DEUTERONOMY. Ch.xwviiid 49—54
raiment, and the common neceffaries of life, and as the Chaldee and Hebrew languages were onl dialects of one and the fame language, common to the eaftern nations, the Chal/dee language, though — on accountof termination of words, pronunciation, — be underftood by the Fews, yet muft be much more eafy to underftand than the Roman language, fo widely different from theirs..)
cially with their bondage under the Romans, who ftrong of face’; which aptly defcribes the old Ro- are the legs of iron in Nebuchadnezzar’s image, and the fourth beaft with great iron teeth in Daniel’s vifion, Dan. ii. 33, 40. and vii. 7. and this yoke was to continue until be have deftroyed thee; the Fews were under the Roman yoke, Roman go- mans, who are always reprefented as fuch; and whereas it is faid of the Chaldeans, that they were anation dreadful and terrible, Had. i. 7. the fame is faidof the fourth beaft, or Roman empire, Dan. vil. 7. who were a terror to all the world: wich vernors being fet over them, and Judea made a fhall not regard the perfon of the old, nor foew fa-
Roman province, many years before the deftruction of their nation, city, and temple by them.
¥.49. The Lord fhall bring a nation againft thee from far, from the end of the earth, &c.] Now tho’ Babylon is reprefented as a country diftant from Judea, and faid to be a nation from far, Fer. v. 15. yet not from ihe end of the earth, as here; and tho’ the Roman nation, ftrictly fpeaking, was not at fo great a diftance from Jerufalem, yet the Roman emperors, and great part of their armies brought again{t it, were fetched from our ifland of Great- Britain, which in former times was reckoned the end of the earth, and the uttermoft parts of the world'; and fo Manaffeh Ben I/rael* interprets this nation of Rome, and obferves, that Ve/pa/ian brought for his affiftance many nations (or foldiers) out of England, France, Spain, and other parts of the world: and not only Vefpafian was fent for from Britain to make war with the Fews, but when they rebelled, in the times of Adrian, Fulius Severus, a very eminent general, was fent for from thence to quell them. And it appears to be a very ancient opinion of the Fews, that this paflage is to be underftood of the Romans, from what is related in one of their Talmuds»: they fay that “* Trajan being fent for by his wife to fubdue the ews, determined to come in ten days, and camein five; hecame and found them, (the Zews) bufy in the law on that verfe, the Lord fhall bring a nation againft thee from far, &c. he faid unto them, What are ye bufy in? they anfwered him, fo and fo; he replied to them, this is the man, (meaning himfelf) who thought to come in tendays, and came in five; and he furrounded them with his legions, and flew them:” as fwift as the eagle flieth, which may refpect not fo much the fwiftnels of this creature, the words which convey the idea being a fupplement of the text, as the force with which it flies when in fight of its prey, and haftes unto it and falls upon it, which is irrefiftible; and this is the fenfe of the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, and is: what is afcribed to the eagle by other writers”. Now though this figure is ufed of the Chaldeans and Babylonians, Fer. iv. 13. Lam. iv. 19. Hab.i. 8. it agrees full as well or better with the Romans, becaute of their fwiftnefs in coming from diftant parts, and becaufe of the force and ‘ impetus with which they invaded Fudea, befieged Feriufalem, and attacked the ‘ews every-where; and befides, the eagle was bore on the ftandard in the Roman army*: @ nation whofe tongue thou foalt not underftand; which though it is alfo faid of the vour to the young; cruel, unmerciful, and uncompaffionate, to perfons of whatfoever age or fex; _ which, as it was the character of the Chaldeans, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17. fo of the Romans, who efpecially fhewed no mercy to the Fews, as Fofephus*, who was an eye-witne(s, teftifies. ‘* The Romans (fays he) fhewed no mercy to any age, out of hatred to the nation (of the Fews), and in remembrance of the injuries done to Ceffius;” one of their governors, when among them. And in another place he fays?, ‘* the Romans, remembering what they fuffered in the fiege, fpared none, and fhewed no mercy.” aM.
¥. 51. And he foall eat the fruit of thy cattle, &c.
