittai, was, like Hosea and Amos, a contemporary of
Jeroboam IL, king of Israel from 782 to 741 B.C., and belonged to
Gath-hepher (or Gittah-hepher, Josh. xix. 13) in Zebulun, within the
district of Galilee2; he was therefore not a Judaean but a Northern
Israelite. The site of Gath-hepher is generally identified with El Meshhed,
a village 3 miles N.E. of Nazareth, where a tomb of the prophet, accord-
ing to tradition, still exists. All that is stated about him in 2 Kgs. is
that he predicted the success of Jeroboam II. in recovering the lands
taken from his predecessor Joash, and in restoring the borders of the
Northern kingdom from the gorge between Lebanon and Hermon to the
gulf of Akaba. In the book of Jonah there is no reference to this pre-
diction, or to any circumstance connected with the reign of Jeroboam ;
, but that the prophet whose experiences are described in it (see i. 1) is
meant to be identified with the prophet named in 2 Kgs. xiv. 25 cannot
reasonably be questioned in view of the fact that his own name and
that of his father are found in combination only in these two passages3.
1 The mere fact that the prophet is referred to throughout in the 3rd person is,
of course, no disproof that he was the author (as the Commentaries of Caesar and
the Anabasis of Xenophon shew).
2 This circumstance contradicts the statement attributed to the Jews in Job. vii.
52. Possibly, however, the true reading in this passage is preserved in the Egyptian
Sahidic Version, "The prophet ariseth not out of Galilee" (Peake, Comm. on the
Bible, p. 753).
3 It has been maintained by Winckler that in 2 Kgs. xiv. 25 the words son of
Amittai are a later addition, on the ground that, since mention is made of the
prophet's home, mention of his father likewise is against usage. But, as Bewer
points out, a parallel is furnished by 1 Kgs. xix. 16.
JONAH Ixxix
The book in its present shape narrates that Jonah was directed by
Jehovah to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and warn its people
that its destruction was imminent because of its wickedness ; that he,
believing that, if it repented, it would be spared, sought to evade the
command by taking ship from Joppa to Tarshish, a distant port ; that
Jehovah caused the ship to be overtaken by a violent storm, leading the
seamen to supplicate their gods for the preservation of their lives; that it
was inferred by the crew that the storm was occasioned by the sin of some-
one on board ; that lots were drawn to decide who was the offender, and
that, when the lot fell upon Jonah, he admitted his guilt; that after the
sailors had vainly tried to reach the land, he, at his own suggestion, was
thrown into the sea, which at once became calm ; that he was saved from
drowning by being swallowed by a great fish ; that in the fish's belly,
where he remained three days and nights, he prayed to Jehovah, giving
thanks in a psalm for his preservation ; that after Jehovah had directed
the fish to disgorge him on to dry land, he was again commanded to
proceed to Nineveh, and obeyed ; and that in consequence of his
announcement of the impending overthrow of the city, its people, before
a prescribed period of respite expired, repented of their evil ways with
every sign of sorrow; that God accordingly withheld the threatened
vengeance, and that this clemency displeased Jonah, who from dis-
appointment prayed for death; that, whilst he waited, under a booth
which he had constructed, to see what would happen to the city, God
made a shady plant to spring up in a night to shield him from the sun's
heat, and then as speedily caused it to decay ; that Jonah felt pity for
it, thus dying, and was thereupon bidden by God to reflect whether He
Himself had not more reason to feel pity for the vast number of human
beings and cattle in the great city, whose preservation had offended
Jonah.
But though the book is thus in form a history, comparable with the
histories of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kgs. xvii. — xix., 2 Kgs. i. — ix., xiii.), and
alluding, like these, to various historical localities, it is clear that its
author did not relate the incidents recorded therein in the spirit, or with
the aim, of an historian, but that he narrated them with a didactic
purpose, and was only concerned with them so far as they served that
purpose. This is apparent from his failure to furnish information upon
a number of matters which for an historian could not but have interest ;
and from his omission to bring his narrative to a proper conclusion.
Thus, in addition to the absence of other details, nothing is said of
(a) the time when Jonah lived, or the place where he received his
Ixxx INTRODUCTION
instructions to go to Nineveh ; (b) the name of the contemporary king
of Nineveh, who figures in the narrative; (c) the prophet's return to his
own country. The book ends with Jehovah's address, conveying His
rebuke to Jonah ; and when the author has indicated the religious lesson
which he sought to impart, he brings his recital to a close, leaving
Jonah outside the walls of Nineveh. Hence the historical interest is
altogether subordinated to the ethical and spiritual; and the work,
though superficially a history and containing only one short oracle
(iii. 4), finds its proper place among the prophetical writings.
The central object of the book manifestly is to reprove the spirit of
religious exclusiveness and vindictiveness evinced by the Jewish race
(personified by Jonah) towards the Gentiles. Along with this principal
aim the narrative illustrates various religious conceptions; and some of
these may have been consciously kept in view by the writer. Human
inability to frustrate the Divine purposes ; the control exercised by God
over the physical forces of nature and the animate creation, and His
utilization of them to further His ends ; His desire to give to all men an
opportunity of turning from their errors ; the response which a Divine
warning can evoke even from heathen hearts; the power of prayer and
the efficacy of sincere repentance to influence the Deity and to avert His
anger ; the conditional character of prophetic predictions — all these are
exemplified in the course of the history. But the illustration of none
of these last conceptions constitutes the real intention of the book.
This is to throw into relief and expose the hard and grudging disposition
of those Jews who regarded with jealousy any mercy shewn by the God
of Israel to the heathen world. Such an unlovely trait is exhibited in
the person of one of their own prophets ; it is represented as the motive
of his avoidance, by flight, of his commission in the first chapter, and
of his displeasure and complaints in the last; and it is set in effective
contrast to the humaneness of the Almighty towards all His creatures
alike, including even cattle (iv. 11). That God was not indifferent to the
fate of the heathen, but cared for the Gentiles as well as for Israel, was
not, indeed, a truth here presented to the Jewish people for the first
time. Monotheism, when, by degrees, it had replaced henotheism in
Israel, involved as a corollary the belief that Jehovah stood in the same
relation to all mankind, and that the repentance which had repeatedly
saved Israel from the destruction which its offences merited could avail
to save the Gentiles also. Under these circumstances it was impossible
for thinkers of a sympathetic and generous temper not to presume in
the Deity a desire to induce repentance in all offenders alike, in order
JONAH Ixxxi
that all alike might be spared. And if, as history appeared to shew,
Israel had been privileged to know the true God sooner than others, such
a prerogative could only involve a corresponding responsibility to extend
that knowledge to the rest of mankind. The idea that Israel was
designed to be God's agent in making Him more fully and intimately
known to the heathen was one which, on the assumption that Jonah is
not of earlier date than the 5th or 4th century (p. Ixxxv), had already
been pressed upon the national conscience by prophets like the Second
Isaiah and the writer of the " Servant Songs," whose compositions are
incorporated in 2 Is.1. But the conviction that this was the national
function was far from being universally held by the people. The
experience of racial suffering and humiliation had embittered them ; and
the writings of some of their prophets had enhanced this bitterness, and
had fostered the hope that retribution would eventually overtake the
nations which had trampled them underfoot2. Belief, too, in a perma-
nent distinction between Israel and the rest of the world had been much
strengthened by the influence of the legalistic circle of Ezra and his
successors. It was the popular spirit which could not tolerate the
thought that God should grant to the heathen repentance and pardon
that constituted the theme of the book of Jonah. The writer shews to
his countrymen their own attitude mirrored in the conduct of the
prophet, who, having received a Divine injunction to warn a heathen
city of coming doom, with a view to inducing penitence, seeks to escape
the execution of the command; and then, when he has at last performed
it, grieves that God accepts the repentance which his own preaching has
elicited. He appears all the more repellent by the side both of the
heathen sailors (whose religious instincts are manifest alike in suppli-
cation and in thanksgiving for their rescue, and who, though believing
it to be the Divine will that they should expose Jonah to destruction,
do so with reluctance), and of the citizens of Nineveh (who respond so
readily to the Divine summons to amend their lives). And the self-
centred disposition of the prophet, and the lack of all sense of proportion
in his estimate of things, are thrown into the boldest relief when he
complains of God's pity in sparing thousands of human beings of whom
He is the Creator, whilst his own pity is restricted to a plant upon the
growth of which he had spent neither thought nor labour. The book of
Jonah, in its protest against Israel's religious narrowness, and in its
1 2 Is. xlii. 1—4, xlix. 1—6, 1. 4—9, Hi. 13— liii. 12.
2 See Ob. 1—18, Is. xiii. 1— xiv. 23, 3 Is. Ixiii. 1—6, Ps. cxxxvii. 7—9, Jer.
xlvi. — xlix.
Ixxxii INTRODUCTION
effort to instil into the people a spirit of good will towards the Gentile
world, does not (as has been pointed out) stand altogether alone in the
O.T. (its closest parallel, in certain aspects, being the book of Ruth).
But its teaching is certainly on a level with the most elevated that is
found in the Hebrew Scriptures ; and in breadth of view and generosity
of temper it approaches as nearly as any, and nearer than most of them,
to the comprehensive attitude of Christianity.
CHAPTER II.
THE DATE.
LIGHT is thrown upon the date of the book by the traces in it of the
influence of other writings and by the character of its language.
The writer seems to have been acquainted with the story of Elijah in
1 Kgs. xix., for some of the utterances attributed to Jonah bear a curious
resemblance to those of the earlier prophet (see on iv. 3, 8). The
peculiar combination of the names Jehovah God (in iv. 6) appears to
betray knowledge of Gen. ii., iii. (where the addition of God to Jehovah
is best explained as due to the compiler who united the Priestly and
Prophetic narratives out of which Genesis has been constituted). And
finally, use is made of quotations from the book of Joel (in iii. 9, iv. 2),
which are also reminiscences of Ex. xxxiv. 6, and Ps. Ixxxvi. 15. Of
these several writings the history of Elijah may have been in existence
for some time before the Exile; but even if the Priestly narrative of the
Pentateuch dates from the Exilic period1, the editor who combined it
with the Prophetic narrative probably lived after the Exile. The date
of Joel is disputed, but the probabilities are strongly in favour of its
being a post-exilic work (see p. Ixxii). Hence the use in Jonah of the
writings cited points to the conclusion that, like the latest of them, it,
too, was written in post-exilic times.
Again, the attitude of the writer to the Gentile world, as represented
by Nineveh, is more natural in a comparatively late period of Hebrew
history than at an earlier era. If his purpose was to create in his
countrymen a kindlier and more generous feeling towards the heathen,
such a sympathetic spirit is most intelligible in one who lived after,
rather than before, the Exile. The broad humanity of the book has,
within the O.T., a parallel, as already remarked, in the "Servant Songs"
included in Deutero-Isaiah. In these the "Servant of Jehovah" most
1 See Driver, LOT.e, pp. 135—159.
JONAH Ixxxiii
probably personifies Israel, viewed from an ideal standpoint ; and it is
expressly affirmed that it is the mission of the "Servant" to be a source
of religious enlightenment to the Gentile peoples (see especially xlix. 6).
It is difficult not to think that the author of Jonah not only shared the
temper of the writer of these "Songs," but had been influenced by them.
The same inference about the comparatively late origin of the book
is deducible from its language. The diction of the narrative differs
considerably from that which characterizes the prophetic writings of the
8th century (the age in which the historic Jonah lived), and a number
of words, expressions, or meanings found in it occur elsewhere only or
cbiefly in works known, or reasonably believed, to be of post-exilic date,
and to have originated in the 5th, or some still later, century (such as
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, The Song of Songs, and certain
Psalms). The following are the principal instances :—
(a) 'dskatk, "to think" (i. 6), recurs only in Dan. vi. 4.
(b) shathak, "to be calm, at rest" (i. 11, 12), is found again only
in Ps. cvii. 30, Prov. xxvi. 20.
(c) minnah, "to appoint, prepare" (i. 17 (ii. 1), iv. 6, 7, 8), does not
recur in this sense anywhere in the O.T. except in Job vii. 3, Ps. Ixi. 7 (8),
Dan. i. 5, 10, 11, and (in the passive) 1 Ch. ix. 29; though the form
mdnah has a signification approximating to it in 2 Is. liii. 12, 3 Is. Ixv. 12.
(d) ta'am, "a decree, command" (iii. 7), is found with this meaning
nowhere else, though the Aramaic te'em occurs with the same sense in
Dan. iii. 10, Ez. iv. 19, 21, vi. 14, vii. 23, etc.1.
(e) 'dmal, "to labour, toil" (iv. 10), occurs in Eccles. i. 3, ii. 11, 19,
20, 21, etc., Ps. cxxvii. 1, Prov. xvi. 26, but not elsewhere.
(/) ribbo, "myriad" (iv. 11), is found in Hos. viii. 12 (text as
written, not read), Ps. Ixviii. 17 (18), but otherwise only in late
writings like 1 Ch. (xxix. 7), Ezra (ii. 64, 69), Nehemiah (vii. 66, etc.),
Daniel (vii. 10, xi. 12). Three other features which are rather more
characteristic of late than of early writings are the following : —
(a) A slight preponderance of 'dm over 'anuchl. (The former is
predominant in late books like Ezek., Lam., Chr., Ez., Esth., Eccles.)
(b) The employment of le for the accus. (iv. 6, if the text is sound).
The use of it "occurs... rarely in the early and middle periods of the
language, and with greater frequency in exilic and post-exilic writings "
(Driver, Heb. Text of Sam. p. 146).
(c) The use of she for 'asher (i. 7, 12, iv. 10). This, though common
1 Pusey considers that this Aramaic word (used at Nineveh) has been given by the
author of the book a Hebrew pronunciation.
Ixxxiv INTRODUCTION
in late writings, is neither uniformly characteristic of, nor exclusively
confined to, these. Amongst late compositions in which it is very
frequent are Cant, and Eccles. ; but it does not occur in Dan., Neh., or
Esth. It is found only once in Ezra (viii. 20), and only twice in
Chronicles, probably once in Job (xix. 29), and nineteen times in the
Fifth book of the Psalms. In the earlier writings of the O.T. it occurs
in Jud. v. 7 (The Song of Deborah), vi. 17, vii. 12, viii. 26, 2 Kgs. vi. 11,
Lam. ii. 15, 16, iv. 9, v. 18 ; perhaps in Gen. vi. 3, xlix. 10 (LXX.); and
probably in the names Methushael and Miskael. The range of its use
seems best accounted for by the supposition that it did not become
prevalent until a late period in Hebrew literary history, but existed as
a dialectic peculiarity (probably North Palestinian) at a much earlier
date1.
Reference is sometimes made to the occurrence, in this book only, of
the words sephmah "decked ship" (i. 5) and kerl'ah "proclamation"
(iii. 2), and to the circumstance that mallah "mariner" (i. 5) recurs
only in Ezek. ; but these facts throw little light on the time of the book's
origin. In the case of the first and third, their presence here and their
rarity elsewhere are sufficiently explained by the subject-matter of the
work and the differing nature of the contents of most other O.T.
writings.
The diction of the psalm in ch. ii. is not remarkable. The numerous
resemblances, however, which it presents to various other psalms of
different dates, some seemingly of late origin, render it likely that it
is a late composition : the author, who appears to be distinct from the
writer of the rest of the book (p. Ixxxv), must have lived at a time
when a considerable body of literature of this kind existed, and pre-
sumably drew upon it.
From this review of the literary allusions in Jonah and of its phrase-
ology it is plain that both combine to support the belief that the book
is not earlier than the post-exilic period of Ezra and Nehemiah (i.e. the
5th century B.C.). On the other hand, the mention of the twelve prophets
in Ecclus. xlix. 10 shews that the composition of Jonah cannot be sub-
sequent to the close of the 3rd century, since Ecclus. probably dates
from the beginning of the 2nd century (circ. 180 B.C.). Mention is
likewise made of the book in Tobit (xiv. 4), which is also, in all likeli-
hood, a 2nd century work2. These limits give the period between the
1 See Driver, LOT.6, p. 322, cf. p. 188, note.
2 See Hastings, DB. iv. p. 788.
JONAH Ixxxv
end of the 5th and the end of the 3rd century as the extreme interval
within which Jonah must have been written. If the book of Joel is a
4th century production, the limits will be somewhat narrower (between
350 and 200); but the almost complete absence in Jonah of refer-
ences to historic persons or events of known date renders greater
precision impossible.
CHAPTER III.
THE DEFECTIVE UNITY OF THE BOOK.
THE unity of the book has been questioned by several scholars.
Perhaps the gravest doubts are raised by the psalm in ch. ii. This is
really a thanksgiving, not a prayer; and in its existing position is
meant to be understood as an expression of gratitude to God on the
part of Jonah for his being preserved from drowning. The reasons for
doubting its authenticity as an original constituent of the work are
substantial ; and it seems probable that it was neither composed by the
author of the book nor inserted by him from another source. It appears
too little suited to the prophet's case to be easily accepted as the com-
position of the author of Jonah, for it contains not even the remotest
allusion to the peculiar way in which the prophet had been rescued;
and its language might serve as a thanksgiving for anyone saved by
the most ordinary means from a death by drowning, or might even
voice the emotions of the collective Hebrew people in or after a time
of national affliction1. Nor is its unsuitability as a thanksgiving com-
posed for Jonah of an exclusively negative character, for the allusion
to the Temple (v. 4) is inappropriate in the mouth of a prophet of the
Northern Kingdom. These objections to its proceeding from the
author of the book are perhaps not absolutely fatal to its being an
integral part of it, since it is possible to suppose that, though it was
not written by the author of Jonah, yet it was taken by him from
another source, and inserted in his own work as being the best avail-
able for his requirements. Although intended for a different situation,
and perhaps meant as a thanksgiving to God from one who on dry
land expresses his gratitude for having been saved from perishing in
the waters, it may have been deemed fit, faute de mieux, to be attri-
buted to the prophet whilst he was in the belly of the fish, since the
fish figures in the story as the agent of his deliverance from drowning.
1 Cf. Cheyne, Origin of the Psalter, p. 127.
Ixxxvi INTRODUCTION
But the writer of Jonah in the rest of his book is so brief and com-
pressed, and confines himself so closely to the object which he has in
view (not even bestowing a thought upon the prophet's return from
Nineveh as soon as, in the course of the narrative, the heart of its
teaching is reached), that it seems extremely unlikely that he would
have inserted a psalm in the middle of so concentrated a piece of work.
Moreover, although the prophet is depicted in ii. 2 as conscience-
stricken, the rest of the book does not present him in a favourable light,
so that it is improbable that the writer of it would have depicted him as
full of gratitude to God for the rescue which he had experienced. The
most natural explanation of the psalm, therefore, is that it was inter-
polated in its present position by an editor or a reader who missed the
prayer alluded to in ii. 1 ; though to modern minds a more appropriate
place for a thanksgiving (such as the psalm is) would appear to be
after v. 10. Before it was inserted, the verb prayed in v. 1 must have
signified an actual petition for deliverance, to which v. 10, following imme-
diately upon it, describes the response. Parallel instances of psalms being
interpolated in narratives to which they are certainly or probably alien
are the Song of Hannah (1 Sam. ii. 1—10, see Driver, LOT.6 p. 174),
and the "Writing" of Hezekiah (Is. xxxviii. 9 — 20); cf. also the Song
of the Three Children (inserted by the LXX. in Dan. iii.).
In the narrative portion of the book there are certain inconsistencies
of representation, of greater or less importance, which require to be
accounted for. It is possible that they are due to additions that have
been made to the text, or to some dislocation which it has undergone ;
and they can be at least partly remedied by excision or transposition.
But another explanation suggests itself, namely, that the book is com-
posite, and has been constructed out of two versions of a single story.
This explanation at first glance seems improbable in view of the
brevity of the work ; but the facts that countenance it at least deserve
consideration. The principal are as follows : —
(a) In i. 3aa Jonah flees of set purpose to Tarshish ; but in i. 3a0 his
going there seems due to the circumstance that the place was the desti-
nation of the ship which he happened to find at Joppa. In this v. the
words from the presence of Jehovah appear twice (once in each half-
verse). The conjunction beginning the second half-verse can mean but.
(b) In i. 7 lots are cast to decide to whose sin the storm is due; but
in i. 8 Jonah himself is asked to tell the sailors on whose account the
trouble had happened.
(c) In i. 13 mention of the efforts of the sailors to bring back the
JONAH
Ixxxvii
ship to shore seems out of place after the appeal to the lot (v. 7), and
after Jonah's direction to them to throw him overboard (v. 12). The
nevertheless of the R.V. is not the only meaning of the Heb.; it can
signify and. The last clause of this v. differs slightly from the similar
clause in v. 11,
(d) In iii. 4 the Heb. text represents the respite granted to Nineveh
as being forty days, but the LXX. B has three days ; and both of these
representations receive some support from the sequel (see infra).
(e) In iii. 5 the fast and other signs of repentance at Nineveh pro-
ceed from the spontaneous action of the people, and information of
Jonah's preaching does not reach the king till afterwards (v. 6). This
is unnatural, and looks as though two variant representations had
been combined, v. 5 constituting one, and w. 6 — 9 constituting the
other. This is confirmed by a slight difference of phraseology between
v. 5 and v. 6.
(/) In iv. 1 — 4 Jonah is at once aware of God's purpose not to
destroy Nineveh; but in iv. 5 he is described as sitting outside the
city (under a booth which he had made) in order to see what would
become of it. The latter account is consistent only with the reading of
the Heb. text in iii. 4 ; but the former is compatible with, if it does
not actually demand, that of the LXX.
(g) In iv. 5 Jonah builds himself a booth to shield himself from the
sun; but in iv. 6 God makes a shrub to spring up to afford him shelter.
The booth and the shrub look like variant devices, derived from
parallel accounts, for securing the same result.
(h) In iv. 8 the distress occasioned to Jonah through the heat
striking his undefended head leads the reader to expect from him re-
pinings on account of his own suffering; but in iv. 9 — 10 his complaints
appear disinterested, and caused by a sentiment of pity for the sudden
destruction of the shrub.
In some places there are repetitions, in different contexts, of the
same phrase (i. llb and i. 13b, iv. 3 and iv. 8, iv. 4 and iv. 9); whilst
one verse seems to contain a doublet varying in phraseology (i. 14),
though whether significance attaches to these facts depends upon other
features with which they are combined.
Of the inconsistencies enumerated some are not very serious. But
there remain a sufficient number of substantial discrepancies to render
the theory that the narrative is composite more plausible than it
appears at first sight. Several critics who are sensible of them have
sought to remove them by textual alteration. But in the light of the
Ixxxviii INTRODUCTION
composite origin of so many Hebrew writings, the view that this book
is also compiled from more than one version of the same story cannot
be dismissed as fanciful ; and in short it seems to afford a simpler solu-
tion of some real difficulties than the supposition of interpolation or
displacement. The advantage of such a view is that by a single hypo-
thesis numerous phenomena are accounted for, which otherwise have
to be explained by a number of separate assumptions. Its chief defect
is the absence of strongly confirmatory evidence from the phraseology
(such as helps to establish the documentary analysis of the Pentateuch).
No assistance, for example, is derivable from the fluctuations in the
use of the Divine names Jehovah and God ('Elohim). In i. 6, iii. 5,
8 — 10, God is appropriately put into the mouth of, or used in con-
nection with, the heathen: in i. 14, 16 Jehovah is equally fittingly
employed where the heathen are represented as praying and making
vows to the God of the Hebrews; but in iv. 7 — 9 the use of God
cannot be thus explained, and here it is manifest from the contents of
vv. 1 and 9 that these verses must proceed from the same hand that
wrote vv. 10, 11 (where Jehovah occurs). It is this circumstance that
renders precarious any attempt to disentangle in minute detail the
strands from which the narrative has, ex hypotkesi, been woven. Never-
theless it may be expedient to outline a scheme of analysis here, if
with no other aim than to illustrate the kind of solution which the
literary problem of the book seems to require. The following scheme
assumes that the constituent sources are two; and these are dis-
tinguished as A and B, wherever sufficient criteria appear to be present.
Where such fail, it is inferred that the two sources were of one tenor ;
and this common matter is printed between them. See also p. 144.
i.3a
i.5b
i. 7
A Common
i. 1—2
i. 4
i. 3b
i. 5a
i. 5C— 6
L 8— 10a
A Common B
i. 14a
i. 14b i. 14C
i. 14d— iii. 4a
iii. 4bLXX. iii.4bHeb.
iii. 5
iii. 10— iv. 4
iv. 6—7
iii. 6—9
iv. 5
i. 10b iv. 8a
i. 11—12 iv. 8b— 11
i. 13
The distinctive features of the two supposed sources are as follows :—
According to A Jonah, on being sent to Nineveh, went by design to
JONAH Ixxxix
Tarshish. In the storm the mariners first threw overboard the gear
(or the cargo) of the ship, to lighten it; and then cast lots to discover
on whose account the trouble had befallen them, that they might get
rid of him. The lot falling on Jonah, they realized the significance of
a previous confession made by him that he had fled from the presence
of Jehovah ; and they sought to return to the shore in order to land
him. But since they could not do so owing to the storm, then, with a
prayer to Jehovah, they threw the prophet into the sea. The episodes
of the fish, of Jonah's journey to Nineveh, and of his announcement
there were told on common lines by both sources; but in A the period
of grace granted to Nineveh by Jehovah was three days (as stated by
the LXX.). The people fasted and repented, and God spared the city,
but Jonah was indignant and begged to die. To afford him shade in
the heat, God caused to grow in a single night a shrub which He de-
stroyed next day; and Jonah being angry through pity for the shrub,
God asked Him whether He Himself had not more reason to pity the
vast number of living creatures contained in .Nineveh.
According to B, Jonah, being sent to Nineveh, went to Joppa and
chanced to find there a ship bound for Tarshish. In the storm the
mariners prayed to their gods, and Jonah, who had gone below to
sleep, was bidden by the captain to pray to his God likewise. The
prophet's withdrawal having directed attention to him, the crew put
questions to him about himself, and on his declaring that he was a
worshipper of Jehovah, the Creator of the sea and land, they were
afraid. Asking him what they should do to him, that the sea might
become calm, they were told by the prophet to cast him overboard, for
he knew that the storm had occurred on his account. So, praying that
they might not be guilty of innocent blood, they threw him into the
sea. As already stated, this source recounted the incidents of the fish,
Jonah's journey to Nineveh, and his announcement there in the same
way as A, but it represented Nineveh's term of grace as 40 days. In-
formation about Jonah's warning having reached the king, he issued a
proclamation, urging his people to repent. Jonah went outside the
city to await the issue, which would not be known until after an
interval of more than a month, and built a booth to shelter him in the
meanwhile. God caused an east wind to rise [and it destroyed the
booth]. Probably this version ended with a description of Jonah's
distress, similar to that in iv. 8b, and a comment from God upon his
plaint.
The statement in iv. 8 that God prepared an east wind is an incom-
xc INTRODUCTION
plete one, for nothing is said about the purpose for which it was
intended. But it is a plausible suggestion that it served a similar end
to that served by the worm (v. 7) in the companion version, and tore
down Jonah's booth as the worm destroyed the shrub. The con-
struction of the booth clearly had in view a long interval of waiting, so
that the source (B) which contained the account of it must have had
in iii. 4 the forty days of the Heb. text. On the other hand, it seems
not improbable that the parallel source (A) had the three days of the
LXX., and that it supposed that Jonah became aware that Nineveh's
repentance had averted its destruction by the time he had crossed the
city from one side to the other (which he would spend three days in
doing). In these circumstances there was no necessity for the prophet
to build a booth ; his departure for home would be almost immediate,
and such relief as he needed would be appropriately supplied by the
springing up of the shrub in a night.
The termination of the hypothetical version indicated by B seems
not to have been incorporated. In the book as we have it B ends
abruptly, and the tenor of God's final speech to Jonah, as contained in
it, can only be conjectured. Possibly the concluding speech of the
Almighty contrasted Jonah's selfish concern for his own individual dis-
tress, consequent upon the demolition of the booth, with the concern
which He Himself had for the prospective suffering of the vast population
of the threatened city (without specific reference to children or cattle).
It has been contended that, in the case of a book of so pronounced a
didactic aim as Jonah, a composite origin is improbable; and that its
scheme, in which details are so inconspicuous and so carefully sub-
ordinated to the special purpose of the work, bears the impress of a
single mind. But this criticism does not seem fatal to the compara-
tively simple theory here sketched. No doubt the general plan really
proceeded from a single mind; but it is not unlikely that the story,
when once originated, became circulated in more than one form. So
interesting a narrative could scarcely fail to be popular; and varia-
tions would tend to appear in it in the course of transmission. Sub-
sequently, two versions of it were combined, most, though probably
not quite all, of the variations in them being retained ; and the result
is the work in the condition in which we possess it.
JONAH xci
CHAPTER IV.
THE CHARACTER OF THE NARRATIVE.
WHILST a didactic purpose is visible throughout the book, and there
is a general agreement respecting the lesson which it is intended
to convey (though the different features in its teaching have been
variously emphasized by different commentators), there has been much
diversity of view regarding the character of its contents. The historical
form in which it is couched is not necessarily any proof that it is, or
was intended by its writer to be considered, an actual history, but is
consistent alike with its being meant either as a record of real events
or as a work of fancy. A writer with a moral or religious end to serve
may select and adopt, for his purpose of illustrating by analogy a
spiritual truth, an account of some action or experience either familiarly
occurring, or reported to have once occurred, or else he may invent,
with the same object, a purely imaginary history. And in estimating
the character of the contents of the book of Jonah, and in determining
whether it is meant as a history or as a parable, it is not sufficient to
decide whether or not it is a history according to modern notions of
what is credible : it is necessary to consider whether it contains anything
that would be deemed incredible as history in the age which saw it
produced, and for which it was designed, since alleged experiences appear
probable or improbable according to the acquaintance with nature and
natural processes that prevails at different epochs. Should it be con-
cluded, however, on good grounds that the narrative is not a history
and was not intended for such, but was invented simply with a religious
purpose in view, there will remain the further question whether it is a
parable or an allegory. In an allegory all, or at least most, of the details
have a symbolic meaning ; in a parable the symbolism is to be sought in
the general purport of the story, the incidental details only helping to
bring out the desired significance or to render the representation more
realistic.
That the contents of the book of Jonah are not as a whole historical
if judged by modern ideas of what is intrinsically likely, ought not to
require to be argued at length. The book has been classed by Budde
with Midrashim, a Midrash being "an imaginative development of a
thought or theme suggested by Scripture1"; and examples of such are
1 Driver, LOT. p. 497.
xcii INTRODUCTION
the stories of Tobit and Susanna preserved in the Apocrypha. The
writer of Chronicles refers to Midrashim (R.V. commentary) containing
accounts of the actions and sayings of various Israelite kings (2 Ch.
xiii. 22, xxiv. 27); and Budde regards the book of Jonah as a Midrash
on 2 Kgs. xiv. 25, which included the record of Jonah's prediction there
related, and followed it (after v. 27) with the narrative of the prophet's
mission to Nineveh (the conjunction And with which, in the Heb.,
the book begins linking the two l). The suggested connection, however,
with 2 Kgs. xiv. 27 is not really close enough to be plausible. Though
Israel had come into contact with Assyria before Jonah's time (Jehu, the
great-grandfather of Jeroboam II, being an Assyrian vassal2), and though
the supposition that the book was once part of some larger whole accounts
very well for the absence in it of any particulars respecting the prophet's
home or date, there is no allusion in the history of Jeroboam II (2 Kgs.
xiv. 23 — 29) to Assyria; whilst the first mention of Nineveh in the
books of Kings does not occur until much later (xix. 36). Nevertheless
whether the book belongs to the class of Midrashim or not, the estimate
of it as, in the main, a creation of the imagination is sound. It is not
impossible, indeed, that tradition actually attributed to Jonah a journey
to Nineveh, and that around him and his experiences legends had
accumulated. Indeed, in the absence of a satisfactory explanation
afforded by the meaning of his name (see p. 120), it is difficult to
understand why a prophet living at a definite time and place, but not
otherwise very distinguished (as, for instance, Elijah and Elisha were),
and not connected, in the books of Kings, with Nineveh, should have
been selected by the writer to illustrate the purpose which he had in
,. mind, unless some incident traditionally associated with him rendered
the choice appropriate. Elisha is recorded to have gone to Damascus,
the capital of Aram (or Syria) (2 Kgs. viii. 7) ; and it is not incredible
that a prophet living in the Assyrian period of Hebrew history may, on
some occasion, have travelled, or been conveyed, to a city as remote as
the Assyrian capital. But that of such a journey, if any really took
place, the book presents a true account is eminently improbable. The
long interval separating the date at which the work was composed (see
p. Ixxxv) from the date of the events which it professes to record would
impair its value as an authority for detailed occurrences, even if they
were of a less miraculous character than those actually recounted. The
1 But see note on i. 1.
2 This is shewn by the inscription of Shalmaneser II on the Black Obelisk now
in the British Museum.
JONAH xciii
title "king of Nineveh," to designate the king of Assyria, is said to be
one which could never have been applied to him in Assyria itself1.
There is no parallel in the historical books of the O.T. for a mission
like that on which Jonah is represented as having been sent; and the
success described as attending his preaching lacks plausibility2. Though
a foreigner in Assyria and quite unaccompanied, he is represented as
bringing to repentance the population of a city depicted as so large that
it required three days' journey to cross. And the record of so extra-
ordinary an achievement is accompanied by the recital of other wonders
which are even more astonishing. Such marvels as Jonah's living for
three days and nights within the belly of a fish, his ejection by the fish
on to dry land, and the growth of a tree (or shrub) within a single night
to a size sufficient to shield him from the sun, invest the narrative with
an atmosphere like that of wonderland. These physical marvels consti-
tute at the present day an insurmountable obstacle to a general belief
in the book as a record of actual facts. The abstract possibility of the
miraculous (admitted by most theists who hold that the uniformities
of nature are only the expression of a Divine will, which has the power
to vary them at pleasure) cannot, in the light of our long experience of
the regularity of nature, render plausible the particular miracles here
related. The credibility of a reported miracle has to be estimated by
the weighing of testimony and a balancing of probabilities ; and in the
case of alleged occurrences so abnormal as those here in question,
attested as they are by no evidence which is even approximately con-
temporary, there can be only one verdict.
Some theologians, indeed, in order to make the miracle connected
with the fish easier of belief, have adduced examples, first of monsters
capable of swallowing a man, and secondly of men being actually
swallowed and afterwards disgorged alive. The fish that figures in the
story is not necessarily to be identified with a whale; but there are
even whales that are able to swallow a man. For instance, the gullet
of the spermaceti whale or cachalot, a creature which has a length of
55 or 60 feet, is capacious enough to take down a man without diffi-
culty3. Again it has been pointed out that the rorqual, the largest
variety of which (the "blue whale") sometimes attains a length of
1 See Sayce, H CM. p. 487.
2 Assyriologists, however, have drawn attention to the circumstance that in the
reign of Eamman-nirari III a monotheistic reform is represented to have occurred
at Nineveh.
3 F. T. Bullen, speaking of the sperm whale, says that it "can swallow morsels
of truly heroic size, at least 6 ft. cube."
xciv INTRODUCTION
85 feet, though it has a gullet too small for a man to pass through, yet
possesses longitudinal folds beneath its jaws and throat within which
a man could lie at full length. Since, however, the Heb. expression
is perfectly vague, and the Greek equivalent employed in the LXX. and
the N.T. (K^TOS) is applied to various marine creatures of large size, a
more likely monster to seize and swallow a human being is some variety
of shark. Some specimens of the genus Carcharias reach a length of
25 feet, whilst of the genus Carcharodon, a native of tropical and sub-
tropical seas, instances have been found with a length of 40 feet. One
of the latter, measuring 36 J feet, had a jaw 20 inches wide (measured
transversely). And examples are cited of sailors who have actually been
swallowed by sharks and disgorged alive. But such examples, so far as
they are genuine, do not really meet the difficulties involved in the
narrative. For the prophet is not only represented as having been
swallowed by the great fish ; he is described as having remained alive
and conscious within it for three days and nights ; and as having been,
at the close of that period, thrown up on the shore in a condition sound
enough to allow him eventually to proceed on his mission to Nineveh.
Consequently instances of "escapes" like those referred to could, even
if authentic, do little to render the story more credible to modern
minds.
Pusey (Minor Prophets, p. 258) quotes the following incident from Miiller,
Vollstdndige Natur system des Ritters Karl von Linne, Th. in. p. 268. "In
1758 in stormy weather a sailor fell overboard from a frigate in the Mediter-
ranean. A shark was close by, which, as he was swimming and crying for help,
took him in his wide throat, so that he forthwith disappeared. Other sailors
had leapt into the sloop to help their comrade while yet swimming : the captain
had a gun, which stood on the deck, discharged at the fish, which struck it so
that it cast out the sailor which it had in its throat, who was taken up, alive
and little injured, by the sloop which had now come up. The fish was harpooned,
taken up on the frigate, and dried. The captain made a present of the fish to
the sailor, who by God's Providence had been so wonderfully preserved. The
sailor went around Europe exhibiting it.... The dried fish was 20 ft. long, and,
with expanded fins, 9 ft. wide, and weighed 3924 pounds."
Konig (Hastings, DB. n. p. 750, citing the Neue Luth. Kirchenzeitung,
1895, p. 303 f.) relates that a whale-hunter named James Bartley was in Feb.
1891 swallowed by a whale, and that on the following day when the animal was
killed, was taken alive out of its stomach. But Lukyn Williams, investigating
the story, learnt that neither the owners of the ship nor the widow of the
captain had ever heard of it: see Exp. Times, Aug. 1906, Jan. 1907.
It is sometimes urged, however, that belief both in the historical
truth of the book as a whole and in the physical miracle of the fish is
JONAH xcv
necessitated for Christians by Christ's allusions to them in the Gospels.
It is contended that our Lord's declaration, that in the Judgment the
men of Nineveh would rise up and condemn the Jews of His own genera-
tion (Mt. xii. 39, 41 =Lk. xi. 29, 30, 32), implies His own acceptance of
the story of Jonah's mission; whilst His comparison of the prophet's
imprisonment in the fish's belly to His own entombment in the earth
(Mt. xii. 40) is evidence that He likewise regarded as true the narrative
about the fish (which may have been the Scripture to which He referred
as foreshadowing His rising again on the third day (Lk. xviii. 31 — 33,
cf. 1 Cor. xv. 4))1. But the issue is not quite so plain as this suggests.
His reference to the Ninevites, indeed, has good support behind it,
occurring as it does both in Mt. and in Lk.2; but even so, it does not
necessarily place the literal truth of the account in the book of Jonah
beyond question. His treatment of the narrative as historical may have
been a consequence inseparable from the conditions of His incarnation.
Limitations of knowledge, equally with physical weakness and infirmity
appear to be inevitable concomitants of a true humanity, and were
manifested by our Lord on several occasions3; and the fact that He (in
common with His countrymen at large) treated the book of Jonah as a
record of actual facts can reasonably be considered a natural result of
His being bom a Jew at a particular era. His allusion to Jonah's deten-
tion in tbe belly of the fish for three days and nights, if a genuine
utterance, admits of being accounted for on the same lines. But the
authenticity of the statement thus attributed to Him is open to grave
suspicion. It is found in Mt. alone, being absent from the parallel in
Lk. xi. 29, 30, 32 ; and where it occurs in the First Gospel, it is out of
keeping with its context. For the purport of our Lord's answer to those
who requested a sign was that no sign of the nature desired, immediate
and visible, should be granted. The sole sign that should be given to them
was such as was involved in His preaching, of which Jonah's preaching
at Nineveh was a counterpart. Only when the sign of Jonah in Mt.
xii. 39 is thus understood to be the prophet's proclamation to the Ninevites
does the argument that follows in v. 41 (= Lk. xi. 32) become intelligible ;
the Ninevites repented in response to Jonah's warnings, whereas the Jewish
contemporaries of Jesus paid no heed to One among them who was greater
1 More probably the Scripture in question is Hos. vi. 2.
2 Certain narratives and discourses common to the First and Third Gospels but
peculiar to them appear to be derived from an earlier source usually designated by
the symbol Q.
3 See Mk. v. 9, 30, vi. 38, ix. 16, 33, xi. 13.
xcvi INTRODUCTION
than Jonah. It seems probable, therefore, that the allusion in v. 40 to
Jonah's imprisonment in the belly of the fish was not really our Lord's,
but originated after His Resurrection. When a belief in the physical
resuscitation of His body from the grave had grown prevalent, a com-
parison between the Resurrection after a three days' entombment1 and
Jonah's release after spending three days and three nights within the
fish became natural, and a corresponding interpretation of Christ's
reference to the sign of Jonah seems to have been introduced into the
latest of the Synoptic Gospels.
But whilst there is every reason for concluding that the marvels
related in the book of Jonah are really unhistorical, there is no reason
for classing the narrative amongst JaUes (like that contained in Jud. ix.
7 — 15). A fable, in contrast to a parable, is a story in which things
happen that transcend the limits of what contemporary belief regards
as possible in the place, or at the time, supposed ; whereas in a parable
these limits are respected. And such is the case here, for none of the
incidents narrated in the book overstep the range of wonders deemed
credible by Hebrew writers, as will be realized if only a few of the
marvels that figure in the historical books of the Hebrew Scriptures be
recalled2. The acquaintance which the Hebrews had with nature was
not sufficiently wide and exact, and their ideas about natural law were
not sufficiently thought out, to prevent them from imagining the occur-
rence of extraordinary and abnormal incidents through the interposition
of God in the interest of His people or of His prophets. Moreover, such
marvels are generally attributed to a distant past, and tend to secure a
greater degree of credence than would be accorded to them if they were
reported of a more recent age3. This is as true of the miracles narrated
in the book of Jonah as of most others in the O.T. Jonah was a prophet
who lived some three or four hundred years before the writer who here
gives an account of him; and since he was "a man of God," represented
as entrusted with a commission from the Almighty, who could not allow
His purposes to be foiled by any act of man, no improbability would
attach to a current tradition (if such was in circulation) ascribing such
strange experiences to the prophet; nor would a Hebrew writer hesitate
1 According to the Gospel narrative our Lord's Body lay in the grave only one
whole day and parts of two others ; but on the third day and after three days are
regarded as equivalent expressions (Mt. xvi. 21, Mk. viii. 31).
2 See Num. xvii. 8, xxii. 28, Josh. iii. 14—17, vi. 1—20, x. 13, 14, 2 Kgs. ii. 8,
iv. 1—7, 42—44, vi. 1—7, etc.
3 Cp. Verg. Aen. x. 792, Si quafidem tanto est open latura vetustas.
JONAH xcvii
to introduce them as credible incidents into an edifying story of his own
invention1.
But whilst it is tolerably certain that there is nothing recorded in the
book of Jonah which either its author, or the majority of his contem-
poraries, would find any difficulty in believing, so that the narrative is
not a fable but a parable, it is not easy to determine whether the author,
in seeking to convey a desired religious lesson, really utilized traditions
associating Jonah with Nineveh, and availed himself of legends that had
gathered round the prophet, or whether the story is altogether the
product of his fancy. The narrative is certainly a parable in intention ;
and if there are actual traditions behind it, the historical interest is so
subordinated that it is almost a parable in form. But the supposition
that there previously existed a traditional nucleus of which the writer
made use has the advantage of accounting for the choice of Jonah as
the figure round which the story moves (see p. xcii). In the absence of
such an explanation, it seems necessary to treat the narrative not as a
parable but as a deliberate and elaborate allegory2. If it is regarded
simply as a parable, the only real symbolic element in it is Jonah
himself. The prophet is typical of the Israelite people, and his un-
willingness to become the agent in saving Nineveh from destruction
illustrates Jewish ill-will towards the heathen world. But to the other
features in it no symbolism attaches; they are only the circumstances
against which Jonah's character is displayed, or by which the develop-
ment of the Divine purpose is helped forward. On the other hand, if
the story is treated as an allegory, then the names of Jonah and his
father Amittai, the stormy sea, the great fish, Nineveh, and the tree
(or shrub) that sprang up in a night, all have a symbolic value. Jonah
represents Israel ; but the choice of him rather than of another prophet
to typify his countrymen is accounted for by his name. The word Jonah
signifies "a dove," a bird to which the Israelite nation is more than
once likened, whilst Amittai, the name of the prophet's father, means
"truthful" or "man of truth." Hence there would be some appropriate-
ness in symbolizing Israel, the nation entrusted with the truth of God,
by Jonah the son of Amittai. Jonah is naturally represented as a
1 The miracles related in the book of Daniel, a work of the 2nd century, are
associated with characters represented as living in the 6th century.
2 The distinction between a parable and an allegory adopted in what follows is
that of Jiilicher: see JTS. Jan. 1900, p. 162 f. Examples of allegories occur in
2 Esd. ix. 38— x. 59 and xiii. In the N.T. the "parables" of the Sower and of the
Wheat and Tares are allegorical in character; see Mk. iv. 3 — 8, 14—20, Mt xiii
24—30, 37—42.
w. „
xcviii INTRODUCTION
prophet, inasmuch as Israel, in the writings of the Second Isaiah and
elsewhere, was regarded as having a prophetic vocation amongst man-
kind (p. Ixxxi). Nineveh, the capital of the greatest empire known to the
Israelites in the age of the historic Jonah, was a fitting type of the
heathen world, which Israel, personified by Jonah, was designed by God
to bring to repentance. But Israel disregarded its duty, and whilst thus
evading its true mission, was swallowed up by a hostile world-power
(the Babylonian empire)1. Even the casting of Jonah into the sea could
represent the overthrow of Israel as a nation, and its submergence
beneath heathen domination. But no doubt the great fish that swallowed
Jonah may be regarded as more decidedly typical of the empire that
absorbed Israel. Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, the power that
extinguished Israel's national existence, is expressly likened by Jeremiah
to a sea-monster; and Israel, in being carried into captivity, is figura-
tively declared to have been devoured and swallowed up ( Jer. li. 34) ;
whilst 'God in restoring Israel is similarly represented as bringing forth
out of the mouth of Bel (the god of Babylon) that which he had
swallowed (Jer. li. 44). It was only after the Captivity that Israel
recognized that it had a duty to the Gentiles ; but even then it had in
general little sympathy with God's merciful purposes towards them, and
its attitude is reflected in the conduct and temper of Jonah subsequent
to his release from his imprisonment in the fish. The plant which raised
in Jonah hopes that were quickly blighted has been taken as an emblem
of Zerubbabel, designated by Zechariah as the Shoot or Sprout (iii. 8,
vi. 12), of whom great expectations were at one time entertained, but
who failed to fulfil them (p. cxxiii). This allegorical interpretation of
the book is open to some serious objections. In the first place, there is
comparatively little evidence within the O.T. itself that Israel was ever
symbolized by a dove. It is often, indeed, from various points of view
compared to one (Hos. vii. 11, xi. 11, 2 Is. lix. 11, Ix. 8, Ps. Ixviii. 13,
see also Ps. Iv. 62), but so are other peoples (Jer. xlviii. 28, Nah. ii. 73);
and the only instance of a dove being treated as a symbol of the Israelite
nation (perhaps in contrast to heathen powers, conceived as birds of
prey) seems to be the title of Ps. Ivi., where Yonath 'elem rekoMm, "the
silent dove of them that are far off" (apparently the air to which the
1 See G. A. Smith, Book of the XII Prophets, n. p. 523 foil.
2 By Jewish interpreters Cant. ii. 14 (0 my dove), iv. 1 (thine eyes are as doves),
were applied to Israel (Enc. Bib. n. 2567). In Ps. Ixxiv. 19 Israel is figuratively
designated Jehovah's turtle-dove (tor).
3 Here Huzzab, if a title, probably denotes either the Assyrian queen, or the city
of Nineveh.
JONAH xcix
psalm was to be sung) is rendered in the LXX. by virep TOV Xaov aVo TWV
dyiW /Ae/xaKpv//,/xeVov ("on behalf of the people removed to a distance
from the sanctuary"). Next, there is a decided lack of consistency in
an allegory in which one heathen empire is symbolized by a sea-monster,
whilst the rest of the heathen world is represented by an historical city
that once formed part of that world. Thirdly, to explain the great fish
as an emblem of Babylon, the destroyer of Israel's independence, is to
misconceive the part played by it in the story ; the fish is an agent not
of destruction but of preservation, its function being to save Jonah from
drowning, not to injure him. Fourthly, the explanation of the plant as
an emblem of Zerubbabel is forced; for there is no verbal expression
employed in the account of its growth which is suggestive of the term
(tsemah) applied to Zerubbabel by Zechariah, although the cognate verb
was available, if the writer had had the supposed signification in his
mind (see Gen. ii. 5, 9). And finally, the effectiveness of the lesson
which the book is designed to enforce is seriously impaired by the
allegorical interpretation. Consideration of the import of the subor-
dinate features in the story distracts attention from the two principal
figures in it, the Almighty and Jonah; and the contrast between the
compassionateness of God and the inhumanity of the Jewish people in
the person of one of their prophets becomes obscured.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE
SEPARATE INTRODUCTIONS.
CHAPTER I.
THE THEOLOGY OF THE BOOKS OF MICAH, OBADIAH, JOEL AND JONAH.
SOME account of the message conveyed by the prophet Micah to his
contemporaries has already been given, and attention will be drawn in
the commentary to the teaching of the other oracles and prophecies that
are comprised in this volume. Nevertheless it will not be inexpedient
to treat collectively all the writings that are here united, and to bring
under review their main theological and religious conceptions. As they
all belong to a period when the prophetic order in Israel had arrived at
a belief in Jehovah as the only existing God, whose exalted nature and
character demanded a proportionately elevated standard of conduct and
worship from His servants, it will be most convenient to begin by sum-
marizing the principal attributes ascribed to God in the 8th and two or
three following centuries, and then to consider how far these writings
illustrate, enlarge, or modify the view of God by this time attained.
The enquiry is best divided into three parts, relating to (I) the Being of
God; (II) His dealings with mankind; (III) the duties of men towards
Him.
I. No systematic or coherent exposition of the Divine nature is found
in the O.T. ; the ideas entertained about God have to be collected from
incidental statements or implications occurring in writings of various
dates, and reflecting lower and higher stages of intuition and inspiration,
which are incapable of being fully harmonized. But if attention be con-
centrated on the teaching of the writing prophets, to the exclusion of
the immature phases of belief prevailing in earlier times, some common
religious convictions can be clearly discerned. The chief qualities
ascribed to God which emerge from this teaching are Unity, Spirit,
Wisdom, Goodness, and Power1. All these are inseparable from Per-
sonality ; and it is obvious that by the Hebrews God was regarded as a
Person. The Divine nature was conceived after the analogy of human
nature, but was deemed to be free from the limitations that accompany
1 Another quality is Holiness (see Otto, The Idea of the Holy) ; but this is not
conspicuously illustrated in the Prophets here considered.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT ci
humanity. The ideas formed about God's attributes of mind and
character had a history, primitive fancies about Him being shed in
course of time as unworthy and untrue. But to trace the gradual dis-
appearance of such primitive fancies is unnecessary here: what is
important for the present purpose is to consider the conceptions about
God cherished by the Hebrews when their religious progress during the
period covered by the O.T. reached its culmination.
(a) The Divine Unity, belief in which only by degrees replaced a
phase of thought that took the existence of a plurality of gods for
granted, came to be the most fundamental conviction of Hebrew religious
thinkers. It finds most emphatic expression in Dt. vi. 4, Jehovah our
God is one Jehovah. The best rendering, however, of this passage and
its true meaning are rather doubtful (as the variety of translations given
in the R.V. mg. shews), for it may imply either that Jehovah is single
and indivisible, in contrast to the multiplicity and variety of the gods
of the heathen, or that He is unique and incomparable. Probably it
combines the two ideas that He is intrinsically one and self-consistent ;
and that He exists without a rival, all other spiritual powers being
subordinate to Him1. That Jehovah is the only existing Deity is not
asserted as explicitly by any of the prophets with whom we are here
concerned as it is (for example) by Deutero-Isaiah (see 2 Is. xliii. 10,
xliv. 6, xlv. 14, 21, etc.), but the idea is implicitly present. He is the
God of heaven, the maker of the sea and the dry land (Jon. i. 9) ; He
controls the forces and agencies of nature, using them both to punish
men, and to bring them relief and prosperity (Joel ii. 11, 19, 23 — 25,
iii. 18, Jonah i. 4, 17, ii. 10) ; He is the Judge of all peoples (Mic. i. 2),
and calls all nations to account for the wrongs done by them to Israel
(Ob. 15, Joel iii. 2, 11). If His sole Godhead is not expressly affirmed
by these prophets, the ascription to Him of such authority over the
physical world and the races of men adequately attests their belief in it.
(b) That Jehovah was Spirit and not flesh was implied by Isaiah when
he declared the Egyptians to be men and not God, and their horses flesh
and not spirit (Is. xxxi. 3); and the desire to preserve (even at the
cost of discouraging all graphic and plastic art) the belief in Jehovah as
a spirit lacking corporeal form was one of the motives that led to the
prohibition by the religious teachers of Israel of all material symbols of
Him (cf. Mic. v. 13, 14, and see notes ad loc.}. Nevertheless the Hebrews
seem to have found great difficulty in conceiving God to be altogether
1 Gf. Driver, Deut. pp. 89, 90.
cii INTRODUCTION
immaterial, and it looks as if they were inclined to think of spirit as
merely an extremely tenuous and impalpable form of matter1. The
importance of safeguarding the belief that God in His nature is only
spirit and not, like man, spirit and body lay in its connection with the
belief in His omnipresence. From the limitations inseparable from a
solid bodily frame a spiritual Being could be deemed to be free ; so that
if God were spirit only, His presence everywhere would be the more
easily intelligible. Jehovah's ubiquity is implied in several passages of
these prophets. He observes and punishes evil that is committed in
Judah and Jerusalem (Mic. ii. 1 — 11); but with equal facility He
gathers and redeems His chastened people from the distant lands where
they have been dispersed (Mic. ii. 12 — 13, iv. 6). He requites wrong-
doers alike in Tyre, in Zidon, in Edom and in Egypt (Joel iii. 4 — 8, 19).
Perhaps the book of Jonah illustrates most vividly the conviction enter-
tained of His omnipresence. He commands the prophet, whilst in the
Holy Land, to depart on a mission to Nineveh ; when His messenger
disobeys and crosses the sea, He raises a storm ; and when Jonah is
thrown overboard from the ship conveying him, He causes a monster of
the deep first to swallow and then to disgorge him ; and when at last
the prophet goes to Nineveh, God's activity there is manifested by the
miraculous growth and equally miraculous destruction of the gourd.
Nevertheless, though the Lord's omnipresence is thus conspicuously
brought into mind, it is regarded as not incompatible with His having,
in a special sense, His dwelling in Zion (Joel iii. 17, 21). It is thence
that He roars against His adversaries (Joel iii. 16); thither heathen
peoples, impressed by His might, will ultimately resort to be instructed
about Him (Mic. iv. 2); and there the centre of His kingdom is to be
(Ob. 21). The explanation of this seeming incongruity is to be found
in the thought that, though God is nowhere absent from the world, yet
He is most intimately present in the hearts of His servants and wor-
shippers, and these were to be found chiefly, though not exclusively, in
the Jewish capital.
(c) The greatness of God's Intelligence and Wisdom does not receive
abstract emphasis in these prophecies as it does in some other of the
O.T. books (Prov. iii. 19, Jer. x. 12, Job xxxvi. 5), but there is ample
evidence therein of a belief in the boundless resources of His under-
standing. He devises evil against evil-doers, from which they can find
no escape (Mic. ii. 3). He foils the plans of Zion's foes, and disappoints
1 Cf. p. 108.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT ciii
their expectations (ib. iv. 1 1, 1 2). He humbles the pride of the Edomites
amid their inaccessible cliffs (Ob. 3); and threatens with destruction
the great city of Nineveh (Jon. i. 2, iii. 2). That the fortunes of peoples
are under His control is tacitly but none the less plainly affirmed
wherever one nation, in the fancied pursuit of its own designs, is repre-
sented as being really the agent of Jehovah for chastising the offences
of another (Ob. 7—14, Mic. i. 5f., iii. 9—12). And equally impressive
does the working of Divine Providence appear (though the fact is not
explicitly proclaimed by the prophets but left to be read between the
lines they have written) when the deportation of the Jewish race into a
remote region and their subsequent wonderful restoration to their own
home are seen to be events resulting in the bringing of heathen peoples
to a knowledge of the God of Israel (Mic. iv. 1 — 4, vii. 16 — 17).
(d) God's Ethical Character is perhaps that aspect of Him which is
most prominently thrown into relief by the Hebrew prophetic writers in
general. The qualities entering into their conception of it are principally
His justice, His compassion, His forgivingness, and His faithfulness. The
first of these attributes is accentuated by the resentment represented as
provoked in Him by the social wickedness prevalent in Judah — the
oppression and spoliation of the poor, the corruptness of the governing
classes, and the dishonesty practised in trade (Mic. ii. 1, 2, 8, 9, iii. 1 — 3,
9 — 11, vi. 10 — 12, vii. 1 — 4); and not less by His wrath against the
Edomites for their unbrotherly conduct to Judah on the occasion of the
latter's overthrow (Ob. 10 — 14). For all such iniquity retribution swift
and heavy is predicted. But Jehovah's justice does not exclude com-
passion when due chastisement has been inflicted : from the exile which
is destined to purify the Jewish people they are ultimately to be
rescued ; and from the humiliating conditions which continue to beset
them even after their repatriation they are to be relieved (Mic. ii. 12 —
13, iv. 6 — 8, v. 2 — 9, vii. 11 — 12). Repentance for misdeeds speedily
evokes the Divine pardon, and leads to alleviation of the troubles that
have demonstrated the Divine wrath (Joel ii. 18 f.). Nor is His com-
passionateness confined to Israel. He manifests interest in the heathen;
sends a prophet to warn the people of Nineveh of the destruction that
their sins have provoked; spares them when they are penitent; and,
rebuking Jonah for his displeasure at the city's reprieve, intimates His
concern for its innocent children and even its cattle (Jon. i. 2 f., iv. 11).
It is observable that the prophets here under review regarded the
existing world as the exclusive field for the retribution and the recom-
pense meted out by God to the evil and the good respectively. And
civ INTRODUCTION
since they could not believe that God failed to govern His world with
equity, they looked for wrongdoing to be requited without fail in this
life (unless requital was averted by timely repentance) ; and when
vengeance did not overtake the actual wrongdoers during their own
lifetime, they supposed that it would eventually befall their posterity
(the responsibility which we consider to attach to individual offenders
being regarded by the early Hebrews as embracing their households and
their descendants). Similarly when the innocent seemed to miss their
reward, the apparent miscarriage of Divine justice was accounted for by
the existence of some ancestral guilt which had escaped detection by
man but was known to God. It was, however, recognized at last that
this view was not really satisfactory ; and so some Hebrew thinkers in
the long run came to believe that the vindication of the righteous and
the punishment of the unrighteous would be consummated in another
sphere of life, though the scene and manner of the same were differently
conceived by various minds (see Ps. xvi., xvii., xlix., Ixxiii., Job xxv. 27,
Dan. xii. 2, 3, Wisd. iii. 1 — 9). But this hope lay beyond the range of
thought of our four prophets, in whose writings there is no hint of
human immortality.
(e) That the prophets to whom these books are due considered that
Jehovah possessed all the Power necessary for the execution of His
designs is evinced by their attributing to Him as Author both present
and past national catastrophes and deliverances (Joel ii. 11, Mic. iv. 6,
7, vi. 4, 5) and by their confident predictions about what He would
accomplish both of good and of ill in the future. But there is a difference
between the ancient and the modern conceptions of the Divine method
of working in the natural world which here calls for brief notice.
The Hebrews so far emphasized the distinction between God and His
universe that they were prone to represent Him as acting upon it from
without. Concentrating their thoughts upon His transcendence in
respect of nature, and having little interest in the scientific investigation
of physical phenomena, they felt no difficulty in crediting marvellous
stories of departures from common experience through the immediate
intervention of God. Modem thought, on the other hand, accentuating
the Divine immanence in natural processes, systematic and regular in
their operation, finds it difficult to accept as historic many of the
miracles recorded in the O.T., of which notable examples occur in Jonah
(p. xciii). The Hebrew writers, of course, could not be blind to some of
the regularities observable in nature. But they were more interested in
the purposes which nature's Creator appeared to have in view than in
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cv
the chain of secondary causes by which He brought results to pass ; and
in the study of the O.T. this difference of mental attitude between its
authors and their modern readers has constantly to be kept in mind.
II. Jehovah was originally the God of Israel (or of some of the tribes
that constituted Israel) just as Chemosh was the god of Moab, Milconi
the god of Ammon, and Asshur the god of Assyria ; and it was not
until the 8th century that He was affirmed by the prophets of Israel to
be the only God. It might have been antecedently expected that when
a purely national god came to be declared the sole and supreme divinity
in heaven and earth it would be likewise contended that He was not in
any exclusive or peculiar sense the God of Israel merely, but was the
God of all peoples alike, impartially interested in the welfare of the
whole of mankind. This step, however, the prophets (including those
here under discussion) did not fully take : whilst asserting that Jehovah
directed the fortunes of Israel's neighbours as well as of Israel itself, and
that He was the Judge of all nations equally, they continued to foster
in their countrymen the conviction that He felt special concern for
them, and gave them the foremost place in His love and care. They
were His people and His heritage (Joel ii. 17, iii. 2), and Zion, their
capital, was His holy mountain (ib. iii. 17, Ob. 16). The bond between
Him and them went back to the age of their forefathers ; and in their
distress they could appeal trustfully to the sworn promise which He
had made to the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob (Mic. vii. 20). The
truth underlying this conception of a bond and covenant subsisting
between Israel and the Almighty is to be sought in the signal privileges
which certain races and nationalities seem to enjoy in comparison with
others in regard to intellectual faculties and aptitudes, or to qualities
of disposition and character. Familiar examples in antiquity of such
gifted peoples are furnished by the Greeks and Romans, who were so
remarkably endowed, the one with a genius for art and literature, and
the other with a singular ability for government and organization, the
artistic creativeness and the instinct for political order, which respectively
characterized them, witnessing to the presence in them of an exceptional
degree of what may reasonably be called inspiration. Capacities of
another kind have been equally distinctive of certain other peoples.
The Hebrews, if their prophets may be looked upon as the flower of
their race, were pre-eminently distinguished by a special measure of
insight into religious truth, which, at the same time, from a theological
standpoint, implies, and can justly be represented to be, a unique
revelation, imparted to them by God, of His moral attributes (according
cvi INTRODUCTION
as we accentuate the human or the Divine factor co-operating in
human history). It was from Israel, too, that our Lord Himself drew
His human lineage, crowning the line of the prophets and likewise, as
the Christ or Messiah, realizing the ideal of filial conduct in relation
to God which a national king, concentrating in his own person the
vocation of his race, had long been expected, but expected in vain, to
fulfil (p. cxxx). But whilst the prophets believed themselves to be the
channels of Divine oracles to their people, who were regarded by them
as standing in an exceptional relation to the one true God, they recog-
nized (though not all equally) that this privileged position carried with
it certain responsibilities, and that if Israel was the depository of Divine
revelations, it was entrusted with them for the eventual good of man-
kind. This conception of their race's function in the world takes more
than one form. In many prophetic passages (2 Is. xlii. 6, xlix. 6, Zech.
viii. 23, etc.), and not least conspicuously in Mic. iv. 1 — 3 ( = Is. ii.
2 — 4), the prevalent idea is that Israel through its wonderful experiences
of national extinction and subsequent revival would attract the attention
of a multitude of peoples to the God of Israel who had wrought so
marvellously for His votaries, and would induce the heathen to seek at
Jerusalem for knowledge about so potent a Deity. But in one of the
four books included in this volume, namely Jonah, this idea assumes a
different shape. It is presupposed that Israel had a direct mission
towards the rest of the world which it was its duty to execute. The
chief character in the book is a personification of Israel; and the
prophet is represented as expressly charged by God to warn the people
of the heathen city of Nineveh (symbolizing the Gentile world) of their
imminent doom unless they would repent and secure their pardon. The
author thus illustrated what he took to be the vocation of Israel amongst
mankind, whilst at the same time by depicting Jonah as first of all
trying to evade his commission, and then as being displeased at the
mercy shewn by God to the Ninevites when penitent, he held up a
mirror to those of his countrymen who grudged to their Gentile neigh-
bours any share in God's compassion, instead of lending themselves
gladly to promote His saving purposes.
III. Since Jehovah was believed to be bound to Israel by a per-
manent and inviolable tie, since He was regarded as the owner of the
land and as its people's Divine king, and since He was supposed, like
human sovereigns, to take pleasure in honorific oblations and other
tokens of homage, which in general there was no unwillingness on the
part of the people to render (the mass of men at all times being ready
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cvii
to perform religious ceremonies), the early prophets (such as Elijah)
found little to censure in their nation, save when a^disposition was
manifested by a contemporary ruler, followed by a section of his sub-
jects, either to represent Jehovah by some material symbol, or else to
abandon the exclusive worship of Him and to pay adoration to the
god of a neighbouring state. But the deeper insight into the nature of
God marking the prophets who appeared in the 8th century and their
successors caused these to contend that no formal service of Jehovah,
divorced from the discharge of moral duties, could ensure the retention
of His favour ; and that the multiplication of sacrifices by those who
were guilty of social offences could only aggravate the Divine dis-
pleasure. Of the four prophets here dealt with Micah in Jehovah's
name denounced with the utmost vehemence the violence and cor-
ruption of the more powerful classes among his contemporaries ; and
declared that under such conditions the trust reposed in the presence
of Jehovah amongst them was a fatal delusion. In his surviving oracles,
indeed, he does not, like Amos and Isaiah, directly assail the folly of
imagining that God would be content with sacrificial offerings in lieu
of social righteousness ; but by a later prophet, whose utterances are
included in the book bearing Micah's name, there is repudiated most
impressively the thought that sin can be expiated by sacrifices however
costly, since God's essential requirements from man are justice, mercy,
and humility before his Maker.
CHAPTER II.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY.
THE occurrence in Mic. v. 2 — 6 of a prediction of the kind usually
designated Messianic, and the citation of part of it in the New Testament
(Mt. ii. 6), render it desirable to bring this oracle into relation with
other prophecies of the same class. It is not proposed, indeed, to take
account in detail of the whole field of Messianic prophecy; but it will
be useful to review briefly such predictions as appear to be of earlier
date than Mic. v. 2 — 6, and to distinguish in these certain common or
contrasted features ; whilst it will contribute to a better comprehension
of the whole subject if some attention is paid to the directions in which
prophetic anticipations developed during the centuries subsequent to
the probable date of Mic. v. 2 — 6, and the realization which these
received in our Lord Jesus Christ.
cviii INTRODUCTION
The term Messiah is a title meaning " anointed"; and, when not used
as an adjective, is followed in the O.T. by the genitive of the Divine
name Jehovah or an equivalent possessive pronoun (my, thy, his). It is
applied to various classes of persons, including Israelite kings (1 Sam.
ii. 10, xii. 3, xxiv. 6, 10, etc., 2 Sam. xix. 21, Lam. iv. 20), high priests
(Lev. iv. 3, 5, 16, vi. 22 (15), 2 Mace. i. 10, and perhaps Ps. Ixxxiv. 9
(10)), the patriarchs (Ps. cv. 15), and collective Israel (Hab. iii. 13,
Ps. xxviii. 8). It was perhaps also applicable to prophets, for these
were sometimes anointed (1 Kgs. xix. 16); and though the term is not
actually employed in the O.T. in connection with them, yet it is probable
that the Hebrew patriarchs were denominated by the writer of Ps. cv.
Jehovah's anointed in virtue of their being accounted prophets (cf.
Gen. xx. 7). In one instance it is also used of a foreign ruler (Cyrus), re-
garded as an accredited agent to carry out Jehovah's designs (2 Is. xlv. 1).
The practice of anointing persons by way of investing them with
authority is perhaps a survival from a totemistic stage of religion, when
some animal or plant was taken to be the divine ancestor of a particular
tribe or clan, which, in consequence, bore its name (see p. 120), and
when its blood or fat (if the totem was an animal) or the oil obtained
from it (if it was a berry-bearing plant like the olive) was deemed, where
smeared upon a member of the tribe or clan, to be a means of imparting
to him some of the qualities of the sacred ancestor. Later, when the
totemistic stage of thought was outgrown and replaced by a more
enlightened form of religious belief, the ceremony of anointing and the
use of the term naturally became purely symbolical (see 3 Is. Ixi. 1).
Although, as has been seen, the title Messiah was applied to more
than one class of official, it was predominantly used of kings. Both
Saul and David, as well as some of their successors, are severally termed
the Messiah of Jehovah (I Sam. xxiv. 6, 2 Sam. xix. 21, Ps. ii. 2, xviii.
50, etc.); and the rite of consecration by means of oil is expressly
mentioned in connection with them (1 Sam. x. 1, xvi. 13, 1 Kgs. i. 39,
xix. 16, Ps. Ixxxix. 20)/ It is the association of the term with the function
of kingship that has caused the epithet Messianic to be employed to
describe certain predictions, delivered by the prophets on occasions of
national disaster or depression, which foretold the advent of a king
destined to put an end to the distress of his people and to restore them
to greatness and glory (though to such an expected king the title
Messiah is not actually applied). But the term Messianic is also loosely
used to denote prophecies predicting for Israel conditions of peace and
prosperity without any reference to a human ruler; and it is likewise
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cix
applied to passages in the prophetic writings, wherein announcement is
made of a future line of kings under whom the nation is to enjoy
felicity, but without stress being laid upon any pre-eminent individual
amongst them/ Hence the nature of the prophecy in Mic. v. renders it
expedient to confine detailed attention to those prophecies only which
pre-announce, or appear to pre-announce, the advent of an individual
prince of consummate qualities ; but before considering these it will be
desirable to begin with a more general survey, and to trace, as far as
possible, the genesis of this expectation, in times of adversity, of a
happier future, in descriptions of which a king of exceptional parts
occasionally but not uniformly figures.
Some of the peoples of antiquity, in contrasting contemporary evils
under which they suffered with a better time that their fancy painted,
placed the latter in the prehistoric past, from which they supposed that
there had been a continuous declension down to their own day. Thus
the Greek poet Hesiod begins his account of the history of mankind with
a Golden race, when the primitive god Kronos (the equivalent of the
Latin Saturnus) held sway ; and traces growing deterioration through
the races of Silver, Bronze, and the Heroes until he comes to his own,
which he calls the race of Iron, the last and worst. The retrospect
is shared by the Roman Vergil, though in a less sombre spirit (G. I.
125 f.) ; and even when the latter (after the peace of Brundisium
in B.C. 40) looked forward to the dawning, in the near future, of a
happier age than that with which he had been familiar, he conceived it
to be a return to the conditions of the earth's infancy : —
Magnus ab integro sceclorum nascitur or do.
lam redit et Virgo (Astrsea), redeunt Saturnia regna.
But this was not the outlook of the Hebrews. For them the future
held something better than there had ever been before ; and so far as
they drew upon the past in giving shape to their hopes, they did not
recur to the myths current concerning the primaeval world, but to a
phase in their own historical experience, enhanced and magnified by a
glowing imagination.
The confidence in its future which Israel retained throughout longer
or shorter periods of affliction and humiliation, and which eventually
took form in the Messianic hope, had its foundation in religion. Israel's
religion, however, in its early character did not differ greatly from
that of kindred and surrounding peoples. Like other nations the
Israelites started with monolatry — a belief in, and the worship of, a
ex INTRODUCTION
single deity, without any accompanying disbelief in the existence of
other divinities to whom their neighbours rendered allegiance, and who,
in times of warfare, were the antagonists of their own God Jehovah.
