AN 
 
 ATTEMPT 
 
 TOWARDS AN 
 
 IMPROYEH) VERSION, 
 
 A 
 
 METRICAL ARRANGEMENT, 
 
 AND AN 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Twelve Minor Prophets. 
 
 BY WILLIAM NEWCOME, D. D. 
 
 PRIMATE OF IRELAND. 
 
 Now enlarged and improved with additional Notes, 
 
 AND 
 
 A COMPARISON OF THE CHIEF VARIOUS RENDERINGS, 
 
 OF 
 
 DR. HORSLEY, ON HOSEA, 
 
 AND 
 
 DR. BLAYNEY, ON ZECHARIAH. 
 
 pontrtract: 
 
 PRINTED BY B, BOOTHROYD, FOE F. BURDITT, PATIRNOSTSR ROW, 
 
 AN-D SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS. 
 1309.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 GOD raised up a succession of prophets among his peo- 
 ple for many-wise and gracious purposes. They were 
 not only designed to retain the Jews in the worship of 
 the one true God; but to spread the knowledge of him 
 among the neighbouring nations, by the fame of their 
 predictions and miracles. They were a barrier against 
 those prevailing kinds of superstition which consisted in 
 Ihe supposed evocation of departed spirits, and in con- 
 sulting imaginary local deities, for the purpose of grati- 
 fying the natural thirst which all mankind have for the 
 knowledge of futurity. And though the answers which 
 God occasionally vouchsafed to the Highpriest, by a 
 voice from between the Cherubim, were greatly subser- 
 vient to these ends; yet was it expedient that prophecy 
 should pervade the whole body of the people, and that 
 events should be foretold which from their nature could 
 not be the object of enquiry by the sacred oracle, or at a 
 time when idolatry was so general that these solemn ap- 
 plications to God were wholly neglected. It must also be 
 observed that the attestations given by the prophets to 
 the Mosaic law, their instructions and exhortations, 
 their reproofs and threatenings, were powerful means of 
 preserving the Jews in obedience, and eminent displays 
 of the divine goodness and compassion. Another design 
 in sending the prophets was, that, under the influence 
 of the Holy Spirit, they might * record God's dealings 
 with his people and with other adjoining nations and 
 empires; and might thus transmit "to after ages a most 
 
 * See 1 Chron. xxix. 29: 2 Chron. ix. 29: compared with 1 Kings xi. V9 : 2 
 Chron. xii. 15: xiii, 22: zx. 34,- compared with 1 Kings xvi. 1/7; 2 Chron. xxxil, 
 32: xxxiii. 19. 
 
 3
 
 VI 
 
 instructive history of his adorable ways in governing the 
 world, f Josephus asserts that, from the death of Moses 
 to the reign of Artaxerxes, the prophets who succeeded 
 that legislator wrote the transactions of their own times; 
 and that the Jewish historians from Artaxerxes down- 
 wards were not esteemed worthy of like credit, because 
 there had not been a regular succession, of prophets. 
 This assertion is confirmed by the sacred writers ; who 
 mention the names of many prophets as having recorded 
 the affairs of the Jewish nation. A further and most im- 
 portant reason for instituting the prophetic order was, 
 that, by a long series of predictions, the attention of the 
 Jews might be turned to the coming of their Messiah; 
 and that the faith of succeeding ages in that great event 
 might be thus confirmed. 
 
 The writings of these prophets bear plain signatures 
 of their divine authority. Examine the books of the 
 Greek and Roman sages; and observe what discordant 
 opinions they contain on almost every point of theology 
 and philosophy. But in the Hebrew prophets there is 
 a wonderful harmony of doctrine for above a J thousand 
 years; unparalleled in the writings of any country. 
 History teaches us that a great number of their prophe- 
 cies has been accomplished; and we know that some of 
 them are accomplishing at this day. It also peculiarly 
 deserves our notice, that these holy men entertained the 
 most worthy conceptions of the Deity in the midst of an 
 idolatrous nation; and inculcated the supreme excellence 
 of moral duties, when all around them, even the few 
 worshippers of Jehovah himself, were solely intent on 
 ritual observances. 
 
 f- Contr. Ap. i. 8. 
 
 J From Moses before Christ about 1500, to Malachi before Christ about 436.
 
 vn 
 
 The writings which these men of God have transmit- 
 ted down to us will be eminently useful in every age of 
 the Christian church ; not only as they contain illustrious 
 prophecies of many events and especially of our Blessed 
 Lord's appearance, but for their magnificent descriptions 
 of the Deity, for their animating lessons of piety and vir- 
 tue, and for the indignation which they express and the 
 punishments which they denounce against idolatry and 
 vice: which particular topics, among many other instruc- 
 tive and important ones, are treated by them with un- 
 common variety, beauty and sublimity, and with an au- 
 thority becoming ambassadors of The Most High. 
 
 The Twelve Minor Prophets, as they are commonly 
 distinguished, have been justly deemed as obscure a part 
 of the Hebrew scriptures as any extant. This obscurity 
 partly arises from the nature of the Hebrew language, 
 which is singularly concise, deals much in asyndeta, has 
 few moods and tenses, often omits the preposition, gives 
 various and nice significations to its particles, and as its 
 remains are comprehended in one book, must of course 
 contain words and phrases, about the meaning of which, 
 as they occur perhaps but once, we can only form con- 
 jectures from the context or from analogous terms in the 
 sister-dialects. Other causes of the difficulties with 
 which these prophetical writings abound are, the want 
 of historical records for the illustration of many facts to 
 which they refer; the nature of those unaccomplished pro- 
 phecies which occur in them, and which the event alone 
 can distinctly explain; the peculiar boldness of their fi- 
 gures and abruptness of their transitions; and, above 
 all, the many corruptions which deform the present text. 
 These errors of transcribers arise either from sources 
 common to all books of remote antiquity, or from some 
 which are proper to the Hebrew language; such as, the
 
 Vlll 
 
 similitude of many letters, and the consequence of a 
 mistake in the radical ones, which generally corrects it- 
 self in the western languages, and as generally forms a 
 new Hebrew word, because the roots are mostly triliteral 
 and often consists of the same letters differently arranged. 
 
 But though patient investigation and critical skill are 
 necessary to combat these difficulties, they are by no 
 means invincible; as the ignorance of some, and the 
 prejudices of others, have studiously represented them. 
 They are happily counterbalanced by peculiar advanta- 
 ges. As Hebrew derivatives frequently branch off from 
 the leading idea of the root, this property of the language 
 leads to a just and elegant manner of ascertaining their 
 sense. Examples of this perpetually occur in Taylor's 
 Hebrew concordance : but there is still ample room for 
 the sagacity and industry of every competent enquirer. 
 The characteristic style of the Hebrew poets, who delight 
 in subjoining to one proposition a corresponding clause 
 which has an equivalent or opposite sense, affords fre- 
 quent explanations of obscure passages by the parallel- 
 ism. The similar structure of many connected hemistichs 
 occasionally serves to rectify the Masoitetic punctuation, 
 and to give the sentence a beautiful turn. The sister 
 languages determine the precisejneaning of many words 
 and phrases; and teach us to estimate the force of many 
 daring figures. The ancient translators and paraphrasts 
 open fruitful sources of criticism. Excellent lexicons 
 and concordances facilitate the prosecution of philologi- 
 cal enquiries. Many commentators have considered the 
 sacred writings in different views, according to their 
 taste and genius : and though the name has been dis- 
 graced by a number of hireling compilers, yet no compe- 
 tent critic has carefully studied the scriptures for himself 
 without smoothing the ruggedness of the way to those
 
 I 
 
 who follow him. It must also be observed that the sa- 
 cred books constantly receive new light by the encrea- 
 sing number of authentic travels to the east ; where an- 
 cient customs are invariably retained. The collation of 
 Hebrew MSS. by the late; learned and indefatigable 
 Doctor Kennicott, a fit instrument in the hands of Pro- 
 vidence for planning and executing this great work, 
 forms an invaluable accession 10 our external helps. It 
 will appear in the following notes that the variations fur- 
 nished by MSS. are corroborated by the ancient versions ; 
 and therefore that these principal aids in our critical re- 
 searches bear mutual testimony to their respective autho- 
 rity. The MSS. make it probable that the versions 
 faithfully represent the text from which they were formed ; 
 and the versions tend to prove that the present readings 
 of MSS. are not mistakes of transcribers, but actually 
 existed in certain ancient copies. The various lections, 
 noted in the course of this work as worthy of nice atten- 
 tion, amount to more than one hundred ; and of these 
 about forty may be ranked in the class of very material 
 ones: and yet tie books explained do not form a four- 
 teenth part of the Hebrew scriptures; and the collations 
 were not minutely examined throughout, but inspected 
 when difficulties arose. 
 
 However, there is still abundant reason for extending 
 our helps in so important and difficult a study as that of 
 the Hebrew scriptures. We want a collation of all the 
 Hebrew MSS. in every part : a great number having 
 been examined by Doctor Kennicott, or his coadjutors* 
 only in S f leat places. It is also desirable that the ancient 
 versions and paraphrases should be collated with all the 
 MSS. extant ; that each .should be printed apart, with 
 an arrangement of the various readings at the foot of the 
 
 349. See Diss. gen. p. 94108.
 
 page ; and that-a scrupulously faithful interlineary version 
 should be givea of those in the eastern languages. In 
 the following pages, the reader will have occasion 
 to observe how materally the Aldine edition and the || 
 Pachomian MS. of the lx>; differ from the Alexandrian 
 and Vatican copies: and it will appear, by extracts 
 from Sixtus Quintus's edition, that there are rich trea- 
 sures in the Vatican library, relating to this venerable 
 translation, which still remain unexplored. 
 
 The learned world has been lately informed that the 
 most useful part of Origen's hexapla and tetrapla, in a 
 Syriac version, is now extant in the Ambrosian library 
 at Milan. This MS. contains, of the canonical scriptures, 
 the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of 
 Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah and the Lamentations, Eze- 
 kiel, Daniel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. It is 
 written in the Estrangular character; and has all the 
 apparatus of Origen's marks, together with Scholia of 
 Greek and Syriac Fathers and annotations of various in- 
 terpreters. There is a preface to almost all the books; 
 which, among other particulars, explains the arguments 
 of the chapters : and to each book is subjoined a well 
 written appendix, the subjects of which are, an account 
 of the author, the fate of the book, and the age of the 
 version. The history of the an thors, the ancient music 
 and its instruments, the arguments of the Psalms bv 
 Eusebius and Pamphilus, the Hebrew proper names al- 
 phabetically arranged, and the life of Origen, are en- 
 larged on in a copious preface to the Psalms, This par- 
 ticular copy of the Syriac version was written in the 
 eighth or ninth century 3 and was purchased in Egypt, 
 
 || So called from its ancient proprietor Pachomius, a patriarch of Constantinople, ft 
 is in the British museum ; and is supposed to have been written some time between ihe 
 tenth and twelfth centuries. See more in Bishop Lowth's preface to Isaiah : p. Ixvii.
 
 3d 
 
 Mid deposited in the Ambroslan library, by Cardinal 
 Borromeo. The version itself was formed, A. D. 617, 
 from the Greek of the Septuagint, and of Aquila, Sym- 
 inachus, and Theodotian : and sometimes the letter y 
 occurs in the margin, and denotes the Hebrew text. 
 The Greek copy, which the Syriac translator used, was 
 transcribed, collated and corrected by Eusebius and 
 Pamphilus, from the tetrapla and hexapla of Origin in 
 the Cesarean library at Alexandria. The learned Pro- 
 fessor, to whom we are indebted for this * account, has 
 given two extracts from this MS. in a f letter to the 
 Bishop of London; namely, Dan. ix. 24 27, and 
 Isaiah ix. 6, 7 ; and communicates the following curious 
 information on this subject ; " The Syriac Milan MS. 
 is found to be a second volume of that copy from the 
 first of which Masius published his translation of Joshua. 
 The MS. of Masius has since disappeared, and the re- 
 covery of it is an idea more likely to excite our wishes 
 than our hopes. Th< Pentateuch, I must observe, had be- 
 fore been lost from this faithful Syriac translation; but 
 it is fortunately preserved in the Bodleian library in an 
 Arabic version of the same Syriac. Of this Arabic ver- 
 sion a collation was indeed made for Dr. Grabe; but so 
 very imperfect a one, as to be highly capable of im- 
 provement." 
 
 The publication of these Manurcripts, with a Latin 
 version annexed, would be of singular use for the solution 
 of objections to the scriptures, the illustration of their ob- 
 scurities, and the discovery of new beauties in the sacred 
 volume: and I trust that the natural patrons of biblical 
 learning, I mean, societies founded for the advancement 
 of religious knowledge and the higher ecclesiastics, will 
 
 * See Mr. White's sermon on a revisal of our English translation. Oxford. 1779, 
 t Printed at Oxford in MDCCLXXIX. but not published.
 
 xii 
 
 soon enable every scholar to command this inestimable 
 treasure. The execution of such a work calls for their 
 encouragement; and indeed may well be considered as 
 a national object in a Christian country J. * 
 
 Under the head of accessions to our scriptural helps 
 it may not be improper to suggest the idea of an im- 
 proved Hebrew lexicon and concordance. To Castell's 
 lexicon, a work of immense labour and learning, might 
 be added a more complete detail of significations belong- 
 ing to each Hebrew word, a deduction of the subordi- 
 nate senses from the primary one, and a reference to 
 the roots in the kindred tongues consisting of letters 
 equivalent to the Hebrew radicals. The principal de- 
 fects in Taylor's concordance are, that, in assigning 
 senses to the Hebrew words, he too frequently assumes 
 as a principle the exactness of our English version ; and 
 that his work consists of references to the text, instead of 
 clauses which would exemplify the grammatical use of 
 the word. It is true that to dispose Buxtorf 's quotations 
 in his own admirable method, with a Latin rendering 
 after the manner of Romaine's Calasio, and with a pre- 
 cise explanation of the word after the general manner of 
 Taylor, would make a voluminous and expensive work: 
 but I am speaking of a perfect concordance to a book 
 which is an inexhaustible storehouse-of divine truths. 
 
 And yet I am persuaded that, with every aid which 
 could be furnished, there would still be a necessity for 
 
 + ' Mr. Norberg, a learned Swede, who spent some lime in biblical studies at Ojc- 
 ford, was induced by my persuasions to visit Milan for the sole purpose of transcribing 
 that volume in the Ambrosian library. I have since heard that he has complied hi 
 transcript.' Extract of a private letter from Mr. White. May 5. 1 7<H. 
 
 Mr. White's attention to so important a matter cannot be" too highly commended. It 
 is much to be wished that this transcript was immediately purchased, and deposited im 
 gome public library till the press could be employed about it. 
 
 Thus, under H3W th wordnin should be referred to.
 
 xiii 
 
 sober conjectural criticism : because there are inveterate 
 errors in the text, prior to our most ancient external 
 help, the Septtiagint version; and because many evi- 
 dent errors remain uncorrected by MSS. the oldest of 
 which does not exceed eight hundred years. 
 
 The method of translating the prophetical books 
 according to their supposed measure is adopted from 
 the learned Bishop Lowth ; who has copiously and 
 acutely treated the subject of Hebrew versification in 
 his Academical prelections, in his brief and larger con- 
 futation of Hare's metre, and in the preface to his very 
 able and very useful comment on Isaiah. Many will 
 think that I have carried this hypothesis too far in some 
 parts of my translation. But I followed it when there 
 appeared a remote probability of its truth; and read ly 
 grant that some parts may be prosaic to which I have 
 given a metrical form. However, all discerning readers 
 will admit that the Hebrew poets conduct and diversify 
 their distinguishing mode of poetical composition with 
 supreme skill and beauty. The synonymous parallelism, 
 which repeats the sense of a former clause in different 
 words, is considered as one kind of epiphonema by De- 
 metrius Phalereus, and is placed by him among the 
 embellishments of style. He gives this instance: 
 
 OV 110.1 i/xiv9ov fV ns;trl roijUJVff aiojj; 
 TLcffo-i aarag-tt^na-i, yjx.f^ai Si ri woflfugoy v9o;. 
 As when a mountain hyacinth the shepherds 
 Tread under foot, and to the ground incline 
 The purple flower. 
 
 The part which follows the line is superadded, accord- 
 ing to this || rhetorician, for the purpose of giving orna- 
 ment and beauty to the sentence. And, to abate the 
 fastidiqusness of some critics with respect to the Hebrew 
 
 j| P. 78. . 106, ed. Glasc, 
 C
 
 xiv 
 
 style of poetry, I shall produce a few similar instances* 
 among many which occur in the Eneid itself. 
 
 Turn vero omne mihi visum est considere in ignes 
 Ilium, et ex imo verti Neptunia Troja. 
 
 Trojaque nunc stares Priamique arx alta maneres, 
 Apparet domus intus et atria longa patescunt. 
 Venit summa dies et ineluctabile tempus. 
 
 Sed si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros 
 Et breviter Trojre supremum audire laborem. 
 
 Vulnus alit venis et caeco carpitur igni. 
 
 Nay, there are examples in Virgil resembling the most 
 pleonastic parts of the Hebrew poetry. 
 
 Quantum illi nocuere greges, durique venenum 
 Dentis, et admorso signata in stirpe cicatrix. 
 
 Georg, ii. 377. 
 
 Postquam res Asise, Priamique evertere gentem 
 Immeritam visum su peris, ceciditque superbum 
 Ilium, et omnis humo fumat Neptunia Troja. 
 
 But synonymous parallel hemistichs are most beautiful, 
 when a literal clause is succeeded by^, figurative one. As: 
 
 Thou hast shewed thy people hard things : 
 Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. 
 
 Ps. Ix. 3. 
 
 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee ; 
 Our * secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 
 
 Ps. xc. 8. 
 
 * 46 MSS. and three ed. read plurally abscondita nostra, iaierting the > before tie 
 affix 15,
 
 XV 
 
 With shouting in the day of battle ; 
 
 With a whirlwind in the day of tempest. Amos i. 14. 
 
 Instances of this kind occur also in the classical writers. 
 As: 
 
 ./Ere ciere viros-Af artemque accendere cantu. ./En. vi. 
 
 Defendit numerus junctasque umbone phalanges. 
 
 Juv. ii. 46. 
 
 But though I consider the hypothesis, of dividing 
 the prophetical books into hemistichs, as founded on 
 analogy, and as very ingenious and probable; yet, 
 from our imperfect acquaintance with the subject, doubts 
 must always remain, not only as to the division of par- 
 ticular lines which appear to have a poetical cast, but as 
 to passages of some length whether they resolve them- 
 selves into measure or not. To us it often appears mere 
 matter of taste, whether five Hebrew words constitute 
 two lines or one. Thus, 
 
 " Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah, and the cornet in 
 
 Ramah," 
 may perhaps admit of another distribution: 
 
 " Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah, 
 
 " And the cornet in Ramah." Hos. v. 8. 
 And Bishop Lowth thinks the prophet Haggai is wholly 
 f prosaic : but, before this authority was observed, the 
 following translation had been formed on tlie conjecture 
 that great part of this book admitted of a metrical divi- 
 sion. 
 
 I have enjoyed the advantage of some particular 
 assistances, in addition to those which the press affords. 
 The notes ascribed to Dr. Durell, Principal of Hertfort 
 
 f Oranino prosaicus : Prsl. Hebr. xxi. p. 282. ed, 2 8vcw
 
 XVI 
 
 College in the University of Oxford, were formerly com- 
 municated to me by my late pious, benevolent, and 
 learned friend, with his permission to transcribe any 
 part of them. The Legatee of the late Doctor Wheeler, 
 Canon of Christchurch, and Regius Professor of Divinity 
 in the University of Oxford, in whose premature death 
 the learned world sustained a great loss, furnished me 
 with his translations of Hosea to c. x. 5 ; of all Micah, 
 with a rough copy of it to c. ii. 10; of all Nahum, with 
 an improved transcript to c. ii. 2; Zephaniah c. i. to 
 v. 14; and of all Habakkuk, with a less correct dupli- 
 cate. The lines are metrically divided, and very rarely 
 differ in their pauses from those which follow: but the 
 death of this very superior scholar and orientalist has 
 deprived us of his remarks. The present Archbishop of 
 Canterbury has favoured me in the most friendly manner 
 with the use of Archbishop Seeker's notes on the books 
 which I have attempted to illustrate: and I am much 
 indebted to the learned Mr. Woide of the British Mu- 
 seum, not only for copying these notes, but for furnish- 
 ing me with some of Professor Michaelis's observations 
 from his Bibliotheca Hebraea, and with collations of a 
 Coptic J version made in the second century, and of 
 MS, Pachom, as far as my subject required them. The 
 public has also the benefit of a curious communication 
 on Haggai ii. 6 9 from Doctor Heberden ; who is no 
 less eminent for his literary than for his medical abilities, 
 and no less a patron than a judge of learning. 
 
 One design of engaging in the present arduous pro- 
 vince was to recommend, and, in a small degree, to faci- 
 litate, an improved English version of the scriptures; 
 than which nothing could be more beneficial to the 
 cause of religion, or more honourable to the reign and 
 
 | See Bishop Lowth's preface to Isaiah p. kvii.
 
 XVII 
 
 age in which it was patronised and executed. The rea- 
 sons for its expediency are, the mistakes, imperfections 
 and many invincible obscurities of our present version ; 
 the accession of various helps since the execution of that 
 work; the advanced state of learning; and our emanci- 
 pation from slavery to the Masoretic points, and to the 
 Hebrew text as absolutely uncorrupt. 
 
 I shall subjoin some rules for the conduct of such a 
 work; which are submitted to the learned with much 
 deference, and that the wisdom of many may cor- 
 rect the imperfect ideas of an individual. It is expe- 
 dient that in the first place, a previous plan for an uni- 
 form translation should be deliberately adjusted. A 
 committee of learned men should then be appointed by 
 proper authority; who should invite every scholar to 
 contribute his remarks; Who should have their respective 
 parts assigned them ; and, after the performance of their 
 allotted tasks, should amicably unite in advancing the 
 whole to its proper degree of perfection. 
 
 RULE I. The translator should express every word 
 in the original by a literal rendering, where the Eng- 
 lish idiom admits of it; and where not only purity, 
 but perspicuity, and dignity, of expression can be 
 preserved. 
 
 For thus the translator shews how h^ reads the 
 original text: and not only the matter of the scrip- 
 tures, but the peculiar turn of language in them, 
 \vill be faithfully represented. 
 
 The Translator in King James's time took an excellent way. That part of the 
 bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a tongue, and then they met to- 
 gether, and one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some b'ble, either of 
 the learned tongue', or French, Spanish, Italian, &c. If they found any fault, they 
 spoke, if not, he read on. Seldeu iii. 2009.
 
 xvm 
 Isaiah Ixiii. 13. we read: 
 
 TSTDS DW3 manna 03612 of which the com- 
 mon English version is; " That led them through the 
 deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should 
 not stumble:" And Bishop || Lowth's; 
 
 " Leading them through the abyss, like a courser 
 " in the plain, without obstacle." 
 
 As there is a participle, 1610 in the Hebrew; leading 
 is preferable to that led: but iV^3 *tV, ut ne impingant," 
 is not so well rendered by without obstacle. So in the 
 three following passages I prefer the literal rendering: 
 
 " For the Lord Jehovah is my helper:" 
 
 Bp. Lowth. Isai. 1. 7. 
 literally, " helpeth me." 
 
 " Who reverseth the devices of the sages:" 
 
 Bp. Lowth. Jsai. xliv. 25. 
 literally, 
 
 " Who turneth wise men backward." Engl. vers. 
 " And Hezekiah was rejoiced at their arrival:" 
 Bp. Lowth. Isai. xxxix. 2. 
 literally, " because of them." 
 
 For this rule excludes, 
 
 1 . Unnecessary paraphrase. As, 
 " I Jehovah am the author of all these things:** 
 Bp. Lowth. Isai. xlv.- 7. 
 
 || This truly learned and ingenious Prelate has contributed more than any writer of 
 the age towards enabling us to understand the sense of the Hebrew scriptures, to taste 
 their beauties, and to restore their integrity by the rules of sound criticism His exposi- 
 tion of Isaiah is the best commentary extant on any part of the Old Testament. His 
 translation represents the meaning of the original with great judgment and learning. My 
 objections lie, not against his interpretations, but only against the mode of rendering 
 which he has occasionally adopted: and I have freely stated them, because I consider the- 
 subject as an important one, and because I feel the weight which a name of such eminence 
 carries with it.
 
 XIX 
 
 " do" Engl. vers. Hebr. rrcny 4 MSS. faciens rww. 
 " A God, that uttereth truth, and granteth salva- 
 tion:" Bp. Lowth. Isai. xlv. 21: 
 for, 
 
 " A righteous God, and a Saviour.*' 
 
 " And mine arm shall dispense judgment to the 
 peoples." Bp. Lowth. Isai. li. 5. 
 
 " shall judge" Engl. vers. 
 " Then shall we be struck at once with admiration 
 
 and terror:" Isai. xli. 23. 
 
 for, 
 
 " That we may wonder and may fear together." 
 
 In like manner the * learned Mr. Blayney has, 
 
 " A seed of a genuine quality." Jer. ii. 21. 
 " a right seed." Engl. vers. 
 
 " who puttest the righteous to trial." Jer. xx. 12. 
 " that triest the righteous." Engl. vers. 
 " in an evil, and not in a friendly manner." 
 
 Jer. xxi. 10. 
 
 " for evil, and not for good." Engl. vers. 
 " intentions of peace, and not of hurtful tendency." 
 
 Jer, xxix. 11. 
 ft thoughts of peace, and not of evil." Engl. vers. 
 
 2. The rule excludes defective translations. 
 
 The xxxvith chapter of Isaiah begins iti Bishop 
 Lowth's version, " In the fourteenth year of King 
 Hezekiah," &c. m " Now it came to pass" being 
 omitted. The Bishop also leaves ION 1 ? " saying" untran- 
 slated, C. xxxvi. 21. 
 
 * See his elaborate and useful comment on Jeremiah; Quarto. Oxford. 
 MDCCLXXX1V.
 
 XX 
 
 3. The rule excludes ungrammatical forms of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 The English version is in general very accurate: 
 but, Isai. xliv. 24, we find, " I am the Lord that 
 " maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens 
 %c aione, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself:" 
 for> make, stretch, spread. See Bp. Louth's grammar. 
 London. 2d, ed. p. 149. And, Matth. v. 23, we read, 
 " Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the Lltar, and there 
 " rememberest that thy brother hath ought against 
 " thee;" &c. for, remember. 
 
 4. The rule excludes obscure renderings. 
 
 I speak rather of obscurities iuto which translators 
 are apt to fall, thaa of those unpardonable ones which 
 are owing to a departure from the rules of good writing. 
 
 Retaining mere Hebraisms would be one source of 
 obscurity. Thos Ainsworth renders Ps. xev. 2, " Let 
 ff us prevent his face with thanksgiving:" but we find 
 in our English version, " Let us come before his pre- 
 " sence," &c. Of this kind there are some instances in 
 Mr. Blaytrey's translation. As Jer. xl. 4. " If it 
 seem good unto thee to come with me to Babylon, 
 " come ; and I will set mine eyes upon thee." " and I 
 " will look well unto thee," Engl. vers. 
 
 " Give thyself no rest, let not the daughter of 
 thine eye stand still." Lam. ii. 18. 
 
 " let not the apple of thine eye cease." Eugl. vers. 
 
 Another source of obscurity is, the use of such obso- 
 lete, foreign and learned words or phrases as are for the 
 most part unintelligible. An authorised translation of 
 the bible should be adapted to the capacity of common
 
 XXI 
 
 readers; and therefore this kind of diction should be 
 avoided, except where the idea is of such a nature that 
 it ought to be conveyed indirectly. Some passages in 
 our version are now of so antiquated a turn, as not to be 
 understood by the generality of scholars. As Judges ix. 
 63 : " And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone 
 " upon Abimelech's head, and f all to break his scull." 
 That is, "utterly, altogether, brake: jnm et fregit." 
 And again, Ezek. xxx. 2. " Wo worth the day." That 
 is, " befal." Worth, esse, fieri. Jun. Dvb fin, " vae 
 diei." It must always be remembered that Bp. Lowth's 
 version is designed for the learned: in one for vulgar 
 use sorec for choice vine, hades for the grave, or pit, or 
 place of the dead, tnaslin for mixt provender, ilex for 
 green oak, J coune for covered carriage, &c. would be 
 clearly inadmissible. In the New Testament, some 
 Greek words are retained, as " phylacteries," Matt, 
 xxiii. 5, which may be rendered " frontlets," or 
 " scrolls :" and " anathema," 1 Cor. xvi. 22, to which 
 I prefer " accursed ." There are three ways of pro- 
 ceeding as to Hebrew or Hebrew-Syriac words; admit- 
 ting them into the text, and rendering them in the mar- 
 gin, as our translators do; rendering them in the text, 
 as for " Maran atha," 1 Cor. xvi. 22, " Our Lord 
 " cometh ;" or both retaining and rendering them in 
 <c the text, as, Maran atha, that is to say, Our Lord 
 " cometh.'" I incline to recommend the last way. 
 
 In their preface, our translators thus express them- 
 selves on this subject. " We have shunned the obscurity 
 " of the Papists, in their azymes, tunike, rational, holo- 
 " causls, prepuse, pasche, and a number of such like, 
 
 f All that he hytte he alto Trapped. Arcbaeol. v. 386. i. e. entirely brake in pieces; 
 + A word formed from the Latin covinus, the root of which is cavus ; and therefor* 
 corresporidiug to the Hebrew 3V, vehiculum cameratum, vel testudinatum. 
 Margin, a curse. 
 
 D
 
 XXII 
 
 " whereof their late translation is full, and that of pur* 
 " pose to darken the sense: that since they m-i.st needs 
 " translate the bible, yet by the language thereof it 
 " mav be kept from being understood. B.it we desire 
 " ;iia' the scripture may speak like itself, as in the lan- 
 " guage of Canaan, that it may be understood even of 
 " the very vulgar." 
 
 5. The rule excludes debased and offensive terms or 
 phras ?a! 
 
 Ez k. xvi. 43, we read, " Because thou hast fret- 
 ted nv." in aU these things." The word is elsewhere ren- 
 de.ed ** provoked." Isaiah Ixiv. 6", the English version 
 has, " And all our righteousnesses are as filihy rags:" 
 which Bishop Lowfh translates, " like a rejected gar- 
 " ment ;" in more dignified language, as well as nearer 
 to the original. But Isai. xxxvii. 4, the common tran- 
 slation ' Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant 
 "that is left;" [Margin, found] has more exactness 
 and dignity than, " And do thou offer up thy prayer for 
 " the poor remains of the people." Bp. Lowfh. Matt, 
 xvii. 15, Doctor Scott renders **IXH ** is grievously 
 handled." With respect to the other part of the rule, 
 Doctor Delany, in his life of David, very properly pro- 
 poses to translate such passages as occur 1 Kings xiv. 
 10, " him that watereth against the wall." And Mr. 
 Biayney's translation, 
 
 " Jerusalem is become as one [rather, as a woman] 
 set apart for unclean among them," Lam. i. 17. 
 is preferable to that of our English translators. 
 
 An exception to this rule may be admitted, when 
 an ancient custom cannot be expressed in a translation 
 without perplexing common readers. Thus, though 
 Jews in our Lord's time reclined at their meals **
 
 XX111 
 
 and vaxfxj may be rendered to sit down, and not to lie 
 down. 
 
 RULE II. Where the English idiom requires a pa- 
 raphrase, it should be so formed as to comprehend 
 the original word or phrase; and the supplemental 
 part should stand in Italics : except where harshness 
 of language arises from pursuing this method. 
 
 Isaiah i. 4, Bishop Lowth's translation of I'm na 
 is, " They are estranged from him, they have turned 
 * their back upon him," The vulgate anH the Ixx ren- 
 der more happily: ahalienatisunt retrorsum: ax>. T^9is- a 
 v; <>u. Our translators have, " They are g >ne back- 
 " ward. Hebr. alienated, or separated." The root 
 being "m, as about forty MSS. and one edition || read 
 Vim, according to the rule we should translate, " They 
 " are estranged from him, they have gone Backward/'; 
 So Luke ix. 53, may be rendered, " Because his face 
 " was as though he ivas going to Jerusalem." Ps. cix. 
 4, our translators properly suggest an idea of the con- 
 ciseness in the original, when they render, " But I give 
 " myself unto prayer." But where the diction becomes 
 inelegant from the observance of this rule, it may be 
 neglected. Thus, Habakkuk i. 6, many may prefer, 
 " Who go over the breadth of the earth 
 " To possess dwelling places not their own ;" 
 to which belong not unto *jthem. 
 
 RULE III. Where a verbal translation cannot be thus 
 interwoven, one equivalent to it, and which implies the 
 reading in the original, should be substituted; and the 
 idiom in the text should be literally rendered in the 
 margin. 
 
 |j So Ezek. xiv. 7. twelve MSS. and two ed. read WW. 
 * Hebr. it.
 
 XXIV 
 
 By observing the second and third rules, the ge- 
 nius of the original languages will be shewn; and 
 the reader unskilled in them will be best enabled to 
 interpret for himself. 
 
 Thus Bishop Lowth renders Isaiah v. 1, 
 " My beloved had a vineyard 
 " On a high and fruitful hill." 
 In a very fruitful hill" 
 
 is the less exact version of our translators. Here the 
 marginal rendering should be, on a horn, the son of oil. 
 
 RULE IV. The same original word and its derivatives, 
 according to the leading different senses, and also the 
 same phrase, should be respectively translated by the 
 same corresponding English word or phrase, except 
 where a distinct representation of a general idea, or the 
 nature of the English language, or the avoiding of an 
 ambiguity, or harmony of sound, requires a different 
 mode of expression. 
 
 In their preface, we learn the sentiments of our tran- 
 slators on this subject; and, from their manner of sta- 
 ting them, may collect that a difference of opinion sub- 
 sisted about it. 
 
 " Another thing we think goo3 to admonish thee of, 
 " gentle reader; that we have not tied ourselves to an 
 " uniformity of phrasing, or to an identity of words, as 
 " some perad venture would wish that we had done, be- 
 " cause they observe that some learned men somewhere 
 " have been as exact as they could that way. Truly, 
 " that we might not vary from the sense of that which 
 " we translated before, if the word signified the same 
 fe thing in both places, (for there be some words that 
 ff t>e not of the same sense every where,) we were especi-
 
 XXV 
 
 " ally careful, and made a conscience, according to 
 " our duty. But that we should express the same notion 
 " in the same particular word ; as for example, if we 
 " translate the Hebrew or Greek word once by purpose 
 " never to call it intent ; or one where journeying, never 
 " travelling ; if one where think, never suppose ; if one 
 " where pain, never ache ; if one where joy, never glad- 
 " ness, &c. ; thus to mince the matter, we thought to 
 " savour more of curiosity than wisdom, and that it would 
 " rather breed scorn in the atheist than bring profit to 
 " the godly reader. For is the kingdom of God be- 
 " come words or syllables ? Why should we be in bond- 
 " age to them, if we may be free ? use one precisely, 
 " \vhen we may use another no less fit as commodiously ? 
 " We might also be charged by scoffers with some un- 
 " equal dealing towards a great number of good English 
 " words. Add hereunto that niceness in words was 
 " always accounted the next step to trifling; and so was 
 " to be curious about names too: also that we cannot 
 st follow a belter pattern for elocution than God himself: 
 '* therefore he using divers words in his holy writ and in- 
 " differently for one thing in nature, we, if we will not 
 " be superstitions, may use the same liberty in our Eng- 
 " lish versions out of Hebrew and Greek, for that copy 
 " or store that he hath given us." 
 
 Other learned men have expressed themselves dif- 
 ferently. ^ ^, j 
 
 " Veterem interpretem Erasmus merito in eo repre- 
 " hendit, quod unum idemque vocabulum sa3pe diversis 
 " modis explicet. Atqui in eo ipso quoties peccat? Le- 
 " viculum hoc est, dices. Ego vero aliter censed, nisi 
 " cum ita necesse est, in his quidem libris in quibus 
 " saspe videas mirifica queedam arcana velut unius voca-
 
 XXVI 
 
 u buli invoUicris tegi: ut quo propius abest a Grascis et 
 <f Hebseis Latina interpretatio, eo mihi qiiidem magis 
 " probanda videatur: ita tamen ut simplicitare ilia ser- 
 " monis servata, quae in his spiritus sancti oraculis plane 
 " divina est et admirabilis, asperum illud et horrid urn 
 w scribendi genus vitetur. 
 
 (f Verborum proprietatum adeo studiose sum secta- 
 9f tus, nt etiam a synonym is, quoad ejus fieri potuit, libens 
 *' abstinuerim. S'mgula Grseca vocabula eodem uliiqne 
 " modo exprimere studui, nisi cum diversa fuerit signifi- 
 " catio, ant pecnliaris aliqua ratio incidit: quam et ipse 
 " plerumque notavi." 
 
 Beza in his dedication of the New Testament 
 to Queen Elizabeth. MDLXIII. 
 
 " Quum antem, sicut in Gra?co sermone una ea^em- 
 f * que vox retinetur, in Latina quoqne interpret atione 
 " servatur, ea cer'e in re mnltum consul) iis potissimum 
 tf videtur, qui, cum Gracae linguaR sint imperiti, Latino 
 4f acquies<-ere sermoni necesse habent. Nam inde hoc 
 " saltern colligunt, uno eodemque vocabulo (iraecum 
 <e scriptorem uti, ideoque locum unum cum altero con- 
 ** ferri debere." 
 
 Henr. Stephani prasf. ad_Nov, Test. 12mo. 
 MDLXXVI. 
 
 " Here at one view," says Doctor Taylor in the pre- 
 " face to his concordance, " those who shall undertake 
 " a new version will see under every word how variously 
 " it is rendered in the present version ; and so may more 
 " easily and exactly judge how just those renderings 
 " are, and how far they may be reduced to one and the 
 '* same rendering, which is much to be preferred where 
 '* the sense will bear it."
 
 xxv ii 
 
 A more scrupulous exactness may well be required 
 in translating the scriptures, than in any other transla- 
 tion: and unlearned readers should not be deceived, by 
 the needless use of synonymous terms, in their compa- 
 rison of passages which appear to be parallel, and in 
 the'r notions about the extent of the original languages 
 and the copiousness of a writer's style. It may also be 
 shewn that not only the sense, but the beauty and force, 
 of many passages depend on a version not deviating 
 from uniformity without a decisive reason. 
 
 I therefore propose, 
 
 1. That translators should previously agree on the 
 rendering of certain words and phrases. For instance, 
 that mn* should always be rendered by " Jehovah," and 
 mo* nin by " Jehovah God of hosts." 
 
 2. That it should be considered, by the help of con- 
 cordances, whether the same word can always be ren- 
 dered in the same manner; and that, when an English 
 word suits every place, it should be invariably used. 
 Our translators often vary their terms, not only unne- 
 cessarily, but so as to mislead the reader. ***-**;, which 
 occurs four times, is twice rendered " most excellent," 
 and twice " most noble." n**, which occurs thrice, is 
 rendered by * family, lineage, and kindred." 'AM^TM, 
 which occurs thrice, is rendered by " to turn upside 
 " down," " to make an uproar," and " to trouble." 
 Within the compass of two verses, 2xT S *xxr,oj is rendered 
 " governor of the f ast," and " ruler of the feast:" John 
 ii. 8, 9:" M-e^e'"' " to testify," and ? to bear witness:" 
 ib. xv. 26, 27: and *g,-, "diversities," and differen- 
 ces:" 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5. Even in the same verse we find 
 f* 5 ** translated by "abide," and "tarry:" Luke xxiv. 
 22: *< by " to have compassion," and " to have pity:"
 
 XXV111 
 
 Matth. xviii. 33: and !,; by " everlasting, 1 ' and 
 " eternal:" Matth, xxv. 46. 
 
 3. That, if the original word cannot always admit 
 of the same rendering, of which there are many ex- 
 amples, the different renderings may be reduced to as 
 few as possible, and those the fittest which the language 
 affords. 
 
 4^ That different words, which have the same sense 
 or nearly the same, should be distinguished in transla- 
 ting them, when the English tongue furnishes distinct 
 and proper terms. As naKwrntuu I am amazed," 3*^810- 
 fu " I am astonished," txfaH 8 "*"" " I am greatly asto- 
 nished:" uoQms " sick," eer*s diseased;" /uaxawa " infirm- 
 ity," voo-; and vo<7ifxa disease:" *oxuT*^a; " very costly," 
 oxtmxtf <f very precious," ^?uT>^of " of great price." Mi- 
 nute differences in words should be observed by accurate 
 translators. Thus Matth. xxvii. 46, Mark xv. 34, 
 nnfa and /Wi are rendered " cried:" but the former 
 word should be rendered " cried out." 
 
 5. That, parallel passages should be rendered in the 
 same words. But t/ is differently rendered Mark ix. 
 40, Luke ix. 50. " He, that is not against us, is on 
 our part." " He, that is not against us, is for us." 
 Matth. xxvi. 41, and Mark xiv. 38 exactly corre- 
 spond in the original, but differ in our translation. 
 " Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation : 
 the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 
 " Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation: 
 the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." 
 
 It is observed in the rule that sometimes the English 
 language requires a different translation of the same 
 original word. Thus, when noro is opposed to man, it
 
 XXIX 
 
 must be rendered beast : as, " 1 will cut off man and 
 beast," Ezek. xiv. 13. But when it is opposed to wild 
 beast, it must be rendered cattle: as Gen. i. 25. Joel 
 i. 18. 
 
 , ;' 
 
 Ambiguity is avoided Amos iii. 6. 
 
 Shall there be evil in a city, 
 
 And Jehovah hath not f inflicted it? 
 
 Where, if the word done had been used, God might seem 
 represented as the author of moral evil a instead of judi- 
 cial calamities. 
 
 It is also proper to depart sometimes from the strict- 
 ness of this rule for the sake of the ear: as Hos. ii. 9: 
 where our translators use recovery cover, and discover, 
 in three lines. 
 
 As the Hebrew vau, in the sense of and, occurs 
 perpetually, and not seldom at the beginning of many 
 clauses together; as Am. viii. 10, Hos. ii. 19 23, 
 Zech. ix. 3 8; it is often proper to translate it by 
 Now, so, then, &c. and many may think that the same 
 precise rendering is unnecessary, as to some other 
 words which are frequently repeated, and which are 
 not the object of criticism: as, that 7r SX w& may be 
 indiscriminately rendered by " to depart" and " to go 
 away," 4<a^ by S( to depart" and " to go out." &c. 
 
 That many passages of scripture would be placed in 
 a striking light by uniformity of rendering, may appear 
 from the following examples. Isaiah xxxvil 3. " This 
 day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, nwn, and of 
 blasphemy." " This day is a day of trouble, and of 
 
 } Hebr. done.
 
 XXX 
 
 rebub?, and of contumely." Bishop Lowth. It follows, 
 V-. 4 : "It may be the Lord thy God will reprove, 
 noin, [re'\ne, Bishop Lowth] the words which the 
 Lord thy God hath heard." As the verb in v. 4, alludes to 
 the noun in v. 3, the corresponding terms reproof and re- 
 prove are necessary to convey the sense and force of the 
 passage. Rabshakeh has uttered words of reproof against 
 Judah : it may be that God will reprove the words of 
 the Assyrian. So Matth. v. 15, 16. " And it shineth, 
 A*/*, [not, and i* giveth light] unto all that are in the 
 I) >usc. Let your light so shine," &c. xf4w. Rom. i. 
 19. " Because that which may be known of God is 
 manifest, ?*v< S o, in them ; [rather among them] for God 
 liath shewed //, nfgw [rather, manifested //] unto 
 them." Rom. xv. 4, 5 " For whatsoever things were 
 Written aforetime, were written for our learning} that 
 \ve hr >ugh patience and comfort, **-, **?****:, of the 
 scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience 
 and consolation, -m *ajax^u.-, [rather, comfort] grant 
 you to be like-minded, &c." And again ib. v. 12, 13. 
 " In him shall the Gentiles trust, *<, [rather, hope.] 
 Now the God of hope, ; xjnSo f , fill you with all joy." 
 &c. The beauty of St. Paul's manner is lost in the 
 common rendering. 
 
 &ULE V. The collocation of the words should 
 never be harsh, and unsnited to an English ear. An 
 inverted structure may often be used in imitation of 
 the original, or merely for the sake of rhyme in the 
 sentence: but this should be determined by what is 
 easy and harmonious in the English language; and 
 not by the order of the words in the original, where 
 this produces a forced arrangement, or one more 
 adapted to the licence of poetry than to prose.
 
 I cannot therefore recommend to the imitation of 
 future translators the manner of placing words which 
 Bishop Lovvth occasionally uses. As, 
 
 " Wherefore my bowels for Moab like a harp 
 
 shall sound." Isai. xvi. 11. 
 <f In Jehovah shall he justified, and make their 
 
 boast, all the seed of Israel." C. xlv, 25. 
 But I approve of snch a structure as, 
 
 " To the fatherless they administer not Justice:'* 
 
 C. i. -23. 
 " And the reproach of thy widowhood thou shalt 
 
 remember no more." C. liv. 4. 
 
 Though I think that the former line may be better ren^ 
 dered according to Rule I. 
 
 " The fatherless they judge not." 
 
 In Mr. Blarney's translation we find frequent in- 
 stances of a good structure, by judiciously adhering to 
 the Hebrew turn of the sentence: As, 
 
 " And mine heritage ye made an abomination." 
 
 Jer. *ii. 7, 
 
 " And the sword and the famine shall we not see." 
 
 Jer. v. 11. 
 
 Our translators also sometimes give a pleasing turn 
 to their clauses by conformity to the order of the words 
 in the original. 
 
 As, " Surely with a mighty hand, and \\ith a 
 stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule 
 over you." Ezek. xx. 33. " And with their idols 
 have they committed adultery." Ib, c. xxiii. 31. But 
 they are by no means strict observers of this method : 
 for in the next verse to the passage last quoted they 
 render, " And have profaned my sabbaths;" whereas 
 the order in the Hebrew is, " And my sabbaths have
 
 XXX11 
 
 they profaned." They also make use of inversions 
 which are not found in the Hebrew : as, " And out of 
 their hand I will not deliver them:" where the original 
 is, " And I will not deliver them out of their hand." 
 Zech. xi. 6. 
 
 RULE VI. The simple and ancient turn of the pre^ 
 sent version should be retained. 
 
 Swift was an admirer of simplicity, and is an ex- 
 ample of it. He thinks it " one of the greatest perfec- 
 tions in any language ;" and " the many beautiful pas- 
 sages in the Old and New Testament he takes to be 
 owing to the simplicity that runs through the whole." 
 Letter to Lord Oxford. 
 
 This simplicity arises, in a great measure, from the 
 preference of pure English words to foreign ones. Thus 
 our translators use keep back for suppress, call upon for 
 invoke, put under for submit, bow down for incline, lift 
 up for exalt, stretch out for extend, cry out for exclaim, 
 put away for divorse, put asunder for separate, cut off 
 for reject, let go for dismiss, fall away for desert, &c. 
 &c. They are even so fond of these Anglicisms, that 
 they often prefer them to single English words: as 
 in the use of turn back for return, go away for depart, 
 let go for release, &c. In this they are generally to be 
 imitated. 
 
 But when a latinized word expresses the precise idea 
 of the original, which a term purely English cannot 
 reach, it may be questioned whether propriety should be 
 sacrificed to simplicity. Thus the word ViJ signifies to 
 shew joy by outward gestures, tripudiis et volutationibus : 
 see Cast, lex: and I am therefore disposed to render it 
 always by exult.
 
 XXXlll 
 
 Again : this manner of expression should, It hink, 
 be rejected when it degenerates into familiar idiom: as, 
 hold thy tongue for be silent, ice cannot tell for ice know 
 not, to take in hand for to undertake, to be at hand for 
 to draw nigh or to approach, to cast in one's teeth for to re- 
 reproach or revile, &c. One reason for the disuse of 
 such phrases is, that a translation of the bible should be 
 a classical book to a foreigner, who would be perplexed 
 by such language. ' 
 
 1. The rule therefore excludes such words as dilate, 
 vindicator, fabricator, inanity, rectitude, &c. See Bp. 
 Lowth's Isaiah. And Mr. Blayney has devolve, revolve, 
 relinquish, convoke, deposit, libations, machinations, &c. 
 
 2. It also excludes modern terms and phrases, and 
 the pomp and elegance of modernized diction. 
 
 A few examples will shew how much the admission 
 of these would lesson the gravity and majesty so well 
 supported in the received translation. Doctor Priestly 
 has customhouse for receipt of custom. EngT. harmony. 
 Dodd ridge renders Mark vi. 21 : " And a convenient day 
 happened when Herod on his birthday made a supper 
 for his lords, and chief officers, and other persons of 
 distinguished, rank in Galilee." Bishop Lowth has " en- 
 voy, negotiator, plebeians; " your J soul shall feast it- 
 self with the richest delicacies " " in suppliant guise 
 address thee" " || disparting rills " " * whose antiquity 
 is of the earliest date." &c. In Mr. Blayney's Jeremiah 
 we find (( i\ie privy council of Jehovah?'* " the environs 
 of Jerusalem;" " the manufacture of the potter;" " f and 
 the captain of the guards gave him provisions, and a 
 gratuity, and dismissed him;" " J cause cavalry to 
 come up;" " his haughtiness is .exceedingly super- 
 eminent;" 
 
 % Is.lv, 2. xlv. 14. || xxx. 25. *xxiii, 7. f Jer.xl. 5. * ]i. 27. xlvJii. 29.
 
 xxxiv 
 
 " || they have sinned against Jehox r ah, 
 The legitimate fold and recourse of their fathers." &e. 
 
 5. The rule supposes that the old inflections should 
 be retained, and the use of the subjunctive mood after 
 certain particles. 
 
 4. It also supposes that such Hebraisms should be 
 retained as the English language easily admits, or ta 
 which an English ear is now accustomed. Of this k;ind 
 are, the throne of his glory ; labour of love ; As for Ephra- 
 im, their glory shalljlee away as a bird: which form re- 
 sembles Sallust's Plebs urbana, ea vero praeceps erat ; 
 and that common Attic^m, Urbem quam statno, ves- 
 tra est. " The Hebrew idioms run into the English 
 " tongue with a particular grace and beaut v. Our Ian* 
 " guage has received innumerable elegancies and im- 
 " provements from that infusion of Ht braisms which. 
 " are derived to it out of the poetical passages in holy 
 " writ. They give a force and energy to our expres- 
 f< sions, warm and animate our language, and convey 
 * c our thoughts in more ardent and intense phrases than 
 *' are to be met with in our own tongue. There is 
 * c something so pathetic in this kind of diction, that it 
 " often sets the mind in a flame, and makes our heart 
 " burn within us." &c. Addison. Spect. N. 405. 
 
 RULE VII. The old ecclesiastical terms should be 
 continued: as grace, elect, predestinated, &c, 
 
 " We have avoided the scrupulosity of the Puri- 
 " tans, who leave the old ecclesiastical words and 
 " betake them to other ; as when they put washing 
 * for baptism) and congregation instead of church.'* 
 Pref. to the English translation^ 
 
 H Jcr. L 7.
 
 XXXf 
 
 Such words are now part of our theological lan- 
 guage; and explanations of them perpetually occur* 
 
 RULE VIII. Metaphors are, in general, to be re- 
 tained; and the substitution, or unnecessary introduc- 
 tion, of new ones should be avoided. 
 
 Jf the original metaphor cannot be transfused, it 
 should be rendered in the margin. The genius of a 
 language, and the nature and customs of a coun- 
 try, will often appear by observing this rule. 
 
 Bishop Lowth renders Isai. xliv. 8, 
 " Is there a God beside me? 
 " Yea, there is no other sure protector; I know 
 
 not any." 
 " Yea, there is no * God ;" &c. English version. 
 
 I prefer rendering, 
 
 f Yea, there is no rock; I know not any." 
 
 See Ps. xviii. 2, 46. 
 
 Again: the Bishop renders c. xlii. 22, 
 
 " And are plunged in dark dungeons." 
 Hebr. hidden 
 
 RULE IX. Proper names should remain as they are 
 
 now written. 
 
 
 
 So little depends on their orthography in a tran- 
 slation, and they are now so familiarized to ihe ear, 
 that to alter them may perplex or offend some and 
 cannot benefit any. 
 
 This rule was among King James's instructions to 
 eur translators. " The names of the prophets and the 
 
 * Marg. Heb. rock.
 
 xxxvi 
 
 holy writers, with the other names in the text, to be 
 retained, as near as may be, according as they are vul- 
 garly used." Lewis. 2d. ed. p. 317. 
 
 Bishop Lowth writes Tsoar for %oar y Botsrah for 
 Bozrah, Retsin for Rezin, and Amots for Amos: &c. 
 Mr. Blayney also has Jabetz, Jahatza, &c. 
 
 It is material that the names of the same persons 
 should be written in the New Testament as they occur 
 in the Old: and that we should read Elijah, Elisha, 
 Isaiah, Noah, Haran, Joshua, &c. for Elias, Eliseus, 
 Esaias, Noe, Charran, Jesus, Hebr. iv. 8. &c. 
 
 RULE X. The best-known geographical terms 
 should be inserted in the text, and the original ones 
 should stand in the margin. As Syria, marg. Aram: 
 Ethiopia, marg. Cush. &c. 
 
 RULE XI. The language, sense, and punctua- 
 tion, of our present version should be retained ; un- 
 less when a sufficient reason can be assigned for de- 
 parting from them. 
 
 RULE XII. The critical sense of passages should 
 be considered ; and not the opinions of any deno- 
 mination of Christians whatever. 
 
 The translators should be philologists, and not con- 
 troversialists. 
 
 RULE. XIII. Passages which are allowed to be 
 marginal glosses, or about the authenticity of which 
 critics have reason to be doubtful, should be placed 
 in the text between brackets.
 
 xxxvn 
 
 I 
 
 KULE XIV. In the best editions of the bible, the 
 poetical parts should be divided into lines answering 
 to the metre of the original. 
 
 The common editions would be made too expen- 
 sive by such a distribution, which would occupy a 
 large space: but this inconvenience may be avoided 
 by placing each hemistich between inverted commas, 
 or by any other proper mark of distinction for the 
 pause. 
 
 Dr. Kennicott's words on this subject are: "Si 
 " universa in Bibliis Hebrasis carmina, more poetico, 
 " lineis brevibus, et plerumque fere aequalibus (sal- 
 <c tern ubi non fuerint corrupts) nunc demum im- 
 " primerentur; mi rum quantum elucesceret statim 
 " sacri poetas mens, idque.in mille locis; ubi sub 
 t( usitata prosas forma difficillimum est ullam, saltern 
 " veram, expiscari sententiam." Praef, ad Vet. 
 Test. Hebr. . xx. 
 
 Thus Gen. iv. 23, should be pointed as follows; 
 " And Lamech said unto his wives: 
 " Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; 
 " Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech," 
 
 And Isai. liii. 2 : 
 
 " He hath no form nor comeliness, that we should 
 
 regard him; f 
 
 " Nor appearance, that we should desire him." 
 
 See Prasl. Hebr. 
 
 RULE XV. Of dark passages, which exhibit no 
 meaning as they stand in our present version, an intel- 
 ligible rendering should be made on the principles of 
 sound criticism. 
 
 F
 
 ixxviii 
 
 u There is scope enough for the improvement of 
 " sacud literature: especially if proper hands were 
 " employed in doing the same good office for the 
 " Hebrew bible as hath been done for the Greek 
 " Testament; I mean, in mending the text a little, 
 " bv consulting the most ancient manuscripts and 
 te versions." Taylor pref. to Hebr. cone. Sect. iv. 
 " If the translation should sometimes appear to be 
 " merely conjectural, I desire the reader to consider 
 " the exigence of the case; and to Judge, whether 
 " it is not better, in a very obscure and doubtful 
 " passage, to give something probable by way of 
 " supplement to the author's sense apparently defec- 
 " ti\e, than either to leave a blank in the translation, 
 " or to give a merely verbal rendering, which would 
 " be altogether unintelligible." 
 
 Bishop Lovvth prel. diss. to Isai. p. Ixxiii '. 
 where see p. xxxix. xl. 
 
 And the same excellent critic, after making a 
 conjectural emendation of Isai. Ixiv. 5, adds: " This, 
 " it may be said, is imposing your sense upon the 
 " Prophet. It may be so: for perhaps these may 
 " not be the very words ofUhe Prophet : but however 
 " it is better than to impose upon him what makes 
 " no sense at all; as they generally do, who pretend 
 " to render such corrupt passages." 
 
 " It is manifest," says f Professor J. D. Michae- 
 " lis, " that in some of the Minor Prophets the text 
 " has been sent down to us in very faulty copies: so 
 " very faulty, that the true reading of several pas- 
 " sages is wanting in all the MSS. and ancient ver- 
 ." sions, and that conjectural criticism is necessary." 
 
 t Bibl. Orient, et Exeget. Part xxi. Communicated by Mr. Woide.
 
 XXXIX 
 
 Emendations founded on external authority will of 
 course be preferred ; and, when there is a choice of them, 
 that particular one which furnishes the best sense, and 
 most resembles the present text. When outward helps 
 fail, recourse can only be had to the exigence of the 
 place. 
 
 In printing the best edition of a new version, I pro- 
 pose that the references to parallel places should be re- 
 tained; that supplemental words should be distinguished 
 by Italics; that different interpretations of obscure 
 places should occasionally be given in the margin ; that 
 the paragraphs sho Id be accurately divided according 
 to the sense, and should consist of larger ones marked ^[, 
 and of smaller marked^; that the contents, briefly 
 comprehending the critical sense of the writer, should 
 be prefixed to each large paragraph ; that the chapters 
 should be distinguished in the margin, and the verses, 
 either in the margin, or by a small numerical figure over 
 the line, as in the Louvre edition of the Greek Testa- 
 ment ; that there should be different marks for various 
 readings adopted in the translation, denoting (1.) whe- 
 ther they are founded on the ancient versions and para- 
 phrases, (2.) on MSS. including the Samaritan, or (3.) 
 on both these authorities, or (4.) only on conjecture; 
 and that a large explanatory index of difficult terms 
 throughout their several classes should be subjoined, 
 together with an accented table of proper names* and 
 also a table of the sacred books in iheir chronological 
 ordfr; according to which order it is my opinion that 
 they should be read in churches. 
 
 1 trust that these rules have obviated some objections 
 to the proposed undertaking: as, according to them, a 
 new version would be as simple, natural and majestic,
 
 xl 
 
 as beautiful, affecting ami sublime, as that in present 
 use; with the additional recommendation of being more 
 pure, exact and intelligible. It is true that nothing of 
 this kind can be undertaken without temporary offence 
 to the prejudiced and ignorant. But the opinion of 
 these will soon be outweighed by the judgment of the 
 reasonable and well informed. The real question 
 amounts to this; whether we shall supply Christian rea- 
 ders and Christian congregations with new means of in- 
 struction and pleasure, by enabling them to understand 
 their bible better ; and let all who can promote a work 
 of such moment consider this question with due serious- 
 ness and attention.
 
 THE 
 
 MINOR PROPHETS 
 
 In their supposed order of time, according to the dates of 
 reigns in BLAIR'S TABLES. 
 
 
 Before Christ. 
 
 Kings of Judali. 
 
 ttingi of Iiracl. 
 
 JONAH 
 
 etween 823 and 
 
 Jeroboam 1 1. 
 
 
 783., 
 
 
 2 King 
 
 
 
 
 xiv. 25, 
 
 AMOS 
 
 Between 823 and 
 
 LJzziah C. i. 1. 
 
 feroboam II. 
 
 
 758. 
 
 
 C. i. 1. 
 
 HOSEA 
 
 Between 809 and 
 
 Uzziah, Jotbam, 
 
 Jeroboam II. 
 
 
 698. 
 
 Aha/, and Hcze- 
 
 C. i. 1. 
 
 
 
 kiuh. C. i. 1. But 
 
 
 
 
 very early in He- 
 
 
 
 
 zekiah's reign. 
 
 
 MICAH 
 
 Between 757 ant 
 
 Jotharn, Ahaz, and 
 
 
 
 698. 
 
 Hczekiah. C. i. 1. 
 
 
 
 
 But early in He- 
 
 
 
 
 zekiab's niiv.n. 
 
 
 NAIIUM 
 
 'robably between 
 
 Probably towards the 
 
 
 
 720 and 698. 
 
 lo, i: of Heze- 
 
 
 
 
 kiah's reign. 
 
 
 JOEL 
 
 Probably between 
 697 and 660. 
 
 Probably in the reign 
 of Manasseb. 
 
 
 ZEPHANIAI 
 
 Between 640 and 
 
 In the reign of Jo- 
 
 
 
 609. 
 
 si;i!i. C. i. l. 
 
 
 HABAKKUK 
 
 Probably between 
 606 and 598. 
 
 Probably in the reign 
 of Jenoiakim, 
 
 
 OBADIAII 
 
 Soon after 586 
 
 Between the takinj. 
 
 
 
 
 
 of Jerusalem b; 
 
 
 
 
 Nebucbadnezzar 
 nnd tli<; destruc 
 
 
 
 
 tion of the Kdoni 
 
 
 
 
 it<:s by him. 
 
 
 HAGGAI 
 
 About 520. 
 
 After tbe return frorr 
 
 
 
 
 Babylon. 
 
 
 ZECHAKFA 
 
 From 520 to 518 
 
 
 
 MALACI11 
 
 About 436. 
 

 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 JONAH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1 JN ow the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the 
 
 2 son of Amittai, saying; Arise, go to Nineveh, that 
 great city, and cry aga nst IKT : for their wicked- 
 ness is come up before me. 
 
 S But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the 
 presence of Jehovah: and he went down to Joppa, 
 and found a ship going to Tarshish, and paid the 
 fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with 
 them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. 
 
 1. Jonah] He was of Gath-hepher in the tribe of Zebulon, a 
 part of Lower Galilee. Josh. xix. 13. He prophesied in the 
 reign of Jeroboam the Second, king of Israel; who began to 
 reign 823 years before Christ, and reigned in Samaria 41 years. 
 See 2 Ki'igs x iv. 23- -25. 
 
 2. N;neveh] The capital of the Assyrian empire. See the 
 notes c. iii. 3. iv. 11: and on Nahum; c. i. 1. iii. 18, 
 
 cry] Proclaim as a Prophet-. 
 
 against her] Or, concerning her. Noldius, . 10. 
 for thdr wickedness] Or, that their wickedness, &c. 
 Nold . 20. 
 
 3. to tlee] Jonah might consider this mission as an un- 
 common, unprofitable, and dangerous one. He certainly 
 thought that his veracity as a prophet would be affecietl by 
 God's merciful change of purpose, c. iv. 2. This and other 
 parts of his conduct deserve censure. But men endued with 
 extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and made the instruments of 
 declaring God's will to mankind, ave occasionally been subject 
 to great human infirmities, and have even contracted great guilt. 
 See 1 Kings xiii. 18, 20. Matin, vii. 22. Acts xv. 39. 1 Cor. 
 xiii. 2. Gal. ii. II. 
 
 Tarshish] Bochart says that there were two places of this 
 name: one, Tartessus in Spain, which Stephanus de Urbibus 
 places near the pillars of Hercules; the other in the Indian
 
 2 JONAH. 1 
 
 4 And Jehovah sent * forth a great wind upon the 
 
 5 sea; and there was a great tempest in the sea: and 
 it was f thought that the ship would be broken in 
 pieces. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried 
 every man unto his God. And they cast forth the 
 things which were in the ship into the sea, to be 
 lightened of them. 
 
 But Jonah was gone down to the sides of the 
 
 6 hold ; and lay, and was in a sound sleep. And the 
 ship-master came near unto him, and said unto him, 
 What J meanest thou, O sleeper ? arise, call unto 
 thy God : perhaps God will think upon us, that we 
 perish not. 
 
 7 And they said one to another, Come and let us 
 cast lots ; that we may know for whose cause this 
 
 8 evil hath happened unto us. And they cast lots ; and 
 the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, 
 Tell us, we pray thee, for what cause this evil hath 
 happened unto us. What is thy business? and 
 
 * Hebr. cast forth. f was thought to be broken J What to thee. 
 
 every man to his neighbour. 
 
 ocean, near Ophir or Taprobana, which island is usually thought 
 to be the modern Ceylon. To this latter men sailed from Ezion- 
 geber on the Red Sea. 2 Chron. xx. 36, 36. Geogr. 1. iii. c* 
 vii. p 171. ed. Lugd. Bat. fol. 1707. Cocceius and Taylor 
 (see \inin in each) think that Tarshish may denote a distant 
 country, whether to the east or to the west ; like our Indies. Some 
 derive it from *nn to view, and ttttU to delight : and thus it may 
 signify a country abounding with desirable productions. 
 
 4. thought] Houbigant supposes, that the original word 
 should be written at length, roiu?n : putabatur fractum iri. 
 
 5. to be lightened] So Houbigant: VipnV? and V. 6. ren- 
 der the word passively. 
 
 of the hold] The covered part of the ship. 
 
 6. ship-master] The Hebrew may be rendered, " the chief 
 man, even the pilot:" or, " the chief of the crew:" which lat- 
 ter is the .rendering of Syr. and Chald. 
 
 8. for what cause] Q is most naturally understood of 
 things, Gen. xxxiii. 8. Judg. xiii. 17. 1 Sam. xviii. 18. Mic. 
 i. 5. See Nold. . 5. note. See also Buxtorf's thes. gramm. p. 
 392.
 
 JONAH. I. 3 
 
 whence comesfc thou ? what is thy country ? and of 
 
 9 what people art thou ? And he said unto them, I 
 
 am an Hebrew ; and I fear Jehovah the God of hea- 
 
 10 ven, who made the sea and the dry land. Then 
 were; the men |j exceedingly afraid, and said unto 
 him, Why hast thou done this ? For the men knew 
 that he * fled from the presence of Jehovah : for he 
 
 11 had told them. And they said unto him, What 
 shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be f calm 
 unto us? for the sea J grew more and more tempes- 
 
 12 tuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and 
 cast me forth into the sea ; and the sea * shall be 
 calm unto you : for I know that because of me this 
 
 13 great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men, 
 
 j| Hebr. feared with great fear. * was flying. f may rest from upon us. 
 
 J went and was tempestuous. shall rest from upon you. 
 
 comest thou] In the original the verb is future: which 
 tense has often the force of the present. 
 
 9. an Hebrew] 6. Arab, render "a servant of Jehovah:" 
 because they read " "Oy, contracted for mrv. See Lud. Cap- 
 pell. comm. p. 19. fol. Amst. and Dr. Kennicott's dissert, gen. 
 25, subjoined to his Hebrew bible. 
 
 10. fled] iv ^t/ywr. 6. and 13 MSS. and one printed edition, 
 in Dr. Kennicott's bible, read rTYQ. 
 
 11. What shall we do] Moerlius quotes the following pas- 
 sage from Orpheus's Argonautics. 
 
 IloXXa ej fAisfji^i^v tit yasri 7rsi/xaX/xns'(, 
 H jouv n7rop9i-7wo-i, YM iyQ-j<rt x'j^a, fia^uis-t 
 
 , 
 
 And much they doubted in their prudent minds, 
 
 Whether to kill, and cast a prey to fishes, 
 
 Wretched Medea, and avert their fate. v. 
 
 ...grew more and more tempestuous] That this is the true ren- 
 
 dering, see Taylor's cone, root 4.50; n. 27, 32. The Syriac ver- 
 
 sion makes the words part of the address to Jonah : " quoniam 
 
 mare ecce it et turbat se contra nos: for the sea groweth more 
 
 and more tempestuous." Many MSS. and some editions, ascer- 
 
 tain the participial form by reading lyiDl. 
 
 12. cast me forth] Many MSS. and some ed. read yfr'Dm;. 
 and v. 15, imVoi. The points have often excluded the formative 
 letters-; which ought to be restored in a correct edition of the 
 text.
 
 4 JONAH. 1. 
 
 rowed hard to bring back the ship unto the dry 
 land: but they could not; for the sea || grew more 
 
 14 and more tempestuous upon them. And they cried 
 unto Jehovah, and said; We beseech thee O Je- 
 hovah, let us not perish, we pray thee, for the 
 life of this man; and lay not upon us innocent blood, 
 for thou, O Jehovah, hast done as it hath pleased 
 
 15 thee. And they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into 
 
 16 the sea: and the sea * ceased from its raging. And 
 the men feared Jehovah f greatly; and J offered a 
 sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows. 
 
 17 Now Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up 
 Jonah: and Jonah was in the |j belly of the fish three 
 days and three nights. 
 
 Hebr. digged. || went and was tempestuous. * stood. f with great fear. 
 J sacrificed. vowed. |j bowels. 
 
 13. rowed hard] The word signifies literally to dig. Vnlg. 
 and Cl mid. agree with our English translators in understanding 
 it metaphorically of rowing. But 6. Arab. Syr. render it, en- 
 deavoured, strove. 
 
 to bring back] Arab, adds the pronoun it, with our version. 
 
 14. We beseech thee] Here, and c. iv. 2, many MSS. 
 read MK. 
 
 innocent blood] Punish us not as murtherers of an inno- 
 cent man: for we judge from the whole transaction that we are 
 conforming ourselves to thy will. 
 
 15. raging] Nee horret iratum mare. Hor. 
 
 17. a great fish] We have but an imperfect acquaintance 
 with the natural history of fishes. However, it is a well attested 
 fact, that sharks grow to a size capable of swallowing and con- 
 taining a man. See Boch. Hieroz. p. ii. 743. 
 
 The miracle of preserving Jonah served to spread the know- 
 ledge of Jehovah. The whole transaction had this tendency: 
 c i. 16: and it also taught Jonah, and in him the whole pro- 
 phetical order, God's power and determination to enforce his 
 commands. It is probable that Jonah was the most ancient of 
 those whom the Jews call the later prophets; a constant succes- 
 sion of whom seems to have been sent from the time of Jonah, 
 that they might solemnly admonish the kingdoms of Israel and 
 Judah, while their destruction by the Assyrians and Babylonians 
 impended over them.
 
 JONAH. II. 
 
 CHAP. IT, 
 
 1 THEN Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God 
 from the * belly of the fish, and said: 
 
 2 I called by reason of my distress 
 Unto Jehovah, and he hath heard me : 
 
 * Hebr. bowels 
 
 three days and three nights] This would be tru?, if un- 
 derstood of one complete day, and a small part of two other days. 
 
 The precise t:me was tl.us det< rmiiied, to prefigure the pe- 
 riod of our Lord's cor.timiance in ti e grave. Mat h. xii. 40. As 
 Christ was the tnd cf the 'law, Rom. x. 4. those who understand 
 the genius of the eastern nations will easily admit that some ac- 
 tions and events under the Mosaic dispensation might be pur* 
 posely modified to foreshadow parts of the Messiah's history. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1. This prayer hath much more the appearance of a thanks- 
 giving after a deliverance; and indeed could scarce be used be- 
 fore, whatever change be made in the tenses ; unless we sup- 
 pose it prophetical of the deliverance. Had it not been inserted 
 in the history, many things in it would have been understood 
 metaphorically, as in the Psalms. It seems very strange, that 
 Jonah's sin should never be mentioned, or hinted at, in it. Seeker. 
 
 " Upon reading this period, I expected to find the prayer, 
 which Jonah had used, when he was in the fish's belly. But to 
 my great disappointment I found it to be his thanksgiving after 
 the fish had cast him up. How was this to be accounted for? 
 Why, upon examination it appeared, that the period which is 
 now the tenth was originally the second. I have restored it to 
 its proper place, and with it propriety and sense. A transcriber 
 ages ago omitted it: and when he found out the omission, he 
 wrote it at the end of the thanksgiving, with a reference, no 
 doubt, to the place, where it had been omitted, and ought to be 
 inserted. The next transcriber, not observing the reference, 
 let it keep its place at the end of the thanksgiying. And there 
 it has continued from that day to this. Let the reader learn 
 from hence, when he meets with incoherence or absurdity in 
 Scripture, not to impute it to the inspired Writer, but to the 
 careless transcriber. In my translation of the Psalms, several 
 of these transpositions are noted." Green. 
 
 2. and he hath heard me] He thanks God that, in con- 
 sequence of his prayer, his life is wonderfully preserved.
 
 6 JONAH. II. 
 
 Out of the belly of the grave I cried ; and thou 
 hast heard my voice. 
 
 3 Thou hast cast me into the deep, in the heart of 
 
 the sea f ; 
 
 And the flood compasseth me about: 
 All thy J billows and thy waves have passed over me. 
 
 4 And I said, I am driven out .rom before thine eyes: 
 Yet shall I again see thine holy temple. 
 
 5 The waters have surrounded me to iheperilofmy life; 
 The deep compasseth me about: 
 
 Sea-weeds are bound about mine head: 
 
 6 I have gone down to the || bottoms of the mountains: 
 
 f Hebr. seas, j breakers. the temple of thine holiness. So c. 7. || cuttings off. 
 
 2. Out of the belly of the grave] " The prophet deemed 
 the belly of the fish to be 1 his grave. But God, in providing 
 the fish, had other purposes to serve, than to find him a grave, 
 or even to preserve his life. He had been ordered to go to Ni- 
 neveh. Out of frowardness he embarked on a ship for Tarsbish, 
 that he might fly the furthest from it. God, to punish his dis- 
 obedience and correct his frowardness, provided this fish to 
 swallow him, and to carry him the speediest way to it. I col- 
 lect this from Jonah's continuing three days and three nights, 
 according to the Jewish manner of reckoning, in -the fish's belly. 
 Had the fish been provided only to save his life, he might soon 
 have cast him on the next shore. But as he kept him three 
 days in his belly, I conclude he did more than swim about with 
 him. Within that time he probably conveyed him the nearest 
 v.-ay from the Mediterranean to the Euxine sea, and vomited 
 him up on the nearest shore to Nineveh. And there it was that 
 lie offered up this thanksgiving, and the re the word of tbe Lord 
 came to him a second time, saying. Arise, go to Nineveh, that 
 great city." C. iii 1. Green. 
 
 3. All thy billows, &c.] This line occurs ps. xlii. 8. 
 
 4. And I said, &c.] .At first I despaired of life; but now I 
 know, by prophetic impulse, that I shall be preserved. Compare 
 ps. xxxi. 23. 
 
 " And I said in mine haste, 
 
 I am cut off from before thine eyes." 
 
 5. to the peril of my life] See Ps. Ixix. 2. He again re- 
 presents his desponding language, to the second line of *>, 6, 
 
 6. bottoms] Roots, foundations.
 
 JONAH. II. 7 
 
 The bars of the * earth are about me for ever. 
 But thou wilt bring up my life from destruction, 
 O Jehovah my God. 
 
 7 When my soul fainted within me, 
 I remembered Jehovah: 
 
 And my prayer came unto thee, 
 Unto thine holy temple. 
 
 8 They that serve false f vanities forsake the source 
 
 of their mercy. 
 
 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of 
 
 thanksgiving: 
 
 That which I have vowed will I pay, for my de- 
 liverance unto Jehovah. 
 
 * Hebr. The earth, her bars. f vanities of falsehood. 
 
 6. The bars of the earth] The strong and firm lower parts of 
 the earth are about me, to the destruction of my life. 
 
 But thou, &c.] He returns to the language of security and 
 thanksgiving; as at the close of v. 4. If we translate " hast 
 brought up," the prophet may speak of that as already and 
 completely done, which God had done in part, and was about 
 to accomplish. But, as the van is not always conversive, see 
 Joel ii. 18, 19, 20, we may render, " wilt bring up." V. has 
 sublevabis. 
 
 destruction] The pit. Seeker. 
 
 8 false vanities] Idols. See Deut. xxxii. 21. Ps. xxxi. 1 f 
 
 the. source*of their mercy] So ps. cxliv. 2, the psalmist 
 calls God his mercy, or the author of mercy to him. See also 
 ps. lix. 11, 18. Syr. reads "thy mercy."" One reading of 
 Symmachus in Montfaucon's Hexapla is, " his mercy." 
 
 9. for my deliverance] the preposition is often omitted in 
 the Hebrew: as before rm^D v. 3. See Hos. vii. 11. Houbigant 
 proposes to read TDflU?', as 6 MS. Al. have c cvn^n <* .- with 
 which MS. the Aldine edition of 6 agrees. 
 
 Salvation] May not this mean, " even a sacrifice of deliver- 
 ance unto the Lord?" Seeker. 
 
 I would retain the old translation, " Salvation is of Jehovah.''* 
 See Ps. iii. 8. xlviii. 8. Ixii. 11, 12. Dan ix. 7- 8, 9. Doctor 
 Forsayeth- 
 
 nru/UL" is used Ps. iii. 2. 
 
 The reader may see this ode distributed into measure by Dr. 
 Kennicott in his Hebrew bible; and by Mr. Green in his " Po- 
 etical Parts of the Old Testament." Cambridge. 1781.
 
 5 JONAH III. 
 
 10 And Jehovah commanded the fish 3 and it J cast 
 out Jonah upon the dry land. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 AND the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the 
 
 2 second time, saying; Arise, go to Nineveh, that 
 great city; and cry unto her in the words which I 
 
 3 shall speak unto thee. And Jonah arose, and went 
 to Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. 
 
 Now Nineveh was || a very great city, a journey 
 
 4 of three days. And Jonah began to go through 
 
 J Hebr. vomited, the cry jj a city great unto God. 
 
 10. the dry land] Probably on the coast of Palestine. 
 
 CHAP- III. 
 
 2. unto her] Three MSS. have nfy; " against her:" two 
 read thus originally; and two have the N on a rasure. The 
 reading of these MSS. is agreeable to c. i. 2, and to V. 6. Ar. 
 Syr. 
 
 3. very great] For the Hebrew phrase see Gen. xxiii. 6. 
 xxx. 8. Ps. xxxvi. 6. Ixxx. 10. Hos. xiii. 15. Isai. xxviii. 
 2. xl. 7. Amos iv. 11. Cant. viii. 6. Acts vii. 20. Strabo 
 says that Nineveh was much greater than Babylon. L. xvi. p. 
 737. marg. Amst. fol. 1707. Diodorus Siculus represents 
 this city as an oblong figure ; the two longer sides of which 
 measured 150 stadia, and the two shorter 90. " Ninus, says 
 this historian, hastened to build a city of such magnitude, that 
 it should not only be the greatest which then existed in the 
 whole world, but that none in succeeding ages, who undertook 
 such a work, should easily surpass it Wherefore, as the whole 
 circuit was 480 stadia, his expectation has not bec-n deceived. 
 For no one has since built so great a city; both as to the ex- 
 tent of its circuit and the magnificence of the wall." Ed. Wess. 
 1. ii. . 3. p. 65. marg. Ammianus Marc, says that the ancient 
 Ninus was civitas ampla. 1. xiv. c. viii. And Enstathius has 
 this note on Dionysius's r^^y^i-,, 1. 990, p. 125, ed. H. Steph. 
 " They say that Ninus, situated on the Tigris, which was much 
 greater than Babylon, was wholly destroyed when the Persian 
 empire was subverted." He adds a report that fourteen myriads 
 were employed for eight years in building this city. 
 
 a journey of three days] Herodotus reckons 150 stadia a
 
 JONAH. III. 9 
 
 the city, one day's journey; and he cried and said, 
 Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 
 
 5 Atid the men of Nineveh believed God, and pro- 
 Claimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the 
 
 6 greatest of them even to the least of them. For the 
 matter came unto the King of Nineveh ; and he arose 
 from his throne, and put away his robe from him, 
 and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on ashes. 
 
 7 And it was proclaimed and * published in Nineveh, 
 by the decree of the king and of his f chief men, 
 saying; Let neither man nor j beast, herd nor flock, 
 
 * Hebr. said. f great. J catile. 
 
 day's journey. L. v. c. 53. p 398 eel. Wess. He likewise says 
 that a parasang is 30 stadia. Ib. But a f9/x f . mansio, or day's 
 march, is five parasangs. See Xen. Cyri exp. 1. iv. p. 297, 8. 
 4to. Ed. Hutchinson : and Boch. geogr. 1. iv. c. xx. p. 2.52. 
 forty days] o. and Ar. reacC three. Hoiibigant thinks 
 that a Greek scr.be mistook some abbreviation of wo-agaxov?*. 
 Syr. Chald. Aq. Sytnm. Theo. read with the Hebrew. And 
 Bochait observes, from Jerom, that forty days is a solemn period 
 of time in scripture: see Ex. xxiv. 18. 1 Kinjjs xix. 8. and that 
 Jonah's denunciation employed three days. Hieroz. p. ii. 746. 
 
 5. believed] Nineveh might have been threatened at that 
 time by enemies or insurgents: and the fame of the God of 
 Israel, and his prophets, might have reached that city. - 
 
 6. the king of Nineveh] About 13 years after the death 
 of Jeroboam If, king of Israel, Pul, king of Assyria, invaded 
 Israel. So that Pul, or his predecessor, may have been the 
 king here mentioned. 
 
 ashes] See as to this eastern custom, Job ii. 8. Isai. Iviii. 
 
 5. Jer. vi. 26. Esth. iv. 3. Matth. xi. 21. 
 
 7. And it was proclaimed and published.] Ki wovySn x tfpidn. 
 
 6. Literally: And one cried and said, &c. The nominative tt?'tt, 
 into, quidam, T< ; . is often to be supplied. See Numb. xix. 3, 5. 
 1 Sam. xxiii. 22. 1 Kinjts xxii. 38. Amos iv. 2. Mic. ii. 4. 
 v. i. &c. See Nold. voc. U?'tt . 7. Bochart, Hieroz. 668, 
 says, Lingua Hebraica ante verbum activum ssepe omittit nomen 
 agentis. 
 
 beast] From the Arab, root obmutuit. 
 Non ullipastos illis eger^- diebus 
 
 Frigida, Daphni, boves ad flumina : nulla neque amnem 
 Libavit quadrupes, nee gramiais attigit herbam. 
 
 Virg. Eel. v. 24*.
 
 10 JONAH. IV. 
 
 taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 
 
 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth; 
 and let men cry mightily unto God, and let them 
 turn every one from his evil way, and from the vio- 
 
 9 lence which is in their hands. Who knoweth if God 
 will turn and repent, and will turn away from || his 
 hot 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 had said that he would do unto them, and he did 
 it not. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1 BUT it displeased Jonah * exceedingly; and his 
 
 2 anger was f kindled. And he prayed unto Jehovah, 
 and said; I beseech thee, O Jehovah, tvas not this 
 my saying when I was yet in mine own country ? 
 Therefore 1 J made haste to flee unto Tarshish: for 
 I knew that thou art a gracious and merciful God, 
 
 Hebr. cattle. || the heat of his anger. * with great displeasure, 
 
 f kindled unto him. f I was befoiehaud in fleeing. 
 
 taste any thing] The eastern mode of fasting was absti- 
 nence from food till the evening. 2 Sam. i, 12. 
 
 8, beast be covered] They thus impressed their minds 
 more deeply, and shewed how greatly they humbled themselves. 
 
 Bellator equus, positis insignibus, ./Ethon, 
 It lacrymans. Mr\. xi. 89. 
 
 Plutarch says that, when the Persian General Masistias was 
 slain, the horses and mules of the Persians were shorn as well as 
 themselves. Aristides. p. 303. 4to. ed. Bryan. 
 
 if God will turn] ON is also omitted, Joel ii. 14. See 
 Nold. . 24. 
 
 10. repented] See on Joel ii. 13. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 2. when I was yet] iy, that is, 71)0. 
 
 I made haste to flee.] Prseoccupavi ut fugerem, V. jt? &* 
 
 Vu fvysiv. 6. 
 
 for I knew, &c.] Hence we learn how many recfent instan- 
 ces of long suffering God had shewn.
 
 JONAH. IV. 1 1 
 
 slow to anger, and abundant in mercy, and that thnu 
 
 S repentest of evil. And no\v, O Jehovah, take, I 
 
 pray thee, my life from me : because it is better 
 
 4 for me to die than to live, And Jehovah said, Doest 
 thou well that thine anger is || kindled ? 
 
 5 Now Jonah had gone out of the city, and had sat 
 on the east side of the city, and had made himself a 
 shelter there, and had sat under it in the shade, till 
 
 6 he should see what would become of the city. And 
 Jehovah, even God, prepared a plant; and it grew 
 over Jonah, to be a shade over his head, to deliver 
 him from his displeasure. And Jonah rejoiced * ex- 
 
 Hebr. my death is better than my life. || kindled unto thee. * with great joy. 
 
 4. Doest thou well, &c.] Literally, Num benefaciendo ac- 
 censa est tibi ira? Jonah seems to have thought that his vera- 
 city as a prophet, and the honour of his office, . were affected. 
 His impatience here, and v. 8, was highly criminal; and illus- 
 trates the general disposition of the Hebrews. 
 
 5. had gone] That verbs in the preter form have this force, 
 see Gen. xx. 4. 1 Sam. xxx. i. among very many instances. 
 While Jonah was in this situation, and perhaps expected an 
 overthrow of the city by earthquake or fire in the course of for- 
 ty days, God's gracious purpose towards Nineveh was revealed 
 to him. 
 
 a shelter] The word signifies an artificial covert, as a tent 
 or booth: and also a natural one; as Jer. xxv. 38. Job xxxviii. 
 40. See Harmer. i. 159. 
 
 6. a plant] Bochart, Hieroz. ii. 623, and also Hiller and 
 Celsius, say that the ricinus, or palma Christi, is here meant. 
 Pliny calls this plant cici; and its height, which is that of the 
 olive, the largeness of its leaves, which are like those of the 
 vine, and the quickness of its growth, are said ta favour this 
 supposition. See Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. xv. c. vii. We may justly 
 attribute a miraculous growth to that which shaded Jonah. 
 
 and it grew] So the versions, and Chald. 
 
 to deliver him] Houbigant rightly reads iVi:r6; the con- 
 struction, as it now stands, not occurring elsewhere. 
 
 from his displeasure) Which lie had conceived, v. 1 : to 
 abate the heat; and thus to ease his mind, by easing his body. 
 Or to deliver him from his affliction, or distress, on account of 
 the heat.
 
 12 JONAH. IV. 
 
 7 ceedingly because of the plant. But God prepared 
 a worm when the morning f dawned on the mor- 
 
 8 row; and it smote the plant, and it withered. And 
 it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God pre- 
 pared a still east wind: and the sun J beat upon the 
 head of Jonah, and he was faint ; and he asked with- 
 in himself to die, and said, // is [( better for me to 
 
 9 die than to live. And God said unto Jonah, Doest 
 thou well that thine anger is * kindled for the plant ? 
 And he said, 1 do well that mine anger is f kindled 
 
 10 even unto death. And Jehovah said, Thou would- 
 est have spared the plant, for which thou hast not 
 laboured, neither hast thou made it grow ; which 
 came up J in a night, and perished in a night: 
 
 1 1 and shall not I spare Nineveh, that great city, where- 
 in are more than six score thousand persons, who 
 
 ) Hebr. rose. t smote. his soul. || my death is better than my life. 
 * kindled unto thee. f kindled unto me. '$ was the son of a night. the son of a night. 
 
 8. a still east wind.] Ka^uiy, 6- a very scorching and suffo- 
 cating wind in those countries ; as deserts of burning sand lay 
 to the east, or south-east. Peritsol, itin. mundi p. 180, in Sharpe's 
 ed. of Hyde's works, derives the word from unn to plough ; be- 
 cause " ventus ita exarat continentem ilium, ut arena ascendat 
 in ae'rem." 
 
 for himself] Within, or for, his soul ; that is, by a known 
 Hebraism, ir>N, within or for, himself. Lev. xi. 43, 4. Isai, 
 *l\i. 2. Matth. xxvi. 38. 
 
 10. wouldest have spared] For this force of verbs in the 
 preter form, see, among many other instances, Numb- xxii. 33, 
 Judges viii. 19. Ex. ix. 15. which last place should be thus ren- 
 dered: " For now I would have stretched forth mine hand, and 
 would have smitten thee and thy people with the pestilence; 
 and thou shouldest have been cut off from the earth: but in- 
 deed for this cause have I continued thee, [and have not destroy- 
 ed thee by the pestilence,] to shew thee, c." See the close 
 of v. 29. 
 
 Jonah seems to have been grieved that so extraordinary and 
 beautiful a plant perished; as well as for the loss of its shelter. 
 
 in a night] Some MSS. and editions read JOU? and ?Ol. 
 
 ] 1 . six score thousand] Reckoning those of a tender ago
 
 JONAH, iv. is 
 
 cannot discern between their right hand and their 
 left hand; and also much cattle? 
 
 at a fifth part, the city contained six hundred thousand inhabi- 
 tants. See Boch. Geogr. 252, 3. 
 
 and their left hand] See on Joel ii. 17, for the use of the 
 Hebrew prepositions. 
 
 much cattle] in the huge circuit of Nineveh, as in that of 
 Babylon, space was probably left for cattle to feed. Q.uintus 
 Curtius says of Babylon, " ^dificia non sunt admota muris, sed 
 fere spatium unius jugi-ris absunt. Ac ne totam quidem urbem 
 tectis occupaverunt; per xc stadia habitatur; ncc omnia con- 
 tinua sunt: credo, quia tutius visum est pluribus locis spargi: 
 caetera serunt coluntque; ut, si externa vis ingruat, obsessis ali- 
 menta ex ipsius urbis solo subministrentur."
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 AMOS. 
 
 CHAP, r 
 
 1 1 HE words of Amos, who was among the shepherds 
 - ofTekoa, which * came unto him in a vision con- 
 cerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, 
 
 * Hebr. he saw. 
 
 1. Amos] Though this prophet was of Tekoa, a city in the 
 tribe of Judah, (see 2 Chron. xi. 5, 6. and Josh, xv, 20, 59 
 in the Greek,) yet he dwelt in Israel, (c. vii. 12,) and prophe- 
 sied chiefly against that kingdom. See c. ii. 6, <kc. He was a 
 shepherd and herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: c. i. 
 1. vii. 14. But rural imployments were general, and honour- 
 able, among his countrymen. However, in the words 
 " I was no prophet, 
 
 " Neither was I the son of a prophet," c. vii. 14, 
 lie seems to distinguish himself from those who were educated 
 in the schools founded by Samuel. He borrows many images 
 from the scenes in which he had been engaged ; but he intro- 
 duces them with skill, and gives them force and dignity by the 
 eloquence and grandeur of his manner. We shall find in him 
 many affecting and pathetic, many elegant and sublime pas- 
 sages. No prophet has more magnificently described the Deity; 
 or more gravely rebuked the luxurious; or reproved injustice 
 and oppression with greater warmth and a more generous indig- 
 nation. An eminent judge and master of style pronounces him 
 nearly equal to the very first prophets in elevation of sentiments 
 and loftiness of spirit; and scarcely inferior to any in splendour 
 of diction and beauty of composition. De sacra poesi Hebr. 
 prsel. xxi. 
 
 shepherds] Kimchi says that shepherds were called OlpJ, be- 
 cause some sheep were spotted: Gen. xxx. 32; Drusius, because a 
 mark was stampt on them. Bochart derives the word from a 
 corresponding Arabic one, which signifies an inferior kind of 
 sheep or goats, and the shepherd of such ; and hence a shep- 
 herd in general. Hieroz. i. 442. 
 
 Israel] " upwaxn/Lt 6. Scribitur abrcviate IAHM, et ivganx IHA," 
 Seeker. 
 
 Uzziah] He reigned over Judah from the year before Christ 
 809, to the year 758.
 
 AMOS. I. 15 
 
 and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king 
 
 2 Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said: 
 
 Jehovah will roar from Sion, 
 And from Jerusalem he will utter his voice: 
 And the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, 
 And the top of Carmel shall wither. 
 
 3 Thus saith Jehovah: 
 
 For three transgressions of Damascus, 
 
 And for four, 1 will not turn away the punishment 
 
 thereof; 
 Because they threshed Gilead with threshing-wains 
 
 of iron : 
 
 Jeroboham] See on Jon. i. 1. 
 
 earthquake] This earthquake is referred to Zech. xiv. 5; 
 and probably, as Bishop Lowth thinks, Isai. v. 25. Josephus 
 describes some of its effects; and attributes it to Uzziah's inva- 
 sion of the priest's office, recorded 2 Chron. xxvi. 16. Ant, ix. 
 x 4. 
 
 2. Jehovah voice] These two lines occur Joel iii. 16. See 
 also Jer. xxv. SO. The meaning is, that God will soon spread 
 terror, like beasts of prey when they roar: Amos iii. 8: in other 
 words, that he will soon display his power in executing judg- 
 ment. The particular judgment here threatened is a drought. 
 Seec. iv. 6. vi. 12. 
 
 from Sion] % His dwelling place; where he exhibits his 
 glory between the Cherubim. See Jcr. xxv. 30. 
 
 Carmel] A very fruitful mountain in the tribe of Judah. 
 Josh. xv. 55. Isai* xxxv. 2. 
 
 3. I will not turn away, &c.] For the multiplied trans- 
 gressions of Damascus, the capital of Syria, I will not rescue it, 
 .sc. Qy the people, from punishment. See Ps. xxxv. 17, The 
 Ixx here translate the suffix by I/T, v- 6. by a-jra;. and v .9. by 
 V-PIV, referring it to the people, the inhabitants, the city. Or, 
 I will not convert the people. Lament, v. 21. Jer. xxxi. 18. 
 Or, I will not pardon it: sc. yUD the transgression. Or, I will 
 not turn it back, or revoke it: sc. 'prr my purpose, or HIT my 
 word, See Numb, xxiii, 19, 20; where rnsimay be understood 
 
 " For three transgressions of Damascus, 
 
 " And for four, I will not restore it. Lowth's Prel. v. 2. p. 52. 
 Est Litotes: Certissime puniam, et exequam illud decretur 
 meum. Confer Num. xxiii. 20. Dathius. 
 
 threshed] This alludes to the threshing-wain described
 
 16 AMOS. I. 
 
 4 But I will send a fire on the house of Hazael, 
 f Which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. 
 
 5 I will also break the bar of Damascus ; 
 
 And I will cut off the inhabitant from the valley 
 
 of On,, 
 
 And him that holdeth the sceptre from J Beth- Eden ; 
 And the people of Syria shall go into captivity 
 
 unto Kir, saith Jehovah. 
 
 6 Thus saith Jehovah: 
 
 For three transgressions of Gaza, 
 
 And for four, I will not turn away the the punish* 
 
 ment thereof: 
 Because they led into captivity a full j| number of 
 
 captives. 
 That they might deliver them up to Edom: 
 
 7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, 
 * Which shall devour the palaces thereof. 
 
 f Hebr. And iU { Or, the house of Eden. Aram. || captivity. * And it. 
 
 Isai. xli. 15. It moved on serated wheels, and at once forced 
 out the grain and cut the straw. See Pocock on Micah iv. 13. 
 and Bishop Lowth on Isai. xxviii. 27. If we translate threshing 
 instruments, we suggest a modern Idea. 
 
 Gilead] The fact is recorded 2 Kings x. 32, 33. 
 * 6. Vn nnn : ut v. 13." Seeker. 
 
 4. Benhadad] He was the son and successor of Hazael, 
 King of Syria. 2 Kings xiii. 3, 24. 
 
 5. the bar] Perhaps the true reading is rm the bars. So 
 6. Syr. and the similar passages Jer. li. 30. Lam. ii. 9. Nahum. 
 iii. J3. 
 
 the valley of On] This, says Bochart, Geogr. Sacr. ii. vi. 
 79, and Beth-Eden, the house of Eden, sedes voluptatis, are 
 other names for the valley of Damascus. On, as we read in 6, 
 may be derived from the Hebr. pN robur, opes, or from On the 
 Egyptian title of the sun. See the learned Mr. Bryant's mytho- 
 logy; i. 16. ed. 1, 
 
 Kir] Probably a city of Elymais. Isai. xxii. 6. The com- 
 pletion of this prophecy is recorded 2 Kings xvi. 9. 
 
 6 captives.] This might happen at the time of such in- 
 cursions as are mentioned 2 Chron. xxi. 16. 
 
 7. wall] Perhaps the true reading here, and v. 10, 14, is 
 
 VT walls. Seed. Ar. Syr. Chald. 
 
 Gaza] Hezekiah smote it : 2 Kings xviiL 8. Pharaoh, King
 
 AMOS. i. IT 
 
 8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod ; 
 And him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon; 
 And I will turn mine hand against Ekron, 
 
 And the residue of the Philistines shall perish, 
 Saith the Lord Jehovah. 
 
 9 Thus saith Jehovah : 
 
 For three transgressions of Tyrus, 
 And for four, I will not turn away the punishment 
 . thereof: 
 
 Because they delivered up a full f number of cap- 
 tives to Eclorn. 
 And remembered not the league of brethren : 
 
 10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, 
 { Which shall devour the palaces thereof. 
 
 11 Tims saith Jehovah: 
 
 For three transgressions of Edom, 
 
 And for four, I will noi turn away the punishment 
 
 thereof: 
 Because he pursued his brother with the sword, 
 
 f Hebr. captivity. * And it. 
 
 f Egypt, smote it: Jcr xlvii. 1. Alexander the Great took it: 
 Quint. Curt. iv. vi. 
 
 8. Aslidod] Uzziah conquered it; 2 Chron. xxvi. 6. 
 Ashkelon] See Jer xlvii. 5. 
 
 Ekron] See Zeph. ii. 4. All Syria was subdued by Pharaoh 
 Necho; and again, as far as Pelusium, by Nebuchodonosor. 
 Jos. Ant. x. vi. 1. Berosus also mentions that Nabuchodonosor 
 conquered Syria and all Phenicia. Jos. contr. App. i. . 19, 20. 
 
 9. league] 1 Kings v. 12. 
 
 10. a fire] Nebuchadnezzar took the city of Tyre after a 
 siege of thirteen years. Ezek. xxvi. 7 14. Jos. contr. App. 
 i. 20, 21. Otherwise, he could not have been represented as 
 the conqueror of all Phonicia. It was also taken by Alexander: 
 Q. Curt. iv. iv. 13: where th* words are, "Alexander, excep- 
 tis qui ad tern pi urn cont'ugeraot, omnes interfici, ignemque tec- 
 tis injici, jubt't" 
 
 11. his brother] The two nations were descended from 
 Jacob and Esau, who were brethren. It is probable that, before 
 Amos \\rote, the Edomites had often distressed Judah and Israel 
 in times or' calamity. That this was their custom, see 2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 17. But the words may be spoken prophetically, of the
 
 18 AMOS. I. 
 
 And cast off his pity : 
 And his anger tare for ever, 
 And he || kept his wrath perpetually : 
 But I will send a fire upon Teman, 
 * Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. 
 13 Thus saith Jehovah: 
 
 For three transgressions of the sons of Atnmon, 
 And for four, I will not turn away the punishment 
 thereof: 
 
 Hebr. destroyed, or corrupted, his compassions, jj his wrath, he kept it. * And it. 
 
 conduct which the Edomites would pursue at the taking of Je- 
 rusalem by the Babylonians. Obad. 11 14. Ez. xxv. 12. xxxv. 
 5. Ps. cxxxvii. 7. 
 
 cast off] See r\TW> Exek. xxviii. 17. The Ixx and An 
 add V"IN2., in the land, to this clause, " And destroyed his dam- 
 sels in the land." See Ch. Vulg. 6. and Judges v. 30. 
 
 tare] " *\vy\ ct assenavit. Syr. Recte, ut suadent sequen- 
 tia. Cons. Ps. ciii. 9. At. 6. Symm. Th. Ch. Vulg. ut Hebr." 
 Seeker. 
 
 forever,] See Gen. xxvii. 41. Numb. xx. 20. 
 
 12. afire] Nebuchadnezzar subdued the Edomites. Jer. 
 xxv. 9, 21. xxvii. 3, 6. Judas Maccabeus obtained a great 
 victory over the remains of them ; 1 Mace, v, 3 ; probably 
 after they had left the Nabatheans in consequence of a sedition, 
 and had settled to the south of Judah. See Stabo Xvi. p. 760. 
 marg. ed. Amst. fol. 1707. For I suppose that the Babylonian 
 conquests had compelled them to take refuge in that part of 
 Arabia. Afterwards, Hyrcanus reduced them under subjection ; 
 and permitted them to remain in their country on condition 
 that they conformed to the Jewish laws. Jos. Ant. xiii. ix, 1, 
 See on Obad. 2. 
 
 Teman] A city of Idumea. Jer. xlix. 7, 20. Ezek. xxv. 
 13. Teman was the grandson of Esau. Gen. xxxvi. 10, 11: 
 
 Bozrah] A city of Idumea. Isai. xxxiv. 6. Ixiii. 1. Jer. 
 xlix. 22. .Bochart thinks that there was another Bozrah in the land 
 of Moab: Jer. xlviii. 24. Hieroz. ii. xlviii. p. 534: and Moab 
 was famous for its flocks. 2 Kings iii. 4. Mic. ii. 12. 
 
 13. Ammon] From whom the Ammonites were descended. 
 See Gen. xix. 38. Their country lay to the east of Jordan, in 
 the neighbourhood of Gilead. Kabbah was its capital. Deut A 
 iii. 11. 2 Sam. xi. 1. Jer. xlix. 2.
 
 AMOS. II, 19 
 
 Because they ripped up the women with child of 
 
 Gilead, 
 That they might enlarge their border: 
 
 14 But I will kindle a fire on the wall of Kabbah 5 
 f Which shall devour the palaces thereof, 
 With shouting in the day of battle, 
 
 With a whirlwind in the day of tempest. 
 
 15 And their king shall go into captivity, 
 
 He and his princes together, saith Jehovah, 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 THUS saith Jehovah: 
 
 For three transgressions of Moab, 
 
 And for four, I will not turn away the punishment 
 
 thereof; 
 
 Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom 
 into lime: 
 
 -f- Hebr. And it. 
 
 of Gilead] The historians of these times, transmitted down 
 to us, are so concise, that we often want authority for the par- 
 ticular facts referred to. 
 
 14. a fire] The Ammonites were conquered by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar Jer. xxvii. 3, 6. 
 
 tempest] This image is naturally and sublimely intro- 
 duced. So, 
 
 .tineas nubem belli, dum detonet, omnem 
 Sustinet. >En. x. 809. 
 
 15. their king] Or, Malchom, their God. So Vulg. Syr. ' 
 6. MS. Pachom. and Boch. Hieroz. ii. xxxiv- 358. See Jer. 
 Xlviii. 7. xiix. 3. 1 Kings xi. 33. 
 
 he] " Nin ' ?? nvrwv. 6. n [i. e. wrfrf] g"f M, apud v 
 Montf. Cum sacerdotibus ejus, Syr. Nee male, ut videtur ex 
 Jer. xlix. 3." Seeker. The reading may have been, V1U71 VJroi Kin, 
 r ittn vjro. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1. Moab] For the origin of this People, see Gen. xix. 37. 
 Their country lay to the east of the dead sea. 
 
 burned the bones] Insulted his remains in a revengeful 
 and savage manner. 
 
 I
 
 20 AMOS. II. 
 
 2 But I will send a fire on Moab, 
 
 J Which shall devour the palaces of Kirioth : 
 
 And Moab shall die with tumult, 
 
 With shouting, with the sound of the trumpet. 
 
 3 And 1 will cut off the judge from the midst thereof; 
 And all the princes thereof will I slay with him, 
 
 saith Jehovah. 
 
 4 Thus saith Jehovah : 
 
 For three transgressions of Judah, 
 
 And for four, I will not turn away the punishment 
 
 thereof: 
 
 Because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, 
 And have not kept his statutes: 
 And their false gods have caused them to err, 
 After || whom their fathers walked : 
 
 5 But I will send a fire on Judah, 
 
 * Which shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. 
 
 6 Thus saith Jehovah: 
 
 For three transgressions of Israel, 
 
 ; Hebr. And it. lies. || which. * And it. 
 
 2. Kirioth] A city of Moab. Jer. xlviii. 24,41. Moab was 
 conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer. xxvii. 3, 6. 
 
 3. the judge] Probably the title of the chief magistrate. 
 Thus the Carthaginians had their Suffetes. Houbigant reads 
 imp! and inttf. 
 
 4. their false gods] Vulg. idola sna. The next line natu- 
 rally refers to the idolatries of Judah, with accounts of which 
 their history abounds. Compare Isai. xlv. 20. 
 
 5. a fire] This refers to the burning of Jerusalem by Ne- 
 buzar-adan. 2 Kings xxv. 9. 
 
 6. Israel] Amos first prophesies against the Syrians, Philis- 
 tines, Tynans, Edomites, Amonites, and Moabites; who dwelt 
 in the neighbourhood of the twelve tribes, and had occasionally 
 become their enemies and oppressors. Having thus not only 
 taught his countrymen that the providence of God extended to 
 other nations, but conciliated attention to himself by such in- 
 teresting predictions; he briefly mentions the idolatries and 
 consequent destruction of Judah, and then passes on to his 
 proper subject, which was to exhort and reprove the kingdom 
 of Israel, and to denounce judgments against it. The reason 
 why that kingdom, was particularly addressed seems to have
 
 AMOS. II. 21 
 
 And for four, I will not turn away the punishment 
 
 thereof: 
 
 Because they sell the righteous for silver, 
 And the needy in return for sandals : 
 
 7 They bruise the head of the poor in the dust of the 
 
 earth, 
 
 And turn aside the way of the humble : 
 And a man and his father go in unto the same damsel. 
 To pollute f mine holy name: 
 
 8 And they stretch themselves on garments taken to 
 
 pledge. 
 Near every altar; 
 
 f Eebr. the name of mine holiness. 
 
 been, that Pul invaded it in the reign of Uzziah; 2 Kings xv. 
 19; and that, in less than half a century after the first Assyrian 
 invasion, it was subverted by Shalmaneser. 2 Kings xvii. 6. 
 
 sandals] So c. viii. 6. Even for so inconsiderable a price 
 as that specified. 
 
 7. -bruise] Houbigant says that the true reading is from 
 rpD terere ; that the N has been introduced by eastern scribes 
 from the Arabic form; and that it is marked with a circle above 
 it in MSS. as a suspicious letter. Vulg. 6. Syr- render accord- 
 ino^to the sense of F|Vy: and Ps. Ivi. 1, 2. Ivii. 3, 6. translate 
 rjNli; by jotTaffKTsiy, as if it had that sense in the Hebrew. See 
 also Vulg. 6. c. viii. 4. That some verbs are used with a, see 
 c. iv. 11. ix. 13. Ez. xviii. 32, compared with v. 23. 
 
 turn aside] From right and justice. See c. v. 12. Isai. x. 
 1. xxix. 21. 
 
 the same damsel] Houbigant observes that 6. have * s - 9; <na 
 
 To pollute] To treat me as if I was not a holy and fearful 
 God. Ezek. xx. 39. Or, by giving occasion of reproach 
 among the heathen. Ezek. xx. 9. For the change from the 
 participle to the preter tense, see Isai. xxix. 21. Amos, v. 7, 
 12. vi. 6. 
 
 8. stretch themselves] Bow themselves down ; in the force 
 of the conjugation Hithpahel, which this Hebrew verb wants. , 
 See Ps. cxxv. 5, according to the Greek, Latin, and English 
 versions: et deflectentcs se. The sense is, that they recline at an 
 idolatrous banquet. See Spencer de leg. Hebr. iii. c. vii. 
 
 taken to pledge] Retained contrary to the law. Ex. xxii.
 
 22 AMOS. II. 
 
 And drink the wine of men J punished by unjust 
 
 fines, 
 
 In the house of their gods. 
 
 9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite from before them, 
 
 Whose height was as the height of the cedars, 
 And he was strong as the oaks : 
 Yet destroyed I his fruit from above, and his roots 
 from beneath. 
 
 10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, 
 And led you in the desert forty years; 
 
 That ye might possess the land of the Amorite. 
 
 11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, 
 And of your young men for Nazarites. 
 
 Is it not even thus, 
 
 O ye sons of Israel, saith Jehovah? 
 
 12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink: 
 And ye commanded the prophets, 
 Saying, Prophesy not. 
 
 J Or, unjustly fined. 
 
 punished by unjust fines] The law allowed of pecuniary 
 amercements in some cases. Ex. xxi. 22. Deut. xxii. 19. But 
 the prophet speaks of wine purchased with money arising from 
 iniquitous mulcts. 
 
 In this verse the future tense is twice affected by the dis- 
 tant "jau: ' 
 
 9. The image is a grand and natural one : 
 
 fXt)C2C-<ri VENXEG-t, V10 fjy4. 
 
 11. xiii. 359. 
 
 Ille, mordaci velut icta ferro 
 Pmr.s, aut impulsa cupressus euro, 
 Procidit late. Hor. Od. L. iv. vi. 
 
 So virgil compares the destruction of Troy to the cutting 
 clown of an ancient ornus, or mountain ash; and the fall of En- 
 tellus to that of a pine. JEn. il 626. v. 447. 
 
 The prophet diversifies and continues the image with great 
 beauty. 
 
 11. Nazarites] Persons separated to God by certain cere- 
 monies: Numb, vi.: and particularly commanded to refrain 
 from wine. Ib. v. 3>
 
 AMOS. II. 23 
 
 13 Therefore behold I will press your place, 
 As a loaded corn-wain presseth its sheaves. 
 
 14 And flight shall perish from the swift, 
 Neither shall the strong establish his force; 
 And the mighty shall not deliver himself, 
 
 15 Neither shall he that hanclleth the bow stand ; 
 And the swift of foot shall not deliver h imself, 
 Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself: 
 
 16 And he that established! his heart among the mighty, 
 Shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah. 
 
 Hebr. full. 
 
 13. press] I give p'i'O and pyn an active sense; as the 
 word of the same form has in Syr. and Chald. See Cast. lex. 
 See also the Syriac and Chaldee versions ot t!<is passage. 
 
 " Active sumitur in Hiphil, ut et piy." Seeker. 
 
 your place] See the original word, Ex. x. 23. xvi. 29. 
 Judges vii. 21. 1 Sam. xiv. 9. 2 Sam. vii. 10. Hab. iii, 1C. 
 Zech. xii. 6. 
 
 By a full corn-drag I understand one fully laden, so as to 
 make it weighty. 
 
 The pronoun rr? may be referred to TDy: sibi manipulos, 
 i. e- suos manipulos: or we may suppose it redundant, as i 1 ?, 
 Cantic. ii. 11. Hos. viii. 9. Isai. xxxi. 8, ~\b, ib. xl. 9.: or we 
 may suspect its genuineness; as there is no trace of it in the 
 versions or Chald.; and as it resembles the close of the forego- 
 ing word. 
 
 Our marginal rendering is, I will press your place, as a cart 
 full of sheaves press eth. Quod plenum sjbi est manipuhs. And 
 Houbigant renders, Ego igitur isum locum, ubi estis, ita cal- 
 cabo wt calcat manipulos plenum plaustrum. 
 
 I am prehsed ] " They are said to weary God. Isai. i. 14. 
 xliii. 24. Mai. ii. 17. But there is no authority for using the 
 word here passively. And the next verse being joined to this by 
 1 mak.es it more natural that this should begin to express their 
 punishment." Seeker. 
 
 14. swift] Here the swift is opposed to the strong; and v. 
 16, to him that rid^th on a swift bea^t. I suppose that the four 
 last verses of this chapter refer to the inextricable calamities 
 caused by the earthquake. See c. i. 1. 
 
 among the mighty] Syr. as the mighty D'TOJO- 
 
 15. himself] One MSS, supplies vtf.
 
 24 AMOS. HI. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 HEAR this word which Jehovah hath spoken '[ 
 concerning you, O ye sons of Israel ; even || con- 
 cerning all the family which I brought up from the 
 land of Egypt; saying: 
 
 2 You only have I known 
 
 From among all the families of the earth; 
 Therefore will I * visit upon you 
 All your iniquities. 
 
 3 Can two go together, 
 
 Unless they meet by appointment ? 
 
 4 Will the lien roar in the forest, 
 When he hath no prey ? 
 
 Will the young lion utter his voice out of his den, 
 If he have not taken any thing? 
 
 5 Can a bird fall into a snare upon the earth, 
 
 || Or, against * Or, punish. 
 
 1 . O ye sons] The Ixx and Arab, read no- " O house of 
 Israel :" which is the leading of many MSS. 
 
 family] Used also for people or nation: Jer. viii. 3. 
 Mic. ii. 3. 
 
 2. known] Acknowledged by revealing myself to you, 
 and protecting you. 
 
 3. Can two, &c.] As a journey, in which two engage, na- 
 turally supposes a settled meeting; so the denouncing of God's 
 designs by his prophets shews that he has made himself known 
 to them. 
 
 meet] " riw^myn *tvm;. 6. iyro." Seeker. 
 