Larger and leffer, oxen and fheep, as their calves and Jambs, and kids of the goat: and the fruit of thy land, their wheat, barley, figs, grapes, pome= granates, olives and dates: until thou be deftroyed; the land of Fudeaz, and all the increafé of it: this being before faid, ¥. 31, 33. and here repeated,’ fhews that the fame fhould be fulfilled at difference’ times, as by the Chaldeans, fo by the Romans; whofe nation, or army, with their general at the head of them, may be more efpecially here intended by 4e, that fhould eat up their see utter deftruction was brought.upon them: which alfo fhall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increafe of thy kine, or flocks of thy fheep, nptil he have deftroyed thee, all being confumed by the Roman army. ‘There is a promile and prophecy, that though this would be the cafe, as it has been, there fhall be a time when it fhall be fo no more; fee If, lxii. 8, 9.
¥. 52. And he fhall befiege thee in all thy gates, &c ] That is, in all their cities and walled towns, which had gates and bars for fecurity: watil thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou truftedft throughout all thy land; the Jews had feveral cities well fenced and flrongly fortified, befides Fe rufalem, which was fortified both by art and nature, andin which they greatly put their truft and confidence; but thefe were broken down, particu-— larly by the battering rams of the Romans:
be foall befiege thee in all thy gates, throughout all» thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee y
this is repeated for the certainty of it, and ¢ might be taken notice of, and abate their truft and confidence in their outward ftrength, all this was fulfilled, partly in the fiege of Sz by the king of Afyri2, who went through all land of the ten tribes, 2 Kings xvii. 5. and g, 10. and in Senxnacherib’s taking the fence language of the Chaldean nation, Yer. v.15. yet of Fudab, 2 Kings xviii. 13. and in the f ge of F
Ch.xxvii ¥.53—-57. DEVUTERONOMY.
leather on fhields, 8c. as Fo/fephus 4 fays they did rufalem, and breaking down the walls.of it by Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings xxy. 10. and laft of all in the fiege of Ferufulem, and battering down. the walls of it by the Romans; at which time alfo all their {trong and fenced cities throughout the land, were taken and demolifhed.
¥. 53. Aud thou fhalt eat the fruit of thine own body, &c.} Than which nothing can be more - fhocking and unnatural, which is explained as follows: tbe fielo of thy fons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, which is an aggravation of the cruel and inhuman fact: in the fiege, and in the firaitne/s wherewith thine enemies foall diftrefs thee, this fhews the caufe of it, a famine by reafon of the clofenefs of the fiege, fo that no provifions could be'’brought in for their relief; and all within being eaten up, and every thing that was eatable, even the molt naufeous and difagreeable, they would be led on to this ftrange, unheard-of, and barbarous a¢tion, eating their own children. This was fulfilled in the fiege of Sa- eat; and this being the cafe, nothing eatable remaining, therefore his heart would ‘be hardened
-againft his neareft relations, and not allow them the leaft part with him, even of what was fo fhocking and unnatural. ¥. 56. And the tender and delicate woman among ft you, &c.) Who is inftanced in becaufe of her fex, which is more pitiful andcompaffionate, and efpecially one that has been brought up genteely, and has always lived delicioufly, on the moft delicate fare, and niceft.dainties, and ufed to all the delights of nature: which would not venture to fet her foot upon the ground for delicatenefs and tenderne s; for fear of taking cold, or defiling her feet: her eye all be evil towards the bufband of ber bofom, and towards ber fon, and towards ber.daughter; grudge them every bit they eat, and reftrain food from them as much as in her lies, and even finatch it out of their mouths; fo Fo/epbus * relates, that ‘* women fnatched the food out of the mouths of their maria, 2 Kings vi. 25, 28,29. andin the fiege of hufbands, and fons out of the mouths of their fa-
¥. 64. Sothat the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, 8cc.] Nat only the ruftic that has been brought up meanly, and ufed to hard living; bat one that has been bred very tenderly, and lived in a delicate manner, like the rich man in Luke xvi.19. that fared fumptuoufly every day: his eye foall be evil towards bis brother, and towards the wife of bis bofom, and towards the remnant of his children which be fhall leave; that is, he fhall grudge his brother, who is fo nearly related to him, the leaft bit of food; yea, his wife he dearly loved, and is one flefh with him, his other felf, and even his children, which are parts of himfelf, fuch of them as were left not eaten by him; orhis eye fhould be evil upon them, he fhould look with an evil eye on them, determining within himfelf to kill and eat them next. ‘Though the particular inftance in which his eye would be evil to them follows, yet no doubt there are other inftances in! which his eye would be evil towards them, as there’
were at the fiege of Ferwfalem, and have been fince. Yofepbus * fays, ‘* that in every houfe where there was any appearance of food, (or any thing that’
looked like it, that had the fhadow of it) there was abattle; and the deareft friends fought with one another, fnatching away from each other the miferable fupports of life;” his wife and children, and the wife from her hufband and children; fee more in ¥. 56. and, in af-1 é ter-times, we are told by the Few hiftorian *, that wrote an account of their fufferings and diftreffes fince their difperfion, that at Fez the Jews fold their children for flaves for bread.
