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Ibid.and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years] This period of the nations' servitude must be computed from the defeat of the Egyptians at Carchemish, in the same year that this prophecy was given, when Nebuchadnezzar reduced the neighbouring nations of Syria and Palestine, as well as Jerusalem, under his subjection. This was near two years before the heathen Chronologers in general begin his reign, his father being still living. After his father's death Nebuchadnezzar, according to Ptolmey's canon, reigned forty three years, Ilverodamus, or Evilmerodach, his son, two, Neriglissar four, and Nabonadius, supposed to be Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, seventeen, to which if we add two years of Darius the Mede, who is said Dan. ix. 1. to have been made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, we shall find the nations to have continued all that time, nearly seventy years, in subjection more or less to the king of Babylon. But after the accession of Cyrus, who put an end to the Babylonish monarchy, the nations could serve the king of Babylon no longer, because there was no longer a king of Babylon to serve; for the kings of Persia were never called kings of Babylon; but Babylon became itself a subject and dependent province under a subordinate governor, and began from that instant to experience in some degree those divine visitations, which terminated at length in what is so justly called in the next verse "perpetual desolations." See Bp. Lowth's Note on Isai. xiii. 19

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The same period is likewise precisely determined under a somewhat different view, Ch. xxix. 10. Here God promises that at the very "time when seventy years were accomplished in Babylon, T¬W “Saab nabow, he would visit his people, and perform his good word towards them, in causing them to return to their own place." He did so accordingly in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, exactly seventy years after the first carrying away of the people captives from Jerusalem to Babylon; when, as the sacred historian expressly testifies, 2 Chro. xxxvi. 22. Ezra i. 1. "that the word of JE"HOVAH by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, God stir"red up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation," permitting the Jews honourably to return, and in pursuance of that edict they did immediately return in great numbers to Jerusalem. Now there is no other passage in the writings of Jeremiah, besides those already cited, where any direct mention is made of a period of seventy years. It is evident therefore, that this same period of seventy years must be intended Dan. ix. 2. "whereof the word of JEHOVAH," it is said, came unto Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." I trust therefore that I have not been mistaken (as the Reverend Dr Priestly in the Observations prefixed to his Harmony of the Evangelists, Sect. 3. suppose me to be) in having upon such good authority fixed on the decree or proclamation of Cyrus beforementioned for the point of coincidence, where the seventy years terminate, alluded to Dan. ix. 24. and which the Doctor himself is pleased to allow to be the same with those spoken of at the beginning of the Chapter, and from which the subsequent

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term of seventy seven weeks must be reckoned to begin *. I grant indeed that the prophet Zechariah Ch. i. 12. speaks of another term of seventy years, which, as the learned gentleman states, may have commenced somewhere about the last siege of Jerusalem, and been carried down as far as to the building of the temple under Darius Hystaspes. During this term too, no doubt, the marks of God's indignation may have subsisted, and actually did subsist, at Jerusalem, as falling in with those troublous times, or times of distress, marked by Daniel as belonging to his second period of seventy seven weeks, in which he says the building of Jerusalem should notwithstanding go forward, and the city should continually improve in consideration and figure +. But that the seventy years of Zechariah were the same with those which had before been the subject of Jeremiah's predictions, cannot possibly be admitted consistently with those texts of Scripture already referred to; nor indeed does Zechariah himself say any thing that necessarily leads to such a conclusion. In vain therefore is it to think of ascertaining by circumstances quite foreign to the purpose the dates which belong to Daniel's prophecy.

12. his nation-] Our translators here render 177 17 "that nation;" but the Syriac "his people ;" and I am myself inclined to look upon to be the substantive pronoun, used in the genitive case, from considering it in many other places, but particularly Gen, xvii. 14. Exod. xii. 15. Lev. vii. 20, &c. where it seems in like manner to be governed of wan, and referred to some other antecedent, because the gender of wo is determined by the verb which follows to be feminine; so that the proper translation in those places would be, "The soul of HIM," of THE SAME who had been guilty of the transgression specified, "shall be cut off, &c."

Ibid.-and I will make IT-] For in the LXX. render autos, and one MS. reads.