 4. roar] Naturalists assert that, when the lion sees his prey, 
 he roars before he rushes on it: and that at this roaring many 
 animals shew great fear. See v . 8. He likewise roars over his 
 prey. The sense seems to be, As the lion roareth on account 
 of his prey; so by my prophets I cry aloud against you, because 
 ye are the objects of my vengeance. See v. S. 
 
 5. Can a bird, &c.] So I have prepared destruction against 
 you ; and the enemy shall not depart from you, till he have de- 
 stroyed you. See the latter part of v. 6 
 
 Can will] Shall will? Perhaps, Will a snare rise, spring 
 up? Seeker.
 
 AMOS. III. 25 
 
 "Where no gin is net for him? 
 
 Will a snare spring from the ground, 
 
 f When it hath not taken any thing ? 
 
 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in a city, 
 And the people not be afraid ? 
 Shall there be evil in a city, 
 
 And Jehovah hath not J inflicted it? 
 
 7 Surely the Lord Jehovah doeth nothing, 
 But he revealeth his secret 
 
 Unto his servants the prophets. 
 
 8 The lion hath roared: who will not fear? 
 The Lord Jehovah hath spoken: 
 
 Who will not prophesy? 
 
 9 Publish it upon the palaces in Ashdod, 
 And upon the palaces in the land of Egypt : 
 
 And say: 
 
 f Hebr. When taking it hath not taken. % done. 
 
 6. Shall a trumpet, &c.] As the people run together through 
 fear, when the signal of an approaching enemy is made ; so let 
 my warning strike the Israelites with terror. 
 
 evil] Shall the evil of earthquakes, of unfruitful seasons, 
 of hostile incursions, befal my people without my special ap- 
 pointment? 
 
 7. do^th] The Hebrew future has often the frequentative 
 force : " is wont to do." 
 
 8. The lion, &c-] The awful admonitions uttered by the 
 prophets are as natural a consequence of God's command, as fear 
 is of the lion's roaring, 
 
 Fremitu leonis qualis audito tener 
 
 Timidum juvencus applicat matri latus : 
 
 At ille ssevus, matre summota, leo 
 
 Praedam minorem morsibus vastis premens 
 
 Frangit, vehitque ; talis e nostro sinu 
 
 Te rapiet hostis. Sen. Troad. 794. 
 
 , 9, upon the palaces] i. e. the flat roofs of the palaces, the 
 
 usual place of publishing events. Matth. x. 27. See Bishop 
 
 Lowth on Isai. xxii. 1. 
 
 in Ashdod] " EV AO-^O.J 6 "VMN2. Recte. ut videtur: nam 
 
 saepe o-ujoi^* cum O'l^Q: et Azoto excidium prsetlictum fiiit; c. 
 
 i. 8." Seeker. 
 . And say] I suppose this to be extra metrum. See c. yiii. 5.
 
 26 AMOS. Ill, 
 
 Gather yourselves together upon the mountains of 
 
 Samaria, 
 
 And see great tumults in the midst of her, 
 And the oppressed within her. 
 
 10 For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah; 
 They || treasure up * rapine and spoil in their 
 
 palaces. 
 
 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 
 An enemy shall encompass the land, 
 
 And shall bring down thy strength from thee; 
 And thy palaces shall be spoiled. 
 
 12 Thus saith Jehovah: 
 
 As the shepherd f taketh out of the lion's mouth 
 Two legs, or a portion of an ear; 
 So shall the Sons of Israel be J taken out, 
 Who sit in Samaria on the side of a bed, 
 And in Damascus on the side of a couch. 
 
 Or, violences. |j Hebr. Treasuring up. * Or, violence. Hebr.f rescueth. t rescued. 
 
 Samaria] The capital of the kingdom of Israel; situated on 
 a hill, and surrounded by hills. Maundrcll. p, 58. 1 Kings xvi. 
 24. Some of the versions read "in the mountain' See c. iv. 1. 
 
 1 N 1. shall encompass] Houbigant reads S'2DH: hostis cir-i 
 cumsidens, vel, circumsidebit. Perhaps SDD* circundabit ; which 
 exactly corresponds to the verb in the next line. See Syr. " F. 
 SOD Yllf. sequiter 1OJ1." Mr. Woide. Five MSS- have 2101- 
 
 12. Who sit] See c. vi. 4. Who now sit luxuriously on 
 beds and couches. Jer. xxxvi. 15. Esth. 1. 6. Harrner ii. 60, 
 endeavours to shew that the corner of a bed \vas the most ho- 
 nourable place: and by ntDQ he thinks that we may understand a 
 divan ; or a part of a room raised above the floor, and spread 
 with a carpet in the winter, and in the summer with fine mats. 
 A mattress laid on this floor might serve for a bed. * See. p. 67. 
 He also thinks that pDQl may signify something made at Da- 
 mascus, p. 67. 
 
 Damascus] This prophecy may have been delivered when 
 Jeroboam the Second was in possession, of Damascus. 2 Kings 
 xiv. 28. 
 
 Because pviyi in the Arabic version of Isai. iii. 22. is rend- 
 ered peplum, Houbigant leads us to translate, 
 Who dwell in Samaria, 
 In the extremity of a bed, and in the covering of a couch.
 
 AMOS. III. 27 
 
 13 Hear [O ye priests,] and testify to the house of 
 
 Jacob, 
 Saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts; 
 
 14 That in the day when I visit the transgressions 
 
 of Israel upon him, 
 1 will also || visit the altars of Bethel; 
 And the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and 
 
 shall fall to the ground: 
 
 15 And I will smite the winter-house 
 Together with the summer-house; 
 
 And the houses of ivory shall be destroyed, 
 And the great houses shall * have an end, saith 
 Jehovah. 
 
 Or. surely. || Hebr. visit upon. * Or, fail. 
 
 According to this conjectural rendering, the sense may be: 
 So a very inconsiderable part shall escape, who hide themselves 
 iu the most retired places of their habitations. " Professor Mi- 
 chadis observes that MS. 93 n>ads UOl, which he renders in 
 latibulo lecti: from the Arab, abdidif, occultavii." Mr. Woide. 
 
 and in Damascus] " If we suppose the word properly to sig- 
 nify the covering- of a couch, this name may have been given to 
 it because probably it was generally made of a species of silk 
 so called. pDQT in Arab, signifies the threads spun from a silk- 
 worm's thread ; and the Hebrew word may be formed from it by 
 the substitution of a connate letter." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 13. O ye priests] The Ixx and Arab, supply this: and there 
 seems to be a peculiar propriety in addressing the priests on this 
 occasion. 
 
 hosts] The word may comprehend the angelic host; the 
 sun, moon and stars, which are the heavenly host ; and the hosts, 
 or armies, of all nations; but particularly those of the Jews, 
 whom Gocl led forth to battle when his people observed his law. 
 
 14. Bethel] See I Kings xii. 29, 32. It's destruction is 
 also foretold c. v. 5. ami may be reffered to Jer. xlviii. 13. 
 
 horns] See Ps. cxviii. 27. Ex. xxvii. 2. 
 
 15. winter-house] See Jer. xxxvi. 22. 
 
 of ivory] inlaid with ivory in some parts of them. 
 
 Aw JJM.TO. nynifla, 
 
 Xct/c-8 T, )XsxTp is, yjM u%yvou, *& f\ifain;. Odyss. iv. 72. 
 
 Kon ebur, 'nequp aureum 
 
 Mea renidet in domo lacunar. Hor. Od. L. ii. xviii. 1. 
 See Harmer i. 181. and Boch. Hieroz. L. ii. xxiv. 252. 
 K
 
 1 28 AMOS. IV. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1 HEAR this word, O ye kine of Bash an, 
 That are on the mountain of Samaria: 
 
 That oppress the poor, that crush the needy; 
 That say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink. 
 
 2 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, 
 That, behold, the days shall come upon you, 
 When ye shall be taken away with f hooks, 
 And your posterity, with nets of fishes. 
 
 3 And ye shall go out at the openings, every one 
 
 at that which is before it; 
 
 J- Or, fishing instruments. 
 
 1. tlear] It should regularly be H32OU: and Houbigant sug- 
 gests that this word may have been originally written )JOL?, ac- 
 cording to Gen. iv. 23. 
 
 O ye kine of Bashan] Bashan was famous for its flocks 
 and herds. Deut. xxxii. 14. Ezek. xxxix. 18. The proud and 
 luxurious matrons of Israel may be here described. Or if the 
 reader supposes that the men of Israel are addressed, IJOU may 
 be construed with rms * TO a^nm^tn, or, according to the 
 sense; and tzamriN may be the reading, v. 2. 
 
 to their masters] Houbigant reads jirnNb : and V. Syr. 
 Ar. prw^' 
 
 " Masters, or Lords, are husbands. Gen. xviii. 12." Seeker. 
 
 2. ye shall be taken away] Literally : one shall take you 
 away. See on Jon. iii. 7- 
 
 hooks] The original word in the masculine is used for 
 thorns; but in the feminine it signifies shields. In Buxt. Lex. 
 llabb. Mi; signifies canistnnn corbis; and is equivalent to MID in 
 Hebrew, the X and ID being often changed. So that perhaps a 
 fishing-instrument may be denoted, which, like some now in 
 use, resembled a shield, or a basket, in its form. Our transla- 
 tors render hooks, from their analogy to thorns. 
 
 nets of fishers] The original word in the masculine is used 
 for thorns, and in the feminine for pots ; and the sense of hooks 
 is assumed by the English translators, as before. Perhaps the 
 prophet means vessels of fishing resembling pots, with nets an- 
 nexed to them. 
 
 Those who think that the women of Israel are understood v. 
 .1, may read in this v. pVy and DDK 
 
 3. at the openings] The apertures of the fishing instru-
 
 AMOS. IV. 29 
 
 And I will cast it forth, and will utterly destroy 
 it, saith Jehovah. 
 
 4 Go to Bethel, and transgress; 
 
 At Gilgal multiply J transgression : 
 And bring your sacrifices every morning; 
 Your tithes, every three years. 
 
 5 And burn a thank-offering of leaven, 
 
 And proclaim, publish abroad, freewill-offerings. 
 
 | Hebr. to transgress. 
 
 ment in which ye were caught. Houbigant reads CD'insm be- 
 cause Vulg. Syr. actually supply the preposition ; which in He- 
 brew is very often understood. 
 everyone] ntlM sc. r\ytl jish, 
 
 utterly destroy] Houbigant ProposesO'Qinn ; " et proji- 
 " 
 
 ciemini in sagenas." Possibly, ruainn PUTcbum, " et projiciam 
 earn perdendo earn." From Chald. Syr. we may collect OO 'Tin, 
 or 10 'in, " to the mountains of Mini or Armenia." In i>. 2, 
 3, the image is changed from that of v. 1, in the irregular east- 
 ern manner: and I suppose it continued through these two verses; 
 and not interrupted by a second transition. 
 
 4. Gilgal] See c. v. 5. That this place, which lay between 
 the river Jordan and Jericho, was the scene of idolatry, appears 
 from the contempory prophet Hosea; c. iv. 15. ix. 15. xii. n. It 
 was so called, because at that place God b^ rolled aicay the rc- 
 pioach of circumcision from the Israelites. Josh. v. 9. 
 
 years] So Q'O* sometimes signifies. Sec Ex. xiii. 10. 
 Numb. ix. 22. 1 Sam. i. 3. xxvii. 7. 2 Sam. xiv. 26. See the 
 law for offering tithes at the end of three years, Dent. xxvi. 12. 
 
 " QQ nttjVu?'? means by or on the third day without imply- 
 ing any repetition, Ex. xix. 15. Ezr. x. 8, 9. The tithes of 
 the third year were to be given by the Jews to the Levites and 
 the poor, to be eaten within their gates: Deut. xiv. 28. xxvi. 
 12: but those mentioned here were brought to the temple: and 
 the third day bears some proportion to the preceding every 
 morning; but three years do not ------- Michaelis, whom see, 
 
 understands days : and all the old versions translate so." Seeker. 
 
 5. And burn] V. 6. Syr. read D'Opl. 
 
 of leaven] Though of leaven, in contempt of the law Lev. 
 ii. 11, makes a good sense ; yet the Chaklce, by reading oono, 
 
 from violence, suggests a better sense. 
 
 proclaim] Inviting many to feast on these sacrifices. Sec 
 Spencer de leg. Hebr. L. hi. c. vii. The sense of these t\vo
 
 30 AMOS. IV. 
 
 For thus ye love to do, O ye sons of Israel, 
 Saith the Lord Jehovah. 
 
 6 And moreover I have given you 
 Cleanness of teeth in all your cities, 
 And want of bread in all your places: 
 
 And yet ye have not returned unto me, saith 
 Jehovah. 
 
 7 And moreover I have withholden from you the rain, 
 "When there were yet three months to harvest: 
 And 1 have caused it to rain upon one city, 
 And upon another city have I caused it not to rain: 
 One portion hath been rained on ; 
 
 And another portion, whereupon I have caused it 
 not to rain hath withered: 
 
 8 And two or three cities have gone 
 Unto one city 
 
 To drink water, and have not been satisfied : 
 And yet ye have not returned unto me, saith 
 Jehovah. 
 
 9 I have smitten you with blasting, and with mildew, 
 
 very much: 
 
 rer?es is : With the punishment denounced, y. 2, 3, impending 
 over you, and notwithstanding past tokens of my anger, v. i, 
 &c. ; continue to trust in your idols. A severe derision of their 
 folly and m piety- 
 
 6- And yet, &c.] A reprehension which occurs five times 
 in this chapter. 
 
 7- three months] Some understand this of the rain which 
 fell in April, three months before wheat-harvest: others think 
 that there is a reference to the snow and rains which filled the 
 reservoirs in the beginning of February. Harmer i. 40. 
 
 whereupon I have caused it not to rain] For TDQn, V. 8. 
 Ar. read TlDON. So does one MS. now; and a second read so 
 originally, and perhaps a third. This reading is therefore 
 preferable to TiDQTI. 
 
 8. or three] itfVttn. Houbigant. V. 0. But Syr. Chald. 
 omit the van* The rhyme in v. 7, 8, is prosaic : and yet the 
 use of the future for the past, and the repetition at the close of 
 V. 8, are in the poetical manner. 
 
 9. very much] Hcbr. multiplicando. See Prov. xxv. 27.
 
 AMOS. IV, 31 
 
 Your gardens, and jour vineyard, and your figtrees, 
 And your olive trees, hath the locust eaten : 
 And yet ye have not returned unto me, saith 
 
 Jehovah 
 10 I have sent among you the pestilence, after the 
 
 manner of Egypt : 
 
 1 have slain your young men with the sword, 
 And your horses have I led away into captivity; 
 And I have made the smell of your camps to come 
 
 up in^o your nostrils : 
 And yet ye have not returned unto me, saith 
 
 Jehovah. 
 Ill have overthrown some of you, like the || great 
 
 overthrow 
 
 Of Sodom and of Gomorrah; 
 And ye have been as a firebrand plucked out of 
 
 the burning: 
 And yet ye have not returned unto me, saith 
 
 Jehovah. 
 
 Hebr. Together with the captivity of your horses. |[ overthrow of God. 
 
 A good sense arises from thus changing the Masoretic division 
 of the sentence, and adding rVQin to the former clause. By 
 pointing the word differently we may render, " Your many 
 gardens, &c." 
 
 the locust] The verb an in Ar. and ^Eth. and in the Tal- 
 mudical writers, signifies " abscindere ramos arborum." See 
 Boch. Hieroz. part. ii. p. 443, 484. 
 
 10. after the manner of Egypt] See Deut. vii. 15. xxviii. 
 60. The unwholesome effluvia, on the subsiding of the Nile, 
 caused some peculiarly malignant diseases in this country. For 
 the phrase, see Gen. xix. 31. Isai. x. ?6. Ezek. xx. 30. 
 
 into your nostrils] We may read C32SJO without the ran, 
 as y. 6. Ar. Syr. Houbigant, and one MS. in which the -can is 
 erased. But Chald. has the van: "even unto your nostrils." 
 The pestilential smell of t'ie dead is meant. 
 
 11. great overthrow] See on Jon. iii. 3. and the parallel 
 places Jsai. xiii. 19. Jer. 1. 40. For the fact, see 2 Kings xiii. 3: 
 xiv. 26. 
 
 of Sodom] rw* is sometimes the sign of the genitive case. 
 See Nold. . 24. 
 
 plucked] Many MSS. read Vino here, and Zach. iii. 2.
 
 32 AMOS. IV. 
 
 12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel : 
 And because I will do thus unto thee, 
 Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. 
 
 13 For, behold, he that formeth the mountains, and 
 
 createth the wind, 
 
 And declareth unto man what if bis thought; 
 He that maketh the morning darkness, 
 And treadeth upon the high places of the earth ; 
 Jehovah, God of hosts, is his name. 
 
 12. thus] I will overthrow thee with a great overthrow, 
 Houbigant reads rrD from Chald. and renders: 
 
 Nunc autem quit faciam tibi, Israel, 
 
 Postquam tibi hae feci ? 
 
 Para te ad occursura Dei tui, Israel. 
 
 Thus will I do] " This is a common form of imprecation, im- 
 plying more than he who used it would, or perhaps could, ex- 
 press." Seeker. 
 
 13. For behold, &c.] Prepare to meet him armed with ven- 
 geance: for he is a great and powerful God. 
 
 the mountains] " Bgovniy 6. Ojnn" Seeker. 
 
 darkness] 6. Ar. Houbigant, and above twenty MSS. or 
 impressions read r&y\ : 
 
 " He that maketh the morning and the darkness:" 
 Which is a very elegant various lection, and likely to be adopted 
 by many readers. But God's power of changing day into night 
 is mentioned c. v. 8 : and in both these places there may be an 
 allusion to the black clouds and smoke attending earthquakes 
 which happen during the day. " Des nuages noirs & epais 
 sont ordinairement les avant-coureurs de ces funestes catastro- 
 phes. On a vu sortir une flamme de terre dans ces tremble- 
 mens, mais plus souvent de la fumee." Encyclop. 4to. Art. 
 trembJemens de terre. See also c. viii. 9. 
 
 and treadeth] That is, hath all power and sovereignty : 
 treading under foot the highest and strongest places. See 
 Deut. xxxii. IS.xxxiii. 29. This description of the all-powerful 
 and all knowing God is very sublime, This line is repeated 
 Mic. i. 8.
 
 AMOS. V. 33 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 1 HEAR ye this word which I * take up against 
 you : even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 
 
 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen ; she shall not f 
 
 rise again : 
 
 She is stretched out on her land ; none shall raise 
 her up. 
 
 3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah : 
 
 The city which went out by a thousand, shall 
 
 leave an hundred, 
 And that which went out by an'hundred shall 
 
 leave ten, 
 To the house of Israel. 
 
 4 Wherefore thus saith Jehovah to the house of 
 Israel : 
 
 Seek ye me, and ye shall live: 
 
 5 But seek not Bethel, 
 And go not unto Gilgal, 
 
 And pass not over unto Beersheba. 
 
 * Or, utter. t Hebr. add to rise. 
 
 1. Hear, c.] According to Bishop Lowth, Hebr. prael. 
 xxii. p. 292, this verse is a part of the rC'p, or elegy. It may 
 be divided thus: 
 
 Hear this word 
 
 Which I take up against you ; 
 
 Even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 
 
 I suppose this lamentation continued to the end of c. vi: 
 though it may be confined to v. 2. 
 
 Or, " For I take up a lamentation over you." Seeker. 
 
 2. No more rise] " The contrary seems often said, as c. ix. 
 15: even though Israel be taken as opposed to Judah. But 
 Tiy N**7 doth not signify, not for ever. Joel ii. 19." Seeker. 
 
 3. went out] 6r, sendcth forth, emittit. For Bochart 
 attributes a transitive sense to the verb in this place ; agreeably 
 to Deut. xiv. 22: and Ps. cxliv. 14: "nee sit in eis abortus, 
 nee quae ejiciat fcetum." Hieroz. L. ii. xxx. 295. 
 
 5. Gilgal] In nbj' i"6j there is an allusion to the word Gilgal. 
 
 Beersheba] It belonged to Judah : 1 Kings xix. 3 : which 
 circumstance gives a propriety to the phrase, " pass not over." 
 That it was the scene of idolatry, see c. viii. 14.
 
 AMOS. V. 
 
 For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, 
 
 And Bethel shall J come to nought. 
 
 Seek ye Jehovah, and ye shall live: 
 
 Lest he rush like fire on the house of Joseph ; 
 
 And it devour the house of Israel, and there be 
 none to quench it : 
 
 Ye that turn judgment into wormwood, and righ- 
 teousness into hemlock, 
 
 That have forsaken him who made the || Hyades 
 and Arcturus; 
 
 Hebr. shall be tor vanity. Or, advance. H r > ^ e seven stars. 
 
 nought] See Isai. xli. 29. 
 
 6. rush] Advance, come. See 1 Sam. x. 6. " Notat rr?y 
 irruere- sed cum ^y vel btt : sed pertransire cum accusative, 2 
 Sam. xix. 1 8 : ut non opus sit rescribere rvm \L'K rf?tt>' JD, " ut 
 i. 4, 7, 10." Seeker. 
 
 like fire] A strong and natural image. Thus Hector is said 
 
 tO be <pXoy< xtXo; alxw. II. 2 . 1 54. 
 
 And Horace describes Hannibal as passing through the cities 
 of Italy " ceu flamma per taedas." 
 
 the house of Israel] So 6- Ar. Houbigant: as the parallel- 
 ism of the clauses requires. One MS. reads ^wm?6. Perhaps 
 the word bfOU?' was \vr tten con traded ly W- And the best 
 way of accounting for the rendering of 6. ayyixw em, Deut. 
 xxxii. 8, is the supposition that the word VN*"N1?, in an abbrevi- 
 ated form of writing it, resembled VN, God. 
 
 7. into hemlock] U?N")V. This conjecture is supported by 
 the parallelism, and by c. vi. 12. Observe too how the verses 
 are divided in Syr: which translation furnishes authority for re- 
 moving TMil to the next verse. Doctor Durell. 
 
 8. have forsaken] See the original word Jer- xiv. 9. 
 
 the Hyades] So Vulg. Job ix. 9 : where the reader may 
 see at large Schulten's remarks on these astronomical terms. He 
 thinks that Castel's derivation of noo from Din calefacere is a 
 judicious one: but prefers the Ar. ONp, conscendit fimellam ; 
 as thus the word will import " Sidus calidum genitale." Hyde, 
 on Ulugh Beigh's tables, thinks that the Pleiades are meant. 
 There may be a reference to the spring, when the warmth of the 
 sun promotes vegetation : 
 
 Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum 
 Taurus. Virg. Georg. i. 217. 
 
 Arcturus[ So Vulg. Job xxxviii. 31. As the Arab, root
 
 AMOS. V. 35 
 
 And who turneth the shadow of death into morning, 
 And darkeneth the day into night ; 
 Who calleth the waters of the sea, 
 And poureth them over the face of the earth: 
 Jehovah [the God of hosts] is his name: 
 9 Who scattereth desolation over the strong, 
 And bringeth desolation over the fortress: 
 
 10 Ye that hate him who reproveth in the Gate, 
 And abhor him who speaketh uprightly. 
 
 11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is on the 
 
 poor, 
 
 And ye receive from him a gift of wheat ; 
 Though ye have built houses of hewn stone, 
 Yet ye shall not dwell in them , 
 Though ye have planted pleasant J vineyards, 
 
 J Hebr. vineyards of desire. 
 
 denotes segnities, torpor, this idea suits very well the cold and 
 slow car of Bootes. See 
 
 Frigida circumagunt pigri sarraca Bootge. Juv. v. 23. 
 
 into night] Several MSS. read nb'^b. And V. 6. Syr, 
 Cliald. Houbigant. But 1 must repeat that in Hebrew the 
 preposition is very often omitted. 
 
 calleth the waters] Either at the creation : or, to punish 
 men by inundations, which often attend earthquakes. 
 
 Jehovah ] 6. MS. A. Pachom. ed. Aid. and Arab, add 
 e=o; o waiToxgwuo, and read in the original niNSi* Tfrl*. Thus the 
 passage closes more grandly: 
 
 Jehovah, God of hosts, M his name. 
 
 Two MSS. read m^Stf mn. See ix. 6. " MS. Copt, reads 
 with 6. MS. A." Mr. Woide. 
 
 9. scattereth] I read with 6- J'VsCH. 
 
 bringech] The versions read Na: and many MSS. have 
 iO* These two verses are very sublime. 
 
 10. the Gate] Th.2 usual place of administering justice, 
 and of reproving and passing judgment on iniquity. Selden, i. 
 1312, has this quotation from Maimonides: In urbe qualibet 
 Israelitica constituebant Synedrium minus, cujus sedes in porta 
 urbis. See also Bishop Lowth on Isai. p. 156. " lyra TOia 
 Isai. xxix. 2 1 ." Seeker. 
 
 11. breading] Read DDDDQ. Calcare vestmm. 
 a gift] See Esth. ii. 18. Jer. xl. 5. 
 
 vineyards] These are the curses of the law. Deut. xxviii. 
 30, &c. See Mich. vi. 15. Zeph. i. 13. 
 L
 
 36 AMOS. V. 
 
 Yet ye shall not drink the wine of them. 
 
 12 For I know your manifold transgressions, 
 And your mighty sins; 
 
 Ye who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, 
 And turn aside the poor in the Gate. 
 
 13 Therefore the wise man shall be silent at that time 
 For it shall be an evil time. 
 
 14 Seek ye good and nor evil, that ye may live: 
 And so Jehovah, the God of hosts, shall be with you, 
 As ye have said. 
 
 15 . Haie ye evil and love good, 
 
 And establish judgment in the Gate. 
 
 It may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be 
 
 gracious 
 Unto the residue of Joseph. 
 
 16 Because, thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: 
 Wailing shall be in all the broad places; 
 
 And in all the streets they shall say, Alas ' Alas ! 
 And they shall call the husbandman to mourning; 
 And those who are skilful of lamentation, to wailing: 
 
 12 turn aside] Sc. from his right: unjustly overthrow 
 him in the place of judicature, c. ii. 7. 
 
 13. The wise man shall be silent] The wise and eloquent 
 shall be struck dumb by the judgments of God. 
 
 14. have said.] By your false prophets. Mic. iii. 11. 
 
 15. God] Eight MSS. omit nVV, which favours the rhyme. 
 
 16. Jehovah] The word o"W in this verse is omitted by .6 
 Ar. Syr. and seven MSS. So c. iii. 8, 13, this word is likewise 
 omitted in one MS. It is often a gloss on mn, denoting how 
 it ought to be read according to the Jewish superstition. C. vii. 
 7, 8. and c. ix. 1. many MSS. read Jehovah for Adonai. The 
 reader will often have occasion to make this remark. 
 
 husbandman] On account of the drought which shall pre- 
 vail: c. i. 2. 
 
 --skilful of lamentation] See c. viii. 3. and Jer. ix. 17. 
 " Mercede quse conducts flent alieno in funere pra-fictr." Lu- 
 cilius. Which Hor. imitates: Art. poet. 431. And Homer, 
 speaking of Hector's dead body, says, 
 
 Ilaa J iiffai civiSuf 
 
 Oi fj.ii up iSpmn cm 
 
 II. XXiv. 720,
 
 AMOS. V. 37 
 
 17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: 
 
 For I will pass through the midst of thee, saith 
 Jehovah. 
 
 18 Woe unto them who desire the day of Jehovah. 
 What is this day of Jehovah unto you ? 
 
 It/y darkness, and not light. 
 
 19 As if a man fled from a lion, 
 And a bear met him : 
 
 Or went into the house, and leaned his hand on 
 
 a wall, 
 And a serpent bit him. 
 
 20 Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and 
 
 not light ? 
 Even thick darkness, and no shining in it ? 
 
 21 1 hate, I despise your feasts; 
 
 And I will not smell on your solemn days. 
 221 Although ye offer unto me burnt-offering^ 
 
 Or. reject, 
 
 to wailing] "Read TDDQ ^Nl wi,th. V. Syr. Houbigant, and 
 Bishop Lowth Hebr. pracl. xxii. p. 293. 
 
 17. vineyards] The usual scenes of joy. 
 
 18. desire] Deriding the prophetical predictions. Jer. xvii. 
 15. Ezek, xii. 22. 
 
 19. As if, &c.] The calamities foretold are inevitable. 
 
 20. Shall not, &c.] A strong asseveration is beautifully con- 
 veyed in this question.. The 18th, 19th, and 20th verses are 
 very sublime. Darkness'is naturally put for calamity, and light 
 for gladness. So Hor. Od. iv. iv, 40. 
 
 Pulcher fugatis 
 Ille dies Latio tcnebris. 
 
 " We use light to denote knowledge: the sacred writings, 
 with no less propriety and elegance, apply it also to prosperity, 
 honour, wealth, or any kind of happiness." Tayl. pref. to cone. 
 . iv. See on Mic. vi. 14, 
 
 21. feasts] The word may also be rendered sacrifices. See 
 Ex. xxiii. 18 Mai. ii. 3. Ps. cxviii. 27. Spencer de leg. Hebr. 703. 
 
 -solemn days] Days when the people were restrained from 
 the common business of life. Deut. xvi. 8. Taylor in voc. 
 Bishop Lowth on Isai. i. 13. vid. Additions,
 
 38 AMOS. V. 
 
 And your offerings of flour, I will not accept them? 
 And the peace-otierings of your fallings 1 will not 
 regard. 
 
 23 Take thou away from me the sound of thy songs: 
 And the melody of thy viols I will not hear. 
 
 24 But let judgment roll down as waters, 
 And righteousness as a mighty stream. 
 
 25 Did ye offer unto Me sacrifices, and an offering 
 
 of flour, 
 
 In the desert during forty years, O ye house of 
 Israel ? 
 
 26 Nay, but ye bare the tabernacle of your Moloch, 
 
 22. accept them] 6. MS. Al. read V^I^IUH M**. As if 
 the text had been OnN. 
 
 fatling-s] Some think that the buffalo is meant. See Boch. 
 L. ii- xxviii. 282. 
 
 23. songs viols] The usual accompaniments of sacrifices 
 among the Jews and Heathens. 
 
 Sacrifica dulces tibia effundat modos, 
 
 Et nivea inagna victima ante aras cadat. Sen. Troad. 
 See Spencer de leg. Hebr. 1 105. 
 
 There is great authority and majesty in this passage, v. 21 
 24; and the grandeur of the image with which it closes must 
 strike every reader. 
 
 24. let judgment] " Rather, judgment shall. See Isai. 
 xxviii. 27." Seeker. 
 
 25. Did ye offer unto Me] Verborum emphasis in MIHI sita. 
 Spencer, 744. Did ye offer such sacrifices as were acceptable 
 to ME; such entire and undivided service as I enjoined? 
 
 Did ye offer ] " Peters on Job, p. 312, thinks that they 
 are not here reproached with a neglect, which Moses would not 
 have suffered, and that probably they had no cattle to sacrifice : 
 and that therefore Jeremiah, when "he saith, vii. 22, 23, God 
 commanded not sacrifice when they came out of Egjpt, means 
 that he did not immediately expect it : and that this question 
 is here asked to shew that sacrifice is not the chief thing he is 
 pleased with; but that, notwithstanding their offering it, their 
 injustice, v. 24, and their idolatry, t'. 26. will provoke him to 
 send them into captivity." Seeker. 
 
 26. Nay but, &c.] God is introduced as replying: No: ye 
 sometimes carried about Moloch in his sacellum, v^x.^, shrine, 
 or tabernacle. The true reading seems to be CD^Q, See c. i. 15,
 
 AMOS. V. 39 
 
 And the star of your God Chiun; 
 
 Your images which ye made unto yourselves. 
 
 6. and Ar. omit the pronoun : and Syr. has nSjVo. See also 
 Acts vii. 43. Perhaps MS. 575 reads OD^O. Moloch, or Mal- 
 chom, was probably the name of any famous king worshipped 
 by the heathens. But Spencer thinks that it was oitenest given 
 to the sun. Selden and Grotius observe, that Saturn was thus 
 called by the Phenicians, See Spencer 360. 
 
 the tabernacle] " The Carthaginians carried in their 
 camp ?a ITJWHV, which was placed near the altar in their 
 camp : Diod. Sic. 1. 20. c. 65 : with which Wesseling there 
 compares this tabernacle; as he might also have done Moses's." 
 Seeker. 
 
 And the star] I have ranged the words as in 6. and Acts vii. 
 43. Their collocation in the Hebrew is unnatural, and points 
 out a mistake in the copies : 
 
 Nay, but ye bare the tabernacle of your Moloch, 
 And Chiun, your images, the star of your God 
 Which ye made to yourselves. 
 
 MS. 612 places the words thus: Chiun your God the star 
 [of~\ your images. 
 
 the star] " Probably the figure of a star fixed on the head 
 of an image of a false God. Drusius on the place quotes the 
 following passage from a Greek scholiast: Erat fimulachrum. 
 Moabitarum cum gemma pellucida et eximia in summa fronte ad 
 figuram Luciferi." Doctor Forsayeth. " I incline to think 
 that the sin here reproved was not the sin of the Israelites in the 
 wilderness, but of those who lived in the time of the prophet. 
 In the former verse God appeals to them by the prophet whe- 
 ther he did not bear with them forty years in the wilderness, 
 notwithstanding their many provocations, although they did not 
 during that time offer sacrifices or other offerings, excepting on 
 particular occasions. In the verse following this, he denounces 
 his judgments on them for their abominable idolatry, notwith- 
 standing their burnt offerings and their meat offerings, their 
 hymns and songs in his praise." Doctor Forsayeth. 
 According to this sense we should render, 
 Ye have even borne the tabernacle of your Moloch, &c. 
 Chiun] That this was a name for Saturn, see Spencer de leg. 
 Hebr. p. 666 : who discusses the place before us at large. The 
 God may have been represented as a star, with .certain 
 symbols of distinction. See Selden ii. 396. See also Camp. 
 Yitringa obs. sacr. 1, ii. c. 1. p. 233. 4to. The reading of :?jw
 
 40 AMOS. VI. 
 
 2? Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity 
 
 beyond Damascus, 
 Saith Jehovah, the God of hosts is his name. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1 Woe unto them that dwell at ease in Sion, 
 
 And that rest .secure on the mountain of Samaria: 
 That are named after the chief of the nations: 
 
 in 6. and of -P^IV, va^, -Pafav, ???, -PS?*, Acts vii. 43, whore 
 the MSS. vary, may be accounted for two ways: JVD may have 
 been read p )ta ), there being a similarity in the two initial letters: or 
 liephan, the Egyptian name for Saturn, may have been used 
 by translators, who lived in Egypt, as an equivalent term to 
 Chiun. See the authors already referred to: and Hammond on, 
 Acts vii. 43. 
 
 Hfos-xvyfty in Acts seems supplied by way of interpretation: and 
 one MS. for BaSAwrof reads Aa^c-x* as Justin Martyr did, accord- 
 ing to Beza. The /Eth. version omits the last clause, K< MJTOIXKO 
 
 t/fxa; nriKum BajSt/Awvoe, ill V. 43, 
 
 27. beyond Damascus] To' which city it seems probable 
 that Hazael carried many captives. 2 Kings x. 32, 3. But now 
 the Israelites were to be led away captives into Assyria an4 
 Media. 2 Kings xv. 29. xvii. 6. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1. mountain] Samaria was situated on a mountain. I 
 Kings xvi. 24. 
 
 named after] The Hebrew word implies an allusion to the 
 custom of marking a name, or character, by punctures. See 
 Bishop Lowth on Isai. xliv. 5. They call themselves, not after 
 their religious ancestors, but after the chief of the idolatrous na- 
 tions; with whom they intermarry, contrary to their law. See 
 Chald. But this and the next line are very obscure. " 2p3 
 n<>i Justinus : f. ex A." Seeker. 
 
 Aq. 
 
 *' Persons of name in, or the known ones, rro!?S "Dp3 *)UN% 
 of die principal of the nations; and to whom the house of 
 Israel come i. e. for justice, and to pay court. See Ps. cxxii. 4, 
 5. Comp. Numb. 1. 16. own nwt* Geii. vi. 4. O'lJ) is 
 used of Amalek, Numb. xxiv. 20. n'UN'l principal of, v. 6." 
 Seeker. 
 
 I do not find that 3p3 ever signifies to give or take a
 
 AMOS. IV. 41 
 
 And to them the house of Israel resort. 
 
 2 Pass over unto Calneh, and see : 
 
 And go from thence to the great Hamath : 
 And go down to Gath of the Philistines, 
 Are they better than these kingdoms ? 
 Or is their border greater than your border ? 
 
 3 Who unto them that remove far from them theevil day, 
 And hasten the seat of violence : 
 
 4 That lie upon beds of ivory, 
 
 The participle is six times rendered expressed byname : that is, 
 particularly distinguished by being expressly called over, by 
 name. Numb. i. 17. 1 Chr. xii. 31. xvi. 41. 2 Chr. xxviii. 15. 
 xxxi. 19. Ezr viii 20, None but men of note seem to have 
 been thus distinguished. This inclines me to believe that we 
 should render, ' who are expressed by name' i. e. the noted and 
 distinguished persons even * of the chief of the nations." Dr. 
 Forsayeth. 
 
 house] Syr. and one MS. read '33 sons. 
 
 resort] Sc. for idolatrous and o.her illegal purposes. See 
 the former part of Hosea, vii. 8. and Ps. cvi. 3 5. 
 
 2. Calueh] A city in the region of Babylon; Gen. x. 10: 
 and, as it seems, lately subdued by the Assyrians. " Sequor 
 Bochartum, qui libro iv. c. 18 erudite et copiose clisputavit 
 Calneh Ctesiphontem esse, pagum antiquissimum et nobilissi- 
 mum ad Tigrim, in ea Assyria; parte qiue Cbalonitis dicitur, 
 nomine quoque regionis nomini Hebraico urbis concinente." 
 
 I. D. Michaelis spicilegium geographise* 
 
 Goettingae 1769. pt 230. 
 
 Hamath] A Syrian city on the Orontes. It was conquered 
 by Jeroboam: 2 Kings xiv. 25: and by the Assyrians: xix. 13. 
 Gath] Uzziah, in whose reign Amos prophesied, took 
 this citv- 2 Chron. xxvi. 6. 
 
 better greater] Why then do ye worship their Gods? 
 and why are ye not grateful to Jehovah? 
 
 3. remove far] In their own idea and expectation; not- 
 withstanding the divine forewarning. See e. ix. 10. Ezek. xii. 
 22, 27. 
 
 hasten] Anticipate the day of oppressive judgment, and 
 bring it forward with delight in. their own minds. See rou L 
 Kings x. is. 2 Chron. ix. 18. " Confer nnn ND3 Ps. xciv. 
 20." Seeker. Or; that wish for the sabbath, to commit vio- 
 lence on men unprepared to resist it. See Syr. 6.
 
 42 AMOS. VI. 
 
 And stretch themselves upon their couches; 
 
 That eat lambs from the flock, 
 
 And calves from the midst of the stall : 
 
 5 That sing to the sound of the viol ; 
 
 That, like David, invent for themselves instru- 
 ments of music : 
 
 6 That drink wine in bowls, 
 
 And anoint themselves with the || first ointments: 
 But are not pained at the * destruction of Joseph, 
 Therefore now shall they go into captivity with 
 '> the first that go into captivity; 
 
 SKh-'.'t-' II ^ r choicest. * Hebr. breach. 
 
 ' ^&> ' '' 
 
 *. 'i--stall;j Bochart, Hieroz. ii. xxxi. 304, shews that the 
 Original word'denotcs vincuhim colli: and that the prophet means, 
 *f36Jiulum .qui -in vinculis grana triturat, et eorura esu pinguescit." 
 --sing]- Bochart says that jD~>D signifies " cantiones suas 
 vocibus tninutim concisis et sono vibrante et frequentato canere. 
 Uncle illud Horatii; Grataque foeminis. 
 
 imbelli cithara carmina divides. Od. i. xv." He derives 
 the vwr&.burd ; from this root. Geogr. 666. 
 
 -- Viol] *H va$X, JiuJtxa ifdayya; tinsel, tot; &*x7;Aoi; xcfT. JoS- Ant. 
 
 vii. xii. 3.- 
 
 as David] V. Syr. Boch. Hieroz. ii. xliv. 464: and Bishop 
 Lowth on Isai. p. 49, agree with our translators in joining this 
 with the latter clause of the sentence. The construction in the 
 Hebrew is uncertain. Syr. reads THDV 
 
 6. bowls] This has a reference to the magnificence of the 
 repast. Harmer i. 379. 
 
 " Ai-jx.3-jUEvov OMI. t Drink bowls of wine' may be right : for 
 nnD hath 3 after it, Prov. ix. 5 : and the Hebrew is not favour- 
 able to the translation in the text. But if any Hebrew word an- 
 swered to 6. I should prefer it." Seeker. 
 
 anoint themselves] Horacp has, perfusus Hquidis odori- 
 bus. Od. i. v. 2. Archbishop Seeker thinks that we should 
 render, " And perfume themselves with the chief perfumes." 
 As our translation, though literal, gives a different idea from 
 what it did formerly, ix Sermons, p. 68. 
 
 h. 
 
 destruction] Literally, breac 
 Hor. Od. i. xxxv. 
 
 7. the first] u>fO refers to JWN1 in the foregoing verse: 
 and there is paronomasia in ID and OTTDD.
 
 AMOS. VI. 43 
 
 And the banquet of those that stretch themselves 
 shall pass away. 
 
 8 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself, 
 Saith Jehovah the God of hosts: 
 
 I abhor the excellency of Jacob, 
 And I hate his palaces': 
 
 Therefore will 1 deliver up the city, with f all that 
 is therein. 
 
 9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain 
 Ten men in one house, that they shall die. 
 
 10 And a man's relation, and he that burneth him, 
 
 shall take him up, 
 
 To carry the bones out of the house: 
 And shall say to hirh that is in the J innermost part 
 of the house, Is there yet any with thee ? 
 
 f Hebr. its fulness. J sides. 
 
 " If nno is rightly translated banquet, it must, I believe, be 
 a funeral banquet, as Jer. xvi. 5, 8 : and the sense must be the 
 same with that of Jeremiah : that they who now indulged in all 
 manner of luxury should not be burned with the usual funeral 
 rites." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 8. saith Jehovah, &c.] 6. Ar. and one MS. omit this line. 
 
 I abhor] Read nynO- 
 
 the excellency] The power to which I have raised Jacob 
 in his descendcnts. See c. viii. 7. 
 
 excellency of Jacob] " Pride: 6. Vulg. Syr. Sanctuary. Ch. 
 It means the temple, or Zion, Ps. xlvii- 4- The sanctuary is 
 called ODry jiw, speaking to the Jews, Ezek. xxiv. 21. God 
 swears by 21pj; J1NJ here viii. 7. bfOUJ' |1NJ occurs Hos. v. 5. 
 
 and vii. 10, and is translated the pride of Israel. Babylon was 
 Is. xiii. 19." Seeker. 
 
 deliver up] Or, shut up. Samaria was besieged three 
 years by Shalmaneser. 2 Kings xvii. 5. 
 
 9. die] By famine, or pestilence, during the siege. 
 
 10. he that burneth him] Many MSS. read 1D"H!O- " Vi- 
 detur legendum VTDDQ1 et lugens eum. Sed alibi non extat TDD 
 in Pihel. Kings had burnings made for them of spices: Jer. 
 xxxiv. 5. 2 Chr. xyi. 14: but whether any bodies were burnt 
 I doubt." Seeker. 
 
 M
 
 44 AMOS. VI. 
 
 Ami he shall say, There is none. Then shall he 
 
 say, Be silent. 
 Because they set not themselves to mention the 
 
 name of Jehovah. 
 
 11 Surely, behold, Jehovah will command, 
 And will smite the great house with breaches, 
 And the small house with clefts. 
 
 12 Do horses run on a rock ? 
 Doth a man plough it with oxen ? 
 
 For ye have turned judgment into hemlock, 
 And the fruit of righteousness into wormood : 
 
 13 Ye that rejoice in a thing of nought ; 
 
 Thai say, Have we not taken to ourselves * do- 
 minion by our own strength ? 
 
 Htbr. horns. 
 
 Be silent] The original word is irregular, and formed to ex- 
 press the idea. 
 
 to mention] Sc. in prayer, or with the reverence due to 
 him, T-'?nb So Judges i. 19. For he [Joshua] did not set 
 himself to drive out, &c. See 2 Chron. ii. 8. ed. Vanderh. ). 
 ad. 22. xii. 12. xix. 2. Ezra ix. 15. x. 12. Esth. vii. 8. Amos 
 viii. 4- The phrase is entire, 2 Chron. xxvi. 5 .urn 1 ? *rn K<U m i*nwi 
 $. And again Deut. xxxi. 17. See Nold. b* 44. Obs . p. 414- 
 
 This obscure verse seems to describe the effects of famine 
 and pestilence during the siege of Samaria. The carcass shall 
 be burnt, and the bones shall be removed with no ceremony of fu- 
 neral rites, and not without the assistance of the nearest kinsmen. 
 Solitude shall reign in the house: and if one is left, he must 
 lent [See c viii. 3.] and retired, lest he be plundered of his beamy 
 provisions. 
 
 11. breaches clefts] Universal ruin shall k: 
 through the city by the euemy. Or the earthquake may be 
 alluded to. 
 
 12. Do horses ] The sense may be, The earth shall be 
 under you as a solid rock for barrenness, in consequence of the 
 drought which I shall send as a punishment for your iniquities. 
 The futures in the original have a frequentative sense. The 
 force of the first line depends on the circumstance thai horses 
 were not anciently shod. See Bishop Lovvth on Isai. v. 28. 
 
 a thing of nought] Your idols, which are nothing. 1 Cor. 
 viii. 4. 
 
 dominion] Horns naturally stand for power, as the great
 
 AMOS. VII. 45 
 
 14' Surely behold I will raise up against you, O house 
 
 of Israel, 
 
 Saitli Jehovah, the God of hosts, 
 A nation ; and they shall oppress you 
 From the entering in of iiamath to the river of 
 
 the desert. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 1 THE Lord Jehovah thus shewed unto me : and 
 behold he formed locusts in the beginning of the 
 shooting tip of the hitter growth: and, behold,' it 
 
 2 was the latter growth after the King's mowing. And 
 
 strength of some animals is placed in them : and they may 
 anciently have been the hicroglyphical symbol of it. For it has 
 been justly observed that hieroglyphics may have been a source 
 of metaphors in the ancient eastern languages. 
 
 14. Hainath] The:e was a city of this name in the northern 
 part of the tribe of Nephtalim. 
 
 --river of the desert] El'sewhere. called the river of Egypt, 
 because it was in the way to that country. Numb, xxxiv. 5: i. e. 
 Besor, which emptied itself into the sea not far from Gaza, and 
 was the southern limit of the tribe of Simeon. 
 
 The Assyrians are the invaders prophesied of. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 1. locusts] Bochart derives y\$ from the Arab. N23 e lerra 
 cmergcre ; quod locustarum proprium. Hieroz. part ii. iv. 1. 
 443. Castel on the word 21J furnishes another root, the Arab. 
 2iO secuit. OU, which is the reading of many MSS. is formed, 
 says Houbigant, as .!? capti-citij, and signifies agmen locusta- 
 runi. The true reading may be SU the locust, collectively: or 
 OO1J written contractedly '"niJU 
 
 mowings] The falling of fain upon JJ, which we render 
 mown grass, is mentioned Ps. Ixxii. 6. But here we may un- 
 derstand the mowing of too luxuriant corn: the first cutting of 
 which might be for the use of the King's horses, kept in great 
 numbers contrary to the law of Moses. The second growth of such 
 corn was called wpb, and the eating of this by locusts was fatal 
 to the crop. See Buxt. lex. Cbalcl. et Rabb. voc. NnrTO, the 
 word here used by the Chaldee paraphrast. The leader may 
 also consult Harmer, ii. 4G6 : who thinks that what we translalc 
 mowing may signify feeding down, 
 
 Luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba. Virg. 
 Houbigant translates, postquam tonsi fuerunt regis greges.
 
 46 AMOS. VII. 
 
 it came to pass, when they had made an end of 
 eating the herb of the land, that I said; O Lord Je- 
 hovah, pardon, I beseech thee. Who shall raise up 
 
 3 Jacob ? for he is small. Jehovah repented of this. 
 It shall not be, said Jehovah. 
 
 4 The Lord Jehovah thus shewed unto me: and, 
 behold, the Lord Jehovah called to a judgment by 
 
 5 fire. And devoured the great deep. And it de- 
 voured a part ; and I said, O Lord Jehovah, cease, 
 I beseech thee. Who shall raise up Jacob? for he 
 
 6 is small. Jehovah repented of this. This also shall 
 not be, said the Lord Jehovah. 
 
 7 Thus he shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord 
 stood upon a wall made by a piumbline : and in his 
 
 8 hand was a piumbline. And Jehovah said unto me, 
 What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A piumbline. 
 And the Lord said: 
 
 Behold, 1 ztill set a piumbline in the midst of my 
 people Israel : 
 
 2. -^shall raise up] V. 6. Ar. Syr. Houbigant, and one MS. 
 read D'p': which is also the true reading, i>. 5. 
 
 small] Reduced to a low state. 
 
 3. It shall not be] Sc. iTpin, as Isai. xiv. 24. xliii. 19. Ixv. 6. 
 repented] To affect the mind of the prophet, and by him 
 
 that of the people, God displays different judgments, and shews 
 his clemency by forbearing to execute them on the intercession 
 of Amos : it being his sole intention to represent these modes of 
 punishment, and not to inflict them. 
 
 deep] The waters of the sea. Exod. xv. 5, 8. 
 
 7. he shewed] V. 6. Ar. and one MS. supply Jehovah : 
 agreeably to v. 1. MS. A. and 0. 4. MS. Vat. and c. viii. 1. MS. 
 A. And I think that it should be admitted into the text. 
 
 the Lord stood] 6, MS. A. Pachom. ed. Aid. am* wws. 
 and rw is wanting in one MS. 
 
 8. What seest thou ] This is said to raise the prophet's at- 
 tention. 
 
 a piumbline] The word denotes tin in Syr. and lead or tin 
 in Arab. I will destroy and level Israel, as it were by a line. 
 See 2 Sam. viii, 2. 2 Kings xxi. 13. Isai. xxviii. 17. xxxjy, 
 11. Lam. ii. 8.
 
 AMOS. VII. 47 
 
 I will not || pass through them any more. 
 9 And the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate; 
 And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste : 
 And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam 
 with the sword. 
 
 10 Then Amaziah, priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam 
 king of Israel, saying : Amos hath conspired against 
 thee in the midst of the house of Israel : the land is 
 
 11 not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith . 
 Jeroboam shall die by the sword ; and Israel shall 
 surely go into captivity out of their own land. 
 
 12 Then Amaziah said unto Amos : O thou Seer, 
 go flee thou away into the land of Judah, and eat 
 
 13 bread there, and there prophesy : but * prophesy 
 not any more against Bethel ; for it is the King's 
 sanctuary, and the temple of the kingdom. 
 
 14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah : 
 
 I was no prophet ; 
 ^either was I the son of a prophet : 
 
 fj Hebr. add to pass. * add not to prophecy. 
 
 I will not pass through them ] So c. viii. 2. I will 
 make a full end: I will not pass through my people, as Judge 
 and Avenger, any more. Ex. xii. 12. c. v. "l7. I will not pu- 
 nish them by locusts, or by the fire of lightning or of earth- 
 quakes; but by hostile desolation and captivity. 
 
 9. Isaac] I believe the true reading hear and v. 16. to be 
 prti*'. Comp. Ps. cv, 9. 1 Chron. xvi. 16. and observe that in 
 the psalm ten MSS. read prrc (! 7. 
 
 with the sword] See 2 Kings xv. 8 10. xvii. 5, &c. 
 
 10. bear] See Jer. x. 10. The people are not able to en- 
 dure, or support them, through the indignation which they 
 conceive at them. 
 
 1 1 . Jeroboham] Or, metrically : 
 Jeroboham shall die by the sword; 
 
 And Israel shajl surely be led away captive out of their own 
 
 land. 
 
 13. against] So 6. Arab. 
 Bethel] See c. iv. 4. v. 5. 
 temple] So Beth-el signifies; the house or temple of God*
 
 48 AMOS. VII. 
 
 But I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of syca- 
 more-fruit. 
 
 1J And Jehovah took me from f following the flock; 
 And Jehovah said unto me, 
 Go prophesy unto my people Israel. 
 
 16 Now therefore hear the word of Jehovah: 
 Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, 
 
 And drop not thy icord against the house of Isaac. 
 
 17 Therefore thus saith Jehovah : 
 
 Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city ; 
 
 And thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the 
 
 sword : 
 
 And thy land shall be divided by line: 
 And thou shalt die in a nolluted land; 
 And Israel shall surely go into captivity out of 
 
 their own land. 
 
 f Hebr. from after. 
 
 14. a herdsman] " Vidcturlegendum lp13. C i. 1- 2 Reg. 
 iii. 4." Seeker. 
 
 a gatherer] EMPX. Aquila. ttfo, says Buxt. lex. Chald. &, 
 Rabb. responclet frequenter in Targum Hebraco UDn scrutari. As 
 the substantive in Arab, and yEth. signifies a fig } Bochart sup- 
 poses that the verb may mean, Jicana, sycaminans, i. e. colen*. 
 Hieroz. L. ii. xxxix. p. 384. See Cels. Hierobot. i. 318. " Gr. 
 Kj.f*y, quod Hesychius explicat Kn-rwi u--t ymrfai m^u. Sycamori 
 enim, inquit Hieron. agrestes afterunt ficus, quae si non velli- 
 centur ainarissimas caricu'.as faciunt, & a culicibus corrumpun- 
 tur. Et Dioscorides 1. 'l : Fert. fructum, inquit, qua* non nia- 
 turescit nisi vellicetur ungue vel ferro." Jo. Heinr. Michaclis. 
 Biblia. Halae. Archbishop Seeker refers to this note, and aiicl>; 
 *' Etiam hodie Gra.'ci culices pungendis ficubus adhibcnt, V. 
 Tournefortii itin. apud Miller voc- ficus" 
 
 sycamore-fruit] A kind of fig. Celsius. 
 
 16. drop] Metaphorically for to speak, to instruct. It is 
 equivalent to prophesying: Exek. xx. 4u. xxi. 2. as well as here. 
 See Job xxix. 22, 3. Micah ii. 6, 11. and Pocock on Micah 
 ii. (5. 
 
 ' 17. polluted] A foreign land. Ezek. iv. 13: Hos. ix- 3. 
 Or, in the land of Israel polluted by blood. 
 
 And Israel] A repetition of Amaziah's words, r. 11.
 
 AMOS. VIII. 49 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 1 THE Lord Jehovah thus shewed unto me : and, 
 
 2 behold, a basket of late summer-fruits. And he 
 said, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A 
 basket of late summer-fruits. Then said Jehovah 
 unto me ; 
 
 The latter end is come upon my people Israel : 
 I will not J pass through them any more. 
 
 3 And the singing-women of the palace shall howl 
 
 in that day, 
 
 Saith the Lord Jehovah. 
 
 Tliere shall be many dead bodies in every place: 
 And men shall say: Cast forth, be silent. 
 
 4 Hear this, O ye that bruise the needy, 
 
 And set yourselves to make the poor of the land to 
 fail: 
 
 5 Saying: 
 
 When will the new moon be gone, that we may 
 
 sell corn? 
 
 And the sabbath, that we may set || forth wheat ? 
 * Making the ephah small, and * making the 
 
 shekel weighty; 
 And f falsifying the deceitful balances: 
 
 + Hebr. add to pass. Or, cease. |j open. * to make, 
 
 f to pervert the balances of deceit. 
 
 1. a basket] Kxae> Symm. *yy^ 6. Arab, p vas. Chald. 
 
 There is a paronomasia in V'p late summer-fruits, and Vp the 
 latter end. 
 
 " Harvest, or vintage, expresseth judgment: Joe), hi. 13. 
 Mr. Lovvth." Seeker. 
 
 3. the singing women] I adopt Houbigant's reading: 
 nnvfl, cantatices. 
 
 cast forth] iiQN*? is understood, as frequently. 
 be silent] See c- vi. 10. 
 
 4. bruise] Read CD'Sl^. See c. ii. 7. 
 
 to make &c.] See c. vi. 10. Read nOtL'pfr to cause to cease, 
 that is, to cut off, to destroy. See Hos. i. 4. Dene ere facitis. V. 
 5.~-new moon] See Numb. x. 10. xsviii. 11. 
 set forth] Open our repositories of wheat for sale,
 
 5 AMOS. VIII. 
 
 J Buying them that are brought low for silver, 
 
 And the needy in return lor sandals : 
 
 And selling the refuse of wheat. 
 7 Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob ; 
 
 || Surely I will never forget all their deeds. 
 S Shall not the land be shaken for this? 
 
 And shall not all mourn that dwell therein ? 
 
 And shall not all of it rise up as the river; 
 
 And be driven out of its place, and sink down,, 
 
 as the river of Egypt? 
 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 
 Saith the Lord Jehovah, 
 
 That 1 will cause the sun to go down at noon, 
 
 And will darken the land in the bright * day. 
 
 J Hebr. to buy. that we may sell. || If I will forget foiever. * day of light 
 
 6. buying] His labour, or his person. See on c. vi. 10. 
 for the construction. 
 
 sandals] See c. ii. 6. 
 
 7. excellency] By the state of exaltation to which he 
 raised Jacob and his posterity. Or, By Jacob's most Eminent 
 and incommunicable One. J. Mede. fol. p. 8. 
 
 8. be shaken] See c. i. 1. 
 
 as the river] Five MSS. read "INO ; two read so originally; 
 and perhaps three more. And six MSS. and one edition read 
 *NND. So c. ix. 5. eleven MSS. and five editions read TiK'D. 
 That the Nile was called the river, by way of eminence, see 
 Prael. Hebr. xxiv. p. 325. On ^N" Gussetius observes, " Radii 
 lucis e luminari, ut e fonte suo rivi, exeunt. Quapropter & no- 
 men alterum ex altero effictum stispicor." In Cast. lex. I find 
 that the Arabic word 'IS* signifies fudif. 
 
 and be driven out] " nimiil non agnoscunt 6- nee habetur 
 c. ix. 5. qu. an tiTtf an ytf." Seeker. The word is wanting in 
 MS- 96: and MS. 154 reads njnin. 
 
 sink down] Sixteen MSS. read with Keri nyptWV See c. 
 ix. 5. The rising and falling of the ground with a wave-like 
 motion, and its leaving its proper place and bounds on occasion 
 of an earthquake, are justly and beautifully compared to the 
 swelling-, the overflowing, and the subsiding of the Nile. " Le 
 mouvement qu'elles impriment a la terre est tantot une espece d* 
 undulation semblable a celle de vagues." Encycl. 4to. vid. 
 treinblement de terre.
 
 AMOS. VIII. 51 
 
 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, 
 
 And all your songs into lamentation : 
 
 And I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, 
 
 And baldness upon all heads : 
 
 And I will make it as a mourning for an only son; 
 
 And the end thereof as a day of bitterness. 
 1 1 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, 
 
 That I will send a famine on the land ; 
 
 Not a famine of bread, 
 
 Nor a thirst for water, 
 
 But of hearing the words of Jehovah. 
 12 And men shall wander from the wes fern-sea. to the 
 eastern-sea, 
 
 And from north to south shall they run to and fro, 
 
 cause to go down] Houbigant prefers the reading of 
 Chald. Tltt^rim, and 1 will hide. That this passage may be 
 understood literally see c. iv 13. It may also be interpreted 
 metaphorically, of changing a prosperous and joyful state into 
 an adverse and mournful one. 
 
 10. baldness] See Bishop Lowth on Isai. xv. 2, and Jer. 
 vii. 29, xlvii. 5. xlviii. 37. Job i. 20. 
 
 'A; xa 
 
 Sapph. Epigr. H. Steph. 229. 
 Non mihi te licuit lacrymis pertundere justis, 
 In tua non tonsas ferre sepulchra comas. 
 
 Ovid Epist. Canace. 115. 
 Planxere puellae 
 Naiades, et sectos fratri imposuere capillos. 
 
 Metam. iii. 506. 
 
 it thereof] mnfi, this matter, this event, may be un- 
 derstood. If we supply VW the land, ^M* may be a participle: 
 And I will make it as one that mourneth for an only son : 
 And the end thereof as a day of bitterness. 
 Nunc & amara dies, et noctis amarior umbra est. 
 
 Tib. 1. ii. iv. 11. 
 
 11, the Lord] V, 6. Ar. Syr. omit nt*. 
 
 ~ of hearing] See Ezek. vii. 26. In the calamity which 
 shall befall Israel, there shall be no prophet to direct them. 
 
 12. to south] The Hebrew is, " from sea to sea," i. e. 
 from the Mediterranean to the dead sea, or, from west to east : 
 " and from north to east." It is plain that there must have been 
 
 N
 
 32 AMOS. IX. 
 
 To seek the word of Jehovah ; and shall not .find it. 
 
 13 In that day shall the fair virgins, 
 And the young men, faint for thirst: 
 
 14 Who svveiu* by the sin of Samaria; 
 And say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth; 
 And the -f worship of Beersheba liveth: 
 
 And they shall fall, and shall not lise up again. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 1 I Saw the Lord standing upon the altar ; and he said: 
 Smite the upper-lintel, that the door-posts may 
 shake. 
 
 f Hebr, way. 
 
 a mistake of transcribers, though neither version*, paraphrase, nor 
 MSS. remove it. Houbigant proposes, p -ty CD'Q, from the 
 western sea to south, and from north to east. It seems more 
 natural to adopt the word }C', and likewise to think that a trans- 
 position has taken place: 
 
 rr\iD 11; D'Q \yy\ 
 
 Eight MSS. instead of iy road Tin. And a transcriber's eye 
 might more easily mistake, if each of the transposed clauses be- 
 gan with the same three letters. 
 
 13. for thirst] From being forsaken by Jehovah: accord- 
 ing to v. 1 1, 12. The pause is at nSD^JTin. 
 
 14. worship] Hebr. KY/J/: i. e. religious way. Acts xix. 
 9. 6. have o 0*0; <. and it is well conjectured that they read "pit 
 thy rock. " Reponenda vox aliqua quod numen tuitni signincat. 
 Jsescio an "p3: nam ID et Tiu; idem: Ps. Ixix. 32. vitulus autc-m 
 Israelitarum 1W n':nn cvi. 20. Remotius est jms. Conf. Gen. 
 xxxi. 53. Putat Lowth ITT notare cultum: Hos. x. 13: nbi vide 
 notam. Sed vix puto n de cultu usurpari; sed neque de vitulo 
 fusiii." Seeker. 
 
 A iron 
 
 Zn rctif]a,. SC. vc/u*^. 
 
 Soph. Antig. 465. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 1. upon the altar] " Or over, or by." Seeker. 
 
 the upper-lintel] The upper part of the door-frame in 
 the temple, which bound the whole together: so called because 
 adorned with knops of pomegranates. This vision denotes the 
 breach and ruin of the kingdom of Israel: and the earthquake 
 may really have produced the effect mentioned.
 
 AMOS. IX. 53 
 
 For I will J wound them in the head, even all of 
 
 l hem : 
 
 And their posterity will I slay with the sword. 
 He that fleeth of them, shall not flee away ; 
 And lie that escapeth of them, shall not escape 
 
 into safe tii, 
 
 If they dig down to the grave, 
 Thence shall mine hand take them: 
 And if they climb up to heaven, 
 Thence will I bring them down : 
 And if they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, 
 I will search for them, and thence will I take 
 
 them out: 
 And if they hide themselves from mine eyes in 
 
 the bottom of the sea, 
 There will I command the serpent, and it shall 
 
 bite them: 
 
 And if they go into captivity before their enemies, 
 There will 1 command the sword, and it shall slay 
 
 them : 
 
 And I will set mine eyes upon them 
 For evil, and not for good. 
 
 For the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts, 
 
 J Or. cut. Hebr. from before. 
 
 I will wound] Houbigant reads JZ3i'i'2.S"] : and this, or 
 
 HiflQI, is necessary, 
 
 head] This corresponds to the upper-lintel in the forego- 
 ing line. " U7N1 seems to be the front, as 2 Chron. xx. 27. 
 Mich. ii. 13. nnn.v the rear." Seeker. 
 
 flee flrwTj/J Observe in 6. ctayuyv and haewQi. 
 
 3. top of Carmel] Which may have abounded in caverns. 
 See Bishop Lowth on Isai. ii. 19. 
 
 the bottom] The Arabic root in Cast. lex. signifies loco 
 piano incessit. 
 
 There See O'tfQ in Noldius. 
 
 serpent] " Serpentes in aquis degunt." Boch. Hieroz. i. 
 iv. 26. 
 
 Immensis orbibus angues 
 Incumbunt pelago, pariterque ad littora tendunt. 
 
 Virg. JEn. ii. 204-,
 
 54 AMOS. IX. 
 
 Is he who toucheth die earth, and it shall melt; 
 And all that dwell therein shall mourn ; 
 And all of it shall rise up, as the river, 
 And shall sink down, as the river of Egypt. 
 
 6 He buildeth his upper-chambers in the heavers; 
 And his storehouse, he fonndeth it on the earth: 
 He calleth the waters of the sea, 
 
 And poureth them over the face of the earth : 
 Jehovah [the God of hosts] is his name. 
 
 7 Are ye not to me as the sons of the j| Ethiopians, 
 
 || Hebr. Chusites. 
 
 5. melt] See Ps. xcvii. 5. The frame of nature is dis- 
 solved before him. An allusion to the earthquake. 
 
 as the river] See c. viii. 8. The prophet repeats this lively 
 image; as his mind was strongly impressed with the dreadful 
 effects which the earthquake would produce. 
 
 6. upper-chambers] Ennius, as quoted by Lively, has 
 Crenacula maxima coeli. Harmer remarks, from Jer. xxii. 13, 
 14, that the chief and most ornamented apartments in the King's 
 palace were upper rooms : and that the chief-rooms in the houses 
 of Aleppo at this day are those above, v. i. 174. " im'tyQ. Hie 
 tantum coenaculum notat. Videtur legendum vnvby, ut Ps. civ. 
 3, 13. Praecedit Mem." Seeker. 
 
 storehouse] The verb in Chald. signifies collegit: and in 
 Arab, jormx firm<e compaginis. Houbigant agrees with Ca- 
 pellus in rendering it penus, apothecu. rrm " fasciculus, sarci- 
 nula, apotheca qua sarcinse reponuntur." Vid. Cap. & Houb. 
 There may be an allusion to repositories in the lower parts 
 of houses, or to such as were sometimes dug in the fields. Jer. 
 xli. 8. Est in Africa consuetude incolarum, ut in agris, & in 
 omnibus fere villis, sub terra specus, condendi frumenti gratia, 
 clam habeant. Hirtius ; quoted by Bochart P. ii. L. 'iv. xxi. 
 
 Jehovah] We may collect from 6. Ar. Syr. that this line 
 should be lengthened by adding OVTPt, TYiKDtf, or niNS^ Tl^N*. 6. 
 MS. Pachom. read x f 3v c wwlcxgaTKg. See on C. v. 3. 
 
 The power and sure vengeance of the Deity are very sub- 
 limely described in this and the four preceding verses. 
 
 7. Ethiopians, or Chusites] Chus was the son of Ham. Gen, 
 K. 6. And that the Chusites inhabited a part of Arabia Petrsea 
 and Felix is shewn by Bochart. geogr. sacr. 213, and by Cal- 
 met: Diet, in voc. See Numb. xii. l. compared with Ex. ii. 
 16. 2 Chrori. xxi. 16. Ezek. xxix. 10. Hab. iii. 7. They were, 
 says Bochart, a powerful but despised nation.
 
 AMOS. IX. 55 
 
 O sons of Israel, saith Jehovah ? 
 
 Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, 
 
 And the Philistines from Caphtor, and * Syria 
 
 from Kir? 
 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah ar$ upon 
 
 the sinful kingdom ; 
 
 * Hebr. Aram. 
 
 the Philistines] Axxafi/xot, as 6. often translated the word : 
 and the root in Sam. and fiLth- denotes a stranger, an emigrant. 
 See Cast. lex. 
 
 Caphtor] Bochart contends that this is Cappadocia. But 
 Calmet with more reason thinks it Crete. It is called N Jer. xlvii. 
 4 : though I believe that this word sometimes signifies the sea coast 
 of a remote continent. See on Zeph ii. 11. And these people 
 are called Cherethim, 1 Sam. xxx. 4. Ez. xxv. 16. Zeph. ii. 5. 
 Bochart sa}'s that the sea-coast of Palestine had this name. Geog. 
 p. ii. i. xv. But it may have been given it, because it was a 
 Cretan Colony. That both these and the Cretans were excel- 
 lent archers, See Boch. ib. and Cast. lex. in voc. " Sunt non 
 pauca sacra scripturae loca in quibus D"N insulas significare ne- 
 queunt. Gen. x. 5. Jer. xx. 6. xxiii. 2, 6. xlii. 15. Ixvi. 19. 
 Jer. xxv. 22, Ez. xxxix. 6. Verbum Arab. 'IN habitare signi- 
 cat. Jam ergo 'N regio habitata. Hanc hJbemus tanquam ge- 
 neselogiam significationum. 1. habitationes, mansiones, i. c. re- 
 giones. 2. regiones earum gentium quae Hebraeis Pha?nicibusque 
 barbarae erant. 3. regiones transmarinse. 4. hospitia maris, sue 
 portus. 5. insulae. I. D. Michaelis spicilegium geographic." 
 Goettingse. MDCCLXIX. 4to, 
 
 Kir] Aram, from whom Syria had its name, was the son 
 of Sliem. Gen. x. 22. Part of his posterity settled in Aram 
 Naharaim, or Mesopotamia. And that a part anciently settled 
 in Kir, (whether a city of the Medes, Isai. xxii. 6, "or some 
 other of this name,) we learn from the passage before us. See 
 Boch. Geogr. p . 293. 
 
 The sense seems to be : Trust not in your ancestors, who 
 were so highly favoured by me. Your vices have made you 
 vile in my sight. Trust not in my deliverance of you from the 
 land of Egypt. Other nations have been transplanted into fer- 
 tile countries, as well as you; and particularly your neighbour- 
 ing enemies. 
 
 8. sinful kingdom] God destroyed many sinful kingdoms 
 by the Assyrians: "but the kingdom of Israel seems here to be 
 meant.
 
 56 AMOS. IX. 
 
 And I will destroy it from off the face of the earth. 
 Vet 1 will not utterly destroy 
 The bouse of Jacob, saith Jehovah. 
 9 For, behold, I will command, 
 
 And I will sift the house of Israel among all the 
 
 nations, 
 
 As one that sifteth corn with a sieve : 
 And a grain shall not fall upon the ground. 
 
 10 But all the sinners of my people shall die by the 
 
 sword, 
 
 Who say, Evil shall not draw near, nor come f 
 suddenly, on our account. 
 
 11 In that day I will raise up the fallen tabernacle 
 
 of David, 
 
 And I will J close up the breaches thereof: 
 And I will raise up its ruins, 
 And I will build it as in the days of old: 
 
 f Or, surprize, or, pi event vs. J Or, repair. 
 
 9. sift] Or shake together, and toss to and fro, so as 
 completely to mingle. 
 
 one that sifteth] For the idiom see on Jon. iii. 7. " Pro- 
 test excidisse in ante vel post n~QD2. Sola Vulgata/rufttenftifg 
 habet." Seeker. 
 
 a grain] One signification of the Arabic root in Cast. lex. 
 isfrustmm rei: iSth sense. 
 
 Though I will thus mix the Israelites with distant nations, 
 yet there shall be a general restoration of them to their own land. 
 
 10. all the sinners] The most secure and presumptuous 
 sinners of the Israelites shall fall by the sword. 
 
 1 1. - day] When I prevent a grain from perishing. Acts 
 xv. 16, " In that da}" is changed into ^TO. TH-^O, aTa.-ftjl xa* awi- 
 x^o/uwcu is an Hebraism equivalent to, e l will raise np, i. e. I will 
 build again. The second hemistich, '< And I will close up the 
 breaches thereof," is omitted. K<W a9j9*sw ai/ is a rendering of 
 n7Y33l : and the two following words Ezabiy QO, as in the days 
 of old, are omitted. 
 
 tabernacle] Elegantly, for the kingdom of David. 
 
 breaches thereof] Read with V. 6. Ar. and Houbigant 
 ninp : and again rvniTDm. See the collated MSS. for the in- 
 sertion of the former > and of the second l in this latter word.
 
 AMOS. IX. 37 
 
 12 That the residue of men may seek Jehovah, 
 And all the heathen who are called by my name; 
 Saith Jehovah who doeth this. 
 
 13 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, 
 
 That the plongher shall draw near to the reaper; 
 And the treader of grapes, to the sower of the seed : 
 
 Hebr, over whom my name is called. 
 
 12. men] The true reading is DfN, according to 6. Arab. 
 Acts xv. 17. some MSS. of Syr. and Eusebius. See Kenn. 
 diss. gen. . 67. 81. 
 
 seek Jehovah] The Alexandrine MS, of 6. has ow; m, and 
 rov KVDIOV: as Acts Xv. 17: and Ar. has inbtf KV~M. The 
 Alcline ed." of 6. and MSS. Pachom. have a**; wfrnauGi ^ : 
 and thus discover how the genuine reading has been lost. In 
 the present text m remains : the Aldine represents TIN: and this, 
 written 'M nN contractedly, was substituted for nwntt: See on. 
 Jon. i- 2. 
 
 doeth this] There is good external authority Acts xv. 17. 
 for omitting irv7a. 
 
 On the restoration of the Jews after their captivity, the Mes- 
 siah came, and the Gentiles [or the rest of mankind besides the 
 Jews] were admitted into his church: and on the future grand 
 restoration of the Jews, the borders of the Christian church will 
 be enlarged among the Gentiles. Rom. xi. 12, 15. 
 
 13. draw near to] It is a lively way of expressing that the 
 harvest and vintage should be copious and long in gathering. 
 Professor Michaelis observes that 0. MS. A. Ar. and Syr. 
 make this passage parallel to Lev. xxvi. 5. " The threshing 
 shall reach unto the vintage." He proposes to read ims unil 
 triturans vindemiatorem, giving um the Arabic sense terere\ con- 
 terere." Mr. Woide. I prefer iyn2 U'Ti: Assequatur tritura 
 vindemiam: or "^"DIi unn : Assequatur triturans vindemiatorem. 
 Harmer thinks that the perfect quiet and freedom from disturb- 
 ances in the country are also implied. The corn and grapes 
 shall not be gathered in a state of immaturity, from fear of 
 enemies, i. 90. 
 
 sower] Literally, the drawer forth of the seed out of the 
 basket. 
 
 mountains hills] These were the proper places for vine- 
 yards. 
 
 A pert os 
 Bacchus amat colles. Vir. Georg. ii. 112.
 
 58 AMOS. IX. 
 
 And the mountain shall drop sweet wine j 
 And all the hills shall melt. 
 
 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my peo- 
 
 ple Israel ; 
 And they shall build the desolate cities, and shall 
 
 inhabit them ; 
 And they shall plant vineyards, and drink the 
 
 wine thereof; 
 They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit 
 
 thereof. 
 
 15 And I will plant them upon their land ; 
 And they shall no more be rooted up 
 From the land which I have given them, 
 Saith Jehovah thy God. 
 
 sweet wine] From the trodden grape. See Harmer i. 386. 
 Or, expressed from rich fruits. See Cantic.- viii. 2. We have a 
 parallel line Joel iii. 18. 
 
 melt] They shall flow, as it were, with the abundance of 
 wine produced on them. Joel iii. 18. 
 
 14. vineyards] See the contrast c. v. 11. 
 
 the fruit thereof] Read with Houbigant and fourteen 
 MSS. p'-iD. 
 
 15. plant] This image is beautifully taken up from the 
 foregoing verse. 
 
 no more] This part of the prophecy will receive its com- 
 pletion on the future restoration of the Jews to their land. 
 
 thy God] 6. Ar. read DTI'JN: which seems preferable, 
 One MS. read so originally, " Saith the God Jehovah."
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 H O S E A. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 ^ 1 HE word of Jehovah which came to Hosea, the 
 son of Beeri, in the days of Uzsiah, J otham, Ahaz, 
 
 1. in the days] If we suppose that Hosea prophesied du- 
 ring the course of sixty-six years, and place him from the year 
 790 before Christ to the year 724, he will have exercised his 
 office eight years in the reign of Jeroboam the second, thirty- 
 three years in the reign of Uzziah, the entire reigns of Jotham 
 and Ahaz, and three years in the reign of Hezekiah : but will 
 not have survived the taking of Samaria. 
 
 Hosea is concise, sententious, and abrupt. It is his manner 
 to omit the connexive and adversative particles; an observation 
 which we should recollect when we observe them occasionally 
 supplied by versions or manuscripts. These are among the 
 causes of that obscurity for which he is remarkable: but the 
 greatest difficulties arise from the corrupt readings which de- 
 form the printed text. 
 
 He chiefly addresses Israel ; but introduces frequent men- 
 tion of Judah. He not only inveighs against the vices of the 
 people, but sharply arraigns the conduct of their kings, princes, 
 and priests. Like many of the Hebrew prophets, he tempers 
 denunciations of God's vengeance against an idolatrous and 
 vicious people with promises of abundant mercies in stoie for 
 them : and his transitions from one of these Subjects to the 
 other are rapid and unexpected. 
 
 He abounds with short and lively comparisons: and, like the 
 best Greek and Roman writers, often omits the particle of 
 similitude. These comparisons he sometimes accumulates; in 
 the spirit of that poetry which is most admired. See c. vi. 3, 4. 
 ix. 10. xi. 11. xiii. 3. xiv. 5, 6, 7. 
 
 He has often a great force of expression. See c. i. 7. ii. 3, 
 18, 21, 22. iv. 2. vi. .5. xi. 4, 1. 1. xii. 1, 1. 1. 
 
 He is sometimes highly animated. See c. iv. 14. v, 8. viii. 
 1. ix. 5, 14. xiii. 10, 14. 
 
 Many beautiful passages occur in this prophet : as in the si- 
 milies throughout: in the allegories c. ii. 2. 20: c. vii. 11, 12, 
 c. viij. 7, 1. 2, 3, 4. c. x. 11, 12, 13, c. xiii. 15: in the pa- 
 
 o
 
 GO HOSEA. 1. 
 
 and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; and in the days of 
 Jeroboam, the son of Joasb, king of Israel. 
 
 2 The beginning of the word of Jehovah by Hosea. 
 And Jehovah said linto Hosea: 
 
 Go, take unto thee a wife of fornications, and 
 
 children of fornications : 
 For the land hath committed great fornications in 
 
 departing from Jehovah. 
 
 3 And he went and took Corner, the daughter of 
 Diblaim : and she conceived, and bare him a son. 
 And Jehovah said unto him: 
 
 thos: c. xi. 3, 1. 1, 2. -and v. 8. 9: in the figures: c. xiii. 12. 
 xiv. 2, 1. 5. 
 
 There are also some parts which are truly sublime: as c. v. 
 14, 15. viii. 7, 1. 1. x. 8, 1. 2. 3. xiii. 7, 8. 
 
 2. by Hosea] Or, to Hosea: as 6. MS. Al. Syr: and as 
 S is used c. xii. 6. But perhaps, in the passage before us some 
 translators read b. " By or to. Numb. xii. 1 6." Seeker. 
 
 a wife of fornications] A wife from among the Israelites, 
 who are remarkable for spiritual fornication, or idolatry. God 
 was, as it were, an husband to Israel ; and this chosen nation 
 owed him the fidelity of a wife. See Ex. xxxiv. 15. Deut. 
 xxxi. 16. Judg. ii. 17. Isai. liv. 5. Jer. iii, 14. xxxi. 32. Ez. 
 xvi. 17. xxiii. 5, 27. c. ii, 5. See also Rev. xvii. 1, 2. He 
 therefore says witb indignation: Go, join thyself in marriage to 
 one of those who have committed fornication against me : and 
 raise up children who, by the power of example, will themselves 
 swerve to idolatry, c. v. 7. 
 
 for the land ] I may justly use this language. For the 
 land hath committed, or committeth, &c. " For the land is 
 perpetually playing the wanton, forsaking Jehovah." min rur. 
 to whore whores. This construction, in which the finite verb 
 is connected with its own infinitive, for the most part expresses 
 the perpetual repetition of the action, as a matter of daily 
 practice and habit. 
 
 " Buxtorf's distinction, that when the infinitive is put first, 
 tbis construction expresses the greater certainty and evidence of 
 the thing; but when the infinitive follows, the continuance and 
 frequent practice, seems to me to have no foundation. I think 
 that, in either position of the infinitive, greater certainty, or 
 greater frequency may be expressed, as the subject matter may 
 require." Horsley.
 
 HOSEA. I. Gl 
 
 4 Call his name Jezreel : 
 
 For yet a little while, and I will * visit 
 The blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu : 
 And I will make the kingdom of the house of 
 Israel to cease. 
 
 5 And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 
 That I will break the bow of Israel in the valley 
 of Jezreel. 
 
 6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. 
 And God said unto him : 
 
 Call her name Lo-ruhamah, or> Not-having ob- 
 
 tained-mercy. 
 For I will no f more have mercy on the house of 
 
 Israel ; 
 But I will surely take them away, 
 
 * Hebr. Or, avenge, or punish. f I will not add any more to have 
 
 4. Call his name ] This is agreeable to the genius of a 
 people used to significant and prophetic names. Such, among 
 many others, were Japhet, Abraham, Juclah, Joshua, Jerubbaal, 
 Jud. vi. 32, Solomon. 
 
 the blood of Jezreel] Not Jehu's vengeance on Ahab's fa- 
 mily : see 2 Kings x. 30 : but his acts of cruelty while he re- 
 sided at Jezreel ; a city in the tribe of Issachar, Josh. xix. 18, 
 where the kings of Israel had a palace. 1 Kings xxi. 1. 
 
 And I will make] I will also cut off the kingdom of Israel by 
 the Assyrians. See v. 6. But some say that the text expresses 
 the ceasing of the kingdom of Israel from the house of Jehu: 
 2 Kings x. 30 : a prophecy fulfilled 2 Kings xv. 10. 
 
 in the valley of Jezreel] Here it is probable that a re- 
 markable defeat from the Assyrians was sustained. Or, here 
 the death of king Zechariah, the fourth lineal descendent of 
 Jehu, may have happened. 2 Kings xv. 10. 
 
 6. And God said] Syr. and 6, MS. Pachom. supply the Lord: 
 NHQ: KVJI-. So again v. 9, 
 
 no more have mercy] The Hebrew phrase may be va- 
 ried: am, as Isai. viii. 5. nm 1 ?, as Amos vii. 13, DmNI, 
 as Judg. xi. 14. Esth. viii. 3. and Orntt as Prov. xxiii. 35. 
 Isai. xlvii. 1. lii. 1. There is an allusion to the names in this 
 v. and in v, 9. 1 Pet. ii. 10. Rev. x. 25. " Not beloved." " For 
 I will no more cherish with tenderness the house of Israel, inas- 
 much as to be perpetually forgiving them." Horsley.
 
 62 HOSEA. I. 
 
 7 Yet on the house of Juclah will I have mercy, 
 And I will save them by Jehovah their God ; 
 And I will not save them by bow, nor by sword, 
 Nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. 
 
 8 And she weaned her that was called Lo-ruhamah, 
 
 9 or. Not-having. obtained mercy $ and conceived, and 
 bare a son. And God said : 
 
 Call his name Lo-Ammi, or, Not-my-people. 
 For ye are not my people ; 
 And 1 will not be your God. 
 10 Yet shall the number of the sons of Israel be as 
 
 the sand of the sea, 
 
 Which cannot be measured nor numbered : 
 And it shall come to pass that y in the place where 
 
 it was said unto them, 
 Ye are J NOT-MY-PEOPLE, 
 There shall it be said unto them, Ye areTHE-soNS- 
 
 OF-THE-LIVING-GOD. 
 
 J In Hebr. Lo-Ammi, 
 
 7. have mercy] For a longer time. 
 
 by Jehovah] This prophecy is very strongly expressed : 
 and was fulfilled 2 Kings xix. 35. 
 
 Nor by battle] " Nor in war by horses." D. Wheeler. " 6. 
 MS. A. ed. Aid. and vers. Copt, add ^ *." Mr. Woidc. 
 
 And I will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle; 
 
 Nor by chariots, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. 
 
 9. your God] In the Hebrew there is no word for God : 
 nor is it supplied by the ancient versions-, the Chaldee para- 
 phrase, or MSS. And yet the structure of the sentence most 
 clearly requires it. Houbigant ingeniously conjectures that ths 
 true reading is, CD'rrVtf; whence C3~h 7W*, consisting of the 
 same letters ; and whence the present reading. Compare Lev. 
 xxvi. 12. Jer. xxiv. 7. xxx. 22. xxxi. 33. xxxii. 38. Zech. 
 viii. 8. Hebr. viii. 10. 
 
 10. Yet ] God will restore them from the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity. 
 
 -^-measured] Horace calls Archytas, 
 
 maris et terrse numeroque carentis arenae 
 Mensorem. 
 
 was said] Or, is said. Sc. in their own country; where 
 God by his prophet used, [or now uses,] this language.
 
 HOSEA. I. G3 
 
 l.l And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall 
 
 be gathered together, 
 And shall appoint to themselves one head, 
 And shall come up out of the land : 
 For great shall be the day of Jezreel. 
 
 11. one head] Zerubbnhel. After the return from Babylon, 
 the distinction between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah ceased. 
 
 land] Whither they were dispersed. 
 
 of Jezreel] Here is an allusion to the etymology of the 
 Word, God will sow : Isai. Ixv. 9 : or, God will plant : Isai. xvii. 
 10. Great will be the day when God reinstates his people iu: 
 their land. Sec c. ii. 22, 23. 
 
 << It has been long disputed whether the marriage of the pro- 
 phet was a real transaction, or passed in vision only. I have 
 indeed no doubt, that it was a real occurence in the Prophet's 
 life, and the beginning of his prophetical pareer. I have no 
 doubt, that he was really commanded to form the connection ; 
 and that the commandment, in the sense in which it was given, 
 was really obeyed. But this is, in truth, a question of little 
 importance to the interpretation of the Prophecy. For the act 
 was equally emblematical, whether it was real or visionary only. 
 And the signification of the emblem, whether the act were done 
 in reality or in vision, will be the same. The readiest and surest 
 way therefore of interpreting the prophecy will be to consider 
 the . mbiematical act as really performed. 
 
 " The woman being the emblem of the whole Jewish race, 
 the several descriptions, or parts of the nation^ are represented 
 by the children, which she bore in the Prophet's house. These 
 children represent certain distinct parts or descriptions of the 
 Jewish nation, of the whole of which the Mother was the em- 
 blem. Of these three children the eldest and the youngest 
 were sons : the intermediate child was a daughter. The names 
 imposed upon the children, by God's direction, sufficiently 
 declare what particular parts of the Jewish nation were severally 
 represented by them. The name of the eldest son was b^JTH' 
 Jczriici; compounded of the nouns jTir (seed) and ^N (God): 
 the initial being merely formative of the proper name, as in in- 
 numerable instances. (3pS/ f from 2pl'.) The import therefore 
 of the name is * Seed of God.' 
 
 " All the Jewish people that were not Jezracl, those who 
 were not Israel, though they were o^' Israel, are typified by the 
 two other children. The first of these, the daughter, was called
 
 64 HOSEA. I. 
 
 Lo-ruhamah. The sex of the child is the emblem of weakness; 
 and the name Lo-ruhamah therefore signifies ' unbelovecl,' or 
 * unpitied.' This daughter, Lo-ruhamah, typifies the people of 
 the ten tribes in the enfeebled state of their declining monarchy, 
 torn by intestine commotions and perpetual revolutions, har- 
 rassed by powerful invaders, impoverished by their tyrannical 
 exactions, and condemned by the just sentence of God to utter 
 excision as a distinct kingdom, without hope of restoration : for 
 so the type is explained by the Holy Spirit himself. 
 
 " The child, conceived after Lo-ruhamah was weaned, must 
 typify the people of the kingdom of Judah, in the subsequent 
 periods of their history. Or rather this child typifies the whole 
 nation of the children of Israel, reduced, in its external form, 
 by the captivity of the ten tribes, to that single kingdom. 
 
 " In the different treatment of the house of Judah and the 
 house of Israel, we see the prophecy hitherto remarkably verified. 
 After the excision of the kingdom of the ten tribes, Judah, 
 though occasionally visited with severe Judgments, continued 
 however to be cherished with God's Love, till they rejected 
 our Lord. Then Judah became Lo-ammi ; but still continues to 
 be visibly an object of God's Love, preserved as a distinct race 
 for the gracious purposes of Mercy. The prophecy contained 
 in the tenth verse, clearly promises their conversion and restora- 
 tion to their own land. They shall unite in one confession, and 
 in one polity, under one king, Christ the Saviour, 
 
 I will visit the blood of Jezriiel upon the house of Jehu." 
 
 " Jezrael, the mystical name of the Prophet's son, must be 
 familiar to all who are conversant in the Holy Scriptures, as the 
 name of a city in the tribe of Issachar, and of a valley or plain, 
 in which the city stood: the city, famous for its vineyard, 
 which cost the rightful owner, the unfortunate Naboth, his 
 life; and, by the righteous judgment of God, gave occasion to 
 the downfall of the Royal House of Ahab : the plain, one of the 
 finest parts of the whole land of Canaan ; if we may judge from 
 the partiality of the Kings of Israel for the spot, who all fixed 
 their residence in one or other of its numerous cities. Modem 
 expositors, entirely forgetting the Prophet's son, have thought 
 of nothing in this passage but the place; the city, or the plain. 
 A mistake into which perhaps they have the more easily fallen, 
 by reason of the explicit mention of the place at the end of the 
 subsequent verse. But if the word Jezrael be taken here as the 
 name of a place, the threat of * avenging, or visiting, upon the 
 house of Jehu the blood of Jezrael,' will signify, that the family 
 of Jehu was to be punished for blood shea by Jehu, or by hie 
 descendants, in that place.
 
 HOSEA. I. 65 
 
 " Jehu himself shed the blood of Ahab's family, With an un- 
 Sparing hand, in Jezrael. But this was an execution of the judg- 
 ment, which God had denounced by his prophet Elijah against 
 the house of Ahab, for the cruel murder of Nabotll. And it 
 may justly seem extraordinary, that this should be mentioned 
 as a crime of so deep a dye, as to bring down vengeance upon 
 Jehu's house. He was specially commissioned by a Prophet 
 * to smite the house of Ahab his master to avenge the blood of 
 the Prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah, at 
 the hand of Jezabel.' And it appears that he acted through 
 the whole business with a conscientious regard to God's com- 
 mands, and a zeal for his service: insomuch, that when the work 
 was completed, he received the express approbation of God; 
 and the continuance of the sceptre of Israel in his family, to the 
 fourth generation, was promised as the reward of this good and 
 acceptable service. And it cannot be conceived, that the very 
 same deed, which was commanded, approved, and rewarded, 
 in Jehu, who performed it, should be punished as a crime in 
 Jehu's posterity, who had no share in the transaction. 
 
 " For these reasons, I am persuaded, that Jezrael is to be ta- 
 ken in this passage in its mystical meaning; and is to be un- 
 derstood of the persons typified by the Prophet's son the holy 
 seed the true servants and worshippers of God. It is threaten- 
 ed, that their blood is to be visited upon the house of Jehu, by 
 which it had been shed. The princes descended from Jehu were 
 all idolaters. And Idolaters have always been persecutors of the 
 true religion. In all ages, and in all countries, they have per- 
 secuted the Jezrael unto death, whenever they have had the 
 power of doing it. The blood of Jezrael, therefore, which was 
 to be visited on the house of Jehu, was the blood of God's ser- 
 vants, shed in persecution, and of infants shed upon the altars of 
 their idols, by the idolatrous princes of the line of Jehu. And so 
 the expression was understood by St. Jerome and by Luther. 
 
 " Though this prophecy relates to the devout part of the natural 
 Israel, it is capable of a larger meaning, comprehending all of every 
 race and nation, who, by the preaching of the Gospel, are mads 
 members of Christ and the children of God. All these are a seed 
 of God, begotten of him, by the spirit, to a holy life, and to 
 the inheritance of immortality. The words Ammi and Ruhamah', 
 and their opposites, Lo-ammi and Lo-ruhamah, are capable of 
 the same extension; the two former to comprehend the converted, 
 the two latter the unconverted Gentiles. Accordingly, we find 
 these prophecies of Hosea cited by St. Paul [Rom. ix. 24.] to 
 prove, not the call of the Gentiles solely, but the indiscriminate 
 call to salvation both of Gentiles and Jews." Horsley.
 
 GG HOSEA. H, 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 SAY ye unto your brethren, MY-PEOPLE; 
 And unto your sisters, || HAVING-OBTAINED-MERCY* 
 
 2 Plead ye with your mother, plead : 
 For she is not my wife, 
 
 Neither am I her husband : 
 
 And let her put away her fornications from * her, 
 
 And her many adulteries from f her breasts : 
 
 3 Lest I strip her naked, 
 
 And set her as in the day when she was born ; 
 And make her as the desert, 
 And set her as a land of drought, 
 And kill her with thirst ; 
 
 In Hebr. Ammi. || Ruhamah. * from before. } from between. 
 
 1. Say ye ] To avert my judgments, threatened c. i. G, 9. 
 exhort each other to be worthy of appellations opposite to those 
 prophetic ones before denounced against the sons and daughters 
 of Israel, c. i. 6, 9. So act, that ye may truly say unto &c. 
 " Although the Israelites in the days of Hosea were in general 
 corrupt, and addicted to idolatry, yet there were among them, 
 in the worst times, some who had not bowed the knee to Baal. 
 These were always Ammi and Ruhamah ; God's Own People, 
 and a darling Daughter. God commissions these faithful few 
 to admonish the inhabitants of the land in general, of the dread- 
 ful judgments that would be brought upon them by the gross 
 idolatry of the Jewish Church and Nation." Horsley. 
 
 2. Plead ] Enter, as it were, into a forensic contest with 
 your mother, the house of Israel; disavow her proceedings, 
 and publicly protest against them. 
 
 many adulteries] The original word may be considered as 
 a frequentative one. 
 
 3. Lest I ] See Bishop Lowth's note on Isai. iii. 17. Lest 
 I cause her to be exposed to such ignominy as brutal conquerors 
 sometimes inflict: Ex. xvi, 39. xxiii. 26 : and lest I reduce her 
 to the most extreme want. More tlian fifty MSS. or editions 
 read nTKlfl for nmifl. It is observable that tbe punishment of 
 an adulteress among the Germans is tfius described by Tacitus: 
 Accisis erinibus nudatam coram propinquis expellit dorno mari- 
 tus. Tac. de mor. Germ. . 18. 19. 
 
 as the desert] 5. MS, *A1. and Pachora. have ,- i&w
 
 HOSEA. If. 67 
 
 4 Neither have mercy on her sons, 
 Because they are the sons of fornications. 
 
 5 For their mother hath committed fornication ; 
 She that conceived them hath caused shame : 
 For she hath said, I will go after my lovers, 
 Who give me my food and my water, 
 Mvwool and my flax, mine oil and my strong drink. 
 
 6 Therefore behold I will hedge up her way with 
 
 thorns, 
 
 And I will close up her enclosure ; 
 That she shall not find her paths. 
 
 7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but shall 
 
 not overtake them* 
 
 5. strong drink] So Doctor Wheeler. See Ps. cii. 9. Seven 
 MSS. read ipttn. The word may come from Ipu appetere. See 
 Houbigant. Or from its Hiphil form pu?n rcdundare: mine 
 abundance. All rny sustenance, Chald. Whatever I require or 
 want. 6. Ac Syr. 
 
 6. her way] Read nDYT with 6. A. and Houbigant. " fi'DTT 
 her ways, so Syr." Horsley. 
 
 with thorns] See Prov. xv. 19. and the note on Mic. vii. 4. 
 
 her enclosure] jVVtt, the n being understood as a pronoun. 
 A stone fence. " Ttt is properly maceria. A low wall of loose 
 stones, laid one upon another, without any cement or mortar. 
 Such enclosures are very common at this day in Gloucestershire, 
 and other parts of this island, where quarries of the stone, fit 
 for the purpose, abound." Horsley 
 
 shall not find] This refers to the Assyrian captivity. 
 
 her paths] " /rflTin are paths worn by the feet, often pas- 
 sing and repassing upon the same line. I think that here the 
 word signifies gaps in a bramble hedge, or stone fence, made by 
 clambering over repeatedly at the same place. The text alludes 
 to a double enclosure, an inner fence of loose stones, a bramble 
 Jiedge on the outside: both damaged and broken in many 
 places. The hedge is to be made: the stone fence repaired; 
 the gaps in both closed; and all made so firm and strong, that 
 it will be impracticable to find any way out. This enclosure is 
 an admirable image of national difficulty, and distress, from 
 which no human policy, or force, can extricate." Horsley. , 
 
 7. follow after] 'in her mind. For some time she shall re- 
 main addicted to her Egyptian and Syrian idols, an/I to all her 
 
 P
 
 f>* HOSKA. II. 
 
 And she shall seek them, but shall not find them. 
 Then shall she say: 
 
 J will go J again to my former husband j - 
 For then wan it better with me than now. 
 
 S And she knew not 
 
 That I gave unto her 
 Corn, and choice wine, and oil : 
 And the silver which I multiplied unto her, 
 And the gold, they offered unto Baal. 
 
 9 Therefore, will 1 turn, and take away 
 
 My corn in its time, and my choice wine in its 
 
 season : 
 
 And I will take a\vay my wool and my flax, 
 That it may not cover her nakedness. 
 
 J Hebr. and return, The coin, and the choice wine, and the oil. 
 
 former idolatrous and immoral practices: but without carrying 
 her evil wishes into execution. 
 
 8. choice wine] So called because \m it possesses, or in- 
 ebriates. It was the first expressed juice of the grapes; or that 
 which ran off of itself, from the weight of the clusters laid on 
 each other. See Cast. lex. 
 
 they offered] " Confer 2 Ckron. xxiv. 7." Seeker. 6. 
 Ar. read rmttj? or nntt?y: She offered, or consecrated: but the 
 number may be changed, as it often is. 
 
 Baal] A name which, according to Servius, the Tyrians 
 gave both to Saturn and to the Sun. Boch. Geogr. 663. It 
 signifies lord; and may be a general term for false gods and 
 lords. Seew. 13. 
 
 Dr. Wheeler renders : 
 
 And that I multiplied to her the silver 
 And the gold, which they wrought for Baal. 
 Therefore will I again take away &c. 
 
 Snn Forte Qnai : sed aurum habent omnes interpretes. rt 
 Scker. 
 
 9. not cover] I read with 6. Arab, and Houbigant rpD3Q. 
 " I think this 9th verse speaks of calamities already begun, and 
 the 10th describes the progress and increase of them. It appears 
 from all the prophets, and particularly from Amos and Joel, 
 that the beginning of judgment upon the refractory, rebellious 
 people was in unfruitful seasons, and noxious vermin, producing 
 a failvyre of the crops, dearth, murrain of the cattle, famine, 
 and pestilential diseases." Horsley.
 
 IIOSEA. II. 69 
 
 10 And now I will disclose her vileness in the sight 
 
 of her lovers ; 
 And none shall deliver her out of mine hand. 
 
 11 And I will cause all her joy to cease; 
 
 Her feast, her new-moon, and her sabbath,, and 
 all her solemn assemblies. 
 
 12 And I will destroy her vine and her figtree ; 
 Of which she said, These arc mine hire 
 "Which my lovers have given me : 
 
 And I will make them || a forest : 
 
 And the beasts of the field shall eat them. 
 
 13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, 
 Wherein she burnt incense unto them; 
 
 And decked herself with her * ear-rings, and her 
 
 f jewels, 
 
 And went after her lovers, 
 And forgat me; saith Jehovah. 
 
 14 * Notwithstanding, behold, I will allure her, 
 
 And will lead her to the desert, 
 
 || Hebr. for a forest. * car-ring. ( jewel, 
 
 12. her vine] " I cannot but think the words pH and 
 
 are used here, by a synecdoche, for plantations of vines and 
 fig-trees. Certainly it cannot be said of a single tree, that it is 
 laid waste or made a forest." Horsley. 
 
 mine hire] Israel atiributed her fruitful seasons to her false 
 gods. 
 
 13. Baalim] There were different idols worshipped under the 
 name of Baal : as Baal-berith, Baal-zebub, Baal-peor. 
 
 ear-rings] An ornament either for the ear or nose. The 
 latter was worn in the left nostril. See the figure of the Ganges 
 in Dow's history of Indostan. v. i. p. Ixxvii. 4to. 
 
 jewels] The original word is from >bn Arab, ornavit moni- 
 libus. See Cast. lex. 
 
 14. Notwithstanding] See Noldius . 6. and Pocock in loe. 
 
 allure her] Or persuade her. Though the word commonly 
 signifies, to inveigle, to deceive; it may be used, by an easy 
 metaphor, in a good sense. 
 
 to the desert] From the distant countries, to which she 
 was led captive, I will safely conduct her home through the 
 desert.
 
 70 HOSEA. II. 
 
 And will speak J kindly to her. 
 
 15 And from thence will I give her her vineyards, 
 And the valley of Achor for a door of hope: 
 And there shall she sing as in the days of her youth, 
 And as, in the day when she came up from the 
 
 land of Egypt. 
 
 16 And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 
 Saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call me, MINE 
 
 HUSBANI> 
 
 And thou shalt no more call me [| MY BAAL, [or, 
 Lord,] 
 
 17 For I will take the names of * Baalim out of her 
 
 mouth ; 
 
 + Hebr. to her heart. Ishi. |j Baali. * Or. Baals. 
 
 15. thence] Sc. From the desert. 
 
 valley of Achor] This most fertile valley lay to the north 
 of Jericho, not far from Gilgal ; and the restoration of it was 
 an earnest of future blessings. Compare Isai. Ixv. 9, 10. 
 " The Vale of Achor, though a scene of trouble and dis- 
 tress, was a door of hope to the Israelites under Joshua; for there, 
 immediately after the execution of Achan, God said to Joshua, 
 ' Fear not, neither be thou dismayed' (chap. viii. 1 . ) ; and promised 
 to support him against Ai, her king and her people. And from this 
 time Joshua drove on his conquests with uninterrupted success. 
 In like manner the tribulations of the Jews, in their present dis- 
 persion, shall open to them the door of hope. and there ' i. e. 
 in the wilderness, and in the vale of tribyjation, under those 
 circumstances of present difficulty mixed wui cheering hope." 
 Horsley. 
 
 sing] Literally, answer in the song, sing alternately. 
 See PrEel. Hebr. xix. p. 236. " ' AM<fcT ( . Theod." Seeker. 
 
 16. thou shalt call me] Two MSS, read V 'jopn. The 
 versions read V MlpD she shall call me, twice. 
 
 MY BAAL.] The very name, though capable of a good 
 sense, as it signifies husband, or lord, should be avoided by 
 them ; because it >vas also the name of false gods. They should 
 scrupulously avoid idolatry. And this was the fact immediately 
 after their return from Babylon ; and it has continued to this day. 
 " Ishi, My Husband, is an appellation of Love; Baali, My 
 Lord, of Subjection and Fear. * God hath not given us the 
 spirit of Fear, but of Power and of Love, and of a sound mind/ 
 2 Tim. i. 7. See Jer. xxiii. 27." Horsley.
 
 HOSEA. JI. 71 
 
 And they shall no more be mentioned by their name. 
 
 18 And I will make for them a covenant, in that day, 
 With the beasts of the field, 
 
 And with the fowls of the heavens, 
 
 And with the creeping things of the ground. 
 
 And the bow, and the sword, and war, 
 
 Will I break from the land : 
 
 And I will make them to lie down in safety. 
 
 19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever: 
 
 Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in justice, and 
 
 in righteousness; 
 And in kindness, and in tender love: 
 
 20 Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in f faithfulness ; 
 
 f Or, truth. 
 
 17. -be mentioned] <* It is in vain to look for a purity of re- 
 ligious worship, answerable to this prophecy, among the Jews 
 returned from the Babylonian captivity. This part of the pro- 
 phecy, with all the rest, will receive its accomplishment in the 
 converted race in the latter days." Horsley. 
 
 18. a covenant] Sc. of security from the evils which, in 
 the days of my vengeance, arose from these causes. Horsley 
 understands this figuratively, of the final conversion of the 
 most ignorant and vicious of the heathens to the true faith; the 
 effect of which will be that they wilt live in peace and friendship 
 with the reestablished nation of the Jews. 
 
 will I break] The Hebrews often use a verb which is ap- 
 plicable to some of the substantives placed after it, but not to all. 
 See Mai. iii. 5, Mich. vi. 15. Zeph, i. 17. So Homer: 
 
 E*CTV 7? Tiovw /jtiXa, 
 
 O*70V T ^a*TO> ^AEAi>)f 
 
 " Conveniret melius m'tftt cum norf?Q. 
 Confer Ps. xlvi. 10." Seeker. 
 
 19. And in kindness] Not only allotting what is just and- 
 right; but bestowing what is kind and affectionate. A noun 
 substantive after the verb U~IN with 2 prefixed, denotes the 
 dowry, or that which the Man gives to obtain his spouse of her 
 parents. Christ gave for the espousal of the Church his bride, 
 p*T, his own justice; DD'tfQ, his perfect obedience to the law; 
 1DR, exuberant kindness; C)'Qm, tender love; fiJIQNS faithful- 
 ness, steddy adherence to his part in the covenant between the 
 Holy Three." Horsley. 
 
 30. in faithfulness] There shall subsist an inviolable fidelity.
 
 72 HOSEA. II. 
 
 And thou shalt know Jehovah. 
 
 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 I will hear, saith Jehovah, 
 
 I will hear the heavens ; 
 
 And they shall hear the earth; 
 
 22 And the earth shall hear the corn, 
 And the choice wine, and the oil ; 
 And they shall hear Jezreel. 
 
 know] Experience the exuberant goodness of Jehovah. 
 
 21.1 will hear the heavens] When they ask as it were, ta 
 send their rain on the earth. 
 
 the earth] When it supplicates, as it were, for rain. 
 
 22. the corn &c.] When they wish as it were, to supply the 
 wants of man. 
 
 Jezreel] All nature shall hear, and minister to, the- peo- 
 ple whom God shall plant in their own land. 
 
 There is an implication in this passage that the Israelites had 
 lately experienced unfruitful seasons; as Amos had foretold, c. 
 i. 2. iv. 7 9. vi. 12. 
 
 The metaphors in this and the preceding verse are strong 
 but not without parallel ones in the best writers of antiquity. 
 Euripides has 
 
 E pel onfi-x 7'- .And 
 
 E--* J o (Ti/xyo; sfavo;, ir>.>j=/Afip(^t 
 OfAj;rf, 11 1 if fit et{ yatetr^ . 
 
 Quoted by Grot, in loc. 
 Tibullus thus addresses the Nile: 
 
 Te propter nulios tellus tua postulat imbres ; 
 Arida nee pluvio supplicat herba Jovi. 
 
 El. i. vii. Quoted by Lively in loc. 
 And Vergil has, 
 
 Neque audit currus habenas. Georg. i. 
 " And it shall be in that day, I will perform my part, saith 
 Jehovah I will perform my part upon the Heavens; and they 
 shall perform their part upon the earth; and the earth shall per-' 
 form her part upon the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; and'* 
 they shall perform their part for the JEZRALL [the seed of God\" 
 Horsley's version. 
 
 Note. " The primary and most proper meaning of the verb 
 ruy I take to be * to re-act:' But more largely it predicates reci- 
 procal, correspondent, or cor-relate action. Thus it signifies 
 the proper action of {one thing upon another, according to esta- 
 blished physical sympathies in the material world; or, among
 
 HOSEA. III. 73 
 
 23 And I will J plant her unto me in the land ; 
 
 And I will have mercy on HER-WHO-HAD-NOT- 
 
 OBTAINED-MERCY ; 
 
 And I will say to them who were || NOT-MY-PEOPLE, 
 
 Thou * art MY-PEOPLE ; 
 And f they shall say, Thou art MY GOD. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 MOREOVER Jehovah said unto me: 
 
 Go again, love a woman, 
 Beloved by another, and an adulteress, 
 
 J HeLr. Or. sow. Lo-ruhamah. {] Lo-Amrr.i. * Ammi. f he. 
 
 intelligent beings, according to the rule of moral order. And 
 in this passage it is applied, first to the action of God himself 
 upon the powers of Nature ; then, to the subordinate action of 
 the parts of Nature upon one another; and last of all, to the 
 subservience of the elements and their physical productions, to 
 the benefit of man, and ultimately by the direction of God's 
 over ruling providence, to the exclusive benefit of the godly." 
 Horsley. 
 
 23. ->-will plant] The original word alludes to, and explains, 
 the word Jezreel as used c. i. 11, and here in the foregoing 
 verse. " The myriads of the natural Israel, converted by 
 the preaching of the Apostles, were the first seed of the Universal 
 Church. And there is reason to believe, that the restoration of the 
 converted Jews will be the occasion and means of a prodigious 
 influx of new converts from the Gentiles in the latter ages, Rom. 
 xi. 12 and 15. Thus the Jezriiel of the Natural Israel from the 
 first have been, and to the last will prove, a seed sown of God 
 for himself in the earth." Horsley. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1. Go again] It may well be supposed that this injunction 
 was given after the death of Hosea's former wife. 
 
 a woman] " A wife." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 Beloved by another] A lover of evil. 6, Af. Syr. See. GOT. xxv. 
 28. Or, one that loveth another. Or, according to the present 
 pointing; and sixteen or seventeen MSS. which read roiiw ; 
 and Vulg. beloved by another. The attachment of the Israel- 
 ites to their idols is referred to. 
 
 adulteress] In the spiritual sense of forsaking God.
 
 74 HOSEA. III. 
 
 According to the love of Jehovah towards the 
 
 sons of Israel : 
 
 And yet They turn away to other gods, 
 And love flagon's of J wine: 
 
 2 And 1 bought her unto me for fifteen pieces of 
 silver, and a homer of barley, and an half-homer of 
 
 3 barley. And I said unto her: 
 
 j Hebr. grapes. 
 
 according to the love] God's love to his people is here 
 compared to the love of a husband towards his wife. St. Paul 
 has the same comparison with respect to the love of Christ to- 
 wards his church. Eph. v. 31, 32. " After the manner of 
 Jehovah's love for the children of Israel, although they look to 
 other gods and are addicted to goblets of wine." Horsley's ver. 
 
 towards] See nN Nold. . 8. 
 
 flagons of wine] To drink wine in the temples of their 
 idols. Am. ii. 8. Judg. ix. 27. Grapes are used for wine in 
 the following places: 
 
 Poculaque inventis Acheloi'a miscuit uvis. Virg. G. i. 
 
 Praelo domitam Caleno 
 
 Tu bibes uvam. Hor. Od. i. xx. 
 
 Calcatamque tenet bellis socialibus uvam. 
 
 Juv. Sat. v. See Lively in loc. 
 
 Others think that the words should be rendered, cakes of 
 dried grapes. See 6. Pocock in loc. and Jer. vii. 18. xliv. 19. 
 
 2. I bought] That is, according to the ancient custom, I 
 paid her dower. Gen. xxxiv. 12. 1 Sam. xviii. 25. Iliad u. 
 178, 190. X. 473. " I own'd her, maw, from the root 133. 
 See Parkhurst under 13H. This was not a payment, in the 
 shape of a dowry ; for the woman was his property, if he thought 
 fit to claim her, by virtue of the marriage already had : but it 
 was a present supply of her necessary wants, by which he ac- 
 knowledged her as his wife, and engaged to furnish her with 
 alimony, not ample indeed, but suitable to the recluse life, 
 which he prescribed to her. Calvin observes, that the parsimo- 
 nious gift, a sum of money which was but half the price of a fe- 
 male slave, and a pittance of black barley bread, typified the 
 hard fare, which the Israelites were to expect at the hand of God, 
 in their state of exile." Horsley. 
 
 an homer] A measure of more than eight bushels. 
 
 and an half homer of barley] 6. Ar. Symm. Theod. ren- 
 der, and a vessel of wine. The Greek xw9$' seems derived from
 
 HOSEA. III. 75 
 
 Thou shalt abide with me many days : 
 Thou shall not commit fornication, and thou 
 
 shalt not be for another man: 
 So will I also be for thee. 
 
