Commentary on the Holy Bible

Of wines on the Ices — "Of old wines"] Heb. lees; that is, of wines kept long on the lees. The word used to express the lees in the original signifies the

8 He will " swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will ° wipe away tears from off

preservers; because they preserve the strength and flavour of the vnne. " All recent wines, after the fermentation has ceased, ought to be kept on their lees for a certain time, which greatly contributes to increase their strength and flavour. Whenever this first fermentation has been deficient, they will retain a more rich and sweet taste than is natural to them in a recent true vinous state; and unless farther fermentation is promoted by their lying longer on their own lees, they will never attain their genuine strength and flavour, but run into repeated and ineffectual fermentations, and soon degenerate into a liquor of an acetous kind. — All wines of a light and austere kind, by a fermentation too great, or too long continued, certainly degenerate into a weak sort of vinegar; while the stronger not only require, but will safely bear a stronger and often-repeated fermentation; and are more apt to degenerate from a defect than excess of fennentation into a vapid, ropy, and at length into a putrescent state." Sir Edward Barry, Observations on the Wines of the Ancients, p. 9, 10.

Thevenot observes particularly of the Shiras wine, that, after it is refined from the lees, it is apt to grow bour. " II a beaucoup de lie; c'est pourquoi il donne puissemment dans la teste; et pour le rendre plus traitable on le passe par un chausse d'hypocras; apres quoi il est fort clair, et moins fumeux. lis mettent ce vin dans des grandcs jarres de terres qui tiennent dix ou douze jusqu'cl quatorze carabas: mais quand I'on a entam^ une jarre, il faut la vuider an plutost, et mettre le vin qu'on en tire dans des bouteUles ou carabas; car si I'on y manque en le laissant quelque terns apres que la jarre est entam^e il se gate et s'aigrit." Voyages, Tom. ii. p. 245. — " It has much sediment, and therefore is intoxicating. In order to make it more mellow, they strain it through a hypocrates' sleeve, after which it is very clear and less heady. They lay up this wine in great earthen jars, which hold from ten to fourteen carabas: but when a jar is unstopped, it is necessary to empty it immediately, and put the wine into bottles, or carabas; for if it be left thus in the jar, it will spoil and become acid."

The caraba, or girba, is a goat's skin drawn off from the animal, having no apertures but those occasioned by the tail, the feet, and the neck. One opening is left, to pour in and draw off the liquor. This skin goes through a sort of tanning process, and is often beautifully ornamented, as is the case with one of these girbas now lying before me.

This clearly explains the very elegant comparison, or rather allegory, of Jeremiah, chap, xlviii. 1 1; where the reader will find a remarkable example of the mixture of the proper with llie allegorical, not uncommon ^iJh the Hebrew poets: — all faces; and the rebuke of his *■ Rf. cir. 3292 people shall he take away from Oiymp. xvii. i. off all the earth: for the Lord Nuniae"p"ra|nii: hath spoken it. R. Rom^n.. 4.

9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; p we liave waited for him,

" Moab hath been at ease from his youth, And he hath settled upon his lees; Nor hath he been drawn off from vessel to vessel. Neither hath he gone into captivity: Wherefore his taste remaineth in him, And his flavour is not changed."

Sir John Chardiri's MS. note on this place of Jere miah is as follows: " On change ainsi le vin de coupe en coupe en Orient; et quand on en entame une, il faut la vuider en petites coupes ou bouteilles, sans quoy il s'aigrit. " They change the wine from vessel to vessel in the east; and when they unstop a large one, it is necessary to empty it into small vessels, as other\vise it will grow sour."

Verse 7. The face of the covering cast over all people — ^" The covering that covered the face of all the peoples"] MS. Bodl. reads hj 'JS S;' al peney chol. The word 'J3 peney, face, has been removed from its right place into the line above, where it makes no sense; as Houbigant conjectured. " The face of the covering," &c. He will unveil all the Mosaic ritual, and show by his apostles that it referred to, and was accomplished in, the sacrificial offering of Jesus

Verse 8. He ii^ill sivallow up death] He, by the grace of God, will taste death for every man. Heb. ii. 9. Probably, swallow up death, and taste death, in both these verses, refer to the same thing: Jesus dying instead of a guilty world. These forms of speech may refer to the punishment of certain criminals; they were obliged to drink a cup of poison. That cup which every criminal in the world must have drunk, Jesus Christ drank for them; and thus he swallowed up death: but as he rose again from the dead, complete victory was gained.

I. That the Gospel is a plenteous provision: " T will make a feast for all people."

II. That it is a source of light and salvation; " 1 will destroy the veil. I will abolish death, and bring life and immortality to light."

III. That it is a source of comfort and happiness: " I will wipe away all tears from off all faces."

As in the Arabic countries a covering was put over the face of him who was condemned to suffer death, it is probable that the words in ver. 7 may refer to this. The whole world was condemned to death, and about to be led out to execution, when the gracious Lord interposed, and, by a glorious sacrifice, procured a general pardon.

Verse 9. It shall be said — " Shall they say"] So the Sepluagint and Vulgate, in the plural number.

10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be ''trodden down under him, even as straw is ^ trodden down for the dunghill.

They read nasi veamern. the Syriac reads mnxi veamarta, thou shall say. They shall say, i. e., the Jews and the Gentiles — Lo, this [Jesus Christ] is our God: we have waited for him, according to the predictions of the prophets. We have expected him, and we have not been disappointed; therefore will we be glad, and rejoice in liis salvation.

Verse 10. Shall the hand of the Lord rest — "The hand of Jehovah shall give rest"] Heb. nun tenuach, quiescet. Aimon n'jn taniach, quietem dabit, shall rest; shall give rest, ut Grjeci, a\ja«aMiv StAdsi, et Copt. ] — Mr. Woide. That is, " shall give peace and quiet to Sion, by destroying the enemy;" as it follows.

As straw is trodden down — " As the straw is threshed"] Hoc juxta ritum loquitur Paleestinas et multarum Orientis provinciarum, quae ob pratoium et foeni penuriara paleas preparant esui animantium. Sunt autern carpenta ferrata rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus, quee stipulam conterunt; et comminuunt in paleas. Quomodo igitur plaustris ferratis palea; conteruntur, sic conteretur Moab sub eo; sive sub Dei potentia, sive in semetipso, ut nilul in eo integi-i remaneat. " This is spoken in reference to the mode of tlireshing in Palestine, and various other Asiatic provinces. Because of the scarcity of meadow land and hay, they make chopped straw for the cattle They have large wheels studded over with iron teeth or nails, by which, on the out-of-door threshing-floors, they pound and reduce the straw into chaff. As, therefore, the straw is reduced to chaff by bringing the iron-shod wheel over it; so shall Moab be bruised by the midst of them, as he \^^ «^i^ 3292. that swimmeth spreadeth forth Oiymp. xvii. i. his hands to swim: and he Nums Pompiiii, shall bi-ing dowii their pride ^ '^°'""" ■ *■ together with the spoils of their hands.

12 And the 'fortress of the high tort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

the power of God, that nothing whole shall remain." — Hieron. in loc. See the note on chap, xxviii. 27.

For the dunghill — " Under the wheels of the car."] For njoin?r,admenah, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read n:3310 mercabah, which I have followed. See Joshua xv. 31, compared with xix. 5, where there is a mistake very nearly the same. The keri, 'D3 bemi, is confirmed by twenty-eight MSS., seven ancient, and three editions.