Their thoughts about Jehovah and their feelings towards Him were not
dissimilar to those which the Moabites, for example, cherished con-
cerning Chemosh. They were individually Jehovah's sons and daughters,
or the collective community was His son (Hos. xi. 1, Dt. xxxii. 6), as the
Moabites were the sons and daughters of Chemosh (Num. xxi. 29) ; in the
conduct of their wars Jehovah took part ; and He was as much concerned
as they in the issue, since their success or failure in them redounded to
His reputation or to His discredit (Ex. xv. 3, 4, Jud. iv. 14, v. 23, vii. 20,
2 Sam. v. 24, Ps. Ixxix. 10).
In the case of the Semitic races generally triumph in war tended not
only to foster national pride but also to develope a conviction that the
national divinity was superior to rival gods. And in the instance of
Israel the belief which came to be entertained about Jehovah's exceptional
power in comparison with that of other deities can be traced to two
definite events in their history. The first of these was the deliverance
from bondage in Egypt, followed, as it was, by the conquest of Canaan.
It was the escape from their Egyptian task-masters, through occurrences
which seemed to be due to the providence of Jehovah, that especially
caused the Israelites to deem themselves the objects of His paternal
care, and to judge Him to be mightier than all the gods of Egypt (see
Hos. xi. 1, xii. 9, Am. ii. 10, iii. 1, 2, Ex. xii. 12, Num. xxxiii. 4); and
His graciousness and His strength were shortly afterwards as signally
manifested by His ejection from before them of the tribes of Canaan
and the bestowal upon His worshippers of the possessions of its in-
habitants (Neh. ix. 24, Ps. xliv. 2, Ixxviii. 55, Ixxx. 8, cxxxvi. 17 — 22).
A subsequent age sought to demonstrate that these wonderful experiences
were the outcome of Jehovah's benevolent purposes towards their
nation by representing them as having been predicted by Him long
before to their ancestors when these were but lonely wanderers (see
Gen. xii. 1—3, xiii. 14 — 17, xv. 13—16, 2 Sam. vii. 23, 24). The second
event which made a deep impression on the national mind as attesting
alike Jehovah's interest in, and love for, Israel, and His ability to give
proof of both in the promotion of its fortunes, was the establishment of
the monarchy. The need of a king to weld a loose aggregate of quarrel-
some tribes into a nation became manifest when serious danger
threatened from the Philistines (p. 82). The reign of the first sovereign,
Saul, ended, indeed, in disaster ; but his successor David shewed himself
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxi
capable of consolidating his subjects into a unity, which lasted to the
end of his own life and that of his son Solomon, and enabled the people
not merely to defend themselves against aggression but to extend their
territories in various directions. That the institution of the monarchy
in Israel, with the resultant triumphs over peoples like Moab and Edom,
obtained in the reign of David, was also regarded as predetermined in
the counsels of Jehovah appears from a prophecy of it which is attributed
to the seer Balaam and represented as delivered by him whilst Israel
was yet in the wilderness (see Num. xxiv. 15—19), though the precision
of it suggests that it is really a vaticinium post eventum, and originated
after the monarchy had come into existence1.
In this connection it is desirable to discuss here a passage which has often
been deemed Messianic in the sense denned above, though probably erroneously.
This is Genesis xlix. 10, part of the prediction about Judah included among
the "Blessings" represented as pronounced by the patriarch Jacob upon all his
sons2. These "blessings," in general, appear to date from the period of the
Judges ; but v. 10 may reasonably be suspected to be of post-Davidic origin.
As will be seen from the various renderings of the passage offered in the text
and margin of the R.V., both the meaning and the originality of the existing
Hebrew are doubtful. The most obvious translation of the present text is the
following (cf. the R.V. margin) :
" The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until he come to Shiloh,
And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be."
This is supported by the fact that everywhere else in the O.T. Shiloh is a place-
name, and denotes the locality where all the congregation of Israel is recorded
to have assembled after the invasion of Canaan by Joshua, in order to determine
by lot what parts of the country should belong to each of the seven tribes that
had not previously received their portions (Josh, xviii.). But historically it is
very unlikely that the tribe of Judah gathered at Shiloh in the time of Joshua,
even if there was an assembly of other tribes there (Judah and Simeon appear
to have entered Canaan from the south3); and certainly nothing happened at
Shiloh affecting the fortunes or position of Judah, as suggested in the verse
under consideration. An alternative rendering of the existing Hebrew of the
third line is that which is given in the text of the R.V., "Until Shiloh come";
and it has been widely assumed that by Shiloh is meant the Messiah ; and the
passage is taken as a real prediction that the regal associations attaching to
the tribe of Judah, through the circumstance that the dynasty of David belonged
to that tribe, would last until the Messiah's advent ; and that He, at His coming,
would receive the allegiance of the world. If this were really a probable inter-
1 See Gray, Numbers, pp. 313, 314 (I.C.C.); Kennedy, Numbers, p. 332 (C.B.).
2 See Driver, Gen. pp. 385, 386, 410—415 (West.G.).
3 See Burney, Judges, pp. cv, 46.
cxii INTRODUCTION
pretation, the passage would be Messianic in the strict sense. But Shiloh is-
not a name elsewhere in the Bible applied to the Messiah, and it does not
connote a meaning which would be appropriate to him, for the Hebrew root
with which it seems to be connected signifies "to be quiet," "to be at ease," or
even "to be easy-going," but not "to be peaceful" (in the proper sense). In
these circumstances, it appears necessary to conclude that the traditional
Hebrew text is faulty, and that the authentic text is preserved in the LXX.
and other Greek versions, in the Syriac, and in several of the Targums. All
these translations and paraphrases were made from a text that, instead of
Shiloh, had Shelloh, which can signify (as the R.V. notices in the margin)
either "that which is his" or "he whose it (the sceptre) is." But the first
of these significations, yielding the rendering "until that which is his shall
come," makes poor sense, for it is not easy to see how Judah's acquisition of its
own would mark the cessation of its previous authority. The second possible
signification — "until he shall come whose it (the sceptre) is" — has likewise
been taken to have the Messiah in view. It is assumed that the sceptre must
be an emblem of royal authority ; and the passage has been understood to be
a prediction that a succession of kings belonging to the tribe of Judah would
not terminate until the coming of the Messiah, through whom the limited realm
possessed by previous sovereigns would be transformed into one of world- wide
extent. But a similar objection to that attaching to the alternative translation
presents itself here, for Judah, as the tribe of the reigning dynasty, would
acquire enhanced eminence through the replacement of a line of ordinary kings
by the Messiah himself, and would not experience a loss of importance (as the
word until suggests). These objections, however, are avoided if the passage be
interpreted of the termination of Judah's tribal independence through the firm
establishment of monarchical authority in the hands of David. When the
collective tribes became united into a kingdom under a single ruler, the
authority previously exercised by each tribe over its own members passed to
the king, and Judah would lose this, equally with the rest of the tribes. If such
be the right explanation (and though it is not free from difficulty, it seems
more plausible than the others) the import of the passage appears to be a
prophecy of the advent, not of the Messiah, but of the first sovereign springing
from the tribe of Judah ; though it is perhaps less likely to be a real prediction
of that event, and to date from a time prior to it, than to be an oracle
composed after the occasion which it purports to foretell, originating either in
the reign of David himself or in that of Solomon, but put into the mouth of the
patriarch Jacob1.
The success which, in spite of internal troubles, marked David's
reign — his expulsion of the Philistines from Israelite territory, his
capture of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, his conversion of it into a
capital for the nation which he had consolidated, and his victories over
Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other peoples — profoundly impressed the
1 The passage seems to be referred to in Ezek. xxi. 27, where it appears to be
invested with a Messianic significance.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxiii
minds of his countrymen. His house came to be viewed as the nerve-centre
of the state, the seat and mainspring of its activities, and the channel
through which God had chosen to glorify Israel. In David and his line
the filial relation which Israel was believed to occupy towards Jehovah
(p. ex) was held to be concentrated. If the nation was Jehovah's son,
as evidenced by the marvellous favour which it had enjoyed, the suc-
cessive sovereigns of David's lineage could be deemed to represent in
this respect their collective subjects; and in virtue of the fact that they
were individual personalities, they were qualified to realize this concep-
tion the more vividly and effectually (see 2 Sam. vii. 12 — 16, Ps. Ixxxix.
26, 27). Many Judsean kings, of course, in their character and conduct
fell far below the ideal which such relationship involved, disregarding;
the administration of justice to their subjects, and fancying that formal
acts of worship would satisfy Jehovah. Nevertheless repeated failures
on the part of one monarch after another to exhibit the disposition, or to
experience the fortune, appropriate to a ruler whom Jehovah graciously
styled His son, could not destroy the conviction entertained by the
prophets that it was through a descendant of David that the high
destiny believed to be designed for Israel would be fulfilled. The
retribution which was bound to follow moral and religious offences could
not (it was thought) cancel Jehovah's promises. Consequently the
national hope, if often disappointed, continually revived, for Jehovah
would be faithful to His covenant. He was permanently Israel's
spiritual King (1 Sam. xii. 12, Is. xxxiii. 22, Ps. xliv. 4, Ixxiv. 12,
xcviii. 6, 2 Is. xliii. 15), and it was through a human king, deriving his
ancestry from the son of Jesse, and acting as Jehovah's vicegerent,
that the Divine goodness towards Israel would finally be consummated.
For the purpose of reviewing the nature of the assurances respecting
a glorious future with which the prophets sought to relieve the despond-
ency of their fellow-countrymen in times of calamity, it is proposed here
to divide them into classes according to their tenor, without respect to
chronology, though within these classes regard will be paid to chronological
order, so far as this is clearly ascertainable. In the first class will be
included prophecies wherein no mention is made of a human king in
connection with the felicity promised to the people. In the next there
will be comprised those predictions in which the restoration of happy
national conditions is associated with the rule of righteous kings be-
longing to David's house. The third will contain certain oracles which
appear to announce with more or less definiteness the birth of an
individual king of pre-eminent attributes, whose function it will be to
w. ;.
cxiv INTRODUCTION
ensure for his people both external security and internal integrity. The
oracles constituting this last class, and alone properly deserving the
title Messianic, will require to be considered at greater length than the
others, which can be dismissed without much discussion.
1. Of the class of passages from which all stress upon, or even
mention of, a king or kings of David's line is absent and in which
Jehovah Himself is represented as being in Person His people's Protector
and Ruler, illustrations may be taken from Is. iv. 2 — 6, xxxiii. 20 — 24,
3 Is. Ix.1. Of these passages the first is probably Isaianic in origin (with
the exception of vv. 5, 6, which contain some late features) but the
other two are most likely post-exilic. Is. iv. 2 — 6 is a prediction that,
after a severe judgment shall have eradicated impenitent offenders from
the nation, the land will be clothed with luxuriant vegetation and will
produce abundant crops, supplying the needs of, and reflecting glory
upon, the surviving inhabitants, who will all be holy and pious in
character, and who will be screened by Jehovah Himself from all distress
arising from injurious conditions. In Is. xxxiii. 20 — 24 (seemingly a
late conclusion appended to an Isaianic oracle) it is declared that
Jehovah will abide with Israel, encompassing and safeguarding them
in virtue of His being their Judge, their Lawgiver, and their King.
3 Is. Ix., an oracle designed to comfort the Jews during the depressing
years following their return from exile, when they were a small com-
munity impoverished and harassed, assures them of a speedy increase
in their numbers and wealth, and predicts that violence and devastation
will cease from the land, arid that Jehovah Himself will be there to
illumine and glorify His people. In prophecies like these the writers are
content to emphasize Jehovah's loving care for Israel, notwithstanding
its earlier offences, and do not concern themselves with explaining the
agencies by which He will accomplish His gracious purposes.
2. But in another class of prophecies the contrast, material and moral,
which it is anticipated that the future will offer to the unhappy present
is associated with the rule of a royal dynasty that will ensure among the
people the maintenance of justice, order, and true religion; and the
restoration of the national fortunes is generally connected with the
revival of the Davidic house, the traditions of David's reign being
idealized by distance. An oracle looking to the authority of a righteous
sovereign and just ministers as a condition of the attainment by the
people of the standard of conduct required from them by Jehovah occurs
1 See also Mic. iv. 7.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT CXT
in Is. xxxii. 1 — 8. In the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the authors
of which witnessed the destruction of the Judsean monarchy, there are
contained definite anticipations of the re-establishment of David's line
on the throne, as God's destined agency for safeguarding the people from
any relapse into the sins which had been so severely punished. To
comfort their countrymen, confronted with captivity in a foreign land,
these prophets, at the end of the 7th and the beginning of the 6th century,
held out to them promises that the period of their servitude would be
limited, that in the end they should return to their own soil with their
proneness to apostasy eradicated by the bestowal of a new heart and
spirit, and that in their former home they should dwell in safety,
protected and wisely governed by a righteous descendant of David. The
expected king is spoken of in the singular (as "a scion of David" or as
"David"); but both prophets doubtless had in mind a succession of
rulers who should reproduce the virtues, and renew the achievements,
of their illustrious ancestor (see Jer. xxiii. 5, 6, xxx. 9, Ezek. xxxiv. 23).
The use of the title David to designate a restored Davidic dynasty
appears likewise in a passage which is probably an interpolation in the
book of Hosea (iii. 4, 5) ; and an oracle added to the book of Amos
(ix. 11 f.) after the termination of the Davidic monarchy announces in
somewhat similar terms that Jehovah "will raise up the tabernacle of
David that is fallen."
3. In the prophetic passages just considered, which contemplate the
renewal of the monarchy after a period of affliction, there is nothing
suggesting that the king, or the succession of kings, that the prophets
had in mind, would be characterized by extraordinary attributes to which
only unusual titles could do justice. But there are a few oracles in which
a king whose advent is anticipated is portrayed in terms of a remarkable
and startling kind; and though the import of them is not beyond doubt,
they call for fuller notice. They occur in the book of Isaiah, and it is
with these that the prophecy of Micah v. 2 — 6 falls into line.
Isaiah discharged his prophetic ministry in the kingdom of Judah
during the reign of Ahaz (circ. 735 — 720 B.C.); and the occasion of the
first of his prophecies (vii. 14 — 17) that must be here discussed was a
coalition formed against his country by the kingdom of Northern Israel
(or Ephraim) and the Syrians of Damascus. The leaders of these hostile
powers were respectively Pekah and Rezin. The two allies had probably
combined together with the view of forcing Judah to join them against
Assyria, or of deposing Ahaz if compliance was refused. The Syrian
army, after encamping on Ephraimite territory and drawing reinforce-
cxvi INTRODUCTION
ments from it, advanced to invest Jerusalem, causing the utmost
consternation to both its king and its people. To reassure Ahaz the
prophet Isaiah went to meet him, and bade him lay aside his fear.
Neither of the two confederates (he declared) was really formidable :
both were only like smouldering embers, more smoke than flame ; and
their threat of deposing the king and replacing him by a minion of the
Syrian sovereign could be disregarded. But the condition of deliverance
was tranquil faith in Jehovah, not the adoption of some political device,
such as an appeal to Assyria for help. And to encourage Ahaz to
repose trust in Jehovah Isaiah felt empowered to offer a sign, the
occurrence of which would be an assurance that the prophet spoke by
Divine authority. The sign might be anything that the king liked to
choose, since Jehovah's power was universal. But Ahaz, having presum-
ably decided to seek foreign aid, refused the offer: he would not (he
said) put Jehovah to the test. Whereupon the prophet affirmed that
Jehovah Himself would, unsolicited, indicate a sign, which is described
in the three verses vii. 14 — 16, but of which the precise nature is the
subject of some uncertainty. The word rendered in the R.V. by virgin
means a woman of marriageable age whether actually married or not
(for it is the feminine of a word denoting a youth or stripling), and
does not connote virginity, a condition which would be expressed in
Heb. by another term; and accordingly the word virgin would be
better replaced by damsel. But the Hebrew of the passage admits of
being rendered by both "a damsel1" and "the damsel"; and two diver-
gent interpretations become possible. If the former translation be
adopted, the sign consists in the bestowal in the near future by any
young woman, pregnant at the time of the prophet's utterance, of the
name Immanuel ("God is with us") upon her baby (when born) as a
recognition of God's presence with His people, evinced by the with-
drawal from Jerusalem of the menacing hosts of Syria and Northern
Israel, as predicted by the prophet. Such an intervention by Jehovah,
reflected in the name given to one, or more than one, infant born just
after the people's experience of relief from their peril would be calculated
to convince the king of Isaiah's authority to speak in Jehovah's name,
and induce him to believe in the further prediction that the power of
Judah's enemies to do subsequent injury would be crippled or wholly
destroyed within a few years. This interpretation implies that by the
"sign" is meant an occurrence in the near future likely to recall and
1 See Davidson, Heb. Syntax, § 21 (e).
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxvii
confirm a previous assertion, the truth of which had been doubted ; and
this explanation of it can be supported by the parallel in Ex. iii. 12
(where, before Israel's escape from Egypt, Jehovah affirms that the
eventual safe arrival of the people at Horeb will be a sign that He had
been with Moses in bringing that escape to pass). This interpretation,
however, fails to account for the use of the word "a damsel" or "a
young woman" (lalmah) instead of "a woman" ('is/ishak) ', for such a
term suggests that the child who is to be named Immanuel will be his
mother's first-born ; whereas on this theory of the sign the name might
be easily given, in the circumstances supposed, by any mother to her
recently born child, whether she had previously had offspring or not. On
the other hand, if the second possible rendering of the ambiguous term
hd'almak be adopted and it be translated "the damsel," the prediction
must refer to some particular birth already much in the thoughts and
hopes of the people, and the sign must consist in the fact that the young
woman predestined to be the mother of a wonderful child designed by
God for sovereignty and high achievement will bear him very shortly,
some marvel attending his entrance into the world marking him out a3
the fulfilment of the popular anticipations, and leading to the bestowal
upon him, by his mother, of the name Immanuel1. This suggestion has
in its favour (a) that it is not out of proportion to the range of choice
submitted to Ahaz when bidden to ask a sign (for if the limits named
are the height of heaven above and the world of the dead beneath, some
marvellous event might be looked for as the sign proffered by the
prophet in consequence of Ahaz's refusal to choose one) ; (b) that it
accounts for the application of the term hci'almak to the mother of the
child, who would naturally be expected to be her first-born ; (c) that in
viii. 8 the Hebrew text as pointed most obviously implies that the
prophet there apostrophizes the as yet unborn Immanuel as being the
lord of the land. Nevertheless this explanation, like the preceding, is
not free from difficulty, (a) The currency in Israel of such an anticipa-
tion as is here described is an assumption lacking independent evidence
to support it. (/?) The passage in viii. 8 admits of being slightly
modified so as to be rendered, not the breadth of thy land, 0 Immanuel,
but the breadth of the land. For God is with us. (y) About any cir-
cumstances destined to attend the child's birth and calculated to
identify him with the looked-for king or deliverer, causing his mother
to name him Immanuel, the narrative contains not a word. In the case
1 See JTS. vol. x. pp. 580—584.
cxviii INTRODUCTION
of various distinguished personalities figuring in earlier Hebrew history,
certain unusual features are recorded to have been predicted about, and
to have accompanied, their conception or their birth (e.g. Isaac, Samson,
Samuel); but the present pre-announcement is silent concerning any
corresponding marvel in connection with the birth of Immanuel. And
although the term 'almak, which is applicable to both married and
unmarried women still in the flower of their youth, is expressly trans-
lated in the LXX. by TmpfleVos (reproduced in the account of our Lord's
birth in Mt. i. 23), the other Greek translations represent it more
correctly by i/eavis, so that the inference that Isaiah had in his mind
the idea that the child whose advent he predicted would be the offspring
of a virgin-mother cannot reasonably be drawn from the Hebrew text.
In view, then, of the obscurity investing the prophecy, it would be
indefensible to give to the passage a Messianic import if it stood in
isolation.
This, however, is not the case. For, some 33 years after this, Isaiah
uttered another oracle in which he, on a second occasion when the for-
tunes of his country were at a low ebb, again assured his fellow-country-
men that Jehovah would raise up for them a king of remarkable qualities
of intellect and character, who, though he was not to be their actual
deliverer from the danger encompassing them (that would be averted
otherwise by God), would be their security in the future against any
renewal of either external or internal ills.
The oracle in question was delivered, so far as can be judged, in 701,
when, in the reign of Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, Judah
was ravaged by the Assyrian king Sennacherib ; and the prophet's words,
contained in ix. 2 — 7, are marked by the parallelism characteristic of
Hebrew poetry1. The language of the prophecy is for the most part
couched in past tenses, as though the prophet was narrating occurrences
that had already happened; but this is a feature often found in Hebrew
descriptions of future events, the speaker or writer, in the fulness of
his conviction that what he predicts will really take place, representing
it as already realized.
The centre of interest lies in w. 6, 7, the preceding part of the passage
depicting the intensity of the satisfaction occasioned by the birth of the
1 To the prophet's utterance has been prefixed a note in prose (constituting the
first verse of the chapter) apparently emanating from a later scribe, who, being
perhaps a native of Galilee and resident in exile, thought of the devastation brought,
long before, upon his home by Tiglath-Pileser in 734, and who applied to his own
land the consolatory prospect which was really intended by Isaiah for his fellow-
Judeeans.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT
CX1X
ideal king, the relief from all oppression which will soon be experienced,
and the destruction of the weapons and accoutrements of the hostile
soldiery. After describing the removal of every trace of the occupation
of the land by the Assyrian troops, the prophet announces the birth of
a king, who is designated by a fourfold name, expressing his qualifica-
tions for the high functions which he is to discharge — Wonderful
Counsellor, Divine Warrior, Perpetual Father, Prince of Peace. His
destiny is to sit on the throne of David as sovereign, possessing in
exceptional measure sagacity and military prowess, and ruling with
paternal care and in unbroken tranquillity an extensive dominion.
It is obvious that the oracle depicts a monarch of consummate attri-
butes, but none of the epithets applied to him which on the surface
suggest that he is to be of superhuman nature really convey that
meaning. The two that appear to do so are the second and third. Of
these the former (Heb. 'El Gibbor) could be rendered by Mighty God
as well as by Divine Warrior, and is actually used of Jehovah in x. 21;
but in the light of the phrase which, though translated above by Won-
derful Counsellor, yet strictly means "a wonder of a counsellor," it
seems better to turn it by Divine Warrior, literally "a god of a warrior."
In Hebrew certain words meaning "God," namely 'El and its equivalent
}Eldhim,&rQ not infrequently employed to designate men eminent through
the possession of power or authority. In Ezek. xxxi. 11 the heathen
king Nebuchadrezzar is styled "the god (El) of the nations," whilst in
Ps. xlv. 6 a Jewish king is called " God" and in Ex. xxi. 6, xxii. 8, Ps. Ixxxii.
1, 6 "judges" are termed "gods" (eldhim), as being in virtue of their
office Jehovah's representatives. These words thus seem to have been
used of human beings endowed with god-like qualities or invested
with god-like functions, much in the same way as the Latin deus occa-
sionally was (cf. Cic. Att. iv. 16, 3, deus itte noster Plato). The latter
of the two epithets under consideration — Perpetual Father (Heb.
'abhi ladh, literally "father of everlastingness") — still less involves the
conclusion that the person so described, though of extraordinary endow-
ments, is more than human. The word ladh can be employed of continued
existence or activity up to the limits imposed by human nature (see
Ps. xxi. 4, xxii. 26, Prov. xii. 19) '. Hence "father of everlastingness2"
1 The synonymous lulam can similarly be used to describe not only an indefinite
period of long, though not necessarily endless, duration, but even a defined period
(Ex. xxi. 6, Dt. xv. 17, and Jer. xxv. 9 compared with v. 11).
2 The alternative rendering "father (i.e. bestower and distributor) of spoil" is
incongruous with the general drift of the passage, which stresses the righteous and
peaceful character of the promised king's rule.
cxx INTRODUCTION
only means that the king described will be the protector and benefactor
of his people (cf. Gen. xlv. 8, Job xxix. 16, Is. xxii. 21) uninterruptedly
throughout an extended lifetime, but does not imply that he will be
exempt from mortality. The statement that the promised ruler will
occupy the throne of David suggests that he will be of Davidic descent
and will succeed to the sovereignty by natural right.
It is the existence of this prophecy that inclines the balance of
probability in the case of the oracle in vii. 14 — 16 towards the second
of the two explanations considered above, and renders more plausible
than would otherwise be the case the interpretation that sees in the
predicted Immanuel the expected Messiah. If so, it is, of course, obvious
that the anticipation expressed in 735 that the Messiah would be born
within a few months was disappointed; and it seems, at first sight,
unnatural to suppose that Isaiah, after his prediction on that occasion
had been falsified, should have committed himself to a repetition of it
a generation later. But, as will be seen, successive disillusionments
did not prevent successive Hebrew prophets from renewing the predic-
tions of their predecessors, and "projecting upon the shifting future"
the figure of an ideal king whom they expected to confirm his countrymen
in the ways of God, and in the felicity attendant thereon. Consequently
there is nothing strained in the supposition that Isaiah himself in the
course of his prophetic ministry foretold on two occasions the near
advent of such a king, the non-fulfilment of his earlier prediction not
restraining him from repeating it at a later date. And it appears probable
that he did not originate the idea of the emergence in Israel of a won-
derful Prince but that he took up, and lent his authority to, an antici-
pation popularly current ; and expressly asserted, at different periods
separated by a long interval, that the birth of the expected ruler was
close at hand.
It is of these two predictions of Isaiah that the prophecy in Mic. v. 2 — 6
appears to be a re-affirmation. The second of the older prophet's oracles
was fulfilled, within the time expected, as little as the first; but the
failure of it did not prevent a subsequent prophet from uttering another
of similar tenor, which, by the terms in which it is couched, seems to
have direct reference to Is. vii. 14. The oracle in question can scarcely
be Micah's, but must proceed from a prophet living in the reign of one
or other of the last two kings of Judah (see p. 39). The occasion was a
time when Jerusalem was beleaguered, probably by the forces of Babylon ;
and the Judsean king was exposed to the insults (or worse) which in
antiquity a cruel foe was wont to inflict upon a defeated enemy. But
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxi
in the midst of the calamities with which his countrymen were surrounded
the prophet alluded to came forward to comfort them with hopes and
assurances of a brighter future. In spite of the merited retribution
due to national offences, they could still trust Jehovah not to abandon
His people finally. To the humiliation of the reigning king, and to the
chastisement which the people had yet to endure, there would succeed a
time of security, order, and happiness under a subsequent ruler, sprung
from the same stock as David himself. The prophet did not intimate
clearly whether the relief would come in the near or in a more distant
future ; but the period of the nation's surrender to its foes would last,
at any rate, until the moment was ripe for the mother of the coming
king to give him birth. With his advent the fortunes of the people would
change. A David redimvus, he would draw his strain from Bethlehem.
Under him would be re-united the severed branches of the house of
Jacob. His government of his subjects would be marked by all the care
and tenderness bestowed by a shepherd upon his flock ; in the discharge
of his duties he would be supported by the plenitude of the Divine favour;
and his people would abide undisturbed, since the resources at their
king's disposal would render him superior to all possible foes, so that,
if hostile forces should renew their inroads upon the land, they would
be successfully repelled.
The Messianic character of this prophecy must be judged by its
resemblance to the tenor of the two that have just been examined. The
import of Is. vii. 14 — 16 is, as has been seen, ambiguous; but it can
scarcely be doubted that v. 14 was in the thoughts of the writer of
Mic. v. 3, for the words "until the time that she which travaileth hath
brought forth" at once recall the announcement " Behold, the damsel
shall conceive and bear a son." The two passages, in fact, mutually
throw light upon one another ; at least, the words of the later prophet
shew how he understood the oracle of his predecessor. But there is a
conspicuous feature of difference between the outlook of the one and
that of the other. By the author of Mic. v. 2 — 6 the birth of the
Messiah, the occurrence of which Isaiah, nearly 150 years previously,
expected within a year, is relegated to a future considerably in advance
of the prophet's own time, for there lies immediately before the nation
an interval during which God's favour will be withdrawn from them.
This Messianic prophecy, included in the book of Micah, appears to
date from some year shortly before the Exile : the next that calls for
notice is one which probably originated during the Exile. This is con-
tained in Is. xi. 1 — 9, and seems to have been delivered after the Fall
cxxii INTRODUCTION
of the Jewish kingdom, for the opening words "And there shall come
forth a shoot from the stock of Jesse, and a scion out of his roots shall
bear fruit" point to a time when Judah had ceased to be independent
and when the succession of Davidic kings had terminated, though the
family from which David himself had sprung was not extinct. The
word rendered stock by the R. V. really means stump, that part of a tree
which remains in the earth after the trunk has been felled (Job xiv. 7, 8),
and would be inappropriate to the house of Jesse so long as a descendant
of it was still on the throne. The promised king, through the presence
in him of the spirit of God, will be endowed with the intellectual and
practical faculties needed for a consummate judge and ruler. Similar
features to these have been noticed in previous portrayals of the Messiah;
but a novel element in this prophecy is a predicted transformation of
the animal world. The suppression of evil amongst men will be accom-
panied by a change in the habits of carnivorous beasts, which, abandon-
ing their natural food, will browse like cattle upon herbs and grass.
Pictures of peaceful conditions prevailing among mankind enter into
other accounts of the Messianic age (see Is. ii. 4 (= Mic. iv. 3), 2 Zech.
ix. 10, Ps. Ixxii. 7, Hos. ii. 18, Ezek. xxxiv. 25), but here the reign of
peace extends to the lower animals, so that the most savage beasts and
most deadly reptiles lose their noxious qualities and associate harmlessly
with the creatures that have previously formed their prey. The scene
of this marvellous change, however, is probably conceived by the prophet
to be Judaea or Palestine only (Jehovah's "holy mountain"), not the
world at large. Parallel ideal descriptions of past or future felicity occur
in various Greek and Latin authors, as is well known : amongst such may
be cited Theocritus (Id. xxiv. 86, 87), Vergil (Georg. i. 125 f., Ed. iv.
18—25, v. 60, 61), and Horace (Epod. xvi. 53, 54).
The coming Prince who is the subject of the prophecies just discussed
was doubtless regarded by the prophets who spoke of him as being of
human origin and nature, though endowed with god-like qualities and
intended to be God's agent for ensuring His people's permanent welfare.
And probably, if they had been interrogated, they would have admitted
that he was mortal like other men, and in the course of nature would
die, and be followed on the throne by a successor. But in the intensity
of their longing for him, and in the exuberance of the hopes that circled
around him, his mortality passed out of view, their thoughts being con-
centrated solely upon the amelioration which he was to effect in his
country's condition and fortunes. And so deep was the impression which
they produced upon the minds of their countrymen that the expectation
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxiii
of such a Messiah continued to survive repeated disillusionment, and
lasted into the early Christian centuries.
In the course of the Exile, however, the Messianic idea momentarily
underwent a strange metamorphosis. When about the year 538 the
Elamite Cyrus threatened, and finally destroyed, the power of Babylon,
he raised in the hearts of some of the Jewish exiles high hopes that he
would not only overthrow the tyrant city but also liberate those whom
it detained in captivity. And a contemporary prophet who sought to
sustain the spirits of his countrymen with this prospect actually applied
to Cyrus the title of Jehovah's Messiah (2 Is. xlv. 1) as being God's
agent, raised up to fulfil His design of releasing His people from their
detention and restoring them to their own land. As the term etymo-
logically only means "Jehovah's anointed, or consecrated, one," it could,
of course, be employed in more than one connection (p. cviii) ; never-
theless the use of it by Deutero- Isaiah to designate a foreign potentate
lacks a parallel elsewhere.
When Cyrus, after his overthrow of Babylon, allowed the Jewish
exiles confined within his newly-acquired dominions to return to their
native soil, a large body availed themselves of the permission. At their
head, or at least included among them, was Zerubbabel, variously
represented as the son of Shealtiel or of Pedaiah (Ez. iii. 8, 1 Ch. iii.
19), and being presumably the real son of the one, and the legal son
of the other (through a Levirate marriage). Both Shealtiel and Pedaiah
appear in the O.T. as sons of Jehoiachin; but in Lk. iii. 27 the former
(here called Salathiel) is enumerated among the descendants of David
through Nathan and not through Solomon, so that he may have been
adopted by Jehoiachin. In any case, Zerubbabel drew his lineage from
David ; and it was natural that on such a happy occasion as the Return
from Babylon high hopes should centre in him. The expectations raised
found expression in an oracle uttered by the prophet Zechariah (iii. 8,
vi. 12), who declared him to be the scion of David's house that had been
the subject of Jeremiah's prophecy (p. cxv). But though Zerubbabel
rebuilt the temple at Jerusalem which had been destroyed by Nebu-
chadrezzar, no renewal of Jewish independence was humanly possible
under the Persian kings; so that the fulfilment of the Messianic
prophecies, which their restoration from exile had led the Jewish people
to anticipate, was still deferred.
Nevertheless the confident hope that the Jewish race would again
have a king of their own survived the depressing experiences which
prevailed for so many years after the Return ; and a renewed prediction
cxxiv INTRODUCTION
that this hope would be realized was conveyed to his countrymen by a
prophet whose writings have been included in the book of Zechariah
(ix. 9, 10), but who appears to have lived at some date subsequent to
the destruction of the Persian empire by the Greeks (in 333). The
circumstances which were to render possible so desired a consummation
would (it was implied) be brought about by God : the king would not
achieve independence for himself and his country, but would be vindicated
and saved by the Almighty, and would enter his capital not mounted
on a war-horse but riding upon an ass, the beast of burden used in
times of peace. Under his rule all the agencies of war were to disappear
and peacefulness was to pervade his dominions, which would be world-
wide (as the world was then known to the Hebrews). The epithet
"lowly," which the R.V. employs to represent one of the attributes of
the king, and which suggests a meek and submissive disposition, is mis-
leading, for the Hebrew word has reference to condition, and describes
the Messiah as belonging to a community that had hitherto been held
in subjection by some dominant power. This passage from Deutero-
Zechariah is all the more noteworthy through the fact that our Lord, on
the occasion of His entry into Jerusalem shortly before His arrest and
death, deliberately took steps to enact the scene depicted by the prophet.
The only remaining passages in the O.T. which it is desirable to
notice here occur in certain psalms. Of these Ps. ii. purports to be
written on some occasion when a ruler styled "Jehovah's Messiah" is
confronted by a confederacy of rebellious subject-nations. In face of
this menace encouragement comes to him, through the psalmist, from
Jehovah, Who declares that the king is His Son, and that He will
subdue under him the revolting peoples ; whereupon the poet admonishes-
the latter to submit in time, lest they should be overtaken by complete
destruction. The date of the psalm has been much disputed, for its
origin has been placed as early as the time of Solomon in the tenth
century B.C., and as late as that of the Maccabsean sovereigns at the
end of the second or the beginning of the first. It probably has in view
some historic ruler, and a combination of enemies against him at the
beginning of his reign (as suggested by Jehovah's words " This day have
I begotten thee," i.e. recognized thee as my Son). The privilege of son-
ship which God is represented as bestowing upon the king is doubtless
to be regarded as official : each successive Jewish sovereign in virtue
of his office embodied and concentrated in himself the filial relationship
towards Jehovah which properly belonged to the whole collective people
(cf. p. ex). But as the king here addressed fell short, like all his pre-
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxv
decessors, either in his qualities, or in his experiences, or in both, of
what might be expected of one invested with so great a distinction, the
utterance of the poet came later to be applied to the ideal Messiah who
was still to come; and in the N.T., w. 1, 2, and 7 are expressly viewed
as Messianic in the sense in which this term is commonly used (see
Acts iv. 25, 26, xiii. 33, Rom. i. 4, Heb. i. 5, v. 5).
In Ps. Ixxxix., obviously written in circumstances of grievous national
distress, the writer is deeply moved by the humiliation of his country
and its king, in spite of the promises made in the past to David's house.
God (through His prophets) had affirmed that He would constitute the
king His first-born, the highest of earthly potentates ; but notwith-
standing this, the contemporary heir of David's sovereignty had been
dethroned and covered with dishonour. The date of the psalm is
probably shortly before the fall of the Jewish monarchy; and it has
been plausibly conjectured that the king whose abasement is deplored
is Jehoiachin, who was carried into captivity by Nebuchadrezzar in 597.
If so, the poem must have been composed within a few years of the
prophetic passage contained in Mic. v. 1 — 6.
The only other psalm requiring attention is Ps. ex. There the term
Messiah does not occur, but the psalm is regarded as Messianic in the
N.T., and may be included here. In it the poet conveys to one whom
he styles his Lord ('adhonai) a communication from Jehovah to the
effect that he has been chosen by God to share His throne ; is assured
of victory over his enemies ; and has been appointed a priest, so that he
will unite in himself, like Melchizedek of old (Gen. xiv. 18), the functions
of both the kingship and the priesthood1. The psalm is, to all appear-
ance, addressed by its author to some historical ruler or national chief;
but in the title it is attributed to David, who both by our Lord and by
others was assumed to have had in mind the Messiah (see Mk. xii. 36,
Acts ii. 34, 35, Heb. i. 13). The person whom the psalmist had in
his thoughts was probably Simon Maccabseus (143 — 135 B.C.). For, in
the first place, it can scarcely be an accident that w. 1, 2, 3, and 4
(apart from the prefatory words "The LORD saith unto my lord") each
1 An anticipation of the union in the same person of both royal and sacerdotal
functions appears at first sight in Zech. vi. 13; but instead of the words "and he
(the "scion" of Jer. xxiii. 5, see p. cxv)... shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he
shall be a priest upon his throne ; and the counsel of peace shall be between them
both," the LXX. has Kal Kadteirai Kal Kardp^ei eirl TOV dpbvov atToO, Kal &TTCU 6 lepevs
(i.e. Joshua) e/c 5e£iwi/ avrov, Kal (3ov\r) elprjviKrj &TTCU dva utaov d^or^puv. This
reading, or something like it, alone explains the concluding sentence "and the
counsel of peace shall be between them both." In the existing Heb. text there
is clearly some defect.
cxxvi INTRODUCTION
begins with one of the letters composing the name Simon1; and secondly,
Simon Maccabseus was made by his countrymen both leader and high
priest. The objection urged against this conclusion, that certain of the
Maccabees were first priests and then princes, cannot be considered
serious, since the historian of 1 Mace, more than once speaks of Simon
as leader and high priest in this order (see xiv. 35, 41). He proved
an able ruler; but his achievements did not exhaust his country-
men's ideals; and so after his death a poem, which originally seems to
have had him in view, came to be treated by the Jews as prophetic of a
still greater personality, and by our Lord's contemporaries was applied
to the Messiah (as is presupposed by the argument in Mk. xii. 36).
The survival of the Messianic hope after the Canon of the O.T. was
closed is evidenced by the occurrence of it in two Jewish productions
emanating, the one from Egypt, the other from Palestine. The first of
these was a work based on a collection of oracles passing as Sibylline,
which was expanded by a Jew (probably of Alexandria) who wrote in
Greek during (it is supposed) the last quarter of the 2nd century B.C.
The relevant passage is found in in. 652 — 656, and runs as follows :
"And then shall God send from the sun a king, who shall cause the
whole world to cease from baleful war, killing some, and with others
making trusty compacts. And he will do all these things not through
his own counsels, but in obedience to the good ordinances of the great
God." This prophecy merely reproduces in very general terms previous
predictions of the advent of a king possessing universal sway, enforcing
peace, and obeying in all things the Divine will. The second work
proceeds not from a Jew of the Dispersion but from a resident or resi-
dents in Palestine, probably belonging to the sect of the Pharisees. It
is known as the Psalms of Solomon, and consists of a collection of poems
inferred to have been composed between 70 and 40 B.C. At present the
poems are extant in Greek, not in Hebrew ; but it is probable that the
Greek text is a translation of a Hebrew original. In. Ps. xvii., after a
lament over the past calamitous experiences of the Jewish people, there
occurs a prayer for the speedy advent of a king, who is obviously the
Messiah of earlier hopes : "Behold, 0 Lord, and raise up unto them
their king, the son of David, in the time which thou, 0 God, knowest,
that he may reign over Israel thy servant ; and gird him with strength
that he may break in pieces them that rule unjustly.... He shall possess
the nations of the heathen to serve him beneath his yoke, and he shall
1 In Heb. StiiH'oN.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxvii
glorify the Lord in a place to be seen of the whole earth ; and he shall
purge Jerusalem to make it holy, even as it was in the days of old. . . .
And there shall be no iniquity in his days in their midst; for all shall
be holy, and their king is the Lord Messiah." This poet, like the last-
mentioned, repeats, for the most part, ideas which occur in various O.T.
prophecies, including the descent of the king from David; and the only
novel feature calling for remark is the phrase the Lord Messiah (Xpto-ro?
Kv'ptos). As Kvptos was a title applied by pagans to many of their deities,
it is possible that it is here used of the Messiah through the infection
of contemporary heathen custom ; but it is more probable that the ex-
pression is a copyist's mistake for the Lord's Messiah (X/aio-ros KV/HOV),
since this error actually occurs in the LXX. of Lam. iv. 20, where the
Hebrew has the Anointed of Jehovah1 (designating thereby king Zede-
kiah).
It is unnecessary here to trace further the expectation of a Messiah
as it is presented in all the other writings of the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C.
It may, however, be observed in passing that in one of these, known as
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Messiah is represented as
springing not from Judah but from Levi, and as combining in his single
person both the sovereignty and the priesthood (Test. Reub. vi. 7).
In the passages from the O.T. that have come under review the
Messiah is a mundane ruler, wonderfully empowered by God to establish
conditions of peace, piety, and prosperity among His own people, and
to diffuse a benignant influence over the adjoining nations. But in an
Apocalypse comprised in a composite work attributed to the patriarch
Enoch, and produced perhaps a quarter of a century before the Psalms
of Solomon, the title Messiah is twice applied to a personality who is
not of terrestrial, but of celestial, origin. This heavenly Messiah, who is
prevailingly designated in this Apocalypse by the name Son of man2, is
described as having the appearance of a man (being like one of the holy
angels), as having been present with God ("the Lord of Spirits") before
the creation of the luminaries, as being endowed with wisdom and
understanding and might (cf. Is. xi. 2), and as being destined to judge
the world, to reveal all secrets (bringing hidden good and evil to light),
and to support and vindicate the righteous. The title "Son of man"
is derived from Dan. vii.3, where, in a series of visions in which four
1 See Ryle and James, The Psalms of Solomon, pp. 137—141.
2 Other titles applied to him are The Righteous One and The Elect One.
3 The probable date of the book of Daniel is between 168 and 165 B.C.
cxxviii INTRODUCTION
successive heathen empires are symbolized by beasts of prey, there
finally appears, coming with the clouds of heaven, a figure "like unto a
son of man" (i.e. man-like, instead of beast-like), which represents the
Jewish people, who, in contrast to the nations that have preceded them,
are to enjoy perpetual dominion. But whereas in Daniel the expression
"son of man" is only & personification of the collective Jewish race, in
Enoch it denotes a person. How the transition from the one to the
other occurred is a matter of speculation. The circumstance that in
Daniel the human figure symbolizing Israel comes with the clouds of
heaven is only meant to indicate that the people represented have the
sanction and favour of God, as contrasted with the other nations
symbolized by beasts, which are depicted as rising from the sea and
thereby are marked as worldly powers alien to God. But it would be
tolerably easy for prosaic minds to take the representation literally,
and to understand the figure "like unto a son of man" to be not a mere
symbol, but a heavenly counterpart, of the Jewish people abiding from
eternity with God. This would be facilitated by a tendency in post-
exilic times for earthly entities to be conceived as subsisting with God
in heaven prior to their manifestation upon earth: for instance, in
Ex. xxv. 40 the furniture of the Tabernacle is described as being made
by Moses after the pattern (obviously supposed to be pre-existent)
shewn to him by God in mount Sinai (cf. also Heb. viii. 5, Rev. xxi. 2).
And as the historic Jewish people were considered to be represented by,
and, in a sense, summed up in, their successive individual rulers, in the
series of whom one, of pre-eminent gifts, was expected to rectify finally
all the evils committed or sustained by his countrymen, so, when the
hope of such an earthly Messiah grew faint, the heavenly counterpart
of the collective nation became transmuted into a celestial Messiah who
was to descend from heaven as Jehovah's vicegerent in order to bring
about the overthrow of the heathen without, and the impious within,
Israel, and to avenge the pious people of God who had suffered from
both1. This development of the Messianic hope, however, was probably
peculiar to a narrow circle of thinkers, for the book of Enoch does not
seem to have been widely known ; and amongst the mass of the people
the earlier idea of a terrestrial Messiah, the son of David, held its
ground (cf. Lk. i. 32, 33, Acts i. 6).
1 Since, however, Messiah merely means "consecrated," and consecration could
be used in connection with different functions (p. cviii), the application of the term
in Enoch to the celestial " Son of man" may be unconnected with its employment
as a title for the terrestrial "Son of David."
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxix
From what has been said, it is clear that during that period which is
covered by the O.T. Scriptures and for a century later the realization of
the Messianic hope ever eluded the prophets and apocalyptists who
entertained it. The Anointed king of extraordinary endowments, who
was expected to deliver his people both from national sinfulness and
from foreign tyranny, and whose near advent was predicted at intervals
during seven hundred years, never appeared within that long period;
or, if ever for a brief moment some conspicuous figure was identified
with him, the impression produced upon his contemporaries speedily
faded. It was Jesus of Nazareth who first applied to Himself the titles
of The Christ, The Son of God (or The Son), and The Son of man, thereby
claiming that in some sense He fulfilled the predictions occurring in
the sacred books of His race, and who first succeeded in convincing a
number (even though only a small minority) of His countrymen that
His claim was well founded. Accordingly it will be worth while to con-
sider very shortly both how (from the standpoint of His humanity) He
came to believe Himself to be the Personality designated by these titles,
and in what respects the fulfilment, which He contended that the
Scriptures received in Him, answered to, or departed from, the original
import of the prophecies which He had in mind.
It was merely as a prophet that Jesus began His ministry, proclaiming
the nearness of the hoped-for kingdom of God1 and urging repentance
as the necessary condition of escaping the judgment which would
previously sift those who were worthy to enter the kingdom from those
who were unworthy. He was deemed a prophet by the people to whom
His first discourses were addressed (Mk. vi. 15); and He applied the
same description to Himself (Mk. vi. 4). He claimed to heal the afflicted
through His possession of the Holy Spirit (Mt. xii. 28 = Lk. xi. 20); and
it was the presence of the spirit of God with men that constituted them
prophets (Num. xi. 29, 2 Is. xlviii. 16, 3 Is. Ixi. 1, Joel ii. 28; see also
1 Cor. xii. 10, II)2.
But at Caesarea Philippi, not long before He departed from Galilee to
1 Though the idea of Jehovah's sovereignty first over Israel and then eventually
over all the earth (1 Sam. viii. 7, xii. 12, Zeph. iii. 15, Ps. xlvii. 2, 7, 2 Zech. xiv. 9)
is found in the O.T., the actual phrase the kingdom of God or its equivalent the
kingdom of heaven does not occur there.
2 Jesus' disciples after His death identified Him with the prophet like Moses who
was expected to appear in fulfilment of the prediction in Dt. xviii. 15, 18 (see
Acts iii. 22, vii. 37, cf. Joh. i. 21). But this prediction in reality had in view not
the emergence from within Israel of a single prophet but of a succession of prophets,
who should exercise the influence which amongst heathen people was exercised by
diviners (see vv. 10 — 14).
cxxx INTRODUCTION
go to Jerusalem, He intimated to His disciples that He really was what
they acknowledged they had come to think Him to be — the Christ l ;
and on another occasion (in an utterance recorded in a document
which is prior in date to the Gospels of Mt. and Lk. and probably to
that of Mk. also, and so is a good authority) He spoke of Himself as
"the Son" (i.e. of God) in a pre-eminent and unique sense2. Again,
when He declared that whosoever should give a cup of water to His
disciples because they were Christ's should have his reward, He clearly
applied "Christ" to Himself3. Once more, when He was questioned about
the time of the End, and replied that of the day and hour neither the
angels nor the Son had any knowledge, He similarly distinguished
Himself by the title "Son" (Mk. xiii. 32). And, finally, when He was
being tried before the High Priest, and was asked whether He was the
Christ, the Son of the Blessed, He publicly avowed that He was4.
Yet though it was only near the close of His ministry that He thus
openly affirmed Himself to be the Christ, it is plain that (if the earliest
report of His life is of any value) He must have been convinced in His
own mind, before He began His ministry, that He was in truth all that
He afterwards explicitly claimed to be. For the story of the Temptation
(an experience that preceded that ministry) obviously depicts in
symbolic form certain inward doubts and debates arising in Him, after
His baptism by John, about the powers which He, if really the Son of
God, was endowed with, and free to use; about the risks He might
presume to run in reliance upon God as His Father; and about the
kind of career He, as Messiah, was meant by God to embark on. In
the last temptation (according to Mt.'s order) there seems to have
come before Him the thought of the wordly ambitions which might
possibly absorb Him (luring Him to worship Satan, the prince of this
world), if He, in pursuance of His Messianic mission, were to seek to
bring deliverance and triumph to his countrymen through force of arms
and the acquisition of dominion. His repulse of the Tempter must
symbolize His final rejection of such aspects of the Messiah's prerogative
and r61e as first occurred to Him, and His decision that His duty lay
in quite other directions.
Jesus' inward conviction concerning His Sonship, which is pre-
supposed in the record of the Temptation, appears to have been first
fully reached on the occasion of His Baptism, where it is represented
1 Mk. viii. 27 f. 2 Mt. xi. 25—27 ( = Lk. x. 21, 22); cf. also Mk. xii. 6.
3 Mk. ix. 41. 4 Mk. xiv. 61, 62.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxxi
under sensible imagery and described as a Voice from heaven addressing
Him and declaring, "Thou art my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well
pleased"; whilst at the same time the Divine Spirit in the form of a
dove descended upon Him. The words ascribed to the voice loosely
combine parts of two O.T. passages: (1) Ps. ii. 7, Yto's /MOV e! <™, eyoi
ytytvvqKa. (re; (2) 2 Is. xlii. 1, 'iSov, 6 Trats ^uov, 6V jjpeTKra.' 6
/txov, 6V evSoV^o-ev tj $'VXTJ fj.ovl. The first refers expressly to the
Messiah (p. cxxiv), whereas the second has in view collective Israel ; and
in these circumstances it seems rather more reasonable to look for the
source of the words in Ps. ii. than in 2 Is. xlii., in spite of the slightly
greater divergence. However this may be, some of the steps whereby
Jesus in His human consciousness attained the momentous conviction
which in the Evangelist's narrative is externalized as an utterance from
heaven may perhaps with reverence be conjectured. His Davidic descent
(Rom. i. 3, 2 Tim. ii. 8) can, indeed, have counted for little or nothing,
since there must have been many who could claim the same. But we
cannot seriously err, if we include among the grounds of His beliet
about Himself as the Son of God a profound apprehension of what
perfect spiritual Sonship involves, and a singular sense of harmony
between His own will and the Father's, pointing to unique relations
between them2. Such a conclusion concerning Himself and God was
presumably not unconnected with the relations believed to subsist
between His race and Jehovah : if He was individually the "Son of God,"
it was because the collective nation was God's Son; and He was its
representative in an ideal and pre-eminent degree through knowing
Himself to have that full understanding of the Divine requirements and
that complete submissiveness to them which were looked for, though
vainly, from Israel. And the persuasion that He was endued in full
measure with the Spirit of God (cf. Joh. iii. 34) must have become
confirmed in Him as soon as He discovered that He possessed in an
exceptional degree mysterious psychic faculties enabling Him to produce
upon the minds, and through the mind, upon the bodies, of the afflicted
marvellous cures. Such cures, whilst related to have been wrought by
the prophets of old, had not been performed by John the Baptist, though
he was accounted a prophet (Mk. xi. 32); and John had announced
that One was appointed to succeed him, who was mightier than he
1 This Greek does not occur in the LXX. of 2 Is. xlii. 1, but comes from a version
quoted in Mt. xii. 18.
2 In Wisd. ii. 13, 18 the righteous man is represented as calling himself the
"child (or "servant") of the Lord" (TCUS Kvplov) and the "son of Grod" (vibs deod).
cxxxii INTRODUCTION
(Mk. i. 7). The relief of physical infirmities was traditionally associated
with the Messianic age; and Jesus' consciousness of the presence in
Himself of extraordinary powers to effect such relief was calculated to
reinforce His conviction that He was the long-anticipated embodiment
of the true relationship between Israel and its God1.
All that now remains to be done here, for the purpose of this sketch,
is to compare very succinctly the traditional Messianic expectation
with such realization as it obtained in our Saviour. The differences are
striking, though the prophetic conception of the Messiah was very far
from an ignoble one. The hoped-for king was thought of as one who
would be endowed with the Spirit of Jehovah (Is. xi. 2), enabling him
to suppress iniquity among his subjects, to terminate their subjection to
foreign control, and to promote and maintain universal peace. As being
a sovereign, it would be through the authority and the methods of a
ruler that he would further the aims of God for the good of his people ;
and it was expected that, if need required, he would ensure right and
justice by an appeal to force (Is. xi. 4). Now the first feature of unlike-
ness presented by Jesus, the Christ, to the Messiah of popular Jewish
anticipation was that of station. Jesus was an artisan ; it was amongst
the labouring classes, ignorant of the Law, and despised by those who
were learned in it, that He principally conducted His ministry; and
His emissaries were drawn from such people as fishermen and tax-
collectors. A second feature of dissimilarity was the means He used to
effect among His countrymen that amendment of life which God
demanded. The authoritative tone which marked His utterances
(Mk. i. 22) was no more than that of a prophet. His authority was not
of an official character, and it was not supported by any compulsion ; and
though on one occasion Jesus, by the manner in which He entered
Jerusalem, recalled to those who were acquainted with the Scriptures
the description of the Messianic King contained in the book of Zechariah
(p. cxxiv), yet He refrained altogether from participating in political
agitation. His humble position in life need not have precluded Him
from this, had He been disposed to pursue it; for there must have been
numbers of those who afterwards were known as the Zealots who would
have followed Him if, as the Messiah, He had summoned them to a war
of emancipation from the control of Borne. But the redemption which
He sought to bring about was redemption from sin; and so different
were His methods from those to which rulers commonly have recourse
1 Cf. McNeile, N.T. Teaching in the Light of St Paul's, p. 26.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxxiii
in dealing with such as oppose them, that He actually directed His
followers not to resist those who ill-treated them1. And a third
divergence from the prophetic conception of the Messiah was even
more profound than the other two. Among the attributes of the
promised King an earthly life of endless duration (as has been already
observed) was probably not included; but if so, the thought of his
mortality was naturally kept in the background; and any idea of his
undergoing a death by violence in the discharge of the duties committed
to him by God is nowhere found. Such an idea, indeed, was wholly
repugnant to the current belief concerning him. But Jesus, in the
course of His ministry, became convinced that there awaited Him a
violent end in consequence of the antagonism which His teaching aroused
in the ecclesiastical officials of His nation ; and from such a fate He
did not shrink. His own conception of the Anointed Son of God,
therefore, included the endurance of suffering and death, provided
thereby He could promote the purposes of the Father. In order to find
in the Scriptures a prediction of such a destiny He put a Messianic
construction upon the passage in 2 Is. lii. 13 — liii. 12 (see Mk. x. 45),
though the Figure whose extinction is there described and whose
revival is there foretold appears to have represented in the prophet's
thoughts the Jewish people whose national existence had come to a close
through exile in Babylon. Thus our Lord, whilst not breaking altogether
with the traditional notion that the Messiah must be a King (see Mk.
xv. 2), was in the highest degree original and independent in His ideas
concerning the way in which the Messianic King was to fulfil God's
designs for the salvation of Israel2. Born in a humble station, He based
His Messianic claims upon a consciousness of Son ship rooted in profound
spiritual intuitions and perfect obedience ; in pursuing His mission of
bringing the people into right relations with God He confined Himself
exclusively to instruction and example ; and in fulfilling His ministry
to the end He submitted patiently to an agonizing death.
It has been already noticed that the title Messiah was not only
popularly applied to the king of Davidic descent expected by many
1 It was no doubt because of the contrast between His own conception of the
Messiah's character and office and that of the populace that He did not publicly
disclose, until near the end of His life, His belief about Himself. It was not until
His most intimate disciples had become familiar with His ideas and His ideals that
He could venture to avow even to them that He was the Messiah. Their faith in
His Messiahship, impaired by the Crucifixion, was restored by the Resurrection
visions and the gift of the Spirit (Acts ii. 22 — 36).
2 Of. Joh. xviii. 37.
cxxxiv INTRODUCTION
of the O.T. prophets, but is likewise used, though rarely, in the book of
Enoch in connection with the celestial "Son of man" whose office as
Judge of all mankind is described by the Apocalyptist. The designation
"Son of man " was one which (as previously remarked) Jesus sometimes
employed of Himself1; and by declaring that He was destined to come
in the glory of His Father (Mk. viii. 38, cf. xiv. 62) He seems to have
identified Himself with the Figure portrayed in Enoch. But here
again Jesus modified the conception of which He made use, for the
Apocalyptic writer nowhere hints that the Being whom he represents as
commissioned in heaven by God to pass final judgment upon men was,
before that, to appear on earth to bring sinners to repentance ; whereas
Jesus, though affirming that the same function of judgment was to be
His in the future, yet laboured, during a brief earthly ministry marked
by lowliness, sympathy, and self-surrender even to death, to seek and
to save those who were in danger of being lost2.
CHAPTER III.
HEBREW VERSIFICATION.
INASMUCH as some acquaintance with the principles of Hebrew
versification contributes not only to a better appreciation of the
prophetic writings, but also to a clearer understanding of the conditions
which must be taken into account where it is sought to emend suspected
corruptions of the text, it seems expedient to notice the subject here,
though the treatment of it must necessarily be brief3.
The poetry of national literatures is distinguished from their prose
not in spirit merely but likewise in form ; and the formal differences are
of diverse kinds. In Latin and Greek, for instance, verse is marked by
a succession of groups of long and short syllables, so arranged that the
1 In the following passages in the Gospels it is not unlikely that the title has
been substituted by the Evangelists for a different phrase : Mk. ii. 10, 28, Mt. xi. 19
(=Lk. vii. 34), x. 23, xii. 32 ( = Lk. xii. 10), xiii. 37, 41, Lk. vi. 22 (contrast Mt. v.
11), xii. 8 (contrast Mt. x. 32): possibly, too, Mt. viii. 20 ( = Lk. ix. 58), though
this utterance probably occurred on the way to Jerusalem as Lk. represents. The
title has been arbitrarily inserted in Mt. xvi. 13 (contrast Mk. viii. 27, Lk. ix. 20).
2 The thought that the " Son of man" should suffer was strange and unintelligible
to Peter and the other Apostles (see Mk. viii. 29 — 32). In this passage, as in Mk. xiv.
61, 62, the titles "the Christ" and "the Son of man" are treated as equivalent.
* Further information will be found in G. B. Gray, The Forms of Hebrew Poetry ;
and some considerations of importance are emphasized in Sir G. A. Smith's
Jeremiah, p. 30 foil. See also an article by T. H. Robinson in the Expositor,
Ap. 1924.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxxv
regular recurrence of them in a definite order constitutes a rhythmical
system, which is lacking in continuous prose. In modern languages a like
rhythmical effect is produced by the recurrence in a series of lines (more
or less uniform in length) of words characterized by particular accents
or stresses, together with (in most varieties of verse) the rhyming of the
terminations of certain of the lines. But in Hebrew, though regularity
in respect of accentual beats (as will appear) is a factor in poetic
structure, the dominating feature is some measure of correspondence in
meaning, and not merely in sound, between two or more consecutive
clauses or sentences terminated by a pause. It is this sense-corre-
spondence between successive lines which is most distinctive of Hebrew
verse. Groups of lines related to one another in this way compose a unity
in themselves, independent of their immediate context, for through the
response which the second of two lines makes to the first (or, in the case
of quatrains, the third makes to the first and the fourth to the second1,
or more rarely the fourth to the first and the third to the second2), an
interruption is caused in the natural sequence of the writer's thought,
his train of reflection not being carried forward until the idea contained
in one line or pair of lines has been reiterated or otherwise thrown into
relief by a second line or pair. The meaning of the two lines or
couplets is by no means invariably identical or even similar; but
whether the second reproduces more or less closely the sense of the
first, or presents a direct contrast to it, there is an unmistakable
symmetry between them in regard to contents and structure. In many
cases the symmetry extends to the number and arrangement of the
words, term answering term, though more often it subsists less between
individual words than between groups of words. This correspondence
in significance and form is designated parallelism. The use of it serves
more than one end ; for not only does the echo of the first line, produced
by the purport or the construction of the second, yield an aesthetic
gratification to the ear, but it helps to elucidate the thought, either
through repeating the same sentiment in other words or through the
expression of an opposite idea. By its aid the truth which it is desired
to convey can be enforced without the monotony which would result
from a mere reiteration of it in identical terms.
As has been already implied, there is a good deal of variety in the
quality and the closeness of the parallelism which is so prominent a
feature of Hebrew poetry. Not only may the correspondence consist in
1 See Mic. i. 4. 2 See Mt< vii. 6>
cxxxvi INTRODUCTION
contrast as well as in repetition, but it is often incomplete; the second
line of a couplet, if duplicating in some degree the signification of the
first, may reproduce only part of it, appending to it some additional
notion not present in the other. The nature of parallelism, however, is
most clearly apprehended when the correspondence is complete; and
some illustrations of complete parallelism may with advantage be sup-
plied here. Two main varieties can be discerned. (1) The first has been
styled synonymous parallelism, in which the tenor of the first line is
reproduced by the second in equivalent or proportionate terms. The
following are examples wherein, though they are given in English, the
various words required to represent a single Hebrew term are united by
hyphens, and the order of the original is, as far as possible, observed :—
(a) 2 Sam. i. 20b,
"Lest-rejoice-should the-daughters-of tlio- Philistines,
Lest-triumph-should the-daughters-of the-uncircumcised."
(6) Ps. cv. 6,
"0-secd-of Abraham his-servant,
0-children-of Jacob his-choscn."
(c) Ps. cxlii. 1 (2),
" With-my-voice to- Jehovah I-cry,
With-my-voice to-Jchovah I-makc-supplication."
In the foregoing instances the arrangement of the words within both
lines is the same; but this is not a constant rule: more often the order
varies, with the result that the tendency to monotony is further relieved.
This occurs in the following:—
(a) Ps. lix. 2 (:*),
" I )oliver-me from-the-workers-of iniquity,
And-from-the-men-of blood save-me."
(6) Ps. xviii. 14 (15),
"Ile-sent-forth his-arrows and-scattered-them,
And-his-lightnings he-shot-forth and-dispersed-them."
Synonymous parallelism appears not only in couplets but likewise in
quatrains, as may be illustrated by the ensuing instance:—
Ps. ciii. 11, 12,
"As-high-as-is the-heaven above- the- earth,
So-grcat-is his-mercy upon-those-that-fear-him ;
As-far-as-is thc-oast from-the-west,
So-far-hath-he-removed from-us our-transgressions."
See also Mt. vi. 19, 20, vii. 13b, 14.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxxvii
(2) The second variety of parallelism is distinguished as antitln'tn-,
wherein the sentiment conveyed by the first line is confronted by a
contrast in the second. This kind is illustrated by the following
examples :—
(a) Ps. xviii. 26 (27),
" With-the-pure thou-wilt-shew-thyself-pure,
Aiul-with-tho-porvorso thou-wilt-shew-thyself-froward."
(b) Ps. xx. 8 (9),
"They are-bowed-down and-fallcn,
But-wo are-risen and-stand-upright."
By its nature it is particularly adapted for giving expression to the sharp
contrasts observable in human dispositions or destinies which proverbial
sayings and aphorisms summarize ; and instances are abundant in the
book of Proverbs. It will be needless to cite here more than one : —
Prov. xi. 3,
"Tho-integrity-of tho-upright shall-guide-thoni,
But-thc-crookediK'ss-of the-treiichc'i-ous shall-di\stroy-thoin."
The correspondence, however, of many parallel clauses is by no means
as perfect as this ; and it is desirable to exemplify incomplete parallelism
as well as the variety just considered. In couplets which exhibit incom-
plete parallelism, one line lacks a constituent contained in the other,
and the want of this is sometimes made good by an expansion of one
of the remaining constituents, though oftener it is left without any
compensation. A couplet wherein the verbal correspondence is defective,
but symmetry is maintained by the enlargement of one of the terms is
found in Jud. v. 4,
"Jehovah, \vhen-thou-weiitest-forth out-of-Soir,
Wheii-thou -inarchcdst out-of-the-field-of IMoni."
Here the absence, in the second line, of any equivalent for the name
Jehovah in the first is supplied by the occurrence of the compound
expression the-field-of Edom in response to Seir. On the other hand,
in Ps. vi. 1 (2), where the name Jehovah similarly appears only in the
first line of the couplet, it will be seen that there is no equivalent for
it in the second,
"Jehovah, in-thine-anger rebuke-me-not,
And-in-thy-displeasure chasten-me-not."
Other examples of incomplete parallelism where some term, present
in only one of the lines, is balanced by the expansion, in the second line,
of some other of the constituent terms are Ps. xlvi. 1 (2), xlvii. 3 (4),
cxxxviii INTRODUCTION
ciii. 7, Prov. v. 1 and ix. 1 ; whilst instances of incomplete parallelism
without such compensation are found in Ps. v. 1 (2), xxv. 4, Ixxii. 2,
cviii. 3 (4), cxiv. 2, Prov. xi. 9, Is. i. 26a.
Sense-parallelism, however, in all its varieties is by no means a
universal feature of Hebrew poetry, as two or three examples will suffice
to shew : —
(a) Ps. xxxix. 13 (14),
"Look-away from-me that-I-may-brighten-up,
Before I -go-hence and-be-no-more."
(b) Prov. xxv. 19,
"A-broken tooth and-a-tottering foot,
(Such is) confidence in-a-traitor in-a-day-of trouble."
(c) Prov. xxix. 13,
"A-poor-man and-a-man-of violence meet:
Jehovah lighteneth the-eyes-of both."
In all these cases the second line of each pair is neither synonymous
with, nor antithetic to, the first : it only completes the writer's train of
thought and does not repeat it or present a contrast to it. Couplets of
this kind were classed by Bp. Lowth under the term synthetic or con-
structive parallelism1', but the designation is obviously inappropriate,
for there is no parallelism of import at all2. Nevertheless, in spite of
the absence of this, a balance between the lines is clearly discernible,
and this calls for fuller notice.
At first sight this balance or parity between the two halves of each
couplet may appear to be secured by the inclusion, in each line, of an
equivalent number of words (as is the case with many of the above
examples). But it very frequently happens that this numerical equi-
valence is lacking, and though the inequality is often slight, yet in some
instances (both where parallelism of thought is present and also where
it is absent) the disproportion in the length of the lines of a couplet, or
in the length of both lines as compared with that of the rest of the series
in which they are included, is considerable. For example, the couplet in
Prov. x. 12 has only three words in the first line, but five in the second;
whilst conversely that in Prov. xii. 21 has five in the first but only three
in the second. The treatment, however, of these uneven lines in the
Massoretic text points to a clue which explains several of the peculiarities
of Hebrew versification; for in the case of Prov. x. 12 the first three words
1 See his Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews (tr. by Gregory), n. p. 49.
2 See Gray, op. cit. pp. 49, 50.
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxxxix
of the second line, and in the case of Prov. xii. 21 two pairs of words
in the first line, are severally grouped and united together by a sign
called Makkeph which has the effect of causing each of these groups to
have the value of only a single word, with one rhythmical beat. It will
thus be seen that each line of the two verses cited above has only three
stresses or beats, and so are rhythmically equivalent to one another.
In English the effect may be roughly represented thus : —
(a) Prov. x. 12,
"Hatred stirreth strifes,
(But) over all transgression covereth love."
(6) Prov. xii. 21,
"There-happeneth not to-the-righteous any mischief,
/ / /
But-the-wicked incur evil."
From this it becomes tolerably clear that in Hebrew poetry the length
of the lines composing a couplet or a series of couplets may be determined
not simply by the number of separate words comprised in them but by
the number of stresses; so that in a system of verses the lines may be
equal, if measured by the stressed words or groups of words which they
contain, though very unequal if every word in them is counted indepen-
dently1.
In the Hebrew text of the poetic books of the O.T. the part played
by makkeph in the production of the intended rhythm can easily be
discerned by an attentive reader ; but at the same time it is difficult to
avoid the conclusion that by the Hebrew copyists to whom we owe the
present text it has been used carelessly, and that they have on some
occasions inserted it where it is not needed and, more frequently, have
omitted it where the prevailing rhythm of a passage seems to require it.
For example, in Mic. vi. 1 — 3 the metre obviously consists of a suc-
cession of lines of three beats (or trimeters); but they are not perfectly
regular, since here and there in the Massoretic text a makkeph is either
lacking or redundant. It is possible, of course, if not probable, that
the Hebrew poets, like others, conceded to themselves some licence;
and numerous passages are found where, though the predominant rhythm
is produced by a series of couplets, severally composed of two trimeters,
yet there occur at intervals couplets of which only the first line contains
1 Further illustrations of the use of makkeph occur in Dt. xxxii. vv. 1, 13, 22, 41.
cxl INTRODUCTION
three stressed words, or groups of words, the other having but two,
these not admitting of being converted into trimeters by the omission
of a makkeph. Some instances have already come under notice (see
p. cxxxvii), and others are afforded by Mic. i. 4a, Ps. cv. 22, cvii. 29.
Occasionally, too, there are interspersed in a system of trimeters couplets
of the form 2 : 3 (see Ps. ciii. 18, cvi. 42, cxix. 16) ; nor are these the only
irregularities met with in such a system, for there also occur couplets of
the form 4 : 3 (see Ps. cv. 1, 41, 44, cvii. 26) and perhaps 4 : 2 (Ps. cv. 25,
cvi. 4). In view of these facts it is likely that the Hebrew writers were
not consistently rigorous in their observance of metrical regularity
throughout a poem or a poetic passage. Nevertheless, they may have been
really stricter than appears on the surface, for it can scarcely be doubted
that in some instances the original structure of a verse has been dis-
torted by insertions. This is certainly the case in Mic. iv. 3, for this
passage is found also in Is. ii. 4, and there the words for many and afar
off, which disturb the metre in Micah, are absent. See also p. 31.
In attempts to recognize or recover the metrical structure of various
poetical passages, which in the present Hebrew text seem irregular, there
must be taken into account, besides the possibility of a misuse of makkeph
by the Hebrew scribes, two other considerations. One is the fact that
a series of metrical couplets is often preceded by an introductory, or
followed by a concluding, word or phrase which is not comprised within
the metre: for example in Joel ii. 28 (= Heb. iii. 1), the words "And
it shall come to pass afterward that" are extra metrum, the rest of the
verse constituting four trimeters. The other is the likelihood that the
original text of a passage is sometimes better preserved in the LXX.
than in the Hebrew, so that in the former there can be detected the
rhythm which in the latter is obscured. Such seems to be the case in
Mic. v. 2 (Heb. v. 1), where the symmetry of the opening clauses
(tetrameters) is evident in the Greek Version, which begins with Kal-o-v,
oucos 'E</>pa$a (answered by 6A.tyo(TTOS-eT Tov-etvcu €i/-^tXtacrii/
, whereas the Heb. has merely But-thou Bethlehem Ephrathah. On
the other hand, in Mic. i. 3 (where the introductory words For behold
are not included in the metre) the LXX. does not contain the words
and tread which occur in the Heb.; and the verb thus translated maybe
suspected to be an insertion, though the Massoretes have conserved the
trimeter rhythm by giving to the words upon the high places of the earth
(through the use of makkeph) a single stress instead of two.
