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ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.

19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their

way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.

22 T Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

24 ¶ Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from

me.

25 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.

4 Jer. 32. 39. Chap. 36. 26.

Verse 3. The caldron.'-Pots of strong earthenware were doubtless used, to a considerable extent, among the poorer Hebrews, for boiling their food; but those of the

EGYPTIAN CULINARY VESSELS.

wealthier people were probably of metal, and copper seems to be more likely to have been used than any other metal, iron being comparatively rarely used in Western Asia,

less from any natural scarcity than from the greater difficulty of working it. None of the utensils, either of the tabernacle or temple, were made of iron; a vessel or pot of that metal does not once occur in Scripture-the iron pan' of ch. iv. 3, having been shewn to be an iron plate.' Egypt is indeed described figuratively as an iron furnace; but this allusion refers not to a culinary vessel. The most definite circumstance is that the pots,' and even the 'shovels' for the use of the temple, were of bright brass;' by which we may perhaps understand fine copper. The kitchen utensils which have been found at Herculaneum and Pompeii are mostly of bronze; and from the specimens which have been obtained, it would be difficult to say that our own culinary boilers exceed them in convenience, or equal them in elegance of form and workmanship. All the specimens we have seen are round, never oval; and they mostly rest upon feet, and are furnished with handles inserted into eyes or rings attached to the vessel. Some have ornamental mouldings and borders, with massive leaves and volutes below the rings for the handles, and some of the larger kinds, with thick handles, have eyes at the top of the handle, by which they were doubtless suspended by hooks over the fire. It is very possible that the Hebrew utensils of this kind were not inferior to these; for whatever may have been their own skill or taste in such matters, we are to recollect that they had models for their caldrons in those which were made for Solomon by Hiram of Tyre, the most skilful worker in metal of his time, and to whose people the useful arts of eastern Europe probably owed as much as did those of their neighbours in Asia.

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thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, "as they that go forth into captivity.

5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.

6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

7 And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.

8 And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,

9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?

10 Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.

11 Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.

12 And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby he shall cover his face, that he sce not the ground with his eyes.

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13 My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.

14 And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after

them.

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come; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

17 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;

19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GoD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.

20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

21 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

22 Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?

23 Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.

24 For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the

house of Israel.

25 For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.

26 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

27 Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is "for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.

28 Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.

3 Heb. Dig for thee. 7 Heb. men of number.

Verse 4. Thou shalt bring forth thy stuff by day, as stuff for removing.'-This is still done in caravan travelling. In all cases of travelling the goods and baggage are brought out towards the close of the day, and all arranged to be ready for the start in the early morning. The same happens when the season of the year and heat of the

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weather do not admit of travelling by day. The goods are still brought out in the afternoon to be ready for departure in the late evening. We think the former alternative is to be understood here, because it was near twilight, which points rather to a departure the next morning than the same evening; and in verse 8 we see that 'in the

morning,' instead of carrying out the symbolical action by departing, he proceeded to explain the purport of what he had already done.

7. I digged through the wall with mine hand.'-With respect to walls, compare the notes on Job iv. 19, Prov. xxviii. 3, and Isa. xxx. 13. In the first of these notes the class numbered 2 answers exactly to the cob-walls of Devonshire, which form the subject of an interesting paper in No. CXVI. of the Quarterly Review. These walls, formed of earth and straw well beaten and trodden together, and raised upon a foundation of stone or brick, were very ancient and are still very common in the East; and, as observed in the note to which we refer, explain what is meant by digging through walls. To the brief intimation there given, we may as well add the somewhat larger remark in the recent Quarterly Review ;— Ezekiel, of all the prophets best acquainted with the customs of the Phonicians of which the thirty-seventh chapter is a proofwhen speaking of breaking through a wall, invariably uses the word " dig through," StopUTTEL,-"I digged through the wall with mine hand" (Ezek. xii. 7); this would be impossible in the case of a stone or brick wall, but by no means so as to one of cob. The identical expression is used twice by our Saviour himself in the sixth

chapter of St. Matthew, "Lay up for yourselves treasures ...where thieves do not break through and steal"-nov KλÉTTAι μη dioρúσoovou, where thieves "do not dig through." In fact, the common Greek term for a housebreaker was TOIXWρUXOS, a wall-breaker. Therefore the author of that most ancient book, Job, in the fourth chapter, adverts to the little trust to be placed in those "who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed by the moth." A very high authority has suggested, that by the moth is meant the white ant. It is clear that some sort of those destructive insects are alluded to, which so notoriously harbour in walls of clay, that is, of cob.'