Verse 11. As he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim — " As he that sinketh stretcheth out his hands to swim"] There is great obscurity in this place: some understand God as the agent; others, Moab. I have chosen the latter sense, as I cannot conceive that the stretching out of the hands of a swimmer in swimming can be any illustration of the action of God stretching out his hands over Moab to destroy it. I take nniyn hashshochch, altering the point on the 17 sin, on the authority of the Septuagint, to be the participle of nni!' shachah, the same with mis' shuach, and nniy shachach, to how dotvn, to be depressed; and that the prophet designed a paronomasia here, a figure which he frequently uses between the similar words nnty shachah, and AintJ' shechoth. As rnnn tachtaiv, in his place, or on the spot, as we say in the preceding verse, gives us an idea of the sudden and complete destruction of Moab; so 13"ip3 bekirho, in the midst of him, means that this destruction shall be open, and exposed to the view of all: the neighbouring nations shall plainly see him struggling against it, as a man in the midst of the deep waters exerts all his efforts by swimming, to save himself from drowniuiT — L

This chapter, like the foregoing, is a song of praise, in which thanksgivings for temporal and spiritual mercies are beautifully mingled, though the latter still predominate. Even the sublime mid evangelical doctrine of the resurrection seems here to be hinted at, and made to typify the deliverance of the people of God from a state of the lowest misery; the captivity, the general dispersion, or both. This hymn too, like the preceding, is beautifully diversified by the frequent change of speakers. It opens with a chorus of the Church celebrating the protection vouchsafed by Ood to his people; and the happiness of the righteous, whom he guards, contrasted ivith the misery of the wicked, whom he punishes, 1—7. To this succeeds their own pious resolution of obeying, trusting, and delighting in God, 8. Here the prophet breaks in, in his ovm person, eagerly catching the last words of the chorus, which loere perfectly in unison toith the feelings of his own soul, and which he beautifully repeats, as one musical instrument reverberates the sound of another on the same key with it. He makes liknvise a suitable response to what had been said on the judgments of God, and observes their different effects on the good and the bad; improving the one, and hardening the other, 9-1 1. After this, a chorus of Jews express their gratitude to God for past deliverances, make confesstoit U8 of their sins, and supplicate his power, which they had been long expecting, 12-18. To this God males a gracious reply, promising deliverance that should be as life from the dead, 19. And the prophet, {apparently alluding to the command of Moses to the Israelites, when the destroying angel was to go 'hrough the land of Egypt,) concludes with exhorting his people to patience and resignation, till God sends the deliverance he has promised, 20, 21.

TN ^ that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; '' salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

2 " Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation wliich keepeth the '' truth may enter in.

3 Thou wilt keep him ' in perfect peace, whose ' mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.

4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: e for in the Lord JEHOVAH is >> everlasting strength.

5 For he bringeth down them tliat dwell on high; ' the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

7 The way of the just is uprightness: ^ thou most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

8 Yea, • in the way of thy judgments, O

9 " With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 ° Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in ° the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.

1 1 Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, f they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy i at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

1 2 Lo6d, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works ■■ in us.

13 0 Lord our God, '■other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee

Verse 1. We have a strong city] In opposition to the cit)' of ihe enemy, which God hath destroyed, chap. XXV. 2. See the note there.

Salvation — for icalls and buhcarhs] Sni DDin chomolh vachel, ivalls and redoubts, or the walls and the ditch, bn chel properly signifies the ditch or trench without the wall; see Kimchi. The same rabbin says, This song refers to the time of salvation, i. e., the days of the Messiah.

Verse 2. The righteous nation] The converted Gentiles shall have the gates opened — a full entrance into all the glories and privileges of the Gospel; being fellow heirs with the converted Jews. The Jewish peculiarity is destroyed, for the middle wall of partition is broken down.

The truth] The Gospel itself^as the fulfilment of all the ancient types, shadows, and ceremonies; and therefore termed the trtilh, in opposition to all those ehadowy rites and ceremonies. " The law- was given by Moses; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ;" John i. 17, and see the note there.

Verse 3. In perfect peace] diSk' DlSiy shalom, shalom, " peace, peace," i. e., peace upon peace — all kinds of prosperity— \i3.Tp^mess in this world and in the world to come.

A'erse 4. In the Lord JEHOVAH—" In Jehov.4.h"] In J.4H Jehovah, Heb.; but see Houbigant, and the note on chap. xii. 2.

Everlasting strength] D'oSlJ' IIS Isur olamim, " the rock of ages;" or, according to Rab. Maimon, — the etemal Fountain, Source, or Spring. Does not this refer to the lasting streams from the rock in the desert ' And that rock was Christ, ge lian hopf b in the Uorb fto the cberl.iStingc toorlbisr. — Old MS. Bible.

Verse 8. Have tec waited for thee — " ^^ e have placed our confidence in thy name"] The Septiiaginl. Syriac, and Chaldee read inp kavinu, without the pronoun annexed.

Verse 9. Have I desired thee] Forty-one MSS. of Dr. Kcnnicntt^s and many of De Rossi's, (nine ancient.) and fve editions read yn'IS ivvithicha. It is proper to note this; because the second • yod being omitted in the text, the Vulgate and many others have rendered it in the third person.

Vnen thy judgments, &c.] It would be belter to read, Wlien thy judgments were in the earth, the inhabitants of the world have learned (n^S lamedu) righteousness. Men seldom seek God in prosperity i trusted in thee."] So the Chaldee, in03 hetacho. The I they are apt to rest in an earthly portion; but God in

shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

1 6 Lord, * in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a " prayer tohen thy chastening was upon them.

mercy embitters this by adversity; then there is a general cry after himself as our chief, solid, and only permanent good.

Verse 16. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee — ■' O Jehovah, in affliction we have sought thee"] So the Septuagint and two MSS. have "JUnpa pekadnucha, in the first person plural. And so perhaps it should be Upi' tsaknu, in the first person; but how the Septuagint read this word is not clear; and this last member of the verse is extremely obscure.

For raS lamo, " on them," the Septuagint read 137 lanu, " on us," in the first person likewise; a frequent mistake; see note on chap. x. 29.

Verse 18. We have — brought forth wind] The learned Professor Michaclis explains this image in the following manner: " Rariorem morbum describi, empneumatosin, aut ventosam molam, dictum; quo quae laborant din et sibi et peritis medicis gravidse videntur, tandemque post omnes verae graviditatis molestias et labores ventum ex ntero eraittunt: quem morbum passim describunt medici." Syntagma Comment., vol. ii., p. 165. " The empneumatosis, or windy inflation of the womb, is a disorder to which females are liable. Some have had this in such wise, for a long time together, that they have appeared to themselves, and even to very skilful medical men, to be pregnant; and after having endured much pain, and even the throes of apparent childbearing, they have been eased and restored to health by the emission of a great quantity of wind from the uterus. This disorder is well known to medical men." The Si/riac translator seems to have understood it in this manner: Enixi sumus, ut ilia; qua; ventos pariunt. " We have brought forth as they who bring forth wind."

Verse 19. My dead body — "My deceased"] All the ancient Versions render it in the plural; they read "niS^J niblothai, my dead bodies. The Syriac and CJialdee read Dri'niSDJ niblotheyhem, their dead bodies. No MS. yet found confirms this reading.

is in pain, and crieth out in her oiymp. xvii. i

1 8 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have " the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 ^ Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. ^ Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and tlie earth shall cast out the dead.

cis, according to the Vulgate; so also the Syriac and Chaldee.

The deliverance of the people of God from a state of the lowest depression is explained by images plainly taken from the resurrection of the dead. In the same manner the Prophet Ezekiel represents the restoration of the Jewish nation from a state of utter dissolution by the restoring of the dry bones to life, exhibited to him in a vision, chap, xxxvii., which is directly thus applied and explained, ver. 11-13. And this deliverance is expressed with a manifest opposition to what is here said above, ver. 14, of the great lords and tyrants, under whom they had groaned: —

" They are dead, they shall not live; They are deceased tyrants, they shall not rise:" that they should be destroyed utterly, and should never be restored to their former power and glory. It appears from hence, that the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was at that time a popular and common doctrine; for an image which is assumed in order to express or represent any thing in the way of allegory or metaphor, whether poetical or prophetical, must be an image commonly known and understood; otherwise it will not answer the purpose for which it is assumed.— L.

Kimchi refers these words to the days of the Messiah, and says, " Then many of the saints shall rise from the dead." And quotes Dan. xii. 2. Do not these words speak of the resurrection of our blessed Lord; and of that resurrection of the bodies of wen, which shall be the consequence of his body being raised from the dead 1

Thy dead men shall live, — with my dead body shall they arise.] This seems very express.

