The oracle concerning]

bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish; there is no more strength.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to

ruin.

14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten se

CHAP. XXII.`

[Tyre and Tarshish.

venty years, according to the days of one king after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. (Z)

CHAP. XXIV.

BEHOLD, the LORD maketh the

earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

(Z) An oracle concerning Tyre and Tarshish. This prophecy denounces the destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar. It was delivered at least 125 years before its accomplishment, at a time when the Babylonians were the subjects and slaves of the Assyrian empire, (ver. 13.) and when such an event was, in human appearance, very improbable. It opens with an address to the Tyrian traders and sailors in Tarshish, (or Tartessus, in Spain,) a place which they much frequent ed. The flourishing state of Tyre is then enlarged upon, and contrasted with its im pending ruin. After this, the prophet foretells it should again recover its splendour, when the period fixed for the duration of the Babylonian empire should expire;

which accordingly it did; not only after its first destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, but also after a second destruction by Alex. ander. Tyre, on account of her promiscuous commerce with all nations, is compared to a harlot, receiving all comers. Her hire is the produce of her commerce, and that, being consecrated to the Lord, is thought to refer to her early conversion to Christianity. St. Paul found a number of Christians there, in his journey to Jerusalem. (Acts xxi. 4.) Thus God tempers his judgments with mercy; but that mercy, when abused, calls for judgments still more severe. Accordingly Tyre, which continued Christian to the seventh century, is now a mere ruin; or, to use the words of another prophet, a bare rock-" a place to spread nets upon." (Ezek. xxvi. 14.)

Ver. 10. Pass through Lowth, “Overflow.” -There is no more strength-Boothroyd, "There is no more restraint;" Heb. "Girdle "

Ver. 11. He stretched out-that is, Jehovah.Hath given a commandment against the merchant (city)-Heb. "Against Canaan."

Ver. 12. To Chittim.-See Note, ver. 1.

Ver. 13. And he brought it to ruin-Lowth, "This people (i. e. the Chaldeans) hath reduced her to rain. In the days of Job, the Chaldeans were freebooters, like the Arabs. See Job . 17.

Ver. 15. The days of one king - that is, of one kingdom, Dau. vii. 17.-viii. 20. Tyre was couquered early in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar; from the commencement of his reign to the taking of Eahylon by Cyrus, was 10 years. Comp. Jer. xxv. 11. Lowth.Sing as an harlot - that is, with great gaiety and mirth. Comp. Rev. xviii. 3, 7, 22, &c.

CHAP. XXIV. Ver. 1. Maketh the earth (Lowth, "the land") empty.

2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.

4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting

covenant.

6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

7 The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh.

8 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.

9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

10 The city of confusion is broken down every house is shut up, that no man may come in.

:

11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.

12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

13 When thus it shall be in the

[the land of Israel. midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.

15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the

sea.

16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.

18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.

20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.

22 And they shall be gathered to

Ver. 4. The haughty people-Lowth, "The lofty people of the land."

Ver. 6. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth-Lowth, "A curse devoured the land." So throughout the chapter; land for earth.

Ver. 10. The city of confusion is broken downLowth," The city is broken down; it is desolate." Ver. 15. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires-Marg. "Vallies." Gesenius explains this of the north country; but Lowth, by a slight variation in the text, reads, " In the distant coasts."

Ver. 16. Earth-Lowth," Land," as before.My leanness -- Lowth, "Wretchedness;" Boothroyd, "My calamity."- The treacherous dealers

have dealt treacherously—“ The plunderers plunder; yea, the plunderers continually plunder." Ver. 17. Fear-Lowth, "Terror."

Ver. 13. From the noise of the fear - Lowth, "From the terror." The windows-Lowth, "The flood-gates."

Ver. 20. And shall be removed, &c.-Lowth, " And moveth this way and that, like a lodge for the night." Ver. 21. The Lord shall punish-Heb. "Shall visit; Lowth, "Shall summon on bigh the host that is on high," &c. i. e. all the ecclesiastical and civil, spiritual and temporal, powers of the nation. Ver. 22. As prisoners in the pit-Marg. "Dungeon."

gether, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. (A)

CHAP. XXV.

LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

2 For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

CHAP. XXIV.

[thanksgiving.

3 Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

7 And he will destroy in this moun

(A) The divine judgments on the land of Israel.-Having declared the fate of several other nations, (from chap. xiii.) the prophet now declares the judgments that were impending over the people of God themselves, and which were to extend equally to all classes of society. The picture of distress is delineated in strong colours, heightened by the enumeration of many striking and concomitant circumstances. But whether the desolation here spoken of was that occasioned by Shalmanezer, Nebuchadnezzar, or the Romans, is not certain. Perhaps it may have a view to all the three; though to the last, some parts of the description seem more espe

cially applicable. But the images, though thus general, sufficiently show the greatness of the calamity, which would only leave a small remnant in the land, as it were the gleanings of the vintage. The rest, scattered over all the neighbouring countries, spread there the knowledge of God, and paved the way for the introduction of the gospel. In the close of the chapter, God (in alluding to the eastern custom of allowing persons to remain long in a dungeon before their cause is inquired into) promises to revisit and restore his people in the last age, when the kingdom of God shall be established in such perfection, as wholly to eclipse the glory of the temporary and typical kingdom which then subsisted.

Ver. 23. The moon shall be confounded, &c.—that is, all other powers and potentates shall hide themselves in obscurity, when the Lord assumes his zlory-Before his ancients gloriously-Lowth, Before his ancients shall he be glorified;" i. e, befure the elders of his ancient church, Israel.

CHAP. XXV. Ver. 2. A city, ... a defenced (or fortified) city-and not being named, the ode is equally applicable to the fall of Babylon, or any strong hold of their Pagan enemies.A palace of strangers:-This, we conceive, confines it to some great commercial city, where splendid residences were built for foreigneis engaged with them in comTerce. Not considering this, some great critics, ou the authority of a few MSS. read, "the proud." So Lowth, &c.

Ver.3. The strong people those who boasted themselves invincible.

Ver. 4. A strength-that is, "a defence."As a sform against the wall - Lowth, Rages like a winter storm;" Boothroyd, "As a rapid torrent."

Either makes a good sense, and may be derived from the Hebrew: but the common version gives an excellent sense, "when God protects his people, their enemies spend their rage like a storm upon the walls of a fortress."

Ver. 5. Strangers.-See Note on ver. 2. But per. haps the term, as used by the Jews, simply meant heathens -aliens from the commonwealth of Israel." Ephes. ii. 12. Thou shalt bring down, &c.-The verse is rendered by Lowth, "As the heat in a parched land, the tumult of the proud (or strangers) shalt thou bring low; as the heat by a thick cloud, the triumph of the formidable (or terrible ones) shall be humbled." So Gataker and Boothroyd.

Ver. 6. In this mountain-that is, Zion. See ch. xxiv. 23-A feast of fat things-or of fatlings Matt. xxii. 4. the richest kind of meats.-Wine on (rather "from") the lees, well refined According to Mr. Harmer,"filtered." The sense is, undoubtedly, old and choice wines.

Ver. 7. He will destroy-Heb." Swallow up," as

tain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GoD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the LORD hath spoken it.

9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest; and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.

[concerning Messiah.

of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust. (B)

CHAP. XXVI.

IN that day shall this song be sung

in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.

4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

CHAP. XXV.

