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severely to punish those, who in defiance of this command should continue to cast such a slur upon it.

10.-adulterers] This term, which properly respects those who violate the marriage bed, seems here extended to such as by fraud and falsehood circumvent others, and tempt them to join in the commission of those illicit actions, which imply breach of faith and duty towards God. See ver. 14.

Ibid.-because of these] So n is rendered both by the LXX and Syr. and, I think, rightly; for I see nothing that " swearing," ," which our English translators and others understand by, has to do in the case.

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Ibid. the pastures of the waste-] See note on Ch. ix. 10. Ibid. Their will also-] Our translators have rendered "their course," from p to run; and in the margin, "their violence, from p to crush or bruise. But it seems more properly to be here derived from, and to signify "their will," or 66 choice;" as 12 does the exertion of "their power" or might" in conformity to such a previous determination of the mind.

11. Even in my house-] See Ch. vii. 30.

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12.-their way become as slippery places-] See Ps. xxxv. 6. 13, 14. As in the prophets of Samaria- so in the prophets of Jerusalem---] See thus used in the way of comparison, 2 Sam. xv. 34. So likewise the Syr. here renders it.

13. They prophesied-] N2-This verb is not used in Hiphil, except here and Ezek. xxxvii. 10. in which latter place for nam nine MSS. read nam in Hithpahel; and one MS. apparently reads here too; which may probably be right, as it agrees with the versions of the LXX. Syr. and Vulgate.

But one MS. here reads, the infinitive in Niphal, which likewise is no bad emendation, and is rather countenanced by the like use of the two infinitives,, ver. 14. expressing that in which "the horrible thing," yw, consisted, of which the prophets of Jerusa lem were guilty; as this is intended to specify the " disgustful practice," on, seen in the prophets of Samaria. In this latter case we should render

Prophesying in the name of Baal, so as to cause my people Israel

to err.

14. Committing adultery, and walking in falsehood] See note on

ver. 10.

15.---water of hemlock---] See note on Ch. viii. 14.

16. Not speaking after the mouth of JEHOVAH] It is obvious that O ought to be constructed with the preceding words which renders all clear. Five MSS. with the LXX. and Syr. read

," and not speaking after the mouth of JEHOVAH.”

17. And whilst every one goeth after---] All the ancient versions tender as if they had read, and so do our English translators.

2

But as none of the collated MSS. verify this reading, I have consideras the participle and noun used absolutely, Omnibus am

ed

bulantibus.

I am

18. And hath seen and heard the matter] Instead of 1727 for reading 27-nx, and prefixing to the following word 2, rendering 727-8, "the matter" or proceeding, settled and determined in the privy counsel of JEHOVAH; and this might not improperly be said to be seen as well as heard. Again for 7, which signifies, “my word, or words," the Masora with forty one, perhaps forty three, MSS. and eight Editions read, 1727; but I am more inclined to think the true reading may have been 127, "his words ;" and that the was accidentally dropt or lost in the same letter following at the beginning of the next word; a case which has frequently happened. And by thus distinguishing between 727-N, "the matter," and "his words," the words of JEHOVAH treating of and deciding upon it, an unmeaning tautology seems to be avoided.

3

19. Behold the whirlwind of JEHOVAH, it goeth forth hot] The hot scorching wind blowing from the south, of which notice has been already taken in note on Ch.iv. 11, 12. is evidently here alluded to. ne and in the following hemistich are both from the same root, and seem to have the same force as the Arabic verb descendit, requievit, incidit, incubuit. I have therefore rendered it "a settling wind," one that blows not with a transient blast, but exerts a continued force upon the head of the unfortunate traveller, till it has effectually destroyed him. See Maillet's description of the malignant effects of such a wind cited at large; Harmer's Observ. Ch. i. Obs. 16. In the parallel passage, Ch. xxx. 23, instead of in the word used is an, a word which has exactly the same signification as is here attributed to

.מתחולל

20. The anger-] Two MSS. read 17, "The fierce anger;" as Ch. xxx. 24.

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Ibid.-ye shall understand it clearly] The LXX. Syr. and Vulgate with two MSS. having read nn in the singular number instead of minin, I have followed this reading, which furnishes a proper antecedent to 2 in this clause. All the ancient versions, except the Vulgate and Theodotion, omit 2, which does not appear in the parallel passage, Ch, xxx. 24. except in two MSS.

