I have chosen the latter sense, as I cannot conceive that the stretching out of the hands of a swimmer in swimming, can be any illustration of of the action of God stretching out his hands over Moab to destroy it. I take, altering the point on the on the authority of LXX, to be the participle of, the same with and , inclinari, deprimi; and that the prophet designed a paronomasia here, a figure which he fre ,תחתיו As .שחית and שחה quently uses, between the similar words in his place, or on the spot, as we say, in the preceding verse, gives us an idea of the sudden and complete destruction of Moab; so, in the midst of him, means, that this destruction shall be open, and exposed to the view of all: the neighbouring nations shall plainly see him struggling against it, as a man in the midst of the deep waters exerts all his efforts, by swimming, to save himself from drowning. CHAP. XXVI, 1. —we have a strong city] In opposition to the city of the enemy, which God hath destroyed, chap. xxv. 2.; see the note there. 3. they have trusted] So Chald. . Syr. and Vulg. read, we have trusted. Schroeder Gram. Hebr. p. 360. explains the present reading, ma, impersonally, confisum est. 4. in JEHOVAH] JAH JEHOVAH, Heb. but see Houbigant. Not. in cap. xii. 2. 8. We have placed our confidence in thy name] LXX, Syr. and Chald. read 1, without the preposition annexed. 9. -have I desired thee] Forty-one MSS. (nine ancient), and five editions, read. It is proper to note this: because the secoud being omitted in the text, Vulg. and many others have rendered it in the third person. 16. —we have sought thee-] So LXX, and two MSS. TP, in the first person. And so perhaps it should be py, in the first person: but how LXX read this word is not clear; and this last member of the verse is extremely obscure. For 1, the LXX read, in the first person likewise: a frequent mistake; see note on chap. x. 29. 18. -we have brought forth wind] The learned professor Michaelis 66 Rariorem morbum deexplains this image in the following manner: scribi, empneumatosin, aut ventosam molam, dictum; quo quæ laborant diu et sibi et peritis medicis gravidæ videntur, tandemque post omnes veræ graviditatis molestias et labores ventum ex utero emittunt: quem morbum passim describunt medici." Syntagma Comment. vol. ii. p. 165. The Syriac translator seems to have understood it in this manner: "Enixi sumus, ut illæ, quæ ventos pariunt." Ibid. —in the land], so a MS. LXX, Syr. and Vulg. 19. —my deceased] All the ancient versions render it in the plural; they read, my dead bodies. Syr. and Chald. read their dead bodies. Ibid. of the dawn] Lucis, Vulg. so also Syr. and Chald. The deliverance of the people of God from a state of the lowest depression, is explained by images plainly taken from the resurrection of the dead. In the same manner the prophet Ezekiel represents the restoration of the Jewish nation from a state of utter dissolution, by the restoring of the dry bones to life, exhibited to him in a vision, chap. xxxvii. which is directly thus applied and explained, ver. 11-13. And this deliverance is expressed with a manifest opposition to what is here said above, ver. 14. of the great lords and tyrants, under whom they had groaned; "They are dead, they shall not live; They are deceased tyrants, they shall not rise:" that they should be destroyed utterly, and should never be restored to their former power and glory. It appears from hence, that the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was at that time a popular and common doctrine: for an image which is assumed in order to express or represent any thing in the way of allegory or metaphor, whether poetical or prophetical, must be an image commonly known and understood; otherwise it will not answer the purpose for which it is assumed. 20. Come, O my people; retire—] An exhortation to patience and resignation under oppression, with a confident expectation of deliverance, by the power of God manifestly to be exerted in the destruction of the oppressor. It seems to be an allusion to the command of Moses to the Israelites, when the destroying angel was to go through the land of Egypt, "not to go out at the door of their houses until the morning:" Exod. xii. 22. And before the passage of the Red Sea: "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of JEHOVAH:-JEHOVAH shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Exod. xiv. 13, 14. CHAP. XXVII. THE subject of this chapter seems to be the nature, the measure, and the design of God's dealings with his people: ver. 1. his judgments inflicted on their great and powerful enemies: ver. 2. his constant care and protection of his favourite vineyard, in the form of a dialogue: ver. 7. the moderation and lenity with which the severity of his judgments have been tempered: ver. 9. the end and design of them, to recover them from idolatry: and ver. 12. the recalling of them, on their repentance, from their several dispersións. The first verse seems connected with the two last verses of the preceding chapter. 