 4 For the sons of Israel shall abide many days 
 
 AVithout a king, and without a prince; 
 And without sacrifice, and without a statue; 
 And without an ephod, and without teraphim. 
 6 Afterwards shall the sons of Israel return, 
 
 ~]ph by a transposition of letters. And Houbigant reads UD'H 
 choice reinc for nnyu?. But D'Dy new wine more resembles the 
 the last letters in anjfltf. 
 
 It was observed by Sir J. Chard in in the east that, in the 
 contracts for temporary wives, there is always the formality of a 
 measure of corn mentioned, over and above the stipulated sum 
 of money. Banner ii. 513. 
 
 3. Thou shalt abide] After the ceremony of betrothing, 
 thou shalt continue in my house many days, and shalt shew fi- 
 delity to me : and then I will become thy husband. 
 
 4. For the sons ] Thus the house of Israel shall continue 
 many days in their state of captivity ; without a king, as thou 
 without a husband; without the means of worshipping me ac- 
 cording to the rites of their law ; and yet refraining from idolatry, 
 as thou from unfaithfulness to thy betrothed husband : but v. 5. 
 shall afterwards observe allegiance to their God, and have an 
 eminent king set over them, in their own land. 
 
 The prophets and the people were accustomed to impart 
 and to receive this kind of emblematical instruction. 
 
 many days ' Many years.' Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 a statue] A standing image, or pillar, erected by them- 
 selves. They were forbidden to erect such, that occasions to 
 idolatry might not be administered. Lev. xxvi. 1. Observe 
 that the versions read rDQ an altar. 
 
 ephod] A part of the High-priest's ornaments. 
 
 teraphim] In Syr. rpn signifies to inquire, and in Arab. 
 to abound with the goods of life. Teraphim may therefore denote 
 images to enquire of; or to bestow good things. Spencer thinks 
 the word equivalent to Seraphim, a celestial order; by the usual 
 substitution of n for U> in the eastern tongues. See p. 952 &c. 
 Taylor observes from 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16, that they vveie of the 
 human form , which passage equally proves that they might re- 
 semble angels ; the wings being concealed, and the face only 
 
 Q
 
 76 HOSEA. III. 
 
 And shall seek Jehovah their God, 
 And David their king; 
 
 appearing. However, my opinion is that terapbim \vcre ob- 
 jects of idolatrous worship. And such, in their state of capti- 
 vity, the Israelites would not harbour. 
 
 5. David] Some suppose Zerubbabel to he meant ; and 
 some, the Messiah. But it seems to me that the prophecy re- 
 mains to be accomplished: and that, ott the future return of 
 God's people, an illustrious king of this name and stock will 
 reign over Israel, and transmit the kingdom to his descendents 
 forever. Compare Jer. xxx. 9. Ez. xxxiv. 23, 24. xxxvii. 24, 
 25. 
 
 At my request Mr. Woide furnished the following extract 
 from Archbishop Seeker's dissertation on David promised in the 
 prophets, which is lodged among his Grace's manuscripts in 
 Lambeth library. The Archbishop's own words are distingm-h- 
 cd by inverted commas. 
 
 Passages, in which David is promised. Jer. xxx. 9. Ezek. 
 xxxiv. 23. xxxvii. 22, 24, 25. Hos. iii. 5. Doth it menu a 
 particular person called David, or a succession of princes of the 
 house of David ? That nations and tribe's are called by the name of 
 the person from whom they descended, is well known. Jacob or 
 Israel, (Isaac, Amos vii. 9.) Judah, Ephraim, &c. Itachel Jer. 
 xxxi. 15. Particular families are called by a patronymic name 
 derived from the head of the family: Gen. xxxi\\,7. Israel. 
 Josh> vi. 25. Kachab. Josh. vii. 25, Achan. 2 Kings x. 1. 
 Achab. Amos vii. 9, Jeroboam. Jer. xxix. 32. Schcmaiah. 
 
 Direct instances, where David signifies David's fannlv. I 
 Chron. xxviii. 4, 1 Kings xii. !;. 2 Chron. x. 16. " Hos. iii. 
 
 5. is, by at least 170 years, the first of these passages, where 
 Israel means the ten tribes: for it is distinguished from Judah i. 
 
 6, 7, II, and iv, 15, and it is foretold, "that they shall conti- 
 nue many days without a king, and prince, and a sacrifice, 
 and image, and Ephod and Terapliim, which last is thought by- 
 some to mean idols; by others Urim and Thunmiim: and if it 
 means the latter, the Israelites who returned under Cyrus, pro- 
 bably forsook idols in their captivity ; and we know not that any 
 Israelites are idolaters now. After this they shall seek the 
 Lord their God [they may have been negligent in religion, 
 though not idolaters] and David their king, i, e. that family to 
 rule them, of whom they said, we have no part in Dav id : see 
 to thine own house, David. 1 Kings xii. 16 : which agrees with 
 Hos. i. 1 1, that Judah and Israel should appoint themselves one
 
 I-IOSEA. III. 77 
 
 And shall fear Jehovah, and his goodness, in 
 the latter days, 
 
 Or, reverence. 
 
 bead. So that this text, which is the leading one upon this sub- 
 ject, suits well with David, being understood of the family of 
 David. Jer. xxx. 0. Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24. xxxvii. 24, 25." 
 
 Besides these texts, which promise David shall be their 
 king, there are some, which mention in what state the house of 
 David was to be in times then future, which ought to be consi- 
 dered. Jer. xxxiii. 15 26. Zech. xii. 7 14. and xiii. 1. of 
 which see the notes. Ps. Ixxxix. 19 4-5. 
 
 " But a farther inquiry is, whether at least the name David 
 cannot be meant of a single descendent of David, like him, and 
 presignitied by him. 
 
 " Now there is no doubt but it may, if that person at his ap- 
 pearance, were commonly known in the world by the name 
 David: and without being called so in common speech, Jerusa- 
 lem is called in prophetic speech Sodom and Gomorrah Is. i. 
 1O. But I recollect no other instance of this in the old Testa- 
 ment, nor any instance of a person called by the name of another, 
 there, on account of likeness, unless it be Elias, * the great 
 priest, who shall be sent to the captivity of Israel in the end of 
 the days. And Pocock mentions some Rabbins, who think 
 Elias in person is not meant here; nor do I recollect, that any 
 single person is called by the name of anodfer, on account of 
 his descending from him, unless it be thought, that Rechoboam 
 is called David, in the above cited places of Kings and Chron.:' 
 
 fear] See Jer. xxxiii. 9. Isai. Ix. 5. and Bishop Lowth's 
 KOte. btf is sometimes transitive, likens and b. See Nold. " And 
 adore btt linsi. The construction of inD, governing its ob- 
 ject by the preposition btf, I take to be singular. I apprehend, 
 that when a verb, expressing any .affection of the mind, governs 
 its object by this preposition, that construction expresses the 
 motion or effort of the mind, so affected, towards that object. 
 The force of this construction here is to denote, that the con- 
 verted Israelites will make Jehovah, and his goodness, the o v -iect 
 of religious awe and admiration. The phrase is well paraphrased 
 
 by the LXX, xai txyti^vrai ;~i rjsjx.vfiuix.il cni TO;; a-/$si; a-jT^. TlJ3 Kug-. 
 
 lish word adore expresses the motion of the mind toward! Jeho- 
 vah and his goodness. 
 
 Because of Jehovah because of his goodness. Dr. Wheeler,. 
 
 * Malachi iv. 5. of whom Jonathan Exod. vi. 13. says, that Phineas is EHas,
 
 78 HOSEA. IV. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1 HEAR the word of Jehovah, O ye sons of 
 
 Israel : 
 
 For Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabi- 
 tants of the land : 
 
 For there is no truth nor mercy, 
 
 Nor knowledge of God in the land. 
 
 2 In swearing, and lying, and killing, 
 
 And stealing, and committing adultery, have 
 
 they || broken forth; 
 And blood reacheth unto blood. 
 
 3 Therefore shall the land mourn. 
 
 And every one that dwelleth therein shall languish : 
 Together with the beast of the field, and the fowls 
 
 of the heavens: 
 Yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. 
 
 4 Yet no man contended!, 
 
 H Or. burst. 
 
 2. broken forth] The word is sometimes applied to the 
 bursting forth of waters: 2 Sam. v. 20: and V. has inundaverunt. 
 " know no restraint." Horsley. 
 
 reacheth unto] There are murders committed without in- 
 termission: one overtaketh another. 
 
 3. the land mourn] See also 0. 10. c. vii. 14. This may 
 refer to the drought foretold by Amos. c. i. 2. or to the locusts 
 mentioned c. v. 7. 
 
 of the field] After this, the words poll nDTOfl and the 
 creeping things of the ground, are added in 6. Arab, but are 
 wanting in V. Syr. Chald. and iti the Complutensian edition of 
 6 says Boch. Hier. p, 3. See c. ii. 18. 
 
 taken away] See 50** Gen. xxx. 23. Zeph. i. 2, 3. 
 
 The cattle and the fowls [and even the creeping things of the 
 earth] shall be affected by the scarcity with which God will 
 visit the land : and he will so dispose second causes, that even 
 the fishes of the sea shall not supply the wants of his rebellious 
 people. See on Zeph. i. 3. 
 
 4. No man contendeth] Thia-is a natural rendering, and gives 
 a very usual sense to the Hebrew future. Pocock in loc. quotes 
 3 manuscript Arabic version which considers the words as de-
 
 HOSEA. IV. 70 
 
 And no man reproveth : 
 
 And as is the provocation of the priest, so is thai 
 of my people. 
 
 elarative, and translates thus: And particularly there is none 
 that argueth, nor doth any man admonish." See also Syr. 
 
 The Arabic of the polyglot reads "]'N for *]tf, and furnishes an 
 animated translation : 
 
 How doth no man contend, 
 And no man reprove! 
 
 And as ] The English translators render, " For thy peo- 
 ple are as they that strive with the priest:" a conduct contrary to 
 Deut. xvii. 1 2. But Houbigant objects that it could not be a 
 crime to contend with idolatrous priests: and translates, Nam 
 populus tuus sequitur rebellionem sacerdotum :" and, word for 
 word, " Nam populus tuus ut rebelliones sacerdotis." But the 
 word CDOHQ does not occur as a plural substantive for rebellions, 
 strivings, contentions. And thy people is abrupt. 
 
 6. Arab, read my people, agreeably to y. 6, 8, 12. And the 
 Berlin MS. n. 150, ascribed by the learned Bruns to the 13th 
 century, reads ronQD; as the contention, striving, provocation. 
 Thus the sense will be, My people are as dead to all sense of 
 duty as their idolatrous priests; whose conduct in departing from 
 Jehovah is peculiarly aggravated. 
 
 An elegant reading would arise from transposing the letters 
 in the first word ; 
 
 -.pa ronoa DV^ 
 
 And as is the people, so is the provocation of the priest. Or, 
 by a different punctuation of OHO we may render, 
 
 " And my people is as the priest who contendeth with me." 
 See Job x. 2. and 'DTin Ps- cxix. 42. nVl& 2 Sam. xxiv. 13. 
 Buxt. thes. Gramm. 512. 
 
 The guilt of the people, instructed and forewarned by my 
 prophets, is as detestable and aggravated as that of the priest. 1 
 have since found that this is in part the rendering of Moerlius: 
 " Et populus tuus (est) sicut litigans mecum sacerdos." 
 
 " By no means let any one expostulate, nor let any one re- 
 prove; for thy people are exactly like those who will contend with 
 the priest." Horsley's ver. Note. " To contend with the priest, 
 the authorized interpreter of the Jaw, and the typical intercessor 
 between God and the people, was the highest species of contu- 
 macy and disobedience, and by the law was a capital offence. 
 $ee Deut, xvii. 12." Horslcy.
 
 80 HOSEA. IV. 
 
 5 But thou shalt fall in the day; 
 
 And the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night : 
 And I will cut off thy mother-c//?;. 
 
 6 My people are cut off for want of knowledge. 
 Because thou hast rejected knowledge, 
 
 I will also reject thee from being a priest unto me: 
 And because thou hast forgotten the law of thv God, 
 I will also forget thy sons. 
 
 7 Even according to their multitude * have they 
 
 sinned against me. 
 
 * Hebr. so have. 
 
 5. an the day] When it is least probable. Thou shalt fall, 
 when thou thinkest thy state secure and prosperous. Comp Jer. 
 xxiii. 12. Deut. xxviii. 29. 
 
 the prophet] The false prophet. 
 
 in the night] His revelations, to which he pretends in the 
 eight, shall be delusive and dangerous ones. Conip. Mic. iii. 
 6. See Pocock. 
 
 thy mother-cify] So Corn, a Lapidc, Capellus. and 
 Houbigant. Pocock also approves of this sense. See 2 Sam. 
 xx. 19. Samaria is meant. Moerlius leads us to conjecture ~py 
 thy people. Chald. has thy assembly. " Therefore thou shalt 
 fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the 
 night, and I will cut off thy mother." Note. " The last 
 sentence was addressed to the prophet ' thy people, O prophet.' 
 This is to the people themselves: * Thou, O stubborn people.' 
 Jerusalem is meant. For Samaria was the metropolis of the 
 kingdom of the ten tribes, not of the whole nation, the chil- 
 dren of Israel in general." Horsley. 
 
 hast rejected] " Since the person threatened was to be reject- 
 ed from being a Priest; he was a Priest, at the time when he was 
 threatened: otherwise he had not been a subject of rejection. 
 The person threatened therefore must have been the head, for 
 the time being, of the true Levitical Priesthood, not of the in- 
 truded Priesthood of Jeroboam. This is a proof, that the me- 
 tropolis, threatened with excision, is Jerusalem, not Samaria; 
 and that the ten tribes exclusively are not the subject of this part 
 of the Prophecy." Horsley. 
 
 6. I will reject] Instead of the anomalous word 
 near one hundred MSS. or editions read 
 
 7. multitude] Their defection is general. Their acts of 
 idolatry are in proportion to their number. " Wci'e magnified.
 
 HOSEA. IV. 81 
 
 1 will change their glory into shame. 
 
 8 They eat the sin-offerings of my people; 
 And they f set their heart on their iniquity. 
 
 9 And it shall be, as with the people so with the 
 
 priest, 
 
 And I will visit upon them their ways 
 And their doings will I recom pence unto them. 
 10 And they shall eat, but shall not be satisfied: 
 
 They shall commit fornication, but shall not in- 
 crease. 
 For they have left off J giving heed unto Jehovah: 
 
 f- lift up their soul to. J observing. 
 
 u3!T}3. The word is applicable to increase in any way, either 
 in size, numbers, power, or wealth, &c. See Drusius and 
 Luther on the place. But as the Priests were greatly magni- 
 fied in dignity and power, and there is no reason to suppose, 
 that they were multiplied by natural increase, in a greater pro- 
 portion than the rest of the people ; I think the thing intended 
 here is the elevation of the order in civil rank and authority." 
 Horsley. 
 
 8. the sin offerings] of these they gladly partake, without 
 discouraging the people from the sins which occasion them. 
 Lev. vi. "26. One MS. reads niNDn with V. 6. Ar. 
 
 Their heart] For the phrase of lifting up the soul, that is, 
 setting the heart, see Deut. xxiv. 15. Jer. xxii. '27. V. 6. Ar. 
 Syr. Chald. read CDU7D3: and this reading is confirmed by one 
 edition, eight MSS: and perhaps one more. Two MSS. read 
 so originally. 
 
 The priests are spoken of from " Because, &c." in v. 6. 
 
 9. upon them] vVy i. e. the people. As v. 12. 
 
 10. giving heed] Hebr. observing. So Virg. Georg. iv. 210. 
 Pmeterea regem non sic ^gyptus-, &c. 
 
 Obsenat. See Ps. xxxvii. 37. After referring to the versions, 
 Seeker adds, " Vix puto 2?y infinitivum cum *? regere; vel ho- 
 miuem dici Deum, sed Dei mandata, servare." " Because they 
 have forsaken the JEHOVAH, to devote themselves to dalliance 
 and wine, and the intoxicating juice, which take possession of 
 the heart." Horsley's ver. " With respect to Seeker's query, 
 it is certain that niJT never once occurs as the object of the verb 
 IQtP; and after a nice examination, I scruple not to assert, that 
 the verb sjy never governs its immediate object, the person or
 
 82 IIOSEA. IV. 
 
 31 fornication, and wine, and choice wine, take 
 away their heart. 
 
 12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, 
 And their staff declareth unto them, 
 
 for the spirit of fornications hath caused them to err; 
 And they have committed fornication, and have 
 revolted from under their God. 
 
 13 On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, 
 And on the hills they burn incense; 
 
 Under the oak, and the poplar, and the green oak, 
 
 Hebft Or, inquire. 
 
 thing forsaken, abandoned, or left off, with the prefix b. It 
 follows of necessity, that the order of construction cannot be that 
 which our public translation demands. Namely, this, nry 'D 
 niiT fiN "IQtttb. For in this order, the sentence, iitir fitf "OT% 
 is the object of the verb aiy, and Connects with the verb by the 
 prefix b. 
 
 " The verb Ziy always governs its immediate object without 
 any prefix. But when a noun, following this verb, is connected 
 with it by b, the noun expresses either the person to whom, i. c. 
 to whose possession, use, and advantage, or the thing in return 
 for which, as a more desired object, or the end and purpose for 
 which, or, the time for which, the dereliction is made. Ps. xlix. 
 11. Is. xviii. 6." Horslcy. 
 
 11. take away] np 1 ? has this signification. Ezek. xxiii. 26, 
 29. xxxviii. 13. Joel iii. 5. It also signifies to win, or allure. 
 Prov. vi. 25. Syr. renders by a word signifying porfavit, sustu- 
 lity abstulit, pneridit: and also supplies the pronoun their. 
 
 heart] Understanding. 
 
 12. stocks] Idols of wood. As Jer. ii. 27. Hab. ii. 19. 
 staff] This refers to the divination by rods, or staves, which 
 
 was anciently practised in the east. On one staff was written, 
 God bids; on the other, God forbids. See Pocock. 
 
 from their God] The Hebrew phrase occurs more at length 
 2 Chron. xxi. 8. The Edomites revolted from under the hand 
 [power, dominion] of Judah. 
 
 .13. mountains] This was the custom of the nations. Deut.xii. 2. 
 
 ouk] The original word, says Celsius, is from b<H robur: 
 which is the Latin word for the oak, on account of its hardness 
 and strength. 
 
 poplar] Properly the white poplar, from pV white. 
 
 greqn oak] Or ilex. See Bishop Lovvth on Isai. i. 29.
 
 HOSEA. IV. S3 
 
 Because the shade thereof & good 
 
 Therefore your daughters commit fornication, 
 
 And your wives commit adultery. 
 
 14 Shall not I jj visit your daughters because they 
 
 commit fornication ? 
 
 And your wives, because they commit adultery? 
 Because they separate themselves with harlots, 
 And sacrifice with strumpets? 
 Therefore the people, which understandeth not, 
 shall fall. 
 
 15 If thou commit fornication, O Israel, 
 Yet let not Judah offend. 
 
 And come ye not unto Gilgal, 
 Neither go ye up to Bethaven : 
 
 || Or. punish. Hebr. visit upon. 
 
 Therefore your daughters] " Since thus it is, let your daugh- 
 ters play the wanton, and your daughters-in-law commit adul- 
 tery. Horsley's ver. Note. " This I take to be the force of 
 p Vy. The phrase is more emphatical than ' therefore,' in the 
 English language, or than the simple copula in the Hebrew. It 
 refers distinctly to what has gone before concerning the manners 
 of the people, as the ground of God's dealing with them in the 
 manner declared in what follows." Horsley. 
 
 14. Shall I not visit] See tih for ttVn Mold. 3. " I will not 
 visit upon your daughters, when they play the wanton; nor up- 
 on your daughters-in-law, when they commit adultery^ Because 
 themselves separate themselves with harlots, and sacrifice with 
 the women set apart to prostitution." Horsley's ver. 
 
 separate themselves] Unnaturally, from those with whom 
 they ought to have united themselves. " TlD est animal ex iis 
 parentibus natum, qui a naturali consorte separantur, ut cum 
 alienis copulentur." Boch. Hieroz. p. 231. 
 
 strumpets] Persons consecrated, as it were to flagitiousness. 
 
 fall] From the Arab, affligere terrte, conjicere in terrain. 
 Pass, concidit, pwstratusfuit. See Schultens on Job x. 8. who 
 renders the word, Ceecus & prteceps ritit. 
 
 " Here the chapter ought to end." Horsley. 
 
 15. Gilgal] See on Am. iv. 4. 
 
 Bethaven] Either a place in the neighbourhood of Bethel, 
 Josh. vii. 2; or rather Bethel itself; c. x. 5; here called, by way 
 of derision and contempt, Bethaven, The house of iniquity, in- 
 
 R
 
 84 HOSEA, IV. 
 
 And swear ye not, Jehovah livetli. 
 
 16 For, as a backsliding heifer, Israel slideth back. 
 And now will Jehovah feed them as a iamb in a 
 
 wide place. 
 
 17 Ephraim is joined unto idols: 
 
 18 Let him alone: he is gone after their wine: 
 
 stead of Bethel, The house of God. Accordingly Chald. has 
 Bethel here, and c. x. 5. 
 
 s\vear ye not] Mixing the worship of idols with that of 
 Jehovah. Zeph. i. 5. " As Jehovah liveth." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 16. backsliding] Untamed to the yoke; and therefore 
 withdrawing from it. " Indocili jugum collo ferens." Hor. 
 " Truly Israel is rebellious, like an unruly heifer. Horsley's ver, 
 
 will feed ] As a lamb exposed to wolves, and without a 
 shepherd. 1 Kings xsii. 17. Or, And now Jehovah feedcth 
 them as a lamb in a large pasture. He giveth them plenty, yet 
 they rebel. Isai. xxx. 23. " CDJTV Sic 6. Syr. Vulg. Putaret 
 qnis forte legendum O}H errare sinet eos. Conf. Jer. liii. 6" 
 Seeker. " This word imn is never used but in a good sense; 
 and, for the most part, figuratively, as an image of a condition 
 of liberty, ease, and abundance. I agree, therefore, with Gro- 
 tius, that this is said with bitter irony. " Est hie x* lva<! 'i M t ; irri- 
 sio accrba; ex ambiguo. Late pascere amant agni: Deus Is- 
 raelem disperget per rotum Assyriorum regnum." 
 
 1 7. Ephraim] The principal tribe is put for the kingdom of 
 Israel. 
 
 idols] The original word is expressive of the sorrow and 
 pain which idols caused to their worshippers. See Tayl. cone. 
 " A companion of idols is Ephraim," Horsley's ver. 
 
 18. Let him alone] Leave him undisturbed in his idolatrous 
 course. He is irreclaimable. 
 
 he is gone after their wine] ")D refers to the beginning of 
 v. 16. He is gone after the wine, or banquets, of idols. See 
 t. 11. and c. fli. 1. Symmachus has tw;xxtv= G-VUTGUH*. 
 
 MS. 93, which Walton thought a very ancient one, and 
 which Dr. Kennicott characterises as containiqg very many va- 
 rious lections, and those not rarely excellent, and thinks that it 
 was probably written in the midclle of the thirteenth century, 
 reads Di<QD in this place ; as 6. and Arab, seem to have read. 
 For Grotius thinks that they pat Canaanites for Sabeans, one 
 idolatrous nation for another. According to this various lectiorr, 
 we may translate, *' He is gone after the drunkards." " Leave
 
 HOSEA. V. 85 
 
 Her rulers have committed fornication continually j 
 
 they have loved shame; 
 
 J9 A wind shall distress her in her borders : 
 And they shall be ashamed for their altars. 
 
 CHAP. v. 
 
 1 HEAR ye this, O ye priests ; 
 
 And hearken, O house of Israel ; 
 And give ear, O house of the king. 
 
 him to himself. Their strong drink is vapid. Given up to 
 lasciviousfess, greedy of gifts, (O shame!) are her great men." 
 Horslcy's ver. 
 
 Her rulers [ See Ps. xlvii. 9 or 10: where 6. renders KT.OU 
 The word may be the participle in Hiphil, from pJ to protect: 
 and nine or ten MSS. have rv:OO. Protectoresejus V. Magnates 
 eorum Chald. That Ephraim is sometimes feminine, see c. v. 9. 
 
 loved] OH is omitted in three MSS. and in 6. Ar. Syr. It 
 is a repetition of the three last letters in the foregoing word ; and 
 if a mistake of this kind was made in an ancient MS. it was not 
 erased, for fear of affecting the appearance of the copy. " Pu- 
 tarem vel expungendum on, vel legendum per reduplicationem. 
 lananw." Seeker. 
 
 Dathius proposes onx 2i"W: amando amavemnt : as, scortando 
 scortati sunt. 
 
 19. A wind] The general idea seems to be, that destruction 
 should corneas a mighty wind. Prov. i. 27. Jer. iv. 11, 12, 13. 
 Or, that a parching wind should cause a famine in their land. 
 We may point Tjy angustans. 
 
 in her borders] See fpj Isai. xxiv. 16. 
 
 for their altars] The preposition Q is expressed by 6. Ar, 
 Syr. Chald. It must be understood, if it has not been omitted 
 by transcribers. 
 
 The sense, and true reading, of this and the foregoing verse 
 are very uncertain, " The wind binds her up in its wings, and they 
 shall be brought to shame because of their sacrifices." Horsley's 
 ver. Note. " An admirable image of the condition of a people 
 torn by a conqueror from their native land, scattered in exilej 
 to the four quarters of the world, and living thenceforward with- 
 out any settled residence of their own, liable to be moved 
 about at the will of arbitrary masters, like a thing tied to the. 
 wings of the wind, obliged to go with the wind whichever wa\^ 
 it set, but never suffered for a moment to lie still." Horsley,. "*'
 
 86 HOSEA. V. 
 
 For * judgment is denounced against you. 
 For ye have been a snare at Mizpah, 
 And a spread-net upon Tabor. 
 2 An<i the revolters have made deep the slaughter 
 
 of victims ; 
 
 Therefore will I bring chastisement on them all. 
 I know Ephraim, 
 And Israel is not hidden from me. 
 For now Ephraim hath committed fornication, 
 Israel is polluted. 
 
 * Hebr. to you judgment. 
 
 1. judgment] The sense in the version is favoured by 6. 
 wjoj v[JLa : tr w xgtfuc: by Houbigant, Adest vobis judicium: and 
 by*. 2, 9. 
 
 at Mizpah] Probably both a mountain and a city of Gi- 
 lead. Judges xi. 29. The word is derived from nsi:, 'to valcti, 
 sc. from an eminence. If a city be meant, we may render to 
 Mizpah : namely, by inducing her to acts of idolatry on the 
 height where she was situated. See c. iv. 13. 
 
 Tabor] A beautiful and fruitful mountain in the tribe of 
 Zabulon. On these places ye have ensnared men into idolatry. 
 The image is naturally suggested by the circumstance that hun- 
 ters and fowlers frequented such places with their nets and snares. 
 
 2. revolters] " The revolters have made deep i. e. great 
 slaughter. As Isai. xxxi. 6. It may mean either of idolatrous 
 sacrifices or men." Seeker. " Prickers have made a deep 
 slaughter." Horsley's ver.. " Note. " Prickers, scouts on 
 horseback, attendants on the chase. The priests and rulers are 
 accu.-ed as the seducers of the people to apostacy and idolatry. 
 And their agents and emissaries, in this nefarious project, are 
 represented under the image of the prickers." Horsley. 
 
 have made deep] Have multiplied their sacrifices. See 
 Isai. xxxi. 6. and c. ix. 9. 
 
 the slaughter] A substantive. As 2 Chron. xxx. 17. the 
 being omitted. Or, the infinitive mood, with the paragogic n. 
 
 chastisement] I will be a chastisement to them, as they 
 hr.ve been a net and a snare to others. " ^h^h w~< o- CzV;." 
 Seeker. 
 
 3. I know] Horsley renders in the past tense, " I have known." 
 hath committed fornication] Houbigant observes that all 
 
 the ancients read ruin. Two MSS. read nn:?n scortata est 
 Ephraim. c. iv. 18. See a parallel place : c. vi. 10.
 
 HOSEA. V. 87 
 
 4 They will not f frame their doings 
 To turn unto their God. 
 
 For a spirit of fornications ?V in the midst of them, 
 And Jehovah they have not known. 
 
 5 Therefore the pride of Israel shall be humbled to 
 
 his face ; 
 
 f Hebr. give. 
 
 4. frame] Hebr. give. As Eccl. i. 13. "Their perverse 
 habits will not permit them to return unto their God: for a spi- 
 rit of wantonness is within them, and the Jehovah they have 
 not known." Horsley's ver. " Note. Their perverse habits, 
 tZDiT^yQ. I take this as the noaiinative case to the verb un, 
 as it is taken by the Syr. From the root nbj;, ' to ascend, mount 
 upwards, to go or come up,' we form the reduplicate verb bby, 
 by dropping'the final fi of the primary root, and doubling the 
 Biiddle rad ral. 
 
 " From this verb ?];, which as a verb is found only in Hith- 
 pael, I derive our verbal ZZD'VryD. This noun is used only in the 
 plural number. It denotes, therefore, something which is in 
 its nature plural. And if it denote* actions of any sort, it 
 must signify not any individual act, but a set or system of ac- 
 tions. And because it must connect with the sense of the pri- 
 mary root nbi/ [with which the verb most evidently connects), 
 it must express some set, or system of things, which naturally 
 ascend, mount, get uppermost. Upon these grounds I am per- 
 suaded, that the word CD'^O denotes the moral or immoral ha- 
 bits of a man, as things coming over him, growing up, and, 
 in the vulgar phrase, ' getting the upper hand." 
 
 " Habits,' therefore, is the true English rendering of the 
 word. For which, in some instances, ' manners,' or ' practices,' 
 may be used. But some epithet will generally be wanted, in 
 English, to express the ascendancy, and in the case of evil 
 habits, the malignant ascendancy, implied in the notion of the 
 original word. 
 
 pride of Israel] " JUO never properly signifies pride, but 
 expresses rather condition, or external appearance, than cha- 
 racter: great elevation in rank and power; brilliant prosperity; 
 splendor and gaiety of ornamental dress; majesty, pomp, state- 
 liness; any thing in condition, which, in the degenerate mind, 
 may engender pride : any thing in external deportment, which 
 may be a symptom of it; and any thing grand and majestic in. 
 outward appearance, without any imputation of pride to the per- 
 son to whom it belongs. The feminine niJ, besides every
 
 88 HOSEA. V. 
 
 And Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their iniquity: 
 Judah also shall fall with them. 
 
 6 With their flocks, and with their herds, shall they go 
 To seek Jehovah : 
 
 But they shall not find him : he hath withdrawn 
 himself from them. 
 
 7 They have dealt treacherously against Jehovah; 
 
 for they have begotten strange children. 
 Now shall the locust devour their portions. 
 
 8 Blow ye the trumpet in Gibeah, and the cornet 
 
 in Ram ah : 
 Sound an alarm in Bethaven : The enemy cometh 
 
 after thee, O Benjamin, 
 
 thing to which pto is applied, extends also to the moral internal 
 swellings of the heart, and renders the vice of " pride," which 
 ptO never expresses." Horsley. 
 
 shall be humbled] See roy. Ex. x. 3. Isai. xxxi. 4 : and 
 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. This line is repeated c. vii. 10: where V. 
 agrees with the versions and Chald : and renders, not respondent 
 as in the text before us, but humiliabitur. " The excellency 
 of Israel." Horsley's ver. 
 
 6. with their flocks] They shall at length offer sacrifices 
 to hfm in vain. 
 
 7. strange] Alienated from Jehovah, idolatrous. " Children 
 of strange women : forbidden Deut. vii. 3 : practised after the 
 captivity, perhaps before. Isai. ii. 6." Pocock. Seeker. 
 
 the locust] Houbigant reads, term "?DN nnyi " Nuno 
 igitur absumet rubigo [haereditatem ipsorum]" 6. render ^o-.jSn, 
 the word by which they translate ten 1 Kings viii. 37. Ps. Ixxviii. 
 46. Joel i. 4. It is Bochart's sixth name for a locust ; from ten 
 to consume. Hier. p. ii. 445. And the word "?Dp, in the Arabic 
 version of this place, signifies a kind of locust. Or Uiyn DV3N> 
 " the worm shall devour them with their portions." v. 12. Job iv. 
 19. " Forte separandum Q a verbo nte")', ut formando ne- 
 scio cui nomini inserviat." Seeker. 
 
 8. Gibeah] Gibeah, Ramah, and Betbaven [see on c. iv. 
 15.] were situated in the tribe of Benjamin. Josh, xviii. 24, 25. 
 Comp. Josh. vii. 2. xviii. 22. 
 
 the cornet] 6 read nwfli, Sound the cornet. 
 
 after thee] Or, " Look behind thee."- See Pocock. This 
 verse may very well be understood of the alarm given at the ap-. 
 proacb of locusts. Joel ii, 1.
 
 HOSE A. V. 89 
 
 9 Epbraim shall be J desolate in the day of rebuke. 
 Among the tribes of Israel I have made known a 
 a sure event. 
 
 10 The princes of Judah are become like those who 
 
 remove the landmark: 
 I will pour out my wrath upon them, like water. 
 
 1 1 Ephraim is oppressed, fie is broken in judgment, 
 Because he willingly walked after vanity. 
 
 12 Therefore will I be as a moth to Ephraim, 
 And as rottenness to the house of Judah. 
 
 13 And Ephraim saw his sickness ; 
 And Judah, his wound: 
 
 Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, 
 And sent to king Jareb : 
 
 J Heb. for a desolation. 
 
 9. sure] After F13OM we must understand some such word 
 as mm. Bahrdt refers to Matth. xxi. 41. n a? KVJ** tysy^a V j~m 
 *ai ts-i Stfjpxpt x. x. "A firm decree." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 10. remove the landmark] A great crime. Deut. xxvii. 17, 
 Jarchi and Abarbinel, as quoted By Pocock, interpret this of 
 conforming to the idolatrous worship of Israel. They removed 
 the boundaries between true religion and false, between right 
 and wrong. 
 
 11. oppressed broken] He is oppressed with a heavy 
 weight of calamity ; he is crushed in his judicial contest with me. 
 
 willingly walked] l^n may be the infinitive. 
 
 vanity] See 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. Houbigant, and others it* 
 Pol. Syn. who read tWD. Seeker mentions this reading, and adds, 
 " Notandum sequi i*l." But Vulg. reads nNJf or Ni:, excre- 
 mentum, a remark which my learned friend Dr. Barrington, 
 Bishop of Salisbury, made to me some time a^o. And, agreeably 
 to the translation of Vulg. idols are called awJ, from ?5 stercus: 
 a name expressive of their detestable and polluting nature. See 
 Tayl. cone. 
 
 " Professor Michfeelis's note from his Bibl. Orient. & Exe- 
 get. is; I pronounce itf. It should be Ni excrementum ; but 
 the radical aleph is frequently lost after a litera quiescens, ac- 
 cording to the manner of the Syrians and Chaldeans." Commu- 
 nicated by Mr. Woide. 
 
 12. as a moth] See Job iv. 19. Ps. xxxix. 11. Isai. li. &. 
 
 13. Jareb] See c. x. 6. Either the name of an Assyrian 
 king, or of an Assyrian city. On the latter supposition we must
 
 00 IIOSEA. V. 
 
 But he could not heal you ; 
 
 Nor did the wound depart from you. 
 
 14 Surely I will be as a lion to Ephraim, 
 
 And as a young lion to the house of Jud'ah : 
 
 I, even I, will tear and will depart ; 
 
 I will take away, and none shall deliver. 
 
 15 I will depart, I will return unto my place, 
 
 Till they be treated as guilty, and seek my face: 
 
 Or, be punished. 
 
 render, the king of Jareb. In both places 6. and Ar. read Jarim. 
 For the history see 2 Kings xvi. 7. " Videtur iTTiiT excidisse 
 post rfatf'1, quam vocem subaudiunt recentiorum nonnulli. Vid. 
 Pocock. Nam aliquid facturum Judam verisimile erat, et fecisse 
 patet ex v. 14: et de utroque dicit Deus CDD 1 ? vos, ut vi. 4. 
 If Jareb were the person's name, it should be fte ; and Jareb 
 should be before, not after." Seeker. 
 
 " According to Castellus m is a name of Egypt. In Abul-* 
 fed a, Garbija is the name of one of the provinces of Egypt 
 near the mouth of the Nile." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 " When Ephraim perceives his holes, and Judah his corrupt- 
 ed sore, then Ephraim will betake him to the Assyrian, and 
 send to the King, who takes up all" quarrels." 
 Horsley's ver. Note. " I leave a space here, to shew that some- 
 thing is wanting to be the nominative case of the verb ' send.' 
 Perhaps * Judah,' which however is not supplied either by MSS. 
 or versions. zrv. No proper name either of man or place, but 
 clearly a noun, from the verb -D, put here in apposition with 
 jbo, and characteristic of the king, in the manner expressed in 
 iny translation." Horsley. 
 
 depart] Houbigant gives this sense from the Arab, and 
 Jth. See Cast. lex. But perhaps Chald. supplies the true 
 reading, H'3' quiescere fecit. 6. may have read no Wn^n. " Nru 
 in Syriac signifies sedatus est, recessit." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 14. a lion] Leo niger. Forinu; the b and 1 being of- 
 ten exchanged in the eastern languages.. Boch. Hier. iii. i. 
 
 " Non agnoscunt reduplicationem n >3N 6. Syr. Ar. Nescio 
 an Chald." Seeker. It is wanting in one MS. 
 
 will depart] The image of the lion is pursued ; who retires 
 slowly and intrepidly from his prey, and does not fly. 
 
 15. my place] To my sanctuary, where I display my glo- 
 ry: to heaven.
 
 HOSEA. VI. 91 
 
 In their affliction they will seek me early: 
 Saying : 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1 COME and let us return unto Jehovah; 
 For he hath torn, and he will heal us; 
 He hath smitten, and he will bind us up: 
 
 2 After two days he will revive us; 
 On the third day he will raise us up ; 
 And we shall live in his sight. 
 
 They \vi\l seek me early] " They will rise early to find 
 me." Dr. Wheeler. " Read onnu>." The Rev. Mr, Henry 
 Dimock. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1. Saying] Houbigant observes that o. Ar. Syr. Chald. sup- 
 ply saying before this verse: whether they did this as interpre- 
 ters, which is my opinion, or whether they read "tQN 1 ?. I shall 
 here observe, once for all, that the frequent omission of saying 
 in the Hebrew scriptures gives warmth and pathos to many pas- 
 sages, agreeably to Longinus's well known remark. . xxvii. 
 
 In three MSS. the sixth chapter begins with the last line of 
 the foregoing verse. 
 
 2. After two days on the third day] This seems a prover- 
 bial manner of describing an event winch would soon happen. 
 See Luke xiii. 32. " Of numbers certain for uncertain see Nold. 
 not 1871. Two for a few 1 Kings xvii 12. One ano^two for a 
 few Isai. vii. 21. Jer. iii. 14. Two or three for a few Isai. xvii. 
 6." Seeker. " The two days and the third day seem to denote 
 three distinct periods of the Jewish people. The first day is the 
 captivity of the ten tribes by the Assyrians, and of the two under 
 the Babylonians, considered as one judgment upon the nation; 
 beginning with the captivity of the ten, and completed in that 
 of the two. The second day is the whole period of the present 
 condition of the Jews, beginning with the dispersion of the na- 
 tion by the Romans. The third day is the period yet to come, 
 beginning with their restoration at the second advent. R. Tan- 
 chum, as he is quoted by Dr. Pocock, was not far, I think, 
 from the true meaning of the place. ' The Prophet,' he says, 
 ' points out two times and those are the first captivity, and a 
 second. After which shall follow a third [time] ; Redemption : 
 after which shall be no depression or servitude.' And this I take 
 
 s
 
 92 I10SEA. VI. 
 
 3 And we shall know, we shall follow after knowing, 
 
 Jehovah: 
 
 His going forth is prepared as the morning; 
 And he shall come unto us as the rain, 
 
 to be the sense of the prophecy, in immediate application to the 
 Jews. Nevertheless, whoever is well acquainted with the allegori- 
 cal style of prophecy, will easily perceive no very obscure, though 
 but an oblique, allusion to our Lord's resurrection on the third 
 day; since every believer may speak of our Lord's death and 
 resurrection, as a common death and resurrection of all belie- 
 vers." Horsley. 
 
 3. know] The sentence rises. We shall know Jehovah, 
 We shall incessantly seek to know him. Horsley connects njHJl 
 with the former verse, and renders, " And we shall live in his 
 sight, and attain to knowledge." The following clause he con- 
 siders as beginning a new paragraph, and gives the following 
 free version. " Our object of pursuit will be the knowledge of 
 the Jehovah." 
 
 His going forth ] His appearance, as our deliverer, is fixed 
 as the return of the morning ; we shall be restored by him from 
 our calamities as certainly as the rising of the sun chases away 
 darkness, u? ot9z& /S.'/Saa n f*i<pan *t/Tj*. Symm. 
 
 prepared as the morning] " As the morning light his going 
 forth is prepared [fixed] ." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 unto us] " Upon us." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 " rnv KO 4.^ 6. Sed vel legerunt vel intellexerunt Syr. 
 Chald. nVT quse irrigat. Invenitur UJpbo absque mi Prov. xvi. 
 15. et alibi." Seeker* We also find et serolinus in Vulg. "As 
 the former rain, and the latter rain, upon the earth." 
 
 "His coming forth is fixed as the morning; and he shall 
 come upon us as the pouring shower, as the harvest rain, [as] 
 the rain of seed-time [upon] the earth." Horsley's ver. 
 
 " The word nt/O is not simply a shower but a hard pouring 
 shower, rnv tt'lp^DD. Our public translation gives ' latter rain 
 former rain.' But the Hebrew nouns have nothing of latter or 
 former, implied in their meaning, tmpbo is literally the ' crop- 
 rain.' That which fell just before the season of the harvest, to 
 plump the grain before it was severed. And the beginning of 
 the season of the harvest in Judaea being the middle of March, 
 according to the old style; this rain fell about the beginning of 
 that month, and may properly be called the ' Harvest-rain.' The 
 other mv, is literally the ' springing rain,' or rather, * the rain 
 which makes to spring: 1 that which fell upon the seed, newly
 
 HOSEA. VI. 95 
 
 As the latter rain which watereth the earth, 
 
 4 What shall I do unto thee, O Ephraim ? 
 What shall I do unto thee, O Judah ? 
 For your goodness is as a morning cloud, 
 And as early dew which passeth away. 
 
 5 Therefore have I hewn them by the prophets, 
 I have slain them by the words of my mouth : 
 
 sown, and caused the green blade to shoot up out of the ground, 
 This fell about the end or middle of October. I call it the 
 ' rain of seed time." Horsley. 
 
 4. -goodness] We translate the adjective godly, good, holy, 
 " " 
 
 rpasseth away] Three MSS. have "fflrn, with Syr. " which 
 appeareth in the morning and passeth away." Twenty MSS. 
 and two editions confirm the present pointing, and read "j^n: 
 and thirty MSS. or editions have "rVin in the parallel place, c. 
 xiii. 3. " F. -pbn videtur Syr. legisse "fm." Seeker. Houbigant 
 renders, 
 
 Ut adsit vobis misericordia, velut matutina nubes; 
 Et ut ros, qui mane effunditur. 
 And one rendering in Montfaucon's Hexapla is, o ya? *t e < vt u^ 
 
 4X?J=/XOf. 
 
 5. hewn theiri] That is, wrought earnestly. " Ne me ob- 
 tundas de hac re saepius. Ter. Adelph. i. iii."33. Tractum a 
 fabris, qui saepe repetunt tundendo aliquid malleo. R. Stephens. 
 " Therefore have I hewn in pieces the prophets." 
 
 DP. Wheeler. 
 
 " TOJfn a-xSt^aa 6. SaDpe rcddlint li'p frjiftu. Sym. we tfw<rfxn. 
 
 Aq. Th. AaTGjun<7*. " 3 signifies not after the Hebrew word 
 the thing hewn, but the instrument by which or plaee where." 
 Seeker. 
 
 " The LXX, and Syr. certainly take the Prophets for the ob- 
 ject of the verb TOOT. But I cannot find that this verb, in any 
 instance, governs its object by the prefix 3. I take the prefix 
 therefore for the preposition of the instrument; and I take 
 Ephraim and Judah, rehearsed by the suffix O, in the verb 
 QTinn, for the object of both verbs." Horsley. 
 
 1 have slain them ] I have been most importunate with 
 them. Rogitando obtundat, enecet. Ter. Eun. iii. v. 6. So 
 Menander. A> f*t TO -/tv-. J. Cler. p. 240. And DFUSIUS 
 quotes, Occidunt nunc, dum nimis sanctas student apparare 
 puptias.
 
 94 HOSEA. VI. 
 
 And my judgments have been as the light when it 
 goeth forth. 
 
 6 For I desired goodness, and not sacrifice ; 
 
 And the knowledge of God, more than burnt 
 offerings: 
 
 7 But they, like Adam, have transgressed the co- 
 
 venant. 
 There have they dealt unfaithfully with me. 
 
 my judgments] Precepts, admonitions, dispensations. 
 Or translate, " And my judgment hath gone forth as the light.'* 
 The reading of 11ND BDltfOl, which is that of Cbald. and the 
 ancient versions except Vulg. (though Vulg. in many ancient 
 MSS. has maim: see Kenn. diss. gen. . 28.) was pointed out 
 by Dr. Kennicott Diss. on 1 Chron. xi. p. 5i7. Oxf. 1753: 
 who observes that letters were written conjunctively in old MSS. 
 for which fact see also his diss, gen. p. 113. not. a. " And the 
 precepts given thee were as the onward-going light." Horsley's 
 ver. Note/ " So I understand the word "|'lDDtt?Q. It signifies a 
 fixed principle, or rule, in any thing, to which principle and 
 rule can be applied. Here I take it for the practical rules of a 
 moral and godly life, as delivered by the Prophets ; and so 
 Calvin expounds it: " Significat hie Deus se regulum pie et 
 
 sancte vivendi monstrdsse Israelitis. Judicia tua, hoc est ratio 
 
 pie vivendi." Horsley. 
 
 6. goodness] So Syr. translates. See v. 4. " Charity." 
 Horsley. 
 
 and not sacrifice] That is, in preference to sacrifice ; as 
 the parallel line clearly shews. The connection of this v. with 
 the foregoing one is: By my prophets I taught them righteous- 
 ness. For I desired &c. 
 
 7. But they ] 6. Ar. read "OW. But they are as a man 
 who transgresseth a covenant, or, as Adam who transgressed 
 the covenant. " Professor Michaelis, Bibl. Orient, proposes 
 as Edom" Communicated by Mr. Woide. 
 
 There ] If Qtt? cannot signify, " In respect of the cove- 
 nant," we may join this clause with that which follows it. See 
 6. Or Qitt may refer to Ephraim and Judah. See v. 10. CDU> e& 
 in statu, tune ; sicut Arab. nn. Manger in loc. See c. xiii. 8. 
 " No probable explication." Seeker. See Zeph. I. 14. and 
 ibi for tune R. Steph. Thes. " Even in these circumstances." 
 Horsley's ver. Note. " This I take to be the force of the adverb 
 as it is used here, referring neither to place nor time, but to a
 
 HOSEA. VI. 9-5 
 
 8 Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity: 
 She is marked with footsteps of biood. 
 
 9 And, as bands wait for a man, 
 
 A company of priests murder in the way to She- 
 
 chem: 
 For they have committed presumptuous wickedness. 
 
 10 In the house of Israel I have seen a most horrible 
 
 thing: 
 
 There Ephraim || committeth fornication, 
 Israel is polluted. 
 
 11 Moreover, O Judah, an harvest is appointed 
 
 against thee, 
 
 |j Hebr. fornication is with Ephraim. 
 
 state of things. The Latin * Ibi' might in some degree express 
 jt, but we have no one word for it in our language." Horsley. 
 
 8. Gilead] Perhaps for Ramoth Gilead, 
 
 She is marked with ] Vestigiata sanguine: calcata a san- 
 guine: i. e. a pedibus sanguinolentis. See Grot, and Poeock, 
 Houbigant has " notata vestigiis sanguinis." 
 
 " T*<rc t/cu.=. 6. aQ rroy " Seeker. 
 
 9. wait] One MS. has IDTOI et sicut expectant. 
 
 in in.' way to Shechem] Shechem \\ as a city of refuge in 
 Ephraim. Josh. xx. 7. It should seem that, in this clause, the 
 verb irnrv should either precede "pi or follow iiODU?. Syr. 
 reads nsn " The priests combine in the way, they murder to- 
 WM-ds Siiechem." The sense which I have given to this obscure 
 verse is confirmed by Dr. Wheeler's rendering: 
 
 " And as robbers lie in wait for a man, * 
 
 The company of priests murder in the way to Shechem: 
 Because they have practised deceit." 
 
 " And, "like banditti lying in wait for the passenger, a com- 
 pany of priests, upon the highway, murder unto Sichem." 
 Horslev's ver. 
 
 10. a most horrible thing] Two MSS. read rnnjfltt, and 
 a third read so originally. The word occurs in this form, Jer. v. 
 30. xxiii. 14. Many MSS. and some editions read with Keri, 
 
 . 
 
 11. an harvest] I suppose the idea to be : Thy time of be- 
 ing cut off, as ripe for destruction, is also fixed. See Jer. li. 33. 
 Joeliii. 13. Rev. xiv. 15, 18, 19. 
 
 is appointed] Hebr. one hath appointed. Sec on Jonah 
 iii 7. Kt cro, j ia, ToxftTr S'tstsrfxo;. Symm.
 
 96 HOSEA. VII. 
 
 Among those who lead away the captivity of my 
 people. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 1 WHEN I healed Israel, 
 
 who lead -away] The participle from PQUJ to lead captive . 
 as Ps. Ixviii. 18. 
 
 " Also for thee, Judah, is appointed a harvest, 
 When I shall turn the captivity of my people." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 This is a just rendering, according to the Masoretical punctua-r 
 tion. But the context seems to require a threatening of evil, 
 not a promise of good. Or thus, 
 
 Moreover, O Judah, thou hast prepared an harvest for thyself, 
 
 When I lead away the captivity of my people. 
 Moerlius proposes n\D posuisti; explains "vifp byjudicium grave; 
 and joins the next hemistich with the following verse: Quando 
 cogito de avertenda captivitate populi mei, et de sanando Israele; 
 revelatur &c. See 6. Syr. where the same punctuation may be 
 admitted, and the same preposition is read before oiw and 'NET. 
 
 " Fornications in Ephraim! Israel polluted! Moreover, O 
 Judah, harvest-work is appointed for thee, when I bring back 
 the captivity of my people." Horsley's ver. Note. " Harvest- 
 work is cut out for Judah at the season of bringing back the 
 captivity. The tribe of Judah is, in some extraordinary way, to 
 be an instrument of the general restoration of the Jewish people. 
 Observe that the vintage is always an image of the season of 
 judgment; but the harvest, of the in-gathering of the objects 
 of God's final mercy." Horsley. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 1. healed] Removed evil from him, and blessed him, with 
 prosperity. See v. 15: and 2 Kings xiv. 25, 6, 7. One MS. 
 reads NDSi. See 6. Syr. " Would have healed." Horsley's ver. 
 " ND")3. At the very time when I was about to heal. Dum in 
 eo essem ut sanarem. This is the force of the prefix D, which 
 would be very ill changed into 2; an alteration for which there 
 is no authority, but that of a single printed edition, not of any 
 MS. The particular time alluded to is, I think, the reign of the 
 second Jeroboam, when the kingdom of Israel seemed to be 
 recovering from the loss of strength and territory it had sustained, 
 in the preceding reigns, by the encroachments of the Syrians; 
 for Jeroboam ' restored the coast of Israel, from the entering 
 of Hamath unto the sea of the plain.' 2 Kings, xiv. 25." HoFsley
 
 HOSEA. VII. 97 
 
 Tlien the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and 
 
 the wickedness of Samaria. 
 For they have done deceitfully: 
 And the thief entereth in; [and] a band of robbers 
 
 spoileth without. 
 2 And they say not in their heart, 
 
 That 1 remember all their wickedness. 
 
 Now their doings have * compassed them about j 
 
 They are before my face. 
 
 * Or. beset. 
 
 done deceitfully] They have acted a false and perfidious 
 part; to me, by idolatry, to men, by wrong and robbery. " Car- 
 ried on delusion." Horsley's ver. Note. " byB. The verbs 
 JTitty and ^i'3 are not perfectly equivalent. The verb nil;)? is 
 simply * to do,' or * make,' without reference to the length of 
 time, degree of labour or thought, necessary to the performance. 
 But the verb bi'D is applied to those operations only, which re- 
 quire some continued labour of the hand, or long application of 
 the mind, or both." Horsley. 
 
 spoileth] o. consider the word as a participle: txiiivexm. 
 Three MSS. read orcsi et spoliat as Syr. Chald. " Therefore a 
 a thief is coming; banditti sally forth in the streets." Horsley's 
 ver. Note. " The thief, Pul; whose peace Menahem bought, 
 with contributions levied upon the people. The banditti, the 
 armies of Tiglath-pileser, over-runing Gilead, Galilee, and Nap- 
 thali. 2 Kings, xv. 19, 20, 29, and 1 Chron. v. 26." Horsley. 
 
 2. in their heart] One edition, seven MSS. originally an 
 eighth, and perhaps a ninth, read CD^ata with Ar, Syr. 
 Chald, Vulg. " Say not to" Seeker. 
 " *?D forsan ?3 o." Seeker. 
 
 " And let them not say unto their heart, that I have remem- 
 bered all their wicked doings: even still their perverse habits 
 cling around them, they are before my face." Horsley's ver. 
 Note. " am 1 ? 1 ?. The change of the prefix "? into 2, would be 
 much for the worse. When a man thinks within himself what he is 
 afraid, or ashamed, or unwilling, to utteraloud, ordeclare openly; 
 then he speaks in his heart: and this is expressed by 3. But 
 when a man pursues his own thoughts without utterance, but 
 without any desire of concealment; when he encourages and in- 
 cites himself to action ; then he speaks to his heart, and this is 
 expressed by *?." Horsley.
 
 08 HOSEA. VII. 
 
 3 By their wickedness they make the king glad 5 
 And by their falsehoods, the princes. 
 
 4 All of them commit adultery: 
 
 They are as an oven heated by the baker ; 
 
 When he that f raiseth the dough ceaseth from 
 
 kneading it t 
 Until it be leavened. 
 $ On the feast-day of our king, when the princes 
 
 began to be hot with wine, 
 He stretched out his hand with the scorners. 
 
 J- Hebr. raiseth it, ceaseth from kneading the dough. 
 
 compassed them about] In a distressing manner. Ps. cix. 3. 
 
 3. " -fjD Ba.r.xftj. 6. Syr. Ar." Seeker. 
 Which suggests this rendering: 
 
 In their wickedness the kings rejoice ; 
 
 And in their falsehoods, the princes. 
 
 Falshoods] * Perfidies.' " I think the word WTO, as a noun- 
 substantive, renders not so properly ' a lie,* in the sense of a 
 false assertion, as a l failure' in the truth of a promise or engage- 
 ment; a failure in any point of duty, or natural obligation; in 
 particular, in loyalty to the rightful Sovereign, and above all to 
 the Sovereign of sovereigns."- Horsley. 
 
 4. heated] Or, burning. Tun may be both masculine 
 and feminine, like some other Hebrew substantives. Or we may 
 read nDtfQn *1)D: " They art as the burning oven of the baker:'* 
 The hint of thus dividing the words I took from Professor Mi- 
 chaelis's note, BibL orient, as communicated by Mr. Woide. 
 
 he that raiseth] The raiser. See the margin of the English 
 Version. It is supposed that, in the beginning- of the clause, 
 "KIN* ztfhen, and also after TyQ, the raiser, the pronoun it should 
 be supplied, inyon. which occurs only here in this form, may be 
 considered as a substantive, until its fermentation. The sense of 
 this difficult clause seems to be : Their adultery burns like an 
 oven ; when the dough is prepared for baking, and only requires 
 the addition of leaven. See alike image Ps. xxi. 9. Mai. iv. 1. 
 "All of them are adulterers; like an oven over-heated for the 
 baker; the stoker desists, after the kneading of the dough, until 
 the fermentation of it be complete." Horsley's ver. 
 
 5. " V?nn n#v7o. 6. Ch. Syr. Vulg. Ar." Seeker. 
 
 to be hot] DQn is the regular infinitive from Q)T to be hot. 
 V. 6. Ar. Syr. consider the word as in this form. 
 
 scorners] Deriders of God and man. Some recent and
 
 HOSEA. VII. 99 
 
 6 For they make ready their heart as an oven, when 
 
 they lie in wait : 
 
 All the night Ephraim sleepeth; 
 In the morning he burneth as a J flaming fire. 
 
 7 AH of them have heated themselves as an oven ; 
 And they have devoured their judges: 
 
 All their kings have fallen : 
 
 There was none among them who called unto me. 
 
 8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the nations: 
 Ephraim is like a cake not turned. 
 
 J Hebr. a fire of flame. Or, consumed. 
 
 notorious act of contempt to God, or to his prophets, or to pub- 
 lic justice, is here alluded to. " to scorners." Horsley nN has 
 this sense. See Noldius. 
 
 6. make ready] It is their custom so to do. If we alter the 
 text, the best reading seems to be imp, kindle. See 6. Ar. Syr. 
 " In the inmost part of it, their heart is like an oven, while they 
 lie in wait ; all the night their baker sleepeth ; in the morning it 
 burneth like a blazing fire." Horsley' s ver. Note. " I take 
 the order of construction thus; "narp [irn] imp DiV O. I take 
 the suffix 1 in the word 1S~)p, as rehearsing the noun 2*7 ; which 
 I understand as the nominative case of the verb substantive un- 
 derstood : and thus I bring out the sense, which I have given 
 in my translation." Horsley. 
 
 when they lie in wait] For the blood of their fellow sub- 
 jects. See v. 1. Or, even of their king. See 2 Kings xv. 10. 
 
 Ephraim] The text has ana** their baker. But 6. Ar. and 
 MS. 93, see on c. iv. 1 1, read DHDN. Ephraim. The sense 
 seems to be : Their heart is inflamed with ambition and avarice: 
 they pass the night in sloth, and in the morning they burn with 
 every irregular passion. 
 
 7. their judges] See on Amos ii. 3. 
 
 kings] Four kings of Israel were put to death during the 
 life of this prophet: Zechariah, by Shallum: Shallum, by Me- 
 nahem: Pekahiah, by Pekah: and Pekah, by Hoshea. 2 "Kings 
 xv. 
 
 called] The participle may be of the past, or present tense. 
 If we render as our translators, or with Dr. Wheeler, " None 
 among them crieth unto me;" the words refer to the people. 
 According to my translation, they refer to the kings. 
 
 8. among the nations] See on Amos vi. 1. 
 
 a cake not turned] Therefore burnt, and to be cast away.
 
 100 HOSEA. VII. 
 
 9 Strangers have devoured his strength^ 
 And he knowetb // not : 
 Yea, grey hairs are sprinkled upon him ; 
 And he knoweth it not : 
 
 10 And the pride of Israel shall be humbled to his facfe, 
 Yet they do not return to Jehovah their God, 
 
 Rauwolf says, that " travellers frequently bake bread in the 
 deserts of Arabia on the ground, covering their cakes with ashfes 
 and coals, and turning them several times, until they are 
 enough." " All along the Black Sea, from the Palus Macotis to 
 the Caspian Sea, in Chaldea, and in Mesopotamia, except in 
 towns, the people make a tire in the middle of the room : when 
 the bread is ready for baking they sweep a corner of the hearth, 
 lay the bread there, cover it with hot ashes and embers, and in 
 a quarter of an hour they turn it." Pocock. See Harmer. i. 
 232. Bochart quotes a saying in the Talmud : " Pauper subci- 
 neritium vertit, venit alius, et aufert eum ab ipso." Hieroz. i. 
 329. 6. have tyxgup; here; and cd. E in Mantfaucon, u. f a3&> 
 
 ts-o&a TTtiro-Ojutv': 
 
 The particle of similitude is omitted, as Isai. xxxvii. 27, 
 Mic. iii. 12. Nab. iii. 12, 13. and frequently in the best Greek 
 and Latin writers. See Boch. Hieroz. p. ii. L. ii. xvii. p. 248. 
 Thus, 
 
 Cervi, luporurn praeda rapacium, 
 Sectamur ultro quos opitnus 
 Fallere et effugere est triumphus. Hor. 
 
 Familiar comparisons ,of this nature repeatedly occur in 
 Homer. 
 
 " Dougb on one side, burnt on the other. Or, eaten be- 
 fore it be turned. Ch. Syr. consumed instantly." Scckrr. 
 
 9. Strangers] See 2 Kings xvii. 4. 
 sprinkled] So Propert. iii. iii. 46. 
 
 Sparserit et nigras alba senecia comas. 
 
 His national strength is impaired and decaying, and he acts as if 
 he were insensible of it, 
 
 Rome, in the midst of great calamities, is thus described by 
 Claudian : 
 
 Humeris vix sustinet segris 
 Squalentem clypeum; laxata casside, prodit 
 Canitiem. 
 
 Manger. Comm. in Hos. Campis. MDCCLXXXH. 
 
 10. And the pride ] See on c. v. 5. where this line occurs.
 
 HOSE A. VII. 101 
 
 Nor do they seek him, notwithstanding all this. 
 
 11 And Kphraim is as a simple dove, without know- 
 
 ledge. 
 Upon Egypt they call; to Assyria they resort. 
 
 12 When they resort, I will spread my net over them * 
 As a bird of the heavens, will I bring them down. 
 I will chastise them when they hearken to their 
 
 assembly. 
 
 13 AVoe unto them ; for they have fled from me : 
 Destruction unto them ; for they have transgressed 
 
 against me: 
 
 Though I have redeemed them, yet have they 
 spoken lies against me. 
 
 14 And they have not cried unto me in their heart; 
 Though they have howled upon their beds for the 
 
 corn and for the choice wine : 
 Yea, they have assembled themselves, they have 
 rebelled against me. 
 
 seek him] Many MSS. and some editions read imu?p3. 
 
 11. Egypt] See 2 Kings xvii. 4. and c. xii. 1. 
 
 Assyria] See c. v. 13. viii. 9. xii. 1. Particular instances 
 of this fact are not recorded with respect to the kingdom of Israel : 
 except that an embassy was probably sent to Pul, while he was 
 at a distance from Samaria; 2 Kings xv. 19. " IJOp. Sic 6. 
 Vulg. Sed Ch. mpntf. Sy. ifitf. Videntur uterque legisse "Dip, 
 nee male." Seeker. 
 
 12. hearken] See jop Gen. iii. 17. When they are 
 swayed by the counsel of their assembly to seek foreign assist- 
 ance. However, an}/7, to their own counsel, suggested by 
 Chald. and Houbigant, furnishes a clear sense. Seeker also 
 observes this reading. 
 
 " I will chastise them, as they hear it declared in their con- 
 gregations." Horsley's ver. 
 
 13. redeemed them} Out of Egypt. Mic. vi. 4. or, from 
 the hand of their enemies. 2 Kings xiv. 27. 
 
 14. upon their beds] Though in secret they bewailed 
 themselves for the famine with which I punished them. See c. 
 iv. 3, 10. v. 7. 
 
 assembled themselves] The true reading seems to be 
 vrrorv. One MS. reads thus, and one ed. Another MS. read 
 ?o originally. One MS. has nnrv: and two MSS. have m:rr.
 
 102 HOSEA. VII. 
 
 15 And I have chastened them ; I have also strength" 
 
 ened their arm : 
 And they have imagined evil against me. 
 
 16 They have turned after that zchich doth not profit : 
 They have been as a || deceitful bow. 
 
 Their princes * fall by the sword, for the rage of 
 
 their tongue. 
 This shall be their reproach in the land of Egypt. 
 
 1) Hebr. a bow of deceit. * Or, shall fall. 
 
 Chald. has UttD congregare, 6. have wnri^oilt, which is another 
 rendering of mUTV, agreeably to the Chaldee, Syriac, and 
 Arabic sense of the root. See Cast lex. " Professor Michaelis 
 prefers this reading, and paraphrases it thus: vulnerabant et 
 caedebant se inter preces. 1 Kings xviii. 28." Mr. Woide. 
 " Put themselves in a stir about corn and wine." Horsley's ver. 
 rebelled] From "HD. " They have taken counsel against 
 me :" YTID', or rather, VTD'. Houbigant. 
 
 15. And I have chastened ] Whether I inflicted punishment 
 on them, or shewed them favour, they rejected me for their idols. 
 
 16. which doth not profit] I propose reading *?y\* *A, 
 [which may be written Vy] See Jer. ii. 11. " My people have 
 changed their glory for that which doth not profit." Vyv {*bs. 
 Pocock's Arabic MS. has, " they return not to profit," or, 
 "to what is profitable." And R. "Salerno has, But not Vyn 1 ? 
 Qr6, to profit themselves." See Pocock in loc. " EI; *J 6. ibyv 
 N 1 ? ovaipixji;. Jer. ii. 8. Sic et Is. xliv. 10. VsV N 1 ? ? **n. Jer xiii. 
 
 10. Ut essent absque jugo. Vulg. leg. *y\y. Syr. nulla de causa. 
 Ch. Non quod malum ei fecerim. F. 'Vy vel saltern ny, ut Joel 
 
 11. 12. Am. iv. 6, 8." Seeker. 
 
 a deceitful bow] See the same expression Ps. Ixxviii. 57. 
 Virgil has, Perfidus ensis frangitur, 
 
 rage of their tongue] See Isai. xxx. 27. " His lips are 
 filled with CD};? indignation :" where the words are spoken of Je- 
 hovah. Here the unworthy speeches against Jehovah are meant. 
 
 " They are become like a deceitful bow." Horsley's ver. 
 
 reproach] Or. matter of derision ; when the people, whose 
 princes fall by violence, take refuge from the Assyrians in Egypt. 
 C. viii. 13. ix. 3, 6. Egypt was a country in which kings were 
 held in great reverence. See Virg. G. iv. 210. quoted on c. iv. 
 10. Thither many of the ten tribes seem to have fled when the 
 Assyrians invaded them.
 
 HOSEA. VIII. 103 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 1 SET the trumpet to thy * mouth: 
 
 As an eagle the Assyrian cometh against the house 
 
 of Jehovah : 
 
 Because they have transgressed my covenant, 
 And have trespassed against my law. 
 
 2 They shall cry unto me, O God of Israel, we 
 
 know thee. 
 8 Israel hath removed good far from him : the enemy 
 
 shall pursue him. 
 
 4 They themselves have made kings, and not from me: 
 They have made princes, and I knew it not. 
 Of their silver and their gold have they made them 
 
 idols ; 
 That they might be cut off. 
 
 j- Hebr. the roof of thy mouth. 
 
 1. As an eagle] Chald. supplies so shall the king come up with 
 his army. I suppose Shalmaneser meant. 2 Kings xvii. 3, 6. 
 " Subaudi hostis irruit" Bahrdt. 
 
 " As an eagle [shall he hover] over the House of the Lord." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 Rapidity is admirably expressed by the imperfect sentences 
 i|n the original. Ellipses of this kind are common: as 
 
 " 1 here is a voice of thy watchmen : they lift up their voice: 
 
 they shout together." Isai. lii. 8. 
 
 house] See c. ix. 15. Family, heritage. "The people 
 of God are iiis house. Numb. xii. 7." Seeker. 
 
 2. O God of Israel] Houbigant thinks the word Israel 
 misplaced in our present copies, and that this is the true order. 
 6. Ar. Syr. and MS. 96, omit Israel. But for " My God, we 
 know thee" we should expect, as Syr. translates, " Our God, 
 we know thee." Or, 
 
 " O my God, or, we know thee. 
 Israel even Israel hath removed good far from him : 
 The enemy shall pursue him." 
 4. kings] See 2 Kings xv. 10, 14, 25, 30. 
 cut off] The versions and Chald. and the MS. Arab, ver- 
 sion mentioned by Pocock, represent in~P' : a necessary reading, 
 unless Israel may he supplied from v. 3. 
 
 " Their silver and their gold have they wrought for themselves 
 Into idols, that. they might be cut off." Dr. Wheeler.
 
 104 HOSEA.' VIII. 
 
 5 Remove far from thee thy calf, O Samaria : 
 Mine anger is kindled against them. 
 
 How long will they not endure innocency in Israel? 
 
 6 And as for him, the workman made him ; 
 And he is no god : 
 
 For the calf of Samaria shall be J broken in pieces, 
 
 j Hebr. fragments. 
 
 " Their silver and their gold have they made to themselves 
 idols." Seeker. 
 
 5. Remove far from thee] 'A9n. Aquila. 'Awap4i. Theo'd. 
 Aw4Tg4t 6. and in some other copies, **opf4 says Montfaucon. 
 
 endure] Through hatred of it. See by Ps. ci. 5. Isai. -i. 
 13. Joel ii. 11. 
 
 in Israel] 6. and Ar. read toottva, or bk?W v, and join 
 the words to the foregoing clause. " MS. Copt, reads *?tnu* '33 
 filii Israelis." Mr. Woide. 
 
 How long will not the sons of Israel endure innocency ? 
 " How long will they hear antipathy to pure religion ?" 
 
 Horsley' s ver. 
 
 have antipathy. This is the true sense of the phrase 
 ^y t*b. See Ps. ci. 5. Is. i. 13. and compare Amos vii. 10. 
 Horsley. 
 
 " For he is from Israel," or, " made by the Israelites," is 
 the sense of the words as they now stand. Syr. and Chald. read 
 Nin. Dr. Wheeler's translation stands thus : 
 " For from Israel came this [calf:] Kin 
 The workman made it, and it is no God ; 
 For the calf of Samaria shall become fragments." 
 Horsley renders similarly. 
 
 6. the calf] It is well known that animals of this species 
 were vvoshipped in Egypt; the Apis at Memphis, and the Mne- 
 vis at Heliopolis. As they are employed in tilling the ground, 
 they may have been used as symbols of one whohad anciently 
 introduced or improved the art of agriculture. Males of this 
 kind were dedicated to Osiris; and females, to Isis. The Israel- 
 ites may have originally- borrowed this superstition from the 
 Egyptians, and may have afterwards revived it ; imputing the 
 great fertility of Egypt to the deity thus represented. 
 
 *' The people procured it, or contributed to it, as to 
 Aaron's calf." Seeker. 
 
 broken in pieces] In Chaldee ttV is to break. Schultens 
 derives the word from a similar Arabic one, which signifies frag- 
 menta, quibus ignis foveri potest. Animadv. Phil. p. 473.
 
 HOSEA. VIII. lOa 
 
 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap 
 
 the whirlwind. 
 The stalk hath no bud : 
 It shall not yield flour: 
 
 If so be it yield, strangers shall swallow it up. 
 Israel is swallowed up. 
 Now are they become among the nations 
 As a vessel wherein is no pleasure. 
 For they have gone up to Assyria . 
 Ephraim is like the solitarv wild ass : 
 
 " Forte legrendum cum Syro tmrn **in." Seeker. 
 
 forte legend urn anattf." Seeker: 
 
 7. sown the wind] See Job iv. 8. Prov. xxii. 8. Eccl. 
 v. 16. c. x. 13. Hab. ii. 13. They have served their idols in 
 vain; and they shall reap the bitter fruits of their idolatry. 
 
 The stalk ] Houbigant also places the stop after nay bud. 
 " There shall be no stem belonging to him : the ear shall yield 
 no meal; what perchance it may yield, strangers shall swallow 
 it up." Horsley's ver. 
 
 8. no pleasure] Despised, and cast out. Ps. xxxi. 12. 
 Jer. xxii. 28. xlviii. 38. 
 
 9 gone up] " For they are gone up of their own accord to 
 Assyria." Horsley's ver. Note. " This I take to be the force 
 of the pronoun n/2ri. And this is generally its force, where it 
 appears, as in this place, pleonastic. See v. 4. and chap. ix. 10." 
 Horsley. 
 
 to Assyria] Not only for alliance, but also for idolatrous 
 commerce. 
 
 solitary wild ass] *h is redundant. See Am. ii. 13. But 
 6. MS. Pachom. read i^t E?gifx, that is, "b for I 1 ?. Ephraim is 
 to me like the solitary wild ass. Odit hominum frequentiam et 
 habitationem. See Boch. Hieroz. 871. Job xxxix. 5 8. He 
 is as untamed to the yoke, and traverses tbe desert as earnestly 
 in the pursuit of idols, as the onager in quest of his mates. It 
 may be said of this animal, Mentem Venus ipsa dedit. See 
 Jer. ii. 24. Plin. nat. hist. viii. xxx. " Ephraim is as a wild 
 ass, traversing alone." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 " A wild ass all alone for himself is Ephraim." Horsiey's ver. 
 " Though wild asses be often found in roe desert in whole herds, 
 yet it is usual for some one of them to break away, and separate 
 himself from his company, and run alone at random by himself: 
 and one so doing is here spoken of." Pocock.
 
 106 HOSEA. VIII. 
 
 They have hired lovers. 
 
 10 But because they have hired among the nations, 
 Now will I gather them together, 
 
 And they shall soon be pained by hearing the 
 burden of the king and of the princes. 
 
 1 1 Because Ephrahn hath multiplied altars to com- 
 
 mit sin, 
 He hath altars to commit sin. 
 
 12 I have written unto him many things of my laws; 
 But they have been accounted as a strange thing. 
 
 13 They sacrifice gifts appointed unto me, and eat flesh. 
 
 hired] Nothing could be more flagitious than that the 
 hire sfiould be given by the adulteress. See Ezek. xvi. 33. 
 
 1 0. gather them together] That they may go into captivity, 
 soon] See Nold. . 2. 
 
 and of the princes] So the versions, Chald. Aquila, Hou- 
 bigant, nine MSS. one impression, two MSS. originally, and 
 perhaps two more. They shall be severely galled by the yoke 
 of the Assyrian king, and of the princes set over his several pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 1 1. He hath altars] He shall have them erected by others, 
 in those idolatrous countries to which he is led away captive. 
 Deut. iv. 28. Jer. xvi. 13. See Pocock. 
 
 NOrf? 20. tya^i^na 6 fTrXi^iXi.aw ed. Coitlpl." Seeker. 
 
 " III as much as Ephraim hath multiplied altars, altars are 
 (counted) sin unto him." Horsley's ver. 
 
 12. many things of my laws] nxrfa; w/xu ^ Symmaehus: 
 and V. 6. Syr. read nnin plurally. Or, many things of my law, 
 reading THD O1 with Keri, or great things. But 1 suspect that 
 the true reading is, >*in the words of my law. 
 
 a strange thing] Foreign to Israel, and with which they 
 had no concern. " So, strange incense, strange fire." Seeker. 
 
 " [or, an] lan ib ainuw 
 mure i? PD [or 'mini] 'mm 
 
 I have written against him his suit: 
 My laws have been accounted as a strange thing. 
 Or, I have written against him a suit: 
 
 But my laws have been accounted as a strange thing." 
 
 Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 13. gifts appointed unto me] Such sacrifical oblations as 
 my law required that they should offer unto me: the affix sig- 
 nifying passively. See the note on Geii. iv. 23, 4: Hebr. prsel.
 
 HOSEA. VIII. 107 
 
 . Therefore Jehovah accepteth them not, 
 
 Now will he remember their iniquity, and will 
 
 visit their sins. 
 
 They shall return unto Egypt, 
 14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and hath 
 
 built temples. 
 
 And Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: 
 But I will send a fire upon his Cities, and it shall 
 
 devour his palaces. 
 
 p. 50. Suppl. ad sec. ed. 8vo. and Pocock on Hosea xi. 7 : 
 where this important remark is illustrated by many curious in- 
 stances. See Gen. xvi. 5. Jer. Ii. 35. Joel iv. 19. Hab. ii 
 8, 17. Isai. liii. 11. Ps. cxxxix. 17. Isai. Ivi. 7. Ps. v. 7. 
 Thus also in the Latin language: Nam neque negligentia tua, 
 neque odio id fecit tuo. i. e. in te. Ter. Phorm. v. viii. 27. 
 Catilinam non modo invidiae meae, verum etiam vitas, periculo, 
 sustulissem. i. e. in me, qua mihi invideretur. Cic. in Cat. 
 ii. . 2. See Westerhovius and Muretus in loc. 
 and eat flesh] Syr. reads I^DN lum. 
 
 " They have sacrificed the choicest sacrifices, and have 
 
 eaten flesh. 
 
 Jehovah taketh not delight therein. 1 ' Dr. Wheeler. 
 " Vel transponenda 1UQ et l^N"! ; vel 1 priori non posteriori 
 preefigendum, veldelendum; vel saltern intelligend us propheta, 
 quasi sic scripsisset." Seeker. Or point thus with o. 
 
 " I have written unto him many things of my laws: 
 
 But the gifts appointed unto me have been" accounted as 
 
 a strange thing. 
 
 They sacrifice flesh, and eat: [sc. idolatrously :] 
 Jehovah, &c. 
 They sacrifice [sc. unto idols] gifts appointed unto me, 
 
 and eat flesh. 
 
 But Dr. Forsayeth paraphrases thus : " They offer sacrifices 
 to the Lord, as a people observing his laws; but on account of 
 their iniquities he accepteth them not." 
 
 Therefore Jehovah] Vulg. Syr. and one MS. prefix 1 : but 
 the asyndeton is very strong. 
 
 " U1U?' Addunt 6. Ka y 'Ao-ffvgioij axaSasra <payov7, 6X C. ix. 3." 
 
 Seeker. 
 
 unto Egypt] See c. vii. 16. 
 
 1 4. temples] Hence we learn that, at this time, Israel was 
 more idolatrous than Judah. 
 
 his palaces] 6. MS. A. and ed. Aid. Vulg. Syr. and one MS. 
 originally, read vncQ"ix : to which Houbigant gives his sanction.
 
 108 HOSEA. IX, 
 
 GHAP. IX. 
 
 1 REJOICE not, O Israel : 
 Exult not as the nations. 
 
 For them hast committed fornication in departing 
 
 from thy God : 
 Thou hast loved hire at every corn floor. 
 
 2 The floor anfl the vat shall not feed them: 
 And the choice wine shall deceive them. 
 
 3 They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah: 
 But Ephraim shall return unto Egypt; 
 
 And in Assyria shall they eat polluted things. 
 
 4 They shall not pour out an offering of wine unto 
 
 Jehovah ; 
 Neither shall they please him. 
 
 Hebr. ihe peoples. 
 
 1. Rejoice not] Imitate not their idolatrous festivities. 
 
 " to $N Sic Job. iii. 22. Sed 6. Ch. Syr. Vulg. btf ne, quod 
 futurum postulat." Seeker. The word to signifies in the Arab. 
 circumagere in gyrum ; whence salt-are; whence great joy ex- 
 pressed by outward gestures. See Cast. lex. 
 
 at every corn floor] Attributing plenty to thy idols, and 
 rejoicing before them at the ingathering of thy corn. Isai. ix. 
 3.,c. ii. 5, 12. 
 
 2. deceive them] All the versions and Chalcl. read CD2 
 them for ro in her: and it his highly satisfactory to find this 
 reading confirmed by twenty-one MSS. one impression, three 
 MSS. originally, andi perhaps two more. 
 
 The word may be rendered, shall lie unto them. So Horace 
 has fundus mendax. Od. iii. i. 30. and Spem mentita seges. 
 Epist. i. vii. 87. 
 
 Bahrdt observes that Syr. reads -jrfif' oil for ttflTfi choice wine* 
 The vat, says he, is mentioned in the preceding clause. 
 
 4. wine] See Ex. xxix. 40. Lev. xxiii. 13. Numb. xv. 5, 1O. 
 please him] Another punctuation may very well be intro- 
 duced with Syr. Ar. 
 
 " And their sacrifices shall not please him. 
 They shall have as it were the food of mourners." 
 Accordingly Dr. Wheeler renders: 
 
 " Neither shall their sacrifices be pleasing unto Him: 
 As the bread of affliction shall be their bread ;"
 
 HOSE A. IX. 199 
 
 Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the food of 
 
 mourners: 
 
 All that eat thereof shall be polluted. 
 Surely their pleasant food shall not come into 
 
 the house of Jehovah. 
 
 5 What will ye do on the day of the solemn assembly ; 
 And on the day of the feast of Jehovah ? 
 
 6 For behold they go away from before the destroyer: 
 Egypt shall gather them, Memphis shall bury them. 
 
 Hebr. food to their desire. 
 
 " Off? Sic 6. Ch. Syr. Omittit Vulg. F. leg. Qcr6." Seeker. 
 
 " Their bread for their soul, i. e. the expiation of it : so Chald. 
 for nr6 signifies even flesh sacrifices. Or, their bread shall be 
 for themselves; it shall not &c." Seeker. 
 
 Mr. Dimock proposes to render, " Their bread shall be as 
 the bread of mourners;" and conjectures that we should read 
 
 EDQrrS for arf?. 
 
 " For their sacrifices are not pleasant to Him : they are to 
 them as the meat of mourners." Horsley's ver. 
 
 of mourners] See Ezek. xxiv. 17. " And eat not the food 
 of wretched men." It was customary for neighbours to take 
 food into the houses of those who mourned for the dead; that 
 they might abate their grief, and recruit their spirits, by indu- 
 cing them to partake of it. But such food contracted pollution 
 by being in the same place with a dead body. Numb. xix. 14. 
 See Spencer. 1148. 
 
 pleasant food] The verb ItfDJ sometimes signifies to refresh ; 
 and the substantive tt?E3, desire. See Tayl. cone. " So Abar- 
 binel expounds the word DDB&, and after him Grotius. ' Cibus 
 
 eorum ipsis erit ' ipsorum tantum usibus service poterit; 
 
 quasi dicat, oyai>v Horsley. 
 
 6. go away] " Out of the holy land ; where alone they 
 could sacrifice, and observe feasts fully." Seeker. 
 
 the destroyer] See Isai. xvi. 4. This is a lively way of 
 expressing that the Assyrians should soon lead them into capti- 
 vity. "Behold all are gone! total devastation." Horsley's ver. 
 
 gather them] Some think that to their people is to be sup- 
 plied. " The same with bury. See Jer. viii. 2. Ezek. xxix. 5." 
 Seeker. 
 
 Memphis] " Nomenclaturas urbium ex Hebnea lingua de- 
 sumptas Gi-ctci ad sure typum sic effinxerunt, at viclerenturapud 
 se natee. Ita ex Mopti fecere Memphis." Boch. Geogr. p. 
 345. The Arabs call Cairo Menoph at this day. See on c. vii. IG,
 
 110 HOSEA. IX. 
 
 The desirable places purchased || with their silver, 
 
 nettles shall possess them. 
 The thorn shall spring up in their tabernacles. 
 7 The days of visitation are come: 
 The days of recompence are come. 
 Israel shall know that the prophet was foolish, 
 That the man of the spirit was mad : 
 For the greatness of thine iniquity, and thy great 
 
 hatred. 
 
 || Hebr. for. 
 
 with their silver] Three MSS. read OU?DJV What was plea- 
 sant to their soul : i. e. to them : which makes the passage very 
 clear. Houbigant understands the place, as now read, of precious 
 furniture hidden in the ground. 
 
 " Forte legendum CDDDD nOTO. m^v^iMvt Aq. Symm." 
 Seeker. 
 
 " Their valuables of silver! The nettle shall dispossess them, 
 and the thistle, in their dwellings." Horsley's ver. 
 
 " In the word DDDD 1 ?, the prefix V denotes that FpD is the 
 material, in which these valuables were wrought. And when 
 two words are connected, as these two are here: a pronoun, 
 suffixed to the latter of the two, very often belongs properly to 
 the former; which I take to be the case here. So that iQno 
 CDEDD 1 ? may properly be rendered, " Their valuables of, or in, 
 silver. The two words ZZDDDD 1 ? "O1Q stand as a nominative ab- 
 solute, expressing the principal subject of the sentence follow- 
 ing: a figure of speech frequent in all the prophets, and in 
 which Hosea particularly delights. The verb un is the third 
 person singular future of the verb un in the Hiphil conjugation. 
 The nominatives of this Hiphil verb are the nouns UWD'p and 
 rnn. And an^wa is to be taken as connected with both these 
 nouns. Thus the exact rendering will be, * Their valuables in 
 silver the nettle, the thistle in their dwellings shall dispossess 
 them." Horsley. 
 
 7. The days ] Venit summa dies, & ineluctable tempus. 
 Virg. 
 
 the prophet] The false prophet who rose up among them. 
 So again v. 8. Micah iii. 5. Zeph. iii. 4. Jer. ii. 8. v. 31. 
 yiv. 14. xxvii. 14. xxix. 8, 9. Lam. ii. 14. Ez. xiii. 
 
 the man of the spirit] See Zech. vii. 12. Mic. ii. 11. 
 
 hatred] Towards me. 
 
 " The days of visitation are come! The days of retribution, 
 are come', Israel shall know it. Stupid is the Prophet! The
 
 HOSE A. IX. Ill 
 
 ' The watchman of Ephraim takethpart witfymy God : 
 The prophet is as the snare of the fowler 
 In all his ways. 
 They have made deep their hatred against the 
 
 house of my God ; 
 
 9 They have corrupted themselves, as in the days 
 of Gibeah. 
 
 man of the spirit is gone mad : In proportion to the greatness 
 of thine iniquity, great also is the vengeance!" Horsley's ver. 
 
 "In proportion to. This is the force of hy. according 
 
 to." Horsley. 
 
 8. The watchman] The true prophet, that watcheth Ephra- 
 im. Ez. iii. 17. xxxiii. 7. 
 
 with] See ay Judges ii. 18. 
 
 my God] " Aut nVf* legend um, aut in utroque membro, quod 
 convenientissimum esset, ar6t* rescribendum. Innumerapro- 
 atant in collationibus codicum exempla ** o omissi in fine li- 
 nearum vel in 1 mutati." Bahrdt. 
 
 In all his ways] In all the ways of Ephraim. 
 He is a perpetual snare to the people. 
 <' [Spread] upon all his ways." Dr. Wheeler. 
 of my God] So two MSS. and a third at present. 6. Ar. 
 Syr. read without any Affix, of God: and these two readings 
 may be reconciled by supposing that '"nbtf was written contract- 
 edly for Dnbt*. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. v. 1. li. 4. 
 
 " The watchman of Ephraim is with his God. The Prophet! 
 the snare of the fowler is over all his ways. Vengeance 
 against the household of my God !" Horsley's ver. Note. "The 
 watchman is here evidently a title, by which some faithful pro- 
 phet is distinguished from the temporisers and seducers. But 
 who in particular is this watchman, thus honourably distinguish- 
 ed, and how is he * with his God?' I think the allusion is to 
 Elijah and his miraculous translation. ' Elijah, that faithful 
 watchman, that resolute opposer of idolatry in the reign of Ahab 
 and Jezabel, is now with his God, receiving the reward of his fi-, 
 delity in the enjoyment of the beatific vision." Horsley. 
 
 I have changed the punctuation with Houbigant ; accord- 
 ing to 6. Arab, in the line. 
 
 " They have made deep their hatred against the house of 
 
 my God [or, God."] 
 
 9. They have corrupted themselves] See Deut. ix. 12. The 
 word ip'Dyn, according to the analogy of other places, requires
 
 312 HOSEA. IX. 
 
 He will remember their iniquity, he will visit their 
 sins. 
 
 10 As grapes in the desert, I found Israel; 
 
 As the early fruit on the fig-tree in its beginning 
 
 of bearing, 1 saw your fathers. 
 But they went after Baal Peor, and separated 
 
 themselves unto shame; 
 And became abominable as the object of their love. 
 
 1 1 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away as a bird : 
 a substantive, or a verb in the infinitive mood, to be placed 
 after it. " Sensus : modutn excedunt in sceleribus suis. Vulg. 
 bene : profunde peccaverunt. Jon. optime : adjastigium perdux- 
 erunt perversitatem" Bahrdt. 
 
 We may therefore render, 
 
 Even hatred in the house of my God. 
 They have deeply corrupted themselves &c. 
 Gibeah] See Judges xix. 16, &c. and c. x. 9. 
 He will remember] Syr. supplies V3D: " Now will he re- 
 member, &c." and one MS. and five editions have nny, now. 
 
 10. As grapes] Acceptable as grapes to a traveller in the desert. 
 the early fruit] Figs of the first season, and the earliest of 
 
 that growth. See Jer. xxiv. 2. Mic. vii. 1. and Bishop Lowth 
 on Isai. xxviii. 4. 
 
 Baal Peor] See Numb. xxv. 3. Ps. cvi. 28. Selden 
 and Pocock think that this god was so called from the moun- 
 tain on which he was worshipped. Numb, xxiii. 28. So Ju- 
 piter had the additional name of Olympius; and Mercury, of 
 Cyllenius. Others refer to the signification of *VS$apervit t rctegit ; 
 and suppose an allusion in the name to the shameless manner in 
 which this God was represented, and in which he was worship- 
 ped. See Spencer 332. 
 
 separated themselves] The word here is different from that 
 used c. iv. 14: and imports that they became Nazarites, and 
 probably consecrated their hair, to idols. See Spencer 697. 
 
 unto shame] Shameful idols; such as their worshippers 
 ought to be ashamed of, and as finally would cause shame to 
 them. See Jer. xi. 13. " And consecrated themselves to 
 shame." Dr. Wheeler. " That obscenity." Horsley's ver. 
 
 abominable] ' F. DnbnND onifipfi? idola eorum [nume- 
 ro] prout tentoria eorum. Conf. Jer. xi. 13." Seeker. "And 
 as [my] love of them so were their abominations." Horsley's ver. 
 
 11. their glory] " Prov. xiv. 28." Seeker. Their- 
 fruitfulness. Gen. xlix. 22, 25." Dr. Forsayeth.
 
 HOSEA. IX. 113 
 
 So that there shall be uo birth, no carrying in the 
 womb, no conception. 
 
 12 Yea, if they bring up'their children, I will destroy 
 
 them from among men. 
 For surely woe unto them, when I depart from them. 
 
 13 As I have seen Ephraiiu planted on a rock in a 
 
 desirable place, 
 
 So likewise shall Ephraim bring forth his sons to 
 the murderer. 
 
 14 Give them, O Jehovah What wilt thou give? 
 
 Give them a miscarrying womb, and dry breasts. 
 
 15 All their wickedness in Gilgal is before me: 
 For there have I hated them, 
 
 So that ] Dr. Wheeler confirms the rendering of this verse. 
 " They shall not bring forth, nor bear in the womb, nor 
 conceive." 
 
 12. destroy] See Deut. xxxii- 25. So Syr. " I will con- 
 sume them from the sons of men." Compare Micah vi. 14. 
 with this add the foregoing verse. " Or, They shall become 
 childless among men. As 1 Sam. xv. 33." Seeker. 
 
 depart] Three MSS and one ed. read niQi and the tr is 
 on a rasure in another MS. So V. Chald. And Aquila has 
 
 StxXivevJo; pa etit OSVTWV. 
 
 13. planted] Ephraim is feminine c. v. 9. 
 
 on a rock] Aquila and Symmachus render ,,- a^n^i. 
 reading TttD. Theod. has j we*. See *ON% on the ground, 
 Job ii. 13. 
 
 in a desirable place] I read rvuvil with V. and Chald. 
 
 The situation of Samaria on a mountain was both strong and 
 pleasant. See on Am. iii. 9. 
 
 So likewise] See Numb. i. 19. and Nold. van. . 16. 
 
 bring forth] The full phrase occurs Deut. xxxi. 17. rrm 
 bix 1 ?, ef erit ad detorandum. 
 
 : his sons] We have here a change in the gender from 
 jfarVD plantata : and we have another change in cr6 to them, v. 
 14. See v. 16. 
 
 15. in Gilgal] Chald. supplies, is revealed before me: and 
 R. Tanchum in Pocock, / remember. 'Qlp, before me, or :s% 
 in my sight, may be understood. " If we suppose n\>O fol- 
 lowed cany"), from the similarity of the sound we may conceive 
 it not unlikely that a transcriber dropt it." Dr. Forsayeth.
 
 114 HOSEA. X. 
 
 For the evil of their doings I will drive them from 
 
 mine house : 
 
 I will no longer love them : 
 All their princes are revolters. 
 
 16 Ephraim is smitten : their root is dried up : 
 They shall not yield fruit. 
 
 Moreover if they bring forth, 
 
 I will slay the * beloved children of their womb. 
 
 17 My God will reject them* because they have not 
 
 hearkened unto him : 
 And they shall be wanderers among the nations. 
 
 CHAP. x. 
 
 1 ISRAEL is a vine which casteth its grapes* 
 He laid up fruit for himself: 
 But according to the multitude of his fruit, hath 
 
 he multiplied altars ; 
 
 According to the goodness of his land, hath he 
 made goodly images. 
 
 * Hebr, the desires. 
 
 mine house] See c. viii. 1. 
 
 to love] The infinitive with the paragogic fi : or, as Tay- 
 lor, " I will not add the love of them." 
 
 16. not yield] Many MSS. and editions read te with Keri. 
 
 CHAP, x* 
 
 1. which casteth its grapes] Or, " emptying itself" See 
 Taylor's concordance. Instead of ppn five MSS. leave] the 
 word more at large by reading ppa: which may be the participle 
 Pahul, emptied, barren ; answering to the Chald. vastata; as 
 JSJ is masculine, 2 Kings iv. 39. Houbigant derives the word 
 from the Arab, pi to be fruitful in children ; to bud t or to spread 
 forth as a tree. See the lexicons, and Pocock in loc : which idea 
 suggested the rendering of V. 6. Ar. Syr. The sense will be, 
 that the wickedness of Israel was punished by unfruitful seasons: 
 or, that he wab as a fruitful vine; but his prosperity corrupted 
 his heart. 
 
 laid up] See nw Ps, xxi. 5. Ixxxix. 19. Formerly, he 
 was a fruitful vine. " He stored up dried grapes in an even, 
 ordei-ly, manner." Tayl. cone. 
 
 he made] One MS. has wn: as V. 6. Ar.
 
 HOSEA. X, 115 
 
 $ ' Their heart is divided: now shall they be found 
 
 guilty. 
 
 He shall break down their altars, he shall destroy 
 their images. 
 
 3 For now they say, We have no king : 
 For we fear not Jehovah : 
 
 And what shall a king do unto us ? 
 
 4 They spake empty words, when f they sware ; 
 And falsehood, when J they made a covenant : 
 And now judgment springeth up, as hemlock 
 In the furrows of the field. 
 
 5 Because of the calf of Bet haven 
 
 f- Hebr. in swearing, J Hebr. in making &c. 
 
 Syrus, qu<e fructus suos fecit. Suspicor eum legisse rwy* 
 pro niw. Bahrdt. 
 
 " Israel was a yielding vine; his fruit was answerable , to his 
 vigour. According to the increase of his fruit, he increased in 
 altars ; like the beauty of his land, he made the beauty of his 
 images." Horsley's ver. 
 
 2. is divided] In Pual: as Am. vii, 17. Zech. xiv. i. 
 Sc. between the true God and false ones. 
 
 He shall break down ] " He himself shall rase their altars, 
 shall destroy their pillars." Dr. Wheeler. " God himself." 
 Horsley's ver. 
 
 3. For now ] For they have rejected both Jehovah and 
 legal government. There was anarchy in the kingdom of Israel 
 for nine years, before Hoshea began to reign. See Usher's and 
 Blair's chronology. 
 
 " And us for a king, what shall he do unto usr" 
 
 Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 " to us, or, for us." Seeker. " This very moment shall 
 they say, We have no King, because we feared not the Jeho- 
 vah; and a King, what could he do for us!" Horsley's ver. 
 
 4. empty words] This resembles the Latin phrase, verba 
 dare. It should seem that they refused submission to Hoshea, 
 contrary to their oath and covenant. " Negociate Swear false 
 oaths ratify a treaty." Horsley's Ver. 
 
 springeth up] In those times of confusion Judgment has 
 changed its nature, and has become destructive. 
 
 5. calf] So. 6. Ar. Syr. One translation in Montfaucon's 
 Hexapla has 7n puffyw. And Rabbi Taiichum in Pocock has "?jy, 
 calf.
 
 116 HOSE A. X. 
 
 Shall the inhabitants of Samaria fear. 
 
 For his people shall grieve for him ; 
 
 And his sacrificers shall be pained for him; 
 
 Even for his glory, because it is departed from him. 
 
 6 Moreover he himself shall be carried into Assyria, 
 As a present to king Jareb. 
 
 Ephraim shall receive shame, 
 
 And Israel shall be ashamed of his counsel. 
 
 7 As Jor Samaria, her king is cut off 
 
 As the foam on the surface of the waters. 
 
 * Bethaven] See c. iv. 15. 
 
 inhabitants] The versions read 'JDfa. 
 
 shall grieve] I suppose that the original word is the parti- 
 ciple Benoni: by\K. 
 
 sacrificers] The root signifies incaluit, atrdtusfuit t in He- 
 brew; and abscondit in Chaldee: and accordingly the sacrificult 
 are supposed to be named from their ardent zeal, or their em- 
 ployment in burning incense, or from their dress, or from their 
 recluse life. Selden observes that the word is used always in 
 the Targum for the hierophants of idolaters. 
 
 Hence the Roman word Camillus, i. e. " minister Flaminum^ 
 or ministra Flaminicarum." Pacuvius has this address to Medea: 
 O Ccelitum Camilla, expectata advenis: 
 Salve, hospita. 
 
 See Serv. JEn. xi. 543. Macr. Sat. iii. viii. Boch. Hier. p. i. 
 L. iii. i. 717, proves that "? and ") are often changed. 
 
 shall be pained] i^TP, which is Calmet's conjecture, ot 
 ib'V shall lament) which is Houbigant's, is required by the exk 
 gentia loci, though these readings are unsupported by external 
 authority. " F. V?'iT: sed non construitur cum by." Seeker. 
 *' Verily there shall be mourning over it, of its people and of 
 its priests, who exulted over its glory." Horsley's ver. 
 
 6. shall be carried] Hebr. portans erit tjuis: by a change 
 of the points. See on Jon. iii. 7. It was the custom of the 
 easterns, and also of the Romans, to cany away the gods of 
 conquered countries. See Boch. p, i. L. ii. c. xxxiv. p. 357. 
 
 Jareb] See on c. v. 13. Or, as a learned friend suggests. 
 S'T, gui contendet, a hostile king. 
 
 shame] " F. jWQ ut Mu . vii. 10." Seeker. 
 
 " Ephraim shall be overtaken in sound sleep, and Israel shall 
 be disgraced by his own politics." Horsley's ver. 
 
 7. As the foam] So Vulg* Chald. and Symmachus has
 
 IIOSEA. X. 117 
 
 8 And the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, 
 
 shall be destroyed : 
 The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their 
 
 altars: 
 
 And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; 
 And to the hills, fall on us. 
 
 9 More tjian 271 the days of Gibeah hast thou sinned, 
 Israel stood in array there. 
 
 Did not the war overtake them in Gibeah ? 
 10 1 came against the sons of iniquity and chastised 
 them. 
 
 e-rifo**. Many of her kings have rapidly passed away by assassi- 
 nation: and Hoshea shall soon be cut off by the king of Assyria. 
 Mr. Woide proposes to point and render thus: " Samaria is cut 
 off: [part fern. Niphal] her king is as the foam on the surface 
 of the waters." Perhaps we should read -pbo. 
 Thy king. O Samaria, is cut off, c. 
 
 8. Aven] The word signifies INIQUITY; and is used for 
 Bethaven. Chald. has Bethel. 
 
 the sin] The cause of sin. Dent. ix. 21. 1 Kings xii. 30. 
 Isai. xxx i. 7, 
 
 And they shall say ] This sublime description of fear and 
 distress our Lord had in view Luke xxiii. 30: which maybe a 
 reference, and not a quotation ; however, 6. MS. A. have the 
 same order of words which occurs in the evangelist. The pa- 
 rallelism makes the passages more beautiful than Rev. vi. 16. 
 and Isaiah, c. ii. 1 9. wants the animated dramatic form. That 
 there is a reference to the caverns which abounded in the moun- 
 tainous countries of Palestine, see Bishop Lowth on Isai. ii. 19. 
 
 9. More than] So many render. Thou hast been guilty of 
 more atrocious crimes than that committed at Gibeah. Manger 
 conjectures o*3. As in the days, c. See c. ix. 9. 
 
 stood] Against the Benjarnhes, as justice required. 
 overtake] In a calamitous manner. 
 
 10. I came ] I read with Houbigant TJN3. 6. have v\9i, or 
 fl*9, MS. A. ed. Aid. and Bretinger. See also Arab. ' This is 
 the reading of MS. Copt." Mr, Woide. As 1 then chastised the 
 idolaters, so will I now; but by a foreign enemy. Mr. Di- 
 mock also proposes " TINS / came; and eantfiy iniquities, or the 
 calves in Dan and Bethel." 
 
 iniquity] Many MSS. and some editions read rvViy. 
 chastised] V. 6. Syr. Ar. agree in deriving the word fron^
 
 118 HOSEA. X. 
 
 And the nations shall be gathered together 
 
 against them, 
 -When they are chastised for their two iniquities. 
 
 1 1 And Ephraim shall be a trained heifer, loving to 
 
 tread out the corn ; 
 
 And I will cause her neck to pass under the yoke. 
 Ephraim shall treacj out the grain, Judah shall 
 
 plough, 
 Jacob shall break his clods. 
 
 12 Sow. to yourselves in righteousness, 
 Reap in the fruit of loving kindness: 
 
 Break up to yourselves the fallow-ground of know- 
 ledge: 
 
 Hebr. peoples. 
 
 *1D' to chastise; and justify reading CD10VQ in Nipbal. One MS. 
 has OTQW3, when I shall chastise them. Or we may read DIP'S 
 " in castigare me eos." See Deut. iv. 36. 
 
 two iniquities] The calves in Dan and Bethel. Keri has 
 OrvJ\y, and twelve MSS. or editions, " It is in my desire, and 
 I will chastise them ; and the peoples shall be gathered together 
 against them, when they are tethered down to their two fur- 
 rows." Horsley's ver. 
 
 11. loving] Houbigant remarks that the in TOPIN is su- 
 perfluous. Of the paragogic see Prael. Hebr. iii. p. 34. " That 
 loveth. Because they were not muzzled. Deut. xxv. 4-" Seeker, 
 '* Suspicor genumam lectionem esse 
 
 mNi SID by by rroyn 
 Transire faciain jugum super collum ejus formosum." Bahrdt. 
 
 to pass] I read TTOyn by conjecture, and adopt Hou- 
 bigant's conjecture of DIG yoke for mo good. 
 
 tread 'out the grain] I read -pi' calcabit. See Jer. li. 3. 
 The construction requires a verb which suits the two following, 
 arabit, occabit. 
 
 The sense of the verse seems to be, that the descendents of 
 Jacob should be employed in servile offices by their enemies. 
 
 12. in the fruit] I read isb with 6. Arab. See the follow- 
 ing verse. "6. n; * 6 fa n'TT ns)V: et HD 1 ? forsan recte. 
 Confers 13." Seeker. 
 
 of knowledge] For n>n I read njn with 6. Arab. From 
 these alterations arises a most beautiful allegory. If ye sow 
 goodness, ye shall reap the divine mercy j if ye cultivate the
 
 HOSEA. X. 119 
 
 That ye may seek Jehovah, 
 
 Till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 
 
 13 But ye have ploughed wickedness, ye have reaped 
 
 the punishment of iniquity : 
 Ye have eaten the fruit of falsehood. 
 Because thou hast trusted in thy way, in the mul* 
 
 titude of thy mighty men, 
 
 14 There shall arise a tumult among thy j| people ; 
 And all thy fortresses shall be destroyed, 
 
 Like the destruction of Zalmunna by the hand of 
 Jerubbaal. 
 
 || Hebr. peoples. 
 
 knowledge of Jehovah, he shall pour on you the rain of righ- 
 teous benignity. On the other hand, ye have ploughed, &c. 
 
 13. the punishment of iniquity] So \W Lam, iv. 6. rWiDrr 
 Isai. xl. 2. Lam. Hi. 39. Zech. xiv. 19, and OU?tt Hos. v. 15. 
 Hab. i. 11. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. xl. 2. This particular 
 metonymy of the cause for the effect was natural among the 
 Jews; whose law abounded with temporal sanctions, which God 
 often inflicted. 
 
 thy way] V. Syr. and four MSS. read "pTT^ thy ways. 
 But 6. (MS. Al and ed Aid.) and Arab, and also Jerom and Cy'- 
 ril, read in thy chariots "pITO: which suits the place remarkably 
 well, and is one instance among many how easily similar letters 
 are confounded. 
 
 " "pTQ n> c a/xaj-n,^* <TK 6. Vat. Sed Al. o/*z<r* recte : "psia, 
 quod melius. Vid. prol. ed. Grabe quse docent m f 6. "JTT vertisse 
 
 ttpMzlia,, 'i.-i',ii.i'u Kctxia." Seeker. 
 
 " MS. Copt, also reads a^/wn." Mr. Woide. 
 
 14. There shall arise] Five MSS. read Dpi. But see Prael. 
 Hebr. xxviii. p. 373. Some think that DNp, and the like sub- 
 stitutions of tt for 1 in the Arabic form, are corruptions of the 
 Hebrew text introduced by scribes well versed in the Arabic 
 language. See on Amos ii. 7. Houbigant connects this line 
 with the foregoing by a comma. So Syr. 
 
 Zalmunna] This is the reading of Grotius and Houbigant. 
 Vulg. and 6. MS. Al. have Jerubbaal, a reading mentioned by 
 Jcrom. See the history of Gideon's or Jerubbaal's defeat of 
 Zalmunua, Judges c. viii. It is referred to Ps. Ixxxiii. 11. If 
 we read " As Shalman destroyed Beth-Arbel," reference is made 
 to a fact not elsewhere recorded; possibly to Sbalmanezer's lay- 
 ing waste a city of that name. " tolN possibly Arbela in Me-
 
 120 HOSEA. XI. 
 
 In the day of battle, the mother and * the chilr 
 
 dren. shall be dashed in pieces. 
 15 Thus shall it be done unto you, 
 
 O house of Israel, because of your wickedness, 
 In a morning the king of Israel shall surely becul off. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 1 WHEN Israel was a child, then J loved him; 
 
 And out of Egypt I called my son. 
 
 * Hebr. together with. 
 
 sopotamia; said to be so called from Arbelus a King and God of 
 Assyria. If such a Deity was worshipped there, it might be 
 called ^-iN-no." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 15. shall it be done] Faciens erit guis. Hebr. Sec on 
 Jon. iii. 7. 
 
 house of Israel] So 6. Arab. See on Am. v. 6. 
 
 your wickedness] 6. MS. Aid. and ed. Aid. read o *:*Turx* 
 *axu*y VIM*. So Arab, a facie cleformitatis vestrac. Whence I con- 
 clude that CD3nyn :SO or DDnjn is the true reading. 
 
 In a morning] V. has " Sicut mane." And three editions 
 and ten MSS. have inUD. Three other MSS. read so originally; 
 and perhaps this is the reading of two ipore. The sense is the 
 same. " As in a morning &c." i. e. Hoshea, king of Israel, 
 shall be suddenly cut off by the Assyrians. " As the morning 
 is brought to nothing, to nothing shall the king of Israel be 
 brought." Horsley's ver. Note. " The force of the word n/TTj 
 when it is used, as here, to signify a total destruction, is the 
 resolution of any organized substance into the promiscuous mass 
 of unformed, undistinguished atoms, of which it is composed. 
 We express much ^he same sort of destruction, but with less 
 force, and much less propriety, by the verb to annihilate" 
 Horsley. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 1. And out of Egypt ] In his youth (see c. ii. 15.) I 
 shewed my love to him by calling him out of Egypt. In the 
 same manner God shewed his love to his son Jesus; both pre- 
 serving him in Egypt, and calling him thence. So that the 
 same language is applicable to both events. Matth. ii. 15. 
 
 my son] For this reading we have Vulg. Syr. Aq. Symm. 
 Theod. For vV his sons. J. Arab. " But MS. Copt, reads. 
 w tut" Mr. Woide.
 
 HOSEA. XI. 121 
 
 2 f When I called, J then they departed from me : 
 
 They sacrificed to Baalim, and they burned in- 
 " cense to graven images. 
 
 3 And I taught Ephraim to go^ 
 Taking them up in mine arms: 
 
 And they knew not that I healed them. 
 
 4 With the cords of a man I drew them, with the 
 
 bands of love; 
 
 f Hebr. As. J so. 
 
 " oab TiNlp] V is used, not only when giving a name is meant, 
 as Gen. i. 10, which Ch. and some Rabbins understand here^ 
 supplying him} but when fetching is meant; as Gen. xxxi. 4; 
 Poc." Seeker. 
 
 2. When 1 called] I read with 6. Ar. Syr. and Houbigant 
 *Oj?3. This reading will not increase the number of letters, if 
 we suppose the 2 represented by a letter which resembles it, . the 
 preceding 1 in the word V32 1 ?. 
 
 from me] I place the stop after >:DQ, and begin the next 
 branch of the sentence with on. So 6. Arab. Houbigant. Syr. 
 have, " so they departed from me, and sacrificed &c," " Pro- 
 fessor Michaelis also divides the words in this manner. BibL 
 Orient." Mr. Woide. 
 
 3. taught Ephraim to go] I read T&J'irf with Houbigant. 
 t>. Ar. Syr. Chalcl suppose a verb in the first person: " I directed 
 the feet of Ephraim." " Lege Jro")n," Bahrdt. 
 
 " TWH?, Codex Lilientbalii posterior." Dathius. 
 
 Taking them] " Vel legendum D nptt, vel sumendura np pro 
 practerito." Seeker. V. Ezek. xvii- 5. 
 
 in mine arms] I read TijmD in mine arm, or TilJDD in 
 mine arms, with the versions and Houbigant. One edition has 
 the former reading; and one MS. had it originally. And Abu- 
 walicl and R. Tanchum in Pocock read in mine arms. " Quasi 
 nutritius Ephraim portabam eos in brachiis rneis," is the render- 
 ing of Vulg. and, Acts xiii. 18, some copies read Tgo;po<poji<m awe. 
 he bare them as a nurse. 
 
 4. the cords of a man] The explanation in the Chaldee is 
 just and beautiful: "As beloved children are drawn, 1 drew 
 them by the strength of love." " 2 Sam. vii. 14. Yoke] Lev. 
 xxvi. 13." Seeker. " But they would not know, that I pre- 
 served their health amid the grievous plagues of men." Hors- 
 ley's ver. Note. " The plagues of Egypt, which touched cot 
 the Israelites." Horsley.
 
 14% frOSEA. XI. 
 
 And I was unto them as one that raised the 
 
 on their cheek: 
 And I inclined unto him, I bare with him. 
 
 5 He shall return to the land of Egypt: 
 And the Assyrian shall be his king: 
 Because they have refused to return unto me. 
 
 6 And the sword shall fall grievously on his cities; 
 And it shall consume because of him ; and it shall 
 
 devour for their counsels. 
 
 one that raised] Vulg. 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. read in the singu- 
 lar number a'lD. MS. three read o'NOD originally. It is very 
 probable that the words refer to the custom of raising the yoke 
 forward, to cool the neck of the labouring beast. See Salamo 
 Ben Melech in Bishop Lowth on Isai. i. 3. See also Pocock in 
 loc. who quotes Columella- " Cum ventum ad versuram est, in 
 priofem partem jugum propellat, & boves inhibeat; ut collaeo- 
 rum refrigescant, quae celeritcr conflagrant nisi assidue refri- 
 gerentur; & ex eo tumor, ac delude ulcera invadunt." " Pro 
 ?y f. VyQ." Secken 
 
 inclined] Or, turned. See Numb. xx. 17. 1 Sam. viii. 
 3. Symmachus in Jerom is rendered Et dedinavi. See Mont- 
 faucon's Hex. But 6. Ar. read lOONl and I looked on him. 
 
 I bare with him] 6. An read ib ^IN, or/fotN. tvmntuu v7 tak- 
 ing $fo, for which they read iV, from the next verse. I have the 
 pleasure of finding this criticism confirmed by Bahrdt and Man- 
 ger in loc. except that they read l 1 ? tew. cibwn prabebam ei. 
 See Isai. i. 13. Ps. c'i t 5. So tT^vfa^asy avrag, Acts xiii. 18: 
 which is the common and best supported reading. " Professor 1 
 Michaelis prefers the reading of tew, which is confirmed by 
 three MSS. Bibl. orient.*' Mr. Woide. The translation would 
 then beJ 
 
 And I inclined unto him, I led him. 
 
