Verse 6. A land of drought and of the shadow of death.' -After we had passed the salt desert we came to the Malak el Moatdereh, or the valley of the angel of death. This extraordinary appellation, and the peculiar nature of the whole of this tract of land, broken into deep ravines, without water, of a dreariness without example, will perhaps be found forcibly to illustrate that passage in the prophet Jeremiah ii. 6. Morier, i. 168.

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16. Noph.'-See the note on xlvi. 19. 22. Nitre.'-This well-known word comes from the Hebrew neter; being the same as the viτpov or Airpov of the Greeks. This nitre, or nitron, must not be confounded with the nitrate of potash, or saltpetre, to which the term is now most usually applied. The word occurs nowhere else in Hebrew, except in Prov. xxv. 20; and in his note on that text, Jerome identifies it with the famous natron of Egypt, observing that the word comes from Nitria, the name of the province in Egypt where that product was most abundantly afforded. Whether the province took its name from the product or the product from the province, is not very clear. The natron, or carbonate of soda, is derived from a chain of lakes to the south-west of the Delta. Their bed is a sort of natural trench three or four leagues long by a quarter of a league wide, the bottom of which is hard and stony. It is dry for nine months in the year; but in winter there oozes from the earth a water of a reddish violet colour, which fills the lakes to the height of five or six feet; the return of the great heats causing this to evaporate, there remains a bed of this salt, two feet thick and very hard, which is broken with bars of iron (see Volney, i. 15). These lakes also furnish common salt. The natron obtained from this and other sources was applied to various uses by the nations of the Levant; and, among them, one of the most important was its employment as one of the substitutes for soap in washing; for the ancients had no soap like ours. It was used thus, not only for cleansing clothes, but in purifying the person, particularly in baths; and it continues to be employed for the same purpose in the East.

1

Sope.'-For an explanation of this see the note Mal. iii. 3. Is not the employment of the articles mentioned

here so as to convey the idea that the use of them implied an extraordinary, and perhaps luxurious, attempt at purification; and thus shewing that the Hebrews did not at this period commonly employ anything but water for the purpose? Burckhardt gives a translation of a Bedouin poem, in which the liberal entertainments of a certain sheikh are warmly praised. In describing the afterdinner washing, the original has, clean washed with soap,' in compliment to the sheikh, who did not grudge such a rare article as soap is in the Desert, that he might do honour to his guests.

23. A swift dromedary. This word ? bikrah, is understood by the Rabbins to mean a young camel, or by others, a swift camel-that is, a dromedary; for a drome

dary is properly a camel, distinguished from the common one only by its breed and training, as a saddle-horse is distinguished from a cart-horse. This breed is called swift with respect to other camels, not with respect to other animals; for the camel is not eminently a swift animal, and those most renowned for their fleetness are not in any way comparable to the horse. The best trained riding camels cannot sustain a gallop above half an hour, in which at a forced speed they may make about eight or nine miles. This is their highest exertion. A forced trot is not so contrary to the camel's nature; and it will support it for several hours without evincing any symptoms of fatigue; but even here the utmost degree of celerity of the very best bred dromedary does not exceed about twelve miles an hour; and it is therefore in this pace also less expeditious than a moderately good horse. It is not therefore,' says Burckhardt, to whom we owe this statement, by extreme celerity that the hedjeins and delouls are distinguished, however surprising may be the stories related on this subject both in Europe and the East. But they are perhaps unequalled by any quadrupeds for the ease with which they carry their rider through an uninterrupted journey of several days and nights, when they are allowed to persevere in their own favourite pace, which is a kind of easy amble, at the rate of about five

6

CHAPTER III.

1 God's great mercy in Judah's vile whoredom. 6 Judah is worse than Israel. 12 The promises of the Gospel to the penitent. 20 Israel reproved, and

miles or five miles and a half in the hour.'-Notes on the Bedouins, p. 262.

37. 'Thine hands upon thine head.'-We have not observed in Western Asia anything that might illustrate the custom here alluded to, perhaps on account of the elevated or bulky head-dresses which have come into general use, and which render the act difficult, if not impossible. But in India, where this preventive does not exist, the practice alluded to by the prophet may be constantly observed. Mr. Roberts informs us that when people are in great distress they put their hands on their head, the fingers being clasped on the top of the crown. Should a man who is plunged into wretchedness meet a friend, he immediately puts his hands on his head to illustrate his circumstances. When a person hears of the death of a relation or friend, he forthwith clasps his hands on his head, When boys have been punished at school, they run home with their hands on their head. Parents are much displeased and alarmed when they see the children with their hands in that position, because they look upon it not merely as a sign of grief, but as an emblem of bad fortune. Thus of those who had trusted in Egypt and Assyria it was said, "Thou shalt be ashamed" of them; and they were to go forth with their hands on their head, in token of their degradation and misery.'

7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw, when for all the causes

not.

sins.

"THEY say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, 2shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

3 Therefore the 'showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a 'whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

6 ¶ The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is *gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

tery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

9 And it came to pass through the 'lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and

with stocks.

10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but 'feignedly, saith the LORD.

11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.

13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

14 Turn, Ŏ backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion :

7 Heb. in falsehood.

tire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the *north, and a great 'destruction.

7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

8 For this "gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

14 O Jerusalem, 'wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

15 For a voice declareth 'from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.

18 "Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh

13.

4 Chap. 1. 13, 14, 15, and 6. 22. 5 Heb, breaking. 8 Heb. utter judgments. 19 Chap. 8. 16. 13 Heb. the walls of my heart.

9 Isa. 1. 16.

Verse 11. A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness.'-Blayney's translation, A wind that scorcheth the plains in the wilderness,' is doubtless preferable, both as regards the interpretation of the original, and the nature

a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a mo

ment.

21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; "yet will I not make a full end.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy "face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

occasions mentioned the single keeper and his lodge. When a field or plantation is extensive, several men are employed, as the season of fruition approaches, to prevent the encroachment of cattle and other marauders. These guards are most numerous near frequented roads, and fewer in remote districts. They keep an easy watch on the borders of the ground, and sometimes tend a few sheep, or amuse the time with some other light employment. They sleep together at night in some such frail lodge or shed as we have formerly described.

30. Rentest thy face with painting.'-For 'face,' read 'eyes,' as in the margin. The word kara, ‘to rend,' or tear,' is probably here to be understood in the sense of tearing open, or distending, and perhaps refers to the effect of the operation of painting the eyes. Large eyes are much affected in the East; and the black border, by its contrast to the white of the eye, does certainly give a much enlarged appearance to that organ. See the note and cuts under 2 Kings ix. 30.

CHAPTER V.

1 The judgments of God upon the Jews, for their perverseness, 7 for their adultery, 10 for their impiety, 19 for their contempt of God, 25 and for their great corruption in the civil state, 30 and ecclesiastical.

RUN ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast 'stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.

4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the 'evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

7 ¶ How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

8 "They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith

the LORD and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S.

11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

5

12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

15¶ Lo, I will bring a 'nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, 10 Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your's.

20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,