Commentary on the Holy Bible

Verse 14. / will lay my vengeance upon Edom] God wiU not allow men to insult those whom he has cast down. His judgment is sufficient; to add more is an insult to God.

By the hand of my people Israel] This was fulfilled by the Maccabees, who not only defeated them and brought them under complete subjection, but obliged

anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God. TarquiniiPrisci,

15 Thus saith the Lord God; "Because '•the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it " for the old hatred;

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, ^ I will stretch out mine hand upon the Phihstines, and I will cut off the « Cherethims, '' and destroy the remnant of the s sea coasts.

17 And I will ''execute great 'vengeance upon them with furious '' rebukes; ' and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

Verse 15. Because the Philistines] They were as inimical to the Jews as the Ammonites, &c., were. Nebuchadnezzar punished them because they had assisted the Tyrians during the time he was besieging their city.

The remnant of the sea coasts.] The different seignories of the Plulistines inhabited the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, from Judea to Egypt. For other matters relative to these prophecies, see the passages in the margin.

This prophecy, beginning here and ending in the twentieth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter, is a declaration of the judg-menls of God against Tyre, a very famous commercial city of antiquity, which was taken hy Nebuchadnezzar after an arduous siege of thirteen years. The prophet begins with introducing Tyre insulting Jerusalem, and congratulating herself on the prospect of accession to her commerce now that this city was no more, 1, 2. Upon which God denounces utter destruction to Tyre, and the cities depending on her, 3—6. We have then a particular account of the person raised up in the course of the Divine providence to accomplish this wori. We see, as it were, his mighty hosts, {which are likened to the waves of the sea for their multitude,) raising the mounds, setting the engines, and shaking the walls; we hear the noise of the horsemen, and the sound of their cars; %oe see the clouds of smoke and dust; ice see the sword bathed in blood, and hear the groans of the dying. Tyre, (whose buildings were very splendid and magnificent, and whose walls were one hundred and Mty feet in height, with a proportionable breadth,) immediately disappears; her strong {and as she thought impregnable) towers are thrown down; and her very dust is buried in the sea. Nothing remains but the bare rock, 7—14. The scene is then varied. The isles and adjacent regions, by a very strong and beautiful figure, are represented to be shaken, as with a mighty earthquake by violent concussion occasioned by the fall of Tyre. The groans of the dying reach the cars of the people inhabiting these regions. Their princes, alarmed for themselves and grieved for Tyre, descend from their thrones, lay aside their robes, and clothe themselves with — sackcloth? — no, but with trembling! Arrayed in this asloni.^hing attire, the prophet introduces them as a chorus of mourners, lamenting Tyre in a funeral song or dirge, as customary on the death of renowned persmiages. And pursuing the same image still farther, in the person of God, he performs the last sad office for her. She is brought forth from her place in solemn pomp; the pit is dug for her; and she is buried, to rise no more, 15-21. Such is the prophecy concerning Tyre, comprehending both the city on the continent and that on the island, and most punctually fulfilled in regard to both. That on the continent was razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 572, and that on the island by Alexander the Great, B. C. 333. And at present, and for ages past, this ancient and renowned city, once the emporium of the uortd, and by her great naval superiority the centre of a powerful monarchy, is literally ivhat the prophet has repeatedly foretold it should be, and what in his time was, humanly speaking, so highly improbable — a bare rock, a place to spread nets on!

2 Son of man, ^ because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, •> Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:

3 Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.

4 And tiiey shall destroy the walls of Tjtus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and " make her like the top of a rock.

5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets, "^ in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.

Verse 1. The eleventh year] This was the year in which Jerusalem was taken; the eleventh of the captivity of Jeconiah, and the eleventh of the reign of Zedekiah. What month we are not told, though the day is mentioned. There have been many conjectures about this, which are not of suffcient consequence to be detailed.

Verse 2. Tyrus hath said] From this it would appear that Jerusalem had been taken, which was on the fourth month of this year; but it is possible that the prophet speaks of the event beforehand.

She is broken that was the gates of the people] Jerusalem, a general emporium.

/ shall be replenished] The merchandise that went to Jerusalem will come to me, (to Tyre.)

Verse 3. Will cause many nations to come up against thee] We have already seen that the empire of the Chaldeans was composed of many different provinces, and tliat Nebuchadnezzar's army was composed of soldiers from different nations: these may be the people meant; but I doubt whether tliis may not refer to the different nations which in successive ages fought against Tyre. It was at hist finally destroyed in the sixteenth cepiury of the Christian era.

6 And her daughters which are ^- ^a ^i^ • in the field shall be slain by the 01. xlViii.i. sword; "and they shall know TarquimiPrisci, that I am the Lord. R. Roman., 29.

7 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring ttpon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, ^ a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.

8 He shall slay witli the sword thy daughters in the field: and he sliall s make a fort against thee, and '' cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.

9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.

10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the cliariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, ' as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.

Verse 4. / ivill also scrape her dust from her] I will totally destroy her fortifications, and leave her nothing but a barren rock, as she was before. This cannot refer to the capture of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. It flourished long after his time.

Verse 5. A place for the spreading of tiets] A place for the habitation of some poor fishermen, who spent the fishing season there, and were accustomed to dry their nets upon the rocks. See on ver. 11.

Verse 6. And her daughters] The places dependent on Tyre. As there were two places called Tyre, one on the main land, and the other on a rock in the sea, opposite to that on the main land, sometimes the one seems to be spoken of, and sometimes the other. That on the land, Paliclyrc, was soon taken; but that in the sea cost Nebuchadnezzar thirteen years of siege and blockade. The two formed only one city, and one state.

Verse 7. Nebuchadrezzar — king of kings] An ancient title among those proud Asiatic despots SiLiOKi)Uo JSlio^J shahinshah and padshah, titles still in use.

Verse 8. Thy daughters in the field] This seems to be spoken of Pahetyre, or Tyre on the main land;

12 4nd they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break downi thy walls, and destroy '' thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.

13 ' And 1 will cause the noise of " thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.

14 And "I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shall be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

15 Thus saith the Lord God to Tyrus; Shall not the isles ° shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?

1 6 Then all the p princes of the sea shall 1 come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with ' trembhng; ^ they shall sit upon the ground,

for forts, mounts, engines of war, horses, and chariots could not be brought to act against the other.

Verse 12. And they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust m the midst of the water.'] This answers to the taking of Tyie by Alexander; he actually took the timbers, stones, rubbish, &c. of old Tyre, and filled up the space between it and new Tyre, and thus connected the latter with the main land; and this he was obliged to do before he could take it.

Verse 14. Thou shall be built no more] If this refer to Nebuchadnezzar's capture of the city, old Tyre must be intended: that was destroyed by him, and never rebuilt. But I doubt whether the whole of this prophecy do not refer to the taking of Tjtb by Alexander, three hundred years after its capture by Nebuchadnezzar. Indeed it may include more recent conquests of this important city. It went through a variety of vicissitudes till 1289, when it and the neighbouring towns were sacked and ravaged by the Mamelukes. Mr. Maundrell, who visited this place, says, " it is a Babel of broken walls, pillars, vaidts, &c., tliere being not so much as one entire house left! Its pfusent inhabitants are only a few poor wretches, harbouring themselves in the vaults, and subsisting chiefly on fishing; who seem to be preserved in tliis place by

17 And they shall take up a Tarquimi'pnsci,

to thee. How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited ™ of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast ^ strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause theu: terror to be on all that haunt it!

18 Now shall y the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.

19 Fortlius saith the Lord God; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inliabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;

20 When 1 shall bring thee down ^ with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in '^ places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory ^ in the land of the living;

21 "=1 will make thee '^ a terror, and thou shalt be no?nore: " though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith

Divine Providence as a visible argument how God has fulfilled his word concerning Tyre, that it should be the top of a rock, a place for fishers to dry their nets on.''^

Verse 15. The isles shake at the sound of thy fall] All those which had traded with this city, which was the grand mart, and on which they all depended. Her ruin involved them all, and caused general wailing.

Verse 16. The princes of the sea] The chief maritime states, such as Leptis, Utica, Carthage, Gades, &c. See Calmet.

Verse 17. Wast strong in the sea] The strength of Tyre was so great, that Alexander despaired of being able to reduce it unless he could ^rt up that arm of the sea that ran between it and the main land. And this work cost his army seven months of labour.

Verse 20. And I shall set glory in the land of the liinng.] Judea so called, the land of the living God.