22. And would have turned them] is the reading of thirty six, perhaps thirty seven, MSS, and five Editions; and is marked in the margin of Van der Hooght's Edition.

26. How long shall the fire be in the heart?] Houbigant objects, and justly, as it should seem, to the interrogation in w after the prior interrogation n. But instead of rejecting the , and reading simply w, as he does, I am inclined to think that w is corruptly written for WN7, which scarcely differs in pronunciation. In Ch. xx. 9. the prophet meaning to say, that, though he was sometimes resolved not to declare any more the word of JEHOVAH revealed to him, he could not`

forbear, expresses himself thus, wna ba mimi," Then it becomes in mine heart as fire," In like manner the false prophets here spoken of, who pretended to dreams, may be understood to ask, "How long shall the fire be in the heart?" that is, how long shall we be made uneasy by suppressing, and not telling our dreams? With this the following context well agrees; for after premising that these dreamers were false prophets, who studied to withdraw the people from their religious allegiance, God says, v. 28, that they might tell their dreams, if they would, provided they did not presume to blend them with the word revealed by him to his true prophets; which would be mixing chaff with good wheat.

29. Is not the power of my word like fire] For I am strongly inclined to suspect the true reading to have been ; which is very much countenanced by the version of the Chaldee Paraphrast. Compare Heb.iv. 12.

30. That purloin my words-] Those persons seem to be meant, who by any indirect methods hindered the people from receiving the true revealed word of God, prejudicing them against those who were commissioned to declare it, or calumniating and misrepresenting its purport.

31. That take their own tongue, and say, He hath said] The phrase of "taking their own tongue" is, I think, very easily to be understood of those, who without any inspiration take upon them to deliver messages to the people, and pretend that they came from God. "Taking their own tongue" may signify, "taking them into employ ;" as God says, Ch. xxv. 9. "And I will take, np, all the families of the north," that is, I will engage them in my service.

32.-by their groundless lies]

npwa-These words I consider as an Hendiadys; or they may be rendered, "by their lies and by their groundless tales." signifies that which is not solid or stable.

33. The remaining part of this Chapter is directed against those, who called the word of God spoken by the true prophets A BURDEN, by way of reproach; meaning that it always portended evil, and never good; a burden signifying a calamitous prophecy. Ahab intended to cast the same slur on the prophet Micaiah, when he represented him as one that never prophesied good concerning him, but evil. 1 Kings xxii. 8.

Ibid. Or a prophet-] Three MSS. read prefixed; and it ought to be so, as well as Ibid.-Ye are the burden] The LXX.

.

2 without the article

Syr. Chald. and Vulg. all

מח משא instead of,אתם המשא,seem to have read the words thus

.את

The word wn is then applied in a somewhat different sense from what was intended in the question. "Ye are the burden;" that is, Ye are become an intolerable load to JEHOVAH, of which he will quickly discharge himself. The verb was signifies to loosen or disengage one's self from any thing.

36. For the burden of every man shall be his own word] That is, Every man shall have most reason to regard his own word as hurtful and prejudicial to him. For the words of God were delivered with a salutary tendency to warn sinners of the danger of their situation, and to call them to repentance. Those therefore who make a right use of them, will have no cause to complain. But those who despise and reject them, pervert that which should have been for their wealth into an occasion of falling.