thers; and what is moft miferable, mothers out of the mouths of their infants.” ¥.57. And towards ber young one that cometh out from between her feet, &c | Or her fecundine, ber after-virth, as in the margin of our bibles; fo the Targum of Fonathan and Aben Ezra interpret it. The latter defcribes it, ** the place of the foetus, whilft it abides in the womb of its mother;” the membrane in which the child is wrapt; and it is fuggeited that as naufeous as that is, the delicate woman fhould eat it, and then the new-born child that was wrapped in it; fo farchi interprets it, little children; though it feems to be diftinguifhed from the children fhe bears or brings forth in the next Claufe: and towards her children which fhe fhall bear; that is, have an evil eye towards them, to eat them as follows: for fhe fhall eat them for want of all things, fecretly, in the fiege and ftraitue s wherewith thine enemy fall diftre/s thee in thy gates; that is, eat her children, being reduced to the utmoft extremity, being in want of all things, having nothing at all to abate her fharp hunger; which, and nothing elfe could incline her, and prevail upon her, to do an action fo monftroufly horrid: and which fhe would do in the moft private and fecret manner; both left others fhould partake with her, as well as being confcious of the foulnefs and blacknefs of the crime, that would not by any means bear the light; and all this owing to the clofenefs of the fiege, and the unfpeakable diftrefs they fhould be inthrough it. For the illuftration of this, take the following ftory as related by Fo-
epbus ‘; ** a woman, whofe name was Mary, that lived beyond ‘Yordan, illuftrious for her defcent and riches, fled with the multitude to Feru/alem when befieged, carrying with her her fubftance, and what.food fhe could get that were left her by the
¥. 55. So that he will not give to any of them of the flelh of his children whom he foall eat, 8cc. ther give to a brother, nor to a wife, nor toany of his remaining children, the leaft bit of the flefh of a child he has killed and dreffed for his own which adds to the barbarity of his action: decaufe he hath nothing left him in the fiege, and in the nefs wherewith thine enemies foall diftrefs thee in all thy gates; every creature being eaten up, dogs, cats, 8c. and whatloever elfe could be any ways made food of; as the dung of beafts, girdles, thoes, the
{poilers; where being preffed with famine, fhe WNei-| took her fucking child, killed it, boiled it, and eat half of it, and then laid up the reft, and covered it; and when the feditious party entered the houfe, food;) they {melt it, and demanded her food, threatening to kill her if the did not'deliver it; which when frrait-\ fhe brought forth, declaring what fhe had done, they were ftruck with horror; to whom be faid, thisis my fon, and this my own deed; eat, for I have eaten; be not more tender or fofter than a woman, and more fympathizing or more Pinal than a’mother.” All the ideas that this prophecy of Mofes conveys are to be met with in this accounts as of a woman well bred. and delicate, reduced to the utmott diftrefs, and wanting all the neceffaries of life, killing her tender infant, a fucking babe, eating it fecretly, and laying up the reft covered againft another time. If Mo/es had lived to have 'Fézs thenifelves * own» this has been | fulfilled-on them. ©) 4). 6. 91 ae vn y. 62. And ye fall. be left few in number, Seow There were but very few left in thesland of Fu= dea by Nebuchadnezzar’s general, when Yerufalent was taken by him; and thefe were pido Sh peg fort, and. were left for vine-drefiers and hutband- pc the fact ier ey os valen did, Ps — Fer. ork apn Pv YD A eo could not have exprefled it well in ftronger and)they were reduced by: » Will appear by’ — clearer terms than he has done.. This is a moft|the accounts Fo/ephus gives of thofe oo flain,! amazing inftance of a prophecy delivered out 2,000] and made prifoners by them: he a ee years or more before the ae was done, ee the 2h I, a fe flain at estes, Letuent: exact accomplifhment of it; and if the obferva-| by the war, and 97,000 made prifoners 5 and it 18° tion of a learned critic ® can be eftablithed, that the}computed that 1,240,490 were deftroyed in Feru- Girt word of this