The elevated passages, then, contained in the O.T. Scriptures, and
exhibiting poetical structure, are distinguished either by parallelism
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxli
of thought, or by a series of uniform (or nearly uniform) rhythmic beast
or by both these features together1. Their writers, like other poets,
subjected themselves to rules, though perhaps not very exigent rules,
and produced their works under restrictions of form which, whilst
limiting in some measure their freedom, gave to what they wrote greater
effectiveness. Their words, through being uttered in rhythmical cadence,
not only gained in force or sublimity but were more easily remembered
and transmitted with accuracy by those who heard them : and it will
be recalled that the utterances of the Greek oracles were generally
couched in hexameters. It is not necessary to pursue the subject now
at any length, as the principal object of the brief treatment of it here
is to render intelligible the discussion of some of the textual emendations
which will come under notice in the ensuing pages. The contents of the
Prophetic books in general, of the book of Psalms, and of the composi-
tions comprised in what is commonly known as "Wisdom" literature
(e.g. Proverbs), are largely metrical in the sense explained; so that where
corruption of the text is suspected, the attempted correction of it cannot
always be independent of metrical considerations; and suggested emenda-
tions of many passages suspected to be faulty ought, if they are to
commend themselves, to conform to the dominant rhythm of the imme-
diate context. Even in cases where the existing text presents no serious
difficulties, the metre of a passage may be a factor in deciding upon the
relative merits of two competing readings. For example, if in the
Massoretic text a line marked by three rhythmical beats be followed by
a parallel line of only two, and if one or more of the Versions should
point to the existence of a parallel line having the normal three beats,
there is a strong probability that the reading implied by the Versions
is original. On the other hand, there must not be overlooked the likeli-
hood that there may have been (as already observed) some laxity in
requiring corresponding lines to be in all cases rhythmically equivalent
to one another: our knowledge of Hebrew metrical rules is scarcely
exact enough to justify disregard of documentary evidence, save in
exceptional instances. Accordingly where neither the desired sense nor
the evidence of the Versions favours the conclusion that something has
been lost from, or added to, the current text, the occurrence, in a verse-
system, of a line of irregular length does not appear to afford sufficient
ground for emending the line by mere conjecture.
1 Intermingled, of course, with passages having the rhythm of poetry there occur
others which are in prose: see, for instance, Jer. vii., where v. 29 is metrical, but
the verses that follow are not.
cxlii INTRODUCTION
The commonest metres used in Hebrew poetic compositions are the
dimeter (with two beats) and the trimeter (with three) ; whilst tetra-
meters (with four beats) are not rare (see Ps. xxix. 1, 2, Ixxxix. 11 — 16,
cxliv. 15, Joel iii. 3, Am. ix. 14, Job iv. 2). After what has been said
these do not call for further remark, yet it may be well to subjoin an
illustration of all in combination, though some have been exemplified
separately already. In many poems there occur rapid transitions from
one metrical form to another; and an instance of the three metres just
enumerated is found within narrow compass in Is. ix. 2 — 3 (Heb. 1 — 2).
Here the first verse is in trimeters ; the first half of the second is in
dimeters ; whilst the last half is in tetrameters. In the translation, the
English words that represent a single Hebrew term are, as before, joined
by hyphens, whilst such insertions as the English idiom requires are
placed in brackets : —
2(1) " The-people that- walked in-darkness
Have-seen (a) great light ;
Dwellers in-a-land-of gloom,
Light hath-shone upon-them.
3a (2) Thou-hast-multiplied the-rejoicing1,
Thou-hast-increased the-joy :
3b They-joy before-thee as-with-the-joy in-harvest,
Like-as (men) rej6ice when-dividing spoil."
Rather more must be said about another metre, in which the lines are
not usually arranged in couplets (though see p. 143), so that there
is an absence of the balanced cadence observable in the varieties pre-
viously considered, but every line is commonly divided into two unequal
parts, producing the effect of & falling cadence. This is generally known
by a Hebrew name, Kinah, meaning "lamentation" (especially for the
dead), see 2 Sam. i. 17, 2 Ch. xxxv. 25, Ezek. xix. 1, Am. v. 1. Whilst,
however, the term seems to have denoted specifically the wailing of
women employed as professional mourners — "keening" women — (see
Jer. ix. 20), and was then extended to songs and poems of a plaintive
tone, the rhythm designated by it was also used in other compositions,
and particularly in satiric taunt-songs. The metre is marked in general
by five accentual beats with a pause after the first three2, though in
1 This is the rendering of an emendation: the present Hebrew text makes
nonsense of the next line and destroys the parallelism.
2 Instances of isolated couplets exhibiting this rhythm occur in Mic. ii. 2, v. 9,
10, 13, Am. iii. 3, Ps. ii. 11, Is. i. 21». In Mic. vii. 14—21 a series of Kinah lines
seem spoilt by insertions (see pp. 63, 66).
GENERAL SUPPLEMENT cxliii
some instances the pause occurs after the first two (see Mic. vii. 14,
Lam. ii. 4b), whilst lines are occasionally found where there are only
four beats, with the pause similarly after the first two; and still more
rarely there are encountered lines of six beats, with the pause after the
first four (see Is. xiv. 16b). As in the case of other metres, the charac-
teristic rhythm of the Kinah is sometimes disguised in the present Heb.
text through the absence or intrusion of makkeph. In the following
illustrative passage from Is. xiv. 4 — 8, makkeph has been inserted in a
few places and one or two plausible emendations have been adopted : —
How there-is-stilled (the) oppressor, | stilled (the proud) vaunting1!
Jehovah hath-broken the-staff-of the- wicked, | the-rod-of (the) rulers,
Which-struck-at (the) peoples in-anger I with-str6ke unremitted,
Which-ruled (all the) nations in-fury | with-rulea unrelenting.
In-peace, in-repose all-the-earth ! | (They) burst into-shouting.
At-thee e'en-the-fir-trees rejoice, | the-cedars-of Lebanon : —
"Now thou-art-prone, there-ariseth | no feller agaiust-us."
The verses quoted exemplify, as far as possible in English, not only
the ordinary cadence of the Kinah* but also one of the rarer rhythms
which it sometimes admits. More extensive illustration is afforded by
the book of Lamentations ; and other instances of poems constructed in
this metre will be found, within this volume, on pp. 87, 143. Here
exhaustive treatment of it or of other varieties of Hebrew metrical
systems is unnecessary for reasons already explained.
1 Here madhhebhah (B.V. the golden city) is replaced by marhebhah.
2 Here murdaph (R.V. persecution) is replaced by mirdath.
3 An interesting parallel to the Kinah is offered in Latin by the Saturnian metre,
which was also regulated by accent and not by quantity : each line consisted of two
divisions, marked respectively by three accents and two, though certain departures
from this norm were permitted. The following is an illustration :
Ddbunt mdlum Metelli \ Navio poetce.
MICAH
CHAPTERS I. — III.
It is generally recognized that these chapters (with the exception of ii. 12—13,
see p. 20) consist of genuine utterances of Micah. They are prophecies of
a judgment awaiting each of the Hebrew sister-kingdoms ; but though the
predictions of impending disaster are unqualified by any suggestion that it can
be averted by repentance, they were doubtless designed to induce reformation
(p. xxiii.); and in the case of Judah, the prophet's purpose was not wholly
a failure (p. xxxi.). The cause of the Divine resentment is in ch. i. idol worship,
in chs. ii. and iii. social oppression and corruption.
CHAPTER I.
This ch. is an announcement that Jehovah is about to judge His people for
their sins of idolatry. Samaria will be demolished ; and the enemy that is to
bring about its overthrow will sweep onward into Judah, and overwhelm the
towns of the Lowland.
I. 1 THE word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morashtite
I. 1. This prefatory verse, in ascribing by implication the whole book
to Micah, is shown, by the nature of various sections, to be only
partially correct; see pp. xxii. f., 28 f. The resemblance which the verse
bears to the opening of the books of Hosea and Isaiah renders it not
unlikely that all these prefatory notices are of editorial origin.
The word of the LORD. The original has The word of Jehovah, the
English substitute for the Divine Name being adopted from the LXX.,
which has Aoyos KvpiW From motives of reverence the Jews avoided
pronouncing the personal name by which the God of Israel was known.
This in historic times was JAHVEH (pronounced Yahweh), an appella-
tion which, since it coincides with a dialectic form of the ordinary
Hebrew for He will be, is probably an adaptation (perhaps a popular
etymology) of a prehistoric name which is irrecoverable. JAHVEH was
seemingly interpreted to be an abbreviation of He will be what He will
be (cf. Ex. iii. 14, 15, mg.), the phrase conveying both a belief in the
activity of the national God and an acknowledgment of the inscrutability
of His nature and purposes. Fear of infringing the sanctity of this
Divine Name caused, in practice, the replacement of its vowels by those
of the title 'Adhonai, "my Lord" (represented by the Greek Kvpios)
whilst the consonants were retained, this modification resulting in the
form JEHOVAH1. Other reverential substitutes were the Name (Lev.
1 The a and the e in the first syllable of 'Adhonai and Jehovah respectively are
equivalent, the difference being due to the initial consonants of the two, which
require dissimilar vowels.
w. 1
2 MICAH [i. i
in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,
which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
xxiv. 11), the Heavens (Dan. iv. 26), the Blessed (Mk. xiv. 61), the
Power (Mk. xiv. 62). A title like 'Adhonai or Kvpios had, for the
development of religion, a great advantage over a proper name like
Jehovah, since the latter was only appropriate to a deity who was
believed to be one of a large number, whereas the former was not un-
suitable for a national divinity when such came to be regarded as the
only existing God.
In general, phrases such as The loord of the Lord hath come unto me ( Jer.
xxv. 3), Thus saith the LORD (passim), and the like, only expressed the
conviction of the prophet using them that what he said was God's truth ;
but it is not improbable that they had their origin in the experiences of
religious ecstasy. Persons subject to such, in moments of psychic
exaltation (sometimes stimulated by music (1 Sam. x. 5 — 13, cf. 2 Kgs.
iii. 15) and doubtless by dancing also), believed that they heard a Voice
from heaven addressing them (see Num. xxiv. 3, 4, 15, 16). In the
case of men of reflection and insight, the thoughts expressed may well
have been long in their minds; but as they were probably subject to
strong emotions and at intervals lost their self-control, the ideas that
filled them were likely to find utterance without the speakers being
conscious of any intermediate step of reasoning or inference, so that the
thoughts to which they gave expression would appear to come to them
at the moment, and to be received by them directly from God through
ecstatic audition1. Possibly in the phrase saith the LORD (iv. 6, v. 10,
vi. 1, etc.) and its equivalents, the present tense should be replaced by
the past said, alluding to the occasion when the prophet believed that
he had heard God addressing him2.
Micah. In Jer. xxvi. 18 the prophet is called Micaiah, which is pro-
bably the true form of his name: the LXX. in both places has MctgoMf.
the Morashtite. I.e. a native of Moresheth-gath, see p. xviii. Similar
local designations are appended to the names of Elijah, Elisha, Jonah,
Jeremiah, and Nahum (1 Kgs. xvii. 1 (LXX.), xix. 16, 2 Kgs. xiv. 25,
Jer. i. 1, Nah. i. 1).
in the days of Jotham, etc. The period covered by the reigns of the
kings enumerated may have amounted to forty-six years (738 — 692);
but there is no internal evidence pointing to the conclusion that any
part of the book dates from the time of the first-mentioned king. The
earliest prediction in it was certainly prior to the destruction of Samaria
(i. 6); but the expression her (Samaria's) wounds are incurable (v. 9)
suggests that the prophecy was uttered when the fate of the city and
kingdom was virtually sealed (i.e. very shortly before 722). It is some-
what uncertain who was the contemporary king of Judah (see p. xvi.).
which he saw. The Heb. verb is hdzah (see on iii. 7). No visions are
recorded in the book as having been seen by Micah; and the word
1 Cf. Joyce, Inspiration of Prophecy y p. 74 f.
2 See T. H. Robinson, Prophecy and the Prophets in Ancient Israel, pp. 43 — 45.
i. 2] MICAH 3
2 Hear, ye peoples, all of you ; hearken, 0 earth, and all 1that
1 Heb. the fulness thereof.
saw here used may be conventional (cf. Hab. i. 1) and equivalent to
"received from God." Even in some cases where actual "visions" appear
at first sight to be described (Am. vii. 1, 4, 7, viii. 1, Jer. i. 11 — 13),
such do not necessarily imply abnormal visual experiences ; the object
shewn or seen may have been something that happened at the time to
be under the prophet's eyes, and suggested to him thoughts which could
be ascribed to God as their source. The visions related in Zech. i. — vi.,
which are much more complex, are also probably literary devices —
"conscious and artistic allegories1." On the other hand, those related
to have been witnessed by Jsaiah (ch. vi.) and by Ezekiel (ch. i.) can
with more plausibility be explained as seen by the prophets under
conditions of trance2. At an early period in Israel's religious history it
was believed that the Deity Himself could be visible to man, since He
had a corporeal form, though the sight of the face of God was fatal to
the beholder (see Ex. xxxiii. 20—23).
concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. The only portion of the book
relating with certainty to Samaria is i. 5 — 9, though some scholars hare
thought vi. 9 — 16 to have the Northern kingdom in view (p. 53).
2 — 7. The descent of Jehovah, the universal Judge, from His heavenly
temple to punish the offences of Israel and Judah, and the sentence
pronounced upon Samaria.
2. Jehovah is regarded by the prophet as coming to arraign the
heathen for their sins equally with the two Hebrew kingdoms; but the
only "case" here gone into is that of the latter, at whose trial the other
nations, as being in the like situation, are bidden to attend. There is
no good reason for considering w. 2 — 5a to be unoriginal (and supplied
by a subsequent editor) just because in these Jehovah is represented as
judging heathen peoples and it is implied that His temple is in heaven.
The Lord appears as the judge of the heathen in Am. i. 3 — ii. 3, Is. iii.
13 (both a little earlier than Micah); and though the passages where
Jehovah's temple is explicitly identified with heaven (Ps. xi. 4, xviii.
6, 9) are certainly or probably later than the 8th century, yet heaven is
the locality from which God descends upon Sinai in Ex. xix. llb, 18, 20
(derived from the early source J) and from which His angel calls to
Abraham in Gen. xxii. 11 (from the almost equally early source E). It
is nearly incredible that Micah's prophecy should ever have begun with
so abrupt a question (v. 5b) as What is the transgression of Jacob?
The prophet bids the peoples attend to his announcement of Jehovah's
imminent approach. The sentence has been attached quite uniutelli-
gently in 1 Kgs. xxii. 28 (Heb.) to an utterance of another Micaiah with
whom the prophet of Moresheth was confused; the addition is absent
from the LXX.
0 earth... therein is. In Ezek. xxx. 12 the same words (in the Heb.)
1 G. A. Smith, Book of the XII Prophets, n. p. 274.
* See Joyce, Inspiration of Prophecy, pp. 9f.f 110 f.
1—2
4 MICAH [i. 2-4
therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness 1 against you, the
Lord from his holy temple. 3 For, behold, the LORD cometh
forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the
high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains shall be molten
under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire,
1 Or, among
are used of a single country (Egypt) ; but here the reference is to the
world at large, and its human inhabitants (LXX. KOL Travre? ot Iv avrfi).
the Lord GOD. Better, the Lord JEHO VAH. As the vowels of 'A dhonai
were used in the vocalization of Jehovah (p. 1), it became necessary,
when 'Adhonai (literally, my Lord) was prefixed to the latter, to adopt
in connection with the consonants JHVH the vowels ofMoMm, "God."
Here LXX. B has Kvptos Kvptos but in Ob. 1 Kvpios 6 Ocos. Similar to
the prefixing of the title my Lord to the name Jehovah was the employ-
ment by the heathen peoples of Lord (}Adhon) in association with the
names of their own divinities — }Adhon 'Eshmun, 'Adhon Shalman, etc.
Here, however, the occurrence of the title impairs the rhythm of tbe v. ;
and it is absent from the Alexandrine codex of the LXX. : there is much
evidence tbat it was frequently inserted by copyists (see Am. i. 8, iv. 2,
v. 1 6, vi. 8, where, though present in the Hebrew, it is absent from the
LXX.).
be witness. God is similarly a witness against men in Jer. xxix. 23,
as being "He that knoweth" their most secret deeds : cf. also Mai. iii. 5.
his holy temple. God's heavenly abode (1 Kgs. viii. 30, Ps. xi. 4),
whence He is about to descend to the earth (v. 3, cf. Is. xxvi. 21), is
similarly called "the sanctuary" (6 vaos) in Rev. xvi. 17.
3. For, behold, etc. Verses 3 and 4 describe a Theophany, wherein
the Divine activity is described through the medium of physical imagery.
and tread. This is absent from the LXX. ; and tbe rhythm of the v.
is improved by its omission (though see p. cxl.). The verb resembles
the preceding word closely enough to be an accidental dittograph ; or it
may have been inserted by a copyist who recalled Am. iv. 13.
the high places. Better, the heights (to avoid the religious associations
(see on v. 5) attaching to the other phrase). The conception is inspired
by the movement, along the mountain tops, of the storm clouds with
which the Almighty was believed to screen the brightness of His
Presence: cf. Ps. xviii. 10, 11.
4. And the mountains, etc. God's descent is thought of as accom-
panied by a violent thunderstorm (cf. Ex. xix. 18), causing landslides
on the hills (like the melting of wax, cf. Ps. xcvii. 5, 3 Is. Ixiv. 1, 3) and
rifts in the valleys (like the effects of a cataract1). Similar descriptions
of the results produced on nature by a Theophany occur in Jud. v. 5,
Nab. i. 5, Hab. iii. 6.
1 The strict sense of the last clause of v. 4 is the valleys shall be cleft... by the like
of waters that are poured down a steep place : cf. Is. i. 25 (I will purge away. ..with
the like of lye).
i. 4, s] MICAH 5
as waters that are poured down a steep place. 5 For the trans-
gression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of
Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob ? is it not Samaria ?
and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
5. For the transgression, etc. I.e. in retribution for the transgression
of Jacob (Northern Israel) and Judah Jehovah's resentment is mani-
fested thus. If the text is sound and the names employed are intended
to be distinct, Israel must stand for the Southern kingdom, but this is
natural only in passages written after the destruction of the sister-
kingdom, or where ambiguity is impossible. Here it is too equivocal to
be probable, and it should be replaced by Judah (this clause being
assimilated to the next). Although Micah was a Judaean prophet, the
sin and approaching punishment of the kingdom of which Samaria was
the capital were first in his thoughts, since that realm was more exposed
than its neighbour to the assault of an enemy (Assyria) advancing from
the north. For the sins the LXX. has the sin ; which makes the
parallelism closer.
What is the transgression, etc. Strictly, Who is the transgression!
i.e. what group of people is the living embodiment of the corruption
infecting the rest of the nation? In each case the answer is, the citizens
of the capital. Amos refers to the idolatry of Samaria (viii. 14), and
Isaiah to the idols of both cities (x. 10).
the high places. The term designates the sites of sacrificial worship
on the summits of hills, positions enabling the smoke of the sacrifices
to disperse easily, and so to convey the savour of the burnt offerings to
the heavenly deities whom it was desired to gratify. In early times in
Hebrew history "high places" were consecrated to the worship of
Jehovah (1 Sam. ix. 12, 1 Kgs. iii. 3, 4, xviii. 20) no less than to that
of other divinities (1 Kgs. xi. 7, Jer. xxxii. 35); and mount Zion, where
the Temple was erected by Solomon, must have been of the nature of
a "high place," one among several others in the land (cf. 1 Kgs. xv. 14,
2 Kgs. xii. 3). Eventually, however, in the 7th century this was con-
stituted the sole locality where sacrifice to Jehovah was permitted
(Dt. xii. 4 f., 2 Kgs. xxiii. 3), the reason for this limitation being
doubtless the pollution of the worship of Israel's God by the licentious
practices associated with the cult of Canaanite deities, which was like-
wise conducted at "high places." In the present passage the LXX.,
instead of what are the high places of Judah ? has what is the sin of the
house of Judah? which is preferable, since not only does harmony with
the rest of the v. require this, but it is difficult to see how "high places"
could exist in Jerusalem side by side with the Temple. It has been
suggested that the word for house-of (beyth] has been corrupted into that
for high places (bdmotk), since the letters for y and m in the early Heb.
alphabet were less dissimilar than in the later, and that the word for
sin (hattath) has been accidentally lost. (The questions and answers as
here re-constructed seem to form two lines in the Kinah metre (p. cxlii.),
6 MICAH [i. 6, 7
6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as
the plantings of a vineyard : and I will pour down the stones
thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations
thereof. 7 And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces,
and all her hires shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will
whereas in the existing Heb. text they appear to constitute four
dimeters).
6. as an heap of the field. Better, into a heap (of stones) in a field
(cf. the Vulgate, quasi acervum lapidum in agro). The Assyrian king
Tiglath-Pileser similarly speaks of changing an enemy's territory "into
a rubbish mound and fields" (Schrader, COT. I. p. 227, ii. p. 148).
For the rendering a heap in a field, where the Hebrew is literally "a
heap of a field," cf. the similar use of the objective genitive in Gen. iii.
24, the way^ of (i.e. to) the tree of life, Prov. vii. 27, the way of (i.e. to)
Sheol. So in Latin, abaci vasa is used for "vessels on a sideboard."
Many critics propose the omission of the word for a heap and would
render, into a field, so as to bring the statement into harmony with
iii. 12 ; and Wellhausen would substitute (by a slight change) into a
forest of the field (i.e. a wild forest), comparing Ezek. xx. 46 (xxi. 2
Heb.). But Micah need not be suspected of limiting himself to stereo-
typed phrases, and tbe text is supported by the parallel in the second
half of the v. The predicted demolition of Samaria, which lay on a
hill (1 Kgs. xvi. 24, Am. iv. 1, vi. 1), is thought of as causing its stones
to be piled in the valley below. For the fulfilment of the prediction,
at least so far as the capture of Samaria is concerned, see 2 Kgs. xviii.
9—10.
as the plantings, etc. Better, into the plantings, etc. The writer's
thought is that the foundations of Samaria, after its ruin, will be
thoroughly cleared away in order that the good soil needed for vines
may be reached.
discover. Better, uncover or expose.
7. all her graven images. The destruction that is to overtake the
city will extend to the symbols of the deities to whom it ascribes its
blessings (cf. Hos. ii. 5) and renders worship.
beaten to pieces. This implies that the graven images were constructed
of stone or marble.
all her hires. This, if the text is sound, must mean the gold and
silver given' to and for the idol-gods by their votaries (Hos. viii. 4,
xiii. 2) in the hope of procuring from them in fuller measure the fruits
of the earth and of the flock. But the term hire is applied in Hos. ii. 12,
ix. 1 to the bounty believed to be given by the idol-gods (Israel's lovers)
who thereby seduced Israel from the worship of Jehovah ; and what is
wanted here is a plain designation for objects of idolatry like those on
either side, viz. graven images and idols. J. M. P. Smith and others
seek to retain the term thus translated, and to bring it into harmony
with the context by assigning it not to the root meaning "to give," "to
I. 7-9]
MICAH
1 lay desolate : for of the hire of an harlot hath she gathered
them, and unto the hire of an harlot shall they return. 8 For
this will I wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked : I will
make a wailing like the jackals, and a mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her wounds are incurable : for it is come even unto Judah;
it reacheth unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
hire," but to another (for which support is found in Arabic) signifying
"to resemble," and by supposing that the noun here employed has the
sense of "images." But it is eminently unlikely that there should here
be used for "images" a word identical in form with another occurring
twice in the rest of the v. in the sense of "hire": the only resource is
to assume that the text is corrupt. As the objects which the writer had
in mind were such as could be burnt, they mast have been of wood, and
Wellhausen conjectures all her Asherim (see on v. 14); cf. Dt. xii. 3,
2 Kgs. xxiii. 15. But the noun suggested is fern., whereas the verb is
masc., and a more plausible emendation is sun-images (hammdnim):
cf. Is. xvii. 8, xxvii. 9.
the hire of an harlot. The term harlot seems to be used here in
connection with religious prostitution (Dt. xxiii. 17, 18, Hos. iv. 13, 14,
Baruch vi. 43) the proceeds of which were devoted to the adornment
of the idol-gods (cf. Bar. vi. 9 — 11). The valuables decorating Samaria's
idols are destined to be carried away by her destroyers and used by
them for impure purposes similar to those in connection with which
they were originally procured (cf. Hdt. I. 199).
hath she gathered them. The Syr. and Vulg. have they were gathered,
which suits best the parallel shall they return.
8 — 9. Micah's anguish in consequence of the doom foreseen by him,
inasmuch as the fall of Samaria presages that of his own country.
8. stripped and naked. Better, barefoot (LXX. di/wrdSeTos) and
stripped (i.e. lacking an outer garment, cf. Job xxii. 6, Joh. xxi. 7).
This was a token of mourning; cf. Is. xx. 2 — 4 (though the word for
barefoot is not the same), 2 Sam. xv. 30.
like the jackals... like the ostriches. Cf. Job xxx. 29. The howling of
the jackal, which is prolonged and mournful, is alluded to in Is. xiii.
22 ; whilst the Heb. word for ostrich in Job xxxix. 13 comes from a root
meaning "to raise a piercing screech"; and the bird's cry has been
described as fearful and affrighting.
9. her wounds are incurable. Since the adj. and the verb come are in
the sing., and the LXX. has rf TrXrjyij avr/Js, the text should be altered
to her wound is incurable : for the last expression cf. Jer. xxx. 15.
it reacheth unto the gate of my people. Perhaps better, he reacheth, for
the subject of this verb (which is masc., not fern., so that it cannot, like
the preceding, refer to wound} is probably "the enemy." By the gate of
my people the prophet designates Jerusalem, which is so called because
it was the principal centre of population, since it was in the gateway of
a town that its inhabitants chiefly assembled for traffic (2 Kgs. vii. 1),
8 MICAH [i. 10
10 Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all : at ^eth-le-Aphrah 2have
1 That is, A house of dust. 2 Another reading is, roll thyself.
for judicial proceedings (Dt. xxi. 19), or for social converse (Ruth iv. 11,
Proy. xxiv. 7). From this point onward Micah's prophecies are ex-
clusively concerned with the destiny of his own country, which he
anticipates will be the invader's next victim. If w. 5 — 9 date from
just before 722, the expected approach of the conquerors of Samaria
against Jerusalem did not occur till more than 20 years later (701), and
then came not from the direction of Samaria (in the N.) but from Lachish
in the S.W. (Is. xxxvi. 2). It has been inferred by some that the date
of this prophecy must be later than 722 because the tribute paid to
Assyria by Ahaz (2 Kgs. xvi. 7, 8) was doubtless continued by Hezekiah
during the early part of his reign, so that in 722 there could be no real
danger to Judah from Assyria. And as the city of Samaria was not
destroyed in that year by the overthrow of the kingdom of which it was
the capital (Samaria is named as joining in 720 a coalition of Syrian
states against Assyria), it has been argued that the present prophecy
dates from a later time, when Hezekiah was intriguing with Philistia (as
he did in 713 — 711) or with Egypt (as shortly before 701), occasions when
measures may have been taken by the Assyrians to dismantle Samaria.
Nevertheless it is difficult to think that Micah could have produced
this prophecy, containing a reference to Jacob ( - Israel) in v. 5, after
the Northern kingdom had come to an end, without a word to intimate
that such a catastrophe had occurred; and it seems most likely that
this oracle was uttered just before 722, but that the prophet had no
clear grasp of the political relations between Judah and Assyria, and
expected the impending overthrow of one of the Hebrew states to be
but a prelude to that of the other.
10 — 16. In these verses the prophet visualizes Jerusalem as compassed
by a foe who overruns Judah and occupies a number of small towns
which were less strongly defended than the capital. Micah apostrophizes
these places or their inhabitants in turn, playing upon the etymologies
of the names, and using in his addresses to them words that produce
assonances, so that their appellations appear prophetic of their fate or
else offer a pathetic contrast to it. The effect of the paronomasias in the
original may in some measure be illustrated by substituting the names
of certain English towns or villages yielding similar assonances : —
"Tell it not in Tellisford"; "cry not (see note on v. 10) in Crynant";
"at Duston have I rolled myself (or "roll yourselves") in dust" ; "pass
ye away, 0 inhabitant of Fairford, in foulness and shame"; "the
inhabitant of March hath not marched forth" ; "the wailing of Knighton
shall take from you the near support thereof"; "the inhabitant of
Bitterley waiteth anxiously for fortune's sweets"; "bind the chariot to
the horse, 0 inhabitant of Horsham" ; "thou shalt give a parting dowry
to Bridekirk"; "the houses of Diss shall be a disappointment to the
kings of Israel" ; "I will yet bring unto thee, 0 inhabitant of Herriard,
him that shall inherit thee." It may seem surprising that the prophet,
i. 10] MICAH 9
in his state of distress, should thus indulge in puns ; but Isaiah, under
like conditions of strong emotion (indignation or grief), made similar
use of paronomasia (v. 7, vii. 9, x. 28 — 32): cf. also Am. v. 5, Zeph. ii. 4.
10. Tell it not in Gath. Hebrew, Be-Ghath'altaggldhu. The prophet,
borrowing a phrase from David's lament over Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam.
i. 20), deprecates the carrying of news about Jerusalem's perilous
situation to other Palestinian towns where it might be received with
malicious satisfaction. Gath was originally a Philistine city, variously
identified with Tell el Sdfi near the Wddy es Sunt (the ancient "valley
of Elah"), some 18 miles from the coast, and with the later Eleuthero-
polis, the modern Beit-Jibrin, 8 miles further south, and about 24 miles
from the sea. It had been taken by Uzziah (according to 2 Ch. xxvi. 6) ;
and as it is not mentioned among other Philistine cities in Am. i. 7, 8,
it may no longer have been in Philistine occupation. Some critics, in
order to obtain mention here of a Judsean, instead of a Philistine, town,
propose Rejoice not ('al tdghllu) in Giloh (Josh. xv. 51), or in Gilgal
(Josh. v. 9), the suggested change in the verb having some support in
the Syriac. The LXX. has /^ fuyaA.v'i/€o-0e (i.e. 'al taghdilu), magnify
not yourselves.
weep not at all The Heb. is bdcko 'al tibhcu, which the English of
the R.V. represents. This, if the authentic text (it is supported by Aq.,
Sym. and the Vulg.), must mean "suppress all outward signs of grief
that might betray to unfriendly neighbours your inward distress." But
the circumstance that the exhortation occurs in a context full of word-
plays upon various place-names raises the expectation of a place-name
here, as in the first and third clauses of the verse. The Vatican codex
of the LXX. for bdcho has 01 cV 'A/cet/x, where the /u. may be a dittograph
of the initial of the next word /XT/. If ot lv 'A*ei' be the original reading
of the Greek, it points to the conclusion that bdcho represents be-1 Acco,
and the translation of this will be, in Acco weep not (for the suppression
of the initial letter of 'A ceo cf. (in the Heb.) Josh. xix. 3 (Balah)
with Josh. xv. 29 (Ba'alah) and the name Bel for Ba'al). Acco, the
later Ptolemais, is the modern Acre, a city situated at the N. angle of
a bay near mount Carmel. Though included in the tribe of Asher, it
was very imperfectly subjugated by the Israelites at the Conquest, and
remained largely Canaanite (Jud. i. 31). Since the place was not near
enough to Jerusalem for its name to occur readily to a Judean prophet
as a place where, as at Gath, the report of Jerusalem's danger might
soon spread and arouse malicious joy, it was probably chosen because
of the assonance which, when the preposition be was prefixed to it, was
afforded with the verb "to weep" (bdchah)\ and (as has been noted) it
retained a native element in the population which was probably not
very friendly to the Hebrews. Some critics, however, thinking the name
of a locality near Jerusalem to be required, replace bdcho by be-Bhochim
"in Bochim" (Jud. ii. 1), orbe-Bhdchd' "in Baca" ("Balsam (or Mulberry)
vale ") (Ps. Ixxxiv. 6 mg., 2 Sam. v. 23 and mg.) ; and one codex (Q) of the
LXX. has in the margin er Ba^ei/x, which favours the first emendation.
Beth-le-Aphrah. This place (the name of which means "House of
10 MICAH [i.
I rolled myself in the dust. 11 Pass ye away, 0 * inhabitant of
Shaphir, in nakedness and shame: the Mnhabitant of Zaanan
is not come forth; the wailing of Beth-ezel shall take from
you the 2stay thereof. 12 For the l inhabitant of Maroth 3waiteth
1 Heb. inhabitress. 2 Or, standing place 3 Or, is in travail
Dust") is nowhere else mentioned, and as Theodotion has Ophrah, some
scholars would substitute Beth-Ophrah. There was an Ophrah in Ben-
jamin (Josh, xviii. 23) and another in Manasseh (Jud. vi. 11, 24, viii.
27) ; whilst a Wady called el Ghufr seems to point to a third town of
the same name, situated in the Lowland of Judah. The last may be the
one here intended.
have I rolled myself. This, the reading of the Heb. text (hith-
pallashti), which seems to be intended as a play upon the word for
"Philistine" (Pelishti), is replaced in the Heb. mg. by an imperative,
roll thyself; whilst the LXX. and Vulg. imply the plural, roll yourselves,
which agrees best with the plural imperative in the next verse.
in the dust. The Heb. for dust (ldphdr) echoes the sound and signi-
ficance of Beth-le-Aphrah (see above). To roll, or wallow, in dust and
ashes was a habit that marked mourners; see Jer. vi. 26, Ezek. xxvii. 30;
cf. also 2 Sam. xiii. 19 and p. 136.
11. Pass ye away, 0 inhabitant of Shaphir. The sing, inhabitant
(literally, inhabitress) is used collectively, and the Heb. has a pron. in
the masc. plural. Shaphir is possibly the same as Shamir mentioned as
a town of Judah in Josh. xv. 48, where the Alexandrine MS. of the LXX.
has 2<a<f>cip. The site has been plausibly identified with Suafir, about
4 miles S.E. of Ashdod, and rather more than that distance N.E. of
Ascalon. There was also a Shamir in Epbraim (Jud. x. 1). The name
Shaphir (? whence the Greek cra7r<£eipos, "sapphire") means "beauty"
(expressed by the LXX.'s (KaroiKouo-a) /caAok and the Vulg.'s (habitatio)
Pulchra), and so offers a contrast to the miserable plight of its in-
habitants, who, on the approach of the enemy, will have to leave it
ignominiously.
Zaanan. This is generally identified with the Zenan (Tsenari) of
Josh. xv. 37, a town in the Lowland of Judah. The paronomasia here
arises from the occurrence, both in the place-name (Heb. Tsa'andn) and
in the verb ydtsd\ "to come (or "go") forth," of the group of sounds
tsa. The inhabitants of Zaanan will not go forth to succour the fugitives
from other places, lest they themselves should be cut off by the foe.
Beth-ezel. This town, the name of which signifies "House of
proximity" (cf. the Vulg. domus vicina), and which from its nearness
should be a refuge (cf. mg.) for those flying from their own homes, will
be too panic-stricken to afford relief ; and the wail arising from it will
announce, to such as may look to it for help, the failure of their hopes.
Beth-ezel is perhaps the same as the Azel of 2 Zech. xiv. 5, its situation
being unknown.
12. For. The conjunction repeats the for in v. 9, explaining, like it,
the prophet's distress (v. 8).
i. ri-i4] MICAH 11
anxiously for good: because evil is come down from the
LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem. 13 Bind the chariot to the
swift steed, 0 a inhabitant of Lachish : she was the beginning
of sin to the daughter of Zion ; for the transgressions of Israel
were found in thee. 14 Therefore shalt thou give a parting gift
to Moresheth-gath : the houses of Achzib shall be 2a deceitful
1 Heb. inhdbitress. 2 Heb. achzab.
Maroth. The site is unknown, for Ewald's identification of it with
Maaratk in the hill country of Judah (Josh. xv. 59) is unlikely. The
meaning of its name, "bitterness" (cf. Sym. ij Tra/DaTrtKpcuVovo-a), affords
a contrast to the good fortune for which its people vainly hope. The
root-meaning of the verb rendered wait anxiously J or is "writhe," and
can be used of throes of pain, both mental and physical (see mg.).
13. Bind the chariot, etc. The people of Lachish are bidden to attach
their swiftest steed (Heb. rechesh) to their chariot (for the inversion
cf. Gen. xlvi. 29 (literally made fast his chariot to the horses)) in order
to escape, if possible, the pursuit of the invader. Lachish was originally
an Amorite city, situated in the Lowland (Josh. xv. 39) : it was fortified
by Rehoboam, and to it king Amaziah tied from before a conspiracy
(2 Kgs. xiv. 19). Its site is thought to be Tell-el-Hesy, 16 m. E. of
Gaza. Instead of the present Heb. text the LXX. seems to have had
before it A multitude of chariots and swift steeds (i.e. of an invader),
0 inhabitant of Lachish! — perhaps with reference to the "evil" men-
tioned in the preceding v.
she was the beginning of sin, etc. The most obvious explanation of
this statement is that from Lachish some idolatrous cult had been
introduced into the Jewish capital, though G. A. Smith thinks that,
owing to its situation between Jerusalem and Egypt, it was the first
town to receive the contingents of Egyptian cavalry on which Hezekiah
placed reliance (Is. xxxi. 1). For the parenthetic use of the 3rd pers.,
where the 2nd might be expected, cf. Is. xxii. 16, 17.
the transgressions of Israel. If the sin derived from Lachish was some
form of idolatry, Israel here probably denotes the Ephraimite kingdom,
where such may have originated (cf. vi. 16); but if the alternative ex-
planation of the sin be accepted, the national name stands for Judah
(as in v. 14).
14. thou. I.e. Judah.
a parting gift to Moresheth-gath. There is an assonance between the
name Moresheth and the Heb. for "a betrothed woman" (moreseth).
Judah, which is expected to lose the town through the success of an
enemy, is bidden to give a dowry to it, as a parent might do to a
daughter about to marry and pass permanently into the possession of
another (cf. 1 Kgs. ix. 16). The town was Micah's home (v. 1).
Achzib. The place here meant (the Chezib of Gen. xxxviii. 5) was in
the Lowland (Josh. xv. 44), and is plausibly identified with Ain Kozbeh,
a little N. of the valley of Elah.
12 MICAH [I. 14-16
thing unto the kings of Israel. 15 I will yet bring unto thee, O
1 inhabitant of Mareshah, him that shall possess thee : the glory
of Israel shall come even unto Adullam. 16 Make thee bald, and
1 Heb. inhabitress.
a deceitful thing. Heb. 'achzdbh, a term used in Jer. xv. 18 of a brook
that runs dry, and so disappoints a traveller who has hoped to quench
his thirst at it. The relief anticipated from Achzib is to prove equally
delusive, the town justifying its name (which the Vulg. renders by
domus Mendacii).
the kings of Israel. The plural kings should perhaps be replaced by
king, the plur. suffix being a dittograph of the initial of the next word.
Here Israel must certainly be a synonym for Judah : cf. 2 Kgs. xviii. 4,
2 Ch. xxviii. 19.
15. Mareshah. This also was in the Lowland (Josh. xv. 44), and
among the towns represented in 2 Ch. xi. 5 — 10 as fortified by Reho-
boam. There is a locality still called Mer'ash, 2 m. S.W. of Beit-Jibrin.
Between the place-name and the words him that shall possess thee (Heb.
yoresh, the Assyrian invader being meant) there is a slight assonance.
Normal Heb. syntax would be better preserved by a change of points,
so as to produce (instead of the rendering of the R.V.) the translation
I will bring thee... unto him that shall possess thee (lodh hayyoresh 'dbhi
Idch being replaced by (adh hayyoresh 'obhilech). In the English, yet
must then be omitted.
the glory of Israel... Adullam. Possibly the glory of Israel may
describe the Ark (cf. 1 Sam. iv. 21), which will have to be carried for
safety to Adullam, a town in the Lowland (the modern Id-'el-md),
fortified by Rehoboam, and famous for its caves (Josh. xii. 15, 2 Ch.
xi. 7, 1 Sam. xxii. 1). But the true meaning seems to be that the men
of rank among the Jewish people (for this sense of glory see Is. v. 13,
viii. 7, xvii. 3) will be compelled to take refuge there just as David
did. Pusey (with the A.V.) renders he (the invader) shall come unto
Adullam, the glory of Israel; but there is nothing to account for such
a high estimate of Adullam. An ingenious emendation (ladh 'Adullam
being replaced by ladh loldm) yields the sense the glory of Israel shall
go down (i.e. set, the verb being used in this sense in iii. 6 and else-
where) for ever.
16. Make thee bald. Judah is here addressed. To pluck off, or
shave, the hair was a usage practised in antiquity by mourners (Is.
xxii. 12, Jer. vii. 29, Am. viii. 10, Job i. 20, Ez. ix. 3), the custom
perhaps originating with the presentation to the dead of offerings of
hair which were placed on the corpse or laid on the tomb (cf. Horn. H.
xxm. 135—6, Soph. El. 448—451). The custom of making the head
bald in token of grief for the departed survived among several peoples.
Herodotus, for instance, states (iv. 71) that the Scythians, amongst
other ceremonies at the burial of a king, used to shave their hair;
and Suetonius relates ( Vit. Col. v.) that on the occasion of the death
I. 16-11. l]
MICAH
13
poll thee for the children of thy delight : enlarge thy baldness
as the l eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
1 Or, vulture
of Germanicus regulos barbam posuisse et uxorum capita rasisse ad
indicium maximi luctus. The practice of the rite in connection with
the cult of the dead was forbidden amongst the Hebrew people— at
any rate by the later codes of the Law ; but Judah is here directed to
observe it merely as a token of mourning, since her children are to be
taken from her by her enemies.
as the eagle. Better, as the vulture. The Hebrew term is applicable to
both birds; but it is the latter alone that can be meant here since only
certain varieties of vulture, notably the griffon vulture (a bird abundant
in Palestine), have the head and neck bare of feathers. The same bird,
which feeds on carrion, must be designated in Job xxxix. 30, Mt. xxiv.
28 (=Lk. xvii. 37).
CHAPTER II. 1—11.
In the first eleven verses of this ch. a return is made from the announcement
of the coming doom of Judah, on account of its wickedness, to an invective
against the perpetrators of the heinous sins calling for retribution. The offences
which the prophet here denounces are anti-social — the seizure of lands and
houses by those who covet them, the practice of highway robbery, and the ex-
pulsion of families from their homes; and the prophet declares that the authors
of such spoliation shall themselves be despoiled and deported by a heathen foe.
Unfortunately the text of this ch. is extremely obscure and probably corrupt ;
and to render parts of it intelligible recourse has to be made oftener than usual
to emendation.
II. 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their
II. 1 — 2. A denunciation of those whose greed leads them to rob their
weaker neighbours of their property in order to augment their own estates.
Like charges of rapacity were brought by Isaiah (v. 8) against wealthy
and grasping landowners, who sought to extend their possessions by ex-
propriating the smaller freeholders (cf. also Hos. v. 10, of Israel). They
possessed the power to do so, and deemed might the equivalent of right.
The methods adopted were seemingly not acts of open violence, but de-
vices which, though violations of morality, could be brought within the
limits of law, for they required to be thought out in the stillness of the
night hours before being put into operation in the day-time. One such
would be the harsh foreclosing of a mortgage before the owner was in a
position to redeem it; for what took place after the Return from the Exile
in the time of Nehemiah (v. 3 f.) is likely to have occurred also in bad
periods prior to the Exile. Another would be the enforcement of false
claims to property through the suborning of unprincipled witnesses and
the bribing of venal judges.
1. and work evil. These words have been pronounced to be an insertion
14 MICAH [ii. !-3
beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it
is in the power of their hand. 2 And they covet fields, and
seize them ; and houses, and take them away : and they oppress
a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore
thus saith the LORD : Behold, against this family do I devise an
because upon the "bed" evil could only be planned, not executed; but
in the context they may reasonably be understood to mean the mental
working out of the means for accomplishing the meditated iniquity. For
the use of the verb "to work" in the sense of "to devise" or "to project"
see Ps. Iviii. 2 (3) ; and for upon their beds cf. Ps. xxxvi. 4. The phrase
it is in the power of (their) hand occurs in Gen. xxxi. 29, Prov. iii. 27.
2. fields... houses. The loss of ancestral lands was more deeply felt
in ancient than in modern communities, where manufactures and
commerce offer numerous alternatives to an agricultural life ; and the
verb here rendered seize is used of tearing away from a man his skin
(iii. 2) and from a woman's bosom her fatherless child (Job xxiv. 9).
The Mosaic Law sought to prevent the permanent alienation of landed
property from its original owners or their kindred by various enact-
ments, such as those which enjoined the restoration of estates (lost by
purchase) every fiftieth year (Lev. xxv. 10), and the right of daughters,
brothers, and uncles to inherit, when a man died without male issue
(Num. xxvii. 1 — 11, cf. xxxiii. 54). It was assumed that the land, at
its conquest, had been divided by Jehovah between the various tribes
and families which then entered upon its occupation, so that the
retention of patrimonies was tenaciously defended; cf. 1 Kgs. xxi. 4.
In this and some other chapters Micah "speaks as a man of the people,
and reveals to us as no other prophet does, the feelings of the common-
alty towards their oppressors. To the peasantry the nobles seemed to
have no object but plunder." W. R. Smith (The Prophets of Israel,
p. 289).
they oppress a man and his house. If the word house is taken literally,
then the dwelling is represented as sensible of the oppression to which
the dweller in it is subject: cf. Hab. ii. 11, Job xxxi. 38. But house may
be used in the sense of household, including wife and servants (as in
Dt. vi. 22, etc.; see JTS. vol. xxv. p. 80 f.).
3 — 5. The retribution destined to fall upon the wrongdoers.
3. against this family. I.e. against Israel (= Judah, see i. 5, 15 and
cf. Jer. v. 15) which, out of all the families of the earth, was the one
which Jehovah had admitted to His intimacy (Am. iii. 1, 2). The
application of the term family to a nation seems to have originated
with the belief that all peoples had descended from the three sons of
Noah and their households (see Gen. x.).
/ devise an evil. Jehovah requites the devisers of iniquity by devices
of His own, which aim at their inevitable ruin. The word evil, used in
v. 1 of iniquitous conduct, is here employed of retributive punishment:
cf. 2 Is. xlv. 7, Am. iii. 6.
II. 3, 4] MICAH 15
evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall
ye walk haughtily ; for it is an evil time. 4 In that day shall they
take up a parable against you, and lament xwith a doleful
lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he changeth the
1 Or, with the lamentation, It is done; and say &c.
remove your necks. The evil predicted is compared to a yoke on the
neck of a beast of burden: cf. Dt. xxviii. 48, Jer. xxvii. 12.
haughtily. Perhaps better, erect (LXX. opQoC) : under the yoke of a
foreign master they will walk bent, like cattle.
it is an evil time. The same phrase occurs in Am. v. 13, but whereas
there it refers to the internal corruption of the State, here it has in view
the external calamities menacing the country.
4. take up. I.e. take upon the lips or tongue; cf. Num. xxiii. 7. A
derivative of the verb was employed to denote a prophetic utterance or
oracle, rendered in the English Bible by burden (see Is. xiii. 1, Nah. i. 1,
Hab. i. 1, etc.). The similar English word, meaning the refrain of a song,
is of different origin and comes from the Latin burdo, the hum of a bee
or the drone of bagpipes.
a parable. Better here, a taunt song. The word used signifies, in
general, any utterance marked by correspondence between two things,
whether two objects of thought which are compared or contrasted to-
gether, or two sentences which are parallel in form. "Similitude" or
"parable" is, in strictness, its best equivalent (the LXX. has Trapa/JoXrJ),
but according to the character of what is expressed, it acquired the
meaning of "proverb," "by-word," "didactic poem," or "derisive song"
(see Is. xiv. 4, Hab. ii. 6). It is in this last sense that it is used in the
present context, where it describes the character of the lamentation
with which the enemies of the Jewish people travesty their sorrowful
plaint and ridicule their woe.
doleful. The Heb. term (nihyah) thus rendered is taken by some
scholars as part of the verb "to be," and regarded as the beginning of
the lamentation, and the passage has been translated (cf. mg.), "It is
done1" (or "It has been2"), one saith, "we be utterly spoiled" etc. But
the word in question appears to be due to dittography and should be
omitted ; the rendering will then be and lament with a lamentation and
say, We, etc. The substantive employed denotes a funeral dirge over
such as are actually dead or such as are about to die (Jer. xxxi. 15,
cf. Ezek. xxxii. 18).
and say. The verb, if the text is sound, has an indefinite subject —
one saith, and (if the previous word (nihyah) is retained and translated
It is done, as in the R.V. mg.) must be used like the Latin inquit. But
this is not in accord with the Hebrew idiom, and probably a letter has
been lost, the true reading being not 'dmar but lemur — saying; the
T W 1- \ '
LXX. has Xtyuv.
1 Cf. Rev. xvi. 17, Vtyover. 8 Cf. Fait Ilium.
16 MICAH [ii. 4, 5
portion of my people: how doth he Remove it from me! to the
rebellious he divideth our fields. 5 Therefore thou shalt have
1 Or, depart from
We be, etc. The words from here to the end of the verse doubtless
compose the parody with which their captors travesty the wailing of
the captives.
he changeth, etc. As the text stands, the subject of the verb is God,
the ultimate Author of Judah's calamity. The procedure which occurred
at the Conquest (it is complained) is reversed : the land which He once
allotted to the Hebrew people is now withdrawn from them, and trans-
ferred to, and divided among, those — the heathen — who have been
rebellious in the sense that they have not obeyed His laws, as made
known to them through reason and conscience (cf. Rom. ii. 15). But
the absence of any expressed subject for the verb is strange, and the
rebellious (lit. a rebel, Heb. shobhebh), a term suitable enough when
applied to Israel, as in Jer. iii. 14, xxxi. 22, is not very appropriate to
describe the heathen (though it is used of the children of Ammon in
Jer. xlix. 4). A different text is suggested by the LXX. which has
ToAcuTrcopia eraXatTrcop^cra/Aei/ • /xept? Aaot) JJLOV Kare/JitTpijOr) tv (r^oivta),
icat OVK -rfv 6 KaraXvcrcov avrov rov aTrocrrpe^af 01 aypot rj^v Sie/xeptcr^trav.
The Heb. underlying this has been conjecturally reconstructed in various
ways ; and the most plausible emendation, involving a transposition of
the first clause, is, The portion of my people is measured out by line
(ydmlr being replaced by yimmadh, followed by the insertion of behebhel)
and there is none to restore it (eych ydmlsh Ii being replaced by ve'eyn
meshibh) : to those who lead us captive (leshdbhebh replaced by leshdbhenu)
our fields are divided (yehallech re-pointed yehullach) : we are utterly
spoiled. This re-construction yields the Kinah metre in which taunt-
songs are usually composed (see p. cxlii.).
5. Therefore, etc. This is a very difficult verse, and has been di-
versely translated and interpreted. In view of the singular pronoun
thou, it has been deemed by some to be an indignant reply to Micah
from the classes that he reproaches : they are supposed to declare that
in consequence of his words no representative of his shall participate
in any casting of lots (cf. Josh. xiv. 1, 2) for the division of parcels of
ground (delimited by the measuring line) among the Hebrew community
{Jehovah's congregation). But the pronoun thou may denote some
individual representative of the offending classes denounced in w. 1 — 2,
or else the singular may be an accidental error for the plur. you (the
final m of the Heb. plural suffix being lost before the initial m of the
following word). In any case, the passage is best taken as a continuation
of the sentence pronounced by the prophet upon those who oppress
their social inferiors, the therefore of this v. resuming the therefore of
v. 3. Those who have wronged the weak by robbing them of their
patrimonies will have no posterity (cf. Jer. xxix. 32) to cast the lot
for a share in the apportionment of lands when, after the predicted
chastisement has been undergone, there occurs in Israel a redistribution
ii. 5-7] MICAH 17
none that shall cast the line by lot in the congregation of the
LORD. 6 a Prophesy ye not, thus they prophesy. They shall not
prophesy 2to these: reproaches shall not depart. 7 3 Shall it be
1 Or, Prophesy ye not, they are ever prophesying, say they. Heb. Drop &c. See
Amos vii. 16. 2 Or. of these things : their reproaches never cease
3 Or, 0 thou that art named the house of Jacob
of the soil. Some doubt has been thrown upon the authenticity of the
v. through the presence in it of the expression the congregation (or
assembly) of^ Jehovah, since elsewhere this is found almost exclusively
in comparatively late writings (like Dt., the Priestly code of the Penta-
teuch, Neh., and Chron.). Nevertheless the phrase that excites suspicion
occurs in Num. xx. 4 (which may be from JE).
6 — 7. These verses, admitting various explanations in detail, contain
protests uttered by the classes whom Micah has just denounced, and
the extinction of whose posterity he has predicted. For similar protests
against other prophets see Am. ii. 12, vii. 10 f., Is. xxviii. 9, 10.
6. Prophesy ye not. The R.V. appears rightly to consider these
opening words of the v. to be addressed by false prophets supporting
the oppressors, or (if the mg. be adopted) by the latter themselves, to
Micah and other true prophets, whom it is sought to hinder from
prophesying woe. The verb here rendered to prophesy is literally to
drop (see St. xxxii. 2, Am. vii. 16, cf. Ezek. xx. 46, xxi. 2), and the
phrase may originally have had reference to the froth and foam which
dripped from the lips of the prophets when tbey raved in a state of
religious ecstasy. The next clause must be an announcement that
steps will be taken to prevent by force tbe true prophets from speaking
further — They shall not prophesy to these people (Aq. eis TOVTOVS), or, as
in the mg., of these things (i.e. of impending retribution); and the
concluding words should probably be rendered, reproaches do not de-
part (i.e. never cease), or shall not reproaches depart f (i.e. be put an
end to ?). Another possible way of translating the first half of the v.
(if the Heb. accents are disregarded) is, Prophesy not: they only shall
prophesy who will not prophesy of these things. Kirkpatrick * distributes
the clauses between the two parties thus: — Prophesy ye not is the
utterance of the false prophets, and Micah's rejoinder is, They (the
true prophets) shall prophesy. To this the others reply, They shall not
(at any rate) prophesy of these (evils) ; and Micah's defiant retort is,
.Reproaches shall not depart (i.e. shall not be discontinued). But the
text of this last clause is not above suspicion, for whereas the noun is
fern, plur., the verb is in the masc. sing. The word rendered reproaches
also means (in the singular) humiliation or ignominy • and as the Vulg.
has non comprehendet confusio, and Aq. renders the verb by ov icaraAi^,
there is some support for the conjectural emendation lo' tassigh*
celimmah (for lo' yissagh* celimmoth), ignominy shall not overtake us.
7. Shall it be said, 0 house of Jacob. The R.V., both in the text
1 See The Doctrine of the Prophets, p. 222, note.
2 These verbs in the Heb. have different sibilants.
18 MICAH [ii. 7, 8
said, 0 house of Jacob, Is the spirit of the LORD Straitened?
are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that
walketh uprightly? 8 But 2of late my people is risen up as an
1 Or, impatient Heb. shortened. 2 Heb. yesterday.
and in the mg., assumes that Micah's opponents in this v. address their
fellow-countrymen (Jacob standing for Judah, cf. iii. 1, 8, 9, v. 7, 8,
Ps. Lxxvii. 15), though the rendering of the mg. (for which cf. 2 Is.
xlviii. 1) implies a different vocalization of the consonants of the first
word. But the LXX. arid the Vulg. (6 Ae'ywv, dicit) both regard this
verb as active (not passive); and this has suggested an emendation
giving the translation Hath the house of Israel said ...? or Doth the
house of Israel say ...? the enquiry being put by Micah.
Is the spirit of the LORD straitened? The question expresses the in-
credulity, entertained by those who are denounced by Micah, that
Jehovah can really be angry with them, as represented by the prophet.
The verb rendered to be straitened is literally to be short] and the
questioners mean, " Is Jehovah's temper short (or impatient ; for this
sense cf. Num. xxi. 4, mg., Prov. xiv. 17, Heb.)?"
are these his doings? I.e. does the vengeance with which we are
threatened resemble His usual bearing towards us ?
Do not my words, etc. If the text be retained, Jehovah must be
supposed to speak here, correcting the idea, implied in the question
just cited, that He does not resent the deeds of the wicked. But the
LXX. has ov\ ot Ao'yoi avrov, K.T.\., Do not His words, etc., the question
being put, like the preceding, by the evil-doers, who are unconscious
that they are otherwise than righteous in their proceedings, and feel
quite assured of Jehovah's favour.
8. But of late, etc. This and the following three vv. are uttered by
Jehovah speaking through His prophet, and if in the preceding v. the
reading of the LXX. be adopted (as is done above), His answer to the
evil-doers begins here. The strong and unscrupulous are charged with
committing robbery by violence, stripping from peaceable wayfarers
their robe (an outer mantle enveloping the garment, which was worn
next the skin, Ex. xxii. 27, Dt. xxiv. 13). But it is impossible not to
suspect that the text is corrupt, (a) There is nothing elsewhere to
indicate that the wickedness complained of is only a very recent
development (the word translated of late literally means yesterday},
(b) The phrase my people is here used of those who perpetrate violence,
whereas in v. 9 (cf. iii. 3) it is employed, more suitably, of those who
suffer from it. (c) The person (or persons) against whom the people
is risen up as an enemy is (or are) left unexplained, (d) The preposition
rendered from off means off (or in) the front of a person or thing. Of
various proposed emendations one which departs but little from the
existing text whilst yielding a superior sense, is that advocated by
W. R. Smith (Prophets of Israel, p. 429), But ye are to my people (w$-
'attem le 'ammi for we-ethmul lammi) as an enemy that rises up (ydkum
ii. s-i i] MICAH 19
enemy : ye strip the robe from off the garment from them that
pass by securely as men averse from war. 9 The women of my
people ye cast out from their pleasant houses ; from their young
children ye take away my glory for ever. 10 Arise ye, and depart ;
for this is not your rest : because of uncleanness Hhat de-
stroyeth, even with a grievous destruction. 11 If a man walking
2 in wind and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee
of wine and of strong drink ; he shall even be the prophet of
this people.
1 The Sept. has, ye shall be destroyed with <&c. 2 Or, in a spirit of falsehood
for yekdmem) in front of him that is at peace with him (the LXX.'s
Ka.riva.vrL rfjs eip^vr/s points to sholemoh for salmah) : ye strip the robe
from them that pass by securely, averse from (i.e. not thinking of) war.
9. The women, etc. In this v. the charge preferred against the upper
classes seems to be the merciless eviction of poor women (probably
widows, cf. Is. x. 2), motived by a boundless desire for extensive estates
(see v. 2). The R.V., in rendering the original by from their pleasant
houses .. .from their young children, silently emends the Heb. (which is
ungrammatical) by the LXX.
my glory. This must mean the glory which Jehovah had bestowed ;
and probably refers to the fertility of Judah's country, and the beauty
of its capital: cf. Ezek. xvi. 14 (where my majesty represents the same
Heb.) and see Dan. viii. 9, xi. 16, Ps. xlviii. 2. This glorious inheritance
the children of the poor, through the exactions of the powerful, have to
abandon. The LXX., however, here has mountains; and it may be
suggested that my glory should be replaced by my mountain, i.e. the
hilly ground constituting the territory of Judah (hardri for hadhari).
10. God's sentence upon the sinners — they are to be treated as they
have treated their victims.
for this is not your rest. The land, though originally given to the
people as their permanent resting-place after the wanderings in the
wilderness (for this sense of rest see Num. x. 33, Dt. xii. 9, cf. Josh. i.
13, xxiii. 1), must be forfeited, and they are to depart from it into
captivity because of their moral pollution.
that destroyeth. Instead of the active verb (attached as a relative
clause to uncleanness} the LXX. has, preferably, the passive, ye shall be
destroyed (the following word even being omitted).
11. A description of the kind of prophet acceptable to the people
who would silence Micah. The verse would be more in place after v. 6,
conveying the conclusion drawn by Micah from what is there said by
his opponents.
walking in wind and falsehood. The word rendered wind also means
spirit, and a preferable translation (the two nouns constituting a hen-
diadys) is walking in a spirit of falsehood (cf. 1 Kgs. xxii. 22). For the
construction cf. Prov. vi. 12 (walketh in frowardness of mouth). A
2—2
20 MICAH [ii. n
prophet who was indifferent to moral truth and was content by his
utterances to pander to the sensual cravings of his hearers would stand
high in their estimation. For the prevalence of drunken habits in Judah
see Is. v. 11, 12, 22; and for intoxication among prophets see Is.
xxviii. 7.
CHAPTER II. 12 — 13.
These two verses are obviously not an immediate continuation of the pre-
ceding passage. They declare that those addressed are to be concentrated
within some city, whence they are soon to issue forth ; but the situation implied
has been diversely explained. Some critics (e.g. W. E. Barnes) consider that
the section is wholly menacing in tone, and that it predicts that the Jewish
people will be herded within their capital, through invasion, and that this will
be preliminary to their deportation into exile1. But this view is inconsistent
with the idea conveyed by the phrase as a flock in the midst of their pasture,
which suggests care and protection, and by the words the breaker is gone up
before them, which are less suggestive of an enemy assaulting a besieged city
than of a pioneer in an escape from a place of durance. Van Hoonacker,
sensible of some of these considerations, seeks to obtain a similar interpretation
by changing (of) Bozrah (botsrah) into in distress (batstsdrah) (after the LXX.
ev QXfyci), by replacing in the midst of their pasture (haddobhero2) by in the
midst of plague (haddebher) and by omitting the final clause of v. 13, which
W. E. Barnes retains but would render and Jehovah is on high above them
(seated in judgment). Others (including apparently Sellin, 1OT. p. 176)
suppose that the purport of the passage is consolatory in a time of trial prior
to the exile, affirming that the remnant of Judah are to be concentrated in
Jerusalem for their preservation, when the surrounding country is occupied by
an invader ; and that they will be enabled to sally forth from it again through
his retirement. Both these views leave the verses to Micah. But the situation
which the section most clearly presumes is that of a body of Jews detained in
exile, whence it is announced that they are to be shortly delivered ; and if this
is correct, the passage probably does not proceed from Micah. It is true that
predictions of exile, such as appear in i. 16, ii 4, 10, are sometimes accompanied
by prophecies of a return from it (see Jer. xxxii 28—44, Ezek. vi., xi. 16—20),
yet here the transition from an announcement of deportation into a foreign
land to a promise of restoration is exceptionally abrupt; and the writer's
language conveys the impression that his fellow-countrymen are actually
dispersed in a land of captivity from which he is empowered to predict their
return. Moreover the representation that Jehovah will shepherd His flock
resembles that of the exilic prophet Deutero-Isaiah (see 2 Is. xl. 11), whilst the
reference to the breaker and the departure of the people through the gate of
their oppressors' capital recalls 2 Is. xlv. 2. It is therefore probable that this
small section is an independent oracle of exilic date, addressed to the captives
in Babylonia, who had been taken thither about 130 years after Micah's time,
and who are to be assembled by God preparatory to repatriation.
1 See JTS. xxv. p. 81.
a This is ungrammatical, so that there must be some error.
ii. 12, 1 3] MICAH 21
12 I will surely assemble, 0 Jacob, all of thee; I will surely
gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as
the sheep of Bozrah : as a flock in the midst of their pasture,
they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude 0/men.
13 The breaker is gone up before them : they have broken forth
and passed on to the gate, and are gone out thereat : and their
king is passed on before them, and the LORD at the head of them.
12. I will... all of thee. Perhaps better (as suggested by the LXX.)
/ will surely assemble Jacob, all of him. Cf. iv. 6, Is. xi. 12.
the remnant of Israel. The precise phrase occurs only in the relatively
late prophets Jeremiah (xxxi. 7), Ezekiel (ix. 8, xi. 13), and Zephaniah
(iii. 13).
as the sheep of Bozrah. The best known Bozrah was in Edom (1 Ch.
i. 44, Am. i. 12, Is. xxxiv. 6, 3 Is. Ixiii. 1, Jer. xlix. 13): and the reason
for alluding to it in connection with flocks of sheep is obscure. There
was, however, also a Bozrah in Moab (see Jer. xlviii. 24), and Moab was
famous as a pastoral country (see 2 Kgs. iii. 4). But a parallel to clause
b, in the midst of their pasture, is desirable, and the Oxford Heb. Lex.
takes botsrah here to be a common noun meaning enclosure (Sym. and
Th. have cV o^vptu/xart) ; whilst many scholars conjecture batstslrah for
botsrah, in the sheepfold (the Vulg. has in ovili), it being assumed, from
comparison with the Arabic, that there existed in Heb. a word tslrah
meaning "encampment" or "enclosure." For the conception of exiled
Israel as a scattered flock re-assembled by God, their Shepherd, cf.
Ezek. xxxiv. 12f.
they shall... men. Better (with G. A. Smith), and they shall hum with
men (the conjunction and being obtained from the suffix ungrammatically
attached to the preceding word). The metaphor of a flock of sheep is,
in this last clause, blended with a reference to the human beings of whom
the sheep are a figure (Ezek. xxxvi. 38). For the promise to the exiled
people of a multiplication of their numbers on tneir return home cf.
Ezek. xxxvi. 10.
13. The breaker. The fences behind which the exiles are confined
will be breached, the breaker probably being Jehovah, though the
allusion may possibly be to Jehovah's agent, Cyrus the Elamite, who
captured Babylon and restored the Jews to their own land. The writer
of this passage may, like Deutero-Isaiah, have watched with deep
interest the advance of Cyrus against Babylon.
is gone up. The verb is frequently employed of those who return to
their native soil; cf. Ez. ii. 1, Neh. vii. 6, Hos. i. 11. Jerusalem, in the
thoughts of the exiles, was still their capital.
their king. On the occasion of the Return the representative of
Judah's royal house was Zerubbabel or Sheshbazzar (if these are rightly
identified, cf. Ezra ii. 2 with i. 11). But the parallel clause suggests
that the title king designates Jehovah: cf. 1 Sam. xii. 12, Dt. xxxiii. 5,
2 Is. xli. 21, xliii. 15, xliv. 6, Hi. 12.
22 MICAH [in. 1-3
CHAPTER III.
The contents of this chapter consist of further utterances of Micah, and
maintain the denunciatory tone of the foregoing chapters ending with ii. 11.
Though the opening words (Hear, I pray you, etc.) indicate that it is an
address separate from that comprised in ii. 1 — 11, the general tenor is similar,
including both the arraignment of sins committed, and the prediction of
calamities that will punish them. But whereas those who are the objects
of invective in ch. ii. are the influential and powerful classes without precise
definition, those for whom a nemesis is foretold here are specified as the rulers,
the prophets, and the priests. The date of the oracle is determined by the
reference to it in Jer. xxvi. 18, where it is stated that Micah delivered it in
the reign of Hezekiah (727 (or 720)— 692 B.C.).
III. 1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and
rulers of the house of Israel : is it not for you to know judgement?
2 who hate the good, and love the evil ; who pluck off their skin
from off them, and their flesh from off their bones ; 3 who also
eat the flesh of my people ; and they flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones : yea, they chop them in pieces, as for the
1 — 4. An expostulation and a warning to the governing classes for
their rapacious treatment of the governed.
1. And I said. These words do not appear to connect the present
passage immediately with ii. 11 (no personal pronoun is expressed in
the Heb., marking an antithesis between the speaker here and the false
but popular prophets referred to there), but they suggest that there
once preceded it some account of the circumstances in which the prophet
felt constrained to speak.
ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. The officials of the
state were similarly denounced by Isaiah (i. 10). Instead of ye heads of
Jacob the LXX. has at dpxal oucov 'la/cwft cf. v. 9. The names Jacob and
Israel are synonyms for Judah, as in ii. 12.
to know judgement. An essential requirement for those in authority
was both a knowledge of the principles of justice and a sense of obligation
to administer it to suitors : cf. Am. v. 15.
their skin... their flesh. The pronouns must refer to my people,
mentioned in tbe following verse: cf. the similar anticipatory use of
the personal pronoun in Is. xiii. 2.
3. eat the flesh, etc. For the phraseology cf. Ps. xiv. 4. The people
are likened to sheep who are devoured by the shepherds (a figure for
the rulers) who should protect them : cf. Ezek. xxxiv. 2 — 4.
break their bones. The verb seems to mean literally "to cause to
break forth " ; so perhaps the rendering should be, lay bare (to sight)
their bones.
chop them in pieces. The verb appears to be another form of a com-
moner word meaning "to divide for distribution"; cf. 3 Is. Iviii. 7 (and
see next note) : LX
in. 3-5] MICAH 23
pot, and as flesh within the caldron. 4 Then shall they cry unto
the LORD, but he will not answer them : yea, he will hide his
face from them at that time, according as they have wrought
evil in their doings. 5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the
prophets that make my people to err ; that bite with their teeth
and cry, Peace ; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they
as for the pot. The rendering for is unnatural. The Vulg. rightly
has in lebete, whilst the LXX. has ws crap/cas et? Ae'/fyra; and a re-
arrangement of the consonants of the word translated as gives the
reading (which the LXX. supports and the parallelism demands) they
deal them out like meat in the pot. For the last word cf. 1 Sam. ii. 14.
The prophet's complaint against the rulers seems to be that they sub-
ordinate equity to the promotion of their own interest, or that of their
class, the weak and helpless being brought under the operation of
oppressive ordinances, designed to extract from them their money or
other possessions, in order to swell the fortunes, or minister to the
enjoyment, of those who should be their protectors.
4. Then shall they cry, etc. To the oppressors there will come
a time of retribution ; and then they who have been deaf to entreaties
will find their own prayers to Jehovah disregarded : cf. Job xxvii. 9.
he will hide his face. To do this was to manifest displeasure; see
Dt. xxxi. 17, Ps. xiii. 1, xxx. 7, xliv. 24, and cf. Is. i. 15. Conversely,
Divine satisfaction was indicated when God turned, or lifted, upon
His servants the light of His countenance; see Ps. iv. 6, xxxi. 16,
Ixvii. 1, Ixxx. 3, etc. To " see the face " of a king was a privilege
which migbt be granted or refused to a subject (2 Sam. xiv. 24, 2 Kgs.
xxv. 19); and to "see the face" of God figuratively, through happy
experiences, was a still higher privilege. The words at that time spoil
tbe balance of the clauses, and should probably be omitted.
according as. The LXX. has dvP w, because (a meaning which the
Heb. admits: cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 18, 2 Kgs. xvii. 26 (end)).
5 — 8. Here transition is made to the false prophets who, indifferent
to moral and religious truth, make the favourable or unfavourable
purport of their utterances to depend upon what they can exact from
those who consult them. For such conduct requital will come through
the withdrawal, in the hour of their need, of all Divine illumination.
5. that make my people to err. Contemporary prophets are similarly
charged with being deceivers in Is. ix. 15, Jer. v. 31, xiv. 14, xxiii. 13,
Ezek. xiii. 9.
that bite with their teeth and cry, Peace. The verb bite is commonly
employed in connection with venomous serpents (Gen. xlix. 17, Num.
xxi. 6, 9, Am. v. 19, Eccles. x. 8, 11) or used figuratively of the effects
of wine (Prov. xxiii. 32); but here it must refer to the satisfaction, by
the prophets, of their bodily needs. The second clause is conditional
on the first; and the meaning is — only when their appetites are grati-
fied by enquirers consulting them do they utter favourable oracles (cf.
24 MICAH [in. 5-7
even prepare war against him : 6 Therefore it shall be night unto
you, that ye shall have no vision ; and it shall be dark unto you,
that ye shall not divine ; and the sun shall go down upon the
prophets, and the day shall be black over them. 7 And the seers
1 Heb. sanctify.
Jer. vi. 13, 14): if they fail to get what they want, their utterances
become menacing.
prepare war against him. The words are not to be taken in a literal
sense, What the false prophets did was to pronounce anyone, who
would not feed and support them, to be an enemy of God and the
state, and so, by exposing him to suspicion and persecution, to ac-
complish his ruin. To prepare war is literally "to consecrate (or, as
in the mg., "sanctify") war" (cf. Jer. vi. 4, Joel iii. 9); and soldiers
were consecrated men (Is. xiii. 3, cf. Jer. xxii. 7). In primitive times
among Semitic peoples war was not a struggle merely between human
antagonists but between the gods of the combatant nations (cf. p. ex.),
and so had a religious aspect: the two sides, before the campaign
opened, offered sacrifices to their respective deities and sought and
received their directions for the conduct of it ; and after it, if success-
ful, they devoted to them the lives and possessions of the defeated
enemy: see for the Hebrews 1 Sam. vii. 9, xiii. 9, 2 Sam. v. 19, Josh,
vi. 17; and for the Moabites the inscription of Mesha1 (where the
king relates how Chemosh, the Moabite deity, bade him go and take
Nebo, and when he had captured it, he devoted it to his god). How
completely in the early history of Israel the cause of the nation was
deemed the cause of its Deity appears from the fact that the Israelites'
wars were called "the wars of Jehovah" (Num. xxi. 14), that His Ark
accompanied their armies (Num. x. 35, 36), and tbat the prophetess
Deborah, when the city of Meroz held aloof from Israel's revolt against
the Canaanites, cursed it because it came not to the help of Jehovah.