Verse SI. Yet shalt thou never be found again] This is literaUy true; there is not the smallest vestige of the ancient Tyre, that which was erected on the main land. Even the ground seems to have been washed away; and the new Tyre is in nearly a similar state. I think this prophecy must be extended to the whole duration of Tvre. If it now be found to be in the state here described, it is sufficient to show the truth of the prophecy. And now it is found precisely in the state which the above prophetic declarations, taken according to the letter, point out! Is'o word of God can ever fall to the ground.

a place of some consequence in the time of.St. Paul. There was a Church there, (see Acts x.vi. 3, 4, &c.,) which afterwards became famous. Calmet observes, it afforded a great nombei of martyrs for the Christian

This chapter may he considered as the second part of the prophecy concerning Tyre. The prophet pursues his subject in the manner of those ancient lamentations or funeral songs, in which the praeficise or mourning women first recounted whatever was great or praiseworthy in the deceased, and then mourned his fall. Here the riches, glory, and extensive commerce of Tyre are enlarged upon, 1-25. Her dotmfall is then described in a beautiful allegory, executed in a few words, with astonishing brevity, propriety, and perspicuity, 26; upon which all the maritime and commercial world are represented as grieved and astonished at her fate, and greatly alarmed for their own, 27-36. Besides the view which this chapter gives of the conduct of Providence, and the example with lohich it furnishes the critic and man of taste of a very elegant and highly finished piece of composition, it likewise affords the antiquary a very curious and interesting account of the ivealth and commerce of ancient times. And to the mind that looks for " a city that hath foundations," what a picture does the whole present of the mutability and inanity of all earthly things '. Many of the places mentioned in ancient history have, like Tyre, long ago lost their political consequence; the geographical situation of others cannot be traced; they have sunk in the deep waters of oblivion; the east wind hath carried them away.

3 And say unto Tyrus, '' 0 thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art " a

Verse 2. Take tip a lamentation for Tyrus] This is a singular and curious chapter. It gives a very circumstantial account of the trade of Tyre with different parts of the world, and the different sorts of merchandise in which she trafficked. The places and the imports are as regularly entered here as they could have been in a European custom-house.

Verse 3. The entry of the sea] Tyre was a small island, or rather rock, in the sea, at a short distance from the main land. We have already seen that there was another Tyre on the main land; but they are both considered as one city.

Verse 4. Thy builders have perfected thy beauty.] Under the allegory of a beautiful ship, the prophet, here and in the following verses, paints the glory of this ancient city. Horace describes the commonwealth of Rome by the same allegory, and is as minute in his description, Carm. lib. i. Od. xiv: —

O navis, referent in mare te novi Fluctus? O quid agis? Fortiter occupa Portum. Nonne vides, ut Nudum remigio latus, Et mains celeri saucius Africa, Antennceque gemant? ac sine funibus Vix durare carina: Possint imperiosius JEquor t non tibi sunt integra lintea;

merchant of the people for many ^ ^ ^*^^- isles. Thus saith the Lord God; 01. XLViii.' i. 0 Tyrus, thou hast said, ^1 am Tarquimfprisci <= of perfect beauty. R.Roman., 29.

4 Thy borders are in the ^ midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

Non Di, quos iterum pressa voces malo: Quamvis Pontica pinus, Sylvai filia iiobLlis, Jactes et genus, et nomen inutile Nil pictis timidus navita puppibus Fidit. Tu, nisi ventis Debes ludibrium, cave.

Unhappy vessel, shall the waves again

Tumultuous bear thee to the faithless main?

What, would thy madness thus with storms to sport t

Cast firm your anchor in the friendly port.

Behold thy naked decks, the wounded mast.

And sail-yards groan beneath the southern blast.

Nor, without ropes, thy keel can longer brave

The rushing fury of the imperious loave:

Tom are thy sails; thy guardian gods are lost.

Whom you might call, in future tempests tost.

What, though majestic in your pride you stood,

A noble daughter of the Pontic tcood,

You now may vainly boast an empty name,

Of birth conspicuous in the rolls of fame.

The mariner, when storms around him rise.

No longer on a painted stern relies.

Ah! yet take heed, lest these nciv tempests sweep.

In sportive rage, thy glories to the deep.

I give this as a striking parallel tu many passages in tliis chapter.

01. XLVIII. 1. ship boards of nr trees of ^ Semr: TarquiniiPrisci, they have takeii ' cedars from R. Roman., 29. Lgbanoii to make masts for thee.

6 Of the oaks of Bashan hav.e they made thine oars: '' the ' company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of ™ the isles of Chittim.

7 Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadcst forth to be thy sail; " blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

8 The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.

9 The ancients of ° Gebal and the wise 7nen thereof were in thee thy " calkers i; all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.

Verse 5. Fir trees of Senir'] Senir is a mountain which the Sidonians called.Sirion, and the Hebrews Hermon, Deut. iii. 9. It was beyond Jordan, and extended from Libanus to the mountains of Gilead.

The company of the Ashurites] The word D'^tys asherim is by several translated bo.r-u-ood. The seals or benches being made of this wood inlaid with ivori/.

Isles of Chittim] The Italian islands; the islands of Greece; Cyprus. Calmet says Macedonia is meant.

Verse 7. Fine linen] Ciy shesh, cotton cloth. In this sense the word is generally to be understood.

Blue and purple from the isles of Elishah] Elis, a part of the Peloponnesus.

Verse 8. Zidon and Arvad] Ox Arad. Two powerful cities on the Phoenician coast, in the neighbourhood of T}T:e, from which Tyre had her sailors; and the best instructed of her own inhabitants were her pilots or steersmen.

Verse 9. The ancients of Gebaf] This was a city of Phtenicia, near Mount Libanus, Josh. xiii. 5. It was called Biblos by the Greeks.

Thy calkers] Those who repaired their vessels; paying, as it is termed, pitched hemp into the seams, to prevent the water from oozing through.

Verse 10. They of Peram] Lud, the Lydians; Phut, a people of Africa, see Gen. x. 6. From these places they had auxiliary troops; for as they traded with the then known world, were rich, and could afford to give good pay, they no doubt had soldiers and sail-

10 They of Persia and of Lud A^ ^^ a^ig^. and of ^Pliut were in thine army, oi. XLViii. i. thy men of war: they hanged the TarquiniiPrisci, shield and helmet in thee'; they «■ R""""- ^Sset forth thy comeliness.

1 1 The men of Arvad with thine army ivere upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy lowers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made ' thy beauty perfect.

1 2 ' Tarshish ivas thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

IS'' Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they ivere thy merchants: they traded ' the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy ■" market.

14 They of the house of ''Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.

OTS from every part. Skilful and desperate men vrill go any where after their price.

Verse 11. The Gammadims xoere in thy toivers] Some think these were a people of Phoenicia; others, that tutelar images are meant; others, that the word expresses strong men, who acted as guards. The Vulgate reads Pygmcei, the pygmies, who were fabled to be a little people of a culit in height, from 13J gamed, a cubit; and we are told that this little people were celebrated for their wars with the cranes; but nothing of this kind can enter into this description. Probably a people inhabiting the promontories of Phoenicia are here intended; and their hanging their shields upon the walls is a proof that soldiers are meant, and persons of skill and prowess too.

Verse 12. Tarshish was thy merchant] After having given an account of the naval and military equipment of this city, he now speaks of the various places and peoples w'ith whom the Tyrians traded, and the different kinds of merchandise imported from those places.

By Tarshish some understand the Carthaginians; some think Tartessus, near the straits of Gibraltar, is meant; others, Tharsis in Cilicia. The place was famous for all the useful metals, silver, iron, tin, and lead. All these they might have had from Britain.

They traded the persons of men] That is, they trafficked in slaves. The bodies and souls of men were bought and sold in those days, as in our degenerate age. With these also they traded in brazen vessels.

Verse 14. Togarmah] The Sannatians. Some think Cappadocia. With these they dealt in horses,

Tanjuinii Prisci, the iTiercliandise of thine hand: R. Roman., 29. jj^^y brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.

16 Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of ^ the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and " agate.

17 Judah, and the land of Israel, they tuere thy merchants: tliey traded in thy market * wheat of ■= Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and ^ balm."

18 Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

19 Dan also and Javan '^ going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.

21 Arabia, and all the princes Tarquinii Prisci, of ' Kedar, '' they occupied with R- Roman., 29. thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.

22 The merchants of ' Sheba and Raaniah, they ivere thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

24 These loere thy merchants in ° all sorts of things, in blue p clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.

25 1 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious ' in the midst of the seas.

26 Thy rowers have brought thee into great

Verse 15. The men of Dedari] Dedan was one of the descendants of Abraham by Keturah, and dwelt in Arabia, Gen. x.w. 3. Ivory and ebony might come from that quarter. By way of distinction ivory is called both in Hebrew ity shen, and in Arabic erij shen, the tooth, as that beautiful substance is the tooth of the elephant.

Verse 16. Syria] These were always a mercantile people. For the precious stones mentioned here see the notes on Exod. xxviii. 17.

Verse 17. Judah, and the land of Israel — traded in thy marTcet ivheat\ The words have been understood as articles of merchandise, not names of places. So the Jews traded with the Tyrians in wheat, stacte, balsam, honey, oil, and resin.

Verse 18. Damascus — wine of Helbon] Now called by the Turks Haleb, and by us Aleppo.

White 1000?.] Verj' fine wool: wool of a fine quality. Some think Milesian wool is meant.