verfe fhould be mbyray, and fo alem and other parts tithe nation 3-and itis alto be rendered, and fhe fhall boil that which cometh out faid by aaa gs 95,; a efron ig mmo from between her feet, even ber children which fhe Apsara erg 4 ain ie et ot Tl foal bear, the fulfilment of the prophecy will ap- leftine 29 —s fe thou ee aakiieis “s pear ftill more exact, both at the fiege of Samaria, Fee: = an pagel coe eee,; Kings em pani of Ferufalem, as inthe above re- P ais ar a Ny ee an. ae rere ation Oo ofeprus., 4 Ay 58. If a wilt not obferve to do ail the bese 5,000 of them were left: whereas ye were as ‘the. of this law, that are written in this book, Sec.) Of Viars of heaven for multitude; and as it is fometimes Deuteronomy, in which: there is,arepetition of the|faid, as the fand of the fea, as was promifed to laws before delivered, and an addition of fome new cone oh XV. 5: ay XXli. A and was mf ones; all which were to be. fo obferved as tq-be/filled in the days of Solomon, 1 Kings iv. 20. bam done, to this end, bets 3 mayeft ently oetene (eae ~ prenit me ca: we ir of the chen ad fearful name of the Lord thy God; or that itjGod; inhis law, and by. his prophets;.and efpes, pte taal that ti fear of God was before their cially by the voice of the true Meffiah, in his evereyes, and in their hearts, by their obedience to his jlafting gofpel; of whom itis faid to-day if ye) will Jaw; that they had a proper awe and reverence hear bis voice, cc. Heb. ii. 7. eat hew | of him, who is glorious in his titles and attributes,|’ y. 63. And it foall come to pafs that asthe Lord and whofe name Jehovah is holy and pieaend, Kayne ss abet - you wre a The po ag and who, as the covenant-God of his people, is to;the Lord, as the Zargum of ‘Jonathan, who with. beefeated for his goodnefs-fake. Ce great delight and pleafure in them brought them, ¥. 59. Then the Lord will make thy plagues won-jout of Egypt, conducted them through the wilder=' derful, &c,] Vifible, remarkable, diftinguifhable,|nefs, protecting them and providing all good things: and aftonifhing toall that fee them: and the plagues\for them and brought them into the land of Ca~ donc,’ with their poten, age aftr sgh ‘extal feted, thencthele ands goes aan one, with their pofterity, age after age: even; ave, great plagues and a hs 'teebabe eek creat as to quality and quantity, and firm, fure, lafting, durable; the word ufed is rendered /ure in Jf. lv. 3- fure by prophecy and in the event; and -which when inflicted remained, as they have 1,700 years; all which might be believed as certain, or what would certainly come to pafs, and be depended on: kings, priefts and prophets, for a long feries of andjtime, with other innumerable bleffings he beftowed upon es a 4 pysiteks you; - ne i came as the ftars of heaven, and t e fand of the fea, as before obferved: fo the Lord will rejoice over lyou to deftroy you, and to bring you to nought; take as much pleafure in their ruin and pasted ane uit Bod and g in continuance oe idee ob ‘ase re par is yor a thofe difeafes mentioned y. 2. or however others including them. ae good things on them, in the itch, ulcers, &c, which thou waft afraid of; when living among them, left they fhould catchjan them of them, or they fhould be infliéted on them by the-hand of God: and they fhall cleave unto thee; not only fhould- come upon them, but continue with them; Bey, fhould not eafily get rid of them, or nour of his laws preferved, as » in which mercy and kindnefs were difplayed: and ye fhall ve plucked fromoff the land whither thou goeft to pails it; insa svablemt> manner, by their enemies, and againft their wills, they being loth to leaveit. The emperor Adrian, as the leprofy, to prevent their infurrections and rebellions, which: had given hima great deal of trouble, ordered by. edict that no few fhould come into Feru/alem, nor into the land of Fudea, or be feen in it, which’ is obferved by feveral writers™; by which means the country was cleared of them. © In after times, saat of pets ghee Et ose
¥. 60. Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the difeases of Egypt, &c.| All that in away of judgment were brought upon the Egyptians for refufing to let [/rael go 5 or all fuch difeafes as were peculiar to them, and common among them,.