6. Therefore, etc. The false prophets, whose predictions have been
dictated by their self-interest, will be deprived of all their pretended
faculties of insight and prevision when God's judgment is executed (cf.
Ezek. xiii. 2 f., Is. xxix. 10, 11). Their ostensible ability to counsel or
console will disappear just when most needed, and in place of basking
in the sunlight of prosperity, as hitherto, they will be plunged in the
gloom of calamity. For the figures of speech cf. Am. v. 18, viii. 9.
Instead of the verb it shall be dark the LXX. and Vulg. have nouns
(cTKoria, tenebrai), which preserve the parallelism better.
7. the seers. It would seem that the individuals who were denoted
by tbe term seer (which is used to translate two Hebrew synonyms, ro'eh
and hozeh) actually were, or were believed to be, endowed by God with
a faculty of clairvoyance or second-sight, which caused them to be
1 See Hastings, DB. in. pp. 404—408.
HI. 7, 8] MICAH 25
shall be ashamed, and the diviners confounded ; yea, they shall
all cover their lips : for there is no answer of God. 8 But I truly
consulted by persons in perplexity. A narrative throwing light upon
the reputation which they enjoyed in early times for abnormal powers
of mental vision, upon the nature of the enquiries put to them, and
upon the remuneration which was offered to them is contained in 1 Sam.
ix. 1 — x. 16. In this account it is explained that the term (roeh), there
applied to Samuel (cf. 1 Ch. ix. 22), was an ancient one, afterwards
supplanted by the term "prophet" (ndbhi') which, if derived from the
root ndbha', " to bubble up," denoted one who was thought to exhibit the
influence of God within him not through clairvoyance but through
outbursts of ecstatic speech1. But though "prophet" became the pre-
vailing title, yet seer was retained in use: see 2 Sam. xv. 27, 2 Ch.
xvi. 7, Is. xxx. 10 (instances ofro'eh) and 2 Kgs. xvii. 13, 2 Ch. ix. 29,
xix. 2, Am. vii. 12 (instances of hozeh).
ashamed. I.e. overwhelmed with disappointment at the failure of
their hopes and predictions. The combination of the verb with con-
founded recurs in Jer. xv. 9, Ps. xxxv. 26, xl. 14, etc.
diviners. These were a class of persons whose presence in Israel was
probably due to foreign influence, for they are associated with the
Philistines (1 Sam. vi. 2), Canaanites (Dt. xviii. 14, 1 Sam. xxviii. 8),
Ammonites (Ezek. xxi. 29 (34)), and Babylonians (2 Is. xliv. 25). ^ They
were perhaps addicted to necromancy and magic arts, for which, in
Israel, the intellectual and spiritual illumination marking the true
prophets of Jehovah was (according to Dt. xviii. 10) to be the substitute.
shall all cover their lips. This was a sign of distress displayed especially
by mourners for the dead (Ezek. xxiv. 17, 22). The word rendered lips
is literally "moustache" (the LXX. in 2 Sam. xix. 25 translates it by
pva-Tag, from which the English term is derived); and the practice of
covering the hair of the chin and upper lip on occasions of mourning
was perhaps a substitute for the removal of it. This custom of removing
or concealing the hair of the lips, on the part of the relatives of a dead
person, may have been originally designed to alter the appearance of
the face, and so prevent recognition by the ghost of the deceased, who
might otherwise haunt them. (The adoption, by mourners, of a special
garb, dissimilar to that worn at other times, may have the same ex-
planation.) Eventually, the covering of the lips became a mere conven-
tional token of wretchedness, for the practice was observed by lepers
(Lev. xiii. 45).
8. But I truly, etc. Micah, in distinction from the prophets just
described by him (v. 5), claims to be divinely enabled to denounce with
courage the sins prevalent in the nation. By power is meant the excep-
tional capacity conferred upon him for the discharge of his mission;
1 Another derivation connects ndbhi1 with Arabic and Assyrian words meaning
to "announce," "proclaim," which would imply that the prophet got his Heb.
name because he was regarded as God's spokesman.
26 MICAH [in. 8-10
am full of power *by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgement,
and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to
Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of
Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor judgement,
and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and
1 Or, even the spirit
judgment stands for the decisions he has to pronounce; whilst might
describes the resolution and fortitude with which he will face opposition
in the discharge of his duty.
by the spirit of the LORD. To the spirit of God was ascribed the
origin of any extraordinary force, physical or psychical, by which a man
felt himself to be empowered beyond the normal limits of human ability
(cf. Acts i. 8), or which carried him away on some irresistible tide of
emotion. This sense, which the prophets had, of being subject to some
influence constraining them to act, against their inclination, in a certain
way finds expression in vivid metaphors: see 1 Kgs. xviii. 12 (cf. 2 Kgs.
ii. 16), Jer. xx. 7—9, Ezek. ii. 2, iii. 12, 14, xi. 1. The feeling of ex-
ternal compulsion exerted by the spirit caused it sometimes to be
described as "Jehovah's hand" (1 Kgs. xviii. 46, Ezek. viii. 1). The
Heb. of the phrase by the spirit of the LORD is peculiar, though the
meaning by given to the preposition here used may perhaps be defended
by Gen. iv. 1, xlix. 25 (but see Driver, ad toe.). The phrase, however,
seriously disturbs the rhythm of the v., and it is probably the correct
but unnecessary comment of a copyist or reader, which has become
inserted in the text.
declare... transgression. Cf. 3 Is. Iviii. 1.
9 — 11. In these w. there is a resumption of the arraignment of the
civil magistrates contained in w. 1 — 4 ; but on this occasion the priests
are joined with them, and both classes are charged with venality in
connection with their decisions upon civil and religious matters.
9. this. I.e. the announcement of merited doom (v. 12).
10. They build. Better (continuing the preceding sentence), building :
the Heb. has the sing., which requires correction to the plur., after the
LXX. 01 otKoSo/xowTss, Vulg. qui cedificatis. The prophet's meaning
seems to be that the wealth which enabled the ruling classes to erect
imposing mansions and so to enlarge and beautify the capital was
amassed through judicial murders (the property of innocent victims
being confiscated (cf. Is. i. 15, Hab. ii. 12)), or through a system of
forced labour (whereby they compelled the poor to work for them without
remuneration (Jer. xxii. 13 — 19)).
Zion. This, in primitive times, was only part of the larger area after-
wards included in Jerusalem. It was the name belonging to the Jebusite
fortress (2 Sam. v. 7) which was captured by David and made the
capital of his kingdom. The later Jerusalem occupied two adjacent hills
separated from the adjoining country on the east and west respectively
in. io, 1 1] MICAH 27
Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward,
and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof
divine for money : yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say,
by the valley of the Kidron1 and the valley of the son of Hinnom2, and
divided from one another by a shallow depression3; and the Jebusite
fortress was in all probability situated on the eastern hill. Though the
name Zion came to be given later to the western hill, which is the more
extensive and the more commanding of the two heights, yet the eastern
must have been the one occupied by the Jebusite community, since it
alone has a water supply (in the Kidron valley). The southern end of
this hill was known as the Ophel (cf. iv. 8), and was the original site of
Zion : the northern extremity, which was of higher elevation, was the
site of the Temple, this being, at first, outside of Zion (1 Kgs. viii. 1).
11. judge for reward. For other allusions to judicial corruption in
Judah see vii. 3, Is. i. 23, Ezek. xxii. 12. Warnings against it occur in
the Law (Ex. xxiii. 1, Dt. xvi. 19).
the priests. The misconduct of the sacerdotal order is dwelt upon by
other prophetic writers (see Is. xxviii. 7, Hos. iv. 6, v. 1, Jer. ii. 26,
v. 31, etc.). The accusation against them here is that in expounding
the Divine Law (which was one of their functions (see Lev. x. 11, Dt.
xvii. 8 — 13, Mai. ii. 7)) when application was made to them for the
solution of perplexing questions of conduct, wherever the codes included
in the Pentateuch (so far as they were in existence at this time) did not
afford guidance, they delivered as decisions of Jehovah such answers as
the enquirers made it worth their while to furnish.
the prophets. These, as well as the priests, were channels of Divine
instruction; and were intended to occupy in Israel the place of the
augurs, sorcerers, wizards, and necromancers to whom the heathen
resorted (Dt. xviii. 10 f): cf. p. 25.
divine. Though the verb and the corresponding noun (divination) are
generally used in connection with methods of ascertaining the will of
heaven practised by heathen peoples and forbidden in Israel (cf. Ezek.
xxi. 21, 1 Sam. xv. 23 (where witchcraft is properly divination}), and
commonly carried with them associations of falsehood and lying (see
Jer. xiv. 14, Ezek. xiii. 6, 9, xxii. 28, 2 Zech. x. 2), yet the substantive
is employed in a good sense in Prov. xvi. 10 (mg.).
yet will they lean upon the LORD. The magistrates, priests, and
prophets, whom Micah condemns were worshippers of Jehovah, as the
national divinity, but were so little sensible of His moral character that,
whilst committing all kinds of iniquity, they reposed serene confidence
in His protection, not recognizing that this was conditional upon their
right-dealing (cf. Am. v. 14). The source of their confidence was the
1 Now called Wady Sittna Mariam (Valley of our Lady Mary).
2 Now Wddy er Eabdbi.
3 Formerly known as the Tyropceon (Valley of the cheese-makers), but now as
El Wad (the Valley).
28 MIC AH [m. n, 12
Is not the LORD in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and
Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house
as the high places of a forest.
bond thought by Semitic peoples to subsist between a god and the nation
which offered to him the sacrifices and ceremonial homage that he was
believed to value. They reflected that in Jerusalem was Jehovah's
Temple (cf. Jer. vii. 4), and within the Temple was the Ark (cf. Jer.
iii. 16), with which His presence and glory were peculiarly associated
(see Num. xiv. 42, 44, 1 Sam. iv. 3, 21, Ps. Ixxviii. 61). In the time of
our Lord similar trust was placed by the Pharisees and Sadducees in
their descent from Abraham (Mt. iii. 9).
12. Therefore, etc. The prediction contained in this v. was not ful-
filled for more than a century; and a subsequent generation recognized
that the fulfilment had been deferred in consequence of the repentance
of the king and his people (Jer. xxvi. 19). But the religious and moral
collapse that occurred under later kings brought at last the judgment
foretold; and in 587 Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians, its
walls dismantled, and its principal citizens deported.
for your sake. I.e. in consequence of your misconduct: cf. Dt. i. 37.
heaps. I.e. heaps of ruins (as in i. 6).
the mountain of the house. I.e. mount Zion, the site of the Temple
(p. 27).
the high places of a forest. The LXX., Sym. and Th. all represent
high places by a singular (aA<ros, t^os and /3owos respectively). The
notion here conveyed is that of a clearing (like the Latin lucus) on the
summit of a wooded hill. To such a bare and lonely condition would
the city, with its splendid fane, be reduced: cf. Lam. v. 18.
CHAPTERS IV., V.
With ch. iii. there ends all of the book that can with confidence be assigned
to Micah (prophesying in the 8th century), though there are two other passages
which may also proceed from him (see pp. 52, 56). The rest of it would seem
to be of later origin. These two chapters, in particular, consist of several
oracles — some very short — apparently having in view diverse situations, and
probably composed by various writers living at separate periods of Hebrew
history, but all subsequent to the 8th century.
CHAPTER IV. 1—5.
In this section the tone of menace towards Jerusalem marking chs. i. — iii
gives place to an utterance of different spirit, predicting for mount Zion pre-
eminence over other heights, and the dignity of becoming a centre for the
diffusion of a knowledge of Jehovah's requirements among the nations of
the world, who will resort thither for instruction, and will submit their disputes
to Jehovah's arbitrament Its contents, when compared with those of the
iv.] MICAH 29
preceding ch., suggest for it quite other authorship (cf. p. xxiii. f.). Thus (1) the
assumption made in it that the Temple at Jerusalem is the sole seat of
the worship of Jehovah would be impossible in Micah's time, and presupposes
the abolition of the country sanctuaries by Josiah (2 Kgs. xxiii.), circ. 620 B.C.
(2) There is a complete lack of connection between it and its immediate context
(ii. 12 — 13 is remote), for the initial assertion that Jerusalem will become the
seat of religious instruction for the heathen world involves a situation which
is unexplained, since nothing is said to account for the circumstance that after
the city has been doomed to destruction (iii. 12), and its populace, by im-
plication, slaughtered or enslaved, it is once more the home of Jews and the
site of Jehovah's house : contrast Jer. iii. 6 — 25. (3) The idea that the heathen
will spontaneously make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to obtain there some know-
ledge of Jehovah presupposes a wonderful intervention by Him in the fortunes
of the Jews, attracting attention to their God; but no light is here thrown on
the nature of the occurrence: contrast vii. 15 — 16, Ezek. xx. 41, xxviii. 25,
xxxvii. 21—28, 2 Is. xlv. 1—6, 14, 22—24, xlix. 7. These features in combination
render it tolerably certain that the passage does not proceed from Micah.
The greater part of the section occurs also in Is. ii. 2 — 4 ; and the reasons that
cause Micah's authorship to be questioned are likewise obstacles in the way of
believing it to be a genuine prophecy of Isaiah, or to be derived by both
prophets from an earlier source. The character of the passage points to its
being of post-exilic origin, and inserted in both of the books wherein it is now
included. The passage in Is. xi. 10 which is sometimes cited as a pre-exilic
parallel is probably itself post-exilic *. Certain small variations are discernible
in the two versions when compared ; and that in Micah contains a verse that
is absent from Isaiah. This will be apparent if they are placed side by side in
a translation a little more exact than that of the R.T.
Isaiah ii, Micah iv.
2 And it shall come to pass in the 1 And it shall come to pass in the
sequel of days that established shall sequel of days that the mountain of
be the mountain of Jehovah's house Jehovah's house shall be established
on the top of the mountains, and shall on the top of the mountains and it
be lifted up above the hills, and unto shall be lifted up above the hills, and
it shall all the nations stream. on to it shall peoples stream.
3 And many peoples shall go and 2 And many nations shall go and
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the say, Come ye, and let us go up to the
mountain of Jehovah, to the house of mountain of Jehovah, and to the house
the God of Jacob, that He may teach of the God of Jacob, that He may
us out of His ways, and that we may teach us out of His ways, and that we
walk in His paths, for out of Zion may walk in His paths, for out of Zion
shall go forth instruction, and the shall go forth instruction, and the
word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
1 See the commentary on Isaiah in this series, p. 86, or Gray, Isaiah, p. 223
(I.C.C.).
30 MICAH [iv. r
Isaiah ii. Micah iv.
4 And He shall judge between the 3 And He shall judge between
nations and shall give decisions for great peoples and shall give decisions
great peoples; and they shall beat for strong nations afar off; and they
the swords of them into coulters and shall beat their swords into coulters
their spears into pruning hooks ; na- and their spears into pruning hooks ;
tion shall not lift up sword against nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they any more nation, neither shall they any more
learn war. learn war.
4 But they shall sit every man
under his vine and under his fig tree,
none making them afraid; for the
mouth of JEHOVAH of hosts hath
spoken it.
IV. 1 lEut in the latter days it shall come to pass, that the
mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established 2in the top of
1 See Is. ii. 2—4. 2 Or, at the head
1. in the latter days. Better, in the sequel^ of days, an expression
which denotes a future period varying in connotation with the outlook
of the successive speakers or writers who employ it. It is generally
used in connection with predictions of good fortune, and " designates
the period when the hopes, whatever they are, that relieve a dis-
satisfying present will be fulfilled." In Gen. xlix. 1 the range of the
prospect signified by it does not extend beyond the conquest of Canaan ;
in Num. xxiv. 14 it is the time of the monarchy and the mastery by
Israel of the surrounding countries of Moab and Edom ; in Hos. iii. 5
(end) and Dt. iv. 30 it is the restoration of Israel from conditions of
tribulation and distress ; whilst in Dan. ii. 28 it is the emergence of the
kingdoms destined to succeed to the empire of the Babylonians under
Nebuchadrezzar. In the present passage it denotes an ideal age sub-
sequent to the restoration of Israel to its own land. The N.T. equiva-
lents are ew* tcr^arou TWV xpovw (1 Pet. i. 20), €TT' €ar\aTov TOV ^povov
(Jude 18), and «r* eo-xarov TWJ/ ^//.epwv TOVTWV (Heb. i. 2).
the mountain, etc. I.e. the Temple hill (see on p. 27), which, at the
point where the Temple was built, reaches an altitude of 2400 ft. above
the sea.
established in the top. Better, established on the top (cf. Ex. xxiv. 17,
Ps. Ixxii. 16). The writer conceives mount Zion not merely as being at
the head of all other heights (as in the mg.), but as elevated upon them,
this not only marking its superior rank as the site of Jehovah's sanc-
tuary, but also enabling it to be descried from a distance by those who
1 The term rendered sequel sometimes means the end of a period as distinguished
from its beginning (2 Is. xlvi. 10), or the end of an individual life, or of a phase in
a nation's career (Prov. v. 4, Jer. xxxi. 17).
iv. i-3] MICAH 31
the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills ; and
peoples shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall go and say,
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and
to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his
ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall go
forth Hhe law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And
he shall judge 2between 3many peoples, and shall 4reprove strong
nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
1 Or, instruction 2 Or, among 3 Or, great
4 Or, decide concerning
wish to reach it. In the parallel passage in Isaiah the order of the
words has been disturbed, and the metre impaired.
it. The pronoun is here expressed in the Heb., preserving the
rhythm : in Is. it is absent.
peoples. Is. has all the nations.
flow. Or stream-, cf. Jer. xxxi. 12, li. 44.
2. And many nations shall, etc. Cf. Zech. viii. 21, 22.
the God of Jacob. The name Jacob here describes the people of
Judah only, as in iii. 1, 8.
teach us of his ways. Literally, teach us out of his ways, i.e. impart
from His unlimited store of spiritual illumination such amount as is
essential and sufficient for the course of life He requires from men.
the law. Better (as in the mg.), instruction : the noun corresponds
to the verb teach in the previous clause. In the N.T. a counterpart of
the statement here made may be found in Lk. xxiv. 47 : cf. also 1 Cor.
xiv. 24, 25.
3. And he shall judge, etc. The utterance of the nations ceases with
the end of v. 2, and the speaker here is the propbet.
many peoples. Better (as in the mg.), great peoples (parallel with
strong nations, cf. Dt. iv. 38). The clause, however, is too long to be
in keeping with the prevailing rhythm, and Is., where there is no adj.
with peoples, has preserved tbe better text.
reprove. Better, give decisions for (note mg.); cf. Is. xi. 4. Where
Jehovah is universally accepted as arbitrator in international disputes,
there will be no more occasion for appeals to the sword.
afar off. This is in all probability an interpolation: it is absent
from Isaiah and spoils the balance of the clauses.
plowshares. Perhaps better, coulters (the blade fixed in front of
the ploughshare), into which swords could be more easily converted.
Sym., however (on 1 Sam. xiii. 20), gives as its equivalent the Greek
o-Ka^etov, " a spade " or " mattock." The abolition of military weapons
from among both houses of Israel, and the proclamation of universal
peace amongst the surrounding nations, is predicted for the Messianic
Age in 2 Zech. ix. 10, Ps. xlvi. 9, Is. xi. 9.
32 MICAH [iv. 3-5
and their spears into pruninghooks : nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig
tree ; and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth of the
LORD of hosts hath spoken it. 5 For all the peoples 1will walk
every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name
of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
1 Or, walk
pruninghooks. Compare Martial's epigram (Falx ex ense) : Pax
me certa duds placidos curvavit in usus; Agricolce nunc sum, militis
ante fui (xiv. 34).
4. This v. is not contained in Is., and is probably an expansion in
prose of the preceding oracle. Vines and fig trees were characteristic
products of Palestine (Dt. viii. 8, Hos. ii. 12). Similar descriptions of
peace and plenty are found in 1 Kgs. iv. 25, 2 Kgs. xviii. 31, Zech. iii.
10 : for the second clause cf. Is. xvii. 2, Jer. xxx. 10, xlvi. 27, etc.
the LOED of hosts. It has been debated whether, in the phrases
JEHOVAH of hosts and God of hosts (Am. iii. 13, v. 27), the hosts are
terrestrial, or celestial, armies. If the former, the forces of Israel
(called the hosts of JEHOVAH in Ex. vii. 4, cf. 1 Sam. xvii. 36) must be
meant ; but probably the term really has reference to armies of angels ;
cf. Dt. xxxiii. 2, Joel iii. II1.
5. For all the peoples, etc. Better, Though all the peoples walk (cf. mg. )
each in the name of his god, yet we will walk in the name of JEHOVAH,
our God, for ever and ever. For the translation though (or although)
cf. Ps. xlix. 18 (19), Ex. xiii. 17, Dt. xxix. 19 (18), Josh. xvii. 18.
This v. places in contrast to the ideal future depicted in the foregoing
vv. the contemporary condition of the surrounding world, wherein
idolatry still prevails; but the writer, notwithstanding, voices his own
and his countrymen's resolve to be unfalteringly loyal to Jehovah. To
walk in the name of Jehovah probably means to behave according to the
revelation of Himself which God has granted. Though the name of
Jehovah is occasionally used to denote a Theophany (Is. xxx. 27), it
more commonly expresses a disclosure of His character; so that
Jerusalem, with its temple, which was the locality where God's moral
and spiritual nature was pre-eminently revealed through the Mosaic
Law and Prophetic instruction, was styled the place where Jehovah
had put His name (see Dt. xii. 11, and cf. 1 Kgs. viii. 20, 29).
1 See further, The Book of Isaiah (in this series), pp. 12, 13.
iv. 6, 7] MICAH 33
CHAPTER IV. 6—8.
That these three verses originated at a time distinct from that which
witnessed the composition of the previous five is suggested by the different
situation of the Jewish people. Whereas in vv. 1 — 5 it is assumed that the
people are already restored to their own land, and the predictive element
relates to the future dignity which they are to enjoy, here it is presupposed
that, having undergone rejection by Jehovah, they are still in exile, and the
prediction which the passage contains foretells their return to their former
homes, and the restoration to them of the dominion which was once theirs.
The most natural conclusion to which the interna evidence points is that this
oracle is neither by Micah nor by the author of the preceding section, but
(like that in ii. 12 — 13) proceeds from a prophet living in exilic times amongst
the captives in Babylon, and was designed to console and encourage them with
a near prospect of deliverance. (Note the occurrence of the verbs / will
assemble and I will gather in both ii. 12 and iv. 6.) A pre-exilic date, however,
becomes possible if these verses and verses 9 — 10 are transposed, as suggested
by J. M. P. Smith, though the century in which they were written must have
been not the 8th (when Micah lived) but the 6th, or not earlier than the very
end of the 7th ; see p. 35.
6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven away, and her that I have
afflicted ; 7 and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her
that was cast far off a strong nation : and the LORD shall reign
6. In that day. I.e. the coming Day of Jehovah, which, in the mind
of the pre-exilic prophets, was generally conceived to be a time of
judgment and disaster for the sinful people, but which during and after
the Exile was increasingly regarded as an occasion fraught with re-
demption for those who had already undergone retribution for their
offences; see Is. xi. 11, xii. 1, Am. ix. 11, and contrast Am. v. 18.
her that halteth. A figure for an afflicted community: cf. Zeph. iii. 19.
and her that I have afflicted. The presence of this clause disturbs the
parallelism between the rest of the v. and 7a; it is probably a prosaic
explanation of the preceding metaphorical term.
7. a remnant. In this context the word must signify a germ from
which the nation can be renewed: cf. v. 7. For the promise cf. 3 Is.
Ix. 22.
her that was cast off. The Vulg. has earn qua; labor aver at (i.e. "her
that was distressed"), apparently reading hannildjah for hannahala }ah.
the LORD shall reign over them. In prophetic descriptions of the
happy future in store for Jehovah's people sometimes the sovereign
who is to rule them is a king of human descent, endowed with Divine
qualities (Is. viii. 8, ix. 6 f.); at other times he is Jehovah Himself
(Is. xxiv. 23, Ob. 21) : see p. cxiv.
34 MICAH [iv. 7, 8
over them in mount Zion from henceforth even for ever. 8 And
thou, 0 tower of Hhe flock, 2the hill of the daughter of Zion,
unto thee shall it come ; yea, the former dominion shall come,
the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
i Or, Eder See Gen. xxxv. 21. 2 Heb. Ophel.
from henceforth. Better, from thenceforth.
8. 0 tower of the flock. The term likens Jerusalem to a solitary
watch-tower, such as might be constructed by shepherds to protect
them, whilst guarding their sheep on lonely pasture grounds, from
marauders or beasts of prey (cf. 2 Ch. xxvi. 10, 2 Kgs. xvii. 9); and
consequently it implies that the city apostrophized by the prophet is
situated amid solitude and desolation, its surviving buildings being no
better than temporary shelters. The Heb. for the phrase is Migdal
'Edher, identical with the name of a place (according to Jerome, a mile
from Bethlehem) mentioned in the history of the patriarch Jacob (Gen.
xxxv. 21); but here the term is only symbolical.
the hill. Heb. the 'Ophel, a word meaning "a swelling" (cf. the Latin
tumulus) and so applicable to several heights. There was an ophel
within the territory of the Northern Kingdom (2 Kgs. v. 24), and the
Moabite king Mesha mentions in his inscription "the wall of the Ophel"
in connection with a place variously vocalized as Korhah or Kerehoh :
but the term was used especially of the southern extremity of the Temple
hill (see 2 Ch. xxvii. 3, xxxiii. 14, Neh. iii. 26, 27), as here.
shall it come.. .shall come, etc. The text has probably undergone some
slight dislocation: one of the verbs lacks a subject, one of the nouns
(the kingdom) wants a verb, and the rhythm is faulty. A plausible re-
arrangement is, unto thee shall come the former dominion, and there shall
arrive (the verb here differs from the preceding) the kingdom of the
daughter of Jerusalem. The verb rendered come ('dthah) is one which
appears comparatively late in Hebrew literature, and seems to be used
first in Deuteronomy (seven times), unless Is. xxi. 12, 14 are earlier
instances, so that its occurrence here favours for this section a date
later than Micah's age. By the former dominion is meant the extensive
authority which was possessed by David, Solomon, and their more
powerful successors on the throne of Judah (such as Uzziah). In the
Second clause the LXX. has /3acriAeia CK Ba/3vA<j3vos ry Ovyarpl 'lepovo-aXyiJi,
the name of Babylon being probably an insertion suggested by v. 10.
CHAPTERS IV. 9— V. 15.
This large section is by some critics treated as a single whole : whether it
can reasonably be regarded as a unity can best be determined after the several
divisions into which it naturally falls have been surveyed in detail. If a plausible
conclusion as to origin can be reached in regard to the first group of verses
(w. 9 — 10), it can be reconsidered whether the contents of the succeeding groups,
prima facie rather discrepant, allow them to be viewed as emanating from the
same period.
IV. 9, io] MICAH 35
CHAPTER IV. 9—10.
These two verses appear to be distinct from the preceding context. They
imply that Jerusalem, at a time when it still had a king, was in a desperate
plight, its citizens being penned within it by a hostile army at its gates, and
exile being in prospect for some or all of them. The mention of Babylon in
v. 10 as the destined place of exile precludes the reign of Hezekiah as the date
of the oracle unless the words even unto Babylon be omitted as a mistaken
gloss. The hypothesis which best suits the situation is that the prophecy was
uttered near the close of the reign of Zedekiah. The armies of Babylon had
beleaguered Jerusalem for nearly 18 months (2 Kgs. xxv. 1 — 3, Jer. Hi. 1 — 6).
At the termination of that period a breach in the fortifications was made by
the enemy; and Zedekiah, with his chief officers, fled by night, leaving the
kingdom and its capital without a head. This will explain the question asked
mockingly by the prophet in v. 9. The city was soon captured and the king
taken, and both he and the flower of his people were carried to Babylon.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee,
is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee
as of a woman in travail ? 10 Be in pain, and labour to bring
forth, 0 daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now
shalt thou go forth out of the city, and shalt dwell in the field,
9. Now why dost thou cry, etc. If this passage could be referred to
Micah as its author, the situation which the prophet had in mind would
be the advance upon Jerusalem of Sennacherib's forces, as described in
2 Kgs. xviii. 17, and the king and counsellor might be taken to be
Jehovah (the question, Is there no king in thee? implying that the
people need not despair as though God had altogether forsaken them —
He was not finally estranged). But this view is rendered impossible by
v. 10 unless it is emended; and the occasion must be the flight of
Zedekiah during the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. It may be
assumed that tidings have just spread among the populace that the king
and his nobles have deserted them ; and the prophet tauntingly asks
the terrified citizens (who for the most part had supported the senseless
revolt against Babylon) whether they have not a ruler or counsellor to
direct them in the defence of the city.
as of a woman, etc. The same simile to express acute suffering occurs
frequently (cf. Jer. vi. 24, xxii. 23, etc.).
10. Be in pain, etc. The prophet here drops his taunting tone, and
declares that there is real cause for anguish : the population of Jeru-
salem must leave their homes, and be carried captive to Babylon ; and
only after exile there will deliverance come.
labour to bring forth. Literally, thrust forth, though this sense is rare
(cf. Ps. Ixxi. 6a).
shalt thou... the city. I.e. thou must surrender and evacuate it: cf.
2 Kgs. xxiv. 12.
shalt dwell in the field. Outside the city walls the captives would be
3—2
36 MICAH [iv. 10
and shalt come even unto Babylon ; there shalt thou be rescued ;
there shall the LOUD redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
herded together by the conquerors in preparation for removal to Babylon,
more than 500 miles away as the crow flies.
even unto Babylon. If this section is assigned to an occasion just
before the Fall of Jerusalem in 587, the mention of Babylon as the
destined place of exile is perfectly natural (cf. Jer. xx. 4 f., xxii. 25,
xxvii. 12), but in the time of Micah Assyria was Judah's most menacing
enemy, and Babylon was merely one of Assyria's subject states1; so
that if Micah's authorship of the section be defended, these words must
be omitted as an interpolation (for 2 Kgs. xvii. 24 is not a real parallel),
due to a misunderstanding as to the scene of the promised rescue, which
in Micah's thoughts was the field (i.e. the open country outside Jeru-
salem, where the invading Assyrians would meet with disaster), but
was taken by a post-captivity reader to be Babylon, and an explanation
inserted in the nig., whence it was introduced into the text. But the
view adopted above, that the prediction really has in view the Baby-
lonian captivity seems more plausible. It was not until the overthrow
of the Assyrian empire by the Medes and the capture of Nineveh in
607 (later investigations point to 612 as the correct date) that Babylon
attained independence under Nabopolassar, who aided the Medes in
their assault upon Nineveh. The predominance in W. Asia previously
enjoyed by Assyria was grasped at by Egypt; but the Egyptian forces
were defeated at Carchemish (on the Euphrates) in 605 by Nebu-
chadrezzar, son of Nabopolassar; and in consequence the Babylonian
king had Palestine at his mercy, and proceeded to overrun Judah and
to besiege Jerusalem.
CHAPTER IV. 11-13.
In these verses Jerusalem, after its rescue from Babylon, is again thought of
as surrounded by enemies bent on its overthrow. Their hostile efforts, however,
are not destined to result in the city's destruction : on the contrary, Jehovah
designs the assailants to be slaughtered by those whom they attack, and their
spoil to be devoted to Him. There is here no allusion to any particular enemy,
such as the Assyrians or the Babylonians, but to a multitude of hostile nations,
such as are represented in Ezekiel xxxviii., xxxix. as mustering to fight against
Jerusalem, and there is a striking contrast between the predictions of the
overthrow of the city in iii. 12 and in iv. 10 and the present announcement of
its inviolability and of the annihilation of its foes. The latter anticipation occurs
in various post-exilic writers, but as it is also found in Ezekiel, whose ministry
began a few years before the Fall of Jerusalem, the presence of the same idea
here does not altogether preclude for this prophecy an origin just preceding
the Exile, though a confident opinion about its date is impossible.
1 On Is. xxxix. 6 see the commentary on Isaiah in this series, p. 246.
iv. ii-i3] MICAH 37
11 And now many nations are assembled against thee, that
say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye *see its desire upon Zion.
12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither under-
stand they his counsel: for he hath gathered them as the sheaves
to the threshing-floor. 13 Arise and thresh, 0 daughter of
Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy
hoofs brass : and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples : and
1 Or, gaze upon
11. And now. This appears to indicate an occasion distinct from the
nmv of v. 9.
many nations, etc. Though Isaiah in the 8th century could speak of
many nations as assailing Jerusalem (xvii. 12, 13, xxix. 1, cf. xxii. 6),
the various subject nationalities included in the Assyrian hosts being
in his mind1, yet in various passages of his prophecies he names the
enemy that in his day imperilled the Jewish capital ; and he looked for
the defeat of that enemy to be effected not through the Jewish people
themselves but through tbe direct interposition of Jehovah (Is. xxxvii.
2i — 35). Here the writer's conception more nearly resembles that in
2 Zech. xii. 2 f.
Let her be defiled. I.e. let her be desecrated. The prophet makes the
enemy speak from the standpoint of an inhabitant of Jehovah's land,
who would regard its occupation by a heathen foe as a pollution : cf.
Joel iii. 17.
let our eye see, etc. The phrase in the original is merely let our eyes
look (or gaze) upon Zion] but when the object looked upon was an
enemy, it carried with it tbe implication of satisfaction at tbe sight, and
so became equivalent to "gloating over" : cf. (though the verb used is
different) Ezek. xxviii. 17, Ob. 12, 13, Ps. xxii. 17.
12. they know not, etc. The foe, in pursuit of their own purposes,
unconsciously fulfil Jehovah's : the mustering of their forces to assail
Zion only paves the way for their own wholesale destruction.
13. Arise and thresh. For the metaphor cf. 2 Kgs. xiii. 7, Am. i. 3,
Hab.iii. 12, Jer. li. 33, Is. xxi. 10,2 Is.xli. 15. The processes of threshing
adopted by the Hebrews with different kinds of cereals and pulse are
described in Is. xxviii. 27, 28 mg.
thine horn... thy hoofs. Oxen were used to separate the grain from tbe
husk by treading upon it (Dt. xxv. 4, Hos. x. 11, 1 Cor. ix. 9), so that
the mention of the hoofs is appropriate ; but tbe reference to the horn
seems to introduce the alien idea of goring and tossing an adversary
(1 Kgs. xxii. 11, Dt. xxxiii. 17b). Hebrew writers were specially prone
to mix their metaphors (see, for example, Is. xiv. 29, xxviii. 18b, xxx.
28); but possibly here the figure is merely meant to suggest power and
strength.
1 Cf. also Is. viii. 9, where the reference is to the allied forces of Syria and
Northern Israel.
38 MICAH [iv. 13
Hhou shalt devote their gain unto the LORD, and their substance
unto the Lord of the whole earth.
1 So the ancient versions. The Hebrew text as pointed reads, I will devote.
thou shalt devote their gain, etc. Though the Heb. text has a form
which is the regular one for the first person (I will devote], the Versions
(as the mg. notes) have the second person (e.g. LXX. ava^Veis) and are
followed by the E/.V. The verb rendered devote means to "seclude" or
"withdraw" something from common use (the root being the same as
that of harem). Such separation, in the case of enemy persons or
possessions previously associated with the worship of alien gods, was
designed to prevent the infection of a foreign cult from spreading
amongst those whose loyalty to their own God it was desired to safe-
guard. Human beings who were thus devoted were destroyed, and total
destruction was sometimes extended to cattle and other kinds of booty
(hence the Vulg. here has interftcies) ; whilst if they were spared, they
were dedicated to the service of the national sanctuary; see Dt. ii. 34,
35, Josh. vi. 17 — 19, 1 Sam. xv. 3. The custom was not peculiar to the
Hebrews, but was practised by the Moabites likewise (see p. 24). By
gain is meant acquisitions obtained by violence : the Vulg. has rapinas.
the Lord of the whole earth. When the word Lord is not printed in
capitals, it is a title, 'Adhdn (cf. p. 4), and does not represent the
personal name JEHOVAH (see p. 1): cf. Josh. iii. 11, Zech. iv. 14, vi. 5,
Ps. xcvii. 5.
CHAPTER V. 1—9.
This section, when compared with the preceding, manifestly has in view
quite another situation. In iv. 1 1 — 13, Jerusalem, though attacked by numerous
foes, is enabled by Jehovah to destroy them. But here, in the first place,
Jerusalem is depicted as besieged and its ruler insulted; and next, it is
announced that, after a period of national humiliation, there will emerge from
David's birthplace, Bethlehem, a ruler who will be invested with world-wide
dominion, and under whom the land will be safe from hostile invasion; and the
remnant of the people surviving the period of depression will become as
formidable to their enemies as a lion is to sheep. If all these nine verses are
grouped together, the data for settling the time of their origin are, on the
surface, conflicting. Verse 1 points to the time of the monarchy, for the judge
of Israel must signify the king; but the only occasions when the Judean king
was exposed to personal indignity at the hands of foreign enemies occurred
towards the close of the monarchical period, first when Jehoahaz was taken
prisoner by the Egyptian Necho, and next when Jehoiachin and Zedekiah
were successively captured and deported by the Babylonian Nebuchadrezzar
in the first quarter of the 6th century. It accords with this that the appearance
of the great ruler who is to be his people's permanent safeguard is placed
after a period of national subjection to foreign foes, a condition which is most
intelligible if explained by the Babylonian captivity. On the other hand, the
v. i] MIC AH 39
enemy from whom the promised ruler is to secure his people is called the
Assyrian, this people being the dominant power in the second half of the
8th century, but losing its imperial position at the end of the 7th century.
There is evidence, however, that the name Assyria was applied to the various
peoples who succeeded in turn to the empire of the Assyrians, viz. the Baby-
lonians (Lam. v. 6), the Persians (Bz. vi. 22, Is. xxvii. 13?), the Greeks of
Alexander's Age (2 Zech. x. 10, note the mention of Greece in ix. 13), and
perhaps the Syrians of Maccabaean times (Ps. Ixxxiii. 8?); so that there is
nothing unreasonable in taking Assyria in v. 6 to designate Babylonia. The
prophet from whom the oracle proceeds may (unlike Deutero-Isaiah) have
expected his countrymen to be restored to independence and greatness other-
wise than through the total destruction of the Babylonian empire, and to need
protection against renewed assaults by the same power. Accordingly the
simplest solution of the problem of date seems to be the assignment of the
section to some period within the last 20 (or preferably the last 10) years prior
to the Fall of Jerusalem in 587.
These nine verses are here treated as a single oracle; but several critics
(e.g. J. M. P. Smith) deny their unity and consider that v. 1 stands in isolation
from the verses that follow ; and that w. 5, 6 are distinct from the context on
either side of them ; and it must be allowed that of the problem presented no
solution is very satisfying.
V. 1 Now shalt thou gather thyself in troops, O daughter of
1. Now shalt thou... troops, etc. Better, Now shalt thou gather thy-
self for a foray, 0 daughter of forays. The time here indicated by now
seeins to be the same as that of iv. 9, 10. The word (gedhudh), rendered
troops by the R.V., is generally used of bands of marauders (1 Sam.
xxx. 8, 2 Kgs. v. 2, xxiv. 2, Hos. vi. 9, vii. 1), though occasionally of
regular divisions of the Israelite armies (2 Oh. xxvi. 11), as well as
of the hosts of God (Job xxv. 3). It seems not improbable that the
prophet, in calling Jerusalem daughter of forays, has in mind highway
robberies, like those alluded to by Micah (ii. 8) as rife in his time.
Such disorders, if frequent in the 8th century under Hezekiah, are
not likely to have been less common in the 7th and 6th under such
rulers as Manasseh, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah ; and the
term gedhudh in the plural occurs in Hos. vi. 9 in reference to troops of
robbers who seemingly raided unprotected homesteads outside Samaria.
If so, then the address, Now shalt thou gather thyself for a foray may
be a sarcastic command to the lawless population of Jerusalem, penned
in by a powerful enemy, to act under such circumstances as they had
previously been wont to do when at large. The verb employed (gddhadh)
is that occurring in Ps. xciv. 21 (of those who combine against the
righteous) and in Jer. v. 7 (of the throngs of profligates who in that
prophet's time gathered at the houses of loose women). In the phrase
daughter of forays (the Heb. has the sing.) the gen. is descriptive (cf.
Num. xvii. 10, sons of rebellion}. The Vulg. h&sfilia latronis. In the
LXX. the Opening sentence is Nw e/x^pa^^crcrac Ovydr-^p e/x^pay/xa), im-
40 MIC AH [v. i, 2
troops : he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge
of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be
plying the noun gddher and the verb gddhar-, and if the 2 pers. imper.
be substituted for the 3 pers. fut., the rendering will be Now fence
thyself, daughter of fences (i.e. defences), and the command can be
understood as an ironical exhortation to Jerusalem to put in order her
fortifications, if she contemplates defiance of Babylon, as happened in
the reigns of both Jehoiachin and Zedekiah (2 Kgs. xxiv. 10 — 12, 20).
This reading seems preferable to that of the present Heb. text, though
the particular form of the verb implied does not occur elsewhere.
Wellhausen, followed by many scholars, corrects the text to Now cut
thyself severely (one meaning of gadhadh}, the command being a mocking
direction to the people of Jerusalem to gash themselves after the
manner of the heathen, for this was a practice customary in appeals
to their divinities for help (1 Kgs. xviii. 28).
the judge of Israel. The word judge appears to be used in place of
king (cf. Am. ii. 3) for the sake of an assonance with the word rod
(shophet and shebhet).
2. But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah. The prophet relieves the gloom
of the distressful present by placing before his beleaguered and humi-
liated countrymen the prospect of a happier time to follow, when from
Bethlehem there will come forth a ruler who will repeat on a grander
scale the services rendered to bis people by David. The representation
that the promised ruler is to arise from Bethlehem possibly implies
that he is not to be a descendant of David though he is to spring from
Jesse's family: the prophet may have anticipated the extinction of
the seed royal of Davidic origin ; cf. Jer. xxii. 28 — 30. But more
probably the expression is chosen in order to suggest that the destined
sovereign will be a second David.
Ephrathah. This appears to have been the name of the district in
which the Bethlehem here intended was situated (see Ruth iv. 11 and
cf. i. 2, 1 Sam. xvii. 12), for there was another Bethlehem in the
territory of Zebulun (Josh. xix. 15), from which it was sometimes
distinguished as Bethlehem Judah (Jud. xvii. 7). The Ephrath where
Rachel died (Gen. xxxv. 19, xlviii. 7) was near Bethel (in Benjamin,
not Judah, 1 Sam. x. 2), and its identification with Bethlehem (in
Gen. 1. c.) seems to be an erroneous gloss. The Ephrathah of Ps. cxxxii. 6
is probably the same as that here mentioned, for Kiriath-Jearim, with
which it is associated by the Psalmist, is placed by Eusebius 9 or 10
miles W. of Jerusalem, and so may have been included in the same
district as Bethlehem. Van Hoonacker thinks that the name is here
introduced because of the assonance with the root pdrdh, "to produce,"
with allusion to Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messianic prince.
The LXX. has B^Ae'e/x ol/cos 'EcfrpdOa, which probably points to the
true text of the Heb. original (p. cxl.).
v. 2, 3] MICAH 41
among the l thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come
forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth
are from of old, 2from everlasting. 3 Therefore will he give them
1 Or, families See Judg. vi. 15. 2 Or, from ancient days
little to be among. I.e. barely populous enough to be included
among. Bethlehem does not figure among the cities of Judah enu-
merated in Josh. xv. 20 — 63 ; and it is called a village in Joh. vii. 42.
It is situated 6 miles south by west of Jerusalem.
the thousands of Judah. The term thousand was applied to a division
of an army (Ex. xviii. 21, Num. xxxi. 14), a division of a tribe (Jud.
vi. 15, mg., 1 Sam. x. 19), and apparently an area within the territory
of a tribe.
unto me. The speaker is Jehovah, whose purposes the predicted
ruler will carry out.
This v., down to Israel, is quoted in Mt. ii. 6, where the numerous
divergences from the LXX. (which appear when the passages are
placed side by side) point to the employment by the Evangelist of an
independent translation made from a Heb. text not exactly the same
as ours, and included in a collection of O.T. passages "regarded as
prophecies of events in the life of the Messiah1."
LXX. Mt.
KOI <TV, BTj0\fcp, OIKOS 'E(ppa$a, dXt- KOI <rv, BrjffXft^ yij 'lovSa, ovdapws
yoo~Tos ft TOV flvai cv ^iXiaariv 'loJda ' f\a)(iaTTj ft ev rots rjye/^oo'ti/ 'louSa • etc.
f£ ov pot €£f\(v<r(Tai TOV flvai €is (rov yap e^eXeucrerai rjyovpfvos o<rris
TOV 'lo-parjX. Troipavd TOV Xaov pov TOV 'l0-par;X2.
whose goings forth, etc. Some take the expression goings forth to
refer to the origin of the Messianic king in the eternal purposes of God.
But more probably it is an allusion to the promised ruler's lineage,
which was of great antiquity, his line of descent reaching back to the
distant past. If the oracle dates from near the end of the monarchy
(circ. 587), something like 400 years must have elapsed since the time
of David the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite.
from everlasting. Better (as in the mg.),from ancient days] cf. vii.
14, 20, Mai. iii. 4, 3 Is. Ixiii. 11, Am. ix. 11.
3. Therefore will he give them up, until, etc. This seems to imply that
Judah is to be surrendered by God to its foes for no more than a limited
period. Since a David redivivus is destined to appear, the surrender
will last only until the mother of the promised ruler gives birth to him
(cf. Is. vii. 14, a passage which the prophet probably had in mind).
The words she^ which travaileth have been taken by some to refer to the
collective nation. By certain scholars the whole v. is regarded as a later
insertion ; but this is a needless supposition, since Jeremiah, with whom
1 Box, St Matt. p. 76 (C.B.). » Cf. 2 Sam. v. 2.
42 MICAH [v. 3-5
up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth:
then the residue of his brethren shall return xunto the children
of Israel. 4 And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock in the
strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD
his God : and they shall abide ; for now shall he be great unto
the ends of the earth. 5 And this man shall be our peace : when
the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread
1 Or, with
the writer of the present passage was probably contemporary, anticipated
for his countrymen a period of subjection under a foreign power, to be
followed by subsequent deliverance.
the residue of his brethren. It is not clear whether the allusion is to
the exiles of Judah, or to those of the Northern Kingdom : probably
the latter, Israel standing for Judah (representing the true Israel).
The re-union of both branches of the Hebrew people is a feature of
many prophecies : see Hos. iii. 5, Is. xi. 12, Jer. iii. 18, Ezek. xxxvii.
16 f.
4. shall feed his flock. The relation of a ruler to his subjects is
likened to that of a shepherd to his flock hardly less frequently in the
O.T. than in the poems of Homer (who regularly styles the Greek chiefs
shepherds of their people); see 2 Sam. v. 2, Jer. iii. 15, Ezek. xxxiv.
23, xxxvii. 24.
in the strength of the LOUD. Cf. the endowments of the sovereign
whose advent is foretold in Is. xi. 2.
in the majesty of the name. The name of Jehovah was a summary
expression for the disclosure of His character (p. 32), and by this the
future ruler would be enlightened and supported in his task.
they shall abide. I.e. shall continue in security; cf. iv. 4.
for now. Better, for then : cf. vii. 4.
great unto the ends of the earth. Cf. the description of the king in
Ps. ii. 8, Ixxii. 8 ; also Lk. i. 32.
5. And this man shall be our peace, etc. If this is rightly taken (as
by the Vulg., iste) to mean "this man" (cf. Gen. v. 29 Rob.), peace must
stand for "peacemaker" (cf. Eph. ii. 14, which was perhaps suggested
to St Paul by this passage, and the title Jehovah-Shalom in Jud. vi. 24),
or possibly "protector" (cf. Zech. viii. 10, where peace stands for
"protection"). This function of the Messiah is emphasized in Is. ix. 6
(cf. Lk. ii. 14). Nevertheless the Heb., which is literally And this shall
be peace (cf. the LXX. co-rat avrvj dpyvr)), admits of a different and
perhaps preferable interpretation — "And in this way (as explained in
the rest of the v.} will peace be ensured." For the pronoun in this kind
of connection cf. Gen. xx. 13.
the Assyrian. If the prophecy has been correctly dated (see p. 38),
the Babylonians must be designated by this term.
v. 5, 6] MICAH 43
in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds,
and eight 1principal men. 6 And they shall 2 waste the land of
Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances
thereof: and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he
1 Or, princes among men 3 Or, eat up Or, be shepherds over
in our palaces. The LXX. has CTT! TTJV xwpav rf^v, and as the entry
of the foe into Judah's palaces would mean their presence in the heart
of the country, the text should probably be emended to on our soil:
cf. v. 6.
then shall we raise, etc. At first sigbt, this v. seems to represent the
security of the land as being ensured by a plurality of defenders rather
than by tbe single ruler and shepherd described in w. 2 — 4; and some
critics (e.g. Van Hoonacker) have concluded that this v., together with
6a, is too little in accord with its context to be of the same origin. But
the seven shepherds and eight principal (literally anointed, cf. Josh. xiii.
21, Ezek. xxxii. 30 Heb.) men may denote the subordinates of the Ruler,
who, like David of old, will have his chieftains and officers for the exe-
cution of his plans of defence. The combination seven and eight where
we should say "seven or eight" (the use in Heb. of and as equivalent
to or may be illustrated by Lev. xxii. 23, Job xxxi. 26) * merely ex-
presses a considerable but indefinite number ; cf. Am. i. 3, Eccles. xi. 2,
Job v. 19, Ecclus. xxv. 7.
6. waste. Literally, pasture on, and so consume : see Jer. vi. 3, and
cf. Num. xxii. 4.
the land of Nimrod. The kingdom of Nimrod, as described in Heb.
legend, was at first the land of Shinar, i.e. Babylonia; but was subse-
quently extended so as to include Assyria (Gen. x. 9 — 11). The figure
of Nimrod himself is usually identified with the Gilgamesh mentioned
in the cuneiform inscriptions, who, though differing from Nimrod in
name, is depicted, like him, as a great hunter, and as having saved the
city of Erech, one of the places included in Nimrod's dominions (Gen. I.e.).
in the entrances thereof. The word entrances is more suitable to a
city (Is. iii. 26) than to a country (though cf. Nah. iii. 13, the gates of
thy land (of Nineveh), and the pass through the Taurus mountains,
called the Cilician gates} ; and the parallelism suggests that the true
reading and rendering is with drawn (literally opened) blade (biphthihah
for biphthdheha) ; cf. Ps. Iv. 21 (22). Reference here to a weapon is
favoured by Aq.'s «V £t/3wcus ("spears" or "pikes") and the Vulg.'s in
lanceis eius (though the particular weapon meant must have been mis-
understood). The verb "to open" (pdthah) is used of drawing swords
in Ezek. xxi. 28 (33), Ps. xxxvii. 14.
he shall deliver us. Strictly he shall effect deliverance, there being no
us in the Heb. The pronoun he refers to the promised ruler. Some
1 Cf. the Greek T/HJ xai rerpd/cts and the Latin ter quaterque.
44 MICAH [v. 6-9
cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our border.
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples
as dew from the LORD, as showers upon the grass ; that tarrieth
not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant
of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many
peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion
among the flocks of sheep : who, if he go through, treadeth down
and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver. 9 Let thine
hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies
be cut off.
critics, who think that w. 5, 6 together contain an oracle distinct from
that in w. 2 — 4, change the sing, into the plur., — they shall deliver us.
7. And the remnant of Jacob. Cf. ii. 12 (the remnant of Israel). The
title Jacob is used of Judah, as in ii. 12, iii. 9.
as dew. . .as showers. At first sight the point of the comparison would
seem to be the numbers of the dewdrpps and raindrops (cf. Ps. Ix. 3),
but the verbs tarrieth and waiteth are in the singular and must belong
to the grass, to which the relative that in the next clause refers. Con-
sequently the increase which Israel is to experience must be likened to
the innumerable blades of the herbage, watered by the dew and rain
(cf. Dt. xxxii. 2), and thus owing their multiplication to God and not
to man : cf. Job v. 25, Ps. Ixxii. 16. The writer here tbinks of the rem-
nant of tbe Jews not as exercising a gentle and beneficent influence
amongst mankind but as possessing, through augmented numbers,
great powers of offence.
8. as a lion. ..as a young lion. Israel by reason of its increase through
Divine help will prevail over, and annihilate, its enemies ; it will be
comparable to a lion among other wild animals or among still more
defenceless sheep, able to destroy them without resistance.
the beasts of the forest must here include the weaker beasts of prey
(Dt. xxviii. 26, Is. xviii. 6), though tbe word rendered beasts usually
means "cattle."
9. Let thine hand, etc. In tbe Heb. this verse appears to be a prayer
to Jehovah (cf. Is. xxvi. 11) to promote the triumph of the remnant
over its foes, the prophet assuming that Israel's enemies are God's
enemies. But the LXX. and Vulg. have future tenses instead of jussives,
and presumably consider Israel to be addressed: cf. 3 Is. Ix. 12.
Tbe three verses 7 — 9 by certain scholars are assigned to some date
in the Persian period, on the ground that they imply a widespread
dispersion of the Jews throughout tbe world, such as did not obtain in
the 6th century.
v. io, n] MICAH 45
CHAPTER V. 10—15.
These verses consist of an announcement of Jehovah's decision to remove
from the nation both the material resources and the superstitious symbols and
practices in which trust had been placed instead of in Himself. The passage
has been very widely attributed to the 8th century, with Micah as its author;
but its contents are equally suitable to a later period. It is true that reliance
upon chariots and horses obtained from Egypt was a feature in the state-policy
of Judah during the reign of Hezekiah, which was denounced by Isaiah (xxx.
16, xxxi. 1); and the worship of graven images, of Asherim, and of pillars, and
the practice of soothsaying prevailed amongst the people (Is. ii. 6, 8, x. 10,
xvii. 8, xxx. 22, xxxi. 7). Nevertheless reference to all or almost all the objects
and usages here mentioned as sources of confidence occurs in writings of, or
relating to, the 7th century — see Dt. xvii. 16 (horses), xviii. 10, Jer. xxvii. 9
(sorcerers and soothsayers), Dt. vii. 5, Jer. viii. 19 (graven images), 2 Kgs. xxiii.
14 (pillars and Asherim); so that there is nothing to prevent the section from
dating from the end of that century or from the beginning of the next A post-
exilic origin for the section is discountenanced by the allusions to military
forces and (fortified) cities : the Jews were then for several centuries in
a position of subjection to one or other foreign power.
From a review of the several groups of verses (iv. 9 — v. 15) that have just
been considered, it becomes apparent that, as the references to contemporary
conditions in each of them point to, or are compatible with, a date just before
the close of the 7th century or early in the 6th, save for the mention of the
Assyrian in v. 5, whilst this name admits of being understood of the Baby-
lonians, there is no insuperable obstacle preventing all these oracles from being
regarded as proceeding, if not from a single prophet writing during the reign
of Zedekiah, at least from prophets of that period, though in the ideas or the
spirit of certain passages (especially iv. 11 — 13) there is a suggestion of the
atmosphere of post-exilic times.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that
I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and will destroy
thy chariots : 11 and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and will
10. thy horses. These, in war, were employed for drawing chariots.
In the reign of Solomon they were procured from Muzri (south of the
Taurus mountains) and Cue (Cilicia, north of the same chain)1, but at
a later date were obtained from Egypt. In the future here contemplated
the people will no longer trust for security to military defences but to
the protection of Jehovah.
11. the cities of thy land. I.e. fortresses, which might foster in the
nation feelings of self-sufficiency : the overthrow of such strongholds is
predicted in Is. ii. 15, Hos. viii. 14, Jer. iv. 7, ix. 11, Ezek. vi. 6. In
lieu of such defences, Israel, though dwelling in the open country, will
have her safety ensured by God : cf. Zech. ii. 4, 5.
1 See Burney, Heb. Text of Kings, p. 151.
46 MICAH [v. ri-i4
throw down all thy strong holds : 12 and I will cut off witchcrafts
out of thine hand ; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers :
13 and I will cut off thy graven images and thy l pillars out of
the midst of thee ; and thou shalt no more worship the work of
thine hands. 14 And I will pluck up thine 2Asherim out of the
1 Or, obelisks 2 See Ex. xxxiv. 13.
12. witchcrafts. Perhaps better, sorceries (the rendering of the R. V.
in 2 Is. xlvii. 9). The verb (cut off... out of thine hand} suggests that
the sorcerers employed something material, such as drugs or berbs (cf.
LXX. 4>°LP/JLaKa, vnlg. malejlcia), to cause the magical effects which they
professed ability to produce.
soothsayers. These were prevalent in Judah during Isaiah's time (see
Is. ii. 6). The Heb. term which in the R. V. is sometimes translated one
that practiseth augury, and was formerly thought to be connected with
a Heb. root meaning "a cloud," is now considered to refer to tbe
humming or crooning noise which marked the utterances of such
diviners. The LXX. here renders it by a-n-o^^eyyo/ACj/ot.
13. pillars. These were upright stones or obelisks (cf. mg.) which,
being probably at first unhewn boulders (the Celtic meini hirion), were
regarded as the abodes of deities in consequence of some noteworthy
occurrence that had happened in proximity to them. They were wont
to be smeared with fat or oil, in order that such offerings might be
thereby conveyed to the spirits thought to dwell in them, or to be
connected with them (cf. Gen. xxxv. 14, 15). Subsequently artificial
columns were erected near altars, or in front of temples, probably aa
symbols of the divinity to whom worship was offered. Such pillars must
at one time have been associated with JEHOVAH (as the story of Jacob
at Bethel implies, cf. also Is. xix. 19) as well as with other gods (2 Kgs.
iii. 2, x. 26, 27, cf. Dt. vii. 5, xii. 3), and the two columns reared in
front of the Temple (1 Kgs. vii. 15) were presumably of similar signi-
ficance. As the religion of Israel became more spiritual under the
influence of the prophets, the erection of pillars was discountenanced by
them; and in the legislation of Deuteronomy they were directed to be
destroyed.
the work of thine hands. Cf. Is. ii. 8, Jer. xxv. 6, 7, 2 Kgs. xxii. 17.
14. Asherim. The singular is Asherah, and in addition to Asherim
there is a rarer plur. Asheroth (2 Ch. xix. 3, xxxiii. 3). The objects
denoted by the name were tree-trunks or wooden poles (Jud. vi. 26),
which could be plucked up, cut down, or burnt (Ex. xxxiv. 13, 2 Kgs.
xviii. 4, xxiii. 15, 2 Ch. xiv. 3); and, like the pillars, were raised beside
altars, both of Jehovah (as implied by the prohibition in Dt. xvi. 21,
cf. Jer. xvii. 2) and of the Baalim (Dt. vii. 5, xii. 3). They were
probably survivals of tree worship; for trees in primitive times were
thought to be animated by spirits, whose activities were manifested in
the movements and rustle of the leaves (cf. Is. i. 29, Ivii. 5, Ezek. vi.
13). There is, however, some evidence (derived from inscriptions) that
v. i4, is] MICAH 47
midst of thee : and I will destroy thy Cities. 15 And I will execute
vengeance in anger and fury upon the nations 2 which hearkened
not.
1 Or, enemies 2 Or, such as they have not heard
Asherah was also the name of an Amorite and Babylonian goddess ; and
this is confirmed by passages in the O.T. which speak of the prophets of
the Baal and of the Asherah (1 Kgs. xviii. 19), of a graven image of the
Asherah (2 Kgs. xxi. 7), and of houses (shrines) of the Asherah (2 Kgs.
xxiii. 7, mg.). If the name were originally a divine appellation, the
deity so designated was perhaps a deity of "good fortune" (dshar is the
root whence come the Heb. words for "happiness"), like the masculine
Gad (see 3 Is. Ixv. 11, mg.). Of such a goddess the pole which the word
usually denotes must have been a symbol1.
cities. This word, ldrim, as a parallel here to the Asherim, is in-
appropriate, if rendered as usual by cities-, and still more so, if translated
adversaries (cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 16, Ps. cxxxix. 20), or replaced by tsdrim,
enemies; for the rest of the objects mentioned are sources of Judah's
self-confidence. Some other term meaning "images" is wanted, and an
emendation with this signification, approved by many, is 'atsabbim
(coupled with 'Asherim in 2 Ch. xxiv. 18), whilst Van Hoonacker
proposes the substitution of letsim, trees, comparing Dt. xvi. 21. But it
may be suggested that a correction closer to the existing text would be
ts'trim, a word occurring with the required sense of idols in 2 Is. xlv. 16.
15. And I will execute, etc. This v. seems to be an announcement
of vengeance upon the heathen guilty of idolatry. The connection,
however, with the preceding v. is obscure; and this has possibly been
added by someone who could not suppose that idols were to be abolished
in Israel, without any reference to their extinction among foreign
nations, or to the punishment that would overtake those who should
retain them.
which hearkened not. I.e. which shall not have hearkened to the
Divine command to abandon idolatry. (For the perf. in the sense of a
future perf. cf., in the Heb., Gen. xlviii. 6.) The LXX. has because (for
this sense of 'dsher cf. Num. xx. 13) they hearkened not. The relative
pronoun, however, may be taken, as in the mg., to refer to the Divine
vengeance, and the rendering will then be, such as they have not pre-
viously heard of, i.e. unprecedented.
CHAPTERS VI.— VII.
These two chapters are clearly marked off by their contents from those that
precede ; but there are sufficient differences between various parts of them to
render it desirable to examine each of these parts separately, with a view to
collecting the evidence throwing light upon the circumstances of its origin,
as this will decide whether all are assignable or not to a single period or
author.
1 See Burney, Judges, p. 195 f.
48 MICAH [vi. i, *
CHAPTER VI. 1-8.
This section is not a continuation of any in the preceding chapter. It conveys
an address from Jehovah to Israel, explaining to His people (who feel that He
is estranged from them, but are at a loss to know how to satisfy Him) the
nature of the service which He really requires. Presumably some disappointing
experience had caused them to infer that God was angry with them ; and in
order to propitiate Him, they had had recourse to more numerous or more
costly sacrifices than the ordinary, but with no satisfactory result. Accordingly,
the prophet, commissioned to be God's spokesman, enters into argument with
his countrymen and seeks to disabuse them of certain mistaken ideas about
what God desires. The general drift of his contention — that God values in
man justice and mercy towards fellow-men and a humble bearing towards
Himself, and not material oblations — resembles that of several other prophetic
writers (see p. 52) ; but there is a calmness and tenderness in this expostulation
which is distinctive ; and the concluding definition of the Divine requirements
is as profound as it is concise. The tone of the passage is unlike that which
marks the parts of the book most confidently assignable to Micah ; but there
is not much evidence to enable the date of its origin to be determined with
anything like precision. The sacrifice of children is mentioned in connection
with the reigns both of Ahaz (2 Kgs. xvi. 3) and of Manasseh (2 Kgs. xxi. 6 f.,
cf. Jer. vii. 31, xix. 5, Ezek. xx. 26). The presence in it, however, of phrases
(v. 4) characteristic of the book of Deuteronomy points to the conclusion that
it is not earlier than the probable date of that work, viz. the reign of Manasseh,
692 — 638 (see Driver, Dt. p. xliv f.). On the other hand, the allusion to burnt
offerings (o. 6) as the sacrifices thought to be needed for expiating offences
against God suggests that the passage is earlier than the time of Ezekiel
or the Exile, for then sin-offerings, specifically so designated, were ordained
(Ezek. xliii. 19, xlv. 17). Hence the time of composition may be the age of
Jeremiah (second half of the 7th century). With this agrees the individualizing
address, 0 man (v. 8), for it was in this age that a sense of the importance of
the individual, independently of the family or the community, began to make
itself felt
VI. 1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith : Arise, contend
thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
2 Hear, 0 ye mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye endur-
1. Hear. . .saith. The prophet declares the commission he has received
from JEHOVAH (Arise, contend thou, etc.) to act as His advocate in the
controversy between Him and Israel.
contend thou before the mountains. The physical world, the abiding
scene and witness of human history, is to hear the pleadings (as in Is.
i. 2, Jer. ii. 12, Ps. 1. 1, 4, Dt. xxxii. 1). In connection with the verb
here employed the preposition 'eth commonly signifies with (i.e. against),
see Num. xx. 13, Jud. viii. 1, 2 Is. 1. 8; but it has the meaning before
(i.e. in the presence of) in Gen. xx. 16 end (mg.), Is. xxx. 8.
2. ye enduring foundations of the earth. The order of the Heb. which
vi. 2-5] MICAH 49
ing foundations of the earth : for the LORD hath a controversy
with his people, and he will plead with Israel. 3 0 my people,
what have I done unto thee ? and wherein have I wearied thee ?
testify against me. 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage ; and I
sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 0 my people, re-
member now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him ; remember from Shittim
is thus rendered is irregular, and many critics favour the conjectural
emendation, Give ear, ye foundations of the earth (the same verb being
used as a parallel to hear in Joel i. 2, Dt. xxxii. 1, Is. i. 2).
Israel. Judah must be meant, as in v. 1.
3. what have I done unto thee? Jehovah, instead of proceeding with
His charge against Israel, leaves it to the latter to state their complaint
against Him: cf. Jer. ii. 5.
wherein have I wearied thee? I.e. in what respects have My demands
been so onerous as to palliate thy misconduct towards Me1? Cf. 2 Is. xliii.
23, Mai. i. 13.
4. For I brought thee up, etc. Jehovah forestalls any complaint from
Israel that He was exacting in His requirements by referring to His care
for them, from their sojourn in Egypt to their arrival in Canaan (v. 5).
redeemed ...bondage. The phrases to redeem (in connection with the
deliverance from Egypt) and the house of bondage (literally, of bondmen)
recur frequently in Dt. (vii. 8, xiii. 5, xxiv. 18), but are rare elsewhere
(see Driver, Dt. pp. Ixxix, Ixxxii).
and Miriam. This association of Miriam with Moses and Aaron in
a prominent capacity on tbe occasion of the Exodus finds no parallel
elsewhere, though she is represented as leading the women's triumph
song (Ex. xv. 20, 21) and as claiming (in conjunction with Aaron) to
be an agent of Divine communications equal to Moses (Num. xii. 2 f.),
her self-assertion being punished with leprosy.
5. consulted. Better, planned, see Num. xxii. 4 — 6. Balak, in desiring
Balaam to curse Israel, believed that an imprecation, once uttered, ful-
filled itself automatically (cf. Zech. v. 3, 4). The Moabite king's design
was foiled through Balaam's substitution (by Jehovah's direction) of a
blessing, which was similarly thought to be irreversible (cf. Gen. xxvii. 33,
Mt. x. 13 = Lk. x. 61). Maurer compares Horn. H. ix. 453 — 457, and Hor.
Epod. v. 89 — 90, Diris agam vos: dira detestatio nulla expiatur victima.
Balaam. For his replies to Balak see Num. xxii. 8, 13, 18, xxiii. 11 f.
Though he was used by Jehovah as a channel of revelation, he was not
an Israelite by race, but is variously represented as living either in
Pethor (Mesopotamia) near the Euphrates, or amongst the Ammonites
(see Num. xxii. 5 Vulg., Dt. xxiii. 4).
from Shittim unto Gilgal. Before these words there seems to have been
1 Here your peace means "your blessing" (or "salutation").
w. 4
50 MICAH [vi. 5-7
unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of the LORD.
6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before
the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with
calves of a year old ? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands
of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? shall I give my
lost some expression like and the passage, the allusion being to the
crossing of the Jordan (subsequent to the incident in which Balak and
Balaam figured); for Shittim was the site of the camp on the E. bank,
whence the Israelites started for the river, and Gilgal was the spot
where they first encamped on the W. bank after the crossing : see Josh,
iii. 1, iv. 19, v. 9.
the righteous acts. Literally, the righteousnesses ; cf. Jud. v. 11, 1 Sam.
xii. 7, Ps. ciii. 6. The word in these passages has the special connotation
of actions wrought by God in vindication of His people (cf. vii. 9, Ps.
xxxvi. 10, li. 14), such being demonstrations of His faithfulness to His
covenant with Israel.
6. Wherewith, etc. The speaker (a representative Israelite) assumes
that Jehovab can be appeased, like other divinities, by material offerings,
if these are sufficiently valuable ; but is in doubt as to what will content
Him.
the high God. I.e. the God who dwells on high: cf. Is. xxxiii. 5, 3 Is.
Ivii. 15.
with burnt offerings. For the expiation of sin by offerings see 1 Sam.
xxvi. 19. Animal sacrifices, specifically designated burnt offerings, were
wholly consumed by fire, the victims being (it was thought) thereby
conveyed (through the smoke and savour) to the Deity in their entirety ;
but in peace offerings only portions of the victims were burnt, the rest
being consumed partly by the offerer and his household and partly by
the priests, the idea being that they were feasts of communion between
the worshipper and the Deity, whose representatives the priests were.
calves of a year old. According to the Law, this age was a require-
ment in the case of the Passover sacrifice (Ex. xii. 5) and of certain
offerings enjoined in Lev. ix. 3, Num. xv. 27.
7. thousands of rams... rivers of oil. Both expressions are highly
rhetorical; similar rhetoric occurs in Job xx. 17, xxix. 6. The word
rendered rivers is literally torrents, answering to the modern wddies,
channels that are dry in summer, but swollen with rain in the winter.
Oil in small quantities was an accompaniment of several sacrifices
prescribed in the Mosaic Law; but in primitive times it may have been
offered independently of other things (cf. Gen. xxviii. 18). In a pastoral
stage of civilization it was probably the melted fat of animals, since
vegetable oil could only come into use after an agricultural phase of life
was reached. The Vulg. instead of ten thousands of rivers of oil has
many thousands of fat goats (multis millibus hircoi-um pinguium), a
rendering which may be either a deliberate substitution for the sake of
improving the parallelism, or an attempt to make sense of a depraved
vi. 7] MICAH 51
firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin
reading, x€t/x"PPwv ("winter streams") having been corrupted into
Xt/xapo)]/ ("goats"). LXX. B has X«M<WWV irtovw1, but codex A replaces
the noun by apvwv.
my firstborn. Human sacrifices were practised in Israel during the
monarchy by kings who imitated the barbarous usages of their neigh-
bours (see 2 Kgs. xxi. 6 f., Jer. vii. 31, xix. 5, xxxii. 35, 3 Is. Ivii. 5;
and cf. 2 Kgs. iii. 27), but it is clear from the instance of Jephthah that
in still earlier times they were not regarded by religious minds as re-
pugnant to Jehovah, if occasion appeared to call for them; and the
execution of captives and others "before Jehovah" must have been
survivals of such sacrifices (1 Sam. xv. 33, 2 Sam. xxi. 9). The story
of Abraham's offering of Isaac, for whom a ram was substituted before
the sacrifice was completed (just as in one form of the Greek legend of
Iphigenia, the maiden, when about to be sacrificed to Artemis, was
replaced by a hind, Eur. /. A. 1578 — 1589), probably reflects the
transition from human sacrifices in honour of Jehovah to a less repulsive
rite (Jephthah's offering of his daughter at a later period being accounted
for by the circumstances of his vow). It is, however, unlikely that, in
the age when the present passage was written, such were still thought
by any but the most unethical characters to be compatible with the
worship of Jehovah ; the expression is an hyperbole, the sacrifice of the
firstborn son being the costliest conceivable. The idea behind the kind
of sacrifice here imagined is plainly that atonement for sin could be
made by the sinner through some self-inflicted mortification or loss;
but this is not the only principle that can be traced in the piacular
sacrifices of the Hebrews. There are two others: (1) the satisfaction
imparted by a gift, which (it was thought) would dispose the offended
deity to overlook the sinner's offence (cf. 1 Sam. xxvi. 19); (2) the
substitution, for the offender's forfeited life, of the life of another,
though innocent (see 2 Sam. xxi. 1 — 14, xxiv. 10, 17, 2 Is. liii. 5, 6, 10,
4 Mace. vi. 29). A contrast to these beliefs was presented by the ethical
principle, asserted by most of the Hebrew prophets, that reconciliation
with God (at-one-ment) could only be effected by the repentance of the
sinner, followed by his reformation. Nevertheless, for bringing about
such repentance and reformation the suffering or death of a person or
persons other than the sinner has often proved a most potent agency.