39. Therefore, behold, I will both take you up altogether] It is ob

,נשוא or) נשא and נשיתי vious that according to the Hebrew idiom

according to the form of the נשאתי is put for נשיתי

as it is in twelve MSS. and one Edition) are the same verb repeated, with an allusion to "the burden" before spoken of, ver. 33. Compare Hos. i. 6. verbs quiescent in, which is often assumed by those quiescent in . 40. And a perpetual disgrace] Three MSS. for nobi, as Ch. xx. 11. The ancient Bodleian MS. No. 1. is one of All the ancient versions render the word in the singular num

them.

ber.

read

CHAP. XXIV. is postponed in regard to the order of time.

CHAP. XXV.

THIS Chapter seems to come next in succession to Ch. xxii, xxiii. It is dated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and most probably belonged to the earliest part of that year. For the defeat of the Egyptians at Carchemish, and the subsequent taking of Jerusalem, are both placed in the same year. But from ver. 9. I think it may be concluded, that Nebuchadnezzar had but just entered upon his expedition, and had not yet carried into execution any of those designs, for which God there says he would send and take him.

The prophet reproveth the Jews for their disregard of the divine calls to repentance; v. 1-7. He foretelleth their subjugation, together with that of the neighbouring nations, to the king of Babylon for seventy years, and the fall of the Babylonish empire at that period; v. 814. The same is foreshewn under the symbol of the cup of God's wrath, with which Jeremiah is sent, perhaps in a vision, unto all the nations, which are enumerated at large, to make them drink of it to their utter subversion; v. 15-29. And the like prophecy is the third time repeated in a strain of sublime and poetic imagery; ver. 30. --to the end.

1.---the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon] That is, according to the Jewish mode of computing his reign from the time of his being associated with his father in the empire, before he set out on his Syrian expedition, But the Babylonians do not reckon his reign to have begun till two years after, upon his father's death.

3.---rising early---] For one MS. and another in the margin read ; and eight MSS. and two editions read on, as in the next verse; in the ancient Bodl. MS. No. 1. the is upon a rasure. There is no doubt but this may be reckoned among the instances where the is substituted by mistake for . See note on Ch. iv. 19.

7.---on purpose to provoke me--e---] For Don the Masora with twenty five MSS. and three editions reads 'py, conformably to Ch. vii. 18. xxxii. 29.- expresses here the correspondency of the end

to the means.

9. --and Nebuchadrezzar---] For two MSS. read, which is most probably the right reading. In one MS. the is upon a ra

sure.

10.---the sound of milstones, and the light of a candle] Mr Harmer has an excellent observation on this place, which I cannot do better than present the reader with at large.

"The time for grinding their corn is the morning; which consideration makes the prophet's selecting the noise of milstones, and the lighting up of candles, as circumstances belonging to inhabited places, appear in a view, which no commentators, that I have examined, have taken any. notice of."

"I am indebted to Sir John Chardin's MS. for the knowledge of this fact. It informs us that "in the East they grind their corn at "break of day; and that when one goes out in a morning, one hears every where the noise of the mill; and that it is the noise that often "awakens people."

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"It has been commonly known that they bake every day; and that they usually grind their corn as they want it; but this passage informs us, that it is the first work done in a morning, as well as that this grinding of their mills makes a considerable noise, and attracts every ear; and as the lighting up of candles begins the evening, there is an agreeable contrast observable in these words: "Moreover I will take from "thee the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of milstones, and "the light of the candle. And their whole land shall be a desolation." Gloomy shall be the silence of the morning, melancholy the shadows of the evening, no cheerful noise to animate the one, no enlivening ray to soften the gloom of the other. Desolation shall every where reign."

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"A land may abound with habitations, and furnish an agreeable abode, where the voice of mirth is not heard---none of the_songs, the music, and the dances of nuptial solemnities; but in the East, where no milstones are heard in the morning, no light seen in the evening, it must be a dreary dismal solitude." Ch. iv. Obs. 4. See also Ch. iii. Obs. 18.

11. and an astonishment-] Seventeen MSS, among which are several of the most ancient, and three editions, read w, with the conjunction; which is also prefixed by the Syr. and Vulgate. The word is wholly omitted in the common editions of the LXX; but the MS. Pachom. reads nui spnμworv.

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