CHAPTER III. Ver. 4. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey; and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

See on Nah. 1. 8.

CHAPTER IV.

Ver. 5. So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city; 6. And the Lord GOD prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7. But God prepared a worm, when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind: and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

The gourd produces leaves and branches resembling those of the garden cucumber. Its fruit is shaped like an orange, of a light white substance when the rind is taken off, and so bitter that it has been called the gall of the earth. It is not eatable; but is a very fit vessel for flagons, being light, capacious, and smooth, frequently a foot and a half in diameter.

The gourd of Jonah is generally allowed to be the elkeroa or ricinus, a plant well known in the East; "it grows very high, and projects many branches and large leaves. In a short time it reaches a considerable height: its stem is thick, channelled, distinguished by many knots, hollow within, branchy at top, of a sea-green colour: its leaves are large, cut into seven or more divisions, pointed and edged, of a bright, blackish, shining-green. Those nearest the top are the largest; its flowers are ranged on their stem like a thyrsus: they are of a deep-red, and stand three together.

With this description agrees the account in the prophet, of its rising over his head to shelter it; for this plant rises eight or nine feet, and is remarkably rapid in withering, when decayed or gathered.

The gourd which defended the prophet is said to have been prepared by the Lord. We have no reason to conclude from this expression, that the Almighty created it for the special purpose; he only appointed and promoted its growth in that particular spot, raising its stem and expanding its branches and leaves according to the ordinary laws of nature, till it formed a most refreshing shade over the place where the angry seer waited the fulfilment of his prediction. "We may conceive of it," says Calmet, an extraordinary one of its kind, remarkably rapid in growth, remarkably hard in its stem, remarkably vigorous in its branches, and remarkable for the extensive spread of its leaves, and the deep gloom of their shadow; and after a certain duration, remarkable for a sudden withering and uselessness to the impatient prophet.

"as

The worm which struck the gourd has been considered rather as a maggot than a worm. It was, no doubt, of the species appropriate to the plant; but of what particular species is uncertain. Like the gourd, it was also prepared by Jehovah, to indicate its extraordinary size and vigour; that it acted by his commission; and that the effect of its operations was so rapid and decisive, as clearly to discover the presence of divine energy.-PAXTON.

Ver. 6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

The margin has, instead of "gourd," "Kikajon, or Palmecrist!" Dr. Clarke asks," But what was the Kikajon? the best judges say the racinus or Palma-Christi, from which we get what is vulgarly called castor-oil." The Tamul translation has, instead of "gourd," Amanaku, i. e. the PalmaChristi! It is believed, also, the verb is in the preterperfect tense, HAD prepared, which may be another instance of the verb as illustrated under Isa. xxi. 9. The Palma-Christi is most abundant in the East, and I have had it in my own garden to the height of fourteen leet. The growth is very rapid: v. 7, "God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered," i. e. the Palma-Christi till it withered. This tree, in the course of a VERY short period, produces the "rough caterpillar,” respecting which, I have written under Jer. li. 27, and in one night (where the caterpillers are abundant) will they strip the tree of its leaves, and thus take away the shade. But there is another worm in the East, called the kurutlupullu, i. e. blind worm, SAID to be produced by the dew; it begins its devastations at what is called the cabbage part of the palm, and soon destroys the tree: v. 8, "God prepared a vehement east wind." I have already written on that parching, life-destroying wind. But the margin has it, or SILENT," ," which probably means CALM. Thus when there is a lull of an easterly wind, and the sun pours his fierce rays on the head of the poor traveller, it seems as if life must depart: birds and beasts pant; there is the silence of death, and nature seems ready to expire.-ROBERTS.

"It was early in the evening, when the pointed turrets of the city of Mosul opened on our view, and communicated no very unpleasant sensations to my heart. I found myself on scripture-ground, and could not help feeling some portion of the pride of the traveller, when I reflected that I was now within sight of NINEVEH, renowned in holy writ. The city is seated in a very barren sandy plain, on the banks of the river Tigris, embellished with the united gifts of Pomona, Ceres, and Flora. The external view of the town is much in its favour, being encompassed with stately walls of solid stone, over which the steeples or minarets, and other lofty buildings, are seen with increased effect. Here I saw a caravan encamped, halting on its march from the Gulf of Persia to Armenia; and it cer tainly made a most noble appearance, filling the eye with a multitude of grand objects, all uniting to form one magnificent whole. But though the outside be so beautiful, the inside is most detestable: the heat is so intense, that in the middle of the day there is no stirring out, and even at night the walls of the houses are so heated by the day's sun, as to produce a disagreeable heat to the body, at a foot, or even a yard distance from them. However, I entered it with spirits, because I considered it as the last stage of the worst part of my pilgrimage. But, alas! I was disappointed in my expectation; for the TIGRIS was dried up by the intensity of the heat, and an unusual long drought, and I was obliged to take the matter with a patient shrug, and accommodate my mind to a journey on horseback, which, though not so long as that I had already made, was likely to be equally dangerous; and which, therefore, demanded a full exertion of fortitude and resolution.

