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by Herodotus, Hecatæus, and others, and placed by Antoninus at the entrance of Egypt from Palestine, about twelve miles from Pelusium. This was too far distant from the Red Sea, to be in the route of the Israelites; but its situation in the neighbourhood of Tahpanhes, or Daphne, and its distance from Judea, favour the supposition of its being the Migdol here spoken of. For then, as Bochart observes, we shall find the four places mentioned exactly in the order of their respective distances from that country; first, Migdol, or Magdolus; secondly, Tahpanhes, or Daphnæ; thirdly, Noph, or Memphis; and lastly, the district of Pathros, or Thebais. See Bochart Phaleg. Lib.

iv. cap. 27.

.אתם omit

3.they, ye and your fathers] One MS. omits , and six MSS. But the text, I conceive, is in no need of any alteration, the words, "they, ye and your fathers," being added, in order to specify who they were, who are said to have committed the wickedness, "they," namely "ye and your fathers." Two MSS. read even ye, &c."

,ואתם

66

6.-and a waste-] Eight MSS read now with the prefixed; and all the ancient versions express the copulative.

7. against your own souls] Twenty eight MSS. and three Editions, besides the London Polyglott, read on instead of onwaa; and seven MSS. and one Edition DJ.

9. and the wickednesses of the princes thereof-] It is very evident that the present reading, ws, "his wives," must be wrong. The true reading seems to be pointed out by the LXX. who render, na rav xaxwe των αρχόντων υμων. That the wickednesses of the princes or subordinate magistrates should follow the mention of the wickednesses of the kings, is very natural; see ver. 17, 21. It is therefore not improbable, that for yw, the original word was w, or perhaps w, which being contractedly written

נשיו might have been corrupted into נשאיו ואת one MS. omits; ואת רעות נשיו ואת רעתיכם Two MSS. omit .נשיו ואת רעתיכם ואת רעת and three MSS. omit ; רעות נשין

12. they shall fall by the sword, by famine shall they be consumed] So I render conformably to the received reading of the text. But twenty eight, perhaps twenty nine, MSS. and one Edition, for a read ; and all the ancient versions express the copulative 1. Ibid. and an astonishment] Here also thirty MSS. and six Editions read wb, in conformity with the ancient versions. See Ch. .xlii. 18.

13. and with famine, and with pestilence] Here again all the ancient versions with thirteen MSS, read ay, with the copulative. Here also 7731 is omitted in the Vatican Edition of the LXX. but expressed in the Alexandrian, and in MS. Pachom. by the words xai En Javasa. See notes on Ch. xlii. 17, 22.

14. And the remnant of Judah, &c.] It is evident from ver. 28. that some Jews were to escape the general destruction in Egypt, and to return into their own country, although but a few; and the same

thing is implied in the latter sentence of this verse.

But the former

part of this verse excludes out of the number of escapers every individual of those that were called properly "the remnant of Judah," those that had set their faces to enter Egypt to sojourn there in opposition to the express command of God, upon a presumption that they knew better than God how to consult their own restoration. The few then who were destined to escape, and to return back to the land of Judah, were to be such as had come into the land of Egypt in a less offensive manner, and chanced to be there when the storm burst upon them.

17.---the regency of the heavens---] See note on Ch. vii. 18. Eleven

אחרים למלאכת .one MS ; למלאכת MSS. and two Editions read

b; in three others the is dilated upon a rasure. Again, ver. 18. twelve, perhaps thirteen, MSS. besides one in the margin, and one Edition, read on, and in two MSS. the is dilated upon a rasure. ---Again, ver. 19. thirteen, perhaps fourteen, MSS. read nas, and in three the is dilated upon a rasure.It is to be observed that in these places the LXX. render, în Bacidison tov ovgavou; whereas Ch. vii. 18. they have rendered the same words, τn seatiα tov ovgavov.

19.---exclusively of our men---] By the law of Moses, the men had an independent power of binding themselves by any religious vow or obligation; but the vows of the women were not binding, without the knowledge and consent of their fathers and husbands; but if the father or husband knew of the vow, and did not signify his dissent at the time, his consent was presumed, and the vow stood firm and irrevocable. Numb. xxx. 1---16. This appeal therefore to the concurrence of their men must be considered as coming from the female part of the assembly only, who thereby appear to declare, that since they were thus authorized by those, who alone had a legal right to controul them, they should not submit to any other restraint upon their inclinations. It is to be observed, that opp is of the masculine gender, because N includes both the men and women, who in some degree joined together in this idolatrous worship; and from this joint concern it is, that the women argue the consent of the men. The women however seem to have taken the most active part in the business, and the men to be rather passively concerned. See what follows in Note on ver. 25.