Verse 20. Come, my people, enter thnu into thy chambers] An exhortation to patience and resignation under oppression, with a confident expectation of deliverance by the power of God manifestly to be exerted in the destruction of the oppressor. It seems to be an allusion to the command of Moses to the Israelites, when the destroying angel was to go through the

A. M. cir. 3292. chambers, and shut thy doors Oiymp.'xvil. i. about thee: hide thyself as it Nam.Pom"iii, were "for a httle moment, until

21 For, behold, the Lord '' cometh out of

land of Egypt, " not to go out at the door of their houses until the morning;" Exod. xii. 22. And before the passage of the Red Sea: " Fear ye not,^ stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah. Jehovah shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace," Exod. xiv. 13, 14.

ants of the earth for their iniquity: Oiymp. xvii. i.

the earth also shall disclose her Numa; Pompilii,

Crimes of cruelty and oppression, which have passed away from the eyes of men, God will bring into judgment, and exact punishment for them. O what a reckoning will the kingdoms of the earth have with God, for the torrents of blood which they have shed for the gratification of the lust of power and ambition '. Who shall live when he doeth this 1

Destruction of the enemies of the Church, 1. God's care of his vineyard, 2-11. scendants of Abraham in the latter days, 12, 13.

A. M. cir. 3292. T]>j that dav the Lord with his

Oiymp. xvu. 1. sore and great and strong N^'^ Po"n';;;iUi, sword shall punish leviathan the R. Roman., 4. a piercing Serpent, '' even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall ^g "^c en-'. 7i?' Slav "= the dragon that is in the sea. oiymp. xvii i.

= A vineyayd oi red wine.

The subject of this chapter seems to be the nature, the measure, and the design of God's dealings with his people. 1. His judgments inflicted on their great and powerful enemies, ver. 1. 2. His constant care and protection of his favourite vineyard, in the form of a dialogue, ver. 2. 3. The moderation and lenity with which the severity of his judgments have been tempered, ver. 7. 4. The end and design of them, to recover them from idolatry, ver. 9. And, 5. The recalling of them, on their repentance, from their several dispersions, ver. 12. The first verse seems connected with the two last verses of the preceding chapter. — L.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXVII. Verse 1. Leviathan] The animals here mentioned seem to be the crocodile, rigid by the stiffness of the backbone, so that he cannot readily turn himself when he pursues his prey; hence the easiest way of escaping from him is by making frequent and short turnings: the serpent or dragon, flexible and winding, which coils himself up in a circular form: and the sea-monster, or whale. These are used aUegoricaUy, without doubt for great potentates, enemies and persecutors of the people of God: but to specify the particular persons or states designed by the prophet under these images, is a matter of great difliculty, and comes not necessarily within the design of these notes. R. D. Kimchi says, leviathan is a parable concerning the kings of the Gentiles: it is the largest fi.sh in the sea, called also pjn tannin, the dragon, or rather the whale. By these names the Grecian, Turkish, and Roman empires are intended. The dragon of the sea seems to mean some nation having a strong naval force and extensive commerce. See Kimchi on the place.

Verse 2. Sing ye unto her] rh ^:ii ami lah. Bishop Lowth translates this. Sing ye a responsive song; and says that nv «««''' to answer, signifies occasionally to sing responsively; and that this mode of singing was frequently practised among the ancient Hebrews. See De Pbes. Sac. Heb. Pra;l. xix., at the beginning.

This, indeed, was the ancient method of singing in various nations. The song was divided into distinct portions, and the singers sang alternately. There is a fine specimen of this in the song of Deborah and Barak; and also in the Idyls of Theocritus, and the Eclogues of Virgil.

This kind of singing was properly a dialogue in verse, sung to a particular tune, or in the mode which is now termed recitativo. 1 have seen it often practised on funeral occasions among the descendants of the aboriginal Irish. The poems of Ossian are of this kind.

I will water her every moment; I will take care of her by night; And by day I will keep guard over her.

oiymp. XVII. 1. will water it every moment: lest Numaj^PompiUi, any hurt it, I will keep it night "■ R°'"""- *■ and day.

4 Fury is not in me: who would set ^ the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would '^ go through them, I would biu-n them together.

5 Or let him take hold ' of my strength, that he may ^ make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.

6 He shall cause them that come ^- M- cir. 3292.

of Jacob Uo take root: Israel Oiymp. xvii. i. shall blossom and bud, and fill Numaj Pompiiii the face of the world with fruit. ^'^°"""'^-

7 Hath he smitten him, ° as he smote those that smote him? or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him?

8 "In measiure, "when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: p he i stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.

9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of

6. Jehovah. They that come from the root of Jacob shall flourish, Israel shall bud forth; And they shall fill the face of the world with fruit.

A vineyard of red wine] The redder the wine, the more it was valued, says Kimchi.

Bishop Lowth translates, To the beloved vineyard. For ^0^ chemer, red, a multitude of MSS. and editions have ^D^ chemed, desirable. This is supported by the Septuagint and Chaldee.

Verse 3. Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day — " I wiU take care of her by night; and by day I will keep guard over her"] For np£)' JS pen yiphkod, lest any visit it, the Syriac read np3Xl veephhod, and I will visit it. Twenty MSS. of Kennicotfs, fourteen of De Rossi's, and two of my own, and six editions read nSN ephkod, I will visit, in the first person.

Verse 4. Fury is not in me — " I have no wall"] For non chemah, anger, the Septuagint and Syriac read noin chomah, wall. An ancient MS. has nOTI cheiinah. For n3 bah, in her, two MSS. read 03 bam, in them, plural. The vineyard wishes for a wall and a fence of thorns — human strength and protection, (as the Jews were too apt to apply to their powerful neighbours for assistance, and to trust to the shadow of Egypt:) Jehovah replies, that this would not avail her, nor defend her against his wrath. He counsels her, therefore, to betake herself to his protection. On which she entreats him to make peace with her.

From the above note it appears that the bishop reads noin chomah, wall, for non chemah, anger or fury, in accordance with the Syriac and Septuagint. The letter l vau makes the only diSerence, which letter is frequently absent from many words where its place is supplied by the point. cholem: it might have been so here formerly; and in process of time both vau and cholem might have been lost. The Syriac supports the learned bishop's criticism, as the word 1;ao shora is there used; which word in the plural is found, Heb. xi. 30: "By faith the walls of Jericho." The bishop thinks the Septuagint is on his side; to me, it seems neither for nor against the criticism. The words in the Vatican copy are eyoo ■roXij; oj^u^a, I am a fortified city; which the Arabic follows: but

The word noin chomah, ivall, is not found in any M.S. in the collections of Kennicott and De Rossi, nor in any of my own M.SS.

However, one of Dr. KennicolVs MSS. has nrj'n cheimah; but probably that which now appears to be a " yod was formerly a 1 vau, and now partially obliterated.

This song receives much light from being collated with that in chap. v.; and perhaps the bishop's criticism will find its best support from such a collation. In ver. 5 of that chapter, God threatens to take away the wall of his vineyard: this was done; and here the vineyard complains, I have no wall, and wishes for any kind of defence rather than be thus naked. This is the only natural support of the above criticism.

" About Tripoli there are abundance of vineyards and gardens, inclosed, for the most part, with hedges, which chiefly consist of the rhamnus, paliurus, oxyacantha," &c. Rawolf, p. 21, 22. A fence of thorns is esteemed equal to a wall for strength, being commonly represented as impenetrable. See Mic. vii. 4; Hos. ii. 6.

Who would set the briers and thorns against me — " 0 that I had a fence of the thorn and brier"] Sevejii MSS., (two ancient,) and one edition, with the Syriac, Vulgate, and Aquda, read r.'iyi veshayith, with the conjunction 1 vau prefixed: Who would set the briers and thorns. jTB' TDty "JJiT 'O mi yitleneni shamir shayilh. Who shall give me the brier and thorn, i.e., for a defence: but hear Kimchi: " Who (the vineyard) hath given me (Jehovah) the brier and the thorn instead of good grapes."

Verse 5. Or — " Ah"] For IN o I read "IN oi, as it was at first in a M.S. The ' yod was easily lost, being followed by arjotner • yod.

Verse 6. To take root — " From the root"] For lyitJ'' yashresh, I read, with the Syriac, U^liyo mishshoresh. And for mill ("i" yatsits uparach, ni3 l!f'S' yatsitsu parach, joining the 1 vau to the first word, and taking that into construction with the first part of the sentence, Israel shall bud forth. I suppose the dialogue to be continued in this verse, which pursues the same image of the allegory, but in the way of metaphor.

Verse 9. The groves — " And if the groves''] K*?! velo. Four MSS., tico ancient, of Kennicolt's-. and one

are beaten in sunder, the gi-oves and 'images shall not stand up.

10 Ycl the defenced city shall be desolate, and the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: ^ there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches tliereof.