"It was still the hot season of the year, and we were to travel through that country, over which the horrid wind I have before mentioned sweeps its consuming blasts: it is called by the Turks samiel, is mentioned by holy Job under the name of the east wind, and extends its ravages all the way from the extreme end of the Gulf of Cambaya, up to Mosul; it carries along with it fleaks of fire, like threads of silk; instantly strikes dead those that breathe it, and consumes them inwardly to ashes; the flesh soon becoming black as a coal, and dropping off the bones. Philosophers consider it as a kind of electric fire, proceeding from the sulphureous or nitrous exhalations which are kindled by the agitation of the winds. The only possible means of escape from its fatal effects, is to fall fat on the ground, and thereby prevent the drawing it in: to do this, however, it is necessary first to see it, which is not always practicsble. Besides this, the ordinary heat of the climate is er tremely dangerous to the blood and lungs, and even to the skin, which it blisters and peels from the flesh, affecting the eyes so much, that travellers are obliged to wear a trans parent covering over them to keep the heat off."

These accounts, from Col, Campbell's Travels, illustrate the history of JONAH, his behaviour and his sufferings, in the

same parts. The colonel reports that the heat is extreme, both by day and night, in the town; that the Tigris was dried up by the intensity of the heat; that the heat blisters the skin, &c. "Now Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, till he might see what would become of the city," (iv. 5,) to which he had prophesied destruction in forty days' time, (iii. 4.) Jonah could not expect the destruction of the city until about, or after, the expiration of the forty days' respite allowed to it; so long then, at least, he waited in this burning climate. But, as he knew God to be slow to anger, (iv. 2,) he might wait some days, or even some weeks, after the expiration of the appointed time; so that although he was sent on his message, and had delivered it before the great heats came on, yet, to satisfy his curiosity, he endured them. Thus circumstanced, he constructed for himself a shelter from the sun; and doubtless, when the pp KIKIUM, (gourd, English translation,) or kind of palm, rose in addition to his booth, at once ornamenting, filling, and shadowing it, to complete his shelter, he might well rejoice over the gourd with exceeding great joy. [Might not this plant, growing chiefly by night, Heb. "which a son of night was, and (as) a son of night perished," be some time in rising for that purpose? See Kikajon, Jonah, and Fragment, No. lxxviii.] This plant, during a time, perhaps during a great part of the forty days, or several weeks succeeding, afforded him shelter; then, while in full vigour, without apparent decay, he left it well overnight, and in the morning it was shrunk, faded, and gone: so that at sunrise, when the morning should be cool, Jonah, examining his plant, was struck by the scarcely-moving aura of an east wind, vehemently hot; no wonder, then, he fainted, and wished to die, when the

only part of the day in which he could hope for coolness, was thus suffocating. What Jonah must have endured from the heat, Colonel Campbell's account may assist us to conceive. We may observe, further, how aptly this plant was a SIGN of Nineveh, its history, and its fate: it was a time in coming to perfection, and it was a time in a perfect state: so that city was long before it was mistress of the countries around it, and it held that dignity for a time; but, at about forty years after Jonah's prophecy, (prophetic days, for years, as some have supposed,) the worm (insurrection and rebellion) smote the plant; and the king of Nineveh (Sardanapalus) burnt himself, with his treasures, &c., in his palace. A fate very appropriately prefigured by the kikium of Jonah! The expectation of coolness in the morning, may be justified from the following extract, in which we find the colonel, like Jonah, reposing under trees in the heat of the day. "From Latikea to Aleppo, mounted on a mule, I travelled along, well pleased with the fruitful appearance of the country; and delighted with the serenity of the air. We were, as well as I can now recollect, near ten days on the road; during which time, we travelled only in the morning early, and in the heat of the day we reposed under the shade of trees."-Taylor in CALMET.

Ver. 11. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

See on Nah. 1. 8.

CHAPTER I.

Ver. 7. And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burnt with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of a harlot, and they shall return to the hire of a harlot.