Such a result may ensue (a) from the knowledge of a better ideal of
conduct, which the relatively righteous, through involuntary misfortune
patiently borne, may become the means of diffusing among the un-
righteous (as exemplified by the Jews, who, through their dispersion
among the Gentiles, acquainted the latter with a monotheistic faith2);
(b) from the appeal which the voluntary self-sacrifice of the righteous on
behalf of the unrighteous is calculated to make to the latter (as illus-
1 Aq. has \tL\j.a.pp<av f\atov.
2 This seems to have been in the mind of the writer of 2 Is. Hi. 13— liii. 12.
4—2
52 MICAH [VI. 7, 8
of my soul? 8 He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good; and
what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
trated by our Lord's surrender of Himself to death for the redemption
of "many" (Mk. x. 45)).
8. He hath shewed. The subject of the verb, if the latter is correctly
vocalized, is JEHOVAH, but the Vulg. has indicabo and the LXX. tbe
passive — aV^yyeX^.
what doth the LORD, etc. Contrary to the popular belief that God
could be placated or conciliated in one or other of the ways explained
above, it is here affirmed that the Divine favour could only be gained
or regained by the discharge of moral obligations to fellow-men, and by
a right attitude of heart towards the Almighty. That the requirements
of God from man consist not in ceremonial worship and material offerings
(though these may be aids to spiritual religion) but in tbe practice of
the social duties of justice and mercy and in the religious virtue of
humility is asserted in various terms by other prophets (see Is. i. 11, 19,
Am. v. 21—24, Hos. vi. 6, Jer. vii. 4—7, 21—23, Zech. vii. 9, 10) and
by several of the psalmists and other O.T. writers (Ps. xl. 6, 7, 1. 7 — 15,
li. 16—17, Dt. x. 12 f., Prov. xv. 8, xxi. 3, 27, 1 Sam. xv. 22); and is
re-affirmed in tbe N.T. (Mk. ii. 23—28, iii. 1—6, xii. 33, 34, Mt. ix. 13,
xii. 7, xviii. 4, xxiii. 23 (=Lk. xi. 42), Lk. xiv. 1—6, James i. 27, ii. 13,
iv. 10, 1 Pet. v. 6).
to walk humbly. The word represented by humbly only occurs else-
where in Prov. xi. 2, where the LXX. for the corresponding adjective
uses TttTretvos. Jehovah's demands for justice and mercy had been
affirmed before (see above) ; but the third requirement is stressed for
the first time here (though both Amos and Hosea condemned the pride
of Israel (Am. vi. 8 mg., Hos. v. 5, vii. 10)). To bear oneself humbly
with God involves not merely submission to His will, as indicated in the
circumstances and events of life, but also a spirit of teachableness,
responsive to intimations of His wishes conveyed through ideas and
ideals — whether originating from within or imparted from without. This
quality of docility, indeed, is a more essential part of true humility than
resignation, for adverse circumstances may be designed by God for men,
not to induce a spirit of submissiveness, but to stimulate intelligent
efforts to ameliorate them.
CHAPTER VI. 9—16.
This section, by its contents and spirit, is quite unlike that just considered,
and more nearly resembles the passages ii. 1 — 11, iii. If. Both here and in
vi. 1— 8 Jehovah addresses His people, but whereas the preceding section is
marked by a pleading and appealing tone, this breathes a spirit of stern
indignation against the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the practice of dishonesty
in trade, the perpetration of violence, and the general prevalence of falsehood
and insincerity ; and pronounces the punishment which is to be inflicted upon
vi. 9] MICAH 53
such a guilty people. Fraud, force, and falsehood have, of course, been peculiar
to no age in Hebrew or any other history; but the allusions to Omri and
Ahah (v. 16) are most natural in a composition written before rather than
after the complete disappearance from among the Jews of a national govern-
ment; and if, as this suggests, the present passage is pre-exilic, it may originate
with Micah in the reign of Hezekiah, or with a later prophet living under
Manasseh or the corrupt successors of Josiah. In the references to the
retribution impending over the cfty, there is one (v. 13) which, if the Heb.
text be retained (see note), seems to imply that it has in some measure
occurred already; but even this would be quite consistent with a date in the
reign of Hezekiah (when Judah was invaded by Sennacherib) or in the reign
of Jehoiakim (see 2 Kgs. xxiv. 2). The complaint in v. 16 that the people
whom the prophet addresses follow the evil precedents of Omri and Ahab,
who were rulers of Northern Israel, need not involve the conclusion (favoured
by Van Hoonacker) that Samaria is the object of the prophet's denunciation,
for the kings of Judah from Ahaziah onwards were descendants, on the female
side, of Omri through Athaliah ; and it is made a charge against Ahaziah that
he walked in the way of the house of Ahab (see 2 Kgs. viii. 26, 27, and cf.
xvii. 19).
9 The voice of the LORD crieth unto the city, and the man of
wisdom will 1see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath
1 Some ancient versions read, fear.
9. The voice of, etc. oiffarkf JEHOVAH crieth. The prophet directs
the attention of the denizens of the city (Jerusalem) to Jehovah's com-
plaints against them.
and the man of wisdom, etc. This sentence as it stands in the Heb.
is very difficult. The verb is in the masc., though the term rendered
wisdom is fern. ; and to get sense out of the construction, it must be
assumed that wisdom is equivalent to "man of wisdom" (cf. Prov. xiii.
6 mg., where sin stands for "man of sin," and Prov. xvii. 4, where
falsehood is used for " a liar "). Moreover, though the verb to see can
denote other sense-perceptions besides vision (cf. Ex. xx. 18, Jer. ii. 3 1)1,
yet the phrase to see thy name is unusual; and there is probably some
corruption. In Heb. the verbs " to see " and " to fear " are in some of
their forms very similar; and since the LXX. has o-oxrei <£o/3ov/xeVovs
TO oVo/xa av-rov, a very slight alteration of one word (yirdh'1 for yireh)
will yield the unexceptionable sense, and it is wisdom to fear Thy
name (cf. Job xxviii. 28, Prov. ix. 10, xv. 33, Ecclus. i. 14) — a paren-
thetic reflection that Jehovah's complaints cannot be trifled with. The
word rendered wisdom is found, for the most part, in the books of
Proverbs and Job, though it also occurs in Is. xxviii. 29; and the
aphorism, coming between two clauses that balance one another, is
suspected, not without reason, to be a moralizing insertion.
hear ye the rod, etc. This, if the text be sound, can only mean, ' ' Be
1 Cf. Mt. xiv. 30, Rev. i. 12. * For the form cf. Ps. Ixxxvi. 11.
64 MICAH [vi. 9-1*
appointed it. 10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in
the house of the wicked, and the scant l measure that is abomi-
nable? 11 Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag
of deceitful weights? 12 For the rich men thereof are full of
1 Heb. ephah.
warned by the instrument of the present chastisement (see v. 13) and
by Him who has appointed it (cf. Jer. xlvii. 7) for its task (in order
that the punishment may not be prolonged)"; and the reference is
probably to a foreign invader, who, if the section proceeds from Micah,
will be the Assyrian (styled by God His " club " and " rod " in Is. x. 5).
But there are serious difficulties of grammar involved in this trans-
lation; for beside the facts that the Heb. has merely rod (not the rod)
and that the pronoun rendered it is fern., whereas rod is elsewhere
masc., the word rendered who is not equivalent to him who, but is an
interrogative. Instead of rod the LXX. (<f>v\y), Syr. and Vulg. imply
"tribe" (another signification of the same word, matteh), treating it
as a vocative ; whilst the LXX. includes in this sentence the word lodh
(yet), which in the Heb. stands at the beginning of the next (in an un-
natural position before the interrogative (though cf. (in the Heb.) Gen.
xix. 12)), but reads it as I1r (city); and Wellhausen, guided by this,
has proposed the ingenious emendation, Hear, 0 tribe (i.e. Judah,
distinguished from its capital) and assembly of the city (i.e. Jerusalem),
replacing uml ye'ddhah lddk by umo'edk hd'ir. This agrees with the
mention of the city in the preceding clause.
10. Are there. . . ? The form of the word (ha-ish instead of ha-yesh)
thus rendered is irregular (though cf. 2 Sam. xiv. 19); and it has been
proposed by Wellhausen to add a letter and so produce a verb
(hd'esksheh), meaning shall I condone...? (the Vulg. has numquid
iustificaboT): cf. the question in the following v. The word rendered
yet is doubtless due to textual corruption (see above) and is wrongly
included in this v.
the scant measure. Literally, the lean ephah, an ephah being a "dry"
measure containing approximately a bushel.
11. Shall I be pure with, etc. The speaker may be God, asking
Himself whether He will be free from complicity if He overlooks such
dishonesty; or it may be the prophet (representing his countrymen)
parleying with his conscience. The LXX. has d Si/caiw^WrcH ei/, etc.,
shall a man be held pure (or innocent) before God with, etc. ; but better
than either the LXX. or the present Heb. text is the proposal to retain
the 1st pers. of the latter, but to change the points — shall I (God)
hold a man pure in spite of wicked balances ? For this sense of the pre-
position (be) cf. 2 Is. xlvii. 9.
a bag. This, for containing portable weights, was carried by traders
or hawkers; see Dt. xxv. 13, Prov. xvi. 11.
weights. Literally, stones. Early inscribed stone weights have been
found both in Babylonia and in Palestine; see Hastings, DB. iv.
vi. i7-i5] MICAH 55
violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their
tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore I also have
smitten thee with a grievous wound ; I have made thee desolate
because of thy sins. 14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied ; and
thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee : and thou shalt
remove, but shalt not carry away safe; and that which thou
carriest away will I give up to the sword. 15 Thou shalt sow, but
shalt not reap : thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint
1 Or, emptiness
pp. 902, 904. The prevalence of the kind of dishonesty here denounced
is attested by Hos. xii. 7, Am. viii. 5 (prophets in Northern Israel),
and by the prohibitions in Dt. xxv. 13 — 15 (a Judsean document),
Ezek. xlv. 10, Lev. xix. 35, 36 (post-exilic).
12. For the rick men thereof. The translation for (or because) is
justified by Num. xx. 13, Josh. iv. 7; so that there is no need to
render of which (the pronoun referring to the city in v. 9) the rich men,
etc. and to transpose (as some scholars suggest) vv. 11 and 12.
13. / also have smitten. ..wound. Literally, I also have made grievous
the smiting of thee. This suggests that the chastisement is already severe
(cf. v. 9, note) : but the LXX. (which has the verb apxto-Qai), and Aq.
(/cat eyw ^p^dfji^v rov Trara^at) imply / also have begun to smite thee.
The correction (involving merely a change of points) admits of being
construed with the following verb as easily as does the existing text.
The pronoun thee, being masc., must refer to the citizens viewed
collectively. In the light of the next v. the chastisement must be
supposed to be ravage and siege at the hands of an enemy.
14. not be satisfied. I.e. there will be a shortage of food in con-
sequence of a hostile blockade : compare the language of Hos. iv. 10,
Lev. xxvi. 26.
thy humiliation. This rendering follows the Vulg., but a preferable
translation (see mg.) is thy emptiness (in a physical sense). The Heb.
word only occurs here.
thou shalt remove... sword. Of these two clauses the first apparently
refers to goods (cf. Is. v. 29), the second (as shewn by mention of the
sword) to persons.
15. Thou shalt sow, etc. The offenders will lose not only their dis-
honest gains, but the fruit of their industry. This v., implying the
ravage of the land by the enemy and resultant scarcity in the city,
would certainly be more appropriately placed immediately after v. 14a,
which it explains; and some critics accordingly transpose it. For the
tenor of thev. cf. Lev. xxvi. 16, Dt. xxviii. 30, 33, 38 — 40, 67, Am. v. 11.
tread the olives. Allusions to the treading of olives in presses occur
in Dt. xxxiii. 24, Jud. ix. 27, Job xxiv. 11, Is. xvi. 10, 3 Is. Ixiii. 2, Joel ii.
24; but the berries were also crushed by being beaten (as implied in
Ex. xxvii. 20).
56 MICAH [vi.
15,
thee with oil ; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the
house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels: that I should make
thee *a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing; and
ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
1 Or, an astonishment
the vintage. The Heb. word is the same as that generally translated
new wine (see Joel i. 10, Prov. iii. 10), and denotes for the most part
the unfermented juice of the grape (3 Is. Ixv. 8) ; but here must mean
" the grapes " : cf. Is. xxiv. 7.
16. the statutes of Omri are kept. The verb is inappropriate in both
form (reflexive) and number (sing.), and the LXX. and some other
Versions have thou hast kept the statutes of Omri, which is preferable.
The historian of Kgs., though describing Omri as exceeding his pre-
decessors in wickedness, only explains that, like Jeroboam, he worshipped
Jehovah under the figure of a calf or young bull. But after an enu-
meration of offences like those in vv. 10 — 12, the statutes of Omri are
probably to be interpreted by the works of the house of Ahab, which
may be illustrated by the judicial murder of Naboth and the confiscation
of his estate (1 Kgs. xxi.); and it may perhaps be inferred that Omri's
government (like his son's) was oppressive to the poorer classes among
his subjects. Politically, he was one of the most powerful sovereigns
of Northern Israel, the territory of which the Assyrians called after his
name.
that I should make thee, etc. According to Heb. idiom, the penalty
consequent upon a crime can be represented as a purpose, as though
the criminal designed his own retribution. The law that sin brings
chastisement is assumed to be known, so that he who plans the one
plans the other. There is considerable confusion among the genders
and numbers of the pronouns in this verse (ye... thee (masc. sing.)...
thereof (fern, sing.)), reference being made sometimes to the people
(either distributively in the plural or collectively in the singular) and
sometimes to the city; but probably thee should be replaced by it (i.e.
the city, v. 9, which is fern.).
an hissing. I.e. an object of derision (cf. Jer. xix. 8, xxv. 9, 18,
xxix. 18).
of my people. There is clearly a textual error here : what the sense
requires is of the peoples as read by the LXX. : cf. Ezek. xxxvi. 15.
CHAPTER VII. 1—6.
These six verses depict conditions of disorder, corruption, and strife,
resembling those presented in the previous section (vi. 9 — 16), though they
lack any specific allusions pointing to a particular period as the date of their
origin. In form they consist of a complaint from the prophet concerning the
prevalence of violence among the people, the failure of justice, and the existence
VII. i-
MICAH
57
of feuds dividing friends and families. Most of these evils were features in
Hebrew history that often recurred, and are consistent equally with the age
of Micah (see i.— iii.), and with the age after the Return in 537 (see 3 Is. lix.).
But in the absence of any criteria decisive for one period rather than another,
there is no cogent reason for separating these verses from those in vi. 9—16
(see p. 52).
VII. 1 Woe is me ! for I am as when they have gathered the
summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no
cluster to eat; 1my soul desireth the firstripe fig. 2 The godly
man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright
among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every
man his brother with a net. 3 2 Their hands are upon that
1 Or, nor firstripe fig which my soul desired
2 Or, Both hands are put forth for evil to do it <&c.
1. / am as when they have gathered, etc. Literally, / am as the
crete term gleanings just as a similar abstract is combined with the
latter term in Is. xvii. 6, xxiv. 13. The concise comparison requires in
English to be expanded (see below).
my soul desireth, etc. Better (cf. mg.), there is no firstripe fig which
my soul desireth (the negative expressed in the preceding clause being
supplied in this). The first figs of the season, for which Heb. has a
special term, ripen at the end of May or the beginning of June, and in
early times were highly appreciated (Is. xxviii. 4, Jer. xxiv. 2, Hos. ix.
10; cf. Mk. xi. 13). The speaker means "I am as one who, at the end
of the vintage or the fig harvest, looks for fruit in vain," the "fruit"
being a figure for the godly and the upright.
2. The godly man. The writer proceeds to explain the significance
of the preceding metaphors. The adjective here employed describes one
who displays both kindness to his fellow-men and love to God. Its
primary meaning appears to be kind] but since kindness, especially at
times when tbe higher ranks of society ill-treated their inferiors, was a
mark of the God-fearing, it acquired the secondary sense of pious, or
godly1.
out of the earth. Better, out of the land. The like complaint finds
expression in 3 Is. Ivii. 1, Ps. xii. 1.
blood. Properly, deeds of blood, the Heb. plural being similarly used
in 2 Sam. xvi. 8, Is. i. 15, iv. 4, etc.
they hunt... net. An expressive figure for the efforts made by the
designing and malicious to entrap their neighbours. For the use of nets in
hunting see 2 Is. li. 20, and for the figure of speech cf. Ps. xxxv. 7, Ivii. 6.
3. Their hands, etc. The literal sense of the Hebrew seems to be
1 See Driver, Parallel Psalter, pp. 443—4.
58 MICAH [vii.
3, 4
which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the
judge is ready for a reward ; and the great man, he uttereth the
mischief of his soul : thus they weave it together. 4 The best of
them is as a brier: Hhe most upright is worse than a thorn
hedge : the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come ;
1 Or, the straightest is as it were taken from dc.
Upon the evil (are) both hands (or palms) skilfully (or thoroughly) to do
it-, but the real meaning is perhaps As regards that which is evil, their
two hands are ready to do it skilfully (or thoroughly). For the rendering
of the preposition by as regards or concerning cf. Lev. vi. 7 (Heb. v. 26).
Nevertheless the sentence is awkward, and since the LXX. has evrt TO
KO.KOV TO.S x«/>as auTwv €Toijua£ovcnv, many critics emend the text so as to
yield the sense To do evil they make skilful (or ready) their hands.
the prince. The title here seems to signify no more than the magis-
trate-, cf. Ex. ii. 14, xviii. 21 (where the word rulers translates the same
Heb. term), Is. i. 23, etc.
asketh. The object, supplied in thought, is "a reward" (i.e. a bribe),
as in the next clause.
the judge is ready for a reward. The Heb., if sound, should perhaps
be rendered the judge doeth it (the request of a suitor) for a reward.
But possibly (as Nowack has suggested) a verb, judgeth, has been lost
through haplography. The acceptance of bribes is expressly prohibited
in the Law (see Dt. xvi. 19).
the great man. The person here described is the influential suitor
who seeks to obtain a decision in his favour by corrupt means from a
venal magistrate.
the mischief. Better, the evil desire (for so the same word is rendered
in Prov. x. 3). Sym. has rr}v cirtdv/u'av, the Vulg. desiderium.
thus they weave it together. The Heb. verb does not occur elsewhere
(it seems to mean "to twist" or "intertwine"), and possibly there has
occurred the loss of a word or words. The sentence presumably describes
some arrangement between a litigant and an official for the deliverance
of an unjust decision.
4. as a brier. I.e. they are dangerous to have to do with.
is worse than a thorn hedge. I.e. is more crooked and harmful than
such a hedge. For this explanation of the Heb. text (in which there is
absent an adjective or a verb equivalent to "(is) worse") cf. the con-
struction in Is. x. 10. But Sym. has w? e£ c^pay/jLov, and the true
reading may be cimsuchah instead of mimmesuchah — is like a thorn hedge.
the day of... is come. The prophet here addresses the people. The
verb is fern., agreeing with thy visitation, and possibly the day of^ thy
watchmen is a note inserted by a copyist, identifying the "visitation"
with the "day" of nemesis which the prophets, the city's "watchmen"
(cf. Is. xxi. 6, Jer. vi. 17, Ezek. iii. 17, xxxiii. 7, Hab. ii. 1), anticipated.
As the poss. pron. attached to perplexity at the end of the v. is in the 3rd
pers. plur., thy visitation should probably be replaced by their visitation.
vii. 4-6] MICAH 59
now shall be their perplexity. 5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye
not confidence in a 1 guide : keep the doors of thy mouth from
her that lieth in thy bosom. 6 For the son dishonoureth the
father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter
in law against her mother in law ; a man's enemies are the men
of his own house.
1 Or, familiar friend
now. Better, then; cf. y. 4.
perplexity. I.e. the bewilderment created by tbe coming of unexpected
retribution (cf. Is. xxii. 5).
5. a guide. Better, an intimate, or (as in the mg.) a familiar friend.
6. dishonoureth. Cf. LXX. an^ei. The Heb. literally is treats as a,
fool: the same word occurs in Nan. iii. 6, Dt. xxxii. 15, Jer. xiv. 21;
and in the R.V. is rendered by various equivalents.
the men of his own house. I.e. his domestic servants (Gen. xvii. 23,
etc.). Amongst the Hebrews parental authority was supreme over the
children, who could be sold as slaves (Ex. xxi. 7, 2 Kgs. iv. 1, Neh. v. 5),
or even offered in sacrifice (Jud. xi. 29 — 40, 2 Kgs. xxi. 6). In the case
of daughters marriage only transferred them from the despotic authority
of the father to that of the husband; and amongst tbe Romans the
position of women was similar (cf. Livy xxxiv. 2, Maiores nostrifeminas
voluerunt in manu esse parentium, fratrum, virorum). So far as parents
are concerned, it is the power of the father rather than of the mother
tbat generally comes under notice in the O.T. writings, yet the utmost
respect towards both parents was enjoined in the Law and elsewhere
(Ex. xx. 12, Lev. xix. 3, Dt. xxvii. 16, Prov. xxiii. 22, etc.); and it was
directed that anyone guilty of striking or cursing either father or mother
should be put to deatb (Ex. xxi. 15, Lev. xx. 9). Hence the conditions
here depicted would be more shocking to Eastern even than to Western
sentiment. Over servants and slaves the rights of a Hebrew were
likewise extensive, and included the infliction of physical chastise-
ment; so tbat it was deemed necessary to limit them by imposing
punishment on the owner of a slave, if the latter died under his master's
blows, and to require tbat a slave should gain bis liberty as compen-
sation, if he sustained severe bodily injury from his master (Ex. xxi.
20 f.). But the relations between master and servant were sometimes
very intimate (Gen. xxiv. 2); and the latter, if the former bad no son,
might, as a member of the household, become his heir (Gen. xv. 2).
This v. suggested the words used by our Lord to describe the divisions
that would be occasioned even within family circles by the welcome
given to His teaching by some members, and the antagonism roused by
it in others (Mt. x. 35, 36 = Lk. xii. 51 — 53). Maurer compares Ov.
Met. i. 444 f., Non hospes ab hospite tutus, Non socer a genero; fratrum
quoque gratia rara est. Imminet exitio vir coniugis, ilia mariti. Lurida
terribiks miscent aconita novercai; and there may be added Seneca,
Thyestes, 40 — 43, Fratrem expavescat f rater et natumparens, Natusque
patrem...immineat viro Infesta coniux.
60 MICAH [VIL 7, 8
CHAPTER VIL 7—20.-
This group of verses, as a whole, offers a marked contrast to what has gone
before. In the preceding group there is an indignant lament over the preva-
lence of dishonesty and crime amongst the people, and there is placed before
them the prospect of impending retribution. But here the retribution for the
national offences has come to pass, and the people are in a situation of adversity
and abasement, though not bereft of hope. Obviously a considerable interval
must separate v. 7 from the foregoing v. 6. It is not, however, clear at the first
glance that all these 14 verses date from one period. The extremely plaintive
tone of vv. 7 — 10 implies that the humiliation of the people is extreme,
and suggests that they are still in exile, and that the passage dates from the
period 587 — 537. But the next three 00., announcing that the walls of
Jerusalem are to be rebuilt, appear to proceed from a time when the Jews
were once again in their own land, i.e. after the Return in 537 but before the
refortification of Jerusalem by Nehemiah in 444 (p. 61). Even then, however,
there was present in the Jewish community an acute sense of depression and
disappointment : neighbours were insolent and malicious ; the territory re-
occupied was very restricted, and numbers of their fellow-countrymen were
still in foreign countries, so that the chastisement due for past sins appeared
unexhausted by the 50 years' exile, and the people were despondent on account
of their straitened and defenceless position. In the light of this, the first im-
pression produced by vv. 8 — 10 calls for re-consideration, since in the middle
of the 5th century (as well as in the 6th) there was not lacking occasion for
a confession like that contained in these vs., for an announcement like that in
v. 12, and for an attitude of prayerfulness and expectancy such as is manifested
in the concluding ra 14—20 (p. 63). On the whole, therefore, the simplest
conclusion is that this whole section is a unity, and was composed in the 5th
century after the Return, about 450. Sellin suggests as a reason for its inclusion
in the expanded book of Micah that it was added in order that the book should
once more close on a note of promise.
7 But as for me, *I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for
the God of my salvation : my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice not
against me, 0 2mine enemy : when I fell, I shall arise ; when I
1 Or, in the LORD will I keep watch 2 See ver. 10.
7 — 10. An acknowledgment, on the part of the personified com-
munity, deeply penitent, of sin against Jehovah; a resolve to bear
patiently the retribution that has been merited; and an assertion of
confidence in the Divine mercy.
7. / will look unto. Better, I will look out for (or watch for) : for the
sense cf. Ps. v. 3 (4).
wait for. The same verb is translated hope in (God) by the R.V. in
Ps. xxxviii. 16 (15), xlii. 5 (6), xliii. 5.
the God of my salvation. Better (in this connection), the God of my
deliverance-, cf. Is. xvii. 10, Ps. xviii. 46, xxvii. 9, Hab. iii. 18.
8. 0 mine enemy. The original is a fern, sing., and represents a per-
VII. 8-io]
MICAH
61
sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. 9 I will bear
the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him ;
until he plead my cause, and execute judgement for me : he will
bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
10 Then mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her ; which
said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? Mine eyes shall behold
her ; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
sonified collective, either Babylon (cf. 2 Is. xlvii. 1 f., Jer. 1. 9, 10), or
Edom (Ob. 12), or the ill-disposed neighbours of the Jews about the
time of Nehemiah, such as the Samaritans and the Ammonites with
their allies (Neb. ii. 19, iv. 1 — 3), according to the conclusion reached
concerning the date of these four w. (p. 60).
when I fall. . . when I sit. Better, though I have fallen . . . though I sit.
For these verbs used in connection with a city or people cf. Am. v. 2,
Lam. i. 1.
darkness. I.e. the gloom of adversity in contrast to the light of
prosperity (cf. Is. ix. 2, 3 Is. Iviii. 10).
9. the indignation of the LORD. Jehovah had employed, as the in-
struments of His wrath, the heathen (cf. Is. x. 5), who had destroyed
Judab's independence.
plead my cause. The sense would be better expressed by strive in my
quarrel or (more literally) contend in my contention: cf. Ps. xliii. 1,
cxix. 154, etc.
his righteousness. I.e. His faithfulness, as manifested by Judah's
ultimate vindication (cf. 3 Is. Ivi. lb and lix. 9).
10. shame. I.e. confusion and disappointment (cf. Ob. 10).
Where. ..thy God? The same derisive question occurs in Joel ii. 17,
Ps. Ixxix. 10, cxv. 2, cf. Num. xiv. 15, 16, Dt. ix. 28 : the humiliation of
a people was thought to prove the inferiority of its national divinity to
tbat of the triumphant enemy.
shall behold her. I.e. shall view with satisfaction the degradation of
her who had fancied that Jehovah, the God of the Jews, was impotent.
now. Better, then, as in v. 4, vii. 4.
CHAPTER VII. 11—13.
This short passage conveys an assurance from Jehovah, through the prophet,
that the walls of Jerusalem are to be built and those of her people who are
still in exile are to return to her.
The date of these verses can scarcely be any but shortly before the period
of Nehemiah, who arrived at Jerusalem from Persia in 445, and, with the
sanction of the Persian king, proceeded to restore the city's walls, the re-
building of which was completed in 444. The decision reached about the
occasion when these vv. originated should probably be allowed to dominate
the discussion concerning the origin of the whole section mi. 7 — 20 (p. 60);
and if there is no interruption between the four vv. 7 — 10 and the present
three, these contain Jehovah's response to the prayer in the former.
62 MICAH [VIL ii, 12
11 l A day for building thy walls! in that day shall 2the 3 decree
be far removed. 12 In that day shall they come unto thee, from
Assyria and the cities of 4 Egypt, and from 4 Egypt even to the
River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
1 Or, In the day that thy walls are to be built 2 See Zeph. ii. 2.
3 Or, boundary 4 Heb. Mazor.
11. A day... thy walls! The prophet addresses Jerusalem (personified
as a woman). The word here used for walls strictly signifies fences (cf.
Sym. Tors <^>ay^ovs o-ov) separating a vineyard from the road or from
waste ground (Is. v. 5, Ps. Ixxx. 12, Num. xxii. 24, Prov. xxiv. 31), but
it is applied to the wall of Jerusalem in Ezra ix. 9.
the decree. If this rendering be retained (cf. LXX. vo/u/xa, Sym.
cTTtrayr/, Th. Trpoo-ray/xa), the meaning is that the Persian decree re-
stricting the liberties of the Jews will be cancelled (cf. Ezra iv. 21).
But the verb employed favours the translation the limit or the boundary
(see mg. and cf. Prov. viii. 29, Jer. v. 22, and for the same verb in
a similar connection see Is. xxvi. 15), the writer having in his thoughts
the confined area prescribed for the Jews by the Persian authorities
when the exiles were allowed to settle once more on their native soil.
be far removed. Better (to suit the translation advocated above), be
extended, i.e. for the accommodation of the additional numbers whose
return is predicted in the next v. The circumscribed boundaries of the
district occupied by the Jews in the time of Nehemiah may be inferred
from the names of the towns whose inhabitants alone took part in the
re-building of the walls (see Neh. iii.). It has been calculated that the
localities enumerated were included within an area of 20 miles square1.
12. shall they come unto thee. The reference is probably not to
heathen peoples hasting to join themselves to Israel (iv. 2, 2 Is. xlv.
14, Iv. 5, Zech. viii. 20 — 23) but to Jewish exiles returning to their
native land (Is. xi. 11, xxvii. 13, Hos. xi. 11, 2 Is. xliii. 5, 6, xlix. 12).
Assyria. In the time of Nehemiah Assyria as an empire had perished,
but its name was retained to designate one or other of the empires that
had displaced it (p. 39). Here it seems to stand for Persia.
and the cities of Egypt. A parallel to the clauses in the rest of the v.
is wanted, and a very slight emendation of the text gives even unto
Egypt (va'adhe for ve'dre), which meets the requirements. The term
here used for Egypt is not that commonly employed (Mizraim) but
that occurring in 2 Kgs. xix. 24, Is. xix. 6, xxxvii. 25 (Mazor). Assyria
and Egypt are similarly used to mark the north-eastern and south-
western confines of the Jewish Dispersion in Is. xi. 15, xxvii. 13, Hos.
xi. 11, 2 Zech. x. 10.
the River. I.e. the Euphrates (Gen. xxxi. 21, Ex. xxiii. 31, etc.).
from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. This is a rendering
of the LXX. rather than of the Heb., which, through some accident,
1 See Kent, Hist, of the Jewish People, p. 159.
vii. i3, i4] MIC AH 63
13 Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell
therein, for the fruit of their doings.
has become disarranged and defective. The expression is probably
merely rhetorical (cf. Ps. Ixxii. 8) ; but if the limits are to be defined,
the seas may be the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf, and the
mountains those of Abyssinia and Armenia.
13. Yet shall the land, etc. This rendering implies a reminder that
the predicted redemption must be preceded by a judgment. For the
adversative sense given to the conjunction see iv. 4, Is. x. 20, 1 Kgs.
x. 7. The translation, however, should perhaps be, And the earth shall,
etc. (the earth being contrasted with Jewish territory as man is con-
trasted with Israel in Jer. xxxii. 20). The mercy granted to the Jews
is to be accompanied by vengeance wreaked on the heathen world that
has oppressed them beyond what God desired (cf. 2 Is. xlvii. 6, Zech.
i. 15).
for the fruit. I.e. because of the issue (or outcome); cf. Hos. x. 13,
Is. iii. 10, Prov. i. 31.
CHAPTER VII. 14—20.
A prayer to God from the prophet on behalf of the people, entreating Him
to do for them wonders as of old, and voicing a conviction that He will shew
them compassion and forgiveness.
To the date of this passage (in which, as contrasted with vv. 7 — 13, God is
addressed directly in the 2nd person) the only clue is contained in v. 14, which
reflects the conditions of a period when the Jewish people were a small and
depressed body, conscious of a guilty past, surrounded by aliens, and longing
for a renewal of the happier times long ago when they enjoyed a more ample
territory. This situation is most intelligible on the hypothesis that the passage
was composed in the post-exilic age, perhaps within the 5th century B.C. ; and
probably the section is continuous with the preceding vv. 1 1 (or 7) — 13, but,
unlike those verses, is written in the Kinah rhythm, though this, in places,
has been disturbed.
14 xFeed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage,
1 Or, Rule
14. Feed thy people, etc. Jehovah is likened to a shepherd (cf. Gen.
xlix. 24, Ps. xxiii. 1, Ixxx. 1), carrying a club with which to protect
his sheep from fierce animals (Ps. xxiii. 4).
the flock of thine heritage. This particular combination of terms does
not appear elsewhere (though cf. Ps. xxviii. 9). Israel, however, is
frequently styled Jehovah's heritage (Dt. iv. 20, ix. 26, Joel ii. 17, etc.),
the expression being apparently transferred from the land of Canaan
(the mountain of Jehovah's inheritance, Ex. xv. 17, cf. 1 Sam. xxvi. 19)
to the people whom Jehovah planted in it. Land could not be alienated
in perpetuity (Lev. xxv.), and so the description of Israel as Jehovah's
heritage emphasizes the permanence of the relation believed to subsist
between them and God.
64 MICAH [vii. i4, 15
which dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel : let
them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. 15 As in
the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt will I shew
solitarily. In some passages the expression describes the seclusion
of Israel under God's peculiar care (Num. xxiii. 9, Dt. xxxiii. 28), but
here it seems to have reference to the isolation (cf. Lam. i. 1) of the
small Jewish post-exilic community closely encompassed by unfriendly
and jealous neighbours.
in the forest... Carmel. Carmel is the sole headland that breaks the
straight coast of Palestine between Sidon and Egypt, and constitutes
the seaward extremity of a limestone ridge 12 or 13 miles long, and
(at the promontory) 500 ft. high. If the name is here understood of
this ridge, the phrase in the forest... Carmel must be construed with
the verb feed, with reference to the woods clothing it (Is. xxxiii. 9,
Am. i. 2), regarded as affording shelter (cf. Ezek. xxxiv. 25), and to
the fertile glades intersecting them. But the Hebrew word is also
a common noun, meaning a garden-like district (cf. Is. xvi. 10, Jer.
ii. 7), and a preferable rendering is, in a forest in the midst of a garden-
land. The area of unproductive soil to which (either through restrictions
imposed on the Jews by their over-lords, or in consequence of the few-
ness of their numbers) they were at first confined, and which was
surrounded by more fruitful regions in the possession of others, is
likened to a sterile forest in the middle of a fertile and beautiful
country.
let them... Gilead. Compare 2 Zech. x. 10. The districts named,
which were once in the occupation of united Israel, were pasture lands
(cf. Jer. 1. 19). Bashan, stretching (for some 30 miles) eastwards of the
Sea of Galilee and the Waters of Merom, and reaching from the Yarmuk
northwards in the direction of Hermon, was famous for its horned
cattle (Dt. xxxii. 14, Am. iv. 1, Ps. xxii. 12); whilst Gilead, on the
E. of the Jordan, extending from the north end of the Dead Sea to
the south extremity of the Sea of Galilee, was also adapted for pasturage,
and was in consequence desired, at the time of the Conquest, by the
tribes of Reuben and Gad that were rich in flocks and herds (Num.
xxxii.).
as in the days of old. The reference to the re-occupation of Gilead
by the prophet's countrymen is not easily reconcilable with Micah's
authorship of this section, for in his time it was either actually in the
possession, if not, indeed, of Judah, at any rate of the sister-kingdom
of Northern Israel, or had only recently been lost (2 Kgs. xv. 29).
15. thy coming forth... will I shew. Probably Jehovah speaks here
(to the end of v. 17), declaring, in answer to the petition in v. 14, that
He will do as much for Israel in the immediate future as He did for
them on the occasion of the Exodus. But some critics consider that
the prophet and people are the speakers (as in the preceding v. and
apparently in v. 17), and propose to replace the future mil I shew
vii. i5-i8] MICAH 65
unto him marvellous things. 16 The nations shall see and be
ashamed of all their might : they shall lay their hand upon their
mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17 They shall lick the dust like
a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come
trembling out of their close places : they shall come with fear
unto the LORD our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and
passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he
unto him by the imperative shew unto us\ in which case thy coming
forth must refer to Jehovah as having accompanied Israel in their
departure from Egypt. But this alteration is superfluous, if v. 17 be
emended. The only correction required here is the omission of land
(of), which impairs the rhythm and is absent from the LXX.
marvellous things. The expression is similarly used in relation to the
Exodus in Ex. xv. 11, Ps. Ixxviii. 11.
16. ashamed of all tlmr might. I.e. abashed because of their proved
inferiority to Israel supported by Jehovah: cf. 2 Is. xlv. 14.
lay their hand upon tlmr mouth, etc. Their confusion will deprive
them temporarily of speech (Jud. xviii. 19, Job xxi. 5, Prov. xxx. 32)
and hearing. Cf. Ps. xxxviii. 13 — 14.
17. lick the dust. A figure for utter abasement; cf. Ps. Ixxii. 9,
2 Is. xlix. 23.
like crawling things of the earth. These words should be connected
with the preceding clause, and a full stop should be placed at earth.
they shall come trembling, etc. This clause should go with the
following (see below) and begin with a capital letter.
their close places. I.e. their fortresses, in which they had previously
felt secure : cf. Ps. xviii. 45.
they shall come with fear. Literally, they shall fear.
unto the LORD our God. These words harmonize badly with the
natural impression that in w. 15 — 17 God is the speaker, and have
with some reason been suspected to be interpolated, for they destroy
the rhythm. Without them, v. 17 consists of two Kinah lines, of which
the second is, They shall come trembling out of their close places: they
shall fear and be afraid because of thee (Israel).
18. Who is a God like unto thee. This and the following w. are a re-
sponse to Jehovah's assurances in w. 15—17. The opening question
finds summary expression in the name Micah (see p. xviii).
that pardoneth iniquity. Compare the description of the Divine
character in Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7, Ps. ciii. 8, Jer. iii. 12. The next clause
would afford a better balance to this, if it were reduced to and passeth
by transgression-, the additional words may have been suggested to
a reader by Jer. 1. 20. The Divine forgivingness, here expressed abso-
lutely, is really conditional, though upon the sincerity of human
repentance, not upon the sum of human deserts.
w.
66 MIC AH [vn. 18-10
retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again and have compassion upon us; he will
1 tread our iniquities under foot: and thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea. 20 2Thou wilt 3 perform the truth to
Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto
our fathers from the days of old.
1 Or, subdue our iniquities '2 Or, Thou wilt shew thy faithfulness &c.
3 Heb. give.
he retaineth not, etc. This latter part of v. 18 and the first half of
v. 19 (down to foot), both of which are marked by the 3rd pers. (con-
trast the 2nd pers. in 18a, 19b) are suspected of being insertions:
certainly the rhythm changes.
19. he ivill tread... sea. These are strong metaphors for the complete
removal of Israel's offences from the Divine memory; put out of sight,
they will be out of mind : cf. the similar figures of speech in Is. xxxviii.
17. Instead of all their sins the LXX. and Vulg. have preferably all
our sins. With the second half of the v. (and thou, etc.) there is a re-
turn to the Kinah metre.
20. wilt perform the truth to. I.e. wilt deal faithfully with : cf. Neh.
ix. 33. God's changelessness (which is implied in the description of
Him as the God of truth, Ps. xxxi. 5) makes it certain that the
graciousness once shown to Israel's ancestors will not be wanting to
their descendants.
Jacob... Abraham. The names of the patriarchs here stand for their
posterity.
hast sworn. See Gen. xxii. 16, and cf. Lk. i. 73.
OBADIAH
1 THE vision of Obadiah.
Thus saith the Lord GOD L concerning Edom: We have heard
tidings from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the
1 See Jer. xlix. 7—22.
1. vision. The term, which strictly refers to impressions of a visual
character actually or ostensibly experienced in prophetic ecstasy (see
Dan. viii. 1, 2, 15, ix. 21, cf. Ezek. xiii. 16)1, is here used to designate
the contents of a prophetic book, conveying Divine revelations received
through the intellectual and spiritual faculties (uot through the senses) ;
cf. Is. i. 1, Nah. i. 1, Hab. ii. 2. The LXX. has opoum, but Aq. e/co-rao-i?.
Obadiah. For the significance of the name see p. xxxii. Besides
occurring frequently in the O.T., it has also been found on a seal
bearing, in the early Hebrew script, the words 'Obhadhyahu 'ebhedh
hammelech, "Obadiak servant of the king" (Benzinger, Heb. Arch.
p. 258). Proper names parallel in formation to Obadiah or Abdiah are
Ebed-Ashtoreth, Ebed-eshmun, Ebed-baal.
Thus... Edom. These words are a necessary introduction to what
follows in order to render clear what people are meant by the pronouns
her and thee, and accordingly are not likely to be a later addition, as
Ewald and others have thought, but must have been attached to the
oracle from the first.
We have heard tidings from the LORD. If the Heb. text is correct,
the speakers must be people in general, who had heard a report about
a confederation being organized against Edom, the words and an am-
bassador is sent, etc. being equivalent to that an ambassador is sent, etc. :
cf. Gen. xxx. 27 (where "I have divined that the LORD hath blessed me"
is literally "I have divined and JEHOVAH hath blessed me"). But the
expression coming from Jehovah must imply a Divine oracle, which
would be imparted directly not to a multitude of people but to a
prophet. And the LXX. here and the Heb. of the parallel passage Jer.
xlix. 14 have the 1st pers. sing, instead of the 1st pers. plur. ; and if,
as is probable, this is the authentic text, the translation should be
/ (i.e. the prophet) have heard a communication (the same word as that
which is used of an oracle and rendered message in Is. xxviii. 9, 19)
from JEHOVAH. This announcement is prefatory to the actual oracle,
which begins with v. 2.
and an ambassador is sent. If in the preceding clause the reading of
the LXX. be adopted, in this the word rendered is sent should be pointed
1 Cf. Thouless, Int. to the Psychology of Religion, p. T6 f.
5—2
68 OBADIAH [1-3
nations, saying, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the nations : thou art
greatly despised. 3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee,
as in Jer. xlix. 14 (which, instead of shullah, has shdluah) and the
translation should be, whilst a messenger is being sent, the clause im-
plying that the revelation from Jehovah to the prophet coincides with
the despatch of an envoy to a group of nations (probably neighbouring
Arabian tribes) to concert against Edom a combined attack which will
prove the agency destined to fulfil the oracle which the prophet proceeds
to disclose. For the Heb. tslr in the sense of messenger cf. Prov. xiii.
17, xxv. 13. Ewald takes the messenger to be an angel, charged by
God to rouse the nations to battle against Edorn: compare Jud. v. 23.
The rhythm of this introductory line is either 4 : 3 or 3 : 3, according
as the text is retained as it stands or a makkeph is inserted between
me'eth and Yehdvah, cf. p. cxxxix.
Arise ye, etc. The words are those of the ambassador addressing (in
the name of the people taking the lead in promoting a confederacy
against Edom) the nations to whom he is sent. The rhythm here is
2 : 2. The introductory "saying" is absent, as in Mic. ii. 11, Is. iii. 6,
Ps. Iii. 6. The fern, pronoun her refers to the land of Edom (cf. Ezek.
xxxvi. 5 Heb.), though the masculine (representing the population) is
employed subsequently. The Vulg. substitutes the masc. here, and
Wellhausen, followed by Nowack, would alter the Heb. text accordingly.
Jer. xlix. 14 has, Gather yourselves and come against her, which is
probably nearer the language of the original prophecy, since the sentence
constitutes an unexceptionable pentameter, whereas Ob.'s version is
metrically irregular.
2. Behold, I have made thee small The speaker here is Jehovah. The
perfect tense introduces a prediction (cf. 2 Is. xli. 15 Heb.), the purpose
of God being regarded as already virtually accomplished. The agency
about to be employed for the reduction of Edom to powerlessness is the
confederacy alluded to in v. 1. The oracle (w. 2 — 5) is probably com-
posed in the Kinah rhythm. The introductory Behold (Jer. For behold)
is outside the metre.
thou art greatly despised. The parallel passage, Jer. xlix. 15, has and
despised among men (the words depending upon / have made thee). In
Ob. the pronoun thou (art) conveys an unnecessary emphasis; and since
Jer.'s reading forms an excellent pentameter, of which Ob.'s is easily
explicable as a corruption, the original source probably had the line in
the form in which it appears in Jer.
3. The pride of thine heart. The phraseology resembles that of
1 Sam. xvii. 28. The source of Edom's arrogance was the fancied
security ensured by its precipitous cliffs (see p. xlv).
hath deceived thee. The LXX. has (.Trrjpt ac, mistaking nasha? for ndsd' ;
and in the same version a similar error occurs in v. 7. The parallel
in Jer. xlix. 16 is Thy terribleness, the pride of thine heart hath deceived
3, 4] OBADIAH 69
0 thou that dwellest in the clefts of Hhe rock, whose habitation
is high ; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the
ground? 4 Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though
1 Or, Sela See 2 Kings xiv. 7.
thee, and a slight emendation, yielding the translation Thy terribleness
hath deceived thee, the pride of thine heart, probably reproduces the
original, of which Ob. retains only a part.
0 thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock. The word rendered clefts
occurs elsewhere only in the parallel Jer. xlix. 16 and in Cant. ii. 14
(where it is used of the abode of the dove). The term the rock (sela')
may either refer (as in Is. xvi. 1, 2 Is. xlii. 11) to the rocky surface of
Edom generally (as the mount of Esau in w. 8, 19 does to its hilly
character), or convey (see mg.) an allusion to the Edomite capital Sela
(2 Kgs. xiv. 7), the later Petra. The city is very difficult of approach,
for it lies in a quadrangular plain bounded by cliffs of great height
(cf. Pliny, H.N. vi. 32, oppiditm...circumdatum montibus inaccessis),
which are penetrated by passes defensible by a mere handful of men.
The almost vertical sides of the crags are covered with columns and
pediments carved out of the solid rock and forming the entrances to
tombs and temples excavated in the cliff walls.
whose habitation is high. The Heb. literally translated is the height of
his habitation, and it is possible to connect the words with the foregoing
participle thou that dwellest by supplying a preposition from the pre-
ceding clause (as is done in Is. xxviii. 6, 2 Is. xlviii. 14). A second
participle, however, is preserved in Jer. xlix. 16, which has that holdest
the height of the hill, and probably the participle was included in the
text of the original oracle which, if a poem in the Kinah metre, perhaps
here had, 0 dweller in the clefts of the rock, holder of the height (to which
Jer.'s addition of the hill is a needless supplement). The LXX. here has
v\l/£v KaroLKLdv avrov, which implies (instead of the substantive height)
a participle from the same root, raising on high his habitation; and this,
which is supported by the Syr., Old Latin, and Vulgate, has been widely
adopted by modern editors. For the insertion of a description in the
3rd person into an address couched in the 2nd pers. cf. Mic. i. 13.
that saith... to the ground. This secret defiance does not occur in
Jer. xlix. 16 ; and since, in addition, it is not cast in the normal Kinah
metre (though the rhythm (2 : 3) here occurring is permissible), it is
probably no part of the original oracle, but has been added to illustrate
how far Edom's self-confidence could carry her. In Heb. to say in one's
heart means "to think" (cf. Ps. liii. 1, Is. xiv. 13), for the heart was
regarded by the Hebrews as the seat of intelligence (men of under-
standing in Job xxxiv. 10 is literally men of heart; cf. Job xxxvi. 5,
Prov. xv. 32). The Latin bene cordatus and excors similarly mean
"intelligent" and " unintelligent" respectively.
4. Though thou mount on high. LXX. eaV /xeTewpto-^s. This rendering
suggests lofty flight (an admissible interpretation of the Heb. verb, see
70 OKAIMA1I |,,
thy nest hescf amou^ thcslai' , I will hriii'.-; Hire down from thence,
Kaifh I lie Louh. f> If thieves e;ime to I lice, if rollers l>y ni^lit,
(how art l.lioii cut oil'! ) would they not steal till they had enough ?
if grapegathereri came to thee, would they not leave some
.loh \\.\ix. ii7); hut the. :i,lhi: ion inn::!, ica.lly he. to the sifua.tion of the
Kdomite dwellings, and ill the. orii'inaJ oracle I, lie verh was connected
with the suhstanl ive y/r.s7 (see .Jer. xlix. K',;, so l,|i;i,l, ;i, prefcraJilc trai,
lion i: •., ff thou maktit on high thy nest (the noun hem;- supplied from
the following olatlSe). I'W the. meta.phor cf. Num. xxiv. li I , lla.h. ii. !).
a.s- fin' <•<«//<•. Or <ts ///, • T//./////V; ;ccon Mi.-, i. 1C.
^///r/ flioiKjh 7//// JMrt Ar Mt...itOr8, Thi.-. tr;i,n;;la,ti«)ii a. ::uinc .. a .n 6
re.ptiona.l r.on:;t nic.tion in the. lleh. '/'/;/. vvilJi tin-. p;i.;;:;ive p;i rtici pl(-
(the l;i,tter hen; is IIMII::II;I| in form, l.liDii'di rf. Num. xxiv. ^ I ) ; hut the
IjXX. h:i;: / •" «'"i- <M ,, //.'.;., r ;<.,r ,",nij,t,,\- 0>/\ r<"M,i«/'r MOP, \\hieh ;:n | »| iort;;
Ndwaek'.; eiiiend;itiun Insult fur .sv-yy/, yif-ldiii;^ the rendering '///'/ llntnyh
llt<>ii:<ll<tlliiiii<;:t<iin<ni<tlln'::l<irs. \'\tr the liyperholee.t I,,. \i\/. I.';,
1';;,. Ixxiii. (J, Jer. |j. 58, Job IX <">, Am. ix. j^j Ahirt. vm. .'{<;, II, DIHHIIS
</t«r r<rl/<-< :;/<!< r<i jnil^il\ Ih.r. O,/. i. |, ;;<;, >S'//A//-///./" J'crni m .svVr/v/,
/Vr; Bhaketpeare, /AO//A/, m. ,'», 7'//r// /•/•//> ///•/;/ ///> that his httls may
I trill l>r/n<! llnt' dnirn. ( 'ompare Ml, xi. 28*. l''«>r thi:: 0, .li-r. xlix.
Hi1' oiler;; a, (lillerenl text, '/'//<>//</// llnni nniki'st on /////// //.>; ^ i-nllnrc /////
;/r.s7, y-/v//y/ ////•//'•»' / //'/'// hriinj lh<'<' dotni, x«i/lt J<lior«li. The. Concluding
jihra.;:e of the v\ (.sv //'/// .1 <'linr<il/) i:; :i.h,:cnt from the LXX., a.nd if this is
le-.inled an outside the. metre, the. readme of .Icr. i,; a, normal kintili
line, a,nd pn»ha,hly represent:; tlie. wording of HK> ori-ina,! BOUT06J
whereas Oh.';; text is iinmetrical and ha.; pie.,uma.hly ari.cn thioiish
expansion.
.'). //' /7//V/V.S-, etc. Bc-lier, //' merely ////r/v«, etc. (the. restrictive
turn-Ill, or o/////, hein;-; ;;upplied mentally, a, in Is, v. I (), Am. vi. (.l). To
accentuate l.hr. e.omplefenes.s, of the spoliation lhrea,tenin^ Kdoin, it i
c.Mitra.sled with the les.s, thorough e|eara,nee made when thieves idle a,
house or vinl.T'rr, si i ip a vineyard : in hoth of these ome.fhili^
i nerally left, hut the des.poileis. of Mdom will la.ke all.
i/-nif>/n-rs />// iiiijhf.. This elan ;.e. does, not occur in the parallel p.-i
Jer. xlix. (J, thoiijdi the words hi/ ii'ujht an; there inrhidcd in the. piv
redin" s.enteiice, which runs, //"/// /V/vx />// ii'iif/if, etc.
(hntr «/'/ Ihoii ail <>{!/). Literally, lioir «rt llioii nnidc l<> 0MM/ (e.f.
IH. XV. I, -lei. xlvii. .;., /eph. i. II). This ahrupl , exclania lion isa.com
men! elicited from ()hadiah hy the fiillilmentof the oracle in hisoun
days: (^f. i\ ('.. The. LXX. has read the verh <liuinth as -nuimli, "l<>
throw," "ca;;t," a,nd rendered it by UTre,., >/'</> »/s :; and I he Vul^. has con-
d it with tltiin<i-m, "to he hrou:dit to . ilence.
ijni.in-<in-lln-n-rx. Vines were vrown in I'Mom (cf. Num. xx. I 7); and
traveller;; in the country ha.ve olccrved on the rocky hill . idc
of terraceH designed a; itci I«T vineyards.
|-7] OUADIAII 71
the //>//"/; <>/ i arched out!
how hi'l'kn t t up' 7 All the men of Uiy
<:onfr<l<-r;if h:i w ''Uroiiirhl Ui<:<: on thy WHY, even lo the l>onl<;r:
iflrfi,,',,!'! '//'"/" ••. Th': H< h. h;=- .vhirh
•-<: 01 oliv<: li.'.i
v;;. I ;: ,!,'»ri'-;illy
in .Iu'l. viii. 2;. In .!•
(I ill. 'iiinl.l.i !•!•
:in'iHi'-r; : :».n'l |»roli;i.l»ly rcpc*'!
!»;, wliich fi;i'l, If grapegather( '/"•''/
11 ill / flit-lining.-. If l.lii'-n- I, if ni'/lil ///'// //.-/// V- //v,// ////
.//////. 1 1. <im-in-'i'ii!' i '•'!
ly F'.r I, vljo will r-
\><\f.\\ rn'/'lific'l }>y Ol>., wli'<
M l\i<- r/i ;..lfinn:i
6. // , who
'jil'.f«:»l ! M in
.-lorn, wh»
'I'll'; f.w -I 7
• h;thly writ.UMi Hik«: t.h". }/.' in t.h't K'nuili in<
,;, //•/// ^niii'.n ifl Mir. ii. -1, .h;r. ix.
thf; tl / /- '! • ; //
I 'ml >•: •:j)l;iin»:'l
'i<l rn;'. of th': li.V. The |i»:r.:-:on;tl n-'un'- tt:>.an'v::\.
•i. xxxvi
hl«; tj|(; morj , t.h»., 1661
wr,;Jth.
MMylit »r |>hra'f; V
;••: \>y \\i<- >>{ lli", H<:k v<-rh <ltH.l<ih.) 1><:K: Ufftd,
whirh primarily '//I'larily
oa^ernen i //
10 /;/</ / hurt- ,,,';'/< /•; '///
' i>l<t,r#H.
7. yl // //// 0Mfl ''/' //'// r" " . /I// '/"; w// '// ///y
c/wfi<i<>i ('. •,;• Uif- phr.-i.v: rf. I ' ••••ion in ' -<vii.
22 /n^.). Thf; proj>l' [^irfinpg some neightxjuririj
withou1 9 part.iri;, :/lom
viUi I'Morn imp'//;'l uj>on t.linrri.
/. A !fi<>r<; I;1
>f" but, th<; meaning in ol Tho
72 OBADIAH [7
the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and
prevailed against thee ; lthey that eat thy bread lay a 2snare under
1 Or, thy bread they make &c. 2 Or, wound
most plausible way of interpreting the verb is to give it the sense of
"dismiss" or " escort back," as in 2 Sam. iii. 21, Gen. xii. 20; and
then two explanations are possible: (1) have escorted as far as the
border thy envoys, with their appeal for help refused ; (2) have escorted
as Jar as the border thy fugitives, who had crossed it in flight and who
have now been turned back and thereby exposed to the savagery of the
pursuing foe. The R.V. mg. have driven thee out even to the border (i.e.
have expelled thy people from their native soil) is improbable; for
though the verb (shalah) can signify "to drive out" (cf. Gen. iii. 23,
Ex. vi. 1, 2 Sam. xiii. 16, 1 Kgs. ix. 7), the preposition as far as ((adk)
is not very suitable in this connection ; from (mm) or across ('el (ebher)
would be more appropriate.
the men that were at peace, etc. Literally, the men of thy peace; cf.
Ps. xli. 9, Jer. xx. 10, xxxviii. 22 (where the R.V. has thy familiar
friends). The people referred to are clearly those who, in time of peace,
had made an unexpected attack upon Edom; and they have been
plausibly identified with the Nabataeans (see p. xli).
they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee. If the Heb. text is
to be retained as it stands, the only admissible translation is that of
the R.V. mg., thy bread they make a snare under thee. This, which
seems to be the explanation adopted by Aq., who has aprov crov Orja-owiv
cTri'Seo-o', means "they ("the men of thy peace") recompense by
treachery the hospitality which thou hast shown to them." Some
scholars think that the word men can be extended from the preceding
clause to this (the men of thy bread meaning lc thy dependants ") ; but
such extension is difficult to parallel. As these interpretations of the
existing text are unsatisfactory, there is probably some defect or
corruption in it. The simplest correction is to change the pointing of
the word rendered "bread" (lekem), and by converting it into the
participle of laham, " to war," get the translation they that war against
thee lay a snare under thee. But the verb la/iam, " to war," is rare in the
form here proposed (though see Ps. xxxv. 1 (Heb.), Ivi. 2 (3)), and the
clause would have four beats instead of the three required by a normal
Kinah line. Hitzig and Gratz assume the loss, before the word bread,
of a participle ('ochele, "eaters," cf. Sym. ot oTn/eo-fliwres o-ot, Vulg. qui
comedunt tecum\ and render (like the R.V. text) they that eat thy
bread lay a snare under thee. This, however, also destroys the rhythm,
though emendation of the text is to be sought in this direction. The
letters LHMCh may be an accidental dittograph of part of the
preceding ShLMCh (for the LXX. ignores the word), and the phrase
the eaters of thy bread (ochele lahmechd) may be disguised in part of
the previous clause translated (have) prevailed against thee (ydchelu,
lechd): if so, the whole t?., rendered literally and with the order of the
Heb. retained, will run: As far as the border did send thee \ all the
7-9] OBADIAH 73
thee: there is none understanding Hn him. 8 Shall I not in that
day, saith the LORD, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and under-
standing out of the mount of Esau? 9 And thy mighty men,
0 Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut
1 Or, of it
men of thy covenant: Deceived thee the eaters of thy bread, \ the men of
thy peace: Place they a snare underneath thee; \ no sense is there in him.
This reconstruction preserves the Kinah metre satisfactorily1. The
eating of bread together involved obligations of friendship and mutual
protection (cf. Ps. xli. 9), which Edom's neighbours had violated. The
meaning of the word (mazor) rendered snare is doubtful. Elsewhere
(Hos. v. 13 and perhaps Jer. xxx. 13) it has the signification si wound,
as given in the mg. here ; but this is unsuitable to the present context.
The meaning cord or snare lias been deduced from a root signifying
to "twist" or "weave," and Th. has Sccr/xoV; but a very slight emenda-
tion (mdtsodh) proposed by Van Hoonacker furnishes a term, signifying
net, which occurs in Job xix. 6, Prov. xii. 12. The LXX. has IveSpa,
Sym. dAAoTpiWiv, and the Vulgate insldias. Another emendation,
which disregards the evidence of the Greek and Latin renderings, is
Marti's madhvr, "dwelling" (Dan. iv. 25 (22), 32 (29)); this produces
the translation they that eat thy bread make their dwelling in thy place
(for in Heb. " under" a person is often equivalent to "instead of" that
person).
there is none understand in <j in him. LXX. OVK ZCTTIV o-vveo-is civ-rots. The
words probably describe not so much the lack of foresight which caused
the Edomites to fall victims to treachery as the bewilderment con-
sequent upon such an experience : they do not know what to do. For
the phraseology cf. Dt. xxxii. 28.
8 — 9. The transition in these w. (cf. Jer. xlix. 7) to the future tense
suggests that here the earlier oracle may be drawn upon, though the
Kinah rhythm is not maintained. The vengeance which, in v. 7, is
represented as having already befallen is once more regarded as still to
come (as in v. 4).
8. Shall I not, etc. The counsellors of Edom will fail to avert from
their nation an imminent disaster, or to extricate it from one already
present ; and this failure will be occasioned by Jehovah, whose day is
coming (see v. 15).
understanding. I.e. men of understanding: cf. p. 53.
the mount of Esau. I.e. the mountain land of Edom : see Ezek.
xxxv. 2 and cf. Josh. xx. 7 (where the hill country of Naphtali is
literally the mount of Naphtali}.
9. Teman. This, though strictly a district at one extremity of
Edom (qua vergit ad austrakm partemt St Jerome), just as Dedan
1 See JTS. xvn. pp. 405 — 6 (T. H. Robinson, who, however, prefers a slightly
different order of the wording).
74 OB ADI AH [9-11
off from the mount of Esau by slaughter. 10 For the violence done
to thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be
cut off for ever. 11 In the day that thou stoodest *on the other
side, in the day that strangers carried away his 2 substance, and
1 Or, aloof 2 Or, forces
was at the other (see Ezek. xxv. 13), is here a synonym for Edom in
general (as in Jer. xlix. 7, Am. i. 11, 12). The Temanites had a reputa-
tion for wisdom; see Baruch iii. 23.
by slaughter. If this expression is retained within v. 9, the preposition
is correctly translated. But the balance of the clauses is best kept by
the transfer of the word to the next v. (where the Versions place it, see
below), in which case the preposition must be otherwise rendered.
10. For the violence, etc. I.e. by reason of the violence, etc. The
LXX., Syr., and Vulg. begin this v. with For the slaughter and for the
violence, i.e. because of the outrages inflicted by the Edomites on the
Jews; and this arrangement of the text is preferable to that of the
present Hebrew. There is, however, no conjunction between the two
nouns in the original; and since in Joel iii. 19, which seems to have
this passage of Ob. in view, the expression For the slaughter does not
appear, it should probably be rejected here as an interpolation : it may
have been inserted (as Nowack suggests) in order to paint in more
lurid colours Edom's guilt, to which the term violence by itself did less
than justice. The Heb. word translated slaughter occurs within the
O.T. nowhere but here; and the corresponding verb is found only in
late writings (Ps. cxxxix. 19, Job xiii. 15, xxiv. 14), but is frequent in
Aramaic. It can scarcely be a gloss on the word rendered violence
(hdmas), for this is quite a common term, and would not require an
explanatory addition.
thy brother Jacob. The name Jacob is expressly used (in place of
Israel or Judah) in order to recall the relationship between the nations.
In Deut. xxiii. 7 the claims of kinship between the two peoples are
urged upon Israel; but Edom had shown no reciprocal sense of the
brotherly relationship.
shame shall cover, etc. Although this v. has future tenses, it seems
to proceed not from the early oracle quoted in w. 1 — 5 (to the metrical
scheme of which it cannot be easily adjusted) but from the writer
(Obadiah) who incorporated the latter. Obadiah, for the moment,
adopts the predictive tone of the prophet from whom he has previously
borrowed.
thou shalt be cut off for ever. The expression is an hyperbole: the
Edomites, though dispossessed by the Nabataeans, long remained
a thorn in the side of their Jewish neighbours ; and eventually an
Edomite, in the person of Herod, became king of JudaBa (p. 1).
11. on the other side. The phrase can be used both of mere aloofness
(cf. mg. and see 2 Kgs. ii. 7, Ps. xxxviii. 11 (12), and the verb in Lk.
x. 31, 32 (avTi7rap?7\0ei/)), and also of a hostile attitude (2 Sam. xviii. 13
ii, i a] OBADIAH 75
foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem,
even thou wast as one of them. 12 But look not thou on the day
and (with a different preposition) Dan. x. 13). Probably the latter
sense is meant here : Vulg. adversus eum.
strangers... foreigners. I.e. the Babylonians (p. xxxix): cf. Lam. v. 2.
Against these foreign foes the ties of kindred should have led Edom
to side with Judah.
carried away his substance. Though the verb rendered carry away
commonly means to "transport" captives, it is used in connection with
spoil (not prisoners) in 2 Ch. xxi. 17; and the substantive with which
it is here employed is, in view of its use in v. 13 (cf. Is. viii. 4, Jer.
xv. 13), rightly rendered by substance rather than by forces (as in the
mg.), though the LXX. has Svva/xiv and the Vulg. exercitum.
his gates. This is the reading of the Heb. mg., and is supported by
the LXX. and Vulg. : the Heb. text has his gate, which is confirmed
by v. 13. Mention of the entry into the city after the looting is in
strictness illogical (contrast v. 13); but the second clause really marks
the occasion which afforded opportunity for looting: cf. Verg. A. u. 353,
Moriamur et in media arma rttamus.
cast lots upon Jerusalem. The previous mention of the removal of
the substance of the Jewish people is in favour of understanding this
phrase of the apportionment of the persons of the vanquished as slaves
(cf. Joel iii. 3 (iv. 3)), the name of the city representing its inhabitants,
as in 2 Is. xl. 1, 2. For the practice of casting lots to settle claims cf.
Num. xxxiv. 13, Ps. xxii. 18, Mk. xv. 24, and see p. 16.
even thou wast as one of them. Though the Ammonites, Moabites,
and Philistines also exulted like the Edomites over the fall of Jeru-
salem (Ezek. xxv.), the close relationship between Israel and Edom
aggravated the offence of the last-named people, when they shared in
the despoiling of a kindred race.
12 — 14. These verses appear to be written in the Kinah metre
(p. cxliii), though not with perfect regularity. The imperatives which
they contain are merely rhetorical, the writer really having in mind
past events and not future contingencies. He is carried back in thought
to incidents in the sack of Jerusalem; and as though present on the
occasion, he cautions the Edomites against committing the offences of
which he knows them to have been guilty, and which subsequently
brought vengeance upon them.
12. But look not thou on, etc. I.e. gaze not with satisfaction upon,
etc. ; for the phrase see p. 37. The occurrence of the conjunction
before the imperative here and the absence of one before v. 13, together
with the tautology of 12 a and 13b, have led Wellhausen to place v. 13
next to v. 11 and to reject v. 12 as a later insertion. But the three
verses 12 — 14 seem to have in view successive proceedings on the part
of the Edomites, against which they are dramatically warned. In v. 12
they are still outside the doomed city, and are bidden not to gloat over
its fall; in v. 13 they are about to enter it, and are admonished not to
76 OBADIAH [n, is
of thy brother in 1the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the
children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak
proudly in the day of distress. 13 Enter not into the gate of my
people in the day of their calamity ; yea, look not thou on their
1 Or, the day that he was made a stranger
do so, or to witness, or participate in, the looting; whilst in v. 14 they
have withdrawn from it in order to cut off the fugitives, and are urged
to spare them. The conjunction (vav) at the beginning of v. 12 may be
explained by its use " to introduce an impassioned speech, without
anything expressed previously, to which it can be attached" (Driver,
Heb. Tenses*, p. 168, note).
the day of thy brother. I.e. the occasion of thy brother's reverse; cf.
Ps. xxxvii. 13, Is. xiii. 22, Job xviii. 20. The expression day is often
thus used to denote the occurrence of either good or bad fortune in
connection with some place or person ; cf. Ps. cxxxvii. 1 (the day of
Jerusalem), Is. ix. 4 (the day of Midian), Hos. i. 11 (ii. 2) (the day of
Jezreel, i.e. of Israel), 2 Mace. xv. 36 (the day of Mordecai). But in
view of the fact that day is repeated immediately afterwards, the word
here may be an unerased scribal error, and the true reading be (as
Winckler suggests), Look not thou on thy brother.
in the day of his disaster. The precise sense of the word (nocher)
rendered disaster, and found only here, is rather doubtful. Since it is
etymologically connected with the term usually rendered " stranger" or
"foreigner," the phrase in this connection may mean "the day of his
becoming a stranger" (cf. the mg.) in the eyes of God, and being de-
prived of all claim to His consideration; and this interpretation is
supported by Aq.'s ctTro^evcoa-ews OLVTOV (cf. the use of the cognate verb
in Jer. xix. 4). But the signification disaster seems warranted by the
occurrence of the similar form necher in Job xxxi. 3 (where it is parallel
to "calamity"), and may be illustrated by the Latin aliena fortuna.
neither speak proudly. The literal translation is, and enlarge not thy
mouth, an expression which does not recur in the O.T., though the
similar phrases make ivide, and open wide, the mouth are found in 3 Is.
Ivii. 4, Ps. xxxv. 21, Lam. ii. 16; cf. also 1 Sam. ii. 1. Possibly it has
reference to indulgence in unrestrained and insulting laughter. The
rendering of the R.V. seems to follow the LXX. ^ /xeyaXop^/xov^?, but
this corresponds to a different Heb. phrase ("make large with thy
mouth") occurring in Ezek. xxxv. 13.
13. the gate of my people. I.e. Jerusalem, cf. Mic. i. 9. The LXX.
has gates, cf. v. 11.
in the day of their calamity. In place of the threefold recurrence of
the same word calamity ('edh) in this verse the LXX. has distinct terms,
TToVwv, oA.e'0pov, and aTrooAiW The true reading cannot be restored with
certainty ; but beyom 'amaldm, in the day of their trouble, would be
suitable here, and the LXX. renders 'dmdl by TTOVOS in Gen. xli. 51,
,3-i5] OBADIAH 77
affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their
substance in the day of their calamity. 14 And stand thou not in
the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape ; and deliver not
up those of his that remain in the day of distress. 15 For the day
Job v. 6. The reference is to the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians, which is described in similar terms in Ezek. xxxv. 5.
neither lay ye hands. The Heb. text has suffered some corruption
(the 2nd pers. fern. plur. appearing where the masc. sing, is wanted) but
Bewer's proposal to replace 'al tishlahnah by }al tishlah na (for the
position of net after the verb instead of after the negative cf. Jud. xix.
23) is all that is needed to restore the required form of the verb : the in-
sertion, in tbe Heb., of "hand" seems unnecessary in view of 2 Sam. vi. 6.
their calamity. Here, where the Hebrew has calamity for the third
time within a single verse, the LXX. has aTrcoXtas avruv, which in v. 12 is
its rendering of 'obhadhdm, their destruction, so that probably this word
should be substituted for the present Heb. text }edhdm (which may be
due to a scribal error).
14. the crossway. The Heb. word (perek) thus translated is of doubt-
ful meaning here. In Nah. iii. 1, tbe only place where it recurs, it must
be equivalent to "rapine" (the root signifying "to rend"): but in the
present passage it must mean either a breach in the city's walls (usually
expressed by perets), a parting (or fork) of the roads, or (as Marti
suggests) a mountain pass or ravine (cf. the cognate verb in 1 Kgs. xix.
11). The LXX. has ra? 8i€K0oAds, the Vulg. exitibu*.
15 — 21. The tenor of the contents of the book here undergoes a
change. The remainder is concerned not with a past judgment that has
already overtaken Edom exclusively, but a future judgment awaiting
the heathen world in general, including, but not confined to, the
Edomites. Here destruction from Jehovah is impending over all the
nations, who are doomed to drain the cup of His fury and to perish ;
whereas of the Israelites who have already drunk of it a remnant will
survive, and will recover from their spoilers the possessions of which
they have been robbed. Here, too, there is a change in the people
addressed by the writer, and in the manner of the address. Previously
Edom has been apostrophized in the 2nd pers. sing., and Israel has been
referred to in the 3rd pers. ; but in v. 1 6 it is the Israelites who are
addressed (in the 2nd pers. plural). The coincidence of these features
points to the conclusion that there begins in v. 15 the work of a different
prophet. In the second balf of v. 15, however, there is a brief recurrence
to the earlier subject-matter and mode of speech; so that within the
verse the utterances of the two prophets have been dovetailed, and 15b,
which is the sequel of v. 14, should logically change places with 15a,
which connects with v. 16f.