13. I will bring him to Babylon...yet shall he not sce it, though he shall die there.'-The prophet Jeremiah foretold of Zedekiah that his eyes should behold the eyes of the king of Babylon; and here Ezekiel predicts that he should not see Babylon though he should die there. We are informed by Josephus, that the king, thinking these prophecies contradicted each other, gave no credit to either. But both proved true; for, being taken captive and carried to Riblah, he there saw Nebuchadnezzar, and then his eyes were put out, and he was sent to Babylon, where he remained for the rest of his life; so that he saw not that city though he died in it.

CHAPTER XIII.

1 The reproof of lying prophets, 10 and their untempered morter. 17 Of prophetesses and their pillows.

AND the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto 'them that prophesy out of their own *hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;

3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.

6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith and the LORD hath not sent them and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.

7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken ?

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;
Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies,
therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the
Lord GOD.
9 And mine hand shall be
upon the
phets that see vanity, and that divine lies:
they shall not be in the assembly of my

1 Heb. them that are prophets out of their own hearts.
5 Or, breaches. 6 Heb. hedged the hedge.
2 E

VOL. III.

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people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, "Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up 'a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter :

11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.

12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?

13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.

14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;

16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which 3 Heb. walk after. 4 Or, and things which they have not seen. 7 Or, secret, or, counsel. 9 Or, a slight wall. 481

2 Jer. 23. 16.

8 Jez. 6. 14.

see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.

17 ¶ Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,

10

18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?

19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies? 20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD;

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Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls "to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, 12 13by promising him life:

23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

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12 Or, that I should save his life. 13 Heb. by quickening him.

Verse 10. Daubed it with untempered mortar.'-The Targum and Vulgate seem to understand this not of plaster but of the cement used in uniting the materials of the wall, rendering it, clay without straw'-clay and straw, well mixed together, being correctly understood to have been the common cement of eastern buildings, as it still is in the East. If this view be correct, it will of course imply that the wall was not built with wet cob, which requires no cement; but with dry cob, or clay and straw worked well together and formed into masses which are dried before employed in building; or else common sun-dried or kiln-burnt bricks, or even stone. We rather incline to this view of regarding the 'mortar' here rather as cement

than plaster. However, there is no reason to question that the Hebrews did at least sometimes plaster their walls. The most common in the East is made with the same materials as the cob walls, sun-dried bricks and mortarnamely, clay and straw mixed together-the straw, such as they give to their cattle, chopped and beaten small, and serving the same purpose as the ox-hair which our plasterers mix with their plaster. This, to be good, requires to be well tempered, which is generally done by long-continued treading or beating. This is much used for the exterior of walls of humbler materials; but it will only do for dry countries, as the rain acts upon it very much, causing it to peel away, or else wearing it off; whence

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MODERN ORIENTAL PLASTERERS AT WORK.-Shewing some of the Operations in tempering Plaster.

the prophet mentions an overwhelming shower' as the agent of its destruction. We have seen the interiors even of houses above the common sort, with no other plastering than this. Lime is, however, sometimes mixed with the clay and straw, and for certain purposes-such as the external coat of an interior plastering-simple lime plasters, such as our own, are sometimes employed. When lime is largely used alone, or in a large proportion with certain earths, the tempering is usually performed either by beating with sticks, or by the turning of a wheel or roller, in much the same manner that our brick-makers prepare their clay. This work is, as in the parallel case, done by a horse or other animal. It would be to little purpose to mention all the materials and preparations of plasters for different applications, such as the coating of walls, the covering of the terraced roofs, and the lining of baths, tanks, and pools. Some kinds, generally used in a semi-liquid state, set very hard and last long; and it is well understood that great pains must be taken to temper that required to resist

wet. In the way of tempering, perhaps nothing affords a stronger manifestation of persevering and patient labour than the long-continued and repeated beatings to which the Orientals subject the plaster (of lime, ashes, and straw) which is more especially intended to resist wet, and which does most effectually answer that purpose.

atzizilai

18. Women that sew pillows to all armholes.-The verse is confessedly a very difficult one. In the present clause, the words rendered armholes' (7 yadi) mean 'the juncture of the arms,' and may be applied not merely to the shoulders or armholes, but to the elbows, or even the wrists; and, as 'elbows' seems most intelligible in this context, and is preferred by the Septuagint and Vulgate, as well as given in our margin, we would here so understand it. And then, as to the sewing or applying pillows to the elbows, we are disposed to think that it refers to some custom with which we are not acquainted, and for want of knowing which the passage

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