11 When tlie boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for ' it is a people of no

1 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, thr-^ the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Eg}^pt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, 0 ye children of Israel.

13" And it shall come to pass in that day, " that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of AssjTria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Verse 11. The houghs thereof — "Her boughs"] n'TXp ket.tircyha, M.S. and Vulg.; that is, the boughs of the lincyard, referring still to the subject of the dialogue above.

The scarcity of fuel, especially wood, in most parts of the east is so great, that they supply it with every thing capable of burning; cow-dung dried, roots, parings of fruit, withered stalks of herbs and flowers; gee Matt. vi. 2 1-30. Vine-twigs are particularly mentioned as used for fuel in dressing their food, by D'Arvieus; La Rogue, Palestine, p. 198. Ezeldel says, in his parable of the vine, used figuratively for the people of God, as the vineyard is here: " Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work 1 or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel theieon 1 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel;" chap. xv. 3, 4. " If a man abide not in me," saith our Lord, " he is east forth as a branch of the vine and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned;" John xv. 6. They employed women and prophet says that the vines themselves of the beloved vineyard shall be blasted, withered, and broken, and the women shall come and gather them up, and carry away the whole of them to make their fires for domestic uses. See Harmers Observations, vol. i., p. 251, &c.

Verse 12. The channel of the riccr] The river Sabbation, beyopd which the Israelites were carried captive.— Kimchi.

Verse 13. The great trumpet shall be bloicn] Does not this refer to the time spoken of by our Lord, Matt, xsiv. 31: i?e shall send forth his angels — the preachers of his Gospel, with a great sound of a trumpet — the earnest invitation to be saved by Jesus Christ; ayid shall gather his elect — the Jews, his ancient chosen people, /rom the four winds — from all parts of the habitable globe in which they have been dispersed.

In this prophet there are several predictions relative to the conversion of Egj-pt to the true faith, wr.ich have not yet been fulfilled, and which 7nust be fulfdled, for the truth of God cannot fail. Should Egypt ever succeed in casting off the Ottoman yoke, and fully establish its independence, it is most likely that the Gospel of Christ would have a speedy entrance into it; and, according to these prophecies, a wide and perma- children to gather these things, and they laid them up | nent diffusion. At present the Mohammedan power in store for use. The dressing and pruning their vines i is a genuine antichrist. This also the Lord will reafForded a good supply of the last sort of fuel; but the i move in due time.

This chapter begins with a denunciation nf the approaching ruin of the Israelites by Slialmaneser, whose pmver is compared to a tempest or food, and his keenne.is to the avidity with which one plucks and steallows the grape that is soonest ripe, 1-4. It then turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, u'ho were to continue a kingdom after the final captii-ily of their brethren; and gives first a favourahlc prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah, 5,6: but soon changes to reproofs and threntenings for their intemperance and their profaneness, 7, 8. They are introduced as not only scornfully rejecting, but alsn mocking and ridiculing, the instructions of the prophet, 9, 10. To this God immediately retorts in terms alluding to their own mocking, but differently applied, 11-13. The prophet then addresses the.ie scoffers, 14; who considered ttiemselces as perfectly secure from every evil, 15; and assures them that there was no method under heaven but one, by which they could be saved, 16; that every other vain resource should fail in the day of visttntum, 17, 18. He then farther adds, that the judgments of God loere particularly levelled against them; and that all the means to which they trusted for warding them off should he to no purpose, 19, 20; as the Almighty, who, on account of his patience and long-suffering, is amiably described as unacquainted with punishing, had nevertheless determined to punish them, 21, 22. The prophet then concludes with a beautiful parable in explanation and defence of God's dealing with his people,

Romuli, whose '■ glorious beauty is a fad- R. Roman., 29. j^^g flg^rer, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are ■= overcome with wine!

2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, '' which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

Verse 1. Wo to the crown of pride] By the crown of pride, &c., Samaria is primarily understood. " Sebaste, the ancient Samaria, is situated on a long mount of an oval figure, having first a fruitful valley, and then a ring of hills running round about it;" Maundrell, p. 58. " E regione horum ruderum mons est peramcenus, planitie admodum frugifera circumseptus, super quem olim Samaria urbs condita fuit;" Fureri Ilinerarium, p. 93. The city, beautifully situated on the top of a round hill, and surrounded immediately with a rich valley and a circle of other hills beyond it, suggested the idea of a chaplet or wreath of flowers worn upon their heads on occasions of festivity, expressed by the proud croicn and the fading flower of the drunkards. That this custom of wearing chaplets in their banquets prevailed among the Jews, as well as among the Greeks and Romans, appears from the following passage of the book of Wisdom: —

" Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments. And let no flower of the spring pass by us: Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before they are withered." Wisd. ii. 7, 8.

Verse 2. Behold the Lord hath a mighty and strong one — " Behold the mighty one, the exceedingly strong one"] "JIN) I'DX ammtts ladonai, fortis Domino, i. e., fortis.iimus, a Hebraism. For 'nx"? ladonai, to the Lord, thirty-eight MSS- of Dr. Kennicott's and many of De Ro.isi's, with some of my own, and two editions, read nin'7 laihovah, to Jehovah.

Verse 3. The crown of pride, the drunhnrds of Ephraim — " The proud crowns of the drunkards of Ephraim"] I read nna;' ataroth, crowns, plural, to agree with the verb n:DDin teramasnah, "shall be trodden down."

Ver.sfi 4. The hasty fruit before the summer — " The early fruit before the summer"] " No sooner doth the boccore, (the early fig,) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of.Tune, than the kermez or summer fig begins to be lormed, though it rarely ripens before August; about which time the same tree fre-

4 And ethe glorious beauty, R- R°°"^"-. 29- which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he ''eatethitup.

5 In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

quently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez, hanging and ripening upon the tree even after the leaves are shed; and, provided the winter proves mild and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring;" Shaw, Travels, p. 370, fol. The image was very obvious to the inhabitants of Judea and the neighbouring countries, and is frequently applied by the prophets to express a desirable object; by none more elegantly than by Hosea, chap. ix. 10: — " Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel; Like the first ripe fig in her prime, I saw your fathers."

Which when he that looketh upon it seeth — " Which whoso seeth, he plucketh it immediately"] For nxT yireh, which with nsin haroeh makes a miserable tautology, read, by a transposition of a letter, mN' yoreh; a happy conjecture of Houbigant. The image expresses in the strongest manner the great ease with which the Assyrians shall take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they shall seize the rich prey without resistance.

Verse 5. In that day] Thus far the prophecy relates to the Israelites, and manifestly denounces their approaching destruction by Shalmaneser. Here it turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the remnant of God's people who were to continue a kingdom after the final captivity of the Israelites. It begins with a favourable prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah; but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings for their intemperance, disobedience, and profaneness.

Jonathan's Targum on this verse is worthy of notice: " In that time Messiah, the Lord of hosts, niN2i' "T Nri'iyo meshicha dayai tsebaoth, sliall be a crown of joy and a diadem of praise to the residue oi his people." Kimchi says the rabbins in general are of this opinion. Here then the rabbins, and their most celebrated Targum, give the incommunicable name, niN3i* nin' Yehovah tsebaoth, the Lord of hosts, to out ever blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

oiymp. XIII. 4. to him that sitteth iii judgment, RomuU, and for strength to them that

7 But they also ' have eired through wine, and tlirough strong drink are out of the way; •^ the priest and the prophet have erred through strong di-ink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way tlu-ough strong drink; they err in vision, they stvunble in judgment.

8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthi-

Verse 6. The battle to the gate — " The war to the gate of the enemi/."] That is, who pursue the fleeing enemy even to the very gates of their owii city. " But we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate," 2 Sam. xi. 23; that is, we drove the enemy back to their own gates. See also 1 Sam. xvii. 52. The Targum says, Tlie Messiah shall give the victory to those who go out to battle, that he may bring them back to their own houses in peace.