Ibid.---and pouring out---] For 70, eleven MSS. and two Edi

להסך .and two MSS ; ולהסך tions read

21.---or hath it been acceptable unto him?] ab-by mbanı--That is said to be 3-r. "near," or "according to the heart" of any one, which is pleasing or acceptable to him. Thus Ruth ii. 13. "thou hast spoken according to the heart of thine handmaid," now ab-by, what is agreeable or pleasing to her. So again, 2 Sam. xix. 7. Accordingly that thing is said to "ascend" or "come unto, or upon, the heart" of any one, which he approves and delights in. Thus "all that came into Solomon's heart," 2 Chron. vii. 11. means, all that was agreeable to him, or that he liked to do. And 2 Kings xii. 4. "all the money

is all that he, אשר יעלה על לב איש ",that cometh into any man's heart

is willing or desirous to bring into the house of JEHOVAH. So Ch. vii.

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31. the burning of the children in sacrifice is said to be a thing which God had not commanded, "nor did it ever come unto his heart,' 23-by Anby, that is, as has been before explained, it was not what he desired, or in any wise approved or delighted in.---up is here the infinitive mood of the verb with the article prefixed, used as a noun, and is properly to be rendered, "the burning of incense."

25.---As for you and your women, &c.] The different genders have not been sufficiently attended to in the explications that have been hitherto given of this verse; they ought however to have been carefully distinguished, as such a distinction seems to be the proper key to let us into the true meaning of the text. For it cannot be imagined, that a writer of any tolerable accuracy would jumble the genders together in such a promiscuous manner as they would be found here, supposing the same persons to be all along intended. In the version I have endeavoured to preserve the distinction; and the sense resulting therefrom appears to be this; that though the women were the immediate actors in the idolatrous vows and service, the men would still be considered as having a principal share in the guilt, forasmuch as they made the acts of the women their own, by not preventing what without their allowance could not have been carried into effect. See the preceding Note on ver. 19.

Ibid.-they will surely accomplish your vows] Three, perhaps four MSS. read with the Chaldee, your libations, instead of 2477) in the last instance; and with that reading we must render, "they will surely perform your libations."

30.-Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt-] This prince is the same that is called by profane Authors Apries; and his unfortunate end, in exact conformity with this prediction, is related by Herodotus, Lib. ii. c. 169. and by Diodorus Siculus, Lib. i. pag. 43. Edit. Rhodomanni.

1604.

CHAP. XLV. has been already inserted next after CHAP. XXXVI.

CHAP. XLVI.

1. THE WORD OF JEHOVAH, &c.] This verse is a general title to the collection of prophecies contained in this and the five following Chapters. The nations spoken of are the same of whom an enumeration is made, Ch. xxv. 19-26. Thirteen, perhaps fourteen, MSS. and eight Editions, read an, "all the nations." These prophecies were not delivered all at the same time. To some the date is annexed; in others it is left uncertain.

2. OF EGYPT.] In this Chapter are two distinct prophecies concerning Egypt. The first appears to have been delivered at the time that the Egyptian army lay along the banks of the Euphrates, waiting

to oppose the entrance of Nebuchadnezzar into Syria, in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah. The two armies came to an engagement near the city of Carchemish, the same which PharaohNecho was going against, when he was opposed by king Josiah, 2 Chro. xxxv. 20. and which is supposed to be that which Ammianus calls Carcusium, Lib. xxiii. cap. 5. The event of the battle proved very unfortunate to the Egyptians, who were routed with a prodigious slaughter; as is here foretold by the prophet in a very animated style, and with great poetic energy and liveliness of colouring. In the third and fourth verses the mighty preparations of the Egyptians for war are described; which occasion the prophet, who foresees the defeat, to express his astonishment at an event so contrary to what might have been expected; but he accounts for it by ascribing it to the disposition of the Almighty, who had spread terror all around, and had decreed that neither swiftness nor strength should avail the owners, so as to save them from the impending overthrow; v. 5, 6. In the verses that follow next, the king of Egypt is represented as beginning his march with all the ostentation and insolence of presumed success. He is compared to a mighty river, the Nile, or the Euphrates, when it swells above its banks, and threatens to overwhelm the country with ruin and desolation ; v. 7, 8. He is heard calling aloud to the nations of which his army is composed, giving them the signal for action, and rousing them to deeds of desperate valour; v. 9. But all in vain; for the time is come for God to avenge himself of his ancient foes; they are doomed to slaughter, to fall a bloody sacrifice on the plains of the north; v. 10. The whole concludes with an apostrophe to the daughter of Egypt, whose wound is pronounced incurable, and her disgrace universally known; forasmuch as the number of her warriors have served only to augment the general disorder, and more effectually to destroy each other.

