pass, till they were at last closely shut up, and entangled in them. For a MS reads ', as it is in Jer. xlviii. 44.; and so the Vulg. and Chald. But perhaps it is only, like the latter, a Hebraism, and means no more than the simple preposition. See Psal. cii. 6. For it does not appear that the terror was intended to scare the wild beasts by its noise. The paronomasia is very remarkable, pachad, pachath, pach; and that it was a common proverbial form, appears from Jeremiah's repeating it in the same words, chap. xlviii. 43, 44. 18. from the pit] For , from the midst of, a MS reads, from, as it is in Jer. xlviii. 44.; and so likewise LXX, Syr. Vulg. 19. The land]", forte delendum, ut ex præcedente ortum. Vid. seqq.' "" SECKER. 20. like a lodge for a night.] See note on chap. i. 8. 21-23.--on high,--on earth- That is, the ecclesiastical and civil polity of the Jews; which shall be destroyed: The nation shall continue in a state of depression and dereliction for a long time. The image seems to be taken from the practice of the great monarchs of that time; who, when they had thrown their wretched captives into a dungeon, never gave themselves the trouble of inquiring about them; but let them lie a long time in that miserable condition, wholly destitute of relief, and disregarded. God shall at length revisit and restore his people in the last age; and then the kingdom of God shall be established in such perfection, as wholly to obscure and eclipse the glory of the temporary, typical, preparative kingdom now subsisting. “The figurative language of the Prophets is taken from the analogy between the world natural, and an empire or kingdom considered as a world politic. Accordingly the whole world natural, consisting of heaven and earth, signifies the whole world politic, consisting of thrones and people, or so much of it as is considered in prophecy; and the things in that world signify the analogous things in this. For the heavens and the things therein signify thrones and dignities, and those who enjoy them; and the earth, with the things thereon, the inferior people; and the lowest parts of the earth, called hades or hell, the lowest or most miserable part of them. Great earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, are put for the shaking of kingdoms, so as to distract and overthrow them; the creating a new heaven and earth, and the passing of an old one, or the beginning and end of a world, for the rise and ruin of a body politic signified thereby. The sun, for the whole species and race of kings, in the kingdoms of the world politic; the moon for the body of the common people, considered as the king's wife; the stars, for subordinate princes and great men; or for bishops and rulers of the people of God, when the sun is Christ:-setting of the sun, moon, and stars; darkening the sun, turning the moon into blood, and falling of the stars, for the ceasing of a kingdom." Sir I. Newton, Observations on the Prophecies, Part I. chap. ii. CHAPTER XXV. IT doth not appear to me, that this chapter hath any close and particular connexion with the chapter immediately preceding, taken separately and by itself. The subject of that was the desolation of the land of Israel and Judah, by the just judgment of God, for the wickedness and disobedience, of the people; which, taken by itself, seems not with any propriety to introduce a hymn of thanksgiving to God for his mercies to his people in delivering them from their enemies. But taking the whole course of prophecies, from the xiiith to the xxivth chapter inclusive, in which the Prophet foretells the destruction of several cities and nations, enemies to the Jews, and of the land of Judah itself, yet with intimations of a remnant to be saved, and a restoration to be at length effected by a glorious establishment of the kingdom of God;-with a view to this extensive scene of God's providence in all its parts, and in all its consequences, the Prophet may well be supposed to break out into this song of praise; in which his mind seems to be more possessed with the prospect of future mercies than with the recollection of the past. 2.-the city-] Nineveh, Babylon, Ar Maob, or any other strong fortress possessed by the enemies of the people of God. For the fisrt , Syr. Vulg. read ; LXX and Chald. read, in the plural, Dy,, transposing the letters. לגל a MS adds מעיר After the second Ibid. -the proud ones-] For, strangers, MS . Bodl. and another read D, the proud: so likewise the LXX; for they render it assay here, and in verse 5th, as they do in some other places: see Deut. xviii. 20. 22. Another MS reads D, adversaries; which also makes a good sense. But and are often confounded by the great similitude of the letters and 7. See Mal. iii. 15. iv. 1. Psal. xix. 14. apud LXX: and Psal. liv. 5. (where Chald. reads DT) compared with Psal. lxxxvi. 14. 14. —a winter storm.] For p read p; or as from .Capellus :קרר from קיר 50 ערר 5. -the proud-] The same mistake here as in ver. 2.: see note there. Here DT the proud, is parallel to D, the formidable; as in Psal. liv. 5. and lxxxvi. 14. Ibid. As the heat by a thick cloud.] For 1, Syr. Chald. Vulg. and two MSS, read ; which is a repetition of the beginning of the foregoing parallel line: and the verse taken out of the parallel form, and more fully expressed, would run thus; "As a thick cloud interposing tempers the heat of the sun on the burnt soil, so shalt thou, by the interposition of thy power, bring low and abate the tumult of the proud, and the triumph of the formidable.” 