Verse 9. Whom shall he leach hnowledge? — "Whom, say they, would he teach knowledge 1"] The scoffers

mentioned below, ver. 14, are here introduced as uttering their sententious speeches; they treat God's method of dealing with them, and warning them by his prophets, with contempt and derision. What, say they, doth he treat us as mere infants just weaned? doth he teach us like little children, perpetually inculcating the same elementary lessons, the mere rudiments of knowledge; piecept after precept, line after hue, here and there, by little and little 1 imitating at the same time, and ridiciUing, in ver. 10, the concise prophetical manner. God, by his prophet, retorts upon them with great severity their own contemptuous mockery, turning it to a sense quite different from what they intended. Yes, saith he, it shall be in fact as you say; ye shall be taught by a strange tongue and a stammering lip; in a strange country; ye shall be carried into captivity by a people whose language shall be unintelligible to you, and which ye shall be forc^ed to learn like children. And my dealing with you shall be according to your own words: it shall be command upon command for your punishment; it shall be line upon line, stretched over you to mark your destruction, (compare 2 Kings xxi. 13;) it shall come upon you at different times, and by different degrees, till the judgments, with which from time to time I have threatened you, shall have their full accomplishment.

Jerome seems to have rightly understood the general design of this passage as expressing the manner in which the scoffers, by their sententious speeches, turned into ridicule the warnings of God by his prophets, tho\igh lie has not so weU explained the meaning of the repetition of their speech in ver. 13. His words are on ver. 9 — " Solebant hoc ex persona prophetarnm ludentes dicere:" and on ver. 14 — "Quod supra diximus, cum irrisione solitos principes Judseorura prophetis dicere, manda. remanda, et castera his

from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

1 0 For precept " must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11 For with "stammering ^hps and another tongue 1 will he speak to this people.

similia, per qua; ostenditur, nequaquam eos prophetarum credidisse sermonibus, sed prophetiam habuisse despectui, praesens ostendit capitulum, per quod appellantur viri illusores." Hieron. m loc.

And so Jarclii interprets the word D"'7l!'D mishelim in the next verse: " Qui dicunt verba irrisionis parabolice." And the Chaldee paraphrases ver. 1 1 to the same purpose, understanding it as spoken, not of God, but of the people deriding his prophets: " Quoniara in mutatione loquelae et in lingua subsannationis irridebant contra prophetas, qui prophetabant populo huic." — L. '

Verse 10. For precept must he upon precept] The original is remarkably abrupt and sententious. The hemistichs are these: —

IxS IV ISS IS "3 latsav tsav latsav tsav kt ipS ip Ip'? ip lakav kav lakav kcm Oa? Ti'T UV3 IT' sham zeeir sham zeeir For, — Command to command, command to command. Line to line, line to line. A little there, a little there.

Kimchi says IS tsav, precept, is used here for niSD mitsvah, command, and is used in no other place for it but here. IS tsav signifies a little precept, such as is suited to the capacity of a child; see ver. 9. Ip kav signifies the line that a mason stretches out to build a layer of stones by. After one layer or com-se is placed, he raises the line and builds another; thus the building is by degrees regularly completed. This is the method of teaching children, giving them such information as their narrow capacities can receive; and thus the prophet dealt with the Israelites. See Kimchi in loc, and see a fine parallel passage, Heb. v. 12—14, by which this may be well illustrated. My old MS. Bible translates oddly: — 5pot 3'cnt)c cftct jSenbc, ^enbe cfter s'cnbc: 3tbiitic cftct abiibc, abiitic cftct ahiitic: Hitpl tl)ct, Iiitnl tijcr.

12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the

1 3 But the word of the Lord was unto them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14 Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornfal men, that rule this people which IS in Jerusalem.

1 5 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it sliall not come imto us: ' for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God,

Here a litle, there a litle. Verse 12. This is the rest — " This is the true rest"] The sense of this verse is: God had warned them by liis prophets that their safety and security, their deliverance from their present calamities and from the apprehensions of stUl greater apprnaching, depended wholly on their trust in God, their faith and obedience; but they rejected this gracious warning with contempt and mockery.

Verse 15. A covenant with death] To be in covenant with, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil and mischief of any sort: —

" For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee." Job v. 23.

"And I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, And with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground." Hos. ii. 18.

That is, none of these shall hurt them. But Lucan, speaking of the Psylli, whose peculiar property it was to be unhurt by the bite of serpents, with which their country abounded, comes still nearer to the e.xpression of Isaiah in this place: —

Gens unica terras Incolit a ssevo serpentum innoxia morsu

Pax illis cum morte data est.

Pharsal. is. 891. " Of all who.scorching ^Vfric's sun endure. None like the swarthy Psyllians are secure;

precious corner stone, a sure Romuii, foundation: he that beheveth R- R°°"'"- ^9. shall not make haste.

17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away ' the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

18 And your covenant with death sliall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be " trodden down by it.

1 9 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only ' to understand the report.

20 For the bed is shorter than that a Tuan can stretch himself on it: and the covering

■Ver. 15. "Heb. a treading doum to it. ^'Or, when he shall make you to understand doctrine.

With healing gifts and privileges graced. Well in the land of serpents were they placed: Truce with the dreadful tyrant death they have, And border safely on his realm the grave."

We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement^ Din U'iJ'y asinu chozeh, we have made a vision, we have had an interview, struck a bargain, and settled aU preliminaries. So they had made a covenant with hell by diabolic sacrifice, n'13 1Jni3 carathnu berith, " We have out the covenant sacrifice;"' they divided it for the contracting parties to pass between the separated victim; for the victim was split exactly down the middle, so that even the spinal marrorc ivas exactly divided through its whole length; and being set opposite to each other, the contracting parties entered, one at the head part, the other at the feet; and, meeting in the centre, took the covenant oatli. Thus, it is intimated, these bad people made an agreement with '^INiy sheol, with demons, with whom they had an interview; i. e., meeting them in the covenant sacrifice! To such a pitch had the Israelitish idolatrv reached at that time!

A''erse 16. Behold, I lay in Zion] See the notes on the parallel places in the margin. Kimchi understands this of Hezeliiah; but it most undoubtedly belongs to Jesus Christ alone; and his application of it to himself even the Jews could not contest. See the margin as above.

A'erse 18. Your covenant loith death shall be disannulled— "Your covenant with death shall be broken"] For li33 caphar, which seems not to belong to this place, the Chaldee reads iDn taphar, which is approved by Honhigant and Seeker. See Jer. xxxiii. 21, where the very same phrase is used. See Prelim. Dissert, p. I. Verse 20. For the led is shorter] A mashal or

R. Roman.'. 29. ^^ -^ Mount ^ Pcraziui, he sliall be wroth as in the valley of ^ Gibeon, that he may do his work, ^ his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

23 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest yovu: bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts ^ a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

24 Doth the ploughman plough all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and

Dan. ix. 27. ^Or, the wheal in the principal place, and barley proverbial saying, the meaning of which is, that they will find all means of defence and protection insufficient to secure them, and cover them from the evils coming upon them. "[00 massek, chap. xxii. 8, the covering, is used for the outworks of defence, the barrier of the country; and here, in the allegorical sense, it means much the same thing. Their beds were only mattresses laid on the floor; and the coverlet a sheet, or in the winter a carpet, laid over it, in which the person wrapped liimself For DJDnnD kehithcannes, it ought probably to be DJDnno mehithcannes. Houbigant, Seeker.

Verse 21. As in Mount Pcrazbn] inD kehar; but "in3 bahar, iN the mount, is the reading of two of KennicotCi, one of De Rossi's, and one of my own MSS.

Verse 22. The Lord God\ nin' "JIN Adonai Yehovah. Adonai is omitted by four of Kennicotfs MSS., and in the Sepluagint, Si/riac, and Arabic.

Verse 23. Give ye ear, and hear my voice — " Listen ye, and hear ray voice"] The foregoing discourse, consisting of severe reproofs, and threatenings of dreadful judgments impending on the Jews for their vices, and their profane contempt of God's warnings by his messengers, the prophet concludes with an explanation and defence of God's method of dealing with his people in an elegant parable or allegory; in which he employs a variety of images, all taken from the science of agriculture. As the husbandman uses various methods in preparing his land, and adapting it to the several kinds of seeds to be sown, with a due observation of times and seasons: and when he hath gathered in his harvest, employs methods as various in separating the corn from the straw and the chaff by different instruments, according to the nature of the different sorts of grain; so God, with unerring wisdom, and with strict justice, instructs, admonishes, and corrects his people; chastises and punishes them in various ways, as the exigence of the case requires: now more moderately, now

26 '^ For " his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

27 For the fitches are not threshed with a tlireshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it tvith his horse-

29 This also cometh forth firom the Lord of hosts, f lohich is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

more severely; always tempering justice with mercy; in order to reclaim the wicked, to improve the good, and, finally,/ to separate the one from the other.