 B. He shall return] Agreeably to c. vii. 16. viii 13. ix. 3, 6: 
 and v. 11. The negative particle in our version, and in Vulg. 
 Syr. Chald. creates what appears to me an invincible difficulty. 
 
 " We may translate, shall he not return to Egypt r" Dr. For- 
 sayeth, 
 
 to return unto me} To be converted. See Isai. vi. 10. 
 Ezek* xiv. 6. 
 
 6. shall fall grievously] So we render ^in Jer. xxiii. 19. 
 Shall fall and rest on-. Kimchi in Pocock. Vulntrabit : Symm. 
 Houbigant, from Wn.
 
 HOSEA. XI. 123 
 
 7 . And my people shall hang in doubt, because of 
 
 their turning away from me: 
 And though they call on him together because of 
 the yoke, he will not raise it. 
 
 8 How shall I give thee up, O Ephraim ? how 
 
 shall I deliver thee up, O Israel?, 
 How shall I make thee as Admah ? how shall I set 
 
 thee as Zeboim ? 
 
 Mine heart is changed within me: 
 At the same time my repentings are kindled. 
 
 9 I will not execute mine hot anger, 
 
 I will not turn to destroy Ephraim utterly; 
 For I am God, and not man ; 
 The Holy One in the midst of thee, and not a 
 frequenter of cities. 
 
 Hebr. the heat of mine anger. 
 
 because of him] See '*D in Noldius. 
 
 " And the sword shall weary itself in his cities, and consume 
 his diviners, and devour because of their counsels." Horsley's 
 ver. Note. " The LXX, and the Syriac, certainly represent 
 a different reading : VTD, instead of V"72. K< 1,06^ ^^ nin n 
 
 ffit; CT-oXto-iv aura, xi xalita-jffr, EV Ttj X E S <7 ' V avra - * The SWOrd IS Weak- 
 
 ened in his cities, and is become inacuve in his hands." Horsley. 
 
 7. hang in doubt] They shall be ^r^i^w, in a state of 
 anxious suspence: Luke xii. 29. See Dent, xxviii. 66. 
 
 turning away from me] So the Arab MS. in Pocock. See 
 on Hos. viii. 13. " Till my returning." Horsley's ver. 
 
 raise it] See v. 4. Syr. seems to read : " and if they call 
 on God." INIp'^v Vjn. 6. read -)!T V1p by btf\ : "and God will 
 be angry at their precious things." " For they were called to a 
 
 high degree All of one mind, they would not be exalted." 
 
 Horsley's ver. 
 
 8. Admah] See Gen. xiv. 8. 
 
 Mine heart] " My heart is turned upon me, my bowels yearn 
 altogether." Horsley's ver, 
 
 At the same time] ^nf^aye^. 6. 
 
 9. and not a frequenter of cities] I inhabit my holy place : 
 and do not, like men, appear in places of public concourse. " Et 
 non qui ventito in urbem." Hebr. See this curious explanation 
 in Prael. Hebr. xix. 241. " Professor Michael is points the word 
 differently, and compares it with the kindred Syriac word which 
 denotes ferus, immitis ; and with the Arabic one which denotes 
 
 Y
 
 124 IIOSEA. XI. 
 
 10 They shall walk after Jehovah, when he shall roar 
 
 as a lion: 
 
 When he shall roar, then shall their sons hasten 
 from the west: 
 
 11 They shall hasten as a bird, from Egypt- 
 And as a dove, from the land of Assyria: 
 
 And I will place them in their houses, saitb Jeho- 
 vah. 
 
 12 Ephraim hath || compassed me about with false- 
 
 hood ; 
 
 And the house of Israel, and of Judah, with deceit: 
 But hereafter they shall come down a people of God, 
 Even a faithful people of saints. 
 
 J! Or. beset. 
 
 irdtus, and particularly ira in Deo. Bibl. orient." Mr. Woidef. 
 See 1^2 Cast lex. I have sometimes thought that we should read 
 TjO, that is "iya, burning, or consuming all before me. See 
 Mai. iv. 1 . 
 
 " Putat Vitr. in Jes. x. 34. p. 297 legendum TJD ut hostis. 
 Vide Is. xl. 10. Jer. xv. 8. vel forsan recte *VjO in persona hos- 
 tis, en ennemi. Conf. Exocl. vi, 3. et Nold. in n sign. 20. Oft 
 a holy one is not come in enmity." Seeker. 
 
 1 0. They shall walk] They shall refrain from idolatry, when 
 he shall display his power in their behalf. 
 
 hasten] In Cast. lex. "nn is rendered trepide accurrit,fes- 
 tinavit. So : 
 
 Dum trepidant alee, saltusque indagine cingunt. 
 
 Viror. Jn. i v . 121. 
 
 See more in Pocock for the sense of moving without fear ; where 
 2 Kings iv. 13. is quoted. No doubt, many of tne ten tribes 
 returned from the west, from Egypt, and from Assyria, in con- 
 sequence of Cyrus's decree. " Trepicli accurrent. So Ch. 
 Syr. understand it." Seeker. " After Jehovah they shall walk 
 Like a lion he shall roar verily he himself shall roar ; and 
 children shall hurry from the west." Horsley's ver. 
 
 12. compassed me about] See Ps. xxxii. 7. cix. 3. c. vii. 2. 
 
 and of Judah] So 6. Ar. Syr. Judah cannot be praised at 
 
 this period) as in the English version. See c. v. 5, 12. vi. 4. xii. 2. 
 
 they shall come down] From Babylon. Vulg. reads TV 
 
 Syr. reads rm, or Ti : and ?DW1, " a holy and faithful people." 
 
 If we read TV and TiV> we may render: " Hereafter they shall
 
 HOSEA. XII. 125 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 1 EPHRAIM feedeth on the wind, and followeth 
 
 after the east wind. 
 
 Every day he multiplyeth falsehood and robbery. 
 And they have made a league with Assyria : 
 And oil is carried into Egypt, 
 
 2 Jehoyah hath also a controversy with Judah ; 
 And he iv ill set himself to * visit Jacob according 
 
 to his ways ; 
 
 According to his doings will he recompense him. 
 S In the womb he took his brother by the heel ; 
 
 And by his strength he had the power of a prince 
 
 with God: 
 
 * Hebr. to visit upon. 
 
 come down people of God," or, " a people of God shall come 
 down." 
 
 6. and Ar. read 
 
 to* ojn nny 
 
 But now will God know them; 
 
 And they shall be called a people of saints, 
 sc. at their restoration to their own land. 
 
 " Professor Michaelis also reads ny a people. Bibl. Orient." 
 Mr. Woide. " They shall hurry like the sparrow from Egypt, 
 and like the dove from Assyria; and I will settle them in their 
 own houses, saith Jehovah. Ephraim hath compassed me about 
 with treachery, and the house of .Israel with deceit. But Judah 
 shall yet obtain dominion with God, and shall be established 
 with the Holy Ones." Horsley's ver. who in his note refers 
 Holy Ones to the Trinity. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 1. Ephraim ] He not only adopts empty counsels, but 
 dangerous ones. Sqe Job xv. 2. and the addition in 6. Prov. 
 ix. 12. 
 
 eastwind] Which was parching and noxious. 
 
 robbery] b. read Niun and vanity. 
 
 According to his doings] Seven MSS. three editions, the 
 versions, and Chald. read VTjyESl And according to his doings t &c. 
 
 3. by the heel] The action denoted that he would supplant 
 him in the right of primogeniture. See Geni xxv. 26. xxvii. 36. 
 " And in his adult vigour he had power with God." Horsley'
 
 126 HOSEA. XII. ' 
 
 4 Yea, he had the power of a prince with the angel : 
 And he prevailed by might ; and he made suppli- 
 cation unto him : 
 
 In Bethel he found him, and there he spake with him. 
 
 5 And Jehovah God of hosts, Jehovah is the name 
 
 appointed for a memorial of him. 
 
 6 Therefore turn thou unto thy God; 
 Observe loving-kindness and Judgment; 
 And hope in thy God always. 
 
 7 He is a trafficker; in his hand are the balances 
 
 of deceit ; 
 r A He loveth to oppress : 
 
 8 And Ephraim hath said, surely I am become rich; 
 1 have found myself substance. 
 
 All his labours shall not be found profitable unto 
 him, 
 
 4. the angel] Who represented the invisible Jehovah. 
 John i. 18. 
 
 by might] Instead of nD3 he wept, of which we read no- 
 thing Gen. xxxii, Houbigant conjectures that we should read 
 
 n i. e. rn. 
 
 spake with him] IQy So. 6. MS. A. Ar. Syr. Houbigant, 
 " Even matched with the angel he had power, and was endued 
 with strength. He had wept, and made supplication." Hors- 
 ley's ver. 
 
 5. memorial] The name by which he is remembered and 
 distinguished. Ex. iii. 15. 
 
 7. a trafficker] We may render the word a Canaanite, See 
 Susanna v. 56. 
 
 " O thou seed of Canaan, and not of Judah." 
 
 8. found myself substance] Perhaps we should read nn. 
 Imentis miser abstinet. Hor. 
 
 bis labours] I read with 6, Ar. vyj: or 1}"3' his labour: 
 and iV unto him: and I suppose a preposition to be nnderstooci 
 .before py; which is a very common construction. 
 
 be found] He shall not possess, or enjoy, the fruit of 
 them. " ^ 1\JD' vh may mean, suffice me not. " See Josh. xvii. 
 1 6." Seeker. 
 
 I translate } IN'yQ 1 N^ have not been sufficient for me ; See 
 Josh. xvii. 16; and render the latter part of the verse thus: Yet 
 all I have acquired by my labours [see Ps. cxxviii. 2. Isai. xlv.
 
 HOSEA. XII. 127 
 
 For the iniquity wherewith he hath sinned. 
 9 Ami Jehovah thy God, who brought thee up out 
 
 of the land of Egypt, 
 Will again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the 
 
 days of old. 
 
 10 Yet have I spoken unto the prophets; 
 And I have multiplied vision; 
 
 And by the f prophets have I used similitudes. 
 
 11 Verily in Gilead there is iniquity; 
 Surely they are become vanity. 
 
 f Hebr. hand of the prophets, 
 
 14] has not been sufficient for me, by reason of the iniquity 
 wherewith I have sinned. I read TIlDn, the tf being omitted, as 
 Job xxxiii. 18. Ruth ii. 9. &c." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 " To preserve the turn of the original, we should render, 
 ' found sufficient for him.' 
 
 " yx sunt opes labor ibus parte, et imenire alteri aliquid est 
 siifficere ad aliquid. De isto usu verbi ND V. Jos. xvii. 16. Jud. 
 xxi. 14. Num. xi. 22." Bahrdt. " Nevertheless Ephraim shall 
 say, Although I became rich, I acquired to myself [only] sorrow; 
 all my labours procured not for me, what may expiate iniquity." 
 Horsiey's ver. 
 
 9. who brought thee up] I supply "jnblOi with 6. Ar. Syr. 
 Chald. See on c. xiii. 4 - 
 
 of old] Chald. and MS. Arab, in Pocock have OTp. And 
 MS. 245, supposed to be written about A. D. 1290, has CDbiy. 
 
 I will deprive you of your habitations, and will cause you 
 in your captive state to inhabit tents, as ye formerly did in the 
 desert. See Mic. iv. 10. If we read TjnQ, the feast of taber- 
 nacles must be meant. 
 
 " TJ71Q 'C'D as in the days of the appointed time : alluding to 
 the forty years; during which, on account of the frequent pro- 
 vocations of the children of Israel, God had determined that 
 they should dwell in the wilderness. Numb, xiv 34. Dr. For. 
 saycth. 
 
 10. similitudes] Comparisons, or parables; and typical 
 representations. I have endeavoured to avert thy punishment, 
 by sending a succession of prophets. Ch. reads nVu/N* / sent. 
 
 11. Verily in ] Syr. has li^a, and perhaps read o# " with 
 Gilead," Chald. has 7^722 Ctt. Perhaps the preposition S is 
 understood in the text. ON f. IN*." Seeker. " I have spoken 
 [coming] upon the prophets, I have also multiplied vision; and
 
 128 HOSEA. XIII. 
 
 In Gilgal they sacrifice oxen: 
 Moreover their altars are as heaps 
 In the furrows of the field. 
 
 12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria; 
 And Israel served for a wife ; 
 
 And for a wife he kept sheep. 
 
 13 And by a prophet Jehovah brought up Israel out 
 
 of Egypt, 
 And by a prophet was he preserved. 
 
 14 Ephraim hath provoked J most bitterly : 
 Therefore his Lord will leave his blood upon him, 
 And will recompense to him his reproach. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 1 WHEN Ephraim spake trembling, 
 
 \ Hebr. with bitternesses. 
 
 by the ministry of the prophets, I have shewn similitudes." 
 Horsley's ver. 
 
 oxen] In Gilgal the princes sacrifice. 6. They read DHU. 
 
 as heaps] As common as heaps of stones. See Isai. v. 2. 
 Palestine was. a stony country. 
 
 12. kept sheep] Honbigant suspects that the order is dis- 
 turbed; and observes the want of connection, about which he 
 thinks all the commentators unsatisfactory. Pocock supposes 
 the best connection to be, That Ephraim was much degenerated 
 from his ancestors, who in a fugitive and low state relied on 
 God's providence, and when slaves in Egypt willingly submitted 
 themselves to Moses as God's minister. After the word kept, 
 there may be an omission of some words. If we suppose that 
 there followed a reference to Gen. xxxi. 3. tbat Jehovah appeared 
 to Jacob in a vision, instances of the divine goodness in v. 12, 13, 
 will be opposed to the ingratitude of Ephraim v. 14; as v. 10, 
 stands opposed to v. 1 1. " Kent watch!" Horsley's ver. 
 
 14. leave his blood] Will not cleanse him from the guilt 
 of blood shed by him. 
 
 his reproach] The reproach shewn by him to his God. 
 CHAP. xiii. 
 
 1. trembling] The original word may be a participle, 
 nrm. See its sense in Chald. Syr. and Ar. in Cast. lex. ex- 
 pressive of fear and its effects: tremuit, exterruit, imbecillui fuit 4 
 impeditus lingua fuit.
 
 HOSEA. XIIL 129 
 
 . He exalted himse/fin Israel; 
 
 But when he offended in the matter oj Baal, he died. 
 2 And now they sin more and more, 
 
 And have made to themselves a molten image; 
 
 Of their silver by their skill have they made idols: 
 
 All of it is the work of the artificers . 
 
 They say concerning them, 
 
 Let Jhe men who sacrifice kiss the calves. 
 
 Hebr. they add to sin. 
 
 " Vox faucibus hassit." Virg. 
 
 fbmpare Isai. Ixvi. 2. When Ephraim spake humbly, and 
 trembling at my word. 6. may have read n"D, " according to 
 the law," which makes a good sense. See Houbigant. 
 
 He exalted himself] We may read NU?3, he was a prince. 
 The jod may have been formerly supplied by a point. This 
 reading will answer exactly to Syr. ..See also Chald. 
 
 he died] He was consigned to destruction from his ene- 
 mies. " When Ephraim spake, there was dread: he was ex- 
 alted in Israel. But he offended in Baal, and died. Horsley's 
 ver. 
 
 2. Of their silver] 6. MS. Pachom. and ed. Aid. read t X r-n* 
 xai -. ap-j^x: and one MS. and two ed. add DSniQI. 
 
 by their skill] Reading artfnro. Another good read- 
 ing is, D'Jins " according to the similitude." See V. 6. Ar. 
 Syr. Chald. and the many MSS. and editions which read D for 2. 
 
 " And have made to themselves a molten image of their silver ; 
 
 According to the similitude of idols ; all of it the work of 
 the artificer." 
 
 " CrB'QTO Recte: licet D'32n exemplar denotet." Seeker. 
 
 All of it] obs all of them is the reading of four MSS. and 
 of two more originally. There is still better authority of MSS. 
 for reading l 1 ?^- But after rr?D we may understand mTT. 
 
 concerning them] " CT^ f. ex praeced. rf? et seq. an." 
 Seeker. 
 
 the men who sacrifice] See Isai. xxix. 19. 
 
 CD"TN' Witt the poor among men. See also Mic. v. 5. 
 
 kiss] See 1 Kings xix 18. Thus Cicero describes a statue 
 of Hercules as having " rictum ejus ac mentum paulo attritius, 
 quod in precihus & gratulationibus non solum adorare, verum 
 etiam osculari, solebant." In Verr. Act ii. L. iv. . 43. 
 The margin seems better. " The sacrificers of men." Seeker. 
 " And now they repeat [their] sin : and, in their great wisdom, they
 
 1.30 HOSEA. XIII. 
 
 3 Therefore shall they be as the morning cloud j 
 And as the early dew ivhich passeth away: 
 
 As chaff driven by a whirlwind from the threshing* 
 
 floor; 
 And as smoke from the chimney. 
 
 4 But I am Jehovah thy God, 
 
 Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt: 
 And thou hast known no God but me 3 
 And there is no Saviour besides me. 
 
 5 I knew thee in the desert, 
 
 have made to themselves molten images of their silver; idols? 
 the workmanship of artificers. Their finishing is, that they say* 
 'Jet the sacrificers of men kiss the calves." Horsley's ver. 
 
 3. from the chimney] ATO x^^oi^;. Theod. 
 
 Ut calidis fumus ab ignibus 
 Vanescit. Sen. Troad. Act. ii. 
 
 4. Who brought thee] Here again, as c. xii. 9, 6. Ar. Syr. 
 Chald. supply a verb: and it is very remarkable that two ^!>S 
 have fttOl qui ascender e fed te ; as the word is written Deut. 
 xx. 1. Ps. Ixxxi. 10. 
 
 known] Experienced the power and goodness of no other 
 God. 
 
 bnt me] See Tt 1 ?! Isai. x. 4. 
 
 There is a remarkable addition in 6 as in Prov. ix. 12, 18, and 
 other places. They read to this effect : 
 7nbtt mn oaw 
 .r>N moi no& naa 
 
 O'Otttfl N2 ^D VDjf T 
 
 y 
 
 Who stretched out the heavens and created the earth: 
 My hands have made all the host of the heavens: 
 And I shewed them not unto thee that thou shouldest walk 
 
 after them. 
 
 And I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, &c. 
 The omission in the Hebrew text may have arisen from the 
 
 carelessness of transcribers, who passed from one ;:\i to the 
 
 other. 
 
 5. knew thee] " The versions, except the Vulgate, and 
 
 Chald. read TJTyWo/ thee. Professor Michaelis. Bibl. Orient.'* 
 
 Mr. Woide. " sustained thee." Horsley*
 
 HOSEA. XIII. 131 
 
 In the land of great drought. 
 
 In their pasture they have been filled : 
 
 They have been filled, and their heart hath been 
 
 exalted : 
 
 Therefore have they forgotten me. 
 And I will be unto them as a lion ; 
 As a leopard in the way will I observe them : 
 I will meet them as a bear bereaved of her whelps: 
 And I will rend the caul of their heart: 
 And there will I devour them as a lioness. 
 
 great drought] In Arab. SN 1 ? is sitivit: whence Lybia. See 
 itf 1 ? and m 1 ? Cast. lex. 
 
 6. In their pasture] I propose reading Dn'jnSl and suppose 
 the van removed from the beginning of the sentence, and joined 
 to the verb; as Gen xxii. 4. Numb. xxx. 8. Jer. xxiii. 39. 
 Syr. and Chald. may read a'D'JD IDD When I fed them. Or, 
 we may read with <5. MS. A. you yiJDtt?' Saturati sunt satu- 
 rando. " E<; is^ia-^m 6. quasi legissent y^wb. Sequituri." Seeker. 
 
 " In their pasture they have been satisfied to the full, and 
 their heart hath been exalted." 
 
 " In the land of parching thirst, as in their own pastures; 
 and they were fed to the full. Fed to the full, and their heart 
 was lifted high ; for that very reason they forgat me." Hors- 
 ley's ver. 
 
 7. observe] Fix the eye on them, to take the surest oc- 
 casion of seizing them. " Insidunt pardi condensa arborum, 
 occultatique earum ramis in prsetereuntia desiliunt," Plin. aptid 
 Boch. p. 788. Or, " in the way to Assyria." As 6. AT. Syr. 
 which rendering gives a force to a\y v. 8. 
 
 8. bereaved] A circumstance which adds a particular de- 
 gree of fierceness. 
 
 Citius me tigris abactis 
 Foetibus, orbatique velint audire leones. 
 
 Stat. See Boch. 313. 
 
 " They never venture to fire upon a young bear, when the 
 mother is near: for, if the cub drop, she becomes enraged to a 
 degree little short of madness: and if she get sight of the enemy, 
 will only quit her revenge with her life." Cook's Voyage. 1784. 
 V. iii. p. 307. 
 
 heart] The seat of the blood, with which wild beasts love to 
 glut themselves. Boch. 740. 
 
 z
 
 132 HOSEA. XI11. 
 
 A beast of the field shall tear them. 
 9 I have destroyed thee, O Israel : for who jj Kill help 
 thce? 
 
 10 Where ifc thy king? in what place ? 
 That he may save thee in all thy cities. 
 
 And where arc thy judges, to whom thou saidst, 
 Give me a king and princes ? 
 
 11 I gave thee a king in mine anger; 
 And I will take him away in my wrath. 
 
 12 The iniquity of Ephraim is treasured up, his sin 
 
 is laid up in store. 
 
 || Hebr. for who is in thine help. 
 
 A beast] Syr. Ar. Prefix And. And 6. ed. Aid. agree with 
 Ar. and have K< S^m. So nine MSS. and one ed. have DTP. 
 " The wild beast shall tear them limb from limb." Hors. ver. 
 
 9. I have destroyed thee] Syr. reads I'nnu? : and for a j : 
 this version reads "2. 6. and Ar. also read Q. One MS. omits 
 O. Houbigant highly approves of the reading in Syr. " Michae- 
 lis also reads 7D O." Mr. Woide. " Reading for O D only *Q as 
 c. Syr. it would be, Thou art destroyed [one hath destroyed thce] 
 O Israel; who shall help thee; For so a Ps. cxviii. 7. 1 Cliron. 
 xv. 26. Deut. xxxiii. 26. Or changing the points it may be, 
 thou hast destroyed thyself. See Isai. xiv. 20. Ezek, xxviii. 
 17. Or, "jTirft!;. Comp. vi. 1. Seeker. " ~[nrr# est infiniti- 
 vus ftominascens. Pcrditio tua adest, O Israel." Bahrdt. 
 
 will help thee] Here we may suppose the Arabism, which 
 makes in auxiliante equivalent to auxilians. See Pol. Syn. Jud. 
 xviii. 1. Robertson's clavis: Ex. xviii. 4. and Nahum iii. 9. 
 
 " It is thy destruction, O Israel, that upon me [alone it lies] 
 to help thee.^' Horsley's ver. 
 
 10. Where] Read frtfwitKV. 6. Ar, Syr. Chald. Houbigant, 
 one MS. and perhaps another. See Kennicott's diss. on 1 Chron. 
 xi. p. 514. " Piofessor Michaelis also adopts this reading. 5 " 1 
 Mr. Woide. " Rather: where is thy king now to save thee? 
 See N1DN iTN Jud. ix. 38. Is. xix. 12. Job xvii. 15. where 
 now ?" Seeker. 
 
 to whom] Here may be a reference to what passed on the 
 Appointment of King Hoshea, after some years of anarchy. 
 
 11. a king] Hoshea. 2 Kings xvii. I. 
 
 12. The iniquity ] Or we may render, " The iniquity of 
 Ephraim is bound up in my treasures^ his sin is hidden in my 
 stores" Bound up, hid, or laid np in some safe or secret place ;
 
 IIOSEA. XI. 133 
 
 13 . The pains of a travailing woman shall come upon 
 
 him : 
 
 And this is an unwise son ; 
 For now he would not else have tarried in the place 
 
 of the breaking forth of children. 
 
 14 Yet I will redeem them from the grave, I will 
 
 deliver them from death. 
 
 O death, where is thine overthrow ? 
 
 O grave, where is thy destruction ? 
 
 t^at, when occasion shall require, they may be produced. Po- 
 cock :. who refers to Deut. xxxii. 34, 5. Job. xiv. 17. on which 
 latter place see Schultens. 
 
 13. And this] Eight MSg. read Kim, 
 
 For now] . Instead of ny, a time, V. Syr. read nny now : 
 which is also the reading of 6. ed. Aid. and MS. Pachom. 
 iioT I-* ju. The son begotten increases the pangs of the mother; 
 and prolongs his own birth, as it were unwisely. The prophet 
 compares Ephraim to a travailing woman whose pangs are great 
 and protracted. " "D'PQ is something relating to birth, probably 
 the os uteri. 2 Kings xix. 3. Now he shall not. 6. Syr. Vulg. 
 nny. r\"J scarce signifies long. " It may be, It is time he should 
 not stay." Seeker. " Fractio liberomm est locus e quo erum- 
 
 Eunt infantes: i. e. matrix" Bahrdt. " He is of tbe thought- 
 :ss race, for it is the critical moment, when he ought not to 
 stand still ; the children are in the aperture." Horsley's ver. 
 
 14. Fet I will redeem ] However, 1 will at length be their 
 God, and they shall triumph over death and destruction. I will 
 fulfil my promise to their forefathers. 
 
 where] We should read twice jTN where, for HN* / will be. 
 So 6, Ar. Syr. Aquila. 1 Cor. xv. 55. Houbigant. See Ken- 
 nicott, quoted v. 10. 
 
 overthrow] Very many MSS. and some editions, read -pit; 
 and 127 in Hebrew is to destroy, to subdue, and ixm in Arab, 
 is exitium, mors, as Vulg. See Cast. lex. The word in 6. is 
 cw, which reading Ar. confirms by rendering punishment, from 
 "py. Syr. has victory: from N2f: which is equivalent to t ,e He- 
 brew im. Houbigant supposes that St. Paul, [or, perhaps 
 some ancient Greek translator used by him] may have read "plTT 
 thy sting for -]>~C"r. The reader will observe that the idea of 
 sting does not occur in Chald. where we find the general terms 
 of killing and destroying. Mr. Dimock also thinks that we 
 should read -pm for '-j*m. 
 
 thy destruction] The destruction inflicted by thee. Herq
 
 134 HOSEA. XIII. 
 
 .Repenting is hidden from mine eyes. 
 
 15 Though he was fruitful among his brethren, 
 There shall come an east wind, a * mighty winci 
 
 shall come up from the desert; 
 And his spring shall become dry, 
 And his fountain shall be f dried up 
 As to him, the treasure of all his J pleasant vessels 
 
 shall be spoiled: 
 
 16 Samaria shall be made desolate; for she hath rebel- 
 
 led against her God: 
 
 They shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be 
 dashed in pieces; and their women with child 
 shall be ripped up. 
 
 * Hebr. a wind of Jehovah. f Or. exhausted. J vessels of desire. 
 
 Syr. lias stimulus, from Dpy, and Ar. spinet, see Cast. lex. 7)W, 
 and Vulg. tnorsus: but how they read *p0p>, the true notion of 
 of which, according to Cast. lex. is excisio, con/ractio (ua, I 
 cannot conjecture. Perhaps, they transposed the clauses. xoj. 
 or mi, victoiy, is a general idezTimplied in 3Dp>. 
 
 St. Paul naturally applies to the resurrection what the pro- 
 phet says of future national happiness. 
 
 Repenting] Change of purpose; my veracity being con- 
 cerned. 
 
 15. was fruitful] One MS. reads KID': and the true read- 
 ing may have been mS 1 . The word OHSN is derived from 
 HID to be fruitful. The versions either read T)D separated, or, 
 as Pocock thinks, gave SOD the sense of the Arab. HD secuit. 
 Because Ephraim set up a different worship, there shall come, 
 j&c. But the former reading makes the passage much more 
 beautiful. 
 
 There shall come] " 6. legobant '-I v>3' nr*| KI^OJ" Seeker. 
 
 And his spring ] V. o. Ar. Syr, render: 
 And shall dry up his spring, 
 And shall exhaust his fountain. 
 
 Seventeen MSS. and one edition read UO'i which may be 
 pointed in Hiphil, as may also ainrri. 
 
 him] Ephraim. 
 
 his pleasant vessels] 6. Ar. supply the pronoun, and read 
 }fnon of his desire. " Cum in oriente rarissimas essent aquse 
 vivjr et seaturientes, fons aquarum poetis erat imago suuimae 
 felicita/cjs et abundantiae rerum optimarum. y Bahrdt.
 
 HOSEA. XIV. 135 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 1 TURN, O Israel, unto Jehovah thy God; 
 For ihou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 
 
 2 Take with you words, 
 And turn unto Jehovah, 
 Say unto him all of you: 
 
 Pardon iniquity : let us receive good : 
 That we may render the fruit of our lips. 
 
 3 Assyria will not save us : 
 We will not ride on horses: 
 
 And we will no more say, Ye are our Gods, 
 
 To the work of our hands. 
 
 For from thee the fatherless obtaineth mercy. 
 
 4 I will heal their turning away from me, I will 
 
 love them freely : 
 
 Or, by. 
 
 1. iniquity] Ten MSS. and two editions read 7D}D, as 6. 
 
 2. Say] Five editions and many MSS. read with V. Syr. IIQ.vi. 
 all of you] This is Houbigant's way of pointing the sen- 
 tence. 
 
 let us receive] Houbigant reads np3. See Chald. 
 
 the fruit of our lips] The phrase, as it stands, is not He- 
 brew; because O1D the calves should be in statu construct o. 
 Jos. Mede, p. 282, and Le Clerc on Hebr. xiii. 15, read -)D 
 12T1DU7Q, fruit from our lips. 6. Ar. read the fruit of our lips, and 
 Syr. the fruit of your lips, as if they omitted Q. See Hebr. xiii. 
 15. 
 
 3. We will not ride] Three editions and many MSS. read 
 ^171, and upon, with Syr. The kings of the Israelites were for- 
 bidden to multiply horses: Deut. xvii. 16. See Isai. xxxi. 1, 
 
 from thee] So Noldius. A te auctore. 
 
 the fatherless] Such might the Israelites be justly called 
 in their captivity. 
 
 4 I will heal ] From these words to the end of v. 8, Je- 
 hovah graciously answers the prayer of his people, supposed 
 to be addressed to him during their captivity. And the dramatic 
 turn, from v. 1. to the close of the chapter, is very beautiful. 
 
 turning away] V. 6. read plurally their turnings away 
 CDnniu?D. This was done by the captivity. The Jews have not 
 been idolaters si nee. "Michaelis reads nrrOUJOfracturameorum." 
 Mr. Woide. " I will restore their conversion. I will love them
 
 136 IIOSEA. XIV. 
 
 For mine anger is turned away from him. 
 
 5 I will be as the clew to Israel : 
 He shall blossom as the lily: 
 
 And he shall strike his roots as Lebanon. 
 
 6 His suckers shall spread, 
 
 And his glory shall be as the olive-tree, 
 And his smell as Lebanon. 
 
 7 They that will sit under his shadow shall return : 
 They shall revive as corn, 
 
 They shall break out as a vine, 
 
 The j| scent of which shall be as the wine of Lebanon. 
 
 |j Heb. memoiial. 
 
 gratuitously; for mine anger is departed from me." Horsley's ver. 
 Note. " I take conversion as a collective noun, for converts; 
 like captivity, for the captives, and dispersion, for the dispersed. 
 The converted nation God promises to restore to his favour, and 
 to a situation of prosperity and splendour." Horsley. - 
 
 5. strike] 6. ySx. See also Ar. Syr. and Cast. lex. Hou- 
 bigant ingeniously conjectures JO'1 and he shall extend. -The sense 
 is, He shall be as firmly rooted as a mountain. Sub ipsis radici- 
 bus montium consedit. Sal. B. Cat. . 57. 
 
 Maremontis ad ejus 
 Radices frangit ttucts. 
 
 Lucretius of Etna, vi. 695. 
 
 6. as Lebanon] Though cedars have a fragrant smell, I 
 prefer reading n:ab3, as frankincense, with Chald. 
 
 7. as corn] Perhaps pTJ which, when committed to the 
 ground, seems to die. 6. have Vov7ai *< ptQ-je$w,la.i <rw. which 
 may be considered as a double rendering, one translator having 
 read VJT and another YIT. This latter reading suggests p3 for p*T: 
 " they shall be watered as a garden." The exigence of the 
 place seems to require a comparison. One MS. adds un'fil. 
 " They shall live on corn and choice wine." 
 
 wine of Lebanon] II seroit difficile de trouver ailleurs du 
 vin plus excellent que celui qu'on nous presenta; ce qui nous fit 
 juger, que la reputation des vins du Liban, dont il est parle 
 dans un Prophete est tres bien fonde. La Roque Itiner. Syr. & 
 Liban. p. 18. Quoted by Manger loc. "They shall return. 
 Sitting under his shadow, they shall abound in corn. They 
 shall germinate like the vine, [and] be famous as the wine of 
 Lebanon." Horsley's ver.
 
 HOSEA. XIV. 137 
 
 8 What bath * Ephraim to do any more with idols? 
 I have heard him; and I have seen him as a flou- 
 rishing fir-tree. 
 
 From me is thy fruit found* 
 
 9 Who is wise, that he may understand these things ? 
 And prudent, that he may know them ? 
 
 For the ways of Jehovah are right, 
 And the just will walk in them: 
 Kut transgressors shall fall in them. 
 
 * Ephraim. what hath he to do. 
 
 8. What hath Ephraim ] I read iV el for hmihi, with 6 Arab. 
 " V. avr* 6. iV. Recte." Seeker. Lege I 1 ? no. 6. At Jon. et 
 Syrus "tQkV supplent. " Ephraim dicet: quid mihi &c.,' Bahrdt. 
 
 I have heard him] We may better read the Hebrew thus : 
 WWI7N vnoy. '*' I have heard him, I have seen him, &c. as 6 
 MS. A. For the punctuation see Syr. Chald. " Ephraim! What 
 have I to do any more with idols? I have answered him. And I 
 will make him flourish, like a green fir-tree. From me tby fruit 
 is supplied." Horsley's ver. 
 
 9. -and the just] " For straight and even are the ways of 
 Jehovah, and in them shall the justified proceed, but revolters 
 shall stumble." Horsley's ver. Note. " pny is properly a fo- 
 rensic word, and signifies a person found not guilty, acquitted, 
 and justified upon a trial. Hence in a theological sense, it is a 
 person found innocent in the sight of God. The plural CD'pny 
 except where the matter of the discourse is relative to mere secu- 
 lar transactions, signifies ' the justified,' those that are justified 
 by faith in the Redeemer coming, or to come, and clothed 
 with his righteousness." Horsley. 
 
 fall in them] They shall stumble and fall in the midst of that 
 light, those directions or commandments, which ought to have 
 guided them. 
 
 The five last lines are spoken in the prophet's own person; 
 and form an apt conclusion to his prophecies.
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 M I C A H. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 1 IHE Word of Jehovah which came to Micah the 
 Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and He- 
 zekiah, kings of Judah: which * came unto him in 
 a vision concerning Samaria and Jerusalem, 
 
 2 Hear, O ye f people, all of { you : 
 Hearken, O land, and all that are therein. 
 
 * Hebr. he saw. f peoples. + them. and her fulness. 
 
 1. - Micah] Of the kingdom of Judah, as he only make* 
 mention of kings who reigned over that country. 1 suppose that 
 he prophesied further on, in the reign of Hezekiah, than Hosea 
 did : though c v. 5, was written before the captivity of the ten 
 tribes, which happened in the sixth year of Hezekiah. It is 
 plain, from c. i. 1, 5, 9, 12, 13, that he was sent both to Israel 
 and to Judah. Like Amos and Hosea, he reproves and threatens 
 a corrupt people with great spirit and energy. See c. ii. 1, 2, 3, 
 8, 9, 10. iii. 2, 3, 4. vi. 10 16. vii. 2, 3, 4. And, like Hosea, 
 he inveighs against the princes and prophets with the highest in- 
 dignation. See c. iii. 5 7. 9 12. vii. 3. And the reader will 
 observe that these similar topics are treated of by each prophet 
 with remarkable variety and copiousness of expression. 
 
 Some of his prophecies are distinct and illustrious ones : as c. 
 ii. 12, 13. iii. 12. iv. 14. 10. v. 2, 3, 4. vi. 13. vii. 8, 9, 10. 
 
 We may justly admire the beauty and elegance of his manner: 
 ii 12, 13. iv. 1, 2, 3, and particularly the two first lines of v. 4. 
 
 His animation: i. 5, 1. 3, 4. ii. 7, 10, 1. 1. iv. 9. 
 
 His strength of expression: i. 6, 8. ii. 3. 1. 3, 4. iii. 2, 3, 12. 
 Vii. 1, 2, 4. 1. 1. 19. 1. 2. 
 
 His pathos: i. 16. ii. 4. 
 
 His sublimity, i. 2, 3, 4. iii. 6, 12. iv. 13. 1. 3. 13. v. 8. 
 vi. 1, 916. vii. 16, 17. 
 
 Morasthite] See v. 14, 15. Maresha is placed in Judab. 
 Josh. xv. 44. 2 Chron. xi. 8. 
 
 which came] " Which was delivered to him in a vision." 
 Dr. Wheeler, 
 
 2, land] Of the Hebrews.
 
 MICAH. I. 13Q 
 
 And let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you ; 
 Even the Lord from his || holy temple.. 
 
 3 For, behold, Jehovah will go forth from his place ; 
 And he will come down, and will tread on the 
 
 high places of the earth. 
 
 4 And the mountains shall be * molten under him; 
 And the valJies shall cleave asunder; 
 
 As wax before the fire, 
 
 As waters poured down a f steep place. 
 
 5 For the transgression of Jacob if all this; 
 And for the sin of the house of Israel. 
 
 What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not that 
 
 of Samaria? 
 And what are the high places of Judah ? are they 
 
 not those of Jerusalem ? 
 
 |i Hebr. the temple of his holiness. * Or, dissolve. f a descent. 
 
 the Lord] Two MSS. omit the former 'JIN, and four MSS. 
 read O'nbN instead of it. For the second TIN twenty-six MSS. 
 read mrv. 
 
 witness] Let him bear testimony against you, and forewarn 
 you of your danger, by me his prophet. See Ps. 1. 7. 
 
 temple] Where he manifests his glory. 
 
 3. from his place] He will elsewhere display his glorious 
 majesty, by punishing the guilty. 
 
 high places] See this line Amos iv. 1 3. 
 
 4. be molten] All nature -shall confess his presence. See 
 Amos. ix. 5. 
 
 As wax] This image often occurs in the classics. 
 
 Quasi igni 
 Cera super calido tabescens multa liquescat. Lucr. vi. 512. 
 
 5. sin] Twenty-three MSS. and three editions read 
 nMDmi and for the sin : as 6. Ar. Chald: 
 
 What] See on Jon. i. 8. Noldius also proposes to translate 
 Where. ' 
 
 Samaria] See Hos. viii. 5. 
 
 high places] See 2 Kings xvi. 4. The two chief cities 
 are infected with idolatry. " r1Q2 Sic Vulg. sed ^ ? 7< a <5. Syr. 
 Ch. Legemnt nNZDn: recte." Seeker. This is the reading of 
 one MS. and of another in the margin : and, from the turn of 
 the sentence, appears to be the tnn reading. 
 
 " And what is the sin of Judah? is it not that of Jerusalem?" 
 A a
 
 140 MIC AM. 1. 
 
 () Therefore will I make Samaria an J heap of the 
 field, a place for the plantings of a vineyard: 
 And I will pour down her stones into the valley, 
 and I will discover her foundations. 
 
 7 And all her graven images shall be beaten to 
 
 pieces; 
 
 And all her hires*?/ idolatry shall be burned in the fire; 
 And all her idols will I || destroy. 
 For from the hire of an harlot 'hath she gathered 
 
 her treasures ; 
 And to the hire of an harlot shall they return, 
 
 8 For this wil! I wail and howl; 
 1 will go spoiled and nak^d ; 
 
 I will make a wailing like the * foxes; 
 
 J Hcbr. for an heap. for a place. j| make a desolation: * Or, Jackales. 
 
 But that there were high places near Jerusalem, see 1 Kings 
 xi. 7 
 
 * 6. vineyard] Samaria was situated on a hill, the right soil 
 for a vineyaid. 
 
 7. from the hire] Her idols and sacred ornaments some- 
 times arose from the rewards of harlots, appropriated for that 
 purpose; and they shall return to the spiritual harlot, Nineveh. 
 See Deut. xxiii/18. Spencer p. 564. Or, She imputed her 
 wealth to her spiritual harlotry; and her conquerors shall distri- 
 bute it as the reward of harlots in the literal sense. 
 
 8. I will go] Many MSS. and one edition read n~\v. 
 
 sppiled] Many MSS. and three editions read Vru?, which 
 may literally he rendered a spoil. " Barefooted." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 naked] That is, without an upper garment. His dress 
 would be neglected, like that of eastern mourners. 
 
 foxes] The desert is the habitation of rvon Mai. i. 3. The 
 word may signify " a kind of wild beast like a dog, between a 
 dog and a fox, or a wolf and a fox ; which the Arabians call, 
 from the noise which they make, Kbu Awi, [fiiius Eheu] and 
 our English travellers Jakales; which, abiding in the fields and 
 waste places, make in the night a lamentable howling noise." 
 Pocock in loc. See also Shaw's travels, 4to. 174, 5: and Bo- 
 chart 1. iii. c. xii, who qnotes Busbequius as saying, " Narrant 
 mini esse ululatum bestiarum quas Turcx Ciacles vocant, ut 
 Persae Sciagal;" and an Arabic writer, as comparing " uiulatum. 
 flii Awi infantis vagitui." I suppose that the word in this sense 
 comes from JiJn iterarei and, when it signifies the
 
 MICAH. I. 141 
 
 And mourning, like the daughters of the ostrich. 
 9 For her wound is grievous : 
 For. it is come to Judah, 
 It hath reached to the gate of my people, eren to 
 
 Jerusalem. 
 10 In Gath tell it not. 
 
 \^eep ye not with loud weeping. 
 
 In Beth-Ophrah roll thyself in the dust. 
 
 seiyernt kind, that it is derived from the same root in the signi- 
 fication of duplicare, complicare. 
 
 ostrich] So Aquila and Symmachus. Bochart says, 
 " Nota in Struthioiie foeminam appellari n3y vel nui?' J12 ; quasi 
 clamosam dices, vel filiam clamoris. Clamosum enim est ani- 
 mal." Hie. 1. i. c. ix. p. 65. " It is affirmed by travellers of 
 good credit, that Ostriches, make a fearful skreeching lament- 
 able noise." Pocock in loc. " During the lonesome part of the 
 night, they often make a very doleful and hideous noise. I have 
 often heard them groan, as if they were in the greatest agonies; 
 an action beautifully alluded to by the prophet Micah." Shaw 
 4to. p. 456. See Job xxx. 28, 29. 
 
 9. her wound] The versions and Chald. read nrpQ. Six 
 MSS. and one ed. read nTPQ, and one MS- omits the . 
 
 It hath reached] The versions and Chald. lead us to read; 
 
 nya. Or thus : 
 
 " The stroke hath reached to the gate, &c." 
 If we read NO, we have this rendering: 
 
 u For the stroke is come to Judah; 
 
 To the gate of my people, to Jerusalem." 
 Jerusalem] This city will soon be distressed by the Edom- 
 jtes, Philistines and Assyrians. 2 Chron. xxviii. 16 21. 
 
 10. tell it not ] From 2 Sajn. i. 20. 
 
 Beth-Ophrah] Ophrah is mentioned Josh, xviii. 23, as in 
 the tribe of Benjamin. Houbigant prefers mDyn. 
 
 roll thyself] Seven MSS. read ni^Dnn : and three read 
 so originally : agreeably to Keri in Vanderhpoght. rOtt?' O iii- 
 habitress may be understood. Or we may read ittftDfin roll your- 
 selves, with V. Syr. b. Ar. 
 
 in the dust] Here the word *IDJ? pidvis alludes to the ety- 
 jnology of Beth-Ophrah, which signifies domus pulveris. 
 Ah! nimis ex vero tune tibi nomen erit. 
 
 Ovid. See Prsel. Lebr. xv. 138. n. 1# 
 
 ^Erwvvjixtu it xao7re ITcXvvjmi Xsycu. 
 
 ^Esch. Septem in Theb. 664. Eurip. Phaen. 1500.
 
 142 MICAH. I. 
 
 1 1 Pass on, them inhabitress of Saphir, naked and in 
 
 confusion. 
 
 The inhabitants of Zanan went not forth to wailing. 
 O Beth-Ezel, he shall receive of you the rezvard of 
 
 his station against you. 
 
 That this reference to the meaning of names was natural 
 among the Hebrews, see on Hosea i. 4. It also served to im- 
 print prophecies on the memory of those to whom they were 
 delivered. 
 
 The paronomasia, a figure likely to strike a rude people, of- 
 ten occurs in the Hebrew writers. See Boch. geogr. iii. i. 148. 
 Bishop Lowth on Isai. v. 7. 
 
 This particular way of expressing grief is often mentioned in 
 the classics. 
 
 AvXi; n yjifritrt xtAijsofxrvo; xaro XOTTJOY. 
 
 II. xxiv. 64. 
 Canitiem immundo deformat pulvere. 
 
 Virg. of Mezentius. 
 
 Pulvere canitiem genitor, vultusque seniles, 
 Fredat humi fusos. 
 
 Ov. Met. viii. 528. 
 
 " The old versions vary. Perhaps there were originally three 
 places mentioned here, and three paronomasias." Seeker. 
 
 " n:G I imagine is corrupt, and that here was the name of 
 some place." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 1 1. Saphir] Houbigant says that Eusebius places this city, 
 the name of which signifiesyh/r or elegant, in the tribe of Judah 
 between Eleutheropolis and Ascalon. 
 
 naked] See on Hosea ii. 3. Observe the opposition to the 
 meaning of Saphir. For CDD 1 ? vobis in this line Houbigant reads 
 *]*? tibi, with Syr. " Naked to thy shame." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 Zanan] In the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 37. There was 
 no burial of her dead with solemn mourning, out of the precincts 
 of her city; but she was besieged, and put to the sword. 
 Beth-Ezrl] Near Jerusalem. Zech. xiv. 5. 
 station] The standing, or encamping [1 Sam. xvii. 3.] of 
 an army against a city : and hence the effect of such encamp- 
 ment, or the plunder arising from it. Ckald. seems to read 
 
 vnon:' 
 
 " O Beth-Ezcl,he shall receive from you his pleasant portion." 
 Thus we shall have an allusion to the name of the city j as 
 ^N signifies reponere.
 
 MICAH. 1. 143 
 
 1*2 Surely the inhabitress of Maroth is sick unto death. 
 Surely evil hath come down from Jehovah unto 
 the gate of Jerusalem. 
 
 13 Bind the chariot to the swift beast, 
 O inhabitress of Lachish: 
 
 She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of 
 
 Zion : 
 For in the'e were found the transgressions of Israel ; 
 
 14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth- 
 
 Gatb. 
 
 The habitations of Achzib f shall deceive the 
 kings of Israel. 
 
 15 Moreover I will bring an heir unto thee, O inha- 
 
 bitress of Mareshah : 
 He shall reach to Adullum, the border of Israel. 
 
 f Hebr. shall be a lie to. 
 
 12. Maroth] A city of like name is placed in the tribe of 
 Judab, Josh. xv. 59. 
 
 unto death] For nViD 1 ? unto good Houbigant reads niG*? unto 
 death, from 2 Kings xx. 1. ID 1 ? unto bitterness, or bitterly, will 
 furnish a paronomasia. 
 
 Observe N'2f' and pN v. 11: and in the following verse, U7O 1 ? 
 and twi. 
 
 13. Bind the chariot] We may read mmo nam : The in- 
 habitress of Lachish hath bound the chariot, &c. 
 
 Lachisb] In the tribe of Judah. Josh. xv. 39. Scnna- 
 chari'u possessed himself of it. 2 Kings xviii. 14. 
 
 the transgressions] The idols of Israel were first adopted 
 by Lachish. Houbigant reads nns* thou, for tf'n she, in the 
 foregoing line: but if any alteration is necessary, which may 
 well be doubted, TO in her, for "p in thee, would be a more 
 easy one in the following line. 
 
 14. presents to Moresheth-Gath] To Moresheth of Gatb, 
 to the Philistines of that countiy, for safety and protection. 
 
 Achzib] This name is derived from 3D to lie. Perhaps 
 we should read SOtf /T3. Beth- Achzib shall be a liar, &c. shall 
 repeatedly frustrate the expectations of her kings, and become 
 an easy prey to the invader. 
 
 to the kings] Perhaps ~]bd? to the king. Jod follows. 
 
 15. Mareshah] The word is derived from ii;**) to inherit. 
 the border] For TiSD the glory I read with Chald. ^113 the 
 
 border. Adullum was a fenced city in Judah. 2 Chron. xi. 7.
 
 144 MICAH. II. 
 
 16 Make thee bald, and cut off thine hair, for thy 
 
 delicate children: 
 Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle: 
 For they are gone into captivity from thee. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 WOE unto them who devise iniquity, 
 And who work evil on their beds: 
 
 When the morning is light they practice it, 
 Because it is in the power of their hand. 
 
 2 And they covet fields, and possess them by vio- 
 
 lence ; houses, and take them away : 
 And they oppress a man and his J house -, a great 
 man, and his heritage. 
 
 3 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: 
 
 Behold against this family do I devise evil, 
 from which ye shall not remove your necks ; 
 
 J Or, family. 
 
 Eusebius places it twelve miles from Eleutheropolis to the east- 
 ward : which answers to the situation in De Lisle's posthumous 
 map, where iris placed about midway between Eleutheropolis 
 and Jerusalem. 
 
 1 6. Make thee bald] " O inhabitress of Mareshah," may be 
 understood. For the custom, see on Amos viii. 10. 
 
 as the eagle] When he sheds his plumage. Ps. ciii. 5. 
 Aves calvescere clicuntur cum deplumes sunt. Boch. Hieroz. p, 
 14. There is also a species of eagle, called the bald eagle from 
 the whiteness of its head. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1. \vorkevil] In their imagination, 
 
 in the power] Houbigant refers to Prov. iii. 27. btt power 
 is written more fully V'K. See W? in Noldius. 
 
 2. houses] Eight MSS. read CDTO : which is elegant, 
 and agreeable to the Hebrew manner. 
 
 a great man] So urN sometimes signifies. Many MSS. and 
 four editions read U7W. So V. b. MS. A. and ed. Aid. and Arab. 
 The omission of the vau in both clauses better suits the usual 
 turn of the sentence in Hebrew poetry. 
 
 3. family] See on Amps iii. 1,
 
 MICAH. II. 145 
 
 Neither shall ye go haughtily: 
 For it shall be an evil time. 
 
 4 In that clay shall a proverb be taken up against 
 
 you; 
 
 And a grievous lamentation shall be made: 
 Saying: " We are utterly laid waste: 
 fie hath changed the portion of my people: 
 How hath he departed from me, 
 To bring again him that divided our fields!" 
 
 5 Surely there shall not || remain unto thee 
 One that stretcheth out a line by lot. 
 
 6 In the congregation of Jehovah prophesy not, 
 
 O ye that prophesy : 
 They shall not prophesy unto these: 
 
 Hebr, shall one take up. || be, 
 
 haughtily] Hebr. m altitudine. It shall be an inextricable 
 yoke; and one that shall bow you down. 
 
 4. a proverb] See pracl. Heb. iv. p. 45. and the same author 
 on Isai. xiv. 4. 
 
 And a grievous ] Et lamentando lamentum conficietur : sup- 
 posing nru the infinitive mood and irrw the Niphal of irn Juit. 
 The n3 here answers to nj'p Am. v. 1. 
 
 changed] The original word is rendered removed, Ps. xlvi. 
 2. And "UVQ in Arab, signifies commoner i, agitari, conturbarL 
 Cast. lex. Another reading is, 1Q is measured, or, he hath measu- 
 red. See 6. Ar. Svr. 
 
 from me] Literally, to me: the pronoun being redundant. 
 A mourner of Israel speaks. 
 
 To bring again] The Assyrians had ravaged Israel and Judah 
 before their final destruction. See 2 Kings xv. 29. xviii. 13. 
 
 TtfN who is to be supplied with viilg. before pbn divided. 
 
 5. Surely ] Ye shall be wholly removed from your posses- 
 sions. 
 
 6. O ye that prophesy] I understand YkL\v tvho before pED'lD' : 
 and for the construction refer the reader to such passages as c. 
 iii. 3. Amos v. 7, 10, 12: where a verb in the third person plural, 
 with T&N understood, is used vocatively. M? s**f>.rt 5-xafov7 ;. 
 Aquila. But the word may be a various reading of the foregoing 
 or following verb. See on Hos. iv. 1 8. 
 
 " Drop no longer your instruction. 
 
 " Let them that instruct instruct no longer such as these." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler.
 
 146 MICAH. II. 
 
 For he shall not remove from himself reproaches* 
 
 7 Doth the house of Israel say, 
 
 " Is the spirit of Jehovah straitened? 
 
 " Are these his doings?" 
 
 Are not my words good 
 
 With him who walketh uprightly? 
 
 8 But of old my people hath risen up as an enemy. 
 Ye strip the mantle * off the garment, 
 
 From those who pass by securely, the captives of 
 war. 
 
 * Hebr. from off. 
 
 t fVl 
 
 he shall not remove] The true prophet will subject himself 
 to public disgrace by exercising his office. " Very obscure. 
 None of the ancients make the addition which our translators do ; 
 but understand the second word as a noun or participle." Seeker. 
 
 7. say] Four MSS. read lONn. See V. Chald. And 6. Ar. 
 read "MDiNn, which is equivalent. 
 
 straitened] Confined to a few, such as Micah. 
 
 his doings] So dishonourable to his attributes, and to his 
 people. 
 
 Are not] Jehovah answers, Do not my words administer 
 good to the righteous, who pay attention to the chosen prophets 
 sent by me? 
 
 -my words] 6. Ar. read his words. 
 
 be gerundive, eundo. Perhaps, " with him that walketh in up- 
 rightness." See Isai. Ivii. 2. and v. 11. 
 
 8. of old] See Isai. xxx. 33. 6 render by ipvpaQr,. For the 
 truth of the assertion, see Hos. x. 9. xi. 2. 
 
 an enemy] Against me their God. 
 
 off the garment] This enmity ye shew by acts of cruelty 
 and robbery. Noldius renders Vo3 a, dcsuper; but without any 
 other example. Perhaps we should read hyco. Houbigant justly 
 observes that fTVTJ* is the word which elsewhere occurs for the 
 upper garment. 
 
 the captives] One MS. reads at& the captivity. Houbigant 
 conjectures niff. o. give a good general sense, ovrryw 
 Breaking your truce with them, by thus spoiling them. 
 
 9. " 1M ,' * Wtttt." Seeker.
 
 MICAH. II. 147 
 
 9 The women of my people ye cast out from f their 
 
 delightful habitation: 
 From J their children ye take away any glory for ever. 
 
 10 Ariseye and depart ; for this ?> not your resting place : 
 Because it is polluted, it shall be destroyed ; and 
 
 the destruction shall be great. 
 
 1 1 If a man, walking in the spirit of falsehood and of lies, 
 Prophesy unto thee for wine and for strong drinkj 
 He shall be the prophet of this people. 
 
 12 I will surely gather, O Jacob, all of thee: 
 I will surely assemble the residue of Israel. 
 
 I will put them together as sheep of Bozrah, 
 
 As a flock in the midst of their fold: 
 
 They shall make a tumult from the multitude of men. 
 
 13 He that forceth a passage is come up before them : 
 They have forced a passage, and have passed thro* 
 
 the gale, and are gone forth by it ; 
 And their king passeth before them, even Jeho- 
 vah at the head of them. 
 
 f Hebr. the habitation of her delights. J her. him. 
 
 ye cast out] By your sins ye cause them to go into captivity. 
 
 my glory] The glory which I had bestowed on them by 
 becoming their God, by placing them in a pleasant land, and 
 by protecting and blessing them when they adhered to me. Ps. 
 xc. 16. Ez. xvi. 14. The pronouns seem to agree with 'J 
 clistributively: "from the delightful habitation of each: from 
 the children of each." 
 
 10. * this] We may understand V"W before this pronoun, 
 and before riNQlD. A more exact representation of the Hebrew 
 is: " For this land is not the place of your rest." 
 
 11. and lies] 1 read with Syr. 2ID1 1pU>: and with Houbi- 
 gant tpn; or rjjon, as many MSS. insert the Jod. This reading 
 is favoured by 6. Ar. Syr. 
 
 13. He that forceth a passage] " He that breaketh way," 
 according to our idiom. The preparer and leader of the journey. 
 
 the gate] Of the conquering city, where the Israelites 
 were to be in captivity. 
 
 Jehovah] He conducted them in effect. 
 
 The connection may be this: " Ye shall depart from yflur 
 land; and it shall be defiled and desolate, v. 10. This is not 
 the language of your false prophets; or the way to be received 
 B b
 
 148 MICAH. III. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 I ALSO said: 
 
 Hear, I pray you, O ye heads of Jacob, 
 And ye leaders of the house of Israel. 
 Is it not for you to know judgment ? 
 
 2 Ye who hate good and love evil : 
 Who pluck their skin from oft" them, 
 And their flesh from off their bones: 
 
 3 Who also have eaten the flesh of my people, 
 : And have flayed their skin from off them, 
 
 And have broken their bones : 
 
 And have divided them asunder, as flesh in the pot ; 
 
 as a prophet among you. r. 11. However, a true prophet may 
 foretel your prosperous state after your punishment, v. 12, 13. 
 See c. iii. 12. iv. i. 
 
 " I much suspect that we should understand the twelfth and 
 thirteenth verses as spoken by the false prophet. In the follow- 
 ing verse Micah gives notice that he speaks in his own person ; 
 and then, in contradiction to the vain promises of the false pro- 
 phet, denounces vengeance on the Jews in general for their 
 cruel oppression of the poor, and on the false prophets for their 
 lies." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 " There are strange mixtures, in Micah as well as in Hosea 
 and others, of promises with complaints and threatcnings. Some 
 will say they were added afterwards. Some interpret v. 12 as 
 the words of the false prophet v. 11 : and some think 12, 13, a 
 threatening that God will shut them up to be besieged and led 
 captive. But Jer. xxxi. 10, which is very like t>. 12, is a pro- 
 mise. See also here iv. 6. And soislsai. Iii. 12, which is like 
 
 the end of v. 13. Indeed the latter part of r. 12 is obscure, 
 
 and for V~>3 the breaker |T)D would be the deliverer. Christ 
 broke down the partition wall. Poc. Or p)3 is the increaser. 
 Is. ix. 7. xi. 1. Comp. c. iv. 10. Seeker. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 2. them] Jacob, or Israel: As Hos. x. 1, 2. Or, my 
 people : from the following verse. 
 
 3. divided] I read 1DTD1. 
 
 Have eaten have flayed have broken have divided] 
 These verbs may be rendered in the present tense. See Ames 
 v. 10. c. iv. 12. 
 
 as flesh] Instead of TONS, read with 6. Ar. Chald. Hou- 
 bigant, and Bishop Lowth on Isai. iii. 15,
 
 MIC AH. III. 149 
 
 And as meat || within the caldron. 
 
 4 Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, 
 But he will not hear them : 
 
 He will even hide his i'ace from them at that time ; 
 According as they have been evil in their doings. 
 
 5 Thus saith Jehovah 
 
 Unto the prophets who cause my people to err ; 
 Who bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace ; 
 But as for him that putteth not into their mouths, 
 They will prepare war against him. 
 
 6 Wherefore there shall be night unto you, so * that 
 
 ye shall have no vision : 
 And there shall be darkness unto you, so that f ye 
 
 shall have no divination. 
 
 And the sun shall go down upon the prophets, 
 And the day shall be J dark upon them. 
 
 7 . Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners 
 
 confounded ; 
 
 Yea, they shall cover the mouth, even all of them : 
 For God will not answer. 
 
 8 But I truly am filled with power; 
 
 With the Spirit of Jehovah, and with judgment, and 
 
 might; 
 To declare unto Jacob his transgression, and unto 
 
 Israel his sin. 
 
 || Hebr. in the midst of, * from a vision. f from divining, 
 
 f Or, black, or, gloomy. the- upper lip. 
 
 5. bite with their teeth] Put into their mouth : as the op- 
 position shews. Famine is expressed by cleanness of teetlu 
 Am. iv. 6. 
 
 and cry, Peace] And proclaim peace. The versions and 
 ChaM. 
 
 prepare] Properly sanctify, or, prepare for a holy purpose* 
 Ex. xix. 10, 11. Hence, to prepare in general, to appoint, to 
 set apart. 
 
 7. cover the mouth] With part of the long eastern vesture. 
 This action was a sign of being put to silence; of disgrace and 
 dejection. Lev. xiii, 45. Ex. xxiv. 17, 22. 
 
 8. With the spirit] For the form of expression, see Ex. i. 7.
 
 150 MICAH. IV. 
 
 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye Heads of the house* 
 
 of Jacob, 
 
 And ye leaders of the house of Israel : 
 Ye who abhor judgment, 
 And pervert all that is right : 
 
 10 Who build up Sion by blood, and Jerusalem by 
 
 iniquity. 
 
 11 The Heads thereof judge for reward ; 
 And the priests thereof teach for hire; 
 And the prophets thereof divine for silver: 
 And yet they lean on Jehovah, 
 
 Saying : 
 
 Is not Jehovah in the midst of us ? 
 Evil shall not come upon us. 
 
 12 Therefore because of you Sion shall be ploughed 
 
 as a field ; 
 
 And Jerusalem shall become heaps; 
 And the mountain of the j| temple * as high 
 
 places of a forest. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1 BUT it shall come to pass, in the f latter days, 
 
 j| Hebr. house. * for. f end of days. 
 
 10. Who build up] Raise magnificent palaces. See the op- 
 position, v. 12. The verb may be in the infinitive mood abso- 
 lute. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. xxi. 5. The versions seem 
 to read J3 in the plural ; building up : and twelve MSS. have 
 
 1 1. for hire] Beyond what the law of Moses prescribes. 
 
 12. heaps] In the parallel place, Jer. xxvi. 18, we find 
 CD 11 !?: which is the reading of three MSS. now, and was origin 
 rally that of three more. It is also found in the Bab. Talmud. 
 One MS. has Q"}; 1 ?. For fy see Prsel. Hebr. iii. p. 37. 
 
 high places] As hills in a forest. One MS. reads n'OPO^: 
 for cattle of the forest, See c. v. . 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1. But it shall come to pass ] These four verses contain a 
 prophecy which was to be fulfilled by the coming of the Mes- 
 siah; when the Gentiles were to be admitted into covenant with 
 and the Apostjes were to preach the gospel, beginning at
 
 MICA1T. IV. 151 
 
 That the mountain of the J temple of Jehovah 
 
 shall be 
 
 Established on the top of the mountains, 
 And it shall be exalted above the hills : 
 
 J Hebr. house. 
 
 Jerusalem; Luke xxiv. 47. Acts ii. 14, &c: when Christ was 
 to be the spiritual Judge and King of many people, was to 
 convince many nations of their errors and vices, and was to 
 found a religion which had the strongest tendency to promote 
 peace. 
 
 Bishop Lowth, on Isai. ii. 2, thinks that Micah took this 
 passage from Isaiah. It is true that he has improved it, after 
 the manner of imitators. Or, the Spirit may have inspired both 
 prophets with this prediction: or, both may have copied some 
 common original, the words of a prophet well known'at that time. 
 It will be useful to compare the parallel places, as they now 
 Stand, 
 
 ISAI. ii. MICAH iv. 
 
 rvm .2, D'D*n nnnso nni .1. 
 
 mrr no in n'rv 1133 rnn no in n*n 
 
 D'lnn twro onnn wo 1* 
 
 niyn^a WMI nijniQ *fln twm 
 
 : cD'-on *?:> V^N Vina : cray vhy nrw 
 
 CDO") CD'DV ttVm .3. VTCN1 CD'SI C3'U isbfTI .2. 
 
 mn in bN rkys\ i^ nin in bN rkyn ^ 
 
 n 1 :^ no b*j spy rf?M no VM 
 
 VDIIQ invi vnmvs roto* VDTTO wiw 
 
 niin NJfn p'yQ a nun N^n p'^o o 
 
 mn* IITI : nV^ii'D nin in-n 
 
 10 ISDU;I .4. CDOI cu'Di; jo osjun .3.. 
 CDOI CD'Oi? 1 ? irDini pim Ti; a'oxy CD'iA noim 
 
 D'nN 1 ? czjnuin inn^i a-n^ 1 ? an-min innai 
 nnora 2 ? an'nin^ni 
 
 nin w N '13 NU>' N 5in na 
 
 : norta Tiy no 1 ?' Nbi : ncr6a iiy jnoV 1^1 
 
 shall be established] Two MSS. read as the words are 
 placed in Isaiah, nn p33. Sion shall be raised above the moun- 
 tains in true eminence; shall be placed, as it were, on their top. 
 
 it shall be exalted] Nin is wanting in three MSS : and iu 
 Isaiah the margin of one MS. has it.
 
 1,52 MICAH. JV. 
 
 And the people shall flow unto it. 
 
 2 And many nations shall go, and shall say: 
 Come, and let us go up unto the mountain of 
 
 Jehovah, 
 
 And unto the || temple of the God of Jacob: 
 That he may teach us of his ways, and that we 
 
 may walk in his paths. 
 For from Sion shall go forth a law, 
 And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. 
 
 3 And he shall judge between many * people, 
 And he shall convince strong nations f afar off: 
 And they shall beat their swords into plough- shares, 
 And their spears into pruning-hooks , 
 
 Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
 Neither shall they any longer learn war. 
 
 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine, 
 
 Hebr. peoples. || house. * peoples. f to afar. 
 
 ths people] Five MSS. and Syr. supply ^3: and one MS. 
 
 has, t=?'i:n 73. 
 
 shall flow unto it] Eleven MSS, and one ed. read vVtf: 
 and another MS. read thus originally; 
 
 2. nations] Two MSS. and Talm. Bab. have CD'Qj;. 
 
 And unto the temple] Two MSS. read no btx. But in Isaiah 
 sixteen MSS. and two editions read bw : MS. 3 read so originally : 
 MS. 130 perhaps reads so: and MS. 150 reads so now: agree- 
 ably to o. Ar. Syr. Vulg. But Chald. wants the conjunction, 
 and has only DO 2 ?. See Bishop Lowth. 
 
 in his paths] In both prophets together, three MSS. and 
 three editions read the Hebrew word with the regular plural ter- 
 mination m. 
 
 3. many people] Two MSS. want CDO1. 
 
 afar off] This, as Bishop Lowth observes, is added in 
 Isaiah by Syr. 
 
 their swords] Twenty MSS. and two editions read 
 Hzrvmmn: and two MSS. read arrWPJ. 
 
 And their spears] Twenty-one MSS. and two editions read 
 tDn ( niJT3m. See the reverse of this beautiful and classical image, 
 Joel iii. 10. and the quotations in Bishop Lowth, Isai. ii. 2. 
 
 lift up] Four MSS. read NU>. 
 
 learn] Seven MSS. read rich*. 
 
 4. But they shall sit ] See, on this elegant and beautiful 
 addition to Isaiah, Bishop Lowth on Isai. ii. 2.
 
 M1CAH. IV. 153 
 
 And under his fig-tree : and none shall make them 
 
 afraid. 
 
 For the mouth of Jehovah God of hosts hatb spoken it. 
 . 5 Although all the J people walk 
 
 Every one in the name of his God : 
 Yet let us walk in the name of Jehovah 
 Our God, for ever and ever. 
 
 6 In that day, saith Jehovah, 
 
 I will gather her that halteth, and her that is 
 
 driven out will I assemble: 
 And her whom I have afflicted. 
 
 7 And I will make her that |j halted * a residue, 
 And her that was removed afar oft', f a strong nation : 
 And Jehovah shall reign over them in mount Sion, 
 From henceforth even for ever. 
 
 8 And thou, O tcwer of Eder, 
 
 + Hebr. peoples. Or, that is disabled. || Or, that was disabled. 
 
 * for a residue. f for a strong nation. 
 
 5. in the name] Or profession of Jehovah, who has such 
 mercies in store for us. 
 
 6. that halteth] Zeph. iii. 19. is a parallel place. See 
 also y^f Ps. xxxv. 15. xxxviii. 18. The word ybtf signifies 
 in Arabic, indinavit, propendit, dedinavit ; and one of its deri- 
 vatives, curyus tt claudus a natura, in latus propendcns. See 
 Golius. The ideas of suffering, of weakness, of being broken 
 or subdued, are given by the old versions. 
 
 Though I have broken the power of my people, removed 
 them into captivity afar off, and afflicted them ; yet will I restore 
 them to their country, 1 will send them the Messiah, and will 
 be always their King. 
 
 7. a residue] A part of them, shall be preserved; in whom 
 the future designs of my providence shaty be accomplished. 
 
 " rwbrum Eadem voce reddunt 6. Syr. Ch. qua nrn:m v. 6 : 
 quae igitur forte hie legenda est, cum verbum Nbn in cod. Hebr. 
 alibi uon occurrat. Quae laboraverat V. f. rw^n." Seeker. 
 
 for ever] This will be fulfilled at the future restoration of 
 the Jews. 
 
 8. Eder] A tower in or near Bethlehem. Gen. xxxv. 21. 
 Or, as some, a tower near the sheep-gate in Jerusalem. Neh. iii. 
 1, 32. The word signifies,- a flock.
 
 154 MICAH. IV. 
 
 O fortress of the daughter of Sion, thy time shall 
 
 come: 
 
 And the former dominion shall return, 
 Even the kingdom, to the daughter of Jerusalem. 
 9 And now why dost thou cry out * loudly ? 
 
 Is there no king in thee ? 
 Hath thy counsellor perished ? 
 For pangs, have seized thee, as a woman in travail. 
 10 Be in pangs, and bring forth, O daughter of Sion, 
 
 as a woman in travail: 
 For now thou shalt go forth from the city, and 
 
 shah dwell in the field : 
 And thou shalt go even unto Babylon; there shalt 
 
 thou be rescued: 
 
 { Hebr. crying out. 
 
 O fortress] See mention of Ophel, Neh. iii. 26, 27. xi. 21. 
 2 Chron. xxvii. 3. xxxiii. 14. Isai. xxxii. 14. 
 
 of the daughter of Sion] Possibly, Belonging to the tribe 
 of Judah. 
 
 thy time] I read with Syr. "\ny for 713;. 
 
 " Syr. legerunt VU7. Confer vii. 12." Seeker. 
 
 dominion] On ^he return from Babylon. Or, on the coming 
 df the Messiah, and the future grand restoration ; if Bethlehem be 
 spoken of. 
 
 " This verse seems to say, that to the family of David, de- 
 noted first by the place from whence it sprang, then by the 
 place where it settled, the former dominion should come and 
 arrive, the kingdom to [or of, for so Syr. Chald.] the daughter of 
 Sion. This agrees well with what is said of Christ Luke i. 32, 
 33. 6. add that this kingdom shall come from Babylon. See 
 v. 10." Seeker. 
 
 9. And now] 6, Ar. Chald. Houbigant^five MSS. and a sixth 
 originally, read nnjfl. But see c. v. 1. 
 
 loudly] Six MSS. and three editions read y"i, which may 
 be the infinitive cltingendo, as JO Prov. xxiii. 1. The word may 
 be used in a middle sense, for any cry; whether arising from 
 danger, sorrow, or joy. 
 
 no king] Jehovah is thy king. Jer. viii. 19. 
 
 10. bring forth] see Ps. xxii. 10. 
 in the field] See Hos. xii. 9,
 
 M1CAII. IV, 1 55 
 
 There shall Jehovah redeem thee from the hand 
 of thine enemies. 
 
 11 And now many nations are gathered against thee: 
 Who say, Let her be defiled ; and let our eve see 
 
 its desire on Sion. 
 
 12 But these know not the thoughts of Jehovah, 
 Neither understand they his counsel : 
 
 For he hath assembled them as a sheaf to the 
 threshing floor. 
 
 13 Arise and tread out the grain, O daughter of Sion : 
 Thine horn will I make iron, 
 
 And thine hoofs will I make brass. 
 
 And thou shalt beat in pieces many j| people; 
 
 And thou shalt devote the gain from them unto 
 
 Jehovah ; 
 And their substance, unto the Lord of the whole 
 
 earth. 
 
 Or, mighty. || Hebr. peoples* 
 
 there] Eight or ten MSS. and Syr. read n\L% and there, 
 twice in this v. And 6. translate the second CDtt; M sxi^y. 
 
 11. many nations] The Idumeans, Ammonites, Moabites, 
 Philistines, Babylonians. 
 
 eye see] So Ps. liv. 7. lix. 10. Two MSS. and two edi- 
 tions read 13J% with V. Syr. Chald. 
 
 12. know not] See Isai. x. 7. All these are instruments 
 in the hand of Jehovah ; and shall be destroyed in their turn. 
 
 13. O daughter of Sion] Some of these nations were sub- 
 dued by the Maccabees. 1 Mace. v. 3, 6. 
 
 horn] With which thou shalt push thy enemies. It is part 
 of the allegory, which is beautifully taken up from the last line 
 of v. 12. 
 
 thou shalt devote] The versions and Chald. read ncnnm. 
 
 the gain] " And thou shalt devote unto Jehovah their 
 treasure." Dr. Wheeler, 
 
 c C
 
 UQ MICAH. V. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 1 BUT now assemble thyself, O daughter, in * 
 
 troops : 
 
 They have laid siege against us: 
 They have smitten with a rod upon the cheek 
 The Judge of Israel. 
 
 2 And thou, Bethlehem-Ephrata, 
 
 Art thou too little to be among the leaders of Judah? 
 
 * Hebn a troop. 
 
 1. But now] Houbigant observes that Ar. read nnjn : so does 
 one MS. 
 
 O daughter] 6. MS. Aid. and Ar. add of Ephraim : and 
 Chald. renders per turmas. 
 
 They have laid] Or, siege is laid. See on Jon. iii. 7. 
 
 upon the cheek] A great indignity. OTY * xo#>i;. Demosth. 
 in Mid. 
 
 The Judge] Hoshea may be supposed to have suffered such 
 contumely, when Samaria was taken : 2 Kings xvii. 6 : or, 
 Zedekiah, on the taking of Jerusalem: ib. xxV. 7. 
 
 2. And thou] Some: art thou: but no old version. Pocock 
 in porta Mosis says, Ears, quse minor fuisti quam ut &c. which 
 seems the meaning of 6. But I find not b in this sense, though 
 D often. Parum est, te nuraerari. Cocceius. It may be tran- 
 slated: thou shalt, or art to be small. For b is sometimes in- 
 stead of a future. See Nold. Pocock proposes, after some 
 Jews of great character, that -)3 may signify here, the con- 
 trary to its usual meaning; as he shews many words, especially 
 in Arab, have the contrary meaning. But this might lead those 
 
 Jews, who wrote Arabic, to think so here too easily. On the 
 
 whole, there seems but slender proof of this contrary signifi- 
 cation. 1 ' Seeker 
 
 - Ephrata] The Greek translator, quoted by St. Matthew, 
 seems to have read Bethlehem-Judah, as Judg. xvii. 7. Or, in 
 the haste of writing, a transcriber may have anciently substituted 
 Judah for Ephrata ; each word being properly and naturally sub- 
 joined to Bethlehem. See the Greek : Josh. xv. 59. 
 
 Art thou too little ] See Syr. which may be pointed interro- 
 gatively, Parva tu quae sis ? The question implies the negative ; 
 which is inserted Matth. ii. 6: and also in the Arabic version. 
 " MS. Copt. M, non, addit." Mr. Woide. Houbigant conjec- 
 tures that we should read D'TT tfb Tyjf neguaquam minima cs.
 
 MICAH. V. 157 
 
 Out of thee shall come forth unto me 
 One wlw is to be a Ruler in Israel: 
 And his goings forth have been from of old, from 
 the days of hidden ages. 
 
 This reading is favoured by the Arabic, non pawa es. The note 
 on o^yiro? in Sixtus Quintus's edition of 6. Roraae MDLXXXVH, is, 
 t( Alii vero libri habent t*n ax*y<r?, quod est apud Tertullianum 
 & Cyprianum." And vers. ant. Itala has " nequaquara minima." 
 Kenn. diss. gen. . 77. So Origen and Justin, ib. . 80. 2. 
 See also Dr. Owen on the Septuagint: p. 15. 6. ed. Pachom. 
 have also nn s*.y?9,-, on which rendering it must be observed that 
 (in may be interrogative: as Matth. ix. 15. " D I 7N*2. Heads 
 of thousands in Israel, several times in Numb, and Josh* See 
 also 1 Sam. xxiii. 23. x. 19." Seeker. 
 
 Both the Hebrew, the Vulg. and the Greek, as they now 
 stand, are capable of being pointed interrogatively. 
 
 among the leaders] The van in sib** may easily have been 
 omitted, as Jer. xiii. 21, Gen. xxxvi. 30. Or, "among the 
 thousands;" the large bodies governed by Chiliarchs. -See Ca- 
 pellus: and 2 Chron. i. 2. 
 
 Out of thee] Two editions of St. Matthew, Erasm. 1. and 
 Aid. read *x n*. Then follows in the gospel a double transla- 
 tion of btthb tyi*na- and ;,- Kcipavft, and a periphrasis of bfW3 
 in Israel. 
 
 " >h omittunt Matth. Syr. Prcefigunt y* 2 Matth. Arab." Seeker. 
 his goings forth] See Hos. vi. 3. His appearance: his 
 display's of power. See John i. 1. Col. i. 16. " N used of . 
 a people coming originally from such a place. Deut. ii. 23. of 
 a person's setting out from a place to found an empire. Gen. 
 x. 11. Here it must have one or both of these two meanings. 
 vrmnm 1 signifies nativity Gen. xxv. 25, 26. xxxviii. 28, 
 29. Is. xxxix. 7. Gen. xvii. 6. xxxv. 11. 2 Chron. xxxii. 21. 
 Here it seems related to the preceding N'>. May it then signify 
 the person's original descent from Bethlehem being ancient, i. e. 
 in David's time"? This depends partly on the following words; 
 and taking them to signify only antiquity, it may be said of all 
 men thus, that their niK^IO are ancient, i. e. from Adam. But 
 ancestors of no name are counted for none. Bat it is observed 
 that one going forth is spoken of as future and another as past, 
 which suits none but Christ, who being xoyo; T e? is properly 
 VS NJC1Q or vnsttf. But qu. where the scripture hints him to be 
 so on any such account. NSfiO thus joined means only words ii\ 
 the common sense, or intentions expressed. Chald. express.es
 
 158 MICAH. V. 
 
 3 Therefore will he f deliver them up, until the time 
 
 when she that bringeth forth hath brought forth; 
 And until the residue of their Brethren shall be 
 converted, together with the sons of Israel. 
 
 4 And he shall stand, and shall J feed his flock, in 
 
 the strength of Jehovah; 
 
 In the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God : 
 And they shall be converted : for now shall he be 
 
 great 
 
 f Hebr. give. Or, rule. $ Or, loftiness. 
 
 the word thus, ' Whose name has been spoken, or foretold :" 
 6. i$,to ; , Syr. singularly. If it signify simply nativity, the plural 
 perhaps may denote the eminence of Christ's eternal generation. 
 See Bp. Chandler's defence : p. 153, 154." Seeker.- 
 
 "CTTpE. God is said to be mpO Hab. i. 12, and 0*71)70 Ps. 
 xc. 2. But he is never said to be QD or D'l either CDlp or n*?W. 
 He is said to have formed a thing JZDlp Q'Q 2 Kings six. 25: and 
 as that doing was only purposing or foretelling, some think the 
 rilNma of this person was his being foretold QlpQ. But we 
 rightly translate that, of ancient time; which this phrase signifies 
 Lam. i. 7. Is. xxiii. 7. and in this prophet vii. 20, and never any 
 thing else; and so CTp DO Ps. xliv. 2, and mp D'D Is. li. 9. 
 And mpa signifies the same, Ps. Ixxvii. 11, and cxliii. 5, Is. 
 xlv. 21. CD^y VD'O is only here. But CD^y *Q' Is. Ixiii. 9, 11. 
 mean former time, and oViy QO as in former time, in this pro- 
 phet vii. 14, and Am. ix. 11. Nor does O^yever signify more. 
 God indeed is said to be ova Is xliii. 13." Seeker. 
 
 3. will he deliver them up] Sc. God. Arab, reads, 
 ZZDJnn wilt thou deliver them up. 
 
 their brethren] So a. Ar. Chald. 
 
 together with] See by Nold. . 9. The sense is: God 
 will not fully vindicate and exalt his people, till the Virgin- 
 mother shall have brought forth her son ; and till Judah and 
 Israel, and all the true sons of Abraham among their brethren 
 the, Gentiles, be conve"rted to Christianity. 
 
 " All the Jews whose writings we have apply this text to the 
 Messiah; though it seems by Theophylact on 2 Matth. that some 
 Jews formerly understood Zorobabel. Poc." Seeker. 
 
 4. he shall stand] The Ruler, mentioned v. 2. 
 feed] Instruct and govern his followers. 
 
 they shall be converted] The Jewish people. laittM one 
 MS. See V. Syr. Chald. Here is an instance in which a MS.
 
 MICAH. V. 159 
 
 Unto the ends of the earth: 
 
 5 And He shall be peace. 
 
 When the Assyrian shall have come into our land, 
 And when he shall have trodden in our palaces ; 
 Then shall be raised up against him seven jj rulers, 
 And eight princes of men: 
 
 6 And they shall devour the land of Assyria with 
 
 the sword, 
 
 Even the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: 
 And they shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when 
 
 he shall have come into our land, 
 
 j| Hebr. shepherds. 
 
 differs from the Masoretic punctuation, which I have not ob- 
 served elsewhere. 
 
 shall he be great] By the extent of his kingdom. 6. Ar. 
 read iVrj shall they be great: i. e. the Jews, at their final resto- 
 ration. 
 
 5. peace] The cause of peace and reconciliation. 
 
 " And this man shall be [our] peace." Dr. Wheeler. 
 When the Assyrian] After the illustrious prophecy relating 
 to the Messiah, in the three foregoing verses, the prophet passes 
 on to the subversion of the Assyrian empire. 
 
 " TVanspomtur O, Ps. cxviii. 10, 11, 12: et cxxxviii. 2.'* 
 Seeker. 
 
 shall be raised up] o. read VSpm i. e. V2pin> x f*i y :?fa<rmr at . 
 seven rulers eight princes] Perhaps a definite number tor 
 an indefinite: as Eccl. xi. 2. Job v. 19. The prophet means 
 the chiefs of the Medes and Babylonians, the prefects of differ- 
 ent provinces who took Nineveh : whose number may have 
 been what is here specified. " Seven and eight may be for an. 
 indefinite number, as Eccl. xi. 2." Seeker. 
 princes] Anointed. Ps. ii. 6. 
 
 6. with the sword] " Videtur leg. nrpnED. Notat nn9 
 gladium stringere." Seeker. 
 
 of Nimrod] See on Nahum i. 1. 
 
 they shall deliver us] So Houbigant, who roads tiT&ftff: 
 and observes that Chakl. and Syr. read the affix >3 us. The 
 reading of Chald. and Syr. w : as tf?jfm : in which word the ran 
 after b may have been supplied by a point, as it often is. Or 
 we may render, " And one shall deliver us :" that is, And we 
 shall be delivered. See on Jon. iii. 7.
 
 160 MIC AH. V. 
 
 And when he shall have trodden in our borders. 
 
 7 Also the residue of Jacob shall be among the 
 
 nations, 
 
 In the midst of many * people, 
 As the dew from Jehovah, 
 As the showers upon the grass ; 
 Which tarrieth not for man, 
 Neither waiteth for the sons of men. 
 
 8 And the residue of Jacob shall be among the nations, 
 Jn the midst of many f people, 
 
 As a devouring lion among the cattle of the forest, 
 As a young lion among the flocks of sheep : 
 Who, when he passeth through, treadeth down, 
 
 * Hebr. peoples. f peoples. 
 
 in our borders] Fourteen MSS. and five editions read the 
 original word plurally, with the versions and Chald. 
 
 It is very observable that two MSS. read unuQINl in our 
 palaces ; and a third 'D/TOO'ltf : two of them making this line an 
 exact repetition of what occurs v. 5 : which is what a reader, 
 acquainted with the manner of the Hebrew writers, would na- 
 turally expect. See v. 7, 8. 
 
 7. among the nations] O'US is supplied by the 6. Ar. Syr, 
 and by MS. 154, a very ancient and excellent one. The fol- 
 lowing verse shews that it is the genuine reading. 
 
 As the dew] The Jews contributed to spread the knowledge 
 of the one true God during their captivity. See Dan. ii. 47. iii. 
 29. iv. 34, 5. vi. 26. 
 
 The gospel was preached by them, when the Messiah ap- 
 peared: and it shall again be propagated by their future glorious 
 restoration. Rom. xi. 12, 15. 
 
 Which tameth not] Which grass springeth up without the 
 attention and culture of men. 
 
 of men] Of so mean and humble a creature as man : " Of 
 mortals." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 8. As a young lion] Eighteen MSS. and two editions read 
 
 3V. "And as a young lion:" two read so originally: two 
 read so now; and perhaps three more. This is also the reading 
 of the versions and Chald. 
 
 The victories of the Jews under the Maccabees, and thosq 
 which will hereafter be reaped by them, are foretold in this and 
 the next verse.
 
 MICAH. V. 161 
 
 And teareth, and none delivereth. 
 9 Thine hand shall be lifted up over thine adversaries, 
 And all thine enemies shall be cut of!. 
 
 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith 
 
 Jehovah, 
 That I will cut off thine horses from the midst of 
 
 thee, 
 And I will destroy thy chariots: 
 
 11 I will also cut off the cities of thy land, 
 And I will throw down ail thy strong holds. 
 
 12 1 will also cut off the sorcerers from thy border; 
 J And thou shalt have no soothsayers. 
 
 13 I will also cut off thy graven images and thy sta- 
 
 tues from the midst of thee ; 
 And thou shalt no longer bow down thyself to the 
 work of thine hands : 
 
 14 And I will root up thy groves from the midst of thee. 
 I will also destroy thine enemies: 
 
 15 And I will execute vengeance, in anger and in fury, 
 Upon the nations which have not hearkened unto me. 
 
 J Hebr. And soothsayers shall not be unto thee. 
 
 12. the sorcerers] 6. read TERZD thy sorcerers. So does 
 MS. 383. 
 
 from thy border] So T is sometimes rendered. See Ezek. 
 xlviii. l. Chald. has "poo, from within thee, and probably read 
 with two MSS. "plpQ, from the midst of thee. Houbigant rend- 
 ers, " Ego auferam amuleta de manibus tuis:" reading "|'TQ, 
 
 from thine hands, with 6. Ar. Syr. and five MSS. 
 
 14. thy groves] The usual scenes of idolatrous practices. 
 
 thine enemies] So Chald. agreeably to the Hebrew. 
 
 15. hearkened unto me] See 6. MS. A), iuwu<mv pu. 
 
 " So MS. Copt." Mr. Woide. And one MS. perhaps reads 
 *3\yct&. The ancients agree in the rendering proposed. 
 
 The Babylonians shall rout your armies and take your cities. 
 *;. 10, 11. See v. 1. They shall cut off your false prophets, and 
 destroy the objects of your worship: v. 12, 13, 14. The nations 
 hostile to you shall experience my anger, and shall be themselves 
 subdued, v. 14, 15.
 
 162 MICAH. VI. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1 HEAR ye now what Jehovah saith : 
 Arise, contend thou before the mountains; 
 And let the hills hear thy voice. 
 
 2 Hear ye, O mountains, the controversy of Jehovah ; 
 And ye strong foundations of the earth. 
 
 For Jehovah hath a controversy with his people; 
 And with Israel he pleadeth. 
 
 3 O 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 out of the house of slaves I redeemed thee. 
 And I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 
 
 5 O my people, remember now 
 
 What Balak the king of Moab consulted ; 
 
 And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him ; 
 
 1. before the mountains] riN apttd, coram, ad. Nold. Con- 
 tend publicly, in the face-r>f the creation. 
 
 2. strong] Many MSS. and four editions read oonwn. 
 Houbigant prefers the reading of 6. C3pQj?m : 
 
 " And ye vallies, the foundations of the earth." 
 
 " Videtur legend um iMttii. sequitur Q. D'poyn Houbigant 
 
 male." Seeker. 
 
 According to this conjecture, the rendering would be: 
 <l And hearken, ye foundations of the earth." 
 
 3. wearied thee] By unnecessary burthens, or undeserved 
 calamity. 
 
 4. Miriam] She was a prophetess. Ex. xv. 20. Numb. xii. 2. 
 
 5. O my people ] The structure of the words is such in the 
 original, that the English language cannot represent what we 
 may suppose to be the true measure of this passage : but the 
 Vulg. may be thus distributed; 
 
 " Popule meus, memento quasso quid cogitaverit 
 
 Balach rex Moab: 
 
 Et quid respondent ei 
 
 Balaam filius Beor, &c." 
 
 Balaam was called to curse Israel; but by my impulse he 
 blessed them. 
 
 consulted] Purposed. Seeker. 
 
 answered] Some think what Balaam answered here means
 
 MIC AH. VI, 163 
 
 From Shittim even unto Gilgal : 
 
 That ye may know the righteousness of Jehovah. 
 
 6 Wherewith shall I || come before J ehovah ? 
 Wherewith shall 1 bow myself unto the * High God? 
 Shall I f come before him with burnt-offerings ; 
 With calves of a J year old ? 
 
 7 Will Jehovah be well pleased with thousands of 
 
 rams ; 
 
 With ten thousands of rivers of oil ? 
 Shall I give my first-born for my transgression ; 
 The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul ? 
 
 8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good : 
 
 Hebr. righteousnesses. || prevent Jehovah. * the God of height, 
 
 f prevent him. * the sons of a year. belly, or, womb. 
 
 his advice, Numb, xxxi 16, how Balak should seduce Israel in 
 their passage through Shittim to Gilgal. Ch. supplies, Did I 
 not perform great things from Shittim to Gilgal? No one inter- 
 pretation is probable." Seeker. 
 
 From Shittim] From the encampment at Shittim, Numb, 
 xxv. 1, on the way to that at Gilgal: Josh. iv. 19. Balaam 
 gave different answers in the interval between these places. We 
 may suppose that the encampments of Israel advanced slowly 
 to that part of Jordan which was opposite Gilgal. 
 
 According to Chald. there seems an omission in the text: 
 " Were not great things done for you 
 From Shittim even unto Gilgal?" 
 
 See Josh. iii. 1. iv. 20. Thus there will be a reference to the 
 miraculous passage over Jordan. 
 
 even unto Gilgal] Many MSS. and two editions read lyr. 
 So Syr. NQTifl. 
 
 the righteousness] *' The great righteousness." Dr. 
 Wheeler. We may often observe that the original word includes 
 the notion of mercy. 
 
 7. rivers of oil] Or, fatted sheep : rf we read ^m with 
 V. 6. Ar. Houbigant. 
 
 first-born] The dearest of my offspring. It is well known 
 that the Phenicians, and their descendents the Carthaginians, 
 sacrificed their children to Saturn. And some of the idolatrous 
 Jews and Israelites imitated this horrid practice. 
 
 8. He hath shewed] V. Ar. Syr. read TJtf. / will shew, 
 o. ed. Aid. have EU nmyy-^h instead of EI <nnyyi>.i, the reading of 
 MS. Vat. and Alex. 
 
 D d
 
 164 MICAH. VI, 
 
 And what doth Jehovah require of thec, 
 But to do justice, and to love mercy, 
 And to be humble in walking with thy God ? 
 9 The voice of Jehovah crieth unto the city: 
 
 And there is sound wisdom with them that fear 
 liis name : 
 
 -justice] Right, just dealing. See Pocock. 
 
 mercy] Goodness, kindness, beneficenee. Ibid. 
 
 to be humble ] Submissive to God's laws, resigned to 
 his will, acquiescing in his revelation of himself: ib. 
 
 Prov. xi. 2. JflSC is opposed to pride. See Schultens. The 
 Arab, root signified paruvit, didicit ; and hence, say Schultens 
 and Taylor, a wellformed wellmanaged mind. In Chald. the 
 foot denotes abscondere ; whence retiredness, modesty, humility. 
 
 The niann v of raising attention in v. 1, 2, by calling on 
 man to urge his plea in the face of all nature, and on the ina- 
 nimate creation to hear the expostulation of Jehovah with his 
 people, is truly awakening and magnificent. The words of Je- 
 hovah follow in r. 3, 4, 5. And God's mercies having been set 
 before his people, one of them is introduced, in a beautiful dra- 
 matic form, as asking what his duty is towards so gracious a God : 
 v. 6, 7. The answer follows in the words of the prophet Micah, v. 
 8, if \ve read "ion, he hath shewed thee-, or, perhaps, in the 
 words of Jehovah, if TON, / will shew thee, should be thought 
 the true reading; though, according to this latter reading, it may 
 well be supposed that the prophet replies in his own person. 
 Bishop Butler thinks that we have here the demand of Balak, 
 and the answer of Balaam. Ser. vii. p. 121. Bishop Lowth 
 adopts this idea, and adds, " Mire congruit cum caeteris Balaam 
 monumentis res, dictio, constructio, forma ipsa et character 
 compositionis." Prsel. Hebr. xviii. p. 2-29. ed. 2. 8vo. And 
 Mr. Peters says, that we have a sort of dialogue between Balak 
 and Balaam represented to us in the prophetical way. The king 
 of Moab speaks, v. 6. Balaam replies by another question, in 
 the two first hemistichs of v. 1. The king of Moab rejoins, in 
 the remaining part of the verse. Balaam replies, v. 8. Sermous, 
 xiv. 8vo. p. 333. 
 
 9. them that fear] Four MSS. read jO, and three in the 
 margin. MS. 2 reads so at present, and MS. 99 has the n on 
 a rasure. V. 6. Ar. Syr. also read i-n'. It must likewise be ob- 
 served that V. 6 A. suggest the reading of njflurm or yunm. 
 " And there is safety to them who tear his name." Or, 
 " And he will save them &c. 
 
 his name] V3O 6. A. Syr.
 
 MICAH. VI. 165 
 
 Hear, O ye tribes, him that testifieth. 
 
 10 ARE there yet in the house of the wicked the 
 
 treasures of wickedness ; 
 And the || scant measure which is abominable ? 
 
 11 Shall I count her pure with the * wicked balances, 
 And with the bag of f deceitful weights ? 
 
 12 Whose rich men are full of J violence ; 
 And her inhabitants have, spoken falsehood ; 
 And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 
 
 13 Wherefore 1 will begin to smite thee, 
 
 To make thee desolate, because of thy sins. 
 
 14 Thou shalt eat, but shalt not be satisfied: 
 And it shall be dark in the midst of thee : 
 
 y Hebr. the ephah of leanness, * the balances of wickedness, f weights of deceit. 
 J Or. rapine. deceit. 
 
 O ye tribes] Reading man with V: which scarcely differs 
 from liTOD; and Q with Syr. 
 
 him that testifieth] j\y testari is often used in Hiphil both 
 without the formative 1 and with the n paragogic. 1), Durell 
 translates, 
 
 " Him that testifieth against her:" 
 sc. the city. See 1 Kings xxi. 10, 13. 
 
 1 0. Are there ] The words of Jehovah follow, to the end 
 of v. 16. 
 
 One MS. reads ti?n, which is the true reading; and Chald. 
 represents it. Many MSS. and some editions read U?'Nn. Thus 
 2 Sam. xiv. 19, where we have ir*< for the verb substantive tu> 
 in the text, four or six MSS. read #, and many MSS. ttw. 
 
 13. begin] Seven MSS. and four editions read nVnn as 
 Deut. ii. 31. 1 Sam. xxii. 15. from ^H, in Hiphil to begin. 
 So V. 6. Ar. Syr. We may render I hare begun: or the verb 
 may be converted into the future by the distant vau : which 
 common Hebraism affected St. Peter's Greek, 2 Pet. iii. 10. if ? 
 as in some editions, we read xa^a^mi. -murai. 
 
 " I also am wearied in smiting thee, 
 
 In making [thee] desolate for thy sins" Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 14. Thou shalt eat] This threatening occurs Hos. iv. 10. 1. 1. 
 And it shall be dark] Read J^m with 6. Ar. Houbigant. 
 
 Darkness is often put for calamity. See Job xviii. 6. Isai liv. 
 9, Am. v. 20.
 
 166 MICAH. VJI. 
 
 And thou shall take hold, but shall not carry away: 
 And that which thou carriest away will I give up 
 to the sword. 
 
 15 Thou shall sow, but shall not reap: 
 
 Thou shalt tread the olive, but shall not anoint 
 
 thee with oil : 
 
 And the grape of the choice wine, but shalt not 
 drink the wine. 
 
 16 For thou hast kept the statutes of Omri,. 
 And all the works of the house of Ahab ; 
 And ye have walked in their counsels ; 
 That I should make her || a desolation, 
 And her inhabitants * an hissing: 
 
 And that ye should bear the reproach of y people. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 1 WOE is me, for I am become 
 
 As the gatherers of late figs, as the gleaners of the 
 
 vintage: 
 There is no cluster to eat: 
 
 || Hebr. for a desolation. * for an hissing. 
 
 take hold] The true reading is, :nwn, as one MS, and 
 three editions read; or Juni as two MSS. read. Compare 
 Hosea ix. II, 12, with this and the foregoing line. 
 
 15. Thou shalt sow ]] En queis consevinorus agros! is the 
 language of the husbandman's bitter complaint. Virg. 
 
 . 6. 
 
 16. thou hast kept] Read ysvni with V. 6. AT. Syr. 
 Houbigant. Cbald. has ropro For ye have kept. 
 
 Ooiri] An idolatrous king. 1 Kings xvi. 23. 
 
 the works] 6. Ar. Chald. read u?yD. 
 
 ye have walked] V. -frrn And t/iou Iiast walked. 
 
 make her] Syr. reads nnw sc. the city: v. 9, 12. 
 
 of my people] Which will fall on my people, when their 
 enemies subdue them. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 1. late figs] The word yp, which is sometimes used for sum- 
 mer fruits in general, [see Amos viii. 1, 2. Isai. xvi. 9. Jer. 
 xl. 10. xlviii. 32] may here be opposed to the early ripe fig of 
 superior quality. See on Hos. ix. 10. 6. read Tttp stubble. 
 
 gleaners] The women who glean, &c. See Zech. ix. 17.
 
 MIC AH. VII. JC7 
 
 My soul desireth the first-ripe fig. 
 
 2 The good man is perished from the land, 
 And there is none upright among men. 
 All of them lie in wait for blood: 
 
 They hunt every man his brother for his f de- 
 struction. 
 
 3 Their hands are ready for evil, to do it earnestly: 
 The prince asketh a bribe} and the judge decideth 
 
 for reward; 
 
 And asjor the great man, he uttereth the wicked- 
 ness of his J soul: and they do abominably. 
 
 4 Their good man is as a briar, their upright man as 
 
 a thorn hedge. 
 
 f Or, vith a net. J Or, desire. 
 
 2. The good man ] As the early fig of excellent flavour 
 cannot be found jn the advanced season of summer, or the 
 choice cluster of grapes after vintage; so neither can the good 
 and upright man be discovered by diligent searching in JsraeL 
 This comparison is beautifully implied. 
 
 destruction] The preposition b is understood, as very fre- 
 quently. 
 
 3. Their hands] Perhaps the true reading isQTDD. as the 
 versions and Chald. read. 
 
 to do it earnestly] " Thoroughly, effectually. To good it." 1 * 
 Tayl. cone. Or, " they do no good." Et non bencfacientes 
 sunt. Syr. Chald. We may read "O'lDTf a* 2 ?, they do no good; 
 or, D'lD'H tib, not for doing good. 
 
 " [Their] hands are [bent] on iniquity, to execute it fully." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler. < 
 
 *uttereth] See Nin at the end of a sentence v. 18: and NTT 
 Nahum ii. 8. 
 
 the wickedness] The versions read niN the desire. " Qualia 
 dona illi acoepta sunt." Moerlius. 
 
 and they do abominably] Reading, according to Syr. and 
 Arab, "ayri'l. Houbigant reads irrOiTTi : and men abominate 
 him: sc. the great man. Vulg. reads m")2}n and they trouble it: 
 sc. the land : unless, as Pocock thinks, they take' the Arabic 
 sense of nny miscuit. 
 
 " And the great man uttereth the iniquity of his soul, 
 
 Even he, because he hath perverted it." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 He reads rrnSin. 
 
 4. Their good man] The n may be taken from the foregoing
 
 168 MICAH. 'VII. 
 
 It Is the day of thy watchmen : thy visitation 
 
 cometh. 
 Now shall be their perplexity. 
 
 5 Trust ye not in a friend : 
 
 Pat ye not confidence in a guide : 
 From her that lieth in thy bosom keep the doors 
 of thy mouth. 
 
 6 For the son shall dishonour the father: 
 
 The daughter shall rise up against her mother; the 
 
 daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law : 
 A man's foes shall be the men of his houshold. 
 
 7 But I will look unto Jehovah; 
 
 I will hope in the God of my salvation : my God 
 will hear me. 
 
 8 Rejoice not over me,, O mine enemy : 
 
 word, and we may read nsViDn: though grammarians object to 
 this form. But there are repeated instances of ft: as Josh. vii. 
 21. viii. 33. 2 Kings xv. 16. See Guarini Gramm. Hebr. 4to. 
 421. 
 
 their upright man] Reading with Dr. Durell, rowp CD "KB*. 
 Houbigant reads roiDD CD"K!;: but the particle of similitude is 
 often understood. 
 
 " Videtur legendum nDIDD CD"W, vel PT31DD3. Vid. Prov. 
 
 xv. 19." Seeker. 
 
 For the image, see Numb, xxxiii. 55. Josb. xxiii. 13. Ez. ih 
 6. xxviii. 24. Hos. ii. 6. Harmer i. 452. 
 
 watchmen] These were to be diligent on the approach of 
 danger. Isai. xxi. 11. 
 
 thy visitation] o. An prefix to tbis word in 'in alas / alas! 
 and one MS. prefixes run behold. 
 
 5. Put ye not confidence] Seven MSS. and four editions 
 read Wi, et nan, witb the versions and Chald. 
 
 5. Guide] " *yr?N. Husband is called tbe FJ^N of the wife's 
 youth, Prov. ii. 17; and perhaps is meant here. A whisperer 
 separateth FpbK Prov. xvi. 28. Ch. Syr. translate it in the text 
 by D'")p." Seeker. 
 
 6. The daughter] Our Lord has this passage in view Matth. 
 x. 35, 6: and accommodates it to the times of persecution. 
 
 7. But I ] The people led captive are introduced as using 
 this language. 
 
 8. enemy] Assyria, and Babylon,
 
 MICA.H. VII. 169 
 
 Though I am fallen, yet shall I rise; 
 Though I sit in darkness, 
 Yet shall Jehovah be a light unto me. 
 I bear the indignation of Jehovah, 
 Because I have sinned against him : 
 Until he plead my cause, and execute judgment 
 
 for me ; 
 Until he bring me forth to light, until I see his 
 
 righteousness. 
 
 10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see //, and shall 
 
 be covered with shame : 
 
 Who said unto me, Where i-s Jehovah thy God ? 
 Mine eyes shall see their desire upon her: 
 Now shall she be |j trodden down, as the mire of 
 
 the streets. 
 
 1 1 In the day when thy walls shall be built, 
 
 In that day the decree against thee shall be removed 
 afar oiF. 
 
 12 And in that day they shall come unto thee 
 
 Hebr. Where it he. || for a treading down. 
 
 shall I rise] 6. render x ivmyofx, and thus shew that 
 they read nap1. 
 
 Ergo ne nimium nostra laetere ruina, 
 
 Restitui quoniam me quoque posse puta. 
 
 Ov. apud Moerlium. 
 
 11. the decree] Sc. of God for thy captivity. Possible 
 pn, or pin as eight MSS. and two ed. read, may be considered 
 as a repetition of the close of the foregoing verb, under a dif- 
 ferent form : and the verse may be a continuation of the enemy's 
 speech. See Syr. 
 
 The day when thy walls shall be built, 
 That day shall be removed afar off. 
 
 " Qu. an conjungi debeat prprTV reduplicatione in aliis 
 verbis usitata." Seeker. 
 
 12. they shall come] Thy restored inhabitants. In the 
 various lections of the famous edition of the Hebrew bible at 
 Mantua, on which consult Kennicott n. 300, itfQ, they shall 
 come, is found: with which 6. Ar. Chald. agree. 
 
 unto thee] One MS. reads -py. That the van is some- 
 times removed from the beginning of the sentence, see on Hos. 
 xiii. 6.'
 
 170 MICAH. Vir. 
 
 From Assyria and the fenced cities; 
 And from Egypt even unto the river ; 
 And from sea unto sea, and from mountain unto 
 mountain : 
 
 13 For the land shall become * desolation 
 Because of its inhabitants, for tfoe fruit of their 
 
 doings. 
 
 14 Feed thy people with thy crojjbk, the flock of 
 
 thine heritage, 
 
 That dwell solitarily in the forest. 
 In the midst of Carmel let them feed, 
 In Basan and Gilead, as in the days of old. 
 
 * Hebr. fora desolation. 
 
 fenced cities] One MS. reads IJOQ.. 
 
 Egypt] For which the word is sometimes Tiyo. See Isah 
 six. 6. *Boch. Geogr. 1. iv. c. xxiv. 258. "Probably it 
 should be, ' even unto Egypt, and from Egypt even unto the 
 river.' See Isai. xix. 23. and xi. 16." Seeker. 
 
 from mountain] Reading inD with V. 6. Ar. Houbigant. 
 From Egypt to the Euphrates; from the Red Sea to the Medi- 
 terranean; and from mount Libanus to mount Seir. See 
 Capellas. 
 
 " Videtur pro >1Jfl, legendum 'TJfl et forte pro N3 -['Tyi 
 legere satius erit INI' "|*iy hostes tui venient," Seeker. 
 
 13. For ] Thy people shall return unto thee from all parts: 
 for the sentence of desolation is passed on the land, and shall 
 soon be executed. 
 
 14. Feed ] This may be an address to the governors of 
 the people on their return from captivity. 
 
 solitarily] Without a shepherd. 
 
 forest] Habitantes solitarie sylvam. A figurative de- 
 scription of the captivity. See rty* Hosea ii. 12. Baslian and 
 Gilead were famous for fertility and pasturage. 
 
 Dr. Wheeler gives the following beautiful turn to this passage: 
 " Church. Feed thy people with thy scepter; 
 
 The sheep of thine inheritance, dwelling in the soli- 
 tary grove., 
 Jtliava.li. Let them feed in the midst of Carmel, 
 
 In Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old." 
 To him I owe the hint of rejecting the Masoretical punctu- 
 ation.
 
 MICAH. VII. 171 
 
 15 As in the clavs when he went forth out of the land 
 
 of Egypt, 
 I will shew unto him wonderful things. 
 
 16 The nations shall see, and shall be confounded 
 
 because of all their might: 
 
 They shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their 
 ears shall be deaf: 
 
 17 They shall lick the dust as the serpent ; 
 
 As the creeping things of the earth, they shall 
 tremble from their close places: 
 
 Because of Jehovah our God they shall stand in 
 awe: and they shall fear because of thee. 
 
 18 Who is a God like unto thee, pardoning iniquity, 
 And passing by transgression, in the residue of 
 
 his heritage ? 
 
 And tvbo keepeth not his anger for ever, 
 Because he delighteth in mercy? 
 
 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion on 
 
 us, he will cover our iniquities. 
 Yea, thou wilt cast all our sins in to the depth of the sea: 
 
 20 Thou wilt shew faithfulness unto Jacob, and 
 
 mercy unto Abraham; 
 
 Which thou svvarest unto our fathers from the 
 days of old. 
 
 15. he went forth] Houbigant reads IDNlf: and Syr. 
 Chald. translate " they went forth," " shew them;" and there- 
 fore may have read inN% people being understood. " A, like 
 change of persons is in v. 19, and Jer. xvi. 14, 15." ' Seeker. 
 
 16. their ears] Sixteen MSS. and three editions read with 
 Chald. Syr. dTifNl, and their ears. 
 
 If the expressions in v. 15, 16, 17, are thought too strong 
 for the events which happened under the Maccabees, they may 
 likewise have a reference to the times of the future restoration. 
 
 18. delighteth in mercy] e^rnj; i\-,n; ??* 6. 
 passing by] " Passeth over." Seeker. 
 
 19. He will turn again] " He -will again have compassion 
 on us." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 cover] This is the Chaldce sense of it33. Syr. reads 
 Di:a cottiget. 
 
 Thou wilt even cast] Syr. reads -ytown and he will cast. 
 Tradam protervis in mare Creticum 
 Portare ventis. Hor. 
 
 our sins] " AWTMS npv. 6. Syr. Vulg." Seeker. 
 E e
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 N A H U M. 
 
 1 CONCLUDE, from c. ii. 2, that Nahum prophesied after the 
 captivity of the ten tribes. Josephus places him in the reign of 
 Jotham, and^says that his predictions came to pass one hundred 
 and fifteen years afterwards. Ant. ix. xi. 3. According to our 
 best chronologen, this date would bring us to the jear in which 
 Samaria was taken. And I agree with those who thinbthat Na- 
 hum uttered this prophecy in the reign of Hezekiah, and not 
 long after the subversion of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser. 
 
 The conduct and imagery of this prophetical poem arc truly 
 admirable. 
 
 The exordium grandly sets forth trie justice and power of 
 God, tempered by lenitv and goodness: c. i. 2 S. 
 
 A sudden address to the Assyrians follows; and a prediction 
 of their perplexity and overthrow, as devisers of evil against the 
 true God: v. 911. 
 
 Jehovah himself then proclaims freedom to his people from 
 the Assyrian yoke, and the destruction of the Assyrian idols : 
 12 14. Upon which the prophet, in a most lively manner, 
 tuins the attention of Judah to the approach of the messenger 
 who brings such glad tidings; and bids her celebrate her festi- 
 vals, and offer her thank-onerings, without fear of so powerful 
 an adversary: v. 15. 
 
 C. II. "in the next place, Nineveh is called on to prepare 
 for the approach of her enemies, as instruments in the hand of 
 Jehovah: and the military array and muster of the Medes and 
 Babylonians, their rapid approach to the city, the process of 
 the siege, the capture of the place, the captivity, lamentation 
 and flight of the inhabitants, the sacking of the wealthy city, 
 and the consequent desolation and terror, are described in the 
 true spirit of eastern poetry, and with many pathetic, vivid and 
 sublime images: v. 1 10. 
 
 A grand and animated allegory succeeds this description : v. 
 II, 12: which is explained, and applied to the city of Nine- 
 veh, in v. 13. 
 
 C. IIL The prophet denounces a woe against Nineveh for 
 her perfidy and violence; and strongly places before our eyes the 
 number of her chariots and cavalry, 'her burnished arms and the
 
 NAHUM. i. 173 
 
 1 1 HE Prophecy concerning Nineveh. The book 
 of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 
 
 great and unrelenting slaughter which she spread around her: 
 v. 1 3. 
 
 He assigns her idolatries as one cause of her ignominious 
 and un pi tied fall: v. 4 7. 
 
 He foretcls that No-Ammon, her rival in populousness, con- 
 federacies and situation, should share a like fate with herself; 
 v. 8, 9, 10, 11: and beautifully illustrates the ease with which 
 her strong holds should betaken; v. 12; and her pusillanimity 
 during the siege : v. 13. 
 
 He pronounces that all her preparations, v. 14, 15, her num- 
 bers, her opulence, her multitude of chief men, would be of 
 no avail: v. 15 17. 
 
 He foretels that her tributaries would deseit hen v. 18. 
 
 He concludes with a proper epiphoneina; the topics oi' which 
 are, the greatness and incurableness of her Wound; and the just 
 triumph of others over her, on account of her extensive op- 
 pressions: v. 19. 
 
 To sum up all with the decisive judgment of an eminent 
 critic : " Ex omnibus Minoribus prophctis nemo videtur square 
 sublimitatem, ardorem, & audaces spiritus Nabumi : adde quod 
 ejus vaticinium integrum ac justmn est poema; exordium mag- 
 nificum est & plane augustum; apparatus ad excidiurn Ninivae, 
 ejusque excidii descriptio & ampliticatto, ardentissimis colori- 
 bus exprimitur, & admirabilem habct evidentiara & pondus." 
 