15a. For, etc. The section (beginning with this clause) which is here
added to the earlier part of the book is of an Apocalyptic character,
see p. xlii.
78 OBADIAH [15
of the LORD is near upon all the nations : as thou hast done, it
shall be done unto thee; thy l dealing shall return upon thine
1 Or, recompence
the day of the LORD. This term denotes a signal manifestation (in
the nearer or remoter future) of Jehovah's activity which the populace
and the prophets of Israel alike looked for, but to which they attached
a different significance. By the populace, inasmuch as Israel was
Jehovah's people, it was uniformly expected to bring destruction upon
their oppressors and relief to Israel itself (Am. v. 18); but in the view
of the prophets its coming was fraught with overthrow for everything
(whether within Israel or in the outside world) that was morally evil.
Yet whilst the prophets anticipated that on the Day of Jehovah their
countrymen would have to sustain a judgment from God no less than
other nations, so far as they had ignored His ethical and spiritual re-
quirements, they were not oblivious of the covenant believed to subsist
between Him and His chosen people. Consequently even among the
prophets the day of Jehovah had a varying import, according as con-
temporary conditions rendered admonition or consolation the more
urgent duty. Prior to the Exile they made the former task their principal
aim, and sought to convince the people that in consequence of their sins
they had more to fear than to hope from some exceptional intervention
of Jehovah in human affairs (see Am. v. 18 — 20, Is. ii. 12 f). But in
post-exilic times, when their country's offences seemed to have been
expiated, and their chastisement to have been intensified, by the agents
who inflicted it, beyond what was deserved, they encouraged their
countrymen to await from Jehovah the speedy occurrence of vindication
for Israel and of punishment for its enemies.
is near. The same assertion appears in Joel i. 15, iii. 14.
all the nations. The fact that the Jewish people, even when they had
reached a monotheistic stage of belief, nevertheless continued to draw
such a line of cleavage between themselves and the rest of the world as
is implied in this and similar passages can be accounted for partly by
the retention of the name of the national deity, Jehovah, to denote the
God of all the earth, and partly by the circumstance that after the
Exile their religion was all that remained of their nationality, and
consequently perpetuated in some measure the limitations of the latter.
15b. as thou hast^ done, etc. This half of the v. is a continuation of
the direct denunciation of Edom in w. 2 — 14 (that nation being
addressed here, as there, in the 2nd pers. sing.); and it would be more
in place if it preceded the first half. It may proceed from the prophetical
writer who composed the earlier part of the book (exclusive of the verses
borrowed from a still earlier prophet), but has been transposed; or else
it is a connecting link introduced by the author of w. 15a, 16 — 21.
For the sentiment expressed cf. Is. iii. 11, Jer. 1. 15, 29, Hab. ii. 8,
Lam. iii. 64, Ezek. xxxv. 15, Rev. xviii. 6. The word rendered dealing,
though it has the sense of recompense (as given in the mg.), is here used
is-17] OBADIAH 79
own head. 16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so
shall all the nations drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and
Swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been. 17 But
in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall
1 Or, talk foolishly
of the initial offence provoking retribution; see Joel iii. 4, 7 and cf.
Prov. xii. 14. For the phrase return upon thine own head cf. Ps. vii. 16.
16. For as ye have drunk... so shall all the nations drink. It seems
absolutely necessary to put upon the verb drink the same sense in both
clauses ; and since in the second it can only be reasonably interpreted,
in a metaphorical sense, of draining the cup of suffering and woe (as in
2 Is. li. 17, 22, Jer. xxy. 15, xlix. 12, Lam. iv. 21, Ezek. xxiii. 32—34,
Ps. Ix. 3, Ixxv. 8, Hab. ii. 16, Mk. x. 38, xiy. 36, Job. xviii. 11, Rev. xiv.
10, etc.), it must have tbe same signification in the first. Under these
circumstances the words must be addressed to the prophet's country-
men, who are meant to understand that the Divine chastisement which
they had experienced will now be undergone by the heathen peoples,
cf. Jer. xlix. 12. Some scholars, however, suppose that the prophet's
utterance is directed to the Edomites, and Konig (ap. Van Hoonacker)
gives to the verb drink in both clauses a literal meaning — "as ye
Edomites have drunk in revelry upon the mountains of Judah on the
occasion of the overthrow of Jerusalem, so shall all the nations drink
upon the mountains of Edom in continuous triumph"; and some codices
of the LXX. actually insert olvov as the object of the verb Trioi/rat (see
below). But this explanation is contradicted by tbe concluding clause
of the v.j which predicts for the nations not triumph but destruction.
my holy mountain. I.e. the Temple hill (as in Is. xxvii. 13, 3 Is. Ivi. 7,
Zeph. iii. 11, Joel ii. 2, iii. 17, etc.).
shall... drink continually. The nations, unlike Israel whose chastise-
ment was only temporary, are to undergo retribution uninterruptedly
until their extermination is accomplished. The principal MSS. of the
LXX. have nothing corresponding to continually (tdrnidh), but some (as
has been said above) have, instead, the word olvov; and several modern
scholars, in consequence, would replace tdmldh by hemer (wine)') cf.
Dt. xxxii. 14.
swallow down. This rendering is very uncertain, for the Heb. verb
elsewhere means to talk wildly, rave (see mg. ; and cf. Job vi. 3, Prov.
xx. 25). Wellhausen and Nowack propose to replace this verb, Id'u, by
nd'u, stagger (cf. Is. xxiv. 20, xxix. 9); whilst Bewer suggests the
passive (pual) ofbdla', be swallowed up (cf. Job xxxvii. 20, Is. ix. 16 mg.).
as though they had not been. Cf. Job x. 19, Wisd. ii. 2 (tJs ofy
17. But in mount Zion... escape. The name mount Zion (for the
strict denotation of which see p. 26) here designates Jerusalem as a
whole. There the survivors of Israel will be secure from the annihilation
in store for the nations. The survival of a remnant of Jehovah's people,
80 OBADIAH [i7, ,8
be holy ; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of
Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall
burn among them, and devour them: and there shall not be
any remaining to the house of Esau ; for the LORD hath spoken
purified by chastisement, is predicted by other prophets also; see for
pre-exilic times Is. iv. 2, x. 20, xxxvii. 31, 32, and for the post-exilic
age Zech. viii. 12, Joel ii. 32 (which seems to be a quotation from the
present passage). The word rendered those that escape is an abstract
(like "captivity" for "a body of captives," Jer. xxxiii. 7).
and it shall be holy. The Hebrew may also be rendered, and there
shall be holiness, or and there shall be a sanctuary (i.e. an inviolable
retreat). The clause, if retained, assures to Zion immunity from a
repetition of the outrages previously sustained at the hands of the
heathen nations (v. 16). But since it seems to impair the balance of
the v. (which consists of two tetrameters), it is most likely an insertion
from Joel iii. 17, where it forms part of a longer description, and where
it is more appropriate to the context. If it is really an interpolation
from Joel, the gender of the verb has been adjusted to its present sur-
roundings.
the house of Jacob. The phrase is here equivalent to Judah (cf. v. 18).
shall possess their possessions. I.e. shall repossess their own former
territories : for possess in tbis sense cf. Dt. xxx. 5, Jer. xxx. 3. The
LXX. (followed by the Vulg.) has shall possess those that dispossessed them
(rovs KaTaK\7)povofjitja-avra<s avrovs), involving a different pointing. The
passage implies the return of Jewish exiles to their own land, predictions
of which occur in Is. xi. 11 f., xiv. 2, 2 Is. xliii. 5, xlix. 22, 3 Is. Ix. 4,
Jer. xxx. 10, xlvi. 27, Mic. vii. 12.
18. Jacob... Joseph. These stand respectively for the two branches
(or erstwhile kingdoms) of the Israelite people (cf. Ps. Ixxvii. 15), whose
reunion is anticipated by the writer as by other prophets (Is. xi. 13,
Jer. iii. 18, xxx. 3, xxxi. 5, 6, 27, Ezek, xxxvii. 16, Hos. i. 11, iii. 5,
2 Zech. x. 6).
a fire... for stubble. Similar imagery occurs in Is. v. 24, x. 17, 2 Is.
xlvii. 14, 2 Zech. xii. 6, Mai. iv. 1. For parallel predictions of Israel's
participation in the execution of judgment upon its former oppressors
see Is. xi. 14, 2 Is. xli. 15, 16, Mic. iv. 11—13.
there shall not... remaining. Compare Jer. xlii. 17. The Alexandrine
Codex of the LXX. has OVK 4'crrat 7rvp<j>6po<; (of which the Trvpo^opos of the
Vatican codex is a corruption), and the Old Latin version has ignifer.
The term Trup^o'pos denoted a priest who, in a Spartan army, had charge
of the sacred fire taken from the altar of Zeus, which was always kept
alight to consume the sacrifices offered for the army; and since his
person, by Greek international usage, was held inviolable (Hesychius
being quoted as explaining the word to mean 6 TTI>P ^e/awv KCU 6 /xoVos
eis Iv 7roXe/xu)), there arose the proverb (descriptive of complete
1 8, 19] OB ADI AH 81
it. 19 And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau;
annihilation) ovSe 7rvp<£dpos cXctyO-r) (cf. Hdt. vm. 6). The prediction in
the present passage obtained fulfilment in some degree during the
Maccabaean period of Jewish history (see p. 1).
19. This verse predicts the expansion of the Jewish community in
all directions beyond the narrow boundaries encompassing it in post-
exilic times (see Mic. vii. 11 and cf. 3 Is. Ixi. 7); but the precise
meaning of the passage is obscure, and the text has probably undergone
much corruption. The literal rendering of the Hebrew is, And the
South shall possess the mountain of Esau and the Lowland the Philistines
and they shall possess the field of Ephraim and the field of Samaria and
Benjamin Gilead. The South and the Lowland were physical divisions
of the territory of Judah (which alone the writer in this v. seems to
have in view); and as the passage stands, it declares that the in-
habitants of the first are to occupy Edom, and those of the second are
to seize in the W. the land of the Philistines (cf. Is. xi. 14) and to
spread in the N. over the former territory of Ephraim and Samaria,
including Benjamin (lying between Ephraim and Judah) ; whilst the
Benjamites, in lieu of their prior possessions (thus lost), are to cross
the Jordan, and appropriate the district of Gilead. But it is difficult
to think that the passage in its present form is complete. The extension
of the population of the South towards Edom and of the denizens of
the Lowland towards Philistia is natural enough ; but it is not equally
natural that the dwellers in the Lowland should be destined to occupy
Ephraim also. Hence there is probably some defect in the text, the
real subject of the second verb shall possess being lost. The LXX.
instead of the field of Ephraim has TO opos 'E^pa'i/x, and though at first
sight TO opos looks like an accus., it may really be a nominative,
implying in the Heb. hd-hdr 'eth 'Ephraim (instead of 'eth sedheh
'Ephraim, as the present text has it). If this is the original form of
the passage, as supposed by Ewald and G. A. Smith, the translation
of the second half of the verse will be and they of the hill country (of
Judah) shall possess Ephraim and the field of Samaria, and they of
Benjamin Gilead,. This supplies the defect under which the Hebrew,
as we now have it, labours, and brings the passage into harmony with
Jer. xxxii. 44, xxxiii. 13.
the South. In Heb. the Neghebh. This was the district, originally
within Judah (Josh. xv. 21), lying south of Hebron and extending
towards the border of Edom as far as the plateau of Jebel es Magrah.
It consists of a succession of rolling hills, the ridges running east and
west; its surface is treeless and waterless (except when the wadies
which cut it are filled by the winter rains) ; and its present aspect is
one of barrenness and desolation. There are reasons, however, for
thinking that at various times it has been cultivated and has main-
tained a considerable population.
shall possess. . .Esau. The occupation of Edom by Judah is predicted
in Am. ix. 11, 12, Is. xi. 14; cf. Num. xxiv. 18.
82 OBADIAH [19
and they of the lowland the Philistines : and they shall possess
the lowland. In Heb. the jShephelak; Aq. y TrcSu/^'. This was a region
lying between the hill country of Judah (see below) and the maritime
plain. It thus bordered on Philistia, but was of rather uncertain
delimitation, though cities within it were certainly included in Judah,
according to Josh. xv. 33 — 36. It consists of a mass of low hills which,
when viewed from the maritime plain, appear "buttressing the central
range" of Judah, but which are really separated from the latter by
a series of valleys1.
the Philistines. I.e. the land of the Philistines. There has been
much speculation as to the origin of this people. The association of
Philistines and Pelethites (perhaps another form of the same national
title) with Cherethites in Ezek. xxv. 16, Zeph. ii. 5, 2 Sam. viii. 18,
xv. 18, xx. 7 has suggested that they were Cretans2; and the conclusion
that they were a non-Semitic race is supported by the fact that they
did not practise circumcision, a usage prevailing among the majority
of the Semitic peoples inhabiting Palestine. It is perhaps also signi-
ficant that the LXX. frequently represents their name by aAAo<£iAoi.
In Gen. x. 14 they are connected with the Casluhim; but in Am. ix. 7
their home, prior to their settlement in Palestine, is said to have been
Caphtor (cf. Jer. xlvii. 4), a name plausibly identified with Keftiu,
which in the Egyptian inscriptions denotes a locality from which
articles resembling the products of Crete were brought to Egypt in
the reign of Thutmose III (first half of the 15th century B.c.)3. Crete,
however, does not appear to have been their native soil : at least, they
differed in their military equipment from the Minoan inhabitants of
that island ; and it has been thought that they crossed to Crete from
Caria4. In the Egyptian inscriptions there are allusions to a people
called Pulasati: and if the identification of the Philistines with these
is correct, the occasion of their establishing themselves in Canaan was
their failure in an attempt, made in conjunction with a number of
allied tribes, to over-run Egypt in the 12th century B.C. : being foiled
in this enterprise by Rameses III, they settled on the seaboard that
trends from the Delta northward. Their immigration into the country
(Palestine) which came to be named after them probably took place
later than the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, but not later than
the period of the Judges (see Jud. xiii. 1); and their occupation of the
coast affords a reasonable explanation of the movements of the Danites
recorded in Jud. xviii. If this synchronism is approximately correct,
the mention of Philistines in Canaan in the age of Abraham (Gen.
xxvi. 1), or even at the date of the Exodus (Ex. xiii. 17), must be
anachronistic5. The relations between them and Israel were generally
1 G. A. Smith, HGHL. p. 203.
2 The LXX. in Ezek. and Zeph. represent the Cherethites
3 Macalister, The Philistines, etc. pp. 9 — 10.
4 See Cambridge Ancient History, u. pp. 286 — 7.
6 Cf. Sayce, Early History of the Hebrews, p. 64.
i9] OBADIAH 83
the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria : and Benjamin
unfriendly. They were conquered by David (2 Sam. v. 17 — 25), but
continued to be troublesome long after his time (2 Kgs. xviii. 8, 2 Ch.
xxviii. 18, Ps. Ixxxiii. 7); and the subjugation of them by the Jews is
often the subject of prophetic predictions (see Is. xi. 14, Jer. xxv. 20,
Ezek. xxv. 15—17).
and they shall possess ... Samaria. If, as is argued on p. 81, the
reading of the LXX. KOL KdTaKXrjpovofjitjcrovo-i TO opos 'E</>pcu/x KOLL TO TreSiov
2a/xap£i'as should be adopted here, the subject of the verb will be they
of the hill country (TO opo? representing kd-kar, which, followed by
the particle 'etk, must be substituted for 'eth sedheh in the present
Heb. text). Part of the territory assigned to Judah at the Conquest
(according to Josh, xv.) was distinguished as the Mountain, in contrast
to the South, the Lowland, and the Wilderness. The sense, then, of
this passage will be that whilst the inhabitants of the South are to
possess Edom, and those of the Lowland are to acquire Philistia, the
occupants of the Mountain (or hill country) are to expand northward
and possess the territory of the former tribe of Ephraim (extending
from Bethel and Bethhoron on the south to the brook of Kanah (near
Shechem) on the north). The words and the field of Samaria are
perhaps a gloss, the conjunction being explanatory and equivalent to
even (cf. 1 Sam. xvii. 40) : the omission of them would improve the
symmetry of the clauses in the v. The term field has the signification
of "region" or "territory," as in Gen. xiv. 7, Num. xxi. 20, etc.; and
can be applied to a hilly district as well as to level ground (see Gen.
xxxii. 3).
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. If the inhabitants of the hill
country of Judah are thought of as destined to spread into the former
territory of Ephraim, they would inevitably absorb that of Benjamin
(lying between Judah and Ephraim); and the Benjamites are accord-
ingly to be compensated with Gilead. The LXX. has *at Bcwa/x.eti' /cai T^V
Ta\aa.of.LTLv, apparently regarding both words as ace. after the foregoing
Ka.TaK\r)povopijo-ovo-iv, and supposing that a section of the Judeans are
to occupy Gilead in addition to the territories of Benjamin and Ephraim ;
but Sym. and Th. have *at Bei/ia/u^ ot T^V FaXaaS, taking Bevia/uV as
the subject of the verb supplied; whilst the Vulg. has explicitly et
Benjamin possidebit Galaad. Bewer thinks that the whole verse
contains various explanatory glosses, and considers that it originally
ran, And they shall possess the South and the Lowland, and they shall
possess mount Ephraim (adopting the LXX/s TO opos 'E<£pcuju, and
treating the phrase as object), and the Ammonites (replacing binydmm
by bene 'ammori). After the local names there were then inserted
definitions (marked by the prefixed particle }eth) as in Ezek. iv. 1,
xxxvi. 12, the South being explained by the mount of Esau, the Lowland
by the Philistines, mount Ephraim by the field of Samaria, and the
Ammonites by Gilead (the insertions being designed to identify the
localities in the writer's own time). But this interpretation does not
6—2
84 OBADIAH [
19, 20
shall possess Gilead. 20 And the captivity of this * host of the
1 Or, fortress
account for the conjunction in and the field of Samaria, supposed to
be a gloss on mount Ephraim (for there is no conjunction before the
other hypothetical glosses); whilst Gilead should be glossed by the
Ammonites (not the reverse).
20. The authentic text of this v. is so uncertain that any explanation
of it is bound to be precarious. The original rendered literally is And
the captivity of this fortress (or host) of the children of Israel who (or
which) the Canaanites even unto Zarephath and the captivity of Jeru-
salem which is in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South:, but this
is clearly defective, and has been supplemented in various ways :
(1) The R/.V. text supplies before the Canaanites the preposition
" among" (be) and after it the verb "possess," which may be got from
the concluding clause of either this v. or the preceding. By the captivity
of this host (if such be the right rendering) of the children of Israel must
be meant members of some Hebrew provincial community (in contrast
to members of the Jewish capital), held prisoners among the Canaanites
(or Phoenicians) : these when released are to have possessions extending
even unto Zarephath. But this explanation leaves unexpressed the object
of the verb " possess " which is supplied in the first half of the v. and
needs before the Canaanites the word dwell (as well as among).
(2) The R.V. second mg. avoids one difficulty by regarding the
cities of the South (at the end of the v.) as the destined possessions of
both groups of captives, defining the first as those which are among the
Canaanites even unto Zarephath. But to take the words even unto
Zarephath as marking the extent of the dispersal of captive Hebrews
among the Phoenicians still requires the insertion, after the relative
which, of a verb like dwell.
(3) The R.V. first mg. supplies the verb " shall possess " before, not
after, the relative pronoun (which it treats as neuter) and supplies
before the Canaanites not the preposition "among" but the preposition
" to " (le) ; and the resultant translation of the first half of the verse
is And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess
that which belongeth to the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath. This
rendering not only furnishes an object to the verb "shall possess," but
also affords a natural connection for the words even unto Zarephath.
But before the word Canaanites there might be expected the preposition
commonly employed to mark possession, le or la(c).
(4) The LXX. has 777 before TWV XavavcuW, suggesting that the
Greek translators had before them the reading 'eth 'erets instead of
the relative pronoun 'dsher of the present Hebrew text. The adoption
of this, and of the rendering of hel by fortress instead of by host, yields
the translation, And the captivity of this fortress of the children of Israel
shall possess the land of the Canaanites even unto Zarephath ; and such
seems the best solution of the difficulties presented by the passage.
The words this fortress possibly designate Samaria (since it is contrasted
20] OBADIAH 85
children of Israel, l which are among the Canaanites, shall possess
even unto Zarephath ; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in
1 Or, shall possess that which belongeth to the Canaanites, even &c. Or, which
are among the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and &c.
with Jerusalem] ; if so, the captivity (i.e. the captives) of this fortress
must signify Samaria's deported inhabitants, whom the prophet ex-
pects to return and take possession, not of their former abode (for this
is to be occupied by the inhabitants of the hill country of Judah, see
on v. 19), but part of Phoenicia as far as Zarephath. The word hel
which the translation host, adopted by the R.V. text, assumes to be
equivalent to hayil (cf. Sym. and Th. T^S oWa/zcws raimjs and Vulg.
exercitus huius) probably here has the meaning which it bears in
Lam. ii. 8, Nah. iii. 8 — namely, rampart or fortification • and the
writer, by attaching to it the pronoun this, seems to imply that he
dwelt near the fortress designated. Ewald proposed to replace the
term by hoi, "sand," interpreted in the sense of coast, and took it to
refer to the Israelite tribes north of Ephraim, flanking the Mediter-
ranean. Zarephath (mentioned in 1 Kgs. xvii. 9) is represented in the
LXX. by Sarepta (cf. Lk. iv. 26): it was situated between Tyre and
Zidon, about 8 miles S. of the latter. There still survive ruins of it
along the shore in front of the Arabic village of Sarafend.
Bewer, who takes (like the supporters of the interpretation given
above) the children of Israel to mean descendants of the northern
Israelites, whose independence was destroyed by Sargon, considers
that in ha-hel there is disguised (through textual corruption) the
locality Halak, to which, among other places, the captives of Samaria
were deported (2 Kgs. xvii. 6) ; and he reconstructs the text so as to
obtain the translation And the captivity of the children of Israel that
are in Halah shall possess the Canaanites (i.e. Phoenicia) as far as
Zarephath.
the captivity of Jerusalem. I.e. bodies of Judean captives deported
from Jerusalem, first by the Babylonian Nebuchadrezzar, and later
possibly by various Persian rulers.
Sepharad. The locality intended is quite uncertain. East of Palestine
a Saparda in S. W. Media is named in an inscription of Sargon
(721 — 705), and another, situated N.E. of Nineveh, is mentioned in
an inscription of Esar-haddon (681 — 668); and if either of these was
an Assyrian possession, it may, on the overthrow of Assyria, have fallen
to Babylon and become the abode of Jewish captives. In the west there
was a (Jparda (Sparda) situated in Asia Minor, near Bithynia and
Galatia, which was conquered by Cyrus, the Persian, and again by
Darius Hystaspis (Sayce, HCM. p. 483); and Jews are related to
have been transported into Asia Minor by Artaxerxes Ochus (358—
337). The fact that Qparda is mentioned in connection with the laund,
i.e. the lonians (Schrader, COT. I. p. 446) has suggested its identi-
fication with Sardis. The LXX. has ?ws 'E<£pa0a which (it has been
86 OB ADI AH [ao, 21
Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South. 21 And saviours
shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau ; and
the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.
conjectured) is a scribal error for ews 3e<£pa0a. The Vulg. represents
in Sepharad by in Bosporo (which may possibly preserve a tradition
that associated Sepharad with Bithynia). By later Jewish interpreters
the locality was identified with Spain, and the Spanish Jews are still
known as the Sephardim.
the cities of the South. At the time when the author of this passage
wrote, the South of Judah may have been occupied by a hostile
people — probably Edomites, who even in the 2nd century B.C. were
in possession of Hebron (1 Mace. v. 65). In any case the Jews dwelling
there, by pushing into Edom (v. 19), would leave room for the returning
exiles here spoken of.
21. And saviours... Zion. The meaning seems to be that deliverers
(cf. Jud. iii. 9, 15, 2 Kgs. xiii. 5, NeK. ix. 27) will come to mount Zion
to ensure the safety of the Jews gathered there, and to inflict the
destined retribution on Edom (cf. v. 18); and these thoughts may have
been inspired by the visit to Jerusalem of Nehemiah, who fortified the
city. The construction come up on (instead of come up to, or on to)
mount Zion is rather unusual (be instead of 'el or (al), but seems
sufficiently defended by 2 Sam. ii. 1, 1 Ch. xiv. 11. The LXX., how-
ever, has Kat ai/a^croi/rat avacr<i)£o/xevoi e£ o/oous Seiwv, And those who are
saved (see v. 17) shall go up (i.e. on an expedition, cf. Jer. xlix. 29,
1. tyfrom mount Zion (using other vowels and a different preposition).
to judge, etc. I.e. to execute judgment (cf. 1 Sam. iii. 13) on the
mountain land of Edom.
and the kingdom... the LORD'S. The rule of Jehovah over the whole
world, which could be questioned so long as the wrongs inflicted on
His people were unredressed, would be vindicated as soon as retribution
overtook the wrongdoers : cf. Ex. xv. 18, Ps. xxii. 28, xlvii. 8, xciii. 1,
2 Zech. xiv. 9, Rev. xix. 6. Although the context here involves
a narrow racial conception of Jehovah's kingdom, which is viewed as
established through the supremacy of Israel over other peoples, the
prediction has found, and is finding, a more universalist and spiritual
fulfilment through the extension of Christianity, which, though origin-
ating in the midst of Judaism, has become detached from it, and with
such detachment has shed the idea of Jewish sovereignty over the
Gentiles.
OBADIAH 87
APPENDIX
THE ORACLE QUOTED IN COMMON BY OBADIAH
AND JEREMIAH.
The likeness between the two passages Ob. 1 — 5 and Jer. xlix. 14 —
16, 9 cannot be satisfactorily accounted for except on the supposition
that they have a common origin in an earlier oracle which has been
incorporated by both prophetic writers. This oracle was metrical in
structure ; but it is not at once clear in what metre it was composed,
since, where the two texts are in conflict, the underlying source can be
reconstructed in more than one way. Certain lines obviously are marked
by the Kinah (or Pentameter) rhythm, but several of the alternate
lines admit of being regarded as either hexameters or pentameters,
according to the deductions drawn from the available data. If the
poem be reconstructed so as to present a series of alternating hexa-
meter (or double trimeter) and pentameter lines, we get a system of
verses resembling the Elegiac poems occurring in Greek and Latin
literature. It would probably, however, be difficult to find a parallel
for such an arrangement elsewhere in the O.T. ; and general considera-
tions are in favour of the conclusion that the oracle consisted of
a succession of pentameters, with the exception of the first line, which
must be an hexameter (or two trimeters).
The discrepant texts of Ob. and Jer. have been compared in the
commentary in some detail. From this comparison the original form
of the oracle can be recovered with some confidence ; and a plausible
reconstruction of it is as follows :—
Loquitur propheta ignotus.
** A communication have I heard from Jehovah, | while a messenger
among the nations is being sent : —
[Nuntii iussum.]
' Assemble yourselves, and come against her, | and rise up for war.'
[JEHOVAE Oraculum.]
' Small I make thee among the nations, | despised among men.
Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, | the pride of thine heart.
O dweller in the clefts of the rock, | holder of the height,
Though thou makest on high, as a vulture, thy nest, |
[from thence will I bring thee down.
If vintagers come to thee | they will not leave gleanings,
If thieves by night, | they will destroy till satisfied."5
JOEL
CHAPTERS I. 1— II. 17.
This section of the book describes the disastrous effects of the plague of
locusts, explains the need of repentance on the part of the people for the sins
occasioning the Divine wrath, and voices the prophet's demand for an appeal
to God to spare the sufferers.
I. 1 THE word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of
Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of
the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your
fathers? 3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell
1. This v. constitutes the title of the book, and in form resembles
Hos. i. 1, Mic. i. 1, Zeph. i. 1, Hag. i. 1. The phrase The word of the
LORD (or JEHOVAH, see p. 1) came to... is frequent in connection
with Divine revelations, see Gen. xv. 1, 1 Sam. xv. 10, 2 Sam. vii. 4,
xxiv. 11, 1 Kgs. xvi. 1, Is. xxxviii. 4, Jer. i. 2, 11, Ezek. iii. 16, etc.
Joel. On the meaning of the name see p. li.
Pethuel. This appellation occurs only here. The Heb. form is
followed by the Vulg. (Pkatuel), but the LXX., Old Latin, and Syr.
have Bethuel or Bathuel, identical with the name of Rebekah's father
(Gen. xxii. 22). Both names are difficult to interpret. Pethuel, if con-
nected with the Heb. pdthah, presumably means " Persuaded of God1."
The first element of Bethuel cannot be explained from any Heb. verb :
in the Oxford Heb. Lex. it is suggested that it is equivalent to Methuel,
"man of God."
2 — 7. Attention is called to the unprecedented character of the
recent calamity, and its consequences.
2. Hear... give ear. The same parallelism occurs in Gen. iv. 23,
Jud. v. 3, Is. i. 2, Hos. v. 1, Ps. xlix. 1.
ye old men. This (cf. v. 14, ii. 16) is a better rendering than ye elders
(the official heads of the community) since appeal is made to length of
experience (cf. Dt. xxxii. 7).
the land. I.e. Judah (as appears from the mention of the Temple in
w. 9, 13, etc.).
this. I.e. the like of what is explained in v. 4 : the Old Latin has
talia.
3. Tell ye... generation. To adapt this v. to the metre of the sur-
rounding context (where trimeters are employed) Nowack proposes, by
the omission of the middle portion, to reduce it to Tell ye your children
1 Cf. Jeruel, "Founded of God."
i. 3-6] JOEL 89
their children, and their children another generation. 4 That
which Hhe palmer worm hath left hath Hhe locust eaten; and
that which the locust hath left hath Hhe cankerworm eaten;
and that which the cankerworm hath left hath Hhe caterpiller
eaten. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye
drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine ; for it is cut off from
your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong,
1 Probably, different kinds of locusts, or locusts in different stages of growth.
oj it and let your children tell another (i.e. the next, cf. Ps. cix. 13)
generation.
4. The four names used in this v. to denote various sorts of locusts
might etymologically be represented by the shearer, the swarmer, the
lapper (i.e. one that laps, or licks up, herbage), and the finisher. The
variety of names, however, seems to be employed, not for the purpose
of distinguishing with precision different species (for only one of the
names which in Lev. xi. 22 are used to denote kinds occurs here), still
less to denote distinct stages of growth in the same insect (for the same
terms appear in a different order in ii. 25, and the mature locust would
not consume what in an earlier stage of development it had left un-
devoured, but would move on to fresh ground), but to suggest the
interminable succession of the swarms. For allusions in the O.T. to
the locusts' incalculable numbers cf. Jud. vi. 5, vii. 12, Jer. xlvi. 23,
Nah. iii. 15, Ps. cv. 341.
5. Aiuake, ye drunkards. The sleep induced by intoxication must
cease, since the means of further indulgence in potations has been
destroyed. For the injury caused by locusts to vines cf. Theoc. v. 108,
a/cpi'Scs...^ /xru A.w/3a<7eur$€ ras a/iTreXo?.
the sweet wine. The Heb. word ('cms), thus rendered, denotes juice
"pressed" (cf. the verb in Mai. iv. 3 (iii. 21)) not only from grapes but
also from other fruits: it recurs in Am. ix. 13 (=Joel iii. 18), 2 Is.
xlix. 26, Cant. viii. 2. In such raw juice the process of fermentation
had started but was not completed : cf. the effects attributed to yXevKo?
in Acts ii. 13. The LXX. in iii. 18 renders it by yAuKaoyAo's, but in Is.
and Cant, by otvos ve'os and i/a/xa respectively.
for it is cut off from your mouth. The LXX. has because there have
been cut off from your mouth joy and gladness (a pentameter instead of
a trimeter).
6. a nation. This expression, here applied to locusts, is paralleled
by the use of people in connection with the same insects in ii. 2, and
with ants and coneys in Prov. xxx. 25, 26. So Homer employs Wvea of
geese, cranes, flies, bees, and swine (//. n. 87, 458, 469, Od. xiv. 93) ;
and Maurer quotes Verg. G. in. 73, gentis (of horses), and Columella,
ix. 13, duo populi (of bees).
1 Agatharchides (quoted by Henderson) speaks of axpldw 7r\?70oy
90 JOEL [i. 6-8
and without number ; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he
hath the jaw teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste,
and * barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast
it 2away ; the branches thereof are made white. 8 Lament like
1 Or, broken 2 Or, down
is come up. The verb is regularly used of hostile incursions, cf. 1 Kgs.
xiv. 25, 2 Kgs. xviii. 13, and see p. 86.
my land. The prophet, here and in v. 7, speaks as the representative
of his countrymen.
strong. I.e. in virtue of their irresistible numbers. The adjective is
sometimes merely a synonym for "many" (Am. v. 12, Ps. xxxv. 18,
Prov. vii. 26, 2 Is. liii. 12).
the jaw teeth. The Heb. word only occurs in late writings (Prov.
xxx. 14, Job xxix. 17). The LXX. has at /xv'Aat avrov, and the Latin
versions molares eius, so that if these versions are followed, perhaps
a more expressive rendering would be the grinders. Sym. has KOL at
fjivXoLL GJS Aeovros and the Latin versions recognize ws, so that Sievers,
followed by Marti, may be right in proposing to read in the last clause
and his grinders are as the teeth of a great lion. The import of the
comparison consists in the locusts' destructiveness, though their man-
dibles are actually both strong and sharp, and are described by one
traveller as " saw-like."
a great lion. The term (Idbhi') here used is rendered by the R.V. in
Gen. xlix. 9, Num. xxiv. 9, Dt. xxxiii. 20, and other places by lioness,
but in Is. v. 29 by lion. The LXX. has O-KV^VOV, the Vulgate catuli
leonis.
7. He hath... Jig tree. Literally, he hath made my vine a desolation,
and my fig tree chips. The word rendered chips only occurs here; but
a very similar one is found in Hos. x. 7 (see mg.). Locusts are known
to devour the bark and young twigs of trees; and Pliny, HN. XL 29,
describes them as omnia morsu erodentes, et fores quoque tectorum. The
vine and the fig tree are mentioned together as being characteristic
of Palestine (see on Mic. iv. 4).
made it clean bare, and cast it away. The first verb has in view the
consumption by the locusts of the edible portions of the trees, the second
the rejection of those parts which they have gnawed but found uneatable,
and so dropped (cf. mg.).
8. Lament. An exhortation to mourning addressed to the land, or
to its collective people, personified as a woman : cf. Is. iii. 26, Am. v. 2,
Jer. xiv. 17. The verb in this sense occurs only here.
girded with sackcloth. The wearing of sackcloth was an accompani-
ment of sorrow in general, whether for the dead (2 Sam. iii. 31), for
private or public calamities (Am. viii. 10, Jer. vi. 26, Job xvi. 15,
Esth. iv. 3), or for sin (1 Kgs. xxi. 27, Neh. ix. 1). The expression
implies the wearing of a loin cloth woven of dark hair (cf. 2 Is. 1. 3, Rev.
vi. 12), probably of the goat (cf. /tcXai/atyts) or of the camel. The Old
I. s-io] JOEL 91
a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 The meal offering and the drink offering is cut off from the
house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth ; for the corn is wasted,
Latin version here has praecinctam cilicium. To the use, in connection
with mourning and penitence, of this, the scantiest and cheapest of
garments, more than one motive probably contributed. On the one
hand, the prevalent physical conception of "uncleanness" attaching to
the dead (cf. Num. xix. 13 — 19) and of its infectious character (Hag.
ii. 13) would lead to the employment of something that could be dis-
carded without much loss, to save valuable attire from becoming con-
taminated and useless. On the other hand, since sackcloth was the
garb of slaves and captives (1 Kgs. xx. 31, 32), the use of it would be
a mark of humility, calculated to propitiate an offended deity, whose
anger had been manifested by the death of the person mourned. For
another possible explanation of mourning apparel see p. 25.
the husband of her youth. For the combination cf. a wife of youth
(Prov. v. 18, 2 Is. liv. 6, Mai. ii. 14, 15). In view of the word virgin
(LXX. VV/X^T;), the term here rendered husband (literally owner, Gen.
xx. 3, Ex. xxi. 3, 22) must refer to one to whom the maid was only
betrothed and not yet wedded (though the same law applied to her as
to the wedded wife, Dt. xxii. 22—24, Mt. i. 19).
9 — 13. A renewed description of the devastation caused by the
locusts, and the consequent interruption of the Temple offerings.
9. The meal offering. The Heb. term (minhah) thus translated was
in early times applied to offerings of all kinds (see Gen. iv. 3, 4, 1 Sam.
ii. 12 — 17), and the LXX. here has Ovo-ia, the Old Latin hostia, and the
Vulg. sacrificium. Later, however, it came to denote specifically a cereal
offering (Lev. ii. 1—3, 1 Kgs. viii. 64, 1 Ch. xxi. 23), this, together with
a drink offering (of wine), being the usual accompaniment of a flesh
offering (Num. xv. 1 — 10). Such accessories illustrate the close analogy
subsisting between sacrifices and feasts in early religious usage (cf. Bel
and the Dragon, 3). The suspension of the meal and drink offering is
here viewed as one of the greatest calamities resulting from the plague
of locusts, a fact suggesting that what the writer has particularly in
mind is the daily burnt sacrifice, accompanied by offerings of fine flour,
oil, and wine, prescribed in Ex. xxix. 38 — 42, Num. xxviii. 3 — 8 (cf.
Neh. x. 33, 39).
the LORD'S ministers. The LXX. implies the reading the ministers
of the altar, as in v. 13.
10. The cessation of the Temple offerings is caused by the destruction
of the agricultural products that provided them.
the land mournetli. The "pathetic fallacy" whereby inanimate nature
is represented as sentient by those who, from a desire for sympathy,
transfer to their environment their own moods is aided in some cir-
cumstances by the actual appearance of natural objects, according as
92 JOEL [i. 10-12
the new wine is l dried up, the oil languisheth. 11 2Be ashamed,
0 ye husbandmen, howl, 0 ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for
the barley ; for the harvest of the field is perished. 12 The vine
is Withered, and the fig tree languisheth: the pomegranate tree,
the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the
1 Or, ashamed 2 Or, The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers howl
they flourish or fade under favourable or unfavourable conditions : cf.
Am. i. 2, Jer. xii. 4, Is. xxxiii. 9, Ps. Ixv. 13.
the new wine. From the passages in which this term (tirosh) is used
(if they are interpreted strictly) it would appear that it was applied to
the juice of the grape both before fermentation (ii. 24, 3 Is. Ixv. 8) and
after it (Hos. iv. 11, Jud. ix. 13)1. The LXX. generally represents it by
olvos, but sometimes by ^tOw^a.
is dried up. Or, is abashed (cf. nig.), see v. 11 (where it is applied to
the husbandmen). The new wine, failing through the destruction of the
vines, is represented as conscious that it has not answered expectations :
cf. Jer. xiv. 3, 4. Corn, wine, and (olive) oil constituted the three main
products of Palestine (Dt. vii. 13, xi. 14, xii. 17, Hos. ii. 8, Jer. xxxi.
12). The last was used as an unguent (Ex. xxx. 24, 25, Dt. xxviii. 40,
Am. vi. 6, Mic. vi. 15), as an illuminant (Ex. xxvii. 20), as an in-
gredient in food (1 Kgs. xvii. 12, Ezek. xvi. 13) and religious offerings
(Num. xxviii. 5, Lev. ii. 1), and as a remedy for wounds (Is. i. 6, Lk.
x. 34).
11. Be ashamed... howl. The commands are equivalent to a descrip-
tion. But the LXX. for the former has a past tense, whilst Sym. has
KaTr)<Txvv6r](j-ai') and this is followed in the R.V. mg.
ye vinedressers. The word is here used of fruitgrowers in general :
cf. v. 12.
for the wheat, etc. The writer here has in mind the husbandmen
only; the reason for the vinedressers' grief is deferred till v. 12 (where
trees are mentioned).
the harvest. The LXX. has rpvyrjro^ perhaps reading bdtsir for Jcdtsir.
12. the pomegranate tree. This, Punica granatum, grows to a height
of 20 ft., has lancet-shaped leaves, and bears large red blossoms and a
fruit of the size and colour of an orange, though rather redder and with
a harder rind, enclosing numerous red pips. Its juice was converted
into a beverage (Cant. viii. 2).
the palm tree. This, Phoenix dactylifera, though abundant only in
the warmest parts of Palestine, such as the neighbourhood of Jericho in
the Jordan valley (Dt. xxxiv. 3, Jud. i. 16), and of Engedi by the
margin of the Dead Sea (Ecclus. xxiv. 14), was sufficiently common to
be associated particularly with Judaea. Pliny (HN. xin. 6 (4)) writes,
Judaea vero inclita est vel magis palmis; and the coins by which
Vespasian commemorated the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 represent the
1 See Driver, Joel and Amos, p. 79.
I. 12-14] JOEL 93
field are withered: for joy is 1 withered away from the sons of
men. 13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests;
howl, ye ministers of the altar ; come, lie all night in sackcloth,
ye ministers of my God: for the meal offering and the drink
offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify
1 Or, ashamed
city, personified as a weeping woman, seated under a palm tree (Madden,
Coins of the Jews, p. 209).
the apple tree. The Heb. term only occurs in late compositions (Prov.
xxv. 11, Cant. ii. 3, 5, vii. 8, viii. 5). On the strength of Prov. I.e.
apples o) gold in baskets (or filigree work) of silver, it has been argued
that the word means the citron, the orange, or the apricot, rather than
the apple; but the bitter taste of the citron (contrast Cant. ii. 3) and
the lack of scent in the apricot (contrast Cant. vii. 8) are against its
identification with either of these ; whilst the orange is said not to have
been introduced into Palestine until the Middle Ages. By some scholars
it is denied that Prov. xxv. 11 can refer to any natural fruit1: if so, the
evidence of Cant, favours the apple.
for joy is withered, etc. Perhaps better, for joy is abashed from (i.e.
avoids in shame) the presence of the sons of men. The causal particle
for introduces the reason, not for the statement immediately preceding,
but for the exhortation to howl and lament, in vv. 5, 8, 11. In an
agricultural country like Palestine prosperity was so closely dependent
upon the fruits of the earth that the joy of harvest became proverbial
for extreme gladness (Is. ix. 3, cf. xvi. 10, Ps. iv. 7).
13. Gird yourselves with sackcloth. The verb here is used elliptically
as in Is. xxxii. 11; contrast Jer. iv. 8, vi. 26.
lament. The use of this Heb. word in Is. xxxii. 12 suggests that,
like the Greek KO'TTTO/ACU and the Latin plango, it originally implied the
beating of the breast, though it came to mean no more than the utter-
ance of doleful cries (Jer. iv. 8, 2 Zech. xii. 10).
ye ministers of the altar. Cf. Ezek. xlv. 4 (the ministers of the sane-
tuary), xlvi. 24 (the ministers of the house}.
lie all night. Their intercession is not to be suspended through need
for repose.
ye ministers of my God. The LXX. has ye ministers of God, which,
in view of your God at the end of the v., is preferable.
14 — 20. An exhortation urging an appeal to God to relieve the
distress occasioned by the locust-plague and an accompanying drought.
14. Sanctify a fast. The command is addressed to the priests. The
verb to sanctify, used in connection with fasts, gatherings of the people
(ii. 16), and war (iii. 9), implies that with all these things there was
associated the idea of consecration (see p. 24), though the verb, in such
contexts, practically means "to institute, set on foot." Fasting was
1 See Toy, Prov. p. 462.
94 JOEL [i. i4, 15
a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the ^Id men and all the
inhabitants of the land unto the house of the LORD your God,
and cry unto the LORD. 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the
LORD is at hand, and as destruction from 2the Almighty shall it
1 Or, elders 2 Heb. Shaddai.
probably at first a means .of sanctification, whereby religious devotees
prepared themselves for the reception of sacred food (such as the flesh
of a totem animal). At a more developed stage of belief it was a natural
expression of penitential humiliation; and as the Jewish religious
system became increasingly organized, it passed into a formal act of
self-mortification. Fasting on the part of individuals as a manifestation
of humility and penitence is mentioned in 2 Sam. xii. 16, 1 Kgs. xxi.
27, Ez. x. 6, Neh. i. 4, and Dan. ix. 3; and general fasts are described in
Jud. xx. 26, 1 Sam. vii. 6, 2 Ch. xx. 3, Ez. viii. 21, Jer. xxxvi. 9, etc.
The anniversaries of national calamities were marked by fasts in post-
exilic times (Zech. vii. 5) ; and the fasting enjoined on the Day of
Atonement (Lev. xvi. 29) led to its being styled pre-eminently "the
Fast" (Acts xxvii. 9).
a solemn assembly. The term ('dtsdrah), though it could be applied
to any gathering (Jer. ix. 2), usually denoted an assemblage for some
religious purpose, such as might be held in connection with the worship
not only of Jehovah (Is. i. 13) but also of other gods (2 Kgs. x. 20). It
was specifically employed to designate gatherings of pilgrims on tbe
concluding days of the feasts of Unleavened Bread (Dt. xvi. 8) and of
Tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. 36, Num. xxix. 35; cf. Neh. viii. 18).
the house of the LORD your God. The LXX. lacks the name Jehovah,
and the house of your God alone suits the metre (dimeters).
15. the day of the LORD is at hand. Cf. ii. 1, iii. 14. Tbe same phrase
occurs in several other prophecies; Is. xiii. 6, Ezek. xxx. 3, Ob. 15,
Zeph. i. 7. See p. 78.
as destruction from the Almighty. Better (since there is an assonance
in the original), as destruction from the Destroyer (Heb. Shaddai} : cf.
Is. xiii. 6. If there is any etymological connection between the Divine
title Shaddai here used and the Heb. root skddhadh, "to destroy," the
former eventually lost its sinister significance and came to mean the
Mighty (Job xv. 25), whose power was employed for beneficent as well
as for harmful purposes (Ps. xci. 1, Job xxii. 25, xxix. 5). In some
passages in the O.T. it is attached as an adjective to El (God), as in
Gen. xvii. 1, xliii. 14, xlviii. 3, etc. ; and in other passages it is used
alone as a personal name for the Deity (Num. xxiv. 4, 16, Ps. Ixviii. 14,
Job v. 17, etc.). It is also an element in the theophoric names
Zurishaddai and Ammishaddai (Num. i. 6, 12). By the writer of the
Priestly narrative (P), forming one of the strands of the Pentateuch, El
Shaddai was regarded as the sole name for God known in pre-Mosaic
times (Ex. vi. 3); and it was probably from the same point of view that
it was used by the writer of Job (where it occurs thirty-one times). In
I. 15-17] JOEL 95
come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and
gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seeds xrot under
their clods ; the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken
1 Or, shrivel
addition to the derivation from shddhadh, which this passage suggests,
other etymologies have been proposed : (1) the word skedh, which in the
O.T. means "demon" (Dt. xxxii. 17, Ps. cvi. 37), but which may once
have meant "lord"; (2) the Assyrian skadu, "mountain," a title applied
in the cuneiform inscriptions to the gods Bel and Asshur, and perhaps
transferred by the Hebrews to Jehovah (cf. the use of "my rock," in
Ps. xviii. 2, xxxi. 3, Ixii. 6); (3) the Hebrew shadh, meaning "breast,"
but this, in spite of the name Thaddceus, seems highly improbable.
16. the meat. Better, the food, i.e. the materials for the Temple
sacrifices (vv. 9, 13).
joy. ..of our God. The Hebrew feasts were originally agricultural
festivals, the feast of Unleavened Bread marking the beginning of the
harvest, that of Weeks the completion of the same, and that of In-
gathering the close of the vintage, so that all were seasons of plenty and
mirth. The early aspect of them became modified in later times, but
was not obliterated.
17. TJie seeds rot under their clods. Perhaps better, The grains (of
corn) shrivel under their clods. It seems to be implied that the locust-
plague was accompanied by a severe drought (see v. 20), but this clause
is of very uncertain meaning, for three of the four Heb. words only
occur here. The last word, in particular (meghrephothehem), presents
great difficulties; for it seems to be derived from gdraph, "to sweep or
scrape away," and so should mean an implement like a broom, besom,
or shovel; but the translation the grains shrivel under their (the hus-
bandmen's) shovels yields a very indifferent sense. It is best to assume
that there has been some textual corruption, and to substitute (with
Sievers) righbkehem, the term used for clods in Job xxi. 33, xxxviii. 38,
translating as above. The LXX. has i(TKipr^aa.v Sa/xaA.€is CTTL rat? <£arvais
avTw, which has been explained to mean the calves stamp (impatiently)
at their (empty) stalls. The Greek Sa/zaAcis certainly represents paroth
(in place of perudhoth), and rats ^a-n/cus probably implies riphthehem (cf.
Hab. iii. 17). But if etr/apT^o-av stands for pashu (instead of 'dbheshu),
this means "frisk light-heartedly" (Mai. iv. 2 (Heb. iii. 20)), and the
sense given to the prepos. is unusual ; whilst the mention of the cattle
here is premature (see v. 18). The Vulg. has computuerunt iumenta
(perddhoth for perudhoth) in stercore suo.
the garners. The Heb. word ordinarily means treasures, but is some-
times used as a compact expression for treasure-houses and must here
have the transferred sense of store-houses (for grain) : cf. 1 Ch. xxvii. 25,
Neh. xiii. 12.
the barns. The Heb. word (mammeghuroth) only occurs here, and is
perhaps an accidental error for the plural of one which is found in
Hag. ii. 19 (meghurah). The LXX. has Xrjvoi, but the Vulg. apotheca?.
96 JOEL [i. 17
-20
down ; for the corn is l withered. 18 How do the beasts groan !
the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture;
yea, the flocks of sheep 2are made desolate. 19 0 LORD, to thee do
I cry : for the fire hath devoured the 3 pastures of the wilderness,
and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 Yea, the
beasts of the field pant unto thee : for the water brooks are dried
up, and the fire hath devoured the 3 pastures of the wilderness.
1 Or, ashamed 2 Or, suffer punishment 3 Or, folds
are broken down. I.e. have become dilapidated through neglect (cf.
Prov. xxiv. 31), since there has been no grain requiring storage.
is withered. Or, is abashed. The LXX. has cfypdvOrj ; but the Vulgate,
confusum est.
18. How do the beasts groan! The LXX., translating from a slightly
different text, has ri airoO-rja-o^v eavrots — in the sense of what shall we
put into them (the stalls)?; and Bewer thinks this text preferable.
are perplexed. Perhaps better, are at a loss. The verb is used in Ex.
xiv. 3 of the confused movements of the Israelites in their escape from
Egypt; and here means that the cattle do not know where to turn for
pasturage. But the LXX. has €KXavo-av, implying bdchu for ndbhochu.
yea, the flocks. Less pasture would suffice for sheep than would be
needed for cattle, but even the flocks cannot find enough.
are made desolate. Literally, are made guilty (ne'shamu), which must
be understood to signify (as in the mg.), suffer punishment. But the
LXX. has TJfavio-Orjo-av, and the Vulg. disperierunt, which probably
represent the ordinary term for are made desolate (nashammu), i.e. are
famished (cf. Lam. iv. 5) ; and Wellhausen and others would substitute
this for the present Heb. text.
19. to thee do I cry. Only Jehovah, who sent the destruction (v. 15),
could avert it. Instead of the 1st pers. sing. Sievers, followed by
Bewer, would read the 3rd pers. plur., they (the beasts) cry: cf. v. 20.
the fire. The locusts and drought together had produced the same
effects as fire would have caused ; cf. ii. 3.
the pastures of the wilderness. The word which the RV. renders by
wilderness denotes uncultivated ground, suitable for the feeding of sheep.
20. the beasts of the field. I.e. the wild animals. Some of these,
though not dependent for food upon the vegetation destroyed by the
locusts, would require water, which the drought had exhausted.
pant unto thee. For the verb here used cf. Ps. xlii. 1 : for the thought
cf. Job xxxviii. 41, Ps. cxlvii. 9.
the water brooks. The Heb. word, though applicable to natural
watercourses (see Ps. xlii. 1), seems strictly to denote artificial con-
duits (runnels), being most frequently employed by Ezekiel, who lived
in Babylonia.
and the fire, etc. These concluding words of v. 20 repeat part of
v. 19, and it has been proposed by Marti and others to omit them as
an accidental repetition: certainly without them there is more sym-
metry between this v. and the preceding.
ii. i, 2] JOEL 97
CHAPTER II. 1—17.
II. 1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my
holy mountain ; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble : for
the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand ; 2 a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as
the daAvn spread upon the mountains ; a great people and a strong,
1 — 17. A summons addressed to the collective people to attend
a service of intercession at the Temple, in the hope that Jehovah, in
response to the prayers of His people, may refrain from punishing
them further.
The opening v. is a command from Jehovah communicated through
the prophet to the officials of the community; but the explanation of
the need for it passes into a second description of the locust-plague,
couched in even more alarming terms; so that the. injunction of v. I
is repeated in v. 15.
1. the trumpet. Strictly, the horn or cornet. Rams' horns, though
employed to give martial signals (Jud. iii. 27, 2 Sam. ii. 28, xx. 1),
were also used, especially in later times, in connection with religious
functions, such as the Day of Atonement (Lev. xxv. 9) : cf. Ps. xlvii. 5,
Ixxxi. 3, 2 Ch. xv. 14.
sound an alarm. The verb is commonly used of uttering martial,
distressful, or joyful, shouts (Jud. vii. 21, 1 Sam. xvii. 52, Is. xv. 4,
Mic. iv. 9, 1 Sam. iv. 5, Ps. xlvii. 1 (2)); but here means to "sound
a blast " with a horn (as in Hos. v. 8), rousing the people to a sense of
their situation.
my holy mountain. I.e. Zion (v. 15): cf. iii. 17, Is. xxvii. 13, 3 Is.
Ixv. 11, Ezek. xx. 40.
cometh. The tense in the original is a prophetic perfect : though the
day of Jehovah has not yet fully come, the locusts are regarded as
God's agents in initiating His judgment (v. 11).
for it is nigh at hand. The break between v. 1 and v. 2 should be
neglected, and the text should run— -for nigh at hand is a day, etc.
The words a day of darkness... thick darkness are quoted from Zeph.
i. 15b, and the clause here prefixed to them seems to be extra metrum.
Though flights of locusts darken the sky (cf. Pliny, HN. XL 29, solem
obumbrant), the gloom here meant is not so much physical as mental,
and implies conditions of alarm as great as that which an abnormal
darkening of the sky might occasion (cf. Is. v. 30, viii. 22, Jer. xiii. 16,
Am. v. 18).
2. as the dawn, etc. These words should be linked with the following
(not with the preceding) sentence, for the quotation from Zephaniah
ends at thick darkness; and the rendering should be, As the dawn
there is spread upon the mountains a great people and a strong (cf. the
LXX., cos op6po<s xy&T](r€Ta.i CTTI TO, oprj Aaos 7roA.vs /cat icr^vpds). The
dawn is usually a simile for relief from gloom or distress (Is. viii. 20,
98 JOEL [ii. 2-4
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after
them, even to the years of many generations. 3 A fire devoureth
before them ; and behind them a flame burneth : the land is as
the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness ; yea, and none hath escaped them. 4 The appearance
of them is as the appearance of horses ; and as l horsemen, so do
1 Or, war-horses
3 Is. Iviii. 8); but here the comparison has in view the dimness
(diluculum) produced on the horizon by the enormous numbers of
approaching locusts. An American lady, in an article published in the
Times of Sept. 15, 1916, writes of swarms observed at Beirut in Syria,
"the steady sub-tropical sunlight was changed into a fluttering, un-
certain, wavering half-dimness."
there hath not... the like. Similar rhetorical phrases occur in Ex. x. 6,
14, xi. 6, 2 Kgs. xviii. 5, xxiii. 25.
3. A fire. That locusts, by devouring the herbage, create all the
appearance of a prairie fire is attested by many travellers. One, writing
of experiences in Formosa, says, " Bamboo groves have been stripped
of their leaves and left standing like saplings after a rapid bush fire. . . .
And grass has been devoured, so that the bare ground appeared as if
burned " (quoted by Driver from the Standard, Dec. 25, 1896).
the garden of Eden. This is a compressed phrase for the garden of
Jehovah (or of God) in Eden (see Gen. ii. 8, and cf. Gen. xiii. 10, 2 Is.
li. 3, Ezek. xxxi. 8, 9). The converse of the transformation here de-
scribed is contemplated in Ezek. xxxvi. 35. Eden was seemingly the
alluvial plain (Assyrian, edinu) watered by the Tigris and Euphrates,
wherein the legendary garden of Jehovah was believed to be situated. But
the LXX., here as in some other places, connects it with a word meaning
"delight," and renders the garden of Eden by Trapa'Scio-os rpv^s.
none hath escaped them. The strict sense (in view of 2 Sam. xv. 14)
must be nothing of it (the land, regarded as masc., cf. Gen. xiii. 6) hath
escaped. The Heb. expression, which is commonly used in connection
with human beings (ii. 32 (Heb. iii. 5), Ob. 17, Is. iv. 2), is here applied
to vegetation, as in Ex. x. 5. The American lady previously quoted
says of the young broods of locusts, " They do not fly, but like armies
of large black ants, they marched across the sandy plain until they
reached the first field. There they stopped to eat, and never moved
until every plant had been stripped. Herbs, bushes, and trees were
left naked, robbed even of the bark."
4. as the appearance of horses. Compare Rev. ix. 7. The resemblance
between the head of a locust and that of a horse is confirmed by other
observers, and is reflected in the Italian word cavallette and the German
name for a grasshopper, Heupferd.
as horsemen. Better (as in the mg.), as war-horses. The Heb. term
is ambiguous, but the parallelism and the converse comparison in Job
xxxix. 20 favour the mg., though the LXX. has
IT. 4-7] JOEL 99
they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the moun-
tains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth
the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 At their
presence the peoples are in anguish : all faces are waxed pale.
7 They run like mighty men ; they climb the wall like men of
war ; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not
5. Like the noise of chariots. Better, As with the noise of chariots;
cf. Rev. ix. 9. The noise caused by flights of locusts is widely attested.
Pliny, for example (HN. x. 29), states, tanto volant pennarum stridore
ut alicB allies credantur; and the sound has been compared to the
dashing of water occasioned by a mill-wheel, to the roar of a cataract,
to the noise of wind blowing through trees, and to the tramp of armed
hosts.
leap. The verb in Heb. ordinarily means "to dance" (Job xxi. 11),
but is also used of the "jumping" of chariots, when rapidly driven
(Nah. iii. 2).
like the noise of aflame, etc. This comparison has been thought to
illustrate the sound of the locusts' mandibles in the process of eating :
an American entomologist (quoted by Driver) likens the sound to "the
crackling of a prairie fire."
as a strong people. The LXX. has ok A.ao? TTOA.VS /cal to-^vpo's (as in
v. 2), and the additional adjective makes this clause agree metrically
with the preceding clauses, which are pentameters.
6. the peoples are in anguish. This is explicable from the prospect
of the scarcity of food that so frequently attends the ravages of locusts.
are waxed pale. Literally, gather (or collect) colour \ but it is doubtful
whether this means "to contract" (or "withdraw") colour, and so "to
grow pale " ; or "to accumulate " colour, and so "to flush " (with excite-
ment). Perhaps the latter is the more probable (cf. Is. xiii. 8), for
a different verb (dsaph, not kibbets) is used for "to withdraw": see
v. 10, iii. 15.
7. They run like mighty men. Thomson, The Land and the Book,
p. 297, describes locusts as coming on " like a disciplined army " ; and
Morier (quoted by Henderson) says, " They moved in one body, which
had tbe appearance of being organized by a leader."
they climb the wall. Morier (sup.) writes, " They entered the inmost
recesses of the houses, were found in every corner, stuck to our clothes,
and infested our food."
they break not their ranks. The sense of the Hebrew seems to be
they do not entangle their tracks, each keeps his own course ; but the
verb elsewhere signifies "to take, or lend, on pledge," and from this
the meaning required here is not easily obtained. If the text is to be
kept, probably a different root must be assumed. But the LXX. has
ov /XT) €KKXtV(ocrtv ras rpi/Sovs avran/, and conjectural emendations based
on this are, they do not make crooked, or they do not turn aside, their
tracks (of which the first seems the better).
7—2
100 JOEL [n. 7-10
their ranks. 8 Neither doth one thrust another; they march
every one in his path : and Hhey burst through the weapons, and
2 break not off their course. 9 They leap upon the city ; they run
upon the wall ; they climb up into the houses ; they enter in at
the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quaketh before them ; the
1 Or, when they fall around the weapons, they (&c.
2 Or, are not wounded
8. every one in his path. Literally, each on his highway, as if he had
a road defined for himself alone. Jerome (quoted by Henderson), re-
ferring to the order maintained by the locusts even in their flight,
writes "tanto ordine.-.volitant ut instar tesserularum, quse in pavi-
mentis artificis figuntur manu, suum locum teneant, et ne puncto
quidem, ut ita dicam, ungueve transverso declinent ad alterum."
they burst through the weapons. This rendering, in view of the con-
text, is preferable to that of the mg. ( where fall around seems to mean
"alight among"). The verb employed can be used of violent assaults,
" fall upon " (see Is. xvi. 9) ; and here implies that the locusts fling
themselves through (or between) the weapons with which men vainly
try to oppose their march. The Heb. noun for weapon (shelah\ here
used collectively, strictly means a missile, and occurs only in late
writings like Job (xxxiii. 18), Chronicles (2 Ch. xxxii. 5), and Nehe-
miah (iv. 17 (11)). In 2 Ch. xxiii. 10 it replaces the more ordinary
term for weapon (cell] employed in the parallel passage 2 Kgs. xi. 11.
Even modern measures for staying the progress of locusts are very
often ineffectual. The lady whose description has already been drawn
upon writes: "Hedges of thorn and bramble were built round the
fields.... At the thorny barricade they (the locusts) immediately began
to climb and creep through. Then the owners of the field, when the
whole hedge was filled with young locusts, set fire to it. Millions of
insects were destroyed in that way, but myriads were moving on be-
hind, creeping over the smouldering branches and bodies, burning up
themselves, leaving room for the next. New thorn branches were thrown
down and burnt up again, but the brambles gave out long before the
locusts did." Recently in South Africa arsenic has been used in attempts
to destroy them.
9. They leap upon the city. The Heb. verb in strictness means that
the locusts swarm round about the city (Jerusalem), eagerly seeking
ingress: the same word (shakak) describes the "ranging" bear in
Prov. xxviii. 15.
enter in at the windows. Cf. Ex. x. 6. The writer has in mind
latticed, unglazed, windows. It is said that in 1869 many inhabitants
of Nazareth had to abandon their houses in consequence of the locusts.
10. The earth quaketh, etc. The language, like that of v. 2, is not
to be understood literally, but describes conventionally how the plague
of locusts occasioned all the terror associated with earthquake or
eclipse ; see p. Ix.
ii. ro-i3] JOEL 101
heavens tremble : the sun and the moon are darkened, and the
stars withdraw their shining: 11 and the LORD uttereth his voice
before his army ; for his camp is very great ; for he is strong
that executeth his word : for the day of the LORD is great and
very terrible ; and who can abide it? 12 Yet even now, saith the
LORD, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and
with weeping, and with mourning: 13 and rend your heart, and
not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God : for he is
gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in
the heavens tremble. The sky is regarded as a solid vault : cf. 2 Sam.
xxii. 8 (= Ps. xviii. 7), Is. xiii. 13.
the sun and the moon, etc. Cf. Is. xiii. 10, Ezek. xxxii. 7, Mt. xxiv. 29,
Rev. vi. 12.
11. uttereth his voice. I.e. thunders (Ps. xviii. 13). Thunder is
generally a feature in O.T. descriptions of awe-inspiring scenes; see
Ex. xix. 16.
his army. The locusts are viewed as Jehovah's agents of vengeance.
his camp. The Heb. for camp can be used of an army on the march ;
see Josh. viii. 13, x. 5, Jud. iv. 15, 2 Kgs. iii. 9.
for the day, etc. See v. 21 and Mai. iv. 5. Instead of very terrible
the LXX. has tTTL<f>a\rrjs o-^oSpa and the Old Latin manifestus nimium,
implying nodha1 for nord'. But Sym. has cVi^o/fo?.
who can abide it? The passage shows the influence of Mai. iii. 2 : cf.
Jer. x. 10.
12. Yet even now. I.e. in spite of the dreadful prospect, there yet
may be a possibility, through a change in the people's disposition and
conduct, of prevailing upon Jehovah to withhold the worst. Yet is
literally and : cf. p. 63.
with all your heart. I.e. resolutely (cf. 1 Sam. vii. 3, 1 Kgs. viii. 48),
the heart amongst the Hebrews being regarded as the seat of the will
as well as of the intelligence (p. 69): cf. Ex. xxxv. 5, of a witting
(literally, free) heart.
fasting. ..weeping. . .mourning. The same combination occurs in Esth.
iv. 3.
13. and rend your heart, etc. This exhortation shows that the
prophet, whilst enjoining the outward tokens of contrition, had no
defective sense of the need of inward penitence : cf. Jer. iv. 4.
and not your garments. I.e. not your garments only. Tearing the
apparel (Gen. xxxvii. 29, 34, Josh. vii. 6, 1 Sam. iv. 12, 1 Kgs. xxi. 27),
like tearing the hair and beard (Ez. ix. 3), was, no doubt, originally an
uncontrollable act, giving relief to intense emotion; but eventually
came to be a conventional expression of humiliation and self-abase-
ment.
gracious and full of compassion. This order of the Heb. words is com-
monest in late writings (2 Ch. xxx. 9, Neh. ix. 17, 31, Ps. cxi. 4, cxii. 4,
102 JOEL [ii. 13-17
mercy, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth whether
he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even
a meal offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assem-
bly; 16 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble
the 1o\d men, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts :
let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of
her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep
between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy
1 Or, elders
cxlv. 8). The reverse order occurs in the early passage Ex. xxxiv. 6
(JE), and is preserved in Ps. Ixxxvi. 15, ciii. 8.
and repenteth him. Better, and repentant, for, like the preceding
phrase, this describes a permanent feature of character1.
14. and repent. God relents when man repents : cf. Jonah iii. 9.
leave a blessing. I.e. leave some surviving portion of the products of
the soil, now exposed to complete destruction. For blessing in a concrete
sense cf. Gen. xxxiii. 11, Josh. xv. 19, Jud. i. 15, etc.
15. Blow, etc. The command of v. 1 is here resumed and expanded.
a solemn assembly. See on i. 14. The Heb. word etymologically
seems to mean a concourse confined within a limited space.
16. sanctify the congregation. The sanctification of the people, as a
preliminary to their approaching near to the Deity or to sacred things,
consisted during early times in ablutions, in a change of apparel, and
in abstention from conjugal relations; see Gen. xxxv. 2, Ex. xix. 10, 15,
2 Kgs. x. 20 — 22, 1 Sam. xxi. 4, 5. The word congregation, though
used to denote an assemblage in general, was specially employed to
designate the community of Israel, which was Jehovah's assembly
(Mic. ii. 5, Num. xvi. 3); the LXX. here renders it by cfcjcAqcria.
the old men. This is preferable to the elders of the mg. : see on i. 2.
the bridegroom. The exemption from public duties ordinarily granted
to newly married persons (Dt. xx. 5) was on this occasion to be sus-
pended.
chamber... closet. These words must here be synonyms for the bridal
pavilion (Ps. xix. 5, 2 Sam. xvi. 22).
17. the porch. The existence of this in connection with the first
Temple is specifically mentioned (1 Kgs. vi. 3, vii. 19); and it was
probably reproduced in the second Temple, particulars of which are
largely wanting. The position of the porch was at the east end of the
main structure.
the altar. I.e. the altar of burnt offering in the open forecourt ex-
tending eastwards in front of the Temple buildings.
1 Joel ii. 13 forms one of the introductory sentences prefixed in the Prayer Book
to the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer.
II. i7, is] JOEL 103
people, 0 LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the
nations should 1rule over them : wherefore should they say among
the peoples, Where is their God?
1 Or, use a byword against them
give not thine heritage to reproach. The phrase to give to reproach
recurs only in Jer. xxiv. 9, xxix. 18, Ezek. v. 14. For the conception of
Israel as Jehovah's heritage see p. 63 : Israel is similarly described as
Jehovah's peculiar treasure (Ex. xix. 5, Dt. vii. 6, Ps. cxxxv. 4).
rule over them. Better (as in the nig.), use a byword against them.
The verb (mashal) is of ambiguous meaning, and, when employed else-
where with the preposition here used, uniformly signifies to rule over
(cf. Gen. iii. 16, iv. 7, xxiv. 2, etc.); and such is the sense given to it
in this passage by the LXX. (TOV KarapgaL avron/ WVTJ} and the Vulg.
(ut dominentur eis nationes). This, however, is incompatible with the
context, which contemplates not the rule but the railing of foreigners,
and requires the other sense — to make proverbs (or bywords) concerning;
though with this signification the verb ordinarily takes not the pre-
position that appears here (b#) but others (see Ezek. xvii. 2, xviii. 2).
wherefore should they say, etc. The attention of Jehovah is called to
the possibility of His power being disparaged by the heathen (cf. Mic.
vii. 10) through the misfortunes of His people, in order that He may
thereby be induced to vindicate both Himself and them 1.
CHAPTER II. 18—27.
This section, constituting the second of the three parts of the book, re-
presents Jehovah's response to the prayer of His penitent people. He promises
to remove the locusts, to end the drought, and to renew the vegetation that
has been destroyed. It is left to be understood that the exhortation in ii. 12—
1 7 had been acted upon, and that the people's repentance was sincere, influencing
Jehovah to stay the further execution of His judgment upon them, and to
restore fertility to the wasted land.
18 Then was the LORD jealous for his land, and had pity on his
18—20. These w. describe a change in Jehovah's attitude con-
sequent upon His people's penitence, and convey assurances that He
will undo the evil that He has inflicted.
18. jealous. The Heb. word is used in two connections, where
(1) jealous and (2) zealous seem to be respectively the best equivalents.
The emotions implied are represented as roused in Jehovah (1) by
Israel's offences against Himself, especially their worship of other gods ;
(2) by their sufferings at the hands of their enemies: see for (1) Ex.
xx. 5, xxxiv. 14, Josh. xxiv. 19, and for (2) Is. ix. 7, xxxvii. 32, Ezek.
1 In the Prayer Book Joel ii. 12—17 forms the Epistle for Ash Wednesday.
104 JOEL [ii. 18-20
people. 19 And the LORD answered and said unto his people,
Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be
satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach
among the nations : 20 but I will remove far off from you the
northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and
desolate, xhis forepart 2into the eastern sea, and his hinder part
1 Or, with his forepart 2 Or, toward
xxxvi. 5, Zech. i. 14, viii. 2. Pusey regards the tenses in this and the
next v. as futures (will. . .be jealous.. . , (will} pity, . . .will answer and say] ;
but the Heb. construction continues the perfect tenses in w. 10, 11.
The LXX. rightly has €^X(uorev...€<jf)€to-aTo...a7reKpt^r7...€r7rev.
19. make you a reproach. The phrase differs slightly from that
employed in v. 17, and recurs in Ezek. xxii. 4, Ps. Ixxviii. 66.