Verse 26. For his God doth instruct hini] All nations have agreed in attributing agriculture, the most useful and the most necessary of all sciences, to the invention and to the suggestions of their deities. " The Most High hath ordained husbandry," saith the son of Sirach, Ecclus. vii. 15.

Namque Ceres fertur fruges, Liberque liquoris Vitigeni laticem mortalibus instituisse.

" Ceres has taught mortals how to produce fruits; and Bacchus has taught them how to cultivate the vine."

" He, Jupiter, to the human race Indulgent, prompts to necessary toil Man provident of life; with kindly signs The seasons marks, when best to turn the glebe With spade and plough, to nurse the tender plant. And cast o'er fostering earth the seeds abroad."

Verses 27, 28. Four methods of threshing are here mentioned, by different instruments; the Jlail, the drag, the ipain, and the treading of the cattle. The sinff or flail was used for the infirmiora semina, says Jerome, the grain that was too tender to be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of strong planks, made rough at the bottom, with hard stones or iron; it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn sheaves spread on the floor, the driver sitting upon it. Kemp- fer has given a print representing the manner of using this instrument, Amcen. Exot. p. 682. fig. 3. The wain was much like the former; but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges like a smo: Ferrata carpenta rotis per medium in serranmi modum se volventibus. Hieron. in loc. From this it would seem that the axle was armed with iron teeth or serrated wheels throughout. See a description and print of such a machine used at present in Egypt for the same purpose in Niebuhr's Voyage en Arable, Tab. xvii. p. 123; it moves upon three rollers armed with iron teeth or wheels to cut the straw. In Syria they make use of the drag, constructed in the very same manner as above described; jSichuhr, Description do I'Arabie, p. 140. This not only forced out the grain, but cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle; for in the eastern countries they have no hay. See Harmer^s Observ. I. p. 425. The last method is well known from the law of Moses, which " forbids the ox to be muzzled, when he treadeth out the corn;" Dent. xxv. 4.

Verse 28. The lread-coxn\ I read DP 71 velahem, on the authority of the Vulgate and Symmachus; the former expresses the conjunction 1 van, omitted in the text, by autem; the latter by Se.

Bruise it with his horsemen — " Bruise it with the hoofs of his cattle."] For vwm parashaiv, horsemen or teeth, read VD13 perasaiv, hoofs. So the Syriac, Sym-?nachus, Theodotion, and the Vulgate. The first is read with ty shin, the latter with D samech, the pronunciation is nearly the same.

Distress oj Ariel, or Jerusalem, on Sennacherib'' s invasion, with manifest allusion, however, to the still greater distress which it.differed from the Romans, 1-4. Disappointment and fall of Sennacherib described in terms. Hie the event, the most auful and terrible, 5-8. Stupidity and hypocrisy of the Jeivs, 9-16. Rejection of the Jews, and calling of the Gentiles, 17. The chapter concludes by a recurrence to the favourite topics of the prophet, viz., the great extension of the Messiah's kingdom in the latter days, and the future restoration of Israel, 18—24.

there shall be heaviness and sor- Olymp. xvii. i. row: and it shall be unto me as Numa; Pompiiii, Ariel. "■ R"'"""- ■'■

The subject of this and the four following chapters IS the invasion of Sennacherib; the great distress of the Jews while it continued; their sudden and unexpected deliverance by God's immediate interposition in their favour; the subsequent prosperous state of the kingdom under Hezekiah; interspersed with severe reproofs, and threats of punishment, for their hypocrisy, stupidity, infidelity, their want of trust in God, and their vain reliance on the assistance of Egypt; and with promises of better times, both immediately to succeed, and to be expected in the futiure age. The whole making, not one continued discourse, but rather a collection of different discourses upon the same subject; which is treated with great elegance and variety. Though the matter is various, and the transitions sudden, yet the prophet seldom goes far from his subject. It is properly enough divided by the chapters in the common translation.— L.

Verse 1. Ariel] That.lerusalem is here called by this name is very certain: but the reason of this name, and the meaning of it as applied to Jerusalem, is very obscure and doubtful. Some, with the Chaldee, suppose it to be taken from the hearth of the great altar of burnt-offerings, which Ezekiel plainly calls by the same name; and that Jerusalem is here considered as the seat of the fire of God, S« 11N ur el which should issue from thence to consume his enemies: compare chap. xxxi. 9. Some, according to the common derivation of the word, Sn "IX an el, the lion of God. or

the strong lion, suppose it to signify the strength of the place, by which it was enabled to resist and overcome all its enemies. Tivsj Ss tooLii Tviv i-oXiv odtus si^ijffter siTEi, 5ia 0£ou, XsovTof i5ixr]v siva^aTTl roug avraipoyrag. Procop. in loc. There are other explanations of this name given: but none that seems to be perfectly satisfactory.— Lowth.

From Ezekiel xliii. 15, we learn that Ari-el was the name of the altar of burnt-offerings, put here for the city itself in which that altar was. In the second verse it is said, I will distress Ari-el, and it shall be unto me as Ari-el. The first Ari-el here seems to mean Jerusalem, which should be distressed by the Assyrians: the second Ari-el seems to mean the altar of burntoffering.^. But why is it said, " Ari-el shall be unto me as Ari-el V As the altar of burnt-offerings was surrounded daily by the victims which were offered: so the walls of Jerusalem shall be surrounded by the dead bodies of those who had rebelled against the Lord, and who should be victims to his justice. The translation of Bishop Lowth appears to embrace both meanings: " I mil bring distress upon Ari-el; and it shall be to me as the hearth of the great altar."

Add ye year to year] Ironically. Go on year after year, keep your solemn feasts; yet know, that God will punish you for your hypocritical worship, consisting of mere form destitute of true piety. Probably delivered at the time of some great feast, when they were thus employed.

4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a famihar spirit, ^out of the ground, and thy speech shall « whisper out of the dust.

5 Moreover the multitude of thy ^ strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of

the terrible ones shall he 'as ^p'^I.- ''j''-?.-^2. chaff that passeth away: yea, oiymp. xvii.'i. it shall be ''at an instant sud- Numa; I'ompiiii,

6 ' Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

7 "" And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be ° as a dream of a night vision.

" There shall be continual mourning and sorrow"] Instead of your present joy and festivity.

And it shall be unto me as Ariel — " And it shall be unto me as the hearth of the great altar."] That is, it shall be the seat of the fire of God; which shall issue from thence to consume his enemies. See note on ver. 1. Or, perhaps, all on flame; as it was when taken by the Chaldeans; or covered with carcasses and blood, as when taken by the Romans: an intimation of which more distant events, though not immediate subjects of the prophecy, may perhaps be given in this obscure passage.

Verse 3. And I will camp against thee round about — " And I will encamp against thee like David"] For "in^ caddur, some kind of military engine, "inS keiacid, like David, is the reading of the Septuagint, two MvSS. of KennicotCs, if not two more; but though Bishop Lowth adopts tins reading, I think it harsh and unnecessary.

Forls — "Towers"] For mi"3 metsuToth,KiA iinXD mctsudoth: so the Septuagint and five MSS. of Dr. KennicotCs, one of them ancient, and four of De Rossi's.

Verse 4. And thy speech shall he low out of the dust — " And from out of the dust thou shalt utter a feeble speech"] That the souls of the dead uttered a feeble stridulous sound, very different from the natural human voice, was a popular notion among the heathens as well as among the Jews. This appears from several passages of their poets; Homer, "\'irgil, Horace. The pretenders to the art of necromancy, who were chiefly women, had an art of speaking with a feigned voice, so as to deceive those who applied to them, by making them believe that it was the voice of the ghost. They had a way of uttering sounds, as if they were formed, not by the organs of speech, but deep in the chest, or in the belly; and were thence called syyaC^pifjiu^oi, ventriloqui: they could make the voice seem to come from beneath the ground, from a distant part, in another direction, and not from themselves; the better to impose upon those who consulted them. E|Eirir7](5£j to vevos rouTo rov HfAu^pov y\y/jv simr,Scijovra,i, ha. Sm t»)v aga- (jjsiav rrjf >puvr;s Tov Tou -l^suSoug avoSiSpaixuittv sksyyot. Pscllus De Dsmonibus, apud Bochart, i. p. 731. " These people studiously acquire, and aflfect on purpose, this sort of obscure sound; that bv the uncertainty of the voice they may the better escape being detected in the cheat." From these arts of the necromancers the popular notion seems to have arisen, that the ghost's voice was a weak, stridulous, almost inarticulate sort of sound, very different from the speech of the living.