 Pra-1. Hebr. xxi. p. 282. 
 
 It must be further observed that this prophecy was highly 
 interesting to the Jews : as the Assyrians had often ravaged their 
 country, and, I suppose, had recently destroyed the kingdom 
 of Israel, 
 
 CHAP. i. 
 
 1. The prophecy] The word NittO has the general significa- 
 tion of prolalum, ejfcttum, fronunciutum ; from NiL'3 to take up, 
 or, to -utter. Ex. xx. 7. Deut. v. 11. 2 Kings xix. 4. It is 
 equivalent to C2'")in words, Prov. xxxi. i. where it may be tran- 
 slated prophecy, in the sense of speaking to edification : 1 Cor. 
 xiv. 3. 2 Kings ix. 25, may be rendered, "Jehovah uttered 
 this prophecy concerning him." Sc. that which follows, v. 26^ 
 Comp. v. 36. 
 
 It is translated burthen, as if it signified " gravem prophetiam, 
 quae dura pronunciat atque comminatur" See Capellus on Hab^
 
 174 NAHUM. I. 
 
 2 Jehovah is a jealous and avenging God: 
 
 Jehovah avengetli, and is wrathful : 
 
 i. 1. And accordingly Chald. on Nub. i. 1, has " Onus calicis 
 maledietionis." But Pocock observes, on Mai. i. 1, that it ra- 
 ther signifies a message ; and quotes Lam. ii. 1 1, where the 
 flattering prophecies of false prophets are so called: and where 
 the word may have the sense of cffatum, as above. 
 
 Because 6. render the word by yiai, \ Chron. xv. 22, 27, 
 Houbigant says Forte NU,'Q indicat signum cantoribus datum, 
 cum alte extofiitur maiius ad cantns moderandos." Perhaps we 
 may infer from these places that prophecies were sometimes 
 sung to musical instruments. See 2 Kings iii. 15. 1 Sam. x. 5. 
 
 Taylor interprets the phrases, to lift up a word, Amos v. 1. 
 to lift up a proverb, or parable, Job. xxvii. 1, of speaking with 
 an exerted voice, of pronouncing with spirit and earnestness. 
 But, without including this circumstance in its definition, he 
 thus explains KU7Q: " A prophecy, or burthen, containing things 
 of eminence, weight and importance; taught by man, or re- 
 vealed by God. The word is plainly ambiguous, and some- 
 times signifies a heavy judgment." Cone. voc. NU;J. 
 
 Bishop Chandler, defence &c. p. 1U, quotes authority to 
 shew that the word Sybilla comes from bZQ to bear, ha. m $10^*1 : 
 and adds, " So KM to bear, or carry: Numb. xxiv. 3. xxiii. 
 7, 18: Jon. Targum to speak a parable. Sec Isai. xiv. 28. 
 Prov. xxxi. 1. Lam. ii. 14. 2 Kinps ix. 23. comp. with v. 36." 
 
 "Some commentators, particularly Drusius, are of opinion that 
 in this chapter the prophet foretels first the destruction of Senna- 
 cherib's army, and then of Sennacherib h'mself. There seem to 
 me to be so many allusions to the history of these events in this 
 chapter that I am moch inclined to subscribe to their opinion. 
 Rabshekah had represented his master as invincible, nay as 
 more powerful than the true God worshipped at Jerusalem. In 
 answer to this the prophet asserts 2 6, the justice and irresist- 
 able power of God, and represents him as avenging himself of 
 his enemies (whether Jew or Gentile) and thus insinuates that 
 Sennacherib ought not to assume to himself, but ascribe to God, 
 whose instrument only he was, the overthrow of the nations he 
 had reduced and as God had overthrown them, and had also 
 afflicted for their sins his own people, so now he would have 
 mercy on his own people r. 7. and punish the Assyrians. 
 Compare v. 4, with Isai. xxxvii. 24, 25. and v. 9, and 
 v. 1 1, with Isai. xxxvii. 23. He forcteh the destruction of Sen- 
 nacherib's army, v. 8, 9, 10, 12; the immediate cause of it v
 
 NAHUM. I. 175 
 
 Jehovah avengelh his adversaries: 
 And he reserveth indignation for his enemies. 
 3 Jehovah is slow to anger, yet great in power; 
 Bat Jehovah by no f means cleareth the guilty. 
 His way is in the whirlwind and in the storm; 
 
 f Hefar. clearing will not clear. 
 
 11; and the consequence of it, latter part of r. 12, and 13. The 
 fall of Sennacherib himself is foretold v. 14. The prophet then 
 proceeds to announce the joy this should cause among the Jews 
 and the utter destruction of the Assyrian empire tbat should 
 speedily ensue." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 Nineveh] Ninirod, the third in descent from Ham, went 
 forth out of the land of Shinar into Assyria, to wage war against 
 the dependents of Shem, and built Nineveh. For so I under* 
 stand Gen. x. 10, 11, agreeably to our marginal rendering, and 
 to Bocbart Geogr.-sacr. v. ii. p. 229. And therefore the land 
 of Assyria is called the land of Nimrod, Mic. v. 6. He might 
 assign this city to his son; and call it fTO'3, from p a son and rrq 
 an habitation. Still we may allow that another Ninus made con- 
 quests throughout a great part of Asia, and in that sense founded 
 the Assyrian empire, during the time of the Judges; as other- 
 wise Herodotus's assertion cannot be true, that the duration of 
 the Assyrian monarchy was five hundred and twenty years. See 
 Bishop Lowth's note on Isai. xxiii. 13. 
 
 Elkoshite] So called, says Jerom, from a village in Galilee, 
 Vitringa, Es. p. 25, thinks the parts of this verse transposed. 
 Seeker. 
 
 2. jealous] Ni:p occurs only here and Josh. xxiv. 19. Hera 
 eight MSS. and three editions omit the van, and in Joshua four-r 
 teen MSS. omit it. 
 
 reserveth indignation for] See Lev. xix. 18 Or, observeth 
 with an angry eye. The Arabic word signifies vidif, contempla- 
 tns est. See 1 Sam. xx. 20, where the substantive from this 
 verb is rendered a mark. 
 
 The b in this v. is twice transitive, like nN*. See IIos. i. 6, 
 x. 1. Zeph. i. 17. Jer. x. 18. 
 
 3. But Jehovah ] 6. divide thus. I find that this >s also 
 Dr. Wheeler's punctuation. See Ex. xx. 7. xxxiv. 7. Numb, 
 xiv. 18. Jer. xxx. 11. 
 
 His way ] In the whirlwind and storm -he displayeth h : s 
 power or his vengeance: he treadoth on the clouds, as on the 
 dui>t. Another Hebrew word for clouds is pnu?, which also ue-
 
 176 NAHUM. I. 
 
 And the clouds are the dust of his feet. 
 
 4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dryj 
 And J drieth up all the rivers. 
 
 Bashan fanguisheth, and Carrael: 
 
 And the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 
 
 5 The mountains shake at him, and the hills are 
 
 molten. 
 
 And the land is laid waste before him ; 
 Yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. 
 
 6 Who shall stand before his indignation ? 
 And who shall rise up in his hot anger? 
 His fury is poured out like fire; 
 
 J Or. exhausted. Herb, the heat of his anger. 
 
 notes small dust. The verb pnu signifies comminvere ; and Cas- 
 tel says that clouds may be called O'prntf ob tenuitatcm. 
 
 These two lines are very sublime; but the Psalmist is still 
 more sublime. 
 
 " Who maketh the clouds his chariot: 
 
 Who walketh upon the wings of the wind." Ps. civ. 3. 
 
 4. the sea] As the Red Sea. Ex. xiv. 21. 
 
 the rivers] As the Jordan. Josh. iii. 16. He also drieth 
 up all of them, sc. very many of them, by visiting a sinful peo- 
 ple with drought. I Kings xvii. 7. 
 
 " He rebuketh the sea, and drieth it up; 
 
 And parcbeth up all the rivers." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 The collocation of the original words is exquisite in the 
 three first hemistichs of v. 2; in the two first of v. 3; and in 
 two last of v. 4. 
 
 5. shake] As Sinai. Ex. xix. 18. 
 
 are molten] Possibly an allusion to bringing water out 
 of the rock. Numb. xx. 10. Or, rather, this and the forego- 
 ing clause refer to God's power shewn in storms and earthquakes. 
 
 is laid waste] Reading n.snpn with Chald. and Houbigant. 
 
 Yea, the world ] On considering this line, I conjectured 
 that we should read bsn, as more elegant and agreeable to the 
 usual turn of the Hebrew poetry: and I observed that ran pre- 
 ceded bsn* and -V3DQ. On examination, I found my conjecture 
 supported by the omission of vail in 6. Syr. and six or seven 
 MSS. Dr. "Wheeler saw this: for his version stands 
 
 " Ami the world," &c. 
 
 6. hot anger] So Exarsere ignes nnimo. JEn. ii. 575,. 
 like fire] Widely and irresistibly. See Am. v. 6.
 
 NAHUM. I. 177 
 
 And the rocks are || cast down by him. 
 
 7 Jehovah js good : he is a * strong hold in the day 
 
 distress: 
 And he knoweth them that trust in him : 
 
 8 But with an overflowing torrent he will make a 
 
 full end of those who rise up against him: 
 And darkness shall pursue his enemies. 
 
 9 What do ye imagine against Jehovah ? 
 He will make a full end : 
 
 Distress shall not rise up the second time. 
 10 For while the princes are vet perplexed 
 And as drunken with their wine, 
 
 |] Or, broken down. * Hcbr. for a strong hold. 
 
 rocks are cast down] Lightning, or subterraneous fire, or 
 earthquake, may produce this effect. 
 
 8. an overflowing torrent] Here may be an allusion to 
 the manner in which Nineveh was taken. " The Euphrates 
 overflowed its banks, deluged a part of the city, and over- 
 turned twenty stadia of the wall ; in consequence of which the 
 desponding Iking burnt himself, his palace, and treasures." 
 Diod, Sic. ed. Wess. p. 140. L. ii. . 27. 
 
 a full end] H Nivoj H4=r ctvoXwXEV n$n, scat ucsi tyvo; 111 Xotrav ai/m;* Luc. 
 
 dial, contemplantes. 
 
 of those who rise up against him] Houbigant proposes 
 reading VQ1pO. As Jer. li. 1. o. join the word to the next 
 clause, and may read VDip, or VQGip3, which latter reading I 
 prefer. 
 
 " Those that rise up against him, and his enemies, darkness 
 shall pursue." 
 
 Aquila has yj-afvwy. Theodotion, consurgentibus ei. JT. 
 ed. a consurgentibus illi. See Montfaucon. 
 
 pursue] So as to overtake and involve them. See Deut, 
 xxviii. 22, 45. 
 
 " And his enemies will he pursue to darkness." Dr. Wheeler. 
 Agreeably to Chald. 
 
 9. He will make ] " He himself will make," &c. Dr. 
 Wheeler. 
 
 10. the princes] Syr. and Chald. read D"ni/, and two 
 MSS, and one ed. have ana. 
 
 yet perplexed] Reading C2'212D Tiy. The Arab, [see 
 ~pW Cast lex.J signifies perplexafuit res, irretitusjuit. 
 
 And as drunken] Men, fluctuating and staggering in their
 
 ITS NAHIM. I. 
 
 They are devoured as stubble f fully dry. 
 
 11 From thee hath gone forth one that imagined evil 
 
 against Jehovah ; 
 A J wicked counsellor. 
 
 12 Thus saith Jehovah: 
 
 Though the Ruler of many waters 
 
 Have thus ravaged, and have thus passed through; 
 
 And I have afflicted thee; 
 
 I will afflict thee no more. 
 
 13 For now will I break his yoke from off thee, 
 
 f Hebr. dry to fulness. % Hebr. A counsellor of Belial. 
 
 counsels, are beautifully said to be as it were intoxicated with 
 wine. I consider the present reading as preferable to the read- 
 ing of Syr. and of one MS. DX2D31 et in vino sito. 
 
 11. rhath gone forth] That is, thou hast produced. Such 
 were Pul, 2 Kings xv. 19; Tiglathpileser, ib. 29; Shalmanescr, 
 ib. xvii. 6; and Sennacharib, 2 Kings xviii. 17, &c. xix. 23. 
 
 wicked] Of Belial. Some, as Tayl. cone, supplement, 
 derive this word from '*73 without, and hy a yoke : but byv ^2 one 
 that profiteth not, that is, one who is dangerous and destructive, 
 is a better etymology. AXJ<=; has this sense in Greek, and inutilis 
 in Latin. Sac Merrick on Ps. xviii. 1. 12. 
 
 12. Though the Ruler ] I propose reading 
 - CDO1 CD'O VtL'O CZN 
 
 nay pi to p 
 
 ON occurs in the text : 6. read nm D'Q *}\DD: a just and beau- 
 tiful periphrasis for Nineveh, which was situated on the great 
 river Tigris. See Ezek. xxxi. 4. Syr. has TOin Itfl quse rapu- 
 erunt et elapsje sunt: but I prefer the singular number on account 
 of his yoke v. 1 3, though Houbigant Syr. and Arab, read bttO 
 rulers; and, retaining p twice, 1 form a conjectural reading as 
 nearly as I can to the text, which is manifestly corrupted. 
 I'D^i'l rests on the authority of fourteen MSS. two ed. Svr. 
 Chald. and Vulg. 
 
 * Thus saith Jehovah : If retributions come, 
 
 " According as they are many, accordingly shall tbey be cut 
 
 off, and pass away. 
 
 " If 1 have afflicted thee, I will not afflict thee more." 
 Or, 
 
 4f Though they are at peace, and also mighty, 
 *' Still shall thev be cut off, and pass away." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler.
 
 NAPIUM. IT. 179 
 
 And will burst thy bonds in sunder. 
 
 14 And Jehovah will command concerning thee, 
 
 That thy name shall be no more scattered abroad. 
 From the house of thy God I will cut off the gra- 
 ven image and the molten image; 
 I will appoint thy sepulchre; for thou art become vile. 
 
 15 Behold upon the mountains 
 
 The feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that 
 
 publisheth peace. 
 
 Keep, O Judah, thy feasts; perform thy vows. 
 For he shall no j| more pass through thee : 
 The wicked is wholly consumed, he is cut off. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 He that * scattereth is come up before thee: 
 
 Guard the fenced place; watch the way: 
 
 Hebr. There shall not be sown of thy name any more. JJ shall add no more 
 
 to pass. * Or, breaketh in pieces. 
 
 " Though they be perfect [in health and strength] and thus 
 numerous, even so shall they be cut down [as grass] and he 
 [Sennacherib] shall pass away [fly to his own home]." Dr. 
 Forsayeth. 
 
 . 13. his yoke thy bonds ] The Jews paid tribute to the 
 Assyrians: 2 Kings xviii. 14: and the Israelites were under ac- 
 tual captivity among them at this time. 
 
 14-. scattered abroad] That no more of thy colonies be 
 transplanted to other countries. 
 
 become vile] Thy enemies have subdued thee. See a like 
 apostrophe to this city: c. ii. 1. 
 
 15. upon the mountains] Which surrounded Jerusalem. 
 
 good tidings] That Nineveh is destroyed. Corop. Is. lii, 7. 
 
 The wicked] See 2 Sam. xxiii. 6. 
 
 wholly consumed] Houbigant renders with 6. periit, ex- 
 cisus est. We may render, consummatione, vel, consummando 
 excisus est. Six MSS. in the text or margin, read to all of him. 
 The Assyrian is meant. 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 
 1. scattereth] The army of the Babylonians and Medes. 
 " The destroyer." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 F f
 
 180 NAHUM, II. 
 
 Strengthen (he loins; confirm might greatly. 
 2 For Jehovah restore* h the excellency of Jacob, 
 
 As the excellency of Israel: 
 
 Forthe wasters have wasted them, and have de-< 
 
 Ft roved their branches. 
 8 The shield of his mighty men is made red : 
 
 The valiant men are clothed in scarlet: 
 
 The chariots are as the fire of lamps, in the day 
 when he prepareth them : 
 
 And the horsemen spread fear. 
 4 In the streets the chariots madden : 
 
 They run to and fro in the broad places: 
 
 Their appearance was lamps, they run as lightning. 
 
 the loins] Compare Ps. Ixix. 23. Thus dumb is signifies weak. 
 
 '2. restoreth] I suppose that we should read SUV 3 for 1'^'. 
 The versions and Chain, give the force of Hiphil to the verb. 
 
 --of Israel] In a manner suitable to the excellency of a 
 Prince prevailing with God: according to the etymology of the 
 word Israel. 
 
 " That by the excellency of Jacob either Jerusalem, or the 
 t\vo tribes of Judah and Benjamin are to be understood, see 
 Drusiiis on the place." Dr. Forsayeth, 
 
 the wasters] The Assyrians' have wasted Israel; and led 
 her into captivity* 
 
 3. is made red] As the preparation for battle is described, 
 we may suppose it customary among those who fought against 
 Nineveh to carry red shields, and to wear scarlet. Scuta lectis- 
 simis coloribns distinguunt, Tac. de.mor. Germ. c. 6. 
 
 as the fire of lamps] 6. Houbigam, one MS. and one edi- 
 tion read, UAVD. nvftD as many MSS. and some editions reaJ, 
 is a plain mistake for nns 1 ?. See v. 4. 
 
 when hs prepareth them] Or, when he prepareth himself. 
 His scythed chariots, burnished for war, resemble flames of fire. 
 
 horsemen] V.'o. Ar. Syr. read D'Unsm. 
 
 spread fear] I suppose the verb to be in Hiphil. 
 
 " And the axle-trees of fir arc in dreadful commotion." 
 Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 4. madden] So Homer. II. . III. 
 
 t< 5ta* ip.OY cocy fMttvrtcu iv -Tta^a^yi. 
 
 Their appearance] Houbigant's reading of QHWiQ is con- 
 firmed b'y three MSS.
 
 NAHUM. II. 181 
 
 He reconnteth hs mighty men: they cast down 
 
 in their march. 
 They hasten to the wall, and the covering is prepared. 
 
 6 The gates of the rivers are opened : 
 
 And the palace melteth with fear, and the fortress. 
 
 7 She is taken into captivity, she is f brought up: 
 And her handmaids are carried away as with the 
 
 voice of doves, 
 J Smiling upon their breasts. 
 
 8 And the waters of Nineveh are as a pool of water : 
 
 f Or, caused to go up. J Or. taberfng. 
 
 5. thqy cast down] I suppose the verb to be in Hiphil, as 
 
 2 Chron. xxv. 8. 
 
 to the wall] Murum versus: the rr being heal. 
 the covering] Vulg. nmbracuhnn : 6. T.^-j^aw. It denotes the 
 tortoise, or shed, under which the besieger.* covered themselves, 
 
 6. The gates] Houbigant undeistahds this metaphoricallv, of 
 the natural or artificial banks which kept in the river. There is 
 an allusion to the fact quoted from Diodorus Siculus in the note 
 on c. i. 8. 
 
 the palace] The Hebrew word is probably derived from 
 an Arabic one which signifies magnus fv.it. Sec Cast, lex. 
 
 naelteth] Syr. has yt; and seems to read 1DV2J, is shaken, 
 removed, cast down, overthrown. 
 
 fortress] I read 21'Q, which is rendered mount, Isai. xxix. 
 
 3 ; and sometimes garrison. Vulg. has wiles. Cbald. has N2 
 ministrans ; which suggests the reading of joym and the host. 6-. 
 have yTTOfno-if, which will answer to a noun from ii M const itusre. 
 
 7. she is brought up] She is caused to go up to Babylon. 
 Smiting] Or, by a figure, laboring. Eleganter usurpatur 
 
 niDSDDQ de plangentibus et pectus tnndentibus ; quasi Gail ice 
 dicas, battans le tambour sur leur poictrines. Capellus. " As 
 the tabret is beaten with the fingers, and those fingers are applied 
 to a skin stretched over an hollow hoop, the description 'gives 
 great life to the words of the prophet Nahum, who compares 
 women beating on their breasts, in deep anguish, to their play- 
 ing on a tabret." Harmer. i. 482. 
 fc breasts] See y& Ex. xxviii. 30. 
 
 Tunsse pcctora palmis. Virg. /En. i. 485. 
 
 8. her waters] Literally, Et Nineveh, aquse ipsius &;c. 
 See the note on Micah vii. 3, to shew that the pronoun is 
 sometimes placed at the end of a clause. 
 
 a pool of water] The inundation of the river mentionqd in
 
 182 NAIIUM. II. 
 
 And they flee and men cry, Stand, Stand ; but 
 
 none looketh back. 
 9 They spoil the silver, they spoil the gold : 
 
 And there is none end of the glorious store, 
 Because of all kinds of \\ pleasant vessels. 
 
 10 She is void, empty, and desolate: 
 
 And the heart melteth, and the * knees smite 
 
 together ; 
 
 And there is great pain in all loins ; 
 And the faces of them all gather blackness. 
 
 1 1 Where is the habitation of the devouring-lions ? 
 And that ithich was the feeding-place of the 
 
 young-lions? 
 Whither thedevouring-lion, and the lioness, went ; 
 
 Hebr, the preparation of glory. || vessels of desire. * there is smiting together of knees. 
 
 the note on c. i. 3, assisted by the channels and receptacles for 
 water which the Ninevites formegLto make their city inaccessible 
 to the enemy, produced this effect for some time. See Cyril 
 on c. iii ; and the quotation from him, Boch. Geogr. 1. iv. xx. 
 p. 254. 
 
 9. of the glorious store] Reading "DD rwn 5 ? with Capel- 
 lus. Or thus: 
 
 " And there is none end of the store: 
 
 " There is glory [costliness, splendor, magnificence] from all 
 
 pleasant vessels." 
 Dr. Wheeler renders: 
 
 " It is precious beyond all desirable vessels." 
 6. read nnJlDD and vnD. 
 
 " Anu there is no end to her store. 
 
 " They are heavy from all pleasant vessels." 
 
 10. She is void ] The three words in the original are of 
 like sound, and increase in the number of syllables. Observe 
 *pD and nsno v. 12. pbn in Arab, signifies "cito irit, obstiipuit; 
 and one of its derivatives is used for desertum soliludo. See 
 Cast. lex. and Gol. 
 
 gather blackness] See a parallel line Joel ii. 6. The ver- 
 sions and Chald. in both places suppose the word to mean black- 
 ness as of a pot ; nig'ricantem pallorem. Mercer. 
 
 11. and the lioness] Houbigant reads Nsbl, Vulg. 6. read 
 tifsh: ut in'grederetur: and this was the original reeding of one 
 JV1S. 
 
 " Whither the devouring lion went, tp enter in there,"
 
 NAHim. II. 13.3 
 
 And the whelp of the devouring-lion; and none 
 made them afraid. 
 
 12 The devouring-lion tare for his whelps, 
 And strangled for his lionesses; 
 
 And filled his dens with prey, 
 And his habitations with rapine. 
 
 13 .Behold 1 am against thee, saith Jehovah God 
 
 of hosts : 
 
 And I will burn thy chariots in the fire; 
 And the sword shall devour thy villages; 
 And 1 will cut off thy prey from the earth ; 
 And the fame of thy deeds shall be heard no more. 
 
 The allegory is beyond measure beautiful. Where arc the 
 inhabitants of Nineveh, who were strong and rapacious like lions? 
 
 and none made them afraid] See the intripidity of the lion 
 well illustrated, Boch. Hieroz. 1. iii. c. ii. p. 724. Both Aris- 
 totle and yEiian say that he never flies, but retires slowly. 
 
 Ov pa xuyjf TJ xa avissj euro ?a9fj.'uo Simlcu 
 Eyx' *' <Wfi' r $ n ^oitrn aAxi/sxo* >i?og 
 na^vwTaj, a -xxv Sf r' f/8>i owro jtxs(7o-av\oj, II. p. 1 08. 
 
 13. against thee] See bi* Nold. . 6. contra. Syr. Chald. 
 and one MS. have "'by: and Syr. Chald. Ar. c. iii. 5. 
 
 tliy chariots in the fire] We may rtad n^DiQ U^NS : See 
 Chald. understanding mD"VD as a noun of multitude. Or, we 
 may read ~p:n, thy chariots 
 
 "Thy chariots. Vulg. Ch. thy multitude. 6. thy troops. 
 Syr." Seeker. 
 
 thy villages] "pSD one IMS. See also Chald. oppida tua. 
 So Ezek. xxxv iii. 13. render " the villages thereof." Two 
 MSS. read .T1DD. 
 
 of thy deeds] Reading "jrCN'bQ. See Syr. 6 Arab. ^yn on. 
 Vulg. reads 73^0. " And the voice of thy messengers, ^cc." 
 I suppose the allegory to end at y. 12. Houbigant continues it 
 through this verse, and reads 13D1Q or "[2D~, which he renders 
 sedile tuinii : out, I think, without authority, o. read "]n thy 
 multitude. 
 
 The curious reader may see in Josephus a paraphrase of the 
 six last verses of this chapter. Ant/ L. ix. c. xi. .p. 501. ed, 
 Haverc.
 
 184 NAHUM. HI. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 WOE to the city of f 
 
 She is all full of falsehood and of violence : 
 The prey departeth not. 
 
 2 A sound of the whip is there, and a sound of the 
 
 rattling wheels; 
 
 And of the prancing horses, and of the bounding 
 chariots, and of the horsemen mounting. 
 
 3 The flame of the sword is also there, and the light- 
 
 ening of the spear ; 
 
 And a multitude of slain, and a heap of dead bodies ; 
 And there is no end to the carcases ; they stumble 
 
 upon their carcases. 
 
 4 Because of the J many whoredoms, of the harlot, 
 Who is wellfavoured, and mistress of enchantments, 
 
 f Hebr. Moods. J Hebr. multitude of the whoredoms. 
 
 1. violence] The Vargi among the ancient Gauls were a 
 kmd of soldiers so called from the word p"iD rapina, used here 
 and Obad 14. Boch. Geogr. 668. 
 
 " Woe to the bloody city, she is all deceit; 
 
 Full of devastation &c." Dr. Wheeler. 
 See 6 Ar. Syr. 
 " She is all lies, and full of. Seeker." 
 
 2. prancing] One. sense of the word in Arab, is stcift. 
 
 bounding] Subsultatque alte similisque est currus inani. 
 Ovid of Phaeton. 
 
 and of the horseman] V. 6. and also Ar. Syr. in the original, 
 have the copulative. 
 
 3. lightening] See Hab. iii. II. Homer has 
 
 II. x. 154. 
 snd 
 
 II. xi. 65. 
 
 their carcases] The carcases slain by them. These three 
 verses are a description of Nineveh, as it was in the time of the 
 prophet. 
 
 4. enchantments] By which she fascinates others to wor-^ 
 ship her gods,
 
 NAHUM. III. 185 
 
 Who trafficketh in nations by her whoredoms, and 
 
 in tribes by her enchantments ; 
 Behold I am against thee, saith Jehovah God of 
 
 hosts ; 
 
 And I will uncover thy skirts before thy face- 
 And I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and 
 
 the kingdoms, thy shame. 
 
 6 And I will cast upon thee abominable filth ; 
 And I will dishonour thee, and will make thee as 
 
 dung. 
 
 7 And it shall come to pass that every-one who seeth 
 
 thee shall flee from thee; 
 And shall say, Nineveh is laid waste. 
 
 Who will bemoan thee ? 
 Whence shall I seek comforters for thee? 
 
 8 Art thou better than No-Ammon, that is situ- 
 
 ated among the rivers ? 
 Waters arc round about her: 
 The sea is her || rampart ; waters are her wall. 
 
 Or. ordure. |J Hebr. whose rampart is 
 
 trafficketh in] Hebr. selleth. Hath them at her disposal: 
 as the Israelites, whom piobably she first seduced to adopt some 
 of her idolatrous rites. 
 
 5. before thy face] Te ipsa vivente et vidente. See the 
 phrase Lev. x. 3. and the note on Hos. ii. 3. 
 
 6. as dung] The word {*1, for a gazing stock, occurs only 
 here. The Jews understand it of dung, and explain niOQ irigliL- 
 vies by 'NT C3lpQ locus sordium. See J. Buxt. lex. manuale. 
 Perhaps the true reading occurs Isai. xxxvi. 12. HH, or 'Nin, or 
 {Oin: seethe various lections: which word, however read, in 
 Keri is explained by the softer term nwy or nNlf. In Arab, 
 ton signifies deponere ahum. 
 
 8. No-Ammon] A city in Egypt. See Ezek. xxx. 14, 15. 
 Jer. xlvi. 25. Bochart thinks it Diospolis near Mendes, which 
 appears from Strabo to have been situated near lakes. See Geogr. 
 sacr. 1. i. c. i. p. 6. Herodotus says that the Egyptians called 
 Jupiter by the name of Ammon. L. ii. c. 4-2. 
 
 rivers] Channels of water 1 from the Nile may have passed 
 through this city. 
 
 The sea] Lakes are thus called by the Hebrews. Josh, iii, 
 16. xii. 3.
 
 186 NAIIUM. III. 
 
 9 * Ethiopia fs her strength, and Egypt ; and (here 
 
 is no end to it : 
 Put and Libya f are her help: 
 
 10 Yet shall she be J carried away : she goeth into 
 
 captivity : 
 
 Yet her little ones shall be dashed in pieces 
 At the top of all the streets. 
 And for her honourable men they cast lots ; 
 And all her mighty men are bound with chains. 
 
 11 Thou also shalt become an hireling; thou shalt 
 
 hide thyself; 
 Thou shalt seek a refuge from the enemy. 
 
 12 All thy strong holds shall be Like fig-trees with the 
 
 first ripe figs: 
 
 * Hebr. Chus. f in her help. * Yet she for a carrying away. head. 
 
 wall] Bochart, ubi .supr. quotes Isocrates as saying that 
 Egypt was fortified by the everlasting wall of the Nile; and 
 Heliodoros, as observing that robbers used the river as a wall. 
 
 " And waters are her wall." Sy. 6. 
 
 9. Chus] See on Amosix. 7. and Ez. xxix. 10. 
 
 Put] ID1D, and pD spargi, are the same by a common change 
 of letters. The African Nomades are meant. Boch. ubi supr. 
 p. 296. 
 
 Libya] Or Lubim. See on Hos. xiii 5. 
 
 her help] nn"HJi 6. Syr. Houbigant. See on Hos. xiii. 9. 
 
 10. shall be dashed] The original word may have the force 
 of the present tense, are dashed: and Nahum may refer to a past 
 taking of No by Sennacharib, as Prideaux supposes ; see Isai. 
 xx. 4 ; or, as I rather think, he may predict the taking of it by 
 Nebuchadnezzar. Jer. xlvi. 25. Ezek. xxx. 14. See Prid. Ann. 
 713. 
 
 lots] Pnedae ducere sortes. Virg. JEn. ix. and Andromache 
 calls her happy, 
 
 Qua; sortitus non pertulit ullos Ib. iii. 323. 
 
 11. shalt become an hireling] Shalt hire thyself out. Pretio 
 emeris, vel mercede conducta eris. Honbigant. See 1 Sam. 
 ii. 5. Thou shalt be reduced to a state of slavery; after having 
 in vain endeavoured to escape. 
 
 12. like fig-trees] See Rev. vi. 13. which is very sublime. 
 And here the image, though a common one, is very lively and 
 expressive. See Pruel. Hebr. xii. p. 138.
 
 NAIIUM. in. is? 
 
 if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the 
 
 eater. 
 13 Beholtl, thy people are as women in the midst of 
 
 thee: 
 The gates of thy land are set wide open unto 
 
 thine enemies: 
 The fire devoureth thy bars. 
 
 14 Draw thee water for the siege; fortify thy strong 
 
 holds : 
 
 Go into the clay, and tread the morter; repair 
 the brick-kiln. 
 
 15 There shall the fire devour thee: 
 
 The sword shall cut thee off, it shall devour the<5 
 
 as the locust. 
 
 Increase thyself as the locust, increase thyself 
 as the numerous-locust: 
 
 16 Multiply thy merchants more than the stars of 
 
 heaven : 
 Yet the locust hath spoiled, and hath flown away. 
 
 17 Thy crowned princes are as the numerous-locust, 
 
 and thy captains as the grasshoppers ; 
 
 13. women] 'A-XU^I; x m 'AJ(IO, Horn. Vere Phrygiae, 
 neque enim Phryges. Virg. 
 
 14. for the siege] Or, for the fortress, or citadel. And 
 even with respect to the city, though its wall bordered on the 
 river, it might not be safe to water there within reach of the 
 enemy's missile weapons, and engines. 
 
 the clay] An allusion to the bricks of clay, used for build- 
 ing in those countries. In Xenophon we have 7rx>9oi wja/xioi, and 
 *Ay9ioT *x*?' Ava/Saffif. p. 236, 7. ed. Hutch. 4to. 
 
 15. There] Where thou fortifiest thyself. 
 
 as the locust] In a manner equally unsparing. 
 
 Increase thyself] Six or seven MSS. add the to TM/in: 
 and two MSS. omit n^nn. And then the clause would stand : 
 
 " Increase thyself as the locust, as the numerous-locust." 
 The idea is beautifully continued from the preceding clause. 
 
 16. Multiply thy merchants] I conjecture DK '3~in. Yet 
 shalt thou fall a prey to an enemy as devouring as the locust. 
 
 17. as the grasshoppers] A word which, though not ac- 
 curate, we are obliged to use for variety. The Hebrews have 
 
 G S
 
 *188 NAHUM. III. 
 
 Which encamp in the fences in the cold clay; 
 But., ic-hen the sun arisetb, they depart, and their 1 
 ' place is not known where they are. 
 
 18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; 
 
 thy nobles dwell in sloth: 
 
 Thy people are spread on the mountains, and 
 none assembleth them. 
 
 19 There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound 
 
 is grievous : 
 
 man} 7 names for the locust. 6. Ar. Syr. read only one word for 
 grasshopper. I consider the present reading in the text as an in- 
 stance, either of a double reading inserted where the scribe had 
 a doubt vvliich was the true reading, or of a mistaken repetition 
 not expunged. We may suppose ''Oli the contracted plural for 
 
 cold day] Or, in the day of cold. On such days, in the 
 sense of nsx$wi*, they lie inactive in the inclosures of fertile 
 spots: but on the shining of the sun, which dries their wings 
 and enables thnm to fly, they disappear. Locustae sol accidit, 
 et abiit. Alcamus. Boch. Hieroz. p. ii. L. iv. ii. 458. 
 
 where they arc] We have in this verse a plural and a sin- 
 gular participle, and a singular and a plural pronoun: and ii3, a 
 noun of multitude, may cause this difference. 
 
 18. shepherds] Rulers, as the parallelism shews. 
 
 dwell in sloth] Q,uiescunt. Schultens. Anim. Phil. 513. 
 . Capellus conjectures pstz? 1 decumbunt: and Seeker UUT donniunt. 
 
 The tributarj' princes deserted Nineveh in the day of her 
 distress; and did not collect an army to succour her. See Herod. 
 p. 52. 1. 13, 14. Ed. Wess. for the conduct of the Assyrian 
 allies in the first siege. And Diod. Sic. L. ii. p. 140. . 26. ed. 
 Wess. who, speaking of the siege in which Nineveh fell, says, 
 that, when the enemy shut up the king in the city, many na- 
 tions revolted, each going over to the besiegers for the sake of 
 their liberty : that the king dispatched messengers to all his sub- 
 jects, requiring forces from them to assist him : and that he 
 thought himself able to endure the siege, and remained in ex- 
 pectation of the armies which were to be raised throughout his 
 empire; relying on an oracle, that the city could not be taken 
 till the iHver became its enemy. 
 
 are spread] See Hab. i. 8. Or, we may read MB3. 
 
 19. healing] So 6. and fTO in Chald. is repressit. But 
 Syr. and Chald. "read 2ND. 
 
 " None grieveth because of thy bruise.'*
 
 NAHUM. III. 189 
 
 All that hear the report of ihee clap their hands 
 
 over thee: 
 For upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed 
 
 continually ? 
 
 thy wickedness] Thy tyranny and cruelty, in the height 
 of thy dominion. 
 
 Herodotus places the city Ninus on the Tigris: ii. p. 178: 
 i. p. 91: and says that Cyaxarcs the Mede, the son of Phraor- 
 tes, the son of Deioces, besieged Ninus twice; before the ir- 
 ruption of the Scythians, and after it ; and that he took the city 
 on the second siege, i. p. 52, 53. [Astyages was the son of 
 Cyaxares; and Mandane, daughter to Astyages, \vSs the mother 
 of Cyrus.] He assigns the period of five hundred and twenty 
 years to the dominion of the Assyrians over Upper Asia. i. 
 95. p. 49. 
 
 Fuit et Ninus, imposita Tigri, ad solis occasion spectans, 
 quondam clarissima. Plin. nat. hist. vi. 13. . 
 
 So Arrian: Hist. Ind. . 42. p. 357:ved. Gronov, The 
 Tigris flows from Armenia by the city Ninus; once great and 
 flourishing. 
 
 Strabo says that Ninus built Ninus or Nineveh ; and his wife 
 Semiramis, Babylon: that the Syrian or Assyrian empire ended 
 with Sardanapalus, and was afterwards transferred to the Medes; 
 and that the city Nineveh was soon totally destroyed after the 
 subversion of the Assyrians. L. xvi. p. 1071. ed. Casaub. 
 
 Joseph us thus begins the fifth chapter of the tenth book of 
 his antiquities: " Necho, the King of Egypt, raised an army, 
 and marched to the river Euphrates to make war against the 
 Medcs and Babylonians, who hud overturned the empire of tiie 
 Assyrians." And in his account of Hezekiah's reign he writes 
 thus : " It happened at this time that the empire of the Assyrians 
 was overturned by the Medes." Ant. L. x. c. ii. 2 ed Haverc. 
 
 Justin assigns one thousand three hundred years to the As- 
 syrian empire: and says that Arbastus, a prefect of the Medes, 
 conspired against Sardanapalus, and waged war against him: in 
 consequence of which Sardanapalus burnt himself in his palace, 
 and Arbastus was made king, and transferred the empire from 
 the Assyrians to the Medes. L. i. c. iii. 
 
 Velleius Paterculus writes that the Assyrians had the sove- 
 reignty of Asia one thousand seven hundred yeas; and that 
 Pharnaces the Mede conquered Sardanapalus, the thirty-third in 
 succession from Ninus and Semiramis. L. i. c. v. 
 
 We find in Diod^rus Siculus that the Assyrian kings con-
 
 190 NAHUM. III. 
 
 tinued for thirty generations tp Sardanapalusr in whose reign the 
 empire of the Assyrians was transferred to the Medes, after it 
 had lasted, according to Ctesias, more than one thousand three 
 hundred and sixty years. L. ii. p. 135. ed. Wess. He then 
 mentions that Arbaces a Median, and Belesys a Babylonian, 
 stirred up the Medes, Persians and Babylonians to a revolt; p. 
 137, 8; that the revolters were unsuccessful in three battles, 
 and afterwards obtained as many victories; and that Ninus was 
 besieged and taken in the third year, in the remarkable manner 
 mentioned orf c. i. 8. 
 
 We read in Tobit, c. xiv. 15, that Nineveh was taken by 
 Nabuchodonosor and Assuerus. And Drusius asserts that As-, 
 suerus and Cyaxares are the same person. 
 
 Jackson, in his chronology, undertakes to shew that Nine-f 
 veh was destro\ r cd by Cyaxares, or Assuerus, King of Media ; 
 assisted by Nabo-Pul Asar, prefect of Babylon, and father to 
 Nebuchadnezzar, in the year before Christ 606. i. 307, 343. 
 
 Nineveh was standing in the reign of Josiah: 2 Kings xxiii, 
 29. Zeph. i. 1. ii. 13. And Blair places jts destruction in the 
 third year of Jehoiakim, and before Christ 606,
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 HE 
 
 Word of Jehovah which came to Joel the 
 son of Pethuel. 
 
 2 Hear this, ye old men; 
 
 And give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. 
 Hath * this happened in your days:* 
 Or even in the days of your fathers? . 
 
 3 Tell ye your children of it; and let your children 
 
 tell their children; 
 And their children tell another generation. 
 
 * Or, such an event. 
 
 1. Joel] Joel prophesied while the kingdom of Judah sub- 
 sisted : c. ii. 1, .15; but, I think, not long before its subver- 
 sion ; as his words, c. iii. 1, seem to imply that its captivity 
 was approaching. See 2 Kings xxi. 10 15. I am therefoie 
 disposed to favour the conjecture of Drusius, that he lived un- 
 der the long reign of Manasseh, and before his conversion : 3 
 Chron. xxxiii. 13 : that is, some time from before Christ 697 to 
 (suppose) 660. 
 
 The very able author of the Hebrew prelections thus cha^ 
 racterises him. Imprimis est elegans, clarus, fusns, fluensqne; 
 vaide etiam sublimis, acer, fervid us. Ostendit Capite primo 
 et secundo quid valeat in descriptionibus poesis prophetica; 
 quantum amat metaphoras, comparationes, allegorias. Nee 
 minus clara est rerum connexio, quam dictionis color : malorum 
 amphficatio; hortatio ad poenitentiam ; poenitentibus promissio 
 bonorum cum terrenorum turn calestium ; rerum Israeliticarum 
 instauratio ; de adversariis sumpta supplicia. Verum et hie et 
 alibi elocutionis perspicuitatem et compositions nitorem lau- 
 clantes, non negamus magnam interdum esse rerum obscuritatem ; 
 quod in hujusce vaticinii fine subinde notari potest Prael. xxi. 
 
 2. this] iTOTi is understood. See on Amos vii. 3. 
 
 3. your children] Quod poetae verbis dixeris, Et nati na- 
 torum, et qui nascentur ab illis. ^En. iii. See Bochart p. ii. 
 L. iv. c. iv.. Hieroz. where the reader will find many curious 
 remarks on this prophet,
 
 192 JOEL. I. 
 
 4 That which the grasshopper f left hath the locust 
 
 eaten ; 
 And that which the locust | left hath the devour- 
 
 ing-locust eaten ; 
 And that which the devouring-locust f left hath 
 
 the consuming-locust eaten. 
 
 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep, 
 And howl, all ye drinkers of wine, 
 
 For the sweet wine; because it is cut off from your 
 mouth. 
 
 6 For a nation hath gone up on my land, 
 Who are strong and without number: 
 Their teeth aie as the teeth of a J lion, 
 
 7 And they have the jaw-teeth of a lioness. 
 
 f Hebr. the residue of. + Hebr. devouring lion. 
 
 4. - grasshopper] Different species of locusts are here re- 
 counted. CDfJ, in Syr. ^Eth. Ar. signifies incidere, resecare: and 
 CDD in Chald. is locus ubi ramiis est abscissus. See Cast. lex. 
 pV may be derived from the Hebrew root which signifies lambere. 
 Or, it may come from from the Arab. pV albus. White locusts 
 abound in Morocco, ib. and Boch. ib. c. 1. Wings are at- 
 tributed to pV', Nab. iii. 16. Kay says that there is a Spanish 
 locust three inches long; and an African, four. On Insects: p. 63. 
 
 5. Awake] From the long sleep occasioned by your intoxi- 
 cation. That the depredations of locusts injured the quality of 
 wines for many years, see Harmer i. 3S8. 
 
 6. Ar. and two MSS. omit the 1 in iW'm. 
 
 6. a nation] Locusts, poetically so called. See"Prov. xxx. 
 25, 6. See many instances of the same language in the best 
 poets, quoted by Bochart: where we find from Orpheus 
 
 Axsiiif csTrXtTov i9vo;, 
 
 and from Virgil, in his Georgic on bees: 
 Totiusque ordine gentis 
 
 Mores, et studia, et populos, et praelia dicam. G. iv. 4, 5. 
 
 hath gone up} A future event, which might be averted by 
 repentance, c. ii. 12, &c. is spoken of as having already taken 
 place ; t'o enliven the description by setting the images before 
 the eye of the reader. See Prcel. Hebr. xv. 1 84. 
 
 7. have destroyed] Here, and v. 10, 15, instances of the 
 paranoniasia occur.
 
 JOEL. I. 193 
 
 They have destroyed my vine, and have made 
 
 my figtree a broken branch. 
 They have made it || quite bare, and cast it away : 
 
 the branches thereof are made white. 
 
 8 Lament, as a bride, girded with sackcloth, 
 For the husband of her youth. 
 
 9 The offering of flour is cut off, and the drink offer- 
 
 ing, from the house of Jehovah. . 
 Mourn, O ye priests, ye ministers of Jehovah. 
 10 The field is laid waste, the ground mournelh: 
 
 For the corn is laid waste, the choice wine is * 
 dried up, the oil languisheth. 
 
 Hebr. They have set my vine for a desolation, and my figtree for a broken branch. 
 |j Hebr. In making b^re have they made it bare. * Or, withered. 
 
 a broken branch] Vulg. has decorticavit. But 6. have 
 if o-jyxxac-juw, Syr. ad divulsionem, Ar. ad discerptionem: and the 
 Arabic root signifies to break, whence nDJfp a broken branch of a 
 tree. Boch. and Cast. lex. " And thy figtree a foam, or swelling. 
 Meaning either the viscous matter that appears on the leaves of 
 trees where caterpillars or other insects have laid their eggs, or 
 the swelling of the leaves which they sometimes occasion." 
 Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 cast it away] Sc. the smaller branches; which they gnaw off. 
 
 are made white] o. and Syr read Kfof\ dealbavit. But the 
 present reading may be justified by Ps. li. 7. Isai. i. 18. 
 
 8. Lament] Vtt must have, O earth, or, O daughter of Sion, 
 or, O congregation of Israel, as Chald. understood before it, and 
 its root must be r6{*, in the Chald. and Syr. signification of 
 ejulavit. One MS. reads 'bitt. Perhaps we should read ibtt 
 Lament ye; the > and 1 being often confounded. 6. repeat 'Vtf. 
 
 as a bride] The commentators say, that the original word 
 is aetatis non integritatis nomen. See Gen. xxiv. 16. Judg. xxi. 
 1 2. Its root may be from the Arab, separavit, segregavit : be- 
 cause marriageable women were secluded in the east. Or, the 
 word may be used largely; as virgo in Virg. Eel. vi. 47, 52. 
 Georg. iii. 263. 
 
 6. Ar. read nVirOQ, or rrVirp .fy " more than a bride." 
 
 9. i s cu t off] In the masculine. So v. 13. 
 
 Mourn ] 6. Ar. render imperatively : agreeably to the form 
 of the verbs, v. 5, 8, 13. 
 
 10. The field] 6. supply D. For the field, &c. 
 
 is dried up] See v. 12, and Zecbvx. 1 1, for the force of the 
 verb in this form.
 
 194 JOEL. I. 
 
 11 Be ashamed, O ye husbandmen ; howl, O ye vine- 
 
 dressers ; 
 
 For the wheat and for the barley; 
 Because the harvest of the field is perished : 
 
 12 The vine is withered, and the figtree languisheth ; 
 The pomegranate, the palmtree also, and the 
 
 quince: 
 
 All the trees of the field are withered. 
 Surely joy is withered from among the sons of men. 
 
 13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn, O ye 
 
 priests : 
 
 Howl, O ye ministers of the altar : 
 Come, lie all night in sackcloth, O ye ministers 
 
 of my God. 
 For the offering of flour, and the drink-offering, is 
 
 withholden from the house of your God. 
 
 14 Appoint f ye a fast, proclaim a J solemn day : 
 Gather the elders, flwrf all the inhabitants of the land, 
 
 To the house of Jehovah your God; 
 And cry unto Jehovah. 
 
 15 Alas, [alas,] for the day ! 
 Because the day of Jehovah is near, 
 
 And as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 
 
 p Ilebr. sanctify. J a day of restraint. 
 
 12. The vine] We have here a reason why the vinedressers 
 should mourn : as in v. 1 1, why the husbandman should be con. 
 founded. Bochart, ubi supra, observes, that it is a transposition; 
 like what occurs Cantic. i. 5: where the sense is, " I am black a0 
 the tents of Kedar; but comely as the curtains of Solomon." 
 
 13, Gird yourselves] Syr. and one MS. add with sackcloth. 
 of my Cod] 6. Ar. read Q'M^N of God : and perhaps 'I Tibtt 
 
 was written contractedly. Four MSS. read mrv. 
 
 15. Alas] Syr. repeats the interjection twice ; and V. 6. Arab, 
 thrice. The measure is incomplete without a repetition. 
 
 the day of Jehovah] Of divine vengeance. 
 
 destruction] The same words occur Isai. xiii. 6. t( Not 
 
 like an ordinary calamity; but like destruction inflicted by the 
 Almighty." " Perhaps-, * as a destruction from him who is able 
 to destroy ' This would in some measure preserve the parono- 
 masia ; but would be too great a liberty." Seeker.
 
 JOEL. I. 1 95 
 
 16 Is not our food cut off before our eyes ? 
 
 Yea, joy and gladness, from the house of our God ? 
 
 17 The seeds have perished under their clods: 
 
 The store-houses are laid desolate, the garners are 
 
 destroyed : 
 
 For the- corn is withered. 
 38 How do the cattle groan, 
 
 How are the herds of oxen perplexed, 
 
 Because they have no pasture ! 
 
 The flocks of sheep also are destroyed. 
 
 19 Unto thee, O Jehovah, do 1 call: 
 
 For a fire hath devoured the pastures of the desert, 
 And a flame hath burnt all the trees of the field. 
 
 20 Moreover the cattle of the field cry unto thee: 
 For the streams of waters are dried up; 
 
 And a fire hath devoured the pastures of the desert. 
 
 Syr. adds and say to the end of v. 14. But I rather attribute 
 v. 15 to the prophet Joel. 
 
 16. Yea] K O . f | OIK*. 6. MS. Pachojn. 
 
 17. have perished] The word seems best derived from the 
 Arab, siccum ecasit. Gol. lex. 1513. Pocock. A drought is 
 foretold, as well as a plague of locusts: see v. 19, 20: and 
 Chandler in loc. observes from Bochart, and this writer from 
 Pliny, that a great increase of locusts is occasioned by heat. 
 See Bochart, Pocock, and Pol. Syn. on the three * xsyo^jv* 
 which occur in this line. 1 shall only observe further, that a 
 kindred word to what we translate seeds has the same signification 
 in Chald. and Syr: see Cast, lex: and that the word translated 
 clods may as easily signify massa terra convoluta as r\Ttin signifies 
 manus convoluta. 
 
 The store-houses] Perhaps subterraneous repositories. Jer. 
 xli. 8. Bochart p. ii. iv. xxi. p. 595. See on Amos ix. 6. 
 Neither these nor other receptacles for the fruits of the earth 
 were repaired, because there was nothing to treasure up in them. 
 
 18. destroyed] The Hebrew word imports destruction, or 
 punishment, in consequence of guilt. 
 
 19. do I call] The prophet carries on the beautiful hypo, 
 typosis, by representing himself as a sharer in the calamity. 
 
 pastures] There were spots in the desert, where flocks and 
 herds might feed. Ps. Ixv. 12. c. ii. 22. 
 
 20. desert] Eight MSS. and two ed. read -DTD, as v. 19. 
 H h
 
 196 JOEL. II. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 BLOW ye the trumpet in Sion ; 
 
 And sound an alarm in mine holy mountain; 
 Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: 
 For the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is near : 
 
 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess ; 
 A day of clouds and of thick darkness. 
 As the dusk spread upon the mountains, 
 
 Hebr. the mountain of mine holiness. 
 
 1. Blow ye the trumpet] Danger is thus proclaimed: Amos 
 iii. 61 Hos. v. 8. Ezek. xxxiii. 3, 5. 
 
 Arid sound an alarm] And is omitted in Vulg. 6. Arab. Chald. 
 and five MSS. There is more energy in the passage without it. 
 
 Natural means were used to prevent the devastations of lo- 
 custs; pits and trenches were dug, bags were provided, and 
 combustible matter was prepared and set on fire. Shaw's Tra- 
 vels. 4to. 187. Sir Hans Sloane's nat. hist, of Jamaica. Introd. 
 Ixxxi. 
 
 2. of darkness] Solem obumbrant, says Pliny of locusts. 
 Nat. hist. xi. 29. Laborabat eo tempore pabuli omnis generis 
 ct annonse inopia Syria, ob locustarum nusquam hominum me- 
 moria tantani visatn multitudinem; quse, clensas nubis instar, 
 die in media luce obscurata, volitantes, agrum circumquaque 
 depasta? sunt. Thuanus 1. Ixxxiv. vii. p. 364. torn. v. ed. 
 Buckley. Suddenly there came over our heads a thick cloud, 
 which darkened the air and deprived us of the rays of the sun. 
 We soon found that it was owing to a cloud of locusts. Adan- 
 son's voyage to Senegal: p. 127. Dublin. 12mo. 1759. See 
 more in Bochart on the 10th v. of this c. and in Chandler ib. 
 where Hermanns is quoted as saying that locusts obscure the 
 sun for the space of a mile; and Aloysius, for the space of 
 twelve miles. 
 
 As the dusk] See Bishop Lowth on Isai. viii. 20. And Po- 
 cook in loc. shews that Abu Walid, Abarbinel, and Montanus, 
 gave the sense of darkness to the original word, one certain 
 sense of which is nigrum esse. The punctuation of this clause 
 is that of V. 6. Ar. Chald. Or point thus: 
 
 A day of clouds and of thick darkness; 
 
 As the dusk spread upon the mountains. 
 
 A numerous people and a strong cometh ; 
 
 Like them &c.
 
 JOEL. II. 197 
 
 Cometh a numerous people and a strong. 
 .Like them there hath not been of old time; 
 And after them there shall not be, 
 Even to the years of || many generations. 
 3 Before them a fire devoureth, 
 And behind a flame burneth : 
 The land is as the garden of Eden before them, 
 And behind them a * desolate wilderness: 
 Yea, and nothing f shall escape them. 
 
 || Hebr. of generation and generation. * a wilderness of desolation, 
 
 f- escape shall not be unto them. 
 
 " Spread upon the mountains like the morning. 6. Ch. But 
 perhaps only for morning put darkness, or twilight." Seeker. 
 
 of old time] It is said, Ex. x. 14, " Before them there 
 were no such locusts, neither after them shall be such." But 
 commentators restrain this assertion to the land of Egypt. 
 
 3. a fire] They consume like a general conflagration. 
 " They destroy the ground not only for the time, but bum 
 trees for two years after." Sir Hans Sloane's nat. hist, of Ja- 
 maica, i. 29. 
 
 Wheresoever they feed, their leavings seem as it were parch- 
 ed with fire, Ludolphus: hist, of Ethiopia. 1. i. c. xiii. Wulta 
 contactu adurentes. Plin. xi. 29. 
 
 nothing shall escape] Sc. which the ground produces., 
 Sunt quae pestem et calamitatem satorum omnium totis regioni- 
 bus afferant, illataque fame antiques agros deserere saepenumero 
 gentes coegerint. Marcellus Virgil ins in Bochart P. ii. L. iv. 
 1. After devouring the herbage, with the fruits and leaves of 
 trees, they attacked even the buu"s and the very bark. They 
 did not so much as spare the reeds, with which the huts were 
 thatched. Adanson . ubi supra. Sometimes they enter the 
 very bark of trees; and then the spring itself cannot repair the 
 damage. Ludolphus ubi supr. Oinnia morsu erodentes, ct 
 fores quoque tectorum. Plin. xi. 20. 
 
 " KofiaTTff it vwo run axeiZw xaToiw i/Xw cfiv &n f4.tXuijM.tvw erxaoav. Jos. B, 
 
 J. 1. 4. c. 9. . 7. pag. 1199. Of the devastations of locusts 
 in Transylvania 1747, 1748, and of their darkening the sky, 
 see Ph T. N. 491. p, 30. &c." Seeker, 
 
 " The locusts in Languedoc were about an inch in length, 
 of a grey colour. The earth in some places was covered four 
 inches thick with them, in the morning, before the heat of the 
 sun was considerable; but as soon as it began to grow hot, they 
 Wok wing aqd fell upon th.e corn, eating up both leaf and ear \
 
 198 JOEL. II. 
 
 4 Their appearance shall be like the appearance of 
 
 horses, 
 And like horsemen J shall they run : 
 
 5 Like the sound of chariots, on the tops of the 
 
 mountains shall they leap : 
 
 J Hebr. so shall. 
 
 and that with such expedition, by reason of their number, that 
 in three hours they would devour a whole field after which they 
 again took wing, and their swarms were so thick that they co- 
 vered the sun like a cloud, and were whole hours in passing. 
 After having eaten up the corn, they fell upon the vines, the pulse, 
 the willows, and even the hemp notwithstanding its great bitter- 
 ness. After this, these insects died, and stunk very much.'* 
 Phil. Trans. N. 112. A. D. 1686. Dr. Molyneux has given 
 a curious account of the devastations occasioned in Connaught 
 by the Dor, or Hedge-chaffer, A. D. 1697." The grinding of 
 the leaves in the mouths of this vast multitude all together made 
 a sound very much resembling the sawing of timber." " The 
 Septuagint and Vulgate give this beetle the name of ?>-jy*;, . or 
 bruchus, from ft.^"" strideo, intimating the remarkable nojse it 
 makes both in its eating and flying: whence the French name 
 ffanncton, from Aliton, quasi alls tonans" Phil. Trans. 234-. 
 
 4. of horses] Many writers mention the resemblance 
 which the head of the locust bears to that of a horse ; whence 
 the Italians call them cavalette. Caput oblongum, equi instar, 
 pronaspectans. Rayon Insects. See Rev. ix. 7. and Bochartin loc. 
 
 5. Like the sound of chariots] See Rev. ix. 9. Nahum iii. 
 2. Et grandiores cernuntur, et tanto volant pennarum stridore 
 ut alia? alites credantur. Plin. xi. 29. And Remigius, quoted 
 by Bochart in loc. says, ]VIagnum sonitum faciunt, quando mit- 
 tuntur ; in tantum, ut a sexto milliari possit audiri sonitus eorum. 
 Quand ces insectes volent en societc, ils font un grand bruit. 
 Elles s'elevent avec un bruit semblable a celui d'une tempete, 
 Elles engloutissent, devorent, echerchent, rongent, et pelent 
 toute la verdure des champs avec un si grand tintamare, qu'elles 
 se font entendre de loin. Encycl. voc. Sauterelle. But the 
 Sound of their hinder legs in leaping, feminum attritus, taken 
 notice of by Aristotle and Pliny, is here meant. See Boch. ib. 
 
 leap] La plupart des sauterelless autent plus qu'elles ne vo- 
 lent; etleur sautest tel, qu'ils s'elancent en decrivant, dit-on, un 
 espace qui & deux cent fois la longueur de leur corps. Encycl. ib. 
 And hence some of its Greek rraiiies : KTT<W); from OTTIW to leap ; 
 and TTiSajSf, quasi aTTsxa^-, oervus saliens. Boch. ib. 448.
 
 JOEL. II. 199 
 
 Like the sound of a flame of fire which devoureth 
 
 stubble. 
 Theyshallbe like a strong people set in battle array. 
 
 6 Before them shall the || people be much pained : 
 All faces shall gather blackness. 
 
 7 They shall run like mighty men ; 
 
 Like warriors shall they climb the wall : 
 And they shall march every one in his * way? 
 Neither shall they turn aside*from their paths ; 
 Neither shall one thrust another : 
 They shall march each in his road : 
 S And if they fall upon the sword, they shall not 
 be wounded. 
 
 Hebr. arrayed for war. || Hebr. peoples. * Hcbr. ways. 
 
 the sound of a flame of fire] Cyril says of them that, 
 while they are breaking their food with their teeth, the noise 
 is like that of flame driven about by the wind. Boch. in loc. 
 
 6. All faces] See Nahum ii. 10. 
 
 " Shall tremble before them, or be much afraid of them : as 
 Jer. v. 22." Seeker. 
 
 7. like mighty men] The particles of similitude here, 
 and v. 4. 5, shew that real locusts are described, and not the 
 Assyrian army. Q,uis Assyrios clixerit ut equites fuisse, cum re- 
 vcra equites fuerint, iique magno numero ? .Boch. in. v. 4. No. 
 tandum hunc qualemcunque exercitum non jam dici populum, 
 sed ut populum. Id. in v. 5. 
 
 in his way] Many writers mention the order of locusts in 
 their flight and march ; and their manner of proceeding directly 
 forward, whatever obstacles were interposed. Jerom, who had 
 seen them in Palestine, says; Tanto ordine volitant, ut instar 
 tesserularum, quse in pavimentis artificis finguntur manu, suum 
 locum teneant: et ne puncto quidem, ut ita dicam, ungueva 
 transverso declinent ad alteram. See more authorities in Bochart, 
 
 Neither shall they ] Seven MSS. read N t! ?. They shall not 
 turn aside c. But the versions and Chald. have tj?}. 
 
 turn aside] So V. 6. Ar. Syr. and Bishop Lowth : pref. to 
 Isai. p. xiii. which is giving JDHy the sense of niy to pervert, with 
 which it agrees in sound. See Pocock. We must observe also 
 that roy signifies to turn awry. 
 
 " MU sxxXiyKo-i rus rst^a; ttwnw. 6. Literally, Shall not turn aside 
 from their way." Seeker. 
 
 8. upon the sword] " "tyO. F. hy$. Scd cju." Seeker.
 
 200 JOEL. Ii: 
 
 9 They shall run to and fro in the city, they shall 
 run upon the wall, they shall climb up into 
 the houses : 
 They shall enter in at the windows, like a thief. 
 
 10 Before them the earth quaketh, the heavens tremble : 
 The sun and the moon are darkened; 
 
 And the stars withdraw their shining. 
 
 1 1 And Jehovah shall utter his voice before his army : 
 For his camp i* very great : 
 
 For he is strong that executeth his word : 
 
 For the day of Jehovah is great, 
 
 And very terrible. And who shall be able to bear it? 
 
 12 Yet even now, saith Jellovah, 
 Turn ye unto me with all your heart ; 
 
 With fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 
 
 13 And rend your hearts, and not your garments ; 
 
 they shall not be wounded] Many MSS. three editions, 
 the versions and Chald. read ttbl. 
 
 " And they shall fall on the sword, and shall not be wounded." 
 JflO signifies to cut, in Chald. and Syr. Houbigant says, Omnino 
 l^jfD' : vulnerabuntiir. 
 
 This refers to the scales with which locusts are covered, as. 
 with a coat of mail. 
 
 ... Cognatus dorso durescit amictus: 
 
 Armavit natura cutem. 
 
 Claudian de locusta. Epigr. 3. See Bochart. 
 
 9. into the houses] See Ex. x 6, 
 like a thief] John x. 1. 
 
 10. Before them ] The first hemistich expresses great con- 
 sternation and calamity. The two other hemistichs may well 
 have a literal sense: see on v. 2: or they may denote, in the 
 strong eastern manner, devastation spread through a whole 
 country. 
 
 U. shall utter his voice] God is sublimely introduced as 
 animating his army by his voice, 
 
 12. With fasting] V. 6. MS. Ar. and ed. Pachom. Ar. Syr* 
 Seven MSS. and one edition read Dil. 
 
 " 6. leg. CDD'nbtf ni.T." Bahrdt. So also Arab. 
 
 13. garments] It was customary among the easterns, and 
 otjier ancient nations, to rend their garments in token of sorrow 
 or fear, Jer. xxxvi. 24. So Virgil;
 
 JOEL. II. 201 
 
 And turn ttnto Jehovah your God : 
 For he is gracious and merciful, 
 Slow to anger, and of great kindness, 
 And repenteth him of evil. 
 
 14 Who knoweth if lie will turn and repent, 
 And leave a f bountiful gift behind him ; 
 
 An offering of flour and a drink-offering unto 
 Jehovah your God? 
 
 15 Blow ye the trumpet in Sion ; 
 
 J Appoint ye a fast., proclaim a solemn day ; 
 
 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, as* 
 
 semble the elders ; 
 
 Gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: 
 Let the bridegroom go out of his chamber, and 
 
 the bride out of her closet. 
 
 17 Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep 
 Between the porch and the altar: 
 
 f Hebi-. a blessing; J sanctify. a day of restraint. 
 
 It scissa veste LatinuS. 
 
 Rend your heart, rather than your garments : 
 Or, 
 
 and not your garments only. See Chandler. 
 A strong and beautiful manner of exhorting to contrition and 
 repentance. 
 
 repenteth] God is said to repent, when humiliation and 
 amendment make it unfit that he should inflict the punishment 
 threatened by him. 
 
 14. if he, will turn] See Jonah iit. 9, for the omission of ON. 
 a bountiful gift] A blessing, or ground of blessing. The 
 
 word denotes a gift, 2 Kings v. 15: and abundance, Mai. iii. 10: 
 which is one of its senses in Arabic. See Cast. lex. " no-O est 
 copia. bonorum (ut fi/xoyia in N. T.) hoc loco frugum." Bahrdt. 
 your God] <5. MS. A. and Arab, read our God. 
 
 15. Blow ye the trumpet] Numb. x. 7. 
 
 16. the children] Let not the attendants on these plead 
 their charge in excuse for absence. 
 
 bridegroom] On the day of marriage, or during the time 
 of the marriage feast. 
 
 17. and the altar] See Gen. i. 6. Lev. xx. 25, Mai. iii. 13, 
 Jonah iv. 1 1, and other instances of b after j'2 in Nold. "?, . 14. 
 
 The altar of burnt offerings stood before the porch of the
 
 202 JOEL. II. 
 
 And let them say, spare thy people, O Jehovah, 
 And give not thine heritage to reproach ; 
 That the nations should || rule over them. 
 Wherefore should they say among the * people, 
 Where is their God? 
 
 18 Then will Jehovah be jealous for his land, 
 And will pity his people. 
 
 19 Yea, Jehovah will answer and say unto his people; 
 Behold, I will send unto you 
 
 Corn, and choice wine, and oil - y and ye shall be 
 
 satisfied therewith : 
 And I will no longer make you a reproach among 
 
 the nations. 
 
 20 llut I will remove far from you the northern army, 
 And I will drive him into a dry and desolate land ; 
 His van towards the eastern sea, 
 
 And his rear towards the western sea; 
 
 [I Or. use a by-word against them. Or, heathen. 
 
 temple: 2 Chron. viii. 12: and the mid-space in the open court 
 was naturally a place of great concourse: that the prayers of the 
 people might accompany the sacrifice. 
 
 rule over them] " This translation may be supported ; 
 because, when they were distressed by the locusts, they would 
 be an easier prey to an enemy. But to make a proverb of them 
 is the more natural translation, by ^U?Q is used in that sense Ezek. 
 xvi, 44. Here the particle is a, which is used in the phrase of 
 cursing or blessing any one; and the phrase is here of the same 
 nature." Seeker. See Bishop Lowth's Isaiah: p. xxxviiii. 
 
 ,20. nothern army] Or enemy, nation, people : that is, the 
 locusts: which might enter Judea by the north, as Circassia and 
 Mingrelia abound with them. See Thevenot quoted in the City 
 Remembrancer: i. 122. Or, the locusts may be thus called, 
 because they spread terror like the Assyrian armies, which enter- 
 ed Judea by the north* See on Zeph. ii. 13. 
 
 Some of these locusts were to be driven by the wind into the 
 desert ; some into the Dead Sea, which lay eastward of Jerusalem j 
 and some into the Mediterranean or western sea. Dip is the east, 
 or fore part of the skv where the sun rises : and that by the hinder 
 sea is meant the Mediterranean, see Deut xi. 24: and Chald. has 
 the evening [orwestern] sea. Gregatiin, sublato vento, in maria 
 aut stagna decidunt, Plin, See^Ex. *. 19.
 
 JOEL. II. 203 
 
 And his smell shall come up, and his ill savour shall 
 
 come up, 
 
 Though he have f done great things. 
 Fear not, O land, exult and rejoice ; 
 For Jehovah hath f done great things. 
 
 22 Fear not, O ye cattle of the field ; 
 
 For the pastures of the desert spring up, 
 
 For the tree beareth its fruit, 
 
 The fig-tree and the vine yield their strength. 
 
 23 And, O ye sons of Sion, exult 
 And rejoice in Jehovah your God : 
 
 f Hebr. magnified to do. 
 
 his smell] That a strong and pestilential smell arises from 
 putrified heaps of locusts, whether driven upon land or cast up 
 from the sea in which they have perished, appears from the tes- 
 timony of many writers. Among various other authorities to the 
 same effect, Jerom is quoted by Bochart as saying, that in his 
 time those troops of locusts which covered Juclea were cast by 
 the wind in mare primum et novissimum; and that, when the 
 waters threw them up, their smell caused a pestilence. Thevenot 
 says of them, They live not above six months : and, when dead, 
 the stench of them so corrupts and infects the air, that it often 
 occasions dreadful pestilences. City Remembr. i. 123. There 
 came such a stench from those which appeared at Novogorotl in 
 1646, as not only offended the nose but die brain : it was not to 
 be endured : men were forced to wash their noses with vinegar, 
 and hold handkerchiefs dipped in it continually to their nostrils: 
 ib. 125. In Ethiopia, when they die and rot, they raise a pesti- 
 lence. Meadi. 36. Edingburgh. 12mo. 1763. 
 
 ill savour] So the radicals of the Hebrew word signify in 
 Chaldee : and all the versions have an equivalent word, if, with 
 Drusius, we read $**w for ^^>; in 6. 
 
 done great things] Committed great devastation. But two 
 MSS. read mrv bnv. 
 
 " For Jehovah hath done great things." See Ps. cxxvi. 2, 3. 
 The Rev. Mr. Wintle, Rector of Brightwell, in Berkshire, very 
 obligingly communicated to me this remark : together with some 
 others on the prophet Habakkuk. 
 
 " nwyh toJfi '3. Sic 6. Sed forte ortum habent hse voces 
 
 ex v. seq." Seeker. 
 See a like repetition . 26, 27. and i. 19, 20. 
 
 .21. Jehovah hath done] In removing such an army of locust. 
 i i
 
 204 JOEL. It. 
 
 For he giveth you the former rain in just proportion, 
 
 And causeth showers to come down upon you, 
 
 Ei-en the former rain and the latter rain as aforetime. 
 24 And the threshing floor shall be full of corn, 
 
 And the vats shall overflow with choice wine and 
 
 with oil. 
 2,5 And I will restore unto you the years 
 
 Which the locusts have eaten, 
 
 The devouring-loctist, the consuming-locust, anal 
 the grasshopper; 
 
 My great army which I sent among you. 
 
 26 And ye shall eat J in plenty and be satisfied, 
 And shall praise the name of Jehovah your God, 
 Who hath dealt wonderously with you: 
 
 And my people shall never be ashamed. 
 
 27 And ye shall know that 1 am in the midst of Israel : 
 And that I am Jehovah your God, and none else; 
 And my people shall never be ashamed. 
 
 J Hebr. eating and being satisfied. Hebr. done with you so as to act wondrously. 
 
 23. giveth] \TV may be a participle, as t**ip v. 32. 
 
 the former rain] It fell after autumn ; and seems to be so 
 called from rrvjecit; because its season was postjactam semen- 
 tern. " mion fit*. ^^ a 6. Sic bis reddiderunt nna : et sequi- 
 tur hie mm" Seeker. But fourteen MSS. read mv. 
 
 " HpTjA. Perhaps, bountifully. See Nold in w ." Seeker. 
 
 " npTi: cum sit liberalitas, npuA verto large. Bahrdt. 
 
 the latter rain] This fell about harvest, towards the end of 
 April. Hence its name, from W\h collegif. 
 
 as aforetime] Read ptutrp, with V. 6. Ar. Syr. and one 
 MS. Chald. has, in the month Nisan. See Harmer. i. 34 4-0. 
 
 25. My great army] We have here a key to the grand and 
 beautiful description which runs through these two chapters. 
 And if we consider the note on v. 7, and the propriety of the 
 adjuncts, as applicable to locusts, and often to locustl only, there 
 can remain no doubt but that the prophet is to be understood in 
 a literal sense as foretelling a plague of locusts. Every reader 
 of taste must be struck with the poetical and sublime manner 
 in which the allegory is conducted. There is not a more splendid 
 piece of poetry extant. 
 
 26. never be ashamed] Prorided they continue to serve 
 me. -
 
 JOEL. II. 20J 
 
 And it shall come to pass afterward 
 That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh: 
 And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; 
 Your old men shall dream dreams; 
 Your young men shall see visions : 
 59 And also upon the men-servants, and upon the 
 
 handmaids, 
 
 In those days will I pour out my spirit. 
 SO And 1 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, 
 
 28. afterward] But God has infinitely greater blessings in 
 Store for his people. The words o nnx are very indefinite; and 
 therefore admit of the rendering, or paraphrase, Acts ii. 17: in 
 the last days : where codex regius Parisinus, Cyril of Jerusalem, 
 and the Apostolical constitutions, add ^ra WJT. 
 
 upon all flesh] Though the Jews only are enumerated, there 
 is a latent reference to the effusion of the spirit on the Gentiles 
 also, in the times of the gospel-dispensation. 
 
 The two last hemistichs in this v. are transposed Acts ii. 17. 
 
 It is more poetical to omit the copulatives, with the Hebrew, 
 in the two last hemistichs: though in 6. Ar. Syr. Acts ii. 17. they 
 are twice prefixed; and V. Chald. prefix them to the last hemistich. 
 
 29. servants handmaids] 6. MS. A. and Ar. have my 
 servants, my handmaids, as in Acts: and V. has servos meos. 
 Syr. and Chald. agree with the Hebrew. Possibly '''"Dyn was 
 written contractedly for the plural nnsyrr; and thus led to the 
 rendering of my servants- For the fact, see 1 Cor. xii. 13. 
 
 my spirit] In the Acts the words and they shall prophesy 
 are added. But Beza's MS. and Jerom omit them, 
 
 30. in the heavens and in the earth] Some authority may 
 be seen in Wetstein and Kusterfor omitting v* and **TU> in the Acts. 
 
 Blood] Very great slaughter, and the burning of many towns, 
 and even of a part of Jerusalem itself, preceded the destruction 
 of the city and the temple, and the total subversion of the 
 Jewish polity, by the Romans. 
 
 31. The sun ] These expressions must be understood of 
 " the fearful sights and the great signs from heaven." Luke xxi. 
 11, which alarmed the minds of the Jews before the taking c/ 
 Jerusalem by Titus,
 
 206 JOEL. III. 
 
 Before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. 
 32 But it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call 
 on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered: 
 
 For in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall be de- 
 liverance, 
 
 As Jehovah hath said; 
 
 Even among the remnant whom Jehovah shah 1 call. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 || FOR Behold in those days, and at that time, 
 When I shall bring again the captivity of Judah 
 
 and of Jerusalem, 
 
 2 That I will assemble all the nations, 
 
 And will bring them down into the valley of Je- 
 
 hoshaphat ; 
 And there will I execute judgment upon them for 
 
 my people; 
 And for mine heritage Israel, whom they scattered 
 
 among the nations, 
 And then divided my land : 
 
 || Or, surely. 
 
 32. shall be delivered] This refers to the safety of the 
 Christians during the Jewish and Roman war. " for among the 
 inhabitants of Mount Sion and of Jerusalem, that is, by a syn- 
 ecdoche of the part for the whole, among the Jewish people, shall 
 be deliverance: as Jehovah hath spoken by me and by other 
 prophets." 
 
 CHAP. in. 
 
 1. For ] As an earnest of this, my people shall be restored 
 to their land, and their enemies shall be humbled. 
 
 2. all the nations] This must be restrained to the neigh- 
 bouring nations. Seep. 12. 
 
 the valley of Jehoshaphat] A valley in which a battle was 
 to be won, most probably by Nebuchadnezzar, which would 
 utterly discomfit the ancient enemies of the Jews, and resemble 
 the victory which Jehoshaphat obtained over the Ammonites, 
 Moabites, and Edomites: 2 Chron. xx. 22 26. 
 
 execute. judgment] See 2 Chron. xxii. 8. Ps. ix. 19. I 
 will discomfit them before their enemies. There is an allusiou 
 to the word Jehoshaphat ; which signifies JehffWthjudgeth, 

 
 JOEL. III. 207 
 
 3 Yea, they cast lots for my people: 
 And * gave a boy for an harlot, 
 And sold a damsel for wine to drink. 
 
 4 And what have ye also to do with me, O Tyre, 
 
 and Sidon, 
 
 And all the borders of Palestine ? 
 , Do ye requite me with retaliation ? 
 Now, if ye retaliate on me, 
 Soon and swiftly will I bring again your retaliation 
 
 on your own head. 
 
 5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, 
 And have brought into your palaces my desirable 
 
 and goodly things ; 
 
 6 The sons also of Judah, and the sons of Jerusalem, 
 Ye have sold to the sons of the Grecians, 
 
 That ye might remove them far from their border; 
 
 7 Behold, I will raise them .out of the place 
 Whither ye have sold tlem ; 
 
 And I will bring again your retaliation on your 
 own head : 
 
 * Or, bartered. 
 
 3. for wine] " In Mingrelia they sell captive children for 
 provisions and for wine." Sir John Chardin, in Harmer ii. 374. 
 
 4. O Tyre and Sidon] When the Babylonians, the appointed 
 instruments of my vengeance, afflict my land, why do you also, 
 and the bordering nations, assist them ? Do you take this occa- 
 sion of avenging the former victories of my people over you ? If 
 so, this your act of revenge shall be speedily punished. 
 
 Soon and swiftly] See Isai. v. 26. Pocock understands both 
 the words adverbially. 
 
 6. Grecian*] Descendents of Javan. Gen. x. 2, 5. They 
 trafficked vvith Tyre, and traded in slaves. Ezek. xxvii. 13. 
 " Homenis passim, vus t AX"V." Bahrdt. 
 
 7. I will raise them] Grotius in loc. mentions that Alexander 
 and his successors set at liberty many Jews who were slaves in 
 CJreec*-. Many a'so, on occasion of Cyrus's decree, might 
 return to r^vir country from such parts of Asia Minor and the 
 Ionian islands as were subject to that monarch. 
 
 on your own head]' Ezek. xxv, xxvi, will furnish a com- 
 ment on this passage. Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Several 
 Countries there enumerated. See Jer. xxv. 15 29. The sea- 
 Coasts of Palestine were also invaded by Alexander the Great.
 
 208 JOEL. III. 
 
 8 And 1 will sell your sons and your daughters 
 Into the hands of the sons of Judah; 
 
 And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a na- 
 tion afar off: 
 For Jehovah hath spoken it. 
 
 9 Proclaim ye this among the nations: 
 
 J Declare ye war, raise up the mighty ones* 
 Let all the warlike men draw near, let them come up: 
 
 10 Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your 
 
 pruninghooks into spears : 
 Let the weak say, I am strong. 
 
 11 Collect yourselves and come, All ye nations round 
 
 about; 
 
 And assemble yourselves together ; yet there doth 
 Jehovah bring low thy mighty ones. 
 
 12 Let the nations rise and come up 
 To the valley of Jehoshaphatj 
 For there will 1 sit 
 
 To judge all the nations round about. 
 
 13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: 
 Come get ye down, for the wine press is full, the 
 
 vats overflow : 
 
 f Hebr. sanctify. 
 
 8. sons of Judah] This might happen on occasion of Judas 
 Maccabeus' s victories. 1 Mace. v. 3, 7, 15, 21. 
 
 afar off] See Jer. vi. 20. Matth. xii. 42. So Babylon is 
 called a far country. Isai. xxxix. 3. 
 
 10. the weak] Let even the unwarlike arm themselves on 
 this occasion. 
 
 11. doth Jehovah bring low] Literally, " hath Jehovah 
 brought low." What he will do, is spoken of as done, nrtri 
 descendere fecit : in Chajd. and Syr. dejecit, humiliavit. 
 
 thy migh.ty ones] Syr. renders, " your mighty oives :" and 
 Chald. " their mighty ones." 
 
 12. To judge] To punish by a signal overthrow. 
 
 13. Put ye in] inu? 1 ? immittite. "So w^oy TO Jjw , Apoc. 
 xiv. 15. Bahrdt. 
 
 get ye down] Houbigant observes that 6. render TCTE, imi 
 ' tread "the grapes" This beautiful reading is confirmed by An 
 Syr. Chald.
 
 JOEL. III. 209 
 
 For their wickedness is great. 
 
 14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of excision: 
 For the day of Jehovah zV near in the valley of excision. 
 
 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, 
 And the stars withdraw their shining. 
 
 16 Jehovah also will roar from Sion, 
 
 And from Jerusalem will he utter his voice; 
 And the heavens and the earth shall shake : 
 But Jehovah will be a refuge to his people, 
 And a strong hold to the. sons of Israel. 
 
 17 And ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, 
 Dwelling in Sion mine J holy mountain: 
 
 And Jerusalem shall be holy, 
 
 And strangers shall no longer pass through her. 
 
 18 And it shall come to pass, in that day, 
 
 That the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, 
 
 J Hebr. the mountain of mine holiness. holiness. 
 
 Spumat plenis vindemia labris. 
 Hue, pater O Leneee veni, nudataque musto 
 Tinge novo mecum direptis crura cothurnis. 
 
 Virg. Georg. ii. 6. 
 
 nm 6. Chald. -plT. Recte. Vide Thren. i. 15. Sed viol. 
 Pocock." Seeker. 
 
 their wickedness is great] This explains the figurative 
 language which precedes. They are ripe for excision. Let the 
 wine press of my wrath be trodden, ru is the cakatorium; Sp 
 the lake, t/woxww. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. v. 2. 
 
 14. Multitudes, multitudes] That is, very great multitudes. 
 of excision] I attribute to pn the sense of to cut, to cut off. 
 
 See Lev. xxii. 22. Job xiv. 5. The word may mean decided 
 vengeance: or, it may refer to the threshing-instrument which 
 forced out the grain and at the same time cut the straw. 
 
 15. The sun ] That is, great revolutions shall happen in the 
 vanquished nations. 
 
 16. will roar] See on Amos i. 2. 
 
 from Sion] This may refer to the conquests under the 
 Maccabees. 
 
 17. no longer] But my people shall return from Babylon. 
 If we render, no more, we must suppose a reference to Jerusalem 
 on its establishment. 
 
 18. in that day] After the return from Babylon., 
 
 sweet wine] Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva 
 Virg. See Amos ix. 13.
 
 210 JOEL. III. 
 
 And the hills shall flow with milk; 
 
 And all the torrents of Judah shall flow ictih water: 
 
 And a fountain shall come forth from the House 
 
 of Jehovah, 
 And shall water the valley of Shittim. 
 
 19 Egypt shall be || a desolation, 
 
 And Edom shall be a * desolate wilderness: 
 For their violence against the sons of Judah ; 
 Because they shed innocent blood in their land : 
 
 20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, 
 
 And Jerusalem shall remain f from generation to 
 generation : 
 
 21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not 
 
 avenged ; 
 And Jehovah will dwell in Sion. 
 
 Q Hebr. for a desolation. * for a wilderness of desolation, -f- to generation and generation. 
 
 milk] Fluraina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant. Ovid- 
 
 Shittim] In the plains of Moab, near Jordan. Numb- 
 xxxiii. 49. Josh. iii. 1. In this *;. either the times of the Messiah 
 are described ; or we have a description of Jerusalem after its 
 final restoration, when a golden age shall commence among its 
 inhabitants, and when the knowledge of God and of his Christ 
 shall a second time be widely diffused from it. See Ezek. xlvii. 
 8. Zech. xiv. 8. 
 
 19. Egypt ] There shall be a signal difference between 
 Egypt and Idumea, whose people shall be lost in the mass of 
 other nations, and whose sovereignty shall not be restored ; and 
 Judah and Jerusalem, whose inhabitants shall be reinstated after 
 their captivity, and on their future return, shall dwell for ever in 
 their land; Jehovah displaying his glory among them. 
 
 21. avenge] I will, as it were, declare it pure and innocent; 
 by punishing their unjust and cruel adversaries. " 6. Syr. viden- 
 turlegisse T)Qp3i." Seeker. 
 
 It is uncertain whether we have the key to this difficult chap- 
 ter; which may not be fully understood till Jerusalem is rebuilt, 
 and till the prophecies, Ezek. xxxix. 5, 1 1, Rev. xx. 8, 9, are 
 accomplished. 
 
 For the ralley of Jehoshaphat may be rightly explained v. 2, 
 and may be used in an inferior sense ; as Tyre, Sidon and Pales- 
 tine are mentioned v. 4. and the Grecians and Sabeans v. 6, 8 ; 
 and yet it may take its primary and proper sense v. 12, and refer 
 to a great event still future : and such an event as wiU give due 
 emphasis to v. 13 18.
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 ZEPHANIAH. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 iHE WORD of Jehovah, which came unto 
 Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the 
 son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of 
 Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah. 
 
 2 I will * utterly take away all things 
 From oft the face of the land, saith Jehovah. 
 
 3 I will take away man and f beast ; 
 
 I will take away the birds of the heavens, and the 
 
 fishes of the sea; 
 And the stumbling-blocks of the wicked. 
 
 * Hebr. in taking away I will take away. f cattle. 
 
 1. Josiah] That is, from before Christ 640 to 609. 
 
 2. utterly] " Surely." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 3. beast] Of the tame and domestic kind. 
 
 birds fishes] I will bring judicial and extraordinary deso- 
 lation upon the land, which shall extend itself even to the birds 
 and fishes. See Hos. iv. 3. Jer. iv. 25. 
 
 Ipsis est aer avibus non aequus, et illae 
 Praecipites alta vitam sub nube relinquunt. 
 
 Virg. Georg. iii. 546. 
 
 It is known that birds are affected by pestilential disorders 
 arising from putrified carcases. They fall dead, when they alight 
 on bales of cloth infected by tbe plague. 
 
 Jam maris immensi prolem, et genus omne natantum, 
 Lktore in extreme, seu naufraga corpora, fluctus, 
 Proluit. Virg. ib. 54k 
 
 Commentators observe that such collections of water as the 
 Hebrews sometimes call seas might be made destructive to fishes 
 by blood and carcases. 
 
 the stumbling-blocks] The idols, ruv is sometimes the 
 sign of the genitive case. But Houbigant reads rfai?3m and I 
 will overthrow, and observes that 6. read itowi et infirmabuntur, 
 or, et cadent. 
 
 " And the stumbling-blocks, even the wicked." Dr. Wheeler. 
 K k
 
 212 ZEPHANIAH. I. 
 
 And I will cut off man from the face of the land, 
 saith Jehovah. 
 
 4 And I will stretch out mine hand upon Judah, 
 And upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem : 
 
 And I will cut off from this place the residue of Baal, 
 The name of the sacriticers with the priests: 
 
 5 And those who bow themselves on the house tops 
 
 to the host of heaven ; 
 
 And those who bow themselves, and who swear 
 by Jehovah, and who swear by Malchom . 
 
 6 And those who have turned back from following 
 
 Jehovah ; 
 
 And those who have not sought Jehovah, neither 
 have inquired of him. 
 
 7 Be silent before the Lord Jehovah ; 
 For the day of Jehovah is near: 
 
 For Jehovah hath made ready a sacrifice, he hath 
 { appointed his guests. 
 
 + Hebr, sanctified. 
 
 of the wicked] " See Lowth : i. e. idols, which make them 
 stumble." Seeker. 
 
 4. The name] The versions, Chald. eleven MSS. and three 
 editions read Q'tf fiNl, and the name. 
 
 sacriticers] See on Hos. x. 5. 
 
 5. And those who bow themselves ] The original word in 
 the second hemistich of this v. is ommjtted in 6. MS. A. and Arab, 
 and 6. MS. A. read O'jniMm And who swear. " MS. Copt, 
 feads only jurantes per Molochum regem." Mr. Woide. 
 
 on the house tops] Where altars were raised for the worship 
 of the heavenly host in their brightness. See 2 Kings xxiii. 5, 
 12. Jer. xix. 13. xxxii. 29. 
 
 Malchom] See on Hos. iv. 1 5 : and on Amos v. 26. " Hos. 
 iv. 5." Lowth. " 2 Kings xvii. 33." Seeker. 
 
 6. enquired of him] Many MSS. read irminx Have not 
 consulted God by the high priest, or by prophets, to learn his 
 will. Or, we may render, 
 
 " Neither have inquired for, or after, him.'* 
 Dr. Wheeler translates, 
 
 " Nor searched after him." 
 
 7. guests] The Babylonians. Here is a beautiful allusion
 
 ZEPHANIAII. I. 213 
 
 8 And it shall come to pass, in the clay of the sacri- 
 
 fice of Jehovah, 
 That 1 will visit the |j chief men, and the sons 
 
 of the king, 
 And all that are clothed with strange apparel. 
 
 9 And I will visit every one that leapeth on the 
 
 threshold in that day; 
 
 Who fill the house of their master by violence 
 and deceit. 
 
 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, 
 r lhat there shall be the noise of a cry from the 
 
 Fish -gate, 
 
 And of an howling from the Second city s 
 And of a great breach from the hills. 
 
 11 Howl, Ye inhabitants cf the Lower c//y,- 
 For all the trafficking people are cut off, 
 
 Hebr. visit upon. j| princes. 
 
 to the custom of a feast on a sacrifice. See Bishop Lowth on 
 Isai. xxxiv. 6. 
 
 8. sacrifice of Jehovah] One MS. reads " in this day, saith 
 Jehovah." inserting for roi, the words CDN3 Ninn: and two other 
 MSS. have Ninn. 
 
 strange apparel] Used for idolatrous purposes. See Deut. 
 xxii. 11. "strange: foreign, i. e. idolatrous." See Lowth. 
 Seeker. 
 
 9. leapeth] Invadeth the house of his neighbour, joyfully 
 bounding on the threshold. Capellus. This sense is favoured 
 by what follows. 
 
 on the threshold] " Or, over. See Lowth. Master's. 
 Lord's. 6. Vulg. understand it of God." Seeker. 
 
 10. Fish gate] Mentioned Neh. iii. 3. * It was opposite to 
 Joppa, according to Jerom. 
 
 Sccotid city] A part of Jerusalem mentioned 2 Kings xxii. 
 14: 2 Chron. xxxiv. 22. 
 
 breach] ^vrciwAoj 6. A great breaking in of the Chaldean 
 army from the hilly part of Jerusalem. 
 
 1 1. Lower city] A valley in Jerusalem, which divided the 
 Upper from the Lower city. Cast. lex. This is agreeable to the 
 etymology of the word, which signifies a hollow place, a mortar. 
 Ev -TV a0H. Theod. In torrente Cedron. Chald.
 
 214 ZEPHANIAH. I. 
 
 All the bearers of silver are destroyed. 
 
 12 And it shall come to pass, at that time, 
 That I will search Jerusalem with light?, 
 
 And I will * visit the men that are settled on their 
 
 lees; 
 That say in their hearts, Jehovah doeth no good, 
 
 neither doth he evil. 
 
 13 And their substance shall become f a spoil^ and 
 
 their houses J a desolation : 
 And they shall build houses, but shall not dwell 
 
 in them ; 
 And they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink 
 
 the wine thereof. 
 
 14 The great day of Jehovah is near; 
 It is near, and hasteth much, 
 
 The feport of the day of Jehovah is bitter: 
 Then shall the mighty man cry out. 
 
 * Hebr. visit upon. -f- for a spoil. f tor a desolation < 
 
 the bearers of silver] Two MSS. read bD3 : and Syr. has 
 VpU? portanies. V'DJ may be the participle in Niphal from V'D; 
 and may be rendered laden. The rich merchants in general, or 
 the moneychangers in particular, may be meant. " All tbc 
 weighers of silver, ViDJ Syr. pondus quoddara. ^DJ grave fuit." 
 Dr. Forsayetb. 
 
 12. that time] (( After j*nn MS. Copt, adds, DicitDomi- 
 nus." Mr. Woide. See Syr. and v. 10. 
 
 with lights] Thoroughly and diligently. See Luke xv. 8. 
 
 settled on their lees] The thoughtless tranquillity of the 
 rich is compared to the fixed unbroken surface of fermented 
 liquors. See Jer. xlviii. 11. Amos vi. 1. 
 
 13. build houses] Amos is more expressive. 
 
 Though ye have built houses of hewn stone, 
 
 Yet ye shall not dwell in them: 
 
 Though ye have planted pk'a-sant vineyards, 
 
 Yet ye shall not drink the wine of them. C. v. 11. 
 
 14. The report] See Gen. xlv. 16. 
 
 is bitter] " Or Lord is bitter: the mighty man shall cry 
 there, or then." See Lowth. Seeker. 
 
 Then] See Ot0 Nold. . 6. 
 
 cry out] The word in Arab, signifies valde exdamavit, ita 
 ttttxiliwn tmploravit. Cast. lex. Schultens renders it, auxilium 
 inclamabit. Animadv. Phil. p. 523.
 
 ZEPHANIAH. I. 245 
 
 15 That day is a day of wrath ; 
 
 A day of distress and of anguish ; 
 A day of desolation and of destruction ; 
 A day of darkness and of gloominess; 
 A clay of clouds and of thick darkness: 
 
 16 A day of the trumpet, and of shouting, 
 Against the fenced cities, 
 
 And against the high towers, 
 
 17 And I will distress men, and they shall walk like 
 
 the blind, 
 
 Because they have sinned against Jehovah r 
 And their blood shall be poured out as dust, and 
 
 their flesh shall be as dung. 
 
 18 Moreover their silver and their gold, 
 Shall not be able to deliver them, 
 
 In the day of the wrath of Jehovah: 
 
 But bv the fire of his jealousy shall the whole land 
 
 be devoured. 
 
 Fora full end, awe? also a speedy one, will he make 
 With all the inhabitants of the land. 
 
 Hebr. moreover. 
 
 15. of desolation] The form of the Hebrew words would 
 be preserved by rendering : 
 
 " A day of wasteness and of devastation." 
 
 16. towers] Properly such as were erected at the angles of 
 walled cities. 
 
 The topic of approaching calamity from Jehovah is often in- 
 sisted on in the prophets; but no where, I think, with such a 
 beautiful amplification as in the 14th 15th and 16th verses. 
 
 17. men] That h is used for ruv See on Nah. i. 2. 
 
 like the blind] See Deut. xxviii. 29 : Isai. lix. 10: in each 
 of whico places the image is heightened by the circumstance of 
 grops'io;, or stumbling, like the blind, even at noon-day. The 
 general sense is: They hall be in a state of anxiety and danger, 
 
 dust] This is said to be poured out: Lev. xiv. 41. 
 
 flesh] So the original word signifies in Arabic, as Houbigant 
 observes. See 6. and Mai. i. 7. After flesh a verb, as -fan shall 
 be castjortki must be. supplied. See on Hos. ii. 18. 
 
 1 8. and also a speedy one] So V. 6. Ar. Aquila, Symma- 
 chus. Or, and also a terrible one. See Syr % For a like turn of 
 expression see Isai. x. 23 : xxviii. 22.
 
 216 ZEPHANIAH. II. 
 
 CHAP. II, 
 
 1 GATHER yourselves together, and assemble, 
 
 O nation not desired : 
 
 2 Before the decree be || executed, that your day 
 
 pass away as chaff: 
 
 Before the * hot anger of Jehovah come upon you ; 
 
 Before the day of the anger of Jehovah come up- 
 on you. 
 
 3 Seek ye Jehovah, All ye lowly of the land, 
 Who have executed his f judgment, who have sought 
 
 righteousness, who have sought lowliness : 
 It may be, ye shall be J protected in the day of 
 the anger of Jehovah. 
 
 4 Sure Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a 
 
 desolation : 
 
 U Hebr, bring forih. * the heat of the anger, f Or, ordinance. J hidden. for a desolation. 
 
 1. assemble] Many MSS. and some editions read W\)\ 
 Vulg. has congregamini, and Symmachus ^xxiyw 6. translate 
 "^9>iT! : and Ar. Syr. to the same effect. Chald. may have read 
 13")pi, and draw near. Houbigant proposes VvI?3D1 : but the He- 
 brew word DJD is congregare, colligere, actively. 
 
 not desired] That is, hated. 
 
 2. be executed] The figure of a decree bringing forth is 
 unusual, and seems harsh. Chald. may hare read rdl prodeat : 
 but the common and regular word would be DN% exeat. 6. read 
 in the London Polyglot, ~oy pjo vnn N 1 ? DT02: from which 
 Syr. only differs in reading PQ2. 
 
 " Before ye become as the flower [Syr. as the chaff] which 
 
 passeth away." 
 
 But if we consult the Aldine edition, and that of Sixtus Quintus, 
 we shall find another reading: *;) T ym<70a V/L*; <*; r$o; *.?.w 
 pa< nfxis* f. i,"';' And MS. Pachom. has i,"^;. 
 
 - 3. Who have executed] This transition from the second 
 person to the third is not uncommon. See Amos v. 12. But 
 Houbigant omits T#N with t>. and renders the three verbs impe- 
 ratively. " Execute his judgment, seek righteousness, seek 
 lowliness." 
 
 judgment] Bishop Lowth's note, on Isai. xlii^l, shews in 
 what latitude this word is used. 
 
 protected] See Deut. xxxii. 38. PS. xxxii. 7. cxix. 114. 
 
 4. Surely Gaza] The prophet digresses to foretel die fate of
 
 ZEPHAMIAH. II. 217 
 
 As for Ashdod, she shall be driven out at noon 
 
 day; and Ekron shall be rooted up. 
 & Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the 
 
 nation of the Cherethites : 
 The word of Jehovah is against you. 
 
 Canaan, land of the Philistines, 
 
 1 will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. 
 
 6 And Cherith, on the sea coast, shall be 
 
 The habitations of shepherds, and folds for flocks: 
 
 7 The coast shall also be for the residue of the house 
 
 of Judah : 
 
 some cities and nations bordering on Judea and hostile to her: 
 and he then enlarges on the destruction of Nineveh, a city which 
 had carried the ten tribes into captivity, and had often 'struck 
 Jerusalem with terror: v. 4 15. See on Amos ii. 6. For the 
 paronomasia, which occurs twice in this verse, see on Micah i. 
 10 : and Michaelis on Prsel Hebr. xv. p. 81. 8vo. And for the 
 history, see on Amos i. 7, 8. 
 
 at noon day] Commentators refer to Jer. vi. 4. xv. 8. 
 Force in the open day, may be meant : or that greater degree of 
 distress and disgrace which would attend a public expulsion in 
 the heat of the day. 
 
 5. Cherethites] See on Amos ix. 7. 
 
 I will destroy thee] The van may be merely conversive, as 
 Obad. v. 8. But 6. Ar. Syr. read O3rrnsTi: which leads to 
 this more eligible rendering: 
 
 The wore) of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, land of the 
 Philistines ; 
 
 And I will destroy you, &c. 
 
 6. And Cherith] 6. has K.^TV, and Syr. NtDlp, Creta, as v. 5 : 
 and for the people of Crete. Thus Cherith may signify the tract 
 where the Cherethites dwelt:- and the construe. ion will ba good, 
 if we place mo before ni:, with 6. " Alibi non extat m3, et 
 forte notat patriam T*V C3'm3." Seeker. 
 
 Many MSS. and three editions rend HH3 fossiones, caves : a 
 word which occurs only here. If we adopt this sense, we must 
 read nm, and render : 
 
 And the sea coast shall be sheep cotes, 
 
 Caves for shepherds, and folds for ilocks. 
 
 Two MSS. read rrn.3 : and the Greek in the Complutcnsran poly- 
 
 glot, as Bechart observes, has mpw, not -HK-I--;- " Perhaps, 
 
 And the seacoast, even Cherith, shall be dwellings for." Seeker, 
 
 7. The coast] 6. Ar. Syr. read CD'H Van the sea-coast..
 
 218 ZEPHANIAH. II. 
 
 Thereupon shall they feed ; in the houses of Ash- 
 kelon shall they lie down in the evening: 
 
 For Jehovah thein God will look || upon them, 
 and will turn again their caplivitj-. 
 
 8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, 
 And the revilings of the sons of Ammon, 
 Wherewith they have reproached my people, 
 
 x And magnified themselves against their border. 
 
 9 Therefore as 1 live, 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel, 
 
 Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, 
 
 And the sons of Ammon as Gomorrah: 
 
 A deserted place for the thorn, and a place ol 
 
 digging for salt, 
 And a desolation for ever. 
 The residue of my people shall spoil them, 
 And the remainder of my nation shall possess them. 
 
 10 This shall happen unto them for their pride, 
 Because they have reproached, and have magni- 
 fied themselves 
 
 Against the people of Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 1 1 Jehovah will be terrible against them : 
 
 || Hebr. visit them. 
 
 Thereupon] 6. MS. A. lias r ,**, vVy. 
 
 shall they feed] n sheep may be understood from, the 
 foregoing verse. But see c. iii. IS. 
 
 This happened in the time of the Maccabees, says Capellus. 
 See Mace. v. 21. 22. 
 
 8. Moab Ammon] See on Amos i. 13. ii. I, 3. 
 
 magnified themselves] Boasted, spoken proudly. See Ezek. 
 xxxv. 13. 6. Arab, read 'V^J my barder : which answers to the 
 preceding clause. The Samaritan Jod and Mem bear some re- 
 semblance. 
 
 9. A deserted place] The root proo probably signifies rdiquit. 
 See Cast. lex. 
 
 the thorn] The paliurus of the ancients, or the Christ's 
 thorn. See Celsius. 
 
 my nation] Fourteeen MSS. and one edition read "13. 
 
 10. magnified themselves] Many MSS. and seven editions 
 read iVwi, as v. 8.
 
 ZEPHANIAH. II. 219 
 
 For he will * famish all the gods of the earth; 
 And all the islands of the nations 
 Shall bow themselves unto him, every one from 
 his place. 
 
 12 Ye also, O f Ethiopians, 
 
 Shall yourselves be slain by the sword. 
 
 13 And he will stretch out his hand agaiqst the north, 
 And will destroy Assyria; 
 
 And will make Nineveh J a desolation, even a dry 
 place as the desert. 
 
 14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her; 
 Yea, all the beasts of the earth. 
 
 * Hebr. make lean. f Chusites. J for a desolation. 
 
 11. famish] See Deut. xxxii. 33. The sacrifices to them 
 will be withdrawn, and they will, as it were, perish with leanness. 
 Spencer p. 47. 
 
 islands] " By the earth the Jews understood the great con- 
 tinent of all Asia and Africa, to which they had access by land: 
 and by the isles of the sea they understood the places to which 
 they sailed by sea, particularly all Europe." Sir I. Newton on 
 Daniel: p. 276. 
 
 The prophet foretels the gradual fall of idolatry; and its 
 deep and, at length, deadly wound by the spreading of the 
 gospel. 
 
 12. Ethiopians] See on Amos ix. 7. Nebuchadnezzar 
 subdued them. See Jer xlvi. 2, 9. Ezek. xxx. 4, 10. 
 
 yourselves] Here we tjave HQil for UDDN*, if the reading be 
 genuine. Houbigant thinks that we shoulu read vnn shall be. 
 One MS. omits the word with the versions and Chald. 
 
 13. north] The Assyrians; so called because they used to 
 invade Palestine through Syria from the north. For the same 
 reason the Babylonians are spoken of as a northern enemy. Jer. 
 i. 14. xlvi. 6, 10, 20, 24. Ez. xxvi. 7. 
 
 a drv place] Notwithstanding her many waters, Nahum i. 
 12, her situation shall become dry; the artificial channels being 
 obstructed, and the waters of the river returning to their course. 
 See Nah. ii. 8. 
 
 1 4. beasts] On irvn, with the paragogic vau in the poetical 
 form, see Prael. Hebr. iii. 34. 
 
 of the earth] 6. Ar. read n**- " N"13 ogri. Chald." Seeker. 
 Houbigant reads nvn 'U ^D : All kinds of beasts. It is to be ob- 
 served that 6. Ar. V. Syr. read tei. So that we may divide thus: 
 
 L 1
 
 220 ZEPIIAXIAH. III. 
 
 Both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in 
 the carved lintels thereof. 
 
 A cry shall resound in the window : the raven shall 
 be in the porch: 
 
 For he hath laid bare her cedar work. 
 15 This is the rejoicing city, that sat in security; 
 
 That said in her heart, I am, and there is none be- 
 sides me. 
 
 How is she become a desolation, a place for 
 beasts to couch in ! 
 
 Every one that passeth by her will hiss, and will 
 move his hand. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 Woe to her that is rebellious and polluted, to 
 
 the oppressing city ! 
 
 Hebr. for a desolation. 
 
 " And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, and all beasts. 
 " The and the pelican and the porcupine &.c." 
 Thus for la we may read m the vulture: Isai. xxxiv. 15 : or some 
 such word. 
 
 pelican] From HKp vom-ere, quoniam conchas jam absorptas- 
 revmnit, postquam calore ventris apertae shit; ut ex iis esculenta 
 legat. Boch. P. ij. 1. ii. c. xxiv. p. 294-. Perhaps, because it 
 casts up fish or water from its membranaceous bag. These birds 
 fed in the Tigris, and made their nests in the deserted ruins of 
 the city. 
 
 porcupine] From IDp pr<pcidere, sc. morsu. See Boch. p. 
 i. 1. iik c. xxxvi, Or rather from IDp Syr. hurrnil. Animal soli- 
 vagum et ^t^un. Boch. 
 
 the raven] y^y is the reading of 6. Ar. Houbigant. 
 - -her cedar rcor/c] This reference to the former elegance of 
 the city is finely introduced: and in the next verse the grand and 
 affecting description of her desolate state is beautifully contrast- 
 ed by her late festivity and pride. 
 
 15. rejoicing] K^^r.v NV. r..-^^^; was a proverb. 
 That said ] This line, and the two preceding words, occur 
 Isai. xlvii. 8. 
 
 See, Isai. xxxiv. 11 17, a like topic of a great city laid 
 waste, pursued in a train of images full of sublimity and terror. 
 
 CHAP. in. 
 1. rebellious] I read iTTQ, the participle Benoni from mo
 
 ZEPHANIAII. ill. 221 
 
 2 She hath not obeyed the voice ; 
 
 She hath not received instruction: 
 
 In Jehovah she hath not trusted; 
 
 To her God she hath not drawn near. 
 S Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions : 
 
 Her judges are evening wolves: 
 
 They wait not until the morning. 
 
 4 Her prophets are light, "they are |j treacherous men : 
 Her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have 
 
 violated the law. 
 
 5 But Jehovah is just in the midst of her: 
 He doeth not iniquity: 
 
 * Every morning he bringeth his righteousness 
 
 To light, he faileth not. 
 
 Yet the f wicked knoweth not shame. 
 
 6 I have cut off nations; their towers are destroyed: 
 
 || Hebr. men of treacheries. * in the morning in the qurning. -{-iniquitous 
 
 to rebel, and in Hiphil to provoke : whence V. has prowcatrir. 
 The prophet here addresses Jerusalem. I consider this chapter 
 as an elegant part of prophetical poetry. 
 
 3. roaring lions] As devouring lions, who roar in the act of 
 seizing their prey. 
 
 evening wolves] So Virgil of the wolf: 
 " Nee gregibus nocturnus obambulat." Georg. iii. 538' 
 wait not] 1QT from OTF to wait seems the true reading. 
 It is proposed by Houbigant; and is agreeable to the renderings 
 of Ar. Syr. to expect, to remain; and of Chald, to prolong. Like 
 wild beasts, they shun the light. " They break not, or, knaw 
 not, the bones until the morning. All night they prowl about 
 destroying; but they devour not till the morning, when they 
 consume their prey in their dens." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 Her priests] " The words her priests to the law are the same 
 Ezek. xxii. 26 : only the order is inverted, and my added to 
 UHp and rrnn." Seeker. 
 
 5. Every morning] The metrical division of the Hebrew is: 
 
 Every morning his righteousness 
 
 He bringeth to light, he faileth not. 
 
 The sense is: Not a day passes but we see instances of his good^ 
 ness to righteous men, and of his vengeance on the wicked, 
 
 6. nations] Syria, Israel, [see 'U Isai. i. 4.] those referred 
 to Isai. xxxvi. 18, 19, 20. "proud: 6" Seeker.
 
 222 ZEPHANIAH. III. 
 
 I have laid waste their streets, so that none passeth 
 
 through"; 
 Their cities are J thrown down, so that there is no 
 
 man, so that there is none inhabitant. 
 
 7 Then I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt 
 
 receive instruction: 
 
 That her habitation might not be cut off, 
 Aftera\\ the punishment with which I had visited her. 
 Nevertheless they j| diligently corrupted all their 
 
 doings. 
 
 8 Yet wait for me, saith Jehovah, 
 Until the day when 1 rise up to the prey. 
 
 For my decree is to gather the nations, to assemble 
 
 the kingdoms; 
 
 To pour upon them mine indignation, 
 Even all the heat of mine anger: 
 For with the fire of my jealousy 
 Shall all the earth be devoured. 
 
 9 Surely I will then pour out upon the * people a 
 
 pure f language, 
 
 J Hebr. hunted. visited upon. |] they rose early, they corrupted * peoples, -f- lip. 
 are thrown down] In Syr. and Chald. the original word 
 signifies to be laid waste. One MS. has I^n3, an usual word. 
 
 7. cut off] " 6. read n:VQ. So the translation will be, And 
 all that I have visited upon her, i. e. all my corrections, shall 
 not be cut off from her eyes: which makes an easier construction. 
 If ^D can be taken for "7D3, and *TpD signify to determine about, 
 the latter of which I doubt, it may be: and their dwelling shall 
 not be cut off, according to all that I determined [i. e. condi- 
 tionally] about them. See Nold. note 792," Seeker. 
 
 8. Yet wait for me ] It is implied, in the foregoing verse, 
 that the consequence of universal corruption among the Jews 
 was their fall. Here they are taught to expect mercies from. 
 God after he has taken vengeance upon them. 
 
 to the prey] 6. Syr. Aq. Symm. Theod, &c. render, for 
 a testimony. The Hebrew may be rendered, for a witness, in 
 test em. See Mai. iii 5. 
 
 the nations the kingdoms] Those which were to be con- 
 quered by Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 9. then] Used largely, for afterwards : unless we confine 
 the passage to the Jews on their return from Babylon.
 
 ZEPHAXIAH. III. 223 
 
 That they shall all of them call on the name of 
 
 Jehovah, 
 That they shall serve him with one J consent. 
 
 10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia 
 
 My suppliants among my dispersed shall bring 
 mine || offering. 
 
 1 1 In that clay thou shalt not be ashamed 
 
 For all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed 
 
 against me: 
 For I will. take away from the midst of thee them 
 
 that rejoice in thy * pride; 
 
 J Hebr. shoulder. Cush. |j offering of flour. * Or, greatness. 
 
 will then pour out] I read iD\l/\y with Houbigant. But 
 thirteen MSS. and three editions read -]'DnK in Hiphil. 
 
 upon the people] Or, peoples. The Gentiles, who shall 
 be converted to Christianity. The words all of them cannot re- 
 fer to such proselytes as the Jews made before the coming of 
 Christ. But if peoples can be applied to the Jews, as 1 Kings 
 xxii, 28, Joel ii. 6, we may understand v. 9, 10, of that free- 
 dom from idolatry for which the Jews were remarkable after the 
 captivity : and the rest of the chapter may refer .to the blessings 
 which were then bestowed on them. 
 
 consent] Hebr. shoulder : a metaphor from the joint ef- 
 forts of yoked beasts. See the same phrase in the Chaldee pa- 
 raphrase, Zech. xiv. 9. Servient coram Domino humero uno. 
 
 10. of Ethiopia] Bochart is positive that Arabia Chusaeais 
 meant, and says that the rivers are Besor, which flows into the 
 Mediterranean; Rhinocorum, which flows into the lake Sirbonis; 
 Trajanus amnis, which flows into the Red Sea; and the Corys. 
 Geogr. p. 212. See a paiallel place Isai. xviii. 1: where 
 Bishop Lowth mentions the eastern branches of the Nile, the 
 boundary of Arabia towards Egypt: but doubts whether the parts 
 of the upper Nile towards Ethiopia may not be meant. That 
 Arabia was a distant country, in the estimation of the Jews, see 
 Joel iii. 8. And beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, may denote both 
 Africa and the southern Arabia. 
 
 among my dispersed] I read with (>. 1D33, n ^i^rt^.w; pa, 
 and suppose that in this v. either the conversion of the Jews is 
 meant, or their freedom from idolatry. 
 
 1 1 . thou shalt not be ashamed) Thy guilt and thy punish- 
 ment shall cease. 
 
 in thy pride] Thy idolatrous exalting of thyself against me. 
 See Isai. xiii. 3. " Thy rejoicers in pride." Seeker.
 
 224 ZEPHANIAH. III. 
 
 And thou shalt no longer f exalt thyself in mine 
 holy mountain. 
 
 12 And I will leave in the midst of thee an humble 
 
 and lowly people; 
 And they shall trust in the name of Jehovah. 
 