Verse 19. Dan also and Javan] It is probable that both these words mean some of the Grecian islands.

Going to and fro] They both took and brought — imported and exported: but SjlXO meuzal, from uzal, may be a proper name. What place is signified 1 cannot tell, unless it be Azal, a name, according to Kamoos, of the capital of Arabia Felix.

Verse 20. Dedan] Possibly the descendants of Dedan, son of Raamah, see Gen. x. 7.

In p^recious clothes for chariots.] Either fine carpets, or rich housings for horses, camels, &c., used for riding.

Verse 21. Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar] Arabia Deserta, on the confines of the Dead Sea. The Kedarcnes inhabited the same country. These brought lambs, rams, and goats for the consumption of the city

Averse 22. Sheba and Raamah] Inhabitants of Arabia Felix, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, who were famous for their riches and spices.

Canneh] Or Chalane; see Gen. x. 10. It is supposed to be a cape or port of Arabia Felix, on the Indian Sea.

Eden] Equally famous: supposed to have been situated near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.

Sheba] Different from that in ver. 22. This was probably near the countr)' of the Edomites.

Chilmad] Possibly Cholmadora, on the Euphrates. Ptol. lib. v., cap. 15. For several of these places,.and the persons from whom they derived their names, see Gen. x., and the notes there; and see Calmet.

Verse 24. These were thy merchants in all sorts of things] The above people traded with the Tyrians in a great variety of the most valuable merchandise: blue or purple cloth, boxes of cedar, covered with skins, and bound with silhen cords, and sealed leith an engraved seal, finely cut, cj-c. See the Chaldce.

Verse 25. The ships of Tarshish] The ships of Tharsis, in Cilicia, were the chief of those which traded with thee.

Verse 26. Thy rowers have brought thee into great wateT.$] Tyre is still considered under the allegory

\ c 588^ waters: ' the east wind hath bro- j 01. XLvm'. 1. ken thee in the ' midst of the

R. feomaii., 29. g? Thy "richcs, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, ' and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the "^ midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

28 The ^ suburbs ^ shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.

29 And ^ all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;

30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall ciy bitterly, and shall " cast up dust upon their heads, they *> shall wallow themselves in the ashes:

3 1 And they shall '^ make themselves utterly 6ald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth,

of a ship; and all the vessels of different nations trading with her are represented as towing her into deep waters — bringing her into great affluence. But ■while in this state, a stormy east wind, or a destructive wind, meaning the Chaldeans, arises, and dashes her to pieces! See the ode from Horace, already quoted on ver. 4.

Verse 27. Thy riches] This vast ship, laden with all kinds of valuable wares, and manned in the best manner, being wrecked, all her valuables, sailors, officers, &c., went to the bottom.

Verse 28. The cry vf thy pilots.] When the ship was dashed against the rocks by the violence of the winds and the waves, and all hope of life was taken away, then a universal cry was set up by all on board. I have heard this cry, and nothing more dismal can be imagined, when the ship by a violent tempest is driving among rocks on a lee shore. Then " All lost! cut away the boat!" is more dreadful than the cry of Jire at midnight.

Verse 30. Shall cry bitterly] AH that were on the land, seeing this dreadful sight, a gallant ship perishing with all her men and goods, are represented as setting up a dismal cry at this heart-rending sight. But what must they have felt who were on board 1 Reader, wort thou ever shipwrecked? Wert thou ever in and they shall weep for thee ^. M. 3416. with bitterness of heart a/id bitter 01. xlviii. i.

32 And in their wailing they R- Roman., 29. shall "*take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, «What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea.

33 ^When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many p3ople; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

34 In the time ivhen s thou shall be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, ^ thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.

35 ' All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.

36 The merchants among the people ''shall hiss at thee; ' thou shalt be ™ a terror, and ° never shalt be any more.

a hurricane on a lee rocky shore, where the helm had lost its power, and the sails were rendered useless 1 Dost thou remember that apparently last moment, when the ship drove up to the tremendous rocks, riding on the back of a mountainous surge 1 Then what was the universal cry ■? Kast thou ever heard any thing so terrific 1 so appalling? so death and judgment-like 1 No. It is impossible. These are the circumstances, this is the cry, that the prophet describes; disorder, confusion, dismay, and ruin. And this is a scene which the present writer has witnessed, himself a part of the wretched, when all hope of life wa^ taken away, the yawning gulf opened, and nothing presented itself to support body or soul but that God who gave to both their being, and ultimately rescued him and his forlorn companions from one of the worst of deaths, by heaving the ship from the rocks by the agency of a tremendous receding wave. My soul hath these things still in remembrance, and therefore is humbled within me.

Verse 32. What city is like Tyrus] This, to the end of the chapter, is the lamentation.

Verse 36. Shall hiss at thee] ipity shareku, shall shriek for thee. This powerfully expresses the sensation made on the feelings of the spectators on the shore when they saw the vessel swallowed up.

The first part of this chapter relates to a king of Tyre, probably the same who is called in the Phanician annals Jlhobalus. He seems to have been a vain man, who affected Divine honours. The prophet treats his foolish pretensions with severe irony, and predicts his doom, 1—10. He then takes up a funeral dirge and lamentation over him, in which his former pomp and splendour are finely contrasted with his fall, in terms that seem frequently to allude to the fall of Lucifer from heaven, (Isa. xiv.,) 11-19. The overthrmv of Sidon, the mother city if Tyre, is next announced, 20-23; and the chapter concludes with a promise to the Jews of deliverance from all their enemies, and particularly of their restoration from the Babylonish captivity, 24-26.

T^HE word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is hfted up, and » thou hast said, I am a. god, I sit in the seat of God, "^ in the " midst of the seas; ^ yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

3 Behold, " thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:

4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:

5 ' Bv ^ thy great wisdom and by thy traffic

of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

8 They shall bring thee down TarqutniiPrisci, to the pit, and thou shalt die the R- «°"'=^"- 29- deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

9 Wilt thou yet ' say before him that slayeth thee, I am God; but thou shalt he a man, and no God, in the hand of him that ''slayeth thee.

1 0 Thou shalt die the deaths of ' the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

1 1 Moreover the word of the Lord came

12 Son of man, "take up a lamentation upon

hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart! the king of Tyrus, and say unto him. Thus

is lifted up because of thy riches:

6 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

saith the Lord God; ° Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

1 3 Thou hast been in ° Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering,

7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers the p sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the i beupon thee, *" the terrible of the nations: and I ryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, they shall draw their swords against the beauty the ' emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:

NOTES ON CHAP. XXVIII. Verse 2. Say unto the prince of Tyrus^ But who was this prince of Tyrus? Some think Hiram; some, Sin; some, the devil; others, Ithobaal, witli whom the chronology and circumstances best agree. Origen thought the guardian angel of the city was intended.

/ am a god\ That is, I am absolute, independent, and accountable to none. He was a man of great pride and arrogance.

Verse 3. Thou art wiser than Daniel] Daniel was at this time living, and was reputable for his great wisdom. This is said ironically. See chap. xiv. 14;

Verse 5. By thy great wisdom] He attributed every thing to himself; he did not acknowledge a Divine providence. As he got all by himself, so he believed he could keep all by himself, and had no need of any foxcign help.

Verse 9. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee] Wilt thou continue thy pride and arrogance when the sword is sheathed in thee, and still imagine that thou art self-sufficient and independent?

Verse 10. The deaths of the uncircumcised] Two deaths, temporal and eternal. Ithobaal was taken and killed by Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 12. Thou sealest up] This has been translated, " Thou drawest thy own likeness." " Thou formest a portrait of thyself; and hast represented thyself the perfection of wisdom and beauty." I believe this to be the meaning of the place.

Verse 13. Thou hast been in Eden] This also is a strong irony. Thou art like Adam, when in his innocence and excellence he was in the garden of Eden!

Every precious stone was thy covering] For a description of these stones see the note on Exod. x.wiii. 17.

Verse 1 4. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth\ The irony is continued; and here he is likened to the ni. XLViii. 1. and of thy pipes was prepared m Tarquini?Prisci, thec in thc day that thou wast R. Roman., 29. created.

14 Thou art the anointed ' cherub that covereth: and I have set thee so: thou wast upon " the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

1 5 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

1 6 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, " O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 ''Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

CHERUB that guarded the gates of Paradise, and kept the way of the tree of life; or to one of the cherubs whose wings, spread out, covered the mercy-seat.

Thou least upon the holy mountain of Ooi\ The irony is still continued; and now he is compared to Moses, and afterwards to one of the chief angels, who has walked op and down among the stones of fire; that is, thy floors have been paved with precious stones, that shone and sparkled like fire.

Lucan, describing the splendour of the apartments of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, speaks in nearly a similar language: —

Nee summis crustata domus, sectisque nitebat Marmorihus, stabatque sibi non segnis achates, Purpureusqiie lapis, totusque effusus in aula Cdlcabatur onyx — Pharsal. lib. x.

