הנה יהוה מטלטלן טלטלה גבר ועטר עטה צנוף: וצנפך צנופה כדור אל ארץ רחבת ודים: 17 Behold Jehovah is about to cast thee forth with a giant's force, And he will toss thee a spinning toss. 18 He will send thee spinning like a round ball Into a wide open country. CHAP. XXIII. That the first capture of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar is the particular subject of this prophecy, is evident from the general tenor of it, the calamity predicted being described as the first the Tyrian state had en、 dured, and in particular from the 12th verse. The prophet however confines not himself to the fortunes of the single town of Tyre, but he touches upon the general blow given to commerce by the destruction of that universal mart, and upon the sufferings of the Tyrians in their distant colonies, under the irresistible arms of the Babylonian conqueror. 1 The burthen of Tyre. For the spoiler is within your port. Far as the land of Chittim the news is spread. 2 The inhabitants of the sea-port are still; The merchants of Sidon, who traversed the sea, crowded thee.1 2 3 Upon the mighty waters was the seed of the Nile, The harvest of the river was her revenue. She was the factoress of nations. 4 Be thou ashamed, O Sidon; for the sea hath spoken, 3 Even the fortress of the sea, saying, 1 "thee," O sea-port. The corn, 2 "the mighty waters;" i. e. the wide ocean. the growth of the Delta, transported in Tyrian vessels to the ports of various distant countries, was thus scattered over the main ocean; and the harvest of the banks of the river became the re shipped by merchants as the power presiding over the sea, direct ing the currents and the winds, as their tutelar divinity? Hercules was worshipped by the Gauls under the title of Magusan. I have travailed not, I have not brought forth, I have nourished no youths, [neither] brought up virgins. 5. When the tidings shall reach Egypt, They shall be sorely grieved at the tidings of Tyre. 6 Pass ye over to Tarshish: howl, ye inhabitants of the sea-port! 7 Is this your city rioting [in prosperity], Whose antiquity is of the earliest date? Her own feet bear her far away to sojourn. 8 Who hath devised this against Tyre, The mistress of crowns, whose merchants were princes, Whose traders were the honourable of the earth? 9 Jehovah [God] of hosts hath devised it; To stain the splendour of whatever was haughty,* To bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. To mar the lustre of whatever was haughty. 10 Overflow thy land, like a stream, O daughter of Tarshish, That hath no longer an embankment! 11 Jehovah hath stretched his hand over the sea, He hath shaken the kingdoms, He hath issued a command against Canaan 12 And he hath said, Thou shalt no more repeat thy riot, O thou deflowered virgin, daughter of Sidon. have no rest. 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This people was not: The Assyrian founded it, He set up his beacons for ships. Down with her stately palaces: she is appointed to destruction. 14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish! for your fortress' is laid waste! 5 Rather, "your strength," or "your protector." Here ends the first part of this prophecy. In the sequel the prophet in a cooler strain defines the duration of the Tyrian captivity, and foretells the restoration of the state, without extending his views to what was to take place in the distant times of Alexander the Great. There is no difficulty in the four remaining verses, and they cannot be better rendered than in Bishop Lowth's or the public translation. שדר מבית מבוא Verse 1.-"the spoiler is within your port." Some of Kennicott's best MSS. and the Bible of Soncinum 1488, have . The points favour this reading, T. The words 771 taken by themselves, any one would render the spoiler is within.' But within what? The sentence has nothing to answer this question but the word. This word is frequently used as a noun substantive, to signify the entrance into any place; the entrance of a house, a town, a temple, a country. But an entrance, with respect to the ships upon the ocean, must be the port to which they are bound, where they wish to enter. The prophet's imagination presents to him fleets of merchantmen bound to Tyre, (whether ships of other countries, or merchantmen of Tyre itself, homeward bound, VOL. II. |