Here again we have unalloyed and rampant heathenism: the "sacred" courtesans of the temple give a part of their hire towards the repairing and beautifying of the building; and also to purchase idols, or carry on the festivals. At the annual festival of Scandan, which continues twentyfour days, the females alluded to defray the expenses of the last day from the proceeds of their own wickedness.ROBERTS.

Ver. 8. Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

Or, "ostriches." It is affirmed by travellers of good credit, that ostriches make a fearful, screeching, lamentable noise. "During the lonesome part of the night, they often make a very doleful and hideous noise. I have often heard them groan, as if they were in the greatest agonies: an action beautifully alluded to by the prophet Micah." (Shaw.) -BURDER.

Ver. 16. Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the

eagle; for they are gone into captivity trom thee.

in Ethiopia only by the name nisser, eagle; but by him Mr. Bruce has given us an account of an eagle, known called the golden eagle; by the vulgar, abou duch'n, father long-beard, from the tuft of hair under his chin. He is a very large bird. “A forked brush of strong hair, divided at the point into two, proceeded from the cavity of his lower jaw, at the beginning of his throat. He had the smallest eye I ever remember to have seen in a large bird, the aperture being scarcely half an inch. The crown of his head was bare or bald, so was the front where the bill and scull joined." This is the bird alluded to by the prophet.

BURDER.

CHAPTER II.

Ver. 2. And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

See on Job 27. 18.

CHAPTER III.

Ver. 12. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field; and Jerusalem shall become heaps; and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

We had been to examine the hill, which now bears the name of Zion; it is situated on the south side of Jerusalem,

The people of the East have great pleasure in sitting or lounging under their tamarind or mango-trees in the grove. Thus, in the heat of the day, they while away their time in playing with their children, in taking up the fruit, or smoking their much-loved shroot.-ROBERTS.

This expression most probably alludes to the delightful eastern arbours, which were partly composed of vines; and the agreeable retreat which was enjoyed under them might also be found under their fig-trees. Norden expressly speaks of vine arbours as common in the Egyptian gardens, (vol. i. p. 71,) and the Prænestine pavement, in Dr. Shaw, gives us the figure of an ancient one.-BURDER.

Ver. 5. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

Nothing more arrests the notice of a stranger, on entering Sinde, than the severe attention of the people to the forms of religion, as enjoined by the prophet of Arabia. In all places, the meanest and poorest of mankind may be seen, at the appointed hours, turned towards Mecca, offering up their prayers. I have observed a boatman quit the laborious duty of dragging the vessel against the stream, and retire to the shore, wet and covered with mud, to perform his genuflexions. In the smallest villages the sound of the mowuzzun," or crier, summoning true believers to prayers, may be heard, and the Mohammedans within reach of the sonorous sound suspend, for the moment, their employ ment, that they may add their " Amen" to the solemn sentence when concluded. The effect is pleasing and impressive; but, as has often happened in other countries at a like stage of civilization, the moral qualities of the people do not keep pace with this fervency of devotion.-BURNES.

the charity of Venase? Why, he has given a RIVER of oi to the temple; and Muttoo has given a RIVER of ghee." "Milk! why that farmer has RIVERS of it; and the Modeliar has a SEA." ROBERTS.

Ver. 15. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.

See on Ps. 37. 35; Deut. 33. 24; and Is. 63. 1—3.
CHAPTER VII.

Ver. 1. Wo is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the first ripe fruit.

The expression here made use of by the prophet may probably be understood by the assistance of a remark which Sir John Chardin has made upon this passage. He informs us, that the Persians and Turks are not only fond of almonds, plumbs, and melons in a mature state, but that they are remarkable for eating them before they are ripe. As soon as ever they approach to that state, they make use of them, the great dryness and temperature of the air preventing flatulencies.-HARMER.

Ver. 3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge ask eth for a reward; and the great man he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

We have seen that to do a thing with ONE hand, signifies earnestness and oneness of consent. Whenever a person has to receive a thing from a superior, he must put out BOTH hands; for not to do so, would be a mark of great "Alas! I went to that man with both hands, disrespect. (i. e. held them out to him,) but he turned me away." "The greedy wretch eats with both hands," meaning, he is a glutton; because all respectable and decent people eat with the right band ONLY.-ROBERTS.

Ver. 14. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feel is Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. See on Am. 9. 10.

Ver. 19. He will turn again, he will have com passion upon us: he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

When a devotee believes the guilt of his transgressions has been removed, whether by prayers or austerities, he says, “My sins have all fallen into the sea."-ROBERTS.