Rich as some fane by slavish zealots reared, For the proud banquet stood the hall prepared: Thick golden plates the latent beams infold. And the high roof was fretted o'er with gold. Of solid marble all the walls were made, And onyx e'en the meaner floor inlaid; While porphyry and agate round the court In massy columns rose, a proud support. Of solid ebony each post was wrought. From swarthy Meroe profusely brought. With ivory was the entrance crusted o'er, And polished tortoise hid each shining door; While on the cloudy spots enchased was seen The trusty emerald's never-fading green. Within the royal beds and couches shone,

18 Thou hast defiled thy sane- 4- M- \ii^- tuaries by the multitude of thine Ol. XLVIII. i. iniquities, by the iniquity of thy TarquinhPrisci, traffic; therefore will I bring R- Roman., 29. forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

1 9 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: '^thou shalt be ^a terror, and never shalt thou he any more.

21 Son of man, ^ set thy face ^ against Zidon, and prophesy against it,

22 And say. Thus saith the Lord God; *> Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and "^ they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judginents in her, and shall be '^ sanctified in her.

23 ^ For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword

Beamy and bright with many a costly stone. The glowing purple rich. Rowe.

Verse 15. Thou wast perfect in thy ways'] The irony seems.still to be kept up. Thou hast been like the angels, like Moses, like the cherubs, like Adam, like God, till thy iniquity was found out.

Verse 16. I will cast thee as profane] Thou shalt be cast down from thine eminence.

From the midst of the stones of fire.] Some, sup posing that stones of fire means the stars, have thought that the whole refers to the fall of Satan.

Verse 18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries] Irony continued. As God, as the angels, as the cherubim, thou must have had thy sanctuaries; but thou hast defiled them: and as Adam, thou hast polluted thy Eden, and hast been expelled from Paradise.

Verse 19. Thou shalt be a terror] Instead of being an object of adoration thou shalt be a subject of horror, and at last be destroyed with thy city, so that nothing but thy name shall remain. It was entirely burnt by Alexander the Great, as it had been before by Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 22. / am against thee, O Zidon] Sidon for a long time had possessed the empire of the sea and of all Phoenicia, and Tyre was one of its colonies; but, in process of time, the daughter became greater than the mother. It seems to have been an independent place at the time in which Tyre was taken; but it is likely that it was taken by the Chaldeans soon after the former.

b' 'c' 'ms' "po" lisr on every side; and they Oi.'xLViii.'i. shall know that I am the Lord. 24 And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I aw the Lord God.

25 Thus saith the Lord God; When I shall have s gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and

Verse 24. There shall be no more a pricking brier] Nothing to excite Israel to idolatry when restored from their captivity. Perhaps there is an allusion to Jezebel, daughter of Elhbaal, king of Sidon, and wife to Ahab, king of Israel, who was the greatest curse to Israel, and the universal restorer of idolatry in the land, see 1 Kings xvi. 31. Sidon being destroyed, there would come no encourager of idolatry from that quarter.

shall be *■ sanctified in them in *■ ^ ^^'^. the sight of the heathen, then shall 01. XLViir. i. they dwell in their land tiiat I TarmiinUPnsci, have given to my servant Jacob. ^- Koma"— 29- 26 And they shall ' dwell '' safely therein, and shall ' build houses, and "> plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judginents upon all those that " despise them roiuid about them; and they shall luiow that I am the Lord their God.

Israel] In their long captivity, God had been preparing the land for them so as to make it a safe dwelling; and hence he executed judgments on all the heathen nations round about by means of the Chaldeans. Thus Tyre and Sidon were destroyed, as were the Ammonites and others who had been the inveterate enemies of the Jews. Judgment first began at his own house, then proceeded to the heathen nations; and when they were brought down, then he visited and redeemed his people. Thus God's ways are proved to be all equal; partialities and caprices belong not to him

This and the three folloiving chapters foretell the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, which he accomplished in the twenty-seventh year of Jehniachiii's captivity. The same event is foretold by Jeremiah, chap. xlvi. 13, &c. The prophecy opens ivith God's charging the king of Egypt (Pharaoh-hophra) with the same extravagant pride and profanity which were in the preceding chapter laid to the charge of the prince of Tyre. He appears, like him, to have affected Divine honours; and boasted so much of the strength of his kingdom, that, as an ancient historian (Herodotus) tells us, he impiously declared that God himself could not dispossess him. Wherefore the prophet, with great majesty, addresses him under the image of one of those crocodiles or monsters which inhabited that river, of tohose riches and revenue he vaunted; and assures him that, with as much ease as a fisherman drags the fish he has hooked, God would drag him and his people into captivity, and that their carcasses should fall a prey to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of heaven, 1—7. The figure is then dropped; and God is introduced denouncing, in plain terms, the 7nost awful judgments against him and his nation, and declaring that the Egyptians should be subjected to the Babylonians till the fall of the Chaldean empire, 8-12. The prophet then foretells that Egypt, which icas about to be devastated by the Babylonians, and many of the people carried into captivity, should again become a kingdom; but that it should never regain its ancient political importance; for, in the lapse of time, it should be even the basest of the kingdoms, a circumstance in the prophecy most literally fulfilled, especially under the Christian dispensation, in its government bi/ the Mameluke slaves, 13— 16. The prophecy, beginning at the seventeentli verse, is connected with the foregoing, as it relates to the same subject, though delivered about seventeen years later. Nebuchadnezzar and his army, after the long siege of Tyre, u-hich made every head bald by constantly wearing their helmets, and wore the skin off every shoulder by carrying burdens to raise the fortifications, were disajrpointed of the spoil which they expected, by the retiring of the inhabitants to Carthage. God, therefore, promises him Egypt for his reward, 17-20. The chapter concludes with a prediction of the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, 21.

TN the tenth year, in the tenth | been a "< staff of month, in the twelfth day of house of Israel, the month, the word of the Lord

Pharauh-fLophra reed to the

7 'When they took hold of TarquiniiPrisci, thee by thy hand, thou didst break, R- Roman., 28.

2 Son of man, * set thy face against Pharaoh and rend all their shoulder: and when they king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all

3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; "^ Behold, I a7n against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great <> dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, ■= which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.

4 But f I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.

5 And I will leave thee throivn into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the? open fields; '' thou shall not be brought together, nor gathered: ' I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have

Verse 1. In the tenth year] Of Zedekiah; and tenth of the captivity of Jeconiah.

The tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month] Answering to Monday, the first of February, A. M. 3415.

Verse 2. Set thy face against Pharaoh king of ■^S!/P^] This was Pharaoh-hophra or Pharaoh-apries, whom we have so frequently met with in the prophecies of Jeremiah, and much of whose history has been given in the notes.

Verse 3. The great dragon] D':nn hattannim should here be translated crocodile, as that is a real animal, and numerous in the Nile; whereas the dragon is wholly fabulous. The original signifies any large animal.

The midst of his rivers] This refers to the several branches of the Nile, by which this river empties itself into the Mediterranean. The ancients termed them septem ostia Nili, " the seven mouths of the Nile." The crocodile was the emblem of Egypt,

Verse 4. / ivill put hoolts in thy jaws] Amasis, one of this king's generals, being proclaimed king by an insurrection of the people, dethroned Apries, and seized

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Be hold, I will bring "a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.

9 And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he hath said. The river is mine, and I have made it.

10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, ^ and I will make the land of Egypt " utterly waste and desolate, p from i the tower of ' Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.

11 ^ No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

1 2 ' And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that

bury their heads in their flesh, under their scales, and suck out the vital juices. The allusion seems to be to this. Pharaoh was the crocodile; the fish, the ctymmon people; and the sticking to his scales, the insurrection by which he was wasted and despoiled of his kingdom.

Verse 5. I will leave thee thrown into the icilderness] Referring to his being obliged to take refuge in Upper Egypt. But he was afterwards taken prisoner, and strangled by Amasis. Herod, lib. ii. s. 169.

Verse 6. They have been a staff of reed] An inefficient and faithle.ss ally. The Israelites expected assistance from them when Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem; and they made a feint to help them, but retired when Nebuchadnezzar went against them. Thus were the Jews deceived and ultimately ruined, see ver. 7.

Verse 10. From the tower of Syene] n:iD SlJDD mimmigdol seveneh, " from Migdol to Syene." Syene, now called Essuan, was the last city in Egypt, going towards Ethiopia. It was famous for a well into which the rays of the sun fell perpendicularly at midday.

Verse 12. Shall be desolate forty years] The coun try from Migdol or Magdolan, which was on the isth- upon the kingdom; and Apries was obliged to flee to mus between the Mediterranean and the Red.Sea, was so completely ruined, that it might well be called de- Most sert; and it is proballe that this desolation continued fish are sorely troubled with a species of insect which \ during the whole of the reign of Amasis, which was

Aj M- ^15. Qfg \^[^ waste shall be desolate 01. XLVii. 4. forty years: and I will scatter TarquiniiPrisci, the Egyptians among the nations, R. Roman., 28. ^^^^ ^^.^ disperse them through the countries.