1. Leviathan, &c.] The animals here mentioned seem to be: the crocodile, rigid, by the stiffness of the back-bone, so that he cannot readily turn himself, when he pursues his prey; hence the easiest way of escaping from him is by making frequent and short turnings: the serpent, or dragon, flexible and winding; which coils himself up in a circular form: the seamonster, or the whale. These are used allegorically, without doubt, for great potentates, enemies and persecutors of the people of God: but to specify the particular persons or states designed by the prophet under these images, is a matter of great difficulty, and comes not necessarily within the design of these notes. 2. the beloved vineyard] For 1 , a great number of MSS., and some printed editions, have ; which is confirmed by LXX, and Chald. Ibid. —a responsive song] That ny, to answer, signifies occasionally to sing responsively; and that this mode of singing was frequently practised among the ancient Jews; see De S. Poes. Hebr. Præl. xix. at the beginning. 3. I will take care of her] For TPD, Syr. reads TPDN): and fifteen MSS. (six ancient), and six editions, read PN, in the first person. 4. I have no wall] For, LXX, and Syr. read. An ancient MS. has . For, two MSS. read D. plural. The vineyard wishes for a wall, and a fence of thorns: human strength and protection (as the Jews were too apt to apply to their powerful neighbours for assistance, and to trust to the shadow of Egypt): JEHOVAH replies, that this would not avail her, nor defend her against his wrath: he counsels her therefore to betake herself to his protection. On which she entreats him to make peace with her. "About Tripoly there are abundance of vineyards and gardens, enclosed for the most part with hedges; which chiefly consist of the rhamnus, paliurus, oxyacantha, &c." Rawolf, p. 21, 22. A fence of thorns is esteemed equal to a wall for strength, being commonly represented as impenetrable. See Micah vii. 4. Hosea ii. 6. Ibid. of the thorn and brier] Seven MSS. (two ancient), and one edition, and Syr. Vulg. Aquila, read, with the conjunction prefixed. 5. Ah!] For N, I read, "N, as it was at first in a MS. The was easily lost, being followed by another . 6. —from the root] For WW, I read with the Syr. WWD. And for to the first word, and taking that ו joining the יציצו פרח יציץ ופרח into construction with the first part of the sentence. I suppose the dialogue to be continued in this verse, which pursues the same image of the allegory, but in the way of metaphor. 9. And if―] 1, four MSS. (two ancient), and LXX. 11. —her boughs], MS. and Vulg. that is, the boughs of the vineyard, referring still to the subject of the dialogue above. The scarcity of fuel, especially wood, in most parts of the east is so great, that they supply it with every thing capable of burning; cow dung dried, roots, parings of fruit, withered stalks of herbs and flowers: see Matt. vi. 28-30. Vine-twigs are particularly mentioned, as used for fuel in dressing their food, by D'Arvieux; La Roque, Palestine, p. 198. Ezekiel says, in his parable of the vine, used figuratively for the people of God, as the vineyard is here; "Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel." Chap. xv. 3, 4. If a man abide not in me," saith our Lord, "he is cast forth as a branch [of the vine], and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." John xv. 6. They employed women and children to gather these things; and they laid them up in store for use. The dressing and pruning of their vines afforded a good supply of the last sort of fuel: but the prophet says, that the vines themselves of the beloved vineyard shall be blasted, withered, and broken; and the women shall come, and gather them up; and carry away the whole of them, to make their fires for domestic uses. See Harmer, Observ. i. p. 254, &c. CHAP. XXVIII. 1. The proud crown-] “Sebaste, the ancient Samaria, is situated on a long mount of an oval figure; having first a fruitful valley, and then a ring of hills running round about it." Maundrell, p. 58. "E regione borum ruderum mons est peramoenus, planitie, admodum frugifera circumseptus, super quem olim Samaria urbs condita fuit." Fureri Itinerarium, p. 93. The city, beautifully situated on the top of a round hill, and surrounded immediately with a rich valley, and a circle of other hills beyond it, suggested the idea of a chaplet, or wreath of flowers, worn upon their heads on occasions of festivity; expressed by the proud crown, and the fading flower of the drunkards. That this custom of wearing chaplets in their banquets prevailed among the Jews, as well as among the Greeks and Romans, appears from the following passage of the book of Wisdom: "Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments, Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds, before they are withered." Wisd. ii. 7, 8. 