¥. 61. Alfo every ficknefs and every plague which as not written in the book of this law, &c.) Which is nor here mentioned or threatened; andit fuggells, that whatfoever ficknefs or difeafe that could be thought of or named, or were at any time in any place among men, might be expected to come npon them for their difobedience:
Lord bring upon ihee until thou-be defrayed, century, travelled into feveral parts of the world in queft of his countrymen, and particularly into j dea@, and his view was to magnify his people; an yet owns he found at Yerufalem only 200 perfor whofe. employment was dying wool, and dwelt a corner of the town under the tower of Daut them will thejand but 12 at Bethlebem, 3 at Mare/ba, at Shui thejindeed 300, none at Gilead, 2 at Nob, whar dyers, 3. at Ramab, one at Soppaj none at Fafne, where had been a’famous academy, none at Afbaod, and at Tiberias about 50".
Sandys °, who travelled into “Fudea in the laft tury, fays, ** here be fome Fews, yet inherit they no part of the land, but in their own country do yr. 66..And thy life fall bang in ‘doubex before’ thee, 8ee.] Whether it thall be fpared or not by the And our countrymanjenemy: and thou halt fear day and night; be in, cen- continual: dread of being killed: and Joalt bave sone affurance of tby life's of its: being continued a: moment {carcely} but’ live in conftant fear and ex- live as aliens.”’ 1082 pectation of its being taken aways 6 0) gah «yx. 64. And the Lord foall featter thee among all people, fromthe one end of the earth even to theother, &e.} Which refers to their prefent difperfion, be~ ing now, more or fewer, in all parts of the eait, weft, north, and fouth: and there thou foalt ferve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and ftone; it may. be ob« ferved, that the phrafe which neither thou nor fathers have known, is fitly added here, which is not ufed of them, ¥. 36.
idols of the Papifs, their images of the virgin Mary, and faints departed, made of wood and ftone, which were fuch the fathers of the Yews never knew; jutt as it is faid of the hofts the eonfecrated wafer, the breaden God honoured by 4ztichrif, that it is @ God whom bis fathers knew not, Dan. xi. 38. the apoftles and ancient fathers of the church. Now in Popifh countries the ews’ have and often been prevailed upon to change, or at leaft femble their religion, and embrace popery; “and ¥. have worlhipped images of wood and ftone. author of the hiftory of their ‘calamities and ferings owns this; °° multitudes (he fays?) and Portugal forfook the law of Mo/es, and joited the Papijis, pretending at leaft to'be of theif re. ligion.” He makes mention 6f 16,000 at one time’, and fome, he fays", ‘‘ that were driven’ out ‘of Spain, caine into Italy, where the young men prefied with famine could not beat it, and changed their religion, and began to worfhip images that they might have to fatisfy their hunger; and the Papifis ufed to go about with: a. crucifix in one hand, and a piece of bread in the other, promifing the bread to thofe that would worfhip the and fo, many famifhing perfons forfook the law of Mojfes, and mixed with them: and to this day the convents of monks and nuns in'Spain are full of them; and moft of their canons, inquifitors, bifhops are Jews *.’ The Targuin: of ‘Fonathan jndeed, to clear them from idolatry itfelf, gives other fenf of thefé words, °paraphrafing them, «< ye fhall pay tribute to ‘the’ worfhippers of yr. 67. In the morning thou foalt foy, would God. /t qwere evens &ccv) Wifhing ‘they might get thro” the day well, feating their life would be taken:away world, before night,.or. fome fad calamity befal- them, before the day was patt: and at even thou fhalt fay, would God it were mornings dreading what would happen to them in the night, that jome mefienger thy of death:;would.be fent to difpatch them, op they" fhould be shaled out of bed to acourt of inquiand well agrees with the fition, and caft-into a dungeon: for the fear of thine Feart wherewith thou fhalt. fear, ana for the fight of tbine eyes which thou fhalt fee, often beholding tuch dreadful fights, as their countrymen put upon the rack, and: eruelly tortured, and then burntalive; and fo their ‘hearts would fear and tremble, left they fhould be the next that would be taken up and ufed’in this manner; "befides® other “Yeverities hard» ufages,’ with which their brethren were dit treated, and theyin continual fear of. 68. And the Lord hall bring thee into Lgypt Thelagait with ships, 8cc.] Either itito a ftate of hard fuf bondage and flavery, like that their fathers were in Spaéw pin in Egypt; or