5. Fear is on every side, saith JEHOVAH] These words ought rather to be connected with the following, which being spoken imperatively can only be understood as coming from the mouth of God. Fear seems

to be put by metonymy for danger. So that the words taken all toge ther imply, that from the danger which surrounded them on all sides it was the divine decree that neither the swift should escape by flight, nor the strong be able to extricate himself by any exertions of valour. 8.---do his waters swell] The ancient versions seem all to have read here, as in the preceding verse. I am inclined to think, that the has been dropt by accident after ; and that instead of Y , we should read ; although the versions seem rather to

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.ואמר מימיו countenance

Ibid.---I will destroy the city] Perhaps instead of 7, we should rather read, '; not that any particular city seems to have been intended, but indefinitely the cities of the land, which the king of Egypt under the image of a river was to overflow.

9. Cush and Phut---] Cush and Phut were two of the sons of Ham, and brothers to Mizraim the father of the Egyptians; Gen. x. 6. the Ludim are said to be descended from Mizraim; Gen. xa 13.

And

Cush

is translated both in the LXX. and Vulgate, as well as in our English version, Ethiopians. But Bochart and others are persuaded that the Arabians are always meant by that appellation in Scripture. And in general I think it must be so understood. See Bochart Phaleg. Lib. iv. cap. 2. Here I think those Arabians are chiefly intended, who bordered upon Egypt near the Red Sea, and whom we find closely connected with the Egyptians, Isa. xx. 3, 4, 5. See note on Ch. xiii. 23. As these lay to the cast, so by Phat it is most probable the Libyans were intended, who lay west of Egypt. Josephus says expressly, that Phut settled in Libya; and that in Mauritania there was at the time he wrote a river of that name; Ant. Lib. i. Cap. 6. Edit. Huds. Pliny mentions this river; Nat. Hist. Lib. v. Cap. 1. And Jerome, who likewise adds, that the country round was called Phutensis. Tradit. Heb. in Genesin.---See also Bochart. Phaleg. Lib. iv. Cap. 33. As for the Ludim, Bochart contends that they were the Ethiopians; Phaleg. Lib. iv. 26. And that the Ethiopians were famous for the use of the bow, we may learn from Herodotus, Lib. vii. Cap. 69. who says, that they had bows four cubits long. In a matter however not altogether certain it seems the best way to adhere to the Scriptural names, and to be satisfied that the three nations were allies of Egypt, as they are also repiesented, Ezek. xxx. 5.

Wan-Literally, The Syr. version

Ibid.---expert in the use of the bow] nup "handling" or "practising the ways of the bow." seems to countenance this. But for my own part I cannot help suspecting an interpolation of the word 'wer, which was used just before; and think that 770 nwp is in itself a complete and more likely sentence; “And the Ludim that bend the bow." In what manner those great bows were bent, see Note on Ch. li. 3.

10. But this is the day of the Lord-] There is some ground for suspecting the word, which I do not think is countenanced by the ancient versions,; and in the collated MSS. there are the following variations. In one MS. 17 is upon a rasure; in another is substituted

in another ; ליהוה we find only לאדני יהוה for it ; in another for -is omit יהו in another ; ליהוה אלהי in another ; ליהוה לאדני

The LXX. in .צבאות and one MS. omits ; ליהוה אלהים reads

ted. In the second instance for the ancient MS. No. 1.

the first instance seem to have read in unbeh, and in the second, only according to the Roman Edition, but

according to the Alexandrian and MS. Pachom. The Vul

or ליהוה אלהי צבאות,gate Iconceive to have read in both places I have not however attempted any further .ליהוה לאלהי צבאות

alteration, than barely to prefix to in the first instance, which I think, tends to a proper division of the hemistichs. See Ch. 1. 25.

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Ibid. To avenge himself of his enemies] Besides ancient feuds, a more recent ground of God's enmity against Egypt arose from the perfidious conduct of the Egyptians towards his people, whom they encouraged to trust in their alliance, and always deserted in time of need. See Isai. xxx. 3, 4, 5. Ezek. xxix. 6, 7.

11.- and take balm]

. See note on Ch. viii. 22.

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