2. —the exceedingly strong one], "INS PON, fortis Domino, i. e. fortissimus, a Hebraism. For TN, thirty-eight MSS. and two editions, ליחוה read 3. —crowns] I read Лy, plural, to agree with the verb n. 4. The early fruit before summer] "No sooner doth the boccore (the early fig) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of June, than the kermez, or summer fig, begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens before August; about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig, as we may call it. This is usually of a much longer shape and darker complexion than the kermez, hanging and ripening upon the tree even after the leaves are shed: and, provided the winter proves mild and temperate, is gathered as a delicious morsel in the spring." Shaw, Travels, p. 370. fol. The image was very obvious to the inhabitants of Judea and the neighbouring countries, and is frequently applied by the prophets to express a desirable object; by none more elegantly than by Hosea, chap. ix. 10. "Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel; Like the first ripe fig in her prime, I saw your fathers." makes a miserable ; a happy conjecture Ibid. —he plucketh it] For ¡, which with 8 tautology, read by a transposition of a letter of Houbigant. The image expresses in the strongest manner the great ease with which the Assyrians shall take the city and the whole kingdom, and the avidity with which they shall seize the rich prey without resistance. 5. In that day-] Thus far the prophecy relates to the Israelites, and manifestly denounces their approaching destruction by Shalmaneser. Here it turns to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the remnant of God's people, who were to continue a kingdom after the final captivity of the Israelites. It begins with a favourable prognostication of their affairs under Hezekiah; but soon changes to reproofs and threatenings, for their intemperance, disobedience, and profaneness. 6. to the gate of the enemy] That is, who pursue the fleeing enemy even to the very gates of their own city: "But we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate:" 2 Sam. xi. 23. that is, we drove the enemy back to their own gates: see also 1 Sam. xvii. 52. 9. Whom (say they) would he teach-] The scoffers mentioned below, ver. 14. are here introduced as uttering their sententious speeches; they treat God's method of dealing with them, and warning them by his prophets, with contempt and derision. What, say they, doth he treat us as mere infants just weaned? doth he teach us like little children, perpetually inculcating the same elementary lessons, the mere rudiments of knowledge; precept after precept, line after line, here and there, by little and little? imitating at the same time, and ridiculing, in ver. 10. the concise prophetical manner. God, by his prophet, retorts upon them with great severity their own contemptuous mockery; turning it to a sense quite different from what they intended. Yes, saith he, it shall be in fact as you say: ye shall be taught by a strange tongue, and a stammering lip; in a strange country; ye shall be carried into captivity by a peo- · ple whose language shall be unintelligible to you, and which ye shall be forced to learn like children: and my dealing with you shall be according to your own words: it shall be command upon command for your punishment; it shall be line upon line, stretched over you to mark out your destruction; (compare 2 Kings xxi. 13.) it shall come upon you at different times, and by different degrees; till the judgments with which from time to time I have threatened you, shall have their full accomplishment. Jerom seems rightly to have understood the general design of this passage, as expressing the manner in which the scoffers, by their sententious speeches, turned into ridicule the warnings of God by his prophets, though he has not so well explained the meaning of the repetition of their speech in the 13th verse. His words are on ver. 9. "Solebant hoc ex persona prophetarum ludentes dicere:" and on ver. 14. "Quod supra diximus, cum irrisione solitos principes Judæorum prophetis dicere, manda, remanda, et cætera his similia, per quæ ostenditur, nequaquam eos prophetarum credidisse sermonibus, sed prophetiam habuisse despectui, præsens ostendit capitulum, per quod appellantur viri illusores." Hieron. in loc. And so Jarchi interprets the word up in the next verse: qui dicunt verba irrisionis parabolice." And the Chaldee paraphrases the 11th verse to the same purpose, understanding it as spoken not of God, but of the people deriding his prophets : "Quoniam in mutatione loquelæ et in lingua subsannationis irridebant contra prophetas qui prophetabant populo huic,” 12. This is the true rest—] The sense of this verse is: God had warned them by his prophets, that their safety and security, their deliverance from their present calamities, and from the apprehensions of still greater approaching, depended wholly on their trust in God, their faith and obedience; but they rejected this gracious warning with contempt and mockery. |