6. —shall make for all the people a feast.] A feast is a proper and usual expression of joy in consequence of victory, or any other great success. The feast here spoken of is to be celebrated on Mount Sion, and all the peoples without distinction are to be invited to it. This can be no other than the celebration of the establishment of Christ's kingdom, which is frequently represented in the gospel under the image of a feast; "where many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven;" Matt. viii. 11. See also Luke xiv. 16. xxii. 29, 30. This sense is fully confirmed by the concomitants of this feast expressed in the next verse; the removing of the veil from the face of the nations, and the abolition of death: the first of which is, obviously and clearly explained of the preaching of the gospel; and the second must mean the blessing of immortality procured for us by Christ," who hath abolished death, and through death hath destroyed him that had. the power of death." Ibid. of old wines] Heb. lees; that is, of wines kept long on the lees. The word used to express the lees in the original signifies the preservers; because they preserve the strength and flavour of the wine. "All recent wines, after the fermentation has ceased, ought to be kept on their lees for a certain time; which greatly contribute to increase their strength and flavour. Whenever this first fermentation has been deficient, they will retain a more rich and sweet taste than is natural to them in a recent true vinous state; and unless further fermentation is promoted by their lying longer on their own lees, they will never attain their genuine strength and flavour, but run into repeated and ineffectual fermentations, and soon degenerate into a liquor of an acetous kind. All wines of a light and austere kind, by a fermentation too great, or too long continued, certainly degenerate into a weak sort of vinegar; while the stronger not only require, but will safely bear a stronger and often repeated fermentation; and are more apt to degenerate from a defect than excess of fermentation, into a vapid, ropy, and at length into a putrescent state:" Sir Edward Barry, Observations on the Wines of the Ancients, p. 9, 10. Thevenot observes particularly of the. Schiras wine, that, after it is refined from the lees, it is apt to grow sour: a beaucoup de lie; c'est pourquoi il donne puissemment dans la teste et pour le rendre plus traitable, on le passe par un chausse d'hypocras: après quoi il est fort clair, et moins fumeux. Ils mettent ce vin dans des grandes jarres de terre, qui tiennent dix ou douze jusqu'à quatorze carabas mais duand l'on a entamé une jarre, il faut la vuider au plutost, et mettre le vin qu'on en tire dans des bouteilles ou carabas; car si l'on y manque en le laissant quelque tems après que la jarre est entamée, il se gâte et s'aigrit:' Voyages, tom. ii. p. 245. : This clearly explains the very elegant comparison, or rather allegory, of Jeremiah; where the reader will find a remarkable example of the mixture of the proper with the allegorical, not uncommon in the Hebrew poets: "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, And he hath settled upon his lees; Nor hath he been drawn off from vessel to vessel, Wherefore his taste remaineth in him, And his flavour is not changed." Jer. xlviii. 11. Şir John Chardin's MS note on this place of Jeremiah is as follows; "On change ainsi le vin de cupe en cupe en Orient; et quand on en entame une, il faut la vuider en petites cupes ou bouteilles, sans quoy s'aigrit.' .על פני כל MS Bodl. reads 7. -the face of all—] The word has been removed from its right place into the line above, where it makes no sense; as Houbigant conjectured. 9. shall they say-] So LXX and Vulg. in the plural number. They read N. Syr. reads N, Thou shalt say. 10. shall give rest-] "Heb. man, quiescet. Annon man, quietem dabit, ut Græci, avatavon dwors, et Copt. ?" Mr WOIDE. That is, shall give peace and quiet to Sion, by destroying the enemy;" as it follows. Ibid. As the straw is threshed-1 "Hoc juxta ritum loquitur Palæstina et multarum Orientis provinciarum, quæ ob pratorum et fæni penuriam paleas preparant esui animantium. Sunt autem carpenta ferrata rotis per medium in serrarum modum se volventibus, quæ stipulam conterunt; et comminuunt in paleas. Quomodo igitur plaustris ferratis paleæ conteruntur, sic conteretur Moab sub eo; sive sub Dei potentia, sive in semetipso, ut nihil in eo integri remaneat:" Hieron. in loc. See Note on chap. xxviii. 27. Ibid. —under the wheels of the car.] For A, LXX, Syr. Vulg. read ; which I have followed. See Joshua xv. 31. compared with xix. 5. where there is a mistake very nearly the same. The Keri,, is confirmed by twenty-eight MSS (seven ancient), and three editions. 11. As he that sinketh stretcheth out his hands to swim.] There is great obscurity in this place: some understand God as the agent; others Moab. I have chosen the latter sense, as I cannot conceive that the stretching out of the hands of a swimmer in swimming, can be any illustration of the action of God stretching out his hands over Moab to destroy it. I take , altering the point on the on the authority of LXX, to be the participle of mm, the same with me and my, inclinari, deprimi; and that the Prophet designed a paronomasia here, a figure which he frequently uses, between the similar words n and w. As лn, 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 pa, 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 |