.אתה Another reads

13. And I will bring upon that land-] 8am ---The Masora here reads 271, and so do thirty three MSS. and three editions. But this can hardly be deemed a various reading, it being only an ab

which is the regular ,ב אותי or הבאותי breviated mode of writing

form of the verbs quiescent in the second radical.---According to the remark in the last note but one, should be referred to the word

wa, which is the name of the country, as Ch. 1. 10. li. 24. not of the people; and p which is joined with it in the last verse is used in the masculine gender, if n be the true reading. I take therefore the true construction of N 8, to be "the land of the same," that is, of Chaldea; although I have still rendered, "that land;" the sense being all one here, whichever way it is expressed

Ibid.--in this book, which Jeremiah bath prophesied concern the nations] Those prophecies are meant, which are to be found altogether from Ch. xlvi. to Ch. li. inclusively; and which the LXX. have introduced in this place.

*See my Dissertation on Daniel's Prophecy, Ch ix. ver. 20. to the end. + Ibid. p. 42.

14. For of them, even of these, shall many nations and great kings exact service] The verb 27, when is prefixed to the object, sig. nifies to exact or make use of the service of another. See Ch. xxii. 13. xxvii. 7. xxx. 8. xxxiv. 9. It is probable the original reading here was 172, and that the has been lost in that of the preceding word. The LXX. have wholly omitted this verse; but in one of the Greek versions noticed in the Hexaplar we find, zaradɣλevoorlaι yag aUTUS

יעבדו בם which corresponds with

15. Take the cup of the wine of this wrath---] Those circumstances which constitute the good and evil of human life are often represented in Scripture as the ingredients of a cup, which God, as master of a feast, mixes up, and distributes to the several guests, as he thinks fit. Hence when our Saviour asks his disciples James and John, whether they were able to drink of the cup which he was to drink of, he means, whether they had resolution and patience to undergo the like sufferings. and afflictions, as his Father had allotted for him. Matt. xx. 22. And in the like sense he prays, Matt. xxvi. 39. "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." Accordingly by this image of "the cup the wine of God's wrath," we are to understand those dreadful and afflictive judgments, which an incensed God was about to inflict on the object of his displeasure. And Jeremiah the prophet, who announced them, is considered as acting the part of a cupbearer, carrying the cup round to those who were appointed to drink of it; the effects of which were to appear in the intoxication, that is, the terror and astonishment, the confusion and desolation, that should prevail among them. See Bp. Lowth's note on Isa. li. 21. and compare Rev. xiv. 10. xvi. 19.

of

Ibid.--and tender itto drink] For npw thirteen MSS. read pw, without the paragogic .

17. So I took the cup, &c.] It is not to be imagined, that Jeremiah went round in person to all the nations and kings here enumerated; but either that he did so in a vision or else that he actually did what is figuratively designed, that is, he publicly announced the judgments of God severally against them, as we find in the Chapters mentioned in Note on ver. 13.---Another thing to be observed is, that the words of JEHOVAH are broken off at the end of ver. 16. and not resumed till the latter part of ver. 26. where JEHOVAH again continues his directions thus," and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them." All the intermediate part contains an account of Jeremiah's executing the divine commission, and is to be included within a parenthesis. It is most likely that this narrative was written, either by the prophet himself, or dictated to him by Baruch his amanuensis, after the destruction of Jerusalem, when a compilation was made of all his prophecies; which as at this day,"

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,כיום חזה supposition will account for the words

found at the close of the next verse.

18.---and to the princes thereof---] In Van der Hooght's edition the conjunction is omitted before w-n; but it is expressed in all the ancient versions, and in 117 MSS. and twelve editions.

Ibid.--and an astonishment, and a hissing---] Here again the con

junction is omitted before nw and prwh; but five, perhaps six, MSS. read it before nw, and five, perhaps seven, MSS., and two editions, before pub or pnw. The LXX., Syr. and Vulg. express it in both places.

לשריקה לשוק

Ibid.---and a curse---] The LXX. and Syr. omit bhp. The

.כיום הזה LXX. also omit

19.---and to all the intermingled people---] These words I join with the preceding, and understand thereby all the foreigners resident in Egypt, who had by intermarriages formed connexions with the Egyptians. St Jerome is of the same opinion. In Exod. xii. 38. we read of 275, "a mixed multitude," distinct from the children of Israel, that went up with them out of Egypt. And again, Neh. xiii. 3. it is evident, that means all those that were not of the seed of Israel, but who had settled among them. See Ezek. xxx. 5. Arabia, properly so called, is specified afterwards, ver. 24.

20.---the land of Uz---] This was the country of Job; but concerning its situation different opinions are holden. It was most probably on the confines of Idumea, if not a part of it. The daughter of Edom is said to dwell in the land of Uz; Lam. iv. 21. Uz was the son of Nahor, Abraham's brother; Gen. xxii. 21.