 13 The residue of Israel shall not commit wickedness, 
 Nor shall they speak falsehood, 
 
 Neither shall a J deceitful tongue be found in their 
 
 mouth. 
 And they shall feed and lie down, and none shall 
 
 make them afraid. 
 
 14 Sing, O daughter of Sion ; shout ye, O Israel; 
 Be glad and rejoice with all thine heart, O daugh- 
 ter of Jerusalem : 
 
 15 Jehovah hath taken away thy Judgments, he hath 
 
 turned aside thine enemies. 
 
 Jehovah, the king of Israel, is in the midst of thee; 
 Thou shalt no longer see evil. 
 
 16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear not ; 
 And to Sion, Let not thine hands be slack. 
 
 17 Jehovah thy God will be in the midst of thee, the 
 
 Mighty One will save thee: 
 
 He will rejoice over thee with gladness, he will 
 renew his love: 
 
 f Hebr. thou shalt not add to exalt thyself. J a tongue of deceit. be renew.ed in. 
 
 13. and none shall make them afraid] These words dccur 
 Mic. iv. 4. 
 
 14. Sing ] 6. MS. Pachom. ed. Aid. and Arab, add ff?oJ?; 
 and read 1NQ. 
 
 15. thine enemies] The versions, Chald. the Babylonish 
 Talmud, and eighteen MSS. read 73^. V. renders ms avertit. 
 It is equivalent to "von. 
 
 in the midst of thee] Displays his interposition in thy de- 
 liverance: or, in thy prosperity; if the passage has a reference 
 to the future restoration of the Jews. This verse is otherwise di- 
 vided by Syr. Chald. and with much elegance: 
 Jehovah hath taken away thy judgments: 
 The King of Israel hath turned aside thine enemies : 
 Jehovah is in the midst of thee: thou shalt no longer see evil, 
 
 16. be slack] In rebuilding the city and temple; or, figu- 
 ratively, in serving thy God. 
 
 17. renew] 6. Syr. point out the reading of unr? renaca-
 
 ZEPHANIAH. HI. o&> 
 
 He will exult over thee with singing. 
 
 18 I have taken away the afflicted among thee from 
 
 the solemn assembly : 
 
 They are taken away from thee, even from causing 
 a reproach against thee. 
 
 1 9 Behold I will work with thee for thy sake at that time : 
 And I will save her that || halteth, and her that is 
 
 driven out will I assemble; 
 And I will make them a * praise, and a f name, 
 In every land J where they have been put to con- 
 fusion. 
 
 20 At that time I will bring you again : 
 And, at the time when I assemble you, 
 Surely I will appoint you a name and a praise 
 Among all the people of the earth : 
 
 When 1 turn back your captivity before your 
 eyes, saith Jehovah. 
 
 || Or, is disabled. * set them for a praise. f For a name. 
 
 + of their shame. for a name, 
 
 bitur. So Houbigant; and Bishop Lowth on Isai. xli. 1. For 
 the punctuation of the verse see 6. 
 
 18. I have taken away] T.he word saying is to be understood 
 before this v. 
 
 the afflicted among thee] I read 7313 with 6. and Houbi- 
 gant; and suppose that the prophet means such as deplored 
 their captivity, and prayed for a restoration, in the solemn as- 
 semblies of the Jews at Babylon. Zech. vii. 5. The rest of 
 the verse I translate as Houbigant, who reads -j'Vj; with Syr. 
 The humiliation and affliction of the Jews furnished matter of 
 reproach to theiv enemies. Or read *TyiQ3, and transpose it, 
 with 6. Ar. Syr. with singing, as in the solemn assembly. See 
 Houbigant. " Q,ui impediverunt in te tempora solennitatis tute, 
 expellam a te. Chald. Videtur legisse ipQ CD'Jin, ab run re- 
 movit." Dathius. 
 
 19. with thee for thy sake] I read with 6. and Capellus 
 aV iruv. See Ezek. xx. 44. 
 
 halteth] See on Micah iv. 6 : where we have a parallel place. 
 
 20. before your eyes] This may be understood as an in- 
 timation that some of the Jews, who were led captives to Baby- 
 lon, should survive the period of the captivity, and return to 
 their own country. Syr. and Hpubigant read an'i'i/7 before their 
 eyes : sc. of the nations.
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 HABAKKUK. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 1 HE Prophecy which Habakkuk the prophet saw. 
 
 2 How long, O Jehovah, have I cried, and thou 
 
 hast not hearkened ! 
 
 Ifozv long do I * cry out unto thee, There is vio- 
 lence ; and thou hast not saved ! 
 
 3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me 
 
 to behold wickedness ? 
 And why are spoiling and violence before me ; 
 
 * Or, exclaim. 
 
 1. Habakkuk] It seems probable that Habakkuk lived after 
 the taking of Nineveh ; as he prophesies of the Chaldeans, and 
 is silent on the subject of the Assyrians. We have also reason 
 to conclude that he prophesied not long before the Jewish cap- 
 tivity. See c. i. 5. ii. 3. iii. 2, 16 19. He may therefore be 
 placed in the reign of Jehoiakim, between the years 606 and 598 
 before Christ. 
 
 The prophet Habbakkuk stands high in the class of the He- 
 brew poets. The beautiful connection between the parts of his 
 prophecy, its diction, imagery, spirit, and sublimity, cannot be 
 too much admired. See Bishop Lowth's Hebrew prelections, 
 xxi. xxviii: and the learned Mr. Green on c. iii. 3 10. 
 
 " Vaticinia qua cdidit Habacucus ex afflatu divino. Gram- 
 matici Hebron NttJO explicant per rwi33 aut pOT. Symm. Thcod. 
 ut 6 xijtxjw, sermo a Deo acceptus" Baluxlt. 
 
 2. How long ] In the opening of this prophecy there is an 
 indignant spirit agaiust vice, like that so much admired in Ju- 
 venal. 
 
 There is violence] Or, because of violence. Syr. and 
 Chald. supply hy. " and violence lifteth up her voice. For so 
 fW Isai. xlii. 2, 11." Seeker. 
 
 " And why do I behold" &c. 
 
 wickedness] Labour, sorrow, distress, caused by wicked- 
 ness*.
 
 HABAKKUK. I. 227 
 
 And "Ltliy is there contention, and why do men 
 
 raise strife ? 
 
 Therefore the law fai!eth, 
 And judgment never goeth forth: 
 For the wicked compasseth about the righteous: 
 Therefore perverted judgment goeth forth. 
 
 See, ye transgressors, and behold, and wonder, 
 
 and perish : 
 
 For I work a work in your clays, 
 Which ye will not believe though it be told you. 
 
 raise] Hebr. excitat quis. See on Jonah iii. 7. See NU?J 
 Ex. xxiii. 1. Ps. xv. 3. But 6. Ar. Syr. and at first one MS. 
 read p/21 " And why doth the Judge receive a reward? MS. 
 Copt, adds " CD'3D faciem after Ni&." Mr. Woicle. " And the 
 judge accepteth persons." 
 
 4. never goeth forth] Or, goeth not forth unto victory, 
 or purity, or truth, or perfection. See Isai. xlii. 3. 
 
 " And judgment proceedeth not to victory." Dr. Wheeler. 
 compasseth about] So circumvenire is to oppress, to de- 
 ceive. Multitudtne superat Arab. Cast. lex. 
 
 " Because the wicked circumventeth the righteous." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 5. Ye transgressors] For CD'l^Q among the nations, read, 
 as Capellus and Houbigant have suggested, nnia: which, as 
 Houbigant observes, 6. elsewhere also translate wm^-m. See 
 Prov. xiii. 15. Hos. vi. 7. Zeph. iii. 4. v. 13 of this c. and 
 c. ii. 5. Ar. and Syr. agree with 6. See also Acts xiii. 41. 
 
 and behold] In Acts xiii. 41, nine MSS. and three editions 
 have tret i7rijS>.j-4,a7j after xT^oviTflM, agreeably to the Hebrew. 
 
 and perish] One MS. reads iron : with V. Syr. But t!:e 
 reading of 6. and of Acts xiii. 41, *M ^avto-9nn, supposes irOT), 
 or inni, in the text. See Capellus. There is a double rendering 
 in 0. The former is, * 0n paean Qavpnaia, according to which 
 the reading may have been IPTDJV that is, pnon, cum admira- 
 tione. 
 
 in your clays] Hence it follows that the Chaldeans invaded 
 Judea while those were living whom the prophet addressed. 
 
 Which ye will not believe] In Acts xiii. 41, the common 
 editions have ipyov, " a work which ye will not believe." But 
 there is very good authority for omitting this word. St. Paul 
 plainly accommodates this passage to his own purpose. 
 M m
 
 228 HABAKKUK. I. 
 
 6 For "behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, 
 That bitter and swift nation ; 
 Who f go oVer' the J breadth of the earth 
 To possesss dwelling-places which bdong not un- 
 to them, 
 
 7 They are terrible and dreadful : 
 
 Their judgment and their excellency proceed 
 from themselves. 
 
 8 Their horses also are swifter tban leopards: 
 And they are || fiercer than evening wolves. 
 
 f Hcbr. which goeth. J breadths. to it : and onwards in the singular 
 
 number, to the end of v. 11, cxeppl their faces. || sharper. 
 
 6. the Chaldeans] See Gep. xi. 28, 31. xv. 7. Job i. 17. 
 Isai. xxiii. 13, and Bishop Lowth's note. They are supposed 
 to have been so called from Chescd the son of Nahor. Gen. 
 xxiL 22. Enstathius, in his notes on Dionysius's ow r ,<n ; , says 
 that they derived their name from Chaideus, the fourteent \ 
 king after Ninus, and the founder of Babylon: 1. 765, p. 101. 
 ed. H. Steph. Xenophon mentions the Chaldeans as a warlike 
 nation of Armenia. Cyropced. 1. iii. p. 148. 8vo. ed. Hutchinson. 
 These were anciently called Chalybes. See Hutchinson's note. 
 
 bitter] Arabice radix V)Q ail robur et virtutem usitatissime 
 transferor. SchuLtens, anim. phil. p. 517. 
 
 7. Their Judgment ] Their authority to execute judgment, 
 and their dignity and elevation among the kingdoms of the 
 earth, arise from their own valour in revolting from tue Assyrians. 
 
 8. swifter than leopards] " Leopards tamed, and taught 
 to hunt, are, it is said, made use of [in Palestine] for hunting; 
 and seize the prey with surprising agility. When he leaps, 
 he throws himself seventeen or eighteen feet at a time." far- 
 mer ii. 438. 
 
 Non segnior extulit ilium 
 Saltus, et in medias jecit super arma catervas, 
 Quam per sumtna rapit cclerem venabula pardum. Lucan 1. vi. 
 
 'llx-jralov Quit, xett T' aXxijUO &jf o^aii. 
 
 **(?, on? tiaa, Jijijw <po^:^a.. Opp. Cyn. 1. iii. 
 
 " V. et Syr. legerunt iVp sine van, quod ego quidem prccfer- 
 rem. Et posterior praeterea pro OHDJlQ legit CDH^D, aquilis 
 velociores: quam lectioncm non minus nostrse prxferrem." 
 
 Arab, also omits the van; and MS. 4 originally read CD'TOiD. 
 
 " Alterum VUHD omnino delendum," Bahrdt. 
 
 fiercer] Bochart refers the word to the spirit of horses 
 and wolves.
 
 HABAKKUK. I. .229 
 
 And thoir horsemen shall spread themselves; they 
 
 shall come from far; 
 
 They shall fly, as an eagle hastening to devour. 
 9 All of them shall come for violence: 
 
 The supping up of their faces shall be as an east 
 
 wind : 
 
 And they shall gather * captives as the sand. 
 10 They shall also scoff at kings, 
 
 And princes sliall be a laughing-stock unto them. 
 They shall laugh at every stronghold : 
 
 * Hebr. captivity. 
 
 Genus acre luporum. Virg.. 
 Ascanius mediis in vallibus acri 
 Gaudet equo. Virg. 
 
 See Hieroz. iii. x. 826. 
 
 shall spread themselves] See Chald. and Syr. on the word, 
 Nahum iii. 18: where they explain it by TQiHspertti. Here 
 Chald. has puriD' multiplicabuntur, and V. diffuiidentur. 
 
 they shall come from far] The word VUHSt, which stands 
 before this clause in the Hebrew, is omitted by 6. Ar. Syr. and 
 by three MSS. 
 
 Mr. Green's note on this passage is, " The Hebrew word 
 rendered by our translators, and they shall spread themselves, is a 
 faulty writing of the word foregoing, which the transcriber would 
 not put out for fear of blotting his copy. The Syr. has it not, 
 and the Ixx knew not what to make of it." His translation is 1 . 
 
 And their horsemen sharper than evening wolves. 
 
 Their horsemen shall come from afar, &c. 
 
 Poetical Parts of the O. T. p. 23, 
 
 from far] So 2 Kings xx. 14. Jer. v. 15. See on Joel iii 8. 
 
 to devour] Thirty MSS. and three ed. read ^sxb: which 
 may be rendered ad cibum, to the prey. See Syr. Chald. 
 
 '< They shall fly, as an eagle hasteth to the prey." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 9. All of them] Two MSS. read T7D, and three read so ori- 
 ginally. This is regular, and agrees with 1J v. 6. Houbigant 
 reads NO CD^D, as Syr. Vulg, Chald. 
 
 The supping up ] This is our marginal rendering, and that 
 of Peters on Job, 8vo. 2d. ed. p. 137. Their enemies shall be 
 absorbed, or rapidly destroyed, by them; as the blasting pes- 
 tilential east wind spreads destruction. See on Jonah iv. 8.
 
 230 HABAKKUK. I. 
 
 And they shall heap f earth and take it. 
 
 11 J Then shall their spirit be changed, and they 
 
 shall pass away, and shall be treated as guilty. 
 This is their strength with their god. 
 
 12 Art thou not from everlasting? 
 
 O Jehovah, (| my God, mine Holy One, we shall 
 
 not die. 
 O Jehovah, thou hast appointed them for judgment, 
 
 f Or, dust. J Ot, afterwards. Or, shall be punished. 
 
 || Or, mine holy God. Hebr. the God of mine holmess. 
 
 Symmachus renders n w ? o<re4f TO WSSO-WITB, which agrees with Syr. 
 as if the reading had been TDD. " Before their faces &c." 
 Houbigant reads CnpD Before. 
 
 10. earth] See Gen. xxvi. 15. Isai. ii. 10, 19. V. 6 
 Cbald. understand the word of mounds heaped up, according 
 to the usual way of taking fortresses. Others render the word 
 diLsty and think the meaning to be, They shall take every 
 strong hold with ease, and as it were in sport. 
 
 1 1 . be changed] PKaeteribit. This may be spoken of the 
 Chaldee nation at large; whose disposition should degenerate, 
 and who were to be punished by Cyrus. An ironical epiphone- 
 ma follows : Such is their boasted strength derived from their 
 idols. vnW?. Two MSS. origin ally. See v. 7 10. 15 17. 
 
 pass away,] " pass over. Transgress." Seeker. Hebraeis- 
 spiritus transire sive transgredi dicitur, quoties intra modestiae 
 tines se non tenet." Bahrdt. 
 
 12. Art thou not ] There is great beauty in this sudden 
 
 address to Jehovah, as opposed to the false god of the Chaldeans. 
 
 " O God of mine holiness. Sic videtur Icgendum." Seeker. 
 
 we shall not die] We shall not utterly perish by the Chal- 
 deans : though we shall suffer severely from them. But this 
 seems a cold sense, and unworthy of so animated a poem. Hou- 
 bigant conjectures nQJ* VN O God of truth : which is interwoven 
 i.) the Chaldee paraphrase : and, I think, ought to be admitted 
 into the text. " Let us not." Seeker. 
 
 " Art not thou from everlasting, O Jehovah, my God, mine 
 
 Holy One? 
 " O Jehovah, God of truth, thou hast appointed them for 
 
 judgment." 
 
 Another conjectural reading is, niiQN* 1 ?, " for faithfulness, 
 or, truth, in thy denunciations of punishment." 
 
 <( For faithfulness, O Jehovah, for judgment thou hast ap- 
 
 pointed tbem.
 
 HABAKKUK. I. 231 
 
 And thou bast founded them va rock, to chasten us. 
 
 13 r lhou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, 
 And canst not look on wickedness ; 
 
 Why dost thon look on transgressors, 
 And art silent when the wicked svvalloweth up the 
 man that is more righteous than he? 
 
 14 And why makest thou men as the fishes of the sea, 
 As the moving * things which have no ruler over 
 
 them? 
 
 15 They take up all of them with the hook; 
 
 They collect them in their net, and gather them 
 
 together in their drag: 
 Therefore they rejoice an~d exult: 
 
 .16 Therefore they sacrifice to their net, and burn in- 
 cense to their drag : 
 Because by them their portion is fat, and their 
 
 food plenteous. 
 17 Shall they therefore empty their net; 
 
 * Hebr. thing which hath no ruler over it. 
 
 as a rock] Houbigant renders, In hostem validum fecisti, 
 ut eum coargueres. 
 
 " As a flint thou hast set him to reprove [chastise.] Ez. iii. 9. 
 
 Thou hast given him firmness, and resolution, or hardness 
 of heart, to punish." Dr. Forsayeth. 
 
 13. more righteous] The just or good man mentioned c. 
 ii. 4. 
 
 15. They take up ] Hcbr. One taketh up: one collecteth 
 them. The Chaldeans are meant. 
 
 all of them] Houbigant prefers fa : and this is the reading 
 of three MSS. and of a fourth in the margin. 
 
 16. sacrifice] They boast themselves in their strength: and 
 deify themselves for their valour. 
 
 17. Shall they therefore] V 6. Ar. Syr. read p ty, therefore: 
 Houbigant conjectures p hy\ and therefore. All omit the inter- 
 rogation. 
 
 The meaning of the verse, if read interrogatively, is, 
 " Shall the wicked therefore be never stopped in their career?" 
 which is agreeable to the expostulations v. 13, 14. Without 
 the. interrogation, the sense may be: Therefore, sc. because 
 thejr "portion is thus made fat, they are intent on filling and 
 emptying their net.
 
 HABAKKUK. II. 
 
 And continually spare not to slay the nations? 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 1 Stood on my watch tower, 
 
 And set myself on the bulwark: 
 
 And I f looked to see what he would speak by me; 
 
 And what I should reply to my arguing with him. 
 % And Jehovah answered me* and said: 
 
 Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tablets; 
 
 That he may run that readeth it. 
 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time ; 
 
 f Or, watched. 
 
 And continually] This line explains the allegory. Syr. Ch. 
 and Houbigant read Tn continually without the vau, and join 
 the word to the former clause. Observe that van precedes. 
 
 empty their net continually : 
 
 And spare not 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 
 1. I stood ] Stabam. Honbigant. 
 
 on my vvatchtower] I was earnestly looking for God's 
 word: as a watchman intent on his office. Prophets are com- 
 pared to watchmen: Ezek. iii. 17. 
 
 I should reply] To my own satisfaction, and that of 
 others, as to the difficulties raised c. i. 13 17, why the, idol- 
 atrous and wicked Chaldeans, and their king, are to be pros- 
 perous and triumphant. 
 
 Syr. and Houbigant read 3'ttV, he would reply: and Chald. 
 Las respondebor, I should be answered. 
 
 11 And will look attentively to see what he will say to me, 
 
 " And what he will answer for my conviction." Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 2. the tablets] 6. here, and Vulg. 6. Isai. xxx. 8, render 
 tablets of box : which were tirm and durable. 
 
 may run] Let the characters be so legible that one who 
 hastily passes on may read them ; which may have been a pro- 
 verbial manner of expression. Houbigant renders, " ut, qui 
 leget, expedite legal:" and several others understand the word 
 run figuratively, of rapid reading. 
 
 that readeth it] Two MSS. read *Olp ta every one that 
 readeth. 
 
 3. the vision] " Or prophecy; which follows v. 4 20," 
 Decker.
 
 HABAKKUK. II. 933 
 
 But at the end it shall speak clearly, and shall not j lie, 
 If it delay, wait for it : 
 
 For it shall surely come, it shall not tarry long. 
 4 Behold || his soul is lifted up, it is not upright 
 
 in him : 
 
 * Or, deceive. J - Hebr. coming it shall come. || it is lifted up, his soul is not, &c. 
 
 an appointed time] The destruction of the Chaldeans by 
 Cyrus is at a somewhat distant period of years, determined in 
 my counsels. 
 
 speak clearly] The word is used in Hiphil, with a case 
 after it, for uttering. Prov. vi. 19. xiv. 5. And it is used in 
 Kal. for asp i rare : Cantic. ii. 17: iv. 6: until the day break; 
 or brealh, as it is rendered in the margin. 
 
 and shall not lie] Thirteen MSS. read *A for j*Vl; as if the 
 true reading were N 1 ? rapV. 
 
 " But at the end thereof it shall speak clearly, it shall not lie. 
 
 " It shall not be later than its season." Dr.' Wheeler. 
 
 it shall not tarry long] So Houbigant. All the versions, 
 Chald. twenty-two MSS. and six editions read, " And it shall 
 not" &c. wto. See also Hebrews x. 37 ; where the sacred 
 writer follows, though not exactly, the mistaken Greek transla- 
 tion of this hemistich: for JO is the infinitive used gerundively, 
 not the participle; and is written NQ in six MSS. The clause 
 therefore is an apt accommodation, taken from a version in fre- 
 quent use among the Hellenistic Jew*; a remark which I extend 
 to the former clause of v. 4. 
 
 4. Behold] Two MSS. read rum. And Arab, has Et si : and 
 Hebr. x. 38, we read K . 6 have 'E. Thus the Greek tran- 
 slator may have read CDN, or CDiO. 
 
 lifted up] This rendering furnishes a good sense, if we 
 understand the passage of the Chaldeans : who, as appears from 
 c. i. 7, 12, 15 17, may be addressed in the singular number 
 throughout this chapter : though I allow that Nebuchadnezzar, 
 and Belshazzar, Dan. v. may be alluded to at the same time. 
 But the idea of elation of mind does not occur in the ancient 
 versions or paraphrase. On the contrary, 6. have M <jxocru\vrat, 
 and Ar. Si tcedio afficiatur ; which suggests the reading of nth W- 
 his mind is cast down, orfaintcth: and one MS. reads thus; and 
 another had nsby originally, which may possibly be rendered, 
 there is dejection; but not defect io, in' the sense of tailing off 
 from the faith. 
 
 his soul] 6. Ar. Hebr. x. 38, and at first MS. 17, read 
 u?s: my soul.
 
 234 HABAKKUK. II, 
 
 But the just shall live by his faith. 
 5 Moreover, as'a mighty man transgressed) thro' wine, 
 
 is not upright in him] Capellus supposes that 6. translate 
 from the Arabic sense of m\l" ; the word in the Arabic version 
 being from TYtf Itetus, hilaris, fuit. They may have read mm 
 <Jr run the participle, or nnin, or nmn. 
 
 But the just] o. MS. A. and ed. Aid. and the Arabic version, 
 represent the reading of 'pli; my just one. And one MS. origin- 
 ally, and some versions, and Fathers, read so Heb. x. 38. Rom; 
 i. 17. See Wetstein. 
 
 by his faith] So Vulg. Aq. Symm.Theod. and ed. v. vi. vii. 
 in Montfaucon. But 6. MS. V.-'and, Hebr. x. 38, one MS. Vulg. 
 and some Fathers, represent TDIOJO, by faith in me y as MS. 
 320 seems to read : and this reading Mill approves of. Proleg. 
 . 932. One Hebrew MS. reads naOQ. 
 
 There is an ambiguity in the Hebrew; as well as Rom. i 17. 
 Gal. in'. 11. Hebr. x. 33. 
 
 But the just shall live by his faith, 
 by faith, 
 by faith in me. 
 
 Or, But the just by his faith, shall live, 
 by faith, 
 by faith in me. 
 
 I prefer the former sense. The meaning of the prophet is ; The 
 good, or righteous, man, who believes in my prophets, and obeys 
 their directions, 'shall live at the time of the Babylonish invasion. 
 See Jer. xxi. 9. xxxviii. 2, 17, 18. xlii. 7, &c. In the New 
 Testament the words are accommodated. 
 
 " The English word faith is only used here and Deut. xxxii. 
 20 in all the O. T. And the Hebrew word naot*, which is here 
 used with a suffix, denotes many times an attribute of God, but 
 never a quality in man, except 1 Sam. xxvi. 23. where it means 
 fidelity: a rwvat* tt'N is a man of truth: Prov. xxviii. 20: and 
 there is no JON in them : Deut. xxxii. 20. With a suffix it de- 
 notes also a charge or office 1 Chron. ix. 22: 2 Chron. xxxi. 18. 
 But with or without a suffix, it never means faith, or credit giv- 
 en to a testimony. But the verb jV2tfn doth : as in the noted 
 place Gen. xv. 6. It may be translated here, by his faithfulness. 
 Comp. i. 13. 6 have m '*;; <* But Grabe ^ ;,-;. Syr. hath 
 no pronoun. n w in 6.. never, I think, signifies belief, but faith- 
 fulness; nor *,-o; believing, but faithful." Seeker. 
 
 5. a mighty man] I read TO} with Houbigant and Green* 
 See Ps. Ixxviii. 65. The van may have been supplied by a point-
 
 HABAKKUK. n. 235 
 
 Fie is proud, and remaineth not at * rest : 
 f He enlargeth his desire, as the grave ; 
 And he is as death, and cannot be satisfied j 
 And gathereth to himself all the nations, 
 And assembleth to himself all the J people. 
 6- Shall not all these 
 
 Take up a parable against him, 
 And a taunt and proverbs concerning him ? 
 And they shall say : 
 
 Woe unto him who multiplieth that which be- 
 
 longetk not unto him \ 
 How long will he laid himself with many pledges ; 
 
 * Hebr. at home, f Who. + the peoples. these all of them. 
 
 through wine] I read ]SD with Chald. See D thus com- 
 pounded, 1 Sam. xiv. 14. Gen. xxxviii. 24. 
 
 " O P)N*1 I understand not this particle. There seems an ellip- 
 sis of \tftf before J". See examples in Michaelis. A drunkard 
 is a transgressor, a proud man. Or, He is a drunkard, a &c." 
 Seeker. 
 
 remaineth not at rest] Perhaps the true reading is fTC'. Un- 
 seemly." Dr. Wheeler. From nitt in Niphal. 
 
 and cannot be satisfied] This is the reading of Vulg. and 
 Chald. But 6. Ar. Syr. one IMS. and Green, Poetical parts 
 &c. pref. p. xi. read N* 1 ? for t>&i. 
 
 " He enlargeth his desire, as the grave; 
 " And, as death, he cannot be satisfied." 
 
 Mr. Wintle also observed this reading in MS. 154; and ap- 
 proves of it. 
 
 This verse describes the Chaldeans, and their ambitious king. 
 
 6. a taunt and proverbs] Syr. reads nvrrn and proverbs, 
 Perhaps the true reading is, m'Vni, et irrisiomm prmerbiorum, 
 or, as Vulg. et loquelam anigmatum. tl A sentence of derision." 
 D. Wheeler. " Omittunt vau, Syr. Ch. Recte, ut videtur." 
 Seeker. 
 
 And they shall say] Literally, And one shall say: that is, 
 And it lhatt be said. 
 
 will he lade himself] Syr. Chald. and one MS. read T33Q 
 without the vau. 
 
 many pledges] Kimchi derives the original word from 
 
 Ciy to pledge; as "V13D, a heavy rain, from 13D: and thinks 
 
 that the repetition of the third radical intends tbe signification. 
 
 There may be a reference to the frequent rapines of the Chal- 
 
 x n
 
 IIABAKKUK. II. 
 
 7 Shall not they suddenly rise up, that will bite thee : 
 And shall not they awake, that will harass thee? 
 And shalt thou not become jj a booty unto them ? 
 
 8 Because thou thyself hast spoiled many nations, 
 All the residue of the * people sha'l spoil thee: 
 For the f blood of men, and violence done to the land, 
 To the city and to all the inhabitants thereof. 
 
 9 ' Woe unto him who J coveteth an evil covet- 
 
 ousness for his house ; 
 That he may set his nest on high ; 
 That he may be delivered from the || power of evil ! 
 10 Thou hast * consulted shame to thine f house 
 
 By cutting off many J people ; and thy soul 
 hath sinndd, 
 
 jl Hebr. for booties. * peoples, f bloods. * Or, g^ineth an ev'J gain. Or, family. 
 |j Hebr. haixL * Or, devised, f Or family- + Hebr. peoples. Or, then hast sinned. 
 
 deans; and to the pledges and hostages taken by them for the 
 payment of stipulated sums. See Fuller Misc. sacr. i. v. c. 8. 
 "ladeth; ioadeth bnrroweth; thick' clay; wealth." Seeker. 
 
 7. Shall not they] " Shall they not. Shall not thy creditors." 
 Seeker. 
 
 bite thee] A metaphor taken from the hunting of wild 
 beasts. 
 
 unto the-rn] The Medes and Persian*. 
 
 8. residue] All that remain from thy devastations. Syr. 
 omits te. 
 
 the blood of men] Shed by thee. 
 
 land city] I^nnd of Judea ; city of Jerusalem. " of the 
 land: or, against: as Joel iii. 19. Gbad. 10." Seeker. 
 
 9. -for his house] Which Nebuchadnezzar strove to ag- 
 grandize ; and which Cyrus cut off. See Dan. v. 2, 30. 
 
 " Woe unto him that procurcth wicked gain for his family." 
 
 Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 10. consulted] " Devised. See on Isai. ix. 6." Seeker. 
 hath sinned] Perhaps nNlDin. 
 
 11. the beam] From the Syr. DSD connexuit. wlmpi;, 
 Symm. Theod. lignum. V. Bochart has a dissertation on this 
 word: Hieroz. p. ii. L. iv. c. xxvi : and says that the Talmuclists 
 use it for a brick of certain dimensions : a sense which he 
 prefers. He quotes, 
 
 Jumenta loquentur, 
 
 Et canis, et postes, et marmora. Juv. 
 The passage is very poetical j and may refer to the great
 
 HABAKKUK. IT. oj 7 
 
 1 1 Surely the stone from the wall crieth out ; 
 And the j| beam from the timber ansvvereth it: 
 
 Saying : 
 
 12 ^ Woe unto him who buildeth a town by * blood, 
 
 " And established) a city by iniquity !" 
 
 13 Are not these things from Jehovah God of hosts, 
 That f people shall labour for the fire, 
 
 And nations should weary themselves for a vain 
 thing? 
 
 14 Surely the earth shall be filled 
 
 || Or. faitning, * Hebr. blouds. -J- peoples. 
 
 buildings erected by Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. The stones 
 and wood, which were to be overturned, should proclaim the 
 woe that follows. Mr. Wintle refers to Luke xix. 40. 
 
 " T^23 by Jon. Lectio niyp concidisti siae dubio prafe- 
 renda." Bahrdt. 
 
 13. -these things] For run behold V. 6. Ar. read nix* these 
 things. Syr. has nVtt bl all these things. But Chald. has Nil behold. 
 
 for the fire] By which great part of Babylon will be con- 
 sumed. See '"D^cr Nahum iu 12, 
 
 And nations] Nebuchadnezzar employed great multitudes 
 in erecting his works. 
 
 The original here is : 
 
 isy pi na 
 And Jer. li. 58, we read : 
 
 pn na Q ! 
 
 And Me people shall labour for a vain thing \ 
 
 And nations for the fire, and shall be weary. 
 But Syr. omits the 1 in lDi?'l: and so do 6. Ar. though they tran- 
 slate widely. The reading also of one MS. is ij)y. That the 
 true reading is ID];* 
 
 " And the nations shall weary themselves for the fire," 
 appears from the turn of the sentence in Jeremiah, and the jux- 
 taposition of the places. It is very observable that in Jeremiah 
 six MSS. make the two passages exactly parallel; by inserting 
 UK* in the former hemistich, and p'1 in the latter. 
 
 for a vain thing] For what God sjiall bring to nought. 
 
 14. the earth shall be filled] God's power and provi- 
 dence shall be widely displayed in the destruction of Babylon; 
 in the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iv. 37; and in 
 the captivity and restoration of his people. See ajso Dan ii. 
 47. iii. 29. vi. 26. There is a narajlel place Isai. xi. 9.
 
 238 HA13AKKCK. II. 
 
 With the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, 
 
 As the waters cover the sea. 
 Id Woe unto him who maketh his neighbour drink, 
 
 Who putteth his flagon unto him, and also maketh. 
 him drunken; 
 
 That he may look on their nakedness! 
 16 Thou art frHed with shame instead of glory: 
 
 Drink thou also and uncover thy foreskin: 
 
 Unto thee shall be turned the cup from the right 
 hand of Jehovah; 
 
 And foul shame shall be on thy glory. 
 1 7 Surely the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, 
 
 With the knowledge] See N^O used with \ Dan. ix. 2. 
 
 cover the sea] The terb HDD is used with *?y in many 
 places: Deut. xiii. 8. Neh. iv. 5. Job xxi. 26. Ps. xliv. 19. 
 cvi. 17. . Prov. x. 12. Ezek. xxiv. 7. xxxi. 15. and perhaps 
 Mai. ii. 16. 
 
 The curious reader will observe the Masoretic point at PWPI; 
 introduced, as it should seem, merely to shew the proper pause 
 in the measure. See Bishop Lowth's Isaiah : preliminary dis- 
 sertation: p. xxv. 
 
 15. Who putteth his flagon] Vulg. and symm. favour Ho- 
 bigant's reading, ^rV2H. The word HDD in Chald. signifies abun- 
 dare fecit, and in Arab, fudit. 
 
 his flagon] Or, his gall, his poison. 
 
 their nakedness] V. Chald. have, his nakedness. 
 
 16. and uncover thy foreskin] 6. Ar. Syr. read 'jjTVB " anct 
 be seized with trembling, or astonishment." A remarkably ap- 
 posite word. See Ps. Ix. 3. Isai. li. 17, 22. Zech. xii.2. 6, ed. 
 Aid. and MS. Pachom. read * lMaa.\vAw. 
 
 the cup] See Ps. Ixxv. 8. Jer. xxv. 15, 27. This shall 
 come round to you, in its turn. 
 
 foul shame] " Shameful pollution." Dr. Wheeler. Six 
 MSS. divide the original word and read pbp 'p>; which may be 
 equivalent to pVp tf'pl et vonpitus ignominiae. Or there may be 
 an intensive repetition of the first radical in the root r6p. 
 
 Grotius justly observes that v. 15, 16, contain an allegory. 
 The Chaldeans gave to the neighbouring nations the cup of 1 
 idolatry, and of deceitful alliance: and in return they received 
 from Jehovah the cup of bis fury. 
 
 " Suspicor olim iectum fuisse pVp **'pl. Repetc 21DH e 
 membro priori." Bahrtk.
 
 1IABAKKUK. II. 239 
 
 And the destruction of J beasts shall make thee 
 
 afraid: 
 
 For the blood of men, and violence doneio the land, 
 To the city and ail the inhabitants thereof. 
 
 18 What profit.eth the graven image, 
 That the j| maker thereof hath graven it ? 
 'And the molten image, and the teacher of lies: 
 That the * maker of his work trusteth therein, 
 To make him dumb idols? 
 
 19 Woa unto him who saith to the wood, Awake; 
 To the f silent stone, Arise. 
 
 Shall it teach ? Behold, it is laid over with gold 
 
 avid silver ; 
 Neither is there any breath in the midst therepf. 
 
 20 But Jehovah Is in his J holy temple: 
 Be silent before him, All the earth. 
 
 % Hebr. cattle. bloods, |j Or, fashioner. * Hebr. the fashioner of his fashion. 
 f stone of silence. J the temple of his holiness. 
 
 17. shall make thee afraid] I read *]nrr, in Hiphil, with 
 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. Mr. Wintle also proposes this reading. 
 
 18. And the molten image] Dr. Durell proposes to remove 
 the 1 from nif, and add it'to rooa. Two MSS. read rcDDI, 
 which Green approves of. But the hemistich is very elegant, 
 and in the poetical manner, without the van. There are many 
 such passages: as Isai. xlii. 10, 1. 1, 2. 22. 1. 3, 4. xliii. 19, 
 1. 3. 4. Ps. cxiv. 1. Seer>. 19. 1. 1, 2. 
 
 the teacher of lies] By oracles, which the statue was sup- 
 posed to give; but which in fact were given by the artifice of 
 the priest. " The image teaches lies, gives false notions of the 
 Deity." Seeker. 
 
 the maker of his work] 1 suspect that -)jfl, or 1"^', is su- 
 perfluous; as both may be participles. See Syr. Chald. They 
 seem to be different readings. " MS. Copt, omits o ****." 
 Mr. Woide. 
 
 19. silent stone] ptt is feminine, and therefore DOIT 
 must be a substantive : lapidi silentii. See Isai. xlvii. 5. Sit 
 thou in silence. 
 
 Shall it teach?] So Vul. ]>y is understood. 
 
 laid over] I supply \>y the wood. " Laid hold of, that is, 
 enclosed :" says Tayl. cone. 
 
 any breath] Sciendum, in quibusdam Hebr. voluminibus 
 non esse additum omnis, sed absolute spiritum legi. Jerom : 
 quoted in Kennicott's diss. ge. . 84. 13. And Syr. omits to.
 
 240 HABAKKUK. III. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 [A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shi- 
 
 gionoth.l 
 
 2 O JEHOVAH, I have heard thy speech; 
 I have feared, O Jehovah, thy work, 
 
 As the years approach, thou hast shewn if. ; 
 As the years approach, thou makest it known, 
 In wrath thou rememberest mercy. 
 
 3 God came from Teman, 
 
 Hebr. hearing. 
 
 T. A prayer ] The title seems a Jewish annotation of a 
 later age: and the insertion of it interrupts the connection. 
 
 Shigionoth] The word is probably derived from the Syi*. 
 \3O, mutavit, variavit : and thus may denote a musical instru- 
 ment of great compass, with which the Jews accompanied this 
 piece of poetry. 
 
 2. thy speech] Which thou hast communicated to me: c. 
 i. 511. ii. 420. See Obad. i. I. 
 
 thy work] I have been struck with fear, because of tlie 
 judgments denounced against Juclah and Jerusalem . c. i. 5 1 1, 
 Ji. 4, 5, 8, 17. One MS. reads 1^2^, because of thy icork. 
 
 " Jehovah, I have seen thy work." Dr. Wheeler. 
 He reads Ti'NI I have seen. 6. have tmmwv*. and in MS. Pa- 
 chom. and ed. Aid. we find K^.S, v.-nnwju.. 
 
 approach] Capellus prefers the reading of 6. and Aquila : 
 
 thou hast shewn if] Capellns ingeniously conjectures 
 imn, shew it. I prefer mn thou hast shewn it. 6. have <W 
 which word represents nvn. One MS. has at present invn, 
 another perhaps imn, another i;"n, which reading Jeroin also 
 found. Kenn. diss. gen. . 84. 13. 
 
 Thou makest it known] -One MS reads iynn, notam 
 fades id. 
 
 thou rememberest] Observe the topics of consolation, c. 
 ii. 4 r 14: and the several woes denounced against Babylon. 
 
 3. God came ] Bishop Lowth observes that this is a sudden 
 burst of poetry, in the true spirit of the ode ; the concealed 
 connection being, that God, who had formerly displayed such. 
 power in delivering the Israelites from Egyptian sfavery, might 
 succour their posterity in a like wonderful manner; and the en- 
 thusiasm of the poet leading him to neglect all obvious ways of
 
 HABAKKUK. III. 241 
 
 And th.e Holy One from mount Paran : [Selah.] 
 His glory covered the heavens ; 
 And the earth was full of his praise. 
 4 His brightness was as the light : 
 Kays streamed \\ from his hand : 
 And there was the hiding-place of his power. 
 
 jj Hcbr. to him from his hand. 
 
 entering on bis subject. Pracl. Hehr. xxviii. V. 3. 7. contain a 
 sublime description of God, when he conducted his people to 
 the land of Canaan. The grandest circumstances are selected ; 
 and the diction is as splendid as the subjects. 
 
 " The Captivity brought to his mind the Exodus; and that 
 he who had delivered could deliver. Lowth p. 257." Seeker. 
 
 Teman] First perhaps the name of an encampment, and 
 afterwards of an Idumean ciiy. Numb. xx. 21. Jer. xlix. 7. 
 Job ii. 11. 
 
 Paran] Sec Deut. xxxiii. 2. A part of Arabia Petrea; 
 Gen. xxi. 21. 
 
 Selah] See Pol. syn. Ps. iii. 6. render the word ^a^at-pa., which, 
 says Suidas, is /ox; >.*.-/*, cantus immutatio. 
 
 glory] On mount Sinai, and in the pillar of fire. 
 praise] On account of his majesty and power. Bishop 
 Lowth, ubi supr. renders the word splendor ; and Green's ver- 
 sion is, 
 
 And his glory filled the earth. 
 The verb 'rtn in Hiphil signifies to shine, 
 
 " And his praise filled the earth." Dr. Wheeler. 
 4. His brightness] 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. Houbigant read in^jj 
 tt splendor ejus. V. has splendor ejus. The vau may be consider- 
 ed as conversive of rvnn, an d may be ommitted in ao English 
 translation. 
 
 ' Hays] The verb pp signifies to shine: Ex. xxxiv. 29, 30, 
 35 : and a pencil, or cone, of rays issuing from a point, diverges 
 in the shape of a horn. See Deut. xxxiii. 2 : 
 
 " From his right hand issued streams of light :" 
 the original word being nVHL'N, from TON in Syr. and Chald. to 
 pour forth. See the learned Dr. Durell's note on the place. 
 Twenty MSS. and one ed. read CD3lpl And rays. 
 
 And there ] In the place whence the light proceeded he 
 gloriously concealed his presence. Three MSS. originally, and 
 V. Chald. read nttf, There. 
 
 of his power] Kcri, many MSS. and some editions, read 
 vy, or my, ^x^ ?. t>.
 
 -VJ IIABAKKUK. III. 
 
 5 Before him, went the pestilence: 
 
 And flashes of fire * went forth after him. 
 
 6 He stood, and measured the land ; 
 He beheld, and dispersed .the nations : 
 
 And the everlasting mountains were broken asunder^ 
 
 The eternal hills bowed down: 
 
 The eternal paths f were trodden by him. 
 
 * Hebr. at his feet. f were his. 
 
 Capellus understands the verse of the lightening on mount 
 Sinai ; but I rather refer it to the brightness which occasionally 
 issued from the Shechinah. Ex. xvi. 7, 10. 
 
 5. the pestilence] See Numb. xi. 33. xiv. 37. xvi. 46. It 
 was occasionally inflicted on the Israelites, for their guilt. 
 
 flashes of fire] F]iin quicquid -colando adurit et inflammat. 
 Cast. lex. Ardor vibrans ac coruscus. Schultens, on Job v. 7. 
 See also Gussetius; who, by comparing Ps. Ixxviii. 48, with 
 Ex. ix. 29, collects that pn has the nature of \V fire : but 
 thinks it id, quod hi igneveliementiorisese vibrat ; ftamma rubens. 
 Lev. x. 2, Numb. xi. 1, xvi. 35, the Israelites were consumed 
 by a fire which went out from Jehovah. And Lev. ix. 24, the 
 burnt offering was consumed by a fire which came out from be- 
 fore Jehovah. 
 
 after him] " As it is translated Gen. xxx. 30. 1 Sam. xxv. 
 42, is quite parallel." Seeker. 
 
 6. measured] Divided it out, like a conqueror. Ps. Ix. 6. 
 Green. 6. have leaii-A, and Chald. yw from jw movit. Hence 
 Capellus conjectures TI13; and Houbigant, t;ni et concussit, or, 
 TTvi et subjecit. Possibly TJI, and moi-ed. 
 
 dispersed] One signification of the Arabic root in Cast. 
 lex. is sparsit, dispersit ; and in Syr. Chald. Arab, the word sig- 
 nifies defluxity decidit. It may therefore be rendered in Hiphil 
 deftuere, vel decidere, fecit. 
 
 the nations] All who opposed his people ; and particularly 
 the seven nations. 
 
 mountains hills] This may be understood of cleaving the 
 rock for water: Ex. xvii. C: and of God's wonderful display of 
 his powor on Sinai, when the mountain shook. Ex. xix. 18. 
 
 eternal paths] Literally, God occupied the summit of the 
 eternal mount Sinai; and led his people over the eternal moun- 
 tains in Arabia Petrsea. And this sense is preferable to the 
 figurative one; that his ways, or doings, are predetermined from 
 everlasting.
 
 HABAKKUK. III. 24S 
 
 7 Thou sawest the tents of Cushan J in affliction: 
 The curtains of the land of Midian trembled. 
 
 8 Was the anger of Jehovah kindled against the 
 
 floods? 
 
 Was thy wrath against the floods ? 
 Was thine indignation against the sea, 
 When thou didst ride on thine horses, and on thy 
 
 chariots of deliverance? 
 
 9 Tby bow was made bare, 
 
 * Hebr. under. Or, tent-curtains. 
 
 7. Thou sawest ] I saw," supposing the prophet to speak, 
 seems harsh. And therefore I propose JTN*~), Thou sawest ad- 
 dressed to God : as v. 12 15. 
 
 in affliction] If JIN nnn cannot signify in affliction, or, under 
 the punishment of iniquity, we must have recourse to conjecture. 
 Houbigant and Green adopt CD'nnn ; which may signify struck 
 with terror. " Sub peccato e.sse reddi potest, puniri, succumbcre 
 scglerum affectibus" Bahrdt. 
 
 Cushan] That is, some say, of Chus or Midian. Compare 
 Numb. xii. 1. Ex. ii. 16, 21. Numb. xxxi. 7, 8, &c. Others 
 think that Judges iii. 10, vii. 1, &c. are referred to. Perhaps 
 for pK nnn we should read Jny nnrr : and for ptflD, juo. 
 
 Thou sawest the terror of Og; 
 
 The tents of Bashan trembled ; 
 
 The curtains of the land of Median. Numb.xxi. 33. xxxi. 3. 
 
 The curtains] V. pelles: &,<?"> vetustissimus liber majoribus 
 literis exaratus. See the notes on this chapter in S. Quintus's 
 edition of 6. That is, the coverings of their tents, made of skins. 
 
 8. floods] If the Red Sea only is referred to, and not Jor- 
 dan, we should render, the jloods. Ps. Ixvi. 6. Jon. ii. 3. 
 Otherwise, translate rivers. 
 
 and on thy chariots] Many MSS. supply the vau twice : 
 701:12-0: and V. 6. Ar. Syr. represents it the "beginning of the 
 word. 
 
 God is described as a mighty warrior, attended by his cha- 
 riots, even thousands of angels. Ps. Ixviii. 17. 
 
 9. made bare] Nudatione nudabatur, i. e. e theca educe- 
 batur; say some ; and others, nudalione excitabatur. And Har- 
 mer informs us, from Sir I. Chard in, that the oriental bows 
 were wont to be carried in a case hung to the girdle: ii. 513. 
 If Try does not signify nudttre, we may read iyn from my. Hou- 
 bigant adopts the reading of V. suscitans suseitabis; Tyn Tyn. 
 And 6. MS, A. arid ed Aid. .have m un tmw 
 
 o o
 
 244 HABAKKUK. III. 
 
 According to the oath unto the tribes, even the 
 promise. [Selah.] 
 
 10 Thou didst cleave the streams of the land : 
 The mountains saw thee and were in pangs: 
 The overflowing of waters passed away : 
 The deep uttered its voice: 
 
 // lifted up its hands on hi$h. 
 
 1 1 The sun and the moon stood still in their habi- 
 
 tation : 
 
 the oath] The proposition is very often understood in the 
 poetical parts of scripture. Here "? may be supplied, if we read 
 with the greatest number of MSS. mynt? oaths. Sixteen 
 MSS. read nyQUJ; which, in statu constructo, may signify the 
 path unto the tribes, as Ps. Ixxxix. 39. -jiny rVD signifies the 
 covenant with thy senwit. 
 
 the promise] See 1QN Ps. Ixxvii. 8. 
 
 The question, asked in a very bold and poetical manner v. 
 8, is answered v. 9; that God displayed his power to deliver his 
 people, according to his faithful word. Gen. xxii. 16. xxvi. 
 3. Ps. cv. 9, 10. v. 13. 1. 1, 2. 
 
 The passage through the Bed Sea having been beautifully 
 mentioned in an indirect manners. 8; the prophet continues 
 his magnificent description of the Deity v. 10, 11, 12 : and adds 
 the reason why such power was displayed, in the two first hem- 
 istichs of v. 13. 
 
 10. 'the streams] When Jordan was divided. 
 
 The mountains] i. Ar. suggest another reading: CD'Q>; the 
 people. But see P. cxiv. 4. 
 
 The overflowing}. The Lower streams of Jordan, whose banks 
 were then overflowed, passed away toward the Dead Sea. Josh. 
 iii. 15, 16. 
 
 voice] The upper waves stood on an heap, not without 
 roaring. See Green. 
 
 on high] -Oil for CDl") 1 ?. So, Ps. xcviii. 8, we have, 
 " The floods clap their hamis." 
 
 11. and the moon] V. 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. ten MSS. and 
 two ed. read rnl and the moOn: and two other MSS. read so 
 originally. But see the omission of the connexive particle de- 
 fended by instances: Boch. Hieroz. 844: who refers to Ex. 
 xxii. 30. Deut. xxiv. 17. 2 Chron. xviii. 30. 
 
 in their habitation] Perhaps tZD^nr, or eaVor : the n and 
 CD being easily mistaken. See Syr. Chald.
 
 HABAKKUK. III. 245 
 
 By their light thine arrows went abroad; 
 
 By their brightness, the lightening of thy spear. 
 
 12 In thine indignation didst thou march through 
 
 the land ; 
 In thy vvratji didst thou tread the nations. 
 
 13 Thou wentest forth for the deliverance of thy people, 
 Even for the deliverance of thine anointed ones. 
 
 Thou didst wound the head out of the house of 
 
 the wicked : 
 
 Thou didst lay bare the foundation to the rock : 
 [Selah.] " 
 
 Hebr. thrash. 
 
 By their light ] Or, In light in brightness furnished 
 by their shining. 
 
 thine arrows] Calvin says that the arrows and spears of 
 the Israelites are called those of God, under whose auspices his 
 people fought. Or, the instruments of destruction which God 
 employed, Josh. x. 11, may be metaphorical^ called his arrows 
 and spear. 
 
 lightning] See Nahum iii. 3. 
 
 12. tread] Crush them, as corn by the drag. 
 
 13. thine anointed ones] Houbigant reads -jTTOtt, and refers 
 to 6. MS. A. and ? i*\ixru; in Montf. Hex. A MS. referred 
 to in Sixtus Quintus's edition; and MS. Pachom. have also 
 
 w? x?'f? <; and two Hebrew MSS. read plurally, and perhaps 
 two more. See Ps. cv. 15. " Plur. xgw> MS. Copt." Mr. 
 -Woide. " Rather, for the salvation of thine anointed. FornN 
 is often for the genitive case. See Nold. Or yu; may be a 
 verb." Seeker. 
 
 Thou didst wound] The ardor of the prophet having led 
 him to begin in the midst of his subject, v. 3; he here returns 
 to what passed in 'Egypt before the dividing of the Red Sea, 
 the mention of which astonishing miracle he repeats v.-- 15. 
 
 out of the house] Or, So that there should be no house. 
 The prophet returns to the transactions in Egypt; and here re- 
 fers to the destruction of the firstborn. 
 
 Thou didst lay bare] The verb is in the infinitive: Laying 
 bare. 6. V. Syr. and ed. v. in Montfaucon read nny. 
 
 to the rock] Capellus, Houbigant and Green read TiJf: 
 " To the rock on which the foundation rested." The death of 
 the firstborn is figuratively callec,! the utter overthrow of the 
 Egyptian houss.
 
 246 HABAKKUK. III. 
 
 14 Thou didst pierce with thy rod the head of his 
 
 villages. 
 
 They rushed as a whirlwind to scatter us : 
 Their rejoicing was, as if they should devour the 
 
 poor secretly. 
 
 15 Thou didst march through the sea ttitk thine 
 
 horses ; 
 Through the heap of mighty waters. 
 
 16 When I heard thy speech, my bowels trembled: 
 At the voice my lips quivered : 
 
 Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled 
 
 in H my place; 
 Because I shall be brought to the day of trouble, 
 
 || Hebr. under me. 
 
 14.. with thy rod] Houbigant and Green read "J1233. 
 Three MSS. read 1OQ3, which resembles the conjecture pro- 
 posed. 
 
 of his villages] Many MSS. five editions, and Keri, have 
 VHD. The firstborn arc called the heads of the Egyptian vil- 
 lages; and these God smote with the rod of his anger. 
 
 The word ns is derived from the Arab : segregavit : see 
 Cast, lex: because the houses are sejmraied: aad not joined to- 
 gether as in cities. 
 
 Dr. Wheeler conjectures Vttns. 
 
 " His horsemen, when they came as a whirlwind to scatter us." 
 
 to scatter us] I follow Green's excellent conjecture, iXJ'DnV. 
 
 Their rejoicing] Thirty MSS. read nniJf'' 1 ?!?, their rejoicings. 
 The Egyptians rapidly followed the Israelites, and in imagina- 
 tion devoured a defenceless people. Whereas the Israelites en- 
 tered the land of Canaan armed, and struck the inhabitants with 
 great fear. Josh. iv. 13. v. 1. 
 16. I heard] See on v. 2. 
 
 Rottenness] The learned Schroeder observes that 6. Ar. Ch. 
 Syr. read ?:n tremor, and that Lilienthal found this reading in 
 the margin of a Hebrew MS. Diss. Philol. ad Cantic. Chabacuoi. 
 Groningae. 1781. 
 
 I trembled] Palluit, & subito genua intremuere timore. 
 Schroeder. Ovid Met. ii. 180. 
 
 I shall be brought] One MS. reads TON, which may bfi 
 the future in Niphal from nm ducere: a verb, indeed, not 
 elsewhere used in that form. Or, we may read TTjn. he hath 
 broicghLme l from nrc ducere; or, he hath left n(e, from TO',
 
 HABAKKUK. III. 24? 
 
 To go up eaptive unto the people who shall invade 
 
 us with their troops. 
 
 But although the figtree shall not flourish, 
 And there shall he no produce in the vines ; 
 The fruit of the olive shall fail, 
 And the fields shall not yield food ; 
 The flocks shall be cut off from the fold, 
 And thtre shall.be no herd in the stalls; 
 
 18 Yet will I rejoice in Jehovah, 
 
 I will exult in the God of my salvation. 
 
 19 The Lord Jehovah is my strength; 
 
 agreeably to Chald. where we have 3paun quoniam rcliquit me. 
 Syr. also expresses the pronoun /. yini et ostcndit mihi. The 
 prophet may speak in the person of the Jsws who would be 
 then living. 
 
 " If so be I might have rest in the day of affliction, 
 
 " When he goeth up against the people, and harasseth them 
 with his troops. Dr. Wheeler. 
 
 17. But although ] Or. For: and v. 13, But I " mDn 
 *oifo<pog>i<7H 6, quasi legissent rnSfi. Non male: nee enim floret 
 ficus. Sed germinate etiam notat JT1D. Vid. Cast, in voc. Or, 
 for; or, when." Seeker. 
 
 " It is observed that some of the oldest versions never tran- 
 slate mD flowering : and that it is distinguished from V' a flower 
 Numb. xvii. 8. And indeed it seems rather to signify shoots 
 than flowers, Job xiv. 9. Ps. xcii. 7. or 8. Prov. xi. 8. Is. v. 24. 
 Ixvi. 14. Epict. 1. i. c. 15. p. 86 says of a figtree: A?*J enfant vpmi, 
 
 ttra wao^rtX* <tyt xttoov, lira twfti." 5teckcr. 
 
 The fruit ] As nuy signifies to produce, as a tree or a field; 
 see Gen. i. 11, 12, Ps. i. 3: nu?VD will naturally denote fruit. 
 Hence wamv xaj in the New Testament : Matth. iii. 10, &c. 
 fields yield] Read wy. 
 
 shall be cut off] One cut off: or, He, God, cut off. Or 
 read, in the participle passive, "m 
 
 stalls] The Arabic root of the original word signifies/rigrzY 
 fomminuitf stramen. The places where the herds were fed with 
 cut straw. " Bubile. Alludit Arabicum riED feenum" Bqch. 
 Hieroz. 305. 
 
 19. The Lord] This v. is an imitation of Ps. xviii. 33. 
 Twelve MSS and one ed. transpose the two first words of this 
 and read mn rw. 
 
 " Jehovah, my Lord, is my strength." Dr. Wheeler.
 
 248 HABAKKUK. in. 
 
 And he will make my feet like hind's 
 
 And will cause me to tread on mine high places. 
 
 [To the chief musician on my stringed instruments.] 
 
 Cause me to tread] Eight MSS. read ate in the psalm, 
 Tray. " Thou shall cause me to return with strength and swift- 
 ness from the land of my captivity, and to possess its fastnesses." 
 See Deut. xxxiii. 29. xxxii. 13. 
 
 The state of the land during the captivity may be described, 
 v. 17 : or the prophet may declare that such circumstances should 
 not shake his confidence in God. And v. 19. he may speak in 
 the person of his people, who were to be restored. 
 
 chief musician] From TO3 prafuit, supera-^it. Cast. lex. 
 See 2 Chron. ii. 18. 
 
 my stringed instruments] From \H pulsare, musics. 6. Ar. 
 Syr. read his stringed instruments: which reading I prefer, as 
 this seems a Jewish annotation. " My may be the King's word, 
 and this his direction, Lowth." Seeker.
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 O B A D I A H. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 1 HE vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord 
 Jehovah concerning Edom. 
 
 We have heard a * report from Jehovah, 
 And an ambassador is sent among the nations: 
 Saying : 
 
 " Kise ye: and let us rise up against her to war." 
 
 2 Behold I have made thee small among the 
 
 nations: 
 Thou art greatly despised. 
 
 * Hebr. a hearing. 
 
 Obacliah] I suppose that he prophesied between the taking 
 of Jerusalem, which happened before Christ 587, and the de^ 
 struction of Idumea by Nebuchadnezzar: which latter event 
 probably took place a very few years after the former. Usher 
 places the destruction of Jerusalem in the 538th year before 
 Christ; and the siege of Tyre in the year 585 before Christ. 
 This siege lasted thirteen years ; in which interval Usher says 
 that the Sidonians, Moabites, Ammmonites, and Idumeans, seem 
 to have been subdued by the Babylonian*. Joseph us says that 
 Nebuchadnezzar began to besiege Tyre in the seventh year of 
 his reign : but Capellus proposes reading the seventeenth. 
 Blair places the takin'g of Tyre in the thirty-third year of Ne- 
 buchadnezzar. 
 
 1. sent] Jer. xlix. 14, we have ftfyv. Compare the 
 passages. 
 
 2. small despised] Compare Jer. xlix. 15. Idumea was 
 a country, if compared with the dominions of flourishing states, 
 very moderate in extent, and inconveniently situated. " The 
 land of Moab occupied the eastern part of the sea of Sodom. 
 Next to this country Idumea turned towards the south : though 
 it did not border on all Canaan southward, but onjy on its east- 
 ern part. The rest lay open to Arabia Petraea, by which Idu- 
 mea was situated southward, made apart of it, and went far into 
 it." Vitr. on Isai. xxxiv. 6. " The country of the Idumeans
 
 50 QUAD1AH. I. 
 
 3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. 
 
 He that dxvelleth in the clefts of the rock, hi his 
 
 f high habitation, 
 Kath said in his heart, Who shall bring me down 
 
 to the ground ? 
 
 4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, 
 
 And though thou set thy nest among the stars; 
 Thence will I bring thee down, saith Jehovah. 
 
 5 If thie\es had come unto thee, 
 
 f Hebr. the height of bis habitation. 
 
 was properly circumscribed by that mountainous tract which en- 
 closed Canaan to the south near the sea of Sodom, as appears 
 from the whole sacred history: whence mount Hor, situated 
 there, is said to have been on the edge, border, or extremity, 
 of the land of Edom. Numb. xx. 23. It is true that, about 
 the time of Solomon, the Idumeans occupied some part of the 
 Elatiitic gulph of the Red Sea; whence a tract of that coast was 
 called the land of Edom. 1 Kings ix. 26. But all the prophets 
 who speak of Edom about these times restrain their lands to 
 mount Seir, in the tract which I have marked out." Vitr. on Isai. 
 xxi. 1. However, that part of Idumea partook of the qualities 
 of the land of Canaan appears from Gen. xxvii. 39, compared 
 with v. 28 : and, Numb. xx. 17, the fields and vineyards of the 
 Idumeans are mentioned. 
 
 3. He that dwelleth] J3*tf, with the jod paragogic, occurs 
 also in the parallel place Jer. xlix. 16. See Prael. Hebr. iii. p. 34. 
 
 clefts of the rock] There were many habitable caverns, 
 difficult of access, in the mountainous country of Idumea. 
 
 in his high habitation] " 6. Vulg. OHO ut alibi fvaao 
 rOtt&" Seeker. 
 
 If we read -|rOl& and "pfo, and V. has in corde tuo, we 
 render: 
 
 O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, in thine 
 habitation ; 
 
 Who sayest in thine heart &c. 
 
 4. eagle] Which builds in high rocks. 
 
 thou set] Houbigant reads Qnwi, with the versions. 
 " 6. Syr. Ch. Vulg. quasi legissent nu;n. Sed vide omiiino 
 Num. xxiv. 2 1 ." Seeker. CD'tt? may be rendered is set, posituf 
 fst. See Job xx. 4. If we suppose this prophet the imitator, 
 he has finely improved Jeremiah xlix. 16. in the hemistich be- 
 fore us. 
 
 5. If thieves ] Compare JJer. xlix. 9 : where, I think, we 
 should render,
 
 OB ADI AH. 251 
 
 If robbers by night ; 
 
 Would they not have stolen till they had enough? 
 If grape gatherers had come unto thee, 
 Would they not have left gleanings of grapes? 
 
 6 How art thou cut oft*! 
 How is Esau searched out ! 
 
 How are his hidden things inquired after ! 
 
 7 All the men of thy confederacy 
 Have brought thee to the border : 
 
 The men J who were at peace with thee, and 
 
 who ate bread with thee, 
 
 Have deceived thee, and have prevailed against thee: 
 They have spread a snare under thee. 
 
 J Hebr. of thy peace, of thy bread. 
 
 If grape gatherers had come unto thee, 
 Would they not have left gleanings of grapes? 
 If thieves by night, would they not have destroyed till they 
 had enough? 
 
 6. How art thou cut off!] This clause is usually thrown into 
 a .parenthesis after the words, if robbers by nighty in v. 5. Le 
 Clerc places it at the beginning of v. 5. it may very well make 
 a part of v. 6. Thieves and robbers would have stolen till they 
 had satisfied themselves. Grape gatherers would have left 
 gleanings after them. But the Babylonian invaders have de- 
 stroyed thee utterly. See a like opposition Jer. xlix. 10. 
 
 searched out] 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. read tt?Bna. See a similar 
 passage Isai. xlv. 3. " Professor Michaelis proposes IDttPD 
 7tw.de bare ; from Jer. xlix. 10." Mr. Woide. 
 
 7. the border] Thy own border, where they delivered 
 thee into the hand of thy enemy. Or, to the border of their 
 once friendly country, whither thou had st fled for refuge: thus 
 dismissing tliq>e ignominiously. 
 
 who ate bread] Enmity was not to be expected from such; 
 according to the customs of those countries. Syr. reads -prf?l 
 "the men of thy peace and of thy bread." 6, MS. Pachom. 
 render, M vwoQwltc #wt. " Ante -prr? repetendum videtur 
 a xoiw. TMH." Moerlius. ' inn 2 ? omittunt 6. et sane potuit a 
 prsecedenti p'fo oriri. Etiam TON facile potuit inter praece- 
 dentem ~[ et sequentem b absorbed ; vel forte legenduin TOrf?, 
 najtn tarn comedere notat." Seeker, 
 
 a snare] V. 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. have this idea; and seem 
 to have read TistO, for TrQ. " To place a wound under a Per- 
 son," seems a harsh expression. 
 P p
 
 013AD1A11. 
 
 There is none understanding in thee. 
 
 8 Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, 
 Destroy the wise men from Edom, 
 
 And understanding from the mount of Esau ? 
 
 9 Shall not thy mighty men, O Teman, be dismayed ; 
 That every one may be cut off from the mount of 
 
 Esau ? 
 
 10 For slaughter, and for oppression, of thy 
 
 brother Jacob, 
 
 Shame shall cover thee, and thou shall be cut off 
 for ever. 
 
 11 In the day when thou stoodest on the other side; 
 In the day when strangers carried away captive 
 
 his forces, 
 
 And when foreigners enterejj into his gates, 
 And when they cast lots on Jerusalem; 
 Thou also wast as one of them. 
 12. But thou shouldest not have looked with delight 
 
 on the day of thy brother, on the day when 
 
 he became a stranger ; 
 Nor have rejoiced over the sons of Judah, in the 
 
 day when they were destroyed : 
 Nor have magnified thy words in the day of distress. 
 13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of 
 
 my people, in the day of their calamity: 
 
 Or, violence against. 
 
 understanding] For which the Idumeans were remarkable. 
 See Jer. xlix. 7. 
 
 8. Shall I not] " wftn omittunt o. Syr." Seeker. It is also 
 wanting in MS. 96. 
 
 the mount of Esau] Mount Seir. 
 
 10. For slaughter] The versions point thus. This conduct 
 of the Idumeans is referred to Amos i. 1 1 : where see the note. 
 
 for ever] See Ezek. xxxv. 9. They never recovered 
 possession of Arabia Petraea. See on Amos i. 12. 
 
 11. his gates] yiyitf: many MSS. some editions, Keri, 
 and the versions. 
 
 12. thou shouldest not have looked] That the future has 
 this force, see Gen. xliv. 8. Lev. x. 18, 19. Numb. xxxv. 
 28. Ex. xxii. 2. Jonah iv. 11. So ^!n. xi. 112. Nee veni, 
 nisi fata locum sedemque dedissent. Pro Nee venisscm. Servius.
 
 OB ADI AH. 253 
 
 Nor have looked with delight on his affliction, in 
 
 the day of his calamity: 
 Nor have put forth thine hand on his sub$tance 
 
 in the day of his calamity: 
 
 14 Nor have stood in the cross- way, to cut off those 
 
 of his that escaped : 
 
 Nor have delivered up those of liis that remained, 
 in the day of cfistress. 
 
 15 For the day of Jehovah w near upon all thenations. 
 As thou hast done, it shall be done uuto thee: 
 Thy dealing shall return upon thine own head. 
 
 16 For as ye have drunken upon mine holy mountain, 
 All the nations round about shall drink: 
 
 They shall drink and shall swallow down ; and they 
 shall be as though they had not been. 
 
 17 But upon mount Sion shall be || those that 
 
 e'scape: and it * shall be holy: 
 And the house of Jacob shall possess their posses- 
 sions. 
 
 18 And the house of Jaqob shall be a fire, 
 
 j| Hebr. an escaping. * holines?. 
 
 13. thine hand] I think that *JT should be supplied with 
 Chald. and that the true reading is, -JT rf?tt>n. There is a like 
 omission 2 Sam. vi. 6. where T, or n, the hand, or, his handy 
 is supplied by all the versions, and by Chald. Another reading 
 may be rurfawi JH* T?1. See Judg. v. 26. For the phrase see 
 Gen. iii. 22. xxii. 10, 12. See Le Clerc. 1TN precedes. 
 
 14. cross-way] The root in Arabic signifies, divisa se ob- 
 trilit -i-ia. Cast. lex. 
 
 15. Thy dealing] See Ps. cxxxvii, 3. The manner in which 
 thou hast served us. 
 
 16. as ye have drunken] The prophet addresses his own 
 people, to whom he uttered this prophecy. 
 
 round about] 6. Ar. read ion wine; which reading is 
 noted by Capellus and Le Clerc, and adopted by Houbigant. 
 But twenty-seven MSS. and eight editions read SOD round 
 about: which suits the place extremely well. See Jer. xxv. 9. 
 
 17. those that escape] Here the return from Babylon is 
 foretold. 
 
 their possessions] " nrrtniQ pro participio habent 6. 
 Vulg. Ch. Syr. Recte. Confer. Jer. xlix. 2." Seeker.^ The 
 rendering of the versions is " those who possessed them." But 
 it seems more accurate to render " those who drove them out, 11
 
 254 OBADIAH. 
 
 And the house of Joseph a flame; 
 
 And the liouse of Esau for stubble : 
 
 And they shall kindle them and devour them; 
 
 And there shall not be any remaining of the house 
 
 of Esau. 
 For Jehovah hath spoken it. 
 
 19 And they qf the south shall possess the mountain 
 
 of Esau ; 
 
 And they of the plain, the Philistines: 
 And they shall possess the field of Ephraim, 
 And the field of Samaria: 
 And Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 
 
 20 And the captivity of this host of the sons of Israel, 
 Which is among the Canaanites, shall possess unto 
 
 Sarepta. 
 And the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in 
 
 Sepharad, 
 Shall possess the cities of the south. 
 
 21 And deliverers shall go up to mount Siou 
 To f rule the mount of Esau: 
 
 And the kingdom shall be Jehovah's. 
 
 t Hebr. judge. 
 
 18. for stubble] This refers to the conquest of Edom by 
 the Maccabees. 1 Mace. v. 3, 4, 5, 65. 2 Mace. x. 15 23: 
 And again by Hyrcanus. Jos. Ant. xiii. ix, I. p. 659. Haverc. 
 
 19. th<y of the plain] From Eleutheropolis to the sea. 
 See Le Clerc. Zech. vii. 7. Jer. xvii. 26. 
 
 Gilead] Edom lay to the south; the Philistines, to the 
 west; Ephraim, to the north; and Gilead, to the east. Those 
 who returned from Babylon were to extend themselves every 
 way. t>. read, " And Benjamin, and Gilead." 
 
 20. this host] Three' MSS. read Vnn. But Houbigant inge- 
 niously conjectures that we should read n6n r\hy\,Andthis captivity. 
 
 among the Canaanites] Houbigantand Chald.readO'3y332. 
 
 Sepharad] Lightfoot's conjecture, that this was part of 
 Edom, is the most probable of any that I have met with. Those 
 who were captives among the CjMaanites should possess the 
 country of the Canaanites ; and those whom the Edoinites had 
 enslaved should possess the cities of their masters. See Mr. 
 Lovvth's commentary. 
 
 deliverers] The Maccabees. 6. read DOTB seryali: 
 weaning the Jews who were to be restored.
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 H A G G A I. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 IN the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth 
 month, on the first day of the month, came the 
 word of Jehovah by * Haggai the prophet unto Ze- 
 rubbabel the son off Shealtiel, governor of Judah, 
 and unto Joshua the son of Josedec, the high priest, 
 saying: 
 
 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts, saying: 
 This people have said, The time is not come, 
 Even the time that the House of Jehovah should 
 
 be built. 
 3 But the word of Jehovah hath J come 
 
 By Haggai the prophet, saying; 
 4 4 Is it time for you, O ye people, 
 
 To dwell in cieled houses : 
 And shall this House lie waste? 
 
 * Hebr. by the hand of. f Otherwise, Salathiel. J been. By the hand of. 
 
 1 . Haggai] The first prophet sent to the Jews, after their 
 return from the Babylonish captivity. 
 
 Darius] The son of Hystaspes, king of Persia. Blair 
 places the second year of his reign 520 years before Christ. 
 
 Zerubbabel] Son of Salathiel, son of Jechoniah king of 
 Judah. Matth. i. 13. " ^N. xr/wv n* tip? 6" Seeker. 
 
 Joshua] Son of Josedech, son of Seraiah, high priest 
 when Jerusalem was taken, and slain at Riblah. 1 Chron. vi. 
 14. 2 Kings xxv. 18 21. 
 
 4. O ye] Houbigant conjectures" nn\*. An venit vobis 
 tempus? &c. Possibly Jiny now. " An vestrum tempus est, 
 ut domos vestros contabulatas habitetis ? Sana sunt omnia. So- 
 lent nempe Hebiaei in sermone concitatiori repetere pronomen 
 ejusdem personae quae praecedit. Confer Gen. xxiv. 27. Deut. 
 xviii. 14, &c." Dathius. 
 
 cieled] n^u^vo.j. Aquila. Laqueatis. Vulg. 
 
 waste] Its foundations had been laid perhaps fifteen years
 
 256 HAGGAI. I. 
 
 5 And now thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 || Consider your ways. 
 
 6 Ye have sown much, and the increase is little: 
 Ye eat, but not till * ye be full : 
 
 Ye drink, but not f in plenty: 
 
 Ye clothe yourselves, but not f so as to be warm 
 
 thereby. 
 And he that earneth wages, earneth them for a 
 
 bag with || holes. 
 
 7 Thus saith Jehovah, God of hosts: 
 * Consider your ways. 
 
 8 Go up to the mount, and bring word, 
 
 And build the House ; that I may have pleasure 
 
 therein, 
 And be glorified ; saith Jehovah. 
 
 9 Ye look for much, and behold it cometh to little : 
 And when ye have brought it home, I have blown 
 
 upon it. 
 
 U Hebr. Set your heart on. * to fulness. f to J to warmth. 
 
 wages. || pierced through. * Set your heart on. 
 
 before, in the second month of the second year after the return 
 of the Jews from Babylon. Ezra iii. 8. 
 
 6. the increase] Literally, id quod proveniens est. But 
 the versions seem to have read win ye have brought hi. 
 
 Ye eat] The verb, aiid also iruy and unn^, and r33 v. 9, are 
 in the infinitive mood, used as a noun substantive. . There z's to 
 eat : or, There is eating. 
 
 for a bag with holes] They are soon required of him. 
 The present scarcity demands them. 
 
 8. the mount] Mount Moriah, on which the temple was 
 built. 
 
 " Jon. conscendite n\pntes. Capiendum est collective. Nam 
 de Libano aliisque montibus petenda erant ligna unde templum 
 extrueretur." Bahrclt. 
 
 9. brought it home] This line may very well be translated: 
 And ye have brought an offering to the House, and I have 
 
 snuffed at it. 
 
 See c. ii. 14. Ezra iii. 3, 8, 10, 11. v. 2; and the verb rcD 
 Mai. i. 13: where Houbigant has rey iritis. It seems to be a 
 metaphor taken from beasts when they refuse provender. Ac- 
 cording to our English version of the text before us, nEJ must 
 signify to blast, or, blow away.
 
 HAGGAI. I. 25? 
 
 Why? saith Jehovah Qod of hosts. 
 E^cause of mine House, which lieth waste; 
 And ye run every man to build his own house. 
 
 10 Therefore over you 
 
 The heavens are stayed from dew ; 
 
 And the earth is stayed from her produce. 
 
 1 1 And I have called for a drought upon the land, 
 
 and upon the mountains; 
 And upon the corn, and upon the choice wine, and 
 
 upon the oil ; 
 
 And upon whatever the ground bringeth forth; 
 And upon man and upon || beast; 
 And upon all the labour of the hands. 
 
 12 Then Zerubbabel the son of * Shealtiel, and Joshua 
 the son of Josedech, the high-priest, and all the re- 
 sidue of the people, hearkened unto the voice of Je- 
 hovah their God, and unto the words of Haggai the 
 prophet, according as Jehovah their God had sent 
 
 13 him : and the people feared before Jehovah. Then 
 spake Haggai, the messenger of Jehovah, by a 
 message from Jehovah, unto the people, saying: 
 
 I am with you, saith Jehovah. 
 
 14 And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the 
 son off Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit 
 of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high-priest, and 
 
 jj Hebr. cattle. * Otherwise. SaJathiel. f Otliencise, Salathiel. 
 
 10. "-the heaven over you. For your sake the heaven." 
 Seeker. 
 
 " biOD. Sic 6. Syr. Vulg. Ch. cum tamen alias semper 
 Nb3 activam coercendi significationcm obtineat, quin et in hoc 
 ipso versiculo. Videtur Q ortum a CD praecedente." Seeker. 
 
 11. the mountains] See 2 Sam. i. 21. The clouds, which 
 usually rest on them, supply them with moisture. 
 
 whatever the ground] 6. MS. Pachom. read *M ^ r.mla. sea, 
 with Syr. Ar. Chald. fourteen MSS. aud another in the margin. 
 And upon every thing which the ground bringeth forth. 
 
 12. unto the words] JOZ? is used with hy, Jer. xxiir. 16. 
 It is also used with hto, n, and a. 
 
 . Videtur Syr. legisse "raw." Seeker.
 
 258 HAGGAI. II. 
 
 the spirit of all the residue of the people; and they 
 came and J did work in the House of Jehovah 
 15 Lord of hosts, their God: on the four and twentieth 
 day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second 
 year of Darius the king. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 IN the seventh ?nonth, on the one and twentieth 
 day of the month, came the word of Jehovah by 
 Haggai the prophet, saying : Speak now to Zerub- 
 babel, the son of || Shealtiel, governor of Judah; and 
 to Joshua Me son of Josedech, the high-priest ; and 
 to [all] the residue of the people ; saying : 
 
 3 Who is there left among you 
 That saw this House 
 
 In its former glory ? 
 
 And what do ye see it now ? 
 
 Is it not as nothing in your eyes ? 
 
 4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah : 
 And be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the 
 
 high-priest: 
 And be strong, O all ye people of the land, saith 
 
 Jehovah; 
 
 And work : for I am with you, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts; 
 
 5 According to the word which I covenanted with you 
 
 } Or, executed. Hebr. ihe hand of. || Otherwise, Salathiel. 
 
 2. all the residue] So. 6. Ar. Syr. and one MS. 
 
 3. left] Seventy years elapsed from the destruction of the 
 former temple, before Christ 587, to its complete restoration, 
 about four years after the time when this prophecy was delivered. 
 See Ezra vi. 15, and Blair's tables. 
 
 as nothing] An elegant Hebraism. Sicut illud, [sc. tern- 
 plum posterius] sic nihil. See Nold. D . 17. Ten MSS. and 
 four editions read 1H1QD. Josephus says that this temple, through 
 the poverty of its builders, was inferior to the former.. Ant. xi. 
 iv. 2. 
 
 5. According to] See riN Nold. . 19. God promised to be 
 with Moses. Ex. in, 12. See c. i. 13.
 
 HAGGAF. II. 2o9 
 
 When ye came out of Egypt : 
 And my Spirit remainelh among you : Fear ye not. 
 For thus saith Jehovah God of hosts : 
 Yet once more., in a short time, 
 I will shake the heavens and the earth, 
 And the sea and the dry land : 
 7 And I will shake all the nations ; 
 
 And the * desire of all the nations shall come; 
 
 * Or, desirable things. 
 
 remaineth] By my prophets. " Stood." Seeker. 
 
 6. Yet once ] I suppose CDVD, which is often feminine, see 
 Eccl. vii. 23, to be understood after nriN: adhvic unavice: and 
 likewise ny, tempus, which is sometimes feminine, see Joel iii. 
 I, to be understood after SDJ/'Q: parum temporis hoc tempus est. 
 When the law was given on mount Sinai, the whole mountain 
 quaked greatly. Ex. xix. 18. 
 
 " nnN is ten times semelin Nold. for nnN DyD, which occurs 
 several times. ioyo T\y has always 1 after it, and signiBes, Yet 
 a little time, and Ez. xvii. 4. Is. x. 25. xxix. 17. Hos. i. 4. 
 Jer. ii. 33. Ps. xxxvii. 10. No word, I believe, is elsewhere 
 interposed, as here, between Ti); and DyQ, or between ID1V3 and 
 1. N'n agrees with ny understood. Hebr. xii. 26. translate 
 nnN ~ny **!, and omits Nn iDyQ. With this description of 
 time compare pp j?n Is. liv. 7." Seeker. 
 
 I will shake the heavens ] The political or the religious 
 revolutions, which were to be effected in the world, or 
 both, are here referred to. Comparer. 21, 22: Matth. xxiv. 
 29 : Hebr. xii. 26, 7, 8. The political ones began in the over- 
 throw of the Persian monarchy by Alexander, within two cen- 
 turies after this prediction: and if the Messiah's kingdom be 
 meant, which is my opinion, this was erected in somewhat 
 more than five centuries after the second year of Darius; a short 
 period of time when compared with that which elapsed from 
 the creation to the giving of the law, or from the giving of the 
 law to the coming of the Messiah's kingdom. 
 
 It must be observed that the word nntt, once, has a clear 
 sense if understood of the evangelical age: for many political 
 revolutions succeeded, as the conquest of Darius Codomanus, 
 and the various fortunes of Alexander's successors, but only 
 one great and final religious revolution. 
 
 7. the desire of all the nations] I think that the true 
 reading is nvmrr; and that the vau has been omitted because it 
 xvas supplied by a point. Thus 6. render T 1*^*1*, and Ar. ekcta, 
 
 Q q
 
 260 HAGGAI. II. 
 
 And I will fill this House with glory; v . 
 
 crqn'sifa: see TH opt ionem fecit, in Cast. lex. The word is 
 used plurally, with tbe force of the singular, like delicia? or spes 
 in Lai in, Dan. ix. 23. [where five MSS. read nnsn for nVNCn, 
 and-V. 6. Ar. rightly supply ttf'N. ver i aderiorum ;] x. 3, 11, 
 19. Can tic. v. 16, we have DnCTO fol et ipse tot us desitleria, 
 for desiderahttis. Catullus uses amores of a person : 
 Acmen Sce.ptiimus, suos amores, 
 
 Tcnens 
 
 And Cicero thus addresses Terentia and Tulliola : Valete, mea 
 desideria. Ad Fam. xiv. 2. 
 
 However, there is a ('ifficuliy in applying nnon to a person; 
 and we should expect to find in the text mon nN2l et reniet de- 
 siderium. If this difficulty could be surmounted, it is easy and 
 natural language to say that he, towards whom the desire of all 
 nations ought to be turned, should come. Comp. 1 Sam. ix. 20: 
 and see the parallel prophecy, Mai. iii. 1 : and Luke ii. 10. 
 Syr. seems to have read ijom that they may bring [tfrO~i cupi- 
 ditatcm] the desirable things of all nations; the gold and silver, 
 the aa9n,u7o Luke xxi. 5, with which this temple was enriched. 
 Chald. follows the Hebrew in its ungrainmatical form, nm 
 men et venient desiderium. 
 
 Houbigant's note is " Et advenient pretiosa qiuequc omnium 
 gentium quae templum decorabunt muneribus maximis, ut in 
 summo honore sit apud omnes gentes : quo in honore fuisse sub 
 Onia Sacerdote, narratur in libro Machabscamm : propterea 
 Deus baec addit, Meum est argenium et aurum" " Explieat 
 hacc eel. Mich, de donariis gentilium templo Hierosolymitano 
 illatis; quod etiam ab aliis factum est, cum Judaeis turn Chris- 
 tianis." Bahrdt. Apparatus criticus. Lips. 1775. The objec- 
 tions to this interpretation are, the great solemnity of the intro- 
 duction, v. 6, and the beginning of v. 7: and the impropriety 
 of the language, " the desirable things of all nations shall coiw" 
 when it should rather be said, " the desirable things of all na- 
 tions shall be brought" See Bishop Chandler's defence &c. in 
 loc. 
 
 " m?2n is used twelve times as a genitive after land, or vessels, 
 or some desirable thing. The three remaining times it is used 
 are 2 Chron. xxi. 20. 1 Sam. ix. 20. Dan. xi. 37, where a 
 Deity so called seems to be meant: and if so, a person is called 
 nnch in this one place of Daniel, but no where else unless in 
 the text. fiTTO! is used nine times in all, and sometimes 
 written rrnon. Daniel is twice called nniDn ttf'tt aiid oiice
 
 HAGGAI. II. 261 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 8 The silver is mine, and the gold 2$ mine; 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 barely riTnon: and these are the only times it is applied to a 
 person. When applied to things, it is always a genitive go- 
 verned by those things, except Dan. xi. 38, 43, where it stands 
 absolutely, for desirable things, TOTO is used several times, of 
 things, and of persons. All these words, when used of 
 things, commonly denote things of value or price. I think 
 the word here should [be pointed so as to] be read riVOT, 
 which is no where in scripture: or nnian, which is never found 
 without one 1 else. vhere ; because of the plural verb. Bishop 
 Chandler thinks that NO cannot be used of things, but persons 
 only. Yet it is used of days perpetually, and of the ark 2 
 Sam. vi 9, and of mounts coming against Jerusalem, Jer. 
 xxxvii. 24, and of trees coming to adorn the temple, Is. Ix. 
 1 3, and probably of the wealth of the gentiles v. 5, for comp. 
 Ixi. 6, and or silver and gold coming into the temple, Josh. vi. 
 19. And so f*iTi o xt/xvoj *X JTO ' Mark iv. 21. Why doth incense 
 
 come to me? Jer. vi. 20. man, and all the words of that 
 
 root,, signify delight as much as desire. So that CDM^n by mart- 
 may be translated, delicia? humani generis. TOD sometimes 
 signifies wealth. Gen xxxi. 1. comp. xiii. 2. Esth. v.. It. i 
 But no other TOD is said to fill the temple but nw TOD, which 
 filled the tabernacle, Ex. xl. 34, 35; Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 
 viii. 10, 11; EzekiePs, Ezck. xliv. 4. Indeed rnir is not added 
 here ; and so the meaning is not quite determinate, especially con- 
 sidering what precedes and follows. But still this doth naturally 
 imply much more than wealth, though not necessarily. And the 
 Lord was to come suddenly to his temple, and, or with, the 
 Angel of the covenant, in whom, or which, they delighted. 
 Mai. iii. 1. Now the second temple had not this Lord's pre- 
 sence, this mrv TOD, unless in Christ. But still the glory of 
 
 the Lord in the temple means in O. T. only the cloud, which 
 was the symbol of his presence." Seeker. 
 
 fill with glory] By the presence of the Messiah. Comp, 
 Ex. xl. 34. 1 Kings viii. ll. 
 
 8. The silver is mine ] Predictions of spiritual and tempo- 
 ral blessings are often blended together in the prophetical wri- 
 tings. We have here a reference to the contributions towards 
 the rebuilding of the temble, Ezra vi. 8, vii. 15 20; and to 
 the donations by which it was to be adorned. 2 Mace. iii. 2. 
 Jos. Ant. xii. ii. 4. xv. xi, 3. B. J. v. xiii. 6. Bahrdt ex.
 
 2C2 HAGGAI. II. 
 
 9 Greater shall be the glory 
 
 plains the passage thus: " Non opus est ut ornetis hoc templum 
 argento et auro. Ornamentum novi tcmplj supra comnicmora- 
 tiun sufficit ad augendum ejus splenclorem. Nam ubi Deus 
 aiiquid smim esse dicit, se eo indigere ncjjat. Ps. L. 10." 
 
 " Bishop Chandler after Michaelis, who learnt it from others, 
 see Pol. Syn. cites Ps. -1. 9 12 to shew that the manner 
 of speaking here is to prove that God made no account of silver 
 and gold, and intended a glory of another nature for this latter 
 house. Now in both places he asserts his property; and proves 
 from it, Ps. 1. that he wanted not the Jews to give him sacrifices: 
 but why may he not still prove from it here, that he can give 
 them ornaments for their temple? And what other purpose do 
 these words so properly serve?" Seeker. 
 
 9. Greater shall be the glory ] Notwithstanding the former 
 temple had the Urim and Thummim, the ark containing the 
 two tables of the law, the pot of manna, Aaron's rod that bud- 
 ded, and the cloud which overshadowed the metcy seat, and 
 was the symbol of the divine presence ; yet the glory of this 
 latter house shall be greater by the appearance, doctrines, and 
 miracles of Christ. Some interpret this passage of the richer 
 decorations in the latter temple; but it may well be doubted, 
 whether the second temple could exceed that of Solomon in the 
 splendour and costliness of its ornaments. See 1 Kings vi. 18, 
 20, 21, 22, 28, 30, 32, 35. vii. 13 50, compared with Ezra 
 i. 711. vi. 5. See also 1 Chron. xxii. 14. 1 Kings x. 21, 7. 
 The presumption is, that the former temple was more magnifi- 
 cent and sumptuous in its furniture than the latter; though in- 
 ferior to it in point of magnitude. Prideaux values the gold 
 with which the Holy of Holies alone was overlaid at 4,320,0001, 
 sterling. P. 1. B. iii. Ann. 534. Cyrus 3. However, Josephus 
 says of the temple destroyed by iTitus, that it was the most 
 wonderful work which he had ever seen or heard of, in point of 
 building, magnitude, costliness in every particular, and splen- 
 dour in respect to its holy things. B. J. vi. iv. 8. 
 
 { * MryaXq ij-* 1 cc^a ?u oixa TT ij is-)(am i/rfp THI WSOWJY. 6, glorifl 
 
 dumus istius novissimje quatn prirrup. Vulg. But Chald. Syr. 
 may mean either. Our translation follows the Vulgate. And 
 indeed, Ezr. iii. 12, ptlWin JY-n is opposed to rv-H nr. But 
 c. v. 11 13, the house that was built, destroyed, and rebuilt^ 
 is made the same house. Therefore this 9th v. should be under- 
 stood, not of the glory of a former and latter house, but a 
 former and latter glory of a house considered as the same house, 
 o. have translated rightly. None of the Jews seem to have
 
 HAGGAI. II. 263 
 
 Of this latter House than of the former, 
 
 hit on this, urtless perhaps R. Isaac 1. i. c. 34. And I think not 
 even he. For he says, ' Some think the second house had at last 
 more wealth than the first, which doth not appear to be true; 
 and it stood ten years longer.' But it had not the presence of 
 God, nor peace And therefore this is meant of a future temple 
 delineated by Ezekiel xliii. &c. where v. 2 &c. the glory of the 
 Lord entering into it is described particularly. But as the pro- 
 phet speaks not of two houses, but two glories, the latter glory 
 may be yet to come, if N'H JDytD nPW "fry will permit it. But 
 extending this to Christ's time is a great deal: and to a time 
 yet future, quite too much. Abarbanel in Hulsii Theol. Jud. 
 p. 517, interprets the passage of a third temple.to be built here- 
 after." Seeker. 
 
 Still it seems to me that the Vulgate and English versions 
 give the natural sense of the Hebrew words. There are many 
 such passages as Isai. ii. 13, 14; where the emphatic n is pre- 
 fixed to the substantive and its adjective. The translation of o, 
 adopted by the Archbishop, seems to require [THD or] ~O3n 
 
 nm no rnrwi. 
 
 this latter House] A question has arisen whether the words 
 before us, and the expression this House v. 7, can be applied to 
 the temple which Herod rebuilt: Jos. Ant. xv. xi. 3: John ii. 
 20. It seems to me that, supposing the Messiah to be prophe- 
 sied of v. 7, 9, greater precision in the language would not have 
 been used : for this would have led the Jews to expect a demo- 
 lition of the temple then building, and the erection of another 
 in its stead. And, as Herod's rebuilding of the temple was a 
 gradual work of forty-six years, John ii. 20, no nominal dis-r 
 tiuction between ZerubbabePs and Herod's temple seems to 
 have been ever made by the Jews; but, in popular language, 
 these structures, though really different, were spoken of as the 
 same. On one occasion, Joseph us himself mentions only two 
 buildings of the temple ; a former, in the time of Solomon, and 
 a latter,' in that of Cyrus. B. J. vi. iv. 8. 
 
 To illustrate this, 1 have extracted the quotations made by 
 Constantino L'Empereur. Cod Middoth. Praef. 4to. Lugd. Bat, 
 1630. In Gemara, fol. 32, R.Joseph speaks only of the first 
 and second temple, both which were to be destroyed. R. Na- 
 than adds, The third will remain for ever. Maimonidcs, when, 
 he recounts those things which were always wanted in the tem- 
 ple after the Babylonish captivity, makes mention of the second 
 temple. In Chronicon Hebraeum magnum et parvuin, Vespa.
 
 264 HAGGAI. IL 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts : 
 
 And in this place will i give peace, 
 
 sian is said to have destroyed the temple 440 years after it was 
 rebuilt. Rabbi Alschech, in bis commentary on Haggai, often 
 inculcates this; and calls the House which the Jews expect un- 
 der the Messiah the third House. Agreeably to this S( Iden as- 
 serts, Non templum habebatur aliquod tertium, sed primum tan- 
 turn etsecundum : i. 1738. de Synctir. 1. iii. c. iii. . 8. Fol. Lond. 
 
 peace] Temporal; far some time, in a good degree, and 
 comparatively: see Zech. viii. 10: but the means of spiritual 
 peace were to be given abundantly. 
 
 After I had finished these notes, as to their scope and sub- 
 stance, I received the following valuable communication from 
 the learned and respectable Dr. Heberden ; which will give the 
 reader great assistance in determining the sense of the prophecy 
 now under discussion. 
 
 " Haggai C ii. V. 3, 7, 8, 9. and in this place I will 
 
 give peace fof mind for a possession, to every one who forwards 
 the building for the sake of restoring this temple. So the Ixx 
 add, having found it probably in their copy.] 
 
 " The prophet in these verses encourages the Jews just re- 
 turned from captivity to rebuild their temple, and assures them 
 that the plendour and riches of this new building should be 
 very great, and that it should be far from being as nothing in 
 the eves of those who recollected the grandeur ot the first tem- 
 ple, irhis is the obvious meaning of the words, and no other 
 perhaps would ever have been thought of, if the vulgate Latin 
 had not translated CD1in *12 mon * Desideratus cunetis gentU 
 bus :' ' He that is desired of all nations' instead of ' the de- 
 sirable' or ' precious things of all nations ;' which is the true 
 translation of these words; and this sense of them is to be found 
 in all the old versions, the vulgate excepted. But the vulgate 
 happened to be the only one which was understood and read" for 
 several ages; and hence arose the opinion that Christ must be 
 the person desired of ajl nations, and that he would add glory 
 to this temple by his presence. 
 
 " In deference to this opinion the English translators of the 
 bible have followed the vulgate against the plain construction 
 of the Hebrew text, and have ditfered from all the other old 
 translations. 
 
 " The learned father Houbigant, who, as a Romanist, is 
 ready to pay all due regard to the vulgate, acknowledges that 
 JVDn beittg the nominative case to a plural verb ifOl must be a
 
 HAGGAI. II. 265 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 plural noun, and ought to be translated ' precious things:' that 
 it is limited to this meaning by the mention of silver and gold 
 which follows, and that nothing more was intended by the pro- 
 phet than the common richness of the building and its furniture. 
 
 " It appears from 1 Maccabees i. 21, 22, that the second 
 temple was i i fact very richly (a) ornamented ; and in the 
 23d verse of the same chapter Antiochus is said to have taken 
 away the silver and the gold and the precious vessels; which, if 
 the book had been written in Hebrew, would probably have 
 been the very worJs mentioned by Haggai. 
 
 " It is observable that this Hebrew word is found in Daniel xi. 
 43 joined \\ith gold and silver, and is translated in the English 
 bible Precious things. Isaiah likewise. Ixiv. 11, mentions the 
 destruction of the temple, and together with it i:>T2irT2 all our 
 or its pie sant things, nearly the same word with that of Ha-gai. 
 See aiso Joel iii. [Hebr. iv.] 5, and Nahum ii. 9. [Hebr. 10.] 
 
 " Besides, according to Josephus it is not true that the 
 Messiahs presence ever added to the glory of the temple which 
 was building in the time of Haggai; for the Jewish historian as- 
 sures Us, in the plainest words, that before Christ was born this 
 temple was pulled down and the foundations of it were taken, 
 away by Herod the Great, who built a,n entire new one in its 
 
 t hl 
 
 rds are, 
 
 MI avroy TOT v* iygf. Joseph. Antiq. 1. 15. 11. 3. [Herod] after 
 he had taken away the old foundations, and laid others, upon 
 them erected the temple.' Now if there be any difference between 
 rebuilding and repairing, if Haggai's temple differed from So- 
 lomon's and was a second temple ; then Herod's was not the 
 same with Haggai's, but was truly a third temple. [The learned 
 JVIr. Peirce oh the Hebr. xii. 26 p. 189, 2d. edit, allows this 
 to be a third temple.] 
 
 " The most plausible objections to tha Christian religion have* 
 been made out .of the weak arguments which have been advan- 
 ced in its support : and can there be a weaker argument than 
 that which sets out with doing violence to the original text in 
 
 {a) " The vessel? of the fim temple, which had been taken away by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, were restored by Cyrus; presents according to Ezra, chap. 1. were made to 
 the second temple by Artaxerxes and his courtiers, as well as by the Jfews themselves ; 
 ihf yearly increase of gold and silver and precious stones circulating in the hands of men, 
 the constant improvement of ans, the increase of trade among the Jews during the time 
 of the .second temple, and their numerous settlements in various parts of the world, from 
 which they could send al) so.-ts of costly presents to Jerusalem; all these consideration* 
 make it probable that the second temple was in no respect inferior to the firit, except hi 
 the want of the ark and il:c shecinah."
 
 266 HAGGAT. II. 
 
 10 In the four-and twentieth clay of the ninth.month, 
 in the second year of Darius, rarae the word of Jeho-" 
 
 1 1 vah f by Haggai the prophet : saying: Thus saith Je- 
 hovah God of hosts, Ask now the law from the priests, 
 
 12 saying: If a man carry holy flesh in the skirt of his 
 garment; and with his skirt touch bread, or potage, 
 or wine, or oil, or any food ; shall it be holy ? And 
 
 13 the priests answered and said, No. Then said Hag- 
 gai : If a man Unclean by a dead body touch any of 
 these things, shall it be unclean? And the priests 
 
 14 answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then an- 
 swered Haggai and said: 
 
 So sra.f this people, 
 
 And so ztas this nation, 
 
 In my sight, saith Jehovah : 
 
 And so was all the work of their hands: 
 
 And what they offered there teas unclean. 
 
 15 And now, I beseech you, J consider: 
 From this day and upward, 
 
 Even from the time before one stone was laid on 
 
 another 
 In the temple of Jehovah, what were ye ? 
 
 f Hebr. by the hand of. J Hebr. set your heart. Hebr. a stone was laid on a storifc 
 
 order to form a prophecy, and then contradicts the express tes- 
 timony of the best historian of those times in order to shew that 
 it has been accomplished ?" 
 
 12. shall it be holy?] So the priest, by bringing oblations 
 to my altar, c. i. 9, dicl not sanctify you. 
 
 14. So teas this people] Your neglect of my temple made 
 you unclean; as if you had contracted legal pollution by .touch- 
 ing a dead body. 
 
 15. upward] "Forward, rhyw n means a person of 
 such an age and upward. But out of that phrase the word is 
 used only 1 Sam. xvi. 13, and xxx. 25, to signify time, be- 
 sides here and v. 18: and in both the former places it means 
 from such a time and afterwards. He had bid them look back 
 i, 5, 7: now he bids them look forwards : ii. 15, 18." Seeker. 
 
 Even from the time before] Consider the interval between 
 this day, and your ceasing to builil on the foundations of the 
 temple formerly laid. Ezra iii. 10. 
 
 what were ye?] I read Dnn HD, *; w; with 6. Arab.
 
 IIAGGAI. II. 267 
 
 16 When one came to an heap of twenty measures, 
 
 there were but ten. 
 
 When one came to the vat to draw out fifty vessels 
 From the winepress, there were but twenty. 
 
 17 I smote you with blasting, and with mildew, and 
 
 with hail; 
 
 Even all the works of your hands: 
 
 Yet none among you turned unto me, saith Jehovah. 
 
 || Consider, I pray you, 
 
 From this day and upward, 
 
 Even from the four and twentieth day of the ninth 
 month j 
 
 And from the day in which the foundation of Je- 
 hovah's temple was laid, 
 
 * Consider ye it. 
 19 Is there yet seed in the barn ? 
 
 Yea, as yet the vine, and the fig-tree, and the 
 pomegranate, 
 
 || Hebr. set your heart. * set your heart. 
 
 Our translation very well renders onvnQ " Since those days 
 were." One MS. read onvra " while those days were." Ob- 
 serve the addition in 6. 
 
 16. an heap] Of corn, which seemed likely to produce 
 twenty measures ; but which failed, from the poverty of the ear. 
 
 17. saith Jehovah] 6. MS. Pachom. have xj mvlMgwwg. This 
 verse is capable of different punctuations: 
 
 I smote you with blasting, and with mildew; 
 
 And with hail all the works of your hands : 
 
 Yet none of you turned unto me, 
 
 Saith Jehovah [God of hosts.] 
 
 " asm* i'N'1. Er4. 6. Ch. Syr. Legebant Drop, ut legen- 
 dum patet ex Amos iv. 9. Videtur V. legisse ut in textu, et 
 supplevisse verbum. Vertit enim, Et non fuit in vobis qui re- 
 verteretur." Seeker. 
 
 18. And from the day ] In like manner 6. supply *ai< The 
 Jews ?re again called on to consider the interval between the day 
 when Haggai addressed them, see v. 10, and the day when the 
 people shouted because the foundation of the temple was laid. 
 Ezraiii. 11. 
 
 upward] " Forward." Seeker. 
 
 19. " Inchoat hunc verstim Syr. a duobus postremis verbis 
 versus prsecedentis : non male." Seeker. 
 
 R r
 
 268 HAGGAI. 11. 
 
 And the olive tree, hath not borne. 
 But from this day will I bless. 
 
 20 And the word of Jehovah came the second time 
 unto Haggai on the four and twentieth day of the 
 
 21 month, saying: Speak unto Zerubbabel the governor 
 of Judah, saying: 
 
 I will shake the heavens and the earth; 
 
 22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; 
 And I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms 
 
 f among the nations: 
 And I will overthrow the chariots, and those that 
 
 ride therein : 
 And the horses shall come down, and those that 
 
 ride thereon, 
 Every one by the sword of his fellow. 
 
 23 In that day, saith Jehovah God of hosts, 
 
 J will take thee, O Zerubbabel son of J Shealtiel, 
 
 My servant, saith Jehovah; 
 
 And I will make thee as a signet j 
 
 For thee have I chosen, saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 f Ilebr. of. + Otherwise, Sahihiel. 
 
 21. " Addunt 6. in fine versus, x*i rv 0ax<*a<w *u T>I 
 Seeker. 
 
 22. by the sword of his fellow] We may well understand 
 this and the foregoing verse of the calamity undergone by Baby- 
 lon in the re gn of Darius; of the Macedonian conquests in 
 Persia; and of the wars which the successors of Alexander waged 
 against each other. 
 
 23. In that day ] Some think that Zerubbabel is put for 
 his people and posterity. But it may well be said, that the 
 commotions foretold began in the rebellion of Babylon, which 
 Darius besieged and took ; and exercised great cruelties upon its 
 inhabitants. Herod, iii. . 220. Justin i. 10. Prideaux places 
 this event in the 5th year of Darius: others with more proba- 
 bility, in his eight year. Compare Zech. ii. 9, Vitringa calls 
 this'event " secundum gradum interitus Babylonis." See his 
 imperfect comment on Zech. p. 259 : and his comment on Isai. 
 xiii. P. i. p. 420. 
 
 signet] See Jer. xxii. 24. Cantic. viii. 6. As one under 
 my peculiar care.
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 IN The eighth month, in the second year of Dari- 
 us, came the word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, the 
 son ofBarachiah, Meson of Iddo, the prophet, saying. 
 
 2 Jehovah hath been greatly* angry with yourfathers: 
 
 3 But say thou unto them : " 
 
 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 
 Turn ye untu me, saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 
 And I will turn untoyou, saith Jehovah GWof hosts. 
 
 4 Be not as your f -there, 
 
 Unto whom the former prophets called, 
 Saying; 
 
 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 
 Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your 
 
 evil doings. 
 But they heard not, nor hearkened unto me, 
 
 saith Jehovah. 
 
 5 Your fathers, where are they ? 
 
 * Hebr. angry with anger. 
 
 1. Darius] The son of Hystaspes. Therefore this prophecy 
 was delivered between the times mentioned Haggai ii. 1, 10. 
 
 of Iddo] Nineteen MSS. and two editions, read NViy, as 
 y. 7 : and, v. 7, eight MSS. read ny, as here. Chald. v. 7. has 
 *ny. 
 
 saying :] " Blaney conjectures, that some words have 
 been omitted by the carelessness of transcribers. It is certainly 
 unusual for a prophet to begin the exercise of his office, in de- 
 nouncing the judgments of God, or in giving assurances of the 
 divine favour, without specifying the object of his address. 
 Hence he supplies from chap. vii. 5. Speak unto all the people 
 of the land, saying" 
 
 3. unto 'them] For onto*, twenty-eight MSS. and three 
 editions read On |! ?N. 
 
 5. Your fathers] Your fathers are dead, and the prophets 
 who prophesied to them ; but the testimony of facts to the truth 
 of my predictions remains.
 
 270 . ZECHARIAH. I. 
 
 And the prophets, do they Jive for ever? 
 
 6 But my words, and my statutes^ 
 
 AVhich 1 commanded my servants the prophets, 
 Did they not overtake your fathers ? 
 And did they not return and say; 
 Like as Jehovah God of hosts thought to do unto us, 
 According to our ways, and according to our doings, 
 ' So hath he done with us ? 
 
 7 On the four and twentieth day of the eleventh 
 month, this is the month Sebat, in the second year 
 of Darius, came the word of Jehovah unto Ze- 
 chariah the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo, the 
 
 8 prophet: and f he said: I saw in the night, and 
 behold, a man riding on a red horse; and he stood 
 between the myrtles which were in the J valley; and 
 
 9 after him wei-e red, dun a.nd white horses. Then I 
 
 f Hebr. saying. } Or, depth; or, bottom. 
 
 6. overtake] As an enemy does one whom he pursues. 
 " Post my addunt 6. wnu/uoTi /u." Seeker. 
 
 7. Sebat] A Chaldee or a Syriac name. " Mensis Syro- 
 Graecorum, i. e. Februarius." Gol. lex. 
 
 8. and he said] Blaney renders nDtfb in this wise, and 
 observes that it is frequently used as the Latin adverbs nempe, 
 scilicet ; or as in English to a'//, namely ', that is to say ; so as to 
 denote a specification in what follows of what had before been 
 mentioned in more general terms. Vitringa translates in hunc 
 
 ^-a man] An angel in the shape of a man, See v. 11, and 
 Luke xx iv. 4. 
 
 red horse] So Rev. vi. 4. and Theocritus ASwn?. 1. 53. 
 'oj9o,' ovir* o wi/ f fOf. The bay, chesnut, and sorrel, approach this 
 colour. 
 
 myrtles] This was an emblem of peace. 
 
 valley] In depressa valle. HouU. Many 1VISS. and four 
 editions read rffllfQa. 
 
 dun] Bochart prefers gilviis: i. e. subflavus, ad mellis 
 colorem accedens. Hieroz. p. i. 1. i. c. vii. Some translate, 
 spotted, Blaney, brazen. 
 
 horses] With riders, who were ange!s. v, 11. They had 
 horses to shew their power and celerity : and horses of different 
 colours, tq intimate the difference of their ministries. See 
 Capellus,
 
 ZECHARIAH. I. 271 
 
 said, What are these, O my lord ? And the angel, 
 who talked with me, said unto me; I will shew thee 
 
 10 what these are. And the man who stood among 
 the myrtles answered and said ; These are they whom 
 Jehovah hath sent to go to and fro through the 
 
 11 earth. And "they answered the angel of Jehovah 
 who stood among the myrtles, and said : We have 
 gone to and fro through the earth ; and behold, all 
 the earth remaineth still and is at rest. 
 
 12 Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said: 
 O Jehovah God of hosts, how long wilt thon nqt 
 have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Ju- 
 dah, against which thou hast had indignation these 
 
 13 seventy years ? And Jehovah answered the angel 
 
 9. the angel] Distinct from those represented v. 8: lie 
 who talked with the prophet: v. 13. Angelas comes et interpres. 
 Vitringa. 
 
 1 will shew thee] I will cause that it shall be explained to 
 thee by the angel who stands first among the myrtles. This 
 may have been done by a sign given to that angel, or uy words 
 omitted in the relation. 
 
 10. hath sent] They are, the messengers, or ministering 
 spirits, of Jehovah, 
 
 11. 'they answered] The rest of the angels, implied at the 
 end of v. 8, and who came after the first. 
 
 all the earth ] Means the Persian empire, and the other 
 nations connected with Judea, which enjoyed peace at that 
 time. But the state of the Jews was unsettled : see v. 16: which 
 circumstance ^ives occasion to the following intercession. 
 
 had indignation] Thirteen MSS. read royr. 
 
 seventy years] See on Haggai ii. 3. According to Blair, 
 if we compute from the destruction of the former temple, when 
 Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, the seventy years 
 wore not completed till the sixth of Darius ; and the angel must 
 be supposed to speak with latitude, though with sufficient ex- 
 actness for popular language. Others assert that the computa- 
 tion in this place is exact. Est pulcherrimi;m Petavii alioruuique 
 observatum, periodum Ixx annorum, decretorum punitioui Ju- 
 daicae sjentis, ad perfectum implementum prophet i IE bis reprae* 
 sentatum esse. A quarto Jehojachimi usque ad initia Babylo- 
 pica Cyri, quando dimissi sunt Judsei ex exilio, effluxerunt anni 
 Ixx. Rursus totidem anni effluxerunt ab excielio temph et ur- 
 bis, quod accidit octodecim post anuis, usque ad secuudum
 
 272 ZECHARIAH. I. 
 
 who talked with me good words and comfortable 
 words. 
 
 14 And the angel who talked with me said unto me, 
 Proclaim, saying: 
 
 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 1 have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Siou 
 with a great jealousy . 
 
 15 And with great anger am I angry with the nations 
 
 that are at ease. 
 
 Because I was but a little angry, 
 
 Darii Hystaspis: intersunt enim rursus iiiter initia Cyri Babylo- 
 nica et Darii secundum anni octodecim. Camp. Vitringa in 
 Zech. proleg. 17. 
 
 A primo anno Nebuchodonosori, quern scriptura copulat 
 cum quarto Jehojachimi, ad xxii exeuntem Cyri, quo captivitas 
 est soluta, anni sunt Ixx. Adde Cyri viii, Cambysis et Magi 
 viii, Darii ii, fiunt Ixxxviii, Deduct w annis xviii, restant Ixx 
 ab excidio urbis ad annum ii Darii, quo vaticinatus est Zacha- 
 rias. Petav. doctf. temp. 1. xii. c. xxv. See Prideaux ann. 
 18. Bishop Newton on Proph. i. diss. viii. p. 203. 8vo. 
 
 13. Jehovah answered] By a voice, or by impulse. And 
 the angel communicated the reply to Zechariah. 
 
 who talked with me] Chald. rightly explains O, Dy, me- 
 cum. See 1 Sam. xxv. 39. 
 
 14. I have been jealous] " It has been doubted whether the 
 jealousy spoken of here and c. viii. 2. be Gods resentment 
 against his people for their disloyalty towards him, or his concern 
 for their honour and welfare, mixed with indignation towards 
 those who had persecuted them. The former is the more usual 
 acceptation of the word ntMp, jealousy, which is defined to be 
 * the rage of a man,' or husband on account of his wife's infidel- 
 ity. Prov. vi. 84. And with this rage God, speaking in the 
 past tense, says here, he had been inflamed on account of the 
 disloyalty of Jerusalem. This occasioned a temporary separation 
 during which the neighbours were forward to distress the un- 
 protected wife. Ps. cxxxvii. 7. But when God, like a pacified and 
 relenting husband, was disposed to take her again, he would 
 naturally be displeased with the nations for their malicious in- 
 terference Accordingly it follows in the present tense, * But 
 now am I exceedingly angry with the nations,* &c." Blaney 
 
 15. am I angry] Six MSS. read F)i"ip, irascens sum. 
 
 the nations that are at ease] The remnant of the Baby- 
 lonians, Philistines, Edomites, &c. 
 
 a little angry] See Isai. liv. 7, 8. Mine anger did not
 
 ZECHARIAH. I. 273 
 
 And they helped forward the affliction. 
 
 16 Therefore thus saith Jetu.vdh : 
 
 I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies: 
 
 Mine House shall be built in it, 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts; 
 
 And a line shall be stretched forth on Jerusalem. 
 
 17 Moreover proclaim, saying; 
 
 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 My cities shall yet be spread abroad through pros- 
 perity ; 
 
 And Jehovah will yet comfort Sion, 
 And will yet choose Jerusalem. 
 