rather, ftrictly and literally, fhould be brought into Egypt again, ‘fince it is faid to be w#th or in fips. This does not refpect. the going Jof thofe Fews into Egypt who were left in the land of. Fudea, after the deftruction of Feru/alem by Ne buchadnezzar'; for that was againft the ‘exprefs command of God, Fer. xlii, 13—22. and xliiiz 45 5» 6,7. ‘There were feveral removes of them into Egypt aiter that time; ah ‘heathen hiftorian“ tells us, that not a few thoufands of Jews went into Egypt and Phanicia, becaule of the fedicrucifix; tion in Syria vafter| the death of Alexander,. and where, it feems, in procefs. of tinie they became {laves: for we are-told by Fofephus*, that 120,000 flaves were fet free by Ptolemy Philadelphus; but “and what is chiefly refpected: here is their cafe'in the times of the ‘Romans, and ‘by. their means. Now an- when Yerufalem was taken’ by Titus, thofe above «7 years of age were fent by him to the works, ‘ot mines in Egypt, as the fame ‘hiftorian’ relates 7 § idols.” aT Ms o« fand after their laft overthrow by Adrian, many
¥. 65. And among thefe nations foalt thou find'no ‘gales neither foall the fole of thy foot have ret, &c.) No quiet fettlement, nor certain dwelling, being obliged to move from place to place through cruel ediéts, heavy. fines and muléts, exorbitant taxes and impofitions, and diligent fearch made. after them by the courts of the inquifition, efpecially where any fubftance was to be’ got. The Fews themfelves ‘ own’ that this paflage is now Sn them: bat the Lord fhall give thee there a trembling heart, being always in fear left their perfons fhould be feized on, their children taken from them, and their goods confifcated; herice the; poet " gives them the epithet of ¢rembling: ang of eyes; in looking for a vainly-expected. Me fiah, to deliver them from all their fears and ‘bles: and forrow of mind under their prefent af- - flitions and calamities.
thoufands were fold, and what -cotild not be fold were tranfported into Egypt, and perifhed by /hipwreck, or famine, or were flaughtered by the people *; whereby this prophecy was literally and exactly fulfilled, and which is owned by the: Yews themfelves.\,\Manaféh Ben Ifraet* obferves, ‘that jthough Vefpafian banifhed: the ‘fews into divers countries, Hgypt is only mehtidned ‘by way of refulfilled proach, as if it had been faid, ye fhall go captives into the land from which ye ‘went out triumphant: dy'the way whereof I fpake unto thee, thou foalt fee ét 70 more again the Targumot Fonathan is, * the Word of the Lord fhall’ bring’ thee into Egypt and fail- again in fhips';” even the fame divine Word, the -|Son of God, that brought them out of it, and trou- went before them in a pillar of cloud and fire, now provoked by their rejection of him, would lead. ' them back again thither; the paraphraft adds,
“* through the midft of the Red-/ea, in the path which ye paffed;” as if they were carried over into Egypt in fhips, juft in that part of the fea.in which they had paffed before; but that was an unknown anid unfeen path, after the waters were clofed up,! and never to be feen more, and which is meant; for not Egyp/, but the way in which they paffed, was to be feenno more: and there ye fhall be fold unto your enemies for bond-men and for bondwomen, and no man foall buy you; that is, there in Egypt they would be offered to fale, and fo many would be fold until the market was glutted with them, and there would be no buyers, The Targum of Fonathan is, ** ye fhall be fold there at firft to your enemies, at a dear price, as artificers, and afterwards at a mean price as fervants and until ye become defpifed, and be brought to ferve for nothing, and there be none to take you in.’ in, Farchi interprets it of they themfelves being defirous, and feeking to be fold, to avoid cruelties and death; which agrees with the fenfe of the word, which may be rendered, ye foall offer your felves te a/e; but there will be no buyer, becaufe their herejenemies will determine upon the flaughter and confumption of them; and to the fame purpofe ben Ezra. There were fuch numbers of them to be fold both at Egypt, and at Rome, that the fellers of them had but a poor market for them; and it feems not only becaufe: of their number, but the ill opinion had of them as fervants. Hege/ppus » fays,y ‘* there were many-to be fold, but there were few. buyers; for the Romans defpifed the Fews for fervice, nor were there Jews left to redeem their handmaids, own.” It is faid*, that thirty were fold for a penny; a juft retaliation to them, who had fold their Mefiab for thirty pieces of filver.