Jonathan vocem interpretatus est DD, i. e. annulum, sive uncum, eumque ferreum, quem infigunt naribus camela: eoque trahitur, quoniam illa feris motibus agitur: et hoc est, quod discimus in Talmude; et camela cum annulo narium: scilicet, egreditur die Sabbathi:" Jarchi in 2 Reg. xix. 28. "Ponam circulum in naribus tuis:" Hieron. Just as at this day they put a ring into the nose of the bear, the buffalo, and other wild beasts, to lead them, and to govern them when they are unruly.

35. And the angel—] Before "the angel," the other copy, 2 Kings xix. 35. adds, “it came to pass the same night, that"

The Prophet Hosea has given a plain prediction of this miraculous deliverance of the kingdom of Judah :

And to the house of Judah I will be tenderly merciful:

And I will save them by JEHOVAH their God.

And I will not save them by the bow;

Nor by sword, nor by battle;

By horses, nor by horsemen."

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Hosea i. 7.

2. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall] The furniture of an eastern divan or chamber, either for the reception of company or for private use, consists chiefly of carpets spread on the floor in the middle, and of sophas or couches ranged on one or more sides of the room, on a part raised somewhat above the floor. On these they repose themselves in the day, and sleep at night. It is to be observed, that the corner of the room is the place of honour. Dr Pococke, when he was introduced to the Sheik of Furshout, found him sitting in the corner of his room. He describes ano

ther Arab Sheik "as sitting in a corner of a large green tent, pitched in the middle of an encampment of Arabs; and the Bey of Girge as placed on a sopha in a corner to the right as one entered the room :" Harmer's Obs. ii. p. 60. Lady Mary W. Montague, giving an account of a visit which she made to the Kahya's lady at Adrianople, says, "She ordered cushions to be given me, and took care to place me in the corner, which is the place of honour:" Letter xxxiii. The reason of this seems to be, that the son so placed is distinguished, and in a manner separated

per

from the rest of the company, and as it were guarded by the wall on each side. We are to suppose Hezekiah's couch placed in the same situation; in which, turning on either side, he must turn his face to the wall; by which he would withdraw himself from those who were attending upon him in his apartment, in order to address his private prayer to God. 4,5. The words in the translation included within crotchets are supplied from the parallel place, 2 Kings xx. 4, 5. to make the narration more perfect. I have also taken the liberty, with Houbigant, of bringing forward the two last verses of this chapter, and inserting them in their proper places of the narration with the same mark. Kimchi's note on these two verses is as follows: "This and the following verse belong not to the Writing of Hezekiah: and I see no reason why they are written here after the Writing; for their right place is above, after And I will protect this city, ver. 6. And so they stand in the book of Kings; 2 Kings xx. 7, 8. The narration of this chapter seems to be in some parts an abridgment of that of 2 Kings xx. The abridger, having finished his extract here with the 11th verse, seems to have observed, that the 7th and 8th verses of 2 Kings xx. were wanted to complete the narration: he therefore added them at the end of the chapter, after he had inserted the song of Hezekiah, probably with marks for their insertion in their proper places; which marks were afterwards neglected by transcribers: or a transcriber might omit them by mistake, and add them at the end of the chapter with such marks. Many transpositions are, with great probability, to be accounted for in the same way.

6. I will protect this city-1 The other copy, 2 Kings xx. 6. adds, " for mine own sake, and for the sake of David my servant;" and the sentence seems somewhat abrupt without it.

8. by which the sun is gone down-] For J, LXX, Syr. Chald. read : Houbigant. In the history of this miracle in the book of Kings, 2 Kings xx. 9—11. there is no mention at all made of the sun, but only of the going back ward of the shadow; which might be effected by a supernatural refraction. The first os in this verse is omitted in LXX, MS Pachom.

9. The writing of Hezekiah.] Here the book of Kings deserts us, the song of Hezekiah not being inserted in it. Another copy of this very obscure passage (obscure not only

from the concise poetical style, but because it is probably very incorrect) would have been of great service. The MSS and ancient versions, especially the latter, will help us to get through some of the many difficulties which we meet with in it.

in

11. JEHOVAH-] seems to be and it was so at first written in another: so Syr. bigant.

MS Bodl.
See Hou-

12. -a shepherd's tent-] is put for , say the Rabbins; Sal. b. Melec on the place: but much more probably is written imperfectly for D. See note on chap. v. 1. Ibid. My life is cut off-] EP: this verb is rendered passively, and in the third person, by Syr. Chald. Vulg. 13. The last line of the foregoing verse,

,תשלימני

yo bun, In the course of the day thou wilt finish my "In web," is not repeated at the end of this verse in the Syriac version; and a MS omits it. It seems to have been inserted a second time in the Hebrew text by mistake.