 18 Then I lifted up mine eyes and looked ; and behold, 
 
 19 four horns. And I said unto the angel who talked 
 with me, What are these? And he said unto me, 
 These are the horns which have scattered Judah, 
 Israel, and Jerusalem. 
 
 rise so high as the punishment which the enemies of my peo- 
 ple inflicted. God was displeased with the instruments of his 
 vengeance for their extreme cruelty to the Jews; and with the 
 nations who insulted over them in their distress. 
 
 the affliction] njnV. That the verb *ir}? is used with b after 
 it see 1 Chron. xviii. 5. xxii. 17. "To her hurt, taking 
 the n for the feminine affix." Blaney. 
 
 16. with mercies] This has a reference to the words of the 
 angel, v. 12. 
 
 a line] " i. e. The architect's measuring line for laying out 
 the building." Twelve MSS. one ed. and Keri read ip. 
 
 17. be spread abroad] Over the face of Judea. See Gen. 
 x. 18. Houbigant proposes rmisn, affluent bonis. Schukens 
 gives this very significatio : to v*'D, from the Arab. Gen. ix. 19. 
 See Animadv. pli:l. " Videntur Vulg. Ch. ruswn legesse. 
 Recte." Seeker. " *>y. Non agnoscunt 6. Syr." Seeker. 
 The word seems to have been written 'i'1j7 for nny, 
 
 18. four horns] The emblems of power. See Am. vi. 13. 
 Jer. xlviii. 25. Why four? To denote that these kingdoms 
 had many enemies; enemies on every side. Ezra iv. 1. Neh. 
 iv. 7. See on Mic. v. 5. 
 
 19 Israel] And Israel. V. 6. Ar. Syr. Chald. 
 and Jerusalem] This is wanting in 6. MS. A. " and in 
 MS. Copt." Mr. Woide.
 
 274 ZECHAR1AH. I. 
 
 20 And Jehovah shewed me four workmen. Then 
 
 21 said I, What come these to do? And he spake, 
 saying: These are the horns which scattered Judah, 
 so that no man lifted up his head: and these are come 
 jl to make them afraid, to cast out the horns of the 
 nations which lifted up their horn against the land of 
 Judah, to scatter it. 
 
 Hebr. said. |i Or, fray; or, affright. 
 
 20. four workmen] Vitringa supposes that the horns were iron, 
 and that these were " fabri ferrarii malleis dolabrisqwe instructi.'* 
 
 21. And he spake [or said] saying] For ")QJ**? saying, 6. MS. 
 A. Arab. Syr. and one MS. read *w to me. One M&. omits iQtvV 
 with 6. MS. Vat. ed. Aid. and Sixti Quinti. Two MSS. read nQK 1 ? 
 Vx " And he spake unto me, saying." But see c. iii. 4. iv. 13. 
 
 scattered Judah] 6. add " and brake Israel." Instead of 
 which addition Ar. has, " and destroyed Jerusalem." See v. 19. 
 
 " mnrfr. Forte CDHrm 1 ? Sed vid. Ezek. xxx. 9." Seeker. 
 
 " And these are come sharpening their coulter, for to use 
 upon the horns of the nations, which lifted up a horn against 
 the land of Judah to scatter it." Blaney. In his notes he ob- 
 serves that he agrees with Micha?lis in rendering CD 4inn aratores, 
 plowmen, and not with the common version " carpenters," nor 
 with the author, who renders by the general name of " workmen." 
 Parum placentfabri, cormia terrentes, says Michaelis, nor am I 
 myself better satisfied with the idea of frightening horus, and 
 therefore gladly accept an emendation offered, by the 6. who in- 
 stead Tinrr? appears to have read innrr? /. But it could 
 not be meant that they came to sharpen the horns, which were 
 sharp enough before, it should seem, to be offensive: QnK 
 therefore is not to be rendered av, them, but to be considered 
 as a compound of the noun ntf a coulter, and the plural affix; 
 and thus Ontf "innnV will signify, ' sharpening their coulter,*' 
 a cutting iron belonging to a plow, and which a plowman might 
 apply to the purpose of demolishing horns, that were lifted up 
 with a mischievous intent. 
 
 " For to use upon the horns." m does not any where as 
 far as I can perceive, bear the sense of dejicere, given it by some 
 of the versions as suitable to the place. But as Taylor in his 
 concordance observes, coming from T the hand, it may signify- 
 to exercise the hand vigorously in any way, according to the 
 sense and scope of the place, Jer. 1. 14. where vbtt 1T referring 
 to { tin; bow' there spoken of, signifies ' use, or employ it against 
 her.' In like manner ninp fiN* DTP 1 ? may signify for to use Of 
 employ against the horns."
 
 ZECHARIAH. II. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1 AND I lifted up mine eyes and looked ; and behold 
 a man * in whose hand was a f measuring-line. 
 
 2 Then said I, Wither goest thou? And he said unto 
 me, To measure Jerusalem; to see what is the 
 breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. 
 
 3 And behold, the angel who talked -with me 
 went forth: and the other angel went forth to meet 
 
 4 him, and said unto him: Run, speak unto that 
 young man, saying; 
 
 Jerusalem shall dwell in villages, 
 
 For the multitude of men and of cattle within her. 
 
 5 And I will be unto her, saith Jehovah, 
 A wall of fire round about; 
 
 And J- glory will I be within her. 
 
 * Hebi. and in his hand, f a line of measuring. J for glory. Or, in the midst of. 
 
 1. a man] An angel in the form of a man; who advanced 
 forward, v. 3, to meet the angel that talked with the prophet. 
 
 3. unto him] For I 1 ?** eleven MSS. five ed. and Keri, 
 have vVtf. 
 
 4. young man] See Jer. ii. 6; where \ve should translate 
 youth, instead of child. 
 
 in villages] It shall overflow with inhabitants, who shall 
 occupy spaces beyond the circuit of the walls. A city is then 
 said to be inhabited xro xw^; mcatim. That this was fact with 
 regard to Jerusalem, see Jos. B. J. v. iv. 2. p. 328: where we 
 learn that " the city, overflowing with its number of inhabitants, 
 by degrees extended itself beyond its walls ;" and that Herod 
 Agrippa fortified the new part called Bezetha. Vitringa, " Or, 
 shall inhabit villages. See Isai. xlix. 19, 20." Seeker. 
 
 5. A wall of fire] This most sublime image strongly expresses 
 the protection of the Deity. It must have reminded the Jews 
 of the pillar of fire, by which God directed and defended their 
 ancestors. 
 
 glory] TOS 1 ?. So CDjA, a people, v. 1 1. See also c. viii. 8. 
 An allusion to the symbol of the divine presence in the Holy of 
 Holies. Rom. ix. 4. 
 
 Vitringa refers the literal completion of this prophecy to the 
 time of the Maccabees ; but thinks that the protection and glory 
 of the future Jerusalem may also be predicted. Apoc. xx. 9.
 
 276 ZECHARIAtt. II. 
 
 6 Ho ! Ho ! || flee 
 
 From the land of the north, saith Jehovah. 
 For towards the four vvinds of the heavens 
 Have I spread you abroad, saith Jehovah. 
 
 7 Ho! Sion; escape, 
 
 O thou that dvvellest with the daughter of Babylon. 
 
 8 For thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 After the obtainmg oj glory hath he sent me 
 To the nations which spoiled you. 
 
 For he that toucheth you 
 Toucheth the apple of his eye. 
 
 9 For behold, I will shake mine hand * upon them, 
 And they shall be a spoil unto their f servants: 
 And ye shall know that Jehovah God of hosts hath 
 
 sent me. 
 
 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Sion: 
 For, behold, I will come, 
 
 || Hebr. and flee. * Or, over. f Or, slaves. 
 
 6. towards the four winds] Five MSS. and two ed. read 
 JO1N3 : and two more copies read so originally. Syr. has yniN 1 ?: 
 V. in quatuor ventos. 
 
 7. flee escape] The Jews, who still remained in Persia, 
 Chaldea and Babylon, are called on to hasten into their own land. 
 See Ezra vii. viii. " Prideaux thinks this exhortation relates to 
 the siege of Babylon under Darius Hystaspis." Seeker. 
 
 3. After the obtaining of glory] Syr. renders the Hebrew 
 literally post honorem. The Latin translator in the London poly- 
 glot gives his sense of this ; ad prosequendum honorem. Chald. 
 has: post honorem quern vobis adducturum se dixit. The other 
 versions represent the Hebrew as it now stands. Houbigant 
 reads TiD rru*, He who possesseth glory. For "irw Seeker pro- 
 poses JITW ; v. 5. " I will be glory. He hath sent &c." The 
 best sense which I can make of this obscure place is ; Jehovah 
 hath sent me to follow after glory; i. e. for the purpose of acqui- 
 ring glory to his people in restraining and humbling their ene- 
 mies. A great calamity was soon to befal Babylon, when Darius 
 the son of Hystaspes besieged and took it. 
 
 his eye] " Mine eye:" Vulg. reading 3'J7 
 9. unto their servants] As the Babylonians to the Medes 
 and Persians, who were subdued by Nebuchadnezzar King of 
 Babylon. See on Haggai ii. 23.
 
 ZECHAR1AH. III. 277 
 
 And I will dwell f within thee, saith Jehovah. 
 H And many nations shall be joined 
 Unto Jehovah in that day, 
 And shall be J my people. 
 
 And I will dwell within thee, and thou shalt know 
 That Jehovah God of hosts hath sent me unto thee. 
 
 12 And Jehovah will possess Judah, his portion, 
 I n the ]| holy land ; 
 
 And will again choose Jerusalem. 
 
 13 Be silent, O all flesh, before Jehovah: 
 
 For he is raised up from his * holy habitation. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 AND he shewed me Joshua the highpriest stand- 
 ing before the angel of Jehovah : and J Satan stand- 
 
 2 ing at his right hand to be his adversary. And [the 
 angel of] Jehovah said unto Satan, 
 
 f Or, in the midst of. + Hebr. unto me for a people. Or. in the midst of. 
 fj Hebr. land of holiness. * the habitation of his holiness. f the adversary. 
 
 10. dwell within thee] As thy mighty defender. See v. 5. 
 
 11. be joined unto Jehovah] Many were made proselytes 
 to Judaism. The Edomites were converted in the time of John 
 Hyrcanus. 
 
 12. will possess] He will again be worshipped in his tem- 
 ple at Jerusalem; and hereafter will gloriously display himself 
 in his holy city. Rev. xxi. 3, 11, 23, 
 
 13. Be silent] God's interposition in behalf of his people 
 shall be manifest, strike their adversaries dumb, and impress all 
 with awe and wonder, 
 
 CHAP, III, 
 
 1. -he shewed] the angel mentioned in the former part of 
 c. ii. 3. But 6. Ar. V. render, " And the Lord shewed me." 
 This may be accounted for by supposing that the text stood 
 u ONT1,,' that is, mrr W>'1 " And Jehovah shewed me." 
 
 2. the angel of] Syr. adds the word angel: and I think that 
 it ought to be admitted into the text, Compare Jutle 9. 
 
 said unto Satan] " It appears to me the most probable, 
 that by Satan, or the Adversary, is here meant the adversaries 
 of the Jewish nation in a body, or perhaps some leading person 
 among them, Sanballat for instance, who strenuously opposed 
 the rebuilding of the temple, and of course the restoration of 
 the service of the sanctuary, and the reestablishment of Joshua 
 in tbe exercise of his sacerdotal ministry." Blaney.
 
 278 ZECHARIAH. HI. 
 
 Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan ; 
 
 Even Jehovah,whochooseth Jerusalem, rebuke thee, 
 
 Is not this man a firebrand plucked out of the fire? 
 
 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, 
 
 4 and standing before the angel. And he answered and 
 spake unto those who stood before him, saving ; 
 Take the filthy garments off him. Then he said unto 
 him; See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from 
 
 5 thee, and will clothe thee with goodly apparel. And 
 he said: Let them set a j fair mitre on his head. 
 And they set a J fair mitre on his head ; and clothed 
 him with garments. And the angel of Jehovah 
 stood by. 
 
 .{) And the angel of Jehovah testified unto Joshua, 
 saying: 
 
 t Or, pure. 
 
 a firebrand] May not Joshua, and those who returned with 
 him from Babylon,* be compared to firebrands with difficulty 
 preserved from the fire? And shall God permit a flame to be 
 again kindled to devour them? 
 
 3. with filthy garments] Appeared in the vision clothed 
 with the squalid and polluted garments of a captive. 
 
 before the angel] " A r/ tv. Addit Copt, n K^, sicut Syr." 
 Mr. Woide. Arab, has tbe same addition. 
 
 4. he answered] The angel of Jehovah. See v. 2. 
 those who stood before him] Other attendant angels. 
 
 thiue iniquity] The effect, or punishment, of national 
 iniquity ; which partly consisted in the cessation of sacred rites. 
 So r. 9. 
 
 will clothe thee] V. Syr t Chald. translate in the first person, 
 and read with Houbiirunt IL'S^VI ; which I prefer to 7rn!O^rn, 
 because nineteen MSS. and one ed. read "jnix. 
 
 goodly apparel] Bishop Lowth translates the word "em- 
 broidered robes.'* Isai. iii. L>2. The Arabic root in Cast. lex. 
 signifies Bonus et exquisitus fuit, bene habuit. 
 
 The vision imports that the priestly office was to be resumed, 
 and exercised with decency and splendor. 
 
 5. And he said] " Sic. Syr. Vulg. Omittunt 6. et -cau voci 
 sequent! praefigunt. Sed Ch. dixi, licet versio habeat dixit" 
 Seeker. 
 
 . testified] Strongly affirmed, as a witness does an impor- 
 tant truth.
 
 ZECHARIAH. III. 379 
 
 7 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 If thou wilt walk in my ways, 
 
 And if thou wilt keep mine ordinance; 
 Then thou shalt also judge mine house, 
 And thou shall also keep my courts: 
 And I will give thee places to walk 
 Among the c e who stand by. 
 
 8 Hear now, O Joshua highpriest, 
 
 Thou and thv companions .who dwell before thee; 
 For they are men to be wondered at. 
 For behold, I trill bring forth my servant, The 
 Branch : 
 
 Hebr. of wonder, or, of a sign. 
 
 7. keep mine ordinance] Discharging all the duties requi" 
 red of thee as h gh priest. See Deut. xi. 1. Lev. viii. 55. 
 
 judge mine house] Thou shalt be a judge, or ruler, over 
 my family, or people. 
 
 keep my courts] Have the charge of the sacred courts; 
 the temple being rebuilt. 
 
 : places to walk] Th-? original word may be a substantive, 
 and may signify goings, paths, ways. Thus it may be understood 
 either of Joshua's entrance into the Holy of Holies where the 
 Cherubim were, or of his future entrance into heaven, or or both. 
 Or D'DbrQ may be a participle. " I wiii assign thee, as guar- 
 dians a.iJ protectors, some of those that walk among the .angels 
 who stand near me." Chaki, paraphrases in the former sense; 
 and ;.he rendering of V. 6. Ar. Syr. favours the latter ^nse. 
 '* And I will appoint thee ministers among those that stand by." 
 Bianey, .ur.derstands by the ministers, <; not the angels attend-, 
 ing upon God's throne, but some of the subordinate priests who 
 attended on Joshua." 
 
 8 thy companions] Tby countrymen, , who returned with 
 thee from captivity. 
 
 to be wondered at] On account of their extraordinary de- 
 liverance irom. Babylon. See v. 2. Or, types of a great future 
 restoration. 
 
 Tbe Branch] Zerubbabel: C. vi. 12, 13: So called be- 
 cause he was the grandson of Jehoiakim, or JechoniaSi, king of 
 Judah ; Matth. L 12 ; and heir to the throne of Judah. " Neither 
 here nor vi. 12. is Zerubbabel naired; nor is there any reason- 
 able ground to conclude that he is deigned in either place by 
 the tide ot nC!f, " The Branch." It is true he was a descendant
 
 280 ZECHARIAH. III. 
 
 9 For behold, the stone 
 
 Which I have placed before Joshua : 
 
 from David, and appointed under the authority of the kings of Per- 
 sia to be a subordinate governor of the Jews who returned from Ba- 
 bylon, and in that capacity he presided, and took an active part 
 with Joshua the high priest, and with the chief of the fathers in 
 forwarding the building of the u-mple. But there surely does not 
 appear in what we know of his character and performances any 
 thing to merit the particular notice imagined to be here taken of 
 him. The same person must needs be intended here, as is spoken 
 of under the same title, Jer. xxiii. 5. nor is it conceivable that 
 terms so magnificent, as those used in this latter place especially, 
 can be applicable to one of so limited power and authority as 
 Zerubbabel enjoyed. Besides it is evident, that the Branch is 
 promised as one that was to come or be brought forth, and not 
 as one that had already his estate, such as it was, for many years 
 past. In short for these and for many other reasons, it may 
 oe concluded against Zerubbabel, and, I think against any other 
 of less consequence than the great Messiah himself, through 
 whom alone, iniquity is put away, and the reign of perfect peace 
 and righteousness is to be established. Compare Ps. cxxxii. 17. 
 Is. iv. 2. Jer. xxxiii. 15, 16." Blaney. 
 
 9. the stone] Stones, such as were used in rebuilding the 
 temple, were represented before Joshua in this vision. 
 
 which I have placed before Joshua] " It seems as if the pro- 
 phet saw in his vision a stone or rock set before Joshua, with seven 
 O'3'V fountains springing out of it, which God says were opened 
 by himself. The Hebrew yy- signifies a fountain as well as an 
 eyt, and tl>ere seems to be a plain allusion here to the rock, 
 which Moses smote in the wilderness, and brought waters out 
 of it for the refreshment of the people of God ; and " that rock 
 was Christ." 1 Cor. x. 4 In speaking of which transaction, the 
 Psalmist says, He opened, nriD, the rock, and the waters 
 gushed out." Ps. cv. 41. Observe the same verb is used as here 
 nnns nnDD03n " Behold I open the opening, or door thereof ;" 
 that is the hole or orifice through which the fountains shall flow. 
 Vid. Is. 41. 18. and Chron. xiii. 1. "In that day &c." This was- 
 spoken of the gospel times; and in like manner it is here said of 
 the same, " And I will remove or take away the iniquity of the 
 land in one day." There cannot surely remain a doubt of what 
 is intended, nor that CDOy must signify fountains of living* 
 waters issuing from Christ. The living waters are the doctrines 
 of the gospel, and the fountains the dispensers of them, the
 
 ZECHARIAH. IV. 281 
 
 On one stone are seven eyes: 
 Behold, I will engrave the engraving thereof, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 And I will remove the iniquity 
 Of this land in one day. 
 
 10 In that day, saith Jehovah God of hosts, 
 Shall ye invite every man his neighbour 
 || Under the vine, 
 And * under the figtree. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1 And the angel who talked with me returried, and 
 
 || Hebr. To under. * to under. 
 
 Apostles and Evangelists, who are said to be " fellow workers 
 with Christ," and therefore aptly represented by the companions 
 of Joshua. The number seven, is frequently used in scripture 
 to denote multitudes." 1 Sam. ii. 5. Jer. xv. 9. 
 one stone] Perhaps the headstone: c. iv. 7. 
 seven eyes] The eyes of God's Providence. See c. iv. 10. 
 The work will be conducted and completed under the divine 
 superintendence. 
 
 I will engrave] Tts engraving shall be wrought by my 
 finger : its ornaments shall be my workmanship. By my co- 
 operation the temple shall be erected and adorned. Or we may 
 render / engrave : The symbol of the seven eyes is my engraving. 
 I will remove] Schultens observes that the Arabic words 
 U70, and no, signify delere, abstergere. Animadv. phil. 
 the iniquity] See on v. 4. 
 
 in one day] The day of dedicating the temple : Ezra vi. 
 16: or, of Artaxerxes's decree. Ezra vii. 11. 
 
 10. invite] That b is used after N")p, in the sense of calling 
 to a feast, see 1 Kings i. 9. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1. "In this chapter the prophet is called upon to contemplate 
 a fifth vision of thf most sublime and mysterious import. He 
 sees a candlestick of pure gold with its seven lamps communica- 
 ting by seven pipes with a bowl at the top, which serves for a 
 reservoir, and is constantly supplied with oil from two olive trees 
 standing on each side of the candlestick. He inquires into the 
 meaning, and receives an answer, which, though it may in some 
 sort apply to the circumstances of the temple then in building,
 
 282 ZECHARIAH. IV. 
 
 awaked me as a man who is wakened out of his 
 
 2 sleep: And said unto me, What seest thou? And 1 
 said ; I have looked, and behold, a candlestick f all 
 of gold; and a bowl upon the top thereof; and its 
 seven lights upon it ; and seven pipes to the seven 
 
 3 lights which are upon the top thereof: And two olive- 
 trees over it, one on the right side of the bowl, and 
 
 4 the other on the left side thereof. And I answered 
 and spake unto the angel who talked with me, saying: 
 
 5 What are these, my lord ? Then the angel who talked 
 with me answered, and said unto me ; Knowest 
 thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. 
 
 f Hebr. of gold all of it. 
 
 yet from the solemnity of the manner, and the terms in use, 
 must be concluded to point to something far higher, no less than 
 the final and complete establishment of Christ's holy catholic 
 church, not by any human means, but by the power of the holy 
 Spirit, surmounting all obstacles thrown in the way. Annexed 
 is a special prediction, that Zerubbabel, who had begun, should 
 have the honor of finishing the material building of the temple; 
 the accomplishment of which is made a sign or proof of the di- 
 vine mission." Blaney. 
 
 returned] I consider this vision as represented on the same 
 night, c. i. 8, with the preceding ones. See the latter part of v. 
 10, compared with c. iii. 9. After some interval, the prophet, 
 overpowered by the vision which had been presented to him, was 
 awakened from his prophetic trjrtvce as from a sleep. 
 
 2. And I said] Very many MSS. Keri and six ed. read XM. 
 a bowl] To supply the lamps with oil, by seven conduits 
 
 issuing from it to the seven lamps ranged in its front. 
 
 seven lights] " Seven lamps." Bianuy. 
 
 And seven pipes to the seven lights] I remove the word 
 njattf from the beginning of the clause, and read nrw HI9K&. 
 6. Ar. V. and Houbigant, omit njOW entirely. " NJDV wyatm. 
 Syr. Recte, ut videtur." Seeker. 
 
 3. over it] Calmet in his dictionary, article chandelier, re- 
 presents the olive trees in the ground, hanging over the caudle- 
 stick. 
 
 5. Knowest thou not] Capellus observes that this is said, 
 not to upbraid the dulness of the prophet, but to excite his 
 attention. Blaney however mains&ins that " this is intended to 
 upbraid the duluess of the prophet in not discerning, what a
 
 ZECHARIAH. IV. 283 
 
 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying; This 
 is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying ; 
 
 Not by might, nor by power, 
 
 But by my spirit; 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 7 What art thou, O great mountain ? 
 
 Before Zerubbabe] thou shall become -f a plain. 
 
 And he shall bring forth the head-stone 
 
 With shoutings, cryi?ig, Favour, favour, unto it. 
 
 8 Moreover, the word of Jehovah came unto me 
 
 9 saying ; The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foun*. 
 
 j- Hebr. for a plain. 
 
 reasoning and reflecting mind, versed in the allegories of pro- 
 phecy, might, in some measure at least, have discovered. Job. 
 iii. lb. 
 
 7. What ] Q. See Dcut. iv. 8. Houbigant conjectures >a : 
 and one MS. reads so. 
 
 For thou, O great mountain 
 
 Before Zerubbabel shall become a plain. 
 
 he shall bring forth] 6. Ar. read vnN1. And I will bring 
 forth. " If in this prophecy not only the completion of the 
 material temple is promised, but also, as we have supposed, the 
 erection of a spiritual building, it is obvious, that in this second- 
 ary sense by * the head' or ' chief corner stone' must be un- 
 derstood that person who is emphatically so called, Ps. cxviii. 22. 
 Matth. xxi. 42. Eph. ii. 20. and whose coming was ushered in 
 as is here announced, by the joyful acclamations of the multi- 
 tudes. Matth. xxi. 8. 10. c. Admitting that njfn is the 
 genuine reading, in this latter sense, either the Spirit of God 
 must be the nominative of the verb, or it may be rendered 
 passively, as with an indefinite nominative." 
 
 " And the head stone shall be brought forth" &c. Blaney. 
 
 the head-stone] niLN"jrr occurs only here. I think that 
 we should read niNVtfnn ttNon, lapidem capitis, lapidem rxcla- 
 mationum. 
 
 And he shall bring forth the head-stone, 
 
 The stone of shoutings, crying Favour, favour, unto it. 
 See Ps. cxviii. 22. 
 
 shoutings] Of the people, imploring the divine blessing- 
 on the chief corner-stone of the new temple. 
 
 8. came unto me] The voice of Jehovah was immediately 
 addressed'to the prophet, v. 9, 10. 
 
 T t
 
 284 -ZECHARIAH. IV. 
 
 elation of this house; and his hands shall also finish 
 it. And ye shall know that Jehovah God of hosts 
 10 hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the 
 day of small thing? They shall rejoice, and shall see 
 the J plummet in the hand of Zerubhabel. These 
 seven are the eyes of Jehovah : They run to and it o 
 through the whole earth. 
 
 Hebr. the stone of tin. 
 
 9. shall also finish it] Capellus observes that fiiWfS in 
 Arab, signifies the sum total of numbers. Hence the Hebrew 
 word may have the sense of consumma)'e t perfcere. 
 
 ye shall know] V. Syr. Chald. and three MSS. read 
 D/liTT'i But 6. Ar. read "j'bN, to thce, for CDD^tf. 
 
 10. of small things] m~m is understood in the original. 
 See Ezra iii. 11, 12, 13; for the small beginnings alluded to. 
 " I suppose to be meant the time when the resources of the 
 Jewish nation appeared in the eyes of many, even well wishers, 
 so small and inadequate to the building of the temple, against a 
 powerful opposition, that they despaired of seeing it carried 
 into effect. Such persons would of course rejoice, when the 
 event turned out so contrary to their expectations." Blaney. 
 
 These seven] I follow the punctuation of the ancient ver- 
 sions. The^ clause contains the ground of the preceding asser- 
 tion. The 'temple shall be rebuilt by Zerubbabel. For these 
 seven &c. Unless, as Houbigant thinks, something is wanting. 
 [And I answered and said unto him, What are these seven eyes? 
 And he spake unto me, saying;] These seven &c. J. Mede, 
 Disc. x. Epist. Ixi. thinks that the seven eyes of Jehovah are the 
 seven Archangels. Tob. xii. 15. Rev. i. 4. iv. 5. v. 6. viii. 2. 
 They may be symbols of the divine Providence. See c. iii. 9. 
 " Blaney renders thus, These seven are the fountains of 
 Jehovah, running to and fro through the whole earth ; M and adds, 
 here again as Chron. iii. 9. CD '3% I conceive should be translated 
 <c fountains." The lamps considered as a part of the furniture 
 belonging to the candlestick, that is the church, can represent 
 no other than the ministers and dispensers of evangelical lijjht 
 and knowledge; in which sense our Saviour says of them, " Ye 
 are the light of the world." Matth. v. 14. In what sense these 
 can be said to be " the eyes of Jehovah," I do not comprehend. 
 But taken in conjunction with their pipes, they may not im- 
 properly be represented as fountains or conduits for conveying 
 and communicating to others the gifts and graces of the holy 
 Spirit, with which they are replenished themselves. And as
 
 ZECHARIAH. IV. 285 
 
 11 Then answered I and said unto him; What 
 are these two olive trees, upon the right side of 
 the tandlestck and upon the left side thereof? 
 
 12 And I answered the second time, and said unto 
 him : What are the two branches of the olive-trees, 
 which are by the side of the two golden tubes 
 
 Hebi. tubes of gold. 
 
 fountains they are said to " run to and fro through the earth* 
 which was in an eminent degree seen in the Apostles and fir s t 
 preachers of the gospel." Rom. x. 18. 
 
 12. branches] Bearing much fruit, like an ear of corn. 
 Bur the A ab.c root signifies ejflu.rit : and the word may be ren- 
 dered ducts. " Blaney instead of ' branches,' renders, ' order- 
 ers.' fcrtf adds he, in- Syriac has the sense of direxit, in via 
 dux:t, I am inclined therefore to suppose that by the jl ?3U? 
 C37V?n were meant two beings, probably in human shape, who 
 were seen by the prophet employed in arranging the fruit of the 
 olive-trees, and giving it a direction for its juice to flow into 
 those.-channels, through which it might be conveyed into the 
 body of the lamps, there to serve for food and nourishment of 
 their light, Nor is it any objection to this more than to any 
 other hypothesis, that they were not enumerated before among 
 the objects of vision. They might not perhaps have presented 
 themselves to the prophet's view till the very instant when he 
 had asked the question concerning " the two olive-trees;" and 
 their sudden appearance may account for the immediate change 
 of it to another, before he had received an answer to the first. 
 This answer being thus superseded, we are left without any di- 
 rect information as to the meaning of the olive-trees ; but we may 
 fairly presume them to be no other than the two dispensations 
 of the law and the gopel. Of course the * orderers' and direct- 
 ors of these dispensations must be Moses and Jesus Christ, 
 * the two sons of oil,' or ' anointed ones' that stand by the, 
 &c. foretelling his will and executing his commands. Of the 
 laiter of these it is said, " The spirit of the Lord, &c." Is. Ixi. 1. 
 Nor do I conceive that any other can be meant by the two wit- 
 nesses appointed to prophecy for a certain time clothed in sack- 
 cloth Rev. xi. 3. the next verse plainly shewing that an allusion 
 is there made to this prophecy concerning the candlestick and 
 olive trees." 
 
 tubes] 1J2f is a tube, or canal, in Hebrew. nn:i' is used 
 only here. In Arab, nasf is cistula : which would lead to the 
 sense of vessel, receptacle : and Symni. renders nt^vt^, ampulla.
 
 286 ZECHARIAM. V. 
 
 13 which empty the oil out of themselves? And he 
 spake unto me, saying: Knovvest tdou not what 
 
 14 these are ? And I said, No, my lord. Then said 
 he; These are the two || anointed ones who stand 
 before the Lord of the whole earth. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 1 AND I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked; 
 
 and behold, a flying roll. And he said unto me, 
 
 j| Hebr. sons of oil. 
 
 the oil] I read iny the oil for anrn the -gold; the sense re- 
 quiring it. Chald. has, " which pour from themselves the oil 
 into the candlesticks or gold :" as if the words nnA ")Mlf had 
 been omitted before an?. " Potest reddi, cvacuant ex se in an- 
 rum. Nam invenitur pnn absque Ace. Eccl. xi. 3: sed f. pro 
 anm legendum Viir', quod sequitur v. 14." Seeker. 
 
 " In the Hebrew copies there is no vestige of such a reading, 
 and all the ancient versions concur in expressing " gold" at 
 the end of this verse. There is no doubt but that the liquor 
 drawn from the olive-trees must be oil ; but it is here intended 
 to represent what for its precious quality may be denomi- 
 nated " gold," that being considered as the most valuable of all 
 material substances, but yet is far less worth than the word of 
 divine truth. PS. xix. 10. & cxix. 72." 
 
 14-. anointed ones] Partakers of oil : VM -ni ino-rilo;. 6. 
 before the Lord] Thus Syr. renders by mp: and in 
 Noldius the participle ^y signifies both ante and apud. Accord- 
 ingly, c. vi. 5, it is rendered by V. coram, by Syr. and Chald. 
 Dip, and by our English translators before. Zerubbabcl and 
 Joshua may be meant; who presided over the temporal and 
 spiritual affairs of the Jews; were the ministers, or vicegerents, 
 of Jehovah; and acted, not by their own stiength, but by the 
 divine assistance: v. 6. Houbigant understands the passage of 
 two angels who watched over the Jewish state ; " alter pracses 
 republics, alter religionis." It is plain that the golden candle- 
 stick is the Jewish state, both civil and religious: and that the 
 oil, with which the lights are supplied, is the Spirit of God, in 
 opposition to human efforts. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 1 " The visions represented in this chapter are of a very 
 different kind from the preceding ones. Hitherto all has been
 
 ZECHAR1AH. V. 28? 
 
 What sccst thou? And I said, I see a flying roll: 
 the length thereof is twenty * cubits, and the 
 breadth thereof ten f cubits. 
 3 And he said unto me: 
 
 This i> the curse that goeth forth 
 Over the face of the whole land. 
 For every one who stealeth shall be cut off from 
 hence, according to it; 
 
 * by the cubit. f by the cubit. 
 
 consoling, and meant to cheer the heart of the Jewish people, 
 by holding forth to them prospects of approaching prosperity. 
 But lest they should grow presumptuous, it was thought proper 
 to warn them, and to let them sec, that however God was at 
 present disposed to shew them favour, his judgments would 
 assuredly fall upon them with still greater weight than before, 
 if they should again provoke him by repeated wickedness. The 
 prophet is shewn an immense roll or book,, like that which Eze- 
 kiel describes Chron. ii. 9. 10. filled with curses, and in the act 
 of flying, to denote the celerity and speed, as well as the cer- 
 tainty with which the thief and the false swearer, who might 
 otherwise flatter themselves with hopes of impunity, would be 
 visited to their utter destruction. The next vision presents the 
 appearance of an epha, or measure, in which sat a woman repre- 
 senting a nation whose wickedness was arrived at such a height 
 as required an immediate check. Accordingly a heavy cover 
 is cast upon her, and she is carried into exile in a distant land, 
 there to abide the full time allotted for her punishment." Blaney. 
 
 2. twenty cubits] The roll was very ample, to shew what 
 a number of curses should come upon the wicked. 
 
 3. cut off] Houbigant prefers Op3, punietur, sive, ultio 
 de eo sumetur. Op' vindicabitur, occurs in Pual: or we may 
 read CDpu, ulcisens sum. Another conjecture is nD3, part. Ki- 
 phal, percussus erit: the word read by the Chaldee paraphrast, 
 according to Houbigant. " Because on the one hand * every one 
 that stealeth is as he that is guiltless; And on the other hand 
 every one that sweareth is as he that is guiltless.' This is the 
 reason for the curse going forth ' through the whole land;' the 
 good and the bad, the innocent and the guilty, were treated 
 alike; so that it was time for divine Justice to interpose and 
 make the proper distinction." Blaney. 
 
 from hence] From the land. But Houbigant understands 
 TITO of time, and renders it deinceps.
 
 288 ZECHARIAH. V. 
 
 And every one who sw ear eth shall be cut off from 
 hence, according to it, 
 
 4 I have brought it forth, saith Jehovah God of hosts ; 
 And it s>hall enter into the house of him whostealeth : 
 And into the house of him who sweareth J falsely 
 
 by my name: 
 
 And it shall abide in his house, 
 And shall consume it, || with the timber thereof, 
 
 and the stones thereof. 
 
 5 Then the angel who talked with me went forth, 
 and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see 
 
 6 what this is which * goeth forth. And I said, What 
 is it? And he said, This is an ephah which f goeth 
 
 7 forth. And he said, This is their iniquity in all 
 the Jand. And behold, a talent of lead was lifted 
 up: and behold, a woman sat J within the ephah. 
 
 8 And he said, This is Wickedness. And he cast her 
 
 J Hebr. to a falsehood Or, shall abide the night. || Hebr, and. 
 
 * Or, cometh, f Or, Cometh. J Hebr. in the midst of. 
 
 according to it] According to its tenor. But 6. MS. A. 
 read twice niQD or niQ 1 ? to death. 
 
 4. abide] And shall at length consume it. Or, according 
 to Houbigant, it shall abide the night in his house; which shall 
 be consumed suddenly, and in one night. 
 
 This vision may be considered as a republication of the 
 curses contained in Deut. c. xxvii. xxviii. The thief and the 
 false swearer, says Capellus, are put for every kind of trans- 
 gressor. 
 
 5. went forth] Advanced onward, to view the object 
 which presented itself at a distance. 
 
 goeth forth] Approacheth us in vision. 
 
 6. an ephah] A vessel in the form of an epbah, but more 
 capacious. 
 
 their iniquity] Read D^y with e. Ar. Syr. Houbigant ; 
 and one MS. The van is on a rasure in two other MSS. This 
 woman representeth their iniquity in all the land. 
 
 7. a talent] This lid of the ephah weighed 3000 shekels, 
 or 1500 ounces. It is called pN a stone, or, weight. 
 
 and behold a woman] The true reading is runi. See V. 6. 
 Ar. Omittit Syr. et sane potuit a praecedenti /IMP oriri." 
 Seeker.
 
 ZECHAIUAH. V. 289 
 
 within the ephah : and he cast the weight of lead 
 9 upon the mouth thereof. Then I lifted up mine 
 eyes, and looked; and behold, two women |j went 
 forth, and the wind was in their wings: for they had 
 wings as the wings of a stork : and they lifted up 
 the ephah between the earth and between the hea- 
 
 10 vens. Then said I to the angel who talked with me 
 
 1 1 Whither do these bear the ephah ? And he said un- 
 to me, To build it an house in the land of * Baby- 
 Jon : and it shall be established and set there upon its 
 base. 
 
 Hebr. in the midst of. |j Or, came. * Hebr. Shinar. 
 
 , 8. he cast her within] The angel caused her to contract 
 herself within the compass of the vessel. 
 
 9. two women] Mere agents in the symbolical vision. 
 
 was in their wings] Their flight was promoted by the 
 wind. Insolitos docuere nisus Venti. Hor. 
 
 lifted up] Thirty-four MSS. and six ed. read 
 
 10. bear] Twenty-four MSS. and three ed. read 
 
 11. an house] A mansion, an abiding-place, where, when 
 the ephah is set on its base, the woman denoting Iniquity shall 
 be imprisoned. 
 
 The meaning of the vision seems to be, that the Babylonish 
 captivity had happened on account of the wickedness committed 
 by the jews; and that a like dispersion would befal them, if they 
 relapsed into like crimes. Thus the whole chapter will be an 
 awful admonition that multiplied curses, and particularly disper- 
 sion and captivity, would be the punishment of national guilt. 
 
 But Capellus' interpretation well deserves our attention. He 
 considers v. 8, as denoting that God treads on the neck of 
 wickedness, and restrains it from expatiating: and v. 9, 10, 11, 
 as signifying that God was propitious to the Jews, and transfer- 
 red the punishment of iniquity to the Babylonians, whom the 
 weight of the divine vengeance should ever depress. It may 
 be added to the remark of this critic, that Babylon was soon to 
 suffer a signal calamity from the reigning Persian monarch.
 
 290 ZECHARIAH. VI. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 1 AND again I lifted up mine eyes, and looked ; 
 and behold, four chariots went forth from between 
 two mountains : and the mountains it ere mountains 
 
 2 of brass. To the first chariot were red horses, and 
 to the second chariot black horses, and to the third 
 
 3 chariot white horses, and to the fourth chariot spot- 
 
 4 ted bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the 
 angel who talked with me, What are these, my 
 
 5 lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, 
 
 1 " The main design of this eighth and last vision, is to con- 
 firm the Jews in their faith and dependence upon God, by shew- 
 ing them, that, weak and defenseless as they seemed to be, 
 they had nothing to fear from the greatest earthly powers, whilst 
 they remained under the divine protection ; since all those 
 powers originally proceeded from the counsels of the Almighty, 
 were the instruments of his providence, and could not subsist 
 nor act but under his permission. Four chariots drawn by horses 
 of different colours represent the four groat empires of the world 
 in succession, the Assyrian or Babylonian, the Persian, Grecian, 
 and Roman, distinguishable both by their order and attributes. 
 
 After this the prophet is favoured with another revelation re- 
 specting a kingdom different from all the preceding. By God's 
 command, in the presence of witnesses, and for a memorial to 
 them, he places a crown, or crowns, upon the head of Joshua the 
 highpriest, thereby constituting him a type of Christ the 
 Branch, whom he proclaims as about to come to build the spiri- 
 tual temple of Jehovah, and to preside over it, both as King 
 and Priest, for the great purpose of peace. The accession of 
 strangers to assist in building the temple is foretold, and given 
 as a proof of the prophet's divine mission." Blaney. 
 
 3. spotted] With white spots, like hail. Kimchi. Bo- 
 chart Hieroz. p. i. 1. ii. c. vii. . v. guttati, Xfvr*7 
 
 bay! V. renders, et fortes; as if the reading was C3yQjtf. 
 Bochart gives t'ON the same sense with von, L>ai. Ixiii. 1 ; and 
 thinks that it denotes a bright red, " ruborem omcov. qui plus 
 habet vigoris atque luminis :" and he shews that four horses of 
 different colours were sometimes yoked together by the ancients. 
 See Iphig. in Aul. 220 5. One MS. seems to read Q'i'Qrr, 
 and fourteen MSS. and two editions read QODt*. Now the
 
 2ECHARIAH. VI. 291 
 
 These are four spirits of the heavens, who go forth 
 
 6 from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The 
 black horses, which are thereto, go forth into the 
 north country, and the white go forth after them : 
 and the spotted go forth into the south country. 
 
 7 And the bay went forth, and sought to go, even 
 to move to and fro in the earth : and he said, Go i 
 
 8 move ye to and fro in the earth. And they moved 
 to and fro in the earth. Then he called me, and spake 
 unto me, saying : See, those that go forth into the 
 
 vau is never elsewhere inserted between the second and third 
 radicals of \'Q{* Jortis, but \lGntinctus rubro occurs Isai. Ixiii. 1. 
 QQn tincti rubro may therefore be the true reading in the 
 place before us. My opinion is, that the words n*'sn D'TO 
 signify particoloured horses, whose two colours were white and 
 red. 
 
 5. spirits] Or angels, the ministers of God's will. See 
 Dan. x. 13, 20, 21. "Winds." Blaney. 
 
 6. The black horses, ] " As for that in which are the black 
 horses, they &c." Seeker. 
 
 7. sought to go,] They walked foem. referring to mm*?, 
 or mS3")Q." Seeker. 
 
 8. called me] See pyr thus used Judges iv. 10, 13. 
 
 The black horses seem to denote the Persian empire, which, 
 by subduing the Chaldeans, and being about to inflict a second 
 heavy chastisement on Babylon, quieted God's spirit with re- 
 spect to Chaldea; a country always spoken of as lying to the 
 north of the Jews. See on Zeph. ii. 13. The white horses 
 seem to be the Macedonian empire; which like the Persian, 
 overcame Chaldea. The spotted bay horses seem to be the Ro- 
 man empire. Capellus says that this description suits it, be- 
 cause it was governed by kings, consuls, dictators, and em- 
 perors. It penetrated southward to Egypt and Africa: v. 6: 
 and, as Houbigant observes, " stare loco nesciebat, aut cancel- 
 lis coerceri:" v. 7. Nothing is said of the bloody Assyrian em- 
 pire, denoted by the red horses; v. 2; because it had passed 
 away. The Roman empire is mentioned twice; v. 6, and v. 7; 
 under each epithet given it v. 3. 
 
 The two brazen mountains may be merely an ornamental 
 part of the vision : or they may denote God's firm an<j immuta- 
 ble decrees by which he governs the earth. " His righteousness 
 is like great mountains." Ps. xxxvii. 6. Vitringa in Apocalyps. 
 
 V U
 
 292 ZECHARIAII. VI. 
 
 north country have quieted my spirit in the north 
 country. 
 9 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saving: 
 
 10 Take from (hose of the captivity, from the family of 
 Heldai, and from that of Tobijah, and'from that of 
 Jcdaiah; and thou shall go on the same day, and 
 shall enter into the house of Josiah, tht son of Ze- 
 
 11 prmniah, who * returned from Babylon. And thou 
 shall take silver and gold, and shall make crowns ; 
 
 * Hrbr. came. 
 
 vi. 1, 2, p. 247, thus interprets the passage: " e medio veluti 
 immutabilium Dei decretorum." 
 
 quieted my spirit] The sense of this passage has been 
 quite mistaken by those who read Tin pS in'in * have quieted 
 my spirit." nn signifies wind here as well as verse 5. and de- 
 notes a judgment or calamity sent by God, as all the four winds 
 likewise do. So mn is used Jer. iv. 11, 12. And rron signifies 
 to cause to rest or abide, that is to inflict. See Is. xxx. 32. Ez. 
 v. 13. xxiv. 13. And the same verb in Kal. signifies to rest 
 or settle upon, as a calamity doth Exod. x. 14. Hence I render. 
 " See, those that went forth against the north country have caused 
 my wind to rest upon the north country." Blaney. 
 
 9. came unto me] After the night on which the foregoing 
 eight visions were represented to the prophet. 
 
 10. from the family of Heldai] One MS. reads n6n riND. 
 and from that of 'Tobijah] Many MSS. and some ed. read 
 
 nN'QI. So V. 6. Ar. Syr. Clialil. 
 
 and thou shall go] For nnN thou, Houbigant reads DDK 
 tcilh them, 
 
 Josiah] Probably a worker in old and silver. 
 
 who returned] One MS. reads ND, vcnit ; agreeably to 6. 
 Ar. Syr. " What shall be taken is not said till the next verse : 
 and the words, which are come from Babylon, stand at the end 
 in Hebr. and all old versions. 6. Syr. have icho is. It should be, 
 whither they are come. So*iu?N is used Numb. xiii. 27. 1 Kings 
 xii. 2. Seeker." 
 
 1 1. make] That is, cause to be made by the artist. 
 
 crowns] Syr. Chald. one ed. two MSS. and 6. ed. Pachom. 
 read miDy a crown. 
 
 " mioy is singular. Silver and gold might be used in the 
 same crown. If the former 1 in vnnro were omitted, as Ch. 
 omits it, and there is a 1 immediately before it, or if it be super- 
 fluous, as often, but not naturally here; the translation would
 
 ZECHARIAM. VI. 293 
 
 and shalt set one on the head of Joshua, the son of 
 Ii2 Josaderbj the highpriest. And thou shalt speak 
 unto him, saving: 
 
 Thus spcaketii Jehovah God of hosts; / 
 
 Saying: 
 
 Behold, the man f whose name is The Branch ; 
 Ai)d he shall branch out from his place; 
 And he shall build the temple of Jehovah; 
 13 And he shall receive glory, 
 
 t Hebr. The Branch his name. 
 
 be : Behold, the man, whose name is the Branch, shall branch 
 up: and so Joshua would not have the name given him, but only 
 a prophecy made to him on putting this crown on him, just of 
 the same nature with that which was made him when the mitre 
 was put on him, iii. 5, 8. Or it' -ny depended immediately on 
 nsn, it would not prove the presence of that servant, but only 
 assert the certainty of his coming. See Is. xlii. 1. K'tf3 signifies 
 to receive Ps. xxiv. 5. The counsel of peace between them 
 both agrees excellently to Zerubhabel and Joshua." 
 
 12. The Branch] Zerubbabel. " There cannot be a 
 doubt that the same person is meant by The Branch here who 
 is so called iii. 8. and this has already been shewn to be, not 
 Zernbbabel, but the "IVIessiah himself; of whom Joshua is 
 made a type by the crown placed on his head. But to what 
 end should he have been called in to represent Zerubbabel, who 
 was his contemporary, and altogether as ready at hand as himself? 
 Nor will this passage strictly and literally translated answer to 
 any other but him, who was at once both king and priest, and 
 by" uniting both characters in himself, was completely qualified 
 to bring about the counsel of peace or reconciliation between 
 God and man." Blaney. 
 
 And he shall build] After this hemistich follows another of 
 the same import: 
 
 " Even he shall build the temple of Jehovah," 
 But 0. Ar. Syr. omit the repetition. I consider the present He- 
 brew text as giving us two different readings of the same clause, 
 one of which should be expunged. " In my opinion this clause 
 is not superfluous, but highly emphatic implying that " Even 
 He," the self same person, who should build the temple of Je- 
 hovah, Even He, Kim should have the honour of governing and 
 presiding in it as both king and priest, in both capacities advan- 
 cing the peace and prosperity of his people." Blaney. 
 
 j3. shall receive glory]* " Tin signifies the glory, the honour.
 
 294 ZECHAR1AH. VI. 
 
 And shall sit and rule upon bis throne. 
 And a priest shall also be upon bis throne: 
 And the counsel of peace shall be between these 
 two. 
 
 14 And there shall be a crown for Heldai, and for Tobi- 
 jah, and for Jedaiah, and for Josiah the son of Ze- 
 phaniah; for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah, 
 
 15 And they that are far off shall come and build in 
 the temple of Jehovah: and ye shall know that Je- 
 hovah God of hosts hath sent me unto you: and this 
 shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken unto 
 the voice of Jehovah your God. 
 
 and authority belonging to a sovereign or chief ruler. So when 
 Moses was directed to give up his command and authority to Jo- 
 shua, it is said vby "]Tinn nrm " And thou shalt put of thine ho- 
 nour upon him." Numb, xxvii. 20. And in this^sense Christ was to 
 receive glory "Tin NU Ps. xxi. 5. Dan. vii. 14 "Acts iii. 13. v. 31. 
 Phil. ii. 9 11. Heb. ii. 9. He was to be exalted to the right 
 band of God, there to sit upon his throne, as a king, governing 
 his church, and as a priest, making intercession continually for 
 it. It is impossible not to see that this prophecy was completed 
 in Christ so as it never could be in any other; and therefore it 
 must be understood of him." Blaney. 
 
 be upon his throne] 6. Ar. read 13O by on his right hand. 
 
 counsel of peace] Zerubbabel and Joshua shall firmly 
 unite in promoting the public good. 
 
 14. a crown] So 6. Ar. Syr. 
 
 for Heldai] So Syr. and^ Houbigant Dbn is plainly a 
 corrupt reading. 
 
 and for Josiah the son] So Syr. and Houbigant observes 
 that we must read thus, or njSX pVi, and for the son ofZephaniah. 
 
 memorial] Of the pious zeal of these persons ; when, after 
 having been publicly worn by them, they a"re hung up in the 
 temple. 
 
 15. far off] As in the building of Solomon's temple, at 
 \vhich the Tyrians assisted. 
 
 and this shall come to pass] Syr. omits nm. Houbigant 
 places the whole clause at the beginning of the verse. " And it 
 shall come to pass, if ye will diligently hearken unto the voice 
 pf Jehovah your God, that they who are far off &p,"
 
 ZECHARIAH. VII. 295 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 1 AND it came to pass, in the fourth year of Da- 
 rius the king, that the word of Jehovah came unto 
 Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, 
 
 2 even in Chisleu : (Now Sharezer, and Regem-melec 
 and his men, had been sent to the House of God, to 
 
 3 entreat the face of Jehovah: Speaking unto the 
 priests who zcere in the House of Jehovah God of 
 hosts, and unto the prophets, saying; Shall I weep 
 in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done 
 
 4 these so many years?) Even the word of Jehovah 
 
 5 God of hosts came unto me, saying: Speak unto all 
 the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying; 
 When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth month and 
 in the seventh month) even those seventy years, did 
 
 6 ye J indeed fast unto me, even unto me? And when 
 
 J Hebr. fast, fasting. 
 
 2. had been sent] One had sent. See on Jon. iii. 7. Et 
 miserunt. V. It is plain, says Houbigant, that all the people and 
 the priests had sent. See v. 5. However, the construction may 
 be, Now Sharezer, and Regem melech and his men, had sent 
 &c. See Numb. xvi. 1. And a reply, addressed to all, may 
 have been given to the doubt of a few leading men. " 6, Vulg, 
 translate that Sharezer &c. sent. And so Ch. is most naturally 
 understood. And it is the easiest construction " Seeker. 
 
 3. -the fifth month] The temple and the houses and walls 
 of Jerusalem were destroyed in this month. 2 Kings xxv. 8 10. 
 
 5. and mourned] The versions, Chald. and our translators 
 render as if in the original they read QmSDl, or, as Houbigant 
 proposes, VTDDn*. We may read TiDD ; cum jejunaretis fftmgen* 
 do. So "Nttn seperando me : v. 3. See on Haggai, i. 4. 
 
 the seventh montK\ Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had 
 appointed ruler of the Jews, was murdered in that month: 
 which was a source of new calamities. 2 Kings xxv. 25, 26, 
 Jer. xli. 1, 10. xliv. 12. 
 
 even those seventy years] Nine MSS. and one ed. read 
 n? without the van. 
 
 fast unto me] Twenty-five MSS. read 3inO5i ; which is the 
 regular form with the affix, and equivalent to b nnQ. See 
 Numb. xx. 5, Buxt. thes. gramm. p. 510. 
 
 even unto me] For a like form, see 1 Kings xxi. 19. Prov,
 
 296 ZECHARIAH. VII. 
 
 ^ 
 ye ate, and when ye drank, did ye not eat unto your- 
 
 7 selves, and did ye not drink unto yourselves? Are not 
 these the words \vhich Jehovah proclaimed by the 
 former prophets, when Jerusalem remained still and 
 prospered : and her cities round about her, and the 
 
 8 south, and the plain, were inhabited? Then the word 
 of Jehovah came unto Zechariah, saying: 
 
 9 Thus spake Jehovah God of hosts, saying; 
 Judge true || judgment, 
 
 And shew mercy and * compassion 
 Every man to his brother: 
 10 And the widow, and the orphan, 
 
 And the stranger, and the poor, oppress not : 
 
 Hebr. by the hand ok || the judgment of truth. * compassions. 
 
 xxii. 19. xxiii. 15. Ps. ix. 7. Affixi et integri ejusdem re- 
 petitio emphasin elegantem notat. Buxt. thes. gramm. p. 413. 
 Schultens animadv. phil. refers to 1 Sam. xxv. 24. 
 
 6. eat unto yourselves] Here the construction may be 
 conformable to that of '3tf ; or a: 1 ?, wbis, may be understood. 
 When ye offered sacrifices, after which ye feasted, did ye not, 
 in this religious act, regard yourselves more than me? 
 
 7. The words] That rw is often used before the nominative 
 case, see Noldius. " 6. Ch. Vulg. quasi legissent rhit pro riN." 
 Seeker. This v. may refer to v. 5, 6: Did not the former pro- 
 phets make like declarations concerning the inefficacy of your 
 external observances? See Isai. Iviii. 6. &c. &c. It may also 
 refer to . 9: And did not the former prophets insist on the 
 superior excellence of moral duties? Amos v. 24. Micah vl 8. 
 &c. &c. 
 
 remained still and prospered] Sedens erat et tranquilla. 
 Seec. l. 11. 
 
 the south, and the plain] See on Obadiah 19. 
 
 were inhabited] We should read 3*tfV, which agrees with 
 2:cn, and is converted into the past tense by the distant van. 
 The van is omitted as c. ix. 5 : xii. 6 : but thirteen MSS. and 
 two ed. insert it. 
 
 9. spake] Dixerat. Houbigant. " Speaketh. Spoke." 
 Seeker. 
 
 10. And the stranger] Ten MSS. and four ed. read 1:1% 
 with the ancient versions and Chald. The order of the next 
 clause in the Hebrew is:
 
 ZECHAR1AH. VII. 297 
 
 Neither imagine in your heart 
 Every man evil against his brother. 
 
 11 But they refused to hearken, 
 Ami f withdrew the shoulder, 
 
 And made their ears dnll that they might not hear: 
 
 12 Yea, they made their heart as an adamant-stone, 
 That they might not hear the law, and the words, 
 Which Jehovah God of hosts sent by his Spirit, 
 By J the former prophets. 
 
 Therefore came great anger 
 From Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 13 And it c?me to pass that y as I called and they 
 
 hearkened not, 
 
 So they called and I hearkened not, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 14 But I scattered them as with a whirlwind among 
 
 all the nations 
 Whom they knew not : 
 And the land was desolate after them, so that no 
 
 man passed through nor returned ; 
 And they made a pleasant land a || desolation. 
 
 f Hebr. gave a withdrawing shoulder. \ the hand of. a land of desire. || for a desolation. 
 
 And evil every man against his brother 
 Imagine not in your heart. See c. viii 17. 
 
 11. And withdrew] This line occurs Neh. ix. 29 The 
 metaphor is taken from beasts that decline the yoke. See Hos. 
 iv. 16. 
 
 12. an adamant-stone] Bochart shews that 1O9 means a 
 hard stone used to polish gems. Hieroz. p. ii. 842. 
 
 13. I called] We may read N"ttp participially. 
 
 14. I scattered them as with a wirlwind] This sublime 
 metaphor is expressed by a single word in the original. 
 
 they knew not] " Quas nesciebant eas," the a being 
 elegantly* redundant; as Isai. liii. 4. 
 
 after them] After their departure. Boch. Hieroz. p. ii. 
 1. iv. c. iv. p. 474.
 
 298 ZECHARIAH. VIII. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 1 AND the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying; 
 
 2 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 
 I have been jealous for Sion with a great jealousy, 
 And with great vyrath have J been jealous for her. 
 
 3 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 1 have returned unto Sion, 
 
 And I will dwell * in Jerusalem : 
 And Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; 
 And the mountain of Jehovah God of hosts, an f 
 holy mountain. 
 
 4 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts : 
 Old men and old women shall yet dwell 
 In the streets of Jerusalem: 
 
 Even the man that hath his staff in his hand for the 
 number of his years. 
 
 5 And the streets of the city shall be filled 
 
 * Hebi. in the midst of. fa mountain of holiness. 
 
 . came unto me] Twentj%one MSS. and four ed. read 
 and three other MSS. read so originally. This is also 
 the reading of Syr. Chald. and of 6. MS. Pachom. **: ^ ityw, 
 " Addit Syr. hy post m Ch. 'OP post roN35f." Seeker. 
 
 2. jealousy wrath] Exercised against her oppressors. 
 " Was jealous. Have been, or am, zealous. Jealousy. ZeaL See 
 Lowth." Seeker. " In the note, chap. 1. 14. I gave it as my 
 opinion, that the jealousy there spoken of, was God's resentment 
 against his people for their disloyalty and misbehaviour towards 
 him. In this opinion I am confirmed by the present passage, 
 where not the least mention is made of the persecuting nations. 
 That God's jealousy bespeaks wrath towards the objects of it, 
 needs no other proof than his own words Numb. xxv. 11." 
 Blaney. 
 
 3. God of hosts] V. and eight MSS, addfWOJt: agreeably 
 to the other places throughout the c. where this solemn exor- 
 dium occurs. 
 
 a city of truth] See Zeph. iii. 13. 
 
 an holy mountain] On the restoration of the temple. 
 
 4. Jerusalem] The walls of this city were not dedicated, 
 Neh. xii. 27, till above sixty years after this prophecy.
 
 ZECHAR1AH. VIII. 399 
 
 With boys and with girls playing in the streets 
 thereof, 
 
 6 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 Though it he J wonderful in the eyes 
 
 Of the residue of this people in those daysj 
 Shall it also be wonderful in mine eyes, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts : 
 
 7 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 Behold, I will save my people 
 
 From the east-country, and from the country of 
 sun- set ting: 
 
 8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell || in 
 
 Jerusalem ; 
 
 And they shall be * my people, 
 And I will be f their God 
 In truth and in righteousness. 
 
 9 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 Let your hands be strong, 
 
 Ye that hear, in these days,' 
 
 These words from the mouth of the prophets 
 
 Who live in the time when the foundation of the 
 
 House of Jehovah God of hosts is laid, 
 Even the temple, that it may be built. 
 10 For before those days 
 
 There was no recompence to men, 
 
 J Or, difficult. Or, difficult. |[ Hebr. in the midst of. * to me for a people; 
 f to them for a God. 
 
 8. And I will bring them] Arab, and 6. MS. Pachom. add 
 into their land nmtf Vtt, which the place seems to require: 
 
 And I will bring them into their land, 
 And they shall dwell in Jerusalem. 
 my people] Comp. Jer. xxxi. 33. 
 
 In truth and in righteousness] With faithfulness as to my 
 promises ; and with favour and kindness towards those who obey 
 me. 
 
 9. Who live in the time] " 6. Syr. Vulg. quasi legissent 
 TiLNs*CDV3: nee male :" Seeker. 
 
 Even the temple] " Omittit Syr." Seeker. 
 
 10. no recompence] No fruit of their labours, from my 
 
 X X
 
 300 ZECHARIAH. VJI1. 
 
 Neither was there any recompence to beasts: 
 And to him that went out, or came in, there zvas 
 
 no peace, because of distress: 
 For I set all men, every one against his neighbour. 
 
 11 But now I still not be, as in former days, 
 To the residue ef this people, 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 12 For the seed shall be J prosperous; 
 The vine shall yield its fruit, 
 
 And the ground shall yield its encreasej 
 
 And the heavens shall yield their dew; 
 
 And I will cause the residue of this people to 
 
 possess 
 All these things. 
 
 13 And it shall come to pass that, as ye have been a 
 
 curse among the nations, 
 
 house of Judah, and O house of Israel, 
 
 1 will so save you that ye shall be a blessing. 
 Fear ye not: let your hands be strong. 
 
 14 For thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 As I thought to do you evil, 
 
 When your fathers prQvoked me to anger, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts, 
 And I repented not; 
 
 15 So have I again thought, in these days, 
 TO do good unto Jerusalem, 
 
 * Hebr. peace, or, of peace, I have returned I have thought. 
 
 curse on the produce of their ground, See Hagg. 1. ^ 9, 10, 
 1 1. We should read uaw for nuw. 
 distress] Ezra iv. 1 4. 
 
 11. former days] When I was displeased with my people. 
 
 12. the seea] We may render, For the seed-time shall be 
 a time of peace. See Gen. viii. 22. Syr. reads oVttD, in, or 
 with, peace; as Houbigant observes. 6. Ar. read ntntt, / ni/l 
 shew peace. " 6. quasi legissent y'TiN', sic enim ter vertunt 
 tovirpi." Seeker. 
 
 13. of Israel] Many of the ten tribes may be supposed to 
 have returned from captivity in consequence of Cyrus's decree. 
 
 15. again thought] 6. Ar. Syr, read nQDn. But see Dan, 
 ix. 25.
 
 ZECHARIAH. VIII. 301 
 
 And unto the house of Judah. Fear ye not. 
 
 16 These are the things which ye shall do: 
 
 Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour: 
 (| Determine the truth, and Me judgment of peace, 
 in your gates . 
 
 17 Neither imagine in your heart 
 Every man evil against his neighbour: 
 And love not a * false oath, 
 
 For all these are things 
 Which 1 hate, saith Jehovah. 
 
 18 And the word of Jehovah God of hosts came unto 
 me, saying; 
 
 19 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts : 
 
 The fast of the fourth month,, and the fast of the 
 
 fifth month, 
 And the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of 
 
 the tenth month, 
 Shall be unto the house of Judah for joy and for 
 
 gladness, 
 
 And for chearful seasons. 
 But love ye the truth and peace. 
 
 20 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 
 j| Hebr. judge, * an oath of falsehood. 
 
 16. Determine ] Pronounce true, or righteous, judgment; 
 and such as tends to produce peace among men, by deterring 
 the litigious and punishing the evil doer. Syr. and three MSS. 
 read oiVun: Determine truth, and judgment, and peace &c. 
 See v. 19. But Ar. and 6. MS. Pachom. omit nQN the truth. 
 
 " And determine the judgment of peace in your gates." 
 
 17. Neither ] The order in the Hebrew is, 
 And every man evil against his neighbour 
 Imagine not in your heart. See c vii. 10. 
 
 Mr. Lowth has an important remark on these two verses; 
 that the promises made to the Jews after the captivity were con- 
 ditional. 
 
 19. fourth month] In which Jerusalem was taken. Jer, lii. 6. 
 
 tenth month] In which the siege of Jerusalem was begun. 
 Jer. lii. 4. For the two other months, see on c. vii. 3, 5. 
 
 But love] " Therefore love ye truth and peace." Blaney,
 
 302 ZECHARIAH. VI If. 
 
 It shall yet come to pass that [many} f people 
 
 shall come, 
 And the inhabitants of many cities: 
 
 21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go 
 Unto another, saying; 
 
 Let us surely go to entreat the face of Jehovah, 
 And to seek Jehovah God of hosts: 
 I will go also. 
 
 22 And many J people and mighty nations shall come 
 To seek Jehovah God of hosts in Jerusalem, 
 
 -And to entreat the face of Jehovah. 
 
 23 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 
 That in those days ten men shall take hold, 
 From among all the languages of the nations, 
 They shall even take hold of the skirt of him that 
 
 is a Jew, 
 
 Saying; We will go with you: 
 For we have heard that God is with you. 
 
 f Hebr. peoples. t peoples. 
 
 20. It shall yet ] Nine MSS. and three ed. read fiy : ant! 
 Noldius agrees with the versions and Chalcl. in rendering 1U?N 7\y 
 adhuc. But if we read -RDM iy until, we must supply at the 
 beginning of the verse, Do this, until &c. 
 
 many people] Many of the gentiles. 6. Ar. and one 
 MS. add CDQ"i many. See v. 22. 
 
 21. to in treat the face] to supplicate the favour." Blaney. 
 Idem ver. 22. 
 
 And to seek] " And to seek Jehovah God of hosts will I go 
 also." Blaney. 
 
 23. ten men] That is, many men. See on Micah v. 5. 
 
 take hold of the skirt] See Isai. iii. 6 ; iv. 1 ; 1 Sam. xv. 
 27; Bishop Lowth's note on the first passage, and Harmer ii. 
 32. It is a gesture naturally used to entreat assistance and pro- 
 tection. This and the three foregoing verses refer to the great 
 accession of converts which the Jewish church received between 
 the captivity and the coming of Christ, to the number of Chris- 
 tian disciples which the Jewish preachers made, and to the future 
 conversions of which the restoration of the Jews will be an emi- 
 nent cause. 
 
 go with you] 6. Ar. Syr. read -py with thee.
 
 ZECHARIAH. IX. 303 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 1 THE prophecy of the word of Jehovah: 
 
 1. The prophecy ] J. Mede, in his remarks on Matth, 
 xxvii. 9, 10. Epist. xxxi, says: " It may seem the Evangelist 
 would inform us that those latter chapters ascribed to Zachary 
 (namely the 9, 10, 11, &c.) are indeed the prophecies of Je- 
 remy ; and that the Jews had not rightly attributed them. Cer- 
 tainly, if a man weigh the contents "of some of them, they 
 should in likelihood be of an elder date than the time of Zacha- 
 ry ; namely, before the captivity : for the subjects of some of 
 them were scarce in being after that time. And the chapter out 
 of which St. Matthew quotes [c. xi.] may seem to have some- 
 what much unsuitable with Zachary' s time; as, a prophecy of the 
 destruction of the temple, then when he was to encourage them 
 to build it. And how doth the sixth verse of that chapter suit 
 with his time ? There is no scripture saith they are Zachary's ; 
 but there is scripture saith they are Jeremy's, as this of the 
 Evangelist. As for their being joined to the prophecies of Za- 
 chary, that proves no more they are his, than the like adjoining 
 of Agur's proverbs to Solomon's proves they are therefore Solo- 
 mon's; or that all the psalms are David's, because joined in one 
 volume with David's Psalms." See more Epist. Ixi, " As for 
 the titles in the tops of every page, it matters not: it is a later 
 device. The Jews wrote in rolls or volumes, and the title was 
 but once. If ought were added to the roll, ob similitudinem 
 argumenti, or for Some other reason, it had a new title, as that 
 
 of Agur; or perhaps none, but was ova/wfxov" " It is certain 
 
 that Jeremy's prophecies are digested in no order, but only as it 
 seems they came to light in the scribe's hands. Hence some- 
 times all is ended with Zedekiah ; then we are brought back to 
 Jehoiakim, then to Zedekiah again &c. Whereby it seems 
 they came not to light to be enrolled secundnm ordinem tempo- 
 ris, nor all together, but as it happened in so distracted a time. 
 And why might not some not be found till the return from cap- 
 tivity, and be approved by Zachary, and so put to liis volume 
 according to the time of their finding and approbation by him, 
 and after that some other prophecies yet added of his?" See Wolf, 
 cur phil. Matth. xxvii. 8: Hammond on Hebr. viii. 9. Kidder. 
 dem. Mess, part ii. c. iii. p. 75. 2,1 ed. fol. Dr. Owen on the 
 Septuagint Version: p. 57. Randolph's texts cited in the N. T. 
 n. 28. Kidder's words are- " This is certain, that such things 
 are contained in these chapters as agree well with the time of
 
 304 ZECHARIAH. IX. 
 
 On the land of Hadrach, and on Damascus, shall 
 it rest: 
 
 Hebr. shall be the resting thereof. 
 
 Jereruiah, but by no means with that of Zechariah." He quotes 
 c. ix. 5. x. 11. and he supposes that, c. xiv. 5, there is a re- 
 ference to a recent fact. 
 
 In MS. 195, Bibl. Kenn. this chapter is divided from c. viii. 
 by the breadth of one line : but between the preceding chapters 
 there is not so great a distance. 
 
 In the English bibles, the chronological date to c. viii. is, 
 Before Christ 518; but to c. ix, Before Christ cir. 587; which 
 latter is the year in which Jerusalem was taken by the Babylo- 
 nians. But, c. ii. 4, Ztchariah is called *>y3 a young man. 
 
 The eight first chapters appear by the introductory parts to be 
 the prophecies of Zechariah, stand in connection with each 
 other, are pertinent to the time when they were delivered, are 
 uniform in style and manner, and constitute a regular whole. 
 But the last six chapters are not expressly assigned to Zechariah ; 
 are unconnected with those which precede; the three first of 
 them are unsuitable in many parts to the time when Zechariah 
 lived ; all of them have a more adorned and poetical turn of 
 composition than the eight first chapters; [see prael. Hebr. 282.] 
 and they manifestly break the unity of the prophetical book. 
 
 I conclude from internal marks in c. ix, x, xi, that these 
 three chapters were written much earlier than the time of Je- 
 remiah, and before the captivity of the ten tribes. Israel is 
 mentioned c. ix. 1. xi. 14: [But that this argument is inconclu- 
 sive, see Mai. ii. 11.] Ephraim, c. ix. 10. 13. x. 7: and As- 
 syria, c. x. 10, 11. Other remarks will be made in the notes. 
 They seem to suit Hosea's age and manner. But whoever wrote 
 them, their divine authority is established by the two quotations 
 from them in the New Testament. C. ix. 9. xi. 12, 13. 
 
 The xiith xiiith and xivth chapters form a distinct prophecy, 
 and were written after the death of Josiah; c. xii. 11; but 
 whether before or after the captivity, and by what prophet, is 
 uncertain. Though I incline to think that the author lived be- 
 fore the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. See on 
 c. xiii. 2 6. They are twice quoted in the New Testament. 
 C. xii. 10. xiii. 7. 
 
 Hadrach] A name for the valley of Damascus. Boch. 
 gcogr. I. ii. c. vi. The name of a place near Damascus, ac- 
 cording to some Jewish Habbies. Calmet's comm. 
 
 shall it rest] God's anger rests on those whom he punishes. 
 Ezek. v. 13. xvi. 42. xxiV. 13. And his rod, or his arm,
 
 ZECHARIAH. IX. 305 
 
 (For the eye of Jehovah is orer man, 
 
 rests on his enemies. Ps. cxxv. 3. Tsai. xxx. 32. The punc- 
 tuation and rendering are suggested by Taylor: cone. voc. nro. 
 *' The authority of Matt. xxvi. 9. is alledged in proof of 
 the following chapters being the prophecies of Jeremiah. But 
 is it not possible, nay is it not much more probable, that the 
 word IK-CU* may have been written by mistake, by some tran- 
 scribers of Matthew's gospel, than that those of the Jewish, 
 church, who settled the canon of scripture, (of whom Zecha- 
 riah himself is supposed to have been one) should have been so 
 grossly ignorant of the right author of these chapters as to place 
 them under a wrong name? It is certainly a more natural so- 
 lution of the difficulty to admit an error in the propfiets name in 
 Matthew, than to suppose that prophecies of such noble import 
 should be ascribed to a wrong author. But it is urged that many 
 things are mentioned in these chapters which by no means corre- 
 spond with the time in which the prophet Zechariah prophesied ; 
 as when events are foretold which had actually taken place. It 
 may be questioned whether these prophecies which have been, 
 construed as having a reference to past transactions, may not 
 terminate in others of a later period, and some perhaps which 
 ara yet to come. It is also urged, That these last chapters are 
 not agreeable to the scope of "Zechariah's commission. See c. 
 xi. The first eight chapters are delivered in the 2d and 4th years 
 of Darius ; to the latter there is no date. Darius is supposed to 
 have reigned thirty-six years; and the Jews have a tradition that 
 the three prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, did not die 
 before the last year of that king's reign. Admitting then that 
 Zechariah prophesied again toward the close of his life, he may 
 well be supposed to have published at this period what 
 would not altogether have accorded with the period and purport 
 of his first commission. And as there is good reason to believe 
 this was the case; so we may very easy conclude that it is of him 
 our Saviour spake, as slain between the temple and the altar. 
 Matth. xxiii. 35. For he is mentioned as the son of Baracbiah, 
 and comes in at the close of that series of prophets who were put 
 to death for the faithful discharge of their duty. That he was 
 become obnoxious to his countrymen may be collected from 
 chap. xi. 8. 
 
 " Lastly upon the same supposition the allowed difference of 
 style and manner may be accounted for, not only as arising from 
 the diversity of the subject, but from the different age of the 
 author; who may well be thought to have written wkh more 
 dignity in his advanced years, than when he was but a youth as
 
 306 ZECHARIAH. IX. 
 
 And overall the tribes of Israel:) 
 
 he is said to be chap. ii. 4. Upon the whole, this conclusion 
 may be drawn ; that, setting aside the doubtful authority of St. 
 Matthew's text, there is nothing else to be found sufficient to in- 
 validate the title of Zechariah to the chapters in question. 
 
 " This chapter begins with announcing the fate of the Syrians, 
 Sidonians, and Philistines, contrasted with the better prospects 
 of the Jewish nation. It foretels the coming of the Messiah to 
 Jerusalem, and the peace of his kingdom. The restoration of 
 Israel and Judah is afterwards predicted, together with a series 
 of glorious victories and great prosperity, which are set forth at 
 large in this and the following chapter." Blaney. 
 
 Damascus] " The prophecies against Damascus and the 
 Philistines would better befit Jeremy's time, of their destruction 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, than (if of Zachary's time) by Alexander. 
 See the prophecy against Damascus Jer. xlix. 23; against the 
 Philistines xlvii. 2, and Ezek. xxv. 15. For where do we find 
 Damascus destroyed from Zachary's to our Saviour's time? 
 For to come under the hands of new Masters, or suffer some di- 
 reption or pillaging, doth not seem to satisfy the intent of the 
 prophecy. And for the Philistines, though it be true that Alex- 
 ander destroyed Gaza, (because it held out long against him, 
 and he was wounded there,) yet it appears not that any such 
 desolation befel Askelon whereby it should not be inhabited, or 
 Ashdod ; nor should they seem in Zachary's time to have so 
 well recovered that eludes by Nebuchadnezzar, as to be a sub- 
 ject ripe for a new prophecy to that purpose. 
 
 That of Tyre, v. 3, I doubt whether it so well befits her that 
 had so lately been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar: Sure not so 
 well as it would the time of Jeremy. See Ezekiel's prophecies 
 thereabout. C. xxvi, xxvii, xxviii." J. Mede Epist. IxL 
 
 Damascus was betrayed by a Persian governor into the hands 
 of Parmenio, one of Alexander's generals: but, it seems, with- 
 out bloodshed. Prideaux. P. i. Anno 333. Curt. iii. c. 13. 
 Arrian 1. ii. 15. 
 
 Nor could Zechariah prophesy of the Syrian conquests by 
 Pharaoh Necho or Nebuchadnezzar: because in the second year 
 of Darius Hystaspis he is called a youth : [see c. i. 7. ii. 4 :] 
 that is, according to Blair, 42 years after the death of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar; and probably 50 after his invasion of Syria. 
 
 is over man] Houbigant supplies py before O1N. Or 3. 
 may be supplied, or perhaps understood; as the preposition 
 very often is,. Thus the sense is agreeable to the ancient vcrsi*
 
 ZECHARIAH. IX. 307 
 
 And also on Hamath, which bordereth thereby; 
 On Tyre, and on Sidon, though she be very wise. 
 
 nr\Sj and Chald. where we find, " For the Lord seeth men &c." 
 " For the sons of man are manifest to the Lord, c." " Or for 
 the eye over man &.c. belongs to the Lord. So 6. Ch. Syr." 
 " QTM |37 oculus hominem respiciens, Casus secundus apud 
 Hebrseos ssepe objectum denotat. Matth. x. 1. Act. iv. 3. Gal. 
 iii. 22. Bahrdt in Joelem iii. 19." 
 
 " When towards Jehovah shall be the eyes of men, 
 And of all the tribes of Israel. I cannot conceive how these 
 words can be made to signify, " the eyes of Jehovah over man,'* 
 as represented by Houbigant, and the ancient versions. The or- 
 der of the words leads plainly to our present English translation. 
 And this implies that a time would come,, when men, and the 
 tribes of Israel in particular, should turn their eyes toward Je- 
 hovah, either in hope of deriving some blessings from him, or 
 in gratitude for favours received." Blaney. 
 
 2 on Hamath] 6 t have n- w^B, ed. Vat. probably supply- 
 ing the preposition from the exigentia loci. I suppose that Ha- 
 math, on the river Orontes, is meant. 
 
 which bordereth] " Or, which borders. Miohaeb's." Seeker. 
 " And Hamath also shall be bordered by the enemy." " That 
 is the enemy shall come and possess himself of her coasts. 
 This sense, which corresponds with what is said of the two 
 Syrian kingdoms, on which the burden should rest, is produced 
 by simply reading "i^ro for iii ro, The Hebrew ^yn is used 
 fora foreign invader, chap. viii. 10, and the proposed combi- 
 nation will obviate many difficulties which follow the present 
 reading of the text. It is easy to see how is: came to be detach- 
 ed, and considered as meant for Tyre ; Tyre and Sidon being 
 frequentty named together in scripture. But Sidon is referred 
 to singly \\n the following context as will appear from the ver- 
 sion." Blaney. 
 
 And Sidon] " Sidon was the capital of Phoenicia, and mo- 
 ther of Tyre. Hence Tyre is called the daughter of Sidon. Is. 
 xxiii. 12." Blanov'. 
 
 " And Sidon, though she be very wise. 
 " And hath built Tyre a fortress for herself. 
 " And hath heaped up silver as dust. 
 
 very wise] See Ezek. xxviii. 3, 4, 5. Awtissimem gentem 
 Poenos dixisse con.ve.nit, Imbeciliiorera agrum, quam agricolatn, 
 esse debere. CohimeHa. 
 
 y y
 
 308 ZECHARIAH. IX. 
 
 3 Though Tyre hath built her a fortress, 
 And hath heaped up silver as dust, 
 And fine gold as the mire of the streets; 
 
 4 Behold, Jehovah will || cast her out, 
 And will smite her strength in the sea, 
 And she shall he devoured by fire. 
 
 5 Ashkelon shall see it, and shall fear; 
 
 Gaza shall also see it, and shall be greatly pained: 
 And Ekron shall be pained, because her expecta- 
 tion is put to shame: 
 And the king shall perish from Gaza; 
 
 || Or, dispossess her. 
 
 3. Tyre] We have a paronomasia in ")iy and lljfQ. 
 
 fine gold] Gold cut into ingots, or in to coins: from V^n 
 concidtre. 
 
 4. strength in the sea] See Ezek. xxvi. 17. " The Sido- 
 nians (according to Diordorus Siculus) on the approach of an 
 army sent against them by Ochus King of Persia, first of all de- 
 stroyed their shipping at sea; and then retiring within the walls 
 of the city, when they found they could hold out no longer, set 
 fire to their houses, and burnt themselves and their effects toge- 
 th >r. Thus their power in the sea was effectually smitten ; and 
 this last act of desperation completely verified the remaining 
 part of the prophecy. No wonder if their neighbours, the 
 Philistines, were struck with consternation at seeing the fate of 
 those on whose assistance they depended." 
 
 5. see fear] The words in the original have a similar 
 sound: N"in, *OTfl. " Rather, and tremble greatly, or, be great- 
 ly afraid. For so the word signifies 1 Chron. xvi. 30 Ps. ii. 1 1. 
 xcvii. 4. cix. 8. Jer. v. 22: and elsewhere to be in pain as of 
 childbirth. But I know not that it is used of grief: and un .cr- 
 stancling it of fear suits best with what precedes." Seeker. 
 
 put to shame] Confusa est spes ejus. V. I propose tr^in in 
 Hophal ; though the verb does not occur in that form. Perhaps 
 U?N, or intf, may be understood: "because one hath put to 
 shame her expectation ;" which form is often rendered passively. 
 See on Jon. iii. 7. See parallel prophecies, Amos i. 6, 7, 8 : 
 Zeph. ii. 4, 7 : Jer. xlvii. " or, it shall be ashamed of its ex- 
 pectation." Seeker. 
 
 It is true that Alexander the Great took Sidon, Tyre, and 
 Gaza. Jos. Ant. xi. viii. 3. But see, on Amos i. 8, that the 
 prophecy was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 the king] By the title of king any chief ruler may be de-
 
 ZECHARIAH. IX. 309 
 
 And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited: 
 6 And * strangers shall dwell in Ashdod; 
 
 * Hebr. a rtranger. 
 
 signed ; so that the plain purport of the passage is, that Gaza 
 sho'iM cease to enjoy the benefit of civil government. Accord- 
 ingly Gaza having suffered severely upon being taken bv Alex- 
 ander the Great, was at length totally destroyed by Alexander 
 Jannaeus, one of the Asmonean Kings of Judea; so that we find 
 it spoken of Acts. viii. 26. by the name of Gaza the which ia 
 desert. 
 
 inhabited] Read aurtn, in Niphal. 
 
 6. strangers] A strange and spurious race; a despicable 
 race ; born of harlots. The root is in, and IIJQQ may literally 
 signify aballno. The word imports nothus, Deut. xxiii. 2; be- 
 cause mr, the sfrangc woman, (the woman of a different country 
 from the Israelites, w ose law restrained their women from im- 
 purity,) is used fora harlot: Prov. v. 3. &c. But here 6. Ar. 
 Syr. J. H. Mic ! aelis, and Houbigant translate simply stranger.- 
 " *JOD This word is translated in the English version ' a bastard.* 
 But ir&Q does not imply an illigitimate offspring, but simply 
 O"e of foreign extraction; For ~mo Ps. Ixix. 8. means only one 
 of another family or kindred. And "iOD is one descended from 
 110, so that when it is said irCD * shall dwell in Ashdod" it is 
 meant, that the city shall be peopled with strangers, not de- 
 scended from its present possessors. 
 
 " The word occurs only in this place and Deut. xxiii. 2. In 
 the latter we find persons of certain descriptions excluded from 
 entering into niirVnp the congregation of the Lord, which there 
 is reason to believe was a public congregation, convened for the 
 purpose of conducting the national business. The first exclu- 
 ded were eunuchs, persons incapable of having posterity, and 
 who could not have any permanent interest in the state. Next 
 follow those to whom the name 1O3 belongs, and these were 
 excluded to the tenth generation. But if the law had meant a 
 bastard, one born out of lawful wedlock, the whole tribe of Judah 
 would ( >ave been at tin's time excluded, being all with Nahshon 
 their prince, the head of their O'D^N, descended in the fifth, or 
 at farthest the sixth generation, from not only the illegitimate, 
 but the incestuous commerce of Judah and Tamar his daughter 
 in-law. But this could not then be the meaning of the law; and 
 the 1100 can only be understood of an alien or foreigner. The 
 reason of the law is obvious, that it would not be safe to admit- 
 such persons to all the privileges of natural-born citizens, ajid 
 especially to a seat in the public councils."
 
 310 ZECHARIAH. IX. 
 
 And 1 will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 
 7 And I will take away his biood out of his mouth, 
 And hi3 abominations from between his teeth: 
 And he also shall be left for our God, 
 And shall be as a Ruler in Judah: and Ekron 
 shall be as a Jebusite, 
 
 7. his blood] The idolatrous and abominable practices of 
 *he Philistines shall cease. The metaphor is taken from beasts 
 of prey, who gorge themselves with hlood. " At what time, or 
 from whence, a new colony was brought to dwell in Ashdod, we 
 are not informed. But some years after Azotus, or Ashdod, is 
 enumerated by Josephus among the cities of the Phsenicians, 
 which were under the dominion of the Jc\vs; and it is well 
 known that they exacted from all under their authority, a con- 
 formity in a certain degree to their religious rites and ceremonies. 
 This will explain what is meant by Baking his blood &c. The 
 stranger was required to abstain from eating blood, and from 
 such things as were hold in abomination by the Jewish law." 
 
 as a Ruler] Shall be regarded and honoured, " a citizen. 
 Blaney who observes that if *VQE be a stranger, one who on ac- 
 count of his descent, was excluded from the congregation of the 
 Lord, or to use St. Pauls expression a^oT^m-/*^ T iroxTnf io-c { x. 
 Eph. ii. 12. rrnno *f?N will on the contrary signify one, who 
 being a true Israelite by descent or adoption, stood in the fore- 
 most rank of citizens, and was entitled to the highest privileges, 
 civil and religious, in the Jewish commonwealth. Hence I con- 
 cieve the princes of the tribes are styled VhTKl?' 'SStf Ml?tt~i Numb. 
 i. 16. And rmrva 'DVi* Mic. v. 1. may be rendered as it is Math, 
 ji. 6. ty ; ttysfxofjv tuta, because D'C^N, and they only, being privi- 
 leged to assist and vote in the public assemblies, had an actual 
 share in the government. See also chap, xii. 5. 6. where also I 
 have used the term citizens, as best answering tbe Hebrew C'D^N*. 
 Here then it is foretold, that the stranger, "ifOQ who should come 
 to dwell in Ashdod, would become a convert to the * true God,* 
 and rVTVT *f?jo, entitled to all the same privileges in that city 
 as a prime citizen enjoyed in Judah. And it may be observed 
 that these terms seem exactly to correspond with those used by 
 &. Paul. Eph. ii. 19." Blaney. 
 
 as a Jebusite] An inhabitant of Jerusalem. Judges i. 21. 
 
 That many of the Philistines Became proselytes to Judaism, 
 
 and particularly the cities of Gaza and Ashdod, see Jos. Ant. 
 
 xiii. xv. 4. " -What this means may be collected from what is 
 
 ^aid before of the stranger being in Ashdqd on the same footing
 
 ZECIIARIAH. IX. 311 
 
 8 And I will encamp about mine House with an army, 
 
 so that none shall pass through, or return ; 
 Neither shall the oppressor pass through them 
 
 any more. 
 For now have I seen with mine eyes. 
 
 9 ^ Exult greatly, O daughter of Sion; 
 Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: 
 Behold, thy king cometh unto thee : 
 He is righteous, and a Saviour: 
 Humble, and sitting on an ass, 
 Even on a colt the ibal of asses, 
 
 as a privileged citizen in Judah. On the contrary the Ekronite, 
 or natural born Philistine, should rank in Ashdod, as a Jebusite 
 did in Judah; that is, should no longer enjoy the rights of citizen- 
 ship, but be reduced to the condition of an alien, one sojourn- 
 ing in it." Blaney. 
 
 8. with an army] See nSJfQ 1 Sam. xiv. 12. Ib. xiii. 23, the 
 word nsrft is rendered in the margin of our bibles standing camp. 
 
 none shall pass through] See the phrase c. vii. 14. I will 
 exclude all hostile approach to the city in which my Temple is 
 placed. See a parallel passage Zech. ii. 5; and the note there, 
 
 seen with mine eyes] See v. 1. Mine eye has pervaded fu-r 
 ture events; and I have thus determined. 
 
 9. king] This appellation does not belong to Zerubbabel, 
 who is called nnD Governor. But the prophet, after having fore- 
 told in v. 8, some of the blessings which God had in store for 
 Jerusalem, passes on to that most eminent instance of God's 
 goodness, the sending of the Messiah. 
 
 a Saviour] So the ancient versions and paraphrase. If we 
 read jnpo, [i- e. ynzflO] this word differs very little from the ducts 
 of the letters in yujlj. Grotius and Houbigant propose JA1?V1. 
 
 Humble] If >ty has not this sense, we may read uy. 
 
 the foal of asses] Aquila and ed. E in Montfaucon have 
 VIH ma&n, and'wov wcw. V. Syr. Chald. read pfiN, in the singular. 
 6. translate wx^ov OY. " fi13ntt. Forte ortum est ni ex m se- 
 quenti. Et haud scio an pro nm legendum sit " Seeker. 
 
 As horses are used in war, Christ may be supposed by 
 this action to have shewn the humble and peaceable nature of 
 his kingdom. 
 
 This prophecy is referred to Matth. xxi. 5 ; in which passage 
 part of Isai. Ixii. 11, is supposed to be interwoven : " Tell ye the
 
 ZECHARIAH. IX. 
 
 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, 
 And the horse from Jerusalem; 
 
 And the battle-bow shall be cut off: 
 
 And he shall speak peace unto the nations: 
 
 And his dominion shall be from sea to sea, 
 
 And from the river to the uttermost parts of the land. 
 
 11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, 
 
 daughter of Sion." It is also referred to John xii. 15: where, 
 says Dr. Randolph, the evangelist either followed some other 
 translation, or chose to express in short the sense, but not the 
 words of the prophet. 
 
 10. I will cut off] 6. Ar. Syr. read msm, And he shall 
 cut off; which better suits the rest of the verse. But see v. 12, 
 13. 
 
 Ephraim and Judah shall not engage in war, to spread the 
 Messiah's kingdom : but their spiritual King shall peaceably 
 convert Gentiles, and shall extend his dominion every where. 
 
 11. by the blood of thy covenant] By the covenant 
 which I hate made with thee, to be merciful to my people. 
 The words allude to the Jewish custom of ratifying covenants 
 by the blood of victims. Blaney here supposes a new prophecy 
 to commence. " It is but reasonable to presume, that as the 
 prediction follows that of the Messiah's coming, the accomplish- 
 ment was meant to take in the same order of succession. 
 But since the time of our Saviour's appearance nothing has hap- 
 pened to the Jewish nation in any degree answerable to what is 
 here predicted; no return from captivity, no victories, no suc- 
 cesses, but an uninterrupted series of misfortunes and calamities. 
 There is however good ground to expect from the writings of 
 other prophets, as well as that before us, that the time will 
 come when " all Israel shall be saved," as well as Judah, and 
 hereafter be brought back to dwell in their own land in the full 
 enjoyment of the like national prosperity." He renders, 
 
 " Even as when thou wast in the blood of thy covenant 
 
 " I sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit 
 
 " Wherein was no water: 
 
 " Return ye to the stronghold, O prisioners of hope, at this 
 day also; 
 
 " Precious gifts will I again bestow on thee." 
 
 " That is, when thou wast yet wet with the blood that was 
 sprinkled on thee, in confirmation of the covenant which Gad 
 made with thee."
 
 ZECHARIAH. IX. 313 
 
 I have sent forth thy prisoners from the pit 
 Wherein ivas no water. 
 
 12 Return ye to the fortress, O prisoners of hope: 
 Even this flay do I declare it, 
 
 I will restore double blessings unto thee. 
 
 13 For I have bent Judah for myself; 
 I have filled the bow with Ephraim: 
 And I will raise up thy sons, O Sion, 
 Against thy sons, O f Greece : 
 
 And I will make thee as the sword of a mighty man. 
 
 14 And Jehovah shall be seen over them, 
 
 And his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: 
 And the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet, 
 
 f Hebr, Javan. 
 
 I have sent forth] V. 6. Ar. Syr. read nnN* and nnbu?. One 
 
 MS. has nnN. " Thou also hast sent forth &c." But see 
 
 v. 12, 13. 
 
 the pit] Deep dry pits, say$ Capellus, were frequently 
 prisons in the east. The restoration from the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity, and the great future restoration, may be both foretold in 
 this passage. " Anciently in great houses, and particularly in 
 the east, deep dry pits called dungeons, were appropriated to the 
 confinement of prisoners. Into one of this kind Jeremiah was 
 cast. Jer. xxxviii. 6. Here I presume, the land of Egypt is 
 metaphorically intended, in which the children of Israel were 
 detained as in a pit, until God delivered them out of it, and 
 entered into covenant with them. To this deliverance he com- 
 pares that which was destined for them in future." Blaney. 
 
 12. to the fortress] To Jerusalem, rebuilt and fortified: 
 or, to the new Jerusalem, after the dispersion by the Romans. 
 See Rev. xxi. 12. 
 
 O prisoners of hope] A beautiful address: as God, when 
 he doomed his people to banishment, by no means totally reject- 
 ed them. 
 
 13. bent Judah] A strong and sublime manner of expressing 
 that God would use Judah and Ephraim as his instruments of 
 destruction. 
 
 O Greece] Alexander the great is described as king of 
 Javan or Greece : Dan. viii. 21. And that the Barbarians called 
 all the Greeks fa ff , see Boch. Geogr. L. iii. c. iii. 
 
 " I will animate the Jews against the troops of Antiochus, 
 who was of Macedonian descent." Grot. It is true that Judas
 
 314 ZECHARIAH. DC. 
 
 And shall go forth with whirlwinds of the south. 
 
 15 Jehovah God of hosts shall defend them ; 
 
 And they shall devour, and shall subdue with 
 
 sling-stones ; 
 
 And they shall drink, and shall shout as with wine ; 
 And they shall be filled as a bowl, as the corners 
 
 of the altar. 
 
 16 And Jehovah their God shall save them; 
 
 In that day shall he save his people as sheep : 
 For J crowned trophies shall be set up on their land. 
 
 J Hebr. stones of a crown. 
 
 Maccabeus gained some advantages over the Syrians. But the 
 language of this prophecy seems too strong for these events; and 
 may remain to be fulfilled against the present possessors of the 
 countries called Javanj which were Greece, Macedonia, and 
 part of Asia Minor. 
 
 14. of the south] The word is used for the south-wind, 
 Ps. Ixxviil 26. With violent tempests: according to the na- 
 ture of the south-wind in the east. See Job xxxvii. 9. Isai: xxi. 
 1. The images in this v. are very sublime. 
 
 15. they shall devour] Houbigant conjectures 13^1 And 
 they shall g<> But the word is used figuratively for destroying. 
 
 they shall drink] They shall plentifully shed the blood of 
 their enemies; and, as it were, drench themselves with it. These 
 metaphors are taken from beasts of prey. See Numb, xxiii. 24. 
 
 and shall shout] Twenty-one MSS. and four ed. read 1DJTI. 
 6. MS. V. read Qinwi, And they shall drink them up as wine. 
 But MS. A. has a^ <X:,TW, DDT. And they shall drink their 
 blood as wine. Houbigant proposes Din blood ; or DDT their 
 blood, as 6. MS. A. 
 
 as a bowl] Used in sacrifice, to contain the blood sprink- 
 led on the altar. 
 
 corners] At the base of the Altar, where the blood was 
 poured out. Lev. iv. 25. 
 
 16. shall save them] MS. 30 reads yttnm, and in another 
 MS. the a is on a rasure. Perhaps the word was written 
 nymrn, as it sometimes is; and the n might easily pass into C3. 
 According to this reading we may translate: 
 
 And Jehovah their God shall save, 
 
 In that day, his people as sheep. 
 
 " As tfa flock of his people. So Vulg. But 6. Syr. even his 
 people as a fiock." Seeker. 
 
 crowned trophies] " Victoria* monumenta, lapides corona
 
 ZECHARIAH. X. sis 
 
 17 For how great is their prosperity, and how great 
 
 is their comeliness ' 
 
 The harvest gladdeneth the young men, and the 
 || vintage the maidens. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 1 ASK ye of Jehovah rain in the time of the lat- 
 
 ter rain : 
 
 Jehovah will make ready the * lightning, 
 And will give you f abundance of rain, 
 
 Hebr. corn. jj choice wine, * lightnings. f rain of showers. 
 
 redimiti." Houbigant, after Capellus. " Consecrated stones." 
 Blaney. " The notion of stones crowned with garlands is un- 
 authorized by scripture at least. But single stones, or heaps of 
 stones, set up by way of memorial, are frequently spoken of; 
 and these might well be called "10 OSN as being separated, set 
 apart, or consecrated to a particular use. Gen. xxviii. 1 8. Josh. iv. 
 5. 20. Accordingly 6. Syr. V. Ar. render here ^9<n *yo. lapides 
 sancti. n Blaney. 
 
 17. their prosperity) I refer the affixes to ny people in the 
 foregoing verse. Perhaps we. may render " the prosperity be- 
 stowed by him" as Vulnere tardus Ulyssi. 
 
 gladdeneth] L<etificat. Cast. lex. But for this rendering 
 I do not find sufficient authority. S13, Prov. x. 31, is used meta- 
 phorically for uttering wisdom : and hence a question may arise 
 whether the word in Pihel can mean loqui fttcit, vel, exhilarat. 
 The margin of the English version has, shall make to speak. 213 
 is also used in the sense of abounding, Ps. Ixii. 10: and there- 
 fore we may possibly render, " The corn aboundeth for the 
 young men [to gather it;] and the choice wine for the maidens 
 [to prepare it.]" See 6. Micah vii. 1 nfoy signifies racemantes 
 faminte. Victory is promised in the preceding verse; and 
 fruitful seasons in this. 
 
 CHAP. x. 
 
 1. Ask ye of Jehovah rain ] The promise of future plenty 
 suggests mention of the means by which it might then be pro- 
 cured ; supplication to Jehovah and not to idols. 
 
 give you] So Syr. five MSS. and a sixth at present; and 
 Talm. Hierosol. 
 
 abundance of rain] QUtt Pluvia fortior. Cast lex. and the 
 word in Arab, signifies gravitas ponderis ac oneris. 
 z z
 
 316 ZECHAR1AH. X. 
 
 Even to every man the herb in the field. 
 
 2 For the images have spoken vanity j 
 And the diviners have seen a lie, 
 
 And have told false J dreams; they have comforted 
 
 in vain. 
 
 Therefore have they gone away, as a flock ; 
 They have been afflicted, because there was no 
 
 shepherd. 
 
 3 Against the shepherds mine anger hath been 
 
 kindled, 
 
 And I will punish the || chief ones. 
 But Jehovah God of hosts will visit 
 His flock, the house of Judah; 
 And will make them as his * goodly horse in war. 
 
 4 From him shall be the corner-stone, from him the 
 
 nail, 
 
 J Hebr. dreams of falsehood. visit upon, jj he-goats. * the horse of his glory. 
 
 2. the images] This does not agree to the times after the 
 captivity, when the Jews were no longer idolatrous. 
 
 as a flock] Which changes its pasture in the wide places 
 of the desert. 
 
 no shepherd] No King, or Ruler, over them. 
 
 The Babylonish captivity seems to be foretold. A deter- 
 mined future event is frequently spoken of by the prophets as 
 past. 
 
 3. the shepherds] The word is beautifully taken up from 
 the preceding clause. 
 
 chief ones] See Isai. xiv. 9. and Chald. has a word equi- 
 valent to principes. 
 
 will visit] With mercy. The original word should be 
 pointed as a participle. So Syr. and 6. MS. A. have wirwfliTtu* 
 and MS. V. .-wisxi^ : either of which is ^translation of ~)p"E, 
 visitans est, vel, erit. 
 
 4. From him] Judah. 
 
 - the corner-stone] See Judges xx. 2. 1 Sam. xiv. 38. Isai. 
 xix. 13: where Bishop Lowth renders nuS chief pillars, and 
 Chald. has a word denoting principes. 
 
 the nail] That these were not only of general and neces- 
 sary use in the eastern houses, but even ornamental and 
 strengthening, and from the first building of the walls wrought 
 into them, see Bishop Lowth on Isai. xxii. 23, and llaruier i.
 
 ZECHAR1AII. X. 317 
 
 From him the battle bow: 
 
 From him shall go forth every ruler together. 
 
 5 And they shall be as men who tread down 
 The mire of the streets, in war. 
 
 And they shall fight, for Jehovah shall be with them: 
 And the riders on horses shall be confounded. 
 
 6 And i will strengthen the house of Judah, 
 And the house of Joseph will I save: 
 
 And I will bring them back, for I have loved them; 
 And they shall be as though I had removed them 
 
 afar off: 
 For I am Jehovah their God, and I will hear them. 
 
 7 And Ephraim shall be as a mighty man; 
 And their heart shall rejoice, as through wine : 
 And their sons shall see it, and shall rejoice; 
 Their heart shall exult in Jehovah. 
 
 J91: where Ezek. xv. 3. Ezra ix. 8. and Ecclus. xiv. 24. are 
 quoted. It is also probable that the " hooked wooden pins 
 which kept tents firm and steady," and " the hooks on the pil- 
 lars of tents, on which the Arabs hang their clothes, baskets, 
 saddles, and accoutrements of war, and on which Holofernes 
 hung his t'aulchion, Judith xiii. 6." may be alluded to. See 
 Shaw's travels 4to. 221. fol. 287. " Ciavorum geminus usus; 
 vel ut supellectilia, quse ad ornatum vel usum domus parata 
 sunt, ab iis suspendantur; vel ut tabulis, asseribus, trabibus 
 compingendis inserviant." Vitring. in Isai. xxii. 23. 
 
 the battle-bow] Both soldier and commander. 
 
 every ruler together] The word VJXM is also used in a good 
 sense, Isai. Ix. 17. Judah shall fm-nish both civil and military go- 
 vernors. After the captivity, Judah again became a well regu- 
 lated state. " Oppressor. See Michaelis." Seeker. 
 
 5. the riders on horses] The descendants of the Mace- 
 donians, who opposed the Maccabees. Grot. Houbigant. 
 
 6. bring them back] We may read CDTruWm with V. 
 Syr. Chald. See v. 10. Many MSS. and four ed. read CTCUnm 
 And I will settle them. 
 
 I have loved them] I have adopted them as my people. 
 
 7. shall be] Two MSS. and one ed. read "n f m. But 
 Ephraim, as a noun of multitude, may be used plurally. " And 
 they shall be as the mighty men of Ephraim. 6. Ch. Syr." 
 Seeker.
 
 318 ZECHAKIAH. X. 
 
 8 I will hiss for them, and will gather them; for I 
 
 have redeemed them: 
 
 And they shall multiply, even as they have mul- 
 tiplied. 
 
 9 For I will sow them among the people ; and they 
 
 shall remember me in far countries: 
 And they shall preserve their children, and shall 
 return. 
 
 10 And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, 
 
 and from Assyria will I assemble them : 
 And I will bring them back into the land of Gilead 
 
 and of Lebanon; 
 And there shall not be found sufficient place for them. 
 
 11 And he shall pass through the sea, with distress 
 
 unto if, 
 
 And shall smite the waves in the sea : 
 And all the depths of the River shall be dried up: 
 And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, 
 And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart. 
 
 8. hiss for them] Or, hist them : make a signal for them 
 by an inarticulate sound. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. v. 26. 
 And see Isai. vii. 13. 
 
 9. preserve] The Hebrew verb in Pihel signifies to save 
 alive. See 6. Ar. Syr. "Live with: or, bring up." Seeker. 
 
 10. Assyria] Whither the ten tribes were led into captivi- 
 ty; many of whom returned in consequence of Cyrus's decree. 
 
 sufficient] See NKQ Numb. xi. 22. Josh. xvii. 16. Judg. 
 xxi. 14. 
 
 11. with distress] " F. pro mx Icgendum DnvQ ut Isai. 
 xi. 15- vel saltern pro Genitivis habendi ma et O (l ?.3." Seeker. 
 " And some shall pass over the sea to Tyre." Blaney. 
 
 the River] Nile. God will restore his people in a manner 
 resemMing the miraculous passage of the Red Sea and of the 
 river Jordan. 
 
 the pride of Assyria] Hence we are led to think that the 
 Assyrian empire subsisted when this prophecy was uttered. 
 
 of Egypt] " Nulla versio legit OHSfQO, ut mri'Q Gen. 
 xlix. 10. Et reperitur ~)D sine termino a quo vel ad qucm 1 Sam. 
 xv. 32." 'Seeker.
 
 ZECHARIAH. XI. 319 
 
 12 And I will strengthen them through Jehovah 
 
 [their God ;] 
 And in his name shall they walK, saith Jehovah. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 1 OPEN thy doors O Lebanon, 
 
 12. [their God] 6. Ar. supply tarvrfo*, which the hemistich 
 seems to want. 
 
 shall they walk[ 6. Ar. and one MS. read Mnrv shall they 
 
 . CHAP. XI. 
 
 1. " That which moveth me more than the rest is in c. 11, 
 which contains a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 a description of the wickedness of the inhabitants, for which 
 God would give them to the sword, and have no more pity on 
 them. It is expounded of the destruction by Titus; but me- 
 thinks such a prophecy was nothing seasonable for Zachary's 
 time, (when the city yet, for a great part, lay in her ruins, and 
 the temple had not yet recovered her's,} nor agreeable to the 
 scope of Zachary's commission, who, together with his colleague 
 Haggai, was sent to encourage the people lately returned from 
 captivity to build their temple and to instaurate^their common- 
 wealth. Was this a fit time to foretel the destruction of both, 
 while they were but yet a building? and by Zachary too, who 
 was to encourage them ? would this not better befit the desola- 
 tion by Nebuchadnezzar?" J. Mcde. Epist. Ixi. " This 
 chapter contains a prophecy of a very different cast to the fore- 
 going. The people would not always behave as they ought, and 
 therefore would not always be prosperous. Before their final 
 glorious restoration, an event of a most calamitous nature was 
 doomed to take place, the destruction of the city and temple of 
 Jerusalem, which is plainly foretold, and ascribed to its proper 
 cause, punishment for notorious wickedness. The flock were 
 under the guidance of corrupt and unprincipled pastors, whq 
 sacrificed them to their own ambitious views. The prophet by 
 God's command assumes for a while the direction of them, there- 
 in becoming a type of Christ the good shepherd; but is soon 
 obliged to resign his charge, with mutual dissatisfaction on both 
 sides. He receives thirty pieces of silver as the reward for his 
 services, and casts them by divine direction to the potter. After 
 this the prophet is held forth as the type of a worthless shepherd, 
 or a succession of evil governors, who, heedless of the flock, or
 
 320 ZECHARIAH. XI. 
 
 That the fire may devour thy cedars. 
 
 2 How), O fir-tree, because the cedar is fallen ; 
 For that the goodly ones are destroyed. 
 Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan ; 
 
 Because the fenced wood is felled. 
 
 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds. 
 Because their goodliness is destroyed : 
 
 There is a voice of the roaring of young lions, 
 Because the pride of Jordan is destroyed. 
 
 4 Thus saith Jehovah my God : 
 Feed thou the flock of slaughter ; 
 
 5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold not them- 
 
 selves guilty; 
 
 And those who sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, 
 for I am rich : 
 
 seeking only to oppress it, at once ruin the flock, and bring de- 
 struction on themselves." Blaney. 
 
 2. the goodly ones] Trees. The original word is applied 
 to cedars and vines. Ezek. xvii. 8, 23. Under these images 
 the fall of mighty men, and the subversion of the Jewish polity, 
 are represented., " Forest of the "vintage: or, defended forests.'* 
 Seeker. 
 
 3. the pride of Jordan] The woods on its banks, the re- 
 ceptacles of lions. Jer. xlix. 19. " translated swelling of. 
 Michaelis understands the lofty banks.** Seeker. 
 
 These three verses may be applied to the taking of Jerusalem 
 by the Babylonians. " These three first verses can relate only 
 to the destruction of the city and temple by the Romans, and 
 such was the application made by Rabbi Johanan, when the 
 doors of the temple opened of their own accord before the tem- 
 ple was burnt, which circumstance is attested by Josephus. And 
 the same Rabbi cites this place as the prophecy of Zechariah." 
 Blaney. 
 
 4. Feed thou ] This is an address to the prophet, who was 
 to instruct and admonish a people over whom destruction im- 
 pended. 
 
 5. possessors] Their governors and false prophets,- who 
 expose them to the sword of their enemies by encouraging them 
 in idolatry, the guilt of which they know not. 
 
 slay them] Twenty-five MSS. and two ed. read prwv. 
 sell them] Those who in effect sell them to their conquer-
 
 ZECHARIAH. XI. 321 
 
 And their shepherds spare them not. 
 
 6 For 1 will no longer spare 
 
 The inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah : 
 
 Bat, behold, I will deliver men, 
 
 Every one into the hand of his fellow, and into the 
 
 hand of his king : 
 
 And they shall crush the land to pieces; 
 And I will not deliver out of their hand. 
 
 7 So I fed the flock of slaughter, because of the * 
 poor of the flock. And I took unto me two crooks: 
 the one I called Beauty, and the other I called 
 
 8 Bands: and I fed the flock. And I cut off three 
 
 * Or, afflicted. 
 
 ors, regard nothing but their own immediate advantage; and 
 bless Jehovah with whose worship they mix that of idols, for 
 their shortlived prosperity. 
 
 say] Read nON with the versions and Chald. 
 
 And their shepher ds ] Eight MSS. and three ed. read with 
 the feminine affix, jn. The word may denote kings, prophets, 
 and priests. 
 
 spare them not] Read with the versions and Chald. AOfP. 
 
 6. For ] I call them the flock of slaughter: For &.c. 
 
 saith Jehovah] 6. MS. A. add warfaxga-r^ : and therefore 
 read nwax rnn : " Jehovah God of hosts." 
 
 deliver] " na^i&^i <5. Syr. Vulg. Ch. Recte. Vid. 2 Sam. 
 iii. 8." Seeker. 
 
 of his fellow of his king] These seem to be the times 
 described Hosea iv. 2. vi. 9. vii. 1, 5. viii. 4. 
 
 7. I fed] Here the prophet speaks in his own person. I 
 obeyed the command of Jehovah, given v. 4. 
 
 because of] Houbigant proposes to read pr6 to establish, 
 for p 5 ?. One MS. reads originally jyQ 1 ? " Because of the poor, 
 or the afflicted, of the flock :" which reading agrees with Syr. 
 
 two crooks] I assumed the appearance of a shepherd in the 
 eyes of the people. 
 
 Beaut>J Eight MSS. and four ed. read nyu beauty, plea- 
 santness, or' delight. This was to denote bow beautiful and 
 pleasant the land would have been, if its inhabitants had kept 
 their covenant with God. 
 
 Bands] To signify the union which ought to have sub- 
 sisted between Judah and Israel. See v. 14. 
 
 8. And I cut off] Twenty-one MSS. and three ed. read
 
 ZECHAKIAH. XI. 
 
 shepherds in one month ; and my sou! was grieved 
 9 at them ; and their soul also loathed me. Thin 1 
 said, I will not feed you : that which flieth, let it 
 die; and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and 
 let those sheep, which remain, eat every one the flesh 
 of her fellow. 
 
 10 And I took my crook, even Beauty, and cut it 
 asunder, to break my covenant which I had made 
 
 f Hebr. peoples. 
 
 The prophet may be said to do what God did; either 
 in the punishment of certain false prophets, which I suppose 
 to be the preferable sense, or of certain wicked governors. See 
 Hos. vii. 7. 2 Kings xv. xxiii. 34, &c. Seeker proposes to 
 point tJBTD as if it signified a third part: and refers to c. xiii. 
 7, 3, 9: Rev. viii. 712: ix. 1518. xii. 4. 
 
 three shepherds] " This is conformable to most of the an- 
 cient versions, but it is encumbered with- insuperable difficulties. 
 The translation I have given (' And I set aside the authority of 
 the shepherds') rests on a supposition that rKL'VjJ has no relation 
 to the numeral u?Vtt7, but is to be derived from W'Vtf, a captain, 
 one possessed of a degree of power over others; and has the 
 abstract signification or power and authority. 1TO signifies to 
 hide or conceal; and may denote a withdrawing or setting aside 
 what a person was before possessed of. Let us now see what 
 happened to him of whom Zechariah is evidently set forth as the 
 type. Our Saviour's teaching was in style so far superior to 
 that of the professed guides of bis day, that stung with jealousy 
 they exclaimed, Joh. xii. 19: Even So it may be presumed 
 the instructions of the prophet gained so far upon the minds of 
 the people, as to deprive the corrupt and selfish teachers of their 
 usual power and influence. See v. 9. 1TO is used for missing." 
 Blaney. 
 
 my soul] That is, /; and their soul is equivalent to they, 
 
 at them] At the sheep of slaughter. 
 
 loathed] "?rn has this sense in the Syriac. 
 
 9. which dicth] A natural death. 
 
 which is cut off] By violence. 
 
 eat the flesh] Become a prey to famine. 
 
 10. covenant &c.] " Some make CDEy "?D to be all the tribes 
 of tbe Jews : but these two words are never used of them, but 
 the gentiles are opposed to them by these words. See Michaelis. 
 And this surely should have been the last tiling done, not th
 
 ZECHARIAH. XI. 323 
 
 11 with all the f people. And it was broken in that 
 day : and thus the poor of the flock, who observed 
 me, knew that this was ihe word of Jehovah. 
 