Verse 5. The multitude of thy strangers — " The multitude of the proud"] For yiT zarayich, thy strangers, read D'TI zedim, the proud, according to the Septuagint; parallel to and synonymous with D''i"'1J' aritsim, thi terrible, in the next line: the 1 resh was at first T daleth in a MS. See note on chap. xxv. 2. The fifth, sixth, and seventh verses contain an admirable description of the destruction of Sennacherib's army, with a beautiful variety of the most expressive and sublime images: perhaps more adapted to show the greatness, the suddenness, and horror of the event, than the means and manner by which it was effected. Compare chap. xxx. 30-33.

Verse 7. As a dream] This is the beginning of the comparison, which is pursued and applied in the next verse. Sennacherib and his mighty army are not compared to a dream because of their sudden disappearance; but the disappointment of their eager hopes is compared to what happens to a hungry and thirsty man, when he awakes from a dream in which fancy had presented to him meat and drink in abundance, and finds it nothing but a vain illusion. The comparison is elegant and beautiful in the highest degree, well wrought up, and perfectly suited to the end proposed. The image is extremely natural, but not obvious: it appeals to our inward feelings, not to our outward senses; and is applied to an event in its concomitant circumstances exactly similar, but in its nature totally different. See De S. Po'es. Hebr. Prselect. xii. For beauty and ingenuity it may fairly come in competition with one of the most elegant of ^^irgil, greatly improved from Homer, Iliad xxii. 199, where he has applied to a different purpose, but not so happily, the same image of the ineffectual working of imagination in a dream: —

Ac veluti in somnis, oculos ubi languida pressit Nocte quics, necquicquam avidos extcndcre cursus Velle videmur, et in mediis conatibus sgri Succidimus; non lingua valet, non corpore nota; SuiEciunt vires, nee vox, nee verba sequuntnr. JEn. xii. 909.

when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he Innkcth; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is aint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the

wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

1 0 For " the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleej), and hath ' closed your eyes: the prophets and your " rulers, ' the seers hath lie covered.

1 1 And the vision of all is become unto vou as the words of a ™ book ^ that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: ^ and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed.

1 2 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying. Read this, I pray

1,3 Wherefore the Lord said, Nnm-T-Pompiiii. ^ Forasmuch as this people draw ' """'"- *■ near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by " the precept of men:

14 "^ Tlierefore, behold, ■= I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: "^ for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent 7nen shall be hid

15^ Wo unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and ^ they say, « Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the ^ work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it. He had no under standing?

"And as, when slumber seals the closing sight,

The sick wild fancy labours in the night;

Some dreadful visionary foe we shun

With airy strides, but strive in vain to run;

In vain our baffled limbs their powers essay;

We faint, we struggle, sink, and fall away;

Drain'd of our strength, we neither fight nor fly,

And on the tongue the struggling accents die."

Lucretius expresses the very same image with Isaiah: —

TJt bibere in soranis sitiens quum quserit, et humor Xon datur, ardorem in membris qui stinguere possit; Sed laticum simulacra petit, frustraque laborat, In medioque sitit torrenti flumine potans. iv. 1091. As a thirsty man desires to drink in his sleep, And has no fluid to allay the heat within, But vainly labours to catch the image of rivers. And is parched up while fancying that he is drinkinoat a full stream.

Bishop Stock^s translation of the prophet's text is both elegant and just: —

All that fight against her and her munition — " And all their armies and their towers''] For nmVDl n':S tsoheyha umetsodathah, I read, with the Chaldee, DS2i' Dmj"Dl tsebaam umetsodatham.

Verse 9. Stay yourselves, and ii}onder'\ in^Jil^nn hithmahmehu, go on ichat-what-iohatting, in a state of mental indetermination, till the overflowing scourge take you away. See the note on Psa cxis. 60.

They are drunken, hut not icith wine] See note on chap. li. 21.

Verse 11. I cannot; for it is sealed — "I cannot read it; for it is sealed up."] An ancient MS. and the Septuagint have preserved a word here, lost out of the text; nnp'7 likroth, (for niNlpS,) avayvavai, read it.

Verse 13. The Lord — "Jehovah"] For 'jns Adonai, sixty-three MSS. of Kennicotfs, and many of De Rossi's, and four editions, read nin" Yehovah, and five MSS. add nin'.

Kimchi makes some just observations on this verse. The vision, meaning the Divine revelation of all the prophets, is a look or letter that is sealed — is not easily understood. This is delivered lo one that is learned — instructed in the law. Read this; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed; a full proof that he does not wish to know the contents, else he would apply to the prophet to get it explained..See Kimchi on the place.

18 And ''in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

1 9 ' The meek also " shall increase their joy in the Lord, and " the jjoor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and ° the scorner is consumed, and all that >" watch for iniquity are cut off:

21 That make a man an offender for a word,

And their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men — " And vain is their fear of me, teaching the commandments of men"] I read, for "r\!W vattehi, inni vethnhu, with the Septuagiat, Matt. xt. 9; Mark vLii. 7; and for rno'?0 melummedah, D''^0'70 melummedim, with the Chaldee.

Verse 17. And Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitfid field — "Ere Lebanon become like Carmel"] A maslial, or proverbial saying, expressing any great revolution of things; and, when respecting two subjects, an entire reciprocal change: explained here by some interpreters, I think with great probability, as having its principal view beyond the revolutions then near at hand, to the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles. The first were the vineyard of God, '?« D13 kerem El, (if the prophet, who loves an allusion to words of like sounds, may be supposed to have intended one here,) cultivated and watered by him in vain, to be given up, and to become a wUderness: compare chap. V. 1—7. The last had been hitherto barren; but were, by the grace of God, to be rendered fruitful. See Matt. xxi. 43; Rom. xi. 30, 31. Carmel stands here opposed to Lebanon, and therefore is to be taken as a proper name.

Verse 2 1. Him that repraveth in the gate — " Him that pleaded in the gate "] " They are heard by the treasurer, master of the horse, and other principal officers of the regency of Algiers, who sit constantly in the gate of the palace for that pitrpose:" that is, the proveth in the gate, and turn Oiymp. xvn. i aside the just ^for a thing of Numa!p"o"mpiiii

22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, ^ who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nei ther shall his face now wax pale.

23 But when he seeth his children, ' the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God

24 They ^ also that erred in spirit " shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

distribution of justice. — Shaio''s Travels, p. 315, fol. He adds in the note, " That we read of the elders in the gate. Deut. xxii. 15; xxv. 7; and, Isa. xxix. 21; Amos v. 10, of him that reproveth and rdmketh in the gale. The Ottoman court likewise seems to have been called the Porte, from the distribution of justice and the despatch of public business that is carried on in the gates of it."

Verse 22. Who redeemed Abraham^ As God redeemed Abraham from among idolaters and workers of iniquity, so wdl he redeem those who hear the words of the Book, and are humbled before him, ver. 18, 19.

Concerning the house of Jacob — " The God of the house of Jacob"] I read 7K El as a noun, not a preposition: the parallel line favours tliis sense; and there is no address to the house of Jacob to justify the other.

Neither.'shall his face now wax pale — " Kis face shall no more be covered with confusion."] " mn' yechoro, Chald. ut 6 fAjra/SaXs', Theod. Svrcaffrjo'sTai, Syr. Tliinj necaphrn, videlur legendum n3n' yechephcru: hie enim solum legitur verbum, lin chavar, nee in Unguis affinibus habet pudoris significationcm." — Secker. " Here alone is the verb "lin chavar read; nor has it in the cognate languages the signification of shame."

Yerse 23. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands — " For when his children shall see the work of my hands"] For iniNi; birotho I read niN13 birolh, with the Septuaginl and Syriac.