13 Yet thus saith the Lord God; At the ' end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:

14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return i7ito the land of Pathros, into the land of their " iiabitation; and they shall be there a '■" base ^ kingdom.

15 It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

1 6 And it shall be no more y the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth tJieir iniquity to remembrance,when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.

17 And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first 7nonth, in the first

Verse 1 3. Will I gather the Egyptians] It is probable that Cyrus gave permission to the Egyptians brought to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, to return to their own country. And if we reckon from the commencement of the war against Pharaoh-hophra by Nebuchadnezzar, to the third or fourth year of Cyrus, the term will be about forty years.

Verse 14. Into the land of Pathros] Supposed to mean the Delta, a country included between the branches of the Nile; called A delta, from its being in the form of the Greek letter of that name. It may mean the Pathrusim, in Upper Egypt, near to the Thebaid. This is most likely.

Shall he there a base kingdom.] That is, it shall con- ' tinue to be tributary. It is upwards of two thousand years since this prophecy was delivered, and it has been uninterruptedly fulfilling to the present hour. 1. Egypt became tributary to the Babylonians, under Amasis. 2. After the ruin of the Babylonish empire, it became subject to the Persians. 3. After the Persians, it came into the hands of the Macedonians. 4. After the Macedonians it fell into the hands of the Romans. 5. After the division of the Roman empire it was subdued by the Saracens. 6. About A. D. 1250, it came into the hands of the Mameluke slaves. 7. Selim, the ninth emperor of the Turks, conquered the Mamelukes, A. D. 1517, and annexed Egypt to the Ottoman empire, of which it still continues to be a province, governed by a pacha and twenty-four beys, who are always advanced from servitude to the adminiBtration of public affairs. So true is it that Egjrpt,

18 Son of man, ' Nebuchadrez- SerrTi'Tuiui, zar king of Babylon caused his R- oman., 7 army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head loas made bald, and every shoulder was peeled; yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tjrrus, for the service that he had served against it:

1 9 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and " take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

20 I have given him the land of Egypt ^ for his labour wherewith he " served against it: because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.

21 In that day "^ will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee ^ the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the Lord

Verse 17. The seven and twentieth year] That is, of the captivity of Jeconiah, fifteen years after the taking o( Jerusalem; about April 20, 3432. The preceding prophecy was delivered one year before the taking of Jerusalem; this, sixteen years after; and it is supposed to be the last which this prophet WTote.

Verse 18. Caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus] He was thirteen years employed in the siege. See Joseph. Antiq. lib. x. c. 11. In this siege his soldiers endured great hardships. Being continually on duty, their heads became bald by wearing their helmets; and their shoulders bruised and peeled by carrying baskets of earth to the fortifications, and wood, &c., to build towers, &c.

Yet had he no wages, nor his army] The Tyrians, finding it at last impossible to defend their city, put all their wealth aboard their vessels, sailed out of the port, and escaped for Carthage; and thus Nebuchad nezzar lost all the spoil of one of the richest cities in

Verse 20. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour] Because he fulfilled the designs of God against Tyre, God promises to reward him with the spoil of Egypt.

Verse 2 1. Will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to hud] This may refer generally to the restoration; but particularly to Zeruhhahct, who became one of the leaders of the people from Babylon. Or it may respect Daniel, or Mordecai, or Jeconiah, who, about this time, was brought out of prison by Evil-merodach, and afterwards kindly treated.

This chapter describes, with great force and elegance, the ruin of Egypt and all her allies ly the Chaldeans under Nebiwhadnezzar, 1—1 1; with an amplification of the distress of the principal cities of Egypt on that occasion, 12—19. The remaining verses are a short prophecy relating to the same event, and therefore annexed to the longer one preceding, although this was predicted sooner, 20-26.

3 For '' the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.

4 And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great " pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and tliey ^ shall take away her multitude, and " her foundations shall be broken down.

5 Ethiopia, and ^ Libya, and Lydia, and s all the mingled people, and Chub, and the ^ men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.

6 Thus saith the Lord; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: ' from '' the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith

7 ' And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted.

Verse 2. Haul ye. Wo worth the day!] My Old MS. Bible, — ^ouic gee, toon Vdod to tijc bap! nn iWn QvS heylilu, hah laiyom! " Howl ye, Alas for the day!" The reading in our present text is taken from Coverdah^s Bible, 1535. The expressions signify that a most dreadful calamity was about to fall on Egypt and the neighbouring countries, called here the " time of the heathen," or of the nations; the day of calamity to them. They are afterwards specified, Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, and C/i«i,and the mingled people, probably persons from different nations, who had followed the ill fortune of Pharaoh-hophra or Pharaoh-aprics, when he fled from Amasis, and settled in Upper Egvpt.

Verse 5. Lydia] This place is not well known. The Ludim were contiguous to Egypt, Gea. xi. 13.

Chub] The Cubians, placed by Ptolemy in the Mareotis. But probably instead of 3131 vechuh, " and Chub," we should read 731 vechol, " and.ill the men

8 And they shall know that I ^ " ■ 3432. am the Lord, when I have set a Oiymp. Lli. i. fire in Egypt, and when all her Sen-ii^TuUii, helpers shall be >" destroyed. ^:?!."!!^'_

9 In that day " shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.

10 Thus saith the Lord God: "I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.

1 1 He and his people with him, ^the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egj'pt, and fill the land with the slain.

12 And il will make the rivers ''dry, and ' sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and ' all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.

13 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also " destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; '' and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: ■" and I will put a fear in the land of

Verse 7. Shall be desolate] All these countries shall be desolated, and the places named shall be chief in these desolations.

A'^erse 9. Messengers go forth from me in.ihips] Ships can ascend the Nile up to Syene or Essuan, by the cataracts; and when Nebuchadnezzar's vessels went up, they struck terror into the Ethiopians. They are represented here as the " messengers of God."

Verse 12. I will malie the rivers dry] As the OT^rflmcing of the Nile was the grand cause of fertility to Eg}-pt, the drying it up, or preventing that annual inundation, must be the cause of dearth, famine, &c. By rivers, we may understand the various canals cut from the Nile to carry water into the different parts of the land. When the Nile did not rise to its usual height, these canals were quite dry.

15 And I will pour my fury upon '' Sin, the strength of Egypt; ° and I will cut off the multitude of No.

16 And I will ■* set fire in Eg)-pt: Sin shall have great pain, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.

17 The young men of " Aven and of *'Pibeseth shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity.

18 e At Tehaphnelics also the day shall be '' darkened, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt: and the pomp of her strength shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.

19 Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt: and they shall know that I awi the Lord.

A- M. 3^4Hi. 20 And it came to pass in the 01. XLviii. 1. eleventh y6ar, in the first jnonth, Tarqiiinii Prisci, in the seventh day of the month,

2 1 Son of man, I have ' broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and lo, '' it shall not

Afterwards Memphis, and now Cairo or Kahira. This was the seat of Eg'yptian idolatry; the place where Apis was particularly worshipped.

No more a prince of the land of Egypt] Not one, from that time to the present day. See the note on chap. xxix. 14.

Verse 15. My fury upon S/h] Pelusium, a strong city of Egypt, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Piheseth] Buhastum or Bula.^te, by a slight alteration of the letters. It is situated on the eastern branch of the Nile, towards Arabia.

Break there the yokes] The sceptres. Nebuchadnezzar broke the sceptre of Egypt when he confirmed the kingdom to Amasis,vi\io had rebelled against Apries.

be bound up to be healed, to put \ ^?1'^- a roller to bind it, to make it 01. XLViii. i.

22 Therefore thus saith the «• R°"'^" ■ '^^^ Lord God; Behold, I a;« against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will > break his arms, tke strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.

23 ™ And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.

25 But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and " they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of

26 " And I will scatter the Egyptians aiuong the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am

Verse 20. In the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day] This was the eleventh year of the captivity of Jcconiah, and the date here answers to April 26, A. M. 3416; a prophecy anterior by several years to that already delivered. In collecting the WTitings of Ezekiel, more care was taken to put all that related to one subject together, than to attend to chronological arrangement.

Verse 21. / have broken the arm of Pharaoh] Perhaps this may refer to his defeat by Nebuchadnezzar, when he was coming with the Egyptian army to succour Jerusalem.

Verse 22. / will cause the sicord to fall out of his hand.] When the arm is broken, the sword will naturally fall. But these expressions show that the Egyptians would be rendered n-holly useless to Zedekiah, and should never more recover their political strength. This was the case from the time of the rebellion of Amasis.

Verse 26. I will scatter the Egyptians] Several fled with Apries to Upper Egypt; and when Nebuchadnezzar wa.sted the country, he carried many of them to Babylon. See on chap. xxix. 12.