20. the northern army. Literally, the northerner (LXX. rov aVo /3oppa,
Vulg. eum qui ab Aquilone est). Since locusts usually enter Palestine
from the S.E., this expression has embarrassed the interpretation of
Joel. It must, however (as the rest of the v. shews), refer to the locusts ;
and instances have occurred of their presence in Syria, whence a north
wind would carry them into Palestine. But the epithet cannot imply
such an accidental association with the north as this; and as a standing
attributive, if understood to mean that their home and breeding-ground
was north of Palestine, it would be false (p. liv). Hence the use of it
here must be explained differently, namely, through associations that
had gathered round the day of Jehovah. It had been predicted by
Jeremiah that evil would come to Judah from the north (i. 14, x. 22),
and Babylon, which proved to be the agent of Jehovah's judgment, is
represented by both Jeremiah (xvi. 15, xxiii. 8) and Zechariah (ii. 6, 7)
as in the north, though really it was situated as regards Palestine almost
due E. Similarly Ezekiel represents Gog, whose invading hordes com-
prise several nations lying to the south or south-west of the Holy Land
(such as Ethiopia and Libya), as destined to advance against Judah
from the uttermost parts of the north (xxxix. 1, 2). Thus that quarter
would naturally come to be regarded as the direction whence the
executors of Divine judgments were generally to be looked for; and
eventually, by a usage common to all languages, the word northerner
could discard its etymological sense and be employed to denote any
agency bringing danger or calamity, whether it came from the geo-
graphical north or not. Accordingly, the word here, as applied to the
locusts, has not a local but a symbolical significance. It is probable
that the original reason why the north came to be regarded by the Jews
as the quarter whence evil would issue is to be found in the situation,
relative to Judah, of its great oppressor (in the 8th cent.) Assyria, which,
though in strictness N.E. of Palestine, could be loosely considered to
lie to the N. of it (cf. Is. xiv. 31, Zeph. ii. 13).
and desolate. The rhythm would be improved by the omission of this
adjective, which is absent from the LXX. ; but as the latter begins the
II. 20-22] JOEL 10
the western sea; and his stink shall come up, and his ill
savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. 21 Fear
not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for the LORD hath done great
things. 22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field ; for the pastures
of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig
1 Or, toward
next clause with a verb (KCU a<£cm<3), probably (as Bewer suggests) it had
virtually the same Hebrew, but read it differently.
his forepart, etc. The swarm of locusts is assumed to be stretched
across tbe country, so that whilst the central body was to be driven
into the southern desert (whence presumably they had really come), tbe
extremities would be cast into the Dead Sea and tbe Mediterranean.
The eastern flank of the swarm is called the forepart and tbe western
the hinder part because the front and back of anything were, in tbe view
of tbe Hebrews, the sides which severally faced, or extended towards,
the east and west.
the eastern sea ...the western sea. Literally, the front sea (Ezek. xlvii.
18) and the hinder sea (Dt. xi. 24, xxxiv. 2).
his stink... his ill savour. Tbe tautology of tbese two clauses and a
syntactical irregularity, if the second is rendered and his ill savour shall
come up1, favour the conclusion that the word translated stink (which is
an ordinary term) is a gloss on the rare word (tsahanah) rendered ill
savour, which only recurs in the Hebrew fragments of Ecclus. (xi. 12).
The second balf of tbe verse will then be reduced to that his ill savour
may come up, wbicb is what the syntax demands.
because he... great things. These words, if authentic, must be equiva-
lent to "because he hatb acted overweeningly" (or "hath magnified
himself"; cf. Lam. i. 9, Ps. xxxv. 26). Tbe representation of the locusts
as acting (like human beings) arrogantly is not impossible in a context
wbicb describes them after the manner of a host of men; but tbe
resemblance of the expression to that used of Jehovah immediately
afterwards (v. 21, cf. Ps. cxxvi. 2, 3) makes it difficult to think it genuine
here : it looks like an accidental dittograpb, wbich should be omitted.
Tbe offensive exhalations arising from immense quantities of drowned
locusts have been noticed by historians and travellers both ancient and
modern.
21 — 24. These w., which assume that the promises of m>. 19 and 20
have been fulfilled, constitute a short ode, in which the prophet exhorts
tbe people to be grateful to the God who has given them relief.
21. 0 land. Better, 0 ground (the Heb. being not 'erets but
'ddhdmah).
22. of the wilderness. Better, of the prairie (cf. p. 96).
do spring. Better, put forth grass; cf. Gen. i. 11.
for the tree, etc. Here the writer seems to pass from the beasts that
1 See Driver, Heb. Tenses, § 175 obs.; Davidson, Heb. Syntax, § 64, Hem. 6.
106 JOEL [ii.
22, 23
tree and the vine do yield their strength. 23 Be glad then, ye
children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God : for he giveth
you the former rain Hn just measure, and he causeth to come
down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, 2in
1 Or, in (or for) righteousness 2 Or, at the first
graze in the pastures to men, who make more use of the fruits of trees
than do most animals.
their strength. I.e. all that they are capable of producing : cf. Gen.
iv. 12.
23. the former rain. This term (hammoreh, cf. Ps. Ixxxiv. 6 (7))
denotes the rain that falls at the beginning of the agricultural year in
November; but a general rather than a specific term would be most
appropriate here. Possibly there is some textual corruption : if so, it
may be suggested that the expression should be replaced by copiousness
of water (hd-revdyah). The LXX. has rd ^pw/xara, and Vollers, in con-
sequence, has proposed habbiryah, "food," which the LXX. translates
by ppufjia in 2 Sam. xiii. 5, 7, 10; but mention of food in this place
seems premature, for the crops have still to grow. Sym. has rov
vTroStiKvvovTa (cf. the Vulg. quoted in the next note).
in just measure. Better, faithfully, since a literal translation is
according to (Jehovah's) righteousness, i.e. His faithfulness to His
promises: cf. Dt. xxviii. 11, 12. For this sense of the Heb. word cf.
2 Is. xlii. 6, xlv. 13, Zech. viii. 8. But it is also possible to render (with
the mg.) for (i.e. as a token of) righteousness; the irrigation of the
springing crops and the promise of abundance would be evidence to the
world that the people were no longer counted offenders by their God.
The Heb. rendered in the R.V. by the former rain in just measure is
translated in the Vulg. (against the context) by doctorem iustitia?, the
word moreh having tbe signification of teacher in Prov. v. 13, Is. xxx. 20,
Hab. ii. 18, and the prepos. le being taken to express tbe gen.
the rain. The term (geshem) here used has a comprehensive sense, as
in Lev. xxvi. 4, Ezek. xxxiv. 26, Am. iv. 7.
the former rain. See above. This and the following word are perhaps
explanatory insertions : their omission would improve the rhythm of the v.
the latter rain. This term (Heb. malkosh) denotes the spring rain in
March and April, which falls shortly before harvest, when its value is
very great (see Job xxix. 23, Prov. xvi. 15).
in the first month. This rendering of the Heb. (bdrishon) can be
justified by Gen. viii. 13, Num. ix. 5, Ezek. xxix. 17, xlv. 18; but if
the text is sound, it must refer to the season of the latter rain only,
for the first month (of the ecclesiastical year) was Nisan, corresponding
to our March — April when the late (or spring) rain fell. The LXX.,
however, has Ka0ws ^Trpoa-Oev and the Vulgate sicut inprincipio (implying
cdrl'shonah) — as at the first (cf. Dt. ix. 18, Dan. xi. 29), i.e. the previous
happier conditions are to be restored. Another variant (bdrl'shonah) is
implied by the R.V. mg., at the first (better, first of all, cf. 1 Kgs.
ii. 23-n] JOEL 107
the first month. 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the
fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you
the years that Hhe locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the
caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent
among you. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and
shall praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt
wondrously with you : and my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that
I am the LORD your God, and there is none else : and my people
shall never be ashamed.
1 See ch. i. 4.
xvii. 13), i.e. the material blessings promised in w. 19—27 will precede
the gift of the spirit mentioned in v. 28.
24. the floors. These, used in threshing, consisted of a space of ground,
beaten hard, upon which the ears of corn (for the length of stalk cut
was very short) were spread in a layer. One method of threshing was
to drag over the ears a heavy sledge (i.e. a board, roughened on the
under-side with pieces of sharp stone), which pressed out the grain and
chopped the straw into chaff, the latter being afterwards winnowed
away1. For another process see p. 37.
fats. An archaism for vats. The vat (yekebh) was a small but re-
latively deep trough hewn in the rock (Is. v. 2 mg.) at a lower level
than the wider but shallower winepress (gath), and was designed to
receive the juice flowing from the grapes trodden in the press. The
LXX. distinguishes them as VTTO\TJVLOV and A^vo's respectively. The word
rendered vat is sometimes used irregularly for the winepress (Job
xxiv. 11, Is. xvi. 10), and the LXX. here has ot \yvoi.
with... oil. Presses and vats were also used in the extraction of oil
from olives (see Mic. vi. 15), a circumstance of which the name Geth-
semane (oil-press) is a reminder.
25. And I, etc. The utterance of Jehovah, interrupted at v. 21, is
here continued.
the years... eaten. I.e. the equivalent of the produce destroyed in the
past years.
26. praise. The verb here used is characteristic of the Psalms (Ixxiv.
21, cxlviii. 5), and seems to be one peculiarly associated with the
Temple worship.
27. that I am.. .Israel. The changed condition of the land would be
an effectual reply to the mocking challenge in v. 17. Israel here stands
for Judah : see iii. 2, 16, and cf. Mic. vi. 2.
/ am the LORD your God. Better, / am JEHO VAH your God. The
phrase occurs in Ezek. xx. 5, 7, 19, etc., and is exceedingly frequent in
the Priestly code of the Pentateuch (Ex. vi. 7, xvi. 12, Lev. xviii. 2, etc.).
1 See Driver, Joel and Amos, p. 227.
108 JOEL [II. 27, 28
there is none else. The thought, expressed in more than one form, is
characteristic of, though not confined to, Deutero-Isaiah (see 2 Is. xlv.
r>, (;, 14, etc., xlvi. 9); and its occurrence here is perhaps due to the
influence of that prophet's writings.
and my people... ashamed. This sentence repeats the conclusion of
v. 26, and as its presence here weakens the emphasis which the preceding
clause in this v. requires, it should probably be omitted as an accidental
duplicate. Wellhausen and others, on the contrary, propose the omission
of the final clause in v. 26.
CHAPTERS II. 28— III. 21.
With ii. 28 begins the third section of the book, extending to the end.
This has in view a sequel to the predictions (in ii. 19 — 27) of the material
blessings which are about to be conferred on God's people ; for the return of
plenty is to be followed by the bestowal of spiritual gifts also, whilst ensuing
upon this will occur the advent of Jehovah's day of judgment. Of that Day
the devastation of the land by the locusts had previously been regarded as
a preliminary phase, presaging a fuller outbreak of Divine resentment upon
the Jews in the near future ; but from the terrors of it they, in consequence
of the moral change in them, will be delivered, and the Divine judgment will
be confined to the heathen for their malice towards the Jews. In the Hebrew
the section ii. 28 — 32 constitutes ch. iii.
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour
out my spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daughters
28 — 32. A prediction of the descent upon all ages and classes
amongst the Jewish people of God's spirit, followed by signs of Jehovah's
Day, when destruction, from which the true worshippers of Jehovah will
escape, is to overwhelm the heathen.
28. afterward. This, rendered in Acts ii. 17 by cv rals eo-^arats
^epa^, is virtually equivalent to in the latter (or the sequel of) dayt
(Mic. iv. 1): cf. Jer. xlviii. 47 with xlix. 6.
/ will pour out. The same verb is used in connection with the Divine
Spirit in Ezek. xxxix. 29, 2 Zech. xii. 10; and the like physical metaphor
is employed of the manifestation of such impalpable realities as anger
(Hos. v. 10, Ezek. xiv. 19) and contempt (Job xii. 21). So in Greek
Homer uses x€/<0 in connection with UTTI/OS and even Ka'AAos (Od. n. 395,
xxm. 156).
my spirit. God's Spirit is represented alike as the origin of all life
(Job xxxiii. 4, Ps. civ. 30), as the cause of the transformation of nature
(Is. xxxii. 15) and of the reformation of man (Ezek. xxxvi. 27), and as
the source of all exceptional human faculties, whether physical (Jud.
xiv. 6), artistic (Ex. xxxv. 31), intellectual, or moral (Mic. iii. 8, Is. xi. 2),
but especially of prophetic ecstasy (Num. xi. 25 f., 1 Sam. x. 6, 10).
Here it is promised that the psychical endowments and emotional out-
II. 28-3 1 ] JOEL 109
shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young
men shall see visions: 29 and also upon the servants and
upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
:*() And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth,
blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and
bursts, hitherto confined to a few individuals, constituting them seers
and prophets, will be extended to all classes, even the humblest. Cf.
Num. xi. 29, 3 Is. lix. 21.
all flesh. The expression, which is sometimes inclusive of all living
creatures (Gen. vi. 17, Lev. xvii. 14, Num. xviii. 15) and sometimes
limited to mankind (Gen. vi. 12, 13, Num. xvi. 22, Dt. v. 26, 2 Is.
xlix. 26), is here confined to Jews only (as the words your sons and your
daughters shew) : cf. Ezek. xxxix. 29.
prophesy. The term here probably has in view the utterance of fervid
and rapturous language under the influence of powerful religious emo-
tion, as illustrated by the narratives in Num. xi. 25 — 27, 1 Sam. x. 5,
6, 10, xix. 24.
dreams. ..visions. These were usual, but not the sole, channels whereby
God was believed to communicate with His prophets and others (Num.
xii. 6; cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 6, 15, Dt. xiii. 3, Jer. xxiii. 25 — 28, 2 Zech.
xiii. 4, Dan. vii. 1).
young men. I.e. men of military age, actual or potential warriors
(Jud. xiv. 10, Is. ix. 17, 2 Kgs. viii. 12).
29. the servants. The LXX. has TOVS Sov'Aovs /xov.
30. wonders. Perhaps better, portents, extraordinary occurrences
suggestive of Divine action, or of the nearness of the Divine presence:
cf. Ex. vii. 3, xi. 9, Dt. vi. 22, Ps. cv. 5. By such the Day of Jehovah
is to be ushered in.
blood... fire... smoke. It is not quite clear whether the portents here
mentioned are celestial or terrestrial. They may be blood-red, fiery, and
lurid appearances in the sky and atmosphere (the pillars of smoke being
suggested by the columns of dust and sand raised by whirlwinds), or
they may be accompaniments of war — carnage, the firing of towns, and
the columns of smoke rising from the conflagrations. In the latter case
the parallelism with the first half of the v. is inverted, see p. cxxxv.
31. The sun shall be turned, etc. Cf. Is. xiii. 10. The language is
taken from the phenomena of eclipses, but it is not so much the
phenomena themselves as the alarm attending them that the writer
wishes to call before the mind : cf. p. Ix. The passage has influenced
Rev. vi. 12. Cf. Lucan, Phars. I. 539—542, lam Phoebe... subita per-
cussa expalluit umbra. Ipse caput medio Titan cum ferret Olympo,
Condidit ardentes atra caligine cur r us Involvitque orbem tenebris.
bejore the great .. .come. The phraseology is identical with that of
Mai. iv. 5 (iii. 23). For terrible the LXX. has eTri^an?: cf. ii. 11.
110 JOEL [ii. 3I, 3,
terrible day of the LORD come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered :
32. whosoever shall call on the name, etc. Strictly, the Heb. means
whoso shall call with the name of Jehovah : the same phrase occurs in
Gen. iv. 26, xii. 8, Jer. x. 25, Zeph. iii. 9. The invocation of a deity by
his name was believed to exert an influence upon him, so that it was
often deemed expedient to keep the name from the knowledge of those
who might use it to the detriment of his true worshippers. It was for
this reason that the name of the tutelary deity of Rome is alleged to
have been wrapped in mystery, lest, through its becoming known to an
enemy, the safety of the city should be imperilled1. The persons
designated by the phrase here employed are the Jews collectively; but
in Rom. x. 13 St Paul, quoting from the LXX., adduces the words Tras
os av €7rt/caA.€cr>yrai TO oVo/aa Kuptov (rw^crerat in Support of his contention
that God is merciful to all who call upon Him, whether Jews or Gentiles.
Verses 28— 32a were quoted by St Peter at Pentecost (Acts ii. 17—21).
The Apostle (or his reporter) used a Greek version, but the quotation
deviates in some respects from the LXX. The differences are as follows :
Joel (LXX.). Acts.
(a) fjLera ravra KOI (a) ei> rais €<r\aTais ij/j.cpcus
(o) ol rrp€O'(BvT€poi vp.wv evvnvia ev- (b) ol veavicrKoi v/teoi/ opdaeif oifsovrai
•unvia(r6r)O'ovTa.i KOI ol vcavicrKoi v/ucoi/ KOI ol Trpc&ftvTfpoi vfj-cov evvTrviois ev-
opd<T€is o^ovrai. vnviacrOrfO-ovTat.
(c) KOI (c) Kai ye
(d) ras dov\as (d) ray dou\as /zov
rov TTvevfJiaTos pov (0) e/c^cw drro rov TrvcvfjLctTos fiov Kal
(JO *" r? ovpavw (f] fv r<5 oupai/a) av<o
(g} KOI cVi rfjs yfjs. (g) KOI crrj^ela enl rrjs yfjs ACOTCO.
The speaking with tongues at Pentecost, in which St Peter saw
a fulfilment of this prediction of Joel, was doubtless akin in nature to
the prophesying which is here in view (see on v. 28). Various passages
in the O.T. imply that in many cases " prophesying " meant wild and
uncontrolled speech resulting from religious rapture or enthusiasm, so
that a prophet was sometimes derided as a madman (see Hos. ix. 7,
Jer. xxix. 26, 2 Kgs. ix. 11); and that the utterances of the Christian
believers assembled at Pentecost were of a fervid and excited character
is suggested by the contemptuous observations made by some of those
that heard them (Acts ii. 13), whilst the comments passed by St Paul
upon the similar phenomena at Corinth point in the same direction
(1 Cor. xiv. 23). Probably the disciples, under the influence of religious
emotion, broke out into ecstatic speeches and exclamations, which were
only partially intelligible to many who were present. Into such utter-
ances there might enter phrases, or even long passages, couched in
1 The divinity in question is said to have been called Valentia, probably a
translation of the Greek ' Pay*?;.
ii. 3^-m. i] JOEL 111
for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that
escape, as the LORD hath said, and l among the remnant those
whom the LORD doth call.
1 Or, in the remnant whom <£c.
languages or dialects not normally used by the speakers, their memory
and speech-centres being so stimulated by the stress of emotional feeling
as to recall and to repeat what had once been heard but had become
forgotten. Various parallels from the experience of religious revivals
in later times have been collected by A. Wright, Some N. T. Problems,
p. 297 f., and K. Lake, The Earlier Epistles of St Paul, p. 241 f. The
occurrence, in what was uttered, of some foreign words or expressions
would account for the impression produced on the multitude at Pente-
cost that the speakers were acquainted with foreign languages (Acts ii.
5 — 11), as well as for the need of an interpreter on other occasions
(such as St Paul alludes to, 1 Cor. xiv. 27). The feature in the incident
at Pentecost which led St Peter to see in it a fulfilment of the prophecy
of Joel was the diffusion, amongst the whole body of disciples, of such
a gift of "prophecy" as was ordinarily confined to a few chosen in-
dividuals; and the bestowal of this gift, in the light of the promise
made by Jesus (as reported in Lk. xxiv. 49), was regarded as proof of
His Messiahship (Acts ii. 33 — 36). But the most cogent evidence that
the early Christian believers were taken possession of by the Holy
Spirit was afforded not by any temporary outbursts of religious ecstasy
but by the permanent change that occurred in their characters, and by
their manifestation of the fruits of the Spirit, such as are enumerated
by St Paul in Gal. v. 22, 23.
for in mount Zion, etc. Jerusalem is to be the only place of safety
from the terrors of the Day of Jehovah. The phrase seems to be borrowed
from Ob. 17 (to which the words as the LORD hath said probably allude).
and among the remnant, etc. Better, and among the remnant (or
among the survivors) there shall be those whom Jehovah doth call. By
these are meant the Jews of the Dispersion, who will be summoned
from among the heathen to share the preservation ensured to their
fellow-countrymen who dwell in Zion. For the gathering of dispersed
Jews cf. Is. xi. 11, xxvii. 13, 2 Zech. x. 10, Jer. xxiii. 3, Ecclus. xxxvi.
11—14, 2 Mace. ii. 18. The heathen, in contrast to the Jews, are
reserved for vengeance (iii. 2). The final clause of this v. was in
St Peter's mind when he spoke at Pentecost (Acts ii. 39).
CHAPTER III.
III. 1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when
1 — 3. These w. explain the nature of the crisis from which the
Jews are to be preserved (as promised in ii. 32) and introduce the
account, continued in v. 9 f, of the mustering of all the heathen in
one spot, where, in retribution for the evil done by them to Israel,
they are doomed to extermination. In the Heb. this ch. constitutes ch. iv.
112 JOEL [m. 1-3
1 shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into
Hhe valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will plead with them there
for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and parted my land. 3 And they
have cast lots for my people : and have given a boy for an harlot,
1 See ver. 12.
1. bring again the captivity. This rendering is supported by the
LXX. (eTTio-Tptyu) TV]v aixfj-ah-uo-iav) • but perhaps a better translation
is, retrieve the fortune (literally retrieve the retrieval), for this is the
only admissible rendering of the phrase in Job xlii. 10 and Ezek.
xvi. 53, and is the most suitable in some other passages. Even after
the Return in the time of Zerubbabel the situation of the Jews for
a long while was very depressed, and a happy turn in their fortunes
(including the restoration of such Jews as were yet in heathen lands)
was still an object of earnest desire (cf. p. 60).
2. / will gather all nations, etc. The assembling, by Jehovah, of all
the heathen for annihilation is similarly predicted in 3 Is. Ixvi. 16 — 18,
Mic. iv. 12, Zeph. iii. 8.
the valley of Jehoshaphat. The name is here chosen for its symbolic
meaning ("Jehovah judges"), as appears from v. 14, and Th. has TTJV
X^pav r>Js Kpio-ews; but whether it was taken from some spot actually
called after king Jehoshaphat is unknown. The writer cannot have in
mind the locality which (according to 2 Ch. xx. 1 — 30) was the scene
of an overthrow sustained by a confederation of Moabites, Ammonites,
Edomites, and Meunim (id. xxvi. 7), who attacked Israel in the time
of Jehoshaphat, for this was near Tekoa. The place in the prophet's
thoughts is clearly near Jerusalem (see v. 16), and the name he gives
to it has been traditionally associated since the 4th cent. A.D. with
the gorge of the Kidron, E. of Jerusalem. The Kidron, however, is
a torrent- valley (nahal) and not a vale ('emek), the word used here1.
The situation which answers the writer's imaginative conception least
inadequately is the valley of Hinnom, W. of Jerusalem, or the extension
of it (after its junction with the Kidron) S. of the city. This is usually
described as a valley (gai), but is called a vale in Jer. xxxi. 40.
/ will plead with them. Better, / will join issue with them (cf. the
LXX. SiaKpt^'o-o/zfu TT/DOS aurovs, Vulgate disceptabo cum eis). The Heb.
has a form (here used in a reciprocal sense) of the verb shdpkat, which
enters into the composition of the name Jehoshaphat.
whom they have scattered. The occasion alluded to is probably the
capture of Jerusalem and the deportation of its citizens in 587.
3. cast lots. For this way of disposing of captives, see Ob. 11, Nah.
iii. 10.
given... for an harlot. I.e. given as the price of a harlot: cf. Aq.
i Cf. G. A. Smith, HOHL. pp. 384, 654.
in. 3-5] JOEL 113
and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. 4 Yea, and what
are ye to me, 0 Tyre, and Zidon, and all the regions of Philistia?
1 will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly
and speedily will I return your 2 recompence upon your own head.
5 Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have
1 Or, will ye repay a deed of mine, or will ye do aught unto me? swiftly <&c.
2 Or, deed
Kopd<nov dvrl iropviys. The offence of selling members of Je-
hovah's community into slavery was aggravated by the sensuality to
which the proceeds of the sale were devoted.
that they might drink. Better, and drank it. But the symmetry of
the parallelism and the rhythm of the v. (for both this and the fore-
going appear to consist of trimeters) are improved by the omission of
the clause (as suggested by Schwally) as a needless expansion of what
precedes.
4 — 8. For the reasons that render it probable that these w. are an
insertion and not part of the book in its original form, and for
a suggestion as to the date of their composition see p. 114. They are
written in prose and express the complaint which Jehovah has against
the people of Phrenicia and Philistia for pillaging the possessions, and
enslaving the persons, of His people ; and they go on to announce the
nemesis which is to befall them.
4. Yea, and what... to me. Better, And ye, too, what will ye do
to me? In the Heb. there is no verb, but the phrase must be understood
as in Hos. vi. 4 (where the verb do is expressed).
all the regions of Philistia. Literally, all the circuits of Philistia.
The word (gdlll) rendered regions means anything that can roll or
turn (and is applicable to rings and folding doors), but could be used
to describe a circuit or area of ground (see Is. ix. 1 mg., Ezek. xlvii. 8
(region), Josh. xxii. 10, 11). Here it is employed to denote the districts,
probably each under separate authority, which constituted the Philistine
Pentapolis (1 Sam. vi. 4, Josh. xiii. 2, 1 Mace. v. 15).
will ye render me, etc. The whole v. is better translated (cf. mg.)
a deed of mine will such as ye repay ? or will such as ye (unprovoked)
do aught to me ? Swiftly and speedily will I return your deed upon your
/lead. The pronoun ye is emphatic in the Heb. and the use of it is
intended to accentuate the disproportion between the adversaries.
The word gemul in the last clause, which in the R.V. text is rendered
by recompence, is rarely used of good or evil done spontaneously, but
must here mean some gratuitous act of aggression (as in 2 Ch. xx. 11).
5. taken. Probably they had purchased what had been pillaged by
others.
my silver... my gold. The reference may be either to the nation's
possessions in general (for these, in a sense, were Jehovah's, cf. Hos.
ii. 8, 1 Ch. xxix. 14), or to the treasures of the Temple in particular.
The occasion may be the plundering of the capital by the Babylonians
w. 8
114 JOEL [in. 5-8
carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things ; 6 the children
also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto
the sons of the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from
their border: 7 behold, I will stir them up out of the place
whither ye have sold them, and will return your ^ecompence
upon your own head; 8 and I will sell your sons and your
daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall
sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for the LORD
hath spoken it.
1 Or, deed
in 587 ; but if the passage (w. 4 — 8) is an insertion, it is likely to be
some much later act of spoliation, such as occurred when punishment
was inflicted on the Jews by Artaxerxes Ochus, about the middle of the
4th cent. B.C.
carried into your temples. Compare the action ascribed to Nebucha-
drezzar in Dan. i. 2. A similar proceeding is recorded of David in
2 Sam. viii. 11.
6. the children also of Judah, etc. The Phoenicians were known not
only as slave-dealers (Ezek. xxvii. 13, Am. i. 9, 1 Mace. iii. 41) but
also as kidnappers (Hdt. i. 1, n. 54). It will be recalled that Syrus was
a common slave-name among the Greeks and the Romans; and the
appellation would doubtless be applied to Jews as well as to other
captives from Palestine.
the sons of the Grecians. Cf. the Homeric phrase vte? 'A^aio^.
The name used by the Hebrews for Greece and the Greeks — Javan —
was derived from the lonians, i.e. the Ionian colonies in Asia Minor.
The expression here employed (the sons of the Grecians) where the sons
of Greece might be expected (cf. the sons of Ammori), is parallel to the
use, in 2 Chron. xx. 19, of the sons of the Korahites instead of the sons
of Korah (Ps. xlii. title, and elsewhere). Allusions to the Greeks occur
in Gen. x. 2, 4 (P), Ezek. xxvii. 13, 3 Is. Ixvi. 19, Dan. viii. 21, xi. 2
(all passages later than the Exile).
7. I will stir them up. I.e. I will incite and aid them to depart.
your recompence. Better, your (unprovoked) deed: see p. 113.
8. / will sell. The verb sell, which is used in the literal sense in
the next clause, is here employed figuratively in the sense of " I will
deliver up" (cf. Jud. ii. 14, iii. 8). So far as the prediction in these w.
was realized, it found fulfilment, after Joel's time, in the enslavement
of numbers of the people of Tyre and Gaza by Alexander in 333 B.C.
Many of those who were then reduced to slavery were doubtless bought
by the Jews in order to sell again.
the men of Sheba. These were a people of South Arabia, variously
represented as Semites (Gen. x. 28, xxv. 3 (JE)) and Hamites (Gen. x. 7
(P)), and well known as traders (cf. Ezek. xxvii. 22). Their country was
famous for its spices (1 Kgs. x. 10), and was regarded by Jewish writers
m. 9-i i] JOEL 115
9 Proclaim ye this among the nations; x prepare war: stir
up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let
them come up. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and
your pruninghooks into spears : let the weak say, I am strong.
11 2 Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather
1 Heb. sanctify. 2 Or, Assemble yourselves
as a distant and wealthy land (Ps. Ixxii. 10) ; its situation was some
200 miles N. of Aden, and it could be reached by caravans.
to a nation far off. Perhaps better (as there is a change in the pre-
position), for a nation far off, who would purchase the slaves from the
men of Sheba.
9—17. Here the declaration of what Jehovah is about to do to the
heathen nations (begun in w. I — 3) is continued. They are bidden to
arm themselves for a conflict with Jehovah and His celestial hosts, but
are destined to be annihilated by Him, with whom His own people will
find security.
9. Proclaim ye this. Jehovah charges His messengers to convey a
challenge to the nations (v. 2) : cf. the challenge in Is. viii. 9, 10.
prepare war. Literally (as in the mg.), sanctify (or consecrate] war:
see p. 24.
draw near. The expression is used of warlike collisions (Jud. xx. 23,
2 Sam. x. 13, etc.).
10. Beat your plowshares, etc. The heathen are bidden to take care
that there is no deficiency in their equipment for so critical a contest.
Classical parallels for the conversion of tools into weapons, here con-
templated, occur in Ovid, F. I. 699, Sarcula cessabant versique in pila
ligones, Vergil, G. I. 508, Curvce rigidum fakes conflantur in ensem.
The precise agricultural implement intended by the word rendered
plowshare is uncertain; perhaps coulters is the best equivalent (see
p. 31).
spears. The word (rtimahini) here used differs from that employed in
the converse passage Mic. iv. 3 (= Is. ii. 4), and is confined to late, or
comparatively late, compositions such as Jeremiah, the Priestly narrative
of the Pentateuch, Nehemiah, and Chronicles, with the exception of
two passages, Jud. v. 8 (the Song of Deborah) and 1 Kgs. xviii. 28
(the history of Elijah), both of which appear to be of Ephraimite origin.
Some dialectic features of the northern tribes seem to have survived in
later Hebrew.
let the weak, etc. Cf. 2 Zech. xii. 8. In such a crisis there must be
universal service.
11. Haste ye. This Heb. verb (lush) occurs only here, and is of
doubtful meaning. The LXX. and Syr. render it (as in the mg.) Assemble
yourselves; but, according to Driver, there is no philological basis for
this translation. The R.V. assumes that it is equivalent to the common
word for haste (hush).
gather yourselves together. The Heb. really has and they shall gather
8—2
116 JOEL [m. 11-14
yourselves together : thither cause thy mighty ones to come down,
O LORD. 12 Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the
valley of * Jehoshaphat : for there will I sit to judge all the nations
round about. 13 Put ye in the sickle, for the 2 harvest is ripe:
come, 3 tread ye ; for the winepress is full, the fats overflow ; for
their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley
1 That is, The LoBDJudgeth. 2 Or, vintage
3 Or, get you down
themselves together; but this disturbs the sequence of imperatives, and
the K.V. has silently adopted the reading of the LXX. cnWx^Te.
Metrical considerations are in favour of the omission of the verb
altogether.
thither. I.e. to the vale of Jehoshaphat.
cause thy mighty ones, etc. Jehovah was believed to have at His dis-
posal a host of supernatural warriors (see 2 Kgs. vi. 17, Ps. Ixxviii. 25,
ciii. 20, and cf. Josh. v. 13—15, 2 Th. i. 7), whom He is urged by the
prophet to bring from heaven. But the LXX. has 6 irpavs CO-TW //.a^T^'s,
let the soft (or faint)-hearted become a mighty one (or warrior) ; cf. v. 10
(end).
12. come up. The vale of Jehoshaphat is assumed to be near Jeru-
salem, the Jewish capital, so that this verb is used where, at first sight,
descend would seem to be more appropriate (cf. p. 86).
will I sit to judge. The clause reproduces the significance of the
name Jehoshaphat (p. 112), but Jehovah is here conceived as presiding
at the annihilation, not the trial, of the nations.
13. Put ye in, etc. The command is addressed by Jehovah to His
attendant angels. Cf. Mt. xiii. 39 — 41.
the harvest. Better (as in tbe mg.), the vintage. The slaughter of the
heathen is represented under the figure of the treading of grapes (cf.
3 Is. Ixiii. 3, Lam. i. 15, Rev. xiv. 19, 20, xix. 15); and the Heb. word
here employed, though it properly means "harvest," is applied to the
vintage, as in Is. xvi. 9, xviii. 4, 5. The LXX. has Tpvyr/ros.
is ripe. The verb elsewhere signifies to be boiled (Ezek. xxiv. 5), and
the transition of meaning may be illustrated by the use of the Latin
coquo', see Cic. de Sen. § 71, Poma...si matura et cocta decidunt, Verg.
G. n. 522, Mitis in apricis coquitur vindemia saxis.
tread ye. This rendering, which assumes that the imperative comes
from rddhah, is supported by the LXX. (Traretre), but the mg. get you
down (i.e. into the winepress, p. 107), which takes the verb to be ydradh,
has the Vulg. in its favour (descendite).
the fats overflow. The previous exhortation to tread the grapes in the
press would be uncalled for if tbe vats were already full and running
over; and as the LXX. has vTrepe/c^etTe TO, vTroA^Vta, Bewer with reason
suggests a change of points in the verb (imperat. for indie.), and gives
it a causal sense, make the vats overflow.
m. 14-18] JOEL 117
of decision! for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of
decision. 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars
withdraw their shining. 16 And the LORD shall roar from Zion,
and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the
earth shall shake : but the LORD will be a refuge unto his people,
and a strong hold to the children of Israel. 17 So shall ye know
that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion my holy moun-
tain : then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers
pass through her any more. 18 And it shall come to pass in that
their wickedness. The figure of speech in the early part of the v. is
here abandoned, the pronoun their referring to the nations symbolized
by the grapes.
14. Multitudes, multitudes, etc. The speaker, in this and the next
two vv., is the prophet. The duplication of the word multitudes serves,
according to Hebrew idiom, to heighten the sense of the numbers : cf.
Jud. v. 22, Ex. viii. 14 (Heb. 10, literally heaps, heaps).
of decision. Literally of sharp (or strict) decision.
15. The sun and the moon, etc. Probably the writer only wishes to
illustrate the terrifying character of the crisis by recalling to the mind
the consternation occasioned by eclipses (see p. Ix) ; but it is possible
that the darkening of the luminaries (cf. Is. xiii. 10, xxxiv. 4) is meant
to imply the suppression, before Jehovah's might, of the heavenly bodies,
regarded as the abodes of celestial powers antagonistic to Him (cf. Is.
xxiv. 21), for the host of heaven at some periods of Heb. history were
the objects of idolatrous worship (2 Kgs. xxiii. 5, 11).
16. And the LORD shall roar, etc. The words occur also in Am. i. 2,
the coincidence pointing to borrowing on the part of one writer or the
other (see p. Ixix). Jehovah is expressly likened to a lion, whose lair is
Jerusalem, in Ps. Ixxvi. 2, mg. ; cf. Hos. xi. 10.
a refuge unto his people, etc. Jehovah is described in similar terms
in Ps. xiv. 6, xlvi. 1.
17. dwelling in Zion. Jehovah is represented by Ezekiel (xi. 23) as
having abandoned Zion (in consequence of its wickedness) to the on-
slaught of the Babylonians ; but on the restoration of its people to their
country, He had returned with them (cf. Mic. ii. 13, 2 Is. xl. 10, 11),
and His continuous presence in Jerusalem would thenceforward secure
the city from further molestation.
shall... be holy. I.e. shall be undenled by the entry into it of heathen
foemen: cf. Ob. 17, 2 Zech. ix. 8, 2 Is. lii. 1, Nah. i. 15. A more ethical
conception of holiness is attached to the New Jerusalem in Rev. xxi. 27,
xxii. 14, 15.
18 — 21. A description of the fruitfulness which, after the crisis just
described, is to mark the land of Judah (cf. Is. iv. 2), in contrast to the
doom of barrenness which is to be the fate of Egypt and Edom for the
crimes committed by them.
118 JOEL [m. is, 19
day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills
shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with
waters ; and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD,
and shall water Hhe valley of Shittim. 19 Egypt shall be a deso-
1 That is, the valley of acacias.
18. the mountains . . . milk. The passage is substantially identical with
Am. ix. 13b (save for the concluding words); and represents hyper-
bolically the exceptional fertility of the vineyards on the hillsides
(cf. p. 70), and the richness of the upland pastures. Parallels among
Latin writers occur in Ov. Met. I. Ill, Flumina iam lactis, iamflumina
nectaris ibant, Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella; Verg. G. I. 132,
Passim rims currentia vina.
all the brooks, etc. Literally, all the channels (Is. viii. 7). In a land
like Palestine, where so many of the wadies run dry in summer (cf. i. 20
and note), an ample supply of water is one of the most desired of
blessings : cf. Is. xxx. 25, Jud. i. 15.
a fountain shall come forth, etc. The conception is derived from
Ezekiel xlviii. 1 f. (p. Ixviii) and recurs in 2 Zech. xiv. 8. The idea of a
fountain issuing from the house of Jehovah was probably suggested by
the Gihon spring (the Ain Sitti Mariam), which gushed from below the
hill upon which the Temple stood, and flowed down the Kidron gorge.
This is presumably the fons perennis aquae mentioned by Tacitus,
Hist. v. 12.
the valley of Shittim. Literally "the torrent- valley of the acacias."
Even this, conspicuous for its dryness (since the acacia, which is
a thorny tree (Sym. has TTJV KoiAaSa TUV a/cav0o3i/), producing pods and
having heavy and very hard wood, flourishes in a dry soil, and " is the
characteristic tree of the desert wadies")1, will be irrigated like the rest
of the land. No ravine bearing the name here mentioned is alluded to
elsewhere in the O.T. (though there was an "Acacia meadow" (Abel
Shittim) on the east side of the Jordan seven or eight miles from the
N. extremity of the Dead Sea (Num. xxv. 1, Josh. ii. 1, Mic. vi. 5));
but since in the passage in Ezekiel, upon which the writer of Joel has
drawn, the irrigating waters flow from the east of the Temple, the
" torrent- valley of the acacias " was probably the name of some arid
wady lying between Jerusalem and the Jordan. The present passage
has contributed to influence Rev. xxii. 1.
19. Egypt shall be, etc. The occasion of the wrongs inflicted by
Egypt which the writer has in mind was probably the invasion of Judah
by Pharaoh Necho at some date between 610 and 594 (2 Kgs. xxiii.
29—35, 2 Ch. xxxv. 20—24). This reference is not excluded by the
fact that the bloodshed at Megiddo, where Necho defeated Josiah, took
place in war, for the second half of the v. may relate to Edom only.
Bewer suggests that the passage alludes to the incursion into Palestine
1 Hastings, DB. iv. p. 507.
in. 19-21] JOEL 119
lation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence
done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent
blood in their land. 20 But Judah shall 1 abide for ever, and
Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 And I will 2 cleanse
their blood that I have not cleansed : for the LORD dwelleth in
Zion.
1 Or, be inhabited 2 Or, hold as innocent
of Ptolemy Lagi in 320B.C. The prediction of Egypt's desolation can
hardly be said to have been fulfilled ; but the country at least lost its
independence when it became included first within the Macedonian,
and next within the Roman, empire. Prophecies of parallel import
occur in Is. xix., xx., Jer. xlvi., Ezek. xxix. — xxxii. The occasion when
Edom earned, most of all, the bitter hatred of the Jews, such as is
evinced here, was the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587
(see p. xlix).
for the violence, etc. The expression is perhaps derived from Ob. 10
(with some modification) : cf. p. 74.
in their land. If the occasions of Egyptian and Edomite malevolence
have been correctly identified, this must mean, in the land of the
children of Judah. But Driver and others think that the reference is
to the lands of Egypt and Edom, where Jews who were dwelling there
peaceably may have been treacherously massacred.
20. shall abide. I.e. shall continue unmolested : cf. Mic. v. 4 (3).
The mg. shall be inhabited (cf. LXX. KaToi/o^orcrcu) finds support in
Is. xiii. 20, Ezek. xxvi. 20, 2 Zech. ix. 5 : and the same ambiguity as
is present here occurs in Jer. xvii. 25.
21. / will cleanse their blood, etc. This, if the text is sound, must
mean, " I will cleanse (through the infliction of retribution upon the
blood-guilty) their (i.e. the victims') blood that I have hitherto (by
sparing those who spilt it) left uncleansed." But the Heb. verb rendered
" cleanse " elsewhere means " to clear," or " treat as innocent" (cf. mg.),
and has as its object persons (Jer. xxx. 11, Job ix. 28). Tbe LXX. has
Kai c/c^T^oro) (or €/<8iK^cra)) TO al/xa avrwv, KCU ov pr) a0u)iocru>, I will avengG
their blood and I will not hold innocent the guilty (cf. Ex. xxxiv. 7,
Num. xiv. 18, Nah. i. 3). This implies in the first clause the reading
ve-nikkamti for ve-nikkethi and seemingly treats Id nikkethi (in the
second clause) as a prophetic perfect (equivalent to a future). But
a prophetic perfect is here unnatural, and the passage is brought into
closer accord with Hebrew usage by substituting (with Nowack) the
verb nikkem for nikkah in both clauses, and so obtaining the translation,
/ will avenge their blood which / have not (hitherto) avenged.
for the LORD dwelleth in Zion. Literally, and Jehovah dwelleth in
Zion, which is tantamount to "as surely as Jehovah dwelleth in Zion."
For this use of the conjunction and cf. 2 Is. li. 15 (where For I am
Jehovah thy God is literally And I am Jehovah thy God).
JONAH
CHAPTER I.
I. 1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of
1 — 3. Jonah's commission to declare to Nineveh its doom, and his
attempt to evade his duty.
1. Now. Strictly, And. Since the writer casts his censure of his
countrymen's attitude towards the Gentiles into the form of an historical
narrative, he begins in the way usual with Hebrew historians (see the
opening words of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
Samuel, Kings, Ezra and Esther) : the conjunction attaches the book
(as it were) to other and earlier narratives. The prophetic book of
Ezekiel begins similarly.
the word of the LORD came. See p. 88.
Jonah. What is known about the prophet is related on p. Ixxviii.
Various places are pointed out in local traditions as his tomb, there
being one near Nazareth, a second close to Hebron, and a third hard
by the ruins of Nineveh (p. 122). The name means "a dove." Many
Hebrew personal names were those of animals; and though it is possible
that they may have been of the nature of individual nicknames, due
to some fancied resemblance in feature or disposition between the
animals and the human personalities designated, it is perhaps more
probable that they go back to a totemistic stage of thought, and were
originally tribal names, though they were afterwards transferred to
individuals. A totem is customarily some species of animal or plant
from which a particular tribe or clan believes that its life is derived,
and upon which its welfare depends. The members of the community
are called after its name; and they ordinarily abstain from injuring it
(as being akin to themselves) except when, in order to assimilate its
virtues, or to place themselves more fully under its protection, they
sacramentally eat it or (if it is an animal) dress themselves in its hide.
The animal or plant in question is thus practically regarded as a god
from whom the tribe is descended, the explanation of such an attitude
of mind being presumably that primitive races were deeply impressed
by the difference between themselves and the life around them, and
were prone to look upon many objects of the lower creation as super-
human rather than as sub-human. This system of belief prevails widely
among savage races in Africa, America, and Australia at the present
day ; and it has been inferred that it once existed among the Semitic
nations, including the Hebrews, for the following reasons, (a) Many of
these regarded themselves as being the offspring of, or filially related
to, the deities whom they worshipped (cf. Num. xxi. 29, Dt. xiv. 1,
Hos. xi. 1, Mai. ii. 11). (6) Numerous Semitic gods were thought to
i. i, ,] JONAH 121
Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and
have animal shapes : there was a heifer Baal (Tob. i. 5) ; Jehovah in
early times was represented as a calf or young bull (Ex. xxxii. 4 mg.,
1 Kgs. xii. 28), and perhaps also as a sdrdph or winged serpent (Num.
xxi. 8, 9, 2 Kgs. xviii. 4); at Eryx, in Sicily, Ashtoreth had the form
of a dove; whilst other divinities were worshipped under the figures
of a lion, a horse, or a vulture. (In Greece, too, certain deities were
associated with animals; e.g. Artemis was connected with the bear,
and Dionysus (ravpo/cepws 0eo's) with the bull; whilst the epithets
AVKCUO? and S/xiv0evs, attached to Apollo, suggest some primal link
between that god and the wolf (AvW) and the mouse (Cretan or/«v0o«).)
(c) A considerable number of both tribal and individual appellations
among the Semites were those of animals. Nahash, an Ammonite king
(1 Sam. xi. 1), bore the name of "snake." Epher, the name of a Midianite
clan (Gen. xxv. 4), means a stag or mountain goat; the Midianite chiefs
Oreb and Zeeb (Jud. vii. 25) and the Midianitess Zipporah (Ex. ii. 21)
had names signifying "raven," "wolf," and "sparrow"; and the
Israelites Caleb, Shaphan, Achbor, Laish, Hezir, and the women Eglah
and Deborah, were designated after the dog, coney, mouse, lion, swine,
calf, and bee respectively, (d) Names of this type occur very fre-
quently in narratives relating to early times, but rarely after the Exile.
(e] Several of the animals just mentioned were for the Hebrews
"unclean" (Lev. xi.); and this, with some probability, may be taken
to mean that they were once taboo, and too holy to be used as food
under ordinary circumstances, but might be eaten at a religious feast;
and some of the creatures enumerated were thus eaten by degenerate
Jews in post-exilic times (3 Is. Ixv. 4, Ixvi. 3). The evidence here sum-
marized is confessedly inconclusive, but certainly favours the view that
has been indicated above1.
Amittai. The name, which only occurs here and in 2 Kgs. xiv. 25, is
a derivative of 'emetk, "truth," and means "man of truth " : cf. Bar-
zillai, "man of iron." Jewish tradition represented Jonah as the son
of the widow of Zarephath, who is said to have called her child " the
son of Amittai " because the prophet Elijah had spoken to her truth
about him (1 Kgs. xvii. 24).
2. Nineveh. In the cuneiform inscriptions the name of the city is
written Ninud and Nina; in Greek writers Nu/o?. It was the latest
capital of Assyria, situated 250 miles N.W. of Babylon, to which
Assyria was at first subject, Nineveh being originally a Babylonian
settlement (cf. Gen. x. 10, 11). It seems to have been about 1850 B.C.
that Assyria became an independent state; and its earliest capitals
were Asshur and Calah (60 miles and 18 miles S. of Nineveh re-
spectively). The Assyrian court was removed from Asshur to Calah
about 1300, and from Calah to Nineveh about 1100. Asshur-nazir-pal III
(884 — 860) again made Calah the royal residence; but Sennacherib
1 Cp. Gray, Heb. Proper Names, pp. 86—115.
122 JONAH [I. 2, 3
cry against it ; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD ;
(704 — 681) once more restored to Nineveh the dignity of being the
capital city. He greatly enlarged and adorned it, its circumference (it
is said) being no less than 7j miles. It was destroyed in 612 by the
Medes under Cyaxares (Hdt. i. 106), aided by a Chaldean, Nabo-
polassar, who had made himself king of Babylon : its overthrow is the
subject of the book of Nahum. Its site is marked by mounds on the
E. bank of the Tigris opposite the present town of Mosul, the principal
being at Kouyunjik and Nebi-yunus (the latter preserving the memory
of the prophet Jonah, to whom a mosque is dedicated).
The reason why the writer of this book took Nineveh as typical
of the heathen world, and represented it as being an object of concern
to God, can only be conjectured. Either there was a tradition connecting
Jonah with it, or else the circumstance that of all the famous cities of
the past it was the one whose inhabitants had done most permanent
injury to his fellow Hebrews (for Assyria had carried the people of
Northern Israel into captivity, whence they had not returned) rendered
it the best illustration of God's comprehensive mercy.
that great city. Compare iii. 3, iv. 11. In Gen. x. 12 the same
description is applied apparently to a group of four cities (including
Nineveh) which lay between the rivers Tigris, Khusur, Zab, and
Gomal.
cry against it. Cf. the similar phrase in 1 Kgs. xiii. 2. The purport
of the cry (or proclamation) must have been the same as that stated
later in iii. 4.
their wickedness. The pronoun refers to the citizens implied in the
previous mention of the city: cf. v. 3 (them, i.e. the mariners implied
in the reference to the ship): see also Mk. vi. 11, Acts viii. 5, Gen.
xv. 13. For the wickedness of Nineveh as viewed by a Hebrew prophet
see Nah. ii. 11, 12, iii. 1, 19. The LXX. has 77 Kpavyrj -ny? Kaxtas avr^s;
cf. Gen. xviii. 21, iv. 10.
is come up before me. Jehovah is conceived by the writer not as
a mere national deity, but as the Judge of the whole earth (Gen. xviii.
25). The phraseology (which implies that God is seated in heaven) is
similar to that in Gen. vi. 13, 1 Sam. v. 12, Lam. i. 22, Acts x. 4.
3. Tarshish. This was a place famed amongst the Hebrews for its
minerals (Jer. x. 9, Ezek. xxvii. 12), and was reached from Palestine by
a long sea voyage (being amongst the most distant localities, 3 Is.
Ixvi. 19); so that " Tarshish ships" (Is. ii. 16, 3 Is. Ix. 9, Ezek.
xxvii. 25, Ps. xlviii. 7) came to be a term applied to the more sea-
worthy vessels (cf. the LXX. of Is. ii. 16, irXolov OaXda-^^). On the
other hand, it is reckoned in Gen. x. 4 among the " sons " of Javan
(probably representing Ionia or Greece), the others being Elishah,
Kittim and Dodanim (1 Ch. i. 7, Rodanim), of which the first may
possibly represent Hellas, and the others more certainly Cyprus (with
its town of KiViof) and Rhodes, so that it may plausibly be looked for
L 3] JONAH 123
and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish :
in Greek waters. It was especially connected by commerce with Tyre
and Zidon (Is. xxiii. 6, Ezek. xxvii. 12); but as the Phoenicians were
bold sailors, this fact does not throw much light upon its situation. By
Josephus it was identified with Tarsus (on the Cydnus) in Cilicia
(Ant. ix. 10, 2), though Tarsus was not a port; whilst in the LXX.,
when it is not transliterated or paraphrased as it is here, it is identified
with Carthage (Is. xxiii. 1, Ezek. xxvii. 12). It is most commonly
thought to have been the same as the Greek Tartessos, a name
successively applied first to a river in Spain (the Baetis or Guadal-
quivir) ; then to a tribe there (the Tartessii) ; and finally to a Phoenician
colony in the same country (perhaps Gades or Cadiz). The abundance
of minerals in the Spanish peninsula, especially the presence there of
tin, which was obtained from Tarshish (Ezek. xxvii. 12) supports the
view that Tarshish was a locality within it. But since the place may
have been an emporium for metals rather than a mining district, some
authorities favour the conclusion that it was Etruria, whose inhabitants
were Tyrsenians or Tyrrhenians, a race of Asiatic origin (cf. Hdt. I. 94),
and perhaps represented by Tiras in Gen. x. 2 and by the Tursha
known to the Egyptians. Others suggest Tharros, a place in Sardinia.
The evidence (which is reviewed in JTS. vol. XVIL, p. 280 f.) is too
conflicting to yield a confident conclusion, though the arguments for
a locality in Spain are perhaps preponderant.
If the narrative is a unity, the mention here of Tarshish as Jonah's
destination anticipates the next clause, and some critics would omit
unto Tarshish. But as there are discrepancies in the book, these clauses,
which suggest respectively that the prophet went to Tarshish by design
and by chance, may be derived from duplicate and slightly variant
versions (p. Ixxxvi).
from the presence of the LORD. The phrase (since the book is cast in
an antique mould) probably means withdrawal from Jehovah's land (as
in Gen. iv. 14, 16, 1 Sam. xxvi. 19, 20, Jer. xxiii. 39), though it is clear
that the writer no more entertained a localized conception of the Deity
than did the writer of Ps. cxxxix. The expression, however, may only
signify the abandonment of the position and functions of a minister of
Jehovah (see 1 Kgs. xvii. 1, xviii. 15, 2 Kgs. iii. 14, v. 16, Lk. i. 19).
The motive for Jonah's action is given in iv. 2.
went down. I.e. from his home at Gath-hepher to the coast. The
nearest port would have been either Acco (the modern Acre), or
Tyre.
Joppa. This form of the name is Greek — 'loir-try : in Hebrew it is
Yapho, in the Egyptian inscriptions of the 15th century B.C. Yepu,
and in the Tell-el-Amarna tablets (14th century B.C.), Yapu. The
place, now called Jdfd or Jaffa, stands on a rocky eminence, 50 miles
from Gath-hepher, and affords the only shelter for ships between the
coast of Egypt and Mount Carmel. The harbour, such as it is, "is
formed by a low ledge of rock running out at a sharp angle in a N.W.
124 JONAH [i. 3-6
so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with
them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4 But the
LORD xsent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty
tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 Then
the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god ; and
they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to
lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the inner-
most parts of the ship ; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6 So the
1 Or, hurled
direction from the southern end of the town1." In ancient times it
served as a port to Jerusalem (Ez. iii. 7, 2 Ch. ii. 16), though it was
never in the possession of Israel until taken by Jonathan the Maccabee
in 148B.C. (1 Mace. x. 76), and afterwards garrisoned by his brother
Simon (1 Mace. xii. 33, 34, xiii. 11, xiv. 5). After experiencing some
changes of ownership, it became, during the wars between the Jews and
the Romans, a nest of pirates ; and it was attacked, and its inhabitants
were destroyed, by Vespasian in 68 A.D. (Jos. BJ. in. 9, 1 — 3). It has
undergone various assaults in mediaeval and modern times, including
one by Napoleon. Its present population is about 8000. The oranges
for which Jaffa is now famous are said to have been introduced from
China.
went down into it. Compare v. 5.
4 — 17. The arrest of the prophet's flight by a storm and his miraculous
preservation from drowning.
4. sent out. Literally, cast or hurled (see mg. and cf. 1 Sam. xviii. 11,
xx. 33), the word here used suggesting the violence of the wind.
a mighty tempest. It was in the same region that St Paul encountered
the tempestuous wind called Euraquilo (Acts xxvii. 14).
was like to be broken. Literally, was minded to be broken (cf. Ps. Ixxiii.
16 was minded to know), like the French le vaisseau pensa se briser.
The LXX. has €/af8vveve crvvTpi/3f]vai.
5. mariners. The Heb. word (occurring also in Ezek. xxvii. 9, 27, 29)
is equivalent, in etymology, to our "salt" and the Greek dAiev's.
every man unto his god. The crew (like so many crews to-day) were
of various nationalities : cf. Ezek. xxvii. 8 (where the cities of Arvad
and Zidon supply Tyre with rowers).
the wares. Better, the gear (LXX. r£v tr/ceuwv, cf. TO O-KCVOS in Acts
xxvii. 17). The Heb. word, like the Greek 6VXa and the Latin arma,
has the double sense of "tackling" and "weapons."
to lighten it unto them. Literally, "to lighten (the calamity) from
upon them": cf. 1 Kgs. xii. 10 (Heb.).
the innermost parts of the ship. I.e. either a lower deck, or else the
hold: LXX. rrjv KoiX.r)v. The word here employed for ship is not the
1 Hastings, DB. n. p. 755.
i. 6-8] JONAH 125
shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou,
O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think
upon us, that we perish not. 7 And they said every one to his
fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose
cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon
Jonah. 8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for
whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation? and
common term used in v. 3, but means a decked vessel, from a Hebrew
root meaning "to cover." The English substantive deck similarly means
a covering, and was originally regarded as a roof for the hold. So in
Greek a decked vessel was termed -n-Xolov ia-Teya.arn.tvov (from o-T€ya£eiv,
"to cover").
was fast asleep. Or, better, slept soundly. The LXX. has and he
slept and snored.
6. the shipmaster. Literally "the chief of the rope-pullers." The
LXX. has 6 Trpojpevs (i.e. "the look-out man" in the bow of the ship),
but the other Greek translators have 6 KvficpvTJTrjs, whence the Vulg.
gubernator.
What meanest thou, 0 sleeper ? Perhaps better, What meanest thou by
sleeping soundly? (cf. Vulg. Quid tu sopore deprimeris?). The last verb
is used of the "deep sleep" of Sisera (Jud. iv. 21), and a cognate noun
of the "deep sleep" sent by God upon Adam (Gen. ii. 21). For the
Heb. construction cf. Is. xxii. 16.
will think upon us. The Aramaic verb hith'ashsheth here used (see
p. Ixxxiii) takes the place of the common Hebrew verb hdshabh occurring
in the same sense in Ps. xl. 17 (18) and elsewhere. The LXX. has OTTWS
Stcuruxrr; 6 $eos rj/xas.
7. let us cast lots. Tbe use of the lot was an appeal to God (cf. Prov.
xvi. 33) to decide upon whom the responsibility for what had happened
rested: cf. the instances of Achan (Josh. vii. 14 f.) and Jonathan
(1 Sam. xiv. 40 f.). Unless the guilty person could be detected and
removed, the wbole company were endangered : cf. JEsch. Septem c.
Thebas, 595 — 600. It was through the casting of lots that the Apostles
appealed to the Lord to determine who should fill the place among
them forfeited by the traitor Judas (Acts i. 26) : cf. also Horn. //. vn.
171, K\ypio vvv Tr€7rd\ax&c. Sta/A7repes os K€ Aa^triv.
for whose cause. Better, on whose account. The Heb. is peculiar, see
p. Ixxxiii.
8. for whose cause. Better (in order to mark a difference in the Heb.
between this and the preceding), on account of whom. This question is
identical in purport with that which, according to v. 7, had already
been decided by tbe lot, and seems otiose after it (though it is, no doubt,
possible to explain it as due to the wish to obtain a confession from the
culprit). It is absent from tbe Vatican codex of the LXX. and from some
Hebrew manuscripts, and is omitted by Nowack as a gloss on v. 7, which
has been accidentally misplaced. It is not unlikely, however, that the
126 JONAH [i. 8-12
whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people
art thou? 9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear
the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the
dry land. 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said
unto him, What is this that thou hast done? For the men knew
that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told
them. 11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee,
that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and
more tempestuous. 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and
cast me forth into the sea ; so shall the sea be calm unto you :
two questions proceed from different versions of the story (see p. Ixxxvi),
and that in one of these the question in this verse followed directly
upon v. 6, the suspicions of the sailors being aroused by the fact that
Jonah took no part in their supplications to heaven.
9. an Hebrew. This was a customary term used in early times to
designate an Israelite in contrast to a foreigner (Gen. xl. 15, Ex. i. 19,
ii. 7, iii. 18, etc. : cf. also Phil. iii. 5). The word Hebrew etymologically
means "one from the other side" of some familiar boundary (not
necessarily the river Jordan only, which Israel crossed on entering
Canaan). Instead of the description a Hebrew, the LXX. has SouXos
Kv/oiov, reading 'abhdi for 'ibkri and interpreting it as 'ebhedh Yehovah.
The other Greek translators have 'E/Jpcuos.
I fear the LORD. Strictly, "I am a fearer (i.e. a worshipper) of
JEHOVAH" (cf. Dt. vi. 13, Ps. cxv. 11). The expression does not imply
a claim to exceptional piety, but merely describes the cult of which he
was a follower.
the God of heaven. The phrase occurs in Gen. xxiv. 3, 7 (J) ; but
otherwise only in post-exilic writings (2 Ch. xxxvi. 23, Ez. i. 2, Neh. i.
4, 5, Ps. cxxxvi. 26, and (in an Aramaic form) Ez. v. 11, vi. 9, Dan. ii.
18, 19, etc.).
10. Then were the men... afraid. The description of JEHOVAH as
Maker of the sea and the dry land led to the inference that the storm
came from Him.
For the men knew, etc. This points to some prior communication
imparted by Jonah about his flight (v. 3), and reported in one of the
two versions out of which the present narrative seems to have been
compiled, but omitted in the process of compilation. The sentence here
was probably once connected with v. 7; but some words, such as "thou
art the man ; thou hast sinned against thy God," have been dropped
between them. In view of other evidence of the composite character of
the book, this appears a preferable hypothesis to that of Wellliausen,
who takes the words because he had told them to be a gloss.
11. 12. These two verses seem originally to have followed upon
vv. 8 — 10a. Jonah's avowal that he was a worshipper of Jehovah, the
Maker of the sea, led them to ask him what they should do to him to
I. 12-15] JONAH 127
for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the
land; but they could not: for the sea grew more and more
tempestuous against them. 14 Wherefore they cried unto the
LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let
us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent
blood: for thou, 0 LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. 15 So
they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea : and the sea
avert the anger of his God. The prophet's declaration in v. 12 that he
knew the tempest to have occurred on his account appears unnecessary
after he had been marked out as the guilty individual by the decision
of the lot; and the verse containing it presumably comes from a version
which did not include the episode of the sailors' casting of lots.
13. Nevertheless the men rowed, etc. This rendering probably conveys
a wrong impression of the Hebrew, which has And the men rowed
(literally dug] *. Although the conjunction here employed sometimes has
an adversative sense (see p. 63), this v. is not a natural continuation
of v. 12; and hence Winckler would transpose it to after v. 4. But on
the theory that the book is a compilation, the v. is suitable enough as
the original sequel of v. 10b. The sailors, having inferred that Jonah
had gravely offended by fleeing from the land of Jehovah, exerted them-
selves first of all to restore him to it, for this might turn out to be all
that Jehovah wanted.
the land. More strictly, the dry land, as in ii. 10, Gen. i. 9, etc.
14. We beseech thee, 0 LORD. Literally, Pray, JEHOVAH. The
sailors naturally address Jonah's God, since they had ascertained that
He had caused the tempest which endangered them, and their own
deities had proved powerless to calm it.
let us not perish, etc. The words are a plea that JEHOVAH will not
avenge the death of His worshipper, if by the latter's direction they
cast him into the sea. The phrase for (i.e. for destroying) this mans
life has a parallel in 2 Sam. xiv. 7.
for thou, 0 LORD, etc. Compare 1 Sam. iii. 18, Ps. cxv. 3, cxxxv. 6.
The sailors mean that Jehovah Himself, by sending the storm which
the fall of the lot or Jonah's own admission had shown that the prophet
had provoked, caused them to adopt the course they were taking.
15. So they took up Jonah, etc. Various commentators quote a
parallel Buddhist story about a certain Mittavindaka of Benares, who
had gone to sea in disobedience to his mother. As the ship came to a
stop, and could not proceed, the mariners cast lots to discover on whose
account the trouble had happened; and when Mittavindaka was in-
dicated as occasioning, through his fault, the interruption of the voyage,
he was set adrift on a float, and the ship then continued her course.
1 A similar metaphor is common in Latin and English (cequor arare, to plough
the sea).
128 JONAH [i. 15-11. ^
ceased from her raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD ex-
ceedingly ; and they offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made
vows. 17 And the LORD prepared a great fish to swallow up
Jonah ; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and
three nights.
her raging. The word, commonly used of human or Divine anger
(Prov. xix. 12, 2 Ch. xvi. 10, Is. xxx. 30), is here employed of the sea,
just as Ovid speaks of maris ira (Met* i. 370). The LXX. has rov o-aXov
avrrjs.
16. feared the LORD. This does not necessarily mean more than that
the sailors, influenced by the sudden cessation of the storm in accord-
ance with the prophet's words (v. 12), worshipped Jehovah as a powerful
deity whom it was expedient to propitiate, in addition to their own
divinities: cf. 2 Kgs. xvii. 33, 41.
offered a sacrifice. Cf. the act of Noah when the Ark rested upon the
earth (Gen. viii. 20).
made vows. These were presumably promises of further sacrifices, in
the event of their reaching the land safely : cf. Verg. G. i. 436, Votaque
servati solvent in litore nautce; A. in. 404, Positis aris lam vota in
litore solves.
17. prepared. Better, appointed or ordained; cf. LXX. 7rpoo-eVa£ev;
and so in iv. 6, 7, 8. But the Vulg. has proeparamt.
a great fish. LXX. K-rjrei //,eyaA.u>, whence the use of K??TOS in Mt. xii. 40.
The Greek term was applied to viviparous marine creatures like seals
and whales ; but was also extended to fish, such as sharks. A story not
wholly unlike this figures in Greek legend. The dithyrambic poet Arion,
whilst voyaging to Italy and Sicily, found himself beset by the crew of the
ship, who, coveting his money, demanded that he should throw himself
into the sea; and when, before doing so, he was allowed to play on his
harp, a dolphin came and took him upon its back, carrying him safely
to Tsenarus (Hdt. i. 24). It is quite alien to the spirit of the present
narrative to rationalize the fish into a vessel bearing the figure-head
and name of some sea-creature (like the ship Pristis in Verg. A. v. 116),
and to suppose that it picked up Jonah.
and Jonah... three nights. The passage, as rendered in the LXX., is
quoted in Mt. xii. 40 (see p. xcv). The Hebrew method of reckoning
periods of time was generally inclusive-, cf. Jud. xiv. 17 with 18, Mk.
viii. 31 with Mt. xvi. 21.
CHAPTER II.
II. 1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the
fish's belly. 2 And he said,
1 — 10. Jonah's prayer and his restoration to the land.
1. Then Jonah prayed. If the following psalm is an insertion (see
p. Ixxxv), the verb here used was probably intended originally to have its
proper sense (see iv. 1 (2), 1 Kgs. viii. 33, etc.), expressing a petition for
II. 2] JONAH 129
I called Jby reason of mine affliction unto the LORD,
And he answered me ;
Out of the belly of 2hell cried I,
And thou heardest my voice.
1 Or, out of mine affliction 2 Heb. Sheol.
restoration to the land ; but taken in connection with the psalm, which
is an utterance of gratitude for a deliverance already experienced, it
must be understood to mean gave thanks (as in 1 Sam. ii. 1) for his
preservation from drowning.
the fish's belly. The Hebrew word for fish here is the fern, daghah,
which ordinarily has a collective signification (Gen. i. 26, Ex. vii. 18,
etc.); but in this place must be synonymous with the masc. dagh, used
in i. 17 (ii. 1), ii. 10 (11) of a single fish.
2 — 9. The psalm contained in these verses is written in the Hebrew
elegiac (or Kinah) metre (see p. 143). The lines are arranged in a series
of couplets (seemingly seven), the constituents of each being more or
less parallel in thought or expression, so that any serious departure not
only from the prevailing rhythm but from the normal correspondence
of ideas and wording raises suspicions of textual corruption. The re-
semblances which it offers to many of the psalms collected in the Psalter
are pointed out where they occur, though it may be true, as Pusey
observes, that no one verse is (wholly) taken from any psalm ; and there
are suggestive likenesses subsisting between it and the psalm in Ecclus.
Ii. 1 — 12. The submergence in deep waters which is so graphically
described was perhaps meant originally to be figurative of a desperate
situation of a different kind: cf. Ps. xviii. 16, xlii. 7, Ixix. 1 f., cxxiv. 4,
Lam. iii. 54, and see p. Ixxxv. Parallel metaphors for overwhelming
calamities are common in other languages : cf. Shakespeare's "a sea of
troubles" (Hamlet, Act in. Sc. 1), and JEschylus's x^m-^v KOL KO.K.W
rpiKu/u'a (P V. 1015).
2. / called. The original author of the psalm must have had in mind
an appeal addressed to God in a past emergency, to which a response
had been mercifully granted : cf. Ps. cxx. 1.
by reason of mine affliction. Since the same preposition is used in both
halves of the v., and in the second must signify " withdrawal from," it
is probable that it conveys the same sense in the first half, and that the
mg. is correct — out of mine affliction : cf. Vulg. de tribulatione mea.
liell. Heb. Sheol. For the personification of Sheol (the capacious
region below the earth, whither the human spirit departed at death) as
a monster cf. Is. v. 14, Prov. i. 12, 15, Ecclus. Ii. 5, and our own metaphor
"the jaws of death." The hyperbolic representation of a person exposed
to extreme danger as being already in the nether world has its counter-
part in the language of Ps. xviii. 5, xxx. 3. Possibly it was the metaphor
of belly that occasioned this psalm (the thanksgiving of one who had
been in peril of drowning) to be inserted in this place by an editor or
reader, who missed the prayer ascribed to Jonah in v. 1 and sought to
supply it.
130 JONAH [ii. 3, 4
3 For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas,
And the flood was round about me ;
All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.
4 And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes ;
Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
3. For thou didst. Literally, And thou didst, the Hebrew writer
appending by and an explanation of the affliction referred to in v. 2,
where we should use for (cf. 1 Sam. xviii. 11, where/or he said is literally
and he said).
the depth. The Heb. term rendered depth recurs in Ps. Ixviii. 22,
Ixix. 15, Mic. vii. 19, etc. The LXX. has the plur. fidOy. But the first
half of the Kinah line here is too long, so that the metre suggests some
omission. The word that can best be spared is this (metsulah), which
lacks the preposition that is prefixed to the next word, and looks like a
gloss explanatory of the following figure in (or into, for be in this sense
cf. Is. xix. 23) the heart of the seas.
the heart oj the seas. The same metaphorical phrase occurs in Ezek.
xxvii. 4, 25, 26 ; cf. also Ex. xv. 8, Ps. xlvi. 2. Cf. the similar phrase
the heart of the earth (Mt. xii. 40).
the flood. Literally, the stream or river. The word is commonly em-
ployed in connection with rivers (Job xiv. 11), especially large rivers,
like the Euphrates (Is. xi. 15) and the Nile (Is. xix. 5); but it also
occurs (in the plural) as a parallel to seas in Ps. xxiv. 2 : cf. the Homeric
TTora/xoto pUBpa 'OK€avo{; (II. xiv. 245). The LXX. has Trora/xot and the
0. Lat. version flumina ; and some critics would substitute the plural here.
waves... billows. Literally, breakers .. .rollers ; cf. Ps. xlii. 7 (where the
phrase is used figuratively of grievous distress).
4. I said. I.e. I thought: cf. Is. xxxviii. 11, and the Greek <j>vj in
Horn. II. n. 37.
/ am cast out, etc. The psalmist in the extremity of his peril felt
himself overlooked by God : cf. Ps. xxxi. 22.
Yet I will look, etc. The present Heb. text, by beginning with Yet
('ach, literally only), here marks a transition from despair to hope, due
(according to Van Hoonacker) to Jonah's sense of comparative security
in the belly of the fish. But Th. has TTOK (eych) e7rt/?Aei//co, KT\., How
shall I look...? which agrees better with the circumstance that the
description of the speaker's desperate situation is continued in the next
verses to the end of 6a. The LXX. appears to support this reading by
having apa (for apa?) Trpoa-Qiqcro) TOV e7ri/3A.ei/fai.
toward thy holy temple. The author of the psalm was doubtless a
member of the kingdom of Judah or (more probably) of the post-exilic
Judsean community, for whom it would be natural to direct his face
towards the Temple at Jerusalem (1 Kgs. viii. 29, 30, 48, Ps. v. 7,
cxxxviii. 2, Dan. vi. 10); but the words are inappropriate to the his-
torical Jonah, who was a member of the Northern Kingdom, which had
its own shrines.
ii. 5, 6] JONAH § 131
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul ;
The deep was round about me ;
The weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains ;
The earth with her bars dosed upon me for ever :
Yet hast thou brought up my life from Hhe pit, 0 LORD my
God.
1 Or, corruption
5. even to the soul. I.e. even to the danger of life: cf. Ps. Ixix. 1,
Jer. iv. 10.