The Jews reproved for their reliance on Egypt, 1—7. Threatened for their obstinate adherence to this alliance, 8-17. Images the most elegant and lofty, by which the intense gloriousness of Messiah's reign at the period when all Israel shall be added to the Church is bcauiifnlbj set forth, 18—26. Dreadful fall of Sennacherib's army, an event most manifestly typical of the terrible and sudden overthrow of Antichrist; as, unless this typical reference be admitted, no possible connesnon can be imagined between the stupendous events which took place in Hezekiah's reign, and the very remote and inconceivably more glorious displays of Divine vengeance and mercy in the da'/s of the Messiah, 97-33.

take counsel, but not of me; and that shall not profit them. Numae Pompiiii.

pirit, *• that they may add sin to ' help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore

That walk to go down into Egypt, and is to sit still.

"• have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen I 8 Isow go, ''write it before them in a table, themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and! and note it in a book, that it may be for " the to trust in the shadow of Egj-pt! time to come for ever and ever:

3 ' Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh | 9 That p this is a rebeUious people, lying be your shame, and the trust in the shadow children, children that will not hear the law of of EffA'pt your confusion. i the Lord:

4 For his princes were at ^ Zoan, and his j 10 °- "VNTiich say to the seers. See not; and to ambassadors came to Hanes. the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things,

5 s The}' were aU ashamed of a people that > speak unto us smooth things, prophesj- deceitscould not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, j 11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out but a shame, and also a reproach., of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to

6 *" The burden of the beasts of the south: cease from before us.

into the land of trouble and anguish, from 12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of whence come the young and old Hon, ' the Israel, Because ye despise this word, and viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carr}"! trust in ^ oppression and perverseness, and their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, stay thereon:

NOTES ox CHAP. XXX. Verse 1. And that over icith a covering — ^"Who ratify covenants''] Heb. " \NTio pour out a libation."' 1 Sacrifice and libation were ceremonies constantly used, in apcient times by most nations in the ratifying of covenants: a libation therefore is used for a covenant, as in Greek the word tf^rovivi, for the same reason, ' stands for both. This seems to be the most easy explication of the Hebrew phrase, and it has the authority I of the Septuagint, s-zoirfiaz; Svi^r-iuig. \

Terse 4. Hanes] Sis MSS. of Kennkotfs, and '• perhaps six others, with four of De Rossrs, read COT chinnam, in rain, for r:n Hanes; and so also the Sep- \ tuagint, who read likewise lyj' yageu, laboured, for | 1>"j' yaggiu, arrived at. \

But a shame — '• But proved even a shame"] Four MSS. (three ancient) after -J ki, add cs im,unless,\^hick seems wanted to complete the phrase in its usual form. Verse 6. The burden] Niyo massa seems here to be taken in its proper sense: the load, not the oracle. The same subject is continued; and there seems to be no place here for a new title to a distinct prophecv.

Does not burden of the beasts of the South in this place relate to the presents sent by Hoshea kin? of Israel to the South — to Egypt, which lay south of Jndea, to engage the Egyptians to succour him against the king of Assvria!

land of distress and difficulty"] The same deserts are here spoken of which the Israelites passed through when they came out of Egirpt, which iloses describes, Deut. viii. 15, as "that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought; where there was no water." And which was designed to be a kind of barrier between them and Egypt, of which the Lord had said, " Te shall henceforth return no more that way," Dent. xvii. 16.

Shall not profit them] A MS. adds in the margin the word Td'? lamo, them, which seems to have been lost out of the test: it is authorized by the Septuagint and Vulgate.

Verse 7. Their strength is to sit still — " Rahab the Inactive.'^ The two last words, P2iy Cn hem shabeth, joined into one, make the participle pihel n2ur::;n hammeshabbeth. I find the learned Professor Doederlein, in his version of Isaiah, and note on this place, has given the same conjecture; which he speaks of as having been formerly published by him. A concur rence of different persons in the same conjecture adds to it a greater degree of probability.

Verse 8. For ever and ever — " For a testimony for ever"] -\yh leed. So the Synac, Chaldee, Vulgate, and Septuagint, in MSS. Pachom. and i. D. n. sis fjtaPrupiov, which two words have been lost out of the other copies of the Septuagint.

Verse 12. In oppression — "In obliquity"] E?p;'3! beaiesh, transposing the two last letters of pB'"; be- \ oshek, in oppression, which seems not to belong to this ' place: a very probable conjecture of Houbigant.

14 And '' he shall break it as the breaking of ■" the potters' vessel that is broken in pie— ces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be foimd in the bursting of it a shred to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; 'In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: ^and ye would not.

16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and. We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.

17 ^One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee:

the top of a mountain, and as an Olymp. xvi. 4.

Averse 13. Swelling out in a high wall — " A swelling in a high wall "] It has been observed before, that the buildings of Asia generaUy consist of little better than what we call mud walls. " All the houses at Ispahan," says Thevenot, Vol. II., p. 159, "are built of bricks made of clay and straw, and dried in the sun; and covered with a plaster made of a fine white stone. In other place; in Persia the houses are built with nothing else but such bricks, made with tempered clay and chopped straw, well mingled together, and dried in the sun, and then used: but the least rain dissolves them." Sir John Chardin's MS. remark on this place of Isaiah is very apposite: Murs en Asie etant faits de terre se fendent ainsi par milieu et de haul en bas. " The walls in Asia being made of earth often cleave from top to bottom." This shows clearly how obvious and expressive the image is. The psalmist has in the same manner made use of it, to express sudden and utter destruction; —

" Ye shall be slain all of you;

Ye shall be like an inclining wall, like a shattered fence." Psa. Ixii. 4.

Verse 14. He shall not spare — "And spareth it not"] Five MSS. add the conjunction l vau to the negative; sSl velo.

Yeise 17. At the rebuke of Jive shall ye flee — " At the rebuke of five, ten thousand of you shall flee"] In the second line of this verse a word is manifestly omitted, which should answer to one thousand in the first: the Septuagint supply *oXXoi, D'3l rahhim. But the true word is D^^"* rehalah. as I am persuaded any one will be convinced, who will compare the following passages with this place: —

wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: *> blessed are all they that wait for him.

19 For the people " shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shall weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer

20 And though the Lord give you ^ the bread of adversity, and the water of " affliction, yet shall not thy ^ teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:

21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying. This is the way, walk ye in it,

" How should one chase a thousand; And two put ten thousand (^a::^) to flight V Deut. xxxii. 30. " And five of you shall chase a hundred; And a hundred of you shall chase (ri^Dl) ten thousand." Lev. xxvi. 8.

Yerse 18. And therefore icill he he exalted — " Even for this shall he expect in silence "] For Ql"' yarum, he shall he exalted, which belongs not to this place. Houbigant reads DlT yadtim, he shall be silent: and so it seems to be in a MS. Another JIS. instead of it reads Dlt?" yashub, he shall return. The mistakes occasioned by the similitude of the letters T dalelh and "I resh are very frequent, as the reader may have already observed.

Verse 19. For the people shall dwell in Zion — "When a holy people shall dwell in Sion"] Aaoj ayioj, Septuagint; K'np D" am kadosh. The word Bfnp kadosh, lost out of the text, but happily supplied by the Septuagint, clears up the sense, otherwise extremely obscure. WTien the rest of the cities of the land were taken by the king of Assyria, Zion was preserved, and all that were in it.

Thou shall iceep no more — " Thou shalt implore him with weeping"] The negative particle tvS lo is not acknowledged b)' the Septuagint. It may perhaps have been wTttten by mistake for iS lo, to him, of which there are many examples.

Verse 20. Though the Lord — "Though Jehovah"] For 'Jl.S Adonai, sixteen MSS. and three editions have nin" Yehovah; many of De Rossi's have tlie same reading; all my own have niri" Yehoiah.

A. M. cir. 32D1..^vhen ye? turn to the right hand, oivmp. XVI. 4. and when ye turn to the left. Xum.~iUi, 22 "Ye shall defile also the R. Roman., 3. covering of 'thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt '' cast them away as a meiistruous cloth; Uhou shalt say unto it. Get thee hence.

23 '" Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, lliat thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.

24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat " clean ° provender, which hath been winnowed witli the shovel and witli tlie fan.

25 And there shall be Pupon every high mountain, and upon every ihigh hill, rivers

token ye turn to the left — " Turn not aside, to the right or to the left."] The Si/riac, Chaldee, and Vulgate, translate as if, instead of '31 — •''3 ki — vechi, they read nSi — xS lo — velo.