A prophecy sent to Pharaoh

This very beautiful chapter relates also to Egypt. The prophet describes to Pharaoh the fall of the king of Nineveh, (see the boohs of Nahum, Jonah, and Zephaniah,) under the image of a fair cedar of Lebanon, once exceedingly tall, flourishing, and majestic, but now cut down and withered, with its broken branches stretved around, 1—17. He then concludes with bringing the matter home to the king of Egypt, by telling him that this was a picture of his approaching fate, 18. The beautiful cedar of Lebanon, remarkable for its loftiyiess, and in the most flourishing condition, but afterwards cut down and deserted, gives a very lively painting of the great glory and dreadful catastrophe of both the Assyrian and Egyptian monarchies. The manner in which the prophet has embellished his subject is deeply interesting; the colouring is of that kind which the mind will always contemplate loith pleasure.

B c'^588 AND it came to pass in the Oi. XLViii. 1. eleventh year, in the third

TarquiniiPrisci, month, in the first day of the

Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; ^ Whom art thou like in thy greatness?

3 '' Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon '^ with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of a high statiure; and his top was among the thick boughs.

4 "* Tlie waters " made him great, the deep ' set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her ^ little rivers unto all the trees of the field.

5 Therefore >= his height was e.xalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, ' when he shot forth.

6 All the ^ fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.

7 Thus was he fan: in his greatness, in the

Verse 1. In the eleventh year] On Sunday, June 19, A. M. 3416, according to Abp. Usher; a month before Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans.

Verse 3. Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar] Why is the Assyrian introduced here, when the whole chapter concerns Egypt? Bp. Lowth has shown that nx "lia'.S ashshur erez should be translated the tall cedar, the very stately cedar; hence there is reference to his lofty top; and all the following description belongs to Egypt, not to Assyria. But see on ver. 11.

Verse 4. The waters made him great] Alluding to the fertility of Egypt by the overflowing of the Nile. But waters often mean peoples. By means of the different nati)ns under the Egyptians, that government length of his branches: for his ^ ^^- ^J,'^- root was by great waters. 01. XLViii. i.

8 The cedars in the ' garden of TarquiniiPrisci, God could not hide him: the fir "• ""'"""■' ^^- trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.

9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches; so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.

10 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and "" his heart is lifted up in his height;

111 have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; " he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.

12 And strangers, ° the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: p upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.

Dan. V. 20. " Heb. in doing he shall do utito became very opulent. These nations are represented as fowls and beasts, taking shelter under the protection of this great political Egyptian tree, ver. 6.

Verse 8. The cedars in the garden of God] Egypt was one of the most eminent and affluent of all the neighbouring nations.

Verse 11. The mighty one of the heathen] Nebuchadnezzar. It is worthy of notice, that Nebuchadnezzar, in the flrst year of bis reign, rendered himself master of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. See Sedar Olam. This happened about twenty years before Ezekiel delivered this prophecy; on this account, Ashshur, ver. 3, may relate to the Assyrians, to whom it is possible the prophet here compares the Egyptians. But see on ver. 3.

14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither slioot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees ^ stand up in their height, all that drink water: for ^ they are all delivered unto death, ' to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.

15 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon "to mourn for him, and all the trees of tlie field fainted for him.

Verse 13. Upon his ruin shall all the fowls] The fall of EgATJt is likened to the fall of a great tree; and as the fowls and beasts sheltered under its branches before, ver. 6, so they now feed upon its ruins.

Verse 14. To the end that none of all the trees] Let this ruin, fallen upon Egypt, teach all the nations that shall hear of it to be htanble, because, however elevated, God can soon bring them down; and pride and arrogance, either in states or individuals, have the peculiar abhorrence of God. Pride does not suit the sons of men; it made devils of angels, and makes fiends of men.

at the sound of liis fall, when I 01. XLViii. i. ■" cast him down to hell with them Tarquinii Prisci, that descend into the pit: and "■ Kom.in., 29. " all the trees of Eden, tlic choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, ^ shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.

17 They also went down into hell with him unto theyn that be slain with tlie sword; and they that were his arm, that ^ dwelt under his shadow in tlie midst of the heathen.

18 " To whom art thou thus like in glor)- and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the eartli: '' thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with thejii that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the

Verse 18. This is Pharaoh] AU that 1 have spoken in this allegory of the lofty cedar refers to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, his princes, confederates, and people. Cahnel understands the whole chapter of the king of Assyria, under which he allows that Egypt is adumbrated; and hence on this verse he quotes, —

The prophet goes on to predict the fall of the king of Egypt, under the figure of an animal of prey, such as a lion or crocodile, caught, slain, and his carcass left a prey to (he fowls and wild beasts, 1-6. The figure is then changed; and the greatness of his fall {described by the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars) strikes terror into all the surrounding nations, 7—10. The prophet adds, that the overthrow of the then reigning Egyptian dynasty teas to be effected by the instrumentality of the king of Babylon, who should leave Egypt so desolate, that its waters, (alluding to the metaphor used in the second verse,) should run as pure and smooth as oil, loithout the foot of man or the hoof of a beast to disturb them, 11-16. A beautiful, nervous, and concise description of a land mined and left utterly desolate. In the remaining part of the chapter the same event is pourtrayed by one of the boldest figures ever attempted in any composition, and which at the same time is executed with astonishi/ig perspicuity and force. God is introduced ordering a place in the lower regions for the king of Egypt and his host, 17, 18. The prophet delivers his message, pronounces their fate, and commands those who buried the slain to drag him and his multitudes to the subterraneous mansions, 19, 20. At the tumult and commotion which this mighty work occasions, the infernal shades are represented as roused from their couches to learn the cause. They see and congratulate the king of Egypt, on his arrival among them, 3 1. Pharaoh being noiv introduced into this immense sttbtcrraneous cavern, (see the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, where a similar imagery is employed,) the prophet leads him all around the sides of the pit; shows him the gloomy mansions of former tyrants, tells their names as he goes along; beautifully contrasts their former pomp and destructive ambition, when they were a terror to the surrounding states, with their present most abject and helpless condition; declares that all these oppressors of mankind have not only been cut off out of the land of the living, but have gone diAcn into the grave uncircumcised, that is, they have died in their sins, and therefore shall have no resur- Ttction to eternal life; and concludes wilh shoivmg Pharaoh the place destined for him in the midst of the uncircumcised, and of them that have been slain by the sword, 22-32. This prophetic ode may be considered as a finished model in that species of ivriting which is appropriated to the exciting of terror. The imagery throughout is sublime and terrible; and no reader of sensibility arid taste can accompany the prophet in this funeral procession, and visit the mansions of Hades, without being impressed ivith a degree of aioe nearly approaching to horror.

2 Son of man, '^ take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, '' Thou art like a young lion of the nations, ° and thou art as a "• whale in the seas: and thou earnest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and " fouledst their rivers:

3 Thus saith the Lord God; I will therefore ^ spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up m my net.

4 Then ^ will I leave thee upon the land> I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and '' will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the wliole earth with thee.

5 And I will lay thy flesh ' upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height.

6 I will also water with thy blood ^ the land

Verse 1. In the twelfth year, in the tivelfth month, in the first day of the month] On Wednesday, March 22, the tivelfth year of the captivity of Jeconiah, A.M. 3417.

Instead of the tivelfth year, five of Kennicoti's MSS., and eight of Be Rossi's, read T\-wy 'TWVl in the eleventh year. Tliis reading is supijorted by the Syriac; and is confirmed by an excellent MS. of my own, about yw«r hundred years old.

Verse 2. Thou art like a young lion — and thou art as a whale in the seas] Thou mayest be likened to two of the fiercest animals in the creation; to a lion, the fiercest on the land; to a crocodile, D'lH tannim, (see chap, xxi.x. 3,) the fiercest in the waters. It may, however, point out the hippopotamus, as there seems to be a reference to his mode o{ feeding. He walks deliberately into the water over head, and pursues his way in the same manner; still keeping on his feet, and feeding on the plants, &c., that grow at the bottom. Thus he fouls the water with his feet.

wherein thou swimmest, even to ^ ^ ^^J7- the mountains; and the rivers 01. XLViii. 2.

out, " I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light

8 All the " bright lights of heaven will I make ° dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.

9 I will also P vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

10 Yea, I will make many people i amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and ' they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own fife, in the day of thy fall.

11 ^ For thus saith the Lord God; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon

12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause

Verse 5. And fill the valleys with thy height.] Some translate, with the tvorms, which should proceed from the putrefaction of his flesh.

Verse 6. The land wherein thou swimmest] Egypt; so called, because intersected with canals, and overflowed annually by the Nile.

And the moon shall not give her light.] The gueen may be meant, or some state less than the kingdom.

Verse 8. And set darkness upon thy land] As I did when a former king refused to let my people go to the wilderness to worship me. I will involve thee, and thy house, and thy people, and the whole land, in desolation and wo.

Verse 9. I will also vex the hearts] Even the remote nations, who had no connexion with thee, shall be amazed at the judgments which have fallen upon thee

■r c' ss"' *'^y multitude to fall, ' the terrible 01. XLViii. 2. of the nations, all of them: and Tarquinii Prisci, " they shall spoil the pomp of R. ftoman., 30. ^.g^r^X, and all the muhitude thereof shall be destroyed.