The deep. The Heb. word is the same as that occurring in Gen. i. 2,
where it means the primaeval chaos of waters that preceded the formation
of the cosmos. Elsewhere (Ps. Ixxi. 20, cvi. 9, etc.) it is used to denote
the sea. The LXX. renders it by a/^vo-o-o?, but Sym. by 0a'A.a<rcra.
The weeds. The Heb. word, which here denotes sea weed, was used
especially to describe the reeds or flags of the Nile (Ex. ii. 3, 5, Is.
xix. 6) and of the Gulf of Suez, the latter being called in Hebrew "the
sea of reeds" (which are abundant at its northern extremity). The term
was perhaps an Egyptian loan-word.
about my head. Verses 5 and 6 are probably here wrongly divided;
and to the end of v. 5 there should be added from the next v. the words
at the bottoms of the mountains : see the following note.
6. There is reason to suspect, in the present Heb. text of this verse,
some disorder and corruption. The LXX. includes within v. 5 the words
to (or at) the bottoms oj the mountains ; and for the first half of v. 6 it
has / went down to the earth (implying ladrets for hd'drets), whose bars
are everlasting detainers (KO.TOXOL alwioi). The transfer of the words at
the bottoms of the mountains to v. 5 completes the metre of tbe final
clause of that verse, which is otherwise defective. For the rendering of
the preposition (le) by at (instead of by to) cf. Gen. xlix. 13, Jud. v. 17.
The mountains are regarded as having their bases in the sea (cf. Ps.
xxiv. 2). By the transposition just explained the remainder of v. 6,
which at present consists of three clauses, is reduced to the normal
couplet; nevertheless there must be some textual error in it, as will be
seen from the fact that the R.V. has to supply a word (the Vulg. has
concluserunt me). The textual corruption is probably in the Heb. word
ba'adhi, rendered upon (or about) me (cf. Jud. iii. 22, Job i. 10, etc.),
which may conceal either a noun or a verb. In place of it Van
Hoonacker, followed by Bewer, conjectures bolts (badde), comparing
Job xvii. 16 and rendering the first line of the couplet, I went down to
the earth, whose bars are everlasting bolts. (For the irregular use, in the
Heb., of the construct, instead of the absolute, form of the word see
Gesenius, Heb. Gram. § 130a.)
Yet hast thou, etc. This constitutes the second line of the fifth
couplet.
the pit. The term is sometimes synonymous with the grave (Ps. xxx. 9),
9—2
132 JONAH [n. 7-9
7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD :
And my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
8 They that regard lying vanities
Forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving ;
I will pay that which I have vowed.
Salvation is of the LORD.
sometimes, as here, with Skeol. The mg. corruption (cf. Vulg. de cor-
ruptione) seems erroneously to associate the word with a different root.
7. fainted within me. Literally, fainted upon me (the preposition
emphasizing, as it were, the sense of oppression) : cf. Ps. cxlii. 3, mg.,
and (with a different preposition) cvii. 5.
thine holy temple. Probably the earthly temple is meant (as in v. 4),
but possibly the temple in heaven (as in Ps. xi. 4, xviii. 6).
8. lying vanities. I.e. false gods. The particular expression here used
recurs only in Ps. xxxi. 6; but vanities is a common term in Hebrew
writings for heathen deities (Dt. xxxii. 21, Jer. x. 15, xiv. 22, xviii. 15).
Forsake their own mercy. I.e. banish from their thoughts the source
of the succour experienced by them. The term mercy seems to be used
here as a title for Jehovah (cf. Ps. cxliv. 2, KV. my lovingMndness),
and should be printed with a capital letter. Some scholars, however,
render their piety, i.e. their duty towards God. For the meaning of the
Hebrew root see further on p. 57. The replacement of the word
(hasddm) by the conjectural emendation their Refuge (mahasehem, cf.
Joel iii. 16, Ps. xiv. 6, etc.) seems unnecessary.
The whole of this v. constitutes the first line of the seventh couplet.
9. But I will sacrifice, etc. Better, But as for me, I will sacrifice,
etc. (the pronoun being emphatic) : cf. Ps. cxvi. 17, 1. 14, 23. This
clause (down to thanksgiving) forms the second line of the seventh
couplet. The LXX. expands thanksgiving into praise and thanksgiving.
that which I have vowed. For the practice, among the Hebrews, of
making, in time of need, vows which were to be paid if the desired relief
came, cf. Gen. xxviii. 20 f. (Jacob), Jud. xi. 30, 31 (Jephthah), 1 Sam.
i. 11 (Hannah), Job xxii. 27.
Salvation is of the LORD. Or, Help belongs to JEHOVAH: cf. Ps. iii.
8, Rev. vii. 10.
The concluding two lines of the psalm (I will pay .. .of the LORD), as
arranged in the II. V., constitute only a single line in the Hebrew (not
a couplet), and this appears to be outside the structure of the poem,
which consists of seven couplets (see p. 143). The psalm, though com-
prising numerous expressions occurring in other psalms, is not a mere
cento, but exhibits some originality of phrase (see v. 6). Hebrew writers
(as has been said) often compared calamitous experiences to immersion
in deep waters (see p. 129, and to the examples there cited add 2 Is.
xliii. 2). In the light of certain of these parallels, it is not surprising
that some have thought that the psalm is really meant to be an ex-
II. lo-ni. 3] JONAH 133
10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah
upon the dry land.
pression of national, and not individual, feeling. This view finds support
in the reflection (v. 8) upon the folly of idolatry ; nevertheless the
vividness of the language in w. 5, 6 rather favours the conclusion that
the poem is really a personal thanksgiving for some deliverance from
drowning, though effected by less extraordinary means than that
whereby Jonah is represented as preserved.
10. spake unto the fish. Cf. Gen. iii. 14 (said unto the serpent), 1 Kgs.
xvii. 4 (have commanded the ravens}. The word spake is literally said.
upon the dry land. Presumably somewhere on the coast of Palestine,
near Joppa, whence the ship had started, and which the sailors were
trying to regain. Josephus, however, describes the fish as carrying Jonah
into the Euxine (Ant. ix. 10, 2), perhaps because he thought the S.E.
coast of that sea would be the nearest starting-point for Nineveh.
CHAPTER III.
III. 1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second
time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and x preach
unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went
unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh
1 Or, cry See ch. i. 2.
1 — 4. The prophet's discharge of his commission.
1. And the word... time. The writer leaves it obscure whether
Jehovah's communication reached the prophet on the shore where the
fish disgorged him, or at his home, whither he had returned. The
despatch of the prophet once more to carry out the duty from which he
had previously shrunk recalls the narrative of Elijah at Horeb (1 Kgs.
xix., see especially v. 4).
2. that great city. The reiterated allusions to Nineveh's greatness
(i. 2, iv. 11) accentuate the appeal which the number of lives at stake
in it made to the Divine compassion.
preach. Literally, cry (the same word as in i. 2, 2 Is. xl. 3, etc.); but
a better translation would be proclaim (LXX. KTJPV£OV).
the preaching... bid thee. The LXX. has Kara TO K-rjpvy^a TO tpirpovOtv
o eya> €\d\rja-a 7rp6<s ac. The word rendered preaching (literally, cry, in
the sense of proclamation) occurs only here.
3. Nineveh was, etc. The tense does not necessarily imply that the
city, in the writer's time, had ceased to exist: cf. Joh. xi. 18.
an exceeding great city. Literally, a city great for God (cf. mg.), i.e.
great even in the judgment of God, Who estimates by a standard higher
than human; cf. Acts vii. 20 (aVretos TO> 0eu>), 2 Cor. x. 4 (Sward TW
flew), Gen. x. 9 ("a mighty hunter before Jehovah"), Lk. i. 15 (/*eya<?
Kvptov). Somewhat similar are Ps. xxxvi. 6, Ixviii. 15 ("moun-
134 JONAH [in. 3-5
was 1an exceeding great city, of three days' journey. 4 And Jonah
began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and
said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5 And
1 Heb. a city great unto God.
tains of God" for "high mountains"), Is. xiv. 13 ("stars of God" for
"lofty stars"), Ps. Ixxx. 10 ("cedars of God" for "tall cedars"), Gen.
xxiii. 6 ("a prince of God" for "a mighty prince"), xxx. 8 ("wrestlings
of God" for "vigorous wrestlings").
of three days' journey. It is clear from v. 4 (which represents that
Jonah advanced one day's journey into the city before beginning to
announce his message) that the phrase here is meant to describe the
measure of the city's diameter, not its circumference. If a day's journey
be assumed to be 20 miles (Herodotus, iv. 101, reckons it at 200 stades,
a stade being about 200 yards), this would imply a diameter of 60 miles.
The actual circuit of its ruins, as reported by Felix Jones in 1855
(quoted by Bewer), is about 7 J miles, though the plain which is bounded
by the rivers Tigris, Khusur, Zab, and Gomal, and which embraces the
ruins of Nineveh, Dur Sargon, and Calah, measures about 61 J miles in
circumference. This would naturally include extensive pasture grounds
(cf. iv. 11 end).
4. a day's journey. This, according to the estimate of Nineveh's size
in v. 3, would carry Jonah almost into the heart of the city.
Yet Jorty days... overthrown. This is perhaps only meant to be a
summary of what the prophet said : cf. the brief proclamation attributed
to Jesus in Mk. i. 15, -Mt. iv. 17. The announcement is couched in
unconditional terms, but it is implied in iv. 2 that Jonah understood
that the destruction of the city was really dependent upon the conduct
of its people, whose repentance could avert it: cf. Jer. xviii. 7, 8, and
p. xxiii. It is not stated how Jonah, a Hebrew, made himself intelligible
to the citizens of Nineveh who spoke Assyrian. If the author had
thought about the matter, he might have explained that the prophet
used Aramaic, which was a medium of international intercourse between
Assyrian and Hebrew officials at the end of the eighth century B.C.
(2 Kgs. xviii. 26). Since, however, the religious bearings of the story
were alone of importance, such considerations did not interest the
narrator.
Instead of forty days the LXX. has rpets ij^pai (the other Greek
translators following the Heb.). ~Both forty and three are conventional
periods of time in the O.T. (for the former in connection with days see
Gen. vii. 17, Ex. xxiv. 18, 1 Kgs. xix. 8, and for the latter see Gen.
xxx. 36, xl. 13, 19, Ex. iii. 18, x. 22, etc.); so that the variation may be
either accidental or intentional in origin. Three may be a copyist's
error, introduced through the nearness of the same figure in v. 3 ; whilst
conversely/br^ may be a deliberate correction in view of the fasting
mentioned in v. 5, since 40 days was a period associated with the fasts
of Moses and Elijah (Dt. ix. 9, 1 Kgs. xix. 8). But a decision between
in. 5, 6] JONAH 135
the people of Nineveh believed God ; and they proclaimed a fast,
and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least
of them. 6 *And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he
1 Or, For word came unto the king &c.
the two readings in respect of originality is not called for, since both are
probably genuine, several features in the book uniting to show that it
has been constructed out of two versions of a single story, one of which
presumably had three days, whilst the other had forty days (see further
on iv. 5, and p. Ixxxvii).
overthrown. The verb and the corresponding noun are used in con-
nection with the destruction of the cities of the Plain (Gen. xix. 25, 29,
Dt. xxix. 23, Is. xiii. 19, etc.). There is nothing said here about the
nature of the contemplated overthrow, which Josephus (Ant. ix. 10, 2)
represents as the loss of Nineveh's dominion over other nations.
5 — 10. The repentance of the Ninevites and their respite by God.
5. believed God. Strictly, believed in God (as in Gen. xv. 6, Ex. xiv. 31
(Heb.), etc.). The immediate repentance of the Ninevites is doubtless
intended by the writer as a contrast to the indifference or hostility with
which his own countrymen had so often received the warnings of their
prophets. It has been suggested by Trumbull (see Bewer, p. 5) that the
impression produced by Jonah upon the population of Nineveh was the
result of the miracle that had happened to him. One of the deities
worshipped there was a fish-god (called by Berosus, Oannes) ; and the
ejection of the prophet alive by the fish having been witnessed, the
report of it created among the inhabitants the conviction that it was
one of their own gods who demanded their repentance. Such an ex-
planation presupposes that the narrative has far more historical value
than can reasonably be claimed for it. On the other hand, if any sub-
stratum of fact underlies the account of Jonah's preaching at Nineveh,
the effect represented as produced by him can be in some measure
paralleled. Layard relates " I have known a Christian priest frighten a
whole Mussulman town into repentance by publicly proclaiming that he
had received a Divine mission to announce a coming earthquake or
plague" (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 367).
proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth. The practice of abstinence
and the assuming of a particular vesture in connection with religious
observances and occasions probably have their explanation in physical
ideas of holiness ; see pp. 90, 93 .
6. And the tidings reached the king, etc. By the tidings is meant the
report of Jonah's utterance. There is a lack of plausibility in the
representation that the king received information of the prophet's an-
nouncement only after the people had taken action upon it (v. 5), and
that he proclaimed a fast, with its usual concomitants (w. 7, 8), when such
was already being observed. The difficulty, which some critics propose
to remove either by placing v. 5 after v. 9, or by omitting w. 6 — 9 as
a later insertion, is best solved by the supposition that the book is
136 JONAH [in. 6-8
arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered
him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he made proclama-
tion and l published through Nineveh by the decree of the king
and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock,
taste any thing : let them not feed, nor drink water : 8 but let
1 Heb. said
composite, and that the constituent versions out of which it has been
woven together differed in detail here, one assigning the public fast to
an impulse on the part of the collective people, and the other ascribing
it to the initiative of tbe sovereign.
the king of Nineveh. The king of Assyria is nowhere else called by
this title. The reigning Assyrian sovereign in the time of the historical
Jonah may have been any one of five — Ramman-nirari (810 — 782), Shal-
maneser IV (781—772), Asshur-dan III (771—754), Asshur-nirari IV
(753—745), and Tiglath-Pileser (744—727).
covered him ivith sackcloth. For the wearing of sackcloth as a token
of mourning among the Hebrews see p. 90. The custom is assumed in
Jer. xlix. 3, Ezek. xxvii. 31 to have prevailed likewise amongst neigh-
bouring Gentile nations.
sat in ashes. Compare Job ii. 8, Dan. ix. 3, 3 Is. Iviii. 5, Mt. xi. 21
(= Lk. x. 13). Possibly the sitting in ashes, like the casting of earth or
dust on the head (Josh. vii. 6, 2 Sam. i. 2, cf. Horn. H. XVIIL 23, 241),
was a survival from a time when contact with the remains of the in-
cinerated or buried dead was a method of bringing the departed into
relation with his sorrowing kinsfolk: cf. Horn. //. xvm. 26 (of Achilles),
avros 8' f.v Kovirffri yu.eya.5 ^u,€yaA.a>o"Tt ravucr^eis | KZLTO.
7. And he made proclamation, etc. Perhaps better, And one (i.e. an
official) made proclamation, etc. : cf. LXX. /cat tKypvyOr] /cat eppcOv).
the decree. This sense of the term used in the original is an Aramaism
(p. Ixxxiii). The LXX. omits the word and has merely Trapa rov y
his nobles. Literally, his great ones or grandees: cf. Prov. xviii. 16.
The decree here proceeds from the king and his nobles together, just as
in Dan. vi. 17 the signets used by Darius are those of both himself and
his lords. The LXX. has Trapa TWV /xeytarai/wv avrov.
Let neither .. .taste any thing. When Nineveh was beset by the Medes
and Babylonians, the king then reigning enjoined a fast of a hundred
days2.
nor beast. In view of the addition herd nor flock in the next clause,
the term beast must here be limited to draught animals and beasts of
burden (1 Kgs. xviii. 5): the Greek and Latin renderings are TO, KTTJVTJ
and iumenta respectively.
>OTpri<Ti
2 Kennedy, quoted by Lanchester, Ob. and Jonah, p. 41.
in. 8-10] JONAH 137
them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them
cry mightily unto God : yea, let them turn every one from his
evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who
knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away
from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their
works, that they turned from their evil way ; and God repented of
the evil, which he said he would do unto them ; and he did it not.
let them not feed. ..water. It is the animals previously mentioned that
are chiefly in the mind of the writer, for the verb rendered feed is the
customary one for feeding in pastures.
8. let them be covered. Literally, let them cover themselves. The in-
clusion of the cattle in the king's order enjoining national mourning
obtains illustration not only from Judith iv. 10, but also from parallel
narratives in Classical authors. Herodotus relates that the Persians, on
the occasion of the death of Masistius, clipped their horses and baggage
animals (ix. 24) ; whilst Plutarch states that Alexander did the same
when Hephaestion died (Alex. 72), and that the Thessalians cut off their
horses' manes (as well as their own hair) in mourning for the Theban
Pelopidas (Pel. 33). Of. also Eur. Ale. 425— 429. Funeral trappings on
horses are not unknown even among ourselves.
let them cry. Grammatically this applies to the animals as well as to
the human beings in the city, but the carelessness of expression scarcely
needs to be remedied by emendation. The LXX. in this v. has And
they were covered... and cried... and turned, etc.
turn... from his evil way. The national repentance was not to be
limited to outward tokens of sorrow: cf. Jer. xviii. 11, xxvi. 3, 3 Is.
Iviii. 6, 7, 9, 10, Joel ii. 13.
violence. Aggression upon the rights of others was a feature in the
career of Assyria as a nation (cf. Is. x. 13, 14, Nah. ii. 11, 12, iii. 1), and
no doubt characterized its citizens in their individual relations.
in their hands. Literally, in their two palms. For similar phrases cf.
Job xvi. 17, 1 Ch. xii. 17, 3 Is. lix. 6.
9. Who knoweth, etc. The expression, which is borrowed from Joel
ii. 14, is placed in the mouth of the people by the LXX., which prefixes
Acyovres: see v. 8.
10. And God saw... their evil way. The repentance of the Ninevites
at the preaching of Jonah was contrasted by our Lord with the im-
penitence of the Jews in spite of His own preaching (Mt. xii. 41 = Lk.
xi. 32).
and God repented, etc. The same phrase occurs in Ex. xxxii. 14, Am.
vii. 3, Jer. xviii. 7, 8. God's threatened chastisement was conditional ;
and His relenting from His purpose was consequent upon the offenders'
contrition.
he did it not. I.e. at the time which the writer describes. The con-
version of the Ninevites from their evil practices on this occasion, if
historical, did not finally preclude the subsequent destruction of their city.
138 JONAH [iv. 1-5
CHAPTER IV.
IV. 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, 0 LORD,
was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?
Therefore I l hasted to flee unto Tarshish : for I knew that thou
art a gracious God, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and
plenteous in mercy, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore
now, 0 LOKD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is
better for me to die than to live. 4 And the LORD said, 2Doest
thou well to be angry? 5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and
1 Or, was beforehand in fleeing 2 Or, Art thou greatly angry ?
1 — 11. Jonah's displeasure at the mercy shown to the Ninevites, and
God's rebuke.
1. But it displeased Jonah. The writer doubtless thinks of Jonah's
displeasure as mainly due to the clemency shown to his country's
enemies by God, but possibly also as occasioned in part by mortification
because his prediction was not fulfilled (since this was calculated to
bring discredit and derision upon a prophet, see Dt. xviii. 22, Jer.
xx. 7—8).
and he was angry. The LXX. has KOL o-w^O-rj (" he was upset "),
the Old Lat. et mcestus foetus est.
2. my saying. I.e. my reflection.
/ hasted to flee. Or, I fled betimes (literally (as in the mg.), " I was
beforehand in fleeing," LXX. 7rpoe'(£0ao-a TOT) <£vyeu'} Vulg. prceoccupavi
a gracious God, etc. The phraseology appears to be borrowed from
Joel ii. 13 (see note); cf. also Ex. xxxiv. 6, Num. xiv. 18, Ps. Ixxxvi.
15, etc.
3. take, I beseech thee, my life. A similar request was made in
despondency (arising from a very different source from that implied
in Jonah's case) by both Moses and Elijah (Num. xi. 15, 1 Kgs. xix. 4).
4. Doest thou well to be angry ? Cf. Sym. a/oa St/cattos IXvinqVirp • Vulg.
putasne bene irasceris tu? According to this translation, Jonah is not
directly rebuked for his anger, but is invited to reflect whether it is
justifiable. The general meaning, however, of the Heb. verb repre-
sented by the adv. is " to do (a thing) perfectly or thoroughly " (see
Mic. vii. 3, Dt. xiii. 14 (15), Jer. i. 12), and so is in favour of the
rendering Art thou thoroughly angry? and this is the sense given to it
by the LXX. (d o-<j>68pa AcXuTnjo-at o-v;) and the Old Latin (si valde (or
vehementer) contristatus es tut); though such a question attributes to
the Deity a bantering attitude which seems unnatural.
5. Then Jonah went out. Literally, And Jonah went out. If the
narrative is a complete unity, it must be supposed that Jonah, though
virtually convinced (as his auger showed) that God would spare the
iv. s, 6] JONAH 139
sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and
sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become
of the city. 6 And the LORD God prepared a l gourd, and made it
1 Or, Palma Christi Heb. kikayon.
city, yet did not give up all hope of seeing its destruction accomplished.
But the natural implication of the passage is that he had not yet learnt
that the city was to be spared ; so that Sellin thinks that this v. has
been displaced, and that its original position was after iii. 4. It is more
probable, however, that the v. comes from a version distinct from that
whence the adjoining verses have been drawn (see p. Ixxxvii). The con-
junction and probably linked the present passage to iii. 9.
on the east side. Jonah appears to have crossed the city: on ap-
proaching it from Palestine, he would naturally enter it on the west
side. In designating the quarters of the sky the Hebrews turned to
the rising sun, so that the east side of a place or thing was the front
(cf. Joel ii. 20).
a booth. The term (equivalent to the O-K^V^ of Mk. ix. 5) describes
a shelter like the structures of leafy boughs occupied by the Hebrews
on the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. 42, Neb. viii.
14 — 17). That the prophet felt the need of such a shelter clearly pre-
supposes that he expected that the fate of the city would not be
determined until after the lapse of some considerable interval, so that
this passage coheres best with the representation (iii. 4, Heb.) that the
space of time within which repentance was required was forty days
(not three days, as represented in iii. 4, LXX.). This period was not
yet exhausted.
6. the LORD God. Strictly, JEHOVAH God. The combination is
rare outside of Gen. ii., iii.
prepared. Better, appointed, as in i. 17, iv. 7, 8.
a gourd. Probably a better rendering is a palm-christ (Palma
Christi)1. The Heb. word is kikayon (which Aq. and Th. transliterate —
K(K€<ov), and the resemblance between it and the word Kiiu, mentioned in
Hdt. n. 94 as tbe Egyptian name for the o-iAAiKuVpiov and applied by
Dioscorides to the /cporoov, a tree producing the castor-oil berry, favours
the view that the castor- oil plant (Ricinus communis, Linnaeus) is meant.
This is described by Pliny (Hist. Nat. xv. 7) as altitudine olece, caule
ferulaceo, folio vitium, semine uvarum gracilium pallidarumqw, and
grows, under favourable conditions, to a height of 30 or 40 feet. It has
broad palmate serrated leaves like those of a plane, only larger, and some-
times measuring more than a foot across. It is a native of tbe East
Indies, but flourishes in most tropical and semi-tropical countries. The
LXX., which renders the Hebrew term by KoXoKwO-*) (Cucurbita lage-
naria), takes it to be a gourd, which is also of rapid growth and has large
1 A.V. mg. has palmcrist. The name is said to be due to the hand-like shape of
the leaves.
140 JONAH [iv. 6-3
to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head,
to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad
because of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm when the
morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it
withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God
prepared a sultry east wind ; and the sun beat upon the head of
leaves. As this is of a vine-like nature, it has been argued (by those
who assume that the narrative is completely self-consistent) that this
identification suits the account in the text best, since a trailing plant
was more suitable for covering Jonah's booth than a tree, such as the
castor-oil plant, could be. Of the early translators Sym. assumes that
the plant intended was of a trailing nature, and translates it by KIO-O-OS,
and the Vulg. (following him) has hedera. The text, however, does not
state that the klkdyon was designed to screen the booth and to render
it more impervious to the sun's rays : the natural sense of v. 6 is that
it was meant by itself is afford to Jonah the shelter he needed. In
reality, the booth and the klkdyon seem to serve the same purpose, and
the accounts of them in w. 5 and 6 to be not successive, but parallel,
presumably contained in different versions of the story. Hence, as the
chief argument for considering the plant in question to be a gourd
breaks down, there is no objection to the identification of it with the
Ricinus communis (as the similarity between the Hebrew and Greek
words suggests). This, which in Mediterranean countries is known as
the Palma Christi, is normally speedy in its development (it has been
known in America to reach a height of 13 feet in 3 months); but the
present narrative, which describes it as growing in a single night (v. 10)
tall enough to shelter Jonah, manifestly implies a miracle.
made it to come up. The Heb. admits of the rendering, it came up, and
the LXX. and the Latin Versions have di/c/fy and ascendit respectively.
that it might be a shadow. It is a reasonable inference from these
words that the plant was designed to furnish protection from the sun
independently of any structure like the booth of y. 5, though Pusey
quotes from the Talmud passages showing that the kind of booth erected
at the Feast of Tabernacles was not impervious to the sun's heat, which
was kept out by various devices.
to deliver him. The construction (the use of Id to express the direct
object) is unusual, and is thought to be due to Aramaic influence, though
it occurs sporadically in early Hebrew. The LXX. for to deliver has TOV
o-*ia£eiv (vocalizing differently).
his evil case. I.e. the physical distress occasioned by the heat.
7. a worm. The singular is perhaps used collectively, as in Dt. xxviii.
39, Is. xiv. 11. The palm-christ is said to be subject to the attacks of
caterpillars, which strip it of its leaves; but the writer of the book
obviously has in view a process of destruction as miraculous in its
rapidity as the previous growth.
8. a sultry east wind. The wind meant is one that blows from the
iv. 8-1 1] JONAH 141
Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might
die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. 9 And God
said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And
he said, I do well to be angry even unto death. 10 And the LORD
said, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast
not laboured, neither madest it grow ; which came up in a night,
and perished in a night: 11 and should not I have pity on
S.E., called in Arabic sherkiyeh (whence "sirocco"): for its scorching
and destructive character cf. Gen. xli. 6, Ezek. xvii. 10 (see Driver,
Par. Psalter, p. 136). The epithet translated "sultry" (harlsKith) occurs
only here, and is of doubtful derivation and significance. The most
plausible explanation connects it with horesh, "autumn," in the sense
primarily of an "autumnal," and secondarily of a very hot, wind (LXX.
7rvf.vfjLo.ri Kcnxrovos cr\)VK.a.iovTi). As the narrative stands, it must be
assumed that the hot wind is mentioned as something which merely
aggravated Jonah's discomfort; but it is a plausible conjecture that the
compiler has omitted a clause, occurring in one of the alternative versions,
of which the tenor was, and it tore down the booth. If the booth and the
palm-christ were originally distinct agencies subserving, in the different
versions, the same end of sheltering Jonah, it is probable that they were
both represented as destroyed, the one by a wind, and the other by a
worm.
and the sun beat, etc. In regard to the heat at Nineveh Pusey quotes
from Layard (Nin. and Bab., p. 366), "Few European travellers can
brave the perpendicular rays of the Assyrian sun. Even the well-
seasoned Arab seeks the shade during the day, and journeys by night,
unless driven forth at noontide by necessity or the love of war."
requested for himself, etc. The resemblance to the language of Elijah
(1 Kgs. xix. 4) is very noticeable here.
9. Doest thou well to be angry? See on u. 4. Jonah's anger on this
occasion had a different origin : previously it was due to the sparing of
Nineveh ; now it is caused by the destruction of the palm-christ.
even unto death. The phrase is used in connection with various emo-
tions to express intensity : cf. Jud. xvi. 1 6, Mk. xiv. 34.
10. Thou hast had pity. The pronoun thou is emphatic here, as is
the / in v. 11. Whilst Jonah had done nothing for the plant whose
fate he deplored, God was tbe Creator of the living beings in Nineveh.
laboured. The verb here used ( 'dmal) is apparently late (see p. Ixxxiii),
and takes the place of the earlier yagha' (Josh. xxiv. 13).
which came up in a night. Literally, "the son (i.e. the product) of a
night." The expression resembles the common idiom employed in Heb.
to express age (e.g. a yearling is "the son of a year," Ex. xii. 5).
11 . and should not I have pity, etc. " God waives for a time the fact of
the repentance of Nineveh" (Pusey), and here speaks only of the appeal
to His compassion made by the tender age of so many in the city which
Jonah wishes to see destroyed. Cf. Wisd. xi. 26.
142 JONAH [iv. n
Nineveh, that great city ; wherein are more than sixscore thou-
sand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and
their left hand; and also much cattle?
sixscore thousand. Literally, twelve myriads. The Heb. for myriad
(ribbo), here used, is confined almost exclusively to late books (see
p. Ixxxiii).
that cannot... hand. The expression (with which cf. Dt. i. 39, Is. vii.
15, 16) denotes very young children, in whom intelligence had not yet
awakened, and who consequently could have no responsibility for the
city's wickedness (i. 2). Such would be under two years of age, and the
number of them (120,000) is thought to imply a population of 600,000.
F. Jones estimated, from the extent of the ruins of Nineveh, that its
inhabitants must really have amounted to 174,000.
much cattle? The numerous cattle were as irresponsible as the
children. The writer's thought that God has care for animals is found
elsewhere in the O.T., see Ex. xx. 10, xxiii. 12, Dt. xxv. 4, Ps. cxlvii. 9 :
cf. also Mt. vi. 26, x. 29.
The effectiveness of the question with which the book concludes is
not allowed by the writer to be impaired by any further particulars
about Jonah himself, his reflections upon the Divine remonstrance, or
his return home.
ADDITIONAL NOTE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR.
The Book of Jonah has lent itself more than any other of the Minor
Prophets to artistic illustration, especially in painted glass. The chief
incident represented is that of Jonah's escape from the whale's belly.
This is natural, since it was treated as typical of our Lord's Resurrection.
In the windows of four Oxford Colleges there are Jonah-scenes ; and
three of them — those in University, Lincoln, and Wadham Colleges —
depict the incident mentioned. But in Christ Church there is another
scene (the work of Van Ling) which touches a central thought of the
book : the prophet is seated under the gourd, gazing sadly at the city of
Nineveh, as it stretches undestroyed and magnificent before his eyes.
JONAH 143
APPENDIX I
THE PSALM IN CH. II. RENDERED IN THE RHYTHM
OF THE ORIGINAL.
The following will serve in some slight degree to illustrate the
rhythm of the psalm in ch. ii. The rendering is necessarily in places
a little less close to the original than that which is given in the R.V.
or supported in the commentary, and in two passages additional emenda-
tions are adopted, for metrical convenience.
1. "Out of my straits did I cry | to Jehovah, who answered;
From the belly of Sheol complained ; | thou heardest my calling.
2. To the heart of the seas was I cast; | embraced me their current;
All of thy billows and waves | went swirling above me.
3. Methought, I am driven away | from the range of thy vision :
How shall I once more behold | thy temple most holy ?
4. The waters did clasp me about ; | the deep did encompass.
Twisted was weed round my head, | at the base of the mountains.
5. I sank to where earth with its bars imprisons1 for ever;
But my life thou didst bring from the pit, | 0 Jehovah my G6d.
6. When the soul that was in me grew faint, | my God I remembered ;
And my prayer entered into thy courts, | thy temple most h61y.
7. Who ,revere the Vain and the False | abandon their Refuge 2 ;
But I with the voice of thanksgiving | will offerings render.
What I have vowed I will pay: | from Jehovah comes succour."
1 Here instead of ba'adhi is substituted 'atsZru "detain," which is translated by
in the LXX. of Jud. xiii. 15, 16. In the present passage the LXX. has
Here instead of hasdam there is substituted (after Marti) mahasehem "their
refuge."
144
JONAH
APPENDIX II
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF JONAH.
The following translation (more literal than the R.V.) of the narrative
portion of the book will make plain the tenor of each of the hypothetical
sources.
Version A Matter common to both Versions
i. 1 And the word of Jehovah came unto
Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go
to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it,
for their wickedness hath come up into my
Version B
my
presence.
3a But Jonah arose to flee to Tar-
shish from the presence of Jehovah.
3b But he went down to Joppa and
found a ship going to Tarshish. And
he paid the fare of it, and went down
into it to go with them to Tarshish
from the presence of Jehovah.
4 And Jehovah had flung a great wind into
the sea, and there was a great tempest in the
sea, and the ship was about to be shattered.
5b And they flung the gear which
was in the ship into the sea to lighten
it from off them.
7 And they said each to his mate,
Come, that we may cast lots and know
on whose account this evil has hap-
pened to us. And they cast lots and
the lot fell upon Jonah.
10b And they said to him, What is
this that thou hast done ? for the men
knew that it was from the presence of
Jehovah that he was fleeing, for he
had told them. 13 And the men rowed
to restore him to the dry land, but
thev were not able, for the sea went
on being tempestuous upon them.
5a Then the seamen were afraid, and
cried each to his god. 5C But Jonah
had gone down into the hold of the
vessel and lay down and slept soundly.
6 And the captain of the sailors ap-
proached him and said to him, Why
art thou sound asleep? Arise, cry to
thy God; perchance God will think
upon us that we perish not.
8 And they said to him, Tell us now
on account of whom this evil has hap-
pened to us. What is thy occupation ?
Whence dost thou come ? What is thy
land ? And of what people art thou ?
9 And he said to them, I am a He-
brew; and I am a worshipper of Je-
hovah, the God of heaven, who made
the sea and the dry land. 10a And
the men feared with great fear.
1 1 And they said to him, What shall
we do to thee that the sea may be
calm from off us ; for the sea went on
being tempestuous. 12 And he said
to them, Take me up and fling me
into the sea that the sea may be calm
from off you, for I know that on my
account this great tempest is upon
you.
APPENDIX II
145
life,
Version A Matter common to both Versions Version B
14a And they cried to Jehovah and said,
Pray, Jehovah,
14b Let us not perish for this man's 14C [and] Do not lay upon us inno-
cent blood,
14d for thou, Jehovah, hast done as thou hast
pleased. 15 And they took up Jonah and flung
him into the sea, and the sea stayed from its
raging. 16 And the men feared Jehovah with
great fear, and they sacrificed a sacrifice to
Jehovah and vowed vows.
ii. 1 But Jehovah appointed a great fish to
swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the bowels of
the fish three days and three nights. 2 And
Jonah made petition unto Jehovah his God
from the bowels of the fish. 11 And Jehovah
said to the fish... and it disgorged Jonah on to
the dry land.
iii. 1 And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah
a second time, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh,
the great city, and cry unto it the cry that I
speak unto thee. 3 And Jonah arose and went
to Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah.
And Nineveh was a great city (even) for God,
three days' journey (across). 4a And Jonah
began to enter into the city one day's journey,
and he cried and said :
4b (LXX.) Yet three days and Nine-
veh shall be overthrown. 5 And the
people of Nineveh believed God ; and
they proclaimed a fast and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest of them
even unto the least of them. 10 And
God saw their works, that they turned
from their evil way, and God repented
concerning the evil which he said he
would do unto them, and he did it not.
iv. 1 But for Jonah it was evil, a great
evil, and he was angry. 2 And he
made petition unto Jehovah and said,
Pray, Jehovah, was not this my say-
ing, while I was yet on my own soil ?
Therefore I was beforehand in fleeing
unto Tarshish ; for I knew that thou
art a gracious God and compassionate,
slow to anger, plenteous in mercy, and
repentant of the evil. 3 And now,
Jehovah, take my life from me, for
better for me is my death than my
life.
4 And Jehovah said, Doest thou
well to be angry ? 6 And Jehovah God
appointed a palmchrist, and it came
up over Jonah, to be a shade over his
head, to deliver him from his evil state.
w.
4b (Heb.) Yet forty days and Nine-
veh shall be overthrown. 6 And the
matter reached the king of Nineveh,
and he arose from his throne, and laid
his robe from off him, and covered
himself with sackcloth, and sat in
ashes. 7 And one made proclamation
and said in Nineveh by the decree of
the king and his great men, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor
flock, taste anything, let them not
feed nor drink water ; 8 but let them
be covered with sackcloth, both man
and beast; and let them cry with
might to God ; and let them turn each
from his evil way, and from the vio-
lence that is in their hands. 9 Who
knoweth whether God will turn and
repent, and turn from the heat of his
anger that we perish not ?
iv. 5 Arid Jonah went out of the
city and sat on the east side of the
city and there made for himself a
booth and sat under the shade until
he should see what would happen to
10
146
APPENDIX II
Version A
And Jonah was glad with great glad-
ness because of the palmchrist. 7 But
God appointed a worm, when the dawn
arose on the morrow, and it smote the
palmchrist, and it withered; 8b and
the sun smote upon the head of Jonah
and he fainted, and requested for
himself that he might die, and said,
Better for me is my death than my
life. 9 And God said to Jonah, Doest
thou well to be angry on account of
the palmchrist? And he said, I do
well to be angry even unto death.
10 And Jehovah said, Thou hast pity
on the palmchrist, on which thou didst
not labour, neither madest it to grow,
which came into being in a night and
perished in a night; 11 and should
not / have pity on Nineveh, the great
city, wherein are more than twelve
myriads of persons that discern not
between their right hand and their
left, and much cattle ?
Version B
the city. 8a And it came to pass when
the sun arose that God appointed a
sultry east wind; (and it overthrew
the booth.)
INDEX
Abide ( = be unmolested), To 42, 119
Abraham's offering of Isaac 51
Acco9
Achzib 11
'adh, Meaning of Heb. cxix
'ddhon a title of heathen deities 4
'adhonai a title of JEHOVAH 1, 4
Adora 1
Adullam 12
.Eschylus quoted or cited 125, 129
Agatharchides quoted 89
Ahab xlviii, 53, 56
Ahaz xv, xvi, xvii, xviii, xxix, xxx, xlviii,
Ixiv, cxv, cxvi, cxvii, 8, 48
Akaba, Gulf of xliv, xlvii
Akrabattine 1
Alexander the Great xlii, Ixxii, 114, 137
Alexander Jannaus 1
Alienation of lands 14
All flesh 109
Allegory xcvii
'almah, Meaning of the fleb. cxvi, cxvii,
cxviii
Almighty, The 94
Altar (of the Temple), The 102
Amaziah xlviii, 11
Ambassador 67
Amittai, Meaning of the name xcvii, 121
Ammon, Ammonites xli, xlv, 61, 75
Analysis of the book of Jonah, Critical
Ixxxviii, 144—146
Anointed of JEHOVAH, The cviii, cxxiii
Anointing, Significance of the rite of cviii
Anonymity of many Heb. writings xxv
Antiochus the Great xlii
Antithetic Parallelism cxxxvii
Apocalyptic Ixxii, Ixxiv
Apple Tree 93
Apportionment of lands by lot 16
Aquila, Readings and Renderings of 9,
17, 43, 67, 72, 76, 82, 112, 139
Arabah, The xliv
Arabia Petreea 1
Arabians xxix, xli, Ixvi, 68
Arion 128
Army (applied to locusts) liv, 101
Artaxerxes Ochus Ixxii, 85, 114
Ashamed ( = disappointed), To be 25
Ashdod Ixiv
'Asherim 45, 46, 47
Ashes, To sit in 136
Asshur (city) 121
Asshur (deity) cv
Assonance 8, 12, 40, 94
Assyria, Assyrians, Allusions to xix, xxx,
Ixxix, xciii, 36, 54, 62, 104,
122, 137
as designations of other coun-
tries and peoples 39, 42, 45,
62
Atonement, Heb. ideas concerning 51
Audition, Ecstatic 2
Authority of parents and masters, The
59
Avith xlv
Babylon, Babylonians xix, xxxix, xl, xli,
xlix, 20, 21, 28, 34, 35, 36, 42, 43, 75,
104, 113, 117, 136
Bag 54
Balaam cxi, 49
Balak 49
Baldness as a token of mourning, Arti-
ficial 12
Baptism of Jesus, The cxxx, cxxxi
Bark of trees eaten by locusts 90
Barns 95
Bashan 64
Beasts of the field 96
Beats, Hebrew versification measured by
cxxxix
Benhadad xlvi
Benjamin 81, 83
Beth-ezel 10
Beth-le-Aphrah 9
Bethlehem 40, 41
Bethuel li
Bite, To 23
Blessing, Isaac's xliv
Jacob's cxi, cxii
Blessings and curses self-fulfilling 49
'Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke'
109
Bond between JEHOVAH and Israel, The
ev, 27, 28
Bondage, House of 49
Booth 139
Boundary 62
Bozrah xlv, 21
'Bread, They that eat thy' 72
Break ranks, To 99
Break the bones of, To 22
Breaker, The 20, 21
Bring again the captivity of, To Ixii, Ixvi,
112
Brooks 118
'Brought thee on thy way' 71
Burden 15
10—2
148
INDEX
Burnt offerings 48, 50
'Burst through the weapons, They' 100
Byword against, To use a 103
Caesarea Philippi, The Apostles' confes-
sion at cxxix
Calah 121, 134
Calamity 77
Call on the name of a deity, To 110
Camp (applied to a swarm of locusts)
liv, 101
Canaanites, 84, 85
Caphtor 82
'Captivity of Jerusalem, The' 85
'Captivity of this host, The' 84
Captivity, To bring again the Ixii, Ixvi,
112
Carchemish, The battle of 36
Carmel 64
Carry away, To 75
Casluhim 82
Cast lots for captives, To 75, 112
for the detection of offenders or
the appointment of officials
125
for parcels of ground 16
Castor-oil plant 139
Cattle, God's care for 142
Ceremonial worship and social morality
compared cvii, 27, 28
Chemosh cv, ex, 24
Cherethites 82
Children, The sacrifice of 48, 51
Chop in pieces, To 22
' Christ ' applied to Jesus, The title Cxxix,
cxxx
Chronological Tables of kings of Judah
xvi, xvii
Cicero quoted cxix, 116
Circuits 113
Cities (= fortresses) 45
Cleanse the blood of, To 119
4 Clefts of the rocks, The ' 69
Clods 95
'Close places, Their' 65
Columella quoted 89
Come up, To 90
Come up on, To 86
Common to two books, Passages xxxiv —
xxxvii, 29—30, 67—71, 87
Communion, Sacrifices of 50
Complete Parallelism cxxxvi
' Confederacy, The men of thy ' 71
Congregation of the Lord, The 17, 102
Conjectural emendations cxliii, 7, 12, 16,
17, 18, 19, 47, 106
Consecrate war, To 24
Constructive Parallelism cxxxviii
Corruption in Judah, Causes of xxix
Counterparts in heaven of things on
earth cxxviii
Covenant between JEHOVAH and Israel,
Thecv
Cover the lips, To 25
Crete, Cretans 82
Crossway 77
Curses self-fulfilling 49
Cyaxares 122
Cyrus cviii, cxxiii, 85
Damascus xxix, cxv
Damsel cxvi, cxvii
Daniel, The term 'son of man' in cxxvii,
cxxviii
Darius Hystaspis 85
Darkness as a figure for calamity lix, 24,
61
Date of Joel Ixi — Ixxii
Jonah Ixxxii — Ixxxiv
Dates of the oracles in Micah xxvi, 20,
28, 33, 34 f.,
48, 52, 56, 60
Obadiah xxxviii
— xliii
accession of kings of Judah xvi,
xvii
Daughter of troops 39
David xlvii, Ixiv, ex, cxii, cxiii
'David' as the designation of a dynasty
cxv
David redivivus, A cxxi, 41
David's reign, The religious importance
of ex, cxi
Dawn (= dimness), The 97, 98
Day of JEHOVAH (the LOBD), The liv, Iv,
Ivii, Iviii, 33, 78
'Dealing, Thy' 78
Dealings of God with mankind, The cv,
cvi
Dearth Ivii
Deceitful thing, A 12
Decree, 62, 136
Deep, The 131
Deep waters a figure for calamity Ixxxv,
129, 132
Depth, The 130
Destroyer, The 94, 95
Devote, To 38
Dew (in a simile) 44
Dimeters cxlii, 6, 94
Dinhabah xlv
Diodorus Siculus cited xli, xlix
Disaster 76
Dishonesty in trade xxviii, 52, 54
Dishonour, To 59
Divine, To, Diviners, Divination 25, 27
Do great things, To 105
Dove a symbol of Israel xcviii
INDEX
149
Dreams and visions as channels of reve-
lation 109
Drink, To (used figuratively) 79
Drink offerings Ixv, 91
Drop, To (used of prophetic utterances)
17
Dukes xlvi
Dust, To roll in the 10
Duties of men to God, The cvi
E 3 (see also JE)
Eagle used generically 13
Earthquakes, Language reflecting the
experience of 60
Eastern sea, The 105
Eclipses, Expressions suggested by Ix,
109, 117
Eden 98
Edom, The country of xliv, 69
Edomites, The xxxiii, xxxiv, xxxviii —
xlii, xliv — 1, Ixiii, Ixiv, 67
—79, 81, 86, 119
Forms of government among
the xlvi
Israel's relationship to the
xlv
The language of the xlvi
The religion of the xlvi
Israel's relations with the
xlvii— 1
Egypt, Egyptians xxx, Ixiv, Ixvi, Ixvii,
ex, 45, 62, 82, 118—119
Eighth century, Prophecies dating from
the xxvi, xxxviii, xliii
'El, 'Elohim cxix
Elath xxix, xxxviii, xlviii
Elders 88
Elijah, Elisha Ixxix, xcii, 133, 138, 141
Emendations, Conjectural cxliii, 7, 12,
16, 17, 18, 19, 47, 106
'Enduring foundations of the earth' 48
Enoch, The book of cxxvii, cxxviii,
cxxxiv
Entrances (of a land), The 43
Ephraim, The field of 81
Ephrathah 40
Esarhaddon xlix, 85
Esau xlv, 71
The mount of 73
'Escape, Those that' 79
Eschatology, Joel and Ixxii — Ixxvi
Ethical character of God, The ciii, civ
Euphrates, The 62
Euripides cited 51, 137
Everlasting (applied to a limited period)
cxix
'Exceeding great city, An' 133
Exile predicted for the Jewish people xx,
xxi, 19, 36
Exile, Prophecies dating from the xxvi,
cxxi, 20, 33
Exodus, The religious influence of the
ex
Expiatory sacrifices 48, 51
Extra metrum, Words and phrases cxl, 68
Ezion-geber xlviii
Ezra Ixxiv, Ixxxi
Fable xcvi
1 Family' (applied to a nation), The term
14
Fasting, Fasts Ixv, 93, 94
Fats, Wine- 107
Feasts, Occasions of the Hebrew 95
Feed, To (used figuratively) 42
Field 36, 83
Field of Ephraim, The 81, 83
Samaria, The 81, 83
Fifth century, Prophecies dating from
the xxvi, xliii, Ixxii, 60, 61, 63
First month, The 106
Firstripe fig 57
Flood 130
Floors, Threshing 107
Forays 39
Fore-part 105
Forgivingness of God, The 65
'Former dominion, The' 34
Former rain, The 106
'Fortress, The captivity of this 84
Forty days Ixxxix, xc, 134
Fountain issuing from the Temple Ixviii,
118
Fourth century, Prophecies dating from
the Ixxii, Ixxxv
Fruit 63
Fulfilments of prophecy 1, Ixxii, cxxix,
cxxxii, cxxxiii, 8, 114
Future, Contrast between Hebrew and
heathen hopes of the cix f.
galil, Meaning of the Heb. 113
Garden-land, A 64
Garden of Eden, The 98
Garment 18
Garners 95
'Gate of my people, The' 7
Gateways as places of assemblage 7
Gath9
Gath-hepher Ixxviii
Gather in troops, To 39
Gaza Ixiv, Ixxii, 114
Gear 124
gemul, Meaning of the Heb. 113
General Supplement to the separate In-
troductions c — cxliii
Gentiles. God's care for the Ixxx, Ixxxi,
141
150
INDEX
Gihon 118
Gilead 64, 81, 83
Gilgal 50
Gilgamesh 43
Gittah-hepher Ixxviii
Give to reproach, To 103
Gleaning grapes 71
Glory, JEHOVAH'S 19
of Israel, The 12
Go up, To 21, 86
GOD, Hebrew beliefs concerning c — cvii
GOD'S dealings with mankind cv — cvi
requirements from men cvi, cvii
Godly 57
Gog Ixviii, 104
Gourd 139, 140
'Gracious and full of compassion ' 101
Grass (used figuratively) 44
Graven images 6, 45
Great fish, A 128
Great lion, A 90
Greece, Grecians, Greeks Ixiv, Ixvii,
114
Hadad xlvi, xlviii
Hadriana 1
Hand upon the mouth, To lay the 65
Harvest ( = the vintage) The 116
Heart the seat of intelligence, The 69
of the will, The 101
To say in one's 69
Heart of the seas, The 130
Heavenly bodies the abodes of celestial
powers 117
Heavenly Messiah, The cxxvii, cxxviii
Heavens regarded as solid, The 101
Hebrew, Meaning of the word 126
Hebrew confidence in the future cix
methods of reckoning time 128
and modern thought contrasted
civ
versification cxxxiv — cxliii
Hebron xlix, 1, 86
hel, Meaning of the Heb. 84, 85
Hell 129
Heritage, Israel as JEHOVAH'S 63, 103
Herod, The house of 1, 74
Herodotus quoted or cited 7, 12, 81, 114,
122, 123, 128, 134, 137, 139
Hesiod cited cix
Hesychius quoted 80
Hezekiah xvi, xvii, xviii, xxiii, xxvi, xxix,
xxxi, cxviii, 8, 53
Hidden treasures 71
Hide the face, To 23
High places 5
•High places of a forest, The' 28
Hill country of Judah, The 83, 85
Hinder-part 105
Hinnom, Valley of the son of 27, 112
Hires 6
'Holy' applied to Jerusalem (Zion), The
epithet 80
Holy mountain, God's cxxii, 79, 97
Holy temple, God's 130, 132
Homer quoted or cited 12, 42, 49, 89,
108, 125, 130, 136
Hor, Mount xlvii
Horace quoted or cited cxxii, 49, 70
Horites xlv
Horn 97
Horsemen 98
Horses, Locusts likened to 98
The sources of Judah's supply
of 45
1 Host, The captivity of this' 84
House ( = household) 14
Human sacrifices 51
Humbly, To walk 52
•Humiliation, Thy' 55
Husband of youth, A 91
Hyperbole, Instances of Iv, 51, 70, 74,
118, 129
Idolatry xxi, 6, 45 — 47
Idumsea 1
Ill-savour 105
Immanuel, The Prophecy of cxv — cxviii
Incomplete Parallelism cxxxvii
Introduction to Joel li — Ixxvii
Jonah Ixxviii — xcix
Micah xv — xxxi
Obadiah xxxii — 1
Ionia, lonians Ixiv, 85, 114, 122
Iphigenia 51
Isaac, Abraham's offering of 51
Isaac's blessing of Esau xliv
Isaiah's corroboration of Micah's account
of Judah xxvi — xxix
Messianic prophecies cxv — cxx
Israel as a designation of Judah xvii, li,
12, 18, 22, 42, 49
J 3, 126 (see also JE)
Jackals 7
Jacob as a designation of Israel 5, 8
of Judah 18, 22,
31, 44, 80
Jacob's Blessing cxi, cxii
Javan Ixiv, 114, 122
Jaw teeth 90
JE xliv, 17, 102, 114 (see also Prophetic
narrative of the Pentateuch, The)
Jealous 103
Jehoahaz 38
Jehoiachin cxxv, 38, 39, 40
Jehoiada Ixvi
Jehoiakim 39, 53
INDEX
151
Jehoram xlviii
Jehoshaphat xlviii
The valley of Ixiv, 112
JEHOVAH, The original form of the name
1
Pronunciation of the name 1
Substitutes for the name 1, 2
The character attributed to
ciii
The development of ideas con-
cerning c
The Day of liv, Iv, Ivii, Iviii,
Ixxiii, 33, 78
JEHOVAH God Ixxxii, 139
Jephthah's sacrifice of his daughter 51
Jeremiah and Obadiah, Passage com-
mon to xxxiv — xxxviii, xliii, 67—71,
87
Jeroboam II Ixxviii
Jerome cited or quoted 34, 73, 100
Jerusalem — its experiences of capture
xxxix, 28
— its situation 26, 27
— its walls restored by Nehe-
miah Ixxii, 62
Prophecies concerning xx, xxi,
xxii, li, 5, 7, 13, 28, 34, 36,
38, 52, 111, 117
Jesus of Nazareth — His claim to be a
prophet cxxix
— His claim to be the Son of God
cxxix — cxxxiii
— His claim to be the Christ cvi,
cxxix, cxxx
— His claim to be the Son of man
cxxix, cxxxiv
— His fulfilment of Messianic pro-
phecies cxxxii, cxxxiii
Joab xlvii
Joash Ixv, Ixvi
Joel, Introduction to li — Ixxvii
The meaning of the name li
Parallels between other O.T. writ-
ings and Ixix, Ixx
The Contents of lii
The Interpretation of liv — Ivi
An insertion in Ix, Ixxii
The Style and Vocabulary of Ixx,
Ixxi
The Theology of ci — cv
The Unity of Ivi— Ixi
The Date of Ixi— Ixxii
Commentary on 88 — 119
Joel and Eschatology Ixxii — Ixxvi
John Hyrcanus 1
Jonah, Introduction to Ixxviii — xcix
The meaning of the name xcvii,
120
The Date of the prophet Ixxviii
Jonah, The Contents and Purpose of
Ixxix— Ixxxii
The Character and Import of xci
— xcix
The defective Unity of Ixxxv — xc
The Date of Ixxxii— Ixxxv
The Diction of Ixxxiii, Ixxxiv
The miracles related in xciii —
xcvi
The Psalm in Ixxxiv — Ixxxvi,
128—132, 143
The Theology of ci — cvi
Commentary on 120 — 146
Artistic illustrations of incidents
in 142
Critical Analysis of Ixxxviii, 144
—146
Jonathan Maccabaaus 124
Joppa Ixxix, 123, 124
Joseph ( = Israel) 80
Josephus cited xli, xlii, xlvi, 1, 123, 124,
133, 135
Josiah 118
Jotham xvi, xvii, 2
Joy of harvest, The 93
Judah, Jacob's blessing on cxi, cxii
Judas Maccabaeus 1
Judge, To 86
'Judge of Israel, The' 38, 40
Judgment, The Divine liv, Ivi, Iviii, 8 —
7, 14, 19, 28, 78
Judicial corruption 27, 56, 58
Julius Caesar 1
'Just measure, In' 106
Kaush xlvi
Kenaz, Kenizzites xlvii
Kidron, The 27, 112, 118
Kinah metre, The xxxvii, cxlii, cxliii, 5,
16, 63, 65, 66, 68, 71, 87, 129, 143
King, JEHOVAH as His people's cxiii, cxiv,
21
Kingdom of God (or of JEHOVAH), The
cxxix, 86
Kings of Judah, Dates of xvi, xvii
Kingship, Influence of the ex
Koze xlvi
Laehish 11
Lament, To 90, 93
'Latter days, In the' Ixxv, 30
Latter rain, The 106
Law (= instruction) 31
Leap upon, To 100
Leaping of locusts, The 99
Limit 62
Lion, Israel likened to a 44
JEHOVAH likened to a 117
Livy quoted 59
162
INDEX
Locusts, The varieties of Ixxvi, Ixxvii
The vast numbers and extreme
destructiveness of 1, liii,
Ixxvi, 89, 98
The significance in Joel of the
liv — Ivi
Look on, To 75
Lord 4
LORD God, The 139
Lord Messiah, The cxxvii
LORD of hosts, The 32
Lots, To cast 16, 75, 125
Lowland, The xviii, 10, 11, 81, 82
Lowly cxxiv
Lucan quoted 109
LXX, Readings and Renderings of the
xv, xxxii, liv, Ixxviii, Ixxxvi, Ixxxvii,
Ixxxviii, Ixxxix, xc, cxii, cxviii, cxxv,
cxxvii, cxl, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11,
15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,
28, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47,
51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 62, 65,
66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76,
77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88,
89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98,
99, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 109,
110, 112, 115, 116, 119, 122, 123, 124,
125, 126, 128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134,
136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 143, 145
Lying vanities 132
Makkeph cxxxix — cxliii, 68
Manasseh xvi, 39, 48, 53
Mareshah 1, 12
Mariners Ixxxiv, 124
Maroth 11
Martial quoted 32, 70
Mdshdl, The meaning of the Heb.
103
Masters' authority over servants 59
Mazor 62
Meal offerings Ixv, 91
Medes, The lix, 36, 122, 136
Megiddo, Battle of 118
'Mercy, Their own' 132
Mesha, The Inscription of 24, 34
Messenger 68
' Messiah,' The meaning of the term cviii,
cxxviii
Messiah, The celestial cxxvii, cxxxiv
Messianic Prophecy cvii — cxxxiv
Prophecy — various senses of
the term cvii — cix, 'cxiii —
cxv
Messianic prophecies in Isaiah cxv —
cxx, cxxi, cxxii
in Micah cxx, cxxi, 38—43
in Zechariah cxxiii, cxxiv
in the Psalms cxxiv — cxxvi
Messianic prophecies in the Psalms of
Solomon cxxvi, cxxvii
in the Sibylline oracles cxxvi
in the Testaments of the XII
Patriarchs cxxvii
Methods, Ancient and Modern views of
Divine civ
Metre, Varieties of Hebrew cxl, cxlii, cxliii
Meunim xxix, 112
Micah, Introduction to xv— xxxi
Meaning of the name xviii
Abode and character of xviii
Social conditions in the age of
xxvi — xxxi
Literary qualities of xix
The religious teaching of xxvi—
xxxi
Contents of xix — xxii
The disputed unity of xxii— xxvi
Dates of the various oracles in xv,
xxiv— xxvi, 29, 33, 35, 36, 38,
39, 45, 48, 53, 57, 60, 61, 63
The Theology of ci — cvii
Commentary on 1 — 66
Midrdsh, Midrdshim xci, xcii
Mighty God cxix
Mighty ones, JEHOVAH'S 116
Milcom cv
Minor Prophets, Defective chronological
arrangement of the xv, xxxii, Ixi
Miracles xciii — xcvi, civ
Miriam xlvi, 49
Mittavindaka 127
Moab, Moabites xxix, xliv, xlv, xlviii,
24, 34, 38, 75
Modern and Hebrew thought contrasted
civ
Monarchy, The religious influence of the
ex
Monolatry cix, ex
Monotheism Ixxx, cv
Morashtite, The 2
Moresheth-gath xviii, 11
Moses, A prophet like unto cxxix
Mount (mountain) of Esau, The 73
Mountain, The (a division of Judah) 83
Mount on high, To 69
Mourning customs 10, 12, 13, 25, 90
Nabatseans xli, xlix, 72, 74
nabhi', Etymology of the Heb. 25
Nabopolassar 36, 122
Name of a deity, To call on the 110
Name of JEHOVAH, The 32, 42
Napoleon 124
'Nation' applied to locusts, The term
liv, 89
Nations, Assemblage of all the Ixviii, 36,
37, 112
INDEX
153
Nebuchadrezzar xli, xlix, xcviii, cxix,
cxxv, 36, 38, 114
Necho Ixvii, 118
Negeb, Neghebh xlii, xlix, 81
Nehemiah Ixvii, Ixxii, 60, 61, 62, 86
Nets, Hunting- 57
New Testament, Passages referred to,
or quoted, in the xcv, oxviii, cxxiv,
cxxv, 41, 59, 110, 111, 128, 137
New wine 56, 92
Nimrod 43
Nineveh, The early history of xcii, 121,
122
The site of 122
The size of 122, 133, 134
The king of xciii, 136
The population of 142
Ninevites xcv, xcvii, xcviii, cvi,
36, 122, 135
Northern army, The, Northerner, The,
liv, 104
Obadiah, Introduction to xxxii — 1
The form and meaning of the
name xxxii, 67
Contents of xxxiii, xxxiv
Divisions in xxxiv
Dates of the divisions in xxxviii
— xliii
The Passage common to Jere-
miah and xxxiv— xxxvii, 67
—71, 87
The Theology of c— cvii
Commentary on 67 — 86
Obed-edom xlvi
Oil, Uses of 46, 50, 92
Old Latin Version, Readings and Render-
ings of the 69, 80, 88, 91, 101, 130,
138
Olives trodden in presses 55
Omnipresence of God, The cii
Omri 53, 56
Open (= draw (a weapon)), To 43
Ophel 27, 34
Ophir xlviii
Oracle quoted in common by Obadiah
and Jeremiah, The, xxxiv — xxxvii,
87
Order of the Minor Prophets in Heb.
and LXX, The xv, xxxii, Ixi, Ixxviii
Ostriches 7
'Other side, On the' 74
Ovid quoted 59, 115, 118, 128
Oxen used for treading corn 37
P xlvii, Ixxi, 94, 114 (see also Priestly
code)
Pale, To wax 99
Palmchrist 139
Palm-tree 92
Parable xcvi, xcvii, 15
Parallelism in Heb. versification cxxxv —
cxxxviii
Parallels between Joel and other writers
Ixix, Ixx
Parallels to the story of Jonah 127,
128
Parents' authority over children 59
Paronomasia 8
Parting gift, A 11
'Pastures of the Wilderness, The' 105
Pathetic fallacy, The 91
Peace 42
Peace-offerings 50
' Peace with thee, The men that were at'
72
Pekah cxv
Pelethites 82
Pentameters cxlii, 87, 89, 99
Pentecost, The Speaking with Tongues
at 110, 111
'People' applied to locusts, The term
liv
Perform the truth, To 66
Perpetual Father cxix
Perplexed, To be (used of animals) 96
Persia, Persians Ivii, Ixv, Ixviii, Ixxii
Pethuel li
Petra xli, 69
Philistia, Philistines xxix, lii, Ix, Ixi,
Ixii, Ixiv, Ixvi, Ixxii, 75, 81, 82,
113
Phoenicia, Phoenicians lii, Ixiii, Ixxii, 84,
85, 113, 114
Piacular sacrifices 51
Pillars 46
Pit, The 131
Plead with, To 112
Pliny quoted 69, 90, 92, 97, 99, 139
Plowshares 31
Plutarch quoted 137
Pomegranate tree 92
Porch (of the Temple) The 102
Possess ( = re-possess), To 80
Pour out, To (in connection with im-
material things) 108
Power of God, The civ
Predictions calculated to defeat their
fulfilment xxiii, 134
Prepare war, To 24
' Presence of the LORD, From the ' 123
Press, Wine- 107, 116
Priestly code (or Narrative) of the Pen-
tateuch, The xxxi, Ixxxii, 17, 94, 107,
115
Priests, Corruption among xxi, xxix, 27
Prince 58
Prince of Peace cxix
154
INDEX
Prophecies against Edom xxxiii, xxxiv,
xxxviii, xlix,
Hi, Ixi, Ixii,
67—86, 119
Egypt lii, Ixi, Ixii,
Ixiv, 118
Judah xxi, xxx, 35,
38—39, 52—53
Samaria xx, 3 — 7
Tyre Ix, Ixi, Ixii, Ixiii,
113, 114
the nations xxi, xxxiv,
Ixviii, 111—119
Zidon Ix, Ixi, Ixii,
Ixiii, 113, 114
Prophecies of the return of Jewish exiles
xxi, 20, 62, 111
rebuilding of the walls
of Jerusalem xxii,
xxiv, 62
re-union of the Hebrew
peoples 42
assembling of peoples
at Jerusalem for in-
struction xxiii, xxiv,
28—32
victory of the Jewish
people over their
enemies xxi, 36, 37
Prophesying, Nature of early 109—111
Prophetic Narrative of the Pentateuch,
The Ixxxii (see also JE)
Prophets, Corruption among xxix, 23,
27
Prostitution associated with religious
rites 7
Psalm in the book of Jonah, The Ixxxiv —
Ixxxvi, 128—132, 143
Psalms, Messianic passages in the cxxiv —
cxxvi
Psalms of Solomon, The Ixxiv, cxxvi,
cxxvii
Ptolemy Lagi 119
80
Earns' horns 97
Eebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem
predicted, The xxiv, 62
Eecompence 113
Eeforms promoted by various prophets
xxxi
Eegions 113
Eehoboam Ixiv
' Eemaining, Not any ' 80
Eemnant 33, 79, 111
Eend garments (as a token of sorrow),
To 101
Eeprove ( = arbitrate for), To 31
Eest ( =* resting-place) 19
Eestoration predicted for Jewish exiles
xxi, 20, 21, 62, 111
Eesults represented in Heb. as purposes
56
Ee-union of Israel and Judah, The 42
Eezin xxxviii, xlviii, cxv
Ehythmical beats (or stresses) in Heb.
versification cxxxix, cxli
'Eighteous acts of the LORD, The' 50
'Eighteousness, According to Jehovah's'
106
Eipe 116
Eiver, The 62
Eobe 18
'Eock' a designation of Edom, The
69
Eod 53, 54
Eow, To 127
Eule over, To 103
Eulers, Corruption among xxix, xxx, 22,
58
Euth, The book of Ixxxii
Sabeans Ixii, Ixiv
Sackcloth 90, 136
Sacrifices, Human 51
Various classes of 50
Sacrificial offerings contrasted with
moral service cvi, cvii
« Saith the LORD ' 2
Samaria xvii, xx, 3, 5 — 8, 83
Samaritans 61
Sanballat Ixiv
Sanctify, Sanctification 24, 93, 102
Sarepta 85
Sargon xvi, 85
Saturnian metre, The cxliii
Saul, xlvii, cviii, ex
Saviours 86
Say in one's heart, To 69
Scion of David's house, A cxv, cxxiii
See, To (in connection with revelation)
2,3
See one's desire upon, To 37
See the face of, To 23
Seek up, To 71
Seer 24, 25
Seir xliv, xlv
Sela xlv, xlviii
Sell (= deliver up), To 114
Seneca quoted 59
Sennacherib xvi, xlix, cxviii, 35, 53
Sense-correspondence in Heb. verse
cxxxv
Sepharad xlii, 85, 86
Septuagint, see LXX
Sequel of days, In the Ixxv, 30
Servant of JEHOVAH, The Ixxxii
'Servant Songs', The Ixxxi, Ixxxii
INDEX
155
Servants, The authority of masters over 59
Seventh century, Prophecies dating from
the xxvi, 45, 48
Shaddai 94
Shakespeare quoted 70, 129
Shaphir 10
Sharks xciv, 128
Sheba 114
Sheol 129
Shephelah, The 82
'Shepherd' used figuratively, The term,
42, 43
Sheshbazzar 21
Shiloh cxi, cxii
Ship, Decked Ixxxiv, 124
Ship-master 125
Shishak Ixvi
Shittim 49, 50
The valley of 118
'Shoot' used figuratively, The term
xcviii
Showers (in a simile) 44
Sibylline oracles, The cxxvi
Sign of Jonah, The xcv
Signs cxvi
Simon Maccabeeus cxxv, cxxvi, 124
Simon of Gerasa 1
Sin offerings 48
Sit in ashes, To 136
Sixth century, Prophecies dating from
the xxvi, 20, 29, 33, 41
Slaughter 74
Slaves, Traffic in Ixii, Ixiii, 114
Snare 72, 73
Social morality and ceremonial worship
compared cvii, 27, 28
Solemn assembly 94, 102
Solomon xlviii, 5, 45
Solomon, The Psalms of cxxvi, cxxvii
' Son of God' used of collective Israel ex,
cxiii
of Israelite kings cxiii
by Jesus of Himself
cxxix — cxxxiii
' Son of man ' in Enoch cxxviii
'Son of man' used by Jesus of Himself
cxxix, cxxxiv
Sons of the Grecians, The Ixxi, 114
Soothsayers 46
Sophocles cited 12
Sorceries 46
Sound an alarm, To 97
South, The xlii, 81, 86
Speaking with Tongues, The 110, 111
Spears 115
Spirit of God the source of prophecy,
The 26
Spirit of the Lord, The 26, 108
Spiritual Nature of God, The ci, cii
'Sprout' used figuratively, The term
xcviii
Strabo cited xli
Straitened 18
Stream issuing from the Temple Ixviii,
118
Stresses, Hebrew verse measured by
cxxxix
Stubble (in a simile) 80
Substance 75
Substitutes for the Divine Name 1, 2
Suetonius quoted 12, 13
'Sultry east wind, A' 140, 141
Sun, The darkening of the lix
Swallow down, To 79
Sweet wine 89
Symmachus, Headings and Eenderings
of 9, 11, 21, 28, 31, 58, 62, 72, 83, 85,
90, 92, 101, 106, 118, 131, 138, 140
Synonymous Parallelism cxxxvi
Synthetic Parallelism cxxxviii
Syria, Syrians xxix, Ixvi, cxv, cxvi
Syriac version, Headings and Eenderings
of the cxii, 7, 9, 54, 69, 74, 88, 115
Tacitus quoted 118
Tarshish 122, 123
Taunt song 15
Teman 73
Temple, The site of the 27
The heavenly 4
Temple hill, The 27, 30
Temptation of Jesus, The cxxx
Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, The
cxxvii
Tetrameters cxl, cxiii
Theocritus quoted or cited cxxii, 89
Theodotion, Readings and Renderings of
21, 28, 62, 73, 83, 85, 112, 130,
139
Theology of the books of Micah, Obadiah,
Joel, and Jonah, The c — cvii
Theophany, Description of a 4
'Those that escape' 79
Thousand, A 41
Three days Ixxxvii, Ixxxix, 134
Thresh, To (used figuratively) 37
'Tidings from the LORD' 67
Tiglath-Pileser xvi, xvii, xlix, 6
Tigris 122
Titus 1
Totemism xlvi, 120
'Tower of the flock' 34
Trajan 1
Trimeters cxxxix, cxl, cxiii, 88, 113
Troops, To gather in 39
Trumpet 97
Tyre Ixi, Ixii, Ixiii, Ixxii, 114
Tyropceon, The 27
156
INDEX
Unity of God, The ci
Uzziah xxix, Ix, 9, 34
Valley of Decision, The liv
of Jehoshaphat, The Ixii, Ixiv,
112
of Salt, The xlvii
of the son of Hinnom 27, 112
Varieties of Heb. metre cxliii
Vats, Wine- 107
vav, Various senses of the Heb. Ixxxvi,
Ixxxvii, 43, 63, 66, 101, 119, 127, 130
Vergil quoted or cited cix, cxxii, 75, 89,
115, 116, 118, 128
Versification, Hebrew cxxxiv — cxliii
Vespasian 92, 124
Vinedressers 92
Vineyards, Edomite 70
Vintage (used figuratively) 116
Virgin, Meaning of the Heb. word trans-
lated in the R.V. by cxvi, cxvii
Vision 67
Visions, Prophetic 2, 3, 109
Voices from heaven cxxxi, 2
Vows 132
Vulgate, Readings and Renderings of the
7, 10, 12, 17, 18, 24, 26, 33, 38, 39, 42,
44, 49, 50, 52, 54, 55, 58, 66, 68, 69,
70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 80, 83, 85, 86.
90, 91, 95, 96, 103, 104, 112, 116, 125,
128, 129, 131, 132, 136, 138, 140
Vulture 13
Wadies 27, 50, 81
Walk in the name of the LORD, To 32
Walls 62
Wares 124
' Watchmen, Thy ' 58
Water brooks 96
Wax pale, To 99
Weapons 100
Wearing of sackcloth as a token of
mourning, The 90, 91
Weeds 131
Weights 54
Western sea, The 105
Whales xciii, xciv, 128
Wilderness, The 96
Wind ( = spirit) 19
Wisdom of God, The cii, ciii
'Wisdom' Literature cxli
Witchcrafts 46
Witness, God as a 4
Wonderful Counsellor cxix
Word of the LORD, The 2
Work (= devise), To 13, 14
Zaanan 10
Zarephath 85
Zedekiah 35, 38, 39, 40, 45
Zered, The torrent xliv
Zerubbabel Ixxiv, xcviii, xcix, cxxiii, 21
Zidon Ixi, Ixii, Ixiii
Zion as JEHOVAH'S abode cii, 117, 119
Zion, Predictions relating to xxi, 28, 30,
79, 86
The site of 26, 27
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