Ibid. I roared-] For ', the Chaldee has : he read, the proper term for the roaring of a lion; often applied to the deep groaning of men in sickness: see Psal. xxii. 2. xxxii. 3. xxxviii. 9. Job iii. 24. The Masoretes divide the sentence as I have done, taking 18, like a lion, into the first member; and so likewise LXX.

14. Like the swallow—] D'D; so read two MSS, Theod. and Hieron.

Ibid. —mine eyes fail-] For 7, the LXX read 1, EETOV. Compare Psal. Ixix. 4. cxix. 82. 123. Lam. ii. 11. εξελιπον. iv. 17. in the Hebrew and in LXX.

Ibid. O Lord-] For T, thirty MSS and eight

אדני editions read

This

Ibid. —contend thou-] pwy, with W, Jarchi. sense of the word is established by Gen. xxvi. 20. " he called the name of the well puy, Esek, because they strove with

at the beginning of the יריבו equivalent to התעשקו ":him

verse.

15. —will I reflect-]

Hieron. in loc.

8, recogitabo, Vulg. reputabo,

16. For this cause shall it be declared-] ανηγγέλη σοι, και εξηγειρας μου την πνοην, LXX.

Iegi aurns yag They read in

not

very different ; עליה יחוו לך ותחיי רוחי,their copies

from the present text, from which all the vary. They entirely omit two words,

ancient versions

; as to which

there is some variation in the MSS. A MS has 1, two

בהם and ten MSS have וכה others

Ibid. hast prolonged my life.] A MS and the Babylonish Talmud read ; and so the ancient versions. It must necessarily be in the second person.

17. My anguish is changed into ease-95, "mutata mihi est amaritudo." Paronomasia; a figure, which the Prophet frequently admits: I do not always note it, because it cannot ever be preserved in the translation, and the sense seldom depends upon it. But here it perfectly clears up the great obscurity of the passage. See Lowth on the place.

Ibid. Thou hast rescued-] own, with instead of p; so LXX and Vulg.: Houbigant. See Chappelow on Job xxxiii. 18.

Ibid. —from perdition-] D, iva un acontar, LXX; ut non periret, Vulg.; perhaps inverting the order of the words. See Houbigant.

19.thy truth] . A MS omits ; and instead of, an ancient MS and one edition read N. same mistake as in Psal. ii. 7.

The

21. Let them take a lump of figs: and they bruised them—] God, in effecting this miraculous cure, was pleased to order the use of means not improper for that end. "Folia, et, quæ non maturuere, fici, strumis illinuntur, omnibusque quæ emollienda sunt discutiendave:" Plin. Nat. Hist. xxiii. 7. "Ad discutienda ea, quæ in corporis parte aliqua coierunt, maxime possunt-ficus arida," &c.: Celsus, v. 11.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

HITHERTO the copy of this history in the second book of Kings has been much the most correct: in this chapter, that in Isaiah has the advantage. In the two first verses two mistakes in the other copy are to be corrected from this: for Pin, Hezekiah, read pin, and was recovered; and for

.he rejoiced וישמח he heard, read וישמע

1. —and ambassadors.] The LXX add here xa geobeis; that is, DN, and ambassadors; which word seems necessary to the sense, though omitted in the Hebrew text. both here and in the other copy, 2 Kings xx. 12. For the subsequent narration refers to them all along: "these men,

whence came they?" &c. plainly supposing them to have been personally mentioned before. See Houbigant.

6.—to Babylon-]; so two MSS (one ancient); rightly without doubt, as the other copy, 2 Kings xx. 17.

has it.

8. And Hezekiah said-] The nature of Hezekiah's crime, and his humiliation on the message of God to him by the Prophet, is more expressly declared by the author of the book of Chronicles: "But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, (both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem), so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart;" 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26, 30, 31.

CHAPTER XL.

THE course of prophecies which follow from hence to the end of the book, and which taken together constitute the most elegant part of the sacred writings of the Old Testament; interspersed also with many passages of the highest sublimity; was probably delivered in the latter part of the reign of Hezekiah. The Prophet in the foregoing chapter had delivered a very explicit declaration of the impending dissolution of the kingdom, and of the captivity of the royal house of David, and of the people, under the kings of Babylon. As the subject of his subsequent prophecies was to be chiefly of the consolatory kind, he opens them with giving a promise of the restoration of the kingdom, and the return of the people from that captivity, by the merciful interposition of God in their favour. But the views of the Prophet are not confined to this event. As the restoration of the royal family, and of the tribe of Judah, which would otherwise have soon become undistinguished, and have been irrecoverably lost, was necessary, in the design and order of Providence, for the fulfilling of God's promises of establish