13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; ^ neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them.

14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the

15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be "■ destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, ^ then shall they know that I a7n the Lord.

16 This is the ^ lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith

17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and ^ cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.

19 "Whom dost thou pass in beauty? ''go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.

Verse 1 4. Cause their rivers to run like oil\ Bring the whole state into quietness, there being no longer a political hippopotamus to foul the waters — to disturb the peace of the country.

Verse 15. Shall be destitute of that whereof it was full] Of com, and all other necessaries of life.

Verse 17. In the twelfth year] Two of Kennicott's MSS., (me of De Rossi's, and one of my own, (that mentioned ver. 1,) have, in the eleventh year; and so has the Syriac, as before. This prophecy coneems the people of Egypt.

Verse 18. Cast them doivn] Show them that they shall be cast down. Proclaim to them a ca^/ino-rfojt'n prophecy.

Verse 19. Whom dost thou pass m beauty 1\ How little does it signify, whether a minnmy be well embalmed, wrapped round with rich stuff, and beautifully painted on the outside, or not. Go down into the tombs, examine the niches, and see whether one dead carcass be preferable to another.

of thern that are slain by the 01. XLViii. 2. sword: ■= she is delivered to the Tar.iuinii Prisci, sword: draw her and all her ^ """"'"■ ^° multitudes.

21 '^Thc strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell with them that help him: they are ^ gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.

22 ^ Assliur is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:

23 f Whose gi-aves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which ^ caused ' terror in the land of the living.

24 There is ''Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are ' gone down micir cumcised into the nether parts of the earth, " which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that he slain.

Verse 21. Out of the midst of hell] SlSty sheol, the catacombs, the place of burial. There is something here similar to Isa. xiv. 9, where the descent of the king of Babylon to the state of the dead is described.

Verse 22. Asshur is there] The mightiest conquerors of the earth have gone down to the grave before thee; there they and their soldiers lie together all slain by the sword.

A'^erse 23. Whose graves are set in the sides of the pif] Alluding to the niches in the sides of the subterranean oaves or burying-places, where the bodies are laid. These are numerous in Egvpt.

Verse 24. There is Elam] The Elamiles, not far from the AssjTians; others think that Persia is meant. It was invaded by the joint forces of Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar.

multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them ° uncir-

TamuiniiPrisci, cumciscd, slaiii by the sword, R. Roman., 30. tijQ^igii they caused their terror in the land of tlie living.

27 P And they shall not lie with the mighty /hat are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell "i with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though tkei/ were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

28 Yea, thou shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt lie with them that are slain with the sword.

29 There is ^ Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are ^ laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall

lie with the uncirciuncised, and ^,: ^^ ^417. with them that go down to the pit. 01. XLViil. 2.

I 30 * There he the princes of the TaiquinUPrisci

[ north, all of them, and all the «• R""^"- 3o. ° Zidonians which are gone down with the

■ slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that he slain by the sword, and bear theii

' shame with them that go down to the pit.

! 31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be ' comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the

32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the micircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his mul titude, saith the Lord God.

Verse 27. Gone down to hell with their xoeapons of war\ Are buried in their armour, and with their weapons lying by their sides. It was a very ancient practice, in different nations, to bury a warrior's weapons in the same grave with himself.

Verse 29. There is Edom] All the glory and pomp of the Idumean kings, who also lielped to oppress the Israelites, are gone down into the grave. Their kings, princes, and all their mighty men lie mingled with the uncircumcised, not distinguished from the ccnnmon dead: —

" Where they an equal honom' share. Who buried or unburied are. Where Agamemnon knows no more Than Irus, he condemned before. Where fair Achilles and Thersites lie. Equally naked, poor, and dry."

Verse 30. There be the princes of the north] The kings of Media and Assyria, and all the Zidonians — the kings of Tyre, Sidon, and Damascus. See Calmet.

Verse 31. Pharaoh shall see them] Pharaoh also, who said he was a god, shall be found among the vulgar dead.

And shall be comforted] Shall console himself, on finding that all other proud boasters are in the same circumstances with himself. Here is a reference to a consciousness after death.

Verse 32. I have caused my terror tn the land of the living] I have spread dismay through Judea, the land of the living God, where the living oracles were delivered, and where the upright live by faith. When Pharaoh-necho came against Josiah, defeated, and slew him at Megiddo, fear and terror were spread through all the land of Judea; and the allusion here is probably to that circumstance. But even he is now laid with the uncircumcised, and is no more to be distinguished from the common dead.

Much of the phraseology of this chapter may be illustrated by comparing it with Isa. xiv., where see the notes, which the intelligent reader will do well to consult.

The prophet, after having addressed several other nations, returns now to his oton; previously to which he is told, as on a former occasion, the duty of a watchman, the salvation or ruin of ivhose soul depends on the manner in which he discharges it. An aicful passage indeed; full of important instruction both to such as speak, and to such as hear, the word of God, 1—9. The prophet is then directed what answer to make to the cavils of infidelity and impiety; and to vindicate the equity of the Divine government by declaring the general terms of acceptance with God to be (as told before, chap, xviii.) without respect of persons; so that the ruin of the finally impenitent must be entirely owing to themselves, 10-20. The prophet receives the news of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, about a year and four months after it liappened, according to the opinion of some, ivho have been led to this conjecture by the date given to this prophecy in the twenty-first verse, as it stands in our common Version: but some of the manuscripts of mis prophet consulted by Dr. Kennicott have in this place the eleventh year, which is probably the genuine reading. To check the vain confidence of those who expected to hold out by possessing themselves

T7te duty and responsibility of its other fastnesses, the tiller desolation of all Judea is foretold, 21-29. Ezekiel is informed that among those that attended his tnslruclions were a great number of hypocriles, against whom he delivers a most auful message. When the Lord is destroying these hypocrites, then shall they know that there hath been a prophet among them, 30—33.

A GAIN the word of the Lord

2 Son of man, speak " to the children of thy people, and say nnto them, '' When ■= I bring the sword upon a lana, a the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their '' vvatcliman:

3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

4 Then " whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, 'his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 He heard the somid of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, s he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

7 '' So thou, 0 son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou slialt hear the word at my mouth, and ■warn them from me.

8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIII. Verse 2. Son of man — if the people of the land take a man] The first ten verses of this chapter are the same with chap. iii. 17-22; and to what is said there on this most important and awful suljject I must refer the reader. Here the people choose the watchman; there, the Lord appoints him. When God chooses, the people should approve.

Verse 10. If our transgressions and our sins be upon tis] They are upon us, as a grievous burden, too weighty for us to bear: how then can we live under such a load?

die in his iniquity; but tliou hast r. Roman., delivered thy soul. "'■ ^""'"" -°

10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying. If our transgressions and our sins be uj)on us, and we ' pine away in them, '' how should we then live?

1 1 Say unto them, As I live, saitli the Lord God, ^ I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his wav and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for " why will ye die, O house of Israel?

1 2 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, "The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, " he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; p if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

14 Again, i when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do " that which is lawful and right;

15 If the wicked ^restore the pledge, 'give again that he had robbed, walk in " the sta-

consoling is that word: " Come unto me, all ye who are heavy laden, and I will give)'ou rest!"

Verse 11. As 7 live, saith the Lord God, I have nn pleasure in the death of the ivicked] From this to the twentieth verse inclusive is nearly the sami with chap, xviii., on which I wish the reader to consult the notes.

Verse 13. If he trust to his oivn righteousness, and commit iniquity] If he trust in his acting according to the statutes and ordinances of religion, and according to the laws relative to rights and wrongs among men, and in other respects commit iniquity, he shall die for it.

'•"■ """"'" ^"- 16 " None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hatli done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

17 "■ Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

18 '^ When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he.sliall even die thereby.

1 9 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

20 Yet ye say, ^ The way of the Lord is not equal. 0 ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year ' of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, " that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, *> The city is smitten.

22 Now "^ the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; "^ and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.

Verse 19. He shall live thereby] '• The wages of sin IS death;" the " gift of God is eternal life." It is a miserable trade by which a man cannot live; such a trade is sin.

Verse 21. In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month] Instead of (he twelfth year, the eleventh is the reading of seven of Kennicott's MSS., one of De Rossi's, and the Syriac. My own, mentioned in the preceding chapter, reads with the present text. This was on Wednesday, Jan. 35, A. M. 3416 or 3417.

One that had escaped out of Jerusalem] After it had heen taken by the Chaldeans.

Came unto me, saying. The city is smitten.] This very message God had promised to the prophet, chap,

Verse 22. My mouth was opened] They had now ihc fidlest evidence that 1 had spoken from the Lord. I therefore spoke freely and fully what God delivered to me, chap. xxiv. 27.

24 Son of man, ^ they that in- Tan|iitr°Prisci, habit those 'wastes of the land «■ R°man., 29. of Israel speak, saying, s Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: ''• but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.