 12 Then 1 said unto them, If it be good in your eyes, 
 give me my price ; but if not, forbear So they 
 
 13 weighed me my price, thirty pieces of silver. And 
 Jehovah said unto me, Cas't it unto the potter : a 
 goodly J price at which I have been prized by them. 
 
 f Hebr. peoples. J a magnificence of price. 
 
 first. Others ; covenant with other nations not to destroy them. 
 See Hos. ii. 13. Job. v. 23. Ezek. xxxiv. 25. Micbaelis." 
 Seeker. 
 
 with all the people] If the heathen nations are meant, the 
 sense may be, that God broke his covenant with them ; which, 
 originally was to this effect, that they should not subdue and 
 lead captive his people. Deut. xxviii. 7. If D'Dj; refers to the 
 people of Judah and Israel, as Joel ii. 6. 1 Kings xxii. 28, the 
 prophet may be understood as declaring by this act that his 
 covenant of feeding the flock was broken. 
 
 J 1. knew] The manner of instructing by action beino- 
 agreeable to that of the ancient prophets. 
 
 12. give me my price] Rate my labours as a true shep- 
 herd. And they rated it contemptuously; thirty pieces of sil- 
 ver being the price of a slave. Ex. xxi. 32. " ")2*iZ? never sig- 
 nifies the price of any person or corporeal thing sold, or a consi- 
 deration given for delivering up or taking away the life of any 
 one; but merely a reward for service done: it is ^^ ; not Ti^n, 
 which last word is usually 1TTD: and I believe the two Greek 
 words are never confounded in Old or N. T. And when a suf- 
 fix is added to ~Dtt?, it signifies usually the person to whom the 
 consideration is paid, once at least the person by whom, but 
 never for whom a consideration is paid to another. And plainly 
 here the person's *)Dtt; was paid to himself, and should be tran- 
 slated, my wages, TO> i^ahi <* as 6. have rightly translated it." 
 Seeker. 
 
 13. I have been prized] Jehovah calls the price of his 
 prophet his own price : and commands that it should not be ac- 
 cepted, but given to another : and to the potter, to foreshadow 
 the transaction related Matth. xxvii. 7. 
 
 It must be observed that earthen vessels were useful in the 
 temple, to receive the oil and wine brought there. See Deut. 
 xii. 17: xviii. 4: and the note on c. xiv. 20. We may there- 
 3 A
 
 324 ZECHARIAH. XL 
 
 Then I took the thirty pieces of silver; and cast 
 
 Htbr. it. 
 
 fore suppose that some Levites were employed within the sacred 
 precincts to furnish them. To these, the humblest of his minis- 
 ters in the temple, God commanded that the degrading price 
 should be cast. " D'biL'ii. This word is commonly used in con- 
 tempt. See Michaelis. Potter's vessels were proverbial things 
 of small price. See Lam. iv. 2. Throwing the money to him 
 therefore was throwing it to one of a mean trade, as suiting him 
 better than the person it was given to. It is not hinted that it 
 was to purchase any of his vessels: if it was, it might mean the 
 price was more proper for them ; or might imply that the peo- 
 ple should be broken in pieces, like such vessels. 
 
 " YTN is only here and in a very obscure place Mic. ii. 8. 
 And 1p is not the price of any thing, but the precionsness of a 
 valuable thing; and *)p', the verb, is not to value or apprize, 
 but to be precious or valuable. So that strictly it would be, the 
 magnificence of the preciousness with which I was held precious. 
 But who is I? Is it God speaking to the prophet, or the Mes- 
 sias whom he personates? . Or is the sentence partly direct, 
 partly oblique, as in some other places? Or should it be tran- 
 slated, God spoke to me to cast it &c. In each of the latter 
 cases it will be the prophet as Messiah." Seeker. 
 
 by them] " Sic Syr. Vulg. A. Non video byn hoc notare, 
 Melius conveniret cum usu verbi ~p', DfT3'iD; quod exhibet 
 Ch." Seeker. 
 
 I took the thirty pieces of silver] " There can be no 
 doubt but this is the passage referred to Matth. xxvii. 9. A ques- 
 tion arises how the transaction related by the evangelist can be 
 considered as a fulfilment of what was spoken by the prophet. 
 On comparing one with the other various difficulties arise not easy 
 to be solved. In one thirty pieces of silver were given as wages 
 for service ; in the other they were paid as the price of a man's 
 blood ; in the one they were thrown with contempt to the potter, in 
 the other they were cast down in the temple in a fit of ivmorse, 
 and taken up by others who employed them in the purchase of 
 the potter's field. It is said the quotation is not just 
 
 And I took the thirty pieces of silver. Zech. 
 
 And they (or I) took &c. Matth. 
 
 w may be either / took or they took. 
 
 Goodly the price I was valued by them. Zech. 
 
 The price of him that was valued (whom they valued) by the 
 children of Israel. Matth.
 
 ZECIIARIAM. XI. 3*5 
 
 them in the House of Jehovah, unto the potter. 
 The words STI^-,, " whom they valued" carry all the ap- 
 pearance of an interpolation ; they serve only to obscure the text, 
 and none of the ancient versions notice them at all. But the 
 greatest difference is in the nest clause. 
 
 And I cast ("jfy$Nl) them into the house of Jehovah to the 
 potter. Zech. 
 
 And they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord ap- 
 pointed me. Matth. 
 
 Widely as these seem to differ, they may be made to agree 
 by the aid of corrections founded on the authority of various 
 readings. 
 
 For first, in the text in Matthew one MS. for * reads 
 6*xs, and some versions read sea/m. Dr. Randolph observes that 
 tXxxa. is the most probable reading in regard of what follows 
 KaSa. ffvitia.fi (*.< K-jpo;. Secondly for *wn btt one MS. of the 
 first authority reads ")icvn no btt. But JY2 is in one instance 
 rendered by the 6. a field, Ruth ii. 17. and possibly may have 
 been so here. Lastly, for mn> JYS one MS. mn n'33 and anotlier 
 C3. It is not improbable that the original reading might in 
 Zechariah be mn *ED secundum mandatum Jehovae, which would 
 correspond with Matthew. No emendation into which conjec- 
 ture is admitted can be less liable to objection than this." Blaney. 
 
 in the House of Jehovah] So Judas threw down the thirty 
 pieces of silver in the temple. " Christ! vetera omnia imaginem 
 gerunt." Grot, in loc. 
 
 On Matth. xxvii. 9. it must be observed, that one MS. the 
 Syriac and Persic versions, and cod. Verc and Veron. in Blan- 
 chini evang. quadr. read J* T WJO^T*. Origen also reads thus. 
 H. 35.' And August, de Cons. Ev. iii. 7, says: " Primo nove- 
 rit non omnes codices evangeliorum habere, quod per Hiere- 
 miam dictum sit, sed tantum modo per prophetam." See WeU 
 stein. Griesback prefixes to n^pm his mark that it should pro- 
 bably be omitted ; and adds to the authorities for omitting it 
 Vers, neograeca, and cod. Lat. apud Lucam Brugensem. Kid- 
 der refers to R, Isaac, and Gloss, ordinar. as reading per pro- 
 phetam." Dem. Mess. p. ii. 75. Again: for ^-.va one MS. 
 has tfain, and Evang. 24. and Syr. Pers. read iSw**. Randolph 
 suggests that this. reading is probably from what follows, xo0* 
 f^-r^f p.oi xv.-io;, which clause occurs in Arab. It must be fur- 
 ther observed, that the passage in St. Matthew is rather a refer- 
 ence than a quotation. Tiie words, * nfxny r rir^^^-a, ov .-n^W,, 
 K-.J vwv itrja'A, are inserted to remind the reader of the transaction 
 as recorded by the prophet. The words friT no, in the House
 
 326 ZECHARIAH. XI. 
 
 14 And I cut asunder my second crook, even Bands; 
 to break the brotherhood between Judah || and Israel. 
 
 15 And Jehovah said unto me again : 
 
 Take unto thee the instruments of an unwise 
 shepherd. 
 
 16 For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land : 
 Of that which is cut oft' he shall not take account ; 
 That which is young he shall not seek; 
 
 And that which is hurt he shall not heal: 
 That which standeth ,firm he shall not sustain : 
 
 || Hebr. and between. 
 
 of Jehovah, are omitted ; though they were apposite to the 
 Evangelist's purpose. And the words ixvn btf, unto the potter, are 
 accommodated to the particular fact mentioned in the evangelical 
 history. Matthoeus sensum magis, quod in allegationibus fre- 
 quenti-r fieri solet, quain verborum habitum respexit. See Owen 
 on the Sept. vers. . vii. Randolph, and Kenn. diss. gen. . 49. 
 
 14. the brotherhood] I cannot explain this passage with- 
 out supposing that the kingdom of Israel subsisted when the 
 prophet wrote it; and that either the wars between Judah and 
 Israel are referred to, see 2 Kings xvi. 5. or the captivity of 
 the ten tribes, when the brotherly connection between these 
 kingdoms ceased. " Surely pi V 3 must denote the two par- 
 ties, as Exod. xi. 7. Josh. xxii. 25. and I suppose every where. 
 If so, either the reading of 6. n?rw possession must be right, and 
 may- mean taking away from both Judah and Israel the land 
 which had been divided between them : or if it be the brother- 
 hood, this must relate to early times, and what precedes to yet 
 earlier." Seeker. 
 
 15. instruments of an unwise shepherd] Houbigant reads 
 Hv. Such instruments, says Grotius, are an iron crook, a scrip 
 containing nothing useful to the sheep, and such like. 
 
 16. a shepherd] Some wicked king, and most probably 
 Jloshea. 2 Kings xvii. 1, 2. 
 
 which is cut off] Five MSS. and one ed read JYTTOin. 
 
 which is young] One MS. reads mjfln. The word in 
 Chald dcloco in locum transtulit : and in Arab, qidnulloloco qwes- 
 cit. See Buxt. lex, Chald. and Cast. lex. The ancient ver, 
 sions, the Chaldee, and Schultens animadv. pliil. p. 640, lead 
 us to render, that which wandereth. " Videtur legend 
 Ham bis reddunt yun ii*e*opfr " Seeker. 
 
 Compare Ejzek. xxxiv 4, 16. Jer. xxiii. I 4.
 
 ZECHARIAH. XII. 32? 
 
 But he shall eat the flesh of that which is fat, and 
 
 break their hoofs. 
 17 Woe unto the * worthless shepherd who forsaketh 
 
 the flock : 
 
 Destruction shall be on his arm, 
 And on his right eye: 
 His arm shall surely be f withered, 
 And his right eye shall surely be J Darkened. 
 
 CHAP. XII 
 
 1 THE Prophecy of the word of Jehovah. 
 Concerning Israel saith Jehovah, 
 
 TTho stretcheth out the heavens, and laycth the 
 
 foundations of the earth, 
 And formeth the spirit of man within him: 
 
 2 Behold I will make Jerusalem 
 
 A cup of trembling to all the |j people round 
 about : 
 
 * Hebr. shepherd of nought. f in withering shall be withered. 
 
 J in darkening shall be darkened. <j a bowl. jj peoples. 
 
 break their hoofs] By an vr^*xoy<. When he catches 
 them with his armed crook, for slaughter. 
 
 17. shepherd] V. Syr. Chald. read in the singular, njn 
 shepherd, and -?y forsaketh. One MS. reads njHj and a second 
 read so originally. 
 
 his arm his right eye] The wicked governor, or go- 
 vernors, spoken of t;, 16, may have been thus judicially punish- 
 ed by the hand of God ; or may have suffered these specific 
 evils from victorious enemies. Or the meaning is, that the 
 punishment of such shall be signal. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 1. prophecy] "burden; sentence : for : concerning. See 
 Vitr. on Isai. xiii. 1. Literally this belongs to the Maccabees: 
 mystically to the Apostles." Seeker. 
 
 Israel] Under this term all the tribes are here compre- 
 hended. See Ezek. xxxvii. 1522. Mai. i. 1. " Stretched 
 out." " Formed the spirit of man, &c." Blaney. 
 
 2. A cup of trembling] An inebriating and stupifying potion 
 of the strongest liquors and drugs. Jerusalem shall strike the 
 nations with dread and astonishment.
 
 328 ZECHARIAH. XII. 
 
 And for Judah also shall it be, 
 Jn the siege against Jerusalem. 
 
 3 And it shall come to pass, in that day, 
 That 1 will make Jerusalem 
 
 A * burdensome stone to all the f people : 
 
 All who burden themselves with it shall be deeply 
 
 J wounded. 
 And all the nations of the earth shall be gathered 
 
 together against her. 
 
 4 In that day, saith Jehovah, 
 
 I will strike every horse with astonishment, and 
 
 his rider with madness; 
 
 And upon the house of Judah will I open mine eyes, 
 And every horse of the people will I strike with 
 
 blindness. 
 
 5 And the leaders of Judah shall say in their heart; 
 
 * Hebr. a stone of burthen, f peoples. J in cutting shall be cut. peoples. 
 
 shall it be] I suppose DD the cup to be understood. Eleven 
 MSS. and three ed. read rvnn, MS. 251 read so originally, and 
 three others read so no\v. The gender of DD is not determined : it 
 makes mDD in the plural, and may perhaps be joined with a fe- 
 minine verb. Syr. renders, " And also against Judah shall be 
 distress [l^Q] together with [ny] Jerusalem." Two MSS. in 
 Houbigant, and 6. MS. A. read nm. Houbigant renders, As- 
 cendetque \hy t '] ipse Judah, ut sit [rrm] cum eis qui Jerusalem 
 obsidebunt: which is inconsistent with v. 4 7. If I were al- 
 lowed a conjecture, I would read rrnx " will I [Jehovah] be." 
 See r, 6, 7, 
 
 the siege] A future siege, after the final restoration of the 
 Jews. See on c. xiv 3. and Rev. xx. 9. " Jews and Christians 
 interpret the latter part so, as to make the inhabitants of Judah 
 be forced to join in the siege against Jerusalem : but these to 
 fall on the common enemy." Seeker. 
 
 3. A burthensome stone] which will bruise, if not crush, 
 those who attempt to move it. 
 
 all the nations] Many nations: as c. xiv. 2: the nations 
 round about: as -p. 6. andc. xiv. 14. 
 
 4. In that day] This prophecy remains to be accomplished. 
 The language here, and v. 6 9 is much too strong to denote 
 the successes of the Maccabees against the Seleucidse.
 
 ZECHARIAH. XII. 309 
 
 Ihere is strength to the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 Through Jehovah Lord of hosts their God. 
 
 6 In that day will I make the leaders of Judah 
 As an hearth of fire among wood, 
 
 And as a lamp of fire in a sheaf: 
 
 And they shall devour, on the right hand and on 
 
 the left, 
 
 All the || people round about. 
 And Jerusalem shall again be inhabited in her own 
 
 place in peace. 
 
 7 Jehovah will also save the tents of Judah, as in old 
 
 time: 
 That the glory of the house of David should not 
 
 magnify itself, 
 Neither the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 
 against Judah. 
 
 8 In that day Jehovah will defend 
 
 JJ Heb. peoples. 
 
 5. to the inhabitants] For rw 'V, " The inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem are a strength unto me," Houbigant proposes to read 
 OU7V 1 ?; and one MS. reads Q2^, and perhaps another. " Recte 
 videtur Ch. legisse OlL'V 1 ?. Vid. v. 2: et xiv. 14." Seeker. 
 Syr. reads very well, 13*? li'Qtf, have prevailed unto us, a nobis. 
 
 G. an hearth] The word may be rendered a pot, " The 
 Arabs make a fire in a great stone pitcher, and, when it is heat- 
 ed, spread paste upon it, which is baked in an instant." Har- 
 meri. 233. 
 
 be inhabited] The true reading is n2U;vi. 
 
 in peace] Houbigant ingeniously conjectures that we 
 should read cfrtfa, for O^no. 6. MS. A. Pachom. Arab, 
 and one MS. omit CD^nO; without which word the sense is 
 complete. 
 
 7. as in old time] Four MSS. the Jerusalem Talmud, and 
 V. 6. Ar. Syr. have the particle of similitude 3, before rmtfiO or 
 nrtfiOa See the same alteration Joel ii. 23. 
 
 of the inhabitants] Six MSS. read ottfV or O^, with the 
 
 k versions and Chald. In v. 8, 4 MSS. the versions and Chald. 
 
 read the same participle plurally ; and in v. 10 we find the plural 
 
 reading of this word in fifteen MSS. two ed. the versions and 
 
 Chald. agreeably to c. xiii. 1. 
 
 8. -defend] The verb pJ is here 'used with TJ& pro, circa, 
 super j as pa, a shield, is used Ps. iii. 3.
 
 330 ZECHARIAH. XII. 
 
 The inhabitants of Jerusalem : 
 And he that is feeble among them shall be, 
 In that day, as David ; 
 And the house of David shall be ns God, 
 As the angel of Jehovah before them. 
 9 And it shall come to pass, in that day, 
 That I will seek to destroy all the nations 
 Which come against Jerusalem. 
 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, 
 And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 A spirit of favour and of supplications : 
 And they shall look on him whom they pierced ; 
 
 he that is feeble] " And he that is fallen to decay 
 among them.* The word hl?D3n properly signifies one over- 
 thrown and ruined in his fortune. The intent here is to 
 mark the progressive improvement in the condition of the 
 people ; when the man who had gone to decay should revive 
 and flourish like David, who himself from a state of exile and 
 distress was advanced to the kingdom; and the house of David 
 would rise to the rank of Gods,- or, as the term n'nVtt seems ex- 
 plained, of Guardian Angels marching before the people, see 
 Gen. iii. 5. Ps. viii. 6. & Ixxxii. 6." Blaney. 
 
 10. And I will pour ] God's signal interposition in behalf 
 of Judah and Jerusalem, after their future restoration, having 
 been foretold, the prophet proceeds to foretel their conversion to 
 Christianity. 
 
 of favour] Which shall conciliate favour. See Tayl. cone, 
 voc. nn. 
 
 on him] Thirty-six MSS. and two ed. read v\v: three 
 other MSS. read so originally; six perhaps read so; six read so 
 now; and eleven have v"?N in the margin, as Ken. And vet >l ?v, 
 on me, may be traced in the ancient versions and Chald. l6t* 
 was also noted as a various lection by R. Saadias, who lived 
 about the year 900. See Kenn. diss. gen. . 43. " Citant V":N 
 Talmud et R. Saadiah Haggaon. Poc. Append, in Mai." Seeker, 
 Dr. Owen shews that Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertul- 
 lian, and Barnabas favour the reading of vV**. Inquiry Sept* 
 version. Sect. iv. The present reading of 6. in the English 
 polyglot is, xa iiri?x4s1< TJOJ pi, a$ w wru^etyailo. The last word 
 arises from transposing npl into VTjT); as Dr. Owen observes, 
 and Kenn. diss. gen. . 70. But Ignatius and Justin Martyr read, 
 i.,- w i^xii-PKrar. See Owen and Keniiicott ubi supr. And
 
 ZECHARIAH. XII. S8 1 
 
 And they shall mourn for him, as with the mourn- 
 ing for an only son ; 
 
 And the bitterness for him shall be as the bitterness 
 
 for a first-born. 
 
 11 In that day the mourning shall be great in 
 Jerusalem, 
 
 As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of 
 Megiddo, 
 
 it is very observable that in the Aldine edition of the Septuagint 
 
 We read, xat moXj^ovrai irgof f*t, tt; ov jjxivnj(rar, av9 uf, w.Tu^aa.fa. 
 
 Here two renderings are inserted; and n; o ti*.eiln<ia.v is made of 
 equal authority with the other. The very valuable Pachomian 
 MS. of o. reads ? i|Ex7-nis-a, instead of v9 w va.twffjvza.-fit. 
 
 " Potest "NUN ntf notare eo quod, ut vertunt 6 Ch. vel quern. 
 Vid. Nold. Et sic post Dativum adhibetur Jer. xxxviii. 9. Q,uin 
 et DN Dativi vicem explet. Vid. Nold." Seeker. 
 
 See this text John xix. 37: Apoc. i. 7. and ")p*r, to pierce f 
 c. xiii. 3. 
 
 ID2Q is an object looked on with dependence on it and con- 
 fidence in it. Is. xx. 5, 6. and here ix. 5. Vitr. V** JDOH often 
 denotes such looking: as Numb. xxi. 9. Ps. xxxiv. 6. &c. 1p*T 
 is used eleven times besides* almost always of mortal wounds, 
 particularly here xiii. 3. and never of one clearly not so." Seeker. 
 
 " (I ?N should be considered as the preposition, and of the 
 same use and signification as \v, and not as a compound of ^N 
 and the affixed pro oun '. By admitting this correction in the 
 points, the quotation of the evangelist will be the exact sense 
 of the Hebrew." Blaney. 
 
 the bitterness] Altering the points in IQTT twice, will re- 
 move all grammatical difficulty from this passage. 
 
 11. Hadadrimmon] Jerom says that this was a place near 
 Jezreel, called in his nine Maximaniopolis. De Lisle places it 
 near Megiddo, where Josiah was slain ; over whom great lamen- 
 tation was made. 2 Chron. xxxv. 22 25. " Pro |1D*mn habet 
 Syr pCN 12, i. e. Josiae: 2 Kings xxi. 24: quern et nominal 
 Cb. sed post Achabium ab Hadadrimmone occisum." Seeker. 
 
 Megiddo] Eight MSS. and Syr. read thus for Megiddon. 
 
 This mourning of the Jews will take place on the reappear- 
 ance of their Messiah from heaven, Apoc. i. 7. xx. 4; when 
 the restored descendants of those Jews who slew him shall be 
 touched with the deepest compunction for the guilt of their 
 forefathers. 
 
 3 8
 
 332 ZECHAR1AH. XII. 
 
 12 And the land shall mourn, every * family apart : 
 The family of the house of David apart, and their 
 
 wives apart; 
 
 The family of the house of Nathan apart, and their 
 wives apart ; 
 
 13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their 
 
 wives apart, 
 
 The family [of the house] of f Simeon apart, and 
 their wives apart: 
 
 14 All the families which remain, 
 
 Every family apart, and their wives apart. 
 
 * Hebr. families families. f Simei- 
 
 12. Nathan] A son of David. Luke iii. 31. 
 
 " If Nathan be a descendant of David, his house is part of 
 
 David's. If families literally be meant; why these? And if 
 
 a time yet to come, who shall know these? If it relate to a 
 thing near the prophet's time, there might bo known- families of 
 the name of Nathan and Shimei, as well as David and Levi, who 
 had joined in some bad and fatal action : and if the family of 
 the patriarch Levi be too large, some other of the name may 
 be meant." Seeker. 
 
 It is possible that, at the final restoration of the Jews, the 
 genealogies of some tribes may be preserved; and that the fa- 
 mily of David may be traced up to more than one of its colateral 
 branches; each or which, on account of its distinguished emi- 
 nence, is to mourn apart. Observe that, after the mention of 
 four particulars, there is a general clause r. 14. to complete the 
 induction. Or, as facts of this nature are very important in the 
 estimation of the Jews, they may be supernatural ly ascertained, 
 See Rev. vii. 4 8. 
 
 their wives apart] On account of the season of humilia- 
 tion. 1 Cor. vii. 5. 
 
 13. [of the house] of Simeon] Three MSS. and Syr. 
 Chald. supply DO: which I suppose to be the true reading. 
 For Simei 6. Ar. Syr. have Simeon. In the margin of the Eng- 
 lish version we have, " Or, of Simeon, as o." Our translators 
 therefore thought that the Hebrew text might sometimes be 
 corrected by the Greek version. " As David, Nathan, Simeon, 
 and Levi are all reckoned among the progenitors of Christ (Luke 
 iii. 29.) may not their families be mentioned by Name, as more 
 particularly concerned in the guilt to be lamented? John vii. 5. n 
 Blaney.
 
 ZECHARIAH. XIII. 333 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 IN that clay shall a fountain be opened 
 To the house of David, and to the inhabitants of 
 
 Jerusalem, 
 
 For sin, and for defilement. 
 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts, 
 Ihat I will cut off the names of the idols out of 
 the land ; 
 
 1. a fountain opened] " The blood of Christ, which 
 cleanseth from all sin, (1 John i. 7.) is manifestly here intended, 
 the Jews being upon their repentance and conversion to be ad- 
 mitted to all the privileges of the Christian covenant. nNEn 
 and fTH are legal terms ; the former denotes sin generally, or 
 any transgression of the law which required atonement; the lat- 
 ter is used for that uncleanness which secluded man from all in- 
 tercourse with God and holy things. Whatever efficacy legal 
 sacrifices had in purifying the people, the same is ascribed to 
 the blood of Christ in the gospel dispensation." Blaney, 
 
 Scaturiet, crumpet. Schult. animaclv. phil. 549. " AH allu-. 
 sion to the one great spring at Jerusalem, which served the 
 uses of King and people. See Vitr. on Isai. vii. 3." Seeker. 
 
 " Both here and xii. 10. only the house of David and the 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem are named, and the latter are distin- 
 guished from Judah, xii. 2, 5; and both from Judah xii. 7; 
 and the mourning is confined to Jerusalem, xii. 11. Can it 
 therefore relate to a time yet future, when for so long no Jews 
 had been inhabitants of Jerusalem ? And if the descendants of 
 those, who were so, be meant, where is the authority for such 
 meaning? how shall they be known? and what so particular 
 cause of mourning they have, above others, for what was done, 
 long ago ?" Seeker. 
 
 We may suppose a future national mourning at Jerusalem ; 
 as general as the solemn rejoicings, at the festivals appointed 
 bylhe law, in the times of its former prosperity. See on c. xii. 
 
 defilement] Here is, an allusion to the water of separation 
 
 or of purification for sin. Numb. xix. 9. Means of purification 
 from moral pollution shall be afforded to the Jews by the terms 
 pf the Christian covenant. 
 
 2. idols] This prediction, that idols and false prophets
 
 S34 ZECHARIAH. XIIL 
 
 And they shall no more be remembered j 
 
 And the prophets also, 
 
 And the impure spirit, 
 
 Will I cause to pass out of the land. 
 
 3 And it shall come to pass, when any shall yet 
 
 prophesy, 
 
 That his father and his mother shall say unto him, 
 Even those who begat him ; Thou shalt not live, 
 Because thou hast spoken falsehood in the name 
 
 of Jehovah. 
 And his father, and his mother, who begat him shall 
 
 pierce him through when he prophesieth. 
 
 4 And it shall come to pass, in that day, that the 
 
 prophets shall be ashamed 
 Every one of his vision, when he prophesieth ; 
 Neither shall they wear a f rough garment to deceive. 
 
 5 But each shall say, I am not a prophet : 
 
 J Hebr. garment of hair, 
 
 should cease at the final restoration of the Jews, seems to have 
 been uttered when idolatry, and groundless pretentious to the 
 spirit of prophecy, were common among the Jews ; and there- 
 fore before the Babylonish captivity. ' The word V"wn should 
 be taken in its most general sense " the earth," and then the 
 objection urged above looses its force ; and the prophecy ex- 
 tends to the extirpation of idolatry in general. This event is 
 to take place when the Jews are converted to the Christian faith. 
 Rom. ix. 15." Blaney. 
 
 the prophets] The false prophets. " The prophets and 
 the impure spirit, is perhaps-a Hendyadis for those who prophecy 
 by means of an impure spirit. See Acts xvi. 16. Rev. xvi. 13. 
 And what is said in the next verse, " of any one that shall pro- 
 phesy" must be understood of those that undertake to prophesy 
 by means of an impure spirit, or other false pretences." Blaney. 
 
 the impure spirit] Of devination by evoking the dead, of 
 |>y any means which caused legal impurity. 
 
 3. yet prophesy] That is, falsely. So v. 4. 
 pierce him through] Fifteen MSS. read VTVlpTl. 
 
 4. when he prophesieth] One MS. reads inn^nna. And 
 fpur MSS. read thus. 1 Sam. x. 13. 
 
 wear a rough garment] This seems to have been the prac*
 
 ZECHARIAH. XIII. 335* 
 
 I am a man that tilleth the ground: 
 
 For another man hath possessed me from my youth. 
 
 6 And one shall say unto him; 
 
 What are these strokes within thine hands ? 
 And he shall say, 
 
 Those with which I have been stricken in the 
 house of my friends. 
 
 7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, 
 
 . 
 
 tice of false prophets, in imitation of some eminent ones among 
 the true. See 2 Kings i. 8. 
 
 5. possessed me] 33lpn hath been the buyer of me. 
 (l Emit enim me herus jam inde ab adolescentia mea." Houb. 
 hath had the property of one." 33pn is Hiphil from whence 
 comes napD a possession. Disclaiming all pretentions to the cha- 
 racter of a prophet, he shall profess himself only a plain labour- 
 ing man, employed in husbandry by those whose property he 
 had been, quasi adslrictus glcbte, from his youth." Blaney. 
 
 6. strokes] Marks, or punctures, sometimes received in 
 honour of idols. *< Two anck-nt customs are clearly alluded to 
 here ; that of the idolatrous prophets, who sought to engage 
 the attention of their god, by cutting themselves, 1 Kings xviii, 
 28 ; the other that of those who cut themselves as a token "of their 
 grief and mourning for their deceased relations and friends. Jer, 
 xvi. 6. It appears also from Jer. xlviii. 37. that these cuttings 
 were performed on the hands in particular. Hence the man, 
 when challenged for the scars visible on his hands, would deny 
 them to have proceeded from an idolatrous cause, and pretend 
 that they were the effects of the wounds he had given him- 
 self for the loss of his friends." Blaney. 
 
 of my friends] These are not idolatrous marks; but those 
 of the master to whom I belong. See Bi c hop Lowth on Isai, 
 xliv. 5. " CilNQ always has an impure meaning, literal or me-, 
 taphorical : and so must mean false gods, or their worshippers/ 
 here." Seeker. 
 
 within] " Vid. Prov. xxvi. 13. ubi ]O idem sonat quod 
 "pro Prov. xxii. 13. Vid. e{. Nold. sign. 2, 3." Seeker. 
 
 7. Awake, O sword] " A new section commences here, but 
 not, I think, a new subject of prophecy. For as far as we can 
 judge of a prophecy before its accomplishment, it appears to be 
 a continuation of the same subject, which was entered upon at 
 the beginning of c. xii. namely the alarming invasion of Judab, 
 find siege of Jerusalem, by a numerous body of heathen nations.
 
 336 ZECHARIAH. XIII. 
 
 And against the man :cho is near unto me, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 [I will] smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall 
 be scattered ; 
 
 This however was soon broken off, in order to relate the 
 means, by which God would compass the deliverance of his 
 people, and the blessed consequences thereof. But now the 
 prophet reverts back to the time of the invasion, and notices 
 some distressing circumstances which would attend its com- 
 mencement ; the first of which is specified in the remaining part 
 of this chapter; by which we find that the war would be so 
 destructive, that two thirds of the people would be cut off; but 
 that the remains after struggling through various difficulties, 
 would at length become converts to the Christian faith^ and 
 be again taken into covenant with God." Blaney. 
 
 my shepherd] Ten MSS. and one ed. read jn% agree- 
 ably to the versions and the masoretical punctuation. yi may 
 signify my friend, which sense better answers Tvby socium prox- 
 imitm meum, in the next hemistich. *' TVOy, or VTQy, is eleven 
 times used with or 1 sufHxum in Lev. and no where else but 
 here in O. T. nor is the root, I think, in Ch. or Syr. at all, or 
 in any like meaning in Arab, nor any other word from it in Hebr. 
 but nQj/7 juxta. It is equivalent in Lev. to in neighbour: but 
 hath no other noun joined with it, as here. Jt seems to mean 
 a person standing on the same level in society. Grot, under, 
 stands Judas Mace. Calvin, Pastors in general." Seeker. 
 
 the man who is near unto me] This passage has been usu- 
 ally understood to predict the sufferings and death of Christ, 
 I have no conception that it has the most distant relation there- 
 to. Yet some have gone so far as to find in the word JTQy a 
 proof of the divinity of Christ's person, Cocceii. Lex. in \ rr- 
 bum. But all that can be made of /voy is, that it may signify 
 a neighbour, one that is near or next to another, or that bears 
 some kind of correspondency or resemblance to him, but exclu- 
 sive of, the idea of parity. 12J is no doubt often used for a man 
 simply, but its proper sense is, one superior to others, in 
 strength, power, or authority. I conceive therefore TVOy "DJ 
 might properly be rendered,"' him that is next unto me in power 
 and authority ;' which exactly corresponds with * my shepherd* 
 in the parallel line; one that rules his flock, or people, under 
 me, or by virtue of my commission. See Calv. in Locum" 
 Blaney. 
 
 smite] Houbigant observes that Arab, reads IN / #/#
 
 ZECHARIAH. XIII. 337 
 
 And I will turn mine hand against the little ones. 
 
 smite: which is agreeable to what follows, And I will turn, &c. 
 and appears from the exigent ia loci to be the true reading. See 
 Matth xxvi. 31. Mark xiv. 27. "MS. n. 1 biblioihecse S. 
 Marci, Venetiis, et MS. n. 4, San-Germanensis, Parisii, habent 
 .* soi/xr/a,." Kenn. diss. gen. . 44. 6. ed. Aid. and MS. 
 Pachom. read r*ro|o r.^. lia . " M'S. Copt, potest esse percute 
 yel percittite" Mr. Woide. 
 
 " For my part I am persuaded these words of the prophet 
 have no direct reference in their original intention, to the death 
 of Christ; nor do the words OT. y^A. with which the quotation 
 is introduced by the Evangelists necessarily imply more, than 
 that our Saviour refers to this passage, as to a proverbial saying, 
 laying it as a matter of course, for ' the followers to disperse 
 when their leader was taken off." Blaney. 
 
 " l As little- reason is thereto suppose that the following line 
 refers to Christ's * little flock' Luke xii. 32. Nothing else is 
 surely intended, than that not only the great ones, the shepherds 
 and leaders before mentioned, but these common people, would 
 come in for a share of the calamity." Blaney. " The following 
 part of the prophecy establishes the above explanation. We find' 
 no events subsequent to the death of Chribt answering the pre- 
 diction, and there is every reason to believe that the whole is yet 
 to be accomplished. How can we apply what is here said to 
 those few Jews who embraced the Gospel? What is here said 
 respects the whole body of the people; two thirds of whom are 
 to be cut off, and die; and the remaining third, that is all that 
 are left are to be purified, and again honoured with being made 
 the people of God. Nothing ifke this occurred on the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem by the Romans. Although immense numbers 
 were cut off by the sword, the part that was left, continued as 
 wicked as those who had perished ; no general reformation took 
 place, no real conversion to God, and in this state they have 
 continued to this day." Editor. 
 
 shall be scattered] Nineteen MSS. add the n at the end 
 of the original word. Two read romDni. " Aoao-xo^ic-SnTu^ay MS. 
 Copt, et Aid." Mr. Woide. *ia<ntK*u>Ovrnlat 6. MS. A. 
 
 This verse relates to the Messiah and his little flock. Luke 
 xii. 32. The prophet goes back to this great subject of pro- 
 phecy, after having told some events posterior to Christ's ap- 
 pearance: and then proceeds to other events subsequent to that 
 grand epocha in the history of the Jews aad of mankind ; some 
 near it, and some remote.
 
 338 ZECHARIAH. XIV. 
 
 8 And it shall come to pass in all the hind, saith 
 
 Jehovah, 
 
 That two parts therein shall be cut off and shall die, 
 And the third part shall be left therein. 
 
 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, 
 And will refine them as silver is refined, 
 
 And will try them as gold is tried. 
 
 They shall call on my name, and I will answer 
 
 them ; 
 
 And I will say, They are my people: 
 And they shall say, Jehovah is my God. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 1 BEHOLD, the day of Jehovah * cometh, 
 That thy spoil shall be divided within thee. 
 
 2 For I will gather all the nations 
 Against Jerusalem to war: 
 
 And the city shall be taken, and the houses plun- 
 dered, 
 
 * Hcbr. cometh to Jehovah. 
 
 8. and shall die] " Praeponunt van 6. Syr. Vulg. Praecidit 
 van" Seeker. 
 
 the third part] One reads n&'Vttm I incline to interpret 
 this verse of the destruction brought on the Jews by Titus. 
 
 9. as gold is tried] Ut fulvum spectatur in ignibus aurum. 
 Ov. 
 
 call on my name] As disciples of the Messiah. 
 
 And I will say] 6. Ar. Syr. read mON1. Observe that 1 
 precedes. 
 
 This verse may be understood of those Jewish Christians 
 who survived the calamities which their country suffered from 
 the Romans. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 1. " Behold a day cometh by the appointment of Jehovah.' 
 So I think ?\\T\h must be rendered according to the use of the 
 preposition *?. See Jer. iv. 12. For whatever may be said of b 
 as the sign of the genitive case, I question whether it can be ad- 
 mitted, unless in immediate opposition to the constructing noun. 
 Nor is the day of the Lord, ever so expressed,but always nirv CDV. 
 
 2. all the nations] Many nations served under the Romans;
 
 ZECHARIAH. XIV. 339 
 
 And the women defiled. 
 
 And j- half of the city shall go into captivity; 
 
 And the residue of the people shall not be cut 
 
 off from the city. 
 3 And Jehovah shall go forth, and shall fight 
 
 against those nations, 
 
 f Or, a portion J Or, a residue. 
 
 defiled] So Lam. v. 11. 
 
 half] That the Hebrew word may be rendered a -portion, 
 see Judges ix. 43. Dan. xi. 4. Here the city is spoken of: but 
 c. xiii. 8 refers to the whole land. 
 
 the residue] The Romans spared the young and useful 
 part of the Jews. Jos. B. J. vi. ix. 2. However these were 
 either condemned to the mines in Egypt, or exposed to the 
 sword and to wild beasts in the provincial theatres, or sold for 
 slaves, ib. It must be observed that the forty thousand, who 
 were permitted to go where they pleased, were Idumeans. B. 
 J. vi. viii. 2. 
 
 shall not be cut off from the city] " Si illi, qui post urbem 
 expugnatam superstites erunt, non delebuntur ex urbe, ergo 
 
 ipsa urbs non delebitur. Ergo haec relinquenda sunt ad tem- 
 
 pora reditus Juclseorum." Houbigant. Judsei hsec sub Gog di- 
 cunt esse complenda. Hieron. 
 
 If the reader should think that these words cannot be inter- 
 preted of excision before the destruction of the city by the Romans, 
 we may suppose that the unconverted Jews will rebuild Jerusa- 
 lem: that this city will be taken: c. xiv. 1. 2 : that the Jews will 
 be converted by a glorious appearance of their Messiah, and 
 will express great humiliation at the conduct of their ancestors 
 towards him: c. xii. 10 14. that Jehovah will then interpose 
 in their behalf; c. xii. 2 9: that at this period the Jews will be 
 pure from moral pollution ; and will abhor the idolatry and false 
 prophesying which were so prevalent when this prediction was 
 uttered: c. xiii. 1 6: that c. xiii. 7 9 refer to Christ, to the 
 destruction by the Romans, and to the partial conversion of the 
 Jews ; and serve as an introduction to another calamity, c. xiv. 
 1. 2. and to another divine interposition, c. xiv. 3. 4. 5: and 
 that the glories of the future Jerusalem, and God's vengeance 
 on her enemies, are the subject of c. xiv. 6 21. 
 
 3. those nations] If, as I am disposed to think, the Ro- 
 mans are meant in the foregoing verse, we may here understand 
 the descendants of the many people who warred under the Ro- 
 3 c
 
 S40 ZECHARIAH. XIV. 
 
 As when be fightetb in the day of battle. 
 
 4 And his feet shall stand in that day 
 Upon the mount of Olives, 
 
 Which is before Jerusalem on the east. 
 And the mount of Olives shall be rent 
 From the midst thereof, eastward and westward ; 
 So that there shall be a very great valley : 
 And half of the mountain shall remjve northward, 
 and half thereof southward. 
 
 5 And ye shall flee by the valley of the mountains: 
 For the valley of the mountains shall reach unto 
 
 Azal : 
 
 Ye shall even flee, as ye fled before the earthquake 
 In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. 
 And Jehovah my God shall come, 
 And all his saints with him. 
 
 Hebr. half. 
 
 man standard, and who will be confederates with Gog and Ma- 
 gog, or with the Turks who were originally Scythians. See 
 Boch. Geogr. 1. iii. c. xii. xiii. I consider this prophecy as coin- 
 ciding with Ezek. xxxviii. xxxix. See also Rev. xx. 8. 9. 
 
 in the day of battle] " rptn NO by, at the Red Sea. Chalcl. 
 Videtur latere nomen aliquod proprium." Seeker. 
 
 5. ye shall flee] Even you who are to be preserved shall 
 be struck with terror at this event : much more the enemies of 
 God. 
 
 of the mountains] Read rmn with 6. MS. A. Syr. Chald. 
 and one MS. The mem final has probably been omitted by the 
 abbreviated way of writing '''in. 
 
 Azal] Probably a place so called because it was near 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 earthquake] See Amos i. 1 . 
 
 And all] So the versions and Chald. many MSS. and one ed. 
 " And the Valley of the mountains shall be choked up: 
 (For the valley of the mountains will reach near) 
 And it shall be choked up, as it was choked up by the earthqiiake 
 In the days of Uzziah King of Judah. 
 And Jehovah the God of all saints shall go with thee." Blaney. 
 
 " The 6. Chald. and Arab, by a different punctuation make 
 CDHDa the preter. in Niphal of the verb CDDD, ** ^a-^na-ilai, et 
 obthurabitur intead of deriving it from DU so as to signify et fu-
 
 ZECHARIAH. XIV. 341 
 
 6 And it shall come to pass, in that day, 
 
 That there shall not be a I) bright light and dark- 
 ness; 
 
 || Hebr. a light of clearnesses. 
 
 gictis. If in order to determine which of the two interpretations 
 is best, we consider the context, and the history of the earth- 
 quake referred to, as well as the age of the interpreters, all will 
 concur in favour of the former. Scripture is altogether silent in 
 respect to the earthquake, except that it is just mentioned as an 
 era, or date Amos i. 1. Josephus describes it as having taken 
 place, when Uzziah invaded the priestly Office, and was smitten 
 with leprosy, and adds, ' Before the city at a place called the 
 Cleft, one half of the mountain on the western side was broken 
 off, and having rolled four furlongs towards the eastern mountain 
 stopped, so that the roads were choked up, and the king's gar- 
 dens.' What then can be more apposite than to render ' And 
 the valley of the mountains shall be choked up, as it was choked 
 up by the earthquake, in the days Uzziah?' the valley of the 
 mountains, was probably that valley which lay between the hills 
 on which Jerusalem was built; one of which was to the south, 
 the other to the north ; of course the valley extended itself east 
 and west; and the eastern entrance of it, being opposite the 
 mount of olives, would be filled up by the loose earth, as the 
 mountain parted to the north and south, not far from it. And 
 this seems to he expressed by the words VtfN VN CD'in N'J jm O 
 which seem to come by way of parenthesis. For "^N is not a 
 proper name, as it has generally been taken to be, but a prepo- 
 sition or adverb signifying hard by, near at hand; and is consi- 
 dered by the Vulg: as used for a noun governed by Ss*, and. 
 translated, usque ad proximum" Blaney. 
 
 his saints] So Syr. Ar. Chald. " God of all saints. This is 
 a literal translation of the test as it now stands and affords a sense 
 beyond exception or improvement. The address is here to Jeru- 
 salem, in the second person, and God, as the God of all " holy 
 ones," will march with her as her ally and auxilliary." Blaney. 
 
 with him] So the versions and Chald. and many MSS. 
 
 6. a bright light] See *jp Job xxxi. 26. Lux daritatum, 
 gloriarnm. 
 
 and darkness] Read with Keri, very many MSS. and nine 
 ed. ]1XDp1, from NDp coagulare, condensare : whence, says 
 C'apellus, the substantive signifies dcnsa caligo, atra nox. 
 And it shall come to pass in that day 
 That there shall not be light, but cold and a thick fog;
 
 342 ZECHARIAH. XIV. 
 
 7 But there shall be one day : 
 This is known unto Jehovah: 
 
 There shall not be day, and there shall not be 
 
 night: 
 But it shall come to pass that at even-tide there 
 
 shall be light. 
 
 8 And it shall come to pass, in that day, 
 
 Thai living waters shall go out from Jerusalem 5 
 Half of them toward the * eastern sea , 
 And half of them toward the f western sea : 
 In summer and in winter shall it be. 
 
 9 And Jehovah shall be J King over ail the earth : 
 Jn that day there shall be one Jehovah, and his 
 
 name one. 
 10 And he shall encompass the whole land as a plain, 
 
 * Hebr. former, f hinder. + for King. 
 
 And there shall be one day: 
 
 (Known unto Jehovah is it;) 
 
 Neither day nor night; 
 
 But it shall be that at eventide there shall be light. 
 All the ancient versions appear uniformly to have read finpl 
 pfcDpl. It is said Ezek. xxxii. 7. " I will cover the sun with 
 a cloud," which exactly answers to pj*Dp " a thick fog," ne- 
 cessarily occasioning both cold and darkness by intercepting the 
 genial rays of the sun." Blaney. 
 
 7. This is known ] When"this glorious period shall arrive 
 is known to God only. See Rev. xxi. 23. xxii. 5. 
 
 8. living waters] That is, running waters. The passage 
 refers to the wide effusion of divine knowledge from Jerusalem, 
 when restored. ' By living waters are meant, the gifts and 
 graces of the gospel. Ezek. xlvii. 1. and Joel iii. 18. John iv. 
 JO. and 7. 38. 39. That these benefits will be diffused more 
 extensively by the restoration of the Jews is not obscurely intu 
 mated. Rom. xi. 15." Bianey. 
 
 eastern western sea] See the note on Joel ii. 20. 
 
 in summer] In those countries most springs failed during 
 that season. 
 
 10. And he shall encompass] I suppose the true reading to 
 be 2D1, or aiDI. V. and Syr. have the conjunction and. Jeho- 
 vah shall encompass the whole land for the purpose of protectiorij 
 is a plain is encompassed by mountains.
 
 ZECHARIAH. XIV. 343 
 
 From Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem : 
 And she shall be exalted, and shall be inhabited 
 
 in her place, 
 From the gate of Benjamin to the place of the 
 
 former gate, 
 
 And unto the corner-gate ; 
 And from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's 
 
 winepresses: 
 
 11 And men shall dwell therein, and there shall be 
 
 no more jj curse; 
 And Jerusalem shall be inhabited in security. 
 
 12 And this shall be the calamity 
 
 With which Jehovah will smite all the * people 
 
 Who warred against Jerusalem. 
 
 Their flesh shall consume away while they stand 
 
 on their feet; 
 
 And their eyes shall consume away in their sockets; 
 And their tongue shall consume away in their 
 
 mouths. 
 
 13 And it shall come to pass, in that day, 
 
 Hebr. vats. || Or, utter destruction, * Hebr. peoples. 
 
 Geba] In Benjamin, north of Jerusalem. Josh. xxi. 17. 
 
 Rimmon] In Judah, to the south of Jerusalem. Josh. xv. 32. 
 
 shall be exalted] One MS. reads HOT. See on Amos ii. 7. 
 
 the gate of Benjamin] That this gate was probably to the 
 north of Jerusalem, see Jer. xxxvii. 12. 13. 
 
 the former gate] Supposed to be that called the old gate, 
 Neh. iii. 6. xii. 39; placed by Lightfoot towards the southwest. 
 V. ii. p. 28. 
 
 And unto] Five MSS. read m So V. Syr. 
 
 the corner-gate] See 2 Kings xiv. 13. 2 Chron. xxv. 23. 
 Jer. xxxi. 38. 
 
 tower of Hananeel] Placed by Cocceius eastward : who 
 observes that the tower and the corner-gate seem mentioned as 
 two extremities of the city. Syr. Vulg. read "nJOOI. 
 
 winepresses] Near the King's garden, southward. Coc- 
 ceius. 
 
 12 shall consume away] The versions and Chald. read in 
 the future pQ. A description of famine, or of consumption. 
 Mr. Lowth,
 
 344 ZECHARIAH. XIV. 
 
 lhat there shall be a great f tumult among them 
 
 from Jehovah; 
 And they shall lay hold every one on the hand of 
 
 his neighbour, 
 But his hand shall rise up against the hand of his 
 
 neighbour. 
 
 14 And Judah also shall fight in Jerusalem: 
 
 And the wealth of all the nations round about 
 
 shall be gathered together, 
 Gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 
 
 15 . And in like manner shall be the calamity 
 
 Of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of 
 
 the ass, 
 
 And of J every beast which shall be 
 In those camps; even according to this calamity. 
 
 16 And it shall come to pass that every one who 
 
 is left among all the nations, 
 Which came against Jerusalem, 
 Shall go up from year to year 
 To worship the King Jehovah God of hosts, 
 And to keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 
 17 And it shall come to pass that whoever will not 
 
 go up, 
 
 f Or, destruction. J Hebr. all the cattle, 
 
 13. his hand shall rise up] Intestine divisions, and hos- 
 tilities where friendship was expected, shall be added to the 
 foregoing divine judgments. 
 
 14. in Jerusalem] So 6. 
 
 15. beast which shall be] Fourteen MSS. read irnn. 
 
 16. feast of tabernacles] Shall abide for some days in Je- 
 rusalem, to behold the display of God's glory. The prophet 
 speaks according to Jewish ideas, here and t>. 20. 21. "A feast 
 of joy at the end of the year after harvest, to commemorate their 
 former unsettled state. How this may suit the Christian times, 
 and especially the latter times, see Michaelis." Seeker. 
 
 " Non quidem Levitice, sed in spiritu et veritate, perinde 
 ac festum Paschatos et Pentecostes: 1 Cor. v. 7. 8: sub exitum 
 anni gratiae, seu finem mundi uberrimam tuuc habituri messem 
 clonoruin gratiae et Spiritus Sancti." Michaelis. Bib. Halae. 173Q.
 
 ZECHARIAII. XIV. 345 
 
 Of the families of the earth, unto Jerusalem, 
 To worship the King Jehovah God of hosts, 
 Upon them shall be no rain. 
 
 18 But if the family of Egypt 
 Go not up, and come not; 
 Upon them shall be the calamity 
 
 With which Jehovah shall smite the nations 
 
 Who go not up 
 
 To keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 
 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt; 
 
 17. Of -the families of the earth] There is a restriction, v. 16. 
 to such nations as warred against Jerusalem. 
 
 rain] " Spiritual. Vitr. on Is. xliv. 3. where see." Seeker. 
 
 18. Egypt] Where, by the situation of the country, there 
 is no rain. 
 
 " ^gyptus sine nube ferax." Claud. 
 
 " Terra suis contenta bonis^ non indiga mercis, 
 
 Aut Jovis." Luc. 
 
 Vid. et Plin. 1. v. c. ix. - 
 
 " Mr. Greaves in his MSS. works, p. 444. speaking of the 
 rains of Alexandria says ; media proecipue hyeme, contra recep- 
 tam opinionem, et crebras et violentas esse sensi. Ward. Gre- 
 sham Coll. p. 141. Whilst I was at Arsinoe, it hailed and rain- 
 ed almost all one morning, and rained very hard the night fol- 
 lowing: which is not looked on as an advantage, and often doth 
 harm, and, as they told me, causes a scarcity: 'the Nile being 
 sufficient to water the country. Pocock's obs. on Egypt: p. 
 
 59. [Dv ytto in -JSTtti TO, aval -PI; Aiyy*7 rt vnyttia-/. Herod. 1. ill. C. 10. 
 
 Rari sunt imbres. Col. de re rust: 1. ii. c. 12. Chandler against 
 Morgan : p. 374.] See also Arnold Wisd. xvi. 16. But also Ps. 
 105. 32. Yet again Deut. xi. 10$ 11. TC-E y o f i0 ^n 4*>w* *OTI. 
 Dion. Cass. 1. 51. p. 455. speaking of Egypt. EV Atyj-rfu ** B- 
 
 j-jicv, xa't axcoif, ta /ui /s- j . 
 
 Theophrast. hist, plant: 6. Granger says: in lower Egypt it 
 rains much and often, in middle seldom, in upper not at all. 
 See 2. 375. At Payta in Peru it rains not of many years. n- 
 son's voyage. [Book ii. c. vi. p. 189. 4to.]" Seeker. 
 
 Upon them shall be] Four MSS. and 6. Syr. omit the 
 second *&f\. 
 
 the calamity] Famine: which would be the consequence, 
 if the rains did not fall in Ethiopia so as to cause an overflowing 
 f the Nile.
 
 34G ZECHAR1AH. XIV. 
 
 And the punishment of all the nations 
 
 Who go not up 
 
 To keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 
 20 In that day shall there be 
 
 On the bells of the horses, HOLINESS TO JEHOVAH. 
 And it shall come to pass that the pots in the 
 
 House of Jehovah 
 Shall he as the bowls before the altar. 
 
 21 And it shall come to pass that every pot, in Je- 
 
 rusalem and in Judah, 
 Shall be holy to Jehovah God of hosts: 
 And all who sacrifice shall come, 
 And shall take of them, and prepare food therein: 
 And there shall be no more a trafficker 
 lii the House of Jehovah God of hosts, in that day. 
 
 Hebr. holiness. 
 
 20. On the bells] God's name shall be honoured in every 
 circumstance. " War horses not being wanted, their ornaments 
 shall be converted to sacred uses. Vitr. in Isai. Ix. 21." Seeker. 
 
 the pots] The meanest utensil in the House of God, see 
 Neh. x. 39. shall be as the vessels of silver and gold used in 
 solemn sacrifice. 
 
 21. And it shall come to pass] The utensils of the Jews shall 
 be treated as holy : and the worshippers shall use them reverent. 
 ly. (The idea of preparing food in them is taken from the cus- 
 tom of feasting after a sacrifice.) And no trafficker, see Ezek. 
 xvii. 4. shall pollute the House of God; as was the custom when 
 the Messiah cleansed the temple. " Every thing shall be equal- 
 ly holy, and therefore the ceremonial law abolished. Michaelis. 
 There shall be no tradesman to sell vessels: the liberality of all 
 nations shall make them so plentiful. Grot." Seeker.
 
 THE BOOK OF 
 
 M A L A C H I. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 1 HE Prophecy of the word of Jehovah to Israel* 
 by * Malachi. 
 
 2 I have loved you, saith Jehovah, 
 
 But ye have said, Wherein hast thou loved us? 
 Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith Jehovah ? 
 Yet I loved Jacob, 
 
 3 And Esau I hated; 
 
 And have made his mountains a desolation, 
 And his inheritance to be for the serpents of the 
 desert. 
 
 4 Although Edom say, We are impoverished, 
 But we will f build again the waste places^ 
 Thus saith Jehovah God of hosts, 
 
 They shall build, but I will throw down i 
 
 * Hebt. by the hand of. f return and build. 
 
 1. by Malachi] He lived after Zechariah, because in his 
 time the temple was built. C. iii. 10. It is probable that he was 
 contemporary with Nehemiab. Comp. c. ii. 11. Neh. xiii. 23 
 27. c. iii. 8. Neh. xiii. 10. We may also conclude^ from C; 
 iv. 4, 5, 6, that he was the last of the Hebrew prophets till 
 John the Baptist appeared. Usher places him before Christ 
 416; and Blair, 436. 
 
 In v. 2 5. the prophet shews how much Jacob and the 
 Israelites were favoured by Jehovah beyond Esau and the 
 Edomites. 
 
 2. Jacob] In giving him great external privileges. 
 
 3. Esau I hated] I shewed him less love. Gen. xxix. 30) 
 31. I comparatively hated him, by giving him an inferior lot. 
 And now I have not only ]aid waste the dwelling place of the 
 Edomites, by the incursions of their enemies; but v. 4, they 
 shall remain the perpetual monument of my vengeance. 
 
 serpents] Serpentes faeminae. From the Hebrew fwitf, or 
 the Arab, run, to double, to fold. 
 
 4. thrown don n] By Judas Maccabeus : 1 Mace. v. 65 ; 
 and by John Hyrcanus. Jos. Ant. xiii. ix, 1, 
 
 3 D
 
 348 MALACHI. I. 
 
 And men J shall call them, The border of wickedness, 
 And, The people against whom Jehovah hath in- 
 dignation for ever. 
 
 5 And your eyes shall see zV; and ye shall say, 
 Jehovah is magnified beyond the border of Israel. 
 
 6 Asonhonourethafather,and a servant his master. 
 If then I he a father, where is mine honour? 
 And if I be a master, where is my fear? 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts unto you, 
 
 O priests, that despise my name. 
 
 But ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name ? 
 
 7 Ye bring polluted food to mine altar. 
 
 Yet ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? 
 
 In that ye say, The table of Jehovah, it zV despicable. 
 
 8 Now if ye bring the blind for sacrifice, w// not evil ? 
 And if ye bring the lame and the sick, is it not evil ? 
 
 J Or. they shall be called. Or, to sacrifice it. 
 
 5. your eyes] The eyes of the Jews in succeeding ages. 
 beyond the border] EfxyaxvY0w*i3att, 6. He sbeweth his 
 
 great power in other countries besides Israel. 
 
 6. honourcth a father] Syr. Ar. read vsj* his Jather. 6. 
 MS. Pacbom. rentier * J*>.o; TO K^O* a-.;*!* t>ifa6ww. and * pifaSwrat 
 is found in ed. Aid. as if the clause were to be read interroga- 
 tively, and N*V vh had stood in the text. The reading of the 
 Pachomian MS. occurs in Chald. and is confirmed by the con- 
 text: 
 
 A son honoureth a father, 
 
 And a servant feareth his master. 
 
 If then &c. 
 
 And if &c. 
 
 From this v. to c. ii. 9, the prophet reproves the priests and 
 the people for sacrificing the refuse of beasts; and denounces 
 punishment against the priests for not teaching the people their 
 duty in this respect. 
 
 7. the table] The altar. Ezck. xli. 22. xliv. 15, 16. 
 They said in effect that the altar of Jehovah was vile and con- 
 temptible; by offering on it torn, blind, lame, and sick victims. 
 
 8. Now if ] Two MSS. read D, to which ai is equivalent. 
 Comp. Isai. xxxvi. 19. 2 Kings xviii. 34. 
 
 Mactant lectas de more bidentes. Virg. 
 See Lev. xxii. 20.
 
 MALACHI. I. 349 
 
 Present it, I pray yon, unto thy Governor ; will 
 
 he be pleased with thee, 
 Or will he || favourably accept thee ? 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 9 And now, I pray you, entreat the face of Jehovah 
 
 that he would be gracious unto us. 
 From your hand hath this been ; 
 Shall I favourably accept any of you ? 
 Would Jehovah "God of hosts say. 
 
 10 Surely the doors shall be closed against you : 
 Neither shall ye kindle the fire of mine altar in vain. 
 I have no pleasure in you, 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts; 
 
 Neither will I accept an * offering at your hand. 
 
 11 For, from the rising of the sun even unto the 
 
 going down thereof, 
 
 My name shall be great among the nations ; 
 And in every place shall incense be brought unto 
 
 my name, 
 
 And a pure offering: 
 
 For great shall my name be among the nations, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 12 But ye profane it, in that ye say, 
 The table of Jehovah, it is polluted ; 
 
 || Hebr. accept thy face. * an offering of flour. 
 
 unto thy governors] Gifts of this nature were customarily 
 made in the east : and are to this day. Harmer ii. 25. 
 
 9. Shall I ] 6. Ar. Syr. read vu?Nfi : and the present read- 
 ing is on a rasure in two MSS. 
 
 Would say] See Judges viii. 8. 
 
 10. Surely] 6. and one MS. read O for Q : which Houbigant 
 approves of. 
 
 shall be closed] a. and Houbigant read r\SD>. One MS. 
 reads -no*: claudet^w: i. e. claudentur. 
 
 in vain] To no purpose as .to propitiating me. See CD3n 
 Prov. i. 17. 
 
 11. incense] Seven MSS. read llDpVD suffmnigatum. We 
 have here a prophecy of the conversion of the gentiles; and as 
 usual, under Jewish images. See Zech. xiv. 16. 
 
 12. polluted) Ye treat it as if it were impure, and unwcr- 
 thy of the choicest offerings.
 
 350 MALACH1. I. 
 
 And what is offered thereon, even its food, is des- 
 picable: 
 
 13 Ye say also, Behold, it is of weariness : 
 And ye snuff at it : 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 And ye have brought that which was torn, and 
 
 the lame, and the sick : 
 
 And ye have also brought an offering of flour : 
 Shall I accept it from your hand, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts? 
 
 14 But cursed be the deceiver, who hath a male in 
 
 his flock, 
 And vovveth and sacrificeth unto Jehovah that 
 
 which is marred. 
 For I am a great King, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts : 
 And my name shall be f had in reverence among 
 
 the nations. 
 
 } Or, dreadful, or, fearful. 
 
 what is offered thereon] Called 23D prwentus, because the 
 priest had a portion of it. We may render this verse: 
 
 And as to what is offered thereon, its food is despicable. 
 
 13. ye snuff at it] See Haggai i. 9. Ye say: Attendance 
 on the altar, and partaking of its sacrifices, are a burthensome 
 task: and ye turn from them with disgust. Two MSS. read 
 TON: and Jarchi says (see Capellus) that this is one of the 
 eleven places which the scribes have corrected. According to 
 this various lection we must render, " And ye snuff at me.'* 
 The \ and are often confounded. Great beauty would be re- 
 stored to Ps. xcv. if at v. 7. we read >J np? for l^lpa ; and suppose 
 that God speaks from these words, " To day if ye shall hear 
 my voice." 
 
 torn] By wild beasts. What had been violently taken 
 by tbem as their prey ; and rescued from them, or left by them. 
 
 And ye have also brought ] The rendering in 0. MS. 
 Pachom. is K^fi^-n t/ca US haw, which leads us to read 
 nrCQ, " Ye have even brought it for a sacrifice." 
 
 14. a male] See Lev. xxii. 19. 
 
 unto Jehovah] Chald. many MSS. and six ed. read 
 for 'nj* 1 }. 
 
 God of hosts] V. 6. Ar. Syr. and three MSS. supply
 
 MALACHI. I. S51 
 
 CHAP, ii, 
 
 AND now to you is this commrndment, O ye 
 
 priests. 
 
 If ye will not hearken, 
 If ye will not lay it to heart, 
 To give glory unto my name, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts ; 
 I will send a curse upon you, 
 And I will curse your blessing : 
 And moreover I have cursed it already, 
 Because ye lay it not to heart. 
 Behold, I will take away from you the shoulder, 
 And I will scatter dung in your faces, 
 Even the dung of your solemn sacrifices. 
 And one { shall carry you to the sa me place there with, 
 And ye shall know that J have sent unto you 
 This commandment, 
 That my covenant may remain with Levi ; 
 
 J Qr, And ye shall be carried. 
 
 2. your blessing] Read Oaro-a with 6. Ar. Chald. one 
 MSS. and Doctor Durell. The van is omitted in eighteen MSS, 
 which brings us nearer to the true reading. By blessing is 
 meant the portion of the priests, which a dearth would lessen. 
 See c. iii. 10. 11. The word is sometimes used for a present. 
 See Joel ii. 14. 
 
 I have cursed it] By sending you unfruitful seasons. 
 
 3. take away the shoulder] Houbigant reads jna with o. 
 Ar. The shoulder, ynf, which is also the reading of 6. Ar. Hou- 
 bigant, was the part which belonged to the priest. See Lev. vii. 
 32. Deut. xviii. 3. ' Perhaps the true reading is, yu will 
 put off." Seeker. 
 
 dung] The maw was also the priest's. See Deut. xviii. 3. 
 But such priests deserved only the dung which it contained. 
 
 solemn sacrifices] Or victims. See the Hebrew word, 
 Ex. xxiii. 18. Ps. cxviii. 27. 
 
 And one shall carry] Or, as 6. And I will carry : et aufe- 
 rens era. Ye shall be destroyed, and cast on a dunghill. 
 
 4. my covenant may remain] That you may reform, and 
 pot be cast off.
 
 352 MALACHI. I. 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 5 My covenant was with him, even that of life and 
 
 peace ; 
 
 And I gave them unto him, for the fear where- 
 with he feared me, 
 
 And was dismayed before my face. 
 
 6 The law of truth was in his mouth, 
 
 And unrighteousness was not found in his lips : 
 In peace and uprightness he walked with me, 
 And he turned away many from iniquity. 
 
 7 For the lips of the priest should keep knowledge, 
 And men should seek the law from his mouth : 
 For he is the messenger of Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 8 But Ye have departed out of the way; 
 
 Ye have caused many to stumble at the law ; 
 Ye have made void the covenant with Levi ; 
 Sailh Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 9 Therefore have I also made you 
 Despicable and base before all the people; 
 According as ye keep not my ways, 
 
 But have respect to persons in the law. 
 10 Have we not all one Father? 
 
 Hath not one God created us ? 
 
 Or, retain. || Hebr. corrupted. 
 
 5. gave them] Life and peace. One MS. reads inw : and 
 this, or rwruvi, with the n paragogic, which might easily pass 
 into the Mem final, is the reading of V. 6. Ar. Chald. 
 
 And I gave him reverence that he might fear me ; 
 
 And he was dismayed &c. 
 
 7. should keep] Preserve, store tip: so as to distribute it. 
 
 8. caused many to stumble] To sin by offering blemished 
 sacrifices. 
 
 9. have respect to persons] Having one decision for tlie 
 poor, and another for the rich. See Lev. xix. 15. 
 
 10. From this v. to v. 16. the prophet censures intermarri- 
 ages of Israelites with women of another country, which Moses 
 had forbidden, Deut. vii. 3; and also divorces, which seem to 
 have been multiplied for the purpose of contracting these pro- 
 hibited marriages.
 
 MALACHI. I. 353 
 
 Why do we deal unfaithfully, every man against 
 
 his brother, 
 By breaking the covenant * made with our fathers? 
 
 11 Judah hath dealt unfaithfully, 
 
 And abomination is committed in Israel and in 
 
 Jerusalem : 
 For Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah 
 
 which he loveth, 
 And hath married the daughter of a strange god. 
 
 12 Jehovah will cut oft' the man that doeth this, 
 Him that f teacheth and him that answereth, from 
 
 the tents of Jacob: 
 
 And him that bringeth an J offering to Jehovah, 
 God of hosts. 
 
 * Hebr. of our fathers. f Or, wakeneth. J Hebr. an offering of flour. 
 
 deal unfaithfully] Act an unjust and inhuman part by 
 putting away the daughter of a Brother-Jew. 
 
 breaking the covenant] See Deut. vii. 3. ?n signifies to 
 perforate; and as one ancient way of cancelling bonds was by 
 striking a nail through them, see Col. ii. 14, hence the word 
 signifies to make void. See Tayl. cone, in voc. 
 
 11. hath dealt unfaithfully] Hebr. So Ephraim is used in 
 the feminine Hos iv. 18, 19. v. 9. ix. 13. 
 
 which he loveth] Which Jehovah hath always loved, Or, 
 rather, by a change of the points, which he [Jehovah] loveth 
 
 anw. 
 
 the daughter of a strange god] That is, the worshipper 
 of a different god from Jehovah. See Deut. xxxii. 19. 
 
 1 2. the man] wh may be equivalent to u?'N ntt, or may 
 be rendered to the man. 
 
 Him that teacheth ] We have here a proverbial expression 
 for the whole family, iUifl "rti'I?, 1 Kings xiv. 10, vinctus et liber ; 
 that is, all. Bahrdt. So Ezek. xxxv. 7. 
 
 " I will cut off him that passeth out and him that returneth :" 
 that is, all. See also 2 Chron. xv. 5. Possibly iy, &c. may 
 be a substantive signifying the waker ; that is, the speaker, or 
 the caller. To waken the ear, Isai. 1. 4, is to pour instruction 
 into it. Hence Vulg. may translate magistrum et discipulwri : 
 and the words may mean " the priest and the people." That 
 some of the priests married strange wives, see Neh. xiii. 23 30. 
 
 And him that bringeth ] Notwithstanding his oblations.
 
 354 MALACH1. II. 
 
 13 And this also ye do: 
 
 Ye cover with tears the altar of Jehovah* 
 
 With weeping and with crying out. 
 
 Insomuch that he regardeth not an offeri n g any more/ 
 
 Nor receiveth it with good-will from your hand. 
 
 14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? 
 Because Jehovah Was a witness 
 Between thee and the wife of thy youth, 
 Against whom thou hast dealt unfaithfully; 
 
 Yet she was thy companion, and thy j| covenanted 
 wife. 
 
 15 And did not he make one flesh ? 
 And is there not one spirit thereto ? 
 
 Hebr. and between. || the wife of thy covenant. 
 
 But Houbigant observes that Syr. and Chald. read ttJOOQ: " So 
 that there shall be none to bring near &c." This reading 
 would oblige us to interpret ly in a sense applicable to the priest. 
 
 Jehovah will cut off the man that doeth this, 
 
 Even him that teacheth &c. 
 
 13. also] 6. Ar. read TIMJ\P. 
 
 " And this which I hate ye do." 
 This furnishes a very good sense. 
 
 Ye cover ] Or, overwhelm. The infinitive is here used as 
 in Latin. See Ezek. i. 14. Isai. xxi. 5. The passage refers to 
 the tears and groans of wives, divorced by priests, or referring 
 to them for decisions. 
 
 Nor receiveth it with good-will] See Chald. We may ren- 
 der, " Nor receiveth an acceptable sacrifice," or, " what is ac- 
 ceptable." Placabile quid. V. **x7tr. 6. The natural cause of 
 good-will: See Prov. x. 32. 
 
 14. was a witness] He having been solemnly appealed to 
 as a witness of the contract. 
 
 dealt unfaithfully] rTOS is found in twelve MSS. and four 
 cd. 
 
 15. And did not ] I much question whether sehse can be 
 made of the text, as it now stands. " And did he not make 
 oner" Did not God make man and wife one flesh. Here the 
 ellipses are harsh. "And hath he the residue of the spirit?" 
 No, he hath its fulness; and can do what he pleaseth. " And 
 wherefore one:" Wherefore did he make two one? " He 
 sought a goodly seed :" as opposed to a sensual one.
 
 MALACHI. II. 355 
 
 And what dolh he seek? A * godly seed. 
 Therefore take heed to your spirit, 
 And deal not thou unfaithfully to the wife of thy 
 youth. 
 
 16 For I hate him that putteth away, 
 
 Saith Jehovah [Lord of hosts] the God of Israel: 
 And him 4iatcovereth violence with his garment j 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 Therefore take heed unto your spirit, and deal 
 thou not unfaithfully. 
 
 17 Ye have wearied Jehovah by your words. 
 
 * Hebr. a seed of God. 
 
 Or thus: 
 
 And did not One make us? See v. 10. 
 And hath he the residue of the spirit? 
 And what doth the One God seek? An holy seed. 
 See Thelyphthora i. 136. ed. 2. 
 But I prefer transposing thus: 
 
 : -MV my int* *h 
 
 So one MS. 
 
 :Trwn 17 rmi 
 
 The allusion is to Gen. ii. 24. Man and wife are one flesh and 
 one soul. 
 
 to your spirit] To your mind, or disposition. 
 
 deal not thou unfaithfully] V. 6, Houbigant, and ten or 
 eleven MSS. read TSJn or TQJn. 
 
 16. I hate] Both WU7 and rftttf are participles. 
 
 Jehovah] After this word 6. MS. A. and Syr. read m*GJC 
 of hosts. 
 
 And him ] As I do him that endeavoureth to conceal under 
 his garment what he hath taken by violence: sub vestimento 
 suo. See Syr. Chald. Nold. hy . 30. But ntiD is often con- 
 strued with 73? before its transitive case. See on Hab. ii. 14. 
 This led De Dieu to render thus : 
 
 For violence covereth his garment : 
 
 that is, overspreadeth or defileth it. Jude v. 23. Nocturnam 
 maculat violentia vestem. His second marriage is an act of in- 
 justice and violence to his former wife. 
 
 6. Ar. Chald. read -pins? thy garment : and 6. MS. Pachom. 
 read DDttnab vpat. 
 
 17. From this v. to the end of c. jji. 6, the prophet reproves 
 
 3 E
 
 356 MALACHI. III. 
 
 Ydt ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? 
 
 In that ye say, Every one that d^eth evil 
 
 Is j- good in the eyes of Jehovah; 
 
 And in them he defighteth: 
 
 Or, Where is the God of judgment? 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 1 BEHOLD I will send my Messenger, 
 
 And he shall prepare the way before me: 
 And the Lord whom ye seek 
 Shall suddenly come to his temple, 
 Even the Messenger of the covenant in whom ye 
 delight : 
 
 f Oi, acceptable 
 
 the Jews for their immoralities; and reminds them of Him who 
 was to erect a pure religion among them. 
 
 wearied him] One MS. reads "pjjtfin, and another at pre- 
 sent. " Wearied thee?" 
 
 Or ] Three MSS. omit wt'; and 6. Ar. read nw " And 
 vdiere &c." 
 
 CHAP. in. 
 1. m y Messenger] John the Baptist. 
 
 prepare] Like pioneers, on the march of an eastern mo- 
 narch. See Bp. I-owth on Isai. xl. 2. 
 
 the way] In N. T. Matth. xi. 10. Mark i. 2. Luke vii. 27. 
 we read mi otw <, as if the Hebrew had been ~p"V"T. 
 
 before me] Before the Messiah, who shall act in my 
 name. Jn the three places of the gospels we find tf 
 
 DD 1 ?. But i 
 
 in Luke these two words are wanting in the Cam- 
 bridge MS: and there is much better authority for omitting 
 them Mark i. 2. 
 
 I suspect that, in the gospels, jo it-sou. <r, and i/urfos&n <T, 
 are different renderings of the same Hebrew word. The 'lie- 
 brew text furnishes a very good sense, as it now stands: and 
 probably the Greek text which the evangelists copied was cor- 
 rupt, though in substance sufficiently faithful. 
 
 suddenly] "After the messenger; or unawares, as Christ's 
 first coming was, and second will be. Poc." Seeker. 
 
 Even ] " All the old versions, and. But most of the Jews 
 say it is the same person. May it not be understood of God 
 acting by his angel, as Gen. xlviii. 15, 16? Where God which
 
 MALACHI. nr. 3<57 
 
 Behold he shall come, saith Jehovah Godoi hosts. 
 But who shall abide the day of his coming? 
 And who shall stand when he appeareth? 
 For he is like the fire of a refiner, 
 And like the sope of fullers. 
 
 3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; 
 And he shall purify the sons of Levi, 
 
 And shall t refine them as gold and as silver; 
 And they shall bring near unto Jehovah an 
 offering in righteousness. 
 
 4 Then shall the offering of Judah and of Jerusalem 
 
 be pleasing unto Jehovah, 
 As 2w the days of old, and as in former years. 
 
 5 And I will draw near unto you to Judgment; 
 And I will be a swift witness 
 
 t Or, cleanse. Hebr. shall be unto Jehovah the bringers near of an offering of flour. 
 
 fed me the Angel which redeemed me, are joined without 1." 
 Seeker. 
 
 the ?>Iessenger of the covenant] He who shall establish a 
 new covenant between me and mankind. " The Messenger or 
 Angel of the covenant is a phrase no where else in scripture. It 
 may mean the person by whose intervention a covenant is made, 
 or by whom a covenant proposed by one party is sent to the 
 other. Now the voice of the Angel in whom God's name 
 was the Israelites were, to obey, and to do all that God spoke. 
 Exod- xxiii, 20 23 : and this angel was with them before 
 the covenant was made with them: Ex. xiv. 19: and the 
 law was ordained by angels: Gal: iii. 19: so that this Angel, 
 of whom see the note on Isai. Ixiii. 9. may be the Angel of 
 the Covenant here. God, and an, or the Angel are joined 
 close together. Zee. xii. 8. Gen. xlviii. 16." Seeker. 
 
 2. J-who shall abide] He shall shew that I delight in him 
 that doeth good, and that I execute vengeance on the wicked. 
 See c. ii. 17. 
 
 3 he shall sit as a refiner] He shall be diligently employed 
 in his office, in which he shall resemble a refiner. 
 
 6. Ar. read, " And he shall sit a refiner and purifier as of sil- 
 ver and gold." And Syr. transposes the particle of similitude in 
 the same manner: but omits nrt, and gold 
 
 the sons of Levi] Those who shall minister in their stead 
 under the new covenant.*
 
 358 MALACH1. III. 
 
 Against sorcerers, and against adulterers, and 
 
 against || false swearers; 
 And against those who oppress the * hireling in 
 
 his hire, and the widow and the fatherless ; 
 And who turn aside the poor, and fear not me; 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 6 For I am Jehovah [your God,] I change not: 
 Therefore ye, the sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 
 
 7 From the days of your fathers ye have turned 
 
 aside from my statutes, and have not kept them : 
 Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 || Hebr. those who swear to a falsehood. * the hire of the hireling. 
 
 5. sorcerers] Those who pretend to foretel future events 
 by rites which the law forbad. Arab, manifcsta-at, revelavit. 
 
 false swearers] 6. Ar. add OLO by my name, with fifteen 
 MSS. three ed. and Talm. Babyl. 
 
 who oppress] Houbigant reads with 6. Ar. 3tt?rO : and 
 again ruo 1 ?** '\y\uy\. But Bahrdt justly observes that the Hebrews 
 often prefix a verb to many nouns, which suits only one. See 
 on Hos. ii. 18. 
 
 the hireling in his hire] " TDU? "iDtt?. Sic 6. V. Syr. Ch. 
 Videtur tamcn prius expungetidum ; nam de personis dicitur 
 pvIW, et speciatini de merceriario, Deut. xxiv. 14: de viduo et 
 orphano, Jer. vii. 6: misquam de rebus, nisi Job xl. 18, ubi 
 videtur fluvio persona tribui. Addit Syr. peregrtnum post nou. 
 Inter EQ1 et *}J interponunt indicium Ch. 6. quod exhibet Deut 
 xxvii. 19. quod videtur hie Propheta respicere." Seeker. 
 
 and the widow] Observe that three MSS. read taofoft. 
 
 And who turn aside] See Amos v. 12. Houbigant observes 
 that 6. Chald. supply IDSWQ the judgment : which is unnecessary. 
 The Greek is rather an explanation of this and the foregoing 
 line, than a verbal rendering. 
 
 6. Jehovah [your God] J. Ar. supply na'n'w. 
 
 are not consumed] Because of my everlasting covenant 
 with your fathers, ye are not totally consumed. 
 
 7. From this v. to the end of v. 12. the people are repre- 
 hended for withholding the legal tithes and oblations; are as- 
 sured that they are under a curse for this breach of the law, and 
 that an opposite conduct will derive on them a blessing. 
 
 From the days ] See Q 1 ? Nold. Zach. xiv. 10. Some ren- 
 der, " In like manner as from," &c.
 
 MALACHI. III. 359 
 
 But ye say, Wherein shall we turn ? 
 
 8 Shall a man rob God? 
 Yet ye rob me. 
 
 But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? 
 In f tithes and J offerings. 
 
 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: 
 
 For ye have robbed me ; even this whole nation. 
 Bring ye all the || tithes 
 Into the storehouse, 
 And let there be food in mine House : 
 And- prove me now herewith, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts; 
 If I will not open unto you 
 The windows of the heavens, 
 And pour out unto you a blessing, until there be 
 not room enough to receive it. 
 
 11 And I will rebuke for you the devourer, 
 
 And he shall not destroy the fruit of your ground ; 
 Neither shall your vine * cast its fruit in the field; 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 12 And all the nations shall call you blessed : 
 For ye shall be f a pleasant land, 
 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 13 Your words have waxen bold against me, 
 Saith Jehovah [God of hosts.] 
 
 Yet ye say, What have we spoken against thee ? 
 
 14 Ye have said, " It is J vain to serve Jehovah : 
 
 f Hebr. the tithe. * the heave-offering. the nation, all of it. || tithe. 
 * Or, be barren. f Hebr. a land of desire. \ vanity. 
 
 8. tithes] See Neh. xiii. 10. 
 offerings] See Numb, xviii. 19. 
 
 10. food] For the priests. See rpQ Prov. xxx. 8. xxxi. 15. 
 not room enough] Immensae ruperimt horea messes. Virg. 
 
 11. the devourer] the locust, caterpillar, cankerworm, &c. 
 13' From this y. to the end of c. iv. v 3. the prophet expos- 
 
 tulates with the wicked for their hard speeches ; and declares 
 that God will make a fearful distinction between them and the 
 righteous. 
 
 God of hosts] niJGK is supplied by Chalet, and 0.MS.Pachom.
 
 360 MALACHI. III. 
 
 " And what profit is there that we have kept his 
 
 ordinance, 
 
 " And that we have walked mournfully 
 " Before Jehovah God of hosts ? 
 
 15 " And now we call the proud happy: 
 
 " Yea, the workers of wickedness- are set up: 
 " Yea, they have proved God, and have escaped." 
 
 16 Then they who feared Jehovah spake 
 Every one to his neighbour. 
 
 And Jehovah || gave ear and heard : 
 
 And a book of remembrance was written before 
 
 him, 
 For them who feared Jehovah, and for them who 
 
 thought on his name. 
 
 17 They shall be unto me, said Jehovah God of hosts, 
 In the day which I shall appoint, a peculiar trea- 
 sure. 
 
 And I will spare them, as a man spareth 
 His son who serveth him. 
 
 18 And ye shall * again discern 
 
 Hebr. buih. || Or, hearkened. * Hebr. return and discern. 
 
 14. walked mournfully] With prayer and fasting, in sack- 
 cloth and ashes. 
 
 15. the proud] Those who behave themselves arrogantly 
 against God. 
 
 are set up] Are raised to prosperity, as buildings are to 
 their height. 
 
 Those who spake thus seem to have expected an exact dis- 
 tribution of temporal rewards aud punishments to good and bad 
 men. 
 
 16. gave ear and heard] Heard attentively. 
 
 a book of remembrance] A beautiful allusion to the re- 
 cords kept by kings. Esth. vi. 1. 
 
 17. They shall be] Erunt. V. the van being merely conver- 
 sive. 
 
 appoint] See c. iv. 3. So V. 6. Ps. cxviii. 24. The period 
 referred to may be the Roman war uuder Titus. 
 
 a peculiar treasure] bx) Chald. lucratus est collegit. 
 
 18. again discern] As your fathers did, when chastised by 
 the Assyrians and Babylonians.
 
 MALACHI. IV. 361 
 
 Between the righteous and the wicked ; 
 Between him who serveth God, 
 And him who serveth him not. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1 FOR behold, the day cometh which shall burn 
 
 as a furnace; 
 And all the proud, 
 
 And all that do wickedness, shall be stubble. 
 And the day which cometh shall burn them up, 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts: 
 For it shall not leave them root or branch. 
 
 2 But unto you that fear my name, 
 
 Shall the sun of righteousness arise, f with healing 
 
 in his wings. 
 And ye shall go forth, and thrive, as bullocks of 
 
 the stall. 
 
 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked: for they shall 
 
 be as dust 
 
 Under the soles of your feet, 
 In the day which I shall appoint; 
 Saith Jehovah God of hosts. 
 
 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, 
 
 f Hebr. and. 
 
 and the wicked] For the Hebrew form, see on Joel ii. 17. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 1. root or branch] It shall totally consume them. A pro- 
 verbial expression. 
 
 2. that fear] Or, O ye that fear. Arab. Bahrdt. 
 
 wings] Metaphorically, for rays. The disciples of the 
 Messiah shall be preserved from the destruction by the Romans. 
 go forth] To the pasture. 
 and thrive] Some render the original word exiliit. See <5. 
 
 3. ye shall tread down] Ye shall know that they are wholly 
 subdued. 
 
 as dust] Some say that here is an allusion to the treading 
 of mortar, made one part of sand and two of ashes. Harmer i. 179. 
 
 4. Remember] This precept well suits the last of the pro- 
 phets, o. Ar. place this v. after v. 5.6. and it forms as apt a
 
 862 MALACHI. IV. 
 
 Which I commanded him in Horeb 
 Concerning all Israel: even the statutes and the 
 judgments. 
 
 5 Behold, I will send unto you 
 Elijah the prophet, 
 
 Before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come: 
 
 6 That he may convert the heart of the fathers to- 
 
 gether with the children, 
 And the heart of the children together with their 
 
 fathers : 
 Lest I come and smite the land with a J curse. 
 
 J Or. utter destruction. 
 
 conclusion as repeating the prophecy of Christ's harbinger. See 
 c. iii. 1- " MS. Copt, also places this verse last." Mr. Woide. 
 
 5. Elijah] John the Baptist, who should come in the spirit 
 and power of Elijah. Luke i. 17. 
 
 day of Jehovah] When he shall take vengeance on the 
 Jews by the Roman armies. 
 
 6. together with] See by in the sense of una cum Gen. 
 xxxii. 11: Amos iii. 15: where 6. have w v oixo, which an- 
 swers to MI * Luke i. 17: Hos. x. 14: where 6. have rtxw;: 
 Ex. xxx. 22: Mic. v. 3: where o. have mntvuis. See Nold. 
 by . 9. That he may convert many. See Matth. iii. 5. 
 
 the land] Three MSS. and one in the margin add ^D : all 
 the land : which is the reading of Chald.
 
 INDEX OF PERSONS 
 
 OCCASIONALLY REFERRED TO. 
 
 ABARBINEL 89, lOQ, 263 Celsius 11. 48, 82, 218 
 
 Abuwalid 121 Chandler, Bishop 158, 174,262 
 
 Adanson 196, 197 Chandler, Doctor 195,201,246 
 
 Addison xxxiv Cicero 107, 129, 260 
 
 Aeschylus 141 Claudian 100, 200 
 
 A ins worth xx Cocceius 2, 343 
 
 Alschech R. 264 Columella 122, 307 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus 18 Constantir.e L'Empereur 263 
 
 Amos 14 Cornelius a Lapide 80 
 
 Aquila9, 48, 93, 104, 106, 110, Ctesias 190 
 1 13, 120, 133, 140, 141, 145, 177 Curtius 13. 17 
 197, 215, 222, 255 Cyril 1 19, 191, 205 
 
 Arrian 189 Dathius 15, 85, 12 J, 225. 255 
 
 Augustin 325 David, a future king of the Jews 76 
 
 Bahrdt 89, 103, 108, 1 12, 114, 115, De Dieu 355 
 118, 127, 132, 133, 1 34, 200, Delany xxii 
 201, 204, 207, 208, 220, 228, De Lisle 144,381 
 230, 237, 238, 243, 25G, 260, 261 Demetrius Phalereus xiii 
 Barrington, Bishop 89. Dirnock 91, 109, 117, 133. 
 
 Bezaxxv. 27 Diodorus Siculus 8, 38, 177. 188 
 
 Blair, John xli. 115, 190, 249, 255, Dion Cassius 345 
 
 258, 271 Dionysius 10 
 
 Blanchini 325 Doddridge xxxiii 
 
 Blayney xix, xx, xxii, xxsi, xxxiii, Dow 69 
 
 xxxvi. 233, and notes on Zecha- Dmsius 1, 14, 39, 81, 93, 174, 191, 
 riah 203 
 
 Bochart 1, and frequently Durell xv. 34, 165, 168, 239, 241. 
 
 Borromeo, Cardinal xi 351 
 
 Bryant 16 Ennius 54 
 
 Butler, Bishop 164 Erasmus xxv 
 
 Buxtorf xii. 2, 28, 45, 60, 79, 185, Euripides 72, 141, 290 
 
 226 Eusebiusxi. 57, 144 
 
 Calasio xii Eustathius 8, 228 
 
 Calmet 54, 116,282, 304 Forsayeth 7, 27, 39, 41, 4-3, 90, 
 
 Cappellus 3, 54, 80, 157, 131, 188, 106, 107, 112, 113. 120, 122, 
 182, 213, 218, 225, 240, 245, 127, 142, T48, 174, 179, 180, 
 248, 253, 270, 282, 284, 288, 193.214,221,231 
 289,291 Fuller 236 
 
 Castell xii Golius 153, 195 
 
 CatulJus 260 Grabe xi 
 
 3 F
 
 INDEX OF PERSONS. 
 
 Greaves 344 Kimchi 14, 122, 290 
 
 Green 6, 7, 229, 234, 243, 245, Kuster 205 
 
 246, LaRoquel36 
 
 Griesback 325 Le Clerc '25 1, 253, 254 
 
 Groiius 39, 84, 109, 119, 207, 298, Lewis xxxvi 
 
 325,326 Lightfoot254, 343 
 
 Gussetius 50, 242 Lilienthal 121, 246 . 
 
 Habakkuk 226 Longinus 9 1 
 
 Hammond 40 Lowth. Mr. 214, 254, 301, 313 
 
 Harmc-r 1 1, 26, 27, 30, 38, 42, 45, Lowth, Bishop, frequently 
 
 54, 57, 58, 75, 100, 181, 192, Lucan 228 
 
 207, 228, 243 Lucas Brugensis 303 
 
 Heberden xvi. 264 Ludan 177 
 
 Herodotus 8, 175, 185, 189, 268 Lucilius 36 
 Hiiler 11 Lucretius 136. 139 
 
 Hirtius 54 Ludolphus 197 
 
 Homer 22, 27, 34, 36, 142, 180, Macrobius 116 
 
 184,187,207 Maddan355 
 
 Horace 4, 22, 27, 34, 36, 37, 42, Maimonides 35, 263 
 
 62, 71, 74, 84, 100, 108, 126 Manger 94, 117, 122, 136 
 Horsley, Bishop, notes and and ren- Marcellus Virgilius 197 
 
 derings through Hosea Manus xi 
 
 Hosea 59 Maundrell 26 
 
 Houbigant on all the Minor Prophets Mead 203 
 
 frequently occurs Mede 50, 1 35, 303, 304 
 
 Hulsius 262 Menander 93 
 
 Hutchinson 228 Mercer 182 
 
 Hyde 3 4 Merrick 178 
 
 Hyrcanus 18,254, 347 Micah 138 
 
 Jackson 190 Michaelis I. D. xxxix. 27, 41, 55, 
 
 Jarchi 89 57, 89, 94, 98, 102, 121, 122, 
 
 Jerom 9, 119, 122, 175, 199, 213, 123, 125, 130, 152, 135, 217, 
 
 239,331,339 2.51,260 
 
 Joel 191 Michaelis I. H. 29, 48 
 
 Jonah 1, 11 Moerlius 3, 79, 80, 96, 251 
 
 Joseph, R. 263 Moljneux 198 
 
 Joseplms vi. 14, 17, 18. 43, 183, Montfaucon 93. 115, 122 
 
 188, 249, 254, 258, 262, 264, Muretus 107 
 
 265, 275, 308, 339, 347 Nahum 172 
 
 Isaac R. 325 Nathan R. 263 
 
 Isaiah 220, 265 Newton, Sir Isaac 219 
 
 Judas Maccabeus 15 347 Newton, Bishop 272 
 
 Justin 1 89, 268 Nimrod 175 
 
 Justin Martyr 40 Noldius 2, 10, 31, 44,53,68,74, 
 
 Juvenal xv. 35, 74, 236 91, 99, 139, 146, 158, 201, 214, 
 
 Kennicott ix, xxxvii. 3, 7, 57, 84, 226, 258, 236, 
 
 94, 132, 133, 157, 169, 239, 395, Obadiah 249 
 Bidder 303, 324 Oppian 228
 
 INDEX OF PERSONS. 
 
 Origin x. 303 Stephens, Hen r. xxv i 
 
 Orpheus 3. 192 Strabo x. 8, 1S5, 189 
 
 Ovid 51. 141, 142, 169, 184, 210* Symmachus 4, 7, 9, 12, 74, 84,92, 
 
 Owen 157, 303, 325, 330 93, 95, 106, 120, 122, 141, 213, 
 
 Pachomias x 222. 230, 234, 236 
 
 Pamphilus xi Swift xxxii 
 
 Pentsol 12 Tacitus 66, 180 
 
 Petavius271 Tanchum R. 91, 113, 121 
 
 Peters 38, 164, 229 Taylor xii, xxvi, xxxviii. 2, 3, 37 
 
 Pierce 1M 75, 84, 89, 93, 107, 114, 174' 
 
 Pliny 11 105, 131 196, 197,202 239, 274 
 
 Plutarch 10 Terence 93, 107. 
 
 Pocock 16. 48, 68,74,78.80, 82. Theocritus 270 
 
 88, 90- fll, 102, 105- 106, 112' Theodotion 9, 18, 93, 74, 104,120 
 
 U4, 115, 134,141,156,174,207 130, 177, 213, 222,234,238 
 
 Prideaux 186, 262, 268, 272, 276 Theophrastus 268 
 
 Priestly xxxiii Thevenot 203 
 
 Propertius 100 Thuanus 196 
 
 Pul 9 Tibullus51,72 
 
 Randolph 303> 312, 325 Tobit 190 
 
 Ray 192. 198 Usher 115, 249 
 
 Rernigius 198 Velleius Paterculus 189 
 
 Robertson 132 Virgil xiv, xv. 9, 10, 19, 22, 34, 45 
 
 SaadiasR. 330 53, 57, 72, 74, 81, 110, 124^ 
 
 Sallust xxxiv. 136 129, 176, 186, 192, 193, 200, 
 
 Sappho 51 209,211,221 
 
 Schroeder 246 Vitringa 39, 175, 249, 268, 270 
 Schultens 34, 83, 104, 133. 164, 271,274,275,291,317 
 
 189, 214, 228, 273, 281 Wesseling 39 
 
 Scott xxii Westerhovius 107 
 Seeker's critical notes on all the Mi- Wetstein 205, 234, 325 
 
 nor Prophets frequently occurs Wheeler frequently 
 
 Selden 35, 39, 1 16, 263 White xi, xii 
 
 Seneca 25, 38, 130 Wintle 203, 235, 237, 239 
 
 Servius 68, 1 16, 252 Woide xvL xxxix. 26, 27. 35, 57 
 
 Shaw 140. 196 62,76, 117, 119, 124- 156, 16l| 
 
 Sixtus Quintus x 212, 227, 239, 245, 278 
 
 Slodne 196 Wolfius 302 
 
 Sophocles 52 Xenophon 9, 1 87, 228 
 Spencer 21, 29, 37, 38, 39, 75, 109, Zechariah, whether the author of c. 
 
 StatiuslSl ix xiv. 303 8 
 
 Stephanus de urbibus 1 Zephaniah beautiful, 215 
 Stephens, Rob. 96
 
 INDEX OF THINGS. 
 
 Abbreviations in writing Hebrew Concordance xxii 
 
 words 3, 14-, 34, 57, 121, 277 Conjectural criticism xiii. xxxviii, 
 
 Achor 70 xxxix 
 
 Additions to the Hebrew text in 6. readings Am. iii. 11. 
 
 19, 27,78, 130, 168, 198, 260, iv. 3, v. * 7. viii. 4, 12. ix. 1. 
 
 268, 270, 348, 355 Hos. i. * 9. v. 7. vii. * 16. viii. 
 Adultress, how punished 66 12. x. * 5, 11, 14. xii. * 4. Mic. 
 Affixes signify passively 107 i. * 12. Nah. i. 12. iii. 16. Zeph. 
 in the oblique case repeated iii. 9. Hab. i. * 12. iii. 7. * 14. 
 
 in the nominative 295 Zech. iv. * 12 
 
 Ammonites 18 Corner stone 3 16 
 
 Angel of the covenant 357 Chus 55 
 
 Arabism Aleph for vau 21, 119 Chusites ib. 
 
 Beth 132 Darkness, for calamity 37, 166 
 
 Ashdod 17 attends earthquakes 32 
 
 Ashes, custom of sitting on 9 David, what meant by this in the 
 
 Ashkelon 17 prophets 76 
 
 Ass, wild 105 Divinations, by rods or staves 82 
 
 Baal, 68, 70 Dower, anciently paid by the hus- 
 
 Baalim 69 band 74 
 
 Baal Peor 1 12 Drop, to drop a word 48 
 
 Baldness in mourning 51, 1 44- Dust, grief shewn by rolling in it 1 41 
 
 Bashah28 Eagle 144 
 
 Bear 131 Earthquake 15, 32, 50 
 
 Beersheba 33 Eastwind 12, 125 
 
 Belial 178 Ebn Awi 140 
 
 Besor 45 Eder 153 
 
 Bethaven 83 Edom 18, 20, 249, 254 
 
 Betheden 16 . .^^ Egypt, its diseases 31 
 
 Bethel 27 its reverence for kings 102 
 
 Beth-Ezel 1 42 whether rain there 344 
 
 Bozrah 18 Ekron 17 
 
 Calf, why worshipped I04> Encyclopedic 32, 198 
 
 Calneh 41 Ephraim, of the feminine gender 85 
 
 Cakes, how prepared in the East 99 used plurally 317 
 
 Camillus, whence derived 116 Ethiopia 54, 223 
 
 Caphtor 55 Family, for people 24 
 
 Carmel 15 Fasting, how practised in the east 10 
 
 Caverns 53, 1 16, 250 Feast, on a sacrifice 29 
 
 Chaffer 197 Figs, early 112 
 
 Chaldeans 228 Figtree 247 
 
 Cherethites 55, 217 Forty days, a solemn period of time 9 
 
 Chiun 39 Foxes 140 
 
 Cici, a plant so called 1 1 Frequentative substantive 66 
 
 City Remembrancer 203 Future tense, has the force of the 
 
 Comparison, implied 167 present 3 
 
 f-ff Those marked * seem most worthy of attention:
 
 INDEX OF THINGS. 
 
 Future tense, frequentative 25, 44 Lots cast for captives 186 
 
 converted by the dis- Lybia, whence derived 1 3 1 
 
 - distant vau 22 Malchom 39 
 
 not always converted Manuscript, Ambrosian x 
 
 by vau 7 
 Garments, torn iti grief 200 
 Gate, the place of judgment 35 
 Gath 41 
 Gaza 16 
 Gibeah 88 
 
 Gifts, customary in the east 349 
 Gilgal 29 
 
 God, great unto God for very great 1 
 Grape, for wine 7 4 
 Haurach 307 
 Hamath 41, 45 
 Harvest, for time of destruction 95 
 
 rather for time of mercy 96 
 Hebraisms xxxiv 
 Hebrew language vii, viii 
 Hieroglyphics 44 
 Horn, the symbol of strength 44 
 Horns of the altar 27 
 Horses, not shod anciently 44 
 Hosts, God of hosts 27 
 Housetops, places of worship 212 
 Jakale 140 
 [areb 89, 116 
 Jezreel 61,63,72 
 Infinitive mood Am. v. ll.Mal.ii- 13 
 Journey of one day 8 
 Islands 55, 219, 
 Judah, feminine Mai, ii. 1 1 
 ' Judge, chief magistrate 19 
 Ivory, houses of 27 
 Kir 16,55 
 Kirioth 20 
 
 Kiss, bestowed on statues 129 
 Lakes called seas 185 
 
 Coptic xvi ' 
 
 Manuscripts furnish variations in let- 
 ters: Jon. iii. 2. Am. iv. 7, * 13. 
 v. 8. vi. 10. vii. 2, viii. 8. ix. 
 14. Hos. ii. 3. iv. 4, 6, * 8, 18. 
 v. 3. vi. 4. vii. 1, * 6. viii, * 10. 
 ix. * 2, 8, 12. x. * 10, 14, 15. 
 xiii. 8. 10, 13, 15. xiv. 1, 3. 
 Mic. i. 5, 8. ii. * 2. iv. 9, * 1 1. 
 v. 6, 8, 12. vi. 5, * 9, * 10, 14. 
 vii. 5, * 12. Nah. i. * 2. ii. * 3, 
 
 * 4. iii. * 15. 'Joel i. 20. ii. * 1. 
 
 * 12, *23. Zeph. i. 4. ii. 10. iii. 
 
 * 15. Hab. i. 9, * 15. ii.-* 3, * 6. 
 iii. * 13. Zech. i. 3. ii. * 6. iv. * 
 9. v. * 6. vii. 7, * 10. viii. 16. 
 ix. 16. x. * 1, * 12. xii. *7. xiv. 
 *5, 10, * 15, * 18. Mai. ii. 5, 
 14, 15. 
 
 In words: Am. ii. 15. 
 
 iii. 1. v. *6, 8, 16. vi. I. vii. *7. 
 Hos. ii. 16. iv. * IS.ix. * 6, 9- xii. 
 
 * 9. xiii. * 4. Mic. i. * 5. v. *.6, * 
 7, 12. Joel i. 8, 13. ii. * 20. Zeph. 
 i. 8. iii. 6. Hab. i. * 8. iu 2. Obad. 
 *16. Hagg. ii.. 2. Zech. ii. 21. 
 vi. 10* viii. * 1, * 3, * 20. xii. * 
 6, * 13. Mai. i.'14. iii. * 5. iv. 6. 
 One MS. omits a clause Am. vi 8. 
 with o. Ar. 
 
 Memphis 109 
 
 Metre, Hebrew xv, xxxvii 
 
 Mizpah 86 
 
 Moab 19 
 
 Moloch 39 
 
 Lamentation, women skilled in it 36 Mood, the indicative form in Hebrew 
 
 used for elegy 33 verbs has the force of the potential 
 
 Lebanpn, its wine 137 12, 349 
 
 Leopard 131 Mountains, gods denominated from 
 
 Light, for prosperity 37 them 112 
 
 Lion 24, 182 Mowing 45 
 
 Locust 31, 45, 88, 192, 195, 197 Nail 316 
 
 and through Joel Naked, its extended signification 1 40 
 
 f.ft The various lections marked * will serve to illustrate the great importance of tlw 
 
 late Doctor Kennicott's collations. 
 
 3 G
 
 INDEX OF THINGS. 
 
 Naked, captives made so 66, 185 their conduct sometims mo- 
 Nile, eminently The river 50 rally wrong 1,11 
 Nineveh 1, 8, 13, 172, 188, 189 Punctuation, a different one of the 
 No Ammon 173, 185 sentence 31, 35, 104, 107, 1 10 
 Norn inative absolute 1 10 Put 185 
 North, applied to Assyria and Baby- Rain 30, 92, 204, 
 
 Ionia 2 1 9 in Egypt 344 
 
 Nose-jewel' 69 Repentance, on God's part 46, 134, 
 
 Number,dtfiniteibr indefinite 9 1,159 201 
 
 Omer 74 Repetitions Jon. ii. 3. 1. 3. Ps. xiii. 7 
 
 Omission in the Hebrew text 128 Am. i. 2. 1. 1, 2. Joel iii. 16. 
 
 On, valley of 16 
 
 Opriel 153 
 
 Ostrich 141 
 
 Parallelism, synonymous xiii, xiv, xv 
 
 Paran 241 
 
 Paronomasia 29, 49, 141, 142, 194, 
 
 217 
 Participle, change from it to the pie- 
 
 ter tense 21 
 Pelican 220 
 Person, transition from the second to 
 
 the third Am. v. 12. Zepb. ii. 3 
 Philistine, meaning of the word 55 
 Pits, prisons in the East 313 
 
 iv. 13. 1. 4. Mic. i. 3. 
 
 v. 13. 1.2. Mic. ii. 3. 
 
 ix. 13. 1. 4. Joel iii. 18. 
 Hos. iv. 10.1. 1. Mic. vi. 14. 
 
 v. 3, 1. 3, 4. vi. 10. 
 
 v. 5. 1. 1. vii. 10, 
 
 vi. 4. 1. 3, 4. xiii. 3. 
 
 viii. 13. 1. 3. ix. 9. Jer. xiv. 10. 
 Mic. iii. 12, Jer. xxvj. 18. 
 
 iv, 1 , 2, 3. Isai. ii. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 iv. 6. I. ii. Zeph. iii. 19. 
 Nah. i. 15. 1. 1,2. Isai. Iii. 7. 
 
 ii. 10. 1. 4. Joel ii. 6. 
 Joel i. 15. 1. 2, 3. Isai. xiii. 6. 
 
 Plural termination masculine, writ- Zeph. ii. 15.1. 1. 2. Isai. xlvii. 8 
 ten contractedly 45, 158, 194, 
 205, 340 
 
 omitted, wholly or 
 
 iii. 4. 1. 2. Ezek. xxii. 26. 
 Hab. ii. 13. j. 2, 3. Jer. Ii. 58. 
 ii. 14. Isai. xi. 9. 
 iii. 19.1. 2,3. Ps. xviii. 33. 
 Jer. xlix. 14. 
 2. 15. 
 
 3,4. 16. 
 
 Zcch. i. 3. 1. 3. 4. Ma!, iii. 7. 
 vii. 10.1. 3, 4. viii. 17. 
 11.1. 2. Neh. ix. 29. 
 
 partly, at the end ot a line 1 11 
 Preposition, o'ten omitted in Hebrew Obad. 
 
 7.2S, l-.w, 244 
 Preter tense, its form has the force of 
 
 the preterpluperfect 1 1 
 Pronoun redundant 23 
 repeated in the nominative 
 
 case, after being used as an affix Ricinus 1 1 
 
 255, 295 Rods, divination by them 82 
 
 placed at the end of a sen- Roofs, flat in the east 25 
 
 tence 167 Rooms, upper ones the chief 54- 
 Prophets why sent to the Hebrews v Samaria 2o, 40 
 -authors of the Hebrew Saying, why omitted 91 
 
 scriptures v, vi Sea, eastern and western 202 
 their writings of divine au- Selah 241 
 
 thority vi Sepharad 254 
 
 their writings useful vii Septuagint, proofs that its MSS. and 
 
 the Twelve Minor, obscure editions should be collated t're- 
 
 viii cjueiitly occur
 
 INDEX OF THINGS. 
 
 Serpents, some live in water 53 Teman 18, 241 
 Seventy years, irom the destruction Teraphim 75 
 
 of the temple to its restoration 258 Thrashing- wain 15 
 
 captivity 27 1 Translation, rules for a new one xvii 
 
 Shechem 95 xl 
 
 Shepherds used for Rulers 1 8 8 Trumpet, danger proclaimed by it 1 96 
 
 Shields, coloured 180 Tyre 1 7 
 
 Shittim 210 Vargi 184- 
 
 Similitude, particle of, omitted 100 Vau, not always conversive 7 
 
 Sin, the Hebrew words denoting it removed from the beginning of 
 
 why used for the punishment of a sentence to join the verb 131 
 
 sin 119 its omission 243 
 
 Songs, accompanied sacrifice 38 Verb, not applicable to all the sub- 
 Sraff, devination by it 82 stantives governed by it 7 1, 358 
 
 Star, symbol of a deiiLy 39 -the nominative case often t 
 
 Storehouses, subterraneous 54 be supplied 9 
 
 Suifetes 20 Viol accompanied sacrifice 38 
 
 Superlative, how expressed in He- Vineyards, scenes ot joy 37 
 
 brew 8 Way, for worship 52 
 
 Sybilla, its derivation 17* Wine, grape used for it 74, 
 
 Sycamore 48 Winter-house 27 
 
 Tabor 86 Yoke, custom of raising it 1 22 
 
 Tarshish I Zanan 142
 
 INDEX OF HEBREW WORDS AND PHRASES 
 
 TREATED OF IN THE NOTES. 
 
 m3N STOREHOUSE 54 nnrr of their own accord 105 
 
 "<ytn Lord, often a gloss on Jehovah 36 Dn irregularly formed to express silence 44 
 
 TIN magnificence 32i rnnn very much, multiplicando 51 
 
 inn one, often understood before a verb ac- Tin to hasten 124 
 
 live 9 1 see vau 
 
 ?nrrN hinder. Why the Mediterranean is TOT followed by an infinitive 60 
 
 called the hinder sea 202 3n a sacrifice 37 
 
 "a whether an island 54, 55, 219 bin to fear greatly 308 
 
 NiB'N PTN where now 132 . rwan the puhishment of sin 119 
 
 IT'N some one, often understood before a man desire 260 
 
 verb active 9 SOT followed by a 93 
 
 bN sometimes transitive 77 pin fine gold 308 
 
 nbtf green-oak 82 rrtvnn still, applied to wind. Another sense- 
 
 fib!* oak, why 8'2 12 
 
 D'nbx unto God, for great 8 fin to cut, to cut off 209 
 
 Ci'SbN heads oi thousands 157 > paragogic 118, 250 
 
 ON if, sometimes omitted 10 Tw the river Nile 50 
 
 ON mother city 80 yy what is acquired by labour 126 
 
 TOTOX faithfulness 234 T border 161 
 
 '3N repeated in the nominative after affit 295 ttTP written contractedly ", 9, 56, 277 
 mx with 3 prefixed 71 bD' to endure, with an accusame case JOi 
 
 CTi'M the punishment, of guilt 119 pV 1 locust 192 
 
 DN before the nominative case 295 OV3 years 29 
 
 sign of the genitive case '245 *)>' to add, how the verb is used after it 61 
 
 a used after transitive verbs 21 Hos. i. 6. 
 
 Arabism, as DTija thine helper 132 NV transitively to send forth 33 
 nni"Q beast, its etymology 9 to be born 158 
 
 bv^n Belial, explained 178 mi springing rain 92 
 
 Oba to gather sc. sycamore fruit 48 3T See Jareb 
 
 pp3 to cast, to empty 114 nnjnu> salvation 7 
 
 rma a blessing, or abundance 201 "?N1^ written bx or bN' 34 
 
 Hbina a virgin, a brid^. Its etymology 193 3 the particle of similitude often omitted 10Q 
 mN3 its import 8^T its force in connection 96 
 
 ma locust 45 HOO the Hyades 34 
 
 b^a to exult 108 noa a sacrificer 116 
 
 O3 locust 31, 192 HD3 to cover, used with by 238 
 
 D'bba idols, why so called 89 b'DD Arcturus 34 
 
 OOO great rain 92 b its sense when prefixed to the infinittv 
 
 mm or some feminine substantive, under- mood 44 
 
 stood 46, i9, 191 transitive 175, 215 
 
 HOT to destroy 120 for pa between 201 
 
 1jr\ to pierce, used of mortal wounds 381 ab with prefix 3 and b 97 
 n emphatic, whether used before a word anb flesh 215 
 
 which lias a pronoun suffixed 167 flesh-sacrifices ibid 
 
 NVt he, at the end of a sentence 167 rtpb to take away 82 
 
 NYT she, at the end of a sentence 181 U'pb the second growth of com mowed 45 
 
 anavi doing well, benefaciendo , explained 11 U'ipbo crop-rain 92 
 
 to do a thing earnestly, effectually 167 'D used of things 2 
 
 ^3n palace, its etymology 181 U3O an object looked on with confidence in 
 
 3bn with another verb, to go on encreasing it 331 
 
 or detredying 3 pvn a stall, its true sense 42
 
 INDEX OF HEBREW WORDS, &c. 
 
 >TCO to suffice 126 rns to shoot 247 
 
 SWO a prophecy 173 019 to sing, why 42 
 
 "OUra the place of breaking forth, its mean- JOK host 27 
 
 ing 133 NX-ar nNX dung, perhaps an idol 89 
 
 bwn may be rendered to taunt, not to rule 202 firm abundance 204 
 
 a proverb 145 n"?v to rush, how used 34 
 
 BDlO judgment, its latitude 216 y"?V lame Ii3 
 
 313 to utter, to make to speak 315 y3V to be humble 164 
 
 wm a lie, a failure 98 mv to cry out 214 
 
 QT3 nose-jewel 69 ONp to rise, for Dip, why so written 21 
 
 bw to weigh 214 yap to bury 199 
 
 tp3 to drop, in the sense of prophesying 48 Dip why the east 203 
 1133 to reserve sc. anger : or, to observe, sc. unp why to prepare H9 
 
 with anger 175 m*p an elegy 33 
 
 MD3 to snuff at, to blow upon, reject 256 PP a ray 241 
 W33 soul, for self 12 
 
 to refresh 109 
 np3 why shf pherd 14 
 ny does not mean for ever 33 
 Jiy the punishment of iniquity 119 
 miy a solemn assembly, why so c ailed 37 
 *jy together with. Hos. x. 14. 120 
 ;3 by its force 83 
 V?y and its derivatives explained 87. 
 
 used of God's people 322 
 fvoy near, its sense 336 
 H3y what its import 72 
 ptjy sweet wine 58 
 *3Vy Us construction 81 
 
 why an idol 84 
 Sys explained 97 
 ns 'ts signification 83 
 iVa a village, why 246 
 
 see pna a stall 42 
 Dm to cherish with tenderness 61 
 rim why a stall 247 
 W foro 113, 166 
 
 T\NW to bruise, for ppw, why so written 21 
 NW vanity, idols 89 
 brw fonnir, a black lion 90 
 D"PITO why clouds 175 
 nrra> the dusk 296 
 -Du; wages 323 
 OV then, its peculiar signification 94 
 nnn place 23 
 
 with n, from under the dominion 82 
 vrrn choice wine 68 
 Don Jakales 140 
 msn serpents 347 
 Crsin Teraphim 75 
 
 B. Bootbroyd, Printer, Pontefract.

 
 
 
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