6 The foot shall tread it down, EVER the feet of the poor, and the steps of

(B) An ode of thanksgiving for the deliverance just announced. The short glance which the prophet gave, of the deliverance of Israel, and the Messiah's kingdom, in the close of the preceding chapter, makes him here break out into a song of praise; whereas, though he first alludes to temporal deliverances, the prophetic spirit carries out his mind in the ecstatic contemplation of the glory and blessedness of the gospel dispensation, which he compares, 1. To a rich and plentiful feast, of which all nations were in

vited to partake, "without money and without price." 2. He compares it to the dawn of light, which "lifts the veil of darkness from all faces." 3. He who brings "life and immortality to light," (2 Tim. i. 10.) will, at the same time, throw into darkness and oblivion the errors and superstitions of Paganisın; and finally, by his own death, eventually destroy (or, in the Hebrew idiom, swaliow up) death itself-wipe away all tears-and introduce into the New Jerusalem above, everlasting joy, and peace, and happiness. (See Rev. xxi. 1-4.)

in the next verse... The face of the covering cast over-Heb. " Covered" over-all people. Ver. 8. Swallow up death.-See 1 Cor. xv. 55, The rebuke-Lowth," The reproach."

Ver. 10. Rest-Lowth, "Give rest.".... Lowth, "And Moab shall be threshed in his place, as the straw is threshed under the wheels of the car." Boothroyd, however, adheres to our translation, "As straw (i. e. the refuse of it) is trodden down for the dunghill." Compare Marg. Note, and see our Note on Deut. xxv. 4, also ch. xxviii. 27 of this book. Ver. 11. Spread forth his hands--Lowth and others apply this to Moab, compared here to a man who, in the fear of drowning, spreads forth his hands to swim, but in vain, for God will enervate his hands; alluding, perhaps, to the cramp, which sometimes seizes and drowns the swimmer. This is very nearly the version of Lowth," With the sudden gripe

of his hands" meaning, that God should seize bim, as a beast of prey. See Lam. iii. 10, These b verses are extremely difficult to translate, (ss 63:2ker has sufficiently shown) but of the general sense. as implying the subjugation and overthrow of Moab, there can be no doubt.

CHAP. XXVI. Ver. 1. A strong city-in opp sition to that of the enemy overthrown, chap. xv In the land of Judah-Lowth unites this with the latter clause, instead of the preceding : " In the land of Judah we have a strong city."

Ver. 3. In perfect peace-Heb." Peace, pract, the word being repeated by way of emphasis. Whose mind (Marg. imagination, or theaght•, " stayed-settled, unwavering.

Ver. 4. Everlasting strength-Heb. "The rock of

ages."

7 The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

13 O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

CHAP. XXVI.

[of praise.

15 Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD; thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. (C)

Ver. 7. Uprightness-Lowth," Perfectly straight." Thou dost weigh-Lowth," Thou exactly levellest," the word signiães to regulate, either by weight or measure. See Prov. iv 26.

Ver. 9. Will I seek-Lowth, "Have I sought."· Ver. 10. Behold-Lowth, "Regard." Ver. 11. For their envy at the people Marg. "Towards thy people;" Lowth, "They shall see, with co fusion, thy zeal for thy people." Ver. 12. In us-Marg. "For us."

Ver. 13. By thee only-Lowth, "The only, and thy name, henceforth will we celebrate."

Ver. 15. Removed it far unto.-Read the text without the supplementary words, "Thou hadst removed far ail ends, horders (or boundaries) of, not the earth, but "the land."

Ver. 16. Poured at a prayer · Marg. "Secret speech," a whisper; i. e. a private prayer. But Lowth renders it," Humble supplication."

Ver. 17. Like as a woman with child-Lowth,

"That hath conceived."

Ver. 18. We have been with child-Lowth, "We have conceived." The case here stated, is that of a woman suffering under a disorder, with all the symp toms of pregnancy, arising from wind only.

Ver. 19. Together with, &c.—Lowth omits the supplementary words in Italics, and reads, "My deceased, they shall rise." All the ancient versions read in the plural..... Dew of herbs-Boothroyd reads, "Mallows," which are said to imbibe much dew; but Lowth renders it, "Of the dawn." As dew raises the vegetable world to new life, (as it were) so God's Spirit acts upon the moral world" And the earth shall cast out the dead-Lowth renders this," But the earth shall cast forth (as an abortion) the deceased tyrants;" the word here used, is Rephaim, giants, tyrants, alluding to ver. 14; whose carcases are represented as "cast forth," but not resuscitated. See Note on Job xxvi. 5.