25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; ' Ye eat with the blood, and ^ lift up your eyes towards your idols, and ' shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

26 "Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye ° defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?

27 Say thou thus unto them. Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely " they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field p will I give to the beasts i to be devoured, and they that he in the forts and >■ in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

28 ^ For I will lay the land ' most desolate, and the " pomp of her strength shall cease; and the ^ mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass tlirough.

29 Then shall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

inherit the land wlien he was alone, and had the whole to himself, why may we not expect to be established here, who are his posterity, and are?nany? They wished to remain in the land and be happy after the Chaldeans had carried the rest away captives.

Verse 25. Ye eat with the blood] Abraham was righteous, ye are unrighteous. Eating of Mood, in any way dressed, or of flesh from which the blood had not been extracted, was and is in the sight of God abominable. All such practices he has absolutely and for ever forbidden. Let the vile blood-eaters hear and tremble. See the note on Acts xv. 20, and the passages in the margin.

Averse 26. Ye stand upon your sword] Ye live by plunder, rapine, and murder. Ye are every way impure; and shall ye possess the land? No.

to speak of those Jews who had fled to rocks, caves, and fortresses, in the mountains; whose death he pre- icts, partly by the sword, partly by ivild beasts, and covetous shepherds of Israel.

30 Also, thou son of man, the XLVlii. 1. chikken of thy people still are Tanjumii Prisci, talking ^'' against thee b)' the

houses, and ^ speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying. Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from

31 And ^ they come unto thee ' as the people Cometh, and '^ they ^ sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will

» Heb. according to the coming of the people, « Or, my people

Verse 30. The people still are talking against thee] ■]3 bach should be rather translated, " concerning thee," than " against thee;" for the following verses show that the prophet was much respected. The Vulgate translates, de te; the Septuagint, *£pi Cou, " concerning thee;" both right.

Talking by the walls and in the doors of the houses is not a custom peculiar to the Copts, mentioned by Bp. Pococke; it is a practice among idle people, and among those who are resting from their work, in every country, when the weather permits. Gossiping in the inside of the house is not less frequent, and much more blamable.

Verse 3 1. As the people cometh] x\s they are accustomed to come on public days. Sabbaths, &c.

32 And, lo, thou ai't unto them as '^ a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

33 ^ And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then ^ shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

With their mouth they show much love] They respected the prophet, but would not bend themselves to follow his precepts. They loved earthly things, and did not relish those of heaven.

Verse 33. As a very lovely song] They admired the fine voice and correct delivery of the prophet; this was their religion, and this is the whole of the religion of thousands to the present day; for never were itching ears so multiplied as now.

A'^erse 33. Whe/i this cometh to pass — then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.] What I have predicted, (and it is even now at the doors,) then they w4li be convinced that there was a prophet among them, by whose ministry they did not profit as they ought.

The prophet is commanded to declare the dreadful judgments of God against the covetous shepherds of Israel, who feed themselves, and not their flocks; by which emblem the priests and Levites are intended, who in EzekieVs time were very corrupt, and the chief cause of Israel's apostasy and ruin, 1-10. From this gloomy subject the prophet passes to the blessedness of the true Israel of God under the reign of David, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ being named after this prince by a figure exceedingly frequent in the sacred oracles, of putting the type for the antitype, 11-31.

R. Roman., 2 hon 01 man, prophesy against ' "^■''"""'" 3°- the ^ shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, *' Wo be to the shep-

Verse 2. Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel] The shepherds include, first, the priests and levites; secondly, the kings, princes, and magistrates. The flock means the whole of the people. The fat and the 1000^ the tithes and offerings, the tares and imposts. The reprehensible feeding and clothing with these, as to the priests and Levites, the using these tithes and offerings, not to enable them the better to fulfil the work of the ministry, but to pamper their own bodies,

you with the wool, ^ ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

and support them in an idle voluptuous life; and in reference to the state, the employing ^ho taxes and imposts, not for the support and administration of justice and good government, but to subsidize heathen powers, and maintain theirown luxury and idolatrous prodigality.

Verse 3. Ye eat the fat] I think D'^nn hacheleb should be translated the milk; and so most of the A'^ersions understand it. Or they lived on the fat sheep, and took the wool of all.

01. XLViii. 2. strengthened, neither have ye r; Roman., healcd that which was sick, cir. annum 30. jigjilier havc ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye fsouglit that which was lost; but with s force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

lierd: ' and they became meat r. Roman., to all the beasts of the field, "'■ '°°""' '^°- when they were scattered.

6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth,

first-fruits, and tlie offerings of the people; the princes received tlie trihutes and imposts; and instead of instructing and protecting them, the latter took away t'neij lives by the cruelties they practised against them: the former destroyed their souls by the poison of their doctrine, and by their bad example. The fat sheep point out the rich, to whom these pastors often disguised the truth, by a cruel condescension and complaisance."

Verse 4. The diseased have ye not strengthened] No person is fit for the office of a shepherd, who does not loell understand the diseases to which sheep are incident, and the mode of cure. And is any man fit for the pastoral office, or to be a shepherd of souls, who is not well acquainted with the disease of sin in all its varieties, and the remedy for this disease, and the proper mode of administering it, in those various cases? He who does not know Jesus Christ as his oum Saviour, never can recommend him to others. He who is not saved, will not save.

Neither have ye healed that which was siclc] The prophet first speaks of the general disease; next, of the different kinds of spiritual infirmity.

Neither have ye hound up that which was broken] If a slieep have broken a leg, a proper shepherd knows how to set the bones, and splint and bind it till the bones knit and become strong. And the skilful spiritual pastor knows, if one of the flock be overtaken in a fault, how to restore such. Those sudden falls, where there was not a strong propensity to sin, are, to the soul, as a broken bone to the body.

Neither have ye brought again] A proper shepherd loves his sheep: he feels interested for their welfare; he acquaints himself with them all, so that he knows and can distinguish each. He knows also their number, and frequently counts to see that none is missing; if one be lost or strayed, he goes immediately and seeks it; and as he is constantly on the watch, it cannot have strayed far before he is apprised of its absence from the flock; and the less it has strayed, the sooner it is found and brought back to the fold.

The shepherds of Israel knew nothing about their flork; they might have been diseased, infirm, bruised, ■maimed, their limbs broken, strayed, and lost; for they watched not over them, ^^^len they got fat sheep and wool for their table and their clothing, they regarded nothing else; as they considered the flock given them for their own use, and scarcely ever supposed that they were to give any thing in return for the milk and the wool.

But ivith force and with cruelty] Exacting tithes and dues by the strong arm of the law, with the most ungodly feelings; and with a cruelty of disposition that proved it was the fat and the loool they sought, and not the safety or comfort of the flock.

Verse 5. And they were scattered] There was no discipline kept up; and the flock, the Church, became disorganized, and separated from each other, both in affection and fellowship. And the consequence was, the grievous wolves, false and worldly interested teachers, seized on and made a prey of them. Of the com- 7nunion of saints such shepherds know nothing, farther than that it makes a part of the common creed.

Verse 6. My sheep ivandcred through all the mountains] They all became idolaters, and lost the knowledge of the true God. And could it be otherwise while they had such pastors 1

" Himself a wanderer from the narrow way, His silly sheep, no wonder that they stray!"

Reader, if thou be a minister, a preacher, or a person in holy orders, or pretended holy orders, or art one pretending to holy orders, look at the qualifications of a good shepherd as laid down by the prophet.

2. In consequence he undertakes the care of a flock. This supposes that he believes the great Bishop of souls has called him to the pastoral office; and that oSice implies that he is to give all diligence to save the souls of them that hear him.

1. He is skilful; he knows the disease of sin and its consequences; for the Eternal Spirit, by whom he is called, has convinced him of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

2. He knows well the great remedy for this disease, the passion and sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus

4. The flock over which he watches is, in its individuals, either, — 1. Healthy and sound. 2. Or, in a state of convalescence, returning to health. 3. Or, still under the whole power of the general disease. 4. Or, some are dying in a state of spiritual iveakness. 5. Or, some zxe fallen into sin, and sorely bruised and broken in their souls by that fall. 6. Or, some have been driven aicay by some sore temptation or cruel usage. 7. Or, some have wandered from the flock, are got into strange pastures, and are perverted by erroneous doctrines. Or, 8. Some ii-olf has got among

8 A* I hve, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock " became meat to every beast of tlie field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, " but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

9 Therefore, 0 ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

10 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and ° I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither siiall the shepherds P feed themselves any more: for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

1 1 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold,

12 lAs a shepiicrd seekelh R. Ko'man!r'' out his flock in the day that he "■■■ ="■""'" 30- is among liis slieep that are scattered; so will I seek out my slieep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in ■■ tiie cloudy and dark day.

13 And ^I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

14 'I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: " there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause

them, and scattered the whole flock. Now, the true shepherd, the pastor of God's choosing, knows —