Ibid.---the remnant of Ashdod.] Or Azotus, which had been very much ruined by two sieges in which it was taken, the one by Tartan the Assyrian general, mentioned Isai. xx. 1. the other by Psammitichus king of Egypt, who retook it after the longest siege that had ever been known in those times. Herodot. Lib. ii. c. 157.--- Let it be remembered that by kings are meant only the Sovereigns and Civil Rulers of a country, whatever were the form of government established in it. ---The prophecy respecting the Philistines is contained in Ch. xlvii.

.אי אשר בעבר הים glish Bibles represents

21. To Edom---] The LXX,, Syr. and Vulg. with seven MSS., read the at the beginning of this verse. For the prophecies concerning Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites, see Ch. xlviii. xlix. 1, 7. 22.---the region which is by the sea side] So the margin of our EnAnd that does not always signify an island properly so called, see note on Ch. ii. 10. 122 signifies on the side of a river, or of the sea, see Josh. v. 1. and note on Ch. xxii. 20. I take the same district to be here meant, as is called, Ezek. xxv, 16, and 9, Ch. xlvii. 4. See note on this latter place.

23. And to Dedan] Forty two MSS., eight editions, and all the ancient versions express the conjunction at the beginning of this verse. ---Dedan was descended from Abraham by Keturah; Gen. xxv. 3. It was probably he that founded the city Dedan; which however in process of time seems to have been annexed to Edom. See Ch. xlix. 8. Ezek. xxv. 13.

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Ibid. Tema---] Tema was one of the sons of Ishmael; Gen. xxv. 15. and a city or district called after him was situate near the mountains which separate Arabia from Chaldea. Ancient Univ. Hist. Vol. VII, B. iv. Ch, s. p. 230. folio,

Ibid.-Buz-] Buz was the brother of Uz; Gen, xxii. 21. and settled most probably in his neighbourhood. Elihu, the most discreet of Job's friends, was a Buzite. Job xxxii. 2.

Ibid.-and to all that have their coast insulated.] These I suppose to be the inhabitants of the peninsula of Arabia, especially those situate towards the bottom or narrow part of it. See note on Ch. ix. 26.

24. And to all the kings of Arabia-] The whole country, to which we give the general name of Arabia, seems to have been thrown in Scripture into two great divisions, one of which is called properly 277, Arabah, the other p, Kedem, according to their respective situations; Arabah signifying the West, as Kedem does the East. Each of these had their subdivisions; the first comprehending that which Geographers have distinguished by the name of Arabia Petræa, and also perhaps 'those parts along the western coast of the Red Sea, bordering upon Egypt, which I conceive to have been the residence of the Cushites (Note on Ch. xiii. 23.) and the inhabitants of which are called Arabians to this day. The other part, called Kedem, comprehended Arabia Felix and Arabia Deserta; the former of which the Scriptures seem to have distinguished by the name of p, "those that have their coast insulated," mentioned in the preceding verse; and the latter, I suppose, are intended in this verse by the following words, 2777 72702 awn, "the mingled race of those that dwell in the desert," meaning such as inhabited the great desert country lying between Mesopotamia and Palestine. These may have been called ay, from the sense of the verb 277, to mix or mingle together, either from their manner of inhabiting the desert promiscuously and in common, without any fixed property or abode, but settling for a time where they found pasture, and then removing with their flocks to another place; (See Strabo Lib. xvi. p. 747. Plin. Nat. Hist. Lib. vi. Sect. 32.) or else, which I rather think, from their being made up of people of different descents; concerning whom see what will be said in a note on Ch. xlix. 28.

25.-Zimri-] Zimran was one of the sons of Abraham by Keturah; all of whom he sent away eastward of Canaan to settle in the east country, or the land of Kedam. Gen. xxv. 2, 6. It is probable that the people of Zimri were the descendants of Zimran, and were the same that Pliny mentions among the inhabitants of Arabia by the name of Zamareni. Nat. Hist. Lib. vi. sect. 32.

Ibid.---Elam] See the prophecy concerning Elam, Ch. xlix. 34. and what will be said in the notes there.

Ibid. the kings of Media] Whether the Medes made any opposition to the conquest of Elam by the king of Babylon, and were unsuccessful; or whether this relates to the disturbance occasioned by the Baby: lonian invasion of the frontiers of Media, as related in Xenophon's Cyropædia, Lib. ii. or whether to any other calamity which befel that kingdom during their wars with the Babylonian monarchs, of which history has given no account, as far as I know; is uncertain.

26.the